News

Following his seventeen sold-out arena dates around Australia and New Zealand, Frontier Touring have revealed they’re bringing Ed Sheeran back to Australia before the end of the year to play a run of all ages stadium concerts. The shows will make him the first ever artist to tour stadiums in Australia and New Zealand completely…

The first 40 bands have been announced for the annual Music Matters LIVE showcasing festival in Singapore, featuring 11 bands from Australia and a group of musicians from all over the world. Russia, Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, Vietnam, New Zealand, Canada, Switzerland and even Kuwait are among the countries represented in this first announcement,…

For the first time ever, and with Australia as its Spotlight Country for 2015, the AU review is partnering up with Footstomp Music to throw a massive party as part of Toronto music conference and festival Canadian Music Week next month. Nine incredible Australian acts are set to showcase at the event, to be held…

Adding to the list of accolades that Courtney Barnett has been receiving at home and abroad since the release of her debut record Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit, the record just hit number one on US based chart service CMJ, beating out the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Dan Deacon (who…

We’re excited to be heading over to Ottawa Bluesfest for the first time this July, and in the last couple of weeks the festival has announced its massive lineup, with Kanye West among the many, many major names to grace the event’s stages from July 8th to the 19th. The festival, as you can tell…

Australia is getting its first ever “electronic music festival at sea” next year, with Alison Wonderland, Hot Dub Time Machine, SAFIA, The Kite String Tangle, Touch Sensitive and more ready to play the massive event that will see 2000 revellers transported from Brisbane to a mystery island for what is destined to be a four…

Sydney post-rock band sleepmakeswaves have announced more dates for their extensive ‘Great Northern’ tour, which stretches across Australia, New Zealand and 20 other countries this March to June.

With SXSW at an end, the music world is looking ahead to the rest of the major festivals to take over America this year. Following the announcement of Outside Lands in San Francisco earlier this week (see that lineup HERE), it’s now Lollapalooza’s turn – the iconic Chicago festival set to take place from July…

The third annual Grulke Prize has been awarded in three categories to some of the showcasing artists taking part in SXSW this year. The special accolade, created in honour of the late Brent Grulke, who was the Creative Director of the SXSW Music Festival, recognises artists from both the US and abroad who have shown…

For the 8th consecutive year, Rachael Ray’s Feedback Party took over Stubb’s BBQ for the final afternoon of SXSW, seeing a mix of bands from around the world play across three stages, while four Rachael Ray recipes (which you can see HERE), were enjoyed by the masses (you have to try the tacos!) – some…

For the last four days, the Pandora Discovery Den at SXSW has been taking audiences through the world of music, starting with Electronic, moving through Hip Hop, Americana and closing the week out with a day dedicated to Rock. Performing through the final day were artists like Big Data – who earlier in the day…

Nestled in what we can only assume was the ground level of a car park on the west side of Austin’s downtown, UK electronic outfit Hot Chip tonight played the third and final night of the Samsung Milk Music Lounge as part of the 2015 SXSW Music Festival, following on from sets by Australia’s Iggy…

Following on from the venue’s opening day with an electronic curation, Thursday marked the day Pandora dedicated their SXSW venue to hip hop, with iconic artist Wyclef Jean closing out the stage. As part of his epic 90 minute set, Wyclef took the audience on a musical (and somewhat educational) trip down memory lane, not…

Wednesday at SXSW marked the first of four days of the Pandora Discovery Den, an annual party held at The Gatsby on 6th Street – featuring a mix of well established and up-and-coming artists from around the world. Australia’s own Peking Duk helped kick off the celebration with a day focused on electronic music. Closing…

Highlighting influential women may be the focus of Neiman Marcus’ “Make Some Noise” activation at SXSW this week, but it was New York duo The Knocks who had the privilege of helping kick the three day event off in style yesterday. The duo were joined, however, by Liz Nisitico, who fronts the ever-growing-in-popularity electro-pop duo…

After five days of talks, events and parties (…lots of parties), the Interactive portion of SXSW came to an end tonight with a massive party at Austin’s iconic Stubb’s BBQ outdoor amphitheater, presented by Media Temple. The drinks and BBQ flowed as Z-Trip, Ludacris and TV on the Radio performed in front of some two…

Three of Australia’s most respected acts will come together at The Corner Hotel this April for a benefit for John Hedigan. Fellow bandmates and friends Something for Kate, Clare Bowditch and Darren Middleton will join forces for what will be a very special and memorable night, as they recognise Hedigan’s achievements to date and celebrate all he has done for them.

