Music

2018 has been a very difficult year for ‘best of’ lists where hip hop and R&B is concerned. The often intertwined genres haven’t seen this much quality output for years, constant head-turning and critically acclaimed albums from artists both old and new have made the past 12 months the best in the scene since 2012….

It’s been an incredible year for Thandi Phoenix, who I last sat down with back in March at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Now she’s going to be ringing in the New Year in Sydney alongside The Presets and more, as part of the NYE in the Park lineup. We caught up with her to find…

Ahead of their headlining midnight set at NYE in the Park in Sydney, we caught up with KIM of The Presets to talk about his perfect New Years Eve, highlights of 2018 and what he has planned for 2018. We also get a taste of his favourite music of the year… What were you doing…

It’s been a decade between drinks, but The Raconteurs have returned with two new songs and a new album on the way sometime in 2019. The songs were released via 7” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the groups last album Consolers of the Lonely. The Raconteurs, who are also known as The Saboteurs here…

As the silly season well and truly begins to hit its straps and everyone starts to wind things up at work (he types as he sits at his work desk procrastinating a grant application due in mere hours), the tour cycles of bands touring across this brown land of ours continues to go at breakneck…

Kids At Midnight a.k.a. Melbourne’s Jane Elizabeth Hanley has channeled her inner Kate Bush with her delightfully 80’s inspired new single “By Your Side”.  Whilst Kids At Midnight initially started life as a duo it’s now morphed into a solo project, with Hanley writing and producing all her own work. “By Your Side” marks the…

The AU Awards are back for the fifth consecutive year, celebrating the best Australian artists of 2018. All categories take into consideration both albums and live performance, and there’s no argument that everyone on this list has had a massive year. We’ll be announcing the winners this Friday! And the nominees are… SOLO ARTIST OF…

Coloured cables hung over tables on the stage at Brisbane’s The Foundry. The tables brimmed with machines that made the venue’s walls shake with each drum machine thump. Churning out these cold, clanging beats were Melbourne four-piece NUN, who mine the distant past’s idea of the sounds of the future; sounds that came to terrifying…

I’ve been lucky enough to catch up with US based artist Bishop Briggs a few times now, and every time we catch up things just seem be getting bigger and better for the every growing star. Our chat earlier this month, ahead of her pending visit to Australia for Falls, was no exception. We talk about…

Australian electronic duo, SLUMBERJACK have been adding their signature feelsy, melodic sound to wonky trap tracks for years now. Busy touring the world with TroyBoi, Ekali, Alison Wonderland and playing huge festival sets round the world they haven’t played many shows in Australia in 2018. Luckily they will be back with big things in 2019, saying…

Rapidly becoming one of Sydney’s most in-demand bands, Crocodylus recently embarked on an Australian tour with fresh, coastal songs drenched in their signature sixties style. You might already be across their recent single “My Baby”. Already, the band has played with the likes of Hockey Dad, ORB, The Lemon Twigs (USA), The Bennies and more,…

Wollongong five piece Ruby Tuesdays have capped off a solid 2018 of releases with their excellent new single “Why You Always Gotta Fight Me”.  Recorded and produced out on the South Coast with 19Twenty’s Syd Green, “Why You Always Gotta Fight Me” is the very definition of a slow burner, with the track gradually building…

Phil Collins is an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously. The solo musician and former member of Genesis has written a memoir titled, Not Dead Yet, as you do. He has been on the receiving end of some jokes but he takes them all with good humour. Ahead of his Australian and New Zealand…

Rain will put a dampener on just about any outdoor activity. But when it’s a summer festival, and the rain is torrential, well, that just plain sucks. Unfortunately, Mother Nature must have been upset with the Sydney crowd attending Paul Kelly’s Making Gravy and pulled a classic stitch up on those in attendance and the…

Christmas holidays are nearly upon us, which means New Years is nearly here too, so it’s time to get those plans finalised (if you haven’t already). If you’re in Sydney your decision got a whole lot easier earlier this year, with the announcement that NYE in the Park would be returning for a second year. The…

