MUSIC REVIEW: FABER DRIVE, Hands Down, A WINNER!

FABER DRIVE! B.C.'s got a Superstar in the Making Here!

Well, back to beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Faber Drive is a new discovery by major label, Universal Records, but likely is not a surprise to fans in B.C. and anywhere else this foursome plays. The rock group with an amazing hit like Second Chance is both poignant and powerful. It's a band with a sense of mission rather than entitlement or selfish whim. From the tearjerking Sleepness Nights, which focuses on a child's too up close and personal view of abuse, to the band's own honest surprise at its success to the band's amazing blend of songwriting, singing and instrumentals, this group is consistently surprising and extraordinary.

Is Faber Drive the next U2? I think so!

If I were deciding the Aha! Blogolicious! Media Innovation Awards right now (which I'm not, that's not until October), but if I were, I'd be giving the Overall title to this group, hands down. They are THAT good. Universal got it right and I'll bet the label is patting themselves on the back that they got a hold of this group before anyone else did. I've made the comment before that there are some great unknown, or relatively unknown bands out there--that all they need to take them to the very top is that ONE song, that ONE song that gets everyone's attention...worldwide attention. This group has not just that ONE song, but a WHOLE SLEW OF THEM!!

Amazing vocals, amazing songs, amazing musicality from the entire band. Scariest thing is that this is a very young and new group, not having been together very long--what's to come promises to be even more than what currently is--which is great songs, catchy tunes, heartfelt, penetrating lyrics and insight, and all of it delivered with energy, hope and passion. I wish I had the adjectives to properly describe the music, but as is usual when I find a group this above-and-beyond, I find myself hunting fruitlessly for an appropriately deserving description.

I'm always looking for the next Blue October or Nickelback or Fall Out Boy. I think I just found them.

In a word, just plain fricking AMAZING! If you're in Canada, consider yourself lucky and get to one of their concert dates right now!

Check them out for yourself...I mean it, do it right now!
http://www.myspace.com/faberdrive

I was going to review a second band in this article...but now, I'm not going to--it wouldn't be fair to another band to go head to head with this group. I'll save it for next week.

Have a great weekend! Darn it, amazing band...wow, still can't get over it.

CG Anderson
Little Dogs Media
Aha! Blogolicious! Musings and Meanings of Non-Sensical Events...and Canada!

Music REVIEW: Montreal's Experimental Electronic Rockers, Recepter and San Diego's punkers, Arm the Angels

Experimental Rock Recepter and a bit of painful punk from Arm the Angels!

A trip to Montreal trips out with Recepter, while San Diegos punks out with some angst ridden Angels.

Out of Montreal, Canada, you can find an experimental rock group called Recepter. Their electronica/rock mix is powerful and driving. The plaintative, soul-searing vocals of Zo (formerly with Pulse ultra) tear at your soul, while the dark lyrics and eerie melodies of the music take you into different, yet seductive realms. There is just enough electronica to keep the sound distinct and just enough rock to keep it pounding in your veins. Give these musicians a listen and you'll likely find yourself hooked--an addiction without end.

You can find their MySpace offerings at http://www.myspace.com/receptermusic.

If experimental rock isn't your cup of caffeine, or you aren't near Montreal, perhaps you'll like the rocking, popping punk of Arm the Angels. Out of San Diego, California, this pop punk band is running around San Diego, Del Mar, Hollywood and even Las Vegas, spreading their 'therapy for kids' punk message. Describing their influences as a mix of Guns n' Roses and Foo Fighters and being described in turn by others as influenced by punk groups A.F.I. and Rancid, this solid punk band has opened for bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, Counting Crows, Journey and Def Leppard. Solid tunes that hook you, bleed you and then toss you out into the street keep their fan base strong and their own influence growing. Feel like some dark and painful angst trips? Give these guys a try.

You can find their MySpace tunes at http://www.myspace.com/armtheangels.

More next week.
Have a great weekend, long (Memorial Day in the USA) or short!

CG Anderson
Little Dogs Media
Aha! Blogolicious! Musings and Meanings of Non-Sensical Events...and Canada!

Music REVIEW: Alternative rock group Scatterheart. Vancouver, B.C. keeps producing great music groups.

Music Review: Scatterheart has range and depth.

Scatterheart proves that once again, Vancouver, B.C. is a hub for great music.

I know it seems like I focus a great deal on Canadian bands but I assure you that it isn’t intentional. Maybe it’s karma or the fact that I include …and Canada in the name of my music/arts/media and light humor blog. I simply listen and search out bands that I believe are worth listening to, regardless of origin and without preference for genre. I like all music. I admit though that I often find myself listening mostly to pop, alternative and rock/punk with the best of the best rap and hip hop thrown in for good measure. (Best by my standards means simply that I like the music, vocals & lyrics and often find the lyrics relevant to the human condition, i.e. they have something worth saying or evoke emotions in me, the listener, and take me on a journey into their world.)

So yes, I found an alternative band this week and yes, they are from Vancouver, B.C. So sue me. (No, wait, don’t! That’s only a figure of speech!)

