Alela Diane’s song, The Rifle has gotten the video treatment. Made by Vincent Caldoni it has that vintage imagery that her songs seem to inspire.

Enjoy

Whew! I watched this video 5 times today. I love me some Black Diamond Heavies and regret the hell outta missing their show here in Tampa.

never again.

This video is BDH performing 2 tracks and it makes me wanna wiggle my waggle and go see some live music tonight! Luckily I have the Shooter Jennings show on Friday night.

I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I was ever a gigantic Skinny Puppy fan. Truth is, up until The Process came out there wasn’t a Skinny Puppy album that I could listen to from beginning to end. I liked the club hits well enough, but outside of that, I had no use for Skinny Puppy. As you might imagine, this was complete blasphemy in the goth/industrial scene but it was what it was. Then in ‘96, The Process came out and I “got” Skinny Puppy. As luck would have it, most Skinny Puppy disciples hated the release. After The Process the band dissolved and over the years I moved away from the industrial scene, sold or lost The Process, and basically forgot about the band….and eventually the entire genre.

The other day I was in my local record store and I see that they have a Skinny Puppy cd at the listening post. I assumed it was a greatest hits collection, hoping to listen to Killing Game, only to see it was a new release. So I figured WTF? I was in there looking for a reason to spend 20 bucks anyway. This was as good as anything else so I picked it up along with a used copy of Last Rites so I could hear Killing Game. I really wasn’t expecting to like this cd as much as I do. I suspect it works like this, if you hated The Process you are not gonna like this cd, and if you were into The Process then you are gonna “dig it.” It seems to me that they took the more accessible direction they were heading in with The Process, made it more electronic and meshed it with what Nivek was or is doing with ohGr. Mythmaker would make for a perfect jumping in point for people who have always heard of, but never actually heard Skinny Puppy. It has kind of rekindled my interest in a genre I long ago quit paying attention to.

Editor’s note: This is the first post I’ve edited that got my blood flowing. Yeah, I admit, I’m a huge SP fan. They were before my time, but I did manage to see them live after they regrouped several years ago. I drove all the way to Atlanta and then Jacksonville to see ohGr, and was able to meet both Nivek and cEvin Key backstage thanks to my girlfriend knowing the right people. I loved the work ohGr did with KMFDM, and what cEvin did with Download. I liked The Process. Then I moved on. I’ve listened to Mythmaker several times and it’s not a bad album. I honestly like The Process more, maybe out of sentimentality. Still, when I listen to SP now, I always go back to VIVIsect VI. I LOVE that album. It’s full of all the horror and frustration at the sickness in the world, fueled by heroin, and breathes an intensity that few albums in the genre have ever managed to achieve. It could also be called the beginning of the end for SP. Three albums followed VIVIsect VI; Rabies, Too Dark Park, and Last Rights in 1991, all brilliant in their own way, complex, and not for the faint of heart. The band imploded with the death of Dwayne Goettel in 1995 and from complications in the recording of The Process. Their defining years behind them, a reconciled Ogre and Key released a somewhat disappointing The Greater Wrong of the Right in 2004. Mythmaker may in fact be a great jumping in point for a remarkable band, but to a true SP fan you can’t help but miss the down and dirty sound of those past albums.

Skinny Puppy - politikiL
Skinny Puppy - jaHer
Skinny Puppy - pedafly

Skinny Puppy - Killing Game
Skinny Puppy - Dig It

Skinny Puppy’s Official Site, Skinny Puppy on myspace, Buy Mythmaker

Here are some videos of the Skinny Puppy hits thanks to youtube. Nostalgia for old school fans or a quick history lesson for SP newbies….enjoy but be warned, some of these these are not work safe and probably not for the weak of stomach:

This is the original video for Worlock:

This is the original video for Testure:

This is the original video for my second favorite Skinny Puppy song ever, Smothered Hope:

and finally, the video of my favorite SP song, Killing Game:

heh heh…if i was stereogum or idolator i would have a catchy theme for this….well, that and one hell of a freaking readership. I guess you could call this Flashback Monday but there is not nearly that much thought being put into it. A friend of mine just posted the link to this video on a message board I frequent and it struck such a nostalgic cord I thought I would post it here. A direct quote from him “wow i forgot about this song, and how much i like it” and I share the exact sentiment. I used to dance my little tuckus off to this song back in the day.

Enjoy….or don’t…I don’t care cause it’s my blog.

I’m kidding…just some old rivethead angst coming out.

Why Gwen? Why? You used to be better than shit like this….what’s next? Are we gonna read about you trolling the internet for male hookers?

I seriously think we might look back on this video as the moment Gwen jumped the shark….I blame Fergie…

“Lie to Me” is from the upcoming three-disc set Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. Waits will appear on David Letterman on 11/27 and on The Daily Show on 11/28.

MTV has the video for God’s Gonna Cut You Down from the American V album….I do not know why but I think it is a pretty good video all things considered. Check it out if you are willing to brave the MTV mess.

Here is the video for Johnny’s version of `Hurt’…..a cover so good it eclipses Reznor’s version…seriously, they should award the copyright to the Cash version based on complete superiority…..In 20 years nobody will remember that Trent wrote it anyhow.

This was too funny not to post:

put a little Seratonin in it.

