Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix
Why the hate towards Pick of Destiny? I’ve still have to meet ONE person that actually hates it completely. Sure, I know that Kyle Gass has commented on some of the faults in the film (which I don’t mind, but I see where he’s shooting from) but the album was good and, let’s face it, ‘Beezelboss’ is fucking awesome (truly the best song in the world).
No, really, why did the film tanked? Every single person I’ve shown the film, they enjoy it, even if they hate the genre (including our very own webcomic illustrator, who is now a fan of the band).
6 years and now we have the return of Tenacious D. After the very funny pre-emptive strike that was the short video for ‘To be the best‘, we now have Rize of the Fenix, a very funny album that also manages to rock out quite well. I don’t know if the adjective “mature” applies here, though, but several critics keep bandying it around this release.
I’d go for cohesive and with great flow. The songs are satisfyingly rocking, with that witty (and puerile) humour that the band so well crafts. ‘Rize of the Fenix’ is a self-assessment of the past 6 years for the band, the turmoil and their Meat Loaf-style comeback. Jokes about tattoos are always good too and the bombastic nature of the track makes it an awesome choice for an opener (and easily a gem).
Again, the humour of the band is present, fully engaged on puerile mode (‘Low hangin’ fruit’ sounds like the love life many of us have) and even the shenanigans of the industry (‘Roadie’ is both awesome and true). “Epic” is another adjective to use in the songs, as there is a penchant for embracing how rock can be extremely operatic and bombastic, like in the melodramatic ‘Señorita’, the sci fi trip ‘Deth Starr’ which is as amazing as Firefly (I said it – also, it sounds like Stone Temple Pilots’ ‘And so I know’) and the showstopper called ‘The ballad of Hollywood Jack and The Rage Kage’, which again chronicles the turmoil in Tenacious D.
For the ones who enjoy their skits (a big part of the soul of Tenacious D), there’s longer sequences here. ‘Classical teacher’ is pretty funny, playing out how the band could kick Arcade Fire‘s asses (fact!), ‘Flutes & Trombones’ is what happens when both JB and KG want to add some extra instrumentation to a track and ‘They fucked our asses’ is that sour lamentation (with the inevitable call to arms ‘To be the best’).
An uncle in Tampico always remarked that he thought rock was ridiculous not because of the sounds, but because of the posturing and excesses that later become tropes and running jokes in parodies. When a band manages to take those tired stereotypes and play with them while still making some really enjoyable rocking tunes (and funny videos), the gain is evident. Thanks, Tenacious D, may you keep rocking that devil horn and its hazy smoke.
Oh, and David Grohl drums here. That is awesome.
Words: Sam J. “I’ve got a pick of destiny replica in my wallet” Valdes Lopez
Interview – The Legend of 7 Black Tentacles
Picture this: a small cramped practise room in the heart of (well, near one of the football stadiums, dunno which team). 6 musicians, all from very different backgrounds. Not a single guitarist in sight (well, there’s one but he is not playing guitar) and a bass player that was AWOL, saving the world from the evil forces of Pitchfork and Robert Christgau. (more…)
Interview with Keith How (from Low Horizons)
Vapour Trails over the Eastern Seaboard - Keith How
Invitation – Baptists and Bootleggers launch
We cordially invite you the launch (free!) of Baptists & Bootleggers , a label combining the forces of Music, Arts and Literature deftly into a mammoth release.
Which is a vinyl package that includes beautiful artwork, an angelic white vinyl with music from Go Lebanon, Dafydd Jones (aka Crown the Wolf), Stagger, Veí and Borland. What else is inside this beautiful package? Writings, some artwork and maybe a special something from Veí too. We can’t reveal too much because we promised not to.
We also promised to tell you this event will take place at Islington Mill, Salford on February 9.
Oh, and the package (vinyl, art and literature) is free. So check out some ace bands and get a free vinyl. It’s like Christmas but more religious and with less cumbersome relatives.
Dexterity Press
Dexterity Press is a project set up by Kerri and Jeff (from a band we love called Shipping News).
Working by commission on anything print related (CD/LP sleeves, packages, invitations, etc), they also do a lot of creative stuff. Their Etsy shop is an example of the work they’ve done, their website offers a wider catalogue of the different products they lovingly create.
Thankfully, they’ve done well enough to offer people interested in buying their art a subscription program. For 125 dollars for a year (plus shipping), you get:
(3) 12.5 x 19 art prints
(1) book
(3) 5 x 7 art prints
(2) surprise pieces – either an additional book or another 12.5 x 19 art print
(?) however many rock posters we produce
So, if you like the sound of that and their style of art, do check for more examples here.
