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Hey! There's something New in What's New

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breno
Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 18, 2013 02:18PM
Califone!
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HollowbodyKay
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 06:53AM
"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."

~ Ecclesiastes 1:9

...

Hmm.

Couldn't help noticing that there's a collection of early Califone EPs ("Sometimes Good Weather Follows Bad People") that I'm apparently missing half of.

What do you know ... a reason to go on living.

...

There ought to be more "What's New" stuff. No?
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 09:25AM
You know, I've got to update some of my entries - namely the Green Pajamas, Porcupine Tree and The Black Watch - but I'm stymied when it comes to what else I should do. I thought about doing the Brian Jonestown Massacre, but the rather dizzying array of side projects puts me off. (Porcupine Tree and the PJs were hard enough on that score.) Some of the other artists I've considered - the Hellacopters, say - don't seem appropriate for TP.

So my question be: what artists need to be covered? Throw down some gauntlets, people.
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breno
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 09:47AM
Why would the Hellacopters not be appropriate?
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 10:23AM
Too classic rock, wouldn't you say? There are a lot of bands in their idiom, umbrella, genre, whatever - action rock, or super rock or whatever you want to call the new wave of guitar rock bands that came of age in the 90s that revered 60s garage rock, 70s Detroit and NYC, 70s punk and 80s L.A. equally - that I think need some kind of encyclopedia such as TP, but I'm not sure TP is it. I mean, I'm happy to include them, but considering that a lot of their musical and, arguably, cultural values are what a lot of TP artists were against, I'm not sure it's fair to throw them into the same referential stew.

Though in the case of the 'copters, maybe the fact that they spent much of their career rewriting "City Slang" makes them count.
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breno
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 12:14PM
Quote

Have it on Ira's desk by Wednesday, please.

That's a longer amount of time than Pollard himself would take on it. Besides, that's still too late to be current - by Wednesday he'll have released six more GBV albums, 32 solo albums and the debut 7 albums by his new project Shantytown Mousetrap.

That equates to roughly 6 finished songs and 1,497 new 30-second snippets. The best of the finished songs shall be called "Bread Pudding Albatross" while the most memorable snippet will be "Razorback Via Katie."
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rhettlawrence
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 04:16PM
Hey Toland - I know you follow some TP-esque metal bands, so I think it would be cool to have some of those covered. I'm thinking Neurosis, Isis, Baroness, Kylesa, Priestess, Mastodon, etc. I'd think most of their discographies would be fairly straightforward....
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breno
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 04:42PM
Agree with Rhett - some guidance on art/alt-metal bands would be extremely helpful and Toland's the man for the task.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 06:20AM
That hadn't occurred to me, but I'd definitely be up for that. Makes sense to me if Metallica and Megadeth are TP bands.

Ira, if you're lurking about, what say you?
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 05, 2013 12:59PM
Been giving this a lot of thought and have come up with this list of experimental/progressive metal bands based on Rhett's above:

Mastodon
Baroness
Isis
Neurosis (who have a million side projects, so that one will be a challenge)
Kylesa
High On Fire/Sleep
Clutch
Nebula (not really experimental, I suppose, but a good stoner rock band to add to the catalog, I think)

It occurs to me that I could also update the Monster Magnet entry.

Interesting that you mention Priestess - the two albums I have are pretty much straightforward Priest/Lizzy metal. Good stuff, mind you, especially the first one, but not particulary experimental.

Have I forgotten anyone?

Ira, you on board with this?



Post Edited (12-05-13 15:45)
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rhettlawrence
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 05, 2013 02:02PM
Looks like a good list and I'm glad you added High On Fire.

I don't think of Priestess as being Priest-y at all, though I can see a Thin Lizzy connection. They actually remind me of Voivod on occasion. I like this song a lot.

Since you mention stoner rock, another possibility here might be Harvey Milk, though they're obviously very different from the other bands on this list.

