thePULSEMelissa Jane
Accomplished singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and model Melissa Jane, aka MJ, has been wowing audiences for the majority of her life. This young, talented songstress is known around the Boston area for her charismatic performing skills and her unique,soulful sound. Her award winning talents have been featured on stages in Walt Disney World, Bourbon Street in New Orleans, The Worcester DCU Center, Times Square NYC, and Fenway Park for both Bose Radio and the Boston Red Sox, just to name a few. MJ has performed with many great musicians including Marty Ballou, Jim Gwin of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Robin Thicke’s right hand guitarist Bobby Keyes, and many others. She has shared the stage with numerous talented, successful artists including Jada (Universal/Mowtown), Niia (Wyclef Jean’s label Clef Records) and Dan Sky (MTV’s Making the Band 4).
Former Berklee College of Music student Melissa Jane has made appearances on the XY.tv show “The VIP,” in commercials for Marylou’s Coffee and her photo is going to be appearing in Ben Affleck’s upcoming movie “The Town.” Her song “Turntable,” a collaboration with Boston rapper S.I.N. was featured in an official Baby Phat/Phat Farm fashion show, while her tune “Break Ur Heart” aired on Radio Disneyand another one of her songs, “Do You Remember,” co-written by Melissa Jane and Ric Poulin and produced by Ric Poulin (credits include Jada, Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block and many more) was played on the Kiss 108 (Boston’s no. 1 top 40 station) Boat Cruise with Kiss DJs Romeo and Joe Public!
Melissa has just completed her first music video with Parravision Productions for her song “My Fantasy” co-written by Melissa Jane and Chris Billias and produced by Chris Billias (credits include Jada, Dropkick Murphys, New Kids on the Block, David “Big Papi” Ortiz). MJ has had extensive training in the performing arts and her musical influences span the many eras of R&B from Aretha Franklin to Mariah Carey. She is currently working towards signing a major record deal, so be sure to keep checking melissajane.com for hot new tracks and updates on this rising star!
www.melissajane.com, www.myspace.com/LoveLifeArt, Facebook “Melissa Jane,” www.twitter.com/Melissajane828, www.youtube.com/MelissaJE
Motion City Soundtrack/WEEZER
Motion City Soundtrack are thrilled to announce that they’ll be joining Weezer this month for some select live shows! Kicking off in Chicago December 1st at the Aragon Ballroom, this run will see MCS playing dates in the Midwest and along the East Coast with the like-minded pop rockers. And directly following the Weezer dates, MCS will return to Chicago for a sold out exclusive three night stand at Lincoln Hall where the band will perform their first three albums in their entirety over three separate nights – I AM THE MOVIE on December 18th, COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY on December 19th, and EVEN IF IT KILLS ME on December 20th.
There is a lot of excitement in the Motion City Soundtrack camp as the band gears up for the release of their major label debut – MY DINOSAUR LIFE. The first single off the album ~ “Disappear” ~ is currently being streamed on the band’s web site and is available for purchase exclusively through iTunes. Stay tuned as more details and exciting happenings will be revealed very soon!
Catch MCS and Weezer on Dec. 7th at the Agganis Arena in Lowell.
In the meantime, check out www.motioncitysoundtrack.com for new music and more.
NCIS: THE OFFICIAL TV SOUNDTRACK – VOL. 2
CBS Records has released the second volume of a specially produced soundtrack for the hit television series NCIS. NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack – Vol. 2 features brand new and previously unreleased tracks from some of music’s most popular artists ~ including Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, Joss Stone, Sick Puppies, and Saosin ~ that are available exclusively on this soundtrack.
The November 3 episode of NCIS featured Bob Dylan’s “California” ~ a never-before-released track that originally dates from the Bringing It All Back Home sessions and has remained locked in the vaults until now. “California” has been newly mixed and mastered and is a true gem from one of music’s greatest artists. The remaining tracks will be placed in NCIS episodes throughout the current season, which ends in May 2010.
