Brit Awards - Sales Increase

Florence and The Machine was a major domestic beneficiary from last week's BRIT Awards, with a 53% week-on-week sales increase in the U.K. for her debut album "Lungs" (Island/Universal) and a No. 2 single.

The alternative artist's set, which won for best British album, moved 9-3 on the U.K. chart with weekly sales of 39,000 according to the Official Charts Company. Florence and the Machine performed at the Feb. 16 ceremony with rapper Dizzee Rascal, and their duet "You Got The Dirtee Love" made No. 2 on the singles chart following its Feb. 17 release exclusively via iTunes. It moved almost 63,000 units in four days.

Lady Gaga's "The Fame" (Interscope/Universal) increased weekly sales by 54% to 53,500, and moved 5-2 behind the Glee Cast. She won three international awards and performed during the ceremony, which got an average 5.8 million viewers for the live broadcast on ITV1.

The majority of BRITs performers' albums benefited. Robbie Williams increased sales for "Reality Killed the Video Star" (Virgin/EMI) by 22% and moved 21-8; Lily Allen's "It's Not Me It's You" (Parlophone/EMI) was up 13% and moved 28-19; and Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3" (Roc Nation) increased sales by 25% and moved 22-10. The BRIT Awards album tops the compilation chart.

Ted Cockle, co-president of Island U.K., says Florence and the Machine's success - U.K. shipments are now over 800,000 - justifies their slow build for the artist, who released her debut album several months after winning the critics' choice award at the 2009 BRIT Awards.

"She's just a rare breed, which gives you the confidence to take your time with her," says Cockle. "Most of the time [with other artists] we drive one hit single and the airplay on that and the album off the back of it, whereas this [success] is coming from five or six tracks that people are enjoying."

Cockle is eyeing a total of 1 million-plus sales in the U.K. with two further singles to come. "Historically, the million-seller has always been the hallmark of the records that seem to stay around forever and always hold a precious place in people's hearts," says Cockle. "If we can get beyond that it would be good, but we don't need to be pushing on forever because I think it will have a natural life of its own without us needing to market it too aggressively."

The single "You Got the Love" also improved 29-12 post-BRITs, and Cockle notes that Candi Staton, who had a 1991 top 20 U.K. hit with the Source on the original dance version, has given her approval. An on-stage collaboration between Florence Welch and Staton is "something talked about for across the summer," he says.

There have already been some studio sessions for new material because Cockle says it is "the best way to keep her excited," and there is also discussion about her writing a "power ballad" with Duffy songwriter Eg White.

Cockle stresses that Island has encouraged Florence to take risks musically. "People fell in love with her for the wild songs and for the more alternative stuff," he adds.

Florence and the Machine follows the current European tour with dates in the U.S. in April including Coachella festival.

Rock act Kasabian also got a BRITs boost following their win for best British group and performance of "Fire." "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" (Columbia) increased weekly sales by 179% - although this was from a lower base than "Lungs" - and moved from No. 63 to No. 20. The album sold almost 12,000 copies last week.

"They were also the only rock act to win an award during the night and that probably reflects the way music went during 2009 unfortunately," says Columbia Records U.K. managing director Mike Smith. He says consistent support from U.K. national top 40 station Radio 1 has been crucial.

Smith believes Kasabian is "the biggest band [active] in the U.K. now and we want to go on and take that message out around the world, and that's certainly where Serge [Pizzorno]'s head is at with the new material he's writing at the moment."

"It's interesting that rock music has not had as much exposure in the last 12 months as other musical genres, but Kasabian has proved that people love this kind of music," he adds. "What's been great is that Kasabian has consistently researched and tested incredibly well at the radio stations that have played them, people absolutely love this kind of music. When they get the opportunity to hear them and see them live, the record sales certainly grow in accordance with that."

Rapper Dizzee Rascal increased sales of his album "Tongue 'N' Cheek" (Dirtee Stank/PIAS) by 75% for a weekly sale of 6,600, which sent it 73-33. Dizzee's best British male victory was "totally deserved" according to PIAS U.K. managing director Peter Thompson, who says that "2009 was the year that Dizzee Rascal became a major commercial force."

The brand new Dizzee track "Disco" will be released to radio in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Ellie Goulding, winner of the critics' choice award, enjoyed a 400% increase on pre-orders for her March 1 debut "Lights" (Polydor) according to download store 7digital.

Test

Peter Gabriel - Scratch My Back

As the leader of Genesis in the early '70s, Peter Gabriel helped move progressive rock to new levels of theatricality. He was no less ambitious as a solo artist, but he was more subtle in his methods. With his first eponymous solo album in 1977, he began exploring darker, more cerebral territory, incorporating avant-garde, electronic, and worldbeat influences into his music. The record, as well as its two similarly titled successors, established Gabriel as a critically acclaimed cult artist, and with 1982's Security, he began to move into the mainstream; "Shock the Monkey" became his first Top 40 hit, paving the way for his multi-platinum breakthrough So in 1986. Accompanied by a series of groundbreaking videos and the number one single "Sledgehammer," So became a multi-platinum hit, and Gabriel became an international star. Instead of capitalizing on his sudden success, he began to explore other interests, including recording soundtracks and running his company Real World. By the time he returned to pop with 1992's Us, his mass audience had faded away and he spent the remainder of the '90s working on multimedia projects for Real World.

Following his departure from Genesis in 1976, Peter Gabriel began work on the first of three consecutive eponymously titled albums; each record was named Peter Gabriel, he said, as if they were editions of the same magazine. In 1977, his first solo album appeared and became a moderate success due to the single "Solsbury Hill." Another self-titled record followed in 1978, yet received comparatively weaker reviews. Gabriel's third eponymous album proved to be his artistic breakthrough, however. Produced by Steve Lillywhite and released in 1980, the album established Gabriel as one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians, as well as one of its most political — "Biko," a song about a murdered antiapartheid activist, became one of the biggest protest anthems of the '80s. "Games Without Frontiers," with its eerie chorus, nearly reached the Top 40.

