Grinspoon’s sixth studio album Six To Midnight has received a tremendous response so far, debuting at #4 in the ARIA charts and winning mountains of praise from fans and reviewers alike.

The first single Comeback, the latest single Summer, have both received huge reactions, gaining high rotation on most major TV & radio stations, with the latter destined to be one of this summer’s biggest hits.

Grinspoon’s return to the live scene earlier this year saw them play to a wild and overflowing main stage at this year’s Splendour In The Grass festival, which wen’t down as one of the band’s most memorable gigs to date.

A sold out launch tour on the east coast in September soon followed, with Six To Midnight released at the same time. Their loyal army of fans received their first taste of the record in a live setting, and judging by the reaction, it’s one of their best yet.

Grinspoon will tackle the national Big Day Out tour in early 2010 alongside artists like Muse, Lily Allen & Mars Volta, and will also be playing a special one off show with Cold Chisel at the V8 supercars after party in Sydney this weekend.

In celebration of all these great things, Grinspoon have decided to do what they do best and hit the road for a national headline tour in March 2010, their first major national tour since 2008.

Grinspoon Six To Midnight Tour March 2010

With special guests to be announced.

March 12 Kalgoorlie Hotel, Kalgoorlie WA
March 13 Northam Wild Oats Festival, WA
March 14 Capitol, Perth, WA
March 16 HQ, Adelaide, SA
March 17 The Hi-Fi, Melbourne, VIC
March 18 Hellenic Club, Canberra, ACT
March 19 Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
March 20 Alex Hills Hotel, Brisbane, QLD

I know it’s been a while since my last update, but I’m back and I promise I’ll post a little more frequently in the future. Not that anyone is really reading this, but it makes me feel better to say it.

Anyway, today is the first ever Black Then White Mix of the Month! I’m going to try to do these for every month for your listening pleasure. Here’s how it will go: every month, somewhere in the first week, I’ll post the mix of the month. It will have a theme appropriate to the month it is posted in. There is no limit on songs, except that the mix will fit on a single 80-minute CD-R. There will be rare occasions where there will be more than once CD, but in that case it will be two full CDs, not something like 83 minutes worth of music.

For our first Mix of the Month, the theme for December is Best of 2009. This mix will feature some of my favorite songs from 2009, or songs off of my favorite albums from 2009. I remind you that this mix is 100% personal opinion. Hopefully you can find all of these songs to recreate the mix on your own, but if not, let me know. Perhaps I can point you in the right direction (wink, wink).

Black Then White Mix of the Month
Vol. 1.01
December, 2009
“Best of 2009”
Running Time: 73:18

01. Les Claypool – Mushroom Men (3:14) [9]
02. Muse – Resistance (5:46)
03. Death Cab for Cutie – I Was Once a Loyal Lover (3:23)
04. Into the Presence – Dear Father (3:39) [5]
05. The Mars Volta – Cotopaxi (3:38) [7]
06. El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Warren Oates (4:55) [6]
07. Zu (f. Mike Patton) – Soulympics (5:06) [2]
08. Porcupine Tree – The Incident (5:20) [3]
09. Mastodon – Ghost of Karelia (5:24) [4]
10. Spinnerette – Ghetto Love (3:32)
11. The Horrors – Who Can Say (3:41)
12. Nine Inch Nails – Non-Entity (4:03)
13. Tori Amos – Strong Black Vine (3:26)
14. Flaming Lips – Convinced of the Hex (3:56) [10]
15. Mos Def – Twilite Speedball (3:02)
16. Decemberists – The Rake’s Song (3:15) [1]
17. Rammstein – Roter Sand (3:59)
18. Dave Matthews Band – Timebomb (3:59)

This mix represents a cross-section of the 50 albums I’ve listened to from 2009. The numbers in [brackets] represent where the album falls in my top 10 of the year. Hopefully I’ve chosen a nice variety of genres and artists; I didn’t want to repeat anyone even though some albums had a few great songs and some were full of not-so-great songs. If I could’ve, I would have just made two mixes: the full albums from Decemberists and Zu. They are far-and-away the best CDs I’ve heard this year; when Decemberists’ Hazards of Love was first released, I could not stop listening to it. I was laid off at the time and at home, so it got plenty of play.

I put the Mars Volta and El Grupo Nuevo together because they are basically the same thing; any combination of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala are going to be similar. I think the only real difference is that Cedric swears on the Grupo Nuevo album. I also realize that NIN have been playing “Non-Entity” live for about three years now, but it was first put out as a studio release this year, and since this may very well be the last time NIN has anything on a mix like this, I figured I should jump at the chance to include them. It’s a great song, besides.

A lot of bands on here are ones I’ve been following for a while. Mastodon, Rammstein and DMB, for example, probably had guaranteed places on the mix as soon as they came out just because I’m familiar with the bands and have been listening to them for a while. Some bands are ones I don’t listen to much but decided to check out the new album just to stay current, such as Muse, Mos Def and Flaming Lips. Finally, there were two bands I had never heard before, Into the Presence and Spinnerette. Into the Presence turned out to be one of my most listened to albums of the year, with the Jeff Buckley-esque vocals and Tim Armstrong on drums, you can’t go wrong. Spinnerette is the new band of former Distillers front-woman Brody Dalle; I hadn’t known the band even existed until I decided to find out what happened to the Distillers about a week ago.

All in all, this feels like a good representation for me for what I’ve listened to throughout the year. You will notice that the list is almost completely devoid of rap and indie (except for Mos Def and The Horrors, respectively). I don’t listen to much rap these days (I seem to have grown out of it) and indie, for the most part, all sounds the same to me. I know I get upset when people say that about metal, but it really is true. I just don’t have the ear for it.

So check out these songs or albums or bands in general if you haven’t. I hope you enjoy the mix and watch out for a second possible volume this month; you can’t go all the way through December without a mix of Christmas music. Aside from that, we’ll be back on the to-be regular schedule of the first week of every month.

Work hasn’t stopped behind the scenes here, just the posts about what has gone up recently. I am about to catch it up now. Our resident inventory overlord, The Soul Destroyer, has been sick as of late as well as the short Thanksgiving work week slowed things down recently, but he made quite a few pages before retreating back underneath our house that I am going to catch up on now.

