This album started to worry me, as it has one of the slowest starts of any album I’ve heard, but after the beginning to “Seating Subject To Availabilityâ€, the band really begins to shine with the luster previously present on their music. The Forecast had a few tracks on other compilations I had reviewed, and they were fantastic. “These Lights†has Shannon’s vocals simultaneously draw influences from The Sissies/Devil Is…
Class Actress began in Elizabeth Harper’s bedroom along with producer/psychoanalyst Mark Richardson and some choice vintage synths. The songs quickly grew legs, strutted out of the Greenpoint apartment and now can be seen lighting up all over dark stages. The band pulls from a variety of styles, ranging from the 80’s synth pop of Depeche Mode and New Order, the vivaciousness and sexuality of early Madonna, and the bubbly heartbreak…
Hey, I didn’t know a guy from Reel Big Fish started a new band! Seriously though, The Forces of Evil is a band in a style that I haven’t heard much of in the recent years, excluding Slow Gherkin and The Spitvalves. The Forces of Evil are much more pop-influenced than either of those bands, and could even draw comparisons to the earliest Goldfinger. As what could be taken from…
Wingdale Community Singers are novelist Rick Moody (Garden State, The Ice Storm, etc.), Hannah Marcus (whose past collaborators include American Music Club, Red House Painters and Godspeed You Black Emporer), David Grubbs (Squirrel Bait, Bastro, Gastr del Sol, Red Krayola, etc), and artist Nina Katchadourian. Moody recently served as guest editor of the venerable MagnetMagazine.com; you can read the fruits of his labor here: http://www.magnetmagazine.com/category/guest-editor/ The Wingdale Community Singers have…
Two of Doom Metal’s most acclaimed acts will team up for a two week U.S. tour this winter as the legendary PENTAGRAM joins forces with celebrated “True Heavy Metal†band THE GATES OF SLUMBER. The 11 city tour will launch on January 15, 2010 in Springfield, VA. The pairing of PENTAGRAM and THE GATES OF SLUMBER aligns 2 generations of Doom Metal majesty and will undoubtedly be a tremendous treat…
“This Is It†is the first song and first single from The Wheat Pool’s critically acclaimed sophomore album “Hauntario, released on October 6th. “The Edmontonian quartet hit a perfect note right off the top with the opener “This Is It.” The song’s swaying rhythm builds to a thick layer of horns and piano, breaks down into an a cappella refrain of reverb-laden vocal harmonies and finally wraps up in a…
The band bounces forward with a sly bit of indie rock music that works well alongside acts like Modest Mouse. When the band moves into songs like “Fly Me To The Moonâ€, there is a much more hair-band like influence to their music. It is almost as if the band has taken the complete works of Slaughter and Boston and united them for this four minute track. The blues-laden guitar…
Tsurumi Records, a newly-opened, Seattle-based DIY vinyl imprint that no one in the US knows of yet, is pleased to introduce their marquee acts (both of which no one in the US knows of yet either); Golden and The Second Academy. The label issues this press release with the naïve optimism that music journalists and more will take the opportunity to research exactly what all the “non-interest” really is about.…
MIKE WILLIAMS, vocalist for Eyehategod, Outlaw Order, Arson Anthem and author of Cancer As A Social Activity: Affirmations Of World’s End delivers anti-social misanthropic spoken word and power electronics on this newly released, limited edition 7″. Side Zero features “That’s What The Obituary Said,” a spoken prose piece with ambient backing by Ryan (The Guilt Of…) McKern. The other Side Zero features “Ten Suicides,” originally a Bloodyminded track with vocals…
Mixing rough-house eighties metal with the current popular trend of screamo, New Jersey’s Folly allows their listener to take a wild journey with the band that spans the entirety of “Insanity Laterâ€. A modern day Faith No More, Folly can mix ska-influenced guitar riffs with mid-nineties metal to really draw together a large fan base. Still, the disc has an unfinished veneer to it, and while a track like “Sweet…
