Industrial Strength: May 16
80 SCREENS FOR MUSE MOVIE IN AUSTRALIA
The Australian cinema premiere of Muse’s Drones World Tour on July 12 will be screened on 80 screens around the country.
It will be part of a global showing on that day through UK company Trafalgar Releasing, and full details are available at the official website.
One of the most stunning audio/visual stage productions in recent times, the movie includes the band talking about the creative concept, while autonomous drones fly across the audience, alongside giant projections and perfectly crafted LED laser works that create an eerie, dystopian world.
VINES REUNITE FOR JET DATES
The original lineup of The Vines – frontman/guitarist Craig Nichols, bassist Patrick Matthews, guitarist Ryan Griffiths and drummer Hamish Rosser – will reunite to play support for Jet’s two Sydney shows at the Enmore and The Metro.
The two bands have a history, touring the US together in 2004.
Fourteen years ago, The Vines played their final show at the Annandale in less than cuddly circumstances. Midway through the show bassist Matthews stomped off the show and into a cab, and never came back.
GARRETT, KELLY TO JOIN DR. M YUNUPINGU TRIBUTE
Peter Garrett and Paul Kelly will journey to tiny Northern Territory town Birany Birany on June 7.
The trip will mark the fifth anniversary of the passing of Yothu Yindi leader Dr M Yunupingu, with the occasion coinciding with the unveiling of a plaque in his honour and reactivating the push for a treaty with the First Australians.
Kelly and Yothu Yindi members wrote the band’s international hit ‘Treaty’ 30 years ago calling for an official pact, and the band reckons it’s time it happens.
TICKET DEMAND CAUSES GOLDEN STAVE TO CHANGE VENUE
Word from the organisers of the 27th anniversary Golden Stave Gold Day is that tickets are almost booked out – and as a result, the fundraising game has been moved to a new venue.
The format for the May 25 event at Beverley Park Golf Club remains unchanged, including the David Gilchrist Ambrose Challenge and Australian long drive champion Mark “Boomer” Bylsma arriving for a golf clinic and also on the long drive holes and will hit balls for all the competitors.
Go to the website for tickets and other information on the day.
KYLIE SCORES 14TH CHART-TOPPER ON US DANCE CHART
Kylie Minogue has notched up her 14th #1 on the US Dance chart with ‘Dancing’.
She now ties with Dave Aude, Lady Gaga, Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull at #10 for most number of chart-toppers since the Dance chart was introduced by Billboard nearly 42 years ago.
Billboard notes that Madonna has the most (46), then Rihanna (32), Beyonce (22), Janet Jackson (19), Katy Perry (18), Mariah Carey (17), Kristine W (17), Jennifer Lopez (16) and Donna Summer (15).
MAKE MUSIC DAY FOR JUNE 21
The Australian Music Association has dubbed June 21 as Make Music Day.
It is part of a free initiative held that day in 750 cities in 120 countries, where musicians of all persuasions organise their own gig or join the many organisations that will host events, sharing their music with friends, neighbours and strangers.
Register your event at the official website.
FOR BETTER OR VERSE
Borrowed Verse is an ambitious Australian album that unites music and poetry, and is set for release on June 15 through ABC Music.
A collective of songwriters including Glenn Richards (Augie March), Angie Hart (Frente), Ben Salter and Emily Lubitz (Tinpan Orange) pick poetry from Australian legends (Kenneth Slessor), living legends (Uncle Herb Wharton), poets of the ‘canon’ (Judith Wright) and outsider poets (Michael Dransfield).
The project was devised by Brisbane arts producer and musician, Simon Munro.
Due June 1, the first single is ‘A Strange Bird’ from Glenn Richards – his interpretation of the late Dransfield’s poem of that name.
“I was introduced to the poetry of Michael Dransfield many years ago by a Tasmanian friend who felt some kinship between what I was trying to do lyrically and thematically at the time and some of Dransfield’s work,” Richards said.
“The Augie March record Strange Bird had already been released, any titular crossover was coincidental, but happily, and we used a projection of Michael’s ‘A Strange Bird’ as a backdrop for the following tour.
