Larry had the chance to catch to catch up with Adam Hyde, one half of Canberra electronic duo Peking Duk to talk about recent US adventures, their upcoming tour with the Groovin' The Moo festival, musical plans and much more...

Considering what the Murlocs had to go through to get their debut record Loopholes out into the world, "Paranoid Joy" sounds like a pretty apt state of mind for the Victorian dudes to be in. Having had most of their work wiped out due to a stolen laptop, the band had to start from scratch and record nomadically, assembling their sun-damaged jams during borrowed time in the living rooms of friends. Fortunately for us they persevered, and "Paranoid Joy" is an eccentric, gorgeous slice of weirdo psych, with an equally wiggy video to match:

Larry sits down with Michael Franti backstage at Bluesfest in Byron Bay, Australia - on his birthday, 21st April 2014 - to talk about his time at the festival over the years, his latest music, and much more...

Rap royalty Xzibit is heading to Brisbane’s iconic Chalk Hotel on April 26th, bringing with him special guests including Funkoars, REMi, Briggs and more to kick off Chalk’s Sound Check festival series. Sound Check is a monthly event creating an inner city festival with the best live music lineups, festival food, an outdoor stage and much more. This first event includes an incredible 11 hours of live entertainment including a full 90 minute set from Xzibit as he closes his Australian tour in style.

Eric B & Rakim had the flow; Mobb Deep had the ambience; UGK had the character; 8Ball & MJG had the chemistry; Gang Starr had the depth; and EPMD had the style. But there has never been a hip hop duo quite like OutKast. The eccentric Andre 3000 and the lyrically dextrous Big Boi will forever be the quintessential experimental rap duo that put Atlanta on the map and opened the flood gates for the left-field sounds coming from the South. In an era when gangster and mafiaso rap were bounced back and forth between the East and West Coasts, OutKast completely flipped hip hop on it's head.

Groovin' the Moo is the biggest travelling music festival to hit regional towns in Australia, bringing impressive line-ups year after year to places like Oakbank, Townsville, and Bendigo. It's no secret that these crowds make the most of the festival, navigating the line-up with nothing but enthusiasm for each and every act. Most have undoubtedly locked in who they want to see, we're hoping these five are included:

The huge Music, Digital and Social Media Matters programs are back in Singapore this May, with the three intensive and diverse conference and showcase line ups providing the opportunity for industry members from all around the globe to come together and learn, network and exchange ideas. The May 20-25 event sees Samsung coming onboard as Presenting Sponsor, which is a huge coup!

the AU review is proud to present the exclusive premiere of the new album from Brisbane trio Pharaoh's Playground, 3 Days in the Belly of a Whale, in advance of it's official release this Friday. Listen to the full record below!

Aquaslum is the debut album from Melbourne band HOY. After three years of writing, performing and touring, HOY's founding members, Liam Linley, Felicity Cripps and Cecilia Dowling expanded the trio to a six-piece band for the album recording. HOY now includes members from Gotye, the Black Arm Band and The Basics.

As Splendour in the Grass' permanent home in Byron Bay introduces thousands more to its capacity - along with some expected changes to the layout to accommodate (hopefully similar to what we saw at Falls) - 2014 is bringing with it a mammoth lineup to justify the upgrade. We already knew about headliners OutKast, who let it slip earlier this week that they'd be making the trip down for Australia's premiere winter festival. But who else will we be seeing in July?

Larry interviews Jake Bugg backstage at Bluesfest in Byron Bay to talk about his record store day live EP release, his upcoming EP Messed Up Kids (out May 12th), what might be in store for his next full length, they reflect on the last two years and much more...

One of our favourite US Festivals without question is Austin City Limits - a festival put on by C3 Events (the guys behind Lollapalooza in Chicago, and also co-presenters of Big Day Out here in Australia) over two weekends in Austin every October. It's hard to believe we're talking about it already, but today marked the announcement for this year's event, set to be headlined by Eminem, the already leaked Splendour headliners Outkast and recent Big Day Out headliners Pearl Jam.

Australian chef Tracey Lister knows the ins and outs of shopping, cooking, and eating in the incredibly diverse country of Vietnam; through her successful cooking school - the Hanoi Cooking Centre near capital's famous old quarter - Tracey regularly follows her passion to promote Vietnamese cuisine wherever and whenever she can.

Australian gamers may be prepared to pay a higher price for games (given the high minimum wage) but with the dollar maintaining a strong position importing games has become cheaper and easier to take advantage of. And with gaming steadily moving to digital-only, consumers might want to start questioning why we’re spending so much.

The final day of the Byron Bluesfest was mainly about revisiting some favourites from the weekend, for me. I suppose you could question whether five days for a festival may be too long, when by the end of it, the line up consists of acts that have already played, but with the amount of new talent on offer in amongst the big names, I suppose this model ensures everyone gets a fair shot of gaining and growing a crowd.