New Signings & Team-Ups: September 21

ELEFANT TRAKS UNVEILS HOMEWARD BOUND

Sydney hip hop label Elefant Traks’ latest signing Homeward Bound have hit the road running, releasing their debut single Island.

The electro-hip hop Homeward Bound is made up of life and music partners Jimblah (back after a few years out of the spotlight) and Goji (Georgia B)

They describe the song: “‘Island represents the isolation you can feel when you refuse to let someone in, and how another person’s reflection can change the way you view yourself. ”

Jimblah previously released two studio albums, Face The Fire (re-released) and Phoenix through Elefant Traks.

Homeward Bound make their stage debut at Elefant Traks 20th birthday extravaganza, playing all three of the ET20 parties, as well as main support at Urthboy‘s The Signal show in Melbourne.

ULTRA FLIES INTO BIRDCAGE

Ultra Australia joins the 2018 Melbourne Cup Carnival, setting up in Flemington’s famous Birdcage Enclosure on Victoria Derby Day on Saturday, November 3 and Stakes Day on Saturday, November 10.

The Ultra Australia marquee will feature on the front row of the Birdcage on both AAMI Victoria Derby Day, Saturday 3.

It’s the first time a festival has made a presence at Cup Week.

Ultra Australia will theme the marquee, featuring Australia and international DJs, celebrities, fashionistas and music lovers.

Travis Grech from Ultra Australia said it will be a taste of Ultra Australia to be held at Flemington Racecourse in February next year:

“Ultra Australia is very excited about having our very own facility inside the Birdcage during the Melbourne Cup Carnival,” he said.

“We will be launching the Ultra Australia music festival in style with our own decor, theming and entertainment to create a dance music festival atmosphere trackside.”

BILLBOARD ACQUIRES LIVE MUSIC SITE AMPLIFY

Billboard magazine has bought live entertainment news site Amplify Media Inc

Amplify founder Dave Brooks has joined Billboard’s full-time staff as a senior correspondent, along with writer Taylor Mims, and will lead Billboard’s touring and live entertainment coverage, taking on long time rival Pollstar.

CITY AND COLOUR SETS UP STILL LABEL

 City and Colour, aka Canadian singer songwriter Dallas Green, has launched a new label Still Records, as part of the Dine Alone Records.

Still launches with a City and Colour live album, Guide Me Back Home, recorded during a sold-out Canadian tour last year.

It’s out digitally on October 5 while the physical version arrives on November 23.

HOPELESS SEEK THE AFTERLIFE

Latest Hopeless signing is Florida hard rock outfit Afterlife, whose debut album Breaking Point is out on January 11.

Lead single Throat is a personal one for singer Tyler Levenson’s journey with mental health.

“I felt at times that I was controlled by the anxiety, that it was dictating everything I did,” he reflects. “Everything I did, I had some type of doubt in my mind because of it.”

DMAS GET MIXED UP…

DMA’S have handed over the stems to their track The End for this year’s triple j Unearthed remix competition.

The call has gone out to Australian producers, beatmakers, rappers, vocalists and bands to make the track their own.

This year’s winner gets tickets to see DMA’S live and a production masterclass with The Presets’ Kim Moyes – who produced DMA’S sophomore record For Now. Upload your track to your triple j Unearthed artist page by midnight AEST Sunday, October 21. Put #DMASRemix in the title so they can find it.

Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, October 24, with the best remixes played on triple j and triple j Unearthed radio, and the winner unveiled on Wednesday, October 31.

 …AND UNPLUGGED

DMA’S are the third Aussie outfit to perform on the newly-launched MTV Unplugged Melbourne series this year, following Gang Of Youths and Amy Shark.

Their performance is filmed on Thursday, October 11 at t Kilda’s Memo Music Hall for broadcast in November.

AMY WINEHOUSE DOCO COMING

Eagle Vision releases a new Amy Winehouse documentary on November 2.

Amy Winehouse – Back to Black, goes behind the scenes with the late singer for a fly-on-the-wall look at the making of her final studio album of the same name and includes interviews with Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi who worked on the record.

REMOTE CONTROL GETS RIGHTS TO BEN STILLER’S PUNK BAND

Remote Control Records has the local rights for the reissue of Ben Stiller’s high school post-punk band Capital Punishment’s 1982 album Roadkill.

The deal is through Captured Tracks

Capital Punishment formed in 1979 in NYC when the four band members were teenagers.

They consisted of a future Supreme Court justice for Arizona, a professor of Slavic studies, a musician/documentarian whose family built the Brooklyn Bridge, and a red-hot actor and scriptwriter.

JASPER’S GETS SHARP

New Melbourne jazz club Jasper’s (14 Goldie Place, city) has tapped Sharp Entertainment to schedule jazz and swing combos four nights a week.

Sharp Entertainment is the ‘mother-ship’ for Melbourne’s B# Big Band.

Yesterday saw Dan Bolton Quartet featured while tonight has John Thorn & The Roses.

