Author: Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.

Five things you have to eat in Hong Kong (and where to eat it!)

Today we take you to Hong Kong – a city for business, a city for shopping and (perhaps most importantly…) a city for FOOD. It’s hard to go wrong when it comes to a good meal in Hong Kong, but there are definitely plenty of highlights. Here, in no particular order, are five such meals we…

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Hotel Review: King Suite at the Holiday Inn on Flinders Lane (Melbourne, VIC)

The Holiday Inn hotel chain has undergone a staggering amount of changes over the last decade, taking it from a budget hotel/motel chain that most people associated with overnight stops along highways or airport layovers, into an upmarket full service – though reasonably priced – group of hotels that focus on comfort and quality of…

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Does Vermont, USA have the best beer in the world?

If you’ve been paying attention to American politics in the last year, you would have undoubtedly heard much about Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, currently running for US President. Understandably, he’s something of a hero in his home state – in recent weeks, they’ve even named a beer after him. Given how much Vermonters love their beer, this…

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13 photos capturing the beauty of Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

Cherry Blossom season – which, if you don’t know what it is, the below pictures will show you in detail – is well underway in Japan, with spectacular sights all over Japan. Be careful though! Each area has a specific time frame of optimum viewing and they usually only last a week! Here are some…

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SXSW Music Documentary Reflections: The Smart Studios Story, I Am The Blues and Sidemen: A Long Road to Glory

Today we look at three brilliant music documentaries that screened at SXSW last month as part of their phenomenal 24 Beats Per Second music focused program: The Smart Studios Story With an 4:3 aesthetic that takes it right out of a 1990s MTV world – all its missing is Kurt Loder’s narration – The Smart Studios…

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12 Aussie Album & EP releases you may have missed…Part I!

2016 has been producing some strong music already from some of our favourite Australian artists while some new kids on the block have also been coming through strong and making their impact known with some solid debut albums. Over the past few months, we’ve been looking back at the year that was, 2015, sifting through…

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Aussies Abroad: Gang of Youths reveal European and American tour details

Sydney’s Gang of Youths have announced the dates for their May/June tour of Europe and America, which will see them playing a string of headline shows, alongside festival appearances at the iconic Great Escape in Brighton and Primavera Sound in Barcelona, alongside the likes of LCD Soundsystem and Radiohead. Their debut album The Positions received five…

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SXSW Comedy Film Reflections: Keanu, War on Everyone, Everybody Wants Some & My Blind Brother

As we look back on our time at SXSW last month, we wanted to briefly reflect on four comedy films we caught during the festival. We’ll give these the full review treatment closer to their Australian release dates, but in the meantime, here are our first thoughts on the overwhelmingly impressive run of films at…

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Live Review: The Decemberists – Sydney Opera House (29.03.16)

To say I’ve been anticipating the return of The Decemberists for some time is an understatement. Since first seeing the Portland, Oregon group in Canada almost ten years ago, I’ve jumped at every chance to see the band live. When first in Australia for Big Day Out in 2010, I was lucky enough to catch…

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Hotel Review: Premier Loft at the Studio M (Singapore)

Part of the Millenium group of Hotels and Resorts, Singapore’s Studio M Hotel is a perfect example of the city’s unique ways to make the best of small spaces, something which is typical both of the city’s hotel rooms and the apartments that line the streets. But Studio M takes this concept to another level, bringing…

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Flight Review: Virgin Australia – Sydney to Brisbane (VA931)

We return domestically with an East Coast capital city service from Virgin, who have kicked things up a notch in recent times to compete with Qantas more aggressively on the domestic market. Airline: Virgin Australia Route: Sydney-Brisbane, VA931 Seat: 7A (Window) Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 Flight Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes On Schedule? Yes, departed aircraft…

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SXSW First Impression Review: Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey (USA, 2016)

With a surprise appearance from J.J. Abrams helping get the crowd in the mood, the premiere of Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey – an insightful, feature length documentary about the 7th Star Wars film, The Force Awakens – attracted a massive crowd at SXSW earlier this month, keen to learn the secrets behind…

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Nightshows, Afterparties, Brand Activations and Buddy Guy’s Birthday: Three days in Chicago during Lollapalooza

Chicago is transformed by the iconic music festival Lollapalooza every year, giving the some 100,000 attendees – alongside those who didn’t get a ticket – the chance to experience the bands and the flavour of the incredible music that the event offers. Last year, we headed to Chicago to check out the festival and also see…

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Ben Schneider of Lord Huron talks new material, advice for upcoming bands & more at Bluesfest!

Lord Huron have stuck out as one of the highlights of this year’s Bluesfest line up down in Byron Bay and it’s no wonder – a blistering live show littered with stage charm and an endearing presence that can only really be learned through years of honing their craft, the band won many new fans on…

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Why Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday (USA, 2016) is a worthy successor to Big Adventure

Earlier in the month at SXSW, I had the chance to sit down with the cast and crew behind the first Pee Wee movie in almost 30 years (you can read these chats HERE). One thing that was universal with all the interviews I conducted was that this now classic – yet still bizarre in all…

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Nathan Willett of Cold War Kids talks new music, new members & the Blues at Bluesfest 2016!

