• We’ve decided to kick off our Saturday edition of The Purge with some big news for us here at auspOp… We’re heading to the ARIAs! Yes, for the first time in our eight and a half year history, we’ll be hitting up the red carpet for the event’s 30th anniversary, chatting to as many of Australia’s brightest, bubbliest pop stars as we can possibly muster. Keep your eyes peeled on the site for some of the footage going live in the days after the awards.
• Mumford & Sons have confirmed the release of their new live DVD ‘Live From South Africa : Dust And Thunder’. The package is set to drop in a number of different formats, including a standard DVD, Blu-Ray and digital release, a three disc limited edition package with hardback CD-sized book, which includes the live film (DVD or Blu-Ray), the ‘We Wrote This Yesterday’ documentary and a live CD. The documentary will also be released digitally. All will be available on Friday February 03.
• Ben and Tom, also known as UK outfit Aquilo, will release their debut album ‘Silhouettes’ in January. Preceded by ‘Human’, ‘You Won’t Know Where You Stand’, ‘I Gave It All’, ‘Sorry’, ‘Never Seen You Get So Low’ and ‘Waiting’, all of which are available as grat tracks with the pre-order, the LP follows on from a succession of EPs, released since their inception back in 2014. Look for ‘Silhouettes’ at your favourite retailer from January 27
• Just when you thought the Electric Gardens Festival couldn’t get more sensational (helmed already by Eric Prydz), organisers have now confirmed that Jamie Jones, Sasha and Basement Jaxx have been added to the 2017 line-up for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Melbourne event kicks off proceedings on January 26, followed by Sydney (January 28) and Brisbane (January 29). The Perth event (featuring Eric Prydz only) takes over Red Hill Auditorium on February 04.
• VanFest, which takes over Dubbo from this Friday, has grown again, with Melbourne producer Will Sparks confirmed to hit the stage as part of this year’s event. Also confirming his attendance is Hot Dub Time Machine who’ll keep the party time-travelling throughout the night, plus Set Mo, ManaLion, Ocean Alley, Morgan Bain and the Jane Martin Band. They join the likes of Angus & Julia Stone, The Rubens, Drapht, Xavier Rudd, The Potbelleez, Vera Blue and more across two huge days of festival action.
• Patti Smith has added a third Sydney show to her forthcoming tour. She’s close to selling out her first show at the State Theatre on April 09, while tickets for her second date the following night are selling fast. The third show will take place on Tuesday April 11 and you’ll be able to grab tickets for it from 10am AEDT this Tuesday, November 22. It’s Patti’s first Australian tour in eight years.
• Melbourne-based quintet Jakubi (pictured above) will play headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne on successive nights in February. The band, which released a soulful, infectious track called ‘Nobody Better‘ back in September, will take to the stage at the Newtown Social Club on February 16 and at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on February 17.
• UK singer Little Simz will play headline shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth as part of her visit to Australia in January for Melbourne’s Sugar Mountain Festival. As part of her ‘Welcome To Wonderland’ tour, she’ll be playing Oxford Art Factory in Sydney on January 17, Jack Rabbit Slim’s in Perth on January 18 and The Flying Cock in Brisbane on January 19. Tickets are on sale now.
• New Year’s Eve in Melbourne just got a little hotter, with Northeast Party House confirmed to play a massive party at the city’s Corner Hotel. They’re joined on the bill by Bleeding Knees Club, The Pretty Littles, a host of great DJs and many more surprises. Tickets for the event, called ‘New Years Party House’, are on sale now.
• Clean Bandit are keeping the UK No.1 position warm on the UK singles chart for a second successive week, with James Arthur’s former No.1 ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’ seemingly not wishing to let go of a top five position just yet; it’s up from No.3 to No.2, swapping places with Little Mix’s ‘Shout Out To My Ex’. Rae Sremmurd’s track ‘Black Beatles’, which achieves quite the chart jump in the US this week (see below), rockets from No.36 to No.4, but is the only move of real note in an otherwise uneventful week of top 20 action. Olly Murs’ ‘Grow Up’ hits a new high, but can only manage No.25, even with a performance on ‘The X Factor’.
• But who needs a No.1 single when you can get a No.1 album, right? Yes, Olly premieres at No.1 on the UK albums chart; his fourth successive No.1 album replacing Robbie Williams in top spot. Olly holds Emeli Sandé’s album ‘Long Live The Angels’ from top spot; it’s in at No.2 ahead of Michael Ball and Alfie Boe’s ‘Together’ and a No.4 debut for Cliff Richard’s ‘Just Fabulous Rock ‘N’ Roll’. Robbie’s down to No.6, there’s a 22 place jump for Leonard Cohen’s album ‘You Want It Darker’ following the legendary troubadour’s death and a No.11 premiere for former star of The Wanted, Nathan Sykes’, ‘Unfinished Business’.
• Well that was sudden… After a massive 12 week reign on top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the USA, The Chainsmokers, Halsey and their chart monster ‘Closer’ has finally been relieved of its No.1 mantle. It’s been replaced by Rae Sremmurd ftg. Gucci Mane and their single ‘Black Beatles’, which rockets from No.9 to No.1, after improving from No.16 to No.9 last week. That’s not to say that The Chainsmokers have gone too far; they’re down only to No.2, with The Weeknd, Twenty One Pilots and DJ Snake with Justin Bieber all falling one position as a result of Rae Sremmurd’s ascension. Maroon 5 are back into the top ten and the new Future and Drake collaboration ‘Used To This’ is new at No.14.
• There are four debuts in this week’s Billboard 200 albums chart top ten. And one of them premieres at No.1. That No.1 debut belongs to Bon Jovi and their new LP ‘This House Is Not For Sale’. It’s the band’s fourth successive No.1 album and their sixth overall. Alicia Keys’ new album ‘Here’ is close; premiering in the No.2 position this week, with the ‘Trolls’ soundtrack up from No.39 to No.3 as the film hits cinemas and ‘A Pentatonix Christmas’ improving to No.4. As a result of the chart impact of ‘Black Beatles’ on the singles chart, Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Sremmlife 2′ bullets (No.21 to No.5) ahead of two debuts; The Chainsmokers’ new ‘Collage’ EP and the 60th edition of the ‘NOW’ compilation series. Last week’s No.1 (Jeezy’s ‘Trap Or Die 3’) is down to No.14.
• That’s it for another huge Saturday edition of The Purge. And as always, we’ll be returning tonight to give you your weekly Saturday night serve of all things chart with ARIA Chart Watch. Who’s done what on this week’s top 100s? You’ll find out tonight right here from 6pm on the East Coast.
TICKETS PLEASE
MONDAY NOVEMBER 21 : Adele (Nationally)
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22 : Bliss N Eso (Nationally)
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22 : Patti Smith (Sydney)
Australia's first stop for pop!