Author: Larry Heath

While in Austin for the annual SXSW music festival and conference, Melbourne based singer/songwriter Hamish Anderson stopped by our pop up venue to perform a solo and acoustic version of the track “Little Lies”, taken from his sophomore EP Restless, which is out now. Since popping into our studio he’s been announced for Ottawa Bluesfest…

Australia is getting its first ever “electronic music festival at sea” next year, with Alison Wonderland, Hot Dub Time Machine, SAFIA, The Kite String Tangle, Touch Sensitive and more ready to play the massive event that will see 2000 revellers transported from Brisbane to a mystery island for what is destined to be a four…

Perth based artist Ruby Boots performs her single “Wrap Me in a Fever” in a park in Sydney as part of the AU sessions series: Live, exclusive and acoustic. The track comes from her new record Solitude, which comes out on April 24th.

In the film’s opening scenes, Peter Falk begins reading the Princess Bride to Fred Savage… You may have caught a glimpse of the boy’s baseball cap hanging near his bed. This cap was placed there by the movie’s director, Rob Reiner, to fulfill a request by Mark Knopfler, who composed the music for the movie….

the AU review captures Julio Tavarez – the lead vocalist and guitarist of Los Angeles group The Black and The White – in the AU’s pop up venue at SXSW performing their latest single “Torn Up” as part of their SXSW AU Sessions series. Follow the band on Facebook to hear more: https://www.facebook.com/theblackandthewhitemusic

Disneyland Hong Kong is the iconic brand’s second home in Asia, after launching its Tokyo location back in 1983. It’s also the Disney Theme Park that’s geographically closest to Australia – and with the park originally opening in September 2005, that means that this year they will be celebrating their 10th Birthday! I had the…

Earlier this month, ahead of its May release in Australia and in the US, the new action-comedy Spy had a premiere screening at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Though seemingly unorthodox for a major release (and a mainstream comedy at that) to see a public screening so far in advance of its release,…

When it comes to true music icons, it’s fair to say they’re a rare breed – but anyone who knows Mavis Staples will tell you: she’s in a league of her own. With some sixty five years of performances behind her – and more still to come (she’s touring Australia as we publish this piece) –…

Today marks the day that Brisbane-based “edgy chunk rockers” Ninth Of May are releasing the music video for the brand new single “Ramen”, and we’re proud to exclusively premiere the track on the AU today. The entirely self-produced project sees jjj unearthed winners collaborating with some of Brisbane’s finest musicians, delivering a striking yet mesmerizing…

When Ryan Gosling premiered his Directorial debut Lost River to a packed house at Cannes last year, it’s fair to say the odds were stacked against him. He couldn’t have picked harsher critics to premiere his film to. This is a crowd who have rarely been fans of Actors turned Directors. Do you remember The Brave – Johnny…

Self-described as “darkly whimsical folktronica”, Quintessential Doll are an up-and-coming Brisbane outfit fronted by Steph Linsdell, who is today premiering her new track “Thunder Gods”, featuring the incredible vocals of Clio Em, on the AU. The genre-bending track, jumping between the words of Opera, Electronica, Indie Pop and, indeed, “folktronica”, is a stand out of…

Last Tuesday saw the annual tradition of the APRA Music Awards hit Sydney, a celebration of the Australian music which has made the biggest impact at home and around the globe over the past 12 months. Thanks to a special between Moshcam and APRA, the “Song of the Year” live performances were recorded and streamed,…

This May, the annual music festival and conference Canadian Music Week will be opening its doors to the world, shining a spotlight on Australia and New Zealand, bringing with it dozens of bands and delegates from our countries up to the great city of Toronto. Why not come and join us? Over the next two…

the AU review sat down with Los Angeles based group AWOLNATION‘s frontman Aaron Bruno while at SXSW earlier this month. We talk about the madness of SXSW, “it’s kind of like how life on the road is in general… I think people come together at South by and experience a little bit of what it’s…

