Wednesday, May 17. 2006
Some new stuff out streaming.
The Pet Shop Boys new album Fundamental has no US release scheduled but is out in the UK on the 23rd. It's streaming here. I listened. I loved it and I'm going to plunk down the twenty-six bucks for the import. And I resented the eleven dollars I spent on Stadium Arcadium, which just tells you so much about me.
Depeche Mode has made their live shows available for digital download here - including their Coachella performance.
The April 19th London Erasure acoustic show can be sampled and downloaded here. In fact, there's a lot of interesting stuff to download on that site, including the 2004 reunion of Throbbing Gristle (by which I'm SO dating myself, but I can't help it).
The first time I heard Stadium Arcadium, the new double CD from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I loved it, in that way you do when everything you hear sounds really good, but you aren't listening that closely.
Then I listened again, paying attention, and thought... OK, it's not as good as I thought it was at first listen.
And then I listened again, and this time I started to fall under the spell of the pop-rock-funk thing they have going on. I was bouncingly happy to hear their funkier sound coming on strong on a number of cuts ("Tell Me Baby," "Warlocks," "Hump De Bump") because without Flea's funky bass it's not the Chili Peppers to me. Which isn't to say I don't like them getting all Jimi Hendrix or California beach pop rock on us either. It's hard to explain, sometimes, what this band is. "Make You Feel Better" is just pretty California beach pop rock (and I was born here, I know it when I hear it). And I kind of want to hate it, but I just can't, because it's just too sweet and everyone knows I'm a sucker for guitars that do that chiming thing. It blends into "Animal Bar," which goes rougher and a little sadder, but still holds you there near the Pacific Ocean, "swimming like a shark." And if there's ever been a more California song than "Dani California" I really don't know what it is. If I didn't live here already, that song would make me want to move, just like the poor doomed Dani of the title.
In some ways Stadium Arcadium plays like a greatest hits album, even though it's all new material. It covers everything about the Peppers, from their start as a sort of high school goof-off band, just stumbling around, drunk and obnoxious, with their instruments (and if you weren't around then to see it, don't get pissed off at me for telling you the truth) all the way to Californication, and then out beyond that to where all those things come together and melt and make you melt to listen to them.
And really, I don't want to melt. These guys have always been a little too testosterone-y for me, although their party til you puke and die days are behind them now. And the band is holding back a little too much, creating a radio-friendly sound instead of letting loose the way you know they can. Restrained but not in a "yeah, I have my panther on a leash, don't worry" way. More in a "if I really whale on this shit, they won't play this on FM radio" way.
And I absolutely refuse to work that last cliche, the one that says "there's a great album's worth or material here, too bad it's a double album," or even the one that says "double albums are the death knell." I won't say every track of the 28 on Stadium Arcadium is great. But whether you take the two CDs as separate albums, or mix and match your own little MP3 playlist of your favorites, or listen to the whole damn thing, it all works.
One last note... the CD comes digitally categorized as "alternative & punk," and I had to laugh - this is a rock album, folks, no matter what anyone might tell you. And it hit number one on the charts about ten minutes after it was released, so you do have to ask... alternative to WHAT, exactly?
Monday, May 15. 2006
As you can see from the picture of my neice Samantha below, born last week, our family has always considered The Ramones to be our "family band" and we indoctrinate our children early.
I may be a LITTLE BIASED when it comes to reviewing Ramones material, but so be it.
Released just in time for Christmas last year, the Weird Tales of the Ramones box set may be the ultimate collection of Ramones music assembled in one place. At 85 songs and 93 minutes long (just kidding... one, two three, four, one, two, three, four...), the set has some rarities and b-sides along with essentially all the classics spanning the band's entire career. It also includes a documentary DVD Lifestyles of the Ramones and a comic book based history of the band along with a set of 3-D glasses, with artwork by 25 comic book artists as Matt Groening, creater of the Simpsons, Sergio Argones of Mad Magazine , and of course Zippy creator Bill Griffith.
If you only have one or two Ramones CDs, this is a great package to give you a taste of their whole career. If you have all their other discs most of the music will be redundant, with the exception of a handful of special mixes and b-sides, but the documentary and history can help justify the purchase. Even at its list price of $64.98 this box set is cheaper than buying each song one at a time at iTunes.
