W♥M

W♥M112: Splendour in the Grass Preview

W♥M112 (50 mins) Listening options: Archive.org: W♥M112

Happy holidays! It's also Sally's birthdate week, as she was kind enough to stop in to preview Splendour in the Grass, which takes place this July 29th to 31st. Doors at 9am, music starts at 11 and ends after midnight. Details at splendourinthegrass.com.

Before we get into the meat of the matter, we did wrap up NXNE, which you can read more details at nxne.weheartmusic.com and all my exploits and adventures and lessons learned.

I did touch a bit on Jo Williamson, not literally, but I kept running into her. Saw Washington played twice, saw loads of other bands too. Disappointed with Brian Wilson, but Men Without Hats, Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield saved the festival. Outro song is "Everybody Loves Me But You" by Hatfield.

Splendour in the Grass 2011 will be covered by the fine Festival Ladies, but Sally and I looked over Coldplay (it was all yellow!), Kanye West (he just shows up everywhere). A good bunch together of Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Gomez, and Regina Spektor in a block is pretty amazing. Also, Grouplove, who I saw a few months ago, they are on the up and up. Yelle, the French girl is pretty hot too. Of course, Foster the People are a really good band, love their songs!

Amazed that DJ Shadow is still around, he pretty much was the first guy that made a whole album of just entirely out of samples.

Song of the Podcast is: British Sea Power's "Georgie Ray" from their new album, Valhalla Dancehall.

BONUS
More Pulp than you can stand. Fitz & The Tantrums are playing the same night as Pulp, so Sally will have to miss out.

Britpop class of '95 article available on independent.co.uk spotlights on Justine Frischmann, Louise Wener, Debbie Smith, David Roundtree, and Tim Brown. Where are they now and what they are doing. Kind of glad to see Debbie Smith is still playing in several bands (I met her a long time ago in a bar and she asked about my t-shirt - it was my penpal's artwork of Morrissey).

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NXNE: Thursday (06/16/11)

NXNE is finally over. Compared SXSW, the various NXNE venues were all over the map. Some were clump together, but for the majority of locations, you had to take the Transit everywhere! This can prove to be a problem, especially during rush hour (and drinking hours, because of the overpopulated taxis in the city). Still, for what it was, it was still relatively a minor problem.

Due to sleep and recovery, I was only able to recap the "major" bands, so now I'll concentrate on the smaller bands/various random events that went throughout the day. Big thank you to everyone (Flip, M for Montreal, NOW, NXNE staff) for welcoming us to Toronto. I had a wonderful time, and if I can afford it, I will attend again in the future.

All I Want Is More Than I Ever Had by Colin Medley

Thursday daytime started with a meet & greet at Sneaky Dee's for Flip Publicity, who really know how to throw a great party. Did not stay too long because I wanted to head back to the hotel, where a few blocks from there was another NXNE party and book launch, courtesy of Pop Montreal. Unfortunately, due to poor public transport and time restraints, I could not attend. The party was mostly for Colin Medley's first book, All I Want Is More Than I Ever Had, which is a collection of photographs that Medley took on tour with his band PS I Love You.

Instead, what ended up happening was walking to the Hyatt to hopefully see Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) get his NOW Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. The waiting and buildup time was incredible, only to have Wilson show up and gone in under 30 seconds! Blink and he was gone!

To be fair, we were warned that Wilson was in a rush on his way to his first-ever Canadian tour. I don't know if he had a limo waiting or what the big deal was, but I felt the whole thing was a bit rude and a brush-off, especially considering that NOW Magazine clearly devoted a lot of time and energy putting this together. I gently crossed his name off my itinerary of bands to see for Saturday.

Brian Wilson receives NOW Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, Toronto (06/16/11)

Evening, I had high expectations to see either Goldenboy or Luyas or DD/MM/YYYY or The Dig, but with transport and overcrowded venues, I did not end up seeing any of those bands. The only decent show was at Lee's Palace, to catch Evan Dando & Juliana Hatfield, so we got there just barely in the nick of time to see Washo again.

