Month: August 2012

PIGSHIT: The Monkees Present…

Post author By Gary Pig Gold
Post date August 31, 2012

It may have taken me over forty years, but on June 16, 2011 I finally got to see one of my all-time favorite rock ‘n’ roll bands, The Monkees in concert.

Sure, at the highly tender age of eight-and-a-half I was undoubtedly, along with at least 73 million others, the ideal candidate to contract a terminal case of Beatlemania when Paul, George, Ringo and “Sorry girls, He’s Married” Britishly invaded The Ed Sullivan Show all those years ago. Instantly, I will admit, all aspirations of becoming an archaeologist and/or Formula One racer forever vanished beneath a monophonic haze of swirling seven-inch Capitol 45’s upon my parents’ hitherto genteel hi-fi console …that is, when I wasn’t Lennon’ing around the basement strumming one of dad’s old tennis racquets attached via kite string to an upturned cardboard washing machine Vox – I mean box.

Tags beatles, ed sullivan, hermits, pacemakers, sex pistols, the monkees

Reviews and Suggestions

Hell Mama, Lick and a Promise have done it again!

Post author By Intensely Nick
Post date August 29, 2012

LNAP-Hell_Mama You may well already know a little about this amazing and creative German band from my previous articles about Lick and a Promise here on the Rock and Roll Report. I am now writing this to inform you of their new Hell Mama promo EP. This has been released to give us all a taste of what is in the pipeline, yes a new album is being made. This promises to be another mixture of both acoustic and electric rock and I am eager to hear this. Hell Mama just makes me all the more excited about what is to come from this incredible band.

Tags classic rock, hell mama, Lick and A Promise

Reviews and Suggestions

CD Review: Cotton Mather “Kontiki Deluxe Edition”

Post author By Matheson Kamin
Post date August 28, 2012

Prior to my becoming a music journalist and reviewer, I was still paying attention to the more unusual and unknown bands and artists; the ones that were being promoted by the record stores and not really being promoted by the mainstream radio. The self-titled release from the band Naked, the album Notwithstanding from Chalk Farm and the mostly ignored band The Family Cat and their Magic Happens release are three such albums that were better than the coverage they received. Each of these three releases was well done, enjoyable to listen to and were impossible to understand why they didn’t receive the attention and respect they deserved. Another band around during that time period that was all but ignored in the U.S. music industry (so much so, I never even heard of them at that time) was Austin, Texas-based Cotton Mather. It was in 1997 that they released a classic pop/rock album entitled Kontiki. At the time, this album was almost completely ignored here in the U.S.

Tags British Invasion, Cotton Mather, Credence Clearwater Revival, Fanatic Promotions, Jimi Hendrix, Kontiki, oasis, Robert Harrison, the beatles, The Gallagher Brothers

Reviews and Suggestions

CD Review: The Kavanaghs “Love Conquers Pain”

Post author By Matheson Kamin
Post date August 20, 2012

The Argentinean pop/rock band The Kavanaghs came together and started created music with a very apparent nod to the British Invasion; most importantly, their sound had a lot of The Beatles in it as an influence. A few years ago, the band took their British Invasion-influenced music and created their first album, 2009’s self-titled release.

Since that time, The Kavanaghs has changed slightly. While guitarist/ singer Ale Pin, lead guitarist Diego Vazquez and multi-instrumentalist Tiago Galindez still make up the majority of the band, Seba Cairo has replaced Julio Leidi on drums.

And while the makeup of the band has changed slightly, The Kavanaghs have done even more, as their sound has more substance than it did back in 2009. While their sound still has some flavor from the British Invasion of the 1960’s, they have incorporated a lot of the styling of music that has been created since that time as well. The new album from The Kavanaghs, Love Conquers Pain, brings their sound a lot closer to today’s radio formats and playlists.

Tags Argentina, British Invasion, Dreamscape Records, Eternal Sunday Records, rock and roll, the beatles, The Kavanaghs

Features

Can Osheaga challenge the likes of Coachella and Lollapalooza and come out on top? We certainly think so.

