Dead Pool - Shadows [EP] (2011)

http://deadpool.bandcamp.com
So, this band/project of Ryan Stannage of the space rock band Strange Maps sent me close-circuit post on his twitter just earlier tonight.

Strange Maps anyway, a band i stumbled upon a few months ago and liked, but for various reasons, haven't listened to a ton since. But among the new artists I've found in 2011, they are among the better ones.

So this project "Dead Pool" of his I didn't realize existed. But isn't exactly like Strange Maps. Just sampling and now downloading totally free this EP of theirs Shadows, is definitely less spacey than Strange Maps, but it still has some spacey or pitch-bending and distortion-pedal-happy guitar textures at times.

But, as I just got wind of I have to step out, and I'm a bit frustrated by writing things and then being interrupted and not posting them when I mean to. I'm going to try and add more to this later (which I'll admit, I don't do even 1/4 of the times I meant to or say I will try to).

But the short about this ep is, some of the style and vocals might seem a little bland or generic at 1st, but these songs seem to surprise me and probably could others. And for an EP, it's a good sign. Reminds a little bit of how I felt about 100 Ft Snowman right away. And I grew to love them. 2 of the songs "Redivine" and "Absent Presence" got my head turning a bit. The ending of the latter namely.

I'm gonna burn this ep for work next week and if I somehow manage to, elaborate more about it in here. But in the mean time, some other people probably would dig this music, which is totally free to download. Sort of blending bands like Tool and Pink Floyd among some others (Oceansize?..yeah I know).

And it's another Australian group who impresses me. Meniscus, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus...Dead Pool may be in that coming soon.

The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum Boxed Set Video

6/10/11 8:21PM

the dear hunter pure volume page

9 songs from The Color Spectrum, not from the Sampler are there to stream for a limited time. And dare I say, I think nearly every one of them might be as good if not better than the songs on the sampler, lol.

Holee Fuck, this boxed set may even exceed my expectations. Plenty of tunes I can't wait to digest starting next week. "Echo" "The Collapse of the Great Tide Cliffs" "Misplaced Devotion" "Progress" 'This Body" and "Crow and Cackle" to name the ones I recall at the moment.

Now, if only I'd just receive my confirmation email for the July 22nd show at the Triple Rock, I can be a fully content The Dear Hunter fan this weekend ;).

6/8/11


1 week away. My name will be in there, hehe.

Related: The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum EPs (2011) (1.0)

dredg - Upon Returning Official Video

odd video, and for example, nothing like the straight forward Fair to Midland video that was just made. The colored drinks somehow are like a drug or something perhaps? a Psychedelic drug, lol.

The song itself I like, although many accounts of people who didn't care for it, have mentioned how much better it is live. I wouldn't disagree, but the album version of this song I still like.

Fair to Midland - Musical Chairs (Official Video)

not a ton to say really, other than the smashed/smashing of the keyboard/piano. I haven't heard it with the music yet though. Plus within the album I suppose. But otherwise, it looks like just a straight up, rocking-out video. Which actually, the video(s) the band have done, they've never had before, which is nice in some ways. Just not too arty I suppose.

Brice Plays Drums - I Laugh at Your Greener Pastures I-IV (2011)

Great, intricate record that is 4 tracks, and one epic 30 minute suite of sorts.

Great organ. This record has these little memorable sections that often seem well worth the buildup to. 30 minutes long, but I would say it hardly feels that long at times.

They also played at the "Progasm" a few weeks back at the 400 Bar and played this whole thing live. I guess they spent the better part of 2+ years writing the whole thing.

Cavil at Rest and Kaddisfly come to mind, also names like Call Florence Pow, Santana and The Mars Volta (mainly the keys/organ arrangements).

The production isn't huge or anything, perhaps even low-fi, but I think it suits the music well for that reason. Less being more in terms of production.

Definitely a grower as well, as it's an album that new things are heard each time, and those things are often things to like.

