sweetdisaster Big Cheese(me) went to see Billy Talent with Rise Against and Anti-Flag last-second over the weekend; he found out the day before the show that erstwhile homey Chris had bought tickets for seemingly everyone he knew, and since the show had since sold out, he decided what the hell, let's go. Toronto's Billy Talent have had several years of extensive touring since their breakout song 'Try Honesty' hit the scene in 2003, and it's paid off in a very tight headline-worthy show. I haven't seen Rise Against since 2001 at a small club show here in Ottawa, and they've since added former Reach the Sky guitarist Chris Chasse to their lineup, and they too killed at the Civic Centre Saturday night. Sadly, we missed Moneen's opening set, but they'll be back, I'm confident. Worth the thirty-dollar admission.
My other project(kinda - I haven't contributed squat in the last six months...does that mean I'm still involved?) over at In Review dot Net has a great series going entitled Most Spun of 2006. A wide variety of folks, from InReview staff to bands to label execs cash in with their opinions on what was the best of last calendar year - with a few timeless classics tossed in. Go check it out.
Shortly after word that California hip hop label Syntax Records was picked up for distribution by Koch Entertainment comes this news, that Koch is launching a Christian-music division called Kosmos Records - headed by Barry Landis, who was instrumental in getting Atlantic Records' Christian division up and running a few years back before being sacked. Kosmos will be based in Nashville - surprise, surprise - and release three to four projects a year. [Billboard]
According to Don Henley, his longtime band The Eagles(ever heard of 'em?) will have a new studio album out this year - by the summertime, according to Henley, who along with the band has been working on the record since 2003. The band's last album was 1979's The Long Run.
More classic-pop news: in 1993 Billy Joel swore off pop music after his then-last album River of Dreams - well, that lasted fourteen years. Joel is releasing 'All My Life,' a new single available February 7th at people.com. It'll later be released as a digital single, then a commercial CD release later this spring. "Uptown girrrrrl..."
They're still not playing in Ottawa, dammit: Mutemath are headlining their own tour shortly after finishing the present jaunt with The Fray; the tour kicks off with two shows in Toronto March 7th-8th and wraps up in the band's hometown of New Orleans May 7th. Other Canadian dates include March 9th-10th in London and Montreal and April 20th in Vancouver. And nothing for Ottawa. Again. I forgive Mutemath though - they're incredible.
Prince Caspian is the next in the C.S. Lewis series The Chronicles of Narnia to be given the big-screen treatment, and producers have found the Prince himself; British actor Ben Barnes has signed a three-picture deal with the Narnia franchise to portray Caspian. I'm still eagerly awaiting the filmed Voyage of the Dawn Treader. [Infuze]
And one more Lewis tidbit: X-Men director Ralph Winter has signed on to help make The Screwtape Letters, another Lewis work. The film is scheduled for release in 2008.
Funny, I thought it was doing well: NBC series 30 Rock has been shelved temporarily to make room for The Black Donnellys, a drama focusing on four brothers involved in organized crime. Somewhere, Jerry Orbach is smiling.
...get it? Jerry Orbach? We're here all night, folks.
Posted by mike at February 5, 2007 09:41 PM