Virgin

The time has come to let everyone slse know that this is the best music blog ever ever. We are entered in to the prestigious BT Digital Music Awards and the proposition is plain and simple - it’s the People’s Choice so we need your votes! Just follow the link to register and vote for us now… let the world know that even though we’re a bit young and a bit rough (well that’s how we like it) we are indeed the blog to watch. Our trusty bloggers from Australia to the UK deserve global glory and this is our chance.

Ladyhawke looks good on paper, a hot, multi-talented chick with camera happy appeal, wielding a highly strung guitar as the crotch level musical sword it is. Hot on the trail are a mob of followers waiting to be knighted by this mop of feline, fringed, feistiness, wrapped up with tight songs, a tight look, and a tight band.

Sweden generally speaking is responsible for crap pop acts… what do you expect from a nation that spends half its year in the depths of darkness. However, somewhere from the depths of Swedish winter a band emerged that has true resonance with a whole realm of musically frustrated fans. The Hives fill a void that makes all teenage anxst feel worthwhile, god bless their crazy souls.

The eccentric beast that is this year’s bill grabs attention from the moment of purchasing a slightly extortionate laminate and doesn’t let go until Richard Ashcroft & co. strum their last; from Siouxsie’s human interpretation of an escaped peacock parading through a scrap yard to Richard Hawley’s versions of love songs that make Valentine’s Day seem 100% respectable back to the Radio 1 A-list of The Pigeon Detectives and Scouting for Girls the mixed sonic sack holds something in store for well, almost anyone.

As if you needed another reason to pony up for Black Francis’ Australian tour this October, it’s also your last chance to catch Brisbane’s Violent Soho in action before they head off OS to take over the world.

Okay, on the cusp of going off to watch my fringed up sista’ Ladeee hawk this Saturday at the marvellous Koko’s in olde Camden Tawn (of which I will talk more of on Monday) I though I would regail you of my top five gym accompanying toons (in no particular order) of the week.

Music isn’t just lyrics and a beat - it can also be fashion. I believe fashion speaks through the type of music you listen to. H*E*S*B’s inspiration comes from all different aspects of life and their designs are amazing.

I must let everyone around the world know about Kesh. Kesh is an emerging fashion designer in London in her 20s and has done everything. She is a fashion designer / stylist / magazine editor / model/ DJ and one of my idols.

On that sunny day when Virgin Festival rolled in to Calgary, Matthew Good lit up the stage in a way that not many people could. He was energetic, passionate and sang each and every song like he was living in the moment he had written it.

Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet tour kicked off this week in Cardiff, Wales (despite keeping her audience waiting for ages), and will make stops in most major European markets throughout September before heading Stateside for an October 3 show at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

There’s no better way to pay homage to your musical influences than by standing in a muddy field warbling out their songs, well that’s the theory anyway. 2008 was the summer of covers as up and down the country, bands threw on their tribute hats and sang sang sang. V Festival had more than it’s fair share of cover versions, some good, some great and some, er, insulting!

By now you’ve probably already heard that the Great Escape festival, scheduled for the October long weekend, has been cancelled. Organisers site unexpectedly low ticket sales as the reason and I must say it’s probably because the festival was organised for the same weekend of Parklife, a well-established event in the Sydney festival calendar. The last three years have seen the Great Escape held over the Easter long weekend, but inexplicably organisers decided this year to attempt to go head to head with the dance and hip hop behemoth.

As the lights came up, on strutted an ageing, half naked, long-haired rocker. The crowd went mad, rightly too, it was Iggy and the Stooges. Now it’ s hard not to be biased when writing about one of your all time heroes but I think it’s a fair asssesment to say he was absolutely, stupendously fucking brilliant.