Are you going to any festivals this summer? Our sister site Last.fm will be covering Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, All Points West, Bumbershoot, BamaJam, Rothbury, and BamaJam. To get involved, sign in on each featival's event page and stay tuned for live blogs, tweets, photo galleries, interviews and more. Follow us on Twitter: LastSummerFest

http://www.last.fm/us/summerfestivals

by Anita Abedian

Skinny Puppy, Ministry and Cabaret Voltaire! Darkness, morbidity, black eyeliner and Baudelaire! My infallible love of all things industrial and/or gothic move me to urge anyone that enjoys a bit of cryptic textural conflict in their music to pick up Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails and the Industrial Uprising.

With over two hours of footage (including in-depth interviews and seldom seen live performances) the documentary provides extensive coverage of the industrial music movement from Europe to North America, profiling seminal groups such as Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode and Ministry--groups that had profound impact on Trent Reznor back when he was playing keyboards in a synth-pop band in Ohio to becoming one of the most vital artists in music with Nine Inch Nails.

And even though the documentary aims to trace the story of industrial rock with NIN as the focal point, it appeals beyond the confines of genre and subculture, so fans of any music that pushes the boundaries of art and performace should get in on this as well.

Clickhere to buy the DVD.

by Anita Abedian

Put down your can of Bud and pull on your leather chaps, fellow feather-haired followers of Priest! It's time to get thrashed as the "Masters of Metal" unite for a raw, terror-fueled rock extravaganza known as Priest Feast!

Metal history is sure to be made as Judas Priest, Megadeth and Testament--three legendary veterans of the genre--join forces to annihilate major arenas with pure, unadulterated metal. Any fan of big hair, pyro and screaming guitar solos must attend...and if you harbor any doubts about the madness, mayhem and devil worship this tour will bring, well, you've got another thing coming! The tour kicks off in February with a seven-concert UK run. Now go forth and headbang your heart out!

Here are some upcoming dates:

Feb. 10 - Dublin, Ireland - TheO2

Feb. 11 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - The Odyssey Arena

Feb. 13 - Sheffield, UK - Sheffield Arena

Feb. 14 - Birmingham, UK - NEC

Feb. 16 - Glasgow, UK - SECC Hall 4

Feb. 17 - Manchester, UK - Manchester Arena

Feb. 18 - Nottingham, UK - Nottingham Arena

Feb. 20 - Cardiff, UK - Cardiff Arena

Feb. 21 - London, UK - Wembley Arena

by Anita Abedian

Move over, Charlie Brown--Stephen Colbert is coming to town! There's a new holiday special on the scene, and America's favorite faux political pundit is running the star-studded show, complete with an accompanying soundtrack. A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All features a mixture of musical guests who visit Colbert with comical holiday cheer and cheesy tunes as he is trapped in the confines of a cabin due to a godless killing machine (otherwise known as a bear) lurking in the snowy woods outside. But that doesn't stop country crooner Toby Keith from paying a visit to sing about Uncle Sam and Santa Claus in "Have I Got A Present For You," while Willie Nelson makes an appearance--and a marijuana gift offering to baby Jesus' bedside--in "The Little Dealer Boy." Just in time for when radio stations switch to the crappy all-Christmas, all-the-time format, this hilarious soundtrack offers it's own side-splitting seasonal hits with guests ranging from John Legend to Jon Stewart spreading the spirit of the holidays. Leave it to Colbert to top The Village People: Can't Stop the Christmas Music--On Ice! with his very own holiday musical extravaganza. Already causing quite a stir this holiday season, A Colbert Christmas is ingenious--and also generous, given that a portion of the proceeds are also donated to Feeding America .

Have a listen

Imagine if George Bush got dumped and then weeks later started hooking up with Naomi Judd (she's the daughter, not the mom, right?). It would be crazy, but no less crazy than the current relationship between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and beguiling ex-model-turned-singer Carla Bruni. I mean, she used to hook up with Mick Jagger for crissakes. How does he get away with it, the lucky son of a gun?

Anyhoo, Bruni has new a album on the horizon, some of which is already available for streaming on her Web site (however, you must register first). The British press has been less than kind, with the Independent calling her performance "simpering and weedy" and the Guardian pointing out that she "doesn't exactly sound what you might call presidential."

After listening to a few tracks, it doesn't sway me one way or the other. Her voice is breathy and pseudo-seductive like so many other French chanteuses and the arrangements are tasteful and complementary. The real reason for listening (if you understand French, I suppose) is the steamy lyrics: "You are my lord, you are my darling, you are my orgy... my charming prince I am yours... I, who always sought fire, am burning for you like a pagan woman." Sacre Bleu!

Remember that Subaru commercial back in the early-'90s starring the guy from Spanking the Monkey (do NOT watch this movie with your mother), where he describes the car as being punk? Well here's another fine example of punk rock/corporate synergy, except this time it's a shoe. With its sloppily written slogan on the insole that reads "Punk rock means freedom," this signature Converse One Star is the ultimate accessory for all your extreme subculture activities, such as hanging at the mall or blogging about Fall Out Boy.

(via Best Week Ever, via Daily Swarm)

It's official: the only remaining rock stars who haven't sold out in any way are Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.

Keith Richards was never one to have his ethics or opinions scruntinized (the guy can literally do or say whatever the hell he wants), so I guess he gets a pass for participating in Louis Vuitton's "core values" campaign. Go Keith!

