New Music 01/2023 – ThornBird, Aurora, Mdou Moctar
Category: Reviews
Solo album from one-third of The Waifs; a newie from my favourite Norwegian forest spirit; electrifying desert blues.
My Brilliant Career – Film Review
Another long-overdue Aussie classic off my list, this one is a sensitively filmed story about the choices of a rebellious young woman growing up in rural Australia at the turn of the last century.
Rina Sawayama @ 170 Russell (01/2023)
Fun start to live music in the new year with a powerhouse gig by a Japanese-British pop star, who by all rights should be the next Lady Gaga.
Belfast – Film Review
It’s impossible not to be charmed by Kenneth Branagh’s personal, warm-hearted movie about the city of his childhood, even if it’s ultimately a tad too slight to really hit hard emotionally.
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie – Book Review
One of my New Year resolutions is to finally wrap up the Agatha Christie re-readathon I started back in 2018, so onward we go with this Tommy and Tuppence spy adventure published almost exactly a century ago.
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin – Book Review
I’ve now read three sci-fi novels by Le Guin, and this thoughtful, intelligent exploration of anarchism vs capitalism, and the impossible dream of a truly free society, might be my favourite so far.
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Film Review
The last film I watched in 2022, this inventive and eccentric mind trip is, at heart, a bittersweet and moving family drama thrown in a blender with hectic action sequences and absurdist multiverse wackiness.
Elf – Film Review
‘Tis the season for Christmas movies, so I thought I’d get into the festive mood and check out this 2003 comedy with Will Ferrell.
Dry Cleaning @ Corner Hotel (12/2022)
2022 has been a pretty damn good year for live music, and an excellent gig from this intriguing post-punk band was a great way to cap it off.
The Velvet Queen – Film Review