The soundtrack also features a brand new song from NCIS star Michael Weatherly (Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo), “Bitter And Blue,” that was recorded especially for this soundtrack. Exclusive new tracks from rising stars Sharon Little and Keaton Simons are also featured, as are Otis Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember” and Tom Lehrer’s “The Elements” that were both heard in previous episodes of NCIS and were suggested by the show’s fans in a poll conducted through the NCIS music website (ncismusic.com).
As they did with the highly successful first volume, NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack, NCIS show producers listened to dozens of submitted tracks before choosing the ones best suited for upcoming shows. As NCIS Executive Producer Shane Brennan explains, “It was really gratifying to see the incredible response to our first soundtrack, and we want fans to know that we’ve put the same care and attention into assembling this new volume as we did with the first. So many great artists have contributed fresh material to this soundtrack, and the result is truly special.”
NCIS airs Tuesdays (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network and is produced by Belisarius Productions in association with CBS Television Studios.
The complete track listing for NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack – Vol. 2 is as follows:
1. Bob Dylan California Exclusive
2. Norah Jones That’s What I Said Exclusive
3. Joss Stone Every Time I Turn Around Exclusive
4. Sick Puppies That Time Of Year Exclusive
5. Sharon Little Genie In My Dreams Exclusive
6. John Mellencamp Someday The Rains Will Fall Exclusive
7. Sheryl Crow Murder In My Heart Exclusive
8. Keaton Simons Grim Reaper Exclusive
9. Otis Redding I’ve Got Dreams To Remember
10. Michael Weatherly Bitter And Blue Exclusive
11. Saosin Move Slow Exclusive
12. Tom Lehrer The Elements
Neil Young
Dreamin’ Man, Neil Young Archives Performance Series #12, will be released December 8 (vinyl on Jan. 12), 17 years after the original release of Harvest Moon.
The album is a complete live performance of Young’s album Harvest Moon drawn from various solo acoustic shows he performed in 1992 before the actual release of the Harvest studio recording. The album was produced by Young and John Hanlon and recorded and mixed by Tim Mulligan.Dreamin’ Man Live ’92 track listing:
“Dreamin’ Man”
“Such A Woman”
“One Of These Days”
“Harvest Moon”
“You And Me”
“Hank To Hendrix”
“Unknown Legend”
“Old King”
“Natural Beauty”
“War Of Man”
In other news, Neil Young has been declared MusiCares “Person of the Year” for 2010. The Farm Aid co-founder who also raises millions of dollars annually for physically and mentally impaired children via Bridge School Concerts will be honored as MusiCares Person of the Year for 2010. Young will receive the award on January 29th, right before the Grammy Awards. Proceeds from the annual GRAMMY Week gala dinner and concert honoring Young will provide essential support for MusiCares, which ensures that music people have a place to turn to in times of financial, medical and personal need.
As part of its ongoing Archives reissue campaign with legendary singer-songwriter Neil Young, Reprise Records will release re-mastered versions of the first four of Young’s classic solo albums, 1969’s Neil Young and Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, 1970’s After the Gold Rush, and 1972’s Harvest.
Available as of November 23rd, each re-issue has been re-mastered from the original analog master tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios in Hollywood, CA.
The albums are being reissued on both vinyl and compact disc.
The individual albums are being issued on 140 gram vinyl to retail. There is also a box set of the four albums pressed on audiophile 180 gram vinyl.Vinyl will be pressed at Pallas MFG/Germany—the world’s premiere record-pressing plant.
The box sets will be individually numbered in gold foil stamp and strictly limited to 3,000 units worldwide. The four albums will also be released on 24 karat gold CDs, packaged in Gary Burden designed cardboard wallet packs. The four gold CD albums are housed in a numbered slip case, limited to 2,500 worldwide.
The box sets and gold vinyl be be available only through www.becausesoundmatters.com and www.neilyoung.com.
All four titles have already been released to retail on standard CDs, housed in jewel boxes.
Photos courtesy of Steve Babineau.
