Top 10 Best Demos Of 2014 That I Listened To

 Top 10 Best Demos Of 2014 That I Listened To (Alphabetical Order)

Big Takeover - S/T demo
https://bigtakeoverhc.bandcamp.com/releases

Braineater - S/T demo
https://braineater.bandcamp.com/
D.K. Slider - "Do Demos Have Names" demo
https://dkslider.bandcamp.com/album/do-demos-have-names
Exiled Force - "The Dirty Dog" demo
https://exiledthrash.bandcamp.com/releases
Head Creeps - S/T demo
https://headcreeps.bandcamp.com/album/2014-demo
Menace 2 Society - S/T demo
https://menace2societyhc.bandcamp.com/releases
Midlife Crisis Winery - S/T demo
https://midlifecrisiswinery.bandcamp.com/releases
Moonpool - S/T demo
https://moonpool.bandcamp.com/
Olivias - S/T demo
https://olivias.bandcamp.com/album/demo
Skeletal Remains - "Desolate Isolation" demo
https://skeletalremains.bandcamp.com/

Playlist for January 2015

This is a list of all the albums, EPs, demos, singles, etc that I listened to in their entirety during the month of January 2015. Afterwards are lists of the movies I watched, things I read, bands I saw live, and my notes regarding all.

MUSIC
1/1/15
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
The Gravitys - "Bring You Down"
The Gravitys - "Unplugged at The Dial" EP
Veil Of Maya - "Phoenix" digital single
Colombian Necktie - "Twilight Upon Us"
KIP - "Colored Fan" EP
Success! - "Optimist Operations" EP
Bad Rabbits - "Stick Up Kids" EP
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - "Creepin' On Ah Come Up" EP
Dow Jones & The Industrials/The Gizmos - "Hoosier Hysteria" split LP
Papa Murf - S/T EP
Grieves & Budo - "Felt 3: A Tribute To Rosie Perez" remix EP
Avenue Rockers - "Damaged & Dangerous"
The Amazing Snakeheads - "Amphetamine Ballads"

1/2/15
Primus - "Pork Soda"
Anubis Gate - "Horizons"
The Coltranes - "It Ain't Gravy" EP
Fist Benders - "Quare Cunamor" EP
Fall Out Boy - "From Under The Cork Tree"
Get Dead - "Bygones" EP
Foxy Shazam - "Gonzo"

1/3/15
Twerps - S/T EP
The Faction - "Collection 1982-1985"
Timbre Barons - S/T EP
Smashing Pumpkins - "Adore"
Ryan Mudd & Stuff - S/T CD
Pizza Time - "U Wanna Pizza Me?" EP
Crossfaith - "The Dream, The Space"
Empire Of The Sun - "Ice on the Dune"
CJ Boyd - "precariat"
Pears - "Go To Jail"
Madina Lake - "From Them, Through Us, To You"
Happyness - "Everything I Do Is All Right"
The Heats/Heaters - "Live & Live Again"

1/4/15
Faith No More - "Motherfucker" digital single
Beaulieu Porch - "The Carmelite Divine (Original Soundtrack)"
Manic Hispanic - "Mijo Goes To Jr. College"
Big Takeover - Demo
Fit For A King - "Slave To Nothing"
Odesza - "Summer's Gone"

1/5/15
Funeral Oration - "Shadowland" EP
Indigesti - "Osservati Dall'inganno"
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
Happy Diving - "Big World"

1/6/15
Mighty Mighty Bosstones - "Let's Face It"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Siamese Dream"
Waterdown - "Never Kill A Boy On The First Date"

1/7/14
Imagine Dragons - "Night Visions"
Bed Bugs - S/T 7"
Grimple - "Remember" CD
Sniper 66 - "Caput Lupinum"
The Dance Party - "Friction! Friction! Friction!"
Witch - S/T
Jah My - "Le Bon Combat" EP
AC/DC - "Back in Black"

1/8/14
Foxmoulder/Coma Regalia - split 5"
blessthefall - "Awakening"
STRFKR - "Midnight Mile"
Funeral Oration - "Discography" Disc 2

1/9/15
YG - "My Krazy Life"
The Avett Brothers - "I And Love And You"
AC/DC - "The Razor's Edge"
Desert Center - "6/30/14 @ Chillanova House" single/EP
The Mahones - "Draggin' the Days"

1/10/15
It Boys! - "Burning Up" EP
Gang Of Four - "Content"
Call The Cops - "Never Underestimate The Kids" demo
Lapsley - "Understudy"
Between The Buried And Me - "The Silent Circus"

1/11/15
Plastic City Pariah - "A Rambling Of Somewhat & Some Sort"
Handguns - "Life Lessons"
Maceo Plex - "Conjure One" EP
Arch Enemy - "War Eternal"
Snoop Dogg - "R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece"
Tame Impala - S/T EP
Causers - "Luna" digital single
The Muffs - "Whoop Dee Doo"
The Bots - S/T
Roky Erickson - "Demon Angel: A Day And Night With Roky Erickson" live album
After The Burial - "Forging A Future Self"

1/12/15
Infected Mushroom - "Friends On Mushrooms" Deluxe Edition
Les Thomas - "Guantanamo Blues" digital single
Icon For Hire - "Scripted"
Tensnake - "Glow"

1/13/15
Schoolboy Q - "Oxymoron"
Prettiest Eyes - "PEEP" EP
Capital Cities - S/T EP
Azealia Banks - "1991" EP
Absurd Tones - "Demo Sesh!" demo
The Business - "No Mercy For You"
GDP - "Collectibles"

1/14/15
Dan Mangan & BlackSmith - "Club Meds"
The Lovely Bad Things - "The Late Great Whatever"
The Coltranes - "Ugly Aldous"
D.K. Slider - "Do Demos Have Names" demo
Three Man Cannon/Lee Corey Oswald - split LP

1/15/15
J.Phlip - "Say My Name" 12"
Portugal. The Man - "Endangered Song" single-sided 7"
Todd Terje - "It's Album Time"
Linkin Park - "Hybrid Theory"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"

1/16/15
The Gravitys - "Bring You Down"
Earth - "Primitive and Deadly"
Diminish In Eternity - "The Resolution" digital single
Bombshell Rocks - "Scars and Tattoos" b/w "Looking For A Hero" 7"
Keyser Soze - "The Remedy"
Silverstein - "Discovering The Waterfront"

