Bucky Done Gun

New Kids On The Block Stage Comeback



After months of speculation and rumor, the Kids are coming back. A well-placed source tells PEOPLE exclusively that New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together.

The band's Web site, www.nkotb.com, which had been dormant, is now back up and running in anticipation of the official announcement, which the source says will be made in the next few weeks.

The site currently features a television graphic with a fuzzy, flickering photos of NKOTB in their heyday, and a link inviting fans to sign up for info.

The boy band, which made legions of tweens swoon in the early '90s, selling more than 50 million albums, became a worldwide phenomenon before calling it quits in 1994.

Eighteen years later, they're still "Hangin' Tough." The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record.

Rapid Fire Tollbooth

Conquering "Goliath"

The Mars Volta have taken the art of the concept album to a new level.
The sixth-dimension latin-funk math rockers, founded by vocalist/lyricist Cedric Bixler-Zavala and guitarist/composer Omar Rodríguez-López, have returned with The Bedlam in Goliath, a relentless, uncompromising juggernaut of an album that, as they put it, “didn’t want to be born.”

The pace of Bedlam, out Jan. 29 on Universal Motown Records, is relentless, the mid-song changes orgasmically surprising, and the overall feeling is that these guys have harnessed the best parts of what they do and stepped it up a good four or five notches, despite recent lineup changes and supernatural resistance. The Mars Volta have been hit with some pretty strong hardships over the past two years, most notably the departure of drummer and percussive wizard Jon Theodore, as well as his replacement Deantoni Parks. Furthermore, Volta's progress in writing and recording Bedlam were greatly hindered by certain supernatural occurrences in Rodríguez-López’s home studio in Brooklyn - most notably, random disappearances of recorded tracks and even a flood, which wiped out a considerable amount of gear. The band believes their unfortunate turn of luck was the result of their interaction with “The Soothsayer,” a ouija-like talking board that Rodríguez-López bought as a gift for Bixler-Zavala while vacationing in Jerusalem.

Despite the supernatural treachery and misfortune, The Mars Volta have risen from the turmoil and delivered a crushing, funk-driven concept album centered on the mysterious board, relying less on their tried-and-true latin influences than breathless grooves and breakneck, jaw-dropping prog arrangements, assisted in no small part by their new drummer, 24 year old Thomas Pridgen, tearing up the backbeats like a dreadlocked Animal from the Muppets. Bixler-Zavala’s lyrics are directly inspired by the messages delivered by the troublesome ouija, although the design seems pretty much par for the course for the king of cryptic wordcraft.

From the very first second of "Aberinkula," the album's opener, Bedlam grabs you by the throat and shoves you down the rabbit hole. Middle-eastern harmonies at the end of the track segue directly into "Metatron," where we're introduced to the true mood of the album. Cedric's frantically swaying, polysyllabic verse delivery, coupled with Pridgen's otherworldly fills and stop-starts going into the chorus are only supplemented by Juan Alderete's stunning basswork and Rodríguez-López’s wah-wah wizardry. You'd think the song is over once the dreamy mid-song breakdown ceases, giving way to silence, but you'd be wrong; without warning, the song crashes back to life with a blindingly frantic pace.

I dare you to try and keep from thrashing wildly about when "Ilyena" kicks into gear around the one-minute mark. Meanwhile, the frantic, epic tornado that is "Wax Simulacra" seems a strong contender for a radio single, being one of only two tracks to clock in at under five minutes.

Not enough praise can be given to the album's fifth track, "Goliath," a fantastically reworked and amped-up version of "Rapid Fire Tollbooth" from Omar Rodríguez-López's solo album, Se Dice Bisonte, No Bufalo. The song, a fast-paced tripping nightmare with jagged beats and otherworldly, haunted, Zeppelinesque grooves is Volta at their very finest, confidently channeling the collective prowess of each member into a blinding light of goodness. Check out a hilariously awesome driveway performance of "Goliath" here.

From the funk harmonies on "Agadez" to the King Crimson/Yes vibes of "Cavalettas" (yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have a flute solo), the band is all over the place, but for once, that's a good thing. The squealing demon solos of "Askepios" are perfect counterparts to the grinding bassline and Cedric's soulful, hallucinatory sexfunk wail. This transitions into the rapid-fire delivery of "Ouroborous," where Pridgen truly shines with a percussive arrangement that sounds like three drummers in one. Until the chorus, we're not offered even a millisecond of downtime. The only song that could be called filler on Bedlam is "Tourniquet Man," but at a comparatively paltry two and a half minutes, it's an excusable, if not necessary mid-album break in the speed-demon pace, allowing the listener to finally catch their breath.

