Phoenix continue to rise

Phoenix, from left, Deck D'arcy, Laurent Brancowitz, Christian Mazzalai and Thomas Mars. Picture: AP Source: AP

PHOENIX frontman and singer Thomas Mars says their new album Bankrupt! was born out of the negative influences going on in the band after the unprecedented success of their Grammy-winning 2009 album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

"At that time, we started talking about success and not music," Mars said. "I guess it was time to protect ourselves and focus on music again."

The band said it took some time to get on track when they began writing songs for the new album, which comes four years after Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was named a Top 10 album on end-of-the-year lists for Rolling Stone, Time and Spin magazines, among others. The album also reached gold status in the US, a first for the band.

"I guess we're perfectionists in the way that when we make an album, we know it's going to last. It's important that it's exactly how we want it to be," Mars said. "But when the record is done, it's all about imperfection. It's all about playing live."

Ironing out things worked for the French-based band: Bankrupt! - Phoenix's fifth album - debuted at No 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart this month. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix peaked at No.37.

Part of the anticipation behind the critical darlings in America can be attributed to the ubiquity of their song 1901, which appeared on their last album and was used in a Cadillac commercial. The platinum-selling track, a Top 5 jam on the rock and alternative songs charts, is the group's biggest hit in the US.

"Back when we did this Cadillac commercial, we were unknown here. The idea of doing something for such an iconic (car) was really funny to do," bassist Deck d'Arcy recalled (brothers Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz round out the foursome).

Phoenix is on a world tour that wraps November 22 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Mars said not having a hit before 1901 took off proved to be an advantage for the band on the road.

"We're lucky that we didn't have a hit single for a while, so when we play live, people are not expecting just one song and we don't tour as a greatest hits band, which can be sad I'm sure," said Mars, who is married to Sofia Coppola. "It's always the new album, and some from the last one, and less and less from the older ones."

D'Arcy feels the band attained gradual success over their 14-year career, but said they weren't prepared for the overwhelming reception they received in America.

"The US was a surprise. ... We never expected the big bang," d'Arcy said. "The rest of the world we kind of experienced success on a smaller scale."

While both d'Arcy and Mars agree the band doesn't need to do another TV commercial to promote their music, they don't believe that commerciality devalues their sound. That may be a result of the way things work where they grew up.

"There's a weird law in France where they could use pretty much anything, any song on anything as long as it's less than 40 seconds - so we grew up with this," Mars said. "We grew up discovering (Prince's) Little Red Corvette on a weird Cheerios commercial, and I didn't mind it. I thought it was awkward, but I liked the song."

The members of Phoenix, who have been friends since attending school together, hail from Versailles, the posh section outside of Paris. Oddly enough, they're not very known in their homeland.

"We have a more underground success in France, which we feel keeps it cool. We are considered French, but not French because people don't think we are," d'Arcy said, smiling. "It's a funny one in France."

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Ladies of the night unite against Missy

The Concert for the Kimberley at Fremantle Esplanade, featuring Missy Higgins and John Butler. The concert is a protest against the James Price Point gas hub. Picture: Jordan Shields. Source: PerthNow

Missy Higgins. Source: Supplied

MISSY Higgins is locked in a bitter Twitter war with sex workers - because she used outdated language to describe a dream.

The popular Australian singer-songwriter (pictured) posted on Twitter: "I dreamt I fell in love with a prostitute. She was young & I wanted to save her. Related to my thoughts about The Voice perhaps?"

But her seemingly innocent comment angered some in the sex industry.

A Twitter user with the handle WhoresEyeView snapped: "We don't need you to save us. Don't be so condescending. We are real people not extensions of ur ideals. Learn." Missy replied: "It was a dream dude, chill out."

That sparked furious feedback.

One tweeted: "Cram the chill pill. If you bothered to learn the issues you'd understand why we can't chill."

Another fired: "If you had any idea how we hookers get treated you'd understand why I'm defensive. Grow some empathy."

After learning the term "prostitute" was offensive, Higgins later said: "I meant absolutely no disrespect by dreaming what I did. For the record, I do not, in reality, want to save any sex workers.

