Books Editor. An admirer of songs and reader of books. Simon has a PhD in English and Comparative Literature. All errant apostrophes are his own.
Ahead of the band’s visit to Australia, we catch up with frontman Joe Michelini to chat about the inspiration behind their debut The Unmistakable Man, the recording of their sophomore album Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Your Anger, how the band came together, and the resurgence of Americana music. Hello, how are you…
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Following rave reviews for his previous show Love Song’s for Future Girl Shane Adamczak a.k.a Zack Adams returned to the Perth stage to revive his show Zack Adams: The Complete History for the Fringe World festival. An autobiographical tale peppered with some fine musical moments as well as plenty of laughs. The life of Zack…
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We caught up with Made In Japan to talk about their debut album Sights and Sounds, the album launch at Oxford Art Factory this month and much more! How did Made in Japan come about? Quite uneventful really, Jono was a few years above me in high school and was off doing his own thing….
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Now I can’t say I know a huge amount about Jazz. Most of what I know I picked up from writing about Jack Kerouac and his jazz influences at university. Other than that my knowledge of jazz extends to a few of the big names, the likes of Count Basie, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and…
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In the middle of the courtyard there is a wooden dining room table, with four chairs. The lights dim, and from the four corners of the courtyard four men dressed in black make their way to the table and each take a seat. The lights raise again. A somewhat incongruous and misleadingly simple start to…
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Last weekend, the Laneway Festival tour completed its last Australian leg with a stop at Perth. With a stellar line-up and perfect weather, the festival cemented its position as one of the best festivals in the country right now. It was a laid back and chilled out affair, with top quality performances, and none of…
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Last Friday night, The Bakery in Perth played host to American psych-rockers and Animal Collective label signees, Prince Rama as part of the second annual Fringe World Festival. Local duo Gulls kicked off proceedings with a subtle and mesmerising performance. Gulls are made up of Amber Fresh (Rabbit Island) on vocals/guitar and Matt Aitken (Gilbert…
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A lot can happen in nine years. For folk troubadour Carus Thompson, plenty has changed in the nine years since the recording of the first Acoustic at the Norfolk album. In that time he has gotten married, become a father, put out three acclaimed records, and played countless shows across two continents. Now, nine years…
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We sit down with Mexican guitar maestro Rodrigo Sanchez, one half of the acclaimed duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela to discuss the story behind their latest record Area 52, a potential Australian tour and what it’s like working with acclaimed soundtrack composers. Hi, how are you? Good thank you Simon, and you? Good thanks, now before…
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It was a balmy summer night that saw me heading into the city to the Amplifier Bar for a night of great local music. Relative new comers Our Man in Berlin opened proceedings in front of a reasonable early doors crowd. From the outset they played with both confidence and poise. Playing a set of…
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Whilst the first day of the festival had its undeniable highlights and a number of memorable music moments, it became clear fairly early in the day that the second day wasn’t going to disappoint either. Whether it be discovering new bands, insane dance circles, or enjoying an ice cold cider whilst listening to some great…
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Another Southbound has come and gone, and once again it was a great weekend filled with great music, plenty of sun, and a nice, chilled out vibe. There were a couple of changes made since the previous year, the most noticeable one – or, rather, the one that everyone has been harping on about –…
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We sit down with Kate Cooper, one half of Australian duo An Horse ahead of their upcoming tour, to discuss the advantages of colder climbs, songwriting techniques and the perks of the American festival circuit and much more. Hi, how are you today? Good, how are you going? Good thanks, I was going to say…
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We sit down with Melbourne band The Pretty Littles to discuss there debut EP Fairweather, working with Big Scary guitarist Tom Iansek and what we can expect from the band in the coming year. Who would you say your main influences are? The Vasco Era are a huge influence. They are the only reason I’m…
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We sit down with Baltimore native and dance party expert Dan Deacon to discuss his upcoming Australian tour, as well as his new album and what it’s like working with the director of The Godfather. Hey Dan, how are you? Good, how are you? Yeah, good thanks, where are you calling from today? I’m in…
