Monday, May 31, 2010

PERTH BAND HITS UK NO.1


There'll be some big celebrations going down in the west tonight with news that Perth outfit Pendulum have debuted at No.1 on the UK album chart with their brand new album 'Immersion'. Even more impressive than the No.1 debut is that they even beat the third installment of the Glee soundtrack to the punch. This is the band's first ever No.1 album.
Sadly, they couldn't replicate the success here at home, debuting at No.3 on this week's ARIA albums chart.

PAYNTING A ROSY FUTURE

It's been a while since we've heard new material from Aussie singer-songwriter Michael Paynter, but that's all about to change with the forthcoming release of his new single 'Love The Fall'. Due for a retail release next month, the singer is allowing fans to preview the track on both Youtube and his OFFICIAL MYSPACE. And we're really loving what we're hearing. The track is obviously set to showcase Michael's powerhouse vocals and is an addictive combination of pop and rock, with a sweet female harmony. With a little bit of support from radio, we can see this going a long way. A video clip proper is forthcoming.

SCISSOR SISTERS : Fire With Fire

It's just not doing anything at Aussie radio OR retail, but with the video for the Scissor Sisters' new single 'Fire With Fire' now live for all to see, things may (hopefully) change.
The great thing about this clip is that it starts off with some intimate shots of Jake just singing into the microphone for the first verse and a bit, before bursting into a blaze of lights, smoke machines and thumping beats. But the lovely surprise is just where the band is performing. Let's just say they've found an exciting way of taking their music to the people. Really love this track - it's most certainly a grower.

CHART WATCH

GLEE! Australia, we have a new No.1 album (and a new No.3 and No.4 to boot), while the No.1 spot over on the ARIA singles chart remains the same. Let's lock and load with this week's Chart Watch!

SINGLES : If you thought last week's sales number (25,210) for Usher's No.1 single 'OMG' were impressive, just get your chops around this one - 31,125! That's a blinding result for the peeps at Sony Music headquarters and is just 3,775 copies shy of a gold accreditation in just one week of sales.
B.o.B's 'Airplanes' is also chuffing along quite nicely - with 18,559 copies of his second single sold in the past week to keep it at No.2, but Ke$ha's the big top ten mover for the week - up five places to No.3 with her latest 'Your Love Is My Drug' (11,141 sales).
Bulleting into the top 20 this week is Glee's version of the classic Rick Springfield track 'Jessie's Girl'. Up from No.56 last week, it's in at No.15 this week with 5689 sales. Also making a move upwards is David Guetta's 'Gettin' Over You' - up to No.16 (5604 sales).
Miley Cyrus debuts at No.18 with her grown up new single 'Can't Be Tamed'. She bagged 5363 first week sales of the track.
Glee's back with another top 50 placing - in the No.28 position with 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart'. It moved up from No.74 last week and sold 3430 copies this week.
Travis McCoy debuts at No.36 with 'Billionaire' (2573 sales), Muse is in at No.37 with 'Neutron Star Collision' (2487 sales) and Usher's promo tour keeps paying dividends with 2004 Aussie No.1 single 'Yeah' back into the chart mix at No.40.
Chipmunk's 'Until You Were Gone' is in at No.41 with 2238 sales and some slight drops from Owl City, The Temper Trap, John Mayer and Chreyl Cole.
Outside the top 50, Glee's back with their version of 'Run Joey Run', debuting in the No.64 position with 1421 sales. Washington debuts at No.69 with a live version of her recent hit 'Rich Kids' (1320 sales) and Enrique Iglesias gets some chart love with his latest 'I Like It'. It's in at No.71 for its first week of action with 1283 sales.
N.E.R.D. is in at No.74 with a little help from Nelly Furtado - 'Hot 'N' Fun' selling 1213 copies.
More Glee action at Nos.83 and 88 with 'Bad Romance' and 'Physical' - 1072 and 966 sales respectively.
And Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' looks like it's about to spend its last week in the top 100 after more than a year on the chart - it's down 11 spots to No.99.

ALBUMS : Certainly not the most spectacular sales figures by any stretch of the imagination, but most certainly enough to get the new Glee soundtrack over the line and into the No.1 position. 'Volume 3 - Showstoppers' sold 9055 copies this week.
Up to No.2 is Usher's 'Raymond V Raymond' with 7028 sales, leaving Pendulum to debut in the No.3 spot with 'Immersion' (6233 sales) and Tame Impala in the No.4 position with 'InnerSpeaker' (6068 sales). It also leaves Justin Bieber to drop four spots from No.1 to No.5 with 'My Worlds' (5409 sales).
Dead Letter Circus slumps from No.2 to No.13 in just their second week, The Beautiful Girls and their album 'Spooks' give MGM a decent debut - No.18 with 1686 sales and David Hobson's had a little spike - up 20 spots with 'Enchanted Way'.
Stone Temple Pilots are in at No.21 with their eponymous album (1549 sales), Craig David makes a 20 place jump to No.24 with 'Signed Sealed Delivered' (1485 copies) and Faithless debuts in the No.28 position with their newy 'The Dance' (1382 sales).
The Gunners' best-of is up to No.33, LCD Soundsystem drops to No.35 from No.11 last week and Soulfly debuts at No.38 (1108 sales).
Deez Nuts debuts at No.44 with 'This One's For You' (968 sales).
Outside the top 50, Crystal Castles plummets - No.25 to No.52, Patrizio Buanne's album 'Patrizio' re-enters at No.53 (811 copies), and position drops from Andre Rieu (No.26 to No.54) and Mark Vincent (No.31 to No.55).
Nas is in at No.60 with 'Distant Relatives' (734 copies), Lady Antebellum in at No.65 with 'Need You Now' (695 sales), Madonna's 'Celebration' re-enters at No.70 (666 sales) and Katie Noonan and the gang are back in at No.79 with 'Emperor's Box' (544 copies).
Midnight Youth are the lowest debut in the top 100 this week with 'The Brave Don't Run'. It's in at No.83 with 538 copies sold.

