Day: 23 August 2016

Patti Smith, The Zac Brown Brand & Buddy Guy lead Bluesfest Byron Bay 2017 announcement!

Talk about a way to wake up on a Wednesday morning: for another year, the Byron Bay Bluesfest has delivered its first artist announcement and it’s another big’n. Confirmed to perform at the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm over the Easter long weekend next April are some of the most important names in contemporary music, including Patti Smith, who…

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Music Video of the Day: Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds “La Araña” (2016)

This is one hell of a day house party. You’ve got a dance party in the backyard, an extensive vinyl collection inside, people of all different backgrounds drinking, smoking, loving, fighting…you name it. As Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds describe, it’s a ‘cross section of brown and beautiful eccentric types from every walk…

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Julien Baker announces debut Australian tour dates for November & December

Julien Baker will be touring Australia for the first time at the end of the year, fitting in some awesome festival appearances at not only Fairgrounds in December, but at Queenscliff and Mullum music festivals, but some unmissable headline shows dotted around the country too. For the US singer-songwriter, the trip will see her debut…

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Dinosaur Jr bringing Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not to Australia in January!

January will see Dinosaur Jr return to Australia, bringing with them their latest album, Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not! Now with a catalogue of eleven studio albums to their name, comprehending just how these set lists will come together is a little daunting but knowing how long these shows have been anticipated, we’re fairly certain Dinosaur Jr are…

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Single of the Day: Alexander Biggs “Tidal Wave” (2016)

Melbourne’s Alexander Biggs has once again charmed the hell of us with his latest single, “Tidal Wave”. The third single taken from his debut EP Until I Go To Hell, “Tidal Wave” is another stunning release from this emerging artist set up for wider acclaim, for sure. Biggs has a fragility to his voice that is arresting…

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London Grammar, The Avalanches, Violent Soho & more join Childish Gambino for the 2016 Falls Festival!

Following on from this morning’s announcement that London Grammar would be joining Childish Gambino on this year’s Falls Festival tour, the festival organisers have continued to make our Tuesday by following through with a stack of international and local names set to hit festival sites in Lorne, Byron and Marion Bay and of course for its first year, Fremantle,…

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Album Review: The John Steel Singers – Midnight At The Plutonium (2016 LP)

During my first listen of The John Steel Singers’ new EP, Midnight at the Plutonium, it’s a cold Melbourne winter day, but damn, this album makes it feel like a Brisbane summer afternoon. At just eight tracks, it’s short and sweet, and the funk that seeps through has a good chance of getting you bopping around,…

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Film Review: Free State of Jones (MA15+) (USA, 2016) is saved by its strong performances

Gary Ross’ Civil War drama Free State of Jones recounts one of the most interesting, albeit lesser-known, tales from the 1860s and 70s in Mississippi. Matthew McConaughey’s Newton Knight, disillusioned with the Confederate forces, deserts the war and builds himself a ragtag army comprised of poor farmers and runaway slaves, bent on fighting back against…

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DVD Review: The Bronze (USA, 2015) is enjoyable, but relies too heavily on one-liners

Believe it or not, this isn’t a film about Simone Biles latent fifth gold medal that became a bronze. Aside from the scenes of gymnastics, this film is about as far from the grace of the American superstar as any film could possibly be, but unabashedly so. The Bronze is what happens when The Big…

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The Antenna Documentary Film Festival announce the first twelve documentaries for their 2016 program

The Antenna Documentary Film Festival has delivered us a snippet of what’s to come in their 2016 program, releasing the titles of twelve of the documentaries set to air over the festival period (Tuesday 11 – Sunday 16 October) at the Palace Cinemas in Paddington, Sydney. The film festival will focus on highlighting the diversity…

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Australian Box Office Report: We still can’t get enough of Suicide Squad

So if you’re over superhero films, Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto, you will not be happy to hear that Suicide Squad remains top of the Box Office ladder this week, its third week in no. 1 since its premiere week. The DC Comics’ supervillains remain in top spot with AU$3.18 million made this week, followed by Bad Moms, having…

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Win a double pass to Oz Comic-Con in Sydney or Brisbane

Now in its fifth year, Oz Comic-Con’s dedicated focus to the very best across the local and international pop culture sphere places it in a league of its own. 2016 will see the return of the show-stopping Australian Championships of Cosplay. Plus a huge range of new and exclusive event features, including Australia’s best comic…

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The Iris’ Weekly Australian TV Picks: 23 – 29 August 2016

Now that the Olympics have returned to hibernation, new shows are premiering and promising ones at that. Here are our picks this week. Tuesday 800 Words, Ch7, 8:45pm AEST George and Jan seek relationship advice while George and Arlo try to find a way to bring Shay back. Hell on Wheels, FX, 8:30pm AEST Truckee…

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Win a double pass to see the classic Leon The Professional in Sydney

Starring Jean Reno and Gary Oldman, and delivering the big screen  debut of a young Natalie Portman, Leon The Professional is a classic action crime thriller. Leon (Reno), a professional hitman, reluctantly takes in 12-year-old Mathilda (Portman), after her family is murdered by corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Léon and Mathilda form…

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New $45 million performance centre set for Monash University

Aided by funding from the Victorian Government and The Ian Potter Foundation, Monash University has announced that The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts will be opening at the Clayton campus in the coming years, with two new performance venues adjoining the Alexander Theatre. The 586 seat Alexander Theatre, built in 1967, will undergo a refurbishment as…

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Win a double pass to Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile in Sydney

Hidden Sydney – an immersive, exhilarating and witty cabaret experience is set over four floors of “The Nevada”, the former Sydney brothel which boasted the biggest bed in the world. This exciting new theatrical event will play from 16 September. The star studded ensemble cast, as glittering as the Cross itself, includes – Ray Badran,…

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Win a double pass to see FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres’ Metadata in Sydney.

FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres will present Metadata, an immersive work from the acclaimed dance performance company, De Quincey Co. Metadata includes two works, Pure Light and Moths & Mathematics, created by leading Australian dance, video, sound and animation artists. The two works probe the latest developments in physics and cosmology, with the artists…

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The third annual Smooth Festival of Chocolate announces super sweet program (Sydney)

Come September, two days of surfing through a sweet sea of sugary treats will once again define the annual smooth Festival of Chocolate which each year transforms The Rocks into a hotbed of dessert trends both new and old, pastry pop-ups, cooking demos, and more. Some of the country’s best will be turning out for…

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