Nico Vega 
L.A. buzz band Nico Vega is currently on a headlining tour, including a homecoming Halloween show at Club Nokia with rockers Chevelle, before jumping on tour with Inward Eye, and Neon Trees.
The band (singer Aja Volkman, guitarist Rich Koehler and drummer Dan Epand) has made a name for itself thanks in part to its blistering and in-your-face live show highlighted by dynamic frontwoman Aja Volkman’s volatile stage presence. Filter described the band as “a musical, mythical beast” while 944 Magazine heralded them as a “brutal love triangle of rock, funk and blues” and congratulated the trio for its “wide musical scope, which stretches from stomach-scraping soul to unrelenting rage.” The NY Post called Aja “insanely spirited,” comparing her to Janis Joplin and Karen O.
Having worked with producers Linda Perry (Pink, Gwen Stefani) and Tim Edgar (Earl Greyhound), and mixer Tchad Blake (Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Peter Gabriel), Nico Vega channels a classic swagger a la Led Zeppelin and adds soaring, soulful vocals somewhere between Fiona Apple and PJ Harvey.
Over the summer the band’s song “Beast” was featured in the horror film The Collector and now Aja is preparing to leap headfirst onto the silver screen herself, making her acting debut co-starring in the upcoming Dane Cook movie Answers To Nothing where her shockingly gritty scenes will definitely not be forgotten anytime soon. Aja will play Tara, the mistress who is also a musician, and Nico Vega will sport cameos in the movie.
Catch Nico Vega on Tour with Inward Eye/Neon Trees on 12/10 at TT The Bears in Cambridge
NORIEGA
Upstart label Viable Records is proud to announce the group’s first release, Noriega’s Desolo, on December 8. Boasting members of Los Angeles buzzband Black Sheep Wall, Noriega has also launched pre-orders for the band’s debut EP and posted “Life By Myself” from the five-track effort; both are available at www.myspace.com/noriegaband and www.viablerecords.com.
Melding the heaviest of the doom bands with licks reminiscent of pseudo-jazz and combining hardcore riffing with meaningful imagery and lyrical poetry, all in tandem with originality Black Sheep Wall only briefly displayed, Noriega should be a welcome addition to the extreme metal world years after the worlds of metal and hardcore started to combine, evolve, branch, and inspire.
“We all went through Daniel’s passing,” Thompson says of the recent passing of Admiral Angry’s Daniel Kraus ~ one of the band’s collective close friends ~ during the writing process of Desolo. “It’s definitely a negative energy on the album for that reason among many others. But, we don’t want it to be saying it’s hopeless. Not only with the lyrics, but also with the music, there’s definitely an awkward vibe [for the band], but we wrote these songs in context to a series of less than ideal circumstances; like you don’t relate to anyone, that you’re more alone than you will ever realize. That’s what we tried to do with these songs.”
Tying into those feelings are the appearance of Admiral Angry vocalist Chris Lindblad on two of the tracks on Desolo including the 12-minute EP-closer “Ballacaust.”
Noriega will make its live debut in its current incarnation Thursday, Oct. 29 in Los Angeles at Relax Ba alongside Struck By Lightning (ex-members of Mouth of the Architect), Danger Invites Rescue, and Weight. The band also plans on holding a record release show closer to the release date of Desolo and is mapping out tentative touring plans.
For more info on Viable Records, visit www.viablerecords.com ~ for more on Noriega, check out
www.myspace.com/noriegaband.
OCC ROCKS
OCC Rocks, the classic rock compilation put together by Paul Sr., head of the Orange County Chopper custom motorcycle brand and star of TLC’s American Chopper, is available everywhere now! There is a specially-priced limited deluxe edition available at Walmart, featuring a bonus disc, downloadable content, and an OCC tattoo.
Album art features the custom bike for OCC: The Band, which was the subject of the American Chopper episode that aired on October 29.
