ARIA is back for another year, and in a very new form. Gone is the arena spectaular at Acer Arena – replaced instead by a week of awards and music – all leading up to a gala event at the Opera House which looks to focus more on live music than it does on the…
Today marks the launch of The John Steel Singer’s (highly anticipated) record Tangalooma, which was produced by The Go-Betweens Robert Forster. Later this month we’ll be seeing the band embark on a national tour in support of the record – but a couple of weeks ago, while they were still on tour with Tame Impala,…
For the last thirty-five years, Brian Eno has been an indisputably influential and iconic figure in a broad cross-section of musical genres. Small Craft on a Milk Sea is Eno’s 25th solo album; a collaboration with British electronica newcomer Jon Hopkins and guitarist Leo Abrahams, both of whom have previously worked with Eno. Throughout his…
I, like many in the industry, today mourn the loss of The Model’s James Freud. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of meeting James Freud (and his sons) in a dingy pub in Los Angeles for a friends birthday, while I was in town covering the Aussie BBQ (and en route to SXSW). I’d heard…
Dance stalwarts Faithless are set to touch down in Australia in the coming months, so it seems appropriate that they’re paving the way with the re-release of their album – The Dance (released in May) – in a special two disc effort called The Dance Never Ends . It’s a significant record for Sister Bliss,…
Three years ago, young Perth based troubadour Justin Wonsley Snowball released his debut Rules of Nature EP to critical acclaim, and then disappeared off the radar. Fortunately for us, after engaging in a journey of self-discovery, taking in the sites of London, Berlin and New York, Snowball, who is better known as Wons Phreely is…
Like the Bluesfest before it, someone has gone and leaked the Golden Plains lineup early. Although this time it wasn’t someone who broke embargo, it was up late internerds haxxoring the official website. You know who you are. So, like countless other music websites before us, here’s the lineup as we know it to now:…
We had the bestest time earlier this year, and we can’t wait to return in 2011. Organisers of the 25th annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas have unveiled the first set of bands confirmed to perform at the event. This gets us pretty damn excited. We already know The Snowdroppers are playing (although…
Earlier today, someone broke embargo and leaked the 2011 Byron Bay Bluesfest First Announcement. We don’t know who, we’ll leave that for Peter Noble and crew to work out. But it’s here, so we want to make sure you have it. It’s absolutely BREATHTAKING. Stay turned for more lineup announcements – there are three more to…
It’s difficult for a music enthusiast to keep track of all the new talent in Melbourne, particularly when the bands keep changing their names. Swiss have been making waves since they first popped up on the local scene late last year, and the six piece who are now known as Alpine are finally unleashing their…
Getting to chat to a legend of the industry isn’t something that comes around everyday – so when I was given the oppertunity to talk to iconic Grammy award winning Canadian musican and “uber-producer” Daniel Lanois, off the back of his recent Neil Young production, and ahead of the release of his new project Black Dub…
Truly long running music festivals in Australia are few and far between. To most observers, Big Day Out would take that cake – kicking off in 1992. But when placed against a festival like Glastonbury, which started out in some form over 40 years ago, it pales in comparison. But believe it or not, we…
You’ve got to love Melbourne and their enthusiasm for the arts, which is so strong that even mild flooding in the CBD and a 24 hour torrential downpour wasn’t enough to deter eager punters from heading along to the Workers to see Kyü launch their debut record. Supporting the Sydney siders on their big night…
Damon Gough’s alter ego, Badly Drawn Boy released his debut album in 2000, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, and was met with critical acclaim. Following-up with the release of the soundtrack for the film About A Boy, Badly Drawn Boy appeared to be shaping a career around optimistic pop songs with folk sensibilities. The new album,…
Further to the release of her fourth album, Modern Day Addiction, and a recent live performance with MySpace Secret Shows at Melt Bar, ARIA award-winning singer-songwriter Clare Bowditch returned to Sydney and rocked out Saturday, October 23rd at the Metro Theatre. First to open the night was local singer-songwriter Andy Bull, accompanied by his guitarist,…
It has been over thirty years since Crowed House first formed and came into their own, after releasing the International hit “Don’t Dream Its Over”. When I listen to this song, it seems to encapsulate my idea of the 1980s so entirely. I am a child of the ’80s, and therefore grew up with Crowded House’s music…
It’s a very rare occasion that you turn up to an event to find it completely empty. While I arrived an hour after it had kicked off and knew that was pretty early, to find a completely empty Brighton Up Bar was a bit strange. Literally a DJ, a bar tender and 2 guys at…
How are you Wons? How’s everything going for you? Pretty well, I’ve been good, just getting everything ready. Got some photos sorted out the other week. You’ve got so much stuff going on at the moment and obviously you’ve got the new EP Tonight. Can you talk a little bit about that and how…
Firstly, how would you describe your sound to listeners unfamiliar with Flying Scribble? Beats, keys and voice. Like an art opera being performed on a paper boat floating down a river, with all different kinds of parties happening on the banks. Please explain how you approached the recording of your debut LP We’re A Chameleon…
Sydney’s Jinja Safari – who just recently announced a national tour for November – have premiered their new video for the infectious Forest Eyes. Here’s the story behind the clip, as told by co-frontman Marcus Azon: “This Forest Eyes video is a hybrid of two separate adventures, in different seasons of 2010. Half of it…
It’s been a long time coming, but Hungry Kids of Hungary‘s debut album, Escapades, has finally hit record stores around the country to rave reviews and even a feature album spot on Triple J. You really don’t get much better than that. So now that we can call this an album with a succession of…
For the last year, London-born Sydney songwriter Emma Davis has worked with acclaimed troubadour Brian Campeau (Angus and Julia Stone, Melanie Horsnell, Elana Stone, Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers) to piece together a record of her stories and give her sweet melodies and subtle turn of phrase the delicate treatment that they deserve. Amanda Picman caught…
I love Deep Sea Arcade. They’re a band of increasingly impressive talent who are certain to go far. So the fact I missed them was quite upsetting – but I’m sure I’ll see them again soon enough! Thankfully, however, I did arrive just in time for Sydney based electronic trio Seekae. They were an odd…
While they toured our country, we shot off a few questions to New Zealand’s favourite sons- Die! Die! Die! I’m going to start with a broad question. What do you think has attracted people to your band over the years? Chaos, disorder, good times, sometimes not such good times, a shared link between the bands…
As I entered Luna Park’s Big Top, I have to say I got a little bit excited. Growing up, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of my favourite bands. Even now, I would rate ….Infinite Sadness and Siamese Dream among my all-time favourite album list. Sure, Billy has been a bit inconsistent when it comes to…
Following the festival it was time to head up into the city for the last night of showcases, and the last night of One Movement 2010. First up for the night was Ernest Ellis, who unfortunately had to cancel his appearance at the Dew Process showcase earlier in the week. From the sounds of…
Sunday and Day Two/Three (or in my case Day 4) of the One Movement Festival, and much like the previous days there was much on offer; with a staggering amount of music to choose from once again. The only difference between the two days of the main festival, where Saturday was warm and sun kissed…
Following the festival on Saturday, it was time to move onto the showcases for the evening. Rather than sticking at one, I decided to spread my time between two. Like I mentioned in a previous review, these showcases are great because they provide an opportunity to see new and varied music in some pretty…
Saturday for me did not start off at the festival site, instead I attended a “bed in” at the Parmelia Hilton, and it was planned as a re-creation of the famous bed-in’s of John Lennon and Yoko Ono back in the 60s and 70s. The purpose however on this day was to commemorate the…
