Blog

November 30th, 2009

Wiz Quiz: Seamus Heidenreich

Text: The Wiz
Wiz Quiz

This week The Wiz speaks to speaks to artist Seamus Heidenreich in the lead up to the opening of his solo show Rebel Sport at Sydney’s Chalk Horse this Wednesday. The Wiz asked Seamus what tunes he has been listening to while he puts the final touches on his show.

5. The Readymen – Shortnin’ Bread

4. The Ambassadors – I Ain’t Got The Love (Of Any One Girl)

3. Isley Brothers – Wild Little Tiger

2. Os Mutantes – Panis Et Circenses

1. Fleur De Lys – Mud In Your Eye

Seamus Heidenreich Rebel Sport
Chalk Horse
94 Cooper St, Surry Hills NSW
Opens Wednesday December 2, 6 – 8pm
Show runs November 19 – December 12


November 27th, 2009

Cheeky Freek Of The Week

Text: Tristan Ceddia
Cheeky Freak

This weeks Cheeky Freak is Mountain Fold Music Journal! If you don’t already know about this magazine, you really need to get out there and find yourself a copy. Issue three has just hit the streets and features amongst a heap of other great content, an incredible story with Rowland S Howard penned by Michael Kucyk of Noise In My Head fame. Tonight Mountain Fold host the final leg of Gold Shoulder at GoodGod in Sydney. Head down to see UV Race, Lakes and Royal Headache who we featured in our September issue.

Mountain Fold can be found in good stores accross Australia & the world, or if you cant find it, you can order past issues for free over at Teeluxe.

Tonight in Sydney check out some amazing sounds with Gold Shoulder at GoodGod Small Club. If you feel like getting hot and sweaty and shooting some lasers this weekend, head to Sydney’s new laser skirmish ground zero, The Battle for Sydney at Fox Studios. Open late all weekend!

If you are in Brisbane, check out at Simon Degroot’s Paper Planes, opening tonight night from 6 at Nine Lives Gallery in Fortitude Valley.


November 26th, 2009

Romance!

Text: Adriana Giuffrida
Billy Bride

Hey you guys… I’m back. Ms. Billy Bride is off to NYC for two weeks, so I’ll be stepping in, lucky girl.

You would have to have been living under a rock to not know of Romance Was Born design duo Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett, who are constantly pushing the boundaries and impressing us with their lavish avante-garde and incredibly creative collections, season after season.

Tonight they are opening their new concept store ‘Pearls Dream’ which is celebrating their current collection ‘Doilies & Pearls, Oysters & Shells’. This current collection features collaborative works by Australian artists Patrick Doherty and amazing shoes by indigenous shell worker Esme Timbery, and also jewellery by their ever impressive Paul Bonomelli.

The concept store will be open from November 26 to January 31, just in time for Christmas… hint hint.

Check back each Thursday for more on the fashion world from Billy Bride


November 19th, 2009

Bye Bye Brows!

Text: Billy Bride
Billy Bride

Inspired by Dazed & Confused’s December cover-girl Abbey Lee, showcasing possibly the greatest collaboration of the decade (Spike Jonze/Opening Ceremony exclusive ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ mini-range), I’m posting about a rather hairy topic this week – to brow, or not to brow!

As unlikely as it may seem, what was once a peripheral trend that skirted about in the uber-couture stratosphere, the shaved brow is making a comeback! Popularised by early 90′s by Model/Photographer powerhouse McMenamy & Meisel (see Vogue’s iconic ‘Grunge & Glory’ shoot of ’92 pictured above), this creepy little critter of a trend is clawing it’s way back into our consciousness, conquering A/W catwalks at Givenchy, McQueen, Prada & Balenciaga where brow-less models epitomized modern androgyny.