 TAPE/OFF FINALISE AGENCY DEAL

Brisbane agit-political outfit Tape/Off revealed on social media that they have assigned their live bookings to PS Music Group.

COOKING VINYL AUSTRALIA INVOLVED IN LA DISPUTE

Cooking Vinyl Australia has the local rights to La Dispute, an art-rock outfit Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s part of their new deal with Epitaph.

La Dispute will release a revamped 10-year anniversary edition of their breakthrough debut Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair.

Out November 9, the re-release has re-amped guitars from the original recording files by Grammy-nominated recording vet Will Yip (Code Orange, Circa Survive, The Menzingers), and a new mix by Dave Schiffman (Charlie XCX, Trash Talk, Thrice).

The band describe themselves as having “a firm passion for the concept of music and art as a medium for making new friends.

“As a result, La Dispute makes (or strives to make) music that is both artistically, technically, and emotionally engaging in hopes of establishing legitimate connections with any and all interested people, while encouraging dialogue between those people and themselves about things in life that truly matter and that truly last.”

MOO OZ RAISING MONEY FOR HOMELESS

This weekend’s Moo Oz festival in the Byron region (Sunday, September 23 at Cudgen Leagues Club in Kingscliff) has 40 acts over six stages to raise funds for the homeless in the Northern Rivers area.

Last year the event raised $6,000 for those affected by the 2017 floods.

Among those playing this year are Killer Queen Experience, Round Mountain Girls, The Mason Rack Band and Living in the 70s.

 TIDAL EXPANDS TO BRAZIL

In a team up with local telecommunications company Vivo, the Tidal streaming service is entering the Brazil market.

Vivo has 75 mobile customers who are being offered a weekly deal of about $1 or about $4 a month (or $2 for students).

As part of its launch, one of its celebrity owners, Nicki Minaj, plays a show on September 26 in São Paulo.

ARIANA GRANDE ON CLOUD NINE

 Ariana Grande fourth fragrance with beauty-giant Luxe Brands is Cloud and available online.

It’s described as an “uplifting scent that imbues a thoughtful, artistic expression of positivity and happiness.” So there.

Her previous three were Sweet Like Candy, Ari and Moonlight.

GEKO HITS 3 BEAT

3 Beat has extended its deal with one of its recording signings, Afrobeat artist Geko, to incorporate a worldwide publishing agreement.

Callum Beattie and High Contrast have also started out on the label and moved to publishing as well.

NEW SYDNEY NIGHT HAS FOUR CURATORS

New Sydney Friday night program Midnight Sun, which launches on October 5 at Ultimo’s Foundry616 has four curators to sharpen its offering of indie, alt rock, hip hop, electronic and neo soul/jazz scenes.

They are musician Ben Panucci, Joel Rapaport from Big Village Records, Sly Fox promoter Cash Williams and visual artist/producer Daniel O’Toole (Captain Earwax).

 WOLLONGONG EVENT FOR MND RESEARCH

Central Hotel, Shellharbour hosts a research fund raiser for motor neurone disease on Saturday, October 13.

It is called Rock 4 Regal, after Adam Regal who died last month from the disease at the age of 35.

Coordinating the show is his long time musician friend Den Murray who now resides in Melbourne.

ENTRIES CLOSING FOR DAREBIN FEAST SONGWRITERS’ AWARD

The Darebin Music Feast songwriters’ award was set up to acknowledge the talents of the area’s songwriters.

Each year it gets 100 entries. This year’s deadline is September 26.

Songwriters’ are welcome to enter songs in languages other than English. Local Indigenous songwriters are particularly encouraged to enter.

The songwriters’ award grand final concert will be held on Thursday, October, 25 7.30pm at Northcote Town Hall

Judges include Sal Kimber, Charles Jenkins and Monica Weightman.

Past winners include Jordie Lane, Ben Mason, Brooke Russell and Charm of Finches.

Prizes include

• $2000 thanks to APRA AMCOS
• 8 hours recording time with an engineer at HeadGap
• EP Mastering by Crystal Mastering
• $500 Implant Media Voucher for CD duplication services
• 1 hour song writing workshop with Push Songs facilitator Charles Jenkins thanks to The Push
• $500 Echo Tone Guitars Voucher
• 2 x Conference Tickets thanks to The Push

Also up for grabs; a $500 Encouragement Award thanks to 3KND Radio.

WARNER MUSIC BUYS MERCH COMPANY

Warner Music Group is paying US$180 million to fully buy out one of Europe’s biggest music merch companies, EMP Merchandising, pending approval from German regulators.

Once the deal is finalized, EMP will become a standalone, direct-to-fan business unit within WEA, the Warner global artist and label services division headed by Tony Harlow, one time head of Warner Music Australia.

In recent times, Warner has also bought A&R insight tool Sodatone, influential online media brand UPROXX, dance label Spinnin’ Records, and concert discovery platform Songkick.

PERTH NYE EVENT RETURNS

To diversify the harness racing crowds, Perth’s Gloucester Park is bringing back its NYE party after ten years, booking The Potbelleez, to headline.

Some major names are expected to be announced in coming weeks.