I'll start this off by saying I understand that Eminem is seen as a highly-skilled rapper with a firm grasp of internal rhyming and all that shit, but his focus on hatred and HIMSELF always kinda threw me off. Of course I'll jam to some of his songs, they're universal at this point like songs by The Eagles are, but think about what that comparison implies: Lameness. This article will only further emphasize that feeling.
Bonnaroo 2011 was maybe the best 4 days of my life. I flew out to Tennessee with both of my younger brothers (aka the most important people in my life) and camped with them and saw some of the best live performances I've ever seen. We all have different tastes so we didn't really kick it all the time cuz when Troy wanted to go see Childish Gambino I went to go see School Of Seven Bells; Opeth and Atmosphere played at the exact same time on different stages and although I'm way more metal than I hip-hop, I went and saw Atmosphere while Forrest watched Opeth because I had already seen Opeth before. During Florence and The Machine's set I asked some guy for a hit off his joint and he gave me the entire thing. I met the dudes from that show "The League" and didn't even know who they were. I talked to Allen Touissant after The Meters played their album "Bonnaroo" in full. I saw Neil Young perform with Buffalo Springfield during a light rain. I spent 3 hours looking at the sky while Widespread Panic played for as long. It was an amazing experience. It was the best money my dad ever spent on any of us.
But Eminem was the alleged "headliner" of the festival and he fucking sucked. He was like, contrary to everything Bonnaroo is about. Every other artist understood the almost-hippie "jam" vibe of the fest; I saw Lil Wayne, who I'm not a fan of at all, have a fucking party onstage, everyone enjoying themselves. Even The Strokes, known for their weird New York faux-austerity, had John fucking Waters onstage jamming out with them. But Eminem started his set out with fake gunshots and said "Fuck You, Bitch" as his opening statement. And that was just the beginning of the bullshit.
Eminem lip-synched at least 90% of his performance. Maybe some of the middle parts were done authentically but the majority of his songs were clearly pre-recorded and he's not a good enough performer to pull it off. If it was like Britney Spears or Janet Jackson or something and she was dancing around at least that's an excuse for not really singing but goddamn man, you're whole thing is lyricism! You're a fucking rapper! He wasn't doing anything but walking around semi-ominously and kinda attempting to match the recordings behind him. There was even a girl onstage singing Rihanna's parts or whatever to his hits and she was lip-syncing too! And poorly! Like, shit, if you're gonna be that lame at least try.
Again, I know what's legit and what's not for the most part in the hip-hop world but just take this into consideration: Lil Wayne, G-Unit, B.o.B. and Drake all gave way better performances than Eminem, the apparent best rapper or whatever, did. It was maybe the worst rap performance I've ever seen, and I've been to both Rock The Bells and Paid Dues. Shit, the performances I've seen from Del The Funky Homosapien and Common and Blue Scholars are amongst the dopest things I think I've ever seen. How in the fuck is the biggest draw in that market so fucking lame??
So that kinda sums up how I feel about Eminem. He's a fucking poser with absolutely no cred and can't even do what he's supposedly a master at. It's all fake.
Sleep well, wiggers.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
FOOD OVERVIEW: Hawaiian Pizza
Part of me feels like this is something that doesn't need to be spelled out because it's so obvious, but some of my "friends" are somehow opposed to one of the best things in all of food: The Hawaiian Pizza.
I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: a normal cheese pizza with "Canadian Bacon" (aka ham) and pineapple as toppers. It can be prepared many ways, every pizza place is a litte different, but those basic ingredients really assemble what, to me, is the perfect pizza.
First of all I'll let you readers know that I normally put sliced apples into my turkey sandwiches. Some of my friends think that's weird but it just makes sense to me, to combine the sweetness with the saltiness and just make a fully realized TASTE.
That's what a Hawaiian Pizza is for me, a combo of the sweetness the fruit gives and the saltiness the ham and cheese give, with that spice a good tomato sauce has. It's got everything. I don't understand why someone wouldn't enjoy that unless all you want is salt and spice all the time. In which case you might have other problems.
I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: a normal cheese pizza with "Canadian Bacon" (aka ham) and pineapple as toppers. It can be prepared many ways, every pizza place is a litte different, but those basic ingredients really assemble what, to me, is the perfect pizza.
First of all I'll let you readers know that I normally put sliced apples into my turkey sandwiches. Some of my friends think that's weird but it just makes sense to me, to combine the sweetness with the saltiness and just make a fully realized TASTE.
That's what a Hawaiian Pizza is for me, a combo of the sweetness the fruit gives and the saltiness the ham and cheese give, with that spice a good tomato sauce has. It's got everything. I don't understand why someone wouldn't enjoy that unless all you want is salt and spice all the time. In which case you might have other problems.
Monday, January 18, 2016
GOOD SHOW: Reflections on Dustin Marine
Dustin Marine was a friend of mine who is no longer with us and that I have very conflicted emotions about. He was a drug addict, a chronic liar, a thief, and a transparently obvious scumbag. But he was also a loyal friend, a true believer, and an early influence to many other people around him without him even really trying to be that. Parts of this essay may seem insensitive or fucked up since he's dead now but like At The Drive-In said, "I write to remember." I think anything that may seem offensive in here is gonna seem like that to you more than it would have to Dusty so it doesn't matter anyway. I don't think he would mind. These are my memories.
I first met him when his band was still a Nirvana cover band playing in the drummer's parents' garage behind my house. I heard rough versions of "Bleach" tracks coming from some house on the street behind mine and because music is the only thing that breaks my introversion sometimes, I went and found the source of the ruckus and waited until they opened the garage door. They weren't amazing as a band or anything but at the time I didn't really know anyone who was actually in a band of any kind so I introduced myself. I don't remember the names of anyone else who was in that band, but they ended up being called Wretched Philiproy.
Perhaps it was because my first introduction to Dusty was him playing Nirvana songs, or perhaps it was his sullen yet occasionally silly nature, but I took to calling him "Kurt" throughout high school even though I knew he didn't like it. He didn't really look like Kurt Cobain or anything but he had that weird quiet sarcasm about him that was at once genuine and ironic.
I remember one time in freshman year I forgot to bring my lunch and had no money for the cafeteria so I was walking around campus asking people for a dollar so I could get a burrito and he gave me $1.50 so I could get a burrito AND some cookies. That solidified our friendship right there. Although largely forgotten, his demo CD for Wretched Philiproy was the first release from what I consider the modern generation of Temecula underground music, in between the Kettle Cadaver/The Mudds era and The Coltranes/Dial generation.
Throughout the next few years I got sucked into a relationship that I value very deeply but kinda made me push my friends and social life away, but Dusty remained in the loose circle of friends I maintained and when my girlfriend broke up with me, I re-entered the social world I had neglected and one of the main people I latched to was Zack Heath, who was close enough with Dusty to where they introduced each other as brothers to new acquaintances. My old band Ground Up played a single live show back in January or February 2008 and we invited his band Wretched Philiproy to open up along The Hellraisers and Hellbent. Both Dusty and the singer for The Hellraisers at that time, Fern, are deceased now. It rained hard as fuck that night.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, Dustin was an addict, specifically a heroin addict although he was privy to many illegal substances. That ended up being the major problem with my relationship with him and with Zack, and somewhat contradictory to my story of him giving me money for lunch in freshman year, he became a notorious gas station spanger. I remember one time I saw him during my lunch while he was sign-twirling and as I was in Del Taco he came up to my mom's car and asked her for money. I nearly smacked him in the mouth when I saw him at her window but I knew that would do nothing.
