Rock Music

Review by kev rowland — No-Man are again a duo, with just a few guests, and there cannot be many bands that have been going fifteen years let alone recording while one of the members is also in a slightly more well-known outfit. Tim Bowness provides the vocals, while Steve Wilson provides all of the instruments and if anyone thinks that this might just sound anything like Porcupine Tree are very much mistaken. This is an album that sees the band really push Tim's vocals to the front, while the music swirls, moves and shifts behind. It is almost New Age at times but there is always a slight hint of menace that drives away the saccharine. It becomes an album that is timeless, ageless, modern yet harkening back to the Seventies. There are Floydian touches but no-one could ever think that they are copyists. There can be just a gentle piano chord, followed by a line of sung melody. There are songs that are heart-achingly beautiful that if edited might even stand a chance in the charts. It is almost as if their previous albums have been leading up to this, as if Steven has managed to exorcise heavier demons with Porcupine Tree and here has come home to provide a stark view of what can be done. If these guys were designers then they would be minimalist, of that there is no doubt. This is not an album to jump into, you must be prepared to sit back and let it all wash over you (oh and don't turn up the volume at the end of "Things I Want To Tell You" like I did, otherwise you will jump out of your skin when the next song starts). Superb. Originally appeared in Feedback #73, Jun 03

Shinedown have released a video for their track I’ll Follow You. View it below. It’s taken from their fourth album, Amaryllis, which came out last year but still seems to be delivering the good for Brent Smith and co. They recently announced a US tour alongside Papa Roach, Skillet, In This Moment and We As Human, which kicks off in mid-August in Cleveland, Ohio, and ends a month later in Sacramento, California.

Photo by Dean Snowden for KISSONLINE. Here's KISS with the huge crowd at tonight's show at Villa Manin in Codroipa - Udine, Italy.

www.youtube.comToday In KISStory - June 18, 1983: Before an estimated crowd of 137,000 at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, KISS perform to the largest crowd of their career. This was one of three shows. These shows were the first South American shows for the band and also the last they would perform in makeup until the Reunion Tour in 1996. The show was recorded and broadcast on TV and radio by Globo TV. Set List: Creatures Of The Night / Detroit Rock City / Cold Gin / Calling Dr. Love / Firehouse / I Want You / I Love It Loud / War Machine / Love Gun / God Of Thunder / I Still Love You / Black Diamond / Strutter / Rock And Roll All Nite

Stream of consciousness: Bruce Springsteen E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren needs all of the 30 guitars he takes on stage with him because no one knows what Bruce Springsteen will decide to perform next. The Boss always writes a set list but he never ever follows it, says Lofgren. He explains: “Sometimes he’ll change the first song on the way to the stage because he hears the roar of the crowd and gets a better idea. All night long he’s getting better ideas. He’s a master of stream of consciousness – he’s always challenging himself to make each show unique, something you’ll never see again.” [Telegraph] Download festival promoter Andy Copping hasn’t given up hope of a reunited Led Zeppelin headlining a future Donington event. He says: “You can’t rule any bands at that level out. Led Zep, the original lineup of Guns n’Roses – I’d love to get them.” He says he’s close to confirming next year‘s headliners, although he won’t name them. Van Halen remains on his wanted list too: “I’d love to get them, but who knows when?” he says. “Maybe one year it’ll happen. I live in hope.” [NME] Pink Floyd have released their entire back-catalogue on Spotify after saying they’d do so on once Wish You Were Here had been streamed one million times. The target figure was reached in four days. Spotify boss Ken Parks says: “It’s a great day for fans of prog rock, but it’s also a great day for younger fans who have yet to be really turned on to the magic of Floyd. That’s a lot of what this is about: bringing a new generation of fans to one of the biggest and most iconic bands in the world.” Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme thought he was the victim of a wind-up when Elton John asked if he could appear on new album …Like Clockwork. Bassist Mikey Shoes Shuman says: “Josh got the call from Elton out of the blue and didn’t believe it was him. We couldn’t believe it either. And now Elton is our friend, which is great.” [MTV] A Jimi Hendrix poster from 1968 has sold on eBay for $4000. The iconic image was created by artist John Van Hamersveld to promote a Los Angeles concert also starring Soft Machine, the Electric Flag and Blue Cheer, and later became a pop art icon. The poster was sold complete with pin and staple holes. Mike Portnoy admits he’s sad to leave Adrenaline Mob after he played his last show with the band in Brazil at the weekend. He recently explained scheduling problems with his new outfit The Winery Dogs meant it wasn’t possible for him to commit to Adrenaline Mob duties. His final gig included guest spots with Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens and Lzzy Hale. Portnoy says: “Amazing final show – maybe one of the best we ever had. Sad to see this chapter end. I hope some day down the road our schedules can re-align and we can make some more magic together.” Black Star Riders frontman Ricky Warwick has suggested plans for new material by his former band The Almighty have come unstuck. He explains: “There’s been talk of reissuing some of the albums to celebrate the 25th anniversary. We’ve been approached to record some extra tracks – when we asked for a budget, it wasn’t what we wanted. The thing is, it was never easy with The Almighty. We were just one of those groups where everything was a struggle; I can’t explain why.” [Jam] A lock of Mick Jagger‘s hair and handwritten David Bowie lyrics of Jean Genie are amongst a range of rock memorabilia items up for auction by Bonham’s on July 3. The firm thinks the hair will go for up to £2000 while the lyrics will fetch up to £15,000. Other items in the auction include animation drawings from Pink Floyd’s The Wall movie, aetter from Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, John Entwistle handwritten sleeve notes, a scarf worn on sta

