Super-Fast Robot Hands

So basically, what you're telling us is not only will the robots take over, but they will do it so fast it will be blurry, all while juggling our flailing bodies?

New Music this week is pretty unstoppable.

There is a pile of killer new music that dropped on Tuesday (May 10th). Here are the titles that I had been looking forward to:

Jesu - Ascension (Caldo Verde)

Justin K. Broadrick's third full-length as Jesu (his first for Caldo Verde, the label founded by Sun Kil Moon's Mark Kozalek) continues the slow refinement of his slow, heavy layers upon layers of guitar and synths. The tone of the album continues on the trajectory from the debut self-titled to Conqueror in it's optimism. Still, it's gauzy, monstrous, and beautiful.

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Liturgy - Aesthetica (Thrill Jockey)

Liturgy has been known for their barrage of intensity, filling every available space with shredded guitars and relentless drums. This time, though, they allow some breathing room at times, dipping into minimal electronics, technical rhythms, chanted harmonies, and even some Sabbathy riffs.

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Tyler the Creator - Goblin (XL)

Odd Future got hyped all across the internet after they tore up Jimmy Fallon, and I got excited about a pack of skate rat kids from Pasadena actually making maniacal hip hop. I was looking forward to this record as a staple of the new insanity of internet -fueled hip hop. I liked most of Bastard, the free previous record Tyler gave away online, bits of which surface in Goblin. This was a little disappointing upon first listen, though. I'll give it a couple more spins, but I don't think it's the wild young genius I was hoping for.

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Enslaved - The Sleeping Gods (Scion A/V)

A friend forwarded the email from Scion A/V announcing this FREE EP from Enslaved, one of the greatest black metal bands to come out of Norway(automatically making them top tier for the planet). You can get the ep here: http://preemtiv.com/emails/enslaved/

They are more melodic and accessible than a lot of black metal. This is more along the lines of Emperor than Mayhem. There is just as much singing as there is choked vocals. They use some progressive structures, and occasionally remind me of the more hypnotic parts from Isis. They also have the blasting double bass and riffs to keep it metal.

The only thing I don't understand is why I didn't get the only email I would be interested in from Scion. I get every other invite to stupid dance parties at the Roxy, but not this.

Seargeant Stubby: WWI Canine Hero

You need to read this wikipedia article now. Probably the coolest dog ever. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant_Stubby

Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All

Get on this. It's nice to see kids doing something with their lives. After you finish this video primer, hunt down Tyler the Creator's free digital album Bastard and google more info on the crew.

Odd Future Gets Signed from Odd Future

Plus they are hometown Pasadena knuckleheads.

http://oddfuture.com/

Pee WWE Herman

This is real history.

The Assassination of Yogi Bear by the Coward Boo Boo

Arcade Fire + Spike Jonze "The Suburbs" Video

  

I still think the Where the Wild Things Are trailer with "Wake Up" is the best. Hopefully there is more to this, because it hints at a lot more than it says.

Hellboy - Mike Mignola back in the drawer's seat!

Mike Mignola is back to drawing Hellboy for an 8 page story called Hellboy: The Whittier Legacy which you can read online at USA Today.

Mignola talks about the H. P. Lovecraft influence on this story: "I've gotten a reputation for incorporating Lovecraft stuff into my work, but I've never sat down and done a straightforward tribute to him. That's what this Whittier story is."
"The message for this story is: Don't mess with the stuff that's out there in the universe."

He also talks about the upcoming year in Hellboy:
"In the next year, we're going to do some really exciting things. Hellboy is going to be able to step away from the baggage he's been carrying around for all these years. It's a pretty big ending."
With an excited tone, Mignola adds an ominous forecast: "We're going to blow stuff up that we won't be able or willing to fix. We're going to change everything."

The Roots & John Legend cover The Arcade Fire - "Wake Up"

Not as good as the original, but ?uestlove makes the drums different enough to be interesting. At least three lyrical mistakes, but who's counting? (I am.)

X-Men Arcade Game

Finally a reason to buy an Xbox (Truth be told, I have been playing Gears of War at my friend's house lately). Konami's 1992 X-Men Arcade game is coming to Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network. I once spent 42 tokens to beat this game at Chuck E. Cheese. Despite my undying devotion to Wolverine (especially this costume), Colossus is my first pick in this lineup (also including Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler and Dazzler?!) because of his unstoppable and completely made-up special move (rrruaaAAHH!). I only wish I owned the six player arcade cabinet:

Oh, would that you were mine.