How to Tame Lions Swallow 80 Miles Want (Rufus Wainwright cover) The Hardest Part I Believe You Liar Cement Shivers (Nick Cave cover) Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air (Paul Kelly cover)

Megan Washington (aka Washington), did a different setlist from her previous night at Supermarket. Between the two performances, I have to say that Supermarket was more fun, due to the fact that she spent a lot of time talking and telling stories about her songs. Her show at Lee's Palace was strictly "by the books" as it were.

As you can see from the setlist I've laid out for you, she did three cover songs. The last (Paul Kelly) was done in acapella and it was perfect for a very quiet room.

Kevin Seconds is the founding member and lead singer for the 80s punk band 7 Seconds, who had their moment in the sun when they were signed to Sony Records in the mid-90s. The band is still around, complete with the original Kevin Seconds and his brother Steve Youth.

Kevin's live show was understandably a little less than hardcore punk, and I am assuming he did material from his solo work. He sure seem to have a lot of stories about being his travels and his experiences and he generally was happy to be back in Toronto (apparently his band have come through town many times).

Kevin Seconds ended his set with an optimstic "Happy Beginning" song, from his last release, Good Luck Buttons.

Washington at Lee's Palace, Toronto (06/16/11)		Kevin Seconds at Lee's Palace, Toronto (06/16/11)

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NXNE: Wednesday

How to Tame Lions Want (Rufus Wainwright cover) Cement The Hardest Part The Belly of the Whale Swallows Navy Blues I Believe You Liar Washington Setlist

JF Robitaille at Market Lane Jon Bryant at Supermarket, Toronto (06/15/11) Everywhere at Supermarket, Toronto (06/15/11) TimeGiant at Supermarket, Toronto (06/15/11)

Technically, NXNE starts on Wednesday, even though concert-wise, there weren't much going on. For some reason, I thought it would be much busier, but my schedule was manageable; despite even missing the Union Station performances because I had no idea where the bands were setup.

Still, caught JF Robitaille at Market Lane. There was a little delay because there were no power until the city guy came by.

Robitaille played a brief set, ran out of songs, but played on a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Blues Run the Game".

Other notable things, there were loads of kids at the park, eating their lunches with their teachers. The type of folksy tales of love and lost by Robitaille went over the heads of the toddliers.

Wednesday evening was spent at Supermarket (near Spadina and College) with Jon Bryant, from, Canada, but his heart is in Seattle, Washington. He sings softly about his experiences, and even wrote a song about Ontario, on a bus ride to and fro the city.

Everywhere were listed as Everywhere and Ross Mundo were like power rock. Played "Uh Oh", as well as other songs from their self-titled album. Highlight was a cover of The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

TimeGiant had brought their fans, who enjoyed rocking out to these guys. They seem like hard rock/borderline metal, and they love performing on stage. They look and sound like they are having a great time, but unfortunately, their music weren't really my cup of tea.

I was mainly at Supermarket to see Washington. Missed her in Minneapolis, when she unfortunately, fell ill. So, finally got a chance to see her last night.

It was just Megan Washington and her keyboard, so, as I suspected, she didn't do her more upbeat pop songs, "Sunday Best", "Teenage Fury" or her DiVinyls cover, "I Touch Myself". She did a pretty emotional version of her song, "Swallows".

As you can see from her setlist, she did a Rufus Wainwright cover song. The story behind that is pretty funny, as were all her little stories, but apparently Wainwright dismissed himself from Megan's company by stating, "excuse me, but I have to pee, from my penis."

Glad to have caught her, I'll be seeing her again tonight at Lee's Palace with Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield. Should be a wonderful evening.