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On Friday night Perth band The Brow Horn Orchestra launched their debut EP. Yeah that’s right their debut EP. Though given the scale on which they launched their latest creation, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were releasing their second or third album. The Brow clearly does not do anything by half measures – with…
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Jazz musician, Jon Cleary, caught up with AU Review’s Simon Clark to discuss the culture of New Orleans, dream collaborations, the upcoming ‘Legends of New Orleans’ Australian Tour and much more! Hello! Hello there. Good Evening, well I think it’s evening there!? Yeah, it’s about ten to nine. So are you playing a gig tonight,…
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The final day of Glastonbury brought with it baking hot sunshine to dry out the remainder of the mud. A stark contrast from this year’s damp start. Opening proceedings on the Other Stage was Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Mangan. Mangan offered up a fantastic performance for a fairly modest but enthusiastic audience. It was a performance…
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Saturday brought with it the prospect of better weather and another day chock full of great entertainment and fantastic music. Heading across to the Acoustic Stage for rising folk star Benjamin Francis Leftwich (pictured below) I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the day. Leftwich managed to draw a sizeable crowd given the…
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Friday started off well enough, though grey clouds hung ominously above the Somerset farm. Even without the rain, navigating the festival grounds was becoming more and more of a challenge as the mud began to slowly take over the site. I started the day at the Park Stage, the furthest away of the main stages….
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Day two started off ominously enough with an early morning shower, however with it soon easing off, the threat of a potential washout was averted for another day. Being only Thursday, the main stages of the festival were still not open – the festival officially runs across the weekend Friday to Sunday. But there’s more…
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It’s that time of the year again! “Summer” has hit the Northern Hemisphere and the UK’s largest and most famous music festival is back for another year. Anyone expecting a repeat of last year’s scorching sunny weather,had such hopes dashed immediately on arrival; though the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the thousands of…
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The Head and The Heart are a folk-infused pop band from Seattle. Their self-titled debut record was released by the band last year, but has since been reissued following their signing to the Sub-Pop label. Musically, think luscious harmonies with weird and unusual arrangements, and a sixties sound revitalised for a modern audience. We have…
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I believe it was Bob Marley who said “one good thing about music, when it hits, you feel no pain”. Well, the punters at this year’s Blues and Roots were in for a pain free day, with the music on offer being of the highest quality from artists of the highest calibre. Organisers have been…
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Carus Thompson has been at this music lark for a while now. With good reason too, he is bloody good at it. Recent proof being is his latest album Caravan, a truly wondrous collection of songs written and recorded between Australia and Europe. Reflecting his life on the road split between the two continents. Carus…
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Heytesburg perform music which my iTunes wonderfully characterises as Darkwave. Which is clearly one of the best genre names I have come across; it to some extent also serves as a great definition of the band’s sound. Their music is dark, brooding and multi-layered. There are elements of psychedelia and industrial rock drifting through their…
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One of Vancouver’s hardest working musicians is a man by the name of Dan Mangan. He’s down in Australia at the moment touring with a swag of special guests. We caught up with the singer/songwriter while he was in town… Welcome back to Australia Dan – are you enjoying the tour so far? But of…
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Day 2 shall now forever be known as the Day of the Clash, so many great bands and not nearly enough time to see them all. It’s also the day a special shipment of Strongbow had to be shipped down because the bar had managed to run out after only one day. Up first on…
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So the third and final day, where the festival site begins to resemble the aftermath of a battle, with punters lying around in the shade doing their best to recover before another days worth of music. The majority of the crowd it seemed went to the Rock Stage to see Pond, but I decided that…
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Not even a day into the New Year and Western Australia is already kicking off its live music year, with the three day long music, camping and arts festival Southbound. Thankfully having been to Glastonbury in the last twelve months, I had some idea of what to expect from a camping festival, that being said…
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