Song Of The Day: Braveheart - Pipes & Pints

Reaching to my Celtic roots with bagpipes and my rock n roll soul with roaring guitars and thunderous beats, Pipes & Pints is one of my new favorite bands. Hailing from the Czech Republic with ties to California via vocalist Mike House, the way they describe their sound (via their Facebook) is "Melodical punkrock music mixed with sound of highland bagpipes, influenced by infinite portion of punk, rock, folk, bagpipe music, country and rock'n'roll."

This track is off their 2009 debut album, Until We Die. They are currently touring Europe as well as working toward putting together their lastest album. 

Pipes & Pints Official Facebook

Song Of The Day - Gone Til November - Wyclef Jean

This, the third single off Wyclef's (the Fugees) solo album The Carnival, features the New York Philharmonic orchestra in the orchestral accompaniment which was arranged and conducted by Sonny Kompanek as well as a cameo by Bob Dylan when he sings the verse "I'm knockin on heaven's door like I'm Bob Dylan." 

Song of the Day - Golden Age - Def Tech

And today's song is... Golden Age by Def Tech. I've got a special love for Def Tech - somehow, their music just fills me up with a happy floaty feeling. Which, by the way, is a feeling you don't often encounter if your hobby is writing depressing lyrics about death, destruction and annihilation... oh, right, getting way off topic here. In any case, this is a great song, and somewhat recent at that.

Song of the Day - HellHounds - Dante

What do you know, I'm back folks. Following a flood of biblical proportions in the studio, of course. In any case, I'd like to bring you guys a little something that floated up in my Youtube suggestions today: Hellhounds, by Dante. 

Song Of The Day - Election Day - Arcadia

The band Arcadia was formed in 1985 by Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon, drummer Roger Taylor, and keyboardist Nick Rhodes while the other two members - bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor - formed their side project The Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer. Their album, So Red the Rose, peaked the U.S. charts at #23, while the single "Election Day" peaked at #6. Other contributors to the album include Herbie Hancock, David Gilmore (Pink Floyd), Sting (The Police), and Grace Jones, who is heard in the speaking portions of this track.

Song of the Day - A-THUG & DJ SPACE KID - Block Hustlers feat. HEAVY SMOKER, BLACK & TOP

I've never seen a PV for a song off a mixtape so this was really unique and EillyHustleHard can make some amazing videos. The video features fellow rappers HEAVY SMOKER, BLACK and TOP, I believe all are from the same hood. The video also features two beautiful young ladies named Yoshiko and Nozomi Ills. Not to leave him out this was produced by JoE IRoN

A-THUG has a new mixtape mixed by DJ SPACE KID that comes out tomorrow called HEAT CITY.

You can pick it up at HMV and Jetset Records (Have to wait until it's available they don't do overseas preorders) if you live overseas.

A-THUG - Twitter

DJ SPACE KID - Twitter

HEAVY SMOKER - Twitter

Dancer Yoshiko - Twitter

EillyHustleHard - Twitter

JoE IRoN - Twitter

Song Of The Day - In This River - Black Label Society

Zakk Wylde (Ozzy, Black Label Society) composed this song for the album Mafia, yet made it a tribute to his friend "Dimebag" Darrell Abbot (Pantera, Damageplan) after his shooting death on a concert stage in 2004. 

In light of the events in Colorado, it seems to hold the feeling, the color of the mood of the country at this time.

Enjoy....

Song of the Day - Norra el Norra - Orphaned Land

We have previously featured Orphaned Land on this site, and the fact is, we love their music. So, today, we are featuring another of their songs as song of the day. This time, it is Norra el Norra, from the album Mabool.

Yuki, Versailles drummer, confirms hiatus

From his  official blog:

Notification of hiatus from Versailles

Dear our loyal fans and supporters in the world,

Versailles is going to take a hiatus at the end of 2012. In the 5th
anniversary year for us, we have kept seeking for our new musical
direction to enter a higher stage of Versailles. During that process
of discovering a new musical direction, we felt strong need and desire
to step outside of the band to inspire each of us to be a better
musician. This hiatus is for focusing on each member’s own
musicability that we will definitely bring all our new inputs to
Versailles when we are ready to be back together.

