At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul CD/DVD Review

Earache has done a really nice job with some of its recent reissues. The inclusion of six bonus tracks along with a bonus DVD with the recent reissue of Slaughter of the Soul should make fans seriously consider picking up a second copy of this release. (As this release is routinely included in "Best Metal Album/CD" polls year after year, I am assuming most people reading this already have a copy).

For those who aren't familiar with At The Gates, Slaughter of the Soul was originally released 11 years ago and the band broke up in 1996 (after two US tours in support of this CD). This CD is a rarity as it is one of those few CDs that define a musical genre and serve as a blueprint for bands that follow. Slaughter of the Soul set the standard for melodic death metal and its influence can be heard in a number of current bands today (most notably Shadows Fall).

There isn't a bad track on this CD and the music has aged well over the years. The first track, Blinded By Fear, was a MTV Headbanger's Ball staple (and the video is included on the bonus DVD) and starts the disc off with pounding intensity. The band never loses its heaviness as the songs range from brutal onslaughts to beautiful instrumentals. The final track The Flames of the End is an instrumental that would fit well as the soundtrack to a horror film. (This track was originally written by Anders for one of his low-budget horror movies). The bonus tracks are also a real treat. They include the two track demo from 1995 (Onto Others and Suicide Nation) which got the band its contract with Earache along with covers by No Security, Slayer and Slaughterlord.

I have never been a fan of "The Making of the Record" documentaries as I immediately associate them with poorly made VH1 Behind the Music specials. This DVD was surprisingly good. It features Tomas Lindberd, producer Fredrik Nordstrom and a very quiet Martin Larsson (who gets very animated when talking about just how bad Anders' homemade horror films were). The documentary adds a lot of insight on how the record was made (on a shoe-string budget) and why the band broke up after its recording. The new liner notes in the CD booklet also add to the understanding of where Tomas and the band were at this point in their lives and career.

Rating: 10/10

I have seen a lot of questions on the 'net about new At the Gates material and the persistent reunion rumors:

• Anders has put up at At the Gates website and MySpace page which has some interesting info about the band and its past history. While neither of these sites discuss reunion rumors or what the band members are currently doing, there are some pretty cool YouTube clips from the band's final tour posted on the MySpace page.
• Peter (vocalist from the Haunted) and others have hinted about an At the Gates reunion (see text from an interview he gave last year). These rumors have been denied by other band members.
• Adrian posted a three track demo from Terror, a side project he worked on with Anders and Jonas prior to the recording of Slaughter of the Soul

Never Let Death Get In The Way of Profit (...or Exploiting James Brown)

Anyone who has been to a show at BB King's should recognize the card on the left. These are free giveaway "postcards" that BB King's uses to promote the higher profile shows at the club. These cards have just started turning up on eBay and are selling for $10 (or more) each.

It is pretty sad that the man hasn't been gone more than a few days and the profiters are already out.

Long Island's Car Bomb Sign to Relapse and are Playing @ Lit Lounge in January

A few months back, Car Bomb announced that they had signed to Relapse Records. Their upcoming LP/CD Centralia is now available for pre-order and the band is playing a show at the Lit Lounge on Monday, Jan 1st. Also on the bill are Throwing Shrapnel (from MA) and Asra. Tickets are $6.00.

UK Buzz Band The View Playing Two Shows Next Week @ Mercury Lounge

UK buzz band The View are supposed to make their US debut next week and are scheduled to play two sold-out shows at the Mercury Lounge on Tuesday and Wednesday. It looks like these shows may be in question as The Courier reported earlier this week that lead singer Kyle Falconer has been hospitalized with pneumonia.

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!)

LA Guns to Play Don Hill's on December 28th

It doesn't seem to happen that often that two bands tour at the same time under the same name. The last band I remember doing this was Christian Death in the late 80's/early 90's when both Rozz Williams and Valor were touring under the Christian Death banner. The Tracii Guns led version of LA Guns will play Don Hill's next week with special guest David JoHansen.

For those not familiar with the situation...In 2004 LA Guns announced that they would continue on without Tracii, who was off doing his thing with the Brides of Destruction. After the second Brides CD tanked, Tracii regrouped the "original" lineup of LA Guns and started to tour under the LA Guns banner. (Missing from the Paul Black-era lineup is Mick Cripps who is replaced by Tracii's son Jeremy).

