Adam Yauch

Today we lost a very important human being. Adam Yauch was not only a rapper, an entertainer, a musician. He was a poet, a brilliant lyricist, a criminally underrated MC and to me, one of the first examples (perhaps the first) of a musician that actually spoke articulately, carried weight with his words and never pandered to anyone.

The Beastie Boys, a group who started off as a shitty little punk band, turned into mouthy rappers, turned into accomplished performers, turned into humanitarians...But NEVER lost sight of what they were at their core: A band. A fucking brilliant band who knew EXACTLY how to have fun. Check Your Head is probably the finest example of true hip hop/rock crossover material. They never made bad records, but this one is especially noice (natch). A Desert Island Disc for sure. MCA had the dopest rhymes, the best lines, the gruffest tones. He was their Tom Waits. Their Bob Dylan.

 I really don't know what else to say. I'm beyond heartbroken over his passing. I hope his family and friends will find peace, now that his struggle is over. "I got more rhymes that I got grey hairs. So that's a lot because I got my share". Best. Line. Ever. Rest In Peace, Adam Yauch. A Legend.


 

The Cat's In The Bag...

Ask any Mike Patton fanatic what the most consistently solid post-Faith No More project is and I'd assure you that over 90% of those folks will tell you it's Tomahawk.

That's because it is.

Three albums. All unfuckwithable. Well maybe Anonymous was "unique" in ways the first two weren't, but when a band writes songs like "101 North", "Point & Click", "Birdsong", etc...they can do pretty much whatever they want.

So, about six months ago, I had this crazy idea. I wanted to have the three Tomahawk records on vinyl. That first record was BUILT for turntables the world over. I have a working relationship with Ipecac Recordings, so I laid out a concept:

- Tomahawk box set for Record Store Day 2012
- All three albums on vinyl for the very first time
- House that shit in a box that leaves room for the fourth Tomahawk album, coming out in Summer/Fall 2012
- Keep it affordable, but limit it, so once they're gone, they're fucking gone

Patton and the lovely folks at Ipecac dug it. We made it. It's available Saturday.

To say I'm beyond proud of this project is quite the understatement. Faith No More is my favorite band and has been since 1989. I'm also a die hard Helmet fan, so getting to curate this project, involving musicians from bands that formed my musical palate and to this day, are STILL my favorite bands, is an actual dream come true.

Please go out and support your local indie record stores and buy a bunch of records on Saturday. Unload thy wallets.

Thank you to Mike, Shawn and Greg at Ipecac for having an open mind and taking my crazy idea and making it a reality. And to Mackie Osbourne (Buzzo's wife and Melvins album art guru), for making the box look proper.

"Birdsong" Live (2003). The fucking jam.

The Ocean Make Friends With Russia

The Ocean is a beast of a band. A collective, if you will. The brainchild of guitarist and primary songwriter Robin Staps, The Ocean have been creating their thunderous, complex, yet memorable epics for over a decade now, and soon they will be unleashing a 3-DVD set on all of us. The discs will contain a complete documentary on the history of the band (which I hope includes info on their revolving door of singers and cavalcade of guest vocalists early on in their career), TWO complete live shows and what has surprisingly captivated the shit out of me...Their tour video blogs.

i know, it sounds very exciting to hear a band talk about random nonsense along their endless tour routes, but this one is very, very different. The Ocean released two monoliths of albums in 2011 and decided to go out and tour these things proper style...By heading to Russia and even out to the vastness of Siberia. The shows look like they were all incredible, with the band in top form, now with a finally stable lineup. Lots of partying with fans, making new fans, playing venues with stages too small for coffeehouse acoustic performances, let alone The Ocean.

Check these out and buy all of their records. All of them are brilliant.

NOTE: Trying to understand the concepts of their releases makes me feel 12% smarter. Could just be me, I suppose.

Tour Blog Part 1:
Tour Blog Part 2:

Least Worst of 2011

2011 was a tough year for good music. It was out there and there were some gems, but overall, not a golden year. However, I found some keepers and a few future-classics.

