Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category
Russell Brand is a lucky dude
Remember in the old Looney Tunes cartoons when a character would see a buxom female walk by and they would do a double-take followed by their eyes popping way out of their head, accompanied by an awooga horn?
That would be an appropriate reaction to this photo.
-Sam
Regular Suds reader (and avid Tool fan) Justin S. will like this one.
At this year’s E3 video game conference, publisher Activision held a press conference for what I’m assuming is Guitar Hero 3,487. Obviously, there’s nothing really exciting about that.
But to spice up the proceedings they brought out Maynard James Keenan (of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer – for those of you who are sadly unaware) and Billy Howerdel (also of A Perfect Circle and ASHES dIVIDE) to cover one of the greatest songs of all time – Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
They were backed up by a full orchestra and choir, not to mention some pixelated game avatars singing and playing along as well. Needless to say, it was pretty sweet (and I’m sure Maynard would have beaten that track on expert). Check it out:
And speaking of Maynard making awesome cover songs, he recently worked with The Flaming Lips’ guitarist Steven Drozd to cover Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” Their version carries the fantastic title “Rocket Mantastic.” They cut the song together during Drozd’s scoring work for the film “The Heart Is A Drum Machine.” You can stream the song over at Puscifer’s website.
-Sam
Cool Cudi Cover
I was perusing Kid Cudi’s Facebook page when I came across this awesome cover he posted of his song “Pursuit of Happiness” by Lissie. I hadn’t heard of Lissie, an Illinois-based indie rocker, but this cover is so damn good, I’m gonna have to check her out.
Lissie’s debut album, Catching A Tiger, is out now in the UK. Us Americans (as opposed to U.S. Americans) will have to wait until August 17th to get it here in the States.
Check out a couple more sweet covers she’s done after the jump:
Holy hell, this video is saccharine.
It’s oozing with enough sugary confection to give you diabetes…through the computer screen. If you already have diabetes, make sure you have your insulin shot nearby. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Now I dare you to get the song out of your head. I’m not gonna lie, I actually kinda like it, in some guiltily shameful way (and besides, who can resist those eyes Ms. Perry has?). My only gripe – what’s with that Miley Cyrus “Party In The U.S.A.”-style autotuning on the “Oh, oh, ohhh” parts of the pre-chorus. Katy’s got a pretty good voice, and that autotune shit is annoying.
-Sam
I’m not big into rap and hip-hop because, let’s be honest, most rappers sound like morons spitting lame rhymes about how many times they’ve been shot or how much bling they are sporting around their neck. I don’t know about you, but I can’t relate to that shit. Sure, I’ll nod my head and smile at some of these beats that are accompanied by ludicrous braggadocio, but at the end of the day, I’m really laughing more at the rapper than with them.
Now there are certainly plenty of great rappers who eschew these trite conventions, and Eminem has always been one of my favorites. His insane wordplay and knowing sense of humor are enough to draw in plenty of fans like me who don’t usually frequent the rap world. But even Eminem was starting to fall into the trap of endlessly repeating himself. I mean, how many tracks can a guy sing about how much drugs messed him up?
But after scrapping the planned follow-up to his last album Relapse, and instead starting from scratch on his new album Recovery, which is due on June 22, it seems as if Mr. Mathers is toning down the wise cracks and focusing on his own faults. On the first single, he sings, “It was my decision to get clean, I did it for me/Admittedly I probably did it subliminally for you/So I could come back a brand new me, you helped me see through.” Funny or serious, with Eminem it’s all good.
Check out the video for “Not Afraid” after the jump (and notice the not-so-subtle product placement for Dr. Dre’s Beats laptop):
While Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz is off snuggling with his wifey and contemplating the end of his band, the other three members are off working on promising side projects.
Singer Patrick Stump is in the process of creating a solo album on which he pretty much handles all the duties (singing, drums, production, etc.) The other two Boys, guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley, have joined in the creation of a new supergroup-type band, The Damned Things.
The Damned Things play mostly hard rock, which makes sense for Trohman and Hurley because I know they are pretty big metal fans. Joining them in the group are Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano of Anthrax and Keith Buckley and Josh Newton of Every Time I Die. That’s quite the cadre of guitarists.
The band posted rough mixes of two songs on their MySpace page this week, and for rough mixes they sound pretty good, especially “We’ve Got A Situation Here.” It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s definitely enough to make me want to hear more from these guys.
-Sam
I had no idea who Chiddy Bang was until this past Tuesday when iTunes featured their song “Opposite of Adults” as their free music video of the week.
And after hearing the song (and watching the really cool video), I have to say I’m intrigued.
Chiddy Bang is an alt-hip-hop duo who have made a name sampling some well-known songs. In “Opposite of Adults” they’ve taken MGMT’s “Kids” and turned it into a natural hip-hop beat. It’s got a little bit of a Kid Cudi flavor to it. The group is supposed to have their debut album out sometime this year, possibly by the end of the summer.
Check out the video below, and then go download it for free on iTunes if you like it:
http://www.vimeo.com/9469984-Sam
Sixth-grade talent shows are usually pretty painful events – full of ear-bleeding recorder solos, boy band dance routines, and a magic show or two.
But this kid absolutely owns his performance – of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” no less. And I’m not even saying this is good in the “It’s good for a sixth-grader” way. No, this is actually good good. Like this little guy should seriously think about pursuing this talent. And aside from the amazing singing voice, he’s got all the confidence in the world in his performance. And I’m sure that has to be at least a little hard when you’re a guy singing a Lady Gaga song to a bunch of your sixth grade classmates. Think of the potential beatings that could entail!
But no one can really make fun of him after that performance. Just watch the girls’ faces in the background. Once they realize what song it is, they’re all like “Oh no he isn’t!” and are ready to laugh him off. But he’s got them in the palm of his hand by the end and gets an appropriately enthusiastic applause. And keep an eye on the blond in the back row. You can literally see her falling in love with this kid by the second.
All I can say is that he better have won first place.
-Sam
Hat tip to “theonlyone” who posted this awesome musical subway map on Flickr and to MetalSucks for leading me there.
Just pretend each rock genre had its own subway line and the connectors were determined by genre compatibility and you get this:
You’re likely going to have to visit the site to get a larger version of the map in order to read all the bands, but it’s definitely worth a couple minutes of your time.
Most of the designations are pretty spot on, although I don’t know what Death Cab for Cutie is doing on the Punk Rock line or what Nine Inch Nails is doing on the Heavy Metal Line.
-Sam
Too Much Lady GaGa?
Ever since the pop-artist, Lady GaGa hit radio and Top Ten lists, it seems like every other band has covered at least one song. Bands ranging from We The Kings, Of Mice And Men, even Daughtry have put their own spin on one of GaGa’s top hits. At first glance, the covers all sound similar and aren’t worth much of a listen (Unless, of course, you’re one of those hardcore fans that have every song ever by your favorite band). Sure, credit is given where credit is earned, and some artists show great creativity when they’re able to take a song, completely turn it around, and still make it sound good. But then again, what if that creativity was channeled into something more individual, and in the long run, productive?
It’s discouraging to see so many bands flocking to the same routine, blending in in a time when it’s preferred to stand out.