We're supergay for Call of Duty 4 on PS3, on account of its realism, intensity, and all the towelheads running around yelling "derka-derka-derka!" as we pump them full of ammo. As such, you'll be able to find us on the Activision servers all this weekend kicking infidel, towel-head and Russian ass for Double XP. As if the game isn't addicting enough, ranking up and beating challenges will be half as hard this weekend, because Activision promises double the amount of experience points for playing online this weekend. Oh man, our girlfriends are going to be pissed at us. Cross swords with me online under the ps3 name "d2d"; cus that's how I kick it — dick-to-dick. —David Downs
(Tori, tori, tori | Photos By Ariel Soto)
Ok, we are officially in the Holiday Spirit. We've found our drinking rhythm and today we're not nearly as hungover as at the Pre-Party. We even went so far as to tip the Bayshore tree lot guy $10 on a $40 tree, because we were high. On spirit.
Now this fat, squat, Noble fir motherfucker is upright in our living room, glowing with the light of 1,000 LEDs. We're loving that smell of desiccating coniferous evergreen and we imagine all the surviving Christmas trees respond in kind — hanging humans out to dry in the deep forest, enjoying the fragrance of our essential oils and volatile organic compounds as we rot and decompose.
See, that pine smell is basically like b.o., but for a tree. And we wholeheartedly support the pit-stank of nature. This is your Monday Morning Hangover, I'm your CSI, David Downs.
We start with the quick A/V hit:
'Dorks Launch Flight of the 23-foot, $7,000 model X-Wing' (Good shit at minute 2)
You say the vid is old? From November 27? Ehh, fuck it, it's news to us. Stop hanging around YouTube so much. And now the Audio from L.A's acoustic/death metal/folk star Nate Denver. Stream that shit. He's going to be a star.
Now, WTF happened this weekend? Once again, we were everywhere and nowhere, like Jesus himself. We simultaneously ranked up 20 times on Call of Duty 4, while going to all this stuff. Since we're omniscient, bitches, we caught:
--Tori Amos bringing the American Doll Posse to the Paramount. Love America's weird girls. Photog Ariel Soto put in work.
Sole's got a new album with the Skyrider Band, and since you love all things anticon, we've got the brand new video for you right here. Peep this trippy clip for "Stupid Things Implode On Themselves," which depicts an apocalyptic future kinda like Road Warrior. Then make plans to see Sole and the Skyrider Band March 6 at Bottom of the Hill. -- Oscar Pascual
Angels & Airwaves
I-Empire
(Suretone/Geffen)
Tom DeLonge's head has been lost in the stars ever since Blink-182 split. The dude used to make videos where he and his bandmates jogged naked through crowded streets. They recorded pun-happy albums like Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. These days, he writes and sings stuff like "There's a little red bridge with a view of the sun with a lake" over riffs that sound like something U2 threw away years ago. On I-Empire, DeLonge steers his new group, Angels & Airwaves, through a set of prog-pop songs that regularly send the pretension meter into the red. Yet he's never sounded more hopeful.
Angels & Airwaves, which bowed last year with the equally bombastic We Don't Need to Whisper, contains all the characteristics of a Grown-Up Project: Songs tip the five-minute mark and have titles like "Star of Bethlehem" and "Rite of Spring," while the whole thing culminates in a sprawling epic called "Heaven."
But even if DeLonge can't stay grounded (just look at the band's moniker), he keeps I-Empire tethered to a love-and-rockets concept that's as naïve as it is ambitious. "Let me feel you/Carry you higher," he sings in "Secret Crowds" over a pulsating track that's as celestial as his goals. That line pretty much sums up Angels & Airwaves: Despite the occasional airheaded sentiments, the music is out of this world. -- Michael Gallucci
(Grammy nominee CéU)
Congrats to local world-spanning label Six Degrees for picking up three Grammy nominations in 2007. New CDs by CéU, Bebel Gilberto, and Spanish Harlem Orchestra were recognized by the Recording Academy, which announced its Grammy nominations this week. The winners will be announced at the 50th annual Grammy bash on Feb. 10. Full press release from Six Degrees to follow. -- Jennifer Maerz
By Will Harper
I’ve been a Tegan & Sara fan for a while, but I’d never been to one of their shows. So I was curious to see what kind of crowd they’d attract at Berkeley’s Zellerbach Auditorium last night, and how I’d fit in (or not). I suspected that straight, 38-year-old recovering hesher dudes were not in the lesbian identical twins’ target demographic. My suspicions were quickly confirmed once I got to Zellerbach. No, there would be no lines to get into the men’s bathroom at this show, I could see. Yes, it was pretty lesbionic, which I expected.
Santarchy Tori Amos at Paramount tonight Bizarre Bazaar this weekend Andrew Bird this weekend Prefuse 73 this weekend and Tool next weekPlus we're running a lewd X-Mas Gift Guide Wednesday called the "12 Dildos of Christmas". So you got that going for you, which is nice. And lastly, we raise a middle finger to all the commenters worldwide that made our Kings of Commenting so entertaining. I wish all the fiber-optic line in SF was emo, so it could cut itself. Then we'd be done with this shit once and for all. Ciao, David Downs Your Friday morning pre-party kicks off every Friday morning around 8 a.m. (unless we're vomiting that early). Send us your pics, videos, mp3s, events, and links if you want to be part of the party. If not, that's your bad.) "Communist Party" Photo Courtesy of Threadless
Dudes over at santarchy.com have been putting together some crazy-ass Santa Claus mayhem since its inception in SF in 1994. To get a taste of what I'm talking about you can watch it here. Everything from Santa's lynching other Santa's, Santa's getting wasted together, and Santa's trying to get laid; this year will be sure to be another fun filled event for all.
--Oscar Medina
