Alt-UK

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Slayer Postpones April Tour

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Tom Araya has been booked in to receive back surgery at the end of the month, and Slayer has therefore been forced to cancel its tour plans for April. Araya had been looking down alternative avenues for treatment, with the problem having not been handled however surgery is now required for the bassist/vocalist.

Slayer manager Rick Sales released the following comment regarding the postponement of Slayer’s scheduled tour:

“As unfortunate as this is for so many people – the Megadeth and Testament camps, the concerts’ promoters, and, of course, the fans – Tom’s health is the number one priority, and this has to happen.”

The plan is to reschedule the tour for later on in 2010.

Future of the Left announces UK Tour for January

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In support of the ‘Travels With Myself And Another’ studio album, Future of the Left is to hit the road on January 16th, and the tour will run until the 28th when the band will end its run of shows in Cardiff.

Future Of The Left is currently touring in Australia and New Zealand and the plan is to enter the studio in February once the UK tour is finished in order to work on a new album. Andy Falkous had the following to say on the subject of Future of the Left’s next album:

“Travels was, after a difficult gestation period, an album that we are inordinately proud of. Before the process of starting each record I always say I want to write a pop album and then our personalities get in the way. This time I’m hoping to take the thing full circle and to channel the spirit of Freddie Mercury (nb. not Brian May) through Slayer’s backline.”

The following are the UK tour dates that Future of the Left is all set to play this January:

16th JAN – NEWCASTLE – CLUNY
17th JAN – ABERDEEN – TUNNELS
18th JAN – GLASGOW – KING TUTS
19th JAN – MANCHESTER – RUBY LOUNGE
21st JAN – NOTTINGHAM – BODEGA
22nd JAN – LEEDS – COCKPIT
23rd JAN – SHEFFIELD – CORPORATION
28th JAN – CARDIFF- IFOR BACH

Fake Problems UK Tour April 2010

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Following on from their performances at the Carling Festival 2009, Fake Problems is to return to the UK in April 2010 and will perform eleven dates throughout the country. The band is also to release a new album in 2010 and that will definitely be one to watch out for.

Following on from the UK tour Fake Problems will be off to the 2010 Groezrock Festival in Belgium, for those based in the UK though these are the eleven dates that the band will play in April:

12-April Norwich – Water Rats
13-April Bristol – Thekla
14-April Birmingham – O2 Academy 3
15-April London – Barfly
16-April Oxford – Bullingdon
17-April Manchester – Roadhouse
18-April Glasgow – O2 ABC 2
19-April Newcastle – The Cluny
20-April Nottingham – Rock City Basement
21-April Leeds – The Cockpit
22-April Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms

Mono Announces Several UK Shows for March 2010

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Japanese post-rock band Mono is coming to the UK in March and is currently set to play one show in Scotland and three in England. Mono released new album ‘Hymn to the Immortal Wind’ in 2009, and if you’re a fan of the band’s music then you should definitely seek to see them in March.

The following are the tour dates that Mono currently has planned to play:

15/03/2010 – The Scala, London
16/03/2010 – The Asylum, Birmingham
17/03/2010 – Oran Mor, Glasgow
18/03/2010 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

You Me At Six Releases Video for New Single ‘Underdog’

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You Me At Six is all set to release its second studio album ‘Hold Me Down’ in 2010 and a video has now been released for first single ‘Underdog’.

‘Underdog’ is due for release on January 11th, and if you liked what you heard with the ‘Take Off Your Colours’ album then there’s a good chance that you’re going to enjoy ‘Underdog’ also. The band has once again been able to put to record an absolutely incredible chorus, and if this single is anything to go by then 2010 should be another big year for this brilliant band from Surrey.

The video can be seen right now over at YouTube, and if you head on over to the You Me At Six webstore then you can pre-order it now from a number of different online retailers.

Rhesus Aiming to Achieve £15,000 Investment Through Slicethepie

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UK based pop rock band Rhesus is currently up for investment at Slicethepie.com, and is well on the way to achieving its goal of reaching £15,000. With close to £4,000 raised, Rhesus looks as though it will be the next band to secure investment through Slicethepie, and you can currently invest in the band’s future at the website.

If you’re not already familiar with Slicethepie; Slicethepie is a website which rewards you for reviewing music by paying you in cash/vouchers. Once you have £5.00 cash in your account from reviewing you can request a withdrawal to your Paypal account which is generally then carried out the next working day, or you can choose to invest in one or more of the artist’s up for finance. Vouchers can also be used to invest in artists up for finance on the website, and can result in a long-term monetary return as each £1 investment will provide you with one contract in your chosen artist. More information about what Slicethepie is and how it works can be found here.