Lyrically, things about humankind, evolution, space time, existence, etc are explored in a vague, almost naive way (naive being interesting in a sense, not ignorant or negative).

I'll add/edit more of this soon; hopefully later today. But I shouldn't forget just how these guys are another Minnesota band doing prog, and in some ways doing-it-in-their-own-way. Which supports how good a music scene we have here in Minneapolis/St.Paul. Even if Porcupine Tree and Between the Buried and Me don't come here often anymore, there's a ton of great in-state bands to satisfy me and many other open-minded/forward-thinking music fans.

I also should add, they possibly have another record in the works, even coming later in the year if the finances and time allow. This is sort of a Mini-album, and the 2 shows I've now seen them, they have played some other songs they are looking to record.

But for now, this is definitely one of the best local releases of 2011, and better albums in general.




Brice Plays Drums on Facebook

Fright Night (2011)

6/9/11 12:07AM

new trailer with a little more of Tennant. But frankly, NOT ENOUGH. He also looks very different from the Roddy McDowall Peter Vincent. For one thing, HIS AGE, lol. O well, I'm still curious about this, even if it gets panned.





5/22/11 5:26PM


This is just a trailer I noticed posted on imdb, youtube, etc. This remake stars Colin Farrell along with Toni Collette, Anton Yelchin (Chekov from the Star Trek reboot), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), and of course David Tennant (Doctor Who). The thing about this trailer, while it does look like it has potential even with the obvious differences from the original. As far as this trailer:

WHERE IS DAVID TENNANT???

I mean the 1st thing that was said about this remake was Tennant was starring. Can you say W-T-F?

Hopefully more, better trailers including the good Doctor will come soon, as the release date is August 19th, which actually is the same day Conan the Barbarian latest remake, along with Spy Kids 4 also hit theaters.

Progressive Rock Film

prog | film from David Robin on Vimeo.

I just noticed this posted on progressiveers.com the other day. The film maker I guess compiled the interviews and things for it from around 2000-2002. Then tried to shop it around but got no takers to release it or air it in any fashion. I kind of feel bad for him as it seems he put a lot of time and money into it, and it came out pretty good.

Although, it is rather deep in terms of names and progressive rock artists covered, but they are more or less "prog" rather than groups experimenting. In other words, many of the names are names the underground progressive communities know, and only do know (and likely only will be the ones who will). Or, many of them are what I like to call "profile" Prog Festival bands.

But that being said, it's interesting seeing it and some of the music industry comments from Rick Wakeman and Steve Hackett among others, some 8 years ago.

Personally, not only a Kevin Gilbert documentary would be a desire of mine to make, but perhaps even just something like this, but covering a lot of music over the last 20 or so years. I.e., a lot of the stuff in this blog. Maybe I'll include that as a 2nd goal/dream/desire before I die to have made. Even sans some of the numbers and significant interviews.

Between Two Skies - "At Home With Strange" (demo)

Hey all you great friends of ours!
We'd love if you took a sec to go vote for us to play the Mpls stop on this summer's Warped Tour. We won it two years ago and by golly we want to do it up again!!! So go ahead....help us out eh??

stream the demo on this battle of the bands for a spot on the Warped Tour stop in MN link.

That demo sounds amazing. It's been more or less 5 years for these guys to make their 1st full-length, but just based on that demo and their lives shows, it should be well worth the wait. That is, assuming it does (and another record or two since they have enough material for more than 1 record now) come out.

Opeth: Sept/October 2011 North American Tour (Minneapolis 10/7)

The dates so far confirmed with Katatonia.

