Contrary to popular belief

I haven't died, it has been some time since I have posted though. Rest assured that I have been saving stories for a mega-post when I finally re-join the blog world. Here goes (please click the headings for links to more info):

• Essential Festival (Sydney) - Very pleased to hear that it has returned to fill a weekend otherwise filled with two-up and drunken chats with old diggers.
• Bluesfest (Byron Bay) - Final Announce has finally been made (shame about Dave Matthews pulling out). Timetable is up now too.
• Cold War Kids - coming to Oz in May/June.
• Little Barrie - coming to Oz in April.
• Pitchfork Music Festival (US) - First announce.
  
• Garage to V - One of the best organised band comps I've seen in years. Congrats to The Seabellies, but keep an eye on all the finalists.
• The Fratellis - new single released on USB memory stick.
• MyTickets - new ticket outlet for Australia.
  
• Virgin Festival (US) - First announce.
• Roskilde (Denmark) - I'm not sure if I love or hate Roskilde's method of announcing a couple of bands each week. We are finally nearing the end - but my has it been a long journey.
• MTV Kickstart 2007 - Another great national band comp - Winner announced 29th March.
• Softlightes at The Hoey - I am very excited about this gig! Even so far as to say that it is my most anticipated gig of the year thus far.
• Roadrunner Records - One for all you metal heads. If you want to see Channel V bring back a regular metal show then send an email here for details on how to join the campaign: emarketing@roadrunnerrecords.com.au
• New Found Frequency - Listen to live gigs from venues around Australia
  
• Bloc Party - impressively sell out oz side-shows in less than 30 mins. Hordern & Festival Hall - thats what? 10,000 tix?
• Common People - finally the indie rock DJ phenomenon (done so well by Death Disco & then Purple Sneakers) has made it to Brisbane, albeit lacking exposure by technology...
• Pela - I know it has only been 3 weeks since my last post about these guys - but that means 3 great new tracks up on their E-card.
• V Festival - Maps/Timetables are now up.
• UncharTED - Tooheys Extra Dry have got in on the act, following closely down the path paved by Triple J Unearthed, and the current trend by alcohol companies to get more publicly involved in the music industry.
• Carling Weekend (UK) - Leeds & Reading Festivals
  
• Isle of Wight (UK) - Rolling Stones & Echo and The Bunnymen headlining
• ATP vs The Fans (UK) - I love the concept of this festival - letting the fans choose the line-up (and what a good one it is this year). In fact I love all the concepts that All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) come up with.
• Jack Awards - To be held 15th May 2007 at a new venue: Luna Park Big Top

I think that might do for now. It's good to be back!

Fuji Rock 2007 - 1st Announce

Ash, The Ataris, Blonde Redhead, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Fountains of Wayne, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Iggy and The Stooges, The John Butler Trio, Jonathan Richman, Justice, Kaiser Chiefs, Kemuri, Less Than Jake, The Shins, Simian Mobile Disco

28th-29th July 2007

Official (english) Site

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - here in May

21st May: Melbourne - Hi-Fi Bar
22nd May: Melbourne - Hi-Fi Bar
23rd May: Sydney - Enmore Theatre
24th May: Brisbane - The Z00
25th May: Brisbane - The Z00

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah website

Come Together 2007 - 1st Announce

Saturday June 9 2007: Every Time I Die (US), Norma Jean (US), Against Me! (US), The Draft (US), Something With Numbers with support from Mindsnare, Carpathian, Antiskeptic, Trial Kennedy, Mach Pelican, Bagster, Avalon Drive, Casino Rumblers, Los Captaines, Kiai Academy, Rex Banner, Furcurve, The Valley, The Riot and the Trauma plus many more.

Sunday June 10 2007: Grinspoon, Shihad, Cog, Karnivool with support from Mammal, Blindspott, Psycroptic, Hell City Glamours, Ink, the Follow, Regular John, Kill The Capitol, Repeat Offender, Smithtown Riot, Black Level Embassy plus loads more.

Tons more info on the website: http://www.cometogether.com.au/

It's funny how it has morphed from an indie-fest into a punk-rock-hardcore bonanza.

Splendour announce dates

4th and 5th of August 2007

Check website for (not many) details.

February 2007

Top 15 international tracks most listened to in FEB-07:

Pierre Aderne - Cristalina
The Band of Heathens - Bumblebee
Sparrow House - When I Am Gone
Pela - Lost To The Lonesome
Cloud Cult - Chemicals Collide
The Parson Red Heads - Punctual As Usual
Eleni Mandell - Girls
The Silent Years - Someone To Keep Us Warm
Field Music - Working To Work
Air Traffic - Never Even Told Me Her Name
Margot & The Nuclear So And So's - Skeleton Key
Psapp - The Words
The Maccabees - Lego
Damien Rice - Dogs
The Format - Dog Problems

Top 5 Australian tracks most listened to in FEB-07:

Teenager - Pony
Mr Speed - Everybody Needs Somebody
Angus & Julia Stone - What You Wanted
The Hate Game - Too Many Days
Iron Bar Hotel - Whisky Song

Best Live Performance of FEB-07:

Expatriate @ The Globe, Brisbane

Fastest Mover of Last Month (Based on MySpace Hits):

Andrew Bird

Previous Months:

January 2007

Garage to V

So the State Finals commenced last night (with The Goverment taking it out in Perth) to determine which unsigned band is going to play the V Festival. It looks like they have some pretty good bands in the finals, as opposed to the mix you usually get at band comps.

