The album was recorded at Sputnik Sound in Nashville, TN by producer Vance Powell (Jack White, Chris Stapleton, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather) and consists of 15 new tracks.

“With Vance Powell as producer, we were able to make a very different kind of an album. The songs feel as if they could jump out of the speakers!” says drummer Jean-Paul Gaster.

The first single from Book of Bad Decisions is ‘Gimme the Keys’, will be the first of four to be released over the coming months as an instant gratification track at iTunes.

The song is about the band’s first tour back in 1991, a time where they began to cut their teeth in the live music business, dealt with show cancellations and incidents on the road. One particular show in a shed surrounded by cornfields in Lawrence, Kansas ultimately turned ugly over a missing microphone and accusations brought by drunk and gun-toting security people at the end of a long day. “Gimme the keys they can keep the guarantee | Gimme the keys and get the hell out of dodge” is a reflection of the mood of that night.

Weathermaker Music will release two very limited 7” Picture Discs in addition to the album formats (CD, a 24-page book with CD, 2xLP Standard Black, Limited Colored 2xLP, and 2xLP Picture Disc) all will have the same 15 tracks.

“Recording in Nashville with Vance Powell gave us a new and fresh approach towards making an album that truly captures the live energy of Clutch in a way I don’t think we’ve done before.” Says Bassist Dan Maines. Guitarist Tim Sult adds “Laying down guitar tracks with Vance was fun and inspiring.  Going through and trying out his and his engineer, Mike Fahey’s collection of vintage amps was one of my favorite recording studio experiences.  I think the outro solo of “Emily Dickinson” turned out particularly great.”

“I’ve never been one for nostalgia,” says Neil Fallon, “I’ve always shied away from it. But after 27 years of this, I realize that there is a wealth of stories to look back upon as lyrical fodder.  As the saying goes, ‘You don’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.’  Not all the songs reference our collective experience as a band, but ‘Book of Bad Decisions’ seemed like an apt name for these various chapters, whether factual, fictitious or somewhere in-between.”
www.facebook.com/Clutchband

Rock superstars Foo Fighters will be returning to Australia in February and March 2015 for their biggest shows ever, with very special guests Rise Against.

Last in Australia in 2011 for a massive run of sold out stadium dates, the Foo Fighters treated their fans to the next level of rock and roll awesomeness.

Wrapping up summer in the best way possible, Foo Fighters along with special guests Rise Against will be conquering stadium stages across Australia as well as treating Tasmania to the tour’s only indoor show at Derwent Entertainment Centre.

The mutual love between Foo Fighters and our fine countries is no secret and the feeling is stronger than ever. The world tour in support of their new album Sonic Highways (out November 10 on Roswell/Sony Music) will see the band play their first show in Hobart since 1998 and their first EVER show in Christchurch.  The band already has a very strong bond with these two cities– Grohl penned the instrumental ‘Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners’ for trapped Tasmanian miners Webb and Russell and in the same year, the band performed a special charity concert in support of the Christchurch earthquake appeal.

In the two decades since the 1995 release of Foo Fighters’ self-titled debut album, Foo Fighters have grown into arguably the last great American arena/stadium rock band, raked in 11 Grammy Awards, sold 25 million records worldwide and spawned countless hits including ‘Everlong’, ‘Monkey Wrench’, ‘My Hero’, ‘Learn To Fly’, ‘All My Life’, ‘Best Of You’, ‘The Pretender’, ‘Walk’ and more.

Produced by Butch Vig and Foo Fighters, Sonic Highways–the band’s eighth studio album and long awaited follow up to 2011’s quadruple-Grammy-winning, international #1 Wasting Light–will be released globally on Monday, November 10.

Sonic Highways shares its title with the Dave Grohl-directed eight-episode docuseries (currently screening on the GO! Channel across Australia and The Edge TV in NZ) that digs deep into the heart and soul of America’s musical identity. Each one-hour episode is devoted to a different American musical landmark, chronicling the history, cultural environment and people that define each city’s unique musical identity.