Sep. 19 - The Palladium @ Worcester, MA
Sep. 20 - Webster Theater @ Hartford, CT
Sep. 21 - Webster Hall @ New York, NY
Sep. 22 - Webster Hall @ New York, NY
Sep. 23 - Trocadero @ Philadelphia, PA
Sep. 26 - Newport Music Hall @ Columbus, OH
Sep. 27 - Expo Five @ Louisville, KY
Sep. 28 - Cannery Ballroom @ Nashville, TN
Sep. 29 - Amos’ Southend @ Charlotte, NC
Sep. 30 - Center Stage @ Atlanta, GA
Oct. 01 - House of Blues @ Lake Buena Vista, FL
Oct. 03 - Warehouse Live @ Houston, TX
Oct. 04 - – Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater @ Austin, TX
Oct. 05 - Granada Theater @ Dallas, TX
Oct. 06 - The Beaumont Club @ Kansas City, MO
Oct. 07 - First Avenue @ Minneapolis, MN
Oct. 08 - Burton Cummings @ Winnipeg, MB
Oct. 10 - Edmonton Events Centre @ Edmonton, AB
Oct. 11 - MacEwan Hall Ballroom @ Calgary, AB
Oct. 13 - Commodore Ballroom @ Vancouver, BC
Oct. 14 - Knitting Factory Concert House @ Spokane, WA
Oct. 15 - Showbox SoDo @ Seattle, WA
Oct. 16 - Roseland Theatre @ Portland, OR
Oct. 18 - The Warfield @ San Francisco, CA
Oct. 19 - Mayan Theatre @ Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 20 - House of Blues @ San Diego, CA
Oct. 21 - The Fox Theater @ Pomona, CA
Oct. 22 - Marquee Theatre @ Tempe, AZ
Oct. 24 - The Complex @ Salt Lake City, UT
Oct. 25 - Ogden Theatre @ Denver, CO
Oct. 27 - The Rave @ Milwaukee, WI
Oct. 28 - Vic Theatre @ Chicago, IL
Oct. 29 - St. Andrews Hall @ Detroit, MI
Oct. 30 - Guelph Concert Theatre @ Guelph, ON
Oct. 31 - Mr Smalls Theatre @ Millvale, PA
Nov. 01 - Rams Head Live! – Baltimore, MD

I will very likely go to this. Katatonia? not really a fan to be honest, and I watched them last year with Orphaned Land. I hope Opeth is headlining and not opening. I gotta believe they are, since frankly, they are or should be a fair amount bigger than Katatonia.

But I can't help but also add a comment about Opeth along with Dream Theater, again coming back to Minneapolis (even if it's at 1st Crapenue, lol). And Porcupine Tree again failing to return to a town which they played twice in, in 2003 and 2005, to SOLD OUT crowds.

I know it's a promoter thing, but these promoters must have their heads (and memories) stuck up their ass's if they continue to book Dream Theater and now Opeth again, and not Porcupine Tree.

The audience is more or less the same god damn crowd. But I suspect they have no fucking clue of that fact.

As far as this show, October 7th, a Friday Night late in the Baseball season. Wonderful, lol. I only wonder a bit about my travel plans as a family reunion in California may be close to that time, although I thought it may have been more likely in September sometime. I have missed 2 Opeth shows in the last 5 years for family events in CA. It would be ironic if I ended up missing this one again. Hopefully not.

Pat Metheny - What's It All About (2011)

1 The Sound of Silence 6:33
2 Cherish 5:25
3 Alfie 7:41
4 Pipeline 3:23
5 Garota de Ipanema 5:07
6 Rainy Days and Mondays 7:10
7 That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be 5:57
8 Slow Hot Wind 4:23
9 Betcha by Golly, Wow 5:12
10 And I Love Her 4:22

This is covers/popular songs interpreted by Pat Metheny. The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. I'm curious but not incredibly intrigued. Although Metheny doing this kind of album might be a bit different than say Antoine Dufour.

article/interview

Sculptured: new music coming soon?

"progressive death metal feat: Agalloch members Don Anderson, Jason Walton (JWW), as well as Andy Winter (Winds, Age of Silence), and Dave Murray (Estradasphere, Deserts of Truan, Tholus). currently demoing new material..."

Oh man, I would be extremely happy to hear something new from Sculptured. I revisited Emboidiment a few months ago and remember why I enjoyed it as much as I did.

They do prog metal like it is supposed to be done.

