School kids cover Tool

This is what happens when a bunch of exceptionally talented young musicians receive tuition from an open minded instructor. Here are a group of Aaron O'Keefe's students performing Tool's classic Forty six & 2 from Ænima.  I really wish my school music teachers would have taken this approach...

Grand Theft Auto V review video

So I ended up cancelling my pre-order for Grand Theft Auto V, and I don't regret doing so. I have quite a few untouched games in my stash already, so I figured I'd wait a while before getting GTA V. On the plus side, it means I have some spare time to watch videos like this.

Prank of the year!

A bunch of blokes in New Zealand pulled off one of the most well thought out pranks ever. They rigged the plumbing in a friend's house so that all the taps poured cold beer. Epic way to invite yourselves around for a party too.

Scar the Martyr's first music video

Scar the Martyr have a released the video for their first single Blood host. This is an excellent track, and a great introduction to the vocal capabilities of Henry Derek.

According to LoudWire the video comprises footage of the band rehearsing in their Iowa rehearsal room.

A Perfect Circle live album and greatest hits compilation confirmed

Rolling Stone recently interviewed Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) about his various musical and comedic outputs. The most exciting piece of information (for me at least) is the announcement of a box set of live A Perfect Circle performances, and a greatest hits compilation is also in the cards.

Rolling Stone (RS): What can you tell us about the Perfect Circle box set?

Maynard James Keenan (MJK): We did a short run a couple of years ago, where we did the albums front-to-back. Three nights, three records, the whole album. And some of the songs we haven't played in eight to 10 years. Some of them we hadn't played at all. In the box that you have, you have those three CDs, and then you have us live at Red Rocks. Always fun to play Red Rocks. And that's the full DVD – that's the full live performance. And there's other bells and whistles attached to it – there is an autographed lithograph. I think five lithographs are included in the box, and there is a custom-made resin A Perfect Circle box that it all goes in. So it's kind of fun.

(RS): And from what I understand, A Perfect Circle is releasing a "greatest hits" package, too.

(MJK): Of course, record companies always have their little clause in their contract, about their right to release a greatest hits record. I think that can be kind of weird sometimes, when you see "the greatest hits," no, no – "the greatest greatest hits." Releases by a record label that the band had nothing to do with, and there's several versions of the same thing, over and over again. That's kind of why we did the DVD and the box set. If you're going to release a greatest hits, we should also offer something that's not just the old recordings, rearranged. But on that greatest hits, there's going to be the studio version of "By and Down," which is the new track that we've been working on, that we never quite got around to recording. 

Man, that custom-made resin A Perfect Circle box looks really interesting. I doubt I'll be able to afford such a lavish sounding set, but one can live in hope. The greatest hits compilation sounds less inspiring though, especially as there is only confirmation of one new song.

The greatest hits compilation, Three Sixty is due out on 19 November, while the A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone and Echo box set will land ten days later.

Listen to Seether's Veruca Salt cover

For those of you, who like me, are unable to watch the music video for Seether's new single, the track has now been uploaded to their Soundcloud page.

This is definitely a worthy rendition of the original Veruca Salt song. I'm still intrigued as to see what Seether did for the music video; I'm kind of hoping they did a re-enactment of the Veruca Salt video, but that concept probably wouldn't go down as well today as it did nearly twenty years ago. Either way, a good cover version that definitely makes this compilation quite appealing to add to my collection.

Download the new Sol Invicto track

Here's the next track off Sol Invicto's second EP. The first track, 13.0, was released back in December 2012. From comments posted on the band's Facebook page, it sounds as though that version of 13.0 was a demo. The new track is entitled 8.0, and follows on from where the last EP, Initium left off. Listen to, download, and share 8.0 below.

Need for Speed Rivals vehicle personalisation trailer

Some of you may already have seen the Need for Speed Rivals game play trailer showcasing the personalisation feature. If you haven't, you should watch it below before you carry on reading.

Right, now that your up to speed (see what I did there?), we can carry on with the post. That awesome song you just heard, it's called Troublemaker and was created by local producer Heazer, and one of the most underrated rappers this side of Jupiter, Tumi Molekane. Listen to the full track below.

I'm not sure whether to get excited about this next instalment in the Need for Speed franchise or not. Reason being the impending release of the PlayStation 4. You see, I bought a PlayStation 2 copy of Need for Speed ProStreet, a game that was clearly developed for the PlayStation 3. A lot of the features that had gotten me interested in playing the game were completely omitted from the PS2 edition. Despite this, and the lack of free roam, I enjoyed the overall gaming experience. But I knew it could have been better, and even upon completion I was still left feeling as though I had only played half the game. I'm worried the same sort of thing will happen with this release; the game will be good, but will have nothing on the gaming experience offered by the PS4 version.

