Is there anything Japan doesn't have? Department stores full of plastic food models and animal hats, the world’s biggest pedestrian crossing, brothels shaped like train carriages… and a whole lot of great films! The 13th Japanese Film Festival jumps from bittersweet comedies to interpersonal dramas to dystopic action films, with a bit of anime thrown in for good measure. Opening night film The Handsome Suit is a fantastical take on one man’s quest for love. Ohki (Muga Tsukaji) is all out of luck with the ladies until he finds a magical suit. At first it’s all good news as the suit transforms the hapless chef into a smooth fellow named Hikariyama, but the question of whether money or, in this case, a magic suit can truly provide happiness remains. Another standout is All Around Us. The 2008 film from director Ryosuke Hashiguchi saw Tae Kimura collect four separate awards for Best Actress for her portrayal of depressed wife Shoko. The refreshingly honest dynamic between Shoko and husband Kanao (Lily Franky) is something different for a Japanese relationship drama, and the distinctly modern problems the couple face endear them to us all the more. Franky is also well known in Japan as an author, illustrator, radio host and frontman of Tokyo Mood Punks. Evidently, the word “slashy†hasn’t hit Japan yet, and it seems they’re all the better for it.Possibly the most talked-about film of the festival is Detroit Metal City, based on a manga series of the same name. The premise is that sweet, bowl-cut-sporting Negishi (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) just wants to make Swedish pop, but somehow ends up fronting the death metal band of the film’s title. His boss extinguishes cigarettes on her tongue and Gene Simmons makes a cameo, but Negishi’s main concern is that his mother will find out about his reluctant success. It’s obvious to say that a film festival has something for everyone but, judging by the perfect combination of death metal, magic suits and depressed housewives, this one really does. To win a double pass to any film excluding the opening and closing events at the Japanese Film Festival, email your name and address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au with 'Japan' in the subject line.Image from Detroit Metal City
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 to the world in his 2000 book, Anthropology: 101 true love stories. Now, almost ten years later, Even Books is using their eleventh outing to honour the airing of Rhodes' soulful sighs.The challenge has been set for all attendants to pen their own 101-word tale of juices, tears and blushing for the night, which will be quoted and shared over oceans of free beer, siroccos of music and the other devastating explosions of hyperbole that usually accompany the talk of love. Also, there'll be a chance for you to speak through the medium of pop by dedicating a love song to that special someone (or yourself).Video by Victor Solomonanthropology - 'trick' from victor solomon on Vimeo.
Is there anything better than watching a movie outside? Seriously, you're watching a movie, but it's OUTSIDE. You would normally watch a movie in your living room. But thanks to Sydney Festival (and let's temporarily ignore all other outdoor cinemas that are operating this summer), you'll get to watch a movie outside. Did you hear that? Outside. With the added bonus of fresh air, moonlight, picnic rugs and the sounds of Sydney fruit bats flying overhead, Sydney Festival is putting on a bumper series of classic Aussie flicks to entertain us these balmy summer nights. Not only that though, you'll be watching these movies on a giant, inflatable screen down one end of Sydney University's iconic quad. Immerse yourself in the history of the architecture and be simultaneously entertained by a talking picture. Sydney Festival also understands the importance of music in cinema, and so accompanying every film will be a live musical act. Listen to Decoder Ring before seeing Somersault or The Pigram Brothers and Alex Lloyd croon prior to watching Mad Bastards. Also included in the program are Kev Carmody with One Night the Moon, Archie Roach with The Tracker, The Necks with The Boys, and Tex Perkins and Murray Paterson with Beautiful Kate. Starting January 18 this will be your favourite cinematic festival event.
It is too easy to be cynical at Christmas time. Yes, consumerism is bad. Yes, Santa in his red and white garb has been used as a mascot by an evil beverage multinational to sell their evil beverage. And, yes, celebrating the birth of a Jewish boy by eating pig meat and shellfish is culturally insensitive. But for all that, a lot of people still have a sense of magic associated with this time of year, and no amount of acerbic irony will quash the memories evoked by old TV shows, mince tarts and classic Christmas tunes. This year Opera Australia is presenting one of the higher quality Christmas memory medleys with its Great Christmas Caper. Hosted by The Wharf Revue's Jonathan Biggins, the Caper presents a story about Santa and his awry helper, starring the impressive baritone of Teddy Tahu Rhodes and the cabaret queen phenomena that is Meow Meow (who presented her own Christmas show earlier this year). Combining operatic virtuosity with cheeky humour and showy chutzpah, this event promises to be meatier than your usual night of carols. Image by Jeff Busby
If you remember that most of us were first fed from a loving breast, then it makes sense that we often turn to food for comfort. We each have our foibles, our cravings and there is, upon every tastebud, a grin waiting to be unlocked. Either putting the epic or cure back into epicure, art collective Bababa International will transform Goodgod Small Club into a comforting respite from the reality of a table-less Christmas Eve. Those without a plan are encouraged to find at least three other individuals and bundle together for a feast of delightful promise. Sources suggest the Bababas are preparing anti-gravity corn chips, gift-wrapped tamales and the kind of spiced rum that demands its own poetic saga. Expect the kind of meaningful fun that turned Old Scrooge from humbugger to Tiny Tim's favourite codger. Bookings can be made by emailing info@goodgodgoodgod.com. Doors open at 5pm and dinner is served promptly at 8pm.
Oprah and U2 might have been in town, but you'd better believe the hottest tickets up for grabs now are for the movies. The Open Air Cinema certainly pulls rock concert figures, selling 30,000 in the first hour last year and exhausting advanced tickets completely within 12 hours. So you'd better be on your toes today as this year's line up is set to impress. A gamut of Oscar favourites are heading to Mrs Macquarie's Point, with Darren Aronofsky's exquisitely terrifying Black Swan, David Fincher's Facebook fable The Social Network and the compelling true stories currently bowling over critics: The King's Speech and The Fighter. Other films befitting the stellar surrounds include David Michod's crime epic Animal Kingdom, James Franco's gobsmacking performance in 127 Hours, the pitch-perfect family dramedy The Kids Are All Right and Christopher Nolan's mind and architecture-warping Inception. Then there are those films most compatible to the event's well stocked bar and gourmet food. These include Cher and Christina Aguilera's opening night number Burlesque, Ange and Johnny's high gloss travels in The Tourist, as well as the array of comedies like Ben Stiller's The Little Fockers, Morning Glory, and Vince Vaughn's latest, The Dilemma. 36 nights of film in arguably Sydney's most envy-inducing location 3 IF you can score some tickets! 9am Thursday 15 December: you know what you need to do. Open Air Cinema season runs from 12 January - 19 February 2011 https://youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs
Wretched and beautiful, devastating and passionate, Blue Valentine evokes every inch of its title's dichotomy. From the simple premise of juxtaposing the beginning and end of a relationship, the film takes you to the giddy heights of new love through to the yawning abyss of loss. Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are Cindy and Dean, two people from opposite sides of the tracks who gleefully succumb to love at first sight, though this courtship plays out alongside an altogether different point of view of their marriage, some six years later. In lesser hands this cross-cutting might have seemed trite, but writer-director Derek Cianfrance rather appropriately achieves the polar opposite. In the past, Cindy and Dean meet — their youthful exuberance leaping off the screen. While in the present, a seething discontent emanates from Cindy whereas Dean opts for blase, and horsing around with their gorgeous daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka). But when the pair winds up with an unforeseen night alone, Dean presses Cindy to visit a gimmicky motel and opts, ominously, for the 'future room'. Like the cross-cutting, Cianfrance works this conceit with a deft touch. The neon blue hues of the future room are captured on the RED camera and clash perfectly with the warm red tones of the past, shot handheld on super 16mm. Similarly each vignette is superbly crafted, with the screenplay and editing ensuring every juxtaposition pays off for the audience, while the soundtrack by Grizzly Bear provides a musical throughline that ties the film together. Williams and Gosling convince absolutely as both halves of this Blue Valentine. Williams succeeds her stripped down performance from Wendy & Lucy, and though his young Dean shares a faint resemblance to Noah from The Notebook, Gosling is able to temper that earnestness with deeper emotional tones and some stark, poignant questioning. "You always hurt the ones you love," Dean serenades Cindy in one of the film's moving portents. It's a testament to the power of Blue Valentine that this hurt extends to the audience, for watching these two cinematic slow dances of hope and heartache is to experience it all for yourself. Palace Cinemas is holding advanced screenings of Blue Valentine on Wednesday 8th December and Sunday 19th December. Visit their website for more details. https://youtube.com/watch?v=aw0NChcdQfQ
In particle physics, mu meson is the former name for muon, an elementary particle, hypothesized to be the force that binds protons and neutrons together. After it exhibited only a weak attraction to nuclear matter, mu meson was cast out from the meson family and renamed. As a ridiculously overextended metaphor, this is kind of like the films screened at Mu Meson Archives. Many of the films proved less than attractive to audiences upon release, while many more are considered awkward moments in cinematic history. But, luckily for us, that’s why Jay Katz and Miss Death of Mu Meson love them. Almost any night of the week you can catch the best of the worst under the corrugated iron roof at the back of their home, with homemade supper included in the ticket price.Program highlights in August include Pray of the Roller Boys featuring awesome '90s yuppies in rollerblades; a special double-bill pussy night featuring Puss n Boots (1957) and The Uncanny (1977); conspiracy theories on UFOs, Dianna and the dollar bill; the usual range of rare music documentaries and subversive political films, and the monthly curated trash pit Freaks Geeks and Almost X-rated Peeks. Remember, it takes two to make a chemical reaction, so take a friend and get reactive at the Archives.Image: Knitler from Miss Death's monthly craft gathering Stitch n Bitch
For many people living in the inner city, a night out in Campbelltown is the start of a hardcore camping trip. If you’re one of those dreamers, here is your chance to celebrate your amazing powers of judgement. Twice a night, The Tent invites twenty people into a scrap metal and canvas world to join two mates, Brett and Michael, as they mull over the juicier bits of life. Unlike the usual banter of 4am philosophers, however, these two tackle the big issues with the help of superb puppetry, evocative sound and audio components and good old storytelling. Fresh from sell-out shows at the Next Wave and Liveworks Festivals, The Tent is a great excuse to dust off that passport and explore a part of Sydney’s growing artistic fringe.Photo by Debra Jason
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 Sizzler down the road. We even love the little drive down the M5. Our sincerest apologies, but there seems to be pretty much nothing here we aren't excessively enthusiastic about. New work from some of Australia's most awesomest video artists - including Philip Brophy, Pete Volich, Elvis Richardson, David Haines and Joyce Hinterding, Minaxi May and Ms&Mr - presented as large-scale projections every night on the front of the Campbelltown Arts Centre building, with a new one screened every eight weeks until March 2010. What's not to love? Image: Slide Show Land Dorothy by Elvis Richardson
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 â€" far from it. More because it’s difficult to resist the pull of arguments coming from a filmmaker like Franny Armstrong. While I wouldn’t consider myself a revolutionary, seeing her previous film, McLibel, changed my life. I started attending protests, joined a student socialist group and decided to become a teacher, since I was nurturing a strong but vague sense of wanting to ‘help people’.Fortunately or unfortunately for me, The Age Of Stupid is even more brilliant than her earlier work. How this film manages to be so reasonable, so accessible, so hilarious and so emotive at the same time is beyond my comprehension. You should see this film not because ‘you should’, but because it’s so darn enjoyable.https://youtube.com/watch?v=DZjsJdokC0s
Possibly the only person whose diaries have been read and analysed as often as Anne Frank’s, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara is no stranger. His face alone is one of the most world’s most recognisable images. Who he was, exactly, depends on your point of view: revolutionary, fanatic, hero, guerilla, theorist, poet, doctor, god, ruthless killer or the perfect icon for merchandise. Whatever your opinion, Che clearly has a fan in Benicio del Toro â€" who both starred in and produced these films, both full length epics in their own right. While it would be all too easy to turn the legend into a Hollywood blockbuster, director Steven Soderbergh has taken a more interesting approach. Presenting the narrative in fragments forces us to judge moments individually, and makes us work hard to piece together both the plot and an image of the entire man. Not always easy, but definitely worthwhile.We have 10 double passes (valid for both films) to give away, just email your details to hello@concreteplayground.com.au with "Free Che" in the subject line for your chance to win.https://youtube.com/watch?v=fqTw2dtVQzw
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 have a habit of being forgotten and this is precisely the fate of Canadian band, Anvil. Now, twenty five years after their misfire at the big time, soul mates Steve “Lips†Kudlow and Robb Reiner flirt with oblivion in an attempt to achieve fame once and for all.Director Sacha Gervasi has captured a beautiful story here, shot mainly in diluted colours and with close-ups that reveal the grotesque cherubs of Anvil’s world. Combined with David Norland’s snow-locked score, Gervasi’s documentary is an illustration of the frostbite of missed fame and dreams that refuse to be broken.There is every chance that you will cry in this film: the story of Lips and Reiner is a bleak, realistic take on what happens to most people who desire fame and success in the arts.https://youtube.com/watch?v=DT7v2nUcmek
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 evident - and centres around the life of an open hearted 'little hero' Thomas Klopper. The 9-nearly-ten-year-old (played by 33-year-old Matthew Whittet) writes down the things he sees that nobody else notices, discovers the joy of reading, composes his first love letter, makes friends with Jesus and embarks on his first forays into questioning authority - in particular that of the father and the Father. Marking the first collaboration in three decades between Neil Armfield's Company B and Kim Karpenter's Theatre of the Image, this new children's production raises several pertinent questions about bravery, fear, family and faith - with the critique of modern Christianity best achieved by the discrepancy between the funny, forgiving and open Christ who befriends Thomas, and the humourless, terrifying and dogmatic religious teachings the young boy's father imposes on him. The simple set design, live sound effects and playful choreography all work well, and a standout performance from Julie Forsyth as the eccentric neighbourhood witch Mrs Amersfoort injects the production with some very funny moments. But one is left with the feeling that E. B. White's words "anyone who writes down to children is simply wasting his time; you have to write up, not down," could have been better applied here. While dealing intelligently with some big ideas, The Book of Everything looses impact by crossing into the realms of cliché and caricature a little too often. Photo by Heidrun Lohr
Short films come in two flavours: the quick, one-two punch of a comic gag and the perfectly concentrated, pithy concept piece. A festival with only one type will stagnate pretty quickly, but one with both in balance can make for a worthy way to spend your time. Bondi's Flickerfest is such an outfit, and 2010's line-up is a rich programme of both international and homegrown bursts of inspiration. Those wanting to skinny dip in the meaningful should definitely check out the Stories of Human Rights session, while the Oscar Shorts demonstrate the growing recognition for brief flares of genius.
Optimism, that endangered species of the heart, is getting a double going over during this Sydney Festival. Though Tom Wright's modern adaptation will happily pick your pocket, American composer Leonard Bernstein's opera is far more humble in its demands for nothing. Rather like the drunken uncle on the ad hoc dance floor, Candide wants you to sway your hips luxuriously en masse in the steamy Domain. The ...in the Domain series is perfect as an emergency weekend filler over January, with the only punishing aspect being the inevitable crush of humans flocking to grab the best picnic spots. My advice is to befriend any homeless people in the area ahead of time, and then pay them to reserve a place for you. Not only will you get a great view of Paul McDermott, but you'll have made a solid gold human connection, which is what it's all really about in the end.
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 Mateo Blanco, played with a great sense of world-weariness by LluÃs Homar. Harry Caine is an ex-director come screenwriter with (literally) no vision, his view of the world and the manner in which he loses and gains it is the primary concern of the film. Its secondary concern is the further Almodóvar advancement for Penélope Cruz as a diverse and incredibly talented performer.A mainstay of Almodóvar's offerings is a multilayered storyline, each new character bringing both a new piece of insight and the ability to loosen a thread that may just unravel as much as it can tangle. Harry Caine, it is revealed, left his identity and successful career as director after the demise of the film-within-a-film Girls and Suitcases. The making of the comedy turns to tragedy viewers begin to grasp, as Broken Embraces advances towards its final "aha!" moment. Without giving any of the inner workings away, Girls and Suitcases starred Almodóvar's frequent collaborator Penélope Cruz, her character Lena (as opposed to the character she plays in the film) is a woman trapped by circumstance, unhappily married to a much older, powerful man who allows her to pursue her dream of acting only if he can act as producer. He enlists his son, a budding