I’m not even sure all of these are even restocks or new to the store, but they’ve all recently passed through by my desk for some reason, so here they are (and possibly again):

VINYL:

AFI – The Art of Drowning
AFI – Answer That And Stay Fashionable
Assholeparade – Embers
Avenged Sevenfold – Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold – City of Evil
Avenged Sevenfold – Waking The Fallen
Big D and the Kids Table, Brain Failure – Beijing to Boston
Bishop – Asylum
Boy Sets Fire – Live For Today
Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Dead To Me – Cuban Ballerina
Dost, Andrew – Columbus
Druglords of the Avenues – Sing Songs
Gregory Alan Isakov – This Empty Northern Hemisphere
Hale, Mike – Lives Like Mine
Love Me Destroyer – The Things Around Us Burn
Mars Volta – Amputechture
Mars Volta, The – Bedlam in Goliath
Mars Volta, The – Is Anybody There?
Monikers – Wake Up
NOFX – 22 Songs That Weren’t Good Enought To Go On Our Other Records
NOFX – The Longest Line
Perfect Circle, A – Emotive
Perfect Circle, A – Thirteenth Step
Price, Chad – Smile Sweet Face
Re-Volts – Re-Volts
Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
Silversun Pickups – Swoon
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream
Swellers, The – My Everest
Various Artists – Glory Daze Soundtrack
Various Artists – Mallrats Soundtrack
Various Artists – New Tales To Tell Love and Rockets Tribute

DVD:

36 Crazyfists – Underneath a Northern Sky
Against Me – We’re Never Going Home
Between The Buried And Me – The Great Misdirect (CD and DVD combo)
Japanther – Don’t Trust Anyone Over 30
Propagandhi – Live From Occupied Territory
Tool – Toology

Det har inte hänt jättemycket. Har fortfarande inte köpt biljett till 30 Seconds to Mars i mars, vilket jag får lite panik över. Tills jag kommer på att det är Sverige och att folk inte är lika hysteriska här. Får hålla tummarna att de finns kvar när man har råd helt enkelt.

Sen var det Dekadance i helgen, trevligt som vanligt. Dock lite märklig fylla den kvällen, kändes ingenting, ingenting och sen allt på en gång. Sen dess har jag bara slöat, haha. Var hos Michan och gjorde ingenting igår, har ÄNTLIGEN börjat läsa Dragon Keeper av Robin Hobb, hur mycket har jag inte sett fram emot den? Verkar vara precis lika bra som hennes andra böcker.

Skulle gått på Mars Volta igår, men det blev inget. Kände mig sjuk och 360:- är för dyrt för ett band som jag lyssnar på ibland och Michan i princip inte alls. Fast roligt hade det ju varit.
Ska trösta mig med House, haha.

Headliner Artist: Priestess

Opening Acts: Trigger Effect and Early Man

Date: Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Venue: Commadore Ballroom

Tickets available here.

Well all I can say is FINALLY. First off finally Priestess has dropped their new album “Prior to the Fire“, four years is a long time to wait. Secondly, finally they will be touring through Vancouver again, it’s only been a year, but heck for a show like this that IS a long time to wait. If you have been to see Priestess at the Commadore before then you already know what kind of a show your in for. Last years performance with 3 Inches of Blood was out of control. Speaking of which I have to mention how great 3 Inches of Blood was at that show. It felt like I was watching early Maiden when the giant flags came out flying high and taking a quick glance around at their hardcore following. It was my the first time seeing 3 Inches of Blood in anything but a dive bar, and although seeing them play the Legion in Tofino is it’s own great experience you could really tell they were feeding off the energy at this show and it was coming across in their performance (see video below). Alright let’s get back on topic here… Priestess. Priestess’s debut album “Hello Master” was the first metal album I had listened to in a while and enjoyed it from start to finish and continue to have it on heavy rotation. After the success of their first album as well as being recognized by their piers, ie. Dinosaur Jr., Motorhead,  and Mastadon to name a few, they were able to sign with RCA. Next after some time they were able to land Dave Schiffman (Nine Inch Nails, The Mars Volta) as their producer. They hit the studios and recorded an album that they were happy with, but RCA did not see any radio friendly singles and asked them to return to the studios. Priestess held their ground and basically said “No” and left RCA. Although this is a rarity the band and the label left each other on good terms and Mikey Heppner was quoted saying “To their credit, and this is something that I will forever hold RCA in the highest esteem for doing this,” Heppner says, “they let us keep the record that they paid for, so whoever else would end up putting it out won’t have to flip the bill. They kind of ate the money they spent on it.” Now you got to admit that is pretty decent of them, especially because if they hadn’t we probably would have been waiting even longer for Priestess’s sophomore album and it wouldn’t have been true to their vision. That vision that resulted in “Prior to the Fire” was well worth the wait. The album was finally released under Montreal’s Indica here in Canada, while Tee Pee will release it in the US. Now I could go on and review the album, but I will admit I am probably not a big enough metal head to do it justice so for that I’m turning to Hellbound.ca, so check out the review here. Well the wait for the new material is over and the show is quickly approaching, see you all there.

Priestess’ first single from “Prior to the Fire”

Oldie but a goodie

Early Man

3 Inches of Blood at Commadore Ballroom 2008

Every time a 0 is involved with the turning year, people tend to go crazy over “the best _____ of the decade”. Lists come out about music and movies and tv shows and whatever. Well, I decided to do that. Because I’m a dork. What I ended up doing is a list of things for every year since the year 2000. I will talk about some of them and leave links to others that I think are fantastical and that I belive you (whoever you are) might enjoy. So. Here we go. Expect to see some bands that repeat, and some that you know I like, if you like me:

2000
Does anyone remember how fantastically catchy ‘Bohemian Like You’ was? The silly video with the karaoke-thing, etcetera? There was a lot of decent music coming out around this time, and I remember being consistently barraged by good albums. This wouldn’t continue through the rest of the decade. Californication would be the last time I would enjoy RHCP as a band.

Dandy Warhols (song – Bohemian Like You); Red Hot Chili Peppers (album – Californication); Smashing Pumpkins/Foo Fighters/A Perfect Circle(show – Summersault – Winnipeg Stadium); Nine Inch Nails (video – Into the Void)

2001
In 2001 I succumbed to sexy pop for a favorite song. Seriously. That song is awesome. Frusciante’s album was magical, and I think my video of the year is really the only choice.

Kylie Minogue (song – Can’t get you out of my head); John Frusciante (album – To Record only Water for Ten Days); Tragically Hip (show – Winnipeg Arena); Fatboy Slim (video – Weapon of Choice)

2002
Dave Grohl makes the list twice as a drummer in this year, and probably would have taken the album too, but from out of nowhere came what would change my mind about Canadian music in that I ended up following almost every project that Broken Social Scene had outside of it’s main band after hearing the album and seeing them live.

Queens Of The Stone Age (song – Go With the Flow); Broken Social Scene (album – You Forgot it in people); Broken Social Scene – (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Tenacious D (video – Tribute)

2003
I remember the moment I fell in love with Sit down Stand up. It was on the eve of the album coming out, and Radiohead played a live show that was broadcasted to Silver City theatres in Canada. When that song reached the crescendo into the fast ‘raindrops’ part, I was almost on the edge of my seat. Which I could also say about the Metric show. They were second on a bill of three that featured Hot Hot Heat as the main act, and were still relatively new, but downright sexy and exciting to watch. I’ve since seen them six more times.

Radiohead (song – Sit Down, Stand Up); Mars Volta (album – De-Loused in the Comatorium); Metric (show – Pyramid Cabaret); Buck 65 (video – Wicked and Weird)

2004
The second time a John Frusciante album makes my favorite albums. This album is widely regarded as his most ‘mainstream’ and is a fantastic, great-amazing thing, just like the Bowie concert, which was the last concert I ever saw at the ol’ Winnipeg arena.

