The situation in New Orleans, Louisiana and surrounding states(Mississippi and Alabama) has become simply unbelievable as I arrive home at work and see the pictures in my morning paper. Aside from praying fervently for things in the disaster area, you can do this or this, or call 1-800-HELPNOW to donate.
Sometimes I wake up too early in the afternoon(I work overnights), and once I'm up I'm generally up for the day. In this case, I had to make a phone call to Rachell, but she'd already left for northern Ontario and a funeral she and her sister are attending. So instead, I decided to update this here space, and listen to some purevolume.com action. Staple are making me regret not seeing them at Cornerstone, with these new songs from their album Of Truth and Reconciliation, which hit stores today, August 30th. The record was produced by the iconic Sylvia Massy-Shivy, who aside from her Canadian heritage was also behind the last few Tool albums, to name one example. Staple bring a mix of Embodyment, Snapcase and some hardcore roots together a nice sense of melody, and I like it.
Montreal's Blessed By A Broken Heart recently parted ways with Blood & Ink Records down in the States, and will also be playing in Kemptville September 16 with a slew of other bands. Check out punkottawa.com for details.
Speaking of purevolume as we were before, every single band, with few exceptions, sounds so similar that it's almost a waste of time keeping up with it. Geez. However, there is one notable exception, a band we mentioned a couple weeks back: All Star Otis. Such a fun band.
And speaking of albums out today, Spoken's new joint Last Chance to Breathe is out. I go way back with this band, interviewed them for another 'zine I did a few years back, and they're worth your support. Check out their purevolume page and their web home!
No Innocent Victim(for the record, one of the first two or three hardcore bands I ever heard) are doing three CD-release party shows from November 18th-20th, presumably in their hometown of San Diego, but assuredly in southern California somewhere. Facedown veterans Inked In Blood, Nodes of Ranvier and Bloodlined Calligraphy will open up the shows. [IVM]
Yellow Second have apparently called it quits after only one full-scale release, this year's Altitudes. I hope this isn't true, because this would suck entirely.
Apparently Relient K don't like any of their earlier material, according to this article; singer Matt Thiessen says his early influences were MxPx, Less Than Jake and the like, and that he's now into Rufus Wainwright(Relient's new album shows that predilection) and Paul Simon. The aforementioned new album, Mmhmm, has sold over 300,000 thousand copies. And did we mention that former Ace Troubleshooter frontman John Warne is with RK now? Great dude. [rockrebel]
Former Clash guitarist Mick Jones is taking his new band Carbon/Silicon into the studio next month; this'll be his first recorde output since the last Big Audio Dynamite album in 1995. [aversion]
A Blink-182 greatest-hits album will be out this fall. Here's the tracklisting:
M&Ms
Dammit
Josie
What's My Age Again
All The Small Things
Adam’s Song
Man Overboard(live)
Rock Show
First Date
Stay Together For The Kids
Feelin' This
Miss You
Down
Always
Not Now(single)
Another Girl Another Planet(previously unreleased)
The album is out November 1st.
Pearl Jam, who will actually play here in Ottawa September 16th but have been massively overshadowed by the Green Day and U2 shows, not to mention last weekend's Rolling Stones set, are saying their next album(due out on J Records) will be their "hardest" to date. Interesting. Anyone else still crack out Ten from time to time?
Oh, and speaking of the Stones, they shot the video for the new single 'Streets of Love' here in Ottawa yesterday at Zaphod Beeblebrox, a place I've spent many a companionable evening. How 'bout that. My man Roach will appear in said video! Maybe now he can pay me back the forty bucks he owes. If you wanna hear the entire new Stones album, it's online at their website.
The Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles is being bought out by a Korean Christian church, and while hardcorechristian's Sir Jorge is all up in arms over the fact that this means no more pro wrestling events in said building, I just wanted to mention this because that's where Rage Against the Machine's last show took place(documented on their live album). So there!
A new band is coming correct out of London, Ontario - check out Unever's metal attack. [punkhardcore]
I've only heard vague mention of this rapper K'naan, but I'm linking to this only because he's from Rexdale, a suburb in metro Toronto - and the hometown of sweetdisaster's Big Cheese. Ah, nostalgia!
The Fugees are three weeks from launching a new single, called 'Take It Easy'. That's right. You heard us. The Fugees. New single. Three weeks. I may die of happiness. The new album is apparently gonna be more like their old material(straight-up NYC boom-bap) than 1996's enormous album The Score. Either way, I'm just thrilled that Wyclef, Lauryn and Pras are back at it.
Green Day took home seven MTV Awards over the weekend at some glitzy ceremony that I couldn't care less about, generally speaking. They'll be here in Ottawa on Monday. I'm going. Are you?
Some more acts have been confirmed for the Flower15 shows in Chicago, celebrating Flower Booking's 15th anniversary. .hopesfall, Evergreen Terrace, Criteria, Pelican and more are all gonna play. Looks like a great time. If you live in or around Chicago, do go. [AP]
The show is already over, but this concert holds a few personal ties, as I grew up with Joel Gelensye here in eastern Ontario, and myself and a friend of mine tried real hard to book Greg Sczebel for a gig here in Ottawa tomorrow night. Didn't happen, but hey, we tried.
There's a feature on piece on Toronto's Thousand Foot Krutch in the new issue of Saturday Night magazine(free to subscribers to the National Post, as we are here at sweetdisaster HQ); the writer interviewed both TFK main man Trevor McNevan and uber-hot Canadian producer Arnold Lanni, who put together Krutch's new record The Art of Breaking, and it's an attempt to put TFK, I think, in the proper light: Christians, in an 'evangelical' Christian rock band(I ask you: is there any other kind?), who've sold more records down in the States than Canadian indie darlings The Arcade Fire(I had no idea) thanks to 2003's Phenomenon(Tooth & Nail Records). Krutch will tour this fall with the likes of Cake and Jimmy Eat World.
From sweetdisaster enforcer DJ Omnifik comes this little slice of guitar virtuosity: I don't know who this guy is, but man, he can play.
