Basically, Diplo is the shit.
We know it, you know it, everybody knows it. So when he comes along and tells us that he’s doing an “Australian Mad Decent Initiative”, we sit up and take notice.
So, make sure you head on over to the link at the bottom to check it out and then hit up www.myspace.com/diplo to love him off in whatever way you see fit.
And whilst we’re here, head on over to his podcast page and listen to EVERYTHING.
Gnarls Barkley have said they don’t want another Crazy on their new album.
Danger Mouse, speaking about their follow up to St Elsewhere, said the duo didn’t want another single to overshadow the rest of the album as Crazy did when it went to number one on downloads alone.
I’m resisting the urge to make some pun on the word crazy here…it’s not very hard.
Rilo Kiley have announced details of their new album, Under The Blacklight.
Frontwoman Jenny Lewis and guitarist Blake Sennett claimed it will be their sexiest album ever , thanks to the “strong rhythmic perspective” which wasn’t apparently on their last records. Lewis said of the new album:
“As a woman, the older I get the more comfortable I feel writing about sex and singing about it, whereas in my late teens and early 20s I wouldn’t have dared. But now I feel comfortable enough where I can start writing about sex – not necessarily about my own experiences, but the sexual lives of others. And the somewhat deviant sexual lives of others.”
The video for their new single The Moneymaker features real life porn stars as the band told people they would be auditioning for a porno. Check it:
HIM, Machine Head, Mastodon
Wembley Stadium
08.07.07
It may have taken some half a decade to complete, but stepping down onto the pitch of Wembley Stadium this afternoon is an experience worth waiting for. Consisting of some 90,000 seats, it’s officially the second biggest stadium on the continent, trailing only behind Barcelona’s fabulous Nou Camp.
But where it’s behind in the capacity stakes, today’s venue is the most expensive ever built, costing a whopping £800million. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of almost 10 Millennium Stadium’s, or nearly double the amount spent each year to keep John Prescott’s appetite under control. Ultimately, it’s a venue that only one heavy metal band could successfully fill.
The crowd may be littered with shirts that suggest 90% of those in attendance are here for the headliners only, but today’s supporting line-up is one of sheer quality, kicking off with Crossfire favourites Mastodon. Such a grand arena was always going to play havoc with their hard hitting and technically complex metal, but they slam through a whirlwind set culled mostly from their ‘Blood Mountain’ opus with aplomb. The sea of devil horns that greets the classic ‘March Of The Fireants‘ and the cluster of inflatable guitars waving furiously at their set’s end suggest their efforts have not gone unnoticed.
A gargantuan roar fills the air at the mere sight of Machine Head’s banner being raised slowly into view. It’s a reaction that the band are no strangers to on UK shores, as anyone who witnessed their set at this year’s Download Festival will likely confirm. Added as a last-minute replacement for Bullet For My Valentine, today is undoubtedly theirs as they whip up circle pits as big as the gaping D-barrier at the front of the crowd.
Starting a half hour slot with the 10-minute behemoth ‘Clenching The Fists Of Descent‘ not only shows the confidence the band have in their recently released masterpiece ‘The Blackening’, but also the genuine quality of its content. Closing with their definitive anthem ‘Davidian‘ – a song that sees all hell break loose – Machine Head came, saw, and fucking conquered.
As if following such a terrifying spectacle wasn’t going to be difficult enough, the sea of middle fingers that greets HIM‘s backdrop suggests that the Finnish rockers will have their work cut out this evening. That the majority of the crowd is more interested in a series of Mexican waves engulfing the stadium’s upper reaches, allowing the band to sneak onstage and begin their set practically unnoticed, confirms the fact that practically nobody is happy to see them here.
Given the renowned, often ruthless nature of Metallica fans, today was always going to be an uphill battle for the quintet, but to their credit they soldier on with barely a word between songs. Choosing to fill their set with newer, heavier cuts from their forthcoming ‘Venus Doom’ album was always going to be the safest plan of attack, though as they bid us farewell with a cover of lovey-dovey super hit ‘I Wanna Fall In Love‘, it’s hard to begrudge the band the last, and probably only laugh.
It’s almost too easy to take a shot at Metallica these days, particularly for older “fans“, most of whom still coughed up £40 for a ticket to today’s event. So what if ‘St. Anger’ was a steaming pile of shit, and so what if ‘Load‘ and ‘Reload‘ were half-baked hard rock albums that possessed very little merit or genuinely decent material? We already know this, and so do the band. The fact that they’ll only play two songs from the last fifteen years during tonight’s mammoth 2-and-a-half hour set is proof. But one thing that no one – NO ONE – can take away from Metallica is the fact that they are still the undisputed kings of heavy metal.
They can still pull in crowds bigger than most other bands could even begin to dream of. They can still put on a stage show that would have almost any other performer in the world drooling over. And when all is said and done, they can still rock like absolute motherfuckers. Blasting through an opening salvo of ‘Creeping Death‘ and ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls‘, Metallica prove within minutes that while they may be a little older, a little greyer, and that this monumental venue has been transformed beyond all recognition, the magic of their songs and the truly special atmosphere of Wembley are still very much alive.
There’s absolutely no fucking around, and not a single sigh of disappointment will be breathed, because this is truly a once in a lifetime event. Whether it’s the classic thrash of ‘Master Of Puppets‘, the spectacular pyrotechnics of ‘One’, the 70,000 strong sing-along to ‘Nothing Else Matters‘, the snarling stomp of ‘Sad But True‘ or the quarter-century old ‘Seek & Destroy’, each chapter of their glorious, untouchable history is relived in a way that’s literally impossible to slate. “Metal is still very much alive, Wembley, and you guys are the living proof” beams the walking, talking icon that is James Hetfield, his eyes gleaming with genuine amazement.
