Monthly Archives: April 2015

April 14

Doldrums – The Air Conditioned Nightmare over at The Essential. (Music review)

Check out my Doldrums review over at The Essential: A problem common to all writers facing their terrifying confrontation with the abyss is to avoid the much-needed soul soothing until after the experience’s detail has been taken down. You can’t just talk about anxiety. It must accompany you in order for it to properly infuse […]

April 13

Simpson, J 202 – Genesian Theatre and the ANZAC spirit. (Theatre review)

Simpson, J. 202 Genesian Theatre 11 April – 2 May. You can grab your tickets here. Images by Grant Fraser John jack Simpson Kirkpatrick is an intriguing fellow. Posthumously used rather shamelessly as a propaganda story, the real human story, the man behind the myth is, as to be expected, much more interesting than all […]

April 08

Mommy – Darling Xavier Dolan. (Film Review)

Mommy is now showing at the Sydney Film Festival You can grab your tickets here I am reposting this review, because it is opening mainstream tomorrow. Don’t miss this exceptional film. It’s scary stuff when a film praised as highly as Xavier Dolan’s Mommy exceeds expectations, but it does, and no matter how many reviews […]

April 08

GY!BE – Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress. Music from the muse. (Music Review)

I had a glorious time reviewing Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, the latest offering from Godspeed You! Black Emperor. One of my favorite musical experiences of 2015 so far. Check it out over at The Essential: Since the 2012 release of Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend, Efrim Menuck has come out as an anarchist, which is […]

April 03

Courtney Barnett : Sometimes I sit and think and sometimes I just sit. (Music review)

Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit. Courtney Barnett Milk Records The trick with the slacker style lyric is to take the mundane and give it a borderline spin that skims the surface from trite through to catchy clever, taking the listener constantly  by surprise from the sparky initial engagement through to […]

April 02

The Notebook – Agota Kristof and a sensual, cold, cruel passion. (Book review)

The Notebook Author: Agota Kristof Translator: Alan Sheridan Publisher: Grove/Atlantic Published first in French in 1986 and then translated into thirty languages after Kristof won the European prize for French literature, The Notebook (the first in a trilogy) is one of the most disturbing accounts of war-torn society because of its focus, not on the […]