We lost one of the greats today - if not the greatest: Larry Norman, widely regarded as the founding father of Christian rock - the music, not the multi-million dollar industry in America - died yesterday at the age of 60 after a long period of declining health. His brother, Charles, updated Larry's website with the news of his death and his message just before God took him home. Larry almost singlehandedly forged the path for today's "Christian rockers"(as much as I hate that term), coming out of California's 'Jesus freak' scene and writing hugely influential tunes like 'I Wish We'd All Been Ready' that awakened an entire nation's ears to the fact that this was legitimate music. As he once said himself, many, many years ago, "Why should the devil have all the good music?"
Rest in peace.
Congrats to one our faves of the last year, Mr. Joel Plaskett, who hauled home a record six East Coast Music Awards a couple weeks ago!
A killer tour for fans of new-school hardcore that somehow sounds oldschool: Long Island's Crime In Stereo are headed out with three Canadian five-star acts: Winnipeg wrecking crew Comeback Kid, Van City's Daggermouth(Playboy Assassin forever) and Toronto's Cancer Bats. The tour kicks off February 29th and runs through March 20th; check any of the band's MySpace pages for the dates(none of them Canadian, sadly).
Essential Listening for today, February 20th, comes from the far side of the world - at least from my eastern Canada perspective: Saving Grace(Harvest Earth Records) hail from New Zealand, and they are a positive annihilating machine, as evidenced by 'For So Long' - check it out.
Essential Listening for today, February 18th, is Alabama's hardest, The Black Noise Party Boys. Formerly Materia Medica, these guys have gotten comparisons to everyone from Frodus to early Hopesfall, but their new incarnation is pure Southern-fried nasty, akin to Maylene & the Sons of Disaster and a touch of Every Time I Die's raw riffage. Inventive as hell. Hear for yourselves.
Kanye West, Pearl Jam and Metallica all have nothing in common with comedian Chris Rock - save the fact that all of them will appear on the main stage at this summer's Bonnaroo Festival. Who wants to go with me? [MTV]
Speaking of 'Ye, he'll be headlining a mother of a star-powered tour this year, heading out with Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. for two months commencing mid-April. That'll be a tough ticket to find.
Earth Crisis told MTV earlier this week that they will indeed put out a new album, hopefully in '08, and that the new material they've written already sounds like the stuff they were putting out between 1995 and '98. Which is illin'! EC, of course, are touring on a huge bill with Sworn Enemy, Shai Hulud and more this summer.
Say what you will about Fall Out Boy or mercurial bassist Pete Wentz - the man has a sense of humour. Check out his stream-of-consciousness Grammy awards review.
The latest in Fearless Recs' Punk Goes... series? Punk Goes Crunk, which this observer thinks will prove almost as disastrous an idea as it sounds, apart from what will surely be a kickass contribution from New Found Glory, who can do no wrong(they're covering Arrested Development!). Set Your Goals, Say Anything, Emmanuel and All Time Low are among the others included. Complete tracklisting, for whatever it's worth, is over here.
Sure to be one of the biggest tours of the spring/early summer, As I Lay Dying will headline a nationwide Canadian tour kicking off in late April with openers Misery Signals. The itinerary thus far:
Tuesday Apr-29 Vancouver, BC @ Croation Cultural Center
Wednesday Apr-30 Kelowna, BC @ The Habitat
Thursday May-01 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Ballroom
Saturday May-03 Edmonton, AB @ Starlite
Sunday May-04 Regina, SK @ Distrikt
Monday May-05 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
Tuesday May-13 London, ON @ The Embassy
Wednesday May-14 Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix Theatre
Thursday May-15 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon
Friday May-16 Montreal, QC @ Le National
Saturday May-17 Quebec City, QC @ Anti Sk8 Parc
The Constantines finally have a new album coming out. Arts & Crafts will release Kensington Heights on April 15th here in Canada, with the US release set for two weeks later. Cons frontman Bryan Webb remains the only dude I've ever seen get so drunk he literally fell off-stage. Classic CanRock moment there. [punknews]
Neil Young, Tegan & Sara, Feist(though she was shut out last weekend's Grammys), Bedouin Soundclash and my boys The Saint Alvia Cartel are all up for Juno Awards - yes, yes, Canada's Grammys, fine, whatever. The televised ceremony goes sometime in the next couple months(can't be bothered to find out when, precisely).
