You know it's a good day when you show up to Steve Kerwin's front steps and he hands you a copy of Asada Messiah's new collection of jams. I've been waiting, dying for Cross Contamination to be release for well over 2 years, when the album was recorded. Anyone familiar with their debut effort, Grill 'Em All, will be glad to hear the San Francisco quartet has sharpened their sound, leaning more towards the thrashy elements of their first album. While Grill 'Em All was a fun mix of thrash, hardcore and stoner metal (and an album which I probably listened to every day for like 3 months when I first got it) this album sounds almost like another band in regards to songwriting. Their knack for trad-metal with some doomy elements makes for a great combo. You've heard it before, but not like this. Definitely blast 'Devil On A Cross'. I've been watching these guys rage on stage playing this new material for years and it's been a long time coming for these jams to drop.
Awesome split between two of Brooklyn's finest. Be sure to check out Batillus' recent jam, Furnace; and look forward to a full length from Mutilation Rites, which will hopefully drop soon.
I hate Rolling Stone Magazine. I don't even read it on a regular basis, much less ever. I somehow got sucked into issue #1145, which contains their '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time'. I was at Raley's with my girlfriend trying to buy stuff to make breakfast when I came across the cover of Eddie Van Halen doing his thing. I chose to open the magazine's pages only to become slightly consumed by how outrageous this list was. Not because I disagree with who's on the list and in what order but with the idea of ranking something so subjective. Well, the Humanities major in me bought a 6-pack and started writing an 'angry letter', which turned out to be a good writing exercise. I plan on snail mailing this letter to David Fricke, the guy who started the infamous list, in hopes that he might respond. Maybe it's kind of pointless to get into an intellectual debate with Rolling Stone, but who cares? Below is the cover letter to Mr. Fricke. The actual essay/letter is can be accessed HERE.
(yours truly at the Hendrix statue thing in Seattle, WA)
Dear Mr. Fricke,
I am here to contest the feature article in issue #1145 of Rolling Stone Magazine. The one about all those ‘great guitarists’. You may think that the timing is a bit off. This letter has been delayed only because I have been manifesting an essay challenging and discussing the idea of what makes something great. I chose to use the Great Guitarists Of All Time list as my impetus because I’m a music fanatic myself, as well as a musician.
I get it; we all talk about who’s the greatest and the Top 100 list idea is a somewhat necessary evil. It stirs up controversy. It creates conversation between peers. It’s a superficial way of looking back and dwelling on some kind of nostalgia that solves nothing. What’s worse is that at least twice the very magazine you work for has done this particular list! Something that’s described as transcending time would seem unwavering and concrete, but you’ve managed to rewrite it.
Behind this page is an essay that explores the idea of a list that tries to confine something entirely subjective. I agree with you and the panel, to a point, that Jimi Hendrix is pretty damn good. I’m just sick of hearing about it. And I’m not alone.
The next several pages are the introduction to what I hope will become a dialogue. Not just with me, but with the music community. Something as vast as the greatest anything of all time is worth more than just a few pages in magazine. The Humanities major in me craves more than just a superficial survey of something as definitive as the greatest of all time. It doesn’t do anyone justice. Obviously there’s not enough space in your magazine to do a list like this properly. Perhaps a book is in order. Something so expansive and in depth that it cannot be disputed.
I hope you take the time to read what I have to say and I encourage you to write back.
I saw these guys open for Wolves In The Throne Room and they blew me away. This self-titled full length comes somewhere between the atmospheric drone of Burzum and Wolves and a less noodly version of Krallice; OR a more developed Wigrid. The result is probably one of the few Black Metal releases to really catch my attention in the past year or two.
I've been trying to figure out how to present my thoughts on the recent SOPA/PIPA legislation and the current relationship between music and the Internet. It's about more than just piracy or theft of intellectual property. If these laws pass, and they won't, YoutTube, Blogspot and countless other websites could be taken down and our ability to express ourselves granted by the First Amendment will be further diminished. I'll let everyone else yammer on about that.
