At 7pm, Australia gets to join the global Sigur Ros listening party. Countries across the world are listening to the unreleased albumValtari at sunset (7pm).  Ok ok , it’s not quite sunset in the Autumnal Southern Hemisphere, but pretty epic nonetheless. Use the hash tag #valtarihour to tweet during the event – you can listen to Valtari in it’s entirety on the player at 7pm AEST below.

Pre-order Valtari HERE

EMI are excited to collaborate with UpRaw, an online gallery that supports Sydney’s young up-and-coming artists.  They will work together to feature different artists in an exhibition displayed in the windows of the EMI offices on Flinders St.

Sydney artists Skulk and Birdhat have been working collaboratively for about three years, and have once again joined together to create a wall. This work entitled ‘The Great Divide’ incorporates two characters, reminiscent of Skulk and Birdhat’s alter-egos often seen around Sydney streets. This black and white piece signifies a sense of past history and reflects forms of music and sound, both ancient and mystic.

If you like what you see, UpRaw offers buyers a chance to buy “real art” from under $200 with nothing exceeding a $2,000 price tag. Plus, free shipping is offered to UpRaw customers in Australia and New Zealand. Bargain.

Ok maybe not space, but pretty close to it.  EMI  are holding a special listening party for the new Sigur Ros album Valtari at the Melbourne Planetarium tomorrow evening. And we have a double-pass for two lucky fans to hear the entire album, before it’s release date, surrounded by stars and planets. It’s set to be a sublime, surreal, epic evening.

To enter, just answer this question: “If Sigur Ros lived on another planet (or star), where would they live and why?”. Send your answer, along with your full name to admin@theinsoundfromwayout.com

If you’re not in Melbourne, nevermind, you can still hear the album by participating in Valtari Hour – a rolling, New Year’s Eve-style listening event celebrating the band’s new album happening worldwide on 17th May, 2012 at 7pm in every time zone around the globe. Valtari Hour is the special time when you can hear the band’s new record,  released in Australia on 25th May.

The album will be playing via a special listening platform on the band’s website – www.sigur-ros.co.uk – as well as via selected media partners, in record stores and on radio stations (keep checking the www.sigur-ros.co.uk for more details).

Valtari Hour will allow the band’s fans worldwide to collectively experience their new album throughout the course of a twenty-four hour day. Those listening to the album are encouraged to use the hashtag #valtarihour

Pre-order Valtari NOW.

It’s happening! Coldplay have announced the dates for their Mylo Xyloto tour in Australia, supported by The Temper Trap and The Pierces. And it’s all happening in November.

“We can’t wait to get back to Australia this November,” said Chris Martin. “It’s such a special place for us. These venues are pretty huge, the Aussie crowds are always incredible and we’ll be bringing everything we’ve got. It’s going to be big.”

If you hold a Visa Credit, Debit and Prepaid card then you can get advance tickets from 12.00 noon (local time) in Sydney and 1.00pm (local time) in Brisbane, this Thursday, 17 May, 2012 until 5.00pm (local time), Saturday, 19 May, 2012 or until pre-sale tickets sell out at www.visaentertainment.com.au

TOUR DATES

Tuesday, 13 November, 2012

Etihad Stadium, Melbourne

Tickets on sale from 9.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99

www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100

Saturday, 17 November, 2012

Allianz Stadium, Sydney

Tickets on sale from 9.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99

www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

Wednesday, 21 November, 2012

Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Tickets on sale from 10.00am (local time), Friday, 25 May, 2012 from $99

www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

You haven’t been to an electronic music show until you’ve been to one in Tokyo. It’s like a parallel universe, where night-life manages to be clean, organised, the sound systems state of the art, and the live shows exceed your expectations. I have just returned from Sonar Sound Tokyo, a 2 day music festival featuring electronic artists from Japan and other parts of the globe. The 6th installation of the festival was a sold-out event with Squarepusher performing an intense set with spectacular visuals that made the crowd go crazy. Akiko Kiama and Horiaki OBA were stand-out locals on the first night, hypnotizing people with their unique minimal techno.

The first night finished at 5am and, with the festival taking off again at 2pm. Mount Kimbie had an amazing performance without using a visible laptop and drawing a large crowd.  The favourites of the night were Huson Mohawke and Teebs, with people waiting for over an hour to see their set in the Redbull Music Dome.

