Approaching Oblivion

Interview w/Jim Domenici of The Fake Boys & Hammer Bros!

2012-01-12T17:39:00.001-08:00

.AO-BLOGZINE INTERVIEWS JIM DOMENICI OF THE FAKE BOYS.

AO: Hi Jim. For starters, I want to ask what's going on in your world? What is new?

JD: Eh, same old shit... I just got home from a years worth of touring, I got married and I just finished writing a new Fake Boys record. Now I'm playing Skyrim and getting ready to do it all over again.  

AO: What can you tell me about the new Fake Boys album titled Pig Factory? How does it differ from earlier releases?

JD: The biggest difference is that we are a better band all around and I am obviously a better songwriter now then when the band first formed. This record seems to be what the band has been trying to write since day one and it's the record I've been trying to write since I was 14. We've had to deal with a lot of shit in terms of finding our niche/sound - but we've definitely put all that to rest.

The thing that has bothered me most over the past 4 years is the incorrect assumption that we're trying to be a traditional pop-punk band. NO ONE hates 3-chord pop punk/ramones-core more than I do - reason being that NOT ONE Ramones-core band actually SOUNDS LIKE THE RAMONES!

For anyone who bothered to jam our last 7" Nice Knowing You on Kiss of Death, this upcoming LP will pick up right where that left off. It's heavy 90's ish alternative/pop with a heavy 60's rock influence. Imagine it being a record influenced by 90's alternative/pop and heavy 60's rock...All the while being played by 80's hardcore nerds. Imagine Negative Approach trying to write the first two Weezer records or some shit. It's warm, catchy, and dead serious.

For people who fail to understand the way rock & roll works (which is pretty much everyone except you and I), you usually don't hit the nail on the head right off the bat, or as I like to say...YOU DON'T TOUR ON A DEMO. This LP is us finding our sound completely, this is us smashing the fuck out of the nail, this is our fucking band. I learned how to be in bands by watching The Beatles and The Ramones growing up, and I've spent the past 29 years of my life trying to do what they did. I love every aspect of rock & roll, I play guitar 5 hours a fucking day, and I couldn't be any prouder that my "I want to hold your hand" has evolved into my "and your bird can sing". If that isn't enough to make most of you feel stupid, suck this...Rubber Soul WAS NOT The Beatles first record. The Fake Boys Pig Factory will be the most honest LP of the year.

AO: I may be out of the loop - is there anything going on with Hammmer Bros?

JD: We broke up a year and a half ago but we played a reunion this past Halloween. We did all Misfits covers, no original jams.      

AO: I remember once when we were hanging out frequently - we ate food at some restaurant in boston and then happened to fall into some sort of crazy intelligent/ deep conversation within minutes. Does this happen with you regularly? Who have been some writers/philsophers/thinkers etc. that influence your outlook on life?

JD: Dude, that was a great night... I think about it all the time. it definitely happens a lot, but it's a reflection of the type of people i like to hang out with. My friends and I don't think the same so we learn a lot from each other, and learning is one of the only forms of stimulation that truly gets me excited. When I'm hanging with someone new I like to engage in conversation and push that person to bring out their best thoughts and qualities.

In terms of writers/philosophers/thinkers I really dig Nietzsche, Thomas Paine, Betrand Russel, Kerouac, and John Lennon. When I was finishing up college I came to the conclusion that I would never use my degree because I didn't support the justice system in which I would have to work, so I picked up a philosophy minor to feel like I was actually getting something out of my education. My life changed forever and John Lennon, he's been speaking to me since I was a little boy who would wake up at 4 am and blast his fisher price record player. To be perfectly honest, my father is my biggest influence; he just knows how to live. During one of my last classes when I was finishing up my degree I was asked "What is the most important thing your Father ever taught you?", my answer: The Ramones. What else needs to be said?

AO: Any thoughts on this presidential candidate stuff?

JD: I added one of my old high school english teachers on Facebook. He mentioned that to stop reading or watching the news was the best thing he had ever done. I soon did the same.

AO:   What can you tell me about your touring schedule in 2012?

JD: When this record drops we are gone, forever... don't sleep.  

LISTEN TO THE FAKE BOYS!

-Jake/Approaching-Oblivion...

A few Q&A's with Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band)

2011-12-31T09:44:00.000-08:00

A man who does not need much of an introduction. If you have been living under a rock, then click here: Henry's Bio

Jake/Approaching-Oblivion Blog: You have an incredibly busy year coming up. It seems like you will be on the road for the majority of 2012 (160+ shows). Can you expand on what you will be doing and where you will be going?

Henry Rollins: I’ll be doing talking shows. I will be onstage alone, talking about where I have been and what I have seen since I was last on tour. I have been doing shows like these since 1983 and in 2012 I have over 160 shows scheduled. The basic schedule runs like this:

January: UK / Europe

February: Europe

March: USA

April: New Zealand / Australia

May: Australia / South Africa

June: Canada

July: TBA

August: Europe (Festivals, Edinburgh, etc.)

September: USA

October: USA

November: USA

December: USA / TBA

AO: Could you give some insight on your upcoming TV series that will be on the National Geographic channel?

HR: It is a three part television show based on the interactions of man and animal in different cultures. We shot in India, Vietnam and America for the footage. We shot footage of snakes, rats, alligators, cows, and chickens. I ate rats in India with Irula tribesmen and wrestled an alligator in Florida. We saw some intense stuff here and there. The hard part was going to an illegal bear farm that keeps bears in small cages and extracts their bile for medicinal use. Hopefully, they have been shut down by now.

AO: Will the illegal bear farms be featured on the TV show? Could you expose the name and place of these farms?

HR: The bear farm will be on the show. I forget the name of the place but we have it all on camera. It's one of those open secrets there. A local cop was hanging out with the owner when we were there. The condition the bears were being kept in was awful. It stuck with us for days.

AO: How was the rat prepared and what did it taste like?

HR: The Irula men take a dead rat, throw it on a small fire for a minute or two, take it out, break it open by bending it, stomach up, and then throw it back on the fire. A minute later or so, they take it out of the fire and hand it to you. You throw out the intestines and eat the rest.

The rat taste was very mild, not bad at all. There's not a lot of meat on a rat though and to survive on them, you would need a lot of rats.

AO: Can you share the most intense situation you found yourself in while shooting for the show?

HR: I guess that would have been the alligator wrestling segment. The alligator, its teeth and the threat of harm were all very real. The producer said at the last minute that I didn't have to do it. There was no way I wasn't going to do it. You always have to get the shot. At one point, I had this alligator's jaws tucked in between my chin and collarbone with my hands out to the side. The seconds seemed to pass rather slowly at that time.

AO: How did your interest in man/animal interaction come about?

HR: I was raised around a lot of snakes and other animals, so I have always had an interest in them. I travel pretty far and wide and see a lot of interesting animal/human interaction.

AO: National Geographic once filmed a special on a ''warrior gene'' in which you were featured. They suspected that this gene was a tiny bit of DNA that predisposes the carrier to violent behavior & rage.

After being involved with the show - do you have a firm belief of whether this gene actually exists or not? What did you learn from being involved with that show?

HR: The MAOA gene definitely exists. The big question is what is its role in male behavior. It could be a real factor, it could be part of a larger picture. I asked some doctors we interviewed and they said that there’s a lot of research to do still. The question they are trying to answer is part of the Nature v. Nurture debate. Whether you are a product of your environment or if there is something in the genetic makeup of someone that will be a factor. It’s all very interesting stuff but it seems that there’s a lot more work do be done.

AO: What music are you listening to these days? Are there any new artists out that interest you?

HR: I am listening to a lot of Vibracathedral Orchestra, Zaimph, Hototogisu, Ashtray Navigations, Boris, Rallizes Denudes at this time. As far as something somewhat new...I like Le Butcherettes.

AO: Do you have any opinions on how the internet has impacted the music industry? What are your thoughts on digital albums selling more than actual CDs and LPs? Do you think that CDs and LPs are slowly becoming obsolete?

HR: The internet has changed the currency of music. For many people, a song is a file you download without ever thinking of paying for it. Most of the time, you can find almost any record or song you want online. Some artists are getting screwed pretty hard. In my opinion, it is theft.

Theft is very common in the music industry. For instance, Greg Ginn (owner of SST Records) doesn’t pay royalties to the bands on the label, including members of Black Flag. Some of those people could really use that money, besides that, they are owed and so they should be sent statements and get paid. I don’t worry about it on that level or on the download level, I reckon musicians get ripped off by labels, why should the fans miss out on the chance to do it as well?

As to downloads outselling physical media, this is what happens when you have a format change. There will always be LPs and CDs to a certain extent. Perhaps in more limited quantities and perhaps some companies may stop production on them but others won’t. I wonder if the LP will outlast all the other physical formats.

(Henry live with Black Flag)

AO: You've authored over 15 books - acted in over 20 films, hosted various television shows and have toured the world extensively with multiple bands.

Where does your drive come from and how is it maintained? How do you remain rebellious towards societies methods of controlling someone's life?

HR: I don't see what I do as rebellious. It sounds a bit stuffed, but I can't be bothered with rebellion. I just do what I want and what I can. Being reactionary is to me, letting the action dictate the future. If your action is a reaction, then you're in the thrall of something else and not charting your own course. I am not saying that I don't do anything in reaction to anything but I can't just hang around and wait for something to come around to push back against. That would be like that moment with Marlon Brando, "What are you rebelling against?" "What have you got?" I am sure I got some of the words wrong but that's what I cannot do.

Life is too short. One of my main motivations is never forgetting where I come from. I am a product of the minimum wage working world and I approach all things from that and go forward. I got a break from all that many years ago and don't want to disrespect that. I maintain my drive with natural curiosity and anger. I am trying to have an eventful and fascinating life. It is very hard and very trying a lot of the time. It does, however, keep things interesting and that's working for me.

-Jake/Approaching-Oblivion-Zine.

Henry Rollins Q&A in process...

2011-12-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

We are in contact with HENRY ROLLINS this week - asking a few questions about his plans for 2012 and more. Will be featured in the AO#2.

Interview with Ryan O (Outbreak, Think Fast! Records)

2011-11-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

Ryan O Interview. Got to shoot some Q&A's back and forth with old friend Ryan O'Connor. Best known for being vocalist of the hardcore band Outbreak, Ryan also runs his own record label Think Fast! Records that has been making a lot of moves lately. Enjoy it.

APPROACHING OBLIVION/JAKE: When did you first got involved with hardcore? What made you want to get involved?

RYAN O'CONNOR :  I was listening to hardcore and punk in the mid 90’s, when I was really young, but it wasn’t until the late 90’s that I actually became involved. My older brother, who’s actually spent time in and out of Outbreak over the years, was bringing home tapes, CDs, and vinyl for all of the early Victory Records bands - Earth Crisis, Strife, Integrity, Warzone. They were a good segway into other underground bands that I later discovered, like Minor Threat and Descendents. Before all of this I was always into heavy music, even as a really young kid. My brother and I usually shared a bedroom when we were kids – we didn’t have a lot of money so we usually lived in trailers growing up.

Our bedroom walls were covered in posters from Hit Parader, Metal Edge, and Metal Maniacs. Everything from Motley Crue to Guns N' Roses. I remember one time my Grandmother was coming over so I had to hide my copy of Appetite for Destruction! But I think what drew me to hardcore and punk was the sense of community and the fact that everything about it was so foreign to the outside world.

To me, it was almost like some strange cult – the shows were small and intimate, most of the bands had no mainstream appeal and were easily approachable – there was no rockstar attitudes, although there was always an eerie feeling in the air, like a violent riot could break out at any second - it was exciting. The whole scene made little to no sense to your average person who only listened to what was being played on the radio, and as an impressionable young teenager, I think it’s easy for that to have a strong impact. It was like you belonged to something special and unique that was cooler than joining a high school sports team. Surely some, most probably, “outgrow” it, and it becomes a simple teenage phase, but for others it’s something that takes over their life, and I guess I’m one of those people.

I was fascinated with the whole thing so becoming involved – booking shows and that sort of thing, became natural. Of course I’m no longer the same 15 year old kid that goes out to a show every single weekend– far from it, but for better or worse, the scene has remained a part of my life through the years.  

AO: So once you got involved, did you imagine yourself to be where you are at today?  

RYAN: It’s funny, even at a really young age I knew I wasn’t suited for your average 9-5 job. My Dad still jokes about it – how my 8 year old self would talk about living my life on my own terms and being my own boss. If you told me I would go on to play in a band that would go to Australia, Japan, Europe, and South America, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. I didn’t know that I would be responsible for putting Underdog onto a tour with Suicidal Tendencies, ya know? So I don’t think I imagined any types of specifics in my future, but I’ve always had a knack for doing something creative and on my own terms, so I guess in a way that things came full circle.  

AO: Can you give a little history behind Think Fast! and inform us of any upcoming releases or news?

RYAN:  The label was created by a couple friends of mine back in 2001 – Larry Scott, and Charles Chaussinand. It was created as a very DIY operation, a hobby, but over the years has morphed into a fairly successful brand, at least in the punk and hardcore world. We’ve put a heavy emphasis on vinyl over the years, and the label has proudly put out records for classic bands like Sick of it All, Ignite, Earth Crisis, and Turning Point. I got my start with the label around 2005, and became co-owner a couple years later.

Over the years, it’s managed to grow, albeit a pretty unconventional operation. I mean that in the sense that we have no real “headquarters”. Larry and myself literally live on opposite ends of the east coast. Our mailorder is handled through a company in Albany so most of our inventory is housed in New York. Our distributor is on the west coast, in Huntington Beach, and they handle 100% of our sales, excluding mailorder. So we have this unconventional operation, that we manage to make work, mostly thanks to technology. We aren’t one of those labels that takes on 25 active bands at once.

Right now the label is home to Mountain Man, Hour Of The Wolf, and my own band, Outbreak, but we’re always doing one-offs for other bands – for example, earlier this year we did license deals through Century Media to put out vinyl for Sick of it All and Earth Crisis. It was our second time working with Sick of it All, and probably not our last, but are they technically part of our roster? No. They’re a Century Media band.

In 2012 we’ll be releasing a new vinyl/digital release for Bullet Treatment, which is part two of a series the band is doing – it’s this weird concept with each song in the series being the exact same instrumentally, but with different singers putting their own lyrics and vocals to it. Part one came out last year on Fat Wreck Chords and had Tim from Rise Against, Russ from Good Riddance, and a bunch of others. Our version will have Andrew and Scott from Comeback Kid, Nuno from A Wilhelm Scream, Matt from The Bronx, and more. It hasn’t been formally announced yet, so I guess I shouldn’t give it all away. We’re also doing another release for Hour of the Wolf, who are an extremely underrated band from Arizona. There’s more releases that are in the works too, a couple that are still in the early stages and can’t be announced just yet.

AO: You toured earlier this year. Where'd you go? Did you have a favorite show?

RYAN:  We toured the midwest with Sick of it All and Mother of Mercy. That’s the last tour we did. It was a lot of fun, although a bit out of our element for us and Mother of Mercy in the sense that people who come out to our shows usually don’t like paying $15 or more for tickets. It was cool though, Sick of it All’s older crowd seemed to warm up to us most nights – even if the crowd response seemed to be tame, we would usually sell a bunch of merch at the end of the night, which is always a good feeling. It’s easy to hold a bad attitude about a show because people are crossing their arms and not going crazy when you play – but then you find out you sold five hundred bucks worth of merch and realize that you probably just made a bunch of new fans. I’ve never been on a tour where so many people came up to me and said it was their first time seeing us - little do they know we’ve been touring fairly consistently for almost 10 years! Plus I got to sing Rat Pack in San Antonio so it was worth it just for that! I don’t know about a favorite show, but the tour as a whole was really important to me. I’ve always wanted to go out with Sick of it All, I feel like I’ve been bugging Stormy, their agent, about it for years. I would be hard pressed to find a better live band than Sick of it All.  

AO: Can you tell a random tour story worth telling?

