Music news

With influences spanning from the effervescent pop-beats of Michael Jackson to the maudlin harmonies of Edith Piaf, Swedish songstress Lykke Li emblematizes (rather ironically) all that evades label or category. The sultry, nymph-like twenty-two year old is quickly gaining a cult following in Europe and America following the release of her debut album, Youth Novels. Produced by the prodigious Björn Yttling of Peter Björn and John, it’s bursting with sweet, melancholy soundscapes, frank, intelligent lyrics and the odd rupture of electro-rock. With a heritage embodying all that is achingly, achingly cool (her artist mother was a member of an all-girl 80’s punk band), it’s no wonder Li’s turned out a rather unique musician – she recently paused mid performance in a New York gig to let everyone know “it’s all right to kiss at my shows”. Once you've heard the brilliantly crisp alto though, I'm not sure why you'd want to.

Ticketek has pretty much been under refreshing overload over the last week or so.
Not only did MGMT tickets sell out as fast as you could press F5, two Kylie Minogue shows were exhausted in two measly minutes (yes, I like Kylie - don't judge). Tickets to The Falls Festival were virtually non-existent by 9.01am this morning, and I'm not going to hold my breath for a ticket to The Meredith Music Festival on Thursday morning.
I must say, I did get lucky and managed to score myself two hot little tickets to MGMT in
a Frontier Touring pre-sale last week - but as for everything else, I have failed miserably.
What am I going to do on New Years Eve now? NYE in Sydney totally sucks.
I'm sure Kylie will release another four shows - so I may get lucky there.
As for Falls, well I may have to dig an underground tunnel, crawl through it Tomb Raider style and end up in a camping ground of glory – along with lots of tents, seedy unwashed clothes, cans of tinned spaghetti and drunken hippies. Sounds like bliss to me.
For now, I'll continue pretending that I'm happy, sitting at my desk in the truck-infested, factory-ridden area of Alexandria.
P.s To all the scalpers who buy tickets to score some extra moolah on eBay - I don't like you very much and I think you suck.

Where did Kanye West sample stronger from? Daft Punk's Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger of course. But where did Daft Punk sample Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger from? Edwin Birdsong's Cola Bottle Baby. This is a solid funk number from Mr Birdsong - who never achieved much success chart-wise but still retained a loyal following once the seventies were over. Lucky, I guess, the song was sampled; it would be shame to have let that damn fine bassline and organ work fade without a wider audience !!

After the initial NME build-em-up high, it became touch-and-go there for The Vines (what with the breakdown brou-ha-ha and bandmember walkouts) but now, the South Sydney rockers are back and more potent than ever with new album Melodia. I've been having a bit of a listen to Melodia this week and have to say I'm enjoying the 60's rock vibe- particularly on tracks like He's a Rocker (the album's first single) and the slightly psyched out Orange Amber. As part of Melodia's release Mr Nicholls and Co are embarking on a big, fat Nationwide tour - starting with Canberra on October 24 before snaking their way around Melbourne Byron Bay, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. Tickets go on sale This Friday September 5.

Why, yes you can. The sydney finals for MTV Kickstart 2008 are on this Friday night! Like battle of the bands on performance-enhancing dsrugs, MTV Kickstart offers bands from around Australia the chance to, well, "Kickstart" their music careers. Those Sydneysider's looking for a slice of the SD&RR lifestyle are punk acts The Wahas and CHAINGANG; indie rockers Particles; newwave group The Magic Hands and bluesmen The Mischief. It would be wrong and simply lacking in community spirit if you didn't head along to Oxford Arts and show your support this Friday night so to get tickets, simply head to the Kickstart website and click on the big button that says GET FREE GIG TICKETS. easy.

Much to the chagrin of my boyfriend, I've never really gotten into Kanye West (I'm more of a hip hop classicist myself) but now  - lumped right in there with shutter shades - I have a definitive reason why that even he can't argue with. If you'll allow me to borrow from Kayne's patented caps-lock blog technique (BTW, I'm typing so hard I might break my Mac book Air!!!!!!!!) WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!!!?

Check out the new video from Pomomofo for the track 'Island' ....it's brilliant..