Daft Punk's early album launch

French dance music group Daft Punk at one of their massive gigs. Picture: Publicity Mad Dog Source: Supplied

• Daft move - album live streams online before worldwide launch

DAFT Punk's hugely anticipated new album Random Access Memories was put up to stream on iTunes this morning days before its apparent exclusive Wee Waa launch.

The Australian release date which was set to be at midnight this Friday, the first worldwide, is now out the window as low quality pirated streams of the album hit the web in the past week.

The album can now be listened to in full which has been music to the ears of millions of the robot's fans worldwide, but they'll need to wait until the official release dates to purchase a copy.

Fellow French producer Madeon tweeted: "I feel so full and empty. This album is everything I wanted to hear. It's also so much of what I wanted to make."

Him and many others have been flooding the internet with their thoughts on the album which have traversed the spectrum from positive to negative.

Fans are expected to descend on the NSW town of Wee Waa for the launch of French electronic music duo Daft Punk's lates album but the superstars won't be there. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Billboard's review of 80 out of 100 encapsulated the love/hate relationship with the album describing it as a "messy album, filled with passages that can be trimmed and one or two too many plodding songs. But it's also fantastic to hear these masterminds trying again."

Leading up to today the French pop group have been brewing a hive of panic and hype in the tiny northern NSW town of Wee Waa – despite being some 17,000km away in their native Paris.

NSW police have been forced to issue a stern warning to fans after it was confirmed the French electro-pop duo would not be turning up at Wee Waa for the worldwide launch of their new album this weekend.

The ex parte ‘launch' coincides with the 79th annual Wee Waa show – expected to inflate the sleepy hamlet's 1,600-strong population by as many as 4,000.

Daft Punk's latest album launch is highly anticipated.

It is understood police are fearful of road fatalities as fans embark on huge treks from across the country for the three day celebration.

Mayhem is expected to descend on the rural township and police have established operation Hadrian to ensure the safety of fans and residents around Wee Waa.

The operation headed by Superintendent Jenny Hayes will include police dogs, the riot squad and PolAir.

"We are anticipating that most of the thousands of people heading to Wee Waa for the Daft Punk album launch will be travelling long distances, and we advise them to plan ahead and factor in rest breaks," Ms Hayes said.

"Also take the time to plan your celebrations. Make sure you have booked somewhere to stay, decide how you are getting to and from the launch party, and plan to be responsible.

"Officers will be out in force at the event and local licensed premises and there will be no hesitation in taking action for alcohol-and-drug-related offences.

"If you refuse to leave a licensed venue when asked, you will be fined $550. Know your limits – if you play up, you will be locked up."

The global launch party for Daft Punk's latest album Random Access Memories will take place this Friday night at the Wee Waa show and according to the town's website, the festivities will be manic despite the absence of the French stars.

"This event will see national media and many fans descend on the Wee Waa show to enjoy the spectacle," the website says.

The album launch kicks off at 8.30pm and will include a full ‘playback' of the album. Rumours are circulating that a live hologram of the Euro stars will be beamed onto the stage.

Daft Punk – consisting of French musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter – are a hugely popular international act.

The new album has already enjoyed chart success with lead single ‘Get Lucky', featuring American singer Pharell Williams, climbing to number one in Australia as well as in the UK and Europe.

The duo has been diplomatic when pressed on their non-attendance in Wee Waa, describing the unconventional album launch as "poetic". 

"'It felt for us that this record has a certain aspect of random quality, and the idea of breaking the barriers between cities and the countryside, or between the musical genres or any sort of classification," they told Fairfax Media.

"The idea of launching music in a small town in Australia is by itself part of the fictional narrative that feels like it's a scene of the film."

As for fans wanting to hear the much-anticipated album for the first time, the cat was let out of the bag by Daft Punk themselves – streaming it live on their website early this morning.

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Will.i.am wants Opera House album

Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am says he hopes to record an orchestra album in Sydney. Source: Supplied

• Says he enjoys performing and appearing on TV talent shows
• Will tour #willpower with a new kind of live show
• Wants to record an orchestra album at the Sydney Opera House

AMERICAN hitmaker will.i.am calls it the TV Show Tour, where artists, coaches, judges and mentors get to showcase their wares on the top-rating small screen talent quests.

Back in Australia to spruik his solo album #willpower, the Black Eyed Peas creative controller will perform his chart-topper #thatpower on tomorrow night's first results episode of The Voice.

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"You know what I think is cool? It gives artists a new venue. You play the Sydney Opera House, I played the Big Day Out, now I'm touring The Voice. It's a new tour, just touring all the countries' Voices," he said, laughing.

"Check this out, I mentored on (American) Idol last year, I did the coaches' house visit on X Factor, I've done the Voice and I did Idol again last week. I tour TV. I tour the tube."

Will.i.am is a coach on the British franchise of The Voice which is running concurrently with the Australian series. He was originally approached to join our series.

