Features

Over the past two years, Northlane‘s rise to the top has been a public one – from ARIA and triple j award nominations to being added to a slew of festivals and tours. And then, earlier this year, their brand new record Node debuted at number one on the ARIA charts. And now this week,…

Help us help you. Listen to some of the best music coming out of the US right now. 9 tracks from 9 artists that you may not be listening to. And we at the AU think you should be. Enjoy this little piece of music discovery to end your Thursday… The AU Mixtape: The Garden…

This Saturday, Sydneysiders are being treated to one of the finest local lineups we’ve seen in years. Headlined by Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders and The Laurels the event – which kicks off at 2pm on Saturday 29th August – will see JACK LADDER AND THE DREAMLANDERS Well this one goes without saying. The deserving…

You surely realise this already, but one of the most exciting bands out of the UK right now are Best Friends, and this week they’re finally releasing their debut album Hot. Reckless. Totally Insane. And to celebrate, we have an EXCLUSIVE premiere track from the record in the form of the absolutely killer “Happy Anniversary”….

Though the next Record Store Day may be a while away yet (16th April 2016! Not that we’re counting…), believe it or not but for the rest of the year Record Stores continue to be amazing. They deliver incredible product, unique experiences for their customers, often run their own labels and even showcase artists themselves….

Last week, we returned home following an incredible trip to Canada that ended with a weekend in Edmonton for the 36th Annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Surrounded by the beautiful scenery of the riverside city, and perched on natural ampitheatres against almost all of the festival’s seven stages, there was a comfort and beauty to…

Chicago is transformed by 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 weekend we headed to Chicago to check out the festival and also see what else the city had…

Pictured: Peking Duk. Photo by Daniel Boczarski We got to spend quite a lot of time backstage at Lollapalooza this year, interviewing a pile of our favourite artists – which you’ll be seeing online in the days to come – and thought we’d bring you a few candid moments we captured over the weekend, from…

With what must have been hundreds of performances over three days on more than eight stages, Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza festival has its fair share of eclectism and choice for all attendees. And alongside the big names – from Paul McCartney to Metallica – there are plenty of unknowns too. Emerging local, national and international artists…

Photo Credit: Larry Heath – Backstage at Lollapalooza 2015 Earlier today, it was revealed that UK outfit Django Django would be returning to Australia as part of the massive Falls Festival lineup over the New Years period (full lineup details HERE). Earlier this weekend, we caught up with Jimmy Dixon and Tommy Grace from the…

The sun may well and truly have set on Friday in Australia, but in a few hours, it’ll be rising over the city of Chicago and thus heralding the first day of Lollapalooza 2015. Grant Park in Chi-town will be turned into a hive of music for three days and nights, with thousands upon thousands…

It’s that time of year again as tens of thousands of people head to Chicago’s Grant Park for the iconic Lollapalooza festival – a three day music festival that’s considered one of the finest in the world. Headlining this year we have Paul McCartney, Metallica and recent Australian visitors Florence + The Machine. You may…

Last week we flew to Ottawa, Canada, to cover the 21st annual RBC Bluesfest (you can view our coverage HERE), featuring some of the world’s finest artists – alongside a selection of great Australians too! Along the way we had our highlights, in addition to our favourite discoveries! Here now are our five favourite from…

Last week, the AU headed to Calgary in Alberta, Canada for the Calgary Stampede. Now in its 103rd year – though with origins dating back to the 1800s – the event is steeped in tradition and an icon of the Canadian Summer. It’s the sort of festival you have to attend to fully comprehend, and,…

Photo Credit: Mark Horton Over the next 10 days, the RBC Ottawa Bluesfest (which kicked off on July 8th) is taking over Canada’s capital city, with an incredible – and vast – array of artists from around the world. The event kicked off yesterday – but as we don’t arrive at the event until July…

Photo Credit: Mark Horton We’re coming to you today from Canada where we’re just days away from heading to Ottawa for their annual Bluesfest. The event officially kicked off yesterday and runs until July 19th (and you thought the Australian Bluefest was massive!). Ahead of the event, we caught up with Mark Monahan, executive and…

It’s been a fantastic year of music so far all around the world, and now we’re excited to count down for you the 15 tracks our contributors have voted as the best of the year from Australia. To be eligible, the track needed to have an official single or video release between 1 January and…

It’s been a fantastic year of music so far all around the world, and now we’re excited to count down for you the 15 tracks our contributors have voted as the best of the year from outside of Australia. To be eligible, the track needed to have an official single or video release between 1…

In celebration of The Getaway Plan’s new release coming Friday, Dark Horses (review of it can be found here), we take a look at our favourite songs by the band. With their strong alternative rock sound and emotive lyrics, The Getaway Plan have gone from strength to strength and we can only expect great things from them. “Where the City…

the AU review presents an exclusive AU session with UK artist Frank Turner, filmed while he was in Australia earlier this year for Bluesfest. The video captures Frank playing a solo and acoustic version of his brand new song “The Angel Islington”, taken from his just announced new record, Positive Songs For Negative People, which…

Fur Coat and the Peace Boat is the newly released EP from Sydney five piece Burn Antares. The rockers have been schooled on the blues rock of The Rolling Stones and Jefferson Airplane, to the soul and funk of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, while the album was produced by Tony Buchen (The Preatures, Andy…

Next weekend, in the Kent Countryside of the UK, a special festival will be held dubbed Camp Wildfire for the first time. In one hand, it’s a unique concept in itself: an adventure camp by day, a music festival by night, featuring a secret lineup of bands and DJs. But the three day event (held…

Back in January, we presented a special video featuring the team behind the Sydney Festival production Atomic Bomb! The Music of William Onyeabor and now, with the show popping up all over the world, including at the upcoming Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee later this month, we thought we’d bring you the FULL…

If you’ve not yet had a chance to get around Hermitude‘s new album Dark Night Sweet Light, this is the album you need to access on whatever music platform you’ve got near today. The recent ARIA #1 record has seen the duo rake in deserved kudos and as our feature artists of this month, we…

Johnny Au and Larry Heath spent the last week covering the 10th annual music conference and festival Music Matters in Singapore, catching dozens of bands, a pile of talks and eating a whole heap of great food (of which no trip to the region would be complete without). Featuring over 70 bands from more than…

With The Great Escape at an end, we’re looking back at the weekend of incredible performances by sharing with you our favourite discoveries of the event! Now, some of these names we’d heard before, but all of them were bands we witnessed live for the first time. And boy were we impressed… here now, counting…

Today marked the first day of The Great Escape in Brighton, England for 2015. Now in its 10th year, the festival was completely sold out for the third consecutive year – with both delegate passes and live music only wristbands flying out the door. The calibre of artists showcasing today proved why this was the…

We’re about 48 hours from everything kicking off at the annual music festival and conference held in Brighton, England, The Great Escape (TGE), which we’re excited to be bringing you live and direct coverage from for the first time since 2012. Like similar events – SXSW, the recent Canadian Music Week or BigSound closer to…

At festivals like Canadian Music Week, bands from around the world try and impress fans and industry alike in sets around the city of Toronto that rarely last for more than 30 minutes. With hundreds of bands playing, no one journalist would be able to see everything on offer. But our man on the ground…

Best voice: Tom West Runner up: that girl at the great hall? Best Australian Artist (Solo): Hein Cooper Runner up: ash grunwald Best Australian Band: Runner Up: Kingswood (AU x Footstomp Party) Best electronic set: East India Youth (The Drake Hotel) Runner up: Humans (The Great Hall) Show everyone wanted to attend, but probably didn’t:…