Cornerstone is the second single off the latest Arctic Monkeys LP Humbug. It’s a charming little ballad in the unmistakable slightly embittered cynical Monkeys fashion… seriously have those guys ever written a true love song!?

No need: Alex Turner spits with vitriol even when he’s romancin’.

The clip for Cornerstone is stunningly simple. Shot in one take, Alex Turner croons with vintage headphones and cassette recorder and stares down the barrel of a camera directed by Monkeys specialist Richard Ayoade. It’s a 180 degree turn from the previous Monkeys-Ayoade venture, the bombastic spectacle of Crying Lightning.

Robbie Williams is delivering 8 podcasts featuring unique video announcements, behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen material to iTunes. There are 2 already up with 6 more to come right through til Christmas. If you’re a Robbie fan or keen to know what the man behind the music is like and what goes on behind-the-scenes of the biggest album release this year then subscribe to his free and very entertaining updates…

Click here to download your free Robbie pod/vodcasts!

How often do you find the right person?

Now if you’re like me and watched the movie ONCE you probably already have the soundtrack, the DVD and the words ONCE tattooed somewhere on your body… but for the few of you that have been to caught up in the city lifestyle, living underground or refuse to watch any movie that doesn’t have Megan Fox and billion dollars worth of special effects and bad actors I’ll give you the quick run down:

Once is officially the best non – documentary – music film since Almost Famous, but without the big actors and Led Zeppelin sound track! $$$! Anyone who has ever made a record, played in a band or followed your dreams to become that famous actor/model in New York understands exactly why this movie is so powerful. With a budget of a pathetic $160,000 (which by the way is $100,000 less than it cost to film 28 Days Later), this film was not only kicking major butt at the independent film festivals but it was also nominated for two Grammy’s and won an Oscar for best original song for their hit single Falling Slowly. This movie is as raw as 24 Hour Party (the Joy Division/New Order story) and does for musicians what The Notebook does for the ladies.

Glen Hansard from Irish band The Frames and the simple yet hypnotising voice of Marketa Irglova combined makes The Swell Season. Glen Hansard’s voice power threw as one of Ireland’s all time great voices and the emotion transcended from his acoustic guitar playing, her piano melodies, solid drumming and a little bit of production every now and then makes this not just any acoustic folk act… it puts these two up there with the greats; greats such as – Simon & Garfunkle, Hall and Oats, America, Ike & Tina, Sunny & Cher or even the Sherman Brothers.

Strict Joy is to follow-up to their self-titled debut…

Read the rest of this entry »

Check out the gorgeous new TVC for eBay featuring Empire Of The Sun’s Walking On A Dream.

Part of a brand spanking new advertising campaign which will be blasted across France!

Yeah!

Thanks to billbertles for creating this great dittie – Jamaica’s unbelievably fast Usain Bolt setting a new 200m world record (19.19s!) at the 2009 World Athletic Championships in Berlin, to a highly appropriate soundtrack!

Click on the screenshot to watch the vid in full – Usain makes seriously Fast Friends with the championships mascot too!

This just in off the wire (because you should phrase things in olde timey if possible when referring to The Decemberists) Australian sideshows have been announced.

Tues, January 19 – Sydney – Metro
Sun, January 24 – Melbourne – Billboard

Head o’er yonder to ye olde Love Police shoppe for your tickets.
————–

If you’re a frequent InSound reader, you’ll probably notice a recurring theme… The Decemberists are FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

Off the back of their Australian tour announcement and a stunning new video from Alex Dashino and Varvara Volodina for The Rake’s Song, we are super excited about Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a collaboration between the band and four incredible filmmakers.

On October 19 at Royce Hall in LA, The Decemberists will perform the epic rock-opera The Hazards of Love in its entirety (plus some older and new tunes) in synch with animation provided by Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria. Presented in association with Flux (a global creative collective / online journal / concept space / film / art / event hub / you name it), the event is also a benefit for the Grammy In The Schools music education programs.

So without further ado, we present a taste of Here Come The Waves:

If you need more convincing (yeah, right!), the director’s credentials are not half bad: Marcondes directed Modest Mouse’s Dashboard, and Peter Sluszka worked with Michel Gondry to animate Devendra Banhart’s A Ribbon and Steriogram’s Walkie-Talkie Man.

The proud owners of the greatly sought-after (and totally sold out) Homebake tickets must be feeling just that much more smug today with the second announcement of artists for the bill.

Joining the musical merriment at The Domain on the second announcement are Paul Dempsey and The Scare, along with notables Bridezilla, Red Riders, Gin Wigmore and more. These kids will be joining our boys JET, Tim Finn, and The Middle East.

Great line up for the festival that I daresay has the best food stalls as well.

If you’re not excited yet this will get you there!

Chuggy is clearly pumped and so are we! Music doesn’t get much more genuine, earnest, and truly soulful than a live Ben Harper experience.

Tickets on sale nationally now from chuggentertainment.com!

Those extremely verbose lads Does It Offend You, Yeah? – the genii behind hectic debut album You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into (featuring ditties like Attack of the 50ft Lesbian Octopus) and upcoming effort Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You – want even more words on the album, but this time they’re ours. *phew!*

You can star on the album by sending a recording of yourself shouting “YEAH!” in .wav format to offendyou@googlemail.com. Save the file with your name as the title.

At the same time, send ‘em a piccy of you giving the camera the “V” to get your face on the Does It Offend You, Yeah? myspace page.

Looking forward to seeing you all up at at barrier for DIOYY at the Future Music Festival ‘10!