Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Thrice Announce New Album/Tour

Thrice has announced their plans for their 2011 tour, promoting their upcoming album "Major/Minor" (due in stores September 20th, 2011 via Vagrant Records).


09/30 Las Vegas, NV – Hard Rock Cafe
10/01 Tempe, AZ – The Marquee
10/03 Dallas, TX – The Door
10/04 Austin, TX – Emo’s
10/05 Houston, TX – House Of Blues
10/07 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution
10/08 Orlando, FL – Beacham Theater
10/09 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
10/11 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
10/12 Richmond, VA – The National
10/13 Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
10/14 Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
10/15 Towson, MD – Starland Ballroom
10/16 New York City, NY – Irving Plaza
10/18 Boston, MA – Royale Night Club
10/19 Montreal, QC – Club Soda
10/20 Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/21 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Zoo
10/22 Covington, KY – Mad Hatter Club
10/23 Columbus, OH – Newport Music Hall
10/25 Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
10/26 Detroit, MI – St. Andrews Hall
10/27 Chicago, IL – Metro
10/28 Sauget, IL – Pop’s
10/29 Lawrence, KS – Granada
10/30 Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
11/01 Salt Lake City, UT – TBA
11/03 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
11/04 Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
11/05 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
11/06 Sacramento, CA – Ace Of Spades
11/08 Los Angeles, CA – Mayan Theatre
11/09 Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues
11/10 Anaheim, CA – House Of Blues
11/11 San Diego, CA – House Of Blues

Supporting acts will be announced soon.

Thrice has also released their first single from their upcoming album dubbed "Yellow Belly":



The track listing for the album is as follows:
01 - Yellow Belly
02 - Promises
03 - Blinded
04 - Cataracts
05 - Call It In The Air
06 - Treading Paper
07 - Blur
08 - Words In The Water
09 - Listen Through Me
10 - Anthology
11 - Disarmed

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Gary Clark Jr. coming to Toronto

Pluggin a co-worker's recommendation (thanks Sean!) on an artist coming soon to the GTA.  Gary Clark Jr will be hitting up the Rivoli on August 19, 2011.  Set to take the stage at 9pm, Gary (acclaimed the 'savior of blues') is quite the musician and has taken the lead of the Austin, Texas rock scene.

Clark will be promoting his upcoming album "Bright Lights", due in stores August 9th, 2011 via Hotwire Unlimited.


Below is video footage from GCJ performing at the Crossroads Guitar Festival, 2010:

(Don't Owe You A Thing)

(Bright Lights)

Tickets for his upcoming show at the Rivoli can be found here.

Spotlight: Dio Disciples

Surviving members of the final line-up of Dio would embark on a project with former Judas Priest front man Tim Owens under the moniker DIO Disciples.


The group consists of:

With:

(June 25, 2011 in Bochum, Germany)

(June 17, 2011 in London, UK)

Video footage has been emerging as well in Europe for their performances.  This was taken from their set in Belgium at the Graspop Festival, 2011:



More information about their upcoming tour can be found via Dio website:
Dio Disciples Touring Schedule
Primus have announced their 2011 North American tour in support of their upcoming album "Green Naugahyde" (via ATO Records), due in stores on September 13th, 2011.


Track listing for the album is as follows:

01 – Prelude To A Crawl
02 – Hennepin Crawler
03 – Last Salmon Man
04 – Eternal Consumption Engine
05 – Tragedy’s a’ Comin
06 – Eyes Of The Squirrel
07 – Jilly’s On Smack”
08 – Lee Van Cleef”
09 – Moron TV
10 – Green Ranger
11 – HOINFODAMAN
12 – Extinction Burst
13 – Salmon Men

Pre-orders for the albums have been directed to:
Clubbastardo.com

The 2011 tour is as follows (for now):
09/23 Boston, MA – The Orpheum
09/26 Richmond, VA – The National
09/27 Albany, NY – Palace Theater
09/30 New York, NY – Roseland Ballroom
10/01 Philadelphia, PA – Tower Theater
10/02 Portland, ME – State Theater
10/04 Montreal, QE – Metropolis
10/05 Toronto, ON – Massy Hall
10/07 Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
10/08 Rochester, NY – Main Street Armory
10/10 Louisville, KY – Palace Theater
10/11 Ann Arbor, MI – Michigan Theater
10/13 Madison, WI – Orpheum Theater
10/14 Chicago, IL – The Congress
10/15 Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
10/17 Denver, CO – Ogden
10/18 Denver, CO – Ogden
10/20 Mesa, AZ – Mesa Amp
10/22 Los Angeles, CA – Wiltern

Fair To Midland - Acoustic Sessions

Fair To Midland have posted three acoustic videos, promoting their newest album "Arrows & Anchors" (out July 12th, 2011).  The session was recorded for 'violitionist.com' in Denton, Texas.


