Music
Black Cobra, Feather And Stone
Releases Oct. 30
Don’t let the fact that there arejust two of them fool you: These uncompromising San Francisco metalheads stirup quite a ruckus using just a low-tuned guitar, drums, and tortured,gut-wrenching vocals. Fans of metal’s doom/sludge subgenre will gobble up thisrelease, which contains all the tracks from a previous Japan-only split withJapanese doom metal gods EternalElysium, plus one additional track and enhanced CD footage from the band’s appearance atRoadburn 2007. Anger, paranoia, and brutality are the name of the game here,and unlike MTV’s metal torchbearers, Black Cobra does it withoutfeeling like the need a catchy hook — or any kind of melody at all, for thatmatter. Catch them on the road this November and December withAustin’s fabulous stoner/doom outfit the Sword.
Movies
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Opens Nov. 2 in limited release
This doc about the late Clash frontman earned raves this year at Sundance. Punk chronicler Julien Temple (whose three Sex Pistols movies include The Filth and the Fury) had been filming Strummer since 1976, a year before the band broke worldwide with its self-titled debut album. Tracing the firebrand singer/guitarist’s life before, during, and after the Clash, Temple also gathers testimonials from suspects both usual (Bono) and unusual (Johnny Depp, John Cusack, Steve Buscemi), but the heart is the footage of the outspoken, self-deprecating Strummer, displaying the emotional directness he was famous for. Watch the trailer below.
Nostalgia
Jim Henson Fraggle Rockin’Collection
Releases Oct. 30
Hard to say what audience the makers of this boxed-set compilationof all three Fraggle Rockmusic CDs had in mind. Young kids who enjoy this kind of bouncy, sing-songyrepetition don’t care about Fraggles, or any non-animated puppet for thatmatter. Meanwhile, reminiscing adults who will smile and feel warm and fuzzy atthe opening refrain of "Dance your cares away!" will presumably tire by the timethey hit the less-known "Pukka, Pukka, PukkaSqueetily Boink" on the third disc. Maybe there’s a group of subterraneanFraggle superfans living together in a commune alongside pudgy green slaveswho are waiting with bated breath for a guy they’ve dubbed Uncle Traveling Matt to avoid capture by hairy,oafish farmers and return to their lair with this collection. But really, howmany people could that be?
Secular Holidays
National Knock Knock Joke Day
Oct. 31
Delight your friends during the Halloween celebrations bybarraging them with classic knock knock jokes onthis overlooked holiday. Here’s a classic to get you started:
KnockKnock.
Who’sthere?
Venice.
Venice who?
Venice your mother coming home?
Agood day to be thankful that we don’t live in an age when that was consideredfunny.
Here’s another under the radar album:
Kim Richey’s ‘Chinese Boxes’. It’s rooted in Country, but you can definitely hear the influence the Nashville singer’s second home (London) has had on her music. It’s brilliant from beginning to end.
Oh, that Joe Strummer trailer got me all choked up. Still can’t believe he’s gone. Can’t wait to see that movie.
Oh that movie about Joe Strummer looks great! But John Cusack shouldn’t be listed as an unusual testimony-giver to the awesomeness that was The Clash (and Joe Strummer). I thought it was well known that in most of his early movies anyways he always had a Clash song or wore a T-Shirt of the Clash, and Joe Strummer helped write most if not all the music for Grosse Pointe Blank. I’m nerdy maybe but just wanted to point that all out.
How come no one at EW has reviewed Underworld’s excellent new album “Oblivion with Bells?” It contains, ‘Beautiful Burnout,’ one of the best\, most epic electronic songs to emerge in years and the album as a whole is as dynamic and experimental as the new Raidohead album for sure and Underworld use the internet in radical ways much like that other press heavy band.
How come no one at EW has reviewed Underworld’s excellent new album “Oblivion with Bells?” It contains, ‘Beautiful Burnout,’ one of the best\, most epic electronic songs to emerge in years and the album as a whole is as dynamic and experimental as the new Raidohead album for sure and Underworld use the internet in radical ways much like that other press heavy band.
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