December 2009
7 posts
4 tags
The radio in 2009 has been 'un-Australian'
According to a survey by AirCheck, only 18 percent of the top 100 songs played on Australian radio this year were Australian.
Of that 100, only three Australian songs made the top 20 and, most shockingly, only one song made the top 10. Also disappointingly low was the ratio of new Australian music being supported. Out of the top 30 Australian songs played on the radio in 2009, only 19 were...
4 tags
Ravi Shankar thought the Beatles were "drug...
The Indian sitar player who inspired the Beatles’ more psychedelic phase has said he resented the attention he received from drug-using fans.
Shankar explained that, while he enjoyed a friendship with the Beatles at first (especially George Harrison, who he taught sitar to in 1966), he did not like the people who were too “stoned” to really appreciate his music. Speaking...
6 tags
The plot thickens for Shins and Danger Mouse...
Get your Nancy Drew on (or Hardy Boys, your choice) and try to solve the mystery of the Broken Bells.
Remember a while ago we told you James Mercer of the Shins was starting a band with Danger Mouse? There wasn’t much information available at the time except that their band’s name would be ‘Broken Bells.’ There still isn’t much information available, but there IS...
5 tags
50 Cent and Susan Boyle for duet?
Just when you thought the ‘SuBo’ hype couldn’t become any more ridiculous … apparently ol’ Fiddy is a massive fan of Ms Boyle and would love to record a song with her. No, seriously.
The Britain’s Got Talent runner-up - whose debut album I Dreamed A Dream has topped charts in the UK and US - has seemingly charmed more than just the general populace. 50 Cent...
4 tags
Send Animal Collective to Africa
Animal Collective’s Joshua Dibb (aka Deakin) has been invited to play at the Festival Au Desert in Essakane, Mali, but apparently indie/experimental bands make no money. Who would have thought?
The festival, taking place January 7-9, brings local and international musicians to the middle of the Mali desert, two hours from Timbuktu. Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant said of the festival,...
4 tags
MUSIC: Radiohead - '15 Steps' →
Radiohead are a band that I have never understood, a fact that constantly irritates me. It sucks when you’re having a conversation with a group of people at a party and you’re the only one without a boner for Thom Yorke.
So anyway, I tried to listen to this album but I think it’s pretty wanky and so far the only song I can play through without shoving a biro through my ears...
5 tags
Toot, toot! Hop onboard the Bacardi Express with...
That crazy-haired electro-poppet Elly Jackson is bringing her vibrant duo La Roux (with Ben Langmaid) back to Oz next year for a ride on the party train.
The Bacardi Express will treat a load of punters to a bunch of free concerts as it makes its way from Brisbane through Coffs Harbour and Newcastle to Sydney. The intimate nature of the train also brings many opportunities for impromptu jam...
November 2009
12 posts
4 tags
Pete Doherty is not a Nazi
“Heil Doherty!” The Babyshambles frontman apologises for singing a Nazi-endorsed version of the German national anthem at a gig in Munich.
His performance at Munich’s On3 Festival was cut short on Saturday after Doherty began singing a prohibited, right-wing version of ‘Das Deutschlandlied’. The particular version - which begins “Deutschland, Deutschland,...