1. Midwest Music Explosion
2. Madonna
3. The Darkness
4. Sevendust
5. Flyleaf
6. Five Iron Frenzy
7. Calico System
8. F (as in Frank)
9.Sputterdoll
10. Low Twelve
Interviews with: Psycotron, Nerve Damage
and She’s the Car
Yes, we are back again! Thanks to everyone who has continued to show support
by sending emails and by returning every issue to see what I have included for
you. A couple issues ago I mentioned that I would just do reviews for CDs that I
thought would be worth your time and juts leave it things that I thought
wouldn’t fit the bill, so to speak. Well, I must say that tons of you responded
with a resounding “NO” to that idea, and I have listened. You will in fact get
the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to some of the newer releases.
I would also like to say thanks to all of you who have been tuning in on
Cygnusradio and Scrubradio for my Audio Nut radio show which deals exclusively
with the Underground Spotlight section. The shows have been going over so well,
that another one has been added to the mix. (See sidebar for complete lists and
times)
David Gilmour has released his first solo effort
in over 18 years and I think this is his best. I do
have to say that I haven’t spent a lot of time
listening to his work outside of Pink Floyd, but in
my opinion he is one of the best guitarists in the
history of music. When it comes to placing a guitar
solo in a piece of music, Gilmour is almost
unmatched. He truly has a talent for letting his
music speak for him and engages listeners with
various moods and settings.
I agree with David, when he says it has a Pink
Floyd feel to it, but I don’t mind one bit. I really
like the songs, “Then I Close My Eyes”, “This
Heaven” and the title track, “On An Island”; which
features Graham Nash and David Crosby (Crosby,
Stills and Nash) on vocals. This CD is a must for
fans of Pink Floyd, classic rock, or anyone who
admires great musicianship and songwriting.
The Sounds
Dying to Say This to You
2006 Scratchie/ New Line Records
This CD is full of all those catchy things that
you probably won’t admit that you like. I for one am
not a big fan of the new ‘New Wave’ movement, but
The Sounds have gotten my attention. The vocals are
what set this group far above the rest of the new
style synth-pop bands out today. With amazing and
memorable harmonies painting a beautiful picture
over the catchy and poppy music, Dying to Say
This to You will get your attention and keep it.
This sophomore effort has hit singles all over it.
Now we’ll just have to see if mainstream radio picks
up on them and blesses listeners with the tunes. The
Sounds should be here to stay with great songwriting
and appeal in a style that is reminiscent of groups
like Rebuplica, or Stereo Deluxx. If you are a fan
of The New Pornographers, Rilo Kiley or Yeah Yeah
Yeah’s you will more than likely enjoy what you hear
from The Sounds.
From first glance, Matisyahu, looks like
something you might skip over in the record store.
From first listen, Matisyahu, is an artist whose
songs will get stuck in your head. The title track,
“Youth” has been getting tons of airplay on radio
and the tour is playing to sold out shows at
practically every stop. So, chances are, you’ve
already heard about or heard this CD. Matisyahu’s
lyrics are more on a spiritual level while his music
is straight-up reggae. This is better than
practically every reggae song that bands like 311 or
Sublime have done and reminds me of Bob Marley or
the solo efforts by HR (singer from Bad Brains).
Basically it sounds more authentic to me than most
artists who have been trying to capture the native
Jamaican sound, yet it is Americanized. I guess…
Does that make sense? Anyway, at this point I’m not
even sure if I know what I’m talking about and it’s
getting pretty obvious. So, I will end by saying,
pretty good CD; check it out.
Hawthorne Heights
If Only You Were Lonely
2006 Victory Records
I remember pulling for Hawthorne Heights on some
TV contest that was drawn up by a soda company and a
‘music video’ channel. They came in second, but I
guess technically they won because I haven’t really
heard much about the ‘winning band’ since then.
Alright, so now I have to say, I’m not pulling for
them anymore. I admit I admire the fact that the
band does countless tour dates, and they are loved
by the youth of the nation, but what I am hearing in
my ears right now is warmed over junk. I am sure
this CD will sell many copies and girls and boys all
over North America will have songs like, “Pens and
Needles” or “Saying Sorry” in there iPods and
Hawthorne Heights posters on their walls. Kudos to
them, but I don’t expect ‘the masses’ to embrace
this emotional blend of tears and run-of-the-mill
rock album.
Boys and girls, this is probably what a CD would
sound like if My Chemical Romance and Atreyu joined
forces to sell you black lips stick and nail polish.
While the effort isn’t bad the end result is
mediocrity at it’s finest. This release is filled
with predictability and fashion and I for one am not
interested in either. I hear that this disc is
better than the groups first; if that’s the case I’m
not interested in hearing it anytime soon. The
bottom line is… this CD bores me From First note To
Last note.
