Watch Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight on whatever network feed you get where you are and see The Almost make their network-television debut tonight, August 28th! Do poor Aaron Gillespie a favour; I talked to him briefly at Warped a while ago and dude is just wrecked from road fatigue. Let's all get out the pompoms and cheer him on.
It's been a while since we've heard from Los Angeles hardcore kings Terror, but they've got a new five-song EP coming out at the end of October called Rhythm Amongst The Chaos. I love Terror. [Decoy]
Guelph's Arise and Ruin will release their Victory Records debut The Final Dawn on October 30th. They are pure metalcore greatness; for proof, go and listen.
The masterful Wintersleep will release their next superb album October 2nd. They may be the best band from Canada's east coast today - in fact, competition for that title is pretty fierce nowadays. Don't sleep.
How 'bout this show for Ottawa: the Boss is coming to town. That's right - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will play the Civic Centre downtown at Lansdowne Park October 14th in support of their upcoming new album Magic. Notably, Springsteen will play Ottawa and Toronto here in Canada - and that is it, so far. Interesting. [Billboard]
Go big or go home, we guess: The Eagles' new album, their first in almost three decades, will be no less than a double-disc outing. Long Road Out of Eden will be out October 30th, exclusively at Wal-mart and Sam's Club(the latter of which I've never heard of, not being an American).
Interesting. An update was posted yesterday that apparently didn't take, as it is not in evidence down below there.
Bummer.
It was a link to cute puppies, too.
You all missed out.
Some of the highlights from the soundtrack to the new Tony Hawk effort, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground: Blackalicious, At The Gates, Cursed, Darkest Hour, Gallows, Jurassic 5, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster and tons more. I may make someone buy this just so I can listen to it while they play it. [AP]
Today's Essential Listening, your August 27th edition, is Nonpoint, one of the few late-'90s/early '00s nu-metal/rap-metal/whatever-metal bands that still sound pretty damn good in 2007. Anyone recall 'What A Day'? It's up for streaming right here, along with other ripping tunes. The band has a new album coming soon!
A supplemental addition to today's EL - As I Lay Dying's new album An Ocean Between Us is, upon repeated listens, truly a beast of a record. Their best in their history. Members of Solid State's Destroy the Runner contributed some guest vocals.
This is happening here in Canada, and yet I needed Rolling Stone mag to tell me about it: in an effort to combat the imminent demise of the compact disc, HMV here in the fair north will lower the prices on CDs by a full thirty-three percent. Wow.
What do Oprah, Fitty, Em, Jigga and Spike Lee all have in common? Why, it's obvious: all of them have been subpoenaed in a lawsuit against the Canadian government, filed by a Detroit record exec claiming the Canadian feds discriminate against "African-Americans and rappers" at the border. More bulletins as events warrant, but we will say that if rappers and blacks are treated unfairly, so is one out of every three underground hardcore/punk/metal bands that try to cross into Canada. Quit your whining, Detroit record exec.
An mid-season contender for Worst Tour of the Year has been announced: Ozzy Osbourne and Rob Zombie will hit the bricks together later this year, and no one - relatively speaking - will care. [Decoy]
Good news for Blindside fans Stateside: the band will tour the US for the first time in quite some time now, with the following shows confirmed:
September 29 (Sat) - Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
October 1 (Mon) - North Star, Philadelphia, PA
October 2 (Tue) - Knitting Factory, New York, NY
October 5 (Fri) - The Underground, Cincinnati, OH
October 6 (Sat) - Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, GA
October 7 (Sun) - The Social, Orlando, FL
October 9 (Tue) - Rocketown, Nashville, TN
October 12 (Fri) - The Foundry Music Theatre, Joplin, MO
October 13 (Sat) - The Door, Dallas, TX
"Many more" dates, apparently, are forthcoming. C'mon, Canada.
