The Global Mail opened its coverage of Australian arts on Monday with a curious piece from Stephen Crittenden about theatre blogging. Online writers haven’t stopped talking about it since.
Culture / The Arts
album reviews 
Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die — passable pop
The critical backlash against Lana Del Rey began even before her debut album Born To Die arrived, writes Neil Walker, and while her rapping is awful it is a perfectly passable pop album.
Arts life after money: has the Australia Council ‘lost the plot’?
What happens when an arts organisation suddenly loses funding? For two small arts organisations that have recently lost their cash, after the crisis comes resilience.
When classic literature is literally swept away
Andrew Stafford lost a treasured collection of children’s books in the Queensland floods. But in this guest post for Liticism, he explains why he isn’t crying a river.
theatre reviews A Chorus Line — Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne
Almost four decades after it began its 15 year run, A Chorus Line is still a strikingly ambitious work. Glee has bred familiarity (and perhaps contempt) of this show, a master template for crafting contemporary musical theatre, writes Jason Whittaker.
album reviews Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas — melancholic existential brilliance
Sometimes, crime pays. The brilliant Old Ideas, Leonard Cohen’s first album in eight years, would never have existed if his accountant hadn’t pilfered money from him, writes Neil Walker.
Are all green buildings really that green?
Every new public building, it seems, is a wonder of green efficiency, driving the bar of ecological innovation ever higher. But how does that theory convert into reality? asks Alan Davies.
theatre reviews Critic v critic on Yes, Prime Minister — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne
Sir Humphrey and co. are back, in an entirely different format. Can the magic of Yes, Prime Minister be captured in Australian theatre? Critics Jason Whittaker and Luke Buckmaster, who were there at opening night, duke it out.
PHOTO GALLERY 
Never-before-seen photos from the night MLK died
LIFE photographer Henry Groskinsky was in Alabama on April 4, 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr was shot dead. He rushed to the crime scene and took these incredible photos of grieving civil rights leaders.
book reviews Michael Sala’s The Last Thread — touching dark places
The debut novel of Michael Sala, a semi-autobiographical account of his early life, is a book steeped in memory and the power of stories, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
video games Driving interrogation: exploring the nuanced landscape of L.A. Noire
Dan Golding is running late. It’s 1947 and he’s supposed to be on the other side of downtown Los Angeles. This is L.A. Noire, the blockbuster thinking man’s video game: slow and unusually contemplative.
What would a ‘temple for atheists’ look like?
Author Alain de Botton, who wants to soften the voice of “aggressive” atheism, is promoting a “temple for atheists in London.” It’s a long, black tower that looks awfully dark and foreboding, writes Alan Davies.
book reviews Finding the people who sparked the Arab Spring: Johnny West’s Karama!
Karama! Journeys Through the Arab Spring, a travel book by former Reuters Cairo correspondent Johnny West, is a compelling book about the Arab Spring, writes Max Denton.
Revisiting The Death and Life of Great American Cities
The horrors of urban renewal and freeway building and the obsession with replacing “slums” with towers and “grass, grass, grass” are discussed in Jane Jacobs’ famous book The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” writes Alan Davies.
A place in which to write
The ways we write can be as important as what it is we write, says Bethanie Blanchard. The little rituals or habits, the strange superstitions we have about composing, the things that must occur if we are to have any success.
New lines and Old Ideas from Leonard Cohen, ‘bastard in a suit’
Veteran musical poet Leonard Cohen’s new album is more rich and varied than anything he has made in years, writes Ann Powers, even if he does describe himself as “a lazy bastard in a suit.”
book reviews The Good, the Bad & the Unlikely by Mungo MacCallum
The names and personalities of Australian Prime Ministers are often forgotten, reduced to trivia questions or bronze busts. Mungo MacCallum’s new book is all about the lives of those who came to lead the nation, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
True blue books need a home: a call for a return to the Australian canon
Australia’s culture cringe still lingers, particularly in literary circles. Classic Australian novels risk being lost in the absence of reprints and a dearth of university courses makes matters worse. Bethanie Blanchard discusses.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Letters of Note
There’s a beautiful new letter by F. Scott Fitzgerald on Letters of Note, a website that provides tiny glimpses into writers’ lives and minds, writes Bethanie Blanchard.
Reminiscing on Bob Hawke, INXS and 80s Oz rock
At a Melbourne winery soaking up the tunes of post-Hutchence INXS — the band Bob Hawke once credited for putting Australian culture on the world stage — Cam Hassard journeys down the lane of 80s nostalgia.
album reviews Howler’s America Give Up
Minneapolis group Howler are the latest great white hopes trying to haul indie rock out of the doldrums, writes Neil Walker.
theatre reviews ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore — Sydney Theatre (Sydney Festival)
It’s not often a going-on-400-year-old play can make you squirm. In terms of sheer in-your-face confrontation, John Ford’s ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore comes on strong, writes Lloyd Bradford Skye.
Turning voicemail into art
A 25-year-old New York digital marketing strategist launched the One World Project, which selects voicemails from hundreds of strangers and composes scores to match them, writes Christine Erickson.
Inside the casas of Mexico’s drug lords
Bullet riddled walls, flak jackets and opulent domed palaces with disco balls — the homes of Mexico’s drug cartels are an interesting mix of business and pleasure, writes Damien Cave.
My Cup Of Tea: New cultural roadmap, but will there be a soundtrack?
The arts year will be dominated by key themes: the announcement of the National Cultural Policy, the deflation of the music festivals bubble, and fraught times at many smaller companies.