RYAN:  A couple years ago on our way through Texas, we were stopped at a random check point by U.S. Customs. Since we weren’t crossing the Mexico/U.S. border, the stop came as a surprise. Some of our guys had some things with them that they shouldn’t have had with them, and we were all handcuffed and put into holding cells. Thankfully, not everyone was charged. In the grand scheme of things, it was all really minor stuff, but they were totally taking advantage of ruining our day – they kept us detained for 5 or 6 hours and were acting as if we were the Taliban. Funny enough, the “contraband” they found was carefully placed back into our bus before we left – so they’re either complete idiots, or they were hoping we’d unknowingly get caught with it again a couple days later – which we almost did. This story probably sucks compared to bands who are doing coke off strippers every night, but there you have it. Don’t mess with Texas.

AO: What's going on with you guys now? 

RYAN: As a band, not a whole lot! Maybe that will change, and maybe it won’t. I know that personally I really enjoy life off the road– I live in a small lake town in central Maine. Life is good at the moment. There are loose talks about getting to south east Asia early in 2012, but I’d say it’s a coin toss on whether or not that will actually pan out. We seem to get a lot of love from that part of the world, so it would be amazing to make it over there.

I love going into territories where the band has never been because it’s always so unpredictable – and even if the tour sucks, you can treat it like a vacation. There probably won’t be too many other points in my life when I get an opportunity to go to south east Asia with some of my best friends, ya know? Other than that, there isn’t really anything on the horizon for the band - almost all of our members have other bands and endeavors on their plates at the moment. It’s funny, I swore I wouldn’t do another band after Outbreak but as soon as things started to slow down this year, I’ve been talking with Zach from Rise Against about starting a side project together that never tours – who knows if it’ll actually develop, but if it does, we’ve decided that it will sound a lot like Minor Threat.

AO: What happened with all the line up changes? What is the official line up as of today?

RYAN: We’ve had the same lineup for almost three years now – I sing, Erik on drums, Brian and Billy on guitars, Thom on bass. I’ve been the only original member since 2006, when our original guitarist, Chuck Bruce, quit. Chris Linkovich was basically an original member too, he played on every recording except for our first demo, up until 2008 when he quit. We’ve always been a band that’s struggled with keeping all of its members – I remember in the early days we went through like 5 drummers before sticking with Nate! But the last “major change” was in 2008 when most of the band left to pursue their then-side project – after that I went through a pretty rough year of trying to keep a full band together. At the same time we were getting all of these crazy tour offers, stuff you just can’t turn down – west coast with Cro-Mags, Europe with Comeback Kid, that kind of thing. So it was good in a sense that we could road-test our then-lineup, but maybe not the smartest move in the sense that people start seeing different members come and go between tours, and start to wonder “who’s actually in the band?” I tip my hat to any band that can keep all of it’s original members for more than 5 years. It’s kind of strange to think I’m the only one in Outbreak who’s actually living in Maine, but I think we’ll always be known as a Maine band, which is fine by me. I like the Maine connection – the bands history is rooted in Maine.

AO: With all the fashion and images that are correlated with hardcore nowadays- it seems to be the common belief that you need to fit a certain mold to be accepted at this 'scene'....has it always been this way? Is hardcore becoming cliquey? Isn't that what punk always stood against in the first place?

RYAN: As long as I’ve been involved in punk and hardcore, there has always been trends – fashion-wise and musically. I have a feeling they’ve always been here, although I can’t speak on the early days from first hand experience. Some of them are more lame than others. Thank god the shoe collecting days are over, remember that one? I think the latest may be the new, looking like a dirt bag with flannel-look, or possibly the hipster, v-neck t-shirt look. It’s hilarious to see what people will buy into. I try not to pay attention to that sort of thing, but I think most subcultures have similar trends and cliques and what not – it’s like high school in a way, which is sad considering it’s a movement that’s supposed to be the exact opposite. At least that’s the cheesy way I’ve always envisioned it in my head.

I remember seeing Ceremony and their singer was a maniac, running around with the entire microphone in his mouth, and their guitarist, I forget his name, was basically dressed like a girl and had this totally crazy, weird stage presence – you could tell that the members did not give two shits about what anyone thought of them, and I always thought that was awesome. Too often people are afraid to be individuals. I’m not saying that I’m going to start dressing like a girl, but I’ve always admired people who can act like themselves, regardless of ridicule they may face, and regardless of what’s popular at the moment. We’ve done a couple of things with Outbreak that I think dropped our “cred”, and I don’t regret them at all – being on the Saw VI soundtrack last year is definitely something that we were given a lot of shit for from the hardcore and punk community. It’s as if we have some sort of blueprint were expected to follow, and anything you do outside of the dotted lines and you’re considered a sellout! I always assume the people who care about this sort of thing are very young and impressionable, almost like the mentality of hating on a band when they sign with a big record label.

AO: Are there any bands you are really into at the moment that are not on TF!?

RYAN:  There’s a band from New Jersey that everyone should check out called Night Birds – been listening to their new full length a lot – really great stuff, reminds me of old Descendents meets Dead Kennedys.

AO: After touring the world - can you tell me what was the most interesting place to see and why?  

RYAN: South America was interesting, because it’s such a different culture than most other places that we’ve toured. It’s a real eye opener when you’re in Brazil or Colombia and see some of the slums and things that make the projects in the U.S. look like a playground. We’ve been to Japan a couple of times as well, and that stands out for complete opposite reasoning. They’re always technologically advanced past the U.S. over there – I remember the first time I was there in 2006 and being amazed that people could go into 7-11 and scan their cell phone to pay for whatever it was that they were buying.   

AO: What is your advice to someone who is in the beginning stages of creating a label? things to avoid? etc.

RYAN: Save up a lot of money and be prepared to lose it. Running a label is a lot like gambling, you’ll hit every once in a while, but you’ll usually lose a lot in the process. It also helps to start out small, and build yourself up – don’t burn yourself out by expecting to be the next David Geffen – it doesn’t work like that. Ask a lot of questions to signed bands, and independent record labels, intern at a label if it’s possible. Also, only work with people you know personally – if you’re interested in a band and don’t know them - meet them! Seriously, you are less likely to be screwed over if you actually have a personal relationship with your bands - no one’s afraid to screw over someone they don’t know.

AO: Any last things you want to plug, etc?? 

RYAN: Nah, but thanks for the interview. I haven’t done one in a couple of months so it feels good to rant.

==============================

Outbreak Interview

2011-11-01T16:26:00.001-07:00

Recent interview with Ryan O'Connor of OUTBREAK coming on Saturday!
...stay tuned...

The Doldrums - Forced Existence 7" (TIM/Nomadic Behavior Records)

2011-10-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings all -
The Doldrums - Forced Existence 7" is now available in the Approaching Oblivion Webstore.

The record came out in 2007 and the band is on indefinite hiatus - we've got about 30 copies ready to go. I'm printing new covers and finally giving this record the layout/production it always deserved.

For fans of INFEST, MIND ERASER, NEANDERTHAL, XFILESX

www.myspace.com/thedoldrumz

ORDER:
www.approachingoblivion.bigcartel.com
www.approachingoblivion.bigcartel.com
www.approachingoblivion.bigcartel.com

Vanishing Leper (Cold Vomit Records)

2011-10-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

DFJ: We just released an LP on Cold Vomit. Definitely has some rocked out middle eastern influences (think Beatles Revolver era, George Harrison, Led Zep and early Doors) as well as some alternative and indie rock and pop thrown in there. Jordan Darby from Dry-Rot wrote the songs and did the guitars, sitar, bass and vocals while I played drums. Chris Corry recorded the drums, mixed the LP and played some guitar as well as writing the last song which is kind of a heavy improv jam, which borders more on the Randy Holden, Doors, Sabbath territory. It fits though. The way this project came together was pretty cool too because we have actually never jammed together as a band. Jordan lives out in California and sent me some mp3s of song ideas he had. I did my best to interpret the riffs he had and arrange song structures on drums. Once me and CC laid down the drums at the Paincave we sent Jordan the files and he put the music over it. I was pretty happy when I heard the finished product because it's surprisingly coherent and CC did an awesome job capturing the right vibe with the mix.

http://coldvomit.bandcamp.com/album/vanishing-leper

It's not pseudo-science! Sound waves effect your body and mind.

2011-10-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

I study sound. It's what I'm enrolled in University for. Sound is a physical audible force that is caused by friction of air molecules. It has an attack (the birth of the sound), a sustain, a decay and a release (the death of a sound)...otherwise known as ASDR.

Each sound wave has a wavelength. The wavelength is the horizontal distance between any two successive equivalent points on the wave.

The frequency of a sound wave is measured in hertz. Hertz (Hz) indicate the number of cycles per second that the wave performs. The human ear typically hears sound ranging from 20Hz to 20,000Hz. It's said sound outside of that spectrum are more 'felt' than audible. It's fascinating to me. Before I ramble on way too much science mumbo jumbo - I'm going to get down to why I'm talking about all of this...

It is my personal belief that certain frequencies of sound can open different energy fields in the body. This video is a sine wave (pure wave) of supposedly a Pineal Gland activator. The pineal gland is responsible for your imagination, dreams, future visions, etc. It is also commonly known as the 3rd eye. It is located between the eyes and up towards the forehead. In some reptiles - it literally has it's own lens.

I recommend noise-cancelling headphones and a comfortable environment:

-JN

AO Zine Issue #1 available now!

2011-09-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

Greetings.

The official release date for the zine is on Monday the 26th, HOWEVER I made a short-run of test prints with alternative inside covers that are available now.

What is this zine?

22 pages, black and white, filled with nice graphics and artwork. It features recent interviews with Ian Mackaye, John Joseph and Emil Amos.

Orders will be mailed to the buyer the day of or day after order has processed. This zine was created completely by myself and I'm very happy with how it came out.

ORDER here: http://approachingoblivion.bigcartel.com/product/approaching-oblivion-zine-1

International buyers should contact me prior to ordering to discuss shipping rates.

Thanks.
-Jake

1st Zine being printed: Pre-Orders available now

2011-09-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

ORDER:
http://approachingoblivion.bigcartel.com/product/approaching-oblivion-zine-1

The first round of zines will be mailed out on Sept. 26th

Paypal & Snail Mail are both accepted.

The first 10 orders will receive a CDR of unreleased material from Nomadic Behavior Records.

Table Of Contents;

Upcoming: Interview with Outbreak!

2011-09-02T21:43:00.001-07:00

Upcoming interview with Ryan O'Connor of Outbreak and Think Fast Records! Stay tuned!

AO Blog is looking for more contributors!

2011-08-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Approaching Oblivion Blog is looking for one or two people to help contribute to this blogzine on a regular basis. The applicant should have intense passion for music, art and media. They should get excited about writing music reviews, art reviews, covering current events, and even conducting interviews.

Though this blog is centrally themed around hardcore music, it should be known we are NOT limited to just that. In fact, we want to expand our horizons, but keep the reviews and interviews with musicians on an underground and independent level. This is a non-paying gig, since AO is completely non-profit and run by a poor college student (myself).

I'm looking for one or two people from the United States who are legitimately interested in doing regular contributions to this blogzine. Hopefully we can watch this blog grow and remain interesting. The Ian Mackaye and John Joseph interviews from this past summer, grew a lot of awareness about this blog, and we want to keep giving the people what they want.

Any interested parties should email: jonathan.b.newcomb@gmail.com with a bit of information about themselves, why they want to contribute, what they can bring to the table and any possible examples of writing they have done in the past.

Looking forward to expanding this blog a bit more.

Cheers!

-JN/AOBLOGZINE

Sea King debut's new video for song 'Cross the Petit Manan'

2011-08-28T01:35:00.000-07:00

‎Sea King has debuted a new video and song for an upcoming album (scheduled for winter) on Nomadic Behavior Records ... keep up with those pages and share them!

www.seaking.bandcamp.com

Sea King on Facebook

Sea King

2011-05-07T13:13:00.001-07:00

Sea King is Jake Newcomb's solo music project...Check it out by clicking anywhere on this text...Make sure to add the page to keep up with things.

Video premiere for "In My Blood":

Interview with John Joseph (Cro-Mags, NYHC)

2011-03-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

A telephone interview with John Joseph :: March 28th, 2011.

For this interview I invited my friend Jessica Harvey to be a guest-host.
We cover topics from philosophy, John's new writings, and raw food dieting.

...Phone Rings...

Approaching Oblivion: Hello?

JJ: Hey, what’s up brothah?

AO: Not much man. We were just listening to some Both Worlds. What’s new in your life? What’s keeping you so busy these days?

JJ: Well I’m training for a triathlon ultimately ending with an ironman either late this year or next year. It’s tough to get into races because a lot of them sell out. But between that, I’m working on a screenplay and also an extended version of the last book I did, which will be a cookbook that includes a lot of information about what is being done with the food. So I’m keeping busy and doing Cro-Mags shows. We’ve got LA coming up and San Diego.

AO: I take it the screenplay is going to be based off of your auto-biography 'The Evolution of a Cro-Mag'?

JJ: Actually the one I’m working on now is different. It’s a fictitious story that I’ve been working on with someone for 10 years. I will do the adaptation of the auto-biography at some point, but I like to stay focused on one thing at a time and get it done and right now it’s this new story.

AO: Can you tell us anything about the upcoming Cro-Mags album?

JJ: Yeah, I mean we have time off until August, so I can’t really say much about it other than early Spring we’re going to start going into the studio and start writing…

AO: What about the Cro-Mags training I’ve been reading a lot about…Can you tell us anything about that?

JJ: Yeah, that’s sponsored through Nike. It’s all plant based and is sponsored through Vega Sequel products. We have classes every other week here in NYC at 276 Bowery Nike gallery (Nike Stadium). My friend Aarron from Everlast came in for a boxing class. I led out a run one day up over the bridge and last week we had Josh Griffiths from Clockwork Jiu-Jitsu. Basically it’s giving people who may not have a gym a chance to run and work out. It’s for all levels of fitness. We always finish with some nutritional advice. I’ve got Michael Perrine coming in next Thursday, April 7th, he works with Dr. Fred Bisci, he’s a raw foods chef with a lot of knowledge on nutrition.

AO: Are you still doing a lot of the raw foods dieting?

JJ: Yeah. I’m about 75% raw in my diet. I just find it works best for me, I do a lot of superfoods. I get the same amount of calories for training, but they burn quicker. It’s healthier for you, plus raw foods are incredibly rich with enzymes. It helps build your immune system up. It’s helpful for everything. I've really been fortunate to get in touch with people like Dr.Fred Bisci (Anydoubtleaveitout.com) who gives good guidelines on how to live with a raw diet.

I try to always learn and keep an open mind, and that’s what I talk about in the book. The book I’m working on now is based on the amount of disease that’s going on with the kids in this country and all over the world, it just comes back to the food, ya know? I just find what works for me and tell people about it.

AO: You’ve been vegan for 30 years?

JJ: I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I started out raw. I’ve been seeing Viktoras Kulvinskas and sitting in on his lectures since 1981. I grew my own sprouts in Hawaii and wheat grass in Puerto Rico. I’ve been doing this for quite some time. I’m just trying to pass out whatever info I’ve gathered. I’ve used my own body as a laboratory as far as seeing what works for my conditions. This new book is going to be loaded with information which I know truly works in forming a well balanced superfoods diet. Vegan Chef Tal Ronnen (who authored The Conscious Cook) is going to dedicate a whole section to vegan recipes. I’ve got Michael Perrine and Pete Cervoni in on it too. These guys are world famous raw chefs. It’s going to be a great book.

AO: You’re really outspoken about your physical health and spirituality…when did you first started practicing yoga? And what forms are you experienced with?

JJ: I think yoga has turned into nothing but gymnastics at this point. It’s a spiritual process, but you see these people walking down the streets, and god bless ‘em, but ya know, they’ve got a yoga mat rolled up under one arm, they’re smoking cigarettes, and they look stressed out as hell. It’s a spiritual process, the actual word yoga means 'union with the Supreme', but you cannot think that you can take intoxicants and eat meat and then be a yoga teacher…No, that's not a yoga teacher, that's someone who teaches yoga postures, but do they feel it spiritually? It's not possible.

