8 Pints In | Issue #18
 

Stick it to the Man!
Use Altsounds.com all day and get a raise from your boss for all your "hard work".

Finally! You can stick it to "the man" and catch up with all the happenings on Altsounds.com instantaneously without fear of losing your job. Here is a quick "How To" guide that will teach you how to stay involved with Altsounds.com whilst actually getting you a raise!!

1. Sign up for Altsounds instant e-mail alerts [To do this either click the little envelope icon on the section you want to follow on the front page OR go to the category page and click Subscribe to this Category].



2. Read Altsounds content all day just through e-mail.



3. Comment on Altsounds posts through your email.



It looks like the last issue of 8 Pints In (this thing right here that you're reading) was successful! We told you how you can make some Altsounds money and the posts have been pouring in. Thanks to your love of music and undeniable greed, Altsounds now has more content than the lame music sites you're probably used to.

Make sure you sign up for instant email alerts and you can start getting Altsounds content without even going to the site! Hell, using this feature you can leave comments on the site from your PHONE - imagine the possibilities!

Barack The Vote
Make the world a better place and tick the right box this week.

As you may know, this week is the US Presidential Election. As it stands, as I write this, Obama has a 96.3% chance of winning. 36% chance of him winning by a landslide. However the most important number for me is the 100% chance of this finally being over. I don't know what the coverage is like around the world, but we have been obsessed with this election for about 2 years and people are starting to go mad. Fingers crossed that all goes well, cause I think we all know the only thing we want as much as Altsounds dollars is some CHANGE.


Music That's Hot
With a plethora of music to sieve through below is the cream of this weeks ever abundant musical crop.

White Lies - Death [Single]
Polydor Records

If you wanna write a great song, then bring in the bass long before you bring in the guitars. It worked for Pixies, who wrote most of the best songs ever written, and then Nirvana had a go and wrote most of the best since. If you have no idea what I am talking about, London trio White Lies certainly do. One of White Lies’ obvious influences, Joy Division, did the same thing on more than one occasion, and they too were one of the greatest bands ever.

Now White Lies are a long way off such praise yet, but this is a great track, building menacingly from bass and synth to a thrilling climax of power chords and soaring Robert Smith meets Ian McCulloch vocals. It’s 80’s sombre-pop, the soundtrack to a John Hughes directed Donnie Darko sequel, giving a nod to Teardrop Explodes, Tears for Fears, Echo & The Bunnymen and even a little Bowie, and it gets better with every listen.

Their tour mates Crystal Castles provide a decent remix for the B-side, but, as expected, it makes.....

READ MORE



This Pennsylvanian 6-piece represents everything there is to like about American bands; the raw energy that goes into the song writing, the powerful sounds that are emitted from the instruments, and of course the downright coolness of being an American band.

Tigers Jaw offers a fresh yet familiar sound. One which you can quickly warm to, making them easily likeable. Drawing inspiration from pop punk rock bands old and new, they seem to be able to take the best parts from the genre and mould them into a wonderful gestalt.

Meals On Wheels, with it's catchy 1 2 3 4 chorus, and I Saw Water are probably the two main stand out tracks of the album. Whilst the other tracks aren't quite as prominent, they certainly aren't just filling in space, just overlooked.

The only major flaw with this album is it's over too soon. At only 10 tracks long, some of the songs barely last 3 minutes, leaving you with the feeling of wanting more once it's finished. Luckily Tigers Jaw is an album you.....

READ MORE



Orso - Ask Your Neighbor [Album]
Contraphonic

The sixth long player from (in their own words) “orchestrated folk weirdness” merchants oRSo is in short, a very welcome distraction from the world of radio friendly popular music. Sure, I like to listen to Girls Aloud and similar manufactured bullshit if it comes on the radio because I’m not pretentious and like it because I am a human being, and this music was after all, created for everyday people to like and to therefore consume.

Sometimes though, it can all get a bit too much. Too many ‘woah’s and excessive ‘baby’s in my day can really get to me and I just need to switch off and to escape this in-one-ear-and-out-of-the-other disposable music culture that we live in; and oRSo’s ‘Ask Your Neighbor’ is perfect for this. A very bleak, low-key and effortless sounding chill out masterpiece, this record is sure to entice those who happen to somehow hear it. I say ‘somehow’ because I can fairly confidently say that no track from this album will be getting considerable airplay.....

READ MORE

Music That Is NOT!
If you like shit and you like toast then you will LOVE the utterly shit covered toast that is demonstrated below.


Razorlight - Slipway Fires [Album]
Mercury Records

'Where Did It All Go Wrong?' are the immortal words of Noel Gallagher. In his case it was too much powdered substances (baking flour, castor sugar, general cake ingredients). For Razorlight it's easy to see where it all went; I say easy, but it's hard to see up Johnny Borrell's arse when his head is firmly planted there!

I remember the days when I didn't mind a slice of Razorlight with my tea. I'm thinking back in 2004 when they made some decent tunes like 'Rock N' Roll Lies' and 'Golden Touch'. Since then, the ego has taken over and the band has faded into the background and with that the tunes have run away screaming. It's a shame really. I thought they held some promise but Borrell cocked it all up by wanting to emulate Pete Doherty (God forbid!) and grab some headlines whilst in the process turning himself into a grade-A monkey-nutsack, well Johnny you made it congrats.

I guess i should discuss this album 'Slipway Fires' instead of deriding the band? OK, here we go.....

READ MORE


Purple Melon - Melon Music EP
Self Released

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! It’s not often I say this, but this record could actually not be more wrong. If you imagine their opening track: ‘Ready For Love’ which has a post-Queen pop edge that could be, not exactly positively compared to Scissor Sister’s then you’ve got an idea of what they’re going to sound like.

Not great.

Then you realise that it’s just been brought down a few more pegs with its smothering of crap TV show theme juice and the 80’s pop rock movement in America. This doesn’t bode well for where this record is going to go. If it weren’t for the necessity to alert others to this then I would have stopped listening at the heavy breathing and micro-waved the CD.

Although I’m not being overly harsh for the sake of it, I am truly failing to pick up on the merits of this record. The song structure is somewhat basic but modelled on old rock and roll numbers so not unforgivable. There’s plenty of huge tracks on the radio at the moment that cling to old song.....

READ MORE