Boy & Bear has announced their highly anticipated debut album Moonfire will be released on Friday 5th August through Island Records Australia.

“We were in the tour bus last year and Jake (bassist) went into a chemist and bought a $2 DVD for the journey. It was called Moonfire. It was about these truckers taking on a Nazi in Mexico. Though I swear the Nazi never turned up in the film and to have a swastika on the DVD cover seems a little extreme for its un-related subplot, and by no means are we endorsing swastika’s or truckers fighting in Mexico or whaling. Oh yeah and so what was the point of that story???… Well we finally decided to name our debut album coming out this August Moonfire” said Boy & Bear via Facebook and Twitter this week.

Recorded in Nashville with producer Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, White Stripes, The Shins), Moonfire is an evolution from their acclaimed debut EP, With Emperor Antarctica.

First single ‘Feeding Line’ has already claimed the #1 most played position on triple j.  Filmed in the USA, the breathtaking new video takes a scenic journey from Nashville to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.  Watch the video here

Boy & Bear have just hung up their worn boots after their sell-out autumn national tour which included three shows at Corner Hotel in Melbourne and two shows at Sydney’s Metro. Next stop, a return performance at this year’s Splendour In The Grass festival.

BOY & BEAR
New single – FEEDING LINE – available digitally now.
Debut album – MOONFIRE – out Friday 5th August

The Refugee Art Project presents fear+hope, a group exhibition by asylum seekers who live within Australian detention centres. Our friends at Design Federation caught up with Safdar Ahmed & Anton Pulvirenti to ask them about this exhibition that kicks off at the Mori Gallery in Sydney on Monday, 20th June 2011. Here is a snippet of what they had to say!

How did the Refugee Art Project begin?

Safdar: Anton and I both come from a fine arts background. We met and became friends at art school, in the year after I had finished high school, and have always shared a passion for talking and thinking about art. Last year I was speaking to a friend (the co-founder of this project, Dr Omid Tofighian) about refugee issues and it then occurred to us that an art exhibition might be a great vehicle for understanding the position of refugees in Australia. We started to visit the Villawood detention centre for art classes shortly thereafter, and Anton soon joined us to assume a teaching role.

Anton: My involvement began with an invitation from Safdar to join the project. As a long time friend, he was well acquainted with my art practice. He was also aware of the thesis I am completing at The Sydney College of the Arts on my grandfather’s internment at Loveday camp during the Second World War in South Australia. He thought that going inside Villawood would help me shed light on my grandfather’s experience in Loveday of which little is known.

How did you meet artists inside the Villawood detention centre and who are they?

Anton: Safdar had already met some artists. I knew no-one on my first visit. I sat simply sat down, commenced a portrait, and soon made new friends! The artists are predominantly from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran and Iraq. They have all escaped some form of religious or political persecution.

Read the rest of the interview here.

What: The Refugee Art Project – Fear & Hope
Where: The Mori Gallery
168 Day Street, Sydney (5 mins from Town Hall)
When: 22 June – 8 July 2011
Open Tuesday, Thursday – Sunday, 11am – 5pm
Late night Wednesday, 11am  – 8pm
Cost: Free

икониThe British Council is calling for Australia’s most creative local talents to enter to win one of five awards to grow their skills in the UK.

Realise Your Dream has no age restriction. Candidates in creative careers such as visual arts, fashion, design, advertising, architecture, music, animation, digital media, performing arts, publishing and computer games are encouraged to apply.

To find out more, applicants should head online to www.realiseyourdream.org.au. Entries close 4 July 2011.

WIM have emerged on the scene out of relative obscurity. There have been whispers about them for years following their wondrous live shows; and now their haunting tunes will bring them into the limelight.

WIM’s debut, self-titled record has been a creative meeting of minds, having been produced by local legend Tony Buchen (Andy Bull, Ray Man 3, Kid Confucius) and mixed by industry aristocracy Bob Clearmountain (Springsteen, Roxy Music, INXS) in L.A. The result is an album that encapsulates the best of classic song writing and modern ideas, executed in a phenomenal fashion. The record itself doesn’t ooze of a buzz band way ahead of itself but rather a gradually growing group of musicians doing what they do best.

From the stomping album opener ‘Colossus’ to the poignant first single – ‘See You Hurry’, the band exudes confidence, style and prestige. The album takes many turns, a journey is formed with tracks like ‘America’ and the tribal tinged ‘John’. You not only listen, but feel this music. With every listen, your senses open up and take in what is a densely beautiful album.

WIM don’t create buzz through cheap stunts or Twitter; rather, they excite and amaze with long sets, great tunes and glitter. Check out more right here.