Red Papaya is a large Thai restaurant – and bless their hearts, they also host metal shows! It was my first time there, and I must say, it’s a pretty cool venue with ample space for bands and fans. The restaurant has a few tiered levels of seating, and that makes for some unique vantage points for seeing a show.

Between working the doors, catching up and making connections with other local metal heads, I was able to take in enough of the show to let you know that if you weren’t there … you missed a good time! This was a high energy show and a good size crowd came out to see some excellent Ontario metal.

Stoney Creek’s Jetpacks to Jupiter kicked off the night with their rock/pop/alternative sound. Surprisingly, this was only the band’s second show, and I can’t think of a better way to say this – man, do these guys really have their sh*t together! They sounded great – very polished (in a good way) – and have obviously spent some time crafting their image, with a slick logo and a set of backdrops for their live show.

Hometown melodic metal band Unbowed took to the stage next and delivered a powerful set consisting mostly of songs from their upcoming album, and WOW does the new stuff sound good! Last time I talked to the guys they said the new album was being recorded this summer, so keep an eye – er, ear – out for that. Unbowed drew the largest crowd of the night to the front of the stage, and were even successful in getting a little circle pit going. That’s right Guelph, there was a circle pit at Red Papaya. I think we need to give some credit to the boyz in Noiz A Noiz for that too.

4/6th of Mandroid Echostar look on as Anu Beginning get the Red Papaya jacked up!

London’s Anu Beginning kept the energy rolling and prepped the stage for the main act.

Niagara-area metal heads American Hell finished off the night and delivered some seriously satisfying headbangs. The current lineup has been together since 2010 and American Hell has been working the festival circuit and sharing the stage with some big names. Their experience shows – riffs were tight and frontman Craig Laro really knows how to get the crowd worked up. A full-length album is expected from American Hell sometime this year.

If you like it loud, don’t miss the next GAIN Music & KronikNoise event on Friday, May 31 with Skynet, Partycat, Seducing Medusa and Kennedy.

The post American Hell, Anu Beginning, Unbowed, and Jetpacks to Jupiter at Red Papaya appeared first on Music Lives.

What was so perplexing to me at the time was that this man was a musician. I thought this meant that he understood the sacred bond of music, that people have different tastes. This was not the case. This musician frequently went to shows so he could say things to me  like ‘What an unoriginal time signature that last song had‘ or ‘I mean, I guess you could like the song if you like 4-4 timing, which is what all terrible songs have in common, besides the fact that you have them all on your iPod’. I didn’t really know what a lot of his comments meant, as my only musical training is a few errant piano and violin lessons. But as soon as the Salt N Pepa debacle happened, I realized I couldn’t possibly spend  time with that gentleman anymore and promptly broke up with him right there in my car and promised myself that I would never spend time defending my musical choices again.

The issue of course, was not Salt N Pepa or my love for any other so-called ‘embarrassing decade’ of music. The issue was that I knew I could never be date or be friends with anyone who didn’t respect one of the biggest aspects of my life. Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying : I can be very critical of music, I think there are terrible songs and awful bands and brutal albums. But no matter my opinion, I still respect that someone out there might think it’s the best thing they’ve ever heard. I think that’s a very important distinction to make, given how personal a choice music is. Very few things say more about a person than what they listen to. Even if I’m not into something, I understand that what makes music so magical is that we can’t always understand why it appeals to us. I’ve always been a member of the church of  ’if the beats alright, I’ll dance all night‘ and that means that the Black Keyes, Black Lungs and Black Sabbath all have a place in my eclectic and diverse collection.

Last week, I mentioned that I was never a huge Nirvana fan. That’s not just my opinion of them, I kind of missed the grunge rock boat at that time.When Nirvana became hugely popular in the 90s I was just branching out into my own away from my family’s preferred rock and Motown and I was such a happy go lucky kid it just never occurred to me to check out grunge rock at that time. Other than a brief foray into Soul Asylum, I never understood the full appeal of it. Even so, I always respected it. I always respected that it changed some of my friends lives and I remember knowing what it meant for people when Kurt Cobain died. I recall watching the mourners on tv and knowing they had lost the person who sang the most important music of their life.

