Tag Archives: Music

Snacktruck – Spacial Findings 1 – 7 – CD Review

When I see the words “snack” and “truck” the fat kid inside me usually gets excited and is ready to mow down some mobile junk food.  This time around though the words have different meaning and refer to a band’s name and not the no-so-good-for-you cuisine.   Snacktruck is a truly unique threesome from Richmond, VA consisting of a guitarist/keyboardist and two drummers.  Yes, two drummers.  (I do believe there is a guest bassist too but can not confirm that)

The band recently released Spacial Findings 1 – 7, an album that is more of a masterpiece of specifically layered sounds resulting in quite an impressive instrumental release.  With no pinned down genre the album glides through styles such as progressive, jam, thrash, and even pure rock with no hesitation what so ever in between.  The album was dropped on Rorschach Records.

If you asked me what Spacial Findings 1 – 7 sounded like I would first just say “awesome”.  Why?  Because the moment I put the CD in for a listen I was just fixed on what was hitting my ears and listened to it from start to finish with no interruptions.  The moment the CD ended I put it on for a second listen.  No joke.

When listening to “Presence Charm” I actually looked at the CD booklet to make sure that only three people formulated this song.  Heavily progressive but inclusive throughout there was no wonder why this caught my attention…it was good.

“Blooms (Horrible)” continued on with an experimental interesting piece that hooked around momentarily and ended far too soon.  I was digging the almost sci-fi soundtrack and was a little bummed when it smothered out.  “Blooms (Sweet)” stifled out just like the previous track right during a sweet guitar manipulation and that is when it hit me…  The band very well may take their songs completely into new territory when playing live so why ruin it on a studio release?  Now I want to see this band live more than ever.  I can only imagine the intensity of a live experience.

“Life Prism” was perhaps the highlight of the album for me until the following song “Blake Jones In Space” intensified the feeling.  Imagine insanity compiled into a two and a half minute song with sick drumming and technical goodness.  All I could think of is a mutant Mike Patton taking hits of 90’s grunge music heavy acid and painting a picture of the future through music.  Yes, I just said that.

“Gravi-Thorn”, the longest song on the disc, starts out ever so soft and gentle and suddenly transforms into a crazy collection of guitar and feedback with faultless drumming.  Did I mention the band has two drummers? 

Snacktruck surpassed my musical range in every way possible (that is a good thing) but I could not help but reach out and grab their insanity note for note and beat to beat because it was so alluring.  It’s without a doubt something that needs to be heard without being too much to take.  Technical music lovers and experimental intellectuals are going to love this trio of musicians.  Hell, music lovers need to give this band a chance, it’s that good.

Sound interesting?  Head over to Rorschach Record’s website to grab a copy for yourself!

Alkaline Trio News (New Label / New Album Coming Soon!)

I am really excited to hear new material by these punk favs of mine…

Thanks to the fine folk at Epitaph Records for this:

Alkaline Trio has announced the birth of Heart & Skull, the band’s own label formed in partnership with Epitaph Records. The band will release its seventh album through Epitaph/Heart & Skull in early 2010.

Commenting on the formation of the new imprint, named for the band’s longstanding logo, Alkaline Trio singer/guitarist Matt Skiba said:

“We made the decision to form Heart & Skull to put out our own records after having been through every kind of label deal in the industry, big indies, small indies, majors. We knew it was time to adapt to the shifting tides of the music industry and we could not be more thrilled about doing that in conjunction with the team at Epitaph. Taking control of our own label situation was something we always wanted to do but never thought was possible, but now thanks to Brett Gurewitz and the fine folks at Epitaph, it is. All three of us in Alkaline Trio have always had the utmost respect for the music and the work ethic of the Epitaph, Anti- and Hellcat family and now we’re honored to be working together under one big happy roof. Heart & Skull/Epitaph is truly a dream come true for us.”

Alkaline Trio bassist/vocalist Dan Andriano added:

“For our band at this time it really makes sense to release our own records, but we wanted to make sure we could partner up with good people who we would want to share in something very special to us. When Brett called and said he wanted to be involved, that was it. Epitaph is a label I’ve admired and supported for more than half of my life! I couldn’t be more excited for how this is turning out!”

Alkaline Trio first emerged from Chicago in 1996 and has since released the full length studio albums Goddamnit, Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, From Here To Infirmary, Good Mourning, Crimson and last year’s Agony & Irony, which was the highest charting record of the band’s career to date. The band is comprised of Skiba, Andriano and drummer Derek Grant, all of whom are partners in Heart & Skull.

