With 2004 and its holiday season behind
us, the first-quarter of any year – 2005 seemingly included
– tends to be when a lot of announcements start to surface
while new artists begin to break-out. Seeing a lot of great things
ahead for all of us, Volume 11 is here with everything but the
nostalgia that Volume 10 brought along.
…From The Island
It was erroneously reported on several
websites that Glassjaw had disbanded
after its December run of shows was cancelled and long-time
guitarist Todd Weinstock had announced
his departure from the Long Island-based group. While the
cancellations were said to be due to the recurring illness
of frontman Daryl Palumbo, the
vocalist appears to be keeping busy between Head
Automatica, a cameo on the upcoming Cage
album for the Def Jux label, and
rumored participation in a scream/grind project with Thursday’s
Geoff Rickly, Eyeball Records’
Alex Saavedra, Kiss It Goodbye’s
Eric Cooper, and Chree
of The Number Twelve Looks Like You…
Bayside has also undergone a change
in membership, welcoming new bassist Nick
Ghanbarian and drummer John Beatz.
Beyond upcoming dates with My Chemical
Romance, an exclusive demo has been posted to the Victory
Records band’s Purevolume
site… Bandcamp’s Matt Bair
may only be 17 years old, but in addition to his endorsement
with Gibson Guitars, he and group
now have a deal with Atlantic Records
subsidiary E.V.L.A. Bandcamp is
now recording its debut full-length in Los Angeles along with
producer Dave McNair as a Summer
2005 release date is projected.
|
Bandcamp's
Matt Bair @ The NJ Skate and Surf Festival 2004 |
|
…From The Stage
Even though the band never scored a hit and only has one gold record
to its credit, perhaps it isn’t all that shocking that The
Pixies closed out their 2004 tour with eight sold-out shows
at Manhattan’s The Hammerstein Ballroom.
Filled with spectators of all ages and demographics, this particular
gig had the Boston quartet hit the stage at 1:15am, wrapping up
nearly 90 minutes later. It’s tough to say what was more impressive
about the show: the fact that a band could go on so late without
any dipping in energy, or that The Pixies sounded tighter than ever.
From the slow and fast versions of “Wave Of Mutilation”
to the recent iTunes-exclusive track
“Bam Thwok,” there were no obvious omissions from this
performance’s setlist...
Do You Need A Ride Little Girl? Jim
Norton From www.eatabullet.com |
Jim Norton
may be best known for being the on-air sidekick to radio hosts
Opie & Anthony, but few stand-up
comics have as devoted of a following as he. Playing two packed
shows at The Downtown, Norton rattled
off a set that largely reflected on where he had been in the
year since he had played in Farmingdale. There was the brothel
in Brazil, the co-hosting gig at the AVN
Awards in Las Vegas, the time spent entertainment U.S.
troops in Iraq along with Colin Quinn
and, well, all the usual frustration, self-deprecation and crowd
heckles in the midst of it all. Those who prefer stand-up to
be fast-paced and politically-incorrect, while still somewhat
intellectual, ought to check out Norton online at www.eatabullet.com…
While New Year’s Eve concerts are generally predictable
and boring, Irving Plaza hosted
a diverse billing that would have pleased many kinds of people.
Although Peelander-Z is a noisy
punk rock group with all of its members being transplants from
Japan, costumes and eccentricity aside, the trio has little
in common musically with the mysterious, KFC bucket-wearing
Buckethead, the mostly-instrumental,
improvisation-heavy jam-rock of Particle,
or the brilliant pro-wrestling satire that is Kaiju
Big Battel. Buckethead ought to have been named the evening’s
MVP as the former Guns ‘N’
Roses guitarist also provided an impressive shred-solo
cameo during Particle’s first set. |
…From The Stereo
Formerly known as The People,
The Golden Republic is a four-piece
that’s logged tour-time with Nada
Surf, Interpol and Sondre
Lerche. The Kansas-bred quartet’s new full-length
was recorded with Peter Katis (Interpol,
The Get Up Kids) and is suitable
for power-pop fans that also have an appreciation for 1970’s
glam and garage-rock; the lyrical wit is there at all times
along with the hooks… Ivy
may now be a side-project for Adam Schlessinger
when he’s not at it with Fountains
Of Wayne or writing and producing elsewhere, but In
The Clear is a beautiful release showcasing the charming
vocals of Dominique Durand above
music that is generally laid-back. While flowing and cohesive
for more than 40 minutes, the disc also includes guest appearances
from Smashing Pumpkins and A
Perfect Circle’s James Iha, The
Astrojet’s Jody Porter, and Scott
McLoud, formerly of Girls Against
Boys… Arguably, one act that never quite got its
due was The Cars; fortunately photographer
Peter Kuehl took this idea to heart
a few years back and began organizing Substitution Mass
Confusion for Not Lame Recordings.
A tribute benefiting the American Cancer
Society – a cause in honor of the passing of Cars
bassist/vocalist Benjamin Orr –
contributing artists include Butch Walker,
Action Action, Gigolo
Aunts, The Bravery, sparkle*jets
u.k., Jason Falkner and The
Posies’ Jon Auer. Each of the compilation’s
21 songs can be sampled online at www.notlame.com/thecars.html |
 |
 |
The Golden Republic |
 |
Ivy |
 |
The Cars Tribute |
|
If you have news to report
for the next edition of Moving In Stereo, press releases and all
other correspondence for Darren should be sent to darren.paltrowitz@gmail.com
© 2005 – Column
used with permission from Darren Paltrowitz. All right reserved.
|
