Sound City is a feature length documentary, directed by Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters), about the human element of music, the lost art of analogue recording, and the history of America’s greatest unsung recording studio, Sound City. It will screen at select cinemas in Australia tomorrow night (Thursday 31st January), with additional cinemas and times…
Australia Day at The Vic took place in The Vic’s empty car park otherwise known as The Projects. This year it featured the local kings of mega hectic psychedelic reggae Sticky Fingers and inner west’s hip hop heroes Daily Meds.
Nuns are a bunch of curly haired party boys from Wollongong who have decided to release some music. Their summer heartbreak anthem “Shotgun Girl” is the first taste off their upcoming debut EP. The track premieres today on the AU review and is available for download now off Bandcamp! Shotgun Girl by NUNS LINKS: http://www.facebook.com/nunsmusic…
Archie Roach has suffered than his fair share of hardships over the last three years. Following the passing of his partner and soul mate Ruby Hunter in 2010, Roach suffered a stroke and went on to lose a lung to cancer not long after that; both times seeing the beloved Aboriginal artist head into rehabilitation….
In the country to play St Jerome’s Laneway Festival next weekend, Seattle based Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius first snuck in two intimate showcases, including one on the closing night of the 2013 Sydney Festival, at The Famous Spiegeltent. The tour comes almost a year after the artist released his acclaimed sophomore LP Put Your…
American noise pop duo Sleigh Bells are in the country to play The Big Day Out and tour their album Reign of Terror. Larry Heath sat down to talk with them about on-stage stuff ups and their next album. Welcome back to Australia. It’s been a long time. Derek: Yes, we’re psyched to be here….
I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed an explicitly classical music production before. Years ago I spoke about Run Lola Run‘s live presentation at Sydney Festival with The Bays, and at this year’s event I’ve already talked about a Jazz Orchestra, but in either case I’m very much out of my comfort zone here. At least…
Adelaide got some loving from the Sugar Mountain Festival sideshows with New Yorkers Woods putting on a grand performance at the hipster art space; Format. I descended the stairs into the pungent, sweltering basement midway through the Wild Oats set and was immediately put at ease by their beguiling tunes. The three-piece know their way…
Interview with Tim Levinson (a.k.a. Urthboy) backstage at the 2013 Big Day Out in Sydney. We talk about the year ahead, balancing working on the record label and producing his own music, playing the Big Day Out and more! Video Credits Interview: Larry Heath Camera: Yaya Stempler / Nathan Atkins Sound: Lucy Inglis Edit: Nathan…
As seems to be the trend of many bands playing Big Day Out this year (The Killers, Foals etc.), we’re getting a unique opportunity to catch some pretty big names in relatively intimate settings. Take last night’s Yeah Yeah Yeahs gig as a perfect example of this; the band played the 1200-or-so capacity Metro Theatre,…
In the midst of preparing himself for a journey to Australia, Ben Caplan talked to Larry, about the upcoming tour, his plans for new music, and his devotion to his music.
Podcast produced and hosted by Tiffany Britchford, featuring Claire Knight, Phil Perez and Larry Heath.
While we were in New York for CMJ, we headed down to Coney Island just before it was ravaged by Hurricane Sandy and happened to bump into Brisbane boys Dune Rats wreaking their own havoc on the Island, which happened to be celebrating the Halloween season at the time. They managed to get a music…
Two men. Two acoustic guitars. An hour and 15 minutes of music. It would be fair to say that this is the best way one might describe this weekend’s debut Australian performance of The New Mendicants, aka Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub, among others, and Joe Pernice from The Pernice Brothers, among others. The pair,…
Ahead of their upcoming tour of Australia as part of Bluesfest, we caught up with Wilco’s long term bassist John Stirratt to discuss the bands most recent album The Whole Love, as well as the secret to the bands longevity, the weather and whether or not work has begun on a follow up. I suppose a…
While backstage at the Big Day Out in Sydney, we sat down with Sydney duo Toucan to talk about their new EP, playing the festival and much, much more… Video Credits Interview: Larry Heath Camera: Yaya Stempler / Nathan Atkins Sound: Lucy Inglis Edit: Nathan Atkins
Every now and then a show comes along where being a fan makes it rather difficult to write a review that isn’t full of hyperbole and inexplicable excitement. For me, Weezer was one of those shows. But don’t let my status as a “fan” belittle any praise bestowed upon this gig. I’ve seen Weezer before,…
I struggle with the indie music scene in the 21st century; mainly because it’s all starting to look and sound the same and I can’t for the life of me distinguish between one skinny jeaned, Jenny Kee jumper wearer and their synths from the next. Not everyone can write thirty minute mind blowing epics like…
Supported by a superb five piece band and some of the best songs in the history of music, it would be fair to say that Angélique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright should have had a fairly easy night winning over their Sydney Festival crowd for the “Sing The Truth” concert – an evening of…
One thing I love about events like Sydney Festival is that it gives you the chance to discover new artistic beings you probably should have already known about, but didn’t. Robert Wyatt was one such being, whose name I’d heard echo around the music ether over the years, but never really took the time to…
Currently on tour in Australia, I had the opportunity to catch Vancouver based outfit The River and the Road in Sydney last Thursday night and was truly blown away by their music and their strong performance. Last year the band released their debut album, and this track “I’m Broke” is one of its many fine…
The second day of the Southbound festival saw temperatures rise well past the coolness of the first day and had the majority of festival goers opting for the shade of the Share Stage. Jinja Safari (pictured) kicked off my second day of the festival in their usual vibrant style. It was an unsurprisingly fun set,…
On the seventh day, God was having a beer and thought you know what, it would be nice to have some tunes to listen to, so he clicked his fingers and out popped The Shallows. Step Into: The Shallows is the 3rd offering from Perth indi-popsters following on from their debut EP Nostalgia Ain’t What…
You might recognize him as “the guy with a beard” you often see in festival pits around Australia (or even the world), and now Kane Hibberd (aka Kanye Lens) is releasing a book that captures his experiences photographing the Soundwave Festival since it went national in 2008. The book, Kanye Lens Vs Soundwave Volume 1…
There was a period – let’s say between October 2010 and February 2011, from the time their record Gorilla Manor broke until they played Laneway in Australia – that everyone was talking about Local Natives. Naturally they haven’t so much been in hiding since then, but rather working on new material. Late last year we…
Another year, another Southbound Festival and despite predictions of the opposite, attendance was up on last year, with the vast majority of the attendees opting to camp on site for the weekends festivities. Though this years line-up may not have been at its most buzz-worthy, it was still a fine collection of acts over the…
10. Cloud Nothings – Wasted Days “If your face was not melted off upon your first of many, many listens to this phenomenal grunge-rock jam, you were listening to a different song entirely.” – David Young 9. Jack White – Love Interruption 8. Frank Ocean – Thinkin Bout You “The lead single is as smooth…
It’s a big week here in Sydney. Every night there seem to be dozens of bands playing sideshows from their Falls, Field Day, Southbound, Peats and Woodford appearances – and there simply aren’t enough people in this city to fill every venue with a $50 ticket. Unfortunately this meant that the crowds were not out…
20. Collarbones feat. Guerre – Hypothermia 19. Alabama Shakes – Hold On 18. Of Monsters & Men – Little Talks 17. Mumford & Sons – I Will Wait 16. Grizzly Bear – Yet Again 15. Alt-J – Tessellate 14. Foals – Inhaler 13. Ball Park Music – Surrender 12. Jake Bugg – Lightning Bolt 11….