Just over a year ago, Paul Black released an 18 song CD of recordings this lineup made by shortly before they signed to Polygram (and Black was replaced by Phil Lewis). This CD (entitled Black List) is directly available from Paul through his Black City Music website.

This is the band's only show on the East Coast and they are off to Europe in the beginning of the year. This should be a great show and a rare chance to see 3/4 of the lineup that wrote LA Guns debut LP. Tickets are only $15 dollars.

Ludichrist & Scatterbrain to Reunite for Show at BB King's

Ludichrist and Scatterbrain are reuniting to for one show at BB King's on February 23, 2007 and both bands are scheduled to play full sets. According to Blabbermouth, it has been 18 years since Ludichrist last played and 13 years since the last Scatterbrain show. Rumor is that all former members of both bands will be on stage at this show.

Ludichrist has a MySpace page and blog where they are detailing the run-up to the show. If you are a fan, this is a must-see show as the band posted on their MySpace blog:

One final note…To all of you that write us and say come to ____________. It's nice to be wanted and we appreciate the love, but we ain't comin' to you brothers and sisters. You gotta come to us. We're playing in NYC, not on the moon. Get yourself a ticket and take yourself a little trip – we'd love to see ya…

Opening bands are Subzero, No Redeeming Social Value and Norman Bates and the Showerheads. Tickets are still available and advance tickets are $29.50.

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.

Trouble - The Skull CD/DVD Review

Trouble's second release The Skull was released about a year after Psalm 9 and continues with the same dark and oppressive Christian themes as the first release. There are two notable differences though -- the production is better which highlights that the songs are darker. The press release that came with the Escapi reissue starts with the line "The Skull - Suicide and death and drugs".

About half the songs on this release were written and part of Trouble's live set prior to any of their studio recordings. Some of the "newer" tracks like Pray for the Dead and The Skull show the band's songwriting maturing but the lyrics reflect that Eric and the band are dealing with some pretty heavy issues.

Most of those songs were already written when we did the first record," explains Rick, with respect to The Skull's tortured lessons. "But a lot of the lyrics weren't finished at that point: it was basically Eric that needed to get to work on that stuff. And just from being with Eric and talking to him over the years, from what I understand, that was the most depressing time in his life, when he wrote the lyrics to that album. And it kind of shows. When you listen closely to what's going on in there, he sings a lot about suicide and death and drugs. There were just a lot of bad things he was going through."

Escapi Music has included a bonus DVD of the band performing live in Aurora, IL in 1985 with the reissue of The Skull. (I would suspect that the real date of the show is 1984 as Eric mentions that The Skull will be released in January. In looking online, I found one site that lists the date and club as Malos in Aurora, IL – Nov. 10, 1984.) I really enjoyed this DVD but don't think it is for everyone. It is filmed with a single camera from the back of the crowd and does not have sound from the board. Taking it for what it is (essentially a 20+ year old bootleg), it is pretty good and really shows what the band's live show was like when they first hit the circuit. The video runs close to 2 hours and highlights songs from both LPs. It is interesting to note that the band dropped the Accept and Angel Witch covers that seemed to always be in their set and have added covers of The Yardbirds' Heart Full of Soul and Sabbath's Children of the Grave to the set. Also, Run To The Light is included in the set almost three years prior to it being released on Trouble's 1987 LP/CD of the same title.

It is great that Trouble is finally getting the recognition that they have long deserved. Look for Trouble's new release and tour in early 2007. The band's website also states that the long awaited Trouble unplugged CD will be released in the summer next year.

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.

Isis & Jesu to Play Irving Plaza on March 14, 2007

Hyrdrahead recording artists Isis return to NYC on March 14th to headline a show at Irving Plaza.

Isis is touring in support of their new release In the Absence of Truth and will supported by Jesu (which features Justin Broadrick [x-Godflesh and Ted Parsons [x-Swans and Killing Joke]) on most of the tour.

Other tour dates in the Northeast are:

• Mar. 10 - Richmond, VA - Alley Katz
• Mar. 11 - Washington, DC - 930 Club
• Mar. 13 - Philadelphia, PA - TLA
• Mar. 14 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
• Mar. 16 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East
• Mar. 17 - Cambridge, MA - The Middle East

Trouble - Psalm 9 CD/DVD Review

Escapi Music has just reissued the first two CDs by Chicago doom-metalers Trouble. The first CD, Psalm 9, along with releases by St. Vitus, Pentagram and Witchfinder General helped define the doom metal sounds (which has been copied by many bands that followed).

