Top 10 Films 2009

Here we go!!!

1) Che (Steven Soderbergh, US)
2) Watchmen (Zack Snyder, US)
3) Moon (Duncan Jones, UK)
4) Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, SE)
5) Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, US)
6) District 9 (Neil Blomkamp, ZA)
7) Milk (Gus Van Sant, US)
8) The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, US)
9) All Tomorrow's Parties (All Tomorrow's People/Jonathan Caouette, UK)
10) In The Loop (Armando Ianucci, UK)

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 20

20 - Crippled Black Phoenix: The Resurrectionists/Night Raider (Invada, 2009)
This is it then, the last one. This is my favourite record of this year, and what a record! 2 records as well! CBP cover so many styles here, from 'post-rock', ballads, Waitsian-inspired drinking songs... I had the chance to see them live back in November and it was a great gig, up there with Thee Silver Mt. Zion. Get the double record, the edited version '200 Tons of Bad Luck', is a compromised version of these two, so buy now! Roll on 2010!
http://www.myspace.com/crippledblackphoenix
James
Plus Rage Against the Machine, Christmas number 1 in uk?! Hell yeah! Did you join in?
I did.

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 19

19 - Neurosis: A Sun That Never Sets (Relapse Records, 2001)
What's there to say? Neurosis. If you haven't listened to them you haven't listened to post-metal/heavy metal/folk. Here Neurosis really explored their quieter side for the first time and to great effect. The anger is still there, though they keep it held in for a great deal and instead let out more angst! Really, this is a record where the originators of a sound that has been vastly imitated stepped up their game and kept themselves more than one step ahead of the pack!
http://www.neurosis.com/
james

Best of 2009 - Music

1) Crippled Black Phoenix - Night Raider/The Resurrectionists
2) Converge - Axe To Fall
3) Shrinebuilder
4) Isis - Wavering Radiant
5) Frank Turner - Poetry of the Deed
6) Om - God is Good
7) Mastodon - Crack the Skye
8) Jesu - Opiate Sun/Infinity
9) Gallows - Grey Britain
10) Kylesa - Static Tensions

Honourable Mentions: Black Cobra - Chronomega, Baroness - Blue Album, Callisto - Providence, Dead Weather - Horehound, Them Crooked Vultures, Grey Machine - Disconnected, Sunn 0))) - Monoliths and Dimensions, Pelican - What We All Come To Need, Boris - Japanese Heavy Rock Hits Vol. 1-3.

Still to come movies and gigs, plus the end of the best of the last decade!

James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 18

18 - Cult of Luna: Somewhere Along The Highway (Earache Records, 2006)
I couldn't stop listening to this record when I got it. I'd always liked COL but they'd always played second tier to bands like Neurosis and Isis but then the released SATH and they stepped away from the path they'd created with albums such as Salvation and The Beyond into a much rawer sound.
Apparently recorded in a cottage in the middle of Sweden somewhere it retains COL's amazing ability to build a track up from nothing to a mass of sound whilst making it somehow more gentle and personal than their previous works.
Stand out tracks here are 'Finland' and 'Dim', but really the whole album is their watershed moment!
www.cultofluna.com
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 17

17 - Battles: Mirrored (Warp, 2006)
Damn, this was some arty shit. I was drawn to this cos the drummer is John Stanier, he of Helmet and Tomahawk fame! But what great, crazy music this is, no comparisons to either 2 bands, apart from the fact that there are drums and guitars used! The stand-out track is definitely 'Atlas', which has been used in the new ATP movie to PS3's Little Big Planet, and is awesome, the first time the band have used 'vocals'. Fantastic!
http://bttls.com/
Jms

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 16

16 - Jesu: Self-Titled (Hydra Head, 2004)
Justin K Broadrick is a busy man. Godflesh, Final, Grey Machine... his work is ongoing and vast but none more personal and introspective than his latest, busiest project; Jesu. The last track on the final Godflesh full-length was called Jesu and clearly JKB carried it over to this band. After the ep Heartache came this self-titled, and best so far, offering. 8 tracks, 74 mins of pure shoe-gazing, heavy sadness. 'Friends Are Evil', the second track, is where Jesu really hit their stride and the rest of the album does not disappoint. The follow up ep, Silver, was just as good but then JKB seemed to lose his way over the next couple of years, Conqueror, Lifeline etc were listenable, but kinda dull and more of the same. However, with the release this year of Infinity and Opiate Sun, it seems Jesu are back with more focus and a definite return to form.
This s/t album though is still their best output to date but maybe not for long....
http://www.avalancheinc.co.uk/jesu.html
Jasu