This also reminds me of X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, an 80s cartoon pilot that the arcade game seems to tie in with. The opening theme song is astoundingly even catchier than the 90s one. The animation is classic 80s outsourced to Japan (ie Transformers, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, etc.), and Wolverine inexplicably has an Australian accent.

Torche - "U.F.O."

From their new record, Songs For Singles, available on CD, LP, and Digital!

via Andrew James Cox

FREE 22 Song Hydra Head Digital Sampler

Hydra Head Records (full disclosure: I work there. That is me on the bottom right) has unveiled a FREE digital sampler called Phoning It In. It is chock full of 22 metal tracks that run the gamut from crushingly heavy to maniacally fast, to hauntingly ambient. Some are previously unreleased, some are rare, all are awesome (and one is a joke. Guess which?) Peep the list below, procure the music, and find some new gems to jam out on your digital listening device of choice (or record them to cassette to ride high on the wave of neo-nostalgia). This is the soundtrack to your heavy metal summer.

Download the FREE Hydra Head digital sampler here!

TrackListing:
1. Oxbow + Philippe Thiphaine - "Coalking" From Songs for the French (5:46)
2. Daughters - "The First Supper" From "s/t" (3:18)
3. Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - "Unkerich" From Dolores (5:31)
4. Knut - "Calamity" From Wonder (1:43)
5. The Austerity Program - "Song 27" From Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn (4:04)
6. Pyramids With Nadja - "Another War" From Pyramids With Nadja (15:27)
7. Helms Alee - "Lionize" From Lionize/Truly 7" (2:45)
8. Hayaino Daisuki - "Ghosts of Purgatory" From The Invincible Gate Mind of the Infernal Fire Hell, or Did You Mean Hawaii Daisuki? (2:43)
9. Harvey Milk - "I Know This Is No Place For You" From A Small Turn of Human Kindness (5:07)
10. La Gritona - "Tony Alamo" From Demasiado Tonto Para Los Ninos Listos. Demasiado Listo Para Los Ninos Tontos (4:38)
11. Stephen Brodsky - "Here In Spirit" From Here's to the future (5:54)
12. Jodis - "Continents" From Secret House (7:27)
13. Nihill - "Mundus Subterreanus" From Krach (5:16)
14. Cave In - "Retina Sees Rewind" From Planets of Old (2:30)
15. Kayo Dot - "II. Whisper Ineffable" From Coyote (11:13)
16. Keelhaul "THC for One" from Keelhaul's Triumphant Return to Obscurity (3:34)
17. Clouds - "New Bombs" From B Chuggas May Be Logging (2:08)
18. Xasthur - "UNTITLED 4/05" From 2005 Demo (7:02)
19. GridLink - "Amber Gray" From Amber Gray (1:06)
20. Greymachine - "Wasted" From Disconnected (8:43)
21. Bergraven - "Hunger" From Till Makabert Vasen (7:08)
22. Torche - "UFO" From Songs For Singles (2:01)

Lego AK-47

If they had actually manufactured this as a(n incredibly politically incorrect) set, it would have had the top slot on every birthday and christmas list I ever had. Even if I got it every time.

Human Pixels

These koreans make cheerleaders look like neutrinos (I'm not going to explain).

Norwegian Ninja

Holy crap this movie looks boss.



Norwegian Ninja website

via slashfilm

Six Degrees of Black Sabbath

http://labs.echonest.com/SixDegrees/index

This site can connect pretty much any two musical acts you can think of. I managed to stump it with Liberace and Mayhem, but it did manage Clay Aiken to Mastodon in six.

Ghostbusters Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere had three ghosts and four Ghostbusters show up at the New York Public Library reading room (the actual location used for filming the original movie) for a performance sponsored by the NYPL to raise awareness about their budget cuts. I wish more stuff like this would happen when I am out.

Alex Welsh

This photo of a burning playground is by Alex Welsh from a project called We Out Here.

via booooooom.com

Slow-Mo Volcano

Awesome time-lapse video of Eyjafjallajökull (the volcano in Iceland that's been grounding air traffic in Europe) by Sean Stiegemeier. The time lapse dolly really puts it over the top, as well as the bullet-riddled airplane carcass, and featuring music by Jónsi of Sigur Rós. Click the vimeo logo to watch it in HD.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Old Lady vs Mercedes

A douchebag in a Mercedes honks at an old lady crossing the street, but she pwns him with an economy of effort that is hilarious.