The below video collects the entirety of Napalm Death’s seminal debut, Scum, and plays all the songs at once, right on top of one another. I saw it first at Invisible Oranges, where Cosmo Lee asserts that Napalm Death are now “semi-polished,” but that “the mashup has a strange beauty.” I don’t mind telling, you, that the beauty of it is basically lost on me; I think Cosmo’s admittance that “maybe it’s all just a pile of noise” is much more accurate. But give it a listen and feel free to disagree with me.

One way or the other, it’s pretty funny that somebody did this; pretty funny that that person apparently may or may not be Merzbow; and pretty funny that the whole thing lasts less than four minutes.

-AR

No offense, but does anyone else find it hard to trust metal websites whose titles don’t include the actual word “metal?” Take AOL’s Noisecreep. To me “noise” is what fills Merzbow’s fifteen yearly albums; “creep” is a moanthem by poutypants Radiohead. But only petty jerks care about names (cough). Plus, Noisecreep scribe Carlos Ramirez is both awesome and author to the year’s most wondrous metal journalism surprise: a candid Q&A with Ratt producer Beau Hill. It appeared in November, oddly apropos of nothing, and without any substantive mention of an upcoming project. (Sure, Ratt’s eighth record is slated for a 2010 release, but Hill’s not working on it. The Chevelle guy is. Great.)

Anyway, the too brief interview kinda outs Ramirez as a fellow producer fanboy, an unsexy pursuit for sure. Still, I can conclude that’d he’d have my back should I challenge Aerosmith to a fucking battery fight in West L.A this weekend. What’s my beef with them? Thanks for asking, champ! See, I love Aerosmith like ,seriously and so I can overlook watered-down pop records and obnoxious over-marketing. Fucktarded promo videos with sexy chicks don’t bother me either. And, honestly, Tyler’s much-discussed antagonism of his band mates and almost certain return to substance abuse only make me love him more. To party with him these days would actually be fun; those other grandpas would only prattle on about their memoirs or music made by their kids. Gag. Meanwhile, Tyler would be like Alfred Molina in Boogie Nights.

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The notion of a remix album is a strange one. First of all, what purpose do they serve – to provide intriguing reinterpretations of their catalog, or to throw a bone to fans hungry for a new album? Secondly, are remixes to be judged on their own merits as songs, or do they need to be permanently attached to their point of origin? Third of all, what in the fuck IS a remix, exactly? In the hip-hop community, it’s the same backing track with a slew of different rappers of wildly varying quality contributing new verses along with the original artist. In the pop world, it’s the original song with a throbbing nightclub beat thrown underneath. In the metal world, it’s a weird prospect: it’s either a collection of ambient, noise, or ambient/noise pieces built upon the tiniest shred of the source material, or a rearranging of the original tracks into a violent, messy reimagining (For the latter, see Justin Broadrick’s take on Isis’ “Hym” for how it can be done well, and his take on Pantera’s “Fucking Hostile” to see how it can be done horribly). Needless to say, metal remix albums tend to be geared toward metalheads with noise sympathies or strictly for fans only, if not both. The Melvins’ new remix collection, Chicken Switch, appears to fall into both, but actually falls pretty hard into the latter. Those in search of a worthwhile remix album should probably ignore this one.

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Down, Melvins, and Weedeater are playing a show in New York City tonight. Holy crap in my pants, I cannot recall the last time I was this excited about a metal show. Three of my favorite stoner metal artists on one bill! The tour continues throughout September, wrapping up in Louisville, KY on the 28th. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this incredible tour is that none of these bands have new albums out. So basically, this one is for the fans. And the money. WIN-WIN!

In related news, those darned Melvins will be releasing a remix album called Chicken Switch via Mike Patton’s Ipecac imprint the day after the Down tour ends. Of course, ever the contrarians, the band has opted to provide entire albums as source material, as opposed to single songs. Participants include a whole mess of freaks, including Merzbow, Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, and David Scott Stone, the latter of these boasting an impressive resume recording and playing with Big Business, Fantomas, and The Locust (as well as the Melvins). Drummer Dale Crover is also a member of the doom colossus known as Shrinebuilder, which finally revealed its FUCKING AMAZING first song to the public and is playing a handful of live gigs.

-GS

[Gary Suarez is erecting a pillamyd. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

Typically, I’m not very interested in or even impressed by the majority of the acts that perform at the New York’s annual No Fun Fest, now a three-day event showcasing multiple noisemakers from around the world. On the occasions that I’ve actually attended, it has only been for a single night and typically to catch a single act. Though I read about this year’s lineup some weeks back, I’m still surprised and impressed just how many of these acts are actually exciting me–in my pants.

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