A previously-rumoured mother of a tour is now a fact: Underoath will headline a package featuring openers Poison the Well, Maylene & the Sons of Disaster and Every Time I Die this fall. The dates thus far are over here, but I'm not looking 'cause I know Ottawa ain't on it. Yet.
At five in the afternoon on this, the 24th day of August in scenic Brockville, Ontario, it's 41 degrees Celsius. For our American friends, according to an online conversion device I found, that's 105.8 Fahrenheit.
I quit.
The quasi-vacation blog update for a rainy Brockville Thursday afternoon.
The newest from Cartel is being streamed in full at purevolume; it's not too bad considering it was made in a bubble for a TV show.
Taking Back Sunday's Fred Mascherino's little side gig The Color Fred has signed a deal with Equal Vision Records, easily winning the label's unofficial Stupidest Name contest. [AP]
A Life Once Lost's last album Hunter was one of my favourite metalcore records of the last few years, and the band is back with a new slab called Iron Gag; check out two brand-new bangers over here, and crank it up.
'80s dinosaurs Bon Jovi - who I love! - are gonna rock ten shows - October 25th through November 10th - to help open the new Prudential Centre in the band's home state of New Jersey; openers are often useless(Gretchen Wilson, I see you sneaking out the back door), but My Chemical Romance and All-American Rejects have been tapped for opening duties as well.
No Ottawa date so far, but here's hoping Bad Religion take their upcoming tour to our fair city; openers are fellow Warped veterans Gallows(whose set I missed a couple weeks back, sadly). The run looks as such so far:
Sep 29 - Queen Creek, AZ - Schnepf Farms
Sep 30 - El Paso, TX - Club 101
Oct 1 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
Oct 4 - Pontiac, MI - Clutch Cargo's
Oct 5 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
Oct 6 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
Oct 7 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
Oct 9 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
Oct 10 - Covington, KY - Madison Theatre
Oct 11 - Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
Oct 12 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Oct 14 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Oct 15 - New York, NY - Nokia Theatre Times Square
Oct 16 - Boston, MA - The Roxy
Oct 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
Oct 19 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock Café
Oct 20 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
Speaking of Warped, New Found Glory trotted out their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's massive hit 'Kiss Me,' which enthralled me completely - and now it's online! From The Screen To Your Stereo Volume 2 comes out September 18th. And bassist Ian Grushka simply doesn't wear shirts ever.
If you happen to be going to Warped for its final date on August 25th - this Saturday - check this out: organizers have announced a special stage for that day only. Called the Old School Stage, it will feature the likes of the Dickies, Circle Jerks, Fear, The Adolescents, Agent Orange and more. Whaaaat?
One of the songs from Jimmy Eat World's upcoming album Chase This Light is called 'Big Casino' - reminding me of EDL's classic '99 album A Moment of Clarity, featuring a song by the same name. Just getting old-school on y'all.
Ever wonder what became of the then-children you saw on the covers of breakout albums from Nirvana, Korn and the Goo Goo Dolls in the '90s? Well, MTV is all over it - check out this story about those three tykes, and more!
Apparently Pearl Jam's Lollapalooza was not, in fact, the first to be censored over political rhetoric by the folks at AT&T. Cingular may well be the new AT&T, but the three-letter squad has been accused of several other malfeasances, according to this article, which is basically saying "The company denies such and such, BUT..." over and over. Decide for yourselves.
I always hated that one song of his that was all over the radio a few years back - what was it called again?? - and now it looks like former Kid Rock(who?) DJ Uncle Kracker is in some serious legal trouble, after being arrested on charges of second-degree forced sexual assault(the law's words, not mine). Kracker is presently behind bars in North Carolina on $75,000 bail - down from the original five million. Ouch. [aversion]
I saw them on tour together earlier this year, so it makes sense: The Loved Ones, one of the best raspy-melodic-punk bands out there, have tapped Bouncing Souls guitarist Pete Steinkempt to produce their new album. Incidentally, two members of the now-defunct Explosion(you will be missed!) have joined the Loved Ones as permanent band members. TLO haven't yet finished the new album.
