Latest news with #Australiana
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Jimmy Barnes: Defiant review – familiar but reliable territory from the indestructible rocker
'He's been wondering lately, where did all the good times go?' While this line in the opening song on Jimmy Barnes' new album is ostensibly about a couple struggling to make ends meet, it's hard not to think of Barnes lying in a hospital bed, a recurring sight in recent years: recovering from infection, then hip surgery, then bacterial pneumonia, then open heart surgery, then hip surgery again … but eventually 'it's a new day', as Barnes sings on the second track, a sentiment delivered without a question mark. If you're wondering where all the good times are, it seems Barnes' answer is: wherever the hell I want them to be and, until it all ends, I'm going to be a rock star. Specifically a rock star of the late 80s and early 90s, when he didn't have to dress down, à la grunge, or gloss up, à la ozone-depleting poodle metal, and instead slipped on a leather jacket and leaned into the camera as a freight train pulled out behind him. Defiant lands smack bang in the middle of that Peak Barnes Moment and it is no coincidence that while Barnes shared the songwriting with some old hands and near-family, the production is given over to that master of Australiana rock, Kevin Shirley. You'd know his work from early Silverchair, the Screaming Jets, the Angels, Baby Animals, Cold Chisel … and Tina Arena. You'd know his work by the ringing clarity in your ears. It's in the in-your-face drum sound (that snare snap is sharpened to a point) and forward-facing guitars (you could do your hair in the reflection from the shine on them), and it's in the careful middle ground of keyboards and a smattering of modern country to show range. You can recognise it in the prominence given to every corrugation of that lived-through voice and the softening agent of rich backing vocals and, in the powered-up ballad Beyond The Riverbend, even in the bagpipes. If this album were any more 1990s, it would come with a Hawkeian cigar and a Rachel haircut. A song like Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don't has the skinny-arse shaking beat of the Rolling Stones or the Faces, but those drums won't let you do anything other than stomp. Things are a little lighter in opener That's What You Do For Love, its 'woah-ohs' softening the ground, but the backing vocals of an escalating chorus and a hero-cast guitar solo don't resist the temptation to go full back-of-the-beerbarn anthemic. If the muscular rock of Nothing Comes For Nothing and the brassy southern soul Sea Of Love, possibly the most satisfying song on the album, gives Barnes a moment to ease back on the throat – but there's little evidence he was looking for respite. He rips it up in the title track and pushes it to the edges in the husky Never Stop Loving You; even at half-force in Dig Deep he feels powerful, controlled rather than raw against the saloon piano. What heart operation? That operation and its aftermath, however, does play through Barnes' lyrical focus. Not just in the obvious I-get-knocked-down-I-get-up-again rugged roar of the title track's 'I don't get tired, I just higher/I stand defiant', but in the reflections of a man given yet another chance. There are throwbacks to the stories he's told us in his series of hugely successful memoirs. Of mistakes and repair, like The Long Road's declaration that 'I'm on the long road to perdition', and of coming through a childhood where 'if you showed any weakness, the streets will make you bleed', as he sings in Dig Deep. And there is Never Stop Loving You's clear view of the complications and satisfactions of a long love affair that was not only life-saving but life-affirming. It's true that this makes for an album that could hardly be said to break new ground or reach stellar heights. But it's also true that it nails the essentials of Jimmy Barnes – and even more so, the Jimmy Barnes that people wanted to hear in the good and the bad times almost half a century ago. Defiant is out now (Mushroom)
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bec Judd finds a buyer for her multimillion-dollar holiday house
Glamour couple Rebecca and Chris Judd have sold their 'bush Australiana vibe' holiday house and former renovation project. The stylish country estate in Mornington Peninsula's Arthurs Seat had been listed with a price guide of $2.85 million to $3 million and was marked as sold online this week. The exact price and buyer will become public on settlement. The residence last traded in 2016 for $1,212,500, public records show, and has since had a dramatic transformation. Bec Judd, a former TV presenter, speech pathologist and model, as well as seasoned renovator and self-taught interior designer, documented the transformation on social media. She earlier described falling in love with the home during a Melbourne winter, highlighting the birdsong and kangaroos in the bushland surrounding the gently rolling three-hectare block. '[It had] this bush Australiana vibe,' she said when the home was listed. 'We felt like we were hours away from the city, but it was literally 59 minutes door-to-door.' The couple previously listed the home on Airbnb and visited on weekends. Then last year she oversaw a fast transformation, in which the home was gutted and rebuilt in four months thanks to builder Dale Cheesman of The Melbourne Builder. Landscape architect Nathan Burkett redid the gardens. The mid-century brick home now features Patagonia stone, smokey grey oak floors and bespoke joinery, with an open-plan living and dining space, including a wood fire heater, and an integrated fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Bec Judd finds a buyer for her multimillion-dollar holiday house
