CROATIAN DUO 2CELLOS

CONFIRMED TO PERFORM WITH ELTON JOHN





Having spent the European summer touring with Elton John, it’s now Australia’s turn to welcome 2 Cellos to its shores. The handsome Croatian-born duo will be performing live alongside the Rocket Man at each and every date across the country starting this weekend.





CLICK HERE FOR 2 CELLOS TAKE ON SMOOTH CRIMINAL AT You Tube.


Gifted cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser arrived this week to continue to tour world-wide with ELTON JOHN and promote their self-titled debut album which is out now through Sony Music Entertainment Australia.



These two young, good looking Croatians are certainly living the dream! Based in a small town in Croatia, the 24-year-old music students posted a self-made music video of them performing Michael Jackson's “Smooth Criminal” on their cellos and posted online. The long-time friends received more attention than they ever expected - within days, the video became a viral sensation and received millions of views. It got the attention of SONY MASTERWORKS who signed them to a record deal.



Concurrently, they received a phone call from legend Elton John who invited them to join him on his European tour this summer. “I feel so blessed that all of this is happening – a record deal with SONY and a tour with Elton John – who would have imagined?!” relays Stjepan Hauser.



Their debut album features Sulic & Hauser’s unique spin on hits by Guns N’ Roses, U2, Coldplay and Kings of Leon among others. “We grew up with Michael Jackson, U2 and Nirvana. The melody and structure of their songs really inspired us to arrange them for 2 cellos. Bands like Coldplay, Kings of Leon and Muse also write songs with those similar melodic qualities – so we had a great time digging in and making them part of this album too,” says Luka Sulic.



Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser have been playing the cello since childhood. Both recently completed their studies – Luka at the acclaimed Royal Academy of Music in London, Stjepan at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Luka has performed throughout the world at renowned venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus. He has won a series of international prizes including first prize at the 2009 VII Lutoslawski International Cello Competition in Warsaw. Stjepan has performed in numerous European countries, South Africa, New Zealand, Asia and the U.S., with debuts in London’s Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, South Bank Centre and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He was the last pupil of Mstislav Rostropovich. In his short career, Stjepan's accolades include winning twenty-one first prizes in national and international competitions and performing twice for Prince Charles in Buckingham and St. James's Palace.



2CELLOS will no doubt win a legion of Australian fans when they see them on stage with Elton John.



Saturday 26 November

Sunday 27 November

Lyric Theatre, The Star, Sydney

www.ticketmaster.com.au 1300 795 267



Wednesday 30th November

Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

www.ticketek.com.au 132 849



Saturday 3rd December

Sunday 4th December

Hope Estate, Hunter Valley

www.ticketek.com.au 132 849



Tuesday 6th December

Wednesday 7th December

Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

www.ticketek.com.au 132 849



Friday 9th December

A Night At Coopers Amphitheatre

Coopers Brewery, Adelaide

www.ticketek.com.au 132 849



Sunday 11th December

Burswood Dome, Perth

www.ticketek.com.au 132 849

THEE OH SEES
AUSTRALIAN TOUR JANUARY 2012


With great excitement Wing & Gill announces new dates for Thee Oh Sees’ Australian tour, including NZ dates! San Fran’s finest will play Sugar Mountain Festival sideshows at The Nash in Geelong on Friday 13th January, at the new and awesome Terrace in Newcastle on Wednesday 18th January, and finishing up at Melbourne’sThe Corner on January 24th. Finishing up their Aussie jaunt, Thee Oh Sees will jump the ditch and play their first ever New Zealand shows. Starting in Auckland on Friday 27th January at Whammy Bar, followed byMighty Mighty in Wellington on Saturday 28th January and their final NZ show in Whanganui at ARC Theatreon Sunday 29th January.

What’s the first thing you think of when someone mentions Thee Oh Sees?

Probably their riot-sparking live show, right? Visions of a guitar-chewing, melody-maiming John Dwyer careening across your cranium, rounded out by a wild-eyed wrecking crew that drives every last hook home like it’s a nail in the coffin of what you thought it meant to make 21st century rock ’n’ roll?
Yeah, that sounds about right. But it misses a more important point -how impossible Thee Oh Sees have been to pin down.
Since Dwyer launched it in the late ‘90s as a solo break from such sorely missed underground bands as Pink and Brown and Coachwhips. (While Dwyer still records songs on his own, Thee Oh Sees is now a five-piece featuring keyboardist/singer Brigid Dawson, guitarist Petey Dammit, drummer Mike Shoun, and multi- instrumentalist/singer Lars Finberg of The Intelligence.)


