Merivale has launched a tightly curated online bottle shop

Those discerning folk at Merivale have taken the celebrated wine retail experience at CBD hotspot Palings Lane and reimainged it as an online service simply dubbed The Bottle Shop. Pulling on the experience and curatorial knowhow of the group’s Master Sommeliers, this online shop will feature an exclusive range of wine, beer and spirits (with…

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Live Review: Eliott + Morgan Bain + Shannen James – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne (06.07.19)

Melbourne was treated to a wonderful selection of artists on Saturday night as Eliott celebrated her release of “Shaking My Hips” by performing at Northcote Social Club alongside Shannen James and Morgan Bain. It may have been a late night out, but it was worth braving Melbourne’s cold travelling to Northcote to see all three…

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Film Review: Stuber is an Uber-amusing three-star ride

Buddy comedies are a dime-a-dozen these days. And much like romantic films, they rely on the chemistry of the leads to succeed. An original plot? Unimportant. Solid acting? No need. If the chemistry works between the leads, then it should offset a lot of the film’s flaws. Case in point, Michael Dowse‘s action-comedy Stuber, a…

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Track of the Day: The Holy Smoke “Lay Your Head Down” (2019)

WA trio The Holy Smoke have just dropped their debut EP The River, and it’s filled with some of the most soulful folk music you’re likely to hear this year. To celebrate the release, we’re naming their single “Lay Your Head Down” as our track of the day – just a little teaser of what…

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Five places in the US (and one in Australia) to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

July 20th marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Moon landing in 1969 – a feat which would be as remarkable today as it was back then. Many of the sites around the world which played a part in this achievement of human engineering, against the backdrop of the Cold War, are celebrating the anniversary…

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Does Air Canada’s Preferred Seating make a difference? We flew Hong Kong to Vancouver to find out

Over the weekend, I flew on Air Canada‘s long haul service from Hong Kong to Vancouver on the Boeing 777. On the flight, I enjoyed an upgrade to the airline’s “Preferred Seating”, which is essentially any seat in economy with extra leg room, which will normally set you back an extra C$130 or so. Those…

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Track of the Day: Lorelei “I Am a Road” (2019)

We have a lovely dreamy track today courtesy of Lorelei. Lorelei is comprised of Claudia Schmidt (Betty and Oswald, Brightness) and Arlen McCarthy. I had been lucky enough to see Betty and Oswald live a number of times, and was always taken with the vocals of Claudia. It is great to see her re-emerge in this new…

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Moss in Salamanca Place is Hobart’s newest boutique hotel

Gorgeous Georgian sandstone warehouses located in Hobart’s historic Salamanca Place have now been transformed into a new 41-room boutique hotel. With the simple title of Moss, the newest property from Behrakis Group is seeking to bring a bit of Tasmania’s wild natural landscape into these buildings with design that makes full use of vertical internal…

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Film Review: Booksmart is so damn good, you’d want to rub your face in it

The fact that the existence of another raunchy teen comedy — jam-packed with sex, drugs and alcohol — may not mean much but it has been a very long time since I have heard this much hype for a comedy such as Booksmart. Ever since its premiere at this year’s South by Southwest, it has…

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Five things we’re most looking forward to at Lollapooloza 2019

The history of Lollapalooza is one of the richest of all of the North American festivals. Beginning as a traveling festival in 1991 featuring Nine Inch Nails, Ice-T, and of course Jane’s Addiction and manifesting to what it is now an annual festival in Chicago as well as other off branches all over the world….

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How to fly one way to the United States or Canada from Australia affordably

If you’ve ever tried to fly one way to North America from Australia, chances are you’ve noticed that a flight one way is often more expensive than a return flight. There are a number of reasons for this we won’t get into here – but what if you do need a one way flight? Here’s…

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KFC decide to go hard or go home with “biggest burger ever”

As part of the “Secret Menu” function on the KFC Smartphone app, the fast food giant has introduced what is being described as the biggest (non-customised) burger it has ever had. As always, Australia gets to be guinea pigs for this monstrous creation, which has now rolled out nationally. Dubbed The Triple Stacker, its a…

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From Curtis Salgado to Jim Belushi: International Stars and Local Heroes light up the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival

The Waterfront Blues Festival, now in its 33rd year, was held from July 4th to the 7th in Portland, Oregon. The venue was Tom McCall Park, a narrow green strip on the western edge of the Willamette River in the city centre. With four stages and dozens of performers, this is the largest festival of…

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Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review: If You Don’t Know Me is a charmed look at the spirit, struggles & sex appeal of Teddy Pendergrass

If you don’t know artist, Teddy Pendergrass by now, you certainly will. In the documentary, If You Don’t Know Me we learn all about this R & B singer who was often referred to as “The Black Elvis.” This film is an illuminating look at the life and legacy of this legendary soul man. Pendergrass’…

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Melbourne Documentary Film Festival Review: Woodstock At Fifty paints the famous concert with too broad a brush

Woodstock was one of the most important concerts in history. This year marks 50 years since those infamous three days of peace, love and music. The film, Woodstock at Fifty is a documentary that gives a rather backstage view to the show thanks to some interviews with various key players. While some parts of this…

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Track of the Day: Kyle Lionhart “Holding On” (2019)

