The first Canadian citizen nailed for camcording a film is Montreal lad Louis-Rene Hache, who was caught by a theatre surveillance system taping the Steve Carell flick Dan In Real Life. If Hache is convicted he could be cooling his heels in the big house for five years. [buzzgrinder]
Surprisingly, Ottawa's first Myspace Secret Show featuring Maryland pop-punks All Time Low and San Franciso chart-toppers Boys Like Girls, was a well-attended affair, and with the decision of the headliners to go acoustic, the vibe was pretty nice, and both bands are competent at singing their hits for the throngs of teenage female humanity. On a related note, another show that same evening featured Bedouin Soundclash, who are worthy of their hype. Recommended. My one regret is missing openers The Saint Alvia Cartel. Next time, fellas!
Evidently a little sick of brutalizing metalcore, two guys from The Chariot have formed a little electro side gig called Queen's Club.
Some excellent mid-week news: sweetdisaster web guru Brody and his wife are expecting their second child next summer. Congratulations, you two!!!!
A word to the legions who, upon hearing of Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert's sudden death last night, decide to show their grief by uttering something along the lines of, "I hate the band, but..." Look, twerps, a man is dead at a very early age, and he left behind a lot of friends and family. I don't wanna read any more a-hole comments that condemn what he chose to spend his adult life doing, and then express your deep, abiding personal sympathy. You're hypocrites. Shut your teenaged mouths.
Anyway.
It's been a long time since Meat Loaf was in the news for anything pertaining to his music - and here's another one: Sony has to cough up more than five million bucks to a guy who discovered Loaf thirty-plus years ago.
Ever heard of The Romantics? Yeah, me neither, but you've heard 'What I Like About You,' and the cover rendition of that song for a Guitar Hero edition has gotten Activision(the makers of the wildly successful GH franchise) sued.
Led Zeppelin will tour. The Cult are opening. Disaster? Raving success? Your thoughts are welcomed. Email us!
SoCal legends Pennywise are going mobile-phone friendly. Next March the band's umpteenth album will drop, and y'all can either go buy the CD(or vinyl), or you can hit the Myspace profile of a mobile-distributor, where you can download the album free if you add them as a friend. It's Myspace's first such experiment. [Billboard]
Remember Slayer's Unholy Alliance tour with Lamb of God and Mastodon last year? This here sounds like the real thing. Yikes.
Former Stone Temple Pilot and current lushly-covered pistol(get it? GET IT?) Scott Weiland is writing a book. He'll be the second one in his band to do so(I see you, Slash).
The latest DVD from the Solid State Records camp is called Buried Alive; check the tracklisting:
01 - Underoath - "In Regards To Myself"
02 - August Burns Red - "Composure"
03 - Norma Jean - "Blue Prints For Future Homes"
04 - Demon Hunter - "1000 Apologies"
05 - He Is Legend - "Attack Of The Dungeon Witch"
06 - Haste the Day - "Stitches"
07 - Underoath - "You're Ever So Inviting"
08 - Destroy the Runner - "Saints"
09 - Inhale/Exhale - "Redemption"
10 - The Chariot - "We Faced Each Other"
11 - Underoath - "A Moment Suspended In Time"
12 - Becoming The Archetype - "Endure"
13 - Inhale/Exhale - "Call To The Faithful"
14 - Norma Jean - "Songs Sound Much Sadder"
[punkbands]
Here's hoping member changes and being generally snakebitten don't hinder the proceedings: Jersey's Life In Your Way, one of the best melodic-hardcore bands in existence, will headline their first tour next February, bringing along fellow Solid Staters Oh, Sleeper and Once Nothing for the ride. [hxc]
Mentioning Guitar Hero as we were earlier, since the third installment was released October 28th, a number of artists featured in the game - no surprise - have experienced a jump in sales, namely the metal attacks of Dragonforce and Killswitch Engage.
The guitarist from hardcore legends Champion has formed a new label called React. The first signing? Canadian boys Get the Most. Sick. [lambgoat]
Oh, and a belated happy Thanksgiving to our American friends!
