Empire of the Sun fans and musos across the world got to see and hear a live broadcast from Empire of the Sun for the very first time on July 22.

It occurred for 6 minutes and 39 seconds shortly after 1:00pm (Australian EST) during the longest solar eclipse of the 21st century. The eclipse took place throughout the Asia Pacific region, visible only in Australia from the very tip of far North Queensland.

This is epic. I hope these guys tour through North America at some point. If you haven’t already checked out our interview with front man Nick Littlemore, read that here.

In 1882, in a cricket match which would change history at the Oval, Australia beat England for the first time on English soil.

The Sporting Times newspaper wrote an obituary satirically stating “English Cricket has died.  The body will be cremated and the Ashes will be taken to Australia.”

England’s next tour to Australia in 1883 continued the joke, with Australian women presenting the English side with a small terracotta urn as England had successfully completed it’s “Quest to regain the Ashes.”

And so the tradition began.  At least every 2 years since 1882, England and Australia have met in a 5 series Test, 2 innings per match, alternating host country.  And every two years people in both England and Australia band and bond together to take in the event.

The tiny terracotta urn, holding the Ashes of English Cricket

I’m a little bit jealous. I’m jealous that one sporting event so ingrained in history and rivalry and National pride that can bring about so much fun for spectators simply doesn’t exist for Americans.

Sure we have wonderful rivalries like the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Cowboys and the Redskins, but on a National level, those events are divisive. The last time I recall what seemed to be all of America gathered around their televisions cheering for a countryman in a sporting tournament was Michael Phelps.  And we, as a nation, certainly had Phelps Phever, and it was fun while it lasted.

But we’ve got nothing dating back to the 19th century.  We’ve got the World Cup, the Olympics, Lance Armstrong crushing the Tour de France for years, but interest is among niche groups.

In the 2002 World Cup, extremely Catholic nations Spain and Ireland clashed on a Sunday.  I remember hearing reports that Archbishops had granted their diocese a little lenience in Sunday Mass obligations.  I thought this was brilliant.  Shops close down, pubs get licenses to stay open all night, even religious leaders let people off the hook all so as a nation, people can collectively show pride and support in ways we simply don’t experience in the US.

Even when the nation has been hypnotized by epic feats like the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” hockey match between the US and Russia, or Phelps’ performance, or the US Women’s 1999 World Cup victory, the ties have been a one-off.  The victories have been sweet, they’ve even been historical, but they’re not part of an ongoing tradition that wins the interest of an entire nation.

Well, we can either challenge Canada to some sort of sporting tournament and start laying the foundation for our own form of the Ashes, or we can live vicariously through our friends across the pond and down under.

Canadian Beez team members and readers, the guantlet has been thrown.

English Victory in 2005 was reason for the entire country to celebrate

The event itself is magnificent, but imagine the victory party afterward.  America could use a little bit of that.  It seems the only time we come together is when crisis like September 11 hits. Sure, our last inauguration was great for many Americans, but to participate as a practicing Republican, one had to be a great losing sport, and simply celebrate Obama’s presidency as a tribute to a historical moment.  Imagine that feeling if shared by everyone, with all the same dramatic flair, recognized heroes, victories, losses, and camaraderie but without the stress and damage of war and politics.

The Ashes: An amazing tradition that would do any nation a world of good.

The third test in the five test series begins July 30 and with 1 draw, 1 England victory, and 3 tests remaining, the urn is still anyone’s.

Andrew Flintoff, Legend. He’s just announced his retirement from test cricket
but managed to take five wickets in the Ashes second test.

Another new epic video from Australia’s Empire of the Sun. This latest video, “Standing on the Shore, was shot in Perth, Australia, which is the home town of Empire of the Sun and like the previous two videos, the visuals and story telling in this one is pure eye candy. If you haven’t checked out our interview with Nick Littlemore, one half of EOTS, then you can check that here.

If you’ve yet to experience the mythical goodness from Perth, Australia, known as Empire Of The Sun, then you my friend have been living under a rock. But if you’ve been following this site for awhile you’ll know that last August we were first introduced to the band via the video “Walking On A Dream”, which was epic. Shortly after this song became a staple on most of our writers iPod as quite a few of us were highly anticipating album drop. Unfortunately for us that drop was only for Australia, but fast forward a few months later and the mystical duo, Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele, would have their album released for North America.  To celebrate that release we caught up with Nick Littlemore and talked Empire Of The Sun, previous bands (Pnau, The Sleepy Jackson and Teenager), the concept behind the name, album and an Empire Of The Sun opera???

