Mac Review Cast

If you truly believe that there aren't any good modern day bands or great new records being made, you didn't try very hard this year. 2015 delivered an abundance of quality music. So much in fact that this might be the largest list of stuff I loved since I started making end of year best of lists two decades ago. I think playing in an active band has helped me stay on top of new music too but in the end, I will always call myself a music fan before I call myself a musician. Finding new music to fall in love with is an addiction I don't ever want to kick.

This Spotify playlist features 100 songs from a large variety of genres that I really loved this year. Not all of the artists on this playlist made my best of / end of year list below so they are two different beasts, great songs -v- great albums. 

Happy new year friends. 

Hey Metal friends. 


My pal Dave Hofer, who I have gotten to know over the years via his years as a buyer at Reckless Records, is putting out a book about Dan Lilker. It will be a biography following Dan's time in all of his various and numerous bands: White Heat, Nuclear Assault, Brutal Truth, Anthrax, S.O.D. and Hemlock (to name his more well known projects.) The book also goes on to cover Dan's lesser known musical history including a whole host of his lesser known bands (over 10 at least!). While much of the book is interviews with Dan there are also contributions to the theme at hand by: Scott Ian and Charlie Benante of Anthrax, John Connelly and Glenn Evans of Nuclear Assault, Kevin Sharp and Rich Hoak from Brutal Truth, Barney Greenway and Shane Embury of Napalm Death, Fenriz, Faust, Craig Setari, Gene Hoglan, Gloria Cavalera, Howie Abrams, Jim Welch and others. Phew! I can't imagine a book on this subject / scene will ever get more comprehensive that this one. 

Paper & Plastic Records has yet to set an official street date for the book but it is slated for this Summer. 


Musicians like this make for a fascinating read / interview because most people would kill to make in one band no less more bands than you have fingers on a hand. I can't wait to read about how one man has managed to do all this during one career and is still hard at work bring us more Metal. 


Congrats Dave, I can't wait to read this and Dan I salute you for doing the unimaginable. 

  

A huge thank you to Tiny Mix Tapes for turning me onto this stunning video work. Grim yet gorgeous.

Do you like Voivod? How about KARP laced with Failure, Slayer, Breadwinner, Prong, Don Cab, and Drive Like Jehu ?(Just to name a few things that come to mind when I listen to Nolan Gate.) If any of those bands mean anything to you, then please take the time to check out The Nolan Gate who hail from the NJ/ NYC area. They have a bandcamp page and their newest release costs only $2 to download.

My favorite two tracks are Alchemy and Grinding .

Full disclosure, the drummer from my old band Dahlia Seed is the drummer in The Nolan Gate (Darin Galgano) and I have played shows with / been on a split 7" with the members previous band Mothman but I would be singing their praises regardless of knowing them. I love Metal that you can't pin down with one easy tag and these guys appeal to me as a fan of heavy music that clearly comes from a variety of influences outside of the Metal realm.

Check out Quiltsryche - Metal inspired quilts that take you from Country to Count Grishnackh in seconds flat. (Okay, maybe they aren't that evil BUT you can get them custom made so you could make it happen!)

You can see the whole set list here.

Download  95% of last night's Voivod show here.

The last 5 songs didn't record for some reason so I have created a mini set of the final 5 here.

Tonight and only on WRIR from 7pm to 9pm : the musical history of Voivod as only Cause & Effect can tell.

We will spend two hours exploring all their influences from punk (GBH), to metal (Venom), to prog (King Crimson), to 70's rock (Deep Purple) PLUS playing plenty of examples from their massive discography (and a few off-shoot bands).

If that wasn't enough to excite you we will also spend some time highlighting a few of Voivod's picks for their Roadburn Festival 2012 line up ( Au-delà du Réel). 


And don't worry, if you don't know anything about Voivod or maybe don't even care for metal, their music is deeply rooted in so many interesting directions that there is sure to be songs in tonight's set (Led Zep, Motorhead, Sabbath, DKs, Pistols) you will recognize and maybe have a whole new appreciation for in this context.


WRIR - 97.3 Richmond, Virginia

UPDATE:
You can see the whole set list here.
Download  95% of last night's Voivod show here.
The last 5 songs didn't record for some reason so I have created a mini set of the final 5 here.

Phurpa = monastic choir from Moscow who perform ancient Tibeto-Burmanese influenced music AKA an exploration in sonic grimness now in LP form thanks to a little help from Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))). At last music for those who wish Lurch from the Adam's Family had put out a solo record influenced by the Far East!

It has been a good 6 months since I did this last but here we go again. I supply the logo, you guess the band, and then answer will be in the comment section. There is no prize, just the satisfaction that you are metal literate.

This band shares the same hometown as the Humboldt Crabs, a semi-pro baseball team that has been playing every year since 1945. They also happen to have a rather lovely logo that if placed upside down and turned into a 3-D model would make a lovely June bride's tiara.

Ô Paon

and loggers, you need this table by Chris Duffy. AMAZING!