​Local thrash heroes Hirax announced last week that they are hitting the studio in June to record the band's fourth full-length album. Joining the five-piece will be producer/engineer Bill Metoyer, whose resume includes working with Slayer, Morbid Angel and Armored Saint.


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​Nicki Minaj's video for her new single,"Stupid Hoe" off Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (no, not a re-release) hit the internet last Friday. The album, due out next month, will feature one of Minaj's alter egos, Roman Zolanski. Zolanski is a flamboyant gay man who made an appearance on "Roman's Revenge" in Minaj's debut album, Pink Friday. Her other two music alter egos, Martha (Roman's uptight British mom) and Barbie (her cutesy, girly character) will be sitting on the sidelines.More >>

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Orange County hardcore/metal hybrid Bleeding Through just posted a new song titled "Goodbye to Death," a track from the band's latest, The Great Fire, slated for a Jan. 31 release.

As you might expect, the song is heavy.

Recently, I interviewed Bleeding Through guitarist Dave Nassie and asked him specifically about this song, which I assumed was a reference to Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (sure, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a classic, but in my humble opinion, Bogus Journey is one of the greatest and most underrated sequels in film history). I won't give away Nassie's answer, but I will say this: Sadly, it's not about that hilarious scene in which Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted "Theodore" Logan play the Grim Reaper in Battleship, Clue, electronic football and Twister.

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​Blu is known for being unpredictable, so the fact that this morning he dropped -- with zero fanfare -- his and producer Exile's highly anticipated sophomore release shouldn't be surprising.

The Los Angeles duo's 2007 album and Blu's debut, Below the Heavens, made LA Weekly's "Top 20 Greatest L.A. Rap Albums of All Time."

Entitled give me my flowers while i can still smell them, the album is dedicated to Exile's mother, Blu's great great grandmother and grandmother and described as "unfinished, unmixed and unmastered."

Stream the full album below.

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James Durbin is a fighter with the heart of a lover. He has managed to not let personal struggles hold him back and has had success with the theater group Kids On Broadway and with American Idol. It doesn't even matter that he was voted off in the top 4 because he releases his debut Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster today, so the sky is the limit for Durbin. We spoke with the man behind the music about recording his album, American Idol, and his dream collaborations.

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Courtesy of Parallel

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It has been a busy few weeks for Anaheim's Parallel. They were voted Best Hip-Hop Act of 2011 by the Weekly's readers in our Best Of issue in October. Now, they're on the heels of their record release, Dont Sleep [sic], set to drop Friday. The crew will celebrate the release at the Rhythm Lounge in Long Beach.

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​Our favorite LA boys are back! Here's the first video off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album I'm With You with the single "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie."

This is not the much-hyped Kreayshawn version, which, according to bassist Flea, "just didnt work out." He added, "That happens sometimes, I think Kreayshawn is awesome and a great artist."

So who says you can't recycle U2's roof performance concept as they did back in the '80s in downtown LA? It seems RHCP had the proper permits to perform atop an apartment complex in Venice. BTW we're digging the 'stache. Watch it after the jump.

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Kanye West has always been more of the "do shit, think later" type, so Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver)'s discovery that his hook had been used on "That's My Bitch" off the newly-dropped Watch the Throne couldn't have come as too much of a surprise to the indie-rocker.
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Taylor Hamby/OC Weekly

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We were lucky enough to see the marvelous Eddie Vedder at the legendary Beacon Theater in New York a couple of weeks back during his latest solo tour, this time promoting his new album Ukulele Songs.

You might be wondering why the former grunge king would ever succumb to tour and highlight the minuscule instrument as the main focal point, but Vedder has played the ukulele on past Pearl Jam albums so it was just a matter of time that he take the small four-stringed guitar on the road.

When Bruce Springsteen was told about Vedder's grandiose tour, he said, "that takes huge balls." (Which pretty much summarizes how we feel, too.)

And although you will hear some Eddie awesomely blast Pearl Jam tunes tonight at the Terrace Theater, mixed in with the news ones, we write this post to Mr. Vedder, selfishly, as a request to play our favorite five Pearl Jam songs that we think would sound incredible on the ukulele:

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