IN RAINBOWS.

RADIOHEAD's just announced their new album and it's FREE! Ok, not exactly free, especially not if you have any morals at all...

They're releasing their new album 'In Rainbows' on October 10th, selling it via download from their website for the incredible price of... whatever you feel like paying! The payment page has a blank space for the price which you then fill in with whatever you feel comfortable spending...




We're not convinced that this is the future of music purchasing (although it can work in limited form for donation-ware software downloads), but good to see a major band making a stand against the closed-minded, overpriced and paranoid digital strategies of the major labels and even stores like iTunes.

We'll definitely be buying a copy. Or getting one for free, ka-ching! We're kidding - you think we're just a bunch of immoral cheapskates over here? No replies please.

NOUVELLE VAGUE.

Had dinner last night with the band NOUVELLE VAGUE who had just arrived in Jakarta for the first time. Having flown in directly from Paris they were all pretty jet-lagged but still very entertaining company and quite happy to get drunk and talk about the recent French election (none of them voted for the winner).

For those that have been living under a rock for the last few years, Nouvelle Vague are known for their two albums of Bossa Nova cover versions of classic 80's rock/pop songs which were played to death by every 'hip' lounge... Their version of The Dead Kennedys 'Too Drunk to Fuck' is in Quentin Tarantino's latest movie 'Grindhouse'.

Anyway, they'll be playing at Grand Kemang tonight. Check it out.


Incidentally, we knew that Nouvelle Vague meant 'New Wave', but only just found out that so does Bossa Nova... Feel free to use that fact to impress your friends.

2 MANY DJ'S.

Normally we're not big on covering DJ sets - we're the kind of boring nerds who'd rather be chilling at home watching the latest pirated episodes of Heroes. Imported DJ's sleepwalking through their by-the-numbers playlists? Makes time go slower than Hiro Nakamura... but daaaamn, 2 MANY DJ'S (aka Soulwax) blew us away this weekend with an amazing set that had the crowd at Zouk going wild and even got our lazy arses doing a few dodgy dance moves - and anyone who knows us knows it takes some serious beats (and a fair number of G&T's) to get us doing the electric slide in public.

The Belgian brothers as famous for their remixes as their own tracks, did what they do best and tracks were mashed up, broken up, and dropped thick and fast, sometimes only appearing for a matter of seconds before disappearing, with cheers greeting many of the classics... Playlist somehow managed to include Guns n' Roses, Blur, Justice vs. Simian, Electric Light Orchestra, Vanessa Paradis, Nirvana, The Killers and of course Soulwax and various club classics amongst the zillions of other tracks speeding by. Pure genius.

Major thanks to Lynn for sorting us out with the VIP treatment at the door...

If you've never checked anything by these guys, start by getting your hands on their classic 'As Heard on Radio Soulwax vol. 2' album, or remix of the Gorillaz 'Dare'.

Glenda (fresh from the studio in news presenter garb!), Sandy, Lynn, and Cat

Kelley (editor of ISH) and Sandy

Elvi and Cat

Marc and Sandy (what again?..)

BEASTIE BOYS COLD KICKIN' IT LIVE.

The final stop of the GOOD VIBRATIONS festival was at Fort Canning in Singapore last Monday, and sporadic rain, missing acts, sound problems and drunken stage rushers couldn't stop the Beastie Boys from bringing down the house... Officially starting at 4pm, most of the crowd didn't start turning up until around 7.30, just in time to catch Agrikulture (DJ's Anton & Hogi's band) and headline acts Cut Copy, Jurassic 5 and Beastie Boys on the main stage, and Ursula 1000 on the secondary DJ stage. Everyone seeemed to be there for this one, including the guys from Surrender, SBTG, Killer Gerbil, and Indo friends all over...

Agrikulture

Cut Copy

Jurassic 5 (with great visuals)

Although missing some of the energy of seeing these bands in other venues (or countries...), as the evening wore on, and the alcohol sank in, the crowd definitely began to get into the swing of things, boosted by a slick performance by Jurassic 5, before getting crazy when the Beastie Boys finally came on at 12.15pm.

don't they cut off your arms for doing this in Singapore?

Their set included faves from across their back catalogue including Brass Monkey, No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn, Bodymovin', Intergalactic, Sabotage and an incredible mixing solo by Mixmaster Mike... Even after a couple of decades, they've STILL got it...