He laughed at the suggestion it might be awkward performing a song in front of the Australian coaches.

"I am going to be looking at Seal like, you know you are the Australian me, right? And I'm the UK you, right? And Usher is the American us, right?" he said.

"Then (Black Eyed Peas member) Apl, my best friend, he's doin the Filipino Voice.

"I'm tellin' Seal, 'I'm coming for your chair next'."

The producer, singer, rapper and brand man said the orchestral themes running through #willpower will inspire his next solo record.

will.i.am is a regular visitor to Australia since 2001 and credited his nightclubbing experiences here while working on Wolverine for inspiring the dance-heavy sound of the Black Eyed Peas record The End.

Now he wants to return with a grander plan.

"I would like to do an orchestra album and record the whole record here at the Sydney Opera House," he said.

"Let's work it all out somewhere, know your repertoire, what you are going to be recording, know all the parts and pieces, do all the rehearsals and then you record it all in one place. And you invite people to come.

"What else is there to do? Everything is in a computer now and don't mind, I like computer beats but I think there is a thirst for the human."

He promises he will tour #willpower - not just on TV shows - but wants to invent a new way of playing live.

And he still has to executive produce the new record from Britney Spears, who guests on his No.1 hit Scream And Shout.

"I want to tour, I want to tour here in Australia, but I want to put in the same effort I did with making the record and come up with something different," he said.

"I don't want it to look like 'Where are the other guys at?"'

Will.i.am performs on The Voice on Tuesday.

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New Kylie album due this year

Kylie Minogue in Sydney last year. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph

KYLIE Minogue fans can expect her first new album since signing with Jay-Z's Roc Nation to drop later this year.

The Australian pop princess is recording primarily in Los Angeles, already completing sessions with Pharrell and Stargate as well as American hitmaker Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins who has a string of smashes by female artists behind him.

Minogue said the new album would be "different". Several times.

"It's bringing out something different in me, which is cool," Minogue told Rolling Stone as she was given the Courage Award at a Women's Cancer Research Fund event in Beverly Hills.

"I need to know what it is to do something different, a different style of delivery, different beats, different subject matter.

"I think that I am a natural chameleon, so that floats my boat . . . I will maintain the DNA of what a Kylie track is, just because I'm on it. I like to try move the goalpost and experiment with different sounds.

"I can't tell you exactly what it is. I couldn't really describe it yet. But I can tell you I'm having a lot of fun in the process."

She said the album would be released this year.

"I'm hoping sooner rather than later. Is that vague enough?" she said.

Minogue also hinted that a tour would follow.

While she didn't perform at the event,. Minogue was due to make a speech about her own experience with breast cancer.

She said she found it more nerve-wracking to speak than perform.

"I don't like to talk too much about my experience because it's super personal, but I do speak about it because it's important and it's not something you can give sound bites on. It's a profound, life-changing experience, and there are so many emotional levels and stories within that story it's hard to wrap up how you feel about it in a few nifty minutes."
 

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Dido puts family before new album

Singer Dido performs songs from her new album Girl Who Got Away in London. Picture: AP/RCA Source: AP

DIDO had been planning a relatively quick return to the spotlight after 2008's Safe Trip Home.

She holed up in Los Angeles and London studios to record a set of electronic-tinged songs.

"I was busy telling everyone there was an album on the way," Dido said. "And then I found out there was a baby on the way instead."

She and husband Rohan Gavin welcomed their first child, a son named Stanley, in July 2011. Dido packed up the recordings to focus on family.

But then late last year, the 41-year-old British singer reached out to her brother, producer Rollo Armstrong, to finally put the finishing touches on her fourth album, Girl Who Got Away, released Tuesday.

Quick to laugh and full of self-deprecating asides, Dido recently sat down with The Associated Press to discuss her new songs, her son's musical tastes and her tendency to retreat from fame.

AP: The album has some electronica and dubstep influence. What were you feeling and listening to as you edged in that direction?

Dido: All the music you listen to in your life is all in like this big melting pot in your head and you can't help it. All the things you love just come out - whether it's dance music, hip-hop, folk. And I just love so many different types of music. ... It's similar to No Angel in that way in it's sort of unashamedly doing what I want. But the thing that's holding it together is the songs and the same voice.

AP: The album title seems to evoke a desire to escape and be away from the spotlight. Is that right?

Dido: It's a slightly almost joking comment on me, I guess. Everyone else spotted that aspect of the title. ... They're like, 'Well, it's sort of perfect because you do keep disappearing.' And it's like, 'Really? Sorry!' I've never felt a need to sort of keep being in the public eye. I don't have that burning need. I do have a burning need to make music. I can't stop doing that and I don't want to stop doing that. Music is my thing and it's the way I see the world. And I love writing songs and I will always keep doing that.

AP: Your husband wrote and is set to release a book that focuses on a father-son relationship. Has being a mother changed you creatively?