See State lists below:

The Vans more...
The Government more...
The Flairz more...
The Plastik Scene more...

The Hopes more...
Cardboard Castle more...
Butcher Birds more...
The Greys more...

The Seabellies more...
Hancock Basement more...
The Mania more...
Wallspace more...

The Capitals more...
Young Divorcees more...
Ouch My Face more...
The Inkrements more...

The Grand Final will be held at The Gaelic Theatre in Sydney on March 15th.

Sneakers Social Snaps Exhibition

This is on this weekend. Definitely worth checking out!

Check out the Boudist website or The China Heights website for more details.

Musos giving the important jobs to the fans...a trend?

First Jarvis Cocker approached his fans to suggest support acts for his European tour, and he actually used the artists that the fans suggested.

Now New York based group, Arizona, are taking it one step further and asking for a fan to go on a national tour with them as a driver.

I wonder if this trend of fan involvement will catch on?

Arizona blog

Oxegen Festival (Ireland) - First announce

July 7-8 2007

Snow Patrol, Scissor Sisters, Kings of Leon, The Fratellis, Goo Goo Dolls, Interpol, Amy Winehouse, Tori Amos, Muse, Razorlight, Arcade Fire, Daft Punk, My Chemical Romance, Bloc Party, James Morrison, The Kooks, Babyshambles, Klaxons, CSS

http://www.oxegen.ie/

Pela

3rd track is up on the E-card. So far I am not disappointed. Check for yourself:

http://www.pelamusic.com/

T in the Park (UK) Line-up

Arctic Monkeys, The Killers, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Razorlight, Scissor Sisters, The Coral, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Lily Allen, Kooks, Kasabian, My Chemical Romance, The Fratellis, James, Paolo Nutini, James Morrison, Damien Rice, The View, Amy Winehouse, Babyshambles, Interpol, DJ Shadow Vs Cut Chemist, Goo Goo Dolls, Klaxons, Maximo Park, Jamie T, Editors, CSS, Mika, The Saw Doctors, Dave Clarke, Bookashade, Tori Amos, Ame, The Gossip, Slam, Hardfloor (live), Digitalism, Soundstream/Soundhack

6-8 July 2007

First round tickets sold out in under 40 mins when they went on sale on saturday.

If you are interested in learning a little more about what this T in the Park is all about, then check out the website.

The Great Escape - 3rd announce

They have added more (can't wait to find out about The Magic Numbers side-shows):

The Magic Numbers, Macromantics, The Panda Band, Children Collide, Bridezilla, Iain Archer (ex-Snow Patrol), The Paper Scissors, Wons Phreely, The Mares, The Whiskey Go-Gos, Toy Death, The White Buffalo, Melanie Horsnell, Joel Plaskett

joining:

Wolfmother, The Vines, Gomez, The Living End, Ben Kweller, Bob Evans, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Blue King Brown, Missy Higgins, Ziggy Marley, Hilltop Hoods, The Fumes, Fishbone, Ooh La La, Operator Please, The Stick Figures, John Butler Trio, Holly Throsby, Gogol Bordello, Deerhoof, The Cops, Little Birdy, Angus & Julia Stone, Bliss N Eso, Darren Hanlon, Flogging Molly, The Temper Trap, The Lemonheads, The Roots, Lou Rhodes (Lamb), Dan Kelly, Alice Russell, Expatriate, Kaki King, Bertie Blackman, Damien Dempsey, The Exploders, Hermitude, Fourplay, Astronomy Class, Coda, The Bird, True Live, Sparkadia, The Flairz, King Tide, The Sins, Greta Gertler, Carla Werner, Waiting for Guiness

Official Site

Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! have started a countdown on their website. It currently states "5 days to go".

Not only will this be a launch of their first website, but to mark the occasion I've heard they will be offering free downloads of the new single.

Keep an eye on it... http://www.loscampesinos.com/

If you are not sure who Los Campesinos! are, then check them out on Myspace

Sasquatch! 2007 (USA) - Line-up

Bjork, Beastie Boys, The Arcade Fire, Interpol, Manu Chao (Radio Bemba Sound System), Michael Franti & Spearhead, M.I.A., Spoon, Citizen Cope, Bad Brains, Neko Case, Ozomatli, The Hold Steady, Dandy Warhols, Grizzly Bear, The Black Angels, Ghostland Observatory, Mirah, Electrelane, Tokyo Police Club, Two Gallants, Money Mark, The Slip, St. Vincent, Loney Dear, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, Aqueduct, Smoosh, The Thermals, Common Market, Viva Voce, Helio Sequence, The Blow, Minus The Bear, Gabriel Teodros

May 26 & 27 in Washington

Official Site : Myspace

Expatriate in Sydney - it's not too late

Expatriate are playing in Sydney for MTV on Thursday 22nd Feb. Details here. It's free if you get in quick!

