Wednesday, 23 July, I had the luck of being at a Metallica concert, in Bucharest, at Cotroceni stadium. Living not that far from it and knowing the city pretty much, I arrived early in the morning to check some parts of the city. Some good and bad news came up from then: some parts of the city looked great, with amazing architecture, while some were in very bad shape. The traffic was almost really stuck and since I don’t have a car, I use a subway. There, much to my surprise and pleasure, I noticed in every subway station at least one group with Metallica shirts. The horsemen were drawing nearer.

As evening approached, the weather was getting pretty bad and it started to rain heavily. By the time I arrived at the stadium, I was pretty wet; and it was only the beginning. The line was huge, but it moved very fast, a sign of good organization. As I entered at about 6 pm local time, it was almost packed and the lines for the beer were huge too, but they were moving fast. So after making some supplies and finishing them, the opening act was already warming up. The Sword started suddenly, creating a bit of confusion within the crowd, and perhaps they were unlucky; they could have been quite interesting because they didn’t sound bad, but they made no attempt of trying to communicate with the audience, which led to a half an hour of not so interesting pouring rain heavy metal act that left no strong impact.

After that, there were about 10 minutes of recorded music and sound checking; and then - the ecstasy of gold !! From where I was standing on the grass, surrounded by fellow fans, all hell broke loose. We all started screaming, because we knew what was going to happen next. The ecstasy of gold is the beginning of their concerts for more than 20 years. Suddenly, the masters of the stage were singing Creeping Death in front of about 30 000 frantic people who were wildly singing the lyrics with the band. I have to say, they sang just old tunes, nothing from Load, Re-Load, and St. Anger. Except for Fuel, perhaps, I’m thankful they didn’t !!

Also, they even played it faster than the studio version. After adding just a few greeting words, they started playing For Whom the Bell Tolls, and by that time, everybody knew it was going to be an epic performance.
continue reading "Metallica Live in Bucharest"

So here we are boys and girls, and once again it’s WTF Time. This weekend, while Fergie was singing in Coast Mesa, California, Slash joined her on the stage to sing some tunes, including Sweet Child O’ mine and Heart’s “Barracuda.”. As you can probably guess from that moment Slash totally had the fans, leaving a Fergie that performed pretty well in second place.

But despite her good performance, she was absolutely nowhere near Axl in musical terms and also she doesn’t have half of his charisma. But the real issue here is wtf was Slash thinking ?? I know Velvet Revolver have some problems, but come on, Fergie ?? He played great, way better then the (so called) Guns’n'Roses play the guitar part.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes you feel kind of sorry for the GNR legacy; what happened to that band that made entire cities countries go mad when they had a concert there?? Where are those amazing band members that made amazing songs and used to sing them in the biggest stadiums in the world ?? As far as I’m concerned, this was in no way something I would have expected from Slash.

Perhaps he needed the money; perhaps it was a publicity stunt. Still, how many GNR fans would go to a Fergie concert?? I’m not saying she’s a bad singer, on the contrary; few would have been able to sing these tunes as good as her. But they are not her tunes, she doesn’t have anything in common with Slash, and when a girl starts singing “She’s got a smile”, you know for sure something’s wrong there. Still, I’m pretty sure some will disagree with me, so for them, it’s just my opinion. Here’s the video that will probably cheer you up.

I was really impressed and ecstatic about the new Radiohead video, for In Rainbows slow jam “House Of Cards,” when I first talk about it last week. Now, finally, the video has surfaced on the web (well actually it’s been on for a few good days now, but I’ve been away and stuff like that) and let me tell you it doesn’t fail any of my grandeous expectations I had for it. It’s simply stunning. Incredible how complex marvels of today’s technology (the video has been shot entirely with lasers, no cameras!) can help create something so beautiful in it’s whole simplicity.

That was great, right? Well if your curious on how the whole thing was possible, then you might be interested in watching the ‘making of’ bellow and learn all about Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR technologies, that helped the video come to be. Oh, and while you’re at it be sure to check out the special Radiohead Google Code page, where you can explore the data visualization of the video in spectacular video. You can even download the data for the video, rehash it and make a whole different version, that you can then upload to the special House Of Cards YouTube channel. Have fun!

I wasn’t quite fond of Bloc Party’s recent, sophomore release A Weekend In The City, not to say it was bad or anything, but I just believe the more experimental direction the band is heading to, isn’t to my liking. It seems like the third album, scheduled sometime at the end of this year (nothing has been announced, but you can expect it to be sometime later this year), will follow in its footsteps in terms of sound, from what I tan tell from their new track, at least. “Mercury” is Bloc Party’s latest single, probably the first from the yet to be announced third album. The song is really, really weird, both lyrically (That this could be the start of something truly real’/But all that I could say was, ‘hey’, /Was, ‘hey’, was, ‘hey’, was, ‘hey’) and musically, but at the same time it’s very catchy, with some great hooks masterfully used by Kele Okereke. Oh and if you thought the song was weird, wait till you check out the video. [thanks to PMA! for the mp3]

What does Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tommy Morello and Presidential candidate Barrack Obama have in common? Well according to Tommy the similarities between them are quite striking…

“Well, you know, being the half-Kenyan Harvard graduate from Illinois in his early forties, not running for president this year’s election gives me a unique perspective,” Morello tells Rolling Stone’s Austin Scaggs. “I’ve always felt more comfortable on the other side of the barbed wire fence, you know, lobbing musical Molotov cocktails at the party.”

“If America elects a black president it will be a different country than the one I’ve seen my entire life and that would be a step definitely in the right direction,” Morello added.

