There was once a troubadour named John Darnielle. As a child, he found his heroes in the ring of professional wrestling. There, fearless warriors played their part in a system of justice as black and white as the screens of the televisions upon which they appeared. Years later, that childhood fire of passion still burned bright…
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It is a sad reality that even the most vociferous among us in favour of human equality, tend to overlook in our considerations people who are differently-abled. So, sometimes a bite-sized morsel of empathy in the form of a two-hour, independent film is necessary to remind us that there are people out there who have…
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It is hard not to compare Craft Spells’ new EP, Gallery, with their entrancing debut album of last year, Idle Labor. Those as yet uninitiated into the warm, fuzzy dream that is glo-fi, should find themselves a copy of the latter as soon as possible. But it would seem as though Gallery is like the…
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Something is rotten in the state of South Australia. Let me introduce you to the new SACE (South Australia Certificate of Education). It would be hard to imagine a world where the state’s education curriculum isn’t a contentious issue. Parents, and children who have progressed beyond just simply resenting the education system, will always have…
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The Darkness, a band that some may remember from mid-last decade for their hits ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ and ‘Love On The Rocks With No Ice’, or for lead man Justin Hawkins’ penchant for aerobics outfits and feather boas, broke up in 2006. Luckily, they have recently reformed to go on tour…
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It is often that we get albums that sing of love. This is one of those albums. Yet don’t let its title, Put Your Back N 2 It, fool you into thinking it is the latest by Ice Cube. Think more along the lines of Bon Iver or Sufjan Stevens (or even, on the track…
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The next time you hear that old wearied refrain, ‘They don’t make music like they used to!’, simply hand the utterer a copy of Boys & Girls by Alabama Shakes and bask in the guilty pleasure that is proving someone wrong. With elements of soul, country, blues, and roots, the debut album by this group…
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It’s almost a new record by Grinderman… Here we have Grinderman 2 RMX, a kind of appendix to the band’s last studio release, Grinderman 2 (which followed their debut Grinderman; don’t worry though, they are far more inventive than their album titles would suggest). It comes after frontman Nick Cave announced the band’s dissolution on…
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WOMAD, or World of Music and Dance, is about people together and introducing them to music they would likely have never heard before – certainly not on the top 40 charts anyway (or whatever it is that we typically measure ‘good’ music by). This four day festival experience, which takes place in Adelaide’s beautiful Botanic…
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I have been wanting to write this article for some time now. Then, when I noticed the recent lip article ‘healthy bytes: pads vs. tampons’, I felt the time was nigh. In that article, the author notes the importance of learning about the hows, whys and whats of pads and tampons, ‘since we all use…
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This year was the Big Day Out’s 20th birthday. Of course, it is the 21st birthday that we all celebrate as the big one (though one can only wonder why this is the case in Australia), which may be the reason that the festival was at, ahem, less than full capacity for its Adelaide show….
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With a sound like Lou Reed hi-jacked The Shangri-Las and took a trip down memory lane, this is Hunx & His Punx with their debut album, Too Young To Be In Love. Coming about a half century after the doo-wop, beach pop it lovingly channels, this collection of tunes can’t be solely judged on its…
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Is this you? Do you instinctively shy away from instrumental music and/or music that is described as ‘experimental’? Or, at the very least, do you prepare yourself for it mentally, telling yourself you’ll have to concentrate really hard if you’re to have any chance of ‘getting’ it, and therefore enjoying it? If so, then we…
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The boys from Evermore, Russell Crowe, Phar Lap… Kimbra shall surely be the next in a proud line of talents in whom Australians will develop a strong national pride – despite the fact that she’s actually from New Zealand. But hey, let’s not be getting caught up in mere details. Vows is Kimbra’s debut album,…
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