Alt-UK

Music, Film, and Gaming

Archives for May 2008

Fall Out Boy – Beat It

by Leave a Comment

Fall Out Boy covering Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’ is without doubt going to be some peoples idea of hell caught on record; I quite like Fall Out Boy however and when this track first emerged was really quite looking forward to giving it a listen. The track features John Mayer, a man that prior to listening to this record I had no previous knowledge of and given his ghastly guitar solo on this track I have no intention whatsoever of seeking out any further material of his either. Fall Out Boy’s ‘Beat It’ is somewhat of a disappointment I feel, it sticks to the original script of the track fairly religiously without ever really offering anything new to the sound. There are of course added guitar element here, other than this there’s just nothing to set it apart from the original though. Truth be told I’d much rather listen to the original than this, the cover is by no means a bad one but it’s certainly not as strong as the original Michael Jackson version of the track.

At times here Patrick Stump’s vocals go hideously out of tune, I’ve seen the man perform live and even then his voice was up to more than this. The vocal sound created here does on occasion sound a little strained, in the main the performance is quite a powerful one and the track is full of energy but there are certainly elements of the sound that let the overall quality of the cover track down a little here. John Mayer should be culled for crimes against guitar after his solo here, Patrick Stump needs to hang his head in shame for his occasional tuneless nature, other than this though the track is really quite a good one. I probably make the cover sound worse than it really is here; it’s not a bad track, not as strong as it potentially could have been but still not a massively disappointing effort. I love Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, any artist covering the track faces a terrifically tough task but this was most definitely a valiant effort on behalf of Fall Out Boy.

Label: Mercury
Release Date: 25th March 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview Star

Midasuno – Sister Temptation

by Leave a Comment

In 2007 Midasuno unleashed upon an unsuspecting world their ‘Songs In The Key Of Fuck’ album, an album that burst into life with the track ‘Sister Temptation’. As their first release of 2008 the band have decided to release the track as a digital download; it’s a powerful piece of music, a strong track with a fiery guitar riff charging through the very heart of the music. With its fusion of rock and electronica ‘Sister Temptation’ never poses a dull moment, it’s action packed from start to finish and an incredible four minutes of music it is too.

Two B-sides have been chosen to accompany the digital download; both were recorded live in session for the BBC Wales Adam Walton Show. ‘Sister Temptation’ is without doubt the finest track that can be found here, both B-sides are however very much appreciated and each of them have plenty to offer. Midasuno is an absolutely excellent band, expect to hear a lot more from them in future and certainly don’t forget to give ‘Sister Temptation’ a listen. I’d highly recommend giving this one a download, it’s out on the 7th of July and a much needed track in every iPod/personal music system across the land.

Label: Sugar Shack Records
Release Date: 7th July 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

Kidnapper Bell – Less Me, More Sky

by Leave a Comment

Hailing from Birmingham, Kidnapper Bell is an Anglo-American four piece; a band that has with this ‘Less Me, More Sky’ EP put to record four tracks that are all completely different in sound. What I like most about this EP is the freshness with which the band approach the music here, the sound created on this EP is always packed full of energy and never does the music of Kidnapper Bell disappoint in the slightest.

Kicking off in style with ‘What Arthur Said’, the band then progresses through to second track ‘The Frequency’ with great excitement and a huge level of musical intelligence. The music has been well put across by the band here, always there is plenty going on within the sound and certainly the four tracks of this EP do not disappoint. The drumbeats always are excellent throughout the four tracks, the vocal style at all times shines through strongly and every element of the bands sound just seems to come together flawlessly here.

Kidnapper Bell is a band that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere, never before had I heard of this band but I’m certainly glad that I have done so now. This is a band that all should listen to, the music is absolutely exceptional on this EP and I can’t wait to hear more from Kidnapper Bell. I’d love to hear a whole album of music from this band, it would be excellent to hear what they could come up with and if Kidnapper Bell could put to record ten or more tracks of this sort of quality then this really would be a fantastic thing to hear. Expect to hear much more from Kidnapper Bell in the not too distant future.