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 15

15 - Boris: Pink (Southern Lord, 2005)
Boris huh? Took their name from a Melvins song apparently. Rock like motherfuckers and on this record there's a bit of everything, some shoe-gazing on Farewell, some doom on Blackout and some full on rocking out on Pink and Just Abandoned My-Self. Awesome, this band must be seen live and this album dumps all over last years Smile, which is still a brilliant record!
BORIS!!!! crazy japanese space-rock!
http://homepage1.nifty.com/boris/
jimbo

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 14

14 - Frank Turner: Love, Ire and Song (Xtra Mile/Epitaph, 2008)

"Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortagages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up

Oh maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult yeah be bored and unfulfilled
Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate
Look I'm meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up

And if all you ever do with your life
Is photosynthesize
Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you're gonna die

Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all yeah I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up"

Photosynthesis by Frank Turner
www.frank-turner.com
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 13

13 - Circle: Sunrise (Ektro, 2003)
Heavy metal assault Finnish-style! Nopeuskuningas...Hautain Takaa...Kylän Suurin Miekka... vitun hyvää musikki!!!!! Circle rock, no other band like them and Sunrise is an album completely in it's own league, even in Circle's immense catalogue. NWOFHM indeed!!!
http://www.circlefinland.com
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 12

12 - Mark Lanegan: Bubblegum (Beggars Banquet, 2004)
I was never a Screaming Trees fan really, but post-Trees has been very busy for one Mark Lanegan. A part-time Queen of the Stone Age, duetting with Isobel Campbell and collaborations with almost everyone, Soulsavers and with Greg Dulli as The Gutter Twins to name two.
His solo career is most interesting though and 2004's Bubblegum is the one where the needle was still hanging out of the arm as Lanegan crawled around a seedy motel looking for his next inspiration or fix. (This is all subject to this author's imagination of course!).
I won't bother to list any stand out tracks cos the whole album is genius in it's own dark way and the list of collaboraters is endless, PJ Harvery, Josh Homme, Duff McKagan etc, adding to the 'nasty' feel of this record.
Thanks Mark!
http://www.myspace.com/marklanegan
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 11

11 - Fantómas: The Director's Cut (Ipecac, 2001)
I was and still am a huge fan of Faith No More. In fact they are possibly the best band ever. Fact. So of course I followed Mike Patton's post-FNM career. The last Mr Bungle was surf-metal fun and when I heard he was putting together a 'super-group' with Dave Lomabardo, Buzz Osbourne and Trevor Dunn I was excited. To say the first Fantómas album was strange and alienating (possibly disappointing) would be an understatement. No-one knew what to make of this band. Gigs were crazy and Patton, as usual, goaded and wound-up the audience, but also treated us to a Slayer medley. But then, the redeemer: The Director's Cut. Pure genius. A metal 'supergroup' covering theme tunes to their favourite movies. What could be more fun? So we get Patton's warped interpretations of 'The Godfather', 'Rosemary's Baby' and 'The Omen' to name a few..plus the pure evil of 'The Devil Rides Out' and 'Der Golem'. Fantómas have spectacularly failed to match this record and Patton has only equaled it by reforming Faith No More this year.
'What have they done to it's eyes!!!!'
http://www.myspace.com/fantomasband
Jimmy

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 10

10 - The Nightwatchman: One Man Revolution (Song, 2007)
We all remember Tom Morello from the legendary Rage Against The Machine and the not quite so legendary Audioslave and the now pretty crappy Street Sweeper Social Club right? Well, inbetween all this rap-rock shenanigans he put out a couple of solo albums under The Nightwatchman name of which this is the first.
Expectations weren't high, I'll be honest, but against all odds Morello pulls it off. Channelling Dylan and Springsteen, Morello lets all the anger and politics pour out that he possibly coudln't get out in Audioslave and it's surprsingly singalongable! 'one man revolution' and 'the road i must travel' prove greatly rousing. Check out Morello now as the self-styled 'black Robin Hood of 21st Century music'!
http://www.nightwatchmanmusic.com/
jimbo

