Yesterday when the little boy on the bus in front of me tantrumed for an entire hour I really tried not to judge. I know well that the poor mom trying to control little Mr Psycho could be me in two years. But seriously! This kid was completely wild and out of control – he threw his arms and legs around like an overturned insect, he bit his mom and he screeched like a demon being exorcised back to hell. My daughter was sleeping soundly next to Mr Psycho and when he started bashing her pram I envisioned picking the kid up by his hair and throwing him out of the bus window. Lucky for Mr Psycho his mom yanked his arm away and he listened … well, he started bashing her instead of my baby’s pram. Fine by me. Everyone on the bus watched in uncomfortable silence and those with iPods thanked God in heaven and cranked up the volume. After Mr Psycho’s mom eventually managed to strap mini-Satan into his stroller (with the help of my husband) he writhed around like a mental patient in a straight-jacket and his crazed eyes darted around in search of someone who he could direct his fury at. I have heard of the ‘terrible twos’ but have never ever seen behaviour like this. I am scarred for life.

RATM steals the glory! Guardian.co.uk reports that Killing In The Name has won the battle for Christmas top spot on the basis of downloads only. It sold about 500,000 copies last week, approximately 50,000 more than The Climb, X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s earnest ballad. Campaign initiator 35 year old Jon Morter claims that the choice of a relatively obscure Miley Cyrus cover for McElderry’s single helped the Rage campaign: “If he had released Don’t Stop Believing (the Journey song McElderry sang in an X Factor heat) we would have been dead and buried.” Hopefully Morter’s statement against pansy-ass cover songs has taught the ‘powers that be’ a lesson in song choice! Anarchy has triumphed under the ironic banner of a song that says “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me”. The success of Morter’s facebook campaign, which was assisted by twitter, is a testament to the strength of social media: used in this case as a tool to unite a collective in a bid to topple the status quo. In this battle, the internet has emerged as master in command.

The X Factor winner has been announced and Joe McElderry is likely to follow the trend of the last few years by achieving the No 1 single this Christmas. It’s a bummer, especially when McElderry’s song is not even original. The Climb, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, is a country pop song performed by American recording artist and actress Miley Cyrus for the 2009 film Hannah Montana: The Movie. Lameness personified. One of the biggest criticisms of X Factor is the karaoke nature of the show, in which contestants perform renditions of songs by successful pop artists. And a karaoke Christmas single merely confirms this view. That is why, this year, a facebook campaign has been launched by Tracy and Jon Morter, entitled “Rage Against the Machine for Christmas No 1″. Read the rest of this entry »

March couldn’t come soon enough!

If somebody tells me about the “Mozart Effect” one more time I am going to start breaking faces. I realise that my metal music alliances may be enough to freak out the most liberal of thinkers but it would be most appreciated if people did their research.

The Mozart Effect is a theory that is based on a set of research results, which indicate that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as ‘spatial-temporal reasoning‘. Popularised versions of the theory credit the playing of classical music to babies with boosting IQ, improving health, strengthening family ties and even producing the occasional child prodigy. This idea was entrenched in the 1997 book by Don Campbell, The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind, and Unlock the Creative Spirit. Although there have been numerous studies conducted in support of the Mozart Effect, the theory remains controversial and there are many academics and studies that debunk the extent and consistency of the proposed effects of classical music on babies. There are researchers who argue that the Mozart Effect represents only the short-term effects of classical music on mood and arousal. There are also studies concluding that although classical music may have a calming effect babies, it does not in fact improve IQ. This is why researchers continue to test whether the Mozart Effect is real and if any other styles and pieces of music have the same effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Toy company Mattel is gearing for the December launch of its new Barbie Ladies of the 80s collection . The range is aimed primarily at collectors and includes three Barbies: Cindi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Joan Jett. All I can say is: Where were these Barbies when I was growing up? and I need the Cindi!

The 80s Barbies can be pre-ordered at Entertainment Earth ($34.99 each) and Amazon ($69.95 each).

My favourite Barbie was the one with the blue party dress and the poofy eighties fringe. My second favourite was my Party Pink Barbie which came adorned in pink, jewels and glitz – the showstopper being a furry pink shawl sprinkled with sparkly silver stuff. I had some other pretend ‘Barbies’ that I managed to destroy: I used hand soap to wash one doll’s beautiful red hair and it remains, to this very day, stuck together in one giant dreadlock; and I had a mermaid Cindy (or something) which apparently was not supposed to be used in water despite the fact that she came with a beautiful mermaid tail – her crimped hair changed from ‘Darryl Hannah in Splash‘ to ‘Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich‘. Poor dollies. Taiwanese plastic is pretty sturdy but does allow for creativity that encompasses body modification, hair design and facial piercings. If my mom had taken a look at my Barbies perhaps she wouldn’t have been so surprised when I got my first tattoo, purple-black hair and piercing. I spent many a happy hour ‘playing Barbies’ with neighbours, friends, cousins and even brothers – although their version of the game was called ‘army bases’ and involved G.I. Joes, lego, micro-machines, farmyard animals and plants from the garden. Read the rest of this entry »

Photos by Warren Zanin

Caliban, along with tour headliners Emmure, led a full metal assault on a handful of wildly devoted fans at the Relentless Garage in London tonight. The hardcore metallers from Germany played to a rather sparse crowd, most likely owing to poor tour promotion, but wrecked havoc nonetheless.

Vocalist Andreas Dörner’s beast of a voice put fans in a manic mood and the singer’s animated gesticulations so aptly reflect the aggression and intensity of his lyrics. New album Say Hello To Tragedy explores some dark (and tragic) topics inspired by Dörner’s personal experiences as well as the real life drama of the Josef Fritzle case. The album reflects an anger provoked by an unjustified evil that encompasses our world today and reflects on the sad reality of how, in many cases, tragedies could have been prevented. And there is no better place to thrash out anger and frustration than at a live metal show – for both fans and band. Read the rest of this entry »

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is honouring Director Tim Burton with a retrospective exhibit of the artwork connected to some of his most beloved films including Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. The exhibition will include hundreds of never-before-seen paintings, sculptures and puppets from the artist’s own collection. Celebs including Johnny Depp, Patti Smith, Danny DeVito, Tim Burton and partner Helena Bonham Carter attended the exhibition premier in New York this week (see footage). The exhibition will run from 22 November 2009 until 26 April 2010 and has been described by MONA as an exhibition of Burton’s work “as a director, producer, writer, and concept artist for live-action and animated films, along with his work as a fiction writer, photographer and illustrator.” Read the rest of this entry »

Fans turned up in droves to see 30 Seconds To Mars perform a once-off show in London at Camden’s majestic live music venue Koko. The band’s second show in a year and a half oozed with a confidence that is earned through the hard work and dedication that it takes to achieve success. Gregarious front man Jared Leto controlled the crowd, the VIPs, the record label dignitaries and the venue with his unyielding charisma. Screeching girls were in abundance and playing ‘spot the dude’ from Koko’s grand balcony was a good way to prevent openers We Fell To Earth from yawning the audience into a coma. When the lights finally dimmed, heralding the arrival of the Californian rockers, screams reached a crescendo and cell phone and camera lights illuminated the venue as fans raised arms and recording devices in a bid to preserve the moment for all time. Read the rest of this entry »