Big Day Out 2009: The Line Up [citation found]

So the Big Day Out lineup is out of the bag, and it'll come as little surprise to anyone who has been following the speculation and rumours over the past few months (including our own detective work, which has been found to be pretty accurate). So here's the first announcement, with a few thoughts.

Neil Young: Undoubtedly a musical legend, and has been hugely popular and influential over the last 40 odd years. But as a Big Day Out headliner, he's an enormous departure from this year's headliner, Rage Against The Machine, and it'll be intresting to see how well he goes down with 'the kids'. Surely only a full-on greatest hits set will please the crowd.

Arctic Monkeys: At the moment, it's looking like BDO will be the band's first dates in a while (since Alex Turner's Last Shadow Puppets project) so the BDO crowd will see a reinvigorated band, and be amongst the first in the world to hear material from the 3rd Monkeys LP. Should go down a storm.

The Living End: Well loved, and their comeback album was well received, so they're a very logical choice for the Australian headliner slot.

The Prodigy: Produced some of the best dance music of the 90's, and their shows back then were legendary. This decade, however, both their shows and their music has been 'patchy' to say the least. Still, the boiler room is likely to go mental when they're on, if that's where they're playing.

Sneaky Sound System Another Aussie no-brainer on the lineup. They'll be a big crowd pleaser.

My Morning Jacket: One of the most thrilling live acts I've seen and they make a big noise which sounds great outdoors.

Pendulum: They will be well used to playing in the open air now after their stint doing the European festivals.

Bullet For My Valentine: Because it's important to have something to keep the emos miserable.

TV On The Radio: Performing on the back of their hugely acclaimed (not least by us) new LP, but not yet widely known in Australia, TVOTR are sure to pick up a lot of new fans at BDO.

Simian Mobile Disco: They've remixed or produced pretty much everybody, and they're pretty entertaining on their own, too.

The Ting Tings: Likely to split the BDO crowd between the lovers and the haters, much like Operator Please did this year.

And the rest: Tiki Taane, Cut Copy, Cog, Youth Group, The Grates, Birds Of Tokyo, Eddy Current Supression Ring all play the Aus shows, and a bunch of other bands play in New Zealand.

So beyond the risky headliner choice, it's all pretty safe and uninspiring, lots of crowd pleasers, something for just about everyone, but little in the way of 'absolute must see'. I guess that's what BDO's all about really. Bring on the ATP announcement (due midnight tonight), I say.

Update

Something else has just occured to me about the lineup: one of the great things about festivals is getting the chance to see new bands who haven't neccessarily got enough material yet to justify going to see a full headline set. But there's an almost total absence of new bands on this lineup. It's only really the Ting Tings that have emerged in the last twelve months.

Also, by my reckoning, there's not a single band on the lineup who have never played Australia before. BDO ought to be a great excuse to coax over some bands who are a bit shy of the Southern Hemisphere, like they did with the likes of Arcade Fire last year. Not so this year.

And No Radiohead. No alarms and no surprises there.

Thoughts? post them below...

Take a Moment Behind the Scenes with NIN

Moment Factory, the company who provided much of the light show used on the Nine Inch Nails Lights In The Sky tour (as seen here and here) have released a video detailing some of the effects and how they work - click here to watch it on YouTube.

Dear Science, Is it too early to declare my Album of the Year?

It has taken a full week of listening before I could even start writing this review of Dear Science: what is there to say about something that is so damn good?

Dear Science is TV on The Radio’s fourth album and it sees the band continue to hide their nihilistic message in falsetto vocals and diverse uplifting music that is polished beyond perfection.

Opener Halfway Home is a not a big jump from TVOTR’s earlier work; b-b-b-bar-bar, b-b-b-bar-bar lyrics, hand claps, awkward percussion, fuzzy synths and buzzing guitars.

Dear Science highlight Dancing Choose has vocalist Tunde Adebimpe spitting lyrics about the newspaper man, his squashed toes and a cramped dance floor while the band lays out some skronking horns and high-hat. The result: electro-funk on speed.

On the bands 2006 release Return to Cookie Mountain, guitarist/producer David Sitek looked to fill every space of every song with layer upon layer of sound. On Dear Science, he strips back these layers giving lo-fi delights like Stork & Owl and Love Dog the room to swirl around inside your head, while Family Tree - a string filled (forbidden) love ballad - provides the perfect comedown from Golden Age’s funk laden optimism.

