Band: Metallica
Album: Death Magnetic
Producer: Rick Rubin!

Believe it- The Four Horsemen have risen from the ashes of peer-to-peer purgatory (see: Lars makes peace with Pirates) and late-career mediocrity (see: the last 4 albums) now fully embracing the unbridled, epic, head-banging Pre Bob Rock (PBR?) era that cemented them as the undisputed Kings of Metal.  Perhaps the recent chainsaw noises of Austin’s The Sword or the ever-heavy Mastodon have awoken this sleeping giant.  Clearly the results ROAR for themselves: Death Magnetic is 80 minutes of relentless, triumphant, punishing, whiskey-chuggin RAWWK!

Lars Ulrich puts all haters six feet deep with his most ferocious performance in 2 decades.  James Hetfield is angry yet melodic, Trujillo breaks necks and steals bikes, and Kirk Hammett drops the bullshit – preferring to trample on graves before masterbating on them.  All i can say is Thank God (or Satan)…I wanna break somethin.

Listen to “All Nightmare Long” from Death Magnetic

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Listen to “My Apocalypse” from Death Magnetic

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Rating:
I dribble the Source onto my balls while air-drumming to this
- Cabeza

More info:
Metacritic | iTunes | Official Site

You gotta appreciate Beck…always evolving- never making the same record twice, but still always sounding like BECK- that skinny, white, creative, versitile, funky, soulful, scuffed-up goodness. its a defining voice in my generation

He had an amazing run of creativity with Odelay > Mutations > Midnite Vultures > Sea Change…Alas, the next 2 records just couldn’t live up to his Golden Age – though they had their moments…Modern Guilt hits a similar bittersweet mark…and after 2 listens…I like it, but dont love it.

Chappy sent me the album over email- prefacing with a comment that “Beck had phoned-it-in on this one”…not sure i totally agree.

i can dig that 60′s psychedelic vibe…DangerMouse produced. not a huge fan of him. title track is cool.  The best songs on here are the real band tracks/ Chemtrails, Soul of a Man (listen below)
I must say DM’s samples are lacking melody and life in their grooves – as opposed to earlier beck albums- Dust Bros. era- those managed to retain that raw, live-band feel even with shit loads of samples thrown in.

Listen to “Soul of a Man” from Modern Guilt

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its got 3-4 good songs on it, but overall its lacking that spark that we know beck’s capable of
Rating:

more info > www.modernguilt.com

cabeza

Denial, denial
Denial, denial
Your ears should be burning
-House of Cards (In Rainbows)

Take that, music industry. This will turn out to be a historical touchstone in the evolution of the record business.
Why Radiohead? Because they have all the ingredients to spearhead this revolution.. They know that their art has value.. and that it lives on its own without the need for a marketing machine or a billboard chart. This is not pop music.

Its the dawn of a new age, where good ideas travel on their own. The internet has evolved to a point where grass roots comminication can trump the boob tube. Hype comes from the streets, to the forums, to the blogosphere, and then to the mainstream. The inherent nature of the process acts as a filter – it weeds out the crap. Read the rest of this entry »

!!! (CHK CHK CHK)
Myth Takes
Warp Records 2007
iTunes • website

Taco Rating: 82%
Rating:

The name of the band is !!! (pronounced ‘Chk Chk Chk’ or any three repetitive sounds). They’ve been putting on a serious live show around the Sacramento, CA area since 1996, releasing a slew of 7″ records, and singles- including the Magnetic Fields’ Take Ecstasy With Me in 2005, but they’ve left their fans hangin’ for a proper album release. The various members have since dispersed throughout the US, but they’ve reunited for this long overdue studio project recorded in a big empty house in Nashville.

Behold Myth Takes!!!Now make a random one-syllable sound and repeat 3 times…now continue reading… Read the rest of this entry »

Instrumental Dissent
by The Motet (2006)
Rating:
The latest release from the Motet IS VERY GOOD. Imagine if Fela Kuti and Weather Report recorded a jam session full of tag-team grooves, then Thievery Corporation remixed the whole thing, complete with trancy dancefloor bombs a DJ-style song transitions. Then, have a modern day jam-band learn the CD note-for note and play it back with a trump-tight but organic energy only possible with in-the-moment performance. Read the rest of this entry »

The Slip is a trio of Brad Barr on Guitar and most vocals, his bro Andrew on drums, and Marc Friedman on bass.. they all met in Boston around the Berkeley music scene, coming to notoriety with a jazzy-jammy-scofield-esque sound that has since broadened into more of a song-based repetoire with poignant vocals and creative rhythms and melodies. my first live experience with them was back in 98′ at Lucy’s on 6th st. – their first time to austin and it was an epic barnburner of a show to a packed crowd.. they did well to prove themselves to the ATX early on and it has allowed them to come back here and play to good size crowds over the years..

Eisenhower is their first real studio effort since 2002′s “Angels Come on Time,” an album that received plenty of acclaim. I personally loved it for its songs.. they have a knack for catchy and quirky tunes that stick with you in a personal way.. though Barr’s voice isnt always accessible, it definitely grows on you after a few listens..when start to digest his great melodic ideas..

Listen…to ‘The Soft Machine’

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Read the rest of this entry »

[genre: metal, progressive rock]
Rating:
If you’re a hard-core metal-head you’ve undoubtedly already sacrificed small mammals to the gods of Mastodon. But if Like ME, you’re into all-types of music, but have been estranged from the genre by an endless stream of Screemo noise and New-metal ear-trash of recent years- this is your chance. Crawl out from beneath your indie-stuffed hard-drives, kneel at the alter and slash thine wrists! All plebeians shall bleed! The kings have returned! behold! MASTODON!

listen:

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Blood Mountain is the 3rd full-length from Atlanta’s MASTODON. The first thing you’ll notice is the drummer Brann Dailon, who must be on meth, or a combination of uppers- he just pulverizes the kit, albeit with serious virtuosity, throughout the hour or so of this EPIC album. Read the rest of this entry »