Features / Music

The album that saw Jack Ladder break away from the mundane

A smashing debut from Gerard Way means some bad news for My Chemical Romance fans

The secrets to international success

An interesting and risky release format was a blessing in disguise for Echo Drama

Danny Brown on fighting the industry parasites

Dan Sultan is forging a new path for Indigenous artists

You can label Cold War Kids indie rock if you want, but they won't agree

Burnt out from her last record, Blackman's new release was more about fun

Are Thy Art the hardest-working band in the country? They think so.

A convincing debut of gentle electronic folk from sadly departed Sydney talent.. Instrumental track Katyusha is the first song from 23-year-old Sydney music producer Szymon Borzestowski's debut release, Tigersapp, an album that was performed, recorded and produced entirely in Borzestowsk’s bedroom.It's a modest but convincing debut of gentle but triumphant electronic folk, with a sweetly swelling, softly muffled trumpet chorus that calls to mind Beirut’s brassy leanings. Listen here:  This uplifting track carries with it a sad story. Two years ago, the track's creator took his own life, after a long-running struggle with depression. The talented Borzestowski had been working on putting an album together - he had a small development deal and the bulk of the album completed before his mental illness quelled the project.After his death, his family got in touch with Mark Holland and Craig Hawker, who’d expressed interest in an early demo they’d heard from Borzestowski a few years back when

Dizzee Rascal follows up his gruesome Halloween exclusive with Pagans, a new track and video that goes in like a fly kick to the head.. After bouncing back onto the scene in a flurry of spurting blood and ripped bedsheets in his nutso, next-level Halloween exclusive Couple of Stacks, Britain's most legendary MC Dizzee Rascal just premiered Pagans (prod. by Footsie), which takes the next level to..um...whatever comes after the next level.  The video takes on the form of an Asian martial arts film spoof, replete with chapters, with Dizzee showing off his talent for kung fu. The reference to Asian culture could be seen as a throwback to Dizzee's first ever album, made at age 19, Boy In Da Corner, which utilised Asian synths and plucked strings, bringing international texture to his East London garage style.   "Some people think I'm bonkers...there's nothing crazy about me?" rapped Dizzee back in 2009. Six years on, and 100% can confirm Dizzee is truly bonkers. Also, still a visionary.  Wa