The 2013 Southwest Terror Fest is approaching and the new (full) poster is available and with one quick glance you can tell it will be an event to be reckoned with. In fact, it is double the mayhem of last year's inaugural event, featuring 65 bands over the course of four days at the Rock, Thursday, Oct. 10 through Sunday, Oct. 13. A limited amount (only 50) of the 4-day VIP passes are available at a reasonable price of $55, and single day passes are available at the door.

David Rodgers might be one of the harder working people in Arizona when it comes to the metal music scene, and he has been able to build this event into what it is now, which is a marathon of metal madness. It would fantastic to see this continue to grow and become a mainstay of Arizona music.

Any local music fan should consider attending at least one night, if not two, or better yet, all four nights.

Check for updates here. Also, the poster:

So call in sick or take a vacation day on Monday, Oct. 14th, because the 2013 Southwest Terror Fest is coming and it's all out of bubblegum.

Although there were many fantastic acts last year, and the local bands were some of the highlights. Most of the local bands played on the second stage, letting the out-of-towners play on the main stage. The second stage is is on the floor, and the experience can be both intimate and chaotic. Having the band so close is a nice touch, but at the same time on some heavier songs the crowd can get a bit rowdy and even mosh into the band members.

Powered Wig Machine was the first band that really moved the crowd on the second stage. They played as if they were on the main stage and commanded the room with hard and unique anthems and genuinely put the room in order. This is a band that should be looked at in the coming future. They represent a cross-section between groovy funk-metal and a sludgy desert rock. They didn't necessarily play for the crowd but still managed to own it.

In all fairness, I'm a huge fan of Anakim and that was my personal highlight of the Friday show. In this respect I'd like to say that they need to play a bit more around town and tour past the state line with another act. Instead of being a prog-metal band, they're more of a metal band with some progressive hints. The sound is very straight forward and hits you in the gut and the head at the same time. Anakim has a phenominal tension-building intro in "Calling the Wind" that keeps the momentum building until a heavy burst of energy hits with the main part of the song, at which point it sends the crowd into a rampage.

The second night's highlight was, for me personally, again, the second stage. I'd always prefer to see local acts, and Godhunter was the headline of choice. With an LP release on the horizon, they are fully capable of playing for a full set and have played enough to always entertain the crowd. One can tell immediately that this band has enough experience that they know how to jump around the stage, keep the audience engaged beyond really acceptable limits, but yet still play amidst the chaos. At least twice someone fell over a mic or an amp and was pulled back into the crowd. They know how to let their roadies (and friends) pick up the fallen equipment and play on. David Rodgers, the guitarist and occasional singer, is the one that really put the work into making the Southwest Terrorfest happen. He is extremely dedicated to the craft and the scene, and his passion echoes through the band. Never missing a beat, they played with all-out and dominated the second stage of the second night.

I'm looking forward to many years of this showcase of music. I'd hope that it can expand to include outside stages or, perhaps even, downtown venues and alleyways. Tucson has always been a known underground scene for great music on all levels and types of music. This has the making to become a desitination point for metla fans everywhere.

In news that's sure to be great for another industry that's circling the drain, the Recording Industry Association of America has decided to join in with the times and include song streams as part of their certification process for gold and platinum records.

From Billboard:

The last time the RIAA altered its methodology was in 2006, when it added master ringtones. Two years before that, the organization began counting digital downloads. And prior to that, CDs and cassette tapes were added to the mix. Otherwise, the formula for Gold and Platinum certifications remained largely untouched — 500,000 unit sales for Gold, 1 million for Platinum and 10 million for Diamond.

Among the on-demand streaming services the RIAA will accept are MOG, Muve Music, Rdio, Rhapsody, Slacker, Spotify, Xbox Music and others. In addition, video streams from MTV.com, VEVO, Yahoo! Music and YouTube will also count. Under the new formula, the RIAA will distribute awards to 56 new titles, including 30 Seconds To Mars’s “This Is War,” Emeli Sandé's "Next To Me," and Cher Lloyd's "Oath," Thursday night at the National Association of Recording Merchandisers' annual Musiz Biz conference in Los Angeles.

So, if you really dig hip-hop, you might be familiar with Jay Electronica (also known as Jay ElecHanukkah, or Jay ElecYarmulke, or Jay ElectRamadaan Muhammad Asalaamica RasoulAllah Subhanahu wa ta'ala — if you're taking stock in his verse from "Exhibit C") — either because he exploded your mind with "Eternal Sunshine," "Exhibit A" and/or "Exhibit C"; because he's got a kid with Erykah Badu; or because his debut album will never come out, no matter how bad you want it to.

Well, now he's got a new claim to fame: breaking up the marriage of British bank heiress and record mogul Kate Rothschild to British bank heir Ben Goldsmith.

From The Telegraph:

Today, nine months after splitting from Ben Goldsmith and blaming it on the fact that they were “children” when they met, Miss Rothschild has finally admitted she was unfaithful.

