Grimy Goods

Do yourself a favor and check out this awesomely unique band that throws down some sic tunes! Not only are these North County, San Diego budding rockstars skilled in their trade, but they’re easy on the eyes as well (hot!). The Embalmers provide some trippy sounds, funny ass samples, and of course some skillful music on the guitars, drums, vocals and whatever other device they can find to squeeze a sound out of. The vocals are smooth and eerie, with a shotgun of energy. The Drums never skip a beat and will keep you bobbing that head, complementing the groovy basslines and slick guitar chords. Punk, garage, surf rock, zombie, call it as you will, they just rock n’ roll.

It’s hard to find good music, anyone can sound great on audio, but these guys kill it live! Their stage performance is where it’s at and sure to get those bones movin’. Aside from from their loyal following and usual sexy bandaids, there’ always room for more. So check out some of their tunes here, with more to follow. With a plan to hit a slew of So Cal spots this summer, keep tabs on their myspace page for future tour dates.

But in the mean time, you can catch em’ Saturday, May 30th, at the “Tales From the Black Van” video premiere, taking place at the RVCA headquarters. Shit’s gonna go off! Great surf video and great music. There will be a second premiere at one of my favorite spots, Hensley’s Flying Elephant Pub in Carlsbad on June 5th. Peep the trailer below which features The Emblamers and their music. And check out the photo gallery of their show at the Tower Bar here.

Oh, and they do an awesome Roky Erickson, “Your gonna miss me” cover, harmonica and all.

If you appreciate punk music, and no I’m not talking about that silly pop shit, then get yo ass to the badlands this Saturday. VEXING: FEMALE VOICES FROM EAST L.A. PUNK, check out the amazing art exhibit of featuring the art of Diane Gamboa, Patssi Valdez, Sandra de  la Loza, Shizu Saldomando, Exene, and many more!

LIVE performances by Alice Bag, Therese Covarrubias, Angela Vogel, Lysa Flores, The Sirens & Go Betty Go. Not to mention one of my idols will be there too! Lub you Kurt!

VEXING: FEMALE VOICES FROM EAST L.A.
PUNK
May 18 - August 31, 2008
Opening reception Saturday, May 17

Claremont Museum of Art
In the Packing House
536 West First Street
Claremont, CA 91711

Click here for all the goods.

So yeah, just like any other normal girl with an eye for hot bad boys, my girl calls me up and asks me if I want to go see Dirt Nasty and Andre Legacy perform at Sutra in Newport Beach. Granted I hate all the kooks and gold-diggers in OC, and I despise any douche joint such as Sutra, if I’m gonna hang out any where in Newps you’ll find me at Cassidy’s. A proper dirty dive where the drinks are stiff and cheap, just like the men and women, respectively. But I sure do love Mr. Dirt Nasty and it helps my girl is good friend’s with his manager, so I happily oblige. She warns me before hand of the lameness of Sutra and its inhabbitants but we make the most of it and have a good time. Check out the kookbag gallery here or click on the kook.

It was Just about nine years ago when pro skater Tim “Beans” Brauch passed away at the prime age of 25. His memory and love for skateboarding lives on and now you’ll have a chance to view all that made him who he was, and understand exactly why so many people loved being around this awesome person. There’s an in depth documentary in the makes detailing the life of Tim Brauch. Check out the trailer below.

So I used to write for this one magazine (not the one above) for quite sometime and our photo director was the shit! So talented and meant for bigger places. I’ve admired and respected his photography and apparently so does everyone else in the music industry, except for a certain jealous little man. He just shot a cover of hip hop artist Danjahandz for Billbboard magazine, and Jermaine Dupri wasn’t too happy with it! Check out the ridonkulous vid below.

Can’t help but laugh at him but shit man, give credit where credit is due. On the contrary, that’s probably one of the greatest things about the music industry, still giving props to the underdog. Who the fuck wants to see the same money makin, mainstream artists, on every damn cover-even if they are good.

Check out Tyler Clinton’s work consisting of some rad pictorials of A-list clients here.

