Biert's Last.fm Journal

en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices Biert's Last.fm Journal http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal The Last.fm journal for Biert. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. Upcoming gigs http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/04/14/42x_upcoming_gigs Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:21:01 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/04/14/42x_upcoming_gigs Just a little list of what I'm up to in the (near) future - well, and yesterday.

April 13: Katie Melua
April 14: Herman Finkers (Dutch comedian)
April 20: Oceansize
May 15: Ephel Duath
May 30 - June 1: Pinkpop
June 6: Textures
August 13-22: Vacation in Portugal
August 23: Symforce II

And then I rejected concerts of The Boss Hoss, Meshuggah+Dillinger Escape Plan+Between the Buried and Me, and Queen+Paul Rogers.

So yeah! I'm a happy camper!

And a broke one...]]> Now here's something you didn't expect http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/04/14/42w_now_here%27s_something_you_didn%27t_expect Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:04:07 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/04/14/42w_now_here%27s_something_you_didn%27t_expect I went to a Katie Melua gig yesterday. And I freaking loved it to pieces!

In a previous journal I told you how I started to like calm, relaxing music. For some reason, Katie Melua has been topping my charts lately. And yesterday, she's showed to the world why.

Support act was Andrea McEwan. Completely unknown, apparently this tour was her first time performing for an audience. Some songs have been posted on her MySpace page recently, but other than that I could not find any information about her.
She's on the same label as Katie Melua (Dramatico) and they seem to share producer Mike Batt. That makes her a logical choice for the support slot on this tour, especially since her music is quite similar to that of Katie Melua, I think they've written a couple of songs together. She has a bit more minimalistic approach, with only guitar, bass and a drumtrack that came from a computer.

Then Katie Melua took the stage. She started by playing four songs on her own, just her and her guitar. And her voice. Those songs defined the show, at least to me. I was impressive how the venue, holding 10,000 people, became dead silent the second this little girl opened her mouth. Just stunning. She grabbed the audience by the balls and didn't let go for a couple of hours.

After the fourth song, the band joined in and they played a whole bunch of songs. I'm under the impression that they played them a bit 'louder', less introverted than they are on CD. But I guess that suits the fact that it was a live concert for thousands and thousands of people ("There's so many of you!").
I was amazed how she made it all seem so easy, sing and playing the songs. But she was absolutely flawless.

Piece By Piece
Dirty Dice
I Think It's Going To Rain Today
I Do Believe In Love
My Aphrodisiac Is You
Crawling Up A Hill
Mary Pickford
Blues In The Night
If You Were a Sailboat
Ghost Town
Thank You Stars
Perfect Circle
What I Miss About You
Spider's Web
If The Lights Go Out
Scary Films
Spellbound
Mockingbird Song
Closest Thing to Crazy
Nine Million Bicycles
On The Road Again
Kozmic Blues (Janis Joplin cover)
I Cried For You
Crawling Up A Hill
I Cried For You

And the good part is this: the show was recorded on DVD! No idea when it will be released (I guess it takes a couple of months), but we'll all have something to remember this show by! And it meant that when the show would have ended, they had to play a couple of songs again to make the director happy.

All in all, I no regrets about going there at all. Worth every penny!!

Now to get myself a Katie Melua T-shirt... I think they only sold girlies at the show :(]]> Textures - Old Days Born Anew http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/03/20/42v_textures_-_old_days_born_anew Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:45:19 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2008/03/20/42v_textures_-_old_days_born_anew Textures almost have a new album out! :D

'Silhouettes' will be released April 21st, 2008. I'm looking forward to it already, 'pre-ordered' it (claims to be a 6-fold digipak with gold print which sounds promising).

And to make me even more envious, Textures posted a preview track of the new album, Old Days Born Anew, also available on Last.fm.

And I freaking love it!! Seriously, good stuff. First couple of times I heard it I really liked the first part of it, but the second part was a bit too Meshuggy for me (I made that word up, it means Meshuggah-ish). But, as you may have noticed if you have been watching my profile (in case you have, seek help!), I honestly love it now.

The singing is absolutely stunning. almk said it reminded him of Devin Townsend, which is a huge compliment.
Musically, Textures are a lot like Meshuggah, but better. More varied, melodic and down-to-earth. I'm quite sure Silhouettes will run circles around ObZen, which turned out to be the usual mathmetal borefest that can be expected from Meshuggah.

Bring it on!

1. Old Days Born Anew
2. The Sun's Architect
3. Awake
4. Laments of an Icarus
5. One Eye for a Thousand
6. State of Disobedience
7. Storm Warning
8. Messengers
9. To Erase a Lifetime]]> Sunday Blues http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/12/11/42u_sunday_blues Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:33:16 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/12/11/42u_sunday_blues I admit! I'm a metal head! Big time.