Politics does go to well with RATM, I mean leave it to Zach to spit out a few lyrics and you’ll know what I mean, so what’s with this recent, political orientated mindset? ” I don’t think it has anything to do with rebelling against a President. It has to do with policy. The Democratic Congress was elected in 2006 to end the war and they rolled over like lap dogs,” Completes Morello the above quote, almost knowing how we feel. So, Mr. Morello, any predictions?

“In the next presidential election America will get the president it deserves. If after eight years of Bush’s foreign and domestic crimes that we elect a Republican president, you know, it seems to me like you should be able to run a barnyard animal against a Republican and win in a ninety-ten split,” Morello says. “So if America elects McCain over, you know, the clearly intelligent, erudite, fair-minded Barack Obama, then either way we’ll get the President we deserve.”

Who here doesn’t love sample mashups? I know I find them yummy and Girl Talk is one of the people who’s brought it to a state of art. Feed the Animals, his latest and fourth album is another record comprised exclusively out of samples from other people’s music, with a few dashes of original GT instrumentation here and there. “Still Here” may just be my favorite song, off the June 19th released album, but what really bugged me was the fact there wasn’t any music video for it, especially considering mashups make awesome videos. Just look at a few of the artists featured on Still Here: Radiohead, 50 Cent, Fergie, Kennie Loggins, Beck, Cat Stevens and a lot more. Fear not, a very kind and thoughtful fan with a lot of time on his hands made a really awesome video, that goes hand in hand with the music, syncing perfectly!

At last month’s Bonnaroo fest, the hip-hop/indie sensation M.I.A. stormed the stage and delivered a dazzling performance to all the fans and occasional blokes in the audience alike. However, after such an awesome spectacle (and during it a few time, if you think about it) she said this was her last show and she’d quit music.  I thought this was rubbish at first, seeing how she’s such a promising artist, however rumors that she’d quit music to concentrate more on her upcoming clothes line seem more veridical, especially after the ‘trailer’ for the line on her website, something about “The Real Pirates of the Caribbean”. I’m still not sure how much truth I should give to her statements, but still, I feel a bit dishearten. Check out the song that plays through the video, mixed by G Force. [big thanks to GvB to plugging us in on the video and mp3]

{MP3] G Force - ‘Feel the Force’ (feat. Ronnie Gee & Captain Coe)

The Brooklyn dwellers of The Hold Steady have always appealed me through their classic/hard rock eclictic music, coupled with meaningful and dense lyrics. I’m not what you’d call a fan, but their latest album, “Stay Positive“, is brilliant and, so far, represents the pinnacle of their entire work; quite consistent work if I may add, with a new album every year. Few bands can really pride themselves with the achievement.

For rootsie, old school American rock’n'roll fans, John Mellencamp will definitely be a name that resonates well. The artists is also back on the saddle, with his latest addition to his already venerable catalog, “Life, Death, Love and Freedom.” Queensbridge rapper, Nas, is also back with some new material, after multiple delays by his label. This latest LP is covered in a lot of controversy, no too much because of it’s content, but rather because of it’s name, the album being initially titled “Nigger,” now reverted to simply “Untitled.” Probably like a means of protest. Anyway, although I’ve yet o sample it (apart from some fugitive listening on YouTube), I’ve read some great things about it, with most reviewers marking it with top notch rates. Does old music snobs ’sometimes’ have a good ear for awesome music.

delta goodrem, the ravashing, talented Aussie singer songwriter is set to release her third effort, “Delta,” on the US market as well, after it subsequently went multi-platinum back in Australia. Kershia wrote a few words about her a few weeks back, for those of you who aren’t familiarized with her music you can check out the article here. Wire, the British post-punk quartet, are what you’d name a ‘volatile’ band. They’ve broken up and reformed numerous times, but this doesn’t mean they can’t produce quality stuff when they’re together, and the clearest example is their latest “Object 47.” (Think the dudes play Hitman?)

The Hold Steady: Stay Positive

Nas: Untitled

continue reading "New Music Monday: 14 July"

The LA quartet, Bodies of Water, have steadily grown into a  memorable act of the indie scene in the last few years, especially around the Ca. zone. They first sparked a few waves with their self-titled EP from 2005, which got a lot of positive critical receptions from well known publications, which, subsequently, eventually helped them sign a deal with a label. Now, the band is prepping the release of their sophomore album “A Certain Feeling,” the follow-up to BoW’s highly well received debut album, “Ear Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink.” “Gold, Tan, Peach, And Gray” is one of the album’s standout tracks, an epic indie anthem of grand proportions. What makes the song so lovely is how the band swings from mood to mood, from sober, to joyful, to downright playful. Check out this lovely track right bellow.

A Certain Feeling will be out on July 22, via Secretly Canadian.

Radiohead has a long history of forgetting conventions and experiencing new things. So there’s virtually little things that could surprise us coming from them. Or so we thought…. Apparently, it seems the video for their latest single, House of Cards, has been filmed projected in a whole different manner, with the help of two ultra-high end technologies Geometric Informatics and Velodyne Lidar. ‘

The Geometric Informatics scanning system employs structured light to capture detailed 3D images at close proximity, and was used to render the performances of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, the female lead, and several partygoers. The Velodyne Lidar system uses multiple lasers to capture large environments in 3D, in this case 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute, capturing all of the exterior scenes and wide party shots.

What this basically means is that no cameras at all have been used, only lasers. There’s one for innovation to ya. The video has been directed by James Frost, but hasn’t gone live yet. Actually there’s no official word yet concerning the date it will go live, but I can’t expect anything else other then wonderful spectacle of lights and sound. When it’ll eventually go live, you’ll be able to find at the band’s official reserved space down at Google (yeah, here’s a band who knows the right people). ‘Till then feast your eyes on these official “screenshots” from the upcoming House of Cards music video.
continue reading "Radiohead innovates again with laser-shot music video"