Nine Inch Nails' 'Came back haunted' video

New Nine Inch Nails video for Came back haunted directed by David Lynch.

Emerging metal band

Here's a teaser video giving us glimpse of a promising new South African metal act The Drift.

New single from the Pixies

The Pixies have released their first single in nearly a decade. The song is entitled Bagboy, and may be downloaded as a free mp3 from the Pixies website. Bagboy also has a music video:

Radiohead Live at Tramps 1995

Paste Magazine and Noisetrade have teamed up to offer an early recording of Radiohead performing in New York in 1995. The download features the entire 18-song setlist of songs off the bands first two albums Pablo Honey and The Bends. 

The recording may be downloaded for free, but if you're feeling generous, you may leave a 'tip.' In this case all money raised through tips will be donated to Amnesty International.

Deftones and Yellowcard in Cape Town

A few weeks after the news that Deftones will be one of the headline acts at Oppikoppi, it has been confirmed that Deftones will perform a show in Cape Town on 8 August. One Night in Cape Town will also feature Yellowcard and other local acts, still to be announced.

I'm still hoping to make it to Oppikoppi: BewilderBeast with Em in August, but if that plan doesn't work out, I'll travel back to Cape Town just to catch Deftones live. I recently saw Chevelle at the Grand West Arena, and while the band themselves put on a spectacular show, the crowd and atmosphere in the venue were a little dull for my liking. I'd much rather try get to the outdoor festival, which should be packed with people in the mood to party and amped for the music. Let's see what happens after I get back from Europe.

Another free download from Haezer

Oh! my god it's Techno Music! has teamed up with Haezer to release a track off  The Wrong Kid Died EP as a free download. Crank it features vocalist Francois van Coke of Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel.

Bloc Party announce new EP

The Nextwave Sessions EP was written during Bloc Party's 2012 touring season, and will consist of five tracks. These tracks are said to be a 'natural continuation' of the band's previous record Four. The lead single of the EP has a video, and it's directed by Cyriak, one of my favourite animators of weird things. Watch some more of Cyriak's twisted shorts here.

Ratchet has been billed as the 'punchiest' track on the EP, and the boys have delivered one hell of a catchy track. No word yet if The Nextwave Sessions will get a physical release, or be a digital only release.

First single from Vuvuvultures debut album

Vuvuvultures are back with the release of the first single off their first full length release Push/ Pull which will be released on 29 July. Listen to Steel bones below, and then take a listen to their début EP here.

Pat Pattle's Gloster Gladiator in 1:72

Some time ago I posted about Airfix's planned releases for 2013. In that post I mentioned my intentions to build one of the mounts of Squadron Leader Marmaduke T. St John 'Pat' Pattle, who is often considered to be the Commonwealth's highest-scoring fighter ace of the Second World War. He was also South African! 

Airfix have made it even easier for me to build a scale replica of Pattle's most famous mount with the release of their Gloster Gladiator Mk. 1 Starter set, which includes decals for L8011, the aircraft flown by Pattle over Egypt in early 1940. 

The paint scheme of L8011 doesn't look anything special, but the history of her pilots certainly is

I'll have to wait a few months for stock of the kit to reach South African shores, but when it does I'll pick up a couple of sets. I might even consider trying to replicate the mount of another of the Commonwealth's most famous Gladiator pilots, that of author Roald Dahl.

Illusion created using well placed household items

Take a look at this picture.

You're probably thinking that it's four images edited together using some fancy software. Well it's not. Take a closer look, this is a single photograph by Bela Borsodi. Still don't believe me, watch the video of the creation and evolution of the scene below. 

The still-life was created for use as the cover art for the experimental collective VLP's album, entitled Terrain. Thanks to Photojojo for sharing this on Facebook.

Free download from Liver

Local electro musician Liver has dropped another gritty, hip-hop influenced single. Download Cight Flub in the widget below, listen to some of his more chilled beats over on his Soundcloud page, and check out this compilation which features Liver and the rest of the Gravy Crew.

Nifty narwhal skewers

While narwhals are not really porpoises, they are a member of the same suborder as porpoises. This makes narwhals pretty cool. That, and the fact that they have a giant unicorn-like horn protruding from their face. 

In fact, the 'unicorn of the sea' is so iconic that a barbecue skewer has been fashioned in its likeness. Created by a young designer from New York, she has a Kickstarter campaign to help make these mythical narwhal barbecue skewers a reality.

