The nominees for the 5th annual National Live Music Awards have been announced, which will be held on Sunday 20 October 2020 – both virtually and physically. Sampa the Great has received the most recognition, with three nominations – Live Act of the Year, Live Voice of the Year and Best Live Act in VIC…
With ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and border closures between states, the annual BIGSOUND festival will be transitioning to a free virtual event for 2020. Held across Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 October, the event that would normally be held in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will now be taking place entirely online. “BIGSOUND has always been about bringing…
Something For Kate have revealed the title of their seventh studio album The Modern Medieval and scheduled a release date for 20 November. The Modern Medieval marks the bands first album since 2012’s Leave Your Soul to Science. The album recorded in Byron Bay, enlisting Nick DiDia (Powderfinger, Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen) on production duties. The group…
Can’t quite settle on a band name? Lacking inspiration? Mark Webber from Bad Pony has put together the perfect video to get the creative juices flowing. Bad Pony have spent the last couple of years throwing around band names for new projects. This video compiles the top 100 of their ideas. Dishing out names like…
With 2020 being an exceptionally difficult year for the music industry, Music SA has announced the launch of GO LIVE – an initiative to reignite the SA music scene in a COVID-safe way for musicians and gig-goers alike. The campaign addresses the cancellation of the annual winter Umbrella Festival which was unable to go ahead in…
English rock group Everything Everything have announced an exclusive VR event to launch their forthcoming album Re-Animator. Everything Everything: Virtual RE-ANIMATOR has been dubbed the first-ever “release show held in virtual reality”. Hosted in partnership with Sansar, the event sees the band push their creativity to new heights, building upon the album campaign that began…
Attica’s Ben Shewry has hooked up with the founding members of eternally acclaimed music wizards The Avalanches to throw “A Party for Melbourne”, a virtual house party taking place on Saturday 12th September. “The idea for A Party for Melbourne grew out of our friendship with Ben and Kylie Staddon from Attica,” said The Avalanches’…
The Covid-19 pandemic has paved the way for a number of exciting initiatives, while we wait for live music touring to return to the fore. From the amazing Isol-Aid weekly streaming event, run out of Melbourne, to festivals like Americana in Nashville moving digital with the “Thriving Roots” initiative, the opportunities for live musicians have…
Sydney has just lost one of it’s most iconic live music small venues, The Newsagency. Managed by Alison Avron (pictured above) since it opened in its first location in 2011, it has proven to be one of the city’s bright lights for hosting intimate gigs in Sydney – bringing consistent life to a city hit…
Earlier today, Falls Festival organisers sadly announced that this year’s celebration has been cancelled amid growing COVID-19 concerns. Event organisers initially planned to give the festival the go-ahead with an Australian-only line-up. After careful consideration however, organisers have chosen to pull the plug on the Lorne, Byron Bay, and Fremantle Festivals. “Given the current status…
“The pandemic will not stop us!” declare Record Store Day Australia organisers. Since its inception in 2008, Record Store Day has long been a staple in any music fan’s year. Hosted in 26 countries around the world, the day commemorates independent record stores with the release of limited edition records, live music, and more. 2020,…
We may not be able to cram crowds into local gigs right now, but that isn’t stopping some unique live sets from going down. As part of the currently ongoing “Sailor Jerry Sessions” gig series that’s moving around Sydney, local grunge outfit The Dead Love made a return to the live music circuit last week…
In just a few years, Queenslander Leanne Tennant has made waves in the Australian music scene, securing three Queensland Music Awards and a Carol Lloyd Award in the process. Her third album Happiness is..… is out now and has already received praise and recognition, including a Top 10 spot in the 100% Independent Albums charts…
2020 has proven to be an arduous year for the music and entertainment industries. With ongoing coronavirus restrictions putting live music on hold, artists and venue owners alike have been left in a precarious position. Several glimmers of hope for the industry have emerged however – one of these being the ABC’s latest music program…
In rather sobering news this morning, the iconic Port Fairy Folk Festival – one of Australia’s longest running events – has postponed their March 2021 event, citing the uncertainty around the pandemic as the (unsurprising) reason for the decision. The iconic festival has been celebrating Worlds, Roots and Folk Music now for 45 years but…