And I don't know if you've caught wind yet of the Portland band Red Fang, but they're pretty awesome.

Oh, and maybe Dillinger Escape Plan?



Post Edited (12-05-13 16:57)
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 07, 2013 11:54AM
Dillinger and Milk I've heard only bits of.I did hear a Milk record I liked a few years ago - will re-investigate. Red Fang I haven't check out, but I obviously should - you're the umpteenth person to tell me to do so. I'll make a point of that.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 30, 2013 02:30PM
Not really art metal (or whatever we're calling this batch o' bands), but how would folks feel about a Coliseum entry?

Working on the Mastodon one now.
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rhettlawrence
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 30, 2013 10:23PM
Don't know nothing about no Coliseum, but I think I speak for most of us when I say: "more new stuff, and I don't really care what it is!"

Thanks, MT!
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erikalbany
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 10:54AM
Michael Toland wrote:

> So my question be: what artists need to be covered? Throw down
> some gauntlets, people.


I believe the Guided By Voices entry is behind. Besides ending in 2004, it also doesn't take into account Pollard's spin-off work.

Therefore, by my estimate, that makes it about 5073 LPs short of completion.

Have it on Ira's desk by Wednesday, please.
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Delvin
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 10:27AM
At least 20 of "my" reviews could use an update. I just haven't found/made the time.

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Nephew Ned
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 03:06PM
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Of Montreal.
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nosepail
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 19, 2013 05:28PM
Toland! Toland! Toland! Toland!
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Aitch
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 01:31AM
I reckon Superchunk are due an update what with the excellent recent(ish) I Hate Music, not to mention a few before that. Saw them the other night on a nifty bill with Neutral Milk Hotel and M.Ward and they cooked.
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erikalbany
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 07:21AM
I'd love to see that Mastodon suggestion come to fruition. They seem the most "TP" of the bunch, IMO.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 07:43AM
I too think they should be first - they kind of set the standard for that kind of metal. You'll pardon me if I haven't kept up with the side projects, though.
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erikalbany
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 08:57AM
I'd certainly look forward to your entry on Mastodon, Michael! I'm not well-versed in the spinoffs either, but I imagine an entry that just takes into account the work of Mastodon would be of great interest (and a great start).
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Heff
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 10:24AM
You could also do Entombed which would then lead to the Hellacopters.

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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 12:09PM
Not a huge Entombed fan, but that's a thought. Though the 'copters have theri own raft of side projects: Thunder Express, Imperial State Electric, Death Breath, Diamond Dogs (at least for a while). And then there's the Backyard Babies, whose guitarist Dregen was an original 'copter. Tangled webs...
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
November 20, 2013 01:02PM
Of course, this is all a moot point until I get my damned CDs and records out of their moving boxes and back onto the shelves.
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STEVE
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 23, 2014 10:29PM
heck,
gimmie the privilege listening to free CD's & i'd realE blow up WHAT'S NEW
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
December 30, 2013 02:33PM
Also a spot-on summary of Paul Buchanan's solo record in the Blue Nile article.
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ira
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 04, 2014 11:55AM
Toland's Mastodon is now up! Thanks!
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erikalbany
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 04, 2014 01:09PM
ira wrote:

> Toland's Mastodon is now up! Thanks

Huzza! Great news ... well done, Micheal.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 04, 2014 02:06PM
Thank you, sir. And thank you Ira!

Baroness coming soon.
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rhettlawrence
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 04, 2014 11:43PM
Well done, Michael! I had resisted picking up The Hunter and now you've given me additional reasons to do so. Maybe if I see it at the library….

I could never quite get into Crack The Skye like I did Leviathan, but I think you've done a great job assessing their stuff. Looking forward to Baroness!
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 05, 2014 01:39PM
I just turned in my Baroness draft to Ira, so hopefully that will be up soon.

The Hunter is by no means bad, just...I don't know. The songs are good, I think, but the sound really needed a good dose of blood and thunder (which the songs get on that digital live album). Working on the Baroness entry, I realized that it's almost Mastodon's attempt to sound like their buddies.

