Posted on Mar 27 2010 | 2 Comments
I haven’t heard this from Helmet’s management yet, hence it’s not on the band’s official website, but AOL’s Noisecreep site (and, subsequently, Blabbermouth) are reporting an interview with Page Hamilton in which he states that the new Helmet album is titled Seeing Eye Dog.
Both sources are quoting a release date of June 22, though I gather from Helmet’s management that the release has been put back to August. The report also adds that the release will be made under the Work Song Incorporated imprint, which just so happens to be run by Helmet’s management, Maine Road.
I’m really hoping that the bit about the title is a joke though, on the other hand, I don’t care if it’s called Hermaphrodite Roulade Obelisk if the music is good. Make of it what you will.
Posted on Mar 18 2010 | No Comments
Ever since Helmet parted ways with Warcon a few years back, there’s been a lot of speculation among fans about who would be releasing any future albums. Now that it’s common knowledge that a new album will be appearing in the next few months, the question is all the more pertinent.
Details are still a little sketchy, but I understand from the band’s management that Helmet’s new album will be self-released. They’re working with a newish company called Topspin Media, who provide retail and promotional infrastructure to musicians, and who’ve also worked on, amongst other things, the David Byrne and Brian Eno release Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. You can see an example of how the Topspin thing works at the Everything That Happens… website.
I’ve also gathered that Page Hamilton has regained ownership of the last Helmet album, Monochrome, so it’s likely that this will in future be sold directly by the band.
Posted on Feb 03 2010 | No Comments
The Howard Roberts Super Chops book
Those of you who’ve been working through Page Hamilton’s guitar instruction DVD will be familiar with the Howard Roberts “Super Chops” method Page refers to and utilises in the DVD. For the uninitiated (and the forgetful), it’s a programme which entails improvising 8th note lines over quite challenging chord progressions for 50 minutes a day.
Anyway, long story short, if, like me, you’ve tried to find a copy of the book and come back empty handed (it’s long out of print), you might want to know that there’s a group of people over at the Gear Page forum who’re working though it together throughout the coming months. Unfortunately, I found out about this a day after they started working through it and, from the look of things, a good couple of weeks’ run in is required to get to grips with the chord changes (and, if you’re anything like me, several other elements of it too), so joining in with the group is out of the question.
However, there is a scanned copy of Howard’s book available for download from the thread, and it already contains several pages of helpful information and discussion on chord fingerings and approaches to tackling the course, so, for anyone interested in working through Howard’s programme, you’ve got no excuses: you can get straight to work here.
Posted on Jan 20 2010 | 1 Comment
Further to recent events, I managed the other day to wring a few drops of information of out Page H. He confirms that, though Chris Traynor has played bass on some of the new recordings, he won’t be joining the band as a full time touring member. He added that he’s expecting a June release for the new album, along with European tour dates in July.
Posted on Jan 16 2010 | No Comments
According to a fan’s post on the official Helmet forum, former Helmet guitarist Chris Traynor has indicated via his Facebook page that he’s currently working on the recording of Helmet’s as yet untitled new album.
In early November 2009, I’d been made aware that Jon Fuller was no longer a member of Helmet and, though I was asked to put up new pictures of the band – sans Jon – on the band’s various web presences, no official statement was to be made. A few observant fans noticed Jon’s absence from the new photographs but, if anyone drew any conclusions, no-one was saying so. Tellingly, Toshi Kasai, who is producing the new Helmet album, announced on 12 November via his MySpace blog that recording has been suspended, ostensibly while new material is written.
So Chris’s Facebook post means that recording has resumed, presumably with the former rhythm guitarist reprising his Size Matters and Monochrome roles as stand-in bass player…
