During a recent festival performance at Roeser, Luxembourg, the mighty DEFTONES shocked everyone. Who would you least expect to sing Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan’s part on the track ‘Passenger’ (from the ‘Tones’ 2000 album ‘White Pony’)? How about Hayley Williams of pop-punk favourites PARAMORE? Yeah, we wouldn’t believe it either if it wasn’t for this footage. Weird, wonderful or woeful? We’re going for the first…
Sorry it’s been so long since we’ve posted on the blog but we’re back… and how! Ever wondered what The Clash classic ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’ would sound like played and sung by a crazy Canadian drummer with a million cymbals? Ladies and gentlemen, this is Wailin!
In support of the millions still struggling to survive in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, punk rock activists Propagandhi have announced details of an upcoming benefit release. The EP, which features three unreleased tracks from the band’s nineties heyday, will be released digitally on April 6th, with all proceeds donated to Partners in Health. The band had this to say:
“PIH are a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care, specifically in Haiti. They were one of the groups we directed income to during the initial release of Supporting Caste and you people stepped up. Hopefully you will again.”
In addition to this little teaser, the band have also hinted that their next new full length could be just around the corner:
“We’ll have a new record ready to record by the end of 2010, and judging from the 7 tunes we have going so far, it’s going to leave everything we’ve done in the past in the stinking dust.”
Could you ask for anymore? Buy the record: help the Haitians.
Keep up to date at:
Tom Williams
In addition to the forthcoming Blink 182 and Transplants efforts, countless hip-hop projects and almost fulltime session work; tattooed death-dodger and all-round Hollywood sticksmith Travis Barker plans to cut his solo album a little sooner than we all thought humanly possible.
Poised for a June release (according to his twitter feed), the album is expected to tour the scope of Barker’s musical influence and feature guest spots from a host of his buddies from the industry. Commenting to MTV last year, the drummer had this to say:
“There’s some stuff on my record that’s not going to have a bunch of guitars, that are just straight-up hip hop records. Everything’s going be real different. It’s going to be really well-rounded. We got a new Blink song on there, I think I’m going to do something with Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. Hopefully a guest appearance from Slash, I’m doing his big fundraiser that happens this month. I think there’s going to be a collaboration with [Kanye West's touring DJ] A-Track, so it’s gonna be really in all directions.”
A genre-shredding opus or an indecisive botch job? I guess only time will tell.
Tom Williams
Channeling the power of metal through his crystal ball, Saruman himself (well, acting legend Christopher Lee to be honest) is releasing a metal album! The 87-year old English actor fronts the band Charlemagne, who are releasing the symphonic metal concept album ‘Charlemagne: By The Sword And The Cross’ on March 15th through Cadiz.
The concept you ask?
“The Carandinis, Lee’s maternal ancestors, were given the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Through his Carandini ancestors, Christopher Lee has a direct link to Charlemagne, and has decided for the first time in his life to pay homage to his distinguished ancestor, who is credited as “The Father of Europe”.”
Check out the music at:
http://www.myspace.com/charlemagnemusical
One band to bind them, one band to rule them all…
Rock hero Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Them Crooked Vultures) alongside Ashton Kutcher, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen did an amazing sketch for legendary US comedy show Saturday Night Live recently. Playing middle-aged punks at a wedding who relive their old band Crisis Of Conformity on stage for the first time in 25 years at one of their daughters’ wedding, it’s a pretty hilarious watch for any fans of Black Flag and ’80s US hardcore punk. Watch the chaos unfold as they blast through the track ‘Fist Fight In The Parking Lot’ (obviously a nod to Black Flag’s ‘TV Party’) below. Great grey ponytail Dave!
