Perhaps it's just the fact that due to my upbringing I'm a sucker for the huge sound of a church pipe organ, but your Essential Listening for today, the last day of April 2008, is Search the City's 'Son of a Gun,' found for your convenience over here. One of the few among the current Tooth & Nail Records crop that I'm actually digging.
A quick-yet-surely-overwhelming word of welcome to the latest addition to the writing staff here at the D: Mr. Pliggot, better known to his mother as Steve. Pliggy comes to us by way of the legendary Five Iron Frenzy chatroom back in the day, which we dominated with the help of the D's web guru Brody around the turn of the millennium. Steve and I go a long way back, and he's an equally sarcastic bastard to me, so here's to more incisive, witty commentary on the good, the bad and the stupid!
Speaking of the (very)good, by the way, rap vets Deepspace5 - comprised, at last count, of approximately 358 emcees and beatmakers including Mars Ill, Sev Statik, Listener, Sintaxtheterrific and more - will record their third album this summer...without the help of a record label. That's right, DS5 have seen the light and will attempt to record and distribute the latest awesomeness on their own - and you can help by picking up Bake Sale, a new comp they're releasing at their website for a pittance, with all proceeds going to finance the real deal later in Oh-Eight. Help the crew help hip-hop. Word. By the way, we were kidding about the 358 members. There are only eleven.
Gasoline Heart leave for their latest tour in a couple of days; check out their MySpace and make sure you catch one of the best American rock bands working today live.
Radiohead have decided that free pay-your-own-price downloading was fun and all for In Rainbows, but the band's next epic will be a regular pay-for-it-suckers release. Singer Thom Yorke told reporters, "It was one of those things where we were in the position of everyone asking us what we were going to do. I don't think it would have the same significance now anyway, if we chose to give something away again. It was a moment in time." In Rainbows was a slap at the band's former label, EMI. Go bands sticking it to the Man! [MSN]
If you haven't got to hear the tracks from the new Slingshot Dakota album, please do by heading over to their myspace site.
It appears that G&R almost got back together in 2004. Ex-Velvet Revolver frontman/STP/Poster Boy for crack -Scott Weiland said in a recent interview that the band's classic line-up was set to tour for their greatest hits album and then fell through the cracks at the last minute. In other news, G&R's new album is scheduled for released shortly after pigs fly.
For those of you who have the Fuse Network, check out Backstage Passport with NOFX. Having grown up on NOFX and knowing their aversion to music networks and press, it is pretty refreshing to see. Although it should be noted that even though it is odd to see them giving press conferences around Asia, it's still refreshing to see a band that is near legendary do the down to earth stuff. Check it out.
Apparently, Rival Schools (featuring Walter Schreifels from Gorilla Biscuits, Walking Concert, Youth of Today, Quicksand, aka punk legend) has announced that they are going to play their first shows in five years. If you live in England or Germany, right on. The rest of us will just have to wait.
Also in news, Amy Winhehouse is crazy.
ALL (aka the Descedents without Milo) are set to play a few dates in October. Rumor has it that it will be the classic ALL line up with vocalist Scott Reynolds (the Percolator album is the best!) will be at the helm too!
Lagwagon's Joey Cape (who is also in Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Bad Astronaut, The Playing Favorites, etc.), has given a pretty good interview with audio previews of his new acoustic album over here.
And also, synth rock heroes Karmella's Game are fresh off of tour and right into recording their new album. If you haven't heard them yet, check out their myspace.
Chances are if you went to Coldplay's website in the past few days, you've downloaded their new track! Just enough to hold you over for the new album too! They are playing like 3 dates this summer so good luck if you get to one of them.
Hold the old horses here! Mudhoney has a new album!?! It's called The Lucky Ones and it is supposedly a return to their old style of dirty garage laden greatness. Sweet!
In very sad news, Seattle's Sinking Ships are going to disband after two more shows. And the hope fades...
Suprise! Scott Weiland is going to jail! Oh... wait. Is that a suprise? Apparently adding another drunk driving incident to his extensive "resume" was the final straw for the courts. Oh yeah... he is recording a solo album and something about STP, blah blah.
