RZA & Howard Drossin: The Man with the Iron Fists film score (Soul Temple, 10/22/12)
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the score for The Man with the Iron Fists doesn’t differ greatly from the soundtrack, opening as it does with an extended, reworked sample from Wu-Tang Clan’s “Shame on a Nigga.” With that one chopped-and-screwed moment, though, what we’re really seeing is a hip-hop sensibility being applied to a score that well compliments its accompanying soundtrack.
ALARM is back in print, and being the shameless self-promoters that we are, we’d love if you bought a print subscription. But let’s say that you have one of these newfangled “iPads.” Let’s also say that you like free things, particularly those that pertain to awesome music and cultural stuff. In that event, might we direct you to download ALARM #40 (Nov/Dec 2012) for free?
Go here to read about and see what’s inside #40, which includes interviews with and stories on Soundgarden, Refused, Converge, Melvins, Dirty Projectors, Bloc Party, P.O.S, Squarepusher, Fang Island, and more.
Then go to bit.ly/ALARMiPad and click on “view in iTunes” to download that bad boy for $0.00. Mom might not love loud music, but she digs thriftiness. Make mom proud.
How to Destroy Angels: An Omen EP (Columbia, 11/13/12)
Four people sit in a cabin on the seashore, with light coming in through one window and hastily nailed boards over the other apertures. A greenish glow, the only hint of electricity, comes from an instrument that has an opaque purpose. Everyone seems to be waiting for something.
“Ice Age,” the new video from How to Destroy Angels’ An Omen EP, directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road, Lawless), is a bleak affair. Minimalist at first, both in scope and music,the song soon makes it clear that time is running out.
From its modest roots as a basement mail-order operation to its status as one of the premier independent metal labels, Relapse Records has carved a niche as purveyor of distortion-heavy talent. In addition to a few ALARM favorites from Pig Destroyer, Liberteer, and Primate, this year saw noteworthy releases from Dying Fetus, Baroness, Horseback, Locrian, Serpentine Path, and many others.
In 2011, DJ Shadow released the excellent The Less You Know, The Better, a return to form after five years of silence on the original-music front. He followed that up with Reconstructed, a “best-of” album, soon to be available in a limited-edition box set. Since then, he’s been touring extensively, bringing his wildly eclectic sound to cities the world over. His unique style of genre-mixing production is diverse and awfully difficult to reproduce.
What do space exploration, Dostoyevsky, and Call of Duty have in common? Find out as photographer Sloan Wolf documents her LA escapades.
The Faint: Evil Voices 12-inch (Saddle Creek)
Dance-punk quartet The Faint recently started touring in support of Saddle Creek’s deluxe reissue of 2001 classic Danse Macabre. Though the tour is ostensibly to perform that album in its entirety, the band has announced that it’ll be performing new music as well.
And if you can make it to a show, a limited-edition tour twelve-inch will be for sale with the band’s first new tunes since 2008’s Fasciinatiion. Check out a stream and download of “Evil Voices” below.
After relaunching for free this summer on the iPad, ALARM Magazine is back in print with more awesome shit. We’re psyched to have the mighty Soundgarden on the cover of our Nov/Dec issue, which includes interviews with and stories on Converge, Refused, Melvins, Dirty Projectors, Bloc Party, P.O.S, Squarepusher, Fang Island, and more.