OFFICIAL ARIA CHARTS

MOST ADDED



RADIO'S MOST ADDED
WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY MAY 31, 2010


01. TRAIN : IF IT'S LOVE
02. JUSTIN BIEBER FTG. USHER : SOMEBODY TO LOVE
03. CHILDREN COLLIDE : JELLYLEGS
04. UNCLE KRACKER : SMILE
05. GUY SEBASTIAN : NEVER HOLD YOU DOWN
06. MUSE : NEUTRON STAR COLLISION
07. PENDULUM : WITCHCRAFT
08. BLISS N ESO : DOWN BY THE RIVER
09. DEAD LETTER CIRCUS : ONE STEP
10. THIRSTY MERC : MOUSETRAP HEART

Most added tracks to Australian radio courtesy of The Music Network.

EUROVISION : The Winner Is...

As many in the industry were predicting, Germany has taken out the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest in Norway. Lena's song 'Satellites' was the favourite all along and bolted across the line in Saturday night's grand final an incredible 76 points ahead of its nearest competitor Turkey. One of our picks, Romania's Paula Seling & Ovi, were placed third with their track 'Playing With Fire'.
But spare a thought for the poor old UK. The British entry - the Pete Waterman penned 'That Sounds Good To Me', sung by newcomer Josh Dubovie - finished dead last with a lowly ten points. Even the extraordinarily kitsch Hera Björk from Iceland failed to make too much of an impact, with her drag-anthem-in-waiting 'Je Ne Sais Quoi' finishing 19th.
Azerbaijan and Armenia, other favourites to win the prize, finished fifth and seventh respectively.
As a result of Germany's win, the contest will move there for the 2011 event, but a venue (and indeed a city) are yet to be decided.

JEWEL IN A HOYTS CROWN

Fans of US singer-songwriter Jewel will be thrilled with the news that Hoyts Cinemas will next Tuesday (June 08) broadcast the singer's live album launch concert onto selected screens throughout Australia. And when we say selected, there are only ten cinemas set to screen it.
The high definition satellite broadcast will feature Jewel performing songs from her new album 'Sweet And Wild', as well as a behind the scenes look at how the singer put the concert together. Everyone who purchases a ticket to the show will also receive a copy of Jewel's new album.
So where to see it?
In New South Wales, catch the concert at Hoyts in Blacktown, Broadway, Chatswood and at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park.
In Victoria, you'll get to experience it at Chadstone and Melbourne Central.
In Western Australia, see it at Hoyts Carousel (also in La Premiere), in South Australia at Norwood and in the ACT at Hoyts Woden.
For more information or to book your tix, hit THIS WEBSITE.

BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY #4


And the giveaways just keep on coming!! Yes, it was auspOp's second birthday on Friday and we're rolling out a cavalcade of awesome prizes across the week (and beyond). We've had three great prizes across the past three days (check HERE and HERE and HERE) and now... Here's prize No.4 - and it's a little packet of Glee! Thanks to our mates at Sony Music, win this prize and you'll bag yourself a copy of the 'The Power Of Madonna' EP and this week's No.1 album, Glee Volume 3 - The Showstoppers edition!
To enter the competition, simply send us an email containing your name and postal address to auspOp@ymail.com with the subject line "Birthday Booty - Glee". Could it GET any simpler!? But hurry - this competition (like all others this week) is only live for one week!

Competition closes at 11:59pm AEST on Sunday June 06, 2010. Strictly one entry per person. Winner drawn at random. One lucky sod will pick up this double dose of Glee with thanks to Sony Music! The winner's first name, suburb and state will be published on the site on Monday June 07, 2010. And remember, your details are kept strictly confidential and are never passed on to any third party.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

TOURING : The Ting Tings

Stacey... Jane... Whatever the hell their name might be, we call them the Ting Tings and Frontier Touring has used a quiet Sunday afternoon to announce Sydney and Melbourne sideshows for the popular UK outfit. Best known for their 2008 hit 'That's Not My Name', the band will take time before their Splendour In The Grass gig in Queensland to perform at Melbourne's Palace Theatre and Sydney's Enmore Theatre. Tickets for both shows are on sale on Tuesday June 08.

July 26 : Melbourne (Palace Theatre)
July 28 : Sydney (Enmore Theatre)

LOOKBACK





CLIMIE FISHER : Love Changes Everything

UK duo Climie Fisher weren't around for a long time - heck, they didn't really achieve much success outside the UK in the three years they were together, but their 1988 reworking of their 1987 track 'Love Changes Everything' is one that still holds it's own today. Simon Climie and Rob Fisher were the band. Rob was once part of '80s electronic act Naked Eyes ('Always Something There To Remind Me' and Simon had continued success as a songwriter. The sepia-toned video follows the boys' adventures at a railway station, where we find a young lady dancing, two young men staring at the backup singers, a range of musicians and a boy playing some drums. Classic chorus, classic song.

THE auspOp DIARY



WEEK COMMENCING MAY 31, 2010

May 31 : BRISBANE – Rickie Lee Jones (The Tivoli)
May 31 : MELBOURNE – Patrizio Buanne (Hamer Hall)
May 31 : TIX ON SALE – John Butler Trio (Nationally)
Jun 01 : ADELAIDE – Rickie Lee Jones (Her Majesty’s Theatre)
Jun 01 : BRISBANE – Whitley (Troubadour)
Jun 02 : BONDI – Cloud Control (Beach Road Hotel)
Jun 02 : TIX ON SALE – Winterbeatz (Nationally)
Jun 03 : GOLD COAST – Children Collide (Neverland)
Jun 03 : MELBOURNE – Deborah Conway/Willy Zygier (Toff In Town)
Jun 03 : MELBOURNE – Rickie Lee Jones (Forum Theatre)
Jun 03 : TIX ON SALE – Leonard Cohen (Nationally)
Jun 03 : TIX ON SALE – Cypress Hill (Nationally)
Jun 04 : ADELAIDE – Boy & Bear (Jive Bar)
Jun 04 : BRISBANE – Children Collide (The Zoo)
Jun 04 : BRISBANE – Miami Horror (The Met)
Jun 04 : GOLD COAST – Whitley (Sound Lounge)
Jun 04 : KATOOMBA – Cloud Control (Clarendon Guesthouse)
Jun 04 : MELBOURNE – Deborah Conway/Willy Zygier (Thornbury Theatre)
Jun 04 : MELBOURNE – Midnight Youth (Palace Theatre)
Jun 04 : TIX ON SALE – Airbourne (Nationally)
Jun 04 : TIX ON SALE – Jack Johnson (Nationally)
Jun 04 : TIX ON SALE – Miike Snow (Sydney, Melbourne)
Jun 05 : BUNBURY – Gyroscope (Prince Of Wales)
Jun 05 : CAIRNS – Katie Noonan & The Captains (Tanks Arts Centre)
Jun 05 : CANBERRA – Cloud Control (Transit Bar)
Jun 05 : GOLD COAST – Miami Horror (Neverland)
Jun 05 : HEPBURN SPRINGS – Deborah Conway/Willy Zygier (The Palais)
Jun 05 : HOBART – Rockwiz (Wrestpoint Entertainment Centre)
Jun 05 : MELBOURNE – Boy & Bear (Northcote Social Club)
Jun 05 : SYDNEY – Children Collide (The Factory Theatre)
Jun 05 : SYDNEY – Midnight Youth (Enmore Theatre)
Jun 06 : PERTH – Gyroscope (Metro City)

BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY #3


Yes, it's a week (and more) of fantastic pop giveaways to celebrate auspOp's second birthday a couple of days ago. Two amazing giveaways are already up for grabs (click the giveaway links in the sidebar to find out what they are) and this is the third in three big days!
Amazing EMI has most definitely come to the party, giving us three fantastic prizes to give away. This is the first of the three, and for any fan of US dance outfit LCD Soundsystem, it's a corker. So what you'll get should you win this amazing package is a copy of LCD Soundsystem's latest album 'This Is Happening', there's a copy of the 12" vinyl of the single 'Drunk Girls', a copy of the 'Drunk Girls' 7" vinyl, PLUS a fantastic LCD Soundsystem calico bag! Gadzooks!
Another monster prize in our monster week of birthday giveaways!
And as always, entering is easy! Simply send us an email containing your name and postal address to auspOp@ymail.com with the subject line "Birthday Booty - LCD" and you're in with the chance to win! Magnificent!

Competition closes at 11:59pm AEST on Saturday June 05, 2010. Strictly one entry per person. Winner drawn at random. One lucky sod will pick up this entire pack - the CD, the vinyls, the bag - and all with thanks to the desperately attractive team at EMI! The winner's first name, suburb and state will be published on the site on Sunday June 06, 2010. And remember, your details are kept strictly confidential and are never passed on to any third party.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

GUY SEBASTIAN : Never Hold You Down

We don't quite know what they're doing premiering the new Guy Sebastian video overnight on a Friday night, but by gad they have - and here are the results. Guy's headed down to Venice Beach in Los Angeles to shoot this little clip, which features the singer in all manner of disguises trying to capture the attention of a pretty young blonde girl - with a little help from ex-Home & Away star Mark Furze. There are bubbles, there's a marching band, there's a guy in a gorilla suit. And apparently, there's a 3D version of this coming too, so stay tuned. Kinda fun.

BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY #2



By now you're no doubt blissfully aware that just yesterday, we here at auspOp celebrated our second birthday. And by now you're probably also aware that we've got a pretty nice package... of Kylie stuff being given away as we speak. But as part of our 2nd birthday celebrations, we're not just bringing you one competition. Oh no. This one's going to drag on for over a week with new prizes being offered up every single day!
Today, we're giving you the chance to win a copy of the brand new Barbra Streisand DVD 'One Night Only'. This fab DVD features Barbra's intimate performance at New York City's Village Vanguard, where she sang songs from her latest album 'Love Is The Answer' in front of a celebrity packed audience. With thanks to Sony Music, we have FIVE copies of this hot new DVD to give away as part of our birthday celebrations! All you need to do to get yourself into the draw is send us an email containing your name and postal address to auspOp@ymail.com with the subject line "Birthday Booty - Babs". Do that and you're in with the chance to win!! But hurry - it's only live for just ONE week. We'll have another awesome giveaway going live tomorrow (and the next day and the next...), along with the mammoth Kylie prize announced yesterday! Good luck!

Competition closes at 11:59pm AEST on Friday June 04, 2010. One entry per person. Winners drawn at random. Five lucky winners will each receive a copy of Barbra Streisand's 'One Night Only' DVD, with thanks to Sony Music. The winners' first names, suburbs and states will be published on the site on Saturday June 05, 2010. And remember, your details are kept strictly confidential and are never passed on to any third party.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Friday, May 28, 2010

EUROVISION'S SECOND TEN THROUGH (SPOILER ALERT)


(PLEASE NOTE : THIS POST CONTAINS THE LIST OF TEN COUNTRIES AND ARTISTS FROM THE SECOND SEMI-FINAL WHO WILL MOVE THROUGH TO THE EUROVISION GRAND FINAL IN OSLO ON SATURDAY NIGHT. IF YOU WISH TO MAINTAIN AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE FOR SBS'S BROADCAST ON SATURDAY NIGHT, GLOSS OVER THIS ARTICLE...)

How very exciting. The first semi final of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Oslo on Tuesday night, hits SBS tonight at 7:30pm. We gave you a little heads-up on which ten countries from the first semi had made it through to the grand final on Wednesday morning, but now it's over to who's made it through from the second semi-final, held last night. And joining Albania, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greece, Iceland, Moldova, Portugal, Russia and Serbia, plus the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Norway in the grand final are (in alphabetical order);

ARMENIA : Eva Rivas - Apricot Stone
AZERBAIJAN : Safura - Drip Drop
CYPRUS : Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders - Life Looks Better In Spring
DENMARK : Chanée & N'evergreen - In A Moment Like This
GEORGIA : Sofia Nizharadze - Shine
IRELAND : Niamh Kavanagh - It's For You
ISRAEL : Harel Skaat - Milim
ROMANIA : Paula Seling & Ovi - Playing With Fire
TURKEY : maNga - We Could Be The Same
UKRAINE : Alyosha - Sweet People

Here in Australia, SBS's coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest begins tonight with the first semi final at 7:30pm.
The second semi-final airs tomorrow night at 7:30pm, with the grand final on Sunday night, also at 7:30pm.