Cave In returned. Destroyed. Mastodon became ZZ Top on speed. Approved. Will Haven also returned. Decimated. Matt Good found a piano and went to town. Exciting, right?

It was the year of stellar EP's. Crosses (Chino Moreno & Shaun Lopez get sexy, Glassjaw drops two slabs of awesome, while Coliseum unleases a min-album that destroys literally everything. The special little guy here is a dude that goes by jakeL. Check out his Bandcamp page, yo. Also shocked by how good Childish Gambino's debut is. Donald Glover might just be the best thing about the whole damn year. Save Community!!!

Here's the list. Go forth and get learned.

TOP 25:
1. Cave In- White Silence (Hydra Head)
2. Mastodon- The Hunter (Warner Bros)
3. Will Haven- Voir Dire (Bieler Bros)
4. Times of Grace- The Hymn of a Broken Man (Roadrunner)
5. Matthew Good- Lights of Endangered Species (UMusic)
6. Blindside- With Shivering Hearts We Wait (INO)
7. Dub Trio- IV (ROIR)
8. Junius- Reports From The Threshold of Death (Prosthetic)
9. Foo Fighters- Wasting Light (RCA)
10. Childish Gambino- Camp (Glassnote)
11. Trivium- In Waves (Roadrunner)
12. Rob Crow- He Thinks He's People (Temporary Residence)
13. Rival Schools- Pedals (Photo Finish)
14. Fences- Fences (Onto)
15. Trap Them- Darker Handcraft (Prosthetic)
16. Santah- White Noise Bed (No Sleep)
17. 40 Watt Sun- The Inside Room (Metal Blade)
18. Earth Crisis- Neutralize The Threat (Century Media)
19. Ghost Brigade- Until Fear No Longer Definies Us (Seasons of Mist)
20. dredg- Chuckes & Mr. Squeezy (Superball)
21. City of Ships- Minor World (Translation Loss)
22. Long Distance Calling- Long Distance Calling (Superball)
23. Chimaira- The Age of Hell (E1)
24. Machine Heads- Unto The Locust (Roadrunner)
25. Russian Circles- Empros (Sargent House)

...and the rest:
My Morning Jacket- Circuital (ATO)
Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire (Pax-Am)
The Dears- Degeneration Street (Dangerbird)
Most Precious Blood- Do Not Resuscitate (Bullet Tooth)
Thomas Giles- Pulse (Metal Blade)
Devildriver- Beast (Roadrunner)
Rotten Sound- Cursed (Relapse)
Cavalera Conspiracy- Blunt Force Trauma (Roadrunner)
Amon Amarth- Surtur Rising (Metal Blade)
Thursday- No Devolucion (Epitaph)
Jesu- Ascencion (Caldo Verde)
In Flames- Sounds of a Playground Fading (Century Media)
Unearth- Darkness In Light (Metal Blade)
Sepultura- Kairos (Nuclear Blast)
Thrice- Major/Minor (Vagrant)
The Fling- When The Madhouses Appear (Dangerbird)
Karma To Burn- V (Napalm)
MonstrO- MonstrO (Vagrant)
Primus- Green Naughyde (Prawn Song)
Dream Theater- A Dramatic Turn of Events (Roadrunner)
East of the Wall- The Apologist (Temporary Residence)
Animals As Leaders- Weightless (Prosthetic)
Young Legionnaire- Crisis Works (Wichita)

EP's:
1. jakeL- Shelter EP (self-released)
2. Coliseum- Parasites (Temporary Residence)
Clouds- B Chuggas Are Logging (Hydra Head)
Glassjaw- Our Colour Green (self-released)
Glassjaw- Coloring Book EP (self-released)
Crosses- Crosses (self-released)


...and seeing Soundgarden absolutely demolish the Forum was a night I'll never forget.

2012, don't front. Bring it.

Gambino. Freaks and Geeks. Dope.

2011, No Thank You

Is it just me, or are the vast majority of 2011 rock/metal releases lacking in the quality and "staying power" department? Sure, we have gems from Mastodon, Cave In, Trap Them, Blindside, City of Ships (to name a few), but I'm just not finding the passion I once had for a ton of other bands.