Catch Thee Oh Sees tearing Australia a new one this January 2012



Thee Oh Sees
Australian/New Zealand Tour January 2012

Friday 13th January – The Nash – Geelong
Tickets through oztix*

Saturday 14th January – Sugar Mountain Festival – The Forum – Melbourne
Tickets through ticketmaster**

Sunday 15th January – Woodland – Brisbane
Tickets through moshtix**

Wednesday 18th January – The Terrace – Newcastle
Tickets through moshtix*

Thursday 19th January – The Annandale – Sydney
Tickets through annandalehotel.com**

Saturday 21st January – Jive Bar - Adelaide
Tickets through moshtix*

Tuesday 24th January – The Corner – Melbourne
Tickets through cornerhotel.com*

Friday 27th January – Whammy Bar – Auckland
Tickets through utr.co.nz**
Co-presented by The High Seas



Saturday 28th January – Mighty Mighty – Wellington
Tickets through utr.co.nz**
Co-presented by The High Seas

Sunday 29th January – ARC Theatre – Whanganui
Tickets through utr.co.nz**
Co-presented by The High Seas



*Tickets on sale Friday 18th November
**Tickets on sale now

Watch Thee Oh Sees’ video for I Need Seed here.

KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS

Right in time for Kurt Vile’s first ever tour of Australia, Kurt's latest album Smoke Ring For My Halo has been released as a deluxe edition. Available now via Matador / Remote Control, the album comes with the additional CD EP So Out Of Reach.


So Outta Reach features five incredible unheard songs, recorded during the Smoke Ring For My Halo album sessions, plus a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Downbound Train’.

Released earlier this year on Matador / Remote Control, Smoke Ring For My Halo is tender and evocative, elusive but companionable; tough in the gut and the arm but swollen in the chest and giddy in the head. Smoke Ring For My Halo is a gorgeously layered record - a true American psychedelic folk album. Recorded at the Magic Shop by John Agnello, (Dinosaur Jr ,The Hold Steady, The Living End, Andrew WK, Sonic Youth), the album is a massive step forward for this most beloved (not least by other musicians) rock songwriters.

Over the past eighteen months Kurt Vile has toured with the likes of Sonic Youth, Panda Bear, Ariel Pink, Fucked Up, Dinosaur Jr, The National and Deerhunter. Don't miss your chance to see Kurt Vile and The Violators in Australia for the first time this December.

KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS
Australian Tour

Saturday 3 December - The Bakery, Perth
Sunday 4 December - The Corner, Melbourne *SOLD OUT
Monday 5 December - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne *Just announced
Wednesday 5 December - The Red Rattler, Sydney *Just announced
Tuesday 6 December - Oxford Art Factory, Sydney *SOLD OUT
Thursday 8 December - Woodland, Brisbane
Friday 9 December - Meredith Music Festival, Victoria

After their recent 30 date US tour to “impregnate America with pop-art rap stylings/next-level street literature” and launch new album Relax with friends Danny Brown and Despot... they cruise the cobblestones of Europe for the coming month before taking a plunge into the great southern cultural cornucopia that is Australia. Having beamed up for the 2012 Big Day Out Das Racist venture into deeper quarters as this white guilt art project/science experiment/ponzi scheme piloted by @heems, KOOL A.D. and The Honorable Prophet Dapwell up the spice and down the strip with some extra cool club shows.


Das Racist follow the "top-shelf wiseassery and sneaky political incisiveness" of last year's mixtapes Sit Down, Man and Shut up, Dude and raise the roof of your mouths with Relax lead track Michael Jackson and its whacked out video. Relax was produced with a mixed bag of collaborators including Diplo, El-P, Yeasayer's Anand Wilder and Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij... and is out on Hima's own Greedhead label.


Consume presents
DAS RACIST - just Relax Australia 2012
Tickets on sale NOV 28


TUES 24 JAN - Brisbane THE ZOO
Plus special guests... Doors 7.30pm
Tickets from: www.bigdayout.com, www.thezoo.com.au , consume.oztix.com.au and Oztix outlets


WED 25 JAN - Sydney OXFORD ARTS FACTORY
Plus special guests... Doors 8.00pm
Tickets from www.bigdayout.com, www.thezoo.com.au , consume.oztix.com.au and Oztix outlets


MON 30 JAN - Melbourne THE CORNER
Plus special guests... Doors 7.30pm
Tickets from: Corner Box Office (57 Swan St Richmond 12-8 Mon-Sat), phone 9427 9198, online www.cornerhotel.com and Oztix outlets.


