Music

The hit of last year’s Sydney Festival, Smoke and Mirrors, was a wonderful production helmed by Sydney talent iOTA. Bouncing off the success of La Clique in previous years, as well as iOTA’s growing popularity thanks to his turn in sell out seasons of Hedwig and the Angry Itch and Rocky Horror, it became one…

Larry caught up with four-piece indie rockers Wild Flag to talk about their debut album, touring and much more. Where about’s are you right now? I know you’ve been in the UK recently. No, we’re up in Washington DC. We’re going next week actually. How has your Christmas and New Years been? Yeah, it was…

We chat to Sydney’s Richard Cuthbert about playing Peats Ridge, his new record, and we look forward into 2012 – heading to Berlin and more… listen on!

Filmed at Peats Ridge Festival and at Festival of the Sun, we find out the New Years Resolutions of bands from around Australia for 2012. Including The Brothers Grim, The Medics, Pigeon, The Holidays, The Delta Riggs, Microwave Jenny, The Snowdroppers, Benjalu, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Minnie Marks, Thundamentals, Sietta and Richard Cuthbert. Camera: Yaya…

Jumping on the bandwagon, here, in no particular order, are twelve Australian bands we’re looking out for in 2012… five bands from overseas we’re predicting big things for here in Australia… AND a couple of Australian bands the rest of the world should have their eye on! Madness! Read on… Deep Sea Arcade Why? The…

London based lo-fi rockers Yuck made waves across the blogosphere with the release of their eponymous debut LP in 2011. The AU had a quick chat with guitarist Max Bloom ahead of their upcoming Australian tour, and performances at Laneway Festival. How did Yuck meet and start playing together? It’s quite a long story but…

What an amazing year we had in 2011! We bring our 2011 “Best Of” retrospective coverage to an end with a look back now at our 11 favourite tours from the year, featuring the international artists we hope will keep coming back to Australia for more… 11. Future of the Left This is one crazy…

Backstage at the Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie – December 2011 – Larry Heath from the AU review catches up with 3 parts of Sydney’s The Snowdroppers, to chat Red Dog, their headline show at the Metro Theatre, what’s to come in 2012 and more. Camera: Yaya Stempler, Editor: Larry Heath.

In the final video from our series at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie – December 2011 – Larry Heath catches up with Sydney’s Art vs Science, fresh off their ARIA win. We find out what’s next for the band, check out (briefly) their live performance, and more! Camera: Yaya Stempler, Editor: Larry Heath.

While at Peats Ridge Festival, Larry sat down with Thundamentals to talk about the phases of music making, touring with Drapht, and their shows around Australia. How did the Phillip Island show go? Great – tits and death circles is all you can say! Those were the most memorable outcomes from the crowd. I don’t…

The Red Paintings returned to Adelaide on Saturday night as part of The Black Paintings Tour. The “orchestral art-rock” band appeared before a swirling star scape, at Fowlers Live, ushered to the stage by spacey science fiction sounds, to greet a crowd which numbered less than a hundred people. Numbers aren’t everything, however, as there…

Backstage at the Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie – December 2011 – Larry Heath from the AU review catches up with Andrew Gillespie, the lead singer of Sydney rock band FLOATINGME. Camera: Yaya Stempler, Editor: Larry Heath.

Backstage at the Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie – December 2011 – Larry Heath from the AU review catches up with Canada’s Colin Moore, fresh off his Australian tour with The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin. Camera: Yaya Stempler, Editor: Larry Heath.

