THROBBING GRISTLE VIDEO PROMO

The worst thing about this video is I won't be able to get to Europe to see them

THROBBING GRISTLE PROMO 2010 from Industrial Records on Vimeo.

THE GATHERING OF THE JUGGALOS--Truth Vs Fiction

So every year the most untalented shmucks in music The Insane Clown Posse have some big blow out show called The Gathering where all their fans, called Juggalos, hang out and get high and praise not just ICP but all the shit acts within their family. This year is the 11th Annual Gathering and the worst part of it is that Redman and Method Man have somehow been tricked into performing. To celebrate and promote the Gathering a seventeen minute infomercial has been put together and it inspired me to do a little truth vs fiction concept.

In their fictional world the Gathering is some mecca for underground music, where the best go to perform to kids who are there to absorb all kinds of experiences. That simply isn't the case, not at all. The only real reason to go is to maybe talk some decent girl with low self esteem into fucking you in clown paint or at least she'll stay awake long enough to blow you before passing out crying about how her dad hits her.

Think I'm wrong, watch the infomercial and then watch this video put together of actual Juggalos at an actual Gathering. The infomercial is long so once you have the point skip to the next video.

INFOMERCIAL:



NOW HERE'S VIDEOS OF ACTUAL JUGGALOS.



See the longer I examine the Juggalos and the Gathering the less I hate it and the more I see it as some kind of bizarre study. If this was performance art it would be brilliant, the fact that it's serious is sad. Don't forget the ICP preform this song with NO SENSE OF IRONY.

THE COOL KIDS Drop The Dope MixTape

Yeah okay so I'm not the most street sounding white boy ever, so what? I promise I've been to more old school hip hop shows than you have because I'm old and I lived in NYC most of my life...SO THERE!! Anyhoo, Chicago's The Cool Kids are about to release their new album When Fish Ride Bicycles and to celebrate they unleashed this awesome mixtape titled The Tackle Box. Dig it!!

The Cool Kids - Tacklebox (Mixtape) by Hypetrak

RIP PAUL GRAY

I took a long time to write this entry mainly because I wasn't sure I should. So often when people in the public eye pass away there comes a slew of folks who pretend to have been incredibly close with the person who passed. I had more than passing relationship with Paul but I was in no way a good friend of his so I wasn't sure what to do. Then the other night I was on the train and I heard two kids cracking jokes about the whole thing, saying it didn't matter because Slipknot wore masks and so forth and so on. That pissed me off and I came home to write not because Paul and I were exchanging Christmas cards but because I wanted to put out there what I knew of the man.

I met Paul when I went on tour with Slipknot many years ago. Clown has asked me to come not as a reporter for MTV but as a fan of the band, a normal guy on the road. I did so and had a kick ass time watching them play, traveling with them and getting to know each member even if only for a short time. Outside of Corey and Clown who I had gotten to know previously, Paul was the easiest to talk to. He walked right up to me and started making conversation, which was a real bonus on a tour bus with nine guys.

What I noticed right away was Paul's absolute dedication to Slipknot and their fans. Everybody in that band is dedicated but Paul took it even further. He was always off the bus talking to the fans, always high energy and always attacked the stage as if this was the last Slipknot show ever. I also applauded Paul because he wasn't the focus, he was on stage with nine guys, four of which had the freedom to run around and jump as well as all the pyrotechnics and stage insanity. Paul still as able to make his presence known on stage and the guy could fucking head bang with the best of them.

Recently the band had a press conference where they called Paul the essence of Slipknot and based on what I've seen I'd say that's a fair assessment. It wasn't just Paul's dedication to the fans and the music but also his desire for the band to be together making music. With nine talented guys in one room fights are gonna break out, egos bruised and bickering a constant. Paul wanted none of that and really worked to try and mend fences or keep issues from boiling out of control. He saw Slipknot as a family and wanted to protect it.

The last time I saw Paul it was very quick but also very genuine. One of the things the entire band has done for me is not pretend they don't know me post MTV. I've remained closest with Corey but I know if I saw any of them they'd act as if nothing had changed. Paul was an incredibly genuine person and somebody who will obviously be missed by those who knew him, respected him and loved his contributions to music. I hope people can be respectful of his passing and not try to turn it into something sensational. A Friend, father, husband, brother and musician has been lost and that is all that matters.

