Live Review: Dead Letter Circus + Fair to Midland + Twelve Foot Ninja @ Ferntree Gully Hotel – 17 May 2012

Review by Billy Geary
Trekking all the way out to Ferntree Gully for a gig is always an interesting experience and Thursday night was no different, with a line up boasting some of Australia’s and America’s best alternative rock bands. With Brisbane natives Dead Letter Circus having been on tour with Texan five piece Fair to Midland in the States for the past few months, it was time to bring the party (and Fair to Midland) back home for their own national tour.

Local staples Twelve Foot Ninja have been given the support slot for the entire tour, and clearly loving the experience. Opening with ‘War,’ one of the band’s heavier numbers, the audience was instantly engaged. The most impressive thing about Twelve Foot Ninja is their ability to move between genres with the flick of a switch, this trait exemplified through ‘FEAR’ and ‘Manufacture of Consent,’ both featuring plenty of heaviness with a dash of reggae and dub influences. Similarly, new track ‘Shuriken’ will be one to look out for on their forthcoming album showcasing vocalist Nick’s outstanding vocals and a smattering of samples. Twelve Foot Ninja’s set came to an end via a powerful rendition of ‘Clarion,’ reminding punters exactly why they’re known as one of the tightest live acts in Melbourne.
Continue reading Live Review: Dead Letter Circus + Fair to Midland + Twelve Foot Ninja @ Ferntree Gully Hotel – 17 May 2012

News: Gurrumul To Appear At Queen’s Jubilee Concert

Skinnyfish Music have announced that Gurrumul Yunupingu will be joining a host of stars to perform at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert on June 4th 2012.

Gurrumul will be joining artists from across the Commonwealth to perform ‘Sing’, the Diamond Jubilee Song which is written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Take That’s Gary Barlow.
Barlow travelled around the Commonwealth working with artists including Gurrumul to produce the track, with its successful debut airing this week on BBC Radio 2.

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC One HD and on BBC Radio 2 in the UK and to millions around the world and will feature performances from the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Jones, Sir Elton John and Sir Cliff Richard.

Gurrumul’s performance at the Diamond Jubilee concert is the latest in a long line of honours for this shy man from the remote Elcho Island, with the University of Sydney recently bestowing an honorary doctorate for outstanding contribution to music.
Continue reading News: Gurrumul To Appear At Queen’s Jubilee Concert

Photo Gallery: Dead Letter Circus + Fair to Midland + Twelve Foot Ninja – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne – 18 May 2012

Photographer: Annie Wilson – Amped Photography

Continue reading Photo Gallery: Dead Letter Circus + Fair to Midland + Twelve Foot Ninja – The Hi-Fi, Melbourne – 18 May 2012

Keith Urban triumphs with a Number One ARIA Album Chart debut!

Keith Urban achieves a unique first on this week’s ARIA Album Chart, landing his maiden number one on the main album chart with ‘The Story So Far’, some three years after his #1 achievement on the US Billboard Top 200 with ‘Defying Gravity’. Despite three Australian #1’s on the ARIA Country Chart, Urban’s highest point to date on the main album chart had been a #3 peak for ‘Defying Gravity’. ‘The Story So Far’ offers up 19 tracks from albums ‘Get Closer’, ‘Defying Gravity’, ‘Love Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing’, ‘Be Here’ and ‘Golden Road’, 14 of them US #1 singles, and marks his fourth ARIA Album Chart top 10 result.
Continue reading Keith Urban triumphs with a Number One ARIA Album Chart debut!

Tour News: Pennywise – Australian Tour – August 2012

PENNYWISE are one of the most significant bands to emerge from SoCal

A thriving, ground-breaking punk rock band for two decades, the Hermosa Beach group’s relentless, in-your-face, middle finger in the air, anthem-chanting sound has never wavered. In fact, they have just created their most ferocious, engaging and career defining album to date in All Or Nothing.

And just to prove that their live shows have lost none of their legendary vitality for which they are infamous, Pennywise have invited 2 of the most talked about rock bands of the new crop to test themselves against!
Continue reading Tour News: Pennywise – Australian Tour – August 2012

Interview: Callum Stevens – The Arachnids

Interview by Life Music Media

Guitarist Callum Stevens of Brisbane four-piece The Arachnids takes time out with Life Music Media…
 

:: What track changed your life ::
Enter Sandman…that riff!

:: What is your favourite Album ::
Faith No More – Angel Dust

:: Name a band or artist we should checkout ::
Jake Diefenbach

:: Favourite Quote ::
Don’t sweat the small stuff
Continue reading Interview: Callum Stevens – The Arachnids

Tour News: Slash Australian Tour – August 2012

Recent Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the greatest exponents of the electric guitar, SLASH, returns this August for an unmissable tour in support of his new album ‘Apocalyptic Love’.

On his last visit SLASH sold out all of his Australian shows in under 10 minutes. Those shows were moved up to much larger venues and promptly sold out again.

So this time around, he will come not only armed with the most gifted rock vocalist of this generation, Mr. Myles Kennedy and the band of Conspirators, but with an arena production to deliver his fabled show; just as the rock gods intended.
Continue reading Tour News: Slash Australian Tour – August 2012

Tour News: Sampology Announces Australian/NZ Tour | May-June 2012

2012. The Mayans call it the end of the “fourth world”. Some call it the year of doomsday. Others believe it is simply the end of the world as we know it. For Sampology, 2012 is the Super Visual Apocalypse – an audio visual celebration that’s touring Australia and New Zealand from May 31st – June 28th, encouraging us all to party like there’s no tomorrow.

This end of the world stuff has obviously played on Sampology’s mind. His forthcoming single ‘Stars’ featuring Brisbane’s Hannah Macklin beckons us to “look at the stars” if this is your last night on earth, with her vocals adding lushness to this snappy track. ‘Stars’is released May 1st.
Continue reading Tour News: Sampology Announces Australian/NZ Tour | May-June 2012