Rumor has it the band is going back to the heavy for the next record.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
May 11, 2016 12:01PM
Since this discussion, I've done a lot of work for Austin's weekly freebie paper and Blurt, and it's sucked up all my music writing time. I would still like to get to these. Hell, Mastodon, Baroness and the Black Watch have all released albums since the last entry here, and Steven Wilson has released two solo albums. I'm so far behind on the Green Pajamas that I'm not even sure anymore. And that's not counting the new entries.

I'm hoping to get to these folks in the summertime.
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 06, 2014 08:27AM
The Baroness entry is up!

Here.

My plan is to next update the Black Watch, Porcupine Tree and Green Pajamas entries, all of which sorely need it. Then on to Kylesa, then probably High on Fire and Coliseum. I still wanna do Neurosis and Clutch as well, but those will take a lot longer (especially Neurosis, since they have 50 million side projects) and I can't seem them being done before the end of the year.
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rhettlawrence
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 06, 2014 02:40PM
Very cool - thanks, MT!
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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 08, 2014 02:18PM
Hey, y'all, this isn't heavy rock (well, maybe a little bit), but what would you think about an entry on Detroit psych/shoegazers Slot and their successor Luder?
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Heff
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
January 09, 2014 06:48AM
Michael Toland wrote:

> Hey, y'all, this isn't heavy rock (well, maybe a little bit),
> but what would you think about an entry on Detroit
> psych/shoegazers Slot and their successor Luder?


Anything is better than nothing - so go for it!

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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 10, 2014 09:34AM
I updated the Porcupine Tree and The Black Watch entries if anyone's interested.
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Heff
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 10, 2014 09:51AM
I saw the new updates. I will probably look to get the latest additions (after Icing the Snow Queen). As for Pocupine Tree - whoa, that's a little daunting.

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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 10, 2014 12:43PM
Steven Wilson is a very prolific man.
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uhwelluh
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 10, 2014 07:17PM
Thanks for the Black Watch reviews--hadn't heard of them before. After checking out some of their recordings on bandcamp, going to take your suggestion & pick up the latest album & best of. Looks like that'll just be the start of a lot of great listening.
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wade
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 11, 2014 08:49AM
Excellent work once again, Michael. I had no idea that The Black Watch had put out yet another album last year, and I'll be listening to it today. Couldn't agree with you more on LZ5...another terrific album.

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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 11, 2014 10:00AM
Thanks for the kind words!

It's weird - I actually didn't care much for LZ5 when it first came out. It was the fact that there are more songs from it than any other TBW album on that best-of, coupled with the natural re-evaluation process when I write these pieces, that opened my eyes. The band has rarely let us down in any case!
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wade
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 12, 2014 02:50PM
Well, "Oscillating" was kind of a strange opener for that album, and it took awhile to work its charms on me as well. This new one seems a bit lighter, peppier, probably a more accessible album. I'm not sure how they continue to churn out new records with such a small fan base, but I'm just glad they're still doing it.

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Heff
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 13, 2014 11:27AM
I see that The Black Watch is playing at SXSW this year - though at 1AM!. Isn't it rather rare for them to perform live?

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Michael Toland
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
February 13, 2014 12:24PM
Only because they don't have a booking agent. It's certainly rare for them to play outside of L.A. This will be their 3rd SXSW.
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Aitch
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
May 11, 2016 06:34PM
The Mastodon entry contains the word "tunesmithery". I'm using that.
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zwirnm
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
May 13, 2016 01:10PM
I have a bunch I want to update as well.
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Delvin
Re: Hey! There's something New in What's New
May 13, 2016 11:10AM
At the very least, I should update "my" reviews, particularly considering that at least two of the artists I've reviewed have since issued new, exciting work, and passed away. Hopefully after this summer, when my wife & I have completed our current move and gotten settled in.

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