So I recently moved to Ottawa's south end, the suburb called Barrhaven - or Far-haven, or Barfhaven, whatever you wanna call it - and it took me an hour and a half to drop a friend of mine off and get back home. This involved a thirty-minute walk due to no buses. BOOOO.
Bloodlined Calligraphy(on Strikefirst Records) are female-fronted. I had no idea! And she's cute too!
Remember Every New Day? Winnipeg skate-punk band? They've switched up the program(melodic hardcore is the new name of their game) and done gone signed with Hand of Hope Records down in Florida. Their newest album The Shadows Cast was recorded back in January with John Paul(Figure Four, Comeback Kid) and will be re-released by Hand of Hope later this year. How 'bout that! I was big into these guys when they were on my boy Nils' Salad Dressing Records waaaaaay back. If you wanna listen, check this out. They've transitioned pretty well from what I'm hearing. Very Thrice-sounding. Song's called 'Ashes Fill The Air'. [lambgoat]
Yet another Nirvana retrospective, this time in the form of a three-disc box set, is in the works. I was a fan. Way back in the day. Whatever. [theprp]
Highly-underrated Chicago trio Chevelle are doing a bunch of shows, mainly radio gigs, but any chance to see them live is worth taking...from what I know, since I've never been that lucky...right. Dates:
September 19th Louisville, KY - Waterfront Park
September 20th New York City, NY - The Bowery(feat. Strata)
September 22nd Philadelphia, PA - Northstar(feat. Strata)
September 24th Cleveland, OH - R&R Hall of Fame
September 25th Toronto, ON - Mod Club(editor's note: Mod is a newish club in T-dot that Wilco recently played - good enough for moi)
September 27th Chicago, IL - CRC Studios
September 29th Minneapolis, MN - Ascot Room at The Quest
October 16th Washington, DC - DC101 Chili Cookoff
October 21st Ft Myers, FL - Centennial Park
October 22nd Orlando, FL - Downtown Orlando
October 23rd Miami, FL - Bayfront Park
October 24th Jacksonville, FL - Met Park
October 30th Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Pav.
October 31st Little Rock, AR - Altiel Arena
September 21st will see Chevelle's new record This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In out in stores and all up in your faces.
How come so many amazing tours never come through Ottawa? Can someone please answer that question? Is it okay to refuse to be jaded just 'cause everyone else is? Hmph.
New Deftones in spring '05. Throw ya hands up.
News personally delivered to me by their guitarist, a great dude: Demon Hunter are hosting MTV's Headbanger's Ball in a couple weeks. Rock and roll. Go read the interview we did with said guitarist over here.
Upon the heels of the quasi-successful Guns 'N Roses tribute album they put out, Law of Inertia Records is working on a followup: a Smashing Pumpkins homage. I'd listen to it.
Much to my surprise, my Ottawa Renegades did in fact lose to Montreal tonight in Canadian Football League action. The surprising part? It was only a seven-point loss(23-16). I figured it'd be a total slaughter.
Check out some video action - a slick-looking Hellfest-performance cut of 'Black Cloud', from Converge's upcoming album You Fail Me. Holy crap intense.
Page Hamilton, a.k.a. Helmet's ringleader and by most accounts the father of nu-metal(when it was the straight-up raw deal), broke his collarbone in a pretty bad mountain-biking accident; as a result the tour lined up to coincide with the release of the first Helmet record since '98(Size Matters) has been pushed back - the album will now be out October 5th.
In a sort of surprising-and-yet-not move, rap duo Blackalicious have signed a deal with Epitaph Records. Yes, the punk label that's been around for twenty years. So now rappers Sage Francis and Atmosphere have some company surrounded by all the mohawks. Blackalicious are sick, too.
Barry Bonds Home Run Count as of this moment, 3:43am September 4th, 2004 Anno Domini: 697. Baseball still rules!
Check this out, straight from New York City: "On the evening of Tuesday, August 31st, 2004, along with about 1200 other individuals, I was unlawfully arrested and taken into police custody. I was illegally detained for over 44 hours without being read my charges or given access to a lawyer. I was not released until the evening of Thursday, September 2nd. These illegal arrests were politically motivated and designed to keep people off the street till after the Republican Convention was over. I will be documenting my experiences while in jail for Pastepunk.com, and in the coming days we will be presenting firsthand accounts of arrestees on the BANKSHOT! Records site." Those are words from Bankshot's head honcho, and if it's true, the fur's gonna fly. [punknews]
Another Ottawa band has landed a record deal: the Million Dollar Marxists have signed with Gearhead Records; the debut album Give It A Name will be out September 21st.
Kingston, Ontario band Flood(intelligent pop rock doesn't get much better) are "locked away" at Longshot Studio in K-town working on their fifth record. I personally cannot wait.
Quick Personal Note: my new landlord and lady, i.e. my boy Chris's mother and stepfather along with his brother Cameron, are presently stuck in Florida at the whims of the hurricane trouble there. Word is they have a flight out of Tampa scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but it's quite possible that could be precluded if the storm goes inland. Thoughts and prayers appreciated. Thanks.
I give, I give: the Get Awesome tour features - ready for this? You ain't - Underoath, The Chariot and Stretch Arm Strong, and though it isn't officially the second edition of the Solid State Tour, it might as well be. They're playing here:
September 17th Tallahassee, FL Florida State University: Oglesby Center
September 21st Pensacola, FL The Gutter Lounge
September 22nd Nashville, TN Blue Sky Court
September 23rd Little Rock, AR Vinos
September 24th Springfield, MO Nu Brew Coffeehouse
September 25th Iowa City, IA Gabes Oasis
September 26th Indianapolis, IN The House Café + Music
September 29th Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern
September 30th Brunswick, GA Rock Bottom
October 1st Gainesville, FL Common Grounds
October 2nd Jacksonville, FL Thee Imperial
Nowhere near me. *Groundskeeper Willie accent* Crap! [pastepunk]