When writing music reviews I often use the term ‘psychedelic’ as shorthand to describe those transformations to familiar sounds which are unexpected and unusual to the extent that the senses become favourably stimulated, and otherwise hidden dimensions of the world are revealed through a desirable glimpse of freedom. And there doesn’t have to be some […]

Although it is reasonable to expect any election campaign to focus predominantly on domestic issues, it is nevertheless somewhat disappointing that matters of foreign policy have been put on the backburner in this unfulfilling 2010 Labor/Liberal contest. Aside, that is, from the essentially meaningless Tony Abbott mantra ‘turning back the boats,’ and both sides affirming […]

Most kids experience an amount of emotional turbulence on the way to adulthood, and I was no exception. And although there were aspects of my adolescence that make me cringe to this day, I could always be certain that at the end of the school day, I had a home to return to with my […]

RANDAL: I’m not going to miss what is probably going to be the social event of the season. DANTE: You hate people. RANDAL: But I love gatherings. Isn’t it ironic? – Clerks I enjoyed a sweet taste of alternative artistic expression on two recent occasions which made me feel better about the way things are […]

When the moment seemed right, punk rockers The Clash drew battle lines by declaring, ‘No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977’. I first heard that blunt statement of intent sometime in the early 1990s when anti-establishment vibes were riding high in the record charts via the grunge scene, which was really the culmination […]

Lately when reading a newspaper I have to momentarily put it down, pick up a music magazine and flip through for something that will spark my interest such as a story on the forthcoming reissue of The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street album which I’m sure will be a good one. At these moments […]

I have been thinking about Alex Chilton quite a lot lately after hearing that the Big Star mainstay passed away from a heart attack on 17 March, and I have since had the highly enjoyable boxed set Keep an Eye on the Sky, which came out on the Rhino label late last year, on high […]