Oceania

Aussie Wine Got Good! Here's Where to Drink it in New York

If your last memory of Australian wine was an overripe Shiraz, erase it! The new breed of Aussie wine is leaner, more structured, and food-friendlier than before, and heading to New York thanks to a wave of young, dynamic winemakers and importers. Gordon Little and his fiancee Lauren Peacock of Lit ... More >>

Diplo-Approved Flume Hates the Roided-Out Bros and Orange Chicks of EDM Culture

Harley Streten blames Jersey Shore for the rise of EDM culture. "It seems like a trend," says the 21-year-old Australian producer, who records and performs primarily as Flume. Halfway through his eight-show run of his first South by Southwest-- which he describes as "CMJ on steroids"-- Streten was a ... More >>

The Best Reissues of 2012

As I sit and watch the year end lists of best reissues virtually pile up on the laptop, I can't help but be reminded of something my Uncle Lech once said to me many X-Masses ago when we were down in his basement jamming some Bobby Vinton. As his light up speakers twinkled and pulsed in my periphera ... More >>

Vomitor+Negative Plane

Free Will Astrology: November 14-20, 2012

Smashing Pumpkins

High Highs Talk Elton John, The Price Of Beer In New York, And The Isolation Of Australia

By Kai Flanders Last January Brooklyn-by-way-of-Australia indie-pop songsters High Highs released a self-titled EP. NPR called it's under-watery layers "immediately endearing" and NME listed them as one their 50 best new bands of 2011. Their phone rang. Elton John's people were on the line. They we ... More >>

STRANGE WAYS

Unknown Mortal Orchestra 
check in at Glasslands

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Lamb Dishes

Will the gloriously squishy sheep testicles at Kavkaz make the cut? Lamb is the meat of the hour. While many Americans used to eschew the flesh as "too strongly flavored," most New York diners now proclaim its mildly assertive flavor as "just right." Of course, when you're talking about namby-pamb ... More >>

David Burke on Traveling to Australia With Geoffrey Zakarian, Ramps

David Burke is a man of many words, and many restaurants. The ebullient chef not only helms three high-end restaurants in New York City, but also a café in Bloomingdale's, and restaurants around the country. Also, he's the brains behind spray salad dressing. Sheer genius, indeed. We got the c ... More >>

BLOW YOUR HEAD

Two genres battle it out 
at Santos' Party House

Pie Face Coming Soon to Midtown, Prepare to Stuff Your Face With Aussie Pies

Pie FaceSmiles galore!​Pie Face, an Australian chain that sells individual sweet and savory pies (one of the fave foods Down Under), is setting up shop at 1691 Broadway (212-247-9065).

Drunk Online Shopping Will Save This Wretched Economy!

Credit card debt? What credit card debt? Oh, pour yourself another drink. The latest fun -- and healthy! -- thing we're all doing under the influence of a little boozin' is...shopping on our own personal computers, from home, at night, after a hard day's work, with the jug of wine next to us. In a f ... More >>

The Hudson: Frequently Kinda Poopy

​A while back, we were all a bit concerned about our New York City water exploits. A fire in the engine room at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Harlem caused the plant to shut down, spewing nasty water out into our nearby bodies of H20, and officials deemed the Hudson, and parts ... More >>

Owling Might Be the New Planking, Reports Actual Newspaper

Owl would not approve.​The Washington Post's BlogPost asked a really deep question this week: "Could owling be the new planking?" Yes, planking -- which we previously told you about -- has a rival? challenger? friend? -- in the world of trends that aren't really trends but are instead just thi ... More >>

Tomorrow: Our 10 Best Classic American Dishes and Where to Find Them

​Will fried chicken make our list of 10 Best Classic American Dishes? Here is Riverpark's rather fussy rendition. This weekend is the Fourth of July, our most sacred secular holiday, and now is the time to celebrate iconic American foods. While our favorite national dishes don't quite have t ... More >>

Beer Drinkers Are Tastier to Mosquitoes; Winemakers Take to Plastic

​What is it about the subtle pleasure of Kölsch, asks Eric Asimov? "Well, it's a snappy and beautifully refreshing golden ale, bright without being overbearing." Doesn't that sound nice? [NY Times] Carlsberg, which is mostly known for light lagers, is gearing up to launch Carlsberg Elephant, ... More >>

