Music

Single of the Day: FKJ “Go Back Home” (2017)

Out of Paris comes the soulful croon of FKJ (French Kiwi Juice) on new track, “Go Back Home”. Rhythmic and whipping with melody, the song is an instant groove. There’s a certain flair FKJ is renowned for bringing to his music and it’s one that has resonated brilliantly in clubs right around the world – “Go Back…

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The Shins’ James Mercer plays surprise acoustic set in Sydney; debuts new Heartworms tracks

A small group of special guests were treated to a very special set today in Sydney, Australia featuring The Shins frontman James Mercer. Performing four tracks and armed only with an acoustic guitar, Mercer delivered two old favourites and two tracks set to be released on the band’s forthcoming record Heartworms (due out in March)….

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The Montreals bring a new brand of indie rock out of Adelaide & look ahead to a bright 2017

You can’t deny that the Australian music scene is an entity entirely of its own – local bands pinwheel across the country, you’re struck by EPs of dazzling quality from all directions, and local music scenes steal your heart. Hailing from Adelaide, and only forming in late 2015, The Montreals are no exception to this,…

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HÆLOS on bringing their studio production to the live stage with the release of Full Circle

British trio HÆLOS have been favourites of ours for a little while now. Having caught some of their early shows as a band out at SXSW in 2016, it’s been wonderful to see the band continue to go from strength to strength. Their debut album Full Circle and the strong live show that’s come off the back…

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Sydney Festival Review: Moses Sumney blows crowds away in two sold out shows this weekend

For his second sold out show at Sydney Festival this weekend, Los Angeles based musician Moses Sumney moved from the ethereal church to the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent (a circus tent of sorts), with crowds spiraling around the Meriton Festival Village well in advance of his arrival. Opening with his vocal only Hebrew prayer “Incantation”, standing in…

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Get to know Jessy Lanza (Canada) ahead of her Australian debut tour

With her acclaimed album Oh No bringing Jessy Lanza to Sydney Festival for a much-anticipated show in Hyde Park on Friday night, ahead of shows at Sugar Mountain in Melbourne and other appearances around the country, we caught up with the Canadian musician to find out just how she is anticipating bringing her music to Australia for the first…

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Single of the Day: SLUMBERJACK ft. Vera Blue “Fracture” (2017)

SLUMBERJACK have returned from a summer spent slaying on festival stages with a new tune primed for hit status – “Fracture”. Featuring the now trademark vocals of one Vera Blue, “Fracture” comes burning out from the West Coast and acts as a perfect follow up to SLUMBERJACK’s “RA” and the Daniel Johns collaboration, “Open Fire”. Onward pushing electro beats…

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Music Video of the Day: Dutch Uncles “Big Balloon” (2017)

Dutch Uncles – a group to have on your radar this week. Out of Manchester, the band have a new album in Big Balloon coming out soon and we’ve been digging the record’s title track which, yay, now has a music video! Directed by Nick Middleton, the clip trails the band as they hit up the Buxton Raceway…

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Sydney Festival Review: Lake Street Dive delivered an unforgettable set at the Spiegeltent

A celebration of the arts, music and culture, Sydney Festival has become a staple for many Sydneysiders through out their Summer. And just as the festival and temperatures continue to peak, I ventured into Hyde Park to check out US natives Lake Street Dive as they took on the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. As Sydney sweltered…

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Jamie T reflects on Trick‘s tour cycle as we look ahead to new music in 2017

New Year’s Eve 2016 at the Falls Festival in Lorne saw Jamie T return and smash out a brilliant set on the Valley Stage. Armed with latest album Trick as well as a swag of tunes from across his now four-record strong career, the British muso had the crowds singing along strongly as if he’d never left us. Shortly…

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Urthboy talks 18 years of Elefant Traks & how writing for his daughter has changed live shows

At Festival of the Sun recently, Larry caught up with Urthboy to reflect on recent live shows, the 18th anniversary of his label Elefant Traks and more! At the time of our catch up, the Sydney hip hop label was readying itself for its huge celebration gig but as Urthboy says, they’re still operating with the same ambition and…

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The State of Affairs (13th January 2017): FBi Radio announce new Music Director, Australian Blues Music Festival reveals ‘Chain Award’ nominees & more

Welcome to 2017! The new year is getting off to a great start in terms of the local music scene, with the 37th annual St Kilda Festival releasing its full line-up of confirmed acts, FBi Radio announcing the appointment of a new Music Director, and Melbourne’s beloved King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard being announced as the…

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Pete Rock & CL Smooth announce debut Australian tour

You hear that? That’s the sound of Hip Hop fans all across Australia counting their lucky stars. At the turn of the century it seemed like heads the world over would never see the legendary duo of Pete Rock & CL Smooth reunite, but fast forward to now and things done changed; one of the…

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The Top 40 Albums of 2016 (Part Two): The Top 20

Top 20’s are always hard to pull together. As we saw with the first part of our Best Albums of 2016 countdown, the list was looking to be a varied one, with records from bands including Descendents, The Hotelier, Julia Jacklin and NO ZU all making the cut. As we look to the Top 20 records (as voted by our…

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U2 to headline 2017’s Bonnaroo festival in June; Flume, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and more also feature