I may have to settle for a narwhal shirt because I'm not sure if these skewers will clear customs here in South Africa as they may be considered swords...

New side-project from Slipknot's drummer

Joey Jordison (Slipknot, Murderdolls, Roadrunner United) has been dropping  hints of his involvement in a new musical endeavour for quite some time now. The project's name was revelaed to be Scar the Martyr on Wednesday.

Apart from a list of conributers, and few images taken in the studio, not a whole lot of detail is known of the project. So far the following artists have been named on the band's Facebook page; Henry Derek, Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, Tweaker), Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad), and Kris Norris (Darkest Hour). 

Derek is a complete unknown to me, and I'm interested to hear his vocals, as well as some of the bands demos, in order to get an idea of the groups musical direction.

Do-it-yourself SLR camera

Lomography have produced the first build-it-yourself plastic SLR camera called the Konstruktor.  The kit comes packed with several plastic sprues that resemble those of plastic model kits. 

PetaPixel did a great write-up on the Konstruktor, which features some additional product images, and shares some photographs taken using the DIY 35mm SLR.

Solo EP from Incubus frontman

Brandon Boyd, of Incubus fame has announced that his solo project, Sons of the Sea, will be releasing a four track EP on 25 June. The EP is entitled Compass, and the first track is streaming exclusively over here.

Also here's a video of Boyd dressed as a hermit, walking on a beach, digging through washed up seaweed, and reading a message he finds in a bottle. I'm presuming that somewhere in amongst the sounds of the ocean and foghorns, we're also hearing samples from the EP.

This collaboration is actually happening

More details over at Rolling Stone.

A helpful tip...

Source: Jim Benton

Free compilation album from Cape Town's finest

Here's a free compilation album that features several of Cape Town's most inspirational electronic musicians, producers and DJs, known collectively as the Gravy Crew.

Real-time PhotoShopping in the streets of Stockholm

Photographer and renowned retouch artist, Erik Johannson, together with Adobe, pulled off one of the greatest street pranks I've ever seen.

Here's a link to Johannson's initial blog post.

Free download from Two Door Cinema Club

I was fortunate enough to see Two Door Cinema Club live a while back when they toured South Africa. While they have a more pop-orientated sound than a lot of the bands I listen too, I enjoy and respect them as exceptionally talented musicians. They put on an excellent live performance when I saw them, and I'd recommend seeing them if they're playing in your city.

Enough of that though, this evening the group released a free download of their single Handshake, remixed by Amtrac. Having not heard the original I don't have anything to compare it too, but I still think it's worth a listen, as it has all the hallmarks of a Two Door Cinema Club song. 

In addition, if you like the sound of the remix, the check out some of Amtrac's original work over on his Soundcloud page.

Deftones to play Oppikoppi Festival, South Africa

The organisers of Oppikoppi Festival have just announced that Deftones will be one of the headlining acts for the nineteenth instalment of Oppikoppi, entitled BewilderBeast.

Hopefully this means that Deftones will add an additional tour date for Cape Town, and possibly Durban, depending on the demand for tickets.

I've never been to an Oppikoppi Festival, but reckon the reunion of Kidofdoom, as well as the confirmed visit by Deftones definitely warrants a first-time visit to the festival.

Now to work out the logistic of getting there, and who I'm camping with, especially since Em doesn't like dirt and camping; two things synonymous with Oppikoppi.

Album art revealed for 'Hesitation Marks'

Nine Inch Nails next album, Hesitation Marks, set for release on 3 September is now available for pre-order on nin.com and iTunes. The album will be available on several formats, including digital download, CD, and vinyl. Pre-orders will also get instant access to download the single Came back haunted, which premièred earlier today.

Along with the release of the first single, and the cover art for Hesitation Marks, comes an extensive list of North American tour dates for Tension 2013. 

Now for a look at the Hesitation Marks cover art. My first thoughts were that it was reminiscent of the various artwork from The Downward Spiral era, which isn't a bad first impression considering the artist responsible for those artworks, Russell Mills, is also responsible for this piece.

I really like the choice of colours, and the overall presentation as it's a step away from the Year Zero/ The Slip artwork, suggesting this album is not set in the Year Zero storyline.

