Month: August 2017

Here’s what to expect from the ambitious art program at Helsinki’s award-winning Flow Festival

Heading to Flow Festival in Helsinki this year? Great choice; not only will you be getting amongst performances from world-renowned acts like Frank Ocean, Lana Del Rey, Aphex Twin, London Grammar, the xx, and Angel Olsen, you’ll be able to experience an immersive cutting-festival which has been named one of Europe’s very finest. And that’s…

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Woollahra’s The Lord Dudley ushers in new era with Garden Restaurant (Sydney)

As one of Sydney’s oldest English pubs the usual expectation of a little old world charm that comes with being a staple watering hole for Paddington locals may be warranted but it’s stumbling onto The Garden Restaurant, nestled beneath a cosy light filled atrium within the hotel’s quirky layout, that comes as a pleasant surprise….

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Glass Animals prove festival highlight while Chance the Rapper celebrates in his hometown on Lollapalooza Saturday

Much warmer temperatures and clearer skies awaited the hundred plus thousand people that attended day three of Lollapalooza. Day One was filled with pouring rain and a thunderstorm that cut the day short and Day Two had a little rain but cold temperatures and almost no sun. So Day Three was just what the crowd…

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Live Review: Shane Nicholson impresses at the beloved Caravan Music Club alongside Imogen Clark

It was a bittersweet night for Shane Nicholson at the Caravan Music Club last Friday night, with the venue announcing its closure after a decade of providing an iconic venue for bands and artists to play. Always a highlight venue on the Victorian leg of his tour; singing songs from his twenty-year career repertoire and…

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New Music to Listen to This Week (7th August 2017)

Welcome to the start of the new week. It’s time to take a moment and reflect on last week’s best new singles and music videos, hand-picked by our writing team for you to enjoy. I’m gunna be honest, this playlist is knee-deep in bangers, both the sexy kind (Kelela, Left., Milwaukee Beats) and the heavy…

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Five Albums You Must Listen to This Week (#011)

This week, we have recommendations stretching back to 2014 with Moses Gunn Collective‘s Morning Shakes, through to this year with Poolside‘s Heat. Reminisce and find something new! POOLSIDE – Heat (2017) by Dani Marsland Can you get sunstroke in the middle of winter? Asking for a friend whose had the sun-soaked sounds of Heat, the new full-length from LA duo Poolside…

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Hotel Review: Ramada West Hollywood offers beautiful, luxurious rooms and spiral staircases

Seriously though, how many hotel rooms do you ever get to stay in that have a spiral staircase? Like, actually in the room? My first thought entering my room at the luxurious Ramada West Hollywood was that I was in a room far fancier than I was used to. The bottom floor of the room is…

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The Novotel Canberra opens First Edition Bar & Dining

The Novotel Canberra has opened a new dining venue, First Edition Bar & Dining, on its first-floor mezzanine. The newly refurbished 180-seater restaurant is under the direction of Brandworks Australia in combination with Accor Hotels, drawing on inspired old-world reading rooms with bespoke woodwork to create a space of sophisticated charm. The newly opened restaurant…

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Finland’s finest food and drink planned for Helsinki’s award-winning Flow Festival

If you’re heading to Flow Festival in Helsinki this week then congratulations; you’ll be spending a weekend (11th-13th August) immersed in what has been named one of the very best and most inventive music and arts festivals in Europe. Though it’s not just music and arts for responsible for Flow Festival’s universal acclaim; the annual…

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Henry Deane takes a big step with a new menu from former Mr Wong chef (Sydney)

One of the city’s most impressive rooftop bars, Henry Deane has given a refresh to its food and drink offerings in collaboration with chef consultant Brendan Fong, former Head Chef at Sydney’s world renowned Mr Wong, and Matt Linklater from Melbourne’s awarded Black Pearl. The impeccable views of the harbour and the city that define…

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The Killers & Run The Jewels make Day Two of Lollapalooza one to remember

Day Two of Lollapalooza was much dryer, longer and drama-free than its first day, which saw artists storm off stage early, torrential down pours and an evacuation that cut the headliners sets to less than 15 minutes. Friday’s headliners had a very nostalgic 2000s kind of feel as The Killers and Blink 182 played the two…

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Melbourne International Film Festival Review: Something Quite Peculiar (AUS/UK, 2017) is a rich and tantalising portrait about the one and only Steve Kilbey

You get the feeling that the story of The Church has enough in it to fill up several movies. But the documentary, Something Quite Peculiar doesn’t try to be a definitive guide to the band. Instead, it lays its focus squarely on front man, Steve Kilbey and adapts his 2014 memoir of the same name….

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Melbourne Film Festival Review: Ask the Sexpert (USA, 2017) is a surprisingly funny, frank & fascinating discussion about sex

You may not be familiar with the name, Dr. Mahinder Watsa but to many people he could be “Dr Love.” This nonagenarian is a former gynaecologist turned sexologist and author of a daily column in the Mumbai Mirror. Ask The Sexpert is an intimate portrait of this charming, progressive and wise old man who will…

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Lollapalooza succumbs to heavy rain and winds as Lorde, Muse and Liam Gallagher cut sets short in Chicago

The 13th edition of Lollapalooza kicked off with a bang Thursday night before ending on a slight sour note. Over 100 thousand people braved the rain and cold temperatures to catch the many highlights of Thursday. The day was filled with great sets and the threat of major storms almost held off until after the…

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Interview: Gabriel Akon on his journey to DyspOra & growing a hip hop empire in Adelaide with Playback808

Being able to speak with Gabriel Akon, I knew instantly I was speaking with an artist on the precipice of actual greatness. The Adelaide-based rapper has been making waves through much of this year; his work as DyspOra and as a label head of independent hip hop collective Playback808 set Akon’s course early and through 2017, the industry…