Greetings from Brockville, the heart of eastern Ontario's Thousand Islands region! Winter has apparently descended upon the D's headquarters back home in Ottawa, so Big Cheese is not looking forward to returning later this afternoon slash evening.
In the spirit of winter, some rock and roll news.
Tony Hawk narrates a new doc called One Nine Nine Four, concerning the mid-'90s breakthroughs of punk legends Green Day, Offspring, etc etc. Check out a trailer over here. Thanks to the boys and girls at Sound the Sirens.
Looks like Terra Firma, the equities firm that also happens to be primary owner of EMI Music Group(owner, in turn, of Tooth & Nail Records, among others), is dissatisfied with the way the recorded-music business is slumping, and plans to aggressively target new acquisitions et al. Scary how they can throw these huge numbers around when a lot of these bands are just making music for music. [decoy]
Our longtime boys in Comeback Kid will have to come back...sorry...from another member departure: bassist Kevin Call is quitting following the band's current European tour. Best of luck to both parties - they'll come back strong.
Today's Essential Listening is actually Essential Viewing: the new Denzel Washington/Russell Crowe flick American Gangster is perhaps the best movie I've seen this year. HUGELY recommended for fans of long, detailed, richly-acted films.
In that same movie vein, the MPAA is vaguely threatening in Congress that American universities receiving taxpayer money in the form of subsidies would probably want to keep students from engaging in online piracy and such things.
Ian Astbury of The Cult(and sometimes The Doors!) let it slip at a Cincinnati show earlier this week that his band will be opening for Led Zeppelin on tour this fall. Awkward.
One of my personal favourite albums of the year, Paramore's Riot!, has been certified gold, meaning sales of half a million records in the US alone. Good for the kids from Franklin, Tennessee! PS: Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache has also been certified gold. Hooray metal!
Today's real Essential Listening is Buck Nasty, coming hard outta Strong Island, featuring ex-members of Alove For Enemies. Check out the tunes.
A monster metal tour is shaping up for the new year, featuring headliners As I Lay Dying with openers August Burns Red, Evergreen Terrace and Still Remains. No word on Canadian dates as yet.
A quick update for all you Dead Poetic fans - and I'm definitely among that august legion - culled from a lengthy Myspace bulletin written by singer Brandon Rike: the band as a touring operation is no longer, following several years of letdowns, ups and downs typical of any band. However, Rike and Zach, the longtime heart of DP, will continue to write and record, with the last Dead Poetic drummer, Jesse Sprinkle, apparently interested in contributing his talents. So there you are.
Interesting piece regarding Warner Records' chief Edgar Bronfman admitting mistakes were made by the Big Five(now Four, of course), courtesy of the kids at soundthesirens: Ha ha ha.
Essential Listening for today - November 14th, the Year of Our Lord 2007 - is none other than the crazy Kernersville, NC kid Yosemite Mudflap, who are every bit as awesome as their name suggests, if only for their album artwork. You want proof? Check them out on Myspace.
Facedown Records are branching out. Owner/founder Jason Dunn has announced the new Dreamt Records imprint, focusing on music entirely unrelated to metal and hardcore, Facedown's stock in trade of the last decade. The first act to release new music will be Thieves and Liars, a blues band featuring former No Innocent Victim guitarist Cory Edelman. [AP]
Sadly, Vermont hardcore kids My Revenge! are splitting up next spring. [SPB]
Rumours abound that New Found Glory, currently minus a label home to call their very own, will release an EP through Boston hardcore label Bridge Nine. I'd be very much in favour of this action, personally.
I scored a 28 - see how you do on Rolling Stone's Almost Impossible Rock Quiz. Take the damn thing over here. I'm telling you, it's hard.
According to reports, The Beatles's catalogue may be available digitally in 2008. Paul McCartney told Billboard, "There's just maybe one little sticking point left, and I think it's being cleared up as we speak." However, as fun as this is, no mention's been made of remastering the songs. Bummer.
With a guy named William DuVall handling vocals, Alice In Chains are hoping to release a new studio album in the second half of '08. It would be the first new AIC album since 1995's self-titled record. I can't judge, having not heard this DuVall person, but c'mon, no Layne, no Chains. C'mon. COME ON.