AT RETAIL ON FRIDAY MAY 28, 2010

Catherine Britt – Catherine Britt
Andy Clockwise – Socialite
Godsmack – The Oracle
Katie Melua – The House
Midnight Juggernauts – The Crystal Axis
Oh No Ono - Eggs
OST – Prince Of Persia : The Sands Of Time
OST – Sex And The City 2
OST – True Blood Vol.2
OST – Underbelly : The Golden Mile
Scouting For Girls – This Ain’t A Love Song (CD single)
James Taylor & Carole King – The Troubadour Reunion (DVD)
Various – 100% Hits : The Best Of Winter 2010
Various – Big Tunes : Back To The Nineties
Various – Club Classics Volume 3
Various – Just The Hits
Various – Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album
Various – Rockwiz : 3CD Collectors Edition
Various – Rockwiz : 3DVD Collectors Edition
Various – Skitz Mix 15
Various – Skitz Mix : The Ultimate
Various – The World Game 2010
Wild Nothing – Gemini

SOLO DOLL

Following on from her win in the US series of Dancing With The Stars earlier this week, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger has wasted no time in announcing her brand new solo single.
'Nobody Can Change Me' is the Nicole's third solo offering, coming off the back of 'Baby Love' back in 2007. No word yet on a local release for this, nor for her forthcoming debut solo album.

AND MORE GLEE!

Sony Music has officially confirmed the local release for yet another Glee EP. 'Glee : Journey To Regionals' features six tracks which will appear in the final episode in this season of the hit TV show. (Gleeks will be thrilled to know that the show has just been renewed by FOX over in the United States, so a second and third season are on the way.)
This EP features a new version of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'', along with covers of Lulu's 'To Sir With Love' and Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
Discover it in your favourite record store from Friday June 18.

01. Faithfully
02. Any Way You Want It / Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'
03. Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)
04. Bohemian Rhapsody
05. To Sir With Love
06. Over The Rainbow

BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY #1


Today marks two years since auspOp first took to the world wide web - and as such, we're celebrating with heaps of awesome giveaways coming every single day throughout the next week or so!!
We don't know whether you're aware or not, but a certain impossible pop princess shares her birthday with this very website. Yes, Ms Kylie Ann Minogue celebrates her 42nd birthday today just as we celebrate our second. So how in the world could we possibly offer up anything other than this stellar Kylie pack as our first giveaway...
MASSIVE thanks to our friends at Warner Music Australia who have given us this ultimate Kylie pack to give away to you - and it includes almost every studio album she's released ('Let's Get To It' sadly seems to be out of print globally).
So should you win, you'll get the whole pack - one DVD and TEN fantastic albums!!!;

• Kylie
• Enjoy Yourself
• Rhythm Of Love
• Kylie Minogue
• Impossible Princess
• Intimate & Live
• Intimate & Live DVD
• Light Years
• Fever
• Body Language
• X


To enter the draw to win our biggest prize EVER, send us an email containing your name and postal address to auspOp@ymail.com with the subject line "Birthday Booty - Kylie". It's that simple! BUT hurry - the competition is live for just ONE week! And remember, it's our birthday, so we'll have a new prize every day this week! YAY!

Competition closes at 11:59pm AEST on Thursday June 03, 2010. Strictly one entry per person. Winner drawn at random. One lucky son of a gun will pick up this incredible prize package of Kylie amazingness with big thanks to her Aussie record company Warner Music. The winner's first name, suburb and state will be published on the site on Friday June 04, 2010. And remember, your details are kept strictly confidential and are never passed on to any third party. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

auspOp TURNS TWO

Two years ago today, a certain little pop music blog first went live with a rather glowing appraisal of Cyndi Lauper's new album 'Bring Ya To The Brink' (we said at the time "this album, if anything, proves she’s still ready, willing and more than able to challenge for a position in the upper reaches of pOp royalty!")
After two years online, we've been consistently tweaking and improving auspOp to bring you a music site that offers reliable, up to date information on all things pop in Australia.
We had some pretty basic graphics and some pretty basic stories to start off with. We used to use the capital 'O' every time we wrote the word 'pop', we even had silly little bullets either side of our name (•auspOp•). Thankfully we got over that little phase and motored along.
In the two years we've been online, we've brought you more than 3500 stories, interviewed Ricki-Lee, Paulini, Boyzone, Sam Clark, Gabriella Cilmi, Operator Please, Brian McFadden and many more, we've brought you countless prizes (more of them later today), there's been the weekly chart wraps, the new release schedule, the tour news, the debates, the diary, new videos, new artwork, a new url (www.auspOp.net), a new Twitter account (twitter.com/auspOp), new graphics and much more.
And thanks to you and your incredible support, and with the support of all the major record and touring companies, we continue to grow bigger and stronger.
We now reach more than 35,000 unique visitors every month (and more than 13,000 returning visitors per month).
So thankyou for your truly amazing support.
We hope to continue to bring you everything you love about pop and more in the months and years ahead.

The auspOp team

(Now what about those prizes? Stick around - they're about to go OFF!)

Thursday, May 27, 2010

TOURING : Jason Derulo

He's one of the hottest and most in demand R&B/pop artists on the planet right now, and with three top ten Aussie hits under his belt (including the massive No.1 'In My Head'), Michael Coppel has late this afternoon confirmed an Australian tour for US singer songwriter Jason Derulo.
He's headed for Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in November, kicking off in the West on Tuesday November 02.
Tickets for all dates are on sale on Tuesday June 08.

November 02 : Perth (Challenge Stadium)
November 04 : Adelaide (Thebarton Theatre)
November 06 : Melbourne (Festival Hall)
November 09 : Sydney (Hordern Pavillion)
November 13 : Brisbane (Convention Centre)

ENRIQUE REVEALS TRACKLIST, COVER

He could charm the trousers off a packet of chips (not that packet of chips wear trousers...) but Enrique Iglesias has revealed the cover image (above) and tracklisting (below) of his brand new album 'Euphoria'. The album is a mix of six Spanish language and four English tracks, the latter featuring guest vocals from former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, Akon, Usher and, on the latest single 'I Like It', Pitbull and Lionel Richie. Although not officially on the local schedule yet, expect it at retail around July 02.

