musicKaki King
If you're not already an excited fan, what you may know about Kaki King is that Rolling Stone named her a "Guitar God" in 2006, and that most live reviews... Read More »
musicYeah Yeah Yeahs
It's been eight years since Yeah Yeah Yeahs released the still totally exciting self-titled EP (seriously, dust off Art Star!). A whole lot of time and tours have passed since... Read More »
artfreeIllume: Projections After Dark
We love larks after dark. We love Campbelltown Arts Centre. We love their ace program this year. We love the artists they are commissioning new work from. We love the... Read More »
artfreeThe dreamers
Sometimes we take our public art institutions for granted. We forget that behind their familiar exteriors sit not only artworks and artifacts we know and love, but many we haven’t... Read More »
artfreeSydney Long: Pan
Sydney Long’s iconic painting Pan has become so much a part of popular Australian culture that it’s hard to imagine the work being responded to as radical. Long’s contemporaries were... Read More »
artfreeCollide-O-Rama
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery is making the most of its garden with an exhibition of billboards titled Collide-O-Rama by Australian artist, Maria Kozic. Kozic has worked across many mediums of art... Read More »
performingThe Promise
A coming-of-age story of three orphans and their lives over 18 years in one apartment, Alexei Arbuzov's The Promise has been rarely performed outside of Russia since it premiered in... Read More »
artfreeActivate
We dump our rubbish in the bin and then it’s whisked away to a happy ending. But what if it suddenly all came back to haunt us?Activate 2750 has Melbourne-based... Read More »
performingThe Tent
For many people living in the inner city, a night out in Campbelltownis the start of a hardcore camping trip. If you’re one of thosedreamers, here is your chance to... Read More »
musicDon McGlashan
Our antipodean cousin is officially recognised as a foremost composer with a career spanning seminal post-pop-punk band Blam Blam Blam; art experimentalists The Front Lawn; platinum-selling pop-rockers The Mutton Birds;... Read More »
artfilmShutterbug
These days, exhibition openings aren’t too shoddy when it comes to luring you in. Most of us have been known to submit to the temptation of a free drink or... Read More »
artfreeThere There Anxious Future
Take a trip down memory lane with Richard and Stephanie nova Milne (aka Ms&Mr) and you find the lane soon becomes a labyrinth where parallel worlds collide, time is non-linear... Read More »
artfreeFashioning Now
The little black dress is dead, viva la little brown dress; it’s more dapper, younger cousin. Actually, it’s a project designed to curb textile consumption thanks to a garment re-styled... Read More »
artfree(re)skin: contemporary knitting
There are two kinds of people in this world: those who know how to knit and those who don’t. And then there is Alana Clifton-Cunningham. Combining wool with leather, timber... Read More »
artfreeIKEA Home Project
The deal with sharehouses is that those sharing don’t always agree on their vision of the ideal home. As a result, most houses come out looking a little flustered, if... Read More »
artfreeLe Fil
A quaint garden scene in cross-stitch with something that is not quite right. It’s one third of Megan Yeo’s series, Midsomer Murders (Tea Cosie Terror), which leaves no question as... Read More »
artfreeSustain Me: Contemporary Design
Sustain you. Sustain me. Sustain it for always. That’s the way it should be. Sustainability may be the buzzword du jour, but my, what an excellent thing to be buzzing... Read More »
performingThom Pain (Based On Nothing)
This one man show might be about a bee sting, a childhood, a relationship with a woman - oh no, that's right, it's about nothing. But it does tell you... Read More »
filmmusicBattleship Potemkin
It seems unlikely that David O. Selznick, the legendary Jewish filmmaker who produced Gone With The Wind, and Nazi Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, would agree on much. That both... Read More »
artfreestep out of character, become yourself
Step out of character, become yourself is the fruition of the Rob McHaffie’s stint in the Byron Bay hinterland earlier this year. The exhibition title is borrowed from the walls... Read More »
artEat Green Design
If the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, then could it also be the gateway to a conscience? Cilla Madden of Collaborate believes so, and this forms... Read More »
musicLost Valentinos
As a child, there is one animated series I was obsessed with above all others: The Mysterious Cities of Gold. Visions of ships sailing into storms, ancient Incan medallions and... Read More »
artfreeLove Song for Pluto
Travel to the empty part of the map marked, "There be monsters here" and you might find some of the “strange and wonderful life and adventures” artist Alli Sebastian Wolf has... Read More »
artfreemusicWoodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music
Joni Mitchell best summed up Woodstock in her 1970 song of the same name:“We are stardust/We are golden/And we’ve got to get ourselves/Back to the garden”.Funny thing is, Joni didn’t... Read More »
artfreeSydney Design 09 Events at Object Gallery
There’s nothing indecent about a bit of exposure, which is exactly what Object contributes to the overall fanfare of Sydney Design 09. Fashion, no stranger to partial nudity, is represented... Read More »
artfreePrintmaking in the Age of Romanticism
Biblical mythology, idyllic landscapes, wild animals, political caricatures, sensuality and hardcore pornography all come together in this collection of monochromatic lithography prints, derived predominantly from the AGNSW's collection.Linked by the... Read More »
filmBeautiful Kate
Beginning as a physical trek to the isolated Australian outback, Beautiful Kate is the first feature length film to be directed by Rachel Ward. Ned (Ben Mendelsohn) is a forty-something... Read More »
freeplayKnitting Inns
You’ve heard of sit-ins. But what exactly is a knit-in? It too requires a bottom, a healthy handful of creative thinking … oh, and some 4mm knitting needles. Tied into... Read More »
artfreeThe White Rabbit Collection
It is a testament to Chippendale's final stage of gentrification that the old working class suburb is not only home to several ARIs and commercial galleries, but now houses a... Read More »
artHelen Lempriere Travelling Arts Scholarship
Sydney artist Lauren Brincat has been awarded this year’s Helen Lempriere Travelling Arts Scholarship for her work It’s A Long Way To The Top. Brincat, who lives and works in... Read More »
playPlay Late @ Sydney Design
Humans have an epic crush on playing. It’s in our nature - the pulsing spark that loves nothing more than to discharge itself into the nearest object, creating pure genius... Read More »
freemusicFaker
Another exciting gig to complete the August line-up at the Metro is Aussie band Faker who are touring with the JD Set throughout August. While Concrete Playground are always very... Read More »
musicThe Snowdroppers album launch
Oh friends, there is a storm brewing down in Sydney and its thunder-clapping clouds paint the sky in shades of blue. That’s dark blue, like the southern gothic tones growled... Read More »
artfreeTracksuits of St Marys
What could be more iconic in the prolific landscape of Aussie fashion than the ubiquitous trackie (except maybe a pair of ugg’s and a T-shirt that says ‘The Big Banana... Read More »
musicA Night at the Jazz Rooms
While the title might invoke images of men in pin-stripe suits tapping toes slowly to the beat of a double bass in a dingy smoke-filled bar, A Night at the... Read More »
freeplayArtisans' Market
If you do a little gurge in your mouth when you hear the phrase “arts and crafts," then listen up. This isn’t your usual collection of handmade bits and bobs,... Read More »
filmKino Short Film Nights
Kino Sydney is a monthly short film night with a unique concept: all the films screened are made specifically for the night and they are not competing against one another.... Read More »
performingMorphia Series + Sunstruck
It is wonderful being able to watch two artists collaborate over a period of years and through various projects, developing both as individuals and equally creating their own shared practice.... Read More »
artfreeAirborne
How do you shoot the most shot beach in the country without it looking like a postcard you might send to your granny? Hitch a ride in a helicopter and... Read More »
filmfreeGrind House Alley
A new experiment in the world of bio-art is guaranteed to appeal to all of us who couldn’t quite look away from Dali’s cow’s eye; but there’s much more to... Read More »
artfreeThe Hosts
Host Robot: Good sir, would you like a beverage?Member of Public: Why, yes, yes I would, that would be lovely. What doyou have on offer?HR: We have freshly squeezed lemon... Read More »
artfreeThree Of A Perfect Pair
