Kung Fu Dunk is one of those otherworldly types of movies that will ultimately turn out to be a great popcorn muncher. In Kung Fu Dunk, Fang Shijie (Jay Chou) is trained at the highest caliber by the best masters of kung fu. After being removed from eir schooling, Fang is required to make something of eirself. To do this, ey takes a spot on a college basketball team. Where…
To commemorate the reissues of Ozzy Osbourne’s classic 1st and 2nd solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, Sony Legacy is giving you the chance to win a custom Randy Rhoads JS32T Jackson guitar! Long revered by rock fans around the world, these two albums created a template for hard rock in the 1980’s and beyond as they were marked by the ground-breaking and historic union of…
Help Is On The Way! Rise Against are donating 50 T-shirts to the Los Angeles Youth Network in your name. Winners will have a t-shirt donated in their name, and will also receive a signed copy of Endgame and a t-shirt for themselves. Here’s how to enter: • Fill in your info in the form box below. • In the “Help Is On The Way” box leave a couple sentences…
Eyedea (the late Michael Larsen) was one of the first celebrities that I met. Back in the early 2000s, he (along with Brother Ali and Musab) freestyled for a crowd that was not informed that they were too young to attend their concert next year. He absolutely laid down some sick freestyles over RJD2 instrumentals, and we gave him some NeuFutur love. However, we were able to get a hold…
All Time Low is a band that has paid their dues. They have been touring endlessly since their formation in 2003, and I believe that they have evolved considerably since the last time we covered them (2006’s Put Up or Shut Up). The deluxe edition of Dirty Work contains three extra tracks, adding further context to what may just be their best album yet. “Do You Want Me (Dead?)” is…
Heaven & Hell was a supergroup beyond even Black Sabbath’s wildest dreams. Consisting of past and present Sabbath members, their run at the top was only cut short by Ronnie James Dio’s untimely demise. The quality of Heaven & Hell: Radio City Music Hall – Live! Is nothing less than impressive. Where many concert videos seem to be lacking a truly visionary camera direction, this release ensures that every important…
Bhutto is a properly-paced telling of the life and times of the Bhutto family, in a fashion that is not completely dissimilar to coverings of a political regime like the Bush, Clinton, or even Kennedy family. While this is ultimately a documentary about the titular leader, the story easily rivals fictional accounts – Bhutto’s story is tremendously interesting and hard to believe at points. In order to properly educate viewers,…
Those looking for unpublished secrets about AC/DC or even just a basic backgrounder about Australia’s loudest export are bound to be let down if that’s their sole reason for picking up Rocker’s and Rollers. Yes, Johnson is the front man of the phenomenal successful hard rock band and you know he has a slew of backstage stories that would make Motley Crue’s Dirt read like a Judy Blume book in…
Like pairing a Sex Pistols t-shirt with a pair of old cowboy boots, Dallas-based band The Von Ehrics play cow punk in a way that everyone from Willie to Glen Matlock would approve off. Fast, raucous and loud, Two Foot Stomp finds the band at its finest with the release of their fourth album. You can still hear a slight twang in Robert Jason Vandygriff’s vocals that sound simply sublime…
Remember how cool it was when the writers behind True Blood trotted out the shape shifters in season two to compete with the vampires for our attention? With season three they’ve jacked the bar up pretty high by bringing out a whole parade of supernatural creatures. The series picks up with Sookie (Anna Paquin) turning to a werewolf named Alcide (Joe Manganiello) to help her rescue her vampire beau Bill…
Kids in the Hall fans must be in heaven with this massive release. On 20 DVDs, they have managed to cram in all five seasons of this highly influential Canadian sketch comedy series (that’s nearly 800 sketches).The show has been off the air for more than 15 years, but the skits hold up remarkably well (the same can’t be said for most of the recent SNL sketches that don’t even…
“Nothing gold can stay.” Even as he tried to capture it in verse, Robert Frost appreciated the ephemeral nature of beauty. And so does Grant Olsen. Yet a nod to the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet is only one of the reasons the Seattle-based songwriter-best known as half of the duo Arthur & Yu-christened his new project Gold Leaves. An autumnal character imbues these nine originals. Just as foliage buds, changes color,…
A house is not a home but a venue is. New York’s electro-rockers Jump Into The Gospel will be setting up camp at Pianos next month for their June residency. Be sure to catch them each Wednesday for a night of splashy synths, punchy melodies, and turbulent vocals.. With a sound that brings to mind a cross between Friendly Fires, Passion Pit, and the early Manchester music scene, Jump Into…
“Vasene” is a track that defies convention and takes a turn through a number of genres and distinct styles to create Jane Hunt’s first single on her self-titled EP. The dynamic, high-energy violin line weaves its way masterfully through the track, while the atmospheric vocals push the track even further. The track is fleshed out through the addition of an emotive and understanding drum line. “Melia Dream” is the disc’s…
British import Six D has been making quite the buzz ever since their appearance on E!’s hit show “The Dance Scene” two weeks ago, and now the pop group has been invited back to appear on the May 22nd episode. The supergroup recently debuted their single “Best Damn Night” on RyanSeacrest.com. Positioned to make a huge splash in both the U.S. and U.K. in the coming months, the multi-talented group…
A robotic amalgamation of disco, funk, electro and punk influences, LA-based Short Circuit’s debut EP, Late Night Drive, will be released digitally worldwide this Monday, May 23 on Binary Entertainment (Keenhouse, Fabian, The Kids Are Radioactive). The brainchild and solo vehicle of LA electronic musician Andrew Verner, Short Circuit creates music that is equally made for night driving as it is for the dance floor. The son of a small…
It always felt a little disingenuous to label Great White as a hair metal band. Yes they were popular during glam metal’s late 80’s heyday and yes they were featured right alongside bands like Poison and Ratt in the pages of Hit Parader and Circus magazines. I’m sure their concert riders even called for cans of Aqua Net at the time, but if you listen to their music, it was…
New Orleans’ blackened blues-metallers Blackfire Revelation finally release their long-delayed, self-titled debut full length this July on their Southern Reconstruction label. Blackfire Revelation was founded by J.R. Fields in the summer of 2002. Fields was in film school at the University of New Orleans at the time and growing increasingly disinterested in both college and the film industry. Later that year, his grandfather, a farmer and Baptist deacon from Mississippi,…
Detroit, MI’s FIREWORKS are preparing for the May 24th release of Gospel on Triple Crown Records and have announced a new run of dates in June with support from Hostage Calm and Mixtapes. The dates will be preceded by an appearance at Krazyfest in Louisville, KY, where they’ll play alongside Anti-Flag, Cave In, Hot Water Music and others. FIREWORKS have also confirmed two dates with Hot Water Music later this…
Vancouver, Canada has always had something of a split musical personality. The city is both a hub of electronic and industrial bands such as Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly and home to bloody-knuckled DIY punk legends like DOA and SNFU. In Left Spine Down, the city’s sounds have found a fusion that Left Spine Down calls cyberpunk. Left Spine Down (also known simply as LSD) blend elements of industrial,…