It's Been That Kinda Week

15 March 2013 | 4:40 pm | Sally Anne Hurley

The breaking news, the exclusives and all the in betweens from the last week.

KISS, Pic by Josh Groom

KISS, Pic by Josh Groom

We take a look at the most popular news stories, interviews, blogs, reviews, videos and streams of the last week.

 

NEWS

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Nikki Sixx opened up to us about the band's plans to go out on a high and their own terms, saying "when we take our final bow, it's IT. I will cry. I cry thinking about it.”

Former Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra will bring his new musical project The Guantanamo School of Medicine to Australia this May.

Federal Arts Minister Simon Crean will tomorrow officially announce the government's new Creative Young Stars scheme, which included a funding recommendations for the funding that members hold regional talent competitions, similar to Australian Idol.

Australia's largest urban music event Supafest looked like it could have been headed for the scrap-heap earlier this year, but it has been saved with its 2013 lineup announced.

theMusic's Dan Condon reviewed Golden Plains, which was saved by it's second day lineup after some lacklustre performances on day one.

Mötley Crüe were forced to cut their second Sydney set short last night, with band members reporting that frontman Vince Neil was rushed to hospital with internal pain.

Police in Sydney and Melbourne arrested a total of 211 people at the Future Music Festivals over the weekend, with authorities praising the behaviour of the majority.

Although not very well-known in their homeland, Adelaide's Atlas Genius have emerged as an early favourite of Austin at this year's SXSW.

Mixed reactions have greeted today's National Cultural Policy, with contemporary live music stakeholders hoping that the structural policy decisions will foster a better live music environment.

The popular tourist town of Byron Bay on the New South Wales north coast is set to trial some strict new rules pertaining to the serving of alcohol in an attempt to curb alcohol related violence that has plagued the area.

 

INTERVIEWS

“It is a bit of a never-ending quest – to find the perfect technology that can create this immersive musical experience but doesn't distract from the music itself.”

“I guess we've got to know each other more over the years, and recording the album itself was heaps of fun – we have a lot of fun together."

"KISS is not just the music, it's everything, the whole visual appeal combined with the music, which has made the band unique and turned it into a timeless iconic longevity.”

“It was really early in the morning for me, I just kind of woke up, and I just had this email like 'A$AP wants you to Skype right now…"

“Right now we're working on a whole bunch of songs, and we're trying to decide which song we're going to build an album around."

“I wouldn't say that our desire to do this stuff has receded, it's just changed. Now when we go out on tour, we really want it to count."

"I sometimes think that it's a little bit like how some of us have to go through life, otherwise I'd get dragged down by every fucking thing that tugged at my heart."

"We try to do a little bit of everything. Heritage was our last record, we want to promote it. You don't like it, that's fine, but don't be a cunt.”

“I like the smaller, more intimate shows, as generic as that probably sounds. Realistically, I mean I don't even know if I'd like to be that popular.”

"[Lady Gaga's] very professional and hardworking and just a great singer."


BLOGS

The frontman of a promising young Australian band has expressed his delight at being fired by his bandmates over Facebook.

So you want to be a DJ but know nothing about dance music? Here is Kris Swales' foolproof guide to becoming an EDM superstar in Australia.

No, Dan Condon isn't at SxSW. But if he was, here's what he would be up to in Austin.

 

ALBUM REVIEWS

1. Gold Fields - Black Sun (Matt MacMaster)

"It's a really strong album full of detail and clean production flourishes."

2. The Drones - I Sea Seaweed (Ross Clelland)

"Yes, it's a new Drones album – and as always, you'll keep finding new corners as you listen closer."

"If you feel there's been a distinct absence of Aussie pub rock bands doing the rounds recently, then look no further than The Snowdroppers."

"Not a massive departure, but still an exceptional set of songs from one of the bands at the vanguard of Australia's thriving indie guitar underground."

5. Bob Evans - Familiar Stranger (Katherine Edmonds)

"A whole lot of love has gone into this album, and it shows on every track."

Client Liaison, Pic by Leila Morrissey


LIVE REVIEWS

"George Clinton conducts the band (and us) effortlessly. While we all like the funk, many comment that the set may have been a tad too long."

"Few do big, dumb but infectious arena-rock quite like them."

"Future Music Festival really did offer something for every type of music lover, but there were major issues with a lack of organisation, poor sound and overcrowding."

"Maybe Future does try to do too much all at once in trying to appeal to teenage club heads as well as old-timer indie kids. But today we danced to The Stone Roses playing Fools Gold, and that's all that counts, really."

"It's just so reassuring knowing that The Boss is out there both entertaining and looking out for us – tonight proves once more that he's truly one of a kind."


STREAMS


VIDEOS