The Weekly Wrap | 24/05/2024
The Weekly Wrap is a look at the biggest stories in music collected in one place for your reading ease.
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line Trailer Drops
The first trailer for the latest documentary focusing on pioneering Aussie act Midnight Oil is here.
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival this June. Written and directed by Paul Clarke and produced by Carolina Sorensen, the doco was shot over seven years and features interviews with band members Peter Garrett, Jim Moginie, Martin Rotsey and Rob Hirst.
The official synopsis of the doco reads: “Contrary. Passionate. Outspoken. Over 45 years Midnight Oil helped shape modern Australia. This is their trailblazing story for the first time on film.
“Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line is the definitive story of the seminal Australian rock group tracing their origins from the politically charged atmosphere of the 1970s to their rise as global icons.”
Documenting the band’s 45-year history, Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line also contains never seen before footage of the band in action, including their tour with the Warumpi Band in 1986, the band’s 1990 Exxon protest gig in New York, and the “Sorry” suits performance at the Sydney Olympics.
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line debuts at the State Theatre as part of the Sydney Film Festival on June 5.
Dune Rats Announce New Album, If It Sucks, Turn It Up
Party starters Dune Rats have announced the release of their fifth album If It Sucks, Turn It Up.
Available Friday, August 9 via Ratbag Records/BMG, the Dunies took inspiration from Regurtiator's classic 1997 album Unit.
“We wanted to make an album that throws you around a bit, like you are being washed around in the surf,” singer and guitarist Danny Beus said. “We’re five albums in now, so we knew it should be a record that shows all the different sides to the band.
“BC [Michaels, drummer] had been listening to Unit, which I loved when I was a kid too. It’s an album with a lot of different styles.
“We realised you can have something that’s dreamy and dancey next to a song that’s punk. What became paramount for the album was that all these songs were a little different to each other but could fit together.”
The trio has also released the third single from the album, ‘Cheapskate’, which follows on from the previously released ‘Solar Eyes’ and ‘Be Like You’.
Inspired by the band’s time in America, Beus said the “song is like the album: an eclectic smorgasbord that still sounds like Dunies.”
You can pre-order/pre-save If It Sucks, Turn It Up here.
Oasis Announce 30th Anniversary Reissue Of Definitely, Maybe
Britpop icons Oasis’ debut album, Definitely, Maybe, turns 30 this year. To celebrate, the band is reissuing the long player via Big Brother Recordings this August with a bunch of unheard recordings.
Collectors will be excited to get their hands on the limited edition 4LP record, while there will also be a limited edition 2LP blue vinyl version and a deluxe 2CD release. And for those who still play tapes, a blue cassette of the album will also be available.
According to the description of the release on Oasis’ website; the limited edition 4LP and deluxe 2CD versions of the album include the “2014 remastered album plus the previously unreleased and discarded original recording session from Monnow Valley along with outtakes from Sawmills Studios plus a demo of Sad Song featuring Liam’s vocal - all recently mixed for this release by Noel Gallagher and Callum Marinho.”
The reissues also feature new artwork from original art designer Brian Cannon and original sleeve photographer Michael Spencer Jones. Creation Records’ Alan McGee and journalist Hamish MacBain also contribute new sleeve notes about the album.
You can pre-order/pre-save the 30th anniversary edition of Definitely, Maybe here.
The The Reveal New Album Ensoulment
Touring Australia this November, UK post-punk act The The have announced new album Ensoulment is on its way.
The 12-track release is the band’s first album since 2020’s Nakedself and arrives via Cinéola/EarMusic on September 6. The majority of Ensoulment was written, demoed and mixed by founder Matt Johnson, with the album delving into themes of love, war and politics.
“Johnson is characteristically unafraid to tackle the emotional complexity inherent in the human condition – intimacy in an age of alienation; democracy in a post-truth age; empire and vassalage; and the inexorable rise of AI – yet the album is equally shot through with hope,” a press release for the LP reads.
You can pre-order/pre-save Ensoulment here and listen to the album’s first single ‘Cognitive Dissident’ above. Tickets for The The’s show at Hindley St Music Hall are available via Ticketmaster.
The Final Dead By Daylight Festival Kicks Off This Saturday
All good things must come to an end and this Saturday sees the final edition of Dead by Daylight.
Previously held at the now defunct Enigma Bar, this year’s event has found a new home at Rhino Room. 11 bands will perform across two stages for a night of metal mayhem and punk perverseness.
Dead by Daylight features a stacked lineup of Australian talent, headlined by local hardcore thrillers Stabbitha and the Knifey Wifeys. The full bill of bands performing includes Witch Spit, Storm the Crown, Deadweight 80, Sons of Erebus, Nembutolik, Agnoxis, Jaguar God, Swordfish Trombone, Wander South and Skeleton Head.
Bands start from 7:30pm with tickets $15 through Eventbrite or $20 on the door.
Vince Staple Drops New Album Dark Times
Cali rapper and television star Vince Staples has today dropped his sixth album, Dark Times.
Following on from 2022s Ramona Park Broke My Heart, his latest long player will be his final release with Def Jam Recordings after a ten year partnership.
The album was preceded by the first single, ‘Shame on the Devil’, which you can listen to above. Staples released a music video for the song last Tuesday (May 21), featuring a split-screen, with a close-up of Staples’ face on one side and shadows of people interacting on the other.
“It’s me mastering some things I’ve tried before that I wasn’t great at in the beginning. It’s a testament to musical growth, song structure — all the good stuff,” Staples explained in a statement about the single.
You can stream Dark Times here.
Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Takes Out Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums
In news that’s divided the internet, Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has topped Apple Music’s 100 Best Album countdown.
Released in 1998, the album topped the US Billboard Chart and spawned hit singles ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, ‘Ex-Factor’ and ‘Everything Is Everything’.
Rounding out the top five of Apple Music’s eclectic list is Michael Jackson’s Thriller; The Beatles’ Abbey Road, Prince’s Purple Rain and Frank Ocean’s Blonde.
Interstingly, the countdown contains a lot of special edition, remasted and anniversary edition albums, which could be seen as Apple Music trying to push those albums exclusive to the platform.
The countdown also includes a healthy dose of recently released records, such as SZA’s SOS and Travis Scott’s ASTROWORLD, which hasn’t gone down well with people.
Overall it’s a real hodge-podge of albums and Apple Music appears to have played it relatively safe, although without albums from The Police, Johnny Cash, The Doors and Whitney Houston, it’s hard to take the list seriously.
Check out the full countdown of Apple Music’s Best 100 Albums here.
Friday Five
In tribute to Apple Music’s 100 Best Albums countdown, here are five incredible songs from the top five albums.
1. Lauryn Hill – ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’
2. Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’
3. The Beatles – ‘Here Comes the Sun’
4. Prince - ‘Purple Rain’
5. Frank Ocean – ‘Pink + White’
