Month: August 2019

Rad Review: Mutate, Rinse, Repeat

Rad marks another genre turn for developer Double Fine, the studio behind classics like Psychonauts, Grim Fandango and Broken Age. Inkeeping with Double Fine studio lead Tim Schafer‘s abstract sense of humour, Rad is an imaginitive, colourful and wonderfully wacky rogue-like dungeon crawler. Bursting with colour and character, Rad might not be the best game…

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QT Hotels are planning the “Father of All Tea Parties” for dad day

Every Father’s Day it seems there’s at least one spot doing a dad twist on traditional high tea, with a love of dude food replacing the typical scones and tea for pork belly and beer/whisky. This year that spot happens to be every QT Hotel property across Australia and New Zealand, and given the hotel’s…

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Astral Chain Review: One body, six minds

Boy, Nintendo sure have been dropping high profile titles like there’s no tomorrow. It wasn’t that long ago that we got our hands on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and here now we have Astral Chain. This Switch-exclusive got its hooks in early, keeping me from sleeping on a 12-hour flight and some subsequent nights after….

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Book Review: Dysfunction is rife in Ruby Porter’s engrossing debut Attraction

The unnamed narrator in Ruby Porter‘s Michael Gifkins Prize winning debut novel Attraction can’t seem to get her mind to focus. She and her girlfriend, Ilana, and her best friend, Ashi, are on a road trip to the narrator’s family beach house in New Zealand’s North Island. The trip is one of escape for our protagonist, but…

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Album Review: Brisbane’s WAAX bring the noise (and an unexpected amount of feels) with stellar debut Big Grief

WAAX have just dropped debut album Big Grief, and we can confirm that it’s a cracker. Consisting of frontwoman Maz DeVita, Ewan Birtwell and James Gatling on guitars, Tom ‘Griff’ Griffin on bass, and drummer Tom Bloomfield, the Brisbane punks worked with Powderfinger‘s Bernard Fanning and Grammy winner Nick DiDia on the twelve track release, with things taking…

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Film Review: The Nightingale is a gruesome, necessary piece of Australian cinema

With controversy preceding its release, The Nightingale has seen polarising responses from festival audiences, from walkouts to awards. The controversy stems from the film’s depiction of rape, with two gruesome examples early in the film. These however, provide the necessary bedrock for a deep look into our colonisation’s patriarchy, genocide and classism, with white (male)…

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These 17 Aussies acts are set to play Reeperbahn Festival in Germany next month

With Australia as the focus country for the renowned Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, Germany, next month, the event has revealed the 17 Aussie artists who will be making the trip over to showcase at the event. Taking place shortly after BIGSOUND, the event kicks off on Wednesday September 18th with “Doors Open”, a special event…

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The World’s Best Street Food: Chicken Street, Hanoi, Vietnam

I’ve always been a fan of Anthony Bourdain, and every once in a while I find his authoritative, yet curious tone narrating experiences in my life that feel distinctly, well, Bourdainian. These once in a blue moon culinary delights that you know somehow comes to represent a community of people, while giving you one of…

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Track of the Day: Sampa the Great “Freedom” (2019)

After catching fire across the world with the “OMG” and “Final Form”, Sampa the Great prefaces new album The Return with yet another soul-stirring single in “Freedom”. The third clipping from this imminent project, Sampa syncs with a soulful backbeat, skipping across powerful vocal support to give us an R&B-flavoured ode to artistic expression. A…

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11 Years, 11 Moments: Watch Lime Cordiale, Deep Sea Arcade & More pay tribute to The Beatles for our 4th Birthday

Over the coming months, as we celebrate our 11 years online, we’ll be looking back at 11 of our most memorable moments of running this website. We already took you back to a very intimate performance from Ed Sheeran in 2011. Today we move to August 2012, when we celebrated our 4th birthday. While we’d…

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Track of the Day: Sam Buckingham “Real Life” (2019)

Byron Bay singer-songwriter Sam Buckingham is back with a new single and a handful of solo tour dates later in the year. New single, “Real Life” is the first taste of Buckingham’s latest material, her first the release of The Water back in 2017.  “Real Life” sees Buckingham very much in singer-songwriter mode, with the…

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Photo Gallery: West Side Story Opening Night – Sydney Opera House (20.08.19)

VIP guests walk the red carpet for the opening night of West Side Story. The original Broadway classic is playing now until October 6th at the Joan Sutherland Theatre Sydney Opera House You can find more information and tickets HERE

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Track of the Day: BANFF “Pettigrew Pt. 1” (2019)

Not only does Brisbane-based songwriter BANFF share the same name as one of the most beautiful parts of the world (Banff, Alberta), this exceptionally talented Aussie also happens to be creating some of the most beautiful music in the country right now. Painfully singing through paralysing writer’s block, BANFF – real name, Benjamin Forbes –…

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Hang out with dogs (and a pig?) at the new Harvey Milk Terminal at San Francisco International Airport

It’s always welcome news when airports announce they’re improving their facilities, or opening a new terminal. In general, airports across the world have spent so much of the last 18 years improving upon customs and security, trying to keep up with new security risks that exist in a post 9/11 world, that taking time to…

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Disney+ Set To Launch In Australia and New Zealand November 2019

The streaming video on demand (SVOD) market in Australia is already teeming with both paid and free services. But another heavy hitter has now laid down a challenge to the global behemoth of Netflix and looks set to shake things up. The House of Mouse is now officially bringing Disney+ to Australia from 19 November…

