Day: 4 May 2016

Aussies at CMW: Spotlight on 2016 Showcase Artist, Rin McArdle!

Adelaide’s Rin McArdle find herself in Toronto this week for Canadian Music Week, the songwriter performing at the Indica Records showcase tonight! Get to know a bit more about Rin in our ‘Getting to Know You’ spotlight series… Introduce yourself! Hello, I’m Rin McArdle and I’m an musician from Adelaide in South Australia! Have you played…

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Music Video of the Day: Holy Fuck “Tom Tom” (2016)

The distorted, crackling opening notes of music got me first. As “Tom Tom” continued to unfurl, I became more and more hooked. The latest from Holy Fuck is an exciting indicator of where the band is headed on new album Congrats and this week, the film clip for the single has been one we’ve hit…

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Music Video of the Day: Drown This City “I’m Not Divided” (2016)

If you haven’t heard of Alex Reade, you’re goddamn about to. The front woman of Melbourne post-hardcore group Drown This City has a voice to be reckoned with and in their latest single, “I’m Not Divided”, the vocalist absolutely shines. Rolling with the punches of being part of (still) heavily male-dominated genre is a facet of Reade…

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The Creases heading out on tour with “Impact” this July

The Creases are -finally- back with some new music and some tour dates you’d be silly to miss. The Brisbane band have released their single, “Impact”, this week and it’s a great return and step forward for the group. The sound is loud and boisterous as you’d expect, while the songwriting has stepped up and…

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The 2016 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition now accepting entries

Songwriters are encouraged to enter the 2016 Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition, with entries now open for another year! As with previous years, the winning writer/s will take home a $50,000 prize thanks to APRA AMCOS and Alberts, while two separate cash prizes are up for grabs for the runners up – $10,000 and $5,000,…

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Harrison Craig (VIC) on the new record, Mother’s Day, Josh Groban and all things Disney

Harrison Craig, the winner of the second series of The Voice, is one of the top performers set to perform Surfers Paradise LIVE – a free three-day musical event celebrating a diversity of genres on the Gold Coast – it really is set to be something spectacular. Currently hard at work on his third studio…

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Single of the Day: Local Natives “Past Lives” (2016)

Local Natives’ 2013 LP Hummingbird was one of the most emotive and consistently strong releases of the year, and they’ve just returned with single “Past Lives”, the first cut from their forthcoming third album. The LA based four piece have consistently evolved their sound since debut Gorilla Manor in 2009, and while “Past Lives” is…

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Jack Garratt on the narcissistic nature of the music industry & the bigger picture

Splendour in the Grass-bound artist Jack Garratt is on the home stretch of an American tour when I catch up with him. Having seen the UK artist perform briefly while at SXSW, it didn’t take long for me to realise just how much of an impact he had made with the release of debut album Phase. A…

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Bloodline releases on DVD tomorrow, check out this deleted scene!

Netflix’s charged drama Bloodline is releasing on DVD and Blu-ray this week and to celebrate we have an exclusive deleted scene from the first season to share. The scene is entitled “The Secrets We Keep” and is one of several deleted scenes included as part of the releases’ special features. Check it out below: Season…

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Aykroyd and Belushi bringing back The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers will return to primetime tv, with co-creators Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi set to pitch to networks this month, Rolling Stone reports. After 38 years since the pair’s official debut on Saturday Night Live in 1978,  Aykroyd and Belushi will return to the screen, teaming up with Saturday Night Live original writer Anne Beattes and animators…

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El Chapo drama series #Cartel in the works

The History  Channel will tell the true story of Mexico’s drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in drama series #Cartel. The show is written by the co-creator of Netflix’s Narcos, Chris Brancato, and is co-produced by ABC Signature, the cable branch of the ABC studios  and A+E Studios.   #Cartel reveals the events that took place during El Chapo’s 25-year long reign…

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Doctor Blake Mysteries back for series five

ABC has announced that locally-produced drama series The Doctor Blake Mysteries will be back for a fifth season. After series four’s successful run (with a whopping average of 1.67 million viewers), Craig McLachlan returns as police surgeon Dr Lucien Blake and Nadine Garner as his trusty housekeeper Jean.  Loyalty and friendships will be tested and…

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Why you should watch Star Wars in the “Machete Order” this May the 4th

If you have yet to watch the compelte Star Wars saga through in “The Machete Order”, this May 4th is absolutely the right time to try it. Coined by blogger Rod Hilton, the Machete Order is an approach to rewatching the Star Wars films in a way that seeks to minimize some of the prequel’s…

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Blu-Ray Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (M15+) (USA, 2015)

As we celebrate #MayThe4thBeWithYou, we sat down with the two disc Blu-Ray release of the latest Star Wars film, The Force Awakens. First, we look back at Ryan Champion’s review of the film, before we get neck deep in the disc of special features that fans can enjoy! So, is the release worth the purchase?…

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Sydney Film Festival combines fine foods and film for gourmet cinema event

The Sydney Film Festival, nearing one month from its starting date, continues to make additions to the eleven-day event. This time pairing with Sydney restaurant The Bridge Room for a screen and dine event. The gourmet cinema event will run from the 14th-15th of June and start with a screening of Ants on a Shrimp:…

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Vikings, Warcraft star Travis Fimmel to attend Supanova Expo in Sydney and Perth