There’s really no stopping this girl. Known for her bluesy sound and witty, realist approach to songwriting, Courtney Barnett has conquered Australia and is now moving on to bigger things. The songstress made an appearance on US talk show The Ellen Show today with host Ellen DeGeneres introducing her as “one of my favourite new artists, I love her so much!” Barnett won hearts of many Americans with her stunning performance of “Depreston,” before DeGeneres gave everyone in the audience a copy of her new album Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.

This morning at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas, a packed out Paramount Theatre enjoyed the World Premiere of the new music documentary Mavis!, telling the story of the legendary Mavis Staples. Making her feature length documentary debut with the film was Director Jessica Edwards, who joined Mavis and other members of the crew…

The annual celebration that is Spotify House returned to SXSW today, for the start of no less SIX days of live music, free food, free drinks and something called “SoulCycle”, which seems to include live music and a bunch of exercise bikes… you may have to head along to find out for yourself, should you…

With 44 albums under their belts, over 100 million albums sold worldwide and decades of record breaking tours, it goes without saying KISS need no introduction. The legendary rock’n’roll band will be returning to Australia this October as part of their current world tour. KISS will be celebrating their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2014 as well as their 40th anniversary as a band.

Alt-rock band NANTES are back with a bang, announcing exciting tour news, a new single and a new EP! The 7 Tour will see the outfit play seven shows on the East Coast in support of their new single “7.” NANTES are hitting up a variety of specialty locations including Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel, Rad in Wollongong and Newtown Social Club, among other shows in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Pictured: METZ / Photo by Andrew Wade in Brisbane For the past four years, Laneway Festival has celebrated their internationally renouned festival by throwing a special party at SXSW. The event often serves as an indicator of some of the bands we might end up seeing at Laneway in Australia in the following year. Well,…

The Aussie BBQ is returning to the park from whence it came… For the the 2015 event, SXSW will see The Aussie BBQ move from Saturday to the Friday and take over both sides of Brush Square Park for the first time ever – returning to the site for the first time since 2009. Here…

One of Ireland’s biggest festivals have just dropped their 2015 lineup and it is full of stellar acts! The annual Electric Picnic Festival is a three day event held in Stradbally, Ireland. The greatly anticipated lineup was only released less than 24 hours ago and sees ethereal act Florence + The Machine and electronic duo Underworld as headliners.

Just when you thought it was near impossible for South by Southwest to get any bigger, Pandora drop their Discovery Den lineup. This will mark the fourth annual event the leading internet radio service has produced with 2015 seeing 37 diverse artists from eight countries performing.

Between receiving four Grammy nominations and winning multiple ARIA awards, there’s no surprise Sia Furler took out yet another award at last night’s 6th Annual Rolling Stone Awards. The songstress beat the likes of Dan Sultan, The Preatures, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and The Church for the prestigious title of ‘Album of the Year’ for 1000 Forms of Fear.

Synth-pop visionary Andy Bull is embarking on a nationwide tour this April/May in support of his latest single and 2014 album Sea of Approval. The ‘Talk Too Much’ tour will see ten performances across the country, including regional stops Wollongong and Newcastle.

Brisbane trio Columbus are rising through the ranks, quickly making a name for themselves as one of Australia’s most exciting punk-rock outfits. Between recently dropping their Home Remedy EP and securing a spot at the Queensland Soundwave Festival, the boys are definitely ones to watch this year.

After debuting at BIGSOUND 2014, experimental pop artist Lia Mice is coming back to Australia for her first Australian tour since, this April. Fresh off the release of her second LP I Love You last November and supporting tours in France, Japan and USA, the artist will be visiting three locations: Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.