BMA Mag 357 Sep 29 2010 by BMA Magazine

www.bmamag.com

DAN KELLY

TAME IMPALA

A one man band? #357 SEPT29

M S I L O KO

From emo to eco

N O T R A K

s g n i k a r Canber

d l r o w e h t r e u q n o c

We have Liftoff!

“Whose dick do I have to suck to get a CD?” Turn to page 36 to find out!

#357S E P T 2 9 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Super Sub Editor Allan Sko Graphic Design Cole Bennetts Exhibitionist Editor Yolande Norris E: exhibitionist@bmamag.com Film Editor Mark Russell Principle Photographers Andrew Mayo Nick Brightman NEXT ISSUE 358 OUT OCT 13 EDITORIAL DEADLINE OCT 4 ADVERTISING DEADLINE OCT 7 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 bma is independently owned and published. Opinions expressed in bma are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff

With less than five weeks to the Liftoff Festival the Liftoff band comp will soon be kicking off, with three heats coming up at Woden Youth Centre including 18 competing Canberra bands. Six bands will go through to the finals at the Liftoff Festival. Prizes including recording time, festival gigs and support from BMA. The Liftoff Festival is an explosion of youth culture set within a carnival atmosphere and as well as the band comp will also feature Canberra favourites D’Opus and Roshambo, Paqman,Turbulance and more. Liftoff takes off at Woden’s Eddison Park on Saturday November 6 and is part of the Woden Valley Festival. See www.liftoff.org.au for more info.

Chemical Weapons Chemical Transport have already had a massive year with the release of their debut EP We’re Not Alone to most recently supporting Switchfoot, Senses Fail, MM9, Snob Scrilla and an intimate acoustic set with MXPX’s Mike Herrera on their respective Sydney shows. Now the Sydney five-piece are about to embark on their Down, Down tour in support of the single of the same name. They’ll be hitting the Alliance Youth Centre in Calwell on Saturday October 2 for an all ages romp.

Building a career in the arts just got a little easier with the new round of applications for ArtStart grants open until October 5. As part of the Australia Council for the Arts’ career building initiative, more than 200 grants of up to $10,000 each are available each year for artists who have graduated from an accredited artist training scheme within the last three years or are about to graduate. For more info visit www.artstartgrant.com.au .

Effigy Turns One It all started with Matt Rowan’s epic three hour set at Hippo Bar back in October 2009. Now, a year later, Effigy Entertainment has helped host 20 of the best international and national DJs including Jaytech, Phil K, Luke Chable, Fergie, Marc Romboy, James Zabiela, John 00 Fleming, to name a select few. Come and join Effigy as they celebrate their first birthday in style at Hippo Bar with two international headliners: Mike

Monday direct from the UK, and the return of Kasey Taylor on tour from Portugal. Tickets only $10 on the door.

Beards! Beards! Beards! The Beards are embarking on a whirlwind tour of NSW and the ACT. So whirlwind in fact they’re only playing three dates! Coming off the back of the inaugural World Beard Day celebrations in South Australia, The Beards are sure to be prouder than ever of their bearded ways. Infamous for songs such as If You’re Dad Doesn’t Have a Beard You’ve Got Two Mums, It Only Takes a Fortnight to Grow a Decent Beard, and Big Bearded Bruce, The Beards will be stopping by Transit Bar on Saturday October 9 with the beautifully bearded Joe Oppenheimer and Contraban in tow (who we only hope have beards, knowing full well how The Beards react to the beardless). Tickets are $10 at the door, doors at 8pm.

The Beards

Get off your arts

YOU PISSED ME OFF!

FROM THE BOSSMAN At a towering 5’ 8’’, I have never been what you would call a tall person. At my first school I was given the charming and incredibly inventive nickname of Shrimp. And with good cause. Trips to the seaside at that time saw me steering well clear of any boat decks in case I was ‘thrown back’. “Not to worry,” the young version of me thought at the time. “I still have that growth spurt Mum keeps telling me about to come,” and happily went back to playing with my balls*. Upon moving to England at the age of ten, I was eventually helped along by the prophesised, very welcome, but largely short lived growth spurt; a marginal boost in height that was enough to steer me away from the past echoes of Shrimp but not quite far enough to deserve the moniker of Beanpole. Throughout my life I have gone through cycles of caring of about height, from the giddying highs of apathy down to knee-trembling despair, usually brought on from being unable to reach something… like a foot stool. Fresh Prince of Belair was normally a good gauge at where I was on the cycle. Will Smith’s relentless battology of short jokes aimed at cousin Carlton could set me whooping and slapping my tiny thigh one week, then driving a quivering dagger of self-knowledge right into the heart the next. So why give so much of a toss? Hell, even French president Nicolas Sarkozy worries himself about it. The size-challenged surrender monkey is often photographed standing on a box at lecterns, or poised on tiptoes for photo opportunities. I can’t speak for Sarkozy (I don’t know French, for starters) but what weighed heaviest on my mind growing up, particularly in those crucial mind-bending formative teen years, was a simple conviction that height = sex. All the tall chaps in my year seemed to be doing alright. Myself? Not so good, dear readers, not so good. Of course this probably had more to do with my appalling dress sense and a set of teeth that could eat an apple through a tennis racquet, but that’s another story for another column.

Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance. And for the love of God, keep it brief! [All entries contain original spellings] To a girl name Monica. You need to fucking back off from Harry. I saw him first! Stop talking to him because he is mine! If you dont stay away from him, I will tell your mum. Yeah, thats right, I went there!!!! To all the dishonest jerk/s who don’t hand in property that is obviously lost and NOT YOURS!! I lost a camera and a wallet in the past week and have heard NOTHING! I have reported it everywhere (even the resatuarant/bars were not at all sympathetic, pissed me off!!), yeah it is a bit of carelessness from my side, but if I found a camera or wallet i’d hand it the fuck in! Whoever has kept this property or tossed my id and cards in the bin, KARMA IS REAL and i hope it comes to you in the most twisted fucked up way, fuckers. Just bloody hand them in to the police as then karma will be good to you, aaaarrr, pissed me off!

This left me with only one option; kill myself. After one failed attempt (I couldn’t reach the noose) I decided on a much more life-affirming path; grow a personality. Like most short-statured folk, I had a choice; be violent, or be funny. With the inability to punch my way out of a wet paper bag with scissors in each hand, I chose the latter. And you know what? It’s worked out OK. A towering personality becomes a more valuable commodity as you move from the fickle awkwardness of the teens into the 20s and beyond. It’s like shares. Whilst ‘The Men Who Peaked At High School’ (as the VB ad marvellously puts it) have spent all their ‘wealth’ and now lay bare their vacuousness for all to see, others’ personalities gained in value, gleefully paying richer and richer dividends to those lovely enough to stick around. With a face like this, I’ve managed to get laid literally an amount of times. And I have a beautiful wife. Result! Of course if you’re tall, handsome and have a sense of humour, you make me sick. I’m looking at you Russell Brand. And you, BMA film editor Mark Russell. So chin up, my ugly, short statured chums; personality becomes a winning trait as age increases. For now, I’m off to send Sarkozy a forward of one of those de-motivational posters doing the rounds that sees the man himself, wife Carla Bruni and the Obamas in a photo op, with Sarkozy on tip-toes to match his taller snapped chums. The caption? “Dude, you’re the president of France and your wife is smoking hot… Really, it’s OK.” ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com *no, not those kinds of balls, you perv. I was referring to the ones under my penis.

and

another thing…

As I sat on the bus the other day, basking in the early spring sun that was blazing through the windows whilst the Red Book of Montserrat flooded my earholes in similarly warming style, I noticed something very strange as we cruised into Woden near The Tradies. In front of us was a refuse collection van, flying a tattered, near-pure black flag from its back end. Was it an Australian flag, rendered stained beyond recognition by its close proximity to the detritus being flung into the gaping, ever masticating steel maws just inches to its right? No. I believe, and this is a far more plausible theory, that our public services are in the grip of something entirely more sinister – what the Americans might identify as a clear and present danger. I believe that a lunatic Anarchist fringe may have infiltrated our bin men. Really, when you think about it, the facts add up. They trundle about all day, seemingly making our lives easier by getting rid of our excess bits and pieces and making sure the vermin stay in Parliament rather than rooting about in our overflowing wheelie bins for sustenance. Then, as the sun wheels through the sky towards its celestial bed, they retreat to their fortress at Mugga Way to sift through their spoils. Think about it – Anarchists throughout history have centred themselves in quasi-autonomous zones, or communes, right from the time of Hassan-I-Sabah and his Assassins at Alamut during the Crusades, right through to Allan Sko’s tower-block Utopianistsituationist-loose-faced paradise of today. In fact, the more I think about this, the more the pieces fit together seamlessly. The Assassins lived – paying tribute to no other lord or master than their own – in the mountain fortress of Alamut (and isn’t Mugga Way just an ever-growing mountain of dross?), a community of Ismaeli Muslims who hired out their skills in espionage and murderous deceit to the highest bidder. They thrived on information and realised its supreme value in a time long before the information age, and were able to go about their business undetected sometimes for years before striking the death blow. They transmitted the information they garnered about their victims to their Grand Masters and then BANG!!... And who knows more about your domestic habits than your ‘friendly’ local refuse disposal operative? I’m telling you now, once they get behind that fence and into the Temporary Autonomous Zone that is the Mugga Lane Resource Management Centre... Who knows what kind of dossiers they’re building on all of us? When the shit rain falls – and it surely will, and quicker than you or I have made contingencies for – those men will be one eyed when we’re all staggering about blindly. In a world where knowledge is power, and old, poorlycleansed hard drives begin to hold some sort of infernal influence over life and death (or at least protracted stretches in Stanhope’s Gulags) the black bin men of Mugga Way will be holding all the aces. To be honest with you I’m surprised they’ve come out into the open quite so brazenly; that flag was enough to give keen-eyed guardians of the citizenry such as myself the heads up as to what might be afoot here. But it’s often the way when ‘secret societies’ become a bit too confident about their powers, leading to the inevitable laziness in the old secrecy department (do you know how to give ‘the handshake’ to a policeman when he’s trying to douse you in capsicum spray at three in the morning? Exactly). I’m warning you now… The bin men have the upper hand. Treat them with respect.

scott adams thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

king o’malley’s

with

katy hall

WHO: Grouper WHAT: Pick of the ish WHERE: The Street Theatre WHEN: Sunday October 3

Well seeing we’ve all heard about Portland, Oregon and the hipster/ folk wonderment to come forth from the place, it’s about time someone playing a different tune came to town. Over the past few years, Grouper (aka Liz Harris) has been gaining a lot of recognition; her songs are densely compelling, layered with glowing washes of reverb, howling with echoes of delay. Sealing the deal on the afternoon, hellosQuare have also lined up Melbourne band Ghost of 29 Megacycles as support and there’ll be a live 7” available for sale at the gig. Tickets are $10 on the door and it kicks off at 3pm. Head to www.hellosquarerecordings.com for more info.

WHO: Beth’n’Ben WHAT: Album release WHERE: In places that sell music WHEN: Friday October 15

Well, here I’ll say it. Local kids done good is what this is. Beth’n’Ben have been playing in various bands around these parts for years now, and it seems they’re about to strike it big. The duo’s fusion of folk, roots, soul, jazz and reggae has been catching many ears recently with their single Little Lady doing incredibly well on the triple j Unearthed stakes, and even grabbing Phil Rigger’s attention enough to throw them into the studio and produce their new LP Boarding Pass. And there’ll most definitely be a tour on the way so keep your eyes peeled and head to www.myspace.com/bethnben for a listen.

WHO: Leah Flanagan WHAT: Album launch WHEN: Sunday October 3 WHERE: The Front Café and Gallery

Recently I’ve been lead to believe that nothing frightens a man yet arouses him more than a powerful solo woman. Look at Sinead O’Connor in the Nothing Compares 2 U clip; all bald headed and broken heartedness oozing from her pores. Thankfully there’s nothing frightening about Leah Flanagan, in fact she’s incredibly kind and welcoming, with bucket loads of talent. So check her before she tours with Sinead later in the year. She’s launching her new album Nirvana Nights and it’s going to be an evening filled with all sorts of piano/guitar/ukulele melodies. Entry is $10 on the door, and the show kicks off at 7pm.

