• It’s a massive Saturday edition of The Purge! And The Potbelleez are back, this time with a little help from Aussie dance diva Zoë Badwi and a cover of the Mousse T classic ‘Horny’. The track has already found its place in the top ten on the ARIA club chart, but the team at Ministry Of Sound is hoping that it’ll now cross over to the mainstream, servicing it to Aussie media just yesterday. Check out our recent Q&A with Ms Badwi HERE.
• Ellie Goulding is also back with a new single. It’s called ‘Still Falling For You’ and it’s lifted from the soundtrack to the new ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ movie, which is due in cinemas imminently. We’re expecting the soundtrack on Friday September 16. We’re expecting Ellie in the country on her Aussie tour a couple of weeks after that.
• Raspy-voiced songstress Macy Gray will release a new album early next month. Entitled ‘Stripped’, it’ll do precisely what it says on the box, stripping down tracks from throughout her back catalogue and infusing them with a slight jazz flavour. But it’s not all cover versions; there are also new original songs, including lead single ‘Annabelle’, which is available as a grat track with the album pre-order. ‘Stripped’ is out on September 09.
• UK troubadour David Gray will release a new greatest hits package in October. Succinctly called ‘The Best Of’, it’ll be delivered in standard single disc and deluxe double disc (along with digital) editions that will draw from David’s extraordinary quarter century-long career. Two new songs – ‘Smoke Without Fire’ and ‘Enter Lightly’ – are also included. It’s out October 14.
• Also releasing a new album in October this year is legendary singer, songwriter and producer Barry Gibb. ‘In The Now’ is the Bee Gees singer’s first solo album involving new material and is also his first ever release through Sony Music Australia and was co-penned alongside his sons Stephen and Ashley. The title track is available now when pre-ordering the LP ahead of its October 07 release.
• It’s been a big week for The Panics, who’ve not only dropped their new single ‘Weatherman’, but have also confirmed the upcoming release of their fifth album ‘Hole In Your Pocket’ (out October 07) and four live shows in celebration of its release. The band will play the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney on October 14, Howler in Melbourne on October 15, The Triffid in Brisbane on October 20 and Amplifier in Perth on October 22. Tickets for all four dates are on sale now.
• The Bigsound Festival is ready to thunder its way into Brisbane in just a few short weeks time and there’s still time to snap up a ticket to what’s the biggest year in the event’s history. From September 07 – 09, Bigsound will take over the city’s Fortitude Valley, delivering a mass of incredible performances from some of the country’s hottest up and coming acts, along with official parties, masterclasses, keynote speakers, panel topics and so much more. Get all the guff on this year’s event HERE.
• A new event for lovers of techno music will launch in Sydney and Melbourne in December. Called Tell No Tales, it will feature appearances by the likes of Ricardo Villalobos , Pan Pot, Audion, Agents Of Time and Nastia. Tell No Tales hits The Nursery at Flemington Racecourse on December 03 and Theatre Of The Horse at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on December 04. Tickets for both are on sale this Thursday.
• Brisbane six piece reggae outfit Kingfisha are hitting the road in support of their new long player. The album, entitled ‘Offered It Up’, is due into stores on September 09 and the band will kick their live support of it off at the Union Jack in Cairns on Friday September 30 before swinging through New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, Western Australia and other Queensland centres. Tickets are on sale now.
• Hey hey The Monkees’ upcoming Australian tour is selling rather well. So much so that organisers have added new shows to cope with demand for tickets. Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork from the band will be rolling out the iconic hits that have made them such favourites with fans, now at a second show at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre (on December 15) and at Jupiter’s on the Gold Coast on Friday December 16. Tickets for the two new dates are on sale now.
• The ever so stylish Incognito will be on Australian shores late next month for an appearance at Caloundra Music Festival in Queensland, but also one at Alumbra in Melbourne. The first event to be held under the venue’s new Alumbra Live banner, tickets are selling like hotcakes, with early birds and VIP tickets gone, with first release general tickets probably also gone by the time you’re reading this. Armed with a 12 piece band, they’re at Alumbra on Thursday September 29.
• The Fairgrounds Festival will be back in Berry, south of Wollongong on December 02 and 03 this year, with a fresh line-up of talent ready to entertain the throngs. Among those appearing are celebrated singer songwriter Rodriguez, along with Angel Olsen, The Tallest Man On Earth, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Jagwar Ma, Sarah Blasko, Big Scary and more. Tickets are on sale now.
