Album: Led Zeppelin - I

you may remember seeing the words "fuck led zeppelin,this is where it's at" over on the ritual room facebook page

it's a good thing that those words were posted anonymously as i'd hate to show up at someone's house and ruin their day with some nude air drumming to some "moby dick"

the battle has raged on for centuries as to who was the first heavy metal band

was it led zeppelin?

was it black sabbath?

bands have broken up...friends have been lost...plates have been smashed at the dinner table...

and the only answer i give to anyone that has posed that question to me is: go and listen to each band's first album...then come back and talk to me

but honestly...when it comes to each band's recorded output...i can listen to all of led zeppelin's albums over and over again

when it comes to black sabbath...you only really need their first 6 albums (yeah...that's right...sit down guy wearing the MOB RULES t-shirt)

but i digress

i was first turned onto led zeppelin by one of my teachers back in high school...and the first time my parents heard me listening to them...it blew their minds as i was listening to things they had grown up with

you can't deny the powerhouse that is/was drummer john bonham

or the laid back bass from john paul jones

or the hot licks from jimmy page

or the caterwauling nonsensical vocals of robert plant

that's right....i just used the terms "hot licks" and "caterwauling"

also....like you've never stood in front of a mirror and sang along to "dazed and confused" into a comb

yeah...me either

also...why hasn't a cover band called ZEPPATH happened yet? (and yes...they would only cover zeppelin and sabbath)

so...just go on ahead and give that DL down there a little poke

DL: led zeppelin I

Tour Dates: Mark Lanegan US West Coast Tour Dates

I'm realising that this blog has slowly evolved into more news and tour date listings than actual music uploads, but I hope that's cool with ya'll. I usually just end up posting news that I get stoked about and want to share, but I'll try and upload more singles and stuff in coming days when I'm not so busy. Anyways. Here's a moment we've all been waiting for.... Mark Lanegan west coast US tour dates! Acoustic! Not with Isobel!

These dates were just confirmed:

Sun 12-Jun Hollywood Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Tue 14-Jun San Francisco Great American music hall
Thu 16-Jun Portland Wonder Ballroom
Fri 17-Jun Seattle Neptune

Tour Dates: Melvins Residency Tour

From Ipecac:

"Two nights in each city. Two sets each night. No opening act.
The first night's first set will include songs from Lysol and Egg Nog, followed by a second set from Houdini. The second night's first set will feature Bullhead in its entirety, followed by a second set from Stoner Witch.

May 13, 2011 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
May 14, 2011 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile

May 16, 2011 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
May 17, 2011 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall

May 27, 2011 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk
May 28, 2011 - Austin, TX @ Mohawk

May 31, 2011 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door
June 1, 2011 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door

June 3, 2011 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
June 4, 2011 - Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club

June 6, 2011 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
June 7, 2011 - Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg"

Serious Melvins news. I'm already giddy with excitement for the Seattle shows and am writing off all other show prospects in May to attend at least the second night. ...Nothing else really needs to be said, does it?

Single: Sub Pop Edition #28 Various Artists - "Alice Cooper Tribute"

An amazing Alice Cooper tribute 2x7" released for the Sub Pop singles club in 1991 that definitely doesn't surface all that often. This single features covers done by Sonic Youth, These Immortal Souls, Gumball and Laughing Hyenas. Many thanks to this awesome blog for this rip! We love us some Alice around these parts.

1. These Immortal Souls - Luney Tune
2. Gumball - Under My Wheels
3. Sonic Youth - Is It My Body?
4. Laughing Hyenas - Public Animal #9

DL: "Alice Cooper Tribute Single"

Album: Earthless - "Sonic Prayer"

This is "Sonic Prayer" by Earthless, which is best described as a 40 minute jam of furiously heavy, psychotic riffs and, well, this is massive. (Massively groovy). Truly a giant, psychedelic masterpiece of an album that will have you completely hooked as soon as the first riff gets going. Also, you can buy assorted Earthless goodies here.

1. Flower Travellin' Man

2. Lost in the Cloud Sun

DL: "Sonic Prayer"

News: New Track by Mark Lanegan Released For "Rage Untethered" Game

That's right, new Mark Lanegan material! The track is called "Burning Jacobs Ladder" and was released/created for the "Rage Untethered" game trailer. (Fortunately it really doesn't disappoint despite the sellout undertones. I don't really blame Lanegan for doing something like this for the money/hype, either). Anyways, I'm loving the new track and am waiting on pins and needles for his next solo album. You can stream and download "Burning Jacob's Ladder" for free here.

And I definitely have to give a special thanks to Mark (a different Mark, obviously. Yarm. No, not that one either) for the tip on this one!

RIP

Mike Starr (Alice in Chains) allegedly died today after being arrested for drug possession just last month. Sad news as he was only 44 and Alice in Chains was just getting going again. Read more here.

News: Mudhoney - "Head On The Curb" LP Out Now!

