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Once, a long time ago, I had the idea of doing a weekly (or, at the very least, a bi-weekly) column here on Music Emissions dedicated to metal and only metal… Read more

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For the remainder of the month, Video of the Week has been taken over by a Deadbolt wine. They believe they have the chops to knock our socks off. Deadbolt isn’t just a new wine, it’s making its own rules and creating a new type of wine culture through great music promotions, sponsorships, and even a series of concerts to lend aid to these musicians giving them a voice to a larger audience. So let’s see what kind of chops they have. Read more

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Disturbingly catching my eye this week with their brilliantly creepy video for their single, “Big Fan” premiering this week, LA new wave psyche pop duo Touché released their debut album It’s Fate on May 1st. Featuring futuristic, fatalistic themes and provocative images, they’ve crossed dance, pop and house genres with ease. Getting props from Filter, MTV, XLR8R and All Music recently, Touché has officially touched down on mainstream media consciences.

A few days ago,I got a chance to connect with Alex and Bram of Touché as they prepare to wrap up their Tour de Touché with a CD release show at the Echo in Los Angeles today, May 10th! Join me there tonight, check out the videos and soundclips below and follow Touché on Facebook and Twitter for more album info and future tour dates!

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This 1967 reissue is definitely of its time. recorded shortly before his ordination as a preacher, Jerry Moore’s “Life is a Constant Journey Home” is a meditative plea for peace and faith, delivered in a smooth plaintive voice and utilizing many of the familiar folk, country, Soul and light blues of era. Moore’s message is subtly Christian, but its overtly compassionate and fiery defense of love is certainly all-inclusive.

With light soulful blues, lyrics gently chiding, the title song opens things up with a mellow but edgy tone. This is a call to wake up, a search for a fast track to insight and redemption. Again, the music is dated and might seem more appropriate to an ad for a senior citizen health product than a memorable invocation to eternal love, but Moore’s voice, like that of more recently, Alexi Murdoch or Stuart Staples, has a gritty world-wise depth behind the lush croon.

In contrast, “Drugged” is nevertheless a parable that works because of the music. A folk shuffle that seems is dated in melody and message until repeated listens reveal a rock and roll heart, this track is rescued from a certain fate as a preachy topical screed. Moore effortlessly—unintentionally?—expands the meaning of funky here.

The set really kicks in to gear with “Anti Bellum Sermon.” a funky blues with a hard rhythm section that is topical without being, er, preachy. This and “Winds of Change” are the only really overtly gritty songs. In my world, that means they are the best songs of the set; it is with these songs that his message of togetherness and brotherly love mixes with the hard realities of the beat, as if to remind us that there is a cost and a struggle involved in trying to live right and with compassion.

Of the other cuts, ‘This Is My Time” is especially dated, with its Love-esque soft psych, though the primarily a- cappella melody showcases Moore’s deeply passionate delivery. But the song sinks itself in a fey melody that wastes that vocal performance, undermining its urgency with turgid syrup. The closer, “Let Go, Reach Out,” is a possibly expected call to unity anthem, and it likewise suffers from its resemblance to formulaic pop sugar.

Still, “Life is a Constant Journey Home” is more than a period piece. Moore shows himself to be adept and sensitive to various styles, and his rich soulful voice must surely have helped him in the pulpit. While this is no classic, it is a lost gem from a time when there were many such voices crying for peace in the wilderness. Jerry Moore laid down a few tracks that displayed the poetry and passion of the man and the artist. His hits and misses with honesty and sincerity, and you can’t ask more from a record, even one consigned to obscurity.

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Denmark teens Iceage do not reinvent their sound on their sophomore release. Hell, not only does “You’re Nothing” not stray very far from their debut “New Brigade,” is more often than not does not stray very far from 1981 Los Angeles. But as indebted to hardcore as they are (and post-rock, shoegaze, etc) the band cannot be dismissed. Drawing on the same ire and frustration that has fueled the best rock, Iceage make their own statement with the same tools, rather than fall back on those tools and pose. “You’re Nothing” is no joke.
The opener, “Ecstasy,” is propelled by a 50s teen idol ballad melody—from hell, as it turns out. Like Gang Green or Squirrel Bait covering Frankie Lyman, this is all horny dream and reality ball-kicks. “Interlude” is just that: a muddy, martial ambient, with feedback and drums the only, and spare, sounds. This is a key track, however, not a throwaway or snide tangent; it is rather very effective and haunting, and a hint at the band’s varied sound palette.

