Music – Reviews Archive

Walking in late, two minutes into the first number of US tenor icon Ernie Watts’ gig at VJ’s, I was blasted by four cats utterly grooving high. No warm-up for these men – it was straight into the blistering bop of ‘To …

Songwriter Andy Gordon’s new album The Reverent Jorfy was released late April. It is a sublime collection of acoustic flavoured songs that all seem wise beyond their years – sympathetically recorded and produced by Syd Green, a producer who always seems to …

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a composer whose work spans the entire breadth of what it is to be human. From ribald ditties to almost ‘pop’ hits of his day to soaring, achingly spiritual works, his music covers everything. His genius, of course, …

American president John F Kennedy had a drastic situation over his standoff with the Soviet Union in the 1960s with the Cuban Missile Crisis, but his namesake, Australian musician John Francis Kennedy, has no crisis over his new musical concept, Sons of …

Soaking up the rootsy atmosphere at this year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest (often to saturation point), I began thinking on music and the notion of authenticity. To be honest, I began to get a little irked by the relentless barrage of worn leather, …

Intrepid arts director Leo Schofield is about to see the culmination of an eight-year dream as the very first Hobart Baroque kicks off on Friday. This unique new event, celebrating the music of the 17th and 18th centuries, will attract music lovers …

Firmly established in its 24th year as one of the premier music festivals of the world, the Byron Bay Bluesfest continues to top its already heady highs. The lineup for this year’s festival was a dream program for lovers of blues and …

Although My Bloody Valentine has a history spanning from the early 1980s, it was only last month the band released their highly anticipated third album entitled m b v. Such a gap is mostly due to frontman Kevin Shields being such a …

It has been ten years since Bruce Springsteen last brought his legendary E Street band to Australia, but in a blistering show at Allphones Arena in Sydney on Wednesday night he reminded everyone why he is still the boss. In a set …

Several months ago I happened to catch a performance of a band called Video8 at the Annandale. They were tight, edgy, obviously influenced by the sharp end of the ‘80s and surprising. Surprising in their originality and sound but also surprising because …