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 9

9 - Pelican: The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw (Hydra Head, 2005)
After the might of their debut ep and the disappointment of the full length follow-up Australasia, Pelican had a lot of making up to do. Luckily they pulled out all the aces with TFIOTWBTT. The record explodes to life with Last Day of Summer and plows onwards with it's 'nature' theme but the stand out track has to be March to the Sea, or even it's extend ep version March Into The Sea. Blinding. Their last record was ok but now they're moved to Southern Lord maybe we'll see an even heavier side! Maybe.
http://hydrahead.tortugarecordings.com/pelican/
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 8

8 - Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra La La Band: 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (Constellation, 2008)
What's left to say about Thee Sliver Mt. Zion that hasn't already been said? Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor they threw out 4 full lengths of post-rock vs classical genius with a dash of punk-rock attitude for good measure. But is wasn't until Horses in the Sky that they really caught my attention, in particular with the track Teddy Roosevelt's Guns.
But then they dropped this H bomb on us?! Immense, sweeping, political, hypnotic etc etc! This is a unique band in times of mediocrity and blandness that wash away all pretense of what a band should be! The album consists of an instrumental intro, split into twelve extremely short tracks, and four full songs, and it's track 13, the first real song, 1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound, that TSMZMOATLLB grab you and drag you away in a way that perhaps only Canadians can! I can't recommend this record enough!
http://www.tra-la-la-band.com/
Semaj

top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 7

7 - Tom Waits: Real Gone (Anti-, 2004)
Again, I have to give credit to one Edward J Hicks. Apart from Coppola's Dracula, until I met Ed, I was pretty unaware of Mr Waits. Luckily Ed crammed the guy in my ears for the duration of our uni days! Personally I prefer Waits' drunken, lounge act, but this album stirs an emotion, mainly due to it's political stance and anti-war message. It's not as weird as Alice or Blood Money and it also has Les Claypool from Primus playing bass.
Gotta love 'Hoist That Rag', 'Sins of my Father' and 'Day After Tomorrow'. Beautiful.
I still think his best moment is 'Down by Law' though.
www.tomwaits.com
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 6

6 - Portishead - Third (Island, 2008)
It's been a long time.... expectations weren't high to be honest, but maybe it's the best album of their career. You don't agree? Oh well, you're not writing this, I am.
From the opener 'Silence' to the rhythmic beat of 'We Carry On' to the factory/John Carpenter-esque 'Machine Gun' this album delivered on all fronts. Perhaps not as 'haunting' as previous albums, certainly more experimental but definitely the songs were there and Gibbons' voice hadn't aged one day!
If you don't like Portishead this record is still worth checking out. So do it.
www.portishead.co.uk
JM$

People called Frank...

I like Frank Turner, he's cool guy and his songs hit a spot with me. His diy, punk rock attitude is inspiring and he writes songs that are accurate and make you think, 'fuck, does Frank know me or what?' On his latest record 'Poetry of the Deed' Frank continues this trend, in particular with Dan's Song and Try This At Home, following on from Love, Ire and Song, which is a fantastic record. And he's still so young, only 27, a wise young man. Poetry of the Deed is out now on Epitaph.
Footnote: other cool people called Frank.
1) Frank Zappa
2) Frank Sinatra
3) Frank Taswell
4) Frank Lampard
5) Frank the bunny
6) Frank Oz
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 5

5 - Sunn O))): White 1 (Southern Lord, 2003)
I have realised while compiling this list, that quite a few of these bands are gonna be one's I discovered live, but isn't that the best way?!
I was completely unaware of Sunn O))) until I went to ATP (that's All Tomorrow's Parties, not the tennis tournament) in UK back in 2003. I really didn't get it the first time I heard them, it was like the intro to Sabbath's 'Iron Man' drawn out to an unbearable length and with no drums! And then fucking Copey comes on and starts ranting, dressed like a druid!?
But damn, it stuck with me, like a nightmare I guess. I bought the 'Flight of the Behemoth' record, which was ok, but it wasn't till about a year or so later that I got 'White 1' and then Sunn O))) began to make sense.
Julian Cope rants, that norweigian girl sings, this was a 'drone' record that felt like more than just some guys fucking around.
Everyone knows they started as an Earth tribute band, but since this record it seems they have eclipsed Earth and are now THE drone band.
So full of bass you'll shit your pants!!!!!
http://www.ideologic.org/
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 4

