House Of Heroes Releases Acoustic EP
House Of Heroes released The Acoustic End EP on April 7th. It was a digital release that featured new songs such as “New Moon” and “Ghost”. It also includes a reworked version of “If.”
For more information, visit:
myspace.com/houseofheroes
Jars Of Clay Announces New Tour
The multi-Platinum and three-time GRAMMY Award-winning band Jars of Clay announces its spring 2009 “Two Hands Tour.” The coast-to-coast outing will begin just three days after the widely-acclaimed rock act unveils its much-anticipated new album, The Long Fall Back To Earth, on April 21. The “Two Hands Tour” will also feature special guest Seabird, the emerging Credential Records rock act recently honored by its hometown as the “2008 Artist of the Year” at the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards. The 23-city tour will begin April 24 in Lincoln, Neb. and conclude in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. on June 19. “The ‘Two Hands Tour’, named for our latest single, marks the beginning of our touring plans surrounding the April 21st release of our new record, The Long Fall Back To Earth,” says Jars of Clay guitarist Matt Odmark. “From a live perspective, many of the songs on this project pick up where Good Monsters left off — with high energy progressive rock performances. The sound of this record was made to fill arenas. We’re excited to launch the record with this tour, and we’re equally excited to have Seabird out with us.” Jars of Clay’s forthcoming album and tour are already creating a stir thanks in part to the new hit song, “Two Hands.” As the lead single from The Long Fall Back To Earth, “Two Hands” has already entered the Top 10 at Christian radio’s CHR format after only six weeks on the chart. Simultaneously, the song is climbing the AC charts, where it now appears in the Top 25. The single’s momentum received notable boosts this week when Salem Network’s The Fish in Nashville and KBIQ in Colorado Springs added “Two Hands” to their rotations. Known for its ground-breaking, intelligent music and humanitarian work worldwide, Jars of Clay artfully explores matters of relationship and community through the songs on The Long Fall Back To Earth, which will be the band’s 10th studio album. The musically sophisticated 14-track project, which will release on Gray Matters/Essential Records, can be pre-ordered now via a special promotion at iTunes. Fans may also pre-order a special limited-edition package of The Long Fall Back To Earth exclusively at JarsofClay.com. Each set includes the 14 track CD, a double-vinyl version of the album, an exclusive EP featuring 3 overcuts and 3 remixes, a DVD with an extended song-by-song documentary and live performance videos, an autographed 12-page oversized booklet with a handwritten lyric, a full album MP3 download and more. Only five hundred sets are available. From Jars of Clay’s earliest days to the present, innovation has marked each step of the band’s musical journey with The Long Fall Back To Earth serving as no exception. A big, lush, confident, gutsy sound dominates the new tracks and leaves the listener with a different thought for each new story told, each new emotion conveyed. Along the way, front man Dan Haseltine’s lyrics delve into the bare bones reality of the beauty and tension of relationships, and what makes them worth fighting for, a common thread that has tied everyone exposed to Jars of Clay’s music together for more than a decade. Co-produced by Jars of Clay and veteran helmsman Ron Aniello (Guster, Lifehouse, Leigh Nash), The Long Fall Back To Earth expands on the musical palette developed for Jars’ last project, Good Monsters: driving songs with more synth, beats and loops, but keeping the band’s hard-won appreciation for rock guitars intact. The effect is a sweeping musical landscape full of detail, contrast and richness.
