Metal Lungies

Faster than a speeding bullet, able to leap tall buildings within a single bound, and no need for a pick-up line, Superman saves the world time and time again from nefarious villains bent on global domination and/or the destruction of humanity. But when he’s not averting nuclear disaster, plugging dams with giant boulders, or tying bank robbers up with steel beams, what does our favorite not-a-bird not-a-plane superhero do?

Perhaps in his Fortress of Solitude, after a long day’s work of saving humanity yet again, our Man of Steel takes off his cape, pops a bag of popcorn, puts on his noise-cancelling headphones, and flips on his MP3 player (full of legally purchased music). Rhino Records’ Sound of Superman is a refreshing collection of songs, new and old, that might be his playlist. It accompanies the recent film Superman Returns, and much like Brandon Routh, the young man chosen to succeed Christopher Reeves on the big screen as Clark Kent’s alter ego, this soundtrack does very well in paying tribute to another generation of Superman fans as well as defining its own.

Paramore’s acoustic rendition of “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters holds its own very well, without needing the stadium-filling grandeur of the original. The Films’s cover of Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” is a delight for the headphones, and Nightmare of You’s version of the Flaming Lips’ “Waitin’ for a Superman” is another song you might find yourself singing incessently. Plain White T’s, Maxeen and Motion City Soundtrack all put their songwriting skills to use, helping this soundtrack live up to its name.

And for those of you who are still wondering… no, Three Doors Down is not on this album.

-JP

http://www.soundofsuperman.com/
http://supermanreturns.warnerbros.com/

Recent and Upcoming:

June 13, 2006 – Sound of Superman

Tracklisting:

1. The Academy Is… – Superman
2. Plain White T’s – It’s So Easy
3. The Sun – (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman
4. Motion City Soundtrack – The Worst Part
5. The Films – Sunshine Superman
6. Maxeen – Save Me
7. Paramore – My Hero
8. American Hi-Fi – The Rescue
9. The Spill Canvas – Saved
10. Jack’s Mannequin – Meet Me at My Window
11. The Receiving End of Sirens – Superman
12. Royal – Brainiac’s Daughter
13. Sara Routh – You’re Never Gone

The embarrassingly catchy punk pop machine that is Cute Is What We Aim For starts off their debut album with something very few would dare: bare vocals. Sans instruments, drums, or any musical cover, you have six seconds of the honest and somewhat shaky Shaant Hacikyan in front of you, before he steps back under an umbrella of guitar and drums.

This album has a lot of things, and modesty is certainly not one of them. The band offers no apologies for filling their songs to the brim with lyrical complexity – assonance, alliteration, and tons of internal rhyme – case in point, the album title, The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch. Your high school English teacher would be proud.

Few bands would drop lines like “I’m obsessed and stressed with this mess I can’t think of things” for fear of overdoing it, or looking like they took notes at Open Mic Freestyle Friday. But to Cute’s credit, they are persistent and consistent enough that they actually sound like they know what they’re doing.

The lack of modesty goes hand in hand with the abundance of narcissism and self-admiration. It is best summed up by the intro to one of their songs: “I’ve got the gift of one-liners.” If that doesn’t shout SELF-INVOLVED, please adjust your sets.

Content aside, the delivery is adorned with clean low-distortion guitars, well-timed hooks, and synth-friendly versolos (when a lead guitar doesn’t do a solo, but does that repetitive, distinguishable arpeggio over a verse… okay, I just made that term up).

Curiously, there has been plenty of negative press surrounding this band, with accusations of heavy post-production on this exact album (Auto-tune Works Wonders!) and large funds from Daddy pushing the success and signing of this band to Fueled By Ramen. But bad press is good press, and if they can do it on stage as well as in the studio, then to hell with the critics.

-JP

http://www.cuteiswhatweaimfor.com/
http://myspace.com/cuteiswhatweaimfor/

Recent and Upcoming:

June 20, 2006 – The Same Old Blood Rush With A New Touch

In a world filled with Fall Out Boy fifty-word-minimum-essay song titles, you still have to give it up to Escape The Fate for the first track on their debut EP There’s No Sympathy For The Dead, entitled “Dragging Dead Bodies in Blue Bags Up Really Long Hills.” So relax critics, this is a not a serious metal/hardcore band producing a concept album using blood-curdling guttural screams to convey their feelings on the idea of death. And honestly, if you’re looking for deep lyrical meaning in metal and hardcore, you might looking in the wrong place. Metalheads, please correct me on this one.

Undoubtedly, the accessibility of ETF’s sound is both their strength and weakness. When a new band provides the goods, fans either embrace it, proclaiming their eternal love for them, or reject it, citing buzz words such as “sellout”, “mainstream”, or “I don’t listen to that emo crap!”. More and more people are paying attention to record labels too, and what they stand for. In ETF’s case, Epitaph, the label started by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz, has a long history of punk and punk rock acts, and is certainly a difficult label to live up to.

