After a five year break between releases, during which he released a polarising feature film, Flying Lotus (real name Stephen Ellison) finally reacquainted himself to fans with the album Flamagra. Ever one to place visuals central to the musical experience, he has returned to Aussie shores with a new 3D live show. UK/Aussie Warp Records […]
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Pipe organs are interesting, yet largely under-utilised beasts. Built into the grand expanse of the building, the organ at Sydney Town Hall is not an instrument in itself but rather turns the entire building into one. Ireland-based Australian composer and artist Robert Curgenven utilised this to its full extent in his immersive production: Bronze Lands (Tailte […]
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An all-star collaboration of sorts, Anthem sees acclaimed writers Christos Tsolkas, Patricia Corneleus, Andrew Bovell and Melissa Reeves reunite with composer Irene Vela following their 90s-era play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? A series of stories interweave through the backdrop of Melbourne’s train network, with a range of characters thrust together on public transport […]
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Performance artist Bryony Kimmings is known for work centering on the personal, with prior shows exploring her partner’s depression, a show devised with her tween-aged niece and another sleuthing the source of an STD. In I’m a Phoenix, Bitch, however, things get far more raw. If one uses life experience as a platform for their […]
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The wedding comedy is common shorthand through which to explore culture. Those from different traditions are forced to navigate a new frontier, negotiate new sets of terms and decide what parts are most important. Black Ties sees this culture clash cleverly told between an Indigenous and Maori family, highlighting both the similarities and stark differences […]
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One of the longest-running musicals in history, Chicago returns to our shores again, seemingly only a heartbeat since it’s the last production, which was in fact in 2009. As the show-to-end-all-shows, it seems interesting to have it return, in this mounting of the most recent Broadway production. However in our current era of reality and […]
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With controversy preceding its release, The Nightingale has seen polarising responses from festival audiences, from walkouts to awards. The controversy stems from the film’s depiction of rape, with two gruesome examples early in the film. These however, provide the necessary bedrock for a deep look into our colonisation’s patriarchy, genocide and classism, with white (male) […]
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The Australian Dream is one of two recent documentaries about AFL legend Adam Goodes’ playing career and his his powerful anti-racism advocacy, with Ten’s The Final Quarter already making waves. Written by famed journalist Stan Grant and directed by BAFTA-winning director Daniel Gordon, the film is an inspiring (and infuriating) exploration into the depths of […]
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An impending wedding often brings out the worst in people. Familial and societal expectations collide with capitalism at the extreme of feminine expression. The wedding industrial complex magnifies every insecurity and extracts large sums from its subjects. Where women on the larger end of the body spectrum deal with constant reminders and callouts regarding their […]
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Thunder Road opens with one of the more profound opening scenes in recent memory. Police officer Jim is giving a eulogy at his mother’s funeral somewhere in the American heartland. He’s completely unprepared and grief-stricken and – in one 12-minute shot – flips from humourous nostalgia to all out hysterics, finishing the awkward performance with […]
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Contemporary act-plus-orchestra shows aren’t a new phenomenon in rock, with arena-size bands churning out orchestral projects since the 80’s; an attempt at legitimising corporate rock, re-selling already existing albums and making mums proud. With dance music reaching maturity, EDM acts and DJs are beginning to jump on the bandwagon as their audiences age and new […]
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Matt Corby is on a home run in support of last year’s long awaited Rainbow Valley, with a national tour booked a little later than the album’s release and following a run through Europe. Melbourne singer Eliott opened the show with a brand of electro soul and a huge voice, while second support Blessed turned […]
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Devin Townsend is a mainstay in metal circles, with an almost three-decade long career spanning industrial, speed metal, rock, ambient and even novelty projects. Empath, his 25th album and the 13th under his own name, sees him solidify the presence he has built up in the progressive metal genre over his last few projects. Epic is often […]
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Sydney’s Cog have remained incredibly active since returning from a six-year hiatus in 2016, finally releasing new music last year and launching into 2019 with new song Drawn Together. Taking the single on a national tour before heading to Europe, the three-piece played a completely packed Max Watt’s. Opener, Melbourne’s The Omnific surprised the early arrivers […]
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Counting and Cracking was Belvoir and Sydney Festival’s lead production for 2019, launching with much fervour and excited rumour. A stadium worthy theatre piece purpose-built into Sydney Town Hall. A global casting call for 17 performers playing over 50 characters. Five languages on stage. A Sri Lankan meal awaiting each audience member as they arrive. […]