Killahbeez: I’ve been an avid listener of Pnau and The Sleepy Jackson, as well as Teenager. So give us the story of how you and Luke Steele met and then decided that there was enough of a connection to work together?

Nick Littlemore: I love to collaborate. I pretty much try to work with every person I meet.
Luke and I have always worked together. I guess we like to make sounds and write songs rather than drink together or chase girls. We have that kind of friendship. Making music together is like hanging out. Nowadays it is about songs and expressing our own emotion, something we relate to about our lives, loves and lyrics. Luke has an immense talent, I am in awe of his voice, it’s a joy to write for.

The thing that was always apparent from working with Luke was that his voice is so strong. I wanted to work with him to embrace his genius, to create a coupling around his voice; to frame it, if you like. We first messed with a PNAU sound and things suddenly took flight. We cut “With you forever” with Luke on guest vocals and we stood back and realized that something had happened, we had a spark, something new, something wild.

I went to Italy and wrote songs while my girl nursed a broke leg. I needed a break after the PNAU record but this new sound with Luke persisted in my thoughts and scribbles. The sun was constant for me in Italy and for Luke in Perth. We knew we had to act. I rushed back to Australia and both Luke and I were ready to explode. We knew we had started something that could not be stopped, that we could not resist. The Empire began…

KB: The bands name, Empire Of The Sun, what’s the significance behind it and how did you both come to use that name?

NL: We are mystics, travelling to all the ancient places in the world, where the sun has great power and significance, the Ballard connection is merely a nod to one of the best writers in the universe (Referring to the novel Empire Of The Sun).

KB: For the North American fans that haven’t heard the album yet, what’s the concept / theme behind the album?

NL: Life is a journey. But even listening to a record is one too. Time passing, light shifting. The world changes in a second, let alone in the time it takes to walk on a dream. I think we make soundtracks to life. To the journey of life. Just with Empire things are more magical and impossible.

KB: Wow. That is true, in listening to the album myself I felt like I was listening to a soundtrack of my travels. In the bands bio, I read that the one word you wanted listeners to associate with the album is – “Surrender”. Is there something specific that the band wanted people to surrender to? Love?

NL: Close your eyes and listen to our album, or even just one song. Take a chance and let yourself go. Yes Surrender to our journey. We mean it all; we lived every word, every dream. Empire is a wish, a dream for us, so much pain so much love. For if you surrender, you can be healed and in turn heal the world.

KB: The band’s first single, “Walking On A Dream”, was an instant smash last summer, even though it’s just officially being released in North America. I remember hearing it quite a bit at various parties here. When I sat down and followed the lyrics I realized it was a bit of a love song, was it written for someone in particular? Or just an emotion that was inside that was waiting to get out?

NL: My girlfriend was in the jungles of Brazil, sick and exhausted, she called me from a small village deep in the forest, I felt so much empathy, so paralyzed by the distance between us, that I could not do anything to help so I wrote this tune, to try to capture all the magic in the world and force a melody so positive that I could actually send a signal to her that everything would work out, so its really that, yes a love song and a long distance call, a channelling of energy towards positive ends….

KB: All the women around the world just let out a collective sigh. Your videos, “Walking on a Dream”, “We Are The People” and the soon to be released “Standing on the Shore”, are BEAUTIFULLY shot, the visuals are amazing. They seem to somewhat flow from one to the other; will the other following videos continue on the same sort of theme?

NL: There is an order to all things and when the time is right all will be revealed.

KB: Definitely looking forward to that. What were some of the difficulties you guys faced when taking your concepts and actually filming them?

NL: We are both so visual. So inspired by film and art that it is hard to collaborate. That is why we jumped out of the safety net of studios and conventions and made the videos as adventurous as they look. We explored, we lived those moments. We saw vultures circling around us in the desert ready to attack. I would love to travel forever and take inspirations from all the wonders of this planet. We use the experiences to create so even those at times things can be daunting the adventure is always worth it.

KB: In a recent interview you guys did I read that you wanted to take a page out of Kanye Wests book when it came to making the visual aspect fit in with the music. Can you speak a bit on that? The man is definitely more than a hip-hop artist; he’s an entertainer in the true sense of the word.