Washington at Supermarket, Toronto (06/15/11)

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W♥M111: NXNE

W♥M111 (30 mins) Listening options: Archive.org: W♥M111

NXNE is coming, June 13-19, 2011, in Toronto, Canada. I am flying in on the 12th, and I guess will be doing touristy things in the city. If you want to hang out, send me a note. The music portion, as far as looking at the schedule, doesn't actually start until Wednesday, the 15th. Which means, I have a lot of time to kill, perhaps I'll attend some of the movies that NXNE has to offer (I am probably going to try and make it to "Upside Down – The Creation Records Story", a documentary about Creation Records). I have gone on record and stated that I think Alan McGee is a genius.

Bands on NXNE that Cristina and I touched on:

Men Without Hats: Love them. Can't believe they are still around. Basically cannot wait to hear them play their big two hit songs, "The Safety Dance" ("because if your friends don't dance, then they're no friends of mine!") and "Pop Goes the World".

Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield: I haven't seen either bands (Lemonheads or Juliana Hatfield Three), so I am definitely excited to see them for the first time. Lara claims that Dando brings a sort of time machine with him: to the year 1992.

The Pharcyde: Cristina seems more excited about this 90s hip hop band, who, to be honest, I was never into hip hop - but if they are playing, I'll check them out!

Art Brut: I think they're really, really funny. They also love their comic books (they have a fascination with American comics, because they're from the UK). I've seen them before, but I'll love to see them again. See below for more Art Brut dates:

6/15 - Chicago at Double Door
6/16 - Cleveland at Beachland Ballroom
6/17 - Toronto at Mod Club
6/18 - Montreal at Il Motore
6/20 - Boston at Brighton Music Hall
6/21 - Hoboken at Maxwells
6/22 - DC at Black Cat
6/23 - Brooklyn at Music Hall Williamsburg
8/27 - Los Angeles at Sunset Junction Festival

Peelander-Z: Recently added to the bill. They're playing a few dates, one of which I cannot make it to. It'll be good to see them again.

Washington: Also a late addition (she wasn't on the initial lineup), but I'll finally get a chance to see her. She canceled her Minneapolis show, so this will be my first time seeing her in Canada. First song of the show is Washington's "Sunday's Best".

Click "read more" to see the entire schedule for NXNE (or head over to nxne.com). So many of the bands starts at 9pm, so it's definitely not an all-day party as far as it compared to SXSW.

BONUS
Two interesting Peelander-Z projects coming up, including Peewonder-Z, the sister band of Peelander-Z, and TheBlackCherry, a side project of Peelander-Green (aka Cherry) and Peelander-Black.

Both Peewonder-Z and TheBlackCherry are playing at Death By Audio in New York on June 9^th, details on fb.com

Also, Australia's The Panda Band has return with their single, "The Fix", which is available as a free download. Second song of the show is Panda Band's "The Fix".

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W♥M109: PULP

W♥M109 (37min) Listening options:Archive.org: W♥M109

Sally recaps Groovin the Moo in Maitland.

We touched a bit on Washington, The Go! Team, and Architecture in Helsinki. All bands we've previously love.

Strangely, Foster the People came up in the mix. I've already listed their tour dates with Gardens & Villa, so please look them up if you've never heard of them.

GRUFF RHYS
www.gruffrhys.com

We like Super Furry Animals, so it's natural that Sally reported on his live show. I'm including his tour dates below because I thought I'd miss his US appearance (but I have not):

5/27 Austin, TX @ Mohawk
5/28 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
5/30 Tempe, AZ @ Sail Inn / Rhythm Room
5/31 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
6/1 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
6/2 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop/ Popscene
6/3 Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
6/4 Vancouver, Canada @ Biltmore
6/5 Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
6/8 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
6/9 Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
6/10 Pontiac, MI @ Pike Room
6/11 Toronto, Canada @ Horseshoe Tavern
6/14 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
6/15 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge

**All dates with support from backing band Y Niwl

PULP RETURNS
www.pulppeople.com

After hearing that Pulp reformed, it was inevitable that they are going to be doing some live dates. At first only the UK dates were announced, but now they've decided to invade Australia. Obviously, Sally will be there to do the stalking when they arrive. Notably that they are only non-festival dates are at Sydney and Melbourne.

