Sunshine of My Life

Written by LDS & Vanessa Burton, Feb 2015

Mister Sunshines / 32 George Street / Thebarton / South Australia

It’s the attention to detail that regularly brings us back to this café. It’s the energetic and welcoming staff (“…hello handsome, welcome back…”) and the instant vibe that flows on as you step inside. It’s the handmade American Oak service bench that greats you, the stereo always acutely tuned into good soulful or folky moods (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Bon Iver, Massive Attack et al). It’s the dining furniture, plates, knives and forks; most of which may well have belonged to your grandparents and gives you a sense of warming and homely nostalgia. Its the care factor, the obvious passion for the local community and likewise the greater environment. And it’s the eco edge with pallet project centre-pieces in the front terrace which makes Mister Sunshine’s what it is.

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Vintage Shopping: 2015

Written by Vanessa Burton, Feb 2015

Get out of your grandparents closet! Vintage shopping is back with a fresh lease of life!

Seeking out those stylish statement pieces has been a part of my life since I was a child. Fondly connecting with a past life so vividly as though my arrival in this world was somewhat repeated. I have always thought that when you acquire a piece of vintage clothing you can feel the soul of the life it once had or maybe it’s the residual energy of the person that once owned it. Whether its thrift shops, op shops, boot sales or markets I have always, and still do, relish the excitement of the hunt!

LITTLEST VINTAGE
Littlest Vintage
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Rise of the Super Furry Animals!

Written by LDS, Feb 2015

‘Rise of the Super Furry Animals’ tells the story of the greatest psychedelic pop band of our time.

Welsh band SFA rose through the ranks on Creation Records as possible the most outlandish band of the Brit-Pop 90’s. At any point in their career they were armed on and off stage with a number of exuberant props. I once saw front-man Gruff endure a whole set at Glastonbury wearing and singing through a Power Ranger helmet, whilst at another gig in Brighton, UK they completed their encore, disappeared and then quite unexpectedly re-emerged in yeti outfits to trash the stage. Most notable though was perhaps their first big spend – an army tank equipped with a techno sound-system that was taken on tour causing all sorts of national security alerts!

Super Furry Animals - 1996 With their TANK...
Super Furry Animals – 1996 With their TANK…
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Mod (Issue 1) – The Roots of a Sub-Culture

Written by LDS, Feb 2015

Without the Modernist subculture and the spark it generated, Britain’s soul would today remain a conservative grey; sterile in expression, decisively bland in flavour, humbled by a collapsed Empire. The curious and hungry spirit for something new amongst the earliest Mods eventually presented Britain’s stiff upper lip a new bosom to caress. This is the first part of a small series where we will take you through the back story of what Mod really is and how it developed into the coolest subculture in Britain and beyond.

(Authors Note – LDS, Feb 15)

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Wonderwalls

Written by LDS / Photos by Vanessa Burton, Jan 2015

Its great to see any town support an art-form that is usually so associated with a shadier side of society. With a growing interest in STREET ART many cities are now providing space for budding artists to legally practice their craft and as a result the quality is now quite breathtaking. Through Renewal SA, South Australia’s Port Adelaide was put forward as a blank canvas, opening a number of sites including abandoned office blocks, back alleys and galleries. The result; project: Wonderwalls 2015.

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20 Minutes with…. THE OCEAN PARTY

Written by LDS, Jan 2015

The Ocean Party is a six-piece guitar pop band from Melbourne currently on the brink of something big. With the release of 4th Album ‘Soft Focus’, and back from their first US Tour, The-Vintage needed to have a chat. Recovering from his busy schedule we were lucky enough to get 20 minutes with guitarist Lachlan Denton on a long-distance phone-call between Adelaide and Melbourne to talk on the new album and matters of surviving a zombie apocalypse.

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Pallet Projects: A Beginners Guide

Written by LDS, Jan 2015

There’s really not many things you can’t make from old timber pallets, you are only limited by the depth of your imagination and not the depth of your pockets. The timber used for pallets varies so choose the quality to suit the desired purpose. This is a new hobby that my house-mate and I have personally journeyed on when we had to replace our outdoor furniture on a shoe-string budget and we’ve had a lot of fun with it.

Pallet projects - some basic tools
Some basic tools
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