Ellen Carey
I encountered Ellen Carey on my first and only ever trip to Adelaide. She appeared at the side of the stage to sing back up vocals for another local band. Her appearance was brief but I remember being enthralled by her eerie voice and brilliant white dress. On further enquiry I was told the mysterious female in the shadows was a member of an outfit named Birth Glow. Like my first glimpse of Miss Carey, I was immediately enthralled by their music. The trio’s debut album Ultimate Relief runs for a total of 17 minutes, with Carey’s heavenly voice at the helm. Her seemingly innocent tones are complemented by the drones of Nick Walton and Steph Cowle’s tribal percussion. Birth Glow’s music is both beautiful and haunting, their songs disguised as porcelain lullabies that seem to beckon you on through the fiery archways of hell.
Tagged: Adelaide
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Adelaide commuters are in for a little extra entertainment this month thanks to what may be the world’s smallest movie theatre in the form of a bus shelter. A brainchild of Clemenger BBDO, the mini-cinema features authentic theatre seating, curtains and a projector showing screenings each evening at 9pm. It has been transformed to promote the upcoming Adelaide Film Festival.
The Bridge House near Adelaide
This is a house near Adelaide by architect Max Pritchard designed like a bridge (it’s actually built over a creek) to feel airy and unobtrusive in the surrounding nature. Read more
Sarah Beetson You Are Not What You Eat
Australian-based illustrator Sarah Beetson has her third solo exhibition, You Are Not What You Eat, beginning in Adelaide next month, as part of the Fringe Festival. It will then move onto Melbourne in March. Read more
Also by HUNA AMWEERO
Ummm, Beyonce’s Single Ladies anyone?
It’s not surprising that the fifteen-year-old boy I tutor introduced me to this video. Spatial geometry and the causes of the Vietnam War gathered dust, as he made me view it numerous times, pointing out which girl was his favourite and why: the one on the left, because she’s hot; the one on the right because she is ‘hittin’ her moves’; and Beyoncé, because, well she’s Beyoncé. To be honest, after the first ten seconds of our first viewing, I became a very willing participant in the whole discussion. We talked about why Beyoncé’s pseudo-feminist lyrics sometimes annoy me (Jay-Z did ‘put a [HUGE] ring on it’) and which moves were our favourites (mine occurs at the 52 second mark, he likes the one at 1:32). Truthfully, I barely like this song, but this video is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I wonder if we could cut the sound and get Sir David Attenborough to narrate it.
It’s hard to find a misstep on the full-length debut from Melbourne band, Children Collide. The Long Now doesn’t sound like a first album: its mature, yet completely varied sound and lyrical concept makes it feel like something you’d expect from a band on their third or fourth album (you know, after the ‘cursed’ second album). Children Collide are most definitely in control, something that could have been lost while working with big-name producer, Dave Sardy. It’s rare that you pick up a CD and feel like the band has decided on everything, right down to the artwork that encases their killer album. We threw guitarist-singer Johnny Mackay a few questions about how they managed to wrap everything up in such a … errr … tight little package. Read more
The John Steel Singers’ Rainbow Kraut video
I can say with an unwavering amount of conviction that kaleidoscopes are the greatest things ever invented. Well, one of them at least. Brisbane band, The John Steel Singers, take that statement and turn it into a super cool video for their song, Rainbow Kraut. I think Oliver Sacks would agree: phantom hands should always play keyboards.
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
Macarena said | 11 February, 2008
You are a music genius.
I await the next entry.
winston said | 11 February, 2008
birth glow are adelaide’s cutest band
HAVE YOUR SAY
The rough and frantic style of French graphic novelist Antoine Dode gives his panels an expressive and interestingly textured feel. Can’t wait to read hard copies of his work.
Hahahahahaha! Cursebird is a ‘real–time feed of swearing on Twitter’. Perfect for idling away the hours when the work day just seems too damn sanitized.
This clip had such an impact on me when it first came out, back in the day. There’s just something so poignant about the idea that some people you pass on the street everyday have a little bit more insight into their world — our world — than we could ever imagine. It’s beautiful and confronting, and it’s all set to the most wonderfully evocative music.
Fancy being part of an art installation while staying in a funky albeit minimally furnished room in the heart of Berlin? Hotel Minimal, is a pop-up one-room hotel from the Linie project that explores the concept of public and private space. Guests just have to be comfortable being on view in a large shop front on one of the main thoroughfares of the trendy Mitte district. Read more
We love sex in art. No, not in a smutty Benny Hill kinda way, but rather the way in which Australian-based website Sex In Art takes a healthy peek at all things arty and well … sexual. There’s some beautiful illustration work up there and some evocative photography. Heck, I’m getting a little hot under the collar just writing about it. While most of the work they feature is work friendly, some of it isn’t. Still, it’s worth more than a casual glance, like this painting by Chinese artist, Guan Zeju.
I’ve been waiting for a group like this. These New Puritans are balls in your face, 100 miles an hour, pure attack! A young British group that has most of the UK press in the palm of their skinny pale hands, they hint at a sonic mash of Bloc Party mixed with what White Rose Movement were supposed to be. What more could you want?
Listen to the These New Puritans track, Elvis.
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Free bird boots are handmade customized military boots, applying recycling to fashion in a new way. Created by young New York-based designer, Stacey Howard, the boots were originally collected from military bases in the South. As Howard says: ‘It felt most natural to my aesthetic to use vintage native American garments and paint to refabricate the boots. Using a soldier’s boot and an Indian’s blanket, I wanted to merge two opposite and patriotic styles and use them in the most organic way’. Free bird boots are currently sold through Steve Madden’s Steven stores on Ludlow and Bleecker in New York. Read more
WE'RE POSTING / SOME OF THE BEST
A little infectious lollipop rock anyone? Feel free to embarrass yourself singing along at the stoplight. If the other drivers give you that look, roll down the windows and spread the love.
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Benjamin Edminston’s psychedelic heads seem to have some fearful wisdom behind their blissed-out eyes. Read more
Pencils made from recycled newspaper
The problem with awesome things like these pencils made out of recycled newspaper is that you almost don’t want to use them.
Michelle Blade’s psychedelic artwork
Michelle Blade’s washed out paintings are deceptively simple, her washy acrylics creating psychedelic textures and conjuring ghostly figures from the past. Read more
Pitched as ‘Ulterior Motives in Contemporary Art’, Disorder Disorder is running until November 14 at Penrith Regional Gallery. It’ll be well worth the trip out west of Sydney: the Australian, Japanese, American and European cast reads like a warriors of street art roundup and includes Mike Giant, Ed Templeton, Anthony Lister [artwork above], Ozzie Wright, and Jonathan Zawada. Read more
Too sweet for words, these beautiful hoop earrings by Sydney-based designer Carmel Taylor are a real touch of origami for your ears. Read more
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Beatrice said | 11 February, 2008
How brilliant.
The End.