8 Pints In | Issue #23
The Altsounds Concentrate | Sunday 7th December 2008 December 8, 2008, 11:33 PM  C'mon man... You ain't Elvis! Elvis Presley has been on the Billboard charts for the last 7 weeks with a Christmas Duets album. This is a project that never really existed, the label just had a bunch of country singers add a new vocal layer to his old holiday tunes. This record is one of more than 20 releases JUST THIS YEAR from Elvis Presley. He doesn't play shows. He doesn't do interviews. There are no music videos. There isn't even a genuine attempt to attract a new audience. The label would approach Martha Stewart about a new Elvis compilation before they'd contact us. It's not that a younger demographic doesn't care about Elvis or wouldn't like his music, you just can't market catalog as an active release if the artist has been dead for 30 years.
So what is the excuse for older artists who not only aren't dead, but are still writing and releasing new material? Why do they feel like they no longer need to connect? What is the logic behind doing absolutely no press and acting as if they are not competing with modern releases? If an artist is alive and breathing, there are no free passes. Every song an artist performs in their lifetime is subject to judgement on its own merits. Chinese Democracy isn't great just because Appetite for Destruction was, and former fans cannot be relied on exclusively to dub a new release 'legendary.'
New releases are not going to be successful unless they expand the fan-base, so even older artists need to work their records. You can't just preach to the choir. Artists should be available to press. They should be out there promoting or defending their work. They should be introducing themselves to young people and letting that demographic know why they should care about an artist their parents used to like. Music isn't relevant just because it exists, and not every record deserves it's own $250 collector's edition. Relevance is something artists have to fight for every single day, otherwise they're just taking advantage of artist loyalty.
</rant> Altsounds TV People just love watching the ole' TV. Altsounds TV is by far the greatest of all. This is the Altsounds TV Highlight this week. Nizlopi - Altsounds.com Exclusive Acoustic Session Exclusive Altsounds.com Session
While Nizlopi toured the UK in 2008 they stopped by the Altsounds.com HQ in Cardiff for a quick chat and to play us an exclusive acoustic session. Music That's Hot With a plethora of music to sieve through below is the cream of this weeks ever abundant musical crop.
Eagles Of Death Metal - Heart On [Album] Downtown Music December 3, 2008, 08:12 PM What a name for a band, one of the best I have heard. Anyone not having heard of the band would assume Eagles Of Death Metal are actually a Death Metal band, but that’s far from correct. Jesse Hughes and Joshua Homme have something special here. They are just out to have a laugh, and what better way to achieve this but to create garage rock at its most unique through the majesty of song. The whole album has a southern rock vibe, with lashings of cowboy boots and spurs. At moments Queens Of The Stone Age pop into the track but then are violently tucked away with some cool funk influences. Comparing EODM to another band is very hard, they are original in their own right, influences are hard to spot and it’s difficult to tie them down to a conventional genre. This is the third instalment to their album collection, and it’s a great investment. Dance-ability and blues take up a hefty section of the album, with clever production that sounds slightly vintage. The tracks sound layed back, fresh and original.
READ MORE  Glasvegas - A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss) Sony BMG December 1, 2008, 05:15 PM Much as these annoying cash-ins get squarely right on my breast area and are clearly some conniving little record label executive's mean way of ripping us all off; why don't you just come around my house and steal my credit-crunch cornflakes you mean-spirited cock! Anyway I'm getting way-laid with my argument here. What I was trying to say is much as these tie-ins bug me I have this urge to hear anything Glasvegas release and as such I dipped my hand into my ever emptying pocket and forked out for 'A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)' which instantly outstrips Coldplay's little rip-off mini-album as all six tracks featured here are new to the Glasvegas canon.
So what does 'A Snowflake Fell...' tell us? Well for starters much as this is a Christmas album it's not the sort you'll be playing to Granny on Christmas morning well not if 'Fuck You, It's Over' is anything to go by. However, this is a continuation of Glasvegas self-titled debut album albeit with the Christmas theme running through it. Much like their album dwelt on themes of knife crime, bullying & single-parenting; here we get relationship breakdowns, homelessness, & of course Christmas.
