Year: 2015

Pictured: METZ / Photo by Andrew Wade in Brisbane For the past four years, Laneway Festival has celebrated their internationally renouned festival by throwing a special party at SXSW. The event often serves as an indicator of some of the bands we might end up seeing at Laneway in Australia in the following year. Well,…

It was an exciting proposition: a group of media being taken from the waters of Circular Quay on a Veuve Clicquot cruise to Manly, to enjoy the long awaited launch of the new Hugo’s Manly Deck, accompanied by a decedent sunset dinner to boot. Of course, such a proposition is “weather dependent”, but thankfully mother…

Flights between the East and West Coasts of Australia have long been supported by all our major airlines in Australia – however when Virgin introduced an overhaul to its service to the route, it changed the way we travel between. Moving away from the “budget” approach it had taken under the Blue moniker, the new…

The really really ridiculously good looking Ben Stiller and the so-hot-right-now Owen Wilson re-teamed as Derek Zoolander and Hansel (from classic comedy Zoolander) to actually walk the Maison Valentino catwalk show over in Paris. This marks a return for the duo after first appearing on our screens 14 years ago. Their walk was preceded by…

Remember, way back when Hannah was in Iowa, and her father came to visit her acting very, very strange? As it turns out, he was struggling with something of a conundrum – he was trying to figure out if he was gay. Now Tad knows, Loreen knows, and Hannah definitely knows. It really was too good to…

One thing The Walking Dead has never been particularly good at is juggling such a big ensemble cast, which is why the tail end of Season 4 remains some of the show’s finest hours since the first season. This is why we catch up with one character and really flesh them out, and then watch…

Bob’s penchant for not backing down on ‘the principle of the thing’ no matter how inane rears its head in “Lil Hard Dad”. The difference this time around is Gene, who usually doesn’t pay much attention to his father’s impassioned irrelevant causes, decides to jump on board the insane train. The result a rare moment where Bob’s…

Alyssa Sutherland is in Los Angeles and in very good spirits when we speak, keeping busy doing publicity for season 3 of Vikings, already a ratings winner in the US. The acclaimed Norse historical drama, created and written by Michael Hirst, stars two Australians, Travis Fimmel as the legendary Ragnar Lothbrok whose saga the show…

Ahead of its screening as part of SXSW this week, we chat to the director of Clipping.‘s music video “Body and Blood”, Patrick Kennelly. Patrick takes us through the collaborative processes, artistic references and his favourite parts of the shoot. the AU review then gets stuck into specifics with Patrick, talking camera gear, challenges and post-production…

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has faithfully adapted a novel of the same name by Thomas Pynchon for Inherent Vice, an hilarious look into a 1970’s L.A, awash with drugged-up eccentricity as a convoluted would-be missing persons case is sniffed around by a stoner private investigator. Said P.I is portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix who brings Larry…

Brendan Cowell, Shaun Gladwell and Nashen Moodley have just launched ‘The Film Crowd’, a place where enthusiastic film supporters gather at Sydney Film Festival talks over drinks. Being part of the ‘Crowd’ is all about engaging with film, gaining a unique insider perspective, meeting film industry and like-minded people in a social environment, extending your…

Adam Brand is one of Australia’s most loved and recognizable country music artists. The 12-time Golden Guitar winner is heading to Thredbo to headline the Snowy Mountains Country Music Festival this month. I spoke to Adam about set lists, fan moments and what more we can expect in 2015.

It’s almost been 10 years since Damien Leith won our hearts winning Australian Idol in 2006. Since then, the ARIA award winning artist has released 2 novels and 7 albums, and in March 2015, is set to release Songs From Ireland – a celebratory nod to his musical homeland.