Pigeon John's next album has some details now: it'll be called Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party, released next spring through Quannum Records(Blackalicious et al) in partnership with Epitaph(if you're reading this magazine, you should know who Epitaph is). As well, PJ did a song with Raaka of Dilated Peoples and Ahmad Jones(4th Avenue Jones) called 'Zoom' that appears on Gotee Records Hip Hope 2006 CD.
I'm headed out to do my second-last regular installment of the Saturday Night Sound Fix on CHRI here in Ottawa. 99.1 FM if you're interested. Seven to eleven tonight. Peace, kids.
It's been a while since we've had Dashboard Confessional news to convey, but absolutepunk has word of a Rolling Stone piece on the Florida quintet recording the followup to 2004's A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar in Toronto with Daniel Lanois(who's produced U2 and Bob Dylan, among others). The band scrapped an entire album's worth of new material in February, as it sounded "too safe". "People who were already Dashboard fans probably would have liked those songs," singer Chris Carrabba said. "And people who weren't would have had the same complaints as ever." I haven't even heard the last record yet, but we do have a review over here.
If you liked Kanye West's breakout debut album College Dropout(this after years of his producing massive hits for other cats), and you don't mind giving out e-info, you have the chance to stream the entirety of his new joint Late Registration(continuing the college theme, apparently) over here.
Burlington, Ontario lads Silverstein put out a new record recently - and Discovering The Waterfront has sold over twenty-six thousand copies, landing it at #34 on Billboard's Top 200. How 'bout that.
One of my longtime favourite punk bands, Side Walk Slam(we'll have pictures of their Cornerstone performance up ASAP, we swear it!), are changing their name to Run Kid Run for some reason. I don't like it, but hey, no one asked me. Apparently Tooth & Nail Records is gonna put a big promotional push behind their new record, which is more than T&N has done in the past for a band that's put three albums out on their label.
A couple weeks ago we reported that Society's Finest will be taking the rest of the year off, so I don't know how certified this news is, but saveyourscene over in Italy is reporting that the Texas metal band will record a new album in December with Andreas Magnusson producing, and a release date of spring 2006 is rumoured.
Some information now about everyone's favourite soap opera of a metal band, Zao(read our interview!), and their upcoming DVD: it was done with longtime friend/manager Ryan Downey(you may have seen his work in Alternative Press, among other places), and the first disc is a two-hour documentary with all the usual stuff, while the second features two full live sets, one from the Strhess Tour with Bleeding Through and the other from the band's own Praise the War Machine tour. Following Zao's upcoming tour with Unearth, they'll retire to their hometown in Pennsylvania to prep their second Ferret Records album, due out next year. There you go.
I've had my first exposure to Portland's Inked In Blood(Facedown Records) this morning; not sure how they've escaped my ears thus far, but they're not bad at all. Check 'em out over here. I like the vocals a lot.
And while we're talking Facedown bands with killer vocalists, dig on some new Nodes of Ranvier. Smokin'.
Day of Contempt have a new album out, and from reading this review, it would seem that the band I saw live two summers ago has changed a whole lot. Back then they sounded like an Australian version of Throwdown(who headlined that particular tour and brought DoC with them). Interesting.
Interview with one of the catchiest rock bands on the planet: Minus the Bear, who have a new album called Menos el Oso('Minus the Bear' in Spanish, if you weren't aware) coming real soon.
Kudos to my landlord Jared for emailing this to me. As he said, opening lines don't get much better than the one here.
Morning fuzzlings. My boss Tom has three Green Day tickets he's trying to sell, so if you or someone you know is interested in going September 5th at the Corel Centre here in Ottawa, email Tom at korn_tc@hotmail.com. Boom shaka laka.
In completely unrelated news, the Haste the Day show was a blast and a half last night; I had to bail on the last two songs HTD did in order to get to work under the whip of the aforementioned Tom, but they killed, ad Still Remains and Rosesdead gave excellent accounts of themselves. Props also go to locals The Wishlist, who reminded us all where the roots of all this metal madness comes from.
Morning kids. I did the drive-home/evening shows on CHRI here in Ottawa last night, this after not sleeping in the morning after working all night. Needless to say, I called in sick to my regular job last night, slept a lot, and now I'm refreshed - sort of. Night work sucks sometimes.
Tonight's Haste the Day with three others at Maverick's(221 Rideau downtown); it promises to be a good show, with Rosesdead coming up from Oakville with their new singer in tow. See y'all there. Look for a dude in a green Haylo Clothing hat with a very cute girl by his side(that would be Rachelle). Doors are at seven.
Oh, and to warm you up for The Juliana Theory's performance September 2nd, check out two new songs they've put up online, from their new album Deadbeat Sweetheart, coming out September 13th.
One of the two sweetdisaster principals, former webmaster(and co-creator) Dave Flikkema and his wife Kelly, moved to Australia last month to go to Bible school and be God's servants down under; check out their blog to keep track of the goings on, right to the left there.
Not to be outdone, our current webmaster, the esteemed Galen Broaddus(like the Flikkemas, he and his wife Courtney are expecting their first child!!), has a blog of his own, this a space for the skeptic in all of us, provoking intelligent thought and interaction. Check out The Christian Cynic and have your say!
One of our recent review subjects, Sivion, has a song called 'Father Time' up for debate online over here. It comes from Mood Enhancement, and regardless of my minor quibbles with production and 'interludes' on said album, this cat can rhyme real nice.
Apparently last week ESPN aired an episode of ESPN Hollywood, a show "similar to Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood but with a decidedly sports-centered flavor". So it's basically crap television. However! The episode in question featured Indiana Pacers star Ron Artest and rapper T-Bone, who's featured on Artest's upcoming 'album'(I say that with a certain degree of skepticism, for obvious reasons - what kind of rap comes from a guy who throttled fans in Detroit last year?). Artest returned the favour, appearing in the new Bone video in anticipation of his seventh album Bone-A-Fide, due out September 27th. [Renown]
Lots of hiphop today - so here's some more: check out the shrt top-right over here, modeled, of course, after London's Underground subway system. I want one of those shirts!
