The Transformers film franchise has been in devastating lows these past years. Although one can expect that from a franchise that is based on a line of toys, any film based on a toy can be a good film like the LEGO films. Aside from the 1986 cult-classic animated film (which featured Orson Welles as…
Ahead of their headlining midnight set at NYE in the Park in Sydney, we caught up with KIM of The Presets to talk about his perfect New Years Eve, highlights of 2018 and what he has planned for 2018. We also get a taste of his favourite music of the year… What were you doing…
It’s been an incredible year for Thandi Phoenix, who I last sat down with back in March at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Now she’s going to be ringing in the New Year in Sydney alongside The Presets and more, as part of the NYE in the Park lineup. We caught up with her to find…
2018 has been a very difficult year for ‘best of’ lists where hip hop and R&B is concerned. The often intertwined genres haven’t seen this much quality output for years, constant head-turning and critically acclaimed albums from artists both old and new have made the past 12 months the best in the scene since 2012….
Sydney-bred band Castlecomer are turning up the heat in the US after their hit “Fire Alarm” landed the #6 spot on Spotify’s Global Viral Chart. The boys have broken their hectic American schedule to return home for the festive season and I was lucky enough to steal half an hour of lead singer Bede Kennedy’s…
It’s been another incredible year of film, with powerful indie projects and incredible blockbusters that saw packed out cinemas align with strong reviews from critics. As voted by the AU review contributors, here are the 21 films we rated above the rest this year… 21. Ocean’s 8 The Met Gala sequence itself is, admittedly, quite…
Alex Farrell-Davey is waiting for his lunch outside of Prego, an Italian restaurant in Auckland, New Zealand. It’s a 10 minute drive from Henry Street, where he lives with his Alae bandmate Allister Meffan. “[Making the album] was kind of centred around that street for a while,” he admits. The street was so central to…
Take five cups of rock n roll, two spoons full of Buddy Guy influenced electric blues, a sprinkle of 60s style soul, and top it all off with a voice as versatile as a chameleon… and you have something that resembles The Paz Band, a five-piece from Tel Aviv, who have been packing large venues in…
The knife edge between underground and commercial has never been thinner than now in current music trends – one song, catchy hook, or even just a throwaway lyric is enough to propel an artist to the next height in their career (look at YBN Nahmir, JPEGMAFIA, or many others), but sometimes things aren’t as serendipitous…
It’s December! Which means presents, sales, friends, family… aaand End of Year Events across a range of games! It’s always great – developers preparing content to see the year off with their player-base, usually around a winter-Christmas theme, content to be playable and fresh through until the next year… it’s almost a tradition of online games to…
What’s big, black, weighs almost a kilo and a half, looks like the alien from the Alien movies and still calls itself a “compact” camera? Nikon’s very zoomy bridge offering, the Coolpix P1000. This is definitely not the camera I’d recommend to the next friend who asks me what to take on holidays with them…
Heading north from Phuket International Airport, the streets are lined with small fields of trees that turn into the haphazard, yet charming landscape of colourful houses, tin sheds, food stalls and businesses that make up the region. There, amongst the colourful and natural landscape, appears the vividly pink Baba Beach Club sign. Its presence evocative…
Tonight, the star of Aquaman, Jason Momoa hit the blue carpet in Sydney for the premiere of the locally filmed blockbuster! It hits cinemas next week, 26th December, but before you head along, check out all the action from the carpet courtesy of Nathan Atkins:
Coloured cables hung over tables on the stage at Brisbane’s The Foundry. The tables brimmed with machines that made the venue’s walls shake with each drum machine thump. Churning out these cold, clanging beats were Melbourne four-piece NUN, who mine the distant past’s idea of the sounds of the future; sounds that came to terrifying…
Perth’s high density of hotels has dramatically pushed up competition within the city’s hospitality scene over the past few years. Quality accommodations aren’t hard to come by in the most isolated city in the world, one that is incredibly becoming one of Australia’s most exciting and creative destinations, and that sizable bank of worthy digs…
