Former Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie has assembled an ad-hoc supergroup featuring The Dresden Dolls, former Bad Seeds multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish to perform the Femmes’ classic 1983 self-titled debut album at the MONA FOMA Festival in Tasmania on Friday.
This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes posts about Midnight Oil, The Cure, Wire, Gary Numan, The Church and New Order, plus our December mixtape and the second installment of our Rhino ‘Just Can’t Get Enough — The ’80s’ Spotify playlist.
Midnight Oil will be the subject of a career-spanning, multi-disc box set next year that guitarist Jim Moginie promises ‘is going to be amazing in its depth and presentation of the band’s career, with rare recordings and so far unseen and unheard film and music.’
For our latest installment of Vintage Video, we bring you a complete mid-’80s concert by Aussie powerhouse Midnight Oil — the landmark ‘Oils on the Water’ concert staged Jan. 13, 1985, on Sydney’s Goat Island as part of Australian radio station Triple J’s 10th anniversary.
With BP’s disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil leak now surpassing the Exxon Valdez as the worst oil spill in U.S. history, it’s only fitting that we mark Sunday’s 20th anniversary of the Midnight Oil ‘guerrilla action’ in front of the Exxon building in New York City.
Ex-Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett’s political career hasn’t been going so great lately, and things went from bad to worse today when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demoted the former rocker over a “bungled home-insulation scheme,” according to Reuters.
Three members of disbanded Aussie rock powerhouse Midnight Oil — drummer Rob Hirst and guitarists Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey — and ex-Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie this week announced the formation of The Break, a mostly instrumental surf-rock combo whose debut is due this spring.
Midnight Oil’s classic 1987 hit “Beds are Burning” — originally about Aboriginal land rights in Australia — is being turned into an all-star, new-millennium anthem […]
Australian Environmental Minister Peter Garrett hung up his suit and tie and returned to more familiar environs —the concert stage — this week to front […]
Aussie rockers Midnight Oil never were known to shy away from important causes, and that’s exactly what it’s taken to get the band back together […]
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Hifi Sean on life after The Soup Dragons and the quest to make the perfect 7-inch 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Echo & The Bunnymen’s Will Sergeant on new instrumental trio Poltergeist 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate reunion, upcoming tour — and new music 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Howard Jones on revisiting ‘Human’s Lib,’ ‘Dream Into Action’ — and future plans 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ the break-up of Bauhaus, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk