Somehow today ended up being metal day over on the front page, with Spencer’s interview with Metalocalypse creator - and musical mad genius behind Dethklok - Brendan Small going up alongside reviews of the new Torche and Kayo Dot CDs. Read it, then click on banners and make me money so I can afford to eat more Chronic Tacos. GO.

Check out the Synthesis sweepstakes page! The amazing Showtime series “Weeds” recently released the soundtrack to the third season so we’re celebrating. If you haven’t seen “Weeds” yet, I highly recommend you get caught up! The Synthesis is holding a “Weeds” contest this month. You can enter to win a season three DVD package, season three soundtrack CD’s or a Pot Culture book. You won’t want to miss out on these prizes!!

Also, go to the Showtime “Weeds” Official Site to watch previews, special features and much more. Don’t forget to watch Season four NOW, Monday’s at 10 p.m., so you can follow Nancy on her crazy adventures!

Just fought through an epic case of the Mondays enough to post a couple new interviews on the front page - including Mike Kieran’s chat with Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness and an introduction to upstart California rockabilly outfit The Shankers - as well as a couple of reviews on the new Filter and Soilent Green CDs. Now I plan on fucking directly off. Thank you.

Just in case downloading it for free was a little too much trouble, Nine Inch Nails will be releasing The Slip as an actual CD later this month. Here’s the release, complete with tourdates and everythang:

Nine Inch Nails’ The Slip, currently available only as a free download at NIN.com, will be issued July 22 as a limited edition physical CD/DVD through the band’s own Null Corporation label.

The CD version of The Slip will be limited to 250,000 copies worldwide, each in an individually numbered six-panel digipak that includes a bonus DVD of performances filmed during rehearsals for NIN’s upcoming Lights In The Sky tour, as well as a 24-page booklet and exclusive sticker pack.

The gatefold vinyl contains one 180-gram vinyl LP and a 24-page booklet, and is neither limited nor numbered.

The Slip is 10 new songs written and performed by Trent Reznor with Josh Freese, Robin Finck and Alessandro Cortini. Justin Meldal-Johnsen will round out this NIN lineup for the upcoming tour, dates of which are as follows:

07/25/08 - Pemberton, BC - Pemberton Festival
07/26/08 - Seattle, WA - Key Arena at Seattle Center
07/28/08 - Edmonton, ALB - Rexall Place
07/29/08 - Calgary, ALB - Pengrowth Saddledome
07/31/08 - Winnipeg, MAN - MTS Centre
08/02/08 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
08/05/08 - Toronto, ONT - Air Canada Centre
08/07/08 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
08/08/08 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center
08/12/08 - Knoxville, TN - Knoxville Civic Coliseum
08/13/08 - Duluth, GA - Gwinnett Arena
08/15/08 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center
08/16/08 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
08/18/08 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
08/20/08 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
08/22/08 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
08/23/08 - Auburn Hills, MI - Palace of Auburn Hills
08/25/08 - Toledo, OH - Seagate Convention Center
08/27/08 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
08/29/08 - Philadelphia, PA - Wachovia Center
08/31/08 - Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
09/02/08 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheater
09/03/08 - Salt Lake City, UT - The E Center of West Valley
09/05/08 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
09/06/08 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum

The new Reggie & The Full Effect record, Last Stop: Crappy Town, which was supposed to come out in 2006, will finally see the light of day on June 17th. FUCKING STOKED!!!!!!111 Here’s the press release:

April 9, 2008 – REGGIE & THE FULL EFFECT will release their long awaited fifth Vagrant full-length on June 17th, entitled, Last Stop: Crappy Town.

The 12-track disc was produced by Sean Beavan (Marilyn Manson, NIN, Slayer) and was recorded over the summer of 2006 in both New York City and Los Angeles.

James Dewees, the conservatory-trained keyboardist (for The Get Up Kids, New Found Glory and My Chemical Romance), drummer (for seminal metal act Coalesce) and protagonist behind Reggie & The Full Effect, was joined in the studio by Billy Johnson (RATFE touring drummer) and bassist Paul Grey (better known as #2 from Slipknot) and Cory White (of Coalesce) on guitar.

“Just two weeks after we started, we had this concept record about the NYC transit system. Particularly the subways in Brooklyn – with the songs connecting together like trains in the station,” says Dewees. “I also have to mention Sean Beavan has a great falsetto, his wife has a fantastic voice, and Stevie Cruz can scream his head off in an hour. So that was that. Except on this record, there was nothing remotely reminiscent of the Reggie that fans were expecting.”

Dewees goes on to say, “I think everyone can relate to the fact that sometimes being funny all the time just isn’t fun all the time. Don’t think for a sec that the goofy James is gone, just ask my wife. She is up to her ears in goofy every day of the week.”

“I’m 32 yrs old and fortunate enough to have been a part of this scene pretty much from the old days of $5 ten-band basement shows with Jimmy Eat World and Jejune. In summary, I like this record a lot because it pulls from the last 13 years of my life. I hope you enjoy it too.”

Last Stop: Crappy Town track listing:
G
Smith & 9TH
F
E
3RD AVE
L
J
V
LORIMER ST
R
36TH ST
N

So this summer, I took some time off to go on tour, which was of course an interesting experience, to say the least. Among the more compelling things to happen during this tour was a dream I had after one of the last stops on the tour at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, KS (which was, probably not coincidentally, one of the drunkest stops of the tour as well). In this dream, I somehow had figured out that consciousness was nothing more than a signal being beamed into our brains, brains that acted as nothing more than satellite receivers or perhaps more fittingly, TV sets, taking this signal and playing it out on the screen that is “reality.” Although I have had many bizarre dreams in my day, this particular dream seemed particularly epiphanic, but I didn’t really think a whole lot about it since I was A) hungover as F B) riding in a van for 10 hours to Omaha and C) not really sure exactly what I was supposed to with this new “knowledge” or who I was supposed to share it with or whatever. So I just kind of forgot about it .

UNTIL TODAY, when I read this chapter today from Your Eternal Self, the forthcoming book from R. Craig Hogan. Among the enjoyable insights provided, is this nugget provided by a Reuters interview with British physician Dr. San Parnia:

He speculated that human consciousness may work independently of the brain, using the gray matter as a mechanism to manifest the thoughts, just as a television set translates waves in the air into picture and sound.

Reading this, as well as the rest of the chapter (which I recommend if you have the time) made me remember this aforementioned dream, which I had totally forgot about until now. Though this by itself is pretty cool, there is yet another coincidental fact making it seem, IDK….SPOOKY. This coincidence is: the night that I had this dream, the show we were playing was being filmed by a camera crew for inclusion on the deluxe edition of Emery’s new CD, I’m Only a Man, which (drumroll)……….CAME OUT TODAY!!!1 I mean, I’m not saying I’m just saying. Actually what I’m really saying is, read Chapter 2 of Your Eternal Self, then go down to Best Buy and get the deluxe edition of the new Emery record. Then maybe the secrets of the Universe will be revealed to you as well. Goodnight and Good luck.