kluster magazine

the new abstraxion video is freaking us out?

2012-02-07T03:34:00+00:00

We're currently a little torn as to whether we're completely enthralled or mildly terrified by the new Abstraxion video, "Moribayasa".

We'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself. However, if you could let us know once you do so we’d be rather grateful. Might help unwind this ball of confusion of a state we currently find ourselves in.

Regardless of the outcome: killer track.

review: música/tumbalong festival, sydney by danielle le toullec

2011-10-24T05:53:00+00:00

The inaugural música /TUMBALONG festival took a line-up gamble which paid off in Sydney last weekend, with a fresh crop of international and local electronic and indie acts.

With the one stage, limited capacity and most people keeping their clothes on, this boutique festival was a welcome change from what has become a stock standard festival package. A day spent running from stage to stage, crying over timetable clashes and losing your friends left, right and centre.

Bon Chat, Bon Rat, a Sydney-based trio, played tracks from their self-produced (and mixed) debut EP to a crowd that lazed on the grass in the hot afternoon sun. The trio’s hypnotic electronica complimented the atmosphere of the festival, with the lofty melody of tracks like ‘Blackbird’ carrying through the air.

Emerging artists Mitzi, a four piece hailing from Brisbane, Australia, brought their disco inspired beats and addictive grooves to the stage with stand-out tracks, “All I Heard” and “India”.

As the sun bore down on the recently refurbished Darling Quarter, the fearless lay about, enjoying the rays, whilst the others clung to any shade they could find. Some even erected a make-shift tarp to recline under.

Recently signed to the Future Classic stables, Sydney band New Navy were impossible not to dance to. ‘Zimbabwe’ is a definite must for any summer playlist. As the song reached its peak, each of the four members abandoned their instruments to play the drums for an epic minute-long collaboration.

As seagulls randomly swooped through the air, Electric Wire Hustle represented the New Zealand syndicate of the música /TUMBALONG festival line up. The trio’s slick sounds and soulful vocals got people up and dancing. With a slightly bizarre “big shout out to technology, without which we couldn’t do anything around here”, EWH treated the crowd to some new tunes before retreating from the glaring sunlight.

The crowd started to pick up as the mysterious Tiger and Woods took the stage for their first ever Australian appearance.

With their trademark black baseball caps pulled down low and their moustaches gleaming, Larry Tiger and David Woods played through their 60 min set without much crowd interaction. Unsurprising, for a duo that rarely show their faces and refuse to disclose their country of origin further than “Southern Europe”. Nonetheless their dance music was well received, in particular their closing track ‘Gin Nation’.

Throughout the day, Ghostpoet was seen walking around the festival, refreshingly lax about contact with fans, doling out hugs and high fives. Having never performed in Sydney before, the silky voiced London native did not disappoint.

With support from backing drums and guitar, he rapped his raw heartfelt anthems dripping with playful lyrics from his debut EP Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam. The album that secured him a nomination for the 2011 Mercury Prize alongside big hitters like Elbow and eventual winner PJ Harvey.

One of the only acts of the day to interact with the crowd, he set up some healthy competition between the Sydney and Melbourne crowds with a smile. When someone shouted for him to take off his hat, he took it in his stride with a laugh and a slow drawl, “Can’t take my hat off, it keeps my brain in.”

With lyrics like “I love you like chicken soup, biscuits and lemonade” on ‘Us Against Whatever’, how can you not adore him?

Lunice hit the stage with boundless energy, opening with his acapella swag symphony. The pint-sized Canadian is well known for his dance moves and deconstructed cooking dances. The latter of which confused many and excited few. His choppy mix ups featured beats from Drake, Jay-Z & Kanye West’s album, plenty of bass and fragments of electronica.

Sticking to the timetable down to the very minute, Lunice was cut off to make way for the masked musical genius, SBTRKT.

