Birds of Tokyo – March Fires
Birds of Tokyo March Fires (EMI) The new album from West Australian band Birds of Tokyo has a little bit of old and a little bit of new. “March Fires” […]
Birds of Tokyo – March Fires Read More »
Hungry Kids of Hungary – You’re a Shadow
Hungry Kids of Hungary You’re a Shadow (EMI) Hungry Kids of Hungary are one of those bands you can take serious enjoyment in watching grow. Since releasing their first
Hungry Kids of Hungary – You’re a Shadow Read More »
Carole King
Carole King 13.01.13 Brisbane Entertainment Centre The last time Carole King passed through Brisbane it was part of a double-header with James Taylor. It was a helluva gig: one the
Big Day Out 2013
Big Day Out 20.01.13 Gold Coast Parklands It’s not an Australian music festival if it’s not either scorching hot (Woodford every year) or damn near flooding (Splendour 2012). Big
The Rolling Stones – Grrr!
The Rolling Stones Grrr! (Universal) It’s time to pension off your Forty Licks compilation as the re-booted Stones deliver a new retrospective. Various editions are currently on the shelves. We’ve
The Rolling Stones – Grrr! Read More »
Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins 1.12.12 Brisbane Convention Centre Missy Higgins is a woman I’d like to have a drink with. Brash, natural, loud and distinctly aussie, her return to the stage after
Coldplay
Coldplay Suncorp 21.12.12 From the opening strains of ‘Mylo Xyloto’ Coldplay fans knew they were in for something special. Not since the opening scene of the mini-series Lost, where
Ben Harper
Ben Harper manages to transform the Brisbane Convention Centre into a cozy and casual evening of intimacy, the kind you’d find at a tucked away side street cafe, not a
The Beatles On Vinyl
The Beatles are back with their entire catalogue re-released on vinyl. Better still, there’s a magnificent box set to boot. Manufactured on 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl with replicated artwork, the
The Beatles On Vinyl Read More »
Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp
Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp Songs of the Southern Skies (Kin/Universal) This reviewer first saw Katie Noonan perform well over a decade ago at Brisbane’s Powerhouse Theatre. Fast forward to
Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp Read More »
Black Keys
The Black Keys 26.10.12 Brisbane Entertainment Centre All it took to make the Entertainment Centre go insane was two guys, a drumkit and a guitar. That’s how good the songs
Billy Bragg
BILLY BRAGG QPAC 25.10.12 A smidge over two decades ago Billy Bragg lobbed into East Leagues Club and played a blinder of a gig that people still talk about. That
Let’s Go Naked
Let’s Go Naked Emotion Engine [Trust] Coming out of Brisbane in the mid 1980s with a kit bag full of literate melodic pop songs, a girl drummer and a striped sunlight
Mumford And Sons
Mumford and Sons Riverstage 17.10.12 Ladies and gentlemen, you have been warned. Mumford and Sons will hit you like an indie-folk freight-train. Stay captivated and relish every second because an
Puberty Blues
Various Puberty Blues Soundtrack (Sony) Whereas Howzat! Got it so wrong, Puberty Blues gets it so right. We have to admit to getting a little obsessed with the lives of
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys Elysium (EMI) This reviewer spent most of the weekend bathing in the Pet Shop Boys’ eleventh studio outing, Elysium. It’s that kind of record. It literally washes
Matchbox Twenty
Matchbox Twenty North (Warner) For the last decade Matchbox Twenty have been filling stadiums and commercial radio with big hooks and big CD sales. Here Rob Thomas continues to craft
Green Day
Green Day Uno! (Warner) Green Day are back with a triple punch. Uno! has arrived and it will be followed, in two monthly intervals, by Dos! and Tre! Their heroes
Clare Bowditch
Clare Bowditch The Old Museum 11.10.12 Clare Bowditch’s devoted following regard her as an Australian treasure: and rightly so. Filling the Old Museum, Bowditch was supported by Andrew Morris
The Sunburys: Keep A Lid On It
The Sunburys Keep A Lid On It (Handsome Devil) By the time most bands sort out their drum sound in the studio, the Sunburys have made a new album. This,
The Sunburys: Keep A Lid On It Read More »
The Angels
The Angels Take It To The Streets [Liberation] The Angels return with their first album in the best part of a decade and it’s the first not to feature former
Something For Kate
SOMETHING FOR KATE Leave Your Soul To Science (EMI) It’s been six years since Something For Kate’s last recorded album, Desert Lights, and the lead up to that album, a
Something For Kate Read More »
The xx
The XX Coexist (Remote Control) Never has a traditional set up of drums, bass, keys, guitars and vocals been so hauntingly memorable. Their distinct style of stripped down beats and
David Byrne & St. Vincent
DAVID BYRNE & ST. VINCENT LOVE THIS GIANT (4AD/Remote Control) There are people young enough to know who St. Vincent is, but who don’t recognise this old guy hanging out
David Byrne & St. Vincent Read More »
Howzat!
Various Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War [Sony] Okay, we were glued to the mini-series and loved the music featured. If you missed it, Howzat! dramatised the emergence of Kerry Packer’s World
Blur 21: The Box
Blur 21: The Box (EMI) [rating: 4.5/5] There seemed a strange finality to British band Blur’s announcement back in April that they would be issuing this wonderfully exhaustive and elaborate
James Reyne Live
It’s just after 10pm at the Hamilton Hotel and there’s a sense of expectation in the air. There’s a jockeying for position in the crowd and then the lights dim.
Splendour In Review
Splendour in the Grass 2012 by Kayla Clibborn [Photo by Stephen Booth] Gumboots were less a hipster accessory and far more a necessity at this year’s Splendour in the Grass
Splendour In Review Read More »
Tina Arena Live
Tina Arena and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra Lyric Theatre, QPAC 06.07.2012 For a time there, in the early to mid-90s, Melbourne-born songstress Tina Arena was the closest thing Australian music
Bob Dylan Tribute Night
Bob Dylan Night Lyric Theatre, QPAC 07.07.2012 For legendary American troubadour Bob Dylan, 2012 marks 50 years since Columbia Records issued his self-debut back in 1962. In the interceding
Bob Dylan Tribute Night Read More »
ADELE & GLENN – CARRINGTON STREET
ADELE & GLENN CARRINGTON STREET (Indie) Album of the year? Possibly. It’s modesty probably counts against those kinds of big accolades. Lets just say that Carrington Street represents a perfect
ADELE & GLENN – CARRINGTON STREET Read More »
MADONNA – MDNA
MADONNA MDNA (Universal) Madonna returns with her first album since the misfiring 2008 effort Hard Candy. That album was a misstep where the Queen of Pop tried her hand at hip-hop.