Britney Spears and Beethoven Come Together For Chutney’s “Toxic Moonlight”

I don’t care what you’ve been listening to today; I can confidently say that “Toxic Moonlight,” the latest track from Eora/Sydney-based klezmer punk collective Chutney will be the most surprising thing today. It might even be the most brilliant. The song combines Britney Spears’ pop anthem “Toxic” with Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” and it’s actually fantastic. It doesn’t end there though. The band brings together these seemingly disparate elements with their trademark Eastern European and Middle Eastern flair. And then we’ve got vocals from Ilan Kidron of The Potbelleez on top of that. It’s off the wall, but somehow it works!

“It was 2021 and we had a gig lined up with Ilan,” shared Chutney violinist Ben Adler. “We were in a reprieve between COVID lockdowns so we’d developed a certain nihilism that, in retrospect, was highly conducive to unfettered creativity. I was talking with Ilan about songs he’d like to sing with us, and he observed that the string riff in Toxic sounds “really klezmer” – we only discovered years later that it’s actually a Bollywood sample! Anyway, Ilan’s suggestion was all I needed to klezmer-ify Britney’s song. Something about its darkness and (toxic) romance then led me to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, especially after I realised that importing Beethoven’s descending bassline might open up a whole new set of possibilities for the otherwise pretty harmonically static ‘Toxic’ verses. I sketched up a chart and we tweaked it in rehearsal, at a gig and in the studio into its present form”.

“I was always really impressed with Mark Ronson’s version, and although Toxic had been covered plenty of times, I knew Chutney would translate it really daringly and originally,” Ilan added. “They have an unashamed ability to bend the rules; but somehow it works. This version plays between a dark oceanic void and a western bar fight. There is emotional drama and a dance between tension and release that I love here.”
Take a listen to this. I know it’s going to blow your mind. Chutney will continue bending the rules when they release their next album Ajar on August 6.

Photo credit: Max Goodman

Britney Spears Circus Tours Australia

Britney Spears is bringing her circus to Australia. The pop princess will tour Australia for the first time this November to support her Circus album.

“I’ve wanted to tour Australia for quite some time,” Britney said in a statement. “My Circus tour is the best show I have ever created and I can’t wait to perform it.”

The show features almost 50 performers, including a dance team, acrobats, aerial performers, contortionists, a fire breather, stilt walkers, and magicians. That makes the starting price of $99 seem quite reasonable. Although if you believe the rumours, that price doesn’t cover Britney singing live.

Either way, I’m sure fans will snap up the tickets when they go on sale on July 3.

6 November 2009 – Burswood Dome, Perth
11 & 12 November 2009 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
19 & 20 November 2009 – Acer Arena, Sydney
24 November 2009 – Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Image source: Newscom

Britney Spears Plans Aussie Tour

It sounds like Britney Spears will bring her Circus tour to Australia sooner rather than later.

Leading local promoters are in talks with the former pop trainwreck who is expected to visit our shores later this year.

“All the promoters are vying for it, but the bottom line is that she really wants to come here and she really wants to come this year,” said Sony boss Denis Handlin.

Michael Gudinski is one of the promoters hoping to bring Britney over for her first Aussie tour.

“I don’t expect anything will be worked out or finalised for a month, but we’re in there,” he confirmed.

“It will be one of the biggest concert productions to come here.”

With a rotating stage, acrobats, a stripper pole, and a greatest hits set, it certainly sounds like it. The less said about those lip-synching allegations the better!

Image source: Newscom

Samantha Jade Brushed Off For Britney

Young Perth popette Samantha Jade made headlines in the US recently when she almost stole Britney Spears thunder.

Apparently Britney kept crews waiting 12 hours to shoot the film clip for her new single “Pieces of Me.” Britney’s frustrated label Jive then offered the shoot to her stablemate Samantha. But apparently when Britney arrived Jive withdrew their offer, but the story gave Samantha some much-needed US publicity.

“It’s hard when you’ve got so many big artists on the same label,” Samantha admitted to The Sunday Telegraph. “You always feel like you’re getting pushed back a little bit, so it was nice to have an opportunity to do another video.

“I’m just very excited that I’m getting some press out there.”

But will anyone remember the story when Samantha releases her debut album early next year? Somehow I don’t think so.