With apologies to Noel Coward.

It must be the season for art-macabre with Robert’s recent note on the exhibition in Japan, and now this - Neo Goth: Back in Black, an exhibition at the University of Queensland’s St Lucia Art Gallery.

While many think of dear old Queensland as the state of sunburn, surf and politicians with ‘interesting’ political views, I have always felt assured in that sunshine state in years past, by the sight of the young & beautiful darklings who assemble late afternoons in Queen Street Mall in Brisvegas.  I suppose it’s all Emo now….why, when I was a monochromatic lad, frock coats were all the rage, Big Electric Cat were the local heroes and…yawn….young whipper snappers……zzzzzzz.

Kirra Jamison May all your wishes come true 2007

Anyhoo.

Curator Alison Kubler (as in the Absinthe!) has assembled 170 works from 60 artists over two levels of the museum, covering the mediums of music, fashion, film and literature.

From the exhibition flyer:

“From its subcultural origins in eighteenth century literature, through to the movement’s dedicated tribes of black-clad youths in the 1980s, Goth culture is no longer underground or fringe, but mainstream. Is this ‘new’ interpretation of the Gothic aesthetic just that – an aesthetic – or is the neo-Goth impulse a considered response to a darker, more pessimistic world? The major exhibition neo goth dips beneath the surface and takes a peek at the noir underbelly of Australian culture as it is manifested across art, fashion, film and literature.”

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Skull by Spencer Higgins, 2007

For those of our readers who find themselves in Yokohama in the near future… this may rock your coffin.

“The phenomenon described as goth / gothic exists in various cultural fields including music, fashion, movies and literatures. It originally referred to a style of art in Europe in the Middle Ages, however, today it functions as a term indicative of a certain lifestyle. Body modifications, such as tattooing or piercing, and a focus upon death and illness are not merely a matter of taste, but instead are an expression of the self trying to stand up against a conservative world…”

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(photo: Daniel Hatadi)

Are you a bar/hotel/restaraunt venue looking for quality information and recommendations on absinthe and absinthe culture?

The Libertines behind Absinthe.com.au are now available for confidential and reliable absinthe consultancy, advice and private/corporate absinthe tasting events. We at Absinthe.com.au pride ourselves on providing Australia and New Zealand with only the best and most truthful reviews and information of the global absinthe scene, and as such form a valuable and unique source of advice for the bar, hotel or nightclub proprietor. We also provide up-to-date information on the legality of absinthe in Australia and the various, and oft-times confusing legislation surrounding our poison of choice. Currently, Absinthe.com.au advises several key Australian venues on their absinthe stock and successful marketing of absinthe culture, and are in high demand for absinthe tastings, lectures and other events.

If you are looking for the true, inimitable absinthe experience, we can take you there. Contact us at NewLibertines [Email address: NewLibertines #AT# absinthe.com.au - replace #AT# with @ ] and join the la Révolution Verte …

This has been a bit of a nostalgic journey for me.

About 9 months ago I left Sydney and moved to Adelaide, yet now here I am, tracing paths in the back streets of Newtown on a Sunday afternoon, much like I used to do on a regular basis. Strong emotion stirs from the familiarity of footsteps on these same roads, the same stray cats, the same eccentric individuals perched in coffee shops or begging in a doorway, passing by the old 19th century houses that I have often thought ‘I’d like to live in that’, thinking about a parallel life that maybe is happening in another time and space.

The popular inner Sydney suburbs of Newtown, Camperdown, Erskineville and surrounds are an appropriate place to reflect on history, particularly the era when absinthe was in its heyday.  In these gracefully decaying streets are the lingering ghosts of previous centuries… the ’Murdering Makins of MacDonaldtown’ who mercilessly did away with at least 13 babies while running a faux-child care operation out of labyrinthine lane ways; the blackened dusty workmen who laboured at the Eveleigh railyards or St Peters Brickworks; the juvenile delinquents of the  ’Glebe Push’ and ‘Forty Thieves’ street gangs, notorious for their trail of theft and assault…

I spy with my little eye….

It is fitting, then, that we invoke these phantoms, that we grasp at the sounds and sights of another time, for on this afternoon both Robert and I journey to the house of our good friend Daniel to partake in something almost 100 years old, our own little time-travel experience….