Secret Machines (song – Nowhere Again); John Frusciante (album – Shadows Collide with People); David Bowie (show – Winnipeg Arena); DFA 1979 (video – Black History Month)

2005
I’ll never forget how many phone calls I got when Nine Inch Nails annouced that they’d be coming here. It was the first time I was going to see them, after being a fan since 1994. My phone rang off the hook, and for one song during that show, so did my emotions. I kinda quietly, completely lost it, and felt like a dummy. Ha! By the way, that Esthero video’s freakin’ hot, and I agree with every sentiment in it.

Sufjan Stevens (song – Come On! Feel the Illinoise!); Fantomas (album – Suspended Animation); Nine Inch Nails (show – MTS Centre) Esthero (video – We R in Need of a Musical Revolution)

2006
I saw Wintersleep by myself in front of about 30 people, and skipped work to get there. When I talked to the singer about this, he dedicated a song to me. How nice. As far as Nausea goes, I don’t know what it is about that song, but something in it drives me nuts. It’s way too good and it doesn’t even realize it.

Beck (song – Nausea); Regina Spektor (album – Begin To Hope); Wintersleep (show – The Collective); Eagles of Death Metal (video – Boy’s Bad News)

2007
National Anthem of Nowhere has become my most listened to track on last.fm, and I think the Wintersleep album has since become one of my most listened to albums. They will both continue to rise in numbers. If I did a song by song and album by album breakdown, these two would make somewhere within the top three. And it’s pretty cool that I got to see Mike Patton in any of his 34i83902439024 bands, but Peeping Tom blew me away.

Apostle of Hustle (song – National Anthem of nowhere); Wintersleep (album – Welcome to the Night Sky); Peeping Tom (show – Trocadero); Feist (video – 1234)

2008
God, In Rainbows is great. And Secret Machines live, that’s something so completely underrated, I don’t even know how to describe it to you. The power that they have to get an audience going, is a sight to behold and yet there were so few people there that I was kind of disappointed in the turnout. Oh, and yes, I realize that Feist gets the video 2 years running for the same album, but they’re both great videos.

Kaki King (song – Montreal); Radiohead (album – In Rainbows); Secret Machines (show – Pyramid); Feist (video – I feel it all)

2009
I know, it hasn’t been that long, but Them Crooked Vultures was exactly the album I wanted it to be. So there.  And as far as Spookey’s song goes, this is the second time I’ve talked about it in my blog. Previously appeared in my “songs you won’t see in Guitar Hero or Rock band“, and it’s just something to behold. Metric’s video was perfect, it was the video that I wanted them to have. Something sweet and cute instead of overtly dorky like all of their other videos. As far as Leonard Cohen’s concert goes, I hadn’t been a huge fan beforehand, but was introduced, and BECAME a large fan because of how amazing that concert was. Everything he did was perfect. The singing, the sounds, the engagement with the audience was fantastic. Top five concerts in my life, that one.

Spookey Ruben (song – Mechanical Royalty); Them Crooked Vultures (album – Them Crooked Vultures); Leonard Cohen (show – MTS Centre); Metric (video – Gimme Sympathy)

Musical pioneers like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez deserve a lot of credit for pushing the envelope in a genre that’s generally overlooked in the mainstream consciousness. As the guitarist for bands “At the Drive In” and “The Mars Volta”, Omar produces groundbreaking musical landscapes that take more than one half-assed hear through to appreciate completely.

Having said that, his solo projects often leave me wanting more than what is offered. Make no mistake, there’s no shortage of ORL product, its more like a huge surplus of twisted ambient experimentalism. He released 12 separate LP’s over 3 years, which is an insane pace; way more releases than anyone on the radar within the community. Songs are hit or miss, but when they hit, they hit hard. The thing that separates Omar from the pack is his ability to change the mood of the album with a single track, and those tracks are true gems that are littered within each and every one of the albums hes released so far. Take Coma Pony for example, from the album “Apocalypse Inside of an Orange”; rhythmic bongos overlapped with the paralyzing shreddings of Omar wrapped in a subtly calm mood.

“Xenophanes” is Omar’s fifth release this year alone, and it happens to be the best one of 2009 so far. The intro to “asco que conmueve los puntos erógenos” is uncharted territory in the music realm and will blow up minds. “Oremos” captures mysterious emotion that’s haunting yet soft and almost friendly in a way (after you make it through the chaotic intro). To cap it off, Omar outdoes himself with the beautiful Desarraigo, reverberating chords beneath the savory hispanic flavor of Cedric Bixler Zavala’s vocals cling to the ear and never let go.

Do yourself a favor and give it a listen. Its audible bliss.

Actually, Rick Rubin’s Resume would be a cool name for a band, assuming he didn’t sue you. Anyway, wow. He not only has produced influential debuts from the Beastie Boys to LL Cool J to Run DMC to Public Enemy, but in the process proved that rock and rap could co-exist. He’s pretty much responsible for Johnny Cash’s late-career comeback and produced the flourish of albums at the end of Cash’s life. He produced a mid-career masterpiece for Tom Petty, almost all of the Slayer albums, and I think every Chili Peppers record since and starting with the classic Blood Sugar Sex Magik. He’s done solo/acoustic records for Neil Diamond and Jakob Dylan, alt-rock stuff like Slipknot, and produced the album that contains “Baby Got Back.” Most recently he got the unfocused and feuding Metallica to stop putting out crap and make a classic-sounding Metallica album and then produced a great rootsy folksy ditty for indie favorites the Avett Brothers. That kind of variety is what makes him incredible. He’s done everything at every end of every spectrum and everywhere in between and most of it is great. Sometimes all within the same year.

He started work with U2 on their most recent album but those sessions were shelved and never heard, as the boys when back to Lanois/Eno to do No Line on the Horizon. I heard, or read… or read on the internet that someone heard… anyway, this reliable source said that Rubin is a hardass, and he won’t just take and record the first 10 songs you show up with. He’ll send you back to write more and tell you to do better. Maybe Bono and the Edge didn’t like that and they wanted Yes Men at the controls? Maybe Rubin thought U2’s new stuff sucked and told them to get lost? Who knows. Just adds to the legend.

But the real legend is in his resume. It’s one thing to say “damn, go read this guy’s Wiki page!” It’s another to then realize that there’s a separate Wikipedia page for his Album Production Credits! Check out his bio on allmusic.com and click “credits” and take a look.