AO: Those foolish people aside, what are some benefits if someone DOES take it seriously?

JJ: Yoga forces you to focus on what’s going on inside of you. That’s what yoga does, you’re supposed to quiet the mind and become reflective and take value and take stock of what’s going on in your life. There’s 8 rungs on the yoga ladder...Hatha-Yoga, Jnana-Yoga, then ultimately Bhakti-Yoga, which is the highest form of yoga.

Hatha-Yoga prepares you to sit in mediation for long periods of time, let’s get it straight, that’s what it’s for. But what do you meditate on? The void? Emptiness? It’s not possible. So you’re supposed to meditate on Vishnu, the Supersoul.

Everything else has just become cheapened in the western world. I really do feel that people are searching for spirituality in this country because we’ve had massive amounts of sense gratification, yet that’s not satisfying anybody. I don’t care how much money someone has, how much sex they’re having, how intoxicated they get or how many things they buy; that’s not going to satisfy the real ‘you’. So people are turning more towards metaphysical aspects in their life, i.e. yoga, meditation, and they’re getting off the meat.

I find that the women are way more ahead of men spiritually. They’re more prone to get off meat. Brothers need to step up to the plate and get with the program to make the world a better place. If you want to fix the karma of the planet, then you have to stop ALL the killing. We’ve got to stop killing the animals.

There is a collective karma to the planet, and you can see shit’s getting ready to go buck wild.

AO: Given your knowledge about physical health and spirituality…Out of the 3 things that make up a human being – the mind, body, and so called ‘soul’ – do you believe one of those 3 has a higher priority over the others?

JJ: There’s a famous picture in the Bhagavad-Gita that shows the senses being compared to the 5 horses, the reigns are the mind, the intelligence is the driver, and the passenger is the soul.
So the whole things starts with the control of the senses. If someone can’t control their senses, they can’t control their mind, or their intelligence. It’s all interconnected. The intelligence is above the mind, when the mind says something like ‘Oh yeah, let me go pick up this bag of heroin’ or ‘Pick up this chick’ that’s when the intelligence kicks in. Without the intelligence then they get pregnant, and have a baby, and what happens then?

The tongue is the most veracious of all the senses to control. It wants to eat crap it wants to talk nonsense. But if you control the tongue then the other senses come under control, then the mind can become somewhat under control. You have to fix the mind on something, that’s why devotees chant and fix the mind and senses on Krishna. Then you fix up your intelligence with the knowledge gained from spirituality. I’m not the body I’m the spirit soul.

Atatho-Brahma-Jigyasa, what is the purpose of human life? Self realization. That’s why you’ve got this human body. So what should I be doing with this human body? Ultimately your soul is above anything else, and you have no inkling of even who you are in this life. Most people think they are the body, most people walk around like ‘Yeah, I’m walkin, I’m this I’m that’ but where is your 5 year old body? Your 20 year old body? You say 'My arm...My leg...My foot...My head...My brain...My mind', so who is the ‘me’? Who is this personality? What’s the difference between a live body and a dead body? It’s consciousness. So where does the consciousness come from?

AO: Yeah, well that’s one of the biggest questions right there…

JJ: Well that question is answered. You are the spirit soul within the body and the activities you commit in this life will determine whatever comes in the next life. You never lose out. Arjuna asks Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita ‘What is the fate of the unsuccessful yogi?’ There is no loss or diminution on this path. In other words everything materially is finished at the time of death, only those activities which awaken your consciousness and evolve your soul have any benefit in the next life.

I was listening to a class the other day when I was in the gym and I was getting so much realization because what Prabhupada said was ‘you are born in the material world, you maintain, you dwindle and you die.’ That’s the nature of this body. Now that’s not a natural condition for the soul. So how does the soul get out of this cycle of life and death? That’s the real goal…

AO: You come from an incredibly rough past. If anyone knows anything about you they’ll know that from the beginning of your life, it was filled with conflict. You were entered into foster homes at a young age and eventually by the age of 14 you were living on the streets of Manhattan. That was also when NYC was rated as the most violent city in the country.

How did you not fall into some sort of ‘victim’ mode as a kid? It's amazing how you didn't go into a 'poor me, this is how life is' school of thought. What gave you the resilience to rise up out of your huge amounts of conflict and get to where you are now? Do you have a message for the youth who may be currently going through similar issues?

JJ: Yeah, my message is that you can’t sit there and think of yourself as a victim. For years I didn’t even face a lot of the stuff that went down, but it reared it’s head up later in life. I look at it like this, the human spirit can get through anything. To me adversity builds character in your life. I'm not saying you should go cause problems in your life just so you can come back around and say ‘I had it tough’, but adversity builds character. What happened to me was forced upon me, I didn’t have any say in what went down.

This material world is not such a great place, I mean sure there are beautiful moments and beautiful people, but it's not always like that. I believe that I went through all those things as a kid to make me really search for the truth in life. What is the truth of my existence on this planet. That’s why whatever happens to us we can’t sit and go ‘woe is me’, everyone has their own set of problems…no matter how many issues you’ve got, you should always be searching for some type of meaning or importance in your life. The human form of life is a great gift.

Even after I got exposed to so much knowledge I went and had a big drug thing go down. When I first left the Cro-Mags, a lot of fucked up shit happened. I hooked up with the wrong people and I ended up dealing with drug addiction, near death experiences and other chaos. I realized that I was either going to get killed or kill somebody else. I had to come back and take shelter in what gave me real purpose in my life and that was my spiritual path…

I never even really started seeing the whole craziness until I started working on screenplays. When I was working with my writing partner and I looked at the whole story, I was like ‘holy shit…’

*Chuckles

She told me ‘You’ve got to write a book, it may help a lot of people’ and that’s what I hope it does. I’ve gotten thousands of letters and answer each letter. I hope the story gives people strength to get through stuff.

AO: Yeah. Your music and everything you seem to put out is incredibly inspiring. I can only speak for myself, but there have been times when I feel like the Cro-Mags have saved my life. I'm not saying I would have died or anything like that, but I probably would not have paid much attention to my health or purpose in my life if it weren't for Age Of Quarrel or Alpha Omega.

JJ: But you know what it is, man? I look at it this way man. Did I come up with the knowledge? No. I’m just trying to be the mailman. I’ve got this letter. I don’t open it up and change the letter, I just pass it on.
*Laughter

AO: John Joseph, the mail man...

JJ: Yeah. Bad brains taught me a lot of stuff working with them and I pass it on.

AO: What was it like touring with the Bad Brains? They got you into vegetarian diet?

JJ: Yeah. They were vegetarian, Jerry Williams was vegan. They’d eat raw foods. It was amazing man, I met them in April or March of 1980.

AO: You were what age?

JJ: I was 18. Born in ’62.

AO: You had already served time in prison, you were in the navy at that point..…

JJ: I mean, yeah. I came out of lock-up. When I met them in the Navy, ya know, you read the book, I was all buck wild. I needed them to come along. When the time is right in life the teachers come along, and the time was right. They were right there when I was bugging out so to speak and looking for something more in my life. The music was a big part of it, but when I found out that they were spiritual and very humble people, it was even more real. Getting to tour with them later on was awesome too.

AO: Wasn’t an agreement made with the Bad Brains that you could tour with them as long as you didn’t eat animals?

JJ: Yeah, they said you can’t eat any meat on the road with us, but I was still doing drugs and stuff like that. It was still a transitional period for me, they came along at the right time.

AO: I know that now you live a drug free life…but what are your opinions on the idea that through psychedelic drugs one could expand their consciousness? Any opinions on that?

JJ: Yeah, I mean temporarily you may get a glimpse of something, but it’s artificial. It’s intoxication. The root word of that is toxic. Even eating mushrooms is acute poisoning, that’s how you get high. There’s the old saying ‘stay high forever’ that’s the process you want to find, not some artificial stimulation. Why should I need any outside thing to reach some level of consciousness? That’s artificial. It’s about the real stuff.

Samadhi means a constant state of realization and bliss, and that’s not going to happen unless you keep taking the drug that made you feel all woozy to begin with. The come down off of those drugs is anything BUT bliss. You’re not always guaranteed to have a good trip anyways.

AO: What about isolation tanks? Any take on those? They create complete sensory deprivation. Without the use of any drugs or intoxicants, your given the effects of a psychedelic experience.

JJ: I don’t know too much about it. I’ve had people who told me they want me to try it out. It’s not really my thing. That could be right for somebody else, that’s not my path, so I can’t really speak on it.

AO: It seems really safe to me. I’ve got a session set up next week and I’m looking forward to it.

JJ: Yeah check it out man, let me know.

AO: Got time for some more questions?

JJ: I do have to split for some food in a bit, I’ve been training all day, if you've got a few more, go ahead and ask 'em…

Jessica Harvey: What are you having for dinner tonight?

JJ: I’m going to Angelica’s Kitchen, I don’t know what’s on the menu tonight but I know it will be good. Some raw salad, maybe a soup, we’ll see what’s going on there.

JH: Can I ask you some questions about food?

JJ: Absolutely.

JH: Recently in news headlines, there’s been a lot of talk about how Whole Foods is now selling GMO contaminated alfalfa from Monsanto. Do you have any comments on that?

JJ: I tried to get a response, because I know someone who works with John Mackey (CEO of Whole Foods). I never got a response from it, so I don’t know too much about that. I’m hearing what’s out there, but I don’t like to speculate.

All I can say is everybody better be on guard for Monsanto. Obama appointed 3 top Monsanto people for the food safety of America, so little by little we’re going to see more of this stuff coming into play. When we have Michael Taylor, Vilsak and Beachy running the food safety of America, we need to be on the look out.

This country has sold out to corporations. Health freedom is something we still have, but they’re taking that away now. The chemical trails dropping from planes which stop organic seeds from germinating is another issue that needs changing. There’s a lot going on that people need to wake up to.

JH: Do you support the efforts of groups like PETA?

JJ: Yeah, of course I do because what they’re doing for the animals is needed. We’ve created hell on earth for the animals. I support everything that PETA does. Whatever gains awareness. Would I go out and throw paint on someone’s fur coat? No…that’s not my style, but at the same time whatever gets some awareness out there is getting my support.

My style is different, but do I like what they do? Do I like what the Sea Shepherd does? Hell yeah.

In regards to current issues in Japan...

Let me say this…Collective karma exists and Japan has been going all over the world cutting the fins off of sharks, killing whales, dolphins, and absolutely bleeding the ocean and over fishing. You know what? The ocean came back ashore, man.

Killing is killing. Let’s get down to the basics. It’s the universal law of karma. All the countries maintaining slaughterhouses, killing billions of animals every year…this is just one big pressure cooker that is getting ready to go off.

I’ve always been an outspoken dude and people may or may not agree with me, but I can't please everybody. I just got to speak what I know to be truth…

AO: Those are some radical ideas man. We’ll let you take off and get some food. I want to thank you for taking time to answer some questions for the Approaching Oblivion Blogzine. If you have any plugs or shout-outs, feel free to drop them now…

JJ: Keep your eyes open for the Cro-Mag training at Nike every other Thursday. Hopefully the Mags will get this album out this year. The new book will have recipes and a lot of good info people need. Alright, keep on keeping on bro. Thanks for your time.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-J/AOBlog.

Tonight @ 6PM: Interview with John Joseph (Cro-Mags)

2011-03-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

Tonight, AO Blog has a telephone interview setup with John Joseph of the Cro-Mags. We plan to talk about the upcoming Cro Mags album, philosophy, his new writing projects + more.

Now is the time to get involved! You can post any questions you want to ask in the comments section and I may very well include them at the end of the interview! Stay tuned.

-J/AOBlog

.aob-on-fb.

2011-03-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ian Mackaye Interview (Minor Threat, Fugazi, Dischord Records)

2011-03-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

A telephone interview with Ian Mackaye :: March 22nd, 2011.
Here's someone who needs no introduction. If you have been living under a rock and need an introduction I suggest you check out this for starters:

Ian Bio

Approaching Oblivion: First off, what’s going on with Dischord Records? Any new releases coming up?

Ian Mackaye: Well we’re going through a major transition a the moment. Our partner company, Southern, had shut down its Chicago office and that had been taken over by a company called CID. Southern and CID basically helped us with manufacturing and warehousing for the past 25 years. Last year CID decided that they wanted to focus more on being a retail store, so for the last 4 or 5 months we’ve been moving everything back here to the Dischord House.

AO: Southern is from the UK, right?

Ian: Yeah. Southern was started by my dear friend John Loder. In 1983 he came to see Minor Threat play and asked if he could put our record out in England. Dischord was in a pickle at the time because we were unable to get credit at record plants; we had to pay COD (cash on delivery) for all the pressings. The records would sell out immediately, but the distributors would take anywhere from 3-6 months to pay us. So we had sold all of our records, but had no money from the sales and we couldn’t repress the record that was in demand. We were totally broke. So when John asked about doing the record in England, we said that we would be into it, but only if he could make extra copies and send them to us to distribute in the USA. He agreed and we started working together. John died in 2005, which was the beginning of the end of Southern. Then CID stepped in and took over the Chicago office.

Dischord Records is now 30 years old and we're heading into our 31st year. We don’t have a lot of current bands. Part of our arrangement from the very beginning was that we were documenting a specific musical scene. I think that it waxes and wanes, it’s a living thing, and eventually it will die because it’s a living thing. I don’t think we’re done documenting things, but right now we have a specific back catalog that people are interested in and we feel that we have a serious custodial responsibility to distribute this music.

AO: So no big releases coming up? Just a lot of repressing?

Ian: Yup. Repressing. We’ve got a lot of unreleased stuff that we are considering putting out. Hopefully something new will come along. I’m hungry to have my mind blown by something or somebody to come along and knock the shit out of me musically.

AO: Still sticking to just D.C.?

Ian: Of course. Why would we change now?

I never actually wanted to have a record label. I wanted to be in a band and wanted to play music. I wanted to play how, when and wherever I wanted. I didn’t want anyone to tell me how to do it. The way to facilitate that was to have my own label. I actually find the record industry rather despicable.

AO: That is something that's deeply rooted within the hardcore lifestyle, the idea of keeping things independent. The interesting thing about your story and about Minor Threat is that you didn’t have much of a scene to grow off of. You were literally creating an entire movement and genre of music. I think that’s really honorable. Which bands influenced Minor Threat? Was there an underground scene in the early 80's D.C. area before you started pushing your music?

Ian: There's a lot to speak about there. I don’t know if it was ‘honorable’, we were just doing what we were doing. We weren’t thinking that we were crafting anything beyond what was already going on. We were just trying to make the music that we wanted to make. We weren’t thinking we were going to start a scene. I had no sense that Minor Threat would be heard by anyone outside of Washington DC, maybe other parts of the punk scene, but it never occurred to us. When I was writing those songs, I wasn’t writing them for anybody but the 30 people I hung out with.
I've always considered myself real. I’m real now and the things that I want to do now are real and legitimate, and whether other people think they are or not, I don’t give a damn. I was extremely excited about seeing a counter-culture in our society because I find mainstream culture so deadening. So for me I found it in the Punk and New Wave scene…it was really an incredible discovery for me to find this collection of freaks, that were involved with this underground music scene that I had only heard about in a derisive manner in terms of ‘punks are stupid, they stab themselves’ and all that. Upon further investigation, I saw something real was going on there and as soon as I saw a show I realized 'Oh okay, this is where I want to be.'

AO: Do you remember what your first show was?

Ian: Of course. It was The Cramps in February of 1979 with Urban Verbs and The Chumps at the Georgetown University Hall of Nations. Absolutely mind blowing gig.

AO: Did they play green fuzz?

