Artist Spotlight (March 23rd, 2016) ACIDIC

Randomly chosen because their music is so awesome, I give you today's Spotlight Artist:

ACIDIC

Acidic – From L.A.  Indie Rock.  These guys are wonderful.  There isn’t a whole lot in their bio, but they are on Facebook, so feel free to do a search and follow them.  I kinda want to add them to the list of people I want to meet when I get to L.A. (which as of this airdate is right now….lol)

Make sure you guys check them out!

CD Review - David Porfirio "The Lotus"

David Porfirio - The Lotus (As reviewed on March 23rd, 2016)

Artist Bio:

Where is the band from?
New York/New Jersey

How long has the band been together?
3 Years

Did any members of the band work in side projects previously?
Various side projects

Where was the album made?
Queens, New York/Forked River, New Jersey

Who produced the album?
Don Avalon, Kenneth Stout, Erik Dubose

Who does the songwriting?
David Porfirio, of course!

Who are your influences?
Jeff Beck, Robert Fripp, Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, and Frank Zappa

What was the message or goal of this album?
To have everyone enjoy the music

Do you plan on touring to support this album?
Yes

What are your goals for the future?
To keep making music

Where can people buy your music?
In June on www.davidporfirioarts.com

The CD Review: David Porfirio "The Lotus"

Favorite songs: The Lotus, Portrait of the Degenerate Geisha

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear these songs in album order, but it didn’t matter.  I do want to say that I haven’t ever reviewed a release as unique as The Lotus.  Completely instrumental, there is no need for words in order for David to describe what he is conveying to the audience through his music.  The title track and Portrait of the Degenerate Geisha have heavy Oriental influences and create a beautiful earscape to get lost in.

The combination of instruments makes The Lotus an extremely complex and enjoyably textured bit of ear candy. This is an extremely well done jazz fusion album and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys such music.  

Sunday Suggestions - March 20th, 2016

So once again, the suggestions were few, but they were awesome. Here they are in all their glory beginning with yours truly's suggestion.

People are Strange by Echo and the Bunnymen.  Raven and I were walking along the promenade in Santa Monica and we walked into the Puzzle Zoo.  There they have a most glorious selection of figurines and I saw David from Lost Boys complete with the box of Chinese food that he fed Michael.  It was so awesome that I am going to get it for my rogue's gallery.  (And the Beetlejuice figurine that was next to him)  But, I love this song, so here you go!

The Key by Forever Still - suggested by Helena
Behind the Wall of Sleep by Black Sabbath - suggested by Richard (I think he's suggesting that I haven't gotten enough sleep lately, and he would be very correct!)

Remember guys and gals to check back next Sunday for the thread on my Facebook profile to find the thread on Sunday mornings. Sometimes it gets buried behind all the other stuff that gets posted, so you might also find it on my Facebook Page. When all else fails...

...send a homing pigeon. :)

Artist Spotlight (March 16th, 2016) PLASTIC CAVES

We've done a lot of artist spotlights that have hailed from abroad.  I thought it would be nice to spotlight a Reno local artist.  So, without further ado, I bring you:

Plastic Caves

As borrowed from their Facebook page:

An unholy hybrid of early Killing Joke and 1983-era Sisters, as filtered through three distinct musical weirdoes with lots of songs about floors and general decay played with guitar, drums, bass and voice.

Check them out!  They are amazing!

Sunday Suggestions March 13th, 2016

Again the suggestions were few, but they were awesome.  Heard a song by an artist I hadn't heard in a while and honestly, I'd only ever heard one song by him, but nevertheless..... Here they are:

I'll start with my suggestion:

In honor of the time change:

Time Lapse by TheFatRat

One Stage Before by Al Stewart - suggested by Darren
In My Darkest Hour by Megadeth - suggested by Billy
Samson and Delilah by Grateful Dead - suggested by Rich

Keep on rockin' and be sure to watch Facebook for the next call for your Sunday Suggestions!

Sunday Suggestions March 6th, 2016

Not too many for today, but they are great.

First, I'm giving you my suggestion.

Hooked by Seabound.

And now we have:

Making Monsters by John 5 and the Creatures - suggested by Helena
Pain by Three Days Grace - suggested by Erin

Next Sunday we'll be back with all your suggestions.

Keep on Rockin'!

Artist Spotlight (March 9th, 2016) MATCHSTICKMEN

Blindly chosen with a d20 die.....


This week's Artist Spotlight is.......

Matchstickmen

From Liverpool, England.  Amazing rock band.  Very straightforward awesome music. There’s not much else to say about them. Honestly, there really isn't a lot about this band online, BUT if you go and listen to their music, you don't need to know a lot about them to know that they are amazing!

Oh, did I mention that they are on tour right now?

