Year: 2018

G Flip set to break further into the European market with Pitchfork Music Festival spot in November

G Flip‘s emergence as one of the country’s most exciting new names this year has been incredible to watch. Off the back of two singles, she’s managed to lock down acclaim at two of the world’s biggest new music discovery festivals – SXSW and The Great Escape – while also building up a steady roster…

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5 of our favourite pre-“This is America” Childish Gambino videos

Only days after claims of plagiarism emerged focusing on Childish Gambino‘s “This Is America” and Jase Harley‘s “American Pharoah”, Donald Glover and his team have once again proven that they keep things pushing, with the announcement of a run of massive shows that will take the rapper right through the UK and Europe, as well as Australia. Already…

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Film Review: Ideal Home (USA, 2018) is an average comedy with some chuckles, thanks to the leads

Considering the political climate that were in, you figure a mainstream comedy like Ideal Home, a film about two gay fathers that borders on stereotypes would be a bad idea. At least, that’s what people have been saying out there, due to impressions from the trailers and the posters. But considering that this is a…

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Review: MOXY Tokyo Kinshicho – a creative, colourful and playful hotel in Sumida Ward

Tokyo’s iteration of Marriott International’s energetic and youthful Moxy brand has done well to distinguish itself among the many traditional hotels that lie across the sprawling city. Located in the Sumida Ward, just five minutes on foot from JR Kinshicho Station, the property is a creative and playful entry to a neighbourhood most tourists wouldn’t…

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The More You Know: This Small City in Finland Was Just Named the World’s “Capital of Metal”

After a month-long competition resulting in fierce competition between the many different metal scenes of Finland, the official “Capital of Metal” has been named. Lemi, a small municipality with a population of just over 3000 in rural Southeast Finland, has walked away with the honour based upon them having the most dense metal scene in…

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Win a double pass to see STOMP in Sydney

The Broadway, West End and international sensation STOMP is back, set to return to Australia with its unstoppable energy. The show will tour to Melbourne, the Gold Coast, Adelaide and Sydney from May to August, running at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre from 31 July to 5 August. Eight performers use an array of ordinarily mundane objects,…

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Win a family pass to see Sleeping Beauty: A Knight Avenger’s Tale in Sydney

Awake from your enchanted slumber and get read for the family fun fairy tale panto adventure, Sleeping Beauty – A Knight Avenger’s Tale. Bursting into Melbourne’s Comedy Theatre for a strictly limited season from 29 June to 8 July and Sydney’s majestic State Theatre from 13 to 22 July 2018. Featuring dazzling costumes, stunning sets,…

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Book Review: Kitty Flanagan’s Bridge Burning & Other Hobbies is a loose look at some funny episodes from Flanagan’s life

Kitty Flanagan is an accomplished stand-up and regular on TV shows like Utopia and The Weekly With Charlie Pickering. She is a chronic over-thinker in the best possible way, and this is evident in her first book: Bridge Burning & Other Hobbies. A collection of funny anecdotes and personal stories, readers will find this book as relatable…

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Single of the Day: CLYPSO “Pop Roll Flow” (2018)

Continuing to build hype, Sydney producer and vocalist CLYPSO has dropped a catchy new single in “Pop Roll Flow”. Soon to be out on the road with PNAU and What So Not, you can envision the direction CLYPSO’s career is heading and man, she’s only getting started. The bass is gritty and enticing, bringing together electronic…

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Behind the Scenes with Byron Bay’s PLTS during the making of “Maelstrom”

Ahead of their July tour, Byron Bay’s PLTS delve into their latest single “Maelstrom” with us, taking us behind the scenes of making this hectic new tune. Writing the single in Sydney with JP Fung and recording at the renowned Forbes Street Studios with Matt Redlich at the helm, “Maelstrom” did not come without challenges and but as we…

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Interview: Suming Rupi on bringing traditional Taiwanese music to the Barunga Festival

Suming Rupi is an Amis Taiwanese musician who has played a handful of shows around the world in his fifteen years as a performer, including Glastonbury and Fuji Rock Festival. He is kind, humble and generous with his time as AU Review sat with him at Barunga Festival over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend –…

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Live Review: The Presets harness massive energy at hometown show at the Enmore Theatre

Irrespective of their time away from the musical spotlight, The Presets will always have a place in the hearts of the Australian dance music community. And despite the best efforts of some members of the crowd to dampen the nights of others in attendance, the two-piece definitely crushed the Sydney leg of their Hi-Viz album…

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Live Review: City Calm Down display prowess as one of the country’s best live bands at Sydney’s Metro Theatre

I’m going to let you in on a little secret here: I was quite late jumping on the City Calm Down train. I’ll happily admit that. My first real exposure to the band was at Splendour In The Grass a few years back, when they covered David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. At the time, I was…

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Tech Review: Cygnett FreePlay Wireless Earphones: Puzzle bobble

One thing a pair of earphones should do the first time you put them in your ears is make a good impression. Before you even turn them on, they should sit comfortably in the ears with minimal wobble and, ideally, not make you feel like Lobot from Star Wars (though I’ve reviewed my share that…

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Sydney Film Festival Review: BlacKKKlansman (USA, 2018) sees Spike Lee channel his frustration for one of his finest films to date

Spike Lee is quite clearly fired up as he scatters sharp, defiant dialogue all through BlacKKKlansman, his first feature film since 2015’s good-but-uneven Chi-Raq and without a doubt one of his best works to date. That is no overstatement either, with Lee directing a big middle finger to the racism both explicit and implicit, by…

