2011, No Thank You

Is it just me, or are the vast majority of 2011 rock/metal releases lacking in the quality and "staying power" department? Sure, we have gems from Mastodon, Cave In, Trap Them, Blindside, City of Ships (to name a few), but I'm just not finding the passion I once had for a ton of other bands.

Am I getting older? Yep. Am I old? Nope. Do I give a shit that there's a new Megadeth record out soon? Not a chance.

I've always known it's quality over quantity, even though I had a CD collection into the thousands, but this year, it's become glaringly obvious that:

a) I don't care about CD's anymore, other than my very favorite bands
b) New bands, for the most part, are shit
c) Old bands, for the most part, are old shit

For example, I actually think the new Dream Theater is a great listen. Apparently, 35,000 other DT fans thought enough of them to check it out as well, as it clocked in at an impressive #8 on the Top 200 in its release week. I think it's better than their last two lackluster releases, but still, not one note on that record got me excited for repeat listens. Not a one. Same goes for the snoozefest that is the recent Explosions In The Sky and the new Unearth. All solid releases...all headed into the obscurity bin of my brain. Just notes, no memories.

...and some records are just bad. Steven Wilson, you're better than this, dude. Queensryche. So very, very, bad.

The releases that truly separated themselves (Mastodon, Cave In, Foo Fighters, to name a few) are something special. Fantastic albums that I will spin for years to come. I just wish there was more of that to go around.

Currently spinning:
Mastodon- The Hunter
Cave In- White Silence
Bayonet- s/t EP
Thrice- Major/Minor
Wilco- The Whole Love

Spinning about to get underway:
Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire
Will Haven- Voir Dire
Dreamers of the Ghetto- Enemy/Lover
Junius- Reports From The Threshold of Death
Rob Crow- He Thinks He's People

I'll be posting WAY more often. Seems like the thing to do.

Buy more records.

In the mean time, jam on this...

Will Haven "Held To Answer":

Must Be Jelly...

Time for the underrated gem of the week. The Jelly Jam is about as awesome a side project as one can get. Ty Tabor, Rod Morgenstein and John Myung. That's King's X, The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater. I mean, c'mon. Two records of superb quality and some incredible jams. Wally Farkas' (Galactic Cowboys) label Molken Music, will be reissuing both albums digitally in early 2011, as well as some unreleased bonus content. Oh, and a NEW record is also apparently in the can. Tis a good morning!

In the meantime, sample these tasty nuggets and support this band and incredible label HERE.

"Nature's Girl"



"Allison"

Where Do I Sign?

I've been on a big Galactic Cowboys kick lately. If you're not familiar with these Texan/Missourian (?) dudes then spend some time digging into their amazing catalog, which spans a decade, releasing albums both on Geffen Records and Metal Blade. Six LP's and one awesome EP complete the GC catalog. Get all of it. It's either on clearance or out of print but easy to find for a few bucks a piece.

Think King's X, with 4-part harmonies instead of three. Think Dream Theater without all the wanking. Think Beatles-meets-Metallica with more than a hint of sarcasm and a sense of humor. Think awesome.

Their catalog (and sometimes fan base) is split into two factions: Before the hiatus (Geffen) and after (Metal Blade). Danie Cnoier or Wally Farkas. Fuck the haters. I love it all. Space In Your Face and The Horse That Bud Bought are my favorites but they're all amazing records. Name a few bands that never wrote a bad song. It's harder than you think. Sure, there has been some filler/intro/avant garde cuts, but I still find them enjoyable. Sometimes.

The band unfortunately called it quits in 2000 after their swan song Let It Go (featuring Jerry Gaskill from King's X on drums). Bassist/vocalist Monty Colvin went on to start Crunchy, a pop-punk-metal project. Vocalist/guitarist Ben Higgins started Gristle with some Texan dudes and his son. Former drummer Alan Doss still produces records (Jambi's Revenge, etc) and still plays. Dane Connier started The Connier Brothers Band, with guess who else? Wally Farkas started Molken Music, an independent label only releasing music from his friends, which include Dug Pinnick, Ty Tabor ("Balance" is his finest record to date, by the way), King's X DVD's and unreleased and live music and this year, his first solo LP, "Past Due".

