New album Review for Dog & Pan…
New album Review for Dog & Panther’s album “What Happened” as well as Bars of Gold concert review at http://www.blog.thesundayidiom.com
New Artist Dog & Panther Deliver Debut Album “What Happened”
Dog & Panther is a Michigan band whose Debut album “What Happened” was brought to fruition and given life by John Katona, Ben Vrazo and Ian Sigmon (of Back to the River, Back to the Forest). The album “What Happened” whispers, cries and will inevitably grow on the listener with time. Dog & Panther is a heartfelt and atmospheric band just as organic as it is electric. The album has instantly nestled itself in my life with perfect timing. The lyrics become more illuminating and intriguing with each listen. Dog & Panther are a glowing example of why people need to continue to create communities and fight for what is right. Please take the time to listen to them here and visit their website to watch a video trailer for the album here.
Bars of Gold, Fawn, Child Bite and Silverghost Concert
Table of Contents:
Bars of Gold
Fawn
Child Bite CD Release Party
Silverghost
Updates
Bars of Gold
Using my other reviews here and here, I’ve concluded that Bars of Gold are rock and roll scientists whose hard-work and love for their craft creates something emanate and beautiful. They helped support Childbite for their Album Release at the Magic Bag in Ferndale on June 19th. Bars of Gold is tentatively releasing their album “Of Gold” on August 24th. The record release concert is being held at Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids on Saturday, September 11th. Its $5 dollar entry. You can listen to three songs on their Myspace Page and their new single “The Hustle” at Friction Records website. I believe “The Hustle” is the only song they’ve released online that is fully mastered- however thats just a guess. One thing I’ve noticed about Bars of Gold is undeniably a Michigan band and its something I cannot find the right words to explain. Thanks to www.onethirtybpm.com for linking me here.
Fawn
Fawn is a solid three-piece band destined for car speakers. My father and I had a discussion about how awesome it would be to have a Fawn CD for our drive to Copper Harbor, Michigan. During Fawn’s performance we kept glancing at each other with smiles. Fawn is exactly the band me and my Father love; its rock and roll with character. Dual female and male vocalists add to Fawn’s character. Also impressive was their drummer (who also drums for Javelin). I am excited to see Fawn again to hear what else they have to offer. You can listen to their music on Facebook here.
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Child Bite CD Release Show
The first time I saw Child Bite they were dressed as Rage Against the Machine performing a set of cover songs for Halloween 2009. I could tell that Child Bite was quirky, but really wanted to experience what their music had to offer. I saw Child Bite as themselves when they opened up for Trevor Dunn’s Madlove at the Pike Room in Pontiac. I was surprised that there was no saxophone and only three members on stage, but the music was unexpected reminiscent of art rock or the post-rock genres. From the beginning of their set Child Bite was fast, aggressive and funky. Their album release show was solid and flashier than other performances -the audience loved them. With the $10 entry we were able to choose between CD, Cassette or Vinyl copy of their new CD on Joyful Noise Recordings called “The Living Breathing Organ Summer”. You can buy the album here.
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Silverghost
Silverghost is a lovely two-piece creating pop music filled with fuzz and analog synths . I didn’t know what to expect when I saw a floating head move around on the screen behind them until my Dad educated me on the 1974 film Zardos. It was an a strange movie backing the bizarre and intriguing pop songs that emanated from Silverghost. You can download their new EP for free here.
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Updates
We’ve reimaged the Sunday Idiom a bit and I’ve kept on doing the whole digital illustration-digital art- graphic design thing. It’s a lot of fun, but I keep disappointing myself with the lack of music reviews. Honestly it’s all about the money and disposable income. My fiancée’ just got cut to part time and keeping up with technology to keep the site running, as well as a list of other excuses is growing longer. Things are tight, but that doesn’t mean The Sunday Idiom is going to stop. I am going to continue doing what I love and nothing is going to stop me- not even Michigan’s bleak economy. Things like the Bars of Gold concert review may not happen as often, but they will keep happening. I am going to start school at the International Academy of Design and Technology in August with hopes it will take me down the right path.