“Burning Hand” is a cool, exhilarating and soaring mix of No-Wave and post-rock, almost wise in the way it blends and manipulates classic approaches to angry. “In Haze” is the kind of sludgy but melodic tune with which Australian bands like feedtime or Died Pretty once excelled. Most of these dozen songs are as memorable as they might be familiar. With “Morals,” brilliant bass and piano lines lace their shoegaze with poetic depth and power, while on “Everything Drifts” and “Wounded Hearts,” Iceage channel their inner Darby Crash. A dark propulsive riff lends poetry to “Awake,” while “Rodfæstet” is just brilliant quick hardcore.
The title track ends things with noise, spite and cathartic, rage, the ingredients for anthems for eons but, when done right, righteous. That is probably the best way to describe Iceage in general, and “You’re Nothing” in particular. Raspy vocalist Elias Rønnenfelt delivers the goods with style and authority. He is snotty, but his posing has a poetic sadness to it as well. As much as the music extends beyond punk into the ambient and abstract, Rønnenfelt’s voice is equally willing to explore an emotional range at once hesitant, defiant, and awestruck.
Hype, yes. Typical sonic heroes and themes, yes. But Iceage have ambition, and chops, and a snotty belief in their eventual rightful place among those heroes. May not happen; they may wind up memorable, forgotten or among the barristers who take your order at an Amsterdam hash bar. For now, for two records, for tonight, they rule the world.

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For the remainder of the month, Video of the Week has been taken over by a Deadbolt wine. They believe they have the chops to knock our socks off. Deadbolt isn’t just a new wine, it’s making its own rules and creating a new type of wine culture through great music promotions, sponsorships, and even a series of concerts to lend aid to these musicians giving them a voice to a larger audience. So let’s see what kind of chops they have. Read more

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It’s common knowledge that as NY (Let’s Go Knicks and Yankees) as I am to the core, I’ve always had a soft spot for Boston (or as we say Bawston) boys. Especially Boston rappers. Mixing members Everlast, DJ Lethal and Danny Boy of the historic group House of Pain with rising Beantown lyricists Slaine and Ill Bill, La Coka Nostra started making their mark in 2005. Performing with the group, launching a successful acting career and dropping solo projects, Slaine’s got a full slate on the horizon. Dropping his latest effort, The Boston Project , featuring a slew of dope up and coming artists a few weeks ago, he chose to spotlight the best the city has to offer.

I connected with Slaine right before he was set to fly to Mexico City and Chile to rock with the La Coka crew to discuss the recent Boston terrorist attack, his musical start, acting career, memorable concert performances and interestingly what he likes in a good woman. Peep the videos and soundclips below and check Slaine out on Twitter and Facebook !

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Welcome to another edition of Unsigned and Wound Up, volume 10 ladies and gents. The top three vote-getters will receive a professional review from a staff writer. The top vote-getter receives an interview feature.
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Guards will join Portugal. The Man on tour in June and July, rounding out a busy couple of months on the road that includes dates with Palma Violets, Best Coast, Alt-J, and appearances at Lollapalooza, Primavera Sound, and more.

On tour in support of their new album In Guards We Trust (Black Bell Records), the New York-based band just performed a highly-praised set at Coachella. The Wall Street Journalstates “on tour behind In Guards We Trust, one of the year’s best albums, Guards muscled up, its live music less textured but no less appealing as a synth growled in the midrange along with washes of guitar feedback.” Similarly, Los Angeles Times declares “Guards toy with loud-soft dynamics, and touch on pastel harmonies and thick, almost ’60s garage rock riffs, but it’s the back and forth between keyboardist Kaylie Church and Richie Follin that sets the group apart.”

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Very few can deny the 90’s yielded some of the best hip-hop trios and quartets ever. The East Coast definitely repped during the era but the West equally held it down (including Vancouver and the Pacific NW) with groups like Juno-winning, platinum-selling Swollen Members (including Prevail, Mad Child and Rob The Viking) immediately coming to mind. Weathering the storm of drug addiction, dark periods and legal issues remaining together, the group released their tenth album, Beautiful Death Machine in March. Collaborating over the years with respected heavy-hitters like Everlast, Talib Kweli, Tech N9ne, La Coka Nostra, Dilated Peoples and Saigon, they’ve cemented their places in indie hip-hop history.

I caught up with Prevail a few weeks ago to chat about the storied Swollen Members’ legacy, his solo lifestyle site venture, touring plans and crazy fan experiences potentially involving fangs. Peep the videos and check out our interview clips below! Connect with Prevail on Twitter and Facebook !

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