Author Archive for JR

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The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth Tour

Published on June 16, 2010 in Music. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth Tour

METALLICA, SLAYER, MEGADETH and ANTHRAX — the so-called “Big Four” of 1980s thrash metal — will play together for the first time in history tomorrow night (Wednesday, June 16) at the Sonisphere festival at Bemowo Airport in Warsaw, Poland.

The first photo of all the members of the four bands hanging out in a room together, apparently taken earlier today (Tuesday, June 15), can be viewed below.

“It’s about fucking time this happened,” says SLAYER’s Kerry King, “and about time the fans finally get what they want. This is fucking awesome.”

ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian agrees, commenting on the enormity of the announcement. “People have been talking about these four bands playing together since 1984,” he says. “That’s twenty-six years of expectation!! And the thing is, I believe not only will we live up to the expectations, we will shatter them! No other four bands as influential as the four of us have ever done this. Imagine if THE BEATLES, STONES, THE WHO and ZEPPELIN had done shows? Or SABBATH, PRIEST, MAIDEN, MOTÖRHEAD? Well, I may be getting into some rarified air here but as a fan, that’s how big I feel this is.”

These four legendary acts broke out of the underground thrash movement to dominate the metal world in the 1980s, selling millions of records and packing arenas across the globe. The metal giants have never before all shared the same stage, despite huge demand.

A second “Big Four” appearance is planned for Sonisphere Switzerland two days after the Warsaw concert, with more Sonisphere shows featuring the awesome combo to follow.

“This is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity for heavy metal fans to see the four greatest heavy metal bands in American history back together on one stage,” concludes MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. “If there are any heads left at the end of this festival that haven’t banged, they don’t belong there.”

The “Big Four” concert on June 22 in Sofia, Bulgaria will find its way to the U.S. via a satellite broadcast. That day’s show, as part of the Sonisphere festival, will be beamed to more than 450 movie theatres in more than 140 markets in the U.S., along with cities in Europe, Canada and Latin America.

The concert will be broadcast to theatres in high definition. Delayed screenings are planned for Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.

METALLICA’s Lars Ulrich said in a statement, “Who would have thought that more than 25 years after its inception, thrash metal’s ‘Big Four’ would not only still be around, be more popular than ever, playing shows together at stadiums all over Europe, and on top of that, coming to a movie theater near you in high definition (for better or worse??!!). Bring it on!”

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McFarlane V Gaiman: Comic book rivals in court over ownership of three superheroes

Published on June 16, 2010 in As I Was Saying and Comic Books. 0 Comments Tags: , .

McFarlane V Gaiman: Comic book rivals in court over ownership of three superheroes
Neil Gaiman, once described as a “rock star” of the comic book world, claims Todd McFarlane, his former collaborator, owes him for a demon detective and two bikini-clad angels they created together for the classic comic series Spawn.

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Iron Maiden’s Final Frontier

Published on June 8, 2010 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Iron Maiden The Final Frontier

The European release date for Iron Maiden’s much-anticipated new studio album, ‘The Final Frontier’, is now confirmed for Monday, August 16. The CD features artwork (see below) illustrated by Melvyn Grant and, to mark the occasion, the band has made special arrangements for one new album track, ‘El Dorado’, to be made available worldwide as a FREE digital download MP3 with immediate effect via www.ironmaiden.com.

Singer Bruce Dickinson explains, “‘El Dorado’ is a preview of the forthcoming studio album. As we will be including it in the set of our ‘Final Frontier World Tour’ (which opens in Dallas on June 9) we thought it would be great to thank all our fans and get them into ‘The Final Frontier’ mood by giving them this song up front of the tour and album release.”

The band reunited with long-time Maiden producer Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley in early 2010 at Compass Point Studios, Nassau to record the album and then moved to The Cave Studios in Malibu, California to finish the recording and do the mixing. Compass Point Studio is very familiar to the band, it was where they recorded the ‘Piece Of Mind’ (1983), ‘Powerslave’ (1984) and ‘Somewhere In Time’ (1986) albums.

Bruce comments: “The studio had the same vibe and it was EXACTLY as it had been in 1983, NOTHING had changed! Even down to the broken shutter in the corner… same carpet… everything… It was really quite spooky. But we felt very relaxed in such a familiar and well-trodden environment and I think this shows in the playing and the atmosphere of the album.”

