It was my last day in Perth, and before flying on home, I headed over the Festival Wrap Party at Mojos in North Fremantle. I arrived just in time for young rockers, King George (Pictured Below). Tonight, the four piece – all of whom are still in High School to my understanding – were three….
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After a brief interval involving some chicken schnitzel, it was time to head to the Amplifier/Capitol for the Saturday Spectacular closing party: a three stage mini-festival which saw headliners Jebediah return to the stage, Will Stoker and the Embers shine and Tomas Ford spend most of his anticipated set in the crowd, rubbing his sweaty…
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It’s the Saturday Spectacular at the WAMi Festival! Dozens of bands are spread around 9 venues in Northbridge, putting on some killer free shows for both the public and conference attendees. And with the conference ending just hours earlier, you better believe everyone was ready to party. But when you’ve got 9 venues to choose…
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After my first night of music in Perth was spent enjoying the festivities of the 2010 WAMi Awards, Friday brought with it a barrage of live music choices. While originally heading somewhere completely different, I ended up at the “Someday” single launch for local up-and-coming act The Morning Night. Taking place at the Amplifier Bar,…
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As I sat down in a cafe with Vaughn, Greg and Adam from Perth’s Emperors, it dawned on me how little I knew about this band. They had come out of nowhere to scoop a WAMi award for most promising new act. So to get the ball rolling, we spoke about the awards night… Adam:…
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Evoking a vibe akin to Tegan and Sara and playing music with quality well beyond their years, Perth’s Goodnight Tiger are definitely a band to watch. I had the opportunity to chat to the two front ladies – Jill Chrisp and Perrin Date – just after they played to a packed out Amplifier Bar at…
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Pendulum‘s first two albums are legacies of a shifting dance scene, one which has seen once once-underground genres like drum and bass becoming increasingly more mainstream. Never content with a uniform sound, their debut Hold Your Colour melded energetic dnb with a aggressive rock; then band took their sound further – into almost rock stadium…
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Coming out of pretty much nowhere, Sydney five piece The Preachers have already made a substantial splash in the local scene – something which I’m sure comes as much of a surprise to them as the rest of us. And off the back of this momentum comes their debut self-titled EP – a stunning five…
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One of the more recent buzz bands, circling the internet and globe, are Here We Go Magic – originally the solo moniker of Luke Temple. Now a five-piece signed to Secretly Canadian, indeed a lot has changed since Luke first recorded their self-titled LP, by himself on a 4-track. As the group were sitting in their…
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A few hours before they hit the stage of Home Nightclub in Sydney as part of the Mastercard Priceless Gig series, I sat down with Rob Swire and the new drummer Kevin Joseph Sawka of UK-based Pendulum. Although in our eyes, they’ll always be the Drum and Bass pioneers from Perth! As we relaxed in…
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Sunday’s gig at Metro City marked the first time Vampire Weekend had come to Perth, and the last date of their Australian tour. So as to be expected, a good time was had by all. Tickets for the gig had sold out weeks in advance, so anyone without a ticket was going to have to…
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Carry Nation is Brisbane singer-songwriter Jessie Warren and (often) an assorted crew of contributing musicians. Having established a presence on the city’s bustling folk music scene over the last four years, her maiden album Like A River Does is an assured collection of well-honed songs. As with many fellow acoustic-strumming sirens, the Joni Mitchell influence…
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In the lead-up to their exciting second year, we had a chat with David De Santi, the Artistic Director of the unique music festival – Snowy Mountains of Music. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us David! You’ve been a busy man in the Australian music industry for many years now. Where did…
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Like local late 90s/early 00s acts Sound Like Sunset, Gersey and Swirl, new Melbourne band The Sirens of Venice continue the tradition of creating dreamy, shoegaze-influenced pop. Although they are a touring/recording eight-piece, the group’s core comprises Craig Jackson from Gersey and his wife Camilla, and the husband-and-wife team have written a compelling debut album….
