Are You Ready To Rock?! with Sleeping In Traffic

In September, Sleeping In Traffic, a progressive rock four piece from Edmonton, Alberta released their latest EP.

You could easily check it out on BANDCAMP while you're reading this.

But don't stop there!

They've dropped three releases in the past few months.

As they're Canadian and prog rock, whom do you think they're going to talk about when it comes to live records?

I'm guessing it's Triumph.

Let's find out.

1. Every major band worth its salt has released a live album. Tell me about your favorite A list band's live record and your favorite underground live album.  

Vinyl Review: "En Las Montanas de Excesos" by Several People

En Las Montanas de Excesos

OK, I didn't put the names of the artists involved in this album in the title because there is no group name and they are listed individually.

Chris Cogburn

Ingebright Haker Flaten

Bob Hoffnar

Henry Kaiser

Look, I just wasn't sure if the whole thing would fit and not look all wonky when it came to be.

Cogburn is the drummer and apparently the leader and conceptualizer of this extremely strange record.

Haker Flaten plays the electric bass. Hoffnar plays pedal steel guitar, and Kaiser rounds out the quartet playing electric guitar.

In reality, I'm not certain if that information is going to be helpful or not to your enjoyment of this album.

Pizza Pie Do or Die with Monica Strut

Monica Strut

In the land down under lives Monica Strut. She's both in a band and helps bands how to do their own Public Relations.

Being as she's from a whole world away, it's going to be interesting to find out what pizza is like in Australia.

Let's dig in!

1. Pizza is the world's most perfect food. This is not up for debate. Please define pizza as based on your geographical location.

Australia is really European-influenced so our pizza is incredibly good. 

My hometown of Melbourne has deep Italian roots so I dare say we have the best pizza in the country.

2. It's going to get controversial now. Pineapple on Pizza. Why or why not? 

I LOVE pineapple on Pizza. I'm vegan now so the pineapple for me adds that depth of flavor that you might get from meat - even though I'm totally aware it taste's nothing like salami!

Vinyl Review: ST 37 "Self-Titled"

This week has been interesting because we've gone from the fewest number of people that can be performing together...that's two by the way all the way up to now six people.

There are SIX people in this band.

Then, there are even four extra people on here.

I'll fully cop to being a curmudgeon, but I don't know another 2 people that I'm willing to give my time to in order to make a musical project, much less another 9.

Seriously.

There are TEN PEOPLE ON THIS RECORD.

ST 37 is basically the Wu Tang Clan of whatever the hell kind of music this is that they're playing. Speaking of the music....let's move in to that area shall we.

A brief internet search has them listed as being a psych rock band.

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR

 It's time for a brand new column!

Once there was a time when hairspray, spandex, and songs about wholly inappropriate things ruled the world. Call it glam metal, hair metal, our Sunset Strip Rock. The name really isn't all that critical if you ask me.

What is critical is how it totally embodied the 1980's. Cocaine, money, and cheap sexy time. 

We are nearly 40 years out from when it hit the market after Quiet Riot's Metal Health broke causing all of these bands to crush it.

So, let's reach out and find what the current bands these days think of those times. For many of them, these bands are like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were to me in the 90's, amazing bands of yesteryear that don't precisely exist anymore.

We're starting this one off with publicist extraordinaire, Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR. If you're a band looking to get folks, like myself, talking and writing about you. Hit him up HERE.

But now, tease your hair and slip back into those leopard print tight pants.

Vinyl Review: "Monumenty Selhani" by Gattaca

Monumenty Selhani

One of the cool things about doing what I do is being able to hear music from all around the world that might have ordinarily escaped my notice.

Today I have the opportunity to spin the newest release from Gattaca of the Czech Republic.

Monumenty Selhani is composed and sung entirely in Czech.

This isn't my first time listening to a record in another language, but it's usually pretty cool.

We've all heard the tale that music is the universal language right?

All I know for certain is that the album is five emotionally charged and political songs.

So, what do I come away with?

Unlike Left To Starve, Rope and Guillotine's last release, this album isn't anxious and worried. It's purely angry.

Eastern Cuisine with Surface of the Sun's Devon Eggers

Are you looking for a great place to drop five bucks? Well, you're an American, so you probably don't have five bucks, but what about if you could drop three dollars and seventy five cents and get something that's listed for five bucks?!

My friend, here's a deal for you. The province of British Columbia has birthed, Surface of the Sun, who's in turn foisted upon this blue marble, Panacea.

Go to Bandcamp for the Panacea you need.

But for now, grab your chopsticks as we're heading east with them...wait. West. We're heading west to get get Eastern food.

1. We are all brought up eating Chinese Food. What's your go-to order from the Chinese Takeout place?

One of my favorite things in this world is food! And more specifically the Asian flavours. I love a good spicy ginger beef dish.

Vinyl Review: "Ex Voto" by Djunah

Ex Voto

I'm going to pierce the veil just a little bit right now for you. At the time of this writing, it's 10:22am on November 3rd. My daughter is sick, and I'm sitting upstairs drinking a pot of delicious Earl Grey Tea.

Also, I'm wearing my awesome AC/DC sleep pants because it's still morning time.

No idea why I did that, but moving on. Today I'm considering the debut release from Chicago's Noise/Experimental/Post-Punk Duo Djunah.

As we're now into week two of Glacially Musical's first ever Vinyl Fortnight, let's point out that so far, everything that's made it to these pages has been rather unique.

Evil Triplet, Left To Starve, The Transgressors, Ghost:Hello, and Rachid Taha have all been difficult to describe for me.