Australian actor Travis Fimmel will attend local Supanova Pop Culture Expo in Sydney and Perth in June. The Aussie thespian from country Victoria has garnered international praise for his portrayal of Ragnar Lothbrok in critically acclaimed historical drama Vikings, created and written by Michael Hirst. He also stars as Sir Anduin Lothar, the main hero…

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Video Games Review: Star Fox Zero (Wii U, 2016)

It’s been a while since I went back and forth on a game the way I have with Star Fox Zero. For those who would consider themselves veterans of the series, it’s a confusing experience from the moment it begins. It looks like the Star Fox you know and love. It sounds like the Star Fox you know…

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Presto graffiti Melbourne to celebrate the release of Empire season one

Celebrating urban oeuvre and series release, Empire and Presto are encouraging Australians to submit their hip-hop pseudonym to Presto on Facebook for a chance to have their name painted by the center of Melbourne’s CBD. Graffiti artist Vanderlism will paint submitted names during an exhibition at the Empire shrine, on the corner of La Trobe…

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Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell’s Bad Moms gets a trailer

The new comedy from the writing duo behind The Hangover has received its first trailer and it looks like that Jon Lucas and Scott Moore magic has been rekindled. Starring real life moms Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate, Bad Moms is about three mothers departing from the formal customs of work and PTA…

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Supanova patches June lineup with Vikings and Deadpool stars

Bad news for Wonder Woman fans – Gal Godot has had to postpone her upcoming appearance at Supanova Pop Culture Expo’s Sydney and Perth events due to filming commitments for the Justice League film. However, the expo has traded one legendary warrior for another with Aussie-actor-turned-Viking Travis Fimmel added to the  lineup. With the premiere…

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Martin Scorsese in talks for George Washington biopic

Oscar Award winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, The Departed) is in early talks to direct the gritty George Washington biopic The General from Red Granite Pictures. The script is the work of Assassin’s Creed writers Adam Cooper and Bill Collage. Red Granite’s Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland will be producing. The story centers around General…

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Human Rights Arts & Film Festival Review: Hooligan Sparrow (China, 2016)

There are a LOT of crazy, yet infuriating stories that happen in Communist China. Some of the stories include an annual dog-eating festival to its catastrophic levels of pollution to hundreds of dead pigs in rivers and many others – but none of them had prepared me for this hard-hitting and shocking documentary. When I first…

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Human Rights Arts & Film Festival Review: GTFO (USA, 2015)

It’s no secret that nerd culture has a problem with sexism. From last year’s #gamergate to the more-recent controversy around Allison Rapp, discourse in the games industry has been dominated by this ugly cultural intersection between woman and video games. For those who haven’t been keeping tabs on things, GFTO is a reasonably effective primer as…

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Interview: Our exclusive with Pixar’s Sharon Calahan

With Inside Out‘s Best Animated Feature win at the Oscars behind us and the release of Finding Dory creeping up on us, it’s a good time to be a Pixar fan. We caught up with Sharon Calahan, one of the studios most prolific cinematographers and talked about her work, The Good Dinosaur and the culture of a…

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Flight Review: Norwegian Airlines (New York JFK to London Gatwick) DY7016 – Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner

Last Year, as we flew from New York City’s JFK to London’s Gatwick to make it to The Great Escape, AU Abroad’s Larry Heath tried out the service of Norwegian Airlines for the first time. It also marked his first flight on the new Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner. A budget airline along the lines of Jetstar,…

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Travel Diary: Queensland’s Selahphonic take on House Parties in LA, Canadian Music Week, Rehab in San Jose and more!

Last year, Sunshine Coast’s Selahphonic enjoyed house parties in L.A, had a “rad” three days at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, headed to to Dive Bars and Rehab in San Jose, not to mention big water falls and big bridges… And they treated us all to their experiences in this exclusive Travel Diary. This one’s a…

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Resort Spotlight: It’s Safari Meets the Sea at The Elandra Mission Beach in North Queensland

”Chris, we need you to fly up to Cairns and travel to a private resort near Mission Beach where you’ll stay the weekend”. Never have I heard a sentence so sweet. A unique blend of safari and suave, The Elandra, Mission Beach sits pretty in the middle of a tropical rainforest, approximately two-hours drive from…

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Professor Brian Cox returns to Australia in August with a new stage show

Former keyboardist, and current superstar physicist Professor Brian Cox OBE is returning to Australia in August with a brand new stage show; A Journey in to Deep Space. Once again teaming up with Lateral Events, Cox over the course of the show will be exploring some of the unanswered questions that abound about deep space; drawing…

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Seven new Melbourne bars you really need to know about

Melbourne’s bar scene is perhaps the most influential in the country, and it’s a constant reference point for creativity and culture, always moving forward. That forward movement has resulted in some pretty epic openings in the past few months so from Fitzroy to Cheltenham we bring you seven of our favourite new and new-ish bars…

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What to do for Cinco de Mayo in Sydney for 2016

Tomorrow, May 5th, will bring Cinco de Mayo around once again, celebrating Mexican culture around the world, and you can be sure some of Sydney’s best are getting involved with various specials, events, and more. We’ve put together a guide for the best happenings in Sydney tomorrow so get across these and you’ll soon be…

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