So if anyone finds themselves without anything to do this Halloween weekend, there are plenty of opportunities to watch some live music in Medway. Thus giving you the chance to have a good time, and if you did not already know, you will find out that there are some amazing acts literally on our doorstep week in week out!

A lot of the acts can be found on the latest ME2 album, which can be downloaded (with a small donation to oxjam) on www.medwayeyes.co.uk

Also if you wish to find out more about both MedwayEyes and the ME2 album, you can listen to the October 11th Fizzer's radio show (where I play a small cameo) through this link: http://www.fizzersradioshow.com/en/cms/index.php/content/podcasts.html.

Here is this weeks gig guide (in conjunction with Fizzer's radio, Mondays 8-10pm)

-Thursday October 28th - @ The Chambers, Folkstone - Theatre Royal with support from The Flowing.

-Friday October 29th - @ Poco Loco, Chatham - Archie Wah Wahs, Firstborn Heroes, Retrospect.

-Friday October 29th - @ Nags Head, Rochester - Theatre Royal.

-Saturday October 30th - @ Kings Cross Social Club, Kings Cross - Groovy Uncle.

-Saturday October 30th - @ The Royal Function Rooms, Rochester - Stuart Turner and The Flat Earth Society.

-Saturday October 30th - @ The Carpenters Arms, Rochester - Didi Bergman, Out of Fashion, Wheels.

ALL THIS IN THE BEAUTIFUL MEDWAY TOWNS (and near-ish by) THIS WEEKEND!

ENJOY! - Vizzler.

As you no doubt know after the amount of times I’ve now reminded you of it; I‘ve relocated to the other side of the world, and I feel that a great way to take advantage of this is to dig deep into the Australian music scene and feed back all the juicy titbits that I come across, and whether this surprises you or not, there are heaps of musical treats here (cobber.)

So, first up on this iknowasong.com feature is a Ms. Lisa Mitchell, a 20 year old songstress whose talents will no doubt appeal to fans of artists such as Feist, Eliza Doolittle, Regina Spektor, Coeur de Pirate, Laura Marling etc. Lisa cites Missy Higgins and Clare Bowditch as some of her main inspirations so you can expect the very best of what female led indie pop / folk has to offer if you’ve not heard Lisa’s music before.

Firstly we have to clear up the technicalities - Lisa was born in Canterbury, England but moved to New South Wales, Australia aged only 3 and now resides mainly in Melbourne. Since then Australia has gone on to revere her as one of the country’s most prized recording artists with Lisa picking up 3 ARIA nominations (Australian Recording Industry Association – a BRIT award equivalent you could say) in 2009 as well as being nominated for the huge 2010 ARIA Award ‘Most Popular Australian Artist’ (votes are currently being cast).

Even more impressively Lisa won the Australia Music Prize 2010 (similar to the Mercury Prize) and put her $30,000 winnings towards building her own recording studio, bless. Other massive accolades come in the form of the support Lisa gets from Triple J Radio (Another Australian Equivalent! This time to Radio 1) Lisa’s track ‘Coin Laundry’ made it to the top 10 of Triple J’s hottest 100 tracks last year and her album ‘Wonder’ went platinum in Australia (70,000+ sales) being released on major label Warner. Lisa has written songs with big names like Newton Faulkner, has toured with big names like Jason Mraz, and as the video above shows – she’s still lovely enough to play impromptu gigs in parks for her fans!

BUT success has not always been so easy for poor Lisa who crashed out of Australian Pop Idol 2006 – I exaggerate, 6th place isn’t bad at all especially as she was a 16 year old playing her own compositions! In fact Lisa began guitar lessons aged 12 and used to perform folk covers in cafes and at events either on her own or as part of her young cover group ‘Chrome’.

I really do feel that the choice of video above (Neopolitan dreams performed at a picnic in Hyde Park) really sums Lisa up as an artist in my eyes; relatively anonymous, shy and reserved (you can’t help but ‘aww’ at Lisa’s nervous opening), but desperately talented – when she starts singing you just know straight away that the 20 year old is superstar in embryonic form and I steak my credibility (which isn’t the biggest compliment I know, but still) on the statement that Lisa Mitchell will go on to achieve even more amazing things on a much larger scale.

