As the horde of patrons anxiously looked to the overcast sky, the bars of Newtown, and Enmore, Erskineville and Chippendale, opened their doors. With over thirty participating venues playing host to over a hundred artists, one of this year’s biggest music events consumed this pocket of the inner west last Sunday.

Ooooh boy are we ready. Lost Paradise have just dropped their 2018-2019 line up and it is B.I.G.. This year, none other than the indefatigable M.I.A. will be making her way to the toasty environs of Glenworth Valley for her NSW exclusive. Get those gun fingers ready because we’ll be seeing in 2019, and taking its money.

Texan twins Dylan & Jared Chancey aka DREVM have joined forces with STYLSS to create a 44-minute mix that can best be described with one word, dark. DREVM, as founders of the exclusive yet prolific collective blck …

Before heading into the Oxford Art Factory last Friday night, I wouldn’t have said that I was a part of the few hundred Kingswood fans I entered with. This distance from the four piece, if only for a lack of familiarity, immediately dissipated when the opening song of their set blared forth from the stage.

All your favourite haunts continue to churn out the gigs. If you’ve had a hard week, cure yourself with some live music.

At a time where there seem to be more emerging rock bands in Sydney than you can poke a drum stick at, Crocodylus take a divergent approach, and this week they showed why. Taking their loud and energetic garage rock sound, Crocodylus have completely slowed things down.

As the New Year’s festival line ups start to roll in, the age-old question of ‘What will I be doing for New Years?’ starts to brew in the back of our minds.

It’s our second favourite time of year! The reveal of the festival line ups for our favourite time of year, New Year’s! Today we woke up to the drop of the Falls Festival line up and boy, were we startled as our bleary eyes tried to read the line-up.

“Blending together jazz, trance and house, the debut mix from Sydney outfit Nectar won’t have listeners partying until the break of dawn, but it’ll get them ready to.” @nectar.syd

The Oxford Art factory is a one of a kind venue. Despite its small size and the unfortunate metal pillars that stand in your way - just like that one annoying, super tall guy that small people like me always seem to get stuck behind at concerts – the intimacy that the venue provides between the crowd and the artist on stage is unequalled.

Spring has sprung! Crack out the shorts and skirts and prepare for some heated times at all the gigs Sydney has to offer.

“The frontman for Australia’s Eskimo Joe, Kav Temperley, has broken out on his own with the debut single of his upcoming debut LP, All Your Devotion” - @kavtemperley

Deeper Than House’s weekly podcast tends to stay in the depths of the genre known for confining itself to between 120-125 BPM, but this week proved to be a warm ray of Bondi sun amid the cold winter slump.

“RnB with a Tiwi twist” is how B2M (Bathurst to Melville) band member Jeffrey ‘Yello’ Simon describes the Indigenous Australian RnB group’s sound. Unlike anything you’ve ever heard before, B2M uniquely blends the rhythms of RnB with chants from the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin.

Shuffling into a sold out Horden Pavillion, the huge crowd surveyed the large empty hall, looking to the stage in awe. Hot off the release of his first LP Sect, Tom Stell, the man behind the Golden Features mask, had a lot of hype moving into this show.

Dave Grohl has remained one of the cornerstones of contemporary rock for well over 25 years. Whether in his work with Nirvana, the Foo Fighters or Them Crooked Vultures, he remains at the forefront of the industry.

On their debut single, Johnny Hunter told the world, “we want to be One of a Kind.” Last May, in a packed Lansdowne Hotel, the larger than life lead singer, sporting eyeliner, one shiny earring and a flowing red mullet, paraded through the crowd …

Coming to listeners from the deep underground of Melbourne’s clubbing scene, Short Round mixes genres and styles to give an energetic hour that refuses to hit the brakes. Taking influences from Melbourne’s minimalist and psy-trance scenes, Short Round has exploded over the city throughout the course of 2018.

The up and comers are at it again. Head out to a live gig this weekend to see some of the best new acts making a name for themselves on Sydney’s stages.

“Nearly four years after the release of Flesh & Blood, the legendary John Butler Trio is returning with a new album, HOME, reinventing their iconic sound with the title track.”

Italian radio host Coccolino Deep has continued to push his brooding electronic style with this week’s mix, weaving in an intertextual narrative that draws on the dark tones of Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

Don’t miss out on this week's action with three free gigs to attend!

Blood Orange is the alias of Devonte Hynes, who has been able to capture the sound of 2018. This year has been witness to more bands and artists taking on a more holistic approach to their art, a popular example would be Donald Glover who moves seamlessly between his multiple talents.

Emerging from the slough that is the Sydney techno-house scene is local producer Litmus. With the re-opening last year of The Flinders and its emergence as a focal point for more developed intersections of techno and house …

Sydney is kick starting August with gigs from a wide variety of artists who provide a diversity of musical experiences.

The previously unknown band from Michigan, USA, named after a woman from their local town, has exploded over the course of 2018. After the release of their first double EP in November last year, Greta Van Fleet debuted a show-stealing performance at Coachella in April this year.

Walking into the Hordern Pavillion, I am surrounded by fans of The Wombats who have already bought well in the merchandise stocks. The tour dates line the spine of the shirts with many still to visited by the prolific indie rock band. This crowd is ready.

Sydney based collective APSIS has released the ninth mix in their series, this time with Ged’s take on a solo form after breaking away from regular collaborator Nicha. Compared to the first release in the APSIS mix series, featuring Nicha and Ged, this current mix is a lot more focused, with an emphasis entirely on Ged’s deeper basslines and darker sound colours.

Marmozets’ frontwoman Becca Macintyre has probably never said the words “I can’t”, because if she had, she might not be here in Sydney tonight. And even if she has, thankfully she hasn’t taken herself too seriously, because she’s absolutely killing it with everything she’s got.