Thanks to the Tool Hotline who tell me that Chicago band Russian Circles will be supporting Tool on the three UK dates on the upcoming tour. Sounds like they got the job because Isis, Pelican and These Arms Are Snakes weren’t available, that and Justin Chancellor seemed to like their music. Check out how they got the gig in this Drowned In Sound interview, then go and have a listen on their Myspace site.
According to the Puscifer Myspace site:
Finishing up the tracks. Should be mixing with Alan Moulder by August and hopefully have the whole thing out by mid October. Joe Barresi mixed the first song, for which we’re making a video. And I’ve recorded a new version of Cuntry Boner which Joe will also be mixing. Most likely I’ll be releasing Cuntry Boner as a cd single with some bonus tracks. I’ll keep the updates coming.
New Era caps are on the way as well as some new contrast stitched Puscifer shirts and a limited edition Cuntry Boner shirt.
Thanks to the Tool Hotline for the tip!
According to a post on Blabbermouth Isis, who are good friends of Tool will be broadcasting their performance at Paradiso in Amsterdam in both video and audio on fabchannel.com. The event is due to take place on the 11th of June.
The Tool Hotline report that according to Robert Fripp of King Crimson’s myspace blog “Jeff Fayman of Immediate Music has sent the latest mix of [King Crimson track 21st Century] Schizoid Man (with Maynard Keenan on vocals) on MP3. This is a Beast.”. No word on if this is Puscifer or something else….
Sorry about the lack of posts the last few days. As some of you know we’ve just moved and brought a house. The house we’ve brought needs a bit of work, so that last 4 days of my live have revolved around renovating it! Anyway, it’s all going well and now I’m back at work full time, I should have more time to spending posting stuff.
In the last couple of days though there have been plenty of little bits of info floating around. Firstly, according to Meats Meier, a new video has been recorded for Maynard‘s Puscifer project. The video reportedly have a motion captured 3D render of Maynard breakdancing, amongst other things. Sounds interesting. Thanks to the Tool Hotline for the tip.
Also on the Tool Hotline is a theory that 10,000 Days synchronises with the Wizard of Oz. Personally I don’t go for that synchronisation crap, but for those of you with plenty of time on your hands, check it out and let us know.
Toolband has confirmed the second Tool show in Hamilton on the 24th of June at Copps Collesium.
Finally, Toolarmy has a series of headache inducing stereoscopic pictures taken by Adam during the recent tour. No live shots unfortunately. Toolarmy Members only!
According to his Myspace site, Maynard had this to say on Puscifer, and well as his Cuntry Boner:
“I assume many of you have seen the Cuntry Boner footage. If you haven’t, visit wildlotus.org to check it out. This was filmed quite awhile ago and I’m just now getting around to kicking it out of the nest. Feel free to pass it around. My gift to you. Laura Milligan is the co-star. (HBO ‘Tenacious D’ episodes, Tantrum @ The Diamond Club, ‘Comedy Product’, ‘Mr. Show’, among other things) She’s probably gonna kick my ass for leaking it.
“Still pluggin away on the music. The road makes it a bit tough to get anything done. By the time I have a day off I’m exhausted. But progress is being made, so hang in there. Should have a video done by mid-summer.
“Although I haven’t heard it, I hear Billy‘s [A PERFECT CIRCLE guitarist Billy Howerdel] new music is great. Check out his MySpace page for details.”
A couple of bits of info for those of you who are Mike Patton fans.
Tour dates for Peeping Tom’s trip to Australia and New Zealand have been confirmed:
Looks like South Australians (and South Islanders!) miss out again. One less show for me to go too I suppose. I like Peeping Tom, but not enough to travel interstate to see them.
