Music
Riding the crazy-wave with Lana Del Rey
Don’t worry, this is not another post about whether Lana Del Rey is a worthwhile popstar or not. It’s a rant about the personal crisis I had after watching her video Ride, released in September last year. ‘It’s Thelma and Louise meets grindhouse meets David Lynch,’ … Read more
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A Christian’s Christmas
Being a Christian doesn’t exactly earn you cool points in the workplace – especially around Christmas. If a colleague asks, ‘What are you doing over the break?’ responding enthusiastically with something like ‘CELEBRATING THE BIRTH OF MY LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST!’ can result in the loss … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
How can you tell a good feminist pop star?
After I wrote my first-ever Killings piece – in which I argued that the booty-shakin’ queen of pop wasn’t very feminist in her video for ‘Run the World (Girls)’ even though she kinda tried to be – I spent the following months terrified that Beyoncé would … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
‘Angie Hart made me want to move to Melbourne’: Stories of loving a local singer
Many of us have a favourite local musician whom we stalk from pub to pub, year after year, hoping they’ll eventually recognise us, thank us profusely for our loyalty and support, and buy us a drink, which will be the first of many drinks and the beginning … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
Tapas and tattoos: celebrating craft in Melbourne
Section of The Melbourne Tapa: Lose Matala Koe Kilisital by Sesilia Veamatahau Wardell, 2012, feta’aki, cassava paste, acrylic, 150cm x 150cm When I think of the word ‘craft’, a range of images are conjured, from construction paper glued to Paddle Pop sticks with Clag, to the finest, … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
Discipline, art and writing: tackling the question of contemporaneity
Discipline is a new, Melbourne-based contemporary art journal with a distinct agenda. According to its website, the journal ‘aims to ground a new body of sustained intellectual writing about contemporary art that does not merely fall back on the crutch of plurality as a means for theorising … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
My shadow flows into the world: Lindy Lee and explorations of self
Upon entering Lindy Lee’s latest exhibition in Melbourne, ‘Mystical Realism – A Record Of Things Experienced’, I was confronted by a range of images, textures, shapes, patterns, configurations and materials. Among the more traditional painterly and sculptural media of paper, ink, linen, steel and bronze, Lee also … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
‘There aren’t any funny women out there’: perceptions of gender in stand-up comedy
Of the 202 Australian stand-up shows at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, less than 25% of the acts were by solo women or women-only teams. I wasn’t particularly surprised about this, since gender imbalances are common in other creative industries (such as writing, as we know) but my inner feminist was still left feeling rather pummelled. Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
From paste-ups to people: Laura Alice and the Street Heart arts project
As I park my car beside Labuan Square, a small shopping strip in Norlane, Geelong, artist Laura Alice greets me with smile. She ushers me into the non-profit café where she regularly volunteers, orders me a latté and a chicken sandwich, and sits me down below a … Read more
Column: Art / Music / Theatre
Living a Pop Life: The rise and fall of Smash Hits Australia
Eighteen months ago, while I was clearing out old boxes at my parents’ house, I came across a relic from my childhood: two Smash Hits sticker sheets, intact, covered with my favourite pop artists and TV stars. Mariah Carey, the Backstreet Boys, Hanson, Jonathan Taylor Thomas … Read more
