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Friday, August 8, 2014

Music News and New Music For August 8th, 2014

So of course, when running your own blog it can be tough to keep up with the s**tload of stuff that comes across our ears over a weekend!  Some good, some bad, some not even worth mentioning.  I guess that's how I use AFGM in general.  These articles that I go through everyday from various sites (Blabbermouth, CBC, National Post, AV Club, Google, Wired, Exclaim, Music News, Rolling Stone, etc.) and sort of "filter" some of the nonsense news such as the latest fashion design, who's got beef with who and who ISN'T doing music...still.

These articles brought forth are for a few different reasons:

1. It is relevant music information that pertains to you as a reader, no matter the level of intent or the genre.

2. They are relevant to the music I would be currently listening to or a genre I have put some attention and focus on.

3. I am rather patriotic about my Canadian music, so that always comes as a first for me.  I enjoy music from all parts of the world respectively, but I still have to promote local if I can.  Canadian music rocks!

4. Because it's humorous and we can always use a good laugh.  Rarely will it be at someone's expense...but then again I am just the guy talking about it.  They're the ones causing the comments.

So in closing, I trust you all will not read EVERY single article posted here.  But I hope you find something of use here and keep the conversation going by forwarding it onto someone else.  Click on each article heading for redirection to the full article.  Cheers!



The 26 Country Albums of 2014 You Probably Didn't But Really Should Hear:

"With so much music released every year, we can't blame anyone for missing some real gems — albums that, for whatever reason, didn't make their way into country music fans' hard drives, CD players or onto their turntables. Some slipped into the marketplace without a major-label marketing push, while others were big-budget releases that, despite a promotional blitz, have so far flown under the radar. The one factor they all have in common? They deserve to be discovered anew. Here are the 26 albums from 2014 that you probably haven't, but really should listen to in their entirety..."


Devo Support Casale Family With 'Hardcore' Live Album, DVD:

"Cameras were rolling when they played the Fox Theater in Oakland, California on June 28th, and recordings from the show will soon be released on DVD, Blu-Ray, CD and LP. Fans that pre-order the set through PledgeMusic will have exclusive access to select tracks, video, audio and much more. Other offerings include a signed set list ($75), a signed CD and T-shirt ($50), your name in the credit roll and a signed DVD ($250) and signed double vinyl ($50)."


Russian Circles & The Atlas Moth Announce Canadian Tour:

09/13 London, ON – Rum Runner Room (London Music Hall)
09/14 Montreal, QC – Cabaret Mile End
09/15 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Place
09/18 Winnipeg, MB – Pyramid
09/20 Calgary, AB – Palomino
09/22 Vancouver, BC – Rickshaw Stop
09/24 Edmonton, AB – Pawn Shop
09/26 Minneapolis, MN – New Music Festival – Skyway Theater (feat. Deafheaven)
09/28 Dallas, TX – Index Festival (no The Atlas Moth)


New Music for Old Instruments:

"While I'm excited by the possibilities inherent in electronic instruments and sound processing, the fact remains that the instruments of the orchestra -- strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion -- continue to exist in abundance. What about them? Are orchestras to be merely museums for featuring the symphonic masterworks of the past? Writing beats for laptops and symphonies for synthesizers is all well and good -- in fact, I think it's a great development and one that serves to really expand the palette of sounds and techniques available to the contemporary composer -- but at the same time I am concerned for the individual musicians who have spent hours learning how to perform on an instrument, who need music to play on their home piano, with their string quartet, or in orchestral concerts."


Sexism and racism permeate music videos, according to new report:

“For years young women have been telling us that they are not happy with the representation of women in popular culture, including music videos. We are happy to finally see a briefing which reflects their experiences and the harmful impact of racism and sexism in music videos.

We believe in women’s right to self-expression and freedom of movement. Our concern is how the music industry uses music videos as yet another vehicle to colonise and commodify black women’s bodies. We urge the music industry to consider what young women and the evidence are telling them.” -Lia Latchford (Imkaan Young Women’s Team)


Lacuna Coil & Devil You Know Confirm Fall North American Tour:

09/14 Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival (Discovery Park)
09/16 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
09/17 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
09/19 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
09/20 Seattle, WA – El Corazon
09/21 Vancouver, BC – Venue (feat. Incura)

With Starset:

09/23 Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room (feat. Incura)
09/24 Calgary, AB – Republik (feat. Incura)
09/25 Regina, SK – The Exchange (feat. Incura)
09/26 Winnipeg, MB – West End Culture Center (feat. Incura)
09/27 Thunder Bay, ON – Crocks (feat. Incura)
09/29 Toronto, ON – The Opera House (feat. Incura)
09/30 London, ON – London Music Hall (feat. Incura)
10/01 Ottawa, ON – Mavericks (feat. Incura)
10/03 Quebec City, QC – Le Cercle (feat. Incura)
10/04 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre (feat. Incura)
10/05 Portland, ME – The Asylum
10/07 Lancaster, PA – Chameleon (feat. Unlocking The Truth) (no Starset)
10/08 Silver Springs, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring (feat. Unlocking The Truth) (no Starset)
10/10 Hartford, CT – Webster Theater
10/11 Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
10/12 New York, NY Gramercy Theatre


DragonForce Cover Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire":



"Ring of Fire" is taken from the new DragonForce album "Maximum Overload", which will be out on August 18th, 2014 via Metal Blade Records.