Here are some videos for your punk rock entertainment consideration…

FUSE To Broadcast FUSE Fest: Bonnaroo 2009 – 06/20/09

This is for all you music lovers out there that were unable to make it to Manchester, TN last weekend but wanted to be a part of Bonnaroo 2009.  Thanks to the good folk at FUSE on Saturday June 20th they will broadcast highlights from Bonnaroo including some of the best performances by artists such as Coheed & Cambira, the Beastie Boys, Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band, Phish, Snoop Dogg, and even the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Bonnaroo 2009 – Day 2 In Review

I’ll still hanging in there kids.  I will tell you though that I am tired of the patchouli smell that seems to be getting stronger day by day.  Seeing dudes in dresses with nappy hair is a novelty for only so long.  More on that in a moment.

I stayed up late night to post a hopefully composite music review on Blogcritics.Org:

Concert Review: Bonnaroo 2009 – 06/12/2009 – Day 2

Mind you I finished writing that around 5am so if it does not make sense my apologies.  I think I could have left out my actual travel patterns and all but I wanted to just tell everyone what I saw from my eyes and if that included naming off every stage on the grounds then so be it.

One of the highlights of the day was getting searched by the local Drug Task Force.  They said it was a random check and asked me to pull my car over to the side so they could search it.  I was threatened if I did not fess up to my weapons and drugs and told if I lied they would throw me in jail.

I laughed the entire time they looked in my car looking for nothing.  When they were just about finished one of the elder officers asked to look in my CD cases because, and I quote, “that is where they hide the weed.”

Who in hell would hide weed in a CD case?  And why was my car pulled over and searched as at least fifteen stoners drove past me with glazed eyes and smiles that seemed to thank me for letting them in with their eight pound bag of weed without getting caught.

That right there pissed me off.  I am drug free and for the time being alcohol free.  Why me?  Random my ass.  I think Tennessee sees Ohio as a drug lord state and thought they hit the big one.  Sorry boys, better luck next time.

So after that time delaying stop we made it to the day lot, parked the car, and started our second day.

The second day was actually the first full blown day of the festival with much more folk inside Centeroo.  People from all directions were walking to and from checking out everything they possibly could.  There was just so much to see and literally not enough time to see it all.

The three of us, yes Matt actually joined us, walked around for a moment and decided on what our plans were for the day.  Shockingly Matt wanted a map and shade.  He had his own plans for the day and was not too thrilled about many of the afternoon acts and wanted to just hang out.  We would not see him until midnight.

I think Matt has something against hardcore hippies. I do too.  I have had enough patchouli stink to last me a lifetime.  When you are surrounded by a sea of people and that smell seems to get stronger and stronger it just gets plain annoying.  I am also tired of hearing “hey bro!” screamed from one stoner to the next.

I have realized that I am getting old.  There is no doubt about that.  I think I am tired too, this is an angry, grumpy, tired post.

I have nothing against everyone having a good time and popping as many pills as they can fit into the palm of their hands.  Let them be free, let them smoke weed, just stay the hell away from me and for the love of god quit asking me if I have have green!  I was even asked by some girl “where can I find Molly?”  With a confused face I looked at here and asked her what in the hell she was talking about.

She ran away.  Ha.

The second day of Bonnaroo not only was the first day of Bonnaroo for Matt but really the start to the festival with more artists playing throughout the day.  The rain stayed away and the sun shone making for the perfect festival atmosphere.

One of the surprise acts of the day would have to be the Belleville Outfit.  The jazzy cabaret folk act was just the type of band I was looking to discover and made a note to check them out some more once I returned home.

Santigold put on quite the show with their mix of rock and hip hop.  Al Green was one of those experiences I am glad I did not pass up.  I still can not believe I saw the Rev. Al Green live.  I have always been a fan of his older material since I was a kid so seeing him live was pretty damn outstanding.

The Beastie Boys owned the main stage Friday night pushing through a long set full of classic material as well as playing a brand new song with special guest NAS.  It was great to see the B-Boys again on the big stage doing their thing.  Mix Master Mike also put on quite the show scratching the hell out of vinyl and creating some truly unique sounds.

Justin Townes Earl was another act that I randomly walked up to having no idea what to expect.  I was blown away by his indie country mix and complete politeness to all who came to see him.  I even went so far as to grabbing one of his Midnight At The Movies LPs after the show.

