Culture
Music
Five must-see concerts (and a few more) happening in January
The Breeders are back for the first time in five years, plus there’s live hip-hop, rap, R&B and more to dive into next month in Sydney.
- by James Jennings
Latest
Just can’t get Kenough: How a Barbie song became the year’s silliest smash
Andrew Wyatt’s scored big with his film music before. But his Barbie experience went beyond.
- by Robert Moran
Brett Whiteley’s 6000-tune record collection inspires a new generation
Rising folk singer Jo Davie will kick off the sessions inspired by the artist on January 6.
- by Helen Pitt
Jack Johnson: Mr Nice Guy saving the world one banana pancake at a time
The singer-songwriter really is as mellow as his reputation and might just be the sort of artist we all need right now.
- by Nick Galvin
Carols, actually: Live reindeer, floods and a four-year-old sacked
Carols darling Marina Prior has been performing in the Christmas Eve event for more than three decades. Backstage, it hasn’t always been a smooth sleigh ride.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
Marcia Hines’ epiphany after family tragedy
On a gruelling flight home to bury her brother, the pop queen wanted to scream. Then she had an insight.
- by Michael Lallo
Move, Mariah. Budge, Buble. Here are 2023’s best new Christmas anthems
Some smooth new selections to fill the uncomfortable silence at Christmas lunch.
- by Robert Moran
Kids used to throw stones at me: Grammy winner Angelique Kidjo
The world-renowned singer grew up under Benin’s repressive communist dictatorship, but when the government demanded she write and perform propaganda, she slipped out of the country and reinvented herself.
- by Jane Cornwell
Elvis Costello: A man of many words who ‘exhausted’ Bob Dylan
Pinning down the legendary New Wave artist to a single genre is an impossible task.
- by Michael Dwyer
Exclusive
Arts
Take a chance on me: ABBA courts Melbourne to host $80m virtual concert
The 3D virtual concert ABBA Voyage is in talks to make Melbourne its first home outside London after Sydney said no.
- by Stephen Brook
The best songs of 2023, a critic’s choice
From Miley to Maple Glider, these are some of our favourite songs from this year.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen