Oh, hello. Pretty quiet year on the old TSTAT web-blog, no? As if this weren't enough of an antiquated format to begin with. Hell, I can't even be bothered to tweet, let alone post an entire paragraph of nothing on here. As far as TSTAT is concerned, I've had my newest release in the can for awhile now and I BELIEVE it will see a proper release very soon. I really swung for the fences on this one. I hope you guys like it.
Not that I haven't been busy. Quite the contrary. Here's a few things I managed to accomplish within the past 12 months:
HAMN - PIG PEOPLE (I sing, play guitar, and am the principal songwriter [so far] in this doom/grunge trio)
COASTAL PIGS (Just the drummer, no songwriting contributions on my part. The songwriter in question, however, is a genius so I'm thrilled to be along for the ride)
PRAYER WHEELS - SPRING EP (The brainchild of a friend of mine. I played all the drums and sang a bunch of stuff)
THEN & NOW (The radio show I've been doing for CHUO 89.1 FM for over a year now)
THE WRONG STUFF (I composed and recorded all the music for this fantastic short film)
But, as far as TSTAT went, I didn't really see the point in posting updates seeing as there weren't any, so I didn't. The end of the year list, however, is a given. So here goes...
1) AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED - ARC EP "The first of a series of EPs focusing on the different vocalists of ANb puts KAT in the spotlight and knocks it out of the park with a very different metallic edge than we've heard so far. Awesome doom metal groove coupled with devastatingly personal lyrics. Sold."
2) SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP - EZEKIAL'S HAGS "This seemed to me like your pretty standard doom metal fare but they sneak these crazy-melodic guitar riffs into the mix every now and then which elevate the overall sound into something that really pays off."
3) SUNN O))) - CAHH O))) "I saw them earlier this year and this live album is basically exactly the set of music they performed. The sub-bass vibrations tickled the shit out of my nose."
4) GIGANTIC BRAIN - S/T "I'm very excited at the prospect of another GB release (I was under the impression the project was kaput). More of the same amazing electro-heaviness, weirdo vocals and cracked lyrics."
5) NOTHING - TIRED OF TOMORROW "The Dead Are Dumb is one of my favourite songs ever, ever. How often does that happen at age 40?"
6) APHEX TWIN - CHEETAH EP "I think I like this one even better than SYRO. Just feels a little more like classic APHEX to me."
7) BORIS w/MERZBOW - GENSHO "Much like DRONEVIL, this is a 2-disc album where both discs are meant to be played at the same time (aka - search "boris gensho" on youtube and you'll find a mixed version actually nevermind I did it for you it's no problem). That is just SO Boris, y'know?"
8) PLEBEIAN GRANDSTAND - FALSE HIGHS, TRUE LOWS "More waking nightmare music from this french-combo. Amidst wave after wave of samey-sounding black metal (Christ, there's more of that shit than ever - all of it equally yet individually AMAZING is that sarcastic enough???), this really stands out."
9) TOBACCO - SWEATBOX DYNASTY "A total no-brainer. This is amazing. If you don't think so, you must like other things (some of which are most certainly dumb)."
10) SHAHMAN - FRAGMENTS OF A DISTANT LIGHT "This band continues to evolve with every release and I couldn't be happier. Here, we find them leaning very heavily on the melodic side of things, giving the screamy sludgefest a bit of a rest. Heavy and majestic."
11) GAUSS - THALWEG "I came very late to the indie-rock game. It annoyed the living shit out of me for years. But I'm finding the good stuff. These guys have it. Man, I love those horns too."
12) WHORES. - GOLD "Basically a doom metal version of SHELLAC. Great idea!"
13) DÄLEK - ASPHALT FOR EDEN "Another band back from the purgatory of defunctedness. Just more noisy awesomeness from these guys. Reliable!"
14) BAD BREEDING - S/T "Angry British punk! Hailing from a council estate in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. How perfect is that?"
15) ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDSLEY SHOVELL - KEEP IT GREASY! "The production value on this release (all their releases, actually) is a big part of the appeal. Lively, overdriven mania."
16) TYCHO - EPOCH "Hadn't heard of this group until very recently but I feel like they somehow had my best interests in mind when they put this together so thanks dudes."