But it wasn’t until I found myself in Seattle this past week that I fully understood the weight of what Nirvana did for entire generation and location. I went to the EMP museum where I saw instruments, original set lists and artifacts of their rise to fame. Handwritten notes about what kind of band they wanted be, original demos and even clothing they wore. But the thing that made the most impact for me was a huge map of all the bands in the Pacific Northwest that eventually found their way into formation after Nirvana paved the way for them. They really did change an entire landscape of music and built bridges in places that were stranded before.

Before we left, we visited the house where Cobain died and the small park beside it. There’s a memorial bench where fans still come from all over the world every day and scrawl messages of love, leave bracelets and light candles. That’s me sitting on it in the photo above. It takes a special kind of legend to become the voice of an entire group of people, and the love that his city and fans still show him was very sad and touching. The museum and that bench made me realize how much gratitude I have for this man and his band that I never really listened to. Because it was through them that other musicians in that area and the years following found the courage to come forward and give their gifts, and for that I will always be thankful.

So today I’m sharing with you one of my favorite songs from the Seattle grunge period, from a band that may or may not have risen to their fame without the success of Nirvana. Alice in Chains needs no introduction here, but this song does. Nutshell has been one of my favorite songs for as long as I can remember, it reminds me of a dear friend I used to have. I love the grunge-y solo, the haunting vocals and the lyrics about wanting to be yourself. So here’s my songs and my lesson for you today, readers. Don’t ever feel the need to defend what you listen to. Love what you love, but don’t forget to respect what you don’t. 

“Yet I find repeating in my head, If I can’t be my own, I’d feel better dead…………”

The post Music Monday May 21st, 2013 appeared first on Music Lives.

So The Bookshelf News mentioned a Top 5 list based on decade, with the first decade being 1963 to 1973. We were going to start with bands, but most of us agreed that albums would be easier, especially for our first run at this. I also believe it will be easier to do ONE ALBUM PER WEEK rather than all five at once. Justifying why you love an album could take up to 500 words. Multiply by five. 2500 words. That’s too many for most of us to write in a month, let alone a week. Plus, now you know what you’re writing about for the next 5 weeks. Which, with peoples summer schedule, will be easier to manage.

So, if I’ve made any sense here, for the next five weeks we’ll be exploring each others favourite albums from 1963 to 1973. Again, check out The Rules of Guelph Music Club if you want to join, and remember to use the #GuelphMusicClub hash-tag when you make your post so the rest of us can find it.

I got a list together on Twitter for making participants easier to find.

The post Guelph Music Club Homework Assignment #1 – Top 5 Albums from 1963 to 1973 appeared first on Music Lives.

It started with The Bookshelf & Mike Gamble.

With the last reply I tried to open it up, just a little.

And then the ball really started rolling…

There are a pile more screenshots, but you get the idea.

So if a dozen of us, give or take, are gonna contribute to this, we will need some guidelines.

Guelph Music Club Rules

1st RULE: You do not talk about GUELPH MUSIC CLUB.

2nd RULE: You DO talk about GUELPH MUSIC CLUB.

3rd RULE: GUELPH MUSIC CLUB is FREE to all! Meaning we are allowed to re-post to blogs, Tumblr, Facebook etc. Rob Brown can re-post my favourites to Sound In My Memory, and MMBRIS can share Teresa Eh‘s favourites on Tumblr. If  The Bookshelf is selling one of our favourite albums in their music section, and want to use a quote from one of us in their monthly newsletter, Off The Shelf, they can. The catch here is that everyone has to give the author credit for their work. For example: If it’s originally posted by Rob, I’ll add a line at the top of the post including Sound In My Memory and his twitter handle. We could also only post segments of posts with the link to the original source like Alan Cross does. Agreed/Ideas?

4th RULE: If you do NOT have an outlet for publishing, one will be provided for you. If you’re just a regular Joe or Josephine and need a place to publish your posts, there are a few of us on board already that could hook you up. Even if you send us an email with your post, I can create a profile for you, linking to your Twitter account, so you get the credit.

5th RULE: If someone missed the deadline for their post, they are not removed from GUELPH MUSIC CLUB. It just means that they’ll have nothing contributed for that week’s theme. Summer is coming and I’m sure we all have different things going on. For example: If you don’t have time to post your favourite album from 1966. Cool. See you in 1967. Let’s try to keep this fun!

