Laura Beatrice Marling has won the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist back in 2011. Laura was also nominated for the same award at the 2012, 2014, 2016, & 2018 Brit Awards.
Marling joined her older sisters in London at age 16 to pursue a career in music. She played with a number of groups and released her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, in 2008.
Her first album, her second album I Speak Because I Can, her fourth album Once I Was an Eagle, and her seventh album Song for Our Daughter were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2008, 2010, 2013, and 2020, respectively.
Her sixth record, Semper Femina, was also nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Folk Album category, as was Song for Our Daughter.
Her songwriting is associated with sex and relationships, the modern concept of womanhood, and trauma.
Marling is the youngest of three daughters. Her mother is a music teacher. Marling's father, Sir Charles William Somerset Marling, 5th baronet ran a recording studio, introduced her to folk music, and shaped her musical taste. She learned guitar at an early age.
Marling was privately educated at Waverly Primary School in Finchampstead, Berkshire and Leighton Park School, a Quaker school in Reading, Berkshire.
Last Friday, Laura released her eighth record, Patterns in Repeat. Marling co-produced the album with Dom Monks. It was supported by three singles: Patterns, No One's Gonna Love You Like I Can & Child of Mine.
So I am a huge fan of this week's feature stars, Confidence Man, so you can imagine my excitement to see them at Sydney's iconic Enmore Theatre last night. This comes the same week as I ended up seeing a bucket list artist, The Weeknd in a second attempt to see his After Hours til Dawn Tour.
This concert was indeed supposed to take place last November. However we ended up getting it this past week gone. It was well worth the wait. With fire works, fire, one incredible stage, this was a concert for the ages.
Sadly the Confidence Man did not match up to their new year's eve set a few years back when I first fell in love with them.
I did love their songs and setlist, just the under an hour timing and some of the "bratty" crowd was a bit much.
That said the tunes from their new album, 3AM (LA LA LA) were incredible. My personal favourite, is Real Move Touch, for sure.
My biggest takeaway from The Weeknd concert was, I need his tune with Anitta, Sao Paulo. What a banger! Discover it for yourself below.
Confidence Man, could be up for a new end of year award from this blog, however for now we say goodbye to 3AM (LA LA LA), hello to a new feature record next week. Until then.
The Offspring formed all the way back in 1984 in Garden Grove, California, originally under the name Manic Subsidal.
The Offspring are lead vocalist & rhythm guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Todd Morse, multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn.
The Offspring is often credited (alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, NOFX, Bad Religion, Rancid, Pennywise and Blink-182) for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 90's.
During their 40-year career, the Offspring has eleven studio albums and sold more than 40 million records, making them one of the best-selling punk rock bands.
The Offspring's longest-serving drummer was Ron Welty, who replaced original drummer James Lilja in 1987.
He was replaced by Adam "Atom" Willard in 2003, who was replaced four years later by Pete Parada. Parada was fired in 2021 after he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and was replaced two years later by Pertzborn.
Gregory "Greg K." Kriesel (one of the Offspring's co-founders) was the band's bassist until he was fired in 2018; this left Holland as the sole remaining original member. Kriesel was replaced by Todd Morse, who had been the Offspring's touring guitarist since 2009. Morse's position as touring member was filled by Jonah Nimoy, who became an official member in 2023.
After achieving a local following with their early releases, including their 1989 self-titled debut album and the vinyl-only EP Baghdad (1991), the Offspring signed with independent label Epitaph Records and released two albums: Ignition (1992) and Smash (1994).
Smash, which contained the band's first major hit Come Out and Play, is one of the best-selling albums released on an independent record label, selling over 11 million copies worldwide and helping to propel punk rock into the mainstream.
The success of Smash attracted attention from major labels including Columbia Records, with whom the Offspring signed in 1996; their first album for the label, Ixnay on the Hombre (1997), did not match its predecessor's success, but received favorable reviews and gold and platinum RIAA certifications.
The band reached furthest success with its fifth album Americana (1998), to which three of its singles − Pretty Fly (For a White Guy), Why Don't You Get a Job? & The Kids Aren't Alright, became mainstream radio and MTV staples, while the album managed to sell over five million units in the US.
Though their next two albums, Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), were not as successful as those from the previous decade, they were both critically acclaimed, with the former going platinum and the latter being certified gold.
The Offspring's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008), cemented their comeback on the strength of its second single You're Gonna Go Far, Kid, which reached number one on the Billboard rock charts for eleven weeks and has since obtained platinum status.
The band released no new studio albums between Days Go By (2012) and Let the Bad Times Roll (2021), but continued touring and released a series of one-off songs in the interim. Their latest eleventh studio album, Supercharged, was released a couple of Friday's ago.
