Now that the lovely folk at Modular Records have rectified their problem of uploading audioless cinematography onto YouTube, here is the video clip for that Van She song “Strangers,” which I’ve been going on about since, oh, around January. Anyway, four months on, this is still the track to beat for me in regards to Single Of The Year status.

Not much goes on in the clip, but this is no problem; the boys play instruments, some singing is done, there is a bit of smoke and a giant “V” on set (not the drink, but the actual letter,) they all make looking sexy a bit effortless (particularly Tomek, drums, who looks ultra-chiseled throughout, non?) they each jump in the air during the breakdown after the middle-8, and then they all go back to playing their instruments and/or singing. Let’s take a look at all of this being put into proper effect.

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AND IN HQ…

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I’m not one for using any of the Triple A’s; Awesome, Amazing and Ace (GUFFAW,) but this song is definitely all three of those things. Very, very good stuff. And I’m incredibly fond of the clip too; all four subjects in the group make very pleasing visual aides, don’t they? Single is released on June the 7th; physical CD single (technically the boys’ first physical single release!) and digital download.

You can read everything else I’ve said about Van She over the last few months by clicking here, should you be interested.

So todays Van She related post is somewhat of a mixed bag. It’s a collection of good news and frustration. I’ll start with the frustration.

Van She’s debut album has been pushed back YET AGAIN, this time scheduled in for an August 2008 release. I’m not sure if I should be worried; I think I understand why this has happened (again) but am not entirely certain of it. The new single “Strangers” has been penciled in for a release on June the 7th, which is also frustrating seeing as the original date was set for around April/May. So I’m guessing the boys will work the promo wheel in the lead-up to the single release, go on their tour with The Bravery, and then concentrate solely on promo for the album in the lead up till August, right? I have a lot of faith that the boys and, more importantly, their people, know exactly what they’re doing, but I cannot help but feel sad.

It’s just a little annoying I guess; this album was due for release late 2006, early 2007, August 2007, March 2008, April 2008, June 2008, and now August 2008. If it gets pushed back another time I seriously have no idea how I’ll react. This news has put me in the worst mood! I just want to be able to hold that hot-little-record in my hands and finally say there’s a Van She album for everyones consumption. It’s just so disheartening to think what was only 2 months away is now going to be 4. I’ve made it no secret that the anticipation for this album, for me, has been greater than it was for Madonna’s “Hard Candy,” which is a serious statement for me to make I feel.

The good news is, it seems “Strangers” has been sent to radio and the video clip should surface any day now; the boys have posted pictures from the video shoot over on their MySpace page. Here’s the link; I’m sure you’ll agree the boys are looking quite lush in those photos, and that set looks pretty epic, non?

Also, while you’re off visiting other parts of the web, if you have a Facebook account, feel free to join the “I Heart VAN SHE” group. Clicky Clicky.

Stuff on their show with PNAU from last week possibly before Friday; I’d like to tie it in with the posting of the “Strangers” video clip, should it surface on time. Not too sure when my Madonna “Hard Candy” review will be online now. Maybe Thursday, because it’s my birthday tomorrow so I’ll no doubt be a bit busy with family and the like.

UPDATE 8:38pm: The video is online, but there is no audio. W.T.F.?

UPDATE 23/04/2008: “Strangers” - my song of the year - is available for preview on their MySpazz NOW. Hurrah!!

Some little tidbits of information on what’s going over at Camp Van (DO YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!)

First of all, the boys are offering a free MP3 download of the Vanshe Tech remix of their most recent single “Cat & The Eye.” Bit of a dancefloor banger. You can download that from here.

Caught the boys on Friday night supporting PNAU at Billboard Nightclub in Melbourne and, needless to say, they absolutely killed it once again. I’ve seen them dozens of times before; shows in Geelong, Melbourne, Festivals and the like, and this was definitely one of their best; rather dazzling even. There was a proper lighting show and the guys seemed to be in tip-top form both vocally and musically, and the new songs sound better and better with each show. Pictures next week.

Speaking of the new songs, the bands incredible drummer Tomek told me on Friday to expect some news later on this week in regards to the next VS single “Strangers.” I shall reveal all soon…

Just as the boys are wrapping up their tour supporting PNAU across the country, tour dates to coincide with their album release in June (and, my ETA for said album is around June the 1st, going by the tour dates as some sort of rough guide…) have just been announced.