Ian: It was earlier, before they wrote that song though I saw them at that stage too. I saw them a lot in those days. But of course there were a lot of bands that were influencing us…English bands like The Damned, Sham 69, Sex Pistols, Generation X. They were really inspirational, the music was so fresh. Then of course the Bad Brains were absolutely mind blowing. They were friends of ours that were making music that I had never heard before in my life. Then of course on the west coast, Black Flag was essential. The Germs, The Weirdos, all the stuff that was happening with Dangerhouse Records, I was influenced by it all. I was even influenced by Janis Joplin. I was looking for music that sounded like it was being made by people who didn’t have a choice in the matter.

AO: More of a cathartic release or something like that?

Ian: Yeah. Cathartic or just straight up honest. Something that sounds like they’re making the music that just needs to come out is music that is real and sacred.
I do think it’s odd to use the word lifestyle. Semantics play a huge role of how we operate as a society. How people talk about things plays a huge role in the way we do things. People have spoken to me about the ‘straight edge lifestyle’, but I never referred to myself as straight edge…I said ‘I’ve got the straight edge'. Because I don’t drink or do drugs people will ask me ‘so are you still living the straight edge lifestyle?” and I think it’s interesting because in my mind if you think of living a sober life, that is living a life without any external lubricants, you have to think about when a baby is born. They don’t drink, they don’t smoke, they are just these little perfect beings…

AO: They're just little harmless creatures.

Ian: Right. So in my mind, to be ‘straight’ is to be mindful about what is going into your body…that is life. It’s an example of a kind of psychological inversion that we suffer from in this society. People think that if you are living naturally then somehow it is a lifestyle, but if you live unnaturally then it is life. I submit that the party is the lifestyle.

AO: Have you gone out to any shows recently? Any bands that you’re really digging?

Ian: I see bands every now and again. I went and saw a band from Philly called Paint it Black. They were solid, I enjoyed them. There's a band down here called Give, which I think are kind of cool, another band called Gift, that I think was kind of cool. I’m not interested in a musical style, a look or an attitude, what I’m interested in is new ideas. I want to see people wrestling with new ideas.

AO: In terms of Fugazi, you’ve been on an indefinite hiatus since 2002. Do you have any intentions of playing or recording again?
Ian: The four of us love each other dearly. I saw Brendan last night, I was on the phone with Guy today, and Joe is on tour at the moment. We are a family we don’t stray from each other. We worked really hard for 15 years; the band was the central aspect of our lives, and at some point life demanded attention. We had kids getting born and parents that got sick and some died. A lot of new things happened in our lives that we had to pay attention to. It meant that we had to stop working.
We didn’t break up, I coined the indefinite hiatus term specifically because I thought it was absurd to break up, it wasn't a circumstantial issue, it wasn't that anyone did anything wrong. There wasn't any anger there wasn't any big ‘fuck you!" It is entirely possible that we will play again and it's also possible that we won't. We have the desire to play, but there’s a geographical issue. Joe currently lives in Rome and that makes it hard to practice. There's also a time issue. Everyone is super busy. You've got to remember that when Fugazi was actually working we usually practiced 5 days a week from 4-6 hours a day.

AO: It shows in the songs...

Ian: We worked our asses off. We practiced and practiced and practiced. That’s just not possible right now. I’m so busy right now with work.

What I’m currently working on right now is going through a database of 1000’s of live recordings we have. I’m editing and fixing things up, we’ve been working on this project for 2 years now. We’re going to create a website, where all of these recordings will be made available.
I’m struck by how intense some of these tours were. We’d do 65 shows in 70 days. We were working and working and working. It’s insane to look at it from this perspective. That’s how we made money, that’s how we could stay afloat...Constantly touring and constantly working.

Fugazi live in 1991:

AO: In regards to the website you’re working on, do you have an idea when that will be up?

Ian: I wanted it to be up last fall. Jerry is upstairs right now editing shows. We had to digitize every show, they are on cassette and DAT (digital audio tape) for the most part. So we got that stuff done. Now we’re in the process of mastering all the shows so they play at the same volume. That stage is not too hard, it’s pretty mechanical, there’s a mastering program that does most of the work. Then we have to edit the shows which means we have to put in index points in-between every song so they are not these 2 hour long files.

AO: That’s a lot of work

Ian: It’s a fuck of a lot of work.

We're hoping it will be up in the near future. The idea at the moment is to start it with 100 shows. Then put 20 more on every month or something. We’re still building the site, it’s an interesting and complicated process.

Can you hold on one second? My dad is on the other line...

AO: Yup.

*click*

Ian: Sorry about that...But to get back to Fugazi playing again, we’ve been offered an insane amount of money to play reunions, but it’s not going to be money that brings us back together, we would only play music together if we wanted to play music together and the time allowed it.

AO: So many people don’t do that. They just fold, and go for the cash. They just sell out; I guess that’s what selling out is.

Ian: Yeah. I mean Minor Threat got offered enormous amounts of money too. But Minor Threat never played a single show for money ever, so why would we do that now? Isn’t that ruining all the work?

If you wanted to see Minor Threat, why would you want to see a guy who is 49 years old, doing a song he wrote when he was 19? I think that’s just insane. I tell people, I love Minor Threat, but that band belongs to that moment in time. I think it the music holds up because it is an honest expression, and that's why people can still relate to it. If you want to see Minor Threat, form a fucking band, that’s minor threat.

AO: I post on a forum where I promo'd this interview. Some posters had random questions. Someone wanted to know what the first car you ever had was?

Ian: My first car was a green 1970 Plymouth duster. It was a great car. In 1979 I played bass in the Teen Idles. After we played our last show in November 1980, we took the gear back to our houses, and Jeff (drummer of Teen Idles) and I took a case of Coke and drove the Duster all night to upstate New York to visit friends. It was on that trip that we basically plotted what would become Minor Threat. I had a lot of great experiences in that car.

AO: There’s a video of you out there when you were a kid working in an ice cream place...

Ian: Häagen-Dazs, yeah.

AO: And you worked there with Henry Rollins.

Ian: Henry hired me, he was the manager.

AO: Someone on the forum wants to know if you have a favorite kind of ice cream.

Ian: Well, I haven’t had any dairy for the past 25 years, but there is a place called Scoops in LA, that makes an incredible soy ice cream. I suspect that working at Häagen-Dazs lead me to decide never to fuck with dairy anymore, because at the time I was so poor that that was essentially my dinner. Ice cream. I get sick around that stuff.

Alright, I should jump. I've got to call my Dad back. Any other things?

AO: That about wraps up the interview, I want to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for the Approaching Oblivion Blog.

Ian: Not a problem. Many thanks man. Take care.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AO Blog is now on Facebook

-Jake/AO Blog

Next: Interview with Ian Mackaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, Dischord Records)

2011-03-16T09:19:00.001-07:00

Approaching Oblivion will be having a telephone interview with Ian Mackaye within the next two weeks. After editing and what not, it should be posted by April. It may be an audio stream, or it could be written.
This is great news! Stay posted!

-Jake/AO Blog

Jason Simon (of Dead Meadow) Debut Solo Album Available

2011-03-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

Here's what the Tee Pee website had to say about it:
"It is a stripped down and intimate record filled with intricate guitar work and poignant well-thought lyrics. Some songs are filled with dark brooding drones. Others songs leisurely carry the listener down meandering rivers as they slowly develop in their own unhurried way."

http://www.myspace.com/manfromelsewhere
http://www.myspace.com/deadmeadow
http://www.teepeerecords.com/

NBR News: Sea King releasing 'Idle Days' 4/16

2011-02-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Check this out! (click for bigger picture)

You can stream a portion of Idle Days here for free:
Sea King BANDCAMP

Here are 2 new videos featuring songs from Idle Days

In My Blood:

The Mask:

Dreambox BANDCAMP: For fans of My Bloody Valentine, Quicksand, Slowdive, etc.

If any of this brought you joy or entertainment in the slightest way, please 'like' the facebook page because it's the best way to keep up with things.

Nomadic Behavior Records on Facebook

Cheers!
-JN/NBR

Michio Kurihara - Sunset Notes (2005, Pedal Records)

2011-02-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

Michio Kurihara is a well-renounced guitarist in Japan's underground music scene. He's worked with heavy-rockers Boris and Ghost for several years and is also known for his earlier work in the band White Heaven. Kurihara has a unique style of playing, and creates captivating and mesmerizing compositions. His tones and soundscapes are his strongest skills as an artist. His compositions go from being minimalist and clean toned to distorted and fast-paced with cinematic themes. The production on this record is comparable to the awe-inspiring sounds found on OK Computer by Radiohead or Mahavishnu Orchestra's classic Birds Of Fire.

The CD remains instrumental with the exception of tracks Mind Waltzes and The Wind’s Twelve Quartets, which have soft female vocals that serve as good relaxing breaks from the other distorted action packed cinematic themes.
I got a chance to catch him play live with Boris in the summer of 2008 @ The Middle East Club, but I didn’t know anything about him at the time and made the poor decision of leaving the club mid-set (they played for over an hour and I was there to see TORCHE). Don’t let this slip through the cracks. This is a beautiful collection of songs.
Happy listening!

Track Listing:
1) Time To Go
2) Do Deep-Sea Fish Dream Of Electric Moles?
3) Mind Waltzes
4) Pendulum On A G-String - The Last Cicada
5) Canon In "C" (C Is For Cicada)
6) Twilight Mystery Of A Russian Cowboy
7) The Wind's Twelve Quarters
8) The Old Man And The Evening Star
9) A Boat Of Courage

Sunset Notes (2005)

-J/AO Blog

Zak Riles – Self Titled (Important Records) Review

2011-01-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

Zak Riles is mostly known for his creative contributions and song-writing for the psychedelic groove band Grails, whom are based out of Portland, OE; yet often overlooked is this solo CD released in November of 2008 by Important Records.
If you listen closely and compare certain songs from this release to early Grails material, you will notice similar riffs and elements that were eventually adapted and altered to play with the full band. The most blatant example would be Sand/Silk Road Origin which is practically identical to Silk Road found on Grails’ release Burning Off The Impurities. That being said, Riles still manages to pulls a serious amount of individuality and uniqueness out of himself and into this solo-release.
The first and last tracks are filled with bright finger picking guitar riffs that pull influence from greats like John Fahey and Leo Kottke. However, in between these bright and cheerful songs lays something much deeper and more profound. With an undeniable rhythm and melodies that will perk your ears and cause your hair to stand on it's end,, this is the way instrumental music should be made. Powerful and moving. The production is astounding.
Songs like “Res Extensa” with it’s Vibraphone intro (played by Jordan Hudson) and “Sand/Silk Road Origin” with it’s groovy Persian guitar influence, show multiple international elements at play within this music. The drumming and percussion is very orchestral and march-like, with use of timpani and kettledrums that really bring out a nice low-end tone.
I’m not going to put this up for download because I believe that Important Records is far too small and UNDERRATED, but I’m including some tracks for streaming and a link to the Online Store where it can be ordered. The inspiration I’ve pulled from this album as a person and an evolving musician is close to immeasurable, and for that I highly recommend it. Don’t let this one slip through the cracks…

Side note: This past Fall while raking an obnoxious amount of leaves in my Father's yard, we swapped iPods. He listened to this and after 25 minutes of silence and raking my dad takes the headphones off and with a smile looks at me and says…”This is some trippy stuff!”

Zak Riles – Self Titled (Important Records, Nov. 2004)

...CREDITS...

Zak Riles:
Acoustic guitar
Electric guitar
Saz
Oud

Jordan Hudson:
Percussion
Vibraphone

Kate O’Brien:
Violin
Viola

William Slater:
Harpsichord

The closing song:

Dreambox EP coming out in April

2011-01-26T15:45:00.000-08:00

2 new Dreambox tracks off of the EP that will be released on Nomadic Behavior Records.

Bandcamp

Explosions In The Sky announces new album to be out in April

2011-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

"Hi Everyone,

We're pleased to announce that our fifth album will be coming out this April. It has six songs and its called Take Care, Take Care, Take Care. It was recorded on a pecan ranch in West Texas by our good friend and frequent collaborator John Congleton. Esteban Rey did the artwork. The music on it feels different than anything else we've done before and we're very excited for you to hear it.

Anyway, here is the track list:

1. Last Known Surroundings

2. Human Qualities

3. Trembling Hands

4. Be Comfortable, Creature

5. Postcard from 1952

6. Let Me Back In"

Take Care, Take Care, Take Care from Explosions in the Sky on Vimeo.

Interview w/ Cullen Gallagher of Modern Silent Cinema

2011-01-18T10:58:00.001-08:00

I was fortunate enough to ask Cullen Gallagher a few questions about his music project Modern Silent Cinema. Cullen and I have worked together musically for the past 2 years. He's a great guy, with unique tastes that seem to know no bounds. We've worked together on music projects in the past (he plays bass on multiple recordings of mine and is the other half of Dreambox). His prolific attitude in regards to writing music is outstanding, he's constantly producing his own records and providing reviews for various film and novel blogs. AO Blog highly recommends that you take the time to read through this series of Q&A's, and more importantly, make sure to tune in to Cullen's songs.

AO: How did MSC come about? How many releases have you made since the inception of the project?

CG: It started back in 2004, when I moved back to Maine after leaving NY. So, Shoot the Piano Player was basically broken up at that point, and I didn't have a band and I wanted to play some bass, so I figured I'd throw down some guitar chords just to practice over. I never tried recording on a laptop before. I just used the computer mic and some free software. When I imported the songs into iTunes, I needed a band name to label the tracks, and I had the weird idea that I'd eventually write film music rather than rock n roll so Modern Silent Cinema took about 4 seconds to come up with, and it stuck. As for albums, I think there are 17 now plus a 4-disc collection of early songs that were for an album that never was completed called In Praise of Cecil Hepworth.

AO: What is your writing/recording process like?

CG: I guess it depends, but I usually start with the rhythm guitar part, which is usually complete when I start recording, I might have ideas for bass or melody, but those come after the rhythm guitar. For this album I'm mixing now, Situation Bacon, I often did the drums 2nd.

AO: Where does the name Situation Bacon derive and how far back are the songs coming from?

CG: I misheard Casey Smith (from Shoot the Piano Player) telling me about a Kinks song on Something Else. I was in a record store on the phone with him, and he said there was an awesome song that I'd like called “Situation Bacon,” but when I picked up the album, it was “Situation Vacant.” Worked out well in the end -- the Kinks song rules, and I got a title.

AO: The songs have a cinematic feel to them...You are involved with the film world, have any songs ever been used as scores for short-films?

CG: Yeah. Ted Markowsky from Orono used one track for a short, then he and my brother co-directed another short called The Last Supper and I did some music for it. I'd like to try doing music for movies again at some point. It’s fun, challenging and different than writing rock songs.

AO: It seems like your catalog of music is begging to be put along with film...almost as if that is ‘the point’ of it.

CG: I'd like the opportunity to write some material specifically made for movies. A lot of the stuff I've been doing lately has felt (to me) more rock n roll in nature. I used to do a lot with mixing and arrangement for multiple guitars and even some midi, but lately I've been trying to write more for a live band, sticking to just 2 guitars, 1 bass, and 1 drum track.

AO: That hints that MSC may eventually verge into a band. Has that idea ever been set into motion? Do you think they'll be a time when you play live?

CG: I've tried a couple times in the past, never worked out, but I'm hoping to try again.

AO: I know we talked about Michio Kurihara as one of your favorite guitarists. Who are some other big influences?

CG: Oh man, you know how long that could go on, with us swapping music we like. Let me think of a few…G’N’R, Fugazi, Slint, Bedhead, Converge, Cave In, Botch, Freddie King, Magic Sam, Boys Life - - too many, but also classical stuff like Takemitsu, who did a lot of movie scores. Takemitsu's stuff can be super creepy; also one of the first composers to combine John Cage and modern styles with traditional Japanese instruments.

AO :What is currently in the works for you? What should we keep our eyes peeled for?

CG: More Dreambox recordings hopefully! And I'm hoping this hardcore project called Registered Nurse will get off the ground.

AO: When you put your MSC archive together…where will it be found?

CG: The music will be at MSC Bandcamp to listen to. The artwork is already up at MSC Blog, and once the songs are available to listen to I'll post links there as well.