The Foo Fighters Sonic Highways Tour of Australia and New Zealand will see the band bringing many of their mammoth stadium anthems as well as soon to be classics from Sonic Highways such as lead single ‘Something From Nothing’.

Fellow rock trailblazers Rise Against will be sharing the bill with Foo Fighters at all shows. For over a decade the Chicago locals have brought a relentless thunder to the rock scene and received a bounty of acclaim and awards in the process for tracks like ‘Savior’ and ‘Prayer Of The Refugee’.

Their seventh album The Black Market (out through Universal Music) was released earlier this year and saw the band score their second #1 on the Billboard Top Rock Albums chart. Audiences will be treated to the newest additions to Rise Against’s extensive discography like ‘I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore’ and latest single ‘Tragedy + Time’.

Adding a local flavour to the line-up, Melbourne genre-benders The Delta Riggs will be joining the tour at all Australian shows (excluding Hobart). Their second album Dipz Zebazios (out now through Inertia Music) is the feature album on triple j this week and is filled with the high-energy jams and intoxicating anthems that the four-piece have become known and loved for.

The Foos have a penchant for selling out shows in seconds flat and based on the level of anticipation for this tour announcement from fans, tickets will not be around for long!

Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear are in their finest form yet and on the Sonic Highways tour, the band and their fans the world over will make every night an unforgettable celebration of 20 years of Foo Fighters.

Foo Fighters Sonic Highways World Tour
Tuesday 24 February  Brisbane | Suncorp Stadium  (All Ages)
Thursday 26 February Sydney | ANZ Stadium  (All Ages)
Saturday 28 February  Melbourne | Etihad Stadium  (All Ages)
Monday 2 March  Hobart | Derwent Entertainment Centre  (All Ages)
Wednesday 4 March  Adelaide | Coopers Stadium  (All Ages)
Saturday 7 March  Perth | nib Stadium  (All Ages)
www.foofighters.com

The Sydney Opera House Forecourt show will be a highlight of the inaugural week-long ‘On the Steps’ series of outdoor concerts, presented by the Opera House and Live Nation as part of the 2014-15 Summer at the House line-up.

Currently on an extensive world tour, Angus & Julia Stone recently finished a sold out North American tour playing to capacity houses in New York, LA, Washington, Boston and San Francisco. This month they embark on a massive six-week 30-date headline tour of the UK and Europe, which like the US and Australia, has seen many shows selling out in advance.

Joining Angus & Julia Stone on the road for these very special summer evenings will be Cloud Control and Jarryd James on the full run of national tour dates, plus Little May for the shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.

Armed with their four-part dreamy harmonies, the internationally recognised and locally adored Blue Mountains turned London-based Cloud Control will be the main support on all shows, performing songs from their two critically acclaimed albums, ‘Bliss Release’ and ‘Dream Cave’.

Capping off a breakthrough 2014 with the release of their debut self-titled EP and an extensive run of shows around the country, Sydney trio Little May bring their sweet and soulful harmonies to the stage for selected shows across the country.

And finally, opening will be the gifted singer-songwriter Jarryd James, who will be sure to captivate with his beautifully rich and soulful R&B sounds.

Captivating the world with their award-winning, triple-platinum, ARIA #1 album ‘Down The Way’ – led by the gentle anthem and triple j hottest 100 #1 song ‘Big Jet Plane’ – their latest album, produced by the legendary Rick Rubin, is quite simply the best record the siblings have ever made. Receiving much critical acclaim around the country and indeed around the world, the certified gold album debuted on the ARIA chart at #1, as well as hitting the top 4 in numerous European countries including the top spot in both France and Switzerland.

To coincide with the tour Angus & Julia Stone are releasing ‘Grizzly Bear’, the follow on from ‘Heart Beats Slow’ and ‘A Heartbreak’, and the third single to be lifted from the album.

