I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me, and not flatter me at all; but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts, and everything as you see me – Oliver Cromwell 1599-1658

It seems rather fitting to quote from antiquity when introducing Doherty’s famous Albion diaries, given he embodies the romantic age so in poetic spirit, talent and in his splendid failings.

Bound in a tea-stained hardcover, the tattered sheets certainly adhere to Cromwell’s explicit request. Candidly laying bare the man, the musician and tabloid target, in all their scrawled glory, with lyrical workings, poetry, IOUs, photos, ruminations on his time in prison and rehab, images of media vilification and worship and the minutiae of his (far from) everyday life.

The juiciest bits however, seem sure to be the insights into his fraught relationship with Kate Moss. I doubt anyone will not be thrilled to read of her bare arm cast beside him in the hazy morning light.

By Josh Gardiner

Baby Boomers’ Disco chintz returns emasculated and in altogether more sinister form with the new Italians Do It Better compilation, After Dark. Recent 12” and blog-only tracks by label artists Chromatics, Glass Candy, Farrar, Professor Genius and Mirage plunder Moroder and Studio 54 signifiers with cool and deadly intent, electro-shocking their falling synth patterns, Cabasa’n’bass rhythms, vocoder and electrolised strings to new, mercurial heights. Steeped in autoerotic detachment, Mafia toughs, Motorik rhythms and ethereal synths, the collection identifies a new strain of Euro-syle Darkwave alive and thriving in the United States.

Covers of Kraftwerk, Indeep (remember ‘Last Night a DJ saved My Life’?) and Robin Crutchfield’s Dark Day are included, giving a good idea of the re-animated territory we’re talking about. Everything smells of damp, allure and crime, with icy sequencing, pulsing bass and singing by machines or femme fatales only. Farrar sounds like Jodi Foster’s character in Taxi Driver let loose in a Hague crack basement; Mirage abstracts Depeche Mode for the red light district; and Chromatics’ ‘In the City’ reminds of Iggy’s ‘The Passenger’ gone ice-skating. Gina X Performance and Guy Bourdin have had a lovechild in Portland, Oregon.

By Mark Gomes

Here we have new works by Nathan Gray, famed for his print-making, sculpture, woven paper works, graphic design and improvised sound activities. And other things.

So this show involves performances. The first (on Saturday July 18 at 2pm) features Nathan Gray with Chris Hill as Halfman/HalfMoffarah – an electronic / vocal improvisation last seen as part of the Aggregation No.6 installation at Blame It On The Rain in May. The second (on Saturday August 4 at 2pm) features Nathan Gray with Dylan Martorell as Snawklor a finely-aged electro /acoustic / field recordings / trumpet collaboration (this is electronic and digitally based, improvised minimal sound work using self-design filters). The third (on Saturday August 11 at 2pm) is ‘the fold ensemble’ previously ‘roots rock family band food group’ (expect wah / guitar / vocals / synth / loops / recorders).

To be perfectly honest this writer (though she tried, even wrote an email to Josh Petherick, and suspects clues can be found here) does not completely understand what’s going to happen. But all the more reason to get on the 86 tram Friday.

By Penny Modra

What:
The Fold – Nathan Gray

Where:
Joint Hassles, 2a Mitchell St, Northcote

When:
Opens Fri July 27, 6-8pm, then Thurs-Sat, 12-5pm

One of the best things about adulthood is that your mother can't dress you any longer. Don't get us wrong, we think mums are great - unconditional love and pumpkin soup for instance. But those days of floral printed stirrup tights with matching skivvies are thankfully past. There is one mother in Melbourne, however, who spends her time sewing together dresses and skirts out of now vintage fabric she has accumulated over the decades. And these pieces are far from daggy. Hard to believe?  Here's proof:

Subject To Change is hidden in the guts of the Flinders Street subway. Here, Darren stocks his mother's label, Poochie-Mama, in amongst a collection of accumulated knick knacks, vintage threads and the creations of local designers.

Not only is Subject To Change full of mum-made goods, but walking through the store is like a lesson on your mothers hey-day. From Kitsch hula girls to the bottom half of a mannequin resplendent as the store's centrepiece (similar to the milk-squirting mannequines in A Clockwork Orange) you'll want to want to buy the shop out once you're told the decor is priceless.