TVOTR sign the album out with DMZ - a hate anthem for the apocalypse, and the euphoric Kip Malone-lead Lover’s Day, a track that is so sexy it should come with it’s own morning after pill.

Dear Science is more accessible and more consistent than anything TVOTR have done before; this doesn’t mean they have gone plain, boring or commercial - far from it. (Album of the Year)

Radiohead Re / Mix It Again

In Rainbows highlight Reckoner has been covered by Gnarls Barkley, slated for a position on the Choke soundtrack and now it is available for fan driven remixing.

Following up on the success of the Nude Remix project Radiohead have today released the stems to Reckoner for download from iTunes, unlike the Nude project you only have to pay for one download and you get access to all 6 pieces of the track.

Creative folks have already started posting their remixes on http://radioheadremix.com/.

Come back soon for Bawley’s take on Reckoner.

Just for old times’ sake you can go here for the best of our Nude remixes.

Soundwave: The little festival that could

Since going national in the summer of 2007, the Soundwave festival has grown from strength to strength and 2009 looks like it will be the biggest year yet. The focus is still very much on rock, with the 2009 festival featuring bands playing punk, hardcore, metal, metal core, screamo, 90’s grunge, industrial, comedy and pretty much any other hard rock sub-genre you can think of.

At the top of the list sits two very big names, the reformed Alice In Chains and the never better Nine Inch Nails. At Bawley we are hoping Nine Inch Nails will bring along their amazing Lights In the Sky visuals (here and here) minus the technical problems that have hit the some of the South American dates.

Joining AIC and NIN are goth punks Alkaline Trio, System of a Down spin-off Scars on Broadway, guitar pop kids The Subways, the heavy as s**t Lamb of God, Welsh post-hardcore specialists Funeral For A Friend, and some toilet humour comedians well past their use by date (The Bloodhound Gang).

The festival will stop in Brisbane (21/02), Sydney (22/02), Melbourne (27/02), and Adelaide (28/02) before finishing up in Perth on Monday the 2nd of March.

Hit http://www.soundwavefestival.com/ for the full line up and venue details.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Why spend the day Arggh-in’ and Ahoy-in’ t’ all ye pirate mates when you can celebrate Talk Like A Pirate Day in alt-country style by downloading the new Lambchop track National Talk Like a Pirate Day, taken from their album OH (Ohio) which is due for a October 7th release.

Unfortunately it is not a swash buckling novelty song, but more of a roots based rock song that tells the story of a ditsy house wife, her pyjamas and her troubles - that exist today (on National Pirate Day) just as they do every other day.

Li’ly libbered land lubbers can download the mp3 via stereogum.

More Lambchop loving here and here.

Nine Inch Nails: Lights out

Spectacular though Nine Inch Nails' Lights In The Sky looks, unfortunately, it seems it's all a bit too clever.

The band have just cancelled some dates in South America due to "unforseen technical issues" which surely has something to do with the light show.  Plenty of other dates are unaffected at present, so it seems the problem isn't too drastic.

4:13 Dream - Gets track listing, cover art and predictably delayed release date

The Cure have unveiled the cover art and track listing for their 13th studio album 4:13 Dream. The album will have 13 tracks including the already released singles The Only One, Freakshow, Sleep When I’m Dead, and The Perfect Boy. Bad news is fans will have to wait just a little longer than expected to hear the new material, as the release date has (predictably) been delayed from the 13th to the 27th of October, just one day before Perfect as Cats is released.

Track listing:

1. Underneath the Stars
2. The Only One
3. The Reasons Why
4. Freakshow
5. Sirensong
6. The Real Snow White
7. The Hungry Ghost
8. Switch
9. The Perfect Boy
10. This. Here and Now. With You
11. Sleep When I'm Dead
12. The Scream
13. It's Over

Jokingly Robert Smith has suggested that the dark companion album might be released in early 2009 – believe it when it happens.

Bloc Party: Put on Free Shows, Take Over Radio Station

Despite sending one of our best correspondents out on to the streets of America for a few weeks, weddings, time zones and massive distances have ruled Bawley out of a ticket to this Friday’s FREE Bloc Party gig at the New York Roseland Ballroom. Better located readers should go here for ticket details.