WHO: You and your finest lyrical skills WHAT: Pass the Mic WHERE: www.kopyprik. com WHEN: Now!

Okay, so there’s always some comp and some amazing prize up for grabs, but this definitely takes the annual prize giving cake. Old masters of rhyme, Bone Thugs N Harmony are heading to Canberra and the good folks at KP Recordz have managed to secure a support slot for one local MC or group. All you have to do is live in the ACT or Queanbeyan and head to www.kokyprik.com and upload your finest tune before Friday October 22. The three finalists will be flown to LA for a final judgement, and be well on their way to superstardom.

WHO: You WHAT: Woden Valley Festival WHERE: Eddison Park WHEN: Saturday November 6

Fairy floss, sunshine, pony rides, middle aged people as opposed to the retirees at Floriade… what’s not to like? The Woden Valley Festival is back for another ripping year and as usual will be filled with rides, food from around the world, themed villages, roving performers and a bucket load of local music talent! Performances will be coming at you all day from the likes of Dan Banks Band, Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens, D’Opus and Roshambo, The Wedded Bliss, Minh Ha and more. Head to www.wodenvalleyfestival.org, and get ready for plenty of fun in the sun.

WHO: Shazam WHAT: Party ‘til your pants fall off WHERE: Transit Bar WHEN: Saturday October 2

That’s right folks, ol’ Party By Jake are at it again. And by ‘it’ I mean hosting another killer evening for you all. This time they’re presenting us with one of the finest Australian party music producers, all the way from Perth, Shazam. In preparation for his upcoming debut album release, Shazam will blow you away with some previously unheard mixes and his incredible style. He’ll be hitting the decks along with the Party By Jake all stars Offtapia, Princi, Staky, Hazan and Celebrity Sex Tape. Tickets are available through Moshtix or on the door. For more info head to www. partybyjake.com .

KOOLism Have a dig... alistair erskine Upon moving to Canberra back in 1998, I searched Yahoo and Alta Vista for Canberran music and found only one website for original material – for a hip-hop group called KOOLISM. Over the years, they performed around the way as Canberra’s hip-hop scene bubbled and twisted, eventually becoming the group scoring big support slots and appearing on impressive festival bills in other states. And then they brought out Random Thoughts: Part 3, the album that set them apart from their peers in the field. It was a watershed release, focusing on amazing, avant production whilst experimenting with live music, all the while nodding its head respectfully and rhythmically in the direction of hip-hop’s roots. Add to this Hau’s personal, friendly take on the MCing duties, where he evoked a feeling that it’s not so much a rapper spitting words at you, but a good mate telling you a story or two over dope beats. So outstanding was this wonderful, independent release, it won an ARIA for Best Urban despite being nominated in a category with acts that had sold many more units. The ‘Umu (umu is a Tongan word for an oven dug in the ground) has broken a drought; it’s been a good few years since we have had a Koolism album (2006’s New Old Ground was their last release) but Hau explains, “We had to work really hard at this record, as so much has gone on in the last few years that led to delays, but we are glad it’s out. First, Daniel (DJ Danielsan) moved to Melbourne and I moved to Sydney to take on the job as host of JJJ’s hip-hop show; I got married… life in general got in the way of us trying to make music.”

Dan[ielson] had always pointed out that it’s hard to talk about politics without sounding corny, but we felt so strongly about this that we had to talk about it

Hau sounded apologetic, providing a humble nod to the staggered and delayed release of their latest album, The ‘Umu, released a whopping 18 months after the album’s first single Jam Hot hit the airwaves. “We thought the album would come out far sooner than it did, but it frustratingly wasn’t as quick as we wanted... We worked really hard whenever we could, but it was difficult to actually have the time with everything going on around us. But it’s out now, and for us the most successful part of the album is that we finished it and it’s finally out there.” Since taking over the hosting duties on the national youth broadcaster’s Hip-Hop Show, the thought of being the anointed Voice Of Australian Hip-Hop must have presented a slight conflict with Hau’s role as an MC. Hau explains, “When I first took that job on, I knew I had a great responsibility to live up to the role and present great hip-hop to the country. So I would listen to

everything I was sent, and I was surprised at just how much Australian hip-hop is coming out. And with so many releases coming in, there is actually a lot of shit hip-hop getting made, a few good things obviously, but everyone these days it seems is trying to rap. The Hilltop Hoods success really has opened the door, and we get sent so much stuff at triple j that what it really showed to me is how big the scene has become in a very short space of time. So there will actually be a large amount of kids who are into hip-hop who have been listening for only two or three years, who would never have heard of us, so this emphasised how hard we had to work on our album to make it the best we could, and to make us stand out.” On their new album, one song indeed stands out due to its heavily political statement of intent, the banging Can’t Stand It. With the release of the single merely weeks before an election campaign that glossed over many of the issues raised in the song, was the timing fortuitous or meticulously planned? “Actually, that song was written and recorded three years ago, mainly directed at the Howard government’s racism, especially relating to their policies on immigration. When it comes to making a political song, there was no pre-ordained idea about it – we just go on feel and it felt right to get it out then. Dan had always pointed out that it’s hard to talk about politics without sounding corny, but we felt so strongly about this that we had to talk about it. The idea that racist politicians became celebrities is something that I had to call out about, and with its release earlier this year, Pauline Hanson isn’t dancing on TV anymore, but there was the Andrew Johns incident, politicians still wanting to ‘Turn Back The Boats’ as though that’s acceptable policy... We reference The Herd in that song, but we feel you can’t have too many songs where artists speak their minds about this stuff anyway.” Koolism launch The ‘Umu at Transit Bar on Friday October 8, and Hau would love you to come to their hometown album launch. “We love coming back, be it to Canberra or Queanbeyan; home is where the heart is, and there’s no better place to feel the love than where your roots are.” You can take the boy out of the territory, but you can’t take the territory out of the boy; Koolism will return to entertain and enthral the Canberra ‘n’ Queanbeyan throng with their thoroughly wonderful new album The ‘Umu at Transit Bar on Friday October 8. Entry is a mere ten of your Earth clams. Album out now through Invada.

KARTON

DRINKING STRAIGHT FROM THE

staky In January 2010 iDJ magazine described Canberra breaks duo KARTON as the new Hybrid. With a new album titled For All Seasons out now on Sound of Habib plus a nod from the influential Breakspoll Awards, iDJ’s recognition is more than fitting. Paul Beohm and Paul Richer first joined forces in 2002 when breakbeat was in its glorious heyday. The soon-to-be Karton met through a mutual friend prior to the electro house invasion, and after quickly discovering a mutual love of music, quickly got stuck into the heady business of beat making. “Breaks was massive back then,” remembers Richter fondly. “It was as big as dubstep is now.” Though both artists agree

It was weird to their influences are varied, it with breaks they earned be nominated as was their production chops, ’ a ‘breakthrough and it continues to be the act four years default sound to which they put frequently return to in their t firs we er aft festooned Southside studio. out a record

“If you wanted to dumb it down, breaks is just faster hip-hop without the vocals,” describes Boehm. “It literally draws from everything else. You can do anything in a breaks or drum ‘n’ bass tune in terms of what style you want to do it in and where you want to take it.”

Although talk of a breaks revival is never far from the lips of any enthusiast it is unlikely the genre will be as sweeping as it once was. According to Karton it is just the natural evolution of music. “It won’t come back as breaks as we know it,” ponders Boehm over the beloved tête-à-tête punter conversation. “You look at guys like Skream and what they’re doing with dubstep now and it is just basically breaks at 140bpm. They have moved away from that traditional dubstep thing and to some extent guys like Skream are writing better breaks tunes than some traditional breaks artists are. But if you ask Skream he wouldn’t call it a breaks tune, you know.” It was in the midst of the changing breaks soundscape that Karton began writing their debut studio album For All Seasons. “It was not a driven concept album,” Richter emphasises. “I think it was more a bunch of songs we had been working on for a couple of years and we thought they all kind of fit together and belonged to the same mood.” Boehm agrees: “The idea of it was to show that we were interested in a lot more than just breaks. The title For All Seasons was kind of something that would encompass everything that we are not only interested in listening to, but also interested in creating.”

For All Seasons (the namesake is an adaption of the Concord Dawn track Man For All Seasons) highlights Karton’s ability to mesh dance floor accessibility with the easy listening necessity of any good CD. Second single All You Need is a grinding party tune with a standout vocal from Hancock Basement’s Nick Craven. The accompanying video clip is a Hostel themed showdown between two hunters. The Volley Films video effectively captures the devilmay-care attitude of the song and gave Karton a different creative outlet to explore. “They provided us with some rough scripts and we said, what if this was to happen or that was to happen,” explains Richter. “Once they gave us some rough cuts we gave some more direction. They had a lot of raw material so we were able to suggest using different shots in each scene. We still had some control over the final product.” The partnership with the Volley Films crew, who have also worked with notable locals D’Opus & Roshambo and The Casual Projects, was easy going according to Boehm. “We didn’t need to do much,” he says. “What they handed over was so good we weren’t sitting there going ‘oh no’ or anything.” 2010 has been a huge year for Karton; not only has their album dropped, but their remix of Liz Melody’s Skeptical earned the duo a nomination as Breakthrough Producers in the International Breakspoll Awards. Described as the highlight of the breaks calendar Karton remain coy about the honour. “It was weird to be nominated as a ‘breakthrough’ act four years after we first put a record out,” laughs Boehm. “Anything like that, though, you are excited and happy about. Breaks right now is huge in Spain, Eastern Europe and some parts of the UK, so it feels a bit weird having those people give you an accolade one way or the other.” Karton feel that if anything the experience of polishing off an album has foremost strengthened them as producers, with a definite view for a follow up release. “We learnt how to just let go,” says Boehm of the lengthy studio time. “There are only so many times you can work on something before you start doing more harm than good. When we started we didn’t really know where that point was, but towards the end we knew when a song was done and just to put it away and move on. In the work we have done since then that has shone through the most.” Fresh off the back of a European summer tour which saw the duo enjoy huge responses to shows in Spain and the UK, Karton are appearing at Academy on Friday October 15. Hybrid, who iDJ effectively overlooked in favour of our local lads, is also on the line-up for one mammoth showdown. Tickets are $13.30 inc BF from Moshtix.

ALL AGES Having five minutes ago taken a heart-breaking gander at photographs of Canberra’s beloved McGregor Hall being torn to pieces, I’ve got myself feeling rather down on the Canberra music scene as a whole. A venue that has provided artists and audiences alike with good memory upon good memory is now levelled; gutted from the inside out. Take a look at the image yourself on the-riotact. com/?p=28230. It makes your stomach sink. Ex-attendees of the venue, you may even recognise the items of furniture discarded from the ‘building’, if you can even call it that anymore. I am sorry to announce that the date of Digbyfest 4 has changed to Saturday December 4, rather than the Saturday September 25 date originally advertised. So, if you just so happened to waltz up to the Woden Youth Centre to find a baron landscape with nary a sound to be heard, you must be mighty pissed off and for that I am sorry. Regardless you have a chance now to re-enter the funk-fest into your schedule and have ample time to do your pre-groove stretches. Digbyfest 4 will feature Melbourne’s Paqman, plus local bands Astrochem, West of the Sun, Pleased to Jive You and Turbulance. The time, venue and prices have not changed; tickets cost $10 at the door of the Woden Youth Centre and it all kicks off at 5pm. At the Alliance Youth Centre in Calwell on Saturday October 2 you can catch Sydney powerpop/rock five-piece Chemical Transport, and Canberra bands Drawing North (formerly known as Retraspec), Hands Like Houses and Transience Invalid. The action starts at 6pm and goes ‘til late, tickets cost $10 at the door. Even after Floriade has closed its gates, you social spring time butterflies can still enjoy the beauty of Commonwealth Park. The second Electric Lake is a spectacular day and night of good music, good weather and good people. The night shall be made all the more magnificent by Hoodlum Shouts, Voss, Cat Cat, Jonny Telafone, Kasha, Waterford, From The South, Killing Birds and Hors. This is a free feel-good event that cannot afford to be missed by anybody. The musical magic begins at midday on Saturday October 16. I trust that I will see you all there dancing your hearts out and kicking up the grass and dirt until your mouth is full of it. Everything tastes better when it’s free! As part of a combined launch tour, Sydney based experimental trio I Dream in Transit and Melbourne alternative duo A Dead Forest Index will be in the capital on Friday October 22. The Front Café and Gallery will accommodate and celebrate the launch of I Dream in Transit’s self-titled debut full length album as well as A Dead Forest Index’s brand new EP Antiques. With local support Karoshi and an entry price of $5 at the door, you can’t possibly go wrong. Door’s open at 8.30pm, welcoming you to a night of spectacular musical diversity. NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

Growing up in Alice meant there weren’t too many opportunities to go to gigs. The Waifs would sometimes pass through, as would JBT and The Cat Empire, but that would be about it for the year, which meant I had to cram all my gig going into the summer. I’ve been to ten Big Day Outs, Falls thrice and Splendour twice, along with a bunch of other brilliant fests. In 2006 I went to Falls in Tassie, BDO in Melbourne and Adelaide, and also made it to a White Stripes sideshow. That was a pretty rad summer. But after Dragon Dreaming last year I found myself ranting about it being the best festival I had ever been to.