Blur's Damon Albarn is set to release an album next year. It's reported that this album is to have over 130 musicians on it! Meanwhile Blur is not making an album... huh. *HINT*
In other news, Phil Collins announced his musical retirement last week. Thank You!
Former Craig's Brother guitarist Ryan Key, more known as the frontman for Yellowcard, has announced that they are indeed going to take an indefinite hiatus due to growing up, etc.
Evening, kiddies. It's pretty miserable here in the greater Ottawa area, but what the hell, that's spring for you - May will be fantastic I bet.
Says here on MyShpace.com that the Smoking Popes will have their new album Stay Down out on June 17th - and they've done wrangled themselves a new drummer to boot; former Lawrence Arms skinsman Neil Hennessey is onboard the Good Ship Popes. Get excited!
In some personal news, thanks to some early-season slumps throughout my lineup, my fantasy baseball team is now tied with that of my brother Dan's for second-last in our league, with a mediocre winning percentage of .458. Manny Ramirez, Justin Morneau - y'all need to step it up some, sons! Geez!
Weirdly enough, I was actually thinking about Ensign over the weekend - and now word has arisen that the band, long on hiatus(their last album, The Price of Progression, was released in 2001) have convened for their fourth album, Lost Message On A Fading Frequency! I'm super excited over this. Vocalist Tim Shaw has spent the last two years guitar teching for Rancid while Nathan Gluck has been busy managing tours for Sick Of It All, Unearth and others. No release date has been announced as yet, but shows have been confirmed for this fall. Welcome back, Ensign!
Metallica may go the route of Radiohead, Trent Reznor and others and handle their future work on their own - as opposed to, say, signing a monster 360-type deal with the likes of LiveNation. Drummer Lars Ulrich told Rolling Stone that the band would like to keep things in their own hands. [punkbands]
Pennywise are going on tour next month with Strung Out and Authority Zero. Check the bands' various Myspace pages for the routing if you like your punk like I like my sitcoms: '90s style.
They're as Boston as it gets: the Dropkick Murphys have taken it upon themselves to reopen a Beantown bar that closed its doors in the '20s due to Prohibition in the US. McGreevey's 3rd-Base Saloon(911 Boylston, if you're in the Boston area) is considered the Birthplace of Red Sox Nation, according to most. Now, I'm a lifelong fan of another team, but this is pretty cool for DKM.
North Carolina's He Is Legend, building on the success of their second album Suck Out the Poison(2006), have posted four new demo songs online. Evaluate! Talk crap! Tell everyone how you only like the old stuff!
Offspring are gonna have a busy day June 17th: on that day, Epitaph will reissue 1992's Ignition and their '94 breakout album Smash, the biggest-selling independent record of all time. Both albums will be remastered - and that same day, the band will release their new album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. Big doings!
Stop the presses - new music from Misery Signals online! [lambgoat]
The noble state of New Hampshire's law-enforcement types are treating The Breathing Process(good band!) pretty badly; the band lost everything they had with them during a roadside fire that engulfed van and trailer - and the state has informed them that due to extensive "damage" to the roadway, they owe New Hampshire ten thousand dollars. Complete bullshit on the part of one of New England's components - full story over here, along with details of how you can help TBP out financially if you feel so led. [buzzgrinder]
Looks like Starbucks has already tired of the music business, despite a number of Grammys won by artists involved with their Hear Music label; the company is passing off "all control" of music operations to partner Concord Music. CEO Howard Schultz says, "Now is the appropriate time to restructure our entertainment business to better align our efforts with our overall business strategies." Less rock, more java.
So! Not only are my beloved Toronto Blue Jays losing games late as the bullpen chokes away what are usually fine jobs by the starting pitchers, but now this here goes down. That's right - even our single-A LANSING LUGNUTS prospects are juicing!
Brutal.