Siblings Dan and Dom Angeloro spend their days laughing behind pop culture’s back in their writing, video art, installations, photo-collages and occasional curatorial gig. They currently have a new work... Read More »
artfreeEmily Floyd
Emily Floyd prefers to keep things real. In fact, inauthentic gestures are so bothersome to her that she’s created three installations, entitled Garden, Our Community Garden, Alternative School and... Read More »
freeplayYoung Blood Designers Market
Have you ever wondered how some lucky punters nab a designer’s wares before they become the next big thing? They could have supernatural powers enabling them to spot vanguards-in-the-making or... Read More »
freeCraig Silvey on Jasper Jones
Dubbed an “Australian To Kill a Mockingbird” by The Monthly and a “deeply thoughtful, remarkably funny and playful … gloriously Australian book,” at Readings Monthly, it seems Craig Silvey’s Jasper... Read More »
musicThe Paper Scissors
The Paper Scissors are back, and if you’re one of the folks who heard (and subsequently wailed along to) Yamanote Line when they released their debut album Less Talk, More Paper Scissors... Read More »
artfreeplayLive Futures 2020 Festival
Watching educational film series such as Back to the Future and Bill and Ted taught me a valuable lesson about the future - it's shiny, flashy and full of danger.Now... Read More »
filmThe September Issue
It’s been said that the British royal family’s descent into irrelevance began in the late 1960s, when they agreed to be involved in a television documentary cunningly titled Royal Family.... Read More »
filmPonyo - TEN DOUBLE PASSES TO BE WON
There are few things in this world more appealing than the little creatures, epic adventures and magical universes created by the god of anime, Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving... Read More »
freeplayPolitics In The Pub
After their complete electoral meltdown in the 2008 election, the Republican Party – the Grand Old Party of US Politics – find themselves in a place of deep soul-searching. Should... Read More »
filmThe Age of Stupid
It was with no small sense of trepidation that I dragged myself to a screening of The Age Of Stupid. Not because I didn’t want to see the film –... Read More »
filmFurther We Search
A friend of mine believes that you should always lose yourself in an unknown city; when you wander around you take in so many details, see all of those hidden... Read More »
artfreeContemporary Art + Philanthropy
Art is difficult to talk about and even more difficult to unconditionally support – but not so for Gene and Brian Sherman. Gene, the former director of Sherman Galleries, and... Read More »
filmAdam
Tackling the subject of mental illness on screen is tough, especially if your chosen genre is romantic comedy. Tread too carefully and you risk trivialising the subject, lay it on... Read More »
filmThe Cove
Unfortunately in recent times the environmental doco has become the brown rice of cinematic experience – a seriously relevant but ultimately dry undertaking. But occasionally a non-fiction offering will rattle... Read More »
filmRussian Film Festival
Semi-useful fact: 'babooshka' is a widely but incorrectly used term for Russian Dolls. 'Babooshka' means 'grandma' in Russian and 'Kate Bush in a body suit' in English, and nothing else.... Read More »
filmPossible Worlds: Canadian Film Festival
The following use of food metaphors are brought to you by my empty stomach and the smell of bacon permeating my house. Enjoy…For those seeking a more eclectic taste of... Read More »
performingRUN – a performance engine
CarriageWorks' brick nooks and cast iron crannies ooze with flavour, and the building’s trainyard surroundings make you feel like you’ve taken shelter in a decaying industrial landscape.In 2007, De Quincey... Read More »
freemusicplayOxford Art Factory 2nd Birthday Party
The Oxford Art Factory will be celebrating their second birthday this month in a fun-filled extravaganza of music and general partying on down with your pants down. The venue is... Read More »
musicThe Barons of Tang - Border Control Tour
C'mere little one, come join Papa in this little dark corner and let him play some smokey tunes for you. You like it, don't you, darling, there's a base note... Read More »
filmClassic European Film Festival
Are your weekends behaving like those annoying soft toys in grabber machines? Like elusive soul-sucking hussies watching you with mocking eyes as you try to pick them up with your... Read More »
musicDanimals at Curious Works
With the innumerable Animal Collective ‘homage’ bands circulating the local live scene, it’s a wonderful and refreshing thing to hear a performer who borrows sounds of now, but uses them... Read More »
music'Upstarts' featuring No Art
When a band are described as “recalling Liars, Sonic Youth and echoes of an African mountain tribe” you have to take notice. Another reason to notice Sydney’s No Art, is... Read More »
musicDappled Cities
Dappled Cities are one of Sydney’s ‘it’ bands in the best possible sense. They’re cool, they wear Ben Sherman, and they have an amazingly original sound that just makes you... Read More »
freeplayFifties Fair
Back when the world population totalled 2.52 billion and houses cost less than the price of a hatchback today, Elvis was a rookie and polyester was the fabric of the... Read More »
filmThe Young Victoria
Royalty sells – just ask Queen Elizabeth II. While her ancestor, Queen Victoria’s later years have been adapted into film and portrayed by the likes of Judi Dench et al,... Read More »
artfreeTim Silver: Coming around again & Rory
The second law of thermodynamics, entropy, states that all energy is eventually equalised. Molecules disintegrate as matter is neutralised; like ice cubes melting in a glass of water which in... Read More »
performingNew German Writing and Australian Theatre Forum
Why is it that so many new German plays are being performed in Australia? Obviously, it's because we share a border with Deutschland and speak a dialect of its language... Read More »
musicSherlock's Daughter EP Launch
Sydney band Sherlock's Daughter are launching their new EP at the Hopetoun Hotel and in true-to-form style have grabbed two of Sydney's most exciting emerging acts to perform in support... Read More »
musicperformingEva Yerbabuena
Flamenco is one of those art forms that plays tricks on your mind. Many people think of Spain as a pan-flamenco nation, for one, and so are confounded when unable... Read More »
artfreeScenes from Paramount Mountain
In celluloid we might have a chance to fight mortality and stay forever young, but who owns the images of ourselves on film and what happens when people start messing... Read More »
artfilmfreemusicperformingplay2009 Verge Arts Festival
Fringes are easy to identify, mainly because by definition a fringe forms the outer edge of a discernable whole (or, in other cases, it’s the bit of hair just above... Read More »
artfreeperformingTRACE Collective Displaced (Post-Colonial-Cluster-Fuck) and Deborah Petrovich Solace In Black Sun
Tucked away in a picturesque and seemingly peaceful corner of Woolloomooloo is an experimental energy waiting to be unleashed at Artspace, with two equally brilliant but new exhibitions.TRACE Collective hail from... Read More »
musicFlip Out Festival
With a wardrobe consisting mainly of cute little dresses, ballet flats and tailored cropped jackets, I always look really out of place at punk and hardcore shows. I love going... Read More »
artplayEven Books #10: Mountain Dream Tarot & Jean Debuffet
So someone’s trying to tell you that you don’t know the meaning of art. Don’t get mad, get Even Books! The debaucherous book club parties started as a “real-world offshoot... Read More »
musicMike Simonetti
If you’re after sparkling, sexy new disco, New York label Italians Do It Better is for you. Label head (and one of disco's best advocates) Mike Simonetti is in Sydney... Read More »
artfilmfreemusicperformingplayMarrickville Cultural Festival
Picture this - Greece, rattling along the dusty, unsealed roads of a sleepy village in the north of Zakynthos. My driver is a fisherman who can barely speak English, and... Read More »
freeplayGreen Ups Bike Love-In
As a child, I equated riding a bike with my younger brother’s cup-cake fuelled birthday parties at the Centennial Park Bike Track. Not so cool. Now as an adult (and... Read More »
film4th Sydney Latin American Film Festival
The Sydney Latin American Film Festival - it can take you to far away lands, in your own city. More importantly, it not only takes the finest cinema from Latin America,... Read More »
artArtefact H10515
Contained within a museum–like cage and existing on a diet of images, videos and sound files is Artefact H10515, the digital offspring of Australian artist Craig Walsh and his trusty... Read More »
artSave First Emergency Fundraiser Auction
Some say the reason Firstdraft is Sydney's oldest artist-run initiative, having survived 23 years in a town notorious for severely short-lived independent venues, is because of its rotating director program... Read More »
musicIn An Absolut World - DJ's Rock!
