IF I HAVE TO BEG OR BORROW..........

This has been my work tune this week...from the scene in Beverly Hills Cop when Axel first arrives in Beverly Hills. Sweet.

LETS TALK ABOUT...........THE LAST DRAGON!

The what? You have never heard of The Last Dragon? One of my all time favourite films? are you some kind of loser?

I first saw this film when I was a kid after my mum taped it offa TV late one night ( this was a ritual and a good reason why I saw so many nasty 80's films that I really shouldn't have at that age) This was a film that mixed martial arts, break dancing, hip-hop, blaxploitation, disco and 80's fashion. What is there not to love about it.
It was the creation of Berry Gordy, he of Motown Records and the evil mastermind behind Micheal Jackson's ascendancy to the stars. He financed this film, which to this day is one of the biggest commercial flops but financialy was off the scale. The plot involved Taimak ( first acting role) and his quest to attain the "glow". Along the way he falls in love, battles lots of bad guys, learns about feelings and how to dance. It featured various future greats. William H Macy has a slight cameo, Chazz Palminteri plays hood #2 and Prince's lady friend Vanity plays the love interest. And it features Sho'nuff. Julius J. Carry III's finest role to date in my opinion, god rest his soul.

Of course Taimak's acting is immensly wooden, he learned to act on the set. But the fights are ace and they have mixed enough comedy into it as they realise how silly the whole concept is. It always reminded me of some arcade beat em up almost. The oddball characters and set pieces.
Good fun facts : Leeroy's younger brother Richie, was the real life younger brother of Sugarhill Gang member Master Gee.
The youngest child of the Brown clan is played by Cosby show mainstay Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Kanye West has since made the Sho'nuff's trademark shades cool. I would say stole his style.
Vanity has been scuttled by Prince, who helped launch her girl band Vanity 6 and if rumour permits James Brown and Nikki Sixx have both been inside her.
She was also a crack addict for over a decade and now requires kydney magic to keep her alive. Due to this she decided to become a born again christian or something like that.
Tiamak, in his own words " I am still training and practising both my martial arts and acting, I will be on the big screen again soon". He has allegedly written a script for a sequel.
Julius J. Carry III is dead.

I bring this up because I was telling a lady friend how amazing it was and tried to find my VHS copy of it but its dissapeared. meaning I can finally move into the 21st century with The Last Dragon and buy the DVD.

DANGER OF DEATH...........

Classic, teen angst incarnate. Everyone enjoys Chris Needham.

MEGADETH ALWAYS BEAT METALLICA

I have always liked Megadeth. As untrendy at times as it is. They easily rank higher than Metallica in my books. I was at Salesbury COE Primary School when I first heard them. My friend Vulture gave me a tape with Megadeth, NWA, Rat Pack, Nirvana and Guns N Roses. I played that tape almost constantly after that. All the way through Secondary school. Despite growing up and realising what a huge tool Dave Mustaine is I still loved that band. What more proof do you need than this video.....

Now, think how degrading it is being that girl that the bra belonged to? Throwing your bra at Dave Mustaine? Nick menza looking heart broken in the background. What a dick.

I did have a desire to go on about some of my equipment I use. But then after being disheartened by the "post your rig" thread on this forum I thought it best not. After reading it gave me that feeling you get when you watch your girlfriend getting her backed knocked out by some one better than yourself and she taunts you about it. All the equipment I use is pretty shit. I wish I could afford something good.
I did intend to do loads of important thing stonight, instead I have listened to lo-fi Black Metal and typed this post. What a waste of a night.
Better waste it with some good music. Dad They Broke Me are from Australia. I really have no information about them other than they sound like a monstrously deformed collision of The Jesus Lizard and Unsane dripped through a doom filter.

Dad They Broke Me - Lack

Give it a wizz. Its pretty good. Better than that girl who threw the bra further up the post. But then, I imagine nearly anything is.

1982...IT WAS A GOOD YEAR.

