Every week we invite a reader to share with us some of the songs they've been listening to recently. This week, a selection of music from Sydney-based artists Each week, we invite someone to share a playlist of songs they've been listening to recently. This week it's the turn of Marcus Thaine, a 19-year-old media student from Melbourne who writes at totemmag.com. Follow him on Twitter here . Here is just a selection of some of the best new music coming out of Sydney. Melbourne gets all the attention on the Australian music scene when really Sydney-siders ...

X Factor just got an infusion of A-list talent on its judge's panel. Both Britney Spears and Demi Lovato have been confirmed as judges on the reality singing show headed up by Simon Cowell. While Spears was paid handsomely with a $15 million salary, it is unknown what Lovato will rake in. Spears and

For Spring/Summer 2012 Rhythm Footwear release the latest Kona model iteration in a rugged green and orange colorway. The pair’s upper is mocked up in a suede composition and set atop a contrasting white/gum outsole. The tonal aesthetic is nicely broken apart by the infusion of bright orange hike laces. Metal D-ring eyelets and a [...] Read more at Hypebeast.com

Frontiers Records 2012 Let me start off this review by saying that I have mixed feelings about Great White. Some days I feel like they were/are highly overrated while other times I feel like people write them off too easily and that they are underrated. There are a few Great White songs that I just love like "Rock Me" and their choice cover of Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". But, there are also more than a few songs that I find terribly lame and I've never been able to sit through a whole album by them ...

Damon Albarn's never been one to shy away from burgeoning ambition nor repress the great audacity that broods within his being, thus the scribing of 'An English Opera' documenting the existence of Tudor occultist John Dee ought barely raise a solitary brow. Dr Dee  is, however, a substantially more subdued affair than his Hewlett-sketched debut opera  Monkey: Journey to the West – a work which saw his on-off compadre's evocative simian representations plastered all over the Royal Opera House – and one that witnesses Albarn revel in the quintessence of his native England. It sits him beside the likes of ...

After listening to Cygnets' new (free) album Dark Days, one would be excused for thinking that Edmonton was somehow part of the Eastern Bloc. Why else would a band lean so heavily on 30-year old musical influences, which are nearly universally unfashionable? From the opening of "Victoria's Song", you'll be doing a double take to make sure that you haven't accidentally slipped your old Icicle Works record on. That's because Dark Days is an unabashed homage to 1980s synth pop, specifically the English variety. It's dark and brooding, though never Gothy. Little is done to ...

I’ve been loving the consistent releases of Miike Snow remixes dropping throughout the past few weeks, but perhaps the one I’m most excited for is the just-released Dirty South remix of Devil’s Work. Dirty South gives the track an energetic electro house infusion with huge synths and a driving beat. They have a perfect balance [...]

A label that has always been revered for its subtle infusion of understated details, CASH CA rolls out their PANEL BORDERS SS T-Shirt for Spring/Summer 2012. Available in navy and grey, the deep base color is offset with matching striping across the torso and arms which creates a nice eye effect against the prominent colorway. [...] Read more at Hypebeast.com

Paul Simon has never been afraid to take a big musical risk Two years after Simon and Garfunkel broke up at their commercial peak in 1970 he released his self-titled solo debut which kicked off with "Mother and Child Reunion" It was the first time many Americans heard reggae and...

If you've skulked around these parts on previous occasions our affection for Weston-super-Mare shoegazers Towns  will no doubt be already obvious. Their blend of nostalgic retrospection on barely terminated teens and propulsive desire to bring the swirling shoegaze of their upbringing into a rather more contemporary consciousness renders them a terrifically enticing proposition and, for once in a while,  the live show lives up to such hyperbolic billing too . So what relevance? Well, they've contributed a gooey dream of a thing appositely entitled Too Tired to  We(s)t Country label Howling Owl Records' Record Store Day offering ...

Dry The River Shallow Bed RCA Records [2012] Fire Note Says: Dry The River release an impressive debut that should quickly catch your ear. Album Review: East London's Dry The River have the right sound at the right time as the group offers up a true mix of swaying Brit rock with an infusion of current indie folk. The band propels lead singer Peter Liddle out front with his immediately infectious voice and takes the listener on a sonic journey. It is Liddle's catchy warble in his voice that really grabs the listener here and just feels familiar ...

Whether it be Nick Zinner vibing in Etiopia or Damon Albarn tripping out with the likes of Kwes., Actress and Richard Russell in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the concept of hurling propulsive musical spearheads out into grounds scarcely blemished by the guilt-burdened weight of the so-called Western world is incontestably en vogue contemporarily. Subversive indie RVNG (the discographic home to ravetastic NYC duo Blondes) has united previously acquainted experimentalists Cameron Stallones (aka  Sun Araw ) and M. Geddes Gengras  with legendary reggae stalwarts The Congos  for the ninth and perhaps most notable volume of their FRKWYS series , alumni of ...

ALX @ The Garrison: photo by Michael Ligon For this year's Canadian Musicfest , Saturday wasn't the official last day of the festival [as Sunday night had a smattering of shows to close out the festival] but for many the Saturday night was the night to end things, and hopefully on a high note. That said, my Saturday night was a generally light one but that was fine by me. Cooler temperatures than the previous milder nights, I made the decision to stay indoors as much as possible - club-hopping isn't fun when it's cold. With not much of ...

Electronic music and arts collective Clan Analogue are celebrating their20th anniversary by re-releasing some of their earliest cassette-only albums digitally. They include the Schizmatrix compilation, which features early tracks by B(if)tek, Infusion and Dark Network, the Clan Analogue Melbourne compilation and Music For Aliens, a split-side release for Holy Terra and Nanotech. For more information on future re-releases, as well as the brand new compilation they’re working on, see www.clananalo ...

Steve Earle--"What's A Simple Man To Do" (mp3) When things begin to grow from the ground, life gets simpler. Not necessarily easier and not necessarily less busy, but simpler. When the earth comes back, we have to deal with it--lawns, weeds, flowers, buds and leaves all require both thought and action as we seek to contain the uncontainable and make look how we want it to look, however briefly. To do so is to engage in simple, repetitive tasks of cutting, pruning, pulling, hauling. Not easy tasks, necessarily, but simple ones. Simple ones and good ones. Nothing feels ...