Album reviews

The Cult: Choice of Weapon

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:38:00 GMT

Law suits, break-up, reunion, a hiatus and another reunion. The Cult have survived it all. Founding members Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy have persevered over the years. Few bands can get way with sounding pretty much the same over the decade, but The Cult can. Their new album Choice of Weapon has their signature guitar sound and the current rhythm section is a rumbling freight train. Astbury's voice may have lost a bit of hits reach, but has retained the dark overtones and anger that made them a household name since the mid-Eighties.

Produced by Bob Rock, Choice of Weapon is a nostalgia trip of sorts. The Cult are here to stay, never mind their doom laden lyrics about the world going down in flames, predatory animals and evasive damsels in distress. That has also been part of the package since they started out in 1983. Expect to see a sea of high held cellphones during the power ballad Life > Death.

The Cult:
Ian Astbury: lead vocals, percussion
Billy Duffy: lead guitar
Chris Wyse: bass
John Tempesta: drums

Choice of Weapon is released on Cooking Vinyl. The Deluxe edition has comes with a bonus CD with four tracks that were recorded when putting the album together.

Tracks:

Honey from a Knife
Elemental Light
The Wolf
Life > Death
For The Animals
Amnesia
Wilderness Now
Lucifer
A Pale Horse
This Night In The City Forever

Tracks bonus CD:

Every Man And Woman Is A Star
Embers
Until The Light Takes Us
Siberian

North American tour (w/ Against Me! + The Icarus line):

05/25 San Diego, CA @ Humphreys By the Bay
05/26 Las Vegas, NV @ M Resort
05/27 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/30 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
06/01 Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre
06/02 Windsor, ON @ Great Canadian Beaverfest (no support)
06/03 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE - Indoor Stage
06/05 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
06/07 Buffalo, NY @ Erie Canal Harbor Central Wharf
06/08 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
06/09 Hampton Beach, NH @ Ballroom
06/10 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
06/12 Washington, D.C. @ The Fillmore
06/13 Norfolk, VA @ The Norva
06/15 Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
06/16 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
06/17 Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
06/19 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
06/20 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
06/22 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
06/23 Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood, CA

European Tour:

06/28 Belgrade, Serbiz @ USCE Park (w/ Ozzy & Friends)
06/29 Graz, Austria @ Schwarzl Freizeit Zetrum (w/ GN’R)
07/01 Bucharest, Romania @ Rock the City Festival (w/ GN’R, Faith No More)
07/03 Split, Croatia @ Spaladium Arena
07/04 Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Kino Siska
07/07 Zottegem, Belgium, Rock Zottegem Festival
07/08 Weert, Netherlands @ Bospop Festival
07/10 Utrecht, Netherlands @ Tivoli
07/13 Pizzola Sul Brenta, Italy @ Contarini Festival
07/14 Rimini, Italy @ Velvet Rock
07/15 Milano, Italy @ Carroponte
07/17 Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz
07/18 Madrid, Spain @ La Riviera
07/19 Porto, Portugal @ Mares Vivas Festival (w/ Garbage)

UK Tour (w/ The Mission + Killing Joke):

09/11 Newcastle @ Metro Radio Arena
09/12 Sheffield @ Motorpoint Arena
09/14 Manchester @ Manchester Arena
09/15 Birmingham @ Birmingham LG Arena
09/16 London @ Wembley Arena

Video The Cult - For The Animals

» thecult.us

Phish: Live Bait Vol. 07

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 24 May 2012 09:27:00 GMT

Phish are offering a free download of live soundboard recording. Live Bait Vol. 07, compiled by Phish Archivist Kevin Shapiro, focuses on old school performances, the sole exception being the Halloween 2010 Stash recorded in Atlantic City. Highlights are Runaway Jim and the free flowing Gumbo, from the 1998 Summer tour.

Tracks:

Wilson > Buried Alive > Tweezer (30:15)
((12/28/95 Worcester Centrum Centre - Worcester, MA))
Stash (13:31)
((10/31/10 Boardwalk Hall – Atlantic City, NJ))
Split Open and Melt (18:18)
((12/4/99 Firstar Center – Cincinnati, OH))
You Enjoy Myself (18:39)
((7/31/92 Blossom Music Center – Cuyahoga Falls, OH))
Runaway Jim (34:15)
((8/11/98 Star Lake Amphitheatre – Burgettstown, PA))
Reba (15:13)
((8/10/96 Alpine Valley Music Theatre – East Troy, WI))
Gumbo (16:52)
((8/3/98 Deer Creek Music Center – Noblesville, IN))
All Things Reconsidered > David Bowie (15:08)
((7/27/92 Saratoga Performing Arts Center – Saratoga Springs, NY))

(Phish - Gumbo (8/3/98 Deer Creek Music Center – Noblesville, IN))

» LivePhish.com

Night Surgeon: Night Surgeon

Here Comes The Flood — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:11:00 GMT

Night Surgeon, a duo from Portland, OR composed of Patrick Replogle and John Boyd are into melodic synth pop with a twist. Their new self-titled EP, produced and mixed by Gabriel Espinosa (Blondie, Fischerspooner, Mobile), is built around early Eighties New Wave pop interacting with a pulsating back beat. Both Berklee graduates, they have found a middle ground between complexity and accessibility. Progressive pop that could cross over to the mainstream. Touches of Depeche Mode (Let Love In, Changes) and The Pet Shop Boys (Magnets).

Night Surgeon is released via Too Dark Records. Buy it from the band's website. Release date: June 26.

Tracks:

Let Love In
Magnets
Miles Away
You and Me
Changes
Talk To Me

Changes by Night Surgeon

» Night Surgeon on Facebook

Manorlady: Ego Oppressor

Here Comes The Flood — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:18:00 GMT

Marnorlady, a psychedelic shoegaze band form Charlottesville, VA, are releasing their new album Ego Oppressor and a limited one-sided 7" Boyhood Freedom in June. Dark and foreboding their songs will be embraced by fans of The Cure and Dead Leaf Echo at their gloomiest.

Dense layered guitars, slow drums and slightly sinister vocals, Manorlady goes for the gothic post-rock niche. Melissa and Aaron Bailey's vocals flow together as only family voices can do.

Manorlady:
Aaron Bailey: guitar, vocals, programming
Melissa Bailey: bass, vocals
Donald Wooley: keyboards

Ego Oppressor is released their own label Part Keeler. Comes with a DVD with a beat-synched album-length video track meant to one-up the Arkaos-driven projections of many Manorlady live shows. The Boyhood Freedom 7"(25 copies) is made by Cellar Hits. Release date: June 18th.

Tracks:

Dog on High
Lines in the Corner of Your Face
Monster
Sea Beast
Children with Two Hearts
Give Me Failure, Freedom
Gobbler
Ego Oppression

Boyhood Freedom by Manorlady

Live dates:

05/25 Cellar Door, Richmond, VA
06/16 Black Market Moto Saloon (CD release party), Charlottesville, VA

Video: Lines in the Corner of Your Face

» manorladyband.com

HCTF review of Home.

The Mynabirds: Generals

Here Comes The Flood — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:59:00 GMT

photo: DP Muller

Singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn and producer Richard Swift came up with well received album What We Lose Iin the Fire We Gain in the Flood in 2010. Once again using The Mynabirds banner, their sophomore release Generals is a protest record wrapped in lush orchestrations.

Taking cues from Sixties pop (Radiator Sister, Buffalo Flower and title track Generals) and modern day electronic indie - Body Of Work, Disaster, this album is far more political lyrically. The soft melancholy Zen sound of their debut album get an outing during Mightier Than the Sword. Their sound might be quite the opposite of the lonely guy with an acoustic guitar warning the war mongers for the very last time, The Mynabirds are dead serious. Smart pop for serious people.

Generals is released on Saddle Creek. Release date: June 5th.

Tracks:

Karma Debt
Wolf Mother
Generals
Radiator Sister
Disaster
Mightier Than the Sword
Body of Work
Disarm
Buffalo Flower
Greatest Revenge

(The Mynabirds - Generals)

Live dates:

06/08 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
06/15 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
06/16 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
06/17 Chicago, IL @ Schubas
06/19 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
06/20 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
06/21 Harrisburg, PA @ The Abbey Bar
06/22 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
06/23 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
06/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
06/25 Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
06/27 Birmingham, AL @ The Bottle Tree
06/28 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
06/29 Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
06/30 Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
07/01 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
07/02 Lawrence, KS @ Jackpot Music Hall
08/04 Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon
08/05 Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon

» themynabirds.com

Wooden Constructions: People Now People

Here Comes The Flood — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:41:00 GMT

photo: Luiza Ongelofelijk

Amsterdam based post-punk disco house band Wooden Constructions took their time putting together their new album People Now People. They released two free tracks over the last couple of months to get a buzz going. It's quirky and all over the place: a bit of the Talking Heads, Sisters of Mercy, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement, Television and then some. Try dancing to it and you wil be on the wrong foot before you know it.

