Joe McKee to Release Solo Album

Joe McKee is set to release his first single album entitled “Burning Boy,” through Remote Control Records on May 25.

McKee was formerly the lead singer of alternative band, Snowman, which recently broke up after recording their third album “Absence,” just last year. According to lifeisnoise.com the band formed when they were only teenagers, and went on to record two albums in Australia, and their final album in London. McKee said the reason for the band making the split was due to bass guitarist, Olga Hermanniusson, and drummer, Ross DiBlasio, having a child together and moving to Iceland. Despite the band breaking up, McKee enjoyed making the album and admitted it was his favorite of the three.

After Snowman’s release of “Absence,” McKee returned home to Western Australia to start making his own music. According to myspace.com/joemckee the title of his new album “Burning Bush” was developed after the mountain ranges in his hometown were enveloped in a fire for four straight days in 2011. His 10-track album, produced with long time friend Dave Parkin, is a collaboration of songs that he composed over the past three years while traveling though Europe and finally settling back in Australia.

Fans look forward to the release of “Burning Boy” at the end of the month in anticipation of what McKee’s solo sound will be like.

Joe McKee

Image from http://www.remotecontrolrecords.com

Back at Byron Bay, Splendour in the Grass Sells Out In Record Timing

Tickets for Australia’s premier winter music festival, Splendour in the Grass, sold out in record timing on Friday. According to splendourinthegrass.com, all tickets sold out in less than 43 minutes. Its no wonder that tickets were snatched so fast, when the line-up includes renowned alternative artists Angus Stone, Missy Higgins, The Last Dinosaurs, and many other exquisite acts from around the globe.

This year’s festival will be held on the weekend of Friday, July 27, to Sunday, July 29, at the Belongil Fields in Byron Bay. Although the festival has been around since 2001, it was relocated in Woodfordia, Queensland, for the past two years due to environmental concerns. Excited for the opportunity for Splendor in the Grass to be held in its original location, tour promoters are pleased to announce that the festival will now permanently be held in Byron Bay.

According to splendourinthegrass.com, the New South Wales Planning Assessment Commission has given the festival permission to permanently take place in the North Byron Parklands, located in Byron Bay, following this year’s festival. The North Byron Parklands are approved as a cultural event venue, with 63 percent of the site protected for reforestation and habitat reserves. Where as the Belongil Fields will hold 17,500 patrons this year, the North Byron Parklands are capable of holding more than double that amount. Splendour in the Park promotes eco-friendly behavior this year by offering ticketholders the opportunity to buy a $3 Carbon Offset Ticket, that will effectively offset emissions of a 350 kilometer drive in a family sized car.

With Splendour in the Grass back to its roots, environmentally in tact, this year’s festival is sure to be one for the record books.

Image from splendourinthegrass.com

Higgins’ Music Resurrected

Today Missy Higgins announced that she will be going on tour this June and July, for the first time since 2007.  Not only that, but today she also released her new single “Unashamed Desire.” For a star that has been in the shadows for so many years, she sure knows how to come back with a spark.

According to missyhiggins.com, Higgins dropped out of the music scene shortly after releasing her second album “On A Clear Night,” the highest selling Australian release in 2007. She had become overwhelmed with her success and surprisingly wasn’t receiving the satisfaction that she thought it would bring.  Quietly and rather mysteriously, Higgins quit her music and instead enrolled in uni and spent her time volunteering.

After finding out who she was without her music, Higgins is now back and ready for action. According to missyhiggins.com her personal experiences and reasons for taking a break are slowly revealed with her new single “Unashamed Desire” and throughout her third album “The Ole’ Razzle Dazzle,” set to be released on June 1.

Excited to be playing music again, Higgins kicks off her “Ole’ Razzle Dazzle” Australian tour in Adelaide on June 1 and will conclude it on July 29 at the Splendour In The Grass festival in Byron Bay.

Missy Higgins

Image from http://missyhiggins.com/photos/

Glee for Gotye

Gotye’s song “Somebody That I Used to Know” featured on American tv show sensation “Glee” on Tuesday.

“Glee” is a Fox award winning show about a high school glee club. The show has received 4 Emmy Awards, Three Golden Globes, Two Grammy Award nominations, and countless other recognitions. Glee takes everyday high school dramas and orchestrates them into a living musical, as characters burst into song periodically throughout the show. For a show that usually chooses to cover songs from iconic American and British superstars, it is monumental that Australian, alternative artist, Gotye, was picked to be featured in this week’s episode. “Somebody That I Used to Know,” was one of the five songs featured in last week’s episode that included numbers from Elton John, Simon Le Bon, Christina Aguilera, and the Givers.

According to nme.com Gotye was reluctant to allow Glee to cover his song at first, in fear that it was becoming too “mainstream.” Eventually he agreed and after hearing the rendition by characters Blane and Cooper, he commented that their version was “quite clever.” Goyte liked the male duet because he toyed with the idea of singing his version of the song with another male vocalist before stumbling across Kimbra.

Today “Somebody that I Used to Know” has peaked at number one on the American billboard charts. According to http://www.abc.net.au/triplej, Gotye’s song has been the first Australian hit to make that achievement since 2000, when Savage Garden’s single “I Knew I Loved You” reached the top of the US charts. Whether Gotye likes it or not, his new hit has become a mainstream, worldwide sensation and that popularity doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon.

Gotye in his “Somebody That I Used to Know” Music Video

Image from http://www.directorsnotes.com/

DZ Deathrays Release Debut Album

Today DZ Deathrays released their debut album “Bloodstreams.” The band consists of Brisbane boys, Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley, who first played together at a house party several years ago.

