Year: 2023

Sampa the Great

Day three of WOMADelaide finds its groove

The mood of a multi-day festival seems to evolve over the course of the event. The first day is normally frantic as everyone is excited and trying to find their bearings. Second day is more sombre as heat and exhaustion start to take their toll. “How will we last all four days?” But the third…

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Live Review: AURORA + Blusher – The Palais Theatre, Melbourne (09.03.23)

Melbourne came alive with love on Thursday night as Norwegian sensation AURORA closed out her sold-out run of shows on ‘The Gods We Can Touch’ tour, in Australia. The location was a perfect choice, with AURORA and her band’s performance fitting the beauty of St Kilda’s Palais Theatre unquestionably complimenting her style and tone. The…

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Photo Gallery: AURORA + Blusher – The Palais Theatre, Melbourne (09.03.23)

AURORA closed out The God’s We Can Touch tour with a whimsical blend of humour, meaning, and fun on Thursday night. Alongside her opener “Blusher”, the night went off without a hitch and was a fantastic way to see off the tour.

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Brooklyn 45 is an unbalanced, but no less enveloping supernatural thriller: SXSW Film & TV Festival Review

Supernatural terror and deep-seated personal revelations come to light in the tonally unbalanced, but no less interesting Brooklyn 45. Written and directed by Ted Geoghegan, Brooklyn 45 gradually unravels over the course of its 90 minutes as it centres around a group of battle-hardened friends and their overdue rendezvous in a Brooklyn brownstone.  Set between…

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Interview: Pat Miranda from Movements talks co-headline tour, local bands and new sound

California emo quartet Movements have cemented themselves as one of the most loved acts in their field, and they’re ready to break some boundaries. The band are currently on a largely sold-out co-headline tour of Australia with British punks Boston Manor, which will see them play an impressive eight dates across the country – the…

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Satan Wants You is a chilling, disturbing insight into the “Satanic Panic” cult of the 1980’s: SXSW Film & TV Festival Review

Even though one of the experts interviewed in Satan Wants You expresses that the 1980’s phenomenon known as “Satanic Panic” is seen as something of a joke through the eyes of today, there’s nothing particularly funny about the accusations that were being thrown around at the time.  Perhaps it’s something of an absurdity when looking…

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Late Night With the Devil melds modern horror sensibilities with the boldness of genre pieces gone by: SXSW Film & TV Festival Review

“Before we continue I’d like to apologize to anyone who might be upset or offended by what you saw before the break. It’s not every day you see a demonic possession on live television.” Not the most typical sentence you’d expect to hear from a late night host, but such is the statement made by…

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Gaia

Day 2 of WOMADelaide keeps up the frenetic pace

Warm weather in the high 20’s and a capacity crowd in the tree-covered Botanic Park meant that many people were searching for rest in the shade. But that didn’t slow the energy of the performers. Whether it was the melodious sounds of Pandit Ronu Majumdar & Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh over at stage 7 or the…

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National Anthem is an exquisite, organic drama celebrating the queer rodeo collective: SXSW Film & TV Festival Review

There’s a moment in the first half of Luke Gilford‘s exquisite looking drama National Anthem where 21-year-old construction worker Dylan (Charlie Plummer) seems perplexed that an outside group of queer rodeo performers and ranchers would find him interesting; “You haven’t met your people yet”, is the open, telling response from the captivating Sky (Eve Lindley),…

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Bangarra Dance Theatre

WOMADelaide 2023 opens day one with a bang

After a couple of smaller WOMAD festivals during the COVID pandemic, this year, WOMADelaide is back at full steam and the sold out crowd appreciated it. The mood in the air was one of jubilation and celebration. There is just so much to see and do that it is impossible to see it all. Decisions…

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Only the Good Survive is a nonsensical, genre-blending fever dream bursting with creativity: SXSW Film & TV Festival Review

