Top 10 most disappointing albums of 2008

Cross posted from Facebook

1) Judas Priest - Nostradamus
2) Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
3) Death Angel - Killing Season
4) Gojira - The Way of all Flesh
5) In Flames - A Sense of Purpose
6) Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk
7) Cynic - Traced in Air
8) John Oliva's Pain - Global Warning
9) Alice Cooper - Along Came a Spider
10) Slipknot - All Hope is Gone (yes, this was also in the best, they either succeed or fail spectacularly on this record)

Top 10 album of 2008 - the Metal edition

Cross posted from Facebook:

1) Opeth - Watershed
2) Testament - The Formation of Damnation
3) Torche - Meanderthal
4) Gama Bomb - Citizen Brain
5) Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle, Pt. 1
6) Destruction - D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.
7) Cavalera Conspiracy - Inflikted
8) Metallica - Death Magnetic
9) Enemy of the Sun s/t
10) Slipknot - All Hope is Gone

Top 10 albums of 2008 - the non-metal edition

Cross-posted from Facebook:

1) Future of the Left - Curses
2) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig
3) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
4) Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
5) Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
6) Spiritualized - Songs in A and E
7) Black Crowes - Warpaint
8) Man Man - Rabbit Habits
9) David Byrne and Brian Eno - Everything that Happens will Happen Today
10) The Roots - Rising Down

That awful time of year........

Its video game season. I haven't been playing all that much. Haven't even gone through more than a couple of hours each on GTAIV or Metal Gear Solid IV. I am playing through the Strongbad games, which barely take up your time and are super fun, and Silent Hill: Homecoming is out and I'm playing through it, although I hate it. But anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with Silent Hill so I even have to suffer through the bad ones.

But awesome new game season is here. While I have no time to play through anything here is a brief list of what is looking to take away all of my free time. Please remember that even if this list doesn't look long, each game can represent anywhere from 10-50 hours of play time:

Already out and unbought: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Lego: Batman
10/14 - Dead Space
10/21 - Little Big Planet, Legendary
10/28 - Fallout 3
11/11 - Mirror's Edge
12/2 Prince of Persia

Back from ATP!

Here is a field recording I did of Mercury Rev's set: http://rapidshare.com/files/147532676/Mercury_Rev_live_at_ATP.mp3.html

I have TONS of stories, Mark took $50 from Steve Albini at the card table! I will get pics from the Bone and update them here along with anecdotes. But for now, enjoy the above (Rev was fucking GOOD! Get Highline tickets!) and wait for more tales to emerge.

The Rev set was mostly All of Dream and Deserter's Songs (Funny Bird, bitch!) with a few tracks from Snowflake Midnight sprinkled in. Grasshopper sounded sick, the rhythm section was great, and Donahue was much more flamboyant than I remember him. Perhaps it had something to do with the bottle of wine he was swigging from the whole time.

The new hotness......

Tangible progress

Had my physical the other day. How has the health kick been going?

I am 17 pounds lighter and my cholesterol has gone down almost 30 points since last year's checkup.

My blood pressure and standing pulse are down too.

It looks like the super trendy "make better eating choices and exercise regularly" diet has some merit!

OK, off to gorge myself on some trans-fats.

The Seth Diamond

Dear reader. In the event of my untimely or premature demise please have my favorite sandwich named after me, the Seth Diamond. Eat it at my funeral in my memory and bask in its subtle layers of smoky goodness.

The three key ingredients are simple:
1 Sesame bagel, untoasted
Tofu Lox Spread (real lox is in tofu cream cheese, it is not a fake tofu lox)
Sable

A completely over-exposed picture that I was too hungry to re-take is attached for your reference.

Steve Jobs pissed me off, so I paid him

Like many people I was eagerly awaiting the Steve Jobs' keynote at the WWDC conference yesterday. However I couldn't give a rat's ass about the iPhone. The deal breaker for me is QWERTY. I need it. However I love the idea and would like the Touch. However 32gb for $500 is also a deal breaker for me. I was hoping that the new iPhone would bring with it a second discussion. That of new iPods or a reduction in price on the touch.

The problem is though, I outgrew my 80 gig 5.5G iPod. Say what you will but with 80 gigs I was constantly cleaning it off and making compromises on what albums stay on by certain bands. That is unacceptable. I also want to rip more and more into lossless formats since my headphones are so 1337. So, I have eyed the 160 gig iPod classic but heard many bad things about it. I was also secretly hoping he would refresh the line and perhaps introduce an iPod with even MORE than 160 gig storage so I can rip everything into Lossless and live in a new golden age. This was not to be as no iPods were mentioned at all yesterday. The Steve didn't even lower the price of the Touch along with the iPhone. So I went out and bought a 160 gig classic.

