In a move that those bootleg-mongers over in the Pearl Jam camp are sure to cop any day now, Metallica has released an iPhone application that will allow users to download professionally recorded mp3s from the band’s shows within hours of the last note played on any given tour night. CELEBRATORY KIRK HAMMETT SOLO. Using the LiveMetallica app, fans will also be able to trawl through five years of thrash, every Metallica show since 2004 to me made available through the service. In addition, Metallica’s most recent show can be streamed on the iPhone for a grand total of zero dollars, one less than what it costs to download the app itself. CONCLUSIVE JAMES HETFIELD GROWL.

According to Blabbermouth.net, rumors that the “Big Four” of thrash metal may tour together are officially airborne. In an interview with the U.K.’s Metal Hammer magazine, Slayer guitarist Kerry King suggested that Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is currently plotting a tour and would feature Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica on the same bill for the very first time. No public comment from Ulrich to be found yet, but King doesn’t seem so sold on Anthrax at the moment. Read:

“I’ve heard people referencing Lars. I don’t know Lars that well and I haven’t heard it from Lars, but apparently he’s talking to somebody about it. Maybe us, Metallica, Megadeth and, I think he even threw in Anthrax and I said in this day and age, I know we had that time together, but how do you leave out Machine Head? There’s better options than Anthrax and that’s nothing against Anthrax, but they’ve just been in pieces for quite some time and that doesn’t make as much sense to me.”

Fact: Weezer’s first few albums were undeniably pretty awesome. Fact: Weezer was never one of those bands that was tangibly cool during this time so much as being cool for not worrying about such silly distinctions and letting their music geek hang all out. This is what makes Rivers Cuomo’s admittance to Rolling Stone that he basically jacked a Metallica riff when crafting the band’s first-ever single some 15 years ago all the more fitting.

“I was trying to write a Velvet Underground-type song because I was super into them, and I came up with that guitar riff. I just picked up that acoustic guitar and the first thing I played was that riff…” Cuomo told RS. “It wasn’t until years after I wrote it that I realized it’s almost a complete rip-off of ‘Sanitarium’ by Metallica. It just perfectly encapsulates Weezer to me — you’re trying to be cool like Velvet Underground but your metal roots just pump through unconsciously.”

No response from Metallica yet, but if we remember correctly, they don’t take so kindly to people ripping off their music.

In other Weezer news, the band has joined forces with A.P.E. Radio (apparently a collaboration between Front Line Management and Clear Channel and unfortunately not anything involving actual apes) as one of a short list of artists to have their own 24/7 radio station that can be broadcast online, on  the iPhone or the Blackberry. So if you ever wanted Rivers and Co. to narrate your commute to work, there ya go!

We checked it out for a few and the whole idea seemed pretty worthwhile, but the unfortunate coincidence of coming in for a 6-minute playlist that included “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” and “Where Is My Mind” has us feeling just a wee bit paranoid. (Via Rolling Stone & A.P.E. Radio)

On October 29 and 30 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, a veritable cornucopia of rock royalty will descend for a two night concert series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Over the course of the two-night stand, members of the Hall of Fame will perform onstage with guests, effectively documenting the evolution of various musical styles. Crosby, Stills and Nash will perform with California-based artists, Metallica will headline the hard rock portion of the concerts, and Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin will perform with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra as part of a soul revue.

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, U2, Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, and Simon and Garfunkel are also expected to perform in what the event’s executive producer and Rolling Stone founder, Jann Wenner, calls “a celebration of the artists and their music.” Joel Gallen, the induction ceremonies’ producers, will direct the shows, with a highlight version scheduled to be aired on HBO. Proceeds go to establishing an endowment for the Hall of Fame; AMEX cardholders will be able to purchase tickets today, while sales open to the general public on August 3.

To further commemorate the Hall of Fame’s anniversary, a book, titled The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The First 25 Years will be released via Collins Design in September. A nine-disc DVD collection will be released in August by Time Life, featuring highlights from past induction ceremonies and rare footage. (via RS)

As rock bands go, Arizona’s Meat Puppets have never been what one would classify as normal. At their calmest you could say that their approach to music is unorthodox and at their wildest well, they are flat out, full-speed-ahead weird.

