DOWNLOAD: Postcommodity - Excerpt from "Piles of Cougar Pelts"

Postcommodity is an interdisciplinary artist collective comprised of Kade L. Twist (Cherokee), Cristóbal Martínez (Mexica), Nathan Young (Pawnee, Kiowa) and Raven Chacon (Navajo).

This group of musicians have been on the scene since 2007, joining forces to make sound art, experimental noise and installationworks.

Look for RPM's interview with the collective tomorrow, but for now here's a snippet of one of their live performances from summer 2011.

DOWNLOAD: Postcommodity- Excerpt from "Piles of Cougar Pelts"

#FrybreadFriday: The World's Largest Navajo Taco

While there was no established "World's Largest Navajo Taco" entry in the Guinness Book of World Records to beat, residents of Gallup, NM, decided to set one.

At more than 10 feet in diameter, the taco was built on 150 pieces of frybread. That's a whole lot of bannock.

The mammoth ingredient list was rounded out with 30 pounds of green chile, 65 pounds of ground beef, 65 pounds of beans, 50 pounds of lettuce and 90 pounds of cheese - according to Deseret News: Gallup builds 'world's largest Navajo taco'.

Not surprisingly, afterward, residents and organizers enjoyed a free lunch.

Now that the precedent has been set, who will endeavor to top it? Go taco go!

VIDEO: Lady Xplicit - "The Edge"

Watch Navajo MC Lady Xplicit’s music video The Edge.

MC Lady Xplicit hails from San Diego, CA and is the owner of the record label Strictly Business. Part African American, part Navajo, she is a hot contestant at this year’s Native American Music Awards as she is up for public vote.  Check out the nominees and get your voting on because the deadline for the next round is Setepmber 12, 2011.

Indigenous Live Music Picks - September 8-11

It's another full weekend of live Indigenous music, powwows, festivals and award shows, including the first ever RPM Presents show!

Derek Miller September 8-10 - Catch Mohawk blues man Friday September 8th at Knights of Columbus Hall, Kahnawake, QC, Saturday at Brass Horse Bar & Grill, Akwesasne, NY and Sunday at Ohsweken Fair, Six Nations, ON. More info: derekmiller.ca

Samantha Crain September 8 - Samantha's last Oklahoma City gig of the year takes place at Saint's, in the Plaza District. More info: facebook.com

Navajo Nation Fair September 5-11 - The 65th Annual Fair will see about 15,000 visitors a day to Window Rock, AZ, for live music, rodeo, carnival and more Event info: navajonationfair.com

Indian Summer Festival September 9-11 - The 25th annual festival and the Indian Summer Music Awards includes live performances from Eagle and Hawk, Brulé, Wayne Lavallee, Jimmy Lee Young, T-Hawk, Johnathan Ward and a lot more. Full lineup and schedule: indiansummer.org

Akwesane Powwow September 10-11 - Gates open at 10am at the A'nowara'ko:wa Arena on Cornwall Island, ON. More info: akwesasnepowwow.com

Rockin' The District September 9 - Winnipeg's Most joins the lineup at this one day/all day music festival in Old Market Square, Winnipeg, MB. More info: rockinthedistrict.com

Sagkeeng Powwow Saturday 10-11 - Grand entry is at 11am and 6pm, host drum is Sagkeeng Community Drum and Traditional Drums with co-host Whitefish Bay Singers. Sagkeeng Powwow Grounds, MB. More info: facebook.com

New Forms Festival September 9-11 - A Tribe Called Red will be rocking the Waldorf in Vancouver, BC, as part of the Saturday night lineup. Full lineup:  newformsfestival.com

Drum/Prayer Circle for Eli PaintedCrow and Turtle Women Rising September 10 - Bring your drum to Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Oakland, CA, from 12-4pm. More info: facebook.com

Electric Powwow September 10 - While A Tribe Called Red is kicking it in Vancouver, DJs Budda Blaze and Magnificent will take their place at the monthly electric powwow, Babylon Nightclub, Ottawa, ON. More info: facebook.com

RPM Presents: Ryan McMahon/Clarence Two Toes with Special Guests September 11 - RPM's own Ostwelve hosts the first "RPM Presents" event in Vancouver, BC, with Ryan McMahon, Clarence Two Toes, and some very special musical guests. More info: facebook.com 

VIDEO: RPM Interview with ShitOuttaLuck

RPM caught up with Navajo punkabilly bad boys ShitOuttaLuck (SxOxLx) at the Skateploitation III show for Indian Market thrown by Apache Skateboards.

In this video interview with the four brothers from Houcke, Arizona - Tuco (upright bass), Rattlesnake (washboard), The Fly (vox and lead guitar) and The Lazer (drums) - they tell us why they play hard and rock even harder.

Coming Tomorrow: Interview with ShitOuttaLuck at Skateploitation III

ShitOuttaLuck, aka SxOxLx, hails from Houck, Arizona. This is a family punk and rockabilly band (Navajo) that knows how to live hard and rock even harder. 