Only the Good Survive is the type of film that delights in the fact that it never follows the genre path you think it should.  At one point the question is even asked if the story being relayed is “a horror or a comedy?”, and writer/director Dutch Southern, in the most nonsensical, unpredictable fashion, makes…

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Festival Review: Mona Foma in Launceston finds its quirky, inclusive footing for its 2023 edition

After debuting its Launceston component in 2019, it’s a shame that Mona Foma – so often associated with its decade+ engagement in Hobart – had to momentarily stall its grind (as did the rest of the art scene) when a certain pandemic gloomed over the globe. In 2023, it’s more than making up for lost…

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Jennifer Lawrence will “date” you hard in hilarious No Hard Feelings trailer

Skinny dipping, throat punches and pepper spray.  What won’t Jennifer Lawrence endure to date an “unfuckable” 19-year-old? No Hard Feelings proves it all. The red-band trailer for the new Gene Stupnitsky-directed coming-of-age sex comedy has been released, with Lawrence embracing her natural comedic sensibilities as Maddie, an “Uber driver without a car” who’s close to…

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Photo Gallery: Alice Phoebe Lou + Gabriella Cohen – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (09.03.23)

Alice Phoebe Lou on tour for the first time in Australia played a sold out Oxford Art Factory supported by the talented Gabriella Cohen solo. Singer-songwriter Alice born in South Africa, based in Berlin, Germany is not new to the music scene having released four studio albums and her 2016 song “She” being shortlisted for…

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New Music Discoveries 10th March: Róisín Murphy, Telenova, Christine and the Queens, and more

This week we’ve added a further ten new tracks to our Discovery playlist on Spotify and Apple Music. Our Track of the Week is “CooCool” from the ever cool and creative Irish singer, songwriter and producer Ròisín Murphy. Produced by German electronic artist DJ Koze, “CooCool” heralds Murphy’s signing to record label Ninja Tune. It’s…

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Higher Education by Kira McPherson features a salmon pink cover with yellow title text. The illustration is of a cartoon woman dangling her toes into an open book like she's paddling in a pool.

Book Review: Higher Education is a Rooney-esque exploration of Australian universities in the late 2000s

Whilst reading Kira McPherson‘s debut novel Higher Education, I couldn’t help but feel like the interior world of the novel was familiar. It wasn’t until I was a few chapters in that I realised it was set in Perth. Don’t get me wrong – it was not the book’s fault that I didn’t realise. It’s just…

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Film Review: To Leslie; Is Andrea Riseborough’s shock Oscar nomination justified?

In the lead up to the Best Actress nominations at this year’s Oscars, Andrea Riseborough was not a name oft-thrown around.  That’s not to say she didn’t deserve to be in the chatter, but after Cate Blanchett (Tár) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) continued to trade winning speeches throughout each major precursor…

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Film Review: Danielle Deadwyler commands the emotional and infuriating Till

The murder of Emmett Till in 1955, Mississippi, still stands as one of America’s most shocking (and shameful) moments, even now almost 7 decades later.  If you’re unaware – like myself going into this stirring drama – the 14-year-old Till (Jalyn Hall) was visiting family in Mississippi, the first time he had ever really been…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Hello, The Hell: Othello is a darkly funny Korean play

Adelaide Arts Theatre is hosting the first ever Korean season for the Adelaide Fringe. AtoBiz and Global Cultural Exchange Committee have hand picked a small selection of physical theatre and music shows. The story Hello the Hell: Othello is a play by Creative Jakhwa, a young team that started with the meaning of “flowering a…

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Sam Syrah

Exclusive Single Premiere – Sam Syrah “Love Hurt” (2023)

Today we have the premiere of the emotive “Love Hurt” from Meanjin/Brisbane indie-rock artist Sam Syrah.  Sam Syrah is the solo project for Sam Shepherd, joined with friends from bands such as Juno and Port Royal. “Love Hurt” showcases the versatility of the artist. His previous track, “Philosophy” had an Arctic Monkey’s inspired groove, and…

