Almost Alice

On March 5th, Disney will be releasing two soundtracks for Alice In Wonderland, the first will be Danny Elfman’s score, but the second, Almost Alice, features popular rock acts performing songs ‘inspired by the film’. On the outset, it seemed like an empty headed money grabbing idea, a way to cash in. But then…I listened to it. Almost Alice happens to be a brilliant collection of pop rock tracks, perfectly paced with a nice quirkiness too that fits in with Burton’s re-imagining of Alice’s tale. It begins with Avril Lavigne’s Alice (Underground), a catchy upbeat song that will undoubtedly become a staple of Disney’s catalogue. The All-American Rejects, Robert Smith, Plain White T’s and Franz Ferdinand also feature on the album with highlights being Ferdinand’s The Lobster Quadrille, Wolfmother’s Fell Down A Hole and the gorgeous White Rabbit from Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. My appetite suitably whetted, I’m so excited … There’s more

Exclusive: Avril Lavigne’s Alice (Underground)

To say I’m excited about Burton’s latest world is a colossal understatement. From a very early age, Alice in Wonderland was my favourite book and as I grew older and re-read it, I fell in love with it all over again. On 5th March, we will finally get to see how the incredible imagination of Tim Burton realises my childhood love. The film’s soundtrack, Almost Alice, is also looking exciting. Avril Lavigne’s Alice (Underground) is a brilliant pop rock track and, in an Irish exclusive, here’s the new video, directed by Dave Meyers, for her song. Enjoy: [local /wp-content/uploads/2010/02/AIW_MV_Avril_Alice_16x9_sm1.flv]

Why So Series? One Season Wonders Part 1

Veering slightly away from the concept of cheap and cheerful TV boxsets, but if you have a multi-region DVD player or download your TV shows (either from iTunes etc.) then you might be interested in these “One Season Wonders”. There are a huge number of TV shows that have gone under the radar because they’ve only survived one season in the US, thus never surviving long enough to be syndicated here. Usually when a TV show gets cancelled it’s justified, but there are quite a number of gems in the rough out there. One of my biggest “secret shame” genres of TV/film is the American teen or college dramas and they don’t come any better than the likes of Freaks & Geeks or My So Called Life. I can remember watching this show as a teenager and completely and utterly swooning over Jared Leto, much in the same way girls … There’s more