Pwnage Pickle

June 14, 2009

“I’m Back Now.” Eminem’s Relapse – Album Review

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , — Zack C. @ 3:08 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen, Eminem has returned! Along with Slim Shady. Yeah… the Slim Shady that shot himself at the end of “Encore”. I don’t know how! Oh, and Marshall Mathers is tagging along too! Yes, all three of Mr. Mathers’ alter egos is coming along for the ride on “Relapse”, Eminem’s first studio album in 4 long years.
Why was he gone so long? Anyone’s guess. But I think it has something to do with the murder of his best friend, Proof, his relapse into prescription pills after getting out of rehab, and overdosing and almost dying. I am just spit balling here, but it is a valid reason.

So, after four long years, is the mighty Em able to return to the rap game with the same fire as before? Click read more to see if he did.

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May 26, 2009

Em, Where Have You Been?!?!

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 6:27 pm

If you have been wondering where Eminem has been the past four years, I have the answer.

High School, fool.

MTV followed him for the intense trip and filmed it all. The video is after the break.

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May 2, 2009

Eminem’s New Music Video And… Viral Marketing?

Filed under: entertainment, music — Tags: , , , , , — Zack C. @ 9:26 pm

This is the new video for Eminem’s brand new song “3 A.M.” This is the uncensored version and even though it is not at all heavy on language… it is pretty violent for a music video. I would not suggest letting your kids watch this. There is some dismemberment and a whole lotta blood. But it gets even crazier…

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March 20, 2009

NINJA 2009 Site Up!

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 1:32 pm

No… this has nothing to do with Ninjas. By NINJA 2009 I mean the Nine Inch Nails/Jane’s Addiction 2009 tour. Their site has some real cool stuff… and closely guarded secrets that haven’t been revealed… until now…
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February 16, 2009

“It’s easy to do, just follow these steps…” Incredibad Review

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 7:18 pm

The time has finally come. The Lonely Island, AKA The Dudes, AKA Andy Samburg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone, has released their debut album, entitled Incredibad. It not only has your favorite SNL Digital Short songs, like “Lazy Sunday” and “Dick In A Box”, it has original songs… which are just as good as the other songs. Let’s start… shall we?

The album starts with the hard-hitting song “Who Said We’re Wack?”, a song about The Dudes trying to figure out who said they were wack. It feels like a gangster rap song… hard-hitting, catchy, and makes you feel like you want to make a mosh pit… somewhat. The simplistic lyrics actually work to the advantage of the song and it clearly deserved the opening spot. It does end somewhat abruptly, but then it leads to the first song with a guest… which is a recurring theme.

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February 13, 2009

How To Get Awesome (And Maybe Rare) CDs Cheap… Other Then eBay

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 6:50 pm

Okay… I am writing this because I want to share with all the other music lovers out there a secret I have… well… it is pretty well known… but… whatever.

I have found out a way to get rare or just awesome CDs for dirt cheap OTHER then eBay. It is… *drumroll* A USED CD STORE! Yeah!

I know you are thinking “Pffff… I knew that!” and most likely you already did… but let me share with you a story.

When I went to NextFest this year (I never reported on that… did I?), I also stopped at a place called “Reckless Records”. It was a used CD/DVD/Vinyl store. I was a bit worried to enter. I mean… here I am… this regular guy going into this hard rock/metal used CD store where I couldn’t be more out of place wearing just a plain white t-shirt. But I went in anyway. While I was looking around… I found some pretty cool stuff. I found “The Slip” and “Ghosts I-IV” by Nine Inch Nails un-opened on vinyl and I was looking for some CDs by them… but none were to be found. People started to come in (I will never forget the fat lady wearing goth makeup and dress like a dominatrix. I swear to god… I am not lying.) and I wasn’t finding anything. I finally found a “New Arrivals” section and looked under the “N’s” in rock. I found two things. “Year Zero” and the “Sin” single… both by Nine Inch Nails… and then it started.

