Here are the first two songs from Les Breastfeeders live set at Club Europa last Sunday night. The band's live set made a believer out of me and I'm looking forward to seeing the band come back through the town in 2009.



Links:
Les Breastfeeders MySpace Profile
Les Breastfeeders Website

Montreal's Les Breastfeeders finished up their US tour last Sunday night with a show at Club Europa. The band has been on the road for about two years, touring behind their second release,Les Matins de Grands Soirs, and they are going back into the studio to record new material later this year.

The band is a lot of fun live and they were kind enough to let me film some of their set. I also had the chance to catch up with Sunny (Lead guitar) and Pat (Drums) before the show for a brief interview on a Greenpoint street corner.



I'm going to try to get a follow-up video of the some songs from the band's live set posted tonight. Unfortunately, those in the US will likely have to wait until 2009 to catch the band live but Les Breastfeeders are playing some shows around Quebec this month and next.

Links:
Les Breastfeeders MySpace Profile
Les Breastfeeders Website

Every year there seems to be another gloom-and-doom article on the decline of the record industry (below is a snippet from an '07 WSJ article).

"In a dramatic acceleration of the seven-year sales decline that has battered the music industry, compact-disc sales for the first three months of this year plunged 20% from a year earlier, the latest sign of the seismic shift in the way consumers acquire music."

If the CD is dead and iTunes has trained consumers to buy single tracks rather than full-length CDs, maybe Rock Band and Guitar Hero are on to something.

There seemed to be a bit of shock a week or so ago that Guns N' Roses was releasing a new track ("Shackler's Revenge") via Rock Band 2. I'm not too shocked as I was reading a recent Ad Age article that stated that all but one of the bands that have songs on Guitar Hero III saw a 100 - 300% increase in sales of that track. One of the cited example was that Alice Cooper's "School's Out" sold 12,000 copies in a one week period last December which the article says was a 453% increase. I guess it is unlikely that the full length School's Out CD sells anywhere near that number of copies.

As an old Alice Cooper fan, the question becomes "What becomes of the other 8 tracks on this disc? Does a great album fade away into one hit single?"

Over the past few years, I've met a number of musicians who have licensed new music to "Grey's Anatomy", "CSI", etc. If Guns N' Roses start a trend and Guitar Hero and Rock Band become the next vehicle to release new music, CDs might end up being nothing more than a compilation of previously released singles (though licensing issues will probably prevent this from happening).

It looks like a crazy time to be in the music industry...

Postscript: If 62 of the 63 bands on the Guitar Hero III game saw a 100+% increase in sales of their single, anyone want to guess which band sucks and will never get invited onto another video game? (The article didn't include the answer so all I can do is guess as well)

Kirsten Price had a CD release party for her debut CD, Guts & Garbage, last Friday night at the Highline Ballroom. I had a chance to catch up with Kirsten before the show and we talked about the new CD, the upcoming tour and some of her recent blog posts (Kirsten's blog is on her MySpace page - link below. Check out the post 'Kirsten With Her Knickers Down')



Kirsten's next shows in the area are:
JULY 27 2008 @ WORLD CAFE LIVE, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
AUG 7 2008 @ JOE’S PUB, NEW YORK, NEW YORK (Don't snooze on tickets - this one will sell out)

Links:
Kirsten Price's MySpace Profile

Karen Rockower is playing a solo set next Wednesday (July 23rd) at Trash Bar in Brooklyn. Karen has been debuting new material at her recent solo shows and Wednesday's show will be the premier of the song "Dog".

Cover is $6 and Quiet Loudly and Werewolves are also on the bill.

Links:
The Trash Bar
Karen Rockower's Website
Bugs in the Dark's Website

I had the chance to catch up with Becky and Maya from The Pack A.D. before their set last night at Piano's. We talked about the new CD (Funeral Mixtape), comparisons to the White Stripes, the current tour and life on the road.