Anyone not down with the behemoth that is Clear Channel will like this: a jury of fine citizenry in Lufkin, Texas, has pounded the company with a $66-million dollar verdict against in a patent-infringement case. Full legalese over here. [R&R]
According to a recent blog from singer/lyricist Stephen Christian, the new Anberlin album - expected in August - may just be titled Never Surrender. Not only that, but at a recent show they announced from the stage that they're re-recording 'The Feel Good Drag'(from Never Take Friendship Personal, 2005) for the new album. [TVU]
P.O.D. - a longtime fave here at the D - have their new album When Angels & Serpents Dance out in stores and online, and aside from having to turf a slot on Leno the day of due to vocal soreness on Sonny's part, the band are in full album-cycle swing, announcing the Warriors Part III tour for this fall. No word on openers as yet.
If you're a frustrated Switchfoot fan pining for new tuneage - pine no more: a new song is up over here. It's called 'This Is Home.' [Decoy]
Last year's Rock the Bells tour had a fantastic lineup, including the re-formed Rage Against the Machine, and this year, Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest will be part of the party. Tip will perform solo with his band and EMPD's DJ, then return later with Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed for some ATCQ madness. That's hot. Oh, and Nas is playing too!
Kataklysm, the pride of Quebec's metal scene, will roar back with a new album next month; Prevail will be out May 27th for all you black-clad kiddies to mosh to.
I know I'm not ready for this: Mario Kart for Nintendo Wii arrives this weekend, April 27th. I will destroy all comers at this game.
Her second kick at the can proved no better than her first: almost a decade after she was signed to RCA Records(under the name Carly Henessey, I believe), Carly Smithson was booted off American Idol last* night. Too bad, so sad. Next. [Billboard]
Behold! The Facebook for old folks! GetBack is aimed at people over 35, has partnered with the likes of Netflix, All Media, Universal and Warner, and is basically a place to go when you don't think you fit in with the young whippersnappers of Myspace and Facebook.
We mentioned last week that Bruce Springsteen had come out endorsing Presidential candidate Barack Obama - some sad news from the E Street camp; keyboardist Danny Federici passed away last week at the age of 58 after a three-year battle with cancer. It was Federici, more than 40 years ago, who first invited a young Springsteen to join he and original E drummer Vini Lopez in their band. R.I.P.
Not only is he appearing here in Ottawa this summer, RZA has put together a band! He's hooked up with System of a Down's bassist and a couple of others to form Achozen, a 'hip-hop/rock hybrid'(where have we heard that before?) who will release an album soon. This would be a really bad idea if it was any other emcee but the Rizz Man. Oh, and there's this as well: RZA and Chesspark.com have just introduced wuchess.com, an online community where hip-hop fans who love chess compete in live games with other chess players. No joke. We can't make this stuff up.
Can someone explain to me why Motley Crue are still making records?
Say what you, their debut album remains a classic: Matchbox 20 have drawn some crossfire between a rodeo organization in Wyoming and an animal-rights group called SHARK; seems the band was scheduled to perform at Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming, but pulled out after apparently seeing videos of alleged animal abuse from last year's event/concert. SHARK(Showing Animals Respect and Kindness) is being accused by the Wyoming contingent of using "threats of negative publicity" to force Matchbox off the bill. Interestingly, the same organization was also accused of luring Carrie Underwood away from performing at the same event in 2006. [RS]
Gnarls Barkley's second offering, The Odd Couple, is as laid-back and weird as their debut album was frenetic and...well, weird. And it gets weirder still: the duo have posted the entire new album online...in reverse. One long thirty-eight-minute track. How, um, 'odd.' Check it out!
This sounds like it could be an utter disaster - System of a Down's Shavo Odadjian and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA have posted a collaboration they describe as "heavy hip-hop." A brilliant self-analysis, if ever there was one, if you ask this corner. When your head stops spinning after listening to Gnarls Barkley backwards, check this out.
Their Muppets-fest video is one of my favourites: Weezer have posted a new song called 'Pork and Beans' online. The new album is expected in June.
New review posted - check out our thoughts on the debut album from North Carolina's Advent in the right-hand column there.
