Wow… 43 seconds in and I was hooked. This really took me back to laying on the floor in my parent’s living room, under a blanket and staring wide-eyed at the TV. “The Neverending Story” was one of my favorite movies when I was growing up, and it still holds up to be an excellent fantasy movie, even by today’s cgi-laden, big-budget standards. Very few movies have the heart, suspense, humor and faintest dash of creepiness that make this movie work as well as it does. And of course, few people that know this movie can think of it without getting the chorus of it’s famous theme song stuck in their heads for hours. There are a large number of memorable tunes that stand out throughout the film, and I think Gijs was able to capture them perfectly in this medley.

More Info: Official Gijs van Winkelhof Website

Turisas‘ touring accordionist, Netta Skog, doing a cover of Nightwish‘s Dead to the World. Not bad at all. She was quite impressive in concert as well… hopefully Turisas keeps her on board for their next album.

More info: Turisas’ Wikipedia Page

I am greatly looking forward to the end of this week. Well, more specifically, the end of the workday tomorrow. After many long months of waiting, Chicago Powerfest 2008 is finally upon us. A group of friends and I will be driving out to Mokena, IL Thursday morning to indulge in a 3-night metal feast! For those of you who don’t know about Chicago Powerfest, it’s an annual multi-night concert that has featured some of the best local Chicago metal acts as well as a number of amazing national (and international) acts. The 2008 edition is no exception… 17 bands and nearly 20 hours of brain-splitting metal. In fact, this year features some of the most badass bands that I’m excited to get my very first live taste of…

Watch the Cellonator (aka Sachino Tsinadze) rip through Joe Satriani’ classic “Surfing With the Alien” on an electric cello (which, I have to say, is one crazy looking instrument). I never thought a cello could rock so hard:

While surfing the YouTubes, I stumbled across a video that I felt I just had to share (with the 2 people that come to my site). It’s a video of Jake Shimabukuro performing an amazing live cover of George Harrison’s classic tune, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”… on the ukulele. A great listen and amazing to watch. I highly recommend you take a look.

While I can’t resist the screeching tone, causual strumming, or frenzied riffing of the king of all musical instruments, the electric guitar, I can’t help but be drawn to the mechanical sound of Industrial. It must be the geek in me that just loves the artificial, synthetic sound of an inspired industrial or electronica track. This seems odd since, technically speaking, the Industrial / Electronica sound isn’t all that far removed from the clicks-and-pops sound of many hip-hop “artists”.

Perhaps it’s because the sound is a little dirtier… less commercial or clean and much, much darker. A good track can take you on a journey, build up excitement, inspire you, energize you. The fact that many Industrial bands, such as Front Line Assembly, KMFDM, Ministry and Skinny Puppy also incorporate many metal elements into their music sure doesn’t hurt either.