With The Bedlam in Goliath, The Mars Volta have risen above the inspired but murky noise of their last two albums, which had some good jams but ended up more filler than killer. This is clearly not a collection of music you can put on and zone out to; it demands your full attention. Once you grant it that, you'll undoubtedly agree: this album can only be called a masterpiece.

DOWNLOAD via bitTorrent

Hipster Olympics

Closer To The Sun

Marijuana Vending Machines Opening For Business in LA

Holy crap, what country is LA in? I mean, last time I was there I was surprised enough at the billboards offering medicinal marijuana cards, but this is insane. Starting on Monday, people who have medical conditions such as glaucoma, cancer, and the deadly not-stoned-enough virus can start getting their fat buds from special "AVMs."

These electronic drug dealers won't be out on the street next to a Pepsi machine, of course. No, they'll be "housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards." To use them, you'll need to go with a prescription in hand, get fingerprinted and get a prepaid credit card that's loaded up with your dosage and what strain of weed you want. Yeah, no joke, the pharmacists in LA give you a choice between OG Kush and Granddaddy Purple. In the future, the machines may also be outfitted to sell other popular drugs such as Viagra, Vicodin and Propecia. Combine all four for a really interesting night that'll also slowly grow your hair back!

And here I was thinking New York City was a liberal town. When do we get weed vending machines, Bloomberg? Huh?



World's First Weed ATM

Most of your essentials are already distributed by vending machines: condoms, electronics, luscious 1-calorie Tab... But now, you can finally get what you really need: medical marijuana, from Anytime Vending Machines.

AVMs are 24/7 machines housed in standalone rooms, abutting two dispensaries and protected by round-the-clock security guards -- like ATMs for people combating psychological withdrawal with a physical one. After cinching up your doctor's consultation, hit an AVM location to get your prescription approved, fingerprint taken, and a prepaid credit card loaded with your profile: dosage (3.5 or 7 grams, up to 1oz a week) and strain preference (choice of five, including OG Cush and Granddaddy Purple, the mildly hallucinogenic forebear to Prince). Then day or night, all you do is hit a machine and walk away with enough vacuum-sealed, plastic-encapsulated cheeba to adequately treat your illness, and guarantee your car never smells like new leather again.

The AVMs are already in place at their respective dispensaries and will be fully-operational by Monday, though their vestibules are still under construction; future plans include machine-vended pharmaceuticals like Vicodin, Viagra, and Propecia -- for when the excessive chemicals in Tab have wracked you with pain, limpness, and baldness.



MIA - "Paper Planes ft. M.anifest (Muju Messiah's Louder Than Bombs edit)

RIP Heath Ledger

Pass The Dutchie

British DJ is given court date

DJ Grooverider will appear in the Dubai Court of First Instance on his first hearing on January 27 to face charges of possessing drugs and pornographic DVDs, 7DAYS learned yesterday.

“He will face a possession charge and although blood tests show he took drugs he took them outside the UAE and so this is not under our jurisdiction,” a source at Dubai Public Prosecution said. The 40-year-old drum and bass guru, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, was arrested at Dubai Airport on November 23, after flying in to play a gig at the city’s Lodge nightclub.
Sources said customs officials found pornographic DVDs and cannabis on him after he was searched. Grooverider, who is currently being held at Dubai Airport jail, is the host of the weekly drum and bass radio show ‘Fabio and Grooverider’ on BBC Radio 1.

N.E.R.D. - Everybody Noes
Cam'ron - Pass da Dutchie

Where's Jack The Ripper

Radio DJ’s ordeal: ‘I want it to end’

BBC Radio One DJ Raymond Bingham aka Grooverider, who was arrested at the Dubai airport on November 23 for carrying cannabis and pornographic material said he was coping well in jail here.

"I’m alright, it could have definitely been worse. I spend my time reading and catching up on things in here," he said.

"I have no clue what’s happening on the outside, but I hope for all this to end soon," he added.

Bingham, 40, who is known as the ‘Godfather of Drum and Bass’ (electronic dance music), expressed dismay at British Consulate officials in Dubai.

"The British Consulate officials are a joke. They just threw me leaflets and that was that," said Bingham. "This is ridiculous. I must have forgotten the spliff. It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted."

The British Consulate declined to comment on the case but according to Simon Goldsmith, second secretary, political and media affairs, it is offering consular assistance.

The consulate’s website offers clear warning about what it can – and can’t – do to help British citizens.

Bingham, who was to perform at the Lodge on November 23, was on his second visit to the city. "I just want this to end and leave, I never want to come back."

Bingham could be facing four years in jail in Dubai. The court date has not been disclosed yet.

