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Father John Misty live at the Opera House
Father John Misty’s recent album, I Love You, Honeybear, has enjoyed no shortage of critical acclaim. Having spun the record many times this year – and ventured further to sample many interviews and live performances – it’s not hard to see why. Josh Tillman, the man behind the Father John Misty persona, is an intriguing…
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The Age of Nothing: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God
Humans have been attempting to orientate themselves in the universe for millennia. Once our physical needs of food, water and shelter are met, we tend to pursue the higher goal of living a good or meaningful life. Some try to master this art of living intuitively, but others seek to formalise and classify experience to…
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Tangled Thoughts of Leaving Yield To Despair
Yield to Despair, the new album from Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, opens with a cacophony of crackling noise, growling bass and pounding drums. It’s an abrasive opening to a difficult and often gruelling record. The progressive flourishes that helped this Perth powerhouse to breathe new life into the glittery corpse of post-rock on their debut…
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Labyrinths: On Jorge Luis Borges
I encountered the work of Jorge Luis Borges while travelling around the Guatemalan highlands last year. I was in Panajachel, a dirty little tourist town which lies in the shadow of a great volcano. Wandering the streets in the sweltering heat I stumbled across a small, English-language book store. Hungrily scanning its shelves, I picked…
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George Orwell’s Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell moved to London in 1927. Heavily disillusioned from his time at as police officer in Burma, he resolved to make his living as a writer. In the two years following, Orwell struggled intensely with homelessness and poverty in shelters across London and Paris. His first book, Down and Out in Paris and London,…
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Don DeLillo’s White Noise
White Noise was my first experience with Don DeLillo. I’d heard his name uttered over the years, usually coupled with the recognition that he is one of the most important novelists in recent decades. DeLillo’s literary gifts were apparent from the moment I began reading; his metaphors are sublime; his prose, smooth and easy to…