Supermachiner

Supermachiner was intended as a side project of the Boston hardcore band Converge, which includes singer/songwriter Jacob Bannon and guitarist Kurt Ballou. Unlike the heavier, metalcore and hardcore punk-based music of Converge, much of Supermachiner is ambient. First created as a collection of 4-track recordings done with Ryan Parker, Supermachiner based much of its lyrical content about the rise of technology, transhumanism, and the technological singularity. The group took on the name Supermachiner as a play on words from the term Supermachinder, the compound word for Japanese giant robot toys of the 1970s. In 1999, recording sessions with Kurt Ballou contributed to much of the material for Rise of the Great Machine, a concept album heavily influenced by the instrumentation and style of Swans and Bauhaus. The finished album was published in 2000 to Undecided Records. They disbanded in 2000.

8 years later, Deathwish Inc. announced the release of Rust, a 30 track double CD that featured remastered versions of the Rise of the Great Machine tracks along with b-sides of forgotten songs and additional audio experiments.

Roadside

Roadside is a term synonymous with road verge or shoulder (road).

It may also refer to:

See also

Roadside (musical)

Roadside is a musical with a book and lyrics by Tom Jones, and music by Harvey Schmidt.

Based on Lynn Riggs' 1929 play of the same name, it focuses on "early-20th century folks who didn't care to be absorbed into statehood".

Background

Jones directed the play Roadside for his master's thesis in directing at the University of Texas. After Jones arrived in New York, Schmidt and he wrote a few songs for the musical and made a demo (but gave up since they could not acquire the rights).

Productions

The show premiered on February 16, 2001, at the Irving Arts Center in Irving, Texas with a cast consisting of Randy Tallman (Pap Raider), Stan Graner (Amos K. "Buzzey" Hale), Julie Johnson (Hannie Raider), Ryan Appleby (Red Ike), Steve Barcus (Black Ike), Jonathan Beck Reed (Texas), Richard Estes (The Verdigree Marshall), Rick Prada (Neb, the Jailer), Jerry Haynes (Judge Snodgrass), and Lois Sonnier (Miz Foster). The orchestra had Nyela Basney (piano), Mike Cruciger (banjo/guitar), and Dave Yonley (fiddle).

The Sufferer & the Witness

The Sufferer & the Witness is the fourth album by American punk rock band Rise Against. The album was released on July 4, 2006. It was their second release on major label Geffen Records, following 2004's Siren Song of the Counter Culture. It is their final studio album on Geffen, and the last to feature guitarist Chris Chasse. It sold 48,000 copies in its first week, debuting at #10 on the Billboard 200. The album has been certified gold by the RIAA and platinum by the CRIA. It is Rise Against's first album with a parental advisory sticker on it, due to the album's final song "Survive" containing profanity.

Writing and production

After the success of their major label debut, Siren Song of the Counter Culture, and its single, "Swing Life Away", Rise Against returned to the studio in January 2006 to record their fourth studio album. The band had been writing songs and ideas during the Siren Song of the Counter Culture tour and had completed five songs by early December 2005. Also in December, it was announced that Bill Stevenson would produce the upcoming album at the Blasting Room studio in Fort Collins, Colorado. Pre-production began in January 2006 in Chicago. The album was recorded at the Blasting Room with producers Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore for 12 weeks between January and April 2006. The band talked about the sound and release date of the album in April, saying, "We're pretty excited and can't wait for you to hear it. You won't find any acoustic guitar on this one, but perhaps a few other surprises and curveballs await your curious ears...look for an early summer release." The album's name was revealed in the same news release; it would be titled The Sufferer & the Witness. The album was mixed by Chris Lord-Alge in Los Angeles, and production was completed in April 2006.