Music

The sun was out as more than 17,500 punters descended on North Byron Parklands, the permanent Splendour in the Grass site for the first time, for a day headlined by past festival favourites Mumford and Sons. Situated about 20 minutes north of Byron Bay, this is the site the Splendour organisers bought to be the…

Daughter played the Metro Theatre on Wednesday night with support from Little Green Cars. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.

In this issue: Ed Kuepper adds extra dates to national tour, Rudimental announce support for Australian tour, Tonight Alive changes Adelaide venue, Fat Freddy’s Drop adds third Melbourne show to tour, Xavier Rudd adds extra Melbourne date to tour; City and Colour sell out Hobart and Sydney, What About Tonight announced as R5’s Sydney support…

Adelaide-based band Bad//Dreems have had a stellar year following the release of singles like “Chills” and “Caroline.” They are set to release their debut EP Badlands. Sosefina Fuamoli had a chat with guitarist Alex Cameron about working in the studio and living in Adelaide. Things seem to be going well with the band. What’s your…

Nick Van Breda, previously known from his work with the bands Staying At Home and Animal Shapes, is now releasing music as a solo artist. Nick has teamed up with emerging Sydney actor and director James Mackay, who recently won the The Heath Ledger Scholarship Award, to produce the video for his new single “The…

Larry Heath sits down with LA-based artist Robert DeLong, who is in Australia to play at the Splendour in the Grass Festival in Byron Bay, as well as a couple of sideshows. We talk about his hectic touring schedule, how the live show is shaping up, the response of his album Just Movement and much…

Larry Heath talked to the Splendour in the Grass-bound Little Green Cars just before they headed off to the Metro Theatre in Sydney to support Daughter!

Winter is a harsh beauty. She leaves the world stripped bare; naked, vulnerable and cold. Fortunately Melbourne based artist Dan Parsons has a remedy to keep the seasonal blues at bay with the release of his self-titled second album which boasts 10 tracks that are as warm and comforting as a lovers embrace. The sound…

For the entire month of July, Brothers Hand Mirror have been bringing their notoriously wild live exploits to upstairs at The Tote – and tomorrow night, their residency comes to an end – launching their new EP Picture Tape simultaneously. We caught up briefly with Brothers Hands Mirror‘s Grant Jonathon Gronewold to talk about their…

Hot off the heels of the release of her fourth record, Once I Was An Eagle, Laura Marling has returned to Australia to play Splendour in the Grass and a series of sold out concerts around the country as part of the Heavenly Sounds “tour of churches and cathedrals”. Tonight was her second performance of…

mmm… Jaffles. This is where the party began last week when The Eastern opened its doors to showcase the three redesigned levels inhabiting Bondi Junction’s hottest destination. First up was “The Publican” with craft beer served in wine glasses, accompanied by a variation of gourmet jaffles – such as the pork belly and spiced apple…

Larry Heath sits down with Adelaide duo Atlas Genius to find out what they’ve been up to since we last spoke at SXSW in March. Sydney! They also look ahead to the festivals Lollapalooza and Outside Lands in the USA. This was filmed while the band were back in Australia to support Stereophonics, filmed at…

Melbourne trio Damn Terran – comprised of guitarist/ vocalist Lachlan Ewbank, bassist/vocalist Ali Edmonds (Heavy Beach, Little Athletics), and drummer Leigh Ewbank – are finally releasing their debut self-titled LP this September. The latest single from the release is called “Lost” and shows the influence of touring around Australia with bands like DZ Deathrays and…

On Friday and Saturday afternoons, as part of the King Street Wharf Festival in Sydney, the restaurants that live on the wharf took part in a two day event called “On The Wharf”. It was a chance to enjoy tasting plates from restaurants like The Malaya (soon to celebrate their fiftieth birthday!), Kobe Jones, Georges…

It’s always a pleasure to go out for a night of soulful, (mostly) acoustic music when it seems that many are swamped by the electronic. Never mind the knowledge that attending a sideshow (this one for Splendour In The Grass) means that you get up close and personal to the act with the time and…

Stereophonics played the Enmore Theatre on Thursday night. Gwendolyn Lee was there and brings us these photos from the pit.

UK DJ ‘Pangaea’ aka Kevin Mcauley, has announced that he will playing select cities from across the country. Hailing from North London via Leeds, Pangaea will be bringing his banging dubstep sets to Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney. Australian Tour Dates Friday 9th August: Melbourne, Brown Alley Sat 10th August: Adelaide, Sugar Fri 16th August:…

The Grates have added two sideshow dates in conjunction with their performance at Brisbane’s ‘Red Deer Festival.’ The band will be playing with The Bleeding Knees Club’s Alex Wall. Tour Dates Thursday, September 5: Spotted Cow, Toowoomba $22 +BF pre / $25 door Friday, September 6: Elsewhere, Gold Coast Price: $22 +BF pre / $25…

Sydney pop-punk band, Tonight Alive, have announced a national tour in September with special guests Hands Like Houses and D At Sea. Tonight Alive are also set to play the The Vans Warped Australian Tour in September. Australian Tour Dates The Hi-Fi, Sydney – Thursday Sept 5 Alhambra, Brisbane – Saturday Sept 7 The Zoo,…

With horror films these days, it’s difficult to avoid either the “torture-porn” sort of films – Saw, Hostel etc. – or the “found footage” stylings of the surprisingly never-ending Paramormal Activity series. But for those who hold the genre close to their heart, it’s hard not to look back to films like The Excorcist or…

the AU review is proud to premiere the track “Complicate”, which is is the launch single for Sydney solo artist Christo Jones’ forthcoming debut EP, due in September. Jones uses a towering self-built rig overflowing with guitars, keyboards, samplers and pedals to write, record and perform his “beautifully twisted tunes”. The video has been put…

Indigenous musician Vic Simms took some time out to chat to Larry Heath about the re-release of his classic record The Loner through Sandman Records, the late Mandawuy Yunupingu our good friends The Medics and much more. You’ve just re-released The Loner. Can you tell us about the process of getting that back together? We’ve…

Experimental pop merchant, Eden Mulholland, is set to release his debut solo album Feed the Beast. Inspired by his compositions for theatre and dance, Feed the Beast is Mulholland’s follow up to the EP “Jesus You Don’t Get My Jokes.”You may have heard of him from his previous work as a singer and writer with…

Way back when in January, we peered into our crystal balls and sought to predict the top albums of 2013 with the help of our excellent contributors. Whilst some of the albums are yet to be released, it’s now exactly half way through the year and time to check out how well our predictions went…

One of our Reverb Nation winners, Nashville singer/songwriter Merry Ellen Kirk, presents the title track off her EP Feather and a Leaf. It’s a beautiful track that reminds us of local artists like Kate Miller-Heidke and Lisa Mitchell. Currently residing in Alaska, Merry spent much of her upbringing in Mongolia! Talk about a variety of…

Splendour, like many festivals around Australia and the world, is going to leave music lovers with some tough choices to make. Clashes are inevitable, and as much you as you say you’ll flit between both, it never quite works out as planned. Plus with some many high profile international and national artists on the bill,…

In the midst of preparations for local shows ahead of their debut album Leisure Coast due out in September, including an appearance at the At First Sight event at Carriageworks this weekend, Antigone Anagnostellis talked to Shining Bird’s Russel Webster about their single “Distant Dreaming” on Rage, living on the coast and song-writing from scratch….

With the dates for Big Day Out now set in stone – and two shows in Sydney (and a venue upgrade in Adelaide) proving they have something MASSIVE up their sleeves – the rumour mill is now in full swing for the 2014 Big Day Out Festival. Based on trends of past years, and the…