01. Cuando Me Enamoro (Feat. Juan Luis Guerra)
02. No Me Digas Que No (Feat. Wisin & Yandel)
03. Ayer
04. Dile Que
05. I Like It (Feat. Pitbull & Lionel Richie)
06. One Day at a Time (Feat. Akon)
07. I Can Feel Your Heartbeat (Feat. Nicole Scherzinger)
08. Dirty Dancer (With Usher)
09. Tu Y Yo
10. No Me Digas Que No

AMERICA'S NEW IDOL

24 year old Illinois native Lee DeWyze has won season nine of American Idol. The competition, which concluded just a couple of hours ago, came down to a fiercely fought battle between DeWyze and 24 year old Crystal Bowersox from Ohio.
And while Bowersox had been the favourite to take out the competition, it was DeWyze who popped over the line after impressing with his renditions of Simon & Garfunkel's 'The Boxer', R.E.M's 'Everybody Hurts' and U2's 'Beautiful Day' on the final performance show.
It was also judge Simon Cowell's last hurrah on the popular show, with former contestants coming together in tribute of his legacy.
Aussie fans will know the first song performed too - it's Delta Goodrem's 'Together We Are One' - the track written by Delta, Brian McFadden and Guy Chambers which Delts sang at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

MINI WRAP

* Sony Music has announced that local outfit Amy Meredith (pictured) has been confirmed to appear on next week's Hey Hey It's Saturday. They'll be joined on the bill by UK pop star Alexandra Burke, as announced yesterday.
* Sophie Ellis-Bextor's single 'Bittersweet' was due for a local digital release next month, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside - it's disappeared from this week's Universal Music release schedule.
* Diana Vickers has announced that the follow-up to her smash UK No.1 single 'Once' will be the uptempo track 'The Boy Who Murdered Love'. It's due for UK release on July 12.
* Speaking of Universal, they yesterday officially serviced Ne-Yo's brand new single to Australian radio. 'Beautiful Monster' is the first single to be lifted from Ne-Yo's new album 'Libra Scale', due for release in September.
* And the No.1 most played song in the country this week is again Lady Gaga's 'Alejandro'. The No.1 most played Aussie song this week is Vanessa Amorosi's 'Mr.Mysterious

GUY SINGLE #4

Sony Music has this week serviced Aussie radio with the fourth single from Guy Sebastian's latest album 'Like It Like That'. Following on from 'Like It Like That', 'Art Of Love' and 'All To Myself', 'Never Hold You Down' is a summery mid-tempo Motown-esque number and will be released digitally on June 04.


THE AUSTRALIAN CD NEW RELEASE SCHEDULE

June 04
Against Mel – White Crosses
Christina Aguilera – Bionic
Christina Aguilera – Bionic (Deluxe Edition)
Tracey Arbon – Life Goes On
DJ Havana Brown – Crave Vol.4
Alexandra Burke – All Night Long (CD single)
Alexandra Burke - Overcome
Common – Go! : Best Of
Renee Fleming – Dark Hope
Free Energy – Stuck On Nothing
Grum – Heartbeats
Iyaz – Replay
Jack Johnson – To The Sea
Sergio Mendes – Bom Tempo
Willie Nelson – Country Music
OST – Mary Poppins (Special Edition)
OST – Shrek Forever After
OST – Twilight : Eclipse
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue ‘N’ Cheek (Tour Edition)
Scarlett Belle – Closure (CD single)
Sex Pistols – Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle
Broderick Smith – Journal (Best Of)
Suckers – Wild Smile
Sandi Thom – Merchants & Thieves
Trentemøller – The Great Wide Yonder
U2 – U2360 At The Rose Bowl (DVD)
Various – Now : The Hits Of Winter 2010
Various – Skitz Rocks
Steve Winwood – Revolutions : Best Of

June 11
ABBA – Voulez Vous (Deluxe Edition)
Cabins – Bright Victory
Chemical Brothers – Further
Chemical Brothers – Further (CD/DVD)
Crowded House – Intriguer
Crowded House – Intriguer (Deluxe Edition)
Emerson Drive – Believe
Fanfarlo – Reservoir
Infant Sorrow – Get Him To The Greek
Jewel – Sweet And Wild
Maniac – Maniac EP
Sarah McLachlan – The Laws Of Illusion
Sarah McLachlan – The Laws Of Illusion (Deluxe Edition)
Morcheeba – Blood Like Lemonade
Oasis – Time Flies… 1994-2009
Oasis – Time Flies… 1994-2009 (DVD)
Old Man River – You’re On My Mind EP
Ozzy Osbourne – Scream
P-Money – Everything
Kevin Rudolf – To The Sky
Shakira – Waka Waka (CD single)
Various – Floorfillers : Party Anthems 2010
Various – Hit Country : Hits Of The Decade
Various – Ministry Of Sound : Trance Nation 2
Various – Total Girl : The Party Mix
Russell Watson – People Get Ready
Ween – Quebec
Yusuf – Road Singer

June 18
Laurie Anderson – Homeland
Artisan Guns – Hearts EP
Steve Cropper – Midnight Flyer
Taio Cruz – Rokstarr
Dandy Warhols – Best Of The Capitol Years
Devo – Something For Everybody
Drake – Thank Me Later
Ernest Ellis – Hunting
Eminem – Recovery
Ed Harcourt – Lustre
Hot Chelle Rae – Lovesick Electric
Marques Houston – Mr.Houston
Lamb Of God – Hourglass
Travie McCoy – Lazarus
Ozzy Osbourne – Scream
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Mojo
Robyn – Body Talk Pt.1
Sia – We Are Born
Thirsty Merc – Mousetrap Heart
Various – Complete Country
Various – Complete Eighties
Various – Complete Memories
Various – Complete Nineties
Various – Complete Party
Various – Complete Rock
Various – Complete Seventies
Various – Complete Sixties
Various – Eurovision Song Contest 2010 (DVD)
Various – So Fresh : Winter 2010
Various – Toy Story Favourites
Various – Video Hits : The Greatest Covers
We Are Scientists – Barbara

June 25
3OH!3 – Streets Of Gold
The Cat Empire – Cinema
Miley Cyrus – Can’t Be Tamed
Miley Cyrus – Can’t Be Tamed (CD/DVD)
Diddy & Dirty Money – Last Train To Paris
Macy Gray – The Sellout
Jaron And The Long Road To Love – Getting Dressed In The Dark
Jay-Z – The Hits Collection Vol.1
Jay-Z – The Hits Collection Vol.1 (Deluxe Edition)
Jez Mead – Beard Of Bees
M.I.A. – M.I.A.
Kylie Minogue – All The Lovers (CD single)
Ocelot – No Requests
OST – The Runaways
Pocket 808 – Proximo
Papa Roach – To Be Loved : Best Of
Robert Randolph – We Walk This Road
Rogue Traders – Night Of The Living Drums
The Roots – How I Got Over
Scissor Sisters – Night Work
Screaming Jets – TBA
Glenn Shorrock – The Next 20 Years
Various – The Prayer (CD/DVD)
Zero 7 – Record

