Russian Circles - New Zealand Tour

Russian Circles are heading to Australia in September and will stop off in New Zealand at the same time. At this stage they'll play Wellington on the 14th and Auckland on the 15th with venues TBA. These dates could possibly be swapped. Joining them on the bill will be Jakob, who sold out recent shows so this is sure to be popular. No word on tickets yet, stay tuned.

Kids Eat Crayons - Kids Eat Crayons Is for Lovers

I wish there was some new material from these guys as KEC's debut album (released in 2007) is pretty damn impressive.

I guess we just have to wait, patiently.

(Kids Eat Crayons, 2007)

John Zorn - Jazz in Marciac

This video is fantastic! Full pro-shot show of John Zorn's Jazz in Marciac from 2010. 

It features:

John Zorn - Direction, Saxophone
Marc Ribot - Guitare

Joey Baron - Drums

Jamie Saft - Piano, Orgue

Trevor Dunn - Bass

Cyro Baptista - Percussion

Kenny Wollesen - Vibraphone

Some easy listening Zorn here. Brilliant!

Black Mountain - In the Future

Bright Lights.

(Jagjaguwar, 2008)

Meat Puppets - Leaves

You can download a live version the Meat Puppets song Leaves right now off their website: http://themeatpuppets.com/

Do it. It's free.

This is a live version from 1990, the download is from 1992 in NYC.

Year Long Disaster - Leda Atomica

A little bit of info on Year Long Disaster:

1. They've got a couple of albums; Year Long Disaster and Black Magic; All Mysteries Revealed.

2. Their singer, Daniel Davies, is the son of Dave Davies from The Kinks.

3. The bassist is Rich Mullins from Karma to Burn.

4. Jess Margera from CKY has filled in on drums a number of times.

5. They kick-ass!

Here's a track called Leda Atomica from their self-titled debut:

(Volcom Entertainment, 2007)

Melvins - Sugar Daddy Live

(Ipecac Recordings, 2011)

 

Weezer put out a song recently called I'm Your Daddy. Man, they suck these days. The Melvins, on the other hand, have been around for centuries longer and certainly don't suck, continuing to produce quantity and quality. Sugar Daddy Live is their latest release, a live show recorded with the Big Business duo but before The Bride Screamed Murder album.

Here's a short review I did of the recording, it's fairly tame and short, but it's straight to the point, just like the Melvins live:

It takes approximately sixty seconds for the Melvins, these days made up of Buzz, Dale, Coady, and Jarred, to warm into their work on Sugar Daddy Live; then the foursome up the ante and proceed to melt the listeners’ brains for the next hour. 

The (A) Senile Animal and Nude With Boots albums get a heavy workout as the Melvins provide some thunderous and crunching versions of what are already booming tunes. In classic Melvins fashion, or lack thereof, there is no filler, no banter, no bullshit, just straight up monstrous riffs which sludge the senses. 

Fantomas - Alice in Wonderland

Brilliantly creepy video featuring Fantomas music being played along to some ancient looking Alice in Wonderland footage. Seems pretty appropriate.

The Residents - Gingerbread Man

The Residents have about 800 albums, Gingerbread Man is one of them. All the tracks on the album start off with the same melody creating a strange, and sometimes frustrating, experience. This video is like a condensed version of the album with some freaky graphics.

(East Side Digital, 1994)

Faith No More - Exit Festival

Full length pro-shot video of Faith No More playing Serbia's Exit Festival on July 11, 2010.

Highlights include Surprise! You're Dead (23rd min), a failed attempt at crowd-surfing during Ben (52nd min), the band performing Serbian song Ade Jano (twice, 62nd & 77th min), and Mike Patton's antics during Just A Man (69th min)

Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part 2

It's a bit old now (two  months or so), but in case you missed it here's the ridiculous 30 minute music video for the latest Beastie Boys album. It features a host of stars including Seth Rogan, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, Jack Black, the dude from Eastbound and Down, and even Ted Danson.

(Capitol Records, 2011)

Tomahawk - Ameoba Records

Tomahawk playing instore at Ameoba Records in San Francisco, July 10th, 2002.

The show starts at about the 3 minute mark.

R.I.P. Ryan Dunn

Drums Are For Parades - Enjoy Your Psychosis

Featuring Chris Goss.

Free download available here: http://www.drumsareforparades.net/

Dog Fashion Disco - Reunion

Dog Fashion Disco are back in action this weekend playing the Anarchists of Good Taste and Adultery records. Check them out if you're near Baltimore.

This is Vertigo Motel off Anarchists of Good Taste:

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi - Rome

Some new stuff from Danger Mouse. Here he teams up with Daniele Luppi with help from Norah Jones and Jack White. This song's called Two Against One.