Apparently, defying the skepticism of one and all, the reunited and touring Van Halen aren't doing too badly for themselves. It was still a bitch move firing bassist Michael Anthony though.
Between the Buried and Me have been asked to join next year's Progressive Nation tour, alongside Opeth, 3 and the mighty Dream Theatre. Needless to say, they're stoked as hell.
Smartbomb, featuring two-fifths of one of my favourite bands in No Trigger, have signed with Think Fast! Records. Absolute world domination will doubtless ensue.
Resurrection Band, known to one and all as Rez Band, are reuniting to play next year's Cornerstone Festival. They had better do 'Across These Fields.' [IVM]
One of my favourite musical discoveries of 2007, Gasoline Heart, have left Mono Vs Stereo Recordings, and will put out a new album next month(December 18th). Producing a bunch of the new material will be the uber-competent Matt Goldman.
Making my heart glad, it's been reported out of California that The Dingees have apparently been rocking some shows out that way. The band has not released new music in quite some time. Which is sad.
Weezer will release Album Six(clever, guys, real clever) April 22nd of next year, but just in time for Christmas - natch - a bunch of frontman Rivers Cuomo's home recordings will be in a package in stores December 11th. Alone: The Home Recordings contains tunes ranging from the present all the way back to 1992. [chartattack]
Ziggy Stardust is hitting the small screen: David Bowie will voice a character on an upcoming episode of Spongebob Squarepants. No word yet on whether this is awesome, or just a tad weird. [Relevant]
My hero, late-night TV genius Conan O'Brien, has somehow been stalked since last year, and no one notified me. The priest in question has been arraigned on charges of stalking and aggravated assault, having sent repeated threatening messages to NBC Television staff and on more than one occasion try to gain access to tapings of the show. I will personally lock the prison cell myself.
sweetdisaster Big Cheese Mike is a devout fan of three sporting franchises: the major-league baseball Toronto Blue Jays, the NBA's Toronto Raptors and the NHL's best squad, the Ottawa Senators. Sadly, the Raptors, after a 2-0 start to this young NBA season, have been crushed in their last three games, and the Senators - coming into the game with a 13-1 record, the class of the league, were destroyed by the last-place Washington Capitals, who'd lost 10 of their last 12 coming into the game. Sad. We won't even mention the Jays.
Anyway. To music.
Check out a nice interview with Revelation Records' co-founder Jordan Cooper centred on the label's 20th anniversary over here. Relevation, aside from giving us greats like Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Sensefield and Chain of Strength, once almost signed New Found Glory, and also put out a Rage Against the Machine record! Amazing. [punknews]
They're coming to Ottawa in the not too distant future(check punkottawa for the date), and Attack In Black have given us a chance to learn their songs beforehand by streaming their entire new album on their Myspace. Go listen!
NOFX will do a north American club tour starting in February with openers No Use For A Name and Toronto newcomers The Flatliners.
Essential Listening today is 'Elevens', by the amazingly talented With Honor; you can stream the song here. And by the way, when you need me, I'll be out back throwing rocks at the moon every night til the day I die.
Radiohead's experiment of last month, releasing In Rainbows for whatever price fans deemed worthy, didn't really work out: most paid nothing or next to nothing, with fans who did shell out paying six dollars on average - and one fan, namely Trent Reznor, paying five grand. Natch.
When the writers' strike ends, Mighty Mighty Bosstones are scheduled to appear - finally - on Jimmy Kimmel Live, something that should've happened years ago given vocalist Dicky Barrett's role on the show(he's been part of the house band since 2004). Conan: I miss you. Please come back from reruns. Incidentally, Jimmy Eat World's scheduled appearance on Letterman has also been nixed for now; ditto Motion City Soundtrack's slotted Late Night gig. Sad. So very sad.
Not only is one of the Dupree sisters of Eisley fame married to the dude from New Found Glory - according to a recent feature in HM mag, another of the trio is getting hitched to Taking Back Sunday's Adam Lazzara. Rock weddings, indeed.
