With a population of approximately 6 million people, Sydney is the largest city of Australia. And just like every other city in the country, Sydney has many suburbs, cultures, sub-cultures, communities and milieus that make it culturally and artistically rich. The most important, and often overlooked, is Western Sydney. Always seen as the poorer and…
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Maybe its the accent. Maybe its her ability to release quirky and angular pop tracks that has some of the biggest producers in the world wanting to work with her. Maybe is Maybelline. Whatever it is, MØ has historically been able to hit the mark with her music and live performances. Here on new album…
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It’s not often a band can claim Elton John as a fan. It’s even less often when they can say that well before they release their debut album. For Yard Act it appears John is a massive fan of their whimsical, offbeat and humourous take on British post-punk. Proclaiming the band as his favourite new…
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It’s that time of year when our team of music writers and editors get together to count down the 40 best albums of the year. And while this has been no usual year, the quality of music that has been released has been incredibly high. Suffice it to say, this has been a very difficult…
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As the Ashes kick off and the year begins to draw to a close, I thought I’d take a moment to bring your attention to a hat-trick of acts I’ve been introduced to this year; two from England and one here at home in Australia. Yard Act (Leeds, England) Ever wondered what the love child…
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In the two years since releasing their magical debut album, Run Home Slow, The Teskey Brothers have been incredibly busy and become overwhelmingly accomplished. Playing numerous completely sold out tours (despite the live music landscape being in complete disarray), winning awards and accolades left, right and centre, the Melbourne band has still managed to find…
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After more than 20 years and 8 studio albums, The Cat Empire has decided to call time on a career that has spanned more than 1500 shows having played to millions of fans. Starting out as a trio in 2001, the Melbourne act has managed to light up every single stage they’ve played while bringing…
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As we enter the silly season and the working year begins to wrap up for some, slowly but surely our playlists begin to change, and before you know it, there’s just as much Christmas music being played as there is any other. As has been the case for more than two decades now, Australia’s own…
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I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t really get Courtney Barnett when she first broke out with The Double EP A Sea of Split Peas. At the time, I knew her lyrics were smart and witty, but for the life of me just couldn’t get around the deadpan delivery. It wasn’t until she released…
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There’s something you’ve got to love about wholesome, feel good music. Yes, it’s nice to listen to serious musicians making serious and emotive tracks, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing I’d rather listen to to blow out the cobwebs than a classic party tune filled with horns, soulful vocals and an easily…
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As far as band names go, The War On Drugs is one of the best. Another thing they do pretty damn well is making fulfilling and assertive stadium rock. Returning more than four years since previous album A Deeper Understanding, The War On Drugs are back with I Don’t Live Here Anymore, a more toned…
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Parquet Courts has always been a band comfortable in their ability to produce songs with no (or limited) frills that always manage to get the job done. From initially breaking out with Light Up Gold in 2012, right through to 2018’s Wide Awake, the New York four piece’s brand of chaotic post-punk garage rock has…
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It may have taken him a while, but the Fresh Prince of Arnhem Land has come through with the goods. Since bursting on to the scene in 2017 with “Cloud 9”, Baker Boy has slowly but surely pieced together a debut album that highlights the dance beats he’s become known for, willingness to indulge modern…
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You know that meme that’s been around for months now that says ‘tell me x without telling me x’? Well for Sam Fender and his second album Seventeen Going Under, that meme could most definitely be used here in the form of ‘tell me you listened to Bruce Springsteen and The Killers heaps while writing…
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Always willing to try their hand at being a little bit left of centre, over the past decade Pond has created their own comfortable absurdist niche in the psych-rock genre in the Australian music scene. Generally treading that fine line between chaotic incoherence and a controlled mastery of music, the West Australian band are back…
