Sunday 19 October 2014

And Now For Something Completely Different...

The Forces Comedy Tour was created by Canadian funny man and soldier Shawn Lawrence. Its motto is "giving back to those who serve," and what better way than raising awareness and funds for PTSD affected troops than through comedy. 

Last night, 18th Oct, JAKK Tuesdays in Kingston Ontario opened it's doors to four Canadian comedians as part of the Forces Comedy Tour. It was a night of good food and great laughs. Hell, my wife had to take off her glasses during the last bit that Shawn Lawrence did due to how hard she was laughing.

It has been several years since I have sat in a bar and had nachos and a drink, let alone for a show. I have to say that I enjoyed the night. Shawn played the part of the master of ceremonies for the event with his usual hilarious flair. He even told his famously funny story of learning how to fire a Carl Gustav. 

In realizing that the whole night was set up and developed by this local Kingston soldier, you really have to give Shawn a lot of praise for his effort in taking his dream of making people laugh and grabbing it by the horns.

 Montreal comedian Hunter Collins was a surprise addition to the night, and a very pleasant one at that. His act was so perfectly Canadian that you had no choice but to not only laugh but nod your head to the priceless examples of laughable eccentricities we call culture.

Collins' delivery was excellent and on stage personality was charismatic which really set the crowd at ease. Not to mention his approach-ability to any fans that desired to talk to him after the gig.


Award winning Canadian comedian Tyler Morrison, who I started to follow on twitter just because of his humorous posts was even funnier in person. 

His condescending style is great live: mixing his witty bits on hunting in Walmart; being armed and hammered; and dysfunctional family dynamics. It was great to finally meet him in person last night as well as see his show.
        
You can catch several of his best bits from Cottage Comedy on youtube


The final act of the night was Rob Pue, seen on MTV's Punked and Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal.

His brand of shock comedy could have you laughing at situations that you would not normally even consider. My favorite stuff of the night from him was his self depreciating and often completely bizarre reflections about his own life; especially how he ended the night with an excellent bit about his car accident and intensive recovery.

In conclusion if you are in need of a good laugh keep your eyes open for the next Forces Comedy Tour heading your way. 

Ty Tabor - Legendary King's X Guitarist

Ty Tabor is one third of one of my favorite rock bands of all time, King's X. I had the pleasure of seeing them live several years ago in Winnipeg Manitoba. They were great live.

Recently Premier Guitar released an article on the guitarist which touched on his history. Electric Etudes - Ty Tabor; it is a really good article and worth reading especially if you are a guitarist.

Jamie Humphries, author of the article, provides an excellent lesson in playing in the legendary guitarists style. It was great to find another fan of the group that helped define the grunge sound. Check out Dick Sullivan's article King's X: Important Enough to be Legends, Fringe Enough to be Forgotten to see just how much these three guys influenced rock and roll during the 1990's.

Ty Tabor is still going strong with a new solo CD, Nobody Wins When Nobody Plays. He is an amazing guitarist with a great singing voice; just listen to any of his music if you think I am just bull shitting you. I highly encourage anyone reading this to go out and find anything by Tabor and King's X to improve their musical and listening education.

Just last month Jerry Gaskill the drummer for King's X underwent a double bypass. Fortunately it was successful and Ty Tabor has tweeted that he is well on the recovery path. It is great to see that their fans have been very generous with their support for Gaskill over this time of trouble. If you would like to help out go to Giveforward to find out how.    

Again, thank you for reading and get out there and listen to some good music!

Kevin Sweeney


Thursday 16 October 2014

An Album Review Issue


To start off, yes I said album. I guess this does nothing but show my age. It is just that when I was young music was on a vinyl disk, and album art was a big selling point. Cassettes became popular due to portability, and yes I still have quite a few of them also, but LP's were the purists choice in music. At present I have over a hundred LP's and that collection is ever growing, because there is just something incredibly authentic and satisfying to listening to Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Violent Femmes, and Iggy Pop on vinyl. As clear and flawless digital becomes it still leaves something to be desired by the old style album.

 Well, enough about how old I am, on to some album reviews:

METAL


Relapse Records has put out a free sampler of 26 tracks from their current roster of artists. Metal legends such as Obituary, Death, and Tombs lend new tracks to this sampler. If you like your metal heavy and loud then you should check out this collection.

Obituary's "Violence" starts off the metal onslaught with an excellent rush.  Death is as every bit heavy as they have ever been; delivering each note with the delicacy of a jackhammer during "Pull the Plug."  If speed and thrash is your desire Ringworm's "Psychic Vampire" will get you head banging for sure! One definite gem on this offering is "Reeling" by Nux Vomica if for nothing but the vast atmosphere it creates. They even have some straight out rock and roll worth listening to from Publicist UK, Ecstatic Vision, and Nothing.

It doesn't mater if your into Doom, Black, Thrash, Grindcore or experimental metal this cd has something for you.


You can find out more information on Relapse Records acts Here!

The boys from Boston known as Theatre Nocturne are delivering more Black Metal to the masses. Depictions of Life and Death is another well executed onslaught of death and destruction.

