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Last Thursday night the CURVY 5 train pulled into Melbourne's Don't Come gallery for a night of hard arty-ing. The gallery was packed with a diverse but typically cool Melbourne crowd (who stayed cool thanks to the complimentary Singha beer, V and SKYY) and the feedback from artists and art fans alike was overwhelmingly positive. Many people walked away with a little piece of CURVY 5 whether it was the book or one of the original works that adorned the gallery walls. We at YEN hope everyone who purchased the book or came along to the one of the national launches was as entertained and inspired by CURVY 5 as we were - we look forward to doing it all again in '09!

Phew, around Australia right now the hopes of hundreds of thousands of debt-racking current students and debt-saddled ex-students are rising with cautious anticipation. One of the most innovative ideas to come out of yesterday's 2020 Summit had to be "Community Corps"; a scheme that could potentially have university graduates working off their HECS debt through volunteer work. However, while on paper it seems like a perfect solution to two problems - graduates need reduced debt; communities need greater volunteer numbers - the idea is already facing opposition from more than just the opposition. The National Union of Students argues that volunteer work isn't a viable option for those students who are already working part-time jobs on top of study commitments and that it would therefore be the wealthier kids on campus that reaped the benefits of the scheme. Hmm good point. What if the volunteer work was done post graduation? Would that work or is the whole thing a bit pie in the sky?

The Kahn Brothers are Edo and Nadav Kahn, formally the core of Sydney art rock band Gelbison.  After Gelbison parted ways in 2005, Edo and Nadav continued to make music & the result is their beautiful new album  "Love Melts Fear."

"Love Melts Fear" features  Sarah Blasko and Jessica Chapnik on vocals, while  Ian Ball  (Gomez) and Old Man River also make a spot on the album.

The Kahn Brothers are playing at the Essential Festival which is coming up in Surry Hills on Anzac Day.

It seems that the folks behind thecoolhunter.net have religious interests outside of the church of hip. The trend-hunting site's founder, Bill Tikos, has recently launched Deargod.net; a sort of "God's inbox" where readers send in their prayers/ queries/vents etc and have them posted on the site for other readers to comment on. Deargod.net has been up for just over a week but already has welcomed over 65,000 visitors and been flooded with messages to "Jesus, Allah, Buddha, or simply a spiritual universal energy". Because of the subject matter and the fact that it's submission based, Deargod.net’s content is a lot like that of Postsecret.com; some posts are funny, others are incredibly sad and all address issues that range from death to sex, politics, homosexuality and existentialism. Deargod.net is also a ridiculously good looking website with a clean, easy to navigate design and some seriously stunning photography. Well worth checking out.

This Wednesday, Surry Hills' Firstdraft Gallery presents "THISISCURATING1-40"; one of a series of independently curated exhibitions that aim to foster emerging and experimental curatorial practices and promote up-and-coming local and international artists. Chosen by acclaimed local curator, Joel Mu, the 14 artists involved (including Greedy Hen, Scandanavia's Hanne Rivrud & Monja Wiik and olfactic artist, Nadia Wagner) have each contributed three works which collectively range from video and photography to performance, sculpture and installation and collectively make for a varied and "unrestrained" showcase. THISISCURATING1-40 runs until May 10.

Long time Yen contributor, illustrator and all round creative cutey Gini Helie moved back to her hometown of Nice last year and since then has been crafting sweet sounds from an idyllic mountain village with her husband to be. l'aventure is the debut album from Gini and Regis's musical offspring, Milenka and the Pyramids and sees the loved up duo creating a delicate patchwork of melodies, electronic and nature built noises, and swoon inducing harmonies- twinkling treats that evoke imagery of their mountain paradise, as well as all the best parts of falling in love. They're currently touring France and hope to be touching their feather light travelling feet upon Australian shores before the year's out.

You could be forgiven for not having heard of So So Modern before given that – despite the fact they have played SXSW and toured Europe numerous times (on one visit playing over 100 shows in 80 days) - the band is yet to play on our shores. Which is a shame as it means we are missing out on one of the most exciting bands in the world right now. Formed in Wellington NZ in late 2004, the group consists of band members Mark Leong, Dan Nagels, Aidan Leong and Grayson Gilmour; four young guys who ain’t afraid to get their geek on. Outside of the band the boys are respectively an architect, an artist, a radiographer and a sonic arts tutor (who’s also been putting out acclaimed solo albums since his teens) and it’s these outside interests that really make the band; So So Modern create music that doesn’t really sound like any other music but is rather the aural conversion of quantum physics, an M.C Escher painting and a helium balloon. Adding to their so-uncool-it’s-way-cool sensibility is their shamelessly energetic live shows which include various jumpsuits, flailing bodies and a level of audience participation and genuine enthusiasm that’s rarely seen these days (at earlier shows they would give out homemade cakes to the crowd). Watch the video above for a taste – no pun intended - of what a So So Modern show looks like and then petition them to finally come the hell over here!