1/18/15
Big White - "I Can't Tell" digital single
Uniform Choice - "Screaming For Change"
Wax Children - "Angst"
Neck Deep - "Wishful Thinking"
Jamie Jones - "Amazon" EP
Crisis Arm - "Rend"

1/19/15
Neneh Cherry - "The Blank Project"
Trampled By Turtles - "Wild Animals"
Gorgon City - "Sirens"
Cult Of Luna - "The Beyond"
Excel - "The Joke's On You"

1/20/15
Idaho Green - "Do The Nelz" EP
A Wilhelm Scream - "Ruiner"
Mike Pinto - "Little District"
Wyatt Blair - "I've Never Been More Alive" digital single
Goatwhore - "The Eclipse Of Ages Into Black"
DivaCup - 2014 Demo
Midlife Crisis Winery - S/T Demo
Head Creeps - 2014 Demo

1/22/15
end of the summer - "Second" EP

1/23/15
Andrew WK - "I Get Wet"

1/25/15
UB40 - "Greatest Hits"
Pond - "Man It Feels Like Space Again"
Left Astray - "Don't Look For Me" EP
Our Last Night - "Oak Island" EP
Breakbot - "By Your Side"
Goo Goo Dolls - "A Boy Named Goo"
Gudon - "Zanin Seiji" EP
Helmet - "Betty"

1/26/15
Husker Du - "Candy Apple Grey"
Hospitality - "Trouble"

1/28/15
Foster The People - "Torches" Best Buy exclusive version

1/30/15
Pete Tong & John Monkman - "The Bumps" EP
Blondie - "Parallel Lines"

1/31/15
Bedemon - "Child Of Darkness"
Rotting Out - "Vandalized" EP
Robert Hood - "Nighttime World Vol. 1"

MUSIC NOTES
- 3 \_/ releases in a row to start off the new year? Talk about foreboding
- Favorite 'new finds' of the month: KIP, The Gizmos, CJ Boyd, Beaulieu Porch, Happy Diving, The Muffs, Tensnake, GDP, Dan Mangan, BlackSmith, Three Man Cannon, Lee Corey Oswald, Todd Terje, Earth. Neneh Cherry, Wyatt Bryan, Pond, Breakbot, Hospitality, Bedemon, Robert Hood
- The first time I listened to that Anubis Gate album its like it didn't strike me at all but this time around, its pretty damn good
- I didn't even realize Foxy Shazam was still a band but here they are with a middle-of-the road new album
- "The Kids, They Are The Future."
- "Adore" is hella underrated still..."Behold! The Nitemare" is amongst the Pumpkins' best songs in my opinion
- That live Heats CD is goddamn AWESOME
- Damn I shouldn't have slept on Happy Diving for so long they really kick ass...Good call Kasey
- "Your Shadow" by Waterdown is so sweet-sounding but so creepy at the same time..."You cannot wipe me off of your shoulder"
- Worst of the month: Jah My, It Boys!, Causers, Icon For Hire, Absurd Tones, Diminish In Eternity,
- Goddamn that Avett Brothers album I listened to is SO much more boring than whatever I had heard before
- It's crazy how AC/DC can churn out literally the same album every couple years and somehow make it work
- Handguns are alright for fans of Set Your Goals, similar bands, etc. but there's nothing to them to set them apart
- I like that chick from The Agonist and its cool shes carrying on the name of Arch Enemy but she is no Angela Gossow. Not by a long shot.
- It should have gone without saying but that early-2000s Snoop Dogg album fuckin sucks
- I had never even heard of Dan Mangan before but his newest album (a collaboration with the band BlackSmith) is one of my favorites from last year
- What was I thinking listening to a Mike Pinto album? Just asking for mental anguish?
- I've listened to "I Get Wet" like a zillion times since I first heard it but this is the first time that "Girls Own Love" was the song that got stuck in my head...Similarly with "Parallel Lines," for some reason it was "I Know But I Don't Know" and "Sunday Girl" that got stuck today
- I wouldn't suggest listening to the entire UB40 Greatest Hits CD if you already find their 2 big hits somewhat annoying...it's just like an hour and a half of the same bullshit, over and over and over

MOVIES
1/1/15 - "Austin Powers: Goldmember"
1/2/15 - "Cartoon Classics Disc 1: Popeye The Sailor Man and Betty Boop"
1/3/15 - "Die Another Day"
1/7/15 - "Land Of The Dead"
1/8/15 - "Guardians Of The Galaxy"
1/9/15 - "Spun"
              "Bad Brains Live at CBGB's 1984"
              "SNL: The First 5 Years"
1/10/15 - "King Kong"
                "The Interview"
                "Dumb and Dumber To"
1/12/15 - "Planet Terror"
               "Aliens"
1/13/15 - "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie"
1/17/15 - "Click"
                "V For Vendetta"
1/19/15 - "The Transporter 3"
1/20/15 - "The Other Guys"
               "Neighbors"
1/23/14 - "Kettle Cadaver: A Taste Of Blood"
1/24/14 - "American Pie 2"
1/30/15 - "Battle: Los Angeles"

MOVIE NOTES
- Between "Goldmember" and "Dumb and Dumber To" I feel like I saw the worst mainstream comedies every made this month...But I'm sure there are movies out there that could easily prove me wrong.
- That goddamn Cartoon Classics DVD is so goddamn long its like the longest single DVD we own...I think I watched nearly 2 hours of Popeye and then like an hour+ of Betty Boop and if you haven't rewatched or ever watched those old cartoons, many of them repeat themselves and it gets kinda annoying (especially the Betty Boop ones) but goddammit if Popeye The Sailor Man isn't an American hero...His nephews are fuckin brats tho
- I actually really enjoyed "Guardians Of The Galaxy" a lot, and in an unprecedented turn for almost any work of cinema, I kinda wanna watch it again soon. I Am Groot.
- Bad Brains really, really kicked ass live in their heyday.
- WOW. "King Kong" is so long but its like the ENTIRE TIME I was captivated...I always put off watching it because I knew in advance how ridiculously long it was but damn was it a payoff.
- I was really disappointed with "The Interview"...I mean there were some funny parts but goddamn James Franco was grating
- Believe it or not that was the first time I'd ever seen "Aliens"
- There's a lot of sexual tension going on between April O'Neil and Casey Jones in that old 90s TMNT movie that I didn't pick up on when I was a kid...Also Shredder get smashed in a goddamn trash compactor at the end that's pretty gnarly
- When "V For Vendetta" came out in high school I remember a bunch of people told me I'd probably really like it, and honestly high school me very well may have because I was so idealistic, but nowadays all I can see is a series of Aimed Wrenches...so many Wrenches....
- "Battle: Los Angeles" was by far the most boring-ass movie I watched all month and it's a goddamn action movie with explosions and aliens and shit...Troy and Miller and I ended up talking through most of the movie because it just couldn't hold our attention

ZINES
finished 1/6/15 - Juxtapoz Magazine #138 July 2012 - Special Adult Swim Issue

LIVE MUSIC
1/15/15 - The Coltranes/New Gods/Half Goon/Recluse @ French Valley house show (Dial-sponsored/"Cat Of Nine Tails" 7" release show)

Playlist for December 2014

This is a list of all the albums, EPs, demos, splits, singles, etc. that I listened to in their entirety during the month of December 2014. Afterwards are lists of the movies I watched and the bands I saw live, with notes accompanying each.

