If you live in Victoria, you would know that Bendigo and Ballarat are typically your country town rivals. Aside from Geelong, these two regional cities are the next best thing after Melbourne. Now without sounding biased, my good old hometown of Ballarat has a lot going for it. Home of the Gold Rush, the iconic Lake Wendouree, chips cheese and gravy...we are doing alright down here! But there’s just one thing that Bendigo has that we don’t, one thing that dare I say, really puts it ahead of the old ‘rat a tat – Groovin the Moo.

Groovin the Moo at the University of Canberra kicked off with rad performances from Last Dinosaurs, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Urthboy, DZ Deathrays, Matt and Kim, Seth Sentry, The Amity Affliction and Alpine (pictured).

That one last bastion of the music industry that refuses to die – the record store – is going through a bit of a revolution of late. Whether it be record stores that have embraced open artistic ventures like Melbourne’s Polyester, whose in-store performances are widely revered more than a bands night gig at a pub, or the likes of Poison City Records in Fitzroy, who have expanded their merchandise catalogue to skateboarding gear such as boards, wheels and t-shirts, the humble record store is now far more than a place to buy music.

But of course, they still are that gateway to the heaven of actual, tangible forms of music, the sort people are willing to pay for. In celebration of the tangible, this upcoming Record Store Day (RSD) will have record stores in your town chock full of many wonderful limited tangible musical goodies that you can get your hands on.

So here’s a quick list of some of the more anticipated finds around Australia this Saturday:

The hip hop duo Hermitude have taken away the 8th Coopers Australian Music Prize, winning $30,000 from the PPCA for their fourth feature album HyperParadise.

Down at Federation Square in Melbourne, the full shortlist for the 8th Coopers Australian Music Prize was revealed. The ceremony, hosted by Clare Bowditch and Kevin Mitchell, announced that the following Australian musicians were now in the running for the highly respected award.

FLUME - Flume
TAME IMPALA - Lonerism
THE PRESETS - Pacifica
GRAND SALVO - Slay Me in the Deep

Given that it was leaked today, Groovin' The Moo have decided to release the 2013 line up a day ahead of schedule. International acts set to play the regional festival include Tegan and Sara, The Bronx and The Kooks. Check out the full line up below!

ALISON WONDERLAND
ALPINE
THE AMITY AFFLICTION
THE BRONX
DZ DEATHRAYS (DJ Set)
EXAMPLE
FLUME
FRIGHTENED RABBIT
HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY
THE KOOKS
LAST DINOSAURS
MATT AND KIM

Interview with Tim Levinson (a.k.a. Urthboy) backstage at the 2013 Big Day Out in Sydney. We talk about the year ahead, balancing working on the record label and producing his own music, playing the Big Day Out and more!

Plenty of news from the industry circles this week, mainly in the opportunity area, with a chance to get grants galores care of The Hilltop Hoods or The Australia Council for the Arts. Push Songs also are giving a chance to get songwriting tips and advice for aspiring musicians. Also, CMJ applications have opened and Simon Crean appoints a new director of Sounds Australia. All this, and a historic event in the ARIA charts on The State Of Affairs this week.

This year’s Pyramid Rock Festival on Phillip Island in Victoria will be remembered by me not only as a paddock full of beer cans and flocks of seagulls. It will instead be remembered as the New Years Eve that someone threw a basketball at Dominic Simper of Tame Impala’s face. But let’s go back to the beginning, a time of sobriety and a lot less violence.

In this last State Of Affairs column of the year, we look back at a week where Gotye continues to be recognised for that song, Christmas albums attack the ARIA charts and awards aplenty are being handed out here at home for various things. Plus a bunch of awesome opportunities to get funding for your project through the Australia Council.

Big Day Out fans were given something to get excited about when the festival released timetables, local band line ups and more for the 2013 installment! Along with this announcement, the Big Day Out is also thrilled to announce that the Lilypad will be making its return, and there will also be a brand new stage at all festival stops - the Red Stage.

Check out the additions to each leg of the Big Day Out below!

As ARIA week is upon us, Inertia put some of their finest talents on show for the Aussie hip-hop showcase at the Oxford Art Factory last night, a night that did NOT disappoint.

The nominees for the 2012 J Awards have been announced, showcasing some of the best releases from Australian talent this year. Over the past seven years, the J Awards have presented the best talent Australia has to offer, with past winners including Gotye, Wolfmother and Sarah Blasko.

Check out the full list of nominees below! The AU congratulates everyone nominated.

THE 2012 J AWARDS - FULL LIST OF NOMINEES

AUSTRALIAN ALBUM OF THE YEAR