Bits and Pieces

Some random bits of news that aren't really worth individual postings (click on the item to read more):

Hear the new K-OS album in full on Myspace

Chris Cornell quits Audioslave

Coachella has sold out - First time ever

Kaiser Chiefs come to Australia in March (supported by The Cops)

Snow Patrol looking for photographers and reviewers for their Australian shows (Mbr exclusive)

The Dirty Three ATP 2007 (US) - Line-up

Pela (Highly recommended)

If the first track "Waiting On The Stairs" by this US based 4-piece is anything to go by, then this debut album, Anytown Graffiti, due out in April (in the US at least) is going to be fantastic!

And what a great idea to post a track each week up until release date.

Check out the E-card through the band's website:
Pela website

Of course, they are also on Myspace

Playground Weekender - 2nd anounce

Bands:
Resurrectors, The Cops, Pty Ltd, Jamie Lloyd & Jimi Polar, Pivot, The Ghosts, The Hate Game, Bridezilla, Sparkadia, Poxy Music, Mercy May, Beau Monde, Stick Figures, Little Beasties, Winston Giles Orchestra, Fait Accompli, Bird Automatic, The Holiday, Deep Child, Describe Eliza, The Bird, The Mares, Soft Tigers, Richard in Your Mind, Bright Yellow, Wons Phreely, Martini Club, The Exploders, The Paper Scissors,

DJ's:
Ajax, Kid Kenobi & MC Sureshock, John Glover, Nathan McLay & Steve Spacek (UK), DJ Regal, Mark Pritchard, Fire In The Disco, Lovertits, Telefunken, Danny Bass, Mo Funk, John Devecchis, Banshee, Purple Sneakers DJ's feat. PHDJ, Bad Kids Recreation Club Sound System feat. Kato, Sleater Brockman, Franco & PHDJ, Da Lounge (UK), Lamanex, Synik, Lummy & Broadband, Kyla Sexton (Vocals), Stu Kelly & Ploppy, Marina, Tom Da Silva, Simon Ramsey, Pete Dot, Steve Corfield, Senior Spitch, The Potbelleez feat MC Blu, Emersen::Mur@T, Sam Serene Vs. Jay Smalls, Dolls House feat. Keli Hart & Miss Match, Trinity, Alex Coops, Kidd Frisco, Brynstar

joining:

!!!(chk chk chk), Fat Freddy's Drop, Elbow, The Dears, Laurent Garnier, The Presets, Incognito, Mr Scruff, Tom Middleton, Avalanches DJ Show, Who Made Who, Bugz in the Attic, Mad Professor, Black Grass, Dappled Cities Fly, The Valentinos, Tayo, Tomboy

No longer appearing:

Sharam (Deep Dish), Calexico??, Future Classic Soundsystem??, Pop Levi??, MSTRKRFT??, Ralph Lawson?? (can anyone confirm these last 5?)

More info on the website

Sparkadia - Things Behind The Sun EP

Artist Name:
Sparkadia

CD Title/Year:
Things Behind the Sun EP (2007)

Label:
Boundary Sounds/Inertia

Track Listing:
1. Voyage (2:29)
2. Morning Light (3:31)
3. Last Thing You Need (3:19)
4. Follow The Sun (3:50)
5. Devil In Me (8:04)



Stand Out Track:
Morning Light (Get it now from JJJ)

Review:
This debut EP is a bit more mellow that what I was expecting from Sparkadia, and apart from the first single, Morning Light, a lot of the tracks are relatively new material. I must admit that it took me a couple of listens to fully appreciate the off-beat drumming on the first instrumental track, Voyage, but once I 'really' heard it I was hooked. Lots of melodies, and impressively, lead singer, Alex Burnett, mixes all but one of the EP's tracks. Based on this EP I can't wait to see them again.

Buy It:
Inertia

Artist Info:
Sydney based indie-pop 4 piece, starting of in 2005 as "The Spark". I had the pleasure of seeing them at Spectrum and Come Together Festival before they changed their name. Signed to Sydney based label, Boundary Sounds, in 2006, and recently signed in the UK with Ark Recordings. LP release pegged for late 2007.
EP launch at The Spanish Club in Sydney on Friday, March 2 2007. The are also doing various other shows along the Australian east coast over the next couple of months. Check the links for dates and details.

Links:
Official site : Myspace

Other sites:
3D World : Who The Bloody Hell Are They? : Dreadfuldan flickr photos : Green_Pez flickr photos

Blackjack 2007 (Perth) - Line-up

Perth doesn't entirely miss out on V Festival goodness.

