Wolves Like Us have put a video up online for the track Deathless.
The track is taking from the Oslo band’s new album Late Love, which is out now on Prosthetic Records and has had a good few plays in the Crossfire office.
Get involved.
Fucked Up have released their first ever music video.
Taken from their recently released album David Comes To Life, Queen of Hearts was shot in a remote schoolhouse in Canada. You can check out the full HD version by clicking here with the YouTube version below.
Meanwhile, Fucked Up have announced some August UK dates, including festival slots. Here they are:
Wednesday – 24 – UK, Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
Thursday – 25 – UK – London, XOYO w/ OFF
Friday – 26 – UK – Leeds, Leeds Festival – NME Stage
Sunday – 28 – UK, Reading – Reading Festival – NME Stage
Forum, London
20.06.11
Rick Ross has achieved near-God like status of late in the US, named as The Source’s Man of the Year 2010 and gathering together his Maybach Music label with the signings of Wale, Pill and Meek Mill. His return to London’s Forum saw a packed venue drenched in sweat welcome him with open arms, chanting his name before the big man had even appeared on stage. When he did, gun fingers shot up in adoration, howls of support echoed all around and the party had well and truly started.
Ricky Rozay has many, many hits and whilst his set wasn’t the longest [something those who had paid £35 complained about] it was certainly one of the most entertaining rap shows I’ve witnessed in a long time. Without a hype man on stage with him, it could have been hard between tracks, but he was ably supported by his DJ who stood behind the decks on a pedestal that bore the legend “Rick Ross / The Boss / Maybach Music / Kiss The Ring Tour” and made sure the crowd’s response to his calls were nothing short of deafening.
Running through his bangers Hustlin’, B.M.F. and MC Hammer whilst bellowing out his guest spots on Meek Mill’s Tupac Back and Lil Wayne’s John, he allowed the crowd to be as much a part of the proceedings as he was, nodding his head at the choruses being chanted back at him, wiggling his ample frame to the beat and generally exuding an aura of total control and enjoyment. He even made sure the locals [who had been told to rep their hood] were looked after by bringing out Estelle for a track, though her mic hardly allowed her voice to flourish.
By the time the show was over and the steam was rising from the crowd, there was little doubt that the man who threw his shirt off for the final track, showing off his huge belly much to the surprisingly large delight of the women in the crowd is exactly what he refers to himself as: THE BAWSE.
Abjekt.
Celebrated photographer Paul Harries is opening his Slipknot exhibition gallery on July 12th.
Sponsored by Kerrang! and Relentless Energy Drink, the gallery features work by Harries at the Strand Gallery in Central London. Harries has travelled the globe with the masked metallers from their Iowan roots to Australia and back and with over sixty photographs on display, including some that have never been seen before, it is a great opportunity for fans to see their heroes in a new environment.
The exhibition is completely free and runs from July 12th to July 24th at the gallery which can be found at 32 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6BP and is open from 11am – 7pm Monday to Saturday and 11am – 6pm on Sundays. On the 16th, from 3pm til 7pm, Paul will be in attendance and will be answering questions and discussing his work.
Paul’s work is second to none so we know this exhibition is going to be first class, make sure you get down and see it!
Dragon of an Ordinary Family
YnR
Waiting six years for an album isn’t ideal and with every passing year, the expectation of being underwhelmed grows tenfold. Such was the trepidation that came with opening the new album from Jehst, the best rapper in the UK bar none, but thankfully the wait was well worth it as this is a serious contender for album of the year.
When it was revealed that he wouldn’t be producing the entire album itself, another seed of doubt was sown, but having heard the album, it’s clear that the beatmakers he’s working with know exactly the style Billy Brimstone needs to work with whether they be upbeat bangers like ‘Thinking Crazy‘ and ‘Old Number 7‘ or the laid back vibes of ‘Camberwell Carrots‘ [shout out to my place of birth!] and ‘The Illest‘. A perfect balance is struck between the two, allowing the rhymes of the MC to take centre stage.
Jehst has always been something of a genius with his words. Not only does he deliver quotables in every line, he raps them in a style that is completely his own, often changing pace or structure mid-line whilst still not missing a beat and this is something that appears in spades on the new album. Whether he is talking about killer rap zombies or introspectively dissecting his feelings, Jehst’s confidence and untouchable delivery exudes brilliance throughout the album.
Standout track ‘England‘ is a real tour-de-force and harks back to his 2001 EP Return of the Drifter, it’s dusty beat laying under his diatribe about the state of the country he lives in, opening with “You gotta stack chips and that’s the way it is yo / living in this city is turning Billy schizo phrenic / it’s a blood money epidemic / kids rock Academiks but they’re not academic” before finishing up with the boldest of all full stops, saying “It’s hardcore but that’s life in England / And it goes for the whole United Kingdom / And I still got love for the place that I’m living / But right now there ain’t nothing Great about Britain“.
Six years is an age to wait for an album, but when it comes as complex, deep and enjoyable as this, it doesn’t seem quite so long.
Abjekt.
Malice has announced a new mixtape will be dropping.
The rapper, one half of Virginia’s Clipse along with his brother Pusha T, will release a solo mixtape called Hear Ye Him soon. Speaking of the release he said:
“I do street hip-hop, and I think my mixtape is just going to be one of the hardest that you’ve heard. It’s still Malice, it’s still that lyric-driven, thought-provoking, food for thought style that I’ve been doing over the years…I’m just going all the way in now with it.”
Check out an interview he did with Karmaloop below:
A competition is running for all Fucked Up fans.
