March
How this top barrister became a ‘Medici’ of classical music
Senior counsel Richard Cobden has now funded three works for Sydney’s Omega Ensemble. He wants you to know that commissioning is not as hard as you might think.
February
Seven shows you must see in March
From a Michael Jackson musical to an anniversary tour of Green Day’s breakthrough album, there are plenty of performances to get you off the couch.
January
How Spotify’s playlists changed the culture of listening
Streambait? Spotify-core? The Swedish streaming giant has birthed genres that a new book argues has taken the edge off modern music.
December 2024
The 10 best albums of 2024 (if Taylor Swift isn’t your jam)
Soulful singer songwriters, rising indie superstars, Australian up-and-comers and a floor-filling techno god. Welcome to the year’s best sounds.
October 2024
‘I didn’t know who Angus was’: Paul Kelly on ‘How To Make Gravy’ film
‘Give my love to Angus, and to Frank and Dolly’ goes the refrain from Australia’s best-known Christmas song – but until recently its author had no idea who any of those people were.
October 2024
Young Rich Lister matches major labels with $10m for local music
Jaddan Comerford’s cash injection into Australian music is of a scale rarely seen in the streaming era.
September 2024
It’s the Kylie and Troye show as ARIAs go for the masses again
After a concept album about a cockroach won in 2023, the industry voters for Album Of The Year in 2024 have picked more mainstream fare.
People don’t want ‘challenging’ music, says Peaceful Piano king
Chad Lawson writes music to improve your mental health – which has meant this stalwart of Spotify’s Peaceful Piano playlist repressing some of his own creative impulses.
Why Missy Higgins stopped therapy to make an album
Two decades on from the multi-platinum The Sound Of White, Missy Higgins is looking inward again – only this time it’s to cope with being a newly single mother of two.
It’s Asia’s answer to Burning Man. And why not buy a villa, too?
Meet the Russian tech multimillionaire who’s building a 44-hectare playground for adults in Bali.
August 2024
The ACO is 50 years old and still rebelling
Born out of disaffection with the strictures of symphony orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra has a typically wild and eclectic party planned for its golden jubilee.
This is why a ‘Frankenstein’ violin can still be worth millions
The Australian Chamber Orchestra’s Satu Vanska is in a dream collaboration with the Sydney Dance Company, but has nightmares about losing her violin.
Oz rock legends unite - but expect to be surprised
Australian songwriters Bernard Fanning and Paul Dempsey have joined forces and released a collection of bombastic, synth-laden sideways pop tunes. The arrangements are scintillating and the interwoven vocals charm.
July 2024
‘Bunnings of music’: why Matt Gudinski remade Mushroom
Most roads in the Australian music business used to lead to the Mushroom Group, and a restructure announced on Thursday seeks a return to those glory days.
June 2024
Renaissance renditions of Bee Gees? Only at one festival
With portraits ‘singing’ Aussie pop classics, fires in the botanic gardens and dinosaurs at the zoo, Adelaide’s Illuminate Festival wants to lure you out this winter.
Electronic duo Justice return to the dance floor
After an eight-year hiatus, the disruptive Parisian dance music duo unleash an overdose of electronica à la française.
May 2024
$6m Wu-Tang Clan album to be played in MONA
The two CDs are the only physical copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album recorded in secret over six years, and sold for millions at auction.
Opera Australia bets on musicals, property development as losses widen
Australia’s largest performing arts company will produce more musicals, and play more cannily with its property, as it tries to turn losses around.
What Shane MacGowan told this rebellious folk band
Like a more political Pogues, Dundalk’s The Mary Wallopers have won acclaim for a rousing live show they bring to Australia this month.
March 2024
This genius drummer puts on a show - with no drum solos
Yussef Dayes is a virtuoso with the sticks, but at this Sydney show he preferred to blend in with the band on his progressive jazz jams.