Cullen also does a lot of writing and reviews which are linked below.
Pulp Novel Reviews:Pulp Serenade
Film Reviews: Cinema Journal
Cullen currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Song Premier: Earth, 'Father Midnight' off of new record!

2011-01-15T09:50:00.000-08:00

Listen to or Download: Father Midnight which is an 12 minute droner off of the upcoming release Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 scheduled to be released on Southern Lord records February 7th.

NPR says: "it's all there, slow as syrup, heavier than a boulder strapped to your back."

...and I have to agree. Being a long-time Earth fan, I've been awaiting their new material for what feel like ages. The excellent use of spacial sound structure, dissonant harmonies and lingering tones that are found throughout the legendary The Bees Made Honey In the Lions Skull and Hibernaculum albums are certainly still prevalent and progressing within this new material.
Dylan Carlson's spacious, loopy and circular motifs continue to be prevalent in his songwriting, along with his dirty toned guitar riffs and excellent use of volume dynamics. Though these components to Earth's sound remain the same, a new element is now at play; cellist Lori Goldston (who famously played on Nirvana's Unplugged in New York), weeps away deep and somber undertones throughout the piece. There is no piano on this recording, which was an instrument that was used heavily in The Bees Made Honey...
The artwork which was created by Stacey Rozich of Seattle, is another thing worth noting about this release. You can view more of Rozich's work at Mystery Meats Blog.

NPR will be streaming the entire album on January 31st as part of their First Listen Series.

Make sure to tune in and vibe out.
A great beginning to the year!

-Jake/AO Blog

Michael C Ruppert exposes CIA drug deals

2011-01-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Michael C. Ruppert is the founder and former editor of From The Wilderness, a newsletter and website dedicated to investigating political cover-ups. He is now CEO and President of Collapse Network, Inc.

On August 16, 2006 Ruppert announced that he was leaving the United States, citing years of harassment for his ongoing dissident activities.

Here is a video of Ruppert addressing the spokesman of the CIA about his knowledge of the US Government selling and buying drugs in undocumented and secretive ways.

Interview with Emil Amos of Holy Sons, Grails and Om.

2010-06-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

Approaching Oblivion Blog: Grails has a new record coming out soon titled Black Tar Prophecies Vol. 4. I’ve managed to see some footage of a new song and it has a great groove. Very similar to the sounds one would hear on Doomsdayer’s Holiday or Take Refuge In Clean Living What should listeners expect out of the new Grails album?

Emil Amos:
The song you're talking about is going to be on the next full-length... you’re right, it does have a sort of 'Take Refuge' vibe. The Black Tar series is more claustrophobic and ill-sounding in general, so it's a good place to put manic mental energies without being too conscious of the mission to entertain or be quite as cohesive, whereas the next full-length is much more stylized and designed in comparison.

AO: Were you or any other members of Grails playing in bands before you formed?
EA:
Yeah, all of us had your 'typical early band experiences'... then we started Grails when we were about 23 or so and I think we already felt too old at that point to be diving back into the painful beginnings of starting a band. Portland, Oregon was also pretty dead in '99. There wasn't much reason to think things were going to happen here... but a lot changed between then and around 2004, when a massive influx of people came and injected a sense of youthful optimism into the culture... but by then we were already kind of burnt out and stopped playing here.
In a sense, the trajectory of music that gains popularity has always avoided our tastes and as a band, we've continually crept in while no one was looking. We definitely had no idea that any sort of 'international psych' sound was going to be perceived as ‘cool’. Head Music had always been something comfortably reserved for the record nerd crew, y'know? Then this last decade underwent some sort of surprising turns in fashion towards harsher, more experimental music.
Things generally return to their same sleepy beginnings though; everyone gets older, some of your friend's bands break up, while others become overnight millionaires for no logical reason... some die of drug overdoses, others keep playing house shows. The sun comes up again and you go back to work. You're never sure how real any of it is or how much of an effect you've had by seeing your 'plays' climb on an Internet site.

AO: It’s fair to say that Grails is making a difference in what is commonly called the post-rock scene (rotten term). It seems that just like any genre, post-rock has gotten into this sort of boxed form of delay pedals matched with tremolo shredding and big muff freak-outs. A pattern that we know so well. Not to smash on whatever is hot, but the Mogwai sound is beginning to grow a bit ordinary and monotonous. Grails is throwing sticks in the spokes of the wheels of normalcy when it comes to this scene.
What is the typical process to writing songs? Do you all bring in ideas individually or do songs tend to come from collective jam sessions?

EA:
That particular sound yr talking about was largely finished before it even started... you're not going to see eulogies about post-rock like you do something like hardcore because it isn't really 'about anything'...
In the nineties I was super bummed on the burgeoning instrumental-rock scene,... when it was first really spreading I think we saw it as too easy of an assembly line musically... it seemed characterized by a kind of outrageous lack of humanity. It's sort of like a guitar solo played too well or an impossibly perfect display of skateboarding... you start to realize that in some sense, anyone can execute virtually anything if they learn how to imitate the best things from before them well enough. The whole initial draw of underground music was defying the impulse to perfection and doing something that really reflected 'You'. So a large part of instrumental music, ambient music, noise music etc. struck me as people not revealing themselves but hiding themselves and for me that contributed nothing to art or music.
When I first started playing drums again in the beginning of Grails, I could really only do it my way and bring my sloppier/violent heritage of style on drums… for example,, the drumming in the Circle Jerks didn't seem like much of a 'technique', as much as a way to be in the world. After you grasp that kind of articulation, it seemed like a crime to play polite drums on an instrumental song.

In terms of song-writing within the band format, I like to bring songs in relatively finished and try not to work in the jam-writing format too much... that's a sound that is sort of well-tred and has that clearly identifiable quality of 'jamming'... whereas more focused compositions generally seem to hold more radical potentials for me.

AO: When I first heard your songs about 2 years ago, I assumed that Holy Sons was a full band and not a solitary music project. The music is very hypnotizing and personable. It seems you venture deep into yourself and it is very noticeable and commendable.
From what I understand, you have roots of being involved in the hardcore/punk scene as a teenager. Could you go into detail on that at all? Can you describe your impulse to get involved?

EA:
In the late 80's the underground was more like a little family and, from my little kid perspective at the time, it was pushed along by the scholars in the college DJ and record store culture. The record store was where you'd go to talk about records during the day... and then at night I'd go over to the old Cat's Cradle. This was kind of the ground floor era for modern "indie rock" bullshit because hardcore had left a bit of a wake after having died and having previously paved a youth rock methodology in the early 80's.
There wasn't quite the same kind of hipster phenomenon that you see today. I haven't given it a lot of thought but maybe this new beast is some sort of global imitation of some sort of NYC club kid vibe... In the 80's in Chapel Hill people were calling the grimier, more creative/eccentric class of young drinkers and musicians "townies". A townie had some sort of personality/soul or individuating factors... unlike a 'hipster', which is generally more of mass phenomenon now...
...There are periods over the years where it seems like everyone's imagination hits a wall (the death of hardcore) and things sit stagnant for a few semi-boring years while we wait for something new to occur. Then, without warning, the collective unconscious spits out the next Calvin Johnson or Steve Malkmus and we fall under their spell and the clothes change er whatever.
Out of the 80s' boiling cultural kettle J.Mascis blasted forth from the collective youth spew and was ripping weird obtuse music that morphed hardcore with shit like the Cure, reached back into 70's guitar hero stuff and looked forward with a newer brand of un-self-conscious/but self-conscious weirdo inward songs. The first Dinosaur record was basically the first day of the rest of my musical life.

AO: Great record. J.Mascis is one of my favorite song-writers.

EA:
When J.Mascis hit you could feel things really change because any confusion about girls or doubting yourself that you were supposed to hide away in the hardcore years was suddenly being accepted as good song material! Paul McCartney and J.Mascis must have put into my head that one person could play all the instruments and make records by themselves (because, really who gives a fuck about Todd Rundgren?).

AO: I do. Nearly Human is a great record. Parallel Lines running on forever…but that is beside the point. When and how did Holy Sons come to surface?

EA: I had several volumes of stuff inside me and saw an entire world inside the act of recording so for 10 years I didn't really have the mental energy to do much else. In addition, you had to be a relatively well-functioning, presentable person to want to be an entertainer... but I wanted to break into the mental home!
I didn't want to be on a fucking stage telling people to buy our stickers and t-shirts in the back y'know? That didn't look fun or even seem like a remote possibility…So, Holy Sons became a huge tape vault worth of therapy sessions that I still re-work and re-record now.

AO:Have these “Tape Therapy Sessions” helped bring light upon the issues that were eating you earlier on? How did you start sharing them with other people and how did your first fan-base develop?

EA:
Recording was where I was putting everything I was going through, so it offered me something that other humans couldn't in it's reflection. Maybe I was spoiled by these benefits and drifted further away from the earth. Retreating inside myself was an endless frontier... I believed the best way to spend my time was to research the world, as the Tao Te Ching says you can, by yourself in an empty room... basically talking to yourself for years on end like a wilderness explorer up in a cave... laughing or crying at discoveries with no one to share it with but yourself. ...it seemed less messy and more efficient than to deal with others.
Through the nineties I was unable to present myself on any level... cassettes were passed around by people who'd had personal experiences with particular songs// it was completely removed from the music world as it is read about and sold... I think Holy Sons still retains a lot of this autonomy and personal connection. There's hardly any music left where you can tell it's about the making of it and not the selling of it.

AO: Lyrically your most recent record “Criminal’s Return” on Important Records deals with themes of growth, mind-expansion, government conspiracy, and a great deal of personal reflection. The musicality has also developed and progressed into something new.
Where exactly did the title Criminal’s Return come from? Are you satisfied with how the record came out?

EA:
The title was stolen out of turn-of-the-century dime novels. I can't get away from meditating on history or crime in general... and they're useful in a piece of art... like 'Crime and Punishment' for example, which uses moral transgression to set the stage for some of the major emotions we deal with: guilt and repent, hate vs. admiration of others, redemption and spiritual transformation. Crime, in some sort of ancient way, is where we test the bounds of our conventional thinking and our individual fate, so in unavoidable ways it always remains a relevant way to open up a conversation about ourselves.
Like most of the records I'm making, I'm sort of aware that it's just one side of an argument so I usually find it pretty easy to bury myself in the next record as a sort of rebuttal.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WWW.HOLYSONS.COM
WWW.IMPORTANTRECORDS.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/HOLYSONS
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/GRAILSSONGS

Claude Coleman steps out of Ween

2010-03-19T18:26:00.001-07:00

After drumming for Ween for over 12 years, Claude Coleman has decided to take some time off. He states the following,

Friends & Associates,

I’m going to be taking a leave of absence, as it were, from the Ween thing for while. My
reasons are plentiful but it all comes down to simple re-prioritizing of life-stuff.

I’m going to be focusing more on Amandla – a new record and touring, as well as open
myself up to the chance to work with/for other folks that may come about; an experience
I’ve only had a few times outside of Ween.

So this email is to let anyone know as a drummer-for-hire I’m open, and would be quite
willing and available for just about anything – session or otherwise. I’m trying to get a word
out – so tell two friends or something.

cheers and best
claude

Pelican - "The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw

2010-02-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

I think I’m floating. Pelican’s The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw, released on Hydra Head Records in 2005. I’ll begin by saying my pre-conceived mind was exhausted and easily distracted from a tiresome day at work; post-listening I feel more centered, energized and aware. This to me, is a sign of great post-rock.
The beginning track titled Last Day Of Winter opens with a light-hearted progression that doesn’t move far it’s original form. It slides along at a medium pace, with the standard post-rock sound we are used to hearing. Bands I immediately began comparing were Irepress, Mogwai and This Will Destroy You. This is probably the brightest section of the whole album, which I believe is a good method to begin a record. It symbolizes something; maybe innocence, or a fresh new morning. The drumming remains rather orthodox (I mean this in the humblest possible), with a primary focus on symbol and snare. Rarely do the toms become focused on and scarcely does the drummer creates anything extraordinary or unique. The rhythm is played by one guitarist with a medium drive tone, a clean bass tone fills out the groove and a lead guitar lays down harmonies thick with reverb and delay that are rather uplifting. It’s a great introductory piece of what comes next.
The second song titled Autumn Into Summer, is a 10 minute post-rock extravaganza filled with many different movements and sonic soundscapes. It begins with a fade in of a clean delay melody, which builds by itself to the first minute marker. Then come some delicate drum parts that remind me of the band Tides (or Mogwai’s quieter moments). The bass joins and the groove builds a strong body that only expands through listening. I realize that I’m in for a ride with this album and that this band has mastered the art of ‘build and release’ of tension within their music. The drums cut out, the guitars breathe and the track widens and brings in new elements. It’s nice to hear a group be less relentless with their sound. Constant tremolo and chugging riffs eventually will make my brain want to explode. Pelican does a great job with balancing their dynamics.
The album art and song titles are predominantly focused around nature and colors. This compliments the music style well and further pushes the idea of progression and change. While listening I found myself sitting peacefully spine upright, breathing naturally and enjoying the eroma of my last stick of incense. I was gazing out my window, which gave my eyes a beautiful visual to accompany the music. I watched a light snow land upon the branches of a tree right outside my window. It was fulfilling.
The album continues to groove along with the same themes and sounds as described. That being said, it’s a great collection of songs that all hold the same formula. Some cuts are a bit more intensive than others, some brighter, some quieter. There are some really heavy dark grooves here, as well as some light and uplifting harmonies. I’m looking forward to jumping into more material from Pelican. After enjoying this as much as I did, I feel remorseful on walking out during their set this past summer (opening for ISIS). Thankfully I can look forward to the future, where I will hopefully see them again. The Fire In Our Throats… by Pelican.

Buy It: http://www.bluecollardistro.com/hydrahead/product_info.php?products_id=843&cPath=4_135&store=0
Try It: http://www.myspace.com/pelican

Dead Meadow

2010-02-26T19:55:00.000-08:00

"Dead Meadow met in the DC punk/indie scene, though their music draws from more faraway sources. The band formed in the fall of 1998 from the ashes of local bands The Impossible Five and Colour, when singer-guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin set out to fuse their love of early 70’s hard rock and 60’s psychedelia with their love of writers J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft.

Dead Meadow released their six-song debut in 2000 on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally’s Tolotta Records, and a joint vinyl release on D.C. indie label Planaria Records. In 2001 the band released its second album, Howls From The Hills, on Tolotta. Whereas the first self-titled album was recorded in their practice space for a couple hundred dollars and plenty of learning curves, Howls From The Hills was born in a barn in Liberty, Indiana. Their sound fuller without losing its live essence, the band grew to encompass everything from ambient guitar drones to surging psych-funk sludge, blues-folk tunes to barbiturate space-rock, and some southern slow boogie thrown in for good measure.

In spring 2002, original drummer Mark Laughlin reluctantly quit the group, replaced by old friend and previous collaborator Stephen McCarty (whose grandfather’s farmhouse is where the band recorded Howls From the Hills)." - Last FM

Enough Is Enough Comp out in March 2010

2009-11-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH is a free online compilation to be released in March
2010 in support of gay rights. Forty punk, hardcore, and indie bands are contributing to this cause, including Shook Ones, This Is Hell, The Effort, Transit, Make Do And Mend, Hostage Calm, Balance, Jake Newcomb, Composure and many, many more. All donat...ions will be directed towards freedomtomarry.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting the policy that denies the rights for gays to marry.
Right now, we have two songs up that will be featured on the comp; "Order Form" by Shook Ones, originally on their 2007 split with Easel as well as an anthem for the Prop 8 debates last November, and we have "Pride" by Tampa Bay hardcore band Reveal The Truth. More will be added as the date gets closer, so keep checking back for updates!"
-Paul of Enough Is Enough Comp

www.myspace.com/enoughisenoughcomp

2 New Releases, 2 New Reviews

2009-11-01T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while.

I finally got the new Isis and the newest Baroness.