ISIS Are Breaking Up...That Fucking Sucks

After 13 years, five brilliant albums and a slew of EPs the mighty band Isis has decided to call it a day. The band announced this via a blogpost where they laid out the essential reasons for the break up. Here's a snippet of what they had to say:

" Isis has reached an end. It's hard to try to say it in any delicate way, and it is a truth that is best spoken plainly. This end isn't something that occurred over night and it hasn't been brought about by a single cataclysmic fracture in the band. Simply put, ISIS has done everything we wanted to do, said everything we wanted to say. In the interest of preserving the love we have of this band, for each other, for the music made and for all the people who have continually supported us, it is time to bring it to a close. We've seen too many bands push past the point of a dignified death and we all promised one another early on in the life of the band that we would do our best to ensure ISIS would never fall victim to that syndrome. We've had a much longer run than we ever expected we would and accomplished a great deal more than we ever imagined possible."

Isis is currently on tour and the last show (their last show) will take place on June 23rd in Montreal QB at Club Soda, the site of the band's very first show thirteen years ago. The band's latest album "Wavering Radiant" is out now and their tour schedule is as follows:

May 26, 2010 The Casbah, San Diego, CA w/ Jakob & Tombs
May 29, 2010 WOW Hall, Eugene, OR w/ Jakob & Tombs
May 30, 2010 Capitol Theater, Olympia, WA w/ Jakob & Tombs
May 31, 2010 Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, BC w/ Jakob & Tombs
June 01, 2010 Neumo's, Seattle, WA w/ Jakob & Tombs
June 02, 2010 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR w/ Jakob & Tombs
June 04, 2010 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA w/ Jakob & Tombs
June 05, 2010 The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA w/ Jakob & Tombs
June 12, 2010 Bonaroo Music Festival w/ Melvins, Clutch, The Flaming Lips, etc.
June 14, 2010 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA w/ Melvins
June 16, 2010 9:30 Club, Washington, DC w/ Melvins
June 17, 2010 Theater Of Living Arts (TLA), Philadelphia, PA w/ Melvins
June 18, 2010 Webster Hall, New York, NY w/ Melvins
June 19, 2010 Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY w/ Melvins
June 20, 2010 Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA w/ Melvins
June 21, 2010 Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA w/ Melvins
June 22, 2010 Port City Music Hall, Portland, ME w/ Cave In
June 23, 2010 Club Soda, Montreal, QB w/ Cave In

For me this is a sad day simply because the world of extreme and experimental music lost a giant and with so much conformity and general mediocrity in music a loss like this is really felt. I wish the band members all the best and at the very least I have the records to enjoy over and over again.

To read the complete statement from the band go to the Isis Blog

The Fourth Who Gives A Shit Moment Of 2010: OZZFEST

It's been two years since Ozzfest was really around and even longer since anybody cared. Here's the thing, all giant stadium rock "events" are only as good as the music they were built around. For instance, Lollapalooza was built off the Seattle alternative scene that kicked off with Nirvana. Once that whole scene died out Lollapalooza became cliche and boring.

Way back in 1997 when Ozzfest started the run, the entire Nu-Metal world was starting to get bigger as was the Pantera rip off band scene. Those bands needed a place to thrive and Ozzfest caught that fire instantly. From 1998 through 2003 the Ozzfest was the place to hear metal live.

But the Nu-Metal phase (thank god) has passed and with things like the Rockstar Energy Drink Tour and all these other big events the Ozzfest has become passe. Last week the rundown for Ozzfest was announced and it was just a glaring Who Gives A Shit Moment. This year's Ozzfest will be headlined by Ozzy, Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Motley Crue. The other headliners are the suckfest Devildriver and Nonpoint, who are the luckiest band ever. Nobody gives a shit about them and yet they are everywhere.

The second stage is riddled with Black Label Society as well as Kingdom Of Sorrow, Drowning Pool, Skeletonwitch, Goatwhore Saviours and Kataklysm. Black Label has to be on there because if not then Zakk Wylde can't pay his rent and Kingdom Of Sorrow is a definite attendance boost because it features Jamey Jasta of the beloved Hatedbreed and one of the guys from Down.

The current crop of metal heads have, for some reason, adopted Phil Enselmo as their God so anybody who has been in the same room with him during Down gets their attention. Drowning Pool is the sympathy vote because post the death of their original singer that band can't even get arrested. The rest of the bands are wild attempts to seem relevant with only Skeletonwitch and Goatwhore actually fulfilling that idea.

