Here come the Doves

It’s always good news when Doves come back. The band has just announced their fourth album, ‘Kingdom Of Rust’, which is due out 6^th April.

New track ‘Jetstream’ – available for free download from doves.net – sees Doves ‘going electronic’, as bands very often do when they hit their ‘mid-career crisis’. As comeback singles go, it’s no ‘There Goes The Fear’ or ‘Black and White Town’ but represents an interesting New Order-esque new direction.

Let’s see if they can do what fellow Mancuians Elbow did last last year and break through to a wider audience with their fourth record.

Coming soon: A reason to buy the NME

Not many details yet, but it seems the NME are putting together (another) Cure tribute CD, which will be mounted on the cover of the magazine, presumably around the time that the band collect their Godlike Genius award and play their Big Gig in The O2.

So far, British Sea Power have announced (via their mailing list) that they have recorded a version of 'A Forest' and Eddie Argos has revealed on his blog that Art Brut have recorded 'Catch'.

More news as and when we have it.

(Doing the Sums 2008) Are You Joe Average?

Following on from yesterdays post Triple J Hottest 100: The Results are In.

Here is a test to see just how average you are:

1. Write out a list of the songs you voted for in the triplej Hottest 100.
2. Write down the position each of these came in the triplej Hottest 100
3. If a song did not make the list put down 101.
4. Add up the scores, and divide by the number of songs you voted for.
5. Post your results as a comment to this blog entry.

Here is how to interpret your score (thanks fandango)

1-13: Either you are the lovechild of Bernard Fanning and Rikki Lee Coulter or you are actually in The Kings of Leon.

14-27: Betcha listen to 104.7 when no-one's around.

28-40: Very vanilla

41-52: "Middle of the Hill" is your signature song in more ways than one.

53-65: Pretty pedestrian, but you probably have one weirdo friend who is rubbing off on you more than you realise.

66-77: Kinda quirky in a cute way.

78-89: Kinda quirky in a "slowly back away..." way.

90-100: You're a f***ing freak, man

101: Did you vote for songs, or flavours of ice cream????

Bawley scored:

Bloc Party - One Month Off - 101
Hot Chip - One Pure Thought – 101
British Sea Power - Waving Flags - 101
Sparkadia – Jealousy - 79
Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning - 26
Band Of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You - 72
TV On The Radio - Golden Age - 101
Elbow - One Day Like This - 101
The Presets - This Boy's In Love - 8
MGMT - Time To Pretend - 18

70.8 - Kinda quirky in a cute way.

How about you?

Triple J Hottest 100: The Results Are In

2008 saw the highest ever number of votes in the world's largest music poll. But has democracy been saved?

Here are the results (Bawley 100 2008 rankings in brackets):