I usually try to stay away from better known or hugely successful bands when
I do the Blast from The Past segment, but this time I didn’t. I had to pay
homage to the grandfathers of grunge, the daddies of doom; the one and only
Black Sabbath. The hardest part was picking a CD to offer up. They have a
countless number of amazing releases; whether it be, Paranoid (the most
famous one), Master of Reality, Volume 4, Children Of The Grave, We Sold Our
Souls For Rock N Roll (a must have for beginning Sabbath listeners) or
practically any other release with Ozzy Osbourne or Ronny James Dio. The fact of
the matter is Black Sabbath is arguably the biggest influence on modern day
heavy metal. (I know Led Zeppelin fans, you like to stake that claim too, and
it’s ok I can see your point)
So anyway, back to the disc at hand. I doubt these four lads from England new
in 1970 that they were about to venture down a path that would change the face
of rock n roll, but they did. “The Wizard”, “Wicked World”, and the title track
“Black Sabbath” are all classics… if you think about it, practically every song
on here is a classic and has been played by tons of bands over the years.
If you are a fan of heavy music and you haven’t heard Black Sabbath then
shame on you. If you are a Sabbath fan and don’t have this recording I strongly
urge you to get it.
Sean Kobuk’s first full-length release on I-Towns
Records shows his diverse influences and honest musical
talents. Sean has been lived in many different parts of
the US and has seen himself in various musical settings.
His eclectic experiences show clearly here. This 13
track CD, comes in just under one hour in length and
contains touches of rock, pop, and electronic styles.
For the most part you could say it’s a rock record, but
with broad borders. “Push and Shove”, “House of Cards”,
and “Dead and Done” are just a few of the songs that
could easily find themselves in regular radio rotation.
Fans of Switchfoot, Foo Fighters, and similar bands will
probably enjoy checking out the Angels in the
Rearview Mirror, with Sean Kobuk.
Tyler Jakes has a slew of great songs on his hands
with this release. This is one of those guys that I hear
and think… ‘Why haven’t I heard of him before?’ His
sound is more raw then polished, but his songwriting
skills are very, very good for an unsigned artist. I
haven’t heard a song that I don’t like on this disc yet.
“Elevator To The Sun”, “Lie Awake”, and “Only A Dream”
are all great songs. I actually could just mention all
of them as terrific, but I will let you make the final
judgment. Influences ranging from Neil Young to the
Butthole Surfers and from Bob Dylan to The Pixies can
all be noticed in the style of music on this effort. Be
sure to check out his website to find out how to get
this disc, and then you can start enjoying the lo-fi
matter that Tyler Jakes is sharing with the world.
Merry Go Drown
Q. Who are you and what do you do in the band?
A. My name is Mike, I play drums.
Q. How did you come up with the name Merry Go Drown?
A. Well it’s a play on words… but we want people to happily drown within our
music.
Q. What are some of your plans for the group in 2006?
A. Well, we just got a Jagermeister sponsorship, and we played with Disturbed on
Feb. 8th. Our goal every year is to top the year before. Last year we
played with Def Leppard; this year Disturbed; and hope we bring label interest.
Q. Who would you say has been one of your influences both musically and
non-musical?
A. MUSICALLY... There are many, everything from Mozart to Sevendust. I try to be
open minded, but I prefer to play heavier music.
NON-MUSICAL...Bruce Lee-the discipline, sacrifice and wisdom he achieved in
just 32 years amazes me.
Q. If you could be anyone in world history, besides yourself, who would you be?
Why?
A. Easy...Elvis Presley… I don’t think any other human being has ever made the
impact he did. He didn’t invent rock n roll, but he formed it into what it has
become.
Q. What are you listening to these days in your car/home stereo?
A. SEVENDUST,NON POINT,AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE
Q. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about Merry Go Drown?
A. Just that we love what we do and work very hard at it. We’re not the best and
we’re not the worst. We are just 5 guys with a dream and passion for what we do,
and want to share it with the world.
Q. Who are you and what do you do in the band?
A. I’m Neil Archer - vocals, guitars, dobro, keys, hammer and spanner, and
My buddy Tim Smith plays guitars, bass, drums, ham bones, and vocals.
We write most of our songs between us, with Tim providing the music and I
write the lyrics, but we do have the odd songs that are entirely written by
either me or Tim.
Q. How did you decide on the name STAN?
A. Neil Archer and Tim Smith are the band members so we took our initials and
reversed them. We thought it was a nice short easy to remember name.
Q. I heard that their might be a deal in the works with a U.S. based record
label. Is there anything that you can tell us about that?
A. We have recently signed with SDMP Records a top New York indie label for a
track on a forthcoming [April 2006] compilation album, I also visited NYC the
week 16th -20th of January and met up with Ian Bouras who
is the head of SDMP while I was in town, to see if we could do anything else
together.
Q. What would you say are some of your goals for STAN in 2006 and beyond?
A. 2006 is a big year for us; we have been working together now for just on two
years and we feel that the next year is when we should be getting a record deal
of some kind.
We have been very popular on a number of web sites including myspace, and
viaminic where we have been in their top ten for months.
We are being picked up by a number of web-based and mainstream radio
stations, and have had great reviews in several music magazines including Blues
Matters, and Making Music.