“The poet died at the age of 24, I don’t recall reading anything of his that could be called immature, maybe idealistic at worst – considering the breadth of his subject matter the impression that stays with me is of reserve and consideration.
“His age makes his output remarkable, in this and in other ways he was our own Rimbaud.
“He was concerned with the outsiders in life, he saw things clearly and felt them keenly.
“A Strange Bird is his simplest, most painful and direct lament. It hinges on the choice and order of words, so that what might be a pedestrian observation becomes a stark issue.
“Somebody will happen on his story one day and make a film about him, I just hope they don’t do what they always do and make the thing a romantic, sexy myth. That is what the fish in the main stream feed on, Dransfield was not overly bothered with them.”
Working with poets and musicians from around the country since 2014, the Borrowed Verse project has commissioned new work for Dark Mofo, TEDxBrisbane, Woodford Folk Festival and the Queensland Poetry Festival.
WARNER TO LAUNCH OWN TUNECORE?
Music Business Worldwide (MBW) has discovered that Warner Music Group beta-launched its own digital distribution platform for self-releasing artists – rivalling the likes of Tunecore, CD Baby, Ditto, Distrokid and Universal’s Spinnup.
Called Level Music, it allows musicians to release their music “everywhere for free” and upload to Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, Google Play, TIDAL, Pandora, Deezer and Napster without any upfront charges.
Level Music takes an 8% commission, the artist gets all the money.
MBW says that it’s not clear if Level Music is just testing the waters or planning a market launch.
QUEENSLAND’s BIG SKY GIRLS RETURNS
Brisbane label Sugarrush is bringing back its Big Sky Girls program for a second year.
The initiative sees female songwriters aged 15-25 from regional Queensland supported through a six-month mentorship aimed at creative development, increasing performance skills, and establishing music careers through networking with music executives.
Selected participants will also see one of their songs professionally recorded and be invited to perform at a showcase in October.
Project Manager Deb Suckling says the project unearths talent that would largely go unnoticed and unsupported, often due to a simple lack of resources.
AUSSIE STUDY: SHARKS LIKE JAZZ MUSIC
A new study by scientists at Macquarie University’s Fish Lab finds that sharks are sophisticated creatures with big brains – and with a penchant for jazz music.
They found the sharks learned to go to a feeding station far better when played jazz music than other kinds of songs.
But they under-performed when played classical music.
DRAKE COMES UP WITH UNLIKELY COLLABORATOR
Drake has earned the right to collaborate with the most unlikeliest of folks, but the latest would have his fans blinking.
It’s Canadian crooner Paul Anka, the 76-year-old who started recording in 1957 when he was 15.
He went on to write classics such as ‘Diana’ and ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder’ as well as ‘She’s A Lady’ for Tom Jones, the English lyrics for the French song ‘My Way’ (which became Frank Sinatra’s signature song), and co-wrote with Michael Jackson ‘This Is It’.
WHAT DONALD GLOVER DID AFTER LANDING STAR WARS
While making glorious noise under his music character Childish Gambino, actor Donald Glover also gets excited about his other day job, as an actor.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Glover revealed what he did when he heard he landed the role of Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Having been warned by his own agent he didn’t have much of a chance to get the role, you’d expect Glover to go crazy with celebrations when the confirmation came through.
“I did call my dad first and told him, and that was a big moment. He was proud.
“And then I got a large cheese pizza and then went home and watched The Empire Strikes Back. And that was it – research.”
DOUBLE J LAUNCHES NEW VIDEO SERIES
Double J’s has a new video series called Finish The Sentence.
Musicians are given the start to a sentence, and they finish it off, with some funny, bizarre and outrageous stories results.
Launching the series were The National’s Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner musing about coconut on pizza and the versatility of turtlenecks, Missy Higgins revealing what she learned from Ed Sheeran, and Phil Jamieson and Pat Davern from Grinspoon getting a little NSFW.
Upcoming guests include Middle Kids, Leon Bridges, The Preatures, Kamasi Washington and Donny Benét.
