Archive | June, 2011

T-Shirt Spotlight – 28/06/11

28 Jun

I may not be the most fashionable cat around but I do know one thing, if a t-shirt rocks or not.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you today’s t-shirt spotlight…

 

Courtesy of Mighty Fine tees.

The very simply-entitled “Nerd Buffet” is by Liz Acosta, and depicts a whole host of delights that make geeky souls everywhere smile: Rainbows! Sharks! Dragons! Robots! Zombies! Laser-firing unicorn eyeballs! It’s a brain-melting display of awesomeness.

Cost: $25

Purchase: Here

Follow Mighty Fine on Twitter at @welovefinetees

Follow Myself on Twitter at @ObviousPrime

Follow the blog on Twitter at @Alt_Spotlight

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Campus Series 1 – Review

28 Jun

Okay, I’ll just go ahead and say it. I liked Campus. In fact, I really liked Campus. From the writers behind sketch show Smack The Pony and hospital-sitcom classic Green Wing, Campus had massive shoes to fill. Initial reception of the show was painful, with critics left and right declaring it the immature pubescent little brother of Green Wing, slamming it for both its similarities and differences from the show. Sure, Channel 4′s advertisements in the run-up to the first episode made the Green Wing link its major selling-point and perhaps this hype was a little too much to handle, but is it really necessary to make such comparisons? Okay, so both shows focus on two marvellouly dysfunctional instituions and revolve around the relationships between the people inside of them, but what sitcom doesn’t?
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Let’s talk about…the DC reboot.

23 Jun

Come September, DC Comics will press the restart button on the entire DC universe. With the conclusion of Flashpoint, DC will start anew with fifty-two, yes fifty-two, brand new series all starting at issue one and going day and date digital release. Obviously news like this tends to cause a little bit of backlash, so here at Alternative Spotlight we decided to not take to the forums and burn them all down with our flaming fanboy rage, we thought Adam and Simon would have a gentlemanly discussion instead.

But first, let’s see what we are dealing with.

Simon

Currently reading (comic book wise) – Oddly nothing current. Working through some things I’ve missed over the years. Currently reading the reimagining of Neil Gaiman’s ‘Neverwhere’.
Favourite Series – Preacher. Always and forever. The best comic series that was ever written (and mostly likely ever will be!)
Writer that can do no wrong – Neil Gaiman

Adam

Currently reading (comic book wise) – I’m a little bit of a Marvel zombie. The current most notable titles I’m reading right now are Amazing Spider-Man, all the Avengers titles, Avengers Academy, Uncanny X-Force, Deadpool and Uncanny X-Men.
Favourite Series – I am loving Avengers Academy and Uncanny X-Force at the moment but will always go with Amazing Spider-Man.
Writer that can do no wrong – I’m going to be cheap and go with three: Matt Fraction, Christos Gage and Rick Remender.

1. What do you think of the DC reboot at a consumer level?

Simon: On a consumer level it’s obviously going to split people down the middle. I was a MASSIVE fan of Marvel’s ‘reboot’ (though it wasn’t an entire one). The Ultimate comics were an opportunity for me to throw myself into a universe where I knew EVERYTHING that was going on, and that’s a nice feeling. I hope to get the same buzz from the DC reboot. The DC universe has so much history and mythology behind it. Sometimes it can get confusing. This is an obvious way to solve that issue and make the whole lot accessible again. However… 52 titles?!?! What the hell?!?! That’s way too many. They’re trying to solve one issue and failing miserably. Within months, the DC universe is going to be as confusing as it ever was, no-one is going to be able to afford/have the time to keep up with every series, and there will always be crossovers that make you go ‘Huh? Who the hell is that?!’ They should have done what Marvel did and kept it simple. The main characters get their own series (Supes, Wonderwoman, Batman) and done a Justice League one to start. That REALLY would have made the new universe accessible. Then as time went on, GL and co could get their own issues. It’s going to get confusing, and there seems to be an ongoing thing with big events in comics at the moment in that they never stick to their guns. They kill someone off, they always come back, something big happens that changes everything, and they do something to reverse it all. My money? I wouldn’t be surprised if in 12 months time, everything’s gone back to exactly how it was, or at least, we’ll find out that there’s still the original earth floating out there somewhere…
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Bon Iver’s ‘Bon Iver’ – A Review

21 Jun

Bon Iver‘s first album was a triumph. At least that’s what the crazy A.I. from Portal claimed in her final song. That’s right. She wasn’t taking about the epic events of the game. She was referring to the ground-breaking debut album by Justin Vernon, oddly entitled For Emma, Long Ago. The album was a somber and beautiful as the title implies, and the sequel has been highly anticipated by humans and robots alike.

