Features

Top 20 Splendour in the Grass 2010 Music Videos: Part Three – 10 to 6

Next week will bring one of the most stressful days for any music fan in Australia with a chunk of change in their pockets – the day Splendour in the Grass goes on sale – it’s Australia’s Glastonbury in more ways than one. And to celebrate the amazing lineup, we’re counting down the top 20…

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Top 20 Splendour in the Grass 2010 Music Videos: Part Two – 15 to 11

We’re back with the best music videos from the bands you can’t miss at Splendour in the Grass 2010! You better believe we’re excited… So without further ado, here’s 15 to 11: 15 LCD Soundsystem – Drunk Girls  Coming in at number 15 is the brand new track from LCD Soundsystem, “Drunk Girls”. They’re well…

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Top 20 Splendour in the Grass 2010 Music Videos: Part One – 20 to 16

God bless the Australian Dollar. First we had Laneway blow us away with a supremely impressive indie line-up. Bluesfest brought us legend after legend. Soundwave brought a horde of the finest ‘rockier’ internationals. And now here comes Splendour 2010, with what is easily the most impressive line-up Australia has seen in many years. In fact,…

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The AU Perspective at SXSW – Paul Dempsey, City Riots & Children Collide

You’ve already heard from Brisbane’s An Horse, but while I was in at the SXSW Aussie BBQ, I chatted briefly with a few other Australian bands performing at SXSW. Here’s what they had to say about their experiences. RICKY KRADOLFER Guitar and Vocals – CITY RIOTS (Adelaide) ”We’re here playing at the Australian BBQ (in…

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The AU Perspective at SXSW II – Goons of Doom, Cassette Kids & Oh Mercy

The SXSW chats continue at the Aussie BBQ in Texas! Ozzy and Ray of GOONS OF DOOM (Sydney) How’s your SXSW experience been? Ray: Yeah it’s been cool! Catching a lot of bands and playing a couple of shows. Ozzy: Good times. Is it your first time here? Ray: Yep. Virgins no more. Highlights so…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Seven – Byron Bay Bluesfest

This Thursday we celebrate the launch of the 21st annual Byron Bay Bluefest – one of Australias most loved music festivals. We’ll be there covering the event, but before we do, I wanted to take us back to 2006 – I was 18 and it was my first ever Bluesfest. I wrote a blog about…

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The Aussie BBQ debuts in Sydney and Melbourne

If you happen to be in the States around March, you’ll notice quite an influx of Aussie bands making movements around the country. This is due to the conjoined efforts of Stage Mothers and SXSW – the latter, a showcase of bands for the world to see (in Austin), and Stage Mothers, the creators of…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Six – Playground Weekender

Boutique festivals are few and far between in Australia – let alone ones that involve camping! It comes with great relief, therefore, that Playground Weekender is here to create an original atmosphere and an unbeatable experience for punters. Are you ready to experience this? Are you ready to party? While I personally have never made it up…

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Introducing S.L.A.M – Saving Live Australia's Music!

S.L.A.M. (Save Live Australia’s Music) is a collective of Victoria’s broader musical community who have joined forces to make their voice heard as local music becomes increasingly under threat due to these ill conceived Liquor Licensing Laws. S.L.A.M. are calling on musicians and music lovers from all genres, creeds and generations to unite together to…

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Danimals' New York Diary and Photo Album

One line to describe working with each artist:  Dap Kings: Scary, but a hell of a lot of fun playing with some of the raddest musicians around   John Taylor: incredibly inspiring. We knew it was going to be good, but jamming with John and Alex Greenwald was one of the best feelings we had…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Five – BIG DAY OUT!

When you speak of the Summer festival season, there is one festival that reigns supreme: The Big Day Out. Now in its 18th year, it’s a festival which indeed lives up to its name. The biggest acts in the world, under what feels like the hottest sun in the world – it’s Australia’s time to…

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the AU crew present the Best of 2009: Part Three – Gigs of the Year

We’d like to dedicate this article to the memory of Rowland S Howard – One of Australia’s finest musicians who lost his battle with liver cancer today. For many of us at the AU review, his shows around the country were highlights of the year – and we feel honoured to have been able to…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Four – SOUNDWAVE v GOOD VIBES

This February, there are two major festivals vying for your dollars, travelling around the whole country. In one corner, Soundwave – bringing pure Rock and Roll to all major cities. In the other – Good Vibrations – the well established institution bringing the dance. Now of course some of you will be tempted to head…

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the AU crew present the Best of 2009: Part Two – Top 5 Songs

In part two of our best of 2009 series, once again we ask the AU crew to give us their favourite songs of 2009. Each contributor gave us their top 5 songs of the year, including a little ditty about their number 1 choice. But first, here’s a look at the song of the year,…

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the AU crew present the Best of 2009: Part One – Top 5 Albums

The wonderful AU crew have joined forces to choose the best 5 albums of the 2009! Plus, selected contributors give you their personal choice for album of the year. It may surprise! Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing One of the hidden gems of 2009, Manchester Orchestra’s third LP Mean Everything to Nothing, showed…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Three – NEW YEARS EVE (NATIONAL)

Having the privilege to enjoy the heat of Summer on New Years Eve is something deeply embedded in the Australian experience – and something we shouldn’t take for granted. So why have the same, boring old NYE, when you could be rocking out to the worlds finest bands, in some of the countries most beautiful…

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Summer Festival Spotlight: Week Two – LANEWAY FESTIVAL (NATIONAL)

In this week’s Festival Spotlight, we turn our attention to the increasingly popular Laneway Festival. What started out as a small showcase of bands at St Jerome’s Laneway in Melbourne, has become a mammoth touring festival, with some of the worlds most respected artists taking the stage, and publications such as Pitchfork giving the thumbs…

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Sydney Festival Launches with a Delightful Bag of Treats!

If there is one musical event which has come to encapsulate Summer in Australia, there’s no argument that it’s the Big Day Out – the 2010 edition of which has now sold out around the country, despite a lineup born out of a recycling bin. But in Sydney, there is a parallel force for our…

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A Look Back at the History of KIA SOUL'S LIVE AT THE CHAPEL

It’s a rare thing in this day and age to see a live music-oriented series survive on Australian Television. Even programs on MTV and Channel [V] don’t seem to stick around for too long. There is one popular exception to this rule, however. Kia Soul’s Live at the Chapel . Originating in Melbourne in 2003,…

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SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS – Belongil Fields, Byron Bay – TWITTER FEED

Why wait for the full review? In an AU review FIRST, from Friday night to Sunday night, Larry & Chris uploaded live tweets – both text and pics – from Australia’s signature winter festival. Check out the archived embedded feed here: #Splendour lives on! Full coverage from tomorrow! Then Bloc Party @ MCA. They played…

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A Sydneysider's Take on Melbourne's Big Day Out 2009

Having attended the Sydney Big Day Out for the past 5 years, it would be fair to say that being sick of the crowd that attends this event is an understatement. So, loving Melbourne, I decided to make the trip down south for this year’s epic BDO event – and boy, did it pay off….

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