Top 10 Australia Culture On this week 02/08/2020 (COVID-19 EDITION)

Hush little baby, don’t say anything that could be used to falsely incriminate you.

 

10) JOBS: The Quarantine Sessions

2nd August

What: JOBS are already very accustomed to utilizing technology to create from a distance as the band is currently scattered all over the country. Before everyone was living in a Zoom meeting, drummer Max Jaffe came up with a video concept for the band’s latest single, “Brian,” that came to him during the continuous stream of email/file sharing process. It’s another infectiously confounding art-rock tune from the indelible JOBS. Experience their unique brand of experimental minimalism in this intimate livestreamed concert.

Why: We honestly never thought the idea of living life in accordance with quarantine restrictions before the quarantine would be a trendy thing. The adaptability of the hipster superiority complex knows no bounds.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=0cb68ca0-d1d9-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

9) U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Virtual Tour

4th August

What: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States’ official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history. It is dedicated to helping leaders and citizens of the world confront hatred, prevent genocide, promote human dignity, and strengthen democracy. Experience an online/virtual tour of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum with emphasis on some of the more noteworthy items in the museum collection.

Why: Well, apparently Nazism is making a comeback, so it’s probably wise to be as informed as possible about the potentialities beyond Mel Gibson getting a ten minute standing ovation in Venice.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=b7c2e3e0-d1da-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

8) Crime Scenes in a Ghost Town

4th August

What: The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to lockdowns being implemented around the world. This has had a profound impact both inside the home and outside in the streets; with cities from London to New York and Sydney being emptied of their usual crowds and described as ‘ghost towns’. In this presentation, Professor Alison Young will reflect on how lockdowns have transformed space and how it is regulated. In conversation with Dr Bianca Fileborn, they will together consider what a city street looks and feels like without crowds, the shifting notions of ‘crime’ during the pandemic, and the consequences of how emergency powers have been implemented. These issues which lockdown has brought into focus have serious implications for our future uses of public space and for the ways in which we experience cities.

Why: Pretend that the definitive end of quarantine won’t result in a mass public orgy.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=34ed03e0-d1dc-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

7) Edward Ball ‘Life of a Klansman’ with Ibram X. Kendi

5th August

What: Life of a Klansman tells the story of a warrior in the Ku Klux Klan, a carpenter in Louisiana who took up the cause of fanatical racism during the years after the Civil War. Edward Ball, a descendant of the Klansman, paints a portrait of his family’s anti-black militant that is part history, part memoir rich in personal detail. In an era when racist ideology and violence are again loose in the public square, Life of a Klansman offers a personal origin story of white supremacy. Ball’s family memoir traces the vines that have grown from militant roots in the Old South into the bitter fruit of the present, when whiteness is again a cause that can veer into hate and domestic terror. Join Edward Ball and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, a New York Times bestselling author and the founding director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, for an in-depth discussion of the issues this memoir brings to light.

Why: Stick your pinky toe outside your echo chamber.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=6974cf00-d1da-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

6) Royal Albert Home: Peter Collins

7th August

What: Peter Collins will deliver an exclusive set from his home as part of the Royal Albert Home sessions. Peter Collins is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey who first built a following online, posting expressive covers of R&B, soul and jazz songs. His first album, Love and Mind, came out in 2018.

Why: Seems inoffensive.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=8b68a1a0-d1d9-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

5) Consent, Power, and the Patriarchy 

7th August

What: Three incredible writers come together for a cultural investigation about what consent, or lack of it, means in a patriarchal society and how survivors of sexual assault struggle to make their voices heard. Award-winning writer and public health executive Michelle Bowdler’s memoir, Is Rape a Crime, indicts how sexual violence has been addressed for decades in our society. Alisson Wood’s Being Lolita recounts seventeen-year-old Alisson’s metamorphosis from student to survivor. Moderating the conversation is T Kira Madden, acclaimed literary essayist author of the memoir Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls.

Why: They’re asking for it.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=dfccded0-d1db-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

4) Ottmar Liebert: Live

5th August

What: Guitarist and Zen monk Ottmar Liebert is a giant of new age music, beloved by fans around the world for his virtuosic brand of Spanish-influenced guitar. Experience his unique talents in an intimate livestreamed performance.

Why: A musician-cum-spiritual guide who’s not constantly trying to plug his latest shoe.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=8e000040-d1d7-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

3) Royal Albert Home: Kansas Smitty’s

6th August

What: Jazz outfit Kansas Smitty’s will deliver an exclusive set from their home as part of the Royal Albert Home sessions. Led by American-Italian alto-saxophonist/clarinettist Giacomo Smith, and featuring a wide array of young and exciting British jazz talent, including pianist Joe Webb (Haley Tuck, Alaska Alaska), Will Cleasby on drums (Judi Jackson, Kurt Elling, Banger Factory) and bassist Ferg Ireland (Ashley Henry, Ruby Rushton), Kansas Smitty’s astutely bridge traditional and modern jazz forms in seamless and sublime fashion. During this session, expect to be charmed by their unique cinematic and meditative instrumental music.

Why: Expect to be charmed, but be aware it’s still jazz.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=5bad1680-d1d9-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

2) Live Album Release: Collective Expression

7th August

What: New Haven-based free jazz artists, Vance Provey, Bob Gorry & Paul Gunsberg, will be playing a live stream for their new record Collective Expression via NHIC Records. Collective Expression, the debut album from the improvising trio of Vance Provey (Trumpet), Bob Gorry (Guitar), and Paul Gunsberg (Drums and Saxophone), is a focused musical exploration with three distinct personalities combining into a unified expression of the musical moment. The trio has a cohesive sound that contrasts Provey’s luxurious trumpet tone providing sharp attacks, inventive motifs and languid long tones with Gorry’s guitar work that varies from rapid-fire lines to melodic counterpoint to ambient soundscape. Gunsberg’s drums propel everything with an unhurried pulse and layers of compelling rhythms while his abstract soprano saxophone takes things to a whole new level.

Why: Memorise the above descriptor for an immediately impressive conversation starter. You don’t even have to listen to the livestream. People will hate you the moment you say ‘luxurious trumpet tone’.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=9ee43b00-d1d8-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536

 

1) Greensky Bluegrass: Live

8th August

What: A live force of nature renowned for bringing rock ‘n’ roll showmanship to high-energy bluegrass, this group has sold out hallowed venues such as Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the legendary Ryman Auditorium in addition to igniting stages everywhere from Bonnaroo and New Orleans Jazz Festival to Austin City Limits and Outside Lands. Experience their palpable energy in a livestreamed concert.

Why: There’s nothing like the wild, chaotic energy of a live rock ‘n’ roll show as broadcast through a quarantine-approved thirteen inch screen.

https://on.com.au/search/search?parentId=f4426ff0-d1d7-11ea-96b7-b132cf2a7536