04 JUNE :: The Metro (SYDNEY)
05 JUNE :: Corner Hotel (MELBOURNE)
06 JUNE :: East Brunswick Club (MELBOURNE)
08 JUNE :: We Love Sounds (SYDNEY)
10 JUNE :: The Zoo (BRISBANE)

I’ll see you at the 5th and 6th of June shows? I dare say I’ll be attending both. There’s also the possibility that a Geelong show could be slated into that empty date of June the 7th, so keep your fingers crossed.

Van She’s people have uploaded a new video to YouTube which documents the travels made during their Japan tour earlier this year. The truly brilliant thing about this 2:25 running video is its featured backdrop track; “Changes,” my Number 2 favourite track of 2008 thus far, and so totally not made available anywhere other than their live shows until now. It’s also the boys’ favourite track from the new album.  Whilst it’s not the whole song, it’s certainly enough to tide us over until the album release in June.  Picture me with my happiest of faces when this arrived in my email.

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Fucking Amazing. And we’ll pretend whoever edited that video didn’t go and spell “censored” incorrectly.

News-wise, MY favourite song from the new album and next single “Strangers” (which is also my Number 1 favourite song of the year thus far) is hitting radio in two weeks, meaning we’ll be getting a new video clip from the boys soon, which ALSO means I’ll finally be able to show you all this completely bonza pop song.

On the other side of the world, UK radio seem to be enjoying the ace Van She Tech remix of that Utah Saints “Something Good ‘08″ reswizzle, and apparently some Very Important Deejays are playing it over on that Radio 1 thing. Very good news. I’m just hoping one of these Very Important Deejays is going to bother with mentioning the actual BAND once the new album is released over there, because their original material completely wipes the floor clean with any of their remixing efforts.

Finally, Van She are supporting PNAU on their national tour in April. Full details here. See you at the Billboard show on the 18th, front and center…

Oh, and if you don’t like my constant Van She scribblings then tough; 2008 is ALL about the V. If you love it, you can read more about them on this site by clicking here. Review of their Geelong gigs and Audio Interview with Matt online soon.

As the Summer (or winter, depending on where you are geographically) season draws to a close, we inch closer and closer into the third month of 2008; it’s already going by so quickly.  It feels like just yesterday I was seeing in the New Year when in actual fact it was 55 days ago… oi vey!

I haven’t really popped up any sort of list containing the songs that have, thus far in, tickled my musical fancy, so I thought now was as good a time as ever.  In chart form, here are the 10 best songs 2008 - whether they be singles or album tracks - has brought us so far.

01.       Van She - Strangers
02.       Van She - Changes
03.       Axle Whitehead - I Don’t Do Surprises
04.       Róisín Murphy - You Know Me Better
05.       Pigeon Detectives - I’m Not Sorry
06.       Cut Copy - Lights & Music
07.       Ashlee Simpson - Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)
08.       Sam Sparro - Black & Gold
09.       Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl
10.       Duffy - Rockferry 

I cannot wait for people to hear Van She’s “Strangers” because it is so sublime.  The synths during the chorus are magnetic and fierce.  “Changes” is just as ace and is also single material (and now that I’ve realised how similar the words “strangers” and “changes” sound when said over the phone, I’m back to being unsure as to which of the two songs are going to be the NEXT Van She single. Boo!) - sounded exxxxcellent live on the weekend and the boys told me it was their favourite track from the new record.

Axle’s debut “I Don’t Do Surprises” still impresses me, as does the man himself.  I spoke to him on Friday afternoon and the interview will be online later this week; went really well and he was incredibly charming.  Miss Murphy’s “You Know Me Better” somehow manages to become a stronger song the more I listen to it; and I already loved it immensely.  I’m aware that the Pigeon Detectives song in my list was released in 2006 and then again last year, but I’ve only just discovered the guys in the last 2 months and that song is so brilliant, I just couldn’t leave it off.

Cut Copy’s new single is a delicious taste of what’s to come from their hotly anticipated sophomore album, and Ashlee Simpson’s bonkers “Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)” sounds like a stripped down homage to Madonna’s “Burning Up.”  I love it!  Both Sam Sparro’s “Black & Gold” and Duffy’s “Rockferry” were introduced to me by the lovely xolondon, who has just written a stellar review of the new Goldfrapp album, which the track “Caravan Girl” comes from.

