Blackholes (2006-2008)

An Oxford-based band, Crackout got snuffed out in 2004. Jazz-influenced alternative rock, Crackout quickly found a special place on my shelf. They had two albums, This is Really Neat and Oh No!.

But they're not what this post is about, no. This post is about that shadowy figure who hates me. His new victim:

Blackholes (2006-2008)

Based again in Oxford, although I can only guess, Blackholes were a phoenix of Crackout started in 2006. Not to be confused with the Milwaukee 80s punk band by the same name. I found them through MySpace and ordered their homebrew demo The Alcohol EP. I received it within a couple of days in a lovely pressed cardboard sleeve with a signed flyer on the inside. The disc itself was home-burned, and written all over by the band. It made me very happy, and it featured four great songs. I was eagerly expecting great things from these guys. Alas...

Aside from the demo version of Service With a Sigh, I think I've collected Blackholes' incredible six-song discography that was available on their MySpace. Incidentally, if anyone still has the original download of that track, please let me know and I'll love you eternally.

How do things become obscure? I have now experienced it first-hand. It seems to me that if my arch nemesis can play dirty, crossing out a band that's barely begun, it's so easy for these things to sink into the lost depths of time. Already the only public connection to this band is their MySpace page, and soon enough there won't be a trace of them left. I feel a profound duty to preserve and guard my copy of The Alcohol EP with my life.

Snowglobe blow my mind for 30 seconds

Snowglobe are an indie/folkish band from Memphis who released their album under Makeshift Music.

I listened to the whole album, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was interesting, but nothing extremely interesting, or so I thought. I let my guard down after eleven tracks, then it happened. Try launching their MySpace player and listening to the track called Experiments.

Now I love them.

People in Planes live videos

Also if you haven't had a chance to see it already, the official video of Pretty Buildings is amazing.

It's nice that they remember their roots

People in Planes (formerly Tetra Splendour (formerly Robots in the Sky)) recently re-entered the musical world, announcing the new album Beyond the Horizon, coming out on the 9th September. They're a Welsh band now signed to Wind-Up records, the same label as Finger Eleven and apparently Evanescence... In the run up to the CD, the band have released two tracks as singles on iTunes.

Want to see what happens when I try to buy them?

Wind-Up seem to be pretty geared towards online networking and promotion, so why are they making this fatal flaw? I can live without Mayday for a couple of weeks, but they're losing a large amount of potential revenue here on the home continent.

Bitching aside, the album sounds amazing so far. Pretty Buildings and Mayday (M'aidez) are both solid tracks, and you can listen to them both on the band's official site. For a limited time you can download Pretty Buildings for free by signing up to the mailing list here, and you can also download a live, acoustic version of Mayday from BFN.

Continued...

Chuck Fails

-How long do you want me to stay?

-42 minutes and 15 seconds? The length of the first Arcade Fire album.

-Fucking idiot.
-There goes the mood.

Sorry Chuck, but you're playing The Weight of the World by the Editors. And the first Arcade Fire studio album is 47 minutes and 52 seconds long. You'd think all those subliminal CIA images would have filled you in on stuff like that.

Are all Finnish bands allowed to be this pretentious?