First off, Coalesce did not dissapoint last night. I know its easy to be disheartened by seeing a band you have loved ( I have been waiting 10 years to see them) who then are shit when you do finally get the chance.
Coalesce did non of this. They played a awesome setlist off a few new tracks and a good selection of the back catologue. Ingram's voice has not changed and is still as powerful. Shame they are only playing 3 dates in the UK and a few European ones. Gutted for the rest of your miserable life if you don't see them.

I recently went on a bit of a Black Flag binge. This has been one of the most played of recent times. According to common lore and fairytale, in 1982 Black Flag where legally restricted from releasing any new material for whatever reason, I don't know. They secretly recorded a load of demo's of material that ended up on My War and Slip It In. Add to this a live interview from some radio sessions they did. It rules for the fact that a lot of these versions sound so much better than the actual album versions. The sound is rawer and more upfront and Rollins has a unhinged vibe to his vocals. Plus Kira Roessler is hot. Here it is for maximum punk points.....

Drinking black coffee..........

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES.........

A DISGUST FOR DETAILS!

Coalesce tonight. Corperation in Sheffield.
So in honour of said event, I am putting the live set back up. Awesome sound quality.
This is from 2005 somewhere in Philly, USA.

Track Listing.....
1- Harvest of Maturity
2- One on the Ground
3- cowards.com
4- Blend as Well
5- Burn Everything That Bears Our Name
6- What Happens on the Road
7- A Safe Place
8- Jesus In The Year 2000 / Next On The Shit List
9- A Disgust For Details
10- 73-C
11- You Can't Kill Us All
12- My Love For Extremes

What More Do You Want From Me.........

THE BEST SCENE FROM LETHAL WEAPON

I used to think it was the torture sequence where Al Leong sponges Mel Gibson. Well after realising that every time its on TV I always miss the first scene that introduces Riggs. It has everything. Mel taking coke, Christmas trees, 3 Stooges impression, some swearing and it also introduces Rigg's trademark roll-over, strafing shooting stance. Never used again, never bettered.

Its the quintessential buddy/cop movie. Influenced Tango & Cash and provided Graf Orlock with a sweet sample. Mel Gibson and Danny Glover had the chemistry. It was wasted somewhat over time as the follow ups piled up and they descended into daft action/comedies and the age rating dropped. They tried the same formula again much later on, minus Mel Gibson and including fishing. It didn't work really.
So in honour of how much I like this film I have got hold of a link to the soundtrack. Micheal Kamen, Eric Clapton and David Sanborn succeeded in creating one of the best lonely drinking albums I have ever heard. I have often got drunk at home on my own lsitening to this. The addition of other people sort of spoils it so its best you get hammered on your own while listening to this one.

I'm Getting To Old For This Shit

Honestly, it is the best music for getting drunk on your own. It might sound a bit depressing but its so good. Just keep repeating to yourself..."I'm getting to old for this shit".

THE GREAT THING ABOUT 90'S FUNK METAL..........

.....the bassist! Yes. As a common point of reference and in-joking between my drummer and myself. We always have a little giggle about 90's funk metal bassists. Or more importantly, the clothing.
You see, I started playing bass when I was a impressionable 16 year old. At the time it was all about funk metal. You couldn't open a music magazine without seeing a bassist wearing bermuda shorts, a vest/waistcoat combo and a bowler hat. Hair was either pigtailed or kept short and the bass was worn quite low down the knees and held upright. This was a fearsome sight to my young eyes. "They must be so talented" I thought to myself. And more often than not they where. But have you ever tried playing a bass that low down for any length of time? Hell no. Your arms end up hurting, your back aches, you slowly take on a more simian posture. Why do you think Robert Trujillo walks like a crab onstage? Its not a act, he is actually handicapped. Poor him. You see the rest of the band could look like metal knobs but the with a bassist looking like that present they had that important "we-don't-just-own-metal-albums" aura around them. Plus there was doubtless one of them wearing a silly shirt as well. Case in point. LAPD, Korn's pre-nu-metal incarnation....