27 May 2011 Primavera Sound Barcelona, Spain 11 June 2011 Isle Of Wight Festival, UK 1 July 2011 Open'er Festival Gdynia, Poland 3 July 2011 Wireless Festival London, UK 7 July 2011 Exit Festival Novi Sad, Serbia 8 July 2011 Bazant Pohoda Trencin, Slovakia 10 July 2011 T In The Park Kinross, UK 14 July 2011 Vieilles Charrues Carhaix, France 15 July 2011 Dour Festival Dour, Belgium 17 July 2011 Melt Festival Grafenhainichen, Ger 23 July 2011 On The Bright Side Perth, Australia		27 July 2011 Hordern Pavilion Sydney, Australia 29 July 2011 Festival Hall Melbourne, Australia 31 July 2011 Splendour In The Grass Woodford 10 August 2011 Sziget Festival Budapest, Hungary 12 August 2011 Oya Festival Oslo, Norway 13 August 2011 Way Out West Gothenburg 18 August 2011 Festival Paredes de Coura 20 August 2011 Terra Vibe Park Athens, Greece 27 August 2011 Reading Festival Reading, UK 28 August 2011 Leeds Festival Leeds, UK 4 September 2011 Electric Picnic Stradbally, Ireland

BONUS
Crow, an Australian band from the 90s. I don't have any of their music so I just glaze of this segment. Other Australian bands, RATCAT, and Smudge (Tom Morgan). The Cure doing their first three albums at the Sydney Opera House... and speaking of house, House of Pain at Groovin the Moo.

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Lions

Separated at Birth? Cristina said: "She looks like Brian Molko" Read More Washington Washington has successfully made it into the Australian mass conscience - proven by the shortening of their name to 'Washo' by various fans and radio DJs.

As promised, here is the Lions portion of my Lions, Tigers and Bears series. I have a lot of Tigers, it's just a matter of timing at the moment.

Please read more: Bears, King of the Jungle, and Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!.

WASHINGTON
washingtonmusic.com.au

Megan Washington, or just Washington, or just "Washo" as some people are calling her, just made her US debut with her EP, How to Tame Lions, available on iTunes this week. She's no stranger here at W♥M, because we like her.

The five-track EP features two hit singles, plus three B-Sides from her 2009 single How To Tame Lions. I had actually heard all these songs before, all songs are available on her import 2-disc edition of I Believe You Liar, featuring twelve album tracks and a bonus B-Side disc. However, if you haven't heard of Washington, the How to Tame Lions is a good start. Not too pricey (under $5), it's a good way to sample an artist, especially when NYLON is calling her "Australia's best kept secret" and ARIA gave her "Best Female Artist" and "Breakthrough Artist" for 2010!

The songs from Washington seems to have a touch of sexuality, but not slutty. That's important for Washington who represents normal people: glass-wearing, smart-but-down-to-earth sort, who is addicted to internet (in particular Facebook). You can relate to her when she sings about love ("You can be Arthur Miller and I'll be your Marilyn Monroe" from "How to Tame Lions"), anger ("All that teenage fury. I hope you wrote that down." from "Teenage Fury"), about lack of money ("All the years of being broke, all the spit and all the smoke, and all the f**king, all the drugs..." from "Welcome Stranger") and I think about sex ("Do you know what's in my head when I'm below you? Do I know you? Do I make you hum?" from "Sunday Best").

The best track here is "Sunday Best". I'm pretty sure I've played it more than "thirty-one times", the catchy, dancey song will make you say "Holy s***t, you sure can turn it on!". I was hoping she can turn it on earlier this year, but she canceled the Minneapolis show at the last minute. Oh well, maybe next time.

