The track is called “Rape in Hatred by Vines of Thorn”, and it can be heard here.

The song is an ode to Evil Dead, of which BDM’s Trevor Strnad said, “I remember the first time I saw Evil Dead… it was at my friend’s birthday party in 7th grade. It was recommended by the same older sister that had gotten us all into punk and heavy metal music… so we knew we were in for the real deal. The movie scared the unholy 13 year old shit out of us… we were terrified. I remember the possessions really affecting me… the way the people would contort and writhe was disturbing. The possessed had that awful way that they sounded when they spoke and howled… pretty insane as well. The vine rape scene was intense… I love the idea of the forest coming alive… so much so that I wrote a song about it many years later.”

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It was a bit of a “world’s collide” event too – with CEOs rubbing shoulders with rockers, high-ranking execs with DJs and all manner of reprobates.

Thanks to the open bar and awesome free food, everyone seemed to be having a great time. Musicians seen networking and chowing down included the members of White Shag, Amy Gore & Her Valentines, Kaleido, Dead in 5, Jennifer Westwood & Dylan Dunbar, Frank Woodman, the Bobby Electric, the Hounds Below, and award-winning comedian Jimmy Doom.

Much fun was had by all.

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“Most of the children involved in this project would otherwise never have had the opportunity to even touch an instrument, let alone learn what effect playing music can have on every aspect of their life,” said Charles Burke, DSO senior director of Education. “Thanks to Honda, some of them will pursue classical music as a career, but no doubt all of them will never forget this experience.”

Honda will be presenting the DSO with $150,000, and that cash will provide participating students with another year of music education.

“Honda joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Wayne State University on this project because our company values education, the arts and children,” said Edward Miller, senior manager of Media and Industry Relations at Honda North America, Inc. “The Power of Dreams program unites all three for the benefit of our city and a new generation of rising artists.”

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Marketing executives love telling the story of Betty Crocker cake mix. When the company first introduced it in 1952, it didn’t do so well. It was marketed as a quick and easy product that still retained a “fresh, home-made” quality. American housewives weren’t buying it. All one needed to do to make this boxed cake was add water. Doesn’t really seem all that fresh. So Betty Crocker removed the powdered eggs from the mix. Now women had to add a few fresh eggs into the batter, giving them a sense of creative contribution.

You know what will give you a better sense of creative contribution than cracking some eggs into a boxed mix? Making a cake from scratch. It’s not that hard. It tastes better and has simple ingredients, no corn syrup, hydrogenated soybean oil, or trans-fats. This yellow cake is yellow because of the butter and egg yolks, not because of yellow dye #5 and #6.

Cake

3/4 cup of butter

3 Eggs

2 1/2 cups AP Flour

2 1/2  teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 3/4 cup of sugar

1 1/4 cups of milk

Juice of half a grapefruit

Frosting

1/2  teaspoon of vanilla

1/2  pint of whipping cream

Juice of half a grapefruit

1 tablespoon-1/4 cup of powdered sugar (to taste)

Let eggs and butter sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes before mixing ingredients.

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 cup of the sugar. Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter. Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, stopping frequently to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add eggs one at a time. Beat the mixture well, fully incorporating the egg before adding the next egg.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture a third at a time. Alternate a third of the milk at a time into the batter. Once all of the milk and all of the flour mixture has been added, beat on low until all ingredients are incorporated.

Transfer to a 13×9 greased baking pan.

Bake in center rack of the oven for 20-35 minutes. The cake is ready when a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. We find taking a look at the cake in ten minute increments is the best way to keep from burning it.  Plus it’s neat watching it transform from liquid batter to solid cake.

Once the cake is done, cool it on a rack for about 60 minutes. Place a large metal bowl in the freezer and leave in for about 60 minutes. The cold bowl is for the whipped cream frosting. The fat in the cream forms a matrix that traps air as it’s whipped. This matrix falls apart when warm. The whipping process generates heat.  Whipping in a cold bowl will keep your cream cool long enough to form a stiff frosting.

When the cake has cooled, remove the metal bowl from the freezer. Pour in the cream and whip on high with an electric mixer. While whipping, add vanilla, grapefruit juice, and powdered sugar. You may need to enlist the help of an extra hand if you are using a handheld mixer to be able to pour ingredients in while still whipping. Whip cream until stiff peaks are formed.

Scrape the whipped cream out of the metal bowl onto the cake. Use a spatula to spread evenly over the cake. Garnish with grapefruit zest.

This cake can be made with other citrus fruits as well such as orange, lemon, or lime. To store the cake, cover with plastic wrap and keep in a cool, dry place. It will last for about three to four days before it goes stale.

As expected, they have a new album out. Why else would an ostensible culture upstart like me be blogging about a band?

But these Chicago lo-fi/noise noodlers, these refiners of quintessential fuzz-rock, are Detroit friendlies… They’re practically cousins with our Destroy This Place. They’ve split songs on a 7″ in the past and now they’re sharing album release-party weekends. DTP are trucking down to Chicago (Saturday, the 18th) to join their raucous, riff-happy brethren and help them toast their latest efforts - Mover.

Cloud Nothings is nothing.  Jeff The Brotherhood have an awesome band name but that’s not enough…   We’ve got Hospital Garden!

Super low, gurgling bass, crackling fuzz and foamy reverb stoked over every tone and these marching beats (spurring up to manic fits at all the right points) lock in nicely with those dizzying riff storms – nostalgia for 94 – resurrecting the specter of Sparklehorse, the bat-shit caustic charms of Sebadoh or maybe, for those who caught them last week, refilling a few Breeders-tinged yearnings.