My Top 10 Favorite Albums Produced by Rick Rubin:

1986: Raising Hell – Run-DMC

1987: Yo! Bum Rush the Show – Public Enemy

1988: South of Heaven – Slayer

1991: Blood Sugar Sex Magik – Red Hot Chili Peppers

1994: American Recordings – Johnny Cash

1994: Wildflowers – Tom Petty

2000: Renegades – Rage Against the Machine

2003: De-Loused in the Comatorium – The Mars Volta

2008: Death Magnetic – Metallica

2009: I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers

The Top 10 Albums Produced by Rick Rubin that didn’t make the list above:

1985: Radio – LL Cool J

1986: Licensed to Ill – Beastie Boys

1986: Reign in Blood – Slayer

1987: Electric – The Cult

1988: Danzig – Danzig

1998: Chef Aid: The South Park Album – South Park

1999: Californication – Red Hot Chili Peppers

2001: Toxicity – System of a Down

2002: American IV: The Man Comes Around – Johnny Cash

2002: By the Way – Red Hot Chili Peppers

This is about a week of catch up or so, so this is one fucking long list!

2009 – The Future Is Soon
Aggrolites, The – IV
Andrew W.K. – Close Calls With Brick Walls
Anti-Flag – The People or The Gun
As Tall As Lions – You Can’t Take It With You
Ataris, The – …Anywhere But Here
Ataris, The – Welcome The Night
Avail – Front Porch Stories
Avail – One Wrench
Bad Brains – Bad Brains
Barry, Tim – Manchester
Big D and the Kids Table, Brian Failure – Beijing to Boston
Black Keys, The – The Big Come Up
Black Sabbath – Paranoid
Briggs, The – Back To Higher Ground
Cloak Dagger – Lost Art
Common Enemy – Living The Dream
Converge – Axe To Fall
Death By Stereo – Into The Valley Of Death
Dost, Andrew – Columbus
Drive Like Jehu – Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu – Yank Crime
Flaming Lips, The – Silent Night
Full of Fancy – Sweet Baby Jesus
Gabel, Tom – Anna is a Stool Pigeon
Ghostlimb, Fischer – Split
Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
Hatebreed – For The Lions
Hot Chip – The Warning
Jizz Kids, Guts – A Safe Return To The Forest
Judas Priest – Hero, Hero
Lawrence Arms, The – The Greatest Story Ever Told
Longfellow – And So On
Lucero – 1372 Overton Park
Mad Caddies – Just One More
Mars Volta, The – Is Anybody There
Mars Volta, The – Live At The Electric Ballroom
Max Levine Ensemble, The – Ok Smarty Pants
Monikers – Wake Up
Morrissey – Years of Refusal
Motley Crue – Girls Girls Girls
MxPx – Secret Weapon
Naked Raygun – Jettison
Naked Raygun – Understand
Nerf Herder – American Cheese
Nine Pound Hammer – Sex, Drugs and Bill Monroe
No Use For A Name – Hard Rock Bottom
No Use For A Name – Keep Them Confused
No Use For a Name – More Bitterness
Only Crime – To The Nines
P.O.D. – Payable On Death
Protest the Hero – Kezia
Prozacs, The – Playing The Chords We Love
Real McKenzies, The – 10,000 Shots
Real McKenzies, The – Oot and Aboot
Rehasher – High Speed Access to My Brain
R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Revolutionary Youth – Bleed Decay
Scorch, Al – This Lonesome World…
Sick Of It All – Call To Arms
Sick Of It All – Life on the Ropes
Sick Of It All – Yours Truly
Skatalites – Stretching Out Vol. 1
Skeletonwitch – Breathing The Fire
Smashing Pumpkins – Gish
Snow Patrol – A Hundred Million Suns
Star Fucking Hipsters – Never Rest In Peace
Strung Out – An American Paradox
Swellers, The – My Everest
Tool – 10,000 Days
Used Kids – Yeah No
Vandals, The – Play Really Bad Original Country Tunes
Vandals, The – Sweatin’ To The Oldies
Various Artists – Glory Daze
Various Artists – Mallrats
Various Artists – New Tales To Tell
Wrister, North Trolls – Split

Three tracks of complete and utter insanity from The Mars Volta. Cut That City has some heavily distorted vocals and keyboard driven rhythms that get your feet moving. Concertina is full of Spanish beauty with a satisfying build and climax while Eunich Provocateur is the ultimate space out, electronic rock song tthat one could ask for. Check this out if you want 20 minutes of complete bliss.

Take one part Steve Wynn Dream Syndicate guitar, 2 parts Raspberry puree, one part voice of emotive  the love child of Serj Tankian and Tommy Shaw (find it in the  alt / prog rock section of your local Trader’s preferably the one in Glendale,) dust lightly with some finely ground Mothers of Invention, and finally add a pinch “Exploding Plastic Inevitable”.   Mix well.  Add two teaspoons John Fruisciante  into the mixture and boil down to a nice reduction.  Let cool, add two drops of alt / prog / Roger Waters and whip to a slight screamo (wait until you see peaks).   Mix some  Thurston Moore (be sure not to use any Kim Gordon though) pour into  a  9×12 ungreased pan and set aside.  Now, prepare your oven.  setting it to “burn / sizzle and pop” and trip out on the fog that forms inside.  Put the visceral confection in the oven at 425 for 30 minutes.  Soon the concoction will ignite and send sparks in all directions!  What you have here is a creation that will burn your hands but… you won’t be able to move away!!  Pour this eclectic, yummy paroxysm into your limited edition “Nick Cave” serving plate and enjoy!  Feel the sweet burn as each bite of this prodidgeous culinary course goes down.  Aint it kinda beautiful?

Prog Happenings will be a semi-regular summary of the various events that have punctuated the prog landscape recently, as well as some of my thoughts on each. Basically they’re the events that don’t justify an entire post, but are still worth talking about. So without further stalling:

Dream Theater Wins ‘Spirit of Prog’ Award at Classic Rock Awards (http://bit.ly/23iZRW)

This past Monday Classic Rock, a UK hard rock magazine, had their yearly Roll of Honor awards, and Dream Theater was presented with the ‘Spirit of Prog’ award. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman presented the award to band leader and drummer Mike Portnoy and had some very high praise of the group during the presentation.

For all the crap I dish out on Mike Portnoy and Dream Theater on this blog, I’m glad they got this award. Without them prog would probably be a dead genre, and Portnoy in particular has done a lot to promote progressive music in the main stream. I personally wouldn’t have ever become enamored with the genre if it wasn’t for Dream Theater, so I think this award is absolutely deserved by the band. This doesn’t mean I’m going to stop ripping them though.

Emerson, Lake, and Palmer Reform for Performance at High Voltage Festival in the UK(http://bit.ly/4hZq83)

ELP, one of the classic prog rock groups that your average music fan might at least recognize the name of if they were alive during the 70’s, will be reforming for one performance at the new High Voltage Festival being held next July in the UK.

Older prog fans are giddy with excitement over this. Personally I’m going to be interested in seeing how the band has aged. While they didn’t stop making music on their own, the group last performed together in the 1990s. I’m predicting that they won’t be lighting any more cannons on stage, MAYBE one if they’re feeling spry. Seriously, Greg Lake is one of my personal prog bass heroes, so I’m praying there will be a recording of this at some point.

Mars Volta Fire Drummer Thomas Pridgen. Maybe. Kind of. Anyone know if this actually happened?