Dido: Obviously when you first have a kid, you're so focused on them and your brain slightly disintegrates. I don't know if anyone else has that, but it's just like, 'Wow, where did my brain go?' Then it sort of comes back. ... Now I really see the world through his eyes and it gives this real freshness to everything. It's like if you thought you were going to run out of things to ever write about, you have a kid, then you're never going to run out because suddenly everything is sort of limitless again and fresh and new and it's like this amazing new start.

AP: Can you see yourself making children's music?

Dido: I doubt it. I sing joke songs to Stanley all the time, but I'm not going to be making an album of them for public consumption. No, probably not. I think I'll stick to what I do best. ... It's quite tempting sometimes when I'm writing joke songs about spinach.

AP: Is Stanley a big critic or does he love everything you do?

Dido: The things he loves, he just goes into a complete trance and he just smiles and just listens. And he's amazing when he loves something. When he doesn't love something, he just waves at it really vigorously like, 'Turn it off!' So it's quite nerve-racking.

AP: Even when you're singing?

Dido: Not when I'm actually singing to him right then and there. But there's certain records that I play where if he doesn't like it, he's waving at it. Partly because all he wants to listen to at the moment is (first single) No Freedom. It's quite strange. Again and again and again.

AP: You became famous in the US at least in part for your collaboration with Eminem on Stan. You named your son Stanley and some people have said that coincidence seems odd.

Dido: Well, Stanley was actually our favourite name, coincidentally both of our favourite names. He could never have been called anything else to be honest, because it was such a coincidence that it was both of our favourite names. ... I'm so stupid; I didn't think anyone would make the connection. ... But it's fine. I was named after a crazy queen who threw herself on a fire. So I mean, you know, it's fine.

AP: Has your son heard the Stan song yet?

Dido: Um. Has he even heard it? I don't know that he's even heard it. No. But I'm sure he'll hear it later.
 

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ABBA's Agnetha back with new album

Swedish super-group ABBA - Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus, after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 . Picture: Bengt H. Malmqvist / Premium Rockshot. Source: AP

After years of living in seclusion, Agnetha Falthskog will release a new album on May 13, her first in nine years. Source: AP

ABBA's reclusive star Agnetha Faltskog has fought off insecurities about her voice to return to the music spotlight with her first album in almost a decade.

The music industry's Greta Garbo agreed to go ahead with her new record, titled simply A, after Swedish hitmaker Jorgen Elofsson reassured her she could still sing.

"Never thought that I'd ever sing again. But hearing the first three songs, I couldn't say no!'' Faltskog said.

Elofsson, who has worked with Britney Spears, Celine Dion and Kelly Clarkson, said he was intrigued to hear what the ABBA legend would sound like if she had never joined the pop super-group.

"We were interested in what she sounded like if she hadn't been in the group. And yet it's important that she comes across as we remember her to be,'' he said.

Faltskog revealed a taste of the album today with the new single When You Really Loved Someone and the album will feature a duet with Take That's Gary Barlow.

She has also had a hand in co-writing several of the album tracks.

"I hadn't written any music for a long, long time. But I sat at the piano, and suddenly it was there,'' she said.

The album is released on May 10 with Faltskog also promoting her return to music in the digital age with a Facebook and Twitter presence.

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Empire of the Sun launch new album

Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore return with Empire of the Sun's long awaited second album Ice On The Dune. Source: Supplied

THE eccentric Australian electronic duo Empire Of The Sun have reunited for their long-awaited second album Ice On The Dune.

Empire of the Sun's 2008 debut record Walking On A Dream was championed by everyone from Jay-Z to Usher and helped to usher in the rise of electronic music worldwide, selling more than one million copies.

Video to song Walking On A Dream

While "Emperor'' Luke Steele and "Lord'' Nick Littlemore conducted much of their post-debut conversations via the media, the pair regrouped 18 months ago with their original collaborators, PNAU's Peter Mayes and Jono Sloan in New York.

The new record will be launched globally today at 9am (AEDT) by a "trailer'' filmed by the production company run by Hollywood heavyweight and new Stars Wars director JJ Abrams.

The American director and fan of the Australian musicians, invited Empire Of The Sun to hang out at his Los Angeles creative hub, resulting in his Bad Robot team creating the Raiders Of The Lost Ark-inspired trailer called Discovery.

"JJ is looking at working with various artists and it was amazing working with those guys to develop the back story and future story of the Empire - it's pretty exciting,'' Steele said.

The LA-based musician who plans to return to Australia to launch the record said he and Littlemore felt enormous pressure to match the success of Walking On A Dream.

"In the end what has driven us is the same as the first record which is music that makes people feel excited and want to get up in the morning,'' Steele said.

"But oh yeah, we felt the pressure. I had never experienced fame before, and I don't think in Australia, people realised how many places this record travelled.''

Littlemore will remain studio-based with Empire Of The Sun with Steele creating the live show to take Ice On The Dune around the world.

He plans to head home to launch the record before its release in June.

Video to song Standing On the Shore

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