director, to capture on film all the action on set. Watched wherever she goes, Cruz â€" brilliant in a way that only Almodóvar seems to be able to truly capture â€" is watched wherever she goes, and is all too aware of it. Gorgeous and doomed, this voyeuristic aspect becomes claustrophobic over time, and it is evident that tragedy looms.Hovering on screen is Harry's friend and assistant, Judit. Played by the brilliant Blanca Portillo (always a welcome sight in Almodóvar's films) she may just hold the key to the past but is unwilling â€" through a combination of self-preservation and protectiveness for her son and friend â€" to fully divulge. As in most noir and mystery films, there comes the time when all must be revealed, and though it is framed by "and one more thing..." dialogue, the director is too deft to allow it to be mere trope, instead he plays it with a well-paced and lingering comic hand.Broken Embraces may be remembered as a great film, but it is only a very good film when considered against Almodóvar's recent hat-trick of Talk to Her, Bad Education and Volver, all as equally brilliant as another. While it lacks the punchy comedy of Volver and the aching sadness of Bad Education, Broken Embraces remains a real treat for fans of the director.https://youtube.com/watch?v=bN0SlBE8yGQ
I love a good David and Goliath scenario. Like when young filmmakers persistently plug away at their projects and bust through the backdoor of an industry that has its golden gates wide open to anything screaming blockbuster and little else. Or when a small inner city pub sticks it to multiplex cinemas by screening such films on their balcony for free. ‘Casting Couch’ is Darlo Bar’s very own renegade indie film festival, premiering all things moving picture-like, from features to video art, on the first Tuesday of every month. Next up is Fortune, the feature length directorial debut from Aussie actor-turned-director Peter Scarf. A psychological drama, Fortune zooms in on the interplay between three very intense, very compelling central characters played by Scott Cohen, Jason Shaw and Golden Globe winner Kier Dullea. Together with co-writer/producer Ahmad Diba, Scarf examines the complexity of the father/son dynamic and how power-lust and greed can perpetuate dysfunction and corrupt the human experience. Also screening will be NONO, a short featuring Aussie talent Adam Drage and described by NYC director Jeff Trent as "a treacherous journey into a savage wilderness; a desert song; an uncomfortable, lonely film." So ditch whatever dull-as-dishwater x-mas event you’ve got penciled in, and indulge in some quality cinema beneath the stars… and I think they said something about free popcorn?Image: NONO
If you're like me and make it a bit of a project to complain about a city dominated by cars, or how there should be an energetic density to any metropolitan machine, you might agree that Festival First Night is a step in the right direction. For the opening of the Sydney Festival roads will be closed and made available to pedestrian traffic, parks will be occupied and stocked with food and drinks, and various musical acts will seek out ears to enter. Traditionally (for Medieval men and women) the carnival was a temporary reversal of regulations, a chance for the general population of a city to converge in blasphemous celebration, where social roles and stigmas could be momentarily laughed at or ignored. While to promise such things here could be a little misleading, there are things to look forward to, such as circus lessons and music for the family in Hyde Park, The Manganiyar Seduction preview at dusk, Al Green's first Australian performance in the Domain, Voodoo Daddy in Martin Place, as well as 'Sax in the City' (involving saxophone players performing on mass around the city). Importantly, this is all free. Who knows, maybe we will get close to experiencing what Goethe (a clever German) eloquently wrote regarding public festivals: Crowded together, its members are astonished at themselves. They are accustomed at other times to seeing each other running hither in confusion, bustling about without order or discipline. Now this many-headed, many-minded, fickle, blundering monster suddenly sees itself united as one noble assembly, wielded into one mass, a single body animated by a single spirit."
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 gallery bar for free. They are launching their second album called Memory Walls, which sees them carrying on their ramshackle alt/pop with major head nods to Beck (almost too much so sometimes) and hat tips to pop artists as diverse as The Beach Boys and Bowie. Brendan Wixted is the curly headed honcho of the band, the main songwriter and wheels of the operation, and he pens some nice pop hooks with skewif lyrics over the top. Its Hard To Dance When Your Legs Are On Fire is a good example of his music, a strummy straight forward acoustic guitar drives the song and Wixted drawls affably over the top with lyrics that are obtuse and a melody that is almost drab, whilst casios and other bleeps and beeps are splashed around the background. Support comes from Melbourne's Plastic Palace Alice. These guys were everywhere for a while a few years ago, their song Empire Falls was unavoidable and their live show full of energy and charm. They disappeared for a while and after a few lineup changes, are back. So, coupled with their friends The Model School, it should be well worth the trip to Darlo for this free show.
In 1996, me and my friends skipped school to see Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day as soon as it opened. Aliens blew up the White House, Randy Quaid drove a cropduster right into the mothership and Will Smith punched an alien the face and said, “welcome to Earth†while chewing on a cigar. For my teenage boy brain this was the apotheosis of cinema. Citizen Kane for hormonal idiots.But since then, in a post 911 world (yeah, I said it) the idea of state monuments blowing up and the world in a state of chaos seemed to lose its fantastical edge. Emmerich's follow ups (10,000 BC, Eight Legged Freaks, The Day After Tomorrow) failed to hit the mark in quite the same way.Until now. 2012 is awesome, absolute destructo-porn. As far as mindless destruction goes, it outranks anything you’ve ever seen. Everything blows up. Plus all the performers are solid and no one seems to be taking it too seriously. Even the ridiculous, pseudo-scientific, plot is surprisingly plausible.The movie may divide people who don’t really go for this kind of thing. But if you went “Holy be-jesus!†when you saw the trailer, then the movie does exactly what it says on the box. For me, it’s hard to imagine anything matching the sheer silliness, mass destruction and spasmodic glee of this movie. But that’s what I thought in 1996. And they even blow up the White House again.