CANBERRA’S CURRENT katy hall

Dragon is held at the Old Kowen Homestead in the Kowen Forest; a 5,000 hectare pine plantation about a half hour’s drive from Canberra. Popular with mountain bikers and horse riders for its trails that twist and turn through the hills and pines, it’s a magic place, perfect for hosting a four day festival.

With the warmer months comes the gigantic slew of festivals that sweep the nation and fill the calendar. And while everyone seems to be crashing internet sites to get their mitts on tickets to far flung destinations at the other end of the nation, there’s one right here deserving of a whole lot of attention. After the resounding success of last year ELECTRIC LAKE is back, and from the words of head organiser Warwick Smith, “it’s better than ever. Or, at least better than the last one, which was the first one, but yeah, it will be incredible.”

Now I will admit a lot of the music played at Dragon is not what’s on high rotation at home, in the office, or in my head, but I’ve always been a firm believer in being open to all genres and, more than anything, I love a good stomp. Most of the music is primo stomping fare, and I don’t think I’ve ever danced so much as I did during those three days last October. Nor have I ever experienced such a high concentration of exceptional local live music, except perhaps at this year’s Corinbank. The Fire Dragon tent was warm, cosy and radiant; showcasing a huge range of local acts it became a bit of a home for live music lovers. The Pedestrian Orchestra showcase was my highlight, and my first introduction to many bands whose members are now close friends.

Originally set up as an all-local line-up, this year Electric Lake will be no different. “It’s all about showcasing the local talent. Our aim is to have the day filled by local musicians and have that be enough for people. A lot of people work during the week so putting on an event during the day and on the weekend makes it a bit easier to get along to and doing it outside in the sun creates a pretty nice atmosphere.”

It was rubbish weather last year. As the thunder clouds rolled in we rolled out our convoy complete with trailer containing all manner of items; rolls of carpet, countless tarps, lounge suites, beach umbrellas, a wheelchair for our injured friend Aly. The moment our tent city was set up the sky opened up and it rained all afternoon, but not a drop could dampen our spirits. How could it, when we were surrounded both by friends in a magnificent forest and spectacular art installations bordering each stage and every step. From schools of swaying jellyfish to giant luminescent dragons to UV pyramids, the amount of creativity and effort that went in to transforming the Old Kowen Homestead into a stimulating and inspiring tapestry was incredible. The Dragon crew clearly love what they do.

Scouring the ‘burbs far and wide, and with powers combined, presenters Birds Love Fighting, Dream Damage, hellosQuare, Waterford and the beloved Canberra Musicians Club have done one almighty job, with the weighty line-up comprising Jonny Telafone, Hoodlum Shouts, Kasha, Horse MacGyver, Heute-Und, Waterford, The Warm Jets, Jerkstore, Killing Birds, The Ellis Collective, Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens, From The South, Voss and Cat Cat. There’ll also be zines-a-plenty provided by local distro Little Beats, a merch stall set up for when you decide you must have one of the many EPs from bands of the day, and Smith promises “there’ll definitely be some surprises. And even a surprise band thrown in too.” But, like all good surprises, they’ll be saved until the last minute and you’ll just have to be there to bear witness.

One of my favourite things is the fest is BYO. There’s no alcohol for sale, no marquees plastered in insignias, no sponsored stages, and no sea of stubbies at each day’s end. The absence of alcohol sales creates an environment that is peaceful, harmonious and focused purely on the enjoyment of music and art. It is an unforgettable festival, and I hope I’ll be attending ‘til my stomping feet can stomp no more. But I guess then there’s always a wheelchair, right Aly? O, and no need for umbrellas this year; according to BOM it’s clear skies all the way. JULIA WINTERFLOOD julia@bmamag.com

Our aim is to have the day filled by local musicians and have that be enough for people

Set in a place familiar with almost every Canberran, the amphitheatre of Commonwealth Park proves the perfect venue for the festival, and BYO picnics are by all means welcome. As for times and how it’s running, Smith says “it’ll be sharper than the world’s sharpest knives. -Otherwise everything ends up running behind. Last year we were interrupted by a wedding and had to stop playing so they could say their vows, so we’re hoping that won’t happen again.” Looking at a line-up like this and thinking about a day filled with sunshine and delights from the picnic basket, it seems hard to imagine why you’d ever want to part with several hundred dollars and drive for hours when all of this is right here on your doorstep. Electric Lake will be running from midday-9.30pm on Saturday October 16. All bands – including Hoodlum Shouts, Voss, Cat Cat, Jonny Telafone, Kasha, Waterford, From The South, Killing Birds and Hors – will be playing half hour sets. Free!

DANCE THE DROP Paul Kelly said it best: “From little things, big things grow.” As some of you may have discerned via your internet machine, our finest export The Aston Shuffle have taken out the number one ranking in the country in the 2010 inthemix poll. Mikah Freeman and Vance Musgrove both came from humble beginnings. They were raised by street corners with only a pile of old Mixmags to call their Dad. They dreamed of music, of a better place, so they hustled local basketball courts and beat boxed outside Landspeed Records, finally scrounging up enough dirty coins to buy their first set of turntables. The rest is history. This column, I dedicate to those who have also suffered from an absurd fictional back story, just like the one above.

myspace.com/pangnight

With summer beginning to coax the Canberra hibernation brigade out of their winter dungeons, so begins the veritable smorgasbord of Sunday afternoon ‘sun, beer and beats’ bar events that turn Monday morning into a swear word. 4sound kick things off with Sunday Beats on the Boardwalk on October 3 at Ha Ha Bar featuring B-Tham, Bernie Mac and Ashley ‘Lego Man’ Feraude. Without wanting to toot my own horn, after a great gig there a few weeks ago alongside the Team Wing boys, I can highly recommend the Merimbula Lake View Hotel as a fantastic venue for those of you who like to party by the seaside. Timmy Trumpet trundles his brass into the main room on Saturday October 2 for his exclusive south coast appearance.

I don’t remember my first birthday, but I’m sure I did a lot of dribbling, clapping and falling over. I’m sure Effigy won’t remember theirs either, but you can! The lads have a duo of internationals performing at their inaugural soiree on Saturday October 9 at Hippo Bar. Headliners Kasey Taylor (Portugal) and Mike Monday (UK) promise to cut you the biggest slice of cake, so don’t forget to bring your presence! Where did you go to school? Was it Grafton Primary? If so then you might remember the Garden brothers! You know, the ones who were always dressed better than you and surrounded by keyboards? Well they are back in town at The Maram on Friday October 22 with their lifelong playground buddies the Yacht Club DJs; why not make it a reunion? Interstate crossover warriors the Bag Raiders are lugging their super terrific Shooting Star live show to the main stage at Academy on Friday October 22. The tour celebrates the long awaited release of their debut self titled album and is brought to you by Academy, Kicks, Pang, and the number ‘7’ [I love that guy - Bossman]. OK, it’s young gun o’clock. He may sound like someone who dresses up as a fireman for soft porn calendars but Levi Howes is most well known for his DJing. You can catch the rising star weekly on Saturdays at North Bar or at guest appearances for Mingle and Kicks.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

Photos by Lensview - www.etsy.com/shop/lensview & Holimage - www.holimage.commultiple .

DRAGON SCALES UP

THE BAND IS WITH ME

julia winterflood

justin hook

“Forest parties, bush doofs, festivals; they’d be shivering skeletons without the constantly evolving, consistently astounding, wacky and wondrous garb that is décor,” I wrote one year ago in an article about the installation art at DRAGON DREAMING FESTIVAL. One year on and nothing’s changed bar the scope of the Dragon crew’s creativity and ingenuity, and the range of music showcased. I spoke with Jason Bell who’s currently in the process of transforming the Water Dragon stage into an aquatic “floating enclosure”, as well as Michael Shannon, the man behind the The Water Dragon line-up which “pushes the [stage] will host a envelope in terms of genre”. psychedelic journey through progressive into Dragondreaming.net proclaims, psytrance, including the “Jason Bell has been around melodic, the dark, and since the dawn of trance the full on parties, for the last decade doing décor on the east coast of Oz. Using mundane materials from everyday life and natural objects from the environment, and by mixing these with an array of colourful fluorescence, he creates amazing and wonderful other worlds in which to play and dance. He is an alchemist weaving a tapestry of fun and frivolity…”. Bell does indeed describe himself as an alchemist, and it must have taken some form of creative wizardry to produce “two or three hundred fish, a few seahorses, an eight foot shark, ten crabs, seven or eight snails, a big octopus, two big clown fish… a wonderful array of coral fish… jellyfish… and squid things” from recycled and everyday items. Muses Bell, “I don’t think people really realise the time and energy that art takes, [but] if you create these worlds and create these artworks it allows [festival goers] to escape and go to another place. It allows you to let go and fully appreciate what’s around you.”

Kevin Parker is relaxing in his suburban Perth home in-between North American tours, getting ready for a quick Australian run of shows. Kevin Parker released his first album (Innerspeaker) in May this year to near universal acclaim. Even the waning tastemakers at Pitchfork agreed the LP was a wonderful dose of chugging psych-pop bliss. Kevin Parker used to be an unmotivated law clerk wage slave, walking around Perth delivering court documents, singing and writing songs in his head, and resigning before he was fired. He could see the writing on the wall. Kevin Parker is TAME IMPALA.

When asked what this marine wonderland will play host to Michael Shannon replies, “The Water Dragon will host a psychedelic journey through progressive into psytrance, including the melodic, the dark, and the full on. The Air Dragon will host some of Canberra and the surrounding areas’ best live musicians.” The Fire Dragon stage is the alternative dance stage, and will host psybreaks, electro, minimal tech, funk, D&B, dubstep and progressive. “Dragon Dreaming aims to provide a huge range of music,” explains Shannon. “This year we have the full spectrum of underground electronic music ranging from minimal, techno, progressive, funk, trip-hop glitch and various undefinable electronica.” If you, like me, are somewhat in the dark as to what these genres are however, don’t be put off, for the festival is about much more than music. There will be colourful market stands and scrumptious food stalls, workshops and a fully enclosed cinema. But for me, Dragon is essentially about camping with friends in a beautiful forest for four days; everything else is a massive bonus. Dragon Dreaming Festival ‘10 runs from Friday October 1 to Monday October 4 in the Kowen Forest. $90 third release tickets will be available online until midnight Thursday September 30, after that tickets will only be available on the gate. Head to dragondreaming.net for all the info.

