Alternate.org

The reality of things is that I’ve been 80s retro since high school, so all you bandwagoners are just straight trippin. Okay so the last part isn’t true, but I have been listening to The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Morrissey, New Order, The Glove and on and on since I was about 16.

Which doesn’t make me cooler than you. In fact it makes me way, way less cool, because for many years instead of finding new music, I was depending on the old standbys to be there.

Which is why it’s so great to hear a band like White Rose Movement: they evoke the sensibilities of the aforementioned without directly aping the sounds. *Cough*The Bravery*Cough. Ahem.

Similar in ways to She Wants Revenge, White Rose Movement simply feels more… authentic. And plus there’s She Wants Revenge’s whole mission of making girls “…want to cry. Or dance. Or maybe both at the same time” that White Rose Movement doesn’t seem to have. Take that how you will. Either way, this is danceable but deep, 80s retro (but better) music. These tracks are from the forthcoming album “Kick.”

If you like: She Wants Revenge, VHS or Beta, Bloc Party

• White Rose Movement: London’s Mine
• White Rose Movement: Girls in the Back

White Rose Movement in iTunes

I must admit that I first got curious about I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness primarily because of their name. After listening to their self-titled EP, I was pleasantly surprised that a band with such an awesome name was actually pretty good, but I wasn’t really a fan yet. It might have been because it reminded me a little too much of Sunny Day Real Estate or The Jealous Sound, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not my bag any more.

But when I received an advance copy of the forthcoming album from the Austin-native band, I was blown away. Not only had the sound already matured, but I spotted some Cure influences that aren’t present on their first album. The track I’m linking even has an almost dance beat below some great atmospheric guitar and synth work – the kind of stuff I was aiming for in my band at 18 but could never really attain.

Being an Austin-based band, I assume playing SXSW is required, so here’s their show time and location.

If you like: The Jealous Sound, aspects of The Cure, Sunny Day Real Estate, VHS or Beta.

• I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness: According to Plan

(not yet available for purchase, I’ll link to it when I can)

I have this theory that for every artist on the radio, there are hundreds of more deserving, more talented and soulful independent artists doing the same thing, only better.

For every Green Day or Blink-182, there are hundreds of Mr. T Experiences and Bouncing Souls.

I get this feeling in particular when I hear a John Mayer or David Gray or Jack Johnson. For these, I have found Rocky Votolato, who has a similar asthetic as them, but just a litte more… I dunno, soulful. Acoustic and mellow, these songs have been accompanying me on my 2+ hours of driving to and from work all week. These tracks are from 2005’s Makers.

If you like: Iron and Wine, Calexico, Mountain Goats

• Rocky Votolato: Streetlights

• Rocky Votolato: Goldfield

Buy on iTunes

OK so basically, I don’t post here anymore.

This is fairly obvious.

But what isn’t obvious to you is the fact that I’m considering turning this into an MP3 blog. Yeah one of those “I’m so hip because I listen to music you’ve never heard of and that makes me cool” kind of sites. But hey, see the thing about you reading one of those sites is that by extension, you too can be scene.

So what are your thoughts? Is there anyone even out there? Look for posts coming either later today or tomorrow morning because I have a lot of new music I’m excited about.

I love how all of this kind of shit happens in Colorado:

The controversy began after Waggoner, who teaches elementary, middle and high school students at the K-12 school in a small town about 25 miles east of Denver, tried to pique the curiosity of the first, second, and third graders in one of her classes about opera. She chose a video of Gounod’s Faust (which she found on the classroom shelf) to teach the children about bass and tenor voices, the use of props, and “trouser roles” in opera. The latter, she says, led to accusations that the married mother of two was a lesbian promoting homosexuality; the plot of Faust, where the title character sells his soul to the devil to recapture his youth, led to her being labeled a devil worshipper.

Yay!

Wait for it….

Wait……..

Probably because they run on WINDOWS. Get it? Because, because Windows sucks? And Bill Gates owns Microsoft? Which makes Windows? See? I’m hilarious.

We sure blowed that car up real good likes! Wooooohooooooo!

But I just upgraded Alternate to WordPress 2.0. You can’t tell because it didn’t change anything for you, just stuff for me. So why am I telling you about it? I have no idea.