#even if you just want a really good metal album that just incidentally comes with a game

[jeff-from-marketing]

I just want to use this as an opportunity to tell people that Metal: Hellsinger exists, and it fucks.

For the uninitiated, it's a rhythm based first person shooter. Which, admittedly, does sound like a rather strange genre combo at first. But holy shit it works. Heck, people already praise games like Doom for their soundtrack, and a well made shooter already has its own form of internal rhythm to it, so why not just crank it up to 11?

A well made Rhythm game is already suited to putting you in a sort of "zen" mode, where you're not strictly thinking about what's going on, but you sure as hell are riding that wave to its full extent. Combine that with a soundtrack that really just is a love letter to all things metal, and some hells to shoot demons in, and you've got a recipe for a very fun time. Getting into the perfect rhythm with the pistols (or your own weapon of choice really) and just laying waste to all in your way all while the music gets more and more intense the more you slay is a truly wonderful experience.

There's really not much else like it either. There's BPM: Bullets Per Minute, and that is still a lot of fun, but IMO Metal: Hellsinger takes it to a new level. But outside those two games, there's really not much like it, and that helps make Hellsinger truly something special.

I only have two complaints with Metal: Hellsinger.

I need more. The campaign is fairly short, and I want more levels. It's not unsatisfyingly short though, it's like Titanfall 2 in that regard.

I need to buy the soundtrack officially. It well and truly is a love letter to all things metal (honestly the whole game is, it's great) and it has a lot of my favourite artists on there, and I need to inject it my soul. It is criminal that this is only available unofficially through other people uploading it.

Unrelated sidenote: I blame this game entirely for the voice I use with one of my Pathfinder characters. The narrator has a very infectious voice.

[doomedandstoned]

Cave of Swimmers Reach Epic Heights in Infectious New Spinner ‘Aurora’

~Review by Billy Goate~

Album Art by Brian Olson

I've always said that given the right circumstances (say a good set of professional ears lodged in influential places) that CAVE OF SWIMMERS would be a sensation. Why? Because they've got all the right stuff to really connect with people at a time when heavy music has been simmering underground, well-past ready for a fresh outburst. Hamstrung by lockdowns, financial burdens, and fear aplenty, we're ready to dust off our air guitars and party like it's 1987 again (incidentally, the year I first discovered heavy music). I'm not alone in speculating that we're in for another Roaring Twenties, not unlike the carefree days that followed the last global pandemic. And it's precisely this kind of energetic vibe, with its unique Latin-meets-metal flavor, that is ripe and ready to rock 'n' revel to!

Hell, we've not heard a sound this contagious since, well, maybe Sepultura -- and that was another animal entirely. With that said, Cave of Swimmers are very much metal to the core. And oh what a crowd-rousing live show Guillermo Gonzalez (guitar, synth, vox) and Arturo Garcia (drums, backing vox) can put on! I was there when Cave of Swimmers energized a hung-over and droopy mob gathered 'round The Vinyl Stage at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, lo those many years ago at the inaugural Psycho Las Vegas.

Doomed & Stoned · The Doomed & Stoned Show - The Cave Of Swimmers Special

All that and they have an appealing back story: two friends whose families relocated to Florida amidst tumultuous circumstances in Venezuela. As teenagers, Arturo and Guillermo grew up idolizing bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica and now they've crafted a fantastic, original style of their own, with wicked guitar play and grandiose vocals built atop a rhythmic array that is simultaneously feverish and suave, with choruses that are imminently singable. Stream their latest LP at least twice through and I can predict which lines you'll be humming at work and crowing in the shower at the top of your lungs.

When the band burst upon the scene in 2013 with Cave of Swimmers, I remember the community sharing it like mad. From "Materia" onward to their incredible namesake anthem, it was as if the Latin Candlemass had emerged from the salty Atlantic to enthrall crowds like some kind of warbling Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Cave of Swimmers by CAVE OF SWIMMERS

Their music-making only got better from there. 2015 gifted us with a second EP, Reflection, featuring a song I have no doubt will one day be a doom metal standard, "Prince of the Power of the Air". I'm telling you, the Psycho crowd went stompin' nuts when they heard those quasi-Biblical lyrics sung in epic doom fashion accompanied by that stern guitar tone, leading up to an incredible solo, and then a delirious second-half, which made everyone dance (whether we wanted to or not). It's infectious, like I said. I'm telling you, this sound cannot be matched. And I'm convinced it will not be stopped, either.

Reflection by CAVE OF SWIMMERS

2021 is Cave of Swimmer's year to ascend, for thus saith the Prophet that dwelleth atop the Rocks on High! Pandemic or no, it was this duo's time to release the material that had been welling up inside of them for so long. I guess we can call this their first LP, even though every spin so far has felt sufficiently hefty to refer to as a full-length. Six songs clocking in at over 30 minutes -- it's the band's next stepping stone in their journey from the recording studio into your earbuds and mine.

Aurora by CAVE OF SWIMMERS

'Aurora' (2021) plays like the first songbird of spring, if you'll indulge my idyllic wording for a moment. It's just so full of earnestness, life, and yes joy. Three things that we've been longing for in the midst of so much treachery and nihilistic despair. Hell, I consider myself something of a nihilist, but this band melts away my grim pessimism. It's all encapsulated in the thrashy, downtuned attack married to a kind of urgent Latin vibe that says "We've got one night left to live, let's die with a smile!"

After an atmospheric introduction that foreshadows material still to come, we're treated to "The Sun," which the band released as a single awhile back. I remember telling them at the time, "You guys should be huge." I meant it with all my heart, too. Certainly, this isn't watered down pop music fare, yet I think the average heavy music listener will find it wholly accessible. I'd put this Cave of Swimmers neck-and-neck with any Top 50 touring metal act, based on this track alone. Maybe I'm just enamored of their sound and being less than objective. So sue me.

Next up: "Double Rainbow," which is a kind of resurrection of optimism. Hope for a new and better tomorrow. "Forget the hate, forget the scene, forget the life of complacency," Guillermo sings. "A second arc, new scenery, our time is here. Don’t let it go! When I hear it, I too want to believe." It's a message that's especially important for us to convey to the next generation of rockers and metalheads, lest they be weighed down by our own disillusionment and mistakes. This is a song that encourages that that brash, foolhardy youthful joie de vivre and its power to change the status quo.

"My Human" opens up with a burst of syncopated guitar that reminds me of something Tom Morello likes to cook up, but its mere window dressing for a song that develops into something purely Cave of Swimmers. A single melodic line of epic singing accented by a soft layer of synthesizer lays out the verse, followed by one headbanger of a chorus. It's a song about companionship and the consolation that we can have in one another, if we will only open ourselves up long enough to being truly human. To give and in turn receive. It also seems to speak of a hope beyond this life, at least in some ethereal, metaphysical sense.

"Looking Glass'' unloads a spitfire of "Say hello to my little friend!" style riffage that rips open into a chorus I could definitely take with me to salsa lessons, if I were to dare return. Remind me to tell you about the time I accidently cracked a partner's nose with my elbow while trying to pull off one of those fancy turn-and-swing maneuvers. Sigh. Some of us have no rhythm, whatsoever. But I recognize a good slam-dancing song when I hear it!

Which leads me to talk "Dirt." Much more gritty than its predecessors, accompanied by a spooky synth of the kind Rob Zombie or Acid Witch are apt to toy with. Even as the mood turns grim, it's a foot shuffler nonetheless. And there's no denying the power of those soaring, falconesque vocals. Guillermo seems capable of transporting listeners to a higher plane of consciousness. Good thing, too, because the message is that we've all been living in our mental prisons for far too long, reinforced by "pride and ego trips."

Billions of us Where are we going to? Chasing our tails around the sun Bleeding our hearts Divided and conquered, too Buy us for sale at the dollar store Raised like pigs on dirt

It's time to break free. The song ends with a section of flamenco-style guitar executed with deft classical technique. It reminded me a bit of Psychroptic's "Euphorinasia" -- another song that makes brilliant use of acoustic guitar.

"C.S." is Cave of Swimmer's swan song -- a send-back to their earliest work. Their reprisal reminds me of something Metallica would do. There's a certain "Nothing Else Matters" mood about it all. Then out of nowhere, a spurt of volcanic riffage and mad drumming breaks out into a Gojiraesque hoe-down. Oh yes, and there's another celebratory trve metal guitar solo lodged in there juxtaposed with complex rhythmic percussion.

I'm telling you, Cave of Simmers cannot be beat. The game belongs to them. Their time is now. Give ear...

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[marginalgloss]

the name of the door

‘Every move I send out begins with the same word: You. When I first wrote most of them, so long ago now that it’s incredible to think of it, I had in my mind only a single player, and of course he looked almost exactly like me: not me as I am now, but as I was before the accident. Young and fresh and frightened, and in need of refuge from the world. I was building myself a home on an imaginary planet. I hadn’t considered, then, how big the world was; how many people lived there, how different their lives were from mine. The infinite number of planets spinning in space. I have since traveled great distances, and my sense of the vast oceans of people down here on the Earth, how they drift, is keener. But you, back then, was a singular noun for me, or, at best, a theoretical plural awaiting proof.’

Wolf in White Van is a difficult novel to summarise. I knew next to nothing about its author, John Darnielle, before I began reading. I was aware that he’s a fairly popular musician, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard one of his songs. Being a famous songwriter can cover all kinds of sins in novelistic terms. But by the time I finished the book I felt as though I had been through one of the most solipsistic and forbidding novels I’d read in some time. I don’t mean ‘forbidding’ in the sense of difficulty: the language is mostly quite plain, and the plot is not complicated. I mean that there is something about this novel which looms large over the imagination. It is haunting in its implications.

The book is written from the perspective of Sean, a middle-aged man who suffers from a severe facial deformity that has him living a reclusive life. It will be some time before we learn the cause of his injury. Sean makes his living by running a play-by-mail game of his own invention called Trace Italian. (The name comes from ‘trace italienne’, a certain kind of renaissance fort intended to resist cannon fire. There is much else that seems fortress-like about Sean.) This game takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of America; players write to Sean describing their moves, much like in any other role-playing game, and he writes back with the results. Somehow the player subscriptions pay well enough to keep him going. 

Trace Italian isn’t improvised: every ‘move’ in the game has been charted in advance, meticulously documented in a series of filing cabinets. It is effectively a labyrinthine concept novel, through which players move over the course of days, months, years. Nobody can ever see it all except Sean, and in this respect it is unlike any other book, any other game. For as long as he lives it is inviolable; a perfect private universe where every threat can be contained, every secret can be secured. There are places in it only Sean knows about:

‘…Charts and notebooks lie open around the corpse in a constellation; if you marked its points and drew a line connecting them, you’d have a shape that would later help open a door deep within the Trace, but nobody will ever notice this, or learn the name of the door, which you have to say when you open it or you end up in a blind corridor that traps you for at least four turns, which would probably outrage any players who made it that far. But who knows. What it would be like to make it that far is sheer conjecture…’

The most appealing part of the novel is its detailed portrait of fandom in the pre-internet era. We see how the young Sean was captivated by the genre science fiction and fantasy of the times. Mainstream references like Star Trek and Star Wars take a back seat here — it is all about Friz Leiber, the Gor novels, and weird VHS-era movies like Krull. It’s about finding inspiration in the album art for obscure prog-metal bands, and writing to adverts in magazines to order a cassette tape of music inspired by the Conan books by Robert E. Howard. 

Some of this is the same tone that Stranger Things leant on — kids playing Dungeons and Dragons in the era of the Satanic Panic — but there is something altogether more obscure and threatening going on here. Stranger Things is exciting because of the sense of togetherness engendered by D&D, whereas Sean’s hobbies only serve to lead him further into himself. He never falls in with a gang of like-minded kids, so he becomes a Dungeon Master unto himself. Eventually, under his influence, a young couple go on an adventure through the Trace Italian. They think they are on the trail of something important, much like those kids in the Netflix series. But it doesn’t end well for them. 

There aren’t many characters in this novel outside of Sean. The inside of his head is a bleak, violent place, surreal and unpredictable and paranoid compared to the controlled world of the Trace:

‘There was a small, strange moment during which I had this feeling that someone was filming me, which was ridiculous, but it was that specific—“there’s a camera on me”—and then some hard ancient pushed-down thing, a thing I’d felt or thought or feared a long time ago, something I’d since managed to sheathe in an imaginary scabbard inside myself, erupted through its casing like a bursting cyst. I had to really struggle to recover. Something was dislodging itself, as from a cavern inside my body or brain, and this situation seemed so divorced from waking reality that my own dimensions lost their power to persuade. I craned my great head and saw all that yellow-brown plastic catch the light, little pills glinting like ammunition, and then my brain went to work, juggling and generating several internal voices at once: someone’s filming this; this isn’t real; whoever Sean is, it’s not who I think he is; all the details I think I know about things are lies; somebody is trying to see what I’ll do when I run across these bottles; this is a test but there won’t be any grade later; the tape is rolling but I’m never going to see the tape. It is a terrible thing to feel trapped within a movie whose plot twists are senseless.’ 

Like the players of his game, the reader only exists in the world Sean has created for us. The effect is compelling, and claustrophobic. Sean’s narrative is intense and evocative. He is specific and articulate in his writing, but almost silent in his social life. His thoughts are frantic, anxious, self-perpetuating machinations; we are given very little idea of how he is perceived by society at large. There are moments of contempt and of friendship, but they’re only brief islands of contact in a sea of loneliness.   

It is some time before it becomes evident what Wolf in White Van is really about. The story pivots around two big questions: what happened to Sean’s face? And what happened to that couple on their adventure? But even when the reader is told the facts of those matters, they may not understand the implications. Certainly Sean has no answers for us. There is something forlorn about his world. He writes beautifully, and the reader will likely think him a good person because they can see into his heart and his mind; but there’s a sense that he is somehow beyond help — not because of his disfigurement, but because of his isolation. He is a prisoner inside a game of his own making. And as the pages go on it seems increasingly clear that he will never get out. 

We are accustomed, in novels and films like this, to another party breaking through to the narrator. Something will happen to shake them through their desperation so that their evident state of insecurity doesn’t become all-consuming. They might fall in love. Perhaps there will be a reconciliation, or an epiphany. But that never happens here. The only connections made in Sean’s world are brief and incidental, but the pain from discord resonates below all that. By the end it feels as though the world around the narrator has grown smaller and smaller, draped in a perpetual shroud, while his inner life has expanded out of all knowable proportions; the effect is mesmeric, and terrifying.  

‘…I remember my anger at hearing my real dreams spoken out loud by someone else’s uncomprehending voice. “Number five, sonic hearing,” she said. “Number four, marauder. Number three, power of flight. Number two, money lender. Number one, true vision.” Some of the other kids shot laughing looks at one another. It was horrible. People talk sometimes about standing up for what they believe in, but when I hear people talk like that, it seems like they might as well be talking about time travel, or shape-changing at will. I felt righteousness clotting in my throat, hot acid: the other kids were suppressing laughter and exchanging glances; the whole thing was so funny to them they had to punch their thighs to keep from cackling out loud. None of them had actually made a true list like mine, I thought, though this was conjecture…I remember this scene because it was embarrassing to live through it, and because remembering it is a way of knowing that I am half-true to my beliefs when the time comes. I sit silently defending them and I don’t sell them out, but I put on a face that lets people think I’m on the winning team, that I’m laughing along with them instead of just standing among them. I save the best parts for myself and savor them in silence. Number three, power of flight. Number four, marauder. Enough vision to really see something. A stack of gold coins and a ledger. People want all kinds of things out of life, I knew early on. People with certain sorts of ambitions are safe in the Trace.’

[sdianaclaudia]

In Defense Of The Late ‘90s - Early Aughts

Adding to the debate that millennials have inherited the leftovers in most every aspect of life – from the overabundant yet heavily defective capitalistic job market to witnessing the effects of climate change on our very own skin - it could also be argued that this mess of a thing we were catapulted into was indeed a mass of confusion and trying-too-hard from a pop culture point of view as well, at the moment the catapulting happened. Incidentally, “a mass of confusion and trying too hard” also seem to be the best descriptors for my generation. But perhaps I should just speak for myself. After all, the very nature of this piece might be too divisive to even try and pull an entire generation of well-respected young adults into the argument.

A good friend of mine recently pointed out to me how every decade of the 20th century had its own music genre that consecrated it: the ‘50s and ‘60s with the rock and rock and motown, the ‘70s had the classic rock and disco, while the ‘80s introduced us to R&B and launched us way out of space with the synth pop tunes. Even the early ‘90s introduced us to the grunge scene and gave us Nirvana and Pearl Jam.

After that, with the arrival of the mid to late 90s, the biggest shift in music history happened, and there was no way back from what our ears and eyes were subjected to: Flashy clothes, synchroised dance moves and the ever-present autotune. It was imminent. Living rooms, shopping centres, discotheques (yes, I still use that word) and basically every event happening in a public place.

So in terms of musical lottery and bragging rights, growing up with the tunes of the late ‘90s was really a losing ticket, and it dragged us well into the early years of the new millennium. Arguably, our generation had to work harder than any other generation before us to be able to construct, individually, a dignified musical knowledge with which to present ourselves to the world, without a ‘Dirty Pop’ or ‘This is a story about a girl named Lucky’ to sip into our brains during a conversation. The shame! The rage! The confusion!

Ok, before we chuck an entire musical decade down the trash chute, allow me to intervene! While all these statements did in no way come from snobbism (this is the same person whom I quote ‘The Room’ with or listen to Bad Lip Reading’s Bushes of Love with!), I think they needed a little more nuance to actually distinguish the ‘cheesy’ amongst the myriad of sound streams that sprung from that decade.

Indeed, we may have or may have not listened to Christina, The BSB and Britney non-ironically at the time because that’s what we were given (and some may even do it to this day, by their own choice, but let’s not name names). And don’t even get me started on pop music from my own country that decade! Disclaimer: the most listened to radio channel in my household, Europa FM, whose tagline was “The best music from the ‘80s to the present day” was like Forest Gump’s box of chocolates – you never knew what you’re gonna hear next – but one thing was sure: we were always living a decade or two behind, 99% of the time. That is, until the local music TV channels started gaining following – as the song goes, video sure as hell killed the radio star. I think that growing up in a post-communist country with a neo-latin language and having access to TV channels and radio stations that were finally welcoming the international tunes that were taking over the world, not only from the US and UK, but quite heavily from Latin America, was probably the best time for a young kid like myself. It expanded my realm of possibility, it transported me to different cultures and lifestyles in the span of 3 to 4 minutes – the world was big and full of options and I could actually enjoy more than just one! Plus, have you any idea the level of happiness at a party when you discover that only yourself and maximum two other people know all the lyrics to Amor A La Mexicana? That is a bond for life! Or at least for the remainder of that party!

So I ask thee: where would I be without the latin tunes of good ol’ MTV? Without Thalia, Gloria Estefan or Marc Anthony? Without ‘El Talisman’ or ‘Ojos Asi’? (for reference, the latter is a song from Shakira’s earlier ‘¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?, an album from an almost forgotten rock-era Shakira and one that I will never stop falling in love with – and that goes for both the album and Shak). Thus, my answer shall be: I’d be joyless, with no reference system to their pop culture and definitely without the love of speaking español-y. But above all, to quote another ‘90s legendary band, all I’d be is incomplete.

But of course, many of these genres, artists or videos might just be left aside, and in the end, the only identifiers for that entire decade of music will remain the catchy bops of boybands and pop princesses whose looks and outfits we desperately tried to imitate at the time, let’s be honest.

And sure, both the music videos and outfits may all have been out-of-space metallic, painfully multi-coloured and quite frankly incomprehensible from a practical and aesthetical point of view alike – but hey, that should me it all blinded us out of this fashion for at least the next hundred years, right?

 *Disclaimer:

“Ooops… I Did It Again” is to this day my absolute favourite music video of all times, I watch it every time I happen to catch it on VH1 and whenever else I feel like watching it for myself on YouTube. Because unlike my 7-year old self who would have to wait in front the TV for the video to show and on many occasions be faced with disappointment, now I can watch it whenever the hell my cheesy-pop-loving muscle wants to. It makes me happy, I think it’s the greatest video ever and to me it’s up there in a higher sphere where all the perfect and beautiful things are and nothing can ever touch it. And if someone ever offers to help me re-create the video, my only request is to call me 1h before, just to brush up on the choreography. Please and thank you!

[lost-in-the-end-of-time]

New interview with Don Airey!

Jeb: I have major respect for you as an artist. I am excited to hear you have a new album coming in May of this year. It is called One of a Kind. And Don…you’re one of a kind. How did that name come about?

Don: It was from a jam in a local rehearsal studio with Carl Sentance and Simon McBride – listening back to my recording afterwards I heard Carl sing “One of a Kind” over the chorus section. I think he was referring though to a glamorous young lady rather than a crusty old keyboard player.

Jeb: Your last album in 2014 was called All Keyed Up. That one rocked and was not at all what I expected out of a keyboardist. Will this one be similar?

Don: Its very much in the nature of a band album and it’s not so “prog” as the preceeding albums have been. Eleven songs, lots of soloing, melodies, riffs, something for everyone hopefully.

Jeb: Tell me about how writing differs when writing One of a Kind and writing Deep Purple music.

Don: The main difference is the time factor – you have a couple of days to get things together rather than a couple of months. Same with the recording sessions. I just take all the ideas that come tumbling out of the jams and try to turn them into songs.

Jeb: You’ve played with some of the best hard rock guitarist on the planet…how does Simon McBride hold up against them?

Don: Its very hard to compare one with another. I met Simon six years ago. We became friends after he played at my biannual fund raiser in the village where I live. I got him in to play on “Keyed Up” and then into doing some of the gigs. He’s one of the nicest people I have ever worked with a fund of ideas. He has a fluidity in his playing I haven’t encountered since working with Gary Moore. Incidentally, Simon is from Belfast, almost from the same district as Gary. But he is nevertheless very much his own man, and just hope I can hang on to him for one more project before he hits the stratosphere with his own.

Jeb: All are the 11 new songs….new compositions? Or have some been lying around?

Don: They are all brand new. Carl and myself are fairly dutiful about getting together for writing sessions and having Simon involved added a welcome new dimension and immediacy to our output.

Jeb: This is slated to come out May 25, 2018 on earMUSIC as 2CD release. The bonus disc is live from a live concert you did. They are classic Deep Purple, Rainbow and Gary Moore tunes. Which of these was the most fun to look back at and play live?

Don: Without a doubt “Still got the Blues.” Simon just nails it and I don’t know of anybody else that has, or could. And of course, on a personal level, it honors the memory of perhaps the greatest musician I ever knew.

Jeb: Here is a hard one…there is no real music business like there was back in the day you came to prominence. Why bother doing this type of stuff? Isn’t it easier to just play the hits and collect the checks?

Don: Stuck in my ways, I guess. My publisher and good friend Stuart Taylor used to say “If you want to be in the music biz, you have to make music. What you got?” Collecting checks in the music biz is a good trick if you can do it though.

Jeb: You like the Hammond. I’ve heard you even play at your church in your local village. Is that true?

Don: Yes, I am officially deputy organist at the local church, the only proper job I have ever had. If I am around and needed it’s a privilege to play there, but not the easiest of gigs, I have to say. The organ dates back to Victorian times, and is a splendid instrument, and of course you have really to be on your toes…keeping up with the choir…and not missing the many service cues…and remembering the important part dynamics and phrasing play in hymns, anthems and psalms.

Jeb: Get specific on what I am going to hear in May with these songs. What can your fans expect?

Don: Well, a large helping of English classic rock – perhaps more Rainbow-ish than DP.

Jeb: Are there any you think the fan base will find particularly exciting?

Don: Yes, its quite “heavy” in parts

Jeb: I want to do an in-depth follow-up interview when this album drops. But…I also want to end this sucker with a few self-indulgent questions as I am a huge fan of your work. Let’s start with a biggie…is Deep Purple close to retiring?

Don: With DP the watchword always is “Expect the Unexpected” but, obviously things are winding down though ever so slowly.

Jeb: How big of an influence was Jon Lord on you? Do you remember hearing his playing for the first time?

Don: First heard Jon on “Hush.” I had actually seen him play a couple of years prior to that with the Flowerpot Men at Nottingham University. I thought his playing was astounding; he was loud, driving, technically adept, and made it all look so easy. A good friend over the years to so many of us as well.

Jeb: Where I grew up we were not aware of Colosseum II. You were on their album in 1976. Tell me what that was like and what I missed?

Don: It was one of the many fusion bands that emerged in the wake of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s success, lead by one of the greatest pros I have ever known drummer Jon Hiseman, and featuring the youthful genius of Gary Moore. We never quite captured it on record, but live the band was absolutely explosive, maniacal even.

Jeb: You were on Never Say Die by Sabbath? I heard that band was a drug infested mess at that time. What was that like?

Don: I remember walking into the session meeting Tony and Ozzy and them offering me a cup of tea. The control room was as though we were in a family’s front room. The two days of sessions were cool, calm and collected. Bill Ward did say to me at the end that he was getting a bit worried about Ozzy though. They couldn’t have been nicer to me, or more professional. I love that album.

Jeb: How did you meet Cozy Powell? I think you played on a solo album of his before you joined Rainbow.

Don: I was in Cozy’s band Hammer that had three hit singles in 1974. A lifelong friendship ensued. He was an amazing musician, especially in a recording studio. He was multi-talented as well and could have made a career as a racing driver, or at show jumping – an incredible horseman apparently. We recorded Over the Top his first solo venture, in London, immediately after finishing recording Down to Earth with Rainbow in France. Great days ay!

Jeb: Michael Schenker is a great guitarist…but another strong personality.

Don: Michael was one of the first people I knew in the biz to give up drinking – astonishing in 1975 – partaking only of sparkling mineral water. Trouble was, the gas turned to acid in his stomach over the months and put him in hospital with a severe bout of peritonitis.

Jeb: I want the untold story of writing the intro to “Mr. Crowley.”

Don: It was recorded in half an hour on a Minimoog and a Yamaha CS80­­­—one of the first polyphonic synths—two hours into the Blizzard sessions. I thought little of it at the time.

Jeb: We all know the story that you flew in that plane only moments before Randy did. He was a friend to you. I think I saw where you played at a tribute to him recently.

Don: I just played at the “Remembering Randy Rhoads” event in Anaheim in January. It was a wonderful evening commemorating the man’s playing and composing. They even very graciously gave me an award. There is not a day goes by that I don’t think of Randy. He truly was one of a kind.

Jeb: That tour with Brad Gillis stepping into being Ozzy’s guitarist had to be emotionally hard…yet you guys killed it musically.

Don: Brad gave his all on his first real professional engagement and kept Ozzy afloat. Not very sure that Brad enjoyed his time in the band though. When I bumped into him recently in Nashville he couldn’t have been less pleased to see me.

Jeb: Gary Moore was another one…I’ve heard you were very important to getting Gary to start recording blues. Is that true?

