Music

Brighton mega-festival and industry convention, The Great Escape, has just added a whole new round of artists to the 2016 bill because evidently 300 musicians on the first announcement signified that they were only getting started. The new announcement includes exciting artists including Thomas Cohen, Barns Courtney, SG Lewis  and Carnival Youth, while Australian acts like Julia Jacklin, Gang of Youths, City Calm Down, Vallis Alps and Kim…

Sans Parents have followed up the well-received release of their pop-tastic tune “Can’t Stop Moving” with an accompanying music video, co-directed by band members Alex Bennison and Kane Mazlin. Following the DIY method they’ve used in the past, the visuals for “Can’t Stop Moving” were captured on a 90’s camcorder in an effort to portray the brief of…

Australian Five Finger Death Punch fans received disappointing news this morning, with the US band having to cancel all of their upcoming Aussie dates (both headline and with Black Sabbath) due to the hospitalisation of vocalist Ivan Moody. The official statement says Moody is expected to make a full recovery, but they’ve unfortunately had to cancel all of their…

With this year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest in the bag, our team has returned back to Sydney and Brisbane full of highlights from the epic Easter Weekend of live music that brought together everything from hip hop to jazz, blues to country and almost everything in between. Larry, Andrew and Chris give us their picks of…

Sydney’s Gang of Youths has announced the dates for their May/June tour of Europe and America. Their debut album The Positions received five ARIA nominations in 2015, and won Live Act of the Year and Best Domestic Tour at the AU Live Music Awards last year. Along with all the praise and accolades, the boys have released…

There’s a good chance you haven’t heard of V. Bozeman. The Californian R&B soul singer hasn’t had much exposure in Australia, but if you’re a fan of hip hop drama Empire, you’ll recognise this lady’s voice for sure. Bozeman has garnered much attention since her attention-snatching appearance in the show’s pilot episode and recently has been working…

Grace Potter returned to Byron Bay triumphant, bringing her new album Midnight to Bluesfest crowds and bringing it hard. Rocking out on stage throughout the Easter Weekend, the American musician came out swinging with this new material, showcasing more development within her musicianship and a brilliant new live show. Potter caught up with Larry backstage during the…

Legendary blues musician Eugene Hideaway Bridges sat down with us at Bluesfest this year to give us the lowdown on how this trip to Australia had been treating him so far! A favourite out this way, Bridges’ endearing and charming live presence brought rave reviews from punters who were able to catch him both at the…

It’s always a great time for music fans when Ben Folds is in town and this August, Australian fans will be able to see the celebrated artist touring with a new ensemble, New York’s yMusic! The chamber ensemble will be performing at all stops of Ben Folds’ upcoming tour dates, where his new album So There will be…

The Wide Open Space Festival is getting ready to turn all the way up this year, with today’s third and final music announcement! An extra 20 artists have been added to the bill, rounding out the final performer count to 63. International, local and interstate music acts will be hitting desert for Wide Open Space this…

Kevin Morby, another artist at SXSW who caught our attention, has released a new music video for his tune “Dorothy”! Named after his guitar, which was named after his grandmother, “Dorothy” is realised in a gorgeous music clip that represents the sentiment really well here. Says Morby of the tune, “Being a musician, when you find…

L D R U‘s track “Keeping Score” has been flogged on radio – rightfully so – constantly recently, hitting Platinum status! It’s only logical that the beat maker hit the road for some tour dates to celebrate, no? July will see the producer hitting clubs nationally, with Manilla Killa on national support duty; with these Australian…

Tame Impala are absolutely everywhere at the moment, adding an appearance atop the Saturday night bill of this year’s FYF Fest to their list of shows for 2016. The Perth boys are the only Australians aside from Jagwar Ma to feature on the American festival bill, which also boasts the likes of Kendrick Lamar, LCD Soundsystem and Grace Jones at the top of the…

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys brought his California charm by way of a 38-song set list to the Sydney Opera House last night. The tour is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary album “Pet Sounds”, but could it still be a success without the rest of the full band and so many…

Absolute tune. Slowly Slowly have done it again with new single, memorably titled, “Pussy Makes the World Go Round”. Featuring Tom Lanyon of CERES on this tune, “PMTWGR” highlights some great guitar work and that enticing punk rock delivery that for any 20-something, may evoke those angsty bands we were all listening to in high school during the early 2000’s….

