Well, here's another sign that hip hop is pretty much fucked. It was bad enough when Guru insisted on going off with the seemingly exceedingly wack Solar (not to be confused with the exceedingly French MC Solaar) but to hear that Guru had passed a week or so ago from a heart attack and that he had been fighting cancer previous to that was even more disheartening.
As a lover of most things comedy and the lion's share of that which is metal, it's been pretty awesome that there are so many avenues to enjoy both in recent years. That Metal Show is hands down the best show on TV, and while Posehn doesn't do purely metal material in his stand-up, he's the only one I've ever heard that does his own death metal songs. While I believe Posehn hasn't gone all Sam Kinison yet and started touring with a backing band, there are two metal chestnuts on Fart and Wiener Jokes. I'm sure there are a bunch of Richard Christys of tomorrow in the universe making music that is burning up the blogosphere, but few could gather the creepily ubiquitous Scott Ian along with a bunch of other luminaries like Mark Morton, John Tempesta and Jamey Jasta comprises part of the backing band for the two metal tracks. As much as I enjoy all of the parties involved, I will still label the cover of the Kenny Rogers chestnut The Gambler as questionable. That said, I would hope that you came first for the comedy, which is pretty damn funny. The title is no misnomer, there are both fart and wiener jokes herein, as well as bits about Slayer, masturbating and Kate Beckinsale. The other metal song on is More Metal Than You, wherein Posehn rightfully claims same. Again, not anything I'm going to throw in heavy rotation, but a respectable metal effort. The comedy, on the other hand, is pretty damn aces. If you're metal, you'll be over the moon. Get your fair share of Fart and Wiener Jokes from Relapse, along with some pretty cool pre-order packages. Here's a link.
I enjoy David Cross stand-up a lot, but it's tempered with a number of times I've interacted with or been around him where he almost universally seemed like a grade A douche. More often that not it just seemed to be for the sake of being a douche. You would think that a guy who was into his dog and Superchunk would be fun to be around at least once, but I've rarely found it to be the case. Whatever, I'm no day at the beach my own self and last time I checked I don't have a twenty-something actress girlfriend or any TV presence, nor am I releasing my second CD on Sub Pop. David Cross is doing all these things and releasing Bigger and Blackerer in a triumverate of incarnations to boot. As I understand, there is also a companion DVD of the same name that shares a small amount of the same material and a special on some weird pay cable channel I've never heard of. All of the material is good, taken from two back to back sets in Boston and while it's perhaps not as great as Shut Up! or It's Not Funny, it's still pretty entertaining. Cross skewers health care reformers, Diantetics and Mormonism, but also covers drug abuse, date rape and shitting ones self in public, so obviously Bigger and Blackerer should be on your short list of gifts for Mom on Mother's Day. Beat the rush and pick up Bigger and Blackerer here from your friends at Sub Pop.
Drive By Truckers are pretty funny. They tour heavily and are forever proclaiming that they'll be taking some time off after their next release. Patterson is saying it again, yet DBT are releasing not one, but two, band records this year as well as solo records from Patterson and Cooley. That'll keep them at home.
While I was not exactly relishing the passing of another year, the prospect of two Hold Steady shows on my birthday lessened the sting a bit. It was going to do nothing for my hangover the next day, but the prospect of doubling up while accompanied by the Brothers Johnson was more than appealing. In the two days between snagging tickets and the show taking place, word came down the pike that we'd be getting Stephen and Annie at the Colonial Williamsburg show to boot. It was obvious that it was, as the kids say, on.
The rumored Hold Steady shows had taken precedence as I approached what I considered my own personal birthday weekend. While that is somewhat selfish (and with apologies to Sizzla, Brandon So Hideous, and my cousin Tom) I rarely indulge in such things, so others of the prospectively offended demographic are invited to litigate acccordingly. As said weekend approached, I happened to realize that the good folk of Wussy were passing through for another one of what is becoming regular Cake Shop shows.
I've been a Duck Down guy since Black Moon jumped off. The house that Dru Ha and Buck built went through a bit of a fallow phase in the aftermath of their ill-fated union with Nervous, but have rallied hard since the turn of the century. Black Moon are in some semblance of an active period, as are Smif N' Wessum and Heltah Skeltah and new jacks like Kidz In The Hall and Torae have shown the new generation of Duck Down can hold their own. The standout of the crew in recent years has been Sean Price, who has essentially started over as an artist using his government. 
With the new RVIVR record just out, it seems prudent to do some clean-up on the older RVIVR stuff. This has been out for a bit, but you're not going to see JS-NYC ignoring one of their releases on my watch, especially one as good as Derailer. 
This show came courtesy of Ian Dickson and Hardcore Gig Volume, one of many of the bumper crop of shows that the warm weather has brought NYCward. Personally, I was in it for No Friends. I've liked the first two releases and have been known to Face The Waste on occasion, plus Bruar Falls is close and small enough to make it fun, so on the bike I went. I got there as Night Birds were kicking things off. They feature Brian Gorsenger of the now-defunct Psyched To Die on vocals as well as Joey Erg on bass to ruin your average bass player's day. The Birds brought it, ripping through six or seven tunes and closing with Paranoid Time. Nice. I'm definitely going to try harder to see Night Birds in the future. 
I was never the hugest fan of 1.6 Band back in the day. I suspect it was mostly that they weren't Beyond, who I was pretty queer for. Fast forward too many years to my unexpected attendance and subsequent enjoyment of their reunion show at Cake Shop. I appropriated the discography soon after byt really figured that they'd be more of a reference part of the JS-NYC iTunes than anything.
And there was much rejoicing. This is the video for the new single, "What I Be On", assumably off a full-length coming soon. This would not be the song to tune in for if you had been turned off previously by Devin and/or his predeliction for referencing weed, women or his nuts. In small wins for readers in that small population, there are no references to boo-booin. For the greater populace, this is fucking great. Why Devin isn't Snoop huge, I'll never comprehend. Devin is in NYC at the Knit on Thursday with his Coughee Brothers crew. He can actually rhyme live and puts on a decent show, so don't be afraid to pony up your hard-earned cash. Get tickets here and stay tuned to JS-NYC for news on the new record.
Hey Kids:
It's nice to see that Spring has pretty much sprung in NYC. It just makes it all around that much easier to get on the bike and see shows in Brooklyn without rain or snow to foster laziness. That said, I would walk to Brooklyn to see The Dopamines. They were one of the best bands at last year's Insubordination Fest, but I was looking forward to seeing them in a little smaller room, especially since I have been able to get all their stuff. 