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Film Review: Scream VI is the finest and freshest the series has felt since the original

Given how meta and self-referential the Scream series has become, there’s something kind of brilliant in the familiar Ghostface vocal (again brought to sadistic life by Roger L. Jackson) exclaiming “Who gives a fuck about movies?” as he slices down on his latest victim prior to the Scream VI title card.  The answer, it would…

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Live Review: Carly Rae Jepsen delivers pure pop precision – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (07.03.23)

The queues outside the Enmore Theatre as doors opened were indicative that even a Tuesday night, after two of the hottest days in years in Sydney and World Pride only just in the rear-view mirror, wasn’t going to stop the rabid Carly Rae Jepsen fans from turning out and partying. You may be excused for…

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Angel Olsen

Live Review: Angel Olsen’s emotionally-charged set comes to Sydney Opera House (06.03.23)

Angel Olsen was made for the Sydney Opera House. As part of her All Mirrors tour of Australia, the 36-year-old singer-songwriter presented a beautiful performance that really iterated how formidable the Concert Hall has become for live music. And while this can be attributed to many factors, no less Angel Olsen’s ethereal and incisive tunes,…

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Interview: Ernie Hudson on reuniting with Woody Harrelson in new comedy Champions

Having graced both the cinema and television screens for close to five decades now, Ernie Hudson is an actor of incomparable stature.  From Ghostbusters to The Crow, Airheads to Miss Congeniality, he has cemented himself in your favourite films, and doesn’t show any sign of stopping. His latest role is that of Coach Phil Peretti…

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Interview: Aunty Donna on joining the world of Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves; “We are not being used by Chris Pine. We are using (him)!”

There’s always room for Christmas Pud and, it would appear, time to join Dungeons & Dragons too.  In a casting decision that I’m sure even the most confident punters couldn’t have predicted, Australian surrealist comedy collective Aunty Donna – performers Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly and Zachary Ruane – have lent their voices to the…

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Film Review: Champions travels familiar territory but still lands welcome comedic shots

There was a period between the mid-to-late 90’s and into the early 2010’s that filmmaking brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly had something of a hold on the gross-out subsect of the comedy genre.  After 1994’s Dumb & Dumber (which was actually directed by a solo Peter Farrelly) their films almost became something of an event,…

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Photo Gallery: Carly Rae Jepsen – Enmore Theatre, Sydney (07.03.23)

Carly Rae Jepsen returned to Australia on her The So Nice Tour and performed all her hits to a sold out Enmore Theatre in Sydney. Carly showed all her star quality, delighting her fans with a dazzling performance. Pete Dovgan was there to capture the images.  

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Joel Legget

Exclusive Single Premiere: Joel Leggett “Love Is So Easy” (2023)

Georgeous guitars and an uplifting mesage is at the core of “Love Is So Easy”, the romantic new single from Darkinjung/Central Coast-based indie-folk artist Joel Leggett. We are thrilled today to have the exclusive first listen of this glistening ode to the joy of love. “Love Is So Easy” is a song imbued with gratitude and…

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Blood & Steel

Book Review: Defy prophecy and fate in Helen Scheuerer’s new fantasy romance Blood & Steel

Thea Zoltaire wants to be a Warsword, a legendary warrior of Thezmarr. There’s just two problems. One, thanks to a prophecy, women are forbidden to wield blades. And two, Thea only has a few years left to live. Her time is running out. After years of training in secret, she finally has an opportunity to…

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Action speaks louder than words for Chris Evans and Ana de Armas in Ghosted trailer

Romantic gestures just don’t get the same reaction as they used to.  At least not when it comes to Cole (Chris Evans) and realising that the enigmatic Sadie (Ana de Armas) isn’t returning his calls for a reason other than that she’s ghosting him – she’s a secret agent. Oh, that old chestnut! Rocketman director…

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