One thing this means: I have a perfectly working black 80 gig 5.5G iPod if you know anyone who wants to buy it.

So that photo above is the new 160 gig sitting in my iPod dock on my desk at work. Having owned this for 24 hours with the latest firmware that addresses many bugs I have some comments on this thing....

Stuff I like:
-The new interface ROCKS. I love how everything is more graphical and on menu screens it makes little slide shows from your album covers. There are many cool little touches that make you feel like you are using a cool modern 2.0 device.
-FINALLY there is information displayed on your iPod. It still won't tell you what individual songs are ripped at like my old creative did, but it will tell you how full it is, how many songs or videos are on it, the firmware version, etc. This is very welcome. I like knowing this stuff when it is not plugged into the PC.
-You can browse album information in cover flow view without changing what you are listening to. It is a subtle touch but it gives you the sensation of browsing your album collection. It feels more natural than just sorting through text based lists. It is a lot of fun to poke through your shit while you are on the train.
-Tons of space finally! Full formatted out I get about 140-144 gigs of real usable storage space. That kicks the ass of the 74 usable gigs I got out of the 80 gig model. Now I am getting closer to a real celestial jukebox in my pocket. The fact that I spent 4 hours loading in music last night and I am not even half filled up makes me giddy.

Stuff I do not like:
-The fucker is SLOW. Believe the hype. I heard it used to be much worse before they fixed the OS with firmware updates but it is still sluggish. Once it gets going everything is good, but if you are going into menus or backing up into directories there is a noticeable lag that gets worse the more music is on the iPod.
-WTF is up with the screensaver you can't disable?? When the backlight goes instead of just being dark, the iPod defaults to a static screen which displays the time, date and battery status. You have to touch the wheel a few times to wake it back up and see what the song playing is. I googled around and discovered everyone who owns a new iPod HATES this feature and is waiting for a firmware update that allows you to disable it.
-The volume coming out of my iPod dock is much lower and seems to have an EQ curve that is skewing towards the mid-range. It sounds like I have a sweetener or some sort of EQ setting on it but I don't. Also I swear the volume is a bit lower in the headphones as well. I checked the settings and I have the volume limiter disabled.

So I'm pretty happy but have stuff to get used to. And let me know if anyone wants to buy my 80 gig!

One Crazy Summer

5/13 Kanye West
5/19 Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra
5/21 Dream Theater/Opeth
5/22 Gods of Fire at Knitting Factory
5/24 and 5/26 Firewater
6/11 Swervedriver
6/13 Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
6/15 Iron Maiden
6/17 Steely Dan
6/20 The Cure
6/21 Polvo
6/23 Liquid Tension Experiment
6/25 Dethklok
6/26 Devo/Tom Tom Club
7/10 At the Gates
7/25 Ween
7/29 Butthole Surfers
8/9 Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell/Testament/Motorhead
8/14 King Crimson
8/23 Motley Crue
8/27 Nine Inch Nails
9/19-9/21 All Tomorrow's Parties
9/23 My Bloody Valentine
10/4 Nick Cave
10/11 and 10/12 Killing Joke
10/28 Black Crowes

Snap Judgments: Quick reviews of recent albums

Opeth "Watershed" - probably one of the best moments in Metal of the last five years. The end of Burden was the first time in God knows how long where I felt the urge to do a psychedelic drug. Roadrunner: please put this out on vinyl.

Children of Bodom "Blood Drunk" - It is fine, but I never listen to it. I still go back to Hate Crew. It sounds like they are settling into a little groove with their sound and the songs rock live, but there is nothing particularly compelling on this record they haven't done already and with more memorable hooks.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Dig, Lazarus, Dig!" - note to all rockers over 40, this is the blueprint of how to age gracefully. The album kicks ass but shows maturity at the same time. Nothing avant-garde or mellow or experimental. Just a straight up rocker with amazing lyrics and well developed grooves. My favorite Bad Seeds album by far.

Mudcrutch s/t - Jeff Tweedy and Tom Petty should totally make a record together. Not that this album isn't a great rootsy rock record, but Tweedy and Petty would be freaking sweet.

Def Leppard "Songs from the Sparkle Lounge" - They sound stripped down, but not retro. Love is the best song on the record. Who knew Def Leppard would be their best when blatantly ripping off Queen?

Testament "The Formation of Damnation"- FUCK AND YES! Worth the nine year wait.

Ihsahn "angL" - I made the mistake of trying to work out to this record and it killed the whole vibe. This is some pretty damn dark and depressing shit. But it is also a beautifully constructed prog-black metal masterpiece. The song with the dude from Opeth is killer.

Ashlee Simpson "Bittersweet World" - I was nervous about this record because what I liked about her sound was the guitar based pop. But Rule Breaker has an undeniable riff and the "Blondie on the 00's" sound is still there. Good shit.

