Anything reminding me of Paul Oakenfold this morning is certainly not my idea of a nice wake up call. I'll admit that September don't go the trance route, but have enough of the house staples to lose me in a second. Back when I had friends dragging me to dance clubs I was hearing this crap all the time. Despite the fact that September actually has a singer that has a nice melodic sensibility, the music is about as much fun as a root canal done by an Abu Grahib guard. Not my idea of a good time.
- Simon Thibaudeau
I'm pretty sure these dudes sent me a older CDR demo a long time ago and if I remember correctly, it was fairly unremarkable. Not bad, but nothing special either - exactly the kind of thing that reviewers dread writing about. However, this new one is quite good. The recording is still obviously demo quality, but the songwriting has come a long way. Most bands playing similar 80s arena-style hard-rock tend to play up the dumber aspects of the genre (sex! drugs! rock'n'roll!), but Shoot the Breeze is surprisingly refreshing in that they take themselves seriously enough to do it well. Think about the sort of stuff that made old Def Leppard great (don't argue!) - tasty riffs, triumphant melodies and huge hooks. StB still needs to work on their vocal arrangements before they attempt a real recording, but overall I say good job.
- Avi Roig
I've been doing a little trolling around on myspace trying to discover new bands and while, for the most part, I'm not really uncovering anything incredibly exciting but they are definitely a few diamonds in the rough. One such disovery was Circle Six, a doom band from Linköping. I'm not sure that I'd consider most of the bands following in the footsteps of Isis to be worthy of the doom title, but Circle Six knows what's up. Not only are they incredibly heavy, but they are slow. Agonizingly slow. So slow that the cymbal ring almost completely decays between drum hits. It's like being bludgeoned to death in slow motion. Most of you probably think that sounds perfectly awful, but I'm sure that any aficionados of the genre are stoked by that description. It's also worth noting that instead of the more typical death-metal growls (ie. Skepticism) or hardcore-style shouts (ie. Cult of Luna, Isis), the vocals are a crusty black-metal rasp. Just the way I like it: kvlt and evil. Sometimes "brutal" is a positive adjective, y'know?
I'm not exactly sure what to make of this, but it looks like The Embassy might be playing Tack! Tack! Tack! in March: http://www.theembassy.info/
Crunchy Frog has announced the signing of Copenhagen-based duo Wolfkin. Read more: http://www.crunchy.dk/asp/default.asp?News_Id=160
Swedish hardcore act When We Fall has posted a soundclip with bits from three new songs they've been working on: http://www.whenwefall.se/Latar/new_songs.wav
Discouraged Records has signed Piteå-based "ambivalent hardcore" act The Pookie Syndrome and will release their debut album "Kaos" in March or April. Download two tracks here: http://213.114.113.173/~discouragedrecords/media.html
Finnish indiepop act Red Carpet has posted a rough live version of the song "No one else" for free download: http://hansoovoice.com/redcarpet/mp3/nooneelse_tampere.mp3
Mas-Kina has announced the signing of The First Cut, the Norwegian band previously known as Crash. Look for their debut album "Silence Afterwards" to be released on February 20. Listen to a preview at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thefirstcut
The video for the new single "Charlie Fay" from Gustav and the Seasick Sailors is now online: http://www.gatss.com/media/videocharlie.htm
Download the new single "Kit club hotel" from The Kid: http://www.hybrism.com/files/the_kid-kit_club_hotel.mp3
New tourdates for Kashmir:
02/03 - Postbanhof, Berlin (GER)
02/04 - Haldern Pop Festival Pre-show, Haldern (GER)
02/05 - Batschkapp, Frankfurt (GER)
02/07 - Karlstorbahnhof, Heidelberg (GER)
02/08 - Prime Club, Cologne (GER)
02/09 - Abart, Zürich (CH)
02/10 - Bad Bonn, Dudingen (CH)
02/11 - Szene, Vienna (AUS)
02/12 - Elserzusazthalle, Munich (GER)
02/14 - Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL)
02/15 - Ekko, Utrecht (NL)
02/16 - Doornroosje, Nijmegen (NL)
02/17 - W2, Den Bosch (NL)
02/18 - Gruenspan, Hamburg (GER)
02/21 - Folken, Stavanger (NOR)
02/22 - Logen Teater, Bergen (NOR)
02/23 - Rockefeller, Oslo (NOR)
02/24 - Studentersamfundet, Trondheim (NOR)
02/25 - Bingo´n, Lillehammer (NOR)
03/24 - KB-hallen, Copenhagen (DK)
Download "20 fingers 20 Toes" from Finnish act Goodnight Monsters: http://www.bbisland.de/downloads.php3?useartist=16&myversion=EN
Disfear will bring the Swedish d-beat to the US at the Los Angeles Murder Fest on February 19. Look for additional dates in Phoenix, Tijuana, Las Vegas and San Francisco as well. Plans are also underway for more North American shows around May/June.