On E3 and metal

I've finally figured it out: E3 is the Oscars of video games. There are no awards that mean anything for games, and that sucks. But dear God is E3 awesome. There so much amazing news (Metal Gear: Rising for the 360, Left 4 Dead 2, project Natal, a new 2D Mario, new Zelda and Metroid titles, footage from every rad game coming out), it such a huge event, that it is the date on the gaming calendar. Sure, other shows like PAX and GDC have taken a bit away from E3, but all the big wigs save their best shit for now. All my internet time for the past few days has been catching up on all the comings and goings. Other years have been hit or miss, but this year has been great. My goal is to be there writing about it in the next year or two.

Video collection: Day 2
Video collection: Day 1

Sunn O))) has been one of my favorite metal bands of the past few years. They can be a little, shall we say, dense (five albums span 23 songs, with more than 2/3 of those songs going past ten minutes), but they are the heaviest band ever. Their new one, Monoliths and Dimensions, is pretty great, and their most "accessible" (if 16-minute doom metal songs can ever be that) to date. It's definitely not for everyone, some people even dare to say it's not music, but give it a chance. Everything you need to know about them can be summed up in the first ten seconds of the following video.



I've also been into Les Savy Fav (how did no one tell me to listen to you before?!), the new Sunset Rubdown, and some of the new Grizzly Bear.