This Track Is Fire!

Last week while I was writing about the Killing Joke-minus-Jaz-Coleman-adding-Chris-Connelly band of Murder, Inc. I took a small trip down memory lane as I thought about Killing Joke. I think it would be easy, almost expected of me, to highlight their song "Eighties," which is fantastic, no question, but I admit that I did not discover that song until much later in my life. My first real exposure to Killing Joke was via Murder, Inc. and thereafter, when they released the album  Pandemonium.   A friend of mine had grabbed it on CD, and before I knew it "Mathematics of Chaos" was on near-constant repeat. Of course I went back and checked out their earlier works, but there's something very nostalgic about this track that takes me back in time and melts my face off. Also, it just fucking rocks. Enjoy!

Note: this week, in honor of the legendary Steve Albini's birthday, I am highlighting his impressive audio engineering work (he refused to be called a "producer"). These five posts are a small example of his musical prowess, selected by me, just a fan with a blog. I have heard more than a few times, and repeated it often myself, that the music you fall in love with as an adolescent stays with you for the rest of your life, and honestly, at least for me, that fits. The 90s were a glorious time for a Gen Xer like me who had fallen in love with bands like Depeche Mode, but wanted something just a tinge darker yet, bands like Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, Ministry, and one of the few industrial metal supergroups, Murder, Inc. Basically,  - and I am overly simplifying things - Murder, Inc. is the Killing Joke but with Chris Connelly (the aforementioned Ministry, The Revolting Cocks) on vocals, but wow, does this track rock. Working with Albini, the band created a song that feels li...

The early-to-mid 90s were a hell of a time. Thanks to Lollapalooza and the rise of Industrial (NIN) and Industrial Metal bands (Ministry), there was a sudden influx of similar acts that appeared on the scene, such as Stabbing Westward. I remember first hearing them in college and liked them enough to be excited to hear that they would be opening for Depeche Mode on their 1994 tour. Then in 1996 Wither Blister Burn + Peel  came out. With tracks like "Shame" and "What Do I Have to Do" Stabbing Westward vaulted into the limelight. As such, I saw them again in 1998, and again, opening for Depeche Mode during The Singles  tour. More often than not I skip the opening act, unless they are someone I already know or scoped out ahead of time, but Stabbing Westward was a band that I happily showed up to see. Despite seeing them twice open for my favorite band of all time, I have never seen Stabbing Westward on tour in their own right. That is, until tonight. They're playin...

It's July 3 today, and tomorow is America's 250th birthday. This should be something awesome for the country as a whole to celebrate, but we have a turd of a Cheeto as a president right now who has politicized everything and created a pall over an event that should  be bringing the country together. Don't get me wrong, I love America, and part of that love is combined with the fact that I know that America has been, and can again be, better than it is today. I also recognize that no matter how great some things are in America  (our many parks, public lands, etc.), there are definitely areas for improvement (universal health care, better wages, etc.). It is through that lens that I consider a song like this, a song that is critical of the "Americanization" of global culture. America can be great, but there are other viewpoints, other cultures and ways of doing things that may not be better than the American way, but certainly as worthy. This song, taken from an out...

I chose this song today because while these lyrics speak to me, they seem to be much louder in my head as of late. Welcome to a state where the politics of hate shout loud in the crowd Watch 'em beat us all down There's a rising tide on the rivers of blood But if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence If they come to ethnically cleanse me Will you speak out? Will you defend me? Freedom of expression doesn't make it alright Trampled under foot by the rise of the right Always fight fascism, whether it's the new nationalist Christo-fascitsts of America or old-school Nazis, fight them, always.

I'm going to the NAIAS this weekend with dear friends of mine so I thought to myself, "let's do a week or car-themed posts!" Rock stars have been singing about cars since rock'n roll was invented, but I was an Gen X alterna-teen, so for me the greatest car song will always be Ministry "Jesus Built My Hotrod." Come August this song will be 35 years old but for me it feels as vibrant as it did when when I was in high school. There's only one thing left for me to do, momma: I gotta ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long! I've included the original, long version of this song because it's the best, pure and simple. Enjoy!