Would you play $60 to see Ace Frehley?

I am a huge Ace Frehley fan but the idea of playing $60 to see him play Eddie Trunk's Halloween Bash is kind of crazy.






Does Ace Frehley really have a bigger audience than Skid Row (who played Eddie Trunk's show for free last year) or Overkill (who I think played free the year before)?

For anyone who doesn't know what I am talking about...Ace Frehley is headlining Eddie Trunk's Halloween Bash at Hard Rock Cafe on Halloween night. The last few years, admission was free but you had to win the tickets from Eddie (which never seemed to be a problem). This year -- the show is $60.

Eddie/Ace -- I wish you well but I am going to find somewhere else to be on Halloween night. Bring on some special guests (Vito Bratta would be my first suggestion) and you might get my interest back...

Links:
Eddie Trunk's Website

Ingrid Michaelson @ Rockwood Music Hall, September 25, 2007

There is always something a bit magic about watching an artist play to a sold-out, standing room only crowd. The show at the Rockwood was special because the crowd was completely into Ingrid's set. The intimacy of the Rockwood (I think capacity is 75 people) added to the night and there seemed to be an almost personal connection between the band and the audience.

I wasn't that familiar with Ingrid Michaelson's music prior to the show so I couldn't put together a set list. Ingrid played for about an hour and the final song of the set was "Keep Breathing" (which is getting some radio play and is also on the Grey's Anatomy soundtrack). In doing some background research on Ingrid, I was completely impressed that, on her MySpace page, her songs have gotten 3 Million total plays and 55,000 plays today. To put this in perspective, the Indigo Girls have gotten 600,000 total plays on their MySpace page and 672 plays today. All I can say is "WOW"!

Ingrid has a new CD (released earlier this year) available through CD Baby entitled "Girls and Boys". She has obviously resonated well with the Grey's Anatomy audience as the CD writeup on CD Baby notes that two songs from this release were featured on the show.

Check out Ingrid's TV debut on Last Call with Carson Daly:


Ingrid is playing some dates with Matt Nathanson next month (October) and will be back in town for a show at the Knitting Factory on November 16th.

To wrap this up, here are some additional pictures from the Rockwood Music Hall show:



Links:
Ingrid Michaelson's Website

Ari Gold's CD Release Party is at Splash Bar on October 2nd

I caught Ari's "pre- release" party at Joe's Pub earlier this month and he is a fabulous live act. He has a great voice, a solid band and really engages the crowd throughout the show.

Ari's CD release party is this Tuesday (October 2nd) at Splash Bar. Splash Bar is located at 50 West 17th Street (btwn 5th & 6th Ave).

"Where The Music Takes You" is the lead-off single from Transport Systems and its infectious rhythms will get you up and on the dance floor. Check out the video for this song that was released earlier this month.

If you want a laugh, check out Fox News interview with "controversial" singer Ari Gold. I was LOL when the interviewer asked Ari to do some "freestyle".

Links:
Ari Gold's Website
Ari Gold's MySpace page

Keith Caputo Live In Hamburg, Germany, Sept. 18, 2007

This post needs a bit of an advance explanation. Last December, I posted about Keith playing a three song acoustic jam at Club Retox (with Scott Ian, etc.). This post keeps getting traffic and the information is now long out-of-date.

I was looking for updated info on Keith and ran across some photos and a live bootleg of a recent show in Hamburg, Germany. Thanks to someone named "limulus", I have included the complete set list and an mp3 from the show encore (just click on the link).

Hopefully this post will be of more interest than info on a 2006 concert.

According to Keith's MySpace page, his new CD is finished but no release date has been scheduled.

"A lot of people have been asking when the new album will be out. The truth is, we don't know yet. We are trying to find a good label home for the album and that takes some time. Rest assured though, we are working hard to make sure it will be available as soon as possible cause we can't wait to let everyone hear the new stuff."

Setlist from Sept. 18th show:
01 - Upsy Daisy (from "Died Laughing")
02 - Kill with God (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
03 - New York City (from "Died Laughing")
04 - Ramshackle (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
05 - Razzberry Mockery (from "Died Laughing")
07 - Troubles Down (unreleased)
08 - Fix Pop Bang Shot (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
09 - Lamb To The Slaughter (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
10 - Dew Drop Magic (from "Died Laughing")
11 - New Song (unreleased)
12 - Our Moon Our Stars (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
13 - Selfish (from "Died Laughing")
---------encore-----------------
14 - Living The Blues (from "Hearts Blood On Your Dawn")
15 - Let's Pretend (from Life Of Agony's "Ugly")

Brian Grosz Returns to Luna Lounge on Friday, September 28th

Brian Grosz's first solo CD "Bedlam Nights" is one of my favorite records of the year. I'm regretting that I am going to miss this show as Brian and band put on a great live show. The band's sound is somewhere between Tom Waits and Nine Inch Nails and Brian's stage presence could be compared to Lee Ving. The chemistry within the band and with the audience really works. (Pick up the "Bedlam Nights" CD while you are at the show)

Tickets are only $5.00 and Brian is playing at 8:30PM.