The Pack put on a phenomenal show and this is one of those shows that people are going to regret having missed a year from now. For anyone not familiar with The Pack A.D.'s sound, here is a review of their first release that Herohill.com posted: "Becky and Maya somehow managed to write a debut record that was full of gritty hybrid blues, but still had the chops to sing soulful ballads that bled with emotion. It usually takes years for a blues outfit to perfect those types of sounds, not a single release."

It doesn't sound like the band will be back through NYC until 2009 so, for the meantime, pick up a copy of Funeral Mixtape, which will be released August 12th on Mint Records.

Becky Black




















Maya Miller
















The Pack A.D.


Links:
The Pack A.D.'s MySpace profile
Mint Records

Stockholm's Doctors & Dealers made their NYC debut last night at an early show at Piano's. NYC is a tough town in which to play an early set in as it was just myself, Music Snobbery and Jolie from Punkcast in the audience for most of the band's set. The small audience didn't seem to deter the band and they played an enthusiastic set.

Doctors & Dealers is the brainchild of vocalist/songwriter Sparrow and the band plays indie twee-pop that falls somewhere between Moe Tucker's solo work and The Brunettes. The current CD is entitled Confessions of a Drunken Mind and it is available from Amazon.com.



Here is the video that Jolie filmed last night of the band performing "He Went Down".



The band plays Club NME @ The Annex tonight along with The Indelicates and Man on Earth. Doors are at 9PM and admission is $10.

Links:
MusicSnobbery.com's coverage of the show
Doctors & Dealers' MySpace profile

Lights Bane is the debut release from Portland's Trees. Trees play extreme doom metal and an immediate point of comparison is Khanate. There are only two songs on Lights Bane, "Nothing" and "Black", but both songs clock in at over 10 minutes each.

It is great to see a band step up and take over where Khanate left off. Like Khanate, Trees music doesn't utilize a traditional song structure. Waves of feedback, guitar and electronic noise are combined with vocalist L. Smith's tortured shrieking and murmuring to create a tension and a musical texture that is both disturbing and engaging.

This style of funeral doom/drone isn't for everyone but fans of the genre should find Trees' debut engaging.

Links:
Trees' MySpace profile

Canadian blues/garage-rockers The Pack A.D. are in town on Wednesday, July 16th for a show at Piano's.

The Pack A.D. have a new disc, Funeral Mixtape, due out on August 12th on Mint Records. Here is an advance track, "Making Gestures", from this upcoming release.

I have been watching some of the band's live performances on YouTube (recent performance footage below) and, while they are often compared to the White Stripes, I think their garage-punk sound is closer in spirit and sound to Jon Spencer Blue Explosion.

Check out this live clip of "Moonshine"



Tickets are $8.00 and The Pack A.D. go on at 8PM (EARLY SHOW).

Links:
The Pack A.D.'s MySpace Profile

The Thursday Night All-Stars have been playing around town for about a year and the band just released its first EP, Ayatollah Fancy and the Thursday Night All-Stars. The band combines middle-eastern flavored jazz/world music with humor, political commentary and satire that ends up in an amalgamation that is part Frank Zappa and part Sic F*ucks.



The band's new 5-song EP serves as a good indoctrination into "Doctrine of the Thursday Night All-Star". All of the tracks prominently feature the electric Persian Tar (played by front man Piruz Partow) which is accompanied by drums, saxophone, keyboards, electric guitar, bass guitar and an upright bass. It is a very Zappa-ish mix of instruments and sounds. Lyrically, the band ranges from a mix of serious subjects (condemnation of middle-eastern and home-grown suicide bombers on "Mahmoud" and the lack of relevance of the current educational system on "I Hate Homework") to a tongue-in-cheek 70's-style love ballad (on "Being With You"). "Jihad Jam" and "Zionist Breakdown" are both instrumental jams that showcase the band's musical abilities.

The Thursday Night All-Stars' next show is at the Knitting Factory on (Thursday) July 24th.