In 1982, Gabriel released Security, which was an even bigger success, earning positive reviews and going gold on the strength of the startling video for "Shock the Monkey." Just as his solo career was taking off, Gabriel participated in a one-shot Genesis reunion in order to finance his WOMAD — World of Music, Arts and Dance — Festival. WOMAD was designed to bring various world musics and customs to a Western audience, and it soon turned into an annual event, and a live double album was released that year to commemorate the event. As Gabriel worked on his fifth album, he contributed the soundtrack to Alan Parker's 1984 film Birdy. His score was highly praised and it won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes that year. After founding Real World, Inc. — a corporation devoted to developing bridges between technology and multiethnic arts — in 1985, he completed his fifth album, So.

Released in 1986, So became Gabriel's commercial breakthrough, largely because his Stax homage "Sledgehammer" was blessed with an innovative video that combined stop-action animation with live action. So climbed to number two as "Sledgehammer" hit number one, with "Big Time" — featuring a video very similar to "Sledgehammer" — reaching the Top Ten and "In Your Eyes" hitting the Top 30. As So was riding high on the American and British charts, Gabriel co-headlined the first benefit tour for Amnesty International in 1986 with Sting and U2. Another Amnesty International Tour followed in 1988, and the following year, Gabriel released Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ, a collection of instrumentals used in Martin Scorsese's film. Passion was the furthest Gabriel delved into worldbeat, and the album was widely acclaimed, winning the Grammy Award in 1989 for Best New Age Performance. In 1990, he released the hits compilation Shaking the Tree.

Gabriel labored long on the pop-music follow-up to So, finally releasing Us in the spring of 1992. During the recording of Us, Gabriel went through a number of personal upheavals, including a painful divorce, and those tensions manifested themselves on Us, a much darker record than So. For various reasons, not the least of which was the fact that it was released six years after its predecessor, Us wasn't as commercially successful as So, despite positive reviews. Only one single, the "Sledgehammer" knockoff "Steam," reached the Top 40, and the album stalled at platinum sales. In 1993, Gabriel embarked on the most ambitious WOMAD tour to date, touring the United States with a roster including Crowded House, James, and Sinéad O'Connor, with whom he had an on-off romantic relationship. The following year, he released the double-disc Secret World Live, which went gold. Later in 1994, he released the CD-ROM Xplora, one of many projects he developed with Real World. For the rest of the decade, Gabriel concentrated on developing more multimedia projects for the company and working on a new studio album.

Up was released in 2002, a full decade after Gabriel's last studio effort. Dense, cerebral, and often difficult, the record peaked at number nine but failed to sell well in America. It fared slightly better in Canada, where it went gold. He then turned his attention to a host of different projects, although the release of Big Blue Ball — a compilation of collaborative performances recorded at Real World Studios during the '90s — helped placate fans while Gabriel focused his energies elsewhere. He eventually returned to the studio for another album, Scratch My Back, which featured orchestral covers of songs originally performed by Radiohead, Arcade Fire, Paul Simon, David Bowie, and others.

Confirmed Act 4: Faith No More

After being out of the business for 10 years, the legendary alternative rock/metal supergroup Faith No More have reformed for a 2009 European Tour which has extended past that one continent and onto the rest of the world – inlcuding their beloved Australia. Making an appearance, is not enough – they're the premier headliners and deservingly so for their contribution to alternative rock during the 80s. Will we see a bigger set of headliners that Soundwave 2011? I darn hope so because it would be a pretty massive feat to champ over Faith No More, Jimmy Eat World and Paramore!

1.Midnight Cowboy
2.The Real Thing
3.Land of Sunshine
4.Be Aggressive
5.Caffiene
6.Evidence
7.Surprise! You're Dead!
8.Last Cup of Sorrow
9.Ricochet
10.Epic
11.Midlife Crisis
12.RV
13.The Gentle Art of Making Enemies
14.King for a Day
15.Ashes to Ashes
16.Just A Man
17.Chariots of Time
18.Stripsearch
19.We Care A Lot
20.Pristine

BRIT Awards

Britain is gaga for Lady Gaga.

The fashion-forward pop diva scored three BRIT Awards -- England's equivalent of the Grammys -- Tuesday night during a ceremony at London's Earls Court, where she also delivered an emotional tribute to her friend Alexander McQueen, the fashion icon who died last week.

"Thank you to Lee McQueen," Gaga said, her voice cracking, as she accepted the award for Best International Album for The Fame. She also won for Best International Female Artist and Best International Breakthrough Act. [Via Billboard]

Other big winners at the ceremony included Jay-Z, who beat out Bruce Springsteen and Eminem, among others, to score Best International Male; British Female Solo Artist winner Lily Allen; rapper Dizzee Rascal, who scored British Male Solo Artist; indie rockers Kasabian, landing the British Group statue; and Florence and the Machine, SPIN faves who won the most sought-after prize for their release Lungs: Best British Album!

On behalf of defunct Britpop legends Oasis, former singer Liam Gallagher accepted the BRIT Album of 30 Years award for their 1995 release (What's the Story) Morning Glory?. Liam snubbed his brother Noel -- a fight between the kin broke up the band in August -- opting to exclude him from his acceptance speech, which included thank-yous to random ex members.



"The best band in the ******* world -- live forever," Liam added before tossing his mic into the audience and walking off stage.

And, like the Grammys, the BRITs were heavy on performances. Gaga, in a white lace dress and a gigantic wig, took to the piano for "Telephone" and "Dance In The Dark"; Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sang their super hit "Empire State Of Mind"; and Florence and the Machine and Dizzee Rascal mashed up their songs "You Got The Love" and "Dirtee Cash," respectively, with the help of harpists and a lot of glitter. Florence even emerged from a giant disco ball during the performance.

British Male Solo Artist
Dizzee Rascal

British Female Solo Artist

Lily Allen

British Breakthrough Act
(Winner chosen by Radio 1 listeners)

JLS

British Group
Kasabian

British Album

Florence & the Machine Lungs

British Single

(Winner selected by U.K. commercial radio listeners)
 JLS "Beat Again"

International Male Solo Artist

Jay-Z

International Female Solo Artist
Lady Gaga

International Breakthrough Act

Lady Gaga (Winner chosen by MTV viewers)

International Album

Lady Gaga The Fame (Interscope/Universal Music)

BRITs Album of 30 Years

Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (Winner chosen by Radio 2 & 6 Music listeners)

BRITS Performance of 30 Years

Spice Girls



Critics' Choice
Ellie Goulding



Producer

Paul Epworth
___________

OK Go News

If any band knows the power of viral videos, it’s OK Go. Five years ago, the band broke through when clips for “A Million Ways” and “Here It Goes Again” (the “treadmill” video) were passed around the Web. The band assumed the same would be the case for the first two videos from its new Of the Blue Colour of the Sky album (for “WTF” and “This Too Shall Pass”). But that was before the music business began groping for any additional ways to generate income in light of plummeting CD sales.

Thanks to a 2006 agreement between Google and the major labels, the two clips are officially confined to MySpace and YouTube and can’t be posted anywhere else. In the Google arrangement, which was renewed with the labels last year, the four majors receive at least 50 percent of ad revenue based on streams of videos on YouTube.

OK Go’s response? Go around the system. In an open letter to fans posted on the band’s site on January 18, singer-guitarist Damien Kulash explained the situation — and then provided a code so that bloggers and fans can embed both videos on their own sites. “We’ll put ‘em up anywhere we can,” says Kulash. “Our label is unlikely to start suing us for putting our videos up.” OK Go plans to make at least four more videos from Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, including one in which Kulash will be thrown across a room in a giant slingshot.

According to Kulash, OK Go didn’t realize the restrictions until angry fan e-mails began arriving at the band’s Website. “It’s kind of a stupid decision,” says Kulash. “It doesn’t matter all that much to me if people are passing around our videos on one platform over another. But if the casual person who just wants to stick it up on their Facebook page can’t embed it, they send you a nasty comment and move on. You’ve just lost the two to 200 people who might have read that page.”

Although EMI declined to comment (but did not dispute Kulash’s claims), a YouTube spokesman confirms that the label made the decision to prevent those particular videos from being embedded elsewhere. OK Go manager Jamie Kitman says the band asked the label if they could skirt around the rules. “But they said, ‘That’s the policy — what can we do?’” he says. “It’s unthinkable to us that they wouldn’t want to spread videos virally, but they have a corporate policy.”

Kulash says he understands the industry’s rationale. “As fucked up as the industry is, it does provide investment money for bands,” he says. “For them to continue to do that, they do need some income.” But he also says that’s about all he comprehends about streaming videos and additional income. “Basically I have no ******* idea how it works. The last accounting we saw said that for 600,000 streams, we got $31. How can that be worth this?”

Confirmed Act 3:The Get Up Kids

After what was 5 or so years of rather good success and the influence they put on other pop-punk and emo bands to the day – even such as superstars Fall Out Boy and pulled-out act of Soundwave 2010, My Chemical Romance, and their further stint with more meaningful and productive pop-punk group, The New Amsterdams, they will be sure to bring out a lot of ranging songs and the setlist will be hard to predict. Obviously, fans love their breakthrough record – Something To Write Home About, but of course the other records will be cover, seeing their 10 year absence has brought tears to many fans.

1.Holiday
2.I'm A Loner Dottie, A Rebel
3.The One You Want
4.Coming Clean
5.Overdue
6.Woodson
7.Your Petty Pretty Little Things
8.No Love
9.Off The Wagon
10.Valentine
11.Red Letter Day
12.Campfire Kansas
13.Holy Roman
14.Mass Pike
15.Action & Action
16.Walking On A Wire
17.Long Goodnight
18.Don't Hate Me
19.I'll Catch You
20.Ten Minutes

Confirmed Act 2: Paramore

After only a limited time in the popular music industry, the alternative rock group, Paramore, have taken the world by storm, with a suprisingly similar composition of band members to Blondie. Nevertheless, their success is accentuated by the female vocals, giving a different but vibrant shock to the standard listener. Their 2009 hit album, Brand New Eyes, puts it among the Top 10 rock albums of 2009 and deservingly so, get the nod with a 45 minute set at Eastern Creek Raceway at Soundwave 2010. Again, hopefully to promote their new record as widely purchased as it was by Australians, their new catchy track will rock Australia this summer with singles and “should-be” singles Ignorance, Turn It Off and Playing God. I'm very interested to see what else they might pull out for Australia.

1.Ignorance
2.crushcrushcrush
3.That's What Your get
4.Looking Up
5.Careful
6.Let The Flames Begin
7.Never Let This Go
8.The Only Exception
9.Pressure
10.For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic
11.Where The Lines Overlap
12.Decode
13.Misery Business
14.Brick By Boring Brick

Confirmed Act 1: Motion City Soundtrack

Well all the bands that are coming, particularly the bigger acts will have a problem since their dilemma of trying to mix the old and the new stuff, seeing that most of they had a new album in the last 18 months. None more so than Motion City Soundtrack. They have flown under the radar for quite some time in the alternative rock and pop-punk world yet their stage presence, stage antics and ability to lyrically write fantastic songs bodes well for 2010. After releasing their newest record, My Dinosaur Life, in late January 2010, this will surely be the majority of the act with such poppy and catchy track as Worker Bee, Delirium, Her Words Destroyed My Planet, Stand Too Close and Disappear, they essentially could cover the whole 40 minute set with the new album... but they won't. Of course there will be moments of the older stuff while fans love and obviously some new fans will enjoy the set due to the increasingly poppy yet meaningful lyrics and music by Motion City Soundtrack.

1.Worker Bee
2.The Future Freaks Me Out
3.My Favourite Accident
4.Broken Heart
5.Delirium
6.This Is For Real
7.When “You're” Around
8.Pulp Fiction
9.Motherfuckers
10.Last Night
11.A Lifeless Ordinary (Need A Little Help)
12.Even If It Kills Me
13.Attractive Today
14.Stand Too Close
15.Perfect Teeth
16.Her Words Destroyed My Planet
17.L.G. FUAD
18.Disappear
19.Everything Is Alright

Preview to Soundwave Festival 2010 – Sydney

Well T-minus 8 days to Soundwave Festival 2010, the premier punk, rock, metal and emo showcase of the best acts from Australia and around the world. We've all seen the timetable and after months of speculation and changes I bring you the bands that I will be attending. Some that I wish I could attend and setlists of them, well at least hopeful setlists!