If you still aren't convinced, check out the tracks from "Bedlam Nights" that are streaming on Brian's MySpace page. Also, check out Brian's "Infrequently Asked Questions" video (below). I haven't laughed this hard in a while...



Links:
Brian Grosz's MySpace page

Alexa Wilkinson Plays 3 Shows in Town This Week

Alexa Wilkinson has been around for a while but I just got turned on to her over the summer. I caught her show at Mo Pitkins in June and thought she had a great stage presence. Not that age is necessarily a limiting factor but I haven't seen too many musicians this early in their career conect as well as Wilkinson did with the crowd.


In terms of sound, I would compare Alexa Wilkinson to the best side of Shawn Colvin. Wilkinson has lately been on some high profile tours which have ranged from touring with Josh Kelley to this summer's Camplified tour (with The Kin and others). After this week in NYC, Alexa will be going on tour later this year with The Samples and Shannon McNally, from Oct. 20 – Nov. 7, hitting 14 cities along the east coast.

Monday Night's Show is at Mo Pitkins (East Village). Tickets are $8 and Alexa is playing at 10:30PM.

Wednesday Night's Show is at Rockwood Music Hall (LES). The show is at 7PM and admission is free.

Thursday Night's Show is at The Living Room. Alexa plays at 11PM and admission is free.

Alexa was recently featured on NY’s CW11 (WPIX-TV) on their “Spotlight On” series last Monday, Sept. 17th. If you missed it, the clip should be posted on CW11’s website in the next week or so.

Links:
Alexa Wilkinson's Website
Alexa Wilkinson's MySpace Page

L'Amours Books More National Acts

It is great to see L'Amour booking some great acts as nowhere in Brooklyn in booking metal bands (and I hate going to BB King's). It looks like the club is still only open on the weekends but the quality of the bands is worth braving the weekend SI traffic.

The club has scheduled upcoming shows with Lizzy Borden, Brand New Sin and Zebra. Does anyone know if any of the old local L'Amour bands are still around? I used to be really into Gene's band (I am getting old - I think they were called Tripp but memory fades).










Links:
Lizzy Borden's Website
Brand New Sin's Website
Zebra's Website

Penelope Houston & The Avengers Return to NYC for 2 Local Shows

The current lineup of The Avengers has been together since 2004 and the band is back in town next month for shows at Maxwell's and the Knitting Factory. The band features original members Penelope (vox) and Greg (guitar) along with newcomers Joel Reader (bass) and Luis Illades (drums). Luis also drums in Pansy Division and Pansy Division is opening up at both shows.

Here are the details on the shows:
TH 10.25.07 Hoboken, NJ - Maxwell's (All ages)
$10 adv./$12 day of show. 1039 Washington Street, (201)653-1703

SA 10.27.07 New York City - Knitting Factory (All ages)
EARLY SHOW 6:30 PM! 74 Leonard Street, 212-219-3132. This show is in the KF's Main Space. $12 adv./$14 day of show

Last time in town, the band played a 'secret' show at Trash Bar after their show at Maxwell's. Hopefully their will be another Brooklyn show this time around. Pansy Division is hosting an after-party at the Cake Shop after the show at the Knitting Factory.

Links:
The Avengers' MySpace page
Penelope Houston's Website
Pansy Division's Website

JG (Foetus) Thirlwell Makes a Rare NYC Appearance with Manorexia

Jim Thirlwell (Foetus) makes a rare NYC appearance with a November 2nd show at the Whitney Museum with his Manorexia ensemble. Thirlwell will also present several pieces he has composed with the LEMUR robot instruments and string quartet.




The concert is a Composer Spotlight and part of the Friday Night concert series hosted by the Whitney Museum.

The show starts at 7pm and is free.

Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble Plays Southpaw on October 4th

I love the diversity of the Brooklyn music scene.




Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble is readying a second CD and are playing Southpaw on Oct. 4th. This should be an great show and watching this 14-piece band perform at Southpaw should be an experience not to miss.

I lifted the following snippet from the bio on the band's website:

With a furious storm of thundering congas and the deep boom of the KALETA drum, the Akoya Afrobeat Ensemble takes to the stage an explosion of dance rhythms. Fusing a mixture of African, Afro-Cuban, Jazz, and Funk music, Akoya is New York’s finest example of a musical melting pot. Featuring members from Panama, Ghana, Benin, South Africa, Japan and the US, this 14-piece ensemble embraces unity and positive vibrations. Armed with original music and an arsenal of songs by Afrobeat founder, Fela Kuti, Akoya consistently brings a new level of dance floor frenzy with every performance. The group features lead vocalist Kaleta, who for 10 years performed and recorded with the immortal Fela Kuti and Egypt 80.

What brings it all together for me is the music -- take a listen to the first cut, BFBF (Panama), from the band's forthcoming CD PDP [President Dey Pass].

The band is playing with DJ Nickodemus (of Turntables On The Hudson). Tickets are only $10. Doors are at 8PM and the show starts at 9:30PM.

Links:
Akoya Website
Akoya MySpace Page
DJ Nickodemus' Website
Southpaw

The Damned - Live @ 100 Club (Legal Music Download)

Live Here Now released a limited edition live CD from The Damned's performance at the 100 Club in London this past April. It seems that the band came out for an unexpected second encore and this was not included on the first set of discs that were given out at the show.

While the second encore is included on all mail order copies of the disc, it is also available as a free download on the Live Here Now site.

Here are direct links to the tracks:
Eloise
Love Song
Second Time Around

In other Damned news, the band is supposed to be in the studio working on new material and Dave is working on the soundtrack to the film 'The Perfect Sleep'. The film is in post production though no date has been given yet for its release.

Links:
The Damned's Website

Dirty Rig Book NYC Date and Stream New Tracks on MySpace

Kory Clarke is gone but new singer Tom Morrissey sounds great. He has a deeper, raspier voice than Kory which gives the band more of a hard rock sound. There are two new tracks, with Tom singing, streaming on the band's MySpace page . Kickin' Screamin' sounds great and Don't You is a fun cover of the Simple Minds hit from the 80's.


The Simple Minds cover will be included on the CD sampler that comes with the September 22 issue of Classic Rock magazine. The magazine wanted the band to cover a song that was in a movie so the members of the band decided to run a promotion/contest with MySpace and let the fans determine the outcome of the cover song.

(from Blabbermouth) "There are so many great songs out there and everyone in the band had a different idea of what song to cover," says guitarist Chris. "I wanted to do something by WAYLON JENNINGS or AC/DC, Dave wanted to cover a RUSH track, Tom wanted to do a CHEAP TRICK tune and Buckshot wanted to cover 'Cockroaches' from 'Killing Technology' by VOIVOD even though that song was never in a movie. So we just said let the fans on MySpace decide. We dont know how this particular song got picked but what ever. We said we would do what ever song was chosen and we did. We always keep our word If you don't keep your word, then you ain't worth squat."

The band is (finally) playing a show in NYC and their upcoming show is at Crash Mansion on Oct. 26th.

Beers Up!

Municipal Waste Video Banned from YouTube/Band Plays Europa on Sept. 25

Municipal Waste, who seem to be on a never-ending tour, are back in town for a show at Europa in Brooklyn on September 25th. The band is playing with Toxic Holocaust and Skeletonwitch and tickets are only $10.

Municipal Waste's sound is a welcome return to the thrash/beer metal sounds of the 80's. Check out this YouTube clip (below) and you will quickly get the idea.


The band's second release on Earache Records, The Art of Partying, was released at the end of July. If you go to the Earache store, you can purchase The Art of Partying on either CD or limited edition multi-color vinyl. There is also an unreleased track, "Boner City" that is posted to the band's MySpace page.

It looks like both the crowds and the pits are growing at the band's shows. Journalist Dave Ling caught the band at a recent show in London and here is what he had to say:

"Municipal Waste were the night's undoubted stars. The four-piece had brought along boogie-boards and their fabled beer-bong, plus an even more potent-looking weapon called The Inebriator, which was used upon several willing audience members. In honour of the song 'Terror Shark', some silly sod had even come dressed in a decidedly non-frightening Jaws-style costume, causing much hilarity by continually throwing himself off the stage and into the moshing throng. In 45 minutes they played more than 20 songs, including 'Headbanger Face Rip', 'Drunk As Shit', 'Sadistic Magician', 'Thrashing's My Business... And Business Is Good' and the unreleased 'Boner City'. Given that their tunes are largely inspired by alcohol and headbanging, it was entirely appropriate that 'Bangover' closed the set proper, a well deserved encore including the Stormtroopers Of Death standard 'United Forces'. For the time being, Municipal Waste are a stupendously entertaining live act..."