This trip to Tokyo was all about music, and I was lucky enough to attend multiple shows throughout the trip including A Red Bull Music Academy pre-show at Dommune, which featured a funktion One sound system and a fantastic set by Yosi Horikawa.  Yosi created a mix of found sounds, beats and a dreamy ambiance made from an electrified Kalimba. UK musician Clark also spun a DJ set for an intimate crowd.

Over two weeks I saw DJs play minimal house, heavy beats and experimental.  The final stand-out show was at Vacant in Harajuku, a creative space in Tokyo’s alternative neighbourhood, famous for its fashion.   The place was packed out with a slew of internationals come to see Portland based experimental musician Grouper supported by local Sapphire Slows – who had just returned from performing at SXSW.

Tokyo is a city famous for bright lights and crowded subways,with a night-life that doesn’t stop, and live shows every day of the week.  If you haven’t had a chance to visit yet, the only thing I have to say is “go!”

Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips has announced 10 copies of exclusive ‘Blood Vinyl’ will soon be available for purchase.  Each piece of vinyl is infused with a collection of Heady Fwends contributors Sean Lennon, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver, Ke$ha, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and more.  Coyne is currently trying to work our legalities in selling human blood-infused records, which is proving to be tricky. Bio hazard anyone?

So if you are a fan of unusual vinyl and have a spare $2,500 then follow Wayne Coyne on Twitter for details of the sale. I’m not sure how well these records will keep, but give Coyne an A+ for originality.

You might also remember our post about the Flaming Lips’s skull USB stick last year – which came with both a real human skull and a 24-hour long song, and sold at $5,000 a pop.

The Voice, The Phenomenon.

There’s something magical going on in TV-land at the moment, with more than three million Australian households tuning into Channel 9’s The Voice every episode. EMI are very proud to have Keith Urban, Joel and Benji Madden and Ricki-Lee as part of this phenomenon.

It’s been all systems go for all our artists – in between recording the show they have been busy with their own music:

The Madden Brothers
Brace yourselves for a surprise in direction when the new album from The Madden Brothers hits at the end of the year. With a more eclectic sound than Good Charlotte, the record will be produced by Pharrell Williams and feature a host of superstar collaborations. With Benji and Joel practically adopted Australians and a huge fan base down here, we’re excited about where this release could take them!

Ricki-Lee
The hot, the fabulous and extremely talented Ricki-Lee also joined the show as a Mentor on Seal’s team. Ricki’s single ‘Do It Like That’ is climbing the radio charts and she is working on a new album due out later this year.

Keith Urban
In terms of Australian global superstars they don’t come much bigger than our Keith. With multiple ARIA and Grammy Awards, multi-platinum album and DVD sales, sell-out stadium tours and over 15 million albums sold worldwide, the rest of Oz  is finally seeing what we have known all along; what a truly talented, humble, warm and down to earth person Keith is. His passion for music jumps out of the TV  screen and his infectious charisma is no doubt helping his albums climb the ARIA chart each week (his Greatest Hits is #18 this week). Before the show started we were working with Keith on a collection of his hits and favourite songs especially for Australia, enitled The Story So Far. It’s 19 songs from his 21-year recording career including Making Memories of Us which (performed on The Voice). It also features an unreleased track ‘For You’, the first new piece of music from Keith since 2010! The Story So Far is out May 11th.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the songs that will be featured in this collection:

The album is available for pre-order now.

Yes it’s true I do have a massive crush on Damon Albarn and even the hungover voice and cough on this morning’s Triple J interview is not enough to put me off  (infact the opposite).

The Gorillaz, Blur and The Good, The Bad and The Queen frontman has released yet another brilliant and once more unique offering in Dr Dee. The News Limited newspaper group summed it up fabulously:

“Dee was one of England’s great intellects in the 1500s, a Hermetic who valued maths and magic, started the island’s first library and, in latter years, communicated with angels—only to have the scryer, Kelley, who connected him with the heavenly creatures tell Dee they’d ordered Kelley to ‘‘share’’ Dee’s wife. So there’s mystery, history and tragedy in this tale—a perfect feeding ground for a fertile musical imagination. To tell Dee’s story, Albarn delves into Elizabethan instrumentation, its darkly antique drama contrasted by the use of Afro percussion (Preparation could be the pencil outline for a full-colour Gorillaz number). Vocally, he mixes operatic and choral with spoken word and uses his own voice for gentle folk balladry (as on The Dancing King).