30 years on from their eponymous debut album in April 1980, ‘The Final Frontier’ will be Maiden’s 15th studio album, making a remarkable average of a new album every two years for 30 years and totaling over 80 million album sales during this period.

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Slipknot Press Conference On Paul Gray’s Death

Published on May 26, 2010 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Slipknot Press Conference On Paul Gray's Death

The eight surviving members of Slipknot made a rare unmasked appearance this evening as they gathered at Wells Fargo Arena to discuss their deceased bandmate, Paul Gray.

Band members kept the press conference brief, allowing for no questions. They were joined onstage by Gray’s widow, Brenna, and brother, Tony.

“Yesterday we lost our brother, and the world seems a little smaller because of it,” frontman Corey Taylor said. “He was everything that was wonderful about this band and this group of people. The only way I can sum up Paul is ‘love.’”

Taylor’s voice cracked as he spoke, holding back tears. The 10 people on stage remained somber, many with their heads down, and a few wore sunglasses despite the overcast skies outside.

M. Shawn Crahan, who co-founded the group along with Gray and Joey Jordison in 1995, spoke after Taylor.

“It’s very important everybody understands Paul Gray was the essence of the band Slipknot,” Crahan said. “None of us would be on the path we’re on now in life or have the lives we have without him.”

Sid Wilson, the band’s DJ, credited Gray with introducing him to the band, which he described as a family.

“To me, that’s the most important thing. That in everyone he met there was a change in their life,” Wilson said. “He was so good at giving everyone a different perspective, and I love him for that.”

Percussionist Chris Fehn said when Gray called “you just felt good,” and warmly remembered the bass player as giving “the best hugs out of everyone I ever hugged. When he grabbed on to you, you could feel the love he had for you.”

Taylor put his hand on the shoulder of Tony Gray as he spoke about Paul. Gray thanked the fans who made his brother “who he was and made Slipknot what it is today.”

Drummer Jordison also described Gray as a brother.

“It’s very hard for me right now,” Jordison said. “I just want to say that I love you, Paul, very much. You’ll be sorely missed by the world over.”

Brenna Gray spoke last, mentioning the couple’s unborn child while discussing her late husband.

“Paul was my husband and an amazing person,” she said. “I just want people to remember him for just that. His daughter will remember him for the way he was.”

After Gray spoke, Taylor thanked the room and the band and family members rose and exited together.

None of the members made any mention of the future of Slipknot, though the band has ended its tour cycle that followed the 2008 release of “All Hope is Gone.” Several of the musicians have been working with their other bands, such as Stone Sour and Dirty Little Rabbits .

There was also no mention of a funeral for Gray.

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Pink Lincoln by Mark Ryden

Published on May 26, 2010 in Art, As I Was Saying and You Tube Clip Of The Week. 0 Comments

Pink Lincoln by Mark Ryden

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Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop

Published on May 25, 2010 in Cinema and Movie Of The Week. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop

I was fortunate enough to catch an early preview screening of Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop movie courtesy of Desktop magazine.

Fellow Desktop blogger Gerrard Elson and myself filed in our combined review.

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JOHN: Well after conquering the street-art world and practically becoming a household name the world over, it wasn’t long before the legendary Banksy would try his hand at film. Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop is his first foray into celluloid and like all things Banksy – the film is shrouded in mystery, intrigue and probably leaves the viewer asking more questions than having them answered.

Two of us Desktop bloggers were fortunate enough to see a special screening last night and I must say, I did enjoy the film.

For me, being a fan of the street art ethos – it was great seeing the who, what, where and why of artists such as Shepard Fairey, Invader and of course – Banksy in the first half of the movie but it all took a strange turn towards the middle…

GERARD: Strange is right! Which brings us to the amiable enigma at the centre of Exit Through the Gift Shop: Theirry Guetta, AKA Mr Brainwash.

From the out, we’re told the film has been assembled from unpolished footage captured by Guetta, an obsessive dilettante videographer and burgeoning street art enthusiast. Ingraining himself into the furtive world of street art by virtue of sheer persistency, Guetta, with thousands of hours of video committed to tape and unparalleled access to the artists themselves, vows to make the definitive street art documentary. But one elusive subject remains beyond his grasp: Banksy.

