Music: White Dice - Better Than Wednesday (Album)

Synopsis: Unsigned indie band White Dice are back with their second album, after one hell of a 2008 and 2009. Luckily for all their fans, Better Than Wednesday was completely worth the wait.

Review: It's hard to review White Dice without showed bias. They're a band that I've been following for close to five years, and I've seen them go through countless changes, be it music-related or band member changes. I won't even mention that these nice guys agreed to play at my wedding for free back in 2009...

Reviewers hat on now, I find all I can say about their latest offering are good things. With this new album, White Dice have delivered their best tracks to date, and shown us exactly what kind of music they want to be producing.

Alongside new band member Craig, brothers Lucus and Kristian Williams kick off this new compilation with Good Enough. We get a little drum solo to welcome us into the new album, and it's not long before Lucus hits us with his soft-sounding vocals that have made this band so good to listen to the past few years.

What is evident on this first track, and throughout the rest of the album, is that the production values are far better than any CD produced by the band previously. Every part of the mixing on this album works, delivering seven completely professional sounding tracks. Quite honestly, with some sound tweeks perhaps to their first album What We Left Behind, any label who signs these guys up are going to be able to immediately push this bands music. The tracks here sound as good as anything I've heard elsewhere, and the guys are paying for it themselves. Who says you can only get into music if you go on The X F

actor?

Like Good Enough, 3:24 is another catchy tune that shows off every aspect of this band, down to vocals, music, lyrics, etc. My only regret with the second track on the album is that I haven't been there to see it performed live. Something about it makes it the kind of song you'd love to hear at a gig, and see them performing for the masses - I think the long music solos help with that feeling. The track feels a bit short, but actually hits over three minutes, so I g

uess that's just a sign of how good a song it is that it flies by and leaves you wanted to listen to a bit more of it!

I was familiar with the next two tracks, Proud and Silver. I've seen them both live, and the band made them available through MySpace several months ago (for free!). Regardless, both songs still sound remarkably fresh despite the countless times I've listened to them.

One thing that I thought upon first hearing Proud live a couple of months ago, is that it shows off just how much Lucus Will

iams' songwriting has matured, and how much more confident he is in putting out these songs to us. This is evident in the first two tracks on the album too, but with Proud being the first track I'd listened to from this album, it feels right to bring that bit of praise up with this particular song. The best was yet to come on this album though, in regards to Lucus.

Silver is another good track from the band, with a chorus that will get stuck in stuck in your head for hours. In fact, this track probably has some of the catchiest lyrics on the entire album. Sound-wise, whilst it fits with the style of music White Dice have given us on this album, it also has a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. Out of the seven tracks on the album, Silver sounds closer to White Dice's music of old.

But out with the old, and in with the new! Welcome You Home has catchy music, and some more catchy lyrics. Lucus' vocals here sound lovely, particularly when the music dies down and it's pretty much just him singing for a little bit. It's these moments that make me love this bands sound, and made their old song Wishful such a classic track for me. Clocking in at 4 minutes and 55 seconds, this is a nice long track that ends at the perfect time. Like the previous songs on the album, it flies by, and we're now five tracks in and yet to listen to a dud! Hell, even my favourite singer James Blunt has never hit five for five with me at the start of his albums.

Everything's Prettier In Colour is a whopping 7:41 long, and about as far away from 

their normal kind of music as White Dice can get. But you know what? It's placed on the album at the perfect time, and is a nice slow effort that gives us a chance to catch up with ourselves after the fast pace of the first five tracks. 

What this track does is take Lucus' vocals, which I'd just praised on the previous track, and put them front and centre. There's not a single point in this track where they allow the music to drown him out, instead letting the music be merely an accompaniment to the vocals. That's not to say Kristian and Criag don't get a chance to shine here, as there are some lovely moments of just music that really pull you in.

