Hot Spots News: Claire Inc. residency at Alice Euphemia

Thursday 1 July 2010, 11:52 AM
By The Team | Posted in Things

Claire Inc. is the classy online vintage maven who has eyes only for pure cult label gold, looking down her perfectly powdered nose at hackneyed trends and frumpy retro stereotypes. Her past conquests include the Chanel Lucite earrings most girls would mortgage their left kidney for and the super hot polka dot Norma Kamali pumps. Sitting pretty amongst the cyber racks you’ll find late era 1980s and 1990s incarnations of Karl Lagerfeld, Sonia Rykiel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto and Versace, just to name a few.

Lucky for us here in Melbourne, those racks are going to be in the real world until 21 July, with Claire Inc. becoming the latest in a long line of tightly-curated fashion residencies at local sartorial haven Alice Euphemia. This is your one-off pop-up stop for well-edited vintage, avant-garde jewels and madcap accessories. Ladies, get your game face on – there’s going to be a stampede of Lion King proportions!

Claire Inc. residency at Alice Euphemia

Hot Spots Q&A: Rat vs Possum

Monday 28 June 2010, 5:09 PM
By The Team | Posted in Things

Rat vs Possum create faux tribal noise rock and unique visual explosions. They once bubble-wrapped an entire venue and regularly appear in war paint. One shimmering foray into their junglebeat soundscape and you’ll want to join their cult. Hot Spots caught up with Rat vs Possum mastermind Matt Kulesza to politely probe him about the band and what they love about Melbourne.

Where did Rat vs Possum emerge from?
We’ve all been friends for years, living in share houses together, going to parties together, working together and now we make music together.

Your performances are always glitter-filled good times. How do you come up with new ways to dazzle your audience?
When we first started we used to really enjoy making every show different and more performance based and interactive for the audience in some kind of way. We started out playing in warehouses, or galleries, or house parties, so there was a lot of room to be creative and work outside the square of usual venues that might get upset if you make a big mess with glitter and fresh produce. At the moment though we’re really enjoying stripping things back and playing as a five-piece band and writing music as our priority. Crazy, I know.

Which venues in the city do you most enjoy bringing your jungle beats to?
There are heaps of great warehouse spaces in the inner north that we love playing at, venue wise though we generally always have a good gig at The Toff.

Where are your favourite places to eat / read / go out / knit in Melbourne?
Rooftop Bar for a drink in the summer and 1000 £ Bend for a coffee in winter.

What do you love about Melbourne?
A great community as well as lots of different opportunities and options for exhibiting art and playing music.

What kind of good vibes are you getting from other Melbourne-based creatives?
Local techno-rap posse Keith! Party are about to release their album which sounds amazing and is unlike anything else going on anywhere.

What is the next sparkling frontier for Rat vs Possum?
Release a 7” in a few months, get started on recording our next album and fit in one more tour in September.

LINKS:
Rat vs Possum

Hot Spots: Light my fire

Thursday 24 June 2010, 11:42 AM
By The Team | Posted in Places

When it’s cold outside and you can’t feel your frostbitten bits, what could be better than defrosting them around a cocklewarming drink and nuzzling in beside an open fire. However in this age of the airconditioning unit, it can be tough nuts to find a crackling blaze. We put on our Sherlock Holmes spy spectacles and discovered there are actually several fireplaces in the city, all in working order and calling out to be cosied up to. Here are a few of our favourites.

Waterside Hotel
 This Yarra-side watering hole was a nineteenth century favourite amongst Melbourne dockworkers, and now sure to be everyone’s favourite serving up delicious pub fare and well-priced drinks. Especially on Mondays when meals are 2 for 1.

The Red Hummingbird
A stylish haunt atop a Russell Street stairway, Red Hummingbird should also be atop your after-works drinks list.

Woolshed Pub
With panoramic views across the water and lofty ceilings that are a nod to its previous life as a wool storage facility, Docklands’ newly-opened Woolshed Pub offers fireside fine dining or casual reclining.

Double Happiness
Pull up a crimson embroidered cushion by the authentic-looking glow in this Chinatown laneway bar. True, it’s not a genuine open fire, but with Mao on its mantelpiece it’s certainly serious about keeping you warm.