This is certainly a swinging album of hot gypsy jazz of the 1930’s. Featuring some of the most influential musicians of the time – Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday to name but a few. Although title Swing Noir this is certainly more of an example of the hot club jazz style…
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The art of executing a perfect compilation of songs for a film is like making a perfect mixtape for your soulmate. Everything about this soundtrack makes my knees weak and my hopes for this film are soaring so high right now. My gut feeling tells me that it will be as good as the book…
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With his breakthrough track, “Trouble”, off the album of the same name, Ray LaMontagne made a distinctive name for himself in the music industry as a unique, soulful singer/songwriter with an acoustic and raw sound. But it has been more than 10 years since the cult favourite of folk, roots and classic rock fans released…
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Sydney outfit The Great Conjunction are fairly new onto the scene with their cavernous alternative indie-rock sounds. They write music that’s deeply intricate on so many layers, think like Arcade Fire or The New Pornographers or The Dears, that it can take quite a few listens to really appreciate it. I’ll openly admit it took me some proper spins to get the…
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Like stepping in from the cold to find a warm fireplace and your favourite blanket. The new album, Shine On, by Sarah McLachlan is the musical equivalent of getting re-acquainted with an old friend. Filled with her distinctive and glistening vocals that have been off the airways for far too long. In fact this album…
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For any nostalgia driven Hollywood movie buffs, and lovers of the grand music scores from classic movies, this album is a little slice of heaven. Each track transports the listener to another time and place, swept away in magnificent and timeless orchestrations, with the only down-side of leaving you a little jarred upon returning to…
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Music is honestly the best gift in the entire world and if I had the choice of losing my hearing or eyesight forever, I’d choose my eyesight because without my hearing, music would cease to exist in my life and the thought of that makes me want to cry. If you’re looking for a quick…
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From taking a one way flight to Melbourne eight years ago to touring internationally with headline shows, the Kiwi lads from Bonjah have put a lot of hard work into their sound which is clearly evident in their third studio release, Beautiful Wild. Every track exudes that bluesy rock fuelled confidence, with frontman Glen Mossop’s…
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Paolo Nutini got a lucky break when David Sneddon was delayed at the start of a performance in 2003 and Nutini won a spot to sing a few numbers. His ongoing success, however, is not just dumb luck, but is a result of his enduring and ever-growing talent. After five years of touring, writing, collaborating,…
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To be honest, I did judge a book by its cover when it came to listening to Foster the People’s sophomore album. While I loved their catchy hooks and sing-a-long creations in Torches, what led me to pay particular attention to this release was the psychedelic touch on the album art, injected with colour, and…
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It’s been a rollercoaster year for Sharon Jones, the corrections officer turned soul queen. Her fifth album with the imitable Dap Kings, Give the People What They Want was shelved and touring halted so Jones could turn her attention to battling and ultimately beating cancer which threatened to bring her fairy-tale career to a halt….
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Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news for you: Sydney’s Sally Seltmann is back after four years with her latest solo full length album, Hey Daydreamer and boy, is it a treasure, stuffed full of indie pop gems. In all honesty (and without sounding too gushy), I have never before listened to an album…
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It seems that Katy Perry hasn’t been off our airwaves at all, with consistently timed album releases and perfectly polished pop gems that have made her a mainstay on radio and music video channels. Prism is Perry’s fourth official release and it manages to retain her pop-dance sensibilities whilst feeling somewhat more mature, edgier and texturally more complex.
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It’s been two years since we last heard from Perth lads Eskimo Joe, and they’re back with a brand new crowd-funded album titled Wastelands that takes their sound in a vastly different direction from their previous records.
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It’s no secret that She Rex are one of my favourite up-and-coming Sydney bands. Having been lucky enough to see them live several times in the past year, I was keen to hear the results of their work in the studio. As expected, they didn’t disappoint.