I started going to every used CD store I could… getting anything I didn’t have… I was like old, fat Oprah trying to find a ham sandwich. I sometimes found some cool stuff… singles… EPs… stuff like that. But I really hit paydirt a few days ago… about a week ago actually. I went to a used CD store closer to where I live called to “Disk Replay”. I was looking through the Nine Inch Nails section and found a promo copy of “Things Falling Apart”, which was the remix album for “The Fragile”. Since it was a promo copy… given only to reviewers and not for the public… I got it for $6. Crazy right? The regular version was $6. Wanna know why it was a good deal? Try to find it on eBay. You can’t… right? Oh… you did? Was it less the $50? It wasn’t? I TOLD YOU!

So… the moral is… get off your rear end and listening to your music and go GET your music… you could become rich off of it.

Oh… and Linkin Park fans… click this.

Tell them Zjc1117@linkinpark.com sent ya. Yes… that WHOLE e-mail address… SO MUCH TO TYPE! (Don’t try to send me anything from that… I never check it.)

December 11, 2008

Album Review: “The Final RIOT! Deluxe Edition” by Paramore

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , — Zack C. @ 4:47 pm

Well… on Paramore.net… they asked fans to review the new live album. So I did. Now I am posting my review here… I got the deluxe edition… so you get to hear about all the extra stuff… ENJOY!

DVD:

Awesome. The performance was great. It was recorded in my hometown… so that is some extra awesome points right there. The power the band gave was awesome. They were very energetic and it made it a pleasure to watch. Not once was I wanting it to just be over. Though… some of the visual effects I could of gone without. Most of the time they were cool… sometimes they just got in the way of the show. The documentary was both informative and funny. It is interlaced with the performance very well and it always leaves you wanting more. The special features on the Deluxe Edition… to tell you the truth… were kinda a disappointment. The extra director’s cut footage was kinda smaller then I thought and most of it was just parts in the regular documentary that was elongated to show you all of it… not saying that’s a bad thing… I just thought that maybe… MAYBE there could of been a BIT more… just a TINY bit. But what they had there was awesome. The photo gallery was pretty cool. There were some real nice pictures there set to some real good music. Now… the thing that disappointed me the most out of all the extra stuff… not saying it was bad… it was awesome… was the music video for “Let The Flames Begin”. That is pretty much my favorite Paramore song and I thought it would be really cool to see a music video for it. Then I saw it and realized it was basically what I just finished watching. The live performance of this song was amazing… don’t get me wrong… but I was just kinda expecting more. The thing that bugged me the most about it is how there was almost a time machine effect in it. In one clip… you would see Hayley get down on her knees for the outro… but then the next clip… you will see the same thing happen again… just at a different angle. Now… that is just me being completely honest. Overall though… it was freaking awesome.

CD:

Also awesome. The quality was real good for a live album and all the intros and outros added to the songs live just SCREAMED for a live CD to come out… and it is awesome to be able to have those extra tid-bits of awesomeness in a CD form so you can have it at awesome quality and officially.

Packaging:

When I looked at the case for the Deluxe Edition… right off the bat… I knew it was something special. I pulled out the art book and looked through it… it was awesome. The pictures in there were either artistic… cool… or just plain funny. It looked just like the tour program so you don’t really feel like you were missing out on anything if you got this. The special long case for the CD and DVD really helps keep them safe and non-wiggly. Though… it sometimes is a pain to get the disks out and put them back in without having to worry a bit about scratching them. The laminate was a nice touch… really makes you feel special… but it could of had a better holder. With my OCD… I always have to keep things from CDs where they were… slipcases… extra stuff… pretty much anything. Every time I opened the CD case… or even took it out from the slip case… the laminate would just fall out. But… still… it was some awesome extra stuff.

So all in all… it was awesome. Totally worth the $35. It is/was limited to 5,000 copies… so if you hurry up… you may still be able to grab the deluxe edition. Yeah… I just checked… the deluxe edition is sadly sold out. BUT: the regular edition is selling at Target for $15. It just has the CD and DVD in a regular CD/DVD case. It does come with a regular booklet… but not with the art book.. photo gallery/director’s cut footage/”Let The Flames Begin” music video extras on the DVD… the fake backstage pass… or the special longer packaging.