(Parlophone/EMI Records, 2011)

One Day as a Lion - One Day as a Lion

Zack de la Rocha (Rage Against the Machine) and Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta) formed this band in 2008 and released a five-song EP. They haven't released anything since although they have done a bit of touring and plan to put out an album soon.

Here's their song Wild International off their eponymous EP (this video is fan made & not official by the way):

(ANTI-, 2008)

Helmet - New Zealand Tour

Helmet's playing this weekend in New Zealand. Check them out in Auckland or Wellington:

The Kings Arms, Auckland

Saturday June 18th

Bodega, Wellington

Sunday June 19th

Tickets available from www.undertheradar.co.nz, www.moshtix.co.nz, Real Groovy (Auckland) and Slow Boat Records (Wellington).

This is them performing Unsung on their recent Metalliance tour of America.

  

Jim Martin - Milk and Blood

After he left Faith No More, but before he became a pumpkin farmer, Jim Martin released an album called Milk and Blood. There's some good songs and some bad but overall I like it, it has a kind of Metallica feel, not surprising seeing James Hetfield and Jason Newsted are involved somehow. There's a cover of Surprise You're Dead and this song Fatso's World:

(Steelhammer, 1997)

Battles - Gloss Drop

The new album by Battles came out last week. Despite fears it may not live up to Mirrored, it is certainly the goods. Hopefully I'll have a full review in the coming days, in the meantime I'll leave you with Ice Cream. I'm not too sure about the video clip, but the song's alright.

(Warp Records, 2011)

Handsome Boy Modeling School - So... How's Your Girl?

Handsome Boy Modeling School was a collaborative project between Dan the Automator and Prince Paul. They released two albums with guest appearances from DJ Shadow, Sean Lennon, Kid Koala, De La Soul, Mike Patton, Jack Johnson, Chino Moreno, Pharrell, and many more, I think Linkin Park was in there somewhere as well.

This track's called The Truth off their first album So... How's Your Girl? It features J-Live and Roisin Murphy.

(Tommy Boy Records, 1999)

Lionize - Destruction Manual

Tim Sult (Clutch) brings us Southern rock with a reggae twist. This song's called You're Trying to Kill Me off the Destructional Manual album which was released earlier this year.

(Hardline Entertainment, 2011)

Zu - Carboniferous

Video for the song Soulympics with features Mike Patton on vocals.

(Ipecac Recordings, 2009)

Kora - Story Ain't Over

It's been a while since Kora released their debut album in 2007. Here's their latest offering although I'm not sure when we can expect an album, sometime this year I'm told.

Loosely described as "experimental rock/funk", Story Ain't Over seems to be quite a departure from some of their heavier influences, and most certainly different to the aggression they put into Heavy Metal Ninjas in recent times.

Attila - Billy Joel

Billy Joel used to be in a metal band; with no guitars. Keys are a good substitute as we can hear on this track Revenge is Sweet off their one and only album.

Also check out the amazing cover.

(Epic, 1970)

Gangpol & Mit - The 1000 Softcore Tourist People Club

Preview of the album which came out earlier this year:

(Ipecac Recordings, 2011)

Circus of Dead Squirrels - Operation Satan

Circus of Dead Squirrels (CODS) fuse industrial metal with the cheekiness of bands such as Mr. Bungle and Dog Fashion Disco.

Their latest album, Operation Satan, focused primarily on the mistreatment of animals, a seemingly bizarre subject for band such as this. Where the message may at times be blurred while listening to the album, this video for What We Deserve certainly drives home the point being made.

Warning: it is, and is meant to be, quite intense.

(ForaNatioN, 2010)

Buy the album here http://www.circusofdeadsquirrels.net/ & part of the proceeds will be donated to help the suffering of animals.

Polkadot Cadaver - Sex Offender

The second album from the warped minds of Polkadot Cadaver sounds a lot more industrial. Bloodsucker is the first single (I think).

(Rotten Records, 2011)

Elysian Fields - Last Night On Earth

New album from Jennifer Charles and Elysian Fields. The song Chance also features the help of J.G. Thirlwell.

(Ojet, 2011)

Bill Gould & Jared Blum - The Talking Book

Ok, since I'm lazy, I'll start posting videos (hopefully daily) of new and interesting music with some reviews and the like thrown in now and again. 

First up it's the latest project from Faith No More bassist Bill Gould and his friend Jared Blum. This is a track called Sundown. 

(Koolarrow Records, 2011)

John Zorn– Nova Express

(Tzadik, 2011)

I’ll keep this short and possibly sweet, although I don’t think Zorn does sweet.

The first half of this album is relatively laid back, especially by Zorn standards. I haven’t heard much since his Naked City days which obliterated my ears. 

 (Note: This song isn't from Nova Express but is fuckin' amazing)

Here, the avant-garde maestro lulls the listener into a false sense of relaxation before disintegrating the mind, melting the brain, but not quite destroying all sense of assonance.

Oh yeah, Trevor Dunn also makes an appearance.