I am always super self-conscious about my music selection when I play tunes at parties. Firstly, you need to suit songs to the ambience of your venue. Tricky. Then, do... Read More »
playQueen of HeArTS Launch
“Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.” (Amanda Cross)Thursday evening, Hugo’s Lounge: Leanne Carroll of El Cee's Designs will be launching her new line... Read More »
performingThis Kind of Ruckus
A night at the theatre does not necessarily end after the third curtain call, and nor should it in some cases. Version 1.0 is a Sydney-based company that recognises the... Read More »
artfreeNice Dreams
A not-so-sleepy mining town known as the ‘capital of the outback’, Broken Hill has many stories waiting to be uncovered.Nice Dreams centres around one true story known as The Battle... Read More »
filmfreeThe Last Hundred Yards screening
We often speak about “getting older and wiser” but are less likely to seek out the wealth of knowledge from our elders. So in celebration of the City of Sydney’s... Read More »
musicAimee Mann w/ Ben Lee
Aimee Mann’s sweetly critical tones are on their way to the Enmore Theatre in September, with a very chuffed Ben Lee in tow as a special guest to the show.... Read More »
musicSideways Hitchhiker Single Launch
Sydney’s Sideways Hitchhiker are four young dudes thrashing-out. While relatively new to the scene, they’ve already won over the largely-jaded Sydney music industry and music media, largely because while their... Read More »
musicGay Bash Spring Fling
After a brief hiatus while location-scouting, Sydney's iconic hipster party Gay Bash is back. Spring, skip, sprawl, bounce, bound, buck, hop, leap, or lope. Whichever way best suits, get sprung... Read More »
musicFuture Classic Label Night featuring Woolfy
Future Classic are on the ball, often touring producers before they are too well-known, which means you can see them in smaller more intimate venues instead of at mega-summer-fluro-festival-stadiums. The... Read More »
freeplayChing-a-lings Cook Out!
Sometimes I just really feel like a piece of steak. I ran into my friend at the butcher the other day and we discussed this and he shared my sentiment.... Read More »
musicBen Folds live
There is no 5 in Ben Folds. Just a man, described by Spin as "incapable of mediocrity," a piano and a slew of unique, slightly left-of-centre pop rock tunes. Ben's... Read More »
artfilmperformingSEAM 2009: Spatial Phrases
Architecture, film and dance all jostle for space underneath the ‘creative’ umbrella but rarely do they hold hands or play footsies. That was before cultural aphrodisiac SEAM 2009: Spatial Phrases... Read More »
artfreeBeyond visibility: light and dust
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy, and what does that mean for us lay people? Besides a lot of unapologetic star-gazing, it means enjoying exhibitions like Beyond visibility: light... Read More »
artfreeSoap City
With talk of building a utopia and working on the basis of 'doing everything', Bababa International cannot fairly be accused of lacking ambition. Thankfully, there seems to be an engine... Read More »
musicLost Valentinos Afterparty
Lost Valentinos are a band who’ve been gigging in Sydney for forever-and-a-day, and after years of hard work and shows in grotty bars, finally have a debut album to show... Read More »
musicLior
Lior's sophomore album, Corner Of An Endless Road has been described as “Led Zeppelin meets Nick Drake at a teahouse in the Middle East sharing a hookah”. Elaborate melodies and... Read More »
filmBlessed
The intractable bond between mother and child is scrutinised in Ana Kokkino’s heart wrenching new film. A multi-narrative tale based on the play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?, Blessed... Read More »
filmAnvil! The story of Anvil
There’s an unwritten law in the world of heavy metal: if your lead guitarist uses a dildo to play his flying V, then you are bound for success.Sadly, unwritten laws... Read More »
filmSydney Underground Film Festival
All the best things in the world are associated with the underground: Velvet, Dostoyevsky's Notes, truffles, London commuters and David Bowie's man fanny (as glorified in Labyrinth).Sadly, Sydney seemed without... Read More »
playThe Big Fashion Sale
For many of us, ‘fashion sale’ evokes uninviting images of messy bins and racks overflowing with last season’s rejects. Fortunately for us bargain-hunting fashion fanatics, The Big Fashion Sale is... Read More »
filmGo! Go! Kill! Kill! A Russ Meyer Retrospective
The late director Russ Meyer has had his work described as sexist, degrading and exploitative. This is pretty accurate. His work also happens to be a little bit brilliant. Kitschily,... Read More »
musicTenniscoats
Serial Space is teeny tiny. Being fashionably late will just not fly: you need to arrive super early. Finish up work a few hours before you normally would, call in... Read More »
filmThree Blind Mice
I find it hard to sleep the night before a big trip. Knowing that I have to wake up at 5am never helps the sheep-counting, but even so, I'm full... Read More »
musicWamp Wamp featuring Mumdance (Mad Decent UK)
Sydney’s favourite almost-monthly/sometimes-weekly/often fort-nightly Crunk, Baltimore Club, Baile Funk, Hyphy & Dancehall party Wamp Wamp is back after taking a few months off to rest and refresh. The party features... Read More »
freeplayFBi Family Flash Mob
According to the ever-dependable Bureau of Meteorology, this Sunday promises to be a bloody brilliant spring day (fine and sunny with a top temp of 28 – yes!). Just perfect,... Read More »
musicFlo Rida at The Metro
Flo Rida has the silliest name in rap, but Beyonce is a fan of his which makes me think twice before throwing criticisms. He also wrote one of the catchiest... Read More »
playTEDxNSW
If you’ve ever bothered clicking on one of those facebook video posts captioned ‘check this out – the most inspirational talk, like, ever’ it was more than likely filmed at... Read More »
musicJamie T and The Pacemakers
Catching the Northern Line, getting drunk on 99p White Lightening cider, looking for a girlfriend only to discover “all the girls I loved at school are already pushing prams”.If anyone... Read More »
filmValentino: The Last Emperor
“So many things I did.”This whispered utterance from Valentino – as his moves through the racks of 45 years of couture – said with such simplicity and almost incredulity, perfectly... Read More »
film$9.99
The world begins behind your neighbour’s walls... Tatia Rosenthal’s film is a coarse series of vignettes about a group of characters who are linked predominantly by their apartment block. The... Read More »
musicTV Club
Always wanted to get your face on TV but not talented enough for Australian Idol? Advertised as “taking social photography to a whole new level” TV Club can turn that dream into... Read More »
performingThe Oracle
On Delphi, long ago, the Oracle sucked the vapours of secret herbs and split the wall of time so as to forewarn mortals of what the Gods decreed. Since those... Read More »
musicLittle Birdy (with Red Riders and Hungry Kids of Hungary)
Ornithologists and rock fans achtung! Get your binoculars out and head down to Little Birdy at the Enmore. One of the many bands in the seemingly endless pool of talent originating... Read More »
artfreeCOFA Spring Fair 2009
Spring is definitely sprung. We know this partly because the grass is riz and lambs are getting frisky and what not, but the main clue is that over at COFA,... Read More »
playRethreads