The new Project 86 song they promised to put up last week shows promise; 'Sincerely, Ichabod' sounds, well, not a lot like their first two albums, but better than a lot of their last one. Check it out.]
I don't generally go in for music videos(video killed the radio star and all that); I just don't respond to visual arts as much as music, I guess. Nothing wrong with them whatsoever(minus some of the crap you see in the hiphop field), but yeah, I just don't really get into them. That being said, Underoath's piece for 'It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door' caught my eye with its use of colour and seasonal contrast. I like it. Check it out for yourself over here. [hxc
I had a chance to listen to the new From Autumn to Ashes album on my boss Tom's brand-new iPod(his girlfriend of one year really loves him!), and it's good. 'Vicious Cockfight' really stood out with its terrorizing riff, and overall, everything FATA have done is done better here, especially the clean vocals. Well done.
Speaking of terrorizing, check this out; more Hellfest fallout. This gets more and more ridiculous by the day. The organizer commandering the Hellfest-sponsored school bus and running wild around the arena? Madness.
I've never had any dealings with the guy, but Victory Records owner Tony Brummel seems to a heck of a guy; this time around he's pissed because Warner Bros., who signed former Victory flagship band Taking Back Sunday a while back, have certified Where You Want To Be(released last year by Victory) as Gold Status(500,000 copies sold) as of July 6th. Brummel says Victory still owns that record, and as such only he could authorize the certification. Now he wants Billboard magazine never again to mention any Victory ads, ever. Awesome. [truthexplosion]
Wow: Copeland(whose praises I shall sing forever!!) are doing a mini-tour with the legendary Bob Mould(Husker Du/Sugar). How 'bout that:
10/04 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
10/05 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
10/06 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero
10/07 – Washington D.C. @ 9:30 Club
[buzzgrinder]
If you're planning on seeing As I Lay Dying open for Slipknot between October 14th-18th, AILD won't be there - however, all is not lost, for you get The Dillinger Escape Plan instead. Not a bad tradeoff at all, if you ask me. Which nobody did. [theprp]
Oooooooooh, baby: the new Cave In album Perfect Pitch Black can be sampled online over here, and kids, lemme tell you, it kills. I like the 'new' Cave In style more than their more metallic older work, but even if you disagree, there's a hugely harder edge to this new album(back to the roots), so that'll keep the metalheads happy while maintaining the great sense of melody. Wow.
October 25th will see the new record from Demon Hunter, called The Triptych, and on it will be - get this - a Prong cover('Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck'. WELL then. Three covers are being made for this record, and since two of the DH work professionally in multimedia, they'll be stellar; check them out over here.
Relient K performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night. Is there anywhere they're not performing these days? Like Alternative Press said in the new issue, "if you're not into Relient's brand of pop-punk, stay away from TV. And Warped tour. And the radio."
EA Games has a new one out called Burnout Revenge; I have no idea what kind of game it is(I assume a skate game), but the soundtrack will have a new track from Yellowcard as well as established material from Comeback Kid, Pennywise and more. The game is for PS2/X-Box and comes out September 13th. [punknews]
Mae is going on a huge headlining tour this fall with openers Circa Survive, Mute Math and others. The dates(all fifty thousand of them) are over here, and I just think it's awesome that Mute Math are gonna get widespread exposure. They will blow minds on this tour, mark my words.
Gotee Records has put out word that Mars Ill's Pro*Pain album, having been delayed forever(it was due out originally a year ago), will probably be "reworked" for a 2006 release. Unbelievable. I feel for Manchild and Dust. [jesusfreakhideout]
Seven years after their demise, Chicago's Smoking Popes are reuniting for Flower Booking's fifteenth anniversary party in Chi-town. November 11th at the Metro will see the original lineup(the Caterer brothers three, plus drummer Rob Kellenberger of Duvall and Colossal) take the stage for the first time since '98 in support of Flower and P.L.A.Y.(Possibilities in Life: Art For Youth). If you're in the area, check out Flower 15 for the details.
So this weekend turned out to be Hip Hop Blowout for sd Big Cheese and some of his friends; we hit the Moka Only/Quartertones/DJ Serious show Friday(sickness) and last night after doing the radio show, I wound up being able to see O.C. open up for the Heiroglyphics crew from California. The show was well-attended, reasonably good-spirited(ie not many idiots causing trouble - I didn't see any amazingly-fast ejections like last year's Killswitch Engage show at the same venue), and the beats and rhymes were hugely displayed. My personal thanks to Scallen for the favour(we have the favour system working, he and I do).
Reminder: Haste the Day headlines the purevolume.com-sponsored Summer Free Fall tour at Babylon this Wednesday, with openers Still Remains, Rosesdead and The Wishlist. Stretch Arm Strong were of course supposed to be headlining, but their van died. I'm still ticked. As well, HTD have been tapped to open for Every Time I Die's upcoming tour that hits Ottawa, so get ready for that too.
Speaking of purevolume, Project 86 will be slapping up a new song on their purevolume site tomorrow, and their DVD ...And The Rest Will Follow will be available September 1st.
Some Facedown Records news from out California way(wonder how much money they lost on the Hellfest cancellation):
- two of the Facedown bands are involved in a couple of the Hellfest-alternative shows, namely Nodes of Ranvier and Seventh Star tomorrow night in Farmingville, New York at TGIF Sounds and Sights with The Warriors, Animosityand more, and then Sunday at the What The Hell Fest(great name) in Hackettstown, New Jersey at the Hackettstown Skate Park with Dead to Fall, The Warriors, This is Hell and more. So if you're around there, go to those shows.
- Nodes of Ranvier's new album The Years to Come drops September 13th; check out a new track called 'Glass Half Nothing' over here.