play / pause / play have just released a new podcast titled The Sounds of South Australia celebrating and showcasing homegrown talent. The series will feature 50 artists from the state. “South Australia is full of incredible artists but unless you’re already connected to the scene, you’re probably missing out” says play / pause / play…
English synth-pop act Hot Chip are set to perform an exclusive live-streamed set from Dreamland Margate, one of the UK’s most adored amusement parks. The event will be streamed in Australia on Sunday, 6th September, kicking off at 8pm AEST. The band, whose hits include Ready for the Floor, Hungry Child and I Feel Better,…
COVID-safe gigs are starting to pop up all around Sydney, but the latest batch is something else. In partnership with Sailor Jerry Spice Rum, a new gig series supporting independent live music is spreading several intimate gigs over the next few weeks, all taking place in some of Sydney’s most beloved venues. The unique series…
APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre have unveiled the finalists for the 2020 Art Music Awards, streaming live on Tuesday 8 September. The annual event recognises distinctions in the fields of composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian art music. In light of the current COVID restrictions, this year’s Awards will be streamed as…
Ubisoft has released a second EP of select tracks from the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The EP, called The Ravens Saga, features music from composers Jesper Kyd, Sarah Schachner, and two originals by Einar Selvik. Packed full of hard-edged strings, thunderous percussion and strident, chanting choirs, it is every inch a viking symphony. Kyd is…
Over the next four nights, Chicago’s iconic Lollapalooza will be transformed into a spectacular online festival with retrospective performances alongside intimate discussions and more than a handful of new, original performances by big-ticket acts. It’ll all be going down exclusively on YouTube, following the path of previous festival-streaming events but offering a deeper exploration to…
The guest performers for this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards have been announced today. The awards, which will be broadcast on across TV, Radio and online on August 8th, will feature performances from national treasure Archie Roach, Gamilaraay singer Thelma Plum, Pitjantjatjara and Torres Strait Island R&B star Miiesha and more. The evening will also…
It’s become pretty much the norm these days, but WAM (West Australian Music) are taking the Awards Party for their 2020 Song of the Year competition online this year. The virtual awards party will be coming to you live from WAM’s Facebook page, this Wednesday, July 29th from 7:30pm (AWST). With Odette Mercy on MC duties,…
It was announced earlier this week that the 5th Annual National Live Music Awards would be returning in 2020, delivering an event on October 20th at The Triffid in Brisbane – as part of the opening night festivities at BIGSOUND. The event, which normally holds 8 events around the country, will only hold the one…
The lineup for the rescheduled Yours & Owls Festival has been announced, and it’s an absolute belter. To ensure that the lineup stays as advertised, the festival is ‘staying local’, with the best of Australia and New Zealand showcased at this postponed edition of Y&O. The organisers have stated that they will be working with…
In what is great news for the music industry in Australia, the organisers of BIGSOUND have confirmed that the 2020 edition will proceed. This will be sixth edition of this important showcase of the best and brightest of emerging talent within the music industry. BIGSOUND will be held again in Fortitude Valley, over a condensed…
Today the nominations for this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards were announced, with Miiesha and Baker Boy leading the way with three nominations apiece. The awards, with their sizeable geographic and genre range, honour the best of First Nations musical talent. The twenty-four finalists are spread across seven categories and represent a diverse and rich…
It’s been announced today that Cannot Buy My Soul, the seminal Kev Carmody tribute album first released in 2007, is set to be re-released. Out on August 21st, the 2020 edition will feature new recordings of Carmody’s songs from artists such as Courtney Barnett, Kate Miller-Heidke, Alice Skye and Electric Fields. Carmody is one of…
As live music slowly crawls back to the fore, a total of six “Unplugged & Intimate” Sydney shows have been announced by DMA’S. The four-time ARIA-nominees and constant hitmakers will be highlighting forthcoming third album The Glow, giving fans in their hometown the chance to be the very first in the world to hear the…
With the launch of The Last of Us Part II in Australia today, PlayStation have roped in Australian muso Tash Sultana to cover one of the game’s most haunting tracks. The song, Through The Valley, was originally recorded by Shawn James. It was later featured as an in-character cover by Last of Us 2 star Ashley Johnson…