But whatever the verdict, the EP is full of busy vocal arrangements (singing, screaming, sing-screaming, and layering up the butt), tempo changes, double bass drumkick action, and when the guitars calm down enough, some pretty decent soloing. There is never a dull moment on this album, and if there is, you are probably too busy thinking about how you are really too good for this album.

Folks, the key is to not take them too seriously and enjoy the music, if you do in the slightest bit. Honestly they sound completely silly on their website, “‘I don’t wanna come off like an asshole,’ says outspoken Ronnie, ‘but we’re gonna be that change in music. I have a vision. I want people to have fun, put their fists in the air.'” I mean that’s not exactly going down in Bartlett’s, but whatever. Save the drama for your mama!

-JP

http://www.escapethefate.com/
http://myspace.com/escapethefate/

Recent and Upcoming:

Sept 26, 2006 – Dying Is Your Latest Fashion
May 23, 2006 – There’s No Sympathy For The Dead (EP)

So a deadly of combination of Association basketball (don’t worry TNT is on in the background, if someone gets nutted in the eye ill see it) and computer crashes meant that an update by yours truly has been a while coming…so here we go with the only thing you need on the internets!

So the aforementioned NBA playoffs are in full effect and I think its time I come out with my predictions/rambles of this round….

He cant be 100% white?!?!?

In the semifinal series that is going to be probably the more interesting of the 2 in the east (Thanks Shaq!) due to some brawl you might have seen 89743924 replays off on various media outlets that involved Ron Artest, you’d think this series will have some violent shit popping off. I don’t think it will, instead I think as shown tonight with Jeff Foster going the fuck off (on the court) the Pacers will prevail in the end with some clutch shooting from Reggie. The thing about the Pistons is while they are very deep, and they are shooting the 3 way too much when they don’t need too… and Ben Wallace’s FT shooting? Why doesn’t he get the same heat as Shaq? Why doesn’t the CL come with a clutch? Also the antics of that lovable Stephen Jackson simply need to last as long as possible, he is probably one of the gulliest players in the league hands down…. case and point….

Stephen Jackson=Preparing to clap (his hands)?
gully.

I still can’t believe B-Hay was robbed of the defensive player of the year award.

Now the other Eastern Conference series is the Wizroids Vs. Miami Heat, now the Wiz are down 2-0 in the series and since they aren’t playing the Chi Bulls there is no reason for optimism. The only healthy big men left are Michael Ruffin and Brend(a/on) Haywood (aka B-Hay), they are desperate enough that the players almost tried to bring back an up and coming team cancer, Kwame Brown. Shit is looking very dire but considering they made the 2nd round is pretty damn incredible. Actually the Wiz have a chance… if Shaq loses a limb. Oh yea, Wade too.

It must be a French thing.

In the wild west the Sonics are playing the Spurs… with Ray-Ray and Radmanovic banged up, there isn’t much to say other than “series over”. Le Francis Basketball revolution lives to see another round.

I don’t think he is thinking about handing hugs out.

In the 2nd series of the West its the Mavs vs. Suns, now this is probably the best match up in the whole playoffs the uber-high flying Suns against the more defensive but still high-flying Dallas Mavericks. I think this series will pretty much result in high scoring shoot-outs all the way to game 7. Two days ago I would’ve picked the Mavs.. this was before Dampier and Nowitzki had some sissy fight in the media and Avery Johnson fell on his ass during a game (See picture dummy).

On non-playoff NBA news, was Charles Barkley and his airness bumping and grinding in a Las Vegas club to a Beyonce track??? Looks like it to me. 😮

In some other sports news ish famous Red Neck/Baseball player John Rocker said he wants a clean start as a pitcher, and today he goes on to compare himself to Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. I hope the White power alliance doesn’t revoke his membership. But on a serious note how the hell are you gonna compare racist/ignorant behavior that landed you in the place you are in to 2 pioneers who were put with treatment they didn’t deserve at all what so ever? Is he frustrated that he has an ERA over 15 in some beer baseball league? boo hoo…. I hope this guy and his newly grown mullet disappear soon.

NO HOMO!!!!!!
A sports crazyness wrapup wouldn’t be the same without that NFL wackiness..ladies and gentleman Onterrio Smith of the Vikings was caught with:

A search of a bag Smith was carrying April 21 turned up several vials of dried urine and a device called “The Original Whizzinator,” which includes a fake penis, bladder and athletic supporter.

He claims he was taking it to give to his Cousin.. Cheap bastard can’t even provide the joys of the Whizzinator for the whole Smith family.

Mr Dunn might not but I APPRECIATE THE CUTE XMAS OUTFITS.

Looks like after a law passed in Texas shaking the goods yo mama gave you as cheerleader is illegal (aka teh police).

