Michigan Indie Review

Hear Ghetto Priest's "They Call I Black" on BandCamp.com According to the bio, Ghetto Priest is a former "football hooligan" turned petty criminal, gang-member, prisoner, Rastafarian, DJ and finally, having lived a hard life, survived it, and honed his natural talent, became a staple on the UK roots reggae label OnUSound Productions run by Adrian Sherwood. I became familiar with 'Priest's music through a collaborative release in 2011 ("The Lion Of Judah Hath Prevailed; The Process Meets Ghetto Priest") with the Saginaw rock-reggae outfit The Process. That record included 'Priest's song "Ghetto Life", which captured the essence of the same with a sedated but serious reggae vibe. The single was intended to be a sneak-peek of an as yet unreleased full-length title called "Sacred Ground" slated for release sometime later in 2012. But for now, Ghetto Priest offers another peek into his process with a limited-edit...

The anticipation of hearing new music from The Process came loaded with expectations based entirely on 2002's "Blood & Bones", a great collection of reggae gems that I put among the best local records I've heard in the past ten years. So I couldn't help but hope for a repeat performance on their 2006 follow-up, "Weapons of Mass Percussion". And a repeat performance is pretty much exactly what I got - just not in the way I expected. -Mitch STATS Band: The Process Website: www.theprocessonline.com Recording: Weapons of Mass Percussion (2006) Members: David Asher (vocals, guitar, keyboard, programming, FX), Garrick Owen (guitars), Bill Heffelfinger (bass, keys, programming, stick), Gabe Gonzalez (drums) Produced by: Gee Pierce & The Process Mixed by: Gee Pierce & David Asher at UBeU Productions, Saginaw (except track 1 mixed by Lavel Jackson, tracks 12 mixed by Albadore Sound Systems, track 13 & 14 mixed by Gabe Gonzalez) M...

Band: Cowboy Messiah Title: American Zen Released: 2006 Tracks: 14 Recorded at: The White Room, Detroit Mi Recorded by: John Smerek Band Members: Andrew Lindblom (guitars and vocals); Tommy Lee Torgerson (drums, harmonica, percussion); Jason "J" Peters (bass) Like many first time releases, Cowboy Messiah’s “American Zen” moves in a lot of different directions, the band not quite having settled on any particular sound. There are cow-punk, rockabilly, beer-hall anthems (Little Late For Me, Rhythm Of The Night, Ballad of Bobby Badass), a disco-tinged instrumental jam (Innerphonic), some standard pop-rock fare, (I Want Mine) a quasi-ska number sans the horns (Watch It Burn), and another that just tries to rock your face off (Fight Song). It’s in that last category that Cowboy Messiah seem to shine, particularly on a hidden extra called “Rock & Roll Band”. The raw energy and thrust of that track leaves little time for pretense, pumping your ears like a ...

Frog Island Park 5.26.06: It’s a balmy spring evening at Frog Island Park near Ypsilanti’s historic Depot Town. Despite what you might expect, there’s no island in sight and any of the legendary, fur-covered, flying “smeet” frogs that might be lurking among the moss-covered rocks have yet to make their presence known. But the week’s rains have finally subsided leaving a dense blanket of humidity in their wake and allowing tonight’s big plans to commence after yesterday’s cancellation. Frog Island Park consists of a large sunken field surrounded by trees and grass-covered banks. According to a local resident, it acts as an emergency flood basin for the nearby Huron River, but it’s mostly used for soccer games, community events and Ypsilanti’s annual Jazz Festival. Tonight it will be ground-zero for a unique performance featuring South Normal , a popular indie-rock band from Chelsea, MI. A break in an overgrown tree line reveals the park’s street-level entrance. A handwritten sign is...

For those of you out there who might be prog-curious but you're not sure where to get your ears wet, you're in luck. We've put together a side by side comparison of two 2005 releases that haven't received their fair due. If you're serious about expanding your musical horizons beyond the latest fad and into more adventurous territory, we suggest you check out Space Nelson's "Don't Panic" and Eyestrings "Consumption" , two impressive releases from two progressive, yet distinctly unique Michigan bands. Band Name: Space Nelson Source: Inspired by guitarist John Piasentin's "spacey" paperboy Band Name: Eyestrings Source: Taken from a line in William Shakespeare's "Cymbeline" Band Members: John Piasentin (Guitar/Vocals), Pete Hopersberger (keys/vocals), Gary Lock (bass guitar), Eric Fischer (drums) Band Members: Ryan Paramenter (Keys/Vocals), Mathew Kennedy (bass, moog, theramin), Alan Rutter (guitars/vocals)...

by mitch phillips I was graciously invited to attend the third CD release party for Stephanie Loveless' debut entitled, "Steffie Sings For Her Sex Change" which took place at her house in Ferndale last Saturday night. About twenty people were there when I arrived with prog-rocker John Ludi . I dragged him with me in case I didn't know anyone else there. John knew Steffie in a previous lifetime and incarnation when he was known as "Tim" in band called Soft War . Seems we all changed names or identities at least once since we'd met; evidence of a perpetual search for our place in the world, I suppose. As it turned out, Storm Records point man Norm Andreson was in attendance, as well as Cyndi Summers of Veggies in Mottion , three transsexuals, a handful of activists, and friends in every size, shape, age, gender and color. I ordered my Steffie' CD months before the party, but it never arrived. Apparently, the first recording was sc...

