Max Melit
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The Stew Interviews: Tangents — Sunflower Stew
Sydney’s Tangents are unflinchingly unorthodox and strive to be impossible to pin down. Formed in 2010, the self-described “post-everything” band uses their eclectic combination of keyboards, drums, guitar, cello and computer to explore, bend, stretch, warp and break genres. Their latest release, Timeslips, is sonic experimentation at its finest. The album opens with ‘Exaptation’, which features a manipulated xylophone shimmering across a steady drum groove and tremolo cello drones.
Stew Review: Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991) — Sunflower Stew
Words by Nase Few bands have been able to completely reinvent themselves as well and as much as Talk Talk. From structured synth-pop and new wave on It’s My Life & The Colour Of Spring to the often improvised art rock of Spirit Of Eden, their transitions were clear, and crucial to their legacy. The London act always pushed the boundaries of their art, and nowhere is this more apparent than on their final studio release, 1991’s Laughing Stock.
Feature: The Masked Melodies of Brisbane Prog Pysch outfit Endless Valley — Sunflower Stew
Most of the band had their eyes closed. There were eight people on stage and the vocalist convulsed her body as she sang. The flutist donned a neon pink wig, and everyone else wore white. Their harmonies were sprawling and worldly, backgrounded by a tribal drum groove. The room pulsed like an artery. Endless Valley felt massive. There is no shortage of psychedelic music being played around South East Queensland.
Complex Vibrations: What Drives Political Buzzers
By: Max Melit | Interview, research, and translation by Ahmad Faisal, Shirley Abigail, Siti Asyifa Cahyaningrum. Max Melit traveled to Indonesia with the support of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan mobility program. "There is no such thing as a buzzer in politics," insisted Dede Budiyarto, former head coordinator of President Joko Widowo campaign’s social media, now an external consultant for Jokowo’s team.
The double-edged sword of Australian Counter-Strike
Team Australia emerges into the Qudos Bank Arena. Thousands stand on their feet as the Australian national anthem begins to play. A man dressed as Steve Irwin and holding an inflatable kangaroo proudly recites the words; at his side is someone wearing a red-and-blue suit made up of Australian flags. It's the IEM Sydney 2019 "Caches III" show match, and although it's not how they wanted to be introduced to the crowd, both Sean "Gratisfaction" Kaiwai and Jay "Liazz" Tregillgas smile during the intro.
TwistZz: Liquid is 'undisputed' No. 2 in CS:GO
SYDNEY -- It wasn't a major, they didn't beat Astralis, but for Team Liquid, lifting the IEM Sydney Counter-Strike: Global Offensive trophy was a seminal moment. Counter-Strike: Team Liquid beat Fnatic for IEM Sydney title NAF, Team Liquid hope to turn grand final luck around Counter-Strike: Tarik talks new NRG lineup, IEM Sydney While they've won tournaments before, none have had as robust a format or the level of competition as IEM Sydney.
NAF, Team Liquid hope to turn grand final luck around
SYDNEY -- Team Liquid have made the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive grand finals at IEM Sydney without dropping a map. They were tested, but not broken, by MIBR in the semifinals and swept through their group with relative ease. To lift the IEM trophy, though, Liquid will have to overcome a pattern of underperformance in grand finals at their two most recent LAN showings.
NAF, Team Liquid hope to turn grand final luck around
SYDNEY -- Team Liquid have made the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive grand finals at IEM Sydney without dropping a map. They were tested, but not broken, by MIBR in the semifinals and swept through their group with relative ease. To lift the IEM trophy, though, Liquid will have to overcome a pattern of underperformance in grand finals at their two most recent LAN showings.
Nitr0: "Having Stewie has been a lot of help for my mid-gaming and in-game abilities"
Liquid have been one of the most dominant teams at IEM Sydney so far, not dropping a single map on their way to the semifinals. Both NAF and TwistZz are heading into the playoffs with 1.4+ ratings, and the North Americans are set as favorites to lift the trophy in the Qudos Bank Arena.
Stacking up mousesports' new mixed team against the competition
When you get down to it, mousesports’ new roster is just another attempt at making an international mix-team work. And there are many boxes a team like that needs to fill in order to be successful. As a spectator, we aren’t afforded many specifics as to what these are. There are entire aspects of the game that are impossible to observe from our vantage point as an outsider looking in.
Vitality's performance at The IEM Katowice Major 2019
Vitality is a team designed by one of the greatest minds in French Counter-Strike and fuelled by soon-to-be one of its most prodigious talents. On-paper, with names like Rpk, NBK, and apEX, Vitality oozes prestige. Historical winds fill the sails of fan’s expectations, and jaw-dropping highlights from their superstar ZywOo teases a course towards promised land.
Yeah the boys: Renegades' journey to the big stage
Overnight success stories are overrated. The hype around Renegades becoming legends and making top-eight at IEM Katowice 2019, however, is not. Renegades have been a team in-transition for a long time. In their initial 2015 foray into North American play, they were pioneers for not only Australian CS:GO, but peripheral regions on the whole. Overtime though, that apologetic sheen of a plucky domestic team trying to “make it” abroad quickly wore off.
