You’ve got to wing it with WOMAD – how this writer learned to fly. As the saying goes, first impressions are very important – WOMADelaide’s impression was everything. With over 700 performers, WOMADelaide 2023 kicked off on Friday 10 March in the surroundings of Adelaide’s flourishing Botanic Park / Tainmuntilla. The four-day festival was an…
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The mood of a multi-day festival seems to evolve over the course of the event. The first day is normally frantic as everyone is excited and trying to find their bearings. Second day is more sombre as heat and exhaustion start to take their toll. “How will we last all four days?” But the third…
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*UPDATE* [19/05/2022]: Well, the news is out now. Every single music fan in Sydney is going to be knocking down the online Live Nation door as of Friday 20th May in a frantic attempt to scrape up tickets to Kendrick Lamar’s new Australia tour for 2022. The Compton emcee, who just released the brilliant Mr…
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One of our favourite international events, Pickathon, which takes place quite literally in the woods outside of Portland, Oregon, has just announced its 2022 lineup. The annual festival takes place at Pendarvis Farm in Happy Valley, Oregon, and is such a unique and magnificent event we gave no less than five stars to their last…
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The fifth annual National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) took place last night, via a livestream that was accompanied by a gala event at Brisbane’s The Triffid. The event recognises the achievements of the Australian music industry, with awards handed out across twenty categories. Sampa The Great, won the evening’s most prestigious award for Best Live…
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2020 has delivered a tough blow to the music industry, with live music put on hold and the cancellation of festivals. Despite the struggles brought on by the pandemic, this year’s ARIA Awards Ceremony promises to be something to look forward to. The nominees were announced today via a YouTube premiere, showcasing the diverse talent…
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The nominees for the 5th annual National Live Music Awards have been announced, which will be held on Sunday 20 October 2020 – both virtually and physically. Sampa the Great has received the most recognition, with three nominations – Live Act of the Year, Live Voice of the Year and Best Live Act in VIC…
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It opens with Erykah Badu rhyming over a beatbox from Rahzel, and closes with Missy Elliot threatening to slap you right across your melon. We’ve put together a 100-deep playlist for this month’s Hip Hop and R&B Retrospective, celebrating women in rap by spotlighting some of our favourites from the 80’s (Roxanne Shante, Queen Latifah,…
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With the Hottest 100 voting closing today, we thought we’d take our annual look back on the best songs of 2019. And should you still have to vote, we wanted to give you some ideas on some great local music to consider including in your top ten. We’ve put the 40 songs together in a…
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The Primavera Sound lineup has dropped for 2020, and as usual the Barcelona festival is an absolute blockbuster. The event, which is celebrating its 20th year this year, is bringing together 211 artists of 35 nationalities, in a lineup that celebrates the best artists of this year, and the past twenty years or more, that…
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Sampa the Great, Skegss and more will be part of the growing Australian presence that has been nudging its way onto the Coachella platform these past few years, joining the iconic music festival for its 2020 edition. Set for two weekends across April 10-12 and 17-19, the world renowned music and arts festivals will once…
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It’s time for the AU review’s annual list of the best albums from Australia and the rest of the world for 2019. Across this list, we take you through a wide range of genres, with music that represents the exciting, vibrant time of music right now. It’s fair to say that there are some notable…
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After catching fire across the world with the “OMG” and “Final Form”, Sampa the Great prefaces new album The Return with yet another soul-stirring single in “Freedom”. The third clipping from this imminent project, Sampa syncs with a soulful backbeat, skipping across powerful vocal support to give us an R&B-flavoured ode to artistic expression. A…
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Exploring the idea of home through her African heritage has evidently given Sampa the Great a whole new burst of creative energy, because “OMG” (along with preceding single “Final Form”, which shares a Sylvers sample with Ghostface Killah’s “Be Easy”) represents the emcee’s finest work to date. Lifted from her forthcoming album The Return, due…
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The Fairgrounds Festival hit the Berry Showgrounds at the weekend, and the fourth incarnation of this festival was the greatest yet. On the back of winning an ARIA a week ago, Vance Joy delivered in spades on the Friday night. The night was closed out by the super-terrestrial Pond, who never disappoint. On Saturday, The…