Looking back at… Thrice – The Alchemist Index (Vol. 1 – 4)
It’s always mind-blowing when a band you sort of tagged and bagged into a particular shelf in your genre cupboard (TM) becomes self-aware and evolves. Thrice is one of those cases: pigeonholed in the post-hardcore/screamo box, they pulled the rug for a lot of people in 2007 and 2008 with their quadruple EP (sold in two instalments of CDs or as a supersweet vinyl collectible) The Alchemy Index.
The premise : the four elements. The sound: varied. Thrice showed their musical talent by tackling a particular genre in each EP, and by golly’s stinky sneakers, they nailed it each time.
So, in celebration that the postman finally delivered a copy of their new album Major/Minor , we decided to do this collaborative post. The writers will be Chris Anderson, guitarist/singer/composer for Firesuite (check ‘em), Tonan and Sam.
Me? I didn’t get any EPs but I got the cookies. Booyah. It pays to be a cow.
The apocalyptic visions of John Martin
John Martin, The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (1852). Courtesy Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums)
Sheffield’s Millenium Gallery is currently presenting a wonderful exhibition called John Martin: Painting the Apocalypse.
Garrett would be proud
The King and The Thief – Castles
Source: King and Thief bandcamp. No infringement intended.
Stream – ‘Glow in the dark’
The many faces of a city
Kateřina Šedá : Líšeň Profile @ Sheffield Millenium Gallery
Kateřina Šedá: Líšeň Profile, 2010 - work in progress. Photo © Michal Hladik
What is identity? What is the “true” face of a city?
(more…)
Hauschka – Foreign Landscapes
Kepler said more than 400 years ago that Planets were actually quite entertained singing it up in the sky. Weird, but that’s one major piece of discovery for Astronomy: it was the laws of planetary motion. It is said also that every color, stone, sunset, the human body and even a telephone line is perfectly tuned, that there’s music even when a leaf falls from a tree.
If we see the world through a musician’s glasses, there’s in fact a melody coming from every part of the world, we’re surrounded; emotions too have a very important role: they can paint yellow into blue, white into black…
Restless Times – A review
Restless Times : Art in Britain 1914 – 1945
They say that misery drives art. I don’t know who “they” are nor can I muster up to say where I got that quote. For all I know, it’s something I just made up.
There’s no worse misery in this world than the misery we inflict into each other. Whether for greed, envy or for the illusion of power, man is the wolf of man, and from that conflict, art arises as a response, whether as condemnation or as a cry for help.
The Janitor
La última cena en el espacio - César Cervantes
The Janitor
One day I shall have my revenge, and I feel that today, Tuesday, shall be that day. Today is the day that bastard eats the most. I know his schedule thanks to the consistency of his droppings, the colours stuck to the porcelain and the reckless use of toilet paper.
My name is Fermín and I’m the one who cleans the toilets in this shopping mall of renown that belongs to the upper classes in the capital of Mexico.
El Limpiabaños
La última cena en el espacio - César Cervantes
El Limpiabaños
Algún día tendré mi venganza, y presiento que será hoy, martes. Este es el día que el desgraciado come más. He llegado a conocer su agenda por la consistencia de sus heces, por los colores que se pegan en la porcelana, por las cantidades inconscientes de papel de baño que utiliza.
I’m totally down with Rob’s band
Brontide + Tall Ships + Minus the Bear = FUN.
(Editor’s note: due to a schedule problem, Brontide couldn’t be reviewed. Sorry.)
They say that you shouldn’t meet your heroes, as the expectations can be so high that the reality will never measure to whatever mental image you’ve made in your head.
Dunno who ‘they’ are, but if I led my life to what ‘they’ said, I’d still have a bully’s boot sole in my face , pinned down to the ground.
But enough about Catholic school and more about music.
Songs of a sunny Perestroika sunday
Someone still loves you Boris Yeltsin – Let it Sway
The Skinny : Bubbly, fun and actually awesome.
The review gushing proper: Actually, could I persuade you to get this free song before? Take it as evidence. Or just press play before reading what follows.
There ya go. And if you like it, you can get it for free. Or listen to it on Spotify while I rant about it.
Watercolour in Britain – Tradition & Beyond
Watercolour in Britain @ Millenium Gallery
“I thought watercolour was supposed to be all blurry and stuff”, told me a well dressed gentleman whilst eating a cupcake at a bench in Peace Gardens. I was caught off-guard by this as was waiting for a friend, with the exhibition pamphlet precariously dangling from my hands.
“Beg pardon?” I said and he drew a long breath, ready to go on an Abe Simpson-calibre of a tirade. Thankfully, another old guy came by, excused himself and took the guy away.
Wish I was making that up.