Personally, I have not had the opportunity to replace most of my vinyl Ramones collection with CD copies so this was a great gift for me. Kudos to our editor Christie Keith on her taste in gift selection.
Favorite Songs:
All of them
Saturday, May 13. 2006
Tracii Guns Band
Hometown: Los Angeles, Ca.
http://www.tracii-guns.com
also Lyden Moon, Wrath
Friday May 12, 2006
Vnuks Lounge - Cudahy WI
First off let me say this. Vnuk's has done a WONDERFUL job with their remodeling of their location and making a great location for club shows. The sound was really very nice for a bar and in all honesty I must say it sounds a gajillion times better than any of the three rooms at the Rave. You could actually hear EVERYTHING cohesively. The only real complaint I could come up with is that seating to relax is limited. But a helluva nice place. Oh yeah one other thing Vnuks has over the Rave is toilets that won't back up. Gotta give them props for going that extra mile and getting the Toto. I can't count how many shows I have bleached my boots after getting home from the Rave. In fact nothing sucks more than coming home and walking in snow in socks because the boots are too sticky from evil knows what to walk on my floors. So props to Vnuks for one helluva remodel. From a south side dive bar to a great concert venue.
Wrath - Their show wasn't bad at all. There were some sound issues. It almost sounded as though one of the guitars were off. They did 5 songs, all originals and had three solos. I personally would have enjoyed a few more songs over the solos. Michael Brigham did a nice clean solo. AJ could have slowed his down more. He was doing a Deville Solo showing off how fast he could go. Speed isn't always what matters. One thing I just cant help but comment on. Brigham has to be a bastard child of Dave Mustaine. Either that or he is channeling him on stage. From how his hair looks to how he interacts with the crowd to even how he plays, I swear he is a Dave less the anger. Not that it's a bad thing, but just something that struck me. All songs performed were originals and pretty darn decent. Heavy however Brigham actually sings. It's a lovely thing to see. These guys are competing in the Emergenza Semi Finals at The Rave Bar June 2, 2006. Old Skool thrash fans give these kids a shot.
Lyden Moon - Lyden Moon is a phenomenal guitarist. Plain and simple. His shows are always hard for me to comment on because I am always focused on vocals and well there aren't any in his shows. Moon only does instrumentals. Transitioning between songs with bluesy, jazzy, classical and rock feels, he has always put on one helluva show. I first saw Moon a while back opening up for Michael Angelo Batio's band C4. Moon makes it all seem effortless. And he can make everything sound cool, including the Charlie Brown theme Song. Joel Thierfelder on bass and Mark Altergott on Drums round out the group. Moon really should be bigger than he is, however I think the lack of vocals does hurt him career-wise. Musically, it makes the group a wonderful change. Moon hits people from every genre of music with something to enjoy, and I strongly suggest if you are a Midwesterner to give this man a shot. He has shows in Illinois and Wisconsin in the next few months. Moon and his band put on one helluva performance. His most recent CD (#4 to be exact) Fire It Up is on sale now being released in 2005. This is someone to see if you are a guitar freak.
Tracii Guns Band - The line up for this band is 3/4 the original LA Guns line up. Tracii (obviously) on lead guitar, Paul Black on Vocals, Nickey Alexander on Drums, and the fourth member, well that's Tracii's son Jeremy Guns on bass. I had a hard time with the singer. Perhaps I'm just so used to the way Phil Lewis sounds on the songs. Black did grow on me, and what he lacked sound wise he more than made up for as a showman. This man worked the crowd like one of the best. It was a small show attendance wise, but the band seemed to really have a blast and that transferred into the crowd. Lots of old time fans there who really had a blast. Tracii as always, was phenomenal on guitars. I must say, having the band introduced and hearing the bassist was Tracii's son was hard. Rock Stars can't grow up and do things like normal people. They just can't! Of course that also reminded me I am no longer a wild child either. I did like the selection of songs. Lots of the older stuff- "No Mercy," "Sex Action," "Rip and Tear," "Electric Gypsy," "One More Reason." All the old harder songs. Naturally their big song "Ballad Of Jayne" was played. For a short while Tracii appeared to be having a Brides of Destruction flashback. A few shorts of Crue songs were played. The coolest part of the evening to me is it brought back to mind the days of early glam metal. When THE place to be was the Sunset Strip. That was the feel of the place. A time I missed here in WI but watched on MTV with jealousy. I must say the band were all incredibly nice, hanging out with the fans (which is always a plus of club shows) and I finally after many years attempting got to meet Tracii. He was a helluva nice guy and a doll. It's always wonderful when the band remembers the fans who put them there, and he does. They still have many dates left. Give the Guns a shot.
