Review: 'Love at First Bite' for Tom Magazine.

For Tom Magazine. This is possible the most tentatively-linked Twilight merch available.

Title: Love at First Bite  -  The Unoffical Twilight Cookbook

By: Gina Myers

Publisher: iUniverse

Reviewed by: Anna Angel
Like oversized boom boxes and most hipster fashion, Love at First Bite: The Unofficial Twilight Cookbook straddles the line between ironic statement and practical use. I can’t speculate whether the Twilight merchandise industry (I think they’ve formed their own union) based on Stephanie Meyer’s saga, is too oversaturated for this cookbook to appeal to its target market. It is, however, quite amusing in a ‘coffee table collection of Lolcat pictures’, kind of way. Author Gina Meyers attempts to take the reader through a culinary exploration of every food ever mentioned in the series, plus some basic recipes renamed to sound vampiric.

A disappointing omission is the food choice of the Cullen family, which would have helped determine that this is indeed meant as a smart satire on the ridiculous list of unofficial Twilight goodies available. After the dismal failure of the new Vampires Suck movie in the US, maybe this is what we’ve all been craving? At the back of the cookbook, a list of cast members for all three Twilight movies and a guide to having your own Twilight party are included. Are they merely fighting for the bucks of Aunt Glenda who knows nothing about her preteen nieces except that they heart Taylor Lautner, thus gifting them the one related thing they won’t already have? What of the large list of cocktails, with names like ‘Bella Loves Edward Punch’, the highly alcoholic, ‘Never Die’, and ‘Charlie Swan Sergeant Drink’?

Interview: Josh Pyke for Basement Birds, Rave Magazine

Interview with Josh Pyke for The Basement Birds. Issue 953.

ANNA ANGEL develops a bit of a crush on one fourth of the BASEMENT BIRDS project, singer-songwriter JOSH PYKE, and discovers that getting four established musos together in one place is harder than having them collaborate on a record.


Since the days of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the term ‘supergroup’ has come to mean any number of vaguely accomplished musicians coming together in any fashion to whack out a record. The original sense of the word is making a fighting recovery with the introduction of Basement Birds, a harmonious union of four renowned Australian artists. The group comprises Kevin Mitchell (Bob Evans, Jebediah) up-and-coming singer-songwriter, Steve Parkin, Eskimo Joe’s frontman, Kavyen Temperley and singer-songwriter, Josh Pyke. While not the most obvious mix of sounds and personalities, Pyke assures it was a “pretty organic meeting of minds, on the creativity side of things”.

Updates and inspirations: Frock Paper Scissors Magazine - Online Editor 2010

I am very excited to be announced as Frock Paper Scissors Online Editor for this year. Working with a team of eds, we will be in charge of the web component of the magazine. Keep tabs of our progress here. It's going to be an amazing experience.

Review: Splendour in the Grass 2010 for Tom Magazine

Did a festival wrap up for Tom Magazine, the amazing folk who sent me to Splendour this year, and to stop the problem that I had last year, where the mammoth review took up the whole page, I'll just use a link this time. It was a three and a half day event, mind you. Read of the adventures here.

Splendour In The Grass 2010

Woodford 29.7.10 to 1.8.10

This year’s Splendour In The Grass festival, which marks the tenth anniversary for the revered music and arts event, has been discussed for months. The excitement has been tangible since the line up was announced, and it was revealed the event, temporarily moved to Woodfordia in Queensland, would now be over three days. This year everything seemed oversized - more acts, more venues, a larger labyrinth of an event site and thousands more tickets (from around 18,000 to 30,000). Long time attendees were complaining it wouldn’t be the same with such a large crowd, and with such commercial elements as a tent city dedicated to shopping and a day spa. They were right, after all, but with a line up like that, nobody would opt out just to avoid the raving, singleted, beer-stacking festival tools. When all was said and done, the memories you left with in the stagnant rows of cars early on Monday morning would be worth putting up with a lot worse. There were more standout acts than can be listed, but headliners included Ben Harper and Relentless 7, The Temper Trap, Grizzly Bear, Scissor Sisters (pictured), The Strokes, Band of Horses, Midnight Juggernauts, Empire of the Sun, Mumford and Sons, and Pixies.


The imminent crowd control issues became obvious in the wee hours of Thursday, as the punters struggled to secure a camping spot, and those already set up camp tried in vain to rest up for the days ahead. By Friday night, the site was buckling under the pressure of a mind-boggling number of sweaty bodies. Navigating the crowds turned out to be the only downside of the extended weekend, aside from doing a mad dash in the middle of a set, elbowing your way through to see another ‘must see’ act scheduled at the same time. Anyone who got tired of being a human sardine had numerous tents to chill in, though, from the Chai Lounge, to foam parties and workshops, to the returning Tipi Forest and Guzman Y Gomez tent. The best way to get your money’s worth though, was to get in amongst the throng, and carry your mid-strength drink of choice gingerly.

Updates and inspirations: Faster Louder

Recently went on board as a Faster Louder contributor, as it looked like fun! Here's my first contibution.

Review: 'Wooly Jumpers Vol 1' for Rave Magazine

WOOLY JUMPERS EP VOL 1
(Wool)

A bundle of sweet, unrelated musical tangents

French independent label Wool Recordings showcase a selection of unreleased material from their favourite artists to delight and entice us. Racial profiling is wrong I know, but damn the French have good taste. On side A Stereolab’s singer, Laetita Sadier, hints at what’s inside her upcoming solo record with Statues, a minimalist track full of dramatic pitch changes and heavy silences. Castanets’ Little Pretty Eyes provides a highlight; a touching track sounding like a rougher, more tremulous Mumford & Sons, with obsessively loving lyrics teetering on the right side of creepiness. On side B, Peter Broderick gives us a haunting narrative, the simply powerful Man On The Bridge, full of eerily altered vocals and harmonies. Finally, Wool’s own outfit, Double-U, bring sparse lo-fi synth-pop to the table. This collection provides a dreamy, more-ish experience.

ANNA ANGEL

Original article can be viewed here.