Don: I mentioned to Gary that I had done a gig with a band called The Hawks in my local pub, featuring the twin guitar work of Mick Grabham and Ray Minhinnet. I said how impressed I was not only with their playing, but the whole measured blues feel of the band. Gary must have got hold of their album, because several of the same songs figured on Still Got the Blues. He also got hold of their rhythm section, bass player Andy Pyle and drummer Graham Walker. It definitely is the album where he found himself.

Jeb: Gary was a fast living guitarist. There has to be a couple tales of Gary and Don sucking down suds on the road…

Don: There are quite a few, but I can’t tell you them!

Jeb: Who am I missing? Oh…Glenn Tipton…Baptism of Fire. I think you played on the title track. Sad news about his health…

Don: I have worked on six projects with Glenn including three Priest albums. He is a gentleman and a scholar, and the real godfather of English heavy metal. Yes, very sorry to hear his news.

Jeb: Andrew Lloyd Webber…wow! Tell me about working with him.

Don: It was with Colosseum II. We were on the same record company. He’d heard War Danceand asked us to participate in the making of Variations. The recording lasted a week. Andrew was very charming, full of ideas, and before we knew it we were number 2 in the album charts. Still get the checks from his office 40 years on.

Jeb: Last one…what is up the rest of 2018 and next year? Will there be solo shows? More DP? What’s next?

Don: Just finished a three-week club tour of Europe with the band that plays on One of a Kind. Getting ready to do a four-month summer run of festivals with DP starting in Mexico in May, with perhaps a UK tour in November with my own band following up on the release of One of a Kind.

Jeb: Okay…really last one…you play with great guitarists…Are you really a frustrated guitarist?

Don: No, I’m really a frustrated keyboard player.

[our-mrs-saku-love]

Test Drive: One Week With the 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line Shows the Car’s Strengths

If anyone still wants a sedan, this VW is one to get.

LOS ANGELES—When people ask me what my job is, I'm never quite sure what to tell them. I rarely use my official title, senior editor, because it's a bad habit in my industry that most writers are called editors. A lot of my colleagues use "automotive journalist," but I've never quite embraced it; when I think journalist, I think Woodward and Bernstein. "Car critic" is probably closest to the mark—like a movie critic or a food critic. The problem is that it sometimes rings hollow, specifically when there is a car about which I can offer no criticism. Such is the case with the 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line I've just tested.

2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line: More Of The Same I'm sure I don't need to tell you the Passat has been a Volkswagen staple for decades. Back in 2012, VW split-off the North American Passat from the rest of the world, creating a bigger sedan that it built in its new factory in Tennessee. For 2020, the Passat got a "major-minor" update—basically new sheet metal (except the roof) and more equipment on the same old bones.

This drew criticism, because the new MQB platform, which underpins pretty much everything VW does, including the Jetta, Tiguan, Atlas, and Atlas Cross Sport, is a better-driving chassis. But that doesn't mean the 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line's old platform is bad. Indeed, during my test of it, the 2020 Passat turned out to be nearly everything I expect from a German sedan: direct, engaging, and comfortable. The latter is particularly noteworthy, precisely because my tester was a top-of-the-range R-Line model with big 19-inch wheels which could have, but did not, degrade the ride quality.  

Reining-In The 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line But I did say, "nearly everything I expect"? Because I managed to find one minor flaw: a bit of float over bumps at higher speeds. And higher speeds really were a bit of a problem for me. The 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line is powered by our old familiar friend, VW's 2.0-liter, turbocharged, direct-injected four-cylinder engine. (It's worth noting VW was an early adopter of the 2.0T format, and now that format is nearly universal.)

This faithful servant still delivers 174 hp, same as last year, but for 2020 VW bumped its torque, by 20 lb-ft, to 206. With its standard-fit six-speed automatic transmission, the 2020 Passat R-Line will get to 60 mph in a respectable 7.8 seconds, but it's the wall of torque (and, well, okay, perhaps a COVID-related lack of traffic) that got me in trouble—seems the Passat likes to sneak up past 80 mph, and that's where I started to feel the extra softness in the suspension. Not that I should be one to criticize—I too am showing softness with advanced age.

But the engine does return good fuel economy, and the big 18.5-gallon fuel tank, a relic from the days when the Passat was offered with a lusty-but-thirsty 280-hp V-6, gives it a nice long cruising range.

Inside, this 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line test-car is like a VW Greatest Hits album: Clear analog gauges (no video-screen dash option like on other VWs), three-dial climate controls, and a small but straightforward touchscreen stereo. Volkswagen installed a bunch of new safety tech for 2020, by the way; all Passats get collision warning with automatic braking and blind-spot monitoring, while the SE model and above get adaptive cruise, lane centering, and automatic high-beams

And let's not forget that old Passat staple, the limousine-sized back seat, which is one of the basic reasons why the North American Passat differs from the MQB-based car sold in other markets. God bless the cheeseburger!

The bottom line is, I've tested-driven and critiqued cars for a lot of years now, and when it comes to the basics of getting a family of four or five where they need to go, there aren't many cars that do it better than the Passat.

2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line: Where It Could Be Better Now, a lot of my fellow critics have found something to criticize—specifically the fact Volkswagen didn't move the Passat to that new MQB platform. No question there would have been advantages. I'm sure my one itty-bitty complaint about the ride could be ironed out, and the 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line could probably get the fancy digital dashboard found in other VW models.

But I can also understand the reasons for sticking with the old platform, and they all come down to dollars and sense. Volkswagen has trumpeted its commitment to sedans in our market, but sedans are a dying breed, and we can understand the argument that it just doesn't make sense to sink too much money into the Passat.

And while the Passat isn't exactly a bargain—at least not at the higher trim levels—with a starting price below $24,000 and an all-in price of just more than $32,000, we can hardly accuse Volkswagen of price gouging. (Incidentally, in order to keep costs down, VW has gone the way of Honda: Most options have been eliminated, with the trim level--S, SE, R-Line, SEL--determining the Passat's equipment level.)

Well, it's true the 2020 Volkswagen Passat R-Line might be a better car if it was on the MQB platform. Maybe it would be even more engaging to drive, or have a little more backseat room, or more up-to-date tech. Maybe it'd make a stronger stand against newer competitors like Toyota's Camry, Nissan's Altima, or Honda's crowd-pleasing Accord.

But the 2020 Volkswagen Passat driven for this test is solid—and this car critic simply can't find anything worthwhile to criticize.

2020 Volkswagen Passat Highlights New sheet metal on old familiar platform Strong 174-hp, 2.0-liter turbo engine Built in the U.S.

2020 Volkswagen Passat Pros: Family-friendly size Engine is powerful and economical Chassis is comfortable and engaging to drive Spacious back seat, generous trunk

2021 Volkswagen Passat Cons: None of significance ราคาบอล

Contact us by Line ID: @ufa98v2

[davedimartino]

NEW THIS WEEK 06.08.09

It's a healthy week for new releases, as some of today's best and brightest newest artists mix it up with welcome returns from veterans like Teena Marie, Sonic Youth and Iron Maiden!

Unfortunately, it appears that precisely what these artists are mixing up may not be what we anticipated!

In an unexpected twist, most of them have gathered in the kitchen and are making a great big bundt cake!

"Frankly, we all just like that cake's name," confided one artist, who shall remain nameless but plays in a famous heavy metal band and has a pilot's license. "Have you seen the spatula?"

Also there's a new Black Eyed Peas album!

 Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. (A&M/Interscope) I don't think anyone would have suspected a few years back that the Black Eyed Peas would be releasing one of the year's most anticipated albums, but with the smash success of their #1 hit "Boom Boom Pow" the much-loved combo now seems a stronger commercial entity than ever! While it's too soon to decide whether any track here will measure up to the band's all-time artistic peak--the fascinating "My Humps"--there's lots to digest and probably lots of time to digest it! After all, the album's title is really an acronym standing for "Energy Never Dies," and there's so much energy in the grooves here that this album will likely sound great forever! Just as Mariah Carey drove home a similarly fascinating scientific fact with her masterful E=MC2, I'm thinking the Peas are demonstrating that addictive beats and the quest for knowledge are often one and the same!  Of course, I might be overthinking it!

 Sonic Youth: The Eternal (Matador) In the same manner that German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen once explored the boundaries of musical tradition with his classic Gesang der Junglinge (translation: "Song Of The Youths"), Sonic Youth make records, too! Lots of them! Here's a new one, and it not only sounds good, it--like the Black Eyed Peas and Mariah Carey--carries with it a title laden with meaning in the mathematical, philosophical and spiritual realms! Or else it's just a tribute to the Isley Brothers! But now, finally away from the clutches of the major label that made them compromise their uniqueness and record nothing but pop hits, the highly respected alternative rock legends have stretched out for a 16th album that is considerably better than most other alternative rock legends' 16th albums! Incidentally, squirting bottled paint on a cardboard square and placing it on a rotor at a flea market booth for a dollar would not result in cool cover art like this! I'm betting "Anti-Orgasm" will be the hit!

 Teena Marie: Congo Square (Stax) Just the other day I was listening to Teena Marie's "Lover Girl" in my car and, admittedly, was quite animated while listening to it! Imagine my chagrin when, at a red light, I looked over to the car on my left and noticed two teenage girls staring at me and laughing! Just thought I'd share that! But I'll happily look like a buffoon when it comes to listening to Teena Marie, who is one of my all-time favorite singers, and whose new album features 16 very solid tracks that can't help but bolster her reputation as one of pop music's greatest unsung heroes! Featuring appearances by Faith Evans, MC Lyte, Howard Hewitt and Shirley Murdock, Congo Square is a lush, sophisticated work brimming with marvelous vocals and memorable arrangements! It's just the sort of thing you might want to listen to as you drive up and down the streets of your neighborhood, looking for a car!

     The Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (Domino) This is a fascinating new album from the mind of Dave Longstreth, a former Yale student--which I mention only for the many who might, on the basis of this album's title, assume him to be a German whale lover. I don't think he is! His group's second album for the fabulous Domino label, Bitte Orca is a fascinating, intelligent, comparatively lesser lo-fi product than any of the man's previous work, and pretty emotionally intricate stuff! Among the album's highlights are tracks "Cannibal Resource," "Useful Chamber," and a cover featuring a colorful struggle between dueling telepaths! I'm betting the girl on the right will win! Buy this!    

 Iron Maiden: Flight 666 (Sony Legacy) At this stage of the game, how can anyone not love everything that Iron Maiden stands for? Especially when you don't have to listen to them! An incredible two CD set--also available on DVD--which features live performances by the gang recorded, quite literally, all over the world! Even New Jersey! With a total of 17 tracks recorded in such far away locales as India, Brazil, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile and exotic Canada, Flight 666 is bound to be your passport to metal pleasure! And is it mere coincidence they decided to record "The Number Of The Beast" in Los Angeles? Like the Dixie Chicks, but guys!

 Los Amigos Invisibles: Commercial (Nacional) A superb, surprisingly accessible album from this distinguished Venezuelan group, known to most in the USA via their work for David Byrne's Luaka Bop label. If you hear it, you're likely to love their spicy mixture of dance, jazz, funk and pop--"Vivire Para Ti" being one of many instant standouts here--and if you don't, you'll just go about your business mindlessly, gradually losing interest in your surroundings and finally looking inward to a cold and fearful abyss! Maybe! Buy it so that you may live and enjoy a fruitful and productive life! Also, "Plastic Woman" is pretty hip!

 Elizabeth And The Catapult: Taller Children (Verve Forecast) An appealing major label debut from this New York-based group, led by singer Elizabeth Zimon and juiced up here by producer Mike Mogis, whose work with Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley has resulted in the creation of this dependent clause! Sure to please fans of women singers, tall people, and those who naturally gravitate toward the most recent signings  of the Verve Forecast label, Taller Children is better than the work of every emo band but Silverstein! And I’m not the first person to notice it!

 Stardeath & White Dwarfs: The Birth (Reprise) Now you're talking! Oklahoma steps out! A great debut album from Stardeath, who with close personal acquaintances the Flaming Lips covered Madonna's "Borderline" on that record nobody ever saw! And it was great! This is even more psychedelic--deliberately so--and like the Lips, and, say, the most recent album by Mercury Rev, it's loaded with subtleties, flying colors, dreamy melodies, and the sense that in dreams begin responsibilities! Also, the cover is kind of sexy!

 Placebo: Battle For The Sun (Vagrant) Thematically at one with Stardeath & White Dwarfs, the fabulously undersung Placebo return on a brand new label with a rocking collection produced by Dave Bottrill and mixed by Alan Moulder! That must mean something to somebody! With a brand new drummer and a handy-dandy collection of upbeat tracks like "Kitty Litter" and "Breathe Underwater," chipper-voiced Brian Molko--this generation's Geddy Lee--leads the charge into the minds and hearts of a brand new audience aching to latch on to music and lyrics that mean something to them personally! Perhaps this will be the album that propels them to the very top of the music business! You know you want it!

 Anti-Flag: The People Or The Gun (SideOneDummy) The seventh album by marvelous punk rockers Anti-Flag once and for all proves they were wise to change their name from Auntie Em! That was effeminate!

[japanessie]

Hey! I found your blog recently and I also just started listening to MFS and I really like their music. I'm a bit lost as to where to start to learn more about them and their motivation/thoughts behind their music since it's been a couple years since they've debuted. What would you suggest?

Hello (^^)v Welcome to the fandom.