RPM caught up with the rowdy punkabilly brothers at Apache Skateboards event Skateploitation III at Indian Market, which featured music, artists and skateboarding from Apache Skateboard crew.

The video interview with the four brothers Tuco (upright bass), Rattlesnake (washboard), The Human Fly (vox and lead guitar) and The Lazer (drums) will be up on RPM tomorrow!

Meanwhile, enjoy their song It Don't Hurt to Sleep:

Shitouttaluck - "It Don't Hurt to Sleep" by RPMfm

#FrybreadFriday: Frybread Man

Chemehuevi and Navajo artist Ryan Huna Smith's Frybread Man, once part of the Comic Art Indigène exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, is his best selling print. The pudgy anti-hero is storied to have transformed when he ate radioactive frybread.

Smith, who grew up with comics and cartoons - "a Star Wars generation kid" - creates work influenced by pop/comic book culture and his Indigenous culture. Now, in collaboration with Giggle Bubble Media, Frybread Man is teaching kids both about the painful history of frybread for Native people and healthy eating. Appropriately, Frybread Man's kryptonite is diabetes - fair enough, we all know one can have too much of a good thing.

Find more videos like this on Culture Collective

DOWNLOAD: Bloodline - "Sacrifice"

Hailing from the Navajo Nation, Bloodline is based out of Gallup, New Mexico. They sent us this track from their upcoming album Pure in Pain and we're stoked to learn about this hard working band that has been making music independently since 1998. Bloodline has been building a dedicated fan base in the south west through consistent touring over the years - and now Metal lovers across the Nation are also taking note as the band recently completed their first national tour. It’s great to see hard work pay off in this industry and the band is on the path for continued success – they've signed an artist development deal with DJQ Management and the upcoming album, their first full-length release, was produced by heavy hitting producers Ben Schigel and Tony Gammalo. Keep it up boys. DOWNLOAD: Bloodline - "Sacrifice"

#FrybreadFriday: 'More Than Frybread' Trailer

Is Indian Country getting it's own mockumentary à la "Best In Show"? It looks like it, from the trailer for Holt Hamilton Productions' latest film. 

More Than Frybread follows some of the competitors in the inaugural World Wide Frybread Association Arizona Chapter Frybread Championship, like Hopi finalist Betti Muchvo:

"There are two things in life that I am probably best at: making bread and beauty pageants."

Good luck Betti! We can't wait to see the whole film, reportedly being released this summer.

Gotta love #frybreadfridays...

SPOTLIGHT: Blackfire, Diné/Navajo Punk Rockers

Declared "fireball punk-rock" by the Godfather of Punk Joey Ramone, Navajo Punk band Blackfire serve traditions with fiery fury.

Jeneda, Clayson and Klee Benally are the sister and brothers punk-rock collective, Blackfire, from the Black Mesa in the Navajo Nation. Holding strong in their family unit, Blackfire has grown and gained international acclaim and a large grassroots following by staying true to their roots and traditions in music and Indigenous culture.

Blackfire's hard-driving sounds are accented with socio-political messages and sometimes mixed with traditional Navajo musical stylings. Their message speaks strongly to the genocide, eco-cide, government oppression, displacement of Indigenous peoples and other socially conscious struggles against violence and in support of human rights. Through their impassioned politically-driven sound, Blackfire translates high-energy into a fiery fury of intellectual, spiritual and musical medicine.

The family trio have been touring the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe since 1989, and at times have combined performances with their traditional family dance group "The Jones Benally Family". Blackfire was the first Native American group to be invited to play on the Vans Warped Tour and in 2007, they released their double-CD entitled [Silence] Is A Weapon, which was produced by Ed Stasium, who has produced high profile acts like The Ramones, Living Color and the Talking Heads.

While touring the world with major festivals, appearing on tribute albums to Punk legends the Ramones, Blackfire remains true to their message and roots by only playing all-ages venues at festivals, clubs and concerts. They also spend time with youth doing lectures, workshops and school residencies promoting respect for all cultures.

Their musical activism branches out into the world by touching audiences in Europe and beyond, but also in the fight for recognition of issues within their own homeland. Most recently the band has used their reverence to bring attention to the expansion of an artificial ski facility on a sacred mountain near Flagstaff, Arizona in which the 13 tribes in the area hold sacred. After the supreme court denied an appeal to two lawsuits against the Arizona Snowbowl's artificial snowmaking, Blackfire still holds their ground in bringing light to the situation on their sacred grounds that they and their ancestors have used for generations for ceremony and medicine gathering.

Proving that music is about more than money, power and fame, Blackfire shows us that we can make a difference if we choose to fight and bring the fire to system. For more about Blackfire's fight to save the sacred peaks, check out this article at Truthout.org

Check out more about Blackfire on their website.

This is the video for their song "Overwhelming" from their last album (Silence) Is A Weapon