Even before the growls and screams begin on the  track "Sordid Reflections" the classical intro, "Dreams of Scarlet Paradise (Ave Chaos)" eases you into the morbid world you are about to witness. Like a roller coaster once the pulsating guitars and aggressive attack of the drums initiate there is no turning back. Hell, it even ends well with a beautifully crafted deathly call titled "Above the Mists of Sorrow."

If your addiction to metal reaches into the dark shadows that is Black Metal then make sure to get this little gem of an album. You can find it on their Facebook account. Once you do get it crank it loud enough to welcome all the denizens of Hell.

Theatre on the Web            Bandcamp            YouTube


ROCK AND ROLL

Moving away from metal, Return for Refund is a rock group out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I was fortunate enough to see some video of these guys from a gig at the famous Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto before I got my hands on the cd.

This is the first album from this self described New Grunge band. Their self-titled album is full of really good guitar based tracks. From the first track "The Fields" the EP just starts rocking and does not stop. The third track, "Between My Sheets," is my favorite live numbers from them - it reminds me a bit of old Black Sabbath. "Yolo" is a great number that has a cool and fast chorus that makes you want to rock out.

This is definitely a group that you should check out. They have produced an excellent first foray into rock recordings, and I look forward to what will follow this project. In the meantime keep your ears peeled to CFOU 89.1FM, and 101.9FM in Kingston to hear their single "Some Is Better Than None."


Return on the web           Twitter             iTunes 


Not content to sit on his laurels and just enjoy life, the guitarist for the legendary Canadian rock group The Tragically Hip released the album Not Guilty last year. He followed this extra curricular activity up by loading a bunch of his musician friends into a bus and touring Canada to promote it. Both the tour and the album were welcomed with great enthusiasm and reviews.

One of the things I very much enjoy about this cd is that it does not sound like The Hip, for as much as I love the groups music the last thing I was wanting from hearing this was a Gordon Downieless Hip album. Instead, Langlois, offers a truly Canadian bonfire rock compilation of great stories.

The title track is a perfect example of his talent for crafting a catchy and smooth rock song. Songs like "Waiting on my Train" and "Watching You" perfectly display his expertise drawing the listener in with guitar and words.

You can find this CD for sale on iTunes, and if you enjoy it you may want to check out more stuff from his music label Ching Music. Oh, and check out the music video below for "Not Guilty."




Since we are on the subject of Paul Langlois, The Tragically Hip are reissuing their third album Fully Completely, and announcing a 2015 tour based on the reissue.

Fully Completely is chock full of great Hip songs; "Courage," "At the Hundredth Meridian," "Locked in the Trunk of a Car,"and "Fifty Mission Cap" just to name a few. It almost reads as a greatest hits collection for the internationally famous Canadian group. There really are no weak spots on this Goliath of an album. Lesser known songs like "Pigeon Camera" and "We'll Go Too" are every bit as infectious as the monumental hits on this offering. In every aspect this is a classic Hip album worthy of listening over and over again.

If you are a fan of this great Canadian rock outfit than check out the live shows listing here! You really have to see one of their live shows, they are amazing and you may even get to hear them play Killer Whale Tank.

The Hip web            The Hip Facebook              The Hip Twitter

Sunday 5 October 2014

Punk Rock is Alive Across the Pond!

Hey all you punks out there, have you heard of RAT NECK? No, then what the hell have you been listening to?

I realize that everyone thought that Punk died after Green Day started to become known for ballads, but there are some honest to goodness Punk bands still rocking. Rat Neck is a no holds barred let those guitars rumble old style Punk group.

Hailing out of Dublin Ireland they have the perfect ancestral pedigree for carrying the Punk torch. Hell, they have a better ancestry for it  than those stuffy Brits! These guys know it and don't hold back any punches. Raw, and loudmouthed just like good Punk music should be!



Facebook             Rat Neck.com                Twitter





Not wanting to be undone the Swede's are hammering out some damn good Punk tracks as well as our Irish Brothers.

Bronco is a trio of Punks from Gothenburg Sweden, that like to play amps cranked to 11. These west coast boys are doing their best to make sure that the spirit of the 70's Punk never dies.

So if you are sick of listening to the bland present day pop and longing for the old days of raw Punk rock, check out these two bands. Hey, and if you are a promoter for Punk music here in Canada get in touch with them and get them to play over here! What do you say, KPP Concerts?






Bronco Online             Vimeo             Twitter 





Kingston Punk Productions is the company that brings Punk and alternative groups here to Kingston, Ontario, Canada. We are talking acts like Henry Rollins, Alexisonfie, and Propaghandi.

They have the connections to link any band to the best venues here in the city and make their stay worth while. Along with access to local venues KPP has the Fun House Concerts annual series/festival supporting underground genres of music and is supported by the Kingston Arts Council.

For any more information on this group see the following:

KPP Online              Twitter             Facebook


Thanks again for reading and keep buying Punk music and tickets to Punk Rock Bands!                  Kevin Sweeney