GOTYE CLIMBS TO #1 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100

This week Australia's own Gotye climbs to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with his smash hit "Somebody That I Used To Know," feat New Zealand singer-songwriter Kimbra.

Gotye breaks the twelve-year drought for an Australian act to appear at the summit in the US, with duo Savage Garden the last act to reach number one with their 2000 hit "I Knew I Loved You."

Taken from Billboard's press release:

"With the "Glee" cast having performed its version of the song on the Fox series' April 10 episode and Gotye and Kimbra having sung "Somebody" on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" on April 14, the track sold 542,000 downloads in the April 9-15 tracking period, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The sum is the fourth-best since SoundScan began tracking digital sales in 2003.


While aided by TV exposure, Gotye's "Somebody" nets the highest weekly digital sales total for a song not powered by debut week sales ("Right Round") or Christmas week consumer behavior ("TiK ToK," "Grenade"). (The "Glee" cast cover of "Somebody," meanwhile, sold 152,000 downloads and debuts on the Digital Songs chart at No. 10 and the Hot 100 at No. 26.)


In addition to its chart-topping rank on the Hot 100 (with the chart's top Digital Gainer award) and Digital Songs, "Somebody" leaps 12-8 on Radio Songs with 72 million all-format audience impressions (up 19%), according to Nielsen BDS. The track additionally takes over atop the On-Demand Songs chart with 1.28 million on-demand streams (up 23%), according to BDS, while its overall streaming increases by 21%.

Well done Gotye!

GOTYE TAKES THE WORLD BY STORM WITH "SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW"

Australia's own Wally De Backer, aka Gotye, is taking the world by storm with his ARIA winning, 8x platinum accredited, "Somebody That I Used To Know" featuring Kimbra.

The track, which was the highest selling single by an Australian artist in 2011, has gained more traction on this week's Billboard charts jumping up a further place to #26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, last week in the UK the track ascended from number eight to the coveted top spot - making the UK the tenth country worldwide to do honour Triple J Hottest 100 2012 winner..

Meeting with MTV, Gotye talks about the outstanding pop track"Somebody That I Used to Know, like a lot of the record, was a bit of a struggle to finish. It was written fairly quickly — I wrote it in November 2010 — but it took six months to find Kimbra and really realize she was the right vocalist to make the female part come to life. There were constant hurdles."

Not to be complete with just having a hit single on his hands, "Making Mirrors", the album in which "Somebody That..." is taken from, has already reached the top twnety on the Billboard 200.

"Making Mirrors" is available today [iTunes]

25TH 2011 ARIA AWARDS - THE WINNERS

Last night Australia was presented with the 25th ARIA Awards ceremony - and what a night of celebration it was. Favourites Boy & Bear and Gotye cleaned up, as predicted, collecting five and three awards each respectively.

Australian superstar Kylie Minogue was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame, by old friend and music guru Molly Meldrum and Prime Minister Julia Gillard. "I'm a very proud Australian. Tonight's award means so much to me," Minogue told a star-studded crowd.
Minogue delivered an exceptional speech; which included thanking her family, her fans and those in the industry.

Other awards on the night went to Cut Copy for their Zonoscope album (for Best Dance Release); Guy Sebastain claimed the Highest Selling Single for Who's That Girl (feat. Eve) and US singer/songwriter P!nk reigned with the Most Popular International Artist.

The coveted Best Male Artist and Best Female Artist awards went to Gotye and Kimbra; with Single of teh Year and Album of the Year going to Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know and Boy & Bear's Moonfire respectively.

Check out other notable list of winners below. For a full list, visit the official site.

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST : SINGLE
Boy & Bear - Feeding Line

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST : ALBUM
Boy & Bear – Moonfire

BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE
Art vs Science – The Experiment

BEST URBAN ALBUM
Drapht - The Life Of Riley

BEST DANCE RELEASE
Cut Copy – Zonoscope

HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE
Guy Sebastian - Who's That Girl (feat. Eve)

HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM
Altiyan Childs - Altiyan Childs

BEST POP RELEASE
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

MOST POPULAR AUSTRALIAN ARTIST
Birds Of Tokyo

MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL ARTIST
P!nk

BEST GROUP
Boy & Bear – Moonfire

BEST MALE ARTIST
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Kimbra - Cameo Lover

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Boy & Bear – Moonfire

GOTYE TO RELEASE "I FEEL BETTER" AS THIRD SINGLE FROM "MAKING MIRRORS"

Following on the five-times platinum selling single Somebody That I Used To Know, Melbourne-based Belgian-born singer Gotye is set to release I Feel Better as the third single from his Making Mirrors album.

Somebody That I Used To Know is the highest selling single by an Australian artist in over 8 years. One of the last singles to achieve a status this close was Guy Sebastian's #1 single on the back of his Australian Idol triumph, Angels Brought Me Here.

Gotye has also been nominated for an outstanding seven nominations at this years ARIA Awards, alongside Sydney group Boy & Bear and hip-hop artist Drapht. See the full list of nominees here.

I Feel Better has been released to commercial radio this week, and Making Mirrors is available digitally today [iTunes]

ARIA ANNOUNCE NOMINATIONS FOR 2011 ARIA AWARDS

Earlier this week the nominees were announced for the 2011 ARIA Awards, the the awards event celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year. Leading the nominees are Gotye, Boy & Bear and Drapht, all with seven nominations.

The awards will be held Sunday 27 November at the AllPhones Arena, Sydney. Stay tuned on who is scheduled to play at the big event.

