In the seven years since its
last appearance in the blue,
Encyclopaedia Metallum has more than quadrupled in size - now containing 84,000+ bands and 65,000+ reviews of 30,000+ albums.
posted by Trurl
on Apr 17, 2012 -
35 comments
Hank Williams III has had a rocky relationship with his label, Curb Records, from the beginning, when his first album with them was
an album with his grandfather and father, "
thanks to the wonders of 21st century digital overdubbing." A decade and a half later,
Hank 3 was free from Curb Records, though the label snuck out one last album, even though the contract was over. It was actually
an old album from a decidedly non-country style, but that didn't stop Curb from
offering it as a Hank III album at a fire-sale discount, ensuring
Billboard Country charting. That was in June of this year. Jump ahead to September:
Hank 3 released three albums over four CDs, spanning his broad musical styles and beyond.
CD1:
country (of sorts);
CD2:
haunted ambient soundtrack and
Cajun-tinted country, with guests (
like Tom Waits);
CD3:
cattle-core;
CD4:
doom rock.
posted by filthy light thief
on Sep 20, 2011 -
91 comments
Meet Doctor Doom "Forty years ago, with his band Pentagram, Bobby Liebling invented a style of fiendishly heavy metal that hardly anyone heard. He spent the ensuing decades in a haze of hard drugs and big trouble. (5 arrests, 35 detoxes, more than 200 hospital visits.) Now, with the genre he spawned on the rise and a young wife and baby boy in tow, Liebling is feeling the first rumblings of success. Here's where things start to get weird."
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 20, 2011 -
26 comments
"When the car would stop and the engine would cease, the player would also die away. The tape of the cassette motionless. [...] Stationary and in silence, we saw black. The world as it was. Nothing."
A collection of early American black metal, including Haxan, Akitsa, and Ancestors. Compiled from tapes, hiss and all.
[more inside]
posted by thedaniel
on Jan 12, 2010 -
16 comments
SomBy were the winners of the
Liet International 2009 song contest for minority european languages and cultures. Sámi rock, you say? But wait, there's more! There's
Alit Boazu from the Norwegian side, and
Tiina Sanila, a
Skolt Sámi singer from Finland. And yes,
there is Sámi metal, from the band
Intrigue. There are plenty other Sámi musicians across
Sápmi and outside of the genre of rock, of course. There's
Amoc, an Inari Sámi rapper from Finland;
Adjágas who are folky and bluegrassy at times;
Niko Valkeapää, who is more ambient and electronic; and of course,
Mari Boine,
recently knighted for her long career of artistic work (
translation). [Sound, MySpace warnings]
[more inside]
posted by taursir
on Dec 25, 2009 -
5 comments
Amazing to see how differently Shakespeare's work has been dealt with in music: there is Jerry Lee Lewis doing a
blues on Othello.
David Gilmour, former Pink Floyd lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, turned Sonnet 18 into a touchingly beautiful
ballad.
The Metal Shakespeare Company wrote a heavy metal song about Hamlet (III/1), "
To bleed or not to bleed".
And yes, there is Shakespeare rap, too: William Shatner (the very same!)
raps about Caesar and British rapper Akala thinks he is a
reincarnation of the bard.
Last but not least, the Beatles tried their luck at Shakespeare, too (no music this time): they did a
skit on the famous Pyramus and Thisbe scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream (very rare footage!).
posted by Matthias Rascher
on Sep 22, 2009 -
37 comments
Introducing Project Pop (Formerly Indonesia's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-suling metal-dangdut-comedy folk sextet).
Their hit "
Dangdut is the music of my country" [youtube link--music starts at 0:58] code-switches between pop metal and dangdut, affectionately mocking the cheesy pop of their parents' generation.
Here is a great play-by-play translation of the details of the video.
[more inside]
posted by umbú
on May 9, 2008 -
12 comments
The
One Man Band has evolved. No longer will the one man band be burdened by the weight and bulk of backpack drum kits, guitars, or accordions - or knowing what notes to play. Behold!
Beamz by The Sharper Image. Give your nearest buddy a high-five and catch a glimpse into the future of music performance and one of the most hilarious promotional videos you might ever see.
posted by hellslinger
on Apr 8, 2008 -
60 comments
This cheesy 1979 promo film from the group,
Blackjack, offers a glimpse into the hard rock past of balladeer Michael Bolton, which also includes a co-writing credit for a
Top 40 hit by Kiss. Similarly, Bill Joel disavows the days when he
posed in medieval armor next to slabs of raw beef on the cover of the self-titled album by Joel's heavy metal duo,
Attila, although
Julian Cope is a fan of the album and its Deep Purplish vibes (check out
Holy Moses and
Wonder Woman). To round out the trifecta, we have Tori Amos who got marketed as the metal-chick frontwoman of
Y Kant Tori Read (check out the video for
The Big Picture). On the other hand, metalheads have the opposite problem of hiding their pop past. Examples include the industrial metal band Ministry's early days as a
new wave synth act and Tommy Iommi's brief tenure as a
member of Jethro Tull before becoming lead guitarist of Black Sabbath. Meanwhile,
Bon Scott, the late lead singer of AC/DC, is probably spinning in his grave over the YouTube footage of him as an
Australian teen idol and a
bearded hippie with a recorder.
posted by jonp72
on Nov 26, 2007 -
70 comments
Learning to scream safely as a metal, hardcore or screamo vocalist can "take approximately a year", apparently. Handy tips offered here include "practice screaming into a pillow", and "scream along with music, especially songs in which screaming is already taking place." Bizarrely comprehensive, and probably useful, if you're into, uh, screaming.
posted by rhodri
on Mar 13, 2007 -
32 comments