mewithoutYou News
Orchestrated folk indie rockers mewithoutYou are set to release their fourth full-length, it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright, May 19, 2009 on Tooth & Nail. The band will be playing a hometown CD release show on Sat May 23 at the Trocadero in Philadelphia with Danielson, then setting off on a national US tour on June 8. mewithoutYou – Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss (guitar), Greg Jehanian (bass), and Rickie Mazzotta (drums) – began their journey seven years ago, and over the course of three albums and several hundred mesmerizing shows, have consistently amazed audiences by both exciting and calming their spirits. Well-loved and unique, mewithoutYou continuously draws eccentrics, seekers, and lovers of original music, which is marked in their 2005 mtvU Left-Field Woodie award win. With a sound slightly reminiscent of the Arcade Fire or the Decemberists, fans familiar with the band’s full-length debut, [A -> B Life], their sophomore effort, Catch for Us the Foxes, or 2006’s Brother, Sister, will hear a surprising, but impressive shift from Aaron’s signature sing-shouting to full-fledged singing on this latest record. Produced by Daniel Smith (Danielson Familie) and Brian McTear (Mazarin, Matt Pond PA), it’s all crazy combines heavy instruments, horns, cellos, and an orchestra of guest musicians to create a storybook sound to accompany the album’s many marvels. Asking the listener to hear creation’s groans, this record adds the cawing, chattering, and warbling of foxes, crows, bunnies, sheep, donkeys and over a dozen other animals. Even the vegetables have something profound to say in this imaginative world. Much of the mewithoutYou anguish of old has given way to a sense of gentle wonder on it’s all crazy, as felt on the celebratory “Timothy Hay” and “a Stick, a Carrot & String.” Darker tones are evident on “The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room,” a stark treatise about where we’re all headed, as well as on “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate,” a tale of the blistering fate that awaits the fearless truth-seeker. It’s easy to get chills when band and full orchestra reach the song’s devastating finale. “We wanted to pick up from where we left off on the last album’s final track, using the left field/unique song of our Brother, Sister album as the starting point of the new record and take it forward from there,” said Michael. “The result was a record which focused more on basic chord progressions, more unconventional instruments (for us), less big rock guitar sounds and more vocal melody.” He added, “As for the stories in these songs, some really happened and others are simply fables.” mewithoutYou’s music is an evolution of indie sounds and thoughtful, insightful lyrics that display a true questioning as to where the heart lies and an honesty about not knowing everything. The importance of their values is evident in the anguished wondering of Weiss’s open lyrics. it’s all crazy follows Brother, Sister with a series of meditations on forgiveness, love, death, and the illusions of self—all set to indelible melodies, lush compositions, and rousing choruses. Further demonstrating mewithoutYou’s values is their lifestyle, particularly Aaron’s, both on and off the road. The band tours on a veggie bus that uses vegetable oil waste as fuel. Beyond that, the folklore behind Aaron is that he is a full-fledged freegan, a word that combines “free” and “vegan.” He owns very few possessions: no car, home, computer or cell phone. Any money he acquires goes to charities or to help family. He eats only from waste food that has been discarded by supermarkets and restaurants. His whole way of life is to minimally consume resources and to avoid materialism, values that are palpable in his songwriting.
For more information and the most up-to-date show listings, check out:
mewithoutyou.com
I Am Terrified Releases New Video
VideoRocket.com has posted I Am Terrified’s latest video for download now. Check out the video here. You can also download a MP3 of this from iTickets.com.
For more information on I Am Terrified, visit:
myspace.com/iamterrified
Bombworks Records Signs Monolith
Bombworks Records is proud to announce the signing of Monolith. Hailing from Ontario, Canada, Monolith plays a unique brand of orchestrally driven extreme metal that blends crushing metal riffs and brutal vocals with killer melodies, soaring clean vocals, and a heavy dose of synths and orchestral instrumentation. Two of the band members, Colin Parrish (guitar / vocals) and Colin Nafziger (drums / vocals) were formerly members of Canadian band Asher, who self-released a full length called “Harmonious Thought” in 2006 that crossed extreme metal music with melodic power pop female vocals, with some death metal vocals scattered throughout. Imagine Evanescence and Flyleaf colliding with Dimmu Borgir and Kitty. After the demise of Asher, the 2 Colins went on to join forces with
Simba Gallant to form Monolith, which stays solidly in the extreme metal realm (Dimmu Borgir still comes to mind) but blends many other influences, providing for a very different and refreshing metal listening experience. The band takes its name from the mysterious rectangular object in the Arthur C. Clarke classic sci-fi novel “2001”, and much like the many surprises the monolith contained within, the band Monolith is ready to shock the metal scene with an impressive debut that is different, catchy, memorable, melodic, and brutal all at the same time. The band will be recording their debut in late 2009, and Bombworks Records will be reissuing Asher’s debut CD late summer of 2009.
