Posted by KB on February 14, 2012
It’s been just on a year since two Melburnites took over a three-story terrace of Oxford Street and gave us Hunky Dory Social Club. We’ve spent our fair share of Saturdays choosing cocktails from the Little Golden Book menus and making the most of the rooftop garden bar – such a rare find in this city – but now our sights are on Bruno’s, the venue’s street level eatery.
As with the rest of Hunky Dory’s, you’ll find plenty of personality in the decor: black crochet table cloths, a ceiling covered in cowhides and a whole wall of religious paintings, purchased by the owners for the unholy price of $666. But it’s the menu that has put Bruno’s back in the spotlight, getting a recent revamp with the appointment of a new head chef, Daniele Trimarchi. He comes to the kitchen by way of Fratelli Paradiso and Icebergs, so as you’d expect his influence has been entirely Italian.More...
hunky dory social club, brunos, italian, restaurants
Posted by KB on October 21, 2011
It’s no secret that Sydney’s pub food has taken a distinct turn towards the Americas. It’s now a pretty rare thing that you don’t have the option of some kind of taco, hot dog or bite-sized burger to go with your beer. And while we’re massive fans of the fresh flavours (and pulled pork) on offer, we decided to re-explore the world of the original beer-drinking food: German.
We figured you can’t go too far wrong with a restaurant that means ‘eat’ in German, so we headed off to Essen on Broadway. You may know it as the place that used to be Una’s. It still has a connection to the old place by way of owner and executive chef Geert Elzinga, previously an owner at Una’s, who has moved the focus away from the simple schnitzel and expanded on the hearty European theme.More...
essen, german, beer, broadway, pork, restuarants
Posted by AndyRyan on August 22, 2011
Yearlings is the third release, following a previous EP and album, in the four-year existence of Sydney’s Dead Letter Chorus. It is an album that is confidently comes at you made by a band who have figured out what they are all about. They tackle the eternal quandary and elation of a newly evolving love across the ten precise songs within; with aware and insightful lyrics such as ‘you helped me lift my heart, it weighed a tonne/ because two is always better than one’ elevating it above the usual emotion blinded clichéd bluster the subject is capable of giving rise to.More...
dead letter chorus, yearlings, gabrielle huber, les cooper
Posted by KB on August 2, 2011
Somehow we seemed to have ended up with an Italian food mindset which equates authentic with traditional. Where the only ‘real’ Italian food comes from a home-style kitchen, just the way nonna used to make it. But unfortunately that leaves something of a gap between that and the modern Italian restaurants.
And that’s why we like Caffe Sicilia so much. A bold black and white outfit, with plenty of marble and gold trim, it seems to come straight out of 1940s Sicily and landed perfectly between our two extremes. It’s as authentic as it comes, but there’s nothing home-style about it.
As you’d expect from an island, Sicilian cuisine is heavy on the seafood, which is reflected in the menu here. There are other options (braised spatchcock, veal involtini) but it makes sense to stick with the waiter’s suggestion of fish; the staff really know what they’re doing. More...
caffe sicilia, italian, surry hills
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on August 2, 2011
For the second year running, Splendour in The Grass took over the humble town of Woodford, Queensland for a weekend of sun-soaked, dust-ingrained shenanigans against a stellar soundtrack of live music.
Whether your outfit of choice was a full blown cow, penguin, panda or dog outfit or just a furry animal beanie, you would have fitted right in with this years' peculiar theme of animal dress.
If you wanted to be a bit more stylish, there were some awesome pop up stores dotted around including Aje, Maurie and Eve, General Pants Co. as well as the Mo'rockin Wine Bar, Strongbow booze boat and some delicious food from Grill'd, Govindas, Hungarian Langos, dumplings, German Bratwurst, obligatory festival Gozleme, corn and about twenty million more.
But we're not here to talk about food, are we? We are here for the tunes, so here goes...
Day One
After lining up for twenty minutes to get into the main gates from the campsite (daily festival-fail), we took in the massive festival site as we bee-lined to the Amphitheatre for Jinja Safari. The Sydney band’s playful folk pop was the perfect accompaniment for the sunny Friday afternoon. Marcus Azon closed the set by crowd surfing to the back, jumping to the ground and leading the audience in a run around the valley. More...
illy, jinja safari, splendour in the grass, woodford, kanye west, james blake, the hives, pnau, thievery corporation, gomez, foster the people, friendly fires, pulp, coldplay, cloud control
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on July 20, 2011
A breath of fresh air is coming to the Sydney Spring festival scene in the form of the inaugural música /TUMBALONG festival.
