Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 1 October 2021. As a lifelong fan of anime, Steven Ellison (better known as Flying Lotus) was struck by the lack of Black characters in the genre. So he decided to do something about it, signing on as an…
The ABC’s brilliant little gem Rosehaven is now no more. We’ve reviewed it in the (web)pages of The Blurb previously. But with the show now wrapped forever, it seems a fitting time to look back at this memorable work of local production. What began as “the little show that could” in 2016 has vaulted into…
It won’t take you long into High Pony’s excellent third LP, All We Did Was Dream, to realize how much you miss some straightforward indie rock. The Brooklyn band is a testament to taking a step back and finding your true sound. After over 70 shows, a tour, and numerous line up changes, High Pony…
Colson Whitehead deservedly won the Pulitzer Prize (and a bunch of other awards) for his previous two novels. Both detailed tragic times in the history of America: The Underground Railroad (2016) was a dark fantasy on responses to slavery, while The Nickle Boys (2019) explored the impact of institutionalisation and the associated abuse of young…
Not to be confused with Barry Levinson’s 1994 erotic thriller of the same name, the provocative and intimate drama Disclosure looks at the darker side of suburban life in contemporary Australia. Two sets of parents gather together to discuss an incident involving their children, but things turn ugly as the impromptu meeting progresses. Natasha Bowman,…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 24 September 2021. The Shivas’ new record Feels So Good // Feels So Bad is an album about acceptance. Sometimes that acceptance feels enlightened and sometimes it feels like the end result of a lot of kicking and screaming….
Inspired by real events, Persian Lessons is the story of one man’s heart-wrenching struggle to survive the Holocaust. Gilles (Nahuel Perez Biscayart) is a Belgian Jew, captured in France in 1942 while trying to make his way to Switzerland. He’s is bundled into the back of a truck along with many others. They expect to…
The Norwegian comedy Diana’s Wedding really puts family values to the test. This small film offers some hard truths, wrapped in that peculiarly Scandinavian sense of humour. Director Charlotte Blom doubles as the screenwriter. She brings a sharply observational style to what is essentially a kitchen-sink dramedy, but doesn’t seek to inject any great flair…
Hey What is the 13th studio album from Low, the curious noise band that juxtaposes challenging instrumentals against the sweet and often harmonious vocals of the married duo, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker. Like much of the contemporary compositions made in “serious music” circles (think modern takes on classical), Low can sound discordant, chaotic, noisy….
Finnish author Cristina Sandu has translated her own second novel The Union of Synchronised Swimmers, her first to be published in English. This work is almost a work of micro fiction. In a novella of just over one hundred pages, Sandu tells six separate stories and then provides connective tissue between them. The story that…
