Take one of the most talked about producers of the year and throw him alongside one of the most productive emcees in the underground.
Now mix that up with a cartoon that has taken the States by storm, and you have Dangerdoom. Danger Mouse, of Gorillaz and Grey Album fame laces a great diversity of beats for MF Doom [Madvillain] to rap over.
The upbeat tracks like “Benzi Box“, “Old School” and “Vats Of Urine” leave you bopping and head nodding, whilst the down tuned sounding tracks such as “Bada Bing” and “Mince Meat” are more like Doom’s solo stuff, which makes the listener sway in acknowledgement. All these are helped with guest spots from Wu Tang’s Ghostface, Talib Kweli and Cee-Lo.
A lot of the time, super group type deals don’t work, falling under the hype that precedes them, but not this time. As the masked villain says, and delivers…..he makes mince meat outta that beat Mouse.
Sam Hesketh
What is Project Rad? It’s a rad project.
Hold your horses on that bet about World making a come back with their new video!
Shocking like the slap of cold cement in the winter: Rasa Libre is no more! For undisclosed reasons, the very stylish graphics and existential vibe of the latest Deluxe off-shoot are dead. Already rumours are spreading about various riders being allotted spots on other Deluxe teams, whilst others have reportedly left to start their own gig..?
Rising from the ashes of successful band ‘The Crocketts‘, Davey McManus and Owen Hopkins formed ‘The Crimea‘ alongside Andy Norton, keyboardist Andrew Stafford and bassist Joseph Udwin, reinventing themselves and endlessly grafting over the last three years whilst they recorded a series of demos at their East London house, whilst constantly gigging and forging a secure solid fan base both in UK and US.
“Well, we were always trying to sign simply with the right label, we wanted to go with someone who was prepared to put some money behind the band, to really push the band, to really try and break us – and I know there’s a lot of independent labels that are capable of that now, we ended up going with Warner’s because they seemed really really keen.” Andy counters. Their big break happened at SXSW, having spent their last funds on getting over to Texas; they played a set in an Irish pub at 1am in the morning which was, as Owen puts it .. “fucking disastrous!” Andy had hired the wrong keyboard, “pedals were going wrong, the drum kit was going flying, but it was passionate on top of that and it really turned heads and we ended up getting a deal…” he shrugs. 
With the album in the can, they quintet took to the road in US with Ash and then Billy Corgan. Having supported a wide range of acts both here and over the pond (including The Get Up Kids, Dashboard Confessional and Kings of Leon) the band secured a support slot on the Billy Corgan tour through a friend of a friend. “The Billy Corgan tour was excellent, we managed to get an album to Billy and he heard it, liked it, and decided to take us on tour. We were there giving it some, turning the amps up ..and rocking out..and Billy’s there giving it his Depeche Mode impression, so I think people reacted well to our gnarly rock!”.
Touring the states was a rite of passage for the guys, “we’d sometimes do 6 or 700 miles in a day, stuck in this RV, this summer we were touring with Billy Corgan in over 100 degrees heat with no air conditioning, seven blokes, in a fucking RV, 12000 miles in 7 weeks, believe me it gets a little steamy!” Andy smiles, “we have our fair share of arguments!” Whislt Davey writes inspired, winding blogs on MySpace, Owen spent the last tour learning French ” there this course…Michel Thomas…you don’t need a book and you don’t need to write anything down, you just need a CD player, I’ve stuck it on my ipod and you just talk along to it.”. Back home he’s well know for his freelance writing for various magazine, including NME, Kerrang and The Fly, whilst on the road the band keep in constant contact with their fanbase through their often hilarious group emails. Hopkins’ emails throughout the last years give fans a sense of belonging, as one fan described them when asked ” you feel like you’re part of the family – you’re really 100% behind the band because they make you feel like you’re part of it.” 
The summer was neatly tied up with appearances at Leeds Reading Carling Weekend and Bestival. “I fucking love festivals” Owen grins when recounting his Reading experience. “I love them..in particular I really love Reading , because I’ve been there since I was like 15 or 16, so to play Reading, having always had such a laugh there over the years was special, I’d played there with The Crockett’s and that was amazing, and now I’ve played there with The Crimea, it was amazing, I mean it never disappoints.”