What interested me most was the frontline of Ozzy, Motley Crue and Rob Halford. Is it me or is this an oddly old-man roster for a show trying to hook in young ticket buyers? I mean Motley Crue is a joke and this is Halford not even a full Judas Priest tour. At first I thought maybe the promoters were smartening up and realizing that Ozzy is as out of touch with the metal audience as any one artist could be and that maybe it would be smart gearing the show towards the old school metal fan.

But then the addition of bands nobody cares about like Devildriver and Nonpoint proved they may be trying to walk both sides of the coin and, as obvious from this line up, have failed. Ozzfest should become where old metal legends go to die, that would assure both the nostalgia ticket buyers and those who want to see their heroes once last time.

Either way who really gives a shit?

New Track From NAS & DAMIEN MARLEY Collaboration Distant Relatives

The Track Is Called "Land Of The Promise". It's pretty awesome.

Nas & Damian Marley featuring Dennis Brown - Land Of PromisebyHypetrak

My Thoughts On The Death Of Pete Steele

It goes without saying that the death of a prominent musical figure usually produces a tidal wave of people saying how much they always loved the band. I can't say that about Type O Negative but I can say that about Pete Steele. My introduction to Steele's music was in a giant room on the upper west side, the apartment of my then best friends Josh and Jason Diamond.

It was early 1990 and one of them had secured a tape of the "new Pete Steele" project called Repulsion. I remember thinking it was cool the tape was green but other than that I was kind of new to Steele and his music. One of the two put on the first Carnivore record and I flipped out. I remember the song "Carnivore" when Pete ended a line screaming "I LOVE TO EAT PUSSY" and I thought that this guy was awesome. I also dug his voice.

Then the Repulsion tape went in and I loved that music just the same. I really, really thought I was going to become a lifelong fan. Later Steele changed the name to SubZero but had to change it again because there was already a hardcore band with the same name who, ironically enough, I had been friends with for awhile. Once Type O Negative established themselves they released The Origin Of Feces which was pretty much the Repulsion tape.

As subsequent Type O Negative records came out I became less interested in the band. I know it's blasphemy but I just don't care about gothic metal at all. I could lie here and say that I had all their albums but I didn't, to be honest I didn't really like their style of music. I did go and see Type O live a bunch through the nineties because no matter what you thought of the music live the band kicked a lot of ass.

As the years went on I had the chance to meet Pete a few times, worked with the band on putting Type O music into the film Nosferatu as well as seeing a few Carnivore reunion shows. One of those reunion shows ended up with my sprawled on the floor after being whacked in the face with a large side of raw beef. Through all of that what I always liked about Pete was his honesty, his ability to show suffering in a genre that relied on everybody being a testosterone idiot playing fast.

If the genre called for fast, Pete played slow. While everybody screamed about satanic this and that Pete sang in a low drawl about love and Gothic chicks. Pete was king of giving the middle finger to what the "genre" wanted and doing his own thing. He also loved to fuck with people and his honesty about everything including himself was legendary. In a world and a genre so filled with ass kissing dickheads. Pete was a seven foot tall breath of fresh air. Let's also not forget the motherfucker could play an upright bass like a normal on with it looking weird.

Pete was harsher on himself than anybody else could be from his music to his body. Over the years he had cleaned himself up and returned to writing music, something that he was driven to do. Sadly everything caught up to Steele and he passed away from heart failure. There are so many people in metal that deserve to die Limp Bizkit, ICP, Phil Anselmo, the list goes on.

When a guy who really did move the genre forward gets taken from us like Pete or Dimebag it not only hurts us but also the music world. I hope Pete's looking down now, drinking a beer and laughing his ass off. I also hope he's tuning up a band with Dimebag, Phil Linot, John Bonham and all the other greats who are no longer with us.

RIP Pete Steele, you will be missed.

SHIT, I Wish I Lived In Tokyo

Why you ask? Well besides the toys, food and tons of hot Japanese girls all loving my studly Irish-American ways, I'd also get to watch DJ Premiere and Pete Rock battle it out on the turntables. Famed record label Manhattan Records is celebrating their 30th Anniversary by featuring two of hip hop's finest in a DJ Battle. Dj Premiere and Pete Rock will sling it out at the Ebisu Liquid Room In Tokyo On May 2nd. Think it sounds awesome now? View the trailer:

Manhattan Records presents DJ Premier VS Pete Rock -A Legendary DJ Battle trailer from getfunky on Vimeo.

