IPO Update

The lineup for the Los Angeles edition of the International Pop Overthrow has been announced. Unfortunately, there is no big name act this year that stood out like Owsley did last year. The biggest name was Orange County's own Scarlet Crush, who had a song put in decent rotation on the old 95.9 FM a few years ago before the station went Spanish. But I know a few of us have already seen them (they opened for Sloan at the Coach House four years ago), and they play on a Wednesday night. So I'll pass. The "controversial" Maple Mars plays on the first Friday of the fesitval (so you know where Dan's going to be), and that's about it. (There is a group called Giant that plays the final Friday, but I'm thinking it's a safe bet to say it's not the same Giant that we all know from the 80's and 90's). I'm not even sure what band Robbie Rist is going to be in this year. Of course, I'll still keep my eyes open for any last minute additions, but it doesn't look too good, with the gigs starting a month ago.

However, Manowar clones Hammerfall is playing in L.A. on August 30th. Who wants to go? :)

Disciple Rocks

Alright folks, it's time to put away the candy shop pop and start bangin' your head...Disciple's back!

I discovered these guys from Tennessee in 1998 when they played at a small hard-core music festival. A year later they released a full length album on their own, "This Might Sting a Little." It's still one of my favorite albums of all time. From start to finish they serve up fast, loud, in-your-face, I-don't-care-if-you-don't-like-it metal, all the while pounding into your head that Christ died for you. Very effective. Then they fell of my radar. I went to every known website for them...nothing. I've searched Google a thousand times...nothing. Then just two days ago a friend gave me an early birthday present: The new Disciple album!


Turns out the guys have been making music all along...they just never told me about it...the downside of being an indy band. Well this time around they got major label backing from S/R/E Records. Disciple still brings the heavy riffs, otherworldly screams courtesy of singer Kevin Young and intelligent writing that gives you something to think about. This time around they show a more radio-friendly, pop side (Effects of a major label? No doubt), but rest assured there's more than enough material to make your neck hurt. If you listen to the short clips that most online retailers give you, it's of the "friendly" parts (another label decision?), but stick around to the end and you'll be rewarded with a snippet of metallic blis.

They give you the energy of the old Metallica, with some of the new sound Metallica, but with one key ingredient missing in that bands latest release...guitar solo's! Brad Noah certainly knows how to get the job done, delivering a guitar smack down you won't believe. He's not Kirk Hammett in the solo department, but he can hang with Hetfield down low. My advice, buy this album...if you don't like it, I'll buy it back from you. With all the power pop fans on this site, you might like it just the way it is. If it's too smily for you (Dave) get "This Might Sting A Little", and you just might find yourself yelling about Jesus too!

FYI, the new album was produced by Travis Wyrick, who's taken care of business for Christian groups like P.O.D, Pillar, and Toby Mac.

RJMJR website

Check it out...http://rogerjosephmanningjr.com

I guess he also has a solo album he put together from over 20 years worth of stuff called Solid State Warrior. Go up to the right hand corner to access it. It's .wma files that allow you to listen to it 3 times before you have to buy the track.

Oh yeah, there's a list of all the work he's done as well as a history of sorts.

OK...I've now poked around the website even more and have found a couple intriguing things. First thing is that Eric Dover has a band he calls Sextus. He uses that as his moniker a la Ziggy Stardust. Dunno if it's any good or not, you can find his crappy website at www.sextus.com

A couple of years ago I was hanging out with the drummer from Imperial Drag, Eric Skodis. I asked him what happened and he basically said the 2nd album was pretty much finished when Sony pulled the plug on them because Dover went off the deep end. They were put into band counseling and everyone went their separate ways. He said Roger had the demos for the second album but he didn't have any copies. Years later, it looks as if Roger is finally has released these demos (which I've heard a couple of, but not all) at http://www.arsdivina.com/ImperialDrag/

Be aware this is a new file download network called "Weed" and after three listens you will have to pay for it.