Rumors are flying all over the web right now about the current status of the Mars Volta and their drummer Thomas Pridgen. A recent show was canceled with fans at the venue being told by security that the band had fired their drummer during sound check. The band and Prigden have been totally silent about the rumors thus far, which only adds to the speculation. Fans are fairly split right now on 1) whether or not this is true, 2) whether or not losing Pridgen would be a good or bad thing, and 3) who should take his place (Zach Hill and former drummer Jon Theodore seem to be the most popular choices).

I personally love Pridgen, so I hope these rumors are just that, rumors. That being said, the Mars Volta’s line-up has always been growing and shrinking on the whims of Omar Rodríguez-López and Cedric Bixler-Zavala, so I’m preparing myself mentally for this rumor to be true. I’d love to see Theodore back with the group, as he’s a drummer with great energy, great chops, and a unique style behind the kit. However I’m guessing the door between Theodore and the band has been nailed, screwed, and welded shut, so I don’t expect that reunion to happen any time soon. Keeping my eye on this one…

Between the Buried and Me/Cynic/The Devin Townsend Project/Scale the Summit Announce US Tour (http://bit.ly/8IDu0)

Almost as if to prove that progressive rock is starting to flourish in the US again, fans will be able to feast on this prog smorgasbord starting in January of 2010.  BTBAM have seen an absolutely huge growth in their popularity since appearing as a supporting act on last year’s Progressive Nation tour, large enough that they are headlining this tour that contains two other prog heavyweights, Cynic and Devin Townsend.

Cynic is a band no one in the world knows outside of prog historians, as they recorded one integral album in the history of prog before disbanding. Their reunion was something prog fans have been asking for for over a decade, so the fact that they’re serving as a supporting act here is kind of surprising. Devin Townsend is one of progressive rock’s mad scientists (in fact, I think we ONLY have mad scientists). Some consider him to be a more metal, more more balding, more Canadian Frank Zappa. He’s one of the darlings of the prog online community, and living proof of how the internet has impacted the genre. Scale the Summit is another beneficiary of the Progressive Nation tour, having been the opening act on this past year’s US leg. They’re very young but many people see this as being a good thing, and predict many quality albums in their future as the band continues to mature.

A comical, probably unintentional coincidence on this tour is that it features bands with growling vocals (BTBAM), computerized vocals (Cynic), weird-ass vocals (Devin Townsend), and no vocals (Scale the Summit). If you’re the kind of person who’s bothered when the douche bag next to you at a concert is singing louder than the band, you won’t have any problems on this tour.

Umphrey’s Mcgee S2 Shows Walk The Line Between Progressive and Hippie Bullshit (http://bit.ly/2zNYtv)

Progressive jam band Umphrey’s Mcgee has come up with a very…creative concept for some of their shows. Their “Stew Art Series” lets fans suggest themes that the band then uses as inspiration for a totally improvised concert. Fans can use cue cards, text messaging, and other media to suggest themes before and even during the show, and it’s up to the band to them turn these concepts into music.

While I think this is certainly a ‘progressive’ effort, I’m unsure of whether or not this will actually translate into quality music. UM is absolutely the band to undertake this effort, as I think they’re among the best improv jamers on the planet, but this just seems like an exercise in hippie silliness to me. To be fair I’ve only heard the samples from the first show that the band has provided on their blog, so I don’t know what the overall product has sounded like so far. The list of themes I’ve seen fans come up with have also been fairly entertaining, like ‘mudslide on mars’ and ‘Chaka Khan at an Iron Maiden show’.

Cracked Tells You How to Be a Prog Rocker (http://bit.ly/2FYtec)

While I wanted to cover most of this in the second half of my post on Stereotypes in Prog rock, cracked.com has done a great job in poking fun at the genre I love. Check it out if you want a good laugh. Now I just need to figure out how I can write the second half of that post without looking like I blatantly plagiarized from this…

Thank you!

A ton of people have started reading this blog in the past few days, so I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who stops by. Hopefully you like what you see and will keep coming back to read my bullshit.

15 new concert posters worth a Look

Kings of Leon By Ken Taylor

KOL by Ken taylor

Dave Matthews Band by Guy Burwell

Dave Matthews Band by Doublenaut

Dave Matthews Band by Methane Studios

Pearl Jam by Ames Bros

Mars Volta. Omar and Cedric produce something truly unique and original. They blend all the best parts of Rush and Prog with a trippy latin sensibility ala Carlos Castenada. Mind Blowingly good. I love these guys. Luckily I was able to snag a poster for a show they did in Portland.

Mars Volta Poster

This Mars Volta Poster available on Amazon and at ConcertPoster.org  Mars Volta Poster

Greetings, on-the-guest-listers.  A quick note on some criminally overlooked rock bands, including progressive powerhouse Porcupine Tree.

You might ask: Why are you talking about rock music and where is it even headed?  Well, my friends– this is where rock music is at…not necessarily in America, and not necessarily on our charts.  Radio is obviously a huge player in the rock business.  With psychedelic, progressive, and operatic references like Pink Floyd, Rush, and Queen, it’s no surprise that a number of great rock artists continue to thrive beyond American earshot (with songs beyond the 4 minute mark).  This album and artist recommendations are not about underground bands– on the contrary, these artists are pretty popular.  Nor is this list comprehensive.  Rather, I’d like to think it’s an ongoing dialogue on great, quality artists that are criminally overlooked by us Americans (or is “US Americans” more correct… anyway…)

Let’s start with an album of the week, shall we?

The Incident by Porcupine Tree (9/14/2009)

This one is on my wishlist, and it’s a crime I haven’t listened to it (or the YouTube preview) yet.  Funny, because the album apparently intends to humanize the victims of crimes covered by a detached media (or something along those lines– again, I haven’t actually heard it).  A lot of magazines will make, or already have made some very punny jokes on this matter.  Maybe I don’t read enough music press.

The songwriting abilities of Steven Wilson, as well as his vocals, which can only be described as “a silky smooth layer cake” (K for P to those who care); and Gavin Harrison’s odd, precise drumming, to me, make Porcupine Tree, as Mike Tyson would put it, an impetuous beast [of a band of nice British guys.] Side project “Blackfield” reinforced Wilson’s status as “K for P” in my book.

Porcupine Tree now leads me to…
Blackwater Park by Opeth (2/27/2001)

If you haven’t already watched my tour bus interview with Opeth, here’s another chance.  Opeth and Porcupine Tree also dig each other, which is cute… in a deathly metal sort of way.  I’ve already recommended the album Watershed, so now I’m recommending Blackwater Park– produced by Steven Wilson.

The Resistance by Muse (9/14/2009)

Another album of the week, another great band that I really like, and another one on my wishlist.  I haven’t heard the preview, but for those who aren’t ready to take the plunge (yet) and dish out $10 for The Resistance, YouTube exploration awaits you.