Links:
Thursday Night All-Stars MySpace Profile

Dantesco's second CD, Pagano, is another recent release on Italy's Cruz Del Sur record label. I've been wrestling with how to write this review as, after repeated listens to this disc, I'm still not sure what to think about Dantesco.

Nothing about this disc is easy to categorize. The music is almost power metal but it is played at a slightly slower place than most of the bands in the genre today. Vocalist Enrico La Bestia shows that he has a wide vocal range but spends the majority of the disc singing in an operatic tenor. I generally don't give a lot of focus to the lyrics on most metal discs but the vocals are mixed prominently on this disc and 10 of the 11 songs are sung in Spanish. Unfortunately, the clash of all these styles is distracting more than anything and it is tough to get engaged with this disc.

There is some pretty good music on this disc but I just can't get my head around "operatic metal". Songs like "I Came From Hell" (the one song with English language vocals) show the potential of the band so I won't give up on them yet. The band has posted a new demo "Burnt" to their MySpace page (link below) which follows in the spirit of "I Came From Hell" so it looks like the band is moving in a more accessible direction.

For anyone curious about Pagano, give a listen to the track "La Ultima Visita De Grendel" which is posted to Dantesco's MySpace page. This track will give you a good feel for how the rest of the disc sounds.

With the release of their third full-length disc, To Death and Beyond, BattleroaR have moved over Italian metal label Cruz Del Sur Music. The band seems to have benefited from the move as this is their strongest release to date in terms of both songwriting and production.

To Death and Beyond is firmly rooted in the sound of 80's classic power-metal. Helloween, Iron Maiden, Manowar are some of points of comparison that come immediately to mind. Like many of their contemporaries, BattleroaR's lyrics focus on fantasy and sword-and-sorcery themes. The music is big, epic metal that incorporates orchestral parts, violins and acoustic guitars in addition to soaring guitars and crashing drums. All of the music is complemented by Marco Concoreggi's clean vocals. Check out the track "Oceans of Pain" which is streaming on the BattleroaR's MySpace page and this will give you a good feel for what the rest of this disc sounds like.

This disc clocks in at 60 minutes and most of the tracks are 5 minutes or longer. There is enough variation in the band's songs and song structures that this disc kept me engaged through a couple of listens. While the band doesn't break any new ground, this release is well put together and will find favor with fans of the power-metal genre.

As I noted with my earlier Bad Religion reissue review, the first question everyone asks when a reissue comes out is "Do I really need to buy this again?". I think that an implied second question is "Can I sell (or do without) my old copy?"

The quick answer is that this reissue will probably not replace a previous owned version of Let It Be and the bonus tracks don't provide enough value to justify buying this release a second time.

I've been trying to look at this release by what it is rather than what it could have been, but that has been hard. Rhino did such a fabulous job with the Elvis Costello reissues that I was expecting the same treatment with The Replacements set. At minimum, I would have expected all the unused tracks (below) from the Let It Be sessions would have been included on this disc.

Who's Gonna Take Us Alive
Temptation Eyes
Street Girl (version one)
Street Girl (version two)
Gary's Got a Boner (alternate version)
Perfectly Lethal
You Look Like an Adult

WIth this reissue clocking in at 55 minutes, it seems kind of strange that only two of these outtakes were included. In addition to the missing outtakes, there is so much good live material from this tour that a second disc could have been easily justified. (If anyone from Twintone is reading this - I suggest another reissue that includes ALL of the Let It Be outtakes along with the Feb '84 show from the Pop Shop, Cleveland.)

So...now that I covered what isn't there, let's take a look at what is:
- 20th Century Boy (b-side of 'I Will Dare' 12")
- Perfectly Lethal (LIB Sessions)
- Temptation Eyes (LIB Sessions)
- Answering Machine (home demo)
- Heartbeat - It's a Lovebeat (Grass Roots cover)
- Sixteen Blue (alternate version)

I would assume that most 'mats fans have "20th Century Boy" so there is about 17 minutes of new material added to this disc. The sparse bonus material makes it hard to justify owning two copies of this release. Additionally, there are some reviews posted to Amazon that say that some of the core tracks have been edited from the original release. I don't have my turntable currently set up so I can't personally comment but I'm going to keep both Twintone vinyl for the time being. (I'm also going to be keeping my "Let It Be Sessions" bootleg).