- a sample of pre-ban Pernod Fils Absinthe, circa 1910.

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Ok, we have been a little quiet lately - what, with one of us in a study frenzy while the other is still catching up on life’s demands after a trip to the US.

But here, this week, in Enmore, old Sydney town, its new, its blue….

its the Blue Moon Cabaret!

(And apologies to members who received multiple emails from us on this - we had some slight technical difficulties)

There will be burlesque, magicians, music, and our fine friends at Absinthe Salon will be lubricating the evening with the finest of the green muse.

And all you can eat. All for only $45 a ticket. This Thursday, 7th June.

Buy your tickets on line now at Under The Blue Moon.

Twas my birthday last Saturday, and as my fellow administrator was off touring the St George distillery in the USA (which you will hear about in very short order), I gathered a few other equally louche friends for an afternoon of absinthe, boules and chocolate pirate cake at Obervatory Hill, Millers Point.

What else do you need?

Pics: Daniel Hatadi

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Time for your monthly cross-promotion. Yes people, NeoTokyo, that decadent, Libertine, dirty electro night at Club 77 is upon us again, Friday 2 May.

I, once again, will be your host and, along with my dear associate Mr. Kasdeja, will be on hand to make sure everyone is having a lovely time of it. This months DJ talent includes the handsome Mr Disorder and Donnie Blood of Starfuckers, Ash Le Rouge of Midnight Express and Electro Pussy and, of course, our own NeoTokyo. The April party was a smash hit, and next months’ is set to be even bigger.

…and yes, there will be absinthe.

NeoTokyo at Club 77, 77 William St Kings Cross, Sydney.
10pm til 6am. $10 door entry.
Limited edition A2 poster prints will be for sale on the night.

Your humble administrator and professional Libertine Robert had the honour of conducting an absinthe tasting last week (at De Nom - one of the most beautiful rooms in Sydney), for our good friends over at Absinthesalon. It was a media-only event, and as far as we can ascertain it was the first stand-alone absinthe tasting to be held in Australia).

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One thing we like at Absinthe.com.au is a bit of style.

As the modernist successor to the Art Nouveau period, in which the light of absinthe shone brightly, a new generation of functional artists and designers continued the idea of a movement that infused itself into every part of life during the inter-war year in the early 20th century - furniture, buildings, clothes, jewellery, cars were also art, a canvas to be painted upon.

Arising into the public consciousness from the Parisian Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes in 1925, it was born during an era of economic depression. It reflected a luxurious Utopian vision, but where an eye to the past was present, taking stylistic notes from the geometrical designs and motifs of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia amongst other ancient cultures - but infused into the new mediums of polished steel and plastic.

Asclepian art deco motifs above a pharmacy in Prague

While many may associate Prague and ‘absinth’ , it should also be recognised as a very important city for its preservation of many Art Deco motifs. Almost every modern Australian city also has fine examples of Art Deco architecture, many under threat of demolition and overt redevelopment. As the increasing level of property developer contributions to State Labor governments becomes more apparent, those who support heritage protection should become increasingly concerned that we are losing generations of history under our noses - rather than finding ways of integrating the two, using the same principles the Art Deco movements proponents themselves used.

But for those with a penchant for this period should be overjoyed that Melbourne will play host to the 9th World Congress on Art Deco , 16-20th April 2008.

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The San Francisco World Spirit Awards were recently held (in San Francisco, as it happens), and it seems Matter-Luginbuhl AG/Absinthe.decame out winners, scoring medals for two different absinthes.

The SF World Spirit Awards are, in their own words, “the first comprehensive, international spirits judging ever held in the United States on an annual basis…Founded in 2000 by Anthony Dias Blue, the Executive Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition and Carol Seibert, the Managing Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the Spirits Competition continues to grow each year in entrants as well as in stature within the industry”. Judges for the competiton have been drawn from the upper eschelons of the US bars and clubs industry, distillers, journalists and editors and, oh dear… two ‘mixologists’. That term is rubbish. You’re a bartender, deal with it.

Anyway, my point is that the brains-trust behind the SF awards seems pretty secure, which cannot necessarily be said for those recently employed by Epicurious to ignorantly trash… pardon, review, the same absinthe which has just won an award.

A legitimate one, at that.

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