We couldn’t be happier for Issue Oriented (hosted and operated by our longtime friend Ronen Kauffman) for launching their 50th podcast episode yesterday. If you’re not a subscriber of this amazing podcast then you should start immediately. They host all their current and past episodes and a lot more content on their site. Be sure to head over and take a listen.

Issue Oriented’s 50th episode features Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Fair weighing in on the Grammys, the ever-changing music industry, the value of content and more. Lots of insight here, which is no surprise – Shadows Fall are one of the world’s most well-known bands.

Ronen also asked me to take a look back at the past 50 episodes and tell him which was my favorite and why. Listen to me, Ray Harkins (Mikoto, Taken), and James Hepplewhite (Pastepunk.com) all reflect on our favorite Issue Oriented moments over the years.

Congrats Ronen and IO – we are looking forward to listening to another 50!

Our good friend Tom Bejgrowicz of Man Alive Design teamed up with his long time friend and former Danzig, Samhain bassist Eerie Von to create a pictorial/biography of Eerie’s time spent in Lodi, NJ (birthplace to the Misfits) as well as a wealth of experiences with Danzig and the like. From Eerie’s days shooting The Misfits while still attending Lodi High with, Doyle, his classmate to the formation of Samhain all the way to playing stadiums with Danzig, the book documents one of the most important and infuential underground music scenes of the modern era. Forewords for the book by Lyle Preslar (Minor Threat) and Mike d. (Killswitch Engage).

With over 160 pages, 250+ photos, rare memorabilia, killer stories and captions – “Misery Obscura” is the perfect compliment to everything The Misfits, Samhain & Danzig. A perfect gift for the holidays.

Be sure to Pre-Order yours now!

Our good friend Tim just sent us a link to a movie poster for Ryan Reynold’s new film Buried. Hmmm, it looks strikingly similar to something else. You be the judge.

PORTLAND
1. Birth of my daughter Zoe (I know it’s not an album, but definitely my #1)
2. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
3. Coalesce – OX + OXEP
4. Metric – Fantasies (+ acoustic performance)
5. Jason Lytle – Yours Truly, the Commuter
6. Ladyfinger (ne) – Dusk
7. Burnt By The Sun – Heart Of Darkness
8. Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen
9. Goes Cube – Another Day Has Passed
10. Dead And Divine – The Machines We Are

Honorable Mentions
11. Thrice – Beggars
12. P.O.S. – Never Better
13. Gaza – He Is Never Coming Back
14. Nirvana – Bleach Reissue
15. The Title Fight – The Last Thing You Forget

Anticipations for 2010
1. Good Fight Music / Entertainment
2. New office
3. The return of the almighty Disembodied
4. Foxy Shazam’s new album
5. Coalesce on tour


PHILL MAMULA
1. Jay-Z “Blueprint 3”
2. POS “Never Better”
3. Enter Shikari “Common Dreads”
4. Wale “Attention Deficit”
5. Sage Francis “Sick of Wasting…”
6. Brother Ali “US”
7. Cage The Elephant “self-titled”
8. Eyedeas & Abilities “By The Throat”
9. Evergreen Terrace “Almost Home”
10. Kid Cudi “Man on the Moon : The End of Day”

Honorable Mentions:
11. Jonny Craig “Dream is a Question You Don’t Know How to Answer”
12. Slug & Murs “Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez”
13. A Day to Remember “Homesick”

ANTICIPATION FOR 2010
1. Celebrating 5 years of PHILLM – Jan 23 2010
2. New Sonsofnero.com
3. New PHILLM.com
4. Watching my Uncle run the Ironman in AZ (Nov 2010)


AARON MARSH
1. Architects – Hollow Crown
2. Oceana – Birtheater
3. Dredg – The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
4. Converge – Axe To Fall
5. Animals As Leaders – Self-titled
6. Closure In Moscow – First Temple
7. Circle Of Contempt – Artifacts In Motion
8. Oh Sleeper – Son Of The Morning
9. Chimaira – The Infection
10. Katatonia – Night Is The New Day

Honorable Mentions
1. Bring Me The Horizon – Suicide Season Cut Up
2. Between The Buried And Me – The Great Misdirect
3. Mos Def – The Ecstatic

ANTICIPATIONS FOR 2010
1. This Or The Apocalypse’s record
2. Dillinger Escape Plan’s record
3. Good Fight & Sons Of Nero
4. Owning a Canon 1d Mark 4 or RED Epic/Scarlet
5. Hopefully a new iMac, MacBook Pro, or MacPro


STARR JAMES
Top 5 shows watched while on maternity leave:
1. Price is Right
2. Six Feet Under rerun marathons
3. Curb Your Enthusiasm reruns
4. Office reruns
5. Jeopardy

We couldn’t have been more excited when Ferret Music and Shadows Fall decided to work together on the band’s new release ‘Retribution’ because that meant we were going to be doing some art for this legendary band. I remember getting ‘Of One Blood’ for my birthday the year it came out and listened to that CD repeatedly for years. Brian and the guys were awesome to work with and it was a pleasure creating art for this amazing release. There are a ton pre-order packages available on their Myspace Page.

They just released a video for their new single ‘Still I Rise’ – Preview It Here

Be sure to get your hands on the record when it hits shelves September 15th – it’s easily one of their best.

Check out the making of Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster’s Pre-Order Box Set!

As many of you have seen, we’ve begun to make quite a presence in the myspace world. Some of the latest myspaces pages to go live, are some of our best. Make sure to check out these bands new myspaces & their new tunes!
Nick Carter, A Bird A Sparrow, Poison the Well, Breathe Carolina, Chelsea Grin, Conditions, Tides of Man, Evergreen Terrace, Dead & Divine, Prophit, Attack Attack!, I See Stars & More…


Above is a preview of the new Thee Armada myspace that we just launched. Be sure to head over to their site and vote for them for their chance to get a Myspace Records deal VOTE NOW!

This is the latest project we did with Craig over at Rise Records. We had a great time doing this and the Dylan from the band had some great ideas that helped bring this to life. The lovely Alex was gracious enough to get all dirty and creepy for the photo shoot and she nailed it. Be sure to pick up the new CD NOW!

We just finished up a bunch of projects for MA’s own Bridge Nine Records. It’s awesome to work with a label that values multiple versions of a release and that STILL does 7inches! This time around we worked on the latest releases from Death Before Dishonor and Dead Swans. Both bands have a ton of great stuff to check out over at the Bridge Nine Store so do yourself a favor and head over. Big thanks go out to Karl and Chris at B9 for the opportunity and for being straight awesome dudes.

We’ve been working with the infamous Jeffree Star on a few projects and it’s been a blast. He has a great vision for his image and the assets he’s provided have been amazing. His new album “Beauty Killer” hits shelves Sept. 22nd and it’s definitely going to turn some heads. We’ll be launching Jeffree’s new myspace page very soon so keep an eye out for that. For now, be sure to go check out some of his songs on his Official Myspace page.