Music news

Beach House make woozy music...the kind that envelopes you in a warm fuzz, gives you spectral rainbow vision and makes you wonder if that sunset is never ending. The name may imply some of this, but when French born Baltimore livin' Victoria Legrand (can that be her real surname?), gets to crooning in her smoky husk, everyone in the room sways. She sounds like Nico after a day at the beach. Same as my other dream pop fav's Bright Black Morning Light. it's the kind of music that makes you wanna say words like "groovy", but not in a cringey crush velvet way.

The time was 1am. The night was technically over, but for the sake of this blurb, I will say it was Friday Night. I was sitting with my girl pal Kelly in our contemporary Flinders Lane apartment in Melbourne. We had just devoured a beautiful Italian feast on Lygon Street and had aimlessly wandered the city streets before retiring to our beds for much needed sleep. While taking off my mascara I decided to turn on the TV. Rage was on. A song by a mysterious woman by the name of Cat Power, a gorgeous brunette was seen on the screen. Kelly remarked with none other than "Oh my gosh she's beautiful'. I couldn't agree more. Not only was her voice angelic, her presence was enough to make you want to reach out and touch the screen. She was singing to a song called "Lived in Bars'. For 3 minutes I was mesmerized by this women. To hear her music check out her myspace or youtube one of her performances. She is a rare form of beauty; something this world needs to see more of.

At this point I’d like to not give too much away, because, truth is, we all like to feel, when we hear something new, like we discovered this person for ourselves.

So, I could be middle management while you explore Sibylle Baier for yourselves because it is by chance we stumble, clumsily, upon these beautiful artists, old and new.

One solitary album would not seem enough, but her one could quite easily surpass other artist's (no names implied) five. So, should you feel inspired to leave a comment on her music, you would not be the first grateful listener.

Not nearly.

I just love love love the man they call Snoop Dogg. I love him for Doggystyle- an album that will live on through generations of house parties, I love him for the short film epic “Murder was the case” and, due to the attachment of “izzle” to common words, I love him for the hours of linguistic fun he has brought nerdy white boys around the world. I also love Snoop Dogg for the fact that he is either batshit crazy or just has a really good sense of humour. Case in point is “Sensual Seduction”: a track that sees snoop employ a voice coach and vocoder for a smooth P-Funk/ Bootsy Collins throwback (one that i'm picking is going to be all over clubs this summer, like Matt Corby posters on a 'tween wall). If the notion of the Doggfather crooning T-pain style hasn’t already blown your mind, then check out the video. You think you can handle it, but you just can’t.

This photo shoot by Ellis Parrinder was shot in London for Attitude Magazine and I was struck by this amazing transformation of a ‘once famous’ pop icon. Who Would Have Thought that Darren Hayes the front man of Savage Garden would end up the intriguing and stylish man we see here. I think everyone should admit to liking at least one Savage Garden song.. (Mine was ‘To The moon & Back’.. what can I say I can appreciate a good pop song).
Darren has since the Savage Garden days come out as a gay man and is married to his uber talented partner Richard Cullen. Together they are a creative force to look out for.
Richard, a film director, editor, producer and animator created Darren’s music videos ‘Who Would Of Thought’, 'Words'and ‘Me Myself & I’. You can view the clips, some of the animation and special effects here Re-invention is a tricky word, it can also be dangerous, but looking at Darren in this shoot, I’m drawn in and I want to know more….. Who Would Have Thought.?...

As much as I love the legendary venue that is the Annandale Hotel, most gigs there tend to invite a bit of a snag-fest…if you get my drift. Not this weekend though, because the La Femme festival is taking over the ‘Dales stages and car park for a ladies day that will serve you not with $3 glasses of Asti Spumante, but with some of the brightest female talent Australia has to offer. Brought to you by the good folks at Make Yourself Records, and supported by YEN - the Le Femme festival is “a day when we can come together and celebrate the art and talents of some of this city’s very special women”. Awww. The event will feature three separate stages; hosting performances from (the wonderfully named) Spider Vomit, Tokyo Blonde, Cassette Kids and more; as well as Short films, Art, Graphics, DJ chill out areas, delicious yum yums and a Free Market. Le Femme starts at 12 pm and Tix are available here.

According to Thao Nguyen, she has two talents: her first is she has a knack for beat-boxing and humming at the same time, and her second, and in her opinion finest, is that she had a capacity to watch so much TV as a kid, she’s convinced her personality is made up of several different sitcom characters. The 23 year Virginia-bred songwriter, is forgetting her unique voice, clever lyrics, skilful guitar plucking and her dry sense of humour. Sounding like Cat Power in cowboy boots,  with her perky guitar, bluegrass tinged banjo, and uninhibited vulnerability, Thao manages that rare combination of songs that are exuberantly happy yet on closer inspection tinged with sadness. With her brilliantly named band The Get Down Stay Down in tow and her cheeky humour lightening the gravity of her words, we're eagerly awaiting her debut album- out early next year.