But that's the kind of music that really gets my blood flowing. Yes, anything that can be done has been done before. Of course it's perfectly acceptable to be heavily influenced by other bands.

Pizza Pie Do or Die with Casket Robbery's Alex Simpson

From out of the southern Wisconsin region of Ed Gein country, comes Casket Robbery.

They're live shows are becoming something of legend, make sure you get a chance to see them when you can.

Get in on what they're doing at Bandcamp and you'll most likely be glad that you did.

For now though, we're going to sit down over pizza pie.

1. Pizza is the world's most perfect food. This is not up for debate. 

Please define pizza as based on your geographical location.

Pizza in Sodak is pretty basic lots of crust and cheese.

2. It's going to get controversial now. Pineapple on Pizza. Why or why not?

 I Absolutely love pineapple on my pizza. Marco's in Sioux Falls has got it down with the Hawaiian style.

Vinyl Review: "They Made Her A Criminal" by The Transgressors

They Made Her A Criminal

Let's talk album art, tracklists, and all such manner of things like that.

In the old days, when we all went to record stores, how many of us never purchased a CD, cassette, or LP just based on bitchin' cover art?

I know that I did at least 400 times....that was if they didn't have anything I was looking for that week.

My first taste of Black Metal came from purchasing a CD with a cool painting on the front. Don't ask me what it was though, as that was 1998 and this is 2019.

I also didn't know it was Black Metal, that black metal was a thing, or what that thing I'd never heard of sounded like.

So, long story short, there was a box sent to me featuring a goodly number of things and such. This album was in that box. There were no requests to speak of about reviews, but hey, who doesn't like hearing about kick ass music...

Sure, it's a little bit older than yesterday's album, but if you've not heard about it, it's new to you, just like it was for me.

So, it's time to unpack this stuff.

Taco Grande with Thrash la Reine

Thrash la Reine

It's not every day that a band comes into my notice that has a very unique name, but Thrash la Reine has done just that.

If you'd like some more information, feel free to check out their Website.

I will warn you, it is in French. I'm always happy to check out some Quebecois metal though, that's for true.

In the meantime, let's talk about Tacos.

1. Everybody loves Taco Tuesday, but what's the best time to eat tacos for you and how many tacos do you put back in a standard sitting.

I usually eat tacos on Friday night with my friends, before we play Dungeons and Dragons. 

There is such a variety of tacos: wizards, dwarves, and elves can find something they like! I am the dungeon master, so 4 tacos are not too much for me.

2. Describe your perfect taco plate.

Vinyl Review "Nikada se niam bojao zmija" by Left To Starve

There are few things in this world more satisfying than finding  new artist and their music.

Every single one of my favorite bands, even the big ones, save one were bands I found later on life. The only exception to this is Kiss. I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't love Kiss. This literally goes back to pre-school.

I can even pinpoint the time when I became a fan of Black Sabbath, a few years after the original band had broken up. In those days, information was hard to acquire. I'd been a fan of Ozzy for awhile and I had no clue he was ever in any other band...much less the one that started it all.

But in this day and age t here is something seriously wrong with people. Rock fans have taken their finger off of the pulse of new music and then blame everyone else for the lack of it, as they call it.

Of course, those of us in the metal community know better. You find one band in the underground scene and before you know it, you're covered in new bands full of new music.

Today it's time to consider the debut album from Left To Starve.

Vinyl Review: "Have A Nice Trip" by Evil Triplet

Have A Nice Trip

This one is a little bit late, but let's totally pretend like 2018 and 2019 have merged into one super year for music.

This year, I've been lucky enough to have two of my favorite avant garde metal acts releasing a new record. (This is where we're pretending, because this album came out in 2018...)

Follow up records for those odd artists are always a great time, but those times are fraught with peril really.

Anyway, let's talk about Evil Triplet for a moment shall we?

Hailing from the wild world of Austin, TX, Evil Triplet is a...well they're a band..of some sort. In the vaguest sort of way, they're a metal band. They play riffs, guitar solos, and sing about aliens and Satan.

So, that's metal enough for this bloke.

If you need more penciling in and pigeonholing of them, it's probably best to say that the play Evil Triplet music. Look, most times...when someone says this, it's a damned lie and we all know it, but I can think of no other bands that play in the same style, but others may play in the same vein.

Vinyl Review: "Je Suis Africain" by Rachid Taha

Je Suis Africain

Let's talk for a moment about today's subject. Rachid Taha has shuffled off this mortal coil.

Just days before his 60th birthday, he died after suffering a heart attack in his sleep.

This album was completed before his untimely death.

 That means we're not looking a posthumously completed record like Experience Hendrix has been doing for the past 20 plus years...

You know how artists tend to get really popular upon their demise?

Chalk me up into that group, because this is my first time having heard Taha.

Considering the standard fare covered here on Glacially Musical, it's possible that it's all of my readers' first times as well, but if you could consider Alex Skolnick's world music record, you may just find something here too....

A Man Walks Into A Bar with The Last Reign's Brian Platter

Let's check back in with a band whose sound is ready made for all the things we love to enjoy, The Last Reign.

Their new EP dropped a week ago today. You should get on over to BANDCAMP to check out that flavor.

In the meantime though, let's see what they do when the cross the threshold of their local public house...

1. Which is your favorite kind of bar and why? It can be any kind. Whiskey, Beer, Wine, Coffee, or Steel. 

For the start of the day I'm a huge fan of coffee bars, I've always had a favorite local place to grab a solid cup of coffee, no fancy bullshit flavors needed just a good quality cup. 

For any other time I prefer the local neighborhood beer based bars. Generally the dirtier and louder the better.

2. When you get up to the 'tender, what's your normal order?