Meg Washington is an incredible Australian pop lady, and after a run of really amazing singles and EP’s she’s finally releasing her debut album. “I Believe You Liar” is released through Mercury/Universal on July 30th and could end up being one of the years best if the new single is anything to go by.

This is the new Washington video clip. The song is called “Sunday Best” and it ticks just about every box on my list both visually and musically. I saw it last night on Rage, our late-night music show here in Oz, and was pretty blown away. Ridiculously fun and incredibly well put together, best I’ve seen from this country so far in 2010, so there you go.

I interviewed Meg a few months back and she was one of the most refreshing and hilarious people I’ve ever had the honour of speaking to. I’ll try and find the transcript and post it on here next week, but in the meantime I’m just going to watch “Sunday Best” again and hope that a higher quality audio of it arrives on YouTube soon.

Back when I was a teenager, Rollo & Sister Bliss were THE go to for amazing remixes. Time and time again they created legendary dance music history with their building, euphoric takes on some of the biggest songs released. Everything from Donna Summer to even their own brand of music as apart of Faithless, generally speaking, Rollo & Sister Bliss were – and are – two of the greatest DJs in the dance community.

Over the last couple of years, Rollo & Bliss’ output as a remixing duo hasn’t been hitting the usual track-records or meeting the standards many of their previous re-swizzles have. There was a distinct sound to the way Rollo & Bliss remixed, but as house music turned into something completely different all together as the late 90’s drew to a close, so did that euphoric, trancey house bassline we’d all come to know and love from R & Bliss. But now, with the 90’s revival well and truly here, it seems fitting that a remix that harks back to that particular time be exactly the kind of sound Rollo & Sister Bliss recreate with this, their finest and most spectacular remix in about five years.

What’s probably even more exciting is that it still sounds like a remix that’s been done in 2010. It’s still fresh sounding but somehow manages to push a number of nostalgic buttons for me along the way. Hell, maybe even you.

The Temper Trap (from Melbourne) released this, their “Love Lost” single last month, with this remix tacked on as a b-side. The original version is fine, but there’s something really magical about that breakdown and beat-drop toward the end of the remix that really takes the song to a much further emotional level. That euphoric sense of beauty, tragedy and brilliance, all rolled into the one truly monstrous and epic seven minute club thumper.

Welcome back Rollo and Sister Bliss. Don’t Leave…

Mindi Jackson was quite the breath of fresh air at the Logies (Australian Television awards) on Sunday night, and I think others are finally starting to see where I’m coming from. Performing their new single “Would You Raise Your Hands?”, the Rogue Traders tore Crown Casino a brand-new rectum with this corker of  a performance.

The performance is energetic, has a great dance routine (put together by the incredibly talented Squared Division, MINDI THEN JOINS THE DANCE ROUTINE TOWARDS THE END, there are green lasers and people in helmets – it’s exactly the kind of thing some second-rate Australian pop stars should take a look at before any future live performances. Mindi’s performance in particular was pretty great – you can see just how much stage presence she has and how good she is at entertainment; this was the performance of the night in an evening where the legendary k.d. Lang performed – let’s not forget this.

The single is really, really good too. And yes, it does sample Adam Ant but it does so with not only Ant’s permission but also absolute blessing. It’s a tiny fragment that just adds spark to an already brilliant pop single. I’ve spoken about the song before on the blog but now that it’s out there, perhaps a little bit more needs to be said.

“Would You Raise Your Hands?” is a certifiable Rogue Traders classic. It works just as well incredibly loud in my car as it does banging to a crowd at the Logies. It’s the kind of world-class pop they can take overseas and (hopefully) have a banging smash with. The chorus is a firebomb of excitement and the subject matter is one quite close and dear to a pop enthusiast like me’s heart. It’s so ready-for-radio it’s ridiculous and is exactly the kind of track the Rogues need to prove they’re here to stay after the flatline-response to their last single “Love Is A War”, which was fine but let’s face it – this is their real first single now, innit?

The single is available now on iTunes, and the album “Night of the Living Drums” (you may remember the Sneak Peak of that I gave you in January) is on its way, and thank God for that too because in a year without a new Sneaky Sound System album, it’s all up to the Rogue Traders to be the nations saviours of pop for 2010. And thank God also that the album is full of tracks to do just that – I can’t wait for everyone to hear “America” and be blown away by it as much as I was the first time I heard it, a track that’s shaping up to be my chosen Rogue Traders magnum opus.