7th RULE: Deadlines for GUELPH MUSIC CLUB start and stop at 12 AM each Sunday. Each week we’ll have a different goal. You can share your post whenever you like and others can share your post whenever they like, within that week. For example: I’ll try to feature at least one post a day on Music Lives, but never more than three a day.

8th RULE:  #GuelphMusicClub is the hash-tag. Use it whenever you post a link in regards to the club, no matter what! I’m guessing we’ll all be using different Fan Pages, Blogs, etc. for our posts, but considering this started on Twitter, I know we all (so far) have one. Note: We’ll get a list together and I’ll do a quick introduction post to make sure everyone knows who to follow and which sites you might want to bookmark once we have a better idea of who is going to participate. 

9th RULE: GUELPH MUSIC CLUB will go on as long as it has to. We’ll agree on different topics to discuss as we go. Also, posts may be as long, or short as the author sees fit. Note:I think we’re starting with Top 5 albums, by decade. I’m not sure which decade we are starting with. Should we do one album a week for the next five weeks and then pick a different topic or decade? Or Everyone do one post for ALL of their Top 5 of that decade at once? The later will be harder for people to stay dedicated to. 

10th RULE: NEGATIVITY is THE ONLY WAY to get KICKED OUT of GUELPH MUSIC CLUB. This is supposed to be a open forum for music lovers. I’m fully aware that liking Meatloaf‘s, Bat Out Of Hell, is tacky. It’s one of the reasons I love it. And the album art is bad-ass! I just don’t need to be made fun of for it. Note: Anyone notice what I did there? 

11th RULE: If this is your first night at GUELPH MUSIC CLUB, you HAVE to write.

We’ll get feedback from everyone that wants to be involved over the next few days and try to have everything set up to go by Sunday. If you think The Rules for GUELPH MUSIC CLUB need amending, or if I missed something, let me know. I’ll make a separate post for them too, once everyone has weighed in.

Just keep using the hash tag #GuelphMusicClub so I see everything. You can also comment on this post below, email or comment on the Facebook post

Now off to see some Live Music!

The post Guelph Music Club appeared first on Music Lives.

What I noticed about Mokomokai right away, before I even entered the A.N.A.F., is that their singer John Ellis had the old-school Metal style. Tight jeans (not in the hipster kind of way), bullet belts (in the LMG kind of way), loosely tied high-tops (the FUBAR kind of way) and long hair (in the hair I used to have kind of way). John was a good twenty feet ahead of me while I struggled to get up to the venue door with my crutch (yeah, still on one crutch some of the time) and he held the door and waited for me to get in. Mokomokai people, are a courteous people. Then they hit the stage and became so much more than that.

Mokomokai singer John has a angelic voice made of steel!

Have you ever been to a show where the audience high-fives each other as soon as a band starts playing? Because that’s what happened! As soon as the power-trio from Peterborough were grooving on the first song of their set, and John let out his first Rob Halford-esque wail, members of the whole audience looked at one another with giant grins and nodded. Mokomokai‘s whole sound is a throw back to the Classic Metal I grew up on, before the lace, lipstick and perms took over. They’ve compensated for the extra guitar players (a lot of NWOBHM bands have three) with speed and power. Simply put, Mokomokai play as loud and as fast as their bodies will allow. Drummer J.P. Contois nails a Led Zeppelin song. Who can say that?! Jeremy Pastic jumps around and makes the most insane faces while laying down a bass groove that kept the smiles on our faces through Mokomokai‘s whole set.

Mokomokai: Rock so hard it turns to METAL!

On stage, Mokomokai are aggressive, without being negative. Fun to watch, without being gimmicky. Different than anything new in The Metal you’ve heard in a while, without ignoring the fundamentals in The Metal‘s history. But mostly I’m a fan of Mokomokai because they ROCK SO HARD!

See Mokomokai with Dance Laury Dance, Hellbros! and Little Foot Long Foot at Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, Thursday, May 16.

See Mokomokai with Dance Laury Dance, Hellbros! and Little Foot Long Foot at The Atria, Oshawa, Friday, May 17.

OR AS…

Part of Pouzzafest at Pub St-Ciboire, Montreal, Canada.

