Wildbird & Peacedrums recently recorded a pair of new EPs in Iceland, five songs with the 12-person Schola Cantorum Reykjavík Chamber Choir and five with steel drums, and will be releasing them on 12" vinyl with CD and digital releases to follow eventually. They're also road-testing the new material and here are the dates:
05/14 - ATP Festival, minehead (UK)
05/15 - Bishopsgate Institute, London (UK)
05/16 - Café De La Danse, Paris (FRA)
05/17 - Dampfzentrale, Basel (CH)
05/19 - Babel, malmö (SWE)
05/20 - Jazzhouse, Copenhagen (DK)
05/21 - Blå, Oslo (NOR)
05/22 - Södra Teatern, Stockholm (SWE)
As commented m/n/33366-shining-the-madness-and-the-damage-done-video">yesterday, the new Shining album"Blackjazz" fulfills the promise of everything the band was/is supposed to be. Earlier attempts were decent, but only now has the group fully realized their potential and become the thundering jazz-metal monster the hype extolled. There's still some stuff I'm iffy on -- moments definitely veer toward forbidden thrash/funk territory and the vocals can be pretty tacky -- but when they get into a heavy groove, they are a beast. Once you get past the initial skronk of "Healter skelter" it's a steamroller full of pounding, industrial strength drums, offset rhythms and furious ensemble playing that keeps building and building from loud to LOUDER and never once lets up. I'm into it.