4 - Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf (2002, Interscope)
Till this album, I hadn't really been a fan of QOTSA. I had 'Rated R' and thought it was ok, but for me they still stood in the shadow of the mighty Kyuss, and let's face it they still do. However, after much hype from friends, I gave into this album and was glad that I did. Grohl's drumming adds an urgency to the band and Homme, Oliveri and Lanegan et al create a bluesy-rock that makes you want to drink good scotch and smoke a cheap, shitty cigar whilst shaking your half-drunk/stoned ass in a club where your feet are stuck to the floor. I won't bother to put any of the songs as stand out 'cos for me the album works best when listened to as a whole. I guess seeing them on Hallowe'en dressed as the Misfits helped sell this album to me too! Still, they coulda chucked a Kyuss song in there, Demoncleaner perhaps??
www.qotsa.com
James

Sci-Fi Geek Week

My GF was away this week so I caught up on some movies I'd been wanting to see.
Monday - I Am Legend, disappointingly shit!
Tuesday - Cloverfield, to be honest I was expecting this to be shit too, but it was short and entertaining.
Wednesday - The Happening, hmmmmm.
Thursday - District 9, alien movie set in Jo'burg, South Africa, shot in a docu-style, great!
Friday + Saturday - All three fucking LOTR movies!!! How much more rock n' roll can you get!
Plus a shit load of Futurama, I got all 4 box sets!!!
James

top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 3

3 - Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002, American Recordings).
Really, it had to be here didn't it. Has their ever been a more poignant album ever released? Jeez, this album came out and the poor bastard died! And every song is sung like he knows it's coming! From NIN's 'Hurt' to Roberta Flack's 'First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' to the finale of Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again' every track aches with that setting sun of a lifetime voice that Cash had at the end of his career! It's so sad that I feel like bawling my eyes out every time I listen to it. And really, I hate country music!! Genius, Rubin and Cash, just genius!
http://www.johnnycash.com/
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 2

2 - Converge: Jane Doe (2001, Equal Vision Records) Remember the '80's movie The Untouchables with Kev Costner and Bobby De Niro? Remember the bit where De Niro smacks some unsuspecting thug upside the head with a baseball bat? Or what about Bradley Pitt's One Punch Mickey in Snatch? Jane Doe is the aural equivalent of those things. Groundbreaking and genre defining are words that are thrown at this record all the time, for me it blends metal, punk, hardcore and everything in between into one almost overwhelming mix. The title track, Jane Doe, is an epic track that just completely blows you away and I can still remember the first time I heard this record in my uni halls when an old friend bought it over about 3am telling me I had to hear it. Thanks Ed. As with Isis' Oceanic, its a record that pushed them to the front of their genre, whatever it is, and are yet to better! Still looking forward to Axe to Fall this year though!
www.convergecult.com
James

Top 20 2000 - 2009 Number 1

1 - Isis: Oceanic (2002, Ipecac)
What is there to say about this record that hasn't already been said? It spawned a thousand imitators, launched Isis to the next level and divided their fans. Till this album Isis were a crushingly heavy band focusing on epic riffs. On Oceanic they found their melodic side.
Opener 'The Beginning and The End' sets the pace and from there the album continues into a sprawling beast that drags you down with it. Other-worldly tracks such as 'Weight' are aided by the added vocals of Maria Christopher from 27 and with this new sound also found new fans.
Terrorizer magazine named it their album of the year and still 7 years on it's not hard to see why. Isis's best record of their career so far without a doubt.
www.isistheband.com
James

Music of the Last Decade - 2000 - 2009

It's been a while since I've written anything here but starting today I'm going to compile a list of my top twenty records of the last decade, 2000 - 2009. The records will be in no particular order and will be mainly pretty heavy stuff. Enjoy!