The band seems to be no stranger to controversy and, most recently, their Troma Entertainment filmed video for "Headbanger Face Rip" was banned from YouTube for inappropriate content. Earche has both the "gore" and the "tv-friendly" version of the video posted to a special webpage.

Mink Is Headlining "Battle of the Bands" Competition Tomorrow in Union Square

MINK will be headlining the Virgin Megastore Battle of the Bands competition as part of the NYU / Time Out New York - "Back to School" celebration at 3PM on Sunday, Sept 16 at the south end of Union Square Park.

The bands will battle... The winner will be chosen... Then MINK will rock it. More info online at www.virginmegamashup.com

MINK has recently been playing some high-profile shows which included a stop at Lollapalooza and a few dates with Kiss. The band is currently on tour with Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party. (Here is a link to pictures from the Irving Plaza/Fillmore show)

Links:
Mink's Website
Mink's MySpace page

Win a Copy of the New Art Brut CD Along With an Autographed Poster

You know you want this...

Win a copy of the newest CD from Art But, It's A Bit Complicated, along with an autographed poster.

Click on the CD cover to enter and send along your name and mailing address.

Winner will be drawn at random from all submitted entries.

Contest open to US residents only (Sorry!)

Link:
Art Brut's MySpace page

Care Bears on Fire Video Premier and CD Release Party

Care Bears on Fire released the first video, "Everybody Else", from their upcoming CD on August 31st. Over the last ten days, the video has gotten close to 100,000 plays.

Care Bears on Fire - "Everybody Else"



The band's CD, "I Stole Your Animal", comes out on October 2nd (here is a link to my review of the CD) and the band is having a CD release party at Southpaw in Brooklyn on Friday, September 28th.

Tickets are only $8.00. This is an early show - 6:30 pm doors/7 pm show. CBOF are sharing the bill this night with the Art of Shooting.

Links:
Care Bears on Fire MySpace Page
Southpaw

Joe Lynn Turner Makes Rare Area Appearance with Shows in NJ and NY

Former frontman for Rainbow and Deep Purple makes a rare area appearance this month with a show on September 14th at Dingbatz (in Clifton, NJ) and a show on September 20th at Crazy Donkey (in Long Island).

Joe's most recent solo CD "Second Hand Life" was just released in the US and is also available on iTunes. You can also purchase an autographed copy directly from Joe through his website (link).

Joe was just on Rockline and his voice still sounds great -- check out an acoustic version of Rainbow's "Street of Dreams" from the Rockline performance.

Links:
Joe Lynn Turner's Website

The Bled Are Playing Tonight and Tomorrow in NJ with The Used

The Bled are playing shows in New Jersey tonight (House of Blues in Atlantic City) and tomorrow (Starland Ballroom in Sayreville) with The Used. The band is touring in advance of their third release, "Silent Treatment", which is scheduled to be released September 25th on Vagrant Records.

Fans can pre-order Silent Treatment at Interpunk and receive a limited edition pressing on green vinyl. The vinyl will be hand numbered and limited to just 400 copies.

The Bled are debuting several tracks on their MySpace page with "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself," up now. The band is prepping a late September video shoot for "Shadetree Mechanics", and "Starving Artiste," will be on Tony Hawk's Proving Ground soundtrack, which will be in stores in October.

Links:
The Bled's Website

The Wombats - "The Wombats" CD EP Review (Kids in America)

The Wombats make their US recording debut next week with a six song EP on the Kids in America label. A couple of these songs have been out as singles in the UK but it is nice to have them compiled on one domestically priced disc.

There are some real stellar cuts on this disc like "Moving to New York", "Backfire at the Disco" and "Kill the Director". There is such a sense of romantic desperation in these first couple cuts that you know will invite audience shout-alongs at the band's concerts. The slower tracks "Little Miss Pipedream" and "Lost in the Post" are fun but they don't have the same sense of urgency/angst that the first three cuts have. The final cut on the disc is a remix of "Kill the Director" by CSS. It is an interesting remix but I think substituting the band's agit-pop guitar work for keyboard bleeps takes away from the song.