Supercharged is the band's first album to feature bassist Todd Morse as an official member and the band's first album to feature multi-instrumentalist Jonah Nimoy and drummer Brandon Pertzborn.
The album was preceded by the singles Make It All Right, Light It Up, Come to Brazil, & Ok, But This Is the Last Time.
Jonathan Charles Toogood or as he is simply known as Jon Toogood, the lead vocals & guitar of the rock band Shihad.
He formed the band in 1988 with fellow Wellingtonian Tom Larkin. Toogood and Larkin met as teenage fans of AC/DC and Metallica.
In 2009, Toogood revealed he had been travelling around New Zealand to collaborate with other New Zealand artists for a project, in addition to Shihad's music.
Confirmed collaborators included Tiki Taane, Ruban and Kody Neilson from the Mint Chicks, Julia Deans from Fur Patrol, Anika Moa, Shayne Carter of Dimmer/Straitjacket Fits fame and Ladi 6.
The Adults was released as a full-length album in New Zealand in June 2011. Toogood subsequently toured New Zealand and Australia under this banner, joined onstage by Deans and Carter.
In 2018, Toogood completed a master of fine arts degree at Massey University, with a thesis on Aghani Al-Banat music. In 2020 Toogood was inducted into Massey University's College of Creative Arts' hall of fame.
Now back to Shihad. Consisting of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) & Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), who were joined by Karl Kippenberger (bass guitar, backing vocals) in 1991.
The band were known as Pacifier between 2002 and 2004.
Six of Shihad's studio albums have peaked at number one–The General Electric (October 1999), Pacifier (September 2002), Beautiful Machine (April 2008), Ignite (September 2010), FVEY (August 2014) and Old Gods (October 2021).
They share the honour for most number-one records for any New Zealand artist with Hayley Westenra. As of 2014 Shihad had the most Top 40 New Zealand chart singles for any local artist, with 25; three of these reached the top ten.
The singles Home Again, Pacifier, & Bitter are listed at No. 30, 60 and 83, respectively, in the Nature's Best compilation, an official collection of New Zealand's top 100 songs.
So ahead of streaming Toogood's solo record tomorrow, here are some newer and older Shihad tunes below.
Well Charli XCX & Tyla have done it again, grown their album of the year nominated records. brat just continues to grow. Jam packed with guests galore. Tyla's self titled debut record has also added some tasty tunes.
Charli has gone for a long, new title. Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, while Tyla has gone simply for TYLA+.
You can stream both records below before next week heading across the ditch to NZ for a new Friday Flash(back) and a whole pile of Rüfüs Du Sol.
Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey.
Martin, Buckland, Berryman, and Champion all met at University College London, calling themselves Big Fat Noises and changing to Starfish, before settling on Coldplay.
After releasing Safety in 1998 independently, Coldplay signed with Parlophone in 1999 and wrote their debut album, Parachutes in 2000.
Parachutes featured breakthrough single Yellow & received a Brit Award for British Album of the Year and a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.
The group's follow-up, A Rush of Blood to the Head in 2002, won the same accolades. While X&Y in 2005 completed what they regarded as a trilogy and was shortlisted for Best Rock Album at the Grammy Awards. Its successor, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends in 2008, prevailed in the category. Both releases were the best-sellers of their respective years, topping the charts in over 30 countries.
Viva la Vida's title track was the first song from a British act to lead the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart simultaneously in the 21st century.
Coldplay continued to give us full length records including, Mylo Xyloto in 2011, Ghost Stories in 2014, A Head Full of Dreams a year later, Everyday Life in 2019, Music of the Spheres in 2021, & Moon Music last Friday.
Additional endeavours for the band involve philanthropy, politics and activism, as they donate 10% of their profits to charity and endorse various humanitarian organisations.
With over 100 million albums sold worldwide, Coldplay are among the best-selling music acts of all time. Coldplay own three of the 50 best-selling albums in the United Kingdom and the most number-one albums in the region without missing the top (nine), while My Universe is the first British group single to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100.
Coldplay have two of the 15 highest-grossing tours of all time. The British Phonographic Industry described them as one of the most influential and pioneering artists in the world, while the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) on the 200 Definitive Albums index and Yellow on the Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll exhibit.
So take a trip down memory lane with some hits and memories below. Moon Music streams in full, right here tomorrow.
Benjamin Michael Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but he focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995.
He also appeared as the protagonist in The Rage in Placid Lake, back in 2003. He has released fifteen solo studio albums.
Lee's solo career started at the age of 14, while he was still in Noise Addict. He began recording his first solo album, Grandpaw Would, in both Sydney and Chicago with producer Brad Wood. This was followed by the 1997 album, Something to Remember Me By, also produced by Wood.
An alternate version of his song Burn to Shine, produced by T-Bone Burnett, played over the end credits of the film Best Men. Lee was then featured on the There's Something About Mary soundtrack, with the song How to Survive a Broken Heart.