December 3, 2008

Ranting Time: The Current State of Music and NIN News… You Can Help!

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 7:45 pm

This picture has become somewhat infamous in the eyes of Nine Inch Nails fans everywhere. Now… let me just explain this then I will get to the rant… don’t worry. Today, December 03, 2008, Trent Reznor gave us some sad news on NIN.com. The news was this… there will be a live movie released for the “Lights In The Sky” tour. It would be in 3D in theaters, on DVD and Blu-Ray, it would have been shot on a special tour date that tickets were given away to, and they would of given away tickets to the filming party. Then Trent Reznor met big-bad Interscope records. They are the record company Nine Inch Nails used to be under, and they own the copyrights to all their songs made before “Ghosts I-IV” and after “Pretty Hate Machine”. He approached them to see if he could use those songs in the video, and also for help in production and funding. Well… it seems that Interscope (Yeah… I am not afraid to say your name) had plans of their own. They started messing up all the plans until there was nothing left but a generic DVD. Trent blames himself for not telling them to stop soon enough… and he shouldn’t. There is no reason he should. It’s the record company that should be at fault. So… now we are left with a sad message on NIN.com that was posted by Trent Reznor himself… the unstoppable force… the leader of the march of pigs… admitting defeat. The DVD has been scrapped… and we have TR going into a sort of self-blame stage when he didn’t do anything. THIS is when I start ranting.

Let me start with this: Record Companies are control freaks. They want everything to be radio friendly. They want everything to sound like everything else. They want it to be easy to shove down everyone’s throat through radio and MTV and that crap. They are afraid to take chances. They are afraid that if they take a chance with something new and fresh… that it will flop and they will just end up being screwed over by themselves. But… isn’t making something new the whole reason for making music? Yes, it is. Now, with me being an aspiring musician, this really makes me mad. I make a kind of music that isn’t that much like what you hear on your radio. Instrumental Electronic Rock. Kinda like The Crystal Method and The Prodigy. Now… how can these bands take chances but other bands, like me, or Linkin Park, or even Nine Inch Nails, can’t? How come record companies can’t just leave what these bands made… something unique and a breath of fresh air in a cloud of this toxic gas we call “music” nowadays. I mean… you all love the song “Lollipop” by Lil’ Wayne. Now… I do agree that the beat is pretty cool… but do you even listen to the lyrics? Do you even listen to the lyrics of ANY rap nowadays? It makes no sense! It is nothing but a person rambling on about sex, drugs, and money over a beat. You guys accept this as music? The record companies are knowing you accept this as music and are making millions by recycling the same ideas and beats, just with a different voice… and they know you will buy it. THAT is why they are afraid to make something new. They are afraid that YOU won’t buy it. YOU are the blame here. The record companies are at fault too… but YOU, the listener, that calls the crap that comes out today “music”, are the main reason record companies are afraid to try anything new. YOU are the force that drove Interscope Records to bring down the musical powerhouse Trent Reznor. YOU are ruining all of music. The term “Hip-Hop Is Dead” is being used a lot lately… I disagree. I am pretty sure MUSIC is dead. Everything is exactly the same as what you heard last on your radio. This whole method of getting a message across, of speaking your mind, or just you making awesome sounds you think other people will like, is being polluted by things like MTV and people recycling music like nobodies business. It’s really sad, actually. Music started as such a good art form. It was new. It was a way to get out there and just be like “HEY WORLD! THIS IS WHAT I THINK!” and no one would yell at you for that. Then people became uptight… afraid of what it may become. I mean… you don’t see people protesting against 50 Cent or Lil’ Wayne or Lil’ John for how much sexism and homophobia they have in there songs… but when Eminem says one thing about slapping a woman or uses a homophobic term… you guys go CRAZY! You have protests! You even go to the GOVERNMENT! Yet… you sit down and listen to your 50 Cent and your Lil’ Wayne and your Lil’ John. I have never seen a bigger group of hypocrites in my whole freaking life. You guys just make me sick. I know there are a few of you who don’t apply to this, and I am sorry if I offended you… actually… no… I am not sorry. I don’t care what you think and/or feel. I have the right to say what I want. When you read the word “rant” in the title, you should of known what you were getting into.