The ‘27 Devils’ album, which features the lush vocals of Sarah Scott and Shona Foster, as well as Flevans himself with a few well-placed vocal hooks, received glowing reviews and DJ reactions, praising its upbeat and idiosyncratic club beats and hook-laden songs. As soon as the ‘27 Devils’ promos were out the door, the remixes started pouring in. With such a great array of artists injecting Flevans’ unshakable dancefloor-directed pop/funk…
FLOGGING MOLLY has added FRANK TURNER as main support on most of their annual countdown to St Patrick’s Day – the 2010 Green 17 Tour. In addition, the band has announced a new date on the Green 17 Tour in Rochester, NY at the Main Street Armory on February 28th, 2010. Flogging Molly’s 2010 Green 17 Tour tour is in it’s sixth year running and brings fans the release of…
Jay-Z may have killed autotune, but AmpLive wasn’t ready to let it go without giving it a proper eulogy. Amp bids farewell to 2009’s warm old safety blanket (Snuggy?) on the lead single from his upcoming 2010 solo debut Murder at the Discotek. The song features Bay Area emcee/ producer Trackademicks and Mr. Micro. “Gary is a Robot” is a video about, well, a robot named Gary. Created by mad…
Foetus starts out the disc with a re-vamped version of “Eleanor Rigby†that has the perfect kitschy, too-loud style of vocals which lie over the track like an unwelcome house guest passed out on a couch. The chaotic mush that dominates the instrumental parts of “(Not Adam)†provides a perfect parallel with the extremely ordered, pop-styled stanzas of the track. The four minutes that Foetus allows for the track shows…
The San Francisco quartet enters Billboard’s Heatseekers Chart with their new album Pacific Dust “..loud fuzzed-up garage rock. A favorite of 2009.” -HearYa.com “A romping strain of countrified psychedelic power pop.” -NEW YORKER The Mother Hips have added dates to their 2009 Fall / 2010 Winter tour schedule. The Bay Area psych-rockers continue to tour nationally behind their brand new 11-song studio album, Pacific Dust, which reached # 82 on…
The Mother Hips have added dates to their 2009 Fall / 2010 Winter tour schedule. The Bay Area psych-rockers continue to tour nationally behind their brand new 11-song studio album, Pacific Dust, which reached # 82 on Billboards Heatseekers chart this week. After a recent return from the Northwest and a series of warm-up festival plays over the summer (including their own “Hipnic” Festival in Big Sur, CA) The Hips…
Throughout its 15 years of existence, Joan of Arc has always existed as a fluid entity — one that freely allows musicians to enter and leave while adding their own touch and perspective to the band’s records. This set-up has enabled Joan of Arc’s sound to remain fresh and always evolving, while leaving behind an impressive network of contributors who continue to make music on their own. The eclectic musical…
FM Bats are not only like late-seventies/early-eighties Neil Young (listen to the soundtrack for Human Highway if you want to hear the similarities), but also to Stooges-era Iggy Pop and even the Velvet Underground. It is really hard to give the FM Bats a “punk†nametag, but rather they should be dubbed “experimentalists†in the greatest sense. The band is not afraid to take a slow, sedate stroll (“There’s Only…
World-renowned singer/composer/actor Sting will headline the spectacular Academy of Music 153rd Anniversary Concert on Saturday, January 30, 2010, in performance with The Philadelphia Orchestra and his own quartet of outstanding jazz/pop/rock musicians, conducted by David Hartley. The classical portion of the program will showcase Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, chief conductor and artistic director of the Dresden Philharmonic, leading The Philadelphia Orchestra in a program of masterpieces featuring guest tenor Juan…
Erin McKeown’s latest album, “Hundreds of Lions,†peaked at #1 on the Bestseller MP3 Album Chart. Hundreds of Lions, released October 13 on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records, “truly shines,†hails Paste Magazine. The accomplishment is the latest in an impressive line for Erin, whose groundbreaking “Cabin Fever†series on YouTube brought her closer to her fans, allowing them to interact with her over the Internet while being treated to…