Scatterheart is unsigned but with a full, richly produced sound nonetheless. You can tell they’re a longtime professional band, meaning, not a garage wannabe but a working, professional band that knows their strengths and plays to them. An alternative band with a strong rock basis apparent in every chord and beat, they are surprisingly versatile. One moment they are riff extraordinaire and high energy, powering you out with stressed vocals and intense musicality. The next moment, or rather song, they are the object of restraint, fluidity and introspective social and emotional angst, pining for a better life.

I can’t tell you who does what, they didn’t list what each member did within the whole. Jesse, Wes, Mike and Doug only listed their names. However, the vocals have a wonderful plaintative feel and the music easily fills the gaps, backing up vocals and building the music into powerful swells when appropriate, moving everything along with nary a hiccup to the whole composition.

The more tender Soothe and the bass driven Shadows were my favorite of their four MySpace selections, but I enjoyed all four offerings.

Check them out at www.myspace.com/scatterheart
And check their site for upcoming live performances as well.

Have a great weekend and always keep the wire live.

CG Anderson
Little Dogs Media
Aha! Blogolicious! Musings and Meanings of Non-Sensical Events …and Canada

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CG Anderson is a 10 year new media provocateur involved in media, art, tech, science and the online world. Also a writer, blogger and novelist. CG's comments are personal and opinionated and solely the responsibility of the author, so there. Don't like the opinions, disagree, agree, don't know? Great, make a comment—clean ones will be allowed, netiquette-challenged ones will be ignored!

MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/ahablogolicious (help me reach 1 million friends, add yourself as my friend now! Especially since my ability to add you is broken—still---and no eta from MySpace on a fix.)
Blog site: http://ahablogolicious.blogspot.com/
URL: http://home.myuw.net/cganders/

REVIEW: Artist Owen Maigret, This Space For Rent, Westcott & Rodway and Low In The Sky!

REVIEW: Artist Owen Maigret, This Space For Rent, Westcott & Rodway and Low In The Sky!

Even Reviewers have bad days…

This will be a short one today, mainly because I’m still kind of depressed. No one likes to be flamed, even me, yet that is what happened. It was also disheartening because it meant that the artist that did it really didn't get that 1) I only do positive reviews and 2) that I’m always talking about the dangers of stereotyping and image. This person apparently didn’t like my review of his stuff, even though I liked it. He didn’t like the review because it didn’t fit with his personal image of himself. He didn’t get that others perceptions of you will vary according to their own backgrounds and tastes. The sad part was that he seemed to think it was OK for him to dictate what he thought I should and shouldn’t like—BECAUSE I’M A WOMAN. He seemed to think that because of my sex I should like a song—no other reason, just my sex. I didn’t like that song particularly—but for many reasons—and therefore left it out of my review. Other people might like it, I’m fine with that, but apparently he wasn’t. So I got passive-aggressively flamed, and he made sure that his friends did the same.

Considering all the time and energy it takes to do these reviews, and done on my own time simply because I love media, art and music, it makes me wonder if it’s worth it. His stereotyping of me based on my sex really got to me and his assumption that he had the right to dictate how I’m supposed to react and dictate what I’m supposed to like. Is anyone out there actually reading my stuff and getting what I’m talking about? I always emphasis that what I say is my own opinion and that opinions will vary widely, as will perceptions—but is that message not getting through? Is it just being twisted and turned into what people want to hear or to attack? It just makes me feel very sad and very tired. Maybe it’s not worth it to do this review; perhaps it’s not doing any good at all in bringing new talents to light. (And especially with my SendMessage and AddFriends ability still busted on MySpace with no ETA on when or if I’ll ever get that back. With 125million people, fixing one account is pretty low priority.)

Sorry, it just gets to me sometimes. Even reviewers need a little love now and then.

Westcott & Rodway: Two very talented gentlemen with smooth jazz and classical compositions expertly crafted and performed. The pieces build and recede like ocean waves, easy to listen to and definitely a good way to beat road rage or to relax after a long tiring, maddening day at work (or being flamed.) Their work is brilliant and mesmerizing with classical, jazz, flamenco and world music influences. They even note that they were influenced by Radiohead! What I Kept Lost and Reassurance and especially Overcome were my favorites, but I liked all the compositions, by the way. Check them out; they deserve some respect and admiration.

Low In The Sky: They do electronica, ambient, experimental music and you can definitely tell that from the weird and wonderful combinations that always produce such lovely sounds. The music makes you drift and float with no destination in sight and no particular desire to get to one either. The music is complex to the extreme in construction but gentle and refreshing as a fall breeze. Both Snow and Faraway Places are exotic and wonderful, magical pieces—especially with the latter’s playful and delicately jarring pans and fades. This is Electronica and Experimental done perfect.

This Space For Rent: At first, I thought this was a Web TV show, but it’s not. It a comedy series out of Canada and shown on the CBC. However, it’s pretty funny with an excellent selection of music (which you can play from the site) and with video snippets of the show available for viewing as well. Pretty fun. If you’ve got the bandwidth, check it out (both videos and music.)