Remember the days when you could snag ten red frogs for ten cents? Or ten scribbled maps from your friend if you crafted ten stick people? That was when economy... Read More »
musicWolfmother
You might remember the excitement when Wolfmother set the main stage of Homebake 2005 on fire playing songs from the then newly released, debut self-titled record. Fast-forward to 2009 when... Read More »
musicWhite Men Can't Crump
Once home to Bingo nights and Karaoke, Taxi Club has been treated to a tidy makeover and is being taken on by Sydney’s indie social scenesters - we’re always looking... Read More »
filmManhattan Short Film Festival
One World. One Week. One Festival. Cremorne’s charming Hayden Orpheum is the Sydney venue for this unique festival of short films and lots of numbers: of 428 entries from 36 countries,... Read More »
musicStephen Malkmus and The Jicks
News has started to filter through the music industry rumor mills that legendary indie rock band Pavement are reforming for a tour next year and will be coming to Australia.... Read More »
performingThe Day Before the Day Before Tomorrow
Back in the days of dripping and blackout, when good times were rationed and families huddled together in the same bed, it was a very special treat to sit by... Read More »
artfreeGaun Wei - Fragments of History
The People's Republic of China has really chilled out and let its hair down over the last few decades. Sort of. Not really. But they have relaxed just the teeniest,... Read More »
musicWhole Lotta Love- The 7th Annual Celebration Of Led Zeppelin
For the majority of us who missed out on seeing Led Zeppelin perform live overseas or during their only visit to Australia in 1972, this tribute event promises a little... Read More »
freemusicSooners/Gideon Bensen/A Casual End Mile
In a universe with an immutable timeline it is still possible to travel into the past, but doing so results in the creation of a new, alternate timeline, occupying a... Read More »
musicThe Devoted Few & Sherlock's Daughter
The Devoted Few, stalwarts of Sydney’ music scene, complete with the unmistakable flame red hair of Ben Fletcher, are teaming up with Sherlock’s Daughter on a east coast tour of... Read More »
musicMenahan Street Band
All star bands may evoke images of bad-eighties-hair Bono,MJ and Sting getting together to heal the world and feed people at Christmasand all that, but sometimes it just ends up... Read More »
musicMy Disco
My Disco have been somewhat AWOL from our discos of late but Sydney will be graced by their mathematical and minimalrock towards the end of September.They should be in astounding... Read More »
musicTame Impala
Perhaps Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Cream once got together for a big love-in jam, and Tame Impala were there like baby grasshoppers learning their craft from these musical masters.... Read More »
artfreemusicSoft Glue - Charlie Sofo & Mary MacDougall
Charlie Sofo is a very talented artist out of Melbourne who makes slightly psychadelic 60’s style Op Art exploring colours and shapes. Mary MacDougal is a brilliant Sydney based painter... Read More »
artfreeAraby Steen - New Work
Araby Steen is the first to admit that her work is a little difficult to describe.In her first show since finishing at the National Art School – who failed to... Read More »
artfreemusicperformingplayWhere to from here?
Bicycles are the wonder ingredient that make any activity rate higher on the Fun Scale. Need to buy milk? Ride down to the shops! Need to visit your grandma? Ride... Read More »
musicVivian Girls first Australian tour
If you’re not familiar with Vivian Girls, get acquainted. When the Brooklyn band released their debut album last year, a combination of 60’s girl-group harmonies, scuzzy garage guitar riffs and... Read More »
musicMum - Bloggers Delight
The advent of the music blog has been reshaping the musical landscape with the likes of stereogum, pitchfork etc. almost determining the future of bands with their gospel.If we turn our collective digital... Read More »
musicLiam Finn + EJ Barnes
I remember seeing one of Liam Finn's first solo Australian gigs at the Crown Hotel a few years back. He was then fresh from his main songwriting duties in... Read More »
freeCarriageWorks Kitchen Garden Project
Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, has long rewarded her chosen children with gifts of green and brown. Of course, there are the lucky five in every generation who are... Read More »
musicStillifes and Synergy
The heartbeat is the blueprint for the oldest musical instrument - the drum - and since its discovery percussion has returned the favour; new beats and rhythms contort our bodies... Read More »
musicArabian Prince
Duke Magazine’s White Men Can’t Crump party has got me reminiscing all my favourite 90s R&B and Hip Hop, and you can’t ever look past N.W.A with Ice Cube, Dr... Read More »
musicGarden Music featuring Unkle Ho, Bridezilla
Whether it be adult contemporary, gypsy hip hop (or gyp hop), avant-rock or blues-country, Garden Music has something for you. Sit down for a picnic and watch The (dead boring)... Read More »
musicLa Roux
So this week it has all been about redheads. The Devoted Few, a great news piece I saw on BBC about 3,000 red heads getting together in Breda, Netherlands, and... Read More »
artfreeSarah Contos, Rachel Scott, Danielle Clej, Sarah Byrne and Ruth McConchie
Good news! Firstdraft Gallery – that tireless incubator of emerging art – will survive the notice of compulsory renovations recently served to them (reeking of impending doom). Sound the Hurrah!Their... Read More »
musicTiny Vipers - CANCELLED
Seattle: Nirvana, Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal. Those are the things that come to mind, but maybe I shouldn't have admitted the last two.While she shares the same label that Nirvana started... Read More »
musicMetronomy
Remix masters and synchronised dance machines Metronomy have expanded from a 3 piece to 4 since they graced our shores in January, wowing audiences with their candy-pop meets quirky-dance electro... Read More »
musicAterciopelados
Forget the fact that you might find it hard to pronounce their name, when you hear their music you’ll be doing all your talking with your feet as you groove... Read More »
musicRed Bull Soundclash
If you've ever seen an MC battle, you know the excitement in the air is absolutely palpable. Worse than seeing a comedian booed off stage is the sight of an... Read More »
artfreeTatzu Nishi
Because it’s kind of a big deal, you’ve probably already heard about artist Tatzu Nishi’s (alias Tazro Niscino alias Tatsurou Bashi alias Tatzu Oozu) War and peace and in between.... Read More »
freeFestival of Dangerous Ideas
Next time you are having dinner at your partner’s parents place, I dare you to clear your throat and start a conversation about the merits of polygamy. Or perhaps you... Read More »
musicWolf & Cub + The Vasco Era
I saw the film that Wolf & Cub are named after once, Lone Wolf and Cub. It was one of those random gems that you sometimes stumble across on SBS.... Read More »
playSydney Architecture Festival
Following the October long weekend, tolerance for ill-conceived built environments will suffer another crushing blow. Like it or lump it, architecture shapes every space we inhabit. Advocating the dictum ‘good... Read More »
freemusicRed Riders
Sydney indie rockers Red Riders have been churning out hits and whipping the kids into frenzys for years now. They have been keeping themselves busy of late, touring with Little... Read More »
musicPaprika Balkanicus