Grab their EP, Justice And Chrome, from their Bandcamp page.

The post Mokomokai Are On My Radar appeared first on Music Lives.

Hoodie Good utilizes all of the gear on stage seamlessly. A modern take on the One-Man-Band.

A member of the band starts what I think is sound check and slowly the crowd starts to quiet down. What I didn’t realize, was that this IS the BAND. Hoodie Good gets on the drum kit and starts playing a beat, nothing fancy or complicated, just something to get the show going. As he stands up from the drum kit, I understand what some of the gear is to the side of the stage. The beat he was just playing continues in a loop. He stops at the table with the electronics and starts singing. Layering some subtle vocals over the drum beat. Finally, Hoodie Good moves to the front of the stage, straps on the guitar, and starts playing away and singing. One man, four instruments in a matter of minutes. I’m impressed.

PWYC $5 or more and get a copy of Strange August. Do it! It’s great!

As his performance continues I notice how efficiently Hoodie Good uses each station set up on the stage to add layers and loops of vocals and percussion to create a sound, that if you had your eyes closed, you’d swear a four or five piece band were making. Most of the songs performed have a firm foothold in Pop. Great hooks, sing along choruses, upbeat and heartfelt. If Hoodie Good weren’t so multi-talented, he’d need a full band to do his songs justice. Hoodie Good takes the if you want something done right, do it yourself attitude to a place where it’s perfectly executed, fun to watch, AND listen.

Don’t miss Hoodie Good‘s last two nights of residency at The Cornerstone, Saturday, May 18th and/or Saturday, May 25th. Each has a different opening performer.

The post Hoodie Good – Show Review appeared first on Music Lives.

Unbowed was birthed in 2011 when Alex and lead singer Ioan Tetlow started working on the project in their basement. A lot of lineup changes ensued over the next few years as the band went through some growing pains. But as of January 2013, they finally have the lineup they feel will be successful in moving them forward.

Self-described as “epic melodic metal,” Unbowed touches on a few other sub-genres, including viking, folk, black, and death metal. Where many of the local heavier bands tend to fall into the core and progressive sub-genres of metal, Unbowed definitely stand apart. But the guys don’t seem to mind, as the music community here is tight knit. “We’re aware that we’re pretty different. We know there’s no other band like us in Guelph … but all the [core] shows are so fun, and people receive us well.” says Alex. The guys credit local bands such as Mandroid Echostar, Arkham Awaits, and Wakeless with re-awakening the metal scene in Guelph within the last couple of years.

A few months ago Unbowed released their first self-titled EP to much success, and the recording was well-received by metal heads across the country. The EP is a powerful, heavy, and beautiful set of cohesive songs. Most of the work was done by Alex, Nick, and Ioan, and was started when they were all in their early teens – which is an incredible accomplishment, because the EP sounds amazing. Upon first listen, the riffs are immediately catchy. After a few listens, you’re a solid new Unbowed fan. The music is big, and full, and exciting. Get ready to don your armor, because you’ll want to suit up for battle after you hear this.

One of the elements that often sets melodic metal apart from other sub-genres is the inclusion of keyboards, and Unbowed say they always intended to include the instrument in their mix. “It opens up what you can do, you can have guitars playing the usual heavy stuff and then bring in a whole other atmosphere and bring in other layers of music” says Alex. Nick chimes in “Adding keyboards in gives it that grandiose kind of feeling.” And I completely agree – listen to the EP and you’ll see how well the keyboards compliment and don’t distract from the composition.

Another great element of Unbowed‘s first EP that can’t be ignored is the artwork. The band came up with the concept, and then reached out to Polish artist Marta Sokolowska to put their vision to work. The idea behind the image of the man with the burning city in the background was about moving on – personally and professionally – having been through an exhausting couple of years with the lineup changes and getting the project off the ground. “Burn it and move on” was the general idea according to Alex.