Early last year, Eyestrings sent us a copy of their amazing 2004 debut, "Burdened Hands". It quickly made it into my iPod, but it never got the treatment. Pretty soon, their sophomore release will be available (slated for a Sept. 05 release) so you prog fans have just enough time to fully digest this substantial debutr before progressing any further. Click "read more" below for the review and song samples. Band: Eyestrings Title: Burdened Hands (debut) Label: Split Difference Records Release Date: January, 2004 Produced and Recorded by: Eyestrings, drums recorded at Windfall Recording (NY), mastering Jonathan Wyner @ MWorks Mastering (MA) Musicians: Ryan Paramenter (voice, snth, mellotron, trombone), Alan Rutter (guitars, supporting vocals), Mathew Kennedy (bass, Moog), Bob Young (drums, percussion) by Mitch Phillips Prog fans have taken a lot of crap from the glossy fashion/music press over the last twenty years; their heroes have been repeatedly maligned ...

by Mitch Phillps Back in September of 2003, Maxim Blender came out with it’s list of The 50 Worst Artists in History. Usually I ignore such obvious ploys to sell magazines, but I decided to take a peek to justify what I thought I might find. As usual, I wasn’t surprised. No less than four bands I’ve enjoyed in the past made the list: Emerson Lake & Palmer (#2), Tin Machine (#12) and, to a lesser extent, Kansas (#6) and Asia (#7). What’s more, the virtual frat-house of quip-scribblers at that NYC glossy (it took no less than nine Blender-boys to produce the piece) managed to insult other top acts that fit the “progressive rock” label (even those not on their hit-list!) with the same lazy insults that have been regurgitated in the rock press for the last thirty years; Yes and Jethro Tull are described as ‘inexcuseably pompous’ and ‘appealing only to male sci-fi bores’, Kansas as ‘bereft of sex and emotion’, and ELP of ‘(shunning) blues-based rock in favor of bombastically reinterpr...

John Ludi is the latest persona of a local music veteran whose spent better than twenty years creating music both with bands such as "Pliny The Elder" and "Soft War" and as a solo artist.  After returning to Michigan three years ago, battered and bruised from a soul-searching trek across America, John Ludi turned his thoughts inward and began his latest, and perhaps greatest work, entitled "Rise Above or Fall Below". Artist: John Ludi Release: Rise Above Or Fall Below Year: 2005 Musicians: John Ludi (guitars, basses, keyboards, programming) Greg Kutcher (guitars on "The Way"), Ken Shaw (hand drum on "The Way") Additional Recording: Digital Vision (Wixom) Additional Engineering and Mastering: Michael Moore (No, not that Michael Moore) If you've been to his website, you'd know that John Ludi loiters on the fringe of popular culture: where undisclosed numbers of alien abductions and cattle-mutilations are covered-up to prevent...

From the "better-late-than-never" section, Mitch Phillips dusts off the old CD pile and comes out with The Bomb Pops 2002 release, "Things They Say" which features six tracks of pogo punching pop that'll make you wanna tear your t-shirt, dye your hair green and stick a safety-pin through your nose. Clocking in at a total of 13.6 minutes, this CD, unlike Mitch, wastes no time in getting to the point. Band: The Bomb Pops Release: Things They Say Year: 2002 Members: Tim Hervey (guitar) , Shawn Hervey (bass), Natalie Wegner (Vocals), Phil Bansen (drums) When I first saw The Bomb Pops several years ago at Club Bart, I remember saying that they were all substance and no style (Can you believe the arrogance? I blame the Vicodin). Anyway, here was a great power-pop band, but without a feature to set them apart from the dozens of great bands in the same genre in Detroit. I like to imagine they took my advice with 2001's addition of vocalist Natalie Wegner ,...

This blog has been quiet for almost a year now. More and more time passes withou an addition to this blog or any other publication that I've been known to contribute to. Why? I've been asking myself that question for a while now. No real motivation to contribute I suppose. There's certainly no money in writing about music, unless, of course, you went to an Ivy League school on the east coast and don't really need the money anyway. This game is about who you know and not what you know or what you can do. Event the little free rags in Detroit are part of a very tightly controlled clique of fashionistas. So advancemennt in "the field", if you can call it that, is unlikely. What's more, the closer you get to the music business and the writing business, the less attractive it is. Getting close to the music is one thing, getting close to the musicians is quite another. This is a highly competitive field with very little tolerance or time for anythi...

Forge: Bring on The Apocalypse Mitch writes: Like all of my reviews, this one's very late in coming. Forge have already collected their well-deserved Detroit Music Award for OUTSTANDING HARD ROCK/METAL ARTIST/GROUP back in April and, I'm sure, are moving on to other things. I flaked out again a few months ago and disappeared from MB due to burnout and frustration and never finished their review. There just isn't enough time in my life to indulge in my avocation and meet all my familial and financial responsibilities. But when the writing bug bites, I have to listen and I really hate to leave things undone. So, enough of my blather. Here's my review of Forge's "Bring on The Apocalypse." - Mitch "Bring on The Apocalypse" by Forge Band: Forge Release: "Bring on the Apocalypse" Label: Static Records Year: 2004 Band Members: John Dearry (Guitar), Aaron Greene (Vocals, Guitar), Greg Mastin (Drums), Steve Greene (Bass) Recorded at: Temperm...