DZ Deathrays had SXSW in the bag this year. In Austin for their fourth time at the festival, Shane and Simon may not have gone done the 50 shows in 4 days type route this year, but the gigs they did fit into their time in town were as high octane as you’d expect from the band by this…

SXSW can be an overwhelming, sometimes unforgiving beast to anyone attending the Texan music festival for the first time or for the umpteenth time. For US-based Aussie musician Lo Carmen, the programme saw her performing her own showcases as well as connecting with some important industry individuals and of course, seeing some of her favourite musicians do…

Three years since the release of their debut EP White Water, The Sinking Teeth have returned with “Good Grief”, a cut from their debut album due for release this year. The Melbourne three-piece have toured with the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Bodyjar and Kingswood and it’s not hard to see why, with “Good Grief” showing their confidence in their…

It’s a sweaty Thursday afternoon and SXSW Music is entering its last corner for another year. I find myself standing out the front of Barracuda, listening to White Lung belt out their last five or so minutes of live show chaos on stage inside. Shortly after, Mish Barber-Way and Kenneth ‘Kenny’ William join me outside for a chat on the…

Colin Lillie, via new single “Give Thanks”, further explores a songwriting talent already established as a heartfelt and honest one, but engages with a bit of edge on the new tune. Known for marrying folk with some great country tones, Lillie here injects some rockier rhythms into “Give Thanks” and embraces some painfully earnest lyricism…

The fifth and final day of Bluesfest 2016 played heavy on nostalgia, with a double-bill headliner in Brian Wilson and Tom Jones, while some of the festival’s favourite returning acts kept the quality consistent throughout the day in the lead-up to a site-closing blues extravaganza by supergroup The Original Blues Brothers Band, who brought an…

Easter weekend in Australia means Bluesfest, and for those of us down in Melbourne it means sideshows. So many sideshows. Personally, I was most keen for Cold War Kids‘ sold out 170 Russell venture off the back of their fifth LP Hold My Home and first ever chart topping single in “First”. Quite often I’m…

Melbourne based musician and creative Zii is gearing up to launch his latest EP in Through These Eyes, coming through the Evelyn Hotel on April 1st. Embarking on to the local scene last year with successful releases in “Belief” and “This is Afrika”, Through These Eyes is undoubtedly going to be a perfect introduction for many to…

Kamasi Washington‘s run of Australian shows recently, both headline, festival (for Bluesfest) and supporting Kendrick Lamar have earned rave reviews and have won the Cali jazz maestro a legion of new fans. His album The Epic demonstrated a music talent that took contemporary music fans by storm last year and with these live shows continuing to highlight…

Bluesfest favourite Allen Stone enjoyed another successful run of shows out in Byron Bay over the Easter Weekend; an incredible live performer and a general great dude to deal with on and off stage, the AU caught up with the US artist to see what’s been happening since we last saw him. With a new album…

This has been a collaboration we’ve been waiting to be officially announced for some time now, so the fact that Briggs and Trials have finally gone and dropped details of their A.B. ORIGINAL project…we couldn’t be more excited. The two hip hop wordsmiths and fire live performers first came up with the idea to come together and make some brilliant music after…

Mutemath and Vic Mensa fans keen for both American artists hitting our shores next month have been disappointed this afternoon, with regional touring festival Groovin’ The Moo announcing replacement artists for both following the tour cancellations. Due to varying reasons, Mutemath and Mensa have pulled out of Australian shows, including their run of festival dates, while Jarryd James and What…

Newcastle power duo The Gooch Palms have been added to what is now a stomper sold out Australian tour by Violent Soho this year – for real, could this bill get any more raucous? The Gooch Palms, who we recently saw tear up at SXSW for another year, have been working on their second album Introverted Extroverts and so to…

Arguably the mother of all European music festivals, Glastonbury, has announced its full line up for 2016 – the Worthy Farm event priming itself to host the likes of Muse, Adele, Coldplay and many, many more this June 22nd-26th. Newly confirmed acts for Glasto this year have included Beck, Foals, LCD Soundsystem, CHVRCHES, ZZ Top and Bring Me the Horizon, while many acts and performers are…

Here’s some steaming hot rock and roll out of Brooklyn for you this Wednesday, courtesy of one of our favourite new discoveries, Skunkmello. Bringing a vintage, brazen fusion of rock and blues with their new album Hot Chicken (due out this June), the band have released the first taste of what’s to come in “Slaughterhouse Blues”, premiering…