I feel an apology is in order for the AltSounds 8 Pints. It's been nearly a year since the last issue being sent to your inbox's and we are terribly sorry! So much has happened in 2010 and it most definitely was the year we grew the most. We had a brand new look to the site, launch of our AltSounds TV section, Official Magazine, Re-location to the states, record label pushing some tunes and believe it or not, there is more to come from the AltSounds network in 2011. Also if you have never seen this feature before, it is the official AltSounds 8 Pints In weekly newsletter/lowdown of the bestest content on the site. This will be hitting your inbox's weekly too, so if you haven't signed up make sure you do to keep your eyes glued to the site. Is it a bit sad that I get excited now that it’s slowly getting lighter in the mornings and evenings? It’s just about day break when I wake up, and when I stare out of the window aimlessly whilst at work and then I notice the time, it’s nearing clocking off time with a little bit more sunshine than it was last week. Maybe I have a lot of time on my hands, but at least we’re creeping ever so slowly towards summer, and the epic festival season. AltSounds.com is quickly becoming the most trusted musical taste-making resource. Think of us as a musical sieve. We make sure the shit music goes down the drain ensuring only the most quality bands get noticed. Our review team are not scared to knock a band off their pedestal whilst at the same time they are equally not afraid of elevating a band to super stardom. This is where you come in. We are seeking taste-makers in all the alternative genres. By alternative we mean "alternative to the mainstream". Taste-makers with a love for all genres are urged to apply. Click the link below that will send you to the lowdown on the job. We are currently recruiting:
 Banjo Or Freakout - 105 Memphis Industries | 83% I would describe this single as dream pop with many levels and shades that create a unique sound by balancing the complexity of the composition with the most simple attributes that make this genre so appealing. READ HERE -  Architects - The Here and the Now Century Media | 86% For the most part Architects are extremely brutal metal at it’s ugliest…but somehow they always work in a catchy melody and a chorus or two. Let me try to re-phrase this….they can go from the heaviest and most brutal sounds ever conceived... READ HERE -  Yellow Ostrich - The Mistress Self Released | 90% Pieced together from sessions recorded in “an empty movie theatre, a dorm room (all in Wisconsin) and an apartment in Manhattan” (as described on their Bandcamp site) The Mistress is on first listen an oddly comfortable record, easily accessible, yet also lush and new. READ HERE -  Grouplove - Colours Chess Club | 84% Slanting riffs, drums which crash from one section to the next, and a marching bassline fuse together perfectly. There isn't a note out of place, which partly explains the short review - it's hard to pick single elements of a track which works so brilliantly as a whole. READ HERE -  Mike Badger and the Shady Trio - Mike Badger and the Shady Trio Self Released | 80% Badger’s newly wed band in general sounds like an obscure American band only recently resurrected from the lost tapes of the late Sam Philips and without them, this EP wouldn’t be as shaking, rattling and rolling half as much as it does now. READ HERE -  Slash & Myles Kennedy - Live in North America: House of Blues, Hollywood CA Dik Hayd International/Abbey Road Events | 87% After the first listen, I was ready to listen to it again... and again. By the time I sat down to write this review, all I could think of was how I wished I had been in the audience for this show. An undoubted victory. -  Tennis at Madame Jojo's London Madame Jojo's January 18th | 83% They maintained effortlessly their dreamy pop relaxed vibe through all the set, and you could almost smell the ocean and the palmtrees. READ HERE   What Have I Been Listening To? Step Inside My Music Crypt Issue 19 Are you comfy? I’m starting out with some Alice in Chains from their 1991 album “Dirt”. It’s so sad that vocalist Layne Staley had to die so young and at the height of his abilities from a heroin overdose. Here are two of my favorite songs from their best and final album with Layne Staley. The first is ‘Them Bones’. I’m cranking this one up all the way. Possibly the band’s best song ever… READ HERE -  The Lowdown: Kasey Anderson and the Honkies "I just wanted to make a record that could not be described by using the word 'twang'." READ HERE -  The Lowdown: Heinali and Matt Finney "I'm extremely satisfied with it. Musically, Heinali nailed what I had in mind a hundred percent. Something about this one immediately clicked with both of us early on." READ HERE   Win a Pair Of Tickets To Hammerfest 2011! Following the inaugural Hammerfest in 2009 and 2010’s Hammerfest II (both of which sold out), Hard Rock Hell and Metal Hammer are proud to announce Hammerfest III. AltSounds.com is giving away two lucky winners a pair of tickets each! These are worth over £280! So enter quickly or else! ENTER HERE  We love Facebook!  Have you seen the Facebook Fan page for Altsounds.com? Check it out here and become a fan! Altsounds.com | Facebook Photo Credit Link: http://www.johnlund.com/images/Funny-Holstein-Cow-Pictures.jpg
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