As time went on I became more and more frustrated with the drug abuse around me even though I was and still am a hardcore alcoholic so it was always hard to really say anything without feeling like a hypocrite. The real last strand for me was one time when I had passed out at the Heath Haus and in the morning I couldn't find my wallet. I fucking knew it was Dusty who had taken it, I knew it, but he wouldn't admit to shit until several days later when he claimed he had found it in a drawer in the garage, where I definitely never would have put my wallet. It was a sketchy excuse and everybody knew he had jacked me. I never really let that go.
The very last time I saw him, we were at the Heath Haus again and he was all fucked up at 6pm ad was slurringly asking me to play guitar for him, and I normally don't take requests like that, but he was being irritatingly insistent so I begrudgingly started playing what at the time was my newest song. He closed his eyes and kinda grooved along and eventually was like, "come on man, I know you have lyrics, I know you can sing..." and he was right, I did have some lyrics. And they were about him.
Dusty's go-to phrase for a lot of things was "Good Show." Zackary told me that he had seen him get his ass beat and told the attacker "good show" afterwards. So my song about him became called "Good Show" although it wasn't finished until after everything happened.
On Father's Day 2013 Dustin was hit by a car on Rancho California and died from the impact. We didn't know this until later but he had told his father some ominous shit about this being his last Father's Day and although no one will ever really know, its common belief amongst many of his close friends that he probably intentionally ran into the street or something. He probably basically killed himself.
I was at work at my call center when Zack called me to tell me the news and it didn't really hit me at first but somehow we worked together to set up a candlelight vigil where our crew of ragamuffins released balloons into the sky. His family set up a memorial service at a local church where Spencer played "I Wanna Live" by The Ramones on acoustic guitar because that was Dusty's favorite song. We passed around a microphone where Zack gave a very impassioned, painful speech and I said nothing more than "Rock n roll will never die." Mark, Spenny and Zack's dad, said the most powerful thing of the day, pretty much aimed at Dusty's family who like none of us had ever met: "Dustin loved his friends and his family more than most of you will ever know."
The Coltranes and The Gravitys did a memorial show in the Heath Haus garage not too far after where we both played Wretched Philiproy songs, and I put the originals on Bandcamp for future preservation. I recorded that song I had played the last time I saw Dustin for my acoustic project end of the summer and called it "Good Show." Zackary wasn't happy with it at first because he didn't like my lyrics claiming that "You were asking for it/You stole my wallet" but my response to that was I'm writing from the heart, do you want me to lie? Do you want me to sugarcoat things? We'll never reach closure that way.
I have a picture of Dusty on my refrigerator and on my cubicle. Even though he was a bastard sometimes, and he was full of temper tantrums, and I still blame him when things go missing around my house, all he wanted at the end was for me to play him some music. A lot of cool things wouldn't have happened without him. Good Show.
https://wretchedphiliproy.bandcamp.com/
I first met him when his band was still a Nirvana cover band playing in the drummer's parents' garage behind my house. I heard rough versions of "Bleach" tracks coming from some house on the street behind mine and because music is the only thing that breaks my introversion sometimes, I went and found the source of the ruckus and waited until they opened the garage door. They weren't amazing as a band or anything but at the time I didn't really know anyone who was actually in a band of any kind so I introduced myself. I don't remember the names of anyone else who was in that band, but they ended up being called Wretched Philiproy.
Perhaps it was because my first introduction to Dusty was him playing Nirvana songs, or perhaps it was his sullen yet occasionally silly nature, but I took to calling him "Kurt" throughout high school even though I knew he didn't like it. He didn't really look like Kurt Cobain or anything but he had that weird quiet sarcasm about him that was at once genuine and ironic.
I remember one time in freshman year I forgot to bring my lunch and had no money for the cafeteria so I was walking around campus asking people for a dollar so I could get a burrito and he gave me $1.50 so I could get a burrito AND some cookies. That solidified our friendship right there. Although largely forgotten, his demo CD for Wretched Philiproy was the first release from what I consider the modern generation of Temecula underground music, in between the Kettle Cadaver/The Mudds era and The Coltranes/Dial generation.
Throughout the next few years I got sucked into a relationship that I value very deeply but kinda made me push my friends and social life away, but Dusty remained in the loose circle of friends I maintained and when my girlfriend broke up with me, I re-entered the social world I had neglected and one of the main people I latched to was Zack Heath, who was close enough with Dusty to where they introduced each other as brothers to new acquaintances. My old band Ground Up played a single live show back in January or February 2008 and we invited his band Wretched Philiproy to open up along The Hellraisers and Hellbent. Both Dusty and the singer for The Hellraisers at that time, Fern, are deceased now. It rained hard as fuck that night.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, Dustin was an addict, specifically a heroin addict although he was privy to many illegal substances. That ended up being the major problem with my relationship with him and with Zack, and somewhat contradictory to my story of him giving me money for lunch in freshman year, he became a notorious gas station spanger. I remember one time I saw him during my lunch while he was sign-twirling and as I was in Del Taco he came up to my mom's car and asked her for money. I nearly smacked him in the mouth when I saw him at her window but I knew that would do nothing.
As time went on I became more and more frustrated with the drug abuse around me even though I was and still am a hardcore alcoholic so it was always hard to really say anything without feeling like a hypocrite. The real last strand for me was one time when I had passed out at the Heath Haus and in the morning I couldn't find my wallet. I fucking knew it was Dusty who had taken it, I knew it, but he wouldn't admit to shit until several days later when he claimed he had found it in a drawer in the garage, where I definitely never would have put my wallet. It was a sketchy excuse and everybody knew he had jacked me. I never really let that go.
The very last time I saw him, we were at the Heath Haus again and he was all fucked up at 6pm ad was slurringly asking me to play guitar for him, and I normally don't take requests like that, but he was being irritatingly insistent so I begrudgingly started playing what at the time was my newest song. He closed his eyes and kinda grooved along and eventually was like, "come on man, I know you have lyrics, I know you can sing..." and he was right, I did have some lyrics. And they were about him.
Dusty's go-to phrase for a lot of things was "Good Show." Zackary told me that he had seen him get his ass beat and told the attacker "good show" afterwards. So my song about him became called "Good Show" although it wasn't finished until after everything happened.
On Father's Day 2013 Dustin was hit by a car on Rancho California and died from the impact. We didn't know this until later but he had told his father some ominous shit about this being his last Father's Day and although no one will ever really know, its common belief amongst many of his close friends that he probably intentionally ran into the street or something. He probably basically killed himself.