I am positive that if you like any of the tracks posted here that you’ll find a song on her album which you’ll think is even better. The instrumentation is amazing for a start; put a harmonica, a xylophone and a triangle on your album and you’ve now got a soundtrack that can both warm up the UK winter which surely sets in, or can chill you out as you lounge in Australia’s evening sun.

I’m not the most prone to listen to whole albums over and over unless they’re something spectacular but Lisa’s 13 track LP had me looking for the play button again and again. From the upbeat, uplifting tracks ‘Oh! Hark!’ and ‘Clean White Love’ to the contemplative, heartfelt and raw emotion of ‘Pirouette’, ‘Love Letter’ and ‘Valium’ - hearing a complete album this beautiful from such a modest young artist is truly humbling. This album just moves me and I know that it'll stay with me for a long, long time. I’ll still be listening to this album years from now, through the worst and best times of my life, guaranteed. 

And perhaps the best part is – Australia has many more artists of this calibre, and you’ll find them here every week on iknowasong.com. Tree Boy xoxo

P.S. If you like this make sure you check out my next post where I’ll feature new tracks from Eliza Doolittle and Coeur De Pirate! As always let me know your thoughts by clicking ‘comments’ in the top right corner of the post!  

MP3: Lisa Mitchell - Coin Laundry   

If there were such a thing as 'reigning world champions of electronic dance music' you wouldn't be surprised to see the Swedish House Mafia sporting the belt. But the three Swedes are hardly new to the scene; Angello, Ingrosso and Axwell are house music veterans in a new guise and they've gone through their own hell to get here. 

In a recent interview childhood friends Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso recall that they weren't received well on the club scene back in the late 90's, struggling for a gig they were always hassling people to let them play - 'we begged for them to let us play, even for free'. Things hadn't improved by 2000 when after meeting a member of the Artful Dodger(!) they moved to Southampton, UK to try and further their careers. Unfortunately things didn't work out and the guys who were living on a diet of 'potatoes and fish sticks' had exhausted all their resources pressing their own promo's. Axwell recalls similar moments too but he managed to secure the first glimmer of hope back in 2004 with 'feel the vibe' - a global club hit. At the same time Angello was suceeding on the underground scene, most notably with his remix of 'sweet dreams' by Eurythmics. 

Now we can begin to understand the drive that these guys have, they deserve to be where they are, although their name might be new their faces certainly aren't. After debuting their own night in Ibiza back in 2009 (Dark Forest at Pacha) they met with more success, these guys used to drive around the island putting their own posters up and promoting their own events! This year; 'Masquerade Motel' ran by the Swedes was by all accounts one of the Ibiza seasons top nights, and 2010 has also contained more landmarks for the mafia (read: producing a certain instrumental called 'one') which started by tearing apart the Miami Winter Music Conference and now gets air time wherever I seem to go! The Mafia's follow up (vs. Tinie Tempah) 'Miami 2 Ibiza' is going down much the same route and seeing as you've all probably heard these tracks more than a few times by now I thought I'd collect up some of the best remixes I've heard, who knows, somehow you might be able to like these songs EVEN MORE!
 
Expect to hear a lot more from these Swede's in the future, as soon as they have time we can expect an album and they've been working on tracks with the likes of Kylie Minogue. A one hour documentary on the guys is being filmed right now and they have an upcoming mix cd 'until one' coming out very soon if it's not already available where you are. The Mafia have stated that they'd like to replicate David Guetta's success ('by producing a track like ' I gotta Feeling' - I don't know how this qualifies as 'success' but there we are) Who am I to disagree? After what these guys have been through over the last decade, and bearing in mind the quality of the tracks they're putting out - I can't begrudge them a little fortune! Enjoy their remixes!    

Pub Quiz Ammo - There used to be four members of SHM, a one 'Eric Prydz' made up the final member but as he decided to move to London as opposed to remianing in Sweden he was banished from the Mafia. You'll still find heaps of Pryda tracks in the SHM sets however, it's all amicable!

'Show Me One' (Laidback Luke Bootleg) - Ok, it's a bootleg as opposed to a remix but I guarantee you'll be like 'OH NO HE DIDN'T!' when this beast drops. I don't know where house music would be without 'Show me Love' by Robin S! 

'One' (Congorock remix) - Really hard to categorise this one in any particular genre, it retains some of the original's house elements but the drop takes it down a more chemical road - it still has has 'club banger' written all over it, but it's darker, harder (faster, stronger, why not)  

'One' (Proximas Dub) - Don't tell me you weren't expecting a dubstep remix! Here it is, and it is good! Subwoofers are necessary to feel the full weight of the track, it's a subtle little dubstep gem this one.

