culture

Bleeding Knees Club’s second album, Fade the Hammer, sees songwriter Alex Wall weave some far-flung influences into his bratty pop punk, from Lightnin’ Hopkins to doo-wop.

MTC’s childish ’80s romp Astroman – unsuccessfully transplanted from New Zealand to Geelong – is unlikely to appeal even to schoolkids, but more adult audiences will revel in Max Gillies’ masterful turn in Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape.

Diverging from the usual blockbuster formula, Masters of modern art from the Hermitage excites with its rich selection from the holdings of Sergey Shchukin and Ivan Morozov.

In Supernatural, the latest exhibition from Judith Neilson’s monumental collection of contemporary Chinese art, works about nature are, like their subject, informed by tradition but transformed into wholly modern visions.

The current chaotic state of the ABC cannot be blamed on a single high-ranking person. And nor can its woefully mundane programming. Instead, it’s the fault of the c-word – compromise.

The third season of Australian Survivor on Network Ten finds the reality show developing an entertaining style distinct from the enduring juggernaut of its American forerunner.

Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black is not just a homage to classical filmmaking and 1950s Sydney, it is also a window into the cultural richness brought by post-World War II refugees. If only it had pushed darker themes further.

Liars’ new album of oblique rock, TWTWF, finds Angus Andrew lyrically exploring the departure of his long-time songwriting partner and sonically drawing on his natural surrounds.

MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art provides an engaging and broad survey of how we have sought to understand the negotiation between technology, nature and our humanity.