Since forming in Paradise Valley, Arizona in early 1980, the band has released seminal albums, including the SST classic Meat Puppets 2, created their own style of punk rock by combining psychedelic rock (and tons of actual hallucinogens), country music and the off beat vocal delivery of twin brothers Cris and Curt Kirkwood, to make a sound solidly that of the brothers Meat.

The sound the Kirkwoods fostered was not embraced by the mainstream, the one exception being 1994’s Too High To Die, but it was borrowed from and built upon by some of the most influential bands of my generation including Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr., Nada Surf, the Replacements to name just a few. The band’s latest album, Sewn Together [Megaforce] is exactly that, a sewn together tapestry of all the influences and substances that morphed into the creature that is The Meat Puppets.

The album’s title track is a singsong campfire distortion touched country rock gem that would make Gram Parsons and his Flying Burrito Brothers proud. That is just one of the pop infused gems to be found on the album ironically released by metal gods Metallica’s first label residence.

“Blanket of Weeds” is a harmonized tune with a distortion jam filling out it’s midsection; “Sapphire” shows that the at times stellar band Concrete Blonde may have been Puppets followers as well. “Go to Your Head” has a feeling that yes, in fact, Michael Stipe stole his voice from Cris Kirkwood and Peter, Bill and Mike pilfered their best ideas from the bluegrass lovin’ Arizona punks.

But longtime fans don’t be fooled by the rock conformity. Oh no, there are some moments that we’ve come to know, love and attribute to an acid consumption on par with Hendrix. The most likely suspect of this and the perhaps the best song on Sewn Together is the whistle lead, “The Monkey and The Snake”. Strange lyrics abound here: “This is the story of the monkey and the snake/the monkey hit that sucker with a rake/snake bit the monkey and the hand/now the monkey’s singin’ in a band.” And believe it or not it gets weirder from there. Drum solos, flange guitar, mandolin and funky bass are in full force here.

To put it simply, Sewn Together is a beautifully strange album that proves the Meat Puppets are still relevant and have much to offer the world of “indie” rock.

The point of the many comparisons to other bands in this review is not do to a lack of imagination on my part; or is it to imply that The Meat Puppets have reached the end of their creative rope after twenty-nine years. That couldn’t be further from the truth; it is merely to show the influence that band has had on Alternative music. Without the Meat Puppets, alternative as we know it would have an entirely different sound or may not exist at all.

Thank you Jesus for the Kirkwood brothers. Sewn Together is one of the top five best albums I’ve heard so far this year and more importantly, it is yet another step in The Meat Puppets’ journey of greatness.

Metallica and The Beatles have both been turned into video game heroes; and now it’s Van Halen’s turn to jump on the Guitar Hero wagon.

According to Billboard, the scheduled release for the new Guitar Hero: Van Halen game is scheduled for release at the end of the year. The Van Halen tracks that will be on the game have not been released yet, but we are hoping “Runnin’ With the Devil” and “Dance the Night Away” will be included, for the ultimate in pretend fret-board tapping fun. We are curious if the makers of the game will give players the option to choose past members of the band as their Guitar Hero avatars, because we can’t imagine virtually simulating Van Halen licks without an option to play as Sammy Hagar. No matter what, fans can pretend to shed an axe like Eddie.

Metallica, the bay-area giants that legitimized “thrash metal” with albums like Kill ‘Em All, Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All and “The Black Album” were welcomed into the hallowed confines of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.

Their inclusion, though absolutely deserving in every conceivable way, poses a wider question to my ever curious mind: Will the inclusion of now two “metal” acts, (Black Sabbath being the other. Let’s face it, Led Zeppelin and The Who don’t count as metal.) clear the way for other metal and proto-metal acts?

The governing body of “The Hall” is still skittish when inductions are concerned. The Hall has inducted piano music lightweight Floyd Cramer, but has passed up The Stooges. They’ve welcomed jazz “rockers” Steely Dan and the doo-wop group The Moonglows, but took forever to induct The Ramones and The Talking Heads. So, what would make you think The Hall will get heavier anytime soon?

