Author: Larry Heath

When it comes to UK teen series, few have been as popular or become as iconic as the series Skins, which ran for some seven years and as many seasons. Premiering ten years ago this week, the first series in particular remains the most acclaimed of the run, with a cast who have gone on…

Made up of Danalogue the Conqueror on synth/keys, Betamax Killer on drums and King Shabaka as their resident sexy sax man sologram, East London trio The Comet is Coming know how to deliver dance worthy, saxophone heavy jams. And at yesterday’s Sydney Festival appearance, set inside the beautiful Spiegeltent, the group made sure we knew…

Since its opening in 1963, the Loews Regency New York has been one of the most sought after hotels on Park Avenue. A recent US$100 million renovation has ensured it has maintained that status – not just becoming one of the finest luxury hotels in the city, but easily sitting amongst the best hotels of…

Last Month, Canadian province Manitoba’s not-for-profit industry association Manitoba Music, who develop and promote the growth and sustainability of the Manitoba music industry, released a report analysing the music industry’s economy impact in the province. In it, among many other key figures, is one that sticks out: The music industry in Manitoba generated $4.12 for…

Laneway Festival season is upon us and though we in Sydney have more than a week to wait before it hits our city, Wednesday marked the official start of sideshows, as bands piled in from Singapore’s Laneway over the weekend. Among them were Glass Animals, who are making their second visit to our shores in…

Ahead of their brief Australian tour – which kicks off in Melbourne tonight, I caught up with Danalogue the Conqueror (aka Dan Leavers), who plays synthesiser in The Comet is Coming, to talk about their visit, the apocalypse – the dark one who will not be named – and much more: Your debut Channel The…

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,…

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…

In news sure to shake up the travel industry in this sector, Asian long haul budget carrier AirAsia X has become the first low-cost service on the continent to receive clearance for regularly scheduled passenger flights to the USA. To now, the only other budget carrier in the broader Australasian market to offer flights to…

This morning, the Oscar nominees were announced online through a live stream – breaking tradition from the annual early morning news conference that the film world had become accustomed to tuning into. Over about 20 minutes, past nominees reflected on their Oscar experiences as they revealed the nominees for the 89th Annual Academy Awards. What…

Amongst a slew of nominations for two of Australia’s biggest films of the last year – Lion and Hacksaw Ridge – comes a lesser known film called Tanna, directed by Bentley Dean and Martin Butler. The film, which is shot in the Navhal and Nafe languages of Vanuatu, premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where…

Less than 48 hours after winning the Golden Globe for Best Picture (Drama), we sat down with Director Barry Jenkins to talk about his highly acclaimed, award-winning work Moonlight – which hits Australia cinemas this week. In our 15 minute chat we reflect on the night’s big win, the journey to make the film, casting…

In Sydney last month, we caught up with two of our favourite Canadians: Brian and Dave of Japandroids. While we reflected on their recent shows in the country, focus soon turned to their highly anticipated new album (out this week), Near To The Wild Heart of Life. After a few years completely out of the spotlight, the rock duo came…

Now in its sixth year, the French festival So Frenchy So Chic returned to Sydney over the weekend, after a jaunt in Melbourne 7 days prior. The festival brings together a wide array of French food, drink and music, while Sydney in turn provided some of the best weather we’ve seen this summer, as what…

This week, iconic New Zealand group The Bats celebrate their more than 30 years together as a band (and with all their original members I might add!) by releasing their 9th full length record, The Deep Set. Out this Friday through Flying Nun Records, the group then travel to Australia for two shows – one…

Following the cliffhanger at the end of Season 7, Stirling Archer seems to have wound up in a coma, and in a season arch inspired by something like Life on Mars or Wizard of Oz, we’re going to be entering Archer’s “Dreamland” and going “noir” with the whole cast entering an alternate 1947 universe. Watch…

Chances are likely that you’ve heard “Already Home” over the course of this month on the j’s. The lady behind the catchy tune, Alex The Astronaut, brought the song to Enmore Park in Sydney recently, kicking off the AU Sessions for 2017! Back home for the summer and some select shows on the east coast, the singer is…

Marking the band’s first live appearances since 2014, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds hit the road earlier this month on an extensive tour of Australia and New Zealand, off the back of their sixteenth studio record, Skeleton Tree. Tonight this landed them in Sydney for the first of two shows at the ICC Sydney…

If you’re looking for a way to get to the USA for free, tour operators Topdeck – who target travellers aged 18 to 39 – have partnered with American Airlines to provide free flights to the USA for any Australians who book a Topdeck trip of 16 days or more. There are 11 Topdeck trips…

Based on the true story of Saroo Brierley and his book A Long Way Home, this week’s anticipated release Lion takes its audience on the beautiful, emotional journey of Saroo; lost in India as a young child, raised in Tasmania, forever desperate to find his way back home. Starring Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) as the…

It took three LPs and an EP for Natalie Mering aka Weyes Blood to finally make it to Australia, with the American musician making her debut on our shores earlier tonight at Sydney Festival’s Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. Unaccompanied o our country by her usual band, she enlisted the help of a group of fantastic local…

A small group of special guests were treated to a very special set today in Sydney, Australia featuring The Shins frontman James Mercer. Performing four tracks and armed only with an acoustic guitar, Mercer delivered two old favourites and two tracks set to be released on the band’s forthcoming record Heartworms (due out in March)….

For his second sold out show at Sydney Festival this weekend, Los Angeles based musician Moses Sumney moved from the ethereal church to the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent (a circus tent of sorts), with crowds spiraling around the Meriton Festival Village well in advance of his arrival. Opening with his vocal only Hebrew prayer “Incantation”, standing in…

With her acclaimed album Oh No bringing Jessy Lanza to Sydney Festival for a much-anticipated show in Hyde Park on Friday night, ahead of shows at Sugar Mountain in Melbourne and other appearances around the country, we caught up with the Canadian musician to find out just how she is anticipating bringing her music to Australia for the first…

As we reported last year, Universal Studios in Japan and the USA will be opening a new Nintendo themed area of its theme parks, which will officially be dubbed Super Nintendo World. Now, we can bring you a little more information about what this will look like, and when it will launch. The first park…

Praised by some, dreaded by others, in-flight wi-fi has been slowly introduced to airlines all over the world, particularly over the last decade, often as an overpriced additional option for passengers who just can’t get through the flight without sending off a few e-mails. In recent years, however, as the cost of implementing in-flight wi-fi…

Szun Waves have an avant-garde pedigree most new bands would envy. The London-based trio is made up of PVT drummer Laurence Pike,  experimental jazz-ambient quartet Portico saxophonist Jack Wyllie, and acclaimed producer and modular-synth wizard, Luke Abbott. Following the release of their debut At Sacred Walls, the trio will be performing tomorrow night at Sydney Festival….

Now in its 6th year, the Courtyard Sessions are returning to the leafy surrounds of Sydney’s Seymour Centre courtyard tomorrow. The event will run every Friday evening from 6 to 9pm for 10 weeks. The totally free event will feature an emerging artist alongside free “giant” games, as well as BBQ and drinks for sale….

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is far from a household name, but with some five LPs and an EP under her belt in as many years, the Los Angeles based electronic musician and composer has enjoyed growing underground popularity and now her first tour of Australia – which earlier tonight took her to the St Stephen’s Uniting…

2016 will go down in history for many reasons – but one of its more positive spins was the sheer quality of television that came out of it. Where you could once count the number of great series at any given time on one hand, it’s now impossible to keep up with everything that’s coming…