Isis - Wavering Radiant

I've been a fan of Isis now since Oceanic came out and I bought that record because it was the album of the year that year for terrorizer magazine and also it was on Ipecac records. We saw them play the concorde 2 in brighton uk on that tour and they dragged 27, Cult of Luna and some techo shit along with them, one of the best gigs ever and oceanic immediately became one of my favourite all time albums.
So I backtracked, got hold of Celestial, their first full length, and their early eps, Mosquito Control and The Red Sea, all great, really heavy pounding stuff!
Then came Panopticon, a tad mellower than Oceanic but had some killer tunes such as In Fiction. But what comes up most come down because then came In The Absence of Truth, for me their weakest album. Vice magazine described them as ' baby tool' and they weren't far off. It was really disappointing, this was not the Isis I had come to love, gone were the grinding guitars and in were more subtle melodies and a twangy twangy bass sound. Hmm. Don't go the way of so many bands before you; getting old and growing up doesn't mean you have to write shit music (that means you Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus et al).
Thankfully Wavering Radiant is a step back on track! Ok. it's no Oceanic or Celestial and more In The Absence of Truth than Panopticon but big guitars are back! It's still a little disappointing but Aaron Turner (Isis vocalist) has described it as their pop album so hopefully one day they'll go back to their heavy sound and should blast your ass to the moon! 'Thinking man's metal' indeed!
Standout track: 7 - Threshold of Transformation
J$

Wolverine vs Gallows

Film review:
Xmen Origins: Wolverine = shit!

Music review:
Gallows Grey Britain = fantastic

Ah Clint Eastwood. Man, I knew he was tough but in this movie he'd just as likely bite off your head for merely looking at him. I'm not sure how 'funny' this film was supposed to be, eg racism, violence etc but you just can't help laughing. Eastwood plays Walt Kowalski, a recently widowed man with spoilt kids and even more spoilt grandkids. Kowlaksi hates everyone, his kids, his neighbours, even his hairdresser!! But of course events lead him to open up a bit more and he finds he relates better with his Chinese immigrant neighbours. But man, Clint plays a miserable old man well, like Dirty Harry aged 81! 'Get off my lawn' never sounded so menacing! Does for granddads what Jaws did for sharks!
See it before Clint sees you!
J

Prog Rock Atlanta Style

They're back!! And this time they nailed it. I first got into Mastodon on the Leviathan record because I like heavy metal and I've read Moby Dick like 3 or 4 times so when I heard about this, a concept record based on Moby Dick, I had to check it out. I saw them live the same year and they threw in a Melvins cover, 'The Bit', and that pretty much sealed the deal. Following album, Blood Mountain, was a bit hit and miss for me but now we get Mastodon v.3!
If you compare this to Mastodon circa Remission, it's the same beast, just refined. They still play fast, they still play heavy, but damn what a sound and an urgency that you get lost after track 2 in the strange and complex world that they play in. It's again a concept record and from what I gather theres some stuff about Rasputin and way too much going on to explain here, but check out the track Divinations for the full on craziness, even amplified in the accompanying video, check out their myspace.
The accompanying dvd also goes to some lengths to humanise the band, check out their Creature from the Black Lagoon collection and their musings from moustaches to unicorns to cars! An hour and a half of stuff, great!
Not saying this is the record of 2009, yet, but it's pretty close!
J

Kenny "Mr. man with the golden cock" Powers

Relief Pitcher Kenny Powers was poised to rule the Big Leagues, but two things got in the way: his fading fastball and his insufferable personality. After a spectacular career flame-out, Kenny came home to Shelby County, NC and picked up a job as a substitute gym teacher (mostly so his brother Dustin would stop threatening to kick him out). He's spent every moment since then cashing in the last of his dying fame while plotting his inevitable comeback... one beer at a time.

'Eastbound & Down' is the latest project to come out of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's comedic goldmine Gary Sanchez Productions, which also launched FunnyOrDie.com. Starring Danny McBride ('Pineapple Express'), Katy Mixon ('Four Christmases'), John Hawkes ('Deadwood') and a host of other talented comedians, 'Eastbound & Down' was created by McBride along with two friends from film school: Jody Hill and Ben Best. The hilarious new series was shot on location in North Carolina and also includes a few guest appearances by Ferrell as a local car dealer with marvelous hair.

This is the shit! Check it out!

www.kennypowers.com

F

I am actually a very happy and positive person nowadays, but..

So i went to the cinema last nite with a couple of friends. I sat through the whole 2h45min long movie next to this fucking nose-breathing, candy-munching, beer-smelling, giggling retard. Seriously, I had to cover the left side of my head with my jacket. I tried to concentrate on the movie, but he just kept on going with the retard-act. Usually I try to find the seats that have a 3 meter radius of "no people", but not this time. Thanks to that stupid fuck, the only thing I can tell you about "Watchmen" is that it was way too long and way too quiet if you´re sitting next to a fucking asshole.