Death Angel "Killing Season" - I thought the first reunion album "The Art of Dying" was pretty damn kick ass. I can't even remember one song title from this. Ass suckingly boring. Boo.

Man Man "Rabbit Habits" - If Tom Waits was following Nick Cave's example he would have written this record. Everything from the songwriting to the production is absolutely stellar. The perfect soundtrack to a life as a snake oil salesman in the West.

Spiritualized "Songs in A & E" - Another total winner. Give the man credit for self releasing and still utilizing an orchestra and choir. Death Take Your Fiddle, about his nearly fatal drug overdose is the standout for me. Goodnight, Goodnight also follows in his tradition of amazing album closers. Think Cop Shoot Cop from "Ladies and Gentlemen..."

Torche "Meanderthal" - In the 90s this wouldn't have even been considered Metal. Shoegazer with huge hooks and a ton of riffs. This band rocks hard with sick melodies. I wish they were touring with Swervedriver this summer.

In Flames "A Sense of Purpose" - what in the hot topic happened to this band? I hope they are getting their dicks sucked a lot because they have fallen hard since the Jester Race/Clayman glory days. The lyrics are straight out of a 15 year old goth girl's LiveJournal ("I feel like shit/but at least I feel something." Really guys? Fuck you!) The riffs suck too. Fuck them at this point.

Black Crowes "Warpaint" - Made me a fan again for the first time in 15 years. Daughters of the Revolution, Evergreen, Oh Josephine, so many new classics. Great production as well. Regardless of the process it sounds like 5 dudes in a room.

Revisiting my new years resolutions

OK. It has been a while. I know. Look. Work is crazy so I haven't been able to do as much blogging here. If and when I am home I am probably doing something reasonably productive or trying to watch things on the DVR or the Deadwood DVDs Netflix sends me. Besides what gossip could you possibly get from this site anyway? Y'all know me. Jeez.

Anyway, lets get back to it. We'll start off by visiting an earlier post about my new year's resolutions.

The details are in the hyper link. Lets go through them shall we?

#1 Cook. A lot. Not just for me, but for Kristin and my friends.--------done. Almost every day now. I haven't gotten as adventurous as I should, but it has been helping the health kick tremendously.

#2 Become a better lead guitar player.----------this is the one I've been the most delinquent in. When I am making music at home I tend to be *making music* and not practicing. Shit. I gotta work on this fucker.

#3 Pick a concrete direction for Scream Bloody Virgin and finish a record.---------this got derailed in a more positive way. I enjoy the music I make for SBV but after a while making music in a purely solitary space is masturbation. I have shifted these energies to working with my esteemed friend Matt Lombardo on a project called Sky Burial. Some of you have heard a couple of these tunes from the "Seth Diamond February 2008 EP." You are going to hear a lot more about this project in the future. I am really excited about the potential and Matt and I work very well together. This is my primary non-Gods of Fire outlet right now. Pretending I'm in Skinny Puppy rules.

#4 Re-kindle some old friendships.---------Facebook is fun, no?

#5 Buy an HDTV.------done. After all the research I just threw enough money at my problem to make "features" irrelevant. It is 40" of pure awesome. And a PS3.------pushy, no? OK, done. PS3 was bought. And the Blu Ray version of Blade Runner.-----done as well!


#6 Pick a work out routine.-----done. NYSC has been joined, I'm actually going, and I do jumping jacks at home for an extra energy boost. I weighed myself today finally, it wasn't as bad as I had thought, and now I have a baseline for progress. Lets see if I can get down to my pre-day job weight. That would be sweet.

#7 Lighten the fuck up.-----I'm trying. Old habits die hard.

PS- Learn Sonar. For reals.--------I did myself one better. I bought a legit non pirated copy of the program and also purchased a 600 page instructional book. I am now a Sonar expert. Would like to continue moving up the ranks to be a Master, then of course, a Sonar Jedi. Sonar btw is the program I use for recording music on my computer. It is like Pro-Tools, which is a more commonly known DAW (Digital Audio Workstation).

I'll try to get a belated MAIDEN!!!!!! review up at some point soon as well.

