Tag Archives: 2013

Nat Dunn Announces New Single + BIGSOUND & Busby Marou Tour Dates

NAT DUNN signed a publishing deal with Mushroom when she was just 16 years old and, a decade later, released her debut EP “A Fool’s Fate”.

After selling out her EP Launch at Black Bear Lodge, Nat has now been added to the lineup for Australia’s premier music conference, BIGSOUND as well as being selected by the boys from Busby Marou to open their shows on their national tour for new single “Get You Out Of Here” throughout October and November. Nat will be using this tour to launch her latest single and title track from the EP “Fools Fate”.
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Q&A with Neill Fraser – Villainy

Q&A with Neill Fraser of New Zealand band Villainy who are touring their new album Mode.Set.Clear for the first time in Australia around their performance at BIGSOUND in September.

Click Here for Villainy “Alligator Skin” Tour details.

:: What track changed your life ::
Smack My Bitch Up – The Prodigy – hearing this a child nothing ever sounded so huge.

:: What is your favourite Album ::
Radiohead – Ok Computer

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Live Review – Lindsey Stirling @ Brisbane Powerhouse – August 24, 2013

Review and photos by Stephen Goodwin
There’s a long wait for rock-violinist Lindsey Stirling this evening at The Powerhouse — at least 15 minutes long, to be honest. For a touch over an hour, Kiwi DJ 1000 Ninjas labours manfully from a cubbyhole spot almost side-of-stage. In a club environment his chill-out grooves and odd samples would probably win a better reception, but this crowd is expecting action and movement, and that’s something beyond 1000 Ninjas’ scritchy-glitchy stillness tonight.

By contrast, Stirling is all movement. Over the course of an hour and twenty minutes she barely halts — whirling, twirling, jumping and pirouetting. Formal ballet it isn’t, still Stirling’s show is as much an act of dance as it is a musical performance. All with a carbon-fibre violin jammed under her left ear. And the capacity crowd — a peculiar mixture of young and old; gamers and geeks reflective of the diversity of her fanbase — laps it up.
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BIGSOUND Music+Design Final Event Program and Design Showcases Announced

BIGSOUND Music+Design has stepped up another level with the announcement of its final program, along with details of the CMD Live Design Lab, and Artisan Beer+Design design showcases. The new design showcases build on the huge success of BIGSOUND’s live artist showcases, bringing together creative product with industry and public, resulting in a discovery experience like no other.

An Australian first, the CMD Live Design Lab is a purpose built facility where designers from all sides of the industry, Music+Design speakers and delegates come together. Led by strategic design and innovation studio CMD, a core team of Brisbane studios will work collaboratively to explore and solve music industry problems, live and on site at BIGSOUND. Whether it’s designing concepts or simply continuing discussions started on the panels, the multidisciplinary Lab will be a unique opportunity to bring about discourse and action. The CMD Live Design Lab runs 10am-4pm, 10-12 September.
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BIGSOUND Announces Gurrumul for Keynote Speech, Releases Program

Australia’s global music industry gathering BIGSOUND has thrown its cards on the table today with the announcement of final speakers for 2013 as well as the unveiling of the BIGSOUND festival program.

The event, held in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley September 10-13, is pleased and honoured to announce an exclusive keynote interview session and performance from the artist Rolling Stone dubbed Australia’s most important voice, Gurrumul. Appearing alongside his friends (and Australian of the Year nominees), Skinnyfish Music’s Mark Grose and Michael Honhen, the session will unpack the complexity and artistry behind Gurrumul. It will explore both the culture and the business decisions which led to a blind Indigenous prodigy who writes and sings in language making the leap from remote Elcho Island, to performing at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and achieving a couple of multi-platinum albums along the way.
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BIGSOUND Music+Design Announces Speakers, Beer, and Nick Cave

The inaugural BIGSOUND Music+Design today adds a slew of speakers, led by none other than Nick Cave. An icon of modern culture, Cave has been performing for more than thirty years as the singer of The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. He is an acclaimed film score composer, scriptwriter, novelist and occasional actor.