OCC Rocks includes songs by the likes of Mountain, Eddie Money, Rick Derringer and Kansas,
with Paul Sr. singing on OCC: The Band’s rendition of “Summertime Blues”
OCC ROCKS Track listing:
1. MOUNTAIN ~ “MISSISSIPPI QUEEN”
2. EDDIE MONEY ~ “TWO TICKETS TO PARADISE”
3. THE OCC BAND (F/. PAUL TEUTUL SR.) ~ “SUMMERTIME BLUES”
4. MOTT THE HOOPLE ~ “SWEET JANE”
5. RICK DERRINGER ~ “ROCK & ROLL, HOOCHIE KOO”
6. BLUE OYSTER CULT ~ “BURNIN’ FOR YOU”
7. THE OCC BAND (F/. BUMBLEFOOT) ~ “COLD SWEAT”
8. TOTO ~ “HOLD THE LINE”
9. TED NUGENT ~ “CAT SCRATCH FEVER”
10. GUESS WHO ~ “AMERICAN WOMAN”
11. THE OCC BAND ~ “HIT AND RUN”
12. KANSAS ~ “CARRY ON WAYWARD SON”
13. THE OUTLAWS ~ “GREEN GRASS & HIGH TIDES”
14. MOLLY HATCHET ~ “FLIRTIN’ WITH DISASTER”
15. THE OCC BAND ~ “PUSHIN’ TOO HARD”
16. JUDAS PRIEST ~ “YOU’VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING”
17. DEATH VALLEY SCREAMERS ~ “BONNIE AND CLYDE”
You can download and post a FREE MP3 of OCC: The Band’s rendition of “Summertime Blues” featuring Paul Sr. singing here: release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=OmoFfyfUMN7lRKjifEaVUj4whGQmKF_s&UserName=Unknown
Watch the crew building a custom bike dedicated to OCC Rocks @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv3SSuPiNW8
www.orangecountychoppers.com, tlc.discovery.com/tv/american-chopper, myspace.com/orangecountychoppers, myspace.com/occtheband
ORLA FALLON
Singer/harpist Orla Fallon (formerly of Celtic Women) has just released Distant Shore on Nashville’s Green Hill Music and EMI; the album was produced by Eoghan O’Neill (pronounced: Owen) and Dan Shea (who, with John Bettis, wrote the title track “Distant Shore”). O’Neill is a founding member of the seminal Irish folk-rock band Moving Hearts, and was Musical Director of Riverdance-The Show. For the past five years O’Neill has shared the world stage with Orla as Celtic Woman’s Musical Director and bassist. Shea, a multi-platinum American producer, whose long resume of hit pop productions includes tracks by Mariah Carey, Carlos Santana, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Martina McBride, produced and/or co-produced six tracks on Distant Shore.
Orla Fallon toured the world as a soloist in the phenomenally popular performing troupe Celtic Woman for four years and recorded with them the three albums which held a record-setting 95 consecutive weeks at the No. 1 position on the Billboard World Music Albums chart. During Fallon’s four years in the group, Celtic Woman sold more than 4 million CDs and DVDs, played seven US tours, and performed for more than 800,000 people. Meanwhile, the three Celtic Woman PBS Specials have aired more than 13,658 times on 685 PBS stations across the country, covering 97% of US television households. Fallon’s first solo album, The Water Is Wide, debuted on that chart in the Top 10 upon its U.S. release in 2006.
About the team who helped make the new album a reality, Fallon effuses, “I am so very fortunate to have worked with such amazing people on both sides of the Atlantic. I am so excited about this record as I think we have done a wonderful job fusing my Celtic roots with the sounds of the American heartland.
The album was recorded at the famed Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin and at Nashville’s Dark Horse Studios ~ both recording facilities have hosted such platinum starts as U2, The Chieftains, Faith Hill, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Taylor Swift, Big and Rich, and Martina McBride.
