Wednesday, 30 July 2008
30/07/08
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
09/07/08
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
02/07/08
Okay, so I didn't do a post on last week's Mindless Self Indulgence ish. So sue me, I had a lot of film festival stuff going on. Anyhoodles, on with #1217...
- FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND ARE MAKING ME FEEL OLD (p.07)
The news should be that those reliable Welsh rock rockers, Funeral For A Friend, are going out on tour with Cancer Bats and In Case Of Fire. Instead, I'm drawn to this statement from FFAF vocalist Matt Davis-Kreye:
"[Our] new album is going to be called Memory and Humanity... We are going with an October 13 release date - which is actually the fifth anniversary of when our album Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation came out."
Wait, hold up, FIVE YEARS?! Dude. That makes me feel uncomfortable - five years ago, I was just about halfway through high school, was still straight-edge, still wore my Odd Project zip-up hoodie everywhere I went, was yet to experience a whole bunch of things in life. Hell, as for my two biggest fandoms for geekery, Lost wasn't yet on TV, and in Runaways we were still trying to make sure the series didn't get cancelled long enough so that we could find out who the goddamn "mole" was. That was a minute ago, methinks. Hell, I remember Casually Dressed dropping and people were going absolutely fucking insane for this band - remember when folk used to say "Juno" was better than "Juneau"? They're still a good band, and good luck to them with their ongoing relative longevity, but good God, I need to go shave or go wear an odd-fitting black t-shirt or throw a tantrum or something to feel 15 again.
Funeral For A Friend - Rookie of the Year
2. BRUCE DICKINSON'S PLANE IS FAMOUS (P. 25-26)
So, if you didn't know, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden flies to most gigs in HIS OWN PLANE. Seriously. (It's nicknamed Ed Force One, after the band's mascot Eddie The 'Ead - nice touch.) What I didn't know is that it's become so recognisable now, cue Dicky:
"[Ed Force One's] been doing regular runs... someone's aircraft brakes (sic) down and Ed Force One will arrive... It's great publicity for us. It was a bit of a superstar at Gatwick. Everyone is spotting it on the runway and air traffic control are now like 'You, behind the Iron Maiden plane, you're clear to taxi'. They've stopped calling it an Astraeus 757, it's become the Iron Maiden place, so that is all quite entertaining."
Dude, that must be a surprise when your flight doesn't take off and instead of a mind-numbing delay, BRUCE FUCKING DICKINSON FROM IRON MAIDEN comes along to take you to your destination! I really hope this happens when I leave for Berlin later this month. Despite his rock star fame, Dicky is a responsible pilot and never flies directly after a show:
"[Because] of the CAA regulations you have to have a minimum period of rest whihc is always 12 hours. So I'm offstage at 11pm and the plane is leaving at 11am the next morning it's not going to happen. But if the plane's leaving between 2 or 3 o'clock the next day, I have a good night's kip, don't go out on the lash the night before and have a nice lie-in, then I'll get up and fly the aeroplane."
Quite.
3. WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE GA*GA*S? (p. 46)
Do you guys remember The Ga*Ga*s? Anybody? I was never a big fan, but they really seemed like one of those British rock bands that could tour and tour and tour forever, throwing out really fucking good songs whenever they felt like it. But then, they kinda vanished, only for three-quarters of the band to resurface in Slaves To Gravity. In this week's K!, I finally found out what happened: their label, Sanctuary, folded, they got dropped and they saw what they were building fall apart just around the same time they started to lose their patience with one another. Oh. Well, that was easy enough.
4. THE BEST DUMB TATTOO IDEA EVER (p. 44)
I love tattoos. I've always been interested in it and am happily waiting to get more than the measly one I have on my bicep (not measly, but you get the idea - measly in the sense of quantity, ahem). With this now, I have a habit of convincing friends that I am going to get tattoos that in my right mind I would never get. A fridge with the Star of David on top. A donkey wearing a leather jacket with the legend "BADASS" written on his back. Minnie Mouse doing a wheelie on a jetski (yeah, I know, not possible but still). A hardcopy version of Franz Kafka's "The Trial" on my inner thigh. An Enchanted backpiece that copies every aspect of the poster. Still, I haven't heard a tattoo idea in some time quite as stupid as Martin Mendez of Opeth's, who considered getting the AC/DC logo on his balls. According to guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, Mendez pulled out of the idea because he was "worried that the line in the middle might hurt too much". Still, points for effort.
