Tomorrow, MTV will be streaming a Gorillaz gig from the Roundhouse in London… cool huh!?
To celebrate the release of their critically-acclaimed album Plastic BeachMTV.com.au will be streaming Gorillaz sold-out Camden performance around the world on Saturday, April 31 @ 7am (AEST).
With their new offering being hailed “a mind-bending feast for the ears” by critics, the performance, which will be teeming with dazzling video animation and artwork by Jamie Hewlett, promises to be typically brilliant and like nothing you’ve ever seen!
Check these out these for a sneak peak at what you can expect from their recent appearance on the fabulous Jools Holland show:
Hey ho! I am in a state of super-cool-niiiiice-ness! The kind of super-cool-niiiiice-ness that comes with listening to a band that just sounds… just right. It fits. Like a glove. (Ba-doomsh!)
You see, while Yes Yes Vindictive was obviously a strong album in its own right… Glovesfits Operator Please. It suits them right down to a tee, just like their sexy new Viktor & Rolf garb. (Which, by the way, looking hawwwt peeps!)
Them crazy little talented outsiders from the Gold Coast have grown up. And dang nam it, they have cool-ness there in spades – because magic self-confidence is just oozing out of their pores and pulsating right through the airwaves. It is this sassy chutzpah and mean swagger that really makes this album, in the wise words of Jason Coleman, *POP* (in the active sense of the word AND as a noun).
Even better than this is the fact that Gloves is yet another signal that pop music is becoming truly exciting again – people with brains rejoice, substance has made a comeback! It’s coming out of the closet, it’s OKAYY! Just because you like quality with your spaghetti, doesn’t mean you are expected to listen to daft experimental music (or “pretentious codswallop” as my dad calls it) – pop can feed your soul, too. Really! Just listen to this album…
… and you’re dodging bullets. Strutting down the street like a Bee Gee. From the get go tight beat of Catapult, the album cuts like a knife. Sexy, vampy, gorgeous pop. Disco, 80s, bass, drums, synths, hot tamale train (yes I have been watching waaaay too much So You Think You Can Dance), elegant, sassy, smart, saucy. And most importantly, you bite and it’s TASTY & SATISFYING! Miz Amandah Wilkinson is becoming a megawatt frontwoman, and the rest of the band are right there with her spark for spark. Standout tracks for me include Just Kiss (beautiful vocal arrangement & chorus!), singles Logic & Back And Forth (bang bang, score!), and Loops (love a heavy 80s rock beat with yet more of that wicked vocal harmony!).
So put yo’ gloves on fool! And enjoy this super fine album of goooood pop. Brought to you by Operator Please.
Gorillaz closed this year’s Coachella and the reviews have of course been incredible! Murdoc Niccals, 2D and Cyborg Noodle were supported by real life artists such as Clash members Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, Little Dragon, De La Soul, Bobby Womack and of course mastermind Damon Albarn.
BOY OH BOY how we wish we were there, me hearties – fingers & toes crossed those tour rumours come true, and the band of misfits & miscreants make it over to Oz sometime very very sooooon!!
Check out the beautiful On Melancholy Hill:
The gorgeous To Binge with Little Dragon (red-blooded girls the office over are imagining Damon singing just like that to us…sigh!!)
And, of course, epic & awesome favourite Feel Good Inc:
Just amazing. If everyone collectively wishes on a star tonight, the unbelievable Gorillaz live show might just make it to our shores! In fact, I’m gonna go put a note in a bottle and send it off via the Pacific Ocean to Plastic Beach. “Dear Murdoc…”
For those who listen to Triple J you would have heard them playing a new track from The Cat Empire called Beyond All from their 4th studio album Cinema due out June 25. This is a little taster the band have given Triple J and their online fans in the lead up to the first single which will be released May 14.
The incredible Please Be Seated mixtape by 360 features his original electro-infused-Aussie-hip-hop take on tracks by MGMT, Justice, Lisa Mitchell, Broken Bells, Tinie Tempah, B.o.B, and Ellie Goulding. Who would have predicted that Lisa Mitchell’s Coin Laundry could be mixed into a scathing (though ultimately foot-tappingly-addictive) critique on treatment of war veterans and homelessness!?
The Please Be Seated mixtape is filled with all types of these unpredictable gems – and you can download all six tracks from 360music.com.aunow now now for free free free.