Perhaps I'll get a copy of Need for Speed ProStreet for PS3 and wait to see what the reviewers have to say about this addition to the family. Alternatively I could hold out in hope of an HD release of the original Need for Speed Most Wanted, because that's really the PS2 game that I want to enjoy replaying on my PS3.

Marvel Fact File magazine series

So while I wait for the release of the Lego Marvel Super Heroes, and the console version of Deadpool to land up in a few bargain bins, I've decided to start brushing up on my knowledge of the Marvel Universe. The new Marvel Fact Files magazines was launched a month back, and after perusing a few of the covers I've decided to start collecting the series.

These magazines are a great way to get the behind-the-scenes information on my favourite Marvel super heroes, without going back and reading forty years worth of comic books. Even though I'd really love to collect and read an entire Marvel comic book series from start to finish, I honestly just don't have the time, or money. In the mean time the fact files will have to suffice.

So far I've already learnt some cool bits of trivia; for instance, did you know that the Hulk was originally grey in colour? Okay, you could probably have found the same information by searching the internet, but the artwork included in the two issues of the Marvel Fact Files I've bought so far have been well worth it. I can't wait to get some facts (and full page illustrations) of the original Venom, Carnage, War Machine, and of course, Deadpool.

Best music video I've seen all year

Kverlertak's video for Blodtørst is by far the best music video I've seen in a while. It was released back in 2011, and still manages to trump a lot of the garbage I've seen on T.V. passed off as 'music videos.'

The video features all sorts of badassery; vikings, snakes, ale, dragons, suckling pig... man I wish I could travel to Scandinavia.

Stream The Naked and Famous' second album in full

Yesterday I shared a video which gave us a brief listen to each of the tracks off the new The Naked and Famous album, In Rolling Waves. Now you can stream the entire album across at Noisey.

I've only gotten as far as the third track, Waltz, and I'm already convinced that this is a far better album than Nine Inch Nails' Hesitation Marks. I'm definitely considering adding this to my list of pre-ordering this album.

The Oatmeal's portrait of an ageing pop star

This drawing of Miley  Cyrus has to be the best portraiture The Oatmeal has ever done! You  can read the full comic over on at The Oatmeal's site. Show him some love and pre-order his new book 'Why Grizzly Bears Should Wear Underpants.'

(Source: The Oatmeal)

Full album sampler from The Naked and Famous

Listen to snippets from all the tracks from The Naked and Famous' second album, In Rolling Waves.

This sounds like a very strong follow-up to The Naked and Fanous' 2010 debut, Passive Me, Aggressive You. This year is shaping au to be full of incredible releases from both young and old bands.

--Update 12 September 2013--

Link to stream the entire album on this page.

Nine Inch Nails live EP

Trent Reznor and co. have recorded several Nine Inch Nails shows during the band's 2013 tour. Hopefully this means we'll get a concert DVD, or a full live album in a couple of months time. For now though four of the tracks have been compiled into a Live 2013 EP, which is streaming via Spotify. The EP artwork is labelled 'Seed 7,' signifying this as an official promotional release. 

This is only the second 'seed' that has not been made available for free download, the last time being back in 2005, when members of the nin.com community received promotional DVDs in the mail with the words Seed 1 on the back cover.

-- Update 17 September 2013 --

Apparently the EP has disappeared from Spotify, although Rob Sheridan has confirmed that it will be back online again soon. In the mean time, have a look over here.

@heroicraptor So I heard. No idea what happened there but it should be coming back.

— Rob Sheridan (@rob_sheridan) September 12, 2013

Diablo III character class poll

I have a copy of Diablo III sitting in my gaming drawer, waiting for me to pay my proper respect, and load the disc into my PlayStation 3. Before I do though, I want to complete Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and perhaps even try complete the main storyline in Borderlands. While I work on completing those two games, and before I set about creating a Diablo III, I thought I'd get your opinion on which Diablo III character class was your favourite. 

From left to right: Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard

The poll on the right will allow you to vote for either the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, or the Wizard. The poll will close on September 27, or 24 hours after I've completed both Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and Borderlands, depending on which comes first.

The poll is obviously open to every one. If you haven't played any of the games from the Diablo franchise, or are unfamiliar with the different class abilities, then cast your vote according to which character you think has the best appearance.

