They burst on the scene seemingly out of nowhere, blowing away audiences with their powerful mix of rock ‘n’ roll influences, intense stage presentation, and compelling original songs. The Iceman Special will celebrate the release of their first recording on Saturday night at the Maple Leaf Bar along with their own Carnival organization, the Krewe de Void.
I have seen the band a few times and can attest to the fact that this group has the goods. They are an intergenerational outfit featuring two brothers, Will and Charlie Murry on guitar and bass respectively and Hunter Romero on drums. The ringer in the group is 60-something year-old lead guitarist Steve Staples.
Together the band creates a sound they describe as swamp funk. While I won’t argue with the idea of promoting a band based out of south Louisiana and New Orleans using those genre markers, but to my ears these guys play straight up funky rock ‘n’ roll.
Vancouver, CA | Compact discs whither? Not so fast, say Vancouver indie record stores. Rumours of CDs’ death have been great exaggerated, says Red Cat Records co-owner Dave Gowans. …The Courier reached out to a handful of independent music stores in Vancouver to make sense of the CD conundrum, and got input from shop managers from Red Cat, Beat Street, Highlife, Neptoon and Audiopile, along with Ryan Dyck, the label manager behind Vancouver’s Mint Records. Prevailing trends emerged across the board in each interview…It’s little surprise that each outlet reported vinyl outselling CDs. Some were a 60/40 split, others reported an 80/20 difference. Mint Records releases typically see a 50 per cent run of vinyl, with the remainder split equally between CD and cassette. Yes, the most outdated, useless and 
Little Rock, AK | Viva cassettes! Joey Lucas of Little Rock’s Sleepcvlt talks tapes. The resurgent popularity of vinyl records over the past 10 years shouldn’t surprise anyone. Audiophiles vouch for what they call a “warmer” sound, and people are nostalgic for 12-by-12-inch artwork. Cassettes don’t usually hold the same kind of nostalgia — especially for people raised on LPs — but Joey Lucas fell in love with cassette tapes at an early age. “I remember my mother taking me to get my first tape. I didn’t have a record player, but I had a tape player and there were just so many more tapes than records at the time,” Lucas said. Now, he’s carved out a niche for himself in the small-but-mighty cassette industry, where the demand for physical media means that cassette manufacturers, like Nashville’s National Audio Co., actually 
Known for his starring role as “Silvio Dante” in all seven seasons of HBO’s television drama The Sopranos, Van Zandt also helped create the “Jersey Shore” sound with the Asbury Jukes, and became a founding member of Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band (Co–Producing the band’s seminal albums The River and Born in the U.S.A., and with whom he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014). Van Zandt’s own band, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul, is currently on the road in Europe with their “Soulfire TeachRock Teacher Appreciation Tour,” his first solo tour in 20 years.
NEW RELEASE PICKS: Emma Tricca, St. Peter (Dell’Orso) After three full-lengths and an EP, the latest from Rome-born and London-based singer-songwriter Emma Tricca features a handful of notable guests, including Dream Syndicate guitarist Jason Victor (who also produced) and Sonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley. Thus, her often Brit-folk-reminiscent sound (with occasional gusts from up the Canyon) has acquired a new flavor. Victor’s input means the sweet Paisley Underground vibe of “Fire Ghost” (wherein Arizona roots giant Howe Gelb lends a vocal hand) is no coincidence, but with her songwriting and personality shining throughout the record, it’s still clearly Tricca’s show. “Solomon Said” welcomes a terrific spoken-word cameo from folk cornerstone (and formative Tricca influence) Judy Collins. A-
Forma, Semblance (Kranky) Mark Dwinell, George Bennett, and John Also Bennett are Brooklyn’s Forma, now four albums deep with this one their second for Kranky. Their goal is to “broaden the idea of what an electronic music ensemble can sound like,” and they’ve succeeded, but with clear ties to precedent. One can detect Krautrock’s electronic models and certainly ’90s techno, but most rewarding to these ears are the elements derived from the classical minimalism of the ’70s, and not just Glass and Reich but significant gusts of Terry Riley. Plus, Forma aren’t just swiping from a distance and then serving up a pastiche, as George and John are recent vets of minimalist composer Jon Gibson’s group. Across seven tracks and a concise whole, the music spreads far beyond the cited stylistic points. A-
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL PICKS: Steve Reich, Drumming (Superior Viaduct) Intermingling African percussion and Balinese gamelan-derived polyrhythms with the still-budding impulse of classical Minimalism, this reissues a crucial entry in Reich’s oeuvre. In their promo text, Superior Viaduct touts it as one of the 20th century’s most important musical works, and upon time spent, it’s a statement devoid of hyperbole. But hey, I was already somewhat in agreement, though my conclusion was based on the 1974 recording of the piece as released by Deutsche Grammophon. This one, captured in performance at NYC’s Town Hall in late 1971 and released only in a private edition of 600 (this is its first-time vinyl and CD reissue), is even sharper and more entrancing as it extends to nearly 83 glorious minutes. A+
Masta Ace Incorporated, SlaughtaHouse & Sittin’ On Chrome (Craft Recordings) Offering five reissues of vintage titles from the vaults of Delicious Vinyl, Craft is doing wax-loving fans of old-school hip-hop a considerable service. All are included in this week’s column, but we’ll award the pick to Masta Ace, who was already well-seasoned and underrated at the point of ’93’s SlaughtaHouse (he got his start as a member of Marley Marl’s Juice Crew and had a prior, pre-Incorporated full-length under his belt). Listening today, it’s status as a classic is secure. Masta Ace hailed from Brooklyn, but the second and final Incorporated release is something of a bridge between East Coast and West; unsurprisingly, it was his biggest seller, but it’s not as strong as what came directly before. It still holds up, however. A / A-
Sydney, AU | Vinyl lives! The Record Store, Darlinghurst: The Record Store in Goulburn Street, Darlinghurst is where you find Stephan Gyory (after 11am, “we keep civilised hours here”) surrounded by vinyl records of almost every genre (“but we don’t want your old Trance or Prog vinyl”) He’s been in the vinyl record trade since he started at BPM Records in Oxford St (above the old Army disposal store) in 1994. At one stage, in the late 90s, there were fourteen dance music record stores in Darlinghurst. Sometimes at night in Darlinghurst it’s now difficult to find fourteen people. But Stephan is optimistic about the future of the Oxford St precinct. “I run the local Chamber of Commerce. I’m currently on the City of Sydney late-night advisory panel, which is looking at how to 
Cheshire, UK | Quirky new waffle and ice cream shop where you can sign your own record deal opens in Chester. wRaps & Records is the sister venue to Thai eatery Nine Elephants. A quirky new dessert shop where customers can build their perfect waffle whilst listening to their favourite music opens its doors in Chester this week. Classic vinyl cafe wRaps & Records, located on Chester’s historic City Walls above Northgate Street, is the brainchild of Nicholas Friar and Ice Rattaphaet who are the team behind neighbouring Thai restaurant Nine Elephants which opened earlier this year. Customers are invited to 