Artist Owen Maigret: He’s a visual artist out of San Francisco, California. His stuff is superb, both troubling at times and always beautiful. You can definitely see Hawaiian themed influences in some of his pieces and graphic design with a techie theme in others. One of his pictures bears his comment that he is a sellout. I disagree. His work is wonderful and compelling. It both disturbs and fascinates me. It’s beautiful yet jarring. Industrial, yet organic and art deco—all at the same time. If by sellout, he means that he’s commercialized his work, then I’m happy about it. It means that it’s available to the rest of us—those that can’t afford to buy original masterpieces. (I couldn't get some copy-pictures-thumbnails to upload successfully--I'll try again later--check back or just go to his site and check them ALL out in their full beauty.)

Artist Owen Maigret is at www.myspace.com/owenart (look in the Pics area.)
This Space For Rent is at www.myspace.com/thisspaceforrenttv
Low In The Sky is at www.myspace.com/lowinthesky
Westcott & Rodway is at www.myspace.com/westcottandrodway

Take a look. In my opinion, these folks are worth your time.


This article may be copied in whole or in part, as long as fair use rules are observed, no parts are modified from the original and credit is given when quoted or reposted.

CG Anderson is a 10 year new media provocateur involved in media, art, technology and the online world. Also a writer, blogger and novelist. CG's comments are personal and opinionated and solely the responsibility of the author, so there. Don't like the opinions, disagree, agree, don't know? Great, make a comment—clean ones will be allowed, netiquette-challenged ones will be ignored!
MySpace site: http://www.myspace.com/ahablogoliciousHelp me reach 1 million friends. Add yourself as my friend today and get your friends to do the same! Thank you so much! Together we can bring great artists to a wider audience!
Blog site: http://ahablogolicious.blogspot.com/
URL: http://home.myuw.net/cganders/

Gordon Michael Woolvett nominated for BLOGOLICIOUS AWARD!

Gordon Michael Woolvett nominated for BLOGOLICIOUS AWARD!

(NOTE: This article is a spoof, but the Award...slightly altered...is now REAL. And yes, Gordon won it. To read about the Actual Aha! Blogolicious! Media Awards, go to this story link. Cheers! CG)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
By Ima Spoofer
Hollyweird, CA. Gordon Michael Woolvett, actor, writer and director was nominated recently for the 2006th Blogolicious MediaMaker Award. Mr. Woolvett was nominated in the Lifetime Achievement category since that is the only category currently still funded by the Academy of Blogolicious MediaMaker Working Group. Other categories in the past included: Best Cross-Dressing Dictator, Most Musical Carpet Cleaner and Least Felonious Child Star. Since all past categories ended in fistfights between the nominees and the nominating committee, no awards were ever actually awarded but most charges were eventually dropped.

Mr. Woolvett is best known for his starring role as Seamus Harper in the Television Series Gene Roddenberry's: Andromeda. However, his work in Elvis Meets Nixon, Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, Deepwater Black, The Highwayman, Mysterious Island, My Date With the President's Daughter, Sliders, Gator Face and Princes In Exile brought him to the attention of the nominating committee. His excellent work as a screenwriter, proving himself as blessed in talent in two areas and therefore a danger to society and Hollywood filmmaking, was not held against him--much.

His work as a director/writer in Fracture was highly praised as a brilliant opening to a promising directing career. Subsequently, those committee members voting for him solely because of his directing debut were removed because they had not actually seen the film yet and were deemed unduly influenced by a group of leprechauns masquerading as a circus troupe calling themselves, the World's Smallest Giants. Subsequently again, they and the committee members were admitted to the Betty Ford clinic and are now busy selling the movie rights to their story.

Those not having seen Fracture are encouraged to do so and may contact Mr. Woolvett at his website http://woolvettmail.netfirms.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi/YaBB.cgi or http://www.gmwoolvett.com/ in order to find out how to purchase and see the film. The remaining members of the committee have promised to actually see the film, rather than just praise it, in the near future as well.

According to the head of the nominating committee, Mr. Woolvett's nude scene in Rude was the defining moment of the film and clinched his winning of the coveted nomination.

The winner of the 2006th Blogolicious MediaMaker Award for Lifetime Achievement will be announced as usual, after all the contestants are deceased and a reasonable assessment can be made of their life's work. Contestants committing suicide, self-sacrificial or otherwise, are automatically disqualified for cheating. Murdered contestants are re-evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Contestants are not allowed to murder each other in order to increase their chances of winning and will be severely scolded.

Aha! Blogolicious! wishes to congratulated Mr. Woolvett on his nomination and wishes him the best in his future as an up and coming MediaMaker.


This is a satirical spoof, meaning, don't take it seriously.

CG Anderson is a 10 year market researcher and web strategist involved in technology, science and the online world. Also a writer, blogger and novelist. CG's comments are personal and opinionated and solely the responsibility of the author, so there. Don't like the opinions, disagree, agree, don't know? Great, make a comment—clean ones will be allowed, netiquette-challenged ones will be ignored!
Blog sites: http://ahablogolicious.blogspot.com/
URL: http://home.myuw.net/cganders/