(via Radar Online)

How the hell was this added to YouTube almost a year ago and up until now it's only received a measly 100,000 hits? It makes no sense -- this guy got the same amount of hits in the same amount of time, and he is definitely no Lionel Richie. I would expect zillions for something this German, dumb and YouTube-y. C'mon, people! let's make this the viral video it deserves to be for crissakes. Your coworkers and family members need to see this.

At the risk of implying an actual political point of view, I would like to clarify that the posting of this video is strictly for the purpose of ridiculing its contributors. Does Will.i.am realize that just showing up and repeating Obama's speech on top of him to the point where we can't really hear it is not helping? And I just picture the dude from "October Road" thinking, "Hey man, I can play a little guitar and I want to help usher in a new era of change." Again, not helping. It is like an endless succession of A, B, and C-listers laying on the earnest self-righteousness as thick as Anne Coulter is crazy. The deaf girl from "Weeds"? Oh yeah, she's there. Danny Glover playing piano? Yup, him too. Scarlett Johansson in her ongoing quest to stop me from liking her? You get the picture. Obama deserves better that this. Huckabee, too.

Good news, lovers of awesomeness. Rihanna will be performing at the 50th Grammy Awards(R) this February 10 with the mutherf*ckin' Time, making this generally worthless event an historic one on par with the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. It's hard to fathom how great this will be. Rihanna + Morris Day and the Time--it's almost too good to be true. Oh yeah, Michael Jackson is rumored to appear to hawk his totally unnecessary Thriller anniversary disc.

The Time in their prime.

Forget Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel has surpassed her as the indie-geek fantasy-girl du jour and rightfully so. She's beautiful in an unassuming, approachable way and she can actually sing as evidenced by the movie Elf and this YouTube clip with M Ward. Speaking of M Ward, the two of them evidently recorded an album under the decidedly lame moniker She and Him and are releasing it in March.

Check out a KCRW interview with Zooey here. (via Pitchfork, via the Playlist)

It's not quite as news worthy as Britney's latest meltdown, but for anyone who digs profound lyrics and kickass country rock, listen up: Silver Jews have a new record on the way and the album art is both ridiculously fantastic and fantastically ridiculous. Babar the elephant(s), a raging sea, a ray of light through ominous clouds--it needs nothing else. No official release date yet, however, the album is titled Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea and will contain the songs "Party Barge" and "Candy Jail." Say What!

(via Best Week Ever via Gawker)

Screw Michael Anthony and his bourgeois hot sauce, give me some Minor Threat!

Surprisingly the staunch anti-merchandiser Ian Mckaye gave Wheelhouse Pickles (the makers of the sauce) his blessing to use his legendary band's name, simply because the company "makes good pickles." What a guy.

Buy some here.

(via epicurious)

MC/producer-extraordinare David Banner is equal parts crazy, hilarious, and intelligent. Our own hip-hop resident expert Brolin Winning let Banner run wild in this MP3.com interview. Below are some excerpts; click here for the full story.

Brolin: Now, I want to talk about, you know--.

Banner: B, can I ask you a quick question?

Yeah, absolutely.

Do you curse?

Do I curse? Yeah.

Say s***.

S***.

Okay, I was just making sure.

I want to talk about sort of the state of hip-hop right now, and the state of the industry and what not…

B.

Yeah.

Do you like large breasts?

Do I? Yeah, no doubt.

I do too. I was just thinking about it.

Rarely does a band suck so hard and so deeply that there are no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Nickelback is one such band. Misogynistic, weirdly macho, and overwrought in so many ways, this band of Canadian knuckle-draggers mines least-common-denominator musical territory to the extreme. They are to rock music what the Ying Yang Twins are to hip-hop; and Toby Keith is to country; and Nora Jones is to Jazz. Hey, wait a sec...

So it was with great pleasure to have stumbled upon this video of Nickelback being pelted with rocks at a 2002 concert in Portugal (apparently it was a death metal festival. ha!). The singer, pissed off, asks the crowd after stopping midsong, "Have we got any Nickelback fans in Portugal?" and the sound of thousands of people screaming "no" is the sweetest justice.

It kind of looks like him, but the eyes are all wrong. And for $499 this doll should actually rap or do something cool, but by the looks of it, it just stands there looking vaguely menacing. Anyway, take a look at the picture, register in your brain that this thing exists, and let's all move on with our lives.

For those high and rich enough to want one of these, you can buy it here.

Not really, but by the looks of things over at the awesome music blog Brooklyn Vegan, many of you were. Check out all the photos of wann-amees here.

I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want: a new Spice Girls video! jk, jk. But here it is nonetheless. I propose a motion to make Ginger the new Sporty Spice, cuz she is sporting a helluva sixpack. Posh: trying too hard as usual. Baby: looking sweet. Turn it down and enjoy the visuals.

Now that ear-raping god-rockers Creed are completely off the pop-culture map, it's time to make room for a new and far superior Creed, Creed Bratton that is. Most know him from the Office, where he plays an 82-year-old ex-hobo, also named Creed, who gets away with murder (figuratively) through his stealth maneuverings. But did you know this guy also played guitar in '60s hit-makers the Grass Roots? Does anyone else find this be the most awesome nugget of pop-culture trivia ever? Creed has always been my favorite character on the Office, now he's officially the coolest person alive.

Thanks to Best Week Ever blog for bringing this to our attention. Peep Creed in the striped sweater and the Grass Roots in action below.