Cold War Kids are back in Australia, hitting our festival scene once again with a killer live show at Bluesfest in Byron Bay overnight. Larry sat down with vocalist Nathan Willett on site at the festival to catch up on what’s been happening with the band since we last saw them out this way a few Falls Festivals ago…

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Nine things we learnt from the David Bowie “Unbound” panel at SXSW 2016

David isn’t here any more and we’re still processing that… but after some weeks of grief I now feel incredible fortunate to work with him. – Jonathan Barnbrook On Saturday – the final day of the SXSW Music Conference in Austin, Texas – The Blackstar visual piece “UNBOUND: A★INSTAMINISERIES” was shown in full for the first time, accompanied…

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Film Review: The Daughter (Australia, 2016)

The Daughter brings together an incredible Australian cast with Director and Writer Simon Stone, who penned the Belvoir adaptation and marks his screen debut debut here, as did Cowell with Guthrie. The 1884 Norwegian play has been transformed here into an Australian family drama (though the duck, naturally, remains present), set on the NSW South Coast, focusing on a family and…

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Interview: Discussing A Bigger Splash with director Luca Guadagnino

Luca Guadagnino’s new film A Bigger Splash is a riveting tale of passion, jealousy and rock stars. Larry caught up with the director himself to talk about the film. Read what he had to say during the pair’s in-depth discussion of the film below. You took the main bits of La Piscine and you treated it as a…

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Iggy Pop kicks off his US Post Pop Depression tour at SXSW (See the full Setlist)

Supported by experimental London septet The Moonlandingz and Brooklyn solo instrumental artist (and birthday girl) Noveller, Iggy Pop officially kicked off his USA tour tonight as part of the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The show technically marked the second of two nights for legendary American artist at ACL Live’s Moody Theater, having taped in the venue the…

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Sia plays her first headline show since 2011 at SXSW with Elle King

On the announcement of her addition to the Coachella 2016 lineup, Australian artist Sia seemed to confirm her return to the touring scene, some four years after calling it quits on her live shows – which would go onto create her much talked about “blonde bob” alter ego for 2014’s acclaimed 1000 Forms of Fear,…

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Nine ways to survive the annual SXSW film & music conference in Austin, Texas

This Friday, the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film and Interactive conference and festival kicks off in Austin, Texas… then the Music Mayhem starts next Tuesday! We’re just days away from flying to the great city ourselves for the 7th consecutive year of coverage, so we thought we’d share with your our top nine festival tips in this…

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9 Films (and Television Premieres) you can’t afford to miss at SXSW 2016!

The 2016 SXSW Film Festival kicks off on Friday and as always there are dozens upon dozens of amazing films to choose from. Here are our picks: 8 films and 1 Episodic Premiere that might help you make your selections for this year’s anticipated event… Keanu Key and Peele’s first big screen adventure looks ridiculous….

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Nine things you must do to survive your first SXSW!

This Friday, the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film and Interactive conference and festival kicks off in Austin, Texas… then the Music Mayhem starts next Tuesday! We’re just days away from flying to the great city ourselves for the 7th consecutive year of coverage, so we thought we’d share with your our top nine festival tips in this…

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Director Wendy Schneider on her Music Documentary The Smart Studios Story ahead of its SXSW premiere

In the new documentary The Smart Studios Story, making its world premiere next week at SXSW in Austin Texas, Director Wendy Schneider takes a look back at the legacy of the legendary Madison, Wisconsin recording studio founded by Butch Vig and Steve Marker: Smart Studios. We caught up with Wendy ahead of the premiere to find out…

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Live Review: Sleater-Kinney – Sydney Opera House (06.03.16)

Seeing a band like the great Sleater-Kinney at a venue as prestigious as the Sydney Opera House is something of a strange experiment; because when the band are at their best, they’re one who make you want to jump up and down, and throw yourself all around. This is something hard to do from a more conservative,…

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Cub Sport talk about their debut record This is Our Vice as they celebrate its release

Larry Heath sat down with Cub Sport earlier today, the day their debut record “This is Our Vice” is finally released internationally. We talk about making the record their album, the three music videos already released – “Only Friend”, “Stay” and “I Can’t Save You” – and look to the year ahead. Tim and the band…

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Hotel Review: Luxury Room at the Kensington Riverside Inn in Calgary, Alberta (Canada)

Boasting excellent service and a great location for those visiting Calgary, the Kensington Riverside Inn is a high level, contemporary boutique hotel. Situated in the trendy area of Kensington, this hotel is just across the road from the beautiful Bow River, an easy walk to the beautiful Prince’s Island Park and just around the block…

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Win a double pass to a special preview screening of 10 Cloverfield Lane in Perth

Monsters come in many forms. And next week, with the arrival of 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE from Executive Producer J.J. Abrams, we may just get to meet some of them. The film stars John Goodman alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Gallagher Jr. and serves as a long awaited follow-up to the 2008 film Cloverfield. Just how…

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Foo Fighters deny all internet rumours with hilarious online video

Yesterday, the Foo Fighters revealed they were making a band announcement – a band announcement that music media around the world quickly assumed would be the band announcing they were breaking up, or taking an indefinite hiatus, based on one quote from the drummer a while back. There was so much rhetoric about it that…

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