Destroy This Place are pulling double duty on the album release parties. Their own self titled album (their second proper full length, out now on Bellyache Records) is getting its own concert at the Lager House tomorrow (5/17).

Anyone from Chicago reading this thing?

Veteran hardcore punks the Meatmen have launched a Kickstarter campaign, which can be seen here.

Frontman Tesco Vee released a statement saying, “That’s right, I’ve been entertaining your sorry asses for over 30 years, and now it’s time for YOU to become a part of Meat History!
After 18 years, we embark on our first new platter of Meaty originals – filled with all the Hate Rock Wack you expect from us and then some!! We have been pouring our black hearts and hate-filled souls into the process, and this masterwork is gonna set the Punk Rock planet ablaze! Nobody is safe, as I lay the verbal wood to all-new targets left and right! And these 3 Henchman backing me up are the real deal! We are calling upon you, the loyal Meatheads to get off your wheelchair butts and be part of the creative process!

Every single penny you invest is going back into the band, and nothing in our pockets. Any amount that exceeds our target goal of $5000 will be invested into the band to give YOU a girthier, meatier experience. New props? Check. New costumes? Fuck yeah. New Van? Yeah, maybe if Sugar Daddy Lucifer himself kicks in some loot. Any donation of $50 or greater will have your name included in the liner notes of the new album!
After being on the road for the last few years, we’ve heeded your call for a new album! For over 30 years, Good ol’ Uncle Tesco has accrued a belly full of vitriol and a lyrical prowess to lay waste to all those in his path! Fuck all this pussy shit, masquerading as musclehead these days. The Meatmen are back, and with your help we’ll be haulin’ a big sack o’ piss n’ vinegar – in the waxy form of a new album! Don’t miss out — Weenbags!”

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The Detroit Cobras will play the Magic Stick on Saturday, June 1 in support of the Tied & True album on Bloodshot Records (which is weird, because that album came out in 2007, but that’s what the label is saying).

According to a press release, “When we come into this world, some of us get tapped on the head by God, the Grand Poobah, Mother Nature, or who/whatever and are granted extraordinary gifts; there is no question that Detroit Cobras’ singer Rachel Nagy rolled snake eyes at the Grand Casino in the Sky.

“Rachel started out by belting revved-up rock yowlers and has grown into the gen-u-ine gutsy, vulnerable, delicate and commanding soul-on-the-edge singer. She effortlessly glides from R&B sass, to girl group pathos to kitten-with-a-whip toughness with a snap of her chipped fingernails. Longtime musical partner in crime, guitarist Mary Ramirez keeps the DE-troit Motor City in the Cobras with her body shop wallop, greasy rock ‘n soul rhythms and a bold grasp of old school, big room arrangements.”

Show time is 9 p.m. and cover is $15. This is an all-ages show. The bill also features Pangea, Justin Walker & the Crossguards, and Chains of Love.

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Promising to bring stability and integrity to the job in the wake of Kwame Kilpatrick’s felonious reign, he avoided scandal but also failed to right the city’s finances and prevent the appointment of an emergency manager to run the city.

A novice politician when he first took office, it was a job the former businessman and NBA star never seemed completely comfortable holding. It didn’t help that his administration was plagued by frequent changes in top-tier appointees.

Given that he was never really able to fine a groove and failed to generate much enthusiastic support among throughout his time in office, the surprising thing about his announcement wasn’t that he won’t be seeking re-election, but rather that he will look into the possibility of running for Wayne County Chief Executive in 2014.

Considering the scandals surrounding current Chief Exec Bob Ficano, maybe Bing is figuring that a campaign based on restoring integrity to office could again be a winner.

Send CDs, vinyl, cassettes, demos and 8-tracks to Brett Callwood, Metro Times, 733 St. Antoine, Detroit, MI 46226. Email MP3s and streaming links to bcallwood@metrotimes.com.

Joe Hertler & the Rainbow Seekers’ Recorded Live in Stereo at the Russell Industrial Center was exactly that. It’s all given away in the title. So what we have here is a five-track CD, and a DVD featuring the recording of those same five songs. This is a band that loves their city, something that’s evident from the “beautiful Detroit, Michigan” note on the front, and the fact that they have an awesome song called “Red Wings”. They’re great too; it’s as if all of those radio friendly mellow indie bands like Snow Patrol moved here, soaked in the city and then jammed.

Sunday School is a phenomenal record, a compilation of gospel music recorded by a bunch of local notables and put together by Doop of the Inside Outlaws. It’s a rare treat to hear Eddie Baranek of the Sights singing a song like “In the End I Know He’s Alright,” Rachel May with “Angel From Montgomery,” and Danny Kroha with “I’m Gonna Take a Trip in That Old Gospel Ship”. We get to see a whole other side to our beloved Detroit rockers and country guys and gals, and it’s refreshing.

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Here’s the new single: “Born To Kill”

The notoriously energetic band with its notoriously propulsive Portland-bred pop style are upping the indie-cred of Ferndale by making the Loving Touch a tour-stop, supporting their new album on Saddle Creek records.

While writing about this stuff, I literally unplugged my laptop, walked it to the nearest countertop so i could stand up, and ran in place, perilously snugging my headphones in place as the uptempo chaos whirled onward… It’s just those types of songs.

Toronto based dream-rock duo Moon King joins a newer local trio of regulars, The French Method, in opening things up… Friday – 9pm -