An intriguing subject, but Dr Dee’s biggest reveal is the feeling we haven’t scratched the surface of Damon Albarn, The Artist, just yet.” – News Limited

Damon appeared this week on Jools Holland. Check out his interview and performance:

Get this wonderful album HERE.

All the recent chaos and commotion over One Direction made me think about the old good days – the mid to late 90’s when I was a younger lad… collecting, listening, searching for anything Spice Girls related. These music phenomenons and moments come once in a generation (if lucky) and when an artist or group impacts your life, takes over, and even makes you seem a little obsessive to those around you. It’s the greatest natural drug you could be lucky to be on. It’s life changing.

Mel B was an integral part of my life – one of five girls who took over the world, including mine. The stats speak for themselves – 3 x albums, 75 Millions plus sales in total, the best selling female group of all time!! Mel B has this legacy forever; she is pop royalty, a bona fide legend – and to have her sign to EMI Music Australia as a solo artist is an exciting opportunity and a personal career highlight for many of us at EMI. Not to forget the feeling of her coming “back home” (The Spice Girls where signed to EMI Virgin).

Mel B signs to EMI Music Australia

So, how did this latest signing happen? I was at the WHO Weekly Sexiest People of 2011 Party late last year. Mel was of course on the top list of Sexiest People and when she arrived at the event the typical hysteria you’d expect erupted. It was my chance to connect with one of my idols – I didn’t care about getting my photo with her to immediately post on my Facebook which was the sole goal for everyone else in that room. For me (like everyone I work with at EMI) it was about the music. I went straight up to her as bold as can be (a trait she taught me as a fan from a far for all those years) and I simply said “it’s been too long, when are you doing music again?”. Call it luck, timing or what I prefer to think as the way the world is meant to work:  she said she was ready to get back to her first passion immediately, and I handed her my EMI business card. A call came as fast as the next day. Our Senior Vice President & Chairman Mark Poston, Scott Horscroft our Vice President of A&R and I met with Mel and her team several times and a signing was done. It was important for Mel to sign with a label that had passion, a family culture and the right vision for the next chapter of Mel B and was fully focused all about THE MUSIC.

It’s been 7 years since the world’s had new music from Mel, when her successful solo career brought us 2 albums, 5 Top 15 UK charting hits including a number one. The time is now right for her comeback, anticipated more than ever. And now as an honorary Australian, Mel B is in the home and hearts of the Nation. MEL B = LEGEND.

Today is  The Beach Boys Appreciation Day. No matter where you turn @ EMI HQ, the soft harmonies of our favourite Californian boy band float through the air. And, despite being on the cusp of winter, we’ve all dressed in Hawaiian prints and boardies… never has it been more appropriate to wear sunglasses indoors!

The Beach Boys are special to EMI for so many reasons. They signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin’ Safari, that same year. For me personally, I’d listen to my parents record collection as a littlun’ back in the ’80s, constantly pulling The Beach Boys Pet Sounds from the shelf. It was just the kind of danceable, happy music you want in your life when you’re a kid. When CDs first came into vogue, my parents offered to buy me one. Did I pick 100% Hits, Madonna or Salt n’ Pepa? Nope, I chose The Beach Boys Greatest Hits. It was then that I discovered (and I know die-hard Beach Boys fans will cringe at this) one of my favourite Beach Boys songs of all time ‘Kokomo’, alongside ‘God Only Knows’.

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of The Beach Boys. To celebrate this very special occasion, Beach Boys Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and David Marks have reunited form the first time in over 20 years for a brand new studio album and commemorative catalog releases. Today sees the Australian release of the first single from their brand new studio album set for release in early June. It is their first new music in decades. Entitled ‘That’s Why God Made The Radio’ the single is an accolade to radio and what it has meant to millions of people. The sound is classic Beach Boys filled with their trademark breathtaking harmonies and it’s just brilliant. Have a listen and sing along with the lyrics video:

Good Vibrations @ EMI

California Girls @ EMI