LIKE I SAID! Chicago has some mouthy musicians. According to Urb Magazine, it’s the spot for everything, including that rap game I was talking about:

THERE’S ROOM FORUPFRONT RAP, TOO
With all the unmitigated fun going on in Chicago, it might be tempting to assume the swagger of traditional hip-hop has lost its place in this young and colorful scene. But along with pop remixes and nu-rave bangers, real hip-hop has an equal place at this inclusive table.

“It’s lightening up a bit now, and that’s what you’re seeing,” says Shala Esquire, frontman of Universal Recording foursome Qualo, which hit big this year with sexified stripper spoof “Pockets.” “We still have that aggression, but we’re using it in a different way. That attitude isn’t gone; it’s just redirected more positively. And that attitude wants to make sure it opens for the VMAs next year.”

A child of Nigerian immigrants living in Chicago, the CNN appointed spokesperson for Chicago hip-hop is often perceived as one of the scene’s leaders and is one of few in the new Chicago scene that brings a tougher edge.

Read the whole article here. You know, Chico (Synthesis’ hometown) is just an “a” and a “g” away.

Here’s something cute and appropriate to counteract the previous couple of blogs that are totally SICK. Why are Synthesis writers so focused on the crude and twisted? What is wrong with you boys? Makes me wanna go…

So you may recognize Kirk Windstein as being the guitarist for stoner metal supergroup Down, who are on tour right now supporting their new record, Down III - Over the Under. However, he is also the frontman of Crowbar, one of probably THE heaviest bands EVER. We met up with Kirk a couple weeks back to talk about the new Down record, and while we were at it, he took the time to show us some fucking BRUTAL Crowbar riffs, as well as his new custom finish ESP guitar. Check out the footage above, and check out part one of the Down interview below.

Bright Eyes live at the Senator Theater, Chico, CA
Monday, Sept. 24th, 2007
Photos By Melissa Welliver

Check out a full review of the show at the new and sexy Synthesis.net.

It’s 10/01/07! The first day of ROCKTOBER 2007!!!!!!!!!1111

I want you all to take this moment to head bang.  Then I want you to get all your band mates back together for an impromptu rock sesh, preferably in the presence of a large audience so that they can MOSH IT OUT! Then I want you to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and tip it back for every kickass rock show you’ve seen this year.

DO IT NOW!!!!

I seriously think I have West Nile Disease or AIDS or both. I can’t even put together a fucking coherent sentence let alone blog about anything worthwhile, which is sad because there’s a lot of shit worthy of being blogged about right now, like this total fucking fatass French broad

Or the fact that over the next two days I get to see two of the bands the I used to beat off to every day in high school, Down and Helmet.

But instead all I can think about is how fucking bizarre I feel.  I guess the one thing I might be able to piece together a blog about is the fact that today marks the 30th Birthday of music legend and Northern California Icon Cayle “Ride of Game” Hunter. As a member of The Abominable Iron Sloth, Ghostride, Will Haven, Oddman, The Bleedrock Trio and presently the phenomenal Armed For Apocalypse, Cayle basically owns the copyright on NorCal heaviness. But what he is perhaps more famous for is ridiculous amount of gash he has wrecked over the last 15 years up and down the Sacramento Valley, in the process inventing the “Ride of Game,” an alternative to the traditional “Walk of Shame” that has since become widely imitated in Chico and beyond. Happy Birthday man!