Features

The 10 Best Musical Moments at SXSW 2019

With weekend of films and special events that included appearances from the likes of Boyz II Men, Santigold, Bishop Briggs and more, into a week of official showcases that included everyone from Joan Jett to Shakey Graves and Andrew Bird, SXSW 2019 was as jam packed as ever. So what were our favourite musical moments…

Read more

Exclusive EP Premiere: primetime. – crimetime. (2019 EP)

Today we’re stoked to introduce you all to primetime., Melbourne’s latest self anointed “superb-troup” featuring members of Fan Girl, Sophisticated Dingo and more, as well as premiere their debut EP crimetime.  crimetime. is a raucous, swaggering and no bullshit slice of Australian punk rock. Occasionally jarring, but always full of character and attitude, the EP is…

Read more

An Afternoon in an Arcade with Yorke: Byron Bay’s Pop-Protege

The ringing sirens and looping jingles that echo through the arcade are maddening, even after a few minutes. They’re also the antithesis-soundtrack to the personality of Yorke. 20-year old Grace Hughes, who adopted the moniker “Yorke” last year in homage to her love of New York City, is calm, chilled and charming as we spent…

Read more

Five shows not to miss at Melbourne’s Brunswick Music Festival

Spanning over the course of the next two weeks, from the third until the seventeenth, the 2019 Brunswick Music Festival is hosting some of the premier music acts from around the globe. With a long list of acts and activities, speakers and galleries to view spanning over such a long period, it can make it…

Read more

Exclusive EP Premiere: Chakra Efendi – Until The Children Grow Old (2019 EP)

We’re excited today to be premiere, Until The Children Grow Old, the debut EP from the Brisbane via Sunshine Coast singer-songwriter Chakra Efendi. At only nineteen years old, Efendi has already built something of a dedicated cult both at home and overseas thanks to a series of demos posted to SoundCloud. Demos, which to date,…

Read more

Exclusive: Winterbourne take us behind-the-scenes of their “Take The Golden” Music Video

Central Coast duo Winterbourne have just dropped their new music video “Take The Golden”, and are excited to be taking AU review readers on an exclusive look behind the scenes on the making of the clip, which you can watch below: Winterbourne wrote “Take The Golden” in Berlin with producer and songwriter Tobias Kuhn, while the…

Read more

Meet the local SA acts announced to play the Adelaide Superloop 500!

Six awesome up-and-coming South Aussie music acts have been selected to perform as part of this years Superloop 500 After Race Concert Series along side some of the biggest biggest names in international and Australian music. In its ninth year, Music SA’s Bands on Track initiative received a record 280 submissions, which were judged by…

Read more

Exclusive Video Premiere: Bearfoot “Luminate” (2019)

Ahead of the offical release next week we are pleased today to be premiering the new film clip for “Luminate”, the recent single from Sunny Coast’s resident roots band Bearfoot.  Released in November, “Luminate” is dedicated to the time the band spent at the eponymous music festival in New Zealand back in early 2017, and…

Read more

An open letter to Gladys Berejiklian and the NSW Liberals: This isn’t just a war on festivals. It’s a war on jobs, culture and common sense.

Over the last 13 years of being involved in the music industry wearing one hat or another, if I’ve learnt anything, it’s that this industry is full of the hardest workers of any I’ve ever come across. Roadies who sleep in hammocks in the scaffolding of a festival stage so they can pack down your…

Read more

Exclusive Single Premiere: The Paddy Cakes “Depressing All” (2019)

Today we’re stoked to premiere the new single from Melbourne rockers The Paddy Cakes ahead of its official release on Thursday.  Recorded and produced by Dylan Adams (DMA’s, Skeggs, West Thebarton), “Depressing All” is all set to play a part in the quartet’s forthcoming debut EP, which is set for release on Friday March 22nd. …

Read more

Exclusive EP Premiere: Alanna Eileen – Artifice (2019 EP)

We’re pleased today to be premiering, Artifice, the new EP from New Zealand-via-Australia singer-songwriter Alanna Eileen.  The recording of Artifice saw Alanna heading across to the United States last October, for a ten day recording stint at Montrose Recording in Virginia, with production coming from Sparklehorse’s Alan Weatherhead. The EP’s eight tracks were written between July…

Read more

NSW government’s “War on Festivals” blamed for Mountain Sounds’ cancellation

Today’s devastating news about the cancellation of Central Coast Mountain Sounds Festival raises many more questions about the NSW Governments festival safety regulations and approach to tackling drug deaths. Just one week out from the festival, Mountain Sounds, originally budgeting for 11 user-pay police report being blindsided with a $200,000 in upfront costs for 45 user-pay police…

Read more

Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Laura Imbruglia “The Creeps” (2019)

Last month the genre bending Australian musician Laura Imbruglia dropped “The Creeps”, a taste of her impending fourth album Scared Of You. Today, we’re excited to be premiering the accompanying hilarious music video, which was co-conceived with director and renowned photographer Nick Mckinlay. With the track taking a significantly different musical route to previous singles…

Read more

A Survival Guide for the Tamworth Country Music Festival first timer

I’ve been a country music fan for over ten years and I’d never attended the legendary Tamworth Country Music Festival until this year. Blasphemy, you say! But better late than never, right? I didn’t know what to expect; I thought I’d hate it (at least subconsciously anyway) but I was pleasantly surprised to love every…

