ARIA award winning Gurrumul comes to London

12th May 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Last night, a hushed gathering of muso’s, industry executives and t5m were stunned by an intimate performance from Geoffrey ‘Gurrumul’ Yunupingu, an indigenous Australian musician, high in the lofty reaches of ‘Sound Advice’ HQ.

Gurrumul is undeniably an incredible musician; despite being born blind and having never been taught Braille. He is a refined guitarist, with a haunting voice made more atmospheric by his heartfelt lyrics in his native ‘Yolngu’ language. Having witnessed his performance last night, it is unsurprising that Gurrumul has transcended various physical and racial obstacles to go on and be nominated for four ARIAs in 2008 and to win three ‘Deadlys’ in the same year. Read more »

James Blunt on music, Kosovo and Ibiza: Exclusively on t5m

24th April 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Singer, songwriter, musician and former officer in the British Army, James Blunt has done it all. Since his debut album, Back to Bedlam and the single which needs no introduction ‘You’re Beautiful’, James has seen his career go from strength to strength, winning two BRIT Awards, two Ivor Novellos and being nominated for a staggering five Grammys.

He released his second album, All the Lost Souls in 2007 and has also lent his support to charity ‘Médecins sans Frontières’ (MSF), which is famed for providing emergency health care in war and conflict zones – attending meet and greets and publicising their cause.  And then, when it all gets too much, James can retire to his palatial villa on the island of Ibiza – we’re very jealous.

t5m caught up with James for an exclusive interview, where he talks about everything from what motivates his music to his time serving in Kosovo. Revealing, honest and charming – the James Blunt Exclusive Profiles are not to be missed.

To see James Blunt as you’ve never seen him before, check out his ‘Exclusive Profile’ on his channel here on t5m.

Myleene Klass pitches it perfectly at Classical Brit nominations

21st April 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

The great and the good of classical music were out in force last night, as the nominees for this year’s Classical Brit Awards were announced at London’s Mayfair Hotel.

And while we know it is all about the music, t5m couldn’t resist sizing up all the outfits on show and deliberating over which dress we would quite like to wear if we were ever to grace the red carpet of a glittering awards ceremony. Would it be Katherine Jenkins’ black and white lace asymmetric gown with peep-toe shoes and Bardot-worthy hair? Or, New Zealand’s premier soprano Hayley Westenra’s knee-length flirty pastel dress with adorable silver sandals?

And of course, special mention should go to Britain’s Got Talent prodigy Faryl Smith, who at the tender of age of 13 was snapped up with a £2.3million record deal, making her one of the fastest rising stars in opera and definitely one to keep your eye on. Faryl looked ever inch the star last night, with her midnight-blue prom dress and metallic pumps, and a very impressive blow dry.

But ultimately, the prize for best dressed star has to be the one and only Myleene Klass, who flew the patriotic flag wearing a voluminous, wet-look Vivienne Westwood wrap-dress, incredible Stephen Jones Union-Jack  mini-top hat and vertiginous Yves Saint Laurent Tribute heels. Injecting some fun and energy into the proceedings, the evening’s host Myleene was by far the most fashion-forward of the bunch, opting out of the high-maintenance, uber-groomed preserve of many red carpet stars and go for something far more chic and daring.

While not everyone appreciated Myleene’s outfit, we all think she looked fab and cannot wait to see what Ms. Klass will be wearing on the 14th May!

Ethan Hawke and Diane Von Furstenberg back urban rainforest in the sky

14th April 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

It takes a special imagination and vision to transform an overgrown, potentially unsafe rail track into a cultural phenomenon and landscape-altering floating garden. Robert Hammond and Joshua David have managed to do just that.

To some, the overgrown ‘High Line’ track was something to be torn down and forgotten, a ’some’ which included former Mayor Guiliani – to Robert and Joshua, it was something that had to be saved. Having met at a community meeting, the pair decided to form ‘Friends of the High Line’, a campaign to save the structure – last used in 1980.

And it was there that the pair discovered that in it’s 20 years of abandonment, the High Line had become overgrown with plants, grass and trees – with one section even being covered in temperate rainforest.

“It captured my imagination” says Hammond, a former magazine writer who was working on a piece on the local area when he first noticed the line. “It seemed like an amazing opportunity to create something that would allow people to experience the city in an utterly new way. To go and tear it down without considering how we could use it seemed a waste to me.”

