Music

We’ve gone and done to Mac DeMarco what we Australians like to do when we see something we like – we claim it. Though our link to the Canadian doesn’t extend to any type of shared heritage or close proximity geographically, all you need to do is witness the response to DeMarco’s live shows –…

Well, talk about a double-whammy for fans of both The Cairos and Jinja Safari, with both Aussie bands announcing the end of their respective time together online. From the statements released, the reason for both splits have come down to a natural reaching of crossroads, something understandable when you’ve got groups of creatives who will…

In news that has shocked fans all over,

2015 smash hit Compton was a successful return outing from Dr Dre, bringing in a bevy of old, new, and future legends to craft one of the year’s best hip hop releases. We’ve already heard a few tracks from the cutting room floor, but now it seems Dre has more in his bag, debuting one…

It’s looking like the rumours of Kanye West bringing back his “GOOD Fridays” series are true, meaning that the superstar rapper-producer will be putting out new material every week in the lead up to his forthcoming album SWISH, which is scheduled for a release on February 11th, 2016. This week, that new material comes in…

Sydney’s historic harbour-side precinct The Rocks is always one of the most popular locations for public Australia Day celebrations year after year, and 2016 will be no exception as organisers of the suburb’s annual festival have curated a huge music program to go along with the (hopefully) sun-charged atmosphere of eclectic market stalls and delicious…

Overnight, news broke of the cancellation of the 2016 Southbound Festival in WA due to recent bushfires threatening surrounding areas. Where the Lorne leg of the Falls Festival was able to be moved elsewhere in Victoria, it was not possible to enact a similar contingency move for the Busselton festival, with the statement being released…

As we look toward another top year of live shows and musical discovery, our contributors have been ruminating on the best shows of last year, the ones that have stuck out and have set a standard for the following year to come. Dan Turner (Photographer) #1 Gig of 2015: Ben Frost at the Sydney Opera…

She’s been dominating stages both in Australia and recently, internationally, so to be able to snag a slice of Meg Mac‘s time recently was exciting for us. Before her set at Mt. Duneed Estate for the Falls Festival, Meg sat down with us to chat about what has been such a huge year for the…

2016 looks to be a huge year for British vocalist Rosie Lowe, especially if her latest tune is anything to go by. With a vocal quality evoking a sharpness and warmth akin to Yukimi Nagano and Jessie Ware, Lowe’s new single “Woman” is a great slice of R&B served up with minimal production. The arrangement…

Tomorrow night, US legends The Flaming Lips are set to unleash their incredible live performances in front of some 60,000 punters as they perform a free set for Sydney Festival’s annual “Summer Sounds in the Domain” series. Ahead of the performance, I caught up with the band’s iconic frontman Wayne Coyne just after he’d touched down…

Fresh off previewing their new album Hymns at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory, UK band Bloc Party have announced that they will be playing a special benefit concert, organised by the team behind Southbound, this weekend in Perth in an effort to raise funds for those affected by the horrible bushfires in the South West. Annual…

Lyrical master Kendrick Lamar has once again premiered a new “untitled” track on one of the world’s most viewed talk show programs, appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to showcase the previously unreleased song, which doesn’t appear on his most recent project, the universally praised To Pimp a Butterfly. With the working title…

As the music icon turns 69, David Bowie has now released his hugely anticipated 25th full-length album ★ (Blackstar), allowing his fans to stream all seven tracks online via Vevo and Spotify. First previewed by the haunting 10-minute opener “Blackstar”, this new album seeks to further Bowie’s range with a fresh approach pulling in all…

While wrapping up their current Australian tour Bloc Party took to one of Sydney’s most intimate live music venues, Oxford Art Factory, in an exclusive showcase for their upcoming fifth album Hymns, a project which has had much speculation surrounding it given the band’s new incarnation. Taking place last night, on Friday 8th January, the…

Aussie acts continue to climb row by row on American festival lineup posters, with a great example being the massive new program for this year’s Governors Ball, which takes place in June on Randall’s Island Park in New York City. Headlined by the likes of Chicago rapper-producer Kanye West, indie rock gods The Strokes and…

