• Wes Carr is back via his new musical identity Buffalo Tales with a brand new single called ‘Puppet Strings’, which was serviced to media this week. ‘Puppet Strings’ is the second track to be lifted from his recently-released album ‘Roadtrip Confessions’, following on from ‘Amsterdam’.
• Also making waves at media this week are Rihanna’s next single ‘What Now’, the previously-mentioned new track from The Wanted, ‘We Own The Night’, plus new tracks from Haim (‘The Wire’), Imagine Dragons (‘On Top Of The World’) and Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais (‘Summertime Sadness’). As always, there’ll be a more comprehensive list of this week’s new tunes available on our FACEBOOK page tomorrow.
• The 35 finalists have been announced in this year’s Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition. Each of the finalists will now vie for the $50,000 first prize, $10,000 second prize or $5000 third prize. Some of our country’s brightest are featured in the list including Bertie Blackman, Josh Pyke and Robert Conley. The top three finalists will be announced on Friday August 16.
• Australia’s premiere ABBA tribute band Bjorn Again are calling all dancing queens and kings to book for their latest run of shows in October. Kicking off at Sydney’s Enmore Theare on October 04, the band will continue to roll out the Swedish supergroup’s biggest hits in Chatswood, Newcastle, Canberra, Nambour, Tweed Heads, Brisbane and Melbourne in the final few months of the year. The band’s Sydney show, set down for this week, has moved to October 04, with the Chatswood gig slated for this Saturday now moving to Saturday October 05. Tickets for all are on sale now.
• Aussie music legend Richard Clapton will head to Sydney’s State Theatre in November this year to celebrate his 40th anniversary in the music business. He’ll take to the stage for ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives’ concert on Saturday November 02 in what’s his sixth annual appearance. Tickets are on sale on Monday August 19 from 9am.
• YouTube sensation Lindsey Stirling has added a second Melbourne concert to her forthcoming Australian visit. After her first date in the Victorian capital sold out, Lindsey will play the second show on Monday August 26 at the city’s Corner Hotel. Tickets are on sale now.
• Sweden’s Avicii maintains his No.1 heading on the UK singles chart for a third successive week with ‘Wake Me Up’, with John Newman’s ‘Love Me Again’ making another charge for the top spot (up from No.4 to No.2). Lana Del Rey vs Cedric Gervais’ ‘Summertime Sadness’ (which was serviced to Aussie media this week) bullets from No.32 to No.4 and Calvin Harris is back in the top ten with his latest single ‘Thinking About You’. The week’s highest debut comes courtesy of Eliza Doolittle’s latest single ‘Big When I Was Little’ (No.12). Not such good news for Britney Spears’ ‘Ooh La La’, which debuts at a lowly No.72.
• ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ siblings Richard and Adam have debuted atop the British albums chart with their long player ‘The Impossible Dream’. Scouting For Girls’ ‘Greatest Hits’ premieres at No.8, AlunaGeorge’s ‘Body Music’ is in at No.11 and the Backstreet Boys are back in the British top 20 with their latest album ‘In A World Like This’ (No.16 debut).
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