17) THE DIRTY NIL - HIGHER POWER "Kind of takes the best elements from METZ and JAPANDROIDS. Or, a version of PUP that doesn't make one feel like they should maybe start thinking about acting their own age."
18) BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW - SEEFU LILAC "Another recent favourite. Just a mini-album from these guys but still jammed with more great music than most stupid, dumb, idiot, lame-o, dickweed, dingleberry, dorkess m'lorkess full albums."
19) NEUROSIS - FIRES WITHIN FIRES "I haven't heard anything from these guys since TIMES OF GRACE that really moved me in any way but THIS album moved me right down the stairs and out the door! Literally no idea what that means."
20) HELMS ALEE - STILLICIDE "The same gripe I always have with this band - the female vocals are far more interesting than the dude. If it were up to me, he'd be used a 'RICK WRIGHT' amount of the time."
21) DEAD CROSS - WE'LL SLEEP WHEN THEY'RE DEAD "Just the one song from these guys so far but I listened to it a hell of a lot. Am I alone in thinking that MIKE PATTON replacing GABE SERBIAN on vocals will make things worse? He's not exactly a team player!"
22) NO JOY - DROOL SUCKER EP "Lovely, lovely melodies. More music written specifically more me and my personal preferences."
23) ALCEST - KODAMA "I almost missed this one! Didn't even realize they put an album out this year! Dumb. Anyways, a lot of the SHELTER elements are present but the black metal vibes are creeping back in as well. Very nice blend."
24) HUMANITIES - S/T EP "I can't remember the last time I heard a current band tap into the spirit of 90s post-hardcore so perfectly."
25) DISASTERPEACE - HYPER LIGHT DRIFTER OST "I hyper-light-drifted the shit out of this incredible video game for a couple of months there. The original score stands on its own though. God, I'd love to own the double-cassette version of this (impossible)."
26) FULL OF HELL / THE BODY - ONE DAY YOU WILL ACHE LIKE I ACHE "More nightmare music. More interesting and captivating than most of the heavy releases that are being championed this year (and that's within the first 30 seconds of the first song)."
27) GARBAGEFACE - NØ FUTUR(E) "If you're a fan of this guy, this is a dream release. And if you're a newcomer, prepare to get your ass kicked. Dense grooves and an incredible delivery."
28) DARKTHRONE - ARCTIC THUNDER "Another heavy metal / hardcore history lesson from these guys. I love that they perfected black metal and had the good sense to leave it behind."
29) THE FIELD - FOLLOWER "Awesome beats, lovely melodies. Dance music you can sit and listen to."
30) CHRISTIAN FITNESS - THIS TACO IS NOT CORRECT "Amazingly compact, weirdo pop songs and the production value is so vibrant, it practically crackles."
31) SUMAC - WHAT ONE BECOMES "Heavier than hell but somehow not quite metal. I don't know what makes me say that. It's just really strange is all."
HONOURABLE MENTIONS - VOIVOD, USTALOST, DEFTONES, GATES, MELVINS, LLNN, WHITE LUNG, BEAR BONES LAY LOW, PIITH, DINOSAUR JR., EXPANDA FUZZ, PURLING HISS, MIND SPIDERS, RADIATION FLOWERS, MOTHS & LOCUSTS, GREYS
The JESU / SUN KIL MOON album is abysmally awful. THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN album just did nothing for me which is too bad, would've loved to have gone out on a high-note with them. Most of the heavy stuff I heard this year was basically minor variations of the same 6 minute black metal song (seriously, shut up about OATHBREAKER). There's lots of people who just pretend to like music, I'm pretty sure.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
MY FAVOURITE RELEASES OF 2015
It's that stupid time again for the year-end roundup. I felt like this year was my worst ever for being on top of checking stuff out. Soon I'll be that idiot going "they stopped making good music around (insert year when driving 5 - 10 hours out of town for a show stopped being an option). Nonetheless, still plenty of fantastic music to be had in 2015 (it's just I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll hear most of it many years from now).