Or more to the point, Tame Impala is Parker’s studio project that has grown into an international touring act. As he explains: “It feels more and more like there are There are moments two halves of the Tame when I feel the project Impala thing. There’s is getting taken over by the recording project the band. In those dark which is just me and it will always be like that. moments I just wanna start another project… And then there’s the band side. When we’re on tour it feels like a band – a group effort and group atmosphere. But when we’re not on tour – it couldn’t be anything further from a band. It’s just me in the studio and I’ll occasionally get other guys to pitch in.” Yet despite the fact that more tours and more record sales means the Tame Impala brand grows ever more so, Parker is dogmatic about its future. “It’ll always be the one man studio project. It’ll never be a band, where we get together and jam. We all have other bands where we can do that. It doesn’t need to be a band. So it’s kinda safe as always being a recording project. I’m most inspired and creative when I’m alone.” It’s a refreshingly honest, almost dictatorial stance by the 24-yearold. “There are moments when I feel the project is getting taken over by the band,” Parker admits. “In those dark moments I just wanna start another project where no-one else can taint it with their ideas. Eventually I don’t do anything.” At the moment, though, Parker is very much doing something – completing the much anticipated follow up. At a push, he’s willing to concede progress. “It’s extremely different. A bit more excessive. There are large portions that don’t even sound like the same band. I have never been this excited about a batch of recording before.” As if it’s not abundantly clear, Parker is a notorious studio rat. But only recently has he allowed himself to stretch out a bit in the recording process. “In the past I have been afraid to use certain instruments because it might be ‘too’ something. Too rock ‘n’ roll. Too cheesy. I’ve stopped holding myself back from guilty pleasures. On the last album there were a lot of rules and boundaries I placed on myself.” And the consequence of this new-found freedom? “More candy pop.” Fascinating stuff. You can check out Tame Impala when they play at the ANU on Saturday October 9 with Cabins and Felicity Groom. Tix are $40.90 + bf from Ticketek. Innerspeaker is out now through Modular.

E X H I B I T I O N I S T

Ethleen Palmer, The breaking wave 1949, screenprint, printed in colour from multiple stencils

ever stronger. Over 23 years, the Symposiums have enriched public understanding of prints as art, and encouraged thoughtful academic study of the medium. At a time where contemporary printmaking is being influenced by a digital revolution, this year’s exploration of ‘materiality’ promises an interesting discussion.

PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION JEMIMA FORT

Materiality n.

1. the quality of being composed of matter, the physical aspect or character

2. the quality of being relevant or important

Materiality is the title and over-arching theme of the seventh AUSTRALIAN PRINT SYMPOSIUM at the National Gallery of Australia this October. Initiated in 1989 by Roger Butler, the conferences are an exciting collaboration between the institution and a range of artists and art spaces. Materiality promises to be both educational and entertaining and is an opportunity for the general public to get involved with the ideas and discourse of the professional art world. Butler is the Senior Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings at the NGA and has been responsible for the department since it was established in 1981. Over nearly 30 years, he has developed the NGA’s holdings into the strongest and most significant collection of Australian prints in the world. His enthusiasm for Australian printmaking is evidenced by his encouragement of wider appreciation of the print medium, and his dedication to the development of accessible education resources. To this end, and with the support of the NGA, he established the Australian Print Symposiums. The Symposiums are hosted by the Gallery and held roughly every three years. Canberra is an ideal venue: there is a strong interest in and appreciation of prints in the Nation’s Capital – and it’s getting

Over three days Materiality will provide a forum for a range of arts professionals to explore notions that are simultaneously realistic and abstract. Past Symposiums have coincided with and complimented major NGA exhibitions, such as The Story of Australian Printmaking: 1801-2005 (2007), Islands in the Sun: prints by Indigenous artists of the Australasian region (2001) and The Europeans: Émigré artists in Australia 1930-1960 (1997). This year, the conference relates to a loose theme that explores ideas of Corporeality, Reality, Palpability, Perceptibility, Physicality and Experience. When applied to art, the term ‘materiality’ relates to the physical and formal attributes of a work, but also to philosophical ideas of its reality and existence. Prints are replications of an original design, so by definition raise questions regarding artistic significance, physical state, uniqueness and authenticity. In this way, they encourage consideration of physicality with more abstract ideas of existence. Such are the sorts of conversations promised during the course of Materiality. The earliest Print Symposium included a talk given by Ron Radford, who has since been appointed Director of the NGA, and the most recent symposium, held in 2007, saw local artist eX de Medici take the role of keynote speaker. This year’s keynote is the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art’s Glenn Barkley. As a curator at the MCA, Barkley is used to working with and speaking about cuttingedge local and international artworks. Ever since his early days at the Wollongong Museum of Art, his exhibitions and publications have demonstrated an ongoing interest in Australian art and the medium of print. Over the years, his work has particularly focused on artists’ books, zines and the use of text in art, and recently Barkley participated in the Sydney Writers Festival and the MCA’s Zine Fair. This wealth of experience makes him an ideal guest for a symposium that explores the conceptual qualities of prints in Australia’s contemporary art world. Barkley will be joined by an amazing line-up of guest speakers: Angela Cavalieri, Richard Tipping, Emily Floyd, Del Kathryn Barton, Adam Cullen, Euan Macleod, Billy Missi, Jon Cattapan, Julia Silvester, Paul Uhlmann, Caren Florance (Ampersand Duck), Luke Sinclair (from the Sticky Institute in Melbourne), Domenico de Clario, Lesley Duxbury, Marian Crawford, Tim Maguire, Robert Jacks, Mini Graff, Continued on page 22

PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION CONTINUED Rae O’Connell (Djumbunji Press), Angus Cameron (Nomad Art Production) and Lucas Ihlein (Big Fag Press). Between them, these presenters have worked with an incredible variety of printmaking techniques, from linoprint to lithograph to photography and digital mediums. They include influential prizewinners, founders of art centres and central figures of art culture across Australia. They are teachers and curators, representatives from galleries and members of collectives, with cumulative experience and insight that is certain to stimulate dynamic and fascinating conversation. As one of the few events in the capital to draw contemporary arts professionals based in the larger cities, the Print Symposiums are a rare and infrequent privilege for Canberra audiences. Further, the NGA conference is complimented by concurrent events and exhibitions staged across a variety of smaller galleries in the territory, including Nomad Art Gallery, the Australian War Memorial and Megalo Print Studio. Even if you don’t get a chance to attend the main Symposium events, there will be a lot of print love going on around the city this October. Having said that, this year’s symposium is particularly accessible, with students able to purchase tickets for only $80 (rather than full $250). So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get your print on. The Symposium takes place on October 15, 16 and 17, with lunch and refreshments included in the ticket price. To register for the symposium, visit the NGA website www.nga.gov.au/printsymp2010/ . Ticket prices: Full: $250, Members $190, Students: $80

Brent Harris Grotesquerie 3 2002 woodcut

For more information about past symposiums, visit www. printsandprintmaking.gov.au/Symposiums.aspx .

THIS IS AFRICA BEN HERMANN If you turn on the television or radio, open a newspaper, or (be you so inclined) log onto a quality news website such as news.com.au, you’re unlikely to hear a story about Africa relating to something other than war, poverty, the pillaging of natural resources by multinational corporations or, (ahem) cricket and lions. The false perceptions of Africa fostered by such ‘news’ is what Winston Ruddle hopes to dispel in his brilliant, colourful celebration of the world’s most misunderstood continent, CIRQUE MOTHER AFRICA. “In two hours, we try to take the audience to Africa, and to show them a different side of the country to what the media portrays. I want people to be inspired by Africa, not depressed by it.” After beginning his performing career as a break-dancer in Zimbabwe, Ruddle travelled the world (including Australia) performing in various circuses, before opening his first acrobatic academy in Tanzania in 2004. In 2007 he produced and directed the first incarnation of Cirque Mother Africa. In its first performance season the circus played to more than 450,000 people throughout Europe, and then sold out in Europe in 2009-2010, before coming to Australia for an extended tour. “Our first stop was the Gold Coast. We were supposed to be there for six weeks, but it ended up being extended to 17,” says Ruddle of the show’s stay-over at the infamous Jupiters Casino. “The owner said he’d never seen so many standing ovations in his theatre!” The show is comprised of 40 performers from the great spectrum of African nations. With more than a quarter of these being musicians, Cirque Mother Africa’s strong focus is on music and dancing, giving it a pulsating infectiousness that - in addition to a plethora of other elements - sets it apart from traditional circuses. “This is the fourth production I’ve made, and the dancing and music is certainly my greatest inspiration” says Ruddle. “There are just an incredible, boundless number of tribes and styles.” When describing the show, Ruddle can only nominate Cirque du Soleil as a comparison in terms of uniqueness. He then goes on to list the many tribes of South Africa. “They all have different dances, different traditions - and that’s just one country” he says. “If you think of the whole of Africa, I could change the production every night and we’d never run out of inspiration. I want to package these different histories, these different parts of Africa, to bring them to the audience and show them how awe-inspiring Africa is. To show people a different side to the news is so important for us.” Cirque Mother Africa will perform at the Canberra Theatre Centre from October 6-9. Tickets are available through Canberra Ticketing and canberratheatrecentre.com.au .

ARTISTPROFILE: Austin Buckett

What do you do? I write lots of notes on paper in the hope of hearing them make sounds. I like exploring and improvising with different sounds and instruments and also play with Bukovsky/ Buckett/Dorrian and local band, Kasha. How did you get into your discipline? I played drums in a thrash metal band called Chronic in high school, but I wanted to write music with pitches so learnt the piano. Since then I’ve been just making it up, and trying to make songs.

JUST JOSHIN’ tim galvin JOSH THOMAS’ brand new Barry Award nominated stand up show is called Surprise, so it shouldn’t come as a shock to many of you that the performance may contain a satin glove-full of social curveballs such as coming out to his parents via text message. “I just think a big sit down, coming out thing was a bit too ‘90s for me, and I didn’t want to be old fashioned, so I sent them a text message. I just couldn’t be bothered really. I think I have the same attitude when I do my taxes”. Thomas, or, as your mother would know him, the Gen Y ‘team captain’ from Channel Ten’s hit TV show Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation, built the theme for his stand up show around his experiences of his first serious relationship; one that has since dissolved, forcing him to switch a few words around in his routine. “I just use the past tense and I get away with it. It’s been nice, we had our official opening night last night, all this media were there and I thought they would all be big idiot douches but they were enthusiastic and they laughed and even clapped at the end.” Back in 2005, Thomas took the gong in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s RAW Comedy Competition, which was no mean feat for an impish 17-year-old. “I don’t think I really had any confidence, I don’t really know why I did it. The first time I did a gig I almost vomited, it was pretty terrifying!” Since he ‘came out’ as a stand up, Thomas’ trademark shaggy bed hair has become acquainted with all manner of audiences across the world, including Ireland, the USA, Belgium and Scotland. “The Irish people didn’t really like me too much. The older generation in Ireland has had it really rough and the new generation has had it really good, so my comedy, about how much I like iPpods, they didn’t really get into.” On-stage success led to the gig with Channel Ten, and has proven to be a valuable learning curve for the young comedian. “Amanda and Charlie always have to leave because they have real jobs to go to, whereas me and Shaun (Micallef) don’t. So we just sit down and eat the sandwiches and he tells me about comedy, and it’s really interesting because he, like, knows about it,” he laughs. But it wasn’t all light-hearted banter over complimentary ham and cheese triangles, with the realisation that Generation was becoming an unstoppable ratings juggernaut. “I nearly said no to it actually, which sounds pretty stupid. The first time I did it was in front of 1.7 million people who didn’t know who I was, and I could just sense the nation deciding whether or not they liked me.” Josh Thomas appears at the Canberra Theatre on October 8 and 9. For bookings visit www.canberratheatrecentre.com.au or call 02 6275 2700.

Who or what influences your work? I’m influenced by sounds that I want to explore and music such as Varese, Meshuggah, James Brown, Morton Feldman, Fugazi and Miles Davis. What’s your opinion of the local scene? I think it’s great. Shoeb Ahmad from hellosQuare has been keeping it alive for quite sometime - one of the great thing’s about that is there is no exclusive scene-based obligation to put out a certain ‘style’ of music. Dream Damage and Birds Love Fighting are all getting new and interesting things happening too. What makes you laugh? People. People are crazy. For example I have a really mad Aunty who felt her backyard didn’t have enough birds so she shaved the next-door neighbour’s cat to make a nest. What pisses you off? facebook and road rage. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? I don’t know if I’m proud of this or it’s embarrassing, but the ANU Vice-Chancellor bought 200 of my CDs after a Pollen Trio concert. He later came up to us at another gig and pointed out that there was a grammatical mistake on the inside of the disc. What are your plans for the future? At the moment I am writing some sketches for 12 Tubas, and next year I have a commission with a Perth ensemble called Decibel. But anything could happen - I just met a violinist whose aspiration is to make nutritional snack bars after he finishes playing in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In terms of releases - Kasha have a 7” coming out in November, and hellosQuare is putting out some short pieces of mine at the end of the year. What are your upcoming performances? I play with Kasha at Transit Bar on October 7 and again at Electric Lake Festival on October 16. Then Bukovsky/Buckett/Dorrian is playing at Smiths Bookshop on October 22. Contact info: austinbmusic@gmail.com or www.hellosquarerecordings.com

IN REVIEW

ANU Arts Revue

Lady Windermere’s Fan

Canberra Theatre Centre Courtyard Studio

Canberra Repertory Society

September 18-20

September 10-25

Producing the first ever ANU Arts Revue was never going to be a simple task. Other faculties - Law, for example - have relatively smaller and more close-knit student communities, allowing them the benefit not only of a student base with more faculty ‘spirit’ (I did choke a little bit when I wrote that), but also the luxury of knowing that their target audience will have shared virtually identical facultyrelated experiences and therefore will be able to comprehend what would otherwise be niche, gratuitous comedy (ha ha, JP Fonteyne’s accent sure does crack me up! Oh wait, there I go…).

When Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan first premiered in the last decade of the 19th century, the things it explored would have been quite risqué. Infidelity and sexuality were (at least in the common understanding of Victorian society) things not to be spoken of. His characters – the painfully young and puritanical Lady Windermere (Zoë Tuffin) and her stitched-up husband Lord Windermere (Ross Walker) – tiptoe around all but the cleanest of subjects, allowing the audience and the more dynamic characters Lord Darlington (Adrian Flor), Mrs Erlynne (Christa de Jager) and the Duchess of Berwick (Liz Bradley) to smile archly, twitter knowingly, and generally feel superior.

The Arts faculty, by contrast, is notoriously dispersed, with most students unaware of which ‘schools’, ‘centres’ or other various substratum of subject specification actually come within the monolithic umbrella of ‘Arts’, let alone having the desire or ability to capture a common ‘Arts’ experience and perform it live, to music, over the course of two hours. So it’s no small accomplishment then, that in its inaugural year, the ANU Arts Revue succeeded in creating a show that was brilliantly witty, original and entertaining, and which at the same time struck the perfect balance between Arts-centric comedy and comedy that could be appreciated by your regular, off-the-street Canberran. Under the directorship of Meg O’Connell - herself a former director of the ANU Law Revue - and supported by a group of stupidly talented actors and musicians, the Revue explored the vast spectrum of theatrical styles, moving constantly (yet seamlessly) between simple sketch comedy routines, full-cast big band musical numbers, and a large amount of everything that comes between. The obvious targets - the ‘usefulness’ of an Arts degree, Market Day, efforts to gain extensions from unsympathetic tutors, the pretension of International Relations students, the ‘usefulness’ of ANUSA - were all given good servings, alongside a healthy dose of political satire, public servant-bashing and pop culture spoofs (Gemma Nourse and Carl Reinecke’s depiction of Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton was particularly veracious). However, like much theatre, it wasn’t so much the subject matter of the production, but its execution, that made the Revue so entertaining. Whether it was denouncing the homogeneity of policies between Gillard and Abbott by way of a parody of My Fair Lady’s The Rain in Spain (“It’s such a shame, our policies were the same” - outstanding), lambasting Canberra’s lack of romance via Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance, performing an ultra-summary (with pirate ending!) of The Sound of Music, or exploring every Arts students’ arch enemy - procrastination - by way of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sounds of Silence, it was undoubtedly the sharp song-writing, polished musicianship, and amazing performance of the Revue’s musical numbers that helped maintain its momentum (and with the audience’s undivided attention) over the course of two staggering acts. If this performance is an indication of what we can expect in years to come, then we are all well in for a treat. BEN HERMANN

Wilde’s fin-de-siecle comedy of manners, in which the gauche Lady Windermere is led to believe that: a) her husband is having an affair with the fallen woman Mrs Erlynne, and b) that the appropriate response to such news is to elope with Lord Darlington rather than to tell Lord W to foot it, is in this version updated by Tony Turner and the folks at Rep – but not totally. Turner is cognisant of the play’s general outmodedness; the manners and mores of Victorian society do not fully mesh with our own. (Having said that, if I found out that my spouse was giving large sums of money to women of dubious repute, who he then insisted I invite to my own birthday party, I’d probably chuck a tizzy, too). Turner does not, however, simply plant Lady Windermere et al in 21st Century London, along with F-book, Twitter, and iPhones. To bridge the gap between Wilde’s world and our own, Turner has set the show in the entre deux guerres period, complete with bobs and dropped waists on the ladies and a monolithic modernist set done in sorbet colours. The cast do a fine job of capturing the moral ambiguities of Wilde’s script. I confess I enjoyed the bad characters far more than I enjoyed the good ones: Bradley’s Duchess was zestfully delicious, while de Jager’s Mrs Erlynne combined complicity and sass in a winning performance. Jerry Hearn was another delight as the crusty, baffled Lord Augustus. I must also confess that, having retained the upper-class English setting, I do wish that Turner had made a bit of extra effort with his actors in retaining the upper-class English accent, but this is a minor quibble. The costumes are sumptuous, the players attractive, and the audience has a grand old time - which makes me think of Wilde’s words after the first performance: “Ladies and Gentlemen. I have enjoyed this evening immensely. The actors have given us a charming rendition of a delightful play, and your appreciation has been most intelligent. I congratulate you on the great success of your performance, which persuades me that you think almost as highly of the play as I do myself.” naomi milthorpe

soles of your shoes worn right through while your poor, overloaded brain leaks onto the pavement.

UNINHIBITED TiNA. Seductive, bold, fiercely independent. Where have you been all my life? For 12 years now, every October long weekend, a DIY festival called This Is Not Art has shown Newcastle who’s boss. It was only last year that I finally cottoned on. With my first trip my impressions were that Newcastle was the Canberra of my dreams; ocean on the doorstep and packed with delicious old buildings. More so, those old buildings were actually being utilised for interesting creative projects – little shops, gallery spaces and venues. These Novocastrians had it figured, and I fell hard. This Is Not Art, with its enduring sense of irony is, of course, completely about art, and comprised of five smaller festivals. There’s the dubiously named Crack Theatre Festival, the tech-tastic Electrofringe, The National Young Writers Festival, the evercerebral Critical Animals and Sound Summit, for the best of new things for your ears. A trip to TiNA is no easy feat, I’ll admit. The program of events for the four days is so unreasonably, optimistically sprawling that there is no way in hell you can see even half of the performances, forums, gigs, exhibitions or networking (drinking) sessions you want to. Such is the nature of this beauteous beast, and the weekend will leave the

The jewel in TiNA’s crown is a terrifying large and nauseatingly good zine fair and makers market – which dominates the majority of a multi-storey car park for one golden Sunday every year. Shockingly, the entire festival is free, powered by an army of dreamers. See what you like, join in when you want, it matters not. And if you must sleep, campsites are available for spare change prices, topping off your cultural experience with all the earnest ambience of a Steinbeck novel. It will leave you more inspired and motivated than three double-shot espressos, without the constricted blood vessels and cold sweats. It will renew your faith in the creative universe, and remind you that there are people out there who make things happen, irrespective of their bank accounts or hipster ratio. And it will make you realise that Canberra and Newcastle (apart from the whole ocean thing) are similar in many ways. The things that they do well (bar surfing) we can do too. Canberra art heroes appearing at TiNA this year include irrepressible national treasure Adam Hadley, merchant of noise Shoeb Ahmad, and Exhibitionist’s original sweetheart Naomi Milthorpe. I’ll be there too – the nerd in a raincoat and sensible shoes, flipping frantically through the program, trying to choose between panel discussions or writing workshops and tripping over her boots while drooling over ageing architecture. Come and join the Canberra contingent, we from the ‘other’ sleepy city. Your October long weekends will never be the same. yolande norris exhibitionist@bmamag.com

bit PARTS WHO: Phillip Escoffey WHAT: Mind reading madness! WHEN: Thursday October 7 WHERE: The Playhouse The performance Six Impossible Things Before Dinner is touted as “mind boggling, baffling and utterly compelling”. It’s a show that sees Phillip Escoffey, one of Britain’s leading mind readers, challenge his audience’s beliefs and better judgment by performing seemingly impossible feats of prediction. Following eight years of international touring Escoffey is touching down in Canberra after sell-out seasons wowing the crowd at the Sydney Opera House and The Melbourne Comedy Festival. “Mind reader or con man?” the media release asks. “Come and decide for yourself”. Touché. For tickets contact 6275 2700 or visit www. canberraticketing.com.au .

WHO: Young portraitists WHAT: Headspace 10 WHEN: On now until Sunday November 7 WHERE: National Portrait Gallery Headspace is an annual exhibition that celebrates self-portraiture from secondary school students around the country. It’s a pretty good gig - giving young artists the chance to have their work to be shown in the illustrious National Portrait Gallery before they’ve even graduated their college art class. It’s been a decade since the project began, and every year the exhibition is full of powerful, amusing, innovative and highly sophisticated portrait works in a vast range of mediums. Each Headspace the students respond to a particular portraiture related theme, and this year it’s Self/Reflection. Stop in, have a look, and have a whinge about young people being so obscenely talented these days. WHO: Dayne Rathbone WHAT: Comedy Club WHEN: Wednesday October 6 WHERE: Civic Pub Following performances in the Green Faces final and at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this year, Canberra laugh merchant Dayne Rathbone is set to headline the October installment of Civic Pub’s Comedy Club. Rathbone is known for his unpredictably bold performances and hilariously awkward character pieces. His act frequently includes audience interaction, fantastical stories… and cats. The comedian will soon be making the exodus to Melbourne so catch him in his small town glory while you can. Comedy Club is held the first Wednesday of every month upstairs at Civic Pub in Braddon. Show starts at 8pm. Entry fee is $10 at the door. WHO: Richard Blackwell WHAT: Exhibition Grotto WHEN: Until Sunday October 3 WHERE: M16 Artspace Griffith

WHO: Blanche Tilden WHAT: Exhibition Fer Et Verre WHEN: Opens 6pm Wednesday September 29, on show until Thursday November 18 WHERE: Canberra Glassworks Contemporary glass artist and jeweler Blanche Tilden trained in glass at the ANU School of Art in the ‘90s, but relocated to Melbourne to work under acclaimed jeweler Susan Cohn. She now lives and works in Melbourne but is returning to town for her exhibition Fer Et Verre at the Canberra Glassworks. This show of new work presents Tilden’s cutting edge glass and metal jewelry and is also the launch event for a slick new book about her work, entitled Blanch Tilden: True. Sounds like there will be some covetable stuff on show, so get on down to the Glassworks gallery to have a wistful gander.

Young Canberra artist Richard Blackwell is going from strength to strength since graduating from Printmedia at the ANU School of Art. Blackwell’s most recent achievement was receiving a highly competitive New Work grant from the Australia Council for the Arts. Pair that with the relocation of his studio to the new M16 complex and being picked up by a commercial gallery in Melbourne, and it looks like 2010 has been an incredibly busy and fruitful time for the artist. His solo exhibition Grotto presents outcomes from this buzz of activity, showing Blackwell’s latest 2D works alongside some new developments in 3D. A must-see for anyone who likes bold, graphic and brain-melting art.