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If there’s one thing you can’t accuse John Mayer of, it’s that his music is generic and pigeonholed. As a recording artist, his styles have ranged from radio friendly pop rock to blues, to folk, country and even white-man soul. Examining his sixth studio record Paradise Valley, it’s interesting to see where his musical direction is shifting to…
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We may seem far from a world of heightened suffering and melodramatic love affairs but the Australian reworking of French classics on Melodie Française could be the perfect soundtrack to a wine-heavy dinner party. Francophiles will love it – there is more value upon recognising the originals – but the album speaks to any music…
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Generally for most Australian artists, it’s all about breaking the local market before heading off into the wide world. Singer-songwriter Jacob Butler opted to take his guitar driven pop-rock material OS and managed to ink several licensing deals, get radio airplay and physical release in Europe and South Africa before his LP Reason even saw the light on local…
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It’s only been two years since The Academy Is… announced their disbandment, but William Beckett has accomplished a lot in that time. Three EPs, an album of acoustic sessions, and a fair bit of touring is more than you’d expect from somebody who’d spent the previous nine years creating music with the support of a…
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There’s a lot riding on the shoulders of Dublin band Kodaline. With their soft-alternative-indie-rock tendencies their debut EP The Kodaline EP released in September 2012 garnered them a nomination in the BBC Sound of 2013 poll. It’s now about 10 months on since then and the four piece are ready to show the world their long player In A…
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Forget Gosling; forget Julia Stone! In fact, forget everything you think you know about female singer songwriters. There’s a new lass on the block and her name is Molly Contogeorge. Molly first grabbed my attention when I went along to see Stone Monks on a somewhat inconvenient, hung-over Sunday night. From memory it was rather…
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When Deap Vally were flaring up in the blogosphere over summer as “artists to watch” they much surpassed their poster image as two Californian rockers. They command attention with classic rock ‘n’ roll theatrics. Their debut album Sistrionix lives up to its name – these two troublemakers are making a name for themselves. With essentially…
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90’s radio darlings the Goo Goo Dolls are back with their tenth studio album Magnetic, and they are showcasing an unbelievably strong record full of shiny pop rock nuggets of gold.
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Sometime last year, whilst wandering through the Rocks in Sydney I had the pleasure of witnessing a charming acoustic performance by Sydney local Patrick James. With his endearing folk rock and charismatic presence, James had easily captured the attention of the market goers. With an awkward ‘Hello, gosh you’re good, may I please buy a…
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Trigger Jackets. The name alone screams indie rock, perhaps with a tinge of surfer rock, maybe a couple of jaunty riffs similar to Ball Park Music? Skinny boys in their skinny jeans and ironic glasses. Thankfully, in reality, Trigger Jackets bucks the indie trend. Their latest release, debut full length, Skinny, is all things great…
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Ever since Queens of the Stone Age released their acclaimed record Songs For The Deaf in 2002, which took the underground band to the attention of the world, it would be fair to say the band have struggled to reach similar levels of acclaim. Lullabies to Paralyze, released in 2005, showed that the band were…
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Misty Miller has come along way since 2011. Back then, she was strumming her ukulele and singing sweetly about boys. Now, at eighteen, she’s got an electric guitar, a stronger voice, and a helluva lot more to say. Next To You is her second EP release this year — and if you read the title…
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If you’ve been anywhere near a radio or TV in the last couple of months you would have no doubt heard a catchy tune with an infectious shout along chorus about a certain John Wayne. If, like me, you’ve had that delicious track stuck in your head since the moment you heard it and have…
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Leaving the suburbs behind, Bob Evans’ Familiar Stranger hits a lush, layered note. Cannily on-trend, in touch with all the latest tropes of nostalgic pop, it’s a departure from the acoustic guitar-driven sounds of his so-called suburban trilogy. Like any album, it’s marked by derivation, with many a nod to alumni like The Beatles (as…
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For someone who is regularly possessed by the rhythm and spirit of Reggae and Ska, Melbourne Ska Orchestra instantly becomes an obsession. Even the simple concept of a vast orchestra with an 18-piece horn section playing a style I find it difficult not to move to is orgasmic, let alone when they actually start playing….
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