Latest news with #BenLee
ABC News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Ben Lee on mistakes, longevity and the power of pop music
Ben Lee is responsible for some of the most ubiquitous Australian songs of the last two decades ('Catch My Disease', 'We're All In This Together', and 'Cigarettes Will Kill You'). His breakthrough fifth album Awake Is The New Sleep turns 20 this year, and he's on The Music Show to reflect on career longevity (forming his first band at 14), what he's learned from joining (and leaving) cults, and why he spends so much time playing gigs in regional Australia these days. 2022 Classical Freedman Fellow Katie Yap's prize project Multitudes has seen Katie improvising, composing and performing with four unique collaborators. Ahead of its latest performances in Brisbane, a chance to hear this conversation with Katie about how birds, poetry and collaboration have informed her work. Katie Yap performs four concerts 24 - 26 July at VENTSpace, South Brisbane. Find out more at this link. Ben Lee is touring Australia throughout September and October. Dates and details here. Music in this program: Title: Catch My Disease Artist: Ben Lee Composer: Ben Lee Album: Awake Is The New Sleep Label: Ten Finger Records Inc/Inertia Title: Whatever It Is Artist: Ben Lee Composer: Ben Lee Album: Awake Is The New Sleep Label: Ten Finger Records Inc/Inertia Title: We're All In This Together Artist: Ben Lee Composer: Ben Lee Album: Awake Is The New Sleep Label: Ten Finger Records Inc/Inertia Title: I Wish I Was Him Artist: Noise Addict Composer: Ben Lee Album: Young & Jaded Label: Ten Finger Records Inc Title: Born For This Bullshit feat. Sad13 Artist: Ben Lee Composer: Ben Lee Album: I'M FUN Label: Ten Finger Records Inc Title: Aftermath Artist: Katie Yap Composer: Emily Sheppard Live performance recorded at the 2022 Freedman Fellowship Awards Title: Migrant Swift Artist: Katie Yap, Mindy Meng Wang Composer: Katie Yap, Mindy Meng Wang Live performance recorded at the 2022 Freedman Fellowship Awards Title: Passenger Pigeons Artist: Katie Yap, Bowerbird Collective Composer: Katie Yap, Anthony Albrecht, Simone Slattery Live performance recorded at the 2022 Freedman Fellowship Awards Title: Black Cockatoos Artist: Katie Yap, Donald Nicolson Composer: Katie Yap, Donald Nicolson Live performance recorded at the 2022 Freedman Fellowship Awards Title: Oh Snap Artist: Cécile McLorin Salvant Composer: Cécile McLorin Salvant Album: Oh Snap (forthcoming) Label: Nonesuch The Music Show was made this week on Gadigal and Gundungurra Land.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Calls for Triple J's Hottest 100 to be axed from the station and handed to Kyle and Jackie O: 'Billie Eilish doesn't need the support of Aussie taxpayers'
Australian indie musician Ben Lee has called for Triple J's Hottest 100 to be handed over to the Kyle and Jackie O Show. Lee says that the top-rated KIIS FM breakfast radio program, hosted by Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson, is a better fit for the array of international acts that appear on the annual countdown. Calling for an Australian-only Hottest 100 to become the standard, Lee, 46, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he felt commercial radio was a better space for the chart. 'Triple J should give the Hottest 100 to Kyle and Jackie O, let commercial radio run it nationally as a pop mainstream phenomenon and Triple J's business should be the Australian Hottest 100,' he said. 'I reckon the Hottest 100 every year should only be eligible to vote for Australian songs. There's enough platforms around the world for international music.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Lee further elaborated on social media, writing on Instagram: 'I'm not suggesting handing them the keys to the kingdom. What I'm saying is let commercial radio handle servicing multi-national major labels - that's their job. 'Triple J is taxpayer funded and I think those funds would be better used almost exclusively supporting Australian artists and culture. Billie Eilish doesn't need the support of the Aussie taxpayer.' The Catch My Disease singer added that Triple J was 'instrumental' in shaping his career as a young Australian artist, and his comments come from his passion for the Aussie music industry. Lee had plenty of support in the comments underneath his Instagram post, including from fellow Aussie indie artist Ella Hooper. 'It's a brilliant conversation you've started. Personally think it's needed and would be a real shot in the arm for Australian music,' she wrote. One of Lee's followers commented: 'I'd listen again if the Hottest 100 was only Australian songs.' Someone else chimed in: 'As a musician in a small Aussie band, all I can say to you is thank you! Thank you for sticking up for smaller artists will don't have the reach of voice you do.' 'So true. Every time I see a name like Beyoncé on the rotation list a part of my soul dies,' another person added. Others disagreed, with someone writing, 'Absolutely nothing should be handed to Kyle and Jackie O.' It comes as Triple J has extended an almighty olive branch to the Australian public, after back-to-back Hottest 100 wins by American artists sounded the death knell of the song contest's popularity. On June 17 voting officially opened for the new poll, 'The Hottest 100 of Australian Songs'. The new countdown will take place on July 26 and has strict rules in place to ensure it honours Triple J's 50 years on air milestone, and the 'support local' ethos of the national song contest which began in 1989. Eligible songs must have been released by January 19, 2025, and they must feature at least 50 per cent Australian artists. The announcement came after US singer Chappell Roan claimed the win in 2025 with her Sapphic earworm Good Luck Babe! In third place was US pop star Billie Eilish with her hit Birds of a Feather while UK singer Lola Young claimed number four with her viral track Messy. Just 29 songs of the top 100 songs came from Australian acts in 2025, with Melbourne DJ Dom Dolla charting highly and Amyl and the Sniffers gaining multiple entries.