Glamour couple Rebecca and Chris Judd have sold their 'bush Australiana vibe' holiday house and former renovation project. The stylish country estate in Mornington Peninsula's Arthurs Seat had been listed with a price guide of $2.85 million to $3 million and was marked as sold online this week. The exact price and buyer will become public on settlement. The residence last traded in 2016 for $1,212,500, public records show, and has since had a dramatic transformation. Bec Judd, a former TV presenter, speech pathologist and model, as well as seasoned renovator and self-taught interior designer, documented the transformation on social media. She earlier described falling in love with the home during a Melbourne winter, highlighting the birdsong and kangaroos in the bushland surrounding the gently rolling three-hectare block. '[It had] this bush Australiana vibe,' she said when the home was listed. 'We felt like we were hours away from the city, but it was literally 59 minutes door-to-door.' The couple previously listed the home on Airbnb and visited on weekends. Then last year she oversaw a fast transformation, in which the home was gutted and rebuilt in four months thanks to builder Dale Cheesman of The Melbourne Builder. Landscape architect Nathan Burkett redid the gardens. The mid-century brick home now features Patagonia stone, smokey grey oak floors and bespoke joinery, with an open-plan living and dining space, including a wood fire heater, and an integrated fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Australian fashion week 2025: highlights
The wafts of fake snow falling from the ceiling were far from the most extravagant flourishes at Romance Was Born's sequin, crystal and pearl-encrusted 20th anniversary show, which closed out Australian fashion week. Photograph:Designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales tapped two disparate new collaborators for their collection, Australian painter Laura Jones and toy company Mattel, with nostalgic Masters of the Universe markings and Build a Rainbow logos rendered in sequins on body-skimming midi-length gowns. Photograph:Jones hand-painted landscapes on to a series of structured satin pieces, including a magnificent Watteau train that fell from the back of a form-fitting mini dress. Photograph:Playful bird and butterfly headpieces by milliner Phoebe Hyles, glittering opera gloves and satin trimmed shoes from Charles and Keith added elements of period drama, the era veering between art deco and 80s prom. Photograph:In a country with a notably casual approach, ball gowns are a rarity, but Plunkett and Sales are expert in placing Australiana motifs – gum blossoms, monarch wings, budgerigar faces – on tulle-stuffed, Pierrot ruffled dresses that would look perfectly at home at the Met Gala. Photograph:'Swim all day, dance all night' was the mood Liandra Gaykamangu wanted to conjure for her second solo show at Australian fashion week. The designer's breezy linens, crisp cotton and bamboo modal with a palette of cream, tangerine and russet meant the mood was more casual than club wear. Photograph:Liandra expanded her ready-to-wear range, all of it fit to pull on straight from the ocean. Her multi-darted shift dresses, now upgraded with pockets, are particularly wearable. Photograph:But swimwear, much of it printed and reversible, was still at the collection's core. As well as a sunset-shaded coral print, she added splashes of shimmering lurex to the mix. Photograph:In a week where many models stumbled in vertiginous heels, Liandra's styling was a breath of fresh air, with models in sneakers, sun-smart straw hats, swinging, beaded glasses chains and crocheted phone holders. Photograph:On every chair at Bianca Spender's show there was a pencil and a card with the question: 'What are you holding onto that you need to let go of?' It set an esoteric tone for the presentation of her 'Deliquesce' collection inside Anglican church St Barnabas, a luminous white space with soaring ceilings. Photograph:Spender, who trained first under her mother, Carla Zampatti, and then in Italy and France, is skilled at playing with proportion and draping in a way that few of her Australian peers can match. Photograph:Spender's collection featured twisted and tucked asymmetric hemlines, structured strapless tops, backless dresses with fluid lines and barely there architectural swimwear. Photograph:Over five years, Alix Higgins has built a cult following around the eponymous label that gives his shows an electric energy. In this collection, titled The Needle, he added silk tops, skirts and dresses to the digitally printed nylon pieces and up-cycled tees he has become known for. The colour palette popped: neon purple, turquoise, orange, yellow and red. Photograph:Higgins's own fragmented, wistful poetry was written on both the clothes and the runway carpet, a mix of single words and phrases: 'holy fool', 'tulips', 'roses', 'don't you remember', 'God'. Photograph:There is something disarming about an online generation's ideas being printed on the deconstructed silhouettes worn by Higgins's cast of friends. Photograph:After the Higgins show, fashion editor Maggie Zhou remarked that it made her want to cry (in a good way). Photograph:With her latest collection, Gabriella Pereira proved her mastery of both fabric and form. It featured slinky dresses, micro shorts, sharp tailoring and oversized coats. Photograph:The dresses from Beare Park were Calvin Klein-esque and ankle length, the most revealing included panels