Two new and very different works, each lasting just under an hour, constitute the opening of the 2023 ballet season in Melbourne for The Australian Ballet. Named Identity, in a nutshell it is contemporary dance versus traditional ballet. While there were elements of both that I admired, I felt there was too much repetition in the first,…
When Sam Jones’ documentary, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, dropped earlier this year, music fans not only got an inside look into the making of the 2020 release from Jason Isbell and his band The 400 Unit, Reunions, but we also witnessed the tensions as the singer-songwriter struggled to get the words of…
Olivia Ruggiero is talented. No doubt about it. She is operatic and she is adept at musical theatre, but at times there is a struggle between the two. I noted that very early on in Broadway Diva, when she sang a medley of show tunes. The operatic tended to overwhelm what I would call traditional musical theatre and…
The highly entertaining two-hour show could be called the soundtrack of the glorious Robyn Archer’s life. She, accompanied by a highly talented three-piece band – who also provide backing vocals – bring us largely a collection of little-known songs and a few poems. There are a few tunes she wrote and others that chart the path of…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 9 June 2023. Jayda G, the Grammy-nominated writer, producer, DJ, environmental toxicologist, campaigner and broadcaster, returns with her new full length album Guy; co-produced with Jack Peñate (who has previously worked with the likes of SAULT, David Byrne and…
For all their efforts to expand their 8-piece band’s sound to include psychedelia and hip-hop rhythms, and as wide ranging as their lyrical pursuits have been – whether exploring Greek mythology, space travel and astronomical phenomenon, or sci-fi fantasy – St. Paul and The Broken Bones has always been a funky, R&B revue at heart….
As Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 Oliver Stone-directed hit film Wall Street, Michael Douglas said “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”. I venture to suggest that Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt, who has created the impressive multiscreen installation Euphoria, would vehemently disagree. Using the musings of more than 100 economists, business magnates, writers and celebrities,…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 2 June 2023. Pianists Rebeca Omordia and Martin Jones present Maconchy, Lutyens & Wallen: Works for Piano & Orchestra, a world premiere recording of works for piano and orchestra by three major composers. Joining with the BBC Concert Orchestra…
In the realm of surf rock, few bands capture the spirit of the genre as brilliantly as The Bomboras. With their energetic performances and undeniable talent, the band consistently delivered a unique and captivating sound that soared in the early ’90s. However, it all came to an exhilarating end after their 1994 record, “Head Shrinkin’…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 26 May 2023. Baby Rose makes healing music for the aimless and heartbroken. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and producer’s uniquely rich voice naturally lends itself to her powerful, smoke-filled ballads lamenting lost loves and broken futures. “I make music to…