I'll start off, as always, with a short summary of my own bullshit. Not a lot of new from me but many things in the works. Here are the releases (don't blink):
MERDARAHTA - AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET
THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE - LIVE AT POMPEII
Wow, huh? Busy guy! Well, I've also got some other stuff in the works. My new band HAMN has got an EP in the can just waiting for a final mixdown. The next TSTAT full-length is completely demoed and itching for some live drums and re-amped guitars to get laid down on it. WORLD WAR 4 has also (believe it or not) got some drum tracks in the can for some new tunes. 2016 will most likely be a little more fruitful where new music is concerned. There's also my still-fairly new radio show THEN & NOW which keeps me real busy. Check it out, why don'tcha?
On to the list. As always, no particular order. Here's what came across my desk in 2015:
1) TORCHE - RESTARTER "These guys have proven themselves to be quite reliable as far as a real STRONG album goes. There's awesome power in their anthematic riffage."
2) LOCAL H - HEY, KILLER! "I was more than happy to contribute to the crowd-funding campaign that helped get this album made. Possibly the most unlikely band to come out of the 90s-grunge thing smiling. They exist comfortabley and righteously on the periphery of alt-rock."
3) BIG DICK - DISAPPOINTMENT "The first time I saw these guys, they did an Inbreds cover. That's when I knew.....they were probably the same age as me."
4) NO JOY - MORE FAITHFUL "Certain songs hit me in such a way as to make me think they were written specifically to cater to my own tastes. Which makes me think someone somewhere down the line fucked something up, rather than entertain the notion that unspoken human connection would be an option for me."
5) KEN mode - SUCCESS "As I've probably said before in these writeups, I'm a huge fan of when bands make huge changes to their sound. For better or for worse, the idea of every album sounding like a different band is a good one. In this case, it works fantastically."
6) METZ - II "A frustrating band indeed. By that I mean, practically every part makes me go 'Why didn't I think of that??'"
7) WEIRD OWL - INTERSTELLAR SKELETAL "An awesome blend of fine-tuned pop and weirdo psyche."
8) COSMIC GROUND - 2 "I don't have the slightest recollection of how I came across this. Probably dicking around on Spotify or something. Damn, it's tasty though. Spooky ambient sounds."
9) CHELSEA WOLFE - ABYSS "This ain't metal but it is DAMN heavy! Heavier than most of the garbage that actually would be classified as metal, funnily enough."
10) MARRIAGES - SALOME "I happened to catch and really enjoy EMMA RUTH RUNDLE when she opened for ALCEST this year, found out she's also in this band MARRIAGES. A great example of what I want from alt-rock (ie: twisted pop, not twisted moustaches)."
11) DEAFHEAVEN - NEW BERMUDA "The online pants-shitting virgins who'll go to their graves claiming that DEAFHEAVEN are 'NOT METAL!!! NOT METAL!!!' can rest easy thanks to this album which basically answers back with 'You're right, we're not'. So SHUT UP, already!"
12) MUTOID MAN - BLEEDER "The next-best thing to a new CAVE-IN album is a new MUTOID MAN album, especially when it's just firing on all heavy metal cylinders."
13) LOVIATAR - DIVA'S HYMN "Ottawa's got the stoner/doom thing covered right here. Man, I love those vocals too!"
14) KURT STENZEL - JODOROWSKY'S DUNE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK "I was so bummed after I saw this movie to learn that no official (or otherwise) release of the soundtrack existed. And so unbummed once I learned that someone decided to right this outrageous wrong!"
15) GAUSS - SOFT FACE, SOFT GAZE / "CHARM" "An awesome recommendation via my very favourite Toronto (previously Ottawa [briefly]) band SHAHMAN. Sort of the indie-rock version of post-rock, complete with sad-sounding horns."
16) KILLING JOKE - PYLON "Yet another strong album from these golden oldies. Most bands are lucky to put out any kind of album 35 years in, let alone GOOD ones!"
17) TEETH OF THE SEA - HIGHLY DEADLY BLACK TARANTULA "Sort of like TRANS AM through a HAWKWIND filter. Lovely."
18) UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS - THE NIGHT CREEPER "You'd think this would be a SABBATH soundalike but you be wrong. Weird, creepy, heavy rock."
19) THE JERRY GROSS ORGANIZATION - JUST PULL IT DOWN "Another Ottawa band, this one made up of members of THE CITY ABOVE and THE BAND WHOSE NAME IS A SYMBOL. This is almost like if GUIDED BY VOICES take a stab at stoner/doom. That's a good idea, right?"
