BrooklynRocks Top 10 List for 2010

There were a lot of great releases this year so it was tough to pick only ten albums. After spending more time than I would have thought narrowing down the list, below is my 2010 Top-10 list (in no particular order):

01) The Art of Shooting – Traveling Show

02) Tim Kasher – The Game of Monogamy

03) Automatic Children – New Is Beautiful

04) Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extractions

05) The Canon Logic – FM Arcade

06) King Crimson – Islands (40th Anniversary Edition)

07) School of Seven Bells – Disconnect From Desire

08) Lissie – Catching A Tiger

09) J. Roddy Walston and the Business – Self-Titled

10) Early Graves – Goner

Happy New Year Everyone!

The Canon Logic Play Sullivan Hall in the West Village tonight (March 7th)

Philadelphia transplants, The Canon Logic, are playing Sullivan Hall tonight. Sullivan Hall is the old Lions Den (214 Sullivan Street). The band is playing with "A BIG YES...and a small no" (who goes on at 9:30PM) and tickets are only $10.

According to the The Canon Logic's MySpace page, the band relocated to Brooklyn and have their second release, "White Balloon", due out on May 20th. The Canon Logic earned some great press for their first EP with its blend of Beach Boys' style vocal harmonies mixed with Cheap Trick style power-pop. One of the stand-out tracks on the EP is Delia.

The band has such an incredibly tight sound, both musical and vocally, so I have been wondering how well this translates to the band's live shows. I just ran across an audience clip of the band performing acoustic version of Delia on World Cafe and they sounds great. (You can't fake it acoustically)



The Canon Logic are off to SxSW for a couple shows and the next local show is at The Tank on April 10th.

Links:
The Canon Logic's MySpace Page
The Canon Logic's Blog

Amplify - Live Reheasal, Brooklyn, NY 1-18-08

A few weeks ago, I spent some time with the alt-metal band Amplify and I posted a video interview with Joe (guitars) and Bobbie (vocals) from Amplify about a week ago.

Here is some live footage from the band's rehearsal.


Amplify has some upcoming shows next month, which include a release party for the band's debut CD, Beneath the Beauty Lies...Heaven to Burn.

March 06, 2008 Fat Baby, NYC
March 14, 2008 The Cutting Room, NYC (CD Release Show)
April 17, 2008 Luna Lounge, Brooklyn

Links:
Amplify's Website

Amplify - Rehearsal Studio Interview, Brooklyn, NY 1-18-08

Amplify is a NYC-based alt-metal band made up of longtime music-scene vets. Members have worked with a range of musicians from Peter Gabriel to Fahrenheit 451 and are able to leverage these diverse influences to create Amplify's sound. The band's sound falls somewhere between prog-rock and the hard rock sounds of some of the 80's/90's metal bands (Soundgarden and 'Use Your Illusion'-era Guns N' Roses are the immediate comparisons).

The band released its debut CD, Beneath the Beauty Lies...Heaven to Burn, earlier this year and are starting play some shows around town in support of this disc.

Last month, I had the opportunity to sit in on one of the band's practice session and film some live video and an interview with Bobbie Rae (vocals) and Joe Rodriguez (guitars).

Here is the interview and the live footage will follow in the next few days.



Amplify has a couple upcoming shows:

March 6, 2008 9:00PM @ Fat Baby, NYC
March 14, 2008 10:30PM CD RELEASE SHOW @ The Cutting Room NYC
April 17, 2008 8:00PM @ Luna Lounge Brooklyn

Links:
Amplify's MySpace Page
Amplify's Website

Automatic Children Live @ Rockwood Music Hall, NYC January 22, 2008

I have always felt that a good live show should both hold your attention and leave you wanting more. Automatic Children's show at Rockwood Music Hall hit the mark on both fronts. The band seems to really enjoy themselves on stage which made for a fun live show.

Here are a couple live songs from the band's set:



Automatic Children are working on scheduling some shows for next month so watch the band's MySpace page for details.

Previous Posts:
Pre-Show Interview with Automatic Children

Automatic Children - Rockwood Music Hall Pre-Show Interview, January 22, 2008

I caught up with Automatic Children last Tuesday night before they went on stage at Rockwood Music Hall. Here is the first video from the night - a video interview with the band that we filmed at a diner on Houston Street.



