Carl Begai

As if in response to all the New Wave Of Wannabe Soilwork Death Metal bands that spent most of the last decade running amok, educated old school no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll has resurfaced in recent years to an unexpected degree. Never mind the (warranted) Chickenfoot hype and the fact that Airbourne are allowed to exist in spite of being an illegitimate beer swilling bastard cousin of the AC/DC franchise right down to the Australian postal code. Quality acts The New Black, David Chastain’s Southern Gentlemen and new-era Sinner have earned themselves some well deserved mileage by keeping things simple, concerned far more with having fun with the music rather than bludgeoning folks into submission with their oh-so-righteous aggression. Add the bare-bones DareDevil Squadron to this growing list, an act that has learned their Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden lessons well to the point that they see nothing whacked about combining the two. (continue reading…)

The great thing about having my own website is that I’m able to say what I like. Within reason of course, but the bottom line is I’m able to step away from the neutral ground of a professional environment like BW&BK. Not that I’m planning on being amateurish or infantile; I just figured I’d offer up a few items for your consideration that I find interesting and worthwhile. The curious and open-minded should read on, folks looking for illegal downloads and tabloid fodder should click here.

First off, the eternally sexy BW&BK family has posted the Best Of 2009 list in a nifty online flipbook. It’s the annual writer rundown of Top 20 cool albums, Top 5 pieces of crap, Top 5 shows, and predictions for 2010. Definitely worth reading if you’re into seeing what actually fuels the minds and souls of those of us behind-the-scenes. And for the record, yes, I really did put Daniel Merriweather down as one my fave shows from last year.
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I recently caught up with guitarist / producer Fredrik Nordström, who continues to slug it out with his band Dream Evil in between production jobs. Always a fun interview, we recently got the chance to play catch-up and discuss the band’s new record In The Night. I also asked him about his new and rather unique stage name, Ritchie Rainbow, which fits if you know the man’s warped sense of humour. An excerpt is available below.

Nordström: “I think many people are like me when they listen to music; they don’t give a lot of attention to the lyrics. I mean, on this album we have ‘The Ballad’, and I’ve played it for people and they don’t laugh because they don’t understand that we did it in fun. People don’t understand that sometimes we do this just to have a fucking laugh. This is something in the band, though, where we don’t do funny lyrics on purpose. They just come out that way. For example, I wrote all the music and vocal melodies for ‘The Ballad’ and I brought it to the guys saying that I thought it had hit potential, then gave it to Niklas so he could write the lyrics, and what you hear is what he came up with. I was laughing my ass off.”

As for adopting stage names, Nordström explains:
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It’s probably considered bad form to use the term “wow” to describe a what is essentially a doom metal album but… well… wow. Not since Theatre Tragedy’s first two albums – which aren’t nearly as gothic as folks like to think – has a gloom laden record dug its hooks in this deep and dragged me in so completely. A lush and epic soundtrack to personal demise, Woods 4 features frontman / founder David Gold twisting things in unexpected fashion, having exchanged the black metal-inspired vibe of Woods III: Deepest Roots And Darkest Blues for a oft-times slower, brazenly progressive and ultimately heavier album. Very Devin Townsend of him in fact, as Gold continues his own tradition of not playing to expectation. Lines can be drawn to Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus in particular, and the Theatre Of Tragedy comparison holds merit in that one doesn’t have to be a fan of the deep and dark to get into Woods IV. The band has concocted a record that blurs the “doom” line without disrespecting the required genre dynamics as outlined by the purists. Some will bitch of course, but I’m currently looking into patenting can-openers for the mind.
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By Carl Begai

Back in 1997, before the internet ruled the music world, I accidentally stumbled upon an album entitled Project One by the Japanese band Saber Tiger. I was (and remain) a fan of Japanese metal, and even though I had no idea who guitarist / ringleader Akihito Kinoshita was at the time, the musicians on the album with him had more than enough credibility to hold my interest: Anthem bassist / founder Naoto Shibata, ex-EZO drummer Hiro Homma, and vocalist Ron Keel.

I bought the record without hearing a note.
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By Carl Begai

They don’t come any more down-to-earth than guitarist / vocalist Greg Fraser. Having lived the rock star life through the ‘80s as a member of Canadian hair band Brighton Rock, he’ll be the first to tell you that his new band Fraze Gang isn’t destined to take the same path. Not that he would complain if they did; Fraser is only too aware of just how far his brand of ‘70s-edged melodic rock will go over in this day and age with the music-buying / stealing public. He isn’t bitter nor does he think that the world owes him another shot at the brass ring, however. On the contrary, Fraser, bassist / Brighton Rock bandmate Stevie Skreebs, and drummer Phil Epp are quite content making music without the pressures of living up to the expectations of label reps and fans. Besides, if and when Fraser feels the need to play rock god for the masses he always has his reunited-but-not former band to fall back on.

Case in point with October 30th, 2008, when Brighton Rock joined Helix, Andy Curran and Russ Dwarf of Killer Dwarfs fame for a benefit show to raise money for Coney Hatch frontman Carl Dixon, who was seriously injured in a car accident earlier that year. A show that inadvertently fuelled rumours that Brighton Rock were getting back together for the long haul.
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The other day I was getting my daily fix of online music news and stumbled upon an article on Yahoo! discussing the new music poptart Ke$ha. Seems the sweet young thing, according to Nielsen SoundScan, racked up some huge numbers for her first digital single ‘Tik Tok’ prior to the release of her debut album, making her something resembling a big deal (click here for the info). Curiosity piqued, I tripped on over to YouTube to see what the fuss was about and was suitably appalled. The young lady is easy on the eyes, sure, but I found myself wondering yet again what it is that makes people buy into someone that is quite obviously devoid of talent beyond her nose piercing.

What set me off was the fact that all the vocals on the song are auto-tuned. Not just a little bit, either. There isn’t a single tone that comes out of the girl’s throat – or any other orifice for that matter – that wasn’t process cheesed by a computer before going to tape (yes, I said tape; I’m old school but you know what I mean). And it’s not just the one song; I did some checking and it’s the whole bloody album. From where I sit in the Castle Of Know-It-All Arrogance this is one of those things that is unforgivable in music, and the folks responsible don’t deserve the financial windfall that has and will continue to come their way.
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