Beardfish

Man, I never thought a new band would rock the world of prog rock like Beardfish. I have been listening to them at MySpace and emusic, or wherever I can find a sample to dig. They mix old prog rock school a la Gentle Giant, Yes, King Crimson with something extra, that is the factor of originality that makes them different from other bands and makes them not a rip off of old and good prog.

They are growing on me, I will probably dig them in the same level as I dig Spock's Beard, Magellan ( my favorite new prog rock bands ).

Heathen

When I was heavily into Thrash Metal ( 88 to 1992 ), Heathen was a band always mentioned but I have never heard them. You can check them at their page, they allow you to listen to their first 2 cds for free. I will most definitely buy their new upcoming album, as it sounds very very good.

The second CD "Victims of Deception", is really at the same level of "And Justice For All", with a plus, the singer sounds like John "The Man" Arch! Highly recommended band.

Symphony x

I saw them live back in 2000. They were kicking ass needless to say. They have not played some of my favorite tracks from "Divine Wings Of Tragedy", according to Jason Rullo because they were told that the audience was formed of true metal kids, which was true.

But Michael Romeo and Pinnella really play that well. Allen is a monster live too. Jason Rullo easily kicks the ass of the current Portnoy. Lepond got some chicks after the concert, which was the best thing he did ( yeah I am a Thomas Miller fan ).

But yeah, in the past I had sold all their cds because I needed money and last week I bought them all except "Paradise Lost". They are among my favorite bands most definetely. Their web site link is on the right side of this blog.

Martyr "Warp Zone" /"Feeding the Abscess "

I must have "Warp Zone" since 2003 or 2004. I had listened to it a few times in the past. I have never given it much credit besides an occasional "wow".

I was at emusic trying to find anything that I wanted to get from my monthly plan and previewed Martyr's cds out of curiosity. And Man! These guys have finally blown me away. I don't think there is any other better tech death metal band. They kick ass of any other band in the genre. I spent my credits on their both latest cds.

Daniel Mongrain( he has a great name we cannot disagree ) is a real genius in the genre and you realize that by listening to its works. He is also one of the most accomplished tech metal theoretical gurus. I really recommend their cds. Imagine Gorguts ( atonalism, dissonances and brutality ), King Crimson ( avant guarde, atonal, poly this and that, etc ) and Meshuggah ( riffs , grooves and atonalism, bizarrisms, tempo experiments).

They are the top of listenings lately. Their web site link is at the right side of this blog. And indeed one of my current favorite bands.

Mp3s illegal downloads

I have to admit, I was a downloader of mp3s. I care a lot for the small and independent artists, so I am deleting everything just keeping stuff I paid for.

Ok, I will not be able to listen to all the albums as I am poor, but that is life isn't it ? I am actually downloading stuff that is allowed by the artists and small labels in form of mp3.

That and myspace will be my sources from now on. I will have more of free mp3s, cheap mp3s stores, everything legal of course. To me , who listen to music while working, it is impossible to listen to MySpace all day as my employee forbids it.

I apologizeto small artists and labels. I will post my list of CDs, LPs, cassete tapes and legal mp3s soon. A tip: echolyn, which whom I own 2 actual cds has many free downloads at their site including a live version of MEI, one of their new classics.

My favorite sci-fi films.

Forbidden Planet - I have watched this as a kid, still want to see it again. The plot was amazing. War of The Worlds - Watch Both versions, original and Spielbergs.
2001 - The pinacle of hard sci fi films.
Solaris - Watch it in day you are in agood mood, because you will need that, but worth of course. Clockwork Orange - A distopian proto cyberpunk classic.
Westworld - get some wild androids going nuts. The Andromeda Strain- Really astonishing film for its time.
Alien 1- The best one ever made about killer aliens
Outland - a western in space
Blade Runner - Best film ever (IMHO of course :-))
Predator 1- though not strictly sci-fi, the monster is an alien right?
Akira- Cyberpunk anime. A classic.
Total Recall - P. K Dicks based film with roaler-coaster action and Sharon Stone.
Sphere- Highly underated but really impressive.
Dark City - One of the most underated films ever. Must see it.
13th Floor - part of the fake worlds not connected trilogy with the above and below mentioned films.
Matrix 1 - You probably watche it already.
Ghost in The Shell- Maybe the best cyberpunk anime ever made.
Fifth Element - The best space opera ever made. Astonishing visual. Gattaca - genetic engineering themes.
Serenity - Watch the series first though: Firefly
Minority Report- Check the eye scene.
AI: Yeah I pretty much dig it.
The Chronicles of Riddick- This is a futuristic fantasy but hell worth it.
Wall.e - Really astonishing film though people think it is aimed to kids only.

These are my favorite ones, I am not even calling them "bests", because it would be frakkin arrogant ;-)

Galy records

Good tip:


http://www.galyrecords.com/e-store.html

You can buy Gorguts, Neuraxis, Beneath The Massacre for 14 US$ dollars including shipping to Brazil. That is exactly the same as buying a cd like Death "Symbolic" for US$ 15 in a so-called "promotion" I have seen it. The difference is one is an import and the other is a Brazilian made cd.

cd prices in Brazil

The average American makes US$ 32 000 per year according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Average_Joe.

Considering that he has not college background. Which gives US$ 2666,00. This person can buy a cd ( let's suppose that he pays US$ 12 for a decent cd ). Thus:

One average american could buy aprox. 222 cds per month. He would not have to import cds see it.

A person in Brazil with a degree from a good University like USP would make like ( at best of course ) US$ 15000 per year, or US$ 1215 per month.

Brazilian cds cost from US$ 11 to US$ 18,75 which takes us to 64,80 cds/month. if one wants to get good cds, one will need to import and pay from US$ 20 to US$ 30 . Hardly, not often RIO, technical metal, technical death metal bands have their albuns released in Brazil. I am not counting suriving costs like rent, food, healthy and education of course, this is a rather simple comparison.

Once you see an artist complaining that someone in Brazil downloaded mp3s ( I am not saying I download you know, I am just analysing a situation ) and this artist feels offended you can see that he has a narrow-minded view of reality. Once you see kids in USA that can buy 10 or 15 cds /month you certainly feel rather depressed. At least I do.

The Last Cylon is....

Although I think that by saying my following opinion I will have to accept some “mysterious and religious” events on "Battlestar Galactica" , I think that it is more logical to think that Gaius Baltar is the Last Cylon.

The visions he has with number 6 are not visions properly speaking, they are rather the Cylon inner being that lies within his brain. Of course he was examined by the doctor, but the last Cylon is a different kind. That would explain much of the talkings he and number 6 have in Gaius conscience.

On ther other hand, Caprica can see a form of Gaius Baltar in her mind, because when she arrived at Galactica, Gaius/Cylon realized it and sent a message to her. This would be an advance form of communication just as one we have today in wireless communications where devices constantly poll other devices close to them. When Gaius found her he started sending her these messages. That is why she sees a Gaius Baltar in her mind.

I even wonder that Gaius/Last Cylon may be the first AI created by mankind just spreading his code through centuries and space.

Gaius/Number Six/Cylon represent a religious triad just as in the Father/Son and Holy Ghost.