T
ool & D
ie page 31
Tool & Die
page 31
As a first time contributor, I'd like to give a brief pro-
file of myself if I may. I've known the guys in Brand
New Sin for over seven years now (Geez, Chuck, sev-
en years!?!). I would go see BNS whenever they were
close enough and would bring a couple of compila-
tion discs that I made for the van, figuring an influx of
new tunes would be welcome. I would name these
infrequent installments "A Memo from the Deans' Of-
fice" and they would run the gamut from rock and
all-out thrash, to punk, folk, and country. I listen to it
all. I didn't know if all the selections would go over
so well but that wasn't the point. The point was (and
still is), I'm a MUSIC FIEND! And my favorite thing in
the world is finding and spreading good music to the
uninitiated. As we all know, music is essential to our
way of life! I don't really give a shit what kinda car I
drive, Home Depot and tools? Just sounds like work
to me. But scoring some new tunes at the local record
shop or checkin' out a live band? That's what does it
for me! Sounds very basic, I know. But I've perfected
it to my way of life, probably to the detriment of a
lot of things, but then again, I've amassed over 3,500
CD's, at least 1,750 record albums (remember those,
kiddies?) and have attended more shows than I can
recall. And yes, it's all store bought. No illegal down-
loading, no stealing from the artists. If something
piques my interest, I will seek it out. I'm a voracious
participant. That must be why I'm always broke! But
hey, I happen to like macaroni & cheese and ramen
noodles!!! Besides, I'd rather be bereft of funds and
have a couple of new discs for the collection anyway!
I subsist on Budweiser, ganja, mac & cheese and tunes
of all types. What more could a guy want outta life?
So, what's Deanzo been listening to these days, you
may ask? (then again, you may not give a shit). The
last few weeks have been dominated by Metallica,
Phish, Porcupine Tree, Wayne "The Train" Hancock,
Bad Religion, Reverend Horton Heat & ALWAYS
BLACK SABBATH!!! All over the place, I know, but all
good music.
If you're not familiar with Porcupine Tree, they are
an outstanding prog-rock band from England who've
been around for years, but have flown under the ra-
dar for far too long. Led by mastermind Steven Wil-
son, they encompass many different emotions and
degrees of melancholy. It's depressing and beautiful
at the same time. Kinda like life, I guess. The Trees'
not-so-secret weapon is drummer Gavin Harrison...
outta this world! Do yourself a favor and check this
guy out! Their new record is called The Incident on
Roadrunner Records and it's a two disc set with disc 1
consisting of the entire 55 minute long title track. I just
saw them in NYC in September and the first set was
the title track in its entirety, start to finish. Steven Wil-
son shifted seamlessly from electric guitar, to acoustic,
University of Tool & Die Zine
(The Real School of Rock)
to keyboards while the whole band flowed right along
not missing a beat. An excellent live band to see! I've
seen them five times now and they never disappoint.
Check `em out!
Something new on the "more metal
front" is a very cool group of guys
from NYC called ANAKA. Their
new disc is called The Glorified Cru-
sade on Godsend records, and it's
chock fulla bad-ass riffs, thunderous
drumming, great vocals, like early
Metallica/Pantera power groovin'
all over the place with excellent lyr-
ics. These guys are doin' it right! It's
refreshing to see that there's prom-
ise for today's metal scene. How
can there be a better highlight than
"LOWER THAN LOW"!!! ANAKA!
The real deal!
Well, that's it for me. The fridge is
empty and it's time to re-up! Until
next time, keep your expectations
low, keep your mind high, keep
one hand in the dirt, and the other
reachin' for the sky!
Cheers! Peace Out!
Deanzo