ISIS - WAVERING RADIANT

I've only had the chance to listen to it once through, but really enjoyed it. Same structure in writing, growling vocals matched with heavy guitars to clean and ambient, trancey sections. I saw them play this last summer with Pelican, they were flawless. I mean flawless. The production is amazing, the dynamics are outstanding and the progression of this band is something to admire.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BARONESS - BLUE ALBUM

What an awesome follow-up to the Red Album. I'm still not sure which one I prefer. Very interesting sounds on this one. The guitar tones are super fuzzed out and spacey. Something progressive on this album I've noticed is the use of acoustic guitars mixed in with distortion. Very similar style to Mastodon's "Crack The Skye" record that came out earlier this year. Who's heard this one? Do you prefer it over the Red album? I've only listened to it once through now, so my opinion is still being honed. Oh, and I also got an autographed poster of the cover art along with purchase, awesome artwork!

doomsdayer

2009-08-26T20:37:00.000-07:00

GRAILS - DOOMSDAYER'S HOLIDAY

This album is in the running for best of the year. Very dark and richly layered. A great mix of styles from modern post-rock, fusion styles and middle eastern music. With this release Grails continues to carve out their own individual sound, showing us all that they are a serious force to be reckoned with. This also gives fans a breath of fresh air when it comes to the usual post-rock we have become so used to listening to. Although the music has a dark and minor tone to it throughout, Grails always has a way of filling the listener with constructive and encouraging mentalities.

The Cowsills - Best Of

2009-08-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

The Cowsills were a singing group from Newport, Rhode Island specializing in what would later be defined as bubblegum pop. The band was formed in the spring of 1965 by four brothers — Barry, Bill, Bob, and John Cowsill.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=73926d1b6653ad23d1014a7a667fa2b4e04e75f6e8ebb871

GHOST - HYPNOTIC UNDERWORLD

2009-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

DL: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=73926d1b6653ad23d1014a7a667fa2b4e04e75f6e8ebb871

Japan's psych-folk-prog-rock band know for its eclectic instrumentation, melodic and improvisational skill. Their lineup has shifted considerably over the years. Most albums also feature lead guitarist Michio Kurihara, who has also done a lot of work with Boris.

My favorite tracks: Hazy Paradise and Piper.

Spouse - Nozomi

2009-06-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

SPOUSE - NOZOMI
http://www.mediafire.com/?2ymy2rh05jm

Well this album hits pretty close to home. Jose Ayerve (lead guitar/vocal), happens to be a great friend of my father. This album was playing in the background constantly throughout my childhood. I know practically every sound and guitar squeak on this one.
I used to see Jose perform frequently in Portland, Maine. A frail voice at times, but a powerful presence. Spouse is now located in the Boston area and still continue to play live and release music. I had the honor of selling their merch @ The Empire club last January where they headlined a gig.

More songs and show listings @: www.myspace.com/spouse

For fans of groups like Swervedriver, The Pixies, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Pavement. Certainly worth getting into. Let me know by commenting if you'd like to hear more Spouse, as I have another album of theirs.

Feels just like you're losing your mind...

2009-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

Holy Sons - Decline Of The West

Haunting, personal and incredibly intimate songwriting. Emil Amos brings forward another 15 songs filled with loads of layering and hypnotizing riffs matched with desperate on-edge vocals that make it seem as if Amos was having a mental breakdown in the midst of his recording sessions.
With lines like "Creeping way down low, where nobody else goes, where no one came back alive. It feels just like you're losing your mind." and "Evil falling down from the sky, clouds parting, fingers pointing down again." Amos invites the listener into his eery and overly-imaginative world which is likely inspired by LSD flashbacks and insomnia.
www.myspace.com/holysons
His newest release is titled "Drifter's Sympathy" and is out on IMPORTANT RECORDS.

Here's a video released for the track Ferel Kid.

Holy Sons "The Feral Kid" from indie outlaw on Vimeo.

Side Note: Amos plays drums in two current bands, Grails and Om. Both worth checking out if you have yet to do so. Both of which are also previously featured on this blog. Get on it.

More...

2009-06-28T20:43:00.000-07:00

RADIOHEAD - OK COMPUTER (1997)
http://www.mediafire.com/?rdgyzjtxrmw

VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR - PAWN HEARTS (PROG)
http://www.mediafire.com/?mo3qemnz3et

BOB MOULD - LIFE AND TIMES (NEW RELEASE FROM FRONTMAN OF HUSKER DU, SUGAR)
http://www.mediafire.com/?nodtwj5nujz

TELEVISION - MARQUEE MOON (Classic Mid 70's new age, post-punk release. NYC)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ytexkmnnzyz

THINGS I'VE BEEN MESSING WITH LATELY

2009-06-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

SPAIN - SHE HAUNTS MY DREAMS
http://www.mediafire.com/?tzijwjydzzj

DINOSAUR JR - FEEL THE PAIN (LIVE TRACKS)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/zzowuojj0nr/Feel

SMOG - A RIVER AINT NOT TOO MUCH TO LOVE
http://www.mediafire.com/?wt1m2mmzzoz

Jake Newcomb - The Loneliness Of The Rebel

2009-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Jake Newcomb - The Loneliness Of The Rebel
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?zbwdmrulmz3

Link includes artwork and a small 'read me'.

A short EP I've put together.

Track Listing:
1.From Ashes
2.Nomadic Behavior
3.From a Camel To a Lion To a Boy
4.Mosquito Song (QOTSA)

Total running time: 11.2 minutes

Warning - UK doom metal

2009-03-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Warning was a UK based doom metal band.

Warning flagged the rise of post-2000 wave of traditional doom metal. They were formed by Patrick Walker in 1994 in Harlow, Essex. The band is notable for its down-tempo, progressive, melodic and heavy doom-laden sound; the idiosyncratic and poignant vocals of Patrick Walker; and his introspective, darkly-confessional lyrical themes of acute pain, love, and melancholy nostalgia. - Last.fm

Warning - Watching From A Distance
http://www.mediafire.com/?gnyajmm0zff

Warning - The Strength To Dream
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=73926d1b6653ad23d1014a7a667fa2b4e04e75f6e8ebb871

2009-02-24T21:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Life has been rather different and at times hectic these days. I am currently living on an air mattress in friends living rooms. I have a 2-month gap between apartments and am becoming a nomad more and more by the day. I'm working 2 jobs, one as a valet driver, and another as a cashier at a local record store.

More updates once the storm settles.

Uzi - Sleep Asylum

2009-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a more obscure one. I've never heard anyone ever speak about this band. I found this CD one day in a dusty pile at a record store I used to work at in Maine. Noisey, post-punk/shoe-gazey stuff.

Here's what LastFM has to say about UZI:

The American Uzi was a ten-handed combo that burned briefly but brightly in the fertile post-Burma Boston music scene of the mid-1980's. Its founding members were drummer Danny Lee and guitarist/singer/lyricist Thalia Zedek. The basic stylistic conflict between Thalia's garage-based rock 'n' roll background and Danny's more high-tech, modernistic approach gave the group much of its unique edge and led, as well, to its early demise.

UZI - SLEEP ASYLUM

1) Criminal Child
2) Pale Light
3) Gabrielle
4) Ha-Ha-Ha
5) Collections
6) Underneath

DL: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=73926d1b6653ad23d1014a7a667fa2b4e04e75f6e8ebb871

For fans of: My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Slowdive etc.

Witchcraft - S/T

2009-02-03T12:41:00.001-08:00

http://rapidshare.com/files/193510023/Witchcraft.zip.html

Ween - Best Of

2009-02-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

So...Here is the result of spare time and my desire to show my love towards the best band in the Universe. Ween.
I have compiled a list of what I believe is Weens best material. I almost put on a couple tracks from their early demos but decided against it. If anyone wants their more rare demo tapes such as the Squeegie LP or Axis: Bold As Boognish, you say the word and I'll upload them.
So yeah, here it is. A compilation of my favorite Ween tracks from 6 different albums.
Album is stated in parentheses.

TRACK LISTING:
1. The Mollusk (The Mollusk)
2. Polka Dot Tail (The Mollusk)
3. Buckingham Green (The Mollusk)
4. Ocean Man (The Mollusk)
5. The Argus (Quebec)
6. Happy Colored Marbles (Quebec)
7. Tried And True (Quebec)
8. Transdermal Celebration (Quebec)
9. You Fucked Up (GodWeenSatan)
10. Fat Lenny (GodWeenSatan)
11. Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down) (Chocolate And Cheese)
12. Joppa Road (Chocolate And Cheese)
13. HIV Song (Chocolate And Cheese)
14. What Deaner Was Talking About (Chocolate And Cheese)
15. Bananas And Blow (White Pepper)
16. Flutes Of The Chi (White Pepper)
17. Your Party (La Cucaracha)

DL:http://rapidshare.com/files/192758784/Jake_s_Best_Of_Ween.zip.html

Baroness - Red Album

2009-01-31T20:15:00.000-08:00

DL: http://rapidshare.com/files/192311359/Baroness.zip.html

In Your Ear Records, Boston. + 2 Uploads.

2009-01-22T12:32:00.001-08:00

Now that I'm in Boston I've had the chance to get to some record stores. I went into In Your Ear Records on Commonwealth Ave, about a 5 minute walk from my current apartment. Met the owner, Reid, and his employee Dave. We talked music for a while. Awesome store and cool staff. It reminds me of a larger scaled Dr.Records.

There were a few things that caught my eye, but since money is kind of tight I only left with 3 records:

Elvis Costello - Everyday I Write The Book, single (1983)
Focus - Moving Waves
Nova Mob - Admiral Of The Sea (feat. Grant Hart of Husker Du)

I feel the need to upload the Focus album, just because it is ridiculously awesome. So here are two albums. I've just discovered Yezda Urfa but have been listening to this Focus album for about a year now.

Yezda Urfa - Sacred Babboon (1988)

Complex compositions, fast pace, extremely intricate playing. A serious mind bender.
For fans of Yes, Gentle Giant, Focus, Camel and dare I say in a more modern sense, Mr.Bungle and Ween?
DL:http://rapidshare.com/files/126301117/Yezda_Urfa_SacredBaboon_Mactatus.rar

Focus - Moving Waves (1971, Sire Records)

Progressive Dutch band from 1970. Most known for the opening track Hocus Pocus this record is an essential to progressive-rock fans. Moving Waves is also another beautifully composed song. A must have.

DL:http://rapidshare.com/files/162476683/JE761.rar

Candlemass - Nightfall

2009-01-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

The masters of epic doom metal.

Label: Metal Blade Records
Year: 1988

Track Listing:
1)Gothic Stone
2)Well of Souls, The
3)Codex Gidas
4)At The Gallows End
5)Samarithan
6)Marche Funebre
7)Dark Are the Veils of Death
8)Mourners Lament
9)Bewitched
10)Black Candles

DL: http://www.mediafire.com/?now4lmdomdg

This album does not have one weak song on it. My favorites are easily Gothic Stone, Samarithan, Dark Are The Veils Of Death and Bewitched. It is easy to listen to this album repetitiously throughout the day.

COLOUR HAZE - TEMPEL

2009-01-20T18:14:00.001-08:00

http://rs540.rapidshare.com/files/172712870/Tempel.rar

Easily one of my favorite discoveries in the past year.

Progressive, psychedelic, fusion-esque.

Get this.

Jake Newcomb - Good Morning, Good Day, Good Night

2009-01-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

So I've finished my first 'EP' of sorts and decided to release it online for free.

DL: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HYJKH4X4

It would mean a lot of people were to check it out. Over a hair of 10 minutes of instrumental music brought to you from my bedroom. I feel pretty good about it being my first release. Check it out and spread it around if you feel so inclined. Thanks.

Life Update - Things To Come...

2009-01-07T11:46:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you’ve got to just make that leap. I knew that I would get myself back to Boston sooner than later, I’ve just been waiting for an opportunity to show itself to me. Well, it has. A friend of mine will be taking a trip to Israel for a month, and I will be filling his room in Brighton until he is back.

I’m taking time off of school to focus on what I really want in my life right now. I feel more than comfortable with my decision in doing so. My two-month stay in Boston over the summer of last year was everything I was looking for, and I need to feel those feelings again.

My stay will not only be for the month while I fill my friends room. I am only using that time to find a full-time job and hunt down my next apartment. I plan to be staying down there for as long as possible. Living and settling down there is the ideal. I want to thank all of my friends who have already offered their couches, rooms etc. in case of me needing them in the next month or so.

I’m packing bags now and will be taking a bus out of Maine on Sunday. I am uncertain of the next time I will be back. Undoubtedly, I will miss my closest friends and family here in Maine, but I need to see those city lights again. Keep in touch.

Let the adventure begin…

Modern Silent Cinema

2009-01-03T21:52:00.000-08:00

A former Orono High School and Dr.Records employee with the name of Cullen Gallagher, has been busy for the past few years making music for his solo project that he calls 'Modern Silent Cinema'.
MSC is creative, instrumental music that really manages to echo around in your head for a while. 'Than Burning' is one of my favorites.

Check it out here:
http://www.myspace.com/modernsilentcinema

New album out soon.

Holy Sons - I Want To Live A Peaceful Life

2008-12-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

'Holy Sons' is the brainchild of Emil Amos. Amos is most well known for his drumming in the band Grails. He has also just recently become half of the famous duo that is Om. However, Holy Sons puts of a different sound than his other outfits. Hard to nail down, indie-rockish but not cliche or predictable. Warm sounds, creative writing and hypnotizing songs all together.

Website/Order: http://pamlicosoundmailorder.org/

On Atheist Belief...

2008-12-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

In my World Religion Class we were told to write a paper on any topic related to religion in anyway. I chose Atheist belief for whatever reason. It's a rough draft and I feel as though it's not saying what I want it to say. In fact, at times I feel like it's saying things I DONT want it to say, but I figured I'd post it on here for the hell of it. It sucks that Blogger cannot copy and paste indentations, italics, bold-face and all that other cool shit, because I'm too lazy to go back into this and put them in there.