There's a complete(as of right this second anyway) list of Hellfest alternate shows over here. [AP]
For all the Radiohead fans out there(I'm one, when they're not being utterly pretentious and artsy), the band are working on the followup to 2003's Hail to the Thief - which is a decent record, from what I've heard of it. [Relevant]
Former From Autumn to Ashes bassist Mike Pllato has joined One True Thing, who also hail from Long Island and whose vocalist happens to be Melanie Wills, the young woman you heard on the last two FATA records. If anyone cares.
sweetdisaster's Big Cheese is now on myspace.com. Hit up myspace.com/sdbigcheese and make him your friend. He likes friends.
Floodgate Records has signed Pittsburgh band Transition. The press statement is full of the usual 'we feel like we're part of a family' gobbledy-gook, but bottom line: here's hoping it all pans out. You can check out the latest jewel in Floodgate's crown over here.
And now that that's out of the way, the big news: the Hellfest squad has updated hellfest.com with a full-on .pdf file explaining, in full legal detail, their side of what happened the last forty-eight hours, resulting in the last-minute cancellation of the entire three-day festival. The poop is hitting the fan in spectacular fashion down New Jersey way. The massive statement is over here. I skipped most of the legal crap, truth be told. I'm no lawyer. I just like hardcore.
In a related story, if you're anywhere in the Pennsylvania/New Jersey/Massachusetts area, get the car started, as there are now a slew of massive, massive club shows(we're talking like ten-band bills here) going down in the wake of Hellfest's demise; the most complete list we've found is right here, with another one here. This will now become the biggest show weekend the hardcore kids in the Tri-State area have ever seen. I would quit my job in a second to simply be in the northeast United States this weekend. LOOK at some of those shows!! Holy crap!
One last Hellfest bit for today: this was the planned schedule for the ninth edition of the fest. Since I'm bored this morning, I counted how many bands I've seen(forty-seven) and bands I didn't know were playing that I found interesting: Montreal's Final Word(didn't even know they were still around - awesome!), New Jersey's Ensign(such a great melodic hardcore band, check them out for the love of crap), Boysetsfire(done with the major labels, welcome back)....man, this would have been fun to go to.
One show in Ottawa that I will not miss goes down September 30th at Babylon. Check it: Strung Out with Comeback Kid, Bane and The Reason. No idea how the decidedly non-hardcore Reason showed up, but they're fun too.
...oh, and here's the revamped lineup for the show Stretch Arm Strong were supposed to be headlining next week: Haste the Day will now play last(and probably best), with Still Remains, Oakville, ON's Rosesdead and locals The Wishlist opening. Maybe another band. Who knows. The entire show has become a circus. Awesome.
Did you know The Grey(also Ottawa lads) are signed to Lovitt Records down in the States? I had no idea. Good for them.
I was listening to Atlanta's masterful songwriters Smalltown Poets last night/this morning at work, and thinking to myself, "I wanna hear Jars of Clay vocalist Dan Haseltine covering 'Trust'". That's the second time this has happened this week. Maybe it was something I ate.
Speaking of great Atlanta-based Christian rock bands of the '90s, I mentioned The Waiting to the lovely Rachelle last night and she knew exactly who I was talking about. That's when I knew I was destined to marry this girl.
Just kidding.
The amazing entity known as Mae is gonna be spending most of October and November on the road with(at various points) Circa Survive, Mashlin, Discover America and Mute Math(who are unbelievable live, take our word for it). The dates are over here - if you're in the Ottawa area, the closest they'll get is Montreal, October 12th at El Salon. I may go. Oh, and they won the Yahoo! contest of some sort that you were getting email-flogged about if you're on Tooth & Nail's mailing list like I am.
A couple longtime Christian-rock lads and their bands have signed with major labels this week: Sean O'Donnell used to play guitar with Dogwood, and his new band Reeve Oliver made the leap to join Capitol Records, while a simply great rock and roll band called The Elms are now property of Universal. Maybe the Elms will tour with Frampton again! [aversion]
Ladies and gentlemen, it's about time: Relevant Magazine, LLC, of Orlando, Florida, USA, Earth, who have been promising a new website for months on end, have finally done it. Much applause due.
In some Gunit...um, rather, G-Unit news(because that's obviously what you're here for), Mase may be signing up with Fitty Cent's nefarious crew. I could not possibly care less; I just wanted an excuse to use 'nefarious'.
In a related Couldn't Care Less bit, Staind's new album was number one last week. The world is apparently ending.
Good Lord, he's still alive: Saved By The Bell's Mario Lopez(he was Slater - duh!) is now hosting some sort of show on ESPN. Unbelievable.
Hey, congratulations to a band from here in Ottawa, The Fully Down, who've been mentioned in this space many times, and who are now Fearless Records'(Yesterday's Rising, Bigwig, Glasseater) newest coup. The Downers have worked their tails off to get this far, and I for one have been listening a long, long time - congrats, fellas.
Remember Trapt? They had that uber-catchy hit 'Headstrong' a few years ago? They're still around, and touring with Blindside later this year, matter of fact. [theprp]
Last spring's Taste of Chaos tour, to no one's surprise, will be documented in audio and visual format, in a CD/DVD released in September. The DVD's tracklisting:
The Used - 'Take It Away'
My Chemical Romance - 'Give 'Em Hell, Kid'
Killswitch Engage - 'A Bid Farewell', 'The End Of Heartache'(feat. Ken Susi of Unearth)
Senses Fail - 'Bite To Break Skin'
Underoath - 'Reinventing Your Exit', 'It's A Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door'
Atreyu - 'Right Side Of The Bed', 'Lip Gloss And Black'
Unearth - 'Black Hearts Now Reign', 'This Lying World'
A Static Lullaby - 'Lip Gloss And Letdown', The Shooting Star That Destroyed Us All'
'Shark Ethic' is a new track from Brooklyn's Most Precious Blood; it's taken from their upcoming album. Go listen to it over here.
I was listening to The Weakerthans' Left And Leaving the other night, and the weirdest thing came to mind - what would it sound like if Rufus Wainwright were to cover their stuff? I bet it'd be amazing. Just a thought.
...in another random At-Work Listening bit, a new PFR song on last year's The Bookhouse Recordings remix album called 'In The Middle' stands up their best work over the last decade. Just another thought.