Fallon, who had Worcester audiences spellbound during her November 15 performance at The Hanover Theatre, will be a special guest star on Beautiful World, the upcoming pledge drive concert of platinum-selling crossover instrumental songwriter and pianist Jim Brickman. She will also sing on Brickman’s holiday CD release (sold only at Target). Says Brickman, “I just love Orla. She is so talented and such a multi-dimentional artist. I am very excited to be working so closely with her as she develops her own solo career.”
www.orlafallon.com and myspace.com/orlafallonofficial
PICTURE ME BROKEN
The 2009 winners of MTV’s VMA Best Breakout Bay Area Band, Picture Me Broken, comprised of teenagers hailing from Redwood City, CA, have just won Pac Sun’s Battle of the Bands, and snatched-up the coveted opening slot for Capitol Records’ SOASIN on November 8 at the historic Fillmore Theater in San Francisco.
This is a huge honor for the upstart members of Picture Me Broken as the Fillmore’s stage has been graced with rock legends such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane and The Doors, not to mention Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band fame, who happens to be the father of the Picture Me Broken’s female lead singer Layla Brooklyn Allman. Now Layla is keeping the Fillmore name in the family with this coveted performance on the very same stage her father performed on back in 1971. Interesting side note: The Allman Brothers recorded their breakthrough album at Fillmore East at the Fillmore’s sister venue in NYC also in 1971. The album is #49 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 list of Greatest Albums of All Time.
Pac Sun is also taking the Battle of Bands competition up another notch by giving the 35 local band finalists a shot to earn a performing gig on the action sports and music channel Fuel TV.
The highly-motivated four members of Picture Me Broken recently self-released their new EP Dearest (I’m So Sorry), which also is the title of the band’s first single. They also scored a Hollywood Music in Media Award (HMMA) nomination for the single in the Rock category. The HMMA’s will be held on Thursday November, 19 at The Highlands in the Kodak Theatre Complex in Hollywood.
Pure Volume’s #1 downloaded track “Dearest (I’m So Sorry)” also breathes life into the college radio circuit reaching #2 and climbing on Washington State University’s KZUU Loud Rock Radio.
Though enthusiasm and raw energy empower Layla Brooklyn Allman, as well as lead guitarist Nick Loiacono, bassist Austin Dunn and drummer Connor Lung, each opportunity they earn boils down to another well-deserved stepping stone for this young, talented and loudly buzzing rock band.
www.myspace.com/picturemebroken
SKINLAB
Skinlab are announcing the launch of three new contests shortly ~ more details will be available soon. The band recently released The Scars Between Us on Stand And Deliver Records. Of Scars, their first new work in several years, Fangoria Magazine proclaimed, “…hardcore fans will likely agree that The Scars Between Us was worth the wait. The album grooves hard with a nice fuzz and a low end kick in the ass.”
Contest # 3 ~ Metal Hammer starts on December 7th, and ends on January 8th. The prize pack is a Jackson Guitar and The Scars Between Us. On contest start date head to www.metalhammer.co.uk/competitions/.
www.myspace.com/skinlab
SKY TELLS ALL
Fueled by melodic pop hooks and armed with muscular guitar lines informed by a youthful diet of punk and hardcore, Sky Tells All bring radio hits to the pit.
Vocalist Josh remarks, “When we first started we were screamo, but as we grew together the sound kept slowly getting more and more poppy, when we recorded our new EP Go Ahead You Try It we decided to cut out all of the screaming. I think it fits who we are best, two years ago we had fun as a screamo band, now we have way more fun playing the poppier material.”
The first act to be signed to famed Boxer Roy Jones Jr’s rock label, the band has a chance encounter to thank for getting them together with Jones. Josh recalls, “We were a club one night and Roy happened to own it or have a stake in it. I was starstruck but I approached him and told him we were in a band and playing with The Ataris a few nights later and asked if he could check us out. He politely said yes but I didn’t really expect to see him there. He was there and right after we performed he left without a word, we thought he hated it but a few days later he called Blake (guitar, vocals) and we had an impromptu meeting where he expressed interest in working with us.”
Yet another chance encounter had brought the band members together: Josh tells us, “I met Brian (guitar) while I was living in Maryland but on tour with my old band. I also met Blake and Alec when we played Pensacola on tour as well. I moved to Pensacola some time later and ended up working in Walmart with Alec and we recognized each other. He told me that they started a new band and I should come and jam. At that point I decided to quit music but wanted to have some fun and before I knew it we were a band.”