**

Atheism is the disbelief in a God or all deities. People who hold these beliefs are known as Atheists. I would like to address the fact that I myself do not claim the label of Atheism, although the ideas and writings behind it all deeply fascinate me. I suppose society would label me as an "agnostic" due to the fact that I am very skeptical about most common religious belief, yet at the same time, I do not doubt the idea of a superior being. I have always felt a strong pull and fascination with most atheist writings and thinkers, because I myself am a factual and scientific thinker. This paper will cover the main ideas and famous figures behind what is now known as Atheism. I will briefly dig into the lives and famous ideas of writers such as Fredrick Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, and Richard Dawkins. Most people who hold these ideas are very proud of their ways of 'free-thinking', and the idea of having zero restrictions on the way that they live. Most atheists choose to defy any belief or institution that is designed in a way that restricts them intellectually. They believe that the following of such things will prevent them from creating their own ideas on what they believe to be considered truth.
The thought that God is merely an idea created by man to fall to in times of struggle or confusion, is relevant in all of atheist belief. Karl Marx once stated that "Religion is the Opium of the masses", which in his time, was a very controversial statement to make. Not many people in his times questioned faith or the ways of the Church. This statement alone went on to have a heavy impact on a new progressive way of thinking. What Marx is implying is that people tend to fall into this idea and delusional realm of what we call God, only to escape the reality of what is occurring in their personal lives. Religion (in his mind) is viewed as a drug, a crutch or an escape from what is real. The atheist also assumes that the belief in God is a diminishment on an individual's intelligence. They believe that the person who claims to be religious is significantly limiting his or herself from their full potential as a human being. Marx, a European writer, was one of the first to introduce these beliefs into the nineteenth-century. Marx is mainly known for his political and social writings, especially in his book The Communist Manifesto, which puts a very critical eye on how society truly functions and how it affects us as people. Marx gave socialism its intellectual respectability as well as its theoretical self-confidence.
Fredrick Nietzsche, son of a Lutheran pastor was a groundbreaking German philosopher in the late-nineteenth-century. As a child he was seen as a withdrawn yet deeply pensive person. He was an excellent student, and by the age of 14, he won a scholarship to Schulpforta, the most prestigious private school in Germany at that time. He took much influence from Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer had absolute faith in the nonexistence of God, and Nietzsche felt himself agreeing with all aspects of his writings. Nietzsche goes on to write books such as Thus Spoke Tharasutra, The Genealogy Of Morals, Beyond Good And Evil, Human, All-Too Human, and more. He led a very interesting life that seemed to be continually on the brink of insanity and mental-stability. He was a man who relied strictly upon himself and only himself, therefore leading himself into a life of mainly loneliness and despair. Although, this is seen in a negative light, I find something strangely honorable and admirable in the way he chose to live. Most would not only claim Nietzsche as an atheist, but also a nihilist. At times, he attempts to prove the idea that life is meaningless. His famous statement that "God is dead" resides in one of his fictional stories, in which mankind had successfully destroyed the idea of God from his mind and was finally able to live in peace. It is ideas like these that defined him as groundbreaking, yet incredibly controversial (even still to this day). His essays, novels and life story have had an immense amount of influence on modern belief and writings. It is important to state that although Nietzsche is seen as a sort of nihilistic, self-loathing, destructive figure, it is not exactly the case. In fact, I used to find incredible amounts of strength and self-reliance by reading his books. In 1870, he volunteered himself for service as a medical orderly in the Franco-Prussian war. Nietzsche also is known for the powerful quote of "Fear is the mother of morals", meaning that morals are only an imaginative idea created by man to prevent us from what we don't understand. He disbelieves in a divide between good and evil and believes in that an action is just an action, and has no moral substance of good or wrong. Nietzsche is seen as one of the world's deepest thinkers, yet in his time he was alone with most of his thoughts. He died in a hospital, deemed as clinically insane. This was soon after his release of his essay The Anti-Christ, which is one of the most aggressive attacks on all believers ever written.
Bertrand Russell, a more modern atheist thinker, is mostly well known for his essay titled Why I am Not A Christian. I will say that after reading Why I Am Not A Christian, I was not very impressed or substantially moved by his work. I felt that he did not bring in any new ideas to what has already been stated by previous writers, such as Nietzsche or Marx. Granted, he does write a bit more clearly and in a more simple form for the majority of common-people to grasp, I felt as though he did not break much ground or push any ideas further with the writing in this essay. However, there was one argument that Russell touches upon that caught my attention. In a section of his essay which is mainly an argument against Christianity's belief and worship of Jesus Christ, that there have been many other people throughout history that seem to have lived more humanly, generously and loving then Christ himself. He references the stories and lives of people such as Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa and others. Whether I choose to believe those statements or not, that portion of the essay remained to be the only part inspired from original thought, or something new that I had never heard before.
I think it is fair to say that Richard Dawkins is the most widely read and publicized atheist of today. His recent controversial and brain stimulating book The God Delusion has been burning in the spotlight for quite some time now. Dawkins is a pure scientist. In contrast to Nietzsche's philosophical style of writing, Dawkins constantly revolves around pure fact. Dawkins does a great job at taking old atheist belief, revising it and applying it to modern times. His book The God Delusion is deep and complex. He writes of quantum physics and other things that possibly only top scientists of the world may be able to fully comprehend. He speaks purely from an intellectual's standpoint and never from a spiritual standpoint. He is easily one of the major figures amongst today's atheists.
Okay, so…Why do non-believers seem to care so much of what someone else believes in? Why do these atheists feel the need to denounce other's belief in God? Do they hate seeing other people happy or comforted? The answer is not that easy. The common atheist would believe that supporting delusion or superstition over real truth and cold-hard fact is blasphemous and demeaning to mankind. The common atheist would believe that if all of man were to erase the idea of God from their minds, we as people would have the potential for something much greater, than what we already have. It is not a general feeling of meaninglessness or hopelessness. It is simply the fact that they believe mankind has not scratched the surface of his potential. When someone is completely devoted towards scientific fact and reason, and disregard all ideas of holiness and deem them as superstition, is where the atheist is born. Atheists will not devote their lives towards something that they do not know is certain. This leaves them with only one thing to believe in, and that is science and fact!
It is seen that over time, atheism has become more and more accepted by society, and is being more carefully considered amongst the common-people. Science has revealed an immense amount of new information over the past few decades that may take a lifetime for the common-man to truly understand. Atheism which used to be seen as a blasphemous and offensive way of thinking, is just now beginning to be viewed as what it truly is; the belief of pure fact and nothing more. There is nothing ignorant about that. In fact, it is the absolute opposite of ignorance.
No matter what someone believes or what is true, it is important to see that there is a general good in man, whether he or she decides to believe in a superior being or not. I know that someone can live peacefully and good, without the need to believe in a God. In fact, most atheists I have met over the years are some of the most morally straight and politically correct people I have met in my life. I've seen them organize events to give back to the community through fundraisers, and volunteer work. A lot of atheists I know promote equal rights for people of all backgrounds, lifestyles, and origins. A majority of them are vegetarian and/or vegan, with a strong belief in animal rights. This is very humble, and is all done without the belief of God. I believe that that says something.
On the other side of the fence, it's not rare to see communal money from a local church go towards the support of a political campaign against same-sex marriage, or abortion (this was just recently seen in California). These acts slowly chip away at an individual's right of free choice. It is actions like these that put Churches and religion as a whole, in a bad light. More importantly, Churches that promote these sorts of things are going against the original and underlying aspects of their religion; love and acceptance.
What does this all mean? Is there a progression through generations of tolerance and following of atheist belief? Will Nietzsche's idea of a world without the idea of God someday in the future truly exist? With both religion and science expanding rapidly in their own ways today, it is very hard to say. However, who is to say there will never be a day where both Science and Religion can walk hand in hand? Who is to say that a God does not defy Science? What if both the intellectual and spiritual realms of thinking merged into one another, to form one ultimate truth.
The underlying factor of being alive is to be good to people, as well as learn acceptance of others ideas and lifestyles. These factors are alive and well in both the ideas of theists and atheists. It's just a matter of reminding ourselves as people, that everyone has their own beliefs, and we individually, as well as communally, have to learn to respect each other (this does not mean by respecting someones beliefs we are adapting them as our own). I view the juxtaposition between atheism and theism to be incredibly mentally stimulating. As far as I can see, the debates between the two will continue on for some time.

PEGBOY - Strong Reaction / Three Chord Monte (1991, 1990)

2008-11-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

So I slept through a very important class this morning and have about an hour to kill until the next one comes around. Why not upload some albums? Here is a combination of 2 records in one folder:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6LGO2QNK

PEGBOY - STRONG REACTION (1991, QUATERSTICK RECORDS)

TRACK LISTING
1)Strong Reaction
2)Still Uneasy
3)Not What I Want
4)Locomotivelung
5)Superstar
6)Field Of Darkness
7)Time Again
8)Believe
9)Hardlight

PEGBOY - THREE CHORD MONTE (1990, QUARTERSTICK RECORDS)

TRACK LISTING
1)Three-Chord Monte
2)Through My Fingers
3)My Youth
4)Fade Away
5)Method

*For fans of Husker Du, Screeching Weasel, Naked Raygun (feat. ex guitar member)

Saint Vitus - Born Too Late (1986, SST)

2008-11-18T18:39:00.000-08:00

By request:
SAINT VITUS - BORN TOO LATE
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YBPJ72QV
Track Listing:
1) Born Too Late (6:56)
2) Clear Windowpane (3:19)
3) Dying Inside (7:27)
4) H.A.A.G. (5:04)
5) The Lost Feeling (5:25)
6) The War Starter (6:46)

Classic early Doom metal.

Stan Rogers - Northwest Passage

2008-11-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

Stan Rogers (1949-1983)
Canadian folk/country. Lots of focus on the working class, the meaning of family, the boats and the harbours of Canada and the good old essence of alcohol. I really like these songs, thanks to Dave for the recommendation.

DL: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=23AWOSU0

ONLINE RADIO SHOW, EVERY SUNDAY, 8-9PM

2008-11-16T15:39:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday from 8-9PM you can stream my buddy Nick's radio show here:

www.emmanuelradio.tk

For a good mix of good music all around. styles include psychedelic rock, doom/stoner metal, post-rock, some indie rock, some hardcore/punk.

Nick also plays drums for the band Elder, who are mentioned a few posts down and can be heard here: www.myspace.com/beholdtheelder

Make sure to tune in and spread the word!!!

GRAILS [Oregon post-rock, psychadelic, current, instrumental]

2008-11-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

GRAILS - DOOMSDAYER'S HOLIDAY (2008)

This album is in the running for best of the year. Very dark and richly layered. A great mix of styles from modern post-rock, fusion styles and middle eastern music. With this release Grails continues to carve out their own individual sound, showing us all that they are a serious force to be reckoned with. This also gives fans a breath of fresh air when it comes to the usual post-rock we have become so used to listening to. Although the music has a dark and minor tone to it throughout, Grails always has a way of filling the listener with constructive and encouraging mentalities.

GRAILS - THE BURDEN OF HOPE (2006)

This album has a brighter sound and feel to it than the others. I noticed more ambiance and spacing in between riffs in these songs. Not as much as a densely layered mix as Doomsdayers or Take Refuge... but still has a nice full sound to it. More brightly written riffs, with a worldy vibe to them.

Dead Meadow Video

2008-11-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

New Elder CD is out

2008-10-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Been waiting on this one for a while. Here is some great stoner metal from the Boston area. New release on Meteor City Records.

Order here:
http://www.allthatisheavy.com/info.asp?item_num=ATH-5666
Myspace:
www.myspace.com/beholdtheelder

Colour Haze - Tempel

2008-10-20T12:07:00.001-07:00

sweeeeet

some recordings

2008-10-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

www.myspace.com/jakenewcombmusic

Over the past couple months I've been moving along at a sluggish pace recording some songs. It's hard to say exactly what I'm going for but it's far different from anything I've done before.
An old friend of mine, Travis Davis and I have been meaning to jam for a while now. Today we did. I brought my macbook and put it in the room and pressed record. I put a couple things up that I liked. I still have yet to listen to all of the recordings (some DO have drums). They arent perfect, but not bad for an improv/first practice.

Let me know what you think.

2008-10-14T14:48:00.000-07:00

FEED – DEMO 2008 – MIND OVER MATTER RECORDS
Finally got this thing in the mail today. This is a 4-piece from Texas playing some good post-hardcore/grunge rock. Unfortunately the demo came with no artwork or lyric sheets, just the tape itself.

Production – I’m assuming this was done on a 4-track. Pretty lo-fi and noisy (but not distractingly so), very bassy and heavy. Clean vocals throughout the whole demo with some nice back ups as well. An awesome sound for a demo.

The A Side: Saving Face brings in a catchy repetitive riff that reminds me of something off of Nirvana’s Bleach album with a little Melvins-esque sound in there as well. The song is pretty standard, which in this case is not a bad thing at all. The band knows what they are doing and they do it well.

The B Side: Grove starts out with a brief melodic guitar/bass segment, then comes some piercing feedback followed by drums kicking in a very sludgey hypnotizing jam. When the vocals come in I am immediately reminded of the Meat Puppets. Interesting lyrics watched with a unique style of singing. In my eyes, this song takes the cake when compared to Saving Face.

You can listen to Grove here: http://www.myspace.com/feedtx
You can order their demo here: http://mindxmatter.org/

Malice In Wonderland, Mark Twain animations

2008-10-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

New Tides track posted...

2008-10-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Tides. If you know me you've probably heard me blab about this band before. An instrumetal (I think I just coined that term) band hailing from Providence, RI. My friend Jonah puts out their music on Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records. Tides have put out three releases now, including a split CD with Giant; this upcoming record will be their fourth. I've been told that this new one is much heavier than their previous releases, but from listening to this new song they have uploaded, I couldn't tell much of a difference. A lot of the same elements in song writing are in place. Dreamy, droney, melancholy guitar riffs build up at a snails pace to an eventual climax and then come back down to usually a fade out. It's late, and I'm not typing right. I'll edit this tomorrow or something. But in the meantime, check out their new track up on the page titled "untitled"

TIDES (MYSPACE PAGE):
http://www.myspace.com/tidesrites
TDB RECORDS:
http://www.tdbrecords.com

Charge, New Jersey Hardcore

2008-10-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Think Leeway, Rage Against The Machine, and Burn...

Reaper Records

http://www.myspace.com/charge

I Rise (Worcester, MA Hardcore)

2008-10-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

What happens when the kids from youthxattack start growing up? I truly believe this is one of the few bands that successfully pull of the burn/quicksand sound in 2008. Out of Worcester, Mass. Fucking ridiculously heavy, mind bending riffs. Angry for the right reason vocals, good lyrics, good music all around.
Awesome live band too I might add.

and WOW, Aaron Bedard guest vocals on track titled "See No Evil"...fucking intense.

Listen here:
http://www.myspace.com/irisehc

Buy here:
http://www.1917records.com/

Torche - Meanderthal (2008)

2008-10-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

Ever since I saw these guys at the Middle East this summer with Boris, I’ve been meaning to pick up this record. The tour was in support of this album and although they played below Boris in the line up, I found them much more entertaining. But that’s beside the point, I’ve got the CD now and have just finished listening to it for the first time in it’s entirety.

I like it. It’s not the epic album I was expecting, but I enjoyed it. Torche has really seemed to carve out their own sound. Very heavy and sludgey at times but also blends a very poppy sound to it that gives it a flavor you really don’t find in many other groups (feel free to tell me otherwise). The vocals are clean throughout the entire album which is a nice difference between these guys and most bands that take on the whole “stoner rock” title.

Some tracks stick out to me more than others, for example, “Grenades” is almost hypnotizing and their sludgy as fuck outro titled “Meanderthall” made me want to stomp around my living room like a god damn ape.

Sometimes I think this band plays with broken strings, giving them some of the heaviest, gut wrenching bass and distortion I have heard. How are they live? They put on an awesome show, and each member goes off throughout their entire set. I met their guitarist the night of the middle east show, told him I liked their sound, and we started talking about some 90’s hardcore that is a major influence to him in song writing. He mentioned bands like Underdog and Into Another, which definitely hear in their music. I’m glad this is now a part of my music collection and will probably be listening to it frequently within the next few weeks, however I think there is potential for something greater from this band…

For fans of : Floor, Baroness, Melvins, Helmet, Quicksand, Into Another, Kylesa, and other bands that make interesting mixes of hardcore, metal, and pop rock stuff, check this one out.

DL: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YVUXP7WX

IREPRESS Samus Octology and GRAILS Take Refuge In Clean Living

2008-09-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

IREPRESS - SAMUS OCTOLOGY
DOWNLOAD: http://lix.in/c5addc

This record holds some very intricate song writing and stands in at a whopping 45 minutes (8 songs total). Each song seems to morph into the next, it is easy to find yourself not fully realizing when you've moved to the next track. A lot of repetitive elements in the song writing (but I don't find it boring!). Each instrument hold's it's own on this record and brings it's own creative element to the table. Clean to distorted guitar tones. Dreamy to extremely focused music structures. This album moves from one idea to the next abruptly yet smoothly. Recommended.
It may take a couple listens for someone unfamiliar with this style to really enjoy it for what it is.

GRAILS - TAKE REFUGE IN CLEAN LIVING
DOWNLOAD: http://www.mediafire.com/?ydjjzwdh02z

I am somewhat new to this band. I watched them play this summer at The Middle East in Cambridge with Nadja and another opener. A 4-piece group that combine a variety of styles and playing techniques. What I first noticed was the evident southern sound to their music. Very slow and droney at times, hypnotic and spiritual sounding, by the use of sliding guitars. Their 'frontman' from what I can gather plays bass as well as a small keyboard setup with a variety of effects; this gives them the freedom to get pretty ambient and experimental at times. Opening with a track titled "Stoned at the Taj again" this EP stands in at 35 minutes long (5 songs total). I smoked some weed to this one, and sat in the music for a while. Pretty spacey stuff. For fans of Om, Isis, Tides and tunes that are as much spiritually demanding as they are musically.
*Side Note : The drummer of Grails, Emil Amos, has recently replaced Chris Hakius's position as drummer in the 2-piece that is Om. Om has released one 7" record since Hakius replacement, titled "Gebel Barkal" (which I may upload sometime soon if anyone is interested), and people expect another release sometime soon from them.