ARI HEST
arihest.com

I think the name Ari Hest means "commanding lion"? Hest is short for behest and ari, or aryeh, is the Hebrew word for lion. Hest probably won't agree to such meaning, but in either case, he's going to be touring Ireland, in support of his album, Sunset Over Hope Street, with Declan O'Rourke. I've listed his full tour dates below.

Sunset Over Hope Street was released March 1^st via Downtown Records' Mercer Street, and marks Hest's first LP in over four years (his last appearance was on Columbia Records The Break-In in 2007). Despite not releasing a record, he's actually been pretty busy, recording a song a week (52 new songs for his fans last year).

So, I did get a chance to listen to Sunset Over Hope Street, the outstandingly good song on the album is "Business Of America", which sees Hest fed up with the music industry, singing "It isn't what you are, it's what you've got. Pay no attention to the dying man, if he ain't got cash, we won't lend a hand... in the business of America, it's the system at work: everybody's a jerk".

The video and single is "If I Knew You'd Say Yes", you can watch on aol.com. Hest is in the video, blindfolded, while a woman is painting and then burning her work. I also liked the violins/orchestra on "Sunset Over Hope Street", which was a nice change of pace from the typical acoustic singer/songwriter type of songs.

Hest explained the video: "I wanted to show two people unwilling to trust one another, each one having pre-conceived notions of what it means to be committed, and neither of them able to get a read on each other. The dichotomy of the words in paint represent their attitudes. I wanted there to be physical movement involved to show how they aren't grounded. The song is about how difficult it can be to read people, and how ideas begin to form of who people are based only on one's intuition." To be honest, I didn't see that message in the video, but it's fine because Hest said he had a lot of fun making the video, especially with dumping paint on him, over and over again.

Ari is currently on tour for Sunset Over Hope Street, dates below:

May 20, 2011 - Brennan Coffehouse - NJ May 28, 2011 - Union Street Cafe - Berwick, NS May 29, 2011 - The Carleton - Halifax, NS June 2, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX June 3, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX June 4, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX June 5, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX June 6, 2011 - Wexford Arts Centre, Ireland* June 7, 2011 - Set Theatre Langton, Ireland*		June 10, 2011 - Nerve Centre 7-8 , Ireland* June 15, 2011 - Docks Art Centre, Ireland* June 16, 2011 - Whelan's 25 Wexford, Ireland* June 24, 2011 - Gonzo Theatre, Ireland* June 25, 2011 - An Grianan Theatre, Ireland* July 8, 2011 - Grey Horse Tavern, NY July 9, 2011 - Acoustic Long Island, NY * w/Declan O'Rourke

A HOUSE FOR LIONS
ahouseforlions.com

I Want Us To Be Remembered is A House for Lions' first debut EP was released a few months ago (March 1^st). Sorry I couldn't make it more timely, but it's hard ot write a whole article based on one song. The free song, in question, that they let me download is called "Let Back" (free download at planetarygroup.com), which sounds a bit like early Radiohead (but critics are coupling them up to Snow Patrol and Ryan Adams). The origin of this song is that it was the first A House For Lions song, by lead singer Daniel Norman. The melodies came to him in a dream and he worked it all out while walking through a park.

A House For Lions' next show is May 27^th, at the Hotel Café in Hollywood, California.

YOUNG REBEL SET
www.youngrebelset.co.uk

Not really given too much to work with this seemingly young-ish band called Young Rebel Set. All I'm told is that they have an album called Curse Our Love out on June 6^th on Big Flame Records. The preview track, you can download for free, is called "Fall Hard" at soundcloud.com.

What I was more interested in is their upcoming release called Lion's Mouth to be out May 22^nd, which you can hear on their official Soundcloud.

I actually really like the song, the catchy chorus goes:

So I jumped into the Lion's Mouth
just to see what life was really all about it.
And if I'm reaching into the flames, all I am still remains,
oh you'll see what I was all about.

