A lot has been written and said about Michael Jackson since his untimely death at 50 years of age of Friday June 26th, the mainstream media covering the singer’s career and life from top to bottom. Acknowledgement of his music and industry achievements (750 million records worldwide, 13 #1 singles, 13 Grammy Awards) has been well documented, as has his impact on collective consciousness via pop culture. Even a surprisingly sensitive Germaine Greer write in The Guardian of Jackon’s astounding influence on modern dance, “the surprise is not that we have lost him, but that we ever had him at all.”

Thriller was a turning point in popular music, and this influential record blared from kids’ bedrooms on every street in the world, including yours. If you didn’t own it, or Bad, or Dangerous, then someone in your family did. And those of you who don’t already have them appear to be snapping them up in record numbers now – wait for this week’s charts.

While few of us could ever really relate on a human level to Michael Jackson, his early death is a cultural milestone. And when the media’s reporting inevitably gets too much, and you’re about to automatically switch back to your standard cynical mindset, just be glad that for perhaps the only time in your life, everyone got it right.

Splendour has unveiled its complete line-up for it’s sold-out July 25 and 26 dates: Happy Mondays (really, did we learn nothing from the Big Day Out in 2001?), Doves, Architecture in Helsinki, You Am I, The Beautiful Girls, Downsyde & Drapht, Kisschassy, Little Red, Bluejuice, Children Collide, Miami Horror, Art vs Science, Paul Dempsey, Dappled Cities, Dananananaykroyd, Holly Throsby, Bridezilla, Deya Dova as well as Mix Up DJ sets by Cut Copy, Yacht Club, Jack Shit, Sweat It Out’s, Shivers & Pablo, Canyons, Daniel Webber, Midnight Juggernauts and Fans. Phew!

You already know its sold out so if you don’t already have tickets, you know know all that you’re missing out on.

Dirty Projectors are the kind of band you’d describe as an enigma, where attempting to make ’sounds like’ comparisons draws blanks.

Made up of compositional master Dave Longstreth and female vocalists Amber Coffman and Angel Deradoorian, their previous record was a ‘re-imagining’ of Black Flag’s album Damaged.

Bitte Orca however sees the band start from scratch. The voices of Coffman and Deradoorian provide some particularly gorgeous harmonies throughout, in juxtaposition to Longstreth’s own unique singing style. Some ears might find his slightly warped half-falsetto jarring, but it works perfectly in the setting he’s given it.

The jangly guitar and handclaps of opener Cannibal Resource suggests that the band have moved into more accessible territory, though as the song twists and turns over Longstreth’s intricate arrangements it’s clear that Direty Projectors are not a usual band. Everything is filtered through their particular prism; the results on the other side is unique and compelling.

Stillness Is The Move and Two Doves have the females starring vocally and both are excellent tracks in opposing ways. Stillness Is The Move bears the skeleton of an R&B song laid into the skin of a minimalist indie one. Two Doves has a very pure beauty about it, gentle acoustic plucking backed by rich string arrangements.

The perplexing Useful Chamber is the album’s central apex, moving through two quiet phases before an explosive Xiu Xiu-esque chorus, followed by some powerful harmonies. The song comes full circle, joining the melody of its first phas back to the harmonies, eventually arriving at a guitar freakout that transforms back into the song’s chorus.

It’s thoughtful construction like this that makes the whole album a fascinating listen. If you feel yuou’ve run the gamut of indie rock and everything is beginning to sound alike, listen to this record. It’s refreshing.

A cynic might say that Jeff Buckley’s death in 1997 was an amazing career move. After all, he had only released one official album at that stage, but there always seems to be yet one more artefact for fans to buy. And here’s the latest one, to mark the 15th anniversary of that one album, Grace.

As foundations for legends go, Grace was a great one. On its strength, Buckley toured the world and stunned audiences everywhere with his powerfully evocative voice, the touching lyrics of his own songs, and impressive interpretations of the songs of others.

This collection, overseen by his mother Mary Guibert, maps out all those attributes by assembling different performances from that 1995-96 world tour (many of them from TV shows like the BBC’s Late Show and MTV Japan).

Although the idea was to focus on the album with those performances, it doesn’t stick to the original line-up, adds extra versions of the title track and So Real and, as Buckley actually didn’t perform the track Corpus Christi Carol, it’s replaced here by a rare take of What Will You Say.

But however you look at it, it’s a clever way of documenting what was to become a legendary tour. To make it even more attractive to fans, there’s a DVD combining the 12 CD performances with extra songs, an interview and other footage from the tour.

How could Buckley aficionados resist that? I’ve already ordered mine!

Marilyn Manson will take time out from his recording work with Lady Ga Ga (!) to return to Australia this spring on his The High End Of Low LP tour. With the return of guitarist Twiggy Ramirez, Manson celebrates 20 years as a ‘Manson family’ with fellow band members Ginger Fish, Chris Vrenna and Andy Gerold. Always the showman, Marilyn Manson plays Brisbane’s Entertainment Centre on Saturday Oct 17, with tickets hitting Ticketek Friday 19. A pre-sale starts midday Wednesday Jun 17, and finishes 5pm Thursday Jun 18.