Ian Chaddock
Meat Loaf is coming back like a bat outta hell with his eleventh studio album in April. No wait, come back! So whether or not you’re a fan, you’ve got to admit that the title for his new album is both bat shit crazy and a master stroke of bizarre logic! This one will definitely stand out. Watch the video below for the Loaf to reveal and explain the album title. Almost as good as ‘Bob Had Bitch Tits’ would have been…
Ian Chaddock
In a very weird series of events, Jared Leto’s (far left in pic. above) LA rockers 30 SECONDS TO MARS were caught up in the middle of a bomb scare last Thursday (4th February). During a crowded gathering of fans at the Hive (the band’s creative art space) on Melrose Avenue, LA, at which he planned to show them a sneak peak of the 30STM documentary ‘Artifact’, things took a turn for the worse as frontman Leto talked to the crowd from a small stage.
“There was a giant, really loud knock at the front door, and I joked, ‘Open it up,’ ” Leto explained to MTV. “Then a guy walks in with a giant package in his arms and everyone, including me, thought it was a joke. I thought it was a fan who had maybe brought a gift or something, but as he got closer, you could see he was giving off a different kind of energy. A few people in the crowd tried to stop him, because no one was really sure what his intentions were. He threw this big package down and it obviously had some weight to it, and addressed me by name and said he had a message for me and started reading out of a notebook. He was very incoherent and delusional.”
Leto realised the guy was “obviously disturbed” and grabbed him, taking him to the bad door of the building to talk to him. While Leto talked to the man, someone threw the package out of the back door.
“As I tried to talk to him, he got more and more aggressive. I saw he was not well, and then he started to read out of his book again, saying he had this message for me. And in these circumstances, you get protective of fans and friends, so I was concerned a little. We were all cautious. He kept trying to push his way back in [to the building] but we stopped him. It was pretty surreal, but at the same time, I did feel some empathy [for him].”
When the man returned outside the building in his car with loud music playing, someone called the police.
“We did the screening and then, 20 minutes later, we got another knock on the door and it was the bomb squad saying they were clearing the area,” Leto said. “They ended up clearing five blocks of Melrose — streets were blocked off, they weren’t letting anyone in or out and then, all of a sudden, this guy walks down the street towards me and I told the police, ‘That’s the guy.’ ”
Police arrested the man, asked what was in the package and he said “some appliances … and maybe some explosives inside.” Bomb-sniffer dogs were brought in but the package ended up containing either money or a blender and some candy (depending on which report you believe).
Here’s some fan footage of the bomb scare:
Bizarre. Almost as strange as the fact that during all this chaos, one of the band’s fans managed to find time to put a 30STM sticker on a cop car! Stickering up vehicles is always top of my list of things to do when there’s a chance my limbs might explode in different directions.
If you’re one of 30STM’s dedicated fans then read more about them and the stories of adversity and confrontation behind their third record in the new issue of Big Cheese (no. 119)! There’s a huge cover feature and you’re going to love it. So order your copy now from http://www.bigcheesemagazine.com
Bomb scares? Someone took the band’s new album ‘This Is War’ a bit too seriously. Thankfully it was a (not so) beautiful lie. I’ll get my coat…
Ian Chaddock
Californian punk rock titans Green Day recently won the ‘Best Rock Album’ Grammy for their huge album ’21st Century Breakdown’. Their musical version of their 2004 album ‘American Idiot’ hits Broadway in March too. ‘Riding high’ is somewhat of an understatement.
So for anyone that missed it, here’s their performance of ’21 Guns’, with the cast of the musical, from the 2010 Grammy Awards. Did you ever think you’d see Green Day do something this big? What other rock albums would you like to see turned into musicals? Have you ever heard anyone say ‘punks’ so weirdly and with such disdain as Jennifer Lopez?
Ian Chaddock
Ever wondered what Metallica would sound like a cappella? No, us neither! But now we have it and it’s equal measures hilarious and genius. German a cappella metal band (yes, you read that right) Van Canto make some amazing facial expressions as they use only their mouths (and a drumkit) to write some jaw dropping, fun songs. With their third album ‘Tribe Of Force’ due on March 1st through Nuclear Blast, here’s a sample of what you have to look forward to! It’s a cover of the Metallica track ‘Battery’ from Van Canto’s 2006 debut ‘A Storm To Come’. The new album will have a ‘Master Of Puppets’ cover on. Just wow.