At the time of writing, Rhesus is currently the artist with the most investment achieved, Australian artist Jessica Paige is not far behind however and is another rising talent that you should definitely take the time to listen to.

Alt-UK is backing Rhesus to be the next financed artist at Slicethepie, and having thoroughly enjoyed the three tracks available through the website we will definitely be looking forward to hearing the band’s album when it’s recorded and released.

Good luck to all artists currently up for finance at Slicethepie, congratulations to Azrock & Pogo for reaching £15,000 the other week, and definitely do consider investing in Rhesus as this is a band that undoubtedly deserves it.

The following is a video of Rhesus performing an acoustic version of the track ‘Morals for Money’:

Joe McElderry Gets His Number One

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Having missed out on the Christmas number one spot after a Facebook campaign to get Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ to number one was a huge success, Joe McElderry has now got the number one that he was after, and ‘The Climb’ is the last number one of the decade.

This week saw ‘Killing in the Name’ slip back to number two, and with sales figures having dropped for both singles, 196,000 sales was enough to see Joe McElderry take the top spot by over 130,000.

Joe McElderry may not have had the Christmas number one that he was hoping for, the young singer has still ultimately been able to claim the top spot however, and time will only tell as to how long he can remain at the top.

In just two weeks on sale, Joe McElderry’s ‘The Climb’ has now shifted 650,000 copies, a figure that should see the young artist claim the sixth most successful single of 2009.

The Beast Stalker Review

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Directed by Dante Lam, The Beast Stalker is a cleverly put together action thriller that most definitely provides for an entertaining viewing experience. It’s not perfect, and more could definitely be done to give us a greater idea of the character of Ann Gao (Jingchu Zhang); the film as a whole surely shouldn’t disappoint fans of Hong Kong thrillers however, and if you’re looking for a quality film of this sort then you can definitely do a lot worse than watching The Beast Stalker.

Drawing you in with a fantastically filmed car chase, the film then hits you with the accidental death of public prosecutor Ann Gao’s eldest daughter. Sergeant Tong’s (Nicholas Tse) world is rocked as he accidentally shoots the girl dead in the chase, and when Ann Gao’s other daughter is kidnapped by contract killer Hung (Nick Cheung), Tong then makes it his mission to bring the girl home safe.

All involved play their parts well in The Beast Stalker, were Ann’s character focused on a little more however then the development of her character could definitely help to improve the film a little more. Also, as much as I enjoy the way that Ann, Tong, and Hung’s storylines all come together in the end to show the chance crossover of their paths, the way that this is done is really quite farfetched, and although done well is not hugely believable. These are just small niggles, despite my minor issues with the film I certainly still hugely enjoyed watching The Beast Stalker however, and this is a film that I would still wholeheartedly recommend to others.

109 minutes in length, The Beast Stalker definitely does enough to keep you interested throughout, and the character development of both Sergeant Ton and Hung is excellent here, particularly Hung who truly is a hugely interesting character. Nick Cheung’s portrayal of Hung is sensational which definitely helps, and I for one was thoroughly impressed with the quality of his acting all throughout the film. Dante Lam once again demonstrates here his great quality as a director, and for anyone that has doubted him in recent times The Beast Stalker is certainly a film to look to.

The Beast Stalker is all set for UK release as a double-disc edition on January 4th 2010 through Cine Asia, and would be a worthy addition to any film collection.

Special Features:-

– Behind the Scenes (The Car Chase, Scaling the Sign, The Street Chase, Little Actors)
– Making Of
– Interview Gallery (Nicholas Tse, Jingchu Zhang, Mick Cheung, Dante Lam)
– Extended/Alternate Scenes
– Trailer Gallery

Rating:

Rage Against the Machine Wins the Race for Christmas Number One

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All week there has been great interest in the Official UK Singles Chart as Rage Against the Machine and Joe McElderry have been battling it out for the 2009 Christmas Number One spot. Rage Against the Machine had been ahead all week, with the physical release of Joe McElderry’s ‘The Climb’ the X-Factor artist began to start catching up however, leading to a very tense weekend where it could have gone either way. Rage Against the Machine has ultimately won the bottle, with ‘Killing in the Name’ officially revealed as the UK Christmas Number One 2009.

In beating off the competition from Joe McElderry, Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ has become the first ever track to reach the number one spot on downloads alone. ‘Killing in the Name’ amassed total sales in excess of 500,000 for the week, and the Facebook group ‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1’ has been a huge success, not just in getting Rage Against the Machine to Number One, but also in raising over £70,000 for the Shelter charity.

This is the first time since 2004 that an X-Factor artist has not occupied the UK Christmas Number One spot.