I was at work at my call center when Zack called me to tell me the news and it didn't really hit me at first but somehow we worked together to set up a candlelight vigil where our crew of ragamuffins released balloons into the sky. His family set up a memorial service at a local church where Spencer played "I Wanna Live" by The Ramones on acoustic guitar because that was Dusty's favorite song. We passed around a microphone where Zack gave a very impassioned, painful speech and I said nothing more than "Rock n roll will never die." Mark, Spenny and Zack's dad, said the most powerful thing of the day, pretty much aimed at Dusty's family who like none of us had ever met: "Dustin loved his friends and his family more than most of you will ever know."
The Coltranes and The Gravitys did a memorial show in the Heath Haus garage not too far after where we both played Wretched Philiproy songs, and I put the originals on Bandcamp for future preservation. I recorded that song I had played the last time I saw Dustin for my acoustic project end of the summer and called it "Good Show." Zackary wasn't happy with it at first because he didn't like my lyrics claiming that "You were asking for it/You stole my wallet" but my response to that was I'm writing from the heart, do you want me to lie? Do you want me to sugarcoat things? We'll never reach closure that way.
I have a picture of Dusty on my refrigerator and on my cubicle. Even though he was a bastard sometimes, and he was full of temper tantrums, and I still blame him when things go missing around my house, all he wanted at the end was for me to play him some music. A lot of cool things wouldn't have happened without him. Good Show.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
WEED GUY REVIEW: Dizzy D
I know lots and lots of people in many walks of life and to be bluntly honest, most people just don't stand out. Most people, despite their efforts and qualities, are just not stand-out individuals. That's something I will not say about Dizzy D, who has been my weed guy for over a decade. Dizzy D is a fucking living legend and one of the few people I consider a true, unmitigated friend.
I'll start out by acknowledging the obvious: D has a pretty bad stuttering problem. Most of his sentences are stuttered but at the same time he means what he's saying more than other people I know so to me, each stutter is filled with importance. I listen. I think part of the reason for this problem is genetic but D also did lots and lots of ecstasy when he was a teen so he might be permanently e-tarded (he taught me that term.)
Despite that, he's been the most consistent person in my life since I've met him besides my family. He's been there through thick and thin, he's helped me in my times of need and celebrated with me in times of joy. One time I met him at a Rubio's taco restaurant and Miller joked before we got there, "what if he brings you a taco with your weed?" and I was like "shut up" but lo and behold, D came out WITH A FUCKING FISH TACO!
"They didn't meet my order so I got another one"
I mean, that's so much \_/ that I can't even \_/
When I was in college, he would drop off sacks for my mom in our mailbox or sometimes meet her in the garage and became one of the few of my friends who my mom feels comfortable around. My weed guy.
He introduced me to underground hip-hop and trance music and I owe him like $300 but he still fronts me the godddamn dankest weed in town without tripping at all. Dizzy D is doper than all of you.
SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY.
I'll start out by acknowledging the obvious: D has a pretty bad stuttering problem. Most of his sentences are stuttered but at the same time he means what he's saying more than other people I know so to me, each stutter is filled with importance. I listen. I think part of the reason for this problem is genetic but D also did lots and lots of ecstasy when he was a teen so he might be permanently e-tarded (he taught me that term.)
Despite that, he's been the most consistent person in my life since I've met him besides my family. He's been there through thick and thin, he's helped me in my times of need and celebrated with me in times of joy. One time I met him at a Rubio's taco restaurant and Miller joked before we got there, "what if he brings you a taco with your weed?" and I was like "shut up" but lo and behold, D came out WITH A FUCKING FISH TACO!
"They didn't meet my order so I got another one"
I mean, that's so much \_/ that I can't even \_/
When I was in college, he would drop off sacks for my mom in our mailbox or sometimes meet her in the garage and became one of the few of my friends who my mom feels comfortable around. My weed guy.
He introduced me to underground hip-hop and trance music and I owe him like $300 but he still fronts me the godddamn dankest weed in town without tripping at all. Dizzy D is doper than all of you.
SMOKE WEED EVERY DAY.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Playlist for December 2015
This is a list of all the albums, EPs, demos, and singles I listened to in the month of December 2015, as well as lists of the movies/shows I watched and bands I saw live. My notes regarding each follow. Enjoy.
MUSIC
12/1/15
V/A - "Fresh Cuts Vol. 6"
Maddie & Tae - "Start Here"
David Guetta ft. Trey Songz, Chris Brown, and Sam Martin - "Dangerous Pt. 2" digital single
Lost Cause - "The World Is Yours" demo
Defiant Trespass - "Struggle To Survive"
Heart Like War - "The Battle Begins" EP
12/2/15
Mouthful Of Snow - "The Truth Hurts, But You Would Still Like To Hear It"
Justus Proffitt - "Seven" digital single
Heart - "Bad Animals"
Novena - "I'm Not A Bad Person, Just Give Me Time" digital single
Primal Fear - "Delivering The Black"
end of the summer/Troy Campbell - "Living Situations" split EP
12/3/15
Fleshgod Apocalypse - "Oracles"
Amon Amarth - "Versus The World" Disc 1
12/6/15
Parallax Scroll - "Multifold"
Bring Me The Horizon - "That's The Spirit"
12/7/15
Power Trip - "Manifest Decimation"
Descendents - "ALL"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "2012-2013 Live" EP
Belphegor - "Conjuring The Dead"
Gag - "This Punk Shit Is Cool" EP
Slipknot - "Iowa"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "By The Way"
Blood For Blood - "Wasted Youth Crew"
see through buildings - "light the owl to reveal the mystic path"
KMFDM - "Nihil"
KMFDM - "Angst"
Scale The Summit - "Carving Desert Canyons"
12/8/15
Troye Sivan - "Blue Neighborhood"
Burzum - S/T
Ozzy Osbourne - "Black Rain"
Iced Earth - "Framing Armageddon"
Suffocation - "Human Waste" EP
Shinedown - "Threat To Survival"
The 1975 - "Love Me" digital single
Van Halen - "Women and Children First"
A Lot Like Birds - "Plan B"
Umiland - "Trapped" demo
end of the summer/Troy Campbell - "Living Situations" split EP
Vanderhuge - "Skeeter"
Screaming Noise - "Noise and Masturbation" EP
Fighting Friction - "Polar Opposites"
Education - S/T EP
Cuddle Weather - "In My Mind You Never Left (Fuck Mountain)" digital single
Mental Decay - "Run & Hide" EP
The Kills - "Midnight Boom"
Anti-Cimex - "Raped Ass" EP
Second Guess - S/T
12/9/15
Markus Schulz - "Progression"
All Time Low - "Put Up or Shut Up" EP
The Germs - "M.I.A. : Complete Discography"