I’m guessing you probably discovered them through their more popular songs like ALONE, 不可逆リプレイス or the more recent ones like Missing You. Firstly, too many people get caught up in singer Hiro’s family relations and ignore the other members. So, I would highly encourage a new fan to NOT follow that crowd XD

There are basically 4 aspects to MFS that all fans need to know OR you won’t understand the band and what diehard fans talk about:

1. Band members & the personnel changes.2. Their musical roots especially the main songwriter Sho Tsuchiya + their twin band named fromus.3. Hiro’s lyrics in relations to his life story.4. The important people in their team especially their boss GEN, A&R exec KTR (Kentaro Suzuki) from Japan Music System (JMS) & circle of friends. Also, their earliest mentor K ( Kei Goto) the late singer of Pay Money To My Pain (PTP).

BAND MEMBERS

1. Sho Tsuchiya ~ leader, guitarist, main composer (currently only functions behind the scene & as a non-touring member)2. Nob @ Nobuaki Katou ~ bassist3. Teru @ Teruki Nishizawa ~ guitarist (many like to categorize him as rhythm guitarist when Sho was in but I personally disagree because he played both lead & rhythm guitars even from the 1st album)4. Kid'z ~ drummer (officially joined on 3 Mar 2016)5. Hiro @ Hiroki Moriuchi ~ vocalist, lyricist6. Masack @ Masaki Kojima ~ drummer (officially left on 3 Mar 2016)

Note: MFS current members “deactivated" from public social media in early 2016. So, don’t bother looking XD

PERSONNEL CHANGES

Sho’s hiatus:Sho remains as a member. He announced his hiatus in October 2015. I won’t call it “inactive" like some people do because he’s still composing with them and most recently served as the Sound Producer for ANTITHESE. He’s just not a touring member for now. He didn’t give specific reason other than family matter.

Drummer change:Masaki didn’t state why he left but it looked like he didn’t want to be tied down to only one genre of music. He was active playing outside MFS before his departure. So, he probably wanted that musical freedom even though he loves MFS. But his decision was enough to badly crush the two youngest members at the time, Hiro and Teruki, from what I observed. Those two younger men were still emotionally dealing with Sho’s hiatus at that moment.  Kid'z is their friend / labelmate who had always got along well with Teru & Hiro. He had worked together with Sho & Nob before too. Co-incidentally, his band officially split up in Nov 2015. So, he was the natural choice to replace Masaki. But Kid'z was drumming as a sessionist musician for singer ナノ(nano) at the time MFS took him. He stopped using his real name and took on a stage name Kid'z* after that. 

* I personally don’t use his real name in public anymore out of respect for his decision. Understandably, he was initially worried about MFS fans’ reaction. Also, it was and probably still is an awkward situation for him regarding his former bandmates when their band split up and he went to their biggest rival band just a few months later. So, I chose to respect his wish to start anew.

THEIR BEGINNING

On my blog so far, the interview that tells their formation year story the most is this one from GEKIROCK.

MFS GEKIROCK Interview March 2016 Translation

The band did describe how they got together in this video interview around minutes 01:42 to 02:58.

My Japanese listening ability is not up to that point yet though, sorry. Hiro explained how he and Sho met at a PTP concert. Couldn’t catch what Sho said about Hiro & Masaki with the music playing in the background :-/ Hiro also said he and Teru knew each other when they were high school students. Well, the GEKIROCK interview is a pretty good picture of their history.

FOR OLD PHOTOS of MFS, check out these places:

My First Story Unofficial fanpage on FBMy First Story Thailand fanpage on FBex-drummer Masaki Kojima’s Twitter @kojimasa 

THEIR TWIN BAND fromus

Ignore whatever musical comparison people made about them and OOR. The real band to compare MFS to is their real twin band fromus, a piano-rock unit. I made an entry about them here.

http://japanessie.tumblr.com/post/140215899677/meet-fromus-mfs-real-twin-band

I personally feel that musically, MFS first two albums are the direct guitar edition fromus. Just take MFS, change the singer & then the guitars to piano. You’ll get fromus.

OTHER MUSICAL INFLUENCES

They do have influences from old school hard rock & metal. Sho and Nob are already in their 30s. Both men said they started on guitar with British rock legend Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water. Guitarist Teruki grew up with a heavy-metal-music-loving father and would often cite Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica as his early influences.

DISCOGRAPHY

If you want to see their musical & lyrical evolution, try to listen to their songs chronologically from the 1st album to the current work.

Albums & Singles

1. MY FIRST STORY ~ MV Second Limit & Take It Back2. THE STORY IS MY LIFE ~ MVs The Story Is My Life & The Reason3. 最終回STORY (Saishukai STORY)4. BONEDS (a joint 4-band project in which they contributed 2 songs)5. BLACK RAIL ~ MVs Black Rail & FAKE6. 不可逆リプレイス ( Fukagyaku Replace) ~ their breakthrough song IMO7. 虚言NEUROSE ~ MVs 虚言NEUROSE, Child Error & Someday (lyrics MV available on Livehouse iOS App & STORYTELLER website)8. ALONE ~ MVs ALONE & 失踪FLAME * 9. ANTITHESE ~ MVs The Puzzle (exclusive for STORYTELLER members only), Missing You (there’s another STORYTELLER-only version too) & Last Call

Update: 12 Jan 2017. Sorry I forgot the MVs from the ALONE single XD

They also have a special 2-track single dedicated to band leader Sho Tsuchiya, released to the public at the Budokan called:

We’re Just Waiting 4 You (available at MAGIC ROOM while stock lasts)

DVD Collection so far:

1. THE STORY IS MY LIFE Final at Shibuya Club Quattro (bundled with 最終回STORY) ~ the only official DVD released when Hiro still sported his natural black hair colour.2. The Ending of the Beginning at Ebisu Liquidroom.3. BONEDS Tour Movie (with AIR SWELL, BLUE ENCOUNT, SWANKY DANK).4. ITSUWARI NEUROSE Tour Final at Shinkiba Studio Coast.5. MFS at A.V.E.S.T. Vol.9 (released as a free bonus for ANTITHESE Pre-order)

TIDBITS Info (^_-)

Hiro called 虚言NEUROSE creation process as “creating a human-like superhero" & the sound as “listening to the radio in the city“. Does that make any sense to you? LOL. Read what he said in this interview:

Hiro’s Interview with Rockin’ On Japan magazine Jan 2015

HIRO’s LYRICS

Sho let Hiro be in charge of lyrics writing from the start (from an interview for Yamaha Music).

Hiro comes from a famous family thanks to his parents and his successful brother. As a result, he was heavily thrashed on the internet by people who disliked his “easy entry” into the music industry. Hiro used to be very active on Twitter but the criticism against him soon turned into cyber-bullying. I personally had seen the cruel things people wrote about him on Japanese 2ch forum.

I can only guess what happened that drove Hiro to leave social media. Other than abusive online comments, some people probably took advantage of his Twitter presence by sending inappropriate messages or even being intrusive about his brother Taka’s personal life. He tweeted an angry response about 2ch on 14 Feb 2013. Then he wrote on his blog on Ameblo (now deleted / deactivated(?)) that “people’s words can hurt". A few months later, he tweeted “I started blocking fucked up people" in English. Not long after, he tweeted his final tweet “Goodbye forever" and abandoned Twitter in Sept 2013.

He then channeled his anger through the song BLACK RAIL in 2014. He explained it in this interview.

Hiro MFS Rolling Stone Japan Aug 2014 Interview Translation

From then on, a lot of his lyrics reflected what he was going through while writing them.

It must be noted that the special project singles ALONE & 不可逆リプレイス (Fukagyaku Replace) were written for the themes of those projects. Hiro talked at length about ALONE around its release and there are a bunch of them that I posted on this blog.

For details on ALONE Project with HAL College, read these posts:

HAL Project Special Musician Interview with MFS Translation

MY FIRST STORY Flying Postman Interview Translation

Hiro’s ALONE Blog Translation

What is HAL Project & HAL College?

不可逆リプレイス / Fukagyaku Replace was made for the historical anime Nobunaga Concerto. Interesting to note that Hiro wrote the lyrics not from the main character Saburo’s point of view but the other guy Michi. The lines, “I don’t know why but you saved me ………… “ all the way to “I will follow you ….. keep you close to me,” were directly inspired by what Michi said to Saburo in the finale or Episode 10.

The lyrics of Someday are for the late K.Hiro said in Kaohsiung, Taiwan that “This is a very important song to me,“.

His blog entry translation on K’s death

ANTITHESE Lyrics & Hiro’s personal stories

The Puzzle & Tomorrowland are about his heartbreak over Masaki’s departure.Home is about his family who split up after his parents divorced.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MFS TEAM1. GEN ~ boss, owner of INTACT Records, owner of Zephyren, organizer of AVEST Project, formerly of Subciety clothing brand.Twitter : @Zephyren_genInstagram : Zephyren Gen2. KTR (Kentaro Suzuki) ~ A&R + marketing exec of JMS, marketing exec of Deviluse clothing, regularly seen at MFS video shoots and concerts.Twitter : @kkktttrrr, Instagram: Kentaro Suzuki3. The late K @ Kei Goto ~ vocalist of Pay Money To My Pain (PTP), mentor in MFS early days.4. Nori (producer), Makiko (merchandising) but she’s better known now as the lady who covered Rassungorerai with Hiro XD

* Update (Jan 2018): I believe Makiko is not in the staff team anymore but she remains a close friend. Here is the YouTube link to the video of her and Hiro.5. Japan Music System (JMS) ~ the music distribution company specializing in indie music and the one that markets/promotes MFS musicYouTube Channel: JMSTVOnline shop for bands’ merchandise: MAGIC ROOM ONLINE STORE

5. Circle of friends among many:  Shirakawa-san (SAKAEYA clothing shop manager) ~ the members regularly visit his shop.Twitter: @sakaeyatenchonano, SWANKY DANK, AIR SWELL ~ artists they had musically collaborated with.

The funny interview with Hiro & KOJI about the Sink Like A Stone collaboration in which Hiro admitted the song’s high notes were difficult to sing is here.

STORYTELLER Fan Clubhttps://xxxstorytellerxxx.comAll MFS members let go of their individual public social media after the club was launched in 2016. If you’re interested to join, feel free to ask questions on how to do that.

In case you have an iOS mobile device ……..

JMS created a Japan-only iOS App called LIVEHOUSE where they feature videos from JMS artists. The videos vary from live performances, interviews, behind the scenes etc. However, if you create a different Apple ID specifically for Japan iTunes account, you can still download the App and watch those videos even if you don’t live in Japan.

*Update (12 Jan 2017): You will then get to watch videos like this one!

**Update (15 June 2017): JMS decided to stop the App by 31 May 2017.

Lastly yet very important, don’t believe any ridiculous claim about Hiro and his brother Taka hating each other because they don’t. You’ll find such comments at some point, I’m sure. These two brothers love and support each other away from the public eye and rightfully keep their family relationship private.

I hope that will give you a good start (^_-)

[concerthopperblog]

ConcertHopper's Favorite Metal Albums of 2020 So Far

With the year a bit more than half over, everyone here at Concert Hopper is feeling the sting of having no concerts to hop to. But our little band's metalhead contingency is feeling it especially keenly. There's just something about the energy at a crowded metal show that can't be replicated. Fortunately, there have been a lot of great albums released this year. And, as metal is arguably the most sub-genred style in the world, we didn't present one person's list of mid-year favorites as we did with our Americana Albums, but five albums from three different Concert Hopper contributors. As you will see below, not only did we not agree on the five best, we didn't agree on any of them. So pick the sub you like best and find a new album to bang your head to.

Xerxes Tzolis- Editor in Chief

As you can see, Xerxes metal tastes run toward the sludge, stoner, and doom metal genres. He manages to pull a good mix from those areas for his list, presented in chronological order by date of release.

Haunt – Mind Freeze (01/10/20): I have not been able to catch Fresno’s Haunt live until The Speed of the Wizard Tour hit Atlanta in 2019. That fateful night, I was able to witness firsthand the heavy metal awesomeness that is Haunt. Haunt’s latest release, Mind Freeze - Shadow King Records, is the third (3rd) LP to come from the band since 2018. This record really hits home with thunderous tracks like, “Light the Beacon”, “Divide And Conquer”, “Mind Freeze”, “Fight or Flight”, and “Have No Fear”! Just sit back with some good headphones, turn up the volume as loud as you can handle it, and then let Haunt do the rest. You will be playing air guitar within seconds. Also, it is worthy to note that Haunt will released their fourth (4th) LP, Flashback, sometime in July (2020).

Candlemass – The Pendulum (EP) (01/23/2020): Swedish Doom Metal titans, Candlemass, fresh off of their Grammy nominated LP, The Door to Doom, has now released a new EP entitled, The Pendulum – Napalm Records. Candlemass solidified their ranking in the doom metal pantheon many years ago. And when Candlemass releases new material that also keeps progressing so does their dedicated and loyal fan base. They even brought back their original vocalist, Johan Langqvist, to lend a hand with The Pendulum. Some of my personal favorites are “The Pendulum”, “Sub Zero”, “Aftershock”, and “Porcelain Skull”. Now keep in mind that every song (save for “The Pendulum”) is considered a demo for their upcoming LP which is likely to be released sometime in 2022 or 2023. They do say good things come to those who wait.

Old Man Gloom – Seminar IX: Darkness of Being (01/23/2020) & Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning (05/22/2020): Originally, from Santa Fe, New Mexico, but currently calling Boston, Mass. their home. Old Man Gloom is a sludge/doom/extreme metal band that is compiled of members from Isis (the band), Converge, Doomriders, Cave In, Mutoid Man, and Sumac. That pedigree gives this band enough musical credentials in the metal world and rightfully so, after releasing not one but two solid pieces of work in 2020. Old Man Gloom picked right up where they left off with their 2016 release, The Ape of God, with two stellar LPs: Seminar IX: Darkness of Being & Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning - Profound Lore Records. After listening to both LPs, I feel that these are both fitting tributes for Caleb Scofield, who is the former bassist for Old Man Gloom who died suddenly in 2018. Some notable tracks to check out are “Heel to Toe”, “Death Rhymes”, “In Your Name”, “EMF”, “Wrath of the Weary”, and “Calling You Home”. R.I.P. Caleb!