When we heard that this gig was for real it was a no brainer, we were never gonna miss it. Both bands have been played to death here at HQ all year round so the promise of a show together was the kiss of life. Sub Pop’s Wolf Parade opened the show but we missed them by an inch but made it in good time to see Dead Meadow hit the stage in good time. Dead Meadow have been around since 1988 and come from the wonderful music state of Washington DC, and area that has spawned some of the best bands in underground history such as Henry Rollins, Fugazi, and Minor Threat.
With the constant flow of bass skills from Steve Kille and the mesmerizing anchor man in drummer Stephen McCarty you have one of the most solid rhythm sections on the planet. This skill helps vocalist/guitarist Jason Simon produce his layered vocals coated in reverb with what looks like little effort although you know somehow he is thinking every note as he twangs yet another 2 minute stoner solo. This band has the knack to jam your lazy arse into the ground. Taking Hendrix by the horns, twisting it round with the heaviness of Sabbath and the psychedelic drugs of the Verve b-sides, the Meadow are a force to feel tonight and drummer McCarty shows how good he is with drum rolls that mulch your brain. I was way too stoned to remember each song but I do know that they finished with a killer version of the hidden track form the end of the Feathers album that destroyed people. It was an amazing show but Black Mountain had not even played yet and it felt as if nothing could ever match what we had just witnessed.
The show Black Mountain played this year at Metro was incredible but also looked a little tight for space on the night. Tonight they seemed comfortable on a bigger stage with a better PA and they managed to turn the entire crowd into a warbling wreck within the first 4 songs. The monstrous Don’t Run Our Hearts Around, No Satisfaction and Modern Music kicked in to get the crowds blood flowing after the Meadow had destroyed all vein action which led to a killer Druganaut session and some early stuff before the folk imploded Heart of Snow, the demanding, blood rushing No Hits and the mellow Set Us Free literally glued people’s feet to the ground.
They’ve actually aged remarkably well, and strut the stage still full of attitude and vigour, blasting through early eighties metal classics like ‘Emergency‘ and ‘Hit And Run‘. Sure, they sound dated and of their time but the energy and attitude is very much intact. Their set ends with Lemmy himself joining them onstage for a blistering run through ‘Please Don’t Touch’, apparently the first time they’ve played it live together. Great stuff!
“We feel about a million miles away from home right now” admits beardy Baroness guitarist John Baizley as the reality of the band’s first long distance tour away from home dawns on him. ‘But thank you for making us feel so welcome.’ The pleasure, however, is all ours! Tonight, Georgia based quartet Baroness are an absolute revelation. Drawing their influences from many different aspects of heavy music, they fuse crust punk, tech-metal, prog rock and slabs of sonic sludge with classic metal riffs for an end result that sounds like Discharge, Isis, Mastodon, Eyehategod, Iron Maiden and the Melvins all at once.
But if any band is fit enough to take on the challenge, it’s London’s Capricorns. Arriving onstage with a tense, determined look upon their faces, they immediately set about giving the Yanks a run for their money. No, this isn’t a competition but it’s a real pleasure to see a UK metal band this good and tonight, still buzzing from the creative success of their debut album ‘Ruder Forms Survive‘, Capricorns show a heaviness and depth within the grinding epic instrumental voyages of ‘Exit Wargasmatron‘ and ‘The Harrying Of The Heathen‘ that is sorely needed on this Island infested with weak commercial crap and a timely reminder of just how breathing-taking and challenging heavy music can be. None more heavy.
Digesting a lovely vegetarian curry and smoking a fruity hookah pipe, I watched the screen with glazed eyes. A pile of dirty dishes were strewn between the table, couch, desk and sink, and ash had slipped and crumbled onto the carpet. In this decadent yet resolved décor, not much could bother me except the taxman or a sudden drop in body lotion stock.
This was one too many late night shocks for my liking, plus Khadhafi’s military outfit was far too loud for my flatscreen pixels to deal with. The World was going to shit with people dressed like that in power! Surely he was an open target with camouflaged colours like that? Unless the Colonel spent all his free time at carnivals and Mardi Gras conventions..? Ummm…
However, any foreigner will let you know that an Englishman cannot hold his drink (with the obvious exception being Americans who down Proof piss by the litre!). Plus, being the great socialite he is, anything that might enhance the Englishman’s bear hug grip of friendship on a stranger, or push him to prove the Eurovision judges wrong with his odes and ballads of football rivalry, must be stopped!