The guestlist on Bedouin Soundclash's latest album Street Gospels is insane: guitar parts contributed by Alexisonfire's Wade MacNeil, keys from Money Mark, production from Bad Brains's Daryl Jenifer and more. The record is out. Go buy it. I love Bedouin Soundclash.
Hey, if anyone really likes us here at the D, and likes our fresh takes on stuff(?), check this out. Christmas is just over four months away!
Right at the crest of the current publicity wave surrounding their new album New Wave, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel was apparently hauled off to the pokey in his home state of Florida Monday night after an altercation in a bar. Gabel was angered by someone's drawing obscenities over an article about the band in the Tallahassee Democrat, one thing led to another, and he was arrested. Nice. I still haven't heard New Wave yet. [buzzgrinder]
In more wanton crime news, dozens of underage twits were arrested at a Family Values Tour stop in New Jersey this week; thirty-three of them for underage drinking, the rest for various sundry charges ranging from resisting arrest to outright assault on a state trooper. Way to go, Jersey. Your parents must be very proud.
Take it from me, a man who presumably knows his business after a decade in this game: As I Lay Dying's latest, An Ocean Between Us, decimates. Proof? Here is the entire thing for your aural enjoyment. You can thank me later. And for some behind-the-scenes video footage for the shoot for 'Nothing Left,' check this out. [theprp]
Sick Of It All will spend the fall touring firstly with Madball, then rising Oklahoma stalwarts Sinking Ships. I devoutly hope to see both tours.
Some of the nicest dudes in metal, period, A Plea For Purging have posted 'While the Sparrow Sleeps' over here. Taken from their upcoming Facedown Records debut, A Critique of Mind and Thought, the song is dynamite. The record hits October 2nd.
November 6th is a good day: Protest the Hero will release their second proper album Fortress on Vagrant Records. Math-metal nerds everywhere are rejoicing.
Be prepared for domination, folks - earlier this year various cats from Unearth, The Black Dahlia Murder, The Red Chord and more had themselves a little Guitar Hero showdown; check out the results right here.
The second edition of the Radio Rebellion tour will be significantly heavier than last year's trek, which featured Ottawa boys The Fully Down along with Norma Jean and the mighty Between the Buried and Me. The upcoming second annual jaunt includes headliners Job For A Cowboy - three-quarters of whom can't even buy drinks in the venues they play yet - along with Behemoth and Quebec boys Beneath the Massacre. The two Canadian dates:
November 12th Toronto, ON - Opera House
November 13th Montreal, QC - Club Soda
Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God and Every Time I Die on the same tour? It's apparently happening, kids, beginning late this year and running into early '08. Wow.
Dashboard Confessional keep quietly churning out good rock and roll under the steady hand of iconoclast Chris Carrabba(we can call him that, right?). The band's latest album is called The Shade of Poison Trees, and the first single 'Thick As Thieves' is up on the band's Myspace. [pastepunk]
The Boss is back; Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band will release their first album in five years on October 2nd, simply called Magic. Sources say Springsteen was spotted in late June at a bar in Atlanta taking in Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello doing his part-time schtick in The Nightwatchman. Who's to say where that influence leads? [Paste]
Get used to the acronym CRS: it stands for Child Rebel Soldiers and the crew features the likes of Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco. A track from the mysterious CRS appeared on a mixtape earlier this year, and it looks like a full album may be in the works.
The Rolling Stones directory Shine A Light, directed by Martin Scorsese, is apparently being held back til April of 2008. Boo! I was getting psyched for this fall.
The Roots are busy lads these days, touring with Rock the Bells and heading out with none other than Big Daddy Kane and MC Lyte this fall. As well, they're working with Al Green on a duets album featuring collaborations with D'Angelo and possibly Joss Stone, for whom Roots drummer ?uestlove supplied percussion on her debut album.