The majority of the new album, Bon Iver, isn’t a disappointment. The first few bars of opening track Perth will send shivers down spines. Simplistic and haunting guitar. Images of teenagers lying in darkened rooms with lava-lamps a-glow spring to mind. There’s a little experimentation in the first couple of tracks, but after a few listens, fans of the previous album will settle in nicely. Vernon’s voice floats around beautifully whilst the instruments meander along, carrying him where ever he’s planning to go. Holocene really sets the album on it’s path, and really emphasises why Vernon has a band behind him now, rather than locking himself away in the mountains alone this time.

This album really would be wonderful, if not for the final track. Beth/Rest is an anomaly on this outing. It has hints of the classic Bon Iver sound, but sounds out of it’s time. More like something that would be found on a Phil Collins album than should be bring what is a five star album to a close. Ignore the final track, and Vernon may have just released a contender for album of the year.

T-Shirt Spotlight – 08/06/11

19 Jun

I may not be the most fashionable cat around but I do know one thing, if a t-shirt rocks or not.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you today’s t-shirt spotlight…

Courtesy of SP:UK

Words cannot describe how amazing this design is. Sorry.

Cost: £24.99

Purchase: Here

Follow SP:UK on Twitter at @SpunkyClothing

Follow Myself on Twitter at @ObviousPrime

Follow the blog on Twitter at @Alt_Spotlight

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Alternative Cuts – Ouka – Ringarts

19 Jun

Alternative Cuts continues its regular series of postings presenting interesting, quirky, cool music videos or other viral happenings, if we think it fits what we’re trying to do here at Alternative Spotlight.

Taking a break from posting crazy music videos, I thought I would share something that is slightly awe-inspiring.

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The Downside of Downloadable Content

13 Jun

If you were to ask me what I think is the biggest leap, in terms of technology in the current generation of video games consoles, I would have to say “downloadable content.” The idea of being able to extend, refresh a game or even download a full game itself ten years ago would have had console developers dropping their light guns in shock before calling you a devil and having you exorcised.

And yet here we are, in a world where if a video game doesn’t have that little bit of DLC we declare the developers of being lazy and unsupportive. We as gamers are greedy; always wanting more until we become so sick of  over saturation we push it away and say “No more!” But are we being too harsh? Or are we actually playing into these companies’ clever little games? There is a far deeper side to downloadable content than getting that extra weapon skin for your favourite shooter, or adding a four/five hour quest to the latest action game than meets the eye.

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Alternative Cuts – The Residents – ‘Constantinople’

8 Jun

Alternative Cuts continues its regular series of postings presenting interesting, quirky, cool music videos or other viral happenings, if we think it fits what we’re trying to do here at Alternative Spotlight.

After the last Alternative Cuts I thought I would have some issues finding something that could “up the ante” so to speak. Within ten minutes of searching on YouTube I stumbled upon this little gem called Constantinople from an avant-garde band The Residents.

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T-Shirt Spotlight – 08/06/11

8 Jun

I may not be the most fashionable cat around but I do know one thing, if a t-shirt rocks or not.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you today’s t-shirt spotlight…

Courtesy of Mighty Fine tees.

“B” is for brains.  And “C” is for “Cute.” Also “Close (all the doors and windows…)” These “Sesame Street” Zombies designs are brand new, totally unique and EXCLUSIVE to welovefine.com!

Cost: $25

Purchase: http://welovefine.com/shop/Mini-Brains.html

Follow Mighty Fine on Twitter at @welovefinetees

Follow Myself on Twitter at @ObviousPrime

Follow the blog on Twitter at @Alt_Spotlight

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City and Colour’s ‘Little Hell’ – A Review

7 Jun

Dallas Green is a beautiful man. Not necessarily physically (though there are several woman who will surely vouch for him in that respect), but with his musical skill and soaring, majestic vocals, he makes many a man and woman envy and love him at the same time.

Recently Dallas Green was on the verge of selling out the Royal Albert Hall. There were only one or two seats not occupied by awe-inspired individuals who, from the wealth of tattoos and piercings on show, had a solid background in the heavier side of alternative music. Yet they were in one of the country’s most prestigious venues to enjoy one of hardcore’s heroes venting his folk and country desires. Something that many would argue has brought him more success and recognition than his time in Alexisonfire ever could have.

Today saw the released of Dallas Green’s third solo album, under his usual guise of City and Colour. The audience at the Royal Albert Hall were given a sneak preview of some of the songs from the morbidly titled Little Hell, something that’s not always received warmly, but this proved to be the exception. The taster did exactly that, wetted appetites with over a month before the album’s release.
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