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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.

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.

Rage Against the X-Factor: Mid-Week Chart Shows ‘Killing In The Name’ to be Ahead

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With Rage Against The Machine ahead in the mid-week charts, Simon Cowell looks to have quite a battle on his hands in the race for this year’s Christmas number one. “F**k you, I won’t do what you tell me” seems to be the message to Simon Cowell here, with people fed up of being told what single to buy each year in the week leading up to Christmas.

‘The Climb’ from Hannah Montana the Movie was the X-Factor single of choice this year, and as Joe McElderry was the winner of the X-Factor 2009, his version of ‘The Climb’ was released at 12am on Monday December 14th as his first single as a solo artist.

The Facebook group ‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE FOR CHRISTMAS NO.1’ currently has close to 800,000 members, and the people behind it have been able to raise over £35,000 for the Shelter charity as a result of the group’s great success. Even if ‘Killing In The Name’ doesn’t reach Number One this Christmas then the group will still have done a great deal of good, and if you’d like to make a donation then you can do so here.

The Christmas Number One will definitely be an interesting one this year, and from 4-7pm on Sunday December 20th, I for one will most definitely be tuned into 98.8 for the Radio 1 Official Chart Show.

X-Factor Final Sees Joe Face Olly

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Olly Murs is up against Joe McElderry in the X-Factor Final 2009, and bookies favourite Joe may just have to step it up a gear if he’s to win the public over with his final performance tomorrow. Stacey Solomon was the unlucky contestant to just miss out and finish third, and now that Stacey is out of the running; the whole of Essex may just be getting behind Olly as he looks to beat off Joe and emerge as the X-Factor Champion 2009.

It’ll be a phenomenal achievement for former call centre worker Olly Murs if he is able to win the X-Factor, regardless of who wins the show tomorrow however Olly Murs’ life will surely be changed forever and a return to the call centre seems somewhat unlikely. Murs performed with Robbie Williams for the December 12th X-Factor show, and if Simon Cowell has his way then it’ll only be a matter of time before Olly Murs himself is a successful solo pop star.

Both Joe and Olly will be feeling the nerves as they prepare for the final show, they’ll both be aiming to channel any pressure into a positive performance though, and it’s not long now before we find out who will emerge victorious as the X-Factor champion 2009.

Miley Cyrus to Cover Poison’s ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’

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Teenage pop superstar Miley Cyrus wasn’t even born when Poison first topped the charts with ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ back in 1988, that’s not stopping her from covering the track however as she looks to take a more rock-heavy direction with her music.

‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ is reported to be one of Cyrus’s all-time favourites, so here’s to hoping that she’ll do Poison proud when she puts this one to record.

First Redemption Shows Since 2007

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Redemption
Los Angeles prog metal band Redemption has announced its first shows since 2007. Redemption will be playing a show at The Whiskey, Los Angeles, CA, on February 4th 2010, followed by a show at UB’s in Mesa, AZ, on February 5th 2010.

These shows are to be played in support of the band’s latest album ‘Snowfall on Judgment Day’, released through Inside Out Music on October 6th 2009.

More shows are to be announced in the next few weeks.