Toronto will not see Armor For Sleep and The Academy Is... this evening following a nasty bus incident that saw no injuries, save to a lot of equipment. AFS' Ben Jorgensen told absolutepunk, "Suffice it to say, lots of our stuff is broken. This stuff will cost money to replace, and because we don't have this stuff today we had to cancel the Toronto show. But it's only that - stuff. We are alll soooo unbelievably happy that the only thing mangled in this whole disaster was stuff, not dudes." Amen.
I hate their name, but damned if 'The Great Escape' isn't ridiculously catchy: Boys Like Girls will open for Miss Avril on her spring '08 tour.
Not content with hyper-caffeinating the planet, the folks at Red Bull appear to be getting ready to jump into the music biz. [http://www.absolutepunk.net" target="new">absolutepunk]
Heath Ledger chosen over Jack Nicholson? It's true, and Jack is pissed.
Emo swooners will love this: Copeland have posted the acoustic version of 'No One Really Wins,' taken from their upcoming Dressed Up and In Line b-sides/rarities album.
A "Christian" group is calling on 50 Cent to stick to his word and retire after Kanye's latest destroyed Fitty's new one in sales this fall. Check out what the "Christian" group had to say over here. People are sick.
Congratulations to country star Garth Brooks, who's overtaken The King as the number-one solo artist of all time, selling over 123 million copies. Surreal.
Essential Listening for November 7th is Ambition, true-blue melodic hardcore from New England, featuring members of With Honor, no slouches themselves. Check out the action on Myspace!
The good folks at truthexplosion have put up both of Feist's performances from this past weekend on Saturday Night Live over here. The diminutive songstress obviously didn't sound as good as she would live or on record - c'mon, it's television - but damn if she didn't rock out, even if we're all probably sick of '1234' from that Apple commercial already.
After the success of Mutiny!, Set Your Goals hit the bricks hard, touring worldwide behind the Eulogy release, including a 60-show European trek with an equally-rad little band called No Trigger - and now they're gonna take a well-deserved winter break to work on the next album. The title track on their debut remains one of my favourite songs of the year. [lambgoat]
The seemingly-snakebitten Nodes of Ranvier have had to drop their second tour in two months; they were scheduled to rock with From A Second Story Window and others, but due to a family emergency they're unable to go. So if you were gonna be stoked to see them - and I would've been - now you're screwed. Having seen how awesome NoR are live, I'd be pissed.
Word is that Immortal Records(30 Seconds to Mars, Korn etc) may have shut its doors over the weekend; a blog from one of the bands on the label, Escape the Frame, indicates such. Innnnteresting. That was sneaky, if rumours are accurate. [buzzgrinder]
Did anyone else see the Sex Pistols on The Late Late Show last week? Did anyone else - like myself - think they sounded pretty good? For real. I was expecting a horrific display, but John Lydon was his usual snotty self, and the band seemed relatively with it. Good on them.
The entirety of the new Dillinger Escape Plan album Ire Works can be streamed on their Myspace page. The band will hit the road in December right through the spring, covering the United States and Europe.
Good news for Dead Poetic fans: that pesky internet thing bred rumours that the band were capital-D dead, but a Myspace bulletin informs us that they're very much still together, releasing a best-of on Tooth & Nail called The Finest on November 20th, and will start work on a new album in the "near future."
Wow - today's Essential Listening, for November 5th, is Sky Eats Airplane, who aside from having a killer name, ply a multidimensional sound ranging from dead-on Thrice worship(the heavier side of Thrice) to ultra-melodic passages to mindcrushing chaos, almost akin to Dillinger, all atop skyrocketing electronics and craziness. I really dig this. Check 'em out for realz.
Speaking of Thrice, their new album, Volumes 1 and 2 of The Alchemy Index are in stores and online and everywhere - and while I thoroughly dig both the heavy and quiet sides of the band, someone is having a harder time appreciating the merits of Water. Hi Jordan!
