Latest record reviews
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Blanck Mass – World Eater
By the time 2016 ended, every artistic effort was either a statement on the year or perceived as one. And it is still bearing fruit. On his third ...
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Orion – S/T
When Orion played a gig for Sydney label Paradise Daily last year, a bigger crowd showed up than usual. A wilder, boozier feeling was in the air. Something ...
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Lawrence English – Cruel Optimism
Lawrence English mastered the art of dense and affecting ambient compositions some releases ago. For Cruel Optimism he strayed from solo practice to serendipitous input from musicians including ...
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Dag – Benefits Of Solitude
It was a relief to learn that Dag songwriter Dusty Anastassiou grew up on a cattle station in Mundubbera. “I was sort of the shit-kicker/stable boy/jackeroo,” he told ...
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Red Red Krovvy – S/T
When Ash Wyatt of punk three-piece Red Red Krovvy sings, you want to smash shit up. Hurl a boot, start a stampede. Heck, dismantle some systems. “I’m sick ...
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RVG – A Quality Of Mercy
In 2015, as the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran drew close in Bali, opinions in Australia were polarised. On radio and online people wished the men ...
Latest live reviews
Max Richter’s Sleep (Opera House)
10.15pm would usually be a wrap at the Sydney Opera House, but not tonight. New Order has just finished performing in the Joan Sutherland Theatre and the smell of ...
Latest features
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features 0Reflections on a weekend in exile
“This song is about underground communities and how they tear themselves apart.” Fifteen minutes after Shogun of Royal Headache said this onstage, I began to experience an offstage version. Only there was no catharsis; no song. In the gig washout, a message popped up on my phone. It was from the admin of a Facebook group I’ve been part of pretty much ...
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features 0Music You Missed: Jan, Feb, March – 2017
Last weekend in Melbourne, and the week before in Brisbane, A Rock & Roll Writers Festival returned for a second year to put songwriters, music critics and novelists on stage to discuss their craft. Speakers included Adalita, Bunna Lawrie, Tim Rogers, Jess Ribeiro and Jenny Valentish. I took part in a panel with three other music critics. The festival claims to “celebrate ...
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features 0Empire of the Sun on the ad that changed their lives
On YouTube, views of the Honda Civic advertisement first televised in January are ticking towards 200,000. “Song iz awesome,” reads one comment. “Hey what is that song called and who is it by I like that song,” reads another. A commercially placed song, known as a “sync”, is an increasingly legitimate way for musicians to make a buck in an industry where ...
