We've been getting a lot of questions about the Hello I Am Chris - Freelance Record Producer, Designer, Film Maker, Photographer, Writer and Consultant tag on the site so we figured we should probably make a commercial. We wanted to hire that meathead, Vince, from the Sham Wow infomercials. If you haven't seen this guy before- youtube it. Unfortunately for us, Vince just went to jail for beating up a hooker so I'm gonna do the script for him.

*ahem*

You'll be saying 'Wow!' when you see the services offered on Hello I Am Chris - Freelance Record Producer, Designer, Film Maker, Photographer, Writer and Consultant!!!

Hey everybody, it's AJ! You're not gonna believe these deals I have for you today! As we all know, design and studio services can cost you a fortune. But you're throwing your money away working with these clowns. Chris Maguire can do all the work you want, and for cheap. He's from Wales and you know the Welsh make good stuff. You following me here, guy?

Check this out! You love MySpace, but you hate surfing through pre-made profiles that are never quite what you want. WHAM! Chris Maguire can make you that profile or even a whole website! He can make your vision come true! You know what they charge you other places? It's ridiculous! You don't need a team of consultants and computer nerds. That's throwing your money away. Now look at this. All it takes is an artist! Stop having a boring website! Stop having a boring life!

We can't do this all day, but I got something for you musicians out there, too. Now, this is beautiful. You got the home recording set up and the songs sound good, but you want something more professional so you can take things to the next level. Do you have to flush your money away booking studio time and hiring a producer and an engineer to redo what you've already done? Forget about it! Send it over to my buddy, Chris. He'll mix and master those recordings for you. It's gonna make you cry when you hear how great this guy can make you sound!

HELLOIAMCHRIS.COM! You're not gonna believe how affordable this stuff is! His work basically sells itself, so schedule your design or studio work now! WOW!


We Want You!
Come Intern at Altsounds.com! We are on the lookout for talented individuals to write, photograph and blog for us. Read below to check if you got the skills needed. NOTE: The Role is unpaid.

As a user of Altsounds.com you are already an avid musical lover. So you're already perfect for the job. If you could take that passion and turn it into a nice review of a CD or a live review then your perfect for the job. If you can turn that passion into snapping some amazing live photos of a band in a venue then you're perfect for the job. If you own and run a label or any music related business then you're perfect for the job. If you're in a band you're perfect for the job. If you need an outlet to vent your love or hate of a band then you are perfect for the job.

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Why not put that photography skill of yours to the test and come photograph for Altsounds.com. We can organize you photo passes for tours of bands we work with. All that is required in turn is to upload the photos to Altsounds.com for our visitors to see. Whereas a review is a textual based overview of the show experienced, we like the idea of our Photographers doing the same thing but with visuals. You can also feel free to upload any other photos you want too for gigs that you didn't do for us just so others that will be interested can check out your skills.

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



Having released two mixed-bag albums under his own name, Brooklyn’s Luke Temple has adopted the moniker Here we go Magic to release his third album of the same name, and coincidence or not, the new name has arrived alongside his finest work to date.

Album opener “Only Pieces” sets the scene just perfectly; tropical jungle drums sail in steadily, before the exquisitely tranquil vocals, like Paul Simon singing to his children, melt into the mix and already you are aware that you could well be in for something special. The track’s abiding pace neve.....

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Super Furry Animals - Dark Days / Light Years [Album]


This, their ninth effort, continues their run of consecutive brilliant albums which dates back to…well, their first one! Since their 1996 debut Fuzzy Logic, the Furries’ sound has evolved into a technicolour brand of futuristic pop which, in terms of both ambition and warmth, ranks alongside The Beatles. That they continue to be overshadowed commercially by trendy drivel such as Razorlight and The Wombats is a crying shame. Not for the band, who have never appeared to court stardom – but for the purity of the waters of musical influence, in which Razorlight are tantamount to toxic waste. (Look out for the three-eyed fish.).....

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London Based five piece deserve merit for two things ; first for creating an extremely impressive debut single that requires the repeat button to be pressed constantly. Secondly for creating their own sub-genre, titled 'Dirty folk'. What a band needs to do to be dubbed 'dirty folk' is never explained, however I certainly wish more bands would follow in their stead. Lead by David Vincent and Billy Barrett the band deliver a brilliantly unique piece of folky pop that can't help but bring a smile to your face....

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Let me be straight with you here – prior to requesting this review, I had never listened to or even come into contact with Astral Weeks. Chances are that, if you’d mentioned it to me in the past, I’d have thought you were talking about a West Indian cricketer from the 1940s. I hope that this fact does not prompt much wailing and gnashing of teeth from those who would prefer this review to be in the hands of a dyed-in-the-wool fan. It was up for grabs and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to acquaint myself with an album that, by most accounts, deserves the utmost attention. Besides, if you want some flowery prose about how marvelous it all is, then the internet is absolutely choc-full of it.....

