The Crack Team » industrial

FLA@NYC

zbalance — Sun, 06 May 2007 17:11:46 +0000

I saw Front Line Assembly for the first time at BB Kings, May 3rd.
Acumen Nation and The Start, opened.
FLA’s playlist was fantastic since they were set up like a band (drums/guitars riffs) which is my favorate style for them. There’s nothing worse than watching an industrial one-man-band sit in front of a laptop while hopping and down trying to get the crowd into it.
Bill Leeb was in a sarcastic mood. He apolagized for the tour-bus-incident last time he tried to come to NY. The smoke machine ran out of fluid, so he suggested we all fart to keep the mist alive. He also voiced his aggrevation at the lack of any PA system so he couldn’t tell how they sounded, but it wasn’t that bad.
Although I didn’t recognize the other band members, I overheard someone point to Chris Peterson and someone else said Rhys Fulber wasn’t there. I can’t confirm any of this.
After performing, they came back for an oncore including Mindphaser that was phenomenal.
After the show we ate at Lucille’s restaurant, located in the same building. When we were done, we went outside to get a cab and found Bill Leeb (my idol) was just hanging out on the curb while they were loading the tour bus. He was practically alone! It figures I went through two batteries on my camera to get 1.5 gig of pictures and videos. (requests?). Even my cell phone was dead after searching for a signal in the underground club for 4 hours.
So I ended up just gawking at him like a teenager, think of nothing better to say than “duh…, I like music!” as he finished up outside and hopped on the bus.

Next time I will be better prepared.

Mindless Self Indulgence

archangel — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 10:04:06 +0000

Upon first hearing Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI), I immediately wanted to learn more about them. And when I had done so, I knew I had somehow failed. How could music this good have eluded me for 7 years? I realized it was time to stop telling people I was into industrial music, since clearly I couldn’t be without hearing of these guys.

They’re super-catchy industrial/electro/DJ/hip-hop brilliance. The lyrics are out there, kinda self-deprecating, ironic, tongue-in-cheek rambling. But I really dig the energetic vocals of frontman Little Jimmy Urine. Uh, yeah, that’s his stage name, only to be topped by other band member “Steve, Righ?” (sic). My only criticism is that they can be a bit repetitive, as there’s not a ton of variation between songs. Well, they’ve got their style and they’re sticking to it. And there’s plenty of remixes to go around, from some of the coolest industrial bands (Front 242, KMFDM, FLA, and many others).

They’re compared to… well, who cares? Thanks to the wonderous glory of YouTube, I shall regale you with hand picked videos, allowing you to judge for yourself. I’ve moved them to the “more” section, partly because they’re not safe for work (well, maybe if you have headphones), but mostly to make the page load faster (and not have your workplace think you’re visiting YouTube).

BTW, they’re touring on the east coast, including Asbury Park and Philly.

(more…)

Curing Bricks

zbalance — Tue, 23 May 2006 21:32:15 +0000

My latest work “Curing Bricks” is up on http://www.myspace.com/zerobalance.
It’s a very diverse industrial tune.
Didn’t cry this time though…
Not as good?

Upcoming Concerts

archangel — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 07:02:30 +0000

This is as much a reminder to myself as it is an invite to those interested. Here are some concerts I’m planning to attend:

House of Blues Anaheim
I like this one because parking’s a cinch, as it’s in Downtown Disney. This also makes it a somewhat ironic venue.

9-22 Ministry with My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and Hanzel Und Gretyl
11-15 KMFDM - 20th Anniversary Tour with support DJ? Acucrack

Avalon
Never been there, used to be Hollywood Palace. Found this post on their forum about parking, should make it easier/cheaper. And weekday events should help, too.

10-12 Badly Drawn Boy

I’ll also be at Avalon for The Pixies, but that’s sold out. And I would have mentioned The Beastie Boys at Universal Amphitheatre, but all that’s left are extreme-stage-left nosebleed seats.