There are several bands that fall into the metal, punk, thrash and hardcore categories that are entirely deserving of the honor of induction. Here is a list of bands that are eligible and in my mind, should be included. Bare with me, it’s a short list.

Motorhead: Without Lemmy Kilmister and the boys, the genre of thrash (and Metallica) probably would never have existed. Their album, Ace of Spades, is a benchmark of lawn killing volume and speed.

Megadeth: Dave Mustaine, former member of Metallica, focused all his aggression and hatred into classic ear splitting albums such as Rust in Peace, Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, Countdown to Extinction and Killing is My Business and Business is Good. And as an added bonus, the band takes it’s name for the loss of lives from a nuclear detonation. Now that’s Metal.

MC5: The Detroit based house band for the Black panther Party was the first to “Kick Out The Jams”. Their explosive shows, incendiary guitar work of Fred “Sonic” Smith and Wayne Kramer and controversial political stances helped set the stage for both punk and metal.

The Stooges: Again, another band that helped in the invention of metal and punk. For god sake, listen to Raw Power and tell me Iggy Pop and his Ann Arbor, Michigan brethren don’t belong.

Black Flag: No they aren’t metal, but hardcore punk arose from the “forbidden beat” created by metal and more precisely, Motorhead. Black Flag gave birth to thousands of punk and thrash bands either by groups attempting to copy their sound or by guitarist Greg Ginn’s indie record label SST.

The Melvins: Masters of sludge and drone, no Melvins equals no Nirvana. No Nirvana equals none of the good bands and some of the bad (I’m talking to you, Bush and Candlebox) that appeared in the 1990’s wake of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

Judas Priest: Rob Halford is the King of the 1980’s wave of British Metal. British Steel is an album for the ages.

And there is just a taste of the metal, thrash, hardcore and punk bands that have shaped the musical landscape over the past 30+ years that are up for induction. They have all, either directly or indirectly, changed the public’s perception of what is great, what is groundbreaking, what is acceptable and what is not. And in the process have warped my brain for the better.

I must extend my congratulations to Metallica. They truly are one of the greats of this or any other time. Who knows, maybe next year someone from my list will be asked into The Hall, but my bet is that the voters will probably go with The Carpenters instead. Man, could they wail!

It’s difficult for Americans to understand the political and personal strife many in the world are facing today. We witness filtered views of places like Iraq and Afghanistan through highly desensitized news reports, and still can’t imagine what life must be like in these war-torn areas. Now try to imagine a place that is more dangerous than either of these places. A country where pirates still patrol the waters, where children handle AK-47s like toys and unbridled destruction, merciless warlords and ruthless terror are a regular part of everyday life.

That place is Somalia, and aspiring musician and MC K’Naan was raised in the country’s most dangerous region: Wardhiigleey.

Incidentally, Somalia is also “The Nation of Poets,” and K’Naan is the grandson of Haji Mohamed — one of Somalia’s most famous poets. He also the nephew of famed Somali singer Magool, so it’s only natural that the combination of music and poetry would become an outlet for him to tell the stories of his troubled youth and his unique view on life. If hip-hop is the language of the street, there are few MC’s in the world who can compete with the credibility of K’Naan.

But while hip-hop is the section where his latest album, Troubadour (February 24, Octone/A&M), sits on record shelves, it’s far from a traditional hip-hop record. Recorded primarily in Kingston, Jamaica where K’Naan was granted unprecedented access by his friends Stephen and Damian Marley to their father Bob Marley’s original home studio at 56 Hope Road and the legendary Tuff Gong studios, Troubadour blends samples and live instrumentation for a sound that’s both rooted in traditional African melodies. Featuring guest musicians like Damian Marley, Mos Def, Chubb Rock, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid and even Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, it’s as much a testament to his life as it is the multitude of Western influences he was opened up to in Somalia — everything from Bob Dylan and Fela Kuti to Eric B. & Rakim.

