banging heads for the animals

If you're around St. Catharines, Ontario, Thursday night I've already got your evening planned out for you: checking out some heavy live music and supporting animal protection all in one shot.

Here are the important details:

"Radio Action for Animals" Benefit Concert: MDM, OverfienD, Journey to Aspen, Randi Townsend & Running Scared

Thursday, March 26th
L3 NightClub, James Street, St. Catharines
Doors open at 7:00 pm
All ages
Door prizes / Sample free vegan food

Tickets are $8 adv. at the NAfA Office (682-4970) or $10 at the door.

I've seen MDM before - solid Canadian industrial worth the $10 just on their own. The others I can't vouch for but they sound like they're worth checking out. I've heard of OverfienD, and according to their myspace page they're "Metal / Metal / Metal".

The night isn't all about the noise - Journey to Aspen are of the "Indie /Pop / Rock" persuasion, for instance. The others I don't know anything about, but hell, it might be worth showing up just for the vegan goodies.

The show's a benefit concert for Niagara Action for Animals, hosted by the Brock Animal Rights Club.

metal in 8 photos

A metal essay in eight photos... not exactly a comprehensive look at the genre or scene but it's worth a look.

The most valuable tidbit might be the reference to Niall Scott's paper "God Hates Us All: Kant, Radical Evil And The Monstrous Human In Heavy Metal."

(the link showed up in a metal list-serve I subscribe to, in the midst of a discussion about metalheads' attitudes toward academic studies of metal)

an autobio in albums cont'd... The Decline of Western Civilization: My Metal Years

I'm cheating so bad with this 20 albums thing (and certainly taking my time) it's like I don't even know how to play. The list below represents (at this very ephemeral moment) the records that probably affected me most from adolescence into cranky old playing-at-being-an-adulthood.

So, without further ado, here are some of the most memorable (and here and there, the best) albums of my ongoing metal years:

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath : The beginning of metal? Of doom? We could endlessly debate genre origins, but Black Sabbath has my vote, and this record has a prominent place on the soundtrack of my life.

Metallica - Master of Puppets : Lovecraft, guitar tabs and laser light shows; this wasn't my first Metallica but it landed with the most powerful impact. 

Megadeth - So Far, So Good... So What? : Vinyl, electric guitars, and playing by ear; throughout several surreal teen months I sang, perpetually and anywhere, including a couple from this album. I still recall a chick from my English class remarking on how happy I must be since I was singing all the time...

Suicidal Tendencies - The Art of Rebellion : metal on community radio, guitar picks (and my inability to catch them), my own homemade 'best of'... Really, this ST entry should cover three albums - Art of Rebellion, Lights... Camera... Revolution, and How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today - but it wasn't until Art of Rebellion that I realized they were my favourite band, at least for a while. 

Cemetary - Godless Beauty : Swedish death metal (probably starting with An Evil Shade of Grey) taught me to appreciate death metal vocals. With this record I learned to sing along in a mezzo soprano counterpoint.

Anacrusis - Manic Impressions and Screams & Whispers : I didn't often get to introduce the boyfriend to metal bands he hadn't heard of, especially great ones - Anacrusis and Edge of Sanity might be the only bands in this category.  Besides producing some delightful intelligent thrash, Anacrusis also recorded a wicked Anti-Nowhere League cover that I love to this day. 

Edge of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows : Melodic death metal, Sisters of Mercy-style goth, out Manowar-ing Manowar... Edge of Sanity was visceral musical love, an immediate ecstatic experience. And to think I bought this used at Encore on a whim because I liked the art, the label, and some of the artists they thanked. 

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses : Self-loathing goth metal that doesn't take itself too seriously? How could I resist. A musical influence, essay fodder, interview eccentricity and lots of cheesy entertainment. 

My Dying Bride - Angel and the Dark River : Melodic doom I can drown in. Another musical influence, therapy, and ongoing favourite.

Anathema - Serenades : I've devotedly followed all Anathema's stylistic twists over the years, but it's still the less polished doominess of Serenades that I love the best.

End of Green - Infinity : I don't know how many Sunday mornings getting ready for crappy retail work this album got me through. Also known as 'bad mood music.'

Skunk Anansie - Paranoid & Sunburnt : Not exactly metal, but heavy enough, with a lot of attitude and a vocalist that kicks ass. I heard rumour recently about the band playing a reunion show in the U.K. ... anyone got spare change for a plane ticket?

Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine : I had this album for months before its genius hit me. Sitting at the computer, writing an essay, with Ocean Machine in the background, I suddenly paused, really listened, and had a musical epiphany. 

Virgin Black - Sombre Romantic : I loved this band from their first demo cassette, but it wasn't till I heard the opening track of Sombre Romantic that I understood how much.

Fear Factory / Voivod : I can't narrow this entry down to one album, though Demanufacture/Obsolete and Negatron/Phobos are at the core. You might say I have an MA in Fear Factory and Voivod.

Le Confessional soundtrack : Amidst a constant bombardment of metal I fall for a soundtrack that mixes Sarah Vaughn with Depeche Mode and Portishead. Turns out the film is really good too.

Nightingale - The Closing Chronicles : It's possible that I've listened to Nightingale (again, not metal) more than any other band and it's highly probably that I've listened to Dan Swanö more than any other artist. Of all Dan's Nightingale material, The Closing Chronicles may be the most deeply imprinted on my brain, but it's a close contest.

Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness : Edge of Sanity's Crimson turned me on to the one song / full album concept but Green Carnation convinced me that it was a really good idea. Now LoD, DoD is also the album I associate most with The Energizer.

Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down : Aside from a few individual tracks, I didn't really get Katatonia till this record. From here I learned to love their back catalogue, sang along, played along... plus they get points for the Robert Johnson reference.  

Lacrimas Profundere - Ave End : It's catchy, it's cheesy, and it rocks. Billy Idol, eat your heart out.

Canadian film : do zombies own their ideas? do zombies have ideas?

Okay, I've lured you in with a misleading title, but now that you're here...

Anyone see the new zombie film Pontypool yet? I very much want to check it out. Brain-infecting zombies rather than brain-eating zombies, I hear. I have a Bruce McDonald weakness anyway.

I also came across a CBC write up on a new documentary on copyright and intellectual property - RiP: A Remix Manifesto. According to Matt Hays, the re/inter viewer, the doc is a complex of illustrative narratives that challenge the logic of copyright law without completely throwing the idea of intellectual property out the window. But this is the part that really got me:

RiP achieves the documentary sublime when Gaylor successfully connects a series of copyright issues — from music downloading to AIDS medication patents to the patenting of a newly developed plant species (which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled was A-OK). That puts the intellectual property debate into the realm of the chilling: corporations could actually claim ownership of an entire species.

Put this one on my 'gotta see' list.

so many albums, so little time

While trying to decide what to review for exclaim! this weekend I got the urge to throw on Suspyre's When Time Fades...  Then I noticed the release date's listed as September 30, 2008. Not the most contemporary record to send in my comments on in March 2009. So I thought I'd mention it here instead.

In some ways the record is fairly typical prog metal (let's not get into a discussion of the paradoxical nature of typical prog - it's only somewhat less exasperating than debating the 'alternative' label). But I appreciate the underlying musical logic that coheres it all through changes in tempo and texture, rhythm and instrumentation, style and delivery. When Time Fades... has its bombastic moments. It also ventures into a chugging groove, acoustic reflections, and the complex experimentation you'd expect. Across the range, Suspyre handle themselves rather successfully, but that's not really why I like this record. There's an earnest intensity that emerges here and there, anchored in catchy melody rather than intricate complexity, and that's what brings me back, providing a destination that makes sense of all the shifts and transitions the band takes along the way. I doubt this one will stand out by the time the year rolls to a close, but it's providing some enjoyable entertainment in the meantime.

an autobiography in albums: the early years

After succumbing to facebook tagging and the irresistible lure of reminiscing over albums past I started compiling a list of the albums that had the most "profound effect" on my life. I'm not sure how these albums effected me exactly, other than contributing to some of the eccentricities in my musical tastes. But they do stand out in my memory - as albums - and bring to mind particular scenes, locations, people and moments of my life. 

So, here's my autobiography in albums, the early years: 

1. The Beatles  - 1962-1966 (The Red Album) and 1967-1970 (The Blue Album): My older sisters owned this pair and played it a lot when I was very small. One of my earliest introductions to recorded music and I re-immersed myself in both records nearly a decade later when one of my closest friends was a huge Beatles fan. (They played Blondie, Martha and the Muffins, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and an array of 60s and 70s rock, but most of these I remember in terms of songs rather than albums.)
2. Queen - The Game: I have vague memories of my sisters spinning this one at sleepovers and parties, again when I was just wee. "Another One Bites the Dust" was a particular favourite. This may have been the first Queen album I purchased for myself (used on vinyl at Dr. Disc?) when I renewed by love for the band early in highschool. Just in time to experience the decline and death of Freddie Mercury as it all went down.
3. Dumb Ditties - a K-Tel compilation of pop music oddities from the 50s and 60s primarily. Another debt to my sisters. They used to sing and even act out some of the songs and taught me how to as well. I could still probably sing "Who put the bomp in the..." at a moment's notice. (but don't ask me)
4. Neil Diamond - Jazz Singer soundtrack: This must've been one of the first movies I went to see in the theatre. This and a few other Neil Diamond offerings permeated my early childhood and provided a soundtrack to exercise time with my mother. (Abba made its way in there too).
5. Police - Synchronicity: I think both my oldest sister and best friend's brother had this album and it played nearly continually (with a few breaks for Wham, perhaps?) during some early play sessions. Plus "Every Breath You Take" featured prominently in All My Children at the time, which my mom watched regularly.
6. Heart - Heart: Between my one sister playing the record and hearing the hits on the radio (Q107?) I decided I had to have my own copy. I request the cassette version as a gift, eventually wore it out, and replaced it on cd. Even drenched in pop-hard-rock-schmalz the Wilson sisters kick ass.
7. Genesis - Invisible Touch: Did I ask for this one after my Aussie cousin made me into a Genesis fan or before? Can't remember, but I requested and received this one for Christmas and promptly played/sang it to near death. Inspired me to get Phil Collins - No Jacket Required too, though I never liked it quite as much.
8. Gowan - Strange Animal / This Great Dirty World: I can't remember which tape I bought first, but Gowan was one of the first music passions I picked up on my own. Which turned out to mean that Gowan also headlined my first 'rock' concert. The Spoons opened up.
9. Def Leppard - Hysteria: I never owned this record, still don't, but my best friend at the time played it so much I have it imprinted on my brain. Love Bites, indeed. Along with Whitesnake and Bon Jovi (and some Van Halen and Twisted Sister nostalgia), Def Leppard solidified my 80s hard rock addiction.
10. REM - Green: Some Junior Achievement project earned me a $10 A & A records gift certificate. I bought Green. And eventually, with some tape trading and back cataloguing, discovered there was more to REM than "Stand."

Up next...

The Decline of Western Civilization: My Metal Years.