Upcoming Dates:
Tue 16th - Eck's Saloon, Denver, Co.
Wed 17th - In The Venue, Salt Lake City, Ut.
Thu 18th - The Bouquet, Boise, Id
Fri 19th - Ash Street Saloon, Portland, Or.
Sat 20th - El Corazon,Seattle, Wa.
Sun 21st - Spokane, Wa. -
Tue 23rd - San Francisco, Ca.
Wed 24th - Los Angeles, Ca.
The Boys from Brazil are back with another phenomenal record. This disc could be THE perfect death metal record. Although it is a brutal assault on your senses as all Krisiun records are this one is incredibly easy to take in without being overwhelmed by its fury. The production is incredible, I mean everything sounds clear but the heaviness is just awesome. This band is known for its pulverizing drums that lead the band through intense levels of speed. There’s plenty of blasting as usual but the double bass work is really killer and song writing is top notch. These songs for me were very memorable, not just a mish mosh of parts strewn together with blazing drums in an attempt to be brutal.
These guys define brutality in the most tastefully executed form. Their instruments have been captured on this recording in a way I had hoped they would since I first heard the band in the late 90s. Each members contribution has been layered into one powerful release that will keep their loyal fans happy and most likely win over even more people. I have had the pleasure of touring with these guys when Apocalyptic Revelations was released, it was their first US tour. They were modest about their skills as musicians and so appreciative of their fans, I knew they’d become huge, and here they are one of the most respected bands in death metal. They also happen to be one of the hardest working bands I have ever encountered. They tour constantly and are always working on new material. At every single show, they take a minute to tell their fans “We hate rock star bullshit attitudes, without you our fans.....we are nothing!�. These guys mean it. They never talk shit about other bands, are always happy to have a beer with fans and friends and do not hide out until they hit the stage like many bands do. This record is not just another death metal record. It is a record some may have hoped earlier heros like Deicide would have cranked out instead of some of the mediocre releases they crapped out for a while.
Moyses is one of the best guitarists I have ever seen and his use of effects is so tasteful you must label him guitar god, as if you don’t you are only admitting your jealousy. The effects compliment his playing....and do not bury mistakes [as if he ever makes any HA!] and the shredding is always impressive. Alexs vocals are always killer and this release is no exception. Lyrically, Alex spews forth the hatred in a harsh poetic way that just emanates the powerful message of disgust with humanity and religion. Max’s drum work has only improved as this band continues to release amazing record after record. This band is like a machine, they are so over the top and brutal you wonder if they can pull it off live. The truth is, they’re every bit as impressive live as they are on their recordings, matter of fact they’re one of the greatest live death metal bands you will ever see. Just do yourself a favor and buy this disc. If there is one death metal band on the face of this Earth that deserves to be worshiped it is
Krisiun.
The line up as always:
Max Kolesne drums
Moyses Kolesne guitar
Alex Camargo bass and vocals
Thursday, May 11. 2006
James Brown
Hometown: Macon, Ga.
http://www.funky-stuff.com/jamesbrown/
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Stubbs Bar-B-Q (Austin, Texas)
Get back - wanna kiss myslf ... heeeeyyy! heh...
The hardest working man in show business, the godfather of soul, and the man with possibly the longest intro in the history of music, rolled his show through Austin last night and a show it was. Playing to a packed audience with no opening act, the show started promptly at 9 pm, with James actually not appearing until 20 minutes later, relying on his fabulous show band to get the audience revved up.
Fifteen years or so ago I made my only trip to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. All the other guys wanted to drink and gamble. Me, I wanted to see a Vegas show. I didn't want to see Sigfried & Roy, or Wayne Newton, I wanted to see James Brown, who was playing at the Hard Rock. My attempts to drag the others away were fruitless, I missed the show, and regretted it ever since. I mean who wouldn't want to see James Brown in Las Vegas?