Soundwave Festival 2010 Mix Volume 1

1. Anti-Flag - The Press Corpse
2. Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus
3. Motion City Soundtrack - Delirium
4. Jane's Addiction - Mountain Song
5. Faith No More - Epic
6. The Get Up Kids - Ten Minutes
7. Paramore - Ignorance
8. Anti-Flag - Power To The Peaceful
9. Faith No More - We Care A Lot
10. The Get Up Kids - Holiday
11. Jane's Addiction - Stop!
12. AFI - Miss Murder
13. Motion City Soundtrack - Disappear
14. Paramore - Brick By Boring Brick
15. AFI - Medicate
16. Jimmy Eat World - Blister
17. Motion City Soundtrack - Everything Is Alright
18. Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness

The Power of Music

What makes a song eternal? What makes a song so fundamental, so profound, so timeless that it continues to speak to us year after it was written? And what do such songs mean to us, as individuals and as a society?

Great songs can crystallise a moment in time. They can define lives and create – or at least shape – collective identities. That is, popular music reflects our personal history but also our collective public history. Songs have the power to influence events, alter the course of social history and change political history.

On an individual level, a song can echo our mood, and affect it. It can entertain us, comfort us in moments of sorrow, reflect who we are and what we believe. It can also reinforce group identity, and isolate us from those we deem different from ourselves. Songs can be transformative – anyone who has been profoundly moved by a piece of music knows this. Sometimes we can sense a song's meaning without fully understanding exactly what the song is saying; even if you don't know the words to 'Amazing Grace', its effect can be profound. Songs can make us laugh, listen and cry. While songs can bring us joy, they can also make us angry – angry enough to do something. The power of words, whether son or spoken, can change minds and move people to action. Some work by changing the climate of opinion.

Most people agree that poetry can change lives. And most will also concur that a piece of fiction – a particular well-crafted novel, say, or a brilliant short story – can change the way we think, alter long-held attitudes and beliefs. The American novelist Michael Chabon believes that 'words can kill, or save us' and author Tobias Wolff once said, 'You can only say what you can first imagine.' Speeches are also powerful forms of communication. Throughout the centuries, the power of a speech by, for instance, Martin Luther King Jr, Winston Churchhill, Gough Whitlam or, more recently, Barack Obama, has moved people to act or at least reflect. There is little doubt that a well-spoken and well-delivered phrase can goad people to action.

But what about songs? It's true they hold a particular power over us, over our emotions and memory. With one chord, one riff, one line from a lyric, we can be transported back to particular time and place, to an experience that feels as real as the day it happened. Individuals or couples have 'their song', and generations, eras and even countries do too. 'Waltzing Matilda', for example, could only belong to Australia.

In Sing Me Back Home, Dana Jennings explains the effect that a particular genre of music, in his case country, has on him and his family. 'Country,' he writes, 'profoundly understands what it's like to be trapped in a culture of alienation: by poverty, by a shit job, by lust, by booze, by class.' For Jennings, country music is a familiar place to turn to when down on his luck. It is a refuge in the hard times.

But can songs actually change lives? Yes, I think they can – and do. A song can soothe, comfort and assuage, but it can also anger, cajole and persuade. A song can free the imagination and allow one to be open to new experiences. A song can change the world because a song that comes along at the right moment, at the right time, can change they way one sees the world. And if attitudes can change, the world itself can change, even if only incrementally.

Whatever the intention of a songwriter, a song often assumes a life of its own. It may have taken Bob Dylan all of ten minutes, as he claims, to write 'Blowin' in the Wind', but the effect it had on people was immeasurable. Sometimes, songs make an impact only gradually. 'I believe in songs,' Sting told Daniel J. Levitin. 'But it's difficult to imagine that a song would change anything overnight. What you can do is to plant a seed in someone's brain, as seeds were planted in mine to make me the political animal that I am.

Songs also change the world in a more subtle way, by influencing the music of the future. Didn't a great songwriter like Carole King change the world as much, if not more, than other artists' strident sloganeering? Since their initial release in the 1960s, songs such as 'Up on the Roof', 'One Fine Day' and especially 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow?' - which she co-wrote with then-husband Gerry Goffin – have influenced hundreds of musicians from the Beatles on down.

Just as other generations had epiphanies while reading books, many of what would later be called the rock and roll generation had their 'Aha!' moments while listening to a particular song or artist. When John Lennon first heard Elvis Presley on Radio Luxembourg, for example, his world turned upside-down. Rock and roll have Patti Smith 'a sense of tribe', as she prepared to enter a brotherhood – and sisterhood – of fellow seekers who sought to save the world, in her words, 'with love and the electric guitar'.

Things have changed since then, of course. We are no longer as committed to the idea that change can be triggered by a work of art, a piece of music or words on a page. And yet, some still stubbornly cling to the motion that these things are still possible. One should never underestimate the power of music.

Tegan and Sara News for Australia

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara return to Australia in May for a national tour, following the release of their new album ‘Sainthood’ (Warner) last year. ‘Sainthood’ was lavished with acclaim from fans and critics a-like, the first single ‘Hell’ gathering radio spins from alternate and commercial radio around the country.

After years of selling out headline tours and their recent experience in joining the summer festival circuit, which saw them playing to thousands at the Falls Festivals, Southbound and Sunset Sounds in 2008, Tegan and Sara tours have become one of the most anticipated live shows among Aussie music lovers. Their on stage chemistry, incredible musical abilities, infectious pop sensibilities and direct connection with their fans has won hearts all over the world.

In 2010 the girls return with a show full of new songs off ‘Sainthood’, as well as a few crowd favourites.

“Their onstage chemistry - and namely effortless banter - added to their appeal, with the pair indulging in storytelling and play fighting far more than they reportedly have in other Australian gigs. With a new album set for release this year, it may be some time before Adelaide gets another taste of these talented siblings whose charm, talent and individuality truly set them apart” THE ADVERTISER

“The anthemic 'Nineteen' then blasted through the speakers, with Tegan and Sara changing guitars and keyboard roles throughout a whole host of their songs. Their harmonies were brilliant, with a few imperfect moments that just seemed to endear the girls to the crowd further.” NINE MSN

“Pop music never looked so appealing.” THE DRUM MEDIA

“Overall, a top performance from the Canadian twins who are quick becoming a household name.” BEAT MAGAZINE.

