2010 In Memoriam

As always, the saddest part of the year is the annual list of the fallen.  The Etherverse lost a few heroes this year.  We fondly remember the following:


Peter Steele: Bassist for Type-O Negative
Frank Franzetta-Fantasy Artist
Ronnie James Dia-one of the THE voices of Metal
Dennis Hopper- Actor and professional badass
Dino De Laurentiis: Producer of some of the best awful movies ever.
Leslie Neilsen - Canadian Actor

Holiday Programming.

Since this year Xmas falls squarely on the weekend, in addition to my having to work my wage-slave job that day, I've decided to go with the majority at the station and have a repeat broadcast.  The same goes for New Year's Eve.

Have yourselves a happy and above all SAFE holiday season.  A Merry, Metal Xmas to all!

R,I.P. Ingrid Pitt (1937-2010)

Ingrid Pitt, Hammer film's favourite heroine, has died aged 73 in south London. The Polish-born actor, right, who survived imprisonment in a concentration camp during the second world war, found fame as the blood-splattered, often blouseless star of films such as Countess Dracula, and The Vampire Lovers

The Guardian, among others, did a nice little tribute

Another tribute, slightly more detailed.

I want one of these...

I don't know who Mr. Soles is, but he's one talented SOB, as demonstrated by the Lovecraft inspired Carnivian Mask.  I would happily hang this on my wall.


Carnivean Mask by ~MrSoles on deviantART

Jim Clench (1949-2010) R.I.P.

Jim Clench, best known as the bassist for April Wine, has died of lung cancer at the age of 61. Clench replaced original bassist Jim Henman after April Wine's debut album, and played with them until 1975.  In 1978 he joined BTO, appearing on two albums with them.  Rejoining April Wine in 1992, he stayed with them until late 2006 before resigning again. Clench died of lung cancer on Nov. 2. According to bandmate Brian Greenaway, funeral services are expected to be held in St. Johns, Newfoundland sometime next week.

Jim Clench was the writer of April Wine's classic song "Oowatanite", which we often play on the show and which was a crowd favourite throughout their career.

Burke And Hare Trailer

The upcoming comedy "Burke And Hare" looks like it's going to be a doozy.  Check out the trailer.

James Bond--The Best And The Worst

Okay, so I've been sick as a dog most of the week, and I don't know whether it's the medication, or the boredom, or the exhaustion, but for some reason my mind chose this week to think about James Bond movies.  I thought it might be cool to make my personal list of the best and worst that the canon has to offer.  Despite a few givens, Bond flicks generally give rise to intense argument--pro--Moore, pro-Connery, the odd pro-Dalton heretic etc.  So here's my list, in no particular order:

1. Goldfinger: Oh like I have to explain this one at all.  Next...
2. Live And Let Die: The opening scenes gave me nightmares when I was a kid. This one manages to be cooly  retro without being too dated.
3. You Only Live Twice: Hated this the first time I saw it, now it's one of my favourite.  For a Bond movie, it's very quiet, understated and restrained. But it has a very strong story, and that's why it works.
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service: George Lazenby's singular and much-maligned entry into the series is unfairly snubbed, I think.  Despite Lazenby's somewhat wooden performance, OHMSS actually represents one of the strongest scripts ever for a Bond film.  Plus Diana Rigg looks ravishing, as always.
5. For Your Eyes Only: The hidden gem of the Moore era.  Sure it's a tawdry remake of Thunderball.  Sure it has that really cheesy theme song.  But it is also a compilation of everything good about a Bond flick--the underwater stuff, the skiing stuff, the humour, the action, the gadgets.  It just works, and yet everyone forgets about it.  Shame, really.
6. Diamonds Are Forever: This is Connery's campiest outing, and one of the most fun.  The two assassins are just a joy to watch throughout.  Along with Thunderball, DAF served as a template for many furure Bond efforts
7. The World Is Not Enough: The movie where Pearce Brosnan hit his stride. Goldeneye took itself too seriously, Die Another Die didn't take itself seriously enough, TWINW struck just the right balance.
8. From Russia With Love: Dr. No may have been the first, but FRWL was the true start of the franchise.
9. Thunderball: So good, they've recycled it time after time after time.
10. The Man With The Golden Gun: This one's all about the bad guy.  Christopher Lee manages to exude both class and menace in this otherwise light bit of fluff.