He’s not wrong, but it was ultimately the spectacle that lay before each and every punter present that confirmed such facts. They may not pump out quality albums the way they once did, but the sheer strength of their catalogue, coupled with their frank realisation that their best songs lay in the past, are still enough to enforce the fact that Metallica are, quite simply, the daddies.
Ryan Bird.
Despite Parts & Labor‘s wilfully berserk quest for sonic experimentation through a barrage of malfunctioning electronic beeps and squeals, they still understand that underneath it all, the song is still king. Tracks like ‘The Gold We’re Digging‘ and ‘Vision Of Repair‘ display a commendable quest to search out new sounds and unpredictable structures and grooves.
Yet at the heart of each song is a melodic sensibility that betrays teenage years reared on a diet of classic Husker Du, Sonic Youth and the Minutemen (covering here D Boon’s brilliant anti-war spiel ‘King Of The Hill‘) that stops ‘Mapmaker‘ short of becoming art for arts sake.
Hailing from Brooklyn, this New York art-heads successfully walk the line between musical experimentation and killer melodic hooks with ease making them a challenging and joyful listen. A UK tour is in the works. Don’t miss it.
James Sherry
The board arrived in a futuristic plastic wrap with the words “Experimental” in bold stamped on top. A Rodney Mullen signature model of yet another ground-breaking design- the Uberlight- had arrived, and I was to be its test pilot.
Almost skateboards have a pretty rad team that push the envelope so to speak, so the materials they use need to be up to scratch. You know you’ll always get the latest in skateboard utlity design when a young chap who single handedly created virtually every technical trick is your team captain. Rodney Mullen once had a video part that mixed advanced maths, mini pink shorts and more flip variations than a handful of Blitz catalogues at Christmas, and nobody laughed. Instead jaws hit the floor. That said, I was pretty stoked to test an Almost Uberlight prototype -1 of 500 made.
The Uberlight gets it’s name from the advanced board construction that incorporates thin layers of ply sealed with epoxy glue and a back bone of carbonite that runs through the heart of the deck from nose to tail. What this stretch of carbon does if keep the weight down and the response up. Strength, pop and rigidity are key words involved in this futuristic design. And it works.
Well, that’s not exactly true. You see, after 6 weeks of skating this board still has impressive pop and strength, but the wood has begun to wear down a bit and the shape isn’t keeping up appearances either. I don’t know exactly what strain of wood Almost have used to ply the Uberlight, but after a month, the tail was almost shaved down to a razor and the tail felt like it had sunk slightly. The most annoying thing about this design though was it’s shape: A strange sort of double nose- or should I say double tail because the nose was pretty tiny in actual fact. Popping nollies of this length of wood and carbon was a lot harder than you’d expect. I’d like to think I was getting weaker with old age, but since I swapped boards, I know that that is not the case.
I’ve kept this board for a rainy day because I know the pop will persist, but I won’t try and nollie any puddles. Keep the shape in mind when you look out for Rodney’s Uberlight, but don’t doubt general design. The Almost camp are still pushing skateboarding on each and every level.
7/10
RL-D
16.07.07
Bobby Brown is planning very tight security on his upcoming tour in Australia because Osama Bin Laden has got beef with him.
Apparently Osama has an obsession with Brown’s ex-wife Whitney Houston and Brown has said he’d take a threat from him very seriously, adding:
“I figure if bin Laden wants me, and everybody is looking for him, it probably won’t happen. But if he wants to try and find me for something so stupid, he can do what he wants. I have to leave it in the hands of my higher power”.
You crazy fucker Bobby.
Next week on Celebrity Beef – Meatloaf goes one on one with Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro takes on Girls Aloud.
Say hello to Tony O’Neill. A British kid obsessed with rock and roll that leads to an introduction to the low life of hard drugs in Los Angeles. You see, this journey starts where most common junkies do, innocent to start with and then tumbling into insanity.
Tony’s true story drags you through every thorn filled bush until you scorn the very last lines that are pushed into a spoon and sucked into a needle for good use. Every twist and turn of the tourniquet is brought to you in detailed scenarios, the kind of situations that you read about and are on the edge of your seat to find out what happened next as Tony’s life is nothing short of a hazy and desperate riot on the edge of a hell pit.
His travels took him as a musician into the gutters of LA rock and roll, spilling from house to house, drenched in the sweat of a comedown and the latest fix. Overdoses, cops, guns, theft, violence and drugs is the norm and O’Neill floats through the mess whilst playing alongside bands such as The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Marc Almond and Kenickie. If you are sat reading this right now feeling like you need something to get you going or If you just like fast reads with a thrill, then Digging The Vein should fix you up to feed your habit – we promise you will not want to put it down!
Chuck Bangers
16.07.07
Document’s Big Push 2007 is over and everyone is slowly returning to the real world and remembering what pillows and showers are. The Doco site is spreading the hype aready:
“Rumors are circling, Neil Smith’s giant phone photo ollie, someone on Death got some ink on somewhere that it shouldn’t be, Olly Todd being brought home by the boys in blue after a solo mission, Ben Reamers at Saffron Walden, Howard Cooke actually staying on the whole trip and Antiz’s special guest threatening to walk after some rowdy in-van entertainment”
The photos and DVD should be out in issue 72, so make sure you get it or I’ll break yer legs. If you can’t wait that long, Heroin have made a little photo slideshow of the trip. I laughed all the way through until the biro ink tattoo, wait for it…
Blueprint have thrown up a few clips on their site as well. Push your way over to www.blueprintskateboards.com
Our mates at Xynthetic have a new video up.
Check the steez on this UV graphic as a skateboard gets the Xyn treatment:
UV Seen The Future from Xynthetic and Vimeo.