The Altsounds Concentrate | Sunday 9th November 2008
The Queen is Dead. Long Live The King.
Obama won. It's a bit surreal. After 8 years of Bush it's kind of hard to believe that America had the good sense to elect the black James Bond over Grandpa McSimpson. The apocalypse should be happening any minute now.
I gotta be honest, I love the drama. Watching the news is like watching a soap opera. Will Sarah Palin keep the clothing? Is she going to run again? Is Chuck Norris going to be the band leader on Mike Huckabee's new talkshow on FOX? Is Bush going to blow up the world in the next 70 days? Did Obama's new chief of staff really lose his middle finger in a game of poker with Putin? How will Joe Lieberman be punished for calling Obama a terrorist and supporting the Palin/McCain ticket? Will McCain be able to keep his job in the Senate? Ok, some of those weren't serious, but you'd probably be surprised by which ones.
If things stay this juicy, we may end up including political news in Altsounds awesome news coverage. In case you haven't heard, Altsounds content is now being included in Google News, feeding out to lazy websites everywhere. Sign up for the Altsounds News email alerts and get the latest music news literally before anyone else. Or just visit the site frequently and get the full experience with all of the embedded audio and video features.
Chris 'the ninja' Maguire updates Altsounds in secret. I paid a visit to the arcade not long ago and found a ton of new games had been added. He was quick to lock up all of the high scores, so I was quick to go in and demolish as many as I could. I think now Chris and I hold titles in hundreds, possibly thousands of games. We like a challenge, so stop by the arcade and test your mettle up against the masters. We may start dishing out prize money.
Music That's Hot
With a plethora of music to sieve through below is the cream of this weeks ever abundant musical crop.
Everything Everything - Suffragette Suffragette [Single]
Salvia/XL
Patience is a virtue, one which I don’t possess a great deal of, but boy have I had to be patient to get excited about a Manchester band again. ‘Suffragette Suffragettes' is the debut single from much-hyped Everything Everything. Despite this track being their most accessible, it seems the hype is more hope that they will go on to become a great band, rather than a great success chart-wise. At times, they sound a little like a dream collaboration between Battles and Animal Collective (‘Crisis Over’ even more so and B-side ‘Luddites and Lambs’ sounds like an equally fantastic collaboration between Animal Collective and TV on the Radio, proving Everything Everything know who to be influenced by if nothing else), and, much like those bands, they will be an acquired taste for sure. Where there will be joy, there will also be much division.
After the ‘Battle Collective’ verse and chorus with their muted notes and pinch harmonics, they suddenly break out into a riff-tastic attempt.....
READ MORE
Fat Freddy's Drop - Pull the Catch [Single]
Kartel Records
Enjoying national and international success since their 2005 album Based on a True Story, New Zealanders Fat Freddy's Drop release their latest single Pull the Catch through Kartel Records. After being relatively quiet for the past 3 years (save one high demand EP, The Camel, earlier this year), December 1st will be an exciting time for Fat Freddy's Drop releasing Pull The Catch to precede their second studio album, Big BW, which is to be released around Spring 2009.
The 7 piece dub roots band, originally from Wellington, were known around New Zealand mainly as a decisively awesome live act prior to the release of their award winning debut album. Fat Freddy's Drop would be seen from every event from the Bluff Oyster & Food Festival, to the Grey Lynn Park Festival in Auckland, all the way to the Lord of the Rings premiere after party. Proving their immense live ability, they have had to add another date to the London leg of their tour to cope with demand to see them live, and.....
READ MORE
Funeral for a Friend - Memory and Humanity
Join Us Records
This is probably one of the most quiet, unassuming releases of a highly-anticipated album ever. Now in all honesty, I don’t frequent alternative music press much nowadays. So I don’t get bombarded with the same old drivel in Kerrang! telling me how I have to check out X band and Y album for six months before the thing even drops. Nonetheless, as a Funeral for a Friend fan, I knew they were recording a new album, but there seemed to be a lot less fuss, a lot less care about studio album number four from the Welsh boys. That was until I saw it in HMV around two weeks ago, and it suddenly recaptured a certain part of my mind that hadn’t really surfaced since the first time I listened to ‘Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation.’ The album which in my humble opinion they’ve never quite matched for ingenuity and raw passion.
Understandably, there’s a lot of expectation on this album. There’s a generation of fans who feel the kind of intimate link with this band that others cou.....
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.
Terminal Romance - Matt Mays and El Torpedo
Sonic Records
What makes one artist retro and another just dated? How can acts like Hot Chip and Simian Mobile Disco recycle 80’s synth pop to great critical acclaim while other artists’ work just sounds old? Well, I put it to you that, like the majority of OAPs, old-sounding music just doesn’t have the energy.