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Our Sunbears are Graduates
Our two favorite Sunbears have graduated. Visit them here at Watch Your Sunbears. I created a Promo Poster for when they leave their homeland and venture into the wild. I also created some Bedroom Wall Art for a friend and began working on a portfolio.
Sincerely,
Chris
Twitter Updates for the Sunday Idiom
- http://www.allacesautoservice.com is now up and running. Website design by The Sunday Idiom. #
http://www.allacesautoservice….
http://www.allacesautoservice.com is now up and running. Website design by The Sunday Idiom.
Redesign is in the final stage…
Redesign is in the final stages. Have to optimize the main website and work on centering my .div tags and working out some bugs.
Bars of Gold at PJ’s Lager House
I don’t know Bars of Gold, but I can’t help but feel like I do and why they’ve decided to become musicians is also riddled with unanswered questions, but they settle in my stomach, my feet, my chest, my arms. I think about them often, like old friends whose short-lived visits create the memories that last lifetimes. They leave me in awe. There is an excitement in the air when I know I can make it to a show. Hell! In honor of Black History Month I played Bear Vs. Shark and Wildcatting for my kids with the reasoning that this is a Michigan band upholding the spirit of Chuck Berry, Little Richard and all before them. None of them really gave a shit, but one of my older members said, “I like this. I can feel it.” That statement alone means more than most can understand and it will live with me the rest of my life.
Bars of Gold are hardworking people- they have to be, because creating such a dynamic between the audience and their music isn’t easy, if it was easy, most other bands would’ve accomplished the connection- they haven’t. There is an unrelenting core in Bars of Gold and its surreal to watch them perform; photographs and YouTube videos will never be able to capture what it’s like to be in the audience. I’ve seen them twice before- once as Bars of Gold and once as the Talking Heads and this review marks the third. And when Bars of Gold brought elements of Mandolin, Banjo and vocal manipulation I knew this would be a band I could follow for the rest of my life. I hope Bars of Gold are successful enough to create the music they want for the rest of their lives and are able to live off of it too. Maybe I am being selfish because in all honesty I don’t want to wait to be disappointed by a new Mars Volta album every year or continue paying money for CD’s that don’t live up to their expectations.
It’s hard for me not to break down with tears in my eyes and thank Bars of Gold repeatedly for motivating me to just “be”. All of my hostility, frustration and sadness is left behind after an evening of Bars of Gold. Sadly people reading this may believe I’m dramatic or exaggerating, but they are horribly mistaken. Music is what I find hope in; it’s what I use to make it through my day, just like others who find God at their bed sides or hope in their Presidents. Everybody needs something to believe in.
And like I’ve mentioned, I don’t know why Bars of Gold decided to become musicians, but with their decision they’ve managed to get a 325 lb. dude to dance with fever and spirit. And when I left the show this time I mentioned to my girlfriend that I needed to lose weight- not for her of course, but so that I can dance without fear of having a heart attack – we both laughed.
As a side note I wanted to mention that in 2009 I listened to over 140 CD’s and that maybe one-third of them were worth listening to again. Out of those listenable CD’s maybe only a dozen or so I would take with me for the rest of my life. It’s a problem for me because it’s really hard to say someone else’s form of expression isn’t good- it bothers me to do so; just like it bothers me when others dismiss Bars of Gold just because their singers is too abrasive or that the the songs don’t have a proper chorus. My eyeball usually twitches and I remind myself to just let it go. It’s as if people can’t appreciate the energy and emotion behind music anymore. Months ago I talked to another local band’s singer that I really enjoy watching and he seemed almost jealous of Bars of Gold, dismissing them by saying the drummer was going to leave the band and the singer is too monotone. If anyone can enlighten me on the validity of such things, please do, but in all honesty I don’t believe this people have a fucking clue. And it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. You can Catch Bars of Gold at the Hamtramck Blow Out at Smalls in Hamtramck at 10:40 p.m. (never trust the start time) on Friday March 5th. After this post there will be another about Loco Gnosis and their showcases for the event. I’ve never been and so that instantly makes me an asshsole or some dude without a clue.