• Canadian outfit BadBadNotGood will play headline shows across Australia’s East Coast in December. The boys, who recently released their latest album ‘IV’, will perform at Brisbane’s Woolly Mammoth on December 07, Sydney’s Metro Theatre on December 08 and Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on December 09. They’re in addition to a date at Adelaide’s Fat Controller on December 03, as well as performances at the Disconnect and Meredith Music Festivals. Tickets for the Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane shows are on sale this Monday.
• Rock legends Guns N’ Roses will tour Australia in February. Axl Rose is back, along with Slash and Duff McKagan for a massive world tour that will make stops in all five main capitals from February 07. The show rolls into QSAC Stadium in Brisbane to kick off the Aussie visit, before shows at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, the MCG in Melbourne, Adelaide Oval and Domain Stadium in Perth. Tickets are on sale to the general public from this Friday.
• Changes are afoot for The Used’s forthcoming Australian tour. The band’s Perth show on November 27 has been moved forward to November 25 and shifted to Metropolis in Fremantle. While in Brisbane, the show on December 09 has been shifted to Eatons Hill Hotel and the December 08 gig has been shifted to the Saturday night (December 10), also at Eatons Hill.
• There’s no change at the top of this week’s UK singles chart again this week, with Major Lazer and Justin Bieber’s ‘Cold Water’ staying put at No.1. After debuting at No.2 last week, DJ Snake and Justin Bieber’s ‘Let Me Love You’ also maintains its heading at No.2 and Calum Scott at three, but the big mover is The Chainsmokers’ new track ‘Closer’ with Halsey. Already No.1 here in Australia, it’s up eight spots to No.4. Lil Wayne & co’s ‘Sucker For Pain’ is in a hurry towards the top ten; so too Olly Murs’ new single ‘You Don’t Know Love’ (No.35 to No.19).
• It’s No.1 again for Blossoms this week after premiering there last week. Not one new entry in this week’s UK top ten albums chart, but Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ‘Legend’ is back into the top ten. So too latest albums from Justin Bieber, The 1975 and Twenty One Pilots. The closest we got to a top ten debut this week was No.11 – PartyNextDoor’s ‘PartyNextDoor 3 – P3’.
• It’s still Sia Stateside; Adelaide’s own maintaining her heading atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart with her latest smash ‘Cheap Thrills’ from her album ‘This Is Acting’. Major Lazer Featuring Justin Bieber & MO continue to make a splash with their single ‘Cold Water’, which gurgles to the surface (No.5 to No.2), while Twenty One Pilots’ ‘Heathens’, from the ‘Suicide Squad’ album, leaps from No.11 to No.4. All this movement into the top five means that Drake’s ‘One Dance’ is the loser of the bunch, dropping from No.2 to No.5. The Chainsmokers’ ‘Closer’ is up, The Chainsmokers’ ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ is down and DJ Snake ftg. Justin Bieber’s ‘Let Me Love You’ premieres at a very healthy No.12. Ariana Grande’s ‘Into You’ is almost into the top ten (No.22 to No.13), while Lil Wayne’s collaborative single ‘Sucker For Pain’ is flying; No.38 to No.15.
• With so many of its songs firing at the moment, was there ever really any doubt that the ‘Suicide Squad’ soundtrack was going to debut at No.1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart? There it be, Drake at No.2 and a debut at No.3 from Skillet’s ‘Unleashed’. The latest edition of the popular ‘Now’ compilation series enters the US countdown at No.5, while last week’s No.1 from DJ Khaled tumbles to No.7. DJ Snake’s ‘Encore’ premieres in the next spot down (No.8 for the slow ones) and Cody Johnson’s ‘Gotta Be Me’ is new at No.11.
• There you are then. Another mammoth edition of The Purge almost wrapped for another week. But not before we tell you that, naturally, we’ll be beavering away to bring you all the latest information on the Aussie charts as part of our weekly Chart Watch segment, which goes live at 7pm AEST tonight! Be here!
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY AUGUST 22 : The B52s/Simple Minds (Nationally)
MONDAY AUGUST 22 : Badbadnotgood (East Coast)
MONDAY AUGUST 22 : Sheila E (Sydney, Melbourne)
THURSDAY AUGUST 25 : Baroness (Nationally)
THURSDAY AUGUST 25 : Tell No Tales (Sydney)
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 : Guns N Roses (Nationally)
FRIDAY AUGUST 26 : Ronan Keating (Sydney, Melbourne)
Australia's first stop for pop!