Lincoln Eddy, Author at ALARM

Brother Ali stands with struggling homeowners in “Work Everyday” video

Brother Ali: Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color (Rhymesayers, 9/18/12)

Hip-hop artist/activist Brother Ali has worked with Occupy Homes Minnesota to try and stop foreclosures in the state, at one point even taken into custody for civil disobedience. Now the movement has debuted a video for his track “Work Everyday,” a heartfelt solidarity anthem for those on the street dealing with the consequences of the financial collapse. Featuring cameos by P.O.S, Jackson Browne, Tom Morello, and more, the video is a real-life montage of those on the domestic frontlines.

Race, identity, and gender roles in The Zolas’ video for “Escape Artist”

The Zolas: Ancient Mars (Light Organ, 10/2/12)

Sometimes we keep parts of ourselves hidden.

That’s the idea that Canada’s The Zolas is dealing with in its new video for “Escape Artist.” A group of teens meet up to hang out, with piano and Zachary Gray’s vocals a haunting narration to their afternoon and to the idea of other selves. See the video below and read Gray’s explanation over at NPR.

Pack your pasties: London Burlesque Festival with Catherine D’Lish and Jim Rose

The London Burlesque Festival, a celebration of the art, humor, music, and beautiful people of modern burlesque, is gearing up for its seventh iteration. The festival runs from May 10-19 this year, and tickets are going fast.

KEN Mode cover artist Ben Bonner discusses his crazy, massive “cloud ghoul” sculpture

KEN Mode: Entrench (Season of Mist, 3/19/13)

“Counter-Culture Complex”

KEN Mode: “Counter-Culture Complex”

If you’ve picked up Entrench, the latest from Canadian sludge-core band KEN Mode, you likely noticed the artwork — featuring an amorphous creature made of tentacles, bones, and bubbling muck strolling through the dark with a tiny catlike figure perched atop it. This deceptively large piece, Cloudghoultrillghost, is the work of sculptor Ben Bonner, who was asked to lend it for cover photos. We talked to Ben about his creative process, the story behind the sculpture, and how humor and darkness go hand in hand.

WTF? Wednesday: Folk-metal fanatics Trollfest brutalize Britney Spears’s “Toxic”

Trollfest: A Decade of Drekkadence (March 2013)

When you’re listening to Norwegian metal, do you ever think to yourself, “I’m actually beginning to understand these vocals; I wish there was a band out there who would sing in some sort of fictional language, so I would feel completely lost in the fantasy they’ve created”?

Enter Trollfest.

Begin the ritual: A coven enrobes in Ghost BC’s “Year Zero” video (NSFW)

Have Swedish metal occultists Ghost BC offered up their identities in the video for “Year Zero”? Probably not. But it offers a dose of flesh, young and old, as a ritual is begun.

Southwestern symphony: Calexico offers orchestral Record Store Day release

Sludge stream: Hear all of Zozobra’s Savage Masters

Back to the ’60s: Indie-folk outfit Dark Dark Dark details “What I Needed”

Video Premiere: Tim Fite’s “Hold Me All Night” finds sex, love, and death in the Marble’s Continuum

Tim Fite: Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t (Anti-, 3/6/12)

Singer-songrapper Tim Fite has a unique way of bringing together humor and painful observation. His most recent album, Ain’t Ain’t Ain’t, focused on the joy and heartbreak of the teenage years, and in a wonderfully weird video combining hand-drawn and stop-motion animation, Fite puts visuals to his call for acceptance and love.

Got rhythm? Taiwanese thrashers Chthonic challenge fans with mobile game

Taiwanese extreme-metal band Chthonic’s latest album is in the bag, and while it’s being mixed in Sweden, the band is taking care of other business — notably, promoting its recent mobile game, Rhythm Crusher. It’s similar to other play-along games on the market, but it features Chthonic’s brutality and metal background art. And the band is promoting it in a unique, take-it-to-the-streets fashion.

MP3 Premiere: Folk duo Brown Bird heads East with “Nine Eyes”

“Nine Eyes” is an example of folk duo Brown Bird’s varied influences, as Eastern rhythms mix with upright bass strums, psych-rock guitar, and vocal harmonies.