This really isn't "news," but I guess it's the first real shot anyone's taken at Clear Channel's stifling business practices. The upshot of the class-action lawsuit talked about can be summed up in this statement by the prosecution: "The upshot is that if bands don't use Clear Channel venues, they will be playing to empty houses." Indeed. [Paste]
Okay, this is really good news: the incomparable Derek Webb, one of America's best and most relative-unknown songwriters, will lend 'Name' to this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy, which is just huge for him and for good music in general. Congrats, Derek! And for the record, he was a year ahead of Radiohead in the Going Directly To The Fans department with his freederekwebb.com endeavour. Just stating facts. [JFH]
One of my absolute favourite albums of the year, Daggermouth's Turf Wars(Smallman), has earned the hyperactive Vancouver quintet an opening spot for I Am The Avalanche this fall slash winter:
11/17/2007 Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Cafι Metropolis
11/28/2007 Providence, RI @ Living Room
11/29/2007 Hartford, CT @ The Underground
11/30/2007 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft @ The Chance
12/01/2007 Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Balcony Bar
12/03/2007 Vienna, PA @ Jammin Java
12/07/2007 Tampa, FL @ Orpheum
12/08/2007 Orlando, FL @ AKA Lounge
12/11/2007 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
12/12/2007 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street
12/13/2007 Virginia Beach, VA @ Stepping Out
12/14/2007 South Hackensack, NJ @ School of Rock
12/15/2007 Wilmington, DE @ Harmony Garage
Sadly, no Canadian dates appear. If you fondly remember New Found Glory's self-titled album, but wish the vocals had been tougher, get Turf Wars stat.
In some short-and-sweet movie opinion news - American Gangster, starring Russell Crowe and the mighty Denzel, looks like one badass flick. Can't wait to park myself in a dark theatre with some Twizzlers for that one.
Today's Essential Listening - though Daggermouth is still a must-hear - for November 1st, 2007(November already!) is Ben Harper's 2006 double-album Both Sides of the Gun. One disc is Ben at his most intimate, hushed acoustic best, while disc two is the pure funk, rock, guitar and impassioned vocals that make Harper one of the best in the world, period, end of story. Especially outstanding is the "rock" disc's eight-and-a-half minute closer 'Serve Your Soul,' a blast of slide guitar and distortion that is currently flooring my ass.
My friend and sometimes-coworker Martin had their shirt on last time we did load-in/load-out downtown: Cattle Decapitation have "won" a Rolling Stone poll for Most Gruesome Band Name. I know of others three hundred times worse, but this here is family readin'. [HXC]
One of my favourite sets of this past summer's Cornerstone Fest was Indianapolis' own Gwen Stacy and their slick metalcore assault - and it's paid dividends, as the band have signed with Ferret Music to release a full-length called The Life I Know next February. Congrats, fellas!
I was in Montreal last weekend to drop sweetdisaster enforcer DJ Omnifik off at basic training(hello, Canadian Air Force), and we saw a family sedan in traffic - with a Dying Fetus sticker on the bumper. Hilarious.
Incredibly, System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian's new solo album is ahead of people like Carrie Underwood, Springsteed and Kanye in terms of album sales here in Canada. Wow. [buzzgrinder]
Madonna has caused waves of late by announcing her departure from Warner in favour of a unique deal with promotions company LiveNation - but that's yesterday's news; check this out - she apparently had a fling with Tupac!
Been a while since we heard their name around, but Story of the Year have signed with Epitaph Records. Another major-label abandonment.
Another sign of the apocalypse.
If you're into Law & Order and Fall Out Boy - and hell, who isn't, really - FOB singer Pat Stump will guest on an episode of the longest-running crime drama ever, portraying a typical cubicle monkey.
Another quick television note - Feist will perform on Saturday Night Live this weekend; NBC news anchor Brian Williams(who is hilarious) will host. I'm watching it.
Another major-label defection: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead are ditching Interscope - or, as they refer to it in a press release, "prison." Nice. The system is crashing. Abort abort abort.
Missed this, since it has been two weeks since our last news blast: The End guitarist Andrew Hercules(featured up top in our interview there) has left the band, forcing the cancellation of the rest of their tour with Between the Buried and Me. Giant have stepped in to fill the void.
Relient K, having released their best album this year with Five Score and Seven Years Ago, are losing longtime drummer Dave Douglas come the new year; Douglas' last show with the K will be December 29th. [cmcentral]