Not only is the vuluptous bomb shell, Scarlet Johansson known for her beauty, epsecially those plump lips that have matched if not surpassed the succulent fame of Angelina Jolie’s, but she’s quite the enchanting actress. But can she sing? Like many actors turned singers, they usually suck ass at the latter. Ms. Johansson’s new album, “Anywhere I Lay my Head,” which I can’t help but think of a certain part of Johansson’s body in which many men would die for the opportunity to lay their head upon … well the album hits North America May 20, 2008.

For her first album, it may have been the easy way, but she gets automatic props for covering 10 of Tom Waits’ songs. Instead of acquiring the likes of a bunch of dumb asses, she’ll be catching the buzz of people that know a thing or two about music because of her Tom Waits interpretations. Not to mention, her album is produced by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) and features guest appearances from Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, Sean Antanaitis from Celebration, and David Bowie, among others. All in all, I think she should stick to acting. The producing is great, but her version of Waits’ songs are quite boring lacking the originality and zest of the original tracks. She’s also quite monotone even with all the fancy production, which some may like, but I found myself wanting to skip to the next song write away. Stream the full album for yourself here and let me know what you think.

Finally my prayers have been answered … No longer do us lost lovers of rock music have to succumb to the goobers on Match.com or E Harmony. Now there’s www.rocknrolldating.com ! Wow. It’s like a dream come true. Now I can find all the emos, screamos and tryhards I want. I guess you pick and choose your litter by their musical tastes, which I kinda go by already. You won’t see me rolling with no Kottonmouth Kings or Good Charlotte fans. Naw, but for online dating it’s a pretty catchy concept since lovin’ music is so damn popular and accessable now a days. So if I was ever having trouble meeting men, I’d guess I’d cougar some young blood on this site or resort to some old fart on www.millionairematch.com. Yeah right.

But really, after cruising through the thumbnails of a few boys and girls, the merchandise ain’t that bad. But since myspace has been out, we all know that pictures hide a 1,000 words, or should I say “angles.”

Oh yeah, watch out lords of the mega ramp. Your homie, the crazy Carlsbad Aussie, with a signature laugh, Jake Brown , has made a quick return to the mega ramp. We all remember his massive fall just about 9 months ago at the X-games. And if you don’t where the fuck have you been, check out the coverage below. I still get chills watching his 45ft. fall, and bothered by the fact that he didn’t win the gold, when hands down it was his. Well enough of that drama, Jake is back and Dave Carnie and his crew have been documenting his highly anticipated return to the mega ramp. Peep Jake throw down a 360 on Bob’s mega ramp here. And make sure you read the full article that goes with the vid, it’s interesting …

“One of the things I love about Bob is that he’s an adult and he handles his shit in a mature manner. Something that’s fairly rare in the world of skateboarding.”
— Dave Carnie

Today is the 29th Birthday of the blues crooning, rock n’ roll God, Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. Happy Birthday you sexy bearded man you!

Iggy & The Stooges - “T.V. Eye”

Holy shit, I just came across a string of metal covers from these cute lil Argentinian kids. But dayum can they rock out! Can’t really make out what they are saying amongst the broken English, but whatevs, it’s pretty cool. They’re band is called GAUCHOS DE ACERO. Check out their video below covering Iron Maiden’s, “Trooper.” It’s my favorite because their little sister, who is probably only 3, begins to head bang and join the fun. Reminds me of growing up with my 3 older brothers and me always trying to nose around whatever they were doing. If you got some Spanish reading skills such as myself, peep their blog.

I’m not too much of a fan of video games, because I think they consume the lives of others, but some are pretty cool and worth the occasional fun. However, I once dated a guy that was a lil too into World of Warcraft and it messed shit up numerous times. Well, at least it wasn’t a heroin addiction right?

Electronic Arts announced “Skate It”, yet another life like skateboarding game to keep you entertained when your unable to do the real thing. It’s designed exclusively for the Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. According the the EA press release: “Skate It has Nintendo players riding with the skate pros, owning the best spots in San Vanelona and pulling off the sickest tricks using the popular FlickIt controls. Loaded with all-new gameplay features, Skate It breaks new ground by introducing innovative support for the Wii Balance Board which gives players a fresh way to create their own signature skateboarding style.”

