Tool
30 Signature Guitars for Modern Artists
For decades, having a signature guitar was reserved for classic rock legends — the Claptons, the Hendrixes, the Pages, the SRVs and EVHs. But that’s no longer the case. From pop-punk to heavy metal, alt-country to neo-soul, modern artists of all genres and backgrounds are getting signature guitars from companies big and small. Among the titans of the industry, that intentional shift came with a new generation being put into decision-making positions. “When I started, it was largely classic rock and very much a pantheonic Hall of Fame,” Fender’s Executive VP for Products Justin Norvell says of the early 2000s. “It was an end-of-an-iconic-career kind of thing. But it was my feeling that it should be something that people can use to reflect back upon themselves. A Telecaster can mean James Bu...
Tool Releases Re-Imagined and Extended Version ‘Opiate2’
Nearly six years ago, Tool busted out a re-imagined and extended version of their 1992 track “Opiate” live at Sacramento’s Aftershock Festival. Now (in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their EP of the same name), the rockers released the studio version of the alternate take on the track, officially titled “Opiate2.” Alongside the new track, a Blu-ray edition of the music video for “Opiate2” (the band’s first in 15 years) will release on March 18, and it’s available for pre-order now. Visual artist Dominic Hailstone teamed up with the band on the 10-minute film, which features interviews and insights from some of the band’s collaborators and friends in addition to the music video itself. Tool fans may also recognize Hailstone’s work from the filmed visual components used on Tool’...
Tool Drummer Danny Carey Arrested at Kansas City Airport
Tool drummer Danny Carey was arrested on Sunday night at Kansas City International Airport on misdemeanor assault. According to TMZ, Carey was arrested after allegedly getting into a scuffle with airport security. He faces a fine of up to $13,900. Additionally, TMZ said that Carey shoved the person in the chest with two fingers and called them a “fucking f—–.” Carey is no longer in police custody. A rep for Carey had no comment. Before he was arrested (while wearing a Travis Kelce Kansas City Chiefs jersey), things seemed to be going alright for the Tool drummer. He appeared in his native Kansas to perform with the University of Kansas marching band. The Jayhawks trounced the Missouri Tigers 102-65 in Saturday afternoon’s game. Check out the video of that performance below. [embedded conte...
Tool’s Justin Chancellor, Fever 333’s Aric Improta Rock Out in an Infinity Room for ‘EXU’
Fever 333 and Night Verses drummer Aric Improta and Tool‘s Justin Chancellor collaborated in the surreal, high-octane song, “EXU.” [embedded content][embedded content] Improta explained in a statement that at the beginning of his pandemic lockdown blues, he built an infinity room. Inspired by Panos Cosmotos’ films Beyond the Black Rainbow and Mandy, he knew the room would be used for musical works and collaborations, but without knowing exactly what. He reached out to Chancellor and sent him a video of the room, who then wrote back, “I’m in, I don’t even need to see the clip.” By inspiration of yet another film, Chancellor demanded Improta to watch Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon before his participation in the new project. As a result, the five-minute-long rock out “...
Tool Announce Massive International 2022 Tour
“Let’s finish what we started. Shall we?” Maynard James Keenan said. Tool is taking off on the road again on a huge international tour in 2022. “It is with great pleasure I get to announce our return to the road,” Danny Carey said. “These past 18 months have been trying to say the least but from great trials come great lessons and great rewards. We are genuinely looking forward to sharing them with you.” Tool canceled tour dates last year due to COVID, and they are eager to return to the road. Following the long-awaited 2019 album Fear Inoculum, the band snagged the Best Metal Performance Grammy for the song “7empest.” Tool fans waited over thirteen years for a new record, and Fear Inoculum received high praise and was seemingly worth the wait. Fans can purchase tickets Friday, Oct. 1...
The 40 Greatest Music Video Artists
Music videos are the perfect bastard child of art and commerce, even more than pop music itself. A promotional visual accompaniment to a popular song doesn’t need a coherent narrative (although on rare occasions, they do). It just needs to suit the song, sell the record, and possibly make the artist look cool. But since the launch of MTV 40 years ago this week, a select few recording artists have helped raise music videos to an art form — sometimes by accident, and sometimes by carefully curating the work of brilliant directors like Mark Romanek, Hype Williams, and Spike Jonze. Here are 40 artists from the last four decades that helped video kill the radio star. 40. Lil Kim [embedded content] Although earlier female MCs like Salt-N-Pepa and Queen Latifah used music videos to help launch th...
UK police seize $249.5 million worth of cryptocurrency
The British police on Tuesday said they have seized £180 million ($249.5 million) of an undisclosed cryptocurrency, as part of a money laundering investigation launched against organised crime groups that moved into cryptocurrencies in order to clean their money. The latest seizure happened in less than three weeks after the London police made a £114 million haul on June 24 as part of its money laundering investigation. By this, a cryptocurrency payload totalling £294 million ($408 million) has been reportedly seized so far under the money laundering investigation. “While cash still remains king in the criminal world, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” Reuters quoted Graham McNulty, a metropolitan P...
Abia governor: Education the best way to fight insecurity
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia state has described education as the best tool to change the mindsets of the youths and fight insecurity in the land. Speaking at the Grand finale of schools quiz competition organized by a Non Governmental Organization (NGO), Ray Nkemdirim Foundation in Umuahia, Ikpeazu said education play a pivotal role in shaping the youths positively for the future. Ikpeazu, represented by the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Chris Ezem, said dedication to education and hard work were the only route to success. While urging students to be studious and spend lesser times on unnecessary things, Ikpeazu challenged parents to always work hard in training their children and not depend only on teachers. He commended the organizers of the schools quiz competition and urged ...
UK: Some countries are using coronavirus vaccines as a geopolitical tool
British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday there was no doubt some countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence but Britain did not support so-called vaccine diplomacy. Raab was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, that was likely to be dominated by the West’s attempts to reassert its influence as the world looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. Western diplomats fear Russia and China are using their vaccines to gain influence across the world, especially in poorer countries that do not have their own production or the means to buy shots on the international market. Asked whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines in exchange for influence, Raab said: “There’s no doubt there’s...
NAPTIP calls for effective counter-trafficking policies, ideas to tackle human trafficking
Twitter The Director General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim, has called for effective counter – Trafficking policies and ideas to tackle the manace of human trafficking. In a statement delivered by Head, Press & Public Relations Unit, Stella Nezan, the DG made this call at Law Enforcement and Intelligence Course 1/2021 of the Defence Intelligence College (DIC) Karu, Abuja. According to the DG, human trafficking constitutes a major National Security concern that requires new ideas and initiatives to tackle the menace, calling for the establishment of an effective and lasting counter trafficking structures as well as polices that will mitigate the prevalence of human trafficking across the world. She said ”Graduands m...
Understanding the strength of small businesses
The number of small businesses keeps growing in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy, due to the role of small businesses as the live-wire of any economy and the backbone of major developed economies the world over. Though Nigeria rely majorly on oil and revenues derived from it, from context observation the economy is largely supported by small businesses covering almost all spheres of activities within the country, ranging from Nano, kiosk, and Micro businesses most importantly. A visible reference usually includes the vulcanizers, corner shop owners, single retail marketers, repairers, painters, business center operators, restaurants, market women, and men in the various open markets, among others. and the formal operations such as the law firms, accounting firms, con...