Elder – Omens (04/24/2020): Elder is a four piece progressive heavy/doom/stoner metal band that has been a particular favorite of mine ever since their debut split with Queen Elephantine in 2006. Since then, they have gone on to release one (1) live LP, two (2) EPs, and five (5) LPs including their most recent release, Omens – Armageddon Label. As time has gone on, each release from Elder shows the bands maturity and progression the juggernaut that they have become today with tracks like; “Omens”, “In Procession”, “Halcyon”, “Embers”, and “One Light Retreating”. Coming in at just under 54 minutes long and only five (5) tracks, each song helps guide the listener to escape into Elder’s riff-filled reality.

Witchcraft – Black Metal (05/01/2020): Now it’s time to round out my choices for Top Metal Albums (so far!) from 2020 with one of my favorite doom metal/occult rock bands, Sweden’s very own Witchcraft. Black Metal – Nuclear Blast is Witchcraft’s first new album in four years, which incidentally, is a deviation from their previous material because the entire album is acoustic. There is something eerily, magnifying and raw about Magnus Pelander’s (vocals/guitar) vocals when he starts off the first track, “Elegantly Expressed Depression”, with the lyrics “I swear I saw death standin’ in my hall / Casting her black shadow on my white wall / I reek of death from inside my soul / I’d never thought I’d lose you on a whim.” Other notable tracks include “Sad People”, “Free Country”, “Sad Dog”, and “Take Him Away”. If you dig this LP, check out Witchcraft’s discography consisting of six (6) LPs (including Black Metal) and seven (7) Singles/Splits/EPs.

Chris Griffy- Album Review Editor As will become abundantly clear from his list, Chris' metal tastes tend to run almost exclusively toward the European progressive/folk/power/symphonic metal niche. While there were some great albums produced outside those confines (Khemmis, Testament, and Candlemass especially), his list hews pretty closely to his favorite genres.

Demons & Wizards- III Damn is it nice to hear Demons & Wizards again. The supergroup consisting of Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kursch and Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer has returnd with III. Demons & Wizards has stretched outside their power metal comfort zone and released an album that, while not as good as the generational genius of Touched by the Crimson King, is still an outstanding listen. Album highlights include “Wolves in Winter”, “Dark Side of Her Majesty”, and “Diabolic.”

Nightwish- Human:II:Nature While Floor Jansen has been Nightwish's vocalist since 2013, Human:II:Nature is only her second studio album with the band, there being two live albums in between. This album continues bandleader Tuomas Halopainen's recent obsession with nature and science begun on Endless Forms Most Beautiful and should be well-placed to capitalize on Floor's increased American profile from what seems like a thousand YouTube reaction videos and her genre-hopping appearance on the Dutch program Beste Zangers. Songs like “Noise”, “Shoemaker”, and “Pan” are showcases for Jansen's powerful vocals, as well as a long overdue feature lead for multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley on “Harvest.”

Archon Angel- Fallen Anyone who knows me well knows that Zak Stevens era Savatage is my metal sweet spot. So I was excited to hear Stevens' new project with Secret Sphere guitarist Aldo Lonobile, who met while recording as guests on the new album from Timo Tolkki’s Avalon. The results didn't disappoint. Fallen is kind of the mid-point between the cinematic prog of Savatage and the more grounded work of Stevens' follow-up band CircleIICircle. Unfortunately, hearing the band is all you'll get to do as, after Stevens wrapped up his winter commitments with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, they managed one concert (the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise) before COVID shut down the touring world. Highlights include the title track, “The Serpent”, and “Rise.”

Conception- State of Deception 2020 is the year of the great vocal return. But while there have been places to hear Zak Stevens and Hansi Kursch, fans of former Kamelot vocalist Roy Khan have been without as the artist was retired until 2018, when he reunited with his pre-Kamelot band Conception. State of Deception is everything a Khan fan could have hoped for, a return to his Black Halo and Poetry for the Poisoned vocal form, with a new (old) cast. Highlights include “Anybody Out There”, “Of Ravens and Pigs”, and “Waywardly Broken.”

Ad Infinitum- Chapter 1: Monarchy The award for debut of the year goes to Ad Infinitum. Chapter 1: Monarchy is a symphonic metal fan's dream. The band wisely lets the bulk of their work ride on the more than worthy shoulders of Swedish vocal powerhouse Melissa Bonny. Capable of belting a siren's song like Simone Simons one moment and growling like Angela Gossow the next, Bonny's vocal gymnastics are anchored by some great hooks on songs like “See You in Hell” and “Marching on Versailles.”

Richard Davenport- Concert Hopper Metal Prophet The most well-rounded metalhead among our ranks, Hopper's resident Metal Prophet chose a wide-ranging list of releases as his favorite. Unfortunately, an unexpected illness prevented him from sending in the write-ups of his choices, but we still wanted to include his selections.

Lamb of God- Lamb of God

The Amity Affliction- Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them

The Acacia Strain- Slow Decay

Code Orange- Underneath

The Black Dahlia Murder- Verminous

Let us know your favorite metal albums in the comments!

[eldritchsurveys]

603.

What is your favorite band? >> Gonna do this survey about *rolls die* Dream Theater.

When did you first hear about them? >> 2008 or so, I’m guessing. Whenever Rock Band 2 came out, because there was a DT song on it and as far as I know, that was the first song of theirs I ever heard.

Why are they your favorite band? >> They’re not, lol. I don’t have a favourite band. But I will jump at any opportunity to ramble about music.

What was the first song you heard by them? >> Panic Attack.

Were you instantly hooked? >> I’m not sure about instantly, to be honest. Panic Attack is one of the hardest songs on Rock Band 2, so I think I was more focused on not failing the song. But I did get hooked at some point, seeing as that’s the song that started it all.

Have you ever been to any of their concerts? >> Yes! A friend of mine at the time knew I was obsessed with them and she had two tickets to their Beacon Theater show, but her boyfriend couldn’t go because he had band practice. So she asked me if I wanted to go, as if there was even a question, lmao. It was my first seated show, incidentally. 

Do you own all their albums? >> Well, I own very few albums now (aside from whatever is in my mp3 collection, because I am loath to delete it even though I don’t use it anymore) since I use Spotify. So, no.

Do you also have any unreleased songs, demos, etc? >> ---

What is your favorite band member? Why? >> The singer, because I love a good singer? I don’t know. I don’t have one. I did like Mike Portnoy, but he’s gone now.

Are you find any of the band members attractive? >> I used to be “attracted” to James Labrie but I think I was just really enamoured with his voice and didn’t know how else to express that, lol.

Is the band coed, all male or all female? >> It’s all male.

How many members does the band have? >> Five? Last time I checked, anyway.

Has the band had the same members throughout their whole career? >> Nope. But I think two of them have been there since the beginning.

What kind of music do they play? >> Progressive metal.

What is your favorite song by this band? >> Ooof. I’m going to say... Stargazer, which is actually a Rainbow cover. As far as original DT songs go, I’ll go with The Shattered Fortress (with In the Presence of Enemies Part 2 and A Mind Beside Itself II: Voices rounding out the top three).

Do you purchase any of their merchandise? >> No. I mean, I would, I just never think about it.

How many of their concerts have you been to? >> One.

How often do you listen to them? >> However often they come up on shuffle.

Have you gotten anyone else into them? >> No.

Are you a groupie? >> No, lol. I doubt those even still exist, considering how many changes the music industry and music culture has undergone since like... 1990.

Have you ever met any of the band members? >> No.

What kind of show does this band put on during their concerts? >> Heh... it’s kind of boring, to be honest. Unless you’re a musician/music aficionado who is delighted to watch a master (John Petrucci) at work live and in person. Because let’s be real, most of their songs feature minutes and minutes of just... guitar wankery. There were stretches of time when the singer just wasn’t even on the stage because there was no reason for him to be.

What is your favorite single by them? >> I don’t even know which songs were released as singles. I don’t pay attention.

Are they overrated? Are they underrated? >> Neither of those words mean anything to me, so I don’t know how to answer that.

Is this band played on the radio? >> Maybe, like, Pull Me Under. I’ve personally never heard them on the radio, but by the time I got into them I had stopped listening to radio. Still, they don’t really make what I’d call “radio-friendly” tunes, you know?

Are they well known? >> Relatively, I guess.

Are they a foreign band? If so, what country are they from and what language(s) do they sing? >> No, they’re from the United States.

Are you part of a fan club? >> No.

Do you listen to their music while you sleep? >> lol, no.

Do you play the music loudly to annoy your parents? >> ---

Do you secretly dance while listening to them? >> Secretly??? Anyway, no, they don’t really make dancing music.

How do you act when you see them in concert? Do you dance, sing along, and/or stand still and appreciate the music? >> I don’t remember how I acted, that was a full 10 years ago. All I remember is being really excited to be there. Also, Angie and I laughing about Portnoy’s comment in some interview where he said that girls don’t listen to Dream Theater, because that seemed to hold true when we went to the bathroom and the men’s line was a mile long but the women’s had no line at all. Pfft.

Do they play the kind of music that you usually listen to? >> Sure, I generally like prog stuff.

What is their most popular song? >> I have no idea. 

Are they a one hit wonder? >> No.

How many singles do they have? >> I don’t know.

How many music videos do they have? >> Not too many. Maybe around 5.

What is your favorite music video by them? >> I don’t really remember any of them, lol. It’s been a while since I looked into that.

Do you think you will still be a fan of them in 10 years? >> I don’t see why not.

Where do you think the band will be in 10 years? >> I have no idea. Probably no longer making music. It’s been a long time for them already.

Does the band change their style often, or are they consistent? >> They’re pretty consistent. But the thing about making prog music is that... “consistent” really just means “we continue to make shit weird and convoluted as fuck”, so of course it’s still going to sound kind of different every time.

Are they the only favorite band that you have ever had, or have u had more? >> I love a lot of bands.

[daddyslittlejuliet]

Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

Dogs are adorable. And while nothing beats seeing a precious pup in person, we love to capture those moments on camera, both for ourselves and to show off to others. But photos that are blurry or crop off your dog’s head aren’t that cute. When it comes to getting great pics, use the L.E.M.O.N. aid — Location, Enthusiasm, Movement, Opportunity and Nope (We’re Done).

Choose the right location

Don’t forget the first step to a successful photo shoot is the location. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Just as in real estate, location is a big deal when getting the right photos. And that means the location of the dog, your location in relation to the dog and keeping an eye out for the clutter that is an unwelcome tenant in your image.

Shooting in a nicely lit environment is a great place to start. Instead of shooting your dog out on the beach with strong sun, professional photographer of 15 years David Capron recommends going into the shade or inside the house. “Sit your dog next to a window that has incidental light coming in, and shoot there,” he says.

David, owner of Dogma Pet Portraits in Costa Mesa, California, also recommends getting down to your dog’s height so the camera is at eye level. Of course, depending on how tall your dog is, this might mean spending a significant amount of time on the floor or ground, so dress accordingly.

Take a look around the room before you start shooting. Specifically, watch your backgrounds, advises Milla Chappell, a professional photographer of 10 years and owner of Real Happy Dogs based in New York City. “You don’t want a plant growing out of your dog’s head or garbage in the background of your favorite photo.”

Make it fun

Use treats to keep the photo shoot fun for your dog. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Perhaps the most important part of photographing your dog is to make it fun. If you’re enthusiastic, that can help your dog feel the same way. If you aren’t, your dog will react accordingly.

“Don’t stress your dog out,” Milla says. “My style of photography is very unposed and natural, and I believe it’s important to let dogs be dogs during photo sessions. When I scroll through Instagram, I often see photos of dogs who look stressed and uncomfortable because their owner forced a certain photo, and I want to advise people to avoid this. Let your dog’s joy guide your photography, and the result will be much more authentic.”

The right attitude shows up in the finished product. “The most engaging images are those that show the emotional connection between dogs and their people,” Milla adds. “Photograph your dog with the people he loves most, and don’t forget to get in front of the camera sometimes, too!”

David uses people as well, even if they don’t always appear in the final photos. “If you can, arrange for a human to be in the first couple of shots, so the dog understands that we are all OK with having a black box with the tube on the front pointed at them and it’s not going to hurt in any way.”

In David’s experience in the studio, he takes it slow and provides a prime incentive to boost a dog’s enthusiasm in a new place. “They know that it’s a cool place where unlimited treats from strangers magically appear for no good reason,” he says.

Get moving

Portrait shots are great, no question. But catching your dog in motion can be quite compelling. And it doesn’t have to be an elaborate action shot. There’s a reason why the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover is ranked No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 50 Album Covers of All Time. While a photo of your dog walking across the street may never achieve icon status, it can still make for a photo potentially more interesting than your dog at rest.

And even if your dog is posed, movement on your part can maximize results. “If you are photographing your dog on the ground with a toy, for example, get on the ground with her to shoot it first, then photograph the same scene from right above and then from far away,” Milla recommends. “Sometimes the most interesting photo is the angle you didn’t expect.”

There are ways you can help make those interesting angles happen. “Compose the photo to give your dog room to look or move into the frame,” Milla says. “When we view photos, we subconsciously look toward the space that the subject is moving or looking, so as a photographer you can use this concept to your advantage.” She adds that steering the viewer’s gaze can help deepen the emotional response to a photo and make it more meaningful.