Thievery Corporation - "The Mirror Conspiracy"
First Blood - "Killafornia"
Blood Stands Still - "The Thrill and The Agony" EP
Bomba Estereo - "Amanecer"
Bullet For My Valentine - "Venom"
Tyrannosaurus Zebra - "Live at Audie's Olympic Tavern"
Sioux Falls - "Big Krackel" EP
Hostages Of The Ayatollah - S/T EP
Antischism - "All Their Money Stinks Of Death" EP
Noise Complaint - S/T EP
Helsott - "Folkvangr" EP
Death Threat - "Peace and Security"
12/10/15
Public Enemy - "Fear Of A Black Planet"
Tenacious D - "Rize of the Phoenix"
Cradle Of Filth - "Hammer of the Witches"
Disturbed - "Believe"
Skrewdriver - "All Skrewed Up"
Tesla - "Simplicity"
Cannibal Corpse - "A Skeletal Domain"
Health Problems - "Winners"
Blood For Blood - "Outlaw Anthems"
Easter Teeth - "Being Alone With Your Thoughts Is For Inmates"
Extra Spooky - "Marbles"
12/11/15
Monological Terrorist/MBUF - "Converging Evils" split
Last Day King - 3-song demo
Yellowcard - "A Perfect Sky" 10"
Benoit & Sergio - "House With 500 Rooms"
Rammstein - "Pussy"/"Mein Teil" 12"
Cock And Ball Torture/Last Days Of Humanity - "Big Tits/Big Dicks" / "Choked In Anal Mange" split EP
Bring Me The Horizon - "Sempiternal"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Bloodsugarsexmagick"
The 1975 - "Music For Cars" EP
Burzum - "Aske" EP
Somewhat Ace - "Spacesinbetween" EP
Most Precious Blood - "Merciless"
All Time Low - "So Wrong It's Right"
12/12/15
Thievery Corporation - "Shadows of Ourselves" EP
Cruelty Code - "False Hope" live demo single
Snow Black - "Ebb & Flow Pt. II" EP
Graves Young - "jtemyh3ro" EP
Blood Stands Still - "Salvation Through Struggle"
Rogue Rats - "Adjunks" EP
SECRETS - "Everything That Got Us Here"
Atom & His Package -S/T
Antischism - "End Of Time" EP
Chevelle - "Wonder What's Next"
Limerent Dance Machine - "The Return Trip Back (Electrosaw Version" digital single
The Streets - "A Grand Don't Come For Free"
12/13/15
Drag Me Under/Rat Path - split EP
Gudon - S/T
Foo Fighters - S/T
Emarosa - "Relativity"
Griever - "Our Love Is Different" EP
Isis - "The Mosquito Control" EP
12/14/15
Fugazi - "13 Songs"
Wu-Tang Clan - "Forever" Disc 2
Pharoahe Monch - "Internal Affairs"
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung Live"
Testament - "The New Order"
The Babies - "Our House On The Hill"
Spectral Wound - "Terra Nullius"
Groovie Ghoulies - "Re-Animation Festival"
Rhapsody - "Symphony of Enchanted Lands"
Ghost Noise - "Our Heaven Of Darkness"
Sioux Falls - "Odds 'n' Ends" EP
All Charged Dropped - "Dirt Girl"
Nate Phung/Nate Funk - "Room Without A Window (Op Iv cover)" digital single
Carach Angren - "Where The Corpses Sink Forever"
Stormtroopers Of Death/Deftones - "Milk" 7"
The Cure - "Acoustic Hits"
12/15/15
Biffy Clyro - "Similarities"
Firewind - "The Premonition"
The Beat - S/T
Bouncing Souls - "Tie One On" live EP
A Day To Remember - "Homesick"
Sebastian Bach - "Give'em Hell"
Obituary - "Inked In Blood"
Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - "Gemini"
Easter Teeth/Moral Monsters - split 7"
Model Talk - "Dimensions" digital single
Black Cat - "Anthology of White Noise Vol.#1"
12/16./15
V/A - "Cardio Radio Feb 2014"
Cage - "Free Agent Orange" compilation Disc 1
Cento - "Finding Ourselves In These Things We Write" EP
Anti-Flag - "American Spring"
Deftones - "Diamond Eyes"
Cosmic Gate - "Earth Mover"
KoRn - "The Paradigm Shift"
Jean-Michel Jarre & M83 - "Glory" digital single
The Courteeners - "Concrete Love"
Morgue/Last Days Of Humanity - "Splitted for Better Digestion" split EP
Twenty-One Pilots - "The LC LP" 12"
The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds"
Shit Giver - November 2013 Demo
12/17/15
Killwhitneydead - "Inhaling the Breath of a Bullet" EP
inthebackground - "Away With Words" EP
Paper Ceilings - "Baseball"
Rammstein - "Herzeleid"
The Octopus Project - "Identification Parade"
Kevin Gates - "Murder For Hire" mixtape
Quicksand - "Slip"
Antischism - "Discography" CD
Morrissey - "You Are The Quarry"
R. Kelly - "The Buffet"
Powerhouse - "Oakland Brand HC" 1994 demo
She/Her/Hers / Izzy & The Chimera - "Portland & Also Everywhere Else" split EP
Atom & His Package - "A Society Of People Named Elihu"
Graves Young - "I Wish I Could Say Everyone Was Wrong" EP
12/18/15
Suicide Silence - "The Cleansing"
Dan Deacon - "Acron Master" EP
Groovie Ghoulies - "Fun in the Dark"
HIM - "Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
The Gravitys - "Unplugged at The Dial' ep
Xpulsion - "Hunted" EP
Zwan - "Mary Star Of The Sea"
12/19/15
Cancer - "To The Gory End"
Suffocation - "Breeding The Spawn"
Ice-T - "Rhyme Pays"
Ice Hockey - "Wavefunction Collapse" EP
Isis - "The Red Sea" EP
Fugazi - "Repeater + 3" CD
Class Traitors - "Frustrating" EP
12/20/15
Automatic Loveletter - "Truth or Dare"
Powerhouse - 1996 Demo
Dawn Richard - "Blackheart"
Karoshi Boy - "Nothing Is" EP
Vanderhuge - "Keyboard" digital single
Cancer - "Death Shall Rise"
Panoramic - "Rule of Thirds" EP
Primal Fear - "Jaws of Death"
Bullet For My Valentine - "Fever"
12/21/15
The Movielife - "Forty Hour Train Back To Penn"
Breaking Benjamin - "Dark Before Dawn"
Holy Moses - "Redefined Mayhem"
Tiny Moving Parts - "Pleasant Living"
Sick Of It All - "Yours Truly"
Saosin - S/T
At The Drive-In - "Relationship Of Command"
Deep Sea Divas - "Merman" EP
Pavement - "Slanted and Enchanted"
Mihai Edrisch - "Un Jour Sans Lendemain"
Planet Vegeta - "Live From Planet Vegeta" EP
Wreckage - "Homeless Man Field Recording"
Cryptopsy - "The Book Of Suffering (Tome 1)"
12/22/15
Skream - "Still Lemonade" 12"
Motorhead - "Bad Magic"
Bastille - "Oblivion" b/w "Bad News"
The Coltranes - "Live at Hogue Barmichael's"
Eagles Of Death Metal - "Zipper Down"
JME - "Integrity"
The Jam - "Greatest Hits"
12/23/15
Animal Collective - "FloriDada" digital single
M A T H - "Yumi" digital single
The Odd Advantage - S/T EP
Airborne Age - "Letters Of Going Away"
Sleeping Cranes - "Children of the Move" EP
Momoiro Clover-Z vs. KISS - "Yume no Ukiyo ni Saitemina" b/w "Rock And Roll All Nite" EP
INK. - "Flock and Flee" digital single
New Model Army - "History: Best Of"
Final Fight - "Half Head, Full Shred"
Depths Of Reality - 7" promo tape
Hunt The Elite - 11/18 session demo
Taj Mahal - "The Best Of"
Darkest Hour - S/T
12/24/15
Frantix - "My Dad's A Fucking Alcoholic" EP
Pusha T - "King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude"
Yoji Biomehanika - "Tales From The Big Room"
The Mars Volta - "Tremulant" EP
System Of A Down - "Steal This Album"
Tidemouth - "The Early Years"
The Middle Class - "Out of Vogue" EP
Blink 182 - "Buddha"
Wyclef Jean - "The Carnival"
See You Next Tuesday - "This Was a Tragedy" EP
Corn Doggy Dog & The 1/2 lb. - "Good Clean Filth"
To What End? - "Concealed Below The Surface"
12/25/15
Skeletonbreath - "Eagle's Nest, Devil's Cave"
Converge - "When Forever Comes Crashing"
Sacred Reich - "Surf Nicaragua" CD
The Psycho Realm - S/T
Grand Magus - "Triumph & Glory"
Cold Truth/No Future - "Cold Future" split EP
The Carrier - "One Year Later"
The Coltranes - "I've Got Heaven In My Smile"
Bob Dylan - "Shadows in the Night"
Of Feathers And Bone/Reproacher - split EP
Sioux Falls - "Seattle" digital single
Bright Eyes - "There is No Beginning To This Story" EP
Refused - "The Shape of Punk To Come"
12/26/15
DCVDNS - "D.W.I.S."