Like I said, I wish I lived in Tokyo!!

THE FIRST WHO GIVES A SHIT MOMENT OF 2010: SOUNDGARDEN REUNION

First how do you guys like the new 2010 graphic for I Hate Everything?


So apparently the boys in Soundgarden have decided that after all the shit they talked, and all the "never happens" they tossed around like their gorgeous locks of hair, it's time for a reunion. Well great, fucking hoo haa sonofabitch dick licking poo poo yay!! The most overrated fucking band to come out of the whole "grunge" movement save for Smashing Pumpkins has gone back on their word and decided to give us the masses something we don't need and many don't give a fuck about. Does anybody else here smell bullshit? Is anybody else laughing to themselves that these egotistical pricks have come crawling back to the music they didn't want to play anymore? I was around when they broke up and it was like a bunch of crybaby bitches throwing their rattles down and stomping off. At one point the bass player literally walked off stage during a performance and left. Yeah, that's professional, that's something you do to your fans who worked hard to see you play your crappy songs.






"Black Sabbath without the boring parts."

That's how Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil once described the band, a statement I still owe him a kick in the nuts for. I find this whole thing such an obvious ploy for money and attention that I'll bet even reunion-for-bucks kingpin Perry Farrel is scratching his head and saying "Wow dudes, bad form." Let's be totally honest, really super honest with no bullshit and just say the truth which is Soundgarden had two decent albums: UltramegaOK and Louder Than Love. Everything after that was just a screeching shit show.

Outshined? Are you serious? With lyrics like "Looking California but feeling Minnesota" that record is only a stones throw from a goddamn comedy album. Then we got hit with ultra crap like Spoon Man and Black Hole Sun and just mediocre song after mediocre song. I will give them the credit they deserve for Fell On Black Days but that's about it. Truth be told if Chris Cornell didn't make girls' panties wet that band wouldn't have Outshined a one armed hillbilly slapping a toilet brush against a wash basin.

The other thing that galls me, besides Soundgarden sucking, is that this is just a "We're all failures so let's do this again" move. Cornell first tried to redirect his career with a solo record nobody cared about. Then he put together Audioslave which was just about as boring as a band can get, so boring they had to do their videos with no shirts on hoping to cash in on that wet-panties dollar. After three albums everyone ignored they broke up and Cornell did another batch of solo records that again nobody bought or cared about. The desperate dick even tried to get Timbaland to produce his album and STILL nobody gave a shit.

Meanwhile the rest of the band has bounced back and forth from project to project but not to anything that really stood out. I guess they were waiting for enough pinpricks to appear in Cornell's ego to result in him crawling back to Soundgarden. Now they're back and really who cares? People nostalgic about the nineties? People who never saw them live and think it'll be amazing (I saw them, it wasn't)? Whoever is on board with this reunion deserves all the money they'll lose funding this incredibly transparent and fake cluster fuck of average talent.

I hate everything

JIM CARROLL DIES

This past week poet and author Jim Carroll died of a heart attack in New York City. For most people Carroll became known after the 1995 movie The Basketball Diaries which was not a great movie nor a great representation of his book. Carroll was considered by many to be a "punk poet" who ventured into the world of music in 1980 with the album Catholic Boy. The album gave the band their one hit titled "People Who Died".

I guess people automatically think that if you're pissed off or lived in NYC or love punk rock that you're a disciple of Carroll's work. I've been asked a lot to write some words about my feelings on his death and to be honest I'm kind of at a loss. I respected Carroll as I respect anybody who is obviously a critical thinker and their own person but I had no great love for his works. The Basketball Diaries was an enjoyable read but it didn't change my life or get me to sign up as a fan. I've read Forced Entries which I enjoyed more than The Basketball Diaries as well as most of his poems. Obviously the man could write but I just never got why people fell all over themselves for Carroll.

I think part of it is the allure of the New York City scene which for those of us who didn't grow up in it can become as mystical and mythical as Oz. Alcohol soaked drug stories don't impress me, I've had too many friends dealing with drug problems for me to let myself get romantic about it. I also found Carroll's diatribe about Kurt Cobain self-serving and awfully condescending.