WHO: Long Run Theatre WHAT: The Clever Country WHEN: October 6-16 WHERE: Street Theatre You’ve heard of Art Vs. Science – well now it’s Fashion Vs. Science in Bruce Hoogendoorn’s play The Clever Country. University science enrolments have dropped alarmingly, and it now takes a higher tertiary entrance score to study fashion design. So the minister for Science hires Andrew Dean, an incredibly good-looking researcher, to work to put things right. Will it come to fisticuffs? Apparently so. This Long Run Theatre Production takes the stage at the Street Theatre from October 6 to 16. For bookings contact 6247 1223 or check out www.thestreet.org.au .

reason I’m compelled to do both, to make it sound like a bit of a journey.” When there’s talk of possibly having to write another Drunk On Election Night tune, Kelly says sadly, “I hope I don’t have to write …doesn’t matter if you go to a tropical island that one again.” booze, or or go to the one else on

KELLY WATCH THE STARS katy hall It’s a bit of a scary thing to find yourself about to interview an artist that you’ve had a huge crush on for several years. For the record I’m not a groupie – and gentlemen, don’t tell me you wouldn’t get knee shakes at the idea of chatting with Angelina – the guy just impresses the pants off me. What’s even more petrifying is the knowledge that I know something that DAN KELLY doesn’t; Katter has just sided with the Coalition ten minutes before the interview. When I break the news to politically interested Kelly, there’s a deep intake of breath that is thrown out of his mouth almost immediately again with the words “fucking scumbag.” Though less politically leaning than 2006’s Drowning In The Fountain Of Youth, last month’s release Dan Kelly’s Dream is one that even Kelly himself admits needed some time to sink in with people. Removing himself from far flung islands and suburban blues, the album explores the idea of the end of the world, living under the sea, alien cities and everything else you could imagine. “Normally it’s either the music is really layered or the vocals are, but for some

there’s no He continues: “On the last album I the planet, you can’t kept feeling this inability to have escape yourself worthwhile relationships, whereas with this album it’s more about grappling with eco issues. I guess the two tie in together because I just keep revisiting this realisation that you can try and escape from everything – doesn’t matter if you go to a tropical island or go to the booze, or there’s no one else on the planet – but you can’t escape yourself.”

But, when it came time to sit down and write another album after a near four year hiatus, Kelly admits the origins came from quite a strange idea. “It kind of started out as this eco-terrorist musical, which is strange because I don’t really like musicals – they remind me of the jazz ballet guys at school. I just like the idea of writing one.” Through hours of whittling away at songs and tunes, an album was born and from it came one of the most bizarre and likely memorable songs of the year, Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam. “I just thought she’d be a good friend to have an environmental journey with,” Kelly admits. After a brief pause he continues: “I made sure I wrote in Terri as her song chaperone, so people realise it’s not a creepy song.” Almost immediately after the interview ends, Kelly calls me back to explain the recently researched finer details of Katter’s agreement. “So, not all is lost,” he says hopefully. Turns out, he was right. Dan Kelly will be playing at The Maram on Thursday October 7, selling tea towel and swimming cap merchandise and fingers crossed, serenading yours truly. Waterford special guests, tix $17 + bf.

PARADISE FOUND ZOYA PATEL Simon Jones of THE HOLIDAYS is not afraid to admit his love of trashy bars. When asked where he’d like to hang out in Canberra during the band’s national tour, his immediate response is, “I want to see if ICBM is still there. Do they still have $1 drinks on Thursdays?” ICBM sure is here, as Jones is pleased to discover, but it’s a bit of a change from Transit Bar, where The Holidays will be playing on Thursday October 14 as part of their national tour promoting their Post Paradise LP. Filled with groovy pop music of the surfer-indie variety, Post Paradise promises to be an aural delight, with singles Moonlight Hours and Golden Sky already massive hits. “It’s interesting because those two songs actually kind of sound similar to each other, but not necessarily to the rest of the album,” Jones muses. “A lot of the album is a bit more reserved and introspective. I think Moonlight Hours and Golden Sky are more the party songs.” Golden Sky is also about to be released in the UK after receiving a tonne of internet attention. “It’s weird hearing people from the UK commenting about the track, or getting reviews, because it seems so removed and far away from where we are. But it’s exciting to hear feedback from over there.” Jones is pretty keen for the album to be released, after a relatively long wait. The Holidays formed in 2006, and released two EPs to rave

reviews, but a full-lengther has been a long time coming. “I’m just really looking forward to getting some feedback, you know?” Jones says. “It’s one thing for the album to be floating around in music industry hands but for actual listeners to give some feedback would be great.” The process of recording was slightly arduous as well, with Jones and the band doing most of the production themselves. Perhaps that’s why the album is filled with ideas of escapism and alternate locations. Even the title, Post Paradise, suggests the beginnings of an existential crisis. “There are certain parts where the theme is about escaping from the humdrum of daily existence and getting to greener pastures,” Jones remarks. “But you know the grass is always greener, and paradise is never going to be the final satisfaction. Post Paradise for me is asking, ‘What happens when you get there?’” Well, with a name like The Holidays, escape must be a common theme with these guys, right? “I guess it works out that way, doesn’t it?” Jones laughs. “Right now I really want to go to Africa. It’s kind of like the final frontier, almost. It’s dangerous and it’s not really held together by transport or technology, and I kind of like that. It’s definitely not a tour spot, though.” Canberra, on the other hand, is a popular tour

destination for the band. They’ve played here twice recently, once with Yves Klein Blue, and the other earlier this year with Bluejuice. Playing at the ANU Bar is a strange experience for Jones, who was a student at the ANU briefly before choosing to focus on his music. “It’s strange for me. I think ANU will probably never change.” Well, Transit should be a breath of fresh air where the troupe will play with tour mates Papa vs Pretty. “We’re looking forward to it!” Jones enthuses. “We’ve known the band for a long time, and have played with

Post Paradise for me is asking, ‘What happens when you get there?’ them a few times. But we’re looking forward to touring with them, that’s usually when you really get to know people.” The tour promises to be a great one, especially with the energetic live sets The Holidays usually play. Feet will be tapping all through the bar, for sure. Not to mention the big plans for an after party, that Jones proposes. “Tell people to come to ICBM after the show! Anywhere that sells cheap drinks is OK by me.” The Holidays will play at the Transit Bar on Thursday October 14 with touring pals Papa vs Pretty. Tix are $13.10 inc booking, or $28.20 with a digi copy of album Post Paradise from Moshtix. Kick off 8pm.

LITTLE RED RIDING IN THE HOOD katherine quinn Chatting to Adrian Beltrame and Taka Honda from LITTLE RED before their performance at Splendour in the Grass, the boys seem relaxed and excited. It’s the third year that they’ve played the festival, and the pair admit that their performance skills and musicianship have developed considerably since the early days of the band. “Playing big gigs is a pretty weird feeling – there’s so much going on!” Adrian says. “I feel like it’s almost like a computer game, because every single song there’s little things that you can do – like a guitar line or a little harmony or whatever – that you can do perfectly or maybe 75% and it’s just a matter of getting all of those. So you’ve gotta get as many points as you can in an hour or so. It’s tricky, but we’re getting a lot better at it.”

We’re not trying to be cool, we’re just trying to make the best music we can

Little Red’s 2008 debut album, Listen to Little Red, smashed into the ARIA top 30, bringing us singles like Witchdoctor and the much-loved sing-a-long (my one and only advice is Coke) Coca-Cola (and ice). Their new album, Midnight Remember, has a much more sentimental vibe to it, as well as a couple of rousing, anthemic numbers and catchy grooves like the debut single Rock It. Filling the role of vocalist and guitarist for the band, Adrian tells me that the inspiration for the album was a sense of melancholy that stemmed from growing older. “It’s just a natural thing,” he admits. “It’s not anything that any of us consciously said to ourselves ‘we want to make more meaningful music’ – it just comes from within.” So with two full-length albums, several tours and headlining spots on some of the nation’s favourite festivals under the belts of their skinny leg jeans, you’d think these trendy lads would have become celebrities in their hometown of Melbourne. Not so, Taka tells me. “No, Melbourne people are too cool!” he laughs, when I ask if he gets star-spotted. “They don’t give a fuck about us. Nothing’s really changed [since we started the band].” It’s just as well, then, that the talented five-some didn’t start the band out of a desire for fame and adulation. “We all just loved music and that’s what we wanted to do,” Adrian says. “It’s a very powerful thing, and it’s good to have fun with. We’re not trying to be cool, we’re just trying to make the best music we can.” I can’t help but question this statement, given Little Red’s reputation for being snappy dressers. In the video for Rock It, Taka is clad in a glimmering gold bomber jacket, while the rest of the lads are all skinny ties and slouchy cardigans and pointy-toed boots. “The music comes first,” Taka insists. “But if someone wants to give us free clothes...” Adrian adds, with Taka finishing off, “we don’t have enough clothes”. Little Red will be stopping by ANU Bar on Thursday October 7 with Sparkadia and Kimbra in tow. Tickets are $30.90 and doors open at 8. Midnight Remember is out now through Liberation Records.

WAITING WITH BAITED BREATH STEVIE EASTON Whenever I mention SPIDERBAIT lately, most people say they didn’t realise they were still together, but of course they haven’t gone anywhere. Vocalist and drummer Kram confirms this, and adds that since taking an extended break from writing new material, they still manage to get on stage regularly. “We still play about four or five shows a year, mainly festivals,” he says. “Doing gigs is easy; you just turn up, say hi to each other backstage, go out and play your songs. Most of them we’ve been playing for years, so we know them back to front.” As luck would have it, events have conspired to bring these 15-year veterans of Australian rock to this year’s Stonefest; among only a handful of appearances they’ll make in 2010. And Kram is pretty Doing gigs is chilled out about exactly what easy; you just they’re bringing to the University turn up, say hi of Canberra grounds. “I’ve got no to each other idea what’s going to happen,” he backstage, go says. “We don’t rehearse anything out and play anymore; we’re like a jazz band, but not in the musical sense. So ask me after the show; it’ll be easier to explain what happened than tell you what’s going to happen.” Kram says he doesn’t have much time for over-rehearsed performances by rock bands, like the disappointingly choreographed show he recently witnessed from fellow ‘90s outfit Green Day. “It just wasn’t what I was expecting, that’s not really what it’s about for me,” Kram says. “It’s got to be spontaneous.” In terms of new music, it’s been a long time between drinks for Spiderbait, their ‘latest’ being Tonight Alright way back in 2004. The following year they put out their Greatest Hits, which created the impression among some fans that things were winding down. According to Kram, that’s not the case. He explains that since bassist and singer Janet English became a mother, it hasn’t been possible for her to leave her child very often. The hiatus, however, has had other benefits for the man. “It gave me the chance to do a solo project that I’d been wanting to do for a while,” he says. “Being in Spiderbait is awesome, but sometimes it can limit your creativity a bit, being in one band for such a long time.” In his work with Spiderbait, his side projects, and work as a solo performer, Kram is one of Australia’s great rock musicians and one of the few drummers who can sing at the same time. He says that he has enjoyed both ever since studying music in high school, and although it took a while to combine the two, it was worth the practise. “It’s pretty tribal,” he explains. “The arms are going, the feet are going and the lungs are going, all at the same time.” That’s a pretty good summary of what Kram is all about and what he brings to Spiderbait; one of the biggest names from those glory days of Australian rock, the 1990s. Spiderbait sidle up to this year’s Stonefest on Saturday October 30 alongside Pendulum, Bluejuice, Xavier Rudd and many more. Tix range from $94.40 to $171.40 from Ticketek.

“Now when someone’s missing it changes the sound of the band. It’s an entity unto itself.”

HAPPY SAILING shAUN BENNETT It’s interesting to hear that Henry F Skerritt names Nick Cave as a primary influence on his music with THE HOLY SEA, as the two are much alike in many a way. Both men are true artists in every sense of the word delving into painting, history, writing and literature in addition to making music. Skerritt’s journey began back in 1999 when he formed The Holy Sea with pianist Daniel Hoey in Perth, and they wasted no time in recording their debut album Blessed Unrest in 2000. However, the band’s initial efforts came to an end in 2001 when Skerritt, being the diverse artist he is, moved to Melbourne to complete his Masters in Art History. After working as a curator at a gallery in Melbourne, Skerritt began playing music again with Hoey in 2007 to ease his way back into the scene again. “The two of us were doing solo shows together and we didn’t think it would be such a big band again. Then when we came to record we brought in Emma (Frichot, vocalist), Victor (Vitting, guitarist) and David (Bower, drummer) and soon settled on the line-up,” he says.