Reuters
7 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Analysts' EU carbon price forecasts steady as US tariff concerns linger
LONDON, July 16 (Reuters) - Analysts have kept their forecasts for prices in the European Union's carbon market roughly steady with the spectre of tariffs from the United States and weak industrial output weighing on expectations. The EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) is Europe's main tool for curbing emissions. It forces manufacturers, power companies and airlines to pay for the carbon dioxide they emit by surrendering carbon allowances. According to a survey of ten analysts, EU Allowances (EUAs) are forecast to average 73.54 euros/metric ton for the third quarter of 2025, slightly down from the 76.10 euros/metric ton forecast made in April. 'EU carbon prices have struggled through 2025 due to geopolitical uncertainty and trade turmoil, which have limited upside potential', said Veyt carbon market analyst Henry Lush. Trade tariff announcements from the United States have stoked fears of stalling economic growth in Europe which could dent industrial output and along with it demand for carbon allowances. The benchmark EU carbon contract traded at 71.30 euros a metric ton on Wednesday, down around 15% from 2025's intra-day peak of 84.50 euros/ton in late January. The average forecast for 2025 was 75.15 euros/ton, slightly up from 74.89 euros/ton. All the analysts surveyed expected carbon prices to rise in the coming years as the cap on the amount of emissions that a sector, or group of sectors, can produce decreases under the ETS. 'The market should get substantially tighter from 2026, with both auction and free allocation supply dropping away that year. Investors should start to price in some of that upcoming tightness as we get closer to 2026,' said Energy Aspects analyst Ben Lee. Free allocations are given to businesses to help them compete with international competitors that are not subject to the same carbon costs. However, these will be reduced from next year when the EU launches its carbon border tax forcing importers to pay equivalent carbon costs. The average EUA forecast for 2026 was 91.08 euros/ton, down from 91.37 euros/ton in April. The average forecast for 2027 was 108.70 euros/ton, down from 109.62 euros.
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Give the Hottest 100 to Kyle and Jackie O': Ben Lee's radical plan to save Triple J and Aussie music
Ben Lee is no stranger to the transformative power of Triple J's Hottest 100, having twice finished in the top two of the annual countdown. First, in 1998, his track Cigarettes Will Kill You came second to The Offspring's Pretty Fly (For A White Guy), while Catch My Disease finished behind Bernard Fanning's Wish You Well in the 2005 poll. But on the eve of Triple J's voting deadline for the Hottest 100 of Australian songs, with audiences encouraged to vote for their favourite ever homegrown tracks, the musician believes the public broadcaster could be doing more to support local talent. Posting to Instagram earlier this week, Lee outlined his vision for a new and improved Hottest 100. 'I reckon the Hottest 100 every year should only be eligible to vote for Australian songs,' Lee said. 'There's enough platforms around the world for international music.' Lee's idea comes after last year's Hottest 100, won by American artist Chappell Roan with Good Luck, Babe. The 2024 poll is the third-lowest-ever showing for local talent, behind the first two in 1993 and 1994 (and equal to 1996). 'It's easy to get complacent and be like, 'Triple J does so much more for Australian music than other commercial stations.' And that's true, but it shouldn't really be judged by the same standards as a commercial enterprise,' Lee said. 'It's like going, 'Medicare does so much for Australian healthcare.' Well, yeah, that's the point.'
The Age
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
‘Give the Hottest 100 to Kyle and Jackie O': Ben Lee's radical plan to save Triple J and Aussie music
Ben Lee is no stranger to the transformative power of Triple J's Hottest 100, having twice finished in the top two of the annual countdown. First, in 1998, his track Cigarettes Will Kill You came second to The Offspring's Pretty Fly (For A White Guy), while Catch My Disease finished behind Bernard Fanning's Wish You Well in the 2005 poll. But on the eve of Triple J's voting deadline for the Hottest 100 of Australian songs, with audiences encouraged to vote for their favourite ever homegrown tracks, the musician believes the public broadcaster could be doing more to support local talent. Posting to Instagram earlier this week, Lee outlined his vision for a new and improved Hottest 100. 'I reckon the Hottest 100 every year should only be eligible to vote for Australian songs,' Lee said. 'There's enough platforms around the world for international music.' Lee's idea comes after last year's Hottest 100, won by American artist Chappell Roan with Good Luck, Babe. The 2024 poll is the third-lowest-ever showing for local talent, behind the first two in 1993 and 1994 (and equal to 1996). 'It's easy to get complacent and be like, 'Triple J does so much more for Australian music than other commercial stations.' And that's true, but it shouldn't really be judged by the same standards as a commercial enterprise,' Lee said. 'It's like going, 'Medicare does so much for Australian healthcare.' Well, yeah, that's the point.'