Pink Floyd to Reunite-ALL of Pink Floyd

Yep. You heard right. The sixth seal has been broken. It has been officially announced that Roger Waters is re-joining the band after 24 years of bitter divorce to play at the Live 8 charity concert for Africa on July 2, the benefit show organized by none other than Bob Geldof, who played Pink in the movie "Pink Floyd: The Wall."

This is huge. Never-thought-it-would-ever-happen-ever huge. Waters and David Gilmour have pretty much hatedeach other for over 2 decades. I'm very intrigued to watch, because there's three things that could happen here: 1.)It's going to be great. 2.)It's going to be horrible. 3.)Waters is going to get ticked off at some point during the show, make a scene, and storm off. As much as option 3 would be fun to see, I'm rooting for option 1.

New Detroit Group - The Raconteurs

What happens when you get Jack White (who after seeing live is a true geetar hero) and Brendan Benson (Mr. I've been overlooked for way too long, it's time to associate myself with Jack White instead of Jason Falkner since one is marrying a model and swimming in gold coin much like Scrooge McDuck does and the other is having people at his live shows scream out for him to play a song from a band he was associated with for only one album), together: The Raconteurs

This Week’s New Releases

Three notable releases for today are Dream Theater's "Octavarium", Coldplay's "X & Y" and The White Stripes' "Get Behind Me Satan".

"Octavarium" has taken me from "casual observer" to "Dream Theater fan"! So, being only loosely familiar with any of their other output, I might sound like I'm talking out of my butt to you other fans out there. But, to me, this album feels like the guys said, "Let's make an album where we just wear all our influences on our sleeves and pay homage to the greats!". You've got keyboard solos a la Yes's Rick Wakeman and a section near the 17-minute mark of a 24-minute song that brings to mind 'Apocalypse 9/8' from Genesis's "Supper's Ready". That song also directly references "Supper's Ready", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "Cinema Show" and other classic songs in the lyrics. There's also a 4 minute "sound scape" intro that pays homage to Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" intro. And, dangit, if "Panic Attack" isn't the most kick-ass metal riff-orgasm I've heard in a long time. Highly recommended! I'd order you to get it if I were your dictator. Just one thing... while I think the whole album is great, the last four tracks strike me as stronger than the first four... so don't give up on this too soon without playing tracks 5 - 8.

I've never taken the time to check out Coldplay, although everything I hear about them seems to indicate that I'd like them. I've given the new "X & Y" album a cursory listen while doing other things (like eating dinner, surfing the web, etc.). It's gotten my attention as something I really want to dig into deeper. I think I'm going to enjoy it. Perhaps you Coldplay fans can leave some comments about how this new one fits into the Coldplay discography.

I'm sorry. I haven't jumped on The White Stripes bandwagon. Not yet anyway. A casual listen to their older stuff has not left me wanting much more. I prefer to hear an effort put into making music that sounds good, not just raw garage shenanigans. I can (and do) appreciate the good things about The White Stripes... the spontaneity, the energy, the songwriting, and all that. And just based on that I'd tell you I like them. But, I don't particularly care to listen to their music very often because of the way it sounds. That might sound strange, but that's just how it is with me. But... I'm listening to "Get Behind Me Satan" right now and... I like it! It sounds cleaner and more focused to me. Obviously, I need to give the previous albums another chance. I don't think fans will be let down at all. Rich, chime in and let me know what you think.

What’s Matthew Sweet been doing?

To be honest I haven't been thrilled with a Matthew Sweet album since the 90s. That is until a few weeks ago when Monique brought home a couple that I hadn't seen one day. The gem of the two was called "Kimi Ga Suki" and it was written in one week as a gift to Matthew's fans in Japan. He really returns to his jangly hooky pop songs with this one. Really great writing, and it's amazing he did it in a week. It's all in English, so it's not a Puffy type deal. But it does cater to the poppy tastes of the Japanese audience, but that suits me fine. Highlights include Dead Smile, The Ocean In-Between, I Don't Want to Know, and Wait. But that's just where you should start, as the whole disc is great.

For those of you that use iTunes, go sample Kimi Ga Suki now! If you like what you hear, I'd also recommend checking out the greatest hits CD.