Off the Dial

I like Rock Band & Guitar Hero. Quite a bit I would say.
Recently though, I found a blog of a guy who loves it to a whole new level. Fake Plastic Rock is a blog for all things RB & GH related. From cartoons to articles on how to improve your form, this blog has it all (if that’s the sort of thing you’re into).

One post in particular caught my eye, “Are Rock Band Drums Like Real World Drums”. The article contains a video from G4 TV’s “Attack of the Show”, where the interviewer sits down with a couple of members of Coheed and Cambria and they actually let him get behind a real kit to see if his RB skills translate into real life. So why post this here? Two reasons:

1) It shows how cool some bands, like Coheed & Cambria, actually are. These guys seemed pretty easy going, and able to laugh at themselves.

2) The video shows the lead singer admitting he only scored 84% on his own song on expert level. Which makes me feel a little better about myself…

Check out the site for yourself or the video;

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“For we live in sin,
Though we will win,
I watch the President fuck society.”

If you wept at the announcement that System of a Down were going on indefinite hiatus; If you thought Serj Tankian‘s solo material was great but still yearned for more; If you’ve been waiting to hear what Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan will sound like in their new project Scars on Broadway, the wait is over.

A brief email received yesterday pointed to the new Scars on Broadway web site with a 3pm PST timestamp. When you visited the page, it had a countdown timer with just their logo, but once the coveted hour arrived, nothing changed. Well, except that their new song “They Say” was now streaming from said site.

Featuring Malakian on guitar and vocals, it naturally has a SOAD sound to it but not a complete reproduction. It’s actually very catchy and quite excellent. Head over there now and give it a listen.

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One should never expect a quiet night out when planning on seeing Ministry play live, but for their Calgary gig at the Whiskey Nightclub on March 26th, things were exceptionally hectic.

As we approached 8pm, when doors were supposed to open, it already felt as if something were off about the night. It was quickly discovered that the bands had just arrived after being held up at the border for several hours earlier in the day. It not only resulted in their delay but the guys in opening act Meshuggah were left behind after experiencing “immigration difficulties”. Although Hemlock and Ministry were cleared to enter the country, only the headliners would be playing on this night.

With us holding V.I.P. tickets, we were allowed into the venue shortly before 8:30pm only to discover that they had JUST begun setting up. We were limited to one section of the club and would soon find out that our planned meet-and-greet would not go down. Grumblings of angry disappointment could be heard and that would later be echoed at the rather flimsy “$75 value gift bag” we would receive. Regardless, we were all there to see Ministry in what was being touted as their final tour.

Al Jourgensen and company arrived on stage not long after the revised 11pm start and promptly launched into a set that lasted about an hour and comprised mostly of newer material. The stage setup was crowded and relatively simple. Naturally, he had his bone-strewn custom mic stand. The club’s in-house video system displayed various images and stock footing focusing on riots, war and George W. Bush, a common target of Jourgensen.

After a significant and silent break, the band returned to play a decent encore which included the fan favourite “Just One Fix“. It was one of just a few songs from their early catalogue, a bone of contention by some fans after the show was over. Before that time came though, they returned to the stage for a third time, playing covers of the Doors (“Roadhouse Blues“), Rolling Stones (“Under My Thumb“) and ZZ Top (“Just Got Paid“), closing the night shortly after 1am.

When all was said and done, the crowd dispersed slowly hoping for more. That could’ve been partly because of how delayed the evening was but also was likely due to the fact that some of the more hardcore fans were hoping for more of the classic material. Considering that this is the farewell tour, one can’t be blamed for that sentiment. One thing should not be ignored though; despite the focus on newer material from “Rio Grande Blood” and “the Last Sucker“, they were tight, intense and delivered an impressive performance. During the show, those in the pit didn’t seem to mind as it was extremely active with only minor amounts of stupidity. Plus, when songs like “Thieves” were played, it was just that much better.

Although fans can’t be blamed for hoping for a more significant farewell coupled by the delay and loss of opening acts, the show was surely memorable. Plus, who knows? Maybe they’ll return a few years from now after Jourgensen is bored of just producing new talent. A Ministry fan can only hope.

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The latest Off the Dial podcast was reggae and ska focused and featured an emerging Canadian act that’s playing in Calgary tonight. London, Ontario’s Staylefish started off playing as a high school band but their current six-member line-up came together nearly three years ago which has driven them to where they are today. Having released their second album “Audible Addiction” in late 2006, the group plan to tour, write and record for the better part of 2008.

