Desert Island Music

A few friends of mine and I like to email each other, when we find time (which is not nearly often enough), about all things music. As with many music fans, lists are often part of the equation. Recently, we put together our Top 10 Desert Island Songs. I decided that when I sent mine over, I'd include some interesting / related clips, as my friends on the email would be familiar with most of the tunes already. Enjoy.

*Interesting to note, as one friend did, that I would not be hearing Glenn's voice on a desert island. Who would have guessed? Ditto Liam & Noel Gallagher.

In No Particular Order:

Metallica "Master of Puppets" (8:38)

Definitive song from my favorite band of all time. With Cliff '86:


Megadeth "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (6:33)

Definitive song (alongside "Peace Sells..."), Rock In Rio '91:


Bad Brains "Soul Craft" (3:47)

Official music video. HR! DAMN!


Duran Duran "The Chaffeur" (5:23)

(Obviously) one of my favorite songs of all time and yet I had never seen the music video! It's SEXY. Apparently there's an uncensored version, but it's not available on YouTube: YouTube won't let me embed this one, so here's a link

a-ha "Scoundrel Days" (4:03)

Title track from their second album. Live (no idea what singer Morten Harket thinks he's wearing) --


Morrissey "I'm OK By Myself" (4:48)

BBC Performance


Candlemass "Samarithan" (5:30)

Live in 1990:


Metallica "The Outlaw Torn" (9:49)

Live from this year. A much overlooked gem from the Load era. Yes, a desert island song for me.


Depeche Mode "Waiting for the Night" (6:07)

Dave & Martin singing together! From this year, shot in HD:


Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence" (6:13)

Like you haven't seen this video. Instead, I bring you:

Martin Gore singing it, live:


Failure doing it, live and acoustic:


HIM doing it, also live (sounds more like Type O than ever):


Tori Amos version (live):


Keane version:


Lacuna Coil version:


There are other versions, but they are mostly awful.

Burning Fight

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while. My longtime friend Brian Peterson compiled a book about the '90s hardcore scene called Burning Fight. He spent literally years putting it together, conducting countless interviews (including with me). I'm proud to say I was able to help him secure several of the interviews and he gives me a very heart-warming acknowledgment in the book as an influence alongside people like Stephen King! Wow! Thanks Brian. Interviews include:

108, Avail, Burn, Cave In, Coalesce, Damnation A.D., Deadguy, Disembodied, Downcast, Earth Crisis, Endpoint, Groundwork, Guilt, Inside Out, Integrity, Los Crudos, Mouthpiece, Racetraitor, Ressurection, Rorshcach, Shelter, Spitboy, Split Lip/Chamberlain, Strife, Swing Kids, Texas Is The Reason, Threadbare, Trial, Unbroken, Undertow, Vegan Reich You can purchase the book HERE.

America Is (Still) Not The World

Yes, Moz, the president is now Black, but "America is (Still) Not the World." I have to admit that like many of Rush's ditto-heads, I tend to agree with Bill Maher on just about everything. I don't smoke weed and I've accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior (that's the simplest version of what are complex and nuanced personal views), but otherwise, I'm right there with him on just about everything he has to say.

Most recently, for example, his interpretation of what really went down with the Gates arrest: Dude wasn't arrested for being black so much as he was arrested for refusing to kiss a cop's ass. It's something that happens regularly. It's something that has happened to me personally, which is perhaps a story for another time.

Not long before that, Maher went after Obama and told him to basically man the fuck up and get going with what we put him in office to do.

But this editorial, which I believe will close his show tonight? FLAWLESS. I was going to Twitter my favorite line, then my favorite couple of lines, and then I realized that every single syllable of this is just incredible. The basic premise is this: just because America's new president is smart, it doesn't mean America isn't stupid.

Here's a snippet: "And before I go about demonstrating how, sadly, easy it is to prove the dumbness dragging down our country, let me just say that ignorance has life and death consequences. On the eve of the Iraq War, 69% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was personally involved in 9/11. Four years later, 34% still did. Or take the health care debate we're presently having: members of Congress have recessed now so they can go home and 'listen to their constituents.' An urge they should resist because their constituents don't know anything. At a recent town-hall meeting in South Carolina, a man stood up and told his Congressman to 'keep your government hands off my Medicare,' which is kind of like driving cross country to protest highways."

Enjoy the rest here.

*(That fantastic illustration accompanies this great New York Press article which I recommend checking out if you're into Moz, politics, or both.)