I've listed the categories worth noting below, however you can check out a full list of the nominations via the official site.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Birds of Tokyo - Wild at Heart
Boy & Bear - Feeding Line
Drapht- Rapunzel
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
The Jezabels - Dark Storm
Guy Sebastian - Who's That Girl (feat. Eve)

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Eskimo Joe - Ghosts Of The Past
Grinderman – 2
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - Rrakala

HIGHEST SELLING SINGLE
Birds of Tokyo – Plans
Havana Brown - We Run The Night
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
Jessica Mauboy - Saturday Night (feat. Ludacris)
Guy Sebastian - Who's That Girl (feat. Eve)

HIGHEST SELLING ALBUM
Altiyan Childs - Altiyan Childs
Birds Of Tokyo - Birds Of Tokyo
Angus & Julia Stone - Down The Way
Keith Urban - Get Closer
Various - He Will Have His Way - The Songs Of Tim & Neil Finn

BEST FEMALE ARTIST
Adalita – Adalita
Clare Bowditch - Are You Ready Yet?
Kasey Chambers - Little Bird
Kimbra - Cameo Lover
Washington - Holy Moses

BEST MALE ARTIST
Drapht - The Life Of Riley
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
Gareth Liddiard - Strange Tourist
Josh Pyke - No One Wants A Lover
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - Rrakala

BEST GROUP
Birds of Tokyo - Wild At Heart
Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Eskimo Joe - Ghosts Of The Past
Grinderman – 2
The Living End - The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST : SINGLE
Zoe Badwi - Freefallin'
Boy & Bear - Feeding Line
Havana Brown - We Run The Night
Drapht – Rapunzel
The Jezabels - Dark Storm

BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST : ALBUM
Boy & Bear – Moonfire
Drapht - The Life Of Riley
Gypsy & The Cat – Gilgamesh
The Middle East - I Want That You Are Always Happy
Oh Mercy - Great Barrier Grief

BEST POP RELEASE
Architecture in Helsinki - Moment Bends
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
Gypsy & The Cat – Gilgamesh
Guy Sebastian - Who's That Girl (feat. Eve)
Washington - Holy Moses

BEST DANCE RELEASE
Bag Raiders - Bag Raiders
Cut Copy – Zonoscope
Miami Horror – Illumination
Pnau - Soft Universe
The Potbelleez - From The Music

BEST URBAN ALBUM
Drapht - The Life Of Riley
Illy - The Chase
Koolism - The „Umu
Phrase – Babylon
Vents - Marked For Death

KIMBRA DROPS "VOWS" ALBUM COVER AND TRACKLIST

New Zealand singer/songwriter Kimbra has dropped the album cover and track listing for her much-anticipated debut album Vows. The album includes the singles Cameo Lover and Good Intent.

The full track list features below:

1. Settle Down
2. Cameo Lover
3. Two Way Street
4. Old Flame
5. Good Intent
6. Plain Gold Ring
7. Call Me
8. Limbo
9. Wandering Limbs
10. Withdraw
11. The Build Up
12. Somebody Please

In other Kimbra news, her outstanding collaboration with Australian singer Gotye aka Somebody That I Used To Know, has this week landed in the coveted #1 position on the ARIA Singles Chart, giving both artists their first taste of the top spot ever. Congratulations to both!

Watch the video for Somebody That I Used To Know here.

KIMBRA ANNOUNCES "VOWS" ALBUM RELEASE, COINCIDING TOUR DATES

The very talented Kimbra, who currently features on Gotye's outstanding new release Somebody That I Used To Know (currently ARIA top ten and potential #1 smash), has announced the release for her debut album, Vows.

The album is due to hit the shelves on 2 September and will coincide with an Australian national tour that kick starts on 9 September in Melbourne. Tickets go sale this coming Friday, with more information via Kimbra's official site [ONLINE]

Watch Kimbra's Cameo Lover video below, available digitally today [ITUNES]

[THOM'S TOP TRACKS] July 2011

Woof! What a month. A month of horrible rain, freezingly low temperatues and minimal time out in the sun (except for the time below, aaaahhhhhh). Thank Holy Puppies there was loads of great new music to listen to! Check out my picks for July.

JULY

Gotye feat. Kimbra

Somebody That You Used To Know

[VIDEO]

Will Young

Jealousy

[VIDEO]

Jessica Mauboy

Inescapable

[VIDEO]

Leona Lewis

Collide

[VIDEO]

Kelly Rowland feat. Big Sean

Lay It On Me

[VIDEO]

HOMEBAKE 2011: LINE UP ANNOUNCED

The Homebake 2011 line-up has been released!

Locked in for the event are Ladyhawke, PNAU, Gotye, Cut Copy, Daniel Merriweather, Kimbra and many more. I should mention that this is just the list of artists that I'm excited about!

The big event will be held on Saturday 3 December at The Domain, in Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.

Full the full line-up, including ticket information visit the official Homebake 2011 site. Tickets will be available from 15 August [OFFICIAL SITE]

LISTEN TO NEW GOTYE FEAT. KIMBRA WITH "SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW"

Belgium born Wouter De Backer, or better know as ARIA Award winner Gotye, returns with the second single to be taken from his third studio album, the track Somebody That I Used To Know. The song features New Zealand singer/songwriter Kimbra on vocals.

In his typical style, the track is a musical masterpiece. Gotye's Sting-like vocals dance around Kimbra's unique tones and the percussion party in the background. If this track and the original lead single, Eyes Wide Open [LISTEN], are previews of his forthcoming album - then we're in for a treat.

Gotye's upcoming album, Making Mirrors, will be released 19 August. The full track list is below.

1. Making Mirrors		7. In Your Light
2. Easy Way Out		8. State of the Art
3. Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)		9. Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You
4. Eyes Wide Open		10. Giving Me A Chance
5. Smoke and Mirrors		11. Save Me
6. I Feel Better		12. Bronte

Somebody That I Used To Know is available digitally today [ITUNES]