Interview: Easy Life on ‘Life’s A Beach’, Leicester and Maroon 5

Easy Life are the UK group making international headlines. The band recently took out the NME Award for Best New British act, where frontman Murray Matravers sung Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” in the place of an acceptance speech. On top of that, they’ve recently been seen hot air-ballooning around the British countryside promoting…

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Album of the Week: Sly Withers – Gardens (2021 LP)

After ever-so quietly building up a small catalogue of first rate singles, 2020 was set to be the year Sly Withers broke through with their brand of melancholic punk. All their ducks seemingly beginning to align, the capitulation of the world as we know it only proved to be a small speed bump for the…

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Film Review: Spirit Untamed rides with a harmlessness that’s sweet and safe

Despite one of the more impressive voice casts assembled in recent years – Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal, Walton Goggins, and Isabela Merced, to name a few – Spirit Untamed is suitably middle-of-the-road fare.  It’s sweet and harmless, but it’s aimed so specifically at the young female demographic that its universal appeal feels ultimately limited. Playing…

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Infinite Country

Book Review: Patricia Engel’s Infinite Country is a timely read that justifies the hype

Talia is on the run. The mastermind behind a plan to escape from a home for juvenile delinquents, her end goal is simple. Reunite with her father and make it to Bogotá Airport in time for her flight to the US. And waiting for her on the other side? Her estranged mother and siblings, and…

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Battlefield 2042 reveal

E3 2021: Battlefield 2042 reveal depicts a new Cold War, robot dogs too

The Battlefield 2042 reveal is here at last. The game becomes the latest instalment in the long-running series of military shooters by Swedish developer DICE. The game, set in the near future, depicts a new cold war between the US and Russia. From details made available prior to the Battlefield 2042 reveal, the game boasts…

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Jack Botts

Guest Playlist: Jack Botts gives us 10 songs for road-tripping in the van

Indie-folk singer/songwriter Jack Botts has just dropped his third EP, the fabulous Slow Mornings. It’s been a meteoric rise for the artist, who only a few years ago was a carpenter and part-time busker. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Botts has continued live shows and touring in his van. Selling out venues such as…

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10 Most Iconic Jewels Worn In Hollywood Movies

The magic of Hollywood never fails to create new trends with statement pieces of jewelry that can influence an entire generation. Beautiful bling can add a dash of drama to an outfit and create looks that become a forever thing among fashionistas who draw inspiration from movies. Today we are going to take a look…

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Rulla Marlon

Interview: Rulla and Marlon on “Black Swan”, singing for Archie Roach and opening Womad

MC Rulla Kelly-Mansell, a Tulampunga Pakana man from Kooparoona Niara, Lutruwita (Tasmania) has joined forces with Marlon Motlop, of Larrakia, Kungarrakany and Thursday Islander to deliver the inspirational song of empowerment and pride, “Black Swan”. These two proud indigenous Australians met whilst playing AFL for the Glenelg football club in South Australia. Bonding over their…

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Samas

Exclusive Album Premiere: Samas – Self-Titled (2021 EP)

Hailing from Sydney’s south, SAMAS delivers a mix of punk, blues and garage rock. We are pumped today to be premiering the debut self-titled EP. This is a collection of four diverse songs, united by sharp lyrics and catchy tunes. It’s music to grab your attention and shake you by the scruff of your neck….

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Track of the Week: Tennis System feat. Chadwick Johnson, “Autophobia” (2021)

LA’s Tennis System have teamed with Hundreth‘s Chadwick Johnson for latest single, “Autophobia“. With a new LP (also titled Autophobia) on the way later this year, this glimpse of what’s to come has been dubbed this week’s Track of the Week! The dictionary definition of autophobia is a fear of being alone, and with people…

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First Impressions: Marvel’s Loki delights in embracing the unexpected

Given how mischievous Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is as a character, it only makes sense that his namesake series follows suit.  A show that, from the first two episodes afforded to media ahead of its Disney+ debut, seems to absolutely delight in embracing the unexpected, Loki continues the more inventive, and oft-humorous, route that served the…

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German Film Festival Interview: I’m Your Man writer/director Maria Schrader on subverting the expected narrative

With the German Film Festival currently underway across all major Australian cities (even Melbourne is getting an extended season), our own Peter Gray was fortunate enough to sit in on a roundtable event with writer/director Maria Schrader about her comedic and contemplative feature I’m Your Man (read our review here), where she discussed the unique…

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Elder SCrolls Online Xbox Controller

This demonic Elder Scrolls Online Blackwood Xbox controller better not awaken anything in us

Xbox and Bethesda have partnered with Aussie controller kit bashers We Are Robots on a demonic new Xbox Series X|S controller to celebrate The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood. The entire Xbox controller resembles Mehrunes Dagon. In the Elder Scrolls lore, Dagon is the Daedric prince of destruction. Oblivion’s own CEO of being a naughty boy,…

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Nicole McKinney

Exclusive Album Premiere: Nicole McKinney – The Process (2021 EP)

Indie folk/rock musician Nicole McKinney is just about to release her debut EP, The Process.  This is a concise and poignant collection of songs that tackle pain, grief and anger head-on. We are thrilled to have the premiere of this EP, ahead of its release on Friday. The Process as cathartic as it is beautiful….