The band put on a great show and was kind enough to let me film a few songs so I'll be posting a live video and some pictures from the show in the next few day.

Automatic Children are in the process of lining up some shows for March (watch the video for more details) so keep an eye on the band's MySpace page for updates.

For anyone who hasn't heard Automatic Children before, the band released an EP, "It's Not Me, It's You" late last year. You can check out the EP as most the tracks are streaming on the band's MySpace page. I reviewed the EP last year (link) and here is another review from The Deli Online Blog:

“Automatic Children's music is playful and aggressive, but not cold as you might expect from a band with a name like that. Their songs are rooted in traditional songwriting, with recurring references to pop and rock'n'roll, but the sound is gritty and distorted, reminding the unpolished tunes of Jesus and Mary Chain and The Pixies (alternating male/female vocals and a cover of Gigantic also tie this quartet to the Boston legends).”

BrooklynRocks Covering CMJ Music Marathon for Imeem

This is really cool...I am now an official Imeem blogger for the CMJ Festival next week. Anybody have recommendations for "must see" bands?

Check out the coverage of CMJ on Imeem. I also created a profile on Imeem which I am just starting to build out.

I'll be posting pictures, reviews, etc. from the parties and showcases to both sites. Let me know what you think...

Care Bears on Fire @ Southpaw, Brooklyn, June 2, 2007

I have been trying to write a CD review of the latest release by an "established artist". Honestly, I can't get motivated to write a review of this disc [sorry, I am intentionally avoiding mentioning the artist's name] as music is just completely flat and uninspired. At this point, you are probably wondering what this has to do with the Care Bears. The Care Bears brought out the complete opposite reaction -- the band was warm, fun, talented and energetic. I have seen bands in major clubs who don't have the talent and enthusiasm that these three have. This will be a band to watch and, if I heard correctly, the band will be releasing a CD sometime this fall.







I have pictures of the other bands that played which I'll get posted in the next day or two. I also have a few pictures of host Martha Plimpton (her bio was included in the program that was passed out at the show and I noticed that she didn't include The Goonies when listing her past work.)

Links:
Care Bears on Fire MySpace page (link)

The Pipettes, Luna Lounge, NYC March 12, 2007

Last night was my first time at the Luna Luna since its reopening in Williamsburg. I really enjoyed the show -- The Booze (pictures to follow) were reminicent of the 1965 version of the Rolling Stones and The Pipettes were simply a lot of fun.

As this was my first time in the club - my general comments are great sound and great sight lines.



I picked up The Pipettes set list as I was leaving the club:
- Intro
- Baby Don't Leave
- Yr Kisses
- Why Did You Stay
- Your Love For Me
- Cuz It's Not Love
- Diuretics
- Hurts 2 C U
- Guess Who
- Tell Me What
- Really That Bad
- I Love You
- True Love Waits
- One Night Stand
- Judy
- Dirty Mind
- Pull Shapes

NME.Com Just Ran a Feature on the Reopening of the Luna Lounge

NME.Com published this yesterday...

The new Luna Lounge moves to Brooklyn

New York venue Luna Lounge is set to reopen in it's new location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn this Friday (January 19). The venue, which closed its doors on Ludlow Street in June 2005, was a significant venue for much of the Lower East Side music scene for ten years. The venue saw performances from many of the city's most successful indie rock bands including Interpol, The Strokes and Stellastarr*. The venue's relaunch will see a performance from lauded Brooklyn/Chapel Hill band The Comas, and will continue to operate on weekends until February when it will announce a nightly schedule.

Dee Snider and Jay Jay French (from Twisted Sister) Interviewed on CNN

For the Twisted Sister fans out there, CNN has posted a video online of Soledad O'Brien talking with Dee and Jay Jay about the new CD "A Twisted Christmas".

It's great to see the band getting this much positive press.

Carnivore to Play Northsix in Brooklyn on Jan. 13th, 2007

Carnivore, Peter Steele's pre-Type O Negative band, is back for a one-night reunion show at Northsix. Carnivore plays very infrequently these days so fans will want to catch this show.

