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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Little Shop of Waffles

Inside Little Shop of Waffles, Sydney’s only bubble waffle café

The first thing you notice about the Little Shop of Waffles is the smell. It’s sweet – like sugar and batter – reminding me of Sunday’s spent baking in my Nan’s kitchen. The big difference being my Nan never made bubble waffles and until a few weeks ago, I had never even heard of them….

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Brooke Dunnell wins the 2021 Fogarty Literary Award with her last minute manuscript

, Last night saw Brooke Dunnell announced as the winner of the 2021 Fogarty Literary Award at the ECU Spiegeltent. Dunnell receives a $20,000 cash prize from the Fogarty Foundation, along with a publishing contract with Fremantle Press for her winning manuscript The Glass House.  The Fogarty Literary Award is for Western Australian writers aged…

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I Know Leopard

Track of the Week: I Know Leopard “Lover Automatic” (2021)

Sydney trio I Know Leopard are back with a new tune, “Lover Automatic”, and we are thrilled to have it as our Track of the Week. It’s a welcome return for the trio, after their breakout 2019 album, Love Is A Landmine. “Lover Automatic” is one of those tracks which sucks you in with repeat…

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Leisure Sport

Exclusive EP Premiere: Leisure Sport – Title Card (2021)

Baltimore continues to develop great and interesting indie rock bands. Leisure Sport is one that has been on our sights for some time, so we are thrilled today to be premiering their debut EP, Title Card. The band is comprised of  Dana DiGennaro on vocals and guitar, Kyle Balkin also on vocals and guitar, Cameron…

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Lovebirds

Book Review: Amanda Hampson’s Lovebirds offers a tumultuous journey where not all marriages end in happily ever after

Lovebirds Elizabeth and Ray fight so hard to have a life they want; a life they both deserve. Elizabeth comes from a selfish family so when she meets Ray, her whole world changes. They fall in love and when fate intervenes, it changes the course of their marriage forever. Their love moved them to different…

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Film Review: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It relies on cheap scares instead of shadowy suspense

Having essentially built itself around the “based on a true story” hook, the Conjuring universe of films have been served well by a selling point that’s either something you buy into or simply accept as neat marketing. Whilst there’s no denying that Ed and Lorraine Warren did exist and built a name for themselves as…

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Film Review: Plan B takes a familiar genre on a fresh route

Although in the last 12 months we’ve had two films detailing the very subject that Natalie Morales navigates in her directorial debut, Plan B, it doesn’t mean that her efforts are by any means diminished.  The buddy comedy Unpregnant and the hauntingly realistic Never Rarely Sometimes Always both highlighted the difficulty of teen girls accessing…

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Sonos Roam Review: Punching well above its weight, even with a few drawbacks

At 430g, the Sonos Roam is the company’s lightest speaker to date. That’s no surprise, seeing as the Sonos Roam is named so for a reason. It’s the first Sonos speaker designed to compete in the very competitive market of lightweight portable Bluetooth speakers that have been specifically designed for outdoors use. You know, the…

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Two Lanes

Berlin’s TWO LANES release video for “Rolling Back”, featuring Australian producer Panama

TWO LANES is a duo comprised of Berlin-based siblings Leo and Rafa Schmid. The duo has been releasing music since 2018. With a tantalising mix of live instruments, analogue synthesisers and electronic sounds have forged an exciting sound from the creative hub of Berlin. The last couple of years have seen them release EP’s which have…

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Middle Kids

Live Review: Middle Kids + The Lazy Eyes – City Recital Hall, Sydney (28.05.21)

Returning to play a hometown show for the first time since releasing their stellar second album, Middle Kids brought more than their A-game to Sydney’s City Recital Hall as they tore through a career-spanning set and set a new high standard for what you should expect from the band. Opening up the night was The…

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Lark Distillery and Frogmore Creek team up for limited edition Ruby Pinot Cask Finish whisky

If it seems like Tasmania’s iconic Lark Distillery are moving forward with more releases than most would even know what to do with this year – you’re not going crazy. There has simply not been an Australian distillery as prolific and inventive with their 2021 releases and the latest, a Ruby Pinot Cask Finish, is…

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Live Review: Budjerah + Kirsten Salty + Liyah Knight – The Lansdowne, Sydney (28.05.21)

There is absolutely nothing better than spending National Reconciliation Week with my Bundjalung brother Budjerah as he performed to a sold-out crowd at Sydney’s Lansdowne. The 19-year-old brought along Liyah Knight and Kirsten Salty to open the night – both ones to watch for their performance prowess and hooky tunes. I’d caught Kirsten over a…

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Sennheiser IE 300 Review: Bringing cabled back in a big, bass-heavy way

Cables on a pair of earphones in 2021? Surely you jest. While the trend keeps moving towards truly wireless and Bluetooth for high-end earbuds, Sennheiser clearly want to cover all bases. They’ve already got some of the best truly wireless lifestyle earbuds on the market with the CX 400BT (which I have 4.5 stars in…

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Photo Gallery: San Cisco + Jaguar Jonze – Enmore Theatre (28.05.21)

San Cisco came to Sydney-town last night, as part of their Between You and Me tour. It was a joyous affair, the crowd were up for a good old sing-a-long from the get-go. They were supported by Jaguar Jonze, who well and truly got the party started, singing a few songs off her most recent…

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Jungle Cruise Australian release details revealed: When and where you can watch Disney’s next film

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are prepped for adventure in the new trailer for Jungle Cruise as it sets sail for a confirmed Australian theatrical date of July 29th and Disney+ with Premier Access* on July 30th, 2021. Inspired by the famous Disneyland theme park ride, Disney’s Jungle Cruise is an adventure-filled, rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with…

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