If you were one of the many who were heading to the now-canceled Hellfest, a message board has been started concerning shows that will now start popping up all over the eastern seaboard in the wake of a hundred and eighty-seven bands whose touring schedules now have the gap. Check this out for the latest. [punknews]
Man Alive's Militia Group debut Open Surgery will be out next month; in the meantime, the label has put together a nifty little e-card to help push this Israeli band along. I'm a fan.
One of the best bands Pluto Records has signed in a while have their entire album up on the web - for now. Check out Divide the Day's debut Pretty Girls With Ugly Boys right over here, and then email label prez Brian and tell him how rad he is for signing them.
A bunch of new material from Spoken's upcoming Tooth & Nail album is online over here. I remember when this band was ripping off Rage Against the Machine's schtick - and then getting nominated for a Dove Award for their Face to Face cover! Hilarious. These guys have never exploded like I thought they might a few years ago. Maybe 2006 will be their year!
pastepunk.com really really really really likes the new album from A Wilhelm Scream. Like, a whole lot.
Speaking of Spoken(oh man I'm killing myself over here), they'll be heading out on tour with Project 86 and about a billion other bands. Looks like mostly west coast/midwest cities to date; more info as it comes out. [jesusfreakhideout]
Good Lord, this is a weird tour: pop-punk kings Hawk Nelson(I can't help but like their catchier songs, okay??) are taking - um - 4th Avenue Jones out on tour this fall. What? Punk and rap on the same tour? That's awesome, and there should be lots more of it. I hope it comes to Ottawa.
Koch Distribution(never heard of it? trust us, they're massive) has been sued for almost fifty grand by Victory Records - for apparently "chronically" failing to remit proper fees to Victory concerning their releases sold here in Canada. I imagine this will settled, but it's interesting nonetheless.
It is! Shut up!
Oh, and that news comes from absolutepunk, which for once doesn't have a thousand popups plaguing me when I'm simply looking for news. Thanks!
Oh, and in more money-related news - because that's obviously what you come here for - the president of Atlantic Records resigned Wednesday. So there you have it. Another one bites the dust.
Holy cow. Hellfest down in New Jersey has been cancelled. That really, really sucks, not that anyone connected with sweetdisaster was going, but a whole lot of bands we've worked with were scheduled to play, and it would've been a great time, like the eight Hellfests that came before it. More information to come, but if you were planning on heading to Jersey, look into refund information(see the link provided).
So much for the hugely-hyped Public Enemy Hellfest reunion.
Welcome to Resolve Corporation in south-end Ottawa. sweetdisaster's Big Cheese makes his daily pittance slaving away here on the overnight shift. Ugh.
But there's news! Stavesacre have been teasing for weeks and months about their new album How To Live With A Curse and more specifically, what label will release it.
The wait is over.
SoCal's finest have signed a multi-album deal with Abacus Records, an imprint of worldwide label Century Media. Their website will have all the particulars. I'm just excited that this great, great band have a new home and a bright future. Rock and roll!
As you no doubt noticed on the way here, sweetdisaster is co-sponsoring the upcoming Juliana Theory show here in Ottawa September 2nd; do c'mon out and bring your friends. Juliana put on a great show every time, and for their third trip to the nation's capital they're bringing Lovedrug and Days Away. It'll be a good time.
Forever Changed have done us all a favour - those of us who don't have their debut album anyway - by sticking the entirety of The Need To Feel Alive up on their purevolume site. I like it.
They must have done something right: Emery's new record The Question sold over twenty thousand copies in its first week out. Impressive. They had quite the show at Warped, what with the giant white space suits and all.
Slow Coming Day(anyone remember them?) have been unceremoniously dropped from the Tooth & Nail Records roster. To no one's surprise. T&N does this a lot. [IVM]
I was talking to a friend last night at the Buried Inside show(they destroyed, as I knew they would, being a longtime fan of their live show), and she mentioned that Joy Electric are apparently #2 on the purevolume.com Electronica chart. Who knew? I had no idea how she'd even come across Joy E - and then I told her about Ronnie Martin's brother's band(Starflyer 59, if you're unaware), which leads into the next piece of news: I picked up the reissue of SF59's landmark Gold album, the entirety of which I haven't heard in many years, and it's as good as I remembered it, made better by Troy Glessner's, um, golden remastering job out in Seattle. The Silver reissue is next to purchase.
Neshamah are roaring outta South Africa with their new record Communicating in Heartbeats; check out two of the new tracks and the video for 'You've Got A Death Wish Baby' over here.
Some really goods: Enlow are back together after a two-year absence and some(expected) member changes; a new record called, aptly, The Recovery is due out next year, produced by Stephen Egerton out in Fort Collins, CO at the Blasting Room. I'm excited.
Alternative Press has shown Tooth & Nail Records some serious love in the current issue; between the label profile and then the massive Underoath cover story, it's like it's T&N Month over at the AP offices in Cleveland or something.
If you like From Autumn to Ashes and/or Taking Back Sunday, there's this new band with ex-members of both bands called The Mirror. I don't have time in my busy life to check out their myspace page, but by all means, go do so. [altpress]
The new Suicide Machines album dropped Tuesday. I should probably be owning it already, but all in due time.
There's Essential Listening today, August 14th: All Star Otis(great name!) hail from New Jersey(like a thousand other bands), and have managed to impress me via purevolume - not an easy feat. Check 'em out over here.
Kevin Max has a new album coming in October called The Impostor; Northern Records is financing this little affair, and the lead single's called 'Sanctuary', featuring former Prayer Chain guitarist Andy Prickett's genius(now there was a great band - I paid one freakin' dollar for their Antarctica EP at Cornerstone!). Listen for 'Sanctuary', and hit up K-Max's website to keep up. [renown]
Oh, dang: says here that the new LA Symphony(the upcoming Disappear Here), besides being - assuredly - ridiculously dope, will also have a guest shot from Madlib, ie the hottest underground producer in hiphop right now. That's insane! Oh this will be so sick.