This track is unique for White Dice. They will never produce an album full of tracks the same as this. And that's why the song worked on so many levels. It's a change of pace, and if I'm honest quite an emotional track. I've wanted something like this from the band for years, and I don't think I've ever listened to a track from this band that has sounded as complete as this one. You can just tell throughout the seven minutes and 41 seconds that they believe in this track, and in return so do I the listener.

At what could have perhaps been a perfect point to end their second album, the band give us one final track, Grand Farewell. I'm not afraid to say that I just sat with my wife listening to this track the first time we put it on. It's a bit of Everything's Prettier In Colour, mixed with a bit of Wishful, perhaps with a dash of Follow You Down thrown in too.

I'm not quite sure Lucus has ever tried to hit some of the high notes he does here, but he does, and what it gives us is another different sounding track from the boys that closes this album in good fashion. It's got catchy lyrics like some of the other songs on the album, and the mix is perfect. One can only hope this song doesn't ever turn out to be a grand farewell, and that this welsh band give us another album in late 2010 or early 2011! I don't think any of us need to worry about that though!

Final Thoughts: Better Than Wednesday presents us with the best material produced by this band to date, and only serves to make me wonder how we're getting so much rubbish in the charts, whilst this unsigned band slave away to give us regular great music that is both fresh and exciting. Wales genuinely has what could be a new crown jewel in White Dice, it just hasn't realised yet.

After five years of listening to these guys, and seeing them live, booking them for events myself, and watching them change with every year that passes, I can't wait to see what 2010 brings for the lads. Hopefully more new music, more Cardiff dates on their next tour(!), and even greater success than in 2009. Lord knows that after sticking at this as long as they have done, they deserve it.

Go buy Better Than Wednesday...it's only £5!

Score: 5 / 5

Websites:

White Dice - Official Website

White Dice on Facebook

ANNOUNCEMENT - 2010 is the Year

Announcement:

Apologies for the lack of reviews the past two months, but that is all about to change. It's a new year, and this site is going to take off in a big way. I may even manage to review something more than just wrestling at some point!

Yours faithfully,

kyle.thomas.west

TV: Extreme Championship Wrestling (27/10/09)

Synopsis: Following last weeks show, Yoshi Tatsu gets his championship match against current ECW Champion Christian. Also, Tiffany continues to rile up William Regal.

Review: From a standard reviewing point of view, there isn't much to look at on this weeks episode. It was very wrestling heavy, and whilst the number of wrestling reviews on this website suggest I am wrestling-heavy with my television viewing, I'm not. Despite that, I'll do my best to review this episode.

The opening promo was a good set-up for the shows main event. To me, I had no real idea who Yoshi Tatsu was, but the promo made me believe he was someone who posed a threat to Christian's title. Then we hit the opening titles, and I was ready and excited for a good solid hour of ECW...

...until it opened with 'The Abraham Washington Show'. Don't get me wrong, I think the guy has charisma...just on a one hour show there just isn't enough time for these kind of sequences. And poor old Tony Atlas, who we're sadly laughing at not with.

It was lucky for us that Tiffany was the special guest, as it made the entire segment relevant. Particularly when William Regal came out. The WWE fan in me wants to rant about her lame attempt to explain ECW's lack of presence at the recent PPV, but this isn't the place for that (she was talking shite though!). I like that she is purposely going out of her way to deny Regal a championship opportunity, and I can only see this backfiring on her down the line somewhere, but for now it makes for good television. Regal's cheesy angry moment at the end did not, however...though I do love those moments of bad acting in professional wrestling.

We got a solid Sheamus/Shelton Benjamin match, billed as their final contest due to Sheamus' move to WWE Raw the day prior. I'm none too happy that the creative team have once again ended an ECW storyline early so that they can move a wrestler to the top show, but alas it will continue to happen so why bother complaining?

What struck me in this match is just how not ready Sheamus is for WWE Raw. I've not seen much of the guys work, but from what I saw in this match, he's someone that others will make look good, not the other way around. I can't see him ever hitting the main event scene at this point...they should have let him continue his development on ECW.