'One' (Foals Cover) - Yes, Foals as in the immense indie band Foals! UK peeps might already be on this one, it sounds like a (very good) radio 1 live lounge track, a re-imagining of the song with a full band. Yannis' vocals take the place of Pharrel's... I'm not convinced that if this track had come as an indie track first that it'd be as big as the Mafia's version but needless to say, if the Foals are going to put this in their live sets it will GO OFF. Again, it's not a remix, it's a cover but shhh.

'One' (Netsky Remix) - The Belgian drum 'n' bass wonder kid can semingly do no wrong! Churning out some of my recent fave remixes for the likes of Chew Lips and Plan B, it's going to be all about Netsky soon, everywhere! This is the track that could have me raving harder than the original. Madness.  

'Heard it through the ONE' (Swedish House Mafia VS. Marvin Gaye) (!) -  Honestly I'm not joking - Marvin Gayes 'heard it through the grapevine' vocals have been dropped over 'one' - and it's nowhere near as terrible as you'd first think, in fact quite the opposite. More could've been done with it but it's definitely different, and the ability to spot something as luicrous as this might just make a career for this man in the future (read: Jason Nevins etc.) Hanging out for a high quality MP3 of this bootleg, get in touch if you can find one!

Caspa Remix - Again this is subtle dubstep that's going to need a good subwoofer! A remix from a heavyweight like Caspa is almost certain to get a full release so buying it at a higher quality is going to make you love this even more! Don't expect any big drops and you'll get on with this just fine!  

Sander Van Doorn remix - Trance superstar Van Doorn lives up to expectations here with a massive trance riff! Famed for his Dusk till Doorn compilations, this man gets behind the decks for stints of time that would turn my stomach - but I bet it's all worth it when he sees tens of thousands of ravers get mental to this remix. This heavyweight trance tune is getting an official release so you'll be able to find it in the usual outlets, itunes etc.  

BONUS! 'Leave the World Behind' by Swedish House Mafia & Laiback Luke (Vonka Remix) - Some more dubstep for you all, this time it's the 2009 track 'leave the world behind getting remixed'. Vonka won a monthly remix competition with this track on a blog I follow, the name escapes me now but I'll find it out so a) it's relatively unkonwn and b) it's a very good submission! Tree Boy xoxo

My UK brethren are in for a treat, not only is Chromeo's 'Risky Business tour' coming to most major towns and cities near you, but they're bringing serious support acts including the mighty 'midnight juggernauts' - worthy of a headline tour themselves! Here's the full tour schedule plus a taster from their new album 'Business Casual' which the tour is showcasing. I caught a glimpse of Chromeo live this summer, needless to say they're a great live act, bashing those synthesisers like they were going out of fashion... See them, love them! Tree Boy xox (P.s. I threw in a dubstep remix, in case you wanted one! It's Skream doing what he did so well on La Roux's 'in for the kill')

10-14 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues *
10-30 Chicago, IL - Congress Theater ^
11-04 Dublin, Ireland - Tripod #
11-05 Birmingham, England - O2 Academy 2 #
11-06 Bristol, England - O2 Academy #
11-11 Sheffield, England - Plug #
11-12 London, England - Roundhouse #
11-13 Manchester, England - Academy 2 #
11-18 Paris, France - La Machine
11-19 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique
11-20 Eindhoven, Netherlands - STRP Festival
11-25 Zurich, Switzerland - Alte Borse
11-26 Munich, Germany - Erste Liga
11-27 Berlin, Germany - Maria
12-29 Gisborne, New Zealand - Rhythm & Vines Festival
12-31 Melbourne, Australia - Pyramid Rock Festival
01-01 Melbourne, Australia - Summadayze Festival
01-01 Sydney, Australia - Field Day Festival
01-02 Gold Coast, Australia - Summadayze Festival
01-06 Sydney, Australia Hordern Pavilion ~
01-07 Adelaide, Australia - Thebarton Theatre ~
01-08 Perth, Australia - Summadayze Festival

Chromeo - Night By Night - The Canadian duo doing what they do best, anthemic 80's-style electronica love songs.  

