Review: Depeche Mode – Remixes 81-04

Review: Depeche Mode – Remixes 81-04
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Depeche Mode Remixes 81-04 Reprise There are a thousand official and unofficial Depeche Mode remixes floating around in the stratosphere and to try and make a single disc compilation of highlights is a rather daunting task. I know because I’ve made a few of my own over the years. This official compilation of highlights isn’t

Review: Bella Morte – Songs For The Dead

Review: Bella Morte – Songs For The Dead
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BELLA MORTE SONGS FOR THE DEAD Metropolis I’ve never bought into the idea that Bella Morte were a traditional goth band; they always seemed a bit more based in punk rock and Songs for the Dead emphasizes that by turning down the keyboards and upping the guitars for a sound that is more representative of

Review: The Occasion – Self-Titled

Review: The Occasion – Self-Titled
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THE OCCASION THE OCCASION Say Hey Records From the haunting opening of “The Midwife,” you know you’re being kidnapped and there isn’t anything you can do about it. Hailing from New York and having opened for band as diverse as Interpol, The Unicorns and Franz Ferdinand, The Occasion sound nothing like their surroundings. Where there

Review: Character – We Also Create False Promises

Review: Character – We Also Create False Promises
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CHARACTER WE ALSO CREATE FALSE PROMISES Fictitious Records If you were to take a bowl of jazz and pour it over a slice of analog keyboards, add some guitars, perhaps a Ride album rewritten by Tortoise and shake it up like a snow globe, you might come up with Character. Unlike many instrumental bands, Character

Review: The Violettes – Self-Titled

Review: The Violettes – Self-Titled
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THE VIOLETTES THE VIOLETTES www.theviolettes.com From the opening rolling cascades of sound of “Blue Hearted Fool,” it is quite clear that The Violettes are a shoegaze delight with fantastic production that allows for the chaos of sound to swell without giving the songs a cheap wash of undefined sound. That is, until the groove kicks

Review: Demonoid – Riders Of The Apocalypse

Review: Demonoid – Riders Of The Apocalypse
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Demonoid Riders Of The Apocalypse Nuclear Blast If I had to guess what a side-band made up of members of the band Therion would sound like, the last thing I would guess is Demonoid’s Riders Of The Apocalypse—especially after Therion’s latest, the double album Lemuria/Sirius B. Demonoid is Kristian Niemann (guitar), Johan Niemann (bass) and

Review: Unleashed – Sworn Allegiance

Review: Unleashed – Sworn Allegiance
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Unleashed Sworn Allegiance  Century Media Sworn Allegiance is the 7th studio album from Unleashed in their 15 years as a band. I never got into these guys in the past because I always considered their output as sub-par. Surprisingly enough to me, I actually enjoyed Sworn Allegiance. This album isn’t great by any means, nor

HOW ROMANCE CAME TO BE: An Interview with Mike Patton and John Kaada

HOW ROMANCE CAME TO BE: An Interview with Mike Patton...
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One of them is a Norwegian composer who has scored numerous European films and released his mold-shattering debut album, Thank You For Giving Me Your Valuable Time, on Ipecac Recordings in 2001. The other is the enigmatic frontman behind some of the most influential and original projects of the past 15 years, and the owner/founder

My Parents’ Favorite Band and the Gimme Gimmes: Interview w/ Spike Slawson

My Parents’ Favorite Band and the Gimme Gimmes: Interview w/...
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Me First and the Gimme Gimmes really need no introduction—you should know their shtick by this point. Just in case you don’t: Swingin’ Utters’ Spike Slawson (vocals), NOFX’s “Fat” Mike (bass), Joey Cape and Dave Raun from Lagwagon (guitar and drums, respectively), and former No Use for a Name and current Foo Fighters member Chris Shiflett (guitar) don their finest attire, drink too much, and crank out skate-punk covers of just about everything. … read more

Extending Soul: Who is Ron Carroll?

Extending Soul: Who is Ron Carroll?
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From being a choirboy to an award-winning vocalist, Chicago native Ron Carroll not only can play classical saxophone, clarinet, trombone and trumpet, but he’s been on Billboard charting and DJ-ing house music for over a decade. Find out who he is in this SLUG exclusive interview. SLUG: Who is Ron Carroll? Ron Carroll: A-jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none kind