If you have a particularly rambunctious dog, getting her on the move before the photo shoot might be just the trick you need. “’A tired dog is a happy dog’ as the quote goes, so a long walk or a morning at play group just to get a little of the puppy out of them generally works,” David suggests.

Where you don’t want movement is with the camera itself, of course. If you have trouble with a steady hand, consider a tripod for stability. You can even get one for your cell phone — some are less than $10.

Make it happen

Portrait shots are a classic way to capture a photo. Try shooting your dog in motion for a change. Photography ©Bark at the Moon Photography.

There are several easy ways to make the most of a photo shoot. One of them is having an assistant who can wrangle your dog, leaving you to focus on the opportunities that present themselves, which may be fleeting. To that end, David recommends using quantity to get quality.

“A great expression might only last a millisecond. Good luck trying to predict when that millisecond might happen. The more images you’ve shot, the more chance you have of capturing it.” Treats are a great way to get your dog to look where you want, making it more likely to get that eye contact in the shot.

“Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at directing their attention, not that it’s a particularly magical technique,” David says. “Most dogs will watch where you hold a treat with the efficiency of a military grade missile tracking system.”

Nope (we’re done)

Finally, if you or your dog is getting frustrated, or you have a time crunch, it’s time to say nope, we’re done for the day. End on a high note with a treat and some pettings so your dog associates your Ansel Adams imitation as something that’s fun and worth looking forward to.

Whether you’re taking photos while out and about or looking for that perfect portrait, have fun with the experience. And don’t get too hung up on what you’re using. “I mostly use my cell phone for taking photos of my dog and family,” Milla says. “The ‘real’ camera only comes out for special occasions.”

Turn photos into something

Size matters when dealing with your photographs. Photography ©Azure-Dragon | Getty Images.

Now that you have some great photos, what should you do with them? Below are some of the many items beyond holiday cards you can personalize with your pup’s pic to keep for yourself or give to others. But first, some guidelines on matching the photo to the medium for maximum impact.

Size matters. If you’re putting a photo on something fairly small, like a mug, make sure your dog’s face takes up most of the photo. This isn’t the place to use that panoramic shot of Buster at the beach.

Busy isn’t best. Notice backgrounds, and crop in on your dog if necessary. Don’t waste valuable space showcasing the TV in the background or your dinner plate on the coffee table.

Follow their eye. If you’re laying out something like a card or calendar, place the image so your dog isn’t “looking off the page.”

Shutterfly, Vistaprint, Minted and Costco’s Photo Center are among the great places to order items with your pet’s portrait — for practically every room in your house.

Accessories:  Cell phone covers, tote bags

Apparel :  T-shirts, hats and socks (yep, even socks!)

Décor: Blankets, candles, magnets, pictures in all sizes on glass, metal or canvas, pillows, photo books — in memoriam, from grand-dog to grandma, Fido’s first birthday, etc.

Household items: Calendars, mugs, tea towels, coasters

Know your camera

Dogma Pet Portraits is a company located in Costa Mesa, California. Photography Courtesy Courtesy David Capron | Dogma Pet Portraits.

While cameras are still the gold standard for photography, many people use mobile devices to take photos. Beyond the L.E.M.O.N. aid guidelines, David Capron of Dogma shares some technical aspects to photographing your dogs that can help make those photos, well, picture perfect.

You don’t need to be an expert, but know your camera or device as well as you can, David says. “Say, for an iPhone, know how to turn off your flash and how to shoot on burst mode.” For example, “You can easily fix that devil dog red eye thing by turning off your flash,” he adds.

“For someone shooting outdoors for fun, you can get great pictures with a starter mirrorless or DSLR camera kit from any of the manufacturers for $500,” David says. “But really, great images do not depend on the equipment, just the eye of the photographer taking them.”

Don’t forget about editing programs that can help after the fact. David uses PhotoShop Elements on his computer and the Snapseed app on his mobile phone. “They all have algorithms that will help brighten, sharpen and bring out extra details,” he says, adding that they can be particularly helpful if you have an all-black dog.

Finally, there’s one last technicality to be mindful of — a legal one. If you have a professional photo shoot done, the photographer owns the legal copyright to those images unless you get specific permission in your contract.

For example, “A customer is not entitled to buy a 5 x 7 image from us, copy it and blow it up to a 30 x 40 canvas (it would also look terrible, but it’s a no-no),” David says. If Dogma does release digital images for personal, not commercial, use, the understanding is that the buyer can do anything they like with those images. Dogma will also provide a release should any lab require it before they’ll print anything if requested. Find out what any professional photographer’s policy is on this before you book your photo shoot.

Thumbnail: Photography ©svetikd | Getty Images.

About the author

Elizabeth Anderson Lopez is an award-winning writer based in Lake Forest, California. She and her husband have quite the menagerie, including a rescued English Bull Terrier named Maybelene.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Dogster magazine. Have you seen the new Dogster print magazine in stores? Or in the waiting room of your vet’s office? Subscribe now to get Dogster magazine delivered straight to you!

Read more about dogs and media on Dogster.com:

How to Take the Best Photo of Your Dog for National Dog Day

Want to Take Better Pictures of Your Pup? Dog Photographers Share Tips

Ask Frank: How Do I Get My Humans to Take Better Pictures of Me?

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

[doomedandstoned]

BAILEY’S CHOICE

Youngblood Supercult guitarist Bailey Gonzales shares her 10 favorite albums of Autumn.

Photo by Johnny Hubbard at Doomed & Stoned Fest

First off, let me preface by saying that this list is just a fraction of what I would include on a good, solid Autumn playlist, but everything must end at some point. Most of these you’ve probably heard, some you may not be familiar with, and others perhaps long forgotten and thus need a good revisiting. So here goes:

1. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young – Déjà vu

This has been in my catalog since I first started smoking weed in the fall of my freshman year of high school and learned to enjoy the hazy, beautiful strains of intricate harmonies that permeate CSNY’s iconic brand of folk-blues rock. Their albums were always on rotation in my house when I was growing up, but until I started to fully understand its cosmic, layered beauty, Déjà vu fell more or less into the “lame music my parents listen to” category for me. Now it’s a staple, especially as the weather starts to cool and the leaves start to turn, and I’m thrown into some kind of sepia-tinged yearning for the past. Funny how things change. This album holds some of the group’s most acclaimed work; I can’t point out a single track I’d skip over.

2. Graveyard – Graveyard

Graveyard by Graveyard

Speaking of high school—I grew up in a very small town in Southeast Kansas, and when MySpace made its debut (yes, MySpace), I found a page for this indie label called Tee Pee Records that absolutely dictated what I would listen to take the edge of my Black Sabbath cravings—this is where I was ultimately introduced to stoner rock and all of the branches of the retro heavy metal genre—and one of them that always stuck with me as I worshipped this label’s releases thereafter was Graveyard’s self-titled album. There are so many great tracks on this album, with “Thin Line” being an absolute favorite and even an echoing of one of my darkest autumn remembrances (won’t delve into it, but the subject matter will lead you where you need to go). Fantastic, timeless album.

3. Jonathan Snipes & William Hutson – Room 237

Room 237 (2012) is a funny little documentary. I love it, despite the fact that this film lays out conspiracies about Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining that range from absolutely Kubrickesque crazy-but-plausible to totally ludicrous, leaping-to-judgement scenarios and breakdowns related to the hidden puzzles within the original adaptation. But, we are talking about music here: this album plays like Stranger Things meets Goblin meets John Carpenter. There is nothing necessarily special about it, but in trying to find an OST that would fit neatly within this list, this fella kind of jumped out to me. Not everybody enjoys soundtracks, and while I could listen to creepy, ambient synth all day long, every day, Room 237 seems like it could entrance any listener, especially with standout tracks like “To Keep From Falling Off” to “Universal Weak Male” and even with the closing track, “Dies Irae” which plays off the original theme from The Shining.

4. Trouble – Trouble

It blows my mind that this album was released in 1990. Everything about it screams, “I WANT TO MAKE YOUR EARS BLEED: ‘70s METAL STLYE.” It’s like a lost and very angry Sir Lord Baltimore album was found in someone’s murky basement and sold in a musty, long forgotten record shop. The kind of place where you might hear whispers of dark legends. Somewhere that may be evocative, in legend, of the kind of place that Mayhem’s late singer, Dead, slit his wrists, throat, and blew his brains out and everyone commenced for this orgiastic blood feast of mourning to say, uh, “let’s take a photo of his dead body and slap it on a bootleg album cover and make necklaces out of his skull...” It’s not that harsh, but there’s definitely something spooky, dark, and forbidden about it. You may ask yourself, if you’re just hearing this album for the first time: “Why don’t they play some of these tracks on the radio?” Well, my child...do you really want to know?

5. The Steepwater Band – Revelation Sunday

This collection of hot tunes from The Steepwater Band is, apart from 2011’s Clava, one of our band’s road staples. We often don’t agree on much when that road cagey feeling hits or when disagreements happen, which incidentally is why things tend to work well with us, but The Steepwater Band, Mount Carmel, and Gary Clark Junior are all things we can come to terms with through the van’s trebly stock speakers. Maybe it’s the bluesiness. Very moody folk-blues rock tunes, with a touch of whiskey-fueled country, is what these guys exhibit in songs like “Slow Train Drag,” “Dance Me A Number,” and “Steel Sky.” A plus material, in my book, and good for the road on a cold night’s ramble.

6. Black Sabbath – Never Say Die!

Can people stop it with the “I’m tired of Black Sabbath” comments??? You know they are the reason we’re all here, and whether you like to admit it or not, you dig a good Sabbath tune either once in a while or every day. Doctor’s orders. Now I don’t think that a playlist is complete without a Black Sabbath album, but autumn seems the appropriate time for their fumbling, but strong conclusion — 1978’s Never Say Die!   And I really don’t care that I know I’m in the minority for loving this album. To me, while it’s their most strained Ozzy-era album (I won’t even touch 13, so don’t ask), it’s full of premonitions of things to come, including a full out jazz brawl in “Breakout” that reminds me of the mean streets in Dirty Harry, and songs that might make the bravest of our genre cry, like “Junior’s Eyes.” “Shock Wave” goes through the typical rough and tumble changes that Black Sabbath fans learn to embrace, but it comes in wave after wave after wave. Hell, even the title track is nearly full-out punk rock. If you’ve avoided this album, please—give it a spin. Even if it’s only to hear Bill Ward sing. It’s the album I fell into when I joined my first band in the fall of 2008 and what pushed me into the direction of branching out to things I’d long avoided. I literally shit my pants every time the first synth breakdown in “Johnny Blade” comes over the speakers, and I think you should, too.

7. Madonna – Madonna

Speaking of shit you probably don’t wanna read…who out of us has given Madonna’s 1983 debut a spin? Anyone? Bueller? Yeah, I didn’t think so. For you folks who can appreciate this one, I applaud you for admitting it. It’s not a sin to listen to Madonna (tell that one to the Vatican), but unless she’s been covertly transformed into Lana Del Rey or someone else on the darker and more modern side of the pop spectrum, you’d be hard pressed to find an admitted fan in our heavy underground group. And you know what? I don’t give a single fuck (yes, I learned that language from M herself). She’s a goddess, an icon, a killer songwriter—if you don’t believe me, tell that to the $400 million she has neatly tucked away—and dammit, she taught me to give a little less of a fuck in times where I don’t have too many to spare. This is another reason my parents are badass. Who in the world would buy their kid the “Like A Virgin” album only if their 11-year-old can ask for it by name without getting too embarrassed at the thought of saying “virgin” out loud to the Camelot Music clerk? Yeah, that’s right. Anyway, listen to this. Just do it...Madonna would.

8. The Midnight Ghost Train – Buffalo

Buffalo by The Midnight Ghost Train

I met Steve Moss at a show in Topeka in late 2009 at a dive bar where the drummer from my first band was singing in his new group. We did the obligatory thing and then, holy shit—this band starts playing and glasses start clinking and I swear to god I thought the whole damn place was going to cave in. They play a bunch of tunes and I’m so fully entranced it’s stupid. After the show, I went up to their singer/guitarist and said, “Um, that was really fucking awesome. I loved how you slipped “Hand of Doom into the middle of one of your songs.” Bam. We were instant buds. I couldn’t believe that they had come out of Topeka, Kansas. Later, while they were prepping to record 2012’s Buffalo, we had a very memorable fall jam session and some shows together, and EVERY. DAMNED. TIME. I felt like there was just something insanely special happening. Buffalo proved to be an instant classic, and even though The Midnight Ghost Train boys seem to always be on tour, I visit with my old pal Steve from time to time when he’s around, and nothing can erase those crazy, almost LSD-like imprinted memories of our house shows together. Hell, we reunited again just last month in another Topeka dive bar. I still have almost 3 hours’ worth of an interview I need to write that documents Steve’s early life up until the recording of Cold Was The Ground. The circle goes round and round. And I sure as hell can’t shake that sound.

9. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Green River

I don’t know what everyone else thinks about when they hear the track “Green River” from Creedence Clearwater Revival, but I think of Gary Ridgeway. I know that’s way far off, but I can’t help it. I also think about the album cover, and how many people still try to copy it, unintentionally. And I think about Stephen King. If you’ve read a few of his novels, you know from some of his passages, he’s a total CCR freak. I’ll give him a pass for mentioning Springsteen so much just because he’s a damn genius. But I bet the casual listener has never heard the song “Sinister Purpose” on the radio airwaves. It sounds like it belongs on a damn Leaf Hound album or something. Thank god for small favors. This is the epitome of southern blues rock. All you Lynyrd Skynyrd fans can fight me (although I won’t knock them), but CCR has earned their grimy, yet rightful spot as the Bayou’s most raw and creepy rock group. And way down in the fall, there’s always a bad moon rising.