Well Stubb's is certainly no Vegas, but what I do at Stubb's doesn't stay at Stubb's either, and James Brown brought enough Vegas with him to sate my desire to see a show. His traveling show must have 20+ artists involved, from his tremendous brass section, to his back-up singers and dancers. He even brought his own MC to do his 20 minute intro.
Covering most of his hits, James got tremendous crowd participation as he danced, kicked his microphone, and blasted through his 90 minute set like a man half his age. While I didn't see him do the splits on-stage, its possibly because of the 7' 4" man mountain in front of me intermittently blocking my view. Unfortunately this also impacted my ability to take pictures of the show, and few that I took actually came out. This didn't impact my ability to enjoy the show however, and I shifted back out of camera range. Good thing I did because there simply was no place to dance up-front, and if there is one thing James Brown does to me, it's make my feet want to move and my head bounce up and down.
I can't think of a single bad song in the whole set, but my favorites and the crowd's were his hits, like "Living in America" and "Sex Machine," and before I knew it the show was over. It felt short, but clocked in at about an hour and 40 minutes.
Neilsen SoundScan is reporting that Tool's first release in 4 years debuted at number 1 on the album charts this week, soundly beating out (by double) Pearl Jam's latest release, which debuted at number 2. Godsmack IV dropped to number 7.
Tool's spot at the top will be brief as next week the Red Hot Chili Peppers will release a double-disk produced by Rick Rubin, Stadium Arcadium, which has already leaked onto the net.
Want to be a music journalist but have no desire to wax poetic? How bout becoming a rock & roll photographer instead? With the flood of digital cameras in the hands of the general public, just about anyone with the desire and a free user account here can be a rock & roll photographer. If you want to publish your rock & roll photos and make your mark in music journalism, we have plenty of space available in our photo gallery for your pictures and it's free!
Concert pics, backstage pics, heck even pics of you holding your pet snake in your favorite rock & roll t-shirt are all suitable to be posted in our gallery. Check it out at http://clubpix.kingsnake.com
Heaven help me. I would actually buy this CD, really I would. I have no clue why other than to keep the collection complete. It may be my OCD kicking in but I would buy it. That is IF it exists.
What CD you may ask? Well the new Guns N Roses Cd. The one that supposedly has been ready for oh maybe 20 years? Ok I'm exagerating. Only 10.
According to Axl Rose on the Eddie Truck show, when asked about it, stated "Sometime this fall or late fall." His band could be heard rehearsing in the background. "It will be out this year."
I coulda swore I heard that old song and dance before.
Apparently GNR now has Dizzy Reed from phase two of GNR, former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck, bassist Tommy Stinson from the Replacements, guitarist Richard Fortus from the former Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love, and keyboard player Chris Pittman. It is also rumored that Izzy Stradlin from GNR phase one is back. Buckethead left the band in 2004.
GNR has four shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, then off to Europe to play several music festivals.
Let's just say "IF" Chinese Democracy ever does come out, you will see it reviewed here. Until then, we can all wonder if it even exists.
Wednesday, May 10. 2006
John Cook in Slate on Sasha Frere-Jones' weird campaign to dub The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merrit a racist for not liking hip-hop music:
It would be one thing if Frere-Jones were just some disgruntled OutKast fan with a MySpace page. But he is in fact a disgruntled OutKast fan with access to The New Yorker's pages and all the credibility and authority that go along with that. He ought to take the things he writes on his blog seriously.
I confess The Magnetic Fields' "I Need a New Heart" is playing as I type these words, so maybe mine is not the most objective opinion you could get on this issue, but it's a great article, go read.
Tuesday, May 9. 2006
Being from Toronto, the closest thing we get to a big music festival is 8-10 band lineups at Olympic Island or Molson Park in Barrie, with poor organization and $4 dollar water. I had no idea what to expect traveling out to the desert to see a show that spanned over two days with over 90 bands. After long flights and delays and getting luggage lost, we entered the "golf capital of America" to be greeted by gorgeous weather, mountains surrounding us and palm trees at their feet. We rented a boat of a car, fought with American Airlines over my luggage, and headed off to the Empire Polo Grounds, which would serve as our campground home for the next couple days. Rather burnt out from the heat and exhaustion from being up all night driving and on planes and in airports, the sight of the camp ground and setting up our tent still made me ridiculously excited. Tons of friendly faces surrounded us; our camping area was with fellow Canadians and a British couple, all really great people.