MUSIC
12/1/14
Jamie T - "Carry On The Grudge"
Dow Jones & The Industrials - "Can't Stand The Midwest" EP

12/2/14
Stupid Bummed - "Flowers and Lace"

12/4/14
Tunguska - "Ennead" digital single
Iron Maiden - "The Number Of The Beast"

12/5/14
Your Old Droog - S/T EP

12/6/14
Cloud Nothings - "Here And Nowhere Else"
Capitol Punishment - 1982 Demo
Valiant - S/T EP
Well Wisher - "Kissing Kings" digital single
Copeland - "Ixora"
Protomartyr - "Under Color Of Official Right"

12/8/14
Led Zeppelin - "Mothership" Disc 1
Skeletal Remains - "Desolate Isolation" demo
Hollywood Undead - "Swan Songs"

12/9/14
Steve Aoki - "Neon Future"

12/10/14
Tinariwen - "Emmaar"
The Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"

12/11/14
Verbal Abuse - "Just An American Band"
The Aggrolites - "Dirty Reggae"
Witchaven - "Terrorstorm"

12/12/14
Minor Threat - "Complete Discography"
Maroon 5 - "V"
David Bowie - "Nothing has changed" Disc 1
Dirty Filthy Mugs - "Another Round" 7"
Bad Brains - "Build A Nation"

12/13/14
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Hypnotic Eye"
Hurray For The Riff Raff - "Small Town Heroes"
DJ Quik - "Rhythm-al-ism"
DRI - "Dirty Rotten" LP

12/14/14
The Black Pacific - S/T
Magic! - "Don't Kill The Magic"
Against Me! - "Trangender Dysphoric Blues"
in tents - "Bee Yourself" EP
Cock Sparrer - "Shock Troops"
The Ready Set - "The Bad & The Better"
Blazing Eye - S/T EP
Coheed & Cambria - "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 2: No World For Tomorrow"
Parquet Courts - "Sunbathing Animal"

12/15/14
Jethro Tull - "Aqualung Live"
Scuffs - S/T EP
Manic Hispanic - "The Recline Of Mexican Civilization"
Wye Oak - "Shriek"
Weezer - "Everything Will Be Alright In The End"
Del The Funky Homosapien - "Iller Than Most"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
The Gravitys - "Bring You Down"
Nine Inch Nails - "And All That Could Have Been" live album

12/16/14
Karoshi Boy - "Nothing Is" EP
Moonpool - Demo
Endeavor/Servants - split LP
Fugazi - "In On The Kill Taker"
Coldplay - "Ghost Stories"
Noise Complaint - "Parasite"

12/17/14
Family Of Light - "Technicolor In Stereo"

12/18/14
Kottonmouth Kings - "Long Live The Kings"
Four Year Strong - "Rise Or Die Trying"

12/19/14
Timber Timbre - "Hot Dreams"

12/20/14
Ty Segall - "Manipulator"
Stevie Nicks - "24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault"

12/21/14
Cluster Headaches - "Uneasy" EP
Faith No More - "Motherfucker" digital single
Less Than Jake - "Anthem"
Lea Michele - "Louder"
FIDLAR - S/T
Bombay Bicycle Club - "So Long, See You Tomorrow"
Summer Vacation - "Winter Break" demo
Asking Alexandria - "Stand Up And Scream"
Within Temptation - "Hydra"
Homegrown Hypocrisy - "California Rock" CD
The Parrots - "Loving You Is Hard" b/w "I Am A Man" 7"
Mac DeMarco - "Salad Days"
Maesa - "Whippoorwill" EP
Pepper - "No Shame"
The Crystal Method - S/T
Pizza Time - "U Wanna Pizza Me?" EP
D'Angelo & The Vanguard - "Black Messiah"

12/22/14
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Nocturama"
The Acetates - S/T EP
Winds Of Plague - "Against The World"
Bonaparte - S/T
Death Valley Girls - "Electric High" EP

12/23/14
Fejhed - S/T
Ridgeway - "Sleep" EP
Olivias - Demo
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Nathan Snow/Kirby Jayes - "Punks Are People Too" split LP
David Nail - "I'm A Fire"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Apathean - "Eve"

12/24/14
Gold Vine - "Twisted" digital single
The Acacia Strain - "Death Is The Only Mortal"
Foster The People - "Supermodel"
Black Lips - "Underneath The Rainbow"
La Roux - "Trouble In Paradise"
The Glass Daggers - "Feel Good Destruction"
The Valenteens - "Fun In The Sun With..." EP
Menace 2 Society - Demo 2014
We Had A Deal/Coma Regalia - split 7"
Ben Frost - "A U R O R A"
Capitol Punishment - S/T EP
Katarina - "Evil People" digital single/EP
The Expendables - "Gettin' Filthy"
Anubis Gate - "Horizons"

12/25/14
Ariel Pink - "pom pom"
Cursive - "Burst & Bloom" EP
Pink Floyd - "The Endless River"

12/26/14
Entombed - "Unreal Estate" live album
Melted - "Old Lady Avenue" digital single
Street Dogs - "Back to the World"
Bobby Rush with Blind Dog Smokin' - "Decisions"
Fist Benders - "It's Raining"
Brandon De La Cruz - "Three Songs" EP
Braineater (US) - "Generation Greed" digital single
Braineater (POLAND) - Demo
DK Slider/File Island/Suzy's Dead - 3-way split
Caribou - "Our Love"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Monuments to an Elegy"