Elitist moment:  Despite my suggestion that some of you might want to check out Muse on YouTube, I still side with taking the plunge.  Only because you might make a comment like the one from this Metalsucks.net review: “I’ve only listened to the record once so far, but I’m kind of lukewarm on what I’ve heard.  I’m really anxious to hear all of the 3-part symphony that closes the record, as only :30 clips are available even to those who’ve signed up for the website” (source: http://www.metalsucks.net/2009/09/11/the-resistance-has-arrived-new-muse-album-streaming-in-full/).  As Steven Wilson put it, listening to an mp3 (or any compressed music) is like looking at a photocopy of a painting.  Judging an album on 30 second low-quality clips is, well…now that I’m on a quote roll… “missing all that heavenly glory” (Bruce Lee).  Still, if you have the means to check out the photocopy before investing in the full work of art, why not?

Octahedron by The Mars Volta (6/23/2009)

I hated them the first time I saw them live with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2005.  I love them now.  A lot of people don’t like their more free-form songwriting, but to those people, I say shake it up and enjoy the riff salad!  This album is on my wishlist, so I couldn’t comment on it, but a lot of fans seem to put “Deloused…” on a pedestal and avoid the epic and experimental.  Opeth is probably guilty of the same approach to music, but if you’re going progressive anyway, expect to test your patience every now and then.  You did it when you moved on from “Dark Side” or “The Wall” and discovered “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” I think the Volta deserve the same chance– you loved Deloused… so give “Amputechture” and everything else a chance!

This is not, by far, a comprehensive list.  Comment with rock artists you think are overlooked or underrated, major or indie!

My partner seems to be getting a little bit tangled-up in all these Joint Review albums we’ve decided to tackle, and although there’s no doubt he’ll get around to them sometime or another, you’re just going to have to handle my opinionated-b.s. for today, peoples. I know, I know, this kind of music is a little out of my comfort zone, but earlier this year, if you can remember, regular-readers of Highly Evolved might recall a review of an album my partner tackled by ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ prior to “Xenophanes”. So, for further ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ details on his earlier album “Cryptomnesia”, check it out:

http://highlyevolvedau.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/cryptomnesia/

Prior also to “Xenophanes”, we were in awe of “Octahedron” by ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’s’ main-affiliate band ‘The Mars Volta’. By the way, thanks to ‘Lee Doucette’, commenter on the blog: I was able to find out that this is actually ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’s’ vocal-debut, so, much obliged for that info. And again, if I keep having to add info to this post, it’s not going to be me writing it, it’ll be you – so! To quote, our friend again:

“One other tid-bit of info if you’re interested is that the female back-up vocals are done by Ximena Sarinana, which is Omar’s girlfriend. She is also the one singing on Los Suenos de un Higado.”

I was personally blown away by the sheer quality of the piece, so, fans of the ‘… Volta’ might notice some heavy similarities between both. The driving-force behind both the ‘… Volta’ and ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ are the Hendrix-happy riffs that spiral in and out of control, blurring the lines between reality and delirium. I swear this guy is 1/8th Hendrix himself…

So, let’s move on to:

"Xenophanes" - 'Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez'

To be honest, my first introduction to ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ was back with another album called “Los Sueños De Un Higado“, [believe it or not, that was a month ago and I'm still in a time-warp!] and this neat little five-piece album was riddled with inconceivable-riffs and to-die-for vocals. It’s not everyday I get to hear lyrics other than the stereotyped, cliche-ridden English – not to say a majority of them are bad [it's just, well?] – and although I believe they could be Spanish*, please don’t abuse me if they aren’t. I’m partial to Icelandic, after some favourable listenings to the all-time legends ‘Sigur Ros’, but “Xenophanes’ on a whole surrounds you in this inescapable pink-and-purple mist called ‘psychedelica’, in contrast. Some have hailed ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’s’ work as ‘progressive rock’, with hints of experimental, jazz and at times, instrumental.

And I can see why – this man is a pioneer unto himself. ‘Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez’ is the composer, lead-guitarist and producer for ‘The Mars Volta’, as I was mentioning earlier [but in less detail], and this is the first real ’side-project’, I suppose, that I can fully appreciate and absorb. Music is refined to such an extensive quality within ‘Xenophanes’, that it’s hard to believe ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ is juggling this and his other full-time commitment ‘The Mars Volta‘. We’ve all seen it before when my partner happened to stumble on ‘Paul Banks” album “Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper”, and what a miserable review of an album that was – I love ‘Interpol’, don’t get me wrong, I just love my ‘Paul Banks’ in a particular way…

“… Shaken, not stirred.”

As for the whole ’side-project’ scenario, “Xenophanes” is turning heads, and it’s made me think twice on my usual pre-judgemental disposition. People, if you love being taken to the plateau of ‘psychedelic’ ecstasy, then bring a spare oxygen-tank or three, because “Xenophanes” has its picnics in the Himalayas. As for progressive rock as a genre, there’s little, if any other way, to describe “Xenophanes” then by measuring them next to ‘The Mars Volta’. They’re not entirely the same, but they share those unique riffs, twisted vocals, and sublime layering because of ‘… Rodriguez-Lopez’ and his influential compositional-genius. For those of you who like consistent music – that is, simplistic riffs, acoustic or otherwise, steer clear. As for you other normal people who like a little change, “Xenophanes” creates its own miniature universe which encompasses a myriad of musical exploitation, together with mind-torturing riffs and eye-popping vocals. Am I paraphrasing, yes I am – just to hammer my opinions home, this album is fantastic.

We’ll start from the top, it’s the most logically-conceived place to begin, and that’s with: “Azoemia”. It’s less-so a track unto itself, and more-so like the preface or introduction to a book. Purely instrumental, it lacks the quality of the following riffs. It opens with the oriental march of bells, rusty and old – in the background, some unintelligible radio/television broadcast reminiscent of the 50’s, which quickly dies down for some helicopter-synth and the steady, distant snoring of some mechanical beast and its raspy, metal breathing. This repeats for some while, forming the basis for the final track, and occurs at different intervals within “Xenophanes” on a whole. Interestingly placed at the beginning, it ties in wonderfully with the final-track “Maria Celeste” to form this neverending-spiral of music. It’s as if the album never really finishes.

A quick explosion of percussion, and electric guitar, we’re in “Mundo De Ciegos” town, and this is the first real taste of the psychedelic nature that is “Xenophanes”. Sadly, I can’t quote any of the wonderfully-clean lyrics because I don’t speak the language, but the chorus is quite distinctive, and after a few listens, you’ll pick up on the key words which sound its entrance. Together with this, the infamous solo of an electric guitar which is utterly mind-blowing. ‘Dragonforce’ eat your heart out!

So, watch out for the solo at 1:14, this lick is awesome. Also, keep those ears peeled for the jazz-heavy piano, it follows like a flitting bee, in and out of solos and the chorus not only in this, but elsewhere. Wonderfully magnificent.

The following track, ‘Oja Al Cristo De Plata” is one of my favourites, and it begins softer and slower than ‘Mundo De Ciegos”, a mixture of soft-and-solemn piano, laid-back psychedelic electric guitar, with a mixture of male/female vocals, and a layered chorus. It’s really difficult to accentuate these tracks by simplifying their basic elements and principles because their heart and soul is mired in this same over-simplification. It’s a really:

“… Go out there and listen for yourself!”