The new program, connecting the worlds of design and music will ignite Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley on September 10 and 11, with two days of conferences, showcasing and networking. Music+Design is accessible via its own ticket, while entry is included with all BIGSOUND delegate passes. Registrations for both are open now at www.bigsound.org.au.
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BIGSOUND 2013 Live Artists Announced!

Australia’s biggest festival of tomorrow’s hottest artists BIGSOUND has today unveiled another 80 artists joining its lineup for 2013. Presented by Oztix, BIGSOUND’s Live program takes over Fortitude Valley over 2 nights and 12 stages this year from September 11-12 2013, with performances from some of the world’s most exciting new acts.

Leading the charge in this new announcement are a host of artists industry insiders are chasing including Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Jonti, KINGSWOOD, Darren Middleton, Gossling, Blue King Brown’s Natalie Pa’apa’a, Canada’s Yukon Blonde, Calling All Cars, The Trouble with Templeton, Chance Waters, Regular John and many more!
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Live Review | Something For Kate + Courtney Barnett @ Unibar, Wollongong – 29 May 2013

Review by Amy Lee Freshwater
A varied crowd aging from early twenties to people old enough to be parents of the band themselves congregate at the Unibar in Wollongong to see Something for Kate (SFK), a town SFK haven’t visited since 2009. This kind of group creates a lovely atmosphere at a gig, people of many ages and backgrounds coming together to enjoy music from a band that have been consistently impressive for twenty years. There is not a doubtful mind in the room, SFK are sure to impress once again on this chilly May night.

First up is Melbourne lady-rocker Courtney Barnett. Nobody is complaining about the trend of female singer songwriters coming out of Australia at the moment, and Barnett can be added to the list of up-and-comers if she isn’t already. With a powerhouse vocal ability and songwriting skills she blew away the audience that had arrived early. Highlight was her latest single Avant Gardener, which she explained was about the time she was gardening and ended up in hospital and includes funny lyrics like “the neighbours must think we run a meth lab”. Barnett is a great addition to the SFK tour.
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Album Review: Deep Purple – “Now What?!”

Review by Carl Dziunka
When you list the great names of rock music from across the decades, Deep Purple has got to be hovering close to the top. Blasting out rock numbers for more than 40 years they have certainly found the formula for success. Releasing the long awaited new album; this comes 8 years after the Rapture of the Deep album released in 2005; the magic is still as strong. With a title like Now What?! it makes you wonder whether the band is thinking that they have done it all. Well actually, they probably have. The current line up works well together and this can be heard from the new 11 tracks that they have laid down.
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Festival Review: THE GUM BALL Festival 2013

Review by Sian Hanigan
Photos by Amy Lee Freshwater
Driving out on a dusty dirt road, after passing the sleepy country towns of Cessnock and Branxton, we had reached our magical destination, ‘Dashville’, Lower Belford. The secluded bushy estate owned by the Johnston’s in the beautiful Hunter Valley, welcomed us with open arms. Local volunteers with cheek-to-cheek grins directed us to SPACIOUS camp areas nestled amongst the Australian gum-trees. Every person we pass, waving, like old friends.

And wait, only 10 minutes had passed and I knew it was my kind of festival. The camping situation was second to none, taking me back to childhood camp outs in east coast national parks. There was space, there were showers, there was the occasional melody of native birds through the music and it was BYO (definitely a bonus). People were friendly, an assortment of very young, very old and everyone in between. They were more than happy to offer you a cuppa from the billy, welcome you over for a sing-along, or in my case lend me their jumper leads to recharge my car… and the toilets were clean.
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Live Review: Stone Music Festival Day 2 – ANZ Stadium, Sydney – April 21, 2013

By Natalie Salvo
If Stone Music Festival’s first day was a salute to rock then day two proved a little more difficult to pigeonhole. The bill included an American piano man, two elder statesmen of Oz music, a new band and two former Australian Idol contestants. I suppose we’ll just have to say that this unlikely grouping meant that this was a celebration of music, pure and simple.

L.A. band, Illumination Road is a duo that was making their worldwide, live debut. The pair had three additional musicians on hand and they played rock music which took its reference points from some of the greats from the golden period in the sixties and seventies. “What We Say” closed the set and had a decent tune and with time these guys look poised to be ones to watch.
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