Where are all the women headlining music festivals?:

"If you look at aspiring musicians in the past, particularly in the rock, indie and dance worlds, there were more boys than girls trying to make a go of it and therefore more breaking through. Things need to and I believe are changing. Often the most interesting artists at Reading and Leeds are female." -Jon Mac (booker for Reading and Leeds festivals)


CBGB Music and Film Festival Returns to New York in 2014:

"We continue to support emerging and established talent who represent music and film in all their forms. For us, music transcends space and sharing it with fans in a unique form is something we are very passionate about." -Tim Hayes (CBGB Co-Owner)


Meshuggah To Release Special Edition Of “I” EP:

"This 21 minute madness that is the song “I” is something we’ve always been extremely proud of!! Originally recorded for Jason Popson/Fractured transmitter record label, this was a “one off” that NB gave us the go ahead for - as we were under contract with them. Our plan was to just quickly write a little nugget of a song to help our friend Jason to kinda kickstart his label. It wasn’t quick however. We ended up spending a couple months on this thing as it just kept evolving and kind of took on a life of its own. This song is really different as it wasn’t “written” in the normal sense, but recorded without anything more than very open guidelines/ideas as to what kind of style we wanted each part to have. For examples, the initial 1½ minute drumfill is an excerpt of around a 15 minute recording of me just randomly going off on a kick/tom fill. Once we had chosen which part of it to use, we had to chart out the hits on paper and guitarist Fredrik and Marten then basically used sight-reading/avista to get the hits right while recording. And this is how we continued through the whole song/process.

We often get the question “When will you guys play I?” - And though I’m sure it could be done with a lot of listening and hard work - It’s really too unstructured a track. It would take up too much time and effort to make sense.

We’re super stoked now, to have this be re-released under the NB flag. Distribution and access to this little demon of a song was never quite what we had wished back when this was released, so we’re thrilled to see it be brought back to life!!

To further add value to this re-release, we added a couple live tracks and another weird little track “Pitch black” that some of our fans may have heard but probably not all, as it was only released in a limited number.  Enjoy!" -Tomas Haake


Veld Music Festival deaths - Toronto police focus on 'party drugs':

"The Special Investigations Unit, which investigates all cases of death, serious injury and allegations of sexual assault that involve police, is looking into the death of the 22-year-old man.

The arm's-length agency has said police spotted the man being carried by two people and called for an ambulance, but he became violent while paramedics were working on him.

The man was placed in handcuffs, which were removed inside the ambulance, but the man was pronounced dead on the way to the hospital, the SIU has said."


Make music festivals safer for young people - Editorial:

"As John Haines, executive director of Addiction Canada, points out, the type of drugs that are typically consumed at festivals like Veld are available everywhere young people congregate to listen to music. Think of bars, concerts at private venues, after-hours clubs and underground raves on private property.

No one is pushing to close down bars or concerts at private venues.

Nor should we be trying to ban music festivals that tens of thousands safely enjoy on public property — and which are much safer than the alternatives."


Squamish Music Festival goers warned to watch for unsafe party drugs:

"A lot of young people believe rave drugs and ecstasy drugs are safer to use because they're not drugs of addiction like heroin and cocaine, but they forget people have idiosyncratic reactions to those drugs.

I'm not so naive as to think people won't take drugs at music festivals. If you absolutely feel you have to, keep people around you all the time and if you see someone else in distress, get help now. Don't wait 10 minutes." -Barb McLintock


Nightwish Sign With Nuclear Blast Entertainment:

“It was a pleasure to work with NIGHTWISH at my former label, but now in my new capacity at NBE, I will be more directly involved with the band than ever before. I would like to thank NIGHTWISH and their management for their continued faith in and loyalty to me. I am particularly excited at the prospect of hearing Floor Jansen’s debut studio recording with the band. Her performance on last year’s live release Showtime, Storytime completely blew me away and proved why she is the PERFECT singer for NIGHTWISH.” -Monte Conner (NBE President and A&R Chief)


Devin Townsend Project, Animals As Leaders & Monuments North American Tour Revealed:

11/17 Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
11/18 Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
11/19 Kelowna, BC – Level Nightclub
11/21 Edmonton, AB – Union Hall
11/22 Calgary, AB – The Gateway
11/23 Saskatoon, SK – O’Brians Event Centre
11/24 Winnipeg, MB – The Garrick Centre
11/25 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/26 Chicago, IL – Metro
11/28 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
11/29 Cleveland, OH – House Of Blues
11/30 Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
12/01 Montreal, QC – Club Soda
12/03 Baltimore, MD – Rams Head Live
12/04 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
12/05 Worcester, MA – The Palladium
12/06 New York, NY – Webster Hall
12/08 Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
12/10 San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live
12/11 Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Bar N Grill
12/13 Englewood, CO – Gothic Theatre
12/14 Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
12/15 Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theatre
12/16 Los Angeles, CA – The Mayan
12/17 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom


Colossus - Outcast (Lyric Video):



Their new album "Badlands” will be out September 16th, 2014 via Facedown Records.