July 02
Amy Meredith – Restless
Jimmy Barnes – For The Working Class Man 25
Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot
ceo – White Magic
Aaron Fresh – Fresh ‘N’ Up
Kenny G – Heart And Soul
Game – The R.E.D. Album
Enrique Iglesias – Euphoria
Leela James – My Soul
Kelis – Flesh Tone
Little Red – TBA
Kylie Minogue – Aphrodite
N.E.R.D. – Nothing
Otis Redding – Live On The Sunset Strip
Rush - Beyond The Lighted Stage (DVD)
Various – Taste Le Tour

July 09
Miranda Cosgrove – Kissin’ You (CD single)
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night Of The Soul
Lowrider – Round The World
Professor Green – Alive ‘Til I’m Dead
Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV
Mark Sholtez – The Distance Between Two Truths
Sparkadia – TBA
Various – The 5CD Megabox : ‘80s
Various – Countdown : Disco Anthems
Dweezil Zappa – Return Of The Son Of…

July 16
Sheryl Crow – 100 Miles From Memphis
R.E.M. – Fables Of The Reconstruction : 25th Anniversary
Tonic – Tonic

July 23
Bliss ‘N’ Eso – Running On Air
The Like – Release Me
Semi Precious Weapons – You Love You
DJ Sir-vere – Major Flavours 5
Various – F*** Me I’m Famous Vol.6

July 30
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare
Tom Jones – Praise And Blame
Washington – I Believe You, Liar
Paris Wells – TBA

August 06
Custom Kings – TBA
Ocelot – No Requests
Tiesto – Kaleidoscope (Special Edition)

August 13
Clare Bowditch – Modern Day Addiction
The Pretty Reckless – Light Me Up
T.I. – King Uncaged

August 20
Ray Charles – Live In Concert
The Holidays – TBA

August 27
Children Collide – TBA
Raul Malo – Sinners A Saints
OST – Despicable Me
Katy Perry – Teenage Dream
Tarja – What Lies Beneath

All release dates subject to change & list is updated weekly

TOURING : Muse

After wowing audiences with their electrifying set at the Big Day Out Festivals earlier in the year, it's been announced a short time ago that English rock gods Muse will visit Australia later this year for a series of power packed arena shows. The trio will take in dates in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth during their December visit. Tickets for all shows are on sale on Monday June 07.

December 05 : Brisbane (Entertainment Centre)
December 09 : Sydney (Acer Arena)
December 14 : Melbourne (Rod Laver Arena)
December 19 : Perth (Steel Blue Oval)

THIRSTY MERC : Mousetrap Heart

We're actually really liking this new single for the gang from Thirsty Merc. It's a little more mellow than previous outings, sounding like a cross between The Whitlams (amazing) and Andy Bull (also amazing). The clip is pretty simple, with Master Thistlethwayte tinkering on the ivories, so we're left instead to concentrate on the track.
We've been giggling though, 'cause we still have the image of young clean-cut Rai stuck in our heads from his ill-fated pop career with Sony, in which he looks a million miles away from the rock star we now know and love (click HERE).

ANDY BELL : Call On Me

Andy Bell first tried his hand at the solo game back in 2005 with the fab pop track 'Crazy'. After a little sojourn back to his Erasure roots in 2007, the singer is back in the solo game once again with 'Call On Me' - the first single to be lifted from his forthcoming album 'Non Stop'.
As far as video clips are concerned, it's not going to win any awards, but the track itself is a gleeful celebration of everything pop, including a rather retro sounding chorus.

ASTON NET STARS

They may still be in their early 20s, but the six members of Sydney outfit Aston have been experiencing success on a global sale after celebrity blogger Perez Hilton picked up their classical take on Lady Gaga's 'Telephone', posting about it on his website. The rest is history. Almost 700,000 views later, the band is well on its way to becoming a global success story.
But 'Telephone' isn't their only reworking of a classic pop song. Their first clip was a cover of Kylie's 'Confide In Me'.
Their brand new video (below) is a unique take on Rihanna's recent single 'Rude Boy'.
And now the band is asking fans across the globe to vote on what they think should be the next track to receive the Aston makeover. There are six to choose from, including the Adam Lambert track 'Whataya Want From Me'.
Make your vote count over at astonmusic.com.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

UK + GREECE = LOVE

We actually really like 'Paper Romance' - the recent single for British electro duo Groove Armada. It was the second single lifted from Andy and Tom's latest album 'Black Light'. But when you combine the magic of a UK duo with the remixey goodness of Greek electro duo Fotonovela and you've got something altogether hands in the air. It's splashed with a little lick of the '80s, smattered with a constellation of glittering bleeps and sweet, plucky synths.
Is good. Check them out HERE.

EUROVISION'S FIRST TEN THROUGH (SPOILER ALERT)

(PLEASE NOTE : THIS POST CONTAINS THE LIST OF TEN COUNTRIES AND ARTISTS WHO WILL MOVE THROUGH TO THE EUROVISION GRAND FINAL IN OSLO ON SATURDAY NIGHT. IF YOU WISH TO MAINTAIN AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISE FOR SBS'S BROADCAST ON FRIDAY NIGHT, GLOSS OVER THIS ARTICLE...)

The first semi-final of the 2010 Eurovision song contest was held in Norway last night, with 10 amazing songs making it through to the grand final on Saturday night. The countries making it through were announced randomly during the live telecast.
So, in alphabetical order, the countries and their acts heading through to the grand final are;

ALBANIA : Juliana Pasha - It's All About You
BELARUS : 3+2 - Butterflies
BELGIUM : Tom Dice - Me And My Guitar
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA : Vukašin Brajić - Thunder And Lightning
GREECE : Giorgos Alkaios & Friends - OPA
ICELAND : Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi
MOLDOVA : Sunstroke Project & Olia Tira - Run Away
PORTUGAL : Filipa Azevedo - Há Dias Assim
RUSSIA : Peter Nalitch & Friends - Lost And Forgotten
SERBIA : Milan Stanković - Ovo Je Balkan

BIRTHDAY BOOTY


When we said we'd been working on some kick-ass prizes for our forthcoming second birthday, we weren't whistlin' Dixie!! We've got so much up for grabs thanks to our friends at the various record companies... There's goodies from Goldfrapp, loot from LCD Soundsystem, awesomeness from Operator Please, almost the entire Kylie album back catalogue, stacks of Madonna goodies, Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion DVDs and a packet of Glee. We'll also have British copies of Lady Gaga's 'The Remix' to give away, plus a very special Universal Music prize containing TEN amazing pop CDs including Florence & The Machine, Brian McFadden, Ellie Goulding, Lady Gaga, Cheryl Cole & more! Don't miss it! The winning starts THIS Friday!

