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Artist Spotlight - After the Buria |
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Music Buzz
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Wednesday, 08 October 2008 |
 The hardcore and metal
band from the Twin Cities is out supporting the band’s new
release, Rareform, which came out back in July. The
album mixes the usual metal thrash with a bit more prog-rock and
MeShuggah style timings and vocals. On tracks like “Aspiration”
and “Fingers Like Daggers,” ATB shreds all over the new
material. Plus, you gotta give it to a band that titles a song
“Berzerker.” Too bad it wasn’t a cover of the fake song classically delivered in the 90s classic Clerks
but it still does the trick nonetheless.
It’s not bad for
a band that just last month was searching for a new vocalist, and
still has the ad up on the site. Whether someone is just filling in
or if the band has found a new singer, the band is heading out on the
road with a metalcore band with a lot of buzz going on in Suicide
Silence. So, get ready for a
night of intensity and bodies slamming around as After the Burial invade Detroit before heading out for the rest of the year on the
“Progressive Damnation Tour."
After the Burial
opens for Suicide Silence at the Magic Stick tonight. Tickets are $15
and are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
Additional dates can be found at www.myspace.com/aftertheburial.
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Artist Spotlight - Pendulum |
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Music Buzz
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
 Since the late 90s
heyday of the electronica movement, which Prodigy and the Chemical
Brothers rode to platinum success, the scene has mostly retreated
back into clubs and back overseas. Save the big festival show from
Daft Punk, the genre has not been heard from much lately. But coming
out of Australia might just be the next great savior of the
electronic world with Pendulum.
The six member group
formed in 2004 and was the first significant blip on the electronic
map in years. The group’s first record, Hold Your
Colour, was mostly a drum and bass affair, but when hearing
songs like “Slam” and “Fasten Your Seatbelt,”
it was refreshing to hear type of stuff you hadn’t heard in a
while. The former of the two songs tore up the techno stations on
Sirius radio in 2005 and made them a group to watch for the future.
Fast forward three
years, and the band shifted things up a little bit as the band
released their latest record, In Silico, back in April. In Silico
is a bit of a departure from the first record, as the band
incorporated live instrumentation and vocals into the mix. Lead
singer Rob Swire’s voice ranges between Kele Okereke from Bloc
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Interview w/ Jaska Raatikainen of Children of Bodom |
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Music Buzz
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Monday, 06 October 2008 |
 It’s 1:00pm
Pacific Time and the guys in Children of Bodom are just waking from
their slumber from the night before. The band is getting their rock
and roll beauty sleep before their tour opener in Seattle. The
Finnish band has had major success in the metal community this year,
with the release of their new album Blooddrunk cracking
the Top 25 of the Billboard Album Chart in April. But before the
show, I had a chance to interview drummer Jaska Raatikainen. We
discussed the album’s success and the different tours the band
has been over the past couple of years. Here’s the interview
with Jaska.
On the band’s
surprising #22 debut on the Billboard Album Charts earlier this year:
“It was a big surprise to us and it made us so happy.
With it debuting at #1 in our home country and this debut, it was
great. The news of the debut in the U.S. even made the national news
in Finland. It was amazing because the only other band from Finland
to make the national news in our home country was H.I.M.. We were
impressed with that.”
On the major
differences between the current European and American metal scenes:
“Well in Europe, the scene is much bigger and more established.
But in America, there are a lot of good bands. Bands like Slipknot
are huge and there are a lot of other great bands out there. But in
the U.S., the scene is more towards hardcore music and it seems
trendy.”
On the experience
gained while touring with Megadeth and Slayer on big summer tours: |
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Thursday, 02 October 2008 |
 On their way to a show
in Pennsylvania, the Chicago band punk band Flatfoot 56 is heading
back after a wild show in Boston the night before. The band is now
supporting their 2007 release Jungle of the Midwest Sea.
The current tour puts them with the Boston punk act the Street Dogs.
While on the ride to the venue, we talked with lead singer Tobin
Bawinkel about the origins of their Celtic-infused punk and being in
a band with two of your brothers. Here’s what you need to know about Flatfoot 56:
On the how joined
up with the Street Dogs for this tour: “We first met
them about a year and a half ago, when we played with them at a show
in Chicago. A lot of their fans who would listen to us and then hound
them at show, wanting Flatfoot to be on tour with them. Finally, we
got a call earlier this year from Toby (lead singer- Street Dogs)
seeing if we were interested. It’s been an incredible tour and
it’s been working out great.”