Former Guns 'n' Roses bassist and Seattle Weekly columnist, Duff McKagan suggest that we quit whining about SOPA and PIPA. I was intrigued at first to see what he meant. His main stance is that of anti-piracy, which I am sure hasn't changed since the days of Napster. You can read his editorial or just know that he's wildly against people getting music for free. (You should still read the article, which is provided in the hyperlink above) Is the music industry getting that hurt by piracy? Possibly. But maybe I'm coming at it from a different angle. (Part of what I say comes from personal experience from being in a band; from conversations with fellow musicians; good old fashioned reading; and certainly some educated speculation. So forgive me if I sound like a jack-ass. I don't know it all. Mmmkay?)
McKagan is of the idea that stealing music hurts the livelihood of those making money playing, producing and publishing music. Again, possibly. I'm pretty sure everyone's still stealing Metallica albums while they continue to make millions. In the current music climate there are waves of working class bands who don't make a living from playing music than those fortunate enough to make a suitable living from music.
The current state of music is spread so thin that piracy doesn't even begin to show how the music industry is fucked.
For starters the rise of the Independent Label has spread thin the possibilities for bands to get signed. It's also made it harder for bands to get signed. Big labels only want bands that can sell millions of albums and headline arenas and large theaters and clubs. Bands on indie labels are less likely to sell millions of records, depending on the label. But because there are so many labels the dispersal of money is spread thinner than before.
Also because there are so many bands (and I mean more than there should be) is almost impossible to keep track of them all, which is where magazines and BLOGS come in. Even if a band is considered good by a small group or scene they're not going to sell millions of albums even if there wasn't a means to get them for free. If anything the Internet has made people more aware of these smaller bands. And because of this fans can actually find out about shows and tours and give the bands money directly instead of handing to a record label who might only give the band a smaller percentage of each sale, if anything. Really, the Internet gives small bands, of which McKagan will never hear of, a fighting chance. And really, how man BLOGS boasting hoards of obscure and out of print music are diverting sales from record stores and companies?
The biggest culprit I feel are the record labels and their Internet savvy business plan. Once the labels embraced iTunes it was all over. Before iTunes you still have to buy entire albums. Singles weren't a popular product for quite some time and music fans would spend $15 just to hear a song. With iTunes you don't have to even buy an entire album. For 99cents a pop you can get exactly what you want. Just want the song you heard on the radio or that reality show you like? You can get exactly that and nothing else. iTunes has revived the concept of the single, in a way. But really they made it possible for fans to not spend $15 and instead spend even less to get exactly what they want. AND of that 99cents how much goes to Apple, the record label and then the band? I'm not math-whiz, and I have a hard time figuring out how 99cents vs $15 increases revenue. And even if you buy the entire album in mp3 form it's still pretty cheap. Although I'm pretty sure iTunes isn't the death toll of the record industry it still hurts more than it helps.
Also, a lot more smaller bands aren't even wasting time with record labels. Websites like BandCamp are cutting out the middle man and creating new ways for bands to put out their music and make a few bucks (so that they can release their album on vinyl. Duh!). It provides are more direct source of income for bands and really all they have to do is send mp3s to BLOGS and what not for promotion.
So, Mr. McKagan. While the abundance of music theft certain accounts for some of the hurt the music and movie industry is supposedly feeling, it's not about theft. While your point may hold ground, it's a bit out of touch.
So what did this have to do with SOPA/PIPA? Mostly nothing. But Duff McKagan still sucks.
The beauty of Musical Journalism is that a large chunk of it is subjective. But with the power and responsibility of opinion comes the dangerous habit of favoritism. As music continues to spread itself thin with countless genres and subgenres of minuscule proportions fans and ‘journalists’ alike equally take turns dissecting the sounds and intellectualize offerings to the point of no point at all.
This is extremely puzzling when I find the Metal community up in arms over a band’s rising popularity, especially when they’re compared to bands that only sound kinda/sorta the same. MetalSucks.net decided to gripe and qualm over the rising popularity of Christian Mistress, Olympia, Washington’s new ‘Retro NWOBHM’ hype. The website’s complaint is that they don’t get it.
