Year: 2017

Archie Roach and Tina Arena headline first speaker announcement for BIGSOUND 2017

The BIGSOUND programming announcements have kicked off for yet another year, with some Aussie legends being announced as keynote speakers for the September music conference. Leading the announcement today, Archie Roach and Tina Arena will both be appearing in Brisbane for BIGSOUND – the two Australian music icons set to open up about their acclaimed and extensive careers. Says…

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Watch Bishop Briggs look ahead to Splendour, reflect on her massive 2017 and talk about her new tattoos

Our very own Larry Heath had a one-on-one backstage at Coachella 2017 with emerging superstar Bishop Briggs to reflect on her amazing year, look ahead to her Australian debut for Splendour in the Grass this July, talk about her new tattoos and much more… You can watch our chat here: Don’t miss Bishop Briggs when…

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Bad Pony (Sydney) talk about their “Deficiency” single tour and writing with Marc Orrell (ex-Dropkick Murphys) in the USA

Hitting the road today on their national “Deficiency” single tour, the criminally underrated Sydney quintet Bad Pony were recently over on the other side of the world in Toronto, Canada for the annual music festival and conference Canadian Music Week. While there, I sat down with Jarred and Sam from the group to talk about…

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Film Review: Ridley Scott tugs on existential threads with Alien: Covenant (USA, 2017)

2012’s Prometheus marked the beginning of a franchised prequel to Ridley Scott’s original Alien, not only taking fans back to the origins of this iconic sci-fi franchise, but diving deeper into the meaty philosophies such a concept brings, finding purpose with the motif of creation. The introduction of synthetic android David (Michael Fassbender) emerged as…

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Grey Box gets why you’re mad about Rime being $80AUD on the Switch

When publisher Grey Box announced Australian pricing for their forthcoming puzzle adventure title Rime, Nintendo Switch owners couldn’t help noticing that the game was significantly more expensive on their console than it was on any other. Grey Box have now addressed the issue, and detailed exactly what they plan to do about it.

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And the first eight films we’ve booked on our Sydney Film Festival 2017 flexipass are…

The 64th Annual Sydney Film Festival launched its amazing program yesterday, and over 12 days this June, there’ll be more film premieres and screenings than you’ll know what to do with. Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be letting you know plenty of our highlights – and we’re starting off with counting down the…

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New report suggests Mass Effect franchise on hiatus, Bioware Montreal undergoing restructure

A new report has suggested that, following the less-than-stellar response to Mass Effect: Andromeda from fans and critics alike, BioWare Montreal is being “scaled down” and that staff from the satellite studio are being moved onto different projects within the company. Worse, the same report indicates that the beloved science fiction franchise is being put on…

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Video Games Review: Cities Skylines: Xbox One Edition (Xbox One, 2017), or Zen and the Art of Urban Planning

Gaming history is littered with console ports of PC strategy titles. Sometimes they get close to emulating the PC experience, sometimes they miss the mark by a wide margin. Cities: Skylines is the latest to make the jump to console, thanks to Melbourne heroes Tantalus Media, but is it a success?

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Talking new music, touring & the influence of a woman’s touch in studio with Murph of The Wombats

It’s a chilly night when I sit down with The Wombats frontman Murph, as Groovin The Moo continued to roll on around us. It’s perhaps the third time I’ve sat down with Murph, testament to the long-running relationship the British band have had with Australia – we can’t remember how long it’s been since their last tour or…

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Music Video of the Day: Slowly Slowly “Ivy on the Fence” (2017)

New Slowly Slowly – that is all. Take a look at the music video for the band’s new single, “Ivy on the Fence Line” – another absolute jam from the guys who’ve brought us “Dinosaurs” and of course, 2016’s Chamomile. As another taste of Slowly Slowly’s sophomore record, “Ivy on the Fence Line” is a moody and introspective…

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Listen to Nick Murphy’s two new Missing Link tracks, including the KAYTRANADA produced “Your Time”

Nick Murphy has emerged from the studio with a brand new EP in Missing Link – the first proper collection of material fans have gotten since he began making the musical transition from Chet Faker to work under his actual name. Two songs have been dropped from the EP for us to get around, as a huge world tour…

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Red Bull Sound Select returns to Sydney with Friendships, SK Simeon and Cassius Select

FBI Radio’s new Music Director, the wonderful Amelia Jenner, presents her first line up for Red Bull Sound Select on May 26th, with the curated event coming to Ricardo’s in Marrickville. Set to perform on the night is a diverse trio of artists from Melbourne and Sydney: dancehall guru SK Simeon, the devilishly chaotic Friendships and Sydney’s own Cassius Select. From…

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Single of the Day: WAAX “Wild & Weak” (2017)

Mate. If you haven’t listened to WAAX, then you’ve been depriving your ear holes of one of Australia’s best up-and-coming acts. Fronted by the slightly manic and immensely talented Marie De Vita, the group melds raw energy with potent lyrical themes. The Brisbane five-piece have dropped a third taste of their upcoming EP, this time the title track…

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Australian Box Office Report: Guardians remain leaders of the Galaxy for the second week in a row

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 topped the box office ladder again this week, taking in $4.99m in earnings.  The only steady title in the top three, it’s already earned $23.06m since it premiered on Anzac Day, and is set to overtake the first Guardians of the Galaxy if it can make a total of $27m –…

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Aled Jones sings us some surprising “duets” with Ed Sheeran, BTS’ Jungkook and Kylie Minogue

While Aled Jones was recently in Sydney we decided that, in the theme of his new album One Voice, we would ask him to do a couple of surprising duets. Of course, nothing could be as surprising as singing with your 15 year old self… but we think we found him some good ones! So, may we…

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Book Review: Dirk Kurbjuweit’s Fear asks how far would you go to protect your family?

