Ignatius Jones of Jimmy And The Boys not quite getting that stigmata thing right. Photo by Stuart Spence. Here we have the next instalment in What Comes To Mind, an alternative series in the Wind Back Wednesday space, based on the work of the brilliant photographer Stuart Spence. Each time, he will dig out a photo from his archives going back almost 50 years and challenge me to respond with what comes to mind when I look at that image. It might be serious or ridiculous, perso

Your best friend has a story for you. Stella Donnelly live (though not at the OAF here) STELLA DONNELLY Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, February 19   SHE IS THAT ENTHUSIASTIC best friend who’s always got something excellent to tell you. Grinning as she approaches maybe, furrowed brow on another day, but always tapping you on the arm or chest like she is bursting to share or to dance. Or both. At the same time. Not surprisingly, you find yourself doing it too, unintentionally mirr

Don't do it alone, share the music and the love. After a nap of course. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN Your solitude need never be silent if you find more of my playlists at the villa de Spotify.

“A FEW WEEKS AGO I was walking my huge dog and I got pulled really hard on the lead and flew up in the air and fell flat on my head,” Sally Seltmann says almost matter-of-factly, and unprompted, as if potentially fatal injuries are a regular part of an album release schedule, two days before said album is released. “I had a head injury and was in hospital for a week. It was like concussion, vertigo, all that sort of stuff. I’m totally fine, but still kind of recovering.” But

GILLIAN WELCH AND DAVID RAWLINGS State Theatre, Sydney, February 17   TIME IS, AS GILLIAN WELCH and David Rawlings told us, a revelator. It tells us about what has come (that maybe we missed in the tumult), what that has done to us (if we look closely enough), and what may yet be (if we can discern the patterns and take heed). And it shows on us all in ways that seem obvious but at the same time, well, revelatory. Take this duo, this couple, this two-as-one, a pairing where t

LA vs Newtown? "I like how in Australia it feels real.” This Friday sees the release of Sally Seltmann’s latest album, called Art School Reverie and already preceded by both the sartorial Shirt With Pussy Bow  and the historical Do I Want Fame?,  as singles and tasters for the reminiscence-laced set of new songs. You’ll be able to read exactly what that’s about on this site soon when Ms Seltmann sits down for a chat. But in the meantime, Wind Back Wednesday goes into its own

On the right side of history. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN Find more playlists for all wings at Spotify. They answer to my name.

JILL SCOTT To Whom This May Concern (The Orchard)   THE SCOURGE OF MODERN AUSTRALIA, John Howard, once said during his years in the political garbage bin that “the times will suit me” as he waited for selfishness, xenophobia and greed to come back in style. We didn’t need him, we didn’t really deserve him – well, not all of us – but we got him, that cultural dose of salts, and the stains have not been washed away yet. At the other end of the cosmic righteous spectrum, as the

The wind cried Richard Clapton. Photograph by Stuart Spence Here we have the next instalment in What Comes To Mind, an alternative series in the Wind Back Wednesday space, based on the work of the brilliant photographer Stuart Spence. Each time, he will dig out a photo from his archives going back almost 50 years and challenge me to respond with what comes to mind when I look at that image. It might be serious or ridiculous, personal or historical. It might be short and bruta