5. THE DESCENDENTS LASH OUT AT THE OFFSPRING... (p.43)
...about a million years ago, I'm guessing. I just read that the Descendants labelled The Offspring, who count the 'cendants as a big inspiration, as a "novelty" band. They must have confused "Pretty Fly (For A Rabbi)" with the original, but I'd say that's Weird Al's fault. Dammit, Al!
Descendents - Hateful Notebook
6. JACOB BANNON IS IMMEDIATELY PART OF THE DIPSET MOVEMENT (p. 30)
This is just too fucking priceless not to note. Jacob Bannon, vocalist for ultra-mega-influential-and-also-really-fucking-awesome hardcore nuts Converge, is there in all his mega-tattooed, newly bleach-blonde glory, talking about tattoos, faith, his ambitions, growing up and-- fuck it, who cares when he's wearing a goddamn Diplomats t-shirt?! If you've never heard of Dipset/Byrd Gang, you're really behind. These guys are absolutely insane as far as hip-hop crews. I don't have a scanner that allows me to take a picture of this photo, but it beggars belief. I love this kind of shit.
Juelz Santana - Santana's Town (feat. Cam'Ron)
7. TOM BRYANT GETS IT JUST RIGHT (p. 50)
Yeah, Cute Is What We Aim For suck. Not pure-hatred-suck or even what-has-happened-to-my-rock-n-roll-suck. Just "suck". But nothing that's horrendous, because I personally can get why people like these guys, even if I don't. To quote Tom Bryant's review of the band's new release, Rotation; "[The album] is exactly what you would expect of a Fueled By Ramen band in 2008 - sleek, slick, and sellable with little in the way of surprises and much of what you might expect... well executed." Well, that sums it up pretty much perfectly. Still, I have to fall back and say that "Navigate Me" does not only suck, but is also really creepy.
Cute Is What We Aim For - Navigate Me
8. DRAGONFORCE, YET AGAIN, WIN THE PRIZE FOR BEST ALBUM TITLE OF THE YEAR (p. 8)
Unanimously, might I add. Following Valley of the Damned, Sonic Firestorm and - yes! - Inhuman Rampage, power-metal dudes are releasing a new album in August by the name of (and I really need to put caps on for this) ULTRA BEATDOWN. Yes, say it with me: ULTRA BEATDOWN. It's an album title so ridiculously good that writing it with lower case letters would be nothing more than sacrilege. Apparantly "there's no slow bits" on the album. To be fair, they say that for every record they bring out, but goddammit, ULTRA BEATDOWN?! Until someone releases an album called Nutty Emporium, this is the album title of the year. I can't wait to hear how OTT this record is.
Dragonforce - Black Winter Night
9. UNDEROATH FAIL TO USURP DRAGONFORCE'S REIGN (p. 8)
The post-hardcore band's new album will be called Lost in the Sound of Seperation which, despite being okay, is nowhere near as cool as ULTRA BEATDOWN. To recap: Underoath -0. DragonForce - 4, 128, 000.
Underoath - I'm Content With Losing
10. COUNT GRISHNACKH DENIED PAROLE (p. 8)
Count Grishnackh (a.k.a. Varg Vikernes of Burzum, Mayhem and Darkthrone fame) has been denied parole for the second time. Just as well, really. Even if he's made some badass music, he did brutally murder Øystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous), his bandmate in Mayhem, set fire to a bunch of churches and escaped jail a few years back so... sorry dude. I can't really say much more because I'm not really a big BM dude, but what the fuck does he expect? Agh. There's a million Darkthrone songs that refer to death in their title but I chose this one in particular to be special!
Darkthrone - Black Victory Of Death
So, until next week, then.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
18/06/08
1. FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES SPLIT UP (p.13)
This week's Kerrang! says that the NYHC outfit, responsible for some true bangers along with, well, at least two albums worth of filler, have gone on indefinite hiatus (read "called it a day"). Shame. Saw them twice - once with their original vocalist Benjamin Perri as headliners on the Vagrant Tour, and they were pretty awesome. The second time was at Pukkelpop last year, where they didn't really seem to connect with the crowd, even though they did rip through "The After Dinner Payback". Ach well. Still more pissed off about the lack of coverage concerning the recent Reuben split - it's been relegated to the letters section. Dude.