Tour dates below:

May 20, 2011 - Start The Bus, Bristol, UK Jun 3, 2011 - SELFRIDGES, London Jun 5, 2011 - The Empire - INTRO Festival Jun 8, 2011 - Schillertage Festival, Germany Jun 9, 2011 - SCHLACHTOF, Germany Jun 10, 2011 - Museumskeller, Germany Jun 11, 2011 - Mango Bop Festival, Germany Jun 12, 2011 - Orange Blossom Festival, Germany Jun 14, 2011 - Projekt 7, Germany Jun 15, 2011 - Waschhaus, Germany		Jun 16, 2011 - ZAKK, Germany Jun 17, 2011 - Southside Festival, Germany Jun 18, 2011 - Hurricane Festival, Germany Jul 14, 2011 - Arms Around The Arena, Austria Jul 21, 2011 - MONTO WATER RATS, London Jul 22, 2011 - KOKO CLUB NME, London Aug 5, 2011 - Stockton Weekender Aug 6, 2011 - Belladrum Tartan, Scotland Aug 7, 2011 - Ignition Festival, Newcastle Sep 9, 2011 - Bestival, Isle of Wight

WHITE LION
whitelionthemovie.com

I don't have a review copy, so I can't really tell you what the music is like on this soundtrack for this movie called "White Lion". It's probably what you would guess for a movie soundtrack: lots of instrumental orchestral music.

The movie is currently out on DVD and Bluray in the US, the soundtrack, composed by Philip Miller, was released earlier last month (April 26^th), via Moviescore Media.

Miller has this to add to his work: "While the story is set in Africa, we were keen not to make it sound too ‘indigenous or ethnic African.’ They [the director and producers] wanted me to compose a score that had several strong, classical musical themes that the audience would recognize and remember as they watch the film."

There is little dialog in the film, so the music and image of the animals are what's important in this movie.

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REVIEW: Groovin The Moo 2011 - Maitland (7/5/2011)

Poor Maitland,.. or more specifically, the kids from Maitland… always being the brunt of our bogan jokes, when in reality, us kids from Newcastle weren’t much less boganic. To cut a long story short, Maitland was the scene of one of the locations of the Groovin The Moo festival, which tours around Australia each year to some more regional locations (rather than your capital cities like Melbourne or Sydney).

My first thoughts, as I walked up to the entrance, were “lordy… that person’s backyard is going to be a river of wee if people keep weeing on that tree” and “why did no one tell me that short denim shorts were ‘in’?” However, those thoughts soon faded because as funny as the female uniform was, there was some music to be concentrating on.

After catching the very end of The Jezabels (who were on unusually early on in the line-up… in my opinion), Darwin Deez was the first act on our list of must-sees. As quirky as his recordings was the performance by Darwin Deez and band. It was pretty much what I was expecting music-wise. Poppy, happy, guitar driven tunes; keeping the kids dancing, although most of the songs seem to be relate to some sort of relationship break-up. Sad and happy all at once: “Everyday ought to be a bad day for you”. The best part, by far…  was the choreographed interludes (to Enya, amongst other songs) performed by the entire band.

Those lads from Norway, Datarock, adorned in snazzy red tracksuits, played next on the adjacent stage and pleased the ever-growing crowd significantly. I do admit that although I enjoyed the recent 'Catcher In The Rye' release from Datarock, I’ll never be able to go past 'Computer Camp Love', which, to my surprise (and dismay) was released as far back as 2005…. feels like yesterday. And yes, to my glee, they played it.

Washington has successfully made it into the Australian mass conscience - proven by the shortening of their name to 'Washo' by various fans and radio DJs. Megan and the band played an upbeat and rather tight set, sticking mostly to the well known songs from 'I Believe You Liar', the main exception being their version of The Divinyl's 'I Touch Myself' where Megan appeared to be channelling Christina Amphlett. Megan Washington's band made no attempt to divert attention away from her, which would have been a challenge anyway, considering her diva-like presence on show. They did divide the popsters from the rock fans amongst the festival crowd, but there were many up front who may have been there only to see Washington. And some very enthused sing-a-longs.