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The trek to Parramatta Park seems to have become a regular occurrence for Sydney festival goers, with almost every large-scale day-long music event being held there nowadays. With Good Things the newest addition to this list and with more coming (looking at you Download and Ultra), the parklands might do a job of keeping the […]
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The Bronx swept into Sydney’s Metro Theatre last night as part of their current Australian tour, which sees them playing in intimate venues across the country. Melbourne’s High Tension are a welcome addition to any show. Playing songs from their new album Purge, the post-hardcore band showed a deeper, heavier more metallic sound. Though they […]
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A legend across contemporary classical, electronica and experimental music, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a long an illustrious career. Spanning a number of collaborations, it’s his sixteen year partnership with German composer Alva Noto that has stuck, garnering five albums, along with the soundtrack to the movie The Revenant. A largely improvised affair, the duo meshed sparse […]
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Set in Europe “20,000 years ago”, a tribe of hunter-gatherers is preparing to hunt before winter. Keda (Kodi Smit-McPhee), is learning the ropes from his father, the tribe’s chief Tau (Johannes Haukur Johannesson). Quiet and sensitive, the young Keda is having issues in coming to terms with killing animals, with father gently guiding him unto […]
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Narelle (Sheridan Harbridge) skirts across a converted factory floor, all brushed concrete and industrial chic, flanked by an eager estate agent (Nikki Shiels). It’s an all too common scene as Sydney’s working class havens make way for heritage apartment conversions, hip cafes and pet-owning professionals. Narelle however stalks the space with a touch of melancholy, […]
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Padraic’s long been away from his home of Inishmore, fighting with the Irish National Liberation Army. Too mad even for the IRA, he’s built an epic thirst for murder and torture, picking small-time pot dealers and bombing chip shops in his spare time. His father Donny calls to inform him his beloved cat is ill, […]
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America has an interesting and contentious relationship with soccer. Where the world game has been at the centre of global sports (and often politics) for centuries, Americans sidelined the sport during the depression years, only to resurrect it in the 1960s as a high school game. With many young boys choosing American football (the nation’s […]
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The Chinese restaurant is a bastion of our urban culture. Birthdays in the suburbs spent with red lanterns, lazy susans and honey chicken dot our collective memory. While contemporary Australia’s lust for foodie culture and an ever refining palette may have moved away from the Red/Golden Phoenix/Centuries in the 00s, they still form culinary centres […]
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Danish group Between Music’s Aquasonic was one of the more intriguing inclusions in this year’s Sydney Festival program. Billed as the ‘world’s first underwater band’, the group performs with purpose-built instruments while completely submerged. The team apparently developed the show for over a decade, generating optimal conditions for water acoustics and creating the soundscapes. The […]
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A question commonly asked in arts circles is where all the new Australian musicals are. Surely, they do exist, but grand-scale, blockbuster song-and-dance shows isn’t something we’re generally known for. Hot Shoe Shuffle – arguably Australia’s first hit musical – premiered only 24 years ago, and since then only Pricilla and Strictly Ballroom have made […]
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The GFC hit 10 years ago, yet it’s wave still lingers on. In a post GFC world, wages are stagnant, jobs are threatened, house prices skyrocket and global warming’s dark cloud hangs in concert. 10 years on, we’re still asking questions; how did this happen? Can it happen again? And, if so, who’s best equipped […]
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With a career spanning close to 30 years, Shepard Fairey is a veteran of world street art. In Sydney to talk as part of Vivid Idea’s Game Changers program as well as unveil a new mural work (his largest to date) and exhibition, he spoke of his early days building the now iconic Obey project […]
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June is married to Leo, but she’s also having an affair with his twin brother Rob, and her personal trainer Hellmut. And a Catholic priest, John. Leo, meanwhile, is sleeping with Rob’s sister Michelle, his therapist Dr Shaw, as well as the family au pair Melissa. On top of all of this, June and Leo […]
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Beginning in 1989, Chimerica brings us Joe Schofield, an American Photojournalist stationed in Beijing. Sitting in his hotel room during the Tiananmen protests, he manages to snap the all-famous photograph of Tank Man – a young student standing defiantly in the way of a line of tanks. Fast forward to 2012 and Joe, now back […]
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Celia Pacquola is (quite literally) everywhere. Turn on the ABC and you’re highly likely to see her face either on Utopia, her own new show Rosehaven or in her AACTA-winning role in The Beautiful Lie. Having built a reputation in standup for the better part of a decade, it’s a natural progression for someone who’s […]
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