“This will be our first summer where we’re kinda balancing touring and studio recording,” says vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Chad. “2007 was all support for “Audible Addiction” where 2006 was recording “Audible Addiction” itself. It’ll be tricky, it’s all up in the air but we just gotta work hard on it.”

Being a ska-reggae band, the group is excited about the emergence of more bands in the same genre. “We’d always find ourselves on some line-ups that we wouldn’t necessarily fit in,” explains drummer Derrek. He added however, “we’ve always done well for ourselves but it’s great that the industry is shifting a bit; we’re having a resurgence of ska and reggae that’s coming back.”

“Definitely in Southern Ontario,” adds bassist Johnny. “I’d say there’s a lot of good bands right now that are on that same wavelength of bringing reggae-roots and rock back. It’s a very cool scene happening.”

Off the Dial episode P06 featured the song “Bullet” from their latest album and you can hear more of their music on their MySpace Page. They’ve been on the road for a week touring across Canada and hit SAIT’s the Gateway tonight (March 27th), followed by shows at the Rose and Crown in Banff on March 30th, Pub 340 in Vancouver on April 2nd and the Pawn Shop in Edmonton on April 5th among others. You’ll also be able to catch them on the Warped Tour this summer with a stop in Toronto on July 19th.

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So, last fall Richard Branson rode into Calgary on a chuck-wagon, proclaiming that Calgary would join Vancouver and Toronto in hosting the the famous Virgin Festival. He specifically stated “2008″…I heard it on the news then and it was replayed again in Calgary last night. However, we are about two months away from the reported June concert date to be held at Fort Calgary and yet, no line-up.

Details were supposed to be announced last week but that didn’t happen. Two weeks ago, the first ever Pemberton Festival was announced boasting a line-up including Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails, the Tragically Hip, Serj Tankian, Interpol and countless others. This week, the Toronto Virgin Festival line-up was announced for the September show, featuring Foo Fighters, Oasis, Bloc Party, Wintersleep, the Weakerthans, Constantines and more. Even Sled Island managed to get their shite together and announced their line-up which includes Mogwai (YES!!!), Of Montreal!, Drive By Truckers, Pride Tiger, American Music Club, Woodpigeon, Wet Secrets and many more. So, what gives Virgin Calgary?

According to a spokesperson, they’re just “crossing the t’s and doting the i’s”, or something to that effect. To be fair, at least we have a scheduled date. The Vancouver Virgin Festival is still listed as TBA.

Sled Island is scheduled to take place at various venues in Calgary between June 25th and June 28th. Virgin Toronto takes place September 6th and 7th at Toronto Island Park while Virgin Calgary is scheduled to take place June 21st and 22nd. There has been much speculation as to who could perform in Calgary if all this truly does go down. There are plenty of hopes for the likes of Radiohead or Smashing Pumpkins. Plenty of Calgarians are itching to see the former and many think the Pumpkins might have a chance at showing up here based on past appearances but don’t hold your breath; although they played both Baltimore and Toronto last year, they are suing Virgin Records for illegally using their name in promotional material.

Only time will tell…let’s just hope not TOO much time.

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Twelve years after Tiger Army‘s first ever gig at famed 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, the trio are still going strong. Enduring countless band member changes (including the loss of drummer Fred Hell after he was shot four times by robbers in 2003) founding member Nick 13 is backed by drummer James Meza and the return of longtime stand-up bassist Geoff Kresge.

Hot off the success of last year’s Warped Tour main stage slot and the release of their fourth album “Music from Regions Beyond”, Tiger Army are about to do a quick tour of Canada with supporting act the Unseen. The tour launches in Vancouver on April 28th with stops in Edmonton on April 30th (SOLD OUT), Calgary on May 1st (SOLD OUT), Saskatoon on May 4th, Toronto on May 9th and Ottawa on May 11th (SOLD OUT) before heading back to the U.S. for the rest of May.

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Thirty-five years ago today, Pink Floyd‘s masterpiece “the Dark Side of the Moon” was released in the U.K. (keeping in mind that the album was reportedly released in the U.S. one week earlier, for all intents and purposes, we celebrate the album’s anniversary today as Pink Floyd is from the U.K.)

There are some interesting facts regarding this album, which has been named to many a “best” list, including “Best Album to Make Love To” on Australian radio in 1990, 43rd greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2003 and Australian Broadcasting Corporation‘s “My Favourite Album” in 2006.

The album almost faced a name change due to another English band having released an album with the same title the year before. However, Medicine Head‘s “Dark Side of the Moon” did so poorly, Pink Floyd abandoned the alternate title “Eclipse: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics“.

