Features

As for the Rest: …other acts that caught our eyes (and ears) at SXSW 2014!

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…

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Video Feature: The bands of Soundwave Festival 2014 sum up the festival in one word!

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…

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The 13 Best Music Videos of 2013!

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…

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10 artists not to miss at Future Music Festival

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…

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Video Feature: Jeremy Neale interviews Ross from The John Steel Singers (Brisbane) to talk about "The Boys Gone Wild" tour.

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…

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7 Acts who blew us away at Laneway Festival 2014

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…

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SEA LIFE Secret Symphony

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!!…

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The Top 5: Tracks by John Butler Trio!

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…

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The Music That Made Us: Pigeon (Brisbane)

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…

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Guest Feature: Andrew Smith, Destination NSW’s Chief Funster at the Country Music Festival in Tamworth, NSW (January 2014)

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…

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Best of 2013: Top 40 Australian Albums!

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…

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Our 14 Most Anticipated Album Releases of 2014

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…

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14 Australian Bands to watch in 2014… and 5 from overseas…

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…

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The 13 Best Australian Tours of 2013 (Local 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 local touring artists of 2013!…

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Opinion: A response to Fairfax's "Calling The Tune" article.

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…

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Listen to Guvera's 25 track Summer playlist – Sponsored by XXXX Summerbright.

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…

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The 13 Best Australian Tours of 2013 (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…

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Best of 2013 Countdown: The Festival Awards!

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…

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14 Performances You Can't Miss at Sydney Festival 2014!

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…

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Top 40 Tracks of 2013: Part Three – 20 to 11

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…

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Top 40 Tracks of 2013: Part Four – The Top 10!

The time has come for us to reveal out top ten songs of the year… here we go! 10. Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams – Lose Yourself to Dance Chris Singh: The dream-team that began with ‘Get Lucky’ get even more rhythmic on ‘Lose Yourself to Dance,’ ending up with the funkiest modern disco jam…

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The 10 Best Aussie Songs of the Summer (2013 Edition) – Brought to you by UE Boom

As we all start to look towards a week – maybe even two or more away from the office – it’s that time of year when many of us hit the road with our friends and families and get away from anything that reminds us of work. We head to the beaches, we head to…

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Top 40 Tracks of 2013: Part Two – 30 to 21

We start the next batch of our top 40 tracks of 2013 with the band that won out the album of the year, LA trio Haim. If you want to see what kicked off the top 40 yesterday, you can have a look back at the first set of tracks HERE. 30. Haim – If…

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Top 40 Tracks of 2013: Part One – 40 to 31

Yesterday we brought an end to our top 40 albums countdown, and now it’s time for our top 40 tracks of the year! As with the albums, this list is voted on exclusively by the AU contributors, and the track simply must have been released on an album (or as a single) in 2013! So…

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Top 40 Albums of 2013: Part Four – The Top Ten!

And here we have it… the top ten albums of 2013, kicking things off with Australia’s own Josh Pyke. If you’d like to look back on the rest of the top 40 albums, Part One is HERE, Part Two HERE and Part Three HERE. After you read the list, feel free to sound off on…

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Top 40 Albums of 2013: Part Three – 20 to 11

It’s part three of our best of 2013 coverage and we’re now in the top 20 albums of 2013, kicking off with a band who impressed with their sophomore effort Not Art, Melbourne duo Big Scary. Click here to look back at parts ONE and TWO of our best albums of 2013 coverage… Chloe Webb:…

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Top 40 Albums of 2013: Part Two – 30 to 21

It’s day two of our best of 2013 coverage and we’re jumping right back into our favourite albums of 2013. Yesterday we delivered 40 to 31 and so today let’s hit into the top 30, kicking off with one of our favourite up-and-coming Australian groups, The Trouble with Templeton. Mairead Bilton-Gough: Another amazing breakthrough album,…

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Bluesfest Byron Bay Discovery: Listen, Watch and Win!

KEEP DISCOVERING! CLICK HERE TO LOOK BACK AT THE FIRST ROUND OF ARTISTS WE FEATURED IN THE BYRON BAY BLUESFEST DISCOVERY PROMOTION, AND ROUND TWO HERE. the AU review is proud to present the 25th annual Bluesfest in Byron Bay next Easter weekend. One aspect of the festival we love every year is the discovery…

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Bluesfest Byron Bay Discovery: Part Two!

KEEP DISCOVERING! CLICK HERE TO LOOK BACK AT THE FIRST ROUND OF ARTISTS WE FEATURED IN THE BYRON BAY BLUESFEST DISCOVERY PROMOTION. the AU review is proud to present the 25th annual Bluesfest in Byron Bay next Easter weekend. One aspect of the festival we love every year is the discovery of young and emerging…

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