Alex Lifeson's Favorite Solos - Who knew?

I personally am a big fan of "Analog Kid" and "Digital Man" but check out Gibson's interview w/ Lifeson on his 3 favorite solos.

1. Limelight (agreed!)
2. Kid Gloves (interesting)
3. Freewill (of course!)

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Marcy Playground - Sex & Candy is Evil

There are so many bands on the radio that have this sickeningly popular hit that drives people mad (good and bad) and then are pretty much never heard from again. Well, if you were one of the lucky one's who bought Marcy Playground's self titled "Marcy Playground" you will notice that the album's brilliance was most definitely overshadowed by one song...and here's a bands dichotomous relationship with that one song that peg's them as "that band that did that one song...you know?" for the rest of their lives...on one hand you have a hit single that will pretty much put a nice check in your mailbox for 20 years to come, but with that comes the pressure to repeat which in my opinion Marcy Playground did with "Shapeshifter" except no single. Who gives a fuck about the single? The album as a whole is great. And to my surprise there has been an album out for quite some time entitled "MP3" from the Playground that I'm just getting into (the first song is a RIPPER by the way)...this is why Top 40 Sucks. It takes the art of a band...sucks it dry...expects the band to recreate brilliance for the non-musical masses in order to turn art into money. If that doesn't happen...well into the dumpster you go. Top 40 Sucks.

P.S. There must be some fans out there...check out the ratings on Amazon for the previously 3 mentioned albums.

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The Fucking Champs are THE FUCKING CHAMPS!

Alright metal fools...if you haven't heard of the metal instrumental trio "The Fucking Champs" from San Francisco I HIGHLY recommend it's high fucking time you did. I've never heard 2 guitar players and a drummer make such incredibly intricate, bone crushing, tasteful, tone full, part cheese (in a good way), METAL in my life? Take the best riffs from Metallica, Maiden, Dio, Kings X, and meld them together (take out any singing for the most part) and you have The Champs...well you can't call them The Champs..they've already been sued for that so they called themselves The Fucking Champs...which is much more fitting... recording only to analog tape/equipment and using old analog synths, 6, and 9 string guitars (9 strings?) the trio blasts out shit that'll have you rockin' like Beavis and Butthead in no time. Check 'em out. Recommended starting album: "VI". The Fucking Champs are:

Tim Soele
Drums, Guitar, Synthesizer

Phil Manley
6 and 9 string guitars, Acoustiic Guitar, Piano, Bass, Guitar Synth, Synthesizer

Tim Green
Guitar, Baritone Guitar, Vocals (extremely limited)

Go download a bunch of The Fucking Champs here

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Outside Lands San Francisco - An audio disaster of no proportion

Yeah, Yeah...this post is incredibly late, but I've been thinking a lot about what I witnessed Friday, Aug 22nd and Sat, August 23rd at Outside Lands, an incredibly ambitious 3 day music festival in Golden Gate park, San Francisco. Something happened that I have never in my life seen and heard at a show...something so insanely out of the realm of possibility that when this particular moment arrived 100k+ people's jaw hit the floor...back to this moment in a sec...let me brief you on the day.

We arrive at the show early (a SMART thing it turns out) to an incredible fairytale layout of tents, windmills, lighted Cypress trees, and music from all angles. If I were still in college I probably would have seen dancing bears and Chinese dragons too. Excited we walk into Steel Pulse who set the mood as an opener for this festival perfectly...great call concert promoters. Even though Steel Pulse has been around for many moons they were extremely tight and bled the peaceful Rasta vibe that got everyone moving and in the mood. Awesome so far.

Manu Chao is up next on our agenda, GREAT! I've been hearing great things, but wait...BECK is scheduled to start 10min after they start. Fuck. Ok, 10min of Manu Chao and then let's go to BECK. Manu Chao is KILLING IT. The crowd is going crazy and fuck it all if we have to leave...I mean it's BECK for God's sake. So we journey across Golden Gate fields running into the largest corralled group of people bottlenecked into an area 25 feet wide trying to get from the main stage to where Beck was playing...NOW we understand just how big this thing is. After an incredible fight for positioning like no other I've ever experienced...BECK! or should I say beck :( If that wasn't the most lack luster show I've seen in a while than you can shove your foot up my ass and shit down my neck. GAWD, what a disappointment. Beck seemed to almost SLEEP through the set barely moving, metal hair in his face, shitty guitar tones...disappointing. Ok, let's go...20min to Radiohead!

So we knee, elbow, and fight our way through 25k+ people back to the cattle drive to get back to the main stage to claim our land for Radiohead. We had been afforded VIP tickets (HIGHLY recommended if you can get them bought for you) so were front row stage left. AWESOME. Radiohead comes on to an absolutely fucking mind blowing set leaving no doubt that they are the rock and roll arena giants of our time...and then the impossible happens...every bands nightmare...every fans annoyance...every sound electricians pink slip...every sound man’s death certificate.

The sound stops.

It just cuts out like someone tripped over the main cord that powered the whole front of house speaker system. Confusion. A mass sigh of "Whaaaaa!?". A faint sound of a band coming from the on stage monitors. The end is here. It's the fucking Rapture. 15-20 seconds go by, but Radiohead is still playing...the sounds pops back on as quickly as it pop's off. The crowd ROARS!!! ALL IS SAVED!!!! until 3 minutes go by and the same thing happens again...this time Thom York obviously pissed mentioning that "I don't know what the fuck is going on" and apologizes profusely. Un-fucking-real. I'm surprised a riot didn't break out. I about started one.