Unquestionably the highlight of this year's Warped Tour experience for me, New Found Glory included an absolutely killer cover of Sixpence None the Richer's monster hit 'Kiss Me'(remember that song?), and the song has found its way online to boot. [punknews]
They say it's on the way out the door, but happy birthday today, August 17th, to the compact disc; 25 years ago today, apparently, the first plant pressed the first CD. Word has it that debut was an Abba album. Sad.
As Cities Burn's CD-release show for Come Now, Oh Sleeper down in N'awleans(that's 'New Orleans,' kids) was recorded by some kid; you can download it here if you're into that kinda thing. Interesting URL there - 'buildingabetter' is a reference to an old Dogwood album, and I loved Dogwood. [absolutepunk]
Good Thursday evening, one and all.
Biggest news in music, at least in our opinion, is Anberlin's jump to the big leagues. Not much of a surprise to anyone given their meteoric success with Tooth & Nail, but the Florida quintet have announced their signing with Universal Republic, for whom they'll release their label debut in mid-2008. Thus far Anberlin's three albums have combined for over 350,000 units sold - something to attract any major-label A&R humanoid. Congratulations, guys! [CMcentral]
Throwdown's newest, Venom and Tears, debuted at No. 81 on the Billboard Top 200, selling around 8,600 copies. Wanna see some pictures of the band in action last weekend at the Montreal Warped stop? Check this out. Or maybe this. Perhaps this, or this, or this? Yes. [lambgoat]
Cursed leader Chris Colohan is a busy boy; aside from prepping the band's upcoming third album, aptly called III(after albums one and two, called I and II respectively), he's launched a label called High Anxiety 416 - the last undoubtedly a reference to Ontario's 416 highway that cuts through the heart of Toronto. A ton of preliminary info on the label and its upcoming doings can be read over here.
Jake Bannon of Converge has merged his Deathwish Inc. record label with eight-year imprint Malfunction(Give Up the Ghost, Count Me Out and more). Deathwish will take over day-to-day operations of the new entity, with releases from Bitter End, Trash Talk and others starting this fall.
The funniest twosome on television, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, have been called upon to testify in the $1-billion dollar lawsuit against Youtube launched by the behemoth Viacom Inc. Both mens' respective shows have been among the most popular on Youtube, so this isn't much of a shock. [buzzgrinder]
Our photo gallery covering this year's Warped tour is online. Review coming tomorrow.
Your day-before-Warped update on a muggy Saturday evening.
We have a double-barreled edition of Essential Listening for today, August 11th.
Keane, hailing from England, are as close to perfect piano pop/rock as it gets, led by a vocalist who is simply superb. If you get HDNet on your telly, keep an eye out for a live concert, filmed in high-def, at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom - it is truly something.
The other half of today's EL is none other than - coincidence? - Warped veterans Face to Face, whose best-of Shoot the Moon is jammed with 21 cuts from all the albums, including a handful of live songs. A great listen.
A pretty good prank pulled by some folks in my line of work: a radio station in Moncton, New Brunswick honoured the opening of The Simpsons movie by re-imaging themselves - entirely - as KBBL Springfield, the fictional radio station in the TV series. Station IDs, jingles, promotions, logo - everything was changed. That's ambitious. Well played. [MMU]
The record drops Tuesday, but Mae have put it up online anyway: check out their entire new album Singularity over here. Stellar. [punkbands]
We'd link to it on Youtube if ESPN hadn't removed it over legalities - but did anyone not see the skater(one Jake Brown by name) fall forty feet from the sky last week at the X Games? Both shoes were blown off this guy, so hard he landed in the base of the halfpipe. How he walked away no one knows. If you haven't seen it, find it.
Missed this a while ago - Offspring drummer Atom Willard(Rocket From the Crypt) has left the band to devote his full energies to Angels & Airwaves. Pete Parada is the new guy - wasn't that the dude from Face to Face, whom we were speaking of a few minutes ago?? How 'bout that.