America's blue-collar hero, Bruce Springsteen, has come out in endorsement of Barack Obama for President, leading some to wonder - what took so long? The Boss says Obama "speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for thirty-five years," and that he's the best hope to "undo the terrible damage done over the past eight years." [Relevant]
It was recently announced that they're coming to my fair city for the first time, but the fact remains that '90s Britrockers Oasis are still led by rather a prick in Noel Gallagher, who's come right out and said that Jay-Z, invited by this summer's Glastonbury Festival to open the proceedings, isn't a good fit for the fest, saying(partially), "I'm not having hip-hop at Glastonbury. No way. No. It's wrong." For the full load of priggishness, here's your link.
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a longtime guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, has a heart for autism. Who knew? Writer/comedian Robert Smigel, the man behind Triumph as well as Saturday Night Live's various cartoon shorts, is also father to Daniel, who is autistic, and he organized Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbooked Concert for Autism Education, which went down live over the weekend on Comedy Central. A veritable squadron of performers turned out for the event, including Smigel's longtime friend O'Brien, SNL's Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and alum Will Ferrell(as President Bush, via satellite), Chris Rock, Stephen Colbert and host Jon Stewart. The special raised money for a variety of schools and outreach programs for autistic children, and as the eldest of three brothers, the youngest of whom is profoundly autistic, I thank and congratulate all involved.
They're in Ottawa a week from tonight(April 23rd) at Mavericks, and to get psyched check out a new cut from Stick To Your Guns called 'Accessory Children,' from their forthcoming new album Comes From the Heart, over here. CFTH will be out next month - come to the show! [AP]
To no one's surprise, Thrice have posted their new album on their Myspace; Volumes 3 and 4 of The Alchemy Index dropped in stores yesterday.
I remember I was working overnights back in the summer of '05 and just before heading to work I was scrounging online as usual and word exploded out of Jersey describing the last-second cancellation of that summer's Hellfest, which never returned. Word on the street is that the annual fest may make a comeback this summer, but no word from organizers has been made public as yet. How 'bout that. [SPB]
Well, it just gets ever-funnier: after spending around thirteen million bucks and a decade of manpower, Guns 'N Roses have reportedly turned over the long-awaited opus Chinese Democracy over to their record label...it occurs to this corner of the interweb that perhaps Axl and his cronies did this deliberately to coincide with the Beijing Olympics looming? Interesting thought. Anyway, the legalese is now being pounded out, and as the clever folks at Aversion put it, thirteen years is forty-five times longer than the five months The Beatles put into Sgt. Pepper - and I bet Pepper will stand as the better album still when it's all said and done.
Just a heads-up - this Tuesday(the fifteenth) marks the release of the second half of Thrice's epic - they're not going to be outshined by Axl! - The Alchemy Index. Volumes three and four, Air and Water respectively, will finally grace our ears in full, after two years of anticipation.
They might be the most under-the-radar band that are still excellent out there today: Sac-Town's Deftones are set to record their new album(untitled for now) starting this coming week with producer Terry Date, a longtime compatriot of the band. "So far, it's shaping up to be our most unorthodox piece of work, not only sound-wise but the way a lot of the songs have come about," singer Chino Moreno says. "There is also some of that good old "f*** you, I hope you die!" aggression I know a lot of you love and miss from us." Well spoken, if a little negative.
Going against every shred of sound business acumen, the New Kids On the Block - we are not deceiving you here - are reuniting. Boston's fahnest will tour for the first time since 1994, and also claim to have "new material," as scary a concept as can exist. Why the hell would Mark Wahlberg, who's trained himself to be a very good actor on occasion, consent to this?? Answers!
As an FYI from us to you, here are Radiohead's three Canadian tour dates this summer:
Aug. 6 Montreal, QC @ Parc-Jean Drapeau
Aug. 15 Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
Aug. 19 Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
You're welcome. Ironically, the Montreal location is also that of the yearly Warped tour, which draws roughly as many people for about a hundred bands as this event will for one.
It does not look good for sweetdisaster Big Cheese Mike's beloved Ottawa Senators, after my Sens dropped a 5-3 game to the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier tonight, getting down 2-0 in the best-of-seven first-round NHL playoff series. Yikes. It looks more and more like Jordan Baker's Washington Capitals, featuring all-world star Alex Ovechkin, may just be the Cinderella story in this playoff season. Wow. Led the league in points this year, will undoubtedly win the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player, and he was 11th leaguewide in hits. Unbelievable.