Hopefully the other Replacements reissues have more promise.

After catching Kirsten Price's show last year at Crash Mansion, I was certain that she would be quickly moving up to playing bigger rooms. Kirsten went on to sell out Joe's Pub, open for Sly & the Family Stone's comeback shows at B.B. King's and she was handpicked to open for Wyclef Jean.

This Friday, Kirsten is headlining the Highline Ballroom. This show is the release party for Kirsten's debut CD Guts & Garbage which was just released on July 1st. (The disc is available on Amazon, iTunes, etc.)

Kirsten's music isn't that easy to classify with a single label so the closest label that I can come up with is "blued-eyed soul". This isn't the typical pop-charts type music though as Kirsten's music has a raw sexuality beneath it that is closer in style to Prince than some of her female contemporaries. I really like the quote from the Washington Post reviewer that is posted on Kirsten's MySpace profile: "London-to-Brooklyn transplant Kirsten Price has ferocious rock-and-soul pipes (think Joss Stone or Toni Childs with rougher edges and a mean streak)".

There are a number of tracks from Guts & Garbage streaming on Kirsten's MySpace profile (link below).

Tickets for Friday night's show are $15.00.

Links:
Kirsten Price's MySpace profile

With the flood of CD reissues hitting the market, I was prepared to dislike this reissue before even listening to it. Too many of these reissues have just a couple of new tracks or (worse) remixes appended to the CD and then attempt to get full price for the "new" release.

The one complaint that I always read whenever a reissue comes out is "Why do I have to buy this again?". I have a few reissues in my review pile (with this being the first) and my goals with these reviews is to answer the question "Is this worth purchasing if you already have the original issue?"

The Deluxe Edition of New Maps of Hell is a winner. There are seven new tracks added to the original CD. These tracks are acoustic so it took me a second to mentally adjust to the change from Bad Religion's typical tempos. The acoustic tunes are just Greg singing and Brett on acoustic guitar and together they add a whole new dimension to some of the older Bad Religion songs. Three of the seven tunes are unique to this release and the other four songs are re-recordings of (mostly) older material.

The acoustic tunes clock in at about 20 minutes and here is the track list:

- Won't Somebody
- Adam's Atoms
- Sorrow (from 'The Process of Belief')
- God Song (from 'Against the Grain')
- Dearly Beloved (from 'New Maps of Hell')
- Chronophobia
- Skyscraper(from 'Recipe for Hate')

The acoustic tunes are cool but this set also comes a 23-track live DVD of the band performing live last year at the House of Blues in Las Vegas that rounds out the whole package. Also on the DVD are "The Making of the Acoustic EP" and "The Making of New Maps of Hell" along with two music videos from the current CD. I'm not much on the "The Making..." videos for any band (in most cases, these 'VH1 Behind The Music' type clips aren't worth more than one watch, if that) so these last couple clips aren't essential.

The Deluxe Edition of New Maps of Hell is (currently) $22.99 at BestBuy and Amazon.com.

Links:
Bad Religion's Website

I had the chance to talk with Supagroup lead singer Chris Lee when he was in town last month promoting the band's latest single "Jailbait". Supagroup play straight-forward, raw rock n' roll and the band often gets compared to Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) or early AC/DC.

Chris and I talked about the new CD, Fire For Hire, the band's Wikipedia bio which says that "Chris can often be seen picking fights at Saint's games", Supagroup's appearance in the upcoming Drake Bell movie "College" and much more.

Fire for Hire comes out in August and the band will be off on a full-scale tour in the fall. In the meantime, the movie "College" comes out on August 29th.