This track needs no introductions - if anything you're probably a little bored of it by now... Well that's where we march in with a sexy remix. I've loved Le castle Vania for a long time now, mainly due to their Ed Banger-esque style electro but that's been toned down here and it works just as well. What we have is a really mature sounding record with Le Castle Vania's funky / electro house input complimenting Cee-Lo's soul. It's a match made in remix heaven - I hope you enjoy it, it's certainly put a massive smile on my face before a BIG Saturday night :D Tree Boy xox

P.S. For those of you needing something a little harder before your Saturday night, I've included a dubstep remix! I'm not saying it's great, the production's a little bland but, it is filth, and if you like that sort of thing we've got lots of it!

BREAKING NEWS- "The official video for "Na Na Na" is premiering at MTV at 11pm EST today, Thursday the 14th, but we can't view it yet because it is set to US users only, which really sucks! But if you want to listen to the song you can below, or if you want to get the sneak preview of what to expect from the video you can also view this further below or in the 'rock' section."

This is an update of the last post I did, where I spoke about the new record from My Chemical Romance. This is the first song that has been released, it is called Na Na Na, and for anyone who cannot be bothered to scroll down the new record is out on November 22nd, and the title is; 'Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys.'

The inspiration for the new album came from a comic that Gerard Way began to write after the Black Parade tour ended in 2008, the comic was titled 'Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys.' When you listen to this song you will understand what I meant when I explained they have completely ditched the sound and image they previously had, due to the fact that the whole concept of 'The Black Parade' had spiraled out of control and become something they never intended it to be! How emo do I sound...

I hope you enjoy this very upbeat and catchy song from My Chemical Romance. - Vizzler.

My heart literally sank as I read this email which contains a personal statment from Dan le Sac and Scroobuis Pip;

"We've got a few things happening that we think you all should know about... First up, in 2 days we begin what will be our last tour for some time!
Don't worry we'll be back eventually but after we've exhausted ourselves in the next 6 weeks, we'd like to take some time trying to make album number 3 everything it can be, you never know, you might even see some side projects too."

I really don't know how I'm going to handle this! I am excited to see any side projects and everything le sac vs pip have put out has been flawless but at the same time how am I going to live without ever knowing for sure that there'll be a third album!? On another note, if you didn't manage to catch these guys touring with their last 2 albums I cannot recommend enought that you try and attend one of these last UK dates because their lives shows are an absolute cut above; le sac vs. pip are responsible for some of the most thought provoking and moving tracks I've ever heard, the sort of stuff that I'll play to generations that follow mine. To hear songs like 'get better' live can move a grown man to tears; trust me!

All this news comes as they release their new EP 'cauliflower' which you can grab on MP3 and vinyl from www.lesacvspip.co.uk - which also contains an electro remix from fellow Readingenshian's; Does it offend you, yeah? The track features the guest vocals of Kid A who Dan Le Sac has been producing, you can find Kid A's EP on itunes and I'm already telling myself that this is great sign of the side projects to come. I'm sure the Le sac vs. Pip fans amongst you will have mixed emotions on this and I'd love to hear what you think, because I'm still in shock! Tree Boy xox 

UK Tour Dates: 14th Oct, HATFIELD, The Forum. 15th Oct LEICESTER, O2 Academy. 16th Oct, BIRMINGHAM, HMV Institute. 17th Oct, BRISTOL, O2 Academy. 19th Oct, CARDIFF, Solus. 20th Oct, LEEDS, Stylus. 21st Oct, NEWCASTLE, University (cancelled). 23rd Oct, GLASGOW, QMU. 24th Oct, ABERDEEN, The Lemon Tree. 26th Oct, MANCHESTER, Academy 2. 27th Oct, SHEFFIELD, Plug. 28th Oct, NOTTINGHAM, Ultra. 30th Oct, SOUTHAMPTON, University. 31st Oct, BRIGHTON, Concorde 2. 1st Nov, LONDON, O2 Shepherds Bush Empire. 3rd Nov, LIVERPOOL, Academy. There are Ireland dates following these with one Dublin event selling out already so get your tickets asap.

iknowasong.com has just launched a 'live review' section which you can access in the site navigation bar or by clicking here! We've only been writing for a week so far so do expect that live review page to bulk up very soon, I know the Vizzle and myself have hectic live music schedules over the next few months (poor us!). Also keep an eye out for our gig gallery, we'll try our best get the best pictures and videos for you all! Cheers guys xox Tree Boy