Concert Calendar (the Helloween edition)

4/2 Steven Malkmus
4/6 Testament
4/8 Gods of Fire in Philly
4/9 Saul Williams
4/22 Megadeth/Children of Bodom/In Flames (early)
4/22 Tim and Eric's Awesome Tour (late)
5/1 Ministry
5/5 Lou Reed
5/9 My Chemical Romance
5/13 Kanye West
5/19 Thee Silver Mt. Zion
5/21 Dream Theater/Opeth
5/22 Gods of Fire at Knitting Factory
5/24 and 5/26 Firewater
6/11 Swervedriver
6/13 Teenage Jesus & the Jerks
6/15 Iron Maiden
6/20 The Cure
6/21 Polvo
6/23 Liquid Tension Experiment
7/10 At the Gates
9/21 Helloween

Shows (with Kanye added so people can stop accusing me of hating)

3/14 Iron Maiden
3/17 Van Halen
4/2 Stephen Malkmus
4/6 Testament
4/9 Saul Williams
4/22 Megadeth/In Flames/Children of Bodom/High on Fire (Early)
4/22 Tim and Eric's Awesome Tour (late)
5/1 Ministry/Meshuggah
5/13 Kanye West
5/19 Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra
5/21 Dream Theater/Opeth
5/24 and 5/26 Firewater
6/11 Swervedriver
6/20 The Cure

Get out of my head!

OK, there is a new show on Fox called Unhitched.

Last week was the first episode. A man gets raped by an orangutan. Yes, there is a RAPE APE!!! They show him get sneak attacked and sneak raped!

This week? A woman gets asked out by someone who is supposed to be a young guitar prodigy but turns out to be a COMPETITIVE AIR GUITARIST.

Is someone tape recording my life (or reading this blog) and turning it into a sitcom???

Shows Shows Shows

2/17 Gibby Haynes (evening of Butthole Surfers with the School of Rock)
2/22 Austerity Program/Genghis Tron (unconfirmed)
2/28 Henry Rollins
3/4 Boris
3/14 IRON MAIDEN!!!
3/17 Van Halen
4/2 Steven Malkmus
4/6 Testament
4/9 Saul Williams
4/22 Megadeth/Children of Bodom
5/1 Ministry
5/19 Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra and Tra-la-la Choir
5/22 Turisas
6/20 The Cure

Unreleased Feud vol. 1 "O Hannukah"

Thank you Larry for sending this over. This was the last professional recording of the Feud, done at the Rare Book Room in Brooklyn with Nick Vernhes I think in 2002. It was recorded for a holiday record being put together by Jon Solomon for My Pal God records which never ended up seeing the light of day. Although this unfortunately never saw a proper release I think it is one of the best things we've ever done. Vicki from Heston Rifle played violin on the track as well. The sweet harmonies at the end are violin and keyboards harmonizing with each other.

Not much else to say except this is great but unmastered so turn it up a bit as it will sound a little flat at lower volumes.

Download the song here.

Facebook status messages

Just saw this as I popped in to check on my Scrabble game. It made me sad. Name withheld to protect his/her identity. Please note: this person supports a Bush white house...

{redacted} cannot believe No Country for Old Men got any decent reviews. It was one of the biggest POS he/she has seen in many years. I will never get those two hours back.

2008 show schedule (so far)

1/15 Gods of Fire (Club Midway)
1/18 Blood City
1/23 Austerity Program
1/25 Neurosis/Mastodon
1/29 Marilyn Manson
2/1 Supersuckers
2/17 Gibby Haynes (evening of Butthole Surfers with the School of Rock)
2/28 Henry Rollins
3/14 IRON MAIDEN!!!
3/17 Van Halen
4/2 Steven Malkmus
5/1 Ministry
5/22 Turisas
6/20 The Cure

St. George Absinthe Verte (aka the Monkey Absinthe)

Earlier this week my precious bottle of St. George Absinthe Verte came. There it is on the right with the label which has the monkey playing the cowbell. I ordered two bottles but because of overwhelming demand I was lucky to get this one. The distillery and all of its distributors sold out the entire stock within 24 hours of release. Being from San Francisco, it is the first bottle to be legally distilled in America since prohibition. Although they are now making a second batch with a much larger run, that red stamp to the right of the monkey certifies mine being from the original series. What does that mean? Well, not much more than owning the first edition of anything. But bragging rights always rule.

I was a bit nervous about this absinthe as it has a reasonably low alcohol content (60%) and is prepared with Brandy instead of something more akin to moonshine. Those fears were unfounded. The louche is exceptional. It clouded up immediately to a color reminiscent of green pine rather than the typical bright green of jade absinthes.

That color is a bit weird, right? The taste is amazing. It is much sweeter than any other absinthe I have had and the licorice flavor is very subdued. The top notes are much more akin to vanilla and mint, with a hint of citrus. I am in love. I poured a glass, fired up the NI Akoustik Piano and started working on what may turn out to be a love song. Or a song about aliens. I'm still working that out, but the baroque piano lines were definitely a product of this intriguingly pine colored fairy. You can learn about the great work of these distillers here.

You may notice in the background of the photo the other absinthe currently de-regulated in America, Lucid. It is a little less delicate than other European absinthes, the anise is right up front, but it sure gives that loving absinthe feeling. We drank a bottle of it on new year's eve. Good times.