All-in-all, this is a great debut CD from a band that will likely hit mega-status (like Arctic Monkeys) here in the US. I can all but guarantee that the band will be playing bigger clubs than Annex their next time through town.

Sophomore CDs are always a curious thing so it is great to see that The Wombats are continuing to turn out some great tracks. The newest single, "Lets Dance to Joy Division" would fit perfectly on this EP. It is also kind of fun to note that the band is selling live downloadable versions of "Kill The Director" from each of their recent shows through their webstore.


Links:
The Wombats' MySpace page
The Wombats' Website

Secret Machines Plays Four Week Residency at Annex Starting Wednesday

This looks pretty darn cool - Secret Machines is doing a four week residency at Annex starting this Wednesday.







Secret Machines, who are now down to including just Josh and Brandon, will be playing new tracks from their forthcoming album and there are supossed to be a bunch of special guest artists each night.

Tickets are only $15 for each night and are surprisingly still available.

Links:
Secret Machines Website
Secret Machines MySpace page
Tickets for Annex shows @ Ticketweb

New and Interesting CD Releases This Week

There are a handful of interesting new and reissued CDs that are coming out tomorrow:

New CDs:

Horse the Band - "A Natural Death"
It is kind of cool that a metalcore band is featured in this week's Best Buy ad. The Best Buy version is $7.99 and it has 3 exclusive bonus tracks.

Iced Earth - "Framing Armageddon"
"Ripper" Owens and Iced Earth - what more needs to be said? The version from Newbury Comics comes with a signed CD booklet

Pinback - "Autumn of the Seraphs"
Pretty cool metal band who is putting out their second release on Touch & Go. The first pressing will have a bonus disc with three songs not on the LP version of this release.

Tiny Masters of Today - "Bang Bang Boom Cake"
Very cool Brooklyn band makes their Mute Records debut. Band features Russell Simins (from JSX) on drums

Reissued CDs:

Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
Reissue of the band's gem from 2005

Elvis Costello - "My Aim is True"
Ok, this has been reiussed like 500 times but Hip-O has dug up some pretty cool bonus tracks. This is a double-disc (like the past Rhino reissue) and it contains 4 demos that were previously unreleased along with a live recording of one of the earliest Attractions show that was recorded at the Nashville Rooms on August 7, 1977. This set is $19.99 from Newbury Comics and comes with a limited edition pint glass

Iller Than Theirs - Exclusive Interview & Video Release Party

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of speaking with Kray and Tone from Iller Than Theirs. The band has their debut CD coming out later this month and is having a record release party at the Mercury Lounge on September 29th. I got an advance copy of the CD (CD review to be posted shortly) and it has some infectious beats and killer vocals.

I really enjoyed talking to Tone and Kray as their purpose/mission is really simple and straightforward. They are two old-school Brooklyn guys trying to keep it real in a borough that has probably seen more changes in the last few years than it has in last decade.

Iller Than Theirs is having a video release party at Southpaw on Wednesday for the video of the leadoff track from the new CD "Razor Bumps". Kray La Soul & Kool Kear will also be spinning 45s all night. The first showing of the video will be promptly at 9:30 and doors are 8PM.

I think Wreck Room nights at Southpaw are free but call the club in advance to confirm.

Here is a direct link to an MP3 of the interview I did with Tone and Kray and here is a link to the RSS feed.

Links:
Iller Than Theirs' MySpace page
Iller Than Theirs' Blog

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero CD Review

Compared against the last Nine Inch Nails release, the band's latest CD is pretty solid. The band's sound has almost gone full-circle back to the early (pre-Woodstock) days. At one point, it seemed that Reznor was going for more of a "live" full band sound but this disc is a return to Reznor as a one-man show. In commenting on this CD, Reznor said that "[a]ll [songs were] written and performed by me, produced / programmed by me and Atticus Ross."

There was a lot of pre-release hype around this release ('mysterious' websites and flash drives) and Reznor bills this release as a concept album. "What's it about? Well, it takes place about fifteen years in the future. Things are not good. If you imagine a world where greed and power continue to run their likely course, you'll have an idea of the backdrop. The world has reached the breaking point - politically, spiritually and ecologically. Written from various perspectives of people in this world, "year zero" examines various viewpoints set against an impending moment of truth. How does it sound? You will hear for yourself soon enough, but given the point of this document is to provide information..."

I am not sure this release works as a concept album as the music is too similar across tracks. When I think of a concept album, I think of work by The Residents, Biomechanical and Anata. With these bands, the music forces you to pay attention to the story line. With Year Zero, this simply sounds like a well put-together Nine Inch Nails release.