10. Buffalo – Dead Forever...

Man, I was going to write up a few more albums, but this is the end of the line, folks. Australia’s Buffalo caps it off with their 1972 album, Dead Forever...   I can see this piece being released today, and that’s why I’m so glad everyone in this community puts out music that can rival little-known bands like Buffalo. I have a sweet spot for this group. Nobody will ever be able to answer why this killer band could never receive any airplay, and that question still lingers as absolute over processed shit continues to infiltrate the airwaves and real emotion can’t shine through. One of the promotional stickers for this record was, “Play this album LOUD.” Seen that before? Is history repeating itself in belittling our efforts to get out there and WARP THE FUCK out of people’s minds? I guess so. But we can fix that. Put the needle on some Buffalo, don your battle jacket, and work on getting some fuzz into some onlooker’s ears. Listen carefully, and don’t let the Buffalo situation happen to us all.

Hear Bailey's 'Autumn Vibes' Playlist on Spotify

Photo by Johnny Hubbard

The Great American Death Rattle by Youngblood Supercult

[buynewsoul]

Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

Dogs are adorable. And while nothing beats seeing a precious pup in person, we love to capture those moments on camera, both for ourselves and to show off to others. But photos that are blurry or crop off your dog’s head aren’t that cute. When it comes to getting great pics, use the L.E.M.O.N. aid — Location, Enthusiasm, Movement, Opportunity and Nope (We’re Done).

Choose the right location

Don’t forget the first step to a successful photo shoot is the location. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Just as in real estate, location is a big deal when getting the right photos. And that means the location of the dog, your location in relation to the dog and keeping an eye out for the clutter that is an unwelcome tenant in your image.

Shooting in a nicely lit environment is a great place to start. Instead of shooting your dog out on the beach with strong sun, professional photographer of 15 years David Capron recommends going into the shade or inside the house. “Sit your dog next to a window that has incidental light coming in, and shoot there,” he says.

David, owner of Dogma Pet Portraits in Costa Mesa, California, also recommends getting down to your dog’s height so the camera is at eye level. Of course, depending on how tall your dog is, this might mean spending a significant amount of time on the floor or ground, so dress accordingly.

Take a look around the room before you start shooting. Specifically, watch your backgrounds, advises Milla Chappell, a professional photographer of 10 years and owner of Real Happy Dogs based in New York City. “You don’t want a plant growing out of your dog’s head or garbage in the background of your favorite photo.”

Make it fun

Use treats to keep the photo shoot fun for your dog. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Perhaps the most important part of photographing your dog is to make it fun. If you’re enthusiastic, that can help your dog feel the same way. If you aren’t, your dog will react accordingly.

“Don’t stress your dog out,” Milla says. “My style of photography is very unposed and natural, and I believe it’s important to let dogs be dogs during photo sessions. When I scroll through Instagram, I often see photos of dogs who look stressed and uncomfortable because their owner forced a certain photo, and I want to advise people to avoid this. Let your dog’s joy guide your photography, and the result will be much more authentic.”

The right attitude shows up in the finished product. “The most engaging images are those that show the emotional connection between dogs and their people,” Milla adds. “Photograph your dog with the people he loves most, and don’t forget to get in front of the camera sometimes, too!”

David uses people as well, even if they don’t always appear in the final photos. “If you can, arrange for a human to be in the first couple of shots, so the dog understands that we are all OK with having a black box with the tube on the front pointed at them and it’s not going to hurt in any way.”

In David’s experience in the studio, he takes it slow and provides a prime incentive to boost a dog’s enthusiasm in a new place. “They know that it’s a cool place where unlimited treats from strangers magically appear for no good reason,” he says.

Get moving

Portrait shots are great, no question. But catching your dog in motion can be quite compelling. And it doesn’t have to be an elaborate action shot. There’s a reason why the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover is ranked No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 50 Album Covers of All Time. While a photo of your dog walking across the street may never achieve icon status, it can still make for a photo potentially more interesting than your dog at rest.

And even if your dog is posed, movement on your part can maximize results. “If you are photographing your dog on the ground with a toy, for example, get on the ground with her to shoot it first, then photograph the same scene from right above and then from far away,” Milla recommends. “Sometimes the most interesting photo is the angle you didn’t expect.”

There are ways you can help make those interesting angles happen. “Compose the photo to give your dog room to look or move into the frame,” Milla says. “When we view photos, we subconsciously look toward the space that the subject is moving or looking, so as a photographer you can use this concept to your advantage.” She adds that steering the viewer’s gaze can help deepen the emotional response to a photo and make it more meaningful.

If you have a particularly rambunctious dog, getting her on the move before the photo shoot might be just the trick you need. “’A tired dog is a happy dog’ as the quote goes, so a long walk or a morning at play group just to get a little of the puppy out of them generally works,” David suggests.

Where you don’t want movement is with the camera itself, of course. If you have trouble with a steady hand, consider a tripod for stability. You can even get one for your cell phone — some are less than $10.

Make it happen

Portrait shots are a classic way to capture a photo. Try shooting your dog in motion for a change. Photography ©Bark at the Moon Photography.

There are several easy ways to make the most of a photo shoot. One of them is having an assistant who can wrangle your dog, leaving you to focus on the opportunities that present themselves, which may be fleeting. To that end, David recommends using quantity to get quality.

“A great expression might only last a millisecond. Good luck trying to predict when that millisecond might happen. The more images you’ve shot, the more chance you have of capturing it.” Treats are a great way to get your dog to look where you want, making it more likely to get that eye contact in the shot.

“Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at directing their attention, not that it’s a particularly magical technique,” David says. “Most dogs will watch where you hold a treat with the efficiency of a military grade missile tracking system.”

Nope (we’re done)

Finally, if you or your dog is getting frustrated, or you have a time crunch, it’s time to say nope, we’re done for the day. End on a high note with a treat and some pettings so your dog associates your Ansel Adams imitation as something that’s fun and worth looking forward to.

Whether you’re taking photos while out and about or looking for that perfect portrait, have fun with the experience. And don’t get too hung up on what you’re using. “I mostly use my cell phone for taking photos of my dog and family,” Milla says. “The ‘real’ camera only comes out for special occasions.”

Turn photos into something

Size matters when dealing with your photographs. Photography ©Azure-Dragon | Getty Images.

Now that you have some great photos, what should you do with them? Below are some of the many items beyond holiday cards you can personalize with your pup’s pic to keep for yourself or give to others. But first, some guidelines on matching the photo to the medium for maximum impact.

Size matters. If you’re putting a photo on something fairly small, like a mug, make sure your dog’s face takes up most of the photo. This isn’t the place to use that panoramic shot of Buster at the beach.

Busy isn’t best. Notice backgrounds, and crop in on your dog if necessary. Don’t waste valuable space showcasing the TV in the background or your dinner plate on the coffee table.

Follow their eye. If you’re laying out something like a card or calendar, place the image so your dog isn’t “looking off the page.”

Shutterfly, Vistaprint, Minted and Costco’s Photo Center are among the great places to order items with your pet’s portrait — for practically every room in your house.

Accessories:  Cell phone covers, tote bags

Apparel :  T-shirts, hats and socks (yep, even socks!)

Décor: Blankets, candles, magnets, pictures in all sizes on glass, metal or canvas, pillows, photo books — in memoriam, from grand-dog to grandma, Fido’s first birthday, etc.

Household items: Calendars, mugs, tea towels, coasters

Know your camera

Dogma Pet Portraits is a company located in Costa Mesa, California. Photography Courtesy Courtesy David Capron | Dogma Pet Portraits.

While cameras are still the gold standard for photography, many people use mobile devices to take photos. Beyond the L.E.M.O.N. aid guidelines, David Capron of Dogma shares some technical aspects to photographing your dogs that can help make those photos, well, picture perfect.

You don’t need to be an expert, but know your camera or device as well as you can, David says. “Say, for an iPhone, know how to turn off your flash and how to shoot on burst mode.” For example, “You can easily fix that devil dog red eye thing by turning off your flash,” he adds.

“For someone shooting outdoors for fun, you can get great pictures with a starter mirrorless or DSLR camera kit from any of the manufacturers for $500,” David says. “But really, great images do not depend on the equipment, just the eye of the photographer taking them.”

Don’t forget about editing programs that can help after the fact. David uses PhotoShop Elements on his computer and the Snapseed app on his mobile phone. “They all have algorithms that will help brighten, sharpen and bring out extra details,” he says, adding that they can be particularly helpful if you have an all-black dog.

Finally, there’s one last technicality to be mindful of — a legal one. If you have a professional photo shoot done, the photographer owns the legal copyright to those images unless you get specific permission in your contract.

For example, “A customer is not entitled to buy a 5 x 7 image from us, copy it and blow it up to a 30 x 40 canvas (it would also look terrible, but it’s a no-no),” David says. If Dogma does release digital images for personal, not commercial, use, the understanding is that the buyer can do anything they like with those images. Dogma will also provide a release should any lab require it before they’ll print anything if requested. Find out what any professional photographer’s policy is on this before you book your photo shoot.

Thumbnail: Photography ©svetikd | Getty Images.

About the author

Elizabeth Anderson Lopez is an award-winning writer based in Lake Forest, California. She and her husband have quite the menagerie, including a rescued English Bull Terrier named Maybelene.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Dogster magazine. Have you seen the new Dogster print magazine in stores? Or in the waiting room of your vet’s office? Subscribe now to get Dogster magazine delivered straight to you!

Read more about dogs and media on Dogster.com:

How to Take the Best Photo of Your Dog for National Dog Day

Want to Take Better Pictures of Your Pup? Dog Photographers Share Tips

Ask Frank: How Do I Get My Humans to Take Better Pictures of Me?

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

[jeffreyrwelch]

Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

Dogs are adorable. And while nothing beats seeing a precious pup in person, we love to capture those moments on camera, both for ourselves and to show off to others. But photos that are blurry or crop off your dog’s head aren’t that cute. When it comes to getting great pics, use the L.E.M.O.N. aid — Location, Enthusiasm, Movement, Opportunity and Nope (We’re Done).

Choose the right location

Don’t forget the first step to a successful photo shoot is the location. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Just as in real estate, location is a big deal when getting the right photos. And that means the location of the dog, your location in relation to the dog and keeping an eye out for the clutter that is an unwelcome tenant in your image.

Shooting in a nicely lit environment is a great place to start. Instead of shooting your dog out on the beach with strong sun, professional photographer of 15 years David Capron recommends going into the shade or inside the house. “Sit your dog next to a window that has incidental light coming in, and shoot there,” he says.

David, owner of Dogma Pet Portraits in Costa Mesa, California, also recommends getting down to your dog’s height so the camera is at eye level. Of course, depending on how tall your dog is, this might mean spending a significant amount of time on the floor or ground, so dress accordingly.

Take a look around the room before you start shooting. Specifically, watch your backgrounds, advises Milla Chappell, a professional photographer of 10 years and owner of Real Happy Dogs based in New York City. “You don’t want a plant growing out of your dog’s head or garbage in the background of your favorite photo.”

Make it fun

Use treats to keep the photo shoot fun for your dog. Photography ©Bark at the Moom Pet Photography.

Perhaps the most important part of photographing your dog is to make it fun. If you’re enthusiastic, that can help your dog feel the same way. If you aren’t, your dog will react accordingly.

“Don’t stress your dog out,” Milla says. “My style of photography is very unposed and natural, and I believe it’s important to let dogs be dogs during photo sessions. When I scroll through Instagram, I often see photos of dogs who look stressed and uncomfortable because their owner forced a certain photo, and I want to advise people to avoid this. Let your dog’s joy guide your photography, and the result will be much more authentic.”

The right attitude shows up in the finished product. “The most engaging images are those that show the emotional connection between dogs and their people,” Milla adds. “Photograph your dog with the people he loves most, and don’t forget to get in front of the camera sometimes, too!”

David uses people as well, even if they don’t always appear in the final photos. “If you can, arrange for a human to be in the first couple of shots, so the dog understands that we are all OK with having a black box with the tube on the front pointed at them and it’s not going to hurt in any way.”

In David’s experience in the studio, he takes it slow and provides a prime incentive to boost a dog’s enthusiasm in a new place. “They know that it’s a cool place where unlimited treats from strangers magically appear for no good reason,” he says.

Get moving

Portrait shots are great, no question. But catching your dog in motion can be quite compelling. And it doesn’t have to be an elaborate action shot. There’s a reason why the Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover is ranked No. 2 on Billboard’s Top 50 Album Covers of All Time. While a photo of your dog walking across the street may never achieve icon status, it can still make for a photo potentially more interesting than your dog at rest.

And even if your dog is posed, movement on your part can maximize results. “If you are photographing your dog on the ground with a toy, for example, get on the ground with her to shoot it first, then photograph the same scene from right above and then from far away,” Milla recommends. “Sometimes the most interesting photo is the angle you didn’t expect.”

There are ways you can help make those interesting angles happen. “Compose the photo to give your dog room to look or move into the frame,” Milla says. “When we view photos, we subconsciously look toward the space that the subject is moving or looking, so as a photographer you can use this concept to your advantage.” She adds that steering the viewer’s gaze can help deepen the emotional response to a photo and make it more meaningful.

If you have a particularly rambunctious dog, getting her on the move before the photo shoot might be just the trick you need. “’A tired dog is a happy dog’ as the quote goes, so a long walk or a morning at play group just to get a little of the puppy out of them generally works,” David suggests.

Where you don’t want movement is with the camera itself, of course. If you have trouble with a steady hand, consider a tripod for stability. You can even get one for your cell phone — some are less than $10.

