Friday, April 12, 2013

Coachella has started up

Live stream here:
http://www.coachella.com/

Yo ho hoe

Just a quick note- I've noticed that several sites that specialized in putting up Mp3's - legally, or not- have been taken down. I'm still here. Why? I think it's because this is just text, with links going back to legitimate sites. I don't illegally download, and I think I've been pretty clear about that. I worked in "the biz" long enough to know that everyone is hurting a bit- so even if illegal downloading is not what I blame for my friends not making enough money, anymore- I'm not going to avoid paying my friends. So, yes, I don't believe the hype, but no, I'm not illegally downloading. It's depressing, nonetheless. Maybe someday, other folks will realize that piracy isn't new, and it isn't the problem. Maladaption is, and always was.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Post 360

I guess it's fitting that the 360 post is another recap type of post. I haven't posted new music reviews in awhile, mostly because I've been pretty "iffy" on most of what I've heard the past few weeks.
For example, I've been listening to the new Mudhoney, "Vanishing Point" . It's not bad, and I dig the single "I like it Small" but even that track sounds like something Mudhoney has done before, and done better. So, while I don't hate it, I doubt if I'll listen to it very much. Likewise the new Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine record . It's got some good things, but it seems like familiar ground. Also, not one of these songs need to be over 2 minutes, yet most are around 5.  From title (White People and the Damage Done) on down- it's clever, it's the same sarcastic, bitter rock Jello does, but I was hoping for something more.
Better, then, is Rob Zombie's new "Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor". It features the best Heavy Metal organ this side of Deep Purple- seriously, the organ, when it shows up, completely makes the songs. John 5's guitars still own the tracks, but that organ makes the difference. If you liked his later White Zombie, and Early solo persona, this is it- industrial groove disco metal, with psychotronic samples and lysergic lyrics. However, even this has a big drawback " Gong gang gong de do gong de laga raga" -this is the very definition of "phoning it in"- it's so terrible that I'd suggest that, rather than springing for the CD, you download whatever tracks you like from Itunes or Amazon. There's one bit where, rather than do his rant for the chorus, he just says "F___ it"- literally.
Better than that, and probably better than we deserve is the new Melvins collection of covers "Everybody Loves Sausage". The opener, a cover of Venom's "Warhead" is simply brutal, but what do you want from a Venom song? From there the cover of Queen's "My Best Friend" is mean in all the right ways- they get the vocal harmonies right, but replace the rhodes with an 8bit casiotone- that's friggin' awesome. Likewise the cover of David Bowie's 'Station to Station" re imagines it as a circa "Man who sold the world" era sludgefest, with a massive helping of Merzbow-style noise. It goes on , turning on each and every track, mercilessly. It's not like a regular "covers" LP- it's more like an assault on each. In this death match, only King Buzzo wins!