Switchfoot have severed ties with their longtime label, Columbia Records(Sony). Singer Jon Foreman wrote in his blog, "We are thankful for the incredible success that our partnership has produced over the years; yet within this ever-changing business there can arise differences in vision and goals. These differences have now come to a point where we feel like parting ways would be best for us, and best for Sony." A ton of new projects are in the works, first and foremost a new album from the band in 2008. [CMcentral]
Thrice have dropped the bomb: the band has signed with Vagrant Records to release The Alchemy Index, volumes one through four. Volumes One and Two, Fire and Water, will be out October 16th, while Earth and Air, volumes three and four, will see a release next spring.
Pop/rock boys Thousand Foot Krutch have finished recording their new album The Flame In All of Us with producer Ken Andrews. Ken is the man who made Mae's The Everglow sound absolutely superb, so I expect good sonics, if not compelling music. The new chapter from TFK hits September 18th.
Some Down-Under love for Ottawa's own The Fully Down: "The Fully Down have posted the new song, 'Never Again,' on their MySpace page. I am impressed- I enjoyed their last album, Don't Get Lost in a Movement, but this new track blows all their previous material away." - (Australian 'zine Sound The Sirens)
The new song in question can be heard over here, and it's everything that's always been great about the Down: out-of-control hookiness, melodies, and a full, triple-layered guitar sound that kills. Well done fellas.
Catch it while you can - at midnight tonight this full-album stream of As Cities Burn's latest album will disappear. Get on it.
Eisley, promoting their new album Combinations, will appear on Late Night with Conan O'Brien August 30th. They will destroy, as is customary, and as is also customary, I will point out that one of their number is married to that dude from New Found Glory, and that leads into the fact that this Sunday, August 12th, in Montreal, I will FINALLY see NFG live. Finally. [TVU]
Two great bands, all great dudes: The End have posted some footage of a duel they conducted - in two parts! - with the lads of Moneen. Having years ago seen Moneen singer Kenny Bridges relieve himself into the Centennial Flame of Parliament(Canada's seat of government, for those who don't know), I can believe anything. Thanks to Decoy for the link.
The first leg of The Police's world tour has grossed over a hundred million dollars. Nice life if you can get it.
Weird that the boys from Richmond would join this tour - or is it? Strike Anywhere are going out in support of From Autumn to Ashes and Silverstein. Dates are here.
Because there clearly wasn't enough drama in their lives yet, The Dillinger Escape Plan have announced the "retirement" of guitarist Brian Benoit due to ongoing health concerns. His replacement has already been named; check out all the doings if you're interested over here.
Oh, come on. Really. Let's all get a grip here. Does anyone remember when Society's Finest vocalist Josh Ashworth briefly fronted Zao? Well, that didn't work out, as it turned out - not that there was animosity, just wasn't meant to be. So then Zao drummer/founding member Jesse Smith quits and goes home - NO! Smith has joined - you guessed it - Society's Finest, back behind the drums. Wow.
So over the weekend the editor-in-chief here at the Big Rock D managed to dump his wallet - get ready for this - in the toilet at his girlfriend's parents' house. Yes. In the can. The tank. The john. The porcelain pony. Pathetic. So now I have a new wallet.
Some recommendations for today, this sweltering eighth of August.
Denison Witmer's latest, Are You A Dreamer, is fantastic for listening to on trains.
The Tragically Hip's 2005 concert film That Night In Toronto is a stellar piece of work; 24 songs, four encores, and enough camera angles to keep even the nerds out there happy. Plus, the band's catalogue speaks for itself.
Between the Buried and Me graced Babylon's stage in Ottawa a week ago, and as usual, brought their mastery of melody, aggression and precision with them. They literally weave magic onstage, and you owe it to yourself to see them.
The two movies I told myself at the beginning of this year I'd see, Transformers and The Simpsons Movie, have both proven to be wildly successful ventures. Kudos to myself for my great taste.