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Almost every Friday night, I have someone asking me – what’s going on in the city tonight? Where can I see some great bands? And in my opinion, it’s almost always difficult to choose between SOSUEME at QBar, and MUM at World Bar. So for a simple exercise in effort, this Friday in question, I…
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In a couple of weeks, Born Ruffians will finally release the follow up to the acclaimed debut “Red, Yellow & Blue” – “Say It”, which we reviewed here on the AU review earlier this month. Let it be known that it’s an impressive beast of an album! In advance of the launch, we chatted to…
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I recently had the opportunity to chat to one of Australia’s most respected musicians, Jeff Lang. We chat about his new album Chimeradour, and look ahead to his performance at the Snowy Mountains of Music Festival. Thanks for chatting to us Jeff! I’d like to start at the very beginning – where did you first…
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As a website that does its best to focus on independent Australian artists, it’s always great to hear that people in the industry continue to support the same. Enter Departed Sounds, the latest independent record label in Australia – run out of Melbourne. We chatted with co-founder Andrew Keese about the label – plus he…
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If you’re not yet familiar with Justin Heazlewood’s witty performance persona ‘The Bedroom Philosopher’, then what I feel for you is rather best described as pity. The latest from this genius comedian is Songs From the 86 Tram, an album which follows a Melbourne tram’s journey from Bundoora to Docklands, and on the way manages…
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With their Australian tour just days away, I had a chat to the founder and guitarist of Dillinger Escape Plan – Ben Weinman. He’s also the only original member still in the band! A quick look at their Wikipedia page will reveal just how many members they’ve gone through… while he sat in a mall…
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There has been a lot of buzz about young indie band Cloud Control over the past few years, and with their debut album Bliss Release, they have well and truly lived up to the hype. Hailing from the Blue Mountains, Cloud Control first began to create a stir following the release of their debut EP…
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As part of a global “Smirnoff Experience” event in South Africa, the company is about to release an exclusive track, “Dreaming”, which shows DJ/Producer Tiësto merging his unique sound with BLK JKS – an emerging prog rock band from South Africa, and recent SAMA winners for “Best Alternative Music Album” (South African Music Awards, the…
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Go Genre Everything are a complete head fuck. I’ve listened to their EP Humans & Luxury for a few days now and am still unable to decide whether this is a collaboration of musical genius’s, hipster wannabes performing a masturbatory exercise, or a group of friends simply taking the piss. They’ve written their own Wikipedia…
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Bring on the product placement! Yes, the Ben Sherman sponsored event Big British Sound is back for a second year, giving us another healthy dose of local artists playing their own tracks, and a cover or two from their British idols. It’s an interesting premise, and more interesting still was that no one chose The…
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One interview which I spent most of my week in Austin looking forward to was this one. Bob Vennum and Lisa Kekaula of one of my favourite bands The BellRays, who many of you may have seen a few years back at Laneway. They were in Austin pumping out some new material, and I chatted…
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The more I hear from Hungry Kids of Hungary, the more I like them. The four-piece from Brisbane have given us a taste of their forthcoming debut album with the feverish single Wristwatch. This is one short, sharp number jam packed with the Hungry Kids trademark twee harmonies mashed up with some deliciously pop keyboards…
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With only maybe twenty people inside, the Troubadour’s quietness is unusual for even a Tuesday night. It’s 8.20pm when I enter, by which time designated openers Skarlet Blue should have finished – I learn they have piked instead and Pioneers Of Flight (DFB’s Stew Riddle and Matt Wedmaier in guitar/drums mode) stepped in. But neither…
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Hot off the hells of their new album Rednecks and Gentlemen, Ryan Van Gennip of Sydney’s Chase the Sun had a chat to us about the new album, bagpipes, performing at the upcoming Snowy Mountains of Music Festival, and Bluesfest last month! Hey guys thanks for taking the time to chat with us at the…
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With a recent change to their line-up – their singer no less – we chat to drummer Nathan Bobik about what this means for Nacional, what’s next, and being an up and coming band in Melbourne! Hey Nathan, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today! First up, can you tell us a…
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Tomorrow night, the Big British Sound will be hitting the Corner Hotel in Melbourne – and along for the ride are Bertie Blackman, Whitley, Big Scary and this lovely lady – Evelyn Morris. Although you’ll probably know her better as Pikelet. In advance of this performance, we talk to Evelyn about her favourite British artists,…
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