It’s hard to believe we’re already two months into the New Year, but already we’re discovering so much amazing new music and artists who are set to explode in the year ahead. Here’s just 20 artists you need to be looking out for in 2020… presented in alphabetical order. Badflower Badflower, a band formed in…
Throughout the many incarnations of his career, Ben Folds has continuously proven to be a class musician. From his Ben Folds Five era, to his solo records and collaborative releases furthermore, the North Carolina native is a songwriter and artist that his peers have for time after time wanted to always work with. Not afraid…
Two weeks ahead of his debut album release, Michael Dunstan has dropped his latest single, “Smoulder or Ignite“. As well as being our final glimpse of the upcoming In The Grand Scheme, it’s also a cracking folk tune. In support of the album’s launch, the Wheatbelt folk singer has also revealed details of a huge…
Last weekend on the Gold Coast, Australia voted for its Eurovision 2020 Contender. In its second year running, the Gold Coast hosted Eurovision 2020: Australia Decides live on SBS. The results ended up being neck and neck between Montaigne and Casey Donovan – but in the end, no one could stop Montaigne with her song…
London based, Sydney raised singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ed Wells has long been a friend of the AU, and today Ed is releasing his debut EP, Home, produced by Luke Gerber. Musically, the EP is a vibrant mix of modern soul and R&B, a collection of songs of which Ed has reflected on different aspects of modern life….
There are music festivals (think Laneway). There are conferences with a showcase festival that runs alongside it (think BIGSOUND). And then there are events that are in a class of their own. There’s SXSW in Austin, Texas – an event that is at such a large magnitude, there’s no way to describe it but to…
Whenever a Dave Matthews Band tour is announced in Australia – which has only been four times now in the band’s illustrious 29 year career – it’s often met with moments of confusion. A “Wait… Who?” response is vocalised, especially when the tour coincides with a headline spot on a festival like Bluesfest (which they’ll…
Bad Friday Festival just got a whole lot more badass. The Sydney institution of a festival, Bad Friday (that ironically falls on Good Friday for all you angels out there) is expanding to corrupt you one day longer. That’s right, we’ve got a Bad Friday AND Saturday on our hands. The expansion of the festival…
With the Hottest 100 voting closing today, we thought we’d take our annual look back on the best songs of 2019. And should you still have to vote, we wanted to give you some ideas on some great local music to consider including in your top ten. We’ve put the 40 songs together in a…
The new Australian startup LOUDAR.COM launched its beta website last month, promising to change the way artists and fans get paid – and we’re excited to be one of the industry partners supporting the new platform. The site has been set up by Tom Chwieduk and Mac Mikosik, two Gold Coast musicians with tech skill…
In no particular order, we asked our contributors to share their favourite gigs of 2019. Here’s what they had to say about the gigs that stood out for them in 2019: BRUCE BAKER Iggy Pop at Bluesfest (Easter Long Weekend) I’d seen him at the BDO in 2011 and was disappointed. His performance at Bluesfest…
It’s time for the AU review’s annual list of the best albums from Australia and the rest of the world for 2019. Across this list, we take you through a wide range of genres, with music that represents the exciting, vibrant time of music right now. It’s fair to say that there are some notable…
Sydney’s Bootleg Rascal are bringing the party to regional Australia! The Booty Camp: Summer Vacay Tour will hit metro and regional venues from January next year, featuring 17 emerging artists and their very own sideshow alley, packed with crowd participation games. “Touring in more remote areas has always been something close to our hearts,” says guitarist Jimmy Young. “We…
Honestly, is there any live music experience as prized in the U.S as seeing a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre for the first time? Sure, there’s South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, Billy Bob’s, the jazz of New Orleans, and the blues of Memphis, but none quite compare to the myth and majesty of this…
The best of the best in Australian music flocked to Sydney’s The Star to celebrate the industry’s greatest achievements for 2019. Sweeping the awards gala was Tones and I, who took home four of her eight nominations. An incredible feat for someone who was, under a year ago, busking on the streets and living out of her…
The 2019 ARIA Awards concluded with the winners and special guests making their way to the media suite for one last Q&A session before getting a photo with their very own ARIA.
