Industrial Strength: August 21
THAT’S ME (BLUBBERING) IN THE CORNER….
A jolt of excitement went through social media after fans of REM noticed the name trending big time.
A reunion? New album? A tour? People reached into the back of their closets to find their Automatic For The People T-shirts.
Alas, harsh reality brought the tears. The name was only trending because it was the name of a track on Ariana Grande’s new album Sweetener and people were heaping praise on the song which was not about the famous US band but about dreaming about a hunk.
Incidentally, the song was originally recorded by Beyoncé under the title Wake Up. After she passed on it, Ariana rewrote it with Pharrell Williams for Sweetener.
So it was back to the corner for REM fans losing their religion.
Peter Buck is about to tour next month behind his new project Arthur Buck (with songwriter Joseph Arthur) took the time to again say REM was not something on the front burner after their split seven years ago after being together for 31 years.
The guitarist explained recently the decision to split was made in three minutes after they had lunch following the making of their last album Collapse Into Now.
Michael Stipe said he wanted a break from the endless cycle of recording and touring. Buck responded, “I know the feeling, we could just end it.”
They turned to Mike Mills who murmur, ‘Sounds good to me”, and that was the decision made.
BRISBANE’S GABBA GETS TICKET TO RIDE
Patrons to concerts and sports events will have greater accessibility and safety when they go to and from the Gabba in Brisbane.
The government has announced that the future Cross River Rail (CRR) Gabba station precinct will include a land bridge spanning Main Street at Kangaroo Point.
This will stop pedestrian congestion on streets in the Woolloongabba area on events nights when 42,000 fill out the seats and lesser interaction with vehicle traffic.
Demolition has already begun in the area around the Gabba.
Part of the billion dollar building work is the Woolloongabba Train Station which will enable people to travel between Woolloongabba and the city in just a couple of minutes and will be constructed 27m below ground, with 220m long platforms.
GENNA ALEXOPOULOS CLOSING SUPER DUPER
After five years, Genna Alexopoulos is closing her Melbourne-based music PR company Super Duper on August 31.
She revealed, “I have recently identified some parts of my career that I’d like to expand on and learn more about and it’s something that I want to pursue whole-heartedly.
“I’m very much a creature that needs to throw themselves headfirst into change, so I’m going to take my first step towards that by taking some time away from day-to-day music PR.”
The plan is to take off September for some R&R, return to work in some capacity in October, before moving overseas with her partner in February.
Her current projects are Moonlover’s new Wedding Day video, which is all silhouette animation that he created himself, Alex the Astronaut‘s new single Waste of Time, Harmony‘s third album Double Negative, a new release from Camp Cope before they head to the UK and Europe, and others in the Our Golden Friend roster.
NEW EDM LABEL LAUNCHES IN CANBERRA
Canberra DJs James Beetham and Peter O’Rourke who are behind the city’s club night Department Of Late Nights have launched their own label Late Night Music.
Its signings include the kind of music they’ve been popularising techno and psytrance, the latter genre that O’Rourke showcased on his EPs Spaceship Earth and Journey to the Electric Sky and albums as Black Triangles and Four Day Weekend.
Late Night Music launches next month with the release of an EP featuring four producers and a national club tour in late spring.
WALERS WIN OVER SAILORS AT RECLINK CUP SYDNEY
The Walers (musos) won 40-33 over the Sailors (media) at the 7th Reclink Community Cup in Sydney at Henson Park in Marrickville on Sunday.
The musos team included Scabz, Urthboy, Philadelphia Grand Jury, Alex The Astronaut, Smudge, The Stems, Sumeru and Fishing.
Best on ground went to Nellie Pollard-Wharton (Waler), best critical appraisal umpire to Harry Harvey (Sailor), and contribution to the cup to Darren McLanders (Waler).
GOOD THINGS TO MAKE ITS DEBUT IN DECEMBER
A new three-city festival, Good Things, makes its debut in December staged in Melbourne Showgrounds (Friday 7), Parramatta Park, Sydney (Sat 8) and Brisbane Showgrounds (Sunday 9).
The first two acts announced are UK’s Boston Manor on their first visit and Perth band Make Them Suffer.
The entire will officially be dropped on Thursday, August 23 at 11am AEST.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: ARETHA’S SALES SOAR
Nielsen Music reported that US sales of Aretha Franklin’s catalogue increased by1568% on the day after her death on August 16.
Combined albums and digital song downloads were up to 134,000 from 8,000. Digital songs were up 1,569% from 7,000 to 115,000.
The list of her top selling tracks was topped by Respect, followed by A Natural Woman (You Make Me Feel Like), I Say a Little Prayer, Chain of Fools, Think, Freeway of Love, Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do), I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me), with George Michael, I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) and Bridge Over Troubled Water.
Of the albums, it was her various hits albums as well as her famed gospel set, Amazing Grace.
SAMPLING WORKSHOP AT ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE
The latest Process LAB held at the Channel in Arts Centre Melbourne (August 24) is a hands on workshop in electronic music production using samples and Ableton Live led by electronic producer and DJ Mike Callander.
It kicks off at 6pm and runs for four hours.
Participants need a basic understanding of Ableton Live. They’ll be provided with headphones, microphone and audio interface, MIKI keyboards but have to bring a laptop with Ableton Live installed.
