Genghis Tron

I've been listening to their new album 'Board Up The House' pretty much nonstop since downloading it earlier in the week. Super, super good. Hailing from Philly this three piece electric metal hardcore assault (Cyber-grind?) are worth checking out. I ran across a VERY detailed six part video series documenting the recording of the new album over at a Guitar World blogsite called MetalKult. Each section is lengthy but worth checking out if you're into the band.

As a bonus these guys will be playing with Converge here in Portland on April 16th.

20 Years Ago Today...

Morrissey released the 'Suedehead' single in the UK officially starting his solo career. The 12" had 'Hairdreser On Fire' as the B-Side. Not bad. Below is the video featuring Moz visiting James Dean's hometown of Fairmount, Indiana.



My favorite Morrissey video for sure. Dean would have turned 77 on February 8th of this year. I hope to visit Fairmount at some point. Only 2,282 miles from Portland...no big deal.

Skateboarding needs...

More Beautiful Losers and Less Las Vegas hotel jumping.

Digital Skate Off

Stevie and I have been spending some time battling for high score bragging rights over at Ground Kontrol. It's been a while since they had a working 720 machine and now they've got a perfect one. Flawless joystick and all. All the details (and game music) can be found here. Even with my two cocktail machines at home (Pac Man and Centipede), it's still my favorite arcade game of all time. I really shouldn't have sold my machine last year...

Not Your Typical American

The Goats, Tricks of the Shade might be the last hip-hop (rap?) record I was really excited about. In high school (1989) I found rap through skating and was fueled by the groups of that time: NWA and Easy E, Ice T, The DOC, Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Eric B and Rakim, Stetsasonic, the mighty 3rd Bass and many more. Topping the list was Public Enemy. Not only did they have best sound, front man and DJ combo, the lyrics were amazing. Truly revolutionary ideas. While I did enjoy the bitches and hos style of most gangster rap of the time, PE was much more. At the time it seemed to be a pure alternative to the crappy Mtv garbage. New ideas and a more punk based hip hop. Around 1990 I started going into DC and discovered local hardcore and found a direct way to tap into a music scene that spoke even more directly to me as a (ahem) white teenager. I still spun PE quite a bit but lost interest in the whole hip-hop deal as it seemed the edge was gone.

Enter The Goats. In late 1992 I was working at a record store in Washington DC. A promo CD arrived with a few songs from Tricks Of The Shade. I was taken by the illustration on the front with the ‘Burn The Flag’ graphic. Woah. These three guys (black and two white) from Philly had amazing beats and political lyrics that really pushed the envelope at the time. A new Public Enemy for 92'. Taking down George Bush (Sr.), insulting Columbus and bringing up issues like abortion, Leonard Peltier’s imprisonment and many other touchy topics of the time. So, so good. Yeah, they did some weed-based songs, but I could deal with that. The clever skits between songs really pounded the message home.

In 1993 I was lucky enough to see them live at the old 9:30 club in DC. Fucking incredible. They had a live band and the songs sounded even better. I was working at the record store and the Ruff House / Columbia rep arranged to get me a shirt (they had none for sale) and introduced me to a pretty blunted band. Later that year their second album came out and it just didn’t have that same edge. The Goats seemed to just fade away, as did my interest in anything hip-hop. These guys should be on every hip-hop top ten list and are VERY under rated.

“Men never die for flags, they die for politicians, the shadiest breed of the mental magicians”

Download the entire Tricks Of The Shade album here

The official Goats website (lyrics and info)

The Goats My Space (songs and info)

Dillinger Escape Plan On Conan O'Brien

If you told me nine years ago that Dillinger Escape Plan would be on Late Night with Conan O'Brien I would have laughed in your face. But here they are last Wednesday night on network television. And jumping on Conan's desk? Amazing. You Tube below ( I recommend going to the NBC site, clicking on the Wed Feb 6 episode and going to the Dillinger Chapter):



They also appeared on Charlie Rose(!?) discussing their roots and hardcore shows.



I LOVE this band and will continue to support everything they do including their great new record. From the first time I saw them in Richmond in 1998 opening for Converge (total darkness with blasting bright strobes and the band throwing themselves into the crowd) to 924 Gilman (fire breathing that had the low ceiling ablaze for a brief period of time) and every show afterward...they stoke me every time.

Plus, Calculating Infinity is one of those perfect albums for me. Download the full album here.

At The Gates

I had heard that the legendary death metal Swedes At The Gates were getting back together to tour, and now the dates have been posted. Crap. Where the hell are the US dates? I understand why they've started in Europe, but they've certainly got fans over here as well. Screw the festivals, let's get some small Northwest dates.

If all of this means nothing to you I highly recommend picking up the newly reissued 'Slaughter of the Soul' album (which includes a DVD of the show seen below) or just grab the FULL ALBUM here for free. It's high on my top ten metal albums of all time, no question.

From The Jam

Last week Stevie, Bryce and I caught From The Jam at the Alladin threater here in Portland. 'From the Jam' are The Jam bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler without Paul Weller. While many faux reunions can be a drag, especially without the main singer/guitarist, I have to say...they were amazing. Russell Hastings was given some pretty big shoes to fill and he did quite a good job. The songs were perfect and that signature sound was dead on. It was even better being right up front at the super small gig knowing that this tour sold out so quickly in the UK and most of Europe.

Here's a video of 'That's Entertainment'...which they didn't play at our show. Damn it.



Photo from Stevie's site, more photos and some video over there.

Magic Highway 1958

What a find. Past the amazing animation this Disney piece on the future of automotive is a great piece of history. Where are the heated super highways and in-office parking? The flipping electromagnet and solar powered cars? We really dropped the ball somewhere along the line, that's for damn sure. It's funny, a film like this would never be made now about 2050. As a whole I feel we've just lost the spark we had in the late 50's and early 60's. We'll never get those automatic-ceramic-bridge-builders without hoping and dreaming for them.