However, in this case the other members, who often get referred to in the reviews as “the live band,” are all talented musicians in their own right. Who knows the names of the band that played with Tori Amos when touring for Little Earthquakes, or PJ Harvey’s bandmates on Rid of Me? (Don’t check with Google. I’m just making a point.) This is a fault purely of the press- and the simple bottom line of what sells tickets and records.

I don’t know the other members of Collide’s band well enough to talk about them, though Kai Kurosawa’s muscianship is clearly impressive. However, having known, worked with, and on several occasions lived with Scott, I wanted to share a little of that, and some reflections of my own work with him and how he influenced me- before jumping into a review of Collide’s album on its own ground.

I first met Scott in 98 or 99 during my Sophmore year at Bard College. Our mutual friend Jim introduced us, and he promptly blew me away with the intensity of his playing- and in the process snapped at least one of the strings on the Mexican strat that I owned at the time.

From that point on, we began a many-year long collaboration which oftentimes veered into the obscure or plain bizarre. Scott got me to take music more seriously- it was hard not to, what with how passionate he is about it. He would literally stay up all night playing until his fingers bled. (And then keep playing.) One part of what motivated me to take Jazz harmony and music theory classes was so that I could keep up with him on my chosen instrument at the time, bass. On the other hand, I’d like to think that I helped him learn to take music a little less seriously. Oftentimes, we would have absurd jams so ridiculous that we’d fall over laughing. These first meanderings took the form of Bile Shower, a truly awful concoction which was a great deal of fun to create, and which wreaks pain and havoc upon whomever has the poor sense to subject themselves to it.

This did eventually lead to more serious projects, such as Babalon, but throughout I would say that there’s always been an underlying comedy in most of the work we’ve done together, even those which got more production attention, like subQtaneous. (Here is a live recording of Waiting and a demo of Save The World, two of my favorites from what we recorded with Babalon).

After Babalon broke up, Scott joined forces with Collide, and a little while thereafter, with Mankind Is Obsolete. I had MKIO stay at my apartment several months back, when they were still on their colossal year+ tour, and got to briefly reconnect with him and meet some new faces. Here is a band operating completely without a label, living out of a van, playing gigs varying in size and grandiosity from Warp tour dates to some people in a corn field. (Read Part 1 and Part 2 of my review and interview with Mankind is Obsolete from last year before they hit the road.) Living off of tuna and celery and playing music every night. It just goes to show that though the days of excess Guns N’ Roses got to experience might be gone, if you are committed enough, you can hit the road and find an audience.

I’ve been involved in several musical projects since Babalon, and some studio work with Scott since. However, I’ve yet to meet someone with his singleminded passion, dedication and drive for the art. It is truly a rare thing. If you have the opportunity to see him perform with Collide, Mankind Is Obsolete, or any other bands that he chooses to work with, I highly suggest you take it. I always look forward to seeing him on stage, or having another opportunity to collaborate.

Look for a review of Two Headed Monster next week.

–James Curcio.

(As a final note to the Fallen Nation readers out there- yes, the character of Cody was based- in part - on Scott.)

Share This

Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey is a 2005 documentary directed by Sam Dunn, a 31 year old anthropologist who has been a heavy metal fan since the age of twelve. He sets out across the world to uncover the various opinions of heavy metal music, including its origins, the controversy surrounding the genre, and the reason why it is loved by so many people, as well as exploring the culture of heavy metal. The film made its debut at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released as a two-disc special edition DVD in the US on September 19, 2006.

