Two words peoples: Scott and Walker. Who the hell?? I will give you a clue… David Bowie covered about three of his songs and has influenced a few minor artists such as Radiohead, Brian Eno, Sting, STINGGG!!!! STIINGGGGGGGGG, Jarvis Cocker, and Goldfrapp.

He’s arguably one of the greatest voices of our time, originally started in the 60’s, and eventually put down his guitar to sing lead vocals for a B-side, as a result the song became an instant hit in the UK which lead to huge successes for the Walker Brothers career.

He then went solo, where he had an array of hits until he eventually “lost touch with the youth” after Scott IV (yes that’s the name of the album, it was 1969 so don’t be a hater). With his cool factor almost over and still in his 20’s his record company gave him no choice but to spend the next 10 years performing his back catalogue of old and new pop songs, releasing an array of average pop albums which to this day Scott will not allow to be re-released. This 10 year period in his life drove him to depression and a change in musical style that would make him the artist he is today.

Who cares?? Well David Bowie sure does because he just made a documentary about it called Scott Walker 30th Century Man. Here is the preview for it:

…and to give you a taste of the voice that influenced David Bowie here are some YouTube songs I found. Never mind the imagery but this song chosen is one of my favourites, and please keep in mind along with one of the most unusual voices in the world he writes all the music, all the string arrangements, all vocal melody’s and lyrics, EVERYTHING!! Kind of like a 60/70’s Prince:

• Scott Walker – The Electrician
• And this is from his latest 2007 album (!Warning! very different): Scott Walker – Cossacks Are

Now we move forward to Bat For Lashes and Two Suns. This blows my mind every time I listen to it. There are few times I actually dance, and to add to that, dancing and singing at the same time… never!!! However, I find myself bouncing around the office singing the words Daniel which again is very foreign for me… but I keep telling myself… “it’s about Karate Kid, its cool man, its cool!” Now I eventually get to the last track on the album The Big Sleep: a very simple piano song. Its simplicity yet intensity gives me chills, and the effect she put on the piano gives the track a strong 20th century feel that makes me think Kate Bush meets Johann Sebastian Bach… and who’s that singing guest vocals on that last track… who???? Mr. SCOTT WALKER himself.

So the point of my little rant is, if Scott Walker is jamming with Natasha Khan she not only has her shit together, but she is making a bold statement by featuring a legend like him on her new album instead of some T-Pain-I’m-on-a-boat-flavour-of-the-month-Chris-Brown-Rianna-money-making-marketing-idea-for-the-headlines-and-all-the-mini-skirts-of-the-world. Rather, this statement speaks volumes for her respect for those who have come before, quality musicianship, her love for the underground and passion for original quality musicians, rare these days.

RESPECT NATASHA RESPECT!!

Well, we never doubted you… Some of you kids sure do love The Chains!

It was hard work picking a winner from all you hardcore Alice In Chains fans. How do you pick dedication to such a cause!? In the end we just had to pick dedication to the picture.

And so it came to pass that John Klotz, who became the ultimate Man In The Box, scored himself an autographed Alice In Chains L&G Fender. Congratulations! It’s in the mail.

But we have to give some serious kudos to the great entries we received… Here are our picks!

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Yep, exactly what it sounds like… hit up www.lcdsoundsystem.com for your one of 20,000 free mp3s of Bye Bye Bayou;  LCD Soundsystem’s unique and wonderful take on Alan Vega’s original, recorded for November’s Record Store Day spinoff Vinyl Saturday.

Pitchfork called it a “hypnotic deadpan disco treat”, and to be honest I can’t think of a better description. LCD’s Bye Bye Bayou creates a space of slightly unsettling bliss, like a zombie reunion at a spaced-out disco filmed in slow-mo… or whaddeva (see below).

Get on your LCD twitter-stalking shoes at http://twitter.com/lcdsoundsystem

You may’ve guessed… we just can’t get enough Robbie Williams in these parts.

Which is fortunate, because as of today there’s only 14 DAYS until the album Reality Killed The Video Star hits town and – even more exciting – exactly one month until the man himself touches down in Oz!!! ARIAs here we come!

So here’s some more Robbie goodness to add to your collection of free vodcasts, remixes, and Robbie cinema tickets we’ve handed over: the Aeroplane remix of Bodies.