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 life brashly topped with Pogues like punk/sea shanty tunes, and all with heavy servings of chanting female backing vocals. The band is comprised of a weird, completely un-nuclear family, with members coming and going and the size of the band ever shifting between 6 and 12 members. They even had a big house they all lived in together until they got evicted â€" and you can hear this in the music â€" celebratory and bombastic, but in a gentle and lovely way. They have just released their second album Mr Pickwicks Camera (see it even sounds like a kids book). They have stripped it back to a 6 piece, losing some of the Cuthbert choir, and after seeing them live a few times and hearing the new songs, it seems they have focussed things nicely. Pace Ourselves the lead cut off the album is a great example of this, with the playful nature of their first album Love Needs Us extended on, with a slow bass and drum driven groove that Richie and co sing over with massive amounts of zeal and heart, before the synth kicks in with the melodicas for a great outro. They are great live, it's always a party that leaves you with warm fuzzies.https://youtube.com/watch?v=7LLbhPa_A0M
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 Wally has taken a good break to focus on The Basics as they have been touring through Japan and the UK/Europe extensively. They're also currently doing a big national tour to support the album. Lately they've dropped the barber shop shtick that they started out with and gotten away from the suits, the 50's kinda Buddy Holly vibe. I was mortified after listening to With This Ship, one of the tunes off the new album which has all the trappings of some big dumb emo band trying to pair it back to the basics (duh, no pun intended). But then, it seems this is a sore thumb on the otherwise ok pop album. Whilst the LP sees them struggling a little, or at least fossicking through genre and songs to become something more than an early Beatles incarnation, they are a good live band, and some of the songs would stand up nicely live, with the group of 3 talented musicians. So, probably worth popping your head into The Factory.https://youtube.com/watch?v=k-MsLoOevpU
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 session has already sold out, even before the fourteen finalists have been announced!The judges may well be a drawcard. Festival director Francis Coady has assembled an illustrious list including Beautiful Kate writer/director Rachel Ward, actor Damon Gameau (Underbelly, Balibo), writer/director David Caesar (Prime Mover), filmmaker Gracie Otto (3 Blind Mice) and Filmink editor Dov Kornits. Triple J’s Robbie Buck will be mc-ing the event, with a gourmet barbecue and well stocked bar available for patrons.For filmmakers, there are even more delicious treats to enjoy. Prizes for best film, cinematography, actor, script, music and design include a trip to the USA, $3000 and a wine soaked weekend away in the Hunter Valley. Plus the accolades from local film fans, as well as potential sunburn courtesy of Bondi Beach.Summer may not officially be upon us come November 28, but the Bondi Short Film Festival promises to kick off the season in cinematic style.To win one of five double passes to the Saturday matinee of the Bondi Short Film Festival email your name and address to hello@concreteplayground.com.au with 'Bondi' in the subject line.https://youtube.com/watch?v=QriRWpoiHIc
A central theme to She went that way, the first major exhibition of Raquel Ormella’s work, currently showing at Artspace, is memory — personal and collective.An image like The Domain reminds us all of a place we know. For Sydneysiders, it’s un–mistakable, for those from anywhere else, it’s their equivalent. Ormella’s ideas of space and perspective convey this familiarity. She has a gift to recognise the diurnal happenings and miss-happenings of our lives, and the guts to comment on them. Originally made in 2001, The Domain, like many other early works, has been re-jigged for the Artspace show.The show’s title suggests Ormella ran out the back door on the opening night, or during the install, leaving the gallery attendants pointing in her wake. It speaks not only of the relationship of the artist to their work, but also to the direction in which Ormella might be moving. As an artist working over an array of activities (video, painting, installation, drawing and zine production), who’s to tell which way she’ll go next.Image: Raquel Ormella, The Domain, Sydney, February 2001, 2001-09
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 in NZ and before New Rave came and (thank god) went, the Juggers were slogging between Sydney and Melbourne as a two-piece, playing every show they could gnash their teeth into. When they poached Dan Stricker from The Valentinos and released their debut album Dystopia, they went gangbusters. Sold out show after sold out show ensued, as well as tours through the US with Justice, remixes for almost everyone, being featured on über cool French dance label Kitsune and even programming a Fabric Live mix. They really thought outside the box, and, to their credit â€" thought outside Australia â€" which made them even more desirable and respected here.This New Technology is the first single off their forthcoming second album, and it's a bit of a departure. Leaving aside the oonce-oonce disco beat, the Melburnians do a bit of a psychedelic synth thing, over a soul style back beat before fading out with an ELO inspired outro. So it should be interesting to hear what else they've got in store for us when they hit The Metro on the 6th of November.NZ indie rockers Cut Off Your Hands, a great live act, will be opening.https://youtube.com/watch?v=pneTh7XXgEg
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 street in Waterloo, Danks is famous for its restaurants such as Danks Street Depot and Fratelli Fresh, and once a year throws the tastiest soiree in the city. The suburb of Waterloo was named after the 1815 battle (not the song), but you'll find no such warring festivities this Sunday. It's much more like Napoleon being taken to Waterloo: water theme park and having a blast.This year for the first time, there's a focus on sustainable food and its preparation with the addition of the Live Green Kitchen. Local celeb-chefs such as Kylie Kwong and Jared Ingersoll will be on hand to demonstrate cooking techniques with an environmental ethos. This way of thinking stems beyond food, with a handmade market popping up for the first time. While you glaze over from all the delicious treats, find your restraint taking a vacation as you poke around locally made handcrafts, knowing that the proceeds go to nearby artists and charities.It's not all new, though. Festival favourites will all be there too, including the design and produce markets. So that's your stomach and your wallet taken care of, but there will also be live entertainment all day, including the talents of The Donovans and Dimity Clare & The Bleeding Hearts. The website boasts "surprise shows you'll never forget"...Napoleon vs the Duke of Wellington and Blucher? Safe to say, not tonight, Josephine.
"In the end, our knowledge will have its revenge on us." (Nietzche)In his latest exhibition We Can’t Put it Together. It is Together. Jesse Hogan peers behind the curtain to see if there really is life after death. No, Hogan is not about to start preaching or perform live experiments a la Flatliners. But as with Flatliners, Hogan is interested in what happens when something ‘dies,' but doesn’t go away.Painting. The Rorschach Ink blot test. Plastic bags. All of these enjoyed a glorious hey-day in which they were hailed as triumphs of humankind. Yet each has also experienced a cultural backlash, ridiculed as evidence of yesteryear’s foolishness and dismissed as outdated failures. Perhaps the product of Gen-Y cynicism, Hogan asks his audience a simple question - what, if anything, can be taken at face value?