20) GNAW THEIR TONGUES / DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT - N.V. "Heavy, unsettling, feral - very good!"
21) MAMMATUS - SPARKLING WATERS "The weirdest house party featuring an ambient project tag-teaming a twisted jam-band. Cool party!"
22) PYRAMIDS - A NORTHERN MEADOW "Weird, black metal type stuff but with pretty, singy bits and whatnot. The kind of crap I like, in other words."
23) FIGHT AMP - CONSTANTLY OFF "If your riffs are this massive, there's not much else you really need."
24) SUNN O))) - KANNON "My mom went and ordered the CD of this (I buy those) from HMV for Christmas. That was very sweet of her. Still waiting."
25) HYPNODRONE ENSEMBLE - THE SHAPE OF SPACE " The band name and album title say it better than I can."
26) KRALLICE - YGG HUUR "Weirdly, I was not into this album on my first listen. I gave it another shot a few months later and loved it. Must have been binging on DARKTHRONE that first time or something."
27) APHEX TWIN - SOUNDCLOUD "RICHARD D JAMES uploads a massive amount of demos spanning his entire career for free and basically makes Christmas a 365-day affair for LEIGH C NEWTON."
28) FUCK THE FACTS - DESIRE WILL ROT "The lyrical content of the song THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE sums up everything I love about this band (it's a song about opening bands being snappy about getting their shitty shit offstage)."
29) HENRY BLACKER - SUMMER TOMBS "A very strange version of heavy rock, indeed. These guys sound like music is sort of a faraway concept for them. That's a compliment, I think."
30) BLOOD INCANTATION - INTERDIMENSIONAL EXTINCTION "Normally, death metal (especially the kind where the bassist goes 'Hey, I know! FRETLESS!') can take a flying fuck at a rolling dick-nut but, I dunno, this just does it for some reason."
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
FAILURE - THE HEART IS A MONSTER
FAITH NO MORE - SOL INVICTUS
HIGH ON FIRE - LUMINIFEROUS
WINDHAND - GRIEF'S ETERNAL FLOWER
SOMBRE - FLORA AND FAUNA, FEAST UPON MY FLESH
ZOMBI - SHAPE SHIFT
MASERATI - REHUMANIZER
BELL WITCH - FOUR PHANTOMS
Wow, an even 30! I didn't mean for that to happen. How nice and round. I usually have a "TOP-40 type songs that are actually decent if not amazing" type list to finish off but, ever since we got satellite radio in the car (unhumble-brag), that stuff is totally off my radar in lieu of DIO, SABBATH, PRIEST, MAIDEN and the 5 other bands they play on OZZY'S BONEYARD (that's some Sirius XM humour right there). All I got for that aforementioned list is:
TAME IMPALA - CAUSE I'M A MAN
COLD WAR KIDS - FIRST
U.S. GIRLS - SORORAL FEELINGS
Not exactly the mainstream, more like an example of songs I really, really liked from albums I really didn't think were any good.
Oh, also, that CAN'T FEEL MY FACE song can fuck itself forever in Hell. Happy New Year!
I'll start off, as always, with a short summary of my own bullshit. Not a lot of new from me but many things in the works. Here are the releases (don't blink):
MERDARAHTA - AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET
THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE - LIVE AT POMPEII
Wow, huh? Busy guy! Well, I've also got some other stuff in the works. My new band HAMN has got an EP in the can just waiting for a final mixdown. The next TSTAT full-length is completely demoed and itching for some live drums and re-amped guitars to get laid down on it. WORLD WAR 4 has also (believe it or not) got some drum tracks in the can for some new tunes. 2016 will most likely be a little more fruitful where new music is concerned. There's also my still-fairly new radio show THEN & NOW which keeps me real busy. Check it out, why don'tcha?
On to the list. As always, no particular order. Here's what came across my desk in 2015:
1) TORCHE - RESTARTER "These guys have proven themselves to be quite reliable as far as a real STRONG album goes. There's awesome power in their anthematic riffage."
2) LOCAL H - HEY, KILLER! "I was more than happy to contribute to the crowd-funding campaign that helped get this album made. Possibly the most unlikely band to come out of the 90s-grunge thing smiling. They exist comfortabley and righteously on the periphery of alt-rock."
