Troye Sivan x Dom Dolla

Around Australia, November has always been Aus Music Month on Triple J, the ARIA's have been held in November and Ausmusic T-Shirt Day is getting bigger and bigger each year. So this past week, I have leaned into to HUGE Aussie acts.

Troye Sivan, first up for my first gig at Brisbane's Riverstage. Man the people in Brisbane are friendly. Like so friendly.

At this year's ARIA Awards, Troye had a moment. For Something to Give Each Other, he won, Best Pop Release, Album of the Year and Best Solo Artist. Last year, for Rush alone, he also won Best Solo Artist, along with Song of the Year. So the ARIA's love Troye Sivan!

Dom Dolla, also won Best Dance/Electronic Release at this year's ARIA Awards for Saving Up.

So to the concerts. Troye was on a perfect near summer evening. Dom Dolla had the skies open up, with the Domain flooding, being a wild wet mess. So I only stayed for the first half of his two hour set. I caught the end of Flight Facilities who joined the bill during the week.

Now Troye was spectacular. Kicking off with a sexy Got Me Started, followed by my latest favourite,What's The Time Where You Are?, incredible! He threw in tunes with recent tour partner Charli XCX, 1999 and the brilliant Talk Talk remix.

He threw in My My My and Bloom, which were huge favourites at his previous 2019 tour I went to. Boy a lot has changed in the sexual nature of the show. Not to mention the sexy dancers and interactions with Troye (baby).

Now to Dom. A DJ is hard to watch live if you are not in the zone. The weather had seriously impacted my excitement about this gig. He did however post a recent full London set to YouTube, so I guess I should watch that. Maybe that is for viewing next week.

Speaking of next week, Troye Sivan was the Album of the Year for last year. This year I am peaking early. This year's Album of the Year will be posted next week!Who will it be!

So tomorrow may be December, however remember to support Australian music in December, January, March, or hell July. These are our stories from our incredible artists. New or old, Australia has such a wide array of excellent talent!

Friday Flash(back) - Ben Folds - Sleigher

(Pre) Friday Flash(back)

Benjamin Scott Folds or simply Ben Folds, or the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five.

Hailing from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Folds, after playing in several small independent bands throughout the late 80s and into the early 90s, Ben came to prominence as the eponymous frontman and pianist of the alternative rock trio Ben Folds Five from 1993 to 2000.

The group had a few year reunion from 2011 to 2013. 

Folds went onto record a number of solo albums. He has also collaborated with musicians such as Regina Spektor, "Weird Al" Yankovic, and yMusic, and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with actor William Shatner and authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. 

Since May 2017, he has been the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Folds has frequently performed arrangements of his music with uncommon instrumentation for rock and pop music, including symphony orchestras and a cappella groups. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Hoodwinked!, and Over the Hedge, Folds has produced several albums, including Amanda Palmer's first solo album Who Killed Amanda Palmer in 2008.

Folds was a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest The Sing-Off from 2009 to 2013.

In July 2019, Folds published his first book, a memoir, titled A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons.

Recently Folds went all festive releasing, Sleigher, his sixth studio album. It was announced in September, along with the release of two songs from the album, The Christmas Song, and We Could Have This featuring Lindsey Kraft.

Being festive, this will also be the final Friday Flash(back) for 2024. I have a feeling it will return once things return to normal programming in 2025. Speaking of the holidays are incoming. Next week I may have a holiday treat for you. The Album of the Year announcement maybe sooner than usual....

GNX - Guests

Album of the Week - KENDRICK LAMAR - {GNX}

Friday Flash(back) - Gwen Stefani - Bouquet

(Pre) Friday Flash(back)

Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton or simply Gwen Stefani is simply iconic. What a great way to get closer to the holidays with a somewhat festive, fun and timeless Friday Flash(back)!

No only is Stefani a great singer-songwriter, she is also a rad fashion designer, while co-founding/lead vocalist, of the band No Doubt.

Famous for Just a Girl, Spiderwebs, & Don't Speak, their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, was a worldwide smash hit.

Later No Doubt went on to release hits like Hey Baby & It's My Life.

