Their box set may be on hold, but Australian rockers Midnight Oil do have a new release up their sleeves: In November, the band will issue a new 2CD, 36-track best-of titled ‘Essential Oils,’ a truly career-spanning overview of the band’s catalog, sampling cuts from 1978’s self-titled debut through 2002 swan song ‘Capricornia.’
Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items about Midnight Oil, The Stone Roses, John Lydon, This Mortal Coil, The Specials, Pet Shop Boys, World Party, Mission of Burma, The Smiths and more — plus the latest Auto Reverse mixtape.
Plans for a career-spanning box set from Australian rockers Midnight Oil — which guitarist Jim Moginie last year promised ‘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’ — apparently are ‘back on hold’ as the band re-evaluates the release.
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.
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: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 