Angus & Julia Stone Summer Tour
04 February 2015 – Kings Park, Perth
06-07 February 2015 – Darwin Entertainment Centre Playhouse, Darwin
10 February 2015 – Cairns Convention Centre, Cairns
11 February 2015 – Townsville Entertainment Centre, Townsville
13 February 2015 – Riverstage Brisbane, Brisbane
20 February 2015 – Sydney Opera House Forecourt, Sydney
24 February 2015 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide
26 February 2015 – Geelong Performing Arts Centre – Costa Hall, Geelong
27 February 2015 – Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne
28 February 2015 – Odeon Theatre, Hobart
www.angusandjuliastone.com

Now marking forty years from its initial release on July 7 in 1974 comes an expanded version of Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis with both extra tracks and a complete second version of the show from a test run through that was recorded. Drop into any Elvis live recording from this period and you get a real mixed bag. First it must be stated that Elvis always surrounded himself with kick ass musicians and this period was no exception with a powerhouse band that included guitar legend James Burton. Now in regards to how much swivel hips actually let the band burn it down, he keep them on a pretty short leash.

Elvis shows were always populist endeavours and for every moment of greatness there were equal moments of real cheese, like the stop and start nature of Fever, designed just to let the ladies in the front row get their scream on. Elsewhere there are charts written for horns and background vocals that are not exactly pushing the boundaries but they start to make sense when you get into the showman mindset. As an exercise in nostalgia they were representative of the times.

Listened to all this with today’s sensibilities requires you to look a little more closely. For under the surface lies a singer who still had his vocal chops and while his song selection was often times suss, he imbued the material with a unique delivery all his own and cooking beneath him was a band that knew how to groove and get away with some real musician moments while not freaking the boss out. For those with even a passing interest in giving Elvis and his live music a go, start with Elvis: The ’68 Comeback Special and then spin this release. After that you can drop in just about anywhere to complete the picture.

Rob Hudson
www.elvis.com

Williams is an incredibly busy individual and with all his forays into both music production and fashion, it has taken him over seven years to release solo album number two, Girl. All his recognizable flourishes are intact and there are hooks everywhere (of both music composition and sound effects nature). The most obvious starting point is the Oscar nominated song Happy.

Happy pulls out all the stops with a great handclap hook and background harmonies that help the song float right out of your speakers. Speakers that are now turned up so loud everyone into the neighbourhood gets a taste, wanted or not. The production on this song as well as the remaining nine songs is so sonically well placed, you can literally not find a point where it sounds too loud. Trust me I tried.

Longevity for music like this comes from not just a sonic sheen but also from a lyrical depth and for a man so surrounded by members of the female persuasion, he remains both interested in and respectful of the fairer sex. He name checks some great women in history and never lets his libido descend in cliché rap histrionics. It’s a strong work from a real talent and funky to boot.

Rob Hudson
www.pharrellwilliams.com

Your acceptance of this new third party is mostly predicated on your expectations. Burton’s previous partners have been a diverse lot and there is a major variance between, say the introspective downer rock of the late great Mark Linkous (AKA Sparklehorse) on Dark Night of the Soul and the sublime cinematic feel of his work with Italian composer Daniele Luppi on Rome (an album that refuses to go away from my current play list). The only parallel of these two works being the featuring of a number of high-powered guest vocalists.

After The Disco departs with some elements of Burton’s past with James Mercer being featured as the prominent lead vocalists. There is also a lushness at play here provided by the backing of the seventeen-piece Angel City String Orchestra that is augmented by a four-piece choir. This at times threatens to drown some of the songs is a syrupy goodness until you realize that this is the feel that they were after.

There are individual moments that stand out (the most prominent one being the ode to the Bee Gee; Holding On For Life) but this is a work better taken as a whole. Its assertiveness is in its ability to buttress memorable moments as opposed to creating them.

Rob Hudson
www.brokenbells.com