Rising out of the London electronic music scene, this DJ/Producer is one of 2011’s most talked about artists. Clean beats, flawless production and killer hooks provide him with an edge that many electronic acts lack. He started his DJ set with his remix of Radiohead’s “Lotus Flower” before rolling into “Hold On” off his self-titled debut album.

“Living Like You Do” slipped into a seductively dirty Brazilian jungle beat, perfectly complimented by the scrolling animations from Morph Visual. With his now infamous tribal mask eerily looking out onto the crowd, the Drake remix of “Wildfire” poured out of the speakers, with everyone singing along.

Judging by the feedback on the night and on social media channels in the days after the event, the first música /TUMBALONG festival is an event that Sydney’s subculture has been screaming out for. We can’t wait for música /TUMBALONG numero dos.

review: essen restaurant and beer cafe

2011-10-21T01:11:00+00:00

It’s no secret that Sydney’s pub food has taken a distinct turn towards the Americas. It’s now a pretty rare thing that you don’t have the option of some kind of taco, hot dog or bite-sized burger to go with your beer. And while we’re massive fans of the fresh flavours (and pulled pork) on offer, we decided to re-explore the world of the original beer-drinking food: German.

We figured you can’t go too far wrong with a restaurant that means ‘eat’ in German, so we headed off to Essen on Broadway. You may know it as the place that used to be Una’s. It still has a connection to the old place by way of owner and executive chef Geert Elzinga, previously an owner at Una’s, who has moved the focus away from the simple schnitzel and expanded on the hearty European theme.

With that in mind it was hard to go past the sausage platter as a starter (though the deep fried camembert came a close second). It’s three kinds of sausage (leberwurst, csabai and a herby weissurst), a hot pretzel, potato salad and pickled vegetables. The pickles were an especially nice touch. They’re made in-house, and can be seen in large glass jars on the bar in the back room – it’s good to know where your food comes from, almost like seeing free-range meat on a farm.

Beer, of course, is a must. The food goes well with beer and the beer goes well with food. It’s like the circle of life. We opt for the Dreher Bak strong dark beer and a lighter Franziskaner Hefe, both served in suitably hefty 500ml steins.

Speaking of musts: if you’re a fan of that magical animal, order the pork belly. What arrived was the largest piece we’d ever seen - with no skimping on the crackling either – accompanied by traditional sauerkraut and bread dumplings. But the dish that sets Essen apart from your regular schnitzel house is the duck (pictured above). It’s wonderfully crispy from an overnight roasting, served with tangy red cabbage, potato and a marzipan-stuffed baked apple. And it looks just like the photo.

Unfortunately, there was no room for dessert. But our sources (and some timely eavesdropping on our diners at the next table) tell us the strudel is a hit.

Essen Restaurant and Beer Cafe is at 133-135 Broadway, Ultimo. Ph: 02 9211 3805.

review: the whistleblower by kat hartmann

2011-09-30T00:11:00+00:00

In October 2000 Bosnian-based peacekeeper, Kathryn Bolkovac risked her job, reputation and life to expose UN and international peacekeepers involvement in the country’s post-war human trafficking and sex trade.

The debut feature by Canadian born director, Larysa Kondracki, is based on the true story of American police officer, Kathryn Bolkovac’s (Rachel Weisz) time spent working as a part of the post-war peace effort in Bosnia. It certainly packs an emotional punch.

The Nebraskan police officer secures a high-paying job in Bosnia, working as a peacekeeper for a private firm, contracted by the USA State Department to work closely with the UN to restore order to war-ravaged Bosnia during the late ‘90s. After helping to facilitate a historic conviction and a promotion to head of the UN’s Gender Office, Bolkovac begins to gradually uncover a violent human trafficking and sex-trade industry populated by underage women – some as young as 12 - and frequented by peacekeepers, UN workers and international police.

Kondracki tackles this mammoth story with the sophistication of a seasoned director and deserves plenty of kudos for her efforts as writer/director. It’s a pretty impressive first-time offering.