… Scenario. I’m going to jump all the way to my utmost favourite track, “Desarraigo”, and unlike the previous tracks, it begins with this repetitive riff, which flits between the left and right channels. Brilliantly playing with the stereo-channels born and bred for amplifier/speaker situations, “Xenophanes” is highly refined for an amplifier/speaker environment because of its multi-layering encouraged in various directions. It’s a rare track because it builds in power, and unlike “Oja Al Cristo De Plata”, solo-riffs are less emphatic, and are more harmonic with the overall beat. Solos themselves are quite mundane, but its awkward off-key nature really does play tricks on the mind. Just great.

Summarising, it’ll be a first for any side-project reviews written by myself, because I feel obliged to give it a five. My partner might disagree with me, he’s had a lot more time to accept ‘Omar A. Rodriguez-Lopez’, but I feel this album has nearly everything. It is beyond epic, in some circumstances, I almost feel it’s on the boundaries of legendary status. It’s worth a buy, and I think that “Xenophanes” will make a comfortable addition to your CD collection. It’s a friendly accomplice to one’s own trusty amplifier/speaker set-up. I’ll finish by saying:

“THE LOUDER THE BETTER!!!”

Rating: 5/5

Stand-out Tracks: “Mundo De Ciegos”, “Oja Al Cristo De Plata”, “Desarraigo”

Until when,

The Enantiomorphic God

Thomas Erak of the Fall of Troy at the Vault 350 in Long Beach, California. Picture taken by mjambriz.

That band that has that one song in Guitar Hero 3 that sucks to play because it has no hammer-ons? Yeah, that band has been doing quite a bit since the release of the post-hardcore song off their breakthrough album Doppelganger. The release of that album created a rift in the pantheon of “The Fall of Troy” fans. It split the base into the camp that liked the crazier hardcore stuff off of the Self-Titled album and the majority of the songs off of Doppelganger, and the casual fans who had heard F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X and wanted a more pop-punk feel. The band did nothing to stop this alienation with their release of Manipulator, an album that mixed pop-punk ballads with the frenetic math rock from their original albums. It didn’t help that “Ex-Creations” was one of the band’s heaviest singles either. After their bassist, Tim Ward, left the band and the band recruited Frank Ene of “…Of Stalwart Fads,” the band decided to release a re-recording of one of their early Eps with Phantom on the Horizon taking the concept behind the Ghostship EP, which leaked onto the internet in 2004, and expanding upon it. The album was a single song split into five “chapters” telling the story of a Spanish galleon meeting with a ghost ship from another dimension (No, I’m not making that up).

The Fall of Troy's new CD, In the Unlikely Event.

The 6th marked their first proper release since Manipulator with In the Unlikely Event. The album seems like a return to the band’s pop sense with songs like “Panic Attack!” and “Single.” However, this album has more of a sense of wanting to do everything that the band has done before all at once. If you’ve been looking for a post-hardcore release that does not rely so heavily on metalcore like so many bands today, check itout as it’s just $10 from amazon.com in either CD or MP3 download form. You can sample the first single, “Panic Attack!” below.

The Fall of Troy – Panic Attack! by equalvision

Also, tomorrow at the Electric Factory, one of my favorite bands, the Mars Volta, are playing at 8 PM in support of their new album Octahedron. I’ll be going to the show so hopefully I’ll some pictures and a report of the show later that day or Sunday. This is the first time I’ll see them live and it’ll be interesting as they’ve been touring without their wind performer Adrián Terrazas-González or their secondary guitarist/sound manipulator Paul Hinojos. This is probably to create a tighter and simpler sound similar to that on Octahedron which was comparatively less complex to the band’s other offerings. However, according to a review of show in boston done by boston.com’s Scott McLennan, they’ve been doing just fine without them. Look for full coverage tomorrow and a review of the concert itself.

Portugal. the Man at Chain Reaction. Picture taken by Danielle Supola.

As just a little mini-aside, I’m glad Portugal. the Man is finally getting the attention they deserve. After their set at Bonnaroo, they’ve been interviewed all over the place and have been selling out their shows with Drug Rug (including the one I wanted to go to at the Bowery Ballroom in New York). Rollingstone.com did a profile on the band after they played two reportedly great sets at a Lollapalooza at Bonaroo earlier this year. Spin had some choice words for the band’s performance at Lollapalooza in Chicago back in August. “Though the band members barely moved, the music never sat still. The brainy Alaskans can sometimes sound like they’re trying to stuff more into a song than the music can hold, but at a festival, where the possibility of hearing another, better band is always present, Portugal’s zany, unpredictable mash-ups had the wonderfully counter-intuitive effect of keeping the listener rapt.” (Spin.com’s “Best & Worst of Lollapalooza: Day 3” by David Marchese.)

Portugal. the Man's new album, The Satanic Satanist.

The band’s new album, The Satanic Satanist, has all the inner workings of a poppy Beatles album with the indie sense that’s always kept the band so interesting. Ever since the band’s first release Waiter: You Vultures! in 2006 the band has consistently put out solid albums, all with a different feel to them while still remaining distinct to Portugal’s (The band) style. With four full length albums already under the belt over the past 3 years with styles ranging from post-hardcore to folk, they are a band that anyone can get into. Check out their music video for Do You off their new album below and give their constantly updated site a look at portugaltheman.net.

They sure do because I’m broke (nothing new, seeing as I have no job) and won’t be able to convince my parents to buy me one as they’ve just bought me a Soundwave ticket lol which I’ve framed and is now sitting on a ledge in my bedroom.

Mars Volta, Magic Dirt and Muse? I can’t miss out on that! Someone needs to buy me a ticket to the Melbourne BDO and I’ll love them forever and ever and ever and ever and so on..

Anyway, all begging aside, who’s planning on going to Big Day Out or Soundwave next year?

xoxoxo (Lineup for BDO so far is in tags section)

I was at my house recently, smoking a joint, and I thought that I would give Octahedron, the new Mars Volta, a listen.  I was a little iffy, given the fact that I did not enjoy their last record The Bedlam in Goliath too much; it didn’t really sound like the good ol’ Mars Volta to me.  They did not seem to put as much energy into the record like they have done with De Loused and Frances the Mute.

     So I downloaded the record (legally of course)  and to my surprise, I loved every single track.  ” Since We’ve Been Wrong” is one of the greatest tracks that the band has produced in a very long time.  During the course of the record, you kind of have the sense that it was a one shot recording because the tracks seem to cross fade into one another so perfectly.  Octahedron is like Voltas earlier work, you either immerse yourself into it hard or you let the frantic crazy guitar riffs and chaos surround you.

     It’s hard to tell what the underlining meaning of this record is.  With every Mars Volta album, what the lyrics are about and what interpretation the songs may have are always up for discussion.  I would definitely tell any Mars Volta fan to pick this up or download; just give it a listen and prepare to get your mind blown away!

