Ray Manzarek Dead At 74

copyright ???

This was just posted at The Doors official page on Facebook:

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away today at 12:31PM PT at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany after a lengthy battle with bile duct cancer. He was 74. At the time of his passing, he was surrounded by his wife Dorothy Manzarek, and his brothers Rick and James Manczarek.

Ray founded The Doors with Jim Morrison in 1965. The band recorded six albums with Morrison including the final LA Woman in 1971. Read more at Noise11.com and TMZ.com.

Buzz Buzz

Oh boy! Guys, I’m sorry for being such a buzzkill, but as this is becoming quite viral abroad it’s time to set the record straight: No, no Swedish man has perished after trying to perform intercourse with a hornet nest. I’ve seen it starting to spread like wildfire on Facebook and now even high-profile magazines like The International Business Times and Metro UK are running with the story – a quite surreal experience as the original article about this “incident” was published on a Swedish equivalent of The Onion and The Daily Mash in September 2012 (Swedish language), and a quite amateurish one at that to be honest.

Now, I can only answer for myself of course and sure don’t know what other guys do to get their kicks – and I consider myself being quite liberal and would never judge how anyone gets their jollies as long as they keep it within the boundaries of the law – but I am pretty damn confident no one at least felt that – ahem – “sting of love” if you know what I mean.

Well I’m a king bee
Buzzing around your hive…

The World’s Smallest Movie

Well, here’s something that’ll please both my love for naïve library music as well as interest in quantum physics: IBM Research‘s minute-long animation A Boy and His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie - made by moving actual atoms frame by frame! Yes, in order to generate interest for their research they used the technology already at hand in order to create an animation using single atoms – with pretty decent results. It’s nowhere near say Ralph Bakshi‘s 1978 The Lord of the Rings, but nice nonetheless.

For more info about how this was conceived make sure to check out the video Moving Atoms: Making the World’s Smallest Movie on YouTube here, and there’s an article available at ABC News to read up on as well.

While on the subject: If you liked the music used in the animation as much as I did, how about giving Vic Mars a spin? I was hepped to this UK musician via Project Moonbase and after a couple of listens at his Bandcamp I’m hooked on his future-retro vibe. Visit him on Facebook here.

And let’s hope the kid doesn’t try to split it…

Jeff Hanneman Dead at 49

copyright Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images

Well, here’s certainly a bit of unexpected news as I go online after waking up: Founding member and guitarist Jeff Hanneman of Slayer passed away yesterday afternoon of liver failure at the age of 49. He contracted necrotizing fasciitis in his arm after what doctors (and rumors) believe was a spider bite and even though he almost lost his arm, and was briefly placed in a medically-induced coma, from my understanding he was getting physically better and had been working on his rehabilitation – including playing guitar.

The door had been left open for his return to Slayer upon recovery – with Gary Holt of Exodus (temporarily?) filling in guitar duties in his absence. The band released a statement on their official Facebook roughly five hours ago:

Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed.

Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 – 2013)

Read more at Billboard.com and Rolling Stone.

 

Mr. Someone

copyright Jamie Coghill 2013!

Check it out: Aussie musician Jamie Coghill aka The Jimmy C just released the first of this year’s coming two EPs! Titled Mr. Someone it features the single version of the title track with seven bonus songs – all in the more or less the same vein as his recently-released Orbital Debris album.

Like I already wrote, the vibe of his new album differs from the great Glamour & Fame album and delivers some tunage that reminds me of The Kinks‘ circa Face to Face period. This release offers some nice jangly pop with darker edges plus the occasional quirky track. Check it out and visit him on Facebook too!

Phone Us!

Okay, I need an iPhone now goddammit! Get the Necronomicon Ex Mortis iPhone Case via Zazzle.com that offers a wide variety on this iconic pop-culture artifact.

UPDATE: Sorry, but I was way off on this one. The specific design seen on the photo was created by one Phil ‘Fel’ Young! No official website as far as I know, but you’ll find the guy on Facebook. Maybe he accepts orders? Zazzle still got some pretty nifty designs available, but if you’re looking for that one you’re better off trying Facebook. My bad.

UPDATE 2: Thanks to Joe Banks who hepped me to the official Facebook page where you can order your copy of this awesome iPhone case. The link is www.facebook.com/EvilDeadIphoneCase  so go check it out! Cheers, Joe!

The Norliss Tapes’ Big Break!

We’ll hook you in and then jack up the prices!

Hello Cleveland! We have arrived! Well, at least The Norliss Tapes had their first attempt of getting their site on Bandcamp hacked – so I’m guessing we have a really big fan out there that just needs to get his or her (although I’m guessing him) mitts on our stuff. I know, I know, I think we’re onto something pretty damn unique with this outfit too, and even though it still appears to be “too weird” for some I’ve noticed that we do grow on you. It just takes time.

Now, I haven’t run this by Staffan – Segel that is, the other half of said band -  but I think he’s cool with me giving our unnamed fan the following offer: If you are that desperate for some Norliss tunage please do get in touch with us and we’ll work something out for you. How ‘about writing us a blurb on our Facebook?

Dropkick Murphys Raise Money for Boston Bombing Victims

A great band just became even greater as Boston punk unit The Dropkick Murphys announced via their official Twitter that they’ve so far raised $65,000 for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings  selling a freshly designed t-shirt for the cause on their website. The front is the Boston skyline below “For Boston” and the back reads ”Thank you, to all who purchased this shirt. All proceeds go to the victims and families of the Boston Marathon bombings. Love, Dropkick Murphys.”

Pre-orders are accepted and they ship not only within the US, but also to Europe and Australia. All proceeds are going to the families – the band isn’t keeping one cent. Order yours here.

UPDATE: The band announced via their official page on Facebook that they/their fans in fact have raised more than $100,000 within the first 24 hours. It was also quite moving reading that the Richard Family from Dorchester actually have ties to the band.

Respect!

Duck Radio II

copyright Project Moonbase 2013!

Here we go: The Sounds Anonymous show from the guys at Project Moonbase is now available to stream via their official website. Tons of cool stuff – a lot being sent in from their listeners! – and like I wrote yesterday it marks the debut of Call Me Greenhorn‘s Squawky!, so check it out here and how about visiting them on Facebook too?

Out Soon!

copyright The Jimmy C 2013!

Check it out: Australian musician The Jimmy C just announced the new batch of coming releases on his official Facebook page. First out of the gate is the Mr. Someone single with six bonus tracks and the The Man Who Never Dies EP that features the three remixes I did for him plus four bonus tracks. Tons of goodies! Stay tuned for more info, and in the mean time check out the kick-ass advert he did:

copyright The Jimmy C 2013!