Am I getting older? Yep. Am I old? Nope. Do I give a shit that there's a new Megadeth record out soon? Not a chance.

I've always known it's quality over quantity, even though I had a CD collection into the thousands, but this year, it's become glaringly obvious that:

a) I don't care about CD's anymore, other than my very favorite bands
b) New bands, for the most part, are shit
c) Old bands, for the most part, are old shit

For example, I actually think the new Dream Theater is a great listen. Apparently, 35,000 other DT fans thought enough of them to check it out as well, as it clocked in at an impressive #8 on the Top 200 in its release week. I think it's better than their last two lackluster releases, but still, not one note on that record got me excited for repeat listens. Not a one. Same goes for the snoozefest that is the recent Explosions In The Sky and the new Unearth. All solid releases...all headed into the obscurity bin of my brain. Just notes, no memories.

...and some records are just bad. Steven Wilson, you're better than this, dude. Queensryche. So very, very, bad.

The releases that truly separated themselves (Mastodon, Cave In, Foo Fighters, to name a few) are something special. Fantastic albums that I will spin for years to come. I just wish there was more of that to go around.

Currently spinning:
Mastodon- The Hunter
Cave In- White Silence
Bayonet- s/t EP
Thrice- Major/Minor
Wilco- The Whole Love

Spinning about to get underway:
Ryan Adams- Ashes & Fire
Will Haven- Voir Dire
Dreamers of the Ghetto- Enemy/Lover
Junius- Reports From The Threshold of Death
Rob Crow- He Thinks He's People

I'll be posting WAY more often. Seems like the thing to do.

Buy more records.

In the mean time, jam on this...

Will Haven "Held To Answer":

Must Be Jelly...

Time for the underrated gem of the week. The Jelly Jam is about as awesome a side project as one can get. Ty Tabor, Rod Morgenstein and John Myung. That's King's X, The Dixie Dregs and Dream Theater. I mean, c'mon. Two records of superb quality and some incredible jams. Wally Farkas' (Galactic Cowboys) label Molken Music, will be reissuing both albums digitally in early 2011, as well as some unreleased bonus content. Oh, and a NEW record is also apparently in the can. Tis a good morning!

In the meantime, sample these tasty nuggets and support this band and incredible label HERE.

"Nature's Girl"



"Allison"

The Best Of 2010

No hype. No bullshit. Here's my 2010 Best Of list. You're welcome.

1. Fistful of Mercy- As I Call You Down (Hot/Vagrant)
2. Deftones- Diamond Eyes (Reprise)
3. 36 Crazyfists- Collisions & Castaways (Ferret)
4. The Abominable Iron Sloth- The ID Will Overcome (Black Market Activities)
5. Barren Earth- Curse of the Red River (Candlelight)
6. Anathema- We're Here Because We're Here (K Scope)
7. Oceansize- Self-Preserved While The Bodies Float Up (Superball)
8. Knut- Wonder (Hydra Head)
9. Pro-Pain- Absolute Power (Regain)
10. Intronaut- Valley of Smoke (Century Media)
11. Karnivool- Sound Awake (Sony)
12. East of the Wall- Ressentment (Translation Loss)
13. Coliseum- House With A Curse (Temporary Residence)
14. The Dillinger Escape Plan- Option Paralysis (Party Smasher, Inc)
15. The Ocean- Heliocentric/Anthropomorphic (Metal Blade)
16. Freya- All Hail The End (Victory)
17. Cloudkicker- Beacons (self-released)
18. Brad- Best Friends? (Monkeywrench)
19. Helmet- Seeing Eye Dog (Work Song)
20. Priestess- Prior To The Fire (Tee Pee)
21. Satchel- Heartache & Honey (self-released)
22. Ty Tabor- Something's Coming (Molken Music)
23. Midlake- The Courage of Others (Bella Union)
24. The Sword- Warp Riders (Kemado)
25. Black Mountain- Wildreness Heart (Jagjaguar)

