Year: 2012

Day three of Canadian Music Week got off to a reasonably slow start as we enjoyed one of the few sleep-ins of our trip, ahead of our usual slog of interviews and meetings. As we ran from one place to the next, however, I did manage to catch a couple of bands… albeit briefly. First…

Welcome to the 10th edition of the AU review’s ARTS review, where we present all the latest news from the Arts and Film world. In This Issue: Emerging burlesque artists compete for Australian title, African Film Festival Australia premiers, Daniel Ho visits for National Folk Festival, Video-game heaven at Federation Square, Street artist E.L.K nominated…

PÝR is the latest EP from Perth rockers Heytesburg, and is only the band’s second ever release. I feel the need to point that out only because they don’t really sound like a band in the early years of their career. As with their first EP, the ambitious and atmospheric From The River I Come,…

The undisputed most talked about singer of 2012, Lana Del Rey, has released the follow-up video for her new single, “Blue Jeans”. With a thematic and nostalgic swimming pool setup, the black and white clip depicts the sombre turn of unrequited love, with the recurring feature of partner in crime, Bradley Soileau, of “Born To…

In 2011, the Music portion of SXSW was extended a day to cross over with the final day the interactive event. This now gives Film, Music and Interactive badge holders the opportunity to check out the wares of one and other, as the Interactive badges show their signs of fatigue, giving Music badges a glimpse…

The trip to SXSW is always fraught with adventure, and this year was no different. Flying into Los Angeles on Friday afternoon – and arriving earlier that morning thanks to the wonders of the international date line – we hit the ground running and enjoyed the spoils of the Universal Studios to keep ourselves from…

Mercury Prize nominee and British folk multi-instrumentalist Seth Lakeman, along with his band, will be coming to Australia for the first time next month. The tour will see Lakeman joining forces with friend and touring companion Carus Thompson on a series of dates that will see him playing Bluesfest and the Fairbridge Folk Festival, along…

Ahead of his run of sold out shows we catch up with Irish folk sensation James Vincent McMorrow to find out a bit more about what audiences can expect from his impending visit. We also discuss his debut album Early In The Morning and discuss the influence of soul music and Sufjan Stevens on his…

Wednesday night saw The Bakery play host to one of the world’s latest soul sensations, Charles Bradley. Backed by His Extraordinaires, Bradley put on an impressive show, and one, which will surely stick in the memory for quite some time. DJ Charlie Bucket warmed up the crowd, with a few choice selections, including the odd…

Ahead of the launch of PÝR the bands second EP we check in with Perth’s Heytesburg to have chat about the inspiration behind the new EP, working with Matt Gio and where the name Heytesburg came from as well as their plans for the future. PÝR is being launched at the Rosemount Hotel on Saturday…

Annie Clark AKA St. Vincent brought her sweet voice and ripping guitar riffs to the Melbourne Hi-Fi Bar in impressive fashion. Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! were a very nice surprise for the support act. The Adelaide natives put on an apt performance of some of their latest material that the crowd lapped up and then…

When Bruce Springsteen was announced as the keynote speaker for the 2012 SXSW music conference in Austin, Texas, the addition of a one off, intimate show was inevitable. Not only was this added, but tonight, in front of two thousand or so lucky fans at ACL Live, he brought his sixteen piece E-Street Band along…

Welcome to issue 9 of the AU review’s ARTS review, our weekly glimpse into what is new and exciting in Australian Art and Film. In This Issue: Line up announced for 2012 Sydney Comedy Festival, Adelaide Festival names new Chief Executive, Surfers Paradise is a crime scene for CSI Experience, applications open for Crack Theater…

New York electro-pop group, Here We Go Magic, sure know how to get people talking, thanks to the release of their controversial video for lead single, “Make Up Your Mind.” The Nat Livingston Johnson and Gregory Mitnick directed video features scantily-clad women in a state of possession and experiencing epileptic fits, which may not be…