3) BIG DICK - DISAPPOINTMENT "The first time I saw these guys, they did an Inbreds cover. That's when I knew.....they were probably the same age as me."
4) NO JOY - MORE FAITHFUL "Certain songs hit me in such a way as to make me think they were written specifically to cater to my own tastes. Which makes me think someone somewhere down the line fucked something up, rather than entertain the notion that unspoken human connection would be an option for me."
5) KEN mode - SUCCESS "As I've probably said before in these writeups, I'm a huge fan of when bands make huge changes to their sound. For better or for worse, the idea of every album sounding like a different band is a good one. In this case, it works fantastically."
6) METZ - II "A frustrating band indeed. By that I mean, practically every part makes me go 'Why didn't I think of that??'"
7) WEIRD OWL - INTERSTELLAR SKELETAL "An awesome blend of fine-tuned pop and weirdo psyche."
8) COSMIC GROUND - 2 "I don't have the slightest recollection of how I came across this. Probably dicking around on Spotify or something. Damn, it's tasty though. Spooky ambient sounds."
9) CHELSEA WOLFE - ABYSS "This ain't metal but it is DAMN heavy! Heavier than most of the garbage that actually would be classified as metal, funnily enough."
10) MARRIAGES - SALOME "I happened to catch and really enjoy EMMA RUTH RUNDLE when she opened for ALCEST this year, found out she's also in this band MARRIAGES. A great example of what I want from alt-rock (ie: twisted pop, not twisted moustaches)."
11) DEAFHEAVEN - NEW BERMUDA "The online pants-shitting virgins who'll go to their graves claiming that DEAFHEAVEN are 'NOT METAL!!! NOT METAL!!!' can rest easy thanks to this album which basically answers back with 'You're right, we're not'. So SHUT UP, already!"
12) MUTOID MAN - BLEEDER "The next-best thing to a new CAVE-IN album is a new MUTOID MAN album, especially when it's just firing on all heavy metal cylinders."
13) LOVIATAR - DIVA'S HYMN "Ottawa's got the stoner/doom thing covered right here. Man, I love those vocals too!"
14) KURT STENZEL - JODOROWSKY'S DUNE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK "I was so bummed after I saw this movie to learn that no official (or otherwise) release of the soundtrack existed. And so unbummed once I learned that someone decided to right this outrageous wrong!"
15) GAUSS - SOFT FACE, SOFT GAZE / "CHARM" "An awesome recommendation via my very favourite Toronto (previously Ottawa [briefly]) band SHAHMAN. Sort of the indie-rock version of post-rock, complete with sad-sounding horns."
16) KILLING JOKE - PYLON "Yet another strong album from these golden oldies. Most bands are lucky to put out any kind of album 35 years in, let alone GOOD ones!"
17) TEETH OF THE SEA - HIGHLY DEADLY BLACK TARANTULA "Sort of like TRANS AM through a HAWKWIND filter. Lovely."
18) UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS - THE NIGHT CREEPER "You'd think this would be a SABBATH soundalike but you be wrong. Weird, creepy, heavy rock."
19) THE JERRY GROSS ORGANIZATION - JUST PULL IT DOWN "Another Ottawa band, this one made up of members of THE CITY ABOVE and THE BAND WHOSE NAME IS A SYMBOL. This is almost like if GUIDED BY VOICES take a stab at stoner/doom. That's a good idea, right?"
20) GNAW THEIR TONGUES / DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT - N.V. "Heavy, unsettling, feral - very good!"
21) MAMMATUS - SPARKLING WATERS "The weirdest house party featuring an ambient project tag-teaming a twisted jam-band. Cool party!"
22) PYRAMIDS - A NORTHERN MEADOW "Weird, black metal type stuff but with pretty, singy bits and whatnot. The kind of crap I like, in other words."
23) FIGHT AMP - CONSTANTLY OFF "If your riffs are this massive, there's not much else you really need."
24) SUNN O))) - KANNON "My mom went and ordered the CD of this (I buy those) from HMV for Christmas. That was very sweet of her. Still waiting."
25) HYPNODRONE ENSEMBLE - THE SHAPE OF SPACE " The band name and album title say it better than I can."