It has been proved [in the UK at least] that internet bands can break through
into the mainstream, and this is our goal for 2006. If the number of downloads
we’ve had from vitaminic for example were translated into CD sales we would be
in the UK top ten.
Q. Who would you say is one of your biggest influences both musically and
non-musical?
A. Musically we both love the classic British and US bands from the sixties The
Beatles, The Kinks, The Small Faces, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Dylan, The Beach
Boys, we also like more modern acts such as Supergrass, and Paul Weller, but we
have a love of Jazz particularly people like Jimmy Smith and Pat Methany.
Non-musically I would say authors such as J R R Tolkien, Oscar Wilde, Bill
Bryson, Anthony Burgess, and Max Hastings. Movies, Easy Rider, Quadrophenia, A
Clockwork Orange. Then there’s Swaminarayan, The Tao, and some Zen stuff like
the books of Robert Pirsig, Raymond Smulliyan, and Alan Watts.
Q. What are you listening to these days in your car/home stereo?
A. Beatles, Beach Boys, Hendrix, Weller, Supergrass, Jimmy Smith, and some
myspace friends like Indira Ortiz who I actually met up with in NYC.
Q. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us about STAN?
A. We are very keen to bring back the values and sounds of real music played by
real people, it is our opinion that mainstream chart music, particularly here in
the UK, has become sterile and predictable.
There is a huge amount of talent on sites like myspace, which is the new
underground, and we aim to be a part of the musical revolution that the internet
will ultimately achieve.
Check out my band STAN at
Q. Who are you and what do you do in the band?
A. My name is James Simpson. I am the vocalist for Chaos Order.
Q. How did you come up with the name Chaos Order?
A. The name was originally come up with by our guitarist Dave Morales and
drummer Dan Welch when the band originally formed in 2002. I think it stands for
when we write music it’s kinda making order out of chaos.
Q. What are some of your plans for the group in 2006?
A. We have formed a new lineup as of 2005 that includes original members: Dave
Morales and Trey Adams on guitar and Dan Welch on drums. With the new additions
of Jason Brown on bass guitar, and myself James Simpson on vocals. We are going
to finish recording for our full length CD and plan on a release date in April.
We are also going to be on two compilation CD's in 2006, "Chunks of St. Louis
Vol. 2" and "Raw Aggression 3" for more info for these compilations visit
http://www.chunksofmeat.com
and
http://www.rottingcorpserecords.com.
Our main priority in 2006 is to release our CD in April and come back strong
with new material and play as many shows at as many places as possible.
Q. Who would you say has been one of your influences both musically and
non-musical?
A. Musical influences for me include: Pantera, Lamb of God and Chimaira. Non
musical would have to be Dave Chapelle, cuz he keeps it real!!
Q. If you could be anyone in world history, besides yourself, who would you, be?
Why?
A. I would have liked to be an outlaw like Billy the Kid. The old cowboy days of
gunfights and saloons always sparked an interest in me.
Q. What are you listening to these days in your car/home stereo?
A. New Chimaira, Old instrumental Dying Fetus, and always Lamb of God. Old and
new, I love it!!
Q. Who are you and what do you do in the band?
A. My name is Josh Kassinger and I play guitar and sing/scream in the band.
Q. How did you come up with the name for such a time as this?
A. It’s actually out of the Bible.
Q. What are some of your plans for the group in 2006?
A. We are going on a 6 week tour in March/April, and we plan on touring a lot in
the summer. We are recording our demo in February with Jeff Matthews in Hayti
Missouri.
Q. Who would you say has been one of your influences both musically and
non-musical?
A. Musically, Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge has been a huge inspiration in my
guitar playing, and Underoath has pushed us to a much more dynamic level in our
music. Non-musically, Matt Tompkins, Trey Davis, Matt Boyd, and Adam Fears from
Cries Hannah have been a huge inspiration to us. They have helped us more than
they know.
Q. If you could be anyone in world history, besides yourself, who would you, be?
Why?
A. Uh.....Maybe Jimmy Page.
Q. What are you listening to these days in your car/home stereo?
A. Cries Hannah, Bradley Hathaway, Beloved, and Fear Before the March of Flames.
Q. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about for such a time as this?
A. Make sure you check out our myspace,
www.myspace.com/forsuchatimeasthismusic
, and come talk to us at a show.
Parental Advisory Note:
Artists and/or their record companies place Parental
Advisory and Explicit Lyrics stickers on the recordings.
I will note it next to the title of the recording when
it is posted on the recording or album artwork its self.
Some of the recordings received by The Audio Nut are not
in the original packaging and therefore may not include
the Parental Advisory warning next to the title. Please
take this into consideration when purchasing a disc that
has been reviewed on this page.
Disclaimer:
The opinions stated above are that of J Sohn and The
Audio Nut. They are not the opinions of NutzWorld,
EntertainmentNutz or any of the above listed
bands/artists; their record labels or associates unless
other wise noted. J Sohn, The Audio Nut, NutzWorld and
EntertainmentNutz are not responsible in any way for the
actions or business practices of the above listed
bands/artists etc.
Angels
in the Rearview Mirror
lo-fi
matter
