Features

Best of 2010 Countdown: Top 40 Albums – Part 4: Top 10!

We round out our Best Albums of 2010 countdown with the Top 10 of 2010. With all our contributors voting on this one, there were a few surprises as to the order they appeared – but the decision for number one was virtually unanimous. Enjoy and check back later in the week as we begin…

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Best of 2010 Countdown: Top 40 Albums – Part 3: 20-11

We begin part three of our countdown with an up-and-coming Australian talent that our contributors were very vocal in ensuring made the our top 40 countdown… Israel Cannan: Walk Have you have ever just picked something up and thought….. wow, this just sounds so right. Well, today I had the pleasure of finding such an…

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Best of 2010 Countdown: Top 40 Albums – Part 2: 30 – 21

We continue our look back at the year in music with part two of our annual albums of the year countdown! We kick things off with one of the heroes of this year’s international electronic touring circuit… Delphic – Acolyte My early pick for album of the year has held strong from January to December….

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Best of 2010 Countdown: Top 40 Albums – Part 1: 40 – 31

Ah yes, that time has come. Over the next week or so we’ll be unveiling our top 40 albums of 2010. We get the ball rolling with a beautiful local record which has tied with a more internationally known band, both squeezing in at number 40! As such, we’re technically giving you our top 41!…

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Acoustic Video: Sneak Peak at Sydney Festival's LIVE with Gareth Liddiard

LIVE is an intimate video study of the art of performing. It captures more than 20 of the world’s best singers and musicians performing a song of their choice in stark simplicity on film and is presented as a large-scale video installation in the Lower Town Hall. LIVE features filmed performances from Jarvis Cocker, Peaches,…

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Live Videos: Regina Spektor "Eet" and "Dance Anthem of the 80s" (Live in London)

Today marked the release of Regina Spektor‘s first ever live CD/DVD release: “Live in London” – and on her official YouTube page she’s released two pretty beautiful examples of what we can expect on the final product – “Eet” and “Dance Anthem of the 80s”. Check them out below.  ABOUT THE CD/DVD SET: ‘LIVE IN…

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Music Video and Free Download: Emma Davis "Machines"

Sydney-based singer-songwriter Emma Davis has released a beautiful animated music video clip for her single “Machines”. It comes off the back of her remarkable self-titled debut album, which touched down last month to rave reviews. The clip is directed, illustrated and animated by Paul Murphy, a twenty-four year old independent filmmaker from Sydney. We hope to…

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The Top 5 Countdown: Australian Bands to Watch!

Welcome to the brand new weekly series on the AU review – the AU top 5 countdown – as we lead up to the end of year countdowns in late December. This week we take a look at the 5 bands we believe the whole industry is paying attention to. Are they they “next big…

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Discussing Billabong's Design for Humanity Fundraiser for UNICEF with Chris from Operator Please and Hugo from Flight Facilities.

Next week, The Vines, Flight Facilities, Operator Please and many others will be taking to the stage at the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney as part of Billabong’s Design for Humanity UNICEF fundraising event. We got political with Chris from Operator Please and Hugo from Flight Facilities and chatted about the event, and what it…

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Artisan Guns perform "Private Universe" – their contribution to the Finn tribute album, He Will Have His Way

Here’s the music video “Private Universe” by Artisan Guns Following on from the massive success of 2005’s She Will Have Her Way: The Songs of Tim & Neil Finn, now it’s the men’s turn to come out to play and pay homage to the glory of the brothers Finn. It was released in stores today!…

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RIP James Freud, singer of Australian rock band Models.

I, like many in the industry, today mourn the loss of The Model’s James Freud.  Earlier this year I had the pleasure of meeting James Freud (and his sons) in a dingy pub in Los Angeles for a friends birthday, while I was in town covering the Aussie BBQ (and en route to SXSW). I’d heard…

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Jinja Safari's new music video "Forest Eyes"

Sydney’s Jinja Safari – who just recently announced a national tour for November – have premiered their new video for the infectious Forest Eyes. Here’s the story behind the clip, as told by co-frontman Marcus Azon: “This Forest Eyes video is a hybrid of two separate adventures, in different seasons of 2010. Half of it…

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Chatting to Nicolas Jorquera of the 80 Gigs in 80 Days Project

About 40 days ago, Nicolas Jorquera got started on a pretty epic plan: be a part of 80 gigs in 80 nights in the bustling Melbourne music scene. It goes to show just how much amazing live music there is out there… but such a task is no easy feat. But we think it’s an…

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Live Video: DJ Dexter Remixes the Soundtrack of La Haine

The first year of Melbourne Music has brought a vast array of Arts and Entertainment events to Melbournians, one of its most fascinating being Cinemix. Cinemix is the concept of giving a musician complete creative freedom in musically re-interpreting the score of a film. It is then played live simultaneously with the film for an…

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Melbourne Music 2010 Festival – Live Videos of Red Ink and Michael Paynter

We always love seeing some good music being played in the streets – and as part of the Melbourne Music 2010 Festival, some of our favourite local artists have been doing just that. First up, we’ve got Red Ink playing the steps of the State Library: And then we have two tracks of Michael Paynter playing by the…

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the AU [audio] interview at Coaster Festival: City Riots (Adelaide)

Larry caught up with Adelaide band City Riots while they were at Coaster Festival in Gosford. They chat about their upcoming tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, playing Sydney, adventures in America, their newest member “The Edge”, getting held up at knife point, what’s coming up and much more…

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Announcing the WINNERS of the Incubator Band Competition!

VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED IN THIS COMPETITION We’re pleased to announce the WINNERS of the AU review band competition! Congratulations to Dirt Farmer and Dan Webb, both from Melbourne. Thanks to everyone that voted for their favourite artists! You can listen to all 6 finalists below. BANDS Big Old Bears (Perth) With influences dating back to…

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the AU crew at Splendour in the Grass 2010!

Splendour in the Grass 2010. It’s a festival we’re all still talking about here at AU HQ – and so we thought we’d let a few more contributors (reviewers and photographers) share their experiences with you …  Johnny Au: As a complete novice to camping at festivals I approached Splendour with a fair amount of…

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It’s Summer Up There! The Final Day of Glastonbury Festival 2010

All good things must come to an end, even Glastonbury. So now we are onto the last day of Glastonbury, all that’s left after this is a wasteland of tents, and trip back to home comforts. The day started off well, with Frightened Rabbit on the Other Stage. They played a strong set, and showed…

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It’s Summer Up There! Day Three of Glastonbury Festival 2010

Onto Saturday and the second day of the festival, with a great number of acts lined up throughout the day, bringing incredibly eclectic and varied performances to the enthusiastic crowd. The only constant for all the bands playing was the quality of the performances they delivered. It was a rather low key start to the…

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It’s Summer Up There! Day Two of Glastonbury Festival 2010

So it’s Friday, the official start day of the Glastonbury Festival. Overnight and all through the morning the final punters arrive, bringing the total on site population to around 177,500 people, making the festival site the third largest city in the South West. So with all those people it can be a little overwhelming and…

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It’s Summer Up There! Day One of Glastonbury Festival 2010

Glastonbury, mythical home of the Holy Grail in Arthurian myth, in reality home to the holy grail of musical festivals the world over. Music Lovers and self confessed hippies descend on rural Somerset for a long weekend of music, more music and the greatest of atmospheres. I know it sounds trite but there really is an atmosphere surrounding Glastonbury, everyone…

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One year on from Ask Richard comes the FBI Sydney Sounds Like Festival!

Just over a year ago, FBi Radio in Sydney launched one of the most creative media campaigns the country had seen since “Kevin 07”. And it certainly surpassed that by a long margin (where are ya now Kev!?). It was a stunt entitled “Ask Richard”, in which the listeners of FBi were asked to go…

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Album Preview: Bliss n Eso – "Running on Air" (2010 LP)

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Bliss n Eso and listen to their upcoming album “Running on Air”. Those who know me, know this: I’m totally sick of Aussie Hip Hop. I’m bored by it. I’m bored by everyone sounding the same, “rapping” about the same shit, and trying so desperately to…

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David De Santi – Artistic Director, Snowy Mountains of Music Festival

In the lead-up to their exciting second year, we had a chat with David De Santi, the Artistic Director of the unique music festival – Snowy Mountains of Music. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us David!  You’ve been a busy man in the Australian music industry for many years now.  Where did…

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Andrew Keese of Departed Sounds – Melbourne's New Independent Label

As a website that does its best to focus on independent Australian artists, it’s always great to hear that people in the industry continue to support the same. Enter Departed Sounds, the latest independent record label in Australia – run out of Melbourne. We chatted with co-founder Andrew Keese about the label – plus he…

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Nathan Bobik of Nacional (Melbourne)

With a recent change to their line-up – their singer no less – we chat to drummer Nathan Bobik about what this means for Nacional, what’s next, and being an up and coming band in Melbourne! Hey Nathan, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today! First up, can you tell us a…

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Top 20 Splendour in the Grass 2010 Music Videos: Part Four – 5 to 1

The day has just about arrived! Tomorrow morning you’ll find out whether or not you’re one of the lucky ones who’ll be heading to Woodword, QLD, for the tenth annual Splendour in the Grass Festival. But before the day arrives, here are the top FIVE music videos by the bands you can’t miss at this…

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the AU Big British Sound interview – Pikelet (Melbourne)

Tomorrow night, the Big British Sound will be hitting the Corner Hotel in Melbourne – and along for the ride are Bertie Blackman, Whitley, Big Scary and this lovely lady – Evelyn Morris. Although you’ll probably know her better as Pikelet. In advance of this performance, we talk to Evelyn about her favourite British artists,…

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the AU Big British Sound interview: Fergus Brown (Sydney)

In advance of his stint as part of the Big British Sound in Sydney this Friday night, we chatted to Fergus Brown about the genius of Jon Brion, his not-so-secret soft spot for Green Day, experiences in Canada and at SXSW, and of course, what we’ll expect from his show later this week! Larry: I…

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