Their eight year marriage was one of 25 ended in just under a minute at London’s High Court, with no mention made of how they would split their multi million pound fortune.

Mr Goldsmith, son of billionaire financier Sir James Goldsmith, found it “intolerable” to live with his wife after the affair, which formed the grounds for the divorce, the papers reveal.

...

In a later tweet relating to rumours surrounding her relationship with the New Orleans rapper the heiress wrote: “As for Jay Electronica…he saved my life in many ways and I am eternally grateful to him.”

...

Miss Rothschild also claimed in an interview that her love for the hip-hop star —with whom she “just connected” - was not the reason her marriage hit the rocks, instead blaming the fact they were “children” when they got together.

Draaamaaaaa — and also, vaguely weird that someone who lives on the periphery of hip-hop culture (while still being insanely recognizable for no discernable reason) has become a minor figure in British celebrity culture. So, I guess Jay's movin' on up. Good for him — at this point though, I hope he finds a way to pull Pippa Middleton and cozies his way into the good graces of British royalty.

Also, who remembers watching BET Uncut? Anyone who will admit to it? Well, at-least-part-time Tucson rapper Murs put together a video with Fashawn for the hidden track off of last year's This Generation, "Tuition" — which is, in wholly awkward fashion, an ode to thoughtless strip-club bangers that cut off before the song gets good and before you get your money's worth for your dance.

Uh, from...from what I understand, anyway.

Unfortunately(?) the video isn't embeddable, as it's hosted at World Star Hip-Hop Uncut, purveyors of all things relating to stupid street fights and women clapping their booties in their bedrooms to poorly mixed Southern Hip-Hop.

Still, check it out because it decently satirizes strip-clubbin' while paying tribute to it (the cash they're throwing around is literally Monopoly money); it has Murs and Fashawn; and it vaguely recalls the somewhat dirty feeling of watching a hip-hop video with scantily clad women writhing on poles at 1 a.m. on basic cable.

Also, there's scantily clad women. Just make sure you get home from work before you click to check it out.

Following Jeff Mangum's Rialto show in March, Neutral Milk Hotel has announced that they're bringing the band back together for a reunion tour.

So far, no Tucson dates have been confirmed, though considering how vehement NMH fans are about defending their band's honor, they may want to consider playing here—if only because there appear to be people champing at the bit to see them in person, regardless of how poorly received Mangum's show was by Weekly writer Joshua Levine—or how poorly received his review was. A taste of that review [emphasis added]:

The recent announcement of Neutral Milk Hotel's upcoming fall reunion tour revealed Jeff Mangum to be a crass businessman, expanding his profit margin by selling out his fans. If he were Britney Spears doing a comeback tour, the scenario would be perfectly logical. But Mangum is not a pop singer; he is an artiste whose music changed and shaped many lives under the guise of honesty and integrity. He desecrated his own parables by turning his work into a 45-minute advertisement for his upcoming Neutral Milk Hotel tour. If he needed the money, he could have licensed his songs for Target or Volkswagen commercials. But he didn't. He disrespectfully pimped out his music to the people to whom it holds untold worth, belittling his audience and reducing them to common johns, impersonally serviced in place of the implicit promise of enlightenment.

That line drew a heated response from a number of people who were all-too-willing to jump down Levine's (and the Weekly's) throat, such as TucsonWeekly.com anonymous commenter george22:

This was the first article I've read in the Weekly in quite some time. I'm glad to say I haven't missed anything. Not only does this article structure its asinine opinion around completely false information, it paints one of the most gifted songwriters of the generation in an absoulutely unnecessarily negative light. God, to let such filth be published in your magazine is inexcusable. I don't even blame the writer; shame on you Tucson Weekly.

Levine was right. You were wrong. Deal with it, haters.

For more information and updates on Neutral Milk Hotel's reunion tour, check http://www.groundcontroltouring.com/artists/neutral-milk-hotel

As someone whose recent concert experiences have been so marred by idiots holding up cameras during performances (I may have bruised a few peoples' ribs at the Childish Gambino show last April, for instance), this sign that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs introduced at their Webster Hall show this weekend is now the reason I'd go check out them in concert:

• SPIN.com
• Damn straight.

From SPIN.com:

Its full text:

"PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE SHOW THROUGH A SCREEN ON YOUR SMART DEVICE/CAMERA.

PUT THAT SHIT AWAY as a courtesy to the person behind you and to Nick, Karen and Brian.

MUCH LOVE AND MANY THANKS!

YEAH YEAH YEAHS"

Karen O reiterated the band's request at the top of the second song (an incredible rendition of Show Your Bones' "Gold Lion"), telling the crowd to snap away as much as they liked for the next few minutes, but then "put those motherfuckers away," mining as though she was holstering a phone on the side of her banana-yellow "Violent Fuzz" suit. SPIN spotted a few violators on the floor of the venue throughout the 16-song set — which featured the live debuts of two Mosquito tracks, "Slave" and "Wedding Song" — but for the most part, the crowd respected the band's wishes.