"This vinyl-only release is Mid-period Mudhoney at its RAWEST. Original Bass Player Matt Lukin is in top form, as is the rest of the classic line-up, blasting out songs and ideas, some of which went on to be studio-fied for their Warner Bros debut PIECE OF CAKE, while others got lost to the dark crevices of time…UNTIL NOW. Besides the cover of SCTV classic I HATE THE BLOODY QUEEN, these recordings have NEVER been released, and represent a sonic assault that is pure Mudhoney. Raw, unabashed, and sometimes down-right no-fi. HEAD ON THE CURB writes a new chapter into Mudhoney’s legendary past." --Sub Pop

Um, apparantly this LP was released on the 2nd and Im just learning about it now. I'm currently feeling super incoherant but need to make a post about this since I'm way more hyped on this than any newer Mudhoney material being released and anyone that frequents this blog (do you exist?) needs to know. I can't wait to hear this and I'll post MP3s when/if I can track some down. Order through Sub Pop.

Side A:

1. Ritzville
2. I Want To Live
3. King Sandbox
4. 13th Floor Opening
5. Living Wreck
6. Acetone

Side B:
1. No End In Sight
2. Underide
3. Fun And Games
4. Confusion
5. When In Rome
6. I Hate The Bloody Queen

Single: Sub Pop Edition # 27 Big Damn Crazy Weight - "Might As Well / Off That Cow"

This single by Big Damn Crazy Weight was released for the October 1992 singles club. There's a really prominent early Nirvana vibe here, as well as some good old dirty fuzzed out tone. The 90s, maan.

1. Might As Well

2. Off That Cow

DL: "Might As Well / Off That Cow"

News: Melvins Live Album "Sugar Daddy" to Be Released This Month

MORE NEWS! Damnit, I'm so behind on my Melvins business. (Not really. I'm just grumpy since I missed a chance to buy the HAZE XXL version of "The Bride Screamed Murder". Has anyone managed to get any of these?)

Anyways, this is a live Melvins recording which is awesome. This is titled "Sugar Daddy", which is also awesome. If you look at the track listing you will see that is also, in fact (you guessed it) awesome. This will be released March 31st on Ipecac. (The person as well as the label).

1. Nude with Boots
2. Dog Island
3. Dies Iraea
4. Civilized Worm
5. The Kicking Machine
6. Eye Flies
7. Tipping The Lion
8. Rat Faced Granny
9. The Hawk
10. You've Never Been Right
11. A History of Bad Men
12. Star Spangled Banner
13. Boris

News: Graveyard to Release New Album "Hisingen Blues" This April

Evan turned me on to this new upcoming Graveyard release titled"Hisingen Blues", and after hopelessly trolling Tee Pee for some information on it I discovered that they're taking the leap to Nuclear Blast for this one. "Hisingen Blues" will be released this April 19th in North America and March 25th in Europe, and the tracklisting is as follows:

1. Ain’t Fit To Live Here
2. No Good, Mr. Holden
3. Hisingen Blues
4. Uncomfortably Numb
5. Buying Truth (tack och förlåt)
6. Longing
7. Ungrateful Are The Dead
8. RSS
9. The Siren

You can listen to the damn fine sounding title track "Hisingen Blues" on Graveyard's MySpace page here. My full support goes out to this group as they are one of the few 70's rock bands existing today that sound like they came straight from the era rather than just doing some cheesy emulation Wolfmother style. In the words of Graveyard... "Don’t mistake classic pieces of work for retro". Mark your calendars!

Single: The Thrown Ups - Smiling Panties

if you know anything of the grunge...you'll know that this band are considered to be the originators by some

and you should also know that half of this band went onto form mudhoney (vocalist/guitarist mark arm and guitarist steve turner)

and you should also know that there are some folks that wouldn't even consider this music (or so i've heard...i would never associate with those kinds of people)

and you should also know that there's a song called "my cock is the coin" included on this business

and you should also know that if you don't snag this up...someone is waiting across the street from your house...and they may or may not show up somewhere in your house naked at 3:00am

DL: smiling panties

Feature: Queens Of The Stone Age Playing SELF-TITLED In It's Entirety

there may be some of you out there that aren't currently aware that the band is currently on tour and are playing their 1998 SELF-TITLED album in it's entirety (in case you haven't already put that together for yourselves)

also...the album is set to get re-released on the 7th of this very month...and to add to all of that...there are some tracks that the band contributed to a split they did with a band called beaver (go on...get the giggles out of the way...we'll wait...) that was released back in 1998...and a song they contributed to a split they did with kyuss that was released back in 1997

and no...i'm not going to give you the titles of those songs...you'll just have to buy it for yourself to find out (or you could just use this thing i just recently came to find out about called google...apparently it comes in pretty handy)

and if you'd like to see the band play their SELF-TITLED album in it's entirety...go here to find out when and where