Kinji Fukasaku’s Battles Without Honour and Humanity (1973) harks back to a time when directors of mob films didn’t care about “slick,†they just focused on “violentâ€. The film follows Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), living the thug life on the mean streets of Hiroshima in 1945. In its post-war state, the city is an ideal battlefield for feuding Yakuza factions, under the watch of a dubious Japanese government. Battles covers ten years in its 99 minutes, and each generation of bosses seems to possess even less mercy than the last. The result is one of the most frenzied and unrelentingly intense films you’re ever likely to see.In a statement for his subsequent film Battle Royale (2000), Fukasaku says that he possessed “a poisonous hatred†for adults after his high school class was drafted to work on munitions for Japanese soldiers fighting in WWII. After being caught in crossfire, Fukasaku and his surviving classmates were made to bury the corpses.“This is the point of departure for all my films,†he says in the statement. “Lots of people die in my films. They die terrible deaths. But I make them this way because I don’t believe anyone would ever love or trust the films I make, any other way.†https://youtube.com/watch?v=KRnXpt94O1A
Death and taxes are two certainties in life. Good cinema, unfortunately, is not â€" but leave it to the Japanese to make a film about death and everyday tragedies that will make you laugh until you cry, or cry until you laugh, or both in no particular order.Departures follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a cellist in Tokyo who finds himself at a loose end when his orchestra is disbanded. After moving back to his hometown with his wife Mika (Ryoko Hirosue), he answers a job advertisement for a career in “departures†at an “NK agencyâ€. As it turns out, NK stands for nokan: the Japanese rite of “encoffinmentâ€, which occurs prior to cremation.From there, Daigo is forced to confront both an instinctive fear of human decay, and the prejudices of his young wife, and society, against those who deal with the dead. Complicating Daigo’s return home further still, memories of the father who abandoned him as a boy are at once omnipresent and painfully inaccessible.The beauty of Departures is that plenty of comic relief is interspersed among the heavier scenes â€" and it’s not always entirely differentiated. No one in the audience knew if they were supposed to be laughing during a scene where Daigo, Daigo’s employer Sasaki (Tsutomu Yamakazi) and the office secretary (Kimiko Yo) sit around a table and gorge on chicken wings. While they tear flesh from bones with greasy mitts, it’s hard to know how you’re supposed to feel. Is it an ashesâ€"toâ€"ashes analogy? Is it a parody of the futility of life? Is it simply a light-hearted scene to pass time between funerals?These questions are never fully answered. Instead, Departures holds its focus and its sense of purpose with the dedication of Daigo in his encoffinments, imbuing a subject so often mishandled in cinema with dignity and wit.https://youtube.com/watch?v=6UFlWO5zhO8
The Vikings didn't make it as far as Australia but the Nordic Film Festival is venturing to our shores for the first time this October. Films from the far northern lands of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark will be stopping at the Dendy Opera Quays for your cinematic pleasure. The festival kicks off with Sauna, a rather gruesome-looking twist on Finnish bathing culture by Jade Warrior director AJ Annila. Also screening is Finland’s 2009 entry to the Academy Awards, The Home of Dark Butterflies, an adaptation of a best-selling novel about one boy’s troubled upbringing in a secluded boys’ home. Sweden dishes up the Golden Globe nominated Everlasting Moments, about an early 20th Century woman transformed by the burgeoning art of photography. While Susanne Bier’s Once in a Lifetime looks at an entirely different cultural adventure: the Eurovision Song Contest. Two big budget blockbusters represent the Nordic resistance fighters of WWII: Norway’s Max Manus is hot off the press from the Toronto International Film Festival and Flame and Citron is Denmark’s take.Denmark is also previewing its 2010 entry for the Oscars, Terribly Happy. A black comedy in the vein of David Lynch and the Coen Brothers, Terribly Happy has already been slated for an English remake, so be sure to check out the original. For the full line up of the Nordic Film Festival, head to the Dendy website. https://youtube.com/watch?v=si8IqpZc8Fo https://youtube.com/watch?v=WbK4WTQFf9U https://youtube.com/watch?v=JYEz1z86ePg https://youtube.com/watch?v=Iy7Sf6GlPp4
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 the political and powerful Balibo got a look in, and now you’re rushing to see Bruce Beresford’s adaptation of Mao’s Last Dancer? Yes? No? Why? Why not?Metro Screen is holding a forum to toss around some ‘precious eggs’; discussing how and why there seems to be a schism between Australian cinema and Australian cinemagoers. Despite 2009 being a bumper year for local theatrical releases, for the most part it just hasn’t translated to the box office. Garry Maddox highlighted some sobering statistics in his article The Year in Pictures; also advocating for more Australian film heroes, and more marketing money. While Beautiful Kate director Rachel Ward* railed against the ‘dark and bleak’ monikers bestowed upon local fare, defending her ‘precious egg’ and suggesting Australian film critics need a vocabulary lesson. Both Maddox and Ward will be taking part on the panel to expand upon their thoughts. Moderated by Urban Cinefile’s Andrew Urban, other panellists include: Margaret Pomeranz (ABC At the Movies), Dr. Ruth Harley (CEO Screen Australia), Susan Hoerlein (Tsuki Publicity & Promotions manager), Tony Lum (Managing Director, Hopscotch Films), Kath Shelper (Producer of Samson & Delilah) and Anthony I. Ginnane (SPAA). Producer of Little Fish Liz Watts will also be guest speaker of the evening. Oz Film vs. Oz Audience isn’t going to be a group whinge, rather an animated and frank look at our film industry. Funding, filmmaking, marketing and distribution will all be up for discussion in an effort to source some solutions to overcome this cinematically great divide. *Read up on the debate:Lynden Barber's response to Rachel WardOn Beautiful Kate and Australian Criticism Michael Coulter: Screening the Same Old Dreary StoryLuke Buckmaster: Is Australian Film Still Down in the Dumps?OZ film vs. OZ audience. Forum by Metro Screen from Metro Screen on Vimeo. https://youtube.com/watch?v=PQ28vr7plFI
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 who was recently shortlisted in the Lempriere prize for her watery portraits of wacked out 60’s Pop Svengali Phil Spector. Now, in what seems like the most inevitable crossover since Magnum P.I. swaggered onto Murder She Wrote, these two flower children have joined forces at Black & Blue Gallery to bring us Soft Glue. We went to the opening last friday and can tell you that this is a seriously impressive exhibition with beautiful paintings, printwork and huge ambitious sculptural installations dominating the space.An exhibition this good deserves two openings. So they are doing it all over again – tomorrow! Get down and check it out all over again this friday night with new work from Bababa International and Dara Gill among others.
When Oxford Art Factory opened, Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, a music venue large enough to house international acts but not too showy to make locals feel out of place. They also combined many people’s two loves – music and art – with a gallery space in the smaller bar area where large-scale murals were commissioned from some of the country’s best artists. The venue’s latest initiative is to turn Friday nights into something more than just getting drunk at the pub with your work colleagues. After Work Art is a new weekly Friday night gig where a band is rostered on to perform three sets a night for a whole month, with cheap cocktails and beer, student discounts and movie screenings.September saw Canvas Kites performing three sets a night for a month and for October Sideways Hitchhiker are playing the weekly shows. Get on down and celebrate Friday with some people cooler than Gary at the desk across from yours.