Download Torrent

Share This

Mythos Media has finally made their initial offering of eclictic, out-there music, and it seems to be going over well with some of the critics.

subQtaneous: “What strangeness have we here? This: a trippy ride through post-industrial atmospheres, guided by multi-instrumentalist and producer James Curcio. Although SubQtaneous seems to be a collaborative effort, with many names in the credits, it’s James Curcio’s name that crops up most often. This music runs riot from dubbed-up rumbling to heavily-fuzzed guitar workouts, from incongruous jazz odysseys to bouts of bad-trip psychedelia. At times, it resembles rock music, particularly on ‘Daily Grind’, which sounds like the kind of mashed-up splattery racket you’d get if you shoved Ministry down a waste disposal unit. At other times, rhythms you could (almost) dance to are hauled into the sonic melee, and there are effect-laden interludes and sample-soaked soundscapes, although even when things get a little mellow the listener can never quite escape the suspicion that monsters lurk just beyond the music. ‘All You Know’ is a jazzy rap, springing forward on the vibrations of a double bass, and in a way it’s the most radical thing here. Stick out a white label 12″ with this track on it, and I bet it would be all over hip hop radio in a week. ‘Panning For Gold In Rivers Of Blood’ sounds like someone slipped the orchestra that accompanies silent movies some amphetamines, while ‘Out Of Control’ belies its title with a tumbling, chopped-up neo-rock rampage. I’m not at all sure who SubQtaneous think is going to buy their wayward art, for it’s obviously not aimed at any particular market, and the band - if indeed there is a band - takes a particular delight in eating generic boundaries for breakfast. But you know what? I’m glad this stuff is out there.”

Veil of Thorns: “Another emanation from the Mythos Media monster, in this case a solo project from P.Emerson Williams. And - somewhat surprisingly - we’re in the rock zone, sort of. Veil Of Thorns are not exactly a band, but the music does inhabit a rocky landscape, even if it sometimes doesn’t seem entirely comfortable there. P. Emerson Williams is responsible for vocals and most instruments, with James Curcio on drums (I’m delighted to note, by the way, that the album was engineered by someone called Fluffy) and together they brew up a dust storm of tight-but-loose guitar riffs and driving, nervy, drums. Let’s sample some: ‘The Enigmatic Barely Atone’ has a lost-in-the-desert feel, as if the sands of the Sahara are shifting under the music as it hurtles towards the sunset. ‘Delusions Of Excitement’ is a fine title for a spooky, sepulchral song - the desert night has fallen, the world is hushed. Even the bass seems muted here, rumbling somewhere in the background as if Steve Severin was hiding behind a pyramid. ‘Corrode And Engulf’ (Veil Of Thorns are great on titles) is a grind of treated cello, half way between a lament and a threat. This music is, naturally, high on atmosphere, and if, at times, it teeters on the brink of proggy indulgence it has enough latent attitude to pull back from the brink. It’s like nothing else out there, that’s for sure.”

 subQtaneous - Out of Control: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Share This

Heavy Metal Parking Lot is a video documentary produced by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn in 1986. It documents heavy metal music fans tailgating in the parking lot outside the Capital Centre (later renamed US Airways Arena, since demolished) in Landover, Maryland on May 31, 1986 before a Judas Priest concert (with opening act Dokken).By the early 1990s, Heavy Metal Parking Lot had become an underground cult-classic, usually traded on bootleg VHS videotapes. HMPL was reportedly a favorite on the Nirvana tour bus. It is available on DVD in a 20th-anniversary edition.

Less Than Jake and American Hi-Fi parodied Heavy Metal Parking Lot in their Music Videos for the songs All My Best Friends are Metalheads and Flavor of the Week. The Backstreet Boys also lampooned it in their music video for “Just Want You To Know“. Film distributor Cowboy Pictures gave it a limited 35mm theatrical release in 2003, paired with Chris Smith’s documentary Home Movie.

In 2004, Trio aired the TV series Parking Lot, which expanded on the 1986 documentary. Created & co-produced by the original filmmakers, John Heyn & Jeff Krulik (in association with Radical Media), eight episodes were broadcast before Trio TV went off the air in 2006. Parking Lot webisodes are available on Trio’s website.

Some have speculated that a fan depicted in the movie urging Judas Priest to “play their heart out for the kids” was future United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts. [1] (wikipedia)

Download Torrent

Heavy Metal Basement (48m:33s) is a whopper, running nearly an hour, and ventures into the basement of an aging rock fan who proudly shows off his extensive Judas Priest album collection.

Download Torrent

Share This