The Whistleblower is an unashamed thriller but one with a foundation in so much horrific humanity (or lack thereof) that even the most adamant objector to the genre can’t help but become engaged. Unfortunately, at various points in the film the drama errs on the side of over-blown - a fact that serves to stir the realisation that you are part of an active viewing process, disconnecting you somewhat from the story unfolding before you – but for the most part the performances of Weisz and co-stars, Venessa Redgrave and David Strathairn are strong and do this incomprehensible series of events justice.

It’s rare that a movie makes me feel so passionate about a subject matter – and so ignorant – that I come and spend hours online researching it further. The Whistleblower is one such film. Be prepared to have your faith in the institution challenged.

smirnoff nightlife exchange project announce a taste of italy

2011-09-09T11:11:00+00:00

Smirnoff hosted an intimate event for Sydney's media and bloggers in a secret location in Darlinghurst tonight. The evening was to announce Australia's swap country for the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011.

Following last years' eve of Brazilian themed festivities, this year Australia will be treated to a taste of Italy for one night of cultural swapsies. Junior Jack & Kid Créme and Alex Gaudino will be flown in to headline the event, while Nervo and Bang Gang Deejay’s will fly over to Italy to rep the Australian music scene.

The event is part of Smirnoff's ongoing global social experiment, which provides people all around the world with an opportunity to see how their foreign counterparts get down and dirty. Fourteen countries across the globe - including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Lebanon, Poland, South Africa, Thailand and Venezuela - exchange their local nightlife for one evening of debauchery on 12 November 2011.

To celebrate this announcement, Smirnoff had their very own pop-up bar with their Australian ambassador Anna Lunoe manning the decks. Green, white and red vespas propped outside representing the vibrant Italian flag. We were treated to some seriously delicious cocktails courtesy of the Behind Bars team, under the watchful eye of talented mixologist Max Greco from award winning boutique bar, Eau De Vie.

The stand-out cocktail was the Zabione. Served in a chilled latte glass, the coffee liqueur merged with maple syrup and was topped with an egg based cream. A whisper of liquid nitrogen hardened the cream and billowed into the air in smoky streams.

A close runner up was the Nonna Smith, which combined pressed apples with pear puree and lemon juice. The Zenzero Genoa also deserves a mention; fresh cocktail perfect for spring with dominant vanilla and lime notes.

As a sneak peak for what we are all in store for this year, Smirnoff certainly has our attention.

review: dead letter chorus, yearlings

2011-08-22T03:20:00+00:00

Yearlings is the third release, following a previous EP and album, in the four-year existence of Sydney’s Dead Letter Chorus. It is an album that is confidently comes at you made by a band who have figured out what they are all about. They tackle the eternal quandary and elation of a newly evolving love across the ten precise songs within; with aware and insightful lyrics such as ‘you helped me lift my heart, it weighed a tonne/ because two is always better than one’ elevating it above the usual emotion blinded clichéd bluster the subject is capable of giving rise to.

The album sees the music elegantly wrapping itself around the twin vocal assets of Gabrielle Huber – equally capable of capturing dramatic highs and fragile-thoughted wistfulness - and Cameron Potts, whose woody croon consorts Huber through choruses as well as leading some brittle ballads. The contrast and combining of the two voices makes for a both sides of the coin exploration of the emotional undercurrents of relationships. With sympathetic producer Les Cooper, the band have crafted an intense, yet intricate cast of sounds to bare their souls too as they delve deep into the glorious hope, yet mostly futile impossibility of intimate interactions. One for frantic romantics and late night lamenting.

Yearlings is available August 26 through ABC Music/Universal.

Dead Letter Chorus will be touring thier new album thoughout September and October. You can catch them at:

16th Sept - Speakeasy @ The Villa, Perth

30th Sept - Northcote Social Club, Melbourne w/The Hello Morning

1st Oct - Kings X Hotel (FBi Social), Sydney

6th Oct - Old Museum, Brisbane

review: caffe sicilia, surry hills

2011-08-02T12:41:00+00:00

Somehow we seemed to have ended up with an Italian food mindset which equates authentic with traditional. Where the only ‘real’ Italian food comes from a home-style kitchen, just the way nonna used to make it. But unfortunately that leaves something of a gap between that and the modern Italian restaurants.