When we were told [we were playing All Tomorrow’s Parties] I thought it was a hoax

With new album Beginner’s Guide to the Sea and rejuvenated band, they staged a comeback in 2008 with a relentless national tour that lasted the whole year. From working on Beginner’s Guide Skerritt was able to blend his diverse talents and interests into one as his passion for Australian history is evident throughout the album. To further extend his creative output Skerritt and the band took time recording the next album, Ghosts on the Horizon. “We wanted to give ourselves time so we spent much longer in the studio for this album and waited until the time was right to thoroughly tour it and give it the attention it deserves.” After relentless touring, recording and writing Skerritt was offered one of the biggest deals of his career; to be on the line-up of the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival headlined by idol and curator Nick Cave. “When we were told I thought it was a hoax. It wasn’t until the posters came out with our name on it that I truly believed it,” he says. “Everyone was really supportive on that festival from the crew, promoters, and fellow acts, so it was quite an honour to be treated wonderfully and to be playing with all these artists we admire.” Now having organised his creative outputs into one, experimenting in different areas of art, meeting his idol Nick Cave and a new album completed… What’s next? “There are members in the band that are hankering to do new stuff since we have been playing our songs over and over again. But from the process, we’ve got an idea of what we want to do next.” With their track record I guess we’ll have to wait and see. The Holy Sea will tear apart the Phoenix Pub on Thursday October 14. Free entry. Ghosts on the Horizon is out now through Fuse/An Ocean Awaits.

THE REALNESS London’s Fabric Records has released some very dope mixes this year embracing the bass music scene’s various incarnations. Next up for them are two versatile mixes from two highly regarded artists in their chosen genres. Dublin based D&B pioneer Zero T mixes FabricLive 52 with his usual disregard for genre, happy to switch tempos and styles in a true reflection of his club DJ sets. Moving through classic jungle tempos, minimal future D&B excursions, dubstep, house and hip-hop, Zero T keeps it consistently dope and ‘bassy’ through the entire mix. The mix features a who’s who of dope sounds from the likes of Paradox, Break, Lynx, Rockwell, Dillinja, Icicle, Commix, SP:MC, Marcus Intalex and Calibre. Definitely one to add to your Fabric library. On their next instalment of the Fabric (not Live) series is number 53 from techno don Surgeon. Also not known for being genre faithful, Surgeon prefers to simply play music he is feeling to open people up to new sounds and textures. That said he’s definitely been influenced by bass music of late as reflected by the large smattering of artists like Greena, Scuba, Subeena, Starkey, Appleblim and Ital Tek showcased in the mix. Add to that dense techno bombs from Robert Hood, Ben Sims, T-Polar and Surgeon himself and you’ve got yourself a deep excursion in future rhythms. Everyone loves free shit! And so does UK grime don Terror Danjah. Fresh from releasing his excellent Power Grid EP on Planet Mu he

kicked off August with a couple of free releases for download. He has just offered up his few-years-old vocal laden grime LP Shock To The System and a 29-strong instrumental release Hardstrumentals chock full of synth heavy 140bpm grime and a few more downbeat surprises. Mr Danjah is certainly very generous so I encourage you to jump online and download that classic Terror Danjah to your heart’s content. Speaking of Planet Mu, they’ve just released the Hatas Our Motivation EP from 20-year-old Chicago ‘footwork’ prodigy DJ Nate. For those that don’t know, footwork or ‘juke’ is a hybrid genre of sorts which mixes crunkish dirty south flavoured hip-hop with ghetto-tech house for some interesting 80/160bpm outings. Following up from this EP, Planet Mu has released a 25 track album from Nate entitled Da Trak Genious. For those that want to open their ears to some new sounds, give it a listen. We started this column with D&B, so it’s only right we bookend it with one of my most anticipated releases in recent times. Cambridge duo Commix are finally about to release the much touted remix project of their 2007 LP Call To Mind. Entitled Re:Call To Mind (yes, not the most original title) the roster of remix artists they’ve lined up spanning a myriad of styles has me hyped: Instra:Mental, Pangaea, A Made Up Sound, D Bridge, Burial, Kassem Mosse, Sigha, Marcel Dettman, Two Armadillos and Underground Resistance! Wow! Out in October I can’t wait to rinse these tunes with much gusto. To hear tunes from all these releases and much more tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM from 9:30–11pm every Tues night or stream at www.2xxfm.org.au . ROSHAMBO roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

METALISE And so it beings, with the Metallica tour heralding an unprecedented six odd months of international acts that’s simply insane in scope. With 500 odd payers at the Soulfly show a couple of weeks back, it would be nice if some promoters, local or otherwise, recognised there is a healthy market of fans here for international heavy shows. Of course the bookend of this period is the ludicrous wall of metal, punk and hardcore in the form of the Soundwave festival in February. The second announcement rounding out the line-up that already includes Iron Maiden, Slayer and High On Fire (to name but an infinitesimal few) has hit, and for regular Metalise readers I guess the main name that sticks out is that of Norway’s Dimmu Borgir. On the cusp of releasing their ninth album, Abrahadabra, the band has added the Soundwave festival to their world tour. Maybe some younger readers are also into Bullet for My Valentine’s addition to proceedings. I’m not, but then I’m old. One promoter that always gives us some underground gems is the fine folks at 666 Entertainment, who proudly present Acid King from San Francisco on tour for the first time in Australia in their 18 or so year career. The Basement on Thursday October 7 will host a night of serious heavy riffage with sets from I Exist – who have just seen their debut album A Turn For The Worse get a loving vinyl treatment – Looking Glass, who are returning from a quiet period to spread more of the greatest rock licks in the land for this type of music, and Pod People on the back of international supports for Macabre and Coffins. A huge night of riffs, don’t miss this show. The Basement is also hosting a big night of local talent on Friday October 1 with Empirical being joined by Never Trust A Bunny and Friend Or Enemy. Fozzy have announced a run of Aussie shows in Australia in December this year with the WWE fronted stylings of Chris Jericho and Stuck Mojo alumni Rich “The Duke” Ward hitting The Factory in Marrickville in Sydney on Friday December 3. The line-up for the Baroness side show at The Annandale on Friday November 12 has been announced and it seems Akaname have the support and will be bringing their industrial tinged heaviness to proceedings to the three sideshows. Baroness is one of the world’s best up and coming metal bands. Check it. Melbourne is getting a couple of interesting shows I would term almost as ‘boutique metal’ and it’s only because it’s the only place in the land getting the show that I mention it here for those keen to head down to check ‘em out. Gravetemplar is the first act putting on a show on Tuesday October 26 at The Toff In Town. The band features Stephen O’Malley of Sunn fame, Matty Skitz of Damaged and sonic adventurer Oren Ambarchi. The Reverend Kriss Hades is doing his only 2010 show in December, also with Matty Skitz on drums, Dav Byrne of Agonhymn/Terrorust on bass and apparently Kriss is making a new guitar for the show. More details as they arise. Josh - NP: Nothingface – Voivod - Nothingface JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

DRUMMING IT IN naomi frost Having received massive commendations from members of Slipknot and Stone Sour, and soon to be touring with Korn, Melbourne based alternative/metal/rock quartet SYDONIA are well and truly on their way to being regarded as one of the finest in their field. They have recently released single Ocean of Storms, mixed by one of the most renowned producers specialising in the metal/alternative genre, Colin Richardson. The ever-so-modest Dana Roskvist, guitarist and lead vocalist of Sydonia, happily told me all I needed to know about the band, their sound, and the highlights of their 13 year history as they head into their most successful year to date. Roskvist expressed that one of the key elements to Sydonia’s sound is the uniquely designed and perfectly executed use of percussion. “We have two percussion set ups on stage, as well as our normal drummer, so that our bass player and guitarist can put down their instruments and play drums. So sometimes there are three drummers,” he rather proudly announces. “People have commented that it makes our performance a little bit more theatrical. But I don’t really think about it like that; we just do our thing on stage. There are no conscious or deliberate theatrics or anything. “A lot of bands say they have got their own sound and I guess we really do have our own sound,” Roskvist continues. “It is very melodic and it is very pretty and ambient. But it also gets very heavy and very tribal.”

The best way to describe [our sound] is to cross reference two bands that do not really belong together. I would say it’s Radiohead meets Sepultura

As I was not extremely familiar with the band or their music, he assisted me further by taking the technical terms down a notch, with an excerpt from what should be titled Sydonia for Dummies: “The best way to describe it is to cross reference two bands that do not really belong together. I would say it’s Radiohead meets Sepultura.” In 2007, Sydonia played three shows with Stone Sour, through which Roskvist and Sydonia’s bassist Adam Murray received praise from Jim Root and Corey Taylor, two celebrated names within their genre. “Corey came running in after we had played and said ‘Whose dick do I have to suck to get a CD?’.” Three months after sharing Australian stages with Stone Sour, they found themselves venturing down the east coast of America with them, building Sydonia a massive US fan base whilst still managing to find time to live large with legendary figures in the world of metal. “Jim Root had us stay at his house in Florida and Corey had us stay at his house in Iowa; they are just really nice guys,” Roskvist shared excitedly. After extensive and successful touring, the band intends on crafting their second full-length studio album, with the assistance once again of Colin Richardson, for the enjoyment and musical pleasure of Sydonia’s ever expanding Australian fan base. But why wait until then when you can catch them as part of the Capital Rock Music Festival alongside Jericco, Tonk, Breaking Orbit, Spoil and many more. It happens at The Maram on Saturday November 20. Tix are $25 presold from Moshtix, $30 at the door, or $35 for both Friday and Saturday.

the word

BLACKBOX

on games Epic Citadel Developer: Epic Games Style: First Person… Walkthrough Platforms: iOS Price: Free Rating: Worth Getting This one came out of nowhere. And it’s not actually a game. Which may make you wonder why it’s getting a lengthy review, especially considering there’s super new fandangled games out there such as Starcraft 2 to talk about. But let’s face it, if you’re a PC gamer you’ve totally played it anyway.

Just when you thought you wouldn’t have to touch the set top box for a while, WIN launches its new channel, GEM. Like 7Mate it’s pitched at a fairly specific demographic – 35+ women. Apparently Gen X must be more fond of a night in, curled up in front of the telly than out at a show – this may come as news to the rapidly expanding touring schedule also squarely pitched at the slacker generation (Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins…). Having said that, GEM features quite a few ‘90s classics such as Friends (GEM, Mon-Fri, 6.30pm), a plethora of reality shows such as Holiday Showdown (GEM, Fri, 8pm) and a smattering of new shows, the most notable of which is The Big C (GEM, Wed Sep 29, 9.30pm) a comedy about dealing with cancer – Showtime quality, not Hallmark. The folks at SCTEN won’t be launching their new channel, 11, until next year. In the meantime, budding screenwriters and doco makers will have the chance to get their series and special ideas on air with the Eleven out of Ten development initiative. You need to write a three-page pitch outline of your idea and submit an entry form by Friday October 15. Details at conference.spaa.org.au .

Epic Citadel is not only a large (‘Epic’ seems fitting in the Generation Y Web 2.0 vernacular) castle you walk through in first person view, but actually serves as Epic Games’ tech demo showing off the prowess of iOS. Epic, as a reminder, is the company that created the game engine perpetually responsible for some of the most memorable games in the past decade or so. You probably already associate the Unreal Tournament series with it, but add to that Gears of War, Deus Ex, Bioshock, Batman: Arkham Asylum, America’s Army... get the gist? Hefty. So, here we are with Epic Citadel. Have Epic delivered a viable gaming engine for iDevices?

The 7Mate schedule is shaping up nicely with the inclusion of some classic ‘70s fare with the likes of The A Team (7Mate, Sun, 5pm) with Mr T and Knight Rider (7Mate, Sun, 4pm) with The Hoff. Blackbox is still waiting for Logan’s Run and Blake’s 7. The pick of their new shows is Caprica (7Mate, Thu, 9.30pm), the prequel to Battlestar Galactica.

It certainly looks like it. Okay, there’s no shooting aliens, weapons, or even jumping around in this piece, but you do walk and explore and get to witness wonderful things like dynamic lighting, rich textures, reflections and a large open environment. Walk through dark alleys that curve around, with sun in the sky and shining rays, leaves blowing in the wind, and a very respectable draw distance as you look past the rolling hills and into the sea. This needs to be seen. It looks great on a 3GS, and just deadly on an iPad and iPhone 4’s much hyped Retina Display. Oh, and the touch controls work quite well, and you can choose to use typical dual-stick, or a simple ‘point and click’ type walking mechanic.

September/October means sport and with that heralding a telly phenomenon waaaaay older than BMA – the program tie in. There hasn’t been a locally produced show on Prime or WIN that hasn’t had a footy finals tie-in. There’s even been a news tie-in with the Saints and Pies draw. And it doesn’t stop there. The Bathurst 1000 (Prime, Sun Oct 10, 7.30am) has Better Homes and Gardens – The Fast Show (Prime, Fri Oct 8, 7.30pm) and The Commonwealth Games (SCTEN, One Sun Oct 3-Thu Oct14, from 12pm daily) has Learn India with Hamish and Andy (SCTEN, Sun Oct 3, 7.30pm).

