Last Saturday: David Bowie - Bring Me the Disco King

     They say that bad news comes in threes, so hopefully the music world is done losing talent for a while now. First Scott, then Lemmy, and now David; Ziggy has returned to the stardust whence he came. I'm sure by now you've all heard about the passing of David Bowie, so now it's my turn to pay a little Loud Noises tribute.

     All the usual suspects from Bowie's career have likely been trotted out ad nauseum over the last 24 hours or so (and there are a lot of great songs to revisit) so I'm going with a haunting version of a personal favourite of mine. The track in question is "Bring Me the Disco King", originally recorded in the 90s but only finally released on 2003's Reality, but I'm going to direct your attention to the Danny Lohney remix that appears on the soundtrack to the first Underworld movie.

     For one thing, David has figurative help from, among others, Maynard James Keenan on the Underworld version of "Disco King". But Bowie's tired melancholy is centre stage, especially at moments when the song is stark and stripped back. I used the word "haunting" above, and I'll use it again here, because this is a hauntingly beautiful version of a lesser-known Bowie song. Check it out, and raise a glass to the thin white duke.

Last Tuesday: Tool - Third Eye

     Remember when I said that The Black Dahlia Murder's "Hellion" would allow you to bank some precious seconds for the next time I presented you with something meaty? Yeah, so the "next time" actually came sooner than I thought.

     When I don't necessarily have a Tech Tuesday in the chamber, I dig into my alliterative bag of tricks for the next best thing. This week, luck you, that happens to be a Tool Tuesday post. Show of hands, who thinks we'll actually see a new Tool record in 2016? Anybody? While we all hold our breath for that one (or don't...) let's revisit a great track from Tool's back catalogue.

     My choice for this Tool Tuesday? Aenima closing track and close-to-fourteen-minute monster "Third Eye", mostly because of the intensity of its builds and releases, its ebbs and flows, y'knows. The drums that initially resolve out of the noise gradually pull you into the beat, and the layers stack up so seamlessly that if you're not heavily emotionally invested in this song by the time Maynard's distorted screams kick in just shy of minute four, well, you may have problems beyond what I can help you solve. This is about as epic as Tool comes, so bask (or languish) in the knowledge that this one likely won't be topped.

Monday: Watercolor Ghosts - Despondent

     Longtime readers will likely by now have picked up on the fact that I'm Canadian, and if I haven't here before I will now go on the record as saying I'm both very proud and very lucky to live in this wonderful country of ours. But based on my musical tastes over the last couple of years, perhaps I should have been born an Aussie instead?

     A week doesn't seem to go by anymore where I'm not hearing about some great band from down under, or passing that information along to you. Today is no different, so why don't you go ahead and meet Watercolor Ghosts, a five-piece from Perth that's a little more proggy and post-rocky/metaly than what might usually appear here for a Metal Monday. Don't get too down, though: tracks like "Despondent" from Watercolor Ghosts' recently released self-titled LP have a decent amount of heavy to go around. It doesn't hurt that vocalist Drew James Griffiths gives me some major Tool/Maynard James Keenan vibes (coincidental same middle name? maybe not...) and even better, he doesn't just sound like he's doing an MJK impression (believe me, I've heard/seen enough local bands with MJK-wannabe singers...) Check out Watercolor Ghosts and see what you think.

Monday: Puscifer - Grand Canyon

     Time for some New Music Monday, and it comes with some classic sitcom-style good news and bad news. The good news is that I'm pointing you in the direction of some new music from one Mr. Maynard James Keenan, and that is always a welcome thing to be able to say. The bad news is that this new music doesn't come from either Tool or A Perfect Circle.

     By the process of elimination, that means that we're talking about some new Puscifer stuff, in the form of a new album Money Shot due out in the fall, and a new song "Grand Canyon" that's out right now! And yes, it's not Tool or A Perfect Circle, but it's got that little bit of weirdness and that lotta bit of vocal layering and suchlike that is Puscifer's stock in trade. It might not be the MJK you've been wishing for, but maybe call it a consolation prize? Either way I call it fun.

Song of the Day: A Perfect Circle - The Hollow

     The only thing Maynard James Keenan has put out recently besides wine is a bizarre video to accompany his 'meh' cover of Queen's epic "Bohemian Rhapsody", so perhaps it's time we take a moment to remember some of the many cooler things MJK has been involved with.

Song of the Day: Deftones - Passenger

     Spring is actually starting to really get springing here, which means it's finally getting warm enough to drive around town cranking metal with the windows down. In fact, the window next to me as I type this (not in a car, smartass) is open and where even a few days ago it would have registered at "chilly" it's now only "brisk". Summer is just around the corner, so it's driving tune time!

Song of the Day: Puscifer - REV 22:20

     I've decided to complete the Maynard James Keenan trifecta today, even if the third part of this trinity is the least metal of the three. Unlike Tool and A Perfect Circle, Puscifer is Keenan's solo project, in which he can explore whatever musical experimentation strikes his fancy. Such musical experimentation is considerably more electronic and more pop-y than either of his other gigs, but still worth checking out as yet another showcase for his powerful voice.

Song of the Day: Tool - 46 & 2

     I had a deeply unsettling thought after posting yesterday's Song of the Day. As I said, I pretty much assume that you all know who I was talking about yesterday - A Perfect Circle aren't exactly new or underground. But then I pictured the one metal fan out there in the world who (hypothetically) read yesterday's post and reacted with a hearty "who the fuck is Maynard James Keenan?"  Today's song is for that one poor bastard.

Song of the Day: A Perfect Circle - Judith

     I bet you've heard of today's band, but if perhaps you've been living under a rock or on a different planet for the last ten to fifteen years, you might not know that Maynard James Keenan has more gigs than just Tool. Sure, Tool's awesome and easily Keenan's best stuff, but that doesn't mean that everything he touches isn't rock solid, because it is. Even Puscifer. But the Maynard James Keenan side-project* I like best is definitely A Perfect Circle.

Song of the Day: Finch - Worms of the Earth

     Today's band has been rolling around in my head as an idea for Song of the Day for a while now, but I could never think of the right song to showcase them to those of you who might not know them. Today, however, it came to me.