People Now People is an album mashing up jangly guitar pop with a stuttering back beat that is hard to transcribe. If schizophrenic post.rock was a musical genre (well, it is now), Wooden Constructions have made a landmark album.

People Now People is released on Subroutine Records. Digital (pay-what-you-want) thru Bandcamp.

Full Brother
Smoul in Mali
Sampla Bagannar
No Toys on the Playground
Quality
Rhythm Section
Chikapunga
Punch in the Face
Kadouche
400E

Chikapunga by Wooden Constructions

Live date:

06/12 Melkweg, Amsterdam (Album release party)

» woodenconstructions.com

Bombay Show Pig: Vulture/Provider

Here Comes The Flood — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:32:00 GMT

Dutch rock band Bombay Show Pig started out as trio, but ended up as a duo after their singer and keyboard player walked out. His leaving turned into a blessing in disguise for Mathias Janmaat (vocals, guitar, samples) and Linda van Leeuwen (vocals, drums, samples, keys) who had to reinvent themselves while recording their Vulture/Provider album at Kytopia in Utrecht, an analog safe haven for musicians that is constantly buzzing with activity. If they needed help or wanted to use an instrument, all they had to do was ask.

Van Leeuwen's voice is a bit more poppy than Janmaat's, but their vocals can blend together quite nicely. Vulture/Provider has a 4AD feel: experimental and catchy rolled into one. High energy songs (Sharp Like), percussion driven odd ball tunes (On A Plane) or slightly psychedelic (Fingerprint), it's all there and more. This pig can't fly , but it can sure as hell play.

Vulture/Provider is released on Kytopia Records.

Tracks:

Sancho Panza
Shackles And Chains
On A Plane
Heart In A Headlock
Start / Rewind
Fingerprint
Stuck In My State Of Mind
Timewaster
Sharp Like
Ill Intention
Wires
Making Friends

Live dates:

05/13 Instores @ Utrecht (12:30)
Sounds Haarlem (15:00)
Plato Leiden (16:30))
Vinyl Grove Den Haag (20:30)
05/14 Paradiso, Amsterdam
05/17 Dauwpop, Hellendoorn
05/18 Popcentrale, Dordrecht
05/27 Gaellus Open Air, Tienray
06/01 TU Delft Zomerfestival
06/02 Festival Havenwerk, Deventer
06/03 Pagepop, Stadskanaal
06/23 Aether Sound Trash, Rotterdam
06/30 De Beschaving, Utrecht
07/01 Metropolis Festival, Rotterdam
07/14 Dijkpop, Andijk
07/21 Young Art Festival, Beverwijk

Video: Bombay Show Pig - Sancho Panza

» bombayshowpig.com

B. Hamilton: Everything I Own is Broken

Here Comes The Flood — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:44:00 GMT

Oakland trio B. Hamilton are into dirty blues garage rock, with a touch of shoegaze and psychedelica. Their album Everything I Own is Broken sounds like the MC5 rhythm section making love to the Black Keys. Singer Ryan Christopher Parks: has the sandpapered voice that is tailor-made for noise pop at its finest. It is a safe bet to assume that drummer Bill Crowley and bass player Andrew Macy have worn out their copies of The Stooges' LPs.

Surpisingly melodic underneath all the bravado this band taps into the darker niches of classic rock and guitar loving indie acts that like to push their amps and shit to the limit. Stand-out track Miss Carolina is augmented with a great bottleneck guitar on top of the in-your-face kick drum. It's not all loud as fuck. Oakland and Anaheim (Ain't Divided by the 5 Tonight) is a solo acoustic showcase for Parks, singing about youngsters that have been gunned down by the police.

The mastering skills of Matthew Tammariello preserved the bleeding and leakage, and only murky when the song requires it. Hillary Overberg (violins), Caleb Nichols (bass), Erika Pipkin (Wurlitzer) found their way into the core of the trio, without sounding out of place.

B. Hamilton:
Bill Crowley: drums
Andrew Macy: bass
Ryan Christopher Parks: vocals, guitar

Everything I Own is Broken is released on Parks and Records. Full stream on Bandcamp.