MADLIB, people!
Moving onto the metal, it's been reported(read: unconfirmed) that As I Lay Dying and Unearth, two of the busiest touring bands alive, are opening for Slipknot this fall. Apparently Slipknot know that if they want anyone to see them, they better bring some friggin' huge openers, since it's been three years since Slipknot were relevant. Anyway, here are the(unconfirmed, remember) dates:
10.14: Cincinnati, OH @ US Bank Arena
10.15: Grand Rapids, MI @ Deltaplex
10.16: Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
10.18: Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater
10.19: Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater
10.21: Moline, IL @ The Mark
10.22: Kansas City, MO @ Freaker’s Ball
10.24: Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
10.25: Toronto, ONT @ Air Canada Ctr
10.27: Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
10.28: Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
10.30: New York, NY @ Nokia Theater
10.31: New York, NY @ Nokia Theater
11.01: New York, NY @ Nokia Theater
11.04: Montreal, QUE @ Bell Centre
11.05: Quebec City, QUE @ Pepsi Arena
11.07: Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
11.09: Atlantic City, NJ @ House of Blues
11.11: Evansville, IN @ Roberts Stadium
11.12: Rockford, IL @ Metro Center
11.13: Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins
11.15: Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
[hxc]
Zao guitarist Russ Cogdell has aggravated an old knee injury on the Warped tour; having been ordered by doctors to have surgery, Zao has elected to skip the rest of Warped(which I think is either already done or very close anyway; this may be old news) so that Cogdell is ready to roll for this fall's touring plans.
Former Sixpence None the Richer frontwoman Leigh Nash(we're done with metal for now, in case you haven't picked up on that) has a solo debut coming out next year; after grinding it out for years with Sixpence before they blew up huge five years ago and calling it a day last year, Nash will now be in the spotlight by her very own self. Not like she wasn't the only recognizable face in Sixpence, but still. Oh, and in related news, I picked up her husband's band(PFR)'s 2004 remix project, The Bookhouse Recordings) today. It's real good. [cmcentral]
Three members of Every Time I Die have put together another project called The Wilddogs. Apparently they're recording after ETID get back from wherever they're touring as you read this - trust me, they're touring someplace. They've been animals for touring for like four years. [truthexplosion]
If you're here in Ottawa, you already know this - I hope - but fresh after ripping up Warped all summer, Strung Out are bringing Comeback Kid and Bane on tour across Canada:
Sept. 19th Vancouver venue TBA
Sept. 21st Calgary venue TBA
Sept. 22nd Edmonton venue TBA
Sept 23rd Saskatoon venue TBA
Sept. 24th, Regina venue TBA
Sept 25th Winnipeg venue TBA
Sept 26th Sault Ste. Marie venue TBA
Sept 28th London venue TBA
Sept 29th Toronto @ The Opera House
Sept 30th Ottawa @ The Babylon
Oct. 1st Montreal @ The Metropolis
Oct 4th Halifax @ The Marquee Club
Oct 5th Moncton @ Oxygen
Props to the bands for going all the way out of the east coast, too. Word.
In other Ottawa concert news, I'd love to know why Underoath aren't part of the Thrice tour that's hitting here October 27th. Is it because they're here with The Used in September? Is that even allowed? What gives? If anyone knows what the deal is, email me.
So here are some pictures of The Offspring from the Quebec City Warped tour stop. Two observations: singer Dexter has looked the exact same since 1995, when he ditched the old braid 'do he had going, and guitarist Noodles looks almost Rolling Stones-old. Wow, he looks old. But I hear they killed either way.
Thirty Called Arson were a crazy, tech-y metal act out of Oklahoma who put out a record called You're Only A Rebel From The Waist Down on Pluto Records a couple years ago - and promptly split up. Hate that! So now one of the dudes, Luis Dubuc, has formed The Secret Handshake and signed a deal with Doll House Recordings in Texas. It's real different, is what the buzz is. Wurlitzer? Acoustic guitar? iBook? Well then. Listen over here. [buzzgrinder]
There's a slew of shows hitting Ottawa this fall. It's out by now that Stretch Arm Strong will not be here August 24th due to their van dying in Maryland last week(boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo), but a ton of things are happening. Keep track of punkottawa.com for all the listings/info.
One of the perks of my job(among the many cons, but meh) is that if I so choose I can sit there at my desk and listen to tunes alllll night long. Here, then, are some ruminations on several such evenings.
- New Found Glory cranked really loud is a good way to stay awake in the wee hours; particularly 'Your Biggest Mistake' and 'At Least I'm Known For Something' off of last year's Catalyst record.
- Further Seems Forever's 2003 album(regarded by most as their finest to date) How To Start A Fire really holds up well upon obsessive
listening; in particular, 'On Legendary' is an amazing piece of work, among many others.
- anyone remember dc Talk? Probably some of you do. Anyway, the
last studio album they recorded together was '98's Supernatural, which remains a classic of Christian rock and roll. Call it what you will, but they were at their creative peak. I hope they get it together and record a new album soon. There are rumours afoot.
- Thrice's early work is vastly underrated; sure, their first two albums
(The Illusion of Safety and Identity Crisis) aren't the master-
piece that is their breakout album The Artist In The Ambulance, but even in their formative years, vocalist/lyricist Dustin Kensrue had a way with words that was far beyond his years. Go find the early stuff; both albums are still, I believe, in print through Sub City Records. And their upcoming new record is gonna kill everything.
There's a feature piece in the Comics section of the latest issue of Exclaim! magazine on Doug Ten Napel - if that name sounds at all familiar, you're both a) an oldschool Five Iron Frenzy fan and b) an obsessive liner-note nerd like myself. Ten Napel, a confessing Christian, did a lot of the artwork for FIF's albums over the years, including my favourite, the cover of the Quantity Is Job 1 EP from 1998. Go find the magazine in any decent record store across Canada.