Two Cow Garage is labeled alt.country…they are described as country-punk and Two Cow is regularly compared to Uncle Tupelo. Two Cow would prefer you call them a rock and roll band. At the risk of sounding trite these guys are an american rock band in the classic sense…young, brash and loud traveling the country in a van and sleeping in it as circumstances require….as happy playing to 10 people as they are playing to 1000….okay, I probably got a little carried away there….nobody is as happy playing to 10 as they are playing to 1000…BUT…yes, but…they will play with the same energy and vigor no matter the size. DIY to the core, they are coming to us by way of Ohio with no tour support and no smug attitude to match. They are playing New World Brewery on Monday (10/30) and it is a show you should not miss. To quote Glorious Noise:

“You don’t get many second chances in life. Maybe you didn’t get to see the Who in 1965, or the Jam in 1977, or the Replacements in 1985, or Nirvana in 1990. No, you missed all the greats on their way up and now what can you do? Don’t let it happen again.”

So, Monday Night, New World Brewery….playing with local favs The Human Condition and Tennessee rockers Glossary, Two cow Garage will bring the rock show…with or without you…please let it be with you.

Support touring musicians Tampa. And we’ll see you Monday night. It’s a $6.00 cover….

Recently Shane from Two Cow was kind enough to agree to an interview with ninebullets.net….I apologize in advance for my poor interviewing skills but I hope this will help y’all get to know the band a little bit:

Two Cow Garage Interview

9b.net: First things first for the uninitiated: Who is Two Cow Garage and how long have you guys been a band?

TCG: We are Micah Schnabel, Dustin Harigle, and Shane Sweeney. But just Shane right now. We actually just passed the five year mark back in sept.

9b.net: A lot of places describe Two Cow as alt.country. Would you rather folks look at you as a straight forward rock and roll band or do you not mind wearing the alt.country label. any fear of it pigeon holing you guys?

TCG: We are a straight forward rock band. The alt country thing seems kinda silly to me. Its like, well, are you and emo band or a screamo band or whatever. And then people feel the need to stand by that, like hardcore bands hating pop punk bands when all it really is is marketing to people. Genres are created and then sub-genres, and the sub genres of sub genres and its all meant to compartmentalize music into something pre packaged and easy to sell. You wouldn’t call Springsteen Alt country but look at The ghost of Tom Joad or Nebraska or Devils and Dust. They’re pretty country sounding records.

9b.net: This is where the professional interviewer asks you who your influences are but I am just gonna say thank you for not fearing the guitar solo! It was an endangered species for a while there. so, who are your influences?

TCG: I can honestly say we’ve never intentionally written a part of a song specifically for a guitar solo. Most of the time we’re a three piece so guitar solos fill the void where some bands would have other instrumentation, but its really about whats appropriate for the song more than wanting to shred or something. There is no good way of talking about influences without sounding overly pretentious. I don’t think you can really say “hey they are influenced by this band…” without making people think that we’re trying to be that band. Though people will do that. Plus every record or song for that matter is influenced by different things. What you’re listening to at that moment, what book you just read, how the last six months have been going. That’s a really round about way of not answering your question. Sorry.

9b.net: What got y’all down to Tampa? The show just sorta sticks out there with nothing around it per your calendar. I mean, I am digging it but it is hard to get people down this far.

TCG: We’re really kind of laying low until our next record comes out but we were offered a slot at The Fest in Gainesville and it seemed like a good opportunity so we were going to be in the area. Actually its hard to get us down that far, we haven’t played in Florida in like two years and we’re typically always on the road.

9b.net: How is the new cd progressing? Does it contain any drastic departures in sound from your first 2 cds?

TCG: The new record is done and will be coming out in February. Its different but, I think it’s a natural progression. There are still flat out rock songs, but there’s some other stuff too.

9b.net: Where did the idea for your documentary “The Long Way Around” come from?

TCG: We had met the director John Boston several times at our shows in Chicago and we all became close friends. When he pitched it to us we were all really down with the idea.

9b.net: Has it helped get your name out there very much?

TCG: Its always nice to have something else to hang your hat on. That being said John had free reign to make the film he wanted to make, we had nothing in it except being the subjects, so it could possibly have hurt us. We don’t have a lot of drama but, he could have cut things out of context and made us look extremely bad. I need to thank him for not doing that now that I think about it.

9b.net: In between tours how do y’all make ends meet?

TCG: We don’t really that’s why we’re always on the road. Its hard to get someone to hire you when you can only be there for a week at a time and then you’re gone for a month and a half. But we don’t have any permanent residence either so bottom line is lower.

9b.net: The song “Burn in Hell” seems like quite the fuck you track. Was it written to someone in particular? While we are on that topic…was there an actual drunken saturday night behind “Saturday Night”?

TCG: We played a show in Lansing Michigan at this bar called Macs and Micahs amp caught on fire. It just went up and it was pretty scary. So I guess that song is more about living doing this or dying trying. And that amp. Micah could answer this more succinctly. I didn’t write the words. Saturday Night is about many, many drunken Saturdays. And repeating mistakes. Every word of it was true and unfortunately still is.

9b.net: What are y’all listening to heavily these days?

TCG: There are things that are constants that we listen to. Mostly friends like I Can Lick Any Son Of A Bitch In The House, Centro-matic, and Grand Champeen. Micahs been pretty heavy into a Cursive record lately though I don’t know the name of it. I’ve been listening to Born to Run a lot. I’m not sure about Dustin, though Ophelia by the band is his ringtone so maybe that counts.

I hope that helps you get ti know the band a little….I also hope to see you at New World on Monday evening. Look for me, I’ll be the drunk guy.

Here are some Two Cow tunes for you folks:

Two Cow Garage - Burn in Hell
Two Cow Garage - Alphabet City
Two Cow Garage - Saturday Night

Also, here is a 10 minute trailer for the Two Cow Garage Documentary mentioned in the interview:

So, Tim Burton’s video for The Killer’s song “Bones” gets the youtube treatment.

*yawn*