Another new festival, Blackjack 2007, featuring:

Pixies, Gnarls Barkley, The Living End, Eskimo Joe, The Vines, Birds of Tokyo, Children Collide

Thursday, April 5th 2007. Claremont Showgrounds.

Tickets from Heatseeker.com.au. Pre-sales from tomorrow 16-Feb.

Bonnaroo (USA) Line-up

If you can make it to Tennessee in June be sure to head to Bonnaroo. Check out this line-up:

The Police, Tool, Widespread Panic, The White Stripes, Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals, Flaming Lips, Wilco, Manu Chao (Radio Bemba Sound System), The String Cheese Incident, Franz Ferdinand, Bob Weir & Ratdog, Damien Rice, Ween, The Roots, Gov't Mule, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, The Decemberists, Kings of Leon, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Wolfmother, Regina Spektor, The Black Keys, DJ Shadow, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Spoon, Keller Williams (WMD'S), Sasha & Digweed, STS9, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Hold Steady, Galactic, Lily Allen, North Mississippi Allstars, Fountains Of Wayne, Hot Tuna, Feist, Hot Chip, John Butler Trio, Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys, Aesop Rock, The Richard Thompson Band, Dierks Bentley, James Blood Ulmer, Xavier Rudd, Gogol Bordello, Junior Brown, Tortoise, T-Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples, Clutch, Cold War Kids, Dr Dog, Paolo Nutini, Brazilian Girls, RX Bandits, The Nightwatchmen, The Slip, Girl Talk, Railroad Earth, Martha Wainright, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Annuals, Tea Leaf Green, Sam Roberts Band, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Charlie Louven, Sonya Kitchell, Mute Math, Apollo Sunshine, Ryan Shaw, Uncle Earl, The National, The Little Ones, Lewis Black & Friends, Dave Attell, David Cross

More info on the Bonnaroo website

The Fratellis - Exclusive MP3's

Want exclusive MP3's from the Fratellis? Make sure to join The Budhill Singles Club that The Fratellis have set up.

More info on The Fratellis:
Official Site : Myspace

Failing Condition No.2

I started this blog with two conditions:

1/this will not become an MP3 blog (too hard to deal with copyright issues)
2/this will not become a reviews blog (been there, done that)

but I will somehow, without breaking either of these conditions make it about music.

I hate to say it, but music festivals have kept me going for way too long, now that the summer festival season is pretty much over, and the blog is still going, I need to find something else to write about.

So tomorrow I return to my roots and start a new blog segment: Reviews. I will try and put one up every week or so and see how we go. Will also try to include as many Gold Coast/Brisbane bands as I can, seeing as there seems to be a shortage of Brisbane music bloggers at the moment.

I got Maximo Park's new one today, so am tempted to do that one first, but I will refrain and start off with an Aussie act. Stay tuned...

Air - Listening Party

Want to be one of the first to hear Air's new album?

Join the Listening Party here:
AIR Listening Party

More info: http://www.pocket-symphony.com/

For lovers of rare live recordings

Official Live recordings from artists such as DJ Shadow, The Magic Numbers, The Fratellis and The Feeling.

Visit the Concert Live website for more details.

Mini V Festival (Melb & Adel) and Jarvis Cocker

Melbourne and Adelaide don't miss out. V Festival organisers are bringing them a Mini-V, featuring:

Pet Shop Boys, Groove Armada, Gnarls Barkley, The Rapture, Pixies, Jarvis Cocker & Phoenix, with special guests

More details on the V Festival website

And they have a Myspace site too.

Also announced is that Jarvis Cocker has joined the line-up in all states.

Jarvis Cocker Myspace
Jarvis Cocker website

What Happens When Music Bloggers Unite?

6 music bloggers from the USA have combined forces to put on one hell of a showcase at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas this March.

With artists such as Menomena, Catfish Haven, Annuals, Malajube & RJD2 this will be one, for those lucky enough to be there, not to miss.

And it only costs $3 to get in.

Check out The Hot Freaks here

Maximo Park - new single "Velocity"

I Guess I'm Floating have posted an MP3 of the new single from Maximo Park.

Get it here: Maximo Park - Velocity

You can also see the film clip for this song (plus other Maximo Park goodies) on YouTube

Maximo Park website
Maximo Park Myspace

The new album "Our Earthly Pleasures" Australian release date is 31st March. Through Inertia.

Apple/iTunes - Thoughts on Music

An interesting open letter from Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Computers) posted on the Apple website, basically criticising the big labels for forcing them to put DRM (copyright protection) on all tracks sold through iTunes.

Read it here.

Help Snowman beat Eskimo Joe

A good cause if ever I have heard of one.

Voting takes 2 seconds. VOTE HERE!

Kevin Barry

If you like impressing your friends with the latest cutting edge music gear/homewares/clothes etc, then you need to keep your eye on this brand new little gem from Sydney:

Kevin Barry — your daily review of gear from the the coolest stores in the darkest corners of Sydney and the Globe.