For Tomahawk fans, a new and allegedly official Myspace page tells us that the new album “Anonymous” will be released on the 19th of June. Last I heard, this new album will contain several re-worked Native American songs. Here’s the cover art:
Nicko on Alt.Music.Tool posted that Josh Freese’s Myspace now has an alternate version of A Perfect Circles Weak and Powerless. Josh also talks about his work with the band:
A PERFECT CIRCLE: APC has been my main priority on and off since 2000. When I say “on and off” I mean because (unlike most bands) we share a singer with another successful band. So after we do a record and a tour…instead of taking a few months off and then starting the next record….we have to take a few years off between the end of one tour and the start of the next record so Maynard can go make a record and tour for a year and a half with TOOL. We were working on the first record in 1999 but we didn’t get really busy till we got signed and went out on the road for a year solid in the spring of 2000. I believed in it enough to leave my busy session career at home and other projects for months (years really) at a time and to be away from my family and friends and “join a new band”. It’s always risky to do a new band (EVEN with a grammy award winning singer and a great record deal) but…..lucky for us, we made a cool first record, we worked hard and people listened….and seemed to like it! I like the eclectic tone of the band and the dynamics of it. I’m really proud of “Mer de Noms” and “13th Step”. The covers record doesn’t really count to me as an APC album but technically I guess we’ve made 3 records. I have a lot of people tell me that they really like the Perfect Circle stuff that I’ve done and means alot to me. APC has been an important project for me. It’s a weird band but a cool one. I hope there is more APC to come.
A few items here that I’ve neglected to post in the last few days.
Firstly two more Tool shows have been confirmed for the US Tour. These are in Oklahoma City on the 29th of March and Southhaven on the 30th of March. No details on pre-sales at this stage. Here’s the list of confirmed dates so far:
Blair also tells us that Chet Zar’s work is being featured in a solo show at the Strychnin Centre in Berlin. “Stranger” opens on Friday the 16th of February and runs until March 11th.
Finally, Lustmord has a new CD out called Juggernaut and it features some guitar playing by Buzz Osbourne. According to Lustmord the album will appeal to those that liked the Lustmord/Melvins CD Pigs of the Roman Empire . Check out samples on his Myspace page.
I know some people out there are interested in my opinion. If you’re not one of those, stop reading now. You won’t find (much) Tool information in this post.
Since I don’t listen to every single album out there, rather than try and compile a top ten list out of the probably 11 albums I’ve listen to this year, I’m just going to post a few mini-reviews on albums that have caught my attention this year. Here we go:
Tool – 10,000 Days
I’m sure it comes to no ones surprise that 10,000 Days is my favorite album of 2006. I mean it would be kinda pointless to run a Tool website and not love the band. Unlike some people though, I love 10,000 Days, and personally think it’s second only to Lateralus. “Sacrilege” I hear all you Aenima fans yelling, but that’s just how I feel about it. To me 10,000 Days is a consistently good album, which highlights the skill of the individuals within the band, and pretty much met all of the expectations I had about the album during all the hype before it was released.
Peeping Tom – Peeping Tom
After many years of speculation, Mike Patton’s Peeping Tom project finally came to fruition this year. I’ve been a Patton fan since getting into Faith No More in high school, and I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed by the record. I’m unashamedly a fan of heavy music, and I guess the fact that Peeping Tom was largely a hip-hop electronic type record didn’t quite work for me. But maybe not, I actually like the General Patton vs The Executioners album, yet there’s something about Peeping Tom that I just can’t quite get into. In the end, I don’t think it’s a terrible album, but I don’t think it’s an amazing one either.
Mastodon – Blood Mountain
Well this is one of those albums which pretty much everyone seems to be adding to their top 10s this year. Mastodon are a great band, there’s no doubting that they’re a talented bunch of musicians, and Blood Mountain was a great CD. I was a little disappointed though. I really liked Leviathan and Blood Mountain just didn’t quite stack up to it for me.
As Blood Runs Black – Allegiance
I stumbled across these guys on Myspace about a month ago now. I was looking at a so called “Deathcore” band who’s name escapes me at the moment, and came across these guys. After listening to their samples I decided that these guys kicked some serious ass. Nothing really special about this lot, no overly talented musicians, just balls to the wall metal, but not that old school Trivium type crap that seems to be popular these days. Well worth checking out if your tastes venture to the heavier end of the spectrum.