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 Perro’s performance took the backseat, despite being the older and more accomplished of the two.Literally translated as ‘The Dog From The Sea', El Perro Del Mar is the project of Swedish singer-songwriter Sarah Assbring. Her jangly saccharine twee-pop is charming and unthreatening. Songs like God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get) and It’s All Good are wonderfully catchy, fun, and easy to sing-a-long to.On tour with her third album Love Is Not Pop, she’s performing with Sarah Blasko on Thursday October 8 at OAF. If you’ve just seen 500 Days Of Summer, read a Miranda July novel or Yen Magazine, or bought anything quirky and pastel coloured, this is the show for you â€" expect smiles and cuteness with a welcomed edginess.https://youtube.com/watch?v=KXbq-76PKsQ
Already sponsors of the successful nation-wide V Festival, Virgin Mobile have just signed on as sponsors of Sydney's Metro Theatre. One of the most successful live venues in the country, this re-branding won't change much about the iconic venue for some, but if you are a Virgin Mobile customer you'll reep the benefits of an upstairs members lounge, priority seating, free drinks and food at certain shows and the occasional opportunity to meet performers back-stage. Urthboy is one of the first to perform at the venue after its new found virginity. A member of legendary group The Herd, Urthboy is also one of Australia’s best solo MCs and has just released his third album Spitshine. For the Metro launch show he’ll be performing some new songs and some old classics alongside newcomers Horrorshow.
Take a moment to think about the phrase "brand spanking new". Right away we're in advertising land with a familiar catchphrase, but if you look at the individual words you find something a bit kinkier underneath. Branding and spanking tend to be the practice of elaborately dressed figures in underground lairs, the type of folk who use museum pieces in ways that'd make a curator blush to blemish.What does this say about the plays involved in Brand Spanking New's 2009 season of freshly inked, up-and-comers? Perhaps they'll leave a mark on you. Maybe they'll even gag, chain or cuff you into a state of shocking bliss. That or it's just an advertising catchphrase. The only way you'll know is if you check them out. Each week promises a different line-up of pleasure and pain, so repeat customers are very welcome!
It's closing time at the pub and a party mix of bright young things carouse on to their next destination. In the time-travelling tradition of Proust, these sixteen Gen Ys will each tell their story to the audience over the scant 100 metres it takes to reach the next street corner. All are fuelled by their unique desires and surface concerns, and yet there is something that connects these people together beyond friendship. Their words come out from the same mouth. Tim Spencer brings his award-winning solo show back to Sydney for a single week of performances as part of the ATYP Under the Wharf program. Drawing on both his skill with words and a love of vaudeville, Spencer performs with an energy that is as unrelenting as it is fragile, wooing his audience into a world of fairy lights and tender tragedies. Read an interview with Tim Spencer on our blog. Image by Alex Vaughan.
Somewhere in his genealogy, Simon Carter must share a substantial puddle of DNA with both Mark Oliver Everett and Jarvis Cocker. It may be as inane as their choice of spectacle frame and the shifting length of their facial carpet or, just maybe, there is a deeper connection to be found resonating on the poetic frequencies. Since The Cops returned to the doughnut shop indefinitely in 2008, Carter has worked hard to sculpt his new, solo persona. Drawing inspiration from country, pop, rock, psych and prog, Carter's musical alchemy has birthed an enticing homunculus in the form of the album, Black Book of the Universe. A sneak listen to the single Hard Rain reveals the level of emotion lying in wait for Carter's fan base; the Black Book contains a dirty, big world where a few sexy power chords ride high above solemn shadows in urban steam. Think Blade Runner without Vangelis. Launching his career into the next decade, Carter will perform on Thursdays at the Oxford Art Factory for the next month. Fans can expect to hear work from both the new Carter and from The Cops' back catalogue. https://youtube.com/watch?v=pTgqJhy2cXQ
If you thought Abstract Art was a movement relegated to the history books and the minds of hairless historians at the end of the 1950s you would be right, and wrong. Thankfully history is not a stop and start game; the emergence of one thing does not force the cessation of another. There are of course many histories happening simultaneously, propelled and sustained through various sources and cultural artefacts. To coincide with the Asia Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, Slot window gallery is presenting Philippine Abstraction – featuring work from the ‘grandfather’ of the genre Hernando. R Ocampo (acclaimed as the founder of a new method of abstraction that absorbs science fiction, fantasy, as well as flora and fauna) alongside the younger artist MMYu.
Music, according to recent studies conducted by David Teie, a cellist from the National Symphony Orchestra, and Charles Snowdon, a professor of psychology from the University of Wisconsin, is species-specific. While such a theory seems a little self-evident and obvious, its ramifications become audible when we consider our taste in music is predicated on our biology and early existence in the womb. Is there a correlation between that heavy bass line of your favorite song and the repetitive beat of our mother’s heart? Can that high pitched swirl of the composition correlate to the bioelectric pulses speeding through the body? If you would like to test out such a theory (and possibly say goodbye to the human family) the Red Rattler will be hoisting An Afternoon of Difficult Music, that will most likely trouble aspects of our taste and the customs of our ears.
