Features

While Sose brought you the daily coverage of the 25th annual Bluesfest in Byron Bay, I was mainly out the back doing a series of interviews. You can see them posted periodically on the website, or you can check them all out HERE on our YouTube channel (there are THIRTY videos up for your enjoyment!)….

the AU review is proud to present the exclusive premiere of the new album from Brisbane trio Pharaoh’s Playground, 3 Days in the Belly of a Whale, in advance of it’s official release this Friday. Listen to the full record below!

It’s just TWO DAYS until we’re all at Bluesfest, soaking up what we hope to be the sun (and not rain) and enjoying some of the best music in the world. Running all the way through Easter Weekend (for FIVE DAYS!), the festival has such an unbelievable amount of artists playing, it’s hard to even…

Whenever a Dave Matthews Band tour is announced in Australia – which has only been three times now in the band’s illustrious 23 year career – it’s often met with moments of confusion. A “why should we care?” sort of response is vocalised, especially when the tour coincides with a headline spot on a festival…

We’re just hours away from Coachella kicking off in Indio, California and so it’s time for the second part of our list of the ten acts we reckon are unmissable at this year’s festival. If you couldn’t make it this weekend or next, make sure you tune into the festival on YouTube, and you can…

This was just one of those videos we’ve stumbled across and loved… now we have to share it! Check out the amazing Band of Horses in a live, acoustic performance of their song “Heartbreak on the 101”, filmed at the historic Hollywood sign. We won’t waste any more of your time with words… enjoy the…

Having returned from our fifth SXSW a little over a week ago, we’ve spent some time reflecting on our experiences and now present to you the AU review SXSW Music Awards – acknowledging the bands who made the biggest impressions on us at the event. These awards were voted on by our team at the…

the AU review captures Canadian artist Tim Chaisson performing his track “The Healing” – and tells us a story about Leann Rimes – at the Canadian House during SXSW 2014.

As SBS 2’s The Feed turn their attention to addiction for a week of special features on the subject, so do we. You may have seen our special on TV characters with addictions of their own over on The Iris, and today on the AU we bring you a playlist of ten tracks we love…

the AU review captures Canadian artist Tim Chaisson performing his track “Here Tonight” – fiddle and all – at the Canadian House during SXSW 2014. And after you enjoy this track, why not check out this one he performed on our couch at AU HQ last June!

A typical day at SXSW, if done correctly, is spent running around, catching as much music as is humanly possible. Sometimes this means you catch very brief performances of bands; a song here, a song there. Here’s “the best of the rest” from my SXSW experience. The bands I caught briefly but left a lasting…

We ask the bands of Soundwave Festival 2014 if they can sum up the festival in one word. Here’s what they had to say. This video features, in order in part one: Mastodon, John 5 from Rob Zombie, DARKC3LL, GWAR, Chris from Five Finger Death Punch, Dir En Grey, AFI, Mutemath, Deez Nuts, Filter, Mutemath…

We’ve taken a bit of time getting this one together – what a year it was! – but we finally bring you our annual look back at the best videos of 2013. This year we have a mix of local and international, with a dose of interactive experiences thrown in for good measure. Enjoy this…

With a lineup like the incredible one we have in store for us at Future Music Festival, it’s easy to get distracted by the big, shiny lights of the headliners and forget there are other artists on the line-up too. Well, we at the AU have cut through the list of DJs, bands and electronic…

the AU review sees Brisbane musician Jeremy Neale interview Ross from The John Steel Singers to talk about their upcoming co-headline tour, “The Boys Gone Wild” (the dates are below). They talk about Valentine’s Day, He-Man, the tour, meeting each other at University and forgetting… and more! Feel free to call in and join the…

Every year, St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival serves its position as the festival with its “finger on the pulse” on what’s new, what’s cool and what’s hot. By the time the festival rolls around, many of the bands who you had never heard of 12 months before are well and truly ingrained in your consciousness. triple…

Ji Won Kim How did you come to be involved in this Secret Symphony event? Anna Melville who was in charge of secret symphony concerts asked me to put a musicians together for the famous Trout Quintet. Without giving too much away, what can we expect from the performance? It will be an unusual concert!!…

The long awaited new (sixth!) album from John Butler Trio was released in Australia today; Flesh & Blood, the group’s first record since April Uprising back in 2010. To celebrate the release of the record, we’re taking a look back at five of our favourite JBT tracks from over the years – one of Australia’s…

Having just released their new EP Settle In, and about to head off on tour in support of it, Brisbane’s Pigeon filled the AU review in on their favourite records as part of our new series “The Music That Made Us” – a title indeed inspired by a recent tour around Australia featuring a group…

the AU review is proud to present this special guest post from Andrew Smith, Destination NSW’s Chief Funster. In this piece, Andrew reports exclusively for the AU from the annual Country Music Festival in Tamworth, NSW, which takes place from the 17th until the 26th of January… I’ve just spent a few days discovering why…

Last month we revealed our top 40 albums of 2013, which included 13 albums from Australia. Since then, we’ve received a few e-mails, asking for more recommendations from the world of Australian music in 2013, from readers both at home and abroad. So, we’ve gone back to our list of votes from AU’s fine contributors…

There’s so much incredible music on the horizon this year, it’s hard to know where to begin. But these 14 records – in alphabetical order – from Australia and around the world are a good place to start. Let’s get excited for another amazing year of music… kicking off with a local group who have…

As we approach SXSW for another year, things start to take shape for some of the country’s younger bands, and we start to get some indication of the band’s we should all be keeping an eye on. As we did last year and the year before, here now, in no particular order, are 14 Australian…

You often hear an AU contributor rate a gig as a highlight of the year, but by the time the year is over, what still sits on that top 5 list? Well, we asked our contributors just that and from all those responses we bring you the AU’s top thirteen local touring artists of 2013!…

Over the weekend, Fairfax Media published an article entitled “Calling The Tune” (read it here), which captured this moment in the Australian music industry. A moment that sees the government funded radio station triple j as the leading national voice (musically) for 18-24 year olds. With essentially no competition, no one else has the ability…

Make the most of everyday – Summer is more than just a reason, it’s the feeling that something awesome could happen at any moment. Summertime has well and truly begun, being right in the midst of the festival season, summer and music go hand in hand. Guvera has created a Summertime playlist featuring international artists…

You often hear an AU contributor rate a gig as a highlight of the year, but by the time the year is over, what still sits on that top 5 list? Well, we asked our contributors just that and from all those responses we bring you the AU’s top thirteen international tours of 2013! Read…

With the main summer festival season just kicking off around the country once again, we are bringing you our top 5 favourite Australian festivals of the last year, as voted for by our contributors. Though the list is dominated by the larger national touring festivals, a number of the local state specific festivals racked up…

From mirrors in the streets, to bullets in your teeth, Sydney Festival will have it all when it kicks off this Thursday night. But let’s face it – there’s just too much to choose from! So to help, we’ve listed 14 performances and attractions you can’t miss at Sydney Festival 2014! LIMBO January 8th to…

It’s time to enter the top twenty of our favourite tracks of 2013, as voted exclusively by the writers and photographers at the AU review. So strap yourself in, there is some damn fine music enclosed… 20. Jagwar Ma – Come Save Me 19. Savages – She Will Pete Dovgan: A post punk classic. Intense…