Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Incoming: M83 new album teaser

m83_4318.jpg
M83 blew me away with their last album Saturdays = Youth. As I anxiously await their follow up album, M83 just posted a goosebump inducing new teaser video titled "Echoes" featuring a glimpse of Anthony Gonzalez's beautiful collection of synthesizers along with some stunning visuals.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Incoming: Jimmy Eat World at the Wiltern

jimmy_eat_world-fox_theater_pomona1774
After a blistering stop at Coachella, Jimmy Eat World return for a performance at The Wiltern where they will play their album Bleed American in its entirety on September 29th. The presale tickets go live on Tuesday June 28th at 10am while the general tIckets go on sale on Thursday June 30th at 10am PST.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Deftones at the Hollywood Palladium

Deftones at the Hollywood Palladium
Before I went on medical hiatus, I warned everyone about the Deftones selling out and destroying the Hollywood Palladium. While I am far from being back to full health, I was determined to absorb the healing power of Stephen Carpenter's crushing riffs on his custom ESP guitars.

Le Butcherettes
le_butcherettes-hollywood_palladium_ACY7285
le_butcherettes-hollywood_palladium_ACY7088
le_butcherettes-hollywood_palladium_ACY7326

Like an uncontrollable tornado, Le Butcherettes crashed onto the stage. Led by Terri Gender Bender, Le Butcherettes attacked their audience to gain their attention. It was interesting spotting Jonathan Hischke on bass who I recognized from Broken Bells and the highly overlooked Dot Hacker project with Josh Klinghoffer. Sin Sin Sin is their debut album and contains the energy and fury that the band unleashed on stage. While deftones fans are staunchly loyal, Le Butcherettes definitely won over some ears.

Dillinger Escape Plan
dillinger_escape_plan-hollywood_palladium_ACY7877
dillinger_escape_plan-hollywood_palladium_ACY7816
dillinger_escape_plan-hollywood_palladium_ACY7906
dillinger_escape_plan-hollywood_palladium_ACY7997
Angry. Confrontational. Chaotic. These are just some of the words that come to mind when describing a Dillinger Escape Plan performance. Photographing the chaos on stage is a dicey proposition as Greg Puciato leaped into the crowd seconds into their show.

Using bizarre time signatures and calculating razor sharp guitar riffs, Dillinger Escape Plan bludgeoned the audience with ungodly heaps of volume. They had a core of faithful fans singing along to "Panasonic Youth", "Farewell, Mona Lisa" and "43% Burnt". I was hoping they would toss in their cover of Nine Inch Nails "Wish" but they stuck to their catalog.

Deftones
deftones-hollywood_palladium_ACY8369
deftones-hollywood_palladium_ACY8260
deftones-hollywood_palladium_ACY8252
deftones-hollywood_palladium_ACY8526
deftones-hollywood_palladium_ACY8592
Deftones have long been one of my favorite bands since I saw them at the Warped Tour in support of their debut album Adrenaline. While many of their contemporary bands have faded out or fallen off, the Deftones have consistently released solid albums and continue to sell out large venues.

Their latest release Diamond Eyes sonically stretches and continues to carve different niches in their overall sound. Opening with the title track, Chino Moreno was enthusiastically jumping all over the place while a screen showed the video behind the band. Having extensively toured with Alice in Chains and Mastodon, the Deftones were tour hardened and flawless in execution. "Rocket Skates" was violently performed with Moreno screaming "Guns! Razors! Knives!".

A double barrel shotgun blast of old tunes "Engine No 9" and "Birthmark" kept the crowd moving at a fevered pitch. As I exited the pit after three songs, I spotted the security guards pushing back the barricade to keep it in place. Sequentially moving up their catalog, "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" thrashed relentlessly as Sergio Vega slammed his Fender Jaguar bass making Chi Cheng proud. The tempo momentarily slowed for the slow burn of "Digital Bath" but quickly returned with "Knife Party" that featured Terri from Les Butcherettes adding curling screams.

The highlight of the evening was the oft kilter thrash of "Korea" with Carpenter mutilating his ESP guitar. "Minerva" had some extra zest as Moreno dedicated the song to Chi Cheng. Carpenter was back in the spotlight again with the pulverizing notes of "Bloody Cape". The shimmering notes of "Cherry Waves" filled the Palladium and I can't remember the Palladium ever sounding better.

Greg from Dillinger Escape Plan came out to sing "Passenger" before the Deftones closed out their main set with "Back To School". Dipping back to Adrenaline, "Root" and "7 Words" finished up the encore as the Deftones wrapped up another stellar show. They stop by the Fox Theater in Pomona this Wednesday and I expect the same devastation.

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Sonoio RED album pre-order

nin_3438.jpg
One of my favorite unheralded releases from last year was Alessandro Cortini's (ex-NIN keyboardist) solo project Sonoio Blue album that featured songs encased in infectious glitches ,blips and beeps from his Buchla synthesizer rig.

Alessandro has followed up this release with a new album Red which demonstrates his growth as a songwriter judging by the four songs that are available for download.

I opted for the Geek bundle that includes a mini synthesizer packed with samples from the album. The synthesizer alone is worth the price let alone the music. Click on the pre-order link to reserve yours now.