#100 - Dukes of Windsor - It's a War (99)
#99 - Muph & Plutonic - Don't Worry About Nothin' (--)
#98 - Lyrics Born - I like It, I love It (72)
#97 - Cog - Are You Interested (--)
#96 - Dizzee Rascal - Flex (Dave Spoon Reflex) (--)
#95 - Wiley - Wearing My Rolex (--)
#94 - Bliss n Eso - Woodstock 2008 (--)
#93 - Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook (86)
#92 - Pendulum - Propane Nightmares (--)
#91 - Lisa Mitchell - Nepolitan Dreams (--)
#90 - Lily Allen - Guess Who Batman? (Aka F**ck You) (--)
#89 - Kanye West - Love Lockdown (80)
#88 - Metallica - The Day That Never Comes (--)
#87 - Jack White & Alicia Keys - Another Way To Die (--)
#86 - Muph & Plutonic - Beautiful Ugly (--)
#85 - Gyroscope - 1981 (--)
#84 - Rise Against - Re-education (Through Labor) (--)
#83 - The Grates - Carve Your Name (--)
#82 - Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (--)
#81 - Weezer - Pork and Beans (--)
#80 - The Grates - Aw Yeah (--)
#79 - Sparkadia - Jealousy (7)
#78 - The Ting Tings - Shut Up and Let Me Go (--)
#77 - Drapht - Falling (--)
#76 - Yves Klein Blue - Polka (--)
#75 - Tame Impala - Half Full Glass Of Wine (--)
#74 - Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (94 - in 2007)
#73 - The Killers - Spaceman (--)
#72 - Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You (5)
#71 - Vampire Weekend - One(Blake's got a New Face) (--)
#70 - Kings of Leon - Crawl (--)
#69 - Hot Chip - Ready for the Floor (63 - in 2007)
#68 - Empire of the Sun - We are the People (43)
#67 - Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros (--)
#66 - Children Collide - Farewell Rocketship (--)
#65 - Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (15)
#64 - Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Dawn of the Dead (93)
#63 - The Herd - 2020 (--)
#62 - Faker - Sleepwalking (--)
#61 - Bliss N Eso - The Sea is Rising (--)
#60 - Flight of the Conchords - The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room (--)
#59 - The Getaway Plan - Where the City Meets The Sea (--)
#58 - Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (51)
#57 - Santogold - L.E.S Artistes (71)
#56 - The Presets - Yippiyo- Ay (--)
#55 - Ween - Your Party (--)
#54 - Pnau - Baby (--)
#53 - The Butterfly Effect - Window and the Watcher (--)
#52 - The Killers - Human (77)
#51 - Birds of Tokyo - Wild Eyed Boy (--)
#50 - Ash Grunwald - Breakout (--)
#49 - Mystery Jets - Young Love (feat. Laura Marling) (--)
#48 - Something With Numbers - Stay With Me Bright Eyes (--)
#47 - Little Red - Coca Cola (--)
#46 - Lily Allen - The Fear (92)
#45 - Muscles - Ice Cream {triple j live acoustic version} (--)
#44 - Art vs Science - Flippers (--)
#43 - Laura Marling - Ghosts (--)
#42 - Emiliana Torrini - Jungle Drum (--)
#41 - Soko - I Will Never Love You More (--)
#40 - Bliss N Eso - Eye Of The Storm (--)
#39 - Ida Maria -I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked (-)
#38 - Cold War Kids - Something Is Not Right With Me (--)
#37 - British India - I Said I'm Sorry (--)
#36 - Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart (24)
#35 - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (--)
#34 - The Grates - Burn Bridges (--)
#33 - The Kooks - Always Where I Need To Be (--)
#32 - Vampire Weekend - A-Punk (51)
#31 - Cog - Bird Of Feather (--)
#30 - Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma (--)
#29 - Josh Pyke - Make You Happy (--)
#28 - Architecture In Helsinki - That Beep (29)
#27 - Josh Pyke - The Lighthouse Song (--)
#26 - Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (6)
#25 - Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss A Beat (--)
#24 - Kings of Leon - Closer (--)
#23 - The Living End - White Noise (--)
#22 - Birds Of Tokyo - Silhouettic (78)
#21 - Bon Iver - Skinny Love (18)
#20 - Birds Of Tokyo - Broken Bones (--)
#19 - Flight Of The Conchords - Business Time (--)
#18 - MGMT - Time To Pretend (1)
#17 - Dizzee Rascal - Dance Wiv Me (feat Calvin Harris and Chrome) (-)
#16 - Ben Folds - You Don't Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor) (--)
#15 - Cut Copy - Lights and Music (36)
#14 - The Rapture - No Sex For Ben (13)
#13 - The Herd - The King Is Dead (--)
#12 - Pnau - Embrace (14)
#11 - Ladyhawke - My Delirium (25)
#10 - Drapht - Jimmy Recard (--)
#9 - The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (89)
#8 - The Presets - This Boy's In Love (2)
#7 - Pez - The Festival Song(feat. 360 and Hailey Cramer) (--)
#6 - The Presets - Talk Like That (21)
#5 - MGMT - Kids (40)
#4 - Empire of the Sun - Walking On A Dream (16)
#3 - Kings of Leon - Use Somebody (--)
#2 - MGMT - Electric Feel (65)
#1 - Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire (98)

So just 30 of Bawley's 100 made the list (plus 2 from 2007), and only one of Bawley's 10 made the Hottest 100 top 10. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 3 acts - Kings Of Leon, MGMT and The Presets - dominated the higher reaches of the charts, each occupying two spots in the top 10.

But no Lambchop? No British Sea Power? No Elbow? No The Cure? No Nine Inch Nails? No Crystal Castles? No Deerhunter? No Bloc Party? Not even any TV On The Radio????? What's wrong with these people????

