Culture
Music
75 million songs to pick from? I crave the age of deprivation
A broken eject button and a stuck Paul Simon tape doesn’t sound like cause for nostalgia - but I think of it often and fondly.
- by Tabitha Carvan
Latest
Sin, sex and Celine Dion: This is the best album you’ve never heard of
Here is a wild work from an enigmatic genius that is ridiculous, over the top and dripping in lyrical and musical excess.
- by Michael Koziol
Punk rock lives, and other things we learned in Australian music in 2022
This year’s ARIA awards, back live after a three-year absence, offer a handy pulse-check on the state of the local music scene.
- by Michael Dwyer
Melbourne concert ‘stampede’ prompts safety concerns, internal review
A sudden charge by thousands of fans at a Steve Lacy concert on Tuesday night have led to questions over safety and planning for the event.
- by Tom Carey
‘Like winning the lotto’: ARIAs to recognise ads for using Australian music
The ARIAs will have a new award encouraging the advertising industry to use Australian music, aiming to help artists diversify revenue after a difficult few years and recognise another creative outlet for music.Â
- by Jackson Graham
★★★★
Review
Plenty of love in the room for Sam Fender, Geordie boy made good
Sam Fender’s voice - a high tenor laced with a thick Geordie accent - hits you from the opening note and stays long after the crowds spill out singing on the streets.
- by Angus Thomson
How a ‘ridiculous idea’ has become the best thing for Tyson Yunkaporta
Tyson Yunkaporta says he doesn’t even like music, yet he still ended up collaborating with the SSO.
- by Nick Galvin
A classical pivot: How lockdown added strings to this violinist’s bow
Rachel Kwa’s studies at the Australian National Academy of Music had barely begun when COVID shut down in-person classes. What followed was a revelation.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
From the Archives, 1997: Death of a rock star
25 years ago, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence was found dead in a Sydney hotel room. The Herald’s Susan Chenery had recently spent time with the singer.
- by Susan Chenery
Exclusive
Live Music
Company probed by US government behind new Melbourne music venue proposal
Confidential documents reveal plans for a new live music venue in Melbourne were developed by controversial Saudi-backed Live Nation, raising concerns among local music industry figures.
- by Osman Faruqi and Paul Sakkal
★★★★
Arts
Cult band TISM performs a second surprise show that’s sure to go down in local folklore
This wrap of Melbourne shows includes a sold-out surprise appearance by TISM, David Wenham in ‘A Christmas Carol’, and ‘The American’ by the Australian Chamber Orchestra.
- by Martin Boulton, Cameron Woodhead and Tony Way