And the five worst:

1. A View To A Kill: A perfect example of everything that was wrong with filmmaking in the 'eighties. Shallow, lazy, cheesy and sloppy.  I read an article in Cinefantastique where the writers basically admitted writing a crappy movie to sabotage Roger Moore. It made me mad at the time.  That being said, I still do enjoy watching this one from time to time.  It's bad, but it's still fun
2. Dr. No: Maybe I'm a heretic, but I find that the first Bond movie hasn't aged well.  It's dated, slow-paced and to be brutally frank, boring as hell.
3. Quantum Of Solace: I'd give detail reasons why this is so bad, but to be honest after the initially interesting parkour chase at the beginning, I lasted about 15 minutes before turning it off and therefore have never seen the whole thing. That pretty much sums it up.
4. Octopussy: It's a lot of fun, and it's still great to watch.  The reason why it's on the "worsts" list is because there are so many continuity errors, technical gaffes and just plain sloppy filmmaking that it's obvious that the director didn't give a shit.
5. Moonraker: remaking The Spy Who Loved me immediately after The Spy Who Loved Me was just an insult to the fans.  It's not a bad movie, per se, but for chrissakes at least they had the decency to leave gap of a few films before churning out Thunderball clones

You'll notice that Timothy Dalton's outings don't make either list.  That's because it wouldn't be really fair to judge them because Dalton was never really allowed to play Bond--The Living Daylights was basically written for Bond as portrayed by Moore, and License To Kill wasn't a Bond movie in any real sense of the term.

Rush on CNN this morning.

CNN personality John "Don't call me "JD"" Roberts got to jam with Rush, doing a passable version of Limelight.  Way to go JD! Here's the video:

Twenty years on Pt. 2....Who shares our birthday?

Here's a list of bands that started the same year as Tapping The Ether.  I'm only including the bands who I've played on the show:

Anathema : We played stuff from "Pentecost III" quite a bit

At the Gates: Although we received both of their albums, only "Slaughter Of The Soul" got extensive airplay.

Dark Tranquility (then Septic Broiler) : To this day, "Projector" is the only DT CD in the library--it's a keeper though.

Fear Factory I only really played "Obsolete" and their cover of "Cars", because I'm a Gary Numan fan.

In Flames: Didn't recieve anything prior to "The Jester Race", didn't really get into them until "Whoracle" (which was stolen from the library--a pox on whoever did that)

Infectious Grooves: Played "Send My Your Money" and "Violent And Funky" a lot.  Otherwise they were just the discount store version of Suicidal Tendencies.

My Dying Bride:  Although they started sending us stuff from the very beginning, "Angel And The Dark River" was the album that clicked with me ("Cries Of Mankind" was a perfect bathroom break song)

Opeth:  Despite knowing about Opeth from the beginning, it wasn't until "Blackwater Park" that I finally had something to play on the air.  Thankfully they've been sending us stuff ever since.

Type O Negative: What can I say?  When they sucked, they really sucked, but when they rocked, they were amazing! Peter Steele, R.I.P.

Bruce Dickinson has a new gig....

Bruce Dickinson, singer of Iron Maiden, has a new gig: marketing director of Astraeus, the Gatwick-based charter airline where he's been a pilot for years.

For the full story, click here

Dani Filth is top ‘Suffolk icon’

DEATH metal star Dani Filth is running away with the race to be named Suffolk’s top icon, it emerged today.

Dani Filth is top ‘Suffolk icon’ - News - Evening Star

Congratulations to Dani on the achievement--I can't imagine how it must feel to be considered more famous than a swimming pool. Still, credit where credit is due.