Sounds fun, but don’t forget to play with your lady’s buttons instead of some video game’s . Check out the teaser below with Chris Haslam. And peep the sound of Fujiya & Miyagi’s “Collarbone” as the score. Goods!

Oh wow! I didn’t know whether to rejoice or laugh. But I sure as hell remember loving the pretty long haired rock band, Extreme, back when I was barely 12. Singing the words, “Saying I love you, is not the words I want to hear from you,” off their only hit song I can conceptualize with their name. Cheezy as it was, “More Than Words” was such a sweet song that all of us girls melted for in the early 90’s and still has the power to drop panties. According to Blabbermouth, Extreme has a new album, “Saudades de Rock,” coming out this June. First one in 13 years, along with a world tour kickin’ off July 29. Well this should be interesting.

Nonetheless, I still think the hot one (Nuno Bettancourt) is hot.

Watch their video below for old times sake, choo know you lub it.

Oh sweet memories in the land of OZ. The first time I was turned onto The Presets was from my buddies in Sydney, Australia. They had taken us to some hip club where one of the dudes from the Presets was guest djing. Amongst the mass alcohol consumed in a loud sweaty arena, I do somewhat recall having a good time and dancing to their beats. We had taken a 10-day road trip to Queensland and their prior album, “Beams,” was the only sound playing in our red jellybelly of a rental car. We fuckin’ loved it.

And today, all over the US, drops their new album “Apocalypso.” Listening to it just takes me back to all the crazy madness we took part in and created, from Melbourne to Surfer’s Paradise. Man, I wish I could go back to that adventure. “Apocalypso” stays true to the Presets’ signature techno for the new age beats, paired with the eerie vocals of lead singer, Julian Hamilton. It’s kind of like Kraftwerk meets Joy Division on a long journey to a dark, but joyful haven of pure indulgence. I won’t bore you with a good review, but check out their “This Boy’s in Love,” music video below. It’s neato and looks like it should be some sexual “got milk commercial.”

Take a listen:

“My People”

So I’m scanning through all my press releases and alerts, and I come across “SUGABABES SCRAP PLANS FOR NEW ALBUM.” Immediately my mind tracks back to a year ago when I was in Australia hanging out at this bar in Port Macquarie. I was a fun, smoky joint with slot machines. But what I remember most is the the fight I got into with some stupid Aussie cunt. Yes, I know that sounds vulgar but it’s normal Aussie slang. Me and my girl who was traveling with me were having some cocktails with these guys we had met while having dinner at their Italian restaurant. This drunken Aussie chick stumbles along, joins all of us with her sweet little gay friend and right away was being a bitch. This shit amuses me at times so I bare with it. Granted I love Aussies, especially Richard Flude … hehehe … But yeah, this girl started raggin’ on American music and blah blah blah. I told her I like a lot of Aussie bands and non American music as well such as Rose Tattoo, The Presets, Wolfmother, and so on. She dissed those bands, and knowing that their all pretty damn good I I knew she just had it out for me. So I asked her what she though was “good music.” One of her ignorant replies was a Spice Girls knock off call the Sugababes, who aren’t even Australian, they’re British. From there, the bitch in me came out, and I just laughed and ripped her a new asshole. She flicked a cigarette at me, so I chucked my drink at her and knocked her off her barstool. And mind you, I do not fight. I thinks it trashy and stupid, but this chick flicked a cigarette at me! Well, we both got kicked out of the bar and that was that. But I got a snap of her (below).

But back to the press release, the Sugababes have pushed the release of their new album back to sometime in 2009. But don’t bother getting it cause they suck ass. Unless you’re in elementary school or idolized the Spics Girls, then you go girl! Go on with yo’ bad self and get that album.

Check out what the boys at 1031 been doing … the new trailer for “Turn up the Hell” is pretty intense and there’s a huge pair of boobs about to knock Chad Knight out! Peep it below:

I remember I wrote an article for the Los Angeles Journal about 4 years ago titled, “The Sweedish Invasion.” Basically, I expressed how Swedes fuckin’ rock and how in the past few years they had gotten a lot more exposure (The Hives, The Sounds, Sahara Hot Nights, etc.). And of course all those mentioned bands are pretty popular now, especially The Sounds. Which by the way I absolutely luv luv Maja. Anyhow, I came across this Stockholm starlet, Lykke Li, and I have a good feeling she’ll be the next Swedish sensation.