One of the most anticipated festival line-ups of the year has just been announced… and it’s massive! The fourth annual Newton’s Nation, to be held at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, will offer festival-goers a plentiful dose of emerging rock and hip hop acts, as well as DJ and electronic sets. The three day event is…

I, like many of you, have had my doubts about attending Future Music Festival. A festival noted for having crowds of shirtless meatheads, ripe with Southern Cross tattoos, of girls with shorts so short and shirts so non-existent that you think they’d have had to have sent their dads comatose just so they could leave…

Andrew Wade: SXSW has rapidly become my favorite event of the year. Travel, free booze, music, free booze, partying, good friends and… free booze. There’s also a massive opportunity to meet and watch some of the best musicians and groups in the world today. Here are my highlights for the 2012 event; I’ll be endeavoring…

As I sit in Los Angeles, on my way to SXSW, the Future Music Festival is making its way around Australia. Thankfully, just before I departed (in dates that continue), those in Sydney and Melbourne were provided with a plethora of sideshows to choose from. On Thursday night in Sydney, in advance of their appearance…

The Theatre Royal Bath Productions presentation of The Caretaker for the 2012 Adelaide Festival is a superb example of modern theater, from one of the worlds most influential playwrights, Harold Pinter. Starring internationally celebrated and multi-award winning actor Jonathan Pryce the play is at once a simple tale of an outsider with secrets, and a…

We caught up with Toby Leaman of Dr. Dog to have a chat about the new album Be The Void, touring and much more! How are you going there? Yeah, really well. Where abouts are you at the moment? I’m at my house in Delaware. How has the year been treating you so far? You’re…

We caught up with The Cairos to talk about their new single “Shame”, tour life and much more! About the tour, you guys just played your first show the other night, then had a massive drive to Sydney from Brisbane. Tell me a bit about the adventure so far? Their pretty standard adventures. We’ve done…

It has been awhile, but the wait is (almost) over. Beach House has just released their first single, “Myth”, taken from their recently announced album, Bloom, which will be available from May 15th. Tracklisting for the upcoming LP is as follows: 1. Myth 2. Wild 3. Lazuli 4. Other People 5. The Hours 6. Troublemaker…

Being the progeny of influential songwriter and poet Leonard Cohen would no doubt have one draw back; how do you live up to expectations? Judging by the size of the turn out for Canadian musician Adam Cohen’s one-night-only Adelaide Fringe performance on Thursday, and the enthusiasm of the crowd, Cohen clearly has a following of…

Kicking off the proceedings were local lads Royston Vasie who play generic pub rock with no strings and their set was pleasantly middle of the road. They were one of those bands who you listen to and instantly start picking apart their plethora of obvious influences, which in their case range from The Dandy Warhols…

In a track which is perhaps already a bit of an ode to the Beastie Boys, Brisbane it-kids DZ Deathrays are now citing Paul Simon as an influence in their new video for “No Sleep”. They’ve enlisted the help of the one and only Arj Barker to perform a bit of a parody of “You…

Great video, or greatest video? Bluejuice pay homage to the great karaoke videos of living memory in a video of “On My Own”, directed by Samuel Bennetts. The track is taken from the album Company, out now. It’s tops. Enjoy. Check out tour dates for the band here: http://www.bluejuice.info/

We’re big fans of Passenger here at the AU review, and with the release of his new video “The Wrong Direction”, we’ve been reminded why. The video features some great animation and plenty of running in the wrong direction. Enjoy!

There’s something quite understated about Will Oldman, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy‘s, eccentric talent, and a packed out Sydney Opera House got the opportunity to experience this first hand on Monday night with a spellbinding show with his backing band The Cairo Gang. Complete with beautiful three part harmonies, the vocals of Angel Olsen, guitars and…

Some bands should need no introduction, but unfortunately Atlanta, Georgia’s Manchester Orchestra still do. The band whose three studio albums and six EPs have made them a household name amongst critics around the world, still have yet to crack it into most households elsewhere. And with tonight (re)confirming my suspicions that they’re also a phenomenal…