He complained of cheerleaders “shaking their behinds, breaking it down,” but the proposal does not define what constitutes suggestive cheering.

What about pyramids? If that shit is outlawed all perverted bottom of the pyramid participant cheerleaders and myself will riot. I guess the house of representative is homo in Texas.

Based on this footage, I’m surprised Mike Tyson didn’t kill anyone in the ring from his punches.

In some other fucked up news in case you haven’t heard Chappelle’s Show season 3 is on hold indefinitely and rumors of swirling. Everything from extensive partying to excessive drug use, to creative clashes are being held as the reason behind all this bullshit, well he is fucking rich bitch! I seriously hope shit comes back in top form soon because it is my favorite show bar-non. Oh yea I bet all those fucking bandwagoners yelling RICK JAMES BITCH!! YEAHHHH!!!! at him probably contributed, fucking crackers! I mean even some politician named Rick James is bitching at Chappelle for having his campaign signs being stolen.

Fish check 1,2,1,2 Fish check 1,2,1,2

Tom Green is dropping a rap album. The sad thing is I will prolly cop it cuz he is top 5 dead or alive (of Canadian rappers) YESSSS SURRRRRRR.

How the mighty have fallen….from being at the throne of the Roc empire to having artist like MOP and Camron running from you like you are contaminated. Dame Dash and his “Music Group” is getting dropped by Universal, the “music group” being a 2 man roster consisting of an incarcerated man and a dead man.
Speaking of Camron, Jim Jones now holds a fucking executive position…seriously who needs college?

Shit isn’t much better for another fallen rap “mogul”, Master P…dude cant even get on an R&B album no mo’. ughhhhhhh. Plus, there is no gentle C-Murder shoulder to cry on at the moment.

Now, I’ve been *cough* playing the new Common album nonstop shit is definitely at the top of my list so far 2005, and you have to cop it, preorder it, jack it, do whatever just get it. But I don’t understand wtf is going on with the cover for his mixtape, he is having a jolly good time in his outfit while the hood kids are throwing paper airplanes.. *METAL LUNGIES APPROVED*

DMX and RZA should make a callabo cut on their baby mama drama.

Yup… That’s a tattoo of a butterfly The Game got on his face…I would’ve gotten a swan myself. In an interview on allhiphop he even mentions it with some phony story to go along with it. He also tries to weasel out by saying his lyrics don’t refer to any incidents he had in DC but rather to million man march… which occurred only 10+ years ago. He also pretty much says he is tossin Mya’s ass on daily basis, which after seeing the new video doesn’t surprise me.. just a “cameo” my ass.  He also mentions he is coming out with his own toilet paper brand, cause even bloods and crips take dumps. Hate it or love it indeed.

They make such a cute couple.

For the rock portion of ML, there is a review of the new Nine Inch Nails album.. couldn’t have said better myself.

You know as always I gotta touch on what’s poppin the district.. well after drinking lots of kool-aid the metro board of governors have decided to pimp their (metro) cars.

Because you don’t see Wackarnolds ads anywhere else.

To get back on the good side of the consumer world Wendy’s is offering free frosties this weekend…The whole Metal Lungies family can now eat. Don’t forget the blessings. If that’s not up your alley cop the PopePez.

Track Down your favorite Child actors like fools from The Little Rascals here. That is if they are still alive.

PSA to parents, don’t get this clown for your child’s birthdays, though for a transsexual orgy your planning looks like he fits the bill.

I wish all suggestions could be like the ones Amazon provides.

You might have heard Laura Bush crack some jokes at some White House press cracka dinner… well this shit proves that she also has some dirty jokes…. purr…

This can be the foundation of MTV Cribs: Trailer Park edition.

This is the CD I’m gonna buy to bump in the whip, don’t hate, congratulate.

Track of the day: Freeway-Where You Been…. A Scott Storch + ?uestlove beat makes Freeway spit some bonkers shit.

everything hurts… out.

Note: This is from a movie and not from his actual court case.

Beanie Sigel, Beck, Will Smith are all in stores today.. the first 2 are Djlethal01 approved, but the last one is Skillz approved.
The Beanie Sigel is a very solid album except for the rehashes of old tracks such as Its On and the Killa Cam callabo Wanted (on the run) (sorry Mark), My favorite tracks are Feel It In The Air on which Beanie says some of the truest shit he has ever spit and One Shot Deal which has a very dope Redman verse. The new video for Don’t Stop is out.
A track which seems to have a mediocre neptunes beat that is listenable but could have been better. Note: ODB looks cracked up like whoa (RIP).
The Beck CD is just a damn good listen from start to end, it flows perfectly.

In some sad news Johnny Cochran died, for those that don’t know he led the real dream team to the Olympics…er victory in the Orenthal trial, while he robbed us of Free OJ t-shirts he was one crafty lawyer. RIP.