Christopher Lawrence - "The Dark" digital single
Prong - "Cleansing"
The Frights/Death Lens - "DeathFrights" split EP
Jag Panzer - "Ample Destruction"
12/27/15
The Maine - "American Candy"
Gwar - "War Party"
Ghost - "Meliora"
Magpie - "Dirtybone" demo
Extra Spooky - "Father Man" b/w "Holy Mackerel!" 7"
Peanut Butter Wolf - "My Vinyl Weighs A Ton"
12/28/15
Hate Me - "The Future Is The Womb Of Chaos"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
12/29/15
Winger - "Better Days Comin'"
Dangerous Toys - S/T
D.A.V.E. The Drummer - April 2012 Mix
Abysmal Dawn - "Obsolescence"
Goldie vs. Halogenix - "Broken Man" 12"
The Amity Affliction - "Let The Ocean Take Me"
Just Surrender - "We're In Like Sin"
M0 - "Kamikaze" digital single
DJ EZ - "Just Turn It Up" b/w "The Overground" EP
12/30/15
Hinds - "Burger" EP
Underminded - "Hail Unamerican!"
Flying Lotus - "1983"
Shojo Winter - "Somewhere Else" EP
hit me, Harold - "very very very different perspectives" EP
Brand New - "The God And Satan Are Raging Within Me"
Just Nick - "Well, This Is Embarrassing"
MUSIC NOTES
- "Being the girl in a country song, how in the world did it go so wrong?"
- "Bad Animals" is not only a terrible Heart album, it's also a terrible name for said terrible album considering it includes the songs "Alone" and "Strangers Of The HEART," both of which would have better titles
- Big ups to Kasey Clark from Tidemouth/Dogs/Shady Characters for including the EP my brother and I recorded in his 'best EPs of the year' list; that was a very special project for us and it's nice to see it was appreciated http://endofthesummer.bandcamp.com/album/living-situations
- I can't believe I listened to 2 RHCP albums in a single day, for shame...
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: see through buildings, The 1975, Antischism, Second Guess, Benoit & Sergio, Cruelty Code, The Babies, Spectral Wound, Shit Giver
- Worst of the month: Fighting Friction, Morgue, Izzy & The Chimera, Deep Sea Divas, Hunt The Elite
- New releases from Bomba Estereo, Abigail Williams, Ghost Noise, Shit Giver, inthebackground, Sleeping Cranes, and Shojo Winter are all on-point
- Man I forgot how totally badass "Fear of a Black Planet" is, one of the few albums that indisputably deserves its status as a classic
- "Perpendicular to the square"
- Although I liked The Babies its kinda lame they either didn't know there was a 70s band called The Babys or they just didn't care
- I'm sure Obituary didn't name their new album "Inked In Blood" to commemorate the mid-2000s metalcore band but is an odd coincidence
- "I guess I just wasn't made for these times"
- Rammstein.
- Was that food-based R. Kelly album supposed to be funny? Because it is.
- I like Zwan so much more now than I did when they came out and now I wish they had made more than just the one
- R.I.P. Lemmy. Rock n roll will never die.
- I wrote a review of that Yoji CD check it out http://youshouldneverhaveopenedthatdoor.blogspot.com/2015/12/album-mini-review-yoji-biomehanika.html
- "We express ourselves in loud and fashionable ways"
- "War Party" is the best Gwar album by far
- Those girls in Hinds are hella cute but their songs are kinda forgettable
MOVIES/SHOWS
12/7/15: "Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You For The Last Time"
12/8/15: "George Carlin: Jammin' in New York"
"George Carlin: Grievances and Complaints"
12/9/15 : "Dead Hands Dig Deep"
12/14/15: FINISHED "Last Days"
"Spring Breakers"
12/16/15: "Mad Max: Fury Road"
"American Beauty"
12/20/15: FINISHED "Enter The Dragon"
12/23/15: "Machete"
12/24/15: "Upstream Color"
12/26/15: "Trainwreck"
12/30/15: FINISHED "Dead Presidents"
"Jurassic World"
MOVIES/SHOWS NOTES
- "Dead Hands Dig Deep," the documentary about Edwin Borsheim from Kettle Cadaver that my friends Spencer and Jai spent the last year directing (and that I am briefly interviewed in) will be be debuting at Slamdance Festival on January 22nd. Follow http://www.deadhandsdigdeep.com/ for more updates on showings
- "Last Days" was so boring and ultimately pointless, it really felt like a waste of time and a chore to finish
- The new "Mad Max" was better than even the hype made it seem
- How Kevin Spacey didn't win Best Actor for "American Beauty" is beyond me
- Sorry but I was disappointed by "Enter The Dragon" I thought it was gonna be way more badass
- "Upstream Color" was one of the strangest movies I've seen in awhile and even after reading reviews it's unclear to me what the movie was really about but it was good
- "Dead Presidents" was so much different than I expected it was gonna be in all the right ways...very powerful film
LIVE
12/19/15 - Class Traitors/Woodruff @ The Dial
LIVE NOTES
- Class Traitors are much better live than they are recorded
- That was only Woodruff's 2nd show and they were way more solid than a lot of bands that have been around for years (\_/, I'm looking at you...) and I interviewed them afterward ; Look for that soon
MUSIC
12/1/15
V/A - "Fresh Cuts Vol. 6"
Maddie & Tae - "Start Here"
David Guetta ft. Trey Songz, Chris Brown, and Sam Martin - "Dangerous Pt. 2" digital single
Lost Cause - "The World Is Yours" demo
Defiant Trespass - "Struggle To Survive"
Heart Like War - "The Battle Begins" EP
12/2/15
Mouthful Of Snow - "The Truth Hurts, But You Would Still Like To Hear It"
Justus Proffitt - "Seven" digital single
Heart - "Bad Animals"
Novena - "I'm Not A Bad Person, Just Give Me Time" digital single
Primal Fear - "Delivering The Black"
end of the summer/Troy Campbell - "Living Situations" split EP
12/3/15
Fleshgod Apocalypse - "Oracles"
Amon Amarth - "Versus The World" Disc 1