In our 28th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Sydney’s Betty & Oswald, and chat about the band’s spur-of-the-moment formation and their latest track ‘King Of Bohemia’. Band Name: Betty & Oswald Website / Social Media: Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp Genre: Grimy city blues & art house jazz Members & their roles: Pete Sotiropoulos…

We’re excited to announce that Courtney Barnett is our artist for the month of March 2015, in anticipation of the release of her debut LP Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit on March 20th. She’ll be taking over our digital radio station from time to time this month to play you some of…

Pictured: METZ in 2013, photographed by Andrew Wade This Friday, the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film and Interactive conference and festival kicks off in Austin, Texas… then the Music Mayhem starts next Tuesday! We’re just days away from flying to the great city ourselves for the 6th consecutive year of coverage, so we thought we’d…

While she was touring Australia at the end of last month, the AU review captured Lindsey Stirling performing a snippet of her track “Shatter Me” on a Balcony overlooking the Sydney, Australia CBD. Watch the exclusive video here as part of our sessions series:

the AU review sits down with Tord Øverland Knudsen and Dan Haggis of Liverpool outfit The Wombats to talk about the two music videos off their forthcoming Glitterbug LP (out 3rd April 2015 through Warner Music Australia): the surprisingly violent “Greek Tragedy” and the animated “Your Body is a Weapon”. Watch our chat about the…

the AU review sits down with Sydney Singer/Songwriter Emma Beau to talk about her debut crowd-funded EP (available now), upcoming tour dates (playing The Bearded Lady in Brisbane on 12th March) and much more! Don’t miss Emma in Brisbane on the 12th as part of her EP launch tour! Grab all the details, and the…

2014 was a pretty rough year to be a fan of Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft’s attempt at bringing the series into the latest console generation was calamitous at best, but in all the tumult surround Assassin’s Creed Unity, it was easy to forget that it wasn’t the only AC title being released. Assassin’s Creed Rogue, previously…

In what is perhaps the most revealing trailer Game of Thrones has ever released for a season, a new 1:51 minute sneak peak has debuted via Apple’s hotly anticipated Spring Forward keynote. We take a look at Dany’s triumphant ‘break the wheel’ speech, a potential war between Bolton and Baratheon, new characters, and more. With…

The Sydney Morning Herald Spectrum Now, presented by ANZ, has revealed that award-winning US actor Jeffrey Tambor will be joining festival Creative Director Richard Roxburgh in conversation about his latest TV show Transparent, his career and life. Tambor recently won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy…

  Ahead of its Home Entertainment release on Australia this Thursday, we caught up with actress Sarah Gadon to talk about playing Mirena in last year’s Dracula Untold. She discusses her thoughts on the film, working with director Gary Shore and the history of Dracula. She also reflects on working with the great David Cronenberg over the years and…

When it comes to international popularity, it might be fair to argue that the Americana scene is the strongest it’s been in some time. Not that they’re perhaps the best examples of the genre (nor from the South), but nonetheless, the popularity of artists like Hozier and Mumford and Sons has helped solidify the sound…

Monday 9th March 2015 Winter’s Bone – SBS 2 – 10:15pm AEST Revisit Jennifer Lawrence’s career-making performance in Winter’s Bone. Lawrence stars as an Ozark Mountain girl who rebels against the local code of conduct to track down her drug-dealing father in an effort to keep her family from homelessness. Lawrence is steely and daring…

With their brand new record in stores now, we caught up with Fremantle’s San Cisco while they were in Sydney a couple of weeks back to talk about Gracetown (said new record), their upcoming travels to Mexico, SXSW, touring with Groovin’ The Moo and much more. One can assume that Nick Gardner did not expect…

The Iris is proud to support the In The House series at Event Cinemas on George Street in Sydney – helping bring classic films back to the big screen. This week, Taxi Driver was screened, and the trivia question was: “Are You Talking To Me” is easily one of cinema’s most famous phrases? But what…

In our 27th instalment of “Stumbled Upon”, we meet Brisbane singer/songwriter Dave Power, and chat about his last independent EP Looking Life In The Eye and his new upcoming release. Musician: Dave Power Website / Social Media: davepowermusic.com/ / Facebook Genre: singer/songwriter Members & their roles: Dave Power – Songwriter, vocals, guitars, harmonica, keyboards, producer…

Photo Credit: Andrew Wade Currently touring Australia with the Foo Fighters and Rise Against, Sydney’s The Delta Riggs are doing big things for Australian rock n roll. So, when they’re getting ready to hit up these massive stadium stages, what gets them in the mood? Here now is an exclusive playlist – courtesy of the…

We’d like to give five stars to director Alex Smith for this truly amazing video for “The Edge”. For anyone who grew up watching Rage, this will warm your heart and soul. And thanks to the collaboration of Donny Benet and Kirin J Callinan, the music ain’t bad either. I’d like to go as far…