The BLACK ANGELS - Directions to See a Ghost
COLISEUM - No Salvation (Relapse)
COLISEUM & DOOMRIDERS - Not of this World EP (Level Plane) - features two DANZIG covers
GENGHIS TRON - Board Up the House dbl lp (Lovepump)
LORDS - The House that LORDS built (Initial)
LORDS - Swords (Jade Tree)
MINISTRY - The Last Sucker (13th Planet)
MINISTRY & Co-Conspirators - COVER UP (13th Planet)
SPIRITUALIZED - Song's in A&E
TRIUMPH OF LETHARGY SKINNED ALIVE TO DEATH - Drunk on the Blood of the Saints and Martyrs web-only MP3 album (Backporch Revolution)
20080331
20080328
Ministry & Co-Conspirators "COVER UP"
Ministry & Co-Conspirators
COVER UP
13th Planet Records
Release date: April Fools Day 2008
“Always judge a band by its covers” – Al Jourgensen
There were two blatant concerns when I first came across this release: it’s all ‘just’ cover songs and an April Fools’ Day Release Date.
Cover songs, and especially an album full of covers are usually and easily described with clichéd generalizations, such as “hit or miss”, “completely butchered” or even “a great rendition of ____”. And releasing something on April Fools’ Day gives room for humorous antidotes or cheesy descriptions like “this album is no joke” or “ there’s no foolin’ around with this release” etc. Coming across Cover Up was such a treat, since I have always been a fan of cover songs; trying to play at least an hour of cover songs every Friday during my two-year run as “15min of Shame” at the defunct Monkey Bar in Dallas.
Alain Jourgenson, leader of the iconic industrial metal-band, Ministry, has always been known to perform cover songs live and play pranks, so everything is appropriate about Cover Up. Whether it was the industrial glam pop redo of Rod Stewart's “Do Ya think I’m Sexy?” (as Revolting Cocks; which is actually missing off this compilation) to the somber ode to Bob Dylan with “Lay Lady Lay” or the headbanging of Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” (as 1000 Homo DJs), Ministry (in one band form or another) has consistently done great covers.
On this release, Ministry tackles classic rock songs from the late 60’s and early 70’s; the only oddity being Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”, which is a nice change from the over-played version by The Flaming Lips. Other noteworthy tracks on Cover Up include The Rolling Stones “Under My Thumb”, T.Rex’s “Bang a Gong”, Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin’” and even ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid”. Only three previously released tracks appear on the album, “Supernaut” (from 1991’s 1000 Homo DJs S/T), “Lay Lady Lay” (from 1996’s Filth Pig) and The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” (from 2007’s The Last Sucker).
Ministry & Co-Conspirators should have included something off of Jourgenson’s Pailhead project (with Ian MacKaye of Fugazi) and definitely Skinny Puppy’s “Smothered Hope” which was performed live numerous times during The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste era. Fans of Ministry will not be disappointed with Cover Up, but should know what to expect after 25 years releasing music. On the other hand, classic rock fans will do a ‘double-take’ upon hearing these ‘renditions’. Cover Up is definitely one of those albums that you play for your friends at a party, “Hey, you got to hear this cover of_____” to prompt a winded music snob discussion and its even nice background music for a rowdy road trip to Hell.
Ministry is currently on their ‘C U La Tour” (final tour) and will be making a Dallas stop at the Palladium Ballroom on April 17th.
video of Ministry at Deep Ellum live:
COVER UP
13th Planet Records
Release date: April Fools Day 2008
“Always judge a band by its covers” – Al Jourgensen
There were two blatant concerns when I first came across this release: it’s all ‘just’ cover songs and an April Fools’ Day Release Date.
Cover songs, and especially an album full of covers are usually and easily described with clichéd generalizations, such as “hit or miss”, “completely butchered” or even “a great rendition of ____”. And releasing something on April Fools’ Day gives room for humorous antidotes or cheesy descriptions like “this album is no joke” or “ there’s no foolin’ around with this release” etc. Coming across Cover Up was such a treat, since I have always been a fan of cover songs; trying to play at least an hour of cover songs every Friday during my two-year run as “15min of Shame” at the defunct Monkey Bar in Dallas.