ECHO AWARDS DROPS JAZZ CEREMONY
After the hip hop “anti-Semitic” shenanigans at Germany’s Echo Awards (which saw the axe chopping off the head of an executive or two), organisers said that while the main award would be given a complete overhaul, the jazz ceremony could still go ahead in Hamburg this month.
However this has been changed, as the feeling is that the entire awards process should be stopped, and for the mechanics to look under the bonnet and redo the entire engine.
NATIONAL DATES FOR RECLINK COMMUNITY CUP
After announcing that the Reclink Community Cup returns to Melbourne on Sunday June 24, dates for the other cities have been announced.
This year’s theme is Sly & The Family Stone’s classic ‘Every Day People’, to denote diversity and inclusion.
Certainly the acts on the bill reflect the 60s theme – an indie pop band made up of Rudely Interrupted, punk-rock The Aints!, post-punk trio Cable Ties, nu-soul merchants Hiatus Kaiyote, hillbilly harmony quartet The Cartridge Family, and First Australian singer/songwriter Kutcha Edwards (who will perform this year’s theme song).
With brewery Young Henry’s back as sponsor for a fourth year, the other six cities are:
Brisbane: Sunday 29 July @ Hickey Park, Stafford
Hobart: Sunday 5 August @ Queenborough Oval, Sandy Bay
Adelaide: Sunday 12 August @ Coopers Stadium, Norwood
Sydney: Sunday 19 August @ Henson Park, Marrickville
Fremantle: Sunday 9 September @ Fremantle Oval,
Canberra: TBC
The Melbourne match draws 10,000 a year and generates $200,000 for the charity.
NT ORGANISES WOMEN IN MUSIC CONFERENCE
The Northern Territory’s peak music association Music NT is staging its inaugural Women in Music Conference on Thursday May 24.
The event will tackle gender inequality and related issues within the music industry, as well as celebrating the females in the Australian music industry.
A series of workshops will be run in the afternoon by professional women from around Australia, working in different aspects of the music industry.
EDEN JAMES RECORDING IN NY, SPRINGSTEEN’S KEYS MAN DROPS IN
New York based singer songwriter Eden James has been back in the studio working on album number four.
The Brisbane boy relates, “I’m back in the saddle after a long stint in writing/inspiration mode – jotting down ideas and lyrics around New York when my antennae sense it, and rolling with that curve ball we all know and love – the thing John Lennon labelled as “… what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”. You guessed it – Life.”
James says he’s been playing with players of calibre.
“Bruce Springsteen‘s piano accordion and keys player, Charlie Giordano graced us for a couple sessions, and played some fine piano and keys on my new tracks.”
LORDE’S STRANGE AWARD WIN
Lorde has just taken out the weirdest of her wins so far.
The famous video of her babysitting the kids of New Zealand’s radio ZM host Vaughan Smith, later uploaded onto the radio station website, had a win at the New Zealand radio awards.
She and the Smith kids – Indie, 6, and August, 4 – won best video, also marking the two as the radio awards’ youngest winners of all time.
The video was joint winner with Radio Hauraki’s Matt & Jerry team for their interview with Neil Finn.
This was around the time when Finn made his Out Of Silence album which was live-streamed through the four hours, with 18 orchestra players and 12 vocalists, the latter whom Finn said (tongue firmly in cheek) he was concerned about because they were started to drink too early.
Finn also revealed that he doesn’t forget words of songs onstage although there have been times when he gets the verses mixed up.
“I’ve got people in the audience who’ll yell out when I’m singing the wrong words.”
SYDNEY’S VINTAGE DRUM EXPO EXPANDS TO MELBOURNE
This year’s Vintage & Custom Drum Expo returns in October for a fourth year to Sydney (at the Factory Theatre), and also heads to Melbourne for the first time, where it will stage at the Croxton Park.
WA EVENTS COMPANY BREAKS SILENCE
WA events company JumpClimb has broken its silence since it fell over and left Fringe World artists and suppliers $200,000 short, responding with a post on Facebook.
It was particularly addressing a query from the Fringe World as to what they did with the proceeds from ticket sales.