If - like us - you can’t make it to the show, you can still get your fill of Bloc Party love as the band take up a September long residency on UK digital radio station XFM.

From 9pm(BST) every Sunday night Matt and Kele will be in to chat about and spin some of their favourite tunes. The kind folk at XFM have posted the previous shows for your streaming pleasure.

Bloc Party are Kylie fans? Hmm not that surprised really.

$16.99/£7.99 hard earned reasons not to buy Hypnagogic States

Last Saturday (13/9) The Cure released the Hypnagogic States EP. The EP contains remixes of the four 13 series singles as done by some of the biggest mall punk stars around today, plus Exploding Head Syndrome, a 21 and a half minute mix combining all four singles.

1. The Only One – mixed by Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars)
2. Freakshow – mixed by Jade Puget (AFI)
3. Sleep When I’m Dead – mixed by Gerrad Way (My Chemical Romance) and Julien-K
4. The Perfect Boy – mixed by Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump (Fall Out Boy)
5. Exploding Head Syndrome – mixed by 65daysofstatic

All the bands’ profits from Hypnagogic will go the International Red Cross. Sounds promising, but unfortunately iTunes have massively over priced this five-track release and Robert Smith is recommending that fans do not buy the release until it is made cheaper.

PLEASE DONT BUY HYPNAGOGIC STATES EP FROM ITUNES FOR £7.99

IT IS ABSURD!

TMU HAS MANAGED TO FUCK THIS UP TO ANOTHER LEVEL!

More colourful language in this email that Robert sent to the powers that be.

Big Day Out 2009: The Line up [citation needed]

Bawley have already blogged on the January Dilemma, here we start to consider just how big the dilemma will be by speculating on who will be confirmed for the Big Day Out in 2009.

We would love to see Radiohead headline but it seems unlikely; the short time and large distances between shows could leave the band looking for greener options. But don’t rule them out for a spot at the Sydney festival, followed by a tour that stretches well into the Australian summer.

The Arctic Monkeys are the kind of band that the Big Day Out loves (as does Richard Ayoade). With a live DVD out in October and a new album next year, the festival would be the perfect place to debut some new tracks.

With Neil Young the first act confirmed for the Big Day Out, you would have to think his national support My Morning Jacket are sure things to join the bill. As most flannel clad fans would know, wherever Neil Young goes Pearl Jam are never far behind - nineties grunge back at the BDO in 2009?

Another band that is all but confirmed is TV on the Radio. While promoting their new album Dear Science, Dave Sitek told triplej’s Zan Rowe:

"I believe we are doing Big Day Out and I can't wait, I love it down there."

Hip hop had a big presence at the northern hemisphere’s summer festivals, Jay-Z did Europe while Kanye West played his glow in the dark shows all over the US. Would the Big Day Out dare step away from their rock roots and bring in one of these huge stars? Personally I think not.

January 2009 could come a little too soon for previous Big Day Out performers Nine Inch Nails, but don’t be surprised if current tour mates Crystal Castles stop by to show case their debut.

The Ting Tings have just completed a successful Australian promo tour, perhaps giving them enough attention for high billing on the Green Stage, while Modern Guilt collaborators Beck and Danger Mouse would both fit well as Green Stage headlines, Beck with his band and Danger Mouse playing in Gnarls Barkley.

Back in June, Portishead guitarist Adrian Utley said the band would not be playing any more shows until 2009. Can you think of anywhere better than the Big Day Out boiler room for them to make their live comeback? Other boiler room possibilities are Hot Chip, Simian Mobile Disco and Primal Scream - all three groups had Europeans dancing up a storm this summer.

Of course there is the Australian contingent: Pendulum’s drum n’ bass n’ metal was massive in the UK this year, while Cut Copy have been touring North America with The Presets - good chance these bands will be back in Australia for the Big Day Out. For Oz rock lovers, The Living End and The Vines have new albums while Jebediah are back on the live circuit. Any one of these bands would be well suited for late afternoon/early evening on the main stage.

Look forward to the official Big Day Out lineup announcement on September 30th.

Want something to keep you busy in the meantime: take your favourite prediction from this post, tell two friends, have them pass it on and wait to see if Bawley’s predictions can get enough attention to be added to the list of classic BDO rumours and hoaxes.

