by

Rec160 – Mayatrix and The Psychics

Band: Mayatrix and the Psychics

One of the best things to come out of seeing Roger Waters performing The Wall was discovering Lucius, whose harmonising singers were performing with him. Similarly, The Cult has put its support act, WA’s Mayatrix and The Psychics (previously known as Moana), on the radar. Margaret Court Arena wasn’t doing either band any sonic favours when I saw them – Ian Astbury lamented the energy suck of the stadium and appeared to remove his ear pieces for the encore – but even so, the Psychics pushed out a delightful bass thump with their infectious gumbo of rock, psychedelia and more. Singer and guitarist Moana has voice and presence to burn, and burn them she does. They’ve been around for at least a decade – their In the Allure album is marking a five-year anniversary during their tour with The Cult (how good is Dracula?) – and they’ve been releasing new material since (wrap your ears around the latest, this year’s Black Moon Medicine). Rock on!

by

2025 literature events are making their marks

calendar

The calendar of Australian literary events is starting to populate, with more than 20 on the list already, up until August so far. Adelaide Writers Week is well ahead, having posted dates for 2026 as well!

Next year’s events are still listed under the 2024 calendar – they’ll get their own page in late November.

As always, please feel free to get in touch to bring events to my attention or alert me to errors.

by

rec160: Blink Twice

Film: Blink Twice

Director: Zoë Kravitz

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum,

Year of release: 2024

Comparisons (e.g. Rolling Stone and Esquire) between this, the debut for director Zoë Kravitz, with the work of Jordan Peele (in particular Get Out) is not unwarranted. Here’s an apparent idyll that of course has a dark secret, and the reveal is beautifully balanced as clues and tension mount after a leisurely set-up. Horror ensues amid the social critique, Naomi Ackie’s Frida bearing the brunt amid a cast of questionable dudes and a delightful sisterhood. There is a certain, triumphant inevitability to events once the trigger is pulled, even though the survivor ratio is always in question and the denouement offers a masterful twist. Channing Tatum heads the good-time bros partying hard on their private island, his portrayal totally convincing of a tech tycoon on the comeback trail from an unknown but intimated scandal. Money talks and money walks in this premise, a superb addition to the ouvre in which exploitation in the Me Too era receives its just desserts.

by

rec160: A Quiet Place – Day One

Film: A Quiet Place – Day One

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph Quinn, Alex Wolff

Release: 2024

When this movie emerged, I wondered what it could add to the first two (sensational) instalments. We’d seen how the aliens arrived and – spoiler – how they could be fought. So what did Day One have to offer? Turns out, plenty. Albeit, probably any apocalyptic monster or zombie could’ve done the job of setting up this entirely enthralling survival story. It rang a similar bell to the fabulous Aussie flick These Final Hours, where values such as family and friendship are put under an intense lens as the curtain comes down in inevitable fashion. Adding to the emotional pull is a cat that has a habit of being in the right, or wrong, place at the right time. There’s a touchstone to the previous movies that rewards familiarity but doesn’t confuse, Day One a masterclass in how to tap a franchise without cannibalising it or fracturing the narrative. If only Alien: Romulus had been able to show such a deft touch.

by

Vampire night – dual book launch on Black Friday in September

It is a two-vampire-story year, with a short story following hot on the heels of my novella, Cruel Nights.

Sounds like a good reason for a party! Friday the 13th? Even better!

Nosferatu Unbound invites an international cast of writers to revisit the world of its namesake, the marvellous 1922 film.

As it happens, co-editor Steven Paulsen, illustrator Dillon Naylor and a certain Kirstyn McDermott are all fellow Ballaratians (or perhaps more fittingly, Ballarodents), hence: party!

cruel night, vampire novella by Jason Nahrung

Nosferatu Unbound will be celebrated at a release party, part of Collins Booksellers’ After Dark series, on 13 September at Collins Booksellers in Bridge St Mall, Ballarat, kicking off at 6.30pm. Also on the table will be Cruel Nights, still waiting for its official raising of the glass since its May release. There will be minimal official words, mocktails with a vampiric flavour, and books to buy, get signed, and chat about: as well as the anthology and Cruel Nights, Dillon’s fabulous vampire yarn Batrisha, and more dark tales from the four contributors.

There is a Facebook event to indicate your interest for catering purposes, or drop me or the bookstore a line.

As a further local connection, my story, ‘The Late Stage’, ships the undead off to Ballarat during the gold rush – not all gold diggers are after money, are they?