Tegan and Sara

TIME TRAVEL (AUSTRALIA)!

photo by Lindsey Byrnes, from ON, IN, AT!

friends in the land down under!

we’re thrilled to announce our upcoming tour details for Australia! Festivals! Headline shows! The best espresso in the world! Kangaroos! Surfing! Intense jet lag!

The last time we made the trek across the ocean to visit you, it was in January 2009. The trip was paced in such a relaxed way that everyone felt as though they were on vacation. I was very sick the entire trip and I spent much of the tour-cation watching the band and crew run around on the beach swatting flies and squealing about jelly fish from the comfort of my air conditioned bungalow. i would use the word frolic to describe the skipping and jumping done on the beaches during our many days off. Band and crew bodies clad in lycra, skin glistening with spf 100, I realized that a tour-cation in iceland would be more MY style…but I am in the minority. All the sun-burning and swimming enhanced the group’s Australian experience and we can’t wait to return (boardies and rashies in tow) to visit you once again!

We were thrilled to see HELL made it into the triple J top 100 this year! We’re planning to bring our biggest, longest and best show as a gesture of appreciation! Thank you for the continued support Australia!

skq


Tegan and Sara Australian Tour 2010

Saturday 1 May - Bendigo Showground - Bendigo, VIC
Groovin’ The Moo Festival - with Vampire Weekend, Silverchair, Spoon, Empire of the Sun
Tickets on sale Feb 16 at gtm.net.au or moshtix.com.au

Sunday 2 May - Murray Sports Complex - Townsville, QLD
Groovin’ The Moo Festival - with Vampire Weekend, Silverchair, Spoon, Empire of the Sun
Tickets on sale Feb 16 at gtm.net.au or moshtix.com.au

Tuesday 4 May - The Tivoli - Brisbane, QLD
With special guests Astronautalis and The Jezabels
Tickets on sale Feb 12 at www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Doors 7.00pm

Friday 7 May - Big Top - Sydney, NSW
With special guests Astronautalis and The Jezabels
Tickets on sale Feb 12 at Big Top Box office - 1300 BIG TOP or www.bigtopsydney.com and www.ticketek.com.au
Doors 7.00pm

Saturday 8 May - Maitland Showground - Maitland, NSW
Groovin’ The Moo Festival - with Vampire Weekend, Silverchair, Spoon, Empire of the Sun
Tickets on sale Feb 16 at gtm.net.au or moshtix.com.au

Sunday 9 May - The Meadows - Canberra, ACT
Groovin’ The Moo Festival - with Vampire Weekend, Silverchair, Spoon, Empire of the Sun
Tickets on sale Feb 16 at gtm.net.au or moshtix.com.au

Tuesday 11 May - Forum Theatre - Melbourne, VIC
With special guests Astronautalis and The Jezabels
Tickets on sale Feb 12 at www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849
Doors 7.00pm

Thursday 13 May - Thebarton Theatre - Adelaide, SA
With special guests Astronautalis and The Jezabels
Tickets on sale Feb 12 at Venuetix www.venuetix.com.au or (08) 8225 8888
Doors 7.00pm

Friday 14 May - Fremantle Arts Centre - Fremantle, WA
With special guests Astronautalis and The Jezabels
Tickets on sale Feb 12 at www.heatseeker.com.au or Heatseeker retail outlets
Gates open 5.30pm

Saturday 15 May - Pat Usher Foreshore Reserve - Bunbury, WA
Groovin’ The Moo Festival - with Vampire Weekend, Silverchair, Spoon, Empire of the Sun
Tickets on sale Feb 16 at gtm.net.au or moshtix.com.au

The White Striples News January 2010

The White Stripes are set to release their first ever official live album.

The band will release the 16-song record on CD and vinyl on March 15 to accompany the regular DVD release of Canadian tour documentary Under Great White Northern Lights.

Following its deluxe release last year, the Emmett Malloy-directed film will be released on DVD on the same day.

The duo's first live album draws on recordings taken from the same 2007 tour as the documentary, which say Jack and Meg White play across Canada.

The album's tracklisting is as follows:

'Let's Shake Hands'
'Black Math'
'Little Ghost'
'Blue Orchid'
'The Union Forever'
'Ball And Biscuit'
'Icky Thump'
'I’m Slowly Turning Into You'
'Jolene'
'300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues'
'We Are Going to Be Friends'
'I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself'
'Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn'
'Fell In Love With A Girl'
'When I Hear My Name'
'Seven Nation Army'

Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life

This album was written by the five members of Motion City Soundtrack, produced by Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 fame, and mixed by the legendary Andy Wallace. If that isn't enough to describe just how undeniably accessible and fun "My Dinosaur Life" is, then I must continue.

This album seems to find Motion City Soundtrack coming through a difficult time, but with a but sunnier outlook than that of their previous album, "Even If It Kills Me". The opening track, "Worker Bee", is not a typical super-fast sugar rush like the listener may be expecting if they are familiar with this band. It is, comparatively, a mid-tempo track in this context. It still has the quality that makes it perfect to open the gates on a great pop-rock album, and sets the tone for a bumpy yet enjoyable ride.

"Her Words Destroyed My Planet", if I had to wager, will be recognized as a big hit sooner rather than later. If you don't believe me, watch the video. Try not to have flashbacks to the memorable Fall Out Boy video for "Dance, Dance". I dare you.

"Disappear" may be the angriest track this band have ever released, or at least the most frenetic. The vocals sound like a panic attack that somehow managed to find its way to a microphone.

Motion City Soundtrack shines brightly when they lay their hearts on the line. "Stand Too Close" will prove this, if you don't believe me. If you don't wistfully recall some lost love or recover a deep-seated pain from listening to "Skin and Bones", you're a robot, and in the words of William Murderface, robots are NOT to be trusted.

The sound of this album has all of the guitar, synth and drums that you expect from this band. But as a fan, and a musician who started on four strings, I urge the listener to dig deep and appreciate the deftness of Matt Taylor's bass playing. Taylor's developing skill certainly anchors the sound of this album.