Byron Bay artist Kyle Lionhart has released a cracking new single “Holding On” with a  really stunning video. The song is off his forthcoming album, which was produced by John Hume (Dean Lewis) and Lindsay Jackson, in Jackson’s basement studio in Nashville. Kyles voice is the star of the show. It’s like honey and lemon,…

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Exclusive Video Premiere: Libby Steel “Miss Me” (2019)

We are thrilled today to be bringing you the first look at the video from Libby Steel for her latest release “Miss Me”. Libby hails from Cobden in Victoria, and won the triple j Unearthed competition for the Queenscliff Music Festival in 2018.  Her previous single “Fever Acoustic” received rave reviews, and this is a…

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Stranger Things: A Consumer’s Paradise

I was standing in a darkened bar, full to the brim of influencers, a vintage bike wedged behind me in a copse of fake trees. In front of me, a bank of cathode ray TVs blinked and sputtered. Next to them, a perfect replica of the Byers living room, with LEVIS X STRANGER THINGS spelled…

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Theatre Review: Baby Bi Bi Bi is a wickedly funny hour of cabar-gay

From the moment the Flesh Coloured Panties crew (consisting of Samantha Andrew, Erin Pattison, Annabel Larcombe and a Portable Closet) take to the stage with a rendition of “Salad with the Girls, But in a Gay Way”, the scene is set for an hour of deliciously crude and wildly inventive cabaret. With a focus on bisexuality, a…

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Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood headlines the 2019 Melbourne International Film Fest

Now in its 68th year, the Melbourne International Film Festival has announced an astonishing line-up for its 2019 season, boasting 259 feature films, 123 shorts and 16 virtual reality experiences, MIFF 2019 will include 31 world premieres and 160 Australian premieres all taking place over just 18 days. It’s artistic director’s Al Cossar‘s first year…

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Sydney’s Tramsheds is hosting a pop-up ramen alley this month

Looking for a way to beat back those winter blues and bring some warmth back to your soul, in the way only a piping-hot, brothy bowl of goodness can? From now until July 20th, Wednesday through Saturday, the discerning team at Japanese izakaya Osaka Trading Co. are performing a little takeover of Sydney’s historic Tramsheds,…

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LATAM are introducing non-stop flights between Sydney and Santiago

Sydney travellers will soon have direct access to Santiago on LATAM as the airline introduce a non-stop service between the two cities. Commencing operation from 27th October 2019, with tickets on sale now, the Oneworld airline plan to make this a substantial change to their existing daily Sydney to Santiago service, which currently has a…

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Theatre Review: Cassie Workman’s Giantess is a heartfelt (and hilarious) triumph

One day, while shopping for school supplies, a little girl is kidnapped by a troll. She spends the next thirty years trapped in the troll’s house, gradually assimilating to his lifestyle. She cooks, cleans, and is careful to never look outside at the world beyond. Isolated and convinced of her own brokenness, only a giantess…

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Book Review: Inspector Gereon Rath returns in Volker Kutscher’s The Silent Death

The year is 1930. With talkies on the rise, the age of silent cinema is coming to a close, and it seems there’s someone on the Berlin streets who’s not quite ready to let it go. Cinema starlets are showing up dead at an alarming rate and, as if Inspector Gereon Rath doesn’t already have…

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Track of the Day: Viera Motel “Take Heart” (2019)

Let’s kick start the week with a delicious slice of 80s/90s inspired indie-pop goodness! “Take Heart” is the debut single from Melbourne four piece Viera Hotel, consisting of Jay Pollock (vocals/keys), Matthew Ferguson (guitar/keys), Dane Sorensen (bass) and Matt Colvin (drums). Citing such influences as Interpol, The Killers, New Order, and Joy Division, the band’s…

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Exclusive Single Premiere: BB Sabina “Feast” (2019)

We have the Exclusive Premiere of a new release from BB Sabina, an exciting new artist who hails from the Northern Territory. The track is called “Feast”, and it’s an impressively mature first release from BB Sabina. The vocals and delivery is self assured, in a style which can be comfortably compared to PJ Harvey…

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F1 2019 Review: Small changes, big finish

F1 2019 is in many ways, still the best Formula 1 racing game on the planet. But in doing so, it slows down its revolutionary formula for an evolutionary approach. While it makes enough changes year-to-year for this to remain a stellar instalment, I can’t help but feel it already had perfected things a year…

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If only the NBN was as reliable as this $850 Netgear gaming router

“Him chonk,” I muttered, placing the Netgear Nighthawk Pro Graming XR700 on my desk. The promise of its data throughput loomed as large as the device itself, a hulking rectangular obelisk that devoured the remaining space on my desk. But it would have to wait. It was mid-June and the NBN was, at long last,…

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Exclusive Video Premiere: Jordan Merrick “Low Country” (2019)

Jordan Merrick brings his bush-ballad groove, with a touch of Americana and Blues to this lovely track about desire and the reluctance to act upon it. We are fortunate to have the Exclusive first look at “Low Country”. Jordan hails from Brisbane, and prior to releasing his solo material, has released albums with his band Fugitive &…

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Interview: Ocean Alley (AUS) on “Infinity”, their humble beginnings and Spin Off Festival.

It’s bold to say, but 2019 is the year of Ocean Alley. Coming off the back of their Triple J Hottest 100 2018 win with their hit “Confidence”, this psychedelic surf rock band from Sydney’s Northern Beaches has seen exponential growth and their latest material is there to back it up. Ocean Alley is currently in…

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