I’ve always loved the theatricality of music; that indescribable feeling it can provided when presented with a bit of bombastic flair. But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a production bring so much life to its soundtrack, as David Byrne has achieved with his American Utopia show – which is currently enjoying a 16…
The countdown to Spilt Milk is on with the festival due to hit up Canberra’s Commonwealth Park next weekend and Ballarat the week after. With a massive line-up including headliner US pop sensation Khalid, Chvrches, Ocean Alley, Lime Cordiale and so so many more, it’s time to start meticulously planning your day to pack in…
They may have just been crowned champions of Major League Baseball, but the city of Washington D.C. has plenty to celebrate year round, given they’re one of America’s finest hubs for live music – boasting some of the country’s best live music venues, in a thriving scene. It may not at all be what you’d…
When one thinks of the music industry in the US, there are three cities that immediately comes to mind: LA, New York and Nashville. The vast majority of music companies are based there, and on face value a lot of the creativity is happening there, too. Historically that’s not wrong – but in 2019, it…
Gold Coast legend Bobby Alu recently returned from a massive 17 date tour of North America, supporting fellow Aussie Xavier Rudd. Taking in dates throughout the USA and Canada, it came just before the release of Alu’s brand new record Flow – and an Australian tour which he kicked off this past weekend. Now back…
Late last month raucous Sydney trio Crocodylus dropped their latest EP: Enjoy. Featuring singles “Ghosts” and “Adrenaline”, the seven track EP gives fans everything they’ve come to expect from the band: tempo changes upon tempo changes, grungy riffs and plenty of swagger. Currently out on the road touring on the back of the EP’s release,…
It’s a Monday morning in Glasgow, Scotland and James Graham is professing the positives of new fatherhood. “I love it,” he drawls in his thick Scottish accent, “I have an excuse now when I don’t want to go out. I can sit in the house and watch films and have a drink in the house…
Last week Melbourne singer-songwriter Munro Melano dropped his new single, “Cannonballs”. The track is the second single to be lifted from his forthcoming self-titled debut album, due on November 7th. A week on from the release of the single, we’re stoked to bring you the exclusive premiere of the accompanying music video. Produced by long time…
Darwin songwriter and producer Ben Allen a.k.a Broadwing released his new single “Wasp” on Friday. The single is his first official release since 2015 and the first taste of his new album Lumen, which is all set for release on November 15th. Today we’re excited to bring you the exclusive premiere of the single’s accompanying…
Insular, rainy and oft ignored for bigger cities like New York and L.A, Seattle’s music scene in the 90’s benefitted greatly from its relative obscurity. While no one was paying attention, the city birthed some of the greatest artists and bands that have ever lived, sprouting an everlasting impact that would change music and pop…
As we head into the final quarter of 2019, people are quickly turning their attention to what they’ll be doing in the weeks leading up to the Christmas and New Years period. Days will be longer, diets will go out the window and a lot of people will spend the period catching some killer live…
The 14th annual Reeperbahn festival hit the streets of Hamburg, Germany last month, bringing with it hundreds of performances, conference panels, award shows and streets filled with food, live music and an incredible atmosphere. The event is positioned, unsurprisingly, around the streets of Reeperbahn, the city’s red light and entertainment district, which is famed for…
Throw post-hardcore into the same show as indie-folk and dark electronica, and you might have a very confused crowd. That is, unless you’re at a showcase event like BIGSOUND, where the Australian music industry completely gives themselves over to a few days of discovery, sifting through live music both homegrown and international. That kind of…
If all the promised festivals hitting Gold Coast and Brisbane go down without a hitch this year, we could see Queensland become the new premier spot for live music in Australia. Seeing as Gladys B (I don’t know how to spell it; not worth Googling) is running festivals out of NSW so kids can keep…