K’Naan now lives in Toronto via New York, after his family received a visa on the last day the U.S. Embassy was in Somalia (the region is so bad, the Embassy is no longer there), and on the heels of Troubador being released, we spoke during his brief stop in New York.

Being from Somalia what’s the culture status like there? You said in your bio that regardless of political climate there you can always find concerts or local theatre, but is there culture coming from outside places like America?
K: No, it’s completely closed up to outside influence. Somalia has always been like that, very careful with culture, very much a little too proud of just their own thing. You’ve got sounds coming from different regions, but the truest thing about Somalia is that the general social discourse is had through poetry. It is the most, if not the most poetic nation in the world. It’s hard to explain to someone who is not from there, but everything from law, to violence, to social scenarios is discussed only through poetry. So it’s like pizza to Italy, poetry to Somalia. Our national dish is poetry.

So does it cross over a lot into music similar to what you do?
For music, yeah. You can’t be a musician in Somalia unless you are a poet.

Listening to it on your record, your cadence seems to be from more of a poetic standpoint than straight hip-hop. Did you take from that and try to implement it in your music vs. trying to be a hip-hop artist like the way we know it here in America?
Well, I didn’t really do either. I just did exactly what is a reflection of me, the most honest thing. There was no conscious effort to ever do anything a certain way. It just came that way, and I was raised as this person who is around poets and around a mixture of some tough streets and some incredibly eloquent poetry. The mix of it is kind of what’s become me.

K’Naan (Featuring Chubb Rock – “ABC’s” (Remix)

Was your grandfather a big influence? Was he alive when you were creating music?
Yes, I wasn’t creating music, but I was young when I was around him and he was revered. I’d walk with him down from his place to our home for lunch and the street would part. He was that kind of character. So, he was an influence but my auntie too was famous. She was an influence as well.

You can’t really pigeon-hole your sound, so I’m wondering if you think that you’re being labeled hip-hop artist for more marketing purposes?
Yeah, it’s convenient, but I don’t know. People will try to do what they do. I’m not really even involved in the naming process, or the categorizing, or the marketing of anything. I keep my music more distant from all of that. But I agree that it isn’t just one thing at all.

The reason I bring it up is because American hip hop became so big because it was the voice of the street and the underprivileged. Or even Jazz or Punk Rock or Blues, it all came from social circumstances. And now with the world getting smaller, from a world perspective our hardships – no matter what they are – are really no comparison to so many other countries and what’s going on. I was wondering if you think that’s going to change the face of hip-hop or whatever it will become? The fact that we’re on a world scale now and we’re going to hear voices coming from Somalia or Arab countries expressing a whole new set or social strife.
Yeah, it’s going to be very interesting for hip-hop. I think there is at least a part of me that is a hip-hop representative voice. I remember like a year ago I was walking around backstage of Rock the Bells, they had like Rage Against The Machine, Nas and the Wu Tang Clan and it was crazy. But I remember just walking by them and this crowd of performers that I used to listen to back in the day and then one of the guys from Wu Tang was like “Yo, that’s the future of hip hop.” And it was interesting because when you try to compare hood just as far as hard scenario, there’s nothing really harder where you can go than where I come from. So hip-hop has a pretty interesting scenario facing it now. Especially with the wide release of my music, it’s like, either you’re going to have to ignore me or you’re really going to have to reassess.

Yeah, and looking back at hip-hop and all those other genres I mentioned is, when their message really started to taper off is when they started to reach a mainstream success level. Presuming your success, do you feel a sense of urgency to bringing it back to the people of Somalia? Have you been back there since you put out records?
No, I’ve been to the area, I’ve been to the region, but you can’t go to Somalia. You can’t go to where I come from.

You can’t go there even as a citizen of the country?
Nobody can go. The U.N. is scared to go. It’s hard to explain. People just have to read about Somalia to understand what I talk about, or understand what I say in my music, because it sounds fantastical. Forbes Magazine a couple of months ago did the top 10 most dangerous countries in the world, and you have Afghanistan third, Iraq was second, and Somalia was one. So, you’ve seen a little bit of Iraq on TV, just imagine what would be more dangerous than that. It is not a place you can up and go and leisurely visit. But my music is heard there.

