I was cleaning my apartment last night, right - it's cleaner than it's been since May 15th of last year when I moved in - and I found a bunch of my old Gas Compilation CDs, the ones 7ball magazine used to include in their issues, and on each one there's a section called Someone Sign These Guys, devoted to a couple indie bands the magazine thinks deserve a little love. Check it out: one from 2001 had a song called 'Even In Death' by a then-unknown band called Evanescence. After picking my jaw up off the floor, I then proceeded cleaning. I'll listen to the friggin' some other time. Also, on a '97 CD there were two tracks by equally unknown bands called Sixpence None the Richer(R.I.P.) and P.O.D.. Ah, memories.
Congrats to the Carleton University Ravens mens' basketball team, CIS champions after - check this out - forty-seven consecutive wins! That is seriously impressive. No college team from the U.S. came close to that this year.
Maroon5 was a name I'd never heard of before I read a bit about them in Relevant magazine late last year, and now they're shooting up the charts and playing all the late-night shows. I like them. Do you? They have some sweet, sweet soul for a bunch of white boys.
Word is that a Massachusetts developer wants to buy the Montreal Expos and move them to Connecticut, where they'll be newly christened the Connecticut Colonials. That is the stupidest name for a professional baseball team - or any professional team - I've ever heard. I vote nay. NAY!
Today's essential listening is a split(we've been favouring those lately, have you noticed?): Pax217's 2002 album Engage, a solid slice of rock/rap/reggae/honesty, and local boys Is Grace Enough's debut EP, Cross Your Heart and Hope To Die, which grows on me more every time I listen to it. Way to go, kids.
In other P.O.D. news, I was surfing randomly the other night and caught an episode of Cribs featuring the San Diego fellas; drummer Wuv was taking cameras through his Southtown home. His kids are Veggie Tales fans! And the coolest thing - maybe the coolest thing I've ever seen period - is that Wuv's mudder, Mrs. Bernardo, took the car pictured on the cover of 1997's Brown album(still their best) and had it mounted on a big ol' plaque. I want one!
As I Lay Dying, whose album from last year called Frail Words Collapse was one of the best in metal in the last couple years, are heading out on the road with Killswitch Engage and In Flames. This will be a mother of a tour, and while it doesn't come anywhere near where I can go, I heartily encourage all y'all to check it out. Some initial dates:
5/03 Pontiac, MI Clutch Cargo
5/04 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
5/05 Minneapolis, MN Quest Club
5/06 Sauget, IL Pop's
5/07 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
5/08 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
5/10 Seattle, WA Showbox
5/11 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
[hxc]
One of the most original rappers in the underground, Listener, has a track called 'Rap Rap Rap'(catchy, huh?) right on over here, with mucho thanks to sphereofhiphop for the linkage.
Stretch Arm Strong, Terror and Between The Buried And Me are going out on the tour circuit in a big way, calling it the Welcome to The Family Tour:
5/11 Philadelphia PA @ The Trocadero
5/12 Baltimore MD @ Otto Bar
5/13 Charlotte NC @ Tremont Music Hall
5/14 Columbia SC @ New Brookland Tavern
5/15 St. Petersburg FL @ State Theater
5/16 Ft. Lauderdale FL @ The Factory
5/17 Orlando FL @ The Social
5/18 Atlanta GA @ Cotton Club
5/19 Memphis TN @ Riot on Monroe
5/21 Houston TX @ Club Fat Cat
5/22 Dallas TX @ The Door
5/23 San Antonio TX @ Sin 13
5/25 Phoenix AZ @ Mason Jar
5/26 San Diego CA @ Epicenter
5/27 Anaheim CA @ Chain Reaction
5/28 Anaheim CA @ Chain Reaction
5/29 San Francisco CA @ Pound SF
5/31 Seattle WA @ Graceland
6/2 Salt Lake City UT @ Albee Square
6/3 Denver CO @ Rock Island
6/4 St. Louis MO @ Mississippi Nights
6/6 Detroit MI @ Shelter
6/7 Chicago IL @ Bottom Lounge
6/10 New York NY @ CBGBs
No Ottawa or environs show. Boo urns. [lambgoat]
Members of Hatebreed and Skarhead are said to be involved with a new band called Icepick, and I mention this not because I've ever heard them or I think they're the biggest thing since the Beatles, but because sweetdisaster supporter DJ Omnifik and I think it's hysterical, for our own private reasons. Wouldn't YOU love to know! [theprp]
Bringing the noise from the extreme east coast, Newfoundland's Bucket Truck are about to drop a huge album on us all; no word yet on who will release it or when, but the production team are the guys who did the new Poison the Well, and the record features an appearance by Walter Schreifels(Quicksand, Rival Schools). I can't wait, personally. I worked with these guys a couple years ago, and they're tops. PEACE! What up Newfoundland!
Best band name of the day: Pygmy Love Circus. Yes yes y'all!
Posted by mike at March 18, 2004 04:45 PM