Terminal Romance should be supplied with its own bus pass and nursing home brochure. There’s no passion, no power and no excitement, just formulaic rock that sounds tired. ‘Rock Ranger Record’ wants to be a punk rocker (with flowers in its hair) but the only detectable sign of anger and fire is in the alliterative growl of the title. Even lyrics like “your boyfriend’s a dick” fail to rouse this song from its afternoon nap-like state.
There’s the odd bit of interest spattered throughout the album. The circular rock-dick riff of ‘Tall Trees’ is catnip to the ears of Guitar Hero aficionados. Anyone who’s ever seen the opening credits of any CSI episode will recognise.....
READ MORE
The Datsuns - Headstunts [album]
Cooking Vinyl Ltd
Deaths Nuts, Ass Dent Hut, Stashed Nut… some more anagrams of The Datsuns that were no doubt considered for the title of their latest release Headstunts. Lead singer, Dolf de Borst explained by saying "We got a new member of the band on drums, Ben Cole, so it was like making our first record again, with new influences and new abilities... Taking those ideas, and then flipping them around, just like you do with an anagram. So I suppose there is some kind of clumsy poetry there."
Headstunts starts off healthy and hard from the moment you push play with Human Error, which was also released as a 7" vinyl in September. The rock and roll feel is apparent from the first howl and you can imagine this song absolutely tearing up live. Unfortunately, the first of many guitar solos is nothing special, no longer than necessary (and yes, that is a bad thing!) and quite unnoticeable.
Following that, Hey! Paranoid People! (What's in your head?), brings in a great hook from guitarist .....
READ MORE
The Airborne Toxic Event
Majordomo Records
The Airborne Toxic Event have received some pretty good press recently. Their eponymous debut album has been trumpeted as ‘the best debut CD of 2008’ and ‘nothing short of amazing’ by the Boston Herald and LA Times respectively. However, upon hearing the album opener Wishing Well, those superlatives become pretty hard to swallow.
It’s obvious what the LA quintet set out to do. They love upbeat, punky aesthetics with a hint of melancholy – bands like The Jam and songs like Boys Don’t Cry. They love the jagged, warm, soothing, triangular tones and textures of synthesisers.
They set out to conquer the world by fusing the trebly chords of The Strokes with the disco feel of Bloc Party's rhythm section; the raw simplicity of Green Day with the charm and wit of Pixies. And they thought violins were cool, so they used one of those too. It was a great recipe for a potentially fun and interesting band.
The result: 37 minutes of vacuous fodder which could only be made duller by adding.....
READ MORE
Obama won. It's a bit surreal. After 8 years of Bush it's kind of hard to believe that America had the good sense to elect the black James Bond over Grandpa McSimpson. The apocalypse should be happening any minute now.
I gotta be honest, I love the drama. Watching the news is like watching a soap opera. Will Sarah Palin keep the clothing? Is she going to run again? Is Chuck Norris going to be the band leader on Mike Huckabee's new talkshow on FOX? Is Bush going to blow up the world in the next 70 days? Did Obama's new chief of staff really lose his middle finger in a game of poker with Putin? How will Joe Lieberman be punished for calling Obama a terrorist and supporting the Palin/McCain ticket? Will McCain be able to keep his job in the Senate? Ok, some of those weren't serious, but you'd probably be surprised by which ones.
If things stay this juicy, we may end up including political news in Altsounds awesome news coverage. In case you haven't heard, Altsounds content is now being included in Google News, feeding out to lazy websites everywhere. Sign up for the Altsounds News email alerts and get the latest music news literally before anyone else. Or just visit the site frequently and get the full experience with all of the embedded audio and video features.
Chris 'the ninja' Maguire updates Altsounds in secret. I paid a visit to the arcade not long ago and found a ton of new games had been added. He was quick to lock up all of the high scores, so I was quick to go in and demolish as many as I could. I think now Chris and I hold titles in hundreds, possibly thousands of games. We like a challenge, so stop by the arcade and test your mettle up against the masters. We may start dishing out prize money.
Music That's Hot
With a plethora of music to sieve through below is the cream of this weeks ever abundant musical crop.