On the punk scene
in Chicago: “There are a lot of new places that popped
up in the past few years. Places like the Fireside Bowl closed and
the Bottom Lounge changed locations. A more street form of punk was
huge there and then it died down. But it's been great lately. There
are some divisions within the genre, but that’s normal. We’re
the only band to play the Riot Fest every year its been in Chicago
and the crowds were great, ranging anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000
people.”
On the band’s
Celtic influences within their music: “With three of
the guys in the band being brothers, |
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Artist Spotlight - Justin Nozuka |
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Music Buzz
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Tuesday, 30 September 2008 |
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Man, this guy has had a busy last couple of months. The nineteen year old Toronto native has been out touring behind his debut, entitled Holly. Nozuka is a relative newcomer to the business that draws a lot of style comparisons to John Mayer, or at least John Mayer before Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston when John Mayer was just a singer-songwriter and not a tabloid fixture.
Nozuka’s debut album mixes folk, jazz and acoustic tracks to create a sound many people are starting to go for. Tracks like “Mr. Therapy Man” and “Golden Train” best show off Nozuka’s sound, which goes for a very laid back and appealing charm to it. His debut single, “After Tonight,” was one of those songs that you knew all along, but couldn’t put the guy’s name on it. The instantly catchy track has been all over the place, including VH1 and even cracked MTV’s TRL, which gives that show some hope before it goes off the air. It was also featured in the season finale of the reality show “Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant.” Hey, if Chachi likes the song, we can’t complain about it, right?
Since the album release of Holly, Nozuka has been on the road almost non-stop, but has made time to do appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and at an event before the Democratic National Convention. But now, Nozuka has recently started a tour with the Gabe Dixon Band that will last until mid-October. But in the meantime, he will be hitting Detroit this Wednesday (October 1st) at the Shelter.
So, make sure you get a chance to hear Justin Nozuka is such a small place. Odds are next time around, Nozuka might just be playing somewhere far bigger to a far bigger audience.
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Artist Spotlight - Heavy Heavy Low Low |
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Music Buzz
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Monday, 29 September 2008 |
 Last year, amid all of
the bands at the final Sounds of the Underground tour, one band that
seemed to have a small but intense following of fans was the San Jose
based band Heavy Heavy Low Low. Unlike some bands on the tour that
just flat out turned fans off, HHLL was definitely a band that
sounded a little different from the scream of bands just trying to
scare you or think you were going to be caught on a conquering Viking
brigade (yes, that’s you Amon Amarth).
The band has recently
released their humorously titled record Turtle Nipple and the
Toxic Shock back in August, and has been hitting the road hard
in support of it. Instead of trying to use terms like “screamo”
or “Mathcore,” which have been played out beyond belief,
here is the basic download on the band’s sound; the band has a
bit of off the wall vocals, courtesy of singer Robbie Smith mixed
over chugging guitars and leans majorly towards punk rock in a lot of
the songs.
Turtle Nipple
is a short, concise affair with all about one of the songs over the
two and a half minute mark. The album includes a cover of the Black
Flag punk classic “Wasted.” The band evens out the song
lengths by adding a 15-minute epic at the end of the record titled
“Please, That Bitch Will Outlive Us All.” Don’t
know if it’s a personal ode to someone in his life, but it
sounds like it could very well be universal about any crazy people we
know.
The band started their
tour with Horse The Band on September 3rd and wrap with
the tour in early October. They already rolled through Detroit on Thursday (September 25th) playing the Ritz in Warren but you still might be able to catch them in your town or you can pick up some of the wildest punk fused metal that we’ve heard in recent
memory.
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Friday, 26 September 2008 |
 After listening to the
Brooklyn based Lordz’s album The Brooklyn Way,
I can safely say that the band is the quintessential band for the
Sirius station Faction (that’s Channel 28 if you have it). The
band is a blistering blend of punk, hip hop, and rock that makes for
a great party CD. Ok, maybe it's not a party CD for a wine and cheese
social, but more of ones with Pabst Blue Ribbon tall boys and
fistfights (more of the type of parties I’m accustomed to). The band, formerly
called the Lordz Of Brooklyn have been at things since 1992, when
they signed with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings. The band
poked around for a lot of years, before doing a cover of Run DMC’s
“Sucker MC’s” for the “Take a Bite Outta
Rhyme” hip-hop tribute and their 2003 album Graffiti
Roc.