It seems a tad late, but better than never: Billboard has announced that it will change how it determines the top hits by including weekly streamed and on-demand music in its traditional formula mix of sales and radio airplay. The new breakdown will be 55% of the traditional radio audience, 40% digital sales and 5% streaming media. [R&R]
Wow. This is a very long article, and a little disjointed, but if you're a longtime undergroud vet and interested in the business affairs of the bands you love(particularly the affairs of Victory Records), it's worth reading. Thanks to SoundTheSirens for the link.
Hey, if you live in Austin, Texas, and you're around on November 3rd(my dad's birthday - happy early birthday Pops!), then you're in luck, as the notoriously anti-touring Neurosis will play a show that night RIGHT IN YOUR TOWN!!! More dates are to be announced, but it's enough that Neurosis is playing out. The band released Given to the Rising earlier this year. [SPB]
A week ahead of its August 7th release date, Chuck Ragan, formerly of Hot Water Music, is streaming his entire new album Feast or Famine on his Myspace. Get it while the getting's good - and then support Chuck and Sideonedummy and buy the damn thing next week, eh?
New Weakerthans song over here. Nothing more should have to be said on this matter.
Ontario boys Farewell to Freeway's work ethic has paid off in a deal with heavyweights Victory Records. Congrats, fellas!
Kudos to Express for a killer interview with Minor Threat alum-turned-Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker. Read! Of particular interest is Baker's estimate of Minor Threat's lifetime sales as somewhere between 800K and a cool million. How 'bout that. Nice links throughout the piece as well.
We all knew American Idol's Simon Cowell was a bit an a-hole - now he's threatening to make the second movie in the franchise's history. Following the colossal failure of 2002's From Justin to Kelly(remember that?), Cowell has been planning("for years" even) a flick called Star Struck, which follows the lives of ten celebrity-hungry contestants as they pursue their fifteen minutes. Wait, hasn't this already been done on television at this point? [RS]
Some gaming news - it comes as no surprise to me that Slash, who is prominently featured in the upcoming third Guitar Hero installment, has a hard time playing the damn game. "I'm not great at it," the guitarist admitted. "And a lot of that has to do with the fact that it’s hard for me to get rid of thirty years — whatever it is — twenty-some-odd years of playing in a certain way and then all of the sudden become accustomed to pressing some buttons and stuff. I have these little things that I'm so used to doing that when I'm playing Guitar Hero it sort of screws me up." You're not alone, Slash. You're not alone.
In related news, Rock Band, which will go head-to-head with GH this fall in its debut, will feature the entirety of Nirvana's Nevermind, fully downloadable and playable, after its release. Wow. I want it want it WANT IT.
Filmmaker Martin Scorsese's documentary on the Rolling Stones, Shine A Light, will hit IMAX and conventional theatres September 21st. Wonder how long it will take for the film, which follows the band for two shows last year at the Beacon Theatre in New York, will take to reach Canada.
Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba is going back to the way it was in 2001 - just him, his acoustic, and a whole bunch of crazed fans; Carrabba is heading out on tour solo for the first time in five years later this fall. Canadian dates include just one so far: November 1st at the Kool Haus in Toronto.
Belated well-wishes to the family and friends of legendary TV man Tom Snyder, who passed away earlier this week. My first memory of late-night television - to which I'm now thoroughly addicted, thanks to this guy) was in my early teens, late at night when my parents were far asleep, watching Snyder host The Late, Late Show on CBS, in his customary armchair, close-up on the face, and being entertained in a classy, veteran way. Rest in peace.
Perhaps the best-known "conscious rapper" outside of Common these days is coming to Ottawa August 31st: Talib Kweli will grace the stage of the Capital Music Hall downtown. Siiiiiiiiick. That will be a busy night for the D, as we'll first be attending the mammoth Misery Signals/Shai Hulud/Means/more show at Babylon earlier that evening(317 Bank Street, c'mon out).