Category Archives: Rants
Shuffled be thy metal
As a metalhead with audiophile leanings, I resisted the move to a portable digital listening device for as long as possible, preferring to lug around my top of the range cassette Walkman or CD player, but time catches up with us all.
In November 2006, I purchased a second generation iPod Shuffle, it has had a profound effect on me. There is an episode of ‘Family Guy’ where Peter gets a soundtrack to his life, the Shuffle has given me the same gift.
Like most of us, I have an extensive CD collection, but listening to the Shuffle for 9 hours per day, 5 days per week, has allowed me to data-mine my collection like never before. Hidden gems languishing on the shelf since time immemorial now see the light of day at least 3 times per year! Marvellous.
Although it is possible to squeeze 240+ tracks onto this Shuffle, don’t – the sound quality is so bad you’re better off whistling a jaunty tune. I converted a track from CD into all the available options the Shuffle can handle, then listened intently.
Verdict: if you select a bit rate of 320Kbps with a sample rate of 44.1Khz and a format of AAC, then the converted music is very listenable, although now the Shuffle will only hold approx 100 tracks – that’s still 7 hours worth of listening so I find it perfect for my working day. Bastards insist on talking to me or phoning me, so although I wear my device for 9 hours per day, I only manage about 7 hours of listening.
And talking of sound quality don’t even bother to unwrap the Apple earbuds which come with the Shuffle, rather use them as a bolas to bring down small rodents or simply consign them to the nearest bin. Rubbish. For £20 I bought a pair of Sennheiser PMX 60’s, the ultimate in comfortable good quality streetwear earphones, in fact I’m now on my 3rd pair. Metal never sounded so good.
Dave appreciation rant
Hiya folks,
I’ve been on quite a break now, due to all but good reasons, and I felt I should chime in. The subject? Good ol’ Dave. No. Not the Grohl one. The other one. Yeah, that’s right, ginger Dave.
I’m perfectly aware that Alex has posted news bits about Dave’s health. Yeah, he’s recovering after a neck surgery that involved three vertebral discs (read the details on Blabbermouth. Or, better still, don’t, because that’s already old news). The point is that the man himself blamed his injury on headbanging. Now, remember that Dave has just turned 50 recently. Put “50” and “headbanging” in the same sentence and… you get something that Papa Het has forgotten to do for a good 23 years. Metal, that is.
(Pictured above: Metal. Not by numbers)
If you didn’t hear yet the measly alternative that Dave counters Lulu with, hit the jump, but be prepared for a non-intellectual borefest that cannot hold a candle to the deep-thinking behemoth that “The View” is.
More Lulu up your ass
Did you feel like I felt upon hearing ‘The View’ from Metallica & Lou Reed love-child album? Did you feel the cringe-worthy sadness when you realized that this piece of crap was the single of the new Metallica album? And did you laugh at the countless “I am the table” memes that have smothered the internet ever since its release?
Well, if you hated that, then you will most likely hate the rest of this post. Lou Reed himself has posted a few of the lyrics, that we will be laughing at treated to on the new album. Be warned, though: These lyrics are awful, simply awful. When I heard ‘The View,’ I honestly tried to look at its good points (considering it is a Metallica release, after all), but I simply could not defend that crap!
Anyway, if you want to read some of the new lyrics for the song “Pumping Blood”, including such classic lines as “Waggle my ass like a dark prostitute,” “Oh, ah, ah, ah Jack I beseech you,” and “Like a colored mans dick,” make if the jump. If not, continue watching that porn in the second tab. I got you.
Reminder: One week left of our awesome giveaway
Since news is really really slow today, might as well whore out our ongoing giveaway, just in case you haven’t seen the link on the right.
We’re giving away five awesome Death Grip t-shirts, with the design you see above. More details (and the entry form) right here, baby.
All you have to do to enter is know how to write, so you can fill in your info, and that’s about it. Five random winners will be selected, and five awesome t-shirts will be sent their way, courtesy of Death Grip Clothing.
Good luck!
Velvet Revolver – The search continues
Velvet Revolver are one step closer to finding a new singer (just 20949,09494 steps to go!). The band responsible for terrible GnR rip-off songs have been searching for a singer to join their band for three years.
Apparently, Slash and Duff have been auditioning possible vocalists since Scott Weiland left in 2008. However, a few weeks ago, the band performed a number of songs together in New York — including their only good song ‘Slither,’ with Jimmy Gnecco, vocalist for the band Ours. Who the hell are Ours? Maybe it was meant to be used in the context of “Our(s) singer is leaving to join Guns N’ Poses. If we let him leave, then we might get popular!”
Speaking to Noisecreep, Duff stated:
“None of us have really tried [to find anyone] in the last few years. We’ve all been busy with other things. I think once that whole thing went down with Scott, we thought we’d find a guy right away. Once a few months went by, it was like, ‘Oh fuck.’“
I hope they do get a new singer. Maybe then Kerrang won’t write stories about them anymore! The only reason I read Kerrang, by the way, is because the 12 year old emo girl I abducted reads it, too. See, I’m not deranged.