On the national front, the band has done extensive touring including a thirty date tour this past fall and shows with the likes of We The Kings, Hit The Lights, A Day To Remember, Metro Station, The Academy Is and Emery. But their strangest brush with celebrity came recently when the band rented out a studio space in L.A. to practice for their show at The Viper Room. Josh shared, “The Wallflowers were practicing in the next room over. We ended up hanging out and talking for a little while. They might end up in the DVD we are releasing with the EP.”
The band will be announcing a tour soon, so stay tuned at www.myspace.com/skytellsall.
The New Regime
We’ve been warned. “Things are about to get MANIC,” says Rock Sound magazine.
What’s behind that declaration? The New Regime, the “true solo project” of current Nine Inch Nails and former Lostprophets drummer Ilan Rubin. No mere time-keeper, the adept multi-instrumentalist wrote and recorded every note of bass, drums, guitar, piano and vocals on The New Regime’s 2008 debut, Coup (Command! Music).
Feeling energized by the new crop of fans he’s collected due to Nine Inch Nails’ recently concluded “Wave Goodbye” tour, Rubin has put together a special limited edition deluxe package of Coup now available exclusively on the band’s website (www.thenewregimemusic.com). For the low price of $45, fans will get a 180 gram vinyl, the CD, a DVD featuring live performances and an interview with Rubin, a 16-page full color 12” x 12” booklet, and an exclusive website link to download instrumental mixes from The New Regime’s website. All 1,000 limited edition copies will also be hand-numbered and signed by Rubin. A stand alone digipak CD will also be available on the band’s website for $7.
In a true sign of support for his new band member, Trent Reznor is encouraging his hardcore fans to get to know The New Regime by offering a free download of the album in its entirety on NIN.com the same day as COUP’s release. Nine Inch Nails’ camp is also now hosting the download on a direct link, thenewregime.nin.com.
What can fans expect from The New Regime? As praised in a Kerrang! magazine “4-K!” album review, the songs of Coup “…are presented with such wonderfully bombastic flourishes it sweeps you along like the most of lethal rip tides. They can hardly be delusions of grandeur when they’re so accomplished and self assured.” And Spinner.com/AOL concluded about RUBIN: “It looks as though the budding rock star has a long musical career ahead of him.”
Accomplished beyond his years, Rubin has played professionally since the age of nine. Opening Woodstock ’99 with his first band, F.o.N., a then eleven-year old Rubin found his way into the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest person to play the historic festival. He went on to drum for Denver Harbor (Universal), completing his high school degree while touring the country in a van. Next for the teenager was a stint with Lostprophets, playing on Liberation Transmission, the band’s third album, which debuted at #1 on the U.K. album charts. In those three years alone, Rubin had played for sold-out crowds and festivals all over the world—including Download, Reading/Leeds, Rock am Ring/Park, Fuji Rock, Summer Sonic, V Festival and many others. In late 2008, Trent Reznor invited Rubin to join Nine Inch Nails after being “blown away” by his performance at the Reading/Leeds Festival in 2007. Rubin went on to blow the rest of the band away in November when he was asked to rehearse with Nine Inch Nails for their “Lights InThe Sky” tour, following Josh Freese’s departure.
The New Regime was born in between writing and recording the latest Lostprophets album and performing a string of sporadic tour dates. “All of the material was written and recorded on Lostprophets downtime,” Rubin explains, “and to be honest, I had never really sung before.” After acquainting himself with the role of singer, he wrote and recorded seven songs in his San Diego, CA garage. “I started playing it for people—not telling them who it was—and started getting some really positive feedback. So I decided to continue with it.” The aura of mysterious genesis is a concept Rubin planned quite thoroughly. “I wanted people to listen to it and make up their minds based on the music—not who it was by, or what band I’m in,” he says.