This show is sponsored by Duff's Bar in Williamburg and they are hosting a meet & greet with the band after the show. (Check out the bar's website as there is a video of the meet & greet with Carnivore after last year's show at BB King's)





Carnivore's lineup for this show is:
Peter Steele - Vocals, Bass
Paul Bento - Guitar, Vocals
Joey Z - Guitar, Vocals
Steve Tobin - Drums, Vocals

Also on the bill are Krieg (one-time reunion), Lair of the Minotaur, Anal C*nt, Embalmer, Dimentianon, and Annunaki. Advance tickets are $30 and went on sale through Ticketweb on 12/24. (This show will likely sell out so buy your tickets now!)

Metal Church 1983 Demos Available Online

Metal Church has released five demos from 1983 as downloadable mp3s on their website. It is pretty cool that they are making this stuff available as this material has never been released (and I think only one of these tracks was circulating as a bootleg). These recordings document the transition of Shrapnel into the David Wayne fronted lineup of Metal Church. Four of the five tracks are instrumentals as Shrapnel's singer had left the band prior to this recording and the fifth, Deathwish, features David Wayne. (Note that contrary to what Wikipedia states, these mp3 are NOT the "Four Hymns" demo tape but are from an earlier recording).

Metal Church is playing BB King's with Belladona and Overkill on January 28, 2007.

Hazen Street Live @ Knitting Factory, NYC Dec. 16, 2006

Hazen Street returned to NYC for their first show in two years. I missed seeing the band when they played last so I really didn't know what to expect. These guys are incredible live and really know how to put on a great show. Vocalists, Freddy Madball and Toby Morse are both longtime veterans of the scene and know how to work both the stage and the crowd. They were also able to pull off vocals harmonies and interplay that I haven't heard since the early days of Biohazard. The rhythm section is also top notch with Mackie Jayson (x-Cro-Mags, Bad Brains) on drums, Hoya (from Madball) on bass, David Kennedy (from Boxcar Racer) on guitar and Todd Morse (from H2O) on second guitar stepping in for the departed Chad Gilbert.
Freddy brought up Vinny Stigma (who is in the picture below with Freddy) who unfortunately did not play with the band but the surprise of the evening was a two song encore by H2O. Unfortunately, I had stepped to the back of the room when Hazen Street went off so I didn't get a decent pictures of H2O.

I have posted some additional pictures from the show to Flickr.

Skid Row's War of Words Likely to Continue

Rachel Bolan may be able to vent his ire on another former member of Skid Row. Former Skid Row drummer Phil Varone's movie Waking Up Dead is scheduled to be released in March on Demolition Records. This film has already caused some controversy as it depicts an unedited story of rock n' roll excesses and Varone's fall into serious drug addiction.




There is a trailer for the movie at the Waking Up Dead site and this quote from director Fabio Jefet sums up the essence of the film:

"After a while I was looking at 200 hours of tape, and I knew that Phil had a great story. As a metal fan growing up, you have these huge views of these guys; they're larger than life, they live the rock lifestyle. Never in your wildest dreams do you ever think they're broke, divorced, pressed, drug addicted. They basically can't function. Being a journalist, it was a great story because here was a guy who people are paying $35 a head to go and see, the girls are lining up for hours, and little do they know he lives in a box, has no money, he's a drug addict, and his life is spiralling downward. It was a fascinating story, but it didn't start out that way. It was a case of 'Phil's my friend, how can I help him?'"

Rachel Bolan has already disclaimed this film in a recent interview with Sweden's Metalshrine.

Metalshrine: I've just seen the trailer for it and is that in any way true image of what touring is like? Because it seems like it was just drugs and girls.

Rachel: You know what, that's his world! I don't do drugs and the guys in the band don't do drugs. I don't endorse it. That's his world and he wanted to put our image in it and being the fact that the guy was only in the band for two years. The fact that he thinks he has the right to go out and use the SKID ROW name is preposterous. Yeah, that's his world, not ours!

Any movie that can generate this kind of controversy is probably worth seeing. There are some pretty thorough reviews of the film online:

Waking Up Dead Press Review Page
Glam-Metal.Com Interview with Phil Varone

Joe Lynn Turner (x-Rainbow and Deep Purple) Performing Live on Manhattan Cable Access Tonight (Dec. 17)

Joe Lynn Turner (best known as vocalist for both Rainbow and Deep Purple) makes a rare "appearance" in the area with a live broadcast on Manhattan cable access tonight at 2AM. This show was taped Thursday night in Staten Island as part of the New York Rocks TV series and will be broadcast on Time Warner Channel 56.