French act put on one of my favorite sets on Friday with their French indie / electronica / rock display.  Having first heard of them on the Lost In Translation soundtrack I did not even realize they were playing Bonnaroo.  We all watched the whole set and I know I enjoyed every single song performed.

Public Enemy was another huge highlight of the day.  Seeing the twenty-plus year old band take the stage was something I was not sure would ever happen again.  They played strong and looked good.  The act even busted out their 1988 classic It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back from start to finish.  Wow.

I can say that I am ready for today.  I got some sleep, ate some delicious Shoney’s and am now ready to tackle day three of the Bonnaroo.

Until then, here are some more photos:

Tonight is going to be a long night mainly because of NIN playing a early morning set from 1am till 3am.  That is going to be amazing yet will drain what little energy I will have left in me but I am ok with that.

Good Friday?

Yea I guess it is a good day.  Minus my dog Zeus and his terrible gas today has been just one of those days where I sit back and think of what to do…  I have been having a rough week with personal stuff going on so I have been not doing much lately and think today should be a productive day.

I could get a tattoo.
In fact it’s been over a month since I last got some work done so this may be a winner.  Persistence Tattoo is where I go.  Ronnie and crew rule.  I really want to finish up my sleeve.  I also want a Dick Goddard tattoo…and I am dead serious.  The guy is a Cleveland icon.  Not sure if it will be portrait or not.

I could go to Half Price Books.
It’s only been 5 years if not more since I last stepped foot in one of those stores.  I know, I suck but there is not one very close to me.

I could go to a park with the dogs and take a hike.
It’s been raining non-stop today and is a wee chilly so I am pretty sure I am going to skip that idea.

I could listen to music all day.
Well so far I have been listening to a ton of music today.  I checked out the new Doves album which is amazing, listened to some rarities from Strung Out‘s latest release, rocked out to Iron Maiden, and now for whatever reason have decided to listen to Metallica‘s Live S#it Binge & Purge.  Scratch that, I got sick of it and hit the random button…

I could hit up the local mall.
The local mall scares me.  In fact this city I live in right now scares me.  The water must be contaminated.  I have lived here for over 5 years now and only am friendly with my neighbors on both sides of my house.  I do want a new hat though…  I am torn.  Every year for the last few years I get a Cleveland Indians hat even though I am not a huge fan like I used to be in the mid-nineties.  I found one I kind of like for unknown reasons…it’s bright orange and Chief Wahoo is lime green.  Yeah, I know, no team colors there.

I could make lunch.
Food is always good.

I could play video games.
I can not even tell you the last time I picked up a controller and played some games.  Maybe today is a good day for that.  My brother did challenge me to Guitar Hero: Metallica on Easter Sunday, I mean Zombie Jesus Day.  As I still have yet to play that game I still have older ones and can work on my awesome finger tapping skills.

I could organize my vinyl.
I could do that but I would rather not today.  That requires a thought process and I am staying away from that right now.

I could…stop blogging about what I could do and get off the internet and do something…
Yeah that is a good idea.  I’ll be back later folks with some stuff to keep you entertained on this good Friday.


UPDATE: (For all of you who were biting your nails wondering what I was going to do…)

So after listening to some more music I opted to make a nice lunch for the lady and I.  After watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations I decided to call my tattoo guy at Persistence Tattoo and set up an appointment for later in the evening.

Since the weather never cleared up we ventured to Half Price Books to see if we could find anything cool.  I searched through the records and found an English Beat Wha’ppen LP and also grabbed a copy of Swingers as a certain someone in my household had never seen it.  I love that movie.

Before we headed for some tattoo fun, we stopped at Roly Poly in Mayfield Heights.  If you like your sandwiches fresh and healthy check this place out.  Annie had mentioned it to me in the past and said they make wraps and sandwiches.  We split a Nut & Honey wrap that was amazing.  It was a wrap with cream cheese, raisins, sunflower seeds, cashews, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, sprouts, and honey mustard dressing.  Needless to say it was delicious.

Running late we arrived to Persistence Tattoo in Eastlake where I got a beheaded St. Valentine on my right arm.  I’ll take a picture once it heals up if any of you are interested.  I think it looks sick and had a great time while getting it.  When I say great time I am not referring to the actual tattoo as I hate getting tattooed.  The fun was had in the conversations between all of us in the shop.  Crude, rude, and hilarious.

Headed home we decided we needed a dessert before watching Swingers so we made a pit stop at Handels Ice Cream and grabbed some deliciousness.

So it was a good Friday after all.  It really was the day I needed to end the week in a positive way.