Culture
Music
‘I probably wanted to be a politician’: The Sydney Shire boy who made it big in opera
A lover of cocktails, cigars and conservative politics, Stuart Skelton isn’t your typical opera star.
- by Nick Galvin
Latest
Acclaimed producer behind Nirvana, Pixies dies at 61
Steve Albini engineered albums like Nirvana’s In Utero, but took no royalties from it and railed against the music industry.
- by Ben Brasch
New rule could force superstars like Taylor Swift to promote Aussie musicians
The Australian music industry has united in a campaign to help boost the struggling live scene.
- by Thomas Mitchell
Security guard shot outside Drake’s mansion in Toronto
The shooting comes amid a heavyweight rap feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
- by Herb Scribner
While his band was away on tour, a military coup erupted at home
On new album Funeral for Justice, Tuareg guitarist Mdou Moctar lets rip ferocious riffs steeped in urgent anti-colonialism.
- by Nick Buckley
Anatomy of a rap feud: The real winner of the Kendrick and Drake beef
While fans debate who is winning between Kendrick Lamar and Drake, there’s a key victor no one is talking about.
- by Thomas Mitchell
Video
Inventors
The Fairlight Story
It is one of the greatest innovations in music history, and it came from Sydney, Australia. Video by Tom Compagnoni.
Exclusive
Live music
This program is supposed to support live music. So why are venues so angry?
The Victorian government’s 10,000 Gigs fund has got some of its intended beneficiaries up in arms.
- by Karl Quinn
Better than the Beatles? Pop’s most precocious siblings make their case
On their naggingly catchy new album, the Lemon Twigs still sound like they’re living in an eternal 1968.
- by Annabel Ross and Barry Divola
Calling all Janiacs: Austen’s love of music has inspired a modern concert
Melburnians brought out their boas for Harry Styles then sequins for Taylor Swift. For a Jane Austen musical tribute, the dress code is: favourite character.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
Pet Shop Boys on Taylor, Beyonce and making their own ‘queer album’
More than four decades on, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are still making pop’s most transcendent music.
- by Robert Moran