As if I didn´t already realize how many stupid cunts exist on the face of the earth, this guy made me realize they´re not gonna die in extinct very soon.

F

Swedish Vampires, Scottish Post-Metal and Ultra-Violent Superheroes

So I got caught up in the hype surrounding this Swedish movie, Let The Right One In. The reviews had been great and aintitcool had it above Dark Knight last year in their top 10 so I figured I better check it out. Vampire girl hangs out with loser kid and his life improves! Not an entirely original plot! It was ok, nothing spectacular, a tad insensitive in these school-shooting times perhaps, but an enjoyable film nonetheless. Its out now on dvd or in cinemas!

Big news, Mogwai are coming to Finland in June to play the Pitkä Kuuma Kesä festival, last album the Hawk Is Howling was fantastic so another summer festival to add to the list!

http://www.pitkakuumakesa.fi/

Also saw Watchmen last night and it was good, not great,  but good! Having read the comic I thought it was brought well to the big screen, the changed ending was acceptable but it was perhaps a little long. I understand that there was so much in the book that sacrifices were already made but my ass was numb after the 2h 45min! Still, I wasn't bored! Watchmen is out in cinemas now!

Oh yeah, i've heard the new Isis album, its ok, not as bad as the last record, but it's no Oceanic!!

Peace

James

US Movies were better in the 70's.

I just finished watching The Deerhunter (USA 1978) for the first time in years and what a fucking great movie it is! So culturally important for the US in that it doesn't glorify war and focuses more on mental issues! I did find out though that apparently de Niro really put a bullet in the gun when he puts the gun against John Cazale's head to intensify the scene, Cazale was dying of cancer at the time and agreed! Man, American movies were good back in the day! Ha I'm only 30 but they were, no shitty cgi, good stories, great actors, (examples, Jaws, Apocalypse Now, Alien etc)! And this movie, greatly moving, check it out if you haven't already!

RIP Chris Cornell

Callisto - Providence

I''ll be the first to admit it, when I heard the new vocalist on this, Callisto's 3rd full length, I gotta say I thought it sounded shit! However, now I take it back! In fact, I think after a few listens now, I prefer this record to their previous effort Noir. 

The music is great, epic like their brothers-in-arms Cult of Luna or Isis and the new vocal style adds something that I can't quite put my finger on. 

These Finnish boys are touring soon, as well as playing the Tuska festival in the summer! Check them out.

www.callistochaos.com

providence is out now on fullsteam records

James

Che Part 1

I like Benicio del Toro. He was fat and crazy in Fear and Loathing, tough as fuck in Way of the Gun and young in that crappy Bond movie.

I kinda like Steven Soderbergh. (He directs this by the way). He does what he wants and is still a Hollywood player. I don't like many of his films, ie Oceans movies, Erin Brockavich etc, in fact at the moment, I can't think of one I do like. I just checked his filmography on wikipedia and maybe the Limey was ok.

Anyway, this movie was great. Like a lot of people I find Ernesto 'Che' Guevara fascinating. He's a man who really stood up for his beliefs and died fighting. These days we would call him a terrorist and he would ironically have ended up in Guantanomo Bay on Cuba!!!

Oh yeah, the movie... del Toro is perfect as Guevara, the style, almost documentary like as we follow the guerillas through their invasion and ultimately successful revolution on Cuba. (spoiler! check history!) The guy playing Castro is also convincing, in fact, the whole movie gives you the impression that you are there in the jungle, fighting with them!

Seriously, I'm no commie, but watching this made me wanna take up arms! Fight the Power!!!

Che Part 1 is in cinemas now.

James

2009 just begins!

Things to look forward to this year part 1:

Music:

mastodon - crack the skye

isis - wavering radiant

crippled black phoenix - new stuff

neurosis at tuska 2009

movies:

che

watchmen

the limits of control

i'm sure there's more....

james

Dead Print Strikes Back!!!

After nearly a 2 year hiatus, Dead Print returns. Based in Helsinki, this group of musicians, students, filmmakers, tattooists and teachers strive to filter the gold from the shit! Revolving around music and film we will cut the crap and say what we think! No one is safe. Print is dead!