September 13, 2011
69 Eyes - Bump N Grind (reissue)
Akin - The Way Things End
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 my Nightmare
Anterior - Echoes of the Fallen
Anthrax - Worship Music
Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate
Arabrot - Solar Anus
Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne
Discharge - Disensitise (reissue w/ bonus tracks)
Dicharge - War is Hell (reissue w/ bonus tracks)
Doro - 25 Years in Rock
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
Edguy - Age of the Joker
Einherjer - Norron
Elks - Destined for the Sun
Everwood - Without Saving
Evil United - Evil United
Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (reissue collector's edition)
Only Flesh - From the Gutter to the Grave
Pathology - Awaken to the Suffering
Primus - Green Naugahyde
Sabaton - World War Live: Battle of the Baltic Sea
UFO - Chrysalis Years 1973-1979
Untimely Demise - City of Steel
Vader - Welcome to the Morbid Reich
Winter Tree - The Winter Tree
Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
Wolves Like Us - Late Love
next week tease: The Atlus Moth, Opeth
Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Releases for September 6, 2011
September 6, 2011
Arkona - Slovo
Cthonic - Takasago Army
Exmortus - Beyond the Fall of Time
Monstro - Monstro
Saviours - Death's Procession
next week tease: Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Dream Theater, Vader, Wolves in the Throne Room
Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.
Arkona - Slovo
Cthonic - Takasago Army
Exmortus - Beyond the Fall of Time
Monstro - Monstro
Saviours - Death's Procession
next week tease: Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Dream Theater, Vader, Wolves in the Throne Room
Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Zune Zalk: How I Listen To My Zune
It has been almost two and a half years since I bought a Zune. Almost three hundred and eighty nine thousand plays. Nineteen hundred and thirty four listener badges. After all this time I finally got a gold badge.
A gold badge is acquired when one accomplishes five thousand listens of a specific band or song. In my case it was the Silverlake, CA based band My Ruin. Understandable since they are one of my favorite bands of all time. What took so long?
Five thousand plays is barely 1.25% of my total listens. With so many plays one would possibly think I would have a crap load of gold badges.
I probably would but I have a philosophy or a belief. A belief their is to much good music out there to simply listen to a single album over and over. It was the simple thing to do when I was a kid. Move that record player needle back to the beginning of whatever side of the record album. Cassette players, 8 track players, and CD player could be set to play their reels/disc over and over. Today with digital technology it is easy to listen to loads of albums. Though I don't simply have every album loaded on to my 120 GB Zune.
If I was simply going to do a random play from every song it would cut the impact and not allow a song to grow on a me. Sometimes when you first hear a song you miss stuff with that first quick impression.
On the go I have 20 albums on my Zune most of the time. Usually a mix of ten albums around a theme and another random ten albums. For example, a good number of months I was mixing albums named in the Terrorizer magazine essential 200 list with whatever. Currently I have noticed my recommended choices from Zune to be rather stagnant after digging through all that metal so I recently been using the theme of electronic music (mostly in the industrial vein) in hopes of changing this and hopefully discovering some new bands.
20 albums isn't an overwhelming number. With it I am able to give albums a good chance and really listen to everything. I switch an album out once I earn a badge. That is the reason I have so many badges especially bronze badges (200 listens).
Otherwise when it comes to the home I have a number of play lists I switch between each day. I have a silver album one where I play what I consider to be classic albums, a random fifty track list of 'hearted' tracks, hundred random tracks from my whole collection, and a lot of others to keep things fresh and exciting.
I have nothing against those who can listen to things over and over again. If you enjoy it go for it. I am lucky enough participating in radio I am getting new music constantly. It can be overwhelming and my listening habits is one of my ways of doing music justice.
A gold badge is acquired when one accomplishes five thousand listens of a specific band or song. In my case it was the Silverlake, CA based band My Ruin. Understandable since they are one of my favorite bands of all time. What took so long?
Five thousand plays is barely 1.25% of my total listens. With so many plays one would possibly think I would have a crap load of gold badges.
I probably would but I have a philosophy or a belief. A belief their is to much good music out there to simply listen to a single album over and over. It was the simple thing to do when I was a kid. Move that record player needle back to the beginning of whatever side of the record album. Cassette players, 8 track players, and CD player could be set to play their reels/disc over and over. Today with digital technology it is easy to listen to loads of albums. Though I don't simply have every album loaded on to my 120 GB Zune.
If I was simply going to do a random play from every song it would cut the impact and not allow a song to grow on a me. Sometimes when you first hear a song you miss stuff with that first quick impression.
On the go I have 20 albums on my Zune most of the time. Usually a mix of ten albums around a theme and another random ten albums. For example, a good number of months I was mixing albums named in the Terrorizer magazine essential 200 list with whatever. Currently I have noticed my recommended choices from Zune to be rather stagnant after digging through all that metal so I recently been using the theme of electronic music (mostly in the industrial vein) in hopes of changing this and hopefully discovering some new bands.
20 albums isn't an overwhelming number. With it I am able to give albums a good chance and really listen to everything. I switch an album out once I earn a badge. That is the reason I have so many badges especially bronze badges (200 listens).
