The biggest showcase of Australian music in the UK that is, of course, the Aussie BBQ, will be returning to Cargo for another 12 massive hours of music and food this month! May 12 will see the London venue host and showcase the best international Australian music in a quintessentially British setting.

Presented by Sounds Australia, in its fifth year in 2013, the Aussie BBQ will be featuring the amazing talents of these artists:

Caitlin Park
Cub Scouts
Deep Sea Arcade
DUNE

Being amongst one of the first people to get into Jive was a new experience for me, especially on a Saturday night. This meant that I could grab a good seat, before the place got crowded.

Melbourne's Big Scary will be back out on the road this April to support their latest single, "Phil Collins". A preview of what's to come from the duo's second, forthcoming album New Art, the song is mst definitely a fitting follow up to the material featured on their acclaimed debut, Vacation. This tour marks the first time Big Scary have toured nationally since their sold out album tour in early 2012 and to support them as they go about the place, is Caitlin Park.

This is my last week for State of Affairs as we hand the writing duties for this column to both Priyam Chovhan and Ruby Niemann. On this week’s column though, we see a new artist on the ARIA singles chart finally, the Australian list for Europe’s answer to SXSW, The Great Escape grows, and Bigsound announces that registrations and applications are open for bands. Exciting stuff for conference loving musicians everywhere

In this issue: Billy Bragg adds final show to Melbourne, Sinead Burgess confirmed to open for Owl City, Cloud Control and Ball Park Music to open for Weezer next year and much more!

BILLY BRAGG ANNOUNCES FINAL SHOW FOR MELBOURNE

In this week's column: opportunities in the International Songwriting Competition and the Telstra Road to Discovery. The Sandringham Hotel get a huge heap of fan support, and Allens Billy Hype go in administration.

Some nights I think we all deserve to hear a bit of good music - especially given the amount of boring, soulless tripe that many radio stations subject us to. Last night at GoodGod Small Club was one such evening that allowed Sydneysiders that very priviledge, treating us to one of Sydney's finest emerging talents, alongside two from Melbourne, as headliner Ainslie Wills came to celebrate the release of her new single "Stop Pulling The String".

Delivering a strong set at the Oxford Art Factory on Thursday night, it was perfectly clear that Winter People is made up of a truly talented bunch of musicians. An up-and-coming Sydney based five piece that merges folk with rock, Winter People have an admirable ability to play music that is at once tender and powerful. Supported by two other local acts also beginning to make waves in the music scene, Battleships and Caitlin Park, we were certainly treated to an impressive night of music.

As one of the must-see acts at Laneway Festival this year, the ‘Sold Out’ sign at the entrance of the East Brunswick Club reveals that many Melbournians want another piece of USA’s Active Child...

As Big Day Out and its many official sideshows wrapped up in Sydney (there are still a few more special appearances to be made... such as Das Racist at the Rdio launch on Saturday), it's now time to officially welcome the sideshows of the 2012 Laneway Festival, with Active Child ringing in the period with a spellbinding show at the Oxford Art Factory on Sunday night.

The event calendar continues to get well truly filled! Here are some announcements and dates for events in February.

We caught up with Caitlin Park to discuss her latest album Milk Annual, talk about some new material, playing Laneway sideshows with Active Child and much more.