Especially this new one I found.

My fascination with Japanese commercials dates back to the dawn of youtube, where it was the wild west of who knows what you could find. My favorite discoveries after hours of random kanji were the Japanese commercials. For me, these commercials were more than odd spectacles of nonsense, no, they were windows to a culture that fascinated me and had me applaud their guts to push a products using inventive methods.

Now, I can hear already… “Aidan, this is cool and all, but where is the metal?”

Well my delightful friend, I got you! Japanese noodle company Nissin has rolled out a really well done and also very metal commercial for their product. The commercial features a noodle-eating chicken devil, summoning noodle snake from the ground, and the eventual destruction of all.

Anime News Network breaks it down perfectly!

“According to the story in the magazine, the statue seen at the beginning is a being called "Akuma no Kimura." Hiyoko-chan participates in rituals to the demon to satisfy its desire for perfection and obtain what is missing to achieve that desire. The description goes on to say that the demon isn't really an external entity, but more of a representation of a demon-like thing that exists within human beings that cannot be destroyed.

The ad repeats the phrases "Sugu oishii, sugoku oishii" (immediately delicious, super delicious). This repetition is supposed represent that the phrase itself no longer has meaning outside of being a spell to access the subconscious. Eventually the phrase transforms into "jigoku oishii" (hellishly delicious). The change happens naturally to the point where the listener doesn't notice until both "delicious" and "hell" coexist.

After Hiyoko's transformation, he becomes a devil named "Caym," a reference to the apocryphal demon also known as Camio that has a bird-like appearance. The demon is well known in Japan because of artist M.L. Breton's depiction in Collin de Plancy's Infernal Dictionary.”

Soooo yeah, THAT IS SO METAL FOR A COMMERCIAL! All this lore in a ramen commercial really makes me wish Cannibal Corpse would make a cameo in a children cereal commercial or something. Actually, I need to make some calls to make that happen now.

Happy Pride! June is, of course, Pride Month, so LXL and Slacker Radio will be championing some of our favorite LGBTQ artists all month!

Aussie artist Troye Sivan may be young, but he’s been out his entire career, and talked to Music Choice about how he’s trying to bend and break barriers of gay representation in popular media with his songs and videos. He told them.

“I, obviously, I’m LGBTQ myself, and um… just know how that feels, and know what I wanted to see when I was a kid and know what kind of would’ve helped me, I think. And now I’m just trying to be that for someone else, you know?"

See what else Troye has to say about being part of the Queer community in the video above. Oh! And wish him a happy birthday – he turns 23 tomorrow!

Don't you remember in The Pick Of Destiny when Jables leaves the oppressive clutches of a religious home (Meatloaf is his movie dad FTW) , heads to Venice Beach and serendipitously meets beach busker, Kyle Gass?

Now Jack gets to play the Venice Beach music maestro, albeit slightly more agile/chill than the scene where he first meets KG.

Meanwhile beloved virtual band members, 2-D, Murdoch and Russell soak up VB vibes....complete with rollerskates, muscles and hijinks!

Sooo with Gorillaz new album The Now Now on June 29th and The Pick Of Destiny sequel release later this year, wouldn't a Gorillaz cameo make purrrfect sense? *If it does happen, let's remember this moment 🙂

Jackie Lee had no intention of sharing his struggles with cancer with the rest of the world. He didn’t want to be known as “the cancer guy.” But then he remembered the healing power of music, and he’d written this song after his mother’s passing in 2016  – from cancer, no less – and after his first battle with testicular cancer, telling People magazine he didn’t care if anyone else ever heard it. It was for him.

But then the cancer came back. It was a highly curable form of cancer, but that didn’t make the chemo any easier, or the fact that he was physically unable to stay out on the road doing what he loved. He says the whole experience made him question his purpose, and wonder what he could do to make an impact for good.

During the course of his treatment, he’d shot a lot of homemade video, but didn’t know what he’d use it for. And he still hadn’t planned to share this personal song he’d written. But then he realized that because it was so personal, because it was his story, but also a story that could touch other people, and it was obvious that he had to release it. He did that with this video, using his footage from his treatment.

And we’re all happy to hear he rang the bell to signify his last day of chemo in January, and he’s healthy now. Thanks for sharing your long year with us, Jackie.