Bonnaroo has gone and nabbed U2 for a special headline spot this year, taking place a few weeks ahead of the band’s massive tour to commemorate The Joshua Tree’s 30th anniversary. A huge coup for the Tennessee event for sure, Bonnaroo doled out its full line up overnight, featuring the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Major Lazer, Chance The Rapper, The…

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Kasabian to play exclusive shows at the Sydney Opera House in March

Huge ones for fans of the British band. This week, Kasabian have been announced for an exclusive duo of Australian shows to take place at the Sydney Opera House – no doubt an iconic point of their career and relationship with Australian audiences. The shows are to take place in March and follow on from successful dates…

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Catfish and The Bottlemen reflect on a mad two years of touring & the far reach of their music beyond the UK

On New Year’s Eve, we were lucky enough to catch up with Van McCann and Johnny ‘Bondy’ Bond ahead of what was one of the sets of the festival up at Lorne. Having first met the Catfish and The Bottlemen frontman in Scotland at T In The Park back in 2014 and then again, watching them rise consistently in the States at SXSW…

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Dune Rats hitting the road with The Kids Will Know It’s Bullshit this March

Armed with a whole new album of music, shoes primed to be filled with beer and no doubt a few cones for the hell of it, Dune Rats have announced their next Australian tour. March will see the boys back on the road and ready to wreak some serious havoc across the country with Skegss and The Gooch Palms,…

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Tetrahedra, BATTS and GlamouRatz’s Melbourne gig at The Gasometer Hotel proves a highlight of the holidays

You’d be forgiven if you saw this Melbourne band’s name and thought, ‘These guys must really be into maths’… They sure do know how to cut shapes on the stage, but once their musical talents are unveiled, you’ll soon forget you initially confused them with a geometrical shape (tetrahedron), and their actual name – Tetrahedra…

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PVT drummer Laurence Pike talks about the magic of music in Szun Waves’ Sydney Festival debut

Szun Waves have an avant-garde pedigree most new bands would envy. The London-based trio is made up of PVT drummer Laurence Pike,  experimental jazz-ambient quartet Portico saxophonist Jack Wyllie, and acclaimed producer and modular-synth wizard, Luke Abbott. Following the release of their debut At Sacred Walls, the trio will be performing tomorrow night at Sydney Festival….

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Ten weeks of free live music returns to Sydney’s Seymour Centre

Now in its 6th year, the Courtyard Sessions are returning to the leafy surrounds of Sydney’s Seymour Centre courtyard tomorrow. The event will run every Friday evening from 6 to 9pm for 10 weeks. The totally free event will feature an emerging artist alongside free “giant” games, as well as BBQ and drinks for sale….

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Sydney Festival Review: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith an ethereal master, hidden in plain sight

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith is far from a household name, but with some five LPs and an EP under her belt in as many years, the Los Angeles based electronic musician and composer has enjoyed growing underground popularity and now her first tour of Australia – which earlier tonight took her to the St Stephen’s Uniting…

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Jack River on an exciting 2017 ahead for music, fuelled by kickass Australian female musicians

Jack River emerged onto the Australian music scene strongly in 2016, the release of her debut EP Highway Songs No. 2 marking her as a talent to watch. Since joining the I OH YOU family, the musician has been building a solid name for herself but has been taking her time in getting her music out there;…

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The Top 40 Albums of 2016 (Part One): 40 – 21

Looking back at last year’s run of new releases, it’s safe to say there were some definite hits alongside those that may not have lived up to the hype. We saw the return of some esteemed artists after a long time out of the spotlight, while some of our own emerging superstar talents came through strongly…

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SXSW adds All Our Exes Live in Texas, Slum Sociable and more to 2017 Music program

We’re two months out from SXSW 2017 and this week, the music festival organisers have dropped another fat stack of artists from around the world to get us excited. As usual, the Australian additions are impressive with the likes of All Our Exes Live in Texas, Slum Sociable, Tkay Maidza and Totally Mild featuring, while newer artists in The Coconut Kids from Adelaide…

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The 50 Best Hip Hop and R&B Songs of 2016

For Hip Hop, 2016 was the year of cosigning anything and everything. So called ‘mumble rap’ became a thing and there was a massive push back against the term ‘real Hip Hop’, championing newcomers like Lil’ Yachty and Lil’ Uzi Vert (who, like it or not, have been attached to the music and the culture)…

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NYC’s Panorama Festival to feature Aussies Tame Impala, Nick Murphy, Jagwar Ma and Vance Joy amongst NIN, Alt-J and more

Situated in the Randall’s Island parklands, and delivered by the same folks who bring us Coachella (Golden Voice), NYC’s Panorama Festival is showcasing a jaw-dropping wealth of talent for their 2017 event. After debuting in 2016 with a lineup that boasted Arcade Fire, Alabama Shakes, Kendrick Lamar, The National, LCD Soundsystem and Run the Jewels, just…

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On and off stage at the Falls Festival: A look at our time behind the scenes at Lorne

We had a ball returning to the lush forest up at Lorne for the Falls Festival over New Year’s! Now that the dust has settled for another year, we’re looking back on our time on the Victorian coast with some of the artists who made our festival both on and off stage. Photos by Briana Davis. [print_gllr id=31590]…

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