SydneyUnleashed.com

2008 ARIA AWARDS: Australian music's biggest night is almost here! The 2008 ARIA Awards look set to be dominated by some of the country's finest emerging acts in the absence of multiple winners such as Silverchair and Powderfinger. Leading the charge this year is our latest teen pop sensation Gabriela Cilmi who has been nominated for six awards while Sam Sparro is not far behind with five. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, The Veronicas, The Presets, Angus and Julia Stone, and The Living End also look set for a big night with four nominations each. Although most of the attention has been placed upon frontrunners Cilmi and Sparro, this scribe predicts a triumphant night for The Presets who should pick up the night's most prestigious award, Album Of The Year, for their magnificent 'Apocalypso' release. The duo have already picked up two Artisan awards (Producer Of The Year) and Best Video for 'My People' which was directed by Kim Moyes' brother Kris. This year's awards ceremony will be taking place at Acer Arena on Sunday October 19th. Tickets are available now at www.ticketek.com.au or Phone 132 849….P!NK DOWNUNDER: P!nk is this month celebrating the success of her latest single 'So What' which has become her most successful single internationally. It has already topped the charts in Australia, the USA, Canada, and Germany. The singer is expected to perform the track at the upcoming ARIA Awards where she has been confirmed as the special international guest of the night. 'So What' is the first single from her forthcoming album 'Funhouse' which is scheduled for an October 25 release….METAL TOPS THE CHARTS: It has been an exciting month for rock and metal fans after both Slipknot and Metallica scored #1 albums in recent weeks. Slipknot's fourth studio album 'All Hope Is Gone' debuted at the top of the Motorola ARIA Album Chart to snatch their first ever #1 debut in Australia. Proving that metal is still well and truly alive, the album outsold the #2 album by a whopping three to one. Metallica then rewrote the ARIA record books when their highly anticipated 'Death Magnetic' release debuted at #6 after just one day of sales. Unsurprisingly, the album shot straight to #1 the following week after a full week of sales to become their fifth consecutive #1 album and also the fastest selling album in one week since Christmas 2006. This makes it the fastest selling album of 2007 and 2008 to date. The result has done no harm to sales of the band's back catalogue with four of their classic albums including 'Metallica', 'Master Of Puppets', 'And Justice For All', and 'Ride The Lightening' also sitting pretty in the Top 40….KINGS OF LEON TOP THE CHARTS: It has been a similar kind of month for rockers Kings Of Leon. After their highly anticipated fourth album 'Only By The Night' debuted at #4 on the National Motorola ARIA album chart after only one day of sales, it predictably jumped straight to #1 in the next charting week. This has sent sales of their back catalogue through the roof with all of their three previous releases now also sitting in the Top 50. In the meantime, the album's first single 'Sex on Fire' continues to climb the singles chart and was at #6 at time of press….MORE CHART HISTORY: At just 15 years of age, Miley Cyrus has become the youngest ever artist to top the Motorola ARIA Album Chart. Her album 'Breakout' recently achieved this feat making Miley two years younger than Avril Lavigne was in 2002 when she topped the album chart with 'Let Go'. No doubt father Billy Ray Cyrus is proud as punch….USA LOVES BEAUTIFUL GIRLS: Australia's very own The Beautiful Girls can seem to do no wrong over in America. Their most recent single there, 'I Thought About You', was recently played in its entirety on an episode of the cult TV series '90210'. This follows a string of live shows in April, May and June where they headlined a 20 date run of sell out shows as well as supporting Dave Matthews and playing various festivals. They've also had tracks used for a BUD beer advertisement and two songs featured on the recent Ford commercial campaign in North America. Meanwhile, The Beautiful Girls frontman, Mat McHugh, is about to release his debut solo album, 'Seperateista!' Watch out for it later this month…ELBOW WIN MERCURY PRIZE: Elbow's fourth studio album 'The Seldom Kid' has won the Nationwide Mercury Music Prize for Album of the Year for 2008. The band picked up the prestigious award and a cheque for £20,000 to huge applause at a ceremony at London's Grovesnor Park Hotel last month. Chuffed lead singer Guy Garvey said, "I know I'm supposed to be cool and say something coy, but it's literally the best thing that's ever happened to us." The award comes some 18 years after the band was formed. The band dedicated the award to friend and Manchester musician Bryan Glancy who passed away in 2006….FESTIVAL SEASON #1: GOOD VIBRATIONS: We're only three quarters through 2008 but promoters are already preparing for the 2009 festival season. Tickets for Jam Music's Good Vibrations festival have just gone on sale with Sam Sparro confirmed as the first act. The festival played host to 90,000 people earlier this year and looks set for similar success in 2009. Dates are: 14 February (Centennial Park, Sydney), 15 February (Melbourne), 21 February (Parklands Showgrounds, Gold Coast), and 22 February (Heirisson Island, Perth)…..FESTIVAL SEASON #2: BIG DAY OUT: Big Day Out tickets are also about to go on sale. One of the country's longest running and most successful music festivals will be headlined by Neil Young along with Arctic Monkeys, The Living End, The Prodigy, Sneaky Sound System, My Morning Jacket, Bullet For My Valentine and a whole load more. Dates are 18 January (Gold Coast Parklands), 23 January (Sydney Showgrounds), 26 January (Melbourne Flemington Racecourse), 30 January (Adelaide Showground), and 1 February (Perth Claremont Showground). Tickets for the Sydney show go on sale on October 8th, the Gold Coast show on October 9th, and the rest on October 10th. Don't miss out…FESTIVAL SEASON #3: GLOBAL GATHERING: One of the world's largest dance music festivals is coming to Australia. Global Gathering is the biggest dance and live music weekender of the European summer and is heading our way in November. The event will be headlined by pioneers Kraftwerk along with Mark Ronson, Gorillaz Sound System, Sasha, The Orb, Above & Beyond, Fischerspooner, Felix Da Housecat, ATB, DJ Sneak, and many more. Dates are 22 November (Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne), 23 November (The Esplanade, Perth), 29 November (Brisbane Turf Club), and 30 November (Hordern Pavilion, Sydney). Tickets are on sale now….FESTIVAL SEASON #4: STEREOSONIC: Stereosonic08 is set to start the Aussie Summer off with a bang with a bunch of shows around the country. This fresh music festival will showcase the best in electronic dance music including Sneaky Sound System, Carl Cox, Paul Van Dyk, Booka Shade, Infected Mushroom, Midnight Juggernauts, Faker, PNAU, and more. Dates are: 22 November (RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane), 22 November (Enmore Theatre, Sydney), 22 November (The Arthouse, Sydney), 28 November (Home Nightclub, Sydney), 28 November (Manning Bar - Sydney University), 29 November (Royal Melbourne Showgrounds), 29 November (Bonython Park, Adelaide), and 30 November (Claremont Showground, Perth)....