Psalm 9 was released in 1984 and caused quite a stir in the underground scene. The LP was on white vinyl, limited to 2000 and dearly beloved by those who happened to pick one up. Psalm 9 had heavy religious/christian-themed lyrics so the band was marketed by Metal Blade as a "white metal" band. This was a tag the band strongly resisted. There was also quite a controversy at the time over whether a "Christian" band would include the word "f*ck" in one of their songs (The Bastards Will Pay). In a recent interview, Eric Wagner reflects back on this release and its Christian labeling.

"I was brought up Catholic...but you have to remember , back in the early '80s, all the metal was kind of Satanic, and I didn't get into that vibe. So, as far as writing lyrics, I wasn't trying to save anybody, but just explore my life."

Hands-down, this is a great CD! Trouble is often referenced as being Black Sabbath accolytes but their music goes beyond the basic Sabbath sound. While Trouble's music utilizes similar plodding tempos and heavy bass, the music also differes in many ways. Trouble utilizes two lead guitarists (similar to what the NWOBHM bands did at the time) and frequently change both tempos and speeds. There are also elements of both speed and trash metal in a number of songs.

There isn't a bad song on this disc but particular standouts are Assasin, Victim of the Insane, and Bastards Will Pay. There are many reasons to pick up a copy of this CD (it is an excellent blueprint for bands starting out, the CD has been out of print for years, Trouble has reunited and will be touring again in 2007) but I think the strongest reason is the inclusion of a bonus DVD of the band performing live on cable access television. The DVD lists this performance as 1982 but I believe it to be closer to 1984 as the band mentions that their first LP is already out and that they have started writing songs for their second. It is amazing to be able to see the band as they were performing live over 20 years ago. It is also kind of fun to watch a very young Eric Wagner play air guitar along side of Bruce Franklin. The DVD is 20 minutes and contains three live songs along with an interview. Songs performed are Assassin, Psalm 9 and Victim Of The Insane.

Trouble's first release since 1995, Simple Mind Condition, is scheduled to be released by Escapi Music on February 20th, 2007.

Twisted Sister Twisted Christmas Tour Getting Excellent Reviews

Brave Words has posted a photo gallery and Metal Sludge has a review from the Toronto show. BraveWords also has a review of the Toronto show entitled "Jesus and Satan Would be Equally Proud".

The tour looks like a lot of fun. Unfortunately, no shows are currently scheduled in NYC but there are two NJ shows:
Dec 22, 2006 7:00P Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, New Jersey
Dec 23, 2006 8:00P The House of Blues, Atlantic City, New Jersey

Marky Ramone and Osaka Popstar Release Christmas Single

Marky Ramone and Osaka Popstar have just released a new Christmas single entitled The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. This is the theme to a 60s b-movie with the same name. (This is one of those movies that was supposed to be family-oriented and heart warming but it is so bad that it's quite funny. Here is a link to a dead-on review of the film.) As bad as the movie is, Osaka Popstar's single is great. This single is also on Osaka Popstar's full-length CD Osaka Popstar & The American Legends Of Punk.

Osaka Popstar is Marky Ramone, John Cafiero, Ivan Julian, Dez Cadena and Jerry Only.

Sick of It All to open for Hatebreed at Roseland Ballroom on Dec. 28th

NYHC legends Sick of It All are celebrating their 20th anniversary and seem to be playing a lot of shows in the area as of late. The band is still a top-notch live act as evidenced at recent shows at BB King's and CBGB. The band's next show in the area is at Roseland Ballroom on Dec 28th in support of Hatebreed.

Tour dates for the mini-East Coast tour with Hatebreed are:
Dec. 26 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Dec. 27 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
Dec. 28 - New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
Dec. 29 - Buffalo, NY @ TBA
Dec. 30 - New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place

Sick of It All had a great "return to form" CD entitled Death to Tyrants released earlier this year on Abacus. There will be a tribute to Sick of It All released next year on Abacus entitled "Our Impact Will Be Felt". This CD features bands such as RISE AGAINST, BLEEDING THROUGH, BOUNCING SOULS, SEPULTURA, and HATEBREED covering their favorite SICK OF IT ALL tracks. The release date for this CD is February 3, 2007.

Chris Pennie & Ben Weinman (Dillinger Escape Plan) Live @ Northsix, 12/2/06

Chris (Drums) and Ben (Guitar) from Dillinger Escape Plan were the last act to play at Northsix on Saturday. This is a new, un-named project by Chris and Ben and their take on instrumental rock was much more jazz oriented than the acts that proceeded them. Both musicians are extremely talented and it was nice to see them shine outside of Dillinger's math-core structure.

While the duo's set was predominately instrumental, they did bring Alie up to sing one song. (See picture below - Unfortunately, you can see in the last two pictures that my flash batteries were all but dead by this point in the evening)

Zombi Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn Dec. 2, 2006

Relapse recording artists Zombi followed Maserati. Zombi is a two-piece band that plays a style of prog-rock that would be easily comparable to mid-period Genesis or Tangerine Dream. For having just a keyboard/bass player and a drummer, Zombi produces complex, multi-layered music with a very big sound.



Zombi has been in town a few times over the past few months including a spot opening for Isis at the Avalon in June. Zombi has become a very strong live act and I would expect to see them start to headline some shows in the area in the near future.

The band is currently finishing their tour of the Northeast with Maserati and have a few remaining dates in Canada and Buffalo. Upcoming tour dates are:

12.06 Ottawa, ON @ Cafe Deckuf w/Maserati
12.07 Hamilton, ON @ The Underground w/Maserati
12.08 Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dee's w/Maserati
12.09 Buffalo, NY @ Soundlab w/Maserati

Maserati Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn Dec. 2, 2006

It was an interesting night at Northsix last night as all the bands were (predominately) all instrumental. Maserati drew the biggest crowd of the night with its brand of space/ psychedelic rock. Maserati's website describes the band's music as "Pink Floyd for hipsters...[t]his is stoner rock for the working man." I can't think of a better description. Just to be clear -- this isn't the Roger Waters era of Pink Floyd that the band is referring to. Maserati's sound goes straight back to the Syd Barrett/Piper at the Gates of Dawn era. Many of the tracks played last night would fit well along side of Pink Floyd tracks like Interstellar Overdrive.

Maserati hasn't done a show in the area for almost two years but they are returning next Sunday night (Dec. 10) for a Todd P show @ Uncle Paulie's.

Here is the scoop on Uncle Paulie's:

[ UNCLE PAULIE'S ]
$2 beer! Uncle Paulie's is totally a temporary structure built out of blue canvas and two by fours and plywood on a slab of concrete next to the huge under-construction death star minaret upside-down hot-air-balloon lookin' sewage treatment plant in Greenpoint. During the daylight, men in hard hats eat fried food here. Totally patio, but totally inside! Easy to get to but so far out nobody cares! Noise & djs till the wee hours! $2 beer! Bring yr ID for the beverages.
-- MYSPACE --> http://www.myspace.com/unclepauliesnyc

Maserati has a new CD/LP Inventions for the New Season due out in the Spring on Temporary Residence, Ltd. A couple tracks from this release have already been posted to the band's MySpace page. The pre-release tracks sound great and band's set last night was phenominal so this upcoming release will be something to look forward to.

I have a couple additional pictures from the show posted below:

Twisted Sister Making First Appearance on Leno

Twisted Sister is making a number of promo appearances to support their new CD A Twisted Christmas which include making their first appearance on the Tonight Show. Here is the current schedule for promo appearances:

• Halftime @ the New York Jets game on 12/10
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 12/13
• Late Late Show on 12/22

In a recent interview with Illinois Entertainment, Dee say that this CD may not be the band's final chapter. You can read the full text of the interview here. The interview quotes Dee as saying:

I was saying it was the final chapter and the last nail in the coffins of our career, but as it turned out it might have actually revived us! Dude, we’ve shipped more units of this CD to all the major chains than anything we’ve done since the ’80s.

Dec. 17th Update:

As expected, Twisted Sister's performance of Oh Come All Ye Faithful has been uploaded to YouTube.

Twisted Sister Oh Come All Ye Faithful Video Online

Twisted Sister has posted an animated and live video online for their cover of Oh Come All Ye Faithful (set to the tune We're Not Gonna Take It). These videos have to be some of the funniest that I have seen in a while. This disc looks like a great collection of Xmas remakes and it includes one new song Heavy Metal Christmas. This is supposed to be the band's final release before calling it quits next year.

The band's Twisted Christmas tour starts tomorrow. Unfortunately, there are no dates in NYC on the schedule and the closest show is at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville on Dec. 22.