To celebrate the release of their third album, David Comes To Life, Matador Records are running a competition to win some rare goodies “compiled with love by the band”.
In keeping with this, the band are asking people to create something inspired by love, be it through writing, drawing or other ingenius mediums. Five ‘character’ designs have been distributed across a number of independent record stores and if you find a postcard, you should put your creation on the left and post it to the address below.
The band will judge all entries and the winner will get a signed, framed poster plus a goodie bag full to bursting. So, here are the record stores and the address to send your entries to. Get going!
DAVID COMES TO LIFE
MATADOR RECORDS
17-19 ALMA ROAD
LONDON, SW18 1AA
Remember to add your email address and your chosen record store, otherwise we can’t get your prizes to you. The participating stores:
ACTION RECORDS – PRESTON
AMULET – (MAILORDER)
AVALANCHE – EDINBURGH
BANQUET – KINGSTON
BOOMKAT – (MAILORDER)
CRASH – LEEDS
DRIFT – TOTNES
HEAD – BIRMINGHAM
JUMBO – LEEDS
MONORAIL – GLASGOW
NORMAN RECORDS – (MAILORDER)
ONE UP – ABERDEEN
PICCADILLY RECORDS – MANCHESTER
RESIDENT – BRIGHTON
RISE – BRISTOL
ROUGH TRADE EAST – LONDON
ROUGH TRADE WEST – LONDON
ROUNDER – BRIGHTON
SISTER RAY – LONDON
SPILLERS – CARDIFF
The amazing DJ Yoda has announced a new AV show in London.
The seminal DJ who brought the world his brilliant Cut & Paste series, has continued to wow all-comers with his Audio/Visual sets and this is set to continue on September 10th at London’s Roundhouse.
Having already sold out the IMAX and Koko, the Roundhouse will be the next venue to host his music collage which runs the musical spectrum from hip hop to country music and showcases his untouchable talent to scratch visuals as well as sounds.
Make sure you get your tickets soon before they sell out from here – £14.50 for the early birds and £19.50 for those who stayed in bed too long.
Shed
Side One Dummy
If you’re somebody who grew up listening to the 90’s output of labels like Jade Tree and Polyvinyl, then ‘emo’ won’t be a dirty word for you. You may look back longingly over your collection of Promise Ring and Mineral records and wonder what exactly happened to the genre, but rest assured my kindred emo spirit, all has not been lost and forgotten. For starters, we have Title Fight.
Following on from a slew of EPs, demos and compilations, it seems odd to be calling this Title Fight’s debut album, but that’s how it’s being sold. Now signed to Side One Dummy it’s undoubtedly their biggest release to date, and it both delivers and expands on expectations. While the Kingston, Pennsylvania band have maintained at least some of their breakneck approach to song writing, this is also a far more rounded effort with a range of different styles explored. While initially I was unsure of the band’s noticeable drop in pace, these songs stay with you, and the band’s progression makes for a more complete and diverse debut record.
In saying that, the band still knows when to let rip, and there is still plenty of instant punk gems on offer. Take single ‘27’ (see video below), for example, which is a front runner for my favourite song of the year. As anthemic as any of their earlier work, the signature combination of palm-muted chords and Jamie Rhoden’s rasping vocal is near pop-punk perfection. The sound is pure 90’s yet somehow manages to feel utterly timeless, even alongside its brilliantly nostalgic music video.
Title Fight are over in the UK next month and I, for one, can’t wait to see these songs brought to life. In a year that’s absolutely brimming with exceptional punk and hardcore records, Shed stands up among the very best of them.
Sleekly Lion.
CAMP Basement
15.06.11
It’s three hours before show time and a group of teenage Trash Talk fans surround the band outside CAMP basement. The Promotion around tonight’s show had stated the event would be 16+, yet still a group of valid ticket holders have been refused entry despite carrying ID proving, in many cases, their age of 16 or 17 years old. While they helplessly plead their case to the venue’s security, their cause is a lost one, and there will be no Trash Talk for these kids tonight. The band apologise and spend their time pre-show hanging out with those refused entry, even bringing out posters and merch as way of consolation.
“First of all I want to say thanks to tonight’s promoters for booking the show,” says breathless frontman Lee Spielman, just a few songs in from front of stage. “But I also want to say fuck this venue…” before launching into a tirade against its owners and dedicating the next song to those who didn’t make it in.
As ever with Trash Talk shows the energy inside the venue is ramped from the start, and if anything the admission problems have only added to the intensity. Beginning as usual with the sludgy, almost apocalyptic opener Hash Wednesday from their most recent album Eyes and Nines, it doesn’t take a minute before the crowd are leaping all about the place. Amongst the bodies flying around the room Shawn Crahan (Clown from Slipknot) is spotted jumping off the stage into the now frenzied crowd. In spite of the chaos, though, the band is underpinned by the dependable, almost mechanical rhythm section of drummer Sam Bosson, flanked by guitarist Garrett Stevenson and bassist Spencer Pollard.
The band run through the highlights from Eyes and Nines as well as older live favourites including Walking Disease and Sacramento is Dead, the latter of which sees a circle pit erupt around a Spielman who is crouched in the middle of the venue’s floor. There’s also the addition of a new song to the band’s set, hinting at promising things on the horizon for their recently recorded new record. Let’s hope these are joined by one or two more when the band returns to play Hevy Festival in August.
Elsewhere its business as usual for Trash Talk, who produce another blistering 45 minutes of breathtaking hardcore. The band’s reputation now precedes them as being one of the most exciting live bands around, and as if that even needs proving, tonight is no different.
Sleekly Lion