I'm leaning towards playing as the Demon Hunter but since I've recently been playing Diablo II as the Assassin, perhaps I should change strategy and try one of the more magic dependent classes. That said I've never really played as a Barbarian much either, so maybe that's the route I should use during my first play through of Diablo III.

Arcade Fire releases new single, 'Reflektor'

After being teased by Arcade Fire the last few days with a clock on their webpage counting down to 9 p.m. last night, something finally happened. As I'd speculated, last night saw the release of some new music of the band's next album, Refelktor, in the form of a video for the title track.

The song in a near 8 minute epic, featuring the band donning massive head masks, reminiscent of those worn by Slipknot for their 'Purgatory' photo shoot prior to the release of all All Hope is Gone. It's all gets pretty weird, since the word 'nine' is scrawled on the back of the truck, which also made me think of Slipknot. Guess it wont be too often that comparisons between these two seemingly disparate bands will be drawn upon.

The song itself features lyrics sung in French, and a has a very catchy, danceable beat. This perceived deviation in sound has caused some stir among fans, who preferred the bands previously more rock-orientated beats.

The video also features the band members dancing around a coffin adorned with mirror fragments and CDs, which is later shown to be filled with plastic dolls, which adds to the malevolence of the masks. Is this intended to be a reference to the format's impending death, or just commercial 'pop' music in general?

Seether covers Verucal Salt's 1994 hit

Seether recently announced a 'best of compilation,' which would include a few surprises and three new tracks. Today the first single, a re-recording the Veruca Salt song that inspired the Seether's name was released. Unfortunately the link to Seether's 'Seether' doesn't work in South Africa (which is pretty lame considering this is where it all started for them), so here's Veruca Salt's original from 1994.

-- Update 16 September 2013 --
Stream Seether's version here (should work everyone, unlike the original video link above).

Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition unveiled

In May I hosted a little poll to see which was was the preferred first person shooter (FPS) between BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, and Far Cry 3. The result was less than spectacular (with absolutely no votes being cast) and in the end I resolved the matter by picking up a copy of Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition (amongst other titles). 

I've spent a lot of my free time the last few weekends playing Borderlands (to the extent that I haven't even given the console version of Diablo III a go yet, but that's also partly due to the fact that I still have four more quests of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction to complete), and had already started making plans to buy the Deluxe Vault Hunter's Edition of the sequel. 

Now that Gearbox Software has announced a Game of the Year (GotY) Edition release of Borderlands 2, I will almost certainly get myself a copy, once I've finished the original Borderlands and each of its four downloadable content (DLC) packs. With the international release date set for 11 October, that gives me just short of a month to find the vault and achieve level 61 status in Borderlands. 

In the mean time, here's a look at what the Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition will contain:

• Borderlands 2 (Main Game)
• Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty
• Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage
• Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt
• Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep
• Creature Slaughter Dome
• Premiere Club Content
• Gaige, the Mechromancer character class
• Gearbox gun pack
• Golden Key
• Vault Hunter's Relic
• Krieg, the Psycho character class
• Collector's Edition heads and skins
• Ultimate Vault Hunter's Upgrade Pack 1

It looks as though the new Borderlands 2 bundle won't include the recently released Ultimate Vault hunter's Upgrade Pack 2: Digistruct Peak Challange, nor was there any mention of being granted early access to future releases, such as the Headhunter packs that are due out before the end of the year. 

Regarding the PlayStation 3 version, I'm particularly interested to know if the previous DLC will be included on a disc, or if it will need to be downloaded. If it's the latter, it may be worth me waiting a month or two after the release to see if it is re-issued, in much the same way as the Borderlands: GotY Edition. Either way, this is at the top of my list of games to get right now.

New ††† - Win†er 20†3

††† have released a second teaser video, with the same visuals as last months video, but different music. This video was released by Sumerian Records, which gives us some information regarding the label ††† have signed to. Noisey interviewed Chino Moreno recently, and he said that the new crosses release was a third EP. The video also has "Win†er 20†3" in the title, with Moreno saying October more specifically in the interview.

Unlike the first teaser video, the track used in this one gives us a brief listen to Moreno's vocals, even if they are a little distorted in the last few seconds of the video. 

-- Update 06 November 2013 --

A video of the song has been released, giving the title as Bitches brew.

Video of Watch Dogs gameplay

I just watched the 14 minute gameplay trailer for Watch Dogs, and am already starting to even more interested in the possibilities of the game (especially the ability to seamlessly hack into another player's single-player experience). 

