Features

5 reasons why Taylor Swift’s Reputation tour is an unmissable experience

We got the chance to experience Taylor Swift in Toronto this weekend, and in anticipation of her imminent tour of Australia, we’re counting down the 5 reasons its a show not to be missed… and a look at the songs she played along the way. Indoor fireworks!! Selling out Toronto’s Rogers Centre two nights in…

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The 30 Best Record Stores in the World

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….

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Six things the countdown clock on The 1975's official website could mean…

If you’ve paid a visit to the official 1975 website lately, you’ll notice there is a countdown clock, set to reveal… something… in about 15 hours from the time of printing. Though it’s likely a new single, video, album or tour announcement, we thought we’d have a bit of fun with some other things the…

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We talk to the Directors of the Lost Paradise New Years Festival, Wade Cawood and Simon Beckingham

Ahead of the return of one of Australia’s newest New Years Festivals – Lost Paradise in the Glenworth Valley, NSW – Larry Heath caught up with the event’s Directors (Wade Cawood and Simon Beckingham) to learn a little more about he origins of the event, the changes we can expect from their second year, the…

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Six artists not to miss during Day Three (Sunday October 4th) of Weekend One at the Austin City Limits Festival

The final day of the first weekend of Austin City Limits 2015 wraps up with some exciting appearances from the realms of pop, hip-hop, Americana, blues and more. We’ve been bringing you our tips for the festival so far this weekend, click through to see who we’d recommend catching if you’re out at Zilker Park…

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Six artists not to miss during Day Two (Saturday October 3rd) of Weekend One at the Austin City Limits Festival

Day Two of the epic Austin City Limits Festival has a killer line up of bands and solo artists ready to take to stages at Zilker Park and considering the festival still has a full Sunday program plus another whole weekend of action to get through…it’s hard to think it’s only just getting started, given…

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Six artists not to miss during Day One (Friday October 2nd) of Weekend One at the Austin City Limits Festival

An epic weekend of music is ahead for fans attending the 14th annual Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas, USA – and those of us at home will get the chance to see quite a few of the performances ourselves thanks to the live stream. Each day there is a myriad of incredible…

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Five songs from five artists you can't miss at Listen Out 2015

Childish Gambino. Photo Credit: Perri Cassie. Listen Out is kicking off tomorrow in Melbourne, before it hits Perth and then Sydney and Melbourne next weekend. In anticipation, we’ve narrowed down the list to the five songs from five acts we reckon you can’t miss at any of the event. An in no particular order they…

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The AU's 15 Best Performances of BIGSOUND 2015

Pictured: WAAX The Brisbane based music festival and BIGSOUND has come and gone for another year, but the amazing performances we saw have stuck with us for the days since. We’ve spend the weekend reflecting on all the incredible showcases we saw, and now we’re bringing you our list of the 15 best… in no…

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Northlane are the fifth artist confirmed for Soundwave 2016

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,…

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The AU Mixtape: Nine Songs By American Bands Every Australian Should Be Listening To

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…

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Seven artists who deserve your attention at Volumes Festival in Sydney this Saturday!

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…

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Exclusive Track Premiere: Best Friends "Happy Anniversary" (2015)

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”….

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the AU counts down the 30 Best Record Stores in the World!

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….

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Our seven favourite performances and discoveries from the 36th Annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival

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…

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

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…

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Hanging backstage at Lollapalooza with Peking Duk, Django Django, Twin Peaks, Angus and Julia Stone and more

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…

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The AU's 7 favourite performances and discoveries from Lollapalooza Chicago 2015

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…

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Exclusive Lollapalooza Interview: Django Django (UK) talk about their return to Australia for Falls Festival

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…

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Five performances you can't miss at Lollapalooza 2015 this Saturday August 1st – other than Metallica!

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…

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Five Performances you can't miss at Lollapalooza 2015 this Friday July 31st – other than Paul McCartney!

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…

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Our ten favourite performances and discoveries from the 21st Annual RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa

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…

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Nine things we learnt from our first ever Calgary Stampede

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,…

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Seven acts you shouldn’t miss at the 2015 RBC Ottawa Bluesfest from July 12th until the 19th.

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…

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We talk to Mark Monahan – executive and artistic director of the RBC Bluesfest – about the 2015 Ottawa Bluesfest!

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…

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The AU's 15 Best Australian Singles of 2015 (So Far)

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…

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The AU's 15 Best International Singles of 2015 (So Far…)

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…

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Feature: The 9 best songs of all time by The Getaway Plan

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…

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Exclusive Acoustic Session: Frank Turner (UK) performs the beautiful "The Angel Islington" off his upcoming new record!

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…

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Exclusive EP Stream and Track-By-Track: Burn Antares "Fur Coat and the Peace Boat" (2015)

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…

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