Release Date: 21st June 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

The Vincent Black Shadow – Fears in the Water

by Leave a Comment

The Vincent Black Shadow is a Canadian five-piece band signed to the Bodog record label. ‘Fears in the Water’ is the debut album from the band and comprises of a grand total of thirteen tracks amassing to fifty one minutes of music. For the most part the tracks tend to clock in at around the four minute mark and the sound created here can be quite a hard hitting one.

The ‘Fears in the Water’ album is quite an interesting one, the band features a female lead vocalist and it is her voice that stands out strongly throughout the album as the key feature of the music that has here been created. The vocal style of The Vincent Black Shadow front woman Cassandra Ford is extremely similar to that of Gwen Stefani, the vocal sound created throughout this album comes across strongly and always there is great power in her voice. Although the bands singer is strong; not always do the other components of the music work too well here with this album. Sometimes it seems that this band is trying to create a few too many sounds at once and the music therefore can on occasion sound a little messy.

Beginning with ‘Metro’ the album starts quite strongly here, the chorus is rather repetitive but the track does I feel work quite well. The vocals sound strong here but the repetitive nature of the music detracts away from the overall quality of the sound that has here been created. It’s a well constructed track, the chorus can cause quite an irritation however and this is in fact something that is true of many of the tracks on this album. Never is the music particularly bad as such, the instrumental element just has quite a tendency to be more than a little repetitive.

Throughout this ‘Fears in the Water’ album the guitars always possess great strength and accompany the vocals perfectly. The guitars are excellent, the vocals are brilliant, but often the melodies created here are not hugely impressive. All too often here the tracks begin well but soon become irritating as the repetitive nature of the music begins to grate. This is not to take anything away from the quality of the vocal performance; always the voice of Cassandra Ford is incredibly strong here and never does the power of her voice cease to amaze me.

Title track ‘Fears in the Water’ is probably the best track that this album has to offer, the music is well presented by the band here and always the sound created here is a strong one. The track progresses well and never is there a dull moment here. There’s some strong guitar work, the vocals are powerful as ever and every element of the music just seems to come together to perfection. I really have a great appreciation for the title track on this album, the sound created suits the band strongly and had the band produced more tracks here of this sort of style then the album would be a lot better I feel. It’s a powerful rock track, the best way to describe the sound created here would be to say that it is quite similar to that of Evanescence and my opinion of the track is that it is absolutely excellent.

‘Dream’ has to be my least favourite track from this album, it just doesn’t seem to work and the plodding pace of the instrumental element and stretching of the word ‘dream’ to about ten seconds in length is really quite an odd one. It’s by far the weakest track on this album in my opinion, I just fail to see the appeal of the track and every time I listen to it the droning nature of the music fails to impress me. There are times here when the vocal performance is incredibly strong and huge power can be felt protruding through, for the most part however the track just seems to fail.

The main positive that can be drawn from this album is the excellence of the voice of front woman Cassandra Ford, the guitars possess great strength also but it is truly the vocalist that is the star of the show here. Despite the supreme vocal performance here, the music created is really quite a disappointment on the whole. Many of the tracks featured on this album do not progress too well at all and listening to this album can therefore be quite a disappointment. The Vincent Black Shadow is most certainly a band with great potential; work certainly needs to be put in on the instrumental side of things however as at current I just do not feel that this band is quite the finished article. The repetitive nature of the music is a great let down here, something that stops the album from ever being truly excellent and an element that holds back the overall quality of the music.