Links:
Supagroup's MySpace Profile
Supagroup's Website

You have to love that Municipal Waste's latest video was filmed at the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant in Playa del Ray, California. The video for "Sadistic Magician" made its premier on MTV Headbangers Ball last Saturday night. Video director Jeff Speed commented that "[h]umor, horror, metal and mayhem have always been a winning combination. It's 80's throwback to the fullest - back when videos were fun and the music was still dangerous. MUNICIPAL WASTE is the perfect band for it because this is exactly who they are - no bullshit."



Municipal Waste - Sadistic Magician Video


Municpal Waste is touring with the reunited At The Gates this month. Both shows at Irving Plaza/The Fillmore (July 9th and 10th) are now sold out but there are still tickets on eBay and Craig's List.

NYC's ism has finished their sophomore disc Urgency, which is coming out on August 5th. The band released the single "Sacred Cows" as an advance track from this disc and have been playing some warm-up shows around town. Urgency is a cohesive vision around the theme of rising above ourselves and making the world a better place.

I had the opportunity to chat with the band about the new disc, the newest member of the band (drummer Mike Higgins), and their plans for 2008.



ism is off on a tour of California this month and will be back in town on August 15th for a show at Bowery Ballroom with Kill The Alarm.

Links:
ism's MySpace Profile

This has to be one of the best reasons I've had to go out and get a copy of Rock Band.

The Who announced that they are releasing a greatest hits collection for Rock Band that includes three tracks from Live At Leeds. Given the action of the Rock Band drum kit, you can really drum along with Keith Moon on what was rated one of the 10 best live albums of all times. It doesn't get much cooler than this.

Here are all the tracks on this collection:

“Amazing Journey”
“Baba O'Riley”
“Behind Blue Eyes”
“Eminence Front”
“Going Mobile”
“Leaving Here”
“My Generation” (Live at Leeds)
“Real Good Looking Boy”
“Sea & Sand”
“Summertime Blues” (Live at Leeds)
“Who Are You”
“Young Man Blues” (Live at Leeds)

This release coincides with the broadcast of “VH1 Rock Honors” honoring The Who. The show airs on Thursday, July 17 at 9PM and will feature tribute performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Incubus and Tenacious D as well as a grand finale performance from The Who.

Indie rocker Nikki Shannon has recently been playing around town in support of her debut disc Too Few which was released last month. Her next local show is at The Cutting Room on July 16th.

Nikki is a talented pianist/keyboardist who is has a raw bluesy voice that is somewhat comparable to early Melissa Etheridge. She also has a fascinating bio as her MySpace profile talks about how the financial challenges of being a NYC artist left her homeless for a period and sleeping on friend's couches and in the basement of piano bars.

I caught Nikki's set at the Canal Room a few weeks ago (video below) and was really impressed with her and her band's set and stage presence. The video below captures Nikki's set-closer "Suffocate". This was the only song that she performed without her band and it showcases the strength of her songwriting.



Nikki's new disc "Too Few" is available on Amazon, eMusic and iTunes.

"Classically Trained, Comically Derailed" guitarist/comedian Mike Rayburn was in town for a show at Rockwood Music Hall on June 23rd.

Mike is touing behind his latest CD, "Mike Rayburn at Carnegie Hall" and his show is mix of stand-up comedy and master-class guitar work. Mike is known for combining musical artists and styles in ways God never intended. This clip starts with Mike combining Dan Folgelberg with AC/DC.

Anybody who thinks this is too much of a joke needs to watch Mike's fretwork at the end of this video. Mike could easily give guitarists like Eddie Van Halen a run for their money.



Links:
Mike Rayburn's Website

Philadelphia's Javelina is playing the Knitting Factory on July 14th along with Demiricous and Monstrosity. Javelina just released their debut CD on Translation Loss Records and the tracks that I have heard from it are seriously heavy (and good).

Blabbermouth describes these guys as "early, sludgified MASTODON...with the unhinged screech vocals and over amped guitar lines) of LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR."