Anyway, what are your favourite tracks of the year so far?

Here are numbers 11 - 20…

11.       Goldfrapp - A&E
12.       Van She - Talkin’
13.       Girls Aloud - Can’t Speak French (Jeremy Wheatley Radio Edit)
14.       Kylie Minogue - Carried Away
15.       Courtney Love - Never Go Hungry Again
16.       Duffy - Mercy
17.       Courtney Love - Happy Ending Story
18.       Lykke Li - Little Bit
19.       Utah Saints - Something Good ‘08 (Van She Radio Edit)
20.       Rihanna & Klaxons - Umbrella (Live @ The BRIT Awards)

So tonight I spoke with Matt (far left) from Van She for a little on-air banter, and he provided me with some seriously spectacular sound bites. Would you believe we even got a Britney Spears related one in which Matt imitated Chris “Leave Britney Alone!” Crocker. But the best of all was information on the bands NEXT single. Looks like that little baby will have a video clip ready made in about a months time, which should tie me over until the now-pushed-back album release of June.

The even better news is that the next single will be the astoundingly poptastic “Strangers,” which is the song you may remember me referring to a few weeks back as The First Truly Great Song Of 2008. Which means that in a short while you’ll all finally get to hear what I’ve been banging on about.

The guys are also planning another tour around the UK and US towards the end of the year, with plans to go with singles only at first in the “hard to crack” American market. Will post the interview next week to coincide with the beginning of their Australian tour. Dates, venues, et cetera, can be found here.

Meanwhile, here’s the hilarious new video for the old-but-new-because-it’s-getting-a-proper-release Van She remix of Utah Saints’ 90’s dance classic “Something Good.” Matt hadn’t seen it yet but was quite keen to YouTube it after I’d told him how rather-good it actually was.

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Three posts in a day?  I don’t think that’s happened since the days of IAR.  Anyways, just a small bit of Van She news on top of what I’ve already reported today, the debut album is to be called “V” and according to the Modular website - frustratingly - has now been scheduled for a June 2008 release, rather than the originally planned April release.

ARGH. It honestly feels like I’ve been waiting all my life for this album.  Imagine how they feel!  Anyways, those spunky boys better release “Strangers” as a single before June, because I’m going to internally combust if I don’t own that baby on CD soon.

Me likey the above picture; I’ve not seen that one before.

LOTS of live music news to report today. I - quite excitedly - posted earlier this morning of the news that Róisín Murphy was coming to our shores in April for the V Festival.  The side show I’ll be checking out is being held at Melbourne’s ICONIC Billboard Nightclub on April the 7th.  That exciting news kicked off my morning and the live goss only grew as the day went on.

Whilst the following names have not been revealed as yet  to media, I can somewhat exclusively reveal that the likes of Robyn, Van She (pictured) and Tommy Lee (yes, as in Pamela & Tommy Lee) will be on the same bill together for an event being held at Birrarung Marr.  That’s all I can really say for now but once news becomes official, I’ll keep you informed.

Speaking of Van She, the boys - who are currently in Japan - are about to embark on their “Cat & The Eye Tour,” with the first show taking place at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on February 21st.  The boys also play Geelong’s Barwon Club Hotel on the 23rd… no doubt if you’re going to either of those dates, I’ll see you there.  Full list of Australia-wide dates can be found on their MySpazz page.  I was quite the happy camper with all of this brilliant tour news.  But then something ELSE arrived in my inbox…

Whilst it’s somewhat old news that McFly are currently recording their fourth studio album in Australia, the sudden announcement of Australian concert dates completely caught me off guard.  February 23rd and March 1st have been penciled in for McFly’s first ever shows down under.  What a pity that both of the shows are being held in Sydney.  WTF?! No Melbourne?  Once again Melbourne is disregarded as Sydney takes precedence.  When Girls Aloud came to Oz in 2006, their only live performance was held in Sydney.  Take That in 2007 - same story.  Spice Girls were officially scheduled - and canceled - a show only in Sydney, whilst the likes of Mika (who I don’t really care for anyway, but that’s beside the point) and Joss Stone all made one-off appearances in Sydney early last year, leaving Melbourne off their ‘to-perform’ lists.