Today I came across a very nice video that reminded me a very important thing, never upset Mike Tyson..and cot damn what a monster he was inside the ring. This reminded me of this finding too…

The terrifying power Tyson, 35, generates with his fists has been studied by one of our top sports scientists.

Dr Matthew Pain, a lecturer in sports biomechanics at Loughborough University, has investigated the force behind Tyson’s punches, as well as the kind of damage that taking repeated blows can inflict.

His research has demonstrated that, if Lewis is caught clean by Iron Mike, the champion will have to withstand a force the equivalent of being involved in a 50mph car crash.

Tyson can deliver a blow which possesses the same weight as a 16lb sledgehammer being swung at 35mph.

Just one has the potential to knock out and hospitalise the average man.

In fact, the power of Tyson’s KO punch has an 85 per cent chance of giving an opponent severe brain damage. It is great enough to bust any bone in the average human skull.

A crazy cut called 5 Deadly Venoms dropped featuring Ghostface, Kool G, Lord Tariq, Raekwon and Kane.

Speaking of Rae, a dope piece is featured on the making of his classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx album, its a lengthy read but a cot damn good one for any Wu/Rae fan. Props to Roaches over at okayplayer.

Make Em say ughhhhhhhh… Master P and Silk were arrested near the UCAL campus for having unregistered guns, You gotta love (biological) brothers who role together. I don’t know whats more scary, that they were near a university or that they had guns. I hope this doesn’t affect Lil Romeo’s nickelodeon gig, I would be devastated.

Remember last summer when Shyne was on top of the world, optimism was in the air, he had his own label, an album out, and he would probably be out of jail. Well have things changed since, Def Jam isn’t promoting him anymore and he might get dropped, and now even his assets have been frozen. A damn shame, I really hope Puff reaches out to him somehow when he gets out because if it wasn’t Puffy backstabbing ass Shyne wouldn’t be in this situation, for more info peep the Village Voice articles from the trials.

I bet even God is jealous.

Now you might remember from a few weeks ago we mentioned Brian “Head” Welch, who has not only left the band Korn, got baptized in Israel, then said some nonsense in a letter to 50 Cent through the media, well.. He isn’t done. After getting no response from 50 he wrote a second letter which includes some Rebel Squad mixtape worthy bars…

My little boy/ Bow your head in shame/ You’ve disgraced your father’s name now/ It’s time for you to lose,” the lyrics read in part. “Your little toys/ Won’t save you from shot 10/ Without me you will not win, no/ I swear you’ll lose

I kid you not. He even goes on to invite to fly 50 out for popcorn. Now wtf happened to his guy that made him go from a crazy ass band to Korn to him believing he is a messenger of God?? I really hope 50 responds in some way.

New Foxy Brown produced by Just Blaze with a foxy lady sample!! Must Hear.

There is a good interview with Sway & King Tech of the world famous Wake Up Show. After hearing the sampler from their website, the album which drops on May 24th- I am highly anticipating.

Speaking of highly anticipated, monkey yesterday mentioned the XXL rating Common got for his new album, well I cant wait for that shit either when it drops in June/May, as there is no concrete date for it yet, but the track listings are out. Credit: OKP forums.

1. BE
2. The Corner f/ The Last Poets
3. Go
4. Faithful f/ Bilal & John Legend
5. Testify
6. Love Is
7. Chi City
8. The Food
9. Real People
10. They Say f/ Kanye West & John Legend
11. It’s Your World/Pop’s Reprise f/ Bilal

(produced by Kanye West, except 6 & 11 produced by Jay Dee)

It looks like Nas in all likely hood wont be replying to 50, which is a shame because he had the biggest chance to put shit into place.

If you missed it on Sunday, Jadakiss got Punk’d, IMO it was very well done and Jadakiss acted exactly in real life like you would expect him, ill go ahead and label this *classic* material.

Apparently rockin an Ipod can be a danger to your health, as the ipod jackings are on a rise in NYC. Simple solution don’t rock the attention-whoring white headphones or if that’s not a possibility have the waste band lineup (like my mans Zack do) be a celly, ipod and a bitty slug. No comment on my preferred method.

Hillary Swank was fined for bringing in an apple & orange into New Zeeland, wtf would they do if u brought some 9 millys?

A friend of mine pointed out that since Fox wont be airing anymore of the madly-underrated show “My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss”, they have at least put up episodes 6-10 on their website, even if you haven’t watched the show, the comedy of the show is golden and I recommend you should check it out.

If you truly got dough to spare, then this is the wallet for you.

Before I dip out, good to see Mali running their soccer team Saddam Iraqi Olypmic Committee style.

Rumor: Chad Johnson banging Trina? pull over!

www.metallungies.com coming at you soon!!
Out. 3 days till Sin City.