Make it happen

Portrait shots are a classic way to capture a photo. Try shooting your dog in motion for a change. Photography ©Bark at the Moon Photography.

There are several easy ways to make the most of a photo shoot. One of them is having an assistant who can wrangle your dog, leaving you to focus on the opportunities that present themselves, which may be fleeting. To that end, David recommends using quantity to get quality.

“A great expression might only last a millisecond. Good luck trying to predict when that millisecond might happen. The more images you’ve shot, the more chance you have of capturing it.” Treats are a great way to get your dog to look where you want, making it more likely to get that eye contact in the shot.

“Over the years I’ve gotten pretty good at directing their attention, not that it’s a particularly magical technique,” David says. “Most dogs will watch where you hold a treat with the efficiency of a military grade missile tracking system.”

Nope (we’re done)

Finally, if you or your dog is getting frustrated, or you have a time crunch, it’s time to say nope, we’re done for the day. End on a high note with a treat and some pettings so your dog associates your Ansel Adams imitation as something that’s fun and worth looking forward to.

Whether you’re taking photos while out and about or looking for that perfect portrait, have fun with the experience. And don’t get too hung up on what you’re using. “I mostly use my cell phone for taking photos of my dog and family,” Milla says. “The ‘real’ camera only comes out for special occasions.”

Turn photos into something

Size matters when dealing with your photographs. Photography ©Azure-Dragon | Getty Images.

Now that you have some great photos, what should you do with them? Below are some of the many items beyond holiday cards you can personalize with your pup’s pic to keep for yourself or give to others. But first, some guidelines on matching the photo to the medium for maximum impact.

Size matters. If you’re putting a photo on something fairly small, like a mug, make sure your dog’s face takes up most of the photo. This isn’t the place to use that panoramic shot of Buster at the beach.

Busy isn’t best. Notice backgrounds, and crop in on your dog if necessary. Don’t waste valuable space showcasing the TV in the background or your dinner plate on the coffee table.

Follow their eye. If you’re laying out something like a card or calendar, place the image so your dog isn’t “looking off the page.”

Shutterfly, Vistaprint, Minted and Costco’s Photo Center are among the great places to order items with your pet’s portrait — for practically every room in your house.

Accessories:  Cell phone covers, tote bags

Apparel :  T-shirts, hats and socks (yep, even socks!)

Décor: Blankets, candles, magnets, pictures in all sizes on glass, metal or canvas, pillows, photo books — in memoriam, from grand-dog to grandma, Fido’s first birthday, etc.

Household items: Calendars, mugs, tea towels, coasters

Know your camera

Dogma Pet Portraits is a company located in Costa Mesa, California. Photography Courtesy Courtesy David Capron | Dogma Pet Portraits.

While cameras are still the gold standard for photography, many people use mobile devices to take photos. Beyond the L.E.M.O.N. aid guidelines, David Capron of Dogma shares some technical aspects to photographing your dogs that can help make those photos, well, picture perfect.

You don’t need to be an expert, but know your camera or device as well as you can, David says. “Say, for an iPhone, know how to turn off your flash and how to shoot on burst mode.” For example, “You can easily fix that devil dog red eye thing by turning off your flash,” he adds.

“For someone shooting outdoors for fun, you can get great pictures with a starter mirrorless or DSLR camera kit from any of the manufacturers for $500,” David says. “But really, great images do not depend on the equipment, just the eye of the photographer taking them.”

Don’t forget about editing programs that can help after the fact. David uses PhotoShop Elements on his computer and the Snapseed app on his mobile phone. “They all have algorithms that will help brighten, sharpen and bring out extra details,” he says, adding that they can be particularly helpful if you have an all-black dog.

Finally, there’s one last technicality to be mindful of — a legal one. If you have a professional photo shoot done, the photographer owns the legal copyright to those images unless you get specific permission in your contract.

For example, “A customer is not entitled to buy a 5 x 7 image from us, copy it and blow it up to a 30 x 40 canvas (it would also look terrible, but it’s a no-no),” David says. If Dogma does release digital images for personal, not commercial, use, the understanding is that the buyer can do anything they like with those images. Dogma will also provide a release should any lab require it before they’ll print anything if requested. Find out what any professional photographer’s policy is on this before you book your photo shoot.

Thumbnail: Photography ©svetikd | Getty Images.

About the author

Elizabeth Anderson Lopez is an award-winning writer based in Lake Forest, California. She and her husband have quite the menagerie, including a rescued English Bull Terrier named Maybelene.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Dogster magazine. Have you seen the new Dogster print magazine in stores? Or in the waiting room of your vet’s office? Subscribe now to get Dogster magazine delivered straight to you!

Read more about dogs and media on Dogster.com:

How to Take the Best Photo of Your Dog for National Dog Day

Want to Take Better Pictures of Your Pup? Dog Photographers Share Tips

Ask Frank: How Do I Get My Humans to Take Better Pictures of Me?

The post Tips on How to Take the Ultimate Pictures of Your Dog by Elizabeth Anderson Lopez appeared first on Dogster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren’t considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Dogster.com.

[georgecarpenter1]

Contemporary Research 

Interview with John Lydon about his new book“MR ROTTENS SONGBOOK”

I thought this is really good research for me to look at because of the relevance and the similarity to my brief to design a visual songbook. Especially as this book is my main inspiration and motivation. I though this interview is good because you get a feel and a better understanding of the designer and what was going through his mind when creating the artwork and his motivation and intent for making the book.

What led to the creation of MR ROTTEN’S SONGBOOK?

“I've written many songs over the years and I’ve always wanted to combine it all in one picturesque way. When I write songs, I think in pictures so it’s the most appropriate thing I could do and looking at all the images together led to MR ROTTEN’S SONGBOOK.”

Is there any piece of artwork in the book that is standing out to you or surprised you?

“On most of the pieces, I don't sit down with a specific idea other than the actual songs. I'm quite amazed at what comes out of me. But the character on the front of the book, he's the biggest surprise of all because I was thinking how can I encapsulate what this book is supposed to unravel to the reader? That character just appeared on the page. I don't know what makes me draw these things.”

Is the art process similar to writing songs?

“Yes, but songwriting is a thought process that goes on for months, sometimes even years. Suddenly, while I'm drinking a cup of tea or eating baked beans, I'll just sit down and quickly write it out. It's almost like not thinking and it’s like it's already been processed for me. Songwriting is like me explaining myself to me. I'm still in there as the confused little boy stuck in the hospital not knowing who he was from age 7 to 8. I didn't really know who I was until around 11 since all the memories returned very slowly. So there it is. While you're guessing who you are, this is what you're creating inside your head. I've been given a golden opportunity through music which I never planned on--it happened incidentally and that's when all the pieces started to fall into place. Now I'm looking at it at it like a big jigsaw puzzle of my life and slowly, but surely making it clear, not only to me but, to others. There's no evil intent in me at all...of course I could be lying.”

What would you like people to take away from this book? Is there an overarching theme as a whole?

“Well, if it's in the library, please don't take it away without returning it. I've been in the public spotlight since the 70s, that's a lot of pressure, but I've been able to cope with it and still maintain some kind of integrity. That's what I'm trying to get across here. You may be very confused, but as I say it's all little pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that I've haven't been able to put together myself, yet. But then again I don't know anyone who has walked into my life at any point absolutely picture-perfect. So I'm on the same trial as everybody else but I, at least, have found a way of expressing it.”

What made you decide now is the right time to share the songbook?

“Well, if you're gonna go to trial you might as well tell everyone! That would be the philosophy.”

[davedimartino]

NEW THIS WEEK 05.26.09

If you're a regular reader of this blog--and who isn't?--you may have noticed a few readers persistently comment  that I "don't even listen to the albums" and "just look at the covers" before writing my reviews!

You'd be correct if you were to assume that I find such comments deeply offensive!

So to set the record straight--and I'll only mention this once, then never bring it up again--such statements are patently untrue!

I only sometimes look at the covers!

Marilyn Manson: The High End Of Low (Interscope)  One of the compelling and profound artists of all time--a master at self-expression with his finger on the pulse of all that really matters in this world, a guy whose impact on post-millennial culture has yet to accurately calibrated--would probably see this album in a record store and laugh! "Wow," he'd say, "is Marilyn Manson still around?" Later he'd joke with his friends that there was a song on the record called "Arma-godd**m-motherf***in-geddon" and they'd all chortle in disbelief! Then maybe they'd see a movie!

 Grizzly Bear: Veckatamist (Warp) Certainly at critical mass at this point--with tours with Radiohead and Feist and a performance with the L.A. Philharmonic behind them--Grizzly Bear have emerged with an excellent new album that will sell more copies than many expect and perhaps set them on their way to superstardom! Not least because according to Wikipedia the album was "released on May 26th to widespread critical acclaim" and today is May 26th! Like, how does it know? It may be worth mentioning that the album was named after an island in Massachusetts! And that 3 out of 4 humans with attention deficit disorder will look at this album cover and think it's a new Beck album! Yep! Marketing's getting cooler!

 Mandy Moore: Amanda Leigh (Storefront) Rather than devote the next three sentences to a review claiming that singer Amanda Leigh is liable to face stern legal action for titling her new album Mandy Moore--I mean, like, that would be pointless!--I'd like to mention that this new album is surprisingly good, extremely tuneful, and clearly pop-inspired, perhaps due to the contribution of producer Mike Viola of the Candy Butchers! Or maybe Mandy has simply come into her own! Check it out and you'll see--good stuff!  Wonder if Marilyn Manson's a fan?

 Julian Marley: Awake (Tuff Gong) A pretty dandy record from Julian Marley--son of Bob, brother of Stephen and Damian--this is his third and very likely not his last! As the title and album cover indicate, Julian was apparently out wandering on the beach and inexplicably fell asleep for quite some time! So imagine his chagrin when he opens his eyes and sees all that beautiful beachfront property now obliterated by the skyscrapers on the album cover! The poor guy! With guest appearances by brother Stephen on "A Little Too Late" and brother Damian on "Violence In The Streets," Awake is all you've ever expected from a Julian Marley album and more! Buy it today!

 Electrik Red: How To Be A Lady, Volume 1 (Def Jam) People are already asking whether Electrik Red is "the new Danity Kane"--at least they are on the internet, where nothing more interesting ever happens--and I’m here to tell you: 1) The production by The Dream and Tricky Stewart is pretty appealing, especially on first single "Drink In My Cup", 2) These four women not only sing but can look attractive on command!, 3) Back in the old days when I was a sadistic record store clerk I'd make any guy looking for this album tell me the actual name of the album for kicks and 4) I am categorically behind any singing quartet featuring someone named Binkie! Combined, these four points make this record better than almost everything!

Dave Brubeck Quartet: Time Out: Legacy Edition; Miles Davis: Sketches Of Spain: Legacy Edition; Charles Mingus: Mingus Ah Um: Legacy Edition (all Columbia/Legacy) It's hard to believe that these three album--jazz classics all--have been out now for 50 years, but that appears to be the case! So wear the bottom of your trousers rolled! And if you don't have any of them, I'd suggest you purchase each and enjoy them all for the remainder of your life. The Brubeck album contains his best-known tunes--including "Blue Rondo al La Turk" and “Take Five"--the Davis album is the trumpeter's legendary collaboration with arranger Gil Evans, and the Mingus album, any way you look at it, is absolutely classic.  Buy 'em all, put 'em on a shelf, buy a beret and watch things change!

 Stratovarius: Polaris (Eagle) Aw, who am I kidding? Every once in a while, just like you, I enjoy playing highly polished technically proficient Finnish metal! And when it comes to highly polished technically proficient Finnish metal, you can't get much better than Stratovarius! Longtime fans of the band already know that their guitarist Timo Tolkki departed last year; his replacement, Matias Kupianen, has ample chops, as they say, and an equally novel name! For fun I like to play this for people in my car and ask them what year they think it was recorded! When they try to guess, I simply look them in the eye and say nothing! It's, like, really fun!

 Gary Lewis & The Playboys: The Complete Liberty Singles (Collectors' Choice)  Anyone who lived through the '60s heard Gary Lewis & The Playboys cranking out hit after hit on the radio for years, and as the liner notes to this superb 2-CD collection point out, those hits often raced the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys to the top of the charts. Why does that seem so hard to believe now? Maybe because they've effectively been written out of rock history by rock critic goons who deemed them uncool in retrospect! Darn those goons! But if you want to hear a fantastic collection of top-notch songs played by some of the best musicians in the business--not the actual Playboys, but the completely fabulous session men on every track--you've got to pick this up! Among the hits: "This Diamond Ring," "Count Me In," Save Your Heart For Me," "Everybody Loves A Clown" and many, many more. Forty-five tracks in all, including "Doin' The Flake," and a welcome look back at Rock's Secret History! Taste the magnificence!

 Procol Harum: In Concert With The Danish National Concert Orchestra & Choir DVD (Eagle) Speaking of time travel, you may enjoy this live performance set from England's Procol Harum, which captures the band in 2006--when they are effectively longtime singer Gary Brooker plus backing band--as well as the "bonus" footage of an earlier version of the band performing six tracks on Danish TV in 1974. It's a fine array of songs--extending back to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale," of course--and Brooker is in fine voice during both segments. Once had lunch with him and his songwriting pal Keith Reid in the '80s and--not to tell tales out of school--find this performance of "Sympathy For The Hard Of Hearing" especially appropriate! Could you repeat that, please?

 Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us (Graveface) Produced by David Fridmann, who produces nearly every band who's any good, the Black Moth Super Rainbow's new album is fabulously psychedelic and something you should buy at your earliest opportunity! Incidentally, I happened to look at this one's cover!