And that’s why we like Caffe Sicilia so much. A bold black and white outfit, with plenty of marble and gold trim, it seems to come straight out of 1940s Sicily and landed perfectly between our two extremes. It’s as authentic as it comes, but there’s nothing home-style about it.

As you’d expect from an island, Sicilian cuisine is heavy on the seafood, which is reflected in the menu here. There are other options (braised spatchcock, veal involtini) but it makes sense to stick with the waiter’s suggestion of fish; the staff really know what they’re doing.

Whitebait fritters from the antipasti menu are a welcome change from the often mushy mess, the delicate cakes pulling apart into fully intact individual fish. Risotto (served in true Italian style as a first course rather than a main) is a rich serving of prawns, calamari and mussels in a wonderfully savoury base. At this point it should also be noted that as well as knowing their food, the staff are also highly capable sommeliers. The Teresa Manara Chardonnay suggested to us is not only a fine accompaniment, but quite delicious.

Our main has a little of a spectacle to it; snapper fillet baked in the bag with prawns, pippis and calamari, opened at the table for maximum olfactory enjoyment. It’s cooked perfectly and thankfully light (considering what we’ve already eaten), but we make a note to try the swordfish tart on the next visit.

By this point dessert is on everyone’s mind. Not simply because it’s the end of the meal, but because the view diners have of the chefs preparing pastries. (If that’s not food porn we don’t know what is.) And its arrival is no disappointment: a traditional cassata topped with candied fruit and ricotta filled cannoli with a perfect snap to the shell.

What might not be immediately obvious if you come at night is that this is also quite a good spot for a weekend breakfast. The coffee is good, prices are in line with the other cafes on the Crown Street strip, plus it’s perfectly excusable to have a meal comprised entirely of those wonderful pastries.

Caffe Sicilia is at 628 Crown St, Surry Hills. Ph: (02) 9699 8787.

review: splendour in the grass, woodford by danielle le toullec

2011-08-02T02:28:00+00:00

For the second year running, Splendour in The Grass took over the humble town of Woodford, Queensland for a weekend of sun-soaked, dust-ingrained shenanigans against a stellar soundtrack of live music.

Whether your outfit of choice was a full blown cow, penguin, panda or dog outfit or just a furry animal beanie, you would have fitted right in with this years' peculiar theme of animal dress.

If you wanted to be a bit more stylish, there were some awesome pop up stores dotted around including Aje, Maurie and Eve, General Pants Co. as well as the Mo'rockin Wine Bar, Strongbow booze boat and some delicious food from Grill'd, Govindas, Hungarian Langos, dumplings, German Bratwurst, obligatory festival Gozleme, corn and about twenty million more.

But we're not here to talk about food, are we? We are here for the tunes, so here goes...

Day One

After lining up for twenty minutes to get into the main gates from the campsite (daily festival-fail), we took in the massive festival site as we bee-lined to the Amphitheatre for Jinja Safari. The Sydney band’s playful folk pop was the perfect accompaniment for the sunny Friday afternoon. Marcus Azon closed the set by crowd surfing to the back, jumping to the ground and leading the audience in a run around the valley.

Melbourne MC Illy packed out the Mix Up stage and had everyone singing along to ‘Cigarettes’.

The Kills played a great set despite Alison Mosshart apparently being very hungover. Kicking off with 'Future Starts Slow', she resembled a slightly gothic Cousin It as she hid behind a veil of black hair, dressed in a black shirt and black jeans. As the sun dipped behind the valley, she cried out “Thank fuck the sun is gone!” Jamie Hince’s new wifey Kate Moss was backstage to support his super sexy dirty guitar riffs.