That Sheamus got the pin did not surprise me, as he has to look strong as he switches brands. Did hurt Benjamin though, who cut a very good promo just before the match about how he was going to prove he hasn't just wasted his past eight or nine years in the WWE. Why they slowed down his push after his move to ECW I'll never know. Now will I ever understand why they turned him face...he was a good heel.

The main event was a very good wrestling contest, pay-per-view quality. I liked what I saw of Yoshi Tatsu, even if it was obvious from the get-go that he'd never get the belt this early into his career. Christian did a fantastic job of putting him over though, and made us believe on multiple occasions that he was lucky to get out of countless pinfall attempts at the two count. Christian has done his time for being a part of the TNA wrestling organisation, and has put over plenty of new young talent on ECW...it's time he gets moved to one of the big shows and given a crack at a world title.

The end came at a nice time, and Yoshi came out of this defeat looking fantastic. He shouldn't win this belt until way into 2010 [and even that may be too soon], but he's shown himself as a credible wrestler.

The show ended with Regal and his minions taking out Christian, and I suspect that despite Tiffany's attempts to stop him getting a title match, Regal will soon be the new ECW Champion. He's the only credible person who can take the strap off of Christian at this point, and the latter could probably do with losing it just to show his passion to get it back.

A good show for any wrestling fan. It will be interesting to see where the Regal/Christian storyline goes next week...

Score: 3 / 5

DVD: Bad Boys (1995)

Synopsis: Over £100M worth of drugs has been stolen from under the noses of some department of the Miami police force, and Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) have been tasked to get it back. Soon they find themselves having to protect a murder witness (Téa Leoni), and what follows is lots of gun fights and swearing, with some comedy moments thrown inbetween.


Review: I bought this film after watching Bad Boys II for the first time Sunday evening (a review of that will arrive later this week). The sequel to this film was hilarious, and I thought I could only expect the same from the first film in the franchise. Hell, with the poor reputation a lot of sequels have, I put this film on expecting it to actually be even funnier than the second movie.

I think, largely, I was disappointed. This film wasn't such an outright comedy as it's sequel would later be, and featured a much less likable Marcus Burnett (Lawrence). That's not to say the comedy moments here weren't good, because they were...I just think I raised my expectations too high.

Téa Leoni was gorgeous here, and I'm continuing to develop a crush on this woman (it started after watching Ghost Town a few weeks ago). She actually put in one hell of a performance, making her something more than just the typical damsel in distress that these kind of films often present us with. I genuinly did worry about her character when she was chased down by the bad guys early on, which was down to her good acting and some fantastic directing by Michael Bay.

All credit to Michael Bay for putting together a film with such a strong visual style that it still looks like a modern action flick, by the way.

Will Smith did what he had to, and I was particularly impressed by him in the scene where he discovered Leoni's character had brought dogs into his apartment; old school Smith acting there. I think that Smith's best work as this character is in the sequel though, but I won't discuss that here.

The plot moved along at a steady pace, and I can have no complaints with it. I do wonder if having Burnett posing as Lowrey would have been more effective in a sequel though, as here we barely knew these characters but were meant to suddenly find it amusing that they had to switch roles. Actually, to be fair though, I did find all the scenes showing Lowrey as a caring family man to be quite amusing. Still, better served as a plot device in a sequel if you ask me.

My final thoughts on this film are that it was good, but inferior to its later sequel. Personally, I enjoyed it a great deal, as did my wife, but Lethal Weapon was better. And yes, that is me making a direct comparison between those two films.


Score: 3 / 5

TV: Stargate Universe - 'Light'

Synopsis: Following on from last weeks episode, Destiny is headed towards a star and the crew face certain death. Seventeen people will be selected to fill a shuttle that will be sent to a habitable world for them to start a new life, whilst everyone else will be left to die. Little do we know, things aren't quite as doom and gloom as one might think...

