Month: January 2017

Prey gets new trailer, worldwide release date

Bethesda and Arkane Studios’ upcoming reboot of supernatural shooter Prey has just dropped a brand new gameplay trailer, and unveiled its worldwide release date. Mid year is starting to look very, very interesting.

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Film Review: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (USA, 2017) brings the tale of the world’s unluckiest woman to a close

If there’s one thing you can rely on in a Resident Evil movie, it certainly isn’t subtlety.  Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is what it says on the tin — the last film in Paul W. S. Anderson‘s increasingly bonkers series of action horror films adapted from the video game franchise of the same name. For fans keen…

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Six regular events and parties to check out in Tokyo, Japan on a budget

With ridiculously cheap flight options, its relatively close proximity to Australia and the promise of endless cultural fascination, Tokyo has in recent years become a regular go-to destination for Aussie travellers. Though it enjoys a reputation for being an expensive destination to visit, when compared to our major cities, this idea is somewhat unfounded. That…

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Book Review: Libby Angel’s The Trapeze Act is a beautifully frustrating tale of a young girl struggling to define herself in a family of wild characters

Bringing up the rear of a family of circus runaways, ambitious playboy barristers, and juvenile delinquents, Loretta often finds that the best recourse is blending into the background of their scandalous and unusual existence. But Loretta cannot remain a fly on her family’s wall for much longer. As the four piece’s precarious existence begins to…

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Yann Tiersen’s moving performance gets a standing ovation at Sydney Opera House

Of course I knew soft ocean waves weren’t creeping up to multi-instrumentalist Yann Tiersen when he took the stage at the Sydney Opera House earlier this week, but I could have sworn I saw them. The man best known for scoring timeless French film Amélie (mostly with songs taken from his first few albums) staged an…

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Dune Rats’ Danny Beusa talks Laneway, learning from Powderfinger & The Kids Will Know It’s Bullshit

Self described as ‘three hyperactive stoner cunts that didnt come here for a haircut’, Dune Rats have created their own niche with their no-bullshit, stoner rock. I’m chatting to Danny Beusa, vocalist and guitarist, as he’s ordering avo on toast in the leafy, green suburb of Indooroopilly, Brisbane. He’s the epitome of chill, considering he’s…

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Southern California rapper Jonwayne set to release second LP Rap Album Two

Jonwayne, the rapper/musician/producer out of Southern California, has announced his second album aptly titled Rap Album Two will be dropping February 17th. From it, we’ve been given the alluring first cut, “Out Of Sight”. It’s a delicate, minimalistic story recited steadily over enchanting keys and the occasional shimmer of strings. By the end of the…

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Video Games Preview: Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands single player campaign

Our hands-on time with the single player campaign of Ubisoft’s forthcoming Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands certainly drilled in the whole “bigger and better” description that has been flying around the title, the first major release for the beloved tactical shooter series since 2014’s lukewarm Phantoms. Leaning on next-gen, at least on first impressions, has…

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Video Games First Impressions: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard VR Demo (R18+) (PSVR, 2017)

Considering the last games I played were Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Resident Evil 5, getting to spend time with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard , which just so happens to be part of a franchise that I cherish, was a really nice way to get back on the horse. Doubly so because it utilises a feature altogether new…

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Tropfest announces 2017 finalists for 25th anniversary event

The world’s largest short film festival, Tropfest,  has announced it 16 finalists for 2017, in this its 25-year anniversary.  The festival will take place on Saturday, 11th February.   This year, the films drew inspiration from the infamous Tropfest Signature Item (TSI), which in 2017 was PINEAPPLE. The films will screen to a live audience at…

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Win a double pass to see Allied at Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas on Bondi Beach

There a few signs which signal summer is truly here – longer days, warmer weather and the return of Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas. The quintessential summer cinema returns to Australia’s most iconic beach down at Bondi from January 19th to February 26th, 2017 for another season of movies, ice cream and sunsets. To celebrate…

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Film Review: Ben Affleck’s Live By Night (USA, 2016) is a visually stunning yet slow running 1920s gangster film

Based on the 2012 novel by Dennis Lehane of the same name, Live By Night is set in the prohibition era across the 1920s and 1930s. The man at the centre of the story, Joe Coughlin, is played by Ben Affleck, who brought this adaptation to life. He directed, wrote and produced the film, which…

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Sydney Festival Review: Tomboy Survival Guide is a powerful, important festival highlight (Performances to 29 January)

Described as “part anthem, part campfire story, and part instructions for the dismantling of the gender stories we tell”, Tomboy Survival Guide comes to Sydney Festival all the way from the Yukon in Canada, and serves as one of the most powerful performances to grace this year’s festival. The show is led by Ivan Coyote,…

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Sydney Festival Review: Institute provides a poignant look at mental illness (Performances until 28 January)

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘wrestling with their inner demons’ – you may even know someone who has. In Institute, English physical theatre company, Gecko, has taken that idea and turned it inside out, giving us a powerful and beautiful physical representation of the inner workings of the human mind. Institute does not follow an…

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Splashh announce second album, Waiting A Lifetime, due mid April

Take my hand and I’ll show you a band that has moved across the lands, beginning in suburban Australia and currently residing in New York, who have one of the coolest 90’s garage sounds going round. Despite their hazy guitars and echoing, droning vocals making for low-fi foundations, Splashh add layers of zooming synths and bright…

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Wafia chats about returning to St. Stephen’s Uniting Church for the Sydney Festival