Tour dates are:

December
1 - The Myth in Minneapolis, MN
2 - Best Buy (in-store) in Maplewood, MN
5 - Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada
7 - House Of Blues in Chicago, IL
9 - Pepsi Roadhouse in Burgettstown, PA
12 - House Of Blues in Los Angeles, CA
14 - House Of Blues in Anaheim, CA
17 - Hard Rock in Orlando, FL
21 - Rams Head Live in Baltimore, MD
22 - Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, NJ
23 - The House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ

David Gilmour to Release Syd Barrett Tribute EP

I realize this has little to do with the NYC music scene but Syd Barrett's music was very important to a lot of musicians.

Daivd Gilmour is releasing a three song tribute to Syd as a digital download on Christmas Day. These songs will also be available as a limited 10" EP (in the USA) and a limited 7" (in Europe) as of Dec. 26th. (Don't sleep on this as the vinyl will likely sell out quickly). Songs on the EP are two versions of Arnold Layne -- one version sung by David Bowie and the other sung by Richard Wright -- and an acoustic version of Dark Globe.

David Gilmour announced on his website that the EP has been released today to BBC radio.

You can hear the very first play of the Arnold Layne single this morning on the Ken Bruce show (BBC Radio 2) between 9.30AM and 12 noon (UK time).You can listen live online or later via the BBC's 'Listen Again' feature. Look out for the great big purple buttons on the Radio 2 site.Do let us know what you think of it and, if you liked it, let your radio stations know that you want them to play it.The single has been added to Radio 2's B list. This means that you can expect to hear it about ten times during the course of the week. The more requests it receives, however, the more chance the single has of making it on to the A list, which means it will be played more often. Tracks on the A list receive the most plays (about 20 a week) compared to the B list's ten and the C list's five.

Thee Majesty Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn, Nov. 24, 2006

Thee Majesty headlined the show at Northsix on Friday night. It has been almost two years since the band's last show and it is always good to see Genesis P-Orridge, Lady Jaye and Bryin on stage together. For those who aren't familiar, Thee Majesty is Genesis' spoken word project. Thee Majesty is quite an intense experience if you are open to the experience. If you aren't, you probably should stay home as Genesis stopped the show twice to inquire what one person was shouting about at the bar. (I was close enough to hear that he was shouting about California punk bands like The Adolescents. What this had to do with the bands playing that night, I have no clue)

The last few times that I have seen Thee Majesty, Genesis used a lyric book and I was able to pick up one of the pages from the book after the show.

Int'l Shades Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn, Nov. 24, 2006

Int'l Shades (or IS as they are sometimes called) took the stage after The Star Spangles. The band has been around since 2002 but they play this side of the river way too infrequently often.

For anyone who hasn't seen Int'l Shades, last year Time Out NY said this about the band:

"Int'l Shades is the sort of band NYC needs more of - kind of an odd thing to say about a decidedly untrendy quartet of veterans (including Bob Bert, once of Sonic Youth and Pussy Galore, and Mark C of Live Skull.) But when musicians who've been around the block (and not just clockwise, either) set down rough-edged melodic rock songs, their assured nature rips the white belt off the local scene."

Since the Time Out piece was written, the band has added Alexa Georgevich on keyboards and vocals which gives the band more of a Fall like sound (but the band doesn't succumb to any of Mark E. Smith or Brix's excesses).

IS has one release (CD/LP) out on Cass Records. I haven't heard this release but if it is anything like the band's current and past live shows, it is worth picking up.

Star Spangles Live @ Northsix, Brooklyn, Nov. 24, 2006

It was Summer 2003 when the Star Spangles held their release party at CBGB for Bazooka, their first release on Columbia Records. At that time, critics either loved or hated the band (there was no middle ground) and it looked like the band was going to break big. For whatever reason, the band severed their ties with Capital, the long awaiting follow up to Bazooka was never released and the band faded from the scene.

The band has now regrouped with a new rhythm section (Nick and Joey are gone -- new members are Chris and Todd) and opened for Genesis P-Orridge's Thee Majesty at Northsix on Saturday night. The band is in great form and it is good to see them back in action. According to the band's MySpace page, the long delayed second record is "comin soon".

I was at the front of the stage when the band finished its set and picked up a copy of the setlist. The last song of the set, "I Don't Want to be Crazy Anymore", is the perfect power-pop song that ranks up there with anything by Cheap Track or The Plimsouls.

Star Spangles set list from show @ Northsix, Brooklyn 11/24/06