Everything Everything - Suffragette Suffragette [Single]
Salvia/XL
Patience is a virtue, one which I don’t possess a great deal of, but boy have I had to be patient to get excited about a Manchester band again. ‘Suffragette Suffragettes' is the debut single from much-hyped Everything Everything. Despite this track being their most accessible, it seems the hype is more hope that they will go on to become a great band, rather than a great success chart-wise. At times, they sound a little like a dream collaboration between Battles and Animal Collective (‘Crisis Over’ even more so and B-side ‘Luddites and Lambs’ sounds like an equally fantastic collaboration between Animal Collective and TV on the Radio, proving Everything Everything know who to be influenced by if nothing else), and, much like those bands, they will be an acquired taste for sure. Where there will be joy, there will also be much division.
After the ‘Battle Collective’ verse and chorus with their muted notes and pinch harmonics, they suddenly break out into a riff-tastic attempt.....
READ MORE
Fat Freddy's Drop - Pull the Catch [Single]
Kartel Records
Enjoying national and international success since their 2005 album Based on a True Story, New Zealanders Fat Freddy's Drop release their latest single Pull the Catch through Kartel Records. After being relatively quiet for the past 3 years (save one high demand EP, The Camel, earlier this year), December 1st will be an exciting time for Fat Freddy's Drop releasing Pull The Catch to precede their second studio album, Big BW, which is to be released around Spring 2009.
The 7 piece dub roots band, originally from Wellington, were known around New Zealand mainly as a decisively awesome live act prior to the release of their award winning debut album. Fat Freddy's Drop would be seen from every event from the Bluff Oyster & Food Festival, to the Grey Lynn Park Festival in Auckland, all the way to the Lord of the Rings premiere after party. Proving their immense live ability, they have had to add another date to the London leg of their tour to cope with demand to see them live, and.....
READ MORE
Funeral for a Friend - Memory and Humanity
Join Us Records
This is probably one of the most quiet, unassuming releases of a highly-anticipated album ever. Now in all honesty, I don’t frequent alternative music press much nowadays. So I don’t get bombarded with the same old drivel in Kerrang! telling me how I have to check out X band and Y album for six months before the thing even drops. Nonetheless, as a Funeral for a Friend fan, I knew they were recording a new album, but there seemed to be a lot less fuss, a lot less care about studio album number four from the Welsh boys. That was until I saw it in HMV around two weeks ago, and it suddenly recaptured a certain part of my mind that hadn’t really surfaced since the first time I listened to ‘Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation.’ The album which in my humble opinion they’ve never quite matched for ingenuity and raw passion.
Understandably, there’s a lot of expectation on this album. There’s a generation of fans who feel the kind of intimate link with this band that others cou.....
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.
Terminal Romance - Matt Mays and El Torpedo
Sonic Records
What makes one artist retro and another just dated? How can acts like Hot Chip and Simian Mobile Disco recycle 80’s synth pop to great critical acclaim while other artists’ work just sounds old? Well, I put it to you that, like the majority of OAPs, old-sounding music just doesn’t have the energy.
Terminal Romance should be supplied with its own bus pass and nursing home brochure. There’s no passion, no power and no excitement, just formulaic rock that sounds tired. ‘Rock Ranger Record’ wants to be a punk rocker (with flowers in its hair) but the only detectable sign of anger and fire is in the alliterative growl of the title. Even lyrics like “your boyfriend’s a dick” fail to rouse this song from its afternoon nap-like state.
There’s the odd bit of interest spattered throughout the album. The circular rock-dick riff of ‘Tall Trees’ is catnip to the ears of Guitar Hero aficionados. Anyone who’s ever seen the opening credits of any CSI episode will recognise.....
READ MORE
The Datsuns - Headstunts [album]
Cooking Vinyl Ltd
Deaths Nuts, Ass Dent Hut, Stashed Nut… some more anagrams of The Datsuns that were no doubt considered for the title of their latest release Headstunts. Lead singer, Dolf de Borst explained by saying "We got a new member of the band on drums, Ben Cole, so it was like making our first record again, with new influences and new abilities... Taking those ideas, and then flipping them around, just like you do with an anagram. So I suppose there is some kind of clumsy poetry there."
Headstunts starts off healthy and hard from the moment you push play with Human Error, which was also released as a 7" vinyl in September. The rock and roll feel is apparent from the first howl and you can imagine this song absolutely tearing up live. Unfortunately, the first of many guitar solos is nothing special, no longer than necessary (and yes, that is a bad thing!) and quite unnoticeable.
Following that, Hey! Paranoid People! (What's in your head?), brings in a great hook from guitarist .....
READ MORE
The Airborne Toxic Event
Majordomo Records
The Airborne Toxic Event have received some pretty good press recently. Their eponymous debut album has been trumpeted as ‘the best debut CD of 2008’ and ‘nothing short of amazing’ by the Boston Herald and LA Times respectively. However, upon hearing the album opener Wishing Well, those superlatives become pretty hard to swallow.