More details on the album when I hear more about a release date, but needless to say I’m very excited and hope some of you are too.

Oh and you can watch the okay (but the Logies performance is leaps-and-bounds better) video clip for “Would You Raise Your Hands?” here.

—————

NEXT WEEK: Simon Curtis album review, and new interviews with both the Cassette Kids and Matt Van Schie.

Gabriella Cilmi’s gearing up for the May 31st release of the Bee Gee’s-infused second single “Hearts Don’t Lie” from her incredible sophomore album, “Ten.”

One of the serviced remixes for the single was wiz-twiddled by UK dancefloor destroyers Moto Blanco. As a bit of a scoop – this is the very first time it’s gone live anywhere online – I offer you this gift; the exclusive first play of the Moto Blanco remix of Gabriella Cilmi’s “Hearts Don’t Lie.”

Yes please.

“Hearts Don’t Lie” is released in the UK on May 31st. “Ten” is out now.

MATT VAN SCHIE
BALMY NIGHTS
(BANDROOM) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

There is something admittedly really exciting about Matt Van Schie being a proper pop star.

Van She themselves, although definitely housing some brilliant pop hooks, generally seem to fall more into the Rock/Dance bracket – particularly with their fan-base. The band themselves are working on their new album as you read this; but there’s been a big chunky break in between that was perfect for solo ventures and side projects to come up to the proverbial podium. The bands resident synth-god Michael Di Francesco added his production touches to the ace new Cassette Kids album, and Matt, well Matt’s gone and done what I’d always hoped he would – a truly outstanding pop record.

“Balmy Nights” is perfect from beginning to end. Complete with four tracks, the EP serves as an incredible introduction into Matt’s musical mind and where he wants to take this particular project.

Lead single and EP opener “Saturday Night” gets things off to a rollicking start; that bass guitar sounding prominent over the 80’s referencing synths and a chorus of killer proportions. Next single “Journey”, featuring Matt’s Van She band-mate Di Francesco, is a Depeche Mode/Duran Duran loving synth-happy pop ballad with sharp production and a truly dreamy bridge. By the time the ace “Lady” and “Two Love” have started, you’ll have figured out this EP is, essentially, a collection of really fun and supremely executed pop songs. And they generally all seem to be about the romantic side of life.

In its demo form, “Two Love” charted in my Top 10 of the year for 2009, and rightly so. There’s something very Motels-esque about this – in melody and production, it’s actually almost like a dancier version of this absolute classic. These are the kind of songs you hear that instantly just hit the spot. Out of the four tracks on here, “Two Love” is not only the best on “Balmy Nights”, it’s also the most accomplished and fresh-sounding.

“Balmy Nights” is a pop record. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make pop music. It’s the kind of thing that should be encouraged. If Matt had turned around and made an EP full of rock-cum-indie-cum-dance anthems, provided they were good I would still have been on board, but perhaps not as excited as I have been about this batch of tunes.

Van She give us excellent material that falls into that aforementioned sub-genre; so I want something different from a solo project. And Matt’s definitely stepped up. Most people would kill for a debut pop release to sound this swish, slick and to just work as well as it does.

Buy this because I want a full-length album. I have a feeling Matt’s going to blow our minds with whatever he does next.

Purchase “Balmy Nights” from iTunes.

CASSETTE KIDS
NOTHING ON TV
(SONYBMG) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

In 2008 Sydney’s Cassette Kids took home the prize of the Triple J Unearthed competition and followed it with the release of their debut EP, “We Are.” 48 months later, and the Cassette Kids are finally launching their debut Long Player, “Nothing On TV.”

For those dismissing the band as another Ladyhawke or Modular act aren’t, however, looking hard enough. Aside from the fact they aren’t even on Modular, there’s a lot more to the Cassette Kids than a few ball-tearing pop tunes and some dance beats. “Nothing On TV” proves this in around 50 minutes playing-time.

In fact, anyone expecting an all-out pop album (or dance album, even, which it seems Rave Magazine thought it was… which does make you think if they even bothered to listen to the record, or whether they just jotted down what they thought was wrong with Australia’s dance music scene and then fobbed it off as a review – WHO KNOWS) is going to be left surprised. There is definitely an air of incredible pop sensibilities at play here, but there are some exciting and creative rock-monster moments on here (”You Shot Me” comes in like an exciting bat out of hell upon your stereo) that still separate the Kids from the rest of the dance-pop-indie hybrid. Very smart.

