For the fifth year in a row, the AU review is heading to the musical mecca of Austin to cover the annual SXSW Film, Interactive and Music Festival. Though we should be used to the sheer size of the event by now, we are still constantly floored by the range of artists putting on showcases all across the city. The AU's head writer, Chris, shares with us his five essential international artists at SXSW 2014 (in no particular order).

It’s that time of year again when the AU review heads to Austin to cover the annual SXSW Film, Interactive and Music Festival. In anticipation, the AU’s deputy editor Sose, shares with us her five international artist picks (in no particular order, and indeed - no Australians here). Believe us that this was not an easy list to put together… read on! And see you in Texas…

Every year, St. Jerome's Laneway Festival serves its position as the festival with its "finger on the pulse" on what's new, what's cool and what's hot. By the time the festival rolls around, many of the bands who you had never heard of 12 months before are well and truly ingrained in your consciousness. triple j is playing them... they're on your iPod... they have become the reason you are looking forward to the festival.

We've taken a bit of time getting this one together - what a year it was! - but we finally bring you our annual look back at the best videos of 2013. This year we have a mix of local and international, with a dose of interactive experiences thrown in for good measure. Enjoy this trip down memory lane...

God damn, I love this time of year. It's festival season and with Soundwave approaching, metal, punk and hardcore lovers should be waking in wet patches. The Soundwave crew has compiled another epic line-up and if you can't find 10 bands that blow your mind at this festival, I'm sorry to break it to you but your mum lied, you're a loser.

The long awaited new (sixth!) album from John Butler Trio was released in Australia today; Flesh & Blood, the group's first record since April Uprising back in 2010. To celebrate the release of the record, we're taking a look back at five of our favourite JBT tracks from over the years - one of Australia's most successful Independent artists of all time.

Last month we revealed our top 40 albums of 2013, which included 13 albums from Australia. Since then, we've received a few e-mails, asking for more recommendations from the world of Australian music in 2013, from readers both at home and abroad. So, we've gone back to our list of votes from AU's fine contributors and put together a list of the top 40 Australian albums (LPs and EPs both eligible) of 2013!

As we continue looking into the future of 2014, there are a pile of video games that are piquing the interest of the writers for our newest section, VideAU Games, and so we thought we'd let you in on the 10 games we can't wait to play over the next 12 months...

There's so much incredible music on the horizon this year, it's hard to know where to begin. But these 14 records - in alphabetical order - from Australia and around the world are a good place to start. Let's get excited for another amazing year of music... kicking off with a local group who have been holding out on us for far too long...

The newest member of the Hello Asia! team Vanessa Devine gives us her ten favourite Japanese track for 2013!

As an avid drama fan, I think it's the sad and emotional songs that make it onto my playlists, even with the world of Asian pop inundated with some amazing pop songs that get you pumping! Alas, I hope you can still enjoy my favourite songs of 2013!

You often hear an AU contributor rate a gig as a highlight of the year, but by the time the year is over, what still sits on that top 5 list? Well, we asked our contributors just that and from all those responses we bring you the AU's top thirteen local touring artists of 2013! Read on and see how many of the bands on this list you caught in 2013...

It's been almost two weeks since the Woodford Folk Festival wrapped up. But we've used this time to think back on the festival and put together a list of the top 7 bands we covered during those six crazy days. Presented in no particular order, these are the seven bands that rocked our sweaty socks.

So this is a thing now. The 2014 version of "who the hell are The Suburbs," where we are reminded just how comfortable festival goers are in staying ignorant of some of the most important and prolific musical acts of our time; and just how hilarious and strangely infuriating it is to the rest of us.

You often hear an AU contributor rate a gig as a highlight of the year, but by the time the year is over, what still sits on that top 5 list? Well, we asked our contributors just that and from all those responses we bring you the AU's top thirteen international tours of 2013! Read on and see how many of the gigs you were at...