CHIP SHOT

Making beautiful music with vintage computers

Surprise Me Mr. Davis+Washington

Parents Do Not Find "Kid in the Overhead Compartment" Joke Funny, Not One Little Bit

This baby seems okay with it. [via frohrn/flickr ]​Say you're a flight attendant. Say there's a kid, and his dad, and they're on your plane playing a fun little game of peek-a-boo. And so you try to help out, putting the kid in the overhead compartment, because that's what you do, put things i ... More >>

Live: The Cake Shop's Letha Melchior Rodman Benefit Mercifully Features Only One Gushing Head Wound

Other than this poor guy everyone had a lovely time. Pics by Mike.​Capsul/Purling Hiss/Home Blitz/Tom Surgal/Mad Scene Cake Shop Saturday, January 22 Better than: Any other rock show you could've seen tonight Letha Rodman was a significant presence on the pre-Internet indie scene in NYC -- c ... More >>

David Campbell

Kittichai's Ty Bellingham, Part II: First Thanksgiving, Ratatouille & Cooking in a Batman Costume

Ty Bellingham​Yesterday, we talked to Ty Bellingham, the new chef at Kittichai, who made the move from Sydney, Australia with his family to bring his Thai food expertise to New York City. Today, he reveals what's in his fridge, a few of his hopes and dreams, and his biggest culture shocks so f ... More >>

Confirmed: Happy People Are Nicer; Australians Are the Happiest and Nicest

If this was a regular sighting, you'd probably be happy too.​Charities Aid Foundation has taken a look at countries doing charitable things -- giving money, helping a stranger, or volunteering time -- and guess where the U.S.A. ranked? Number five. Which is not horrible, but also maybe not as ... More >>

Whole Foods Recalls Farm Cheese; Plastic Bags Now Illegal in Samoa

​Burger King is, in fact, being sold to private equity firm 3G Capital for some $3.26 billion. [Salon] Whole Foods is not immune to food safety scandals. It's recalling farm cheese due to possible Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus contamination. [WireUpdate] A new exhibition at the MoMA, en ... More >>

Breaking: Wall Street Unexpectedly Happy Today

​Shares on Wall Street surged -- surged, mind you! -- today, surprising dour-faced predictors everywhere. Thanks to growth in China and Australia, maybe we won't have to face Recession 2.0, a/k/a, "global economic sloooowwwdown" after all. Also, the U.S. manufacturing sector grew faster than e ... More >>

The Hungry Planet

FlickrAisles of plenty...for now.​ The world's producers of food have a rather big job in the next 40 years: According to 1,800 scientists in Brisbane for the 19th World Congress of Soil Science, food production must be doubled by 2050.

Mel Gibson: The Road Warrior, Running To Australia With Ex-Wife?

​Last we checked in with our national nightmare incarnate, he was the star of more leaked tracks than a mixtape rapper. Radar Online has played DJ, soundtracking the end of Mel Gibson's career with more firebreathing, huffing and puffing, free-associative, curse word verbal vomit than anyone t ... More >>

Kate Miller-Heidke

THE CHURCH IS IN SESSION

And they don't need no amps

The Chris Knox Benefit at Le Poisson Rouge Has Already Raised $40,545

​Which is to say that the May 6th show, featuring Yo La Tengo, the Clean, Jeff Mangum, and a bunch of other people is way beyond sold out--even at $75 per ticket. The indie start-up for indie start-ups, Kickstarter, hosted the bidding, and you can still give money there--as little as a dollar- ... More >>

Viva Voce+Cut Off Your Hands

THE REAL WORLD

A festival that favors grit over gloss

Free Will Astrology

Expectations Too Narrow

Pity the Shins, a good band now plagued by ubiquitous claims of greatness

Agricultural Ravers and Poppers Smack Their Kiwi Up

screens

Summer Visitors

Hunky power from New Zealand and enigmatic robotics from Japan confront modern dilemmas

From the Wilderness With the Wonders of Contemporary Stage Magic

Projecting Homeland

New Zealand's landscapes and Samoa's traditions mingle

Film

NY Mirror

Tracking Shots

Planet Rock

The World's Most Local Pop Music Goes International

Pooting in the Shadows

First Tear Gas, Now Bullets

Activists Weigh the Cost of Confrontation

Platypussy Galore