I SHED THE BLOOD OF THE SAXON MEN!

Hello Internet.

Can I interest you in a symphonic metal concept album about Charlemagne?

No? How about if I throw in Sir Christopher Lee singing the title role?

Yes, THAT Sir Christopher Lee.

"Lesley Gore sings "Hello Young Lovers" & "Didn't We"" (Watch on YouTube)

How much AWESOME can you stand?

Okay, it’s probably going to be more Jeff Wayne than Metallica. Still, the tag line “Christopher Lee fronts metal band” is a deal-closer. At least for people like me.

BONUS AWESOME: The release date is the Ides Of March.

FUN FACT: Lee is actually a direct descendent of Charlemagne. That’s so metal.

Saxon violence,

This is dF

IRAN-CONTRA: THE THEME RESTAURANT

ITEM: Maggie Koerth-Baker has dinner at El Avion, a restaurant in Costa Rica that sits inside a 1954 Fairchild C-123 cargo plane – specifically one of two such planes bought with the help of the CIA to run weapons (also purchased with the help of the CIA) to guerrillas in Nicaragua in the early 1980s as part of the Iran-Contra Affair.





The other C-123 was shot down over Nicaragua – which is ultimately how the entire Iran-Contra scandal was exposed.

Good food, Maggie says.

I’ve never been to Costa Rica, but if I get a chance to go, this is on my to-do list.

Shot down in flames,

This is dF

FROCK COAT AND BIPPERTY-BOPPERTY HAT

ITEM [via Def Agent lorilori ]: The Thin White Duke turned 63 yesterday (Thursday).

As you might guess, I’ve been a fan for a long time, and while I can find something to like from his entire back catalog – even his more recent albums – like a lot of people I like his Ziggy/Berlin era the most.

Still, I thought I’d select something just outside of that period, “Queen Bitch” from the Hunky Dory album – because it gives me an excuse to post the end-credits to The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (possibly one of the best uses of classic rock in a film directed by someone besides Quentin Tarantino).

"Pink Floyd - Sheep (lyrics)" (Watch on YouTube)

So you get Bowie, Bill Murray and a Buckaroo Banzai homage for the price of one post. Because we are all about value-add here at Team Def.

No taste at all,

This is dF

JUST WHAT WE NEED, ANOTHER BEST OF 2009 LIST: THE MUSIC (PART 2)

Continuing up our coverage of Team Def's favorite music of 2009. Part 1 is here.

So ... you know that part during the Oscars where they take some time out to show you some summary footage taped before the broadcast of the technical awards that no one cares about before they get to the big awards?

This is that part. Only without a budget.

NEAR MISS

Bombay Bicycle Club
I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose (Mmm ... Records/Island) Debut LP from London band that has been compared to My Bloody Valentine with the volume turned down, or Bloc Party without the politics or special effects. I have to say, I didn’t know what to make of it at first listen, but something made me buy it, and now I’m starting to suspect if it had come out six months earlier, it’d have grown on me enough to make the Top 20. On the other hand, I can’t help wondering if I’ll still be as interested by this time next year. Still, if any band had the potential to really grow into something amazing, it’s this one. Oh, and points for this year’s second best album title.

BEST ALBUM TITLE

Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird And The Bee

BEST ALBUM COVER



BEST CD SINGLE PURCHASED BY TEAM DEF IN 2009

Madonna
“Celebration” (Sire/Warner) A new track included on her latest Greatest Hits comp, which I bought as a CD single. It didn't get a lot of acclaim, but I thought it was a good dance-floor number that wouldn't have been out of place on her Confessions On A Dance Floor album a few years ago.

BEST COMPILATION

Mojo Presents ... I Can See For Miles

It’s true that most of the compilations I get tend to be from British music magazines, and usually they’re good for one or two good tracks at best. But this year saw quite a few really good collections – and the best was this comp of “Lost Tracks From America’s Psychedelic Underground”. Some of it is what you’d expect (The Chocolate Watch Band, The Red Krayola, and two (2) songs by the 13th Floor Elevators), but the rest were bands I’d never heard before (or even heard of), so it was educational as well as entertaining. I couldn’t say how definitive a collection it is, but it’s more than I ever expected a music magazine to come up with, so well done.

BEST SOUNDTRACKS

Flight Of The Conchords
I Told You I Was Freaky (Sub Pop/HBO) You may find this hard to believe, but I mostly missed the whole first wave of Flight Of The Conchords, not having HBO or the time to watch all the YouTube clips everyone was posting. But they seemed like something I should be interested in, and so when their second collection of songs from the show came out, I checked it out. It's dead-on pop satire and funny even without the show visuals. It doesn't always work, but when it does, they nail it.

JG Thirlwell
The Venture Brothers: The Music Of JG Thirlwell (Adult Swim/Williams Street) I haven't seen The Venture Brothers either (not having Adult Swim here in HK), but I am a fan of Thirlwell, and the idea alone of the man behind Foetus and Clint Ruin doing music for a cartoon is worth a mention. The music itself is quite good - like coked-up John Barry for ugly people.

BEST UNRELEASED ALBUM

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Dark Night Of The Soul (Not EMI) A music project with David Lynch with plenty of guest appearances that never saw the light of day after EMI decided not to release it for as-yet undisclosed reasons. But NPR streamed it (and it's still streaming now, if you want to check it out), and it's pretty good. I'd have bought it if it had come out (though maybe not the $50 version with the Lynch photo book).

Up next: the Top 10 [for real]!

Dark was the night,

This is dF