Do you think about going back there as an artist, to bring your voice back to the people?
Yeah, just because I need it myself. I just need to be among the people. And in fact, I have planned. I was going to go very recently, but whenever I decide to go it becomes more of a life and death situation than anyone else, because I’m pretty well known there too. So it becomes a risk for anyone who chooses to go with me, and that’s a tough decision to make. My mother’s completely against it, but I’m trying to find a way to go.

Do you have family there still?
I’ve got brothers and sister… cousins, aunt, Grandma.

How many languages do you speak on the album?
Just Somali and English. There’s a song I say a word in Swahili and a word in Arab, but those are just a word, I don’t speak them, I just speak Somali and English.

Are you going to try and bring any of the guest musicians into the live performance?
You know what’s crazy? I have a song with Kirk Hammett from Metallica. Ridiculous. He did 17 guitar solos and we had to sift through and choose. Apparently Metallica heard my music and they approved. Because you know Metallica can’t do anything outside of Metallica… so I think this is Kirk Hammett’s first known thing outside of Metallica ever. I feel like that’s an honor. And anyway, he and I are talking back and forth and he wants to come play with me on some shows.

That would be amazing. Maybe you can get him and Damien on the same stage.
Damien is coming because that’s just natural, he’s a friend of mine. We hang out without playing shows.

How did that relationship with the Marley’s come about?
Well, Stephen Marley was being interviewed by somebody and I just happened to be in the room. And they asked him, “you’re friends with K’naan, how did you guys meet?” And he was like, “Through God.” It was one of those things when people just feel a connection musically they really see me as a family to them, akin to the sound their family is known for. Not sound wise in that sense, but what it represents. The spirit of it.

Well, it seems that there is a spiritual connection to what Bob Marley was to Jamaica, at the time it was a place that no one really wanted to go to.
Or knew about. And so in the unveiling of the world that I unveil those guys have connected to it and taken up my thing for themselves and were close in that way. Eventually I became the only artist that Steven Marley ever handed the keys to Bob Marley’s house.

That had to have been pretty incredible. I know it’s not something you can put into words, but you got to touch the organ he used?
We recorded music with the organ; the sound from Exodus and Legend, and the same beats we used for our album. We used his guitar that he had played it a lot. His home, his couch, we just laid around making music, walkomg around in the garden. It was very much like a crazy movie. It was like a weird existence for that time, it was like three months.

That had to be awesome though.
It was. Awesome is a good word for that.

Guitar Hero enthusiasts, today is your lucky day. Just as we told you last week, the Beatles will have their own Rock Band game coming out in September. Now we bring you even more finger-shredding news, as the release date of the new “Guitar Hero: Metallica” game has been announced.

Be prepared to finger tap your hearts out on March 29, when the new Guitar Hero game will be available for Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, and XBox 360. Not only will you be able to play your favorite Metallica guitar licks, but you’ll also be able to sing and drum along with the 28-hand-picked songs featured on the game.

The game includes classics like “Battery”, “Whiplash”, and “Dyers Eve” that will leave you riding the lightning (no pun intended) to Metallica wanna-be star status. Of course there will be newer Metallica material featured on the game as well, but thankfully only one song from St. Anger is featured on the game to avoid any major letdowns to your axe-wielding needs.

This is not Metallica’s first go with Guitar Hero (obviously you can’t have a game called Guitar Hero without featuring the godfather’s of American metal). Last year, upon the release date of their newest album Death Magnetic, Metallica also released the CD in a downloadable “Guitar Hero 3″ form. And according to Pitchfork, along with the new release “Guitar Hero: Metallica”, the band will also be releasing a digital box set featuring their entire discography on March 31, as well as being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I headed off to the Studio at Webster Hall to catch one of the more respected metal bands at this moment, Early Man. Having never witnessed them live before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Two Flying-V’s and lots of hair later, I’ve come to realize why these guys are adored by true metalheads.