The band’s last
record, the 2006 album The Brooklyn Way features some
guest vocals, with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong helping out on one of
the strongest tracks on the record with “Outlaw,” and
Everlast helping out on the leadoff title track. Probably the
strongest cut on the record is the laid back track “Soundboy”
with Bedouin Soundclash guesting on the song. The band isn’t
afraid to bang out some covers as well, including a cover of the Ace
Frehley- Kiss era track “New York Groove.” Honestly,
their version is better than the original- most likely for the fact I
wasn’t a fan of the original in the first place. They also
cover the Jim Carroll underground classic “People Who Died”
and do an admirable job with it.
The Lordz have teamed
up with their old buddy Everlast for a tour that wraps in early
October, but heads to the Magic Stick in Detroit on Friday, September
26th. Except a good time, some covers and some good
supporting before Whitey Ford hits the stage in the first time in a
while.
The Lordz open
for Everlast at the Magic Stick this Friday, September 26th.
Tickets are $18 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
Additional dates can be found at www.thelordz.com. | | No comments for this item |
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Artist Spotlight - Ashes Divide |
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Music Buzz
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Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
 Billy Howerdel has been
a busy man over the past few years. Even if the name doesn’t
immediately jogs your memory; Howerdel was the cohort in crime with
Maynard Keenan with the band A Perfect Circle. After two successful
albums and tours with APC, Keenan went back to his duties in Tool, giving Howerdel many new avenues to pursue.
Howerdel’s first
project since APC went on hiatus is the goth-tinged Ashes Divide, who
put out their first record Keep Telling Myself It’s
Alright earlier this year. The album dishes out some moody,
ambient moments and mixes with it more straight forward rock moments
as well. The album is lead by the tracks “The Stone” and
“Enemies,” which shows off Howerdel’s vocal prowess
and is a prime example of the vision that he has for this band. The
album features guest spots from | | No comments for this item |
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Album Review - Metallica's Death Magnetic |
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Music Buzz
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Friday, 19 September 2008 |
 No matter what your opinion of Metallica's previous release, St. Anger, which I still think was a solid, if at
times uneven, record. I know it sounded like it was recorded and
mixed by a first timer in the business and none of the songs
were overly catchy. But the album still did decently well, and
for those people who didn’t like it- get the hell over it. But no matter what you
felt on St. Anger, you knew the next record would be
a definite make or break affair. Well. five plus years in the making and Death Magnetic has finally arrived amid some hype and
perhaps more apprehension about if Metallica could return to their
glory days.
Let’s get this out
of the way, Death Magnetic is not Master of
Puppets or And Justice For All of the
self-titled Black album, but it definitely sounds like
a band finally moving back into fine form. The songs, such as “The
End Of The Line” and “Broken, Beat and Scarred”
harken back the days of Metallica’s thrash peak. Most of the
songs on the record don’t try for the 4 minute, radio friendly
tracks, but instead opts for 7 to 8 minute multi-layered solos and
jams at times. When listening to tracks like “The Judas Kiss”
and “That Was Just Your Life,” you get | | No comments for this item |
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Artist Spotlight - French Kicks |
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Music Buzz
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Wednesday, 17 September 2008 |
 Coming out of the
crowded New York indie scene, the French Kicks are a quartet that is
constantly evolving and switching up their sound. As a band that was
raised in Washington D.C. on the legendary hardcore punk scene
and played in a far more wide range of bands where attending college
in Ohio. From there, the band moved to New York and worked on the
basis of what would become the French Kicks.
The
band is currently out in support of their fourth album, Swimming.
With tracks like “The Way You Arrive” and “Love In
The Ruins,” the band moves into more of a live instrumentation
route on the new records versus the electronic-leaning sound of
previous records. The band has a dual lead singer attack, with
brothers Nick and Lawrence Stumpf, whose vocals lend a very laid back
yet direct approach on other songs like “Carried Away”
and shows off more layered melodic sounds on “With The Fishes.” When
listening to past records, such as 2006’s Two Thousand
and 2004’s The Trial Of the Century, the band has
drifted away from the electronic influenced and peppering within the
music and it seems to have worked out well for the band so far.
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Coming straight out the
depths of Pennsylvania, the guys in An Albatross think that you
should know that they are “bad motherf---ers inciting a riot.”
Whether or not they ripped part of that line from Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction remains to be seen, but the band brings it
with a array of sounds, ranging from psychedelia to jam band stuff to
metal. It’s all a big concoction and mixes into their upcoming
record An Albatross Family Album, due out October 21st. Blissfully off the wall
tracks include “Revolutionary Politics of Dance” and
“Hairorbics,” in which singer Eddie Gieda belts and
shrieks with reckless abandon, while synthesizer player Philip
Reynolds Price adds some of the wildest beats and sounds heard in a
long while.