The AU Awards are back for the fifth consecutive year, celebrating the best Australian artists of 2018. All categories take into consideration both albums and live performance, and there’s no argument that everyone on this list has had a massive year. We’ll be announcing the winners this Friday! And the nominees are… SOLO ARTIST OF…
Kids At Midnight a.k.a. Melbourne’s Jane Elizabeth Hanley has channeled her inner Kate Bush with her delightfully 80’s inspired new single “By Your Side”. Whilst Kids At Midnight initially started life as a duo it’s now morphed into a solo project, with Hanley writing and producing all her own work. “By Your Side” marks the…
We’ve come to that point of the year where things begin to wind down for the year, and where those of us in the business of reviewing and writing about art, music, books and films stop and begin to agonise over our “Top 10” or “Best of” lists. 2018 has been another great year in…
Jeanne Little entered the world of Television with for her fabulous outfits and wigs, boisterous laughter, make up, false eye lashes and her trademark saying: “Hello, darrrrlliiinnggs”! Jeanne’s story is a classic one. Tired of boring maternity dresses, she made her own, which caught the attention of the local newspaper. An assistant producer saw the…
The shotgun is an immortal video game weapon. It’s simple — you click, they die. No arguments. If its a video game with guns in it, and most of them are, and it doesn’t have a shotgun in it … I mean, what are we even doing here? Its roots are deep, with the most…
After a week of downpour, the sky cleared over Canberra on Saturday ahead of what was looking to be an incredible festival, Gingerfest 2018. With the charity run group Remembering the Ginger Ninja and their great partnership with Yours and Owls, as well as 6 Picks Brewers, the day was excellently executed, with each act…
Christmas holidays are nearly upon us, which means New Years is nearly here too, so it’s time to get those plans finalised (if you haven’t already). If you’re in Sydney your decision got a whole lot easier earlier this year, with the announcement that NYE in the Park would be returning for a second year. The…
You wouldn’t expect Sydney Airport to welcome a greatly finessed, high concept boutique hotel, would you? The sprawl of hotels dotted around both the domestic and international terminals has historically favoured properties which play it safe. Some are great – actually, most are – but almost all of them are in dire need of some…
In a thrilling announcement, The Production Company have spilled that they are bringing David Bowie’s Lazarus musical to life on stage in Melbourne, May 2019. Lazarus was David Bowie’s final project, first seen on stage in New York in late 2015 and London in 2016, before his tragic passing. Premiering for the first time in Australia, it will be…
Rain will put a dampener on just about any outdoor activity. But when it’s a summer festival, and the rain is torrential, well, that just plain sucks. Unfortunately, Mother Nature must have been upset with the Sydney crowd attending Paul Kelly’s Making Gravy and pulled a classic stitch up on those in attendance and the…
Phil Collins is an artist who doesn’t take himself too seriously. The solo musician and former member of Genesis has written a memoir titled, Not Dead Yet, as you do. He has been on the receiving end of some jokes but he takes them all with good humour. Ahead of his Australian and New Zealand…
The opening night of Evita was met with praise and applause as Tina Arena took to the stage in her starring role as Eva Perón. Adapting her wonderful pop vocals to such an iconic role would of been a challenge for the most seasoned performer, however Arena carried herself with poise and grace and pulled…
When what appears to be the corpse of a mummified Viking is found, journalist Matthew Cave is first on the scene. But by the next day, the body is gone, and in its place lies the flayed corpse of the policeman left to keep watch. Silenced by the local constabulary as they investigate the crime,…
Wollongong five piece Ruby Tuesdays have capped off a solid 2018 of releases with their excellent new single “Why You Always Gotta Fight Me”. Recorded and produced out on the South Coast with 19Twenty’s Syd Green, “Why You Always Gotta Fight Me” is the very definition of a slow burner, with the track gradually building…
Last Wednesday saw a launch night to celebrate the re-opening of trendy restaurant, Fish & Burger Co (F&BC). Located in Doncaster East just outside of Melbourne, the venue has been beautifully decorated and modified by design agency, Studio Equator. Light bulbs and greenery dangle from the ceiling, whilst natural light floods through to create an open…
