Monday, November 16, 2020

New Videos, Plus More Recent News & Notes!!

Sadly, news at this stage of the pandemic remains painfully slow, hence the recent 6 day spans between formal news posts, with features dotted in between to keep our "one post every three days" rule alive. I have cobbled together enough content to keep things relatively active until Thursday,  Today's post is largely comprised of videos (with some assorted topics to end things with), so here's what you need to know!
 
Let's start with new music from Dafter, Michigan hard rock musician Kenneth "SweetKenny" Sutton, and it's been a long time since we've covered him on here! Ken's once-prolific slate of solo albums and scores quietly dried up in the late 2010s, but he has kept active online, and he uploaded four new videos on his YouTube channel this year. Two relate to his old score work, while the other two are of new music of his, including this remote vocal cover of "Sway" by The Pussycat Dolls(!) with South Korean singer An "Jerry" Sohyeon. Ken jumps in late via a picture-in-picture window. Very atypical of his guitar-heavy original songs and his scores, but An is a good singer, and Ken's accompaniment doesn't take anything away! Embedded below is SweetKenny's brand new original song "What If?", which is about growing old together with someone you love. The video features free-to-use stock footage of couples, which fits the theme well enough.

The lyrics feel a little over-detailed to me, but the song is well paced and melodic, and Ken's vocals work with the song without getting too Elvisy as was common on some of his harder edged material. Hopefully SweetKenny has more music in the works, but give "What If?" a listen below!

 
Next up, here's another new original song from Sault Ontario hard rock musician Tym Morrison's YouTube channel on Thursday! Entitled "Living On Mars", this is a song that he wrote back in high school about colonizing the red planet, but he has amended the lyrics since to be about alternate theories, with lyric video and photos to match. Musically, this is a metal song that lets Tym use his lower register singing well on verses, and it has a solid classic riff with some nice soloing, so fans of his past electric metal work will want to hear this song below, and stay tuned for more!


Also today, here's the newest video from local gore/cybergrind solo project Malignant Neoplasm's Facebook page! Uploaded last month in their first post there in over a year, the video features 16 seconds of a promisingly heavy instrumental track on the computer, with no audible vocals. Tyler hints that there's new material coming soon, but will there be an attached album? Time will tell, but give it a listen below, and stay tuned for more from Malignant Neoplasm and the Blood Shed Productions camp! Yes, the video works, I don't know why the thumbnail is white.


 
Finally for today, here's three assorted shorter news items from the last while, and as usual, these are in alphabetical order by artist or event name:
 
  • Last month, in their first written Facebook page update in well over a year, local hardcore punk quintet Destroilet revealed that they have a new run of official t-shirts coming on sale soon for $20, and to let them know the sizes you want so they can have the right ones ordered. They look good as you'd expect, and it's great to see that the guys are still quietly active during the pandemic!
  • I have moved local acoustic hard rock duo Tattoos & Scars to our inactive band links, not having updated their Facebook page since sharing a video from their now-defunct main project Halfway Loaded's page on November 7th of last year. Quietly and sporadically active since the fall of 2018, Tattoos & Scars updates largely tailed off once Justin & Shane formed their current southern hard rock band Fort Creek, so follow that band for their current musical work, including our next post on Thursday!
  • The annual Toystock charity concert's Facebook page revealed on November 4th that there is an "announcement coming soon" and that "we finally have something in the works." Details have not followed at press time, but with the pandemic, a normal installment of Toystock IX likely wouldn't be possible. Could this be a virtual concert with Christmas Cheer fundraiser options? Would organizers have 10 bands again (let alone in 10 hours?) Also, the event proper likely would have been on Sunday, November 29th, so will that date mean anything with the likely changes? Stay tuned to the above links for details as they roll in!
 
That's all for today, but stay tuned for a new news post on Thursday, barring a massive influx of news! Thanks everyone!

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