NL: Music is colour to me, it always has been, I don’t see notes on a stave I see landscapes, clouds, drops dirt sirens in the sky, we are always trying to get closer, closer to showing the audience what we see, the costumes, the locations are just the start, this is an evolution

KB: So are there any plans to taking Empire Of The Sun live? With the music being quite cinematic, it could almost be a play.

NL: I would love to do a play, a film and opera. I think this music has so much potential, so much atmosphere. I think music is moving into a new sphere where it will not be judged by its references. All music is the sum of all things. That is the kind of records I want to make, like great art, this is music that you can feel and read so many things out of. Close your eyes and dream and you will see the play, be your own story and the Empire will be with you.

KB: Moving away from the Empire of the Sun project, will fans of Pnau, The Sleepy Jackson and Teenager hear another potential project? Any chance on working on that with Ladyhawke again?

NL: Teenager will never break up and yes Pip is never too far away, she is a wonderful light in my life and like Luke makes me honored to make music with.

KB: Who are some of your musical influences?

NL: Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Lindsay Buckingham, Moondog, Skinny Puppy, Meat Beat Manifesto, Mirror Mirror, M.Craft, Brian Eno, Vangelis, Xenakis, Harry Nilsson, Django Reinhardt, Leonard Cohen, Silvia Ocougne, Isao Tomita, Jefferson Aeroplane and Elvis.

KB: That’s quite a list. I want to thank you again for taking the time to do this. For the fans out there that will be picking up the album, what did you want them to take away from the listening experience?

NL: That anything is possible, that creativity is what we preach, that which is in each and every one, we all got something brilliant to communicate, after all that’s what the world revolves on.

Empire of the Sun’s homepage: www.walkingonadream.com/
Empire of the Sun’s MySpace: www.myspace.com/empireofthesunsound

Be sure to catch these videos in order as they tell a story as Nick Littlemore mentioned above.

Empire of the Sun “Walking On A Dream”

Empire of the Sun “Standing on the Shore”

Recently we received a couple of wallets from Dosh. For those not familiar with Dosh, here’s a backgrounder. Dosh is an Australian company that takes a wallet and turns it into something fashionable and extremely functional. These wallets are made from flexible polymers and features a money clip for bills, card holders ( 3 or 6 depending on model) and on certain models a small compartment for coins and keys. Check them out for yourself over at www.dosh.com.au.

Now onto the review. I’ve had these wallets for about two weeks or so and during that time I was traveling quite a bit and if you’ve been following the site, you’ll know that I was at Sasquatch! Music Festival and I had a Dosh wallet with me the whole time.

The packaging. These wallets arrive in a great package, as you’ll see from the pictures. They arrive in a plastic casing that you can actually use to store coins, keys and cards. Presentation is definitely impressive. Once you open up the wallet, there’s an information card inside that has a story on which the name of the wallet was influenced.

Lets talk about the design. They’re absolutely beautiful. Prior to leaving for my trip I was using these wallets and everywhere I went when I pulled it out pay for something people were commenting on the wallet and asking where I had gotten it and what the brand was. Actually, I was quite surprised by how many times this happened, at restaurants, bike shops, grocery stores and of course friends. The wallets that Dosh chose to send me were the 6 card holder in Atlantis (blue & white) and the 3 card holder in Tux (black & white).

As I mentioned earlier these pieces are extremely durable. Spill water on your wallet (or in my case soda)? Bah, that’s nothing. Drop it in some desert dirt (as I also did do at Sasquatch), just use a simple damp cloth and give it a quick wipe down. Honestly I’m not a clumsy person, but I think the boozing partly had something to do with all the mishaps.

Personally the majority of the time I used the 3 card wallet as it suited my needs a lot more as I don’t have a whole lot of cards to carry around with me. The money clip actually doubles as a card holder as well, as I easily fit cash and 2-3 cards and some business cards.

One thing I did noticed though was that the wallet was a bit thicker than I personally like, but not to a point where I wouldn’t rock it on daily basis. That honestly was the only negative I could find and seriously that issue wasn’t that big of a deal.

I would definitely recommend a Dosh wallet to…well anybody. They’re durable for the folks that have an active lifestyle, they’re stylish for the folks that are fashion forward and fashion concise. They do what we as men have to come to expect from a wallet and that’s essentially holding our shit. The Dosh wallets retail for $90.00 USD and are available at various retailers, but you can also cop them over at Dosh’s website: www.dosh.com.au.

