C’est La Vie may be American musician Phospherescent’s seventh studio album, but it is probably his first blatantly optimistic ode to love, life, and everything in it. The first release, “New Birth in New England,” was released a few months ago, and indeed hinted at a friendly, easy return after a five-year hiatus. A time during…
Tommy and the Commies are a punk band from Ontario, Canada, and have just delivered their debut project Here Come. Even as most punk releases go, this project is quite short, weighing in at just 16 minutes. But it makes up for its brevity with some excellent pacing, writing, and instrumental work. The project starts…
I wouldn’t blame you if this indie point and click puzzle adventure slipped through the cracks, especially with the extreme amount of indie titles being released each month. The Low Road follows a new spy hoping to get her foot in the door so she can get out and do some field work. It comments on…
For a long time, tablets have existed in a nebulous space – not quite as practical as a phone, and not nearly as capable as a laptop. The Microsoft Surface Go exists somewhere in the space between, filling a much needed niche in portable computing. For just over a week, I had the chance to…
The Mario Party franchise has long established itself as a ruthless destroyer of friendships. From its earliest, controller-ruining days on the Nintendo 64, the series has sought to emulate the classic board game shenanigans of something like Monopoly. But, like Monopoly, a core part of its design involves regularly screwing over anyone unfortunate enough to…
The second and final day of the Yours & Owls Festival in Wollongong promised another day of beautiful weather and even better music; with (in my opinion), an even stronger lineup than the preceding day. E^ST opened things up on the main stage, and then rising star Didirri – who has had an amazing 2018…
Dave Jenkins Jr’s new indie rock project, Not A Boys Name, is off to a flying start with the release of an impressive new single “Hazard Perception Test”, and a video to match. A song about resilience and learning how to navigate negativity, “Hazard Perception Test” is punchy and melodic. The video, directed by Matt…
American Animals is the scripted film debut from writer/director Bart Layton, who walked away with a BAFTA for his debut effort, the documentary The Imposter. Knowing he comes from a documentary background is unsurprising when you see this film, which screened at Sundance earlier this year to a good deal of critical acclaim, and continued…
Ahead of the release of their debut album next month, Melbourne’s The Putbacks have dropped the record’s first single, a twisted, eclectic and wonderful odd collaboration with Bilal called “The Ways”. Since their formation in the early 2000’s The Putbacks have established themselves as one of Australia’s premiere funk ensembles; they’ve served as the house…
The second day of Yours & Owls brought more incredible talent to the Wollongong foreshore including Cub Sport, Methyl Ethel, Pist Idiots, Alex The Astronaut, Sarah Blasko, Hockey Dad, Alison Wonderland and many, many more. Danny Hanssen brings us back these photos from the festivities:
Tonight in Sydney, the third annual National Live Music Awards announced the nominees across 55 categories, and revealed the addition of the award’s “Hall of Fame” equivalent, detailing their plans to induct a legendary Australian band as the award’s first “Live Legends”. The band in question will be announced closer to the 6th December event, and will…
If you haven’t heard any of Kira Puru‘s music, exactly how big is that rock you’re hiding under? Her single “Molotov” has had a lot of airplay on Triple J, and her undeniably cool ‘Like A Version’ performance of Katy Perry‘s “Last Friday Night” is what dreams are made of. Her debut self-titled EP contains the…
In Mira Robertson’s debut novel, her eponymous heroine, Emily Dean, is sent to stay with her grandmother and great uncle on their property while her mother recovers from what I can only presume is a nervous breakdown of sorts. It’s most definitely not a farm, as Emily is told by her family, though to the…
When Oz Comic Con rolls in to Sydney, a wide variety of film and television stars get the chance to visit Australia as part of the convention line-up. More often than not they’re international stars, but funnily enough for the Brisbane and Sydney Oz Comic Con dates this September, Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic got to…
Gillian English is my new favourite person. We have never met before but as soon as she stood on the makeshift stage at Belleville and roared her way into my life with her insistently angry comedy, I knew I had met my match. Viewer warning: If you have an undying love for Shakespeare than I…