Post author By Barbara Pavone
Post date August 11, 2012

Say what you will, Montreal is a music hotspot. We always knew it – and were damn proud of it too – and judging by the record-breaking turnout at this year’s Osheaga festival, the rest of the world is finally starting to catch on.

Now in its seventh year, Osheaga drew 120,000 music lovers to Parc Jean-Drapeau from August 3-5 to watch 105 acts perform their asses off in everything from scorching killer heat to monsoon-worthy storms. For the first time ever, all three days were sold out, making history and proving that we have a pretty good idea about what it takes to offer local and international music-loving fans a good time.

Tags arcade fire, Coachella, down with webster, Feist, florence and the machine, franz ferdinand, fun, garbage, Lollapalooza, of monsters and men, osheaga, snoop dogg

Features

The music, the sweat, the rain, all documented in RRR’s Osheaga photo essay!

Post author By Barbara Pavone
Post date August 7, 2012

If there is anything to say for Montreal’s summer weather, it is certainly unpredictable. Not necessarily what you want when heading into a music-filled festival weekend, but hey, what can you do? Bracing the elements, from scorching heat on Friday and Saturday to torrential downpour on Sunday, yours truly and photographer Andrej Ivanov set out to take in all Osheaga had to offer. A full review will be coming later this week, but to satisfy your curiosity in the mean time, here is Mr. Ivanov’s photo essay, encapsulating the good, better and greatest of the weekend.

Tags black keys, city and colour, down with webster, Feist, florence and the machine, franz ferdinand, fun, garbage, of monsters and men, osheaga, snoop dogg

Rock News

Lamb Of God Frontman Randy Blythe Issues Poignant Statement After Returning Home

Post author By Barbara Pavone
Post date August 6, 2012

For Immediate Release
August 6, 2012

RANDY BLYTHE OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Greetings. This is D. Randall Blythe, checking in from my beloved hometown of Richmond, VA, United States of America. I was recently released on bail from Pankrác Prison in Prague, Czech Republic, after over a month of incarceration. Now that I am out for the moment, I would like to say a few things.

1. While in prison, I had minimal knowledge of how my case was viewed anywhere but the Czech Republic. I was told by my attorney that I had a lot support from peers in the music industry, my hometown, fans, and of course my family. I cannot express how emotional it made me upon my release to read about even a fraction of the voices that were raised on my behalf. From legends in my music community, to fans across the world, and even people who were previously unaware of my existence but sympathized with my plight- I am truly humbled.

Tags lamb of god, randy blythe

Reviews and Suggestions

CD Review: Jesse Terry “Empty Seat on a Plane”

Post author By Matheson Kamin
Post date August 3, 2012

Take a little bit of Jackson Browne, James Taylor and Paul Simon and you get some idea of what singer-songwriter Jesse Terry sounds like. The folk/pop music that Jesse Terry creates feels right at home when played alongside the music of any of the aforementioned musicians. After garnering some well-deserved attention for his music including winning the Grand Prize for the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Jesse Terry has taken more of his music and created his newest album entitled Empty Seat on a Plane.

In order to bring his music to life, Jesse Terry assembled a band that includes the multi-talented Neilson Hubbard, guitarist Kris Donegan, Pianist Danny Mitchell, drummer Evan Hutchings, singer Hannah Miller who added harmonies to the songs on the album, and Eamon McLoughlin and David Henry who added strings. Together with Jim DeMain who mastered the album, the aforementioned musicians helped Empty Seat on a Plane by Jesse Terry to be a solid listening experience.

Tags Ariel Publicity, David Henry, Empty Seat on a Plane, Hannah Miller, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Jesse Terry, Jim Croce, John Lennon Songwriting Contest, John Sebastian, Michael J. Media, Paul Simon, Russell Chudnofsky, The Lovin' Spoonful

Uncategorized

Damn Vandals Release “Done For Desire”

Post author By Intensely Nick
Post date August 2, 2012

So who are the Damn Vandals?

They are a superb rock alternative band from the UK who have just released a scorching debut album called Done For Desire. With a short, sharp, snappy name like theirs they gain interest from the start and then you check their tunes and definitely become engaged to these Damn Vandals.