Such a sexy, yet childlike voice you kinda feel like a dirty old man listening to her harmonize with that sultry sound … dirty thoughts. She released her first album, “Youth Novels” on her own label, LL Recordings this past February. Up next, her debut EP “Little Bit,” will be released on 10″ vinyl / digitally on 24th September. Check out some of her tunes below.

Dance. Dance. Dance

Tonight

Wow! Talk about generous … Nine Inch Nails is giving their entire new album, “The Slip,” away for free to all that love their music. And to think, it was just about 8 years ago when Metallica’s, Lars Ulrich, threw a hissy fit in regards to his loyal fans, who some probably couldn’t afford purchasing their CD, were actually downloading his music illegally. Heaven forbid. Whatevs, I still fuckin’ love early Metalica, but that shit was whack.

Well, the benjamin$ ain’t everything … Trent Reznor announced on NIN.com.that he is giving away the entire album as a download via www.nin.com as a thank-you to fans. Now that’s pretty fuckin’ rad, and has made me love this sexy, unique musician even more. Hopefully more bands of their stature will follow in their footsteps.

Get your album here.

Back again for it’s 4th time around is the always intense, Pro- Tec Pool Party. Coming at you May 17, check out 40 top pros, masters and ladies ride it out in a clone of my hometown’s infamous bowl, the Upland Combi. There’s a healthy $90,000 bones at stake, and a whole lot of action to been seen amongst these top shredders. If you can’t make it, grab some brews, flame up the barbie and check into www.vans.com on Saturday, May 17 from 1:00 pm to 9 pm to watch it on the web. More info, click on over to vans.

Expected Riders Include:
Pros – Rune Glifberg, Bucky Lasek, Omar Hassan, Bob Burnquist, Benji Galloway, Bruno Passos, Josh Borden, Lincoln Ueda, Sergie Ventura, Nolan Johnson, Remy Stratton, Jimmy the Greek

Masters – Chris Miller, Steve Caballero, Jeff Grosso, Lance Mountain, Steve Alba, Lester Kasai, Ben Schroeder, Buck Smith, Micke Alba, Mike Barnes, Tony Magnusson, Pat Ngoho, Steve Steadham

Ladies – Cara-Beth Burnside, Lyn-Z Adams, Mimi Knoop, Julie Kindstrand, Jodie MacDonald, Apryl Woodcock, Holly Lyons, Heidi Fitzgerald, Nicole Zuck, Cressey Rice, Amelia Brodka, Annie Sullivan

Judges – include Christian Hosoi, Steve Olson and Bryce Kanights

Dayum! This should be hot! See you there.

Well, apparently the soul singin’ crack head was in the pin for some hours in London. Too bad they didn’t keep her in there. Hopefully she’ll pay attention to her annoying hit song “rehab” and go take care of her “issues.” Yet another musician/band who I absolutely can not stand. She annoys the hell out of me and so does her bride of frankenstein, smack shootin’ facade. I hate when musicians try to play the helpless junkie. Just because many of the late greats were, don’t mean you gotta play into it to be idolized. Well at least I don’t hate her as much as the lame ass Kottonmouth Kings. Which by the way, my previous post on them has been creating quite the buzz in the “bro” world. ha

My reccomendation for Amy: A weekend with DR. Phil

How many licks does it take to get to the center of her candy spot? Pushing 5 decades of gracing the world with her scandalous yet eloquent essence, Madonna is still bringin’ her delicious delights to fans and freaks across the globe. Her new album, “Hard Candy,” is holdin’ it down in the #1 spot, so we can only assume the queen of pop has lost absolutely no flavor. And what better to complement a tasty album then an even tastier world tour. How does this beautifully biceped woman do it!? Unwrapping the special treats, August 23rd, Madonna embarks on her “Sticky & Sweet Tour.” Ticket prices are steep, between $55.00 and $350 bones. But if were lucky, I hear there may be some oompa loompas as the opening act …

Listen here

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