Thursday, April 23, 2009

Some recent press

Some press and kind words from respected places have come in recently. Well in advance of the album, this is a great sign. Be sure to check out all of these fine programs and websites.

QUOTABLES:

"Shocking lyrics backed up by haunting vocals and intense music"

- Daniel Berdak, Danger & Dissonance Radio on WMUC

"This stuff doesn't disappoint - it rocks, it's heavy, yet a little nuanced in spots. All this makes for a terrific musical experience that you have to hear to fully appreciate.You'll like it - we do!"- Headcase Radio

"The White Stripes can go fuck themselves, this is how you play as a duo! What The Unravelling do is very interesting, they use a mixture of tactically placed anthemic lines, self-induced chaos, atmospheric intimidation and mood manipulation.When lines like "I'm not dead! I did not drink the wine!" and "Are you...Are you scared?" are uttered by Steve Moore then you feel inclined to let yourself be taken in."

- Dirty Drew's Rock Revolution

"There's some jazz influence, metal, even shades of Pink Floyd in there. Excellent stuff."- Gramie from The Autopsy Report

"The Unravelling are dishing out a massive sound for a two-piece. You know you’re going to get to hear a lot more from The Unravelling on the Playlist Mix."

- Ken McGuire from The Playlist Mix Podcast

"”In The Safe House” isn’t exactly metal. It’s catchy and dark at the same time and it’s a really well arranged song. Their other songs on myspace are well written tracks too. These guys probably have awesome live shows with lots of energy and songs that build and really get crowds going."

- Audio Absinthe

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Susan Boyle - The Last Nail in Our Collective Coffin? Hunter Thompson's vision comes true.




I know. Susan Boyle has replaced your heart, or what was left of it. When the name "Susan Boyle" is mentioned, your defenses are probably up. Perhaps the hair is standing up on the back of your neck like some cornered animal ready to muster up maximum strength. When the name comes up in a negative light, you are ready to say things like "But her voice is amazing!" and "She proves to us that anything is possible!" and other similar rebuttals. Perhaps Susan Boyle gave you some inspiration - and what are you doing with it?


That's probably a good question so I'll leave you to it.


You see, I have no problem with Susan Boyle. I thought her singing was very good. She also seemed like a nice woman. What I mean by the headline is - that's it. We have now proven that we as a collective look to karaoke for inspiration. Permanently. There may be no fix. It's been a long time watching this Hydra-headed Idol/Talent beast invade public perception, much like Starbuck's entry into North America. A long time indeed. No more options now and no looking back.


Game over. No more John Lennon. No more The Clash. No more Rage Against the Machine (albums). And it's not limited to music. Do you think you're getting another Bill Hicks? Another "The Battle of Algiers" coming to your local theatre? Not likely. You'll be lucky to have an intelligent conversation that doesn't involve Michelle Obama's dress or Miley Cyrus's recent photographs. Can you see something wrong with our culture? Can you taste it? Not only is there a lack of thought. Bringing it up causes anger and resentment.


"Leave politics to the politicians" is a common one I hear. Sounds like a good plan, doesn't it? I'm sure they are worthy of our trust, without checks and balances, and they will look after our needs just fine. Maybe that's how we got into this situation that the late, great Hunter Thompson would call "the new dumb". The U.S, for example, has systematically dumbed down it's education system over the past 40 plus years. Hunter's horrid vision has now been implemented in society - full throttle across the board.


And where was I? Oh yes, the Hydra beast. Idol and talent shows. When did this become something to defend? People say all the time "They are so talented" and "They are artists".


Take a deep breath. It's karaoke. All of it is karaoke.


Ok? Ok.


And most don't write their own material. So let's turn off the steamroller, shall we?It's been sad to watch the decline. The art and the people in our society that really have something to say are either completely unknown and have worked religiously to achieve a cult status. Zach Braff's new movie goes to every theatre while the new epic based on Che Guevara's life pretty much goes straight to video. Notice something wrong?


It seems like the only things we talk about anymore are people like Susan Boyle, who we saw on our favorite television program. Not anything we created ourselves, because no one is interested in that. Not our own new ideas, plans, or hopes.


We live vicariously through people who are singing karaoke.


I'm sorry I had to put it so bluntly. Maybe you can hold back your defensiveness and turn it into something productive. That could be our only hope.


Steve

www.theunravellingmusic.com

Friday, April 17, 2009

Good News Network - The End of Good News?

GOOD NEWS SEARCH ON GOOGLE - SLIM PICKINGS & FEAR FOR OUR FUTURE

GOODNEWSNETWORK.ORG AND THE END OF GOOD NEWS?

As you are all well aware, the sheer volume of ''bad news'' from all areas of the world can tend to disturb some people. Sometimes we may ask ourselves "Isn't someone saving a cat from a tree somewhere? Perhaps nursing a wounded bat back to health after a ceiling fan accident? Maybe a stranger decided to help an old woman carry her numerous bags of Campbells soup across a busy street while onlookers gasped in disbelief?"

"Why didn't he just trip the old bag, take the soup and run?" they may have asked themselves.

Well, the good news is these things are happening. In fact, I can prove it if we are to trust the headlines.

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/ is a website that only reports good news. This site initially warmed my heart so much that I decided to click on an article entitled "2 share Nobel prize for work on AIDS and Cancer". Sounds progressive and highly useful. Maybe there is indeed hope for the collective to move forward, I thought at the time.

Let's check this out.When I clicked on the article, the article did not display, but instead the website demanded a subscription to view the 'good news'. Not even a fucking sample? You can't show me one story? Quite a diatribe and somewhat convincing, the website listed reasons for reading positive news:

5 More Reasons to Join

Saves Time - Geri is your personal shopper for good news, gathering it all to your fingertips so you don't have to spend hours searching CNN, ABC and around the globe.