Tracks:

Me and Margaret Counting Countdowns
Miss Carolina
Gold Tooth
Between the Gutters and The Ballrooms
Outside a Hexagram
Everything I Own is Broken
Turn Out the Lights
Dolltime (for Swans and Bulldozers)
Now or Eventually
On Borrowed Time
Oakland and Anaheim (Ain't Divided by the 5 Tonight)
Everything I Own is Broken (Fixing Fucked-Up Shit Version)

Miss Carolina by B. Hamilton

Live dates:

05/18 Uptown Nightclub, Oakland, CA
08/09 Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA

» B. Hamilton on Facebook

DJ Kypski: Kyptape 2012 "From Deventer to LA"

Here Comes The Flood — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Kypski is sharing a brand new mixtape: Kyptape 2012 "From Deventer to LA". Over 70 minutes of well executed electronic freak-out goodness:

A new Alles Los mixtape by scratch master dj Kypski, recorded live at Burgerweeshuis in Deventer on the 28th of april 2012, the kyptape 2012 from Deventer to LA. In this new eclectic kyptape Kypski explores the dancefloor with genres like dubstep, electro, tropical bass and glitchhop. In this mixtape you can find tracks by Nobody Beats The Drum, Eprom, Schlachthofbronx, Monodeer, Dismantle and many others.

(DJ Kypski - Kyptape 2012 "From Deventer to LA" )

Tracks:

Mr Oizo – Textes
Jack Beats – Elevator Music
Dj P.O.L. Style – Vampire Killah
Botnek – Plonk
Nobody Beats The Drum – Blood On My Hands (Kypski Remix)
Mumbai Science – Gold
Schlachthofbronx – Wave And Wine (Canblaster and Myd Remix)
Posse (Schlachthofbronx Edit)
Skip & Die – La Cumbia Dictatura
Schlachtofbronx – Wave And Wine (Toddla T Remix)
Schlachtofbronx – That G String Track
Filastine – Informal Sector Parade
Monodeer – Shatter
Talk – Walking Disease (Deathface Remix)
Kramphaft – Carl Sagan The Man
Om Unit – Vibrations (Machinedrum Remix)
Nobody Beats The Drum – Nine Doors
Doshy – Redworm
Eprom – The Symbiote
Onra - The Anthem (Unreleased Extended Version)
Prince Fatty – Shimmy Shimmy Ya
Baconhead – Blaze Out
C-Mon & Kypski – Burning Hot (Boemklatsch Remix)
Strange Fruit – Citron Vert
MC Gringo – Real Ft. MC Binho
Carte Blanche – Gare Du Nord
Dj Troubl – Comin In Da Club Wit Dat
Buraka Som Sistema – Hangover (Bert On Beats Remix)
Bok Bok – Ripe Banana
Udachi & Jubilee – Smoke Rings
Cookie Monsta – Blurgh!
Dr. Philth – Electro Wank
Spag Heddy – De Drop
Downlink Ft. Depone – Antimatter
Dismantle – Computation
Machinedrum – Alarma
LDFD - Outtacontrol

» djkypski.com

Dee Snider: Dee Does Broadway

Here Comes The Flood — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:11:00 GMT

Dee Snider has made a comedy album. He didn't mean to, but the former Twisted Sister front man covers album Dee Does Broadway is a joke. A bad one. Aiming for pathos and big band heavy rock and ending up with a dreary pathetic mess, this album has disaster area written all over it. Some may call it cult or camp, but it's crap. Originally envisioned as a duets album with fellow musical lover Alice Cooper (who bailed out, let's be thankful for that), Snider tries really hard to show his love for the classic songs, only succeeding to kill his darlings with a blunt axe.

He has made a new career as a broadway star. Good for him, but these songs should never have left the confinement of the theatre.

Dee Does Broadway is released on Razor and Tie.

Tracks:

Cabaret
The Ballad Of Sweeney Todd
Big Spender (with Cyndi Lauper)
Mack the Knife
Whatever Lola Wants (with Bebe Neuwirth)
Music Of The Night (with guest violinist Mark Wood)
The Joint Is Jumpin’ (with Jesse Blaze Snider)
Luck Be A Lady (with Clay Aiken)
I Get A Kick Out Of You
There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame (with the stars of “Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams)
Razzle Dazzle
Tonight/Somewhere (with Patti LuPone)

» deesnider.com