Year: 2016

Meet UK four piece Cairobi. Armed with some great psych-pop sounds, the band is working its way further and further on to various stages and in the lead up to the release of their debut self-titled record this September, the band isn’t wasting time in generating awesome hype for themselves. Their latest single release in “Lupo”…

This week in the music industry: the International Music Summit released their 2016 business report focusing on the electronic music industry, Sounds Australia revealed new plans to further promote Australian music overseas and Dan Nevin, CEO of Australian Independent Record Labels Association announced his resignation from the independent trade body. International Music Summit business report…

Toronto four piece PUP have released their new album The Dream Is Over today and have backed up the great news with a brand spanking new Australian tour announcement! The run of shows will have the band visiting venues down the east coast this October, showcasing the band’s most rebellious and confident record yet. PUP have been featured…

Melbourne’s Mighty Boys head to the track in bringing to life visuals for their ode to the Dapto Racetrack, “Dapto Dreaming”. Taken from the band’s new EP Timely Reminders, the single uses the famous Sydney racetrack to illuminate ideas of particularly Australian masculinity, the idea of ‘the bloke’ and the culture that surrounds it. The result is gritty,…

Seated across the road from Brighton’s Copperdollar Studios on a chilly Friday afternoon, Ry X is digging into some food ahead of a session slotted into his schedule at The Great Escape. “Would you like some?” he asks, offering me some of his meal as I join him on the bench. I gratefully decline, knowing how…

Lance Ferguson has followed up his impressive Lanu album, The Double Sunrise, with a special documentary featurette that takes us through the making of the record! The record, out now, was released back in February to much acclaim and has become one of Lanu’s best releases to date. In this 10 minute short, Ferguson retraces the inspirations that ultimately formed the…

Marcus Whale is set to take his much anticipated debut album Inland Sea down the east coast this June and July! The album, set for a June 10th release, is Marcus’ first under his own name and a step outside his work with Collarbones and BV while remaining very much in the pocket of some great and forward…

In This Issue: A wide range of fresh tunes this week from electro to thrasher, broaden your ear drums and enjoy! FLUME After writing in hotel rooms, aeroplanes, trains, taxis and tour vans, Flume’s album Skin is available today via Future Classic! FUJIYA & MIYAGI Brighton based outfit Fujiya & Miyagi will be releases new music in EP…

Irish duo Little Hours came to my attention somewhere between the Norwegian indie pop and German rock selections on my Great Escape Spotify playlist last month. Between John Doherty and Ryan Mc Closkey, some gorgeous indie-folk sounds present themselves and after discovering their debut EP, I knew theirs was a set I’d wanted to see out in Brighton. Sitting down with both…

After a multitude of powerful performances on the big and small screen over the last three decades, renowned Cherokee actor Wes Studi is amassing a new legion of fans as the enigmatic Kaetenay on John Logan’s critically lauded gothic drama Penny Dreadful; a show teeming with literary horror characters including Dracula, Dorian Gray and Victor…

Have you seen that ad where the three kids sit in the car and talk about how their dads drive when they’re blazed? If so, you’ll probably recognise Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison), though he’s done some growing. When he arrives at his latest foster home, deep in the New Zealand bushland, he steps out of…

Taika Waititi‘s Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a delightfully off-beat trek through the New Zealand bush, starring Julian Dennison and Sam Neill. We caught up with Waititi and Dennison to chat about what it was like working on the film, its origins and what’s on the cards next for the two. Taika, how do you feel Hunt…

When we were first introduced to the inmates of Litchfield Penitentiary in the 2013 debut season of Orange is the New Black, it was quite clear that we were supposed to be introduced to this new environment through the show’s protagonist, Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling). The upper-class NYC dweller’s transportation to a world completely different to the…

A film this intrinsically Aussie must exist as an enigma to international audiences. Something very alien, and as I thought once before, about what those people distant from the Antipodes would have made of Crackerjack, I again think for Pawno, and wonder whether subtitles could comprehend or merely transcribe the dialogue of a film so…

In an assault on horror, popular critic and academic Morris Dickstein wrote that the genre had become a “routinized way of playing with death, like going on the roller coaster”. It’s not impossible to see where his criticisms are founded, given the whole genre has been so formulated; mathematicians have actually developed a generic horror…