In a twist of fate that might be too neat to be true, Guetta miraculously finds himself playing chaperone/documentarian to Banksy during the artist’s trip to LA. The pair form a mutual trust—Banksy even calls it a friendship—but it’s not long before Guetta begins to show his “true” colours, and it’s here where Exit Through the Gift Shop gets really interesting…

JOHN: And therein the Banksy modus operandi is in full force for all to see. That is, if we just scratch at the surface that little bit. Surely this is all another Banksy ruse. Another Banksy stunt. Is Guetta/Mr Brainwash doing just that on the unsuspecting public? Are we to believe that this bumbling, clumsy documentarian is let in deep within the Banksy inner sanctum and in time, become an artist in his own right?

Surely not.

GERARD: And that’s all part of the film’s enormous appeal. If everything is to be taken at face value, we’re given a hugely entertaining portrait of a restless soul whose proximity to true talent in the form of Banksy impels him to reach beyond his own means in a facile pitch for credibility, desecrating in the process the very philosophies that power the artists he’s so long admired. Ostensibly, Guetta and his ill-earned, overnight success is totemic of the increasing commodification of the once galvanising voice of the fringe. On the other hand, if Guetta and his success as Mr Brainwash is indeed a ploy orchestrated by Banksy, then Exit, by my count, tips into the realm of out-and-out greatness. It becomes a scathing satire of our communal lust to lionise the individual prodigy, as well as a facetious critique of people’s unthinking readiness to buy whole-hog into the hype machine.

JOHN: Banksy has stood out from the pack because underneath the legality and criminality of one taking a brush to a public space – his work is incredibly smart, succinct and cuts to the bone of the mundane and drab walls he paints on. It is that nouse and sublime smarts which leads me to firmly believe that Banksy’s finest creation is Thierry Guetta himself. And who can really tell how long this creature will be left to roam the streets of LA. Guetta is nothing more than an inspired forgery, just like Banksy’s Princess Diana £10 notes.

Exit Through The Gift Shop is a thoroughly entertaining voyeuristic look into the world of an artist that TIME magazine lists as one of the 100 most influential people alive today. The veil of mystery is always omnipresent and deep and one can’t help but feel that Banksy has pulled the wool over our eyes once again.

I don’t know about you Gerard, but I enjoyed every single minute of this supposed expose. Whether what unfolds before us is real or not, seems to be beside the point. We are presented with a multi-faceted work that could very well stand-alone as yet another Banksy piece of art (albeit in celluloid form) or as a very real documentary that once can take and accept at face value.

Brilliant! 4 stars from me!

GERARD: It seems the only thing we (slightly) disagree on is the extent to which we enjoyed this. As far as I’m concerned, this is the comedy to beat in 2010 – no other film has made me laugh harder this year – and its wealth of genuine cultural insight, factual line-blurring and agile use of subversive wit to underscore its very pertinent point make it that rarest of things in the internet age: a cinematic Trojan horse. It’s not often you leave the cinema flummoxed as to the extent of the authenticity of what you’ve just seen, and for pulling off that particular prestige, I award Exit Through the Gift Shop its extra half star.

4.5 from me!

Read it at Desktop.

An Interview With Kirk Weddle

Published on May 25, 2010 in As I Was Saying and Photography. 0 Comments

An Interview With Kirk Weddle.

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Slipknot’s Paul Gray Found Dead

Published on May 25, 2010 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Slipknot's Paul Gray Found Dead

Another death has hit the Heavy Metal community. In a year which has seen us lose stars such as The Rev, Peter Steele and Ronnie James Dio – we can now add Slipknot’s Paul Gray to the pool.

Paul Dedrick Gray, 38, of Johnston was found dead at approximately 10:50 a.m. today by an employee at TownePlace Suites, 8800 Northpark Drive, police said.

Gray was a founding member of Slipknot and one of only two members not born in Iowa. The band broke into the mainstream with a platinum-selling self-titled debut in 1999. Two follow-ups, 2002′s “Iowa” and 2005′s “Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)” also went platinum. The band has been nominated for seven Grammy awards, winning in 2006 for best metal performance.