Father, the ringleader of cutting-edge Atlanta multimedia label Awful Records, has returned with a new album in collaboration with Adult Swim – a DIY label and a DIY network coming together to craft something truly unique. Father’s style is one that many try to replicate and often struggle to do so – his odd delivery,…
Delightful, different and refreshing, real life funeral singer Phoebe Deklerk‘s show Funerals with Phoebe proved to be the perfect ending to my amazing month of Melbourne Fringe Festival shows. Have you ever wondered what songs you’d like to have at your funeral? Or noticed just how similar wedding and funeral songs can actually be? Would you consider…
Being a woman in this modern age can suck. The expectation to keep that waist small, to get those likes on instagram and to have those Kylie Jenner-esque lips. The expectation to be more or less perfect. It’s unreasonable, isn’t it? Sometimes the way we move about in society and the pressures we put on…
The audience surrounded the square stage set-up in the middle of The Tivoli. It’s part of Brisbane Festival’s Tivoli In The Round programme, where fans experienced intimate performances from Australia’s best musicians. However, Gareth Liddiard found it unusual to have eyes on him from all directions, quipping to the crowd, “You’ve got to remind me…
Holy forking shirtballs! Did you know there hasn’t been a single year since 1975 that Ted Danson hasn’t been on our TV screens? It’s true! The American actor, currently appearing as Michael on the third season of NBC/Netflix’s The Good Place, has not shied away from the limelight over all these years. As a result, we…
For years people have been perplexed by Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Is it an operetta? A comedy? Musical theatre? A little of all of the above? Perhaps the safest description is that of “comic operetta,” where the draw-card is some dynamic and electric music. Mitchell Butel directs this latest production, which coincides with what would have…
In September last year, the art festival We’re All Going To Die premiered in Sydney. Founder Stefan Hunt is promoting his message and encouraging people across the globe to “Fear less and live more”. WAGTD is a creative community in place to remind you to celebrate life through the lens of death, using art to…
The NYE festival NYE In The Park have announced the festival’s return to Sydney’s Victoria Park on New Years Eve 2018. Following up on the success of last year’s party, this year the crew will bring an even bigger line up on stage to ring in the new year. Headlined by Aussie electronic dance duo The…
The first day of Yours & Owls brought a slew of incredible talent to the Wollongong foreshore including Maddy Jane, CLEWS, Alice Ivy, Mallrat, Tiny Little Houses, Middle Kids, Hellions, The Jungle Giants, Peking Duk and many, many more. Danny Hanssen brings us back these photos from the festivities:
When the end of September rolls around you can be certain of two things, the end of the NRL/AFL football seasons, and Oz Comic Con Sydney. Once again one of Australia’s biggest pop culture events rolled into the International Convention Centre (ICC) where fans can meet some of their favourite celebrities from film and television,…
When actor and activist Harry Cook migrated to Australia at the age of ten homosexuality had only been recently decriminalised. A few years later he would struggle with coming-out to his parents. He says acceptance was hard, because there weren’t many queer-positive stories around at the time (in fact, homophobic propaganda was rife during the AIDs…
It’s been three weeks since Forsaken, the latest expansion for Destiny 2 launched, and in many ways I’m still struggling to wrap my head around the enormity of it. I’ve got a life outside of my work on this website — I have a side job, I have obligations to friends and family, I have…
Before we begin, a personal note: Between Nintendo and Ubisoft, I have had to write out the word “Odyssey” so often over the last two years that I’ll never misspell it again. Big thanks to both companies for that little toward self improvement. One year on from Ubisoft’s drastic reconstruction of its most popular franchise,…
BlizzCon 2018, the biggest event of the year for fans of Blizzard Entertainment, is now only a month away. There’s so much to see at a convention this huge — from announcements for Blizzard titles like Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Hearthstone, to the pulse-pounding finale of the Overwatch World Cup — that it’s become…
On a cool, fresh, sunny September weekend as the school holidays kicked off, ICC Darling Harbour hosted Oz Comic-Con Sydney. It’s an event Where awe-inspiring actors, colourful cosplay, gladiatorial gamers, bodacious book authors, and compelling comics all come together. Over the course of the weekend, celebrity film and TV stars hosted question & answer panels…