"I had no idea 'prostitute' is an offensive term, 'sex worker' being the preferred term by those in the field.

"Apologies to those I offended."

The sex workers were obviously big fans of The Voice.

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Teen 'saves' suicidal Tumblr user

Quick acting and smart thinking has helped save the life of a Tumblr user who posted her plan to commit suicide. Source: Supplied

THE initiative of a teenager and some clever sleuthing saved the life of a Tumblr user who had posted online about her plan to commit suicide.

Jackie Rosas, 18, had followed the teenage girl's blog for about a year and had witnessed some of the bulling towards her by online trolls.

On May 6 she posted, "I'm going to kill myself. There is no other option."

Ms Rosas, who lives in Cathedral City, California, told USA Today that she knew she had to do something to help.

"She had been fighting this depression, and when she posted that, my instinct was that she was serious," Ms Rosas said.

She called a suicide hotline but without the girl's last name they couldn't do much to help so Ms Rosas called the police at 5pm.

Officer Heather Olsen was also at a loss to help but she contacted Cathedral City High assistant principal Karen Dimick to see if she recognised the girl's picture. She didn't. But she did find the same picture on a Twitter account and discovered the girl's last name.

Ms Olsen and Ms Dimick trawled her Twitter feed for hints. The girl had mentioned how much she liked the 'UHS marching band' and after following some further links the women discovered she was talking about Union Township, New Jersey.

It was 1:30am by the time Union Township police got the call and sent officers to the teenager's home.

The girl had swallowed a bunch of pills and was placed under psychiatric care.

Ms Rosas said she was happy that she did not ignore this girl's cry for help.

"I kind of cried," Ms Rosas said. "I was happy to know that I saved someone's life. It happened at random and it's an amazing feeling knowing you are able to help someone from thousands of miles away."

For help with emotional difficulties, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au

For help with depression, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or at www.beyondblue.org.au

The SANE Helpline is 1800 18 SANE (7263) or at www.sane.org 

 

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Saldana defends Nina Simone role

Zoe Saldana plays pianist, singer and activist Nina Simone in the forthcoming biopic, Nina. Source: AP

ZOE Saldana has played an alien and a future space traveller - but taking on the role of an icon proved even harder.

The 34-year-old star of Avatar and Star Trek plays pianist, singer and activist Nina Simone in the forthcoming biopic Nina.

Her casting drew criticism from some, who argued that Saldana bears little resemblance to the singer, who died in 2003 aged 70.

Musician India Arie said "they should have chosen someone who looks like Nina Simone," and an online petition for a boycott of the film attracted more than 10,000 signatures.

But Saldana said she feels strongly that she's right to play Simone, an immense, irascible talent who made an indelible mark on both music and the civil rights movement with songs including To Be Young, Gifted and Black and Mississippi Goddam.

"The Nina Simone story needed to be told, and I'm really blessed that I did it," said Saldana, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent.

"I'm human. I wish I was made of steel and so certain things wouldn't affect me," Saldana said at a recent London event to promote Star Trek Into Darkness, in which she plays multilingual communications officer Lt. Uhura.

Nina Simone in an undated photo with Liberace.

"So it did affect me but I couldn't let that deter me from doing what I needed to do.

"Just like everybody else I feel very strongly about Nina Simone, and that (this) was a story that needed to be told.

"I do believe that if everybody had more information about how this all came to be, it might help," she added. "But then again, I'm not here to get the acceptance of people. I'm here to be an artist first."

Star Trek Into Darkness, the second film in J.J. Abrams' rebooted series, sees Uhura play a bigger role in the action, to Saldana's delight. She even got to do a scene in Klingon.

"They flew in this linguist from San Francisco who gives courses. You go away for the weekend and you just speak Klingon," she said. "It ended up being much easier than I thought."

Like the entire Enterprise crew, Saldana has mixed feelings about Abrams' imminent departure for the Star Wars universe. He is due to revive the series with a new film in 2015, so it looks unlikely he'll be at the helm of a third Star Trek voyage.

