23 October 2014
Well, it’s remake time. Again. It wasn’t all that long ago that I Am Legend was released. But the powers that be have decided that the film is in need of a remake. Given the flick made a killing, the news is unsurprising.
22 October 2014
It’s best that you take a seat before reading this. Now breathe in, The Grates are back.
22 October 2014
There’s a touch of Irish in all of us, or it seems to be that way in Australia at least. It’s because of this that we were delighted when we got the opportunity to have a chat with Sean and Jacintha, two fine folk behind the music and dance extravaganza Celtic Legends.
21 October 2014
As soon as ‘Taiga’ starts and Zola Jesus’ soaring vocals enter the track, it’s easy to see where the main draw card to the album lies. Zola, aka Nika Rosa Danilova, is well aware of this as each track in the album takes her vocals to new highs, and lows, and shows just how strong they are.
21 October 2014
“No one is truly sure of exactly where Spaulding came from. We happened to come across him in an abandoned wool mill midst the corpses of his fallen woollen brethren. Over time we have come to learn that our intergalactic overlord has come from the deepest, darkest pits of an alternate universe, his home planet destroyed by his kind’s own malevolent gluttony and corruption.”
21 October 2014
Many readers will know about the Brill Building on Broadway in Manhatta. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it’s a 1931, 11-storey building which has been amazingly significant in the USA music industry. Incidentally, for those with a QI sort of mind, it got its name from a haberdasher with a store on ground level. Must have been a good shop because he bought the building!
21 October 2014
“I’m passionate about people’s freedom. Freedom of speech, but freedom of the heart first and foremost.” Three years on from her stunning debut To the Horses, Lanie Lane’s conviction is stronger than ever. Night Shade (out through Ivy League, Oct 24) is the record she was destined to make – and she can’t wait for you to hear it.
20 October 2014
Back in July, Melbourne dream-poppers Lowtide released their self-titled debut album. The album received plenty of love, which is always a nice thing. In support of the third single off the album, ‘Wedding Ring’, the band has announced a date at The Gasometer Hotel on November 7.
20 October 2014
We may have waited a while for Missy Higgins’ third album to hit the shelves, but luckily there wasn’t too much of a wait to hear the sweet sounds of Higgin’s raw and husky vocals in her fourth release.
20 October 2014
In honour of its 45th anniversary, The Velvet Underground’s self-titled third album is getting the reissue treatment. Set for release next month, the five-disc mega-reissue will feature three mixes of the album. Also included will be a disc of live recordings recorded at San Francisco’s The Matrix in November of 1969.
20 October 2014
Next month Röyksopp will release their final album, appropriately titled The Inevitable End. Reflecting on the move, Svein Berge says: “We feel like this is a goodbye to the traditional album format.
20 October 2014
As far as I’m concerned, there are some offbeat musical blends that work – electro swing, for example – and others that just don’t work and should never be spoken of again (I’m looking at you, Metallica and Lou Reed!).The Beautiful Girls’ latest effort, Dancehall Days, definitely falls into the former category.
20 October 2014
Australia’s Women In Docs and Sweden’s First Aid Kit prove the popularity of adventurous female acoustic pairings, and Siskin River – from Ramornie NSW -show the same promise. Sibling harmonies have a special appeal. Shalane and Tullara Connors bring that innate interplay of voices and phrasing to this debut album.
20 October 2014
Back in the dawn of time, caveman hit things with sticks and a bit down the track some weird dude invented instruments with strings. These instruments were often played by people such as court jesters. Some people have been known to draw comparisons between a caveman and a court jester in Geelong’s own local music industry.
19 October 2014
“I have always been impressed with the music coming from Australia. I have been following many artists closely the past few years and my favourites are Kalya Scintilla, Whitebear, Temple Step Project and Lubdub. It’s been a real pleasure working with these artists and collaborating on projects for our label Desert Trax, and for Merkaba Records as well. It seems the Australian music scene is really exploding and growing by leaps and bounds lately.”
19 October 2014
Lauren Glezer simply has one of those voices. A voice that makes you listen, is hard to come by but is so wonderful when you do. And if it weren’t for an illness Lauren got struck down with while travelling India, it’s unlikely you’d have come across it.
19 October 2014
Now that a legal dispute has been settled with Michael Jackson’s estate, the 14-minute Michael Jackson clip for ‘Thriller’ is getting a 3D makeover. The clip’s director, John Landis, is still working out specifics but hopes to release the video on Blu-ray (and perhaps even cinema screens).
19 October 2014
The Chaser are back! Well, some of them are back: their new show The Chaser’s Media Circus (Wednesday’s, ABC1, 8.30 p.m.) – which only started the night before this issue of Forte went to print, so it’s all press releases and speculation at the moment – doesn’t feature the full complement of the Chaser team.
18 October 2014
With a line-up that includes Action Bronson, The Preatures, Willow Beats, Banoffee, Husky, Ball Park Music, Allday and Hermitude, you would have to be crazy not to at least take a closer look at the NY music treat that is Beyond the Valley. Taking place at Phillip Island from December 30 to January 1, BtV promises great music, great times and no hangovers.
18 October 2014
If you read my website or column you’d know by now how much I love France. I got the chance to live there a few years ago on and off working in a chateau, and I go back every time I head to Europe. I learnt the language for a few years (even though it’s a little rusty!) and like to spend my time imagining a simple life living in a French loft in Montmartre, buying my baguettes every day and riding my bike everywhere with my scarf flowing in the wind on my way to gallery exhibitions.
17 October 2014
Tina Arena has always been one of my all-time favourite artists. Over the last 30 years she’s soundtracked a number of important hallmark moments with her music. Too young to have been won over by her on Young Talent Time, my first exposure to Tina was through the release of her second single in 1990, the iconic ‘I Need Your Body’, whose video clip saw Arena dancing about what looked like Melbourne’s The Forum, almost bursting out of her tightly-fitted and booberiffic ensemble.
17 October 2014
For almost a decade Melbourne’s AWME (Australasian World Music Expo) has been showcasing the Southern Hemisphere’s finest talent, and this year is no different. A familiar face at the expo is singer/songwriter Frank Yamma. He returns this year to celebrate the release of his latest studio LP, Uncle (out now via Wantonk Musik). “I’ve played it [the expo] before and they’ve asked me back! I always enjoy it and I’ll be there again this November.”
17 October 2014
My first encounter with Andrew Dice Clay came one very hungover afternoon, when my housemates and I were in need of something to watch that wasn’t ‘too strenuous’. Our DVD collection was pretty light-on and we couldn’t possibly sit through Con Air again! We decided to have a look through the old VHS collection, when we came across one titled Brain Smasher… A Love Story, with the threat of sounding dramatic, safe to say the next 90 minutes changed our lives as we knew it!
17 October 2014
So I figured that it was about time that I talked about Identity Crisis. I’ve had the book for a while now – I picked up an Absolute Edition pretty cheap – but I haven’t talked about it until now because quite frankly I didn’t know what to say about it. Now, I might be something of a DC fanboy, but even I will admit that their content has been really sub-par of late.