Former MuchMusic VJ Amanda Walsh is now living it up in Los Angeles/Hollywood; she's latched on with uber-producer Lorne Michaels(Saturday Night Live, among many others) for a couple projects, and her star seems to be on the rise. I mention this only because I had a crush on her back when she was with Much. Heck, she was the only reason to watch Much back in the day. And she's really good on TV. So there!
The stats counter that monitors our traffic has been broke for the last three weeks, but it's fixed as of today - what's weird is that it's kept perfect track of the date, just not been able to show it. Anyway, to sum up: last month, sweetdisaster dot com attracted over eighty thousand hits. That's an eight, followed by four zeros. Which is thirty thousand more than we've ever had. And we thank you, the reader, for that. Keep it up, champs!
Before any news/rumour/outright slander is dished in this space, a request to our loyal readers: sd.com co-founder Dave Flikkema and his wife Kelly are departing for a year-long stint(perhaps more) in Byron Bay, Australia tomorrow, August 8th, so if y'all could be praying/thinking about safe transit for them, it's appreciated here at home. Dave, Kelly: I love you guys. Godspeed. The Flikkemas' website is right over here; we'll be setting up a permanent link sometime soon. Donate if you feel led.
Aight then.
Some exciting news: signed to an unspecified label(the i's and t's haven't been dotted and crossed yet), Stavesacre will tomorrow morning begin tracking on their new record, tentatively titled How To Live With A Curse; this'll be the first full-length album since their one - and only - Nitro Records platter, and I for one am tres excited. Matt Hyde(Hatebreed) will sit in the producer's chair at Studio 606 - owned, incidentally, by the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl. Album release is set for February 6th, perfect for someone to buy me for my 26th birthday three days later. Hint hint.
Slick Shoes have apparently forgotten to pay for their website. I hope this isn't a harbinger to a breakup.
They're lunatics, we all know that, but here's ironclad proof: Horse the Band trashing a hotel room. Nice.
The Black Dahlia Murder have a new record out called Miasma that sounds miles ahead of the forty-minute blast beat that was their debut; check out the video for 'A Vulgar Picture' over here. [noisetheory]
If you're down with MxPx and live in Australia, check 'em out on tour with Motion City Soundtrack next month:
Sunday 28th August @ The Lookout, Perth (2 SHOWS! Afternoon All Ages, Evening 18+)
Tuesday 30th August @ The Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne (Evening 18+)
Wednesday 31st August @ The Hi-Fi Bar, Melbourne (U18 Afternoon)
Thursday 1st September @ UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney (Licensed All Ages)
Friday 4th September @ Newcastle Uni Bar (Evening 18+)
Saturday 3rd September @ Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast (Evening, 18+)
Sunday 4th September @ The Tivoli, Brisbane (Evening, All Ages)
In related news, sweetdisaster's review of MxPx's new record Panic will be posted imminently.
Apparently mash-up phenom DJ Dangermouse(aka Brian Burton) couldn't get enough of working Blur ringleader Damon Albarn on the Gorillaz new album(Demon Days); Dangermouse says they're already working on other material, and DM also has the Dangerdoom collaboration with MF Doom coming out on Epitaph soon, featuring guest shots from the likes of Cee-Lo(ex-Goodie Mob, who were terrific) and Talib Kweli. He's a busy dude. Did you know actor Dennis Hopper is on the new Gorillaz album? I had no idea. Wasn't he the creepy bomber in Speed, the movie responsible for Keanu Reeves? [chartattack]
Wakestock goes down in Toronto next weekend, out on Centre Island(man, that takes me back to my pre-teen years growing up in the T-dot!), with a lineup that's sick like plague: Cursed, Misery Signals, Comeback Kid, The Fullblast(woohoo!), From Autumn to Ashes and Rise Against are just a few. This is an X-Games kinda thing, with bands and BMX and skaters and such. Wakestock.com has all the information, if you're bored next weekend. I won't be, as I'll be up in Deep River, ON watching a bunch of other, not-nearly-as-high-profile bands tearing it up.
California rap crew Heiroglyphics are coming to Ottawa, August 20th at the Capital Music Hall. The show'll be sick, even if Del the Funky Homosapien isn't making the trip and yours truly is working and thusly can't be there either. Booo.
Sweatshop Union: "I think Canadians, as much as we think of ourselves as America's little cousin and we look up to them in a lot of ways, we're also very skeptical of what's going on right now. I think that's a natural Canadian thing as a culture and it comes through in our hiphop. You could try to sound like an American but you'd be playing yourself. And I don't know anyone who's gonna sell doing that." Good call. Full article here.
This bit's near and dear to my heart, as the older sibling of an autistic brother: Jerry Seinfeld and Paul Simon will perform for 'One Night Only: A Concert for Autism Speaks' at Los Angeles' Kodak Theatre. Former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw is emceeing the event, raising money and awareness for autism. [Relevant]
Contrary to loose innunendo, Ottawa native Steve Yzerman has re-signed with the Detroit Red Wings for his 21st season with the team; he's far and away the longest-serving captain in NHL history, and a class act. Too bad he didn't come to Ottawa, though it was unlikely from the start. Yay random hockey news.
I really gotta see this movie!
Say what you will about Alternative Press magazine, but their online news section is pretty fun to read. I like the guy's sense of humour.
In anticipation of their September 5th blowout with openers Jimmy Eat World(rumours that Anti-Flag were also playing appear to have been false), here's some Green Day news: apparently they've had a falling-out with former label Lookout! Records out in California; the band was on Lookout! for two albums before blowing up enormous with 1994's Dookie, and is now apparently debating closing up entirely following Green Day's decision to pull their back catalogue over an unpaid-royalties dispute. Lookout! has already let go of six of their nine employees. Ouch. [punknews]
There's a Bob Dylan tribute album coming out in a couple weeks on...Drive-Thru Records? Egads. Anyway, Anberlin have recorded a cover of 'Like A Rolling Stone' that you can hear over here. So, just to keep things straight, this band has now covered The Cure('Love Song', from their 2003 debut Blueprints For The Black Market), Duran Duran(live at Cornerstone last month), and now Dylan. Well then. [IVM]
The Lesser Lights of Heaven is the title to Zao's upcoming DVD, to be released this fall. It's also the title of a song on their last album, The Funeral of God. Terrific record.