Review: This weeks show had a lot of what I love about this show, but then also had me finally want something which this show has only teased us with prior: action.

I can't dispute that the character work here was brilliant, with Robert Carlysle showing us yet another side to Dr. Rush. Without a doubt the Everett Young character is also shaping up to be a fantastic lead on the show, whilst Eli, Matthew Scott, and Chloe Armstrong are getting some strong development too.

What I'm missing is a little bit of action. I know, I've said prior that I'm not missing the old explosions and gun fights from the previous Stargate shows, but this week I thought to myself "they really need to inject some action into the show". A cgi sequence of a spaceship heading towards a star isn't the kind of action I want, either...I want action scenes involving our characters. Maybe next week.

The major point worth discussing here is perhaps the sexual encounter between Lt. Scott and Chloe. They've hinted at something developing between them, but isn't it a bit soon to pull the trigger on a sexual relationship? Hell, it would have been too soon just to make it a random shag, but to imply that they both have strong emotional feelings for each other? I don't know...this was too out of the blue for me. Particularly when they've been carefully and slowly developing Chloe's relationships with the male characters up until this point. Perhaps there's a reason this needed to happen now though, I guess we won't know for a while.

Eli's reaction to the pair during the scene discussing the Kino was fun, yet awkward. He acted just like anyone else would if you'd just found out the girl you fancied had moments ago had sex with a bloke you thought was becoming a mate. This spelt out what these characters are like, too: they won't hide their bad qualities. Eli was jealous and it showed...we'd never have seen that kind of behaviour presented in that way in Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis.

I liked Greer's acceptance of the situation he was in. In fact, he seemed to openly welcome his fate, shown very nicely when he removed all his clothes and awaited death completely naked. It's almost like he saw it as a cleansing opportunity and a chance of rebirth. I wonder if there's a religious background to this flawed but likeable young man?

I don't know the name of the bald headed man who kicked up a fuss about the lottery for spaces on the shuttle, but I hope he gets what is coming to him. Greer knocking him on his arse shouldn't be the end of that storyline, and I think that this vocal bitch may be one to watch in the future. Having a military guy so outspoken against his commanding officer (Young) should have all sorts of consequences.

Destiny being solar powered came as a complete surprise, though some people I've spoken to seemed to guess it beforehand...I suppose I'm a bit slow sometimes. It became funny to think that Destiny was never in any actual trouble during the last two episodes, having intentionally powered down herself and directed herself at the star. That the characters went through so much turmoil because they couldn't realise this themselves was quite amusing. Even more amusing was that the shuttle sent off to keep some people alive suddenly became the one place you didn't want to be, and the technique to get them back to Destiny was nice to watch, and one part that I did actually see coming!

The end, where Rush rejected Young's praise and proceeded to leave doubts as to whether he may have actually known all along they weren't in trouble, was interesting. Make of that scene what you will, I suppose, but personally I don't think there's any way in hell that Rush could have known that. And the surprise on his face when he realised that Destiny was solar powered was there for all of us too see. Maybe he had a hopeful inkling, but he certainly didn't know for sure.

Good show, but not as good as last weeks. Next one up is called 'Water' I think, so hopefully that will give us a sneaky look at another alien planet. From what I've heard, a lot of money has been spent on making the alien worlds appear alien on this show.

Score: 3 / 5

TV: WWE Raw (26/10/2009)

Synopsis: Randy Orton lost his WWE Championship to John Cena last night at WWE Bragging Rights, and now he's pissed. Rules of that match stated there would be no rematch, so Randy targets the man who he blames for his defeat: Kofi Kingston (left). Meanwhile, Jack Swagger and The Miz clash over the very hot Eve, whilst DX nail Hornswoggle with a cease and desist order after he comes out wearing their merchandise again...

Review: I said last week that after such a good two hours, they really needed to follow that up with another solid episode this week, and by God they did. In fact, this week was probably the best and smoothest flowing WWE Raw we've seen in weeks if not months.