Cradle Of Filth have a new album on the horizon, so every little bit of publicity helps:)

Roger Waters kicks of "The Wall" 30th anniversary tour in Toronto

TORONTO – Roger Waters tore down the house Wednesday night in Toronto as he kicked off the 30th anniversary world tour for Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

He walked out to thunderous applause beginning with the first track of the seminal concept album, "In the Flesh," and the adulation never stopped. Synchronized pyrotechnics, Orwellian imagery and marching hammers culminated with a plane flying into the wall and bursting into flames. And that was just the opener.

The rest of the story can be found here.
I have mixed feelings about Roger Waters.  On the one hand I think that his occasional updating of The Wall results in great shows.  On the other, I think it's a little hypocritical for Waters to have bitterly criticized the reformation of Pink Floyd as being artistically bankrupt and not offering anything new, while almost all of his post-Floyd successes have come from rehashing old Floyd material--most notably The Wall.

Still, if this really is the last--and I mean "THE last, no shit, I really mean it this time, this is it, really the last time", not all the other last-- opportunity for folks to catch The Wall in all it's bloated, self-worshipping, pseudo-Orwellian glory, then it should make for a worthwhile spectacle.

Edit: My apologies to Kevin Maguire for inadvertently using his copyrighted photo without permission.  When I searched Flikr I specified "creative commons" in the search but somehow his photo slipped through and I posted it with a linkback.  No excuse for my not double-checking the license--the fault is mine and mine alone.  I would have apologized to Mr. Maguire directly, but since I deleted the picture as soon as I became aware of the issue, it also deleted the link to the original source.  Once again I'm sorry for the error.

WTF!?! Mike Portnoy out of Dream Theater!

The following statement was released by Mike Portnoy on Sept 8:

"I am about to write something I never imagined I'd ever write.

"After 25 years, I have decided to leave DREAM THEATER... the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century.

"To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision...it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so....

"After having had such amazing experiences playing with HAIL!, TRANSATLANTIC and AVENGED SEVENFOLD this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in DREAM THEATER.

"Please don't misinterpret me, I love the DREAM THEATER guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them... it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break.

"DREAM THEATER was always my baby...and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985... 24/7, 365... never taking time off from DREAM THEATER's never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was 'off' between cycles)... working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band.

"But I've come to the conclusion that the DREAM THEATER machine was starting to burn me out...and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DREAM THEATER spirit hungry and inspired.

"We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here and there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves'...

"Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather... I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be...

"While it truly hurts for me to even think of a DREAM THEATER without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way...so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes.

"Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DREAM THEATER and I talked about 'always following your heart and being true to yourself'... Sadly, I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with DREAM THEATER...and I would simply be 'going through the motions,' and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed.

"I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come... I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played....

"I'm sorry to all the disappointed DREAM THEATER fans around the world... I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work... I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)... but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within.

"You DREAM THEATER fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me.... (and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future Mike Portnoy projects!)"

Twenty years on...looking back.

I thought you might like to see some of the albums that were released the same year that Tapping The Ether started. The most significant is definately Iron Maiden's "No Prayer For The Dying" as it was the first metal CD the station recieved after the show started. It doesn't include every album released, but is a sample of bands who have been mainstays of the show since the beginning. Here's the list:

AC/DC - The Razor's Edge

Annihilator - Never, Neverland

Anthrax - Persistence of Time
Believer - Sanity Obscure
Black Sabbath - Tyr
Blind Guardian - Tales from the Twilight World
Bruce Dickinson - Tattooed Millionaire
Celtic Frost - Vanity/Nemesis
Death - Spiritual Healing
Death Angel - Act III
Dio - Lock up the Wolves
Extreme - Pornograffitti
Exodus - Impact is Imminent
Forbidden - Twisted into Form
Iced Earth - Iced Earth
Iron Maiden - No Prayer for the Dying
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Kreator - Coma of Souls
Yngwie J. Malmsteen - Eclipse
Megadeth - Rust In Peace
Queensrÿche - Empire
Ratt - Detonator
Reverend - World Won't Miss You
Saxon - Solid Ball of Rock
Scorpions - Crazy World
Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss
Stryper - Against the Law
Trouble - Trouble
U.D.O. -Faceless World

Entries in bold are releases that were featured quite heavily at the time of release.