Musically I just didn't get the hoopla at all. It was decent enough bar music but that was about it. I find people tend to allow for more when somebody perceived as anti-establishment does something. In other words if people saw The Jim Carroll Band and Carroll had been some guy from downtown I don't think the love would have been quite as enormous for it.

So am I sad that Carroll has passed away, yes because as we lose poets and free thinkers they're replaced by Mall Culture and a generation in love with being part of the machine. Do I find Carroll to be up there with some of the great writers he's set alongside? No, not at all. I'm sure people will call me a "hater" or jealous because these days anybody with an opinion that differs from the masses is called one of those things.

I will say this, I wish it had been Kanye West dead and not Carroll.

SMALLVILLE GETS A ZOD WHILE COURTNEY LOVE WASTES AWAY

I try not to spend too much time on the ins and outs of celebrity life but these two photos caught my eye for specific reasons. The first is that Smallville, a show I used to love but has long since jumped the shark, has discovered their new General Zod for next season:



This guy's name is Callum Blue and he's pretty much an unknown which is fine. I'm hoping that this is some "kid" on the show who gets possessed by Zod the way Lex Luthor did in season 4 or 5 (not sure which) because if this is the actual embodiment of Zod it'll bum me out for two reasons. One is that Zod is supposed to have been a trusted friend of Clark's father Jor-El and this kid looks like he's 18, plus when Zod's Spirit was removed by Clark from Lex he looked a lot more like Terence Stamp's Zod from Superman II. If this is to be the final season of Smallville (fingers crossed) I hope they don't blow it.

The second photo is just funny because it's Courtney Love. Dig it:



Yep that's the high priestess of alternative bitch wasting away to nothing. There are several reasons I find this funny. The first is that I still believed she either had Kurt Cobain killed or drove him to suicide by fucking with his medication. Secondly I said out loud once that I didn't like her band Hole and she tried to get me fired from MTV. Thirdly she started her career singing all these songs about hating the girls who tried to be perfect on the outside and being an outsider blah blah blah. Then she spent most of her life and Cobain's money getting plastic surgery and trying to become part of the Hollywood scene she claimed to have hated.

Let the bitch die I say.

SAD NEWS FROM A MUSICAL ICON

STATEMENT FROM EXENE CERVENKA OF X:


After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time.

Although this is obviously unfortunate news, I am choosing to see the positive in it. I, and X as a band, have supported the Sweet Relief charity since the mid-1990’s; the irony of this is not lost on any of us. Sweet Relief was started as an aide to uninsured artists by musician Victoria Williams when she herself was diagnosed with MS in 1992.

While this diagnosis will most certainly mean some changes for me, personally, it will not affect my commitments to the current X U.S. tour, nor will it affect my solo album that is slated for release this fall on Bloodshot Records.

My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health--many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people.


To find out more about Sweet Relief please visit: www.sweetrelief.org

To find out more about X please visit: www.xtheband.com


I just got this email and I'm wicked bummed about it. I love the band X and I've always loved Exene Cervenka's vocal style. I wish her all the best and my most positive thoughts go out to her.

JAYDIOHEAD: RADIOHEAD/JAY Z MASHUP

This mashup of Jay z and Radiohead kicks so much ass that I have started liking Jay Z and newer Radiohead. This doesn't sound weird, it sounds like they did it together. Really a wonderful album.

JAYDIOHEAD

A RORSCHACH COVER BAND

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CHECK OUT THE BEASTIE BOYS GALLERY1988 EXHIBIT

An homage to one of hip-hop’s greatest groups, Under The Influence: The Official Tribute to Beastie Boys will open up at Gallery1988 on Thursday, January 8th. A number of artists were commissioned to put their creativity to work to create artwork which reference and pay respect to the influential group. The list includes The Silent Giants, MCA, Ryan Tan and Eric Hungerford among others. Prints and posters will be on hand for sale on opening night with full signatures from all the participating artists.

Under The Influence: The Official Tribute to Beastie Boys Exhibition
Thursday, January 8th
7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Gallery1988
7020 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038

HERE IS A SAMPLE OF SOME OF THE ART HAPPENING AT THE SHOW. MY FRIEND ELLEN DID THESE FIRST TWO IN FUCKING NEEDLEPOINT!!!