And the band is doing just that – they’re booking shows and working on recording a new album later this summer. According to the guys, it’s shaping up to be 13 tracks of all new music. When asked what the new album will sound like, Nick says “You can tell it’s Unbowed, but it’s a different vibe. The EP was a lot of Alex, but now that we’ve got six people in on this writing process, it’s just a different blend of sounds.” Impressively, the guys plan to record the new album themselves. I was curious why they would take the tougher DIY route, when today, many bands find success in crowd-funding projects through sites like Kickstarter and Indigogo. Their response was not that it was a money issue, but that they wanted control over the music and recording process. They prefer the recording process to be more casual, rather than having to be pressured by studio time constraints. And because sometimes creativity strikes at 3 a.m.

After chatting with Alex and Nick for a while, their commitment to the band is clear. From booking, to promotion, to recording – Unbowed is doing a lot of the heavy lifting themselves. And after a few years of struggling, the guys are happy to have all band members on the same page and be able to take the projects to new heights. “We all want to do other things in our life, but we have the drive to keep at this, and we’re not going to put other things in front of the band. We all want to be a touring, professional band; record and play live – for a long time.” says Alex.

Unbowed is a talented and hardworking young metal band. They’re important to the local metal scene because they offer something different – and they’re very good at it. I expect to see great things from these guys in the future as they play more shows, release their first full-length album, and continue to expand their fan base. And just in case you needed another reason to support them, they’re really nice guys too.

Be sure to catch their next show this Friday, May 17 at Red Papaya in Guelph.

The post Band Spotlight: Unbowed appeared first on Music Lives.

Liner notes WITH lyrics. YES!

It seams a lot of bands lately have tried to, or accidentally, become a sub-genre, of a sub-genre, of a sub-genre. Shedding the label of ROCK (We’ll just blame Nickelback for that). Before I go too far into what is a complete separate post, Sonic Union is just a great, naked (I’m putting theses parenthesis here to stop myself from creating the sub-genre Naked-Rock), ROCK album. Cursed Arrows deliver stories of warning, love, corruption and loss, among other things, over eleven tracks (45:28). Each track features a new character, telling a different story, from a different place. The liner notes with the download have a high resolution. I was able to read along with the record, something I’ve always enjoyed doing. I feel it keeps you attached to the music rather than being distracted by the rest of the world. Plus, I believe the sleeves, cases, liner notes, whatever you want to call them, are a visual extension of the album. So thanks for that Cursed Arrows.

If you think the lyrics are good, trying listening to them to music!

Sonic Union is heavy in blues. Heavy in noise and feedback and tone. Heavy in emotion. Heavy in soul. Not the Motown kind of soul. The, it’s from a special place, kind of soul. There are hints of Rock & Roll, Punk, Alternative, Grunge and Pop, but the album never commits to any of them. Sonic Union just dances around the fringes of said genres, staying true at the core, and commits to being a great Rock record. Cursed Arrows have created their most diverse offering to date with the marriage of so many styles. The name Sonic Union fits the album perfectly. Sonic Union and Cursed Arrows have me wishing all of my accidents could be this amazing.

The post Album Review: Cursed Arrows – Sonic Union appeared first on Music Lives.

“When I think about kids watching a TV show like American Idol or The Voice, then they think, ‘Oh, OK, that’s how you become a musician, you stand in line for eight f*ing hours with 800 people at a convention center and then you sing your heart out for someone and then they tell you it’s not f*in’ good enough.’ Can you imagine?” he implores. “It’s destroying the next generation of musicians! Musicians should go to a yard sale and buy and old effin drum set and get in their garage and just suck. And get their friends to come in and they’ll suck, too. And then they’ll start playing and they’ll have the best f*ing time they’ve ever had in their lives and then all of a sudden they’ll become Nirvana. Because that’s exactly what happened with Nirvana. Just a bunch of guys that had some shitty old instruments and they got together and started playing some noisy-ass shit, and they became the biggest band in the world. That can happen again! You don’t need a damn computer or the internet or The Voice or American Idol.” – Dave Grohl

While I was never a huge Nirvana fan, I fully appreciate what he was trying to say in that interview. Musicianship is such a hard thing to come by nowadays. While a lot of bands remember to update their various social media once a day, a lot seem to lose sight of what makes a band truly great: Playing your instrument and wanting to be a good musician. If you don’t have that combination of talent and drive to always get better and to just play because you love it, then it doesn’t matter how many followers you have on twitter.

