Tagged: livemusicreview

This'll be in my top 3 records of 2011. I really dig it-- much more than I expected to, actually. I was initially put off by the band's name-- profanity in a name usually means someone's trying too hard and can't deliver on the implicit promise of awesomeness, like Hellyeah or The Fucking Wrath . Die Miserable is a surprisingly, despite its nomenclature, life-affirming album of progressive/ "experimental" grindcore. Ottowa's Fuck the Facts have released a Hades of a record.... Track one, "Drift"-- a rumbling, shaking [...]

I got my hands on this split just a few days ago. I am glad I did. Both of these bands come from the Baltimore area and place wickedly fast hardcore. Both of these bands are killer. Killer riffs, the vocals kill and killer fast beats make this under eight minute split awesome….err killer!! The first half of this slit belongs to the boys in Lapse . They start things off with the track, “Bonehead”. About a minute long, this songs starts off with an intro about aliens and then immediately kicks you in the balls…or lady [...]

Another week, another review of a double live album. I could have sworn I wrote this one up a year or so ago for Ripple but was amazed that I did not. Good thing, too. I've been looking for a cheap copy of the LP to replace the one that went missing over 25 years ago and finally tracked one down last week. 5 bucks for this muther at a used place on Long Island in a bin full of crappy metal like Americade and Kane Roberts. I've had the remastered CD for many years, and it sounds great, but [...]

Last weekend Meredith got into Friend of Foe

Last weekend Meredith got into Friend or Foe

Ankur reports about last weekend's show of The Electric in Beijing's YugonYishan.

Did you know PR companies remind me a lot of foxes? Not the real foxes with the bushy tails, but the cunning ones that are portrayed in cartoons. I have come to that conclusion as most press releases I have read for a band are really far off the mark. Oh yeah, X Band has “unique” sounds and “is exploding onto the indie scene”... That is why they remind me of every other mainstream artist right now... I had to retract these beliefs though (Thank you Planetary Group) when Y LUV's press release summed [...]

“Captain, we have flux moderator ready.” “The time is near. Engineering, are you prepared.” “Yes.” “Dimensional Shift inducer armed?” “Yes.” “Einstein-ian Physics bypass?” “Engaged.” “Then prepare for warp-phase shift. Time-dimensional overlap on . . . one . . . two . . . three. Now, move like this.” Ok, a little overdone, for sure, but it must take some sort of disruption of Einstein’s physics and understanding of time and space to understand how – 24 years after recording their last album and 11 years since losing the essential Benjamin Orr— The Cars managed to [...]

It's been a long time since a split CD has really caught my attention and made me want to continue to listen to it over and over. Back in the day some of my favorite splits were: At The Drive-In / Sunshine , Alkaline Trio / Hot Water Music , Pig Destroyer / Gnob , Napalm Death / S.O.B . and Agoraphobic Nosebleed / Kill The Client, just to name a few. So, it has really been a good number of years that I have heard a good split album. This year I have [...]

The last person on that planet someone should be talking to about punk is me. Mainly because although I like the genre, I know very little of it. I do have ears though! So, I can pick out the good sounds, and Cain Marko's EP At Sea has the good audio waves going on. The riffs, the drums, the half screaming vocals... Works. Listen to this EP. It's on your bucket list now. I am a sucker for a good riff. I will listen to the most horrible, disastrous music if the guitars [...]

“Girl I have seen your dreams and they were filled with darkness but your eyes turn wide in the bright light I know there is torment in your heart Ooooh, and its swimming around your body like shark Can you not see me anymore? Are you just hot air beneath the floor? Because I cant feel empty anymore...?” (“Sundown”) I could continue quoting Charlie Simpson's brilliant lyrics but I feel that may be never ending. Racer sent me the link to his “Don't I Hold You” download (which you will [...]

Peter Case - The Case Files From The Breakaways to The Nerves to The Plimsouls to his solo career, Peter Case has always weaved a web of quality, roots based rock. The Case Files collects demos, out-takes, one live shot & other rarities from the 1985-2010 span of Case's solo career. Compiled by Peter himself, this long-overdue collection combines rockin’ full band electric tracks with a selection of dynamic acoustic performances, and also features collaborations with many of Peter's friends, such as Stan Ridgway, [...]

The road is a fickle mistress. Ask any working band that is trying to make a living playing music. The band is usually on a bus, van, truck or RV stuffed with band mates, roadies, gear and luggage. The band could be in Ames, Iowa on a Wednesday night followed by an all day road trip for three nights of performances in Kearney, Nebraska, then three days on the road to play one night in Vienna, Virginia, afterward leaving immediately to drive to the next week’s gigs - one in Philadelphia, one in New York and one in Cambridge, [...]

I have always been an earphone user due to the cheap, easily portable options that it offers. However, after a particularly horrific incident when BOTH of the ears of my favourite set broke, I have found myself using headphones. I have had two pair just sitting around collecting dust and as I was experiencing a particularly short week, I had to resort to using them. So, I fight off spiders the size of my fist to get to them and after some TLC I have fallen in love. Despite their clunky, large appearance they are comfortable and offer [...]

In 1984 I was standing at the bar at Henry Africa’s with several other male friends trying to find a way to get the fern bar beauties to do the wild thing. I spotted a pretty former classmate with a Bloody Mary in her hand and two empties in front of her. Three years earlier she sat two rows in front of me during my first year criminal procedure class but I never learned her name. I walked over to her with my narrow lapeled pin-striped suited [...]

Sweden has always been know as a hotbed for really good metal. Sweden’s Inevitable End are no different. These Swedes offer up brand new album entitled The Oculus . Known on previous albums as being more of a straight forward Death Metal and Thrash act. Inevitable End takes a different musical spin on T he Oculus , combing a more frantic and aggressive style. This album hits you like a freight train! The first track on the album, “Tell us, Parasites” . The track is almost The Locust like. Combining [...]

Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40-50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to arid parts of North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. It is also the debut album of Milk Maid . Yucca was recorded in Martin Cohen's flat with fellow Milk Maid members, Ian Hodson, Rick Entezari and Adam Carless. The rough recording suits the rough subject matter, but [...]

1988. Prime impressionable/adolescent years. Operation: Mindcrime . Progressive metal laden with heavy hooks, complex guitar solos, and [...]

Racer’s been sending me links for all kinds of cool digital promos of new music but I’m having trouble with the computer again. They installed some new systems on my box at work and it’s been slowing everything down. The past two weeks lots of things have been stalling on me and causing me to reboot. The upshot of all this is that a friend of mine loaned me this Delaney & Bonnie box set and I’ve been playing the hell out of it and it’s brought back some great memories. Way back when I was first starting [...]

A film by Penfold. Episode 6: 2009 – Present Day Previously, we explored the rich history of The House Harkonnen . Thanks to the scarcity of true first-hand accounts, the House’s covert formation in 2003 has remained a mystery to much of the world. Historians only agreed on the 2003 formation date due to that being the origin year displayed on honorific patches worn by all House members. 2004 proved to be the year the House went public, actively promoting its ideals and endeavors in ever expanding circles of influence. [...]