Following the Fall fanfare, the look has set off an editorial inferno of babes-sans-brows, a campaign spear-headed by bleach-out advocates Lara Stone & Adriana Lima, as well as the O.G. baldy Karen Elson. So are we, the general populace, expected to follow suit? I dare say crazier things have happened, we certainly seem to have embraced the no-pants craze no worries, and underwear as outerwear went down a treat. Give it a month or two, and I dare say you might find your local watering hole repopulated by hairless pantless agamogentic beings of the negaverse. Check the new Beyonce/Gaga clip ‘Video Phone’ for a taste of things to come.

Check back each Thursday for more on the fashion world from Billy Bride


November 18th, 2009

Trout & Lemonade

Text: CC Bakes
CC Bake

We ate so much fish in Spain, when I got back, I needed more. This was the first home cooked meal we had upon our return. More than anything, it was nice to be back in the kitchen again after being on the receiving end of it for three weeks straight. Though I love eating out and being cooked for, there is only so much of that you can do before you start to feel a little removed from the kitchen environment, and being a part of the creation. Also, on a more simple level, knowing what is going into every morsel you put in your mouth.

So it was good to be back, chopping, slicing, peeling and scrubbing. And a little baking, of trout. This is a good summer dish actually. Fresh, light summer flavours of lemon, capers, and fennel. We accompanied it with some blanched broad beans, and a celeriac salad with gerkins and homemade mayonnaise – a coleslaw of sorts.

I also made some lemonade to drink with it, like this:

2 lemons, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 2 litres of water and ice.

Juice the lemons. Dissolve the sugar in half a cup of boiling water in jug. Add lemon juice, cold water and ice to a jug… Drink!

Another delicious taste of what comes every Wednesday from CC Bakes.
Want to ask CC a question? ccbakes@theblackmail.com.au


November 13th, 2009

Cheeky Freak Of The Week

Text: Tristan Ceddia
Misha

The Cheeky Freak this Friday The 13th is Melbourne artist Misha Hollenbach, who features in this months issue of The Blackmail. One half P.A.M (Perks And Mini), one quarter The Changes, Misha’s latest expedition in the art world STOOL unleashes itself on Sydney at Black & Blue Gallery in Redfern tonight. Fresh off the back of his first solo show Indispensable Duties at Y3K gallery in Melbourne last month, and upon return from SNAP! with American photographer Peter Sutherland in Tokyo, STOOL shoots again into the uncharted world of fecal art. “Everybody poos. Had to do this as my first show, clear my proverbial bowels, and ’start’ the (art) day.” Words from the man himself!

If you are in Sydney this weekend, check out STOOL at Black & Blue Gallery tonight, then head to GoodGod for Mountain Folds Gold Shoulder featuring Naked On The Vague, Free Choice Duo and the Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys. If partying wild is more your style, head to the Civic where BangGang 12s launch their latest greatest along side Bag Raiders, Shazam, Doom, Hoodrat, Dangerous, Cassian and Flight Facilities.

On Saturday, take the trip out to Penrith Regional Gallery for Uniform: Japan Photos by Harold David who we also feature this month. Saturday night, if you are up for a double dose, Misha is spinning records with Toecutter, Golden Ron and Chimmy Sing at GoodGod Small Club. Lots to do!

Tonight in Melbourne be sure to check out Scott & Charlenes Wedding, Beaches and our mates The Twerps 7″ launch at the Abruzzo Club, 377 Lygon St Brunswick East.


November 12th, 2009

Photo-phile

Text: Billy Bride
Billy Bride

This week I’m lifting the lid on the blog genre nearest and dearest to my heart – the fashion photographer’s blog. No doubt the life and times of new-gen fashion photographers is a provocative, heady and exhilarating whirlwind – the links below will provide you with irresistible fly-on-the-wall voyeurism and a unique perspective on all the grit, glamour and gore of the fashion industry.

Exclusive editorial previews, sneak peek behind-the-scenes campaign shots, early runway releases, and the inside scoop on every model, mogul and magazine editor to cross their paths. Step for a moment into the rough-and ready captivation of a life lived through the lens.