Lyrics and Singing: Justin Pierre is a master lyricist not because he paints an abstract and dark canvas of enigmatic poetry. He is a master of his role as main lyric writer for Motion City Soundtrack because he tells his story with brutal honesty, down to every anal-retentive detail of whatever inspires the track in question. Whether it is the disillusioned but hopeful spirit conveyed in the key lines of opening track "Worker Bee" (I've been a good little worker bee / I deserve a gold star"), the pop-culture references that this band have become known for ("Her Words Destroyed My Planet", "Stand Too Close"), or the hilariously and nonchalantly profane "@!#?@!", the lyrics never let up in tone.

My only gripe is that for a guy who claims to be sober and clean, Mr. Pierre seems to have a continuing fixation on drugs, evidenced in "Delirium". It's still a catchy and memorable track, but how many times can one man beat the same dead horse?

Impression: Is there a number higher than 10 that I can choose for this category? Honestly, this is my favorite Motion City Soundtrack album since the beginning of their career. "My Dinosaur Life" has established that not only are this group of outcast musicians and misfit Midwesterners catchy, but they are competent. Motion City Soundtrack has made an album that plays to every strong point of every note or lyric that this quintet have previously put to celluloid or computer. It shoe-gazes without being overly self-aware. It is bouncy, bouyant, and I can safely say it is brilliant.

Soundwave Timetable

Alice In Wonderland Soundtrack

AT THE REQUEST OF A FRIEND, I HAVE RECORDED A COVER VERSION OF THE FAIN/HILLIARD SONG 'VERY GOOD ADVICE' FROM THE OLD WALT DISNEY 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' FILM, FOR THE NEW WALT DISNEY (TIM BURTON) 'ALICE IN WONDERLAND' FILM...

IT'S IN WITH THESE
AND OUT ON THE 2ND OF MARCH I THINK...

01.  Alice Performed by Avril Lavigne
02.  The Poison Performed by The All-American Rejects
03.  The Technicolor Phase Performed by Owl City
04.  Her Name Is Alice Performed by Shinedown
05.  Painting Flowers Performed by All Time Low
06.  Where's My Angel Performed by Metro Station
07.  Strange Performed by Tokio Hotel and Kerli
08.  Follow Me Down Performed by 3OH!3 feat. Neon Hitch
09.  Very Good Advice Performed by Robert Smith
10.  In Transit Performed by Mark Hoppus with Pete Wentz
11.  Welcome To Mystery Performed by Plain White T’s
12.  Tea Party Performed by Kerli
13.  The Lobster Quadrille Performed by Franz Ferdinand
14.  Running Out of Time Performed by Motion City Soundtrack
15.  Fell Down a Hole Performed by Wolfmother
16.  White Rabbit Performed by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

ANY OTHER NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT?

I HAVE RECORDED A COVER FOR A JOHN MARTYN TRIBUTE ALBUM, AS WELL AS A COUPLE OR THREE OTHER 'COLLABORATIONS'... THERE IS AN 'EXCLUSIVE' ITUNES ALBUM STILL IN THE WORKS... AND PART TWO OF THE 'DREAM' SESSIONS IS SLOWLY TAKING SHAPE...

THERE IS HOWEVER A LOT OF FLUX AROUND...
SO MORE REAL NEWS WHEN THE AIR CLEARS

RSX

People's Choice Awards 2010

Here are the winners in the music categories for the 2010 awards

Favorite Female Artist: Taylor Swift.
Favorite Country Artist: Carrie Underwood.
Favorite Male Artist: Keith Urban.
Favorite Breakout Music Artist: Lady Gaga.
Favorite Hip-Hop Artist: Eminem.
Favorite Rock Band: Paramore.
Favorite Music Collaboration: “Run This Town,” Jay-Z featuring Rihanna and Kanye West.
Favorite R&B Artist: Mariah Carey.
Favorite Pop Artist: Lady Gaga.

Sainthood - Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara, those two Canadian identical twins whom have joined the indie-pop cruise around the music world release their 6^th LP amd om the outset it promises to be an excellent transformation from Under Feet Like Ours back in 1999. The twins have joined forces, once again, with Death Cab for Cutie guitarist, Chris Walla, on their development from teenage indie rock to a more adult music scene as they delve into darker and deeper subjects, yet still revolving around their common themes through their songs over the last 10 years - love and relationships. Over their 10 years of experience in the music industry, they are the hidden pioneers of indie rock and pop and now have grown into their own, after the hit album in 2007, The Con. Upon witnessing the surge to success of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Fever to Tell and It's Blitz, Tegan Quin and identical twin, Sara Quin, release their own record to mark the sudden mainstream popularity of indie rock and pop.

As producers tell fans that they should be prepared for a new and radical change from vintage Tegan and Sara, even more so that when The Con was released, this is supposedly the first record where both Tegan and Sara have written the album in unison. However, this does not seem to be the case with 2009's Sainthood. Fans have acknowledged the two distinct composing styles of Tegan and Sara; either siding towards Tegan's pop-oriented songs with a major focus of lyrics or Sara's deeper and more complex compositions, both musically and lyrically. This seems to be a constant throughout Sainthood as well, yet their content in different from their origins and for the better, especially in the mainstream music industry that the majority of society lives in, making it a more accessible record than previous ones.

Sainthood opens with Arrow, and is distinctively a Sara track with the opening synth lines. It provides a deeper and more 'adult' opening for an album with the repeating metaphor, 'feathers of an arrow' and truly sets the tone for Sainthood and their path to 'perfection'. Yet, Tegan still steals the majority of the album with her radio-friendly tracks as she writes those nice power-pop tracks with the ease of listening and mainstream popularity. Hell becomes the first single off the record, and the other obvious Tegan tracks would likely follow including In Directing, The Cure; Tegan's tribute to the Cure, which mimics the keyboard lines from their 1989 album Disintegration and the track Lovesong, and the new-wave/power-punk influenced track - Northshore. Nonetheless, Sara's musical talent is still clearly evident on Sainthood, with more probably would be the second single on the record - Alligator and a wonderful outro to Sainthood, the 1-2 punch of Sentimental Tune and Someday. This finale of the record shows glimpses of what Tegan and Sara would be like if they wrote together, yet this may dishearten hardcore fans, who want songs of the past. But, Tegan and Sara have taken the other path of the Y-intersection, into the future and as they reach 10 years writing and performing in the music industry and hitting their mid-30s soon, truly have shown the maturity to write an excellent album as a whole, while still writing about love, sex and relationships and still keeping in touch with fellow indie-pop stars, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

8/10

What We All Come To Need

With Pelican having recently jumped ship from Hydrahea Records to Southern Lord (the current spiritual home of all things slow and heavy), the question of whether they would return to their more sludge/doom-oriented roots, as opposed to the more classic rock-inspired sounds of City of Echoes, hangs heavy over the group's fourth album, What We All Come To Need.