Kicking off over the weekend, it’s hard to know where to begin with the 2015 Melbourne International Comedy Festival schedule. Every night there is so much amazing comedy – both from local and international talent – that it’s a job within itself to try and decide what to see. Well, we thought we’d lend a…

the AU review sits down with Paul Saulnier of Canadian outfit PS I Love You at SXSW to talk about the festival, their latest music with For Those Who Stay, working with Paper Bag Records in Toronto, potential trips to Australia, his favourite Australian bands, evolving the live show “we’ve gotten better at it, I…

Head to Texas for her fourth SXSW, Lenka has brought us back a tour diary of her return to the massive event, which was full of birthday celebrations, delayed flights and a brief few days in LA for rehearsals and Pho. Day One: Arrive in Los Angeles for rehearsals with my LA-based band, (who I’ve…

the AU review captured Brooklyn group Great Caesar in the AU’s pop up venue at SXSW performing a brand new track “Hey Jolene” as part of their SXSW AU Sessions series. Watch the full performance here: For more on the band head to: http://www.greatcaesarband.com/

Earlier this week at the APRA Awards – which took place at Carriageworks in Sydney – artists joined together for unique collaborations to cover the songs that were nominated for APRA Song of the Year. It’s an annual tradition at the Awards and it’s always an entertaining and unique part of the night. We’ll be…

Talk about taking a great song and making it something even more special – Thelma Plum and Andy Bull – with the help of the Dans from Art vs Science managed to do just that, delivering a stunning cover of Dan Sultan’s “Kimberley Calling” at the APRA Awards earlier this week in Sydney. The song…

the AU review captures Petter Ericson Stakee – the lead vocalist and guitarist of UK (via New York) group Alberta Cross – in the AU’s pop up venue at SXSW performing their latest single “Isolation” as part of their SXSW AU Sessions series. The track comes from the forthcoming self-titled album (number three!), due out…

the AU review sat down in the AU’s pop up venue at SXSW with Dispatch’s Chadwick Stokes, about to head to Australia to play shows in Australia for the first time with his band – as well as appearing at Bluesfest in Byron Bay and playing solo shows of his own. Chadwick’s solo record The…

the AU review captures emerging artist Imogen Clark performing a beautiful acoustic track at the first ever AU sessions live event at The Hive Bar in Erskineville. The track is called “Things You Never Had” and you can watch it here: Filmed at The AU Sessions – 24th February 2015. The AU Sessions takes place…

In the final parts from the AU review’s interview with Perfect Pussy from last month, Meredith Graves and the group talk about their favourite Australian Hardcore Bands, wanting to pet Koalas and Kangaroos and much more… And watch this clip to see what the band think about Australian Spiders (spoiler alert: they’re not a big…

the AU review captures emerging Sydney artist Taryn La Fauci performing a beautiful acoustic track at the first ever AU sessions live event at The Hive Bar in Erskineville. The track is called “All Of Me” and you can watch it here: Filmed at The AU Sessions – 24th February 2015. The AU Sessions takes…

Put together each year by the popular music aggregation site The Hype Machine, Hype Hotel has become a mainstay of the annual SXSW music festival. Every time the Hotel returns, it gets bigger and better, and this year was no exception, taking over a massive warehouse on the East side of town. One of our…

As we fly back to Australia from our sixth annual week of coverage at SXSW in Austin, Texas, we’ve spent some time reflecting on our experiences and now present to you the second annual AU review SXSW Music Awards – acknowledging the bands who made the biggest impressions on us at the event. These awards…

With SXSW at an end, the music world is looking ahead to the rest of the major festivals to take over America this year. Following the announcement of Outside Lands in San Francisco earlier this week (see that lineup HERE), it’s now Lollapalooza’s turn – the iconic Chicago festival set to take place from July…

the AU review presents Hong Kong band Noughts and Exes performing their track “Seasons” for the AU sessions. The track is taken from their album And So It Goes…. The band is made up of members from around the world: Joshua Wong, Guitar/Vocals (Australia), Gideon So, Keyboard (Canada), Alex Bedwell, Drums (UK) and Alix Farquhar,…

The week that is SXSW in Austin; Texas always brings with it its fair share of opportunities to discover new artists. Here were my five discoveries at the festival, all of whom seem destined for greatness. Some may be names you already know, others will probably be ones you’ve never heard of before. But they’re…