Trent Reznor evidently doesn't see this release as an end-to-end concept as he is only playing a couple songs from this release in the band's current setlist. Here is a recent setlist from one of the band's shows last month in Europe:

01 HYPERPOWER! (from Year Zero)
02 The Beginning Of The End (from Year Zero)
03 Heresy
04 Terrible Lie
05 March Of The Pigs
06 Closer
07 Survivalism (from Year Zero)
08 Burn
09 Gave Up
10 Me, I'm Not (from Year Zero)
11 The Great Destroyer (from Year Zero)
12 Eraser
13 Only
14 Wish
15 The Good Soldier (from Year Zero)
16 No, You Don't
17 Suck
18 Dead Souls
19 The Hand That Feeds
20 Head Like A Hole
21 Hurt

Of the 16 tracks on the CD, only 6 are in the set list for this particular night.

This is a solid CD and well worth the listen for fans of Nine Inch Nails. I don't think this release is going to convert many new fans. Old fans need to know in advance that there aren't any "radio hits" on this release. (None of the tracks compare to "Head Like A Hole" or "Suck")

Links:
Nine Inch Nails' Website

The Kin Headline the Sixth Annual September Concert on September 11th

I can't think of a band more perfectly suited than The Kin to headline the September Concert.

The September Concert is a worldwide event first organized in 2002.






In its sixth year, the event will take place on the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy with free concerts happening simultaneously all over the world, spanning 55 US cities and over 50 cities around the world.

Haruko Smith, concert organizer and founder of the September Concert Foundation had the following to say about The Kin -- "The first time I saw them on a morning show on FOX, I was about to run out of my apartment. Instead I sat down, mesmerized and deeply touched by their music.I am so excited to be able to welcome The Kin to headline The September Concert at Union Square on September 11th, because I cannot wait to share their music with more people on this day. I think the beauty, the depth, and the dignity of their music will be so appreciated by anyone fortunate enough to be there."

I watched the band's performance on FOX as well and also found it very moving (link). I wish I could be at this show but working in central Jersey eliminates any possibility.

The show is in Union Square (14th Street & Broadway) and is free. The Kin will be playing from 12:45 - 1:30PM and there is a citywide sing-along of "I Believe in Music" at 2pm.

Links:
The Kin's Main Website
The Kin's MySpace page

Akercocke - Antichrist CD Review

Wikipedia describes the band as "[as] a British progressive blackened death metal band. They are well known for their Satanic beliefs and for wearing suits while performing live." Without knowing this, you can read a few of the song titles ("Summon the Antichrist", "Distant Fires Reflect in the Eyes of Satan") and quickly know what the band is about lyrically.

Musically, this has to be one of the more interesting death metal releases of the year. The band mixes the expected blast beats and cookie-monster vocals with intricately played melodies and vocals. There is also a fairly consistent middle-eastern feel to this disc which is very prevalent in songs like "The Promise" and the instrumental "Distant Fires Reflect in the Eyes of Satan". Few bands can pull off this much diversity in styles both within and between songs but Akercocke makes the sound flow seamlessly.

One of the many things I enjoyed about this disc is that it doesn't include Yngwie Malmsteen style guitar wankery that too many death/extreme metal bands indulge in. (I am really getting annoyed by bands who play the technically precise solos that are boring and meaningless). The "progressive" elements of this disc are probably closer to the early 70's British art rock bands like Yes or King Crimson.

For anyone who hasn't heard the band, the song "Axiom" show the talent and musical range of the band. Singer Jason Mendonca also has a great vocal range which can span the range of a growl to a soft croon.



It is interesting to note that the band's lyrics are causing quite a bit of commotion. I have a promo version of this disc so the only song where I can clearly hear the lyrics is the final track "Epode". This is a soft ballad where the lyrical themes are about surrendering to Satan.

The song "Summon The Antichrist" caused quite a stir when the band was touring Ireland this past May. (The amount of controversy was a bit surprising as bands with similar lyrical outlooks, like Deicide and Slayer, have all played in Belfast before) Check out this video clip from the BBC of vocalist Jason Mendonca and drummer David Gray in a live debate over this controversy.