Anyway, I’m really angry and incredibly upset that I won’t get to see one of my all time favourite bands play their first Australian shows purely because of the distance.  And before you start saying I could fly out to Sydney to see them, you have absolutely no idea how broke I really am at the moment.

Come to Melbourne boys.  Make one of my dreams come true and allow me the opportunity to watch you do what you do best in the flesh.

I’m not sure how sick you all are of the Van She overload of late on the website. But in my defense, I have seen them play quite a bit in the last couple of months after not hearing much from them for an unhealthily long period of time and their new single Cat & The Eye is STILL being hammered on the ole iTunes, so the guys have definitely played an integral part in my music related thought process of late. Plus, with a new album only months away, I doubt the hysteria will die down anytime soon. So if you are sick of it, maybe you’ll just have to de-bookmark the site for a while.

There are a bunch of unreal new songs set for the upcoming Van She album that are going to blow people’s socks off. One in particular, called Strangers, is incredibly fierce, with one of the most euphoric chorus’ I’ve ever heard in my history as a music fan. Explaining the wonder of this song is demonstrated best by simply putting together a case of mathematical examples. Maybe. It should probably be noted I was never very good at mathematics. Actually, this is probably more of a comparative essay in miniature form, rather than it having anything to do with mathematics… Er…

Van She’s most poptastic song is 2005’s Kelly. Kelly is possibly the greatest Australian Pop Song of all time. When released, Strangers will become Van She’s most poptastic song. Around the same time, Strangers will also be the greatest Australian Pop Song of all time, blowing Kelly’s “possible” holder of that title right out of the water.

Van She’s best remix is of I Am Finn’s I Love You. It is very good and would get the grumpiest of nightclubber’s moving their toosh. Van She’s Strangers is so magical that - in comparison - their remixes - including the I Am Finn one - just aren’t as danceable.

You know the sound that a fresh can of soft drink (or Soda for those in the States) makes when you crack it open? You’ll agree it’s one of the most rewarding sounds; particularly on a hot Summers day. Strangers is as satisfying as cracking open a can of Soda, one with the sound going nuts for 4 whole refreshing minutes. You could, I guess, even say Strangers was the musical (and beverage) equivalent of an orgasm.

I am basing all this on hearing the song quite a few times live too, I don’t actually even have a studio version of it yet. That should tell you something.

I haven’t been this excited about an album release in a very long time. I don’t think I was this worked up even in the lead-up to Madonna’s Confessions On A Dancefloor being released. April really couldn’t come any faster, could it?

I also noticed this morning that Van She got another (brief) mention on Popjustice. Still not for their original stuff, but again for a remix effort, but I suppose it’s better than nothing ey? I’m sure there won’t be a website in site (HAHAHA!) not mentioning the boys’ original material come the fourth month of 2008. I guess three years too late is better than none, right?

More Van She next week, just saw the guys play on New Years Day at The Hot BBQ Music Festival which I’ll be reviewing.  I also caught my beloved Divinyls, Cut Copy, Bumbelbeez, Bang Gang DJ’s, Lost Valentinos, Uffie & Feadz, among others. Text and photography next week…

Ladles & Jellyspoons, as promised, here is the interview I conducted a few weeks back with the gorgeous Tomek, Mister Drummer Man from Van She. In the interview we discuss the (then) exclusive announcement of the debut albums release date, pashing men, communism, the Vanshe Tech Remix project’s future (maybe now websites will pay attention to the bands actual music, rather than just their remixes, as good as they are,) socks, working with Cassius, Franz Ferdinand, Techno music, Touring, the creation of furniture, and Marxism. There is also a small section of the chat when the other three boys pipe in to say hello.

You can either stream the chat, or download the 15mb file to keep. Your choice…

or Download the Interview: Adem Interviews Tomek from Van She.mp3

The new single, Cat & The Eye, is out NOW on iTunes, as opposed to the December 18th release date Modular originally provided us with. The E.P. comes with two b-side’s; Danny, a totally bell-a-rific and bonkers vocoder affair, and Wine Cloud’s Water, a brilliant summer-infused indie psychedelic mess, whose lead vocals are performed by bassist Matt! You can buy the E.P. from iTunes - and I definitely urge you to do so.

If you’d like to read more about Van She, visit the eProfile, and then clicky here.

Coming soon: Interviews with Muscles, Cut Copy and Stefy.