12/6/15
Parallax Scroll - "Multifold"
Bring Me The Horizon - "That's The Spirit"
12/7/15
Power Trip - "Manifest Decimation"
Descendents - "ALL"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "2012-2013 Live" EP
Belphegor - "Conjuring The Dead"
Gag - "This Punk Shit Is Cool" EP
Slipknot - "Iowa"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "By The Way"
Blood For Blood - "Wasted Youth Crew"
see through buildings - "light the owl to reveal the mystic path"
KMFDM - "Nihil"
KMFDM - "Angst"
Scale The Summit - "Carving Desert Canyons"
12/8/15
Troye Sivan - "Blue Neighborhood"
Burzum - S/T
Ozzy Osbourne - "Black Rain"
Iced Earth - "Framing Armageddon"
Suffocation - "Human Waste" EP
Shinedown - "Threat To Survival"
The 1975 - "Love Me" digital single
Van Halen - "Women and Children First"
A Lot Like Birds - "Plan B"
Umiland - "Trapped" demo
end of the summer/Troy Campbell - "Living Situations" split EP
Vanderhuge - "Skeeter"
Screaming Noise - "Noise and Masturbation" EP
Fighting Friction - "Polar Opposites"
Education - S/T EP
Cuddle Weather - "In My Mind You Never Left (Fuck Mountain)" digital single
Mental Decay - "Run & Hide" EP
The Kills - "Midnight Boom"
Anti-Cimex - "Raped Ass" EP
Second Guess - S/T
12/9/15
Markus Schulz - "Progression"
All Time Low - "Put Up or Shut Up" EP
The Germs - "M.I.A. : Complete Discography"
Thievery Corporation - "The Mirror Conspiracy"
First Blood - "Killafornia"
Blood Stands Still - "The Thrill and The Agony" EP
Bomba Estereo - "Amanecer"
Bullet For My Valentine - "Venom"
Tyrannosaurus Zebra - "Live at Audie's Olympic Tavern"
Sioux Falls - "Big Krackel" EP
Hostages Of The Ayatollah - S/T EP
Antischism - "All Their Money Stinks Of Death" EP
Noise Complaint - S/T EP
Helsott - "Folkvangr" EP
Death Threat - "Peace and Security"
12/10/15
Public Enemy - "Fear Of A Black Planet"
Tenacious D - "Rize of the Phoenix"
Cradle Of Filth - "Hammer of the Witches"
Disturbed - "Believe"
Skrewdriver - "All Skrewed Up"
Tesla - "Simplicity"
Cannibal Corpse - "A Skeletal Domain"
Health Problems - "Winners"
Blood For Blood - "Outlaw Anthems"
Easter Teeth - "Being Alone With Your Thoughts Is For Inmates"
Extra Spooky - "Marbles"
12/11/15
Monological Terrorist/MBUF - "Converging Evils" split
Last Day King - 3-song demo
Yellowcard - "A Perfect Sky" 10"
Benoit & Sergio - "House With 500 Rooms"
Rammstein - "Pussy"/"Mein Teil" 12"
Cock And Ball Torture/Last Days Of Humanity - "Big Tits/Big Dicks" / "Choked In Anal Mange" split EP
Bring Me The Horizon - "Sempiternal"
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Bloodsugarsexmagick"
The 1975 - "Music For Cars" EP
Burzum - "Aske" EP
Somewhat Ace - "Spacesinbetween" EP
Most Precious Blood - "Merciless"
All Time Low - "So Wrong It's Right"
12/12/15
Thievery Corporation - "Shadows of Ourselves" EP
Cruelty Code - "False Hope" live demo single
Snow Black - "Ebb & Flow Pt. II" EP
Graves Young - "jtemyh3ro" EP
Blood Stands Still - "Salvation Through Struggle"
Rogue Rats - "Adjunks" EP
SECRETS - "Everything That Got Us Here"
Atom & His Package -S/T
Antischism - "End Of Time" EP
Chevelle - "Wonder What's Next"
Limerent Dance Machine - "The Return Trip Back (Electrosaw Version" digital single
The Streets - "A Grand Don't Come For Free"
12/13/15
Drag Me Under/Rat Path - split EP
Gudon - S/T
Foo Fighters - S/T
Emarosa - "Relativity"
Griever - "Our Love Is Different" EP
Isis - "The Mosquito Control" EP
12/14/15
Fugazi - "13 Songs"
Wu-Tang Clan - "Forever" Disc 2
Pharoahe Monch - "Internal Affairs"
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung Live"
Testament - "The New Order"
The Babies - "Our House On The Hill"
Spectral Wound - "Terra Nullius"
Groovie Ghoulies - "Re-Animation Festival"
Rhapsody - "Symphony of Enchanted Lands"
Ghost Noise - "Our Heaven Of Darkness"
Sioux Falls - "Odds 'n' Ends" EP
All Charged Dropped - "Dirt Girl"
Nate Phung/Nate Funk - "Room Without A Window (Op Iv cover)" digital single
Carach Angren - "Where The Corpses Sink Forever"
Stormtroopers Of Death/Deftones - "Milk" 7"
The Cure - "Acoustic Hits"
12/15/15
Biffy Clyro - "Similarities"
Firewind - "The Premonition"
The Beat - S/T
Bouncing Souls - "Tie One On" live EP
A Day To Remember - "Homesick"
Sebastian Bach - "Give'em Hell"
Obituary - "Inked In Blood"
Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - "Gemini"
Easter Teeth/Moral Monsters - split 7"
Model Talk - "Dimensions" digital single
Black Cat - "Anthology of White Noise Vol.#1"
12/16./15
V/A - "Cardio Radio Feb 2014"
Cage - "Free Agent Orange" compilation Disc 1
Cento - "Finding Ourselves In These Things We Write" EP
Anti-Flag - "American Spring"
Deftones - "Diamond Eyes"
Cosmic Gate - "Earth Mover"
KoRn - "The Paradigm Shift"
Jean-Michel Jarre & M83 - "Glory" digital single
The Courteeners - "Concrete Love"
Morgue/Last Days Of Humanity - "Splitted for Better Digestion" split EP
Twenty-One Pilots - "The LC LP" 12"
The Beach Boys - "Pet Sounds"
Shit Giver - November 2013 Demo
12/17/15
Killwhitneydead - "Inhaling the Breath of a Bullet" EP
inthebackground - "Away With Words" EP
Paper Ceilings - "Baseball"
Rammstein - "Herzeleid"
The Octopus Project - "Identification Parade"
Kevin Gates - "Murder For Hire" mixtape
Quicksand - "Slip"
Antischism - "Discography" CD
Morrissey - "You Are The Quarry"
R. Kelly - "The Buffet"
Powerhouse - "Oakland Brand HC" 1994 demo
She/Her/Hers / Izzy & The Chimera - "Portland & Also Everywhere Else" split EP
Atom & His Package - "A Society Of People Named Elihu"
Graves Young - "I Wish I Could Say Everyone Was Wrong" EP
12/18/15
Suicide Silence - "The Cleansing"
Dan Deacon - "Acron Master" EP
