After releasing two records mainly as a side project, the band got together in the months before Hurricane Katrina to start working on new material. The band reconnected in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina with a newfound purpose and focus on DOWN, and began work on their most ambitious record to date. Having already tapped Warren Riker, who produced their 2nd release, DOWN II-A Bustle in Your Hedgerow,…
V/A – Skate & Surf Fest Vol 1 / 2005 Radiotakeover / 22 Tracks /http://www.radiotakeover.com / http://www.highrollerstudios.com/ The Skate & Surf Fast DVD is more of a collection of live videos for famous bands (Midtown, Armor For Sleep) than an actual film. Sure there are interviews interspersed throughout the tracks, but by and large the disc feels like a promotional video for a smattering of Militia Group and Drive-Thru bands.…
Chicagoland’s “seminar on power pop,” ANITA, is preparing to hit the road in October to preface the release of their new EP, “Are We Not Human.” The newly slimmed-down trio is as diverse musically as they are geographically, with influences drawn from bands like the Kinks, Cheap Trick, The Mamas and the Papas and Oasis.
Seattle’s progressive youth group, The Fall of Troy will be traveling the country with their Equal Vision labelmates Coheed and Cambria on a North American tour this fall. Sandwiched between the two prog-punk bands on the tour is Maryland’s blue-collar rock band, Clutch.
John Phillips – Jack Of Diamonds / 2007 Phoenix / http://www.varesevintage.com / This album marks music from John Phillips’ “Jack of Diamondsâ€. For those that might not know, this was a previously unreleased album that marked music that Phllips created from 1972 and 1973, and was unreleased for whatever reason.  Varese Vintage here has not only committed the disc to the CD format, but has added 5 new tracks, whether…
Heavenly Sword / 2007 Ninja Theory / Playstation 3 / http://www.heavenlysword.com It just seems as if Sony is getting their stuff together and putting forth some of the best games out for any of the three terrestrial game platforms (now if Bioshock was on a platform, I don’t know how comfortable I would be with that statement).  Heavenly Sword, created by Ninja Theory, is yet another of these games. The…
Canada’s ambassador de troubadour, Bob Wiseman, is now on a European adventure opening shows for Feist. The name Bob Wiseman might strike a familiar chord as he’s a former member of both Blue Rodeo and the Hidden Cameras and has recently been touring in the US and Canada with bands like Final Fantasy and Jason Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.
Punk Core Records Presents: Pure Punk Rock / 2006 Punk Core / http://www.punkcore.com / http://www.myspace.com/punkcore / The shortness of the segments that are on “Pure Punk Rock†are great for those individuals that do not have a long attention span. Even the interview segments of this DVD are short enough that individuals will not be bored out of their minds with the facts being spouted out by individuals like Mike…
Judee Sill – Live In London / 2007 Water / 18 Tracks / http://www.runtdistribution.com/water.html / While it is true that some individuals in the current period know who Judee Sill was (Water Records released the demos for Sill’s unreleased third album as “Dreams Come True†back in 2005), chances are still strong that if you were not a fan of eir music when ey released eir self-titled (1971) and “Heart…
During a career that has spanned three decades, Michael Brook has collaborated with some of the most influential icons from the worlds of music, art, film and politics. He has forged a career as producer, sound innovator, inventor, guitarist, composer and solo artist: Brook is a modern day renaissance man. On his fourth solo release, he teams with producer/remixer James Hood (Pretenders, Moodswings) for BellCurve – a radical reinterpretation of…
Lollipop Is Burning Festival / 2006 Lollipop / 25 Tracks / http://lollipoprecords.free.fr /Â Although many individuals will not be familiar with about 40% of the music on this disc due to the fact that Jerry Spider Gang and Petit Vodo have not made it big on American shores yet, the production of this show and the talent of the bands present should be enough to merit picking up an album…
In their 27th year, Einstürzende Neubauten again prove the potency of their philo-acoustic long-term therapy. After their successful 2007 tour of the U.K. the mature avant-garde All-Stars present their new album Alles wieder offen, showing their intimacy and fragility in a completely new light. Blixa Bargeld, Alexander Hacke, N.U. Unruh, Rudolf Moser and Jochen Arbeit have triumphed over the old Berliner Mauerkrankheit, the fever has sunk to a normal temperature…
Psychic TV – Hell Is Invisible / Heaven is Her/E / 2007 Sweet Nothing / 10 Tracks / http://www.genesisp-orridge.com / In regards to actual full-length albums, and not singles (2002’s Snowflake/Illusive) and live albums (2003’s Live…series, 2006’s Live in Russia), it’s been a few years since Psychic TV has released anything. Genesis P-Orridge’s band’s last foray into studio albums were the triplet of albums that were Breathe, Cold Blue Torch,…
It has been a busy year for Owen (aka Mike Kinsella). He has already toured the US, Japan and Europe and will now head out again stateside this fall. This time around he will play dates around the Midwest and East Coast with Kevin Devine.
The Vandals – Live At the House of Blues (The Show Must Go Off Volume 9) / 2004 Kung Fu Records / 22 Tracks / http://www.vandals.com / http://www.kungfurecords.com / I only have been able to review The Vandals’ last album and see a few of their videos on the Kung Fu compilation before throwing myself into an hour of Vandals music, so I had a vague idea of what I…
Spinner.com – “Live Indietronica production outfit the Glass has been keeping electronic music interesting in NYC†http://www.spinner.com/2007/02/08/the-glass-dj-set-mp3/ The Tripwire – â€Club bangers that will undoubtedly have the kids’ asses shaking like they were on fire. If you’re into LCD Soundsystem, Justice, !!!, The Rapture, etc. etc. you’ll love these guys too†http://www.thetripwire.com/news/2007/2/2/download-the-glass-come-alive
Canvas Solaris – Cortical Tectonics / 2007 Sensory / 6 Tracks / http://www.canvassolaris.com / http://www.lasersedgegroup.com / Despite the fact that “Berserker Hypothesis†is a mere four minutes long, the harder progressive metal played by Canvas Solaris here bends and breaks an individual’s sense of time, with the band’s detailed arrangements being what stretches the perceived runtime of the track to a time much longer than reality. “Sinusoid Mirage†follows up…
HELLYEAH’s headline BALLS VOLUME STRENGTH tour will kick off Thursday, October 24 at the Sunrise Theater in Albuquerque before traveling on Saturday, October 27, 2007 to Tampa, Florida at that city’s annual “Guavaween†concert. The tour will forge on to Fayetville, NC on October 28, Detroit on “Hell Night,†(October 30), Indianapolis on Halloween night, Grand Rapids on November 2, Minneapolis on November 3 and House of Blues, Chicago, on…
Tupac Vs. Biggie : The Legacy Continues / 2006 MVD / 120 Minutes / http://www.mvdb2b.com / The DVDs that Chrome Dreams come out with are typically solid, and this re-interpretation of the Tupac Vs. Biggie tragedy is no different. They have gathered so much in the way of information that this requires two full hours of storytelling. Not happy with just providing the documentary, a number of extra bits and…
Like a sweet breath of fresh air, Brittney Elizabeth arrives on the pop rock music scene with her debut release, Breathe In, slated for national release on Desert Sunrise Records November 27th, and distributed nationally by CBUJ. These tender tales of heartache and bittersweet reminiscence sung with a vocal maturity well beyond her 20 years make for an impressive debut from a promising young talent. Brittney’s melodious voice and graceful…