The Go! Team were as brilliant live as I always remembered them. I don’t know what you think, but their energy on stage coupled with their performance of the songs that are just made for singing/yelling along, makes them more enjoyable live than sitting at home (or on a train or in the supermarket) listening to their recordings. Ninja makes the stage her own and has an amazing ability to get the crowd involved (I also think she might have laughed at how tiny my camera was compared to the other photographers - but also.... she probably didn't even notice it).

House of Pain really aren’t my cuppatea, but really seems to be just what the Maitland folk were waiting for. You can probably guess which of their songs is the only song I know and yes, the minute they started playing 'Jump Around' there was an insane mass flux of people moving towards the stage.  I was like an alcoholic salmon swimming upstream towards the bar.

Architecture in Helsinki were the last of my highlights from the day. I’d never managed to catch these guys live before. It was always on the list, and now my mission is complete. A band that is loved by squillions and so well-travelled, but have never crossed my path (not that that’s any kind of amazing feat).  Looking like they had just stepped straight out of the 80’s, Architecture in Helsinki played all their most well known tunes and more. The crowd watching was large and dense, making it slightly hard to see, but that really didn’t matter. 

Groovin the Moo: an excellent day out and a great opportunity for kids of all ages who might not live near a capital city to get out and experience live music in a festival setting. Fingers crossed that future Groovin the Moo’s can attract such a high calibre of acts and keep the crowds coming.

Link: Groovin The Moo 2011 - Maitland: Gallery.

Sally & John

WIN WIN WIN: JJJ Hottest 100 Volume 18

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool... Sia... The Wombats... Boy & Bear... Washington... Two Door Cinema Club... Kanye West Featuring Pusha T... Gypsy & The Cat... The National... Florence + The Machine & Dizzee Rascal... Yeasayer... Sparkadia... Crystal Castles (featuring Robert Smith)... Darwin Deez... Arcade Fire... Drapht... The Naked And Famous... Gorillaz (featuring Daley)... The Jezabels... Hot Chip... The John Steel Singers... Angus & Julia Stone

You like?

This year an incredible 155,222 voters from 152 countries registered 1.26 million votes in JJJ's annual survey to find the hottest songs of 2010. Add to that 3,526 Hottest 100 parties held by listeners across Australia and internationally - making 2010's poll their biggest to date. 

What immediately stands out in this year's Hottest 100 results is that 50% of the chart is comprised of Australian songs. Seeing local talent like Little Red, Birds of Tokyo, Washington, Boy & Bear, Art Vs. Science, Tame Impala, Cloud Control, Sia, The Jezabels, Drapht, Bag Raiders, Children Collide, Bliss N Eso, Gypsy & The Cat feature so prominently in this year's Hottest 100 is a fantastic feeling.

See the full Hottest 100 list here. 

So to celebrate the release of this year's double CD of awesomeness....... weheartmusic have a few copies to give away. Do you want one?

All you need to do is send an email to sally@weheartmusic.com (just make it obvious that you really want one) and the three people who are most obviously in need of a copy of Volume 18 of Triple J's Hottest 100 will get one!

Otherwise... you'll just have to go to the shop and buy it.... or download it from the comfy chair of your choosing.

(Competition closes March 25th... winners will be notified by email)

Sally 

sally@weheartmusic.com

 

 

W♥M104: Groovin' the Moo 2011

W♥M104 (45min: archive/podomatic/mypodcast)

Groovin' the Moo is an annual festival across Australia. It started in 2005, and is going strong in 2011 with a healthy line up:

The Go! Team

Architecture in Helsinki

The Wombats

Washington

The Holidays

House of Pain

UNKLE

Datarock

Darwin Deez

Song of the week is Darwin Deez's "Radar Detector"

BONUS:
Belle & Sebastian (again!) at the Opera House, Vu is seeing US Royalty today/yesterday, some Australian benefit, and a rant on Radiohead's "King of Limbs" price structure. All this and more.

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