12/27/14
The Velvet Underground - "Live at Max's Kansas City" Disc 1
Wild Wing - "Another Victory for the Forces of Darkness" EP
Moving Mountains - S/T
Faith No More - "Angel Dust"
Alice In Chains - S/T

12/28/14
Navarone - "Vim and Vigor"
Propagandhi - "Failed States"
Take This Hand - "Fight To Survive" EP

12/29/14
Take This Hand - "Fight To Survive" EP

12/30/14
Hard Girls - "Isn't It Worse"
Charlie Moon - "Little" EP
Lein - "Duel" demo
Magpie/Interracial Bookclub - "All Bacon No Beans" split EP
Jason Derulo - "Talk Dirty"
The Coltranes - "Chrisbenoit" EP
The Creature From The Sleepy Lagoon - "Original Extreme Attempts to the Babalon Working"
hellogoodbye - "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!"
Klaxons - "Love Frequency"

MUSIC NOTES
- I listened to wayyyyyy more Eddie Money than this list would indicate
- Favorite 'new finds' of the month: Your Old Droog, Protomartyr, Skeletal Remains, Tinariwen, Blazing Eye, Parquet Courts, Scuffs, Wye Oak, Ben Frost, Katarina, Anubis Gate
- Worst of the month: Hollywood Undead (how the fuck was this shit ever popular?), The Ready Set (jesus christ that shit is annoying), Cluster Headaches (it's like I get it, but its not working well, stop), Lea Michele (why did I even listen to this?), Within Temptation, Navarone (both of the last 2 bands are so boring I don't even have any shit to talk), The Creature From The Sleepy Lagoon (just plain terrible), hellogoodbye (way too cutesy for me)
- Steve Aoki is hella overrated
- Why did I listen to an entire Maroon 5 album? What the fuck is wrong with me?
- It's rare that I listen to 2 bands with exclamation points at the end of their name but I did it this month...Living the dream
- All the reviews I read of the new Wye Oak album lament that the frontwoman stopped using guitar because she was so badass so I guess I should check out their older albums because this new guitar-less album is badass
- The new Weezer album fucking sucks but then again it is Weezer of course it sucks
- Timber Timbre is pretty dope but much like The War On Drugs, the singer sounds too much like the Arcade Fire guy for me to distinguish them
- Stevie Nicks has a new album out. That is all.
- Xzibit is on the new Within Temptation album for some reason
- Pepper is way less offensive and childish than I had hoped
- I might have to listen to that D'Angelo album a couple more times to appreciate how dope everybody else seems to think it is (Lauryn Hill syndrome)
- The only song from I liked from both the Asking Alexandria AND Winds Of Plague albums were the instrumental interludes that every metalcore band has...that's a bad sign.
- Most of that Bonaparte album fucking sucks but the few songs that are good are GREAT
- Damn The Acacia Strain just gets more and more boring by the album...its like that's what they're going for, "how boring can we possibly be?"
- "The Endless River"
- No matter how many times I try to give Entombed a chance they never seem to catch my ear like at all
- I wish I could be disappointed by the new Smashing Pumpkins album but I just don't care anymore, and that's the saddest part of it all
- "If I spoke in one constant rhythm, at one constant pitch, at one constant volume, right into your ear...you still won't hear."
- "Can I be as my God Am?"
- I had to ask the former drummer of Take This Hand to see if the old tracks were anywhere online because they never actually released the EP...a fucking shame because its such a badass album, even if they are straight-edge Christians....Inland Empire 2006 IN YOUR FACE
- I thought Klaxons were gonna sound like The Strokes not Daft Punk...not really about it

LIVE
12/5/14 - Ocean Hands/The IntroVert/(The Gravitys) @ Rockefella's
12/18/14 - (The Gravitys)/Zoccola/Caveman Movies @ The Wheelhouse Bar
12/20/14 - Motherboy/Pilgrims/Cursed Graves/Recluse @ Ali's House
12/31/14 - (The Gravitys) @ Nate & Kelsey's House

LIVE NOTES
- Playing an acoustic set at a bar is a stupid idea
- That show on the 18th was our first with our new drummer Sam
- It was nice to see all my friends at that Motherboy show; it's been too long. Long live The Dial.
- Many thanks to Nate and Kelsey for having us at your New Years Party...that shit was fun. Thank you to all my friends for encouraging me so much and just keeping me going. I truly appreciate all the kind words; I really couldn't do it without you. \_/

MOVIES
12/8/14: "Katt Williams: The Pimp Chronicles Pt.1"
12/10/14: "Zombieland"
                "Troy"
12/13/14: "Workaholics" Season 3 Disc 1
12/22/14: "This Is The End"
12/25/14: "Beetlejuice"
12/30/14: "Holes"

MOVIE NOTES:
- "Beetlejuice" is like the best movie ever made..."Coach, I don't think we made it through that crash" "I'M NOT YOUR COACH."

ZINES
Finished 12/11/14: ONE Rollerblading Magazine V2N1 Feb/March 2007

ZINE NOTES
- I read an entire rollerblading magazine this month, leading me to believe that rollerblading magazines may indeed exist.

BOOK REVIEW: Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore by Albert Mundian

 *** This was written back in 2010 when I was playing bass with my friends in a band called Melting Corpse. It was posted on my Facebook way back then but I should have put it up on here a long time ago ***

I got this book at a used bookstore while visiting Seattle last week, and read the whole thing between the hours of 10pm Thursday and 430pm the next day, including 5 hours of sleep and plenty of airport bullshit. It's a quick read, especially if you like these kind of underground-rock-music-story books. This is actually the first 'history-of-metal' books I've read, besides I guess The Dirt by Motley Crue. I've read like all the 'history-of-punk' books and most of 'Our Band Could Be Your Life" etc, but I've been so into metal, death metal especially, for the past few years that I thought I should get a bit more of a footing on the historical nitpicking that music nerds like me like to engage in.

It's all introduced by a short essay by the legendary BBC 1 DJ John Peel, who was an early champion and enthusiast of death metal, before starting things off with a bold name for the first chapter: "Punk is a Rotting Corpse." Of course this is the title of an old-school Napalm Death song, but it's a good starting point to remind modern metalheads, who are often quick to bad-mouth punk rock, that much of death metal and especially grindcore is rooted in hardcore punk and the anarcho movement of early 80s England. That is one important concept, lost on much of today's generation I feel, that this book highlights quite well right early in the book. What I also found interesting was the boredom bordering on contempt that many of the early artists showed for the thrash metal scene; it was refreshing because the thrashers of the time were always lamenting how the ubiquitous 80s pop/hair-metal scene was too mainstream or whatever, but the death metallers are just so much further removed from that level of popularity that they don't even mention the MTV metal of that era once in the whole book. Instead it's Metallica and Megadeth, then in what today's crowd considers their golden years, that these guys are tired of.