WED 1 FEB - Melbourne THE GOV
Plus special guests... Doors 7.30pm
Tickets from venue, www.bigdayout.com, www.thezoo.com.au , consume.oztix.com.au and Oztix outlets


Also performing at the BIG DAY OUT 2012
FRI 20 JAN -Auckland BIG DAY OUT, Mt Smart Stadium
SUN 22 JAN - Gold Coast BIG DAY OUT, Parklands
THUR 26 JAN - Sydney BIG DAY OUT, Showground
SUN 29 JAN - Melbourne BIG DAY OUT, Flemington Racecourse
Tickets available from www.bigdayout.com.


RELAX album out now on Greedhead.
WEB: FACEBOOK: DAS Racist
TWITTER: twitter.com/dasracist


DAS RACIST
With an origin going back to their time spent living in a “Students of Color for Social Justice”-themed dorm, Das Racist’s meeting seems like destiny. While MCs Victor Vazquez and Himanshu Suri met years earlier, 2008 would be the year that they would come to the attention of the music world after their strangely catchy song “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” became a YouTube hit. Teamed up with their hype man, Dap (aka Ashok Kondabolu), the Brooklyn group has a style that both satirizes and reveres hip-hop, combining druggy nonsense, social commentary, and obscure pop culture references into one boldly self-aware package. In 2010, the group self-released two mixtapes, Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man, with the latter issued in association with the Mad Decent label and featuring a song with production by tastemaker and label head Diplo. Soon after, Das Racist announced they would release their debut full-length, Relax, on Greedhead Music, a label imprint run by Himanshu Suri. Relax arrived in September of 2011.


MICHAEL JACKSON video


ALBUM REVIEWS of Relax

SONS & DAUGHTERS

Popfrenzy Presents are excited to announce the return of SONS & DAUGHTERS to Australian shores, this January 2012. Formed in Glasgow over a shared love of Johnny Cash records and absolutely nothing to do with long-running Australian soap-operas, Sons & Daughters' sound is of blackest Americana mixed with broadest Scots, spinning dark tales of broken bones and tough love.

For the last eight years Sons & Daughters have worked towards fashioning a distinctive sound, image and story. Inspired by the melancholy storytelling of Lee Hazlewood, the lyricism of Bill Callaghan and Leonard Cohen, and the raw power of country, blues and folk, the Glasgow-based four-piece have been busy creating their own world and making it an interesting place to live.

Records that instantly deliver greatness can often leave you wanting more, while others slowly but surely sink in its haunting hooks and refuse to let go – like Mirror, Mirror. Sons & Daughters’ third and latest album is a slow burning sensation, a wiry, raw, sensual and spacious injection of primal monochrome rock with a potent undertow of post-punk dance that’s not only thrillingly contemporary but unique by 2011 standards.

Their tense sparse dynamic reaches back to their own past, namely 2006’s The Repulsion Box and the band’s 2004 mini-album debut Love The Cup, but also the 80s post-punk revolution in sound, from The Cure and This Heat to Gang Of Four, and then spun into something modern and timeless.






TOUR DATES:


POPFRENZY TOURS PRESENTS SONS & DAUGHTERS
Tickets on sale Wednesday 9th November 2011

Wednesday, January 11 | Space Theatre ADELAIDE
TIX adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au

Thursday, January 12 | Sydney Festival Keystone Festival Bar SYDNEY
TIX ticketek.com.au

Friday, January 13 | East Brunswick Club MELBOURNE
TIX eastbrunswickclub.com

Saturday, January 14 | The Bakery PERTH
TIX nowbaking.com.au


Records that instantly deliver greatness can often leave you wanting more, while others slowly but surely sink in its haunting hooks and refuse to let go – like Mirror, Mirror. Sons & Daughters’ third album is a slow burning sensation, a wiry, raw, sensual and spacious injection of primal monochrome rock with a potent undertow of post-punk dance that’s not only thrillingly contemporary but unique by 2011 standards.



But just as the album takes time to get under the skin, so it took its time to materialise.