Ah well. Join us soon for a game of 'how mainstream are you?'

Live Review: ‘An Evening With My Morning Jacket’ @ The Metro Theatre, Sydney (22/01/08)

On one of Sydney's hottest nights on record, The Metro had descended into a seething, sweaty mess of tired but happy people by the end of a monumental double set lasting a full 2 hours 45 minutes, from Kentucky's finest rock band, My Morning Jacket.

The setlist says it all, really – the gig was a long, but consistently brilliant blast through the best bits of the band's brilliant back catalogue, which, despite the length, never felt like an endurance event, even during the extended guitar solos (of which there were many).

Highlights? The 15-odd minute version of 'Dondante', The magnificent 'Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Part 2'...Plenty others. If I go to another gig as good as this one in 2009, it'll have been a very good year for live music.

-

Setlist:
At Dawn
It Beats 4 U
Evil Urges
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1
Off the Record
I'm Amazed
Way He Sings
Lowdown
Sec Walkin'
Golden
Thank You Too
Heartbreakin' Man
Mahgeetah
Laylow
Gideon
Librarian
Dondante
Smokin' from Shootin'
Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt.2
Cobra
Run Thru
------
Wordless Chorus
Highly Suspicious
Phone Went West
I Think I'm Going to Hell
Anytime
One Big Holiday

We Could Be Heroes

Bawley hearted artists such as Beck, Elbow, Hot Chip, Peaches, Franz Ferdinand, TV On The Radio and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have recorded covers for an album raising money for charity.

War Child:Heroes is a compilation put together by the organisation War Child, which works to protect children in the world’s most dangerous war zones.

The War Child organisation has long used music to raise money and awareness for the cause. For their latest project War Child:Heroes they asked music legends like Blondie, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Ramones and The Clash to pick new artists to cover one of their songs.

The 15 track CD will be out in most countries on the 16th of February sadly Australians will have to wait until February 21st.

Here's the full track listing:

1. Beck - Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob Dylan)
2. Scissor Sisters - Do The Strand (Roxy Music)
3. Lily Allen - Straight To Hell (The Clash)
4. Duffy - Live And Let Die (Paul McCartney)
5. Elbow - Running To Stand Still (U2)
6. TV On The Radio - Heroes (David Bowie)
7. Hot Chip - Transmission (Joy Division)
8. The Kooks - Victoria (The Kinks)
9. Estelle - Superstition (Stevie Wonder)
10.Rufus Wainwright - Wonderful/ Song For Children (Brian Wilson)
11. Peaches - Search And Destroy (Iggy Pop)
12. The Hold Steady - Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen)
13. The Like - You Belong To Me (Elvis Costello)
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (The Ramones)
15. Franz Ferdinand - Call Me (Blondie)

Anti-news round-up

US Record label Anti have been busy this week. First came the news that they would donate $5 to the Best Friends Animal Society For every blog that links to the free download of Neko Case's new single, 'People Got A Lotta Nerve'. It's well known that Bawley (Hearts) hairy animals so we're only too happy to help out. The single's well worth a listen, too. Her album, 'Middle Cyclone' arrives March 3.

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If that wasn't enough Anti-news, It's also just been announced that hotly tipped ex Grandaddy singer Jason Lytle has signed to Anti- and his debut solo album, 'Yours Truly, the Commuter' comes out on May 19. These are the names of the songs on it:

01 Yours Truly, the Commuter

02 Brand New Sun

03 Ghost of My
Old Dog

04 I Am Lost (And the Moment Cannot Last)

05 Birds Encouraged Him

06 It's the Weekend

07 Fürget It

08 This Song Is the Mute Button

09 Rollin' Home Alone

10 You're Too Gone

11 Flying Thru Canyons

12 Here for Good

Bye Bye Astoria..

From a stupid new building that might get built to a nice old one that's going to get knocked down...

London's legendary Astoria has closed its doors for the last time, soon to be demolished to make way for a shiny new station as part of the massive Crossrail project.

While I'm not overly sentimental, and I'm all for major public transport improvements (take note, Sydney..) and while the Astoria was basically falling apart anyway, it does seem a shame that another of London's historical small-to-medium sized venues has gone to the wall, following the recent closures of The Highbury Garage, The Hammersmith Palais (as in the Clash song), and The Spitz, among others.

