January, 2010

Paramore has announced some U.S. tour dates from the end of April and into May.

Supporting bands are Relient K and fun. Tickets go on sale February 5th and 6th to the general public so don’t forget to get your tickets!

APRIL

26 Knoxville, TN — Knoxville Civic Coliseum
28 Charlottesville, VA — John Paul Jones Arena
30 Atlantic City, NJ — Trump Taj Mahal – Mark G Etess

MAY

1 East Rutherford, NJ — Arena Meadowlands Sports Complex
3 Columbus, OH — The LC Amphitheatre
4 Grand Rapids, MI — DeltaPlex
6 Rockford, IL — Rockford MetroCentre
7 Moline, IL — i Wireless Center
8 Council Bluffs, IA — WestFair Amphitheatre
10 Salt Lake City, UT — E Center
12 Seattle, WA — WaMu Theater
15 Bakersfield, CA — Rabobank Arena
16 Las Vegas, NV — The Joint

Hey! You can now grab the Double Dance very special t-shirt for only $15!

Get one now!

Orlando, Florida-based power pop group Amely has officially announced today that they’re the newest member of the Fearless Records family! The 4-man group is proud announce this news, and they’ve released a video below!

Keep an eye out for a new EP from the group soon!

“I am here to tell you a story; a story that will torture your thoughts by day and poison your dreams by night,” the crude, ghostly voice states as violins screech amongst it, from the first track,  ”Curse Of The Virgin Canvas”, of 6-peice metal core outfit Alesana‘s latest album, The Emptiness. The 13-track comeback album from the group is a must hear album for any screamo fan, as it highlights what the group is capable of.

It’s difficult to imagine that it’s been over 2 years since Alesana’s last album, Where Myth Fades To Legend, and they’ve come back with the full power of a harsh screaming and a symphony of madness. But instead of coming up with an entirely new repertoire to feed in to our ears, the band has simply emphasized what they’re made of; high pitched scream-driven cries of love and death.

In comparison with their previous music, The Emptiness is edgier, with, at times, recordings of what sounds merely like the cries of someone dying in a empty room, but also more powerful, in that there is a lot of percussion-driven parts and a faded strings section in the background to tie it all up. I’m left, at various parts of the record, feeling like I’m at the final scene of a thriller movie, with the orchestra playing and a spine-chilling prose filling my head.

One  must digress, however, to the fact that the record seems to have a lot of mechanics behind it, a lot of studio edited cuts; which brings the questions as to what some of these songs might sound like live. As part of releasing a good, full-bodied record, I believe it’s necessary to have the ability to perform the exact same song that’s found of the album—and with all the added harmonic sounds and the spoken word, who’s to say that Alesana will be able to keep the same dynamics as they’ve laid out in this album, while performing them on stage?

Nevertheless, The Emptiness certainly delivers with the same style of crunchy metal core that they defined for themselves in their previous releases. My track of choice from this album is “Heavy Hangs the Albatross”; it’s one of the slower tracks on the album, and sort of offers a little bit of a breather for me before rushing in to “The Lover”.

Rating:  

Grab “The Emptiness” on iTunes today!

Stemming from the 18 year old brain of a boy who started uploading his music on MySpace, the lyrical bliss of Christofer Ingle Drew of Never Shout Never‘s glistening voice has certainly evolved in his progression from a one-man act in to a full-fledged signed, touring, band. Along with the group, their all-around sound has evolved, especially with their latest full length release, “What Is Love?”

With getting ready to headline the 2010 AP Tour and seeing so much main stream publicity lately, it’s hard to believe that the sextet has found time to record and produce a new, full-length, album; but it’s certainly about time that we finally see one, as they’re stepping up from 4 EPs and a few singles—the string of 3- to 6-song releases was starting to get a bit tedious, and kept us dying for something we could actually listen to for more than 15 minutes at a time. Alas, the day has finally come. What Is Love? came out January 25th from Loveway Records, the bands own record company (which also includes his other hardcore alias, eatmewhileimhot)—but don’t get too excited just yet, as the album probably isn’t as exactly as you expected it.

Maybe it’s the cliché lyricism of an angsting boy, or the addition of more members in his group, but Christofer just didn’t do it for me this time around. I found that as I progressed throughout the album, I noticed a trend in the music: Christofer has a noticeably higher-pitched voice, as opposed to his older singles, almost a nasaly whine which gets on my nerves a bit. But hey, maybe it’s just me. You can decide for yourself. Also, did anyone else catch the choir-esque Beach Boys chant in “I Love You 5″?

However, I can’t be too negative, because the group redeems themselves more than a few times and displays a more finished product near the end of the album. Perusing the lyrics of “Past Times” implies an almost nostalgic feeling, and the meaning behind a bonus track, “Fifteen”, has real depth and meaning behind it. Lastly, my track of choice is, in fact, the title track, “What Is Love?” The single is a well-rounded representation of the album solely, and has a southern feel to it throughout. I’d say that it was a good pick to release as the single.

The album as a whole didn’t impress me too much, and I’d definitely say that Christofer and the group have a lot more potential. But in general, it’s good listen.