Production credits for “Nothing On TV” sit with Van She’s synth-master Michael Di Francesco (who’s almost turning out to be Australia’s answer to Stuart Price); there are 80’s licking guitars and 90’s references here and there; from the almost No Doubt feel to some of the music (”Freaky Sweetie”, “Wherever You Are”), to the thundering techno beats of album (and career) highlight, the title-track “Nothing On TV” which – in its final minute – turns into one of the most exciting and innovative moments in Australian pop for a long time.

“Game Player” is TV’s other crowning moment who, along with the records singles “Spin” (still one of the years best singles) and “Lying Around”, come complete with choruses so infectious you’ll be on anti-biotics not long after hearing them.

The best thing about “Nothing On TV” is that, although it definitely cross-references other artists and genres of music the Cassette Kids themselves have sought inspiration from, it still sounds like a record put out by the Cassette Kids. It still has that grimy energy from their original debut, it’s just a little more polished this time around.

I await with much excitement to see what they’re going to do next.

NOTHING ON TV is released through Sony/BMG Australia tomorrow. Clicky to pre-order a physical copy from JB HiFi, or jump on iTunes tomorrow to purchase a digital copy.

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to chat with the divine Gabriella Cilmi for the blog. After not being the biggest fan of her first album, 2008’s “Lessons To Be Learned”, I was more than happy to do a complete turn-around regarding my thoughts on the woman I now call ‘The Cilmi’, provided the material was of a higher standard. Thankfully it was, and during our chat Gabriella was funny, incredibly switched on and full of personality – all things which made her even more endearing than, at the time, she had been to me simply through the five songs I heard on the album sampler. In the chat we talked Xenomania and Brian Higgins, Donna Summer and how she inspired the recording of her incredible new album (review this week) “Ten”, how that very record was almost an exercise in the sounds of Bossa Nova and New Orleans Piano, and wanting to date Jimi Hendrix…

Hello Gabriella how are you?!
Good good, how are you?

Yeah really good, is this your hundredth interview for the day?
(Laughs) Well you are like my gazzilionth interview but it’s okay, I’ve found those amazing coffee beans that are covered in chocolate, you know them?

(Laughter) Yes I do…
Well I’ve become quite addicted to them over the last couple of days. I just chew them when I get a bit tired (laughs).

I have all these questions I want to ask you but before I get to any of those I need to tell you – “Love Me Coz You Want To” is one of the BEST songs I’ve heard…
Oh amazing! Yeah I’m glad you like that one Adem! That’s actually one of my favourites on the record. That one’s interesting because it started out a bit Motown-esque, it had that vibe from my last record, and the label kept on saying “Oh you have to keep it that way, that’s how it should be”, and I was like, well, no, that’s not how it should be! So I kind of took the song away with my band and produced it with them, and came up with this new version of it. So I think it was the right thing to do now that you’ve said that, thank-you.

Well I’ve had that song repeat for most of today in the lead up to this interview you know.
(Laughs) Awesome awesome, so you’re liking the album?

Loving it! So bloody amazing. Speaking of producing that song with your band, how different was it producing alongside those guys as opposed to the well-established producers you’ve worked with before?
It was funny because, they’re all really talented but I spend so much time with them (laughs), you know, we sit two-weeks on end in the back of a van together, and by the end of it you really just wanna kill each other. It’s a kind of love/hate relationship that makes anything good really, when you think about it, I mean, Brian Higgins from Xenomania, who I wrote my first album with, we always had this love/hate relationship, we’d really disagree on a lot of things, but when we agreed it worked really well. The love/hate thing works good for me (laughs).

So the album is definitely a huge shift from the debut “Lessons To Be Learned” – a big transition from motown-eque pop to disco and electropop – did you have any idea that’s what you wanted to do when you sat down to start working on the record, or were you surprised as well?
(Laughs) No I definitely surprised myself! I actually sat down and thought I would write a New Orleans Piano record, you know, Professor Longhair-ish, but then I thought, you know, I’m probably not a pro on the piano like they are (laughs), and then I tried this bossanova styled thing and everyone was just looking at me like “what are you doing?” (laughs), anyway, then one of my bandmates gave me a Donna Summer record, “I Remember Yesterday”, and from then on that changed the direction of the album. I was listening to a lot of Giorgio Moroder, you know, a bit of Irene Cara there, and I guess that really inspired the record too. I ended up with the most perfect work-out song in the world, “On A Mission.”

