Chinese classics are music to his ears

Sydney has always had a large and active Chinese community, but in the past few years that presence has taken a major leap forward.
There are about 4.6 million people in greater Sydney and half a million are ethnic Chinese. That's one in nine.
Over the past 15 years, those local Chinese have turned the city's Spring Festival celebrations into a major cultural event, which now attracts 40,000 ethnic Chinese from various parts of South East Asia, and plenty of locals from all ethnic backgrounds as well.
There are now more Chinese tourists visiting Australia each year than people from any other nation, with the exception of neighbor New Zealand.
One person who has seen this huge increase in the Chinese presence here is journalism graduate Paolo Hooke.
Hooke works in Sydney as a public servant in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and once a month, as a volunteer, presents a radio show that features classical Chinese music.   
Hooke's personal interest in China reflects the growing interest in Chinese things that is spreading across Australia. His curiosity was sparked during his undergraduate days at Sydney University when visiting Chinese students opened his eyes.
"I enjoy the evocative and exotic sounds of Chinese traditional instruments, particularly the erhu, pipa, yangqin and suona. "I especially like the blending of Chinese traditional instruments with Western instruments and the unique sounds that this creates."

Sounds of Simon, Garfunkel chosen for preservation

A popular tune by Simon and Garfunkel written after John F. Kennedy's assassination and Chubby Checker's 1960s dance hit "The Twist" will be among 25 recordings selected for preservation at the Library of Congress.

These are just a few sounds of the 20th century being added to the National Recording Registry on Thursday for long-term preservation due to their cultural, artistic and historic importance. The library said Checker's rendition of "The Twist" became a symbol for the energy and excitement of the early 60s after "American Bandstand" host Dick Clark chose Checker to record a new version of the song.

Later, the 1966 album "Sounds of Silence" by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel was a hit in its day but not before the duo struggled and split early on. Their song "The Sound of Silence" from the aftermath of President Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago this year had initially flopped — but it became a hit after it was re-edited as a single. That prompted the duo to reunite and quickly record another album under a similar title.

Third Man Records to Release Shovels and Rope Covers

Jack White's Third Man Records is set to release a new single on their Blue Series from Charleston, South Carolina, duo Shovels and Rope, who aptly describe themselves as "sloppy tonk."Brittany Howard Teams with Third Man Records for New Single

Out April 2nd, the single features two covers: a rendition of Bruce Springsteen's "Johnny 99" on Side A, and a version of Tom Waits' "Bad as Me" on Side B. You can check out the duo's rendition of "Johnny 99" below, which turns Springsteen's sparse, acoustic-and-harmonica original into a jaunty number with a rollicking piano two-step and tick tack percussion, all carried by singer Carry Ann Hearst's dry, sobering wail.

The tracks are available for pre-order now on iTunes; the vinyl seven-inch record is available through the Third Man website.

Chinese and Western backgrounds

"One thing I was really aware of growing up as a Chinese-American was that most of the types of music that are popular here did not originate in China," says Liang, who was born to immigrant parents in Kansas and grew up in New York State.

"When I heard Shanghai jazz, that was the first time I felt that there was music that could speak to both my Chinese and Western backgrounds.

"Then when I started composing music myself, I was searching for music that reflected parts of me. As someone who never felt like I fully fit in with any one demographic, this was a way for me to tell all the stories I had stored up, probably subconsciously in a way that spoke best to me."

Steven Summerstone believes the young people of Beijing are not so different from their counterparts in his native United States.

This Song Saved My Life was one of the most popular songs on the band's latest album Get Your Heart On.

Billie Joe Armstrong Writing Songs for Rock Adaptation of Shakespeare

Billie Joe Armstrong is returning to the theater by writing new music for a Yale Repertory Theater adaptation of Shakespeare. According to the New York Times, the Green Day frontman is contributing to These Paper Bullets, a rock adaptation of the Bard's Much Ado About Nothing that follows a band from Liverpool as they navigate romance and the music industry in London. It will premiere in March 2014.Billie Joe Armstrong Opens Up About Substance Abuse

Armstrong already has musical theater credibility under his belt, having adapted Green Day's American Idiot to Broadway in 2010. Green Day resumed their postponed U.S. tour earlier this month and will stay on the road until their April 19th show in Los Angeles.

Jim James takes search for connection to SXSW

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James thinks music is a spiritual force that can unite humanity.

He's taking that message — and his new solo album "Regions of Light and Sound of God" — to the South By Southwest Music Festival this week.

"I feel like society likes to highlight our differences so much, to make us feel so isolated and so separated and so different," James said. "Music does that a lot, too. The walls are put up so big. What could a country music fan possibly have in common with a hip-hop fan? I feel if you take everything down to the core, it's the same in a beautiful way. It's all the same."

There's no better example of that sort of spiritual communalism than SXSW where musicians and artists of all stripes gather to find some kind of connection. James, the singer-songwriter who normally heads up the rock 'n' roll band My Morning Jacket, launched a five-set examination of higher powers early Wednesday morning in Austin, Texas, and will wrap things up Friday when he appears at the free outdoor show at Auditorium Shores, one of the week's highlights. And in April he'll start an extensive tour to support "Regions of Light," which came out last month.

Celebs also hit the thrift shops

Eebbie Harry loves to search for unique items at thrift shops, but sometimes the Blondie frontwoman had to do it because times were hard.

"At various times in my life (it has) been really necessarily to shop like that," she said in an interview.

Harry, 67, said she also hit up thrift shops to fuel her creativity when deciding what to wear to an event or photo shoot. Her favorite used item? A silver 1960s Betsey Johnson jumpsuit.

"Let's face it, when you don't have a lot of money and have to dress cool, it's the best way to go," she said.

The singer says she loves thrift shops in Florida and that as a kid her bargain shopping annoyed her father.

"My dad was horrified when I was in high school and I would come home with something from Salvation Army," she said. "He was terrified that I would be bringing a large population of bugs."

She also enjoys thrift shopping because it's somewhat of an adrenaline rush.