Groovie Ghoulies - "Fun in the Dark"
HIM - "Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
The Gravitys - "Unplugged at The Dial' ep
Xpulsion - "Hunted" EP
Zwan - "Mary Star Of The Sea"
12/19/15
Cancer - "To The Gory End"
Suffocation - "Breeding The Spawn"
Ice-T - "Rhyme Pays"
Ice Hockey - "Wavefunction Collapse" EP
Isis - "The Red Sea" EP
Fugazi - "Repeater + 3" CD
Class Traitors - "Frustrating" EP
12/20/15
Automatic Loveletter - "Truth or Dare"
Powerhouse - 1996 Demo
Dawn Richard - "Blackheart"
Karoshi Boy - "Nothing Is" EP
Vanderhuge - "Keyboard" digital single
Cancer - "Death Shall Rise"
Panoramic - "Rule of Thirds" EP
Primal Fear - "Jaws of Death"
Bullet For My Valentine - "Fever"
12/21/15
The Movielife - "Forty Hour Train Back To Penn"
Breaking Benjamin - "Dark Before Dawn"
Holy Moses - "Redefined Mayhem"
Tiny Moving Parts - "Pleasant Living"
Sick Of It All - "Yours Truly"
Saosin - S/T
At The Drive-In - "Relationship Of Command"
Deep Sea Divas - "Merman" EP
Pavement - "Slanted and Enchanted"
Mihai Edrisch - "Un Jour Sans Lendemain"
Planet Vegeta - "Live From Planet Vegeta" EP
Wreckage - "Homeless Man Field Recording"
Cryptopsy - "The Book Of Suffering (Tome 1)"
12/22/15
Skream - "Still Lemonade" 12"
Motorhead - "Bad Magic"
Bastille - "Oblivion" b/w "Bad News"
The Coltranes - "Live at Hogue Barmichael's"
Eagles Of Death Metal - "Zipper Down"
JME - "Integrity"
The Jam - "Greatest Hits"
12/23/15
Animal Collective - "FloriDada" digital single
M A T H - "Yumi" digital single
The Odd Advantage - S/T EP
Airborne Age - "Letters Of Going Away"
Sleeping Cranes - "Children of the Move" EP
Momoiro Clover-Z vs. KISS - "Yume no Ukiyo ni Saitemina" b/w "Rock And Roll All Nite" EP
INK. - "Flock and Flee" digital single
New Model Army - "History: Best Of"
Final Fight - "Half Head, Full Shred"
Depths Of Reality - 7" promo tape
Hunt The Elite - 11/18 session demo
Taj Mahal - "The Best Of"
Darkest Hour - S/T
12/24/15
Frantix - "My Dad's A Fucking Alcoholic" EP
Pusha T - "King Push - Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude"
Yoji Biomehanika - "Tales From The Big Room"
The Mars Volta - "Tremulant" EP
System Of A Down - "Steal This Album"
Tidemouth - "The Early Years"
The Middle Class - "Out of Vogue" EP
Blink 182 - "Buddha"
Wyclef Jean - "The Carnival"
See You Next Tuesday - "This Was a Tragedy" EP
Corn Doggy Dog & The 1/2 lb. - "Good Clean Filth"
To What End? - "Concealed Below The Surface"
12/25/15
Skeletonbreath - "Eagle's Nest, Devil's Cave"
Converge - "When Forever Comes Crashing"
Sacred Reich - "Surf Nicaragua" CD
The Psycho Realm - S/T
Grand Magus - "Triumph & Glory"
Cold Truth/No Future - "Cold Future" split EP
The Carrier - "One Year Later"
The Coltranes - "I've Got Heaven In My Smile"
Bob Dylan - "Shadows in the Night"
Of Feathers And Bone/Reproacher - split EP
Sioux Falls - "Seattle" digital single
Bright Eyes - "There is No Beginning To This Story" EP
Refused - "The Shape of Punk To Come"
12/26/15
DCVDNS - "D.W.I.S."
Christopher Lawrence - "The Dark" digital single
Prong - "Cleansing"
The Frights/Death Lens - "DeathFrights" split EP
Jag Panzer - "Ample Destruction"
12/27/15
The Maine - "American Candy"
Gwar - "War Party"
Ghost - "Meliora"
Magpie - "Dirtybone" demo
Extra Spooky - "Father Man" b/w "Holy Mackerel!" 7"
Peanut Butter Wolf - "My Vinyl Weighs A Ton"
12/28/15
Hate Me - "The Future Is The Womb Of Chaos"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
12/29/15
Winger - "Better Days Comin'"
Dangerous Toys - S/T
D.A.V.E. The Drummer - April 2012 Mix
Abysmal Dawn - "Obsolescence"
Goldie vs. Halogenix - "Broken Man" 12"
The Amity Affliction - "Let The Ocean Take Me"
Just Surrender - "We're In Like Sin"
M0 - "Kamikaze" digital single
DJ EZ - "Just Turn It Up" b/w "The Overground" EP
12/30/15
Hinds - "Burger" EP
Underminded - "Hail Unamerican!"
Flying Lotus - "1983"
Shojo Winter - "Somewhere Else" EP
hit me, Harold - "very very very different perspectives" EP
Brand New - "The God And Satan Are Raging Within Me"
Just Nick - "Well, This Is Embarrassing"
MUSIC NOTES
- "Being the girl in a country song, how in the world did it go so wrong?"
- "Bad Animals" is not only a terrible Heart album, it's also a terrible name for said terrible album considering it includes the songs "Alone" and "Strangers Of The HEART," both of which would have better titles
- Big ups to Kasey Clark from Tidemouth/Dogs/Shady Characters for including the EP my brother and I recorded in his 'best EPs of the year' list; that was a very special project for us and it's nice to see it was appreciated http://endofthesummer.bandcamp.com/album/living-situations
- I can't believe I listened to 2 RHCP albums in a single day, for shame...
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: see through buildings, The 1975, Antischism, Second Guess, Benoit & Sergio, Cruelty Code, The Babies, Spectral Wound, Shit Giver
- Worst of the month: Fighting Friction, Morgue, Izzy & The Chimera, Deep Sea Divas, Hunt The Elite
- New releases from Bomba Estereo, Abigail Williams, Ghost Noise, Shit Giver, inthebackground, Sleeping Cranes, and Shojo Winter are all on-point
- Man I forgot how totally badass "Fear of a Black Planet" is, one of the few albums that indisputably deserves its status as a classic
- "Perpendicular to the square"
- Although I liked The Babies its kinda lame they either didn't know there was a 70s band called The Babys or they just didn't care
- I'm sure Obituary didn't name their new album "Inked In Blood" to commemorate the mid-2000s metalcore band but is an odd coincidence
- "I guess I just wasn't made for these times"
- Rammstein.
