Tour News: Due to the recent bus crash involving Rivers Cuomo, and per doctor’s orders, the following WEEZER shows have been cancelled:
01/09/10-Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA
01/11/10-UCI Bren Events Center, Irvine, CA
01/13/10-RIMAC Arena, La Jolla, CA
01/15/10-Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Refunds will be given at point of purchase.
SHORT SCALE: CD reviews in 300 words or less
By Rachel Heisler
CD review: Infected Mushroom, Legend of the Black Shawarma (Perfecto Records)
People don’t like change. We have the tendency to fear that with change will come something we don’t like or understand. Changes can certainly make life better, but there’s always the possibility that change will let you down. Infected Mushroom’s latest release, Legend of the Black Shawarma, is in no means a disaster, but their sound has changed, and it’s a bit of a let-down, considering how busy, trippy, exciting and boundary-bashing their psy-trance music has been in the past. There was a certain level of musical prowess expected here, but what the L.A.-based electronic duo pumped out is an especially straight style of electro-metal-rock, one that uses much fewer time sig changes, incorporates fewer truly exciting musical switch-ups and feeds on less technical ingenuity than before.
“Saeed” has a thumping beat that should have the ability to hook ravers around the world. Its melody has a weird movie soundtrack thing going on, and there’s something lacking on this song — and the disk as a whole. It’s hard to pin-point exactly, but basically it lacks … spontaneity … . Track after track vocalist Amit “Duvdev” Duvedevani and keyboardist Erez Eisen tease with the beginnings of what should become gripping techno masterpieces, but right at the crucial moment of climax go limp. They also bring in guest artists like Perry Farrell and Jonathan Davis, then push their parts so far into the backdrop that they are unrecognizable. You have to ask: “Why did they bother?”
Legend of the Black Shawarma needed more. More gusto, more passion, more transcendental leeway. But being this is only their eighth album, there are always future opportunities to twist the knobs of experimentation, and refine their trance craft further.
CD review: Brian Bonz & the Dot Hongs, From Sumi To Japan (Triple Crown Records)
I love Brian Bonz and I want him to be my boyfriend.
It’s not his baby face or cute, curly-ass brown hair that does it for me, though those don’t hurt, it’s the playful ambient/indie music he writes that gets me squirming in my seat! From the first whispy notes of “Two Tree Blockade”, to the last chorus of “Goodnight, Captain Revelstoke”, From Sumi To Japan is a hit. Super fans of Benjamin Gibbard/Death Cab For Cutie/Postal Service, will either love Bonz or find the similarities between the bands too close for comfort, but hell, if you like one you may as well like the other.
Bonz has this nice, subtle way of changing tempo and volume (I.e. “Christa McCauliffe’s Cacophony (Reprise)”); it’s smooth and seductive in all the right ways and places. And that’s just the music: His voice takes the songs to whole new levels … he even manages to make the “fuck” words sound sensual. The whole package is dripping with dreaminess and it’s a CD that you can put on repeat, crank up to 11 and fall back on, knowing that the melodies will catch you as you do. The Brooklyn native puts emphasis on his songs’ meanings, but it’s the type of recording that can easily get by on sound alone. It’s so listener-friendly and expressive that it’s possible to get the gist of the song without paying too close attention to the words Bonz is singing. The emotions are worn on the album’s sleeve, as it were.
Brian Bonz is young, vibrant and bursting with a fluid energy that comes across in each of his songs. He is one to keep an eye on in the coming years, because this, hopefully, is just the beginning. With continued dedication and a few lucky breaks along the way, this guy may be unstoppable.
CD review: Nathan Lee, Risk Everything (One Revolution Entertainment)
There is only one thing that makes religious rock-n-roll stand out from non-religious rock-n-roll: lyrics. If you don’t pay close attention to what singer/songwriter/pianist Nathan Lee is saying, you’d never realize he’s dishing on religion. The artwork that accompanies his CD doesn’t point to any religious affiliation, and all Lee is quoted as saying is: “I sing to broken people because I am one”, so it’s easy to over-look the religious overtones in his music. Once aware of song titles like “El Diablo Y El Angel” and “Bring Down the Fire”, the pieces start coming together, and in the end, there’s no beating around the burning bush: Nathan Lee is a faith-based rocker.
For those who enjoy their tunes infused with theology, Lee will not disappoint, with numerous references to mercy, crucifixes and crosses. His gritty, intense vocals help to bring out the urgency in his words of personal journey and salvation. For those unconcerned with the WWJD aspect, his brand of rock/pop is strong in all the right places. Strings on “Bleeding Black” are expressive and perfectly infused with Lee’s delicate piano; diversity is displayed when pumped-up numbers are followed by emotional ballads; and rich bass lines, like on “Open Road”, are bold enough to carry entire songs.