Billy Lane - 916 Junglist Show 01.16.2008 featuring DJ Lotis

Journey To The Center Of The Planet

Evolving and Mutating, Dubstep Splits Cells and Gives Life to Dance Floors

You could tell this wasn’t a normal dance party because the music kept doing something strange: stopping. The record would spin backward, the dancers would cheer, the D.J. would pause, and then the song would start again, from the top. This crowd-teasing technique — the rewind — has long been a major element of reggae concerts and parties. And as a few hundred dancers were reminded on Friday night, it also lives on in the reggae-influenced electronic genre known as dubstep, which has sprouted around London over the last few years.

The location was Love, a subterranean nightclub in Greenwich Village. The party was Dub War, a monthly get-together for the obsessed and the curious. And Friday’s headliner was D1, a dubstep producer and D.J. from Fulham, in West London; the gig was billed as his American debut.

On paper the labyrinth of British dance genres and microgenres can seem hopelessly complicated. But at Love D1 emphasized the basics, and he got a big cheer every time he dropped one of the monstrous bass lines that dubstep is known for. Although “bass line” scarcely seems like the right term: the timbres are scrambled and the tones are obliterated; instead of a melodic groove, you get a huge, serrated blob.

Dubstep is one more aftershock of an explosion that happened in the early 1990s, when British producers drew from electronic dance music and dance-hall reggae to create a furiously syncopated genre called jungle — and, later, drum and bass. Since then the sound has been mutating, spinning off new genres as producers and D.J.s change their priorities: hot declaration versus cool abstraction; voices versus beats; fits and starts versus nonstop dancing.

Earlier this decade grime emerged, with dirty bass lines and sparse beats that left plenty of room for rappers. Dubstep is nimbler and lighter, with skittering beats that hint at 1990s-era syncopation without sounding busy. One dubstep producer, Burial, has converted some American listeners with an excellent pair of murky, melancholy albums that seem designed for bedroom (or iPod) listening.

By contrast, the party on Friday showed off the genre’s gregarious side, thanks partly to those frequent rewinds. The party’s hosts were a pair of D.J.s, Joe Nice and Dave Q, and an M.C., Juakali, who stayed in the booth during D1’s set, providing public-service announcements (“Bass line!”) and hospitable encouragement (“D1!”).

D1 specializes in moody, bittersweet tracks that sometimes emphasize dubstep’s debt to house music. Last year he released “Trial Run” (Tempa), a six-track EP that included “Mind and Soul,” which already feels like a dubstep classic. It’s based on pitched-up snippets of “Give It Back,” by the Atlanta-based R&B singer Gaelle, with brisk drums that keep switching in and out of half-time. (Like many dubstep tracks, this one makes it difficult to say which is the true tempo.)

“Mind and Soul” is light and sublime and (thanks to those sped-up vocals) girly, but on Friday night, D1 mainly stuck to heavier, tougher tracks, which seemed to please the crowd. Often the warped bass lines pulled the tracks toward hard techno, even as Juakali’s patter underscored the link to dancehall reggae. And by the end of the set, the term dubstep was starting to seem too big, or too vague. This is cellular music, and it grows by dividing. How long will dubstep stay whole?

ALSO check out this show Friday if you're in the Phoenix area:


Billy Lane - Wonderbread Mix (01/08 New Year's Eve mix on 107.9 the End)

B8ngr

Man marries pony and has a full emotional and physical relationship!

What is there to do in Missouri? Phuck animals, that's what!
It's even legal Surprised

The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) filmed a documentary following the loving of animals.
In the show one of the men marries a pony called Pixel and has a full emotional and physical relationship.
These animal lovers are called Zoophiliacs.

I wonder how these people discover their love for animals. I would imagine it goes something like this...

Location: Small farm town in Missouri, local bar.
Time: 1am
Total number of females in bar: 2
Number of beers before above females are attractive: Infinite
Scenario:
Bunch of guys drinking in a bar and they're getting pretty phucked up. Drinking of course means that several are horny. They check out the women in the bar and they're still not attractive. So drink more…

Time: 3 am
Check out the women again, still not attractive. Phuck!

Bar is closing, time to go home. Two guys get in their cars (DUI, oh yes) and drive home.
Driving down the road one guy says to the other "look at her"
The other guy looks for a girl, but can't see one and says "where, where?"
"Over there, over there, the horse"

They pull over and start looking around. No-one else is around so they approach the horse, their anticipation "rising"
What happens next is too phucked up for even me to talk about!
But this stuff does happen!
It is estimated than 1 in 3 boys have experimented with animals in rural areas.

These eggs are disgusting! This chicken should be ashamed of himself!

Today i went to the Cosmo Dog Park in Gilbert, AZ. I was told Oprah voted it #1 dog park in the country. It had the most advanced jungle gym for kids too. Had a 8' tall climbing wall, which seemed pretty f'n dangerous for kids, and this pyramid looking thing made out of ropes that you can climb on.




Also as I was leaving a kid was running to the bathroom because he had just got bitten by a dog.