Check out 2 demos here:
myspace.com/monolith
Ronnie Martin Is Ronald Of Orange
“Brush Away the Cobwebs” is the debut EP release from Ronald of Orange, AKA underground pop charm-king Ronnie Martin, who with his dazzling keyboard-driven gems in Joy Electric and other bands inspired a thousand bands to create melancholy musical bliss. The Southern California-based Martin has fronted the adored, analog-electro-purists Joy Electric for over a decade now, putting out countless records and remixes while tirelessly touring across the country performing his one man synth-pop symphonies. So why would he start a new solo band after all this time you ask? Adding shimmering guitars and more sparkling harmonies than some of his darker, more progressive projects of late, Ronald of Orange goes back to the sweet cane-sugar root of Ronnie’s earliest work. It is at once a stripped down resurrection, a pure pop Phoenix from the ashes of original synth-rock. RIYL: If Belle and Sebastian and The Pet Shop Boys got together with MGMT and Of Montreal to record some new songs and listened to nothing but Magnetic Fields before recording, what came out might be something like “Brush Away the Cobwebs.” Poppy and upbeat, kitschy yet clever, but always bubbling along with a sweetened sadness, it’s not so easy to pin down the sound of Ronald of Orange. And we like that. The songs: Just 24 seconds into the title track this far too short five songer, you know exactly what you’re in for: a chorus so shimmering, so euphoric, you forget that there was once a time when ARTISTS (not market-driven musicians) had a pop song-craft ethic this pure. What follows are four more songs steeped in pop sensibility and sincerity that your heart begins to beat again after the shock realization that you stumbled upon a slice of dance-driven heaven: every song is good. “Potential” rolls in like the Human League performing on a late night music channel in their early prime, with a lead synth line crooning underneath the sad refrain of “why can’t you see you’ve not realised your potential”, and you can’t help but wonder if Martin has directed this line at himself, as if he’s on a quest that has been unfulfilled. “Things That Are Lost” and “It Hurts to Hear You Speak” move forward effortlessly with dark yearnings for what might have been, amidst the trappings of electric pianos and bubbling analog bass lines, leaving both Burt Bacharach and Bernard Sumner smiling from ear to ear if they heard it. The disc ends quickly with the plaintive “Today”, an Innocence Mission cover given a blanket of Orange, with old beat machines and out of tune guitars and synths. A reflective end to a bright future. A bright future for the listener indeed!
For more information, go to:
velvetbluemusic.com/ronaldoforange
The Red Baron News
Florida has long been known as fertile ground for hardcore, but few bands have incorporated spirit-filled straight edge beliefs into heartfelt, energetic music like THE RED BARON. Striving to keep music fun, positive, and honest, this five piece have built a name for themselves over the past few years with relentless touring demonstrating their great live show to audiences across North America. My First Love marks THE RED BARON’s first proper full length release and will surely prove well worth the wait. My First Love brings guest appearances by Dallas Taylor of MAYLENE & THE SONS OF DISASTER, Matt Hastings of MY CHILDREN MY BRIDE, artwork by the infamous Mike C. (A DAY TO REMEMBER, BISHOP, KILL YOUR IDOLS) and mastering by Kim Rosen at West West Side Music (SAINTS NEVER SURRENDER, MASTODON) The band has national touring planned in support of My First Love, including stints alongside TAKE IT BACK!, CALL TO PRESERVE & VENIA.
For more information, visit:
myspace.com/theredbaron
Update On Kekal
Kekal has released another update explaining the future of Kekal. “Hi, I’m Jeff from Kekal. It’s been a little while, but lots of things have happened here. As announced on the previous news, from this point forward, Kekal will have an entirely different approach in recording and composing music. There will be no more in-studio recording sessions within a specific period involved. Most, if not all, of the recording process (read: capturing sounds) will be done outside studio walls, and we will work each and every song individually during our spare-times. There will be no deadline, only when we get enough material for a full-length album, that would be a perfect time to compile the songs together and master that for an album. Well, we just can’t stop to continue working on music. In fact, Leo is recording some acoustic and jazz guitars now as he’s making songs for his solo-project, and I have started with some field-recording using my Portable Digital Recorder, where I capture sounds from many different places and at various degree of atmosphere, then I would transfer them to my laptop, manipulate and arrange them later within a context of a song, then add guitars, vocals and other organic musical instruments as needed. The kind of approach we use is more in common with current electronic and hip-hop artists than average rock/metal bands. We can’t avoid to use this approach because our circumstances just don’t allow us to work on music in a traditional sense. I believe that music should not be limited by anyone and any circumstance as it is a part of our expression. You already know and it is proven, that no certain genre can limit what we do. Now not even studio walls can limit us to record the sounds we want. In the meantime, feel free to download our 2008 album “Audible Minority” (it’s free) at: kekal.org/download and order the limited edition Digipak CD as it becomes available. At this moment we don’t know when it will become available. The status of CD is still on “pre-order” (even 4 months after the official release date). It’s a pity, yes, but it’s beyond our control.