Say what you will about the franchise that is American Idol and its attendant clingers-on, but they raised $22 million dollars for charity over the latest installment of Idol Gives Back. Snoop Dogg and various of his youth football league showed up, as did Miley Cyrus(she's Hannah Montana, if you didn't already know, c'mon!), Brad Pitt and one of the greatest comedians ever, Mr. Billy Crystal. More over here!
I actually saw the video for 'I Was Wrong' last week: Social Distortion maestro Mike Ness says the band are planning both another proper Social D album - and an acoustic record. Ness isn't sure which will come first; watch for both. [punknews]
The man with the voice of a fourteen-year-old girl(we mean that in a complimentary way of course), Anthony Green of Saosin, is planning a new album of his own for this summer - a solo effort called Avalon that will come out in August.
NYHC greats Madball have switched drummers, with Riggs Ross out and a guy who's played for Cro-Mags and Bad Brains stepping in. Solid arrangement if you ask me.
Winnipeg's G7 Welcoming Committee has shut down; the label has put out music by Greg MacPherson, The International Noise Conspiracy and of course The Weakerthans, but they're just sick to death of the slew of attendant business dealings that go with the industry.
Aww, everything has worked just peachy: somehow, despite the nastiness(read: numerous legal actions), Hawthorne Heights and their onetime label Victory have reconciled their differences - not only reconciled, but Victory will release the band's new album this summer! What the...how the...bloody hell! All that time we blogsters spent documenting every punch of the twelve-round prizefight between the two! Wasted! Hmph.
One of my favourite songwriters ever, Reese Roper(formerly of Five Iron Frenzy), despite a well-turned April Fool's prank that claimed otherwise, remains the voice of Brave Saint Saturn, who will release the final third of the BSS trilogy this summer, called Anti-Meridian. Roper himself is playing two acoustic sets at this summer's Inside Out Soulfest in New Hampshire, and a Five Iron DVD is in the works. When that DVD comes out I am all over that action. [JFH]
Starflyer 59 keep cranking out superior shoegaze pop-rock under the radar, as they have since the early '90s - and their latest, Dial M(no word on what M stands for, but I'm guessing 'masterpiece'), will be out this summer/early fall on the band's only label home, Tooth & Nail Records.
I probably wouldn't have remembered if it wasn't for my man Jason Tate at absolutepunk - it was fourteen years ago today that Kurt Cobain was found dead by an electrician in Seattle. Rest in peace, Kurt - your legacy continues to influence.
Stone Temple Pilots are back in full force, with a 65-city tour lined up for later in oh-eight as well as talk of a new album. I can't even name their last one, it's been so long. Singer Scott Weiland either quit or was relieved of his vocal duties with chart-toppers Velvet Revolver.
This last is for anyone reading this who's in my profession of radio: you know you're in radio when the itinerary for events like dinners, awards ceremonies, etc end with '9:00 - Networking.'
Madonna has been joined in the ranks of artists who've signed colossally-long agreements with LiveNation: U2 recently agreed toa monster twelve-year deal with the promotions giant, and Jay-Z - who, by the way, also married longtime squeeze Beyonce last week - is planning to leave Island Def Jam for a $150-million contract that would encompass his own label and management firm along with sponsoring, licensing and the like. It makes this blogger's head spin. [Paste]
He's one of the best comedians around right now, and I missed him here in Ottawa over the winter: Jim Gaffigan has announced the Sexy Tour later this year, featuring his classic clean, all-ages commentary - and maybe an appearance of Pale Force, his Conan O'Brien sendup. If you've not heard Jim ruminate on bacon - he did an entire appearance on Late Night on that one topic - you haven't yet lived.
It's that time of year again: festival season fast approaches, and the official lineup, after a couple of customary leaks, has been revealed for the oh-eight edition of Lollapalooza. Highlights include Rage Against the Machine(guys, quit playing so many festivals and just make a new album already!), Gnarls Barkley(whose new album The Odd Couple is growing on me), Kanye, Nine Inch Nails, Brand New, Toronto's KNAAN, Montreal's Chromeo, Edmonton's Cadence Weapon, Winnipeg's Weakerthans and Chicago's own, the masterful Wilco, along with about sixty others(no joke).