- Duffy

Clint Wilson 'Tube Sale' 5 Posters $20 Each

Well, it is time for me (Clint Wilson) to start clearing out some space and making room for new posters. So, I decided to make this sweet deal available to everyone. Basically I’m going to carefully pack 5 random posters from my inventory into a sturdy tube and send it your way for only $20. Check out my whole inventory at GigPosters Here. You can purchase your tube by clicking below. Each tube will contain at least one of the following: Green Day, TOOL, Mars Volta, X, They Might Be Giants there will only be 20 available so go get ‘em whilst you can.

Check it out HERE

The Mars Volta es un grupo de rock con influencias de todos los géneros musicales que te imagines (post-rock, salsa, hard rock, sicodelia, son cubano) liderado por Omar Rodriguez-López (tremendisima guitarra) y Cedric Bixler Zabala (increíble contra tenor) ex-miembros de la extinta agrupación de rock At the drive-in.

Octahedron es su cuarta placa, en la que a su enorme lista de influencias y elementos musicales; le agregan elementos electrónicos (Copernicus) y vuelven a las baladas que habían descuidado desde el gran álbum Frances The Mute (2005) para crear algunas de las piezas mas dramáticas que e escuchado en mucho tiempo.

Aquí el link OCTAHEDRON y se lo agradecemos a http://ensaladasurtida.blogspot.com

I have a confession to make: I have never been to the Big Day Out, mostly because it’s always the day before school goes back and my mum is one of those “school is important” parents. But  judging by the first line-up announcement, I think next year will be the year I finally go. The line-up is looking pretty good on the international front and there is no sign of Limp Bizket. On the local side of things, the usual  boring and big-ish Aussie bands are playing(Powderfinger, Grinspoon… zzzz) but there a few interesting bands I think the second line-up will feature some more exciting  local acts. It’s a bummer that the David Bowie rumours were false though. I would give my right arm to see him play live.

Muse
Powderfinger
Lily Allen
Eskimo Joe
Groove Armada
Grinspoon
The Mars Volta
Ladyhawke
Dizzee Rascal
Karnivool
Peaches
Girl Talk
The Temper Trap
Kasabian
Midnight Juggernauts
Rise Against
Magic Dirt
Mastodon
Lisa Mitchell
The Horrors
Bluejuice
Calvin Harris
Kisschasy
The Decemberists
Tame Impala

The tickets are released on different days depending on your state, and the dates are:

SUNDAY JANUARY 17th – GOLD COAST PARKLANDS
FRIDAY JANUARY 22nd – SYDNEY SHOWGROUND
TUESDAY JANUARY 26th – MELBOURNE FLEMINGTON RACECOURSE
FRIDAY JANUARY 29th – ADELAIDE SHOWGROUND
SUNDAY JANUARY 31st – PERTH CLAREMONT SHOWGROUND

the mars volta stormed through houston this past thursday, and i was there to catch their explosive live show; one that whittled down the free form jamming of past performances and made for an pure, elemental experience peppered with older material as well as frenzied takes of their newest material off their latest offering octahedron.

recap after the jump:

- sunbear

borrowing my co-blogger’s video camera to record songs for the mars volta’s show at houston’s verizon theater, i checked the battery life on the 2′ lcd and casually asked “how long will this let me record?”. “about an hour’s worth of video, so in mars volta time that’d be…. 2 songs”.

to label the mars volta’s live show as over-indulgent psychedelia, prone to extended bouts of prog-wankery capable of stretching an audience’s attention span to the point of disinterest would ordinarily prove accurate. but this last thursday’s show at houston’s verizon wireless theater revealed a more streamlined, efficient band; their material precision trimmed to pack the most punch; the expected 3 hours of vicious intensity crammed into an hour and a half set. this was a no-frills, bare-bones mars volta, and they were the better for it.

kicking off the night quite unexpectedly with “inertiatic esp” of their 2003 debut album de-loused in the comatorium, cedric bixler and co. seemed to be culling from their roots, material that had only been played rarely. the reaction was instantaneous: from the second ikey owen plinked out the song’s intro on his keyboard, houston knew it was in for treat. and just like that, from the humble, atmospheric overture that opened the show, the mars volta exploded into a fury of volatile rock, manic latin grooves and the showmanship of a band possessed.

the core duo of singer cedric bixler-zavala and guitarist omar rodriguez-lopez played off each other so smoothly, with such synchronization you’d swear the two were telepathic. their relationship extends back to their acclaimed 1993 band, at the drive-in. back then, their performances, reckless opiate-laced frenzies laid the foundation for the mars volta’s live show as it is today. though now playing completely sober and as focused as possible, bixler zavala retained his schizophrenic modus operandi: impulsive microphone swings, impromptu salsa dancing, donkey kicks. rodriguez-lopez on the other hand has evolved into a vehemently proficient guitarist. his time in at the drive-in found him not so much playing an instrument properly as he did creating dissonance: his guitar merely an accessory to his delirious salsa dancing. now a disciplined master of his craft, rodriguez-lopez plays with a skill that would rival that of any guitar virtuoso, his texturing and layering of effects adding to the overall effect of such atmospheric songs as “teflon” and “eunuch provocateur.

this isn’t to say that the other members of the mars volta are faceless and merely satellite players (an affliction any group involving bixler-zavala and redrigues-lopez is prone to). the “mars volta group” as they’re defined in the liner notes for the last three albums are indispensable, each member’s contribution adding to the tremendous sound that is the mars volta. the aforementioned keyboardist ikey owens looming over his keyboard like a faceless effigy, displaying a collected cool that offset the manic front-man. marcel rodriguez-lopez (younger brother to omar) was one talented multi-instumentalist, deftly moving from one latin-based instrument to the next, from maracas to the shekere to bongos. there were even times during “drunkship of lanterns” when he played all three succinctly. juan alderete brandished his solid bass lines for a solo into “the widow” and drummer thomas pridgen had only one setting; “blitz”. the band’s collective synergy and proficiency made for an immense experience where each element was integral to the overall effect of the mars volta.

the night’s setlist perfectly balanced the band’s volatile aggression with their ethereal, spacey material. the indulgent “viscera eyes” was immediately slowed to a crawl for the spectral effects and straightforwardness of “halo of nembutals” only to be brutally bombarded with the frenzied volley of “eunuch provocateur.” the lengthy jams, trippy guitar solos and progressive tendencies were left at bay, sharpening the mars volta’s aural attack into a concise effective atom bomb capable of not only a mind-blowing live show, but decimating the idea of what a progressive rock concert should be.

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[setlist]

son et lumiere
inertiatic esp
goliath
cotopaxi
roulette dares (the haunt of)
viscera eyes
halo of nembutals
eunuch provocateur
ilyena
teflon
drunkship of lanterns
luciforms
the widow
wax simulacra

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VIDEOS:

check the rest of the mars volta tour dates.

the mars volta on myspace

thanks for reading.

- sunbear