Lee is nothing if not passionate about music. Risk Everything is an apt title for his recent release, as he did in fact give up various business ventures in order to follow the call of the music. That call is what makes Lee’s collection of work beautiful and powerful enough to support his unwavering messages of faith.
CD review: TECH N9NE, K.O.D. (Strange Music)
By Rachel Heisler
Music should evoke feeling … and great music always does. Often, music makes people laugh or cry or desire to express themselves in some way, but rarely does it scare. Fear is a difficult emotion to encapsulate and express through simple musical notes — it’s much easier done through video — where you can see the bad guy chasing the good guy or a victim cowering with terror in his eyes. With K.O.D., TECH N9NE has created a world where dark forebodings are paramount, and chilling, violent images are found at every turn. The darkness is startling. It’s slap-you-in-the-face, knock-you-off-your-chair scary; it’s forceful and it’s unapologetic. Aaron D. Yates isn’t f*cking around. (more…)
CD review: Rob Blackledge, Inside These Walls (One Revolution)
By Adam Baer
Mississippi-born singer/songwriter Rob Blackledgehas a problem. He’s in love and he sucks at it. At least that’s what’s to be taken from the majority of tracks on his piano-laden whine-fest of a debut record. While being inept in matters of the heart is an easily relatable subject (at least to most of us), Blackledge falls flat in conveying the emotion of such a situation. (more…)
CD review: Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle, Let’s Just Stay Here (Mint Records) and “Terrible Hostess: Recipes for Disaster, Volume II, Road-Tested by Carolyn Mark”
By Rachel Heisler
Carolyn Mark has a flair for the dramatic, and it’s this flair that makes her music so damn fun to slosh around in. Her musical base is a kind of light, twangified country, but she expands it to include raunchy twists and mysterious turns. You jump into a song thinking you know what’s coming, only to be flicked off course when you least expect it. It’s difficult enough to keep up with the wicked little nymh when it’s just her, but Let’s Just Stay Here is doubly tricky to track because it is a collaboration with musician NQ Arbuckle, a playful chap in his own right. (more…)
CD review: Hollis Brown, Self-titled (Vibe Theory Music)
By Adam Baer
“Show Love”, the opening track to the debut of Queens, NY, foursome Hollis Brown displays the type of pop/rock hook that can turn heads. Just don’t turn too quickly or you’ll miss the good stuff. It’s easy to be fooled by the borderline bubble gum of “Show Love”, but it’s when the bubble bursts that you realize that these boys have some sawdust and whiskey pumpin’ through their veins. Take part Old 97’s, mix with a splash of Drive-By Truckers and garnish with a pinch of Exile-era Stones and you’ve got a helluva cocktail of bar band noise. (more…)
By Adam Baer
I gotta admit, the story of a haunted recording studio caught the attention of my inner music geek. With rock’s long history of mystery and mythology: tales of brave Ulysses, stairway to heaven and sympathy for, of all things, the Devil, what’s another log on the pyre? The studio in question belongs to former Primus drummer, Tim Alexander, and the presence residing therein, is how these boys get their name: Into the Presence. The spook-fest vibe can be felt throughout this debut, but the most chilling moments come when singer/guitarist Luis Maldonado parts his lips. (more…)
CD review: Phish, Joy (JEMP Records)
By Rachel Heisler
If I had my way, Phish and I never would have crossed paths. The tidbits I heard here and there over the years at parties were enough to keep my Phish quota quite filled. But sometimes life doesn’t work the way one plans, and when I met and started to hang out with this really cute Phish-Head, I found myself unwillingly submerged in music that I, up until that point, lovingly referred to as The Jam Band from Hell. (more…)
Event: Celebration of Song, Voice Teacher Mary Lou Eagan Muratori Celebrates 40 Years of Teaching Voice; Sat., Sept. 26, 7:30 p.m.; $10
Article and photo by Rachel Heisler
Mary Lou Eagan Muratori
Ever since I can remember, all I wanted to do was sing. I sang everywhere I could: In high school choir and theater, at home with my hairbrush microphone and with my friends in our make-shift singing competitions. It wasn’t until high school that I decided to take singing to the next level, and that meant taking real voice lessons. And that is when I met Mary Lou Eagan Muratori. (more…)
Concert review: Sundown, Balsam Inn, East Pharsalia, NY, Sat., Aug. 22, 2009
By Rachel Heisler
Sundown
Not all good bands reside in NYC, L.A. or Seattle. Some, like Sundown, are doing their thing in some of the smallest towns in the country. Unless you’re actually from Norwich, East Pharsalia or Greene, it’s unlikely you’ve ever heard of the cow towns of Upstate NY. But if you are familiar with these quaint little towns, it’s possible you have run across Sundown at a local bar somewhere along the way. (more…)