Good. Because this "recording shows with cell phones" bulllshit has become an epidemic, and I'm sick of it — and the worst part is, it's happening the most with my generation, who is apparently too enamored with uploading shitty cell phone video and audio to realize that they paid good damn money to enjoy a musician plying their trade.

Good on you, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Let's hope this becomes a trend.

I'm not sure how this came about, but college-rock legends Dinosaur Jr. (playing Exile on Congress Street Apr. 20) have "remixed" (or so they say, it sounds more like a cover to me) the new Phoenix (playing AVA Apr. 9) single, "Entertainment". Apparently, Phoenix's Thomas Mars is a fan, so there you go. As strange as this development is, it's an enjoyable version of a song I liked already, so why ask questions, right?

[HT: Spin]

Services for Jesus Acedo, the guitarist for Black Sun Ensemble who passed away on March 4, have been announced.

There is also a new online tribute page here, where you can leave your thought and memories about Jesus and which has all the details. From that page:

• Jesus Acedo

It saddens us to report that local musician Jesus Acedo passed away on Sunday, March 3. No cause of death is known at this time.

Acedo, a masterful and unique guitarist, performed with his on-and-off psychedelic rock band Black Sun Ensemble (or Black Sun Legion, as it was sometimes called) since its formation in the mid-1980s. Black Sun Ensemble's releases received fervent praise in magazines such as Rolling Stone and by tastemakers like famed music critic and musicologist Byron Coley, who wrote the liner notes for the 2001 reissue of the band's 1985 self-titled debut album. The band opened for Camper Van Beethoven on its Key Lime Pie tour in 1989 and performed at showcases at South by Southwest several times.

But, despite his band's innovative music and the loyal cult-fandom it inspired, Acedo — who often identified himself by an ever-changing list of monikers: Bolt of Apollo, Psycho Master El, Prince Master Blaster, Dada Gaga, etc. — suffered from mental illness that led to substance abuse and landed him in and out of jail and psych wards repeatedly, all of which was difficult to witness for anyone who knew him to be the kind, sensitive soul he was.

These episodes were largely responsible for the on/off nature of Black Sun Ensemble, but longtime fans were encouraged by a recent band reunion. On Saturday, Feb. 23, Black Sun Ensemble performed its last show as part of an art opening at Solar Culture Gallery. Steven Eye, the arts space's proprietor, who describes Acedo as "a true visionary," says it was "a magical night" and recounted that one attendee, who was seeing the band for the first time, asked him, "Do these guys know how good they are?!"

Reportedly, Black Sun Ensemble had also recently been working on a new song for which Acedo had already finished his parts. The band plans to finish the recording.

Service arrangements are currently being conducted, and there will, no doubt, be benefits held for the family. We'll keep you posted about these details as we get them.

In the meantime, at the request of his family, a Facebook page called Jesus Acedo Memorial has been set up for his friends and loved ones to leave their thoughts and memories about Jesus. Please do so, as his family can use the support right now.

We at the Tucson Weekly offer his family our sincerest condolences at this difficult time.

Several links to articles and videos are below the jump.

• Courtesy of Idolator

Fresh off a Grammy win for his studio debut Channel Orange, Frank Ocean is already “10 or 11 songs” into an as-yet-untitled follow-up to what many critics pegged as one of the best albums of 2012.

Ocean, who was in the UK to appear at the BRIT Awards (where he won the Best International Male Solo award) spent time in the hot seat with Zane Lowe of BBC Radio 1. The interview is one of several that Ocean’s consented to this year, which is rare for the artist: he expects more than the modicum of privacy most celebrities tolerate, and journalists aren’t exactly his high on his list (as he disclosed early - and rather bluntly - into a recent profile by the New York Times).

Sunday night’s Grammy Awards were full of great music collaborations and of course, scandalous and skimpy outfits (Regardless of the memo that was sent out asking stars to keep visible skin to a minimum).

Although the dresses and designers of the Grammy’s always hit the headlines hard in the following days, the most exciting part of the Grammy’s for me was seeing Fun. receive two awards.

Fun., consisting of Andrew Dost, Jack Antonoff, and Arizonan Nate Ruess, took home Song of the Year for their hit single, “We Are Young.” They beat out Ed Sheeran, Miguel Pimentel, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Kelly Clarkson in this category.

After winning Song of the Year, Fun. was also honored with winning the Grammy for Best New Artist over Alabama Shakes, Hunter Hayes, The Lumineers, and Frank Ocean.

It was great to see Fun., as well as other indie bands such as Mumford and Sons, take home these prestigious awards in the music industry and see a shift from the typical winners.

Fun. also announced last week a headlining tour with Tegan and Sara titled “Most Nights.” The tour will not be stopping in Tucson, but for those of you interested in seeing this Grammy winning band, there will be a stop at Comerica Theatre in Phoenix on Sept. 10.

For more information on the tour, click here.