Given the breadth of our catalogue, it is a fun (albiet daunting) task to pull together some of our favorite tracks of the year so far. So, we did it and you’ll love it!
We have a little bit of something for everyone. If you fancy some chill but cheery blues/jazz/gospel don’t miss the lovely Ruthie Foster. Need more metal in your life? Obvi Nuclear Blast‘s Meshuggah is included in the mix. Perhaps you want a fuzzy romantic indie tune? Radiation City‘s “Find It Of Use” will do it for you. Fancy some mildly offensive entertainment? Check out Bobby Light (AKA Rob Dyrdek)’s satyrical track “Do You Right” that has all the youngins dancin’.
Decide for yourself what your favorites are… We’ve got links to both Spotify and Rdio below, as well as our friends at ShareMyPlaylists — or you can listen to the playlist right now by just clicking Play below!
Best of 2012 (so far) on Spotify
Best of 2012 (so far) on Rdio
Best of 2012 (so far) on ShareMyPlaylists
It’s hard to have missed them… And they’re impossible to ignore… If you’re not already on the MESHUGGAH roller coaster, get your tickets now!
Their latest release, Koloss, came out last week on Nuclear Blast and blazed its way to the top of all the charts. Currently #17 on the Billboard Top 200, the album sold over 18,300 albums in its first week – 31% of which was digital! That’s pretty impressive for a band that’s been together since 1987…! It just goes to show, when you’ve got chemistry like these guys, there’s no other way but up.
Indeed, with that debut on the Top 200 and spots like #2 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart, #3 on the Current Hard Music Albums chart, #3 on the Top Hard Music chart, #9 on the Current Rock chart, and #16 on the Top Current Albums chart, the shy, elusive musical geniuses from Sweden secured the highest first week sales and Billboard debut positions in the history of Nuclear Blast USA.
They also conquered Canada at #24 on the Canadian Top 200 chart and #4 slot on the Hard Music chart, and Europe, where they experienced a career first on the German album chart: a debut at #48.
Needless to say, Nuclear Blast and the band were very excited — exclamation points don’t lie – “Great news!! Guess all the efforts, the covert sessions, and painstaking, soul-numbing seances performed to reach the souls of former chart toppers – now in the life beyond – have finally come to fruition!! We thank them and we thank you, our fans!!! We just made an album. You guys put it on the charts!!!”
Catch MESHUGGAH on their “SCION A/V PRESENTS: The Ophidian Trek” tour, for which you can win two tickets for each show on the tour thanks to this awesome giveway! And be sure to also check out their Spotlight Playlist on Spotify, as well as other specialty Nuclear Blast playlists.
With a recipe consisting of gore, thrill, cannibalism, shredding and a pinch of space travel, Municipal Waste get carnal and creepy in an explosion of epic horror with their new music video for “The Fatal Feast.” The track comes from their upcoming album, The Fatal Feast LP, out April 10th on Nuclear Blast.
Directed by Jeff Speed of Halo Of Flies, “The Fatal Feast” was shot in Los Angeles on the former set of the space western television series, “Firefly.” Within the setting of an old waste station lost in space for 17 years, the video flashes between scenes of the band rocking in the space station bay to mutilating and consuming human organs to bloodily playing with instruments replaced by intestines and spinal columns. Astronauts, skeletons, blood, torture and of course, speedy metal punk run rabid in this forceful piece of film.
On getting to work with Municipal Waste for a second time, Jeff Speed explained, “One glimpse at this video and you will understand why my brother Chris [Speed, Production Designer] and I love to work with these guys. Anything goes! They have a great sense of humor, shredding tunes and bloodlust that is only matched by our own. Accepting the invitation to collaborate on more debauchery with Municipal Waste was a no-brainer. A cannibalistic space voyage?! Where do we sign? [...] I hope the world is hungry because the FEAST will be festering on their plates and minds for a long time.”
The band is equally thrilled with the collaboration. Vocalist Tony Foresta remarked, “We’ve been wanting to work with Jeff again since we did the ‘Sadistic Magician’ video with him years ago. We felt that his vision and talent was exactly what we needed to help tell the tale of this cannibalistic space voyage. We hope this video makes people headbang, laugh, and puke all at the same time.” Guitarist Ryan Waste added, “As a huge sci-fi horror movie enthusiast, it was amazing to work on this type of film set. Jeff Speed and his crew have really raised the bar with this video and we couldn’t be happier. Prepare for space terror and feast on our latest clip!”
Municipal Waste is currently out on the road for their “Return Of The World Maggot” tour featuring guests Ghoul and Legacy of Disorder. To feast on them yourselves, check out the remaining dates on their tour schedule, and check out their terrifyingly awesome video below:
March is Metal Month and who better to celebrate with than Nuclear Blast?! Not only can you find all your favorite Nuclear Blast face. melting. metal. at Spotify, you can also listen to Meshuggah‘s brand spankin’ new record, Koloss – officially out this week.
Additionally, the fine folks over at Nuclear Blast personally curated 3 fabulous playlists for your listening pleasure: you can pick between a Meshuggah Spotlight, Nuclear Blast’s Heavy Hitters or Nuclear Blast’s On The Rise - all not-to-be-missed.
Now, some would think, how could this get better? We’ve got a new Meshuggah record, Nuclear Blast playlists, face-melting, march, madness, metal… not much could make one person happier. But it does get better. It gets better because Nuclear Blast is giving away FREE STUFF. That’s right WIN FREE STUFF! All you have to do is subscribe to any of the three playlists mentioned above to enter to win killer Nuclear Blast booty. You’re listening anyway, might as well subscribe! Might as well up your chance to win Nuclear Blast Booty! You’re welcome.
So what are you waiting for?! March ain’t over yet! Check out all the March Metal Madness right now at Spotify, and enter for your your chance to win.
Happy Spring, beautiful freeloaders! We know it’s been a while, so to make up for the two-week recess we’re jam-packing your Friday with some pretty sweet music from a collection of our friends.
Setting things off, we suggest you check out free tracks like MESHUGGAH‘s “I Am Colossus,” Heavy Blanket‘s “Dr. Marten’s Blues,” Nada’s Surf‘s “Looking Through” and Rhett Miller‘s “Out of Love.” A special bonus comes to you in the form of a free stream of RACES‘s new LP Year of the Witch, which comes out next week!
MESHUGGAH: “I Am Colossus” via Scion A/V
KOLOSS out March 27th on Nuclear Blast
Heavy Blanket: “Dr. Marten’s Blues” via EW.com
Heavy Blanket out May 8th on Outer Battery Records
Nada Surf: “Looking Through” via Billboard
The Dulcitone Files EP out now on Barsuk Records
Rhett Miller: “Out of Love” via his website
The Dreamer out June 5th on Maximum Sunshine Records
RACES: Year of the Witch via Paste–out March 27th on Frenchkiss Records