I love this band. I always come back to them and get on a huge GC kick for a few weeks. Fucking awesome band.

"Fear Not" (from 1996's Machine Fish LP):

"Nothing To Say" (from 1998's At The End of the Day):

Progressive Nation 2009 = Shitstorm

Mike Portnoy is an awesome drummer and up until last year, a killer tour organizer. The first annual Progressive Nation tour featured Dream Theater, Opeth, Between The Buried and Me and Three...I know, so good it barely made sense. So myself and a horde of fans around the country were eagerly awaiting this year's lineup. Could they add Meshuggah? The reunited Cynic (a band DT owes a a lot to)? Porcupine Tree? Katatonia? Shit, they really have their pick of the litter when it comes down to it.

Syncopated drum roll please (terrible drummer joke, I'm well aware)...Progressive Nation 2009 will be Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain of Salvation and Beardfish. What and who the fuck are all these guys? I'm well aware that ZPZ is Dweezil playing his Dad's tunes. Fine. Pain of Salvation and Beardfish are nerd prog bands from Sweden. Jesus this sucks. No Dillinger Escape Plan. No Spylacopa. No Protest The Hero. No Redemption. No Fates Warning. No Battles. No nothing.

I am eagerly awating the tenth Dream Theater LP, which was completed in October and comes out later this year, but this abomination is some serious bullshit.

"Wait For Sleep" Live:
"The Mirror" Live 2004:

The New Guy

Ray Alder joined Fates Warning in 1988 at the age of 18. He still fronts the band some 20 years later. Some fans still call him the new guy. He replaced John Arch, who sang for FW between 1984-1988 and recorded the classic "Night on Brocken" with the band. However, Ray has recorded classic after classic as their frontman since 1988's "No Exit", up through their last two masterpieces, "Disconnected" and "FWX". The guy has the range of other prog greats like Geoff Tate and James LaBrie, except he has this much heavier/darker side to him that isn't as theatrical as Tate, nor as unpredictable as LaBrie.

In between Fates and his newer classic prog project Redemption, Ray started his own band called Engine. Much heavier that FW and with tons of Deftones-esque groove and backbone. They've put out two records that are crushing and haunting, though neither has sold much of anything. The band is an all-star team, featuring Bernie Versailles (Redemption, Agent Steel), Joey Vera (Anthrax, Armored Saint, Fates Warning, etc) and Pete Parada (Face To Face).

Ray Alder is now only 38 years onld with over 20 years in the game. He is a true legend and one of the best singers in the business. Check out some Engine and pick up the records wherever you can, since I believe both are out of print. Amazon has 'em pretty cheap. Think Taco Bell bean burrito cheap. It's worth every penny.

"Monster":
"Losing Ground":

Fancy Friday

On this fancy holiday weekend, I've been going over a lot of Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree in my head for some reason, but far fancier than both are PT's Steven Wilson's side project, Blackfield. I was one of the lucky few who braved the worst snow storm of 2007 with a good friend of mine, marching through this shit in the bowels of NYC (ok, the Bowery, but that's not far off) to witness a very rare Blackfield stateside performance. Not only was it worth it, it was oneof the best shows I've ever been to. Period.

Blackfield is Steven Wilson (PT, No-Man, Bass Communion, etc) and Aviv Geffen (huge Israeli pop star, awesome glittered eyeliner man-thing). They have the beauty of the sweetest parts of Porcupine Tree, mixed with a lush 60's pop sensibility. Every single song is instantly stuck in your head and they don't leave so easily. Their title/band name track "Blackfield" has been stuck in my dome for over 4 years now. I hum the fucking thing to myself at least 4-5 times a week.

The cameras were on for this show last February and later released as a DVD (the music files are floating around somewhere). Made the whole trek worth while: Got a killer show, got it on DVD and got my mind blown by a band that tours less than Jack Johnson.

Be fancy this weekend.

"Blackfield" (live from the Bowery Ballroom, Feb 07):
"Cloudy Now" (same show):