Ben Salter is no stranger to the Australian music scene. In fact, he has been heavily involved with a number of bands over the years. I am not willing to list all the bands here, mostly because I think as a solo artist he is quite underrated. Like a great deal of other Australian artists, it’s about time he was recognised.

Country/Blues singer, Catherine Traios, has announced new shows following her recent tour for new album ‘In Another Life’. She will be joined for initial shows by Mika Noga from The Drones and Ben Salter from The Gin Club. New album, new Facebook App allowing you to create and share your memories from another life by flipping a coin.

Tour Dates:
December 8 - Petersham Bowls Club, Petersham: Tickets: $15, www.oztix.com.au

There was a definite buzz spreading through The Gov when I arrived tonight to see Something For Kate’s long-awaited return performance in Adelaide or ‘The Kingdom’, as Paul Dempsey had officially dubbed it.

Mike Noga of and Ben Salter of The Gin Club join forces for A Night on the Tiles tour. They’ll be working together to play songs from their respective band and solo careers, as well as some of their favourite covers.

Tour dates

Thursday 6th December: Spotted Cow, Toowoomba

Friday 7th December: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Saturday 8th December: Petersham Bowls Club, Sydney

The last time I saw Something For Kate was in Melbourne in 2007, so I was pretty keen on seeing them perform live again. This was also my first time going to The Zoo, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

With their first shows in over four years selling out incredibly quick and earning the praise of the lucky punters who managed to get tickets, Something For Kate have announced a larger album tour for October! The band will be taking their new album, Leave Your Soul to Science, to larger venues this time around on their first national album tour in five years.

In this week's column: Universal and the Parker & Mr. French group team up, Ed Sheeran tops the album chart after nearly a year meandering in it, an opportunity to write music for next year's Sydney Festival, and news from three industry awards nights that occurred last week!

After gaining notoriety as founding member of Brisbane band The Gin Club, Ben Salter has ventured out on his own, releasing the brilliant solo record The Cat last year. He's now taking his music to the world, venturing out on a tour around the UK and Europe. We caught up with Ben while he was in Brighton for The Great Escape to talk about his music, the other Ben Salter and much more...

Here's the first part of our look back at the Aussie BBQ which happened at Cargo Bar in London last month. Johnny brings us the photos and Larry supplies a few words to set the ball rolling...

Pictured: Emma Louise.

We're back with the top half of our top 20 countdown albums of 2011 list, and like all those before it, it's an electic pile of music from around the world that our contributors have been loving over the last 12 months. Let's get it started!