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A guide on how to pick furniture for a more mindful, meditative home design

Marie Kondo’s undeniable popularity and her status as a cultural icon should tell you all you need to know about the importance and popularity of home design. It’s now gone beyond aesthetic, but it’s always been that way. How integral design is to concocting a more mindful, harmonious, and hence nourishing home environment cannot be…

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Sydney Solstice: 6 highlights of the new winter festival

Sydney isn’t about to let the postponement of Vivid get in the way of a good winter festival. Although our two major winter events – Sydney Film Festival and Vivid Sydney – have both been rescheduled and shifted to later this year, a new two-week replacement will more than fill the need for all that…

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Kenwood Cooking Chef XL Stand Mixer Review: A kitchen unto itself

You’d be forgiven for thinking you just bit off more than you could chew when Kenwood’s new Cooking Chef XL. Given its multitude of attachments, the device comes in a supersized box that looks like you’ve just purchased a medium-sized bar fridge. Open it up though, and things look much more manageable. Despite the “XL”…

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Crowded House

Interview: Crowded House on Dreamers Are Waiting, the new band format and restlessness

Crowded House are gearing up for their seventh studio album’s release, only this is the first with the band’s current formation. Consisting of original members Neil Finn and Nick Seymour, alongside newly added Mitchell Froom, Liam Finn and Elroy Finn; the band is family skewed which lends for complete openness and transparency as we discuss…

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Film Review: Dream Horse is exactly the type of syrupy underdog story you expect it to be

Exactly the type of film you expect it to be from its title, Dream Horse is a syrupy, stereotypically inspiring drama that embraces the underdog narrative – or should that be under-horse? – and runs (gallops) with it to no end. Set in the mid-2000’s in a sleepy Welsh country town, Dream Horse places its…

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The past and present collide for Hugh Jackman in first Reminiscence trailer

“Nothing is more addictive than the past” Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy marks her directorial debut with the upcoming Reminiscence, a science-fiction laced thriller that has unleashed its trailer ahead of its August release. Written and directed by Joy, the films follows Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman, in a role specifically written for him), a rugged and…

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Oblivion hot sauce competition

WIN: We’ve got 5 bottles of Elder Scrolls Online hot sauce to give away!

Do you like Elder Scrolls Online, Oblivion, hot sauce and healthy competition? Do ever wish that your three extremely disparate niche interests would overlap? Good news: they have, and you can check out the full story right here. Thanks to Bethesda ANZ, The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood and Melbourne Hot Sauce, we’ve got five bottles…

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Elder Scrolls Online Hot Sauce

This Elder Scrolls Online hot sauce has us extremely hungry

To promote the launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood, Bethesda ANZ has partnered with Melbourne Hot Sauce to create an ultra-spicy hot sauce. The sauce, called the “Hot Sauce of Oblivion,” weighs in at around 600,000 scovilles, the unit used to measure the heat contained in spicy food. As off-the-shelf hot sauces go, that’s pretty…

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F1 2021 Preview: New season, new publisher, same strong sim

F1 2021 is the first game in the long-running Formula 1 racing series following EA’s acquisition of developer Codemasters. While the vast majority of the game retains the same look and feel of F1 games past, F1 2021 makes a few important strides toward accessibility that are in line with the modern EA Sports ethos….

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Turtlenecks

Book Review: Turtlenecks is Steven Christie’s satirical love letter to arts culture

Steven Christie pays tribute to and pokes fun at the sometimes impenetrable, often critical, but unquestionably interesting world of art in his comedy graphic novel: Turtlenecks. When art student Sam decides to donate his beloved flower necklace to a charity art auction, his friend Jules reminds him of the sentimental significance of the item. But the…

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Emma Swift

Interview: Emma Swift on her Bob Dylan homage in Blonde on the Tracks, Christmas albums and overcoming writer’s block

In 2020, Australian singer-songwriter and Nashville-resident Emma Swift released Blonde on the Tracks, an album of Bob Dylan covers. Covering Bob Dylan songs is nothing new of course, however this album has had widespread international acclaim. It’s a reflection on the quality of the interpretations of the songs, and the track selection which has placed this album…

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Lapsis

Film Review: Lapsis is an engagingly topical, darkly funny and breathlessly creative piece of sci-fi cinema

Lapsis tells the story of Ray Tincelli (Dean Imperial), a lowly baggage handler in Queens who is down on his luck financially; struggling to support himself and his ailing brother Jamie (Babe Howard), who is suffering from a strange fatiguing illness called omnia, which is connected to the death of his mother who died from…

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Gimme Gimme

Exclusive Video Premiere: Gimme Gimme “Silk” (2021)

Mullumbimby’s Gimme Gimme is a duo comprised of sister and brother Esther and Will Henderson. They dropped their EP Taylor St back in February. One of the lead singles off the EP was Silk, a fun and upbeat tune which can’t help to leave a smile on your face. We are thrilled today to have…

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Interview: Gracie Abrams on “Mess It Up”, journaling and being a woman in music

Gracie Abrams has been surrounded by high-calibre creatives from birth, so it comes as no surprise that this Californian artist is on a viral trajectory. Her parents are blockbuster director J.J. Abrams and producer Katie McGrath, but despite her lineage, Gracie’s music ability is a standout as she pours out her diary through her lyricism. …

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Interview: Paul Field on Love Songs for Lonely People, The Wiggles and partnership

Paul Field AM is best known as the ex-manager of the children’s group The Wiggles, having been with the band since its inception through to 2020. Field, however, has lived many lives outside of that success from starting in The Cockroaches, to being a family man, meeting his wife over 40 years ago; to now…

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Wolf Alice

Album of the Week: Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend (2021 LP)

On the back of the world-beating and completely dominant Visions of a Life, Wolf Alice were always bound to make another great album; we just didn’t know if it was going to be straight away or in a couple of albums time. I’m here to say their new album, Blue Weekend is that next great album….

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