I understand Joe lives in Queens but he plays very infrequently in the area so be sure to catch this rare appearance. (As Brooklyn cable doesn't carry New York Rocks, please drop me an email if anyone records this show to DVD)

Joe's latest CD Sunstorm was just released in the US on Locomotive Records. Joe also announced that he is entering the studio this week to record a follow up to Sunstorm.

Keith Caputo (Life of Agony) to jam with Scott Ian (Anthrax) and Frank Bello (Anthrax) at Club Retox on Sat., Dec. 16th

Life of Agony singer Keith Caputo will perform a three song acoutic set tomorrow night (December 16th) at Club Retox. Caputo will be joined by Scott Ian (Anthrax guitarist) and Frank Bello (Anthrax bassist) and they are scheduled to hit the stage at 11PM. The group is rumored to be playing covers by the Black Crowes, U2 and Alice in Chains.

Club Retox (in which Scott Ian is a part owner) is located at 511 West 28th Street.

Twisted Sister A Twisted Christmas CD Review

Until this CD came out, I was under the impression that only country artists and lame "adult pop" (hello Jewel) acts released Christmas albums. This CD blows away all of these past Xmas albums and shows that a real band can rock out anywhere, even on a Christmas album. On this CD, the classic line-up of Twisted Sister (Dee, Eddie, Jay Jay, Mark and A.J.) play rock versions of nine Christmas classics and have included a new song Heavy Metal Christmas, which is the band's update on 12 Days of Christmas.

One of the things that I have always enjoyed about Twisted Sister is their wicked sense of humor. The band obviously had a lot of fun making this album and it shows in their stellar playing and Dee's vocals never sounded better. Right now, the band's version of Oh Come All Ye Faithful is getting a lot of airplay. The song is set to the tune of We're Not Gonna Take It and the melody is a dead-on match. There is a thirty minute music special currently airing on VH1 entitled Hangin' with Twisted Sister where the band discusses the recording of the album and how We're Not Gonna Take It was inspired by the Christmas classic. The video for this song is hilarious as it is brings the We're Not Gonna Take It "Needermeyer" video into the present day. There is a link to the YouTube video below.

Other standout tracks are I'll Be Home for Christmas (where Dee duets with the long-lost Lita Ford) and Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (which closes with a Ramones-like Ho, Ho, Ho, Let's Go chorus). The band makes their first appearance on the Tonight show tomorrow night to perform Oh Come All Ye Faithful. The only show in the NY area is December 22nd at the Starland Ballroom. (Unfortunately, since L'Amour closed, the band doesn't seem to make any closer appearances)

Metal Church Playing BB King's, NYC on Jan. 28th

Now in their 25th year, Metal Church return to town for a show at BB King's on January 28, 2007. Also on the bill are Joey Belladonna (from Anthrax), Overkill and Meliah Rage. Tickets are only $25.00.

This show is a bargain given the acts playing.

Metal Church's latest release A Light In the Dark was released this past June by SPV and is the band's second release with vocalist Ronny Munroe. This release also features a re-recording of Watch the Children Pray (originally released on 1986's The Dark) as a tribute to then recently deceased original vocalist David Wayne.

James Plotkin & Tim Wyskida (x-Khanate) to Play Water Street Lounge in Brooklyn on Jan 19th

James Plotkin & Tim Wyskida (x-Khanate) are playing the Water Street Lounge in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn on Januray 19th. The picture on the left is from James and Tim's current CD, "8 Improvisations", which was released earlier this year. This came out on the Archive CD label and was limited to 1,000 copies. Archive CD has sold out of the copies they had but James might have some remaining copies for sale at the show. Plotkin's webstore describes this release as "guitar/drums duo of fierce jazznoise invention and buzzing dronescapes. "

Also on the bill is Tartar Lamb & Hazel-Rah. Tartar Lamb is the duo of Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya (of Kayo Dot), put together specifically to perform and record Toby's long-form violin and electric guitar duet, "60 Metonymies," and with the potential to move on to other pieces in the future. Tartar Lamb will be augmented by the participation of Tim Byrnes (trumpet) and Andrew Greenwald (drums) of The Friendly Bears for the tour and tape.

Water Street Lounge has great sound and sightlines (and last time I was there, there was plenty of free street parking) so this show is ceretainly worth checking out.