With the backing of local celebrities such as Edward Norton, Diane Von Furstenberg and Ethan Hawke ‘Friends of the High Line’ had a design competition for the reuse of the site, which was won in 2004 by Field Operations and Diller Scofodio + Renfro. Read more »

MPs and artists are ghost town busters

14th April 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Perhaps the most poignant sign of the times is the number of abandoned and boarded up shop fronts throughout the country, as the recession squeezes out retailers. But MPs are resolved that Britain will not become a nation of half-life ghost towns, and instead are introducing a frankly brilliant initiative to provide thousands of small grants of up to £1000 to people who can find ‘creative reuse’ for these vacant shops.

Hazel Blears, the communities secretary, has joined forces with culture secretary Andy Burnham in providing the project with £3 million of funding. And, with a conservative estimate of 70,000 retail outlets set to close this year, along with the staggering statistic that in Northampton already 1 in 6 shops have closed, it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Read more »

Oh la la – Audrey Tatou in Coco Avant Chanel

9th April 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

The chocolate eyes, the gamine silhouette and the impossibly chic way she carried off her Chanel couture at this week’s Coco Avant Chanel premier, oh to be Audrey Tatou.

The Amelie-star plays the world’s greatest couturier Gabrielle Chanel in the hotly-anticipated biopic based on the biography written by Edmonde Charles-Roux. Focusing on the early part of Coco’s life – the film begins with her arrival at the orphanage where she would learn to sew, following her entry into high society and meetings with Etienne Balsan and Arthur Boy Capel, and finally ending with her debut runway show.

Speaking at the glittering premier held on the Champs Elysees, Audrey said “Obviously I had neither the taste nor the talent of Coco Chanel,” adding she would love to keep hold of the tweed jacket she wears in the film’s horse-riding scenes. Tatou’s outfits, by costume designer Catherine Leterrier and overseen by Mr. Chanel, Karl Lagerfield  and often adapted from men’s attire, were the envy of the rest of the female cast.

Coco Avant Chanel is out 22nd April.

Liverpool feeling blue after 3-1 defeat by Chelsea

9th April 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

Liverpool suffered their worst-ever home defeat in European competition last night, at the hands of a jubilant Chelsea – who are now firm favourites to progress to the Champions League semi – final for the fifth time in six years.

Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink praised his players for their outstanding performance, which left the final score at 3-1, saying “It’s unexpected, to be honest, but I think well deserved. We always go out there to score, but to get three is incredible. Liverpool have shown already in the past they can do remarkable things, so we cannot yet believe it is done. To play Liverpool at Anfield is always a hard job so we were very happy with this result. We started sloppily, but we know we can score. That confidence, even at 1-0 down, was in the team.” Read more »

U2, Duffy and Bob Marley’s mentor out in force at Music Week Awards

9th April 2009 | 1 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

The great and the good of the British music industry were out in force last night at London’s Grosvenor Hotel, celebrating the music industry Music Week’s 50th anniversary with a glittering awards ceremony.

The most prestigious award of the evening, ‘Most influential figure in British music’, went to Island Record founder Christopher Blackwell beating competition from Sir George Martin, who discovered The Beatles and reality X-Factor mogul Simon Cowell. Christoper Blackwell can take credit for the careers of Nick Drake, Roxy Music and Jimmy Clef, as well as pioneering the career of future reggae legend, Bob Marley in 1972,after starting up the record label in 1959 with just £1500.

Coalition PR founder, Rob Partridge, who sadly passed away last year, won the equally revered ‘Stat’ award, with Bono of U2 paying tribute to the man who was one of the early champions of the band “I think it’s fair to say that you believe in us before we believed in ourselves”.

Other big winners include Duffy’s mentor and manager, former Public Image Ltd member Jeanette Lee for ‘Manager of the Year’, whilst Polydor, home of Girls Aloud and Take That won “Record Company of the Year”.

BBC Radio 2 won radio station of the year, while the Brixton Academy was named best live music venue.

Well done to all the winners!

Barbara Taylor Bradford talks to t5m about Breaking The Rules

9th April 2009 | 0 comments | 0 votes yet, click here to agree or disagree

You can’t argue with the statistics - 20 million copies sold of her debut novel A Woman of Substance, 24 consecutive best sellers on both sides of the Atlantic and 81million copies of her novels sold worldwide in 80 countries. Wow, Barbara Taylor Bradford is a literary force to be reckoned with.

t5m caught up with Barbara in her New York home to talk about everything from history, diabetic dogs, the future of print journalism, and of course, her upcoming novel Break The Rules.

Check out what Barbara had to say in our exclusive interview on her personal channel, here on t5m.