To be bluntly honest, however, the latter chapters of this book in which the mainstream music world attempted to co-opt death metal into 90's alternative-rock sensibilities really made me look at some of these bands a lot differently than I had in the past. For this I am grateful for the book's candor in showing how many of these bands who tout a really underground personality or whatever really went for the big time in a totally unabashed way, something that has been completely forgotten by the modern death metal and metalcore scenes. Kids today paint bands like Morbid Angel and Obituary and such to be the epitome of underground, but the deals Earache and Metal Blade and Roadrunner and basically all the labels and bands of the early to mid-90s made with major labels really stand as strong evidence against such claims. And it's disappointing, because I too wanted to see all these guys as underground stalwarts, but even the supposedly anarcho-founded Napalm Death was on a major label in 1995. These chapters alone should be enough to color the fantastical obsessions many new kids in the scene have with these older bands.

While this book gives some crucial history of an often overlooked or misunderstood genre of metal which has very few other full works focused on it, and it certainly details the history of Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, and Carcass pretty closely, there are some glaring problems of omission if you ask me. First are the pictures. There are alot of characters in this book, many of whom shift through various bands as the years go by, but almost every picture just says something like "an early Nihilist lineup" or something, never really identifying who in the lineup of raggedy metalheads is who. Some captions would have been helpful in cognizing who it is we're reading about.

That's a minor gripe compared to the lack of attention many other crucial bands receive in this book. My main problem is the somewhat skim outline of the band Death's history. While Chuck Schuldiner is a prominent figure in some of the opening chapters and I did actually learn a thing or two about his travels and influence in the American scene, very little about the band's lineup changes or overall contribution to the growing technicality in the music is mentioned. This is odd, given that Death's famous logo is featured on many a shirt of some keystone players throughout this very book's pages.  Much more is said about the lesser-known, less-important pre-Death demo band Mantas. The same goes for the legendary grindcore band Repulsion, who gets referred to as such only a couple times while the demo version of the band, Genocide, is the point of much focus.

The shrift in detail is apparent for other top-notch bands like Deicide, Cannibal Corpse,Vader, Entombed and Terrorizer as well, but it borders on straight up insulting in the cases of Sepultura and Suffocation. Sepultura, one of the most important metal bands in history and by far the most successful Latin American band of any genre in the American and English markets, is not even interviewed and is brought into the fold by telling the stories of Roadrunner Records' newfound success with them and of a record producer having a tough time in Brazil recording their classic "Beneath the Remains" album. They aren't really given a spotlight of their own, and even though the author notes that when they were introduced to the Northern music scene people were interested because of the whole Latin American aspect he doesn't delve into the question of how the scene might have developed in Brazil or the different musical approach the band took.

Suffocation gets even less focus, even though the author accurately dubs them "one of the most-imitated bands of the era" in speaking of early 90s death metal. There are exactly 3 paragraphs regarding Suffocation scattered throughout the book despite the fact that they are one of the few really relevant bands from the NYC scene and their drummer is often credited with creating a whole new type of now-popular blast beats. The fact that they had 2 black guys in the band during a time when black metal bands often spoke of fascism and racism could surely have warranted some discussion. I don't know I've always seen Suffocation as one of the absolute most important bands in death metal history and this book would certainly not convey that to your average reader.

What makes the lack of focus on extremely important bands like Cannibal Corpse, Death, and Suffocation even more frustrating is the nearly-defensive attempt that is made in one of the closing chapters to bring mainstream nu-metal band Slipknot into the book's end as an example of how death metal's influence can be seen in current mainstream metal acts. While I won't deny the slight death metal tendencies said band may possess, and my own current bandmates are the kind of rabid Maggots who would try to do the same thing were they the ones writing a history of metal, it's pretty fucking stupid to dedicate almost 5 pages of pictures and interview testimony from otherwise respectable members of the death metal community giving the band quiet praise especially if you're gonna shrimp out on the real death metal bands. That whole section pissed me off.

To be fair, it may be possible that many of the things I see as omissions are results of the book's overriding focus on the reeeally-early days of death metal, so both the author and many of those being interviewed may not have a completely working understanding or appreciation for the newer breeds of death metal. While I myself am not the biggest Swedish melodic death metal fan, there's no denying it's overwhelming influence on today's styles and it may have needed more than a quick mentioning of At The Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquility (by the way why the fuck does it continuously mislabel them as Dark Tranquillity?? who was doing the editing for danzigssake?). Their inclusion of Earth Crisis and Converge in discussing death metal's influence on hardcore during the 90s is a healthy addition and I really appreciated the balanced review given to my subgenre of choice, but it doesn't exactly capture the complexity of the two scenes coming together that ended up producing today's extremely productive metalcore and deathcore genres.  On another genre-related note, the term 'blackened death metal' may not have been in circulation the way it is today when this book was published in 2003, so the discussion of black metal would be tempered by such novelty.

The importance of bands like Suffocation and Gorguts (a band the book, or at least one of its interviewees, pretty much derides) may be more apparent now with the advent of such genres as deathcore and blackened death. But it is kind-of a shame that really great late-90s/2000s bands like Krisiun, Brutal Truth, Decapitated, Cryptopsy, The Locust, and Nasum are only given about 2 pages for all those names combined, while other amazing acts like Necrophagist, Today Is The Day, or Dying Fetus etc are not mentioned at all.

All shit talking aside, the author of this book clearly went to great lengths to secure interviews with a plethora of the key members of this very elusive underground scene to construct a mosaic discussion of how the England, Florida, California, Sweden, and European death metal scenes emerged.This is a story that has not been so fully brought together before. With so many bands and record labels and promoters and shifting members in all the bands from all these different parts of the world and different social modes of operation, of course it would be difficult for this guy to include everything that everybody wants to hear. An introductory essay even claims as much and it may be near-impossible to ever really write the true complete story of death metal, just as it is for any other full-fledged genre of music.