You have to dig some of Javelina's other press quotes:

"Throw in equal parts Eyehategod (speed it up a bit and use less heroin, though) and “Technocracy”-era Corrosion Of Conformity (well, add moments of “Blind”, too), add a dash or two of Soilent Green/ Goatwhore, and include a few post-thrash/ sludge/ stoner touches evocative of newer acts such as The Fucking Wrath, and you have Javelina’s debut full-length in a nutshell." ---LiveForMetal.Com

"Things go from ugly to uglier in a hurry and you find yourself wondering how the fuck Iron Maiden, Motörhead, early C.O.C. and Celtic Frost... could ever be assembled into something so seamless and crushing." - Decibel

Looks like this would be a fun show and cheers to the Knitting Factory for continuing to book metal acts.

This disc has been out since March but I dropped the ball in writing a CD review (until now). The passing of time hasn't necessarily been a bad thing as I have gotten a better appreciation for some of the new material having watched the band perform tracks from this disc live on The Tonight Show, The Today Show, the Ellen DeGeneres Show and Regis and Kelly. (Almost all of these videos are on YouTube for anyone who missed them the first time)

With this release, The B-52s do justice to their thirty-year legacy (which is more than a number of the band's contemporaries can lay claim to). The new songs fit well with the band's back catalog and it is somewhat amazing that the band can sound this revitalized after a 16-year hiatus from recording. In terms of how Funplex compares to the band's "recent" releases, it doesn't quite have the 'WOW' factor of Cosmic Thing but it is a stronger release than either Good Stuff or Bouncing Off the Satellites.

Funplex has a strong dance-floor sound and may be best compared to an updated version of Whammy!. In talking about writing the music for Funplex, Keith Strickland said "I had been listening to a lot of electronic dance music and early rock and roll. I was inspired to use these two aesthetics together with our own sound to write some shameless dance-floor party music." Keith and the band then added on to this by hiring veteran dance-music producer Steve Osboune (who produced The Doves, Suede and New Order's comeback CD).

Funplex debuted at #11 on the Billboard charts and the first two singles from this release are "Funplex" and "Juliet of the Spirits". Here are the videos for both songs:

Funplex:


Juliet of the Spirits (Live on Regis and Kelly)

Hopefully, it won't be another 16 years until the band's next disc of new material.

Links:
The B-52s Website

French-Canadian band Les Breastfeeders are making one final run through the US in support of their 2006 release Les Matins de Grands Soirs (Mornings of Great Evenings). The band is playing Club Europa on Sunday, July 20th and tickets are $10.

Les Matins de Grands Soirs is a great slab of garage rock crossed with the pop influences and girl group stylings of early Blondie. The band's lyrics are all in French so I'm not sure what they are singing about but all the songs are pretty damn catchy.


Links:
Les Breastfeeders' MySpace Profile
Les Breastfeeders' Website

Hydrogyn released their newest CD, Deadly Passions, on Demolition Records last month and I had a chance to catch up with the band when they were in town for a CD launch party at The Delancey.

We spent a few minutes to talking about the new CD, the new band lineup, their past work with Craig Goldy (Dio) and Michael Wagner (Skid Row, Alice Cooper). The band also talked about their upcoming 'female voices' tour with Benedictum which they are going to take to Europe and then through the US in the Fall.



Deadly Passion marks the start of a three-release deal that the band signed with Demoltion Records. The new disc was produced by guitarist Jeff Westlake and the band recorded the disc at Steve Riley's Smash Hits Studio in Huntington, WV.

"Steve does fantastic work out there," Jeff said. "The album is really big, the guitars are big, the drums are big, of course, the vocals are big, the bass guitar is phat, it really is the way we wanted it to sound. Before we ever got into the studio, we did a lot of pre-planning, and it helped out a lot. When it came time to mix the album, it was mixed right in your face -- no big room reverb, I wanted it to be right here." (from Herald-Dispatch.Com)

Links:
Hydrogyn's MySpace Profile
Hydrogyn's Website