After WWE Bragging Rights, which was at times great and other times not so great, I really had a feeling that this weeks WWE Raw would be instantly forgettable. But from the moment Orton came out and attacked Kofi Kingston following the latters very impressive win over Chris Jericho, I realised two things: 1) they were going to make a PPV's outcome actually matter for once, and 2) Kofi was about to get the biggest creative push of his career to date.

Orton's explanation for why he attacked Kofi made sense, as after all it was Kofi who chased off Legacy with a chair when the latter were helping Orton in his match with Cena the night prior. What wasn't mentioned was that Kofi only did that due to Cody Rhodes attack on him, and that in truth there's no way Kofi held Legacy at bay for over 30 minutes (the time left on the clock when Kofi run them off). But, who cares? The big thing here was a Kofi/Orton feud...SOMETHING FRESH!

Kofi's promo later in the show was utterly brilliant, and a breath of fresh air. It was, to my knowledge, one of the first times he's been given a long promo, and boy did he take advantage of it. Kofi has arrived on the big stage guys, no doubt about it. Just hope Orton can repair that damge to his car...

Away from that, we got a very good promo with Swagger and The Miz back stage that was followed up on during The Miz's match with Evan Bourne. For those who didn't see it, both Swagger and The Miz have taken a fancy to Eve, who transferred over from WWE Smackdown a week or two ago. If you get the chance to watch this show, you'll piss yourself when towards the end of The Miz's match-up they cut to Swagger leaning against the ring staring longily at Eve. I wonder if Swagger is turning into a good guy, or at least slightly away from full on Heel? Anything works for me, as long as Swagger continues to be utterly fantastic. He's a future champ baby!

Hornswoggle getting a cease and desist order from DX was funny, and helped me to quickly forget the awful finish to the match he interrupted. Tell me, was Melina always so bad? I swear before her injury last year I thought she was quite good...last few weeks she's been awful though. Big shout out to Santino though, who's antics once again had me laughing out loud.

Only dull part of the night was Sheamus' match...even the crowd were silent for that one. I think the most annoying thing here is that the creative department has yet again ripped talent off of Extreme Championship Wrestling mid-storyline. I suppose Sheamus' feud with Shelton Benjamin is now officially over, though luckily I hear that it's given a little bit of a finish on this weeks episode of ECW.

The main event of Big Show vs. Triple H was great fun, something that I didn't expect from the match. They had good contests late last year, but would those kind of long drawn out affairs suit a fun show like tonights? Well, we never found out, as DX quickly changed it to a No Disqualification Lumberjack Match with John Cena as the guest referee. What followed was a fun affair, and the ending was great with some top midcard talent getting to land their finishers in the main event of Raw.

That win for Triple H was followed by a rather low key announcement of John Cena's opponents at WWE Survivor Series (on Pay-Per-View in November): HBK and Triple H in a Triple Threat match. I liked how they tied it into the Hornswoggle segment from earlier, with the reveal that Hornswoggle came up with the main event as a way to get back at the DX pair.

What I didn't like about the announcement was far more important. For one, they teased all night that Cena might get a new opponent from mid-card, something I was really excited about. Two, it makes no sense to have DX involved in this kind of match right now; they're nowhere near a break-up. I hope the creative team know what they're doing.

So that ended what was a very very good episode. Fingers crossed that next weeks can make it three in a row for professional wrestlings biggest television show; having Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne guest hosting will certainly make for some fun viewing at least!

Speaking of guest hosts, you've have noticed I never once mentioned them in this review. Well, there's a reason: they were awful. I don't know their names, and don't plan to ever find them out as I hope to God that WWE never put these guys on our television screens again. I'm not a big lover of the guest host gimmick, but at least it's fun when they put tv or film talent in the role...rally car drivers CANNOT ACT! These two idiots cost this show 5/5.