[Red Fang]

The night started with opener Red Fang, and while they were tight and not without merit, they tended to be a bit more on the rockin’ side of metal. The way Clutch can fall under a metal veil, but in essence they’re just a heavy rock band. This is how I perceived Red Fang’s set and it left me wondering if Early Man was in this vein of heavy.

[Early Man]

I did not have to wonder long however, because as soon as they took the stage to soundcheck, the sight of two Flying V’s quickly let me know this band was either really metal, or really ironic. Either would be a treat, but thankfully, I don’t have to go into a tirade about bands being ironic (to be fair, most metal bands do not tread the irony trail), and what I heard on this night was pure visceral enjoyment. From thrashing, to tapping to solos and lightning speed chugging, Early Man embodied everything that made early Metallica or Slayer great. They practically blew the speakers out of the much-too-small venue. I say it was too small, because by the end of their set, everyone in attendance was asking where their hearing went.

With Coachella just a month and a half away fans have been swarming the event’s message boards, posting their discontent about The Killers headlining Saturday night. Generally speaking, Coachella enlists acts of epic proportions to headline the event, so rumors have been circulating that the less-than-epic Las Vegas rockers are just holding Saturday night’s spot until a bigger name is released to surprise fans.

Who could it possibly be? According to The Daily Swarm, rumors have been flying rampant about a possible David Bowie performance, or even Bruce Springsteen and Metallica. We’re thinking the possibilities of Mr. Springsteen playing are slim, as he’s headlining Bonnaroo this year. We sure wouldn’t mind hearing Metallica headline, and a Bowie performance would be beyond epic.

Even if Coachella doesn’t announce a new headliner for Saturday night, if some fans get their way, you can look forward to some hilarious entertainment on the Conservative Talk Radio Stage. Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O’Reilly are among the few conservative radio personalities sought out by fans on the message board.

SXSW is just a few short weeks away, and the performance schedule has finally been officially released via the event’s website. Yes, it is only the “official” line-up, and there are sure to be tons of “unofficial” parties announced in the next few weeks, but it’s nice to get a few confirmations to add to our schedule.

While the Film festival starts earlier in the week, the musical acts will start on Wednesday, March 18 and run through Sunday the 22. With artists like Phosphorescent, The Bronx, A-Trak, and The Decemberists, Black Lips, Grizzly Bear and blog-boy Wavves confirmed to perform along an ever-increasing line-up of huge acts like Devo or the oft-rumored Metallica, it’s sure to be the gaudy, drunken experience we’ve all come to expect.

Batten down the hatches Austin, the world is coming to tear shit up. You can see the full line-up here.

Remember when going to SxSW was about showcasing new talent and great indie labels? Hell, remember when you could actually get into the clubs to see the bands you paid that $400 badge fee for? Ah, those were the days…

Now that we’re on to the days of parties being thrown by both Paris and Perez Hilton, we can all stop crying for the good ol’ days and just see how gaudy the whole damn affair can become. And since we’re good at starting rumors, let’s start with the one that has Metallica — with John Madden replacing James Hetfield — playing Stubbs on March 21. Of course the John Madden part is a hoax (can he even play guitar?) and it was started on the Metallica message board, so there’s nothing substantiated at all, but lets try to imagine the cluster-fuck that would ensue with Metallica playing a 1500 capacity venue while there are already approximately one-million people converging on downtown Austin.

And in other big SxSW news, it looks like Cringe will be there again this year! Oh wait, you don’t know who Cringe is? Maybe you know them better as the band that Rachel Ray’s husband is in. Normally, this would be the part where we start making jokes, but it turns out Rachel Ray has pretty good taste in music (last year she had Holy Fuck and The Raveonettes play) and she’s planning another soiree in Austin this year. Aside from Cringe (who plays every show she books apparently), rumor has it that Ray is looking to expand her showcase to “10 to 12″ bands, and while not all the acts have been confirmed, apparently The Hold Steady and The Airborne Toxic Event have already committed. With another source citing there will be a “big name” added in the coming days.

We’ll hold off on other rumors for the time being. After all, it’s not like Radiohead is going to be there. Or are they?