Author: Benjamin Woods

Nils Frahm is a classically trained German pianist whose contemporary classical and ambient records and concerts are produced via an astonishing array of synthesisers, especially Rolands and Moogs, and of course piano. I enjoy experimental music, especially live if it’s good, but at home, if I put anything on that isn’t “song” based (verse, chorus,

The late food writer and raconteur Anthony Bourdain featured Mark Lanegan in an episode of his program Parts Unknown shot in Lanegan’s native Seattle last year. Bourdain, who famously took rock n roll seriously, was a great fan of Lanegan. His voiceover began,“Mark Lanegan is to my mind one of the greatest living singer songwriters making music

In the ’90s, Australia’s love affair with local no frills pub rock bands expanded to embrace “alternative” rockers Silverchair, as well as eclectic acts like Spiderbait and industrial rock rabble rousers, Insurge. There was an alternative rock revolution going on around the world at this time. Doubtless, the most popular act of the weirder fringe

There was electricity in the air at Melbourne trio Camp Cope’s performance at the Opera House on Wednesday night. There has been quite a buzz about the group in the media too. The positive press around the all-woman trio is well deserved as the quality of their take on “alternative/indie rock” rises above most of

1995 was a big year for me. I attended my first festival, The Big Day Out, in January and my second, Alternative Nation, in April. Alternative Nation was headlined by Nine Inch Nails and Faith No More. Other acts included Tool, Ice T & Body Count, L7 and a couple of others that didn’t quite

I saw Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters on their first tour of Australia in 2013, before Plant had released his first album backed by the group, Lullaby and the Ceaseless Roar (2014). That performance at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (sometimes derided as the Empty Space Centre), mostly featured Led Zeppelin tunes, given a

American band, The National, returned to the Sydney Opera House Forecourt last night (February 21) after playing there on their last visit to Australia in 2014. They’re here supporting their 2017 album, Sleep Well Beast, which won them a Grammy for Best Alternative Album in January. Time will tell whether Sleep Well Beast resonates as well with

The 2018 edition of MOFO was a transitional one. Events were split between its longstanding home, Hobart’s MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) and Launceston, as well as Faux Mo in Hobart Town. MONA Grand Poobah, David Walsh, has plans for a grand makeover of MONA, so MOFO is to be moved, lock, stock