It’s that time of year when our team of music writers and editors get together to count down the 40 best albums of the year. And while this has been no usual year, the quality of music that has been released has been incredibly high. Suffice it to say, this has been a very difficult…
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Top-tier emcee Common is gearing up to release a brand new album next month, and for the latest single he’s hooked up with a surprising collaborator. Offering the mighty “Hercules” as the follow-up to soulful cut “HER Love”, the Chicago emcee linked up with veteran producer Swizz Beatz who turns in a beastly drum pattern…
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I’ve never heard a Vince Staples song I didn’t like. The tough, nihilistic tone of his own brand of no-frills hip hop is perfectly placed over just about any contemporary production with even the slightest bounce to it, frantically transforming each beat with his elastic flow and nasal cadence whether it lean towards EDM or…
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You should start the new year off celebrating and having fun, so what better than to dance in a field with over 26,000 fellow friends? With three stages at The Domain, I did exactly that on January 1st at the Sydney’s Field Day. Starting the day early in full sunshine on the Centre Field stage was E^ST, who…
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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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This week, some huge Falls Festival sideshows have been announced, with the likes of Liam Gallagher, Run The Jewels, Jungle and Everything Everything lining up east coast shows of their own while in the country for the New Year’s festival tour. There’s a lot to note down, ticket sale times and such, but we’ve compiled the details you need below – check…
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The Field Day lineup is here and continues to fuse some of the best in electronic, hip hop and house, with the likes of Vince Staples, D.R.A.M and A-Trak joining Stormzy, Flume, MURA MASA and more for one epic New Year’s Day celebration at Sydney’s Domain. There’s not much else to say at this point but prime your credit cards for when tickets…
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The beloved Falls Festival turns 25 this year and in its release of the first line up for the summer event tour dropping today, it’s evident that the crew behind Falls are making their silver jubilee one to remember. The international visitors to stages in Lorne, Fremantle, Byron and Marion Bay over New Year’s are largely…
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Between vinyl markets, conceptual performances, video installations, and almost 40 of Helsinki’s top restaurants, Flow Festival played host to some incredible live music across three days, the result of an intelligent and wide-reaching music program that spanned everything from world-dominating pop and Finnish indie rock to obscure classical music homages, era-focused vinyl DJ sets, sweaty…
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While all eyes and ears were on Frank Ocean for the sunlit final day of Flow Festival 2017, there was plenty of quality live performances, from artists both renowned and obscure, to cap the annual event in the best way possible. The atmosphere was electric all through the day, and unlike Saturday there wasn’t a…
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In one week it will be time for Helsinki’s highly regarded Flow Festival to once again fill the historic Suvilahti Power Plant (a disused power plant, that is) with an entire weekend of international and local artists spanning music, food, drink and the arts. This year’s headliners include none other than Frank Ocean, the xx,…
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Shockingly, we find ourselves in the second half of 2017 already. In terms of new music, we’ve been hit with some heavy releases from some of pop music’s biggest names, while some of our favourite Australian artists have come out swinging with impressive album and EP releases all their own. As the first week of…
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LA Clippers fan Vince Staples set the rap game alight with his debut album Summertime ’06. The captivating conscious hip-hop album left fans satisfied, yet hungry for a new project. Enter Prima Donna; the more experimental album which was rather divisive for Vince Staples fans. However, the experimentalist in Vince wouldn’t stop there, as fans…
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Europe is packed with bucket list festivals all-year round, regularly attracting those from around the world who are itching to explore all sorts of uniquely formed, expertly curated music and arts events, from the most acclaimed to the most obscure. Teetering between both categories is Helsinki’s Flow Festival, a three-day boutique festival worshiping contemporary music…
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High profile releases from the likes of Kanye, Drake, and Beyoncé, plus show-stealers from Chance the Rapper, Skepta, Anderson .Paak and dvsn have fleshed out what has been a very strong six months for hip hop and R&B. We’ve also seen emerging talents like Gallant and Joyner Lucas, comebacks from Fat Joe and Maxwell, and…
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Bonnaroo is a festival like none other. On a farmland in the middle of Tennessee, hippies, deadheads, EDM kids and people of old and young gather in the center of the United States for four days of sweltering heat, non stop music and lifelong memories. 2016 marks the 15th edition of Bonnaroo and this year’s…
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From forth the beaches of Sydney springs greatness, and his name is Flume. The country’s biggest electronic producer at the minute has just announced a huge world tour to support his sophomore album SKIN and this one looks to be one for the books. While the Australian dates fall at the end of 2015 in November and…
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From forth the beaches of Sydney has sprung greatness, and his name is Flume. The country’s biggest electronic producer at the minute has just announced a huge world tour to support his sophomore album SKIN and this one looks to be one for the books. While the Australian dates fall at the end of 2015 in…
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Another year at SXSW is behind us once more. From March 15th through until March 20th, we’ve seen Australian bands take their international profiles up another notch with impressive showcase performances. We’ve fallen in love with new artists and bands, and old favourites even more. We’ve participated in the classic SXSW traditions of waiting stupidly long in…
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The 2016 SXSW Spotify House has unveiled its roster of artists set to perform through SXSW Music this year and man, they’ve come out swinging! Last year saw the likes of Run the Jewels headline the house and this year, Spotify will be hosting acts including CHVRCHES, Miguel, Anderson .Paak, Vince Staples and more. The…
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Released mid last year, Vince Staples‘ double-album debut Summertime ‘06 was praised as a clever, vivid, and blunt entry into the long history of reality-rap coming out of L.A, fully delivering on the potential the 22 year old rapper had been showing across four mixtapes and one very well-received EP. That potential shifts well to…
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A new taste of the highly anticipated Flume album has just been released, and it features Vince Staples and Perth singer/producer Kučka. Flume’s style of warped beats get a little more distorted in this one, before feeling as dreamy as we’re used to when Kučka’s divine vocals come in. Check it out here: Flume’s second LP Skin…
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It’s that time of the year again; we’ve already rounded up the full AU crew’s Top 40 Songs of 2015, but here’s something a bit different. The AU’s Chris Singh looks at the best hip-hop and R&B tracks of 2015 after countless hours (probably days; who knows) of picking apart the year’s best releases and…
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Easily one of the breakout names in US rap this year, Vince Staples will be visiting Australia for the first time next year for the Laneway Festival and like those who have come before him (Raury, Earl Sweatshirt, Vic Mensa…), he’s set to make quite the impact. Staples has been around since 2011 but he began…
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Day Two of the epic Austin City Limits Festival has a killer line up of bands and solo artists ready to take to stages at Zilker Park and considering the festival still has a full Sunday program plus another whole weekend of action to get through…it’s hard to think it’s only just getting started, given…
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