The workshop will be in four sections: recording samples, cut & paste, building kits and instruments, and total destruction which shows off extreme techniques of warping, transposition, layering and re-sampling.
For more information, head here.
FORMER AUSSIE CEO TIM MILLER LANDS AT TICKPICK
US ticketing platform TickPick has hired Nick Miller as its ‘s head of strategic partnerships.
Miller’s career has taken him between Australia, London and North America, usually in sports management and ticketing companies
In Australia, he was CEO for Athlete Management Australia.
His role is to expand TickPick internationally, although it’s not known if his knowledge of the Australian market will see his new employers set up a base here.
Brett Goldberg, co-founder and co-CEO of TickPick, studied international finance for a year (2005) at the University of NSW.
FESTIVALS DROPPED THIS YEAR
City of Ballarat in regional Victoria has dropped Season of the Arts and the Cabaret Festival this year.
The latter event, which has run for six years, could not run because of renovations at the Her Majesty’s Theatre.
Season of the Arts, an umbrella event for a number of arts events between August and October, was also a tourist drawcard but is being rested while the City supports two other events.
DO YOURSELF A SAVER
The old ABC Studios in Elsternwick in Melbourne, best known for our purposes as where Countdown was taped, could be saved from the developer’s wrecking ball after a public campaign, the Herald-Sun reported.
After closing last year after the ABC moved its complex to Southbank, the huge site was to be sold.
But a heritage assessment report presented to Glen Eira council recommended that it be protected because it is
“considered to be significant at national, state and local level for historical, architectural, cultural, social and technological reasons.”
NEWCASTLE RATING: KOFM LEADS
In the GfK radio ratings for Newcastle, KOFM had the greatest market share with 14%.
It was followed by Hit106.9 (12.7%), 2JJJ (10.9%), ABC 1233 (10.6%), 105.3 NEWFM (10.1%), 2HD (8.7%), ABCFM (4.6%), 2RN (2%) and ABC News (0.7%).
WHY JOHN BUTLER RECORDED SOLO
John Butler’s seventh studio album Home, out in September 28, is preceded by the title track issued as a single.
He tries something different for the first time.
Butler explains, “Given the very personal subject matter of these new songs I pondered what it might mean to record in mainly a solo format for the first time ever.
“[This track] scratches the surface of the emotional and sonic landscape that eventually became the bedrock of the album.”
After a show at the Caloundra Music Festival, Butler and band take the album to Japan, Europe and North America before returning for dates in Australia.
REPORT: GROWTH FOR ARN, IHEARTRADIO
In HT&E’s financials for the six months ending June 30, 2018, the company noted that Australian Radio Network posted a revenue growth of 7.3% of $118 million compared to market growth of 5.9%.
It also revealed that iHeartRadio has 1.1 million registered users and that its app has been downloaded 1.7 million+ times.
“iHeartRadio continues to grow, and now houses Australia’s most comprehensive library of podcasts, sourced from partnerships with numerous international podcast libraries,” it reported/
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS…
Is there a hidden message to Manchester shooting survivors in Ariana Grade’s new album?
Are Aussie touring mates Katy Perry and Zedd working on new music together?
Young Thug was arrested for gun possession –at his own 27th birthday bash and Slime Language album listening party in LA. He apparently bumped into a squad car, something we highly recommend you shouldn’t do, kids. When the peed-off cops searched his car, they found the guns.
John Butler Trio bass player Byron Luiters has put his property in Thirroul on the market. He and his wife Laura bought it in 2011, and it comes with its own music room.
Congrats to Sydney singer-songwriter Miriam Lieberman on the arrival of her son Lior who decided to make his appearance five weeks early. She’s cut back on live performances but will do the occasional special event – like the one tonight headlined by the other Lior.
Kanye West collaborator Noah Goldstein is named SVP of A&R at Columbia Records
Singer-songwriter Kirsty Lee Akers’ video for new single House Full of Flowers (Hannah’s Song) is released on the first anniversary of the death of Hannah Rye. Her battle against Ewing Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, made her a national celebre. Akers’ co-wrote the song with Jerry Salley,“to be something that remembered Hannah for the beautiful young woman she was, but also as a comfort for her family every time they hear it.”
New Zealand musician Fiona McDonald, who toured Australia frequently fronting bands as Headless Chickens and Strawpeople, has given up music and is now a real estate agent, the NZ Herald reported. Apparently, her partner asked her, “Isn’t it time to get a job?” She figured music had never made her any money, and with her TV work – on The Big Art Trip, NZ Idol and Ten Years Younger – was a case of “been there done that”.
All 10,000 tix for John Farnham’s A Day On The Green winery show at Bimbadgen in NSW’s Hunter Valley on December 1 have sold out, with promoters saying that the next day’s show, at the Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton concert in Queensland, also heading close to full capacity.
The new Victorian Music Development Office is advertising for a Music Business Manager, First Peoples (part-time) and Music Business Manager (full time).
The mother of Daniel Buccianti, the 34-year old who died from tainted drugs at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in 2012, has been reunited with his ashes. They were stolen during a break-in at her house in Melbourne’s outer north. She kept them in her box next to her bed.
Just back from a massive European tour, chill champion Bobby Alu has scarcely had time to tote up his frequent flyer points before he hits the road. There are festival shows in Qld and the NT (August 25—September 1) before he jets off to Indonesia to play two Bali shows and a family summer camp, Camp Deep End in California on September 21—24.