Archive for the ‘Links’ Category
In honor of the Oscars. . .
With the 82nd Annual Academy Awards taking place tomorrow night, it’s time for a movie/music mash-up, courtesy of Rolling Stone.
Judging by the approximately $700 bazillion that Avatar has raked in at the box office it’s safe to assume that every living creature has seen this movie.
And even if you’ve been trapped under a chunk of unobtainium and haven’t gotten out to see it yet, you probably know that it features blue cat-like people.
So RS has answered the question everyone had after seeing the movie: What would some famous musicians look like as Na’vi aliens? (You all asked yourself that, right?)
So here’s Britney and the Beatles. See the entire gallery at RS.com.
Here’s a sampling of some interesting stuff going on in the world of metal:
* Mudvayne has debuted their new video for the song “Beautiful and Strange.” It’s the second video in a three part series. And it didn’t take long for the video to be banned from all major outlets. One viewing and you’ll understand why. Censors don’t usually take kindly to buried-alive fallen angels digging up the graves of surprisingly full-chested naked, dead women and then proceeding to mount them and bang them silly all while images of torture and a girl actually getting her lips sewed together flash on screen. But hey, that’s fuckin’ metal! Go watch the necrophiliac’s dream over on VampireFreaks.com.
* Killswitch Engage have a new song, “My Obsession,” on the new God of War video game. Stream it at Noisecreep. (It’s really good.)
* Check out the cover art for Sevendust’s new album, Cold Day Memory, and prepare to be severely underwhelmed. Seriously, that’s the best you could come up with?
* Deftones have released the track list for their new album, Diamond Eyes.
* If anyone (like me) was hoping Limp Bizkit might return to the sound of their first album and/or their last album (aka more emphasis on the band, less on Fred Durst and rapping) this news should dash those hopes: Rappers Raekwon and Paul Wall will both have guest appearances on Gold Cobra.
* Dutch violin player, Karianne Brouwer, has a really cool cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters”:
http://www.vimeo.com/9758791-Sam
Yeah, so Billy Corgan’s promise of releasing a new Smashing Pumpkins song every two weeks turned out to be pure B.S. Who couldn’t see that coming? But you can’t get too mad at the guy since he is giving away three or four albums’ worth of material for free.
And the next song up in his ongoing Teargarden by Kaleidyscope is called “A Stitch In Time.” It’s the third song of the 44 track album released so far. Is it just me, or is this starting to feel like Stephen Colbert’s “Better Know A District” segment?
Anyways, the band will be releasing the songs in groups of four as limited edition EPs. The first EP, titled Volume 1/Songs For A Sailor will be released on April 20th. The track list is:
- A Song for a Son
- Widow Wake My Mind
- A Stitch In Time
- Astral Planes
The first three tracks have already been released for free with the fourth expected in the near future.
The newest song, “A Stitch In Time,” is the weakest of the bunch. It’s got a real psychedelic vibe going on, but it’s listless and boring. It seems like it’s going to build up to something, but that something never comes and the song is over without anything really happening.
You can download all three of the released songs for free at the band’s website.
-Sam
Metal Roundup: Wednesday, Feb. 24
Here’s a sampling of some interesting stuff going on in the world of metal:
* Anyone who watched the second season of VH1’s Celebrity Rehab is quite familiar with former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler’s drug problems. That man has done a lottttt of drugs. So in true rockstar fashion, it makes sense that Adler would release a book detailing his experiences with those drugs. Titled My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses, Adler’s tell-all is scheduled to be released on June 22.
* Drummer Will Hunt has been chosen to replace Craig Nunenmacher in Black Label Society. Hunt has most recently worked with Evanescence and Dark New Day. He likely will continue to pull double duty with Evanescence and BLS.
* Slash recently collaborated with Fergie on a cover of GNR’s “Paradise City” to be included as a bonus track on Slash’s upcoming solo album. I guess he got a lot of flack for it, so he took to Twitter to defend Fergie’s performance (which can be heard HERE). He said: “Until now, not too many people have heard Fergie sing rock & roll but she sings it better (than) most dudes I know. She’s a screamer at heart.” He then said in an interview that Fergie has talked about wanting to make a rock record outside of the Black Eyed Peas and that he would like to work with her on it. I actually think Fergie could pull that off, but maybe I’m in the minority in that belief. There’s no question that she has a really strong voice tailored to dirtier rock and roll as opposed to having her voice drowned in computer effects like on “Boom Boom Pow.” I’d be at least interested to hear more rock songs from her.
* 10 Years will be entering the studio soon to start work on their third album, Feeding the Wolves.
* Nonpoint have debuted their new song “Miracle.” Listen to it HERE.
* Ray Davies of The Kinks will be releasing a collection of new versions of old songs. He said that he would like to talk with Metallica about collaborating on a song. If you remember, Davies joined Metallica onstage at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame where they performed “You Really Got Me” and “All Day And All Of The Night.”
-Sam
Time to strap on your “Rocket Skates”
Deftones are giving away their new song “Rocket Skates” as a free download. (Note: I was experiencing some difficulty trying to download the track from their site earlier, but I’m sure they’ll get it fixed.) The song is off their upcoming album, Diamond Eyes, which will be released on May 18.
And I must say, they sound good. Real good. This song is better than anything on Saturday Night Wrist. Is the song repetitive? Sure. But when you’re just locking into a dynamite sludgy Stephen Carpenter guitar riff, it’s fine to repeat yourself.
Go download it or listen to it on YouTube.
“Guns, Razors, Knivesss. . . WOO!”
