IRT Magazine

Gojira/Machinehead/Trvium/Lamb Of God

Last week Gojira, Machine Head, Trivium and Lamb Of God played the Roseland.

First up Gojira – France’s favorite metal sons, Gojira did their best to rock people who came to the show early. The band has a following among hipsters and tastemakers, but is largely unknown to the metal masses. All those who did see Gojira were converts.

Machine Head – MH are legends in the metal world and their latest, The Blackening, ranks easily as one of their best. The opened with Clenching The Fists Of Dissent, the first track on their new album. The crowd responded as if they’ve known this song for years. The passion and intensity never eased up. Simply put their set was devastating from start to finish and was a hard act to follow.

Trivium – This band has wanted to be Metallica SOOOOOO bad since they started. In England they are huge. Put those together and you have a band with a huge ego. They tried to be fierce but came across sounding flat. The fame and adulation has taken the hunger away from Trivium. They have to get it back if they want to follow a band like Machine Head.

Lamb Of God – What can be said about this band that hasn’t already? One of the most consistently amazing live bands working in metal today. They didn’t disappoint. Every metal band these days calls out for circle pits. Randy Blithe didn’t have to. They just spontaneously erupted. -  Brad Filicky

Both Jamie and Michael have been playing around New York for years. I was lucky enough to catch their gig at Rockwood last week.

First up was Jamie who sounds like Nora Jones through a slightly experimental jazz filter. She sang most of the songs with a smile on her face and chatted with the crowd. It was obvious she was having a good time. I just wish she would have played her version of Rainbow Connection.

Next up was Michael who has played trumpet for a wide variety of artists including

Steely Dan and De La Soul. His solo material reminds of Jeff Buckley with non linear guitar playing and falsetto singing. He beefs up his sound with the use of everything from toy megaphones to toy pianos. One lucky audience member even got to come up on stage and play tambourine. Poor girl couldn’t keep rhythm if her life depended on it, but that didn’t stop the band from playing a challenging and heartfelt show.

- Brad Filicky

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Endless Highway - The Music Of The Band (429 Records)

I rolled my eyes when I saw the track list for this inevitable tribute album to the kings of Upstate rock , none other than The Band. Blues Traveler? Widespread Panic? Jakob Dylan? Where’s my hooded flannel and green Airwalks, we’re gonna be late to the 1994 party. But if at the very least a fitting testament to the strength of their immense songwriting legacy, the majority of the artists on here do a solid job interpreting the cream of the Danko/Hudson/Helm/Robbertson/Manuel canon, some more skillfully than others, however. Right off the bat, Guster’s outstandingly faithful treatment of “This Wheel’s On Fire”, My Morning Jacket’s rockist take on “It Makes No Difference”, recorded up at Levon Helm’s studio in Woodstock by the way, followed by Jack Johnson’s stark version of “I Shall Be Released”, well at least stark by his standards, fall short of an out-of-the-gate trifecta with the presence of Bruce Hornsby (WTF, man!) Though I would rather hear Death Cab or Roseanne Cash or the Allman Brothers Band, whose live rip through “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is the best track on here, than say, the boring-ass Roches or Steve Reynolds, there are a couple of surprises here. Blues Traveler cut their spot-on rendition of “Rag Mama Rag” at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio, and emerged with their tightest, most organic stuff since Travellers & Thieves. And you gotta big it up to Widespread Panic, who just kill it on “Chest Fever”. Utlimately, Endless Highway suffers from inconsistency, and is the perfect case as to why Various Artists albums were always a gamble to buy at the store. But in the age of iTunes, its as simple as picking the ripest fruit from the vine. –Chester A. “Fever”

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

Out Of The Blue (Epic-Legacy)

APPLES IN STEREO

New Magnetic Wonder (Simian/Yep Roc)

Yeah Apples In Stereo, you guys are cool. This new album is pretty good, I guess. Definitely the most put-together stuff I have ever heard from your band. But unfortunately, I received this CD the same exact time I scored a copy of Out Of The Blue in the mail. And next to Out Of The Blue, as perfect an equilibrium as pop can get that sounds just as fresh today as it did 30 years ago to the year, New Magnetic Wonder just can’t cut the mustard, pawl. I would be doing a major disservice to Jeff Lynne by putting up any of the 24 songs on the new Apples album up against “Mr. Blue Sky” or “The Whale” or “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” or “Starlight” or “Big Wheels” or any of the tracks drenched in grandiose arrangements steeped in footnotes from conversations with Bowie and Harrison on this outstanding pop gem. The spaceship on the jacket cover that looks like the game Simon with Jetfire from the Transformers docking in its bay. I’m not saying that New Magnetic Wonder is bad. Just in sequence with a monster like Out Of The Blue, it’s not happening. –Patch Atomz

