“ALBUM OF THE YEAR so far in 2010.. an incredible epic.”
- Fez (our fave Springsteen-broadcasting Promo Mgr), 27.07.10 2.12pm
“And The Suburbs is their most thrillingly engrossing chapter yet; a complex, captivating work that, several cycles down the line, retains the magic and mystery of that first tentative encounter. You could call it their OK Computer. But it’s arguably better than that.” - Mike Diver (BBC), 21.07.10
Having had several days to live with Arcade Fire’s newbie The Suburbs (did you attend our listening session earlier this week?), we’ve come back to our senses after madly swooning, wiping tears, and air-violining to tracks like to Rococo and Suburban War. It can now be confirmed with a level head that this album is one of the highlights of the past decade. And we wish to witness the opus live.
Fortunately, Arcade Fire are live-streaming their entire NYC Madison Square Garden performance globally on August 5. Tune into their VEVO channel on youtube.com/arcadefirevevo to witness the event:
The show is not just any old gig+webcam combo… we’ll be able to switch between multiple cameras to watch from alternative vantage points and front row to backstage. And if you’ve submitted your suburban photo to the band in time, it may be featured on stage during the show, which will be directed by film maker Terry Gilliam (he created the Monty Python animations and directed 12 Monkeys).
If you witnessed Arcade Fire’s last run of Australian shows in 2008, you’ll know just how integral the spectacular visuals are to the performance. Everything from Win’s glowing blacklight shirt to footage of a ranting television preacher at the summation of Antichrist Television Blues, were integrated into electrifying performance.
Speaking of live shows… all you festival-goers who were stuck in 6hrs of traffic on the road to & from Splendour couldn’t have missed this little grass stain…
Here in the UK, the nominations for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize have just been announced. This annual award has been going since 1992 and is rather coveted among many British artists due its unique remit – to recognise quality new albums regardless of any commercial success or media profile… “the music on the album is the only thing taken into account”.
What the nominations produce is a list of 12 albums released in the last year which should definitely be heard, but for many would otherwise lay undiscovered. In this respect the nomination is almost equally as important as scooping the award. The couple of months between nominations and award ceremony allows extended exposure for music fans to digest the highlighted albums, often producing significant sales spikes which needless to say are extremely important for the lesser known artists.
2010’s nominations see three EMI artist albums – Laura Marling, Corinne Bailey Rae, I Am Kloot (UK-distributed) – recognised as well as two Domino artist, the superlative Wild Beasts and the Irish folk sesnsation Villagers. The full list is below, this year I’ve got an unprecedented 7 of the albums which has produced a very smug appearance on my face. How many have you heard?
Latitude is a music and arts festival that takes place near the east coast of England in Suffolk. Now in its fifth year, Latitude presents a popular yet relatively niche collection of established artists from a very broad and respected spectrum.
I’m currently on a 100% attendance rate and it’s been a real pleasure seeing it mature into the celebration it has become. Unfortunately my veteran status didn’t stop me from taking every wrong turn on the way there, thus turning a three hour trip into a four hour slog.
If you were one of the millions of people (1 in 4 Australians!) that watched Masterchef’s grand finale last night you would have heard about the kids version coming out soon. Came across the promo spot for it cos it features none other than our Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue’s song Kids which will feature on Rob’s Greatest Hits album out Oct 8 in Australia…
Given Gorillaz Murdoc Niccal’s affinity for cheesy Australian tunes and cinematic steretypes, he might be shocked when he arrives this December to a land of… frankly, stunning, sophisticated, non-Paul Hogan types. And to be honest, he’s the cartoon character, right?
So the question is: are you more excited for Jamie Hewlett’s Murdoc, 2D, Cyborg Noodle, and Russel… OR for Damon Albarn and his magnificent live crew of Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Shaun Ryder, Gruff Rhys & co? (let’s see who makes it to Oz).
Having seen the Gorillaz live shows roll out across the UK and US, it looks like we’ll be experiencing the best of both worlds. UK music journo Sasha Perrera described their Camden Roundhouse gig as “a two-hour bonanza of musical entertainment boasting a stacked deck of outstanding collaborators and musicians, overlooked by a giant video screen with interactive, animated visuals.”