Having made one of the albums of the year, James Blake brought his minimalist, sonic tunes all the way from London to the Mix Up stage. ‘Limit to Your Love’ and ‘The Wilhelm Scream’ and ‘CMYK’ were beautiful to listen to live. He also played a more intimate DJ set at the Jagermeister Hunting lodge, surrounded by wooden logs and fake fireplaces, manned by some lovely lumberjacks.

Festival organisers must have been kicking themselves for scheduling Boy and Bear for the GW Mclennan stage. Even though their debut album hasn't dropped yet, the Australian band drew a huge crowd that made it near impossible to get close to the stage. Crowds poured out onto the hill for the show.

Gotye and Regina Spektor experienced similar overcrowding for their sets, with complaints of sound pollution coming from the Amphitheatre stage. New Zealand crooner, Kimbra joined Gotye for their smash hit 'Somebody That I Used to Know', which seemed to be the unofficial anthem for campsites around the festival.

Kato, one of Sydney's most popular DJ's, delivered a massive set with a setlist that had the Mix Up tent heaving.

Swedish band, The Hives were resplendent in their top hats and tuxedos. They played to a packed out crowd in the Amphitheatre against a slightly creepy background that looked like a Dali puppet master with large white ribbons sprouting from the poster onto the stage. The charming Howlin’ Pelle showed us all what lead singer swag is all about. After a bit of call and response, he lovingly called out, “You’re some obedient motherfuckers.”

Rising out of the crowd on a cherry picker, surrounded by smoke, Kanye West clearly proved the difference between a performer and a super star. Divided into three acts, his only Australian appearance this year left a lasting impression. We were treated to a massive set of old school Kanye mixed with some of his newer hits. As he told the audience from the perfectly white stage, “It’s fun to do all the classics, but I love doing the new shit.” Using the legendary Queen track, 'We Will Rock You' in the lead up to 'E.T' was pure genius, complimented by the accoustics of the natural amphitheatre.

Rumours of a Jay-Z appearance, rampant throughout the day, unfortunately turned out to be false. Major media outlets were duped but luckily Kanye knows how to rock it solo. With fireworks, a swarm of contemporary back up dancers, outfit changes, moving platforms in front of a baroque backdrop and lasers. Mr. West's cult is clearly still going strong. Flooded with red light, hands pumping up to the stage for ‘Jesus Walks’, it would easy to mistake the Splendour crowd for crazed worshippers.

The deathly slow march back to camp certainly added to that effect.

Day Two

Fitz and The Tantrums brought their funky jazz tunes from Los Angeles to the dusty fields of Woodford for their first ever Australian appearance. Their covers of The Raconteurs ‘Steady As She Goes’ and Eurythmics ‘Sweet Dreams’ went down a treat. Foster the People played a massive set, with some seriously loud bass. ‘Pumped up Kicks’ was definitely a highlight of the festival.

Gomez played at the consistently packed GW Mclennan stage and reminisced about the days when Splendour In The Grass was like a picnic. The band lineup has remained the same since the band’s conception in 1996. Their cohesion rang out loud and clear as they swapped around, sauntering on and off the stage as they played through more than ten years of hits including ‘Get Myself Arrested’, ‘How We Operate’ and ‘Girlshapedlovedrug’.

Thievery Corporation played a huge set on Saturday night with their unique tunes that mix dub, reggae, jazz and lounge. Rob Garza, Eric Hilton were joined by a rolling line up of lead singers who took centre stage.

PNAU drew a huge crowd as they closed Saturday night at Splendour, the tent was at capacity with thousands spilling out of the sides. They played a good mix of crowd favourites with Gwenno Saunders making a guest appearance on vocals for ‘Embrace’.

Splendour had some seriously pumping side stages this year. Tipi Forest was a hazy Bermuda triangle of sorts. Underground electronic dance acts kept the splendour going long after the main stages closed.

La Cantina Mexicana were pumping out the slurpee margaritas and the mariachi bands while the Tent of Miracles and Global Village gave acoustic sets and bean bags a whirl.