1998's Breathing Tornados, released on new label Modular, marked a new direction for Lee as he introduced synthesisers and increased instrumentation into his sound.
The album was a success in Australia, earning Lee ARIA Award nominations for Best Male Artist and Album of the Year. The album's first single, Cigarettes Will Kill You, was also nominated for Single of the Year and finished second in that year's Triple J Hottest 100.
Lee's fourth album, hey you. yes you., was released in 2002. The first single from the album, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, reached number 67 on the ARIA Charts and number 22 on the 2002's Triple J Hottest 100.
The second single, Running with Scissors, peaked at number 82 on the ARIA charts. In 2003, he also contributed several songs to the Evan Dando solo album Baby I'm Bored.
In late 2004, Lee left Modular Recordings and started his own record label, Ten Fingers. The first release on the label was the single, Gamble Everything for Love, followed by the album, Awake Is the New Sleep in February 2005, which went double platinum in Australia.
A defining release in his career, the album showcased a much brighter, positive side of Lee's personality, in contrast to his previous darker musings. Awake Is the New Sleep received several nominations for the 2005 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards, and Lee won Best Male Artist, Best Independent Release, and Single of the Year for Catch My Disease, which Lee wrote with Mcgowan Southworth. Catch My Disease also went to No. 2 on the 2005 Triple J Hottest 100.
In addition, the song was featured on the soundtracks to the 2005 films Just Friends and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, as well as the soundtracks to the television series, Grey's Anatomy, Hidden Palms and Scrubs.
In 2006 it was used in a television commercial for Dell Computers. On 26 March 2006, Lee performed We're All in This Together from Awake Is the New Sleep at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. The single for We're All in This Together was released on 8 April 2006.
The CD includes cover versions of the song by Pony Up, Holidays on Ice and Gelbison. We're All in This Together is being used in commercials for Kohl's (2008), Coca-Cola (Remixed Australian Summer Series Ads in 2007), the South Australian Government (2006), the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal (2007) & Telus Mobility's "My Faves" (2007).
Lee released his sixth album, Ripe, on 18 September 2007 with Benji Madden and Mandy Moore making appearances. Mandy Moore sang a light-hearted, '50s style duet with Lee called Birds and Bees.
Madden helped out with some backing vocals, along with US band Rooney and Sara Watkins from the band Nickel Creek. American Television from the album was used in a VH1 advertisement for Flavor of Love 3 and the song Ripe appeared in an episode of One Tree Hill in season five.
In February 2009, Lee released his seventh studio album, The Rebirth of Venus, which received mixed reviews. It featured guest performances from the likes of Missy Higgins and Patience Hodgson, and peaked at No.21 on the ARIA Charts.
Lee's eighth studio album, Deeper into Dream, was released on 11 October 2011. It was Lee's first attempt at a concept album, basing the entire 12 tracks around the dream state. Despite not charting, it was received fairly favourably by critics.
In April 2013, Lee released his ninth and arguably his most experimental studio album entitled Ayahuasca: Welcome to the Work, with collaboration from Jessica Chapnik. The album is based upon his personal experience with the psychoactive South American drug known as Ayahuasca. Lee featured as the mentor for Joel Madden's team on the 2013 season of The Voice Australia.
In June 2015, Lee released his 10th solo album, Love Is the Great Rebellion, his first on a major label, Warner Bros. Records.
According to Radio National's Geoff Wood, Lee invented the term "electro-yoga" to describe a new form of music dedicated to the practice of yoga.
Lee has since followed up this release with an acoustically oriented album, entitled Freedom, Love and The Recuperation of the Human Mind, in 2016; as well as a children's album, called Ben Lee Sings Songs About Islam for the Whole Family, in 2017. Together with former How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor, Lee formed an indie-folk duo called Radnor and Lee, and released their debut self-titled album in November 2017.
2018 saw the release of B Is for Beer, a soundtrack to the musical based on the novel of the same name written by Tom Robbins. Lee and Robbins had collaborated for ten years to develop the musical. Funding for the album's development came via crowd-sourcing at Kickstarter.
Lee released Quarter Century Classix in 2019, a collection of cover songs he was influenced by during his teenage years. In 2020, Radnor and Lee released their second collaborative album, Golden State.
In 2021, Lee competed in the third season of the Australian version of The Masked Singer as "Professor". He finished tenth after being eliminated in the third episode. Sadly The Masked Singer has been cancelled now by the poor Network Ten. Sad face.
In September 2021, The Music Network confirmed Lee had signed with Warner Music Australia, who will release I'M FUN! in June 2022, preceded by single Born for This Bullshit. The deal includes rights to his 19-album back catalogue.
Late last month Lee released This One's for the Old Headz his latest release. It will be streaming here tomorrow.