Access to Vast Archives - More than 10 years of archived, searchable positive news stories and inspiration, like the 1998 favorite, "A Brain Tumor - The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"

Finding Birthday Good News - "On This Day in History" is a unique daily column that lists all the good things that have happened historically on any calendar day. GNN-i is the only place to find "On this day" historical info with a positive twist. (Editor's note: If you need to look up specific good news on the day of your birthday, you are in some serious trouble and I sincerely hope you get out of it, my friend.)

Motivates You - Read motivational articles from our panel of experts, like 7 Steps to Contentment and How to Be Happier, and new weekly columns like, Workplace Wednesday and Friday's Word Fast

Improve your Health - Studies show OPTIMISM cuts heart and lung ailments. Wow. There are a variety of payment plans, the recommended one being $97 per year.

SUMMARY: Let's finish this thing off. The question is - is this similar to 'The Secret's principle; paying $23.95 for 'abundance conciousness'? Good luck with that and keep a diary. This seems to be what it comes down to. After all this. It's a market. Our modern gatekeepers are Oprah and anyone with a book who appears on her show. Big business to a shocking extent - especially for content that can be summarized with "Be here now" type ideas, which can be helpful of course. Why is everything an infomercial of some sort? It's difficult to get those credit card numbers from you and it takes a certain tone to achieve it.

You can have good news, but you will have to pay dearly. Save up.

My suggestion to stay positive. Check all trees (the ones that are left) for cats and various wounded animals.

Steve Moore

Thursday, April 16, 2009

LETTER TO THE WESTERN CANADIAN MUSIC AWARDS

Hey guys,My name is Steve Moore and I am an Albertan musician. I play in 2 bands in the Alberta area, released 2 CD's in 2008 and will release another 2 in 2009. I will not be submitting materials for the awards.

I just want to say that I took a look at your submission information via Sonicbids and think it's a shame that this is how things are working. I understand from your perspective that there is probably little to no funding to put on an independent awards show such as yours and you need public support. Exorbant submission fees, just like compilation CD's and pay-for-review policies, do not help the indie artist.

It just doesn't sit well with me that artists pay between $30 and $70 to simply submit their material for consideration. This is something Sonicbids is currently getting a lot of bad publicity for, and rightfully so.

There are a lot of in's and out's and perspectives on this, but I have a feeling that Sonicbids will have enough expose's, scams and scandals to put themselves in the same position as Ticketmaster in the future. Sonicbids is like a Ticketmaster focused solely on taking money from the indie artist. And like Ticketmaster, many companies solely deal with them now.

I hope you guys have a really great event and can find a way to do it without the pay-to-play aspect in the future. And I've heard the argument that it shows artists are serious when they pay/etc. Well, artists pay thousands for many other things, and pay to play is one of the things most advise to steer clear from.

All the best,
Steve
http://www.theunravellingmusic.com/
http://www.postdeathsoundtrack.com/

By the way, after searching "Opinions on Sonicbids" in Google, it appears that many, many people are unhappy with them. In fact, Sonicbids is under investigation right now for recent scams. Ticketmaster number 2. Check this link.

http://cdbaby.org/stories/08/05/30/7898376.html

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

My Resignation

The track "My Resignation" has been posted as a free download to the members of www.theunravellingmusic.com. Members will also get free b-sides and remixes as they get posted. This track is quite experimental and features some hypnotic elements. We're happy to have it set for inclusion on the upcoming album TBA. Spread the song around as you wish and post your thoughts. Cheers,Steve & Gus

Bill Hicks - Part of the beauty of life

I happen to have a deep respect for Bill Hicks and people of his ilk - they are rare and they usually do not advance very far in the physical world due to their distaste for soulessness, lies and corruption.

They are the water that will not mix with the oil, so to speak. However, when one of these people such as Bill gets out there enough to say his piece, it's a gift to anyone who relates to it, to the splinters within the masses, the outnumbered seekers. Part of the beauty of life, I think. So here are some quotes from the man. His website is at www.billhicks.com.

"We gotta come to some new ideas about life folks ok? I'm not being blase about abortion, it might be a real issue, it might not, doesn't matter to me. What matters is that if you believe in the sanctity of life then you believe it for life of all ages. That's what I hate about this child-worship syndrome going on. "Save the children! They're killing children! How many children were at Waco? They're killing children!" What does that mean? They reach a certain age and they're off your fucking love-list? Fuck your children, if that's the way you think then fuck you too. You either love all people of all ages or you shut the fuck up."

"It's just a ride and we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings and money, a choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your door, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one."

"The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people."

"Go back to bed, America, your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed America, your goverment is in control. Here, here's American Gladiators. Watch this, shut up, go back to bed America, here is American Gladiators, here is 56 channels of it! Watch these pituitary retards bang their fucking skulls together and congratulate you on the living in the land of freedom. Here you go America - you are free to do what well tell you! You are free to do what we tell you!"

"I'm gonna share with you a vision that I had, cause I love you. And you feel it. You know all that money we spend on nuclear weapons and defense each year, trillions of dollars, correct? Instead -- just play with this -- if we spent that money feeding and clothing the poor of the world -- and it would pay for it many times over, not one human being excluded -- we can explore space together, both inner and outer, forever in peace. Thank you very much. You've been great, I hope you enjoyed it."

"Children are smarter than any of us. Know how I know that? I don't know one child with a full time job and children."

“I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three feet of bullet proof plexi-glass. That's faith in action folks! You know he's got God on his side.”