Score: 4 / 5

TV: Extreme Championship Wrestling (20/10/2009)

Synopsis: Chris Jericho decides that appearing on WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown isn't enough for his ego, so shows up on ECW too. Turns out he's got no faith in the team he has put together to represent Smackdown at this Sunday's PPV, so he's come to ECW to scout for talent. He gets more than he bargained for when General Manager Tiffany puts him in a match-up against ECW champion, Christian.


Review: This was the first episode of ECW I'd watched in a while, at least the whole hour of it anyway, and what a good one to come back on.

Around this time last year, I genuinly felt that ECW was the best show that World Wrestling Entertainment were producing. It flew under the radar, with mostly new stars that hadn't been turned into cash cows yet and could just get on with what they're best at: cutting promos and wrestling.

When ECW was gutted by Raw and Smackdown on the last two drafts, my interest in the show dropped, particularly when they introduced a million and one new wrestlers from developmental all at the same time. Before then, Christian/Jack Swagger was one of the best feuds going on in the WWE.

Tonight, Chris Jericho appeared on the show, and let's be honest it made the brand suddenly seem important, something which it is rarely made out to be these days. As it happens, I absolutely love Jericho. His book was so enlightening as to the guy he is and how he got into the business that I can't help but cheer for him, even if he is the heel (bad guy). Hell, I even follow him on Twitter!

Thank God he showed up in the opening segment. If there is someone who sums up my dislike for this show since they bought in all the new superstars, it's Abraham Washington...what is his point? Luckily, Jericho saved the segment and we went to opening credits.

The opening match was good, if a bit sloppy in parts. Some japanese bloke won it, and gets a title shot next week. He won't win the belt, but without a doubt Christian will elevate him to main event status...it's just the effect Christian has on people!

Sheamus, or however you spell his name, made what could have been your typical squash match into something a little bit more fun. Poor guy who was getting his ass kicked though. Loved Shelton's interference, really made you believe that there is a lot of hatred between these guys. I wonder how long this feud will last though, and kind of hope it finishes soon; Shelton should be challenging for the belt, not helping to elevate new talent. Hell, Shelton hasn't even been elevated to the top yet!

Jericho's backstage segments were fun; he was on a roll tonight. Very sublte flirting with Tiffany too, when he unbuttoned his shirt and went to play with her hair. A bit strange to see this current version of Jericho trying it on with a woman, but liked it anyway. And his segment with Regal was great...the conversation about their suits was so random that I really did start wondering if WWE had hired new writers.

I don't know why Tiffany wouldn't share any of her wrestlers with Jericho though, seeing as currently ECW can't get onto a PPV for love nor money, so this would have been a good chance to get some of her talent at a big event. Really, the one I feel sorry for in this is Christian; he really should be headlining Smackdown or Raw right now.

Paul Burchill cut a good promo, though I don't know when he suddenly developed such a camp accent? Maybe he's had it all along and I've not noticed! The bloke barely got any screen time until recently though, so an easy thing for me to miss. I do like that WWE aren't treating us like kids by trying to have us believe that Hurricane and Gregory Helms aren't the same person. Personally though, I like Gregory Helms when he's being...erm, Gregory Helms. Hate the Hurricane gimmick.

Our main event was a good television bout. Nothing that will change the face of wrestling on tv, or be remembered all that much this time next year, but good nonetheless. The clean win was good for Christian too, so let's hope that's a sign of good things to come for him. By the way, props to Christian for selling the Walls of Jericho better than anyone in recent months...actually believed it was a painful submission move again.

By the way, why the hell is the new ring announcer Tiffany's twin sister? Even their voices are the same!

Good show all in all, made better by the surprise appearance of Chris Jericho. What this show is missing though is more wrestlers that you can care about, love or hate. Right now, I feel like I'm watching the main storyline as an outsider. What happened to the recent days of Matt Hardy/Mark Henry, Matt Hardy/Jack Swagger, Jack Swagger/Christian, etc.?


Score: 3 / 5