From Autumn To Ashes - The After Dinner Payback
Reuben - Deadly Lethal Ninja Assassin
2. CHESTER BENINGTON IS STILL UNINTERESTING (p.20-23)
No matter how many cover stories Linkin Park gain over the years, no matter how many millions of records they sell or collabos with rappers they do, Chester Benington will still give out uninteresting interviews. Okay, yeah, we know he had a stalker, yeah. He's friends with the Velvet Revolver guys. His wife is a former Playmate. Linkin Park DEFINITELY DON'T LIP SYNC LIVE. You know, you've read it all before. The most interesting thing you find out about dude is that he once yelled at his bandmates for smearing pudding over his face while he was asleep when really he'd fallen asleep while eating it. The cover (above) offers an insight into the "DARK SIDE OF SUPERSTARDOM" but... really?
3. THE OTHER GUYS IN LINKIN PARK ARE MORE INTERESTING (p.22)
Mike Shinoda's the dude - not only being charming, he's an artist and can actually rap (stop hating and check out his verses in the tracks below!) but DJ Joe Hahn has always been the most mysterious member of LP. Nice to see he's keeping up his rep by walking out of meet-and-greets, even though it does make you look like a total prick.
Busta Rhymes feat. Linkin Park - We Made It
BONUS: Fort Minor feat. Ghostface Killah & Lupe Fiasco - Spraypaint and Ink Pens
4. GRANT NICHOLAS COULD LIVE WITHOUT "BUCK RODGERS" (p. 29)
Says the Feeder frontman, "Part of me is annoyed about the song because we've written so many better ones and that's the hi. The other part of me is proud of it because we proved we could write a great pop song." True, but as an aside, when they headlined Download in 2005, I went to go see Billy Idol instead. Good choice. Billy Idol fucking rules.
Feeder - Buck Rogers (the video to this is priceless, and everyone loves elephants)
5. MARTA FROM BLEEDING THROUGH IS STILL HOT (p. 12, 37 & 45)
Yup.
Andrew W.K. - She Is Beautiful
At this point, I have to admit that I actually love my girlfriend far more. Sorry Marta.
6. ROB HALFORD AND QUENTIN TARANTINO HAVE SHARED INTERESTS IN OBSCURITY (p. 77)
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford's first gig as a wean was watching UK beat combo Dave Dee, Dozey, Beaky, Mick and Tich. Quentin Tarantino loves Dave Dee, Dozey, Beaky, Mick and Tich and used their song "Hold Tight" in an especially NSFW scene in "Death Proof". There could be something here, I think.
Dave Dee, Beaky, Mick and Tich - Hold Tight
7. WHOEVER'S PLAYING GUITAR ON p. 78 LOOKS LIKE RUTGER HAUER (p. 78)
Anybody who could help me on who the hell this guy is? Please?
Rutger Hauer's death scene in "Blade Runner"
8. KIDS ARE ADORABLE (p. 52)
Back in the end of primary school, I was asked to monitor a first year class full of young kids and failed spectacuarly. They hit me, yelled too much and were really rude so I straightened out things but bursting open a yoghurt container... against a chair. It went, arguably, downhill from there. Kids are a lot smarter and insulting than I think, something I'm reminded everytime I man the desk at work. So before I can break down and say that I hate kids, I take a look at the adorable little girl - presumably the daughter of one of the K! writers - by the name of Yuki (I think) and my cynicism melts. I mean, awwww, look at her! Plus, she was at Download! Cool parents. I bet little Yuki really dug Municipal Waste.
Black Lips - How Do You Tell A Child That Someone Has Died?
9. RIVERS CUOMO USED TO BE A TOTAL PRICK (p. 27)
I love this man because he wrote "Pinkerton", basically an album anybody who uses the word "emo" should buy. (By the way, stop saying "emo", people. You're not cool.) But it turns out that the Weezer frontman has been a total twat in the past - for example, while touring the s/t "Green" album in 2001, he threw a tantrum which culminated in him kicking the K! writer covering the story and the band's press officer off their tourbus in the middle of Spain, forcing the pair "to walk an hour and a half back to the hotel". Jesus. I'm guessing he, er, didn't give a hoot what they thought.
Weezer - Pork and Beans (Acoustic)
10. SLIPKNOT HAVE NEW SHIT ON THE WAY (p. 12)
Fuck you if you don't dig this. This is good news. They're dropping a free new single in two days, keep an eye out for a review! (Maybe.)
Slipknot - People=Shit
Soooooo, til next week, where you can expect a smaller, worse written, more frantic version as I'm still in Edinburgh for the film festival. Which is cool.