Read more

An insider’s guide to Kyoto’s best secret hangouts, with Japanese band Zahatorte

Kyoto band Zahatorte are a genre-defying trio who blend old-world European cafe sounds with the undeniably Japanese penchant for perfectionism. They’ll be coming to Australia next month for the first time, and before we show them our own country, we asked them to share with us their nine favourite secret hangouts in their hometown. So…

Read more

The 40 Best Tracks of 2018 from Australia and around the world

With Ocean Alley taking out the Hottest 100 over the long weekend, we’re excited to (finally) bring you the AU review’s own favourite tracks of 2018, with an eclectic mix of songs from Australia and around the world that we loved over the calendar year. 40. Tropical Fuck Storm – You Let My Tyres Down…

Read more

Five Australian country music artists you should be watching in 2019

Country has long been a dirty word in the Australian music industry. That iconic image of a grizzled, cowboy hat-wearing, man strumming away on his banjo and singing about the bush is a thing of the past. But the genre is changing, albeit a little sexy, with home-grown artists Keith Urban and Morgan Evans, as…

Read more

Interview: Chris Wallace of Southeast Desert Metal (NT) on breaking the isolation through touring

Southeast Desert Metal singer/guitarist Chris Wallace is introducing the basics of his Indigenous language, Arrernte. “In our language,” he says, “If I say ‘Werte’, it means ‘greetings to you’. You greet me back with ‘Mwere’. That means, ‘How you been?’” The Arrernte people’s traditional land is located in the centre of Northern Territory, including Alice…

Read more

Didirri, Vera Blue and Clowns share their favourite music of 2018

Earlier this month, we sat down with Didirri, Vera Blue and Clowns to talk about their favourite music of 2018; potentially the songs they’ll be choosing for the Hottest 100 and some of the albums that excited them over the last 12 months. Photo of Didirri taken at Festival of the Sun by Larry Heath

Read more

Why a trip to Grow Your Own Festival needs to be in your Summer plans

It’s finally here – the Summer season of festivals that not only provide an eclectic mix of the best acts currently touring, but require a road trip which offers the chance to visit some of Australia’s most unique and stunning regional locations. Here are our top reasons for why you need to plan a road…

Read more

The 40 Best Records of 2018 from Australia and around the world

It’s time to look back on the incredible year of music from Australia and around the world as we count down our 40 favourite records from the year. We’ll rush through 40-11 and then get into the nitty gritty of our top ten releases… 40. Tinashe – Joyride 39. David Byrne – American Utopia 38….

Read more

And the winners of the 5th Annual AU Awards are…

On Wednesday we were excited to reveal our nominees for the 5th Annual AU Awards, celebrating the best in Australian music over the last 12 months. Now today we’re presenting the winners across all those categories, which are awarded based on both recorded and live merit. Australian Live Music Event of the Year (Metro) St….

Read more

Album of the Week: The Paz Band’s Supply & Demand (2018 LP) delivers more energy than a lightning bolt

Take five cups of rock n roll, two spoons full of Buddy Guy influenced electric blues, a sprinkle of 60s style soul, and top it all off with a voice as versatile as a chameleon… and you have something that resembles The Paz Band, a five-piece from Tel Aviv, who have been packing large venues in…

Read more

The 40 best hip hop and R&B tracks of 2018

2018 has been a very difficult year for ‘best of’ lists where hip hop and R&B is concerned. The often intertwined genres haven’t seen this much quality output for years, constant head-turning and critically acclaimed albums from artists both old and new have made the past 12 months the best in the scene since 2012….

Read more

5th Annual AU Awards Nominees Announced ft. Angie McMahon, Didirri and more

The AU Awards are back for the fifth consecutive year, celebrating the best Australian artists of 2018. All categories take into consideration both albums and live performance, and there’s no argument that everyone on this list has had a massive year. We’ll be announcing the winners this Friday! And the nominees are… SOLO ARTIST OF…

Read more

From drumming gorillas to Skins: Counting down our Top 5 Phil Collins moments

Phil Collins is an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously. The solo musician and former member of Genesis has written a memoir titled, Not Dead Yet, as you do. He has been on the receiving end of some jokes but he takes them all with good humour. Ahead of his Australian and New Zealand…

Read more

Why Canberra’s Gingerfest is not to be missed this weekend

Remembering the Ginger Ninja are a not for profit organisation that have organised punk rock festivals in honour of their close friend Nicholas Sofar-Schreiber, and this Saturday at MOLO Live, situated just upon ANU Campus, the great organisation is gearing up for a day of great music, great beer, and to commemorate the titular Ginger…

Read more

What it’s like interviewing on the ARIA Red Carpet for the first time

The 2018 ARIAs have well and truly gone, but that night was one to remember! November 28th, 2018 marks the date I was lucky enough to report at my first red carpet event and now it’s time to do a tell-all on the experience: Interviewing some of Australia’s biggest names in music can seem like…

Read more

SXSW 2019 just got even bigger: Here’s everything you need to know

The SXSW Conference and Festival, or South by Southwest, recently announced additions to its massive line up of showcasing artists for 2019. For several decades now, this Texas based event has been celebrating music, film and interactive media and has turned into a hot spot for connecting with other international artist, labels, and audiences. Being…

Read more

Why Paul Kelly’s Making Gravy Festival will be more than just Flour, Salt, a Little Red Wine and a Dollop Of Tomato Sauce

When Paul Kelly announced the inaugural Making Gravy show in 2017, little did the public know of the success the show would bring. Not only did it help everyone celebrate one of Australia’s greatest storytellers during the most festive time of the year, but it also helped accentuate the absolute strength that is the current…

Read more