Coldplay - TBA (2011)

1st single released today "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" is now streaming at http://coldplay.com.

this is supposed to be a concept album of sorts as I recall reading at least 1 story. My take on these guys, they are good, but only amazing on a few songs (namely "Clocks"). But I don't think they deserve the shit they receive necessarily. Are they U2? no. But are they as annoying as Radiohead? hardly. If all the attention Radiohead gets were transferred over to them, thus making Radiohead still obscure, the music world would be better.

That being said, I will listen, not expect much, but hope it'll surprise me. This new song is being received well from some comments, but I won't know what I think about it until later of course when I get home from work.

The Dear Hunter - July/August 2011 American Headling Tour (inc. MN!)

7/15/11
Bottom Of The Hill
1233 17th St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
Doors: 8:00pm
Show: 9:00pm

7/16/11
Hawthorne Theater
1507 SE 39th St.
Portland, OR 97214
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm

7/17/11
El Corazon
109 Eastlake Ave. East
Seattle, WA 98101
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

7/19/11
Kilby Court
741 Kilby Court
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:00pm

7/20/11
The Summit Music Hall—Front Room
1902 Blake St.
Denver, CO 80202
Doors: 8:00pm
Show: 8:30pm

7/21/11
The Waiting Room
6212 Maple St.
Omaha, NE 68104
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm

7/22/11
Triple Rock Social Club
629 Cedar Ave.
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Doors: 5:00pm
Show: 5:30pm

7/23/11
The House Café
263 East Lincoln Highway
Dekalb, IL 60115
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

7/24/11
Lincoln Hall
2424 N. Lincoln Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
Doors: 5:00pm
Show: 6:00pm

7/26/11
The Firebird
2706 Olive St.
St. Louis, MO 63103
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

7/27/11
Mad Hatter Club
620 Scott St.
Covington, KY 41011
Doors/Show: 7:30pm

7/28/11
The Pyramid Scheme
68 Commerce SW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:00pm

7/29/11
Grog Shop
2785 Euclid Heights Blvd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44106-2812
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

7/30/11
Mr Small’s Theatre
400 Lincoln Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15209
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/09/11
Rocko’s
253 Wilson St.
Manchester, NH 03103
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/10/11
Middle East Restaurant & Night Club
480 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/11/11
The Space
295 Treadwell St.
Hamden, CT 06514
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/12/11
Knitting Factory
361 Metropolitan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/13/11
North Star Bar
2639 West Poplar St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/14/11
Jammin Java Music Club & Café
227 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA 22180
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/16/11
The Drunken Unicorn
736 Ponce Deleon Place
Atlanta, GA 30030
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/17/11
The Pit
14003 Bleach Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32225
Doors: 6:30pm
Show: 7:00pm

8/18/11
The Orpheum
1902 Republica De Cuba
Tampa, FL 33605
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm

8/19/11
Propaganda
6 South J St.
Lake Worth, FL 33460
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/20/11
The Social
54 North Orange Ave.
Orlando, FL 32801
Doors: TBA
Show: TBA

8/22/11
Warehouse Live Studio
813 Saint Emanuel St.
Houston, TX 77003
Doors: TBA
Show: TBA

8/23/11
The Loft
1135 South Lamar
Dallas, TX 75215
Doors: 7:30pm
Show: 8:30pm

8/24/11
Emo’s Alternative Lounge—Inside
603 Red River
Austin, TX 78701
Doors: 9:00pm
Show: 10:00pm

8/26/11
Sail Inn
26 S Farmer Ave.
Tempe, AZ 58281
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

8/27/11
The Glass House
200 W. Second Ave.
Pomona, CA 91766
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 7:30pm

We finally got a DATE! on Friday July 22nd at The Triplerock. Can You Say RSVP?

Cool freaking beans!

more to add as there was more in the latest newsletter I don't have time to post at the moment.

Total Babe - TBA (2011)

Their post on facebook "BRAND NEW TOTAL BABE TRACK OFF OUR FORTHCOMING RECORD FEATURED EXCLUSIVELY ON MFR!"