Bunkered down in their rehearsal space inside an old town hall in Glasgow’s south-west district of Govan, Adele Bethel (vocals, guitar, piano), Scott Paterson (vocals, guitar), Ailidh Lennon (bass, mandolin, piano) and David Gow (drums, percussion) had the task of following up the denser, busier guitar-rock of 2008’s Bernard Butler-produced This Gift.



Scott: “We sound better when we’re more minimal. We wanted everything on the new album to be necessary, no added fluff, and only recording on 16-track.”



Adele: “We wanted something quite haunting and feminine. With an air of malevolence”.



Scott: “All we knew is we didn’t want to repeat ourselves. But for a year, we weren’t happy with what we’d written. But then “Rose Red” and a few other songs that followed finally gave us the direction we were looking for. But we weren’t prepared to record anything unless it was exciting, and fun. Once we did start recording, it only took a month.”



This time, the band enlisted the help of trusted mates, working at engineer Sam Smith’s Green Door studio, recording on analogue tape for that classic aural warmth and with Keith McIvor, aka JD Twitch of local legends Optimo Music, producing his first full-length album. “We knew someone like Keith could be really honest with us,” says Scott. “He’s been a big supporter, and he has great taste in music, and we also knew we wanted to start using electronics, and he’s really into his dance music. He’d play us tracks, like This Heat or Fingerprintz, to suggest a mood, or suggest something based on how he approaches remixing.”



For starters, Scott – who incidentally is singing more again after taking a back seat on This Gift, restoring Sons & Daughters’ original boy/girl dynamic – admits that several tracks changed shape on the day of recording. “Silver Spell” and “Ink Free” both had, “full on punk rock guitar” before the synths (vintage, of course) took over and they took on a different mood. “We’d think, ‘what’s the most prominent part of the song? Delete it,’” says Scott. “We wanted to put ourselves on the spot and create something new on the day. “Bee Song” was just a sketch on my computer, an ancient riff from before I joined the band. The beat was me tapping on a mike, through a Fender Twin amp with the bass all the way up, like a heartbeat.”



The tense sparse dynamic reaches back to their own past, namely 2006’s The Repulsion Box and the band’s 2004 mini-album debut Love The Cup, but also the 80s post-punk revolution in sound, from The Cure and This Heat to Gang Of Four, and then spun into something modern and timeless. Similarly, Adele talks of inspiration from Stevie Nicks (whose album Back Side Of The Mirror, Adele discovered after she’d named this one, was originally titled Mirror, Mirror…), Siouxsie, Kate Bush and PJ Harvey. Scott also mentions Fever Ray, and “Ink Free” has a similarly ominous undertow to that first lady of Swedish goth-folk-tronica.



It’s also in these dark, veiled spaces that Adele stirs in themes of fairytales, serial killers and witchcraft, as well as tapping her own inner demons. The album title – turned into a forceful mantra on the opening “Silver Spell” over claustrophobic electronics and a clomping beat – comes from reflecting on all that darkness. Adele’s stunning performance on “Bee Song” stems from the idea of ‘head bees’, meaning depression and the idea of entrapment. “It’s strange talking about depression,” she says,” but many people suffer from it, and for years we’ve done benefits for mental health.”



“Ink Free” and “Orion” come from a similarly troubled place. “Ink Free” recalls the writer’s block that afflicted Adele and Scott after This Gift; “Orion” may be rhythmically uplifting but it concerns, “feeling deflated and insecure after This Gift, and losing your inner glow.”



Even deeper and darker, “The Model” is based on a newspaper story about a model who threw herself from a balcony window. “The Beach” was initially written for the soundtrack to the film short Native Son, about the discovery of a dead girl in the woods while “Axed Actor” is another filmic reference, to ‘50s Hollywood and actress Elisabeth Short, known as the Black Dahlia, who was found dismembered in a field and her killer never found (bonus points for guessing the ‘80s cover – and ‘60s origins – of the song quoted in the middle…)



Have Sons & Daughters ever been this dark? “Maybe not,” says Adele. “But with so much time off, I became interested in different things and new ideas. On This Gift, it was ‘60s cinema; this time it’s Italian Giallo cinema [crime, mystery and evil) If any film represents this record, it would be like Dario Argento’s Suspiria.” But Scotland’s psycho-geographic nature also stains Mirror, Mirror. “I was raised on stories of famous Scots serial killers – my dad was interested in them – some of which operated in Lanarkshire, where we’re from,” says Adele. “Rose Red” was inspired by the so-called ‘Bible John’ in the late ‘60s, who found his victims at Glasgow’s Barrowlands ballroom. “When you live somewhere where something so dark and heavy has happened, you want to find out about it.”



