Review: Chris Pickering at The Globe for Rave Magazine

Gig review, read the original here, or in the latest Rave, issue 970, pg 30.

CHRIS PICKERING/ CATHERINE BRITT
The Globe - Fri Dec 3
Arriving at The Globe to news their doors are staying open, at least for now, I’m invited to ‘review the venue, not the bands’. It does feels right to stretch out on the worn carpet to take in the voyeuristically intimate shows of Nashville-returned alt-country artists Catherine Britt and Brisbane’s own Chris Pickering. But the crowd, which plateaus at around the 50 or 60 mark, are here for the music (barring the gentleman passed out in the middle of the room).

As candidly confessional in her song introductions as in her lyrics, Britt dedicates What I Did Last Night to the hangovers we’ll sport come morning, and bares the chip on her shoulder, launching into the arresting Call You Back Town. My current emotional state is akin to a floodgate, so it’s no surprise the raw emotion of Too Far Gone chokes me up. A lovelorn rendition of Sweet Emmylou is another highlight, as Britt proves her song’s point – good music can be medicinal.

Chris Pickering opens by performing a duet with Britt on Cool Southern Night. The pair work wonderfully together, especially later on Fisherman’s Daughter. He plays to his crowd – deadpan and slightly selfdeprecating, but ever grateful. From jokes following a spine-tingling Hasta Luego, to calling the beautiful I Just Want To Love a ballad for “you sensitive bunch”, he proves to have none of the ego of the musical heavyweights he is often compared to. The audience livens slightly during the up-beat Fit To Print and calls for an encore, amidst which is a stunning version of Love Hurts, making me concede this whole tour was designed as a comfort hug to the heartbroken. It’s an unfortunately small affair for the final leg of their national Fact Or Fiction tour, but that doesn’t stop them from demonstrating exactly why they deserve a much bigger hurrah.
ANNA ANGEL

Review: 'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' for Tom Magazine

For TOM Magazine. Read the original review here.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

Director: Jalmari Helander.

Starring: Jorma Tommila, Onni Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Rauno Juvonen, Per Christian Ellefsen

Reviewed by Anna Angel
This novel, sinister Christmas tale began in 2003 as a short by Finnish director Jalmari Helander that quickly gained momentum on the internet. Quirky ideas that capture audiences for a matter of minutes don’t necessarily translate into feature-length films, so it’s interesting to see if Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale can avoid going stale.

This is the antithesis of 1998’s A Very Brady Christmas and any recent Hollywood offering (though there’s a distinct lack of cheesy Christmas releases this year, which is somewhat disappointing). This is not an uplifting movie, and there are no Christian morals to be shared. Helander’s Santa Claus is decidedly different to Coca-Cola’s version  -  so different that he sniffs out and smacks to death any children in his vicinity, rather than gifting them the latest Mattel creations. 

Feature: 'Travel Writing' for Frock Paper Scissors

Written for Frock Paper Scissors. I do love Bookcrossing! Read the original article here.

I left Jonathan Safran Foer at the Balmoral Cineplex, his orange spine camouflaged against the taxi service phone. The next morning he was gone, and I haven’t heard from him since. The pursuit of Doctor Who brought me to Albion train station in the early hours of the morning, and I almost lost hope when Stephen King wasn’t waiting at a sodden park bench. That was, until a friend unwittingly sat next to Thomas Hardy on the Caboolture line, and introduced him to me.

Feature: 'Eat Your Greens!' for Frock Paper Scissors

An in-depth guide to Brisbane's vegetarian and vegan restaurants written for Frock Paper Scissors. I won't post it in full here, but any Brisbane veggo or possible veggo should take a look!

As a seasoned Brisbane veggo, I have some words of wisdom. We are not welcome at Breakfast Creek or Norman Hotel. While times have changed and vegetarians are catered for at most other venues, it gets a bit boring eating side chips and salad, or the token cream-based veg pasta at every meal out. More choice – a whole menu of options – and quality meat-free and vegan options are tucked away at a number of eateries across our fine city. Some you can take your partner’s conservative parents to, while some will frighten your relations with drum circles and hypnotic chanting. Here’s a handy guide of where to go, when, and with whom.

Read the full article here.

Feature: 'Many hands' for Frock Paper Scissors.

Written for Frock Paper Scissors.