So… in closing: YOU are the reason the amazing and unique art form is digging it’s own grave. Thanks for that.

NIN FANS… LISTEN UP! Me and a few other fans are trying to set up a fundraiser to help fund the “Lights In The Sky’ Tour that Nine Inch Nails is taking. They had to cut their tour short because of stupid Interscope Records and we want to help. If we raise $1 or $1,000… it’s still something… and it’s the thought that counts. Let’s come together and prove Nine Inch Nails can never die as long as we are around! I will post more info about it as we get it set up more.

November 16, 2008

Best Unknown Songs, Best Known Bands: Nine Inch Nails

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 9:27 pm

This was bound to happen sooner or later since I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan.

1: “The Big Come Down” off of the album “The Fragile”. This is pretty much the best Nine Inch Nails song ever made in the history of Nine Inch Nails. There is an acoustic guitar at the beginning but it just explodes. The guitar solo is awesome and even awesomer on the “Beside You In Time” DVD… heck… the SONG is better live. I am surprised this was not a single. Just pure amazing. Wow… that was very biased.

2: “And All That Could Have Been” off of the album “Still”. The album “Still” is kinda hard to find in it’s original form. You could find “Still” by itself on NIN.com or you can get it off of iTunes… but the original version… which was on the 2-Disk Limited Edition of Nine Inch Nails’ first live album “And All That Could Have Been”. It has calmer versions of well known Nine Inch Nails and some “The Fragile” B-Sides. “And All That Could Have Been” is a power-house of emotions. THIS is the best song Nine Inch Nails has ever released. It’s so calm and meaningful that it almost sits in the back of your brain as you listen to it… like it isn’t even there… in a good way though. I even fell asleep on a bus to this song. I have never heard a song that is such a masterpiece.

3: “The Downward Spiral” off of the album “The Downward Spiral”. The ending to the story that is being told in the album… it is haunting and yet awesome at the same time. Everything is very calm and almost sleepy until it breaks out… but it is still quiet then… because everything is muffled. Trent’s voice delivers the story of the main characters’ final hour in a creepy undertone that says with you. Pretty much the most important part of The Downward Spiral’s story, you should not over look this song when listening to this album.

Best Unknown Songs by Best Known Bands: The White Stripes

Filed under: music — Tags: , , , , , , — Zack C. @ 3:18 am

Here is where you get to know the best songs by the best bands… the thing is… the best songs are always the hidden gems.

Let’s start with a band I just really got into, The White Stripes

1: “Take Take Take” off of the album “Get Behind Me Satan”. A very unknown song, but one of their best. I talks about Jack meeting a famous person in a bar and how he keeps asking her for stuff, the whole time thinking he is not being greedy. A very simplistic song, just guitar, drums, piano, and vocals. That is basically all their songs but whatever. Panning is a very used effect in this song, as there is even one part where only one line that Jack White says changes speakers about 8 times. Stops very suddenly, but it is just an awesome track.

2: “Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine” off the album “Elephant”. This was the one song that really got me into The White Stripes, as it was in the video game “Skate”. It is a harder song with the guitar blaring and Jack borderline screaming some lines. The drums kicks and snares come hard and fast, like a slap to the face. The guitar solo is also borderline face melting.

3: “Rag and Bone” off the album “Icky Thump”. Yes… it was a single… but it isn’t that well known. This is by far my favorite White Stripes. It is mostly Meg and Jack talking… and it is freaking hilarious. It is calm… but then builds up to very hard with real distorted guitar during the chorus, then calms down again for the talking parts. Just awesome.

If you are a hardcore White Stripes fan… please don’t yell at me for not putting any of their older stuff on.

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