A little love for Duvall is never, ever a bad thing. One of the Cornerstone highlights(for me anyway) is interviewed here on a wide range of topics - like, for example, the fact that 2003's Volume & Density) was almost released on Tooth & Nail Records. That would have been weird.
Ooooooh: the new Constantines album is called Tournament of Hearts, and it comes out October 11th on Sub Pop Records. Or, if you're like most kids nowadays, three months ago, on the internet, for free. You're all disgusting. [aversion]
Heads up, hoodie nation: Madball are hitting the road in support of their first record(Legacy) in a long time. Full Blown Chaos, Walls of Jericho and Misery Signals are opening.
Sept. 7 - Club Lido, Revere, Mass.
Sept. 8 - Otto Bar, Baltimore
Sept. 9 - Knitting Factory, New York
Sept. 10 - Peabody's, Cleveland
Sept. 11 - The Rave, Milwaukee
Sept. 12 - Logan Square, Chicago
Sept. 13 - El Torreon, Kansas City
Sept. 14 - Rock Island, Denver
Sept. 15 - Lo-Fi Café, Salt Lake City
Sept. 16 - The Core, Boise
Sept. 17 - Studio 7, Seattle
Sept. 18 - Hawthorne Theater, Portland, Ore.
Sept. 20 - Pound SF, San Francisco
Sept. 21 - Roxy Theater, Los Angeles
Sept. 22 - Soma Sidestage, San Diego
Sept. 23 - Showcase Theater, Corona, Calif.
Sept. 24 - Brick House, Phoenix
Sept. 26 - Sanctuary, San Antonio, Texas
Sept. 27 - Galaxy Club, Dallas
Sept. 29 - Creepy Crawl, St. Louis
Oct. 1 -Buffalo Icon, Buffalo, N.Y.
This made my day, it's so hilarious: right over here are a bunch of pictures of No Innocent Victim tearing it down at Cornerstone Illinois - and what's funny is that sweetdisaster Big Cheese Yours Truly is in a bunch of these shots. Stage left, front row, green hat with red script - that's me. What a trip. Thanks to hardcorechristian for the montage.
Society's Finest, Texas rock n' roll at its best(with a little metal...okay a lot of metal), have decided to take the rest of 2005 off to refocus. "We are going to be busy writing the [next] record and focusing on our spirituality," vocalist Josh Ashworth says on the band's website. "We will be recording in December now and heading back on the road shortly after that. We are very sorry that we have to cancel the rest of the tour, including Hellfest...this was a very hard decision [for] all of us. I will be going back to Los Angeles, CA to focus more on my relationship with God and getting back on track." I fully support him.
More later tonight. Maybe.
Some highly interesting news from punkottawa today: Thrice and The Bled will be in town for their tour, surprisingly; show's Thursday, October 27th, and it will sell out, so get your tickets early. I wonder why Underoath's not on that bill. As well, some others to check out:
Aug 16 - Sleeper Set Sail, Sydney @ Club SAW
Sept 1 - Death By Stereo @ Babylon
Sept 30 - Strung Out, Bane, Comeback Kid @ Babylon(apparently CBK simply can't tour without Bane)
Good times this fall.
This just in from sweetdisaster enforcer DJ Omnifik: Bob Saget(BOB SAGET!!!) wil be in Ottawa at the Centrepoint Theatre August 20th! I should so go to this!! And throw stuff!
Another Omnifik bit: the video for Ben Folds's 'Cigarette' has been posted online; done by a guy named Ed Skudder, it's a great piece of work. Check it out over here - click on 'Watch Movie' on the right side. Nice piece.
L.A. Symphony are prepping to drop their new record Disappear Here October 4th, and before that there'll be an EP called Less Than Zero later this month(preorders now at the website); two of the cuts are produced by Sup the Chemist and Evidence(Dilated Peoples), and the hotness will be everywhere. Oh, and it was ringleader Flynn's birthday yesterday. Happy birthday, Flynn!
If you're here in lovely Ottawa day after tomorrow(that's Saturday, kids) with nothing to do, go check out the First Annual Punkottawa.com Punk Rock Flea Market and Record Convention. Mouthful, huh? Basically, it'll be tons of punks/hardcore kids/emo nerds/indie ners selling a ton of stuff down at SAW(67 Nicholas St). Nine in the morning til five in the evening. I'm gonna try to show up.
Brandon Jones(what up fool) has renovated indievisionmusic. So y'all should run over and check it out.
I waltzed over to my Friendly Local Christian Retailer last night to pick up two Embodyment records I'd ordered(sidebar: having split up a few years ago, Embodyment remain one of Solid State Records' most underrated bands) and was immediately accosted by two staffers wanting to know if I was there for the new Emery record. No, I replied, but I DID see them at Warped last week, where they performed in big white space suits(I have pictures). And Embodyment's The Narrow Scope of Things(1999) remains one of the best records ever.
While I was there, in related news, I scored the new Manafest for a dollar-fitty. You heard me. It's pretty good.
A further few Warped Tour notes: two failed interviews were attempted with MxPx and Mae. The first band we saw, before even getting onto the grounds proper, was Ottawa's own The Fully Down, rocking with an appreciative crowd. And there's a whole lotta guests on MxPx's new album Panic, from Blink-182's Mark Hoppus to former Mighty Mighty Bosstones guitarist Joe Gittleman to more. It's also their best work in four years.
Essential Listening today, August 3rd, is anything by The Movielife, particularly This Time Next Year. I miss them.
Blindside's new record The Great Depression came out yesterday. Go buy it. I'm doing that next week.
Sadly, The Insyderz, the last remnants of the Christian skacore uprising of the late '90s, will play their last show September 24th in their home state of Michigan. Leonard, MI, to be exact, at the I'll Fight Fest. Man, they were great back in the day. Even their 2003 'comeback' album Soundtrack To A Revolution killed. R.I.P. [IVM]