An equally enigmatic viral video followed (which can be seen on the band’s YouTube channel), fusing The New Regime’s music with imagery of protest, uprising, urgency and change. Quickly spreading throughout various music websites and blogs, The New Regime received major radio and press attention within a week of the video’s release. With several more songs in hand, Coup became a reality. Drawing his influence from the greats ~ The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Queen, to name a few ~ Rubin set out to create an eclectic, yet thematically dark album. Coup feels much like a procession, each song marching forward, inviting all who listen to join in its crusade.
Ever evolving, Rubin’s vision is not obscure: “All the songs on the album are there for a reason. I never want to be categorized or pigeonholed into a sound, where if I did something different, a fan base would feel abandoned.” It is this ideology that assures the music is limited only by the imaginative inventiveness of its creator, and that the world will be better off under the watchful eye of The New Regime.
www.thenewregimemusic.com
www.myspace.com/thenewregime
www.youtube.com/user/thenewregimeVIDS
www.twitter.com/ilanrubin
www.facebook.com/thenewregime
Photo by Hadas
THE RESURRECTION SORROW
Holding for the right time to strike requires discipline. The heavy metal tank known as The Resurrection Sorrow has been idling for some time ~ ominously. All the while being shovel fed swamp water and coffin dirt, preparing its attack.
Using stone-heavy handed riffing, barbaric percussive destruction and brooding, occult-inspired vocals, TRS boast catchy hooks and infectious grooves not easily ignored. With homage being paid to the oracles of 1970s England, the Bay Area of the 1980s and those of 1990s Seattle and American swamplands, the band has taken the torch from its predecessors and are just taking it further into the cave.
The New York City-based unit features a cast of musicians who have collectively spent time in NYC acts Murphy’s Law, Tides Within, After Dark, Malstrom, Supervillain and more, bringing years of both studio and on-stage expertise to the table. The Resurrection Sorrow’s self-released debut full-length Hour of the Wolf was recorded by veteran NYC engineer Joe Hogan (Nebula, The Atomic Bitchwax) and features intense artwork by Seldon Hunt (Pelican, Sunn O), Made out of Babies).
In celebration of this album’s unveiling, the band will play a record release show on November 21st and Brooklyn’s Trash Bar alongside Seventh Void (featuring Johnny Kelly and Kenny Hickey from Type-O Negative and Danzig), as part of the Second Annual Trash Bar Music and Arts Festival.
www.resurrectionsorrow.com
www.myspace.com/resurrectionsorrow
The Summer Set
Scottsdale, Arizona’s The Summer Set is here to keep the warm weather days going all year long with their sunny pop-punk songs that had the audience on its feet when the band rocked Harper’s Ferry on October 28. The band formed in 2007, when brothers Stephen and John Gomez, still in high school at the time, decided to start a band with local friends Brian Dales, Jess Bowen and Josh Montgomery. Before they even graduated, the young band self-released their first two EPS and sold over 20,000 copies of both to date. The Summer Set’s music has quickly created a large following for this young band with over 7.5 million plays and over 2 million profile views on MySpace.
The band’s first full length album, Love Like This (Razor & Tie), hit stores on October 13th. Produced by Matt Grabe (The Maine, A Rocket to the Moon), the album has additional production by Matt Squire (3OH!3, Taking Back Sunday, Panic at the Disco) and also features a track co-written with Dave Katz and Sam Hollander (Metro Station, Boys Like Girls, and Gym Class Heroes). The infectious sound of The Summer Set’s power hooks, swirling synth lines, and catchy lyrics is apparent on the first single “Chelsea,” which is currently available on iTunes.
The Summer Set has toured with bands including Sing It Loud, We Shot The Moon, Everybody Else, Mercy Mercedes, The Pink Spiders.
www.myspace.com/thesummerset
www.facebook.com/thesummerset
THEM CROOKED VULTURES
Them Crooked Vultures ~ aka Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones ~ released its eponymous debut album in the United States and Canada on DGC/Interscope Records in November.