JUNIOR NOW SENIOR

The boys from Norwegian outfit Röyksopp have apologised to their fans for the delayed release of their new album 'Senior'. The new LP, the downtempo companion album to last year's 'Junior', was originally due to be released at the end of last year. Then delayed 'til April this year, the boys have used their OFFICIAL WEBSITE to explain the album's delay.
"As you all know, record companies have been having an “interesting” time lately, to say the least. Because of this, to ensure the best possible release scenario for Senior, we have gone through many changes on exactly who we’re releasing it with," they say.
Though it's not yet known which record label will release 'Senior', they have assured fans that the album will finally get a global release in August this year.

ALEXANDRA HITTING OUR SHORES

News just through to the desk is that 2008 British X Factor winner Alexandra Burke will arrive in Australia next week on a three day promo tour. She'll be arriving in the country to promote her brand new single 'All Night Long', performing on Channel 9's Hey Hey It's Saturday in Melbourne next Wednesday night and on Channel 7's Sunrise on Friday morning June 04.
In further local Alexandra news, Sony has also announced that her long-awaited album 'Overcome' will be rush released into Aussie stores next Friday, June 04.

INCOMING : Tom Jones

Universal Music has announced the brand new album for the one, the only Tom Jones. His new album is called 'Praise And Blame' and comes an incredible 45 years after the release of his debut 'Along Came Jones'.
The new LP is said to be stripped down, with Tom's take on tracks previously recorded by the likes of John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan and The Staples Singers.
The album will be released in Australia on Friday July 30.

COHEN RETURNS

Frontier Touring Company has announced that legendary singer songwriter Leonard Cohen will return to our shores in November for a series of concerts. Last in the country at the beginning of 2009, this tour will see him perform in all states (excluding the territories), kicking off in Brisbane on Saturday November 06.
Tickets are on sale on Thursday June 03.

November 06 : Brisbane (Entertainment Centre)
November 08 : Sydney (Acer Arena)
November 12 : Melbourne (Rod Laver Arena)
November 15 : Hobart (Derwent Entertainment Centre)
November 18 : Adelaide (Entertainment Centre)
November 24 : Perth (ME Bank Stadium)

SONY KICKING GOALS

(We had to have a soccer analogy in there somewhere, it might as well be in the title...)
Sony Music will release the official 2010 FIFA World Cup album in Australia this Friday.
The new charity compilation will feature music from a cavalcade of the music label's artists including Wyclef, R.Kelly and Shakira.
Proceeds from the sale of 'Listen Up! The Official 2010 FIFA World Cup Album' will benefit FIFA's '20 Centres For 2010' initiative, which aims to create 20 'Football For Hope' centres throughout Africa.
Shakira's single 'Waka Waka' is there, along with the official 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem by R.Kelly, 'Sign Of A Victory', which features guest vocals from the Soweto Spiritual Singers.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg, South Africa on June 11.

MARK RONSON'S BACK

Mark Ronson's brand new single 'Bang Bang Bang' has officially hit Australia. After it's premiere on the BBC's Radio 1 on Monday, Aussie radio got its first taste yesterday morning when both Triple J and the Nova Network threw the song on their playlists.
'Bang Bang Bang' is the first single to be lifted from Mark's forthcoming LP 'Record Collection', and according to the presser, it's "a playground funk triumph and gives fans the first taste from the Mid-Atlantic mastermind’s new album."
'Record Collection' is slated for a local release in September.

UNIVERSAL PARTNERS LONDON 2012

Universal Music has announced their official partnership with the organising committee of the London 2010 Olympic Games. The deal, announced yesterday local time, means that Universal Music will release all London 2012 branded music, including compilation albums and all composing, publishing and recording of any music for the London 2012 games before the games.
The games kick off in London on July 27, 2012.

2010 APRA NOMINEES

The Australian Performing Rights Association has unveiled the list of nominees in the 2010 APRA Awards. The awards represent an annual celebration of Australian music and those who continue to create and contribute to the music industry down under. Empire Of The Sun and Jessica Mauboy lead the nomination pack with three noms apiece, while The Presets, The Living End and Bonjah will all compete against themselves in their respective categories.
The 2010 APRA Music Awards will be held in Sydney on Monday June 21.

SONG OF THE YEAR
Sarah Blasko - All I Want
Troy Cassar-Daley - Big Big Love
Empire Of The Sun - We Are The People
Kate Miller-Heidke - The Last Day On Earth
The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

BREAKTHROUGH SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR
Empire Of The Sun
Jessica Mauboy
Daniel Merriweather
Lisa Mitchell
The Temper Trap

MOST PLAYED AUSTRALIAN WORK
Eskimo Joe - Foreign Land
Evermore - Hey Boys And Girls (Truth Of The World Pt.2)
Jet - She's A Genius
The Living End - Raise The Alarm
Jessica Mauboy - Been Waiting

INTERNATIONAL WORK OF THE YEAR
All American Rejects - Gives You Hell
The Fray - You Found Me
Pink - Sober
Shinedown - Second Chance
Taylor Swift - Love Story

URBAN WORK OF THE YEAR
Bliss N Eso - On Tour
Hilltop Hoods - Still Standing
Jessica Mauboy - Running Back
Pez - Festival Song
Spaceship - Spaceship

DANCE WORK OF THE YEAR
Zoe Badwi - Release Me
Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream
The Presets - If I Know You
The Presets - Talk Like That
Sneaky Sound System - 16

COUNTRY WORK OF THE YEAR
Adam Brand - Hell Of A Ride
Troy Cassar-Daley - Big Big Love
Brad Cole - Come Home
Steve Forde - I Ain't That Guy
The McClymonts - Kick It Up

BLUES & ROOTS WORK OF THE YEAR
The Bamboos - Can't Help Myself
Bonjah - Bring Back The Fire
Bonjah - Fly
James Grehan - Hold On
Ash Grunwald - Breakout

ROCK WORK OF THE YEAR
Eskimo Joe - Foreign Land
Evermore - Hey Boys And Girls (Truth Of The World Pt.2)
Jet - She's A Genius
The Living End - Raise The Alarm
The Living End - White Noise

OFFICIAL APRA AWARDS SITE.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

NE-YO LAUNCHES ON MYSPACE


R&B supremo Ne-Yo, who's about to tour the country as part of the 'Winterbeatz' festival, will launch his brand new single 'Beautiful Monster' on Myspace at 5pm AEST today. The track is the first single due to be lifted from the singer's fourth album, which is due for local release in September through Universal Music.
Tickets for the Winterbeatz tour go on sale next Wednesday at 9am.