Nice new tune there, although it is in-effect an *unfinished* mix apparently of their new song "Just Because We’re Breathing". Or at least the final version may not be mixed as it is there. But so be it, great to hear something new from these kids who released a refreshing debut ep Heat Wave in 2009, I really enjoy/ed; doing sort of a mix of experimental folk/pop. Less-is-more. And this song has the qualities of the tunes off that EP. There's more to hear than you'd think or hear the 1st or 2nd time. Mainly in terms of layering.

Not a lot else to add, other than I have optimism for this record, and hopefully it'll be released sometime before the end of 2011.

Falling Up - Your Sparkling Death Cometh (2011) (1.0)

6/1/11 8:41AM

Diamnds is here to stream. For me of course, in about 9 hours or so when I get home from work.


5/25/11 6:55PM - 5/30/11 9:58PM

Blue Ghost is here. Holy shit this sounds sweet. Gimme the rest, nao damnit!

5/14/11 10:07PM

Cover Art + Track List PRE-ORDER Link



1. Circadian
2. The Wonder
3. Blue Ghost
4. Diamnds
5. The Light Beam Rider
6. Oceans
7. Mscron
8. Vates
9. Forms And Shapes
10. Slow Waves

Official Release Date is June 28th, 2011.

kind of odd spellings "Mscron" and "Diamnds" but I imagine it's for a reason. That reminds of me of something Menomena has done.

4/3/11 7:02PM
So the title of the album is "Your Sparkling Death Cometh" and is expected in June (June 28th according to Wikipedia and possibly other places I haven't seen yet).

As Jessy wrote in their latest update, like on 2009's Fangs!, Casey Crescenzo will be producing it and help with tracking along with using his studio.

Details and some video footage shouldn't be too far away it sounds like.

1/27/11 6:24PM
new site with updates



oh, man. $13,665. I just read that Casey actually produced Fangs, which really does not surprise me at all. And this upcoming record is being recorded at his studio as they say there. I'm almost feeling as excited about it as the next TRE record, lol.

1/6/11 10:40PM


280 Backers
$10,848 pledged of $10,000 goal
13 days to go

I am a BACKER, and as those numbers indicate, this campaign has become a success.

Falling Up of course is the original band Jessy Ribordy and Josh Shroy were/are part of, of course before The River Empires started. I actually can claim to own a couple of their discs already, 2004's Crashings and 2005's Dawn Escapes by finding them for a few dollars at Cheapo in the last few months.

The irony is, I haven't really spent much time with them, mainly because of my interest (phobia) in heavily Christian-based rock. However, in my exploration of Jessy's background, I did inquire about Falling Up and the album Fangs was recommended and I definitely have enjoyed it the more I've played it. It's rather textured, and among other bands, they do remind me of Minus the Bear and The Receiving End of Sirens to a point.



I'm not sure if Falling Up ever was on a tour with either, especially TREOS, which may suggest how Jessy and Casey Crescenzo got to know each other.

But I guess the biggest thing with Falling Up, as you watch that video and listen to Jessy, I am rather intrigued what they could do next. Fangs is a good record, and less overtly Christian, that I can tell. And maybe the most optimism I have about this is the experience Jessy's had writing the music of The River Empires and The Gloomcatcher, might impact how good production-wise and songwriting-wise this record ends up.

Plus I really want to just support him and what he does. My contribution was not huge, but it's remarkable how many people have contributed there, and how much $ they raised. That is a big reason why I wonder why The River Empires campaign didn't quite work out, nor the numbers of fans at this point. Falling Up have a good size following already (over 100,000 listeners on last.fm). You'd think a reasonable percentage of those people would like and support Jessy's other work. But maybe it's just a matter of time. If this Falling Up record ends up reigniting their fans intests, many of them are bound to stumble upon TRE music, especially given they also have a record coming next year.

It should be interesting to see, and I am pretty excited to hear what this record will sound like. I even just found a hardcopy of Fangs on ebay just a bit ago.