Now the good news is that the sound came back...the sun went down...Radiohead picked themselves up by the bootstraps and showed why they are professionals and beat out a perfect set being the first band in history to play Golden Gate Park at night...it truly turned back to amazing in a gratifying hurry... HUGE props to Radiohead. Amazing.

The nights over...the audio blunder behind us we head home with high hopes for Sat. thinking what we witnessed operationally would never happen again...oh contraire mon friar. To make a long story longer and skipping the best musical act IMO (I'll touch on this later) I'll jump to the most amazing blunder even WORSE than what happened during Radiohead's set.

Imagine this...It's night time in golden Gate Park. The Cypress trees are glowing red, purple, orange all around the park. Tom Petty is KILLING it on the main stage to a crowd where you can not see the end North, South, East, or West...this is fucking MASSIVE. People dancing all around...you get the idea...BUT! all of the sudden Steve Winwood pops on stage and The Heartbreakers bust into a full set of old Traffic tunes! HOLY SHIT! If this isn't a moment in music history then you're outta your mind. The crowd absolutely ERUPTS! And then...yes folks...it happens.

The sound cuts out. Once, twice, then three times during this magical moment. I fucking lost it...HOW? WHY? Where's the sound man...I'm going to wring his fucking neck! Were people pissed, disappointed? You can only imagine...it was a disaster. Petty, Winwood, and the Heartbreakers finish like the pros that they are never acknowledging the audio blunders. The crowd leaves extremely satisfied, but with a dark hole in their soul.

Me? I leave with the thought that I saw the most amazing set earlier in the day at one of the side stages...a band like no other...a power trio coming together to absolutely crush this festival and make my musical concert going year. Primus. You Suck.

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McDonalds does NOT rock...

...except if I'm hung over as hell or want fries to stay undigested in my colon for 3 months...ya know, save 'em for later kind of thing. I guess this was an ad in Brazil...to cater to those who love Sepultura.

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RUSH plays Tom Sawyer on ROCKBAND

In follow up to the RUSH post where they play the Colbert Report I never in a million years thought I'd see this, but this is the shit! RUSH plays thier own song, Tom Sawyer, on the game Rockband and FAIL!

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Zakk Wylde rips National Anthem at Staples Center with Randy Rhodes Flying V

Zakk Wylde Shreds the National Anthem


Pretty bad ass...Zakk Wylde pays a little tribute to America and Randy Rhodes before a Los Angeles Kings hockey game at L.A.’s Staples Center. It sounds loud as hell and I'd love to have been there.

Zakk Wylde National Anthem Tab

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Rush plays on TV for the first time in 33 years! And on none better than Colbert Report

33 years since performing on TV. 33 years!!!! Think about that. It's a combination of longevity as a band and a serious lack of understanding of how bad ass these guys are by the networks and most of the world. Whether it was RUSH's choice to not play on air for 33 years or not..fuck it...I still blame the man, the networks, the music labels, and chlorine in our drinking water. I guess the choice of songs was obvious..Tom Sawyer...but for us hard core fans some serious mad respect for RUSH and Stephen Colbert would be if Stephen just introduced them right at the beginning and they played the first side of Hemisphere's and then went to credits. But, unfortunately I don't run the show. Or anything for that matter except this ridiculous blog. Anyway, what's with the attention RUSH is getting these days? All of the sudden they are in Rolling Stone (it has to be 33 years since then too) and now TV appearances? Are people finally waking up after a 33 year hibernation in their musical holes? Am I a biased RUSH fan? Absolutely. 24 Gold and 14 Platinum records has a good way of saying fuck you :)

Awesome Rush Intro



Rush plays Tom Sawyer on The Colbert Report

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Trey Anastasio, Mike Gordon and Jon Fishman Jam at Rothbury Festival

Hippies, Multi-Day Festivals, Dead Heads, Phish Heads, Twirlers, Spinners, and those with incredibly bad hygiene gone from the music scene? Judging by the 35,000 people who attended the Rothbury Festival, jam bands and those who follow them with an undying fervor are alive, well and still selling grilled cheese sandwiches...and were treated to a mini PHISH reunion when Trey, Mike, and Fish all shared the stage during Mike Gordon's own solo set to do a rendition of The Beatles "Rain". Hints of a reunion from Trey were rumored to be heard, but dammit NO. NO REUNION TOUR. Don't get me wrong. I myself was a PHISH head following them around from city to city to see their amazing shows and hear songs from incredible albums such as "Junta", "Lawn Boy", "Rift", and "Picture of Nectar". But having PHISH find this weird pop sensibility on albums such as "Undermine", "Round Room", and "Farmhouse” really, well, kinda sucked...do we really need to hear anything past The Story of the Ghost from 1998? (I should get some good flaming from that comment). And don't get me started on anyone's solo work (Mike Gordon's being the best efforts IMO). Anyway, there really is no point to this post I guess except it has given me a selfish reason to bitch about how bad PHISH has gotten, that there are still (and always be) hippies, and venues across the nation in which to give reason to sell grilled cheese sandwiches. Oh, and also...who knew that Trey's real name is Ernest J.?

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The Sea and Cake - Car Alarm - Releases October 21st

The Sea and Cake take no time off to record their latest release entitled "Car Alarm" which is due out October 21st. Tour dates to follow as soon as they are available...sweet.

Track List
01 Aerial
02 a Fuller Moon
03 on a Letter
04 CMS Sequence
05 Car Alarm
06 Weekend
07 New Schools
08 Window Sills
09 Down in the City
10 Pages
11 the Staircase
12 Mirrors

"All In Throws" Live Video from The Pitchfork Festival

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