No Doubt went on hiatus, so Stefani embarked on a solo pop career in 2004 by releasing her debut studio album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. 

Inspired by pop music from the 1980s, the album was a critical and commercial success. It spawned six singles, including What You Waiting For?, Rich Girl, Hollaback Girl,  &nCool. Hollaback Girl reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart while also becoming the first US download to sell one million copies.

In 2006, Stefani released her second studio album, The Sweet Escape. Among the singles were Wind It Up & The Sweet Escape, the latter of which was number three on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart of 2007.

Her third solo album, This Is What the Truth Feels Like in 2016, was her first solo album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Her fourth solo album and first full-length Christmas album, You Make It Feel Like Christmas, was released in 2017 and charted 19 tracks on Billboard's Holiday Digital Song Sales component chart in the United States. 

Stefani has released several singles with husband Blake Shelton, including Nobody but You in 2020, which reached number 18 in the US. Last Friday, she will released her fifth studio album Bouquet.

Stefani has won three Grammy Awards. As a solo artist, she has received an American Music Award, a Brit Award, a World Music Award, and two Billboard Music Awards. 

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. In 2003, she debuted her clothing line L.A.M.B. and expanded her collection with the 2005 Harajuku Lovers line inspired by Japanese culture and fashion. 

Billboard magazine ranked Stefani the 54th most successful artist and 37th most successful Hot 100 artist of the 2000–2009 decade. VH1 ranked her 13th on their 100 Greatest Women in Music list in 2012. Including her work with No Doubt, Stefani has sold more than 60 million records worldwide.

So before I turn the spotlight onto Bouquet tomorrow, relive some hits and memories below.

Seeya tomorrow!

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - SOUTH SUMMIT - {The Bliss}

Friday Flash(back) - Paul Kelly - Fever Longing Still

(Pre) Friday Flash(back)

This week the Friday Flash(back) is HUGE!

Paul Maurice Kelly AO, born 13 January 1955) has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. 

He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor Ratbaggy and Stardust Five. Kelly's music style has ranged from bluegrass to studio-oriented dub reggae, but his core output straddles folk, rock and country. 

His lyrics capture the vastness of the culture and landscape of Australia by chronicling life about him for over 30 years. 

After growing up in Adelaide, Kelly travelled around Australia before settling in Melbourne in 1976. He became involved in the pub rock scene and drug culture and recorded two albums with the Dots. 

Kelly moved to Sydney by 1985, where he formed Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls. The band was renamed Paul Kelly and the Messengers, initially only for international releases, to avoid possible racial interpretations of the word "coloured". At the end of the 1980s, Kelly returned to Melbourne, and in 1991 he disbanded the Messengers.

Kelly's Top 40 singles include Billy Baxter, Before Too Long, Darling It Hurts, To Her Door (his highest-charting local hit in 1987), Dumb Things (appeared on United States charts in 1988) & Roll on Summer.

Top-20 albums include Gossip, Under the Sun, Comedy, Songs from the South (1997 compilation), ...Nothing but a Dream, Stolen Apples, Spring and Fall, The Merri Soul Sessions, Seven Sonnets and a Song, Death's Dateless Night (with Charlie Owen), Life Is Fine (his first number-one album) and Nature.

Kelly has won 14 Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Music Awards, including his induction into their hall of fame in 1997. Dan Kelly, his nephew, is a singer and guitarist in his own right. Dan performed with Kelly on Ways and Means and Stolen Apples. Both were members of Stardust Five, which released a self-titled album in 2006. 

On 22 September 2010, Kelly released his memoir, How to Make Gravy. His biographical film Paul Kelly: Stories of Me, directed by Ian Darling, was released to cinemas in October 2012.

In 2001, the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) listed the Top 30 Australian songs of all time, which included Kelly's To Her Door, and Treaty, written by Kelly and members of Yothu Yindi. Aside from Treaty, Kelly wrote or co-wrote several songs on Indigenous Australian social issues and historical events. He provided songs for many other artists, tailoring them to their particular vocal range. The album Women at the Well from 2002 had 14 female artists record his songs in tribute.