Had this sent in to me. EcoSmart, an Australian company, specializes in fireplaces, but get the thoughts of them old fashioned joints outta your head, cus these guys come with some fresh looks to spruce up any home and make your place seriously grown and sexy as well as upscaled. The have a wide range of styles to choose from and you really can’t go wrong with any of their designs. Check out their site at www.ecosmartfire.com.

Available for download is the track “Make You Mine” by Australian musician Miami Horror. Miami Horror is best known for remixes that blew up over the course of 2008, remixing the likes of Pnau, Bloc Party, Stardust, The Presets and Midnight Juggernauts to name a few. Miami Horror is the brainchild of a 22 year old who has earned his stance as one of the most talked about artists and definite one to watch for in 2009. After putting himself on the map by DJing various high profile events in his native Melbourne, Australia and remixing and writing tons of killer tunes, he’s now setting his sights Stateside and will be spinning in the US and at SXSW this spring before returning back into the studio to finish the recording of the Miami Horror debut album, set for release later this year.

In addition to having “Make You Mine” available for download we also have Miami Horror’s other well known track “Don’t be on with Her” as well as the Pnau featuring Ladyhawke remix with Fred Falke and The Presets remix that was also done.

To download right-click and save as. For Mac users hit “Control+click”.

Miami Horror “Make You Mine”
Miami Horror “Don’t be on with Her”
Pnau ft. Ladyhawke “Embrace” (Fred Falke & Miami Horror Remix)
The Presets “Talk Like That” (Miami Horror Remix)

Miami Horror “Don’t be on with Her” video

Miami Horror DJs Tour
Th Mar 12 San Francisco CA Popscene @ 330 Ritch w/ Cut Copy DJs
Fr Mar 13 San Diego CA Feel The Noise @ U-31
Sa Mar 14 Los Angeles CA Echoplex w/ Futurecop
Su Mar 15 Azusa CA Fresh @ D-CLub
Mo Mar 16 Chicago IL Sonotheque
Tu Mar 17 Houston TX Boys N Girls Club @ Numbers
We Mar 18 Austin TX Noise Problem Showcase @ Black & Tan
Mo Mar 23 Toronto ON The Social
We Mar 25 Winnipeg MB Royal Albert Arms
Fr Mar 27 Phialdelphia PA Haveford College
Sa Mar 28 Mexico City MX Sicario Party @ Secret Location
We Apr 1 Santiago Chile Club Fauna @ Blondie w/ Bag Raiders
Fr Apr 3 Bogota Colombia Teatro Metropol w/ Bag Raiders

For this Mixtape Monday we found this Kitsune Noir mix by James Kane aka Teen Creep. According to Kitsune’s site James Kane is an up-and-coming DJ from Australia that’s been making some waves with his remixes.

As you can see from the tracklistings, his mix is pretty eclectic. Includes everything from Ladyhawke, Hall & Oates, Prince, Elton John and the list goes on. Have a listen to the stream below or download it and take it to go on your drive in to work. In any case it’s pretty good.

Teen Creep / A Kitsune Noir Mix by James Kane

Download Here

01. Ladyhawke “Back of the Van” (Fred Falke Remix)
02. Appaloosa “The Day” (James Kane Remix)
03. James Kane ft. Carsten Bruhn “Heartthrob”
04. Hall & Oates “Out of Touch”
05. The Similou “Weather Girl”
06. Prince “Erotic City” (Computer Club Remix)
07. Jupiter “Chip”
08. Greg Sandwich “Fix Up Solsbury Hill”
09. Error Love “Top Cop Mega Heat”
10. Goodbooks “Leni” (Crystal Castles Remix)
11. Ray Parker Jr. “Ghostbusters” (Don Rimini Remix)
12. Chromeo “100%”
13. Elton John & Kiki Dee  “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (Mighty Mi Remix)
14. Relation “Your Tiny Mind” (Lifelike Remix)

It’s not too often where a whole collection of clothing inspires the “must have” gut reaction. But I’m in love with the summer 2008 Hussy line by Australian designer Marie Hatzis. She perfectly blends sassy, sexy, flirty and girl next door for a fabulous line which includes beautiful dresses, skirts and more. I really love the dresses. Hatzis’ style is creative and fantastic. Unfortunately, all the Hussy specific stores are in Australia, although the line is sold throughout the world at high end boutiques. Check out more pics after the jump. And let out your inner Hussy.

Image source: www.hussy.com/au