Ultimately, this is a pretty good primer for those of us who like the music alot but don't know the backstories of the bands, or those of you out there who might be peripherally interested in death metal or extreme music in general and would like to know where to start in the never-ending journey into the hell that is the underground meta/punk/hardcore/etc scene. I think this is a book that has alot of potential but it should be revised and updated to take into account the massive spike in popularity death metal has received in recent years due to the rise of deathcore and blackened death, and to expand in the areas I noted above because it seems a bit of an injustice to talk so much about Napalm Death (an anarcho punk band at heart) and not give ample time to the many other groups who embody the idea of death metal a little more clearly.

Playlist for November 2014

This is a list of all the full-length albums, EPs, demos, splits, and singles that I listened to in their entirety during the month of November 2014. Afterwards are lists of movies I watched and things I read during that timespan, with notes on all. This was the first month in a long time in which I didn't go to a single show. What the hell is going on with me?

11/1/14
Red House Painters - "Songs For A Blue Guitar"
Static-X - "Wisconsin Death Trip"

11/2/14
Protest The Hero - "Fortress"
Meshuggah - "obZen"
Cephalotripsy - "Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies"

11/3/14
Cradle Of Filth - "From The Cradle To Enslave" EP

11/3-11/5/14
Miranda Lambert - "Platinum"

11/5/14
Delay - "Circle Change"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"

11/6/14
Districts/Regret, The Informer - split 12"
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - "This Is Somewhere"
Legion Of The Damned - "Ravenous Plague"

11/7/14
Killwhitneydead - "Hell To Pay"

11/8/14
Michael Endres - "Arnold Bax: Complete Piano Sonatas" Disc 1

11/9/14
Run The Jewels - "2"
Exalt - "No Son" digital single
Ghostlimb/Fischer - split 10"
Green Day - "Dookie"
Bootsy Collins - "Back in the Day: The Best Of Bootsy"
Augustines - S/T

11/11/14
88 Fingers Louie - "Behind Bars"

11/12/14
Erskine Hawkins - "Tippin' In"

11/13/14
Beck - "Morning Phase"

11/14/14
Hollow Earth - "Silent Graves" EP
Colossus Fall - "Sempervirens" EP
Calle 13 - "Multi_Viral"
Mushroom Attack - "The Fight Goes On" compilation CD
Samhain - "November Coming Fire"

11/14-11/15/14
Lauralyn Kolb - "Fanny Mendelssohn: Lieder"

11/15/14
Pink Floyd - "The Endless River"
Run With The Hunted - "The Sieve and The Sand"
Humanifesto - "A Declaration Of Intent"

11/16/14
The Gravitys - "Bring You Down"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Robert Plant - "Band Of Joy"
Chiodos - "Devil"
Dystopia - "The Aftermath"

11/17/14
Grethe Kausland - "A Taste Of..."
Julie Byrne - "Rooms With Walls And Windows"
Arison Cain - "The Love and The Volume"
La Luna - S/T EP

11/18/14
The Velvet Underground - "Gold" Disc 1
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - "Pinata"
Otep - "Sevas Tra"

11/19/14
Eugene Ormandy - "Classical Juke Box Vol. 1"
Anastacia - "Resurrection"
Sanctuary - "Into The Mirror Black"
Monoliths/Wounded Knee - split 7"
Clean Bandit - "New Eyes"

11/20/14
Heart - "Bad Animals"
Pavel Bobek - "Buh Ma Me Rad"
The War On Drugs - "Lost in the Dream"
end of the summer - "Second" EP

11/24/14
Oceans - Winter Demo 2012
Canyons/Mons Wolff - split 7"
Descendents - "All"
Air Dubai - "Be Calm"
Scott Joplin - "The Entertainer"

11/25/14
Azealia Banks - "Broke With Expensive Taste"
Lint Vaccine - S/T EP
Polina/Bonehouse/Kaddish/Todos Caeran - 4-way split
Alestorm - "Sunset on the Golden Age"
The Cure - "Greatest Hits" Bonus Disc - 'Acoustic Hits'
Chico Hamilton Quintet - "The Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings" Disc 4

11/26/14
Aphex Twin - "Syro"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"

11/27/14
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
My Chemical Romance - "Thee Cheers For Sweet Revenge"

11/28/14
Zoccola - "Wet Nurse" digital single
Sanctions - "No Land"
88 Fingers Louie - "Back On The Streets"
The Kooks - "Listen"
Chicago Baroque Ensemble/Patrice Michaels Bedi - "The World Of Lully: Music Of Jean-Baptiste Lully"
Angel Olsen - "Burn Your Fire For No Witness"
Ocean Hands - "Dreamcatcher"
Animal Faces - "Half Asleep" EP
Jamie Cullum - "Interlude"

11/29/14
Eddie Money - "Sound Of Money: Greatest Hits"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
Radiohead - "Pablo Honey"
The Gravitys - "Nutrition"
The Gravitys - "Unplugged at The Dial" EP

11/30/14
Pixies - "Bossanova"
Tabu Ley Rocherau - "The Voice Of Lightness" Disc 1, 1961-1971
Sharon Van Etten - "Are We There"
Transporting Planets - S/T EP
The Banner - "Frailty"
Simple Minds - "Big Music"
Paul Bowles - "Baptism Of Solitude"

MUSIC NOTES
- Every time I listen to "Songs For A Blue Guitar" I get even more depressed than I am naturally. One of the best albums ever recorded.
- R.I.P. Wayne Static
- Cephalotripsy kinda sucks but you gotta hand it to'em, from their name to their album's name to their lyrics, they are probably the most disgustingly offensive gore band ever, displacing even Cannibal Corpse and Dying Fetus...A high task, no doubt
- Man Cradle Of Filth is so much cheesier than I remembered
- It took me 3 fucking days to finish that Miranda Lambert album, not because it just totally sucks, but something about the production on modern pop-country, I can only take like 3 or 4 songs at a time before passing out
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: Delay, Districts, Regret The Informer, Erskine Hawkins, Colossus Fall, Grethe Kausland, Julie Byrne, La Luna, Sanctuary, Monoliths, Wounded Knee, Pavel Bobek, Azealia Banks, Bonehouse, Chico Hamilton Quintet, Sanctions, Angel Olsen, Animal Faces, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Transporting Planets, Paul Bowles
- My band The Gravitys finally released our new album "Nutrition" onto the interwebs on Thanksgiving. Check it out. www.thegravitys.bandcamp.com
- On a somewhat related note, John from the band Ghost Noise hit me up mid-month to tell me that he had listened to "Bring You Down" again and really enjoyed it...that was a nice message to receive. Thanks for listening.
- Why do I keep giving Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Otep a chance? I've never liked it before why do I think I will upon a second listen?
- As far as mediocre metal bands go, Legion Of The Damned and Alestorm are pretty damn mediocre
- Goddamn the new Run The Jewels and Freddie Gibbs albums are straight-up badass
- They're different types of punk entirely but in both cases I forgot about how good 88 Fingers Louie and Mushroom Attack were
- Beck just gets more boring with each passing year
- "November Coming Fire" is the best Samhain album
- Just the notion of a new Pink Floyd album was awesome to hear about, but the fact that its possibly their most beautiful album as well just blows me away..."It's What We Do"
- I listened to a substantially greater amount of classical music this month than probably any other month of my entire life
- The new Run With The Hunted kills. So does the new Sharon Van Etten.
- I just don't get the appeal of Chiodos
- That had better be the worst album Heart ever made because if there's something worse I'd be flabbergasted
- The War On Drugs doesn't deserve as much hate as Mark Kozelek has been sending their way but they do sound a bit too much like The Arcade Fire to not raise an eyebrow on my end
- I was actually pleasantly surprised by that Azealia Banks album, especially the last couple songs
- "Take me home tonight, I don't wanna let you go until the feeling's right"
- "Pablo Honey" is hella underrated
- "Bossanova" is the best Pixies album and you're wrong if you disagree
- Tabu Ley Rochereau wrote over 3,000 songs and released over 250 albums during the course of his career...Thats some impressive shit right there
- That Paul Bowles album is some deep, deep shit...Haunting

Zines:
Finished 11/8/14: NiteGuide Magazine Issue 5: May 2010
Finished 11/24/14: UC Irvine Magazine Summer/Fall 2014

Zine Notes:
- Not only is that NiteGuide Magazine from 2010 hella outdated but it's also probably the worst-written magazine I've ever read in my entire life.
- It's bullshit that Barack Obama did the commencement speech for 2014 UCI grads and not for mine

Movies
11/27/14: "Horrible Bosses"

Playlist for October 2014

This is the list of all the albums, EPs, demos, singles, etc. that I listened to in their entirety during the month of October 2014. Afterwards are lists of the movies I watched and zines I read as well as my notes regarding all. It's weird how I only went to like one show all month too what the fuck.

10/2/14
Lana Del Rey - "Ultraviolence"
inthebackground - "Letters to the Bay" digital single
Bokanovsky/Lakme - split 7"
7 Seconds - "The Crew"

10/3/14
Danzig - "III: How The Gods Kill"
Actress - "Ghettoville"
Acid Phyx - "Desolate Grave" demo
Bokanovsky - Demo MMXII
Strike Twelve - "Born Naked, Die Naked" EP
Fear Factory - "Transgression" Deluxe Exclusive Download Edition

10/4/14
Ryan Adams - S/T
Braineater - December 2013 Demo
Daydream - S/T EP
Defiant Trespass - "Struggle To Survive"
In This Moment - "Blood"
Jack White - "Lazaretto"

10/5/14
The Salad - "Suck You" EP
Osawatomie - Demo 2012
Ministry - "The Land Of Rape And Honey"
Testament - "Dark Roots Of Earth"
St. Vincent - S/T
The Depaysement - "IPOH horg fung"
Boysetsfire - First Demo
Boysetsfire - "Premonition, Change, Revolt" demo
Dropkick Murphys - "Do Or Die"
Slipknot - "Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses"

10/6/14
Bogsey & The Argonauts - "Skinned Knees"
end of the summer - "Second" EP

10/7/14
The Beatles - "Love" remix album
Uncle Dave Macon - "Travelin' Down The Road"
The Hotelier - "Home, Like No Place Is There"

10/8/14
Relaxer - "Lasers"
Lord Snow/Afterlife Kids - split EP
Immolation - "Close to a World Below"
Wide Streets - "Little Babies" EP
Deadmau5 - "For Lack Of A Better Name"
Ground Up - First Instrumental Demo CD
A Life Once Lost - "Iron Gag"

10/9/14
2Pac - "Greatest Hits" Disc 2
Milt Jackson - "Goodbye"

10/10/14
Rosanne Cash - "The River & The Thread"
Randy Wolf - "Fainting Spells" EP
Abest - "Asylum"

10/11/14
Sublime - "Stand By Your Van" live album
The Faceless - "Planetary Duality"
Remainder - "The Frozen World Thawed"
Gesalffelstein - "Aleph"

10/12/14
U2 - "Rattle and Hum"
Carl Schuricht & Arthur Nikisch - "Historic Recordings: Beethoven - Complete Recordings Vol. 20" Disc 1

10/13/14
Protest The Hero - "Fortress"
Fugazi - "Steady Diet Of Nothing"

10/15/14
Swans - "To Be Kind"

10/18/14
The Bennies - "Rainbows In Space"
Calculator/Innards/Capacities/Itto - "The Sound Of Young America" 4-way split
The Nerve Agents - "Days Of The White Owl"
California Bleeding - 2011 Tour EP
One OK Rock - "Jinsei x Boku ="
The Gaslamp Killer - "Breakthrough"

10/19/14
Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - "Gemini"
Last Exit - "Koln"
Sun Kil Moon - "Benji"
The Frights/Death Lens - "DeathFrights" split EP
Captive Bolt/Gary Francione - split 7"
Bad Brains - S/T
Man With A Mission - "Database" single
Imaginary Pants - "Kites At Night" EP
Jamie Jones - "Moan & Groan" single
Seven Lions - "Worlds Apart" EP

10/20/14
Pendulum - "Greatest Hits" Disc 1
Jelly Rolly Morton - "1926-1930" Disc 1
The Afghan Whigs - "Do to the Beast"
Tidemouth - "What I Meant To Say" EP
Cease Upon The Capitol - "The End Of History" EP

10/21/14
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - S/T

10/22/14
Hatebreed - "The Rise Of Brutality"
Dash Jacket - "Ten Thousand Things"
AlunaGeorge - "Body Music"
7 Seconds - "New Wind"

10/23/14
Dr. Feelgood - "Singles: The UA Years"
The Coltranes - "Man With The Hat" EP

10/24/14
FKA twigs - "LP1"

10/25/14
Atomic Psychopath - "The Album"
Lil Wayne - "Rebirth"
Odesza - "My Friends Never Die" EP
Orchestra Of Vienna Volksoper - "Johann Strauss II: Waltzes & Polkas"
Caveman Movies - "Evil Makes The World Spin"

