Published October 26th, 2009 in Paste Magazine
Mastodon loves a good story.
The Atlanta metal band wrote an album based on Herman Melville’s Moby Dick with 2004’s Leviathan. This year’s Crack The Skye told of a paraplegic traveling through space. But the band’s next project may tell its most ambitious tale yet. As previously reported, Mastodon has written the score to the film adaptation of the gnarly comic book Jonah Hex, which is slated to hit theaters in June 2010.
Published October 22nd, 2009 in Paste Magazine
Video may have killed the radio star back in those dark and desperate times known as the ’80s, but today, video games are bringing the radio star back to life. On Oct. 27, gaming giant Activision will release DJ Hero, the hip hop/electronic cousin to its popular Guitar Hero series. The game includes over 100 songs licensed from some of music’s heaviest hitters. Eminem, Jay-Z, Beastie Boys and M.I.A. all contribute tracks, to name a select few, and electronic music’s biggest French-robot duo, Daft Punk, even created 11 exclusive tracks just for the game.
Published October 20th, 2009 in My Old Kentucky Blog
The Appleseed Cast is, with alarming consistency, a very powerful and emotionally-leveling band, much as front man Chris Crisci, as it would follow, is, with alarming consistency, a very powerful and emotionally-leveling songwriter.
Alright, so after that massive shitstorm of a sentence, you, reader, are probably in one of two camps: Either you A) disagree to some extent, and hence, because I started the review with such a blunt assessment, will discontinue taking my opinion seriously for the rest of the review, if you do choose to read it at all, or you B) agree to some extent, and are intrigued to see how this ends up being about the new Old Canes record, or (I almost forgot the third) you C) thought that first sentence was verbose bullshit and could give a fuck whether or not the Appleseed Cast or Chris Crisci matter at all, because my writing pissed you off.
Published October 14th, 2009 in Metromix Indianapolis
Ron Minor doesn’t have skeletons in his closet, but he does have records in his basement.
And just like a relic of the past creeping into the present, the records in Minor’s basement play only a small role in his current life. As DJ Indiana Jones, one of the city’s most well-known and established DJ’s, Minor has, like so many old-school music masters, switched from vinyl to digital DJ-ing to keep up with — and ahead of — the young talent constantly nipping at his heels.
Published October 13th, 2009 in Paste Magazine
Ray Davies was kicked out of his school choir at age 11 for singing off key. But it wasn’t due to lack of talent; the future rock star just wanted to be with his friends. “A few of my mates were on the soccer team and they couldn’t sing a note, so I got myself thrown out,” Davies tells Paste from a tour stop in Norway. “It takes a lot of talent to sing poorly enough to get thrown out.”
Half a century later, the choir is back. And this time, Davies is leading it.