Good news for fans of Alkaline Trio: the band are working on their sixth album, and the first since 2005's Crimson(by the way, I've got time to waste).
Game maker Activision is gonna put out Guitar Hero: Aerosmith this summer. You guessed it - all Aerosmith. And that's awesome, considering the band's '70s and '80s work remains timeless, if you forgive everything since. [absolutepunk]
Greetings, on the heels of a 3-2 overtime loss by my Ottawa Senators to the hated New Jersey Devils!
Bad news for a number of bands who formerly called Victory Records home: the label has reportedly dropped four of five bands from the roster. If you think your band might be among them, best call Tony Brummel to check. [theprp]
A Life Once Lost and Himsa are going where not very many bands get the chance to go: Russia. The two will play two shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg towards the end of March. Good on them!
One of our faves over the last little while, North Carolina's Advent, have released their debut album as of yesterday; check out a brand-new ripping track from Remove the Earth over here.
Besides the fact that the band are in Canada as of this writing, touring behind The Alchemy Index vols. I & II, Thrice have had 'Digital Sea' remixed by none other than Ben Weinman of the Dillinger Escape Plan. It'll be included in a digital release scheduled for March 4th.
Michael Jackson, hide your back catalogue: Alien Ant Farm, complete with original lineup, are back!
A massive congratulations to our old friend Jordan at Pastepunk and his wife Barbara on the birth of their first child - a boy, Andrew Louis Baker. Woohoo!!
According to a number of reports, The Who are recording new material soon. Given that in the last decade their only exposure has been the "YEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!" featured in the opening credits to CSI: Miami(which I love, by the way), this is probably a good thing.
A knight participating in the next Shrek? It could happen. Sir Paul McCartney(yeah, that guy) has been asked to soundtrack and possibly cameo in Shrek Goes Fourth(get it?), due out in 2010. A Broadway production of the franchise is scheduled for debut on December 14th. Good Lord. [Paste]
Clapton, Hendrix, Elton John and The Police have rocked there. The Beatles made their US debut there some forty-three years ago, to 55,000 Beatlemaniacs. The Mets and the Jets have both won top honours in their respective sports there. And now, native son Billy Joel will be the last to rock Shea Stadium, as it's being torn down following the upcoming baseball season, to be replaced by Citi Field(stupid sponsored names!), currently under construction in the parking lot outside Shea. Tickets for Joel's 'The Last Play at Shea...From the Beatles to Billy' event go on sale this weekend; the show goes July 16th.
If you have a young child, and you're a true hip hop fiend and you want your progeny to grow up to be a head, check out Baby Loves Hip Hop, an album for children centred around five dinosaur buddies(played by the likes of The Roots, Jurassic 5, Digable Planets and more), and featuring original music from the artists. I think this is a rad idea, as does Chris Rock, who's optioned the Baby Loves Music series for future development.
Rise Against and The Saint Alvia Cartel(superb - look for a review of their debut album soon) are both scheduled for Warped this summer. Sick!
Essential Listening for today, February 13th, is Montreal's HC assault squad Deadwalk, who, admittedly, I'd never even heard of prior to last weekend's show at the Bronson Centre here in Ottawa. Verdict: the band kill, and I can't wait to see them again. For fans of Seventh Star, Too Pure to Die and the like, check 'em out.
A good news/bad news scenario from The Showdown's vocalist David Bunton via Myspace - the band have apparently signed to a new label, leaving Mono Vs Stereo after two albums, while losing a member to that ethereal beast known as Real Life. Details on the new label as they roll on in. [cmcentral]
Congrats go out to southern Ontario metalloids Protest the Hero, whose new album Fortress has outdone itself - to understate things. The album debuted at #95 on the Billboard Top 200 Stateside, selling over 7600 physical copies, which is a chunk in this day and age. Even more surprising - or is it? - the record entered at number one here in Canada. The band kick off a month on the road with Silverstein and The Devil Wears Prada in London, Ontario tonight. [truthexplosion]
Dillinger's performance on Conan last night can be seen over here. Thanks, Lambgoat!
I've never heard of them in my life before today, but though the same undoubtedly holds true for thousands, that'll soon change: Fayetteville, Arkansas's Take It Back have signed with Facedown Records - and while press-y things aren't generally taken seriously by us here at the D(hyperbole sucks), a comparison to the mighty Dogwood actually stands up to the label flacks' claim. Check out the hotness here.
An early heads-up: Toronto hardcore purists Cursed will be here in Ottawa April 4th at Cafe Dekcuf.