KYLIE SNEAK PEEK

The clip's not officially premiered JUST yet, but someone's given the world a little sneak peek of what to expect when the full Kylie 'All The Lovers' video finally drops in the weeks ahead. All the lovers seem to not be wearing too much, all of them seemingly heading out of the house without any clothes on! Poor loves. And hi Charles - and Mikey!

INTERVIEW : Sam Clark

Without a shadow of a doubt, Sam Clark must be one of the hardest working men in the business. Not only does he have all the endless line learning for his character Ringo in Channel 10's 'Neighbours', but he's acting, rehearsing, gigging and in the middle of it all must find time to promote his music releases and have a personal life. Thankfully Ringo is shouldering some of the load, even taking to premiering Sam's music on 'Neighbours' on the singer's behalf.
We caught up with Sam recently and found that he doesn't mind one little bit.

"Ringo’s stealing all my thunder, stealing all my time, yeah. He makes it quite hard for me at the moment, but at the same time he’s spreading my music out to a whole bunch of people too, so there’s pros and cons with it all. I always said I was tentative of mixing the two together because they are very independent of each other in my life. So I always wanted to release the music independently of the show and I did that with ‘Broken’. I’ve been lucky enough that 'Neighbours' is still interested in having me play, so I’ve played a couple of tracks already this year and there’s a few more coming as well."

We joke that perhaps over time Ringo could premiere Sam's entire album to the Neighbours' viewing audience. He laughs.

"Well I’ve been lucky enough to have two tracks of mine played on the show, ‘Send Me A Sign’ being the first and one that’s called ‘Devastated’ that will be coming up in a couple of weeks. But the rest of the songs will just be covers or a few muck around bits and pieces," he says.

And with Neighbours still getting sold to countless overseas markets including the UK, it gives Sam a ready made audience for when he decides to release abroad.

"I’m actually looking at taking some time off from the show again at the end of July and hopefully taking a little bit of a trip over to the UK for a number of months if possible. I'm looking forward to playing as much as I can and getting out to as many venues as I can, whether that be schools or pubs or whatever. I’ve still got to work out the finer details of it, but yes, looking to head over there in August, which should be good."

Sam's role in Neighbours recently presented him with a unique challenge - to write a song that encapsulated the feelings and emotions of someone else entirely - his character Ringo. That song is his latest single.

"Well ‘Send Me A Sign’ debuted via my alter ego on Neighbours. It’s a song that I had to write obviously in terms of myself, but also to fit into the show. That was an interesting experience because I’ve never really written for anyone other than myself. It was quite an interesting challenge for me to write a song with a particular person in mind and a storyline that couldn’t be controlled by me. I think I’ve done quite well in keeping true to myself, but also creating something that works for Ringo and for the show."



Fans of the singer will be enamored with the clip to 'Send Me A Sign', in which we get not one Sam Clark, but two.

"Two Sam Clarks and a Ryan Moloney in there for all the Neighbours fans. My parents are also in the clip and as many family members and friends – my girlfriend, my housemates – as many people as we could get to help out. I tried to get my sister in as well. I was going to get her and her boyfriend down to play the role of the kissing couple on the bus, but she couldn’t make it down, unfortunately."

Sam is about to release his third single 'Devastated' - it's a track that also gets it's premiere via the Network 10 soap, but it's coming a little sooner than everyone expected.

"It was another song that they wanted to suit Neighbours and so it was the second of that songwriting challenge. Initially timeline-wise, that song was coming a month and a half later than what it actually does, so there was going to be a bigger gap between the second and third singles, but Neighbours lied to us. Bloody Ringo wrote a second song a little too quickly. ‘Devastated’ is different again from the first two singles, so I’m looking forward to having that out there."

Sam's new (as yet untitled) album drops presumably later in the year, but he's wise enough not to make any promises when it comes to his music.

"I learnt from spending this short time that I’ve had working in the music industry not to say anything about dates until that date has almost come really. Because it’s just so unpredictable what’s going to happen with the timeline. I do have a timeline meeting coming up in the next couple of weeks when my management returns from L.A. and we’ll try and lock something down in terms of when the album will be out. But hopefully in the not too distant future, we will have the first album out and available to buy."

Sam's also been spending sporadic weekends on the Gold Coast meeting with his fans during some mini-shows at Movie World. He says it's also a great opportunity to meet with people that might otherwise not know he is a musician as well as an actor.

"Movie World have been wonderful to us so far. They’ve been very supportive and are happy to have us play there on the main stage. So it’s just getting it out to another set of ears that haven’t heard it before. One of the main challenges is educating people to the fact that I actually play music, so they know to look out for it. So many people don’t know that I sing or play and that’s another reason why Ringo is now singing and playing as well. Movie World has helped that immensely and we’ve started to build up quite a good little Queensland fan base."

Sadly for fans patiently awaiting gigs in other states, it's a waiting game, with Sam confirming there are no live dates lined up for the time being.

"At the moment, there’s absolutely nothing lined up. Simply because we’ve just come off the back of ‘Broken’ and the tour we did there, then we had to shoot the video clip and record the last two singles and now we’ll probably have to put the finishing touches to the album and then be on the promo trail for that. So for the moment there aren’t actually any gigs lined up, which is kind of a pleasant break."

And with all the line learning, rehearsing, filming, the recording, meetings, more rehearsals, press duties and the alter ego, we don't begrudge him having some time out for one single moment.



Sam's singles 'Broken' and 'Send Me A Sign' are available now.
His debut album is due when it's due.
Catch Sam on 'Neighbours' - weeknights at 6:30 on Network 10.