Holy smokes, people, there's a new Darkane video online, and it'd appear they've rediscovered their unique, crushing, half-melodic mojo. I loved their 2001 album Insanity to pieces, especially "Emanation of Fear," one of the most danceable metal songs of recent years; I didn't care for 2002's Expanding Senses at all, though, and I moved onto other things.

Well: hot damn! If the rest of the new one is half this good, there's high-stepping in the frozen north tonight - enjoy!

So, uhh, yeah. Normally I'd avoid pointing to things that explicitly reference my singing-about-things job, 'cause I feel like the culture of constant self-promotion could use a little trimming back (said the guy, writing on his own blog, aware of some tension there), but the video for Kimya Dawson's "Lullaby for the Taken" reminds me just how powerful the song is. Obviously, I know Kimya, so the first verse has a personal resonance for me, but it's the second verse that gets me, and I do mean gets me; and I suspect that anyone who has ever had a grandmother will feel that verse's light, soft touch way down in the hidden, hurting regions of the heart. Thank you, Kimya, for making this remarkable song.

Who is Alphabet Nash, and is he always this awesome?

Massively underrated this year has been Altered Genesis by Blood Red Throne: Tchort's riffs are overproof kerosene thrash, pure quality. While this album isn't the shocking splash of bleach to the eyes that Monument of Death was, it's still worth your dimes and nickels, especially for the Suffocation-style breakdown that puts "Mephitication" to bed once and for all.

"Hit Me, Baby, One More Time" (fuck I hated that fucking song, too, I wish they'd called this show something else) is a TV show where they bring one-hit wonders out and have 'em perform their hits & then, in the second round, have 'em cover a modern pop song. "One-hit wonder" isn't really the case; last night they had the Motels, the Knack, Haddaway, Tommy Tutone, and Vanilla Ice. In between performances there're where-are-they-now interviews with the bands 'n' stuff. So, Haddaway does "What is Love" and it's like the most beautiful thing ever of course. Tutone does "Jenny (867-5309)" and puts a pretty surprising about of venom into it and I'm like "holy fuck." I missed "My Sharona." The Motels do "Only the Lonely" and the fact that the song was more about production than content is clear. And of course Vanilla Ice does "Ice Ice Baby," and it's horrible - he's bellowing nu-metal style the whole time, all the charm is surgically drained from the song - but because 1) his DJ is in fact revolvin' it and 2) he does the dance moves, there's still a greatness to it.