HIGHS: bumping into friends from singapore and jakarta at every turn. mixmaster mike's turntable session. jurassic 5 doing concrete schoolyard. security vs. the stage climber.

LOWS: bumping into friends from singapore and jakarta at every turn. never-ending lines for the bar. rain. missing expletives (f**king sanitized lyrics!). more rain. no VIP section/bar (yeah, we're pampered wimps). sleep-inducing after-party.

Overall congrats are in order to Donovan, Chris and the rest for doing a great job in bringing the festival to Singapore...

Killer Gerbil customized a car for sponsor Subaru

WOLFMOTHER.

Bergas apparently sold his soul (didn't know he had one) for entry to the recent London gig by retro-rockers WOLFMOTHER... These guys may have come a long way since being called one of Rolling Stone's 'top 10 bands to watch in 2006', and recently winning the 2007 Grammy for best Hard Rock performance but it seems they still know how to rock a crowd...

The first time Sydney’s WOLFMOTHER came to London we missed it. So when they came in February for the second time, we couldn't pass... Tickets sold out in 3 minutes!

The wait was worth it. Energy and melody, pure, raw, heavy Zeppelin metal as Wolfmother was unleashed from it's cage! Andrew Stockdale (vocals/guitar), Chris Ross (bass/keyboards) and Myles Heskett (drums) were completely in tune with the crowd and delivered a mad headbangers-ball performance.



Hard hitters included Woman, Apple tree, Dimension, Colossal and our favorite Joker 'n' Thief which properly destroyed London's Hammersmith Apollo. They also covered Led Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown like a true prodigy. Just like living high school all over again! The crowd was pumped, with a wild mosh pit and beer-in-the-air served all night.


Visit their label site MODULAR PEOPLE for more interesting new music from Avalanche, Cut Copy, The Presets and more.

ACE!!

{posted by BERGAS}

PICKING UP GOOD VIBRATIONS.

whoever drew the poster has obviously never been to Singapore

Australia's GOOD VIBRATIONS festival is hitting Singapore today for the first time since its inception in 2004. With two stages and a line-up headlined by the Beastie Boys (with mixmaster Mike AND Money Mark!!), Jurassic 5, Cut Copy, DJ Dan and Indonesia's very own Agrikulture, this promises to make Singapore history. Photos of the event to follow... Big thanks to Chris and the Kinemat crew for the VIP pass.

MISCHIEF IN LONDON.

ovelia (707) one ups the souls with an extra finger.

On Monday 23rd October 2006 (happy b'day Kezia!!!!) a real Hip Hop hurricane was brewing in cold and rainy Camden town. Live straight from Oakland, CA was the infinite SOULS OF MISCHIEF with DJ FLUX on the 1 and 2. Right from the get-go the beats were making the crowd, predominantly white - we thought we're in a Kenny Rogers' jam or something - bounce and roll up and down and even sideways.

Opio, Tajai and A-plus were kickin' it old school with their cool and lyrical rhymes Oakland style. The main shit was when the classic 93 till' infinity was blasting, and everyone just went nuts. Check them up on their own label website HIEROGLYPHICS.com. They have been doing it independently for 10 years now - so independendent that after the show, Tajai (one of the MC's) was in their concession stand selling T shirts and cd's. Now that's some ill independent!

MORE GORILLAZ.

Known about this for a while, but as the only official KIDROBOT retailer in Indonesia, we can't say anything until we're given the all-clear. (Also wish we could tell you some of the stuff we've seen at Nike and Adidas HQ's, but they've got spies everywhere and it's no fun being beaten to death with an Airmax.)

The new edition of Gorillaz figures will be release toward the end of October. Slightly smaller and cheaper than the original Black and Red editions, but with same level of famous Kidrobot detail. Arriving in 707 soon... Quantities very limited as always.

APE ON THE ROOF. AND IN 707.

Indo band APE ON THE ROOF dropped by 707 this morning to do some impromptu music video filming for their single 'Everyone wants to be a DJ'. Not quite sure what David the director was trying to do, but anything involving a guy in an ape costume is always a recipe for success in our book. Look out for the new video on MTV from next month with a couple of 707 special appearances...

Ape on the Roof's new album APE-OLUTION is out now on AKSARA RECORDS.