Nick Oliveri - Death Acoustic CD Review (MVD/Impedance)

Nick Oliveri is currently touring behind his second solo CD, Death Acoustic, and the tour stops at Piano's next Saturday night (Jan. 23rd). Oliveri is playing with Weird Owl (Tee Pee Records) and Goes Cube (The End Records) and advance tickets are $10.

Death Acoustic is a collection of mostly covers with the majority of the songs coming from bands that Oliveri has played with in the past. While this is an acoustic collection, there is nothing soft or gentle about some of Nick's reinterpretations of some of these songs. Nick attacks songs like Raw Power's "Start a Fight" (the disc's opener) and new song "Invisible Like The Sky" with an aggressive brutality that will make listeners never again associate acoustic with emo. From this point, Oliveri goes into a raw cover of The Dwarves' "Dairy Queen" and melodic stripped-down version of QOTSA's "I'm Gonna Leave You".

I don't think I've appreciated the diversity of Oliveri's vocal styles prior to this release. Nick delivers a cover of Kyuss' "Love Has Past Me By" in a gutter punk voice and goes from there to frenzied screamed/spat vocals on a cover of the Moistboyz's "U Blow". One of the highlights of the disc is a melodic and lilting cover of The Misfits' "Hybrid Moments" which features double-tracked vocals.

The disc wraps up with a fuzzed-out version of Mondo Generator's "Unless I Can Kill" which captures the intensity of the original song, a straight-forward melodic cover of The Dwarves' "Follow Me" and a reworking of G.G. Allin's "Outlaw Scumfuc". On this last track, Oliveri goes beyond the song's original version and gets closer to the outlaw country sounds of Hank Williams than G.G. Allin was ever able to.



Links:
Nick Oliveri's MySpace Profile

Nick Oliveri Brings 'Death Acoustic' Tour to Pianos on Jan. 23rd (QotSA, The Dwarves)

Bassist Nick Oliveri is playing a series of East Coast shows starting next month in support of his solo debut Death Acoustic.

Fans of Oliveri's over-the-top performances with QOTSA, The Dwarves and Kyuss shouldn't be scared off that Oliveri is playing an acoustic set. The material on this new EP includes covers of G.G. Allin ("Outlaw Scumfuc"), The Dwarves ("Dairy Queen") and QOTSA's "Autopilot". There are a number of live videos posted to YouTube from Oliveri's recent tour of Australia, New Zealand and Europe which show that, while he has reduced the volume, he hasn't lost any of his intensity.



Here are the upcoming tour dates:
Fri, January 22nd - Middle East , Cambridge MA
Sat, January 23rd - Pianos , New York NY
Sun, January 24th - Khyber , Philadelphia PA
Mon, January 25th - Velvet Lounge , Washington DC
Tue, January 26th - Volume 11 Tavern , Raleigh NC
Wed, January 27th - Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall , Charlotte NC
Thu, January 28th - Lenny's , Atlanta GA
Fri, January 29th - The End , Nashville TN
Sat, January 30th - Hi Tone , Memphis TN
Mon, February 1st - Double Door , Chicago IL
Tue, February 2nd - Frequency , Madison WI
Wed, February 3rd - Southgate House , Newport KY
Thu, February 4th - Grog Shop , Cleveland OH
Fri, February 5th - Small's , Hamtramck MI
Sat, February 6th - Garfield Artworks , Pittsburgh PA

Links:
Nick Oliveri

Once (the band) - CD Release Interview + Acoustic Performance, NYC, July '09

Former NYC resident, and one-time booking agent for The Space at Chase, Sami Rahman is back in New York fronting his new rock band Once.

Sami is the singer/songwriter for the band and the other members are an all-star lineup of LA musicians (from Sami's time on the West Coast). Once includes Pelle Hilstrom (Abandoned Pools, Modwheelmoods) on lead guitar, Kelli Scott ( Queens of the Stone Age, Failure) on Drums, Fox Fagan on bass, and LA session player Anthony Dean on rhythm guitar. The band's debut CD, Drop Chocolate Not Bombs, is coming out on August 25th on iTunes on Sami's Royal Bengal Recordings label.

Once has released an advance video for the lead-off track from the disc "Day Like This".



I had the chance to talk with Sami about the new disc and the band and more. He was also kind enough to play an impromptu acoustic version of a b-side from the new disc entitled "New Years Day".



Links:
Once's MySpace Profile

Wolf and Cub Announce U.S. Digital Release of "Science and Sorcery" (Psychedelic Rock)

DOWNLOAD: Wolf & Cub - Seven Sevens (MP3)

Australian psychedelic rockers Wolf & Cub have been busy since the release of their 2006 debut full-length Vessels. The band has toured Australia with bands like TV On The Radio, The Killers, Queens of the Stone Age, Wolfmother and Primal Scream. Wolf & Cub also made it over to the US in the Spring of '07 for a few NYC shows. I remember shows at Cake Shop and Union Pool but there may have been others area shows as well.

Wolf & Cub's new disc, Science and Sorcery, came out a few months ago overseas and the disc is now scheduled for a digital release on August 4th (through Dot Dash) here in the US. The new disc was produced by Chris "Bumblebeez" Colonna who gives the band more of a Primal Scream-style dance floor groove all while keeping their psychedelic roots intact. Australia's Yen magazine described the new disc as "Psychedelic rock you can dance to… two thumbs up”.

Check out this live version of "Hearts" (from Science and Sorcery):



Links:
Wolf & Cub's MySpace Profile