We've done the legwork so you've got an indispensable guide to all things with beautiful lines, flawless function, dangerous curves and most importantly, which make your heart beat that little bit faster.

http://www.kevinbarry.com.au/

Southern Roots Festival - First Announce

Another new festival around Easter, this time in Tasmania.

The Pixies, Gomez, Wolfmother, The Lemonheads, The Vines, Ben Kweller, Tex Perkins and Tim Rogers, Angus and Julia Stone, Pnau + more to be announced

Royal Hobart Showgrounds. Saturday April 7

Pre-sales available from the website from this Thursday, 8th Feb.

More info on the website: Southern Roots 2007

Point Nepean Music Festival - Line-up Announce

The South's Easter Long-weekend answer to the East & West Coast Blues & Roots Festivals, Point Nepean Music Festival folk have finally announced their line-up:

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, John Mayer, Missy Higgins, Taj Mahal, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Tony Joe White, The Waifs, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience, Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, Mia Dyson, Mick Thomas & The Sure Thing, Eugene Hideaway Bridges, Ben Kweller, Amos Lee, Piers Faccini, The Hacienda Brothers, The Audreys, Paul Greene, Vasco Era, Custom Kings, Dallas Frasca, Mahalia Barnes

More info on the website.

Good Vibrations - Melb & GC Playing Times

Playing Times up on the website for Melbourne and Gold Coast dates (Sat 10th Feb & Sun 11th Feb respectively). Other Venues to follow shortly.

Melbourne Playing Times
Gold Coast Playing Times

January 2007

A month wrapped up into one post. You will have to excuse me if I appear slow in discovering songs or artists that the rest of the blog world have been listening to for months now.

Top 15 international tracks most listened to in JAN-07 (in no particular order):

Air France - Beach Party
Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing!
Frightened Rabbit - Go Go Girls
Voxtrot - Soft & Warm
Softlightes - If The World Had Cookies
Ghosts & Liars - We'll Carry On
Califone - The Orchids
Andrew Bird - Plasticities
Fujiya and Miyagi - Collarbone
Explosions In The Sky - So Long, Lonesome
Busdriver - The Troglodyte Wins
The Berg Sans Nipple - Along The Quai
Deerhoof - +81
My Brightest Diamond - Something Of An End
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - History Song

Top 5 Australian tracks most listened to in JAN-07:

The Rocketsmiths - Worth It
Bird Automatic - In A Minute (I'll Be Fine)
Days Like Stars - Thunderstorm
Sodastream - Twin Lakes
Snowman - You Are A Casino

Best Live Performance of JAN-07:

Snowman @ Gold Coast BDO

However, I am going to see Joanna Newsom tonight, and seeing it is effectively still January and judging by posts from other bloggers, it may pip Snowman at the post (so to speak).

The AMP 2006 - Short List announced

The Lucky 9 (they let one extra slip in) that are in the running to win are:

Augie March - "Moo You Bloody Choir"
Bob Evans - "Suburban Songbook"
Gotye - "Like Drawing Blood"
Howling Bells- "Howling Bells"
Jackie Marshall - "Fight n'Flight"
Lisa Gerrard - "The Silver Tree"
Sarah Blasko - "What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have"
The Drones - "Gala Mill"
The Grates - "Gravity Won't Get You High"

The Amp 2006 winner will be announced March 7th.

In the meantime, all of the artists who made the Long List, see my previous post here, have been allocated myspace sites so that the public can vote for the album that they think is the best. Voting closes on March 4th. Vote by becoming "friends" with the artist that you think is most deserving.

More info, and links to the artists myspace sites, on The AMP 2006 here.

Adrian Klumpes & Seathworthy - Album Launches

Beautiful Melodic Experimental Music - This will be an amazing gig.

Thursday 22nd Feb. Stone Gallery, Paddington Uniting Church Hall.

Adrian Klumpes Myspace

Adrian Klumpes website

Seaworthy website

The Annandale's never-ending fight with residents

This from the Daily Tele (sorry I can't find a link to the original article):

"The pub that put live music before pokies—the Annandale Hotel—has won a reprieve in a fight against Leichhardt Council's bid to silence it. The Land and Environment Court has overruled the council to allow the hotel to remain open until 1am for a 12-month trial period and will then reconsider a 3am weekend licence. Noise measurements in the bedrooms of local residents showed peak-hour traffic on Parramatta Rd was louder than patrons leaving at the end of the night". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), January 26.

I feel like I am somewhat opinionated on this issue, but how stupid are these residents? Are they just complaining for the sake of complaining? The Annandale, with live music, has been there for much longer than most residents have. Surely they knew that they were moving in next to one of Sydney's most popular live music venues.

There was talk at one stage of the changes to the Liquor Act encompassing the "whoever was there first has right of way" idea.

Do you know how hard it is to even get a Place of Public Entertainment (POPE) license in NSW? The onerous sound proofing requirements alone make sure that residents are being looked after. And it is not like the owners of The Annandale are ignoring the concerns of residents. There are signs up all over the pub asking people to keep quiet when leaving, and it is definitely not a legal requirement for them to do that.