Kelly was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2017 for distinguished service to the performing arts and to the promotion of the national identity through contributions as a singer, songwriter and musician.

Kelly was married and divorced twice; he has three children and resides in St Kilda, a suburb of Melbourne.

Earlier this month, Kelly released his twenty-ninth studio album, Fever Longing Still. The album debuted at number three last week!

The album's title is lifted from by William Shakespeare's Sonnet 147.

Stream it here tomorrow, but before here is a look at Kelly's huge history, an Australian icon. So much so the track How to Make Gravy will turn into a streaming film, on Bineg based on the 1996 song.

Written by Megan Washington and Nick Waterman, with Waterman also directing the film. This will also be the first original film to be released on Binge.

The film expands on the characters and stories detailed within the song's lyrics, which take the form of a letter from Joe writing from prison, four days before Christmas.

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - KING STINGRAY - {For the Dreams}

Friday Flash(back) - Sarah Blasko - I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain

(Pre) Friday Flash(back)

Sarah Elizabeth Blaskow, known professionally as Sarah Blasko, will be tomorrow's Friday Flash(back).

Releasing her latest record, I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain, last Friday. It was a big week for Aussie legends last Friday with Paul Kelly also releasing his 29th album!

From April 2002, Blasko developed her solo career after fronting Sydney-based band, Acquiesce, between the mid-1990s and 2001. She had performed under her then married name, Sarah Semmens, and, after leaving Acquiesce, as Sorija in a briefly existing duo of that name. 

As a solo artist Blasko has released seven studio albums, The Overture & the Underscore (11 October 2004), What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have (October 2006, which peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Albums Chart), As Day Follows Night (July 2009, which reached No. 5), I Awake (October 2012, which made No. 9), Eternal Return (November 2015), Depth of Field (February 2018) & the latest I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain last Friday.

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, Blasko won Best Pop Release for her second album. 

Her third album won the Best Female Artist in 2009 and her fourth album was nominated for the same category in 2013. 

In October 2010 As Day Follows Night was listed at No. 19 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums. Sarah also recorded an album, Seeker Lover Keeper, in New York for the group of the same name with fellow founding members and Australian singer-songwriters, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby.

The group's debut album peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Charts in June 2011, Blasko's highest chart entry. The trio embarked on a national tour to promote the album in June and July that year. Where I was lucky enough to see them live at Marrickville's The Factory Theatre.

Ahead of Blasko's Friday Flash(back), let's take in some of the sights and sounds of Blasko's excellent career to date below.

Hamilton

I occasionally go to musicals, last Friday, I was lucky enough to see Hamilton: An American Musical.

The biographical musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Based on the 2004 biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, the musical covers the life of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his involvement in the American Revolution and the political history of the early United States. 

Hamilton was composed over a seven-year period from 2008 to 2015, the music draws heavily from hip hop, as well as R&B, pop, soul, and traditional-style show tunes. 

It casts non-white actors as the Founding Fathers of the United States and other historical figures. Miranda described Hamilton as about "America then, as told by America now."

From its opening, off-Broadway in 2015, Hamilton received near-universal acclaim.

Hamilton then transferred to the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway, opening on August 6, 2015, where it received uniformly positive reviews and high box office sales.

At the 70th Tony Awards, Hamilton received a record-breaking 16 nominations and won 11 awards, including Best Musical. It received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A filmed version of the Broadway production was released in 2020 on Disney+. Which I may even check out. However live at The Star in Sydney, it was mazing!

So if you are in Sydney, can get to Sydney or want to see a musical like no other. Go to see Hamilton now. Talk about changing gears from this week's big feature record, Amyl and the Sniffers, Cartoon Darkness. 

Speaking of changing gears, the Friday Flash(back) will also completely change the gears this week too. Come back tomorrow for a sneak peek!

Till then!

 

Album of the Week - Offical Music Videos

Album of the Week - Amyl and the Sniffers - {Cartoon Darkness}

Friday Flash(back) - Laura Marling - Patterns in Repeat