- Was that food-based R. Kelly album supposed to be funny? Because it is.
- I like Zwan so much more now than I did when they came out and now I wish they had made more than just the one
- R.I.P. Lemmy. Rock n roll will never die.
- I wrote a review of that Yoji CD check it out http://youshouldneverhaveopenedthatdoor.blogspot.com/2015/12/album-mini-review-yoji-biomehanika.html
- "We express ourselves in loud and fashionable ways"
- "War Party" is the best Gwar album by far
- Those girls in Hinds are hella cute but their songs are kinda forgettable
MOVIES/SHOWS
12/7/15: "Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You For The Last Time"
12/8/15: "George Carlin: Jammin' in New York"
"George Carlin: Grievances and Complaints"
12/9/15 : "Dead Hands Dig Deep"
12/14/15: FINISHED "Last Days"
"Spring Breakers"
12/16/15: "Mad Max: Fury Road"
"American Beauty"
12/20/15: FINISHED "Enter The Dragon"
12/23/15: "Machete"
12/24/15: "Upstream Color"
12/26/15: "Trainwreck"
12/30/15: FINISHED "Dead Presidents"
"Jurassic World"
MOVIES/SHOWS NOTES
- "Dead Hands Dig Deep," the documentary about Edwin Borsheim from Kettle Cadaver that my friends Spencer and Jai spent the last year directing (and that I am briefly interviewed in) will be be debuting at Slamdance Festival on January 22nd. Follow http://www.deadhandsdigdeep.com/ for more updates on showings
- "Last Days" was so boring and ultimately pointless, it really felt like a waste of time and a chore to finish
- The new "Mad Max" was better than even the hype made it seem
- How Kevin Spacey didn't win Best Actor for "American Beauty" is beyond me
- Sorry but I was disappointed by "Enter The Dragon" I thought it was gonna be way more badass
- "Upstream Color" was one of the strangest movies I've seen in awhile and even after reading reviews it's unclear to me what the movie was really about but it was good
- "Dead Presidents" was so much different than I expected it was gonna be in all the right ways...very powerful film
LIVE
12/19/15 - Class Traitors/Woodruff @ The Dial
LIVE NOTES
- Class Traitors are much better live than they are recorded
- That was only Woodruff's 2nd show and they were way more solid than a lot of bands that have been around for years (\_/, I'm looking at you...) and I interviewed them afterward ; Look for that soon
Sunday, January 10, 2016
ALBUM REVIEW: see through buildings - "applebee the cat & friends"
I'll start this off by saying I'm not really into harsh noise as a genre almost at all, although I have several friends who perform the stuff, so my analysis here is a bit stilted. I mean, I kinda get it, but it's not my bag. That said, see through buildings is a one-man project out of Garden Grove and although on the whole this album is much like most others I've heard in that I don't entirely understand the appeal of wanting to do this as an artist or being way into it as a fan, it has a bit more nuance to it than some other stuff I've heard. For whatever reason I jotted down some notes as I listened so why not make a review out of them right?
For the most part this type of "music" sounds like a bunch of rumbling with various hissing with no discernable pattern and I can see its appeal for like a soundtrack or something but just to listen to? Or see live, I don't know, there's like too much there but also not much there at all. That's how the first track was for me and I was listening to it while my roommate was unloading his groceries and I could tell it was kinda freaking him out so I put on my iTunes shuffle after and waited til the morning to finish the album.
The second song is a bit of an anomaly and it says so right in the title, "damn right I can play guitar son!" Its clear that some live guitar instrumentation is going on amidst pulverizing manipulation and a strange interpolation of the alphabet song stringing along. The song title also has a level of humor that all the songs have in title alone which I feel is odd considering the offputtingly harsh sound of the "music" but in a way makes me more interested in it than more out-and-out bleak noise acts. The album's theme, in terms of the song titles, seems to be about childhood and silliness and cats or something. On the whole the music the little to advance that but that would put the alphabet song reference into context.
My favorite track on this album was the third, "follow that feedback!" if only for that I was stoned enough to understand a narrative of my own making through the noise. It starts off again with some constant underlying rumbling with very high feedback screeching in and out but about midway there's a growing intensity and back-and-forth that intimated the feelings of being in a race, to relate back to the song's title. So now the track has taken on the identity of like a manhunt or a chase, "follow that car!!" It ends appropriately with these almost skidding sounds like the brakes being inspected after a crash.
"the little kitty!" mainly revolves around 2 tones almost like a really redundant ringtone with extra muck and high-pitched dog-killing screeches. Like, if a dog was in the room I bet he'd freak out. Despite the song's title, my cats did NOT like this song. The similarly titled final track, "ticklin' the kitty keys" starts off brutal like it's gona turn into a death metal song but ends up sputtering on a click.
Again, this really isn't my style of music but I know a lot of people are into this stuff nowadays and as far as I've seen see through buildings at least constructs his tracks to be something more than just background noise, although it still kinda is that to anybody with a primarily pop/rock/song-based mindset.
https://seethroughbuildings.bandcamp.com/album/applebee-the-cat-friends
For the most part this type of "music" sounds like a bunch of rumbling with various hissing with no discernable pattern and I can see its appeal for like a soundtrack or something but just to listen to? Or see live, I don't know, there's like too much there but also not much there at all. That's how the first track was for me and I was listening to it while my roommate was unloading his groceries and I could tell it was kinda freaking him out so I put on my iTunes shuffle after and waited til the morning to finish the album.
The second song is a bit of an anomaly and it says so right in the title, "damn right I can play guitar son!" Its clear that some live guitar instrumentation is going on amidst pulverizing manipulation and a strange interpolation of the alphabet song stringing along. The song title also has a level of humor that all the songs have in title alone which I feel is odd considering the offputtingly harsh sound of the "music" but in a way makes me more interested in it than more out-and-out bleak noise acts. The album's theme, in terms of the song titles, seems to be about childhood and silliness and cats or something. On the whole the music the little to advance that but that would put the alphabet song reference into context.
My favorite track on this album was the third, "follow that feedback!" if only for that I was stoned enough to understand a narrative of my own making through the noise. It starts off again with some constant underlying rumbling with very high feedback screeching in and out but about midway there's a growing intensity and back-and-forth that intimated the feelings of being in a race, to relate back to the song's title. So now the track has taken on the identity of like a manhunt or a chase, "follow that car!!" It ends appropriately with these almost skidding sounds like the brakes being inspected after a crash.
"the little kitty!" mainly revolves around 2 tones almost like a really redundant ringtone with extra muck and high-pitched dog-killing screeches. Like, if a dog was in the room I bet he'd freak out. Despite the song's title, my cats did NOT like this song. The similarly titled final track, "ticklin' the kitty keys" starts off brutal like it's gona turn into a death metal song but ends up sputtering on a click.
Again, this really isn't my style of music but I know a lot of people are into this stuff nowadays and as far as I've seen see through buildings at least constructs his tracks to be something more than just background noise, although it still kinda is that to anybody with a primarily pop/rock/song-based mindset.
https://seethroughbuildings.bandcamp.com/album/applebee-the-cat-friends
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