Documentary maker Jeremy Deller says rave and acid house culture "wasn't all about drugs". Photo / Getty Images.
Documentary maker Jeremy Deller says rave and acid house culture "wasn't all about drugs". Photo / Getty Images.
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You don't need to be a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan to enjoy Flea's memoir Acid For the Children. Photo / Getty Images.
Acid for the Children, the enthralling memoir of Michael Balzary, better known as Flea, legendary bass player from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, is refreshingly unique as far as rock bios go.
Honest and vivid descriptions of his fractured childhood in Australia, New York and Los Angeles, provide aninsight into what shaped his sensitive soul and led him into a wild life of excess and rock and roll stardom.
Born in Melbourne in 1962, Flea shares his conflicted thoughts and feelings towards his homeland - fondly recalling the taste of meat pies but slamming Australia's ingrained racism, wondering if "the disenfranchised and ethnically cleansed aboriginal people put a whammy on whitey, retaliation for genocide and years of systematic abuse?" It's a great read.
Jeremy Deller's documentary on the rave and acid house scene is an excellent watch. Photo / Supplied.
The late 1980s' acid house scene is often marginalised as an almost baseless movement born from a few London DJs embracing Ecstasy during a hedonistic holiday in Ibiza.
However, Everybody in the Place, Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller's brilliant BBC documentary, argues otherwise, explaining how house music and rave culture – much like punk rock before it – was both the result of and a reaction to the social and political state of 1980s Britain.
Breaking from traditional music documentary form, Deller makes his case while delivering a presentation to a class of bemused London high school students, introducing them to archived footage and anecdotes of a scene and time they never knew existed. Check it out now on YouTube.
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The Mandalorian is the right antedote if you're a jaded and disillusioned Star Wars fan. Photo / Supplied.
You must have been living under a rock on Tatooine if you haven't heard of The Mandalorian – the new Star Wars show on Disney+.
Styled more as a Space Western rather than a continuation of the Star Wars tradition, director John Favreau deserves a pat on the back for keeping diehard fans happy while providing an easily accessible entry point for those new to the powers of The Force.
I've heard a few grumblings from bitter and twisted old folk longing for a grittier take but this is as good as anything we could have hoped for from Disney. Heck, I'm even down with the baby Yoda.
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Seven-time Grammy-winning cultural chameleon Beck has released his highly anticipated 14th album Hyperspace. Photo / Supplied.
Old mate Beck is back, testing my patience yet again, with his 14th album, Hyperspace.
A disappointing progression from 2017's underwhelming Colors, Hyperspace travels further into the depths of artificial pop production, courtesy of co-writer and co-producer Pharrell Williams, whose fingerprints are all over seven of the 11 tracks.
There are some good moments – Beach Boys-esque vocals, Beatles' White Album guitar tones, and some interstellar-sounding synth – but overall this record is lightyears from his best work.
I don't expect him to rehash the 90s, but Hyperspace plays like a once-revered creative genius doing his best to keep up with contemporary definitions of cool.