As part of a massive growth for the eighth annual Vivid Sydney, the now world famous festival of lights, music, and ideas has been expanded to 23 nights throughout May and June, and it all kicked off last night. Beginning with the traditional lighting of the sails, which this year features Songlines by six renowned…

A desire to connect communities and celebrate the diverse cultures that exist within Australia is the driving force behind the New Beginnings festival, to be held on 18 June at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour. Showcasing the talents, cultural expressions and stories of people with refugee backgrounds and those who are seeking asylum, New Beginnings features…

2014 Pizza World Champion Johnny Di Francesco, one of the best known names in Australia’s Italian dining scene, has recently expanded to a bit further than his two renowned pizza-focused restaurants 400 Gradi and Gradi at Crown, leaning towards the sweet tooths with his very first stand alone gelateria, Zero Gradi. Opened in East Brunswick,…

Port Stephans based Murray’s Craft Brewing Co are once preparing for their annual Dark Beer Month this June, planning several new releases that will be available progressively throughout the the month, starting from Saturday 4th June. A total of eight beers – 3 bottles, 5 draught – have been brewed for this time of the…

As part of their 25th anniversary collaboration series, long-standing Australian brand Byron Bay Cookie Company has tapped celebrated Chef Christine Manfield to launch a new, playful flavour that is sure to fly straight off the shelves. Manfield has whipped up the Salted Caramel Popcorn Cookie to add to the brand’s range, debuting it at David…

For those willing to go beyond the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street between the CBD and Taylor Square, you will find This Must Be The Place. This neighbourhood small bar is the combined success of two award-winning bartenders and cocktail connoisseurs, Luke Ashton and Charlie Ainsbury. Luke and Charlie have both claimed the title…

Methyl Ethel have continued to spread their music to more and more crowds around the world, most recently bringing the sounds to the UK as part of The Great Escape. Their debut album Oh Inhuman Spectacle showcased the Perth group as a talented band of musicians as well as been fiercely equipped with the skills to pen…

Heading to the UK last week, I had no proper idea of what to be expecting from The Great Escape. I had assumed it would be like SXSW but colder and by the beach, but aside from that, all I had to go on were stories from friends who’d showcased in Brighton in the past or…

Sharmill Films has acquired director Bruno Dumont‘s French comedy Slack Bay (Ma Loute) for cinematic release following its new-in-competition premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Set in the north of France in 1910, Slack Bay explores the mysterious disappearance of tourists from a picturesque coastal community and the increasingly odd behaviour of its local…

Presto announced yesterday, that NBC’s period crime drama Aquarius will return to the online streaming service in a special triple episode premiere event. Episodes one to three of the 1960s drama will stream express from the U.S on Friday June 17. Following the three-episode premiere, episodes will continue to steam week-by-week, direct from the U.S…

Online streaming service Stan this week announced its first feature-length project, The Second, to be funded by Screen Queensland. Billed as a psychological thriller, The Second will be given a cinema release before streaming exclusively on Stan (jointly owned by Nine Entertainment Co and Fairfax media). Mumbrella reports that the film will follow “two female…

If there is one thing I love, it’s a twin stick shooter. If there is something I love even more, it’s a twin stick shooter made by Housemarque. The Finnish developer gave us Dead Nation in 2011 and Resogun in 2014 and while Alienation, their newest IP has nothing in common with the latter, it…

Aussie John Noble has some pretty prolific pop culture roles under his belt. Since his time as an All Saint, John has found himself the covetable intelligent, slightly wicked choice for Hollywood producers looking to cast someone with that versatility (it’s not by his choice he swears). The result has been a flourish of eloquent…

It’s hard to know what to make of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the landscape of superhero television. It lacks the allegorical nuance of Jessica Jones, the gritty hyperviolence of Daredevil and the comic-book stylings of The Flash and Arrow. The show has always been a bit of a hybrid with an appeal of its own – though one…

Long gone are the days of simple headphones that keep the everyday consumer largely ignorant of the listening experience they often miss out on. That’s changed drastically in recent times, with more consumer headphones designed to bring the same power and quality as professional devices, and Parrot are among the biggest and trendiest of this…