After his mindblowing performance at the BBC Electric Proms on Tuesday (here’s a reminder to go fetch your tix for the Nov 6 cinema screening), the Brit Awards just announced their big 3-0 on Feb 16 2010… with none other than Robbie closing the show with a live medley of his hits after receiving his Outstanding Contribution to Music Award! Well due I say: Robbie has already won 15 Brits – more than any other artist in UK history!

I’m always super curious with how artists / bands first started out before they became well-known. It’s also a question I ask musicians in Australia regularly when first meeting them through my job. Usually makes a good story & paints a great picture of who they are as an artist.

Now I know this example is pretty old (22 years), but I still think it’s really cool.

Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Laurent ‘Branco’ Brancowitz met at school in 1987 and discovered they had the same tastes for rock bands such as MC5, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys or The Stooges. So they formed a group called Darlin’, which is a tribute to a Beach Boys song. They released their first EP on Stereolab’s record label Duophonic, 800 copies in all. Later an english journalist from Melody Maker (a weekly UK music mag), who reviewed this record, said it was “a bunch of daft punk”.

So they decided to do some other music and Thomas and Guy-Manuel took this name, Daft Punk, as the name of their new group. In 1993 they discovered electronic music and were inspired by its sound. But Branco didnt like it so he decided to leave the group to join his brother, Christian Mazzalai in his band which was later called Phoenix.

To hear tracks by Darlin’ – head to their unofficial myspace. I’m sure a copy of their EP is ridiculously rare.

And here’s The Beach Boys song that started them off in their musical careers… Great track!

Combine the collect-ability of album artwork and postage stamps, and tadaaaa, we give you the ultimate Collector breakdown material. Granted, 34×32mm is a far cry from 12″ vinyl artwork, but the stamp versions are a whole lot cheaper (for the moment).

In 2010, Royal Mail will release the Classic Album Covers series as a follow-up to 2009’s British Design Classics. The final ten selected sleeves were picked from by the editors of three of the UK’s most influential music publications together with a number of graphic designers and design writers.

The series features sleeve artwork from 1960 onwards: Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell, Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood To The Head, Blur’s Parklife, David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, The Clash’s London Calling, Led Zeppelin IV, New Order’s Power, Corruption, & Lies, Primal Scream’s Screamadelica, The Rolling Stones Let It Bleed, and Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.

Check out Norvic Philatelics for more. They’ve even made a introduction for us muso’s who are brand new to stamp collecting. Bless their souls!

What does WILL.I.AM of the Black Eyed Peas think about just before he hops on stage? Why, Empire of the Sun of course!?

Fuzzy from Video Hits interviewed the BEPs at ACER Arena (full interview broadcast this Sunday), literally 1 hour before they went on stage last Friday night. It would seem that Apple and WILL.I.AM are massive Empire of the Sun fans and they love poppin’ Empire tracks in their DJ sets.

…Sometimes Music Takes You On The Strangest Journeys

Sometimes I think my job as Chairman becomes as much PR as actually running a music company… I was invited to attend the One Music Festival in Perth on the weekend as a guest speaker alongside Dave Holmes (manager of Coldplay, Interpol etc), Dann Bowley (International Institute Of Entertainment USA), Ralph Simon (Chairman Mobile Entertainment Forum USA), Steve Strange (Director XRay touring .. he looks after live bookings for Coldplay, Scissor Sisters, Eminem, The Pixies etc).

We covered a lot of ground in a 90 minute panel, but two of the biggest issues and potential areas today are:

• Digital is the real opportunity is getting music for artists and consumers and the possibilities are infinite. EMI is already testing and trying in this space but we need to be doing more and making the connection to legally purchase music as easy as possible.
• There is more appetite for music than ever before in history – its ubiquitous – its everywhere! So part of the challenge from music companies like EMI is to find a new model… so we can keep investing in artists and creating great music so artists can have long-term careers.

Over 100 guest speakers came in from all over the globe, meanwhile there were 2 days of bands performing in festival, fringe and club settings, plus thousands of music fans. Its mission is combining the artists, industry and fan together as One Movement – all sharing a love of Music. Im sure well see it return next year and for years to come. EMI artists Miami Horror & Matt Nathanson both played great sets and garnered great reactions from the crowds.

Personal highlights…

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So we knew Lily Allen and Elton John have been at odds in the past, but who’d have known (no pun intended), she’d end up kidnapping Elton and forcefeeding him pizza!?

We present the new Lily Allen video, Who’d Have Known… a sweet and syrupy ode to telly, couches, bottles of wine, and crazy stalking love / hate relationships.