SONIC YOUTH w/ WOODEN WAND

Webster Hall 2/16/08, 6:30 PM

KURT ELLING

The Blue Note 2/16/08, 10:45 PM

It was perhaps the most dynamic shift I had ever seen between an opening act and the headliner in all my years. In the last 12 years, I was lucky enough to see Sonic Youth 9 times, the last being the group’s second appearance at “The Ritz”, as Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore have so lovingly referred to Webster Hall as onstage, this past Valentine’s weekend. And I’ve seen a lot of different acts open up for them, from the Dirty Three to US Maple. But Wooden Wand, former IRT cover star and recent signee to Thurston Moore’s Universal-distributed Ecstatic Peace!, was by far the most relaxing. Eschewing his Brooklyn-based free rock ensemble the Vanishing Voice in favor of an acoustic guitar and vocal accompaniment from frequent collaborator and wife Jessica, James Toth gracefully took us through a little over a half hour’s worth of Martyn-esque British folk by way of Staten Island’s only known Shaolin troubadour, including tracks from his upcoming release James and the Quiet.

As for Sonic Youth, they were amazing as always, although they did stick “rather” heavily to their Rather Ripped material, dipping into their catalog only sporadically, breaking out gems like “Silver Rocket” and “Bull in the Heather” for the veteran Geffen-era fans. Nevertheless, they were joined by former Pavement bassist Marc Ibold, who Moore accidentally introduced him to the crowd as “Mark Arm” in one of the Sonic Youth guitar man’s livelier stage appearances in recent memory. From my vantage point, I wasn’t sure if he was just being drunk or being a dick, that was, until he swipeed the beer off Ibold’s amp shortly thereafter. Whatever, man, take the new guy to school. Kim Gordon seemed happy to have her hands free from that heavy bass to dance around like a grrl half her age.

Taking off before the encore, just as the dance club early birds are starting to perch themselves on the line outside Webster Hall, Michele and I race over to the Blue Note for a comedown. When I met Michele that night at McSorley’s, she had told me how she always wanted to check out the Blue Note, albeit when we went, she thought it was going to look different inside. And when she described the atmosphere she had in mind, she was talking about the Village Vanguard, which we will be going to very soon, yes noodle? Regardless, it’s not the place but the talent they have on stage that makes the night, and the Blue Note has some pretty good food, and they were giving out snorts of vintage whiskey to the crowd on the second-to-last night of NYC improv crooner Kurt Elling’s Valentine’s Day week stand at the club. The guy is 39, which is practically high school age in jazz years, but shines with the wit and charm of a performer who has been wooing the Catskills for the last 50 years. Pulling predominantly from his brand new all-covers release and debut on Concord Records, Nightmoves, Mr. Elling and his band were definitely on top of his game on this evening, particularly during their exceptional renditions of The Guess Who’s “Undun” and a “vocalese” take on Dexter Gordon’s 1962 Blue Note nugget “Where Are You”, which was just about as sweet as the Blue Note’s delicious honey-glazed wings we were chowing down on before the show.

All in all (for lack of time and a better term –ed.), it was a great night of music that rang in me and Michele’s third year together as a couple. Next year, however, I plan on taking her to a real jazz club. -Ed.

Isis – Mar 14 Irving Plaza

Nigel hipsters (is anybody still using that phrase?) came out in force for the New York stop of the Zig Zag live tour featuring Isis, Jesu, and Torche. Torche opened the night and got an enthusiastic response from the crowd. Unusually the crowd seems restless during opening acts, but not with Torche. I think the bands Stoner grove won over a lot of new fans judging by how many people were huddled by their merch table. Jesu was up next and also managed to hold the audience enrapt. Jesu already has loyal following of people who were fans of frontman/songwriter Justin Broadrick’s earlier band, Godflesh. Hirsute metal dudes were banging their head to their favorite riffs the way some people sing along with their favorite lyrics. Isis ended the night with a nonstop art metal assault. It is easy to see why Tool chose this band to open their last tour. Its no secret that metal is a genre that is transcending the stereotypes associated with it and appealing to a crowd that seems more likely to listen to The Velvet Underground than early Metallica. The bands on this bill are the reason why. This is uncompromising heavy music that can appeal to the mind as well as the adolescent rage usually associated with metal not to mention all the guitar teachers trying desperately to figure out the riffs. So this is why I see so many guys in Williamsburg wearing Mayhem shirts. - Brad Filicky