26) KRALLICE - YGG HUUR "Weirdly, I was not into this album on my first listen. I gave it another shot a few months later and loved it. Must have been binging on DARKTHRONE that first time or something."
27) APHEX TWIN - SOUNDCLOUD "RICHARD D JAMES uploads a massive amount of demos spanning his entire career for free and basically makes Christmas a 365-day affair for LEIGH C NEWTON."
28) FUCK THE FACTS - DESIRE WILL ROT "The lyrical content of the song THE PATH OF MOST RESISTANCE sums up everything I love about this band (it's a song about opening bands being snappy about getting their shitty shit offstage)."
29) HENRY BLACKER - SUMMER TOMBS "A very strange version of heavy rock, indeed. These guys sound like music is sort of a faraway concept for them. That's a compliment, I think."
30) BLOOD INCANTATION - INTERDIMENSIONAL EXTINCTION "Normally, death metal (especially the kind where the bassist goes 'Hey, I know! FRETLESS!') can take a flying fuck at a rolling dick-nut but, I dunno, this just does it for some reason."
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
FAILURE - THE HEART IS A MONSTER
FAITH NO MORE - SOL INVICTUS
HIGH ON FIRE - LUMINIFEROUS
WINDHAND - GRIEF'S ETERNAL FLOWER
SOMBRE - FLORA AND FAUNA, FEAST UPON MY FLESH
ZOMBI - SHAPE SHIFT
MASERATI - REHUMANIZER
BELL WITCH - FOUR PHANTOMS
Wow, an even 30! I didn't mean for that to happen. How nice and round. I usually have a "TOP-40 type songs that are actually decent if not amazing" type list to finish off but, ever since we got satellite radio in the car (unhumble-brag), that stuff is totally off my radar in lieu of DIO, SABBATH, PRIEST, MAIDEN and the 5 other bands they play on OZZY'S BONEYARD (that's some Sirius XM humour right there). All I got for that aforementioned list is:
TAME IMPALA - CAUSE I'M A MAN
COLD WAR KIDS - FIRST
U.S. GIRLS - SORORAL FEELINGS
Not exactly the mainstream, more like an example of songs I really, really liked from albums I really didn't think were any good.
Oh, also, that CAN'T FEEL MY FACE song can fuck itself forever in Hell. Happy New Year!
Saturday, December 12, 2015
LIVE AT POMPEII
More silence from me to round out the year of our goatlord 2015. This was a particularly lame year for me. Steamrolled by a depression the likes of which I'd never experienced before. Not fun. Anyone who has to deal with these issues, my heart goes out to you. "This too shall pass" is something to keep in mind during the shittier times. And I don't mean that with any of the religious connotations tacked onto it, however it does go to show that a good idea is a good idea no matter what the source may be.
So ANYWAYS, despite all that crap, one thing that was not effected too badly was my productivity. I have, just recently, released a new single called LIVE AT POMPEII. This title will obviously be familiar (ie: ripped-off) to some, namely taken from the incredibly awesome PINK FLOYD live/not-live concert video of the same name. The reasoning behind that basically started with coming across an awesome plugin that emulated the types of FARFISAs featured very prominently on music from the mid to late 60s, particularly the pre-DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD stuff. That got me thinking about coming up with a few tunes that would be very much in the spirit of the LIVE AT POMPEII film, put through my own TSTAT-filter, of course. What you have are 3 songs that borrow (steal) heavily from several different PF songs. It's basically something to fill the gap until whenever I can get into the studio and get my next full-length finished. Hopefully, it'll be ready for release early next year but who knows! I've been sitting on completed demos since the summer! Nevertheless, here is LIVE AT POMPEII for your enjoyment, please download for free and check it on out.
Having fun with my fairly new radio show THEN & NOW. I recently created a Soundcloud page to archive the episodes which means people can enjoy it whenever they feel like it. Check out them archives HERE!
Finally, an interview I did about 2 years ago that just recently got posted. So pretend it's 2013 and enjoy! HERE!