The Melvins – (A) Senile Animal
I never really got into The Melvins until pretty late in the game. I was always conscious that they were around during the 90s (Kurt Cobain didn’t let us forget about them). Their last few albums though have really made me sit up and take notice though, and (A) Senile Animal is pretty much the best of them. Employing the talents of Big Business, the Melvins took the unusual route of having two drummers. This really paid off in my opinion, and created a drum sound not quite like anything else I’ve heard. Here’s hoping for a Melvins tour (with Big Business) down under in 2007.
Isis – In The Absence of Truth
Isis have always been a little meh to me, and In the Absence of Truth seems to continue this downward spiral unfortunately. I much prefer heavy Isis, but this album just seems to soften them up a bit too much for my liking.
Dr Octagon – The Return of Dr. Octagon
Kool Keith is pretty much the best rapper going around these days, and The Return of Dr. Octagon is a great album, though probably not quite as good as the first. It does contain one of my favorite tracks this year with the funky Trees.
Body Count – Murder For Hire
Ah Body Count. No one can deny (not even Doors) that Copkiller is one of the great albums of all time. If you don’t own it or haven’t heard it, do yourself a favor and check it out now. Murder For Hire seems to be by the numbers metal album though. All the humour that made the Copkiller album so great seems to be non existant, and the production values sound like that it was recorded for $100 down at the local University Radio Station. Don’t waste any money on this on, BC is no longer in the house….
The Mars Volta – Amputechture
The Mars Volta seem to spurt out music at a pretty prolific rate. It seems like only the other day I was wondering why the fuck people thought Frances the Mute was any good. The Amputechture cam out, and while it was better, it still leaves me wondering why so many people worship the sun shining out of the TMVs assholes. It’s not a bad album, and a few of the songs have some great moments, but I just don’t have the patience these days to sit through all the drivel to get to the good bits.
Sparta – Threes
Sparta seem to contain all the good bits of At The Drive-In, and I’ve been a fan of theirs for a while. This new album is a little softer than before, but still has the same emo sounds that we all love to hate. I probably haven’t given this enough listens to really comment too much, but it seems quite good to me. I’ve really gotta get 10,000 Days out of the stereo a bit more to give these guys a shot.
So there, we go, that pretty sums up my year in new music listening. Feel free to agree or disagree with what I’ve said here. I value your opinions as much as I hope you value mine. Let me know what you think I’ve missed out on. Don’t both suggesting Thom Yorke though…
I arrived back home in sunny Yeppoon a few hours ago and though I’d drop you all a quick line letting you know that I’m back, and that Fourth Eye will resume it’s normal programming tomorrow. That’s not to say Charred Remains did a bad job, in fact it looks like he’s done a pretty damn good one….
The honeymoon was awesome! Jo and I saw plenty of amazing animals in San Diego, were blinded by the lights in Vegas, scaled Hoover Dam, checked out Elton John, drove on the wrong side of the road, saw the Hollywood sign, purchased cheap booze, perfume and guitar pedals, and much much more. I might share a few photos and some other details later.
In other news, it looks like Butcher are looking for a new bass player. According to Camella’s Myspace site:
We are seeking a new bass player to write, record and play live with. If you love heavy music, and are looking for a project to pour your guts into, check out Butcher (http://myspace.com/butcherband) e-mail a demo of your music to: butcher@butcherband.com
Scott will always be heart and soul Butcher, and will continue to work with us in a limited capacity. Scott could not continue balancing a 90 mile drive to and from practice.
I guess the implication there is that you must be available for rehersal frequently, and presumeably either live in LA or don’t mind travelling.
Tickets to the Sydney show are still available, though they’re all pretty much on the side of the stage (I checked less that 1/2 an hour ago). Having sat in one of these before, I gotta say they aren’t as bad as they seem, and sure beats not being there. Get in quick!