Reportedly, some of the profits from the album went towards the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail as the members of Pink Floyd are apparently huge Monty Python fans.

The laughter heard during “Brain Damage” and “Speak to Me” was recorded by then executive road manager Peter Watts, father of actress Naomi Watts.

Throughout the entire record, there is just a single moment of silence, between the cuts “the Great Gig in the Sky” and “Money“, which is where the vinyl’s original side change occurs.

It is the sixth highest sold album in the world, bested only by “Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975” by the Eagles, the soundtrack for “Saturday Night Fever“, (sadly) the Backstreet Boys‘ “Millennium“, AC/DC‘s “Back in Black” and naturally, Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller“.

It also marked the first of five consecutive albums in which Roger Waters wrote all the lyrics. It stayed on the Billboard 200 album chart for an incredible 741 consecutive weeks (that’s fourteen years!), a feat that has yet to be eclipsed (pardon the pun).

Although the album’s lyrics were entirely written by Waters, all four members (the remaining three being David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright) had a hand in writing and producing the record. It was recorded and engineered by Alan Parsons at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios four years after the Beatles recorded “Abbey Road“. This wasn’t the group’s first time there though. In fact, “the Dark Side of the Moon” was actually their second last album recorded at Abbey Road.

In the past 35 years, the album has continued to sell quite well, helped by the numerous re-issues. It still averages anywhere between 8,000 to 10,000 units sold weekly. The first re-issue came in 1979 with a remastered LP and several remastered CDs since. In 1992, a remastered CD was re-released as part of the “Shine On” box set as well as an individually released 20th Anniversary box set containing postcards and a booklet containing new artwork and lyrics. Ten years later, it was again re-released as a hybrid Super Audio CD which boasted 5.1 DSD surround sound. In 2003, a 180-gram vinyl was released including reprints of the original posters and stickers.

There doesn’t appear to be a 35th Anniversary edition in the works but for those of your fortunate to have tickets for this year’s Coachella festival, you’ll be seeing Roger Waters performing “the Dark Side of the Moon” in it’s entirety. Not a bad way to celebrate 35 years.

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There are very few bands that I’m gay for, and the Raconteurs are one of them. So how happy was this little gaffer last week when I stumbled upon an article that puts the drop date for “Consolers of the Lonely” at this Tuesday? Um….very.

In an apparent attempt to avoid leaks, the album is set to be released about a week after it was completed. Which forces the band to cut out the all important marketing and promotion of the album prior to launch. While this method might piss-off some media hacks that love the promotional goodies attached to an album release, it’s sure to build up goodwill amongst fans and result in positive album sales. I for one see this as another attempt by a band to take more control over the creation and distribution of their work. Not quite at the level of Radiohead, but a step in the right direction to be sure.

Originally that was supposed to be the news, but the wonder that is iTunes has provided us with something more. It turns out that the rapid delivery date for the album’s release (which I would remind you was intended to avoid any leaks of the album) resulted in iTunes mistakenly leaking the album a couple of days early.

Before you get all excited that you can get the album now, they’ve corrected the mistake and pulled the album down, but a fortunate few were able to secure the album and already made it available on less mainstream sites. Something tells me there’s an newly vacated desk somewhere in Apple’s office…

Anyway, that’s it. Let’s recap what we’ve learned:

- You’re only a few sleeps away from the new Raconteurs album;

- Jack White is quickly becoming the Stephen King of the music world;

- Apple will probably feel no lasting effects of this incident.

Sleep tight.

Show.

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So our latest podcast featured some reggae/ska music, plus some reggae influenced tunes. One of those was Stomp Records‘ artist Jah Cutta from Montreal and if you liked what you heard, you’ll be able to catch him live across Canada.

The tour starts on April 02nd in Quebec City and runs through to mid-May with stops in Edmonton (April 17th), Calgary (April 18th @ UofC and April 29th @ Drum & Monkey), Vancouver (April 24th @ Richard’s) and wrapping up in Toronto (May 10th @ Tattoo) with plenty of shows in between. Check the tour poster below for the full tour schedule. You can also hear more of Jah Cutta on his MySpace page.

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After releasing their latest (and sixth) album “Dive Deep“, British electro-alternative group Morcheeba are about to hit the road for a quick tour of the U.S. starting in Washington D.C. on March 24th.

The tour will see the group land in Montreal’s Club Soda on March 29th, Toronto’s Opera House on March 30th and Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on April 8th.

“Dive Deep” is the second album the band has recorded without former singer Skye Edwards and features various vocalists throughout the record. To hear more of the new Morcheeba album, check out their MySpace page.

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