Kirstyn, meanwhile, has a familiar character of her own hot on the trail of the movie itself. Ooh!

Nosferatu Unbound is officially released on 16 September – keep an eye on the publisher’s website for purchase options.

by

rec160: The Underhistory, by Kaaron Warren

NOVEL

Title: The Underhistory

Author: Kaaron Warren

Publisher: Allen&Unwin, 2024

Pera lives alone in a rural mansion, one she has rebuilt on the wreckage of her childhood home. She is the only survivor of a tragedy that claimed the lives of her immediate family, the visiting prime minister and others besides. On this day, she is running a ghost tour, only to have interlopers impose themselves. The 60-odd-year-old must deal with the threat they pose to her paying guests, the home and herself – Pera is not one to yield easily. The tour is a clever wav to lead the reader through the eclectic rooms of the house and its grounds, each revealing elements of Pera’s life and personality. The delicious claustrophobia is perhaps undermined as the intruders’ malevolence is revealed in a few breakout sections, but these also flag the key plot and looming danger – I am conflicted! Warren is a leading light in dark fiction – this may well be the book that introduces her to a deservedly wider audience.

by

rec160: Blue Eye Samurai

TV SHOW

Title: Blue Eye Samurai

Creators: Michael Green, Amber Noizumi

Cast (voice): Maya Erskine, Darren Barnet, George Takei

Year of release: 2023

What a sumptuous work of animation this is! Cinematic sets and effective action sequences set off a narrative that does not follow the typical path. When we meet Mizu (voiced by Erskine, recently seen in the flesh in the most engaging Mr and Mrs Smith), apparently a young swordsman out to revenge his slain mother, it feels the series will be following a well-blazed path just waiting for Clint Eastwood (or any other action hero who looks good in a poncho or, in this case, kimono) to ride into town. Mizu, of the striking blue eyes, has secrets that aren’t that surprising, further lulling the viewer into false expectations. Love interest, mentor, handsome villain, comedic sidekick all appear, made eminently watchable due to touches of humour and adept narrative control. But then come the plot swerves as Mizu finds himself embroiled in a story much larger than his simple desire to even a score. Sign me up for season 2!

by

rec160: The Tin Roof Blowdown, by James Lee Burke

NOVEL

Title: The Tin Roof Blowdown

Author: James Lee Burke

Publisher: Orion, 2007

I’ve been hunting the Dave Robicheux crime series in second-hand book shops ever since I received a copy of Creole Belle. It blew my socks off: starting directly after the preceding book, the details were seamlessly inserted to allow me to follow the yarn and enjoy the adept characterisation and descriptions of Louisiana. The history and social layers of the state infuse the series. This title, a recent find set in New Orleans during and immediately after Katrina and then Rita, is one of the best so far. The storms’ devastation, a shooting of looters who picked the wrong house, and Robicheaux’s family under threat: it’s a compelling mix deftly balanced. Robicheux, a Vietnam veteran clinging to sobriety, remarks after a nightmare that he thought he would ‘never again have to witness the wide-scale suffering of innocent civilians, nor the betrayal and abandonment of our countrymen when they need us most. But that was before Katrina’. Still gives me goosebumps.

by

rec160: Melbourne International Comedy festival – a selection

Breaking the 160-word rule for this one, because too much greatness to fit!

We got to spend three nights taking in three acts a night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and scored a ripper selection of story tellers who can make you think and feel at the same time.

Zoë Coombs Marr with Lou Wall supporting: been following Zoë since her Dave days and just keeps getting sharper; Wall also superb

Laura Davis: her Albatross show was unaffected, personal and affecting — why haven’t I heard of her before?

Claire Hooper MCing a late-night line-up of 10 for $10 – mileage varies but a good intro to up-and-comers

Celia Pacquola: seen her on screen, first time on stage, and thoroughly enjoyable

Rose Bishop: handling some tough material with aplomb – fabulous

Ali McGregor curating a late-night line-up: one comedian down, but the three guests (inc Hannah Gadsby) and McGregor’s singing backed by a tight jazzy three-piece brought it home

Hannah Gadsby supported by Bronwyn Kuss: fab duo, Gadsby not letting her rise change much at all but the quality of her hotel rooms

Chloe Petts: from the UK, another highlight combining laughs with commentary and rolling with the audience – top shelf

Finished off in the same room as Petts with another variety act, anchored on PowerPoint presentations: fun way to finish

MICF runs till 21 April 2024.