Ahead of her show at St. Stephen’s Uniting Church as part of this year’s Sydney Festival, the AU catches up with Wafia. With new material on the way following on from a successful year of music and shows in front of consistently growing crowds around the country, Wafia stares down the barrel of another huge year of…

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Music Video of the Day: Horrorshow ft. Taj Ralph “Push” (2017)

Horrorshow head to country New South Wales for their new music video for the track “Push” – one we’ve been digging this week. Filmed by the Entropico crew, stories of striving to achieve one’s goals are explored within a diverse and culturally rich landscape. We meet Phil Kennedy and Mansi Patel, two individuals who have been running their own businesses,…

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Exclusive Single Premiere: Sam Buckingham “The Water” (2017)

The effortlessly talented and charming Sam Buckingham returns from time spent abroad with a brand new album to be shared with fans and newcomers alike. Setting her sights on Latin America, the Byron Bay native spent time away travelling through Costa Rica, Granada Honduras and Nicaragua before coming home to put this album together – the…

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Album Review: Dusken Lights – In The Service of Spring (2016 LP)

In The Service of Spring is the debut full-length from Sydney’s Dusken Lights. It’s an extremely relaxed album – very, very low energy – but very sweet and pretty when it works. The opening track, “Superman, Wondergirl” (sidenote, why no Wonder Woman?) is a promising opener, with the juxtaposed vocals of singer/guitarist Paul O. Watling…

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Win a double pass to Café del Mar Sydney’s Electric Gardens After Party

Café del Mar invites you to the Electric Gardens After Party this Australia Day weekend, Sunday 29th January from 12:00pm to 2:00am. Situated in the heart of Darling Harbour, Café del Mar offers the perfect setting to dine, drink & dance the night away whilst overlooking one of Sydney’s most iconic destinations. International DJ and…

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PJ Harvey and her nine-piece band lead an evocative performance for Sydney Festival

The irony of gentrification was exposed and wryly chastised on last year’s Grammy-nominated instant-classic The Hope Six Demolition Project, the ninth studio album from the inimitable PJ Harvey and the reason for her current Australian tour. The 11-track project was, and is, a poetic flare straight to the core of misguided bureaucracy, drawing the ire…

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US seven-piece Middle Children announce their debut album, Earth Angel

Mustered from a team of seven individually talented musicians (not to be mistaken for Australia’s own Middle Kids) comes Earth Angel, a debut record culminating fuzzy, melodic pop-rock with charismatic storytelling. Originally blooming from the multi-talented Patrick Jennings (Hot New Mexicans, Purple 7), this musical project is curated, written and recorded from Jenning’s home in…

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Film Review: Moonlight (USA, 2016) is a stunningly beautiful character study; a modern masterpiece

Two young African American males sit on a beach together, bathed in moonlight. One asks the other: “You cry?”. The other replies, “I cry so much sometimes, I feel like I’ma turn to drops,”. Ripped from the pages of the play Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, this scene for me perfectly…

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Win a double pass to see Gold starring Matthew McConaughey

Kenny Wells (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey) is a modern day prospector, desperate for a lucky break who teams up with a similarly eager geologist (Golden Globe nominee Édgar Ramírez) to find gold deep in the uncharted jungle of Indonesia. Getting the gold was hard, but keeping it would be even harder, sparking an adventure…

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Aussies Abroad: Julia Jacklin and Alex Cameron among artists announced for Pickathon 2017

The Pickathon Festival is taking place on the Pendarvis Farm in Oregon’s Happy Valley this August, headlined by Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires and featuring the likes of Dinosaur Jr., Ty Segall and Dungen. Among the American greats are some notable inclusions from Australia and New Zealand, with Marlon Williams, Alex Cameron and Julia Jacklin…

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Sydney Festival Review: Huff is bold and unsettling (Performances until 28 January)

Native Earth Performing Arts’ Sydney Festival offering, Huff, is arresting, confronting, and oddly comedic. Immensely talented writer and performer, Cliff Cardinal, ensures the audience is continually unsettled, and you will find yourself laughing at circumstances that are far from funny. If you’re looking for a feel-good night out, safely ensconced behind the theatrical fourth wall,…

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Arnott’s announce Gelato Messina Tim Tam range

Call this the dessert collaboration to end all dessert collaborations (and we all know just how many pop up just about every week). Arnott’s have had the good sense to take their iconic Tim Tam biscuits and introduce a range of new flavours in partnership with none other than the most in-demand dessert brand in…

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KFC introduce lamington krushers because ‘Straya

In time for Australia Day, KFC have just released what is perhaps their greatest creation since the Golden Gaytime Krusher made it’s way onto the fast food giant’s menu; the creation: Lamington krusher. The limited edition shake is being added to their range to go head-to-head with it’s Golden Gaytime counterpart, with KFC encouraging Australians…

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UberEATS to deliver bags of ice to backyard barbecues across Australia tomorrow

If a typical Aussie backyard BBQ is your main game for the Australia Day public holiday tomorrow then you may want to make sure you’ve got UberEATS on your smartphone. The delivery service have announced that instead of the usual messina and puppie bringing, their fleet of on-demand drivers will be heading around all serviced…

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How to celebrate Chinese New Year in Sydney and Melbourne this year

Determined, passionate and diligent: three traits attributed to the red fire rooster, the tenth sign of the Chinese Zodiac and the symbol for 2017’s Chinese New Year celebrations. A wealth of Chinese culture and tradition surrounds each city around the world from now until early February, bringing with it a huge amount of things to…

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