Jimi Hendrix biopic - How do you make a movie without the music rights?:

"Producers see them as win-win propositions sure to attract the people who grew up with those larger-than-life stars as the soundtracks to their lives, as well as younger cinema-goers who have discovered them more recently now that all music is available on the internet. Yet, there is a world of difference between Get On Up, the new Brown biopic starring Chadwick Boseman, or Walk the Line, the 2005 film featuring Joaquin Phoenix as Cash, and All Is By My Side, the Hendrix movie with André Benjamin, aka André 3000, of Outkast fame."


Gwar’s Drummer Speaks Of New Lineup Plans, Future Releases & A Fall North American Tour:

“…We have Mike Bishop, the original Beefcake bass player of Gwar. He’s coming back to fold to do some singing duties, but Balsac, Pustulus, Beefcake, they’re all singing. Cyborg, Destructo, Bone Snapper, all the Gwar characters have songs to fill in, and we’ve kind of taken the idea back to the original, old school, Scumdogs idea. Where Oderus, he was just the anchor, there were so many characters and so many different people singing songs, and so much action and gore and death on the stage in the old days that it wasn’t like it was more recently, where we stripped away all of that and made Oderus the focal point. The old Scumdogs of Gwar, there’s chaos everywhere, and Oderus is just the anchor to it.

So we’re kind of going back to the old format, embracing it. The stage shows will be wilder, and more chaos probably than you’ve seen in a lot of years. We kind of stripped it away into a pretty good heavy metal band that had some cool gore to it, and I think it’s gonna be more involved now. Certainly all of the plot development that we’ve done for the upcoming shows and the tours is leading it that way. It’s really exciting, it’s interesting. I think people are going to respond to it.

No one would respect us if we just threw another guy in the costume and said “Oh here’s Oderus’ replacement.” There is no way to replace Dave Brockie, not in a million years. We decided to go back to our roots and get back the old members and reconvene as a creative collective and put forth the Gwar that we think is going to be the incarnation of it for the 30th anniversary and beyond.

…We’re approaching 30 year anniversary, there’s talk of boxed products that will come from Gwar, and with Mike Bishop coming back in, we’re definitely writing some new songs and we’ll have something to show that Gwar is moving forward, and it’s not stopping. Of course we’re in very much support of Battle Maximus record, which we’re all proud of and still need to bring that show to a lot of towns in the country, but I would say you will see some new stuff from Gwar coming up. Absolutely, especially because it’s the 30 year anniversary, we’re gonna blow that thing out. What other bands are out there and not old men drooling and pooping in their pants that can say they have been around for 30 years.

There will be a fall US/Canadian tour from Gwar this year, and it will address the mythos of what happened to Oderus Urungus and give the fans, the Gwar fans that we love so much, a way to come pay their last respects and see the band that they love. It’s an exciting time, and it’s also scary because it’s a daunting task, but Gwar is always up to the challenge. We gotta saw off a couple heads to get there, no problem.” -Brad Roberts (aka Jizmak Da Gusha)


August Burns Red Sign With Fearless Records:

"We are all extremely excited to be a part of the Fearless Records Family. Fearless has done an amazing job building a community within the label as well as a bunch of our friends bands and careers. We can't wait to see what they can do with ABR.” - JB


Primus’ Les Claypool Auctioning Off His Personal Bass For Charity:



Yellowcard, Memphis May Fire & Emarosa Tour Announced:

10/16 Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
10/17 San Diego, CA – The North Park Theatre
10/18 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
10/19 Tempe, AZ – The Marquee Theatre
10/21 Dallas, TX – House of Blues
10/22 San Antonio, TX – Backstage Live
10/23 Houston, TX – House of Blues
10/25 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
10/26 Tampa, FL – The Ritz Ybor
10/28 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
10/29 Charlotte, NC – Amo’s Southend
10/30 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
11/02 New York, NY – Best Buy Theater
11/03 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
11/04 Boston, MA – House of Blues
11/06 Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/07 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
11/08 Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
11/09 Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights
11/11 Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
11/12 Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
11/14 Reno, NV – Knitting Factory Concert House
11/15 Los Angeles, CA – Club Nokia
11/16 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom

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