The first night was essentially a huge party with 11,000 other music fans, but being exhausted, grumpy over my lost clothes and underage, I opted to pass out in the tent until morning. Second year Coachella-goers had warned us about the 6-7 am wake up that was inevitable with the heat and sun, which I had been skeptical about, but unfortunately, came true. Saturday morning just before 7 I was wide awake, but had slept much better than expected in a 7 x 9 tent (with my boyfriend and myself both being 6 feet tall). The rental car ended up being a must-have, as the morning bathroom and shower lines were endless and the heat was inescapable. A bunch of us headed into town to the not-so-welcoming locals for some insanely expensive breakfast, but air-conditioning and real washrooms made it well worth it. By the time we got back to the campsite it was just about time to pack up and head into the venue. I was brimming with curiosity about what the inside was like, as a thick line of palm trees separated the camp site from the stages.
We got in with little to no wait, a minor search, and none of the many water bottles we had purchased thinking we could make last the day. What I found most interesting about the whole thing was that everyone you seemed to meet was there for completely different reasons. I had assumed going into it that it would be nothing but rocker types, maybe some goth and indie kids. But a couple of the guys we spent most of the weekend with were heavy into underground hip hop and had come solely to see all the hip hop and DJ acts, most of which I'd never even heard of. Our British friends had come for mostly dance acts and DJ sets as well, and it seemed we were the unusual ones for just wanting to see Depeche Mode or Wolfmother.
From the influence of the aforementioned friends, the first act we checked out was Brother Ali, an albino rapper who was catchy, but we split quickly to go see The Section Quartet. They are a four-piece string band, that includes a cello, violin and a couple other fancy symphony like instruments I'm not sure the names of, and they cover mainstream rock songs. I was not only impressed by their talent and the precision they had covering the songs, but the fact they wore corsets in the nearly 100 degree weather. Playing hits from The Clash, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Franz Ferdinand and many more, they had a great set. It became more of a game to name the song they were playing first, since sans lyrics, our tired little minds were having difficulties figuring it out.
We had a bit of a gap after this, used to check out the plethora of merch and food tents. We headed over early to get up close for Wolfmother; luckily they played a covered tent so we got out of the sun temporarily. Their set exploded with "Dimension" and their 70s hard rock vibe had the whole crowd moving. They didn't talk too much, but they sure as hell delivered, and not a note was missed vocally or musically. We skipped out of their set a tad early to go check out the Duke Spirit, who after having their equipment stolen and their guitarists arm recently broken, had cut their set short so we showed up for the last 20 seconds of their last song. Disappointed, but still with so much to look forward to we headed back to the tents for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. They had an enormous crowd, and we ended up listening from outside (which in a sense was better, more room for dancing!) and watching kids tear open the velcro of the tent sides to get in where the press was. Naturally, this was quickly put to a stop by the event staff, but was amusing at the moment. It was a good set, I mumbled along to all their songs where I can't exactly tell what he's saying but made sure to yell "My yellow country teeth!" every so often, when appropriate, of course.
Again, we skipped out of this set a tad early to head over to catch the end of Deerhoof and get a decent place to watch Imogen Heap. Deerhoof was their unusual, quirky selves, which the crowd really seemed to dig. I didn't think they would get a very positive response, but their noise rock off beat style seemed to get people moving. We got fairly close for Imogen Heap's set, who started off with a number of inevitable technical difficulties, which I was pleased to see she came out and dealt with herself. That was another aspect of the show I really enjoyed, most bands seemed to lose their rock star attitudes and were out on the stage doing their own sound checks and tuning their own instruments. Imogen Heap played well, I wasn't sure how she would go about it, but with all her keyboards and mixers and fancy machines she had that she introduced as "her family" everything sounded fantastic.