of lace, or long strips of silk trailing from hips and open backs. Photograph:In addition to her usual black, grey, chocolate brown and cream palette, Pereira added canary yellow chiffon and satin silks. Photograph:The Byron-based brand used its Australian fashion week debut to unveil a new product category: denim. The show started with a short film featuring the model Jessica Gomes cutting up a pair of jeans and planting the scraps in the soil to emphasise the collection's name: Return to Earth. Then Gomes opened the show in a red denim mini-skirt. Photograph:The presentation creatively styled the brand's signature athletic wear – sweaters, bike shorts, onesies, crop-tops and leggings – with its highly coveted, fluffy knitwear and the new denim skirts, shorts and jeans. Photograph:Jumpers were tied around waists to make skirts, shorts were pulled over trousers and tops were worn half-on, half-off. Photograph:The first eight looks on the Lee Mathews runway were head-to-toe white. The structured shirts, trousers, coats and dresses included a collaboration with London-based designer Renata Brenha: a dress with a swinging crinoline skirt. Photograph:Gradually the colour palette evolved to include lime-green checks amid accents of black, hot pink and cherry red. Photograph:It was a showcase of what Lee Mathews does best: loose, almost masculine silhouettes in luxurious, feminine fabrics that manage to be both practical and ethereal. Photograph:As each look emerged from behind heavy calico curtains, a star-studded audience that included Nigella Lawson and Miranda Otto looked on. Photograph:The Innovators is Tafe NSW's annual graduate showcase, and featured the collections of four Bachelor of Fashion Design students this year: Shiva Yousefpour, Emily Hon, Eidan Ceilidh and Daisy-Rose Cooper. Each one had an emphasis on cultural heritage and craftsmanship. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios Cooper has already established a label, Sleight of Hand, and showed clothing inspired by organic processes and the Australian bush. Using techniques such as felting and fraying to create texture and buoyant silhouettes, Cooper sent a range of sculptural shorts, dresses, shirts and scarves down the runway. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios One black, red and gold sleeveless top with accentuated shoulders and an asymmetrical line across the hips appeared to be assembled from fabric scraps and ribbons – in a nod to her use of dead stock. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios For the first time since its inception in 1999, The Innovators show was not on the official schedule, despite its alumni including Christopher Esber, Zimmermann, Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa. Photograph: Andrew Donato/Supplied Fashion Design Studios The first look Charlotte Hicks sent down the runway was head-to-toe leather, followed by a sequin cocktail dress and a satin skirt covered in tassels. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied The designer behind Esse Studios has long championed architectural wardrobe staples in sumptuous fabrics, but this evolution was more Boom Boom than Quiet Luxury – a fun transition. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied Esse showed as part of Frontier, a group presentation that included five other designers like young talents Courtney Zheng (her debut at AFW) and Amy Lawrence (winner of the National Designer award) alongside more established businesses such as Matin and Common Hours. Photograph: Lucas Dawson/Supplied In five years, artist Jordan Gogos has quickly established a reputation for runway anarchy with ultra maximalists collections, rainbow palettes and sprawling lists of collaborators. Photograph:This year Gogos worked with three shoe makers – Darren Bischoff, Joseph Botica and Olivia Bellevue – and visual artists including Troy Emery, who painted a playroom horse on a dress shaped to match the artwork. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian The designer also tapped artist George Raftopoulos to paint a scene on a floor length toga. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian Gogos's Mediterranean motif, from ancient Athenian frescoes to Amalfi lemon prints, was thanks to recycled domestic textiles sourced from the designer's Greek community. Photograph:That throughline reached its zenith in a model balancing a 1.5m felted wig in the shape of a classical column on his head. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian But beneath the playful drama, there were wearable pieces, particularly a series of tapestry coats and blazers made from repurposed Greek blankets. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Sydney Morning Herald
10-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Sydney Morning Herald
The perfect accessories to inspire your country kitchen
This story is part of the May 11 edition of Sunday Life. See all 13 stories. Traditional, well-crafted pieces for the heart of the home, from enamel utensils to a reclaimed pine table and some perfectly pretty plates. Where to buy: Mason Cash 'Home to Roost' 29cm mixing bowl, $149; Provincial Home Living 'Ponting' sideboard, $1999; Royal Albert China x Miranda Kerr 'Australiana' 20cm plates, $249 (set of four); La DoubleJ 'Botanical' apron, $200. Where to buy: Smeg '50s Retro' kettle, $219; Thymes 'Lemon Leaf' hand wash, $59; Walter G 'Istanbul Moss' tablecloth, $150. Where to buy: KEY PIECE A 'Petite Casserole' ($50) from Le Creuset's new garden-inspired collection, Jardin; Schots 'Stratford' table, $2749; Chamois napkins, $18 each; Bonnie & Neil enamel kitchen utensils, $79 (set of 3).
