Dan Bejar is a musical treasure. So why we wait for a new Destroyer album and enjoy the songs he contributed to this years' New Pornographers album he has something new in the works. Hello, Blue Roses are Bejar and his partner Sydney Vermont. Their first creation together, a self titled disc containing 14 tracks, will be released on January 22, 2008 on Locust Music. I am hoping this duo can pull off some sort of Boeckner/Perry magic a la "Plague Park". Knowing, and loving, the music of Bejar I am sure they can. The first song for release, "Shadow Falls" has a sweet, melodic feeling with sparse instrumentation. So far, I like it.

MP3: Shadow Falls-Hello, Blue Roses

This was brought to my attention which led me to this. Holy Cow, Explosions in The Sky are playing in Perth. When do they announce Sydney dates? It's like an avalanche of music is coming our way in 2008 and EITS are the icing on the cake. This band is very close to my heart, so I can't wait to hear about Sydney dates. Also, whilst at the Factory Theatre on Wednesday night I picked up a Spunk Records flier which had under "Touring-January" the magic word Spoon. These Texans that make unparalled music have been rumoured for a while to be coming down under, so lets keep our fingers crossed that this is true. 2008 is shaping up to be phenomenal in live music.

This just keeps better. Golden Plains announced the lineup today for their festival to take place in Victoria, March 8-10. The lineup is extremely eclectic with a number of interesting names. But two stood out. Beirut and Iron & Wine. BEIRUT!!!!!!!!! More excitement, this maybe too much for your poor correspondent to handle. Now we just have to keep an eye out for Sydney sideshows.

Blog Fresh Radio is a great site to hear new music and listen to the voices of many Bloggers that you may be reading. I am fortunate enough to make an appearance on the latest episode where I talk about The Panics. Anyway the site is definitely worth checking out.