So without any further ado, we present Gorillaz first ever Australian shows this December:
Monday, Dec 6 – Burswood Dome, Perth
Wednesday, Dec 8 – Entertainment Centre, Adelaide
Saturday, Dec 11 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
Thursday, Dec 16 Dec – Entertainment Centre, Sydney
Sunday, Dec 19 – Entertainment Centre, Brisbane
Tickets for all shows on sale August 6 at 9AM.
(When I was a teen, I played Clint Eastwood 100x in a row to commit every single line to memory. Now we get to sing it with 2D. Hells yes.)
The dreamy* Angus & Julia Stone are bringing their luscious, organic, acoustic sounds to the sleek modernist environs of Sydney’s George St Apple Store this Monday. They’ll perform songs from their album Down The Way (for which The Stones won an ARIA #1 Award last night!)… hopefully alongside Julia’s “pretty fuckin’ rad” (according to Angus) version of You’re The One That I Want from Grease.
We have 3 double passes for Angus & Julia’s exclusive iTunes Live from Sydney gig with a very tight crowd of 300 this Monday night, July 26 at 9pm. To be in the running, simply email your name, telephone number, and your favourite Angus & Julia Stone track to admin@theinsoundfromwayout.com. We’ll notify winners by 11am on Monday. Good luck!
Make the time to listen to it all the way through. In the short-attention-span world we live in… this is a proper brilliant album from an amazing artist and talent. There is no better value for money than a great album that gives you hours of pleasure and can be your companion on whatever journey you are on in your life. And please people… do not illegally download it or rip it from your friend’s copy. Artists should be paid for creating good art. Major record labels are not evil corporate beasts – well EMI Australia definitely isn’t – We invest the money we make from big superstar artists into signing and developing new local Australian talent.
And although Meg Washington is not signed to EMI – she is one of the most important new Australian talents we have right now in the Aussie music creative community.
And just like a really great whole album of songs, the very best song (the jewel in the crown of the album) is the title track. It’s the last song on the album.
Wow.
That magic moment that made the world stand up and notice – Washington’s amazing Spicks and Specks performance.
The video for How To Tame Lions from Washington’s EP of the same name. Made by GreedyHen and Christopher Morris.
Those two words send shivers down the spine of innumerable anticipating music aficionados worldwide. Grown men boast about how they wept during their last Arcade Fire performance. Some months back when the new album was announced, audible squeals of delight were heard around the office.
You will have heard bits & bobs from Arcade Fire’s third album The Suburbs on the radio and online, however today we’re inviting you to come and listen to the album in full, loud, and on repeat. With copies of the album. And free drinks.
To attend the listening party we’re throwing with Faster Louder in Sydney on the evening of July 27, enter the competition on FasterLouder.com.
I’m counting down to soaring string sections and mourning Win Butler vocals. Oh yes.
We have a stunning new clip from LA four-piece Chief for their forthcoming single Night & Day – available digitally 6th August.
It was filmed at the beautiful Jane Hotel in NYC and was directed by Matt Creed. Watch Out For liked it so much, they made it their Film Clip of the Week!
Chief are Evan Koga (vocals/guitar), brothers Danny and Michael Fujikawa (on vocals/ guitar and drums, respectively) and Mike Moonves (bass). Written and recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Grammy winner Emery Dobyns, their sun-drenched debut album, Modern Rituals, is due for release on 17th September.
Hoola is the second single to be taken from the Coconut album, out now. Instead of making an ordinary video for the single the band turned to friend Alex Smith who edited footage of the long lost British Z-movie classic Hoola to the song. A cult horror film that somehow slipped through the cracks when it was made a few decades ago it follows the adventure of killer brain from space seeking a new host planet – and contains a band sponsored ad break.
Tricky Releases His Murder Weapon
Murder Weapon, released on 27th August, is the addictive first single taken from Tricky’s forthcoming ninth studio album, Mixed Race. Recorded in Paris, where Tricky currently lives, Mixed Race will be available from 24th September and is Tricky’s most direct album to date.
Murder Weapon is a reworking of the classic dancehall hit from Jamaican-born Echo Minott, originally released in the early ‘90s. Tricky first fell in love with the track when someone sang it to him as he walked into a shop, and has been obsessed with it ever since. He was determined to hear how it would sound with a female vocalist (in a similar fashion to his reworking of Black Steel with Martina Topley-Bird). Tricky here enrols Irish-Italian Franky Riley, who has toured as Tricky’s vocalist for two years and makes her recording debut on this album.
I like it (12 people like this)
OLDER POSTS
