The Chinkees

An all-Asian ska-punk band featuring Skankin' Pickle alum Mike Park, the Chinkees debuted in 1998 with the album The Chinkees Are Coming! The following year the group -- which also comprised bassist/vocalist Miya Zane Osaki, guitarist/vocalist/drummer Greg Alesandro, guitarist Jason Thinh, and keyboardist Steve Choi -- released Peace Through Music; both albums were issued through Park's own label, Asian Man Records. The band's name was not intended to be a racial slur, as in fact it was hoping to be just the opposite by raising awareness of racial discrimination. Just like Asian Man, the group was all about spreading positivity and addressing issues (without being aggressively political in fear of alienating people) important to improving the future. A split with the Lawrence Arms entitled Present Day Memories appeared in May 2001 before the Chinkees' next full-length, Searching for a Brighter Future, was released one year later.
Download The Chinkees:

- The Chinkees Are Comming!(1998)
- Peace Through Music and Karaoke 7" (1998-99)
- Present Day Memories Split w/ Lawrence Arms (2001)
- Searching For a Brighter Future (2002)

Baghdad Heavy Metal (Various Artists)

Baghdad Heavy Metal are as unlikley a band as the war in Iraq is making sense. Two totaly diffrent musical cultures thrown together grinding their identities against each other to seemingly dominate and subjugate. But in their mutual attack they come together into a cohesive whole that is bolth powerful and completely unique.
It's a marrage made in hell - but by Allah it works. The guiding hand behind the production is Steven Last, with Steve Hunter and respected Arab artists even American icon rocker
Sammy Hagar creating a blend that is stunning as it is surprising.

Download Baghdad Heavy Metal

Baghdad Heavy Metal: Steve Hunter (guitars); Steven Last (keyboards, percussion, programming); Samo, Issam Houshan (percussion).
Additional personnel: Rayess Bek (vocals, programming); Tania Saleh, Sammy Hagar, Woroud, Yuri Mrakadi (vocals); Petite Jamilla (bagpipe).

Tracklist:
1. The Battle For Baghdad
2. Hot Zone - (with Yuri Mrakadi)
3. Baghdad Burning - (with Rayess Bek)
4. Goodbye Alan - (with Yuri Mrakadi)
5. Blue Sky Goodbye - (with Woroud)
6. Had There Been a Dream - (with Tania Saleh)
7. The Streets of Jihad
8. A Million Tears
9. Cosmic Universal Fashion - (with Sammy Hagar)
10. Master of Illusion - (with Woroud)

Explosions In The Sky live at Lollapalooza - 08-02-08

The American instrumental post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their cinematic, elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows.

Originally called Breaker Morant, Explosions in the Sky was formed in Austin, Texas in 1999. Drummer Chris Hrasky is from Rockford, Illinois, and the rest of the band hails from Midland, Texas. The new name of "Explosions in the Sky" came from a comment Hrasky made in reference to the noise or sight of fireworks when they left KVRX on the night they played their first set and recorded their first track, "Remember Me as a Time of Day", that would be released on a compilation. Their 2000 debut album, How Strange, Innocence, was locally distributed in the form of CD-Rs. Rehearsal footage is featured on the short film Cicadas, which won an Austin Film Festival award.

Explosions in the Sky quickly gained a reputation for themselves among other established local bands such as Lift to Experience. Temporary Residence Limited signed the band on the strength of their demo after only half a listen; the demo was submitted by fellow Austin band The American Analog Set with a brief note saying, "This totally fucking destroys."

They garnered a small amount of media attention with their second album, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, due to rumors linking it to the September 11, 2001 attacks. The band denied any connection in interviews. The album art shows an airplane with the caption "This plane will crash tomorrow." There were false reports that the last track was called "This Plane Will Crash Tomorrow" and that the album was released on September 10, 2001; the concept had actually originated in 2000, and the album was released on August 27, 2001. Bassist Michael James was detained in an airport as a threat to security, and had to explain why his guitar contained the words "this plane will crash tomorrow".

After being contacted by Brian Reitzell, Explosions in the Sky wrote the soundtrack for the 2004 film Friday Night Lights. Despite having access to rare equipment in the studio for that project, the band kept to their songwriting style in creating original material.

Their most recent album, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, which debuted February 20, 2007, exists as both a one-disc version and a two-disc special edition featuring remixes by multiple artists. The band began touring on February 19 in the U.S. and Canada. They played a shortened version of "Welcome, Ghosts" on the February 20 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. On May 10, they canceled the shows up to August due to a family illness.

Here is their most recent performance recorded via webstream at last weeks Lollapalooza event

Download EIS Live at Lollapalooza 08-02-08
Date: 2008.08.02
Place: Lollapalooza - Grant Park - Chicago, IL
Source: Webstream
Encoding: 160kbps mp3

Setlist:

01. Intro
02. Catastrophe and the Cure
03. The Birth and Death of the Day
04. Your Hand In Mine
05. Have You Passed Through This Night
06. Memorial
07. The Only Moment We Were Alone
08. Outro

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

The infamous American rap metal band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1991 The band's continual members are rapper Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk. Rage Against the Machine is noted for its blend of rap, heavy metal, and funk as well as its revolutionary politics and lyrics. Rage Against the Machine drew inspiration from early metal instrumentation, as well as rap acts such as Public Enemy, Urban Dance Squad,and Afrika Bambaataa. The group's music is distinguished primarily by de la Rocha's rhyming styles and powerful stage energy, and Morello's unorthodox guitar techniques.

Rage Against the Machine released their debut album Rage Against the Machine in 1992, which became a commercial success. Following a slot in the 1993 Lollapalooza, the band did not release a follow-up record until Evil Empire in 1996. The band's third album The Battle of Los Angeles was released in 1999. During their initial nine year run, they became one of the most popular and influential political bands in contemporary music.

In 2000, shortly after breaking up, the band released their fourth studio album Renegades. Zack de la Rocha started a low-key solo career; the rest of the band formed the rock supergroup Audioslave with former Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, which disbanded in 2007. In April 2007 Rage Against the Machine performed together for the first time in seven years at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The band has continued to perform at multiple live venues since.

On April 14, 2007, Morello and de la Rocha reunited onstage early to perform a brief acoustic set at a Coalition of Immokalee Workers rally in downtown Chicago. Morello described the event as "very exciting for everybody in the room, myself included."^[32] This was followed by the scheduled Coachella performance on Sunday, April 29 where the band staged a much anticipated performance in front of an EZLN backdrop to the largest crowds of the festival.

Rage Against the Machine has continued to tour the United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, and also played a series of shows in Europe in Summer 2008 including Rock am Ring and Rock im Park, Pinkpop Festival, T in the Park, the Oxegen Festival and the Reading and Leeds Festivals in England. The band is also scheduled to perform in August 2008, in Chicago as one of the headlines (Radiohead and Kanye West being the two others) for the 2008 Lollapalooza Music Festival.

Here we have their complete discography in order of release:

- Rage Against the Machine 1992
- Evil Empire 1996
- The Battle of Los Angeles 1999
- Renegades 2000
- Unreleased & Remixed

RATM Big Day Out Fest 2008