Akercocke is touring Australia next month and here are all the tour dates:

Oct 19 2007 8:00P The Arena w/The Berzerker Brisbane
Oct 20 2007 8:00P The Factory w/The Berzerker Sydney
Oct 21 2007 8:00P Crowbar w/The Berzerker CS.UNI Wagga
Oct 24 2007 8:00P Fowlers w/The Berzerker Adelaide
Oct 26 2007 8:00P Heat Nightclub w/The Berzerker Perth
Oct 27 2007 8:00P Hi-FI Bar w/The Berzerker Melbourne
Oct 28 2007 8:00P Hi-FI Bar w/The Berzerker Melbourne

Links:
Akercocke's Website
Akercocke's MySpace page

Satellite Party @ Irving Plaza (The Fillmore), NYC 9-5-07

Once Mink left the stage, the chants of "Perry... Perry" started. The room was full for Mink but the crowd seemed to grow exponentially between the sets.

I have seen Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros about a dozen times in total and Perry continues to be the ultimate showman. It must be tough to be in a band with Perry as he is such the focal point for the crowd. Last month, Nuno Bettencourt and Kevin Figueiredo left the band. Their replacements sounded great but I don't think anyone at the show noticed that two of the original members were missing.


The set list was a mix of cuts from the Satellite Party CD mixed with classic Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros.

I didn't snag a setlist (and wasn't trying to write one down when the band played) but I did find a setlist on the 'net from the band's show on 9/1. This looks pretty close to the band's set at Irving Plaza.

01. Wish Upon a Dog Star
02. Just Because
03. Under the Tahitian Moon
04. Mountain Song
05. Insanity Rains
06. Hard Life Easy
07. Superhero
08. Summertime Rolls
09. Pets
10. Only Love, Let's Celebrate
11. Been Caught Stealin'
12. Stop
13. Ultra Payload
14. Jane Says




Check my previous post on Mink for upcoming tour dates - the band is playing a couple dates in the Southeast the week before heading over to the West Coast.
Links:
Satellite Party's MySpace Page

Mink @ Irving Plaza (The Fillmore), NYC 9-5-07

Mink opened for Satellite Party at Irving Plaza on Wednesday and it was obvious that a lot of the crowd at the show was there for Mink. Mink hasn't been playing together all that long but the place was packed by the time the band took the stage.

The band played a 12 song set which included 11 of the 12 songs from the band's just-released debut CD along with a cover of Bowie's Suffragette City. The only song on the CD not played was "Will Not Let You Down", which is a mellow, melodic tune in the style of early Smashing Pumpkins.

Concentrating on their rawk songs, the band played with a swagger that I haven't seen since D-Generation first hit the scene. I've seen the band labeled as power-pop (I think I used this label in a previous post) but they also have a raw NYC edge in their live show.


The band was working hard this night and played a total of three shows on Wednesday (Virgin Mega before the Irving Plaza show and Snitch after the show). Check out this clip from the Virgin Mega performance.


Here is the band's setlist from the show:
1) Madame Chung
2) Talk to Me
3) Sweeter
4) Dematerialize
5) Pressure
6) Jodi
7) Crazy
8) Untouchable
9) New York Summer
10) Suffragate City
11) Pills
12) Get It Right


Mink is continuing its tour with Satellite Party until mid-October and is in Virginia tomorrow night. Here are the next few shows:

Sep 9 2007 8:00P Norva- w/Satellite Party Norfolk, Virginia
Sep 10 2007 8:00P The Orange Peel Asheville, North Carolina
Sep 11 2007 8:00P Centre Stage- w/Satellite Party Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 12 2007 7:00P Apple Store Lenox Square Atlanta, Georgia
Sep 13 2007 8:00P House Of Blues- w/Satellite Party Orlando, Florida

Links:
Mink's MySpace page
Mink's Website

Ari Gold @ Joe's Pub, NYC, September 4, 2007

Ari Gold held his CD pre-release party at Joe's Pub on Tuesday and, based on the size of the crowd, it looked like the show was sold out. I don't listen to a lot of dance/R&B but I was captivated by Ari's live show -- he has an amazing voice and is a great live performer.





Ari's new CD, "Transport Systems", will be released nationwide on October 2nd. The leadoff single, "Where The Music Takes You", is streaming at Ari's MySpace page.


The stage at Joe's Pub seemed almost too small to hold Ari. He was in and out of the crowd and, for being a decent sized venue, it was really an intimate performance. My regret is that Joe's Pub has a "No Flash Photos" policy so I missed some great photo ops. These photos really don't do justice to Ari and his band.



Check out Ari's live show and you won't be disappointed. He has one upcoming show in town: Oct 2 2007 @ Splash Bar, NYC 10:00PM.