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I think one easy way of telling if it’s a good album, is if I would actually choose to put it on after I’m finished reviewing it. And I would DEFINITELY choose to listen to Youth Group's The Night Is Ours again and again.

Youth Group’s fourth release was let loose in their native Australia in June last year, but isn’t due for US release until this coming April. This version will boast completely different artwork (which is entirely welcome, as the original does not express the contents at all) and 2 bonus tracks ‘The Night is Ours’ and ‘Afraid of the Dark’.....

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Hollow Crown is the third release from Brighton boys, Architects, being put out by Century Media for which this is their second Architects release following Ruin back in 2007. Architects have had a very smooth transition through albums, never sticking to the same genre set but still staying true to their sound. Originally being very influenced by a more technical/math metal styling, Architects have developed in to an incredibly well rounded band, taking their prior influences and embellishing the view that you don’t have to be busy and loud all the time. The acquisition of vocalist Sam Carter, who joined after the bands first album, has added another dimension to the sound with his ability to sing and scream.....

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It is undeniable that experimental electronic music is currently on the rise at an exponential rate. Perhaps the scale is best measured by simply taking a look at the charts, paying attention to music used for media, scene kids’ shirts in the coolest bars in town, the sheer amount or new music of this genre being put out or live listings. This is all possibly because dance music has evolved – gone are the days of Ibiza-dance and 10,000 tracks all fronted by the same female vocalist singing about how much she loves her ‘baby’; now is a time when dance music is beginning to be accepted in other forms, which is naturally a fantastic means to nurture the genre and to allow it to grow and to explore the limits. One of the unsung heroes (to an extent) of this generation of producers is ‘Daedelus’. Sure, poster-boys Justice, Soulwax, SMD and Daft Punk all have contributed their fair share to the revolution of electronic music, but as with many musical trends, the real heroes often go unappreciated until it’s too late (At The Drive In & Glassjaw spring to mind with the explosion of emo).....

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I got some seriously odd looks from the people around me on the train today because I absolutely could not sit still listening to the opening bars of Shinedown’s third single ‘The Sound of Madness’, from their third album of the same name.

The follow up to lead single ‘Devour’ and subsequent ‘Second Chance’, is driven, inciting and powerful. The mix of meaty drums and a whining guitar riff, both then layered with lead singer Brent Smith’s wide-eyed, psycho lyrics “Another loose cannon gone bi-polar/slipped down, couldn’t get much lower/quicksand’s got no sense of humour/I’m still laughing like hell” makes for a sound indeed described best as ‘madness’. The solid pace is scarily faultless, until the welcome almost a capella breakdown, like the calm in the eye of the storm.....

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The pleasantly titled ‘Kids On Fire’ is the latest release from New York’s BM Linx – an act that seems confused about their own sound but that also benefit greatly from this minor identity crisis. With an electro-indie-rock swaggering sound that lies somewhere in the very vast space between Kasabian and Radio Soulwax, BM Linx are something of a breath of fresh air. This track is fast, punchy, flows well and has a lasting effect upon the listener by not taking a step back for the full 4:06 minutes of powering guitars, encouraging percussion, purring bass and perfectly delivered vocals.....

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Altsounds Exclusive Features
Packed full of shit you just can't see, hear or read anywhere else, the Altsounds.com Features section is packed to the brim. Here's a nugget of the best features from the week.


Pop punk never changes it's stubborn catchy Americanism's. Good pop punk is very hard to find. Wannabe bands trying to make their "imprint" on our UK scene is very annoying. Those bands usually feature a lead singer with an American accent, but is actually from Devon or something.

We all know and love New Found Glory in some form or another. They came back in '09 with 'Not Without A Fight', their new album which is full of their jolly tunes. Altsounds.com managed to grab an exclusive phone interview with lead singer Jordan Pundik............

FG: “Not without a fight” sure is classic New Found Glory. Yet, it seems to me that you were coming up with new sounds on Coming Home and Tip of the Iceberg. Were you not tempted to produce an album more similar to those records?
JP: I personally loved what we were doing on Coming Home but this record shows we are comfortable with being who we are. I think Coming Home was New Found Glory but more slowed down and a bit more soppy. We are just so excited about this album because for me New Found Glory has always been about being a live band and every song on this album we can play live and kids are going to go crazy!.....

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Plug in Baby
Must buys from the music recording technological world


Since the beginning of time Boss were known for their Guitar and Bass effect pedals. Every wannabe guitarist had used some form of their pedals and in most cases Overdrive or Distortion pedals. A lot has changed since their reign though and Behringer with their new range of RSM Stomp Boxes are set to "stomp" all over Boss in both price and sound. The Behringer effect pedals are cheap, dirt cheap in fact for what they are and quite astonishing probably to the people that used to be comfortable letting go of 60-100 quid for a Boss pedal. Each behringer pedal is about 12-30 quid which is nothing for what you get in terms of sound quality.....

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Last Orders!
I really hope you guys 'get' this newsletter. hahaha