Saldana hopes he'll remain as a producer, with another member of the existing team - possibly one of the writers - stepping in to direct.

She said she wouldn't want to see a new director come in and lose the essence of Abrams' reboot of the series.

"There's been a tone set" with Abrams" movies, she said - "So much so that it's made a fan out of me."

Aha! So is Saldana, like Abrams, a Star Wars fan in the Star Trek camp?

Neither, it turns out.

"I'm more of a 'Dune' kind of person," she said.

Star Trek Into Darkness opens on Thursday in the United States.

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Clues point to legendary lost city

This mysterious mound exposed by LiDAR penetrating image technology may be a sign of ancient civilization in the Honduras rainforest. Picture: UTL Scientific, LLC Source: Supplied

ARCHAEOLOGISTS are poring over advanced LiDAR images of the Honduran rainforest, pondering if the results reveal an ancient lost city.

The legendary "White City" of Ciudad Blanca was one of the "cities of gold" conquistador Hernando Cortes led an expedition to find in the 1500s.

Archaeologists and filmmakers Bill Beneson and Steven Elkins began their search for the legendary lost city in Honduras' Mosquitia region last year.

Unlike Cortes' who had little more than eyes, rumours and machetes, the new team is using LiDAR imaging technology that uses lasers to penetrate the forest canopy to analyse the terrain beneath.

A light plane has been flying low over 120sq/km of likely forest, firing billions of laser pulses at the ground to create a 3D digital map.

New images reveal unusual features that could be ancient ruins. The features exposed could be buildings, canals, roads and terraced farm land.

The University of Houston archaeologists are expected to discuss their findings at the American Geophysical Union Meeting of the Americas, in Cancun, later today.

A lost 'city of gold' may have been discovered under the Honduran rainforest.

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Star Trek movie beamed up to astronauts

Spock and Kirk in Star Trek Into Darkness. Source: Supplied

THE crew of the International Space Station is boldly going where no one has gone before - to see the new Star Trek film.

The three astronauts were offered a sneak peak of Star Trek Into Darkness days before it opens on Thursday on Earth, seeing it not in 3-D, but Zero-G.

NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said the movie was beamed up to the outpost on Monday and the two Russians and American on board had a day off on Tuesday. That gave them a chance to view it on their laptops. It's unclear if they watched it.

US astronaut Chris Cassidy is taking part on Thursday in a Google+ hangout that's bringing together two Earth-bound astronauts, film stars Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho, and its director and screenwriter.

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Guy joins Swift on Aussie tour leg

Guy Sebastian pictured at his recording studios. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Source: News Limited

Taylor Swift has wowed fans in the US with her Red tour, playing to sold-out stadiums across the country. The mega-selling artist is heading to Australia in December. Source: Getty Images

GUY Sebastian will open for Taylor Swift on her stadium tour of Australia.

"I'm stoked to play with someone who is so popular and is going to fill massive stadiums because she has such a loyal fanbase," Sebastian said.

"It's going to be a whole new demographic for me. Taylor's fans really love her and it'll be nice to perform for them. She's a huge force to be reckoned with, people have to remember she's an amazing songwriter as well as a performer."

Sebastian will join Swift at Sydney's Allianz Stadium on December 4, Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium December 7, Perth's NIB Stadium December 11 and Melbourne's Etihad Stadium on December 14. An opening act to play before Sebastian is also set to be announced.

Swift's pre-sales have been incredibly strong this week, with the general tickets going on sale next Tuesday.

Sebastian is about to head to the US to continue to promote his Australian No.1 Battle Scars, a duet with US rapper Lupe Fiasco.

The song has been getting major radio play in LA and is hovering around the bottom of the Billboard Top 100, peaking at No.71 so far.

"Last month it had its biggest week of sales yet and it's still getting smashed on radio over there," Sebastian said.

"Songs last forever in America. Here you promote a song and move onto the next one. We've been working Battle Scars for months and months in the US. The record label said June will be its marketing and radio peak and that seems to be the case. Hopefully the song will open some doors for me over there and I can release my album in America."

Taylor Swift's biggest hits below.

 

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