Morbid Angel – 14 Nov. 1989 – Nottingham Rock City, UK

To my ears, Morbid Angel's 1989 release Altars of Madness still sounds just as vital and entrail crunchingly powerful now as it did on first listen. Epitomized by lead guitar player Trey Azagthoth's other dimensional fret work, the technical ability displayed by all involved is surgical steel sharp and unrelenting - as is the resulting explosive audio output.


The footage in the following clips present Morbid Angel in a late 1989 UK gig supporting and highlighting selections exclusively from Altars of Madness. Saw the band several months later on their US tour to support Altars... when they played The Channel in Boston. Just as in the clips below, they put on an incredible performance that remains one of my favorite Channel shows. Dig the extreme metal...

Morbid Angel Live part I
01. Immortal Rites
02. Suffocation
03. Visions from the Darkside
04. Maze of Torment

Morbid Angel Live part II
05. Chapel of Ghouls
06. Guitar solo
07. Bleed For The Devil
08. Damnation

Morbid Angel Live part III
09. Blasphemy
10. Lord Of All Fevers and Plague
11. Evil Spells

Robert Smigel - TV Funhouse

Known as a comedy writer for television and films, as well as for his canine alter ego (Triumph - the Insult Comic Dog) Robert Smigel also created some rather funny cartoon shorts first for Saturday Night Live's TV Funhouse segments and then he continued the cartoon chicanery by incorporating real animals, actors and puppets along with the animation on the criminally short lived series of the same name on Comedy Central.

The Big Shave (1967) – early Martin Scorsese short

Martin Scorsese created this short film as a final project while at N.Y.U. in 1967. At an early place in his film making career, some very specific styles and themes are playing out on screen; such as multiple angle and repeated shots of action, pairing music that often seems incongruently linked to the scene unfolding or the unexpected outbursts of searing violence, which are recognizable in later Scorsese films.

Often interpreted as a gory indictment of the United States involvement in the war in Viet Nam, this film also arrived chronologically at a time when Hollywood had just opened the floodgates of bloody visual carnage in films such as Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and further evidenced a few years later in Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (1969). If you're a fan of Martin Scorsese's films, The Big Shave provides some illumination into his early creative machinations and methods.

Marilyn Chambers (1952 - 2009)

Mogwai - Philadelphia - 19 September 2008

Below is a sampling of 3 songs performed by the Scottish band Mogwai on 19 September 2008 at the Starlight Ballroom in Philadelphia. Touring now in support of their 2008 release The Hawk Is Howling, they make an appearance here in Boston on May 1 and while I have not scored tickets to the show, I'm still mulling over checking them out.


Mogwai - "Hunted By A Freak" (Starlight Ballroom 9/19/08)



Mogwai - "Summer" (Starlight Ballroom 9/19/08)



Mogwai - "Scotland's Shame" (Starlight Ballroom, Philadelphia 9/19/08)

Metallica – Detroit – 4 April 1986

Recently reconnected with a high school buddy via Facebook and last week we were talking about Metallica. Have to go with Ride the Lightning as my favorite of their releases. Perhaps because right when I first got into Metallica that was their newest. Still view this record as perhaps an ideal combination of influences from the old school and new vanguards of heavy music; such as NWOBHM acts like Angelwitch or American hardcore heroes the Misfits.

Easily my second favorite Metallica record is Master of Puppets and the footage below comes from when that tour opening for Ozzy played Detroit on 4 April 1986. Thanks to KingSonal for posting these on YouTube.


Ride The Lightning


Damage Inc.


Am I Evil


Creeping Death


Seek And Destroy


Sanitarium


show stoppage – over zealous crowd


For Whom The Bell Tolls


Master Of Puppets – video doesn't come in for 3 minutes