The Finnish Princes of Lower Tiered Counter-Strike
For professional CS:GO play, 2018 was a year that could be broadly characterised into two categories. At the top end of the scene, Astralis rise and then remained. The Danes battled titans and evolved the standard of what is required from the best CS:GO team in the world. Towards the tier two and three, the competition for LAN slots and a top twenty ranking intensified massively.
Is Bravado Worth Investing In?
A dream is easy to conceptualise in the confines of a duvet late at night. Fantasising about the upper limit of what’s possible is cathartic, comforting, motivating, and most of the time, unrealistic. This isn’t necessarily because that dream is unreasonably lofty, or overly-ambitious though. Rather, most of the time it’s because that long-term goal takes a lot suffering to achieve.
Q&A with Magisk: 'We always try to evolve the game and stay ahead'
ODENSE, DENMARK -- There's no doubting Astralis have been in the conversation as the best Counter-Strike team for months. After their victory in Odense, they now enter a new league: are they the best esports team of all-time? Claiming the Intel Grand Slam following their four wins at international LANs across nine months, beating a peak Team Liquid at one event and MIBR at another, there's no doubting their place amongst the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive hierarchy.
Counter-Strike: Don’t Feel Sorry for Complexity or LDLC
LDLC and Complexity are not bad teams, but they are fragile. Both sides have earned their namesakes through big single tournament results; LDLC, at IEM Chicago; Complexity, at the FACEIT London Major. While these two events come months apart, the manner in which they both earned their victories is the same. They both found momentum by capitalizing on the energy of big upsets and compounding upon it like a snowball.
How CS:GO’s latest update will affect the meta
When we look back over the history of CS:GO, it’s easy to forget that influencing hand that updates to the game itself has on the professional ecosystem. From the round-timer, to AWP, to pistols, to hitboxes, each successive change has played a large part in shaping the meta of play, and as a result, rewarding the teams that are able to adapt. Today, Valve announced an update that will noticeably change CS:GO’s meta and force adaption from players around the world.
Choo, F***ing Choo: The Team Liquid Major Hype Train
Team Liquid is a team that tries to do a lot right. From their adherence to the oversight of a coach, to the manner in which they pursue a textbook style of Counter-Strike as a result, Liquid’s game makes sense in the server. Unfortunately for the high-performing North American squad, 2018 has had an apex predator in Astralis who seems to be able to do everything Liquid does in this sense, but better.
Somebody: A nobody who doesn’t play like anybody
A clear characterisation in CS:GO can go along way to making a professional player stand-out in the communities eye. From ScreaM and his flashy taps, to s1mple and his volatile, confident AWPing, to Xyp9x with an omniscient sense of the map and clutch scenarios, these dot-points are instantly latched onto by fans. It also helps when their out-of-game personalities match their in-game tendencies.
SK Gaming's Gabriel 'FalleN' Tolido not impressed with own performance at IEM Sydney
Editor's PicksThe Broncos' captain is one of the few women in the world -- yes, the world -- with a leading role on an esports team.
Best CS:GO Players - CS:GO Gods and the Toll of the Entry Fragger
In many people’s eyes, Coldzera is not one of the best CS:GO players in the world. Those people, depending on how you frame the argument, are entirely justified in their divisive stance. Coldzera is many things: prodigious, indomitable, masterful, ungodly intelligent and also, a baiter. He closes out the rounds for SK and demands a team-wide structure and playing philosophy built from himself up.
Cloud 9 vs Liquid Battle for NA
Historically, the best team in North America has always been the biggest fish in a relatively decently sized, yet exceedingly mediocre pond. Being the number one team in a domestic scene like NA rarely resulted in good performances abroad. Throughout late-2016 till now though, the NA region has undergone a renaissance. In this post-Boston major era, the two top teams for NA are looking to rival each other up and down the top eight teams in the world.
Why We Love Aim in CS:GO – Max Melit – Medium
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a game built upon the idea of the individual. Your team only exists for balance, to make the game fairer, and on the exceedingly rare occasion, actually more enjoyable. In-theory, the only thing standing between you and winning a 1v5, 16–0, is your individual skill level. Obviously, in-practice this is impossible, but the mechanics of CS:GO does allow one-player to win a round?—?and as a result (when extrapolated to the extreme), a game?—?on their own.
Thriving in trench warfare: The understated impact of xms
The current Team Envy roster has its narrative defined entirely on two fronts. On one hand, you have those focusing on the rebirth of form in veteran Cédric “RpK” Guipouy and how he is leveraging this to give nV a chance in series. On the other hand, you have the overall disappointment of this nV roster as the whole.
Overwatch: Interview with Team Australia’s captain ‘RQT’ and coach 'SereNity'
The second qualifier of the Overwatch World Cup: Group Stage was held in Sydney, Australia last weekend and after a stellar run through the ranks – our very own Blank Esports whom is representing Australia came out on top qualifying alongside top team Sweden after knocking out a strong and dedicated Japanese team.
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