For anyone who doesnt know what SXSW is, South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. SXSW first began in 1987 and is centered on the downtown Austin Convention Center. Each of the three parts runs relatively independently, with different start and end dates. The music section ran from 18th – 22nd March.
Over 6GB of upcoming artists can be obtained legally via a torrent, all music was released freely from the organisers. After extensively listening through all the bands, a few notable artists are to be had here, some to watch out for as future stars, and some who wont make it, but are still stars in my eyes. (continue reading…)

After waiting 4 long years, The Offspring are back with their eighth studio album!
“Rise and fall, rage and grace” shows signs of going back to their pre-”Americana” sound with tracks like “Trust In You” and “Hammerhead” which can compare with tracks from their album “Smash” which was released in 1994 and is still their best selling album.  But the album takes a different trip for almost each track. Some have the pop-punk sound that they have adapted to over the last few albums (i.e. tracks “Rise and Fall” , “Let’s Hear It For Rock Bottom”). There’s some signs of a Green Day style approach in the track “Fix You”. Good lyrics, but it’s been compared to Green Day’s “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. And if you listen to the two, you’d agree. But all in all, this album brings a diversity of styles to The Offspring’s sound compared to their last few albums.

This album also has something new to it: Dexter sings! He actually sings!! In the track “A Lot Like Me”, you can hear the heart and effort that was put in compared to “Splinter” which seemed to lack it compared.

This album also brings serious issues to it as well compared to singing about fly white boys like in the past. In the track/first single “Hammerhead” this is clear. This track brings up the serious issue of gun violence around the world; first looking at a soldier and then a school shooting. Such a change from the past. Sure, they have “Gone Away” which is clearly about the death of Dexter’s first wife, but no other track brings up a serious issue like such. (continue reading…)

Indestructible (Disturbed’s 4th studio album) was released on iTunes on the 30th of may. I had high expectations of this full length album – partly brought about by Dan Donegan’s claims that the new album will be more “Ballsier” than the previous 3 albums. When I compare Indestructible to The Sickness I admit I wouldn’t call it “Ballsier”. For one it’s lacking the trademark “Grr” I associate with Disturbed. There are some great heavy metal tracks on there (The title track is a true neck breaker), mixed in with some more mid-tempo general audience songs. The production quality is excellent considering they produced this album themselves. (continue reading…)