• You’ve got to hand it to jazz chanteuse Norah Jones. Instead of just going through the motions with her career, she’s experimenting with her sounds. There was that collaboration with Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi, her duets album ‘Featuring’, on which she duetted with artists as diverse as Foo Fighters, Outkast and Willie Nelson. She’s at it again, however. This time, with Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong on the new album ‘Foreverly’. The new 12 tracker will feature the duo reinterpreting a swag of classic American songs. It’s due for release in Australia on Friday November 22.
• Aussie outfit Miami Horror recently released their shiny new single ‘Real Slow’. But as luck would have it, it’s been given the remix treatment by Plastic Plates and Gold Fields. And even better still, said remixes are being offered up for free download! Today’s your lucky day ’cause we’re letting you know about them. Download the Plastic Plates version HERE and the Gold Fields remix HERE.
• The John Butler Trio will hit the stage in Sydney late next month for an exclusive showcase event for MAX. The band will perform tracks from their forthcoming LP, due in February next year, along with a number of their classics for a TV special that will air around the time of the album’s launch. Fans have the chance to win tickets by entering HERE.
• Look out! Some of the heavy hitters of the music industry are coming together in Sydney in early December for a charity football (soccer) tournament called ‘Musica Copa’. The five-a-side teams will come from Stereosonic, Modular, Ministry Of Sound, Future Classic, Sweat It Out, Mushroom, Channel [V] and more, with artists, TV and radio personalities and those from within the industry competing for not only global glory and bragging rights, but money for their chosen charities. Artists already confirmed to play include members of Van She, Rüfüs, Canyons, Yolanda Be Cool and more, with more to be confirmed in the coming weeks. Musica Copa kicks off at Fraser Park in Marrickville on Thursday December 05.
• Canadian outfit Metric have announced they’re returning to Australia later this year for a national tour. The band released their latest album ‘Synthetica’ last year, hitting the top 30 with it. They’ll play headline dates in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth on this visit, with tickets for all on sale this Wednesday at 10am.
• Queens Of The Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails have added second Sydney and Melbourne dates to their forthcoming co-headlining tour. They’ll play the Sydney Entertainment Centre on March 07 and Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena on March 15. Tickets for both are now on sale.
• Can you believe it? It’s four weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for New Zealand songstress Lorde, whose star continues to rise across the globe. ‘Royals’ held off a resurgent ‘Roar’ this week, with Katy’s smash moving up from No.3. Eminem’s new tune ‘Rap God’ made quite the impact, premiering at No.7.
• On the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, it’s all about Pearl Jam, who follow their No.1 debut in Australia with a No.1 debut Stateside. Miley’s ‘Bangerz’ only drops the one place to No.2, before a new entry from Paul McCartney’s ‘New’ (No.3). Other top ten debuts in the US this week come courtesy of The Avett Brothers (No.5), Scotty McCreery (No.6), Willie Nelson (No.9) and The Head And The Heart (No.10).
• And don’t forget that for all your ARIA top 100 needs, we’ve got our weekly Chart Watch segment going live at 7pm AEDT right here.
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