New Arctic Monkeys DVD directed by Richard Ayoade

Arctic Monkeys are releasing their first live DVD next month. Recorded at the excellent Manchester Apollo, it was captured by Danney Cohen (director of photography for 'This Is England') and directed by Richard Ayoade.

Yes, that's Richard Ayoade as in Moss from 'The I.T Crowd':





And Richard Ayoade as in Dean Learner and Thornton Reed from 'Darkplace'.










And Richard Ayoade as in Saboo from 'The Mighty Boosh':



Where were we? Oh yes - Arctic Monkeys DVD. It's called 'Live At The Apollo'. Tracklist:

01 Brianstorm
02 This House Is a Circus
03 Teddy Picker
04 I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
05 Dancing Shoes
06 From the Ritz to the Rubble
07 Fake Tales of San Francisco
08 Balaclava
09 When the Sun Goes Down
10 Nettles
11 D Is for Dangerous
12 Leave Before the Lights Come On
13 Fluorescent Adolescent
14 Still Take You Home
15 Da Frame 2R
16 Plastic Tramp
17 505
18 Do Me a Favour
19 A Certain Romance

OH (Ohio) streaming now

At some point I may post at length about exactly how much I'm in love with Lambchop (I've mentioned it before). For now, suffice to say I can't think of another band who have released quite as many albums of such utter brilliance in a row as Lambchop have managed.

Earlier this year, their first concert DVD (and documentary), 'No Such Silence' had me mesmerised (well worth checking out the trailer and clips here, bizarrely it's only ever been available to order from Germany), and on first listen, their new album, 'OH (Ohio)' (by my reckoning their tenth) which is streaming here now, maintains their high, high standards. Sounds a little more spontaneous, and with a bit more humour than its dark predecessor, 'Damaged' (an album that dealt with a major health scare for singer Kurt Wagner), but no less beautiful. It's released on October 7th.

It baffles me that the band aren't better known.

In 2008 Mercury Bends Elbow's Way

Tonight Elbow have been named winners of the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Prize for their album The Seldom Seen Kid.

Beating out (among others) four time nominees Radiohead, hot favourites Burial, John De Lorean lovers Neon Neon, and Rascal/Monkey combo The Last Shadow Puppets.

After enduring a few difficult years; in which a good friend died and the band were dumped by their record label, this award is a tremendous return to form and good fortune for a group traditionally seen as the ‘band’s band’.

Thank you very, very much and have a top evening - Elbow

Early guesses at nominees for 2009: Monkey: Journey to the West, Franz Ferdinand, ..., ..., your suggestions are welcome below.

Check Your Email: (More) New Bloc Party

Hello!

Following the download release of Intimacy last month, Bloc Party is back with another new track.

The track, one of the CD edition bonus tracks, is set to debut on Zane Lowe’s Radio One show tomorrow night.

Those that have already purchased the album will be able to download the track as soon as it has had its radio debut.

At Bawley we hope it is more Biko and less Ares.

Update: the new track produced by Paul Epworth is called Talons, just a few more hours.

Update: Mini Review: Talons has a danceable beat, angular guitars, and builds into something of an epic rock song - what else would you expect from a Bloc Party single? Do we like it? I think so, listen here and tell us what you think?

Lying in the Gutter, Covering the Stars

The Gutter Twins, lead by two of alt-rocks greatest front men Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, QOTSA, w/ Isobel Campbell) and Greg Dulli (Afghan Wings, Twilight Signers) follow their 2008 debut album Saturnalia with Adorata, an EP of covers with a few previously unreleased originals thrown in.

The folk of Vetiver’s Belles is twisted into a dark psychedelic crawl, while the fragile Down the Line (ranked 23 in the 2007 Bawley 100) by José González is taken over by bashing rock piano and a crashing drum beat. The result: a tough song that you can easily imagine playing back to back with Cold Chisel and Kings of Leon on the jukebox of a country man’s pub or pool hall. The Gutter Twins’ take on Primal Scream’s Deep Hit of Morning Sun is more true to the original, replacing the broken synth sounds of the original with a fully funky band.

In part, the EP was released as a tribute to Natasha Shneider (Eleven/QOTSA), who died of cancer earlier this year. Eleven’s Flow Like a River is so perfect for Lanegan and Dulli it could be a Gutter Twins original. A portion of the proceeds from the Adorata EP will go to the Natasha Shneider memorial fund.