Ari has a great band and his backing singers were a perfect fit.

Ari closed with "Where The Music Takes You" which had the people at the bar shaking their a**es.
The backing track failed for the encore so Ari closed the show with an acapella number.
I did an interview with Ari a couple weeks ago and had a chance to talk with him after the show.
Somehow, I don't think that I could get away with claiming to be the good looking one in this picture
Links:
Ari Gold's Website
Ari Gold's MySpace Page

The Following are Playing with Flogging Molly Next Saturday @ Stone Pony

I have known Sam (Napolitano - Guitar/Vocals) for a while but never checked out his band. I am really into his band's new CD and the band is playing with Flogging Molly next Saturday in Asbury Park. It looks like a great show and tickets are $28. This is an early show which starts at 2:30PM.


What is really cool is that The Following posted their new CD as a free download. Here is the message that the band posted on their MySpace page:



HEY EVERYONE!!!

We are very excited to finally have our new album in our hands and we are now releasing it for FREE!!!!

Does this mean you can't share it with your friends? OF COURSE NOT!! We encourage you to share it, in fact point your friends to the link below and have them tell all their friends about it. We want our music passed around and we are counting on you to do it.

This album will always be available online for free. WHY? Because we believe that music should be free, now we still need to make money... so we are still selling the CD online and in stores, but, we would rather have 10,000 people own it then 100... So, if you want to support us, buy tickets to our shows and come out to rock with us, or buy some merch. Ifyou just want to sit at home and enjoy it, thats cool too.

Thanks for all of your continued support and we look forward to playing a show near you soon!!

Without further ado we are proud to present to you Liars, Thieves, Killers, Saints.

Copy and paste this into your address bar.

http://www.thefollowing.net/LTKS/The_Following_LTKS.zip

Just unzip and enjoy! Hope you all like it

Love,
The Following

Come on out and support the band -- after the show at the Pony, here are the band's upcoming shows:

Sep 22 2007 2:00P Cagney’s Pub Parlin, New Jersey
Sep 28 2007 9:00P Championship Trenton, New Jersey
Oct 13 2007 8:00P Lebanon Fairgrounds(toys for tots fundraiser) Lebanon, Pennsylvania

Links:
The Following's MySpace page

New Model Army Forced to Cancel North American Tour

Unfortunately, bands being denied visas seems to be too common an occurance as of late. Here is the statement posted to New Model Army's website:

VISAS Denied. North American tour cancelled.
We have regrettably been forced to cancel the North American tour that was due to start this week. The US Citizenship and Immigration Service have denied the visas that the band require to travel to the USA and so until this matter is resolved all shows are on hold.

The band and management are extremely disappointed by this result as the tour was destined to be one of the greats. The new album is out, there is media attention in every city and the expectations are (were) high from the thousands of fans who had bought advance tickets.

The dates will be re-booked once the Immigration situation is resolved. In the meantime, ticket refunds are available from the point of purchase.

Hopefully the situation will get resolved quickly...

In the meantime, check out the band's latest release "High". The leadoff track from the CD, "Wired", is available as a free download. (CD review coming soon)

Art Brut Returns to NYC for a Show at Terminal 5

Art Brut is back in the States and will be doing an East Coast tour with The Hold Steady in Oct/Nov. The band has only one show in the area - Wednesday, Nov 21 @ Terminal 5, New York, NY. For anyone who hasn't been keep up with the new clubs that have been opening; Terminal 5 is the old Club Exit and it is located at 56th Street and 11th Avenue. According to this week's TimeOut, Terminal 5 has a capacity of 3,000. (I am sure there are going to be those who reminisce for last year's small club shows at Southpaw and the Knit)

Art Brut also did a live podcast for AOL's The Interface which is available as a free download on both video and mp3. Eddie is really something to watch -- I didn't hear the comparisons to The Fall when I first listened to the pre-release of It's a Bit Complicated but I can really see the comparison now. If you listen to the interview, there is talk that the University of Berlin is having a course on Eddie's lyrics.

Here is the track listing for the podcast:
'Pump Up the Volume'
'Post Soothing Out'
'Direct Hit'
'Good Weekend'

I have yet to catch The Hold Steady but this video from the band's show at Prospect Park looks pretty cool. It sounds like Craig Finn's spoken word delivery is a perfect match to accompany Eddie and Art Brut.

Before going off with Art Brut, The Hold Steady is play a show on 9.17.07 @ World Trade Center.

Links:
The Hold Steady
Art Brut
Art Brut's MySpace Page