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Tech Review: Ultimate Ears Blast and Megablast integrate with Alexa to become the perfect home and outdoor speaker

From Ultimate Ears previous releases of the Boom 2 and Megaboom, the company has just released the satisfying modern upgrades of the Blast and it’s seriously larger friend, the Megablast. The well-known strong and robust build of UE speakers have been improved with the incorporation of Amazon’s Alexa to not only accompany you in the…

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Games Review: Lego The Incredibles (PS4, 2018): Saving the world one brick at a time

With the world of LEGO dominating the video game market with numerous adaptations of beloved properties, a venture based on The Incredibles films seems like a natural fit.  With The Incredibles 2 out in cinemas, you may think that LEGO’s “cash grab” tactics may be at play here. Well, you would be terribly mistaken. LEGO…

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A day at Australia’s newest world-class race track with the 2018 Mustang GT

Two hours east of Adelaide city lies Australia’s newest world-class motorsport park for competitors, enthusiasts and spectators. Luckily for us, The Bend Motorsport Park’s opening coincided with the launch of the 2018 Mustang it what would be a showcase of Adelaide scenery and adrenaline-charged pleasure. An hour outside of Adelaide we stopped at Wistow Bakery…

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Flight Review: TAP Air Portugal may be one of Europe’s best kept secrets (Flying Barcelona to London via Porto)

After arriving in Barcelona without a suitcase, hours of flight delays and not even a glass of water thanks to British Airways, I was starting to think that non-budget airlines were non-existent in Europe. With the likes of Ryanair and EasyJet defining the budget carrier model for the region, other, once full-service airlines have followed…

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Vision Direct opens shop in Melbourne, is giving away 100 designer glasses for free this week

Over the next three days, Melbourne locals will be able to get their hands on a free pair of prescription glasses as popular online retailer VisionDirect.com.au opens its very first Vision Direct Optical Centre in the heart of the CBD. They’ll be going large for their opening week, committing 100 free premium acetate frames and…

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Matt Moran is bringing an 80-seat Chiswick pop-up to Splendour in the Grass

For the first time ever Matt Moran will be taking his iconic Sydney restaurant Chiswick and hosting a 80-seat pop-up iteration at this year’s Splendour in the Grass. The iconic three-day festival will no doubt benefit from Moran’s planted-to-plated approach which has seen Chiswick, both the original in Woollahra and the extension at the Art…

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Interview: Tim Campbell (Australia) talks nostalgia, sports, and high school discos.

Tim Campbell has dabbled in so many forms of entertainment that it’s becoming hard to classify him as a particular type of entertainer. It’s a general classification that he is content with regardless. Here he chats to Philippe Perez while he is on the road for his High School Disco tour. There seems to be…

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Flight Review: Is Virgin Australia’s award winning coast-to-coast “The Business” Service worthy of its hype?

A lot has been made about Virgin Australia‘s upgraded A330’s, operating from East to West Coast, in particular their “The Business” product, which offers a flat bed on Australia’s longest domestic route. The acclaim has sat on the quality of the seats, the fact that every seat has aisle access, and on the high quality…

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A look into the Barunga Festival and why everyone should travel north at least once for the experience

Over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, approximately 4000 people from across the country gathered to take part in a camping festival, Barunga, held within the Barunga community, 80 kilometres South of Katherine, home of the Bagala people. For this weekend alone, outsiders are exempt from obtaining a permit and are welcomed for three days of…

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Single of the Day: Dro Carey ft. Kwame, Renz, Raj Mahal “Atmosphere” (2018)

Talk about a fiery collaboration. Dro Carey has linked up with one of the country’s hottest new talents in hip hop (Kwame), as well as Sydney’s Raj Mahal and London MC Renz for this new one “Atmosphere” – turn it up loud. Jumping enthusiastically into grime territory with “Atmosphere”, Carey switches gears in swapping the cleaner edges of…

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Playlist: The sounds behind the creation of Hugo Bladel’s intoxicating “Feel The Love”

Hugo Bladel‘s “Feel The Love” single has been hitting all the right spots since its recent release – a funk laden tune that has gotten us yearning for the warmth of summer. Since we’re still battening down the hatches and keeping warm for the next few months however, music like this is proving to be…

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Album Review: Jack River – Sugar Mountain (2018 LP)

There’s always been a strange sense of beauty in melancholia and pain when conveyed in music. Whether it is how relatable or genuinely makes the listener empathise well beyond belief, that’s still up for debate. What definitely is known, however, is that Jack River manages to expertly pull off her debut album Sugar Mountain and…

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Film Review: Brothers’ Nest (Australia, 2018) is a tight, well paced pitch black comedic thriller

If you thought the family in Animal Kingdom had problems, wait until you meet Australia’s newest dysfunctional family. In the new film from Director Clayton Jacobson, starring both himself and his brother Shane Jacobson, we spend some time getting to know the real life brothers as they play fictional brothers Jeff and Terry – reuniting…

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Join the journey for the perfect dress in the newest trailer for Ladies in Black

The newest trailer for Ladies in Black is here, from Academy-Award nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) and based on author Madeline St. John’s best-selling novel, The Women in Black. Set in Sydney during the summer of 1959, in a time of heavy European migration, Lisa, a shy schoolgirl, takes on a prestigious job at local department…

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Sydney Film Fest Review: The Rider (USA, 2018) is an absolute masterpiece from director Chloe Zhao

Expectations can be a very powerful thing, especially when they are low. When people are asked to survey a form of art with subject matter that doesn’t interest them, it’s very certain that they won’t like it. But there are those forms that exceed one’s expectations and manage to give a satisfying experience and what…

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