Tracklisting is below:
Electric Feel – 360 x Justice x MGMT
Do You Have A Dollar? (Coin Laundry) – 360 x Lisa Mitchell
The Ghost Inside ft Pez – 360 x Broken Bells
Starry Eyed – 360 x Ellie Goulding x Jakwob
Pass Out – 360 x Tinie Tempah
Nothing To Lose – 360 x B.o.B
Please Be Seated is a precursor to 360’s Falling and Flying album, which arrives very soon. In the meanwhile, follow 360 on twitter and kick back with a beer.
Every now and then a special band comes along.
Unassuming and humble, just doing what they do, which just happens to be making great music.
Auckland’s Artisan Guns are one of those bands.
Following the delicious first taste Autumn, this new single Into The Cold boasts a fantastically simple video that shows off some of that stunning Kiwi landscape.
Taken from their second EP Hearts, set for release on June 18th
Operator Please don’t mind being in your face… in fact that’s that whole point this week, really.
We’re ramping up for a big Gloves album release this Friday, and we’ve all banded together to make sure you can’t escape the O.P. synth-pop number they’re unleashing on the world. If you’ve somehow missed the album so far, Gloves is streaming in full from myspace.com/operatorplease and operatorpleaseband.com (where you can also pre-order 1 of 3 packages including signed albums, cassette remix mixtapes, & tote bags).
Listening to the album is only half the package though… Operator Please recently performed Blondie’s Heart Of Glass for Triple J’s Like A Version – listen below!
Tonight the band will be performing Logic on Hey Hey It’s Saturday on air (please don’r mention the Wednesday thing…) and recording an exclusive live version of Back and Forth for Hey Hey online. And NEXT week, they’ll give their hometown fans the chance hear the new album tracks live at an exclusive free and all ages MySpace Secret Show in Brisbane on Friday April 30. You have to register at myspace.com/secretshowsau to get your invite.
James Murphy + Spike Jonze. It was an inevitable and long overdue combination of musical + directorial talent.
What wasn’t inevitable however, was a cohort of Evil (and possibly drunk) Panduhs crash-tackling Murphy, pimping him up in a mini-dress and makeup, and binding him to his compatriots with duct tape.
One thing is official… if I wasn’t scared of pandas beforehand, I am now.
If you really really like it (we do), then you can pre-order the album from JB Hi-Fi and receive free a LCD Soundsystem tote bag + a download of LCD’s Bye Bye Bayou:
Alas, whilst Australia doesn’t have our own Reckless Records or town halls full of vinyl enthusiasts (see below), we are blessed with Red Eye Records, Landspeed, Egg, Fish, and Title. Long may they prosper.
We’re also blessed to have incredible Australian artists who give two hoots about the tangible experience of purchasing an album. Here’s what some of our guys had to say:
“When I release a CD it’s not just about the music. We spend a lot of time dreaming up a package that will be enjoyed for years to come as an item of history; something to hold and flick through to give the listeners a contact with me and my thoughts. So when I go into a music store I know what has gone into all the CDs on display. You can learn a lot about the artists. So go down to your local store and buy a real one!”
Note – John Williamson will be participating in a Record Store Day signing this Saturday April 17 from 10.30-11.30AM:
JB HI FI TOOWOOMBA
Market Place
255-257 Maragret St
“There’s something intriguing and almost romantic about purchasing a brand new CD or record. Whether you’ve been waiting for your favourite band’s release to hit stores or you decided to make a choice out of curiosity, once you unwrap the little audio bundle of joy, a relationship has begun! The majority of artists in one form or another have this in mind and as such go to great artistic lengths to present their work to you in a fashion they ultimately want you to embrace and enjoy. Illegal downloading has robbed us of these pleasures and has pathetically sacrificed the audio quality of great albums past and present. If you care to keep important elements of the recording industry alive then you too will celebrate record store day!”
“I have been collecting records since i was 15 and have always loved my local record store. Whether you are into vinyl or cd’s a record store is a place to meet new people, talk about music and exchange opinions about albums and tunes. More importantly it gives you insight and knowledge about new and old releases, to me there is nothing better than finding a new album or song which you have never heard before that just rocks. Support your local record store”.
“There’s nothing like being physically immersed in and surrounded by so much passionate art. The real beauty of a great record store is being reminded that music isn’t just an acquisition, it’s an experience.”