Otherwise when it comes to the home I have a number of play lists I switch between each day. I have a silver album one where I play what I consider to be classic albums, a random fifty track list of 'hearted' tracks, hundred random tracks from my whole collection, and a lot of others to keep things fresh and exciting.
I have nothing against those who can listen to things over and over again. If you enjoy it go for it. I am lucky enough participating in radio I am getting new music constantly. It can be overwhelming and my listening habits is one of my ways of doing music justice.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Comicbook Caucus: The New DC
Yesterday, DC Comics put into effect a plan to close one era and start a new era. Flashpoint was the key to the closing and opening of business.
Flashpoint, it turns out, could have just as easily been called, 'Crisis of Infinite Time Streams'. Though another recent event, Final Crisis, kind of put a end to the use of the 'crisis' term.
'Crisis of Infinite Earths' some 25 years ago took the universe of many corresponding Earth' concept previously established by DC creators and merged all these Earth's into one. Bits of previous stories were kept and new ideas were introduced.
Most noticeably a certain 'Man of Steel' starting from scratch. Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Flash soon followed. New titles were introduced with the likes of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, etc. The Elseworld's were kind of started too with the non-continuity stuff like Frank Miller' - The Dark Knight and Moore/Gibson - Watchmen.
It just so happened; this is the period I started to take my comic reading to more than a random pick-up when hitting the Cork and Bottle. When I would start to actually keep each issue rather than allowing my mom to throw them away. These titles starting out made them appealing and sucked in someone who really had no knowledge other than Saturday morning cartoons.
What has been done now is pretty much the same with all these adjacent points in time now all merged into one conscious stream. Once again things are changed while other things will stay the same. This time though DC is doing a line wide reintroduction with every book starting at issue one. Trying to make things exciting again and re/capture people to the medium.
I admit at first I was flabbergasted and feeling a little bit hurt. In the end I realized a number is just a number. Marvel Comics has really shown this with their seeming constant restart of a titles numbering and starting out certain newer titles/characters at something other then a #1 but with 800 or some number like that.
I realize everyone has their favorite stories and views about what events actually shaped a character. In reality probably the only stories that matter are those that manage to be made into trade books. Trade books for the most part stay in print the longest and the easiest thing for a person to find, especially with Amazon.com at your beck and call. You already see the trades effects with how they are supposedly treating Green Lantern and Batman while other books are seemingly going back to the drawing board.
It is an exciting and worrisome time to be a comic fan. Their is just so much mystery at this point behind what is happening. The new Justice League that was introduced along side Flashpoint really doesn't do much to answer anything. It actually looks at the past rather than our comicbook present. Hopefully this next week with the first thirteen of the fifty-two titles starts to clear the picture a bit.
I look forward to the ride though. All I am looking for is great story telling. I hope that comes through in spades in the weeks ahead.
Flashpoint, it turns out, could have just as easily been called, 'Crisis of Infinite Time Streams'. Though another recent event, Final Crisis, kind of put a end to the use of the 'crisis' term.
'Crisis of Infinite Earths' some 25 years ago took the universe of many corresponding Earth' concept previously established by DC creators and merged all these Earth's into one. Bits of previous stories were kept and new ideas were introduced.
Most noticeably a certain 'Man of Steel' starting from scratch. Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Flash soon followed. New titles were introduced with the likes of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, etc. The Elseworld's were kind of started too with the non-continuity stuff like Frank Miller' - The Dark Knight and Moore/Gibson - Watchmen.
It just so happened; this is the period I started to take my comic reading to more than a random pick-up when hitting the Cork and Bottle. When I would start to actually keep each issue rather than allowing my mom to throw them away. These titles starting out made them appealing and sucked in someone who really had no knowledge other than Saturday morning cartoons.
What has been done now is pretty much the same with all these adjacent points in time now all merged into one conscious stream. Once again things are changed while other things will stay the same. This time though DC is doing a line wide reintroduction with every book starting at issue one. Trying to make things exciting again and re/capture people to the medium.
I admit at first I was flabbergasted and feeling a little bit hurt. In the end I realized a number is just a number. Marvel Comics has really shown this with their seeming constant restart of a titles numbering and starting out certain newer titles/characters at something other then a #1 but with 800 or some number like that.
I realize everyone has their favorite stories and views about what events actually shaped a character. In reality probably the only stories that matter are those that manage to be made into trade books. Trade books for the most part stay in print the longest and the easiest thing for a person to find, especially with Amazon.com at your beck and call. You already see the trades effects with how they are supposedly treating Green Lantern and Batman while other books are seemingly going back to the drawing board.
It is an exciting and worrisome time to be a comic fan. Their is just so much mystery at this point behind what is happening. The new Justice League that was introduced along side Flashpoint really doesn't do much to answer anything. It actually looks at the past rather than our comicbook present. Hopefully this next week with the first thirteen of the fifty-two titles starts to clear the picture a bit.
I look forward to the ride though. All I am looking for is great story telling. I hope that comes through in spades in the weeks ahead.
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