Happy October! But why am I hearing “Deck The Halls” on a tv ad right now? Geez Radio City Rockette Christmas Show, really??!!…..Well, it’s a smidgen over 3 weeks from the 2014 Knotfest and when I read the recent press release describing oil cans filled with camel dung and oil that would be burning the entire weekend, I was like, huh?Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan has explained why the band chose to use the aroma of “camel s***” as the official smell of the group’s upcoming two-day Knotfest event, explaining that Slipknot is “not a band anymore” but a “culture,” and that every culture “has to have a smell.” (Well, now this sort of makes sense since the first time we met the band, at Ozzfest in Hartford in 1999, Lou was on their bus getting ready to do our first in-person interview. It was after their set, and it was around 100 degrees that day. And being one of the opening acts on the third stage, you played in the daytime, in the midday heat. And not a lot of time or facilities to wash clothes. So the aroma of those red jumpsuits and rubber masks smelled like camel dung, so I guess that’s where all this is coming from! LOL) Here’s how it was worded in the press release announcing the Knotfest attractions: “Knotfest (will have) its own aroma that will infest your brain, body and clothes for days after the festival is over. Personally picked by Slipknot themselves, the smell of Knotfest will permeate the festival grounds. Oil drums will be filled with camel s*** . . . set aflame to last the entire festival.” Crahan told Rolling Stone, “We did the camel dung on the first Knotfest. It was awesome; it was beautiful . . . A very distinct smell. You can’t huff it, but it’s got this smell. And it’s not necessarily the most comfortable thing, but it’s not necessarily the worst thing, it’s just remembering thoughts — it’s gonna be a re-occurring thing.” Crahan added, “Since we’re not a band anymore — we’re a culture, everybody needs to get used to that real quick — that culture has to have a smell. You have to be able to be somewhere in the world, maybe be in a little pain, and then all of a sudden smell that and feel good again.” Singer Corey Taylor told us about some of the other non-musical attractions Slipknot has on tap for the festival: “We’ve got the Slipknot Museum. We’re also bringing in a ride that we actually discovered at the Iowa State Fair and we’ve been riding for years. It’s called the Ring of Fire. We also have some freak shows, this thing called the — I want to say it’s called the Terrordome or something like that. I think it’s set on fire and there’s wrestling in it — it’s pretty gnarly. But yeah, I mean, we’ve got a lot of really cool stuff coming up at Knotfest besides all the music.”. Meanwhile, our very own Lou Brutusis now the official co-host of Knotfest, so those of you who are making it out there will be in for a very special treat! In a related story, Pulse of Radio posted former Stone Sour & current Slipknot guitarist Jim Root told Australia’s Music Feeds he was fired from the group late last year via a phone call and is still not sure why he was dismissed in the first place. Root revealed, “I still haven’t talked to certain guys in (Stone Sour), so I really don’t know what they were thinking or a hundred percent of the reason why they made the decision that they made. I mean, it was basically put to me over a phone call and I thought that was pretty lame. Whatever, it is what it is. Onward and upward. I think I have a little bit of a different opinion on how music should be done anyway.” Root played on all five Stone Sour albums to date, including the recent double record set, House Of Gold And Bones, which was released in two parts in 2012 and 2013. He was let go after deciding he wanted to sit out the band’s last tour in order to start work on the next album from Slipknot, of which he is also a member. Root recently told Revolver magazine, “It became apparent to me near the end of the album cycle for House Of Gold & Bones that it had basically run its course. But the band kept pushing for more dates, and I was just, like, ‘It’s time to stop!’” Root was given his walking papers from Stone Sour in November 2013. He still continues to work with frontman Corey Taylor in Slipknot, for which Taylor also handle lead vocals. Taylor recently said that the situation “put a strain between he and I for a little bit,” but that working on a new Slipknot album together helped mend the fences between them. And Blabbermouth reported Australia’s Music Feeds asked Jim how he feels the new members acclimated to the Slipknot recording process: “I think they did really well considering the circumstances that were thrown at them. We threw the book at the drummer, we fuckin’ put him through the ringer. He did not have it easy. But he was up to the challenge with everything that we threw at him. He took it all and props to him for that. The bass player was a little bit of a different situation, because we kind of had a little bit of a revolving door of dudes coming in and out and trying things. Even Donnie [Steele, the group’s original guitar player who played bass with Slipknot since they resumed touring in 2011] came into the studio for a while and it just to a point where we were struggling looking for somebody and then the right guy presented himself sort of at the last minute. It worked out pretty cool.”