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It’s no surprise at all that Ruby Fields‘ debut album, Been Doin’ It For A Bit, sounds exactly like, well, Ruby Fields. Seemingly a million years in the making, the album is everything that Fields has built her name around and then some. A genuinely fun and charismatically easy listen, Been Doin’ It For A…
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I still remember the first time I saw James Vincent McMorrow live. It was the inaugural leg of Falls Festival Byron Bay and it was disgustingly hot. Just days away from releasing his second album, Post Tropical, McMorrow played a mid-afternoon slot and proceeded to crush his set, all the while struggling with the Australian…
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Perhaps the hardest band to google and get reliable information on at the moment, The Vaccines are back with their fifth album, Back in Love City, a fun and energised exploration from a band that has always been capable of creating solid, reliable and catchy rock. Coming three years after their fourth album Combat Sports,…
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It honestly feels like Gretta Ray has been releasing music for the past decade. Only now releasing her debut album, Begin to Look Around, the Melbourne artist has been in and around listener’s ears for so long you’d be forgiven for thinking she’d surely be onto album three by now. Taking the time to formulate…
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Holy Holy are whole. After years of plying their trade on anthemic stadium-ready rock tinged with hints of 80’s glam guitar and synth, the Australian act now feel complete; like they’ve managed to pull it all together once and for all. Here on Hello My Beautiful World, the anthemic beauty of the band continues to…
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Since coming through with the goods on their debut album in 2017, it’s been a relatively constant burn for Polish Club, the Sydney duo known for their live shows and ability to craft punchy classic rock tracks. With Alright Already debuting 4 years ago only to be followed up with the stellar Iguana in 2019,…
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Eilish Gilligan has always been capable of creating synth-driven sad bangers. With this ability more than apparent and present across previous EPs and singles, Gilligan returns with her second EP in the form of five track wonder First One To Leave The Party. Following less than a year since debut EP Hospital, First One To…
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Every few years or so you hear about a magical super-producer that’s seemingly always creating massive tunes for other artists. And every time I’m left wondering if these producers do it because they can’t sing and are just good at lyrics and song structure. I’m sure there have been plenty of producers that are more…
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A musical chameleon of sorts, Leon Bridges is back in 2021 with a new sound that still fully embraces the genuine strength of his vocal, while also leaning into his gradual progression into RnB. Here on Gold-Diggers Sound, Bridges has well and truly done away with the 1960’s soul sound he first burst out with…
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The story of Tones And I has been spread wide and far since she broke out in early 2019. A busker first and foremost, noting they’re at their happiest when playing in the street, Tones And I was on a meteoric trajectory ever since her first single landed all across Australian airwaves. It’s not often,…
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It’s about time Australia and the world stops sleeping on Tkay Maidza. After releasing more than her fair share of quality singles and EPs, Maidza is back with Last Year Was Weird Vol. 3, a slinky and complete progression from an act who’s more than ready to make an impact on the global hip hop…
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As we hit the half way point of 2021, there’s been an extraordinary level of great new music released week in, week out this year; especially in the months April through June. From Wolf Alice to girl in red, London Grammar, EJ Worland and Martha Marlow, the second quarter of 2021 has seen a variety…
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Drenched in nostalgia and melancholia, Lucy Dacus does sadness at its best and most potent. Now onto her third album, Dacus returns with Home Video, eleven songs that are a deep dive into her coming-of-age years in suburban America. Written mostly from a bibliographical viewpoint, much of Home Video is Dacus exploring her own being,…
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Less than 18 months since releasing the exemplary The Piss, The Perfume EP, Hayley Mary has returned with The Drip, a seven-track EP that will continue to assert her place as one of the leading Australian vocalists and musicians. More than a decade since first breaking through as the leader of The Jezabels, Hayley Mary’s…
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After ever-so quietly building up a small catalogue of first rate singles, 2020 was set to be the year Sly Withers broke through with their brand of melancholic punk. All their ducks seemingly beginning to align, the capitulation of the world as we know it only proved to be a small speed bump for the…
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