Which brings me to todays sharing of a few songs by one of the hardest working bands out there today. I’ve been on a huge kick of their discography lately, thanks to a conversation with my friend Matt a few weeks ago when he said to me ‘When I take a step back and look at my life, I have become a Lucero song’.  I laughed, but I knew exactly what he meant when he said it. Isn’t it crazy how we internalize what we love the most and make it a part of us? I could title entire years and decades of my life by the bands I was heavily into during that time and see how they influenced everything I did: What I wore, where I went and even how I felt about things.

Lucero is a perfect blend of Memphis rock, punk and country and in the past few years they’ve been on tour more days per year than not. 250 tour dates a year is rough, I give them major kudos for that. They’re the only band I know that has managed to charm me with a horn section, love ballad lyrics, a gospel chorus and steel guitars, all in the same song. They will make you want to run away and drink whiskey from hickory barrels, sip sweet tea on porches and drive west down an empty desert highway with the windows down. Every song really makes me want to slow dance with a scruffy man wearing a plaid shirt in a dusty dive bar.

But even as great as they are now, I’m sure that at some point, they sucked too. They’ve released 8 full lengths at this point, and if you go back to the begininning and compare what you hear to their most recent release, you’ll hear the difference that time and dedication makes.  The heart of their songs is still there, but the rest of their magic came later. You know why? Because they kept playing. They kept recording and doing what they loved over and over and over until it worked for them. They didn’t wait for someone to tell them that they were good enough or that they had permission to do it, they just kept playing every show they could and got their fans the old fashioned way.

Whether you’re into their particular sound or not, these boys stand for everything that’s still good in rock and roll. That unknown kids can become rock stars in garages. That if you refuse to take no for an answer, and if you work really hard and do what you want, you might just become what you love. 

Enjoy.

The post Music Monday May 6th, 2013 appeared first on Music Lives.

5 weeks ago one of the most important people in my life died. He helped raise me into the brutally honest woman you all know. He lived his life the way he wanted, and only that way. This was a man so badass that if he wanted something from the table, he didn’t even ask. He just looked at you, and then looked at the potatoes or whatever and you got up and got it. I mean, check out that pinky ring for chrissakes. He is single handedly responsible for bringing my family to Canadian soil and taught me everything I know about staying true to who you are. Musically, this was the very first man to ask me to dance; it was his feet I danced on to old Dean Martin and Sinatra around kitchens. It is his fault that I automatically like any song with a harmonica, as I spent most childhood summers on his lap eating fruit from the garden while he played his twangy instrument in my ear all day under the sun. To this day, whenever someone of the opposite sex asks my advice on fail-proof ways to get girls, I always respond with ‘Dude, just learn to play the harmonica’. 

When he died, something happened that has temporarily taken away my ability to pleasurably write. I heavily debated even writing about this, but it’s just the truth: I have a bit of a broken heart right now. Charles Bukowski said ‘Writing about writers block is better than not writing at all‘, and that’s what I’m trying to do I guess. I don’t have it in me right now to happily describe a song a new song I’ve found to share with you; I don’t even have any, I’ve been hiding in my apartment for a month watching very bad tv. Next week I promise to do better at getting rid of the melancholy, after all this is a music blog, not a damn diary. 

But today, today you’re heading down the harmonica trail with me. My grandfathers love of the harmonica was strictly old-school European, but it was through his adoration of this little instrument that I came to appreciate it in every genre. From classic rock to folk songs, I’ve followed that tiny twang from old Italian men to arrive at todays sharing of a Black Sabbath song with you (and a little wop treat right below that). Growing up, ‘Wizard’ was the first rock song I heard that renewed my love for such a dated instrument. Maybe most people don’t think of grandfathers when they hear Black Sabbath, but I do when I think of mine. If you had the pleasure of knowing my grandfather Vincenzo, then the lyrics of this song are especially poignant and fitting to who he was. That’s the beauty of music, right? It brings you to places you never thought it would. Like a brain making new pathways, it makes bridges over time and space and the people in your life. It can bring you away from where you are, or bring you home, and sometimes, if you’re really lucky, it can bring you back to the best memories of your life, and make sure that you never forget them. 

“He has passed by, giving his sign, left all the people feeling so fine. Never talking, just keeps walking, spreading his magic……….”

The post Music Monday April 29th, 2013 appeared first on Music Lives.