Alain Jourgenson, leader of the iconic industrial metal-band, Ministry, has always been known to perform cover songs live and play pranks, so everything is appropriate about Cover Up. Whether it was the industrial glam pop redo of Rod Stewart's “Do Ya think I’m Sexy?” (as Revolting Cocks; which is actually missing off this compilation) to the somber ode to Bob Dylan with “Lay Lady Lay” or the headbanging of Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” (as 1000 Homo DJs), Ministry (in one band form or another) has consistently done great covers.
On this release, Ministry tackles classic rock songs from the late 60’s and early 70’s; the only oddity being Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”, which is a nice change from the over-played version by The Flaming Lips. Other noteworthy tracks on Cover Up include The Rolling Stones “Under My Thumb”, T.Rex’s “Bang a Gong”, Deep Purple’s “Space Truckin’” and even ZZ Top’s “Just Got Paid”. Only three previously released tracks appear on the album, “Supernaut” (from 1991’s 1000 Homo DJs S/T), “Lay Lady Lay” (from 1996’s Filth Pig) and The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues” (from 2007’s The Last Sucker).
Ministry & Co-Conspirators should have included something off of Jourgenson’s Pailhead project (with Ian MacKaye of Fugazi) and definitely Skinny Puppy’s “Smothered Hope” which was performed live numerous times during The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste era. Fans of Ministry will not be disappointed with Cover Up, but should know what to expect after 25 years releasing music. On the other hand, classic rock fans will do a ‘double-take’ upon hearing these ‘renditions’. Cover Up is definitely one of those albums that you play for your friends at a party, “Hey, you got to hear this cover of_____” to prompt a winded music snob discussion and its even nice background music for a rowdy road trip to Hell.
Ministry is currently on their ‘C U La Tour” (final tour) and will be making a Dallas stop at the Palladium Ballroom on April 17th.
video of Ministry at Deep Ellum live:
Burning Brides Tonight!
And the band that I have probably seen the most times: The consistently "awesome live" power rock trio BURNING BRIDES are playing at the lovely, House of Rules tonight; opening for Fu Manchu. Filling out paperwork/waivers prior to filming a band is always a good time. Burning Brides shows in Dallas tend to be a bit more energetic, since the bass player has family here.
"Ring Around the Rosary" last summer, at Double-Wide
So stoner rock legends Fu Manchu still release less than stellar albums and unfortunately continue to tour. They suffer from a case of "when good bands go bad". Fu Manchu will never surpass their previous releases (Man's Ruin/Mammoth era), such as the GODZILLA Ep, Eatin' Dust or even King of the Road.. I am going to give it a chance, just to hear some of the older tunes.
Edit: check out Brides website; they actually update it. Dimitri recently interviewed William Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain.
"Ring Around the Rosary" last summer, at Double-Wide
So stoner rock legends Fu Manchu still release less than stellar albums and unfortunately continue to tour. They suffer from a case of "when good bands go bad". Fu Manchu will never surpass their previous releases (Man's Ruin/Mammoth era), such as the GODZILLA Ep, Eatin' Dust or even King of the Road.. I am going to give it a chance, just to hear some of the older tunes.
Edit: check out Brides website; they actually update it. Dimitri recently interviewed William Reid of The Jesus & Mary Chain.
20080325
A Mountainous F*ck up?
Last year's trend veered toward animal band names. This year:
Black Mountain (British Columbia)
The Holy Mountain (Tampa)
Mountain Asleep (Louisville)
The Mountain Goats (North Carolina)
Mt. Egypt (Santa Monica)
mtn. high (Philly)
Nine Black Alps (uk)
Pink Mountain (Oakland)
Pink Mountaintops (side-project of Black Mountain)
Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains (Toronto)
and the f-word:
Fuck (Oakland)
Fuck Buttons (UK)
Fucked Up (Toronto)
Fucking Champs (San Francisco)
Holy Fuck (Toronto)
No Fucker (?)
Black Mountain (British Columbia)
The Holy Mountain (Tampa)
Mountain Asleep (Louisville)
The Mountain Goats (North Carolina)
Mt. Egypt (Santa Monica)
mtn. high (Philly)
Nine Black Alps (uk)
Pink Mountain (Oakland)
Pink Mountaintops (side-project of Black Mountain)
Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains (Toronto)
and the f-word:
Fuck (Oakland)
Fuck Buttons (UK)
Fucked Up (Toronto)
Fucking Champs (San Francisco)
Holy Fuck (Toronto)
No Fucker (?)