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Gamescom 2019: Here’s 20 entire minutes of Marvel’s Avengers gameplay

After suffering something of a false start at its cinematic-only E3 reveal in June, Marvel’s Avengers has finally pulled back the curtain with a lengthy look at gameplay. The trailer clocks in at just shy of 20 minutes, and focuses on what appears to be the early part of the game, beginning with Thor fighting…

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Track of the Day: Royal And The Southern Echo “Don’t Think About Me” (2019)

Brisbane’s Royal And The Southern Echo (otherwise known as Bryce Schneider) is back, with the brilliant “Don’t Think About Me“. Catchy, with a seriously good 80s vibe, this one was meant to be played loud and sung along to even louder! Schneider says: “Look, I’d say on the surface people might interpret “Don’t Think About…

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Gamescom 2019: Gears 5 shows off new modes, but story trailer steals show

The Coalition has used Gamescom 2019 to lift the curtain on the few remaining details surrounding Gears 5 ahead of its September 10 launch. One of the most vaunted aspects of its Gamescom appearance was the reveal of Horde, the return of a beloved multiplayer mode from earlier Gears of War games. The trailer promised the…

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Spider-Man Remastered

Gamescom 2019: PlayStation acquires Spider-Man developer Insomniac Games

This one feels like it’s been a long time coming. Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank developer Insomniac Games have been acquired by Sony. The acquisition makes Insomniac a first-party PlayStation developer within Sony Worldwide Studios. Insomniac’s history with Sony goes back as far as the PlayStation 1. It’s a company responisble for numerous Sony exclusives…

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Damsel Review: Into the Fray

Damsel is the debut title from Brisbane-based developer Screwtape Studios, and a that weilds is distaste for corporate culture like a cudjel. It’s a balletic, side-scrolling arcade shooter about a special agent on a mission to investigate Red Mist, a drink created by a corporation owned and run by literal, actual vampires. Damsel’s pulpy, comic…

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Track of the Day: The Decline “It Was Always You” (2019)

Perth skate punks The Decline are just a couple of weeks away from dropping their new album Flash Gordon Ramsay Street, and we’ve been treated to a taste of what’s to come, with latest single “It Was Always You“! Guitarist and vocalist Pat Decline says the track is “… a shameless love song that is…

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AirAsia

Flight Review: Flying the world’s first international service to Can Tho with AirAsia

Say what you want about AirAsia, but it’d be hard – and downright foolish – to deny the low-cost carrier’s ambitious and ever-growing network. Some surprising new routes seem to be opening up every year for the busy airline, and for 2019 the most exciting would definitely have to be the service between Kuala Lumpur…

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48 Hours in Santa Barbara: 7 Things You Have To Do In The Californian Coastal City

I recently travelled the Californian Coast on board the new West Coast Hop-on Hop-off service from Busabout, a travel company particularly popular in Europe, who this year made their debut into the US market. The service gives you unique flexibility to travel the West Coast without a car, with services across eight destinations running every other…

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Three Blue Ducks are finally opening a restaurant in Melbourne

Sydney-born Three Blue Ducks are about to make their debut in Melbourne with the imminent arrival of their fifth restaurant at the new URBNSURF – Australia’s first surf park, and the first of its kind in the world. The park, which will be built around a crystal-clear, two hectare surfing lagoon with high-quality waves, will…

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Hotel Review: Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle hides away amongst a residential Washington DC

Set in a residential area and surrounded by quite a few Embassies, the Kimpton Carlyle Hotel Dupont Circle sits in an old 8 story building, with the sort of entryway that feels as much as “Old New York” as it does blend into its surrounds. The architectural influence of cities like New York and Philadelphia…

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Six Australian music festivals you can’t miss this summer

This summer is looking like a scorcher with some extra-hot line-ups being released ahead of the festival season. Earlier this month, Lost Paradise dropped their bill filled to the brim with some incredible Australian talent including Rüfüs Du Sol, Hilltop Hoods, Mallrat and The Chats, joining a huge list of festivals, both new and established,…

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Live Review: Musical genres collide as Synthony blasts its way into Brisbane City Hall

Synthony is a pretty unique concept. Bringing together local orchestras, DJs, vocalists, feature musicians, and a crowd hungry for dance music, Synthony presents some of the biggest tracks of the last thirty years, live on stage, in an energetic and exciting event. Since kicking off a couple of years ago in Auckland, Saturday night was…

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Photo Gallery: Augie March + Grand Salvo – Paddo Lounge, Sydney (16.08.19)

The Paddington RSL has started running gigs again, which is great news. The Paddo Lounge is a nice room – a couple of tiers, great sound and in a handy location.  Augie March are one of those bands which every time you see them you are asking yourself why aren’t they household names. They were on…

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Photo Gallery: Thelma Plum + Woodes + Miiesha – Factory Theatre, Sydney (17.08.19)

It was a triumphant night at the Factory Theatre on Saturday night, with Thelma Plum playing a sold-out show showcasing her recent album, Better in Blak. It might have been a long-time coming, but it was worth the wait. The set was incredibly well-received, for me the highlight was the title track of the album. She…

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Exclusive Video Premiere: Warcries “Scream Louder” (2019)

Brisbane electro-grunge duo Warcries are back with “Scream Louder“, a pumping, energetic sequel to their debut track “This Is Paradise“, and we couldn’t be more stoked to be premiering the accompanying video today on The AU Review! Formerly members of 2000s rock outfit Avalon Drive, Ryan Kennedy and Will King already had a solid decade…

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