So ANYWAYS, despite all that crap, one thing that was not effected too badly was my productivity. I have, just recently, released a new single called LIVE AT POMPEII. This title will obviously be familiar (ie: ripped-off) to some, namely taken from the incredibly awesome PINK FLOYD live/not-live concert video of the same name. The reasoning behind that basically started with coming across an awesome plugin that emulated the types of FARFISAs featured very prominently on music from the mid to late 60s, particularly the pre-DARK SIDE OF THE MOON PINK FLOYD stuff. That got me thinking about coming up with a few tunes that would be very much in the spirit of the LIVE AT POMPEII film, put through my own TSTAT-filter, of course. What you have are 3 songs that borrow (steal) heavily from several different PF songs. It's basically something to fill the gap until whenever I can get into the studio and get my next full-length finished. Hopefully, it'll be ready for release early next year but who knows! I've been sitting on completed demos since the summer! Nevertheless, here is LIVE AT POMPEII for your enjoyment, please download for free and check it on out.
Having fun with my fairly new radio show THEN & NOW. I recently created a Soundcloud page to archive the episodes which means people can enjoy it whenever they feel like it. Check out them archives HERE!
Finally, an interview I did about 2 years ago that just recently got posted. So pretend it's 2013 and enjoy! HERE!
Monday, September 21, 2015
MERDARAHTA LIVE in QUEBEC CITY
To say I've been quiet this year would be putting it mildly. Quiet does not equal inactive though, no-sir-ee. I've basically spent the past 9 months putting together the 17 songs that will make up my next release. Pre-prod demos are all done, vocals are done, lyrics are done, all the songs are in the correct running order and even fade in and out when they're supposed to. Next is drum tracking and guitar re-amping. But yeah, didn't have much to report during the entirety of that creatively fruitful time period. "Hey guys! Just put another song to bed! I'm cruising now!" "Sup! Just wrote some more lyrics! Wow, I sure do hate doing that! Peace!" No thanks. Nevertheless, the album is shaping up to be pretty cool and I'm hoping for an early 2016 release.
In the meantime, please check out a few other things of mine. First off, a new band I started called HAMN, in which I play the guitar and sing. It's not metal but it's pretty heavy. Check out a demo here. We're gunning for an EP to be completed and released before the year is out. We're also opening for KEN mode in less than a month's time. Pretty cool! Here's the DEMO!
Also, I've very recently started producing a radio show for CHUO 89.1FM (the Ottawa University station) called THEN AND NOW. It's much more of a podcast than it is a radio show, in that I produce it at home rather than broadcast myself live from the station's studio. It's on every Wednesday at 3pm but the archives can be streamed via the station's website (another podcast similarity) which is how I imagine most people would prefer to check it out. So yeah, check out them archives HERE!
Finally, this video of a MERDARAHTA Quebec City gig from last November was recently uploaded. It sees us running through what I believe to be quite a decent version of our AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET piece of music. Please enjoy in particular at about the 11 minute mark where a gentleman has beer poured all over his head of hair. This was the first of many beers this poor soul was to be drenched with throughout the remainder of the evening in question. It was both delightful and horrifying for us to witness. Quebec City is weird.
In the meantime, please check out a few other things of mine. First off, a new band I started called HAMN, in which I play the guitar and sing. It's not metal but it's pretty heavy. Check out a demo here. We're gunning for an EP to be completed and released before the year is out. We're also opening for KEN mode in less than a month's time. Pretty cool! Here's the DEMO!
Also, I've very recently started producing a radio show for CHUO 89.1FM (the Ottawa University station) called THEN AND NOW. It's much more of a podcast than it is a radio show, in that I produce it at home rather than broadcast myself live from the station's studio. It's on every Wednesday at 3pm but the archives can be streamed via the station's website (another podcast similarity) which is how I imagine most people would prefer to check it out. So yeah, check out them archives HERE!
Finally, this video of a MERDARAHTA Quebec City gig from last November was recently uploaded. It sees us running through what I believe to be quite a decent version of our AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET piece of music. Please enjoy in particular at about the 11 minute mark where a gentleman has beer poured all over his head of hair. This was the first of many beers this poor soul was to be drenched with throughout the remainder of the evening in question. It was both delightful and horrifying for us to witness. Quebec City is weird.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
TAKER WIDE, EH?!