10/26/14
Deez Nuts - "Rep Your Hood" EP
CDC - "The Split" EP

10/27/14
Laeirs - "Emotional Blackmail" EP
Sound Tribe Sector 9 - "Peaceblaster"

10/28/14
Danny Daze - "Your Everything" b/w "Fall Away From Love" 12"
Layne Redmond - "Roots of Awakening: Chanting the Chakras"
Fit For Rivals - "Steady Damage"

10/29/14
Fifteen - "The Choice of a New Generation"
end of the summer - "Three" EP
end of the summer - "Second" EP

10/30/14
Frank Wess, Freddie Green, Joe Newman, & Kenny Burrell - "Jazz For Playboys"

10/31/14
Samhain - "November Coming Fire"
Samhain - "Unholy Passion" EP
Samhain - "Final Descent"

MUSIC NOTES
- It's odd to me how people could either love or hate Lana Del Rey because she is just so nondescript and boring...I mean, she's attractive, and some of the songs are cool I guess, but what gives with all the hype in both directions?
- Favorite "new finds" of the month: Bokanovsky, Ryan Adams, Relaxer, Afterlife Kids, Milt Jackson, Abest, Last Exit, Seven Lions, Cease Upon The Capitol, Dr. Feelgood, Odesza, Laeirs
- Worst of the month: Acid Phyx, The Salad
- Is anyone actually a fan of Fear Factory? How did they ever gain relevance or stature within the music community? I've never met a single person who has ever been stoked on Fear Factory and they've been around the entire time I've followed music
- I always thought Ryan Adams was like, the same person as John Mayer, and I fucking hate John Mayer, so I never gave Ryan Adams a chance, but the new Ryan Adams CD is pretty damn good. I never thought I'd say such a thing.
- Defiant Trespass is so much shittier than I had remembered, and I had remembered them as being pretty shitty to begin with
- In This Moment just gets more and more ridiculous with each release
- Jack White is hella overrated; I only liked 3 songs off his entire new full-length album
- Are The Salad consciously mocking or consciously mimicking The Garden? Or do they think they're doing something wildly new? Either way it's not a good look
- I haven't listened to every Testament album ever but I'm willing to bet that "Dark Roots Of Earth" is definitely amongst their worst
- I feel similarly to St. Vincent how I did about Lana Del Rey but St. Vincent is objectively better for sure
- The Depaysement is one of those bands you really, absolutely have to see live to appreciate because the recorded stuff doesn't do it justice whatsoever
- Holy shit I'm usually the strictest of Beatles purists, I hate covers or changes to their songs, but the "Love" remix album is fucking AMAZING...it makes you appreciate songs you've grown up your entire life loving in an entirely way...Paul McCartney is a BEAST at the bass guitar
- That was weird to listen back to the very first Ground Up CD we made, just for ourselves to review and change, because those original takes on songs that I myself wrote are so different from how they ended up at the end and there are some badass drum fills I wish we hadn't changed...Also there is a single track of me doing vocals to "Down With It" that's never been released or put on any of the demos I actually gave people so I might make a YouTube video for that soon
- "I was tweaking by myself one night, that's when I wrote this song..."
- For everything that people hate U2 about right now with the whole iPhone thing, I think it's fair to point out that we never should have stopped hating them for "Rattle & Hum"...That shit is awful
- "Complete Recordings Vol. 20" Disc 1 --- Damn Beethoven, you wrote way too much fucking music, choose your battles dude
- "Goddess Gagged"
- "To Be Kind" is a dense, dense listen and somewhat difficult to get through in one sitting but it is worth it.
- I used to listen to "The Days Of The White Owl" so damn much
- Despite the Red House Painters being pretty much my favorite band of the 90s after Smashing Pumpkins and maybe Fugazi, this was the first time I had ever listened to Sun Kil Moon...It's similar but it's also different and I don't like it nearly the same
- "I Love, I Jah"
- Apparently the guys who makes EDM as Seven Lions is a full-blown metalhead and bases his music on that more than any other electronic music he's surrounded by, and I can hear it
- Why do I like Pendulum so much more now than I did when I was into going to raves and shit?
- Grace Potter is fairly hot and she sings very well but goddamn her lyrics are fucking retarded
- "New Wind" is my favorite 7 Seconds album
- "She Does It Right" by Dr. Feelgood is definitely the riff of the month...so infectious
- Lil Wayne's "Rebirth" is even worse than you remember. Even worse.
- "Pour some liquor out for the ones we've lost."
- "end of the summer" : "The Choice Of A New Generation"
- I listened to way more old-school jazz this month than almost any month ever before
- "The devil sent me here to you and if'a you fear, you've reason to; Open up all seven seals; The beast has come to claim the youth. ARCHANGEL."

MOVIES:
10/1/14: "Funny People"
10/3/14: "Burn After Reading"
10/15/14: "The Truman Show"
10/18/14: "Workaholics" Season 4 Disc 1 DVD
10/20/14: "Inuyasha: Double Trouble" DVD
10/31/14: "Evil Bong 3: Wrath Of The Bong"
                "Zombieland"

MOVIE NOTES
- "Funny People" makes me cry like every time
- "The Truman Show" is like my favorite movie right now
- That was the first time I ever watched an anime. I don't understand the appeal.

ZINES
10/20/14: "Abre Tus Ojos" Direct Action Claremont zine
10/21/14 - 10/27/14: "Death + Taxes" Sept/Oct 09 issue 

SHOWS
10/25/14: (The Gravitys)/Liquid/Depictions Of Fear/Interracial Bookclub/Happy In Hemet/California Bleeding/Caveman Movies @  Happy Fest at Anthony Liquid's house

SHOW NOTES
- Even though I listed \_/ as having played at Happy Fest, we only played one song ("Eustress") with Anthony Liquid after Liquid's set was done. Depictions Of Fear was badass. Thanks for having us Tony.

MEMORY REVIEW: Static-X

When I was like 11 years old there was gonna be a block party for 4th of July in my culdesac and for some reason I was the person providing the stereo and they wanted to know how loud it went so I put on "I'm With Stupid" because it was what I thought was the loudest CD I had at the time and we put it on blast and I rode my bike down the street to see how far it would be heard from....By the time you reached Salinas you couldn't hear it anymore.

R.I.P. Wayne Static 1965-2014

Static-X - "I'm With Stupid"