Japanese VK Band Versailles Announces Suspension Of Activities

After only five years of performing, the band released this statement, as well as Kamijo posting it on his Twitter: 

Song Of The Day - Stratovarius - Land Of Ice & Snow

Stratovarius formed in Finland in 1982 and since then has been one of the powerhouses of symphonic metal. 2011 saws their album Elysium reach #1 on the Finnish charts, after which they placed a call on their Facebook page looking for a new drummer. It was Rolf Pilve that answered the call and made the cut, making him the youngest member of the band at only 24. 

Interview & Free Music: Koboloris

 Today, we have a special treat for everyone! This is our 100th blog post - on the 2-month anniversary of our founding. It is a big anniversary for all of us and we are delighted to bring you guys an interview with the rising stars of British black metal - Koboloris from Leeds!! So, read on for more info on these guys, as well as a FREE DOWNLOAD!

RIP Jon Lord Song of the Day - Child in Time - Deep Purple

So, as we all know, I'm a big fan of classic rock. Imagine my joy today, when I signed onto Twitter and saw Deep Purple trending.... well, until I actually clicked on it and found out Jon Lord died. Jon Lord had been a co-founder of Deep Purple, and a legendary keyboardist. His playing gave the band's music its unique quality - I understand, when Deep Purple debuted, it wasn't so common to integrate keyboards as part of a band's sound. 

Steady & Co.

In 2001, members from the bands Skebo King, Rip Slyme, and Dragon Ash, combined forces to make one of Japan's most epic Hip Hop groups of all time, Steady & Co.

Steady & Co. consists of 4 members:

Kenji Furuya (Dragon Ash)

Bots (Dragon Ash)

Ilmari (Rip Slyme)

Shigeo (Skebo King)

The band's only major release was in 2001, an album titled "Chambers." The Chambers album is packed from front to back with awesome songs, as to be expected from Japan's 2001 Hip Hop dream team.

Song of the Day - Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels

"The Devil went down to Georgia
He was lookin' for a soul to steal
He was in a bind 'cause he was way behind
And he was willin' to make a deal"

Come on, any song that starts like this, cannot be anything but awesome - which is why this is our song of the day today! 

Song Of The Day - Children Of The Sun - Billy Thorpe

Released as the title track from the album in 1979, this song still resonates well - the beat, the vocals, the whole feel of the piece being slightly ahead of its time. Thorpe is credited on this album as a jack of all trades -    guitars (lead, bass, rhythm), vocals, record producer, sound engineer, keyboards, synthesizer, sound mixing and harmonica.

Song of the Day - SHINGO☆西成 - 大阪Up Pro.By DJ Fuku PV

This just came out, a PV of a song off of SHINGO☆西成's new album that comes out the 18. It is SO energetic and has just about every hip hop and reggae person in it from Osaka! Very cool and different video, SHINGO☆西成 has yet another hit right here.

Nobuaki Kaneko's New JDrama - VISION

Nobuaki Kaneko, the drummer to the popular Nirvana-esque Japanese garage punk band RIZE, finds himself behind the camera once again in this summer's new police drama- Vision.

Nobuaki Kaneko (NK) has been a drummer his entire life. When he was 17 years old, he created the (now famous) band RIZE with his lifelong friend, Jesse McFaddin. RIZE has gone on to release 7 major full length albums, spanning the genres of Rock, Reggae, Rap, Punk, and JPop. It is also rumored that RIZE will release a new album in 2012 (or early 2013), but the release date has not yet been confirmed.

In Vision, NK plays the role of the lead character Kazuma, a cop who frequently finds himself on the wrong side of the law. In episode 1 - Awakening, the plot reveals that Rena, the lead actress, thinks she is being followed by a ghost. I won't spoil anything though, so if you want to find out what happens in this summer's hottest JDrama, head over to Crunchy Roll and check out the first two episodes.

Fade - 天 TEN

Fade's follow up to Kings Of Dawn - appropriately called 天 TEN as 2012 marks the band's tenth year together - begins with the "In The End," a tune that will have one head banging until the last note.

And that's just the beginning of this powerhouse CD.

