Clutch and Murder by Death, live at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City, MO, February 28th, 2008. Check out the full review written by Crystal K. Wiebe at Synthesis.net. More photos by Lisa Horn after the jump. (more…)

Well, there are a lot of reasons, but partially because of people like David Mortari:

This Video Shows a Terribly Evil Act Against a Defenseless Puppy: Consider yourself warned.

David Mortari
24419 Florence Acres Rd
Monroe, WA 98272-9662
Phone: (360) 794-7191
(714) 330-0418

Key Dragon. I’ve got to be blunt. I’m not a fan.

I have a soft spot for female fronted goth metal. I’m a sucker for heavy, theatrical bands like After Forever, Within Temptation… I even interviewed ex-Nightwish frontwoman Tarja Turunen recently, and that shit was hot. (Her new solo album is pretty fucking good, coincidentally.) But I thought KeyDragon’s recordings sound a bit flat (at least on their SonicBids page), and their songs were pretty basic musically. However, all their lyrics are about dragons, and that wins them major kudos in my book.

KeyDragon is made up of Ron Langford (synth, bass, drums and vocals), Bobby Blackmon (guitar and bass) and Tamara Venus Star (vocals), and they hail from beautiful Grass Valley, CA (seriously, you should visit). They describe their music as “Dragon Metal,” which combines elements of “goth, doom and power metal.” Unfortunately, I hear a lot of the first, but not enough of the latter two. However, other than making music, they also seem to be all about raising the public’s dragon awareness. From their Web site:

KeyDragon takes you on a mythical journey through time to explore the many legends of the Dragon. The songs are about Dragon legends from around the world and from the time of 60 BC to 1900s AD. The Dragon legends contained in these songs have been thoroughly researched and are the most accurate legends of our time. You will explore Dragon tales from biblical times, the Crusades, the Romantic Era, The Renaissance, The 1700s, 1800’s, and the 1900’s. These legends come from around the world. There are legends from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. These legends come from people of all walks of life. These legends exist among the tribesmen, native Indians, peasants, nobles, merchants, crusaders, warriors, and priests.

I always thought it was neat that all cultures, even those far removed from one another, had some form of dragon in their mythology. What does it mean? Do they actually exist? I’d like to think so. If you’re the curious type, KeyDragon’s got you covered in that regard as well. The band has a page devoted to dragon resources. Myths are important. They give us some sort of common ground, I think, they can teach us a lot about our history and the cultures of our ancestors. I hope that’s one thing humanity doesn’t lose in its push toward becoming purely digital beings. Cheers to KeyDragon for doing their part to keeping myths alive.

So reports say that Winona Ryder, actress, one-time sticky fingers and groupie extraordinarie may or may not be getting married to Rilo Kiley/ The Elected guitarist Blake Sennett.

this guy.

Her reps are saying this ins’t true, but Ryder allegedly announced her engagement during the 2008 Valentino fashion show in Paris. Maybe she just got super excited/drunk on the most romantic city in the world. The pair originally met up during the filming of feature film Water Pill.

If nothing else, this episode adds to the litany of famous/semi-famous actors and musicians who have reportedly gotten down with the big brown beaver. This all star cast includes Johnny Depp (engaged for three years beginning in July 1990), Dave Pirner from Soul Asylum, Dave Grohl, Matt Damon, Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz, Helmet’s Page Hamilton, Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst. There’s probably several more. Yeah, whatever, you’d hit it too.

Bob Geldof, musician, actor and Live 8 event organizer, recently met with George W. Bush who has been meeting with rock stars who wear their hearts on their sleeves in an effort to make the world a better place.
In this article published in Time, Bob Geldof writes about their meeting about Africa, including the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the humanitarian mission that will train African peacekeepers.

I recommend you read his article. Geldof, as you can imagine, is an opponent of the Bush Administration’s War in Iraq. At the same time, Geldof is a strong proponent of African aid, something the Bush Administration is strong on as well (though that fact rarely gets headlines). This dichotomy comes into play in Geldof’s article in a really natural way, where he basically says Bush is a gracious host and good guy, it’s a shame that all the good things his administration does gets overshadowed by Iraq. But that whole Iraq thing…yikes, that’s a crime.

Daisy De La Hoya, recently famed for her role on VH1’s Rock Of Love, has found her way into tabloid news with a recent Myspace picture. And although I never would have guessed it, it seems that Daisy enjoys an occasional whiff of the old coca leaf. But hey, “ITS JUST FLOUR!!! LOL.” Well thank goodness for that, because I was ready to be offended. Have a look at some of the banter from this particular shot. There’s some really astute commentary, such as, “Great pic!! Love all the elements about it.”

While you’re taking in Daisy’s personal page, I dare you to have a listen to some of her music. The songs are so bad that they are in fact enjoyable. I would love to have a window into the recording session… Daisy, scantily clad, sings off-key amidst a sea of silk shirt wearing leeches yayed out of their minds; dudes with 12-inch surgically enhanced schlongs hang around just waiting to bone down, all the while a millet-brained producer head-bangs, truly believing that the music rocks.

Funny…it almost doesn’t seem real that songs like “Pretty Messed Up,” “Save Me,” and “Welcome To Heaven Daisy” can actually exist. But then again, Rock Of Love is in its second season. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before a Bret Michaels/Daisy sex tape surfaces. Depressing, maybe?