My Life as Pre-Determined by Rock and Roll: A tribute to Black History Part 2
Rock and roll has always been a determining factor in my life (or rather that’s the way I like to see it). The night my parents met for the first time was due to a cancelled Lynard Skynard performance in 1977 (four members of the band and crew were killed in a plane crash). If my Mother’s plans weren’t altered by the bands awful fate she may have never arrived at my Father’s house for a party; years later I may have never been born. My first steps as a child was to “Stand” by R.E.M. – I’ve always loved the irony and how proud my parents were of their sons triumph.
I remember when my dad first brought home a CD player in 1993 he seemed eager to hook it into the receiver. The first and only CD we had at the time was a compilation album called “Hollywood Soundtracks” released by Blockbuster Video, the only song on the album we loved was “I’m gonna be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers. My sister and I played that one song over and over again- it was the first of many others. I can still picture the first CD’s that my father had brought home Soul Asylum’s “Grave Dancer’s Union” and Dinosaur Jr.’s “Where You Been” were among them.
I never bought CD’s as a kid because cassettes were always cheaper. The first cassette I bought was with Birthday money, it was Green Day’s “Dookie” only 27 days after its February 1st release date- I was a fresh 8 years old. 1994 is the year music became my hobby alongside comic books and action heroes. On Christmas in 1994 I received one of my most memorable gifts ever, it was a small and seemingly heavy package (for an 8 year old) and inside were Aerosmith’s “Greatest Hits”, The Cranberries “No Need to Argue”, AC/DC “LIVE” and Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and since that moment music encompassed my life like an addiction. I found myself glued to MTV in hopes of my favorite songs or scrolling through the radio on my boom box and care stereo. All the girls I fell in love with secretly listened to music their parents wouldn’t allow, while I listened to those same artists with my parents.
My first concert was at the Detroit Taste Fest in July of 1995, my parents took us to see Collective Soul only 4 months after their album “Collective Soul” was released- I was only 9. I told someone there that I saw Green Day at Woodstock and his exclamation was, “YOU WERE AT WOODSTOCK ’94″ and I said, “No it was on T.V.” he and his friend laughed, but looking back I think they thought it was awesome my parents brought my sister and I to the show. I’ve seen over a thousand concerts and am still trying to count.
It’s important to realize how pivotal black influence was on rock and roll, hell, they invented it along with the blues genre. The history of Rock and Roll will always be debated, but most agree that it was an evolution that hasn’t stopped. In 1995 my father asked me if I would like to go to Chuck Berry and Little Richard with friends of the family (he and my mother couldn’t go) and when I said yes my father went downstairs and pulled out his records. The song I remembered listening to was a humorous feel good song by Chuck Berry called “Ding-A-Ling” and I can still remember the image of a guy swimming in the water trying to protect his “ding-a-ling”. The concert I remember in fleeting moments, but I do know that I didn’t have a clue I was witnessing two of the most influential people in rock and roll. I also realized that day that it wasn’t a white-man named Michael J. Foxx from Back to the Future who wrote Johnny B. Goode.
Rock and Roll will reinvent itself forever, but what’s important to understand is that it should always evoke the raw emotions that inspire us to move both physically and mentally. Rock and Roll, at its best, will always be challenging. The genre encompasses the silence and the explosion and we the listener will mold it into our lives where we see fit. With regards to working with black children, it’s a shame they believe rock and roll is a white thing and I do my best to show them otherwise. They really enjoyed Chuck Berry, some even danced to it. This article is in honor of Black History and their endless influence on Rock and Roll. I would also like to say thanks for helping me build a foundation to stand on and move mountains with.