This album though isn't a step backwards for Pelican. Nor it is really a step forwards. Besides the addition of vocals for the first time (which we'll get to in a minute), What We All Come To Need is pretty much business as usual for the Chicago four-piece. The songs here are a mixture of the shorter, more traditionally-structured pieces on City of Echoes and the more length explorations of 2005's The Fire In Our Throats. Guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec have by now perfected their intuitive interplay, balancing thick-skinned metallic riffs with glistening melodies, while the fraternal rhythm section of Bryan and Larryr Herweg provides a simple but effective framework within which they can move about. Familiar, then, but still highly enjoyable.


And then, on closer Final Breath, comes the album's one true surprise - an appearance by Shiner/The Life And Times vocalist Allen Epley. It's a risky move, as instrumental bands adding vocals to the mix have a tendency to go horribly wrong. But Epley somehow finds a sympathetic space within the song; his voice works more as another instrument than any kind of focal/vocal point, there by swiftly dodging potential disaster.


5/10

Phrazes For The Young - Julian Casablancas

With no new output forthcoming from The Strokes just yet, fans are having to settle for the numerous side projects, the most anticipated of which is surely the debut solo offering from frontman and creative driving force, Julian Casablancas. Opening song, Out Of The Blue, illustrates a dichotomy that occurs throughout, as cynical lyrics disguise what is actually a musically celebratory and largely radio-friendly album. "Somewhere along the way, my hopefulness turned to sadness/ Somewhere along the way, my sadness turned to bitterness," Casablancas grumbles in his deliciously languid slur. But, just when the tone seems to have been set, he leaps into a rousing, joyous chorus. Phrazes For The Young oftens references the '80s. The synth-drenched Left And Right In The Dark even threatens to burst into Ultravox's Dancing With Tears In My Eyes before reining itself in and ending like something from Strokes' debut It This It.

With eight tracks totalling 40 minutes, the album could have done with some fat-trimming and one senses there may ahve been a handful of three-minute pop classics here had Casablancas shown more self-discipline. This is a minor quibble though and there are enough surprising left turns to keep things interesting, like the laid-back soul of 4 Chords Of The Apocalypse and the country influenced Ludlow St. While such deparatures validate Casablancas' side project as worthwhile and necessary, the songs that fall closer to that distinctive Strokes sound are actually the highlights. So, no matter how good Phrazes For The Young might be - and it is good - it ultimately leaves the listener longing for a new Strokes album. Still, as a stopgap, this'll do nicely.

6.5/10

Never Cry Another Tear - Bad Lieutenant

Having offered some pretty unremarkable non-New Order projects in the past, Bernard Summer is abck to have another stab at things within Peter Hook, now that New Order have split for surely the last time.

Aside from the lack of Hooky's bass lines, Never Cry... inevitably sounds a lit like New Order, but offers more straightforward guitar rock and debuts new vocalist Jake Evans, who shares lead duties with The Seahorses. At its best, it's Noel Gallagher on a bad day. Thankfully, Summer's vocal, as always, is great. It's hard to pinpoint what makes it so special. Maybe it's the way he manages to sound effortless, remote and yet slightly strained all at once, while injecting tiny fragments of emotion. Regardless, his iconic voice is one of the few shining lights here. Lyrics are occasionally a problem though. Summer has never been an especially challenging lyricist and while in the past there was a certain charm to the simplicity of his words, here his wordplay comes across as cliched and lazy. This is Home boasts gems like, "Gonna take you higher than a bird can fly/ Girl I'm so in love with you/ Don't even think that it is true."

Some songs here ware better than latter-day New Order, but that's not saying much. Never Cry... is not a terrible record, but it feels like Summer could have churneed this out in his sleep.

Them Crooked Vultures

This is the new project featuring Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones, who individually have had involvement at some point in arguably some of the most influential (commercially or otherwise), if not most popular bands of the last 40 years. With this much talent present, it could be easily assumed that the "too many cooks spoil the broth" saying would apply. Thank the gods through this is actually one of the better records released in 2009, as it comes to an end, and, as one would expect, it covers epic shoegaze and sour blues to lo-fi rock and everywhere in between.

The album is complimented by splatterings of slide guitar and lap steel such as on New Fang and Stevie Wonder-type synth and organ on Scumbag Blues, a song worth listening to purely for the drum sound Songs For the Deaf nostalgia. This album works on a number of elvels in being some of the desert sessions B-sides that never made the cut, but for the most part it's a bunch of raging tunes that travel a number of different places. Off the charts heavy moments can also be found; such is the case with No One Loves Me And Neither Do I - you'll want to be sitting down from 2:43 onwards - while Elephants starts in one place and ends in another with many of these tracks on first listen not finishing how one might expedct them to. What really makes this album work though is that it sounds as if you're right in the studio with them and one can almost visualise what it would have been like making a record as unique and satisfying as these crooked vultures have.

8.5/10

Solution to Sold Out Acts - Punk Rock and its British Explosion

Johnny Rotten LOOKS bored. The emphasis is on the work 'looks' rather than, as Johnny would have you believe, on the word 'bored'. His clothes, held together by safety pins, fall around his slack body in calculated disarray. His face is an undernourished grey. Not a muscle moves. His lips echo the downward slope of his wiry, coat-hangered shoulders. Only his eyes, register the faintest trace of life.

Johnny works very hard at looking bored. Leaning against a bar; at a sound check; after a gig; making an entrance to a party; onstage; when he's with women. No, actually, then he's inclined to look quite interested.

Why is Johnny bored? Well, that's the story.