The boutique event will be held in Sydney’s Tumbalong Park on Saturday 22nd October and will feature a carefully selected line up of nine artists, most of which will be performing in Australia for the first time.
Masked UK export SBTRKT has been tearing up the London dubstep scene for the last couple of years. Following the release of his addictive debut XL, which featured vocals from Sampha, Jessie Ware and Yukimi from Little Dragon, he is fast becoming one of the most watched artists of 2011.
Fellow Brit Ghostpoet has also exploded out of the UK underground scene with his unique beats and sleepy smooth lyrical style.
música /TUMBALONG festival will also host local talent with Mitzi, Simon Caldwell and Bon Chat, Bon Rat. The line up also includes Baths (US), Electric Wire Hustle (NZ), Lunice (CAN), and Tiger & Woods (ITA).
As we've come to expect from música, the focus will be on quality over quantity. The event will be hosted on one main stage for a smaller audience than Sydneysiders have come to expect from festivals.
Tickets are on sale on July 26th.
música, Baths, Bon Chat, Bon Rat, Electric Wire Hustle, Ghostpoet, LUNICE, Mitzi, SBTRKT, Simon Caldwell, Tiger & Woods, tumbalong park
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on June 20, 2011
After eight years of being one of Sydney’s favourite indie exports, Red Riders announced to the world that they would be disbanding.
They've racked up the miles throughout the USA and Australia alongside Franz Ferdinand, Jet, The Shins, Faker, Snow Patrol and The Living End. Their sold out final gig at Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory on Saturday night attracted a huge crowd, showing the support that they have amasssed from their hard yards on the road.
In 2008, Red Riders went through some changes when Adrian Deutsch left the band and was shortly replaced by Brad Heald (guitar) of The Vines. As a proper salute to their time together, Adrian came onstage to rejoin his original bandmates Alex Grigg (vocals & guitar), Tom Wallace (drums) and Mathew Chapman (bass) for some of their earlier tunes off their debut Replica Replica (2006) including the stand out tracks “My Love Is Stronger Than Your Love” and “Slide In Next To Me”. More...
red riders, oxford art factory, alex grigg, adrian deutsch, brad heald, tom wallace, mathew chapman, drown in colour, replica replica
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on June 2, 2011
Walking into one of Odd Future’s three sold out gigs at Sydney Opera House’s Studio, I spotted a few elderly patrons and I couldn’t help but cringe for what they were about to witness.
Offensive, degrading, sexist, violent. These are a few words that have been used to describe a group that came out of relative obscurity in early 2010. In their first Australian appearance as part of the Modular programmed Vivid LIVE line-up, the massively hyped group are indeed pushing many buttons.
Following months of free releases, mixtapes, videos and Tyler’s self-released Bastard in 2010, the group is almost making Eminem look like Sesame Street. But the funny thing is as much as people complain about the shocking content of their lyrics, it is clear that the profanities have little to no meaning. After all the spitting, swearing, the umpteenth chant of “Suck My Dick” and the countless middle fingers thrown up to the crowd, it barely warrants a mention. All of this slamming against a relentless bassline that was so loud it could have (and very well may have) ruptured a few eardrums.
The hyped up swarm in the moshpit absolutely loved it. From the second Tyler the Creator exploded onto stage in his green goblin mask, the crowd was his. Chants of “Wolf Gang” and “Free Earl” pulsed repetitively as hands were raised in salute. More...
odd future, tyler the creator, ofwgkta, vivid live, vivid sydney, sydney opera house, halfway crookes
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on May 31, 2011
It was somewhat surprising to find that WU LYF (World Unite/Lucifer Youth Foundation), a band that has firmly (if unintentionally) shrouded itself in mystery, play a very organised and structured set. Exactly on time, with no supporting act and one neat encore. As a band that recorded their debut in an abandoned church, this rigidness was most likely due to the structured timings of the organisers, Vivid Sydney, than the English lads themselves.