Tides From Nebula

2008-09-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

there's some good stuff here. check 'em out. they seem to be at a more underground level right now. they formed in january of this year and are labeled as 'unsigned'.

for fans of Isis, Pink Floyd (yeah i said pink floyd), Irepress, Mogwai-esque bands.

post-rock with psychedelic like elements, and some distortion that can give the guitars a good variety of tones, and effective sound. i'm feeling it. This is all instrumental by the way, so don't sit there waiting for the vocals to come in, or you'll be sitting for a while. Enjoy it from start to finish, for what it is, another emotional blast of music from 4 talented musicians.

http://www.myspace.com/tidesfromnebula

ALCEST, IRON BUTTERFLY, BLACK WIDOW, OM...

2008-09-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff...

ALCEST - SOUVENIRS D'UN AUTRE MONDE
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EHN1S50F

Fall is coming to Maine, this music is ideal (at least that's my opinion). This album is a solo project from apparently some black metal band. I dont really care too much for Black Metal so I can't give details on it. However, it is very harmonic, and well composed music. I listened to this a lot last year and enjoyed it. Apparently this entire record is a concept album about this guys fantasy world he lived in when he was a child (which also gives a little bit more meaning to the sound samples of children laughing and playing in one song). Sweet.

IRON BUTTERFLY - IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA (1968)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4QGJDMQK
"That album helped define a generation." - My boss at Dr.Records. This band helped create and progress psychadelic music to an all new height. They changed and influenced a lot of things, I would highly recommend adding this to your collection if you have not already.

BLACK WIDOW - RETURN TO THE SABBAT (1969)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AW35TOBR

Rock n Roll/Psychadelic.
This record is evil as fuck and truly frightens me. Mainly because the music and vocals really are not intimidating at all, but the real evil message is hidden in the words and messages of the songs. Lines like these prove my point:

"I swear that I will kill my fear,
perform the rites and swear on,
by me knee to help the one, I loved before.
I even steel my heart, to raise the devil himself."

"Help me in my search for knowledge,
I must learn the Secret Art.
Who dares to help me raise the one
Whose very name near stills my heart?
ASTAROTH
Discard your clothes and come on foot,
Through streams and fields and moonlit moors,
Your bodies soaked in secret oils,
Perfumed herbs will heal your sores.
Join me in my search for power.

Wives and husbands bring your kin.
We´ll be as one within the hour.
Let the Sabbat now begin.
Come, come, come to the Sabbat.
Come to the Sabbat - Satan´s there!"

The keyboards kick ass as well as the saxophone and flute appearances. Lots of group vocals/chanting and female vocals in some songs. Very psychadelic. Jazzy at times, but mainly just old fashioned rock and roll, this band knew how to play. These guys were real satanists. Frightening really, but I absolutely love this record, it is hypnotizing.

Om - Variations On A Theme (2005)
http://rapidshare.com/files/141949775/Variations_On_A_Theme.zip.html

I'm sick of talking about this band so just download it and figure it out for yourself. The first track is something like 20 minutes long.

2008-09-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last night was the darkest it’s been in a while. It came completely out of nowhere. Head down on the bed, body crumbled, gone weak, systems automatically shut-down. Pretty sure it was close to what may be considered as a panic attack.
It is within these moments when I realize how damaged of a human being I can become. My thoughts have always had ways of getting the best of me. Lately, I’ve been lying in bed at night, alone, realizing how real the feeling of solitude is becoming. Throughout time it only thickens, deepens and grows darker. I imagine myself five years from now as if I was to continue living my life to the ways that I have. I become completely nauseated. Encompassed with fear, regret and hopelessness, I wish for everything to just be over with. A quick escape and release.
Last night I understood a new truth. One of the worst pains in this world is knowing you are far off from where you want to be. This is the feeling of defeat. This is the feeling of nothingness. These are the thoughts in which I must embrace and understand fully, in order to discontinue them from entering my life in future times.

3 albums.

2008-04-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

One day I'll do a massive upload thread. But this will have to do for now. Here are 3 albums I've been listening to a lot lately.

*Links for downloads are found below cover image and description.

OM - PILGRIMAGE

stoner rock/ambient/doom. this band has been on HEAVY rotation for me as of lately, I completely love this EP. this album has 4 songs and is 33 minutes long. No six-stringed guitar either, just a 2-piece band of bass drums and vocals.
http://rapidshare.com/files/111666351/Om.zip.html

AGALLOCH - ASHES AGAINST THE GRAIN

Current black metal Gods. Completely technical writing styles. Very harmonic. All songs relate to nature making this album perfect for a long night of chopping wood out in the woods and drinking whiskey by the campfire. Jon and I talked briefly about this band tonight so I thought I'd throw up an album.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1OFJBIXP

QUICKSAND - SLIP

Chance are you probably already know whats up with this band. It took me a while to ever really want to sit down, listen to their albums and actually get into them. Better late than never. This album gets played at least three times a day.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CX5E7BLV

Art (Street/Animation/Portrait)

2008-04-24T10:29:00.000-07:00

Yeah, its been a while since an update. I'm stuck here in a 3 hour class bored as all hell so I figured I'd do something somewhat 'productive' and update this. I'm just going to post some photos of some old favorites and newly found street art pieces, as well as 2 paintings from Dan Witz and a pretty mind blowing stop motion video from the street artist "Blu." Hope you enjoy...

This guys is probably my current favorite artist that I know of, all of his stuff is awesome. Sometimes pretty simple, yet complexly strange.
Blu: http://www.blublu.org/

walking from blu on Vimeo.

fantoche from blu on Vimeo.

Letter A from blu on Vimeo.

Julian Beever: The best to ever do 3D work...All of his stuff is done with chalk and on flat surfaces.

Dan Witz : http://www.danwitzstreetart.com/

RECOMMENDED SITES:
WWW.STREETSY.COM - Updates daily with American Street Art/Graff

Alright I've got a break in class so I'm going to take it. I didn't take in a god damn word of what my teacher just said in this lecture. Fuck it, schools out in 2 weeks anyways.

Ween - So Many People In The Neighborhood

2008-03-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

BR

2008-03-25T18:23:00.001-07:00

Bleak Reality demo tape is in the works. Another Newcomb/Hassan experiment. Details as they come.

ENTERING THE MIND OF DAVE DAVIS

2008-03-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve known Dave for a while now. Although we used to see each other more often than we do now we keep up to date via the internet. Conversations with this guy are always well enjoyed. This was a random spur of the moment idea to ask him some questions for the blog while we were both at work. This was the result of such an idea.

Jake: Alright Davey lets take the train to retard town shall we?
Dave: Sounds good to me

Jake: How long have you been breathing? Do you remember how or when we met? ‘Cause I don’t.
Dave: 30 years 5 months and 13 days

Jake: Okay, I'll go ahead and assume we're skipping that second part of the question.
Dave: I think we met at a doldrums show. I mean I had seen you before then, but I’m pretty sure I met you at maybe one of your first shows.

Jake: Right on...For a while you seemed somewhat involved in the music scene ‘round these parts. You seemed to have plummeted out of it over the past year and it’s not very uncommon for myself to be walking down the street and hear people muttering under their breath “Whatever happened to Dave Davis?”…Well, what did happen to Dave Davis?
Dave: Dave grew up.

Jake: What caused the fiery downfall of the one and only Abaddon Records?
Dave: Personal greed and egos. The stupidity of the members of the record industry, bands, and Abaddon staff.

Jake: Now it’s time to cut the small talk and bite into the real meat on the table. In the philosophical mind of Dave…Why are we here? Is there any sort of redeeming quality in mankind?
Dave: I think this is a prison planet

Jake: Go on...
Dave: We are forced to live over and over again in senselessness due to some ancient evil where we wronged the galaxy and can never advance again to Universal status.

Jake: That sounds haunting...are any groups of people backing you on this theory, or does this remain a solitary and strictly personal belief?
Dave: Oh it’s just my theory of the moment but there are many other believers such as Alex Jones, David Icke, and most Scientologists.

Jake: The Mayans made many apocalyptic predictions regarding the year 2012, do you have any sort of input or viewpoint on these statements?
Dave: I bet a lot of beer will be drunk that year. I don’t really care if the world ends; if it does it does. It doesn’t make any difference if it is 2012 or tomorrow, and who is to say that anything really ever ends? Time is an abstract concept. It is a human function. I don’t believe anything can be based on time. Quantum physicists are really starting to doubt the validity of time. Everything could possibly be occurring at the same “time”, or the opposite when nothing could ever be truly occurring.

Jake: What a perfect segway to my next question. What drugs have you experimented with throughout the years, if you have?
Dave: Marijuana, Peyote, Mescaline, PCP, Acid, Cocaine, Crack…
Jake: Excellent.
Dave: Maybe a few random uppers and downers, but I haven’t done any of that in a while. That time I smoked pot with you doesn’t even really count.

Jake: How strong is your personal relationship with Satan?
Dave: I don't think that we have one. I have tried to meet him several times and ways to no result. Derek Madden is the better one to ask that question. Derek Madden may be Satan. Except in this life his mother drank too much while she was pregnant.

Jake: We'll get to Derek Madden, don't jump the gun. What are your summer plans looking like?
Dave: I don't have any
Jake: Sounds exciting.
Dave: Probably chill on my boat, fish, drink beer and work.

Jake: Any recommended fishing spots in Maine?
Dave: About a mile out from the Fort Point pier and just on the other side of the sandbar on Fort Point. Also Silver Lake in Bucksport, but only if you have a bass boat.

Jake: What are you mainly catching out there?
Dave: I’ve caught some bluefish, stripers, mackerel, and junkfish. Sharks are in there at certain times but it’s not easy to find them.

Jake: Just a few more and then both of us can get back to work.
Dave: Haha.

Jake: In a weeks time, how much alcohol would you say you consume? How many cigarettes do you smoke?
Dave: I quit smoking last august.
Jake: Oh, that’s news to me; congrats to you.
Dave: I drink about a thirty pack a week of 16 oz bottles, a fifth of crown royal, a fifth of apple pucker and a couple bottles of wine. Maybe some applejack and possibly a fifth of Jack Daniels thrown in there as well.
Jake: Jesus Christ, save some for the fish man.
Dave: That’s not a lot

Jake: Okay, here is the last sequence of retarded questions for my even more retarded blog that nobody reads…Use 3 words to describe Derek Madden.
Dave: Attention Deficit Disorder

Jake: Use 2 words to describe Hardcore music.
Dave: Today I would say…”pretty overrated”…But then again, all music is these days.

Jake: Use 1 word to describe life.
Dave: Sketchy.

*I don't know why towards the end everything went bold, I'm not an HTML dork so don't get your panties in a bundle.

Come Friday

2008-03-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Come Friday I'll have this new axe to bash on in the basement. Once the dreaded fucking van is finally repaired (its been what, 3 weeks now?), I'll be taking the Marshall head out to Winterport to get it repaired. Then we will finally have a somewhat decent amp set up to play out of again.

Future purchases for basement:
Snare heads
XLR to 1/4" jack chord
Shure Microphone
Guitar stands

I haven't bought groceries for about 2 months because every penny I have saved goes towards some sort of musical instrument or accessory. Anyways, yeah.
Newcomb out.

Some random uploads

2008-03-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

FUGAZI - REPEATER (+3 SONGS)
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=510SUOCY

For fans of Post-Punk, Drive Like Jehu, Husker Du, Minor Threat.

MEAT PUPPETS - IN A CAR
http://rapidshare.com/files/97217786/In_A_Car.zip.html

Fast, almost goofy, psychedelic punk with a country vibe (in some) from the godly puppets.

HUSKER DU - NEW DAY RISING
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NV8CL1GQ
Classic Post-Punk album. For fans of Minutemen, alternative rock n roll/hardcore stuff.

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - SONGS FOR THE DEAF
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JZV8PAID
Pat introduced me to this album, I knew some of the tracks already but a lot of it was new to me. I listen to it an awful lot in the store. Awesome work on all of the instruments matched with some quality lyrics and vocals. Dark, hard hitting rock for fans of Foo Fighters, Kyuss among others. Some might even categorize this as stoner rock. I also just found out that Dean Ween is on this album so thats just another reason to download this baby.

WITCHCRAFT - FIREWOOD
http://lix.in/4446c370

Firewood carries on the slavish devotion to ‘70s doom rock that Witchcraft established with their self titled debut. And by “’70s doom rock” I mean Pentagram. Basically, Witchcraft are to Pentagram as Rhino Bucket are to AC/DC. The song remains the same and the song remains good. The songs have their own simple, faithful-to-the-influences charm that’s hard to ignore. The production is more professional sounding than on their self titled album, but it’s still pure retro. Firewood is just as good as their self titled debut. And if Witchcraft find more of a distinct identity going forward, their next album will be a monster. (StonerRock.com).

This past week/Future plans

2008-03-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

School started back up today.

These past 2 weeks of break have been pretty wild. I was supposed to have gone down to Boston to visit Karl and others but my van broke down on me making that trip close to impossible. Mike came back from military school about a week ago so we've been catching up and hanging out everyday. It always feels good to have that kid back for a while, he's like a brother to me.

This past week was loaded with parties, drunken handshakes, new acquaintances, jamming music all while finding the time to throw in a quality street fight. Not having my van the entire break was a kind of bummer. It stopped me from venturing out of here as much as I wished I could have. I guess this will only make the next trip that much more worth it.

We played "Murderfest III" in Harpswell a few days ago as well. The show was fun, we drove 2 hours to get there and there were about 15 kids in Meg's basement...Just the way I like it. Play It Safe, a new three piece band from Kingsfield opened up the gigger and they did a pretty good job. Then came Finished Business which was ridiculous as expected. People were bashing their heads on walls and each other which is always a good thing to see. Then I dressed up in my knight in shining armor suit and played guitar for Chains Of Man which went well. Then we did a Doldrums set...

I might even be able to say that this was one of my favorite sets we had ever played, I realized it had been too long since we had played so it was time to unleash. To me, there is nothing like putting myself in an alternate universe for a good solid 20 minutes so throughout the set I decided to do so. I won't lie, it felt good to start songs and turn around and see an army of Doldrums singing words with me, but WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN WE WERE AN ACTUAL BAND!!?? :). After 20 minutes of completely destroying myself I jumped on drums and Dan and I riffed out for a bit and the show was over. All in all it was a good show, kudos to Rick and Meg for both making it happen. Apparently there were some pictures taken and those may be developed soon? If they come I will post them up here.

I also have a new Nephew as of a couple days ago...no name yet.

FUTURE/SUMMER PLANS AS OF NOW
Finish this semester at school and move straight down to Boston
Live in a closet space wherever Karl is staying
Get a job at Shaws and save up some $$
Go to shows, drink beer and start a band
Possible trip to Iceland/Europe w/Karl for 2 weeks
Eat good food, meet good people, live the life

AFTER SUMMER PLANS
Move back to the Bangor area and hunt for a one bedroom.
Move in with only my clothes, records, bed, amps and a guitar.
Get through another year of school.

That's it for now.

Okay

2008-03-17T12:38:00.001-07:00

I have decided to start a blog, this would be my first post you are reading...Interesting huh?

I'm not entirely sure what to do with this thing or even how this website works but I'm sure it will start to take form eventually and I'll get a better idea of what it is I am doing on here. Anyone who is interested in anything I am up to or what I have to say can check it out. It's a good way for me to document some things that I hope I won't ever forget and blah blah blah.

I will most likely be posting whatever I feel like such as...future plans, show/record reviews, album uploads, unusual and interesting stories that happen to me, etc.

Thanks.
-Jake