But recently I've discovered calmer music. And I have a good reason for it.

Sundays are the reason. Lazy, drowsy, energy-less Sundays. Hung-over Sundays even perhaps. Filled with homework.

Well the homework isn't that much really, but it just takes a looong time on Sundays. And the music I usually listen to doesn't help. Loud angry music distracts me, apparently. So I looked around to find some calmer music, stuff that helps me concentrate better. Because absolute silence drives me mad altogether.

And I found some. I realized how cool the acoustic live Foo Fighters album, Skin And Bones is (actually I only have the DVD, but I extracted the audio). Made me notice how great these calm Foo Fighters songs really are. Also on the second disk of In Your Honor (Virginia Moon is a personal favourite).

But there's more. None better than the beautiful voice of Anneke van Giersbergen in the background. The last album of The Gathering, namely Home. And the album of her new band Agua de Annique, Air.

And now recently, I discovered Katie Melua. Goood stuff (the more o's the better). Very laid back, very relaxing. The lyrics are silly sometimes but her voice is beautiful. Nine Million Bicycles in Beijing? So what, we have 20 million in The Netherlands!

You know, I like that jazzy stuff. I already mentioned Virginia Moon. I think Katie Melua fits in the same category, as does Opeth's Benighted. If fact, their album Damnation is good for Sundays as well (Gotta stick at least one metal band in here).

So I know this stuff. But I need more, those albums are only so long and Sundays never seem to end. Got any recommendations? I can recommend you some heavy stuff in return, to wake you up on Monday mornings.

Cheers

PS: Thanks for reading all this, I tried to keep it short but failed. And why do my tags always end up as "artits" when I'm writing about Katie Melua?]]> The Antichrist Code - Akercocke Treasure Hunt! http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/04/11/42t_the_antichrist_code_-_akercocke_treasure_hunt! Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:04:10 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/04/11/42t_the_antichrist_code_-_akercocke_treasure_hunt! I don't know how many people here know Akercocke, but I loved their latest album, Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone.
Now they've made a new album, Antichrist (a lot easier to type). It will be released on May 28.

To celebrate the imminent release of this new album, Akercocke presented The Antichrist Code. Some kind of treasure hunt, where you have to find clues to find the next page that provides the next clue. Don't worry, you don't have to get off your lazy ass ;)
The final page should hold something worthwhile, although I don't think it's been found yet.

Currently, I am waiting for the 4th clue, which should appear soon.

If you're interested in this treasure hunt, visit the Antichrist MySpace page: www.myspace.com/akercockeantichrist (also has a sneak preview for the album), and read their blog for the first clue.

Happy hunting!!]]> Terror Syndrome http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/02/27/42s_terror_syndrome Tue, 27 Feb 2007 11:37:28 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Biert/journal/2007/02/27/42s_terror_syndrome So I've told you about Ryan Van Poederooyens solo project before. But now that the project is nearing completion and more and more details show up, I thought it was interesting enough to tell you more. So hang on tight, here we go!

Ryan van Poederooyen is a drummer from Canada, mainly known for his work with DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND (Accelerated Evolution, Synchestra. But also for a number of great studio-sessions, such as Lalu (Oniric Metal, Vivien Lalu (Shadrane) project), Non-Human Level (Non-Human Level, Christofer Malmstrom (Darkane) project) and recently Delight (Breaking Ground).

And now, he's working on an album of his own. The project is titled Terror Syndrome, and the album, which will be released spring this year, will be Stupidity For All.
From what we know this far, it will be a varied metal album, with lots of famous guests appearing.

So right now, I'll bomb you with a load of information. I'll update this list every time more info is available, so if you're interested, check in every once in a while!!

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Version: 2.0.3
Date: March 06, 2007 (14:20 GMT)

Terror Syndrome
Album title: STUPIDITY FOR ALL

The album will feature 12 tracks
The tracklist (tentative, alphabetic)

The Band

Ryan Van Poederooyen (DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND, Non Human Level, Lalu, ...) - Drums
Denton Bramley (THE MISERABLES, ex-God Awakens Petrified) - Vocals
Dave Young (DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND, Ten Ways From Sunday) - Guitars
Mike Young (DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND, Ten Ways From Sunday) - Bass

The Guests

Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND, Punky Bruster, Steve Vai, The Wildhearts, ...) - Spinning Backwards (Lead Guitar)
Michael Manring (Session God) - Spinning Backwards (Bass)
Byron Stroud (Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory) - Disposable Empire (Bass)
Alex Skolnick (Testament, Alex Skolnick Trio) - Rusty Trombone (Lead Guitar)
Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas) - Rusty Trombone (Bass)
Christofer Malmstrom (Darkane, Non Human Level) - Riot of Red (Guitars)