After a week of downpour, the sky cleared over Canberra on Saturday ahead of what was looking to be an incredible festival, Gingerfest 2018. With the charity run group Remembering the Ginger Ninja and their great partnership with Yours and Owls, as well as 6 Picks Brewers, the day was excellently executed, with each act…

2018 has been a good year for Wollongong indie pop trio The Francos, with the band releasing their sophomore EP Absolute Scenes, along with a handful of singles. Determined to end the year on a high, the band have recently released one more track: “Back To Basics”. “Back To Basics” is a three minute blast…

The heavens descended upon the Domain last night, throwing back the start and resulting in slightly abbreviated sets, but it certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for a fantastic night for Paul Kelly’s ‘Making Gravy’. It was a stellar lineup with Angie McMahon, D. D Dumbo, Alex Lahey, Angus & Julia Stone all playing sets, before the mercurial…

Saturday night was the concluding show for Polish Club‘s ‘Get Some Clarity’ tour and there is no doubt that the boys wholeheartedly went out on a high. In October, the rock duo (David Novak and John-Henry Pajak) released the first glimpse of their forthcoming second album with their latest single ‘Clarity’ – a mammoth track…

Perth’s Great Gable have spent much of December out on the road, touring their new single “Golden Slums”, but Friday night saw them return home for the final date of the tour, with the band delivering an awesome show at The Rosemount Hotel. Joining in on the fun were Butter, Dulcie and Nika Mo. Stuart Sevastos was…

New Orleans’ Galactic are back with a new single, “Clap Your Hands”, featuring guest vocalist Miss Charm Taylor. The upbeat and percussive number is the first taste of the band’s new album (their first in more than three years), Already Ready Already, which is set for release in early 2019. After more than twenty years…

Durand Jones & The Indications have offered up the first taste of their sophomore album, American Love Call, set for release March 1st, with their latest single “Don’t You Know”. It’s a nostalgia drenched track, and yet another nod to the classic soul music of the early Seventies. “Don’t You Know” is put simply put…

With no less than 10 members, and hailing from Albury, Melbourne, The Northern Folk have been incrementally building their charismatic and varied sound since banding together and gracing the local touring circuit in 2012. Since then, the ever-evolving outfit have released two records of lyric-led, horn-saturated ebbs and troughs that showcase the breadth of the…

Originally little more than an experiment of Swiss-American mastermind Manuel Gagneux, the avant-garde combination of negro spirituals and black metal embraced on his 2015 album Devil Is Fine quickly connected with several previously unstruck chords – as though American slaves had found Satanism rather than Christianity. And when it came to the music being created,…

Paul Capsis is one of Australia’s most versatile performers and is equally at home in the world’s of theatre, film & television, and of course cabaret. He’s a gifted interpreter of song, and has sung with a diverse and varied group of musicians and singers, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Russell Crowe, the Soweto Gospel…

Remembering the Ginger Ninja are a not for profit organisation that have organised punk rock festivals in honour of their close friend Nicholas Sofar-Schreiber, and this Saturday at MOLO Live, situated just upon ANU Campus, the great organisation is gearing up for a day of great music, great beer, and to commemorate the titular Ginger…

Singer-songwriter Odette has teamed up with fellow Aussie songstress Gretta Ray for a stunning new duet single “A Place That I Don’t Know”. At just Twenty One years of age, Odette is on path to quickly becoming a household name with her engrossing soulful vocals and evocative lyricism. This year has seen her debut album To…

Karrie Hayward is a Brisbane based songstress with a pop infused, indie edge sound. Spending the last few months travelling solo in a van performing shows down the Eastern coast of Australia from Townsville to Melbourne she recently released her debut EP Ephemeral. An album about the experiences of a past relationship and the raw…

The 2018 ARIAs have well and truly gone, but that night was one to remember! November 28th, 2018 marks the date I was lucky enough to report at my first red carpet event and now it’s time to do a tell-all on the experience: Interviewing some of Australia’s biggest names in music can seem like…

The SXSW Conference and Festival, or South by Southwest, recently announced additions to its massive line up of showcasing artists for 2019. For several decades now, this Texas based event has been celebrating music, film and interactive media and has turned into a hot spot for connecting with other international artist, labels, and audiences. Being…