Leon Bridges‘ debut run of Australian shows have been wildly praised, just as the 26 year old’s debut album Coming Home has through 2015. Arriving in Australia at the end of last year to perform at both the Falls Festival events down the east coast and in Tasmania, as well as his own headline shows,…

Dubbed “the next great Canadian singer-songwriter”, The Weather Station is the project of Toronto’s Tamara Lindema, whose delicate and beautiful yet precise and complex music has been acclaimed all over the world. And last night she had the pleasure of showcasing it in the first Sydney Festival performance for 2016; opening The Famous Spiegeltent in the festival’s…

Brisbane-based The Creases arrived on stage with no fuss or introduction and set to warming up the crowd at 170 Russell prior to The Maccabees‘ Falls Festival sideshow. Despite a litany of technical glitches – including microphones attempting to electrocute them to the point they needed to protect themselves with shirts from their merchandise line,…

New Zealand band Ghost Wave are getting ready to release a new album, Radio Norfolk, via Flying Nun and have perked interest with the project’s first single “Blues Signal ’79”, presenting with a heavily psychedelic sound. “Everybody’s missing the countdown to the meltdown” is the refrain here, crafting a hook that fits in perfectly with…

Sydney Festival officially kicks off tonight, and with it are hundreds of incredible performances across some three weeks. Here are the nine shows we think you can’t miss… 9. Girlpool When? January 26th Where? The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park Cost? $39 (plus booking fees) What? The LA duo bring a dynamic blend of instrumentation, raw…

The release of Disclosure‘s 2015 record Caracal saw the UK brothers elevated to yet another level of global success and attention. Continuing to play with sounds within the house/dance genre, as well as branching out into R&B and pop music with collaborations with diverse artists including The Weeknd, Lorde and Australian vocalist Jordan Rakei, Disclosure…

Kieran Hebden’s Four Tet project has long been at the core of contemporary, experimental music, delivering some of the most meandering and diverse productions of this past decade, displaying a rare ability to direct emotion with subtle shifts of melody and rhythm. We’ve seen it on albums like Rounds and There is Love in You,…

It has been awhile since we’ve properly heard from Brooklyn band Yeasayer and their fantastically weird experimental indie-pop. Following a round of curious song previews over the holiday period they’ve decided that now seems a good a time as any to start rolling out new material from forthcoming album Amen & Goodbye. Titled “I Am…

As day three kicked off, there were thousands of live music fans in Byron Bay who had so far done just two things in 2016; dance and drink in the sunshine. Punters at the Falls Music and Arts Festival were treated to more great weather, as temperatures stayed in that exquisite sweet spot of the…

Just a few weeks ago the strong contingent of hip-hop releases that kept coming throughout 2015 ended with the likes of Pusha T, who gave us Darkest Before Dawn, a ten-track prelude to his now highly anticipated third album King Push, which should be coming later this year. As strong as his first solo album,…

Art vs Science headlined the Boogie Nights extravaganza at the Falls Festival at Mt. Duneed Estate last week to a wild reception, the show being one of the first major festival appearances by the Sydney trio off the back of their 2015 album release. Before taking to the stage, the band caught up with us…

The iconic Motörhead legend Lemmy will be remembered and celebrated during a special memorial service in LA this weekend and the band’s management has today released a statement to their fans. The funeral service, to be held on January 9th (Sunday, January 10th AUS time), will be streamed via the band’s official YouTube channel –…

In This Issue: We are back from hiatus and off to a huge start with the new year! Global sensation Sia returns with a new album at the end of the month, along with more quirky and indie releases, take a look. Sia Singer/songwriter/producer/massive hit-maker Sia announces that her album THIS IS ACTING will be…

While at Festival of the Sun last month, Larry sat down with triple J Unearthed competition winners, Sydney’s Mar Haze, to chat after their set! “We’ve been really, really busy over the last six months,” they explain of their win. “Really focusing on pushing stuff to triple J; we released an EP, released a single…