The self-produced 13-song record will feature the debut of the studio versions of the material Them Crooked Vultures unveiled at its August 9 debut at Chicago’s Cabaret Metro and played on a first series of shows throughout a handful of UK and European cities and portions of the eastern U.S., wrapping up with an October 15 appearance at New York’s Roseland Ballroom.
Additional shows are being announced in the wake of the album’s release, including but not necessarily limited to December dates in the UK and Europe and a January trip to Australia and New Zealand.
The complete track listing of Them Crooked Vultures is as follows:
No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
Mind Eraser, No Chaser
New Fang
Dead End Friends
Elephants
Scumbag Blues
Bandoliers
Reptiles
Interlude With Ludes
Warsaw or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up
Caligulove
Gunman
Spinning In Daffodils
For further information, updates, dates, etc., check www.themcrookedvultures.com.
WALKEN
Born within the eclectic Bay Area music scene, San Francisco’s Walken seamlessly combine various genres and styles, resulting in a diverse blend of metallic exploration and energetic angst.
Bearing two members of area musical experimentalists Grayceon, Walken have been constantly expelling their unique style of metal for the past 10 years. Comprised of a tight-knit crew who converged to create heavy blues-inspired metal paired with classical melodies, WALKEN boast a high-octane, sporadic, metallic sound that reaches out to punk, metal and straight-up rock & roll fans abroad.
Recorded in five days at The Atomic Garden by Jack Shirley (Grayceon, Ghostlimb, Light This City), Walken is the first full-length by the band’s newly revamped four-piece lineup. The album bears artwork by Mr. Ben Venom, their logo designed by famed artist Christophe Szpajdel (Emperor, Abigail Williams). The band’s content deals with life and dealing with all the struggles that arise and trying to find some sort of personal peace within the madness; human basics, not some excessive concept album.
“I better make sure I’m on the toilet when I listen to any of this bands future
releases, because I might shit myself” – Heartattack
“Walken raise their fists at the crossroads of hardcore punk and metal… With bass strings
so loosely strung that you can hear ’em clatter and manly screamo vocals, the band’s
raw thrashing is heavily indebted to very early Bay Area metal bands such as Metallica, Exodus
and Testament, but with unexpected bluesiness in the riff department.” – Aquarius Records
www.walkenroll.com
www.myspace.com/walken
WYCLEF
Wyclef Jean returns to his hip-hop roots and has released the gritty album DJ Drama Presents Wyclef Jean AKA Toussaint St. Jean “From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion,” a collaboration with DJ Drama to be released on Carnival House via Megaforce/RED. The EP also features Eve, Timbaland, Maino, Cyndi Lauper, Lil Kim, among others.
AOL Spinner is streaming the album in full. Check it out here: www.spinner.com/new-releases#/14
View Wyclef’s Billboard Mixtape feature, included is the song “Warriors Anthem”
www.billboard.com/search/?keyword=wyclef#/news/song-premiere-wyclef-jean-s-warrior-s-anthem-1004040772.story
Toussaint St. Jean, the title character of Wyclef’s new EP, is a persona suggested to Wyclef by his friend and collaborator T.I. The character Toussaint is loosely based on the 18th-century Haitian revolutionary hero, Toussaint L’Ouverture, a figure who brought Haiti to significance on the international stage. Wyclef, who is originally from Haiti, inhabits the role of Toussaint and recreates himself in the spirit of a noble fighter, a man who says exactly what is on his mind. Toussaint’s rhymes hit hard, in a “militant style,” and make his words felt — and remembered.
Wyclef views the message of “Toussaint St. Jean” as “not everything that appears bad is really bad, because the real bad men move in silence. So be careful what you emulate, because it’s could get you six feet deep. If you don’t see me with a gun, it doesn’t mean that the guy with the gun is badder than me. I’ve been in those communities, but you’ve got to rise past that world.” And, as always with Wyclef, there’s more to the story than meets the eye. “Toussaint St. Jean” represents just the first step on the road to another album he intends to release in 2010 titled simply “wyclefjean.” The album will reflect a three-dimensional portrait of an artist for whom the gritty sagas of Toussaint St. Jean are just one part.