(Musical Chairs)

(A Loophole in Limbo)

(Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow)


You can follow up on this at:
Violitionist.com

Monday, July 18, 2011

Reznor slams record label, urging fans not to purchase new reissue

Nine Inch Nails founder Trent Reznor has been duelling with record labels attempting to release yet another reissue of the NIN classic album "Pretty Hate Machine".  

(Above: The 2011 reissue of 'Pretty Hate Machine')

Reznor has now openly expressed against purchasing this album and ultimately the record label for releasing it, urging fans to boycott this release.

Reznor had this to say via Twitter: “NIN fans, don't waste your money on this version of PHM that was just released… ... a record label bullshit move repackaging the old version. Ignore please.”

311 New Album and Plans for 2011

Rolling Stone Magazine recently sat down with long standing reggae rockers 311 for an interview on their new album "Universal Pulse" due in stores July 19th, 2011.

Samples of the upcoming album can be heard here via Amazon:
Amazon: 311 - Universal Pulse

("311 - Universal Pulse" out tomorrow via 311 Records/ATO Records)


You can read the full article here:
Rolling Stone Magazine - 311 Emerges 'Unscathed From the Craziness' for New Album

Metallica Plays to over 100,000+ at Quebec Summer Festival 2011

Fans of Metallica flocked to the Plains of Abraham (Quebec City) on Saturday, July 16th to see the boys play in front of over 100,000+ fans as part of the Quebec Summer Festival.  

(Photo taken by: Kevin Winter, Getty Images)

The setlist was as follows:

1. The Ecstasy of Gold (Ennio Morricone cover)
2. Creeping Death
3. For Whom The Bell Tolls
4. Fuel
5. Ride The Lightning
6. Fade To Black
7. Cyanide
8. The Memory Remains
9. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
10. Sad But True
11. All Nightmare Long
12. One
13. Master of Puppets
14. Blackened
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman

Encore:
17. Am I Evil? (Diamond Head cover)
18. Hit The Lights
19. Seek & Destroy


Photos from the concert are available here:
Demotix - Metallica (Quebec Summer Festival)

Bravewords & Bloody Knuckles - Metallica (Quebec Summer Festival)

Fan footage of "Am I Evil" from the show:




Spotify available in the US

Swedish based music streaming website Spotify is now available for customers in the United States.  Developed in 2006, this is the first time Spotify has made its mark on the North American market.  Users can access approximately 15 million tracks (growing by approximately 10,000 tracks per day).

Spotify has posted a video via YouTube for such an occasion:

Bluesfest Stage Destroyed Sunday Evening

Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest suffered major backlash after the main stage collapsed 20 minutes into a performance by Cheap Trick Sunday night.  There have been reports of some major injuries but thankfully no deaths.





You can read the full article below:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/07/18/bluesfest-stage-collapse.html

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Dream Theater announces 2011 tour with Trivium

As if a new drummer announcement and a new album wasn't enough for Dream Theater, they went ahead and announced their upcoming plans for a 2011 tour with Florida hardcore boys Trivium.  Dates have not yet been confirmed and will be released shortly.  Both bands have albums due out for release this fall.



Dream Theater will be releasing "A Dramatic Turn of Events" via Roadrunner Records on September 13, 2011.  Trivium will be releasing their album entitled "In Waves" via Roadrunner Records as well on August 9, 2011.


Five Finger Death Punch in 2011

Five Finger Death Punch have started to come out of the wood work in 2011.  Some new photos have emerged for their upcoming album release due this fall.  The boys have titled the third LP "American Capitalist" and will be released via Prospect Park Records.  This will be the first album featuring newly added member Chris Kael on bass.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Beaches Jazz Festival

Before I take off for the weekend, just wanted to let everyone in the GTA know that tonight kicks off the week (July 15-July 24) long Beaches International Jazz Festival.  

Festivities begin at Woodbine Park (Queen and Woodbine) and end with the closing of Queen Street for entertainers to perform.  There is fun for everyone and of course... a BEER TENT!  Many amazing musicians will be playing every night so make sure to check out the listings and take in some culture :-) Cheers and have a great weekend!