I don't like the look of the fragmented NIИ logo, as it doesn't fit in with the gritty texture of the background. Maybe it's not too late to make the logo layer slightly transparent, so that some of the imperfections of Russell Mills' excellent piece of work shows through.

-- 

Update here

Nine Inch Nails: Came back haunted

Why wait until 11:00 AM (PDT), when you can listen to Came back haunted, the first single off Nine Inch Nails' album Hesitation Marks, coming out on 3 September 2013. Came back haunted will be available to download later today on nin.com and iTunes.

There's also a video for Came back haunted

The Joy Formidable cover Echo & the Bunnymen's 'Killing moon'

From The Joy Formidable's Facebook page:

"This is the first of a few impromptu covers we'll be sharing with you. We did this version of Killing Moon recently on tour. Check out the way we accidentally managed to hide Matt's face for the whole video, and how Ritzy almost had a Janet Jackson moment! Enjoy."

First single off new Nine Inch Nails album

A week after the announcement that Nine Inch Nails has a new studio album to share with us, we now have news that we'll be able to listen to the first single off said album, tomorrow at 11:00 AM (PDT) on various radio stations right now! The single is entitled Came back haunted, and I'm hoping that the band will make it available as a free download shortly after we've heard it, like they did with Discipline back in 2008. The difference is, this time around, Nine Inch Nails are signed to a record label, so it's unlikely we'll be getting anything for free from them again for a while. More details at radio.com.

Here's a photo of Trent Reznor (left) looking like a hipster.

The Oatmeal's Womancat

Source: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/womancat

If you like this kind og humour, there's a Manbat comic too.

77 mm filters now available from Mount July

There are still eight days left to help fund the production of Mount July's range of multi-coloured camera filters. So far just over 80% of the money needed to support the production costs of the project has been raised. While predictions show that Mount July's project should raise enough to get the first run of filters done, it looks like they're unlikely to reach their stretch goal of US$ 44 000.

Despite the possibility of not reaching the stretch goal, Mount July are still planning to manufacture 77 mm filters. This is most likely as a result of the large number of requests received for filters with a wider diameter than those originally offered. So far no one has pledged money towards either of the 77 mm options available; US$ 50+ for a single filter, US$ 90+ for two filters, or US$ 140+ for all three coloured filters. I'm now unsure whether to get a set of 58 mm filters for the lenses I already own, or if I get a set of 77 mm filters for the lens I want to buy?

For some more photos taken using Mount July filters click here.

A day and a half in Franschhoek

After a busy weekend showing Em around my hometown, we've ventured beyond the shadows of Table Mountain, to the winelands of Franschhoek for the night. We're spending the night at Lavender Farm, which is a lovely little guest house just beyond the main strip in town. Our room is very spacious, and faces a small field planted with lavender with the mountain in the distance. Hopefully there'll be a break in the rain so that we can take some more picturesque photographs.

We had springbok pies for lunch at the Franschhoek Station Pub, which is situated towards the lower end of the Main rain. The pie was quite good, although a little dry, as there was no gravy in the filling, but as a result there was more shredded meat present. 

After lunch we went went for a brief walk down the main road of the village, visiting the Huguenot Memorial, and popping into a few of the curio shops. After having walked of our lunch, we decided to go on a wine tasting trip to the Dieu Donné and Haute Cabrière vineyards. Em and I tasted eight wines at Dieu Donné, a micro-brewed beer at the neighbouring Roca Restaurant, and three wines and a potstill brandy at Haute Cabrière. Neither of us had heard of Dieu Donné prior to the trip, but since we were offered a free wine tasting as part of our nights accommodation, we decided to take advantage of the deal.

Dieu Donné's wines were pleasant, but none of the eight we tasted, made me go, "Oh, wow! I really need to buy a bottle of this so I can drink it again." In contrast, at Haute Cabrière, Em couldn't decide on how many of each bottle she wanted to buy. In the end she went for the 2012 Chardonnay Pinot Noir, and 2011 Unwooded Pinot Noir.

Following an afternoon of strolling through the village, and sipping on some wine, it was time for dinner. Earlier in the day while chatting to the barkeep of the Franschhoek Station Pub, she had suggested a few restaurants to have dinner at. One of those was The Grillroom, which was an exceptional dining experience. Em and I both decided to have the "Local's set menu," which has two-, and three-course options.

I'll continue writing this post (and add pictures) tomorrow, after we've finished our tour of Franschhoek, and have arrived back in Cape Town.