Cameron Smith – Our old Sydney chum has hit the big time, working with Dazed, Vice, and blog-feed The Interzine to name a few. His trippy film clips are delightful, and his blog is the sickness.

Anna Trevelyan – Photography assistant & sometimes stylist based at Dazed & Confused, Trevelyan does a lot of work with Gaga, and is featured on the other side of the lens as often as not. Amazing.

Matt Irwin – Rumored Dellal impregnator, and fellow Krang fan, Irwin’s name appears in bright lights everywhere you see it written. With several Vogue covers under his belt, he is dastardly, devilish and utterly overwhelming.

Check back each Thursday for more on the fashion world from Billy Bride


November 12th, 2009

Gold Shoulder

Text: Gabriel Knowles
Gold Shoulder

The good people over at Mountain Fold Music Journal are putting on three nights of “choice cut sonic terrain” beginning this Friday night at our favourite late night danceteria Goodgod Small Club and continuing each Friday for the next three weeks.

Kicking things off this week are Melbourne Kraut enthusiasts Free Choice Duo and local heroes the Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys before The Stabs, Witch Hats, Ghosts Of Television, Lakes, Royal Headache and The UV Race round out the good times.

If you know what’s good for you at $12 a pop, you’ll be there!

Gold Shoulder


November 11th, 2009

Mugaritz

Text: CC Bakes
CC Bake

Hola amigos, CC Bakes is back from her gastronomic tour of France and Spain. And though I have a multitude of culinary delights to discuss, I thought I would first thank Adriana for stepping in for me, for not only three but four weeks of food posts. I feel I have big shoes to fill in my own boots now.

In her last post she discussed Ferran Adira and his restaurant El Bulli in Barcelona. Rather topical upon my return from this land I must say. I hate to break this bad news to you AG, but alas, El Bulli is only open six months of the year and next to impossible to get a booking. I know this because I tried.

At this time I heard a story about some Melbournians who did get a reservation, but then realised they did not have the means to get themselves to Barcelona. So with their aching stomachs in mind, they proceeded first to try and get sponsored to get over there by a local restaurant, and when that was unsuccessful, they tried to sell their seats on ebay. I wondered how much they would go for.

During my time in the fabulously food-driven land of Spain recently, I was lucky enough to dine at Spain’s third best restaurant, which holds two Michelin stars, Mugaritz. A 30 minute drive from San Sebastian, in Basque country, Mugaritz it located on lush green farm land, surrounded by their own veggie garden, from which they hand pick much of the herbs and vegetables for their dishes. To their aid comes around 200 days of rain a year.

During my 11 course lunch there, one rainy October day, one of the waiters invited us into the kitchen to meet the chefs. As we entered the pristine clean kitchen, almost 20 men backed away from the one dish they were attending to, to greet us. There were more cooks in the kitchen than people dining in the restaurant.

After a decadent five hours at Mugaritz I was completely enamored. They also use foam here. A vanilla bubble bath in my bowl, with an artisan made tablet that reminded me of a bar of soap. I didn’t know whether to wash myself with this dish or eat it (see above). They had even pressed their name into the warm biscuit, to remind me where I was.

Mugaritz

Another delicious taste of what comes every Wednesday from CC Bakes


November 10th, 2009

12″ Of Compilations

Text: Tristan Ceddia
Bang Gang

This Friday November 13 (spooky!) BangGang12s launch their latest musical offering The BangGang 12inches Compilation, downstairs at The Civic in Sydney. With Bag Raiders, Shazam, Doom, Hoodrat, Dangerous, Cassian and Flight Facilities belting out the hits, there is pretty much no reason not to turn this disco out… That, and the fact that Jamie Doom has sent us three BangGang12s packs to give away each containing a copy of the new compilation, two tickets to Friday’s party and a copy of the latest greatest BangGang zine.

For your chance to win, just email prize@theblackmail.com.au and tell us why you want to win so bad…

The BangGang 12inches Compilation Launch
Friday November 13th, 10pm til hometime downstairs at the Civic, Sydney
$15 on the door