20080320
SXSW reviews in SIX words or less
Very funny article someone emailed me this morning, but it was posted on the 12th of March, right before SXSW began: Six-Word Reviews of 763 bands at SXSW. The author reviews and rates all the mp3s avail from the SXSW 2008 site, but as the title of the article states: in only Six, well thought-out words. Some of my favorites: (and i am not even done reading the whole article):
Army of Freshmen "Juliet" : "Theme for cable show about douchebags." ***
Faux Fox "Nothing Gold" : "This song repeatedly teabags the listener." *
Shooting Spires "Right" : "Brooklyn is a heaven for beards." ** (i think haven would work just as well)
The Strange Boys "Nothing" : "Like a garage-sale mix tape." *****
Thee Armada "Rock, Shock & Load" : "I’M PLAYING GUITAR WITH MY COCK!" *
Army of Freshmen "Juliet" : "Theme for cable show about douchebags." ***
Faux Fox "Nothing Gold" : "This song repeatedly teabags the listener." *
Shooting Spires "Right" : "Brooklyn is a heaven for beards." ** (i think haven would work just as well)
The Strange Boys "Nothing" : "Like a garage-sale mix tape." *****
Thee Armada "Rock, Shock & Load" : "I’M PLAYING GUITAR WITH MY COCK!" *
Torche video from last Sunday
Here are two songs from the Torche show this past Sunday at Double-Wide. Videos to come soon from Shooting Spires and Parts & Labor... maybe Pterodactyl.
20080319
Tribeza Magazine article
I was waiting to mention this once I had it scanned for the web, but I am in the March/April issue of Tribeza Magazine, along w. Lance from Spune Productions and Robin from AEG. Pretty flattering. I got it in the mail about two weeks ago, then started hearing from friends that found it at random spots in town. Lesley at Quick just wrote an article about them and another new local magazine.
Ace Fu ked?
Rumors are circulating that NYC based record label, Ace Fu Records is about to go under, or already has. Besides not having a showcase at SXSW 2008, go to their site and browse their "newest" releases. The most recent item being a lousy t-shirt in October, then it doesn't get much better with a 7" in July and a cd in June of 2007. Its unfortunate when indie labels go under, especially when they have a decent catalog. Some great bands that I have their release(s) off Ace Fu: An Albatross, DeVotchka, Ex Models, Man Man, Parts & Labor and Secret Machines. What others probably have: Acid Mother's Temple, The Dears, Pinback, Priestess and Ted Leo.
What happens to the Pinback catalog?
What happens to the Pinback catalog?
Taking APRIL off (sort of, please read)
Since March is such a cluster-fuck with the amount of bands and shows coming through town, I am taking the month of APRIL off from booking; UNLESS SOMEONE AMAZING NEEDS A SHOW!!! Also, I need to study for my last exam in April to finalize my teacher's certification. The site will still be maintained as normal, I just will not be on the prowl for anything until May.
I will resume with awesomeness on the following dates:
May 8th Thrones (Salem, OR - ex-melvins, high on fire)/The High Cost of Living (Austin)/ aKKolyte (dallas) at Doublewide, 21+, 9PM, $8
May 10th Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore)/CEX (b'more)/Ghosthustler (Dentron)/Schwa (dallas) at Kettle Art, All Ages, 8PM $6
May 18th El Paso Hot Button and Attractive & Popular CD release show at Good Records; All Ages, 3PM, FREE
Update: May show info updated and April was a good month to blow off b/c there are plenty of good shows coming through: The Cops, Ministry, Coliseum, Genghis Tron and Ghosthustler.
I will resume with awesomeness on the following dates:
May 8th Thrones (Salem, OR - ex-melvins, high on fire)/The High Cost of Living (Austin)/ aKKolyte (dallas) at Doublewide, 21+, 9PM, $8
May 10th Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore)/CEX (b'more)/Ghosthustler (Dentron)/Schwa (dallas) at Kettle Art, All Ages, 8PM $6
May 18th El Paso Hot Button and Attractive & Popular CD release show at Good Records; All Ages, 3PM, FREE
Update: May show info updated and April was a good month to blow off b/c there are plenty of good shows coming through: The Cops, Ministry, Coliseum, Genghis Tron and Ghosthustler.
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