Once again, we skipped out of her set early (yes, we developed a very good dance-walk as most others did from running from set to set) to catch Ladytron. I've been a fan of Ladytron for years now, and they recently set a Toronto date, which I'm unable to attend since it's 19+. I was sorely disappointed about this, but thrilled to see I'd be able to catch them here. Unfortunately, about three songs into their set, a couple of guys decided to push me right out of their way so I nearly fell over, and plant themselves directly in front of me. After some words with them I decided it was best to get out of there, as Ladytron's stage presence was about as exciting as watching golf. They all got on stage, took their positions and did not stray one bit from them, which didn't make for much of a show. The sound was spectacular, but I expected a bit more excitement from such a fun electro-dance group. After the Ladytron experience, we headed off to Eagles of Death Metal, which definitely lightened the mood. With two drummers, one of which being Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and the other Samantha Maloney of Hole and Motley Crue fame, who drummed in synch throughout the show. This in itself was impressive, but the drumming could have been phenomenal having two drummers working together, alas it was still a good show. Front man Jesse Hughes was his amusing self, reminding the audience every couple of songs that he was "really nervous, and this was a huge fucking crowd, and he was so scared he was losing his voice" although they kept on rocking, and he would get a cheer for the ladies and for rock n roll every two minutes. The crowd seemed a little hesitant about getting into them, but after they got through the first bit of their set everyone was really moving. Surprisingly, Jesse really dominated the show, despite having other more famed members of the band that I expected to shine through much more. With their mixture of rock n roll and humour, their set was a great way to almost finish off the night, after which we headed over to Depeche Mode.
By this time the fact the sun had been sucking my energy supply dry all day was really starting to catch up with me. The crowd for Depeche Mode was overwhelming and had us back near the food tents, where I spent a good portion of the set sitting and getting kicked. I was terribly excited to see them, but wasn't exactly blown away by the performance. Okay, I wouldn't even really say I enjoyed the performance all that much, which was disappointing. They played a good portion of their newer material that no one really seemed to be into, the classics like "Personal Jesus," "Walking in my Shoes," and "Enjoy the Silence," which was really the highlight for me. Dave Gahan decided to strip down to his skin tight pants and show off his surprisingly fit self and prance around for a little while, but aside from this display, there was no real excitement to be had. This could be chalked up to my exhaustion, but everyone I spoke with afterwards about their set seemed sorely disappointed as well.
Although I was more than ready to call it quits after this dragging set, we decided to check out She Wants Revenge. I figured it would be a fun dance show, and a nice way to end the night. The boyfriend wasn't too pleased about extending our night even further, but we were both very pleasantly surprised with SWR. They didn't talk too much, wearing their black faux-army style get ups head to toe, they just pumped out the tracks off their debut record which was more than enough. The entire crowd was moving, the sexiness of their music getting everyone bumpin' and grindin' all over the place. The crowd wasn't too big since they were slotted in at the same time as Daft Punk, but they were very well received. The energy of their set was a fantastic way to end the first night, although the mood was ruined by attempting to get out of the grounds and back to the campsite, which was horrifically organized. Finally getting back to our tents we were sufficiently sleepy and I wasn't sure if I could do it all again, but little did I know the next day had much more in store for us! (More to come on Day 2!)
Friday, May 5. 2006
Lord help me but I felt like I was being pelted with a bag of oranges listening to this disc. I like Godsmack, I like the band, the sound, their lyrics, but Godsmack IV just didn't get me very excited. Yes the disc has a single, "Speak," but the album feels very much like it was rushed. The songwriting feels like it was rushed as well, and some of the songs felt like they could have been matured a little more before being committed to disc.
One song they could have kept off the disc is a "sequel" to their single "Voodoo" called "Voodoo Too." I thought "Voodoo" itself was too gimmicky and hated it from minute one, and can't say much more for the sequel other than I'm glad CD players come with track selection buttons.
There are some bone-crunching tracks that sound like Godsmack standards, like "Bleed Me" and "No Rest for the Wicked," as well as "Temptation," but none of the songs really pushed me like some of their previous stuff. I think most Godsmack fans will be pleased with and enjoy the album, but honestly I think it needed to be left in the microwave a little longer for my tastes. It's still in my CD changer so I haven't given up on it.
Favorite Songs:
Speak
Bleed Me
Thursday, May 4. 2006
For fans of the Maynard James Keenon band Tool, the title of this new release feels like the time that has passed waiting on this new disk. Tool's last disk, Lateralus, was released five years ago in 2001 and a lot has happened since then, but as evidenced by my trip to Best Buy where I was nearly trampled by a couple guys trying to get copies, they still draw a crowd. Honestly, though, after five years of waiting I was hoping for a little more.