By Anna Angel

They say birds of a feather flock together; this is especially true of Brisbane’s community of independent crafters.
The success of local artistic collectives like BrisStyle has given rise to new avenues for artists and shoppers to connect. The first franchise of Melbourne’s In.cube8r gallery, where independent artists lease small spaces to sell their wares commission-free, officially launched in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in August 2010.
In 2007, Isy Galey opened In.cube8r, which she labels “Coles-Myer on a smaller scale”, after struggling to find economically viable ways to market her glasswork to the public.
“I have always thought – and I’ve been making my whole life – that commission kills handmade,” she says.
Her success and passion has paved the way for the store, run by Vicki Sinclair, on Wickham Street to emerge as a staple among the Valley’s artistic tapestry, where shoppers have overwhelmingly embraced local crafters.
“Nothing compares to a product that’s made by hand, and because the item has been made without pressure, and not under duress in a sweatshop environment, that person is able to put love and thought behind it,” Galey says.

Original article and images here or read after the jump.

Fiction: 'Gingerbread' for Eve's Harvest

Eve's Harvest has been published through Odyssey, is available through Amazon, and looks pretty amazing! You can also see a preview, which means reading a few pages of my story for free! Check it out here. The theme is 'One', so my story, and many of the others, centre on the concept of one true love, which, is not entirely original, but given the feminist slant of lip magazine, who published the anthology, you can expect something a bit different to the usual drivel.

Feature: Madman National Cosplay Championships for Rave Magazine

For RAVE Magazine, issue 969. It was a fun day!

On the weekend the RNA showgrounds were invaded by the most colourful collection of characters  has ever seen. ANNA ANGEL reports on the highlights witnessed at the MADMAN NATIONAL COSPLAY CHAMPIONSHIPS.
It ain’t easy being a national cosplay (costume role-play) finalist, and as I found out at the weekend, months of painstaking stitching, hand-dying and collecting animal skeletons are just par for the course. If you call yourself a cosplayer because you once made out with Mary Jane (i.e. your right hand) while wearing a Spider-Man mask, these costuming spectaculars, sets, props and finely rehearsed skits would put you to shame. That is, if the cosplay community weren’t overwhelmingly supportive. For the second year, Madman Entertainment and Supanova presented the country’s biggest festival of anime, manga and video game cosplay, with the Brisbane leg scoring the additional gong of naming Australia’s best cosplayer. The finalists – five state champions and three wildcards – took to the stage after a morning of anime madness and mutual costume appreciation.

Updates and inspirations: Frock Paper Scissors launch

The new-look Frock Paper Scissors is finally live, and I couldn't be prouder of the way it's turned out. The contributors were all so talented and amazing to work with, and this project has definitely been worth all the tears, emails and late nights. It will continue to be updated over the coming year, but the frequency is up to circumstance at the moment. I will also be posting some of my own work featured on the site, but I'm generally just ecstatic to see it all come to life, after so many months of planning, deliberating, discussing and editing. Until it the reins are handed over next year, this has been/will be my 'baby'. To use an awkward analogy, the past months have been a bit of a gestation period (and those final hiccups and stresses, the labour?), and I'm exciting to see where else it can grow.

Review: 'Walk' by Israel Cannan for Rave Magazine

Belated review for Rave, published earlier this month.

Israel Cannan - Walk
(Poets Corner)
Soul-searching and country wandering
Track names like Set Me Free, The Revolution Fight and Rise indicate the angry chords of a wayward activist. Whilst Israel Cannan’s first full-length release is at times political, he comes off more as a likeable old soul than a jaded socialist. Walk is the result of Cannan’s penniless cross-country meandering, and the places and people along the way. Because of this, it feels like the indie-rock soundtrack to an over-saturated montage of road-trip escapades and self-discovery – Ben Harper meets a travelling gypsy and makes a movie about it. There’s reflective soundscapes as he’s rolling through the countryside (Letting Go and the standout Set Me Free) and spirited, layered tracks as our protagonist faces the world’s wrongs (The Revolution Fight, One Fine Day). There’s tracks to build the interwoven romantic tensions (The Final Day) and accompaniments to the touching final scenes (Forever This Time). With songwriting talent this strong, that film would be worth the price of admission.

ANNA ANGEL

Updates and inspirations: QUT Awards

I was excited to receive QUT Journalism awards in the categories of Best Feature by an Undergraduate or Postgraduate student and Best Story on a Mental Health Issue. No monetary value, damn! As reported here.
See below for proof, don't worry I couldn't believe it either.