Rating:  

Purchase What Is Love? on iTunes, or get the Bonus Track Version!

As you most likely already know, last week Haiti was hit with a massive earthquake that tore apart their whole world-and then another quake hit shortly after, which did even more damage. New Jersey-based indie clothing outlet Kill Brand Apparel has been generous enough to come up with a benefit t-shirt designed specifically for the victims. Here’s the message from Kill Brand, themselves:

Here at Killbrand Apparel we are lucky enough to make our voice heard and use our ability to make a difference.
100% of all proceeds from these exclusive Killbrand Haiti Benefit Tees will be donated to the Red Cross Organization to help aid the victims of the recent earthquake tragedy.
Each shirt will also come with a FREE support Haiti pin.

So, do them a favour, do us a favour, do Haiti a favour, do the world a favour; grab this awesome shirt only $10 from the Kill Brand online store today.

Hey boys and girls!

Go grab the latest release from Alesana, The Emptiness, today! The Fearless Records group released the album today, the 26th, both digitally and in stores (Grab it at Target for $7.99 until the 30th)!

“The Emptiness is an almost perfect distillation of everything that’s hot in hard rock right now… a densely layered masterpiece.”
- OUTBURN 10/10

“A measured dose of melody and maelstrom… The Emptiness is a full, multi-media experience that will assault all of your senses.”
- AOL NOISECREEP

So, what are you waiting for?

Grab the album on iTunes

Just want a taste?

Stream the album on their MySpace!

The 11th annual Coachella festival officially announced its line up today on coachella.com. The 3-day music and arts festival is set to feature over 130 acts, among the likes of Jay-Z, Muse, Phoenix, The Gorillaz, Them Crooked Vultures, Thom York, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, and a slew of other performers (See full list below).

The annual festival comes around for three days every April (16th-18th) and is based in the Coachella Valley of sunny California. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, the 22nd of January for about $270, and you can grab them on the Coachella website.

Official Line-up (via coachella.com)

FRIDAY APRIL 16: Jay-Z, LCD Soundsystem, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Deadmau5, Public Image Limited, The Specials, Grizzly Bear, Passion Pit, Echo and the Bunnymen, Benny Benassi, Fever Ray, Grace Jones, She & Him, Erol Alkan, The Avett Brothers, Calle 13, The Whitest Boy Alive, The Cribs, La Roux, Yeasayer, Lucero, DJ Lance Rock, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Proxy, Ra Ra Riot, Deer Tick, Wolfgang Gartner, Aeroplane, Iglu & Hartly, Sleigh Bells, P.O.S., Baroness, Hockey, Little Dragon, White Rabbits, Wale, Kate Miller-Heidke, As Tall as Lions, Jets Overhead, Alana Grace, Pablo Hassan.

SATURDAY, APRIL 17: Muse, Faith No More, Tiësto, MGMT, David Guetta, The Dead Weather, Hot Chip, Devo, Coheed and Cambria, Kaskade, 2Many DJ’s, Major Lazer, Dirty Projectors, Gossip, Z-Trip, The xx, John Waters, Les Claypool, The Raveonettes, Mew, Sia, Camera Obscura, Tokyo Police Club, Porcupine Tree, Old Crow Medicine Show, Aterciopalados, Bassnectar, Frightened Rabbit, Dirty South, Flying Lotus, Corinne Bailey Rae, Pretty Lights, Shooter Jennings, RX Bandits, The Almighty Defenders, Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros, Craze & Klever, Zoe, The Temper Trap, Portugal. The Man, Band of Skulls, Girls, Beach House, Steel Train, Frank Turner.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18: Gorillaz, Pavement, Thom Yorke????, Phoenix, Orbital, Spoon, Sly and the Family Stone, De La Soul, Julian Casablancas, Plastikman, Gary Numan, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sunny Day Real Estate, Yo La Tengo, MUTEMATH, Deerhunter, Infected Mushroom, Club 75, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Gil Scott-Heron, King Khan and the Shrines, Florence and the Machine, Yann Tiersen, Little Boots, Miike Snow, Talvin Singh, Ceu, B.o.B., Babasonicos, Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, Mayer Hawthorne, Local Natives, Rusko, The Middle East, Hadouken!, The Soft Pack, Kevin Devine, Paparazzi, Delphic, One EskimO.

Blink-182 have released a new t-shirt to benefit the Red Cross in their efforts to help the people of Haiti after the 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti early Tuesday morning (January  12).

The shirts cost $15 (not counting shipping) and all proceeds go to the Red Cross.

The t-shirts can be purchased here at the band’s webstore and are expected to ship January 22nd.

If you are interested in helping out the cause, you can find various other ways to help donate here.

If you’ve got one of them newfangled Apple iPhones, and you appreciate bands like The Devil Wears Prada and From first to Last, then you’ll be stoked to hear that Rise Records has released the official iPhone Application to keep track of everything Rise-wise. From the app, you can stream music, make purchases, and even see when a band is playing near you! And the best part? It’s completely free!

So go grab the app right now from the iTunes app store!