It’s obvious what the LA quintet set out to do. They love upbeat, punky aesthetics with a hint of melancholy – bands like The Jam and songs like Boys Don’t Cry. They love the jagged, warm, soothing, triangular tones and textures of synthesisers.
They set out to conquer the world by fusing the trebly chords of The Strokes with the disco feel of Bloc Party's rhythm section; the raw simplicity of Green Day with the charm and wit of Pixies. And they thought violins were cool, so they used one of those too. It was a great recipe for a potentially fun and interesting band.
The result: 37 minutes of vacuous fodder which could only be made duller by adding.....
READ MORE
The News Wire
Have your finger on the musical pulse every week by checking out the Top Ten biggest news of the past week
Have your finger on the musical pulse every week by checking out the Top Ten biggest news of the past week
- USA USA USA USA USA USA
- DEFTONES BASSIST HOSPITALIZED AFTER CAR ACCIDENT
- P.O.D / Filter cancel UK tour
- Metallica release new single 'All Nightmare Long'
- Oasis "I'm Outta Time" - Brand New Video
- Keane announce new single 'Perfect Symmetry'
- Tracy Chapman New Album in stores 11/11
- LOCKSLEY HITS THE STAGE AND BACKS KINKS LEGEND RAY DAVIES
- Thursday Team With Envy For Split, Stream Album on AOL
- Chris Cornell premieres new video and has dreams about Layne Staley
We Will Rock You
Altsounds users are concert going freaks. The gigs listed below gave our reviewer the horn this week.
The MTV EMAs - Liverpool 6th November 2008
MTV
There is no message we're receiving...Let me know, is your heart still beating?
To begin with, believe me when I say that I know my bit about the MTV Europe Music Awards, and that's beside the fact that I, myself, am an MTVer since 2007.
Since the 23rd of November 1995, the EMAs (in their second edition back then, from wonderful Paris and hosted by Jean Paul Gaultier) got me started in some sort of EMA ritual. The EMAs of the last 14 years have reflected incredibly clearly, year to year, the bad and good that was happening kind of following the overall direction of general culture. They've almost become a popular culture projection. Regardless of the credit crunch and the looming recession, no matter what mood seems to be in the air lately in the UK, Europe or all around the world, MTV got it all back on its track, making me incredibly proud of what I have seen tonight, with eyes nearly as starry as they were when I was 12 watching the EMAs for the very first time.
READ MORE
Altsounds users are concert going freaks. The gigs listed below gave our reviewer the horn this week.
The MTV EMAs - Liverpool 6th November 2008
MTV
There is no message we're receiving...Let me know, is your heart still beating?
To begin with, believe me when I say that I know my bit about the MTV Europe Music Awards, and that's beside the fact that I, myself, am an MTVer since 2007.
Since the 23rd of November 1995, the EMAs (in their second edition back then, from wonderful Paris and hosted by Jean Paul Gaultier) got me started in some sort of EMA ritual. The EMAs of the last 14 years have reflected incredibly clearly, year to year, the bad and good that was happening kind of following the overall direction of general culture. They've almost become a popular culture projection. Regardless of the credit crunch and the looming recession, no matter what mood seems to be in the air lately in the UK, Europe or all around the world, MTV got it all back on its track, making me incredibly proud of what I have seen tonight, with eyes nearly as starry as they were when I was 12 watching the EMAs for the very first time.
READ MORE
Fightstar [Live] - Loughborough SU - 1st November 2008
Emo/Progressive/Rock
Progression is key to a band’s success, years of touring, building a fan base and a lot of studio work. In the 5 years that Fightstar have under their belt, the performance tonight just shows how hard they have worked. The set was tight, I mean very tight. The songs where hammered out with an abundance of energy and aggression. Due to a hand injury, drummer Omar Abidi had to give it a miss for the performance tonight. The replacement drummer lived up to Omar’s standard of ridiculously tight and technical abilities. The vocal harmonies gushed out by guitarist Alex Westaway could send shivers down the spine of any man woman and child. The band as a whole seem very comfortable on stage, showing that all their hard work has paid off. And It can only get better from here.
Having seen Fightsar back in 2006 play to a horrific crowd at Download festival (they were pretty much bottled throughout the whole gig), I didn’t know what to expect from tonight’s older audience here to see Feed.....
READ MORE
The Inside Scoop
Want to learn more about your favourite bands and artists? The inside scoop is here to save your ass!
Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd
History repeats itself. It always does.