Bloggers all over the place are sharing stories about why The Astoria was so great and the amazing gigs they saw there. I only went twice, but both times (for My Morning Jacket and The Polyphonic Spree) rank up there with my all time favourite shows. It was a good size, with good sound, lots of charm and it was easy to get home afterwards. We can only hope that the planned replacement can retain some of the old Astoria's magic.

Justice is in the House

In 1959 the call went out for designs to rebuilt West Berlin’s Kaiser-Wilhelm Church, the winning design was a hideous master piece of concrete steel and glass.

In 2009 Planda (a bunch of cashed up european designers) have the drawn up plans for a crucifix bearing building that might just beat the Kaiser-Wilhelm for ugliness.

The Palais de Justice is based on the cross graphic on the cover of French disco-rock band Justice’s debut album † and will feature a bar, movie theatre, studio, salon, pool and of course a cave.

Here is the plan:


GENESIS † HOUSE from PLANDA on Vimeo.


One can only imagine what might have happened had Justice (and Planda) been around 40 years ago.

Who's Gonna Save My Democracy?

Around this time last year the Bawley crew were left scratching their heads and somewhat disappointed by the results of the world’s largest public music poll, now it is time to make amends.

Voting in the triple j hottest 100 is open now, do us proud. Vote here.

(PS: Act quickly as voting closes on the 18th Jan)

(PPS: Be sure to write down who you voted for, you will need to know this to take part in the famous Bawley How mainstream am I? Quiz – last years results)

New Phoenix album has a title and release season

French band Phoenix have been working on the follow up to their 2006 release It’s Never Been Like That with Philippe Zdar of Cassius fame behind the desk on production/mixing duties.

The album will be released in the northern spring and will have the title Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

If the sweet sounds streaming on the bands website are anything to go by it should be one of the years more delicious albums.

400GB of NIN Tour Footage

In 2008, three Nine Inch Nails concerts were recorded in High Def video with the intention of making a 3D feature movie documenting the awesome Lights In the Sky tour. Record company issues got in the way of that plan.

Now, ‘someone’ has leaked the HD footage to the internet, with the hope that fans will pick up the material and make something more of it. These dudes seem to have a head start on most.

I have yet to edit my own wedding footage so I don’t think I will be taking up the challenge, but here are the torrent files if you have time and disk space to spare.

Victoria (125 GB)
Portland (167 GB)
Sacramento (112 GB)

New music: 5 for 2009

Here are five fairly randomly chosen new acts from around the world (I'm defining 'new' as 'haven't released a debut album yet') that it might be worth keeping an eye out for in 2009. Or not. Who knows? their albums might all be rubbish. We'll have to wait and see....

5. Soko

Slightly mental French singer Soko first emerged last year with that 'I'll Kill Her' song (number 5 in last year's Bawley 100) and judging by her Myspace, there's a bit more where that came from. She's apparently working on her debut album. Myspace

4. Jason Lytle

This one's a bit of a cheat, because Jason Lytle had been making music for ages as Grandaddy's frontman. But his debut solo album is due next year, and word has it, it's going to be up there with his best work. But they always say that. Myspace (see also: Sew Low Owl Bum)

3. Sui Zhen

Australian singer songwriter Sui Zhen has been playing a lot around Sydney recently, with her excellent band. With a voice somewhere between Joanna Newsome and Feist, and some great quirky indie-pop tunes, her debut, should be one to look out for in 09. Myspace.

2. Little Boots.

One of the many 'girls with synths' that are popping up all over the place at the moment and should be a big feature of the coming year. Little Boots has been working with Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor to create some great wonky electro pop. Download a brilliant 45 minute long mixtape from her myspace.

1. Mumford & Son

Peers of the likes of Laura Marling, Johnny Flynn and the like, This painfully shy four piece do "Folk/Bluegrass/Afrobeat" very well. Really good songs, too. Myspace

Chart Topping and New Year Gifts

Nine Inch Nails have found surprise year end chart success, their experimental instrumental album Ghosts I-IV helping them top the 2008 Amazon download chart.

In 2008 the band also released The Slip as a free download, giving greater proof that downloads don’t kill sales.

Perhaps to celebrate this success the band have promised fans a new year gift, watch www.nin.com or Bawley for details.