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Looking forward to the warmer months? They’re so close, yet so far… The Pleasure Garden joins the festivals coming out of the woodwork this month in announcing their line ups for the tail end of 2018, encouraging music fans to start plotting out their summer days and nights out. For this jaunt, Northeast Party House, Sampa the…
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Splendour in the Grass is back again for another year, held this year in North Byron Parklands from the 20th-22nd of July. If you’re heading out to Splendour for the first time, chances are you’re going to have a helluva bender – what a stacked line up to pop your SITG cherry! As the weekend…
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“Your Orbit” brought Ecca Vandal together with Sampa The Great for one collaboration we didn’t know we had wanted so badly. Fusing confidence with fiery rhythms and lyricism, both artists combined their own unique flair to make a track that espouses female empowerment and a sick throwback vibe with the official music video. Using Sydney as their base,…
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Hip hop artist Sampa the Great has won the Australian Music Prize for 2018 for her debut album Birds and the BEE9, making her the thirteenth annual winner of this prize. The Zambian-born Sydney based rapper has beaten out 8 other competitors to take home the prize, securing a place among some of Australia’s best talent as…
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As one of the only remaining Australian touring festivals still enjoying successes year in and year out, Groovin the Moo is an example of an event that knows its market, knows its formula for success, and knows how to execute it each year. With a line up that appeals to the younger, first-time festival demographic, as…
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The Australian Music Prize has revealed its anticipated shortlist for 2018, following a run of meetings in Sydney earlier this month by the prize’s judging panel, helmed by AMP Chairperson and Hoodoo Gurus frontman, Dave Faulkner. The panel this year welcomed producer Charles Fisher, musician Melinda Schneider and CMC’s Group Program Manager Tim Daley to the fold, as the panel deliberated…
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This week, we brought you an end of year list detailing some special Australian albums released this year, the Top 20 in fact, that have made their mark. With Gang of Youths‘ Go Farther in Lightness taking the Number One spot, and the likes of Jen Cloher, Ecca Vandal, Winston Surfshirt and more also featuring prominently, we revisited some of…
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There’s no mistaking it, 2017 has been a stellar year for Australian music. We’ve seen Aussies surge forward internationally, while the term ‘household name’ has never been truer for some as this year has rolled out. As we approach the end of 2017, we’ve put together our annual End Of list, representing the 20 Best Australian…
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Earlier in the week, we announced our annual list of acknowledgements of live music and the artists who have really made 2017 their own, via the annual AU Awards. Whether it was a breakout year for some, or a year where an acclaimed album became a defining moment in a band’s career, 2017 has provided some epic…
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Returning again to cap off what has been another fantastic year of Australian music, the 4th annual AU Awards are announced this afternoon, recognising what this year has brought some of our favourites (emerging and well established). Whether it be the recent rise of West Thebarton to the juggernaut that Gang of Youths has become in 2017,…
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The longlist for the 13th Australian Music Prize has been unveiled, following an official event in Melbourne overnight that saw three of the nominees perform, and a selection of the longlist announced by a line up of special guests. At The National Hotel in Richmond, RocKwiz’s Brian Nankervis and The Jezabels‘ Sam Lockwood hosted the AMP event, that saw Jen…
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On Saturday, the 25th of November, the Spilt Milk festival brought its A game with the weather, location and acts. Commonwealth Park in Canberra was beautiful with the lush green gardens in the sunshine with everyone’s sunny outfits to match. Starting early was Mallrat looking super cute in a green baby dress with the moves to…
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Saint Paul’s Cathedral has been playing host to some of Melbourne’s most talented artists over the last week. The 126 year old neo-gothic church, located in Melbourne’s CBD, proved to be a striking backdrop for the centre of Melbourne Music Week and promised a music experience like no other. On Friday, the cathedral saw Sampa…
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Sampa the Great has continued to surge forward in the final months of 2017; just recently, she has been announced as the main support for Joey Bada$$‘ European tour and along with her latest travel plans, Sampa has been revelling in the release of new music, with her newest single coming in form of “Rhymes to…
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Having spent a good part of the Australian autumn in the UK, the indomitable trio that is Sensible J, Remi and Sampa the Great were savvy enough to have their journey documented, eventually to be cut together for fans as Sensible J’s debut music video for “Fire Sign”. Following the trio around London and Brighton, as they took to stages…
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