-Sam
Listen to Metallica’s Megaforce demo
Invisible Oranges has gotten their hands on Metallica’s two song demo from 1983, commonly known as the Megaforce demo since it led to a recording deal with Megaforce Records.
This is an interesting artifact of Metallica’s history because it is the only Metallica recording which features both Dave Mustaine and Cliff Burton. It also was the band’s first recording with Burton.
The demo includes the songs “Whiplash” and “No Remorse,” both of which ended up on the band’s debut LP Kill ‘Em All.
As expected, the quality of the demos is pretty sloppy, but it’s an interesting look at a band in its gestation period. It also allows fans to compare the guitar work of Mustaine with that of his eventual replacement Kirk Hammett. And in my opinion, Hammett was the much better choice (the only choice?) for Metallica. He’s the perfect lead guitarist for them, and his solos on those two songs, as compared to Mustaine’s, show why. Mustaine could play fast, sure; but the soloing felt lifeless. Most people hail Mustaine as a technical wizard when it comes to soloing, but I’d rather have a guy like Hammett who can breathe new life into a song through his guitar work.
Of course, these are only demos, so it’s probably not fair to bash Mustaine too hard. Still, count me as part of Team Kirk.
-Sam
Metal Roundup: Tuesday, Feb. 16
Here’s a sampling of some interesting stuff going on in the world of metal:
* Sevendust have chosen the track “Unraveling” to serve as the first single from their new album, Cold Day Memory, which is set to be released on April 20. You can listen to it now on YouTube. It’s decidedly less heavy than “Forever Dead”, the first song they released from the album, and not as good, in my opinion.
* Godsmack is streaming their new single, “Crying Like A Bitch,” over at their MySpace page. There is some speculation that the song was written about Motley Crue’s member Nikki Sixx. It’s well known that Godsmack was very upset with the antics of Motley Crue during last summer’s Crue Fest 2, which Godsmack played on. As for the song itself, I’m not feeling the production values. It sounds a little hollow and it’s not a big change from their last album.
* The Sword have finally gone back into the studio to work on recording their third album. They have chosen Matt Bayles to produce the effort.
* Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland keeps it real when discussing the prospects for his reunited band’s new album, Gold Cobra: “I think that everyone who hated Limp Bizkit before will continue to hate Limp Bizkit. It’s not like we, all of a sudden, grew up and started making smarter music.” I’m not one of those people who completely writes off Limp Bizkit as a garbage band. I actually liked Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ and The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1). Those albums really let the guys behind Fred Durst shine and there’s no question that Borland, bassist Sam Rivers, and drummer John Otto are talented guys. Borland, especially, can write some serious riffs. He proved what a good musician he is with his side project, Black Light Burns. So I was hoping Limp Bizkit would continue on with the foundation they set before splitting up with The Unquestionable Truth. But Borland has thrown some water on that idea by saying the new music has a “party kind of vibe. It’s a little bit like the old stuff, but with a little bit of maybe a Daft Punk vibe thrown in on some of it.” Needless to say, my hopes are not high for this one.
-Sam
Bonnaroo 2010 lineup announced
Hooray! It’s festival lineup announcement season!
I don’t know about all of you, but every year around this time, I start poring over all the lineups for the coming year’s festivals, hoping that one will have enough bands that pique my interest to make it worth the trip.
Well, this year’s Bonnaroo may be the one that does it.
Bonnaroo’s website has the initial list of artists (with more to be announced).
The band’s I’d like to see out of that list: Kings of Leon, Jay-Z, Tenacious D, Weezer, John Fogerty, Regina Spektor, The Avett Brothers, Rise Against, The Black Keys, Jeff Beck, Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Against Me!, Kid Cudi, Isis, Baroness, and Diane Birch.
That’s not even a quarter of the lineup, and they still haven’t announced the comedians that will be there yet!
So go check out that list and let us know how you feel about the lineup.
-Sam
Metal Roundup: Tuesday, Feb. 9
Here’s a sampling of some interesting stuff going on in the world of metal:
- Disturbed have entered the studio to begin recording their fifth album. They plan to release it this summer.
- Godsmack have changed the title to their upcoming album from Saints & Sinners to The Oracle, claiming the former title has “already been done before.” While no official release date has been set yet, the disc is expected to hit stores in March or April. Song titles include “Whiskey Hangover”, “Crying Like A Bitch”, “War & Peace”, and “Devil’s Swing.” Singer Sully Erna said in an interview that with this album ending the band’s two year hiatus, they plan to “get back into it for the next 10 years again and really grind hard.”
- Black Label Society have parted ways with drummer Craig Nunemacher.
- Spin.com has an exclusive stream of the title track off High on Fire’s upcoming album Snakes for the Divine. It’s pretty damn awesome.
- In other High on Fire news, they just released the dates for their spring headlining tour with Priestess, Black Cobra, and Bison b.c.
- And in what may be the greatest tour of 2010, Mastodon is heading out on a run that will target the secondary markets with support from Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valient Thorr. Now I know how Andy Samberg felt, because that lineup makes me want to…well, you know.
-Sam
Josh Ritter gives away new song
Josh Ritter, who’s been hailed by many as the new Bob Dylan, announced today that he will have a new album coming out stateside on May 4th (April 23rd in Ireland).
The album will be called So Runs the World Away. And Mr. Ritter is nice enough to be giving away one of the tracks off the album, “Change of Time,” as a free mp3. All you have to do is visit his website and give your email address so the download link can be sent to you.
I first heard about Ritter through his songs “Thin Blue Flame” and “To the Dogs or Whoever” and this latest song matches up well. If you like honest folk rock with a sweet sound, you should give this track a listen.
-Sam