It's official - MySpace have reached agreements with three of the four major labels out there(EMI remains unsigned as yet, but they're expected to join up soon) to create their Myspace Music service, a multifaceted venture that will offer a wide range of music services, including DRM-free downloads for purchase, transferable to portable devices like iPods or mp3 players or whatever the devil the kids these days are using. Notably, no one asked Tom Myspace what he thought of the deal. He's probably real pissed somewhere.
In a related story, a report out says that 95 percent of people 18-24 are copying music in one form or another. If there was ever a doubt among the aforementioned major labels that the digital revolution is upon us, this erases it. [punknews]
Congratulations are in order to two entities tonight. Firstly, my beloved Toronto Blue Jays swept the defending-champion Boston Red Sox right back to Boston, taking all three games over the weekend at Rogers Centre. And secondly, Feist completely destroyed the 2008 Juno Awards in Calgary, hauling home five trophies - this after being shut out at the Grammys in February. Congrats, Leslie!
A fine Saturday evening to one and all. Hopefully spring and summer have arrived, not to beat a hasty retreat at the hands of a sudden Arctic blast.
Whether or not you live in or near Toronto, if you're a hardcore kid whatsoever you owe it to yourself to be in Hogtown on the 11th of May to see California legends Strife, the original lineup, playing their first Toronto show in eleven years, with support from Philly's Reign Supreme and GTA lads To The Lions(ex-Grade and Confine). The show goes at the Kathedral on Queen St. West, and it will be massive. [truthexplosion]
More true-blue hardcore: Terror have slapped up a brand-new song from their upcoming Century Media debut. Enjoy. The new album drops June 10th.
It's been kinda quiet on the Comeback Kid front of late, though that certainly don't mean the band haven't been hitting the bricks - and when they make a tour announcement, they really make one: CBK will embark on a world tour that will take them to Hawaii, Japan, southeast Asia, Mexico, Portugal(I couldn't find Portugal on a map), Russia, south America, Europe, the UK and the United States. Whew. I'm exhausted just typing that - imagine doing it. The boys from Winnipeg will rock Hawaii before joining up with fellow 'Peg City boys Propagandhi for Japan, and the race is on from there. Other guests aboard at various places include Darkest Hour, Shai Hulud and the mighty Crime In Stereo. Good luck, fellas. [lambgoat]
Ministry played in Ottawa in 2006, and from the accounts of my fellow loaders who work casually for RevRock here in the nation's capital, it was the longest, toughest load-in and -out in their memory. Seems Ministry like a lot of gear. Main man Al Jourgensen, meanwhile, apparently does not like the new metal bands out there, saying, "all the f***ing bands sound the same. If somebody puts on a radio in a car, I couldn't fucking tell you what's Avenged Sevenfold or As I Lay Dying. It all sounds like the same crap to me." When was the last time Ministry were recognized by anyone under thirty? Is this bitterness that his band isn't selling those numbers, or simply incisive commentary? PS: Al, please don't find me and kick my ass - I am physically intimidated by you.
Red Bull Records? It could happen - a website for such has been created, and word has it the beverage company has sunk millions into a recording studio in California, with the goal of having a label up and running by year's end. Check out the full story over here. [buzzgrinder]
Here's a blast from the past: Rancid are touring this summer! Come to Ottawa, Rancid! I'll come see you! "NIHILISM! NIHILISM!!!"
Soul Embraced are back on, with guitarist Rocky being booted from Diva Camp, um, Evanescence and itching to shred out; check out a couple of new tunes over here - the new album drops at the end of April. Stooooked. [theprp]
They'll hopefully be playing a wack of sweet new tunes off it May 15th here in Ottawa: Misery Signals have titled their forthcoming third album Controller. It will be out July 22nd on Ferret, but I'm sure you've already stolen it in its entirety from wherever it is you steal this stuff from.