For a little while, after seeing some great photos of insane looking parties in New York and London where brass bands and gypsy-punks like Gogol Bordello were all downing Wodka... Read More »
musicEl Perro Del Mar
Around June 2008 El Perro Del Mar recorded a Take Away show for The Blogoteque with fellow Swede popstarlett Lykke Li. At the time buzz around Lykke was really thriving and El... Read More »
musicJustin Townes Earl (USA) + Wagons
If you're a fan of both types of music – country and western – this could be the show for you. Justin Townes Earle, a Nashville singer-songwriter, is one of... Read More »
artfreemusicperformingplayImagine Festival
Imagine that you have a box filled with many toys, some new, some old, and each one has the ability to come to life when shook up by a hyperactive... Read More »
musicThe Middle East
Ok, so there are lots of people in the band, they are from Townsville (so hot right now no pun intended), people say they are Christians, they were featured on... Read More »
musicMusication
Jack Black may have already rocked a classroom, but Musication is all about getting schooled in music, Sydney style. The brainchild of some talented local lasses, Musication is gathering together... Read More »
musicSticky Fingers EP Launch
Self-proclaimed ‘acid ninjas of the inner-west’, Sticky Fingers, are launching their EP. (Remember the cover The Rolling Stones did for their album of the same name? The zipper? Awesome. Well... Read More »
musicSarah Blasko
Sarah Blasko’s live shows have proven to be precious gems, as she successfully offers unique and heartfelt folk pop songs combined with energetic theatricality.In October Blasko will perform at the... Read More »
musicNick Oliveri (Mondo Generator)
If you imagine combining that dust storm with bass amps, amphetamines, booze, and loud guitars, all running off a generator in the desert, then you might be able to picture... Read More »
artfreeGO FONT UR SELF*
GO FONT UR SELF* is returning to Sydney with chapter 3 in its series of typographical revelations.With a truly international line up of ‘typographic misfits’ – hailing from Sydney, NYC... Read More »
musicElvis Costello
As far as I’m concerned, there is just nothing sexier than a man in glasses. This is why there are only two musicians in the world for me: Buddy Holly... Read More »
artfreeWe Buy Your Kids Trials
More inclined to pet a black cat that crosses their path than break out in heebie-jeebies, artist duo We Buy Your Kids have long been fascinated with the darker side... Read More »
filmRe: Session
For those unsatisfied with skiing double black diamond runs, or daring off-piste, then heli-skiing must surely be the final frontier. This October, the award-winning producers at Teton Gravity Research (TGR)... Read More »
musicJack Ladder (2ser birthday show)
2ser 107.3 has been a pillar of the airwaves in Sydney for 30 years now. This month they celebrate this 30th with a great lineup of shows all around town.... Read More »
artgetawayperformingplayWorld's Funniest Island
Saying that your island is the funniest in the world is a big gamble. For one, you're competing against places with funny names, such as Intercourse Island. Then there's the... Read More »
artfreemusicEast Village Jazz Festival
I was first introduced to jazz by Keiko Nobumoto's arse-whipping galactic epic, Cowboy Bebop, and now I feel like a frantic space privateer whenever I hear some mercurial melodies. Imagine... Read More »
filmplayNT Live: All's Well That Ends Well
This weekend you’re in for quite a treat. Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well is coming to Sydney directly from Britain’s National Theatre. The screenings are part of a new... Read More »
musicFat Freddy's Drop
Large men from a small country across the way, Fat Freddy's Drop are once again visiting our large land. I must say that last time I saw them I was... Read More »
artfreemusicperformingplayDoppelganger Festival
There was a time when cameras didn't exist and so, when someone saw their double reflected back at them, that could only mean one thing – a demonic doppelganger had... Read More »
playGood, Clean & Fair: An afternoon with Carlo Petrini in conversation with Joanna Savill
May I have your attention please. If you believe that food should taste good and be produced in a way that doesn't hurt the earth, its critters or your health,... Read More »
musicBoy & Bear
Gaining a fair bit of hype on the strength of a song called The Storm, Boy & Bear, a relatively fledgling Sydney 4 piece, will release a new single this... Read More »
performingLords and Larrikins
In 1948, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh bet a bunch of local actors in a Sydney pub that they could recite Australian poetry as good as any local. To prove... Read More »
performingBliss
Bliss is the new play on right now at Downstairs Belvoir. It's not, as I actually thought, a theatrical re-imagining of the awesome 1985 Australian movie classic Bliss based on Peter... Read More »
filmperformingOZ Film vs. OZ Audience
How many Australian films have been on your radar this year? Did Samson & Delilah’s win at Cannes pique your interest? What about the first Aboriginal comedy, Stone Bros? Surely... Read More »
musicRowland S. Howard
It’s a sad fact of life that we can’t all be Australian National Treasures like Rowland S. Howard. Sure, you can start a band – but it won’t be The... Read More »
musicGomez
Ambitious indie band Gomez and true global citizens of the world. Originally heralding from Southport, England, they now have members scattered over two continents from Brooklyn to Brighton. The boys... Read More »
artfreeperformingplay2042: Art On The Street
As the community of Kings Cross tries in vain to hang onto its bohemian legacy with memorial plaques on the foothpaths (often more a walk of shame than a walk... Read More »
musicJohn Steel Singers single launch
There are some great bands coming out of Brisbane at the moment. Not sure what it is, perhaps the fact that they have a healthy but small live scene with... Read More »
musicOh Mercy album launch
Oh Mercy are one of the crop of Australian bands that are indulging their more sensitive side, leaving the angular jaunts and sweat for harmonicas and acoustics, not afraid to... Read More »
musicSteve Aoki
Steve Aoki everybody! More than just a pretty weird face. This multi-tasking magic man has managed to successfully juggle just about every creative pursuit known to gen-Y. His credits include:... Read More »
musicPhiladelphia Grand Jury Album Launch
The Philly Jays, as they are known to their fans and loved ones — and as Sydney-siders you should be one of these — have been smashing both stages and... Read More »
freeplayDanks Street Festival
You'd be hard pressed to find someone in Sydney that doesn't love a block party, so imagine the glee that this conjures every year — a catered block party. A... Read More »
filmThe Box
A film entitled The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James "27 Dresses" Marsden, and you’d easily be forgiven for thinking this a romantic comedy. A featherweight caper about the mishaps... Read More »
musicJosh Pyke
Josh Pyke made us all very happy when he steered a guitar-shaped boat around Sydney Harbour in his popular music video and YouTube favourite. In October he will embark on... Read More »
playDuke's Mutant Dance-Off
Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble, can you do the mutant shuffle? Duke Magazine are giving their annual dance-off a macabre makeover this Friday with the most swingin’ Halloween party in... Read More »
musicThe Scare Album Launch