Linkin Park - Rolling In The Deep

California hard rockers Linkin Park show off their skills at the 2011 iTunes Festival with a rendition of Adele's "Rolling In The Deep".  The video was taken from the festival, located at the Roundhouse, London, UK:


Textures - Dualism

OK, so I originally wrote this article back in 2011 when "Dualism" was being released.  I was such a fan of the album that I forgot to write a follow up!  I have been on this album for the past few weeks and completely forgot how amazing it was!  For those of you who are not familiar with Textures, this description from Angry Metal Guy:

The guys in Textures are smart guys and they make smart metal. Their brand of metal has a lot of technicality and there’s no tediousness in their approach to song writing. So if you’re a two-digit IQ kind of listener, please don’t bother us with any dim-witted comments you may have concerning how pretentious you think these Dutch fellows sound. -Angry Metal Guy


So for a few more details, Textures hails from Tilburg, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands and has been together since 2001.  Originally labelled as a metalcore band, the band has moved towards the progressive aspect of metal, especially after the release of "Dualism".  The band currently consists of:
Daniel de Jongh – vocals | Jochem Jacobs – guitar, vocals | Bart "Bastærd" Hennephof – guitar Remko Tielemans – bass guitar | Stef Broks – drums | Uri Dijk – keyboards, sampler

"Dualism" was released on September 23rd, 2011 via Nuclear Blast Records.  This also marked the first album to feature current vocalist Daniel de Jongh.  The kicker of it all, the album artwork was created by former vocalist Eric Kalsbeek (in collaboration with bassist Remko Tielemans).

(Album artwork courtesy of Textures and Nuclear Blast Records)

1. Arms of the Sea
2. Black Horses Stampede
3. Reaching Home*
4. Sanguine Draws the Oath*
5. Consonant Hemispheres
6. Burning the Midnight Oil
7. Singularity*
8. Minor Earth, Major Skies
9. Stoic Resignation*
10. Foreclosure
11. Sketches from a Motionless Statue

(* = AFGM Recommendations)

Dualism's combination of sheer epic compositions with polyrhythms, melodic and growling vocals, heavy atmospherics, and precise production melds together to produce one of the top albums of 2011. It might not be the most br00tal, most technical, or most kvlt album to come out this year, but it definitely pleased me and will most likely please you as well. -Metal Archives

As someone who was very new to progressive metal at the time, I was completely fascinated with the tempo changes, the BPMs, the melody mixed with screams, and the overall production of the album.  I'll admit there were a few tracks that took some time to get used to, but for tracks such as "Reaching Home", I was hooked from the first riff.



"The video was shot on Lanzarote (The Canary Islands) and was directed by Textures' bass player Remko Tielemans together with the help of Kunststoff Media." -Nuclear Blast (via YouTube)

Not a bad first introduction for you new fans of Textures.  I think what sealed the deal was getting the live experience shortly after.  Textures was on tour supporting Periphery/The Human Abstract during the 2011 North American Tour.  I was fortunate enough to watch Textures perform new material less than a month after "Dualism" was released.  While being bias towards vocalists (being one myself), I was heavily fixated on the precision drumming of Stef Broks, as you can see below:


Dualism is the most atmospheric Textures album to date, concentrating within its songs a great mix between Daniel De Jong's yelled Gojira-like vocals and mind-traveling mellow passages that give the listener a soul raising feeling, the latter being a remarkable characteristic for the dutch metallers. -Metal Storm

So I hope this all provided you a good introduction to the band, or a re-introduction.  Rumor has it they are currently working on their follow up album to "Dualism", which is scheduled for a release sometime in 2015.  You can be sure I will be posting information about it.

Trivium - In Waves

Trivium performing their new single "In Waves" live off the floor.  From the fifth studio album "In Waves", due out August 5th, 2011 via Roadrunner Records.

(Directed by Ramon Boutviseth)

Vans Warped Tour 2011!

2011 version of Vans Warped has hit Toronto today!  Make sure to check out all the bands playing at The International Center (6900 Airport Road, Mississauga, ON L4V 1E8).


A Day To Remember
Asking Alexandria
Attack Attack!
August Burns Red
Black Veil Brides
D.R.U.G.S.
Dance Gavin Dance
Enter Shikari
illScarlett
Less Than Jake
Lucero
Miss May I
Motionless In White
Of Mice And Men
Paramore
Relient K
Set Your Goals
The Acacia Strain
The Devil Wears Prada
Unwritten Law
We Came As Romans
Winds Of Plague
Woe, Is Me

+ many, many more!

Tickets ($45.50+taxes) available at: Ticketmaster, Rotate This and Soundscapes

If Not Now, When? on AOL Music

Incubus (and most likely Epic Records) has teamed up with AOL Music to give an exclusive preview for their upcoming album "If Not Now, When?"  The album hit stores on July 12, 2011.

Incubus - If Not Now, When? (AOL Music)



To purchase a copy, visit:
Incubus - If Not Now, When? on Amazon.ca

Welcome!

This is my first post via Blogger and I must say this is quite the cool thing! :-)

This is taking shape to be the new headquarters of AFGM for all your feeds on music, news, releases, tours, and general ramble of the music world.

If you have any questions, comments, feedback, etc, I welcome it all in hopes that this might be a major source for people to read about music and such :-)

Cheers to you all and thanks again!

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