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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.
Joy of Sex - Joy of Sex [EP] Self-Released December 1, 2008, 02:15 PM For a band with a great name this EP is a big disappointment. I was expecting to hear a funky porn soundtrack, how wrong I was.
The Joy Of Sex are just another indie band who think playing guitar badly and singing out of tune is cool. It annoys me when I hear bands like this as they are filled with people who think they’re musicians by making a load of noise. They have the attitude that if they hit a lot of bum notes in a song it sounds rad.
The chances are if you like bands like The Wombats and Arctic Monkeys you’ll find this band ‘interesting’. All of the songs on this EP are poorly produced; this is another environment where indie bands thrive. The snare and bass drum sounds are god awful and the bass drum sounds like its hitting water for God’s sake!
I think The Joy Of Sex should give their name to a bad 1970’s style psychedelic porn band, I would find that highly amusing. The Inside Scoop
Want to learn more about your favourite bands and artists? The inside scoop is here to save your ass!
Q&A Interview with Andrea McEwan "I do have old-world tastes – vintage clothes, old records, those little black elephants with ivory tusks you find in junk shops"  Andrea McEwan is an Australian songwriter, singer, musician and actress. In 2006, after moving to the UK, she was signed to Dramatico Entertainment as a songwriter when a demo of her songs found its way into the hands of Mike Batt. Early in 2007, she collaborated with Katie Melua on some songs for her then upcoming album. Out of their successful sessions came two tracks, “What I Miss About You” and “Dirty Dice”, which appear on the album “Pictures”. Andrea is currently working on her own album which will be released by Dramatico later this year. Altsounds recently caught up with Andrea on her large venue tour supporting Katie Melua and asked her a few questions:
Altsounds.com You're currently working on your debut album, what do you envision it sounding like? Are you making any particular efforts to give it a certain feel and sound or to encompass certain styles?
Andrea McEwan: I think one thing that has really emerged sonically is that the every track on the album is...
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Q&A Interview with Vanessa from Lioness "I hope more people will buy vinyl so it doesn't disappear like polaroid film"  Toronto’s Lioness came together in the winter of early 2007, almost in secret, when Jeff Scheven and Ronnie Morris, the rhythm section behind the stomping disco pulses of controller.controller records, hooked up with Vanessa Fischer of soul-punk quartet No Dynamics. Haunting off-the-radar locales, playing low-key after-hours sets in dark, sweaty clubs, Lioness generated a noteworthy undercurrent of buzz on the scene.
Altsounds.com was lucky enough to catch up with Vanessa and talk to her about all the latest Lioness scoop. This is what she had to say for herself:
Altsounds: Your Myspace page states 'Lioness came together, almost in secret' – can you tell us a bit more about how that happened?
Lioness : If I told you all the details it wouldn't be a secret anymore. But perhaps there was fire, blood, wine and a goat.
Altsounds: Describe the band's sound in three words.
Lioness : Dark Mystical Soul
Altsounds: Why did you choose Rob Sanzo to produce your very first EP?...
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The News Wire Have your finger on the musical pulse every week by checking out the Top Ten biggest news of the past week
- Kings Of Leon Get 3 Grammy Noms and Headline Madison Sq. Garden
- PRETENDERS ANNOUNCE FIRST NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR SINCE 2003
- Creed Reunion Imminent
- Duran Duran Return to North America
- Black Lips announce new album and massive Myspace tour
- PITCHFORK AND FADER MEDIA ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
- Sing With The King ... record your own duet with Elvis
- TWELVE DRUMMERS DRUMMING…
- 2009 TAKE ACTION! TOUR- WITH HEADLINER CUTE IS WHAT WE AIM FOR
- One Last Nizlopi Gig in Germany on Friday Night
We Will Rock You Altsounds users are concert going freaks. The gigs listed below gave our reviewer the horn this week.