Since their collaboration, DZ Deathrays has made a name for themselves in several countries around the globe. According to dzdeathrays.com, in 2011 the duo traveled around Australia supporting headline acts including The Foo Fighters, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and Dananananaykroyd. They also played at several renowned global music festivals, consisting of the Great Escape Music Festival in Europe, and SXSW in the United States. DZ Deathrays was recognized by both NME Magazine and Q Magazine, for being among the top 10 bands at the Great Escape Music Festival.

After returning from overseas in November 2011, the duo recorded “Bloodstreams” over the short span of two weeks. Their 13-track debut album can be described as none other than head-banging, screamo music. This album is not for the alternative fan who wants to listen to some chilled out tunes and relax. Parsons admitted in an interview on nme.com that some fans might be surprised by the lack of screaming and mellowness in “Bloodstreams.” While it is true that there are less songs with screaming lyrics than their previous EPs, that might only be because there are twice as many songs. With lyrics that portray death and suffering in almost every track, it’s not the album to listen to for a pick me up.

DZ Deathrays’ “Bloodstreams” album tour through Australia will kick off April 12, in Gold Coast.

“Bloodstreams” Album Cover

Image from www.facebook.com/dzdeathrays

5 Triple J Unearthed Acts added to Groovin the Moo Line Up

Groovin the Moo tour announces that it will be adding five triple j unearthed bands to the line up. The acts selected include Grand Perceptor, Kate Martin, Boatfriends, Stateovmind, and Stillwater Giants. Triple j unearthed bands are unsigned Australian artists, that triple j promotes because of their great potential. Past triple j unearthed artists include big names Missy Higgins and Boy and Bear. These five acts will have the opportunity of their career up to this point, to play for as renowned a stage as Groovin the Moo.

For readers that don’t know, Groovin the Moo is Australia’s only touring regional event and is currently in its eighth consecutive year. According to gtm.net.au the unique concept for the festival started in 2003 when tour promoter Steve Halpin realized the demand for festivals outside the major cities. The festival name was developed to invoke the image of small farming towns coming to life for one night of great music. In 2005 Groovin the Moo hosted its first festival for 1,400 fans at the Gloucester Showgrounds. Today the festival is held in the cities of Bendigo, Townsville, Maitland, Canberra, and Bunbury and has reached an audience of over 75,000 people.

“Groovin the Moo has the best alternative mix of music you can get in Australia,” said Katie Benning, a four time Groovin the Moo festival attendee. “I’m pumped for the line up this year, especially to see what triple j unearthed acts can do to get the crowd going.”

The Groovin the Moo tour is less than two months away and kicks off their first show on May 5, in Bandigo. Triple j unearthed acts will be playing for large crowds, as festival promoters are predicting another sell out year.

Image from http://2012.gtm.net.au

Seltmann No Longer Solo

Sydney native and formal solo artist, Sally Seltmann, has embarked on a new project called “Alphabet Botanical,” in which she will be collaborating with numerous different artists. Since 2005, Seltmann has released three solo albums that she produced and wrote herself.

According to sallyseltmann.com, she first collaborated with other artists in 2010 when she developed the album “Seeker, Lover, Keeper” with Holly Throsby and Sarah Blasko. The album was released in mid-2011 and climbed its way up to the number three spot on the ARIA charts. Now it has gained recognition in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. After her success with “Seeker, Lover, Keeper,” Seltmann realized she would enjoy doing more collaborative works.

Seltmann started working on “Alphabet Botanical” in 2011 when she co-wrote two songs with the award winning, lead vocalist of One Republic, Tim Myers. Together they recorded the songs “A New Feeling” and “I Got Lucky” in Los Angeles. Where as Seltmann’s solo songs simply used piano and percussion, the addition of guitar and Myers’ vocal harmonization completely transformed her sound. According to alphabetbotanical.com “A New Feeling” became the first “Alphabet Botanical” single to be released later that year, when it featured in the TV show “The Lying Game.”

Since then, Seltmann also co-wrote and recorded the song “Pick Me Up” with her friend Ben Lee, who also is an Australian solo artist. Seltmann is excited to continue collaborating with many different artists to expand her “Alphabet Botanical” project.

Sally Seltmann

Image from www.sallyseltmann.com

Secret Garden Setback

Many fans were left disappointed after this weekend’s Secret Garden Festival in Brownlow had to cancel all live band performances on Saturday, due to “safety reasons,” according to musicfeeds.com.au.

Because of the heavy storms in the area, festival coordinators decided it was in the best interest of the musicians to cancel their performances. They informed ticket holders of the decision on the day of the event and did not issue refunds.

The Secret Garden page on Facebook issued a statement saying, “Luckily the weather has been kind allowing us to put on a fully functioning event. I understand that this may cause inconvenience of ticket holders’ plans but it is the nature of events and weather that this occurred.”

The event was considered “fully functioning” because even though the live performances were cancelled, the event went on with DJ performances and open bars.  Tickets for the sold-out festival were priced at over $100 per ticket.

Although fans were bummed out about missing bands that were on the line up for the night like Owl Eyes, Last Dinosaurs, and New Navy, many remained positive about the festivities. After all, Secret Garden Festival is a not-for-profit event and all proceeds were donated to “charities close to its heart,” mainly the Sarah Hilt Foundation that supports victims of Meningococcal disease.

Scores of attendees posted on the Secret Garden Facebook page after the event took place, thanking the event coordinators and raving about the fun time that they had.

Secret Garden’s response? “Thank you all so much for the love last night. Can’t wait to do it all again next year.”

Secret Garden Festival Grounds

Image from https://www.secretgardenfestival.com.au/gallery/