Buckcherry is known as a party band, coming from the sleazier side of the rock n roll world. No one gets into your line of work thinking about steady paychecks and taking on responsibility. That's actually the opposite of what attracts people to the profession. But you've taken on quite a bit of responsibility and have a family relying on that paycheck. Which is better- the fantasy of rock superstardom or the reality of being a working musician?
Oh, being a working musician, definitely. I mean the fantasy is much grander than the actual job, but if it's what you're passionate about and you love it, as it is with us, then there's nothing better. It's great when you start to make a living at it. But no, it's not like limousines, hookers and blow. It's a lot more work than people think.
How does sober living fit into the 'sex drugs and rock n roll' philosophy?
I don't know. I don't really think about it as 'sober living.' We host the party every night. I got a good 10 years of......
READ MORE
Q&A Interview with A Plea For Purging
"We speak a lot of spiritual warfare with references to Revelations as well as the Crusades."
Altsounds: What do you feel you need to do in order to be purged?
A Plea For Purging: In a spiritual sense? Ask for redemption of your sins, accept that Christ is the Son of God that paid for that redemption, and live a life adhering to the teachings of Christ and the commandments.
Altsounds: Do you guys face much ridicule in the metal world for being 'Christian Metal'?
A Plea For Purging: Not so much. Christian metal is as common or more common than secular metal. It's one of the fastest growing genres in music right now. So it's been heard by anyone in this scene. They are used to it whether that's their thing or not. Maybe a God Free kid will mumble something from the crowd now and then, but being as I am scared of no human other than my mom, I always invite any hecklers on stage for a one on one, no one has taken me up on the offer yet.
Altsounds: How about from more conservative Christian folk? Do you they approve of your method for spreading the word of God?......
READ MORE
Happy Sunday people and make sure you use our issue next week to perk up your boring Monday in work. As usual, I am 8 Pints In!
Emo/Progressive/Rock
Progression is key to a band’s success, years of touring, building a fan base and a lot of studio work. In the 5 years that Fightstar have under their belt, the performance tonight just shows how hard they have worked. The set was tight, I mean very tight. The songs where hammered out with an abundance of energy and aggression. Due to a hand injury, drummer Omar Abidi had to give it a miss for the performance tonight. The replacement drummer lived up to Omar’s standard of ridiculously tight and technical abilities. The vocal harmonies gushed out by guitarist Alex Westaway could send shivers down the spine of any man woman and child. The band as a whole seem very comfortable on stage, showing that all their hard work has paid off. And It can only get better from here.
Having seen Fightsar back in 2006 play to a horrific crowd at Download festival (they were pretty much bottled throughout the whole gig), I didn’t know what to expect from tonight’s older audience here to see Feed.....
READ MORE
The Inside Scoop
Want to learn more about your favourite bands and artists? The inside scoop is here to save your ass!
Buckcherry frontman Josh Todd
History repeats itself. It always does.
Buckcherry is known as a party band, coming from the sleazier side of the rock n roll world. No one gets into your line of work thinking about steady paychecks and taking on responsibility. That's actually the opposite of what attracts people to the profession. But you've taken on quite a bit of responsibility and have a family relying on that paycheck. Which is better- the fantasy of rock superstardom or the reality of being a working musician?
Oh, being a working musician, definitely. I mean the fantasy is much grander than the actual job, but if it's what you're passionate about and you love it, as it is with us, then there's nothing better. It's great when you start to make a living at it. But no, it's not like limousines, hookers and blow. It's a lot more work than people think.
How does sober living fit into the 'sex drugs and rock n roll' philosophy?
I don't know. I don't really think about it as 'sober living.' We host the party every night. I got a good 10 years of......
READ MORE
Q&A Interview with A Plea For Purging
"We speak a lot of spiritual warfare with references to Revelations as well as the Crusades."
Altsounds: What do you feel you need to do in order to be purged?
A Plea For Purging: In a spiritual sense? Ask for redemption of your sins, accept that Christ is the Son of God that paid for that redemption, and live a life adhering to the teachings of Christ and the commandments.
Altsounds: Do you guys face much ridicule in the metal world for being 'Christian Metal'?
A Plea For Purging: Not so much. Christian metal is as common or more common than secular metal. It's one of the fastest growing genres in music right now. So it's been heard by anyone in this scene. They are used to it whether that's their thing or not. Maybe a God Free kid will mumble something from the crowd now and then, but being as I am scared of no human other than my mom, I always invite any hecklers on stage for a one on one, no one has taken me up on the offer yet.
Altsounds: How about from more conservative Christian folk? Do you they approve of your method for spreading the word of God?......
READ MORE
Happy Sunday people and make sure you use our issue next week to perk up your boring Monday in work. As usual, I am 8 Pints In!