The Scare have been somewhat transient and homeless in Australia. Since leaving their native Sunshine Coast in Queensland, they have recorded a debut that was largely overlooked in Australia but... Read More »
playSydney Food & Wine Fair
I first visited the AIDS Trust Sydney Food & Wine Fair in 1993, and not even the embarrassment of running into my English teacher and her girlfriend (at that age,... Read More »
musicCabins supporting The Scare
The only think you need to know before going to see Sydney band Cabins live, is that they are really good. There are so many new bands in Sydney at... Read More »
musicBluejuice (Head of The Hawk tour)
If there’s a band I know well and have seen many times, it is ‘the juice’. I watched them 14 times last year when my band The Paper Scissors (plug!)... Read More »
musicNas
The pint sized NYC rapper Nas has existed at the fore of the East Coast rap scene since his debut Illmattic in 1994. Whilst he has never exploded like your... Read More »
musicNAS & Chali 2na
Chali 2na has one of the most unique and unforgettable voices in rap, his dramatic low bass baritone first heard with Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli, now as a solo artist... Read More »
artmusicperformingRunway Launch, Issue 15: Lies
There are lies, and then there are lies. There are those shameless, blatant untruths told with a twitch and a sneer that are about as cool as Alexander Downer in... Read More »
musicCrayon Fields album launch
No matter the weather, Melbourne's Crayon Fields are an instant clearing of the clouds. Good vibrations taking a sunbath, and if you peel away the initial innocence, probably a skinny... Read More »
musicMidnight Juggernauts
Midnight Juggernauts steamed ahead of the pack of indie/electro bands way before it became the flavour of 2009. Before The Presets were winning ARIAs, while Ladyhawke was still eating fush'n'chups... Read More »
freemusicperformingplayNewtown Festival
Yes, Newtown, we know all about you. Op shops, music, food, terraces, hairdressers, art, retro furniture, pubs, experimental locals... And oh how we love you. So much so that we... Read More »
musicRahzel
When I attempt to beatbox, I sound like a dog growling and spitting at the same time. It’s one thing to make beats with a drum, but how on earth... Read More »
performingBurning Daylight
Long the stuff of leaden machismo and a symbol of tough love, the sacred image of the cowboy has an almost equally long history of being skewered in art. From... Read More »
musicAdrian Deutsch album launch
By the sounds of things, the whole time Adrian Deutsch was a member of Sydney's tight jeaned indie afficionados Red Riders, he was hard at study. His topic of choice... Read More »
musicSkoolapalooza
When I was in high school I associated Luna Park with the wild-mouse, the gravitron, dodgems and the ferris wheel... not dance parties. Times have changed! The crew of Skoolapalooza... Read More »
musicSister Jane single launch
Since their inception/germination/formulation in the misty, magical, musician-spawning Blue Mountains but four winters ago, Sister Jane have recorded all of their music on vintage equipment in the home studio of... Read More »
artfreeSnow Storm on a Summer's Day
If you've been wanting to take a hot, young museum out for a few sneaky bevvies, now's your chance. This weekend sees the MCA celebrating its 18th birthday and, rather... Read More »
freeplayGlebe Street Fair
For the past 26 years, the suburb of Glebe has been hitching up its harbour-lined skirts for a party every November, and so have all the locals. The reason behind... Read More »
musicperformingMahli's Living Room
Most of us take for granted the fact that we can chill in our livingroom listening to great music and chatting to friends. Just over a yearago, Mahli Cooper was... Read More »
filmAmreeka
The American Dream stretches far beyond its country’s borders. And yet in looking to trade in the Israeli wall for an Illinois white-picket fence, Palestinian Muna (Nisreen Faour) and her... Read More »
musicThe Basics
Melbourne band The Basics have just dropped a new album, titled Keep Your Enemies Close. Sometimes known as the side project of Wally de Backer (aka Gotye), it seems that... Read More »
musicCloud Control & Leader Cheetah
There must be something in the water in the Blue Mountains, or maybe it's in the fresh air, or maybe they go down to Penrif to get it? This substance... Read More »
musicKIM (The Presets) Solo Album Launch
My girlfriend and I got into an elevator in Tokyo recently with Kim Moyes, and it was one of those awkward moments where you are both Aussies in a different... Read More »
freemusicThe Model School Album Launch
If you didn't get tickets to Vampire Weekend on this same night, you could divert yourself down the stairs at the OAF and catch Sydneysiders The Model School in the... Read More »
musicCuthbert & The Nightwalkers album launch
Cuthbert & The Nightwalkers music sounds like a pop-up book for kids that have grown up too quick. It jumps out at you with Richie Cuthbert's lyrics about 20- something... Read More »
musicJazz in the Garden
Jazz. What does it even mean? Some theories say the word was derived from “jass”, which meant “with vigour”, a popular term in early 20th century America. It’s certainly come... Read More »
artfreeThrough the Eyes of a Muse: The Photography of Pattie Boyd
Reading about Patty Boyd's life in a one paragraph summary causes two basic emotions: polite pangs of envy and sheer out-and-out, green-eyed jealousy. Having made her mark in London modeling... Read More »
artfreeJamie North: 'The Path of Least Resistance', Manya Ginori
Yep, the pointy end of the year is here for Sydney. The Christmas party after Christmas after Christmas party marathon is about to start and, despite all the good advice... Read More »
performingPecha Kucha
Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ) is one of those great onomatopoeic phrases that pepper the Japanese language. It means chit-chat, and is the perfect way to describe a night based around just... Read More »
musicSongs album launch
"Songs is the Greatest Album I Have Heard This Year...and quite possibly this decade. Not that music is a competition, you understand. Ten stars. A hundred stars. A shimmering, cascading... Read More »
artfreeDel Kathryn Barton: 'the stars eat your body'
The names of Del Kathryn Barton’s solo shows make her sound like some sort of Australian Miranda July. You could say “an artistic Miranda July,” but Miranda July makes art... Read More »
artfreemusicplayEven Books #11
Love is as definable as a car parked in a clearway at peak hour. Scottish-based author Dan Rhodes knew this, and so bravely gave 101 stories about very different loves... Read More »
performingA Midsummer Night's Dream
The sweaty drum of summer is beating out the last days of spring, bringing with it an exciting line-up of live music and theatrical events. Ushering in the silly season... Read More »
playYoung Blood Designers Market
Google “Young Blood” and the first thing to come up is some kind of Skin Care product. Icky, right? The Young Blood Designers Market is less ewww and more yeoowww!... Read More »
musicStereosonic
For the biggest dance event of the year, you can’t go past Stereosonic, which will be making its '09 appearance as the sun heats up, touring the nation with such... Read More »
filmBondi Short Film Festival
Bringing cinema to the beach for the ninth year running, the Bondi Short Film Festival has well and truly established itself as a cult cinematic event. In fact the matinee... Read More »
musicWhitley Album Launch
There is a growing trend in Australian music. I will call it the rising of the thinking-person's-singer-songwriter. Catchy, I know. I'm talking Blasko, Washington, Paul Dempsey's solo stuff, Holly Throsby,... Read More »
filmmusicBastardy DVD and 7" Launch
Hearing someone talk completely candidly without a speck of pretence is always treat, even more so if they are speaking about their life as pioneer of Aboriginal theatre, drug addict,... Read More »
artJesse Willesee Presents: The Thirsty Artists
In most situations Concrete Playground would not advise heading back to an unknown person's hotel room that was going to be full of strangers. That way spells trouble, you would... Read More »
artfreeSpooky Action at a Distance
The distance between Spooky Action and you is about to get a little smaller. Concrete Playground’s editor Amelia Groom has curated an exhibition of video works from Japanese artists to... Read More »
musicThe Paper Scissors
After two years hiding their light under their bushel baskets, gorgeous indie boys The Paper Scissors are once again letting their light shine. Last month they released a new song... Read More »
musicUnderground Lovers
OMFG! The line up of the original The Underground Lovers has reunited for Homebake but are playing a special show at the Annandale! Dust off Underground Lovers, Leaves Me Blind, Rushall Station,... Read More »
musicThee Oh Sees
A band plays by the side of an American highway in a music video. The musicians look kind of catatonically into what they're doing on a grassy patch, oblivious to... Read More »
musicKes Band
When you possess a singing voice as endearing (and idiosynchratic) as the ringleader of Kes Band, Karl Scullins, it seems almost criminal to release an instrumental record. And yet, the... Read More »
artfree La Petite Mort - Hamish Ta-m
Dance and photography often make for a troubled marriage: one lives for motion and temporality while the other is bent on freezing movement and time.In an attempt to reconcile the... Read More »
musicJarvis Cocker
Since he was 15 years old, Jarvis headed up Pulp, the Sheffield Brit-poppers that broke all barriers of the non-movement. Pulp changed the musical climate in England and abroad with... Read More »
filmThe Edge of the Possible – Film Screening
I wonder how many family albums contain at least one photograph of the SydneyOpera House in the background? A nice shot of the kids in front of thearchitectural attraction. Yet... Read More »
artfilmfreemusicperformingplayConcrete Playground launch party
We really should have thrown a party when Concrete Playground was switched on eighteen weeks ago. That's generally when launch parties happen, right? Either way, we think that it's high time... Read More »
musicPatrick Wolf
Patrick Wolf doesn't bite. Hard. When he does, you'll find it very hard to bring yourself away from the multi-talented muso, especially when at one of his shows gig you'll... Read More »
musicKitty, Daisy and Lewis
When I first heard Kitty, Daisy and Lewis’s Goin’ Up The Country I actually presumed it was the original version, and that Canned Heat had covered it in 1969. I... Read More »
musicAnimal Collective
I’m currently listening to Merryweather Post Pavilion, the latest album by Brooklynites (now globally based) Animal Collective. There are so many bands ripping off this sound at the moment, but I... Read More »
artfreemusicperformingFlutter Lyon & Kirin J Callinan
SeditionGallery is the best barbershop in Sydney. It’s run by a guy called Mickwho does a very tidy short back and sides, which is harder to find thanyou might think.... Read More »
artStories of Love & Hate – Revisited
A wise man once said that ‘patriotism ruins history’. While this wisdom could be applied to a soup of mistakes, misfortunes and violent actions, it seems particularly relevant to the... Read More »
filmCasting Couch
I love a good David and Goliath scenario.Like when young filmmakers persistently plug away at their projects and bustthrough the backdoor of an industry that has its golden gates wide... Read More »
filmfreeStrange Land – Starella and The Priest (The Video Preview)
We only need to look at where horror films usually take place in orderto realise that the environment is always a contributing factor to thesuspense. It is the deserted and... Read More »
musicYACHT
Jona Bechtolt must not sleep. He could just be one of the most prolific humans on the planet. Over the last 6 years he has released countless records under the... Read More »
performingFriends in Danger
New media and cloud computing have opened up a broad scope for creative collaborations. While the geeks at Google are busy Waving at one another, there are producers out there... Read More »
artfreeBucket: MOP fundraiser
As usual MOP delivered a stellar exhibition program in 2009. Three of a perfect pair - what a highlight! But it's costly to run a non-commercial gallery. Not that MOP... Read More »
musicCANCELLED - Mistletone Xmas Party
It's the season of the Christmas Party, and though many nights are currently filled with them, and livers are busily trying to repair themselves all over the city, it's safe... Read More »
freeplayAddison Rd Summer Night Makers Markets
It's well known fact that the current image we have of Santa Claus, with a jolly red nose and big white beard, was invented by Coca Cola some time early... Read More »
artfreeperformingBig Show Closing Party
Were I your mother I'd have only one piece of advice: do not enter the world of stand-up comedy. It is a scientifically-proven fact that the audience wants the comic... Read More »
filmRemembering Charles Chauvel
Memory is a priceless commodity in Australian arts and media. Too often each generation loses access to our rich history of writers, painters, performers and filmmakers and gets caught up... Read More »
freemusicMr Fibby, The Ellis Collective, and Owen Campbell in Victoria Park
With summer now getting into full swing, is it not the perfect time of year to enjoy some of Australia's best underground gypsy-folk-rock-storytelling artists in the lazy, setting sun of... Read More »
musicplayREDRATNYE
Plans plans plans! Why does the mad rush for planning New Years Eve always seem to outweigh the night itself? A night that's usually a cocktail of anticipation, nostalgia, reflection... Read More »
musicPurple Sneakers NYE House Party
New Years Eve. It's still two months away but the pressure has started to build. Falls Fest has sold out, the Opera House is selling tickets to their $895 party,... Read More »
musicplayGood God Small Club's NYE Absolute Ego Dance
Do you feed like an insatiable ogre off pride and praise, compliments and conquer, superiority and success? Of course you do. This December 31st, amongst the goodness, godliness and smallness... Read More »
Ongoing Events
musicSounds of Seduction New Years Eve
Twas the night before the 1st of January and all over the place, every creature was stirring, preparing their face. They rose from their graves and wandered around, and headed... Read More »
musicScreamfest
Metal festivals have for decades skirted around the edges of Australia's abundant shores, teasing fans with European promises of demons, angels, witches and vikings. Now, as the year turns to... Read More »
getawaymusicPeats Ridge
Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing for New Years Eve... Last year I was in Egypt with my parents, before that it was at the hotel bar with... Read More »
artfreeperformingWhat I Think About When I Think About Dancing
