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XLR

Australian Musician

10 stories

ICEHOUSE ANNOUNCE MAN OF COLOURS TOUR

Australian MusicianScenesICEHOUSE ANNOUNCE MAN OF COLOURS TOUR ICEHOUSE celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the seminal Man of Colours album across Australia – performing the album in full for the first time + their hits Ahead of the Live at the Fleet Steps show overlooking spectacul

FENDER HONOURS LEGENDARY SESSION BASSIST LEE SKLAR WITH SIGNATURE PRECISION BASS®

Australian MusicianScenesFENDER HONOURS LEGENDARY SESSION BASSIST LEE SKLAR WITH SIGNATURE PRECISION BASS® Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) today announces the Lee Sklar Precision Bass®, a faithful recreation of Sklar’s highly customized P Bass® that has accompanied the legendary bassist throughout his decades-lo

EPIPHONE JOAN JETT OLYMPIC SPECIAL VINTAGE SUNBURST

Australian MusicianScenesEPIPHONE JOAN JETT OLYMPIC SPECIAL VINTAGE SUNBURST The Epiphone Joan Jett Olympic Special channels Joan’s bold spirit into a lean, stage-ready rock ’n’ roll instrument. Finished with a sharp, understated look and built around a straightforward layout, its lone humbucker™

ROLAND RELEASES GO:KEYS 3 MINION INSPIRED BY ILLUMINATION’S MINIONS

Australian MusicianScenesROLAND RELEASES GO:KEYS 3 MINION INSPIRED BY ILLUMINATION’S MINIONS In collaboration with Universal Products & Experiences, Roland releases GO:KEYS 3 Minion, an enhanced version of the company’s GO:KEYS 3 portable keyboard for aspiring musicians and creators. This inspiring keyboard fuse

GALLERY: THE DAMNED, THE NEW CHRISTS, THE DARTS – MELBOURNE FORUM by DAVID HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY

Australian MusicianScenesGALLERY: THE DAMNED, THE NEW CHRISTS, THE DARTS – MELBOURNE FORUM by DAVID HARRIS PHOTOGRAPHY The Damned’s 13 September performance at Melbourne’s Forum was a raucous celebration of punk’s enduring legacy, with The New Christs and US garage-punks The Darts setting the tone before the British veterans took the sta

GRETSCH ADDS BLACK LIMBA CVT + JET TO ELECTROMATIC COLLECTION

Australian MusicianScenesGRETSCH ADDS BLACK LIMBA CVT + JET TO ELECTROMATIC COLLECTION Gretsch has launched the Limited Edition Electromatic Black Limba CVT and Jet, available in Sunburst. A retro-refined take on a classic Gretsch design, these iconic guitars deliver superior playability at an incredible v

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: THE FRAY ANNOUNCE A MASSIVE HEADLINE AUSTRALIAN RETURN

Australian MusicianScenesBACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: THE FRAY ANNOUNCE A MASSIVE HEADLINE AUSTRALIAN RETURN Following a sold-out six-date Australian tour in 2025, multi-platinum alternative rock band The Fray will make their highly anticipated return Down Under in February 2027 for the Summer of Light Tour. The run will span i

GIBSON x BAGGS INTRODUCE HIFI DNA™ PICKUP SYSTEM

Australian MusicianScenesGIBSON x BAGGS INTRODUCE HIFI DNA™ PICKUP SYSTEM Gibson, the iconic guitar brand, and Baggs™, a global leader in acoustic amplification innovation, proudly announce the launch of the HiFi DNA™ pickup system— a next‑generation acoustic pickup system engineered to delive

MARTIN GUITAR UNVEILS REFRESHED 16 SERIES

Australian MusicianScenesMARTIN GUITAR UNVEILS REFRESHED 16 SERIES C. F. Martin & Co.® have announced the launch of the refreshed Martin 16 Series, a bold new lineup of all-solid-wood acoustic-electric guitars handcrafted in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Designed for players who want unmistak

ALL ABROAD FOR THE MADNESS HIT PARADE TOUR AS THEY RETURN TO AUSTRALIA & NZ IN 2027

Australian MusicianScenesALL ABROAD FOR THE MADNESS HIT PARADE TOUR AS THEY RETURN TO AUSTRALIA & NZ IN 2027 The original Nutty Boys of Camden, British cultural institutions and purveyors of some of the greatest songs ever written, Madness will return to Australia and New Zealand in 2027 for the ALL ABROAD FOR THE MADNESS HIT P

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About

XLR is a magazine, a radar and a diary about music gear and the making of music — for the people who make records and put on shows, wherever they do it.

The name is the three-pin connector that every signal in the business passes through: the microphone on stage and in the booth, the line to the desk, the DMX cable that runs the lights. Studio, stage and lighting rig share it, and so does this magazine. Every few hours XLR collects what the makers shipped, what the reviewers heard, what the studios and the touring crews are doing, which producers and collectives are surfacing and what they are saying — synths and modular, plugins and DAWs, guitars and drums, microphones, monitors, PA and lights, the rooms and the people — from a few hundred sources in English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese and more, then plots what is moving. The editor writes a letter every few days. Nothing is sold here; when a link leads to a shop, that is the maker's shop, not ours.