For the past three decades, Freddy Lim has carved out a singular path through Taiwan’s cultural and political landscape, first as the frontman of death metal band Chthonic and later as an activist and two-term legislator.

The Western mind cannot comprehend a riotous punk band from Wuhan having their Wednesday night gig in Taipei shut down by the police.

Liner notes to an imagined compilation of not-greatest non-hits from the early career of a cult recording artist.

The house lights dim, the band comes out, and their singer James Smith confirms that a) they are in fact from Leeds, and b) they're happy to be in Melbourne. It’s UK’s Yard Act, playing at the Croxton Bandroom on November 13th.

When German singer-songwriter Patrice (Bart-Williams) released his last full-length album of new material, Life’s Blood, in 2016, the world was a very different place. Seven years later, he returned with a simple, more minimalist aesthetic in 2023’s 9.

Steve Albini died earlier this year. He was 61. People will disagree about what his best work was. Some will say Nirvana’s In Utero. Others the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa. The Breeders’ Pod and Low’s Things We Lost In The Fire will have their fans.

Some anesthesiologists and intensive care physicians mark August 27 as Bjørn Ibsen Day — honoring the lives he saved during a polio outbreak 70 years ago.

The first thing I noticed was the eraser. The little cheap one. The kind you get from the discount bin at the end of the aisle at Officeworks, with the red-and-white cardboard squarepants…

I used to write about cricket a lot. I used to write about cricket so much that I once took a semester off university to go to the Caribbean and write about cricket for a month and a half…

A meditation retreat is many things. It is, at times: gratifying, frustrating, painful, serene, boring, illuminating. Relaxing, however… it is not…

One of the trickier things about being an adult without kids is that life can often seem to pass you by, without anything solid to hold onto along the path…

I was jogging the other day, listening to Japanese Breakfast’s (excellent) recent album Jubilee, when a song came on that instantly perked my ears…

A few months ago, I moved back to Australia after living in Japan for more than 2 years. When I left, I was planning to write a post about all the things I loved about the place and what I’d miss the most after leaving…

There are some deeply paradoxical things about recording and producing audio. For example, if you want to have a huge drum sound on record, you often need a drummer who’s able to lay back and play quite softly, in order to hit consistently…

Michael McDowell wrote an article earlier this year about the podcast industry’s reliance on Pro Tools, which sparked an online discussion on its gatekeeping role…

How will we remember COVID? What memories will linger with us in years to come? That might all depend on who “we” are in those questions…

After the bland vanilla puree of Geoffrey Blainey’s A Shorter History of Australia, it’s nice to chew on the spicy meat platter that is David Hunt’s Girt…

It recently struck me how, in the more than two decades since I first moved to Australia, I had never read a book about the country’s history…

When I first became interested in producing audio stories a few years ago, one of the biggest challenges I faced was where to find the damn stories…

One of the problems with moving around a lot, especially overseas, is that you can’t take all your toys with you…