CD Review - Circle "Somewhere Under the Rainstorm"

Circle - Somewhere Under the Rainstorm (As reviewed on March 9th, 2016)

 

Artist Bio:

Where is the band from? Sicily, Italy.

Who are the band members? Gianluca "Mr P" Petralia (vocals), Ottavio Riso (guitar), Biagio Martello (bass), Salvo Calá (guitar) and Alex Scarlata (drums)

How long has the band been together? Five years

Did any members of the band work in other musical projects before this? Yes, occasionally.

Are any of the members of the band currently in any side projects? Only coverbands.

Where was the album made? In Sicily in our studio.

Who produced the album? We did.

Who does the songwriting? I (Gianluca) wrote the lyrics and a few melodies and Ottavio wrote most of the melodies and music. We all arranged the songs together.

Who are your musical influences? Aerosmith, Guns, ACDC, Springsteen, Alterbridge...

What was the message or goal of this album? The message is that rock is ALIVE, no matter what the industry wants people to believe or MAKES people believe. There's no other genre capable of conveying a message as ROCK.

Do you plan on touring to promote this album? Hell, yeah! We'd love to but we live in a place where music is dead. You see, We live in a place called "The country of Bel Canto" which means "good singing" but the truth is here nobody gives a damn about real music.

What are your goals for the future? Making this our whole life.

Where can people buy your music? iTunes, CdBaby, Spotify, Amazon....

CD Review:

Gianluca “Mr. P” Petralia and his band Circle: Somewhere Under the Rainstorm 

Favorite songs: New Way, Where Do We Go 

This is some of the best hard rock that I have heard in a while.  There are many different flavors of music that can be heard in this album which keeps the listener interested from beginning to end.  Somewhere Under the Rainstorm plays out like a tour of American hard rock.  From Guns N Roses, to Foo Fighters to Aerosmith, this album has a bit of everything for everyone including the bluesy ballad entitled Misery.  It’s upbeat, it’s strong and most of all, it’s fun!

For anyone who is a fan of any of Bon Jovi, Tesla, or Greg Golden Band, this will be the album for you!  If you are interested in purchasing Somewhere Under the Rainstorm, you can do so at iTunes, CDBaby, Spotify, and Amazon…

These guys are really amazing, so if you ever get the chance to see them live, please do so!  We should start a petition to bring them to the States!  A gofundme campaign? 

Anyone?

CD Review - Woe is the Accursed Earth "Unconditional War"

Woe is the Accursed Earth - Unconditional War (As reviewed on March 2nd, 2016)

Artist Bio:

Where is the band from?
Tom lives in Mississippi, and Tony lives in Sala, Sweden

Who are the band members?
The band consists of myself, (TomTom Jervis) and Tony William Sundstrand

How long has the band been together?
We've been recording together for 6-7 months, I suppose

Are any of the members of the band currently in any side projects?
Both Tony and myself are involved in countless other projects.  Tony operates a record label as well.  Salute Records.

Who produced the album? Who does the songwriting?
We both produce and do the songwriting.

Who are your musical influences?
Musical influences are far too many to list!  All kinds of stuff from all different genres.  I can safely speak for both of us on that one!

What is the message or goal of this album?
the message, I suppose, is a social commentary on how the world that we've created is fucked up and we destroy everything in the name of humanity.

Do you plan on touring to promote the album?
No tours or anything as of yet.

What are your goals for the future?
We plan to just keep writing, recording, and releasing CDs!

Where can people buy your music?
People can get our stuff through saluterecords.bandcamp.com.


The Review:

Favorite tracks:

Towards Total Darkness, The Free Will

This is a 4-track EP which consists of a very heavy metal sound.  Vocals are highly processed.  The music is very heavy, although there is a lack of drums on the track, Towards Total Darkness. An Unconditional War starts out with a representation of a very quiet gun battle.  For a metal album, Unconditional War is extremely artistic.  Very simplistic melodies ensure that the audiophile will not get lost while listening to this album. 

That is, until we come to the track, A Devouring Force.  This track encapsulates the best things about metal - Heavy guitars, strong drums and strong vocals.  The only thing I felt was off with this track was the guitar solo.  It didn’t seem to fit.  That is merely my interpretation. 

Overall, Woe is the Accursed Earth appears to take elements of early Type O Negative and mix them with Selultura – like vocals to give us a powerful, if not extremely short EP that hopefully takes this band to an even higher level that comes unconditionally. 

Artist Spotlight (March 2nd, 2016) OVERTOP

This week's Artist Spotlight is: (insert drum roll here!)

Overtop

Borrowed from their Facebook page:

Overtop is a Hard Rock band from Los Angeles, CA. We play original music reminiscent of Black Sabbath, UFO, Alice in Chains, Soudgarden, and the like.

Honestly guys and gals, you just gotta check them out!