I am definitely with The Annandale on this one!

The Rocketsmiths coming to Sydney & Melbourne

Fri, Feb 2nd - The Globe, Brisbane
w/ Special Patrol, Black Market Rhythm Co, Cuthbert & The Night Walkers
Thur, Feb 8th - The Excelsior, Surry Hills, Sydney
Fri, Feb 9th - Boobytrap, Melt Bar, King's Cross, Sydney
Sat, Feb 10th - Spectrum, Sydney
w/ Tokenview
Sun, Feb 11th - The Hopetoun, Sydney
w/ The Camels, Cuthbert & The Night Walkers
Wed, Feb 14th - The Greyhound, Melbourne
Thur, Feb 15th - Prince Albert Hotel, Adelaide
w/ Special Patrol
Fri, Feb 16th - The Electric Light Hotel, Adelaide
w/ Special Patrol
Sat, Feb 17th - The Edinbrough, Brunswick, Melbourne
w/ The Basics, Spargo

Do-It-Yourself Music

Below is a link to a really interesting article about the new breed of "artists" in the world who have emerged following the increase in technology, and people's ability to create and record their own music at home. In most cases these days it is cheaper to do at home, and with programs such as Pro-Tools, almost as professional as what comes from most engineers/producers, who used to do all the tweaking by ear.

Although this article is about an increase in sales of musical instruments used in home recordings, it is also electronic sounds that are becoming easier to create. As computer created sounds become more and more common I wonder what that will mean for live music? Will people be able to re-create their masterpieces on a stage, or will they even want to?

LA Times article

BRMC & Maximo Park - new albums

Now that Bloc Party's new release has come and gone for me, here are a couple of the next ones I am looking forward to:

Maximo Park - new album : Official Site : Myspace

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - new album : Official Site : Myspace

Red Riders - Webcast

Following in the footsteps of Dappled Cities Fly and Expatriate, tonight (Tuesday 30th Jan) it is the Red Riders turn to put on a live webcast.

For more information on how to get your name on the door, or what time to tune in. Check out the Defhead website: Red Riders Webcast

The Great Escape - Final Announce

The Lemonheads, The Roots, Lou Rhodes (Lamb), Dan Kelly, Alice Russell, Expatriate, Kaki King, Bertie Blackman, Damien Dempsey, The Exploders, Hermitude, Fourplay, Astronomy Class, Coda, The Bird, True Live, Sparkadia, The Flairz, King Tide, The Sins, Greta Gertler, Carla Werner, Waiting for Guiness

joining:

Wolfmother, The Vines, Gomez, The Living End, Ben Kweller, Bob Evans, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Blue King Brown, Missy Higgins, Ziggy Marley, Hilltop Hoods, The Fumes, Fishbone, Ooh La La, Operator Please, The Stick Figures, John Butler Trio, Holly Throsby, Gogol Bordello, Deerhoof, The Cops, Little Birdy, Angus & Julia Stone, Bliss N Eso, Darren Hanlon, Flogging Molly, The Temper Trap

See the announce here.

More info on the official site and Myspace.

Gotan Project

Tango/Electro group, Gotan Project have announced their WOMADelaide side-shows, but alas - no Brisbane date:

March 2 Perth International Festival of the Arts
March 5 Sydney Opera House
March 9 WOMADelaide
March 11 Hamer Hall, Melbourne

Official Site : Myspace : Record Label

Buy the album from Inertia

The Berg Sans Nipple

I have been listening to this track from The Berg Sans Nipple for a little while now, but it keeps coming up and drawing me in with the beat and electro-pop sounds.

Along the Quai, the title track from the forthcoming album is available to download from the Record Label's website:

Team Love Records

Hear some more tracks, and find out more info, here:

Myspace

Official Site

The View From the Pit

See pics from some of Australia's best festivals, and shots from around Sydney venues.

Triple J/ABC are opening their doors (of the foyer at least) to let everyone in for FREE.

Check out the exhibition from now until 26-FEB-07.

ABC Building
700 Harris St
Ultimo

More info on the Triple J website.

Coachella - leaked announce/rumours

It's the talk of the tabloids today. Some of the Coachella (US festival held in April) line-up as follows (What a list.....!):

Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Arcade Fire, Interpol, Willie Nelson, Crowded House, The Roots, Sonic Youth, The Arctic Monkeys, Air, Tiesto, Satellite Party, Silversun Pickups, Busdriver, The Kooks, The Cribs, Jarvis Cocker, The Good The Bad & The Queen, Travis, The Decemberists, Manu Chao, Kings of Leon, LCD Soundsystem, !!!, Lupe Fiasco, Ghostface Killah, Fountains of Wayne, Hot Chip, El-P, Peeping Tom, The Happy Mondays, Placebo, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Lily Allen, Roky Erickson, Paul Van Dyk, Gotan Project, Kaiser Chiefs, Faithless, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Nightwatchman, DJ Shadow, Stephen Marley featuring Jr. Gong, Konono No. 1, Nickel Creek, The Black Keys, The New Pornographers, Rufus Wainwright, The Rapture, Richie Hawtin, Explosions In The Sky, Junior Boys, Sparklehorse, Soulwax, Felix Da Housecat, Blonde Redhead, Damien Rice, Jose Gonzales, Regina Spektor, Ozomatli, Peaches, Cornelius, We Are Scientists, Amy Winehouse, Spank Rock, Tapes 'n Tapes, The Klaxons, Girl Talk, CSS, Andrew Bird, Peter, Bjorn and John, Tokyo Police Club, The Fratellis, Ratatat, Grizzly Bear