If you haven't heard of it yet, where have you been? The concept of the game is revolves upon hacking electronic devices near the character in order to adapt the environment to the player's needs. When I first heard about Watch Dogs I though that it was a really interesting idea for a game. Now that I have seen some actual in game interactions, all I can say is that I hope that there isn't too much difference between the game released for current generation consoles, and that released for next generation consoles.

Here are some wallpapers to download if you need to get your daily dose of Watch Dogs immediately.

Something's happening on 9 September at 9 p.m.

According to Arcade Fire's clip on YouTube, labelled 'Reflektor 9/9/9' we can expect some sort of release on that date at 9 p.m. Since a date for the launch of the new album has already been revealed to be 29 October, Monday's surprise could be a new single, the revelation of the album's title (and/ or cover art), or something completely different. I'm hoping for a track off the new record.

USS Enterprise reacts to MTV's Video Music Awards

So I've generally held off posting stories about teen pop stars like Justin Bieber being immature, but I feel this video response to Miley Cyrus' recent performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards was well worth sharing.

Aries Head Films put together this short video showing Captain Kirk and his crew of the USS Enterprise succumbing to the effects of the above mentioned performance. Even if you're not a Star Trek fan, this short video is well worth watching.

What have we learnt from this entire ordeal? Firstly people are a lot more interested in gossiping over the idiotic behaviour of supposed 'artists,' rather than talking about real-world issues that will ultimately affect us all for a lot longer than watching Cyrus' pathetic behaviour. 

It's times like these that I'm thankful I live in Africa

(Image source: Centre for Research on Globalization)

New Scar the Martyr sneak preview

The new teaser clip from Scar the Martyr is the best one yet. The last two showed the band's softer side, but Dark ages is full-on, balls to the wall metal!

I think I'm more excited excited to hear this album than I was over Nine Inch Nails newest offering.

Seether announce greatest hits complilation

Seether have just released the following announcement regarding their greatest hits compilation Seether: 2002-2013:

"Hey Guys

Johnny here. Well, it's official... We are "one of those" bands. We are at a point in our journey that we have decided to bookend this era of our career with our upcoming Greatest Hits release "Seether: 2002-2013". When we were given the task of assembling the tracklisting... we knew it wasn't going to be easy. But, believe it or not, we are also fans of the band and wanted to approach it with what would "we - a Seether fan" like to hear in a "Seether Greatest Hits."

First, it will be a 2 CD package... Disc 1 will contain all the singles everyone has come to know and love... with nothing left out, I promise.  And for the second disc, we headed into the Seether vaults for some surprise "unreleased" demos, soundtrack only songs and three new recordings.  Yes, we headed back into the studio with our compadre Brendan O' Brien and have churned out some great new music.  We had a blast working together, as always, and we are excited for you guys to hear these two spankin' brand new tracks. And for the "cherry on top" to this fantastic set... We have re-recorded our "namesake"... Veruca Salt's 1994 hit, "Seether."  Recorded and produced by us (much the same way "Careless Whisper" was)... We have put this song thru the Seether filter and churned out a version we can proudly call our own.

Think you can wait until the end of October to hear all that? I know it seems like we are torturing you but, I promise, that is not our intention.  We may not have been touring a lot this year, but now you know we haven't been sitting around either.  So, grab a beer and have piece of mind that the amazing fall weather is upon us, football season is here... and new (with a great arrangement of classic) Seether is on its way... very, very soon.

RSVP for album release day on Facebook

Much Love,

- Johnny"

I've been a fan of Seether from when they were still a relatively unheard of band Pretoria band called Saron Gas. After a name change, a few line-up changes, and a marked change in sound from the their début album, Fragile, these local boys have done really well for themselves. Front man Shaun Morgan Welgemoed still visits South Africa regularly, and occasionally plays local acoustic shows, which often feature an array of local artists providing guest vocals and the like. 

I've managed to see Shaun Morgan and guests perform twice. After the first time I immediately went out and bought Seether's live album, One Cold Night. The second time I saw him perform, it was actually a cold night, as we all got drenched in the rain. Morgan even put down his guitar and came and danced with us in the rain. It was all worth the experience. I'm really interested to see what gems are retrieved from the 'Seether vaults' for inclusion on this compilation.