Atlanta’s Music Midtown returned in 2011 with an extremely successful single-day festival led by Coldplay and The Black Keys after a lengthy hiatus in the mid-2000s that left a huge hole in the Atlanta summer music calendar for several years. Last year, organizers upped the ante and were able to sell out 50,000 tickets. While this year’s edition remains a two day affair, the fest has added a third stage. Check out the full lineup below including LMB favorites like Phoenix, Cake, North Mississippi Allstars, Queens of the Stone Age, The Black Lips and More. Also, you can visit Music Midtown’s site here. FRIDAY, SEPT. 20 Journey Jane’s Addiction 2 Chainz Phoenix Cake North Mississippi Allstars The Mowgli’s Drivin N Cryin SATURDAY, SEPT. 21 Red Hot Chili Peppers Queens of the Stone Age Imagine Dragons Weezer Kendrick Lamar Arctic Monkeys Yeah Yeah Yeahs Tegan and Sara The Black Lips Reignwolf The Neighbourhood ZZ Ward Mona Capital Cities Tickets for Music Midtown 2013 are $40 for Sept. 20, $65 for Sept. 21 and $90 for a two-day ticket. After Aug. 1, prices will increase to $50 for Sept. 20, $75 for Sept. 21 and $110 for a two-day ticket. Fans can purchase beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday through all Ticketmaster outlets.

Review by VOTOMS — Everybody knows (this is nowhere"... just kidding) that Wish You Were Here is a wonderful album. I rate it 4/5 stars, but I will tell you the "dark side of the wish", the dark star that won't shine and make it a fullstar (5/5) masterpiece here in my collection. After Dark Side of The Moon, the awesome and one of the most influential albums of the progressive music (maybe a little bit overrated), this is where Pink Floyd found themselves: believing more in the equalization, effects and... believing more in the Pink Floyd name than in their own music. Currently the #4 at the Top Prog Albums here. Sorry, but I just can't understand this. I love David Gilmour guitar playing. But I think this album is a little bit... exageratted. And god knows how it could be a way better. We know it too. We know Animals. Shine On Your Crazy Diamond (both tracks) is something like a hymn. I like it. But after many years living and learning with Pink Floyd albums, I really can't rate it a 5 star song. The songwriting at this album is a formula. It works, but most of the spacey parts are just formula. They could write 500 different albums with similar track and junkie fans would rate it 5/5. Have A Cigar is the worst track, I have that feeling that "I had heard it before" at my first listening. It's a boring track for me. It's not like Gentle Giant formula, that I always find something new. This is like, ah, another pink floyd song, cool. The main track, Wish You Were Here, it's awesome, but I can't listen to this song anymore. Every radio station plays, every guitar boy on the streets or bars are playing this one. Welcome to the machine is the most... 'cyberpunk' track, it's my favorite, but without the effects, it would be very simpleton. Great album. Have fun.