And if you are reading this thinking, "But, my Mum always said I looked groovy in the culottes she bought me for Christmas." Seriously, take our shopping advice.

By Isabel Dunstan

What:
Subject to Change

Where:
Shop 8, Campbell Arcade (under Flinders Street Station)

When:
Mon-Fri 1-6.30pm; Sat 1-5pm

Contact
9620 0311

The Hirokazu Kore-eda retrospective at MIFF gives you the chance to see Distance, which is an inexplicable attempt at a horror film with all the horror stripped out of it, and Hana, bringing his low-key, televisual style to a period samurai drama. If you only can see one? See After Life. In fact, if you only see one movie from now until the day you die, After Life should probably be in the running.

New arrivals, recently deceased, show up at what looks like a battered old high school.  Helpful staff interviews them to find out their single favourite memory, which is to be recreated for them – as celluloid – for eternity. Ideas of heaven, hell, punishment, and forgiveness fall away, replaced by tiny remembered details: the consistency of clouds, the trimming on a childhood dress.
The movie finds such joy in studying their faces as they retell these stories, and without any grand statements, After Life quietly toys with answering why there’s sometimes that magical feeling when you’re watching a movie and the colours, sound, and mood all come together to catch in your throat.

By Martyn Pedler

‘Dr’ is one of those marketing prefixes that implies a sense of expertise, which unfortunately is not always reflected in its associated products.

One needs only to look at the ill-fated Dr Mario, “wrinkle free” followers of Dr Lewinn’s or the one-time soda cult of Dr Pepper for examples.

All would be lost for the product medicos if not for the re-invented rise of Dr Martens and the recent Swedish expert Dr Denim, which promises change from the Dr derelicts of the past. Here’s why:

1. Dr Denim is made by Swedish tailors, not Italian plumbers
2. They last longer than a round of Dr Mario
3. They will cure skinny jean burn, bared butt crack and muffin tops faster than Dr Lewinn will cures wrinkles
4. They’re fuelled by 35 years of family tailoring, not 40 years of British hooliganism.
5. They don’t have a vinegar after-taste

By Nadia Saccardo

Then again, maybe you're not. But if you are, we have the cure for what ails you. 'They Used to Call me Rad in High School'  launches tonight at Miss Libertine at 8pm, and the last Wednesday of each month thereafter.

Presented by Liege (To All The People We Love / Semitough, has great dress-sense) and Jim Risby (from visiting band Bakelite, has potentially confusing mobile phone number) the night specialises in rare karaoke songs that you won't find at your average karaoke night. Old school punk, ‘80s goodies, Gangsta rap, and more Morrissey than you can shake a gladioli at.

Prizes include, beer, flowers, the secret to the elusive Canadian accent*, and for the best Gary Numan impression, a lifetime subscription to Cheekbones, the only magazine hand-delivered by ninjas.**

*maybe
**definitely not

By Jeremy Wortsman

What:
They Used to Call Me Rad in High School

Where:
Miss Libertine, 34 Franklin St, Melbourne

When:
TONIGHT Wed July 25, 8pm
In general, the last Wednesday of the month

How much:
free

Related Links:
Karaoke Dokey (all other Wednesdays at Miss Libertine)

You may not have topped two gents named Sollozzo and McClusky using a revolver taped to the back of a toilet, but lucky for you there’s no need to find such excuses for a trip to Sicily these days. Not now that we have Journal Canteen.

For five weeks now, Rosa Mitchell has been cooking great Sicilian meals for guests every weekday – using the recipes remembered from her childhood. Apart from the view down Centre Place and the bill at the end, the whole experience is like visiting her house for lunch. There’s a small menu that changes every day (think chicken cotoletta with zucchini, tomato and onion, spaghetti conpolpette and buccellato for dessert). There are two Italian whites and two Italian reds on the list. And if you want coffee, forget your fandangled soy chai doo-da requests, you’ll get a strong little espresso from the stovetop.

There are family-sized tables if you know what we mean, and good bread as well. No point getting back from Sicily on an empty stomach, especially when there’s a few things named Moe Green and Brazini to be sorted out in Vegas.

By Penny Modra

What:
Journal Canteen

When:
Mon-Fri 12-3.45pm

Where:
Level 2, 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Contact:
9650 4399 (asked to be transferred to the Canteen)