A New EP Release, New Videos, And A Local Musician's New Website!!

Before everyone settles in for the Super and/or Puppy Bowl, here's a new news post on this Sunday morning! Along with belated details about a local musician's new website, a new cover performance, and more local musicians on a popular music review series, let's lead off with a surprise new album from a talented newer band, so here's what you should know!

After scattered studio work teasers in mid-2021 and over four months of public silence, new local alt-hardcore duo These Magnificent Tentacles released their debut EP "Surfacing..." onto their Bandcamp page this past Monday! The band never 100% confirmed they were working on an album, just new songs, so this was a nice surprise during a quiet stretch! Featuring their current two-man lineup of Slumshine's Brenton Ellis and ex-Pixo Control bassist Steve Edwards, "Surfacing..." was recorded at Mission Control Studios with producer/Tidal Records head Dustin Jones, and it is a short release, only containing three songs. One is "The Abyss", which was their debut single when the band launched, while the other two are titled "Sewer Sailor" & "The Sea Serpent & The Rainbow". The cover artwork appears to be a painting of Brent's, going along with his prolific visual art work.

Despite being a three song EP, "Surfacing..." costs $10 on Bandcamp, though you can stream the songs free there, and teasers of availability on other digital platforms have not come to fruition yet. No word either on a possible physical release, but for reference, Slumshine have put out CDs, and These Magnificent Tentacles have played one live concert, so the possibility is there. I won't comment on the songs yet, as it's looking very likely that "Surfacing..." will be this month's CD review on the SMS. Stay tuned for that, and check out T.M.T.'s debut EP above! 

Next up, here's a new video from prolific local metal/folk punk solo musician Chase Wigmore's Facebook page, where he covered Steve Vai's instrumental "For The Love Of God"! The video is heavily filtered with Chase's performance mirrored and de-colourized in very Rorschach test-y fashion, which is a neat look! Chase plays along to the original song very well, even if this isn't an optimal way to actually see his playing of the song given the filter, but check out this solid cover below, and stay tuned for more from him!

Also today, let's look at some more local representation on the popular indie music review series You Rock! with Thomas Christ! In the 3+ hour episode #19 from January 12th, two local acts made the cut for live reviews, including Inner City Surfers bassist Brad Example's solo song "The Queen's Secrets" (2:01:50), which Thomas positively reviewed, while we dip more into hard rock when Thomas checked out defunct local grunge trio No Arrow's song "Genocyde Revealing Part 1" (2:32:15), and he praised the song for its mix, Nirvana vibes, and it's raw, live essence. Always good thoughts from Thomas about bands here and abroad, so check out all of the talent below!

Finally, while the ever-prolific local/Thompson, Manitoba alt-hard rock musician Mike Haggith wasn't in episode #19 of You Rock!, I do have stuff to talk about from him today, via his new website, which I've put off discussing for way too long. Perhaps a very belated successor to his once exceptionally detailed Facebook page biography and discography, his cleanly laid out website gives a massive updated biography, running down Mike's career as a musician from Windsor to the Soo to Thompson. Mike's major bands (from S.C.A.R. to Between The Ditches) also get subpages outlining their runs and highlights, even considering The Din to be distinct from the acid jam era of Mike Haggith & The Din, though the articles do leave out some very minor details. Curiously, James White is not credited as a former bassist with the band Haggith, though he never performed on an album with them, so that may explain his omission.

The discography on the website only reflects The Din and solo albums Mike put out since moving to the Soo, though way back when, I did save a text document listing every album by Mike's old Rotten Records catalogue numbers, which is good for reference! You can also order Thompson-era albums through the website. Very professional looking site with great insight into Mike's career, especially in a local sense, so fans of Mike's extensive career will definitely want to check out his website above! That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news on the site this week. Thanks everyone!