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Single of the Day: Kele Okereke ft. Olly Alexander “Grounds for Resentment” (2017)

Kele Okereke has continued to share some new music from his forthcoming new solo album, Fatherland, in “Grounds for Resentment”. A sweet duet with Years and Years‘ vocalist Olly Alexander, the song tells the story of a relationship from two different perspectives; oozing soul and vocal texture, it’s another reminder that Okereke’s new material is not what fans might be…

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Exclusive Music Video Premiere: Self Talk “Bedside Dictionary” (2017)

Melbourne’s Self Talk first garnered our attention during some sweeps of triple j Unearthed last year; their indie pop/rock sensibilities were quick to shine and stand above the rest. Whether it was in the draw of “Untitled” or the catchiness of “Clean Washing”, there was something about this group that had people abuzz and we were quick…

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Track By Track: Mount Defiance introduces us to Yankee Flat

Today, Melbourne indie four piece Mount Defiance release their new EP in Yankee Flat, seven tracks of fresh heat from the pop lads who are continuing to push on through and add vibrancy to each composition their name is attached to. Their sophomore release, Yankee Flat was recorded up in Mount Helen at Homestead Studios and is an easy…

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Album Review: The Creases – Tremolow (2017 LP)

How can a song be anthemic if no one’s ever heard it before? The Creases answer that question in their stunning debut album Tremolow. While there’s been a lot of hype around this beloved Brisbane band since they formed four years ago, they waited until now to release their LP. One of the reasons was…

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16 performances you need to see at Helsinki’s award-winning Flow Festival this month

In one week it will be time for Helsinki’s highly regarded Flow Festival to once again fill the historic Suvilahti Power Plant (a disused power plant, that is) with an entire weekend of international and local artists spanning music, food, drink and the arts. This year’s headliners include none other than Frank Ocean, the xx,…

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Nicole Kidman and Jane Campion walk the red carpet for Top of the Lake: China Girl in Sydney

Tuesday night saw the Australian premiere of Jane Campion’s new BBC Worldwide crime thriller series Top of the Lake: China Girl at the Sydney Opera House. Amongst the cast and crew present were Nicole Kidman, creator, writer and director Jane Campion, co-writer Gerard Lee, director Ariel Kleiman as well as cast members Alice Englert, Lincoln…

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What does it mean to win #socialshorts? We catch up with last year’s winners to find out

As we reported earlier this week, The AFI-AACTA #socialshorts competition is back for its fourth year, which will award winners across three categories later this year – and voting is now open! To learn more about what the competition has meant to those who have successfully entered and won their category, we caught up with…

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TV Review: Amazon’s Comrade Detective is a tough-sell of a show that manages to overcome its bizarre concept

In the 1980’s, Romanians would gather in record numbers in front of their TV sets to watch Comrade Detective.  Fronted by Florin Piersic, Jr as hard-nosed police detective Gregor Anghel, the series promised to be an action-heavy event that would both entertain its citizens whilst promoting communist ideals.  Sadly, after the collapse of the Berlin…

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Melbourne International Film Festival Review: Unrest (USA, 2017) is an illuminating documentary about people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Unrest is a documentary that was difficult to make and a challenging one to watch. The film is the debut feature by journalist, Jennifer Brea who chronicles her life with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or chronic fatigue syndrome. She also speaks to others that have this condition by conducting interviews from her bed via Skype. ME…

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A new wellness hotel is coming to New Zealand and Australia

A new hotel has will be opening up in Auckland, New Zealand, with a core focus on wellness travel. Even Hotels have partnered with Intercontinental Hotels and Pro-invest Group to expand beyond North America and into the capital cities across Australia and New Zealand, with the first launching in Auckland in 2020. “With more than…

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Contemporary and historical artworks shift between dance, music and vocal performance in The Score

Spanning all three floors of the Ian Potter Museum of Art at Melbourne University, is an exhibition that explores music and dance notation from Medieval manuscripts through to graphic notation of the 1960s, alongside artworks and performances. Curated by Jacqueline Dought, The three-month long exhibition The Score features international and Australian artists from the early 20th century…

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Theatre Review: Kim Noble is the ultimate voyeur in his latest work You’re Not Alone (Performances until August 13th)

As you enter the Beckett Theatre, ‘Rebel Yell’ by Billy Idol is blasting through the speakers and various Google searches are being projected onto the big screen at the back of the stage. Ever wondered how much a horse costs, or how much a blow job costs, or if you can take a dead squirrel…

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Book Review: Discover the life of expressionist Paula Modersohn-Becker with Marie Darrieussecq’s stunning Being Here

A ground breaker in early expressionism, Paula Modersohn-Becker sold only a few paintings in her lifetime. Torn between her home in northern Germany and the vibrant art scene of Paris, her subjects of choice were mothers and children, depicting them in ways that made contemporary critics both uncomfortable and excited in equal measure. The first…

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Single of the Day: Left. “Thank Me Later” (2017)

We’ve been big fans of Sydney duo Left. since first coming across them at BIGSOUND what feels like moons ago now. Since then, they have surged forward in leaps and bounds, establishing themselves as one of Sydney’s premier frontrunners for fresh new music. In their new single “Thank Me Later”, Left.’s Sarah Corry opens up about a relationship…

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Interview: Lance Ferguson on Raw Material and putting a spotlight on sampling

One of our favourite musical mavericks, Lance Ferguson, is gearing up to drop his new solo work in Raw Material tomorrow – a marked departure from what we heard from Ferguson last year, LANU‘s The Double Sunrise. Of course, two different projects but still, if what we’ve heard from Raw Material proves anything, it’s that the Melbourne-based musician is in…

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