Phil Spector is a creative genius. And, yes, a convicted killer. The documentary The Agony & Ecstasy of Phil Spector was filmed after his 2007 murder trial which resulted in a mistrial, and would be taken back to court in 2009 where he would be sentenced to 19 years in prison. It was this time when Spector, infamously reclusive, finally allowed a filmed interview inside his own home (a 30 room mansion). On tape, he speaks candidly of his legacy as a singer/songwriter and producer, and about his relationships. No matter your opinion of the murder case, his self-confessed "insanity", or for that matter, his erratic hairstyles (which he discusses in the film!), his jawdroppingly, heartgrabbingly, kneebucklingly influential artistic output in the twentieth century is not up for argument. This is the guy who invented the Wall of Sound, the man that Brian Wilson felt was his rival, the producer who worked with The Ronnettes, The Crystals, The Righteous Brothers, John Lennon, Tina Turner, George Harrison, The Ramones, and — goddamnit! — gave us A Christmas Gift from Phil Spector. The content of Agony & Ecstasy is much better than the actual film making (its attempts at poignancy fall flat every time), but with a subject like this it's impossible not to be involved and occasionally, it's downright chilling. Having sold out its single session at the 2009 Sydney Film Festival, Popcorn Taxi is presenting this documentary alongside a live Q&A with the director from London. https://youtube.com/watch?v=LRmRBrnQq8o
Prepare to be lulled into a heady state of amusement. Daniel Kitson is bringing his self-deprecating, brilliant arrogance to Sydney for the second time in two months, with his latest one-man theatre show.Kitson is a comedian who makes the state of being slightly depressed seem like the ultimate way to get around in life. He’s won a ton of awards, shuns the spotlight and is self-professedly socially inept when it comes to fans.66a Church Road, which premiered at Edinburgh last year, has been lauded as a piece of theatrical comic genius. According to the man himself, "it’s a lovely show. With a beautiful set, with battered suitcases lighting up in quite magical ways, and obviously I’m saying awesome stuff at the same time, brilliant. Wallop."https://youtube.com/watch?v=TbUqhxPGFXY
‘You gave me my first glimpse of a real life and then you ask me to carry on with a false one. No-one can endure that.’ - Newland Archer, The Age of InnocenceAs an accompaniment to its current exhibition Printmaking in the Age of Romanticism, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is serving up â€" slightly warm and blushing â€" a free cinema series set to thaw even the coldest of hearts.Beginning with Luchino Visconti’s sumptuous 1963 film The Leopard (the full-length, Palme d’Or winning version), this cinema series boasts five romanticism-inspired period films: The Age of Innocence, Cyrano de Bergerac, Pride and Prejudice and Picnic at Hanging Rock. Together they possess a litany of cinematic accolades, so indulge guilt-free your pleasure for epic tales of romance, longing, honour and betrayal â€" this is serious cultural fareIs it really necessary to resist the delicious, Scorcese-driven pairing of a young Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis? Ah, put away your Bukowski, it’s Keats’ time again. All breathy women and impeccably erect men - you shall endure it.image: The Leopardhttps://youtube.com/watch?v=nri054ZsIPM
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 a reality! The Neon Hearts team are turning Candy’s Apartment into a wacky social experiment by installing video cameras and photographers into the darkest club corners, ready to capture and broadcast your best and worst dance moves to the rest of the snappy-happy party goers. The Dirty Carpet Disco Band and MC Nikkita and DJ Kaputz are performing, and Sydney’s most photogenic DJs Sleater Brockman, Sirens, Jack Shit and the Neon Hearts DJ Team are keeping the music coming until the early hours.
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 shape as this year they have played both a twenty five show run of the UK and Europe with with fellow Melburnites Skull Hazzards and an extensive tour of the USA with prodigious rockers Young Widows. In fact the fruits of their tour with Young Widows’ will not just be left in the ether of sweaty rooms in the US of A – the two bands have just released a split 7†with new My Disco track Antler – that’s right two bands on the one record just like in the old days. The record is the latest My Disco release since last year's acclaimed Paradise which was produced by uber producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, Mogwai) and followed on from their 2006 debut, the sunnily titled Cancer. Their live show is renowned as disciplined, loud and cathartic and has seen them travel to Mexico and throughout South-East Asia, so I would say get yourselves down to the dimly lit Ox Art and get a good spot while they are back up the Hume.
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 for their efforts. Their full-length EtcEtc released album Cities Of Gold is out now, and to celebrate they are throwing a party with their Fringe Bar friends F.R.I.E.N.D/s on the apocalyptic 09.09.09. Come Wednesday, we could be facing complete destruction and the end of the world, but then it’s also quite fitting that they launch the record on judgement day. Let’s just hope the party is a more spiritual occasion than catastrophic one. I love this band. Go cheers their album with them! If the end is indeed nigh, I can’t think of a more deserving band to spend my last hours with.
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 you play your favourites first but risk late-comers missing the magic, or save all the best for last and hope people hang around long enough to hear them? And there is always the question of whether or not to take requests… That is why I am always so impressed at the Absolut 15 each year. At the annual event, 15 local DJs are allocated 15 minutes to impress the pants of their judging public, in the fight for $1000 cash for their favourite charity and $1000 for their pocket. Despite how uncomfortable I get for each of the competitors, it’s always a super fun night. And if you hate what the DJ is playing, you only have to wait 15 minutes for the next one to take over.
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 sick, fake death, just do whatever you need to do to. The upcoming Tenniscoats show is one of those shows you’ll be feigning-illness-and-getting-off-work for; listening to these Japanese pop gods play will have you floating away on soft, puffy white clouds and daydreaming of love, sunshine and all sweet things. Take your favourite person and get loved up.
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 meant something. When meaning something meant something. Well, now’s your chance to kick hard currency to the curb and shelve some soft clothing cash. At Rethreads, the only rules are that the ten clothing items you bring are not pilled, stained or pongy (woops, rules me out), and that you are ready to ‘let go’ (no embarrassing late night ex-texts, rules me out again). Oh, and knickers, togs and trackies will not be welcomed, weirdly. After that it’s a no-holds barred fashion free-for-all. As for the music and book swaps, the rules are a little shady. Yes to books about the Mile High Club, no Miles Franklin award winners? Yes to Christmas with RUN DMC, no to Christmas with Demis Roussos? If the bartering overloads your brain, don’t worry – there’s still some buy buy buy sell sell sell! available courtesy of Pigeon Ground, Venus in Furs and Newspaper Taxi. However whether there’ll be lollies from yesteryear, we don’t know … Perhaps bring your own. You might be able to swap ’em for something even sweeter.