I’ve always enjoyed dance. Though I rarely experience it live, few things can be as enthralling on stage (or screen – have you seen The Muppets yet?) than a dance ensemble pulling out the moves to a superb score – be it a musical, a music video, a ballet or a gymnastics display in the…

Welcome to our new weekly news feature where we round up the latest news in the world of album release dates. We’ll be pounding through dozens of news pieces from the last few weeks, so let’s get moving! Unless otherwise mentioned, all release dates apply to Australia only. In This Issue: Of Montreal, Sleigh Bells,…

Today we’re also premiering the new section “The State Of Affairs”, where we fill you in on what’s been happening of late in the local and international music and arts industries. From break ups to make ups, from firings to hirings… you’ll read it all here. In This Issue: All-Ages Events get a load of…

Backstage at Peats Ridge Festival over New Years we caught up with up-and-coming Perth group San Cisco to find out more about their forthcoming EP Awkward, their thoughts on playing the Big Day Out and much more…

Whilst the first day of the festival had its undeniable highlights and a number of memorable music moments, it became clear fairly early in the day that the second day wasn’t going to disappoint either. Whether it be discovering new bands, insane dance circles, or enjoying an ice cold cider whilst listening to some great…

What an amazing year we had in 2011! We’re taking a look back now at our 11 favourite tours from the year, featuring the local artists who dominated our live scene… 11. Jinja Safari Off the back of plenty of triple j lovin’, a fantastic EP and their debut LP Locked by Land, Jinja Safari…

A handful of punters gathered early to watch local four piece Tehachapi warming the stage. Those who arrived late deprived themselves of a sensory feast as Tehachapi put on an amazing display of aural and visual delights. Front man Costa Stefanou’s awkward banter was offset by his incredibly intense presence as the band worked seamlessly…

We asked our contributors to share with us their favourite festivals of 2011. We collected the votes and these were their TOP FIVE touring festivals of 2011… 5. Groovin’ The Moo A festival we love so much here at the AU review that it graced the cover of the 2010 edition of Australia’s Year in…

Show offs. Really that just about sums up my personal feelings about the whole show, stemming out of pure, deep jealousy for how two people can be so damn talented. The two musicians in question are Daniel Holdsworth and Aidan Roberts, both of folk rock band The Maple Trail (Daniel also of The Saturns), who…

Another Southbound has come and gone, and once again it was a great weekend filled with great music, plenty of sun, and a nice, chilled out vibe. There were a couple of changes made since the previous year, the most noticeable one – or, rather, the one that everyone has been harping on about –…

In our new news series, here’s the latest news from the world of the arts… In This Issue: Washington artwork to exhibit in Sydney, Sydney Dance Company announces new dancers, Strandbeest to roam Fed Square, Queens Street Stdio announces Residents, Alaska Project to present Samuel Hodge, WASHINGTON ARTWORK TO EXHIBIT IN SYDNEY To celebrate her…

Following a spectacular Festival First Night over the weekend, things are now well and truly rolling at camp Sydney Festival. My first event – no doubt first of many – of the month long festival took place at the newly named Keystone Festival Bar (formerly sponsored by Beck’s), at the Hyde Park Barracks. Every year,…

Backstage at the 2011 Peats Ridge Festival, Larry Heath catches up with up and coming Brisbane outfit Founds to talk about the festival, their forthcoming full length release Hadean and much more… check out their track “Holograms” below the interview, too! Holograms by Founds

The “crème de la crème” of nights to celebrate the music industry, the Grammy Awards, is fast approaching and we couldn’t help but take a minute to reflect on the memorable performances over the last decade. Sure enough, there have been lots of controversial, genre-crossing and boundary pushing displays of unity between acts, however, the…

In spite of lagging ticket sales, the 2012 Big Day Out boasts one of the strongest lineups in years. Sure, you’ve got a couple of frequent visitors, but from the top to the bottom, artists we’ve never seen in Australia litter the lineup, alongside the best in local talent. So we’ve put together 10 tracks…

Last in the country in March 2008 for Golden Plains, Beirut have received nothing short of a hero’s welcome on their return almost five years, and one album, later. They’ve made a slight upgrade of venues between visits, too, moving up from the 600-or-so capacity Manning Bar to the Sydney Opera House. Not bad. But…