What a bunch of tools eh?
Now I ain't making out I was cool and only listened to Victory Records stuff or anything. I owned some funk metal. As did nearly everyone. Even as late as 2003 America was producing these bands. By that point most had realised the bottom had dropped out of the funk metal genre and had incorporated other styles like reggae, salsa and dancehall into there mess of a sound. Of course most of these people unbuttoned that plaid shirt, hung up the wallet chains and made a proper living of working for Staples or Home Delivery Network. The bassist generally tend to work in music shops now and impress young kids who want to buy a bass with there sick slap bass skills ( believe me, I have been shown this by many a sales assistant with some ethnic beads visible under his shirt collar and his ear pierced right at the top) until the boss tells them off and sends them out back to finish breaking down all that cardboard for the recycling.
This really came up as I was digging round a cupboard that contained all the CD's I hide away so that people who visit don't think I am such a clueless tool. But what a little treasure chest. Infectious Grooves, The Urge, HedPE ( who's first album was the best example of rap-metal at the time), Insolence. of course Infectious Grooves still stands up, at least in my head and have gone onto providing Metallica with some extra income as they don't ahve to pay Trujillo royalties for the music he hasn't played on.
Just to readress the balance, and to get rid of the sour taste of the 90's in your head I have this video of some Poison Idea. They enver really had much of an interest in funk metal.

Isn't it funny how "metal" some punk bands actually looked?

Albums That Shaped Oliver #2

Two posts in one day eh. Well I was waiting for this to upload really.
Anyway. This is "the" death metal album from my younger years. It still takes your face of with each listening these days. Cryptopsy have definatly gone off the boil in recent years. This featured the original line-up with the monstrously voiced Lord Worm fronting them ( he used to feed live worms to the audience). I first heard this when i was 17 round at a friends house. From the opening sample and fearsome blast that sweeps everything away like debris in a hurricane it is unrelenting. The bass playing of Eric Langlois has inspired me more than any other extreme musician. I could never really pick any flaws with the record. It was unrelenting with the blasting and the silly fast riffs, the screams and growls sounded so tortured and the dynamic stop/start nature of the compositions.
All that wanky talk aside, this album has had such a bearing and influence on my own style and writing since I first heard it 10 years ago. The next few albums after this had there moments but None So Vile owns.





Cryptopsy - None So Vile

Jesus Creeping Shit

New Jim Jarmusch film. Some thing about a Spanish hitman. What makes it good before viewing is the combination of Jim Jarmusch + Bill Murray + Earth + Boris. Aye, Southern Lord had a hand in the OST. Interesting I think you will agree....

New toys

Well sort of. As has been a plan of mine for some time now. I needed a new cab. Mine was fine but falling apart. As anyone that has given me a lift with it at gigs or carried it upstairs/across cobbles/out of the van will know. Its a complete bastard.
Its a Behringer BB810. I know people hate Behringer and slag it off rotten quite a lot but its stood up well for the past 4 years. Been on so many tours, used by bands every night. It even survived Dan Lilker playing through it for 8 days in a row. The casing started looking a bit ropy a year or so ago. Original wheels fell off and I fitted these shopping trolley wheels, they have proven to be unsturdy. As well as the wood beginning to fall apart on the bottom. So the time came to get it sorted.

The sides have been removed along with the base and wheels. The electrics are all still fine and intact. The plan has been to build new sides and base with new wheels fitted and easier access for transport.

The sides have now been done, good solid ply. New wheels and axle have been ordered and that is the current position.

So yay to building your own stuff. The project after this is a new amphead. Which I can see being slightly more tricky.
Ah well. I did get hold of the Mad Max OST courtesy of Mackie. So its all going pretty well at the moment. Which is unnervingly wierd. So its bound to go wrong very soon.