When Ghost Funk Orchestra’s debut LP for Karma Chief, Song For Paul, made its way onto turntables back in 2019, it felt like it was created in some alternate version of the early 1970s. Helmed by sonic mastermind Seth Applebaum, the band’s jazz-funk rhythms, psychedelic guitars, staccato horns, and soulful female harmonies drenched in reverb…
It is Melbourne 1991. Recession grips the country. A couple of outcasts are in love but out of work. They are going nowhere and make do by robbing small retail outlets, stabbing some victims and causing mayhem. Emma (Veronica Thomas) is the talker, someone who would like Jay (Matthew Connell) to express himself more. The pair drinks too…
The rough lot of an impoverished farming clan is front and centre in Gundog, a dramatic and confronting play with lashes of humour. Although written by Simon Longman from the West Midlands and set on a remote, rundown property in the UK, it fits comfortably into the Australian milieu. The introduction makes quite the impression, courtesy…
The true crime podcaster as investigator is continuing to trend in crime fiction. Recent examples include Benjamin Stevenson (Greenlight), Amy Suiter Clark (Girl 11) and Charlie Donlea (Don’t Believe It). In Double Lives Kate McCaffrey, if anything, doubles down on this trend, as many of the chapters are podcast episode transcripts. Amy Rhinehart is a…
A New Zealand fundamentalist church is under the spotlight in Gloriavale. The Christian community, located at Haupiri, north-west of Christchurch, is home to about 600 people from 70 families. Neville Cooper, who changed his name to Hopeful Christian, founded it in 1969. It stands accused of using slave labour and exploiting women and children. The…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 4 November 2022. Emmet Cohen’s time has come. Since the release of Future Stride, Cohen has toured the world consistently — bringing the joy of music to people in need during a global pandemic — all while hosting weekly…
For those – like me – who haven’t seen the popular Netflix series on which Stranger Sings! is based, Stranger Things is hugely successful. Set in the 1980s, primarily in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, it is an American science fiction horror drama featuring, among others, Winona Ryder. It centres on mysteries and supernatural events…
Part of Belloo Creative’s mission is to bring people and stories out of the shadows. Appropriately then, the female-led, award-winning company’s latest production, Boy, Lost covers the true story of one family’s loss and redemption. The years-in-the-making world premiere work has been adapted for the stage by Katherine Lyall-Watson from Kristina Olsson’s award-winning memoir. It…
Enthusiasm, expectation and excitement in the first half give way to drama and raw emotion in the second act in Titanic The Musical In Concert. 1,517 people, more than two thirds of those that boarded the world’s largest moving object, died after the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40pm on 14th April, 1912 and…
Cecilia – known as Sissy – is a charming, good natured influencer relaying messages of positivity to her 200,000 followers. It’s a far cry from her days as a pre-teen when she and her BFF Emma vowed to grow old together. They even buried a time capsule containing video footage of their shared affection. Now…