Mirror, Mirror has the same capacity – it keeps revealing more and more as time goes on. “I love the feel of this album and it’s the most balanced thing we’ve done,” Scott reflects. “There are great rocking moments, for want of a better word, but it’s also reflective and dreamy. Someone who wasn’t a Sons & Daughters fan before said it sounds really spooky and weird but not like we’ve been forcing that. It sounds odd in a natural way.”



In other words, the pain was worth the gain. See you on the other side (of the mirror)…






TICKETS:

General On Sale – Wednesday 9 November 2011

Joint Adventure Presents



NEW YORK’S FINEST TOUR

GZA (WU-TANG CLAN)
Performing the Classic Album “LiquidSwords”

PHAROAHE MONCH

JEAN GRAE

RAHZEL & JS-1

** GZA Only **
Hobart Tuesday 3rdJanuary @ Republic Bar

** Jean Grae Only **
Sydney Wednesday 4th January@ GoodGod Small Club

** Full Lineup **
Melbourne Thursday 5th January@ The Espy

** Full Lineup **
Sydney Saturday 7thJanuary @ The Metro

More dates TBA
Tickets on sale NOW

New York City is where it all started. Since the days Kool Hercput his hands on vinyl at his famous parties, this city has brought us some ofthe finest artists to emerge in the scene. Whether you are speaking aboutEmcee's, DJ's, B-boys, B-girls, Graffiti Writers or Beatboxers, one thing isfor sure... New York always represents for all of Hip Hop's elements!

New York's Finest Tour is a celebration of some of the incredible talent to emerge from The Big Apple. Joint Adventure havehand selected a diverse showcase of NYC's most respected underground acts andbrought them together for one MASSIVE tour!!!



GZA (Wu-Tang)

Performing the Classic Album “Liquid Swords”

Whenit comes to thought-provoking, street-bred raw lyricism, the Wu-Tang Clan'sfountain of wisdom, GZA (aka Genius), takes his job very seriously. The StatenIsland NY native crafts his double-edged rhyme flow which mirrors the skill& precise technique of one who works with fine ceramics. GZA's metaphoricand multi-layered lyrics are often touted by critics as his rap name implies;Genius!



PharoaheMonch

Pharoahe Monch,throughout his storied career, has always chosen to attempt to reach the soulsof Hip-Hop folk with high calibre lyricism, over a wide variety of music,inspired by some of the greatest musicians of all time. An artist from birth,the Queens, NY born and bred emcee always puts his heart and soul in his music.



Jean Grae

Although she was born in South Africa, JeanGrae will always be a New Yorker by heart. Regarded as one of the best femaleMC’s in Hip Hop, Jean brings a lyrical flow that destroys most of her malecounterparts. Over her career she has worked closely with artists such asPharohhe Monch, Talib Kweli, Herbaliser, Da Beatminerz, Masta Ace & more!



Rahzel & JS-1
The Undisputed “Godfatherof Noise” has redefined the art of beat boxing. Rahzel is able to recreate fullsongs without instrumentation, sing a chorus and provide the musical melodysimultaneously, and is able to invoke impressions of any sound on a whim.Rahzel does not play an instrument, HE IS THE INSTRUMENT! Together with hisright hand man, DJ JS-1 from the legendary Rock Steady Crew, they bring a liveshow like no other. A return to Hip Hop Culture in its rawest form!!!

CAST
Zach - Josh Horner

Larry - Gerrard Carter

Don - Mark Hill

Maggie - Stephanie Grigg

Mike - James Maxfield

Connie - Lean Lim

Greg - Rohan Brown

Cassie - Anita Louise Combe (SA)

Sheila - Debora Krizak (SA)

Dianna - Karlee Misipeka

Bobby - Ashley McKenzie

Bebe - Monique Salle

Judy - Renee Armstrong

Al - Will Centurion

Kristine - Sian Johnson

Cal - Hayley Winch

Mark - Scott Morris

Paul - Euan Doidge (SA)

Roy - Mitchell Hicks

Tom - Jakob Ambrose

Frank - Mark Strom

Butch - Joel Hewlett

Lois - Samantha Dodemaide

Vicky - Amber Jean Thomas

Trisha - Meghan O'Shea

Dance Captain - Alice Ramshaw

Swing - Heath Keating

Full biographies