The Gutter Twins originals Spanish Doors and We Have Met Before are just what you would expect from this group: gravelly vocals and gothic blues – now to get me some bourbon and cigarettes.

(updated) Why does everything always have to happen in January?

Rant In Australia, bands are like buses. You wait ages then they all come along at once. Having been starved of quality international acts coming to Australia for eleven months of the year (save small pockets of activity around the V Festival and Splendour In The Grass), January is always the month where everything happens. And coming, as it does, just after Christmas, it also happens to be the time when you've got the least money to spend.

This January, thanks largely to the Sydney Festival and Big Day Out, the likes of Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Arcade Fire, Brian Wilson, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Battles and LCD Soundsystem descended on the country. It was pretty much a who's who of the most talked about bands at the time. And next January looks like it could be even bigger.

Neil Young has been confirmed for Big Day Out, and will be headlining his own shows with My Morning Jacket in support, making MMJ a strong bet for BDO too. Bloc Party and Arctic Monkeys are also amongst the myriad of bands currently rumoured to playing the travelling festival too.

And Sydney Festival seems increasingly able to coax some really big names over who wouldn't normally visit these shores. Surely Radiohead must be top of their wishlist for the '09 event.

In addtion, it's just been announced that excellent All Tomorrow's Parties festival franchise is coming to Oz in, you've guessed it, January. With three days of music and Nick Cave already announced as a headliner, it looks set to be another winner.

So bring on a month of three of your favourite bands playing different venues on the same night, and not being able to afford any of them. Joy.

Update:  But then again, at least the weather's likely to be decent in Australia in January.  efestivals are reporting that this August in the UK has been the worst on record for festival goers, will well below average levels of sunshine, and it was the 5th wettest August on record.  So I won't complain too much.

Young and Restless Demo New Music, Embark on Spring Tour

This week Canberra’s own Young and Restless told triple j they are working on some demos and expect to have a new album out in the first half of next year.

If you can’t wait that long for your Y+R fix you can check them out as they play a stack of shows and festivals this spring. It all kicks off with a free show at Canberra’s Transit Bar.

Full Spring Dates:

19/09 – Canberra
21/09 – Sydney, Under 18s only
26/09 – Melbourne, with the Faint
04/10 – Geelong, Grazzhopper festival
11/10 – Brisbane, Sounds of Spring Festival
31/10 – Adelaide, Halloween Party @ Edinburgh Castle
01/11 – Perth
02/11 – Freemantle
29/11 – Coffs Harbour, open arms festival

Keep an eye on Bawley and the bands website for more dates as they are added.

4.13 Dream

The new The Cure album will be called 4.13 Dream and is scheduled for released on October 13th.

for now.

I heard it on the (Reykjavik) grapevine

There is no better way to get an idea of what is going on in a city than by reading the street press, and of course the greatest insight comes from the letters to the editor page: Canberra has BMA covering the Garema Place silver cushion wars and bitch waitresses in "you pissed me off", Sydney has Drum Media with constant talk of sniffer dogs, scalpers and loss of the local live scene, and Reykjavik has The Grapevine where, between letters about pronunciation of Icelandic words and expressions of distaste for Americans, Björk has created a stir by highlighting what she sees as inherent sexism in music journalism.

While a beer in any of Reykjavik’s oh-so-cool bars will set you back an arm and a leg plus your first born, the Reykjavik Grapevine is free. The Grapevine is an English language street press loaded with useful information for the small ex-pat community and entertainment hungry tourist alike.

An Open Letter to the Reykavik Grapevine from Björk Guðmundsdóttir.

I saw in the last issue of iceland’s newspaper in english : “grapevine” , that valgeir sigurðsson was credited for having written all the instrumentals for my album vespertine . could i please offer a correction : ...

...i´d like to say that he didn´t write it or produce . he was a computer programmer for a third of it and a recording engineer for a third . The other two thirds were done by other engineers and programmers.

Björk then offers some suggestions as to why this miss truth has existed for so long covering: ignorance, sexism, and laziness.

...i hope this correction will be a positive input into more discussion about this

warmth, björk

Read a full re-post of the statement on björk’s website.

What do you think - are music journalists ignorant, sexist or lazy?

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