See some news articles here:

LA Times
Pitchfork Media
Billboard

More info on the official sites, here are the links:

Official Site
Myspace

Los Campesinos!

Not only do they have all the UK music bloggers falling over themselves, but they still have their songs available for download on Myspace. Oh, and the best bit - they make good music! Great little catchy pop tunes to have you bopping along, with violins and xylophones.

Get yourself some Los Campesinos! on Myspace

Golden Plains - 2nd Announce

The Presets, Mad Professor, Sebastian and Kavinski (Ed Banger Tour), Darren Hanlon, Dexter, Dudley Perkins and Georgia Anne Muldrow, Muph and Plutonic, Riot in Belgium, George Rrurrambu and Birdwave, Sunwrae Ensemble, Jamaica Irie with RuCL and Jigzie Campbell, Muscle

joining:

The Bellrays, Fat Freddys Drop, Yo La Tengo, The Avalanches DJ Show, !!! (Chk Chk Chk), Gotye, Comets on Fire, The Slits, The Drones, Ground Components, Mountains in the Sky, Eddy Current Suppression Ring

See website for more info.

Album previews on Myspace

First The Good, The Bad and The Queen, and now Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (that I know of anyway) have put up their whole albums to be streamed through Myspace before the albums actually go on sale, although CYHSY are offering a digital version for purchase today - see the bands website for details).

And judging by the 10,000+ plays the first track off CYHSY's player received within about an hour it appears to be popular.

I wonder if we will see more of this in the future?

Moshtix Joins Myspace...

Well, not exactly - but with the news that News Ltd have recently acquired Moshtix, I wonder how long it will be before we see ticket sales in the Gig Guide section of Myspace pages?

See the article here: The Australian

Also, comes the news that Ebay has recently purchased an online ticket re-selling (scalping) company, StubHub.

Read the story here.

So if News Ltd don't already own Ebay, perhaps they should consider it - then they can get the commissions/booking fee for the original sale, and then a further commission on the re-sale...

Instituto Mexicano del Sonido (IMS)

Otherwise known as Mexican Institute of Sound (MIS).

What a great little discovery this one has been, and all from one Mexican man...

IMS website

IMS Myspace (in Spanish - better than the English one)

MIS Myspace (in English)

Listen to an IMS remix of an Irving Fields classic, Cha Cha No.29, here.

I have no idea what this website is, appears to be Korean...? but they have a CD review, and a couple of tracks to download: OHMY

Kaiser Chiefs new single - "Ruby"

Of course it has made it to the internet already. I predict this one is going to tear through the commercial radio stations.

Good copies of new single "Ruby" at:

You Aint No Picasso
Stereogum

For more info on the new album see the Kaiser Chiefs website

And they have some tracks off their old album to listen to on Myspace

Fast Festival Feasts

One of the Sydney Festival's greatest things (aside from the music) has returned again.

Get a main course and a glass of wine, or a beer, at some of Sydney's finest restaurants for just $25. An absolute bargain when you actually look at the cost of some of the main meals at these places on a regular night.

See the website for more details and the list of restaurants taking part

The Rocketsmiths

The Sandwich Club beat me to it and posted about these guys last week, but if you haven't read their post yet, please let me introduce you to The Rocketsmiths.

A very catchy rockabilly/pop band from Brisbane. Self confessed "Opshop suit wearing, upbeat suburban blues rockers", with some killer guitar riffs.

Listen to tracks on Myspace.

Or get free downloads from the band's website.

East Coast Blues & Roots - 2nd Announce

Either they need a new IT guy at Bluesfest or they are just pulling our chain - but I'm betting on the first one. Another slip up from the Bluesfest camp:

Ozomatli, Arrested Development, Ziggy Marley, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Alice Russell, Larry Carlton Blues Project featuring Robben Ford, Rodriguez, Paul Kelly, Black Sorrows, Paolo Nutini, Normie Rowe, Katchafire, Banawurun (Troy 'n' Trevelyn), Blue King Brown, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers, The Pigram Brothers, The Gin Club, Mojo Webb, Imperial Crowns, Sunshiners, Chris Smither, Ghostwriters, Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges, C.W. Stoneking, Kaki King, The Kill Devil Hills, Blue Shaddy, Dallas Frasca, Johnny Green's Blues Cowboys, Jackson Jackson, Jim Moginie, Ash Grunwald

joining:

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Missy Higgins, Wolfmother, Bo Diddley, Lee Scratch Perry, The Roots, Gomez, Sierra Leones Refugee All Stars, Amos Lee, Bonnie Raitt, Blue King Brown, Fat Freddy's Drop, Ben Kweller, Fishbone, Taj Mahal, Fred Eaglesmith, Xavier Rudd, The Waifs, Kasey Chambers, Tony Joe White, John Butler Trio, Alo (Animal Liberation Orchestra), Feist, Gogol Bordello, Flogging Molly, Keiran Kane and Kevin Welsh with Fats Kaplin, Rodrigo y Gabriela

How to REALLY cut scalping

Glastonbury (UK's premier music festival) has announced that it plans to print passport sized photos of ticket-holders on all tickets to prevent scalping (or touting as they like to call it). Tickets will be non-exchangeable.

There is also a pre-registration process, where anyone wanting to buy a ticket for the 2007 event will first have to register (and supply photo). This happens BEFORE any line-up details are announced.

If you plan on attending Glastonbury this year (to be held 22-24 June) you will need to register between 1st - 28th Feb. Expect to be competing with 150,000+ other people.

Visit the website for more details.

The AMP 2006

The Australian Music Prize & PPCA (Phonographic Performance Company of Australia) have today announced their Top 25 "long list" contenders for the 2006 Australian Music Prize (The AMP). Australia's version of the UK's Mercury Music Prize.

See the Long List here.

Also, visit The AMP 2006 Myspace site for more info on the prize.

The "Short List" of 8 will be announced on 31st Jan, with the winner being announced on 7th March.

The Amp 2005 Winner was "The Drones" with their brilliant album “Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By”

St Jeromes Laneway Festival - final announce

Melbourne: Curse ov Dialect, Uber Lingua DJs, Friday Night Fighters DJ Team, Snowman, Gersey, Bumblebeez, Holly Throsby, Dan Kelly, The Shaky Hands, The Crayon Fields, Love of Diagrams

Brisbane: Snowman, Gersey, Dan Kelly, Holly Throsby, The Shaky Hands, Kate Bradley, Dappled Cities Fly, The Outpost DJ Teams

Sydney: The BellRays, Gerling, Snowman, Gersey, Bumblebeez, Holly Throsby, Dan Kelly, The Shaky Hands, The Crayon Fields, Dappled Cities Fly, Expatriate, My Disco, Uber Lingua DJs

joining:

Yo La Tengo (Syd & Bris), Peter Bjorn & John, The Sleepy Jackson, Youth Group, The Walkmen, Camera Obscura, Archie Bronson Outfit, Fionn Regan, Ground Components, Midnight Juggernauts, Macromantics (Melb), The Temper Trap, Love Is All (Syd & Melb)

More details:

Official Site
Myspace

Tax breaks for the music industry (in Italy & France)

I wonder if Australia will take note of the new laws adopted in Italy and France providing tax breaks for small music businesses. See Billboard article here.

If you take the top 4 record labels (EMI, Warner, Sony/BMG, Universal) off the list of music businesses in Australia, the vast majority of the companies keeping the music industry ticking along are small businesses.

It would be great to see some of the smaller, independent record labels get a bit of a tax break to assist their artists with production and promotion. It must be near impossible to compete with the budgets of the Big 4.

WOMADelaide - 1st announce

Asha Bhosle & the Kronos Quartet with Special Guest Wu Man, Blue King Brown, Celenod, Emma Donovan Band, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, The Gotan Project, Lila Downs, Lior, Lunasa, The Mahotella Queen, Mariza, Salif Keita, Sambasunda, Shivkumar Sharma & Rahul Sharma.

9-11 March, Botanic Park, Adelaide

For more info check the WOMADelaide website.

Tokyo Police Club

Dew Process have done it again with another cracking signing, Canada 4-piece, Tokyo Police Club.

Check out the Tokyo Police Club website and Myspace page.

Also, if you head over to Polaroids of Androids now you can get a free download of one of Tokyo Police Club's tracks.

Welcome to 2007

After a week with no internet access or phone reception I have re-emerged in the new year and have discovered the following:

Who The Bloody Hell Are They? have performed an extensive poll of musos, media, industry folk and bloggers to come up with a Top 10 for 2006. It is great to see the wide variety of choices from different sections of the industry. Well worth checking out:

http://whothehell.net/

I'm far behind the times, but have discovered I am completely in love with Destroyer's Rubies:

http://www.destroyersongs.com/

The Police are possibly reforming:

http://undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=1177

Deep Dish are not playing Playground Weekender, it is actually only Sharam from Deep Dish - I have amended my previous post accordingly. Thanks to Deep Dish's Booking Agent for letting me know:

http://www.playgroundweekender.com.au/artists.htm

Carlton & United products (VB, Carlton Draught, Reschs) contain tropical fish:

http://www.vnv.org.au/AlcoholByDist.htm

Welcome to 2007! Let the fun begin.