Day Three

Feeling very dusty, The Holidays were a perfect start to the last day of Splendour 2011. 'Broken Bones' was a highlight as was their cover of Tv On The Radio's 'Wolf Like Me'. Hoops opened their set with SBTRKT and a busload of energy to boost up the flailing crowd. Nina Las Vegas busted out some serious moves, Anna Lunoe rocked it in a blue leather mini skirt and Bad Ezzy tore shiz up.

Cloud Control released a bunch of huge, coloured balls that bounced around the crowd and created a very whimsical feeling in the sunny Sunday afternoon light. A flash crowd formed on the slope of the Amphitheatre and proceeded to run up and down. The Lion King theme song rang out of the massive speakers as the band congratulated one of their members who had just had a child.

Friendly Fires were a great live, hoards of people popped into the Mix Up big top tent to bop to 'Hawaiian Air', 'Paris', 'Jump in my Pool'.

After making the last trek over to the Amphitheatre stage, we settled in for Pulp's last ever Australian show. Jarvis Cocker worked the crowd with some saucy dance moves, putting his hips to work. By the second song he was up on the speakers, complaining that they were a bit wonky. 'Do You Remember The First Time', 'This is Hardcore' and 'Common People' were a great precursor to Coldplay.

Chris Martin was personable for the entirety of their 60-minute set. His banter showed love for the Australian audience and the television show Neighbours. It almost felt like we were hearing their classic tracks for the first time. 'The Scientist', 'Yellow', 'Clocks', 'In My Place', 'Speed of Sound' and the hit list goes on. Fireworks lit up the sky as they played the opening lines of Amy Winehouse's 'Rehab' as a tribute, before leading into 'Fix You'. They closed with ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall’ off their latest album as butterfly-shaped confetti burst into the sky.

This year's Splendour In The Grass was certainly a success with a strong line up of international and local acts that made the inflated ticket price worth it. The light in the tunnel of the Australian winter music festival scene filled us all with enough memories and ringing eardrums to last until the Summer season kicks off.

Until next year Splendour-ers!

win double passes to the eye of the storm

2011-07-25T12:18:00+00:00

In the Sydney suburb of Centennial Park, an ex-socialite lies dying. Her adult son and daughter have flown to be with her, but even on her deathbed she remains a strong and destructive influence on those around her.

The Eye of the Storm is directed by Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation) and brings together stars Charlotte Rampling, Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Patrick White, Australia’s only recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

We are offering ten Kluster readers the chance to win an in-season double pass to see The Eye of the Storm. To be in the running simply email us at info@kluster.com.au with the subject: Stormy Weather. Entries close 12.08.11

The Eye of the Storm is in cinemas from September 15.

música announces boutique music festival

2011-07-20T04:05:00+00:00

A breath of fresh air is coming to the Sydney Spring festival scene in the form of the inaugural música /TUMBALONG festival.

The boutique event will be held in Sydney’s Tumbalong Park on Saturday 22nd October and will feature a carefully selected line up of nine artists, most of which will be performing in Australia for the first time.

Masked UK export SBTRKT has been tearing up the London dubstep scene for the last couple of years. Following the release of his addictive debut XL, which featured vocals from Sampha, Jessie Ware and Yukimi from Little Dragon, he is fast becoming one of the most watched artists of 2011.

Fellow Brit Ghostpoet has also exploded out of the UK underground scene with his unique beats and sleepy smooth lyrical style.

música /TUMBALONG festival will also host local talent with Mitzi, Simon Caldwell and Bon Chat, Bon Rat. The line up also includes Baths (US), Electric Wire Hustle (NZ), Lunice (CAN), and Tiger & Woods (ITA).

As we've come to expect from música, the focus will be on quality over quantity. The event will be hosted on one main stage for a smaller audience than Sydneysiders have come to expect from festivals.

Tickets are on sale on July 26th.