“It’s just a devastating loss for the Des Moines music scene and the world’s music scene,” said Matt Nyberg, who was dubbed “First Maggot” by Slipknot’s Shawn Crahan. Nyberg’s band Facecage is on Slipknot lead singer Corey Taylor’s Great Big Mouth Records. “He was always one of the nicest guys. You never heard anything negative from him.”

In 2008, Slipknot released its most recent album, “All Hope Is Gone,” and toured arenas, including its first-ever show at Wells Fargo Arena in January. The band ended its tour cycle in October, and members of the band have been working on individual projects since then.

Alice Cooper Reunites With Bob Ezrin

Published on May 24, 2010 in Music. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Alice Cooper Reunites With Bob Ezrin

Alice Cooper has begun work on a new album, to be produced by Bob Ezrin as part of a new joint venture with Bigger Picture Group.

Ezrin has a rich history of hugely successful collaborations with Alice, including such groundbreaking albums as “Billion Dollar Babies”, “Welcome To My Nightmare”, “School’s Out” and “Love It To Death” and has, in the past, been described by Alice as “our George Martin.”

Ezrin is a partner in Bigger Picture Group, a Nashville-based company that has been instrumental in contributing to the success of numerous artists, including country music sensation ZAC BROWN BAND. He remarked, “I am delighted to be back in business with Alice Cooper and Shep Gordon’s Alive Enterprises and our whole company is over the moon about this collaboration. This is not a record deal but rather a partnership that involves virtually all aspects of Alice’s ever-expanding universe. And it’s a reunion with the first artist I ever produced and the first great manager I ever worked with. I couldn’t be happier.”

Bigger Picture will contribute to strategy, staging, special products, theatrical projects as well as the production, promotion and distribution of future Alice Cooper releases. The company will utilize its distribution agreement with Warner Music Group when the new Alice Cooper album, projected for release early next year, and other recorded product launches. A tour themed to tie in with the album, the concept of which is being kept under wraps for the moment, is being planned in support of the release.

Ezrin’s career has seen him work with some of the most enduring names in music including PINK FLOYD, KISS, PETER GABRIEL, JANE’S ADDICTION, LOU REED, DEFTONES and scores of others but traces its earliest successes to his association with Alice Cooper, the band and the man.

Alice Cooper remarked, “It feels great to be working with Bob again and the entire Bigger Picture team have been tremendously supportive. Lightning has struck more than once in the past with Bob’s involvement so we feel great that we’re onto something really electrifying now that we’re together again. The album we’re crafting is, in some ways, a ‘shriekquel’ to what’s gone before and there’s no better guy to oversee things than Bob.”

Shep Gordon, whose Alive Enterprises has managed Alice Cooper since his professional debut called the deal with Bigger Picture “a paradigm for the modern music business.” He commented, “We’re working with Bob not just on a brilliant new Alice Cooper album but in building upon the great strides Alice’s career has taken recently.” He cited “Nights With Alice Cooper”, the internationally syndicated daily radio show that Alice hosts over a network syndicated through United Stations, the “Gruesome Twosome” tour that has seen Alice Cooper and acolyte Rob Zombie share bills throughout North America as well as an upcoming Alice Cooper arena tour. He also noted that “The Coop” would be headlining a string of festival dates this summer in France, Germany, Belgium, the U.K., and Scandinavia. “Awareness and appreciation for Alice is at an all-time high these days,” he remarked. “Bigger Picture is getting in not on the ground floor but as the elevator is zooming to the top and they’re efforts will, doubtless make this a much faster ride.”

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Jamie Salmon

Published on May 24, 2010 in Art. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Jamie Salmon

Jamie Salmon is a British born, Vancouver resident, contemporary sculptor. He specialises in photorealistic sculpture, utilizing materials such as silicone rubber, fibre glass, acrylic and human hair. The themes of Salmon’s works are varied. He says “I like to use the human form as a way of exploring the nature of what we consider to be ‘real’ and how we react when our visual perceptions of this reality are challenged. In our modern society we have become obsessed with our outward appearance, and now with modern technology we are able to alter this in almost anyway we desire. How does this outward change affect us and how we are perceived by others?”

Check out some amazing samples after the jump…

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