REVIEW - Young Hastle - Can't Knock the Hastle

The other day I bought Young Hastle's new album off of iTunes and have been listening to it, well somewhat constantly or at least a lot every day. I've been a fan of Mr.Hastle for a while and was very excited for this new album, especially with all the great features and producers on it and the single Spell My Name Right pointed towards greatness as a whole. Read on to find out if you can in fact, Knock the Hastle.

FIREBALL (Japanese Reggae)

The Japanese reggae scene has seen an explosion of talent in recent years. From Ryo the Skywalker to 卍Line, and Def Tech, the Japanese music scene continues to embrace the irie culture. One of my personal favorite Japanese reggae bands is FIREBALL.

FIREBALL consists of four members:

CRISS

TRUTHFUL 

CHOZEN LEE 

JUN4SHOT

If you see FIREBALL perform live, you might be confused to see more than four people on stage performing with  them. Providing FIREBALL's irie sound while touring is their supporting (back up) band, Home Grown. The two bands intermingle frequently, as seen in the Home Grown song "Stay with Me" featuring Criss from FIREBALL.

Events: Soul Train: "The Hippest Trip in America" Free Screening in Harlem

Heads up, folks. Here's a fun event that I wish I could go to tomorrow. Since I won't be able to, though, I thought I'd share the last-minute news with everyone. There will be a free screening of the documentary on Soul Train at Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem on Thursday 12th July, 2012. The title is Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America.

Song of the Day - Lupinotuum - Koboloris

Today's song of the day comes to us from the gloomy, rainy Leeds, where angry people make black metal music worth listening. 

Song of the Day - The Queen and I - Gym Class Herores

I remember, it was sophomore year of high school, I'd just gotten a Myspace, and a boyfriend, and this song was a hit on the radio. Ahh, yes, memories - those things it's best not to look into too deeply. Myspace was kind of lame now that I think about it, and the at-the-time boyfriend was a douchebag. Thankfully, the song still rocks.

Song of the Day - DJ Ken Watanabe - Hang Over ft.Young Hastle, Y's, 十影, Raw-T

This song has been stuck in my head and I've continued to play it constantly. A great beat with a great list of featured artists. Props to EillyHustleHard for making another great video. Very different and original.

Be sure to check out DJ Ken Watanabe's new Mix CD A+ Tokyo Shit Vol.3 dropping later this month! A+ @ HMV

EillyHustleHard - Twitter
Young Hastle - Twitter
Y'S - Twitter
十影 (Tokage) - Twitter
Raw-T (Ice Dynasty) - Raw-T @ Ice Dynasty OHP

PaymoneyTomyPain

One of my personal favorite bands from Japan, PaymoneyTomyPain offers up a collection of rhythmic hits, each with their own catchy guitar riffs and punk/rock hooks. Formed in 2005, PTP continues to make waves throughout the Japanese music scene.

The band consists of four main members: 

K - Vocals

Pablo - Guitar

Zax - Drums

Tsuyoshi - Bass

Albums

• Another Day Comes (September 12, 2007)
• After You Wake Up (March 18, 2009)
• Remember the Name (January 26, 2011)

Song of the Day - 14:41 - Hidden Dissonance

Our apologies for not updating, we were having another zombie crisis. It's always the damn zombies, you know? And when it's not zombies, it's work and stuff. Really frustrating. I'm still waiting for my Hogwarts letter as well.

Song of the Day - Cherry Pie - Warrant

It's Fourth of July here in the US of A, and y'all know what that means - barbecue, fireworks, and pie. Oh yeaaah. It's a party in the USA and everyone's invited! Thus, today's song of the day is Warrant's Cherry Pie. They've managed to fit all the hair metal cliches into one video, it's almost hilarious to watch.

Song of the Day - Sister Christian - Night Ranger

Not going to explain why this song, today, but why not, they're good.

Song of the Day - GOTHIC CIRCUS - Sads

As usual, when low on Song of the Day ideas, we look to Sads for inspiration and material. Generally it is hard to find disappointment - everything is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. 

Song of the Day - Carry on Wayward Son - Kansas

I sweaaaaar I was not watching Supernatural today. Or anytime in the past year, actually. It's an awesome show, I'll give it that - however, my interest in classic rock dates waaaay back before Dean Winchester ever drove a Chevy Impala.