SOUND BITES

So, it's Halloween, and with it come all the costumes, the trick-or-treating, the "scariness".  It's a payday like no other for candy manufacturers and egg farmers, and we all love it.  How can you diss a holiday that's all about gorging yourself on sweets, dressing up like your wildest fantasy and being a total creep?  It's a day during which you're actually encouraged to scare people; try it on May 12 and you're meeting Mr. Pepper Spray; tonight, you get laughs.  Fantastic. I thought it only appropos to post up a handful of the creepiest songs and/or videos known to man (well, to me) and do my best to send shivers up your spine using only the power of music and the suggestion that you play these songs while thinking about the truly depraved amongst us; the living demons with devious intentions, sitting in the bushes across the street and watching you through binoculars as you're reading this RIGHT NOW.

Just now, the Black Keys put up a stream of "Lonely Boy", the first single from their upcoming 7th studio album El Camino, which hits stores on December 6.  It's also the A-side of an exclusive 12" being released as part of Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday, which happens on November 25. I haven't listened to this track yet, so let's listen together, shall we?

If you guessed "Kenny & Dolly Christmas", you're sadly mistaken. Scroll it on down for the official video for "Conditions of My Parole", the title track from Puscifer's second LP.  Of course, Puscifer is the side project of Maynard James Keenan, who is also famous for his work in Tool, A Perfect Circle, and winemaking.  Those unaware of Keenan's silly side will likely take this clip as a bit of a shock, what with Maynard gussied up in his finest hillbilly attire whilst packing as many redneck clichés as humanly possible into its three minutes.  The video is presented on Puscifer's YouTube page as the "SHORTENED version", which leads this writer to believe that there's a whole other level of awesome here that we haven't experienced yet.  I'm hoping for a "Cops" tie-in.   While it's nice to see MJK has a sense of humor, it does kind of overshadow the fact that the new Puscifer album, even with...

Reason enough to buy a magazine? Hit the jump to check out NIN's first new music in two years, plus other choice contributions to the newly released U2 covers album. So, today the interwebs were graced with the presence of the first Nine Inch Nails track to be released since summer '09, not long before Trent Reznor announced plans to retire his longstanding industrial/metal/rock band from the touring circuit.  Now, Reznor's accomplished a lot in the two years that followed; his work with frequent collaborator Atticus Ross for The Social Network score snagged him a metric shit-ton of critical acclaim, and a fistful of shiny trophies to boot.  But, as worried as us fans may have been about losing NIN for good, Reznor always maintained that, when it came to the studio, Nine Inch Nails would live on.

For those of you who are eagerly anticipating this year's festivities, the wait is almost over.  This year's Year in Rock blowout will begin on November 1 . Like last year's facebook run, there will be a top 50.  Unlike last year's facebook run, the songs won't be counted down 50 to 1.  Instead, every day (or reasonably close to every day) between November 1 and December 20, I'll post up one of this year's nominees.  Then, on Christmas Eve (or reasonably close to Christmas Eve), the countdown will go up in order and you can find out what takes Song of the Year honors for 2011. You can also expect my top 20 albums list to go up sometime during Boxing Week, as well as some honorable mentions and things I may miss along the way. If you're looking for a CD to commemorate Year in Rock 2011, there won't be one.  We're living in the digital age now, and even though I still love those shiny plastic discs, I realize I'm the minority.  Once the ...

"I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff." When your album starts off with this pleasant couplet, it's obvious that what you're in for isn't going to be your standard rock fare.  And that is certainly true with Lulu , the bizarre and challenging collaborative effort between Lou Reed and Metallica.  Based on German expressionist writings, filtered through Reed's rose-colored glasses and piled recklessly on top of a loopy, mundane Metallica jam session, the album is a near 90-minute exercise in musical Russian roulette.  And every chamber is full. The last album to perplex and intrigue me in such a way was They Were Wrong So We Drowned , Liars' 2004 batshit insane ode to witches.  That album basically made me rethink my limits taste-wise.  Disjointed, ugly and messy, that album was a full-blown endurance trial, one that made the listener feel as though they were tied to the stake and watching the flames rise.  It was downright ...