“I’ve listened to their new album Possession and I think it’s pretty good.” States Vince Neilstein, the editorial’s author. And really, everything should stop there. In fact! this should be the introduction to a rave review of the bands new album, right? But that’s when they drop the ball:
“But it never ceases to amaze me how the hipster propaganda machine works, taking ordinary to decent bands and revving them up into a dizzying whirlwind of hype.”
What the fuck does that even mean? Aren’t all bands they get signed and get some kind of press start out as an ‘ordinary to decent’ band? And don’t bands that typically get signed and exposure earn these things because they’ve risen above ordinary? Isn’t that how it works? Clearly Mr. Neilstein is venting, but his comments thus far seem to contrast and confuse.
In the next paragraph Neilstein cries over the fact that both the bands Holy Grail and White Wizzard, who sound and look almost identical to eachother, are not getting their due props instead. In his mind both bands have the right sound, which is even more polished than the raw and rough sounds of Christian Mistress, whom he seems to compare to in music style as well. He then attacks their image: normal-ass flannel and a female for a singer. Judging from his reaction Neilstein has a problem with dudes not wearing denim jackets covered in Mercyful Fate patches and that having a female vocalist, despite admitting her singing as legit, is a marketing ploy.
Last time I saw videos and promo-photos for both Holy Grail and White Wizzard I thought I was back in the 1980s. These dudes look identical to the guys in Accept, Iron Maiden… every single metal band from 30 years ago; and their music sounds exactly the same too. Dude, Accept and Iron Maiden called, they want their music and image back. What’s wrong with looking normal and not sounded super produced? Christian Mistress are either not ‘popular’ enough to afford a polished sound, or more likely, they’re not trying to sound like everyone else.
Lastly, Neilstein furthers his theory on hipster propaganda by saying the Christian Mistresses’ label, Relapse Records, is a hipster safe haven. Um, Dude? Since when did Relapse become a ‘hipster label’? How man solid Death Metal, Grindcore and Stoner Metal albums did they put out before Mastodon came around, got kind of big and left for a bigger label and get nominated for two Grammys? How is that even 'hip'?
The point is that Mr. Neilstein, and possibly the entire staff at MetalSucks.net, really really like White Wizzard and Holy Grail, and are butt hurt that some other band, which they admittedly like, is getting more hype. Which is funny, because I don’t understand why they don’t just hype the bands they like even more instead of making whiny, sexist remarks about another band they like less, or don’t like at all.
What I’ve learned from Neilstein’s editorial is that he really likes Holy Grail and White Wizzard, and that you think having a woman as a singer will get a band more exposure, which shouldn’t even matter. His remarks are juvenile and trite I don’t like a lot of bands, too; and I don’t understand why John Gossard and Therapy? aren't widely acknowledged as the best thing since sliced bread, but I’m not loosing sleep and writing editorials about it. Although, maybe I should. I’m writing editorials about why people in positions like Mr. Neilstein’s need to shut the fuck up and stop hating or picking favorites. Heavy Metal and all that encompasses has come a long way for some jackass to split hairs.
The final caper to this trivial pursuit is when, through all the kicking and bitching, Neilstein closes with: “Maybe I’m totally off-base; I haven’t seen them live yet, after all.”
My love affair with Speedealer started when I first saw Speedealer at the Pound SF with an audience of about 10, excluding the bands. It was probably one of the best shows I've ever seen. However, the deal was sealed the next day when I went to the record store and picked up Here Comes Death.
This album came about the time when Stoner Rock bands like Clutch and C.O.C. were trying to take the more rockin' and blues elements of metal and adding groove into the mix. Speedealer went to opposite direction and added more Motorhead, the rage of hardcore and wildness of Ted Nugent. Half the album is filled with heavy, southern styled stoner riffs (think Eyehategod trying to play Southern Rock) while the other half of the album blurs past your ears with such a booze fueled fury that it almost falls appart on itself while Jeff Hirshberg snarls through his teeth because he'd pop a lung if he sang any more fiercely. This album possess a power and rage that is incomparable to a lot of it's contemporaries. It's Southern styled Punk/Metal at its best. GET IT HERE