It’s very good in the gym I must say, and equally as exciting to sing “I am a Gay man… on a mission” whilst on the treadmill.
(Laughs)

You’ve actually referred to the song as being a 21st century answer to “I Will Survive”…
Well it so is!

Oh definitely, definitely. Where did the drive for that song come from?
I actually don’t know where (laughs), I wrote it with this big bald guy, who was really into musical theatre, so I guess I always wanted to write a song like that, a song that’ll be around that empowers and inspires, I really love Gloria Gaynor and I wanted one of those songs that was gonna take no nonsense from anyone (laughs).

Gloria and Donna are all favourites, so what’s your favourite disco track?
Oh gosh, so many different ones! My favourite disco tune though would probably be “Love To Love You Baby” by Donna Summer, I just think it’s the sexiest song going around, it just sends you into a trance almost, you just can’t help but be entranced by it. It just gets you… ah, amazing song. And my inspiration for the record as a whole I guess included Irene Cara’s “Flashdance”, and when you’re talking about disco you can’t really go past The Bee Gees. And everyone should be proud to know that they were Australian!

Indeed! And you have your own Bee Gee inspired romper on the album too, don’t you?
Yeah yeah, “Heart Don’t Lie”, that’s actually one of my other favourites, it’s got this really cool bassline that’s kind of reminiscent of Betty Davis, and she’s so funky and fierce, she’d just go on stage in a bikini with massive knee-length silver boots, such an incredible look going on. Plus she dated Jimi Hendrix.

She did.
If I could go back in time and date anyone it’d probably be Jimi Hendrix.

Really?
He sets guitars on fire, that sounds unreal.

Not exactly ‘bring him home to Mum’ material though…
Yeah my Mum probably wouldn’t like him (laughs), I’m sure she’d prefer Justin Timberlake or something like that. He is the guy that you bring home to your Mum though, isn’t he?!

I’m pretty sure even my Mum would be pleased if I brought him home.
(Laughs) Of all the Male popstars out there, he’s definitely the one you take home to Mumma.

So with this album you worked with Greg Kurstin, The Invisible Men and Dallas Austin as well as Xenomania, who you worked with on the first record. Do you think people were just expecting you to pull a Girls Aloud and make a full album with Higgins again?
I guess so, I guess people probably were expecting that. But I spent four years with them writing the first record, so I think it was just, for me, natural to move on. I loved working with Greg Kurstin as well, producers have to be really intuitive and understand the artist and what they’re feeling, how they want things to sound… he was really good at taking the picture in my brain and creating it (laughs). “Superman” is one of my favourite tracks on the record and I wrote that with him.

Have you decided what the next single is going to be yet?
We haven’t really decided yet, but I’m thinking it’ll be “Hearts Don’t Lie”, but we’ll see how that all pans out. (As it turns out “Hearts Don’t Lie” was confirmed late last week as the second single.)

What’s it like working with Brian Higgins and at the Xenomania towers?
Well I started working with them when I was 13…

Shit!
Yeah! So I’ve known them for a long time, at the time I didn’t realise they were so big, I knew they’d worked with Girls Aloud and the Sugababes, and certainly at that time I didn’t really like that kind of music, I was young you know? I was used to jamming in my garage playing AC/DC and Led Zeppelin covers so it was such a different ball game to me. They taught me a lot about pop music and writing pop music, it’s a real art-form, they’re really quite obsessed with melodies, or the way things are placed in the song.

Everyone’s talking about your ’sexy new image’ – do you think it’s important to break free a little of the image from the first record now that you’re older? You were 15 when you did your first video…
Yeah exactly, I still find it hysterical when you read articles ‘Gabriella Cilmi – not so sweet!’ (laughs), and then there’s pictures of me in, I guess, a bikini, I was 15 when I filmed the video for “Sweet About Me” and, to be honest, that wasn’t so sweet at all I mean there were guys hanging upside down all around me (laughs). I guess it is kinda sexy, it’s certainly a lot free-er. As a space Queen I feel like I can do whatever I want!

The video is bonkers and brilliant, you get to play Barbarella AND THERE’S A DANCE ROUTINE – please tell me there will be more of this kind of thing in the future?
I think so! I think you’ll see more crazier videos and outfits, I’d love to do more of that. I think so, yes.

Keep all of this up and your Gay following should triple in size by the end of the year.
(Laughs) Well the first invitation I got to play a gig at this year was for G.A.Y, which is really exciting actually!

Thank you Gabriella!