I had the good fortune to be asked on as a guest on the TAKER WIDE podcast! Created and hosted by the superbly talented and all-around chill dude STEVE VARGAS (BIIPIIGWAN, THE GREAT SABATINI, GREBER) and often co-hosted by MSKWAANKWAD MNOOMNII aka MUSKY RICE (BIIPIIGWAN). We get into many meaty topics such as band stuff, rocker dad stuff....that's actually about it but we had fun doing it! Check it on out right HERE!
Sunday, March 22, 2015
2015 SO FAR....
First day of spring yesterday, although still no signs of winter fucking off for good. That's usually the way it goes until about the middle of April or so. That's why Summer is the best season - it's the only one that's good ALL the way through. Lots of people bitched like crazy about this past Canadian winter, like it was drastically different from any other. It was cold, fucking cold. Cold for weeks on end. Business as usual, in other words. Several layers of clothing and the stoicism of a sea captain are the best solution.
My hype-infused lead-up to the MERDARAHTA full-length release was quite well done. Unfortunately, I ran out of blogging gas once the album actually hit. So no posts about that during the relevant time period! Oh well, maybe it's time to breathe a second life into the thing?! Yeah, that's what's happening here. So please, do check out AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET. You can get yourself a CD/Digital Download for a cool 5 bucks or just a DD for a DOLLAR. Seriously, if you can't pitch in a dollar for a download, you are kind of a complete dick. We also have a sweet T-shirt/CD/Download bundle available for 15 bucks. Something for the kings, queens and all aristocrats various and sundry to enjoy. No other MERDARAHTA activity to speak of as of late due to FUCK THE FACTS switching into total GO mode these days (which is awesome). Hopefully there will be some live MERDARAHTA opportunities later this year.
These past few months have seen me in quite a productive state, churning out pre-prod demos for my next release. It will be a full-length album but I'm maybe toying with the idea of fleshing it out into 2 EPs and a single, depending on how lengthy it all turns out. Details to be locked down at a later date. For now, it's all about these pesky songs. 13 of the 17 are finished, musically at least. Not a lot of vocals yet and zero lyrics (lyrics..........urrrrrrrrrrgggghhh!!!!). Fortunately, I haven't any ridiculous undertakings (ie: recording one cover song a month) to distract me from my goal so the songs have been coming together pretty quickly (I only had one finished at the start of January). Lots of shorter songs, lots of general weirdness. Anyone who found my last full-length to be a bit of a pain in the ass will definitely hate this shit.
Oh, back to MERDARAHTA. Here's a video from our CD-release show that we played in January. It features me playing this song way too fast. Enjoy.
My hype-infused lead-up to the MERDARAHTA full-length release was quite well done. Unfortunately, I ran out of blogging gas once the album actually hit. So no posts about that during the relevant time period! Oh well, maybe it's time to breathe a second life into the thing?! Yeah, that's what's happening here. So please, do check out AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWEPT AWAY WE COULD SEE THE SUNSET. You can get yourself a CD/Digital Download for a cool 5 bucks or just a DD for a DOLLAR. Seriously, if you can't pitch in a dollar for a download, you are kind of a complete dick. We also have a sweet T-shirt/CD/Download bundle available for 15 bucks. Something for the kings, queens and all aristocrats various and sundry to enjoy. No other MERDARAHTA activity to speak of as of late due to FUCK THE FACTS switching into total GO mode these days (which is awesome). Hopefully there will be some live MERDARAHTA opportunities later this year.
These past few months have seen me in quite a productive state, churning out pre-prod demos for my next release. It will be a full-length album but I'm maybe toying with the idea of fleshing it out into 2 EPs and a single, depending on how lengthy it all turns out. Details to be locked down at a later date. For now, it's all about these pesky songs. 13 of the 17 are finished, musically at least. Not a lot of vocals yet and zero lyrics (lyrics..........urrrrrrrrrrgggghhh!!!!). Fortunately, I haven't any ridiculous undertakings (ie: recording one cover song a month) to distract me from my goal so the songs have been coming together pretty quickly (I only had one finished at the start of January). Lots of shorter songs, lots of general weirdness. Anyone who found my last full-length to be a bit of a pain in the ass will definitely hate this shit.
Oh, back to MERDARAHTA. Here's a video from our CD-release show that we played in January. It features me playing this song way too fast. Enjoy.
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