The price of being a Nine Inch Nails supporter: $6, excluding shipping

This morning I came across Spin's recent interview with Trent Reznor, the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails, in which he discusses many things, including the value of his music. What really caught my attention though was Reznor saying, "...my personal feeling is that my album's not worth a dime. It's not a buck. I made it as well as I could, and it costs 10 bucks, or go fuck yourself."

Now this is all well and good, except for the fact that I paid '12 bucks' for my copy of Hesitation Marks, and I bought it directly from the official Nine Inch Nails store! Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved?

Okay, so by ordering directly from the NIN Store I am able to download MP3, Apple Lossless, FLAC, or WAV versions of the entire album, as well as the Audiophile Mastered Version in all those formats too. That is well worth the extra '2 bucks.' However, I also ordered the Deluxe CD, which is '20 bucks' at the NIN Store, double Reznor's recommended '10 bucks,' and '4 bucks' more than what Amazon are selling the record for. Again, Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved?

Using Amazon as the benchmark for suggested retail prices (as they're selling the Standard CD version of Hesitation Marks for $9.99), I've paid a total of $6 more than the suggested retail price for my copies of Hesitation Marks, by ordering directly from the official Nine Inch Nails Store! What has this extra $6 actually bought me? Yes, I have lossless downloads of two mixes of Hesitation Marks (but I have also incurred additional costs by choosing to download these massive ZIP files), however there are no download options available that include the three bonus tracks from the Deluxe CD. Not even in less favourable lossy MP3! So why was the Deluxe CD version $4 more than Amazon, when the Standard CD was only an extra $2, and the files available to download are exactly the same! Why did I pay more, when there should have been fewer middle-men involved, and there are no additional files?

After having previously bought two Nine Inch Nails albums (Ghosts I and The Slip), which were made available as free downloads. I've supported Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails when South African record stores were charging higher prices for his albums than other artists,* and I'm still supporting Reznor. But paying higher prices for Nine Inch Nails records, when buying directly from the official Nine Inch Nails store, I'm definitely starting to feel a little cheated.

When it comes time for Nine Inch Nails to release their next album, I may take Reznor's own advice from 2007 and "Steal it!"

In the mean time I say, "Thanks Trent, here's my 32 bucks, now go fuck yourself."

--

* Those "ridiculous prices of CDs" mentioned by Reznor in the above video are also common in South Africa, where physical copies of The Slip were priced three-times more than any other release of the time. While many albums released by other artists in 2008 have come down in price, the price of Ghosts I-IV and The Slip have remained the same as they were on release day.

September 3 music, gaming and movie releases

Tomorrow there are quite a few things being released that I am really looking forward to adding to my various, ever-growing collections. 

First up is Nine Inch Nails' ninth* studio album, Hesitation Marks. I've ordered both the regular and deluxe versions of the CD, because I am a huge collector of Nine Inch Nails related media (but let's leave that for another post when I can share pictures of my entire NIN collection). While I'll have to wait a few weeks to receive the physical editions, I can at least take solace in the fact that I'll be able to download lossless versions of the complete album, as well as the alternative mix, some time tomorrow. Till then I'll sit and listen to Came back haunted, Copy of a, and Everything a few times.

Then, the console version of Diablo III is also hitting shelves tomorrow. I pre-ordered a copy quite some time back in order to secure a copy of the artbook advertised by my local games retailer. Although my copy will be ready for collection tomorrow morning, I wont be able to get to the store until the weekend. While I'm hoping the week will pass relatively quickly, at least I know I should have enough time to finish Diablo II.

Lastly, The Lords of Salem is getting released on DVD and Blu-Ray tomorrow. I haven't seen the film yet, but it's on my list of things to watch. At present The Lords of Salem doesn't have very favourable scores on IMDb (5.2/ 10), but then again, even Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects only score 5.8/ 10, and 6.8/ 10 receptively. Both of which I'm quite fond of too.

While writing this I realised that I am quite happy to fork out my cash to buy music (either digital or physical CDs) and PlayStation and PC games, but I'm a bit more reluctant when it comes to buying movies. While I do have a small collection of DVDs, it's nothing compared to my CD collection. I may even have more PS3 games now than DVDs. Considering I only bought my PS3 in March, its a good reflection of the where I've been investing my free time and spare cash. I've also come to realise, that after watching a movie I've enjoyed, I tend to buy the novel the film is based upon, rather than the DVD of the film itself. One notable exception is Ang Lee's Life of Pi, for which I'd like to buy the Blu-Ray and the book.

--
* Some sources may say it's Nine Inch Nails eighth studio album, but I consider Broken to be an album, not just an EP.