Adapted from the title of the 2008 Haruki Murakami book What I Think About When I Think About Running (itself adapted from the title of Raymond Carver's 1980 short story,... Read More »
filmAntichrist
As soon as the title card appeared on-screen — a hand-painted "Antichrist" in manic scrawl, with the final 't' incorporating a female symbol — my usually objective back was up. The... Read More »
filmReligulous
Polemical, political satirist Bill Maher is a man on a mission… against God. Taking the stance that religion is a hiding to the end of the world; Maher is not... Read More »
filmAway We Go
What do you get when acclaimed novelist husband and wife team Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida try their collective hand at a semi-autobiographical screenplay about impending parenthood? A very writerly,... Read More »
filmThe Informant! special screening + discussion with Steven Soderbergh
From the opening intertitle of The Informant! (or even from the title’s exclamation mark) it’s abundantly clear Steven Soderbergh is gearing up to have a lot of fun. Though based... Read More »
filmThe Damned United
Brian Clough: The greatest manager the England team never had. Being a football fan is by no means a prerequisite to enjoy Peter Morgan’s brilliant biopic The Damned United. Adapting... Read More »
artfreeThe Snow Show
Since when do people stand around in doctors' surgery waiting rooms when they're not ill? Since East Sydney Doctors started moonlighting as a contemporary art gallery a year or so... Read More »
filmAvatar
What on Earth has Jim Cameron been doing for the past 12 years? Well, not much - technically - for he has gone virtual, turning that closely guarded world of... Read More »
filmBroken Embraces
With its nods to noir filmmaking and the comical and popular Spanish culebrones style, Broken Embraces unravels through the eyes of the charming and troubled main character Harry Caine née... Read More »
filmBright Star
There's a moment in Jane Campion's (The Piano, In the Cut) latest film Bright Star, wherein Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) lays on the bed, light streaming through the window, a... Read More »
filmNowhere Boy
The words, "The Beatles" are never uttered in Sam Taylor-Wood's debut feature film Nowhere Boy, and, for the most part, neither are the screaming girls that the phrasing conjures. That's... Read More »
film9
In a post-apocalyptic world, ruined by the scientific hubris of mankind, only a small contingent of machines remains: those that wrought the destruction, and a handful of handmade dolls cowering... Read More »
artGarden & Cosmos
These days you can’t tell if it’s going to rain or shine. You could be heading to the beach and get caught in the rain, so rather than hedge your... Read More »
filmWhere The Wild Things Are
With the patience of a nine year old (that is to say, none at all), it feels that the world has been holding its breath for Spike Jonze's screen adaptation... Read More »
filmSherlock Holmes
There is no doubt Guy Ritchie has stamped his mark upon Sir Arthur Conan Doyles iconic Sherlock Holmes. Ritchies now trademark temporal jumps, bare-knuckled fighting and fraternal banter is all... Read More »
filmThe French Kissers
Australian audiences are destined to begin and end 2009 in a French classroom. Pourquoi? Early 2009 was spent watching Laurent Cantet's Palme D'Or winning The Class, fascinating in Franois Bgaudeau's... Read More »
performingThe Book of Everything
Adapted for the stage from the novel by Guus Kuijer, The Book of Everything takes place in Amsterdam in 1951 - with the trauma of WWII German occupation still clearly... Read More »
artLiving Treasures: Jeff Mincham
The fifth recipient of Object Galleries Living Treasures title, Australian ceramicist Jeff Mincham is a craftsperson of the highest order. Since he first exhibited his work in 1976 at Adelaide's... Read More »
artfreeFiona Foley: Forbidden
Political art is at its best when it not only gives expression to the ‘big questions’ facing a society, but also forces the audience to think about answering those questions.... Read More »
artfreeBy George! Hidden Networks
Once again the City of Sydney is transforming, well, thecity of Sydney, with its public art program Art&About. While there aremany pretty things lining the more conspicuous promenades, it’s down... Read More »
performingSteven Soderbergh's Tot Mom
When Sydney Theatre Company released their 2009 program including an "untitled project" from Steven Soderbergh, there were some grumpy mummers from prospective subscribers who felt that being asked to sign... Read More »
artfree40 Years Kaldor Public Art Projects 1969-2009
Having never quite managed to be in the right place to see a Kaldor Public Art Project in the flesh, I'm pretty excited about the Art Gallery of New South... Read More »
artfilmRupert Bunny Film Series
While his name may sound more like a cartoon character thought up to teach you about the birds and the bees, Rupert Bunny was an incredible Australian artist celebrated for... Read More »
artRupert Bunny: artist in Paris
Though he both arrived and exited his life in Victoria, it was Paris in which this much beloved Australian artist flourished. Between 1885 and 1933, Bunny lived in France, for... Read More »
filmMoonlight Cinema
The new program for The Moonlight Cinema kicks off with Sam Taylor Wood’s John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy. This beautifully constructed film steps behind the legend to reveal a young... Read More »
artfreeMartin Sharp Sydney artist
Plundering the depths of Martin Sharp's personal collection, rumoured to be labyrinthian in its documentation, the Museum of Sydney has unveiled an exhibition comprised of some of Sharp's most iconic... Read More »
artfreeExhibitions on Cockatoo Island
I can still hear the rousing tune that plays to William Kentridge's video installation, "I am not me, the horse is not mine." Such is the infectious effect of this... Read More »
artOlafur Eliasson
In a world where the new is often demanded but rarely considered or discussed for any length of time, the Berlin-based Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson is a memorable exception. A... Read More »
artfreeplayMythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids
I was about just verging into adolescence when my parents took me to Loch Ness. It was painful attempting to keep up that despondent, outsider teen thing when all I... Read More »
artplayThe 80s are back
Bleached perms. Feathered earrings and feathered hair. Acid-wash. Ra-ra skirts. Rayban Wayfarers. Swatch watch envy. Eyeliner for all. Crop tops over leotards. Bangles, tons of bangles. They may be 80s... Read More »
Playground Blog
How Do You Like Your Coffee: Decaffeinated or Defecated?
Were a perverse lot, us humans. Tread on a footpath turd or discover an unflushed log and well emit high-pitched girly squeals. But well quite happily fork out big bucks... Read More »
Twitter Updates
The Concrete Playground Daily is out http://paper.li/PLAYGROUNDnews - featuring @TEDchris @GOOD @nytimesarts
4 hours ago
4 hours ago
Starting next Friday: literally HUNDREDS of plays, bands, exhibitions and other miscellaneous performances at your doorstep -...
10 hours ago
10 hours ago
The Concrete Playground Daily is out http://paper.li/PLAYGROUNDnews - featuring @GritFX @BrekkieOnBridge @dailytelegraph @GOOD
10 hours ago
10 hours ago
@ascolour No probs, cool project!
10 hours ago
10 hours ago
Calling all friends and well-wishers of Bon Iver et al. Here is your new favourite band - http://ow.ly/2ylpz
11 hours ago
11 hours ago