Dodgy [Live] at Cardiff Barfly 5th December 2008 This was worth the 13 years wait! December 6, 2008, 02:03 AM Dodgy used to be a staple diet of mine. Their songs fuel emotion and memory in me and I remember moments in time for no other reason other than I was listening to their album when something significant happened. So, whilst waiting in line on my birthday outside Barfly in Cardiff I spy a poster saying Dodgy are going to be playing there on December 5th. I literally shit myself and contact the Dodgy guys for a couple of guest-list slots so that after all this time being a fan I can see these guys live. I still listen to Dodgy quite often even after all this time. I now have a MASSIVE CD collection but whenever I browse through it and see one of the two classic Dodgy albums (Homegrown and Free Peace Sweet) amongst the crowd I always stop right there and play it. I actually recall slamming on Homegrown a month or so back whilst I had a bath and thinking to myself how good the production, harmony and song-writing was even to this day...
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Wolf Parade - The Ruby Lounge, Manchester Friday 28th November 2008 December 7, 2008, 07:33 PM It seems that music gigs are very much like real estate; it’s all about location, location, location. Having received a tip-off that new Manchester venue The Ruby Lounge had some stage visibility issues, we got there as doors opened to take our places down the front. Some other friends weren’t so pro-active and watched the gig from the back of the packed venue. From where we were crushed, the sound was fine and the band were in full view; from where our friends stood the sound was apparently awful, and the band may as well been behind a brick wall. Thankfully this is my review though and not theirs, and so there are nothing but positives to report on Canada’s finest export since maple syrup.
Support band Dag för Dag warmed the crowd up nicely, rocking their Swedish indie much harder than on record. They were very warmly received for a band that I suspect the vast majority of the crowd had never heard of before, although the applause is positively subdued compared to what was to come later for the headline act.
Plug in Baby Must buys from the music recording technological world  Marshall Jackhammer JH-1 Pedal Overdrive/Distortion Pedal in One Box December 8, 2008, 08:57 PM The Marshall Jackhammer JH-1 is built in a tough roadworthy light gray enclosure which is shared across the whole Marshall line of stomp-boxes. It has 1/4 inch input and output sockets, on/off switch with LED indicating "On" position. There are controls for "Mode", "Gain", "Volume", "Treble", "Bass", "Contour" and "Contour Frequency". The Marshall Jackhammer JH-1 can be powered via a 9 volt battery or a 9 volt adapter (not supplied).
The Marshall Jackhammer JH-1 is a dual mode stomp-box, it can operate either as an overdrive or as a distortion pedal. According to the manual the overdrive mode gets close to the character of a JCM800, while the distortion is close in voicing to the JCM2000 series Marshall amps...
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Last Orders!
Some lovely chap went off on us last week for laughing at Sarah Palin. I don't know how, exactly, it was deemed 'political' to call the woman retarded, but this amazing individual insisted we were somehow stepping out of bounds by speaking our minds and mentioning her in a negative light. I suspect he was especially hurt because we made our own photoshopped picture of Palin in a bikini rather than using the more popular one circulating the web. Palin as a turkey wasn't enough to stop him from fapping so hard it looked like his screen was melting, but he was still quite upset that we would make fun of his delicate little pitbull in lipstick (*fap fap fap*).
We welcome comments, even if you're as stupid as that guy. Whether you want to start a fight or give someone props for speaking the "troof", you can comment on pretty much everything Altsounds has to offer. Go on... speak your mind!
Don't just lurk around being creepy...get involved!
__________________ I am a Welsh Record Producer, Graphic and Web Designer, Film Maker, Photographer, Artist and Writer. Phew, that's a mouthful! Hit me up if you need work done.
[MY PORTFOLIO AND CONTACTS] www.helloiamchris.com
[BLEED ELECTRIC] www.bleedelectric.com
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