I Want Your Skull

The folks at Vosges Haut Chocolat had my heart when they introduced Mo's Bacon Bar, a high-quality smooth dark chocolate bar permeated with smoky salty bits of applewood bacon. But now, they've assured my lifelong devotion with their skull-shaped Halloween special.

Inspired by Mexico's Day of the Dead festival, these three-inch tall solid chocolate skulls include a trio of varieties made with Venezuelan white chocolate (Bianca); milk chocolate and hickory-smoked almonds (Barcelona); but it's the tempting Red Fire variant—a wild concoction of dark chocolate with ancho & chipotle chilies, plus Ceylon cinnamon—that puts them over the top. Their eyes? Fragrant black sea salt. Each skull costs $8 a la carte, or you can buy a set of all three for $21 at any of Vosges' six national boutiques, or online.

Trick or treat, indeed!

Fog Rising

West Coast stoner rock fans, rejoice: the Fog Rising Festival is coming to San Francisco on Saturday, November 7. The brainchild of Tee Pee Records and Secret Serpents, the Fog Rising event promises to be "a celebration of the twisted offspring of the fragmentation [that is the rock music scene]."

Among the bands performing are the above-pictured Witch (featuring Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis and my boyfriend, Mario Rubalcaba of Earthless on drums*), and will mark Witch's only West Coast performance of 2009. Other stoner-friendly bands to watch for are Saviours, the incredible Red Fang, and sludgy doomsters Ancestors.


*He's not really my boyfriend, but he could be...

Bands include:
Witch
Saviours
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound
Night Horse
Red Fang
Ancestors
Black Math Horseman
Imaad Wasif with Two Part Beast
Lecharis Gaze (members of Annihilation Time)
Citadelle

Artwork will be displayed by famed poster artists Alan Forbes, David DAndrea, Alan Hynes and Marq Spusta.

For more info, check out the official site: Secret Serpents.

And here's a bonus video of Red Fang's stellar "Prehistoric Dog."

Passports and Pussy

It's been an odd few days. I've been so under the weather that simply sitting in front of the computer for more than a half hour has been fatiguing, and I've been napping even more than my kitty. No, it's not H1N1 (I Googled that shit). Thankfully, I'm on the mend, and while scanning through my overpopulated Inbox, two press releases piqued my interest. Both are for my music people.

First and foremost, I know I'm spoiled. I'm lucky enough to be a working journalist and can easily email publicists to get on guest lists for shows. My friends are not always this fortunate. BUT, Live Nation is hoping to change that by announcing their Club Passport program.

According to them:
"For a limited time only, concert fans can buy The Live Nation Club Passport for $49.99, All-In and No Fees, and see every show at Live Nation clubs in their city for the rest of the year, subject to availability. If you're a Live Nation Club Passport holder, and the show's not sold-out, you're in! The Live Nation Club Passport is available only at livenation.com.

Here's how it works. Beginning today concert fans go to LiveNation.com and purchase a Club Passport. A list of participating shows will be immediately available. Every Monday thereafter, Passport holders log on to LiveNation.com/Passport or follow LiveNation on Facebook or Twitter to see the list of participating club shows in their city and to reserve their ticket. From here, Club Passport holders just bring their Live Nation Club Passport number and photo I.D. to the club's box office and get right in, no extra charges, no hassles."

Some of these venues include LA's Avalon, NYC's Irving Plaza (eff you, I refuse to call it The Fillmore), all of the national House of Blues clubs and Atlanta's Tabernacle Theatre. Not bad, eh?

And now, it's pussy time!! No, not my aforementioned sweet semi-racist Ava, the pussy in question here is Rammstein's first video and single of the same name. I've got to admit, based on their live show, I initially thought they were referring to, ahem, "back" pussy (a la Borat). But this video is some pretty sexy hetero stuff. Naturally, the video is being hosted on a German porn site. Link to see it here... just make sure your boss isn't in the room.

Shut Up And Listen To... Municipal Waste

In honor of Twitter's Music Monday, I present to you the grown and sexy Municipal Waste. Buy their new album, Massive Aggressive, immediately!

And after you do that, check out this brand-new video for the first single, "Wrong Answer."

Nine Inch Nails Waves Goodbye

As summer slips away, I've realized that these past few months have been punctuated by seeing acts that've shaped my youth and remain close to my heart—such as Ratt, Rancid, Hank III, Monster Magnet, and, of course, Nine Inch Nails. Perhaps the latter is the most important... after all, I don't remember listening to Ratt when I was on my way to take the SATs, as I did a well-worn copy of Pretty Hate Machine.

Last night at the heinous Terminal 5, I was reminded of what it was that made me fall in love with Trent Reznor's music in the first place: the aggression, the passion, the sheer demonic talent. And he got Peter Murphy, for whom he opened during NIN's first tour, to join the band onstage for three songs. The concert was amazing, almost three-hours long and made for a perfect goodbye celebration (though we ALL know this isn't the end of NIN).

Here are some photos I took on my zoom-free iPhone last night; for more pics check out the Flickr set.

And last but not least, thanks to the crazysexycool Nisha Gopalan for making our adventure a smooth, fun and sweaty one.







With Peter Murphy

Dig If U Will The Picture...

Every time I pass by this Bebe ad on a bus shelter at 23rd St., "When Doves Cry" pops into my head.

Fashion is such a fickle bitch...

The Bouncing Souls Turn 20

It's hard to believe, but one of my favorite punk rock bands, New Jersey's own Bouncing Souls, is turning 20! And what better way to celebrate than a full-on assault of the East Coast before moving the party to Europe in September?

If you're in New York City this weekend, you must go see them at Webster Hall on August 20th or 21st where they're playing with Lifetime and 7 Seconds, respectively. The shows are almost sold out, so be sure to get your tickets in advance. But if you can't make it, you can always download one of their "anniversary" tracks—the band is releasing a new song every month to celebrate—with August's selection being the groove-tastic "Boogie Woogie Downtown," which you can download here.

Still need convincing? Check out this hypnotic video featuring a robot called "Boogietron 2000" (ironically, the video currently has 420 hits).

So what are you waiting for? Just do it!