As I Lay Dying Set To Play New England Metal & Hardcore Fest
It’s that time of year again – the infamous New England Metal & Hardcore Festival will be taking place at the Palladium in Worcester, MA on April 17th & 18th. As I Lay Dying & Austrian Death Machine are scheduled to play on Saturday, April 18th.
For more information on AILD & tour dates, visit:
myspace.com/asilaydying
The Fallen News
Alfadog Music is set to release The Fallen’s sophomore album “Between The Angels And The Deep Dark Sky”. This album is the follow up to their 11 song debut album “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea”. The album, produced by Alfonse Faggiolo and The Fallen, features songs with strong harmonies by vocalists Audra McLaughlin and Mark Bolger. “Between The Angels And The Deep Dark Sky” showcases prolific song writing ability, exceptional musicianship, and the remarkable vocals. This 12 song album is evident of the bands incredible versatility as they continue to bring the fans something different and new every time. The Fallen is Audra McLaughlin (vocals), Mark Bolger (vocals, guitars, keys), Gabe Horning (guitars), Dwight Sensenig (drums) and Troy Feuerstein (bass). They have been featured on Real 104.5 In Studio Session (Philadelphia PA) and will be aired on WXPN (Connecticut) and WSTW (Delaware).
Facedown Records Presents Earth From Above
Earth From Above are the next up and coming extreme metal band from the fertile grounds of Los Angeles, CA. Their dual vocal attack combined with skillful and solid musicianship, and a powerful live show is winning over fans everywhere. Influenced by and for fans of All shall Perish, Living Sacrifice, Acacia Strain and Impending Doom. Earth From Above “Numbered With The Transgressors,” like all Strike First Records physical titles is a limited edition digi-pack made out of 95% post consumer recycled cardstock and contains no PVC plastic.
Tracklisting:
- Redeemer: Greater Love
- Burials
- Fatum
- Salvaged
- Vital Signs of a Rude Awakening
- An Abstract Struggle
- Redeemed: From The Wastes
- Numbered with the Transgressors
- Death of Ignorance
- The Antidote
For info on Through Earth From Above, visit:
facedownrecords.com
Emery’s New Single On iTunes Now
On April 7th, Tooth & Nail’s forefront leaders of screamo, Emery, released “Cutthroat Collapse,” on iTunes. “Cutthroat Collapse,” is the first single off of their upcoming album, … In Shallow Seas We Sail, set to be release on June 2nd. With this single (and album), Emery is sticking to their music roots by picking up where they left off with their recent While Broken Hearts Prevail EP by keeping it heavy, exciting and enticing. Commenting on the single, vocalist / bassist, Toby Morrell states, “I believe this is the heaviest and at the same time the most melodic song Emery has ever written. The heavy parts are super heavy, and the melodic parts are soft and catchy.” Critics are just as excited about the single. One critic, Ryan Ogle of AMP Magazine, says the single has “loads of intensity, honesty and energy all rolled up into one catchy tune. This is the most engaging and ambitious song I’ve heard from Emery. I’m really looking forward to the album after hearing this.” Morrell goes on to describe “Cutthroat Collapse,” as “about being in a relationship and making it your whole life. It’s almost like putting your relationship on a pedestal. These kinds of relationships usually end up in doom. The protagonist ends up calling his/her significant other and threatening to commit suicide. Such a great thing ends up in tragedy.” Fans can also be on the lookout for special webisodes from the band.
For more info on Emery, go here:
emerymusic.com
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