While it appears that news a couple of weeks ago that The Crucified have reformed was a misunderstanding(and some lazy research on the part of certain unnamed parties who are not the D), that's okay: in what has to be my highlight thus far of a young 2008, Living Sacrifice have officially reunited. Guitarist Rocky Gray, who originally left LS some years ago to join a then-unknown band called Evanescence on drums, is back in the fold alongside founding members Bruce Fitzhugh(vocals/guitar) and Lance Garvin(drums), alongside Arthur Green(back on bass). A new album will be out later this year. Amazing.
It's been a long time since news surfaced regarding Stretch Arm Strong(long may they reign) - but here's something: guitarist David Sease is doing some videogame music customizing - for an XBox game released this week, no less. Read all about it. And someone get SAS back up and running again. [buzzgrinder]
The Dillinger Escape Plan rocked Late Night with Conan O'Brien hard last night; while the song they chose isn't itself the best of their careers, DEP performed the hell out of it(SNL cowbell reference, anyone?), with singer Greg Puciato roaming all over Studio 6A at 30 Rock, up into the crowd, atop Conan's desk, and back to front stage. I've not yet found footage online, but if you look hard enough, I'm sure will surface.
Longtime friends of ours here at the D are in Toronto this weekend: RVA's Strike Anywhere are rocking out with their...well whatever. Strike A and Toronto's own Flatliners will be at the Sound Academy on the Polson Pier in the Big Smoke, along with Hostage Life - 7pm, ten bones. Just a heads-up if you're looking for a roadie this weekend.
Essential Listening for today, February 7th, is Australian bushman Xavier Rudd, who besides looking a lot like my good friend Tristan Brake, is a remarkably-skilled multi-instrumentalist, with his trademark didgeridoo up front(three, in fact, during a recent tour I attended). If you put Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Radiohead, mewithoutYou and Phish in a blender, Xavier Rudd would come out. Check the MySpizzle.
A snowy, windy, icy eastern-Ontario storm-warning Friday evening to one and all.
According to this journal entry by frontman/lyricist Stephen Christian, Anberlin's next album will be the record of their career, with incoming guitarist Christian McAlhaney, formerly of Acceptance, having a big effect on the songwriting process. [IVM]
Derek Webb and his wife Sandra McCracken will be releasing their first album as a couple on April 15th. Called Ampersand, the EP will be six songs of "co-writes, duets, and previously unreleased material."
A new album is finally forthcoming from Israeli/Canadian band Man Alive; three different labels will handle the release worldwide on February 26th. Never heard of MA? That's fine. That's cool. Here ya go.
Having seen the band live years ago in their infancy - circa The Stings of Conscience - I can personally assure you, the good reader, that Unearth's upcoming live DVD Alive from the Apocalypse will be worth the purchase(or theft, if you're into that kinda thing). It releases on Metal Blade Recordings Marcfh 18th.
Another DVD I recently purchased that blew my mind was Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, filmed last July outside Chicago. Proceeds from sales go to support Clapton's Crossroads recovery centre on the island of Antigua, and the lineup - well, here are some highlights: John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Doyle Bramhall II(who blew me away) and about two dozen more. Highly recommended.
Dammit, they'll probably never play near me: SoCal legends Face to Face are reuniting for a few shows year, namely Bamboozle Left in their home state, as well as a couple other gigs internationally. No word on whether this is a full-scale comeback - though after Rage Against the Machine did it, hope is justified! [punkbands]
It would appear that MxPx bailed on Yellowcard to go open up, instead, for buzzy buzzy band Chiodos. Good career move there, much as I love me some Yellowcard.
This just in: Hopesfall and their former boss, Trustkill Records founder and president Josh Grabelle, don't like each other.
Paramore, whose Riot! album is one of our faves from 2007, will film two shows in the UK and release a live DVD called Paramore Live in the UK 2008(clever).
It's like 1994 all over again: Offspring and Green Day, the forefathers of the commercialization of punk - for better or worse - are both rumoured to be releasing new albums over the course of '08. Incidentally, I hit up Wikipedia earlier tonight, and what was the randomly-selected entry on the front page? That of Dookie, Green Day's '94 breakout. Weeeeird.
One of the best of their breed, UK rockers Delirious - who've been known to open for the likes of Bon Jovi on their side of the pond - are losing founding drummer Stewart Smith, who's leaving after twelve years to open a creative-design firm. [cmcentral]