Label: Bodog Music
Release Date: 5th November 2007

Rating:
Review StarReview Star

Producers With Computers – Girlies

by Leave a Comment

‘Girlies’ is the debut single from the Southend based Producers With Computers, a grime/pop crossover duo that has gained radio backing from the likes of Zane Lowe and Steve Lamaq. The music created here reminds me a little of the John B track ‘I’ve Been Stalking You On Myspace’ which emerged in late 2006; a pretty crap song really but one where the lyrics are fairly amusing the first time you hear the track. ‘Girlies’ works on entirely the same premise as ‘I’ve Been Stalking You On Myspace’ only it’s probably not done quite so well and isn’t so interesting to listen to. The music created here fast becomes irritating, it’s never going to be noted as a classic release of 2008 but I’m sure that there will plenty out there that will be vaguely amused when they hear this one. It’s pretty rubbish really, it’s rubbish in a good way though and that’s something that I actually quite like about this track; the music isn’t taken too seriously and for that reason it’s a fairly good bit of fun. Give ‘Girlies’ a listen, you’ll probably never want to hear it ever again but it’s definitely worth listening to the once.

Label: Trash Society Records
Release Date: 1st April 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview Star

Duffy – Warwick Avenue

by Leave a Comment

Duffy is a supreme Welsh wonder of a recording artist; her voice is hugely powerful and never does her music disappoint. ‘Warwick Avenue’ is the latest single to be lifted from the super album ‘Rockferry’ and once more the stunning voice of Duffy shines through as she blasts her way through an action packed four minutes of music here. The voice of Duffy truly is of an exceptional quality, throughout this track the beauteous nature of her voice comes through sensationally and the song structure here truly is superb. The track is full of life, the melody is masterful and once more here Duffy has shown exactly why her debut album has deservedly sold so many copies and why the likes of English newspaper The Observer and American music magazine Rolling Stone think so highly of her.

Label: A&M
Release Date: 26th May 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

The Rivers – She Gives It Around

by Leave a Comment

Released through NoCarbon Records, ‘She Gives It Around’ is the latest single from the Brighton based band The Rivers; a powerful track which comes complete with the excellent B-side of ‘Fold For You’ also. The music is powerfully put across here, the guitars are excellent and an extremely energetic sound is created by the band here. The vocals are incredibly well sung for the single track ‘She Gives It Around’, the vocal tone of the bands lead singer is absolutely excellent and never does the music of The Rivers disappoint. The music is powerful, the progression of the track superb and never does this band put a note wrong with either the single ‘She Gives It Around’ or bright and bold B-side ‘Fold For You’ either. With the B-side it is left purely to the vocals and guitar to put the music across, the track is executed excellently and in some ways the B-side is in fact even more impressive than the single itself.

The Rivers is an extremely talented band, a band that I thoroughly expect to go far. Producing music as excellent as this it should only be a matter of time before the phenomenal force of The Rivers is recognised by many.

Label: NoCarbon Records
Release Date: 28th April 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview StarReview Star

Giants Fall – Demo

by Leave a Comment

Having formed from the ashes of the punk rock band Breakneck, the four members of Giants Fall got together with an aim of creating music far greater than they ever had done before. Although under the name of Breakneck the band toured with the likes of Capdown and Gallows; this is a band that I was not before familiar with and therefore did not quite know what to expect with this three track demo. Having listening to the tracks from this release I have to say that I’m quite impressed with the sound that has been created here. The approach taken by this band is incredibly fresh and interesting, the music is put across well here and this demo therefore sounds strong.

Throughout this demo the guitar riffs come firing, the drum beats strongly surge through and the vocal approach taken here is quite excellent also. The sound created here is an interesting one, the band constantly bounces between fiery hardcore assaults and more melodic moments. The music is not always hugely hard hitting here, more often than not however the band impresses here and the sound created comes across incredibly well. This demo possesses plenty of promise; the three tracks of ‘Vacate The Building’, ‘Paper Cups & String’, and ‘Irevive’ are put together extremely well and the music created is a strong sound to listen to. I expect to see a lot more of this artist in the future, I can see Giants Fall increasing in excellence as time passes by and progressing to produce a fuller and even more well constructed sound.

Release Date: 21st June 2008

Rating:
Review StarReview StarReview Star