The best way to describe Saturday night’s Ariel Pink show at Tipitina’s would be to say that it was analagous to a musical gumbo. You take all the odds and ends left over from the week and throw them in a pot, and surprisingly enough when the water starts to simmer you have something amazing. There were three rather unique bands in the pot that night. First up was the Hong Kong-based Purple Pilgrims, a sister duo act that consisted of Clementine and Valentine Nixon. The two sat on the stage and sang haunting folksy melodies that were layered with even more haunting guitar ambience. At one point during their set I thought I was in a David Lynch film – it was surreal to say the least. Perfect bedtime music, but the next act would wake you up immediately. Next up was the one man band Kirin J. Callinan hailing from Australia, who was all over the place, literally. Centered around almost a dozen guitar petals, Kirin managed to give the appearance of a full band. He’s very odd and takes a bit to get into, but after listening to his first few tracks you could see his vision appearing right before your eyes. Heavily influenced by German Industrial music and a sprinkle of Manson, Kirin won over the audience and left them wanting more. It’s always funny when a lead singer hits the stage and you can tell right off-the-bat what type of music you’ll be hearing. While LA based Ariel Pink’s catalogue is vast and each album different than the last, there has always been a 70′s glam sensibility to his songs. One thing you don’t get on the albums that you clearly do on stage is a complex and utter sensee of passion. Each song comes across as if it were part of his soul that he is sharing. The set was a well-rounded one composed of material from practically his whole catalog. Last year’s Mature Themes had a few more tracks played but not enough to make the set feel weighted in any way. A nice bonus to the evening was live video mixing by Tim Hix, while the band played, meaning each night you get a completely different visual set. Personal highlights for me included “Bright Lit Blue Skies,” “Mature Themes,” ”Only in My Dreams” (after which he introduced the band), and “Round and Round.” The new track “Hang on to Your Life” fit well with the rest of the set and flowed nicely into “L’estat.” Crowd favorite “Baby” harkened back to my earlier comments of that raw emotion. It was also nice to see Ariel’s mom at the show who just so happened to live here in New Orleans. She was a riot and professed her love for Kirin. So after all those ingredientes settles, we had on amazing pot of “Gumbo” Saturday night. SETLIST: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti @ Tipitina’s Uptown | SATURDAY, JUNE 15TH, 2013 Trepanated Earth Bright Lit Blue Skies Interesting Results Want Me Kinski Assassin Mature Themes Only In My Dreams Hang on to Your Life L’estat Reminiscences Round and Round Menopause Man Strangest Fries Gray Sunset Baby Nostradamus & Me

Review by Second Life Syndrome — "The Ghost Moon Orchestra" was more or less my introduction to this prog folk band, Mostly Autumn. I've been really getting into prog folk lately, as I've been enjoying Dead Can Dance, Blackmore's Night, and I've always loved Colin Masson's work. The thing I love about prog folk is that you never know what you'll get: It's all unpredictable seeing as there are many kinds of "folk" music.Mostly Autumn represents my favorite type of folk: Their music is rather European in its folksy style, so their music contains all sorts of violins, bagpipes, flutes, and ethereal keys. On top of that, Olivia can sing like an angel, so that helps their case even more. I do prefer her vocals over that of Bryan Josh, the male vocalist. He has an interesting, breathy voice that I like, but I don't think 90% of singers out there could hold a candle to Olivia.All of that being said, this album in particular is sweeping, climactic, soothing, and wispy all at the same time. The soaring symphonics always goad me into the music, while the Colin Masson-ish guitar work feeds my nostalgia. I especially liked the title track, "Tennyson Mansion", and "Top of the World". It seems that Mostly Autumn wears their poetic influences on their sleeves, but I can't help but wonder if The Carpenters were an influence here as well. Something I can't put my finger on tells me that. Either way, this is a great album that really lives up to its title, and it also rather handily earns 4 stars.

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