So Viacom is suing YouTube for millions and millions of dollars. I’m sure this move will be analyzed all over the mainstream press and the blogosphere with detailed breakdowns for what it means to the business world and the cultural landscape in the internet age. My opinion as a pop culture junkie is that Viacom is shooting themselves in the foot. I can understand them not wanting clips from popular shows available on DVD (South Park, Chapelle’s Show, Etc) to be copied and distributed. Heaven forbid “I’m Rick James Bitch” gets posted on some teenager’s Myspace page. But what about shows that are not available on DVD? YouTube was the only place to still find clips form show’s like The State (MTV’s short lived sketch comedy show staring a lot of the Reno 911 cast) and Sifl and Olly (A sock puppet show created by Pick Of Destiny director Liam Lynch). What’s the worse thing that could happen? These shows get a second life thanks to people discovering them on YouTube. Viacom finally allows these shows to be released on DVD and the company makes a profit. That’s capitalism at its most effective folks. So is Viacom trying to prove it’s might by swinging its big legal dick around like a pinwheel or are they really scared about copyright infringement? In reality they are probably ignorant of just how to use YouTube’s ease of access to information to their advantage. This is very similar to how the record industry went batshit when Napster first hit the stage. Granted the, bugs have not all been worked out and illegal downloading is cutting into corporate bottom lines, but the technology is improving and legal downloading is increasing in large percents every year. In the end Napster was castrated and became a shitty legal download site. Hopefully YouTube will stick to its guns and keeps its balls while the dust settles and one day will be able to watch Sifl and Olly in peace. - Brad Filikcy

Flogging Molly brought their Green 17 Tour to New Jersey last Friday. Openers Street Dogs (featuring Ex Dropkick Murphy frontman and former Boston firefighter Mike McColgan) brought the punk to the restless and already drunk crowd, but it was Flogging Molly who really brought the house down with rousing renditions of classics like Drunken Lullabies and Laura. The New Jersey crowd seemed a bit more rowdy than times when I‘ve seen the band play in New York. At their gig last fall at Webster Hal people were dancing jigs like they were in the bottom of the titanic partying with the working class folks. This show it seemed like people were there to brawl. I saw more than one fight almost break out, but cooler heads prevailed and Flogging Molly kicked all of our asses. - Brad Filicky

2006 NY COMICON

One of the highlights of the year is the NY comicon. A geek like me was in heaven. I spent more than I should have on graphic novels, but also got to see some killer panels. Here’s a quick recap of the panels I went to.

World War Hulk – Presided over by Marvel Editor In Chief Joe Quesdada and featuring writers Greg Pak and Dan Slott, Marvel gave us the 411 on its company wide crossover event for this summer.

Stephen King – The Gunslinger Born – Stephen King made an appearance on the panel discussing the recently launched Gunslinger Born comic based on his best selling Gunslinger series. King takes an approach to his work that it writes itself. The result is that he can across as arrogant when answering questions about his work. But he also has a sense of humor that always shines through.

Stan Lee – Always a ham for an audience, Stan The Man told tales of the early days of Marvel comics including little ways he would have marvel fuck with DC . For example – Once Marvel started out selling DC, DC wondered why.. “oh look Marvel outsells us because they have more word balloons on the cover”.. the next month Marvel wouldn’t use any words on the cover. Especially touching was his tales of his time working with past legends like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.Kevin Smith – Back for a second year, Kevin continued his potty mouth assault on Reese Witherspoon (did she leave Ryan because he is gay? Kevin thinks so) and Hollywood in general (didn’t like Superman Returns but liked Ben Affleck’s straight to DVD movie, Man About Town). And he thinks MLK could take The Swedish Chef in a fight.Hostel 2- Eli Roth and Heather Mattarazzo (Weiner Dog in Welcome To The Doghouse) were among the panelist. Eli was a natural answering questions with honesty and from the perspective of a true fan of the horror genre. Hard to believe this is the guy who directed Cabin Fever and Hostel. Be patient folks, his adaptation of Stephen King’s Cell is coming soon!

- Brad Filicky

Story: Ed.

For over 10 years, Trans Am has been a favorite amongst the staff of this Interboro Rock Tribune. 1997’s The Surveillance is one of the five best albums that Thrill Jockey has ever put out. And though since 1999’s Futureworld, the group has since leaned more towards the dance music that would’ve gotten their asses kicked all over the 9:30 club in their youth, they do new wave better than 95% of the reverse mulleted posers trying to live off the glory of the early 80’s. Sex Change is their latest album, and by far their most rave-ready release to date. We had the chance to interface with drummer Sebastian Thomson electronically shortly before the release of the new album. A great debt of thanks to Mr. Thomson and his publicist, the lovely Jessica Linker, for making this happen. Sex Change is available at finer record stores now on the always-dependable Thrill Jockey label.  And just for the record, Trans Ams will NEVER be cooler than Corvettes.  Sorry, guys.