With LYF stitched into his denim jacket and a rough Mohawk shaved into his hair, Ellery Roberts' intense vocals were erratic and passionate; each note ripped out of his lungs in short bursts and scattered against a backdrop of Tom McClung’s effortless bass riffs. Although the lyrics were hard to understand, each band member obviously believes in every single word. Eyes squeezed shut, guitarist Evans Kati mouthed the words and drummer Joseph Manning was so into it, he lost his shirt only two songs in.
There may not have been tears, but blood and sweat definitely went into this performance. Halfway through their set, Roberts pointed out to McClung that he was bleeding above his temple. Looking bewildered, McClung said, “You made me bleed Sydney... but I like it!” More...
wu lyf, vivid live, vivid sydney, sydney opera house
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on May 30, 2011
The smell of hot buttered popcorn filled the air of Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory for Sosueme’s 4th Birthday on Saturday eve. Party hats adorned most heads and the fairy floss lady spun her delicious orbs of sugar all night long.
Proudly 99% genre free, Sosueme is the cultural conglomerate that regularly provides Sydney with artistic and musical stimulation. The self-proclaimed “tear in the space/time fabric of PARTY” combines behind-the-scenes action - the producers, designers and promoters - with the spotlight queens, a.k.a the bands, DJ’s and fashion superstars.
In celebration of Sosueme’s day of conception, a bunch of up and coming bands dropped by to say Happy Birthday. Melbournites Stonefield and Redcoats joined Parades, Guineafowl, Pluto Jonze, Alison Wonderland, Joyride & the Accidents, Mrs Bishop, Bon Chat Bon Rat and Furnace & the Fundamentals in the Live Art Space and the Gallery Bar. More...
sosueme, oxford art factory, parades, pluto jonze, guineafowl, stonefield, splendour in the grass, alison wonderland, pedestrian DJs, falcona
Posted by kluster on May 16, 2011
I have a long, rich history with Bertolt Brecht. It began in Year 11 drama class and continues to this day. In summary: anyone who dedicates their life work to the exploration of anything epic, let alone epic theatre, is alright by me.
So, it goes without saying (although, I’ll say it regardless – for dramatic effect) that I approached the Sydney Theatre Company’s Baal with a large degree of anticipation - and a small amount of trepidation.
This newest reworking of Baal - a Malthouse Theatre co-production - is somewhat brief at 70 minutes from opening line to conclusion. That, coupled with the young median age of the cast, extremely high amount of on-stage nudity and the explored themes of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll more than subtly suggest that this offering is aimed at the younger end of the STC audience demographic.
If their aim is, as we suspect, to engage a younger audience, Malthouse Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company have created the kind of production that will undoubtedly do just that. Powerful and original, Baal is true to Brecht’s original intention without presenting as staid. The aforementioned young cast work under what can only be described as trying conditions (revealing any more would be tantamount to an experience spoiler and it’s better seen than read anyway, so I’ll elaborate no further) and more than rise to the occasion.
If a strong script delivered by a powerful young cast, nudity and some darn impressive scene changes are your idea of good entertainment book thee a ticket to Baal. For those of you under 30, don't forget to take advantage of the Sydney Theatre Company's reduced ticket prices offers.
Baal is now playing at Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company.
For more from the stage see Kluster's Theatre.
sydney theatre company, baal, malthouse theatre
Posted by Danni Le Toullec on April 10, 2011
Fresh from their March tour of the US and appearance at SXSW, The Jezabels played to yet another packed crowd at Sydney's Metro Theatre on Friday night.
The band has been pumping the touring circuit of late and fans are lapping it up. Following a busy Summer festival season that saw them tear up the stages at Falls Festival and Peats Ridge Festival and sell out eleven shows on their national Dark Storm tour, lead singer Hayley Mary, Sam Lockwood (guitar), Nik Kaloper (drums) and Heather Shannon (keys) are noticeably more in tune with each other and their sound than ever before.
Not too long ago, I saw them perform in a paddock under a canopy of stars in the Glenworth Valley. This time around Hayley's lofty voice nestled into the more intimate setting and the emotion in "Hurt me" and "Easy to Love" was more tangible, although those high-reaching notes were not easily mimicked by punters attempting to sing along. Sheathed in black, Hayley stalked the stage, her lithe body and liquid movements creating a distinct feline quality. More...
the jezabels, ernest ellis, metro theatre, groovin the moo