Saturday, February 16, 2013

Morrisey

I'm not a fan, so don't get this wrong, but I genuinely feel very badly for the man. Perhaps you've heard about his illness?  I can relate to that. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with the same thing. Fortunately for me, I do not have Barrett's esophagus. I do have a hiatal hernia, and I'm what they call an "overproducer" meaning, in a nutshell, my guts are rotten, and will probably be the death of me. Uncharacteristically, Morrissey is underplaying how ill he is, if that diagnosis is accurate. Esophageal cancer is more deadly than lung cancer, and Barrett's is pretty much the gates for the world of Cancer. When they misdiagnosed me, they also literally were asking me about "end of life" options. So, I can say, from experience, the poor man is in terrible shape, and , even in the best of cases, is going to suffer for years to come.  So, I really do wish the best best for him, and hope he does as well as me.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

San Angelus

I don't know how I missed them, but miss them, I did. San Angelus are the flipside of Aeges.  First there's the Pelican tie-in of Larry Herweg, but there's also the all-star cast of ex-members of  great post-hardcore bands ( Sparkmarker, in this case)  and the music is a more metallic version of great post hardcore. But just as Aeges have a strong Los Angeles vibe, San Angelus seem more Seattle. Specifically, I'm hearing early Heatmiser, Sparkmarker (of course) and even a little Band of Horses. The music is very complimentary of Aeges and Pelican, as you might expect, but closer to the moody Punk side of things. Rather than confuse things, let me put it this way- if Aeges are Quicksand, San Angeles are Rival Schools- there's more structure, but the music is simpler, the melodies might be sweeter, but they're not quite as sublime as Aeges can do.
I could go on, but I think it might benefit you more to point you to their Bandcamp site, where you can download the debut release at the price point you prefer. Just two last notes, though- one is that I wonder if they're named after these folks? If so, that's pretty effin' cool. Second, they're on Revelation records, which is pretty much the post-hardcore seal of approval, no?