Additional Boss Releases:
Living Sacrifice- The Infinite Order (Solid State)
Barn Burner- Bangers (Metal Blade)
Stephen Brodsky- Here's To The Future (Hydra Head)
Six Gallery- Breakthroughs In Mordern Art (Superball)
Brant Bjork- Gods and Goddesses (Low Desert Punk)
Red Sparowes- The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer (Sargent House)
Sevendust- Cold Day Memory (7Bros. Records)
Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders- Red Light Fever (RCA)
Mike Patton- Mondo Cane (Ipecac)
Nonpoint- Miracle (954 Records)
At The Soundawn- Shifting (Lifeforce)
As I Lay Dying- The Powerless Rise (Metal Blade)
Howl- Full of Hell (Relapse)
Souvenir’s Young America- The Name of the Snake (Init)
The Unwinding Hours- The Unwinding Hours (Chemikal Underground)
Karma To Burn- Appalachian Incantation: Ltd 2CD (Napalm)
God Is An Astronaut- Age of the Fifth Sun (Revive)
Soulfly- Omen (Roadrunner)
Far- At Night We Live (Vagrant)
Rosetta- A Determinism of Morality (Translation Loss)
Kingdom of Sorrow- Behind The Blackest Tears (Relapse)
Proghama-C- Bar-Do Travel (Armoury)
Norma Jean- Meridional (Razor & Tie)
James LaBrie- Static Impulse (Inside Out)
Gristle- Cold Blue Sky (Metal Blade)
Dax Riggs- Say Goodnight To The World (Fat Possum)
Tangents- One Little Light Year (Angel Side)
Meligrove Band- Shimmering Lights (Last Gang)
Crippled Black Phoenix- I, Vigilante (Invada)
Constants- If Tomorrow The War (Science vs. Silence)
Year of No Light- Ausserwelt (Conspiracy)
envy- recitation (Temporary Residence LTD)
Isolbel Campbell & Mark Lanegan- Hawk (Vanguard)
Black Country Communion- Black Country Communion (J&R Adventures)
Jimmy Eat World- Invented (IGA)
Bison BC- Dark Ages (Metal Blade)
The Casting Out- The Casting Out (Eyeball)
Brent A. Petrie- Vary Us, Artist (self-released)

Best EP's:
Three Way Split w/Rosetta, East of the Wall & Year of No Light (Translation Loss)
Katatonia- The Longest Year (Peaceville)
Trap Them- Filth Rations (Southern Lord)
Mouth of the Architect- The Violence Beneath (Translation Loss)
Brain Banger- Munsoned (Hawthorne Street)
Cloudkicker- ]]]]][[[[[ (self-released)

Record I'm Not Supposed To Like But I Do Award:
Sean Hayes- Run Wolves Run (self-released)

Label of the Year: Metal Blade

Song of the Year (tie):
Fistful of Mercy- Things Go 'Round
Deftones- Diamond Eyes

Best Shows (in order):
Faith No More @ Williamsburg Waterfront (Night 2)
Faith No More @ Williamsburg Waterfront (Night 1)
Fistful of Mercy @ Easy Street, West Seattle
Soundgarden @ Showbox at the Market
Alice In Chains @ The Paramount Theater
Matthew Good & His Band @ The Triple Door (both nights)
Biffy Clyro @ Showbox at The Market
Fistful of Mercy @ Showbox at the Market
ISIS/Tombs/Jakob @ Neumos
Sean Hayes @ Tractor Tavern
Katatonia/Swallow The Sun/Book of Black Earth @ El Corazon
Helmet/Bison BC @ Showbox at the Market
36 Crazyfists @ El Corazon
Swallow The Sun @ El Corazon
Satchel @ The Crocodile Café
Totimoshi/Melvins @ The Crocodile Café
Brad/Satchel/Pigeonhed/Malfunkshun/Mother Love Bone/Hank Choir @ Showbox at the Market
Dredg/codeseven/Animals as Leaders @ El Corazon

There you have it.

Bring it, 2011.