…Pulse also posted this item. Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich is the latest musician to offer his opinion on U2‘s recent collaboration with Apple that resulted in the Irish group’s new album, Songs Of Innocence, being placed on every single iTunes account in the world for free regardless of whether it was wanted or not. Unlike many who felt the placement of the album was an unwanted intrusion, free or not, Ulrich told Billboard, “I think U2 are the coolest . . . It’s 2014 and anybody who thinks outside the box, or attempts in any way, shape or form, to break the status quo in the world of music, should be applauded.” Ulrich added, “It’s not about whether the endeavor is a success or not. It’s the fact that they have the balls and the foresight to throw something this radical at all of us.” The drummer hinted Metallica itself could do something along similar lines when it comes time to release its next album, saying, “We are embedded in our creative process right now and this type of attempt to reinvent the wheel inspires me immensely.” I’ve asked for an interview with Mr Ulrich, but was told he and the band are indeed in writing mode and will come up for air in 2015….And yes, it is sad to confirm AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young‘s family has issued a statement confirming reports that he is afflicted with dementia. The statement issued to People said, “Malcolm is suffering from dementia and the family thanks you for respecting their privacy.” I have a neighbor who is also suffering with this and he was only in his 50’s when the first symptoms arose. It’s such a sad thing to watch. Heart goes out the the Young family and the rest of AC/DC…..Halestorm has posted a second webisode from the studio! Here it is!….Now I am not sure what they are trying to say in this video, but the new Mastodon video for “The Motherload” is out and well, I dunno. I love the song and people need to lighten up, I think! I am the first person to yell ‘sexist’! Hell, I had to live through the 80’s! But I really don’t know what all the bru-haha is about the video. Check it out here. Drummer/singer Brann Dailor told Pitchfork.”I don’t feel like what we were trying to do was jump on any twerking bandwagon. We just wanted to put something into our music video that people would probably think, ‘That shouldn’t be there,’ or, ‘Those two things don’t go together, they shouldn’t be together.’ I wanted to just put them together because we can.” “The last thing that I wanted to do was come on and be defensive, because I don’t feel like I should have to defend it. It’s a music video and it’s really not supposed to be something that gets people this upset because this was really a fun thing that doesn’t really mean too much. It’s not to be taken so seriously.” He continued: “I don’t know, I just don’t see the sexism in it. I know there’s half-naked women that are shaking their butts. For some people it’s titillating, but for me it just looked amazing. I thought the girls were awesome and talented, and I thought it was amazing to watch. I love when it turns into that kaleidoscope effect thing; it brings the video to a whole new level. But it’s gotten people talking obviously, you know. I figured that would happen, you know what I mean. I knew there was going to be some negativity. But we do that; we’re that kind of band. It hadn’t been done before, and we were kind of looking for something that hadn’t been done before because it’s hard to come by these days.” According to Dailor, the inspiration for the video came from a desire to “make something that was bizarre — that would confuse people.” He revealed the idea began as a sort of parody of ’90s heavy metal videos but admitted that “there wasn’t any high concept” behind the clip. “We weren’t trying to make fun of hip-hop videos,” he said. “It was a fine line, because I didn’t want it to come off being sexist, so I thought that maybe the females took centre stage and looked powerful and had this dance battle.” (Thanks Blabbermouth.)….Foo Fighters! What’s the dealio? No word on when your single is coming, title or anything? Does HBO have exclusivity or something? BOO!