Former owners Paul Fletcher and Aaron Rutter stated, “We are not walking away with anything from this. We have no personal assets and were always the last to get paid in our organisation.
“We are currently seeking employment and dealing head-on with the mental health challenges that a situation like this can bring.”
The pair wanted to clarify that 75% of acts and suppliers got paid but, yes, there were some still waiting to be paid – and the situation was worsened by the fact that they were waiting for their debtors to pay them.
They stood up for Fringe World, emphasising the festival was not responsible for what happened, and applauded their move to helping the affected artists by returning their ticketing fees.
However, they added, “It must be said that Fringe World ticket sales caught a lot of artists and producers off guard this year, and there are a number of other issues that we have raised in our debrief with them to ensure a better experience for independent producers in years to come.”
VALE
* Although best known as an actor (particularly for The Chant Of Jimmy Blacksmith), T.E. Lewis of the Murrungun people was also a musician who played the didgeridu, flute, clarinet and guitar.
His projects included the band Circle of Breathing, touring Europe and Asia in the ‘90s as part of jazz duo Lewis & Young, and playing with Jane Rutter, Eve Duncan, Uli Klein and composer George Dreyfus.
In recent years he released the albums Sunshine After Rain (2005) and Beneath the Sun (2013), both through Skinnyfish Music.
He died in his home in Katherine, Northern Territory at aged 59.
* John Campbell Munro was born in Scotland and moved to Adelaide in 1965. He became a leading folk identity, best known for collaborating with Eric Bpgle and Colcannon.
His songs as ‘The Ballad of Charles Devonport’, ‘The Border’, ‘Listen to the Old Ones’ and ‘Spirit of the Land’ were covered by artists around the world.
His two most ambitious projects – suites around the Eureka Stockade (1990) and Ned Kelly (1992) – were performed throughout Australia and New Zealand.
He was inducted into the South Australian Hall of Fame. He passed on May 10.
* Carl Perkins was a pioneer of New Zealand reggae scene, first as a percussionist with Herbs (bluffing his way in although he’d never played percussion before) during the recording their second album Light of The Pacific.
He helped write many of their songs including the hit ‘Long Ago’.
The one-time juvenile delinquent, who credited music with saving his life, also toured with the post-Bob Marley Wailers for a time.
He shifted to guitar “after I realised there were no reggae guitarists in New Zealand”, fronting House of Sherm with two of his five sons for the past ten years.
He battled bowel cancer for 15 months before his death last week at age 59.
AND A FEW OTHER THINGS …
Ariana Grande and Mac Miller have confirmed they’ve split up because of their hectic work schedules but remain “best friends”.
Congrats to Fox FM content director Adrian Brine and the Hit Network’s Ash London on their recent marriage. Pros to the end, the honeymoon will take place during July’s survey break.
Melbourne punk band Painters & Dockers singer Paul Stewart needed surgery for bleeding in the brain.
Damon Alban created a panic when he accidentally left the Gorillaz master tape of their new album in a London taxi.
The Ten Tenors became the Eleven Tenors during their current 20-date NZ tour when they asked 24-year old Dunedin-born soprano Sophie Morris to join them as part of the lineup. She met them on last Thursday and had her first concert with them two days later.
The Killers played the final of their Wonderful Wonderful tour at Adelaide Entertainment Centre before 11,000 people. Singer Brandon Flowers told the crowd, “You gotta send us back across that Pacific Ocean with smiles on our faces; we can do it – tonight is the night!” While the crowd has its jollies, especially when they ploughed into INXS’s ‘Don’t Change’, the night belonged to a dude called Tim who from the audience held up a sign ‘Drums on Reasons?’, referencing their 2006 song ‘For Reasons Unknown’. They brought him up, he bowed to drummer Ronnie Vannucci Jnr, and Flowers warned him he’d better be good in front of so many fervent fans, who gave him a resounding cheer after Tim got through without a mistake.
Peter Moore, a 20-year-old club DJ in Ballarat, Victoria, was sentenced to a year’s youth detention for selling MDMA capsules to make enough money to pay back his supplier.