Dirk Kurbjuweit is deputy editor-in-chief at Der Spiegel, receiving numerous awards for his writing over the years. Fear is the first of his works to be translated into English, as well as being adapted for film, television and radio. Fear is set in Berlin and East Germany, around the time the Berlin Wall went up. Randolph Tiefenthaler,…

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Book Review: Ouyang Yu’s Billy Sing explores our Australian war heroes through descriptive prose

Stating that “no risk was too great for him to take”, William ‘Billy’ Sing, the real life protagonist of Ouyang Yu’s new book Billy Sing, arrived in Gallipoli in 1914 and became one of our greatest snipers. Whilst now regarded as a  war hero, his start in life wasn’t always so auspicious. Born in 1886, Billy grew up,…

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BL Burgers has opened their first Western Sydney shop in Parramatta

If you live in or around Parramatta, you’re diet just got so much harder to maintain. The granddaddy of Sydney Burger chains, BL Burgers, is just about ready to open their very first Western Sydney venue, after finding massive success in locations like Darlinghurst and Bondi. A Bar Luca spin-off, known for their incredibly unique…

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Stan is bringing Twin Peaks’ iconic Double R Diner to Sydney and Melbourne

Stan Australia recently turned Sydney’s great Thirsty Bird into Los Pollos Hermanos to celebrate the season three premiere of Better Call Saul on the SVOD service. Now it appears a similar type of promotion will be going down for the forthcoming, and very long awaited, return of David Lynch’s genius Twin Peaks, with Stan marking…

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Aussie Wine Month is here to kickstart your vino knowledge

Following last month’s celebrations of the world’s 50 best restaurants, it’s time to narrow our focus and look to our homegrown champions in food and wine; especially wine. Aussie Wine Month has arrived to help fill your May with quality drops, an arrival marked earlier this week with a intimate feast at Sydney’s highly regarded…

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Music Video of the Day: Meklit “I Want to Sing for Them All” (2017)

Meet one of our new favourites, Meklit. The Ethiopian-American artist has been making waves for a minute now and this week, she has shared some visuals for her latest track, “I Want To Sing For Them All”. The song itself is lush and melodic, instantly drawing you in. There’s an honesty about “I Want To Sing…

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Splendour in the Grass raises over $60,000 for Northern Rivers Flood victims

We all know how much damage ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie left strewn down the east coast only months ago and to help those who needed it, the crew behind Splendour in the Grass announced a fundraiser to get some much-needed funds together. The initiative saw a limited amount – fifty, to be exact – specially made…

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Single of the Day: Winston Surfshirt “Ali D” (2017)

Sydney’s Winston Surfshirt have doled out their new single this week in “Ali D” as their debut national tour beckons – we’re here for it. If you were a fan of their first tune “Be About You”, chances are you’ll be warmed to “Ali D” too – there’s a great groove driving this new single that…

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Lizzy Plapinger dishes on her new project LPX and her time in Nicaragua with What So Not

MS MR have long held a love-love relationship with Australia but when we catch up with one half of the band, Lizzy Plapinger, we’re in a different environment altogether. She’s at Coachella and as the world is getting to know her new music project, LPX, the vocalist and songwriter tells us about her new sounds and what’s in store…

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Koen van de Wardt talks Klangstof’s success as the first Dutch band to play Coachella

Backstage at a sweaty second weekend of Coachella, we meet Koen van de Wardt of Dutch indie group, Klangstof. Their presence at the American music festival was one of large significance, with Klangstof stepping up to being the first Dutch band to ever appear at Coachella in the history of the event. Speaking with Koen, we find out more…

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New Agents of Mayhem trailer is a Team America-flavoured romp

Saints Row developer Volition are having a great time with their in-universe spin-off Agents of Mayhem and the game isn’t even out yet. The latest trailer introduces each of the game’s three lead heroes and shows off a little of its gameplay.

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Win a in-season double pass to see John Wick: Chapter 2 in Australia

In this high-octane sequel to the 2014 hit, legendary super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is forced back out of retirement by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy Italian assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome where he squares off against some of the world’s…

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Hellboy creator announces R-Rated reboot sans Perlman or Del Toro

Creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola, has announced his plans via Facebook to reboot the film franchise. However, original actor movie star Ron Perlman and director Guillermo Del Toro will not be returning. According to reports that were confirmed by Mignola, Stranger Things actor David Harbor will take up the Infernal defender’s cloak for the reboot. Mignola claimed…

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The new trailer for Blade Runner 2049 is visually stunning and mysterious

Since the original Blade Runner film was released in 1982, fans have had many questions about the Ridley Scott cult classic film. Now it looks like they may finally get some answers with this year’s sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Sicario and Prisoners), Blade Runner 2049. While many fans have wanted this sequel for the past 35 years, some fans believe that the…

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Tech Review: HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Keyboard is the no-nonsense gaming keyboard you’ve been looking for

The HyperX Alloy FPS is a mechanical keyboard that (if you believe the marketing) has been built from the ground up to suit those gaming hobbyists who spend most of their time playing first-person shooters. Known mostly for their eSports sponsorships, headsets and high-end RAM for gaming PC’s, HyperX’s first mechanical keyboard is one for…

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