This malevolent third-generation child of rock'n'roll is the Sex Pistols' lead singer. The band plays exciting, hard, basic punk rock. But more than that, Johnny is the elected generalissimo of a new cultural movement scything through the grassroots disenchantment with the present state of mainstream rock. You need look no further than the letters pages of any Melody Maker to see that fans no longer silently accept the disdain with which their heroes, the rock giants, treat them.

They feel deserted. Millionaire rock stars are no longer part of the brotherly rock fraternity that help create them in the first place. Rock was meant to be a joyous celebration; the inability to see the starts, or to play the music of those you can see, is making a whole generation of rock fans feel deepressingly inadequate.

Enter Johnny Rotten. Not content to feel frustrated, bored and betrayed, he and the Sex Pistols - Glen Matlock, Paul Cook and Steve Jones - have decided to ignore what they believe to be the elitist pretensions of their heroes, who no longer play the music they want to hear. They are the tip of an iceberg.

Since January, when the Sex Pistols played their first gig, there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of musicians who feel the same way - bands like the Clash, the Jam, Buzzcocks, the Damned, the Surburban Sect and Slaughter and the Dogs. The music they play is load, raucous and beyond considerations of taste and finesse. As  Mick Jones of the Clash says, "It's wonderfully vital. Their attitude is classic punk: icy-cool with a permanent sneer. The kids are arrogant, aggressive, rebellious. The last thing any of these bands make their audience feel is inadequate. Once again there is the feeling, the exhilarating buzz, that it's possible to be and play like the bands onstage.

It's no coincedence that the week the Stones were at Earls Court, the Sex Pistols were playing to their ever-increasing following at London's 100 Club. The Pistols are the personification of the emerging British punk rock scene, a positive reaction to the complex equipment, technological sophistication and jaded alienation which has formed a barrier between fans and stars.

Punk rock sounds simple and callow. It's meant to. The equipment is minimal, usually cheap. It's played faster than the speed of light. If the musicians play a ballad, it's the fastest ballad on earth. The chords are basic, numbers rarely last longer than three minutes, in keeping with the clipped, biting cynicism of the lyrics. There are no solos. No indulgent improvisations.

It's a fallacy to believe that punk rockers like the Sex Pistols can't play dynamic music. They power through sets. They are never less than hard, rough and edgy. They are the quintessence of a raging, primal rock-scream.

The atmosphere among the punky bands on the circuit at the moment is positively cut-throat. Not only are they vying with each other, but they all secretly aspire to take Johnny Rotten down a peg or two. They use him as a pivot against which they can assess their own credibility.

It the BSP/ASP Syndrome. The Before or After Sex Pistols debate which wrangles thus: 'We saw Johnny Rotten and he CHANGED our attitude to music' (The Clash, Buzzcocks) or 'We played like this AGES before the Sex Pistols' (Slaughter and the Dogs) or 'We are MILES better than the Sex Pistols' (the Damned). They are very aware that they are part of a new movement and each one wants to feel that he played a part in starting it.

All doubts that the British punk scene was well under way were blitzed two weeks ago in Manchester, when the Sex Pistols headlined a triple third-generation punk rock concert before an ecstatic capacity audience.

Participation is the operative word. The audiences are revelling in the idea that any one of them could get up on stage and do just as well, if not better, than the bands already up there. Which is, after all, what rock and roll is all about.

When, for months, you've been feeling that it would take ten years to play as well as Hendrix, Clapton, Richard (insert favourite rock star's name), there's nothing more gratifying than the thought, 'Jesus, I could get a band together and blow this lot off the stage.'

The growing punk rock audiences are seething with angry young dreamers who want to put the boot in and play music, regardless. And the more people feel that 'I can do that too', the more there is a rush on to that stage, the more cheap instruments are bought, fingered and flayed in front rooms, the more likely it is there will be the rock revival we've all been crying out for.

There's every chance (although it's early days yet) that out of the gloriously raucous, uninhibited melee of British Punk Rock - which even at its worst is move vital than much of the music perfected by the Platinum Disc Brigade - will emerge the musicians to inspire a fourth generation of rockers.

The arrogant, aggressive, rebellious stance that characterises the musicians who have played the most vital rock and roll has always been glamourised. In the 50s it was the rebel without a cause exemplified by Elvis and Gene Vincent, the Marlon Brando and James Dean of rock. In the 60s it was the Rock'n'Roll Gypsy Outlaw image of Mick Jagger, Keith Richard and Jimi Hendrix. In the 70s the word 'rebel' has been superseded by the word 'punk'. Although initially derogatory, it now contains all the glamorous connotations once implied by the overused word 'rebel'.

Punk rock was initially coined, about six years ago, to describe the American rock bands of 1965-68 who sprung up as a result of hearing the Yardbirds, the Who, Them, the Stones. Ability was not as important as mad enthusiasm, but the bands usually dissipated all their talent in one or two splendid singles which rarely transcended local hit status. Some of the songs, however, like 'Wooly Bully', '96 Tears', Psychotic Reaction', 'Pushin' Too Hard', have become rock classics.

In Britain, as 'punk rock' has been increasingly used to categorise the livid, exciting energy of bands like the Sex Pistols, there has been an attempt to redefine the term. There's an age difference, too. New York punks are mostly in their mid-twenties. The members of the new British punk bands squirm if they have to tell you that they are over 18. Johnny Rotten's favourite sneer is 'You're Too Old'. He's 20.

The British punk rock garb is developing independently, too. It's an ingenious hodgepodge of jumble sale cast-offs, safety-pinned around one of the choice risque T-shirts especially made for the Kings Road shop, Sex.

Selling an intruiging line of arcane 50s cruise-ware, fantasy glamour ware and the odd rubber suit, this unique boutique is owned by Malcolm McLaren, ex-manager of the New York Dolls, now the Sex Pistols' manager.

His shop has a mysterious atmosphere which made it the ideal meeting place for a loose crowd of truant, disaffected teenagers. Three of them were aspiring musicians who, last October, persuaded McLaren to take them on. They wanted to play rock'n'roll. They weren't to know what they were about to start and even now no one is sure where it will lead. All Steve, Glenn and Paul needed, then, was a lead singer.

A few weeks later, Johnny Rotten strayed into the same murky interior. He was first spotted leaning over the jukebox... looking BORED.