This disk seems to take a page from Keenon's A Perfect Circle songbook, in that it is a less bone-crushing orchestrally complex piece, and has more of an ethereal, wandering, industro-metal-meets-jam-band feel. Tool fans will enjoy it, primarily because it is the first new Tool they have had in like forever, but mainstream America and certainly mainstream radio probably will be less enthusiastic. The title track itself clocks in at an astounding Pink Floyd-like 11+ minutes. Many other tracks come in at 7+ minutes and more. "Right In Two" is another long tracker, more like a Tool standard, with a long, slow build, ending in a götterdämerung-like crescendo.
Packaged in a strange 3-D stereographic package that must have caused fits for everyone involved, the disk actually includes thick hard plastic glasses to allow you to view the images in the liner notes.
Maynard also continues to offer his fans weird audio clips to try to decipher. On Ænima it was a strange Hitler-esque monologue that turned out to be a recipe for deviled eggs,"Die Eier Von Satan," proving once again that German is just not a romance language. This time it appears to be an Apache spiritual cantation, called "Lipan Conjuring." It will not so easy to deciper this one. Also on the indecipherable list is the track "Viginti Tres" which appears to consists of some kind of electronic goofing around in the studio and doesn't really add much to the disk other than another listing on the liner notes. Maybe if I wore the 3-D glasses while I listened too it...
Favorite tracks:
Vicarious
The Pot
Right In Two
Tuesday, May 2. 2006
I was anxiously awaiting midnight May 1 when Rebel Meets Rebel came out. Probably the coolest ever "Country" singer teams up with the Abbott boys and Rex Brown. Two years after we lost Dimebag in a horrible fashion, a new album is released.
It's a great album. Good summertime, backyard drinking music. And of course nothing goes better with a good beer than a David Allen Coe CD.
Country Pantera? Sound Odd? Not to me. The southern boys of metal never made a secret of their roots. Dime and Vinnie's dad was country songwriter Jerry Abbott who owned Pantego Studios in Pantego, Texas. Folks who have heard Pantera warm up have heard the Classic David Allen Coe song Jack Daniels If You Please. And honestly, the man wrote the song My Long Hair Just Can't Cover Up My Redneck.
To hear a clip of Rebel Meets Rebel visit the website.
More Dime News
Dime Vision is being released as well May 2. It is a DVD of Dimebag's life put out by his Brother Vinnie Paul. Dime was one of the greatest heavy metal guitarists, and from spending a bit of time with the CFHs back in the day, a helluva nice guy.
I really would have liked to go to the Coachella music festival down in Indio last weekend, but it was going to be like forty million degrees in the shade and I just can't do that; we have thin blood up here in Northern California. So because I simply don't spend enough time on the computer already, they put the freaking thing online for me to watch. I wasn't sure whether to thank them or curse them.
I picked up the stream with Depeche Mode doing "Enjoy the Silence." I love Depeche Mode, I love that song. But I could so have lived without the sight of David Gahan's pasty body. I understand it's hot there and he had to take off his shirt but this wasn't right.
Fortunately, he left the stage after that, presumably to drink the blood of a virgin so as to have the strength to go on with the set. A fully-clothed Martin Gore sang "Shake the Disease" - a less prettied-up version than the album cut. A song called "Shake the Disease" should never be prettied up. As a closer, a semi-clad Gahan did "Never Let Me Down Again," which is such a drug song, isn't it? It sounded desperate. I'm not saying that in a bad way. But I do think Gahan needs to stop doing drugs and get a tan.
She Wants Revenge came on next, all wearing not just shirts but jackets, so I'm now thinking Gahan was just being an exhibitionist and not suffering from the heat. (Or was he showing off his tattoos? I wish I could get the image out of my head.) Everything they sang was extremely depressing, very very very dark and delivered in a despairing monotone. I seriously think this guy should have been prevented from listening to Joy Division during his formative years. I couldn't stick with it. I like dance music that makes me happy.
Sunday was Madonna and her amazing muscled arms, the perfect antidote to David Gahan. And something like forty million other bands. (Forty million is my number of the day.) Tool were said to have brought the house, er, tent, down, and Sigur Ros, the world's most famous Icelandic band (they sing in a made up language, because they decided Icelandic was insufficiently obscure) got rave reviews too from a friend who was there.
Although the weather stopped me, many braver souls than I did make the journey and they want to tell you all about it and even show you videos. And AT&T keeps promising to make the live stream available on its Blue Room site, I'll update when I get news.
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