The first game to use Epic’s engine will be Project Sword – Epic Citadel, featuring characters with brutish armour and big swords. Youtube it. Touted to be an action RPG filled with swipe control sword slashing fun. Die By The Sword meets Oblivion? Something like that. So what does it all mean? There’s already been plenty of quality gaming on iOS, from the casual monsters of Angry Birds and Doodle Jump, to the more console-based like Modern Combat and Square’s stellar Chaos Rings. Coupled with the new Game Centre’s ease and the App Store’s delivery, Unreal for iOS should certainly prove to naysayers that iDevices are well and truly a bonafide contributor to the handheld market. Now, I just hope that this encourages Valve to finally bust out a handheld Half Life engine... JEMIST

Fans of The Wire won’t want to miss Luther (ABC1, Fri Oct 15, 8.30pm), a psychological thriller starring Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) as a tormented detective.

Docos to look out for include Dawn Porter: Extreme Wife (Prime, Tue Oct 5, 11pm), which starts with mail order brides, The Great Escape: China’s Long March (ABC1, Thu Oct 14, 9.30pm) and Tank on the Moon (ABC1, Thu Oct 7, 9.30pm). Other stuff to put on your radar – new seasons of Supersizers Go… (SBS1, Thu Oct 7, 8.30pm) starting with …‘80s and …Medieval, The Librarians (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm), The IT Crowd (ABC1, Wed Oct 6, 9pm), Dylan Moran: Like Totally (ABC2, Thu Oct 14, 9.30pm), and Rude Boy Food (ABC2, Fri Oct 8, 6pm) with tips on West Indian cookery. Best Movie Line Up of the Month: Go, Friday October 8 – ScoobyDoo and the Alien Invaders (6pm), Kangaroo Jack (7.30pm – so bad it’s good), Little Shop of Horrors (9.20pm – so good it’s bad) and Helter Skelter (11.20pm – just bad)… and if you’re still up Star Trek Deep Space Nine (2am) [as the father said to his newborn – that’s a lot of poo in one night – Bossman]. TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

the word

enb

on albums

Black Mountain Wilderness Heart [Jagjaguwar]

album of the issue grinderman grinderman 2 [mute records]

If Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ return to form album of 2008 Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was any indication of the creative trajectory that Nick Cave et al had set themselves after Grinderman’s debut of 2007, then it’s no surprise that Grinderman 2 has met and surpassed the expectations created by both its own predecessor and that of the Bad Seeds. On Grinderman 2, this Bad Seeds spin-off consisting of Cave, Ellis, Casey and Sclavunos - have cranked up the volume, the humour and the sleazy violence all in equally gluttonous measures. Cave’s brutal tongue-incheek narratives give the impression of a film script or the beginnings of his next novel (When My Baby Comes and opener Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man stand out in particular), while Casey’s domineering bass and Ellis’ notoriously haunting bouzouki have been promoted from the position of supporting cast to leading role players. Cave and his crew have fought hard against attempts to pigeonhole them as ageing, tempered rock stars and in doing so have created an album that is loud, indulgently fun, and one that will stay with you for a good time to come. BEN HERMANN

This is where the good stuff happens, and it has been some time since I’ve listened to something this tight, heavy and all embracing. Putting aside second album In The Future which probably pressed those prog rock buttons a little too hard, Black Mountain often hits those sharpened riff pleasure zones just like previous greats Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath did when psychedelic meandering gave way to something a bit grittier and more hard-hitting. I mean, let that super riff on fifth track Let Spirits Ride from Wilderness Heart cut through all that difficult routine and habit and you’ve got the wild ride of early 1970s Hawkwind all over again. But the energy levels are kicked into overdrive with the opening trackThe Hair Song with such call to arms lyrics as, “children having their fun with the blues / Let your laws come undone,” attached to an instrumental kick with enough propulsion to well dislodge those headphones. The winner has to be second track Old Fangs which gets right to the political point on opening line, “is it safe for the cowards to do what they’ve already done?” while the razor sharp chorus and ultra blister post-punk grunge brings it home. Black Mountain want to accentuate the universal power of self expression by encompassing cutting-edge observation and intimate concerns like, “roses won’t make her feel better tonight,” often within the one song. Could this be album of the year? dan bigna

Die! Die! Die! Form [Remote Control/Flying Nun]

Filter The Trouble With Angels [Riot]

Kiwi post-hardcore three-piece Die! Die! Die! have made their most pleasant album to date, and that’s a good thing. Kind of. Fans of the band will take the first two tracks on the album as a move to a lighter sound, but the angular, distorted guitars and frenetic drums still clatter around your being, this time with heavily emphasised vocals, recorded and presented in a way that is purposefully more polished. Once the single Howye drops, Die! Die! Die!’s new intentions are realised – more expansive, melodic and progressive than their previous stabby, jerkabout albums.

It would be easy - so very, very easy - to rip the absolute proverbial out of Filter. Major label industrocore darlings at the end of the last century, they faded quietly from view as their futuristic drug-fuelled tunes of war became strangely anachronistic in seemingly no time at all. Now, over a decade later they are back with a fifth studio album that sees them no longer sounding like Nine Inch Nails’ slightly dopey little brother but sounding a hell of a lot like Britrock songstrels A.

One thing that has always excited about this band is their inherent ‘tightness’ – the crisp and precise way the sounds combine and collide, and this remains throughout Form. And despite the initial taste in the mouth that they have changed for the worse, this album stands up to repeat listens and is actually very good – a very solid middle order means at no point during Form do you get the urge to hit the skip or eject buttons. The biggest disappointment is that due to the album being out in New Zealand months before its release here, I have a feeling many Die! Die! Die! Fans will have already heard this... Still, if you haven’t, and like skittish, alternative post-hardcore and post-punk, Form will serve you well. alistair erskine

The trouble is, A, to go with the chart bothering songs, had a sense of humour, whereas Filter struggle in both categories. Opener The Inevitable Relapse is a reticent attempt at rewriting Feel Good Hit of the Summer, whereas its follow up, the slightly more impressive Drug Boy at least has a sense of its own identity. Absentee Father is tired bleating of the kind usually reserved for Korn or Papa Roach albums, so you have to wait until track four before anything truly worthwhile presents itself. Despite trying to please too many people – No Love quotes by turns Marilyn Manson, Muse and Porcupine Tree to slightly dizzying effect- the song’s a sure fire live anthem in the making that nearly – but not quite- gets the juices flowing enough to make you forget what’s gone before. No Re-Entry echoes post-grunge Welshmen Feeder with its air of weary desperation, whilst the rest of the album, though not horrible, is much of a bland muchness. Nambucco ‘Trip Like I Do’ Deliria

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

Robert Plant & the Band of Joy Band of Joy [universal] In 2007 Robert Plant coreleased the highly successful Grammy award-winning album Raising Sand with songbird Alison Krauss. This collaboration saw Plant more inspired as a vocalist than at any point during his 20 year solo career. Never before had he sung so intimately or collaboratively. Indeed it has been a prolific few years for the former Led Zeppelin frontman. His latest effort Band of Joy is of similar vintage to its predecessor - a moody, atmospheric and exploratory work that delves deeply into Southern American music. Named after Plant’s first band (a psyche blues outfit that included the late John Bonham), Band of Joy features an all-star lineup of Nashville session players, including: multiinstrumentalist Darrell Scott, guitarist Buddy Miller, and Patti Griffins on vocals, who unlike Krauss before her, plays more of a backing role. The album encompasses a collection of rare covers and traditional songs. The Carolina-spiritual Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down sees Plant at his most ethereal, backed up by some haunting banjo, and bit of psychedelic Hendrix noodling, for good measure. The Los Lobos’ cover Angel Dance has an upbeat feel-good vibe that allows Plant to let loose with distinguished self-assurance. Despite a few somewhat forgettable tracks Band of Joy is a simple and inspiring work that will no doubt reinforce Plant’s place and importance in contemporary popular music. Johnny milner

The Holy Sea Ghosts of the Horizon [An Ocean Awaits / Fuse]

The Shake Up …if you have no shame [Nomorecords]

This is the third release from an outfit originally known as Henry F. Skerritt and the Holy Sea. In 2007 they decided to forgo personal fame and pander to those who can’t remember long band titles, and retitled the group with their current name. With a lot of today’s FM fodder being pretty strong on the beats but rather low rent on the lyrics, it’s great to bask in this shining example of Aussie songwriting talent. Folk rockers The Holy Sea provide a distinctly Antipodean flavour to this fine collection, with themes gouged out from the savage history of this wide brown land. The colours in the album, with its frenzied, evocative rhythms, are fed by Henry’s passion for Australian art history, which is inescapably linked with the story of the nation. Skerritt’s forceful vocals are commanding, whether he’s howling out The King of Palm Island or roaring along to There Be Dragons Here, about the thrill and danger of exploring the seas in search of the great southern land. Album highlights are The Ten Rules, about the big dividing lines in life, and The Seafarer, in which the balmy vocals from Emma Frichot are contrasted by the eloquent agony of tortured strings from Gareth Skinner’s cello. The best word picture appears in Bad Luck with “The body of my lover stretches out just like the hills of Adelaide”. (Obviously not a curvy lass, as anyone who has seen the hills from the city would know).

After gigging steadily since their 2008 formation, Sydney power-poppers The Shake Up have enlisted the aid of The White Stripes producer Jim Diamond to lay down their debut release. The energy packed, super catchy opener She Read the Riot Act was made to jump around to and sets the pattern for the rest of the album. There’s an obvious ‘70s UK influence, with the Brit pop sound of Meet in the Middle and the punkish hacked off guitars in Everybody Loves It. Kiss the Pavement captures perfectly what it’s like to be at (insert fave nightclub name here) late on any Friday, with a skinful of beer and a head full of agro. Makes Me Sick and Unmade Plan, with their great guitar licks, are two highlights and the album winds up on a high with Pretty City with its cute female backing vocals on the chorus. Jim Diamond’s polished finish ensures that singer/guitarist Miles Selwyn’s pugnacious stage presence (hair plastered to his face, legs shaking in skinny leg black jeans and Mick Jagger-like snarl) comes across well in this crystal clear production. All tracks follow a similar pattern with simple but very infectious rhythms, clear lyrics and choruses that were made to shout along to. Variety is not a strong point here, but that does not detract from The Shake Up’s attractive mix of alcohol soaked themes, skin tight riffs and an arrogance that’s spoiling for a fight.

RORY McCARTNEY

rory mccartney

Kris Menace - Swarm [Size Records] Kris Menace can pretty much do it all. Whether he’s throwing down some silky smooth French house with mates like Alan Braxe and Fred Falke, upping the tech factor for some extended club tunes, or dropping a massive house belter like this.

Lady Gaga Dance In The Dark [UMA] Well Bad Romance was a pretty listenable slice of club-pop bombast, Telephone was cheeky goodness, and Alejandro was passable enough. But holy shit this is just woeful and hands down the shittiest thing to exit Lady Gaga’s mouth.

Nelly - Just A Dream [UMA] LOL, remember Nelly? Once upon a time Nelly was the shit. After Country Grammar the dude had that album Nellyville with Hot In Herre, Dilemma and #1. That’s some serious fire. Then came the slide into coke-bloat excess with that double album and Nelly just never recovered from being a weird cartoon crossover rapper that nobody will take seriously again. And although this is decent, it’s just the ghost of something memorable.

Ou Est Le Swimming Jackson’s Last Stand [Ministry of Sound/UMA] A bubbling arpeggio setting the pace, turbo charged beats and energetic and yelping vocals. It’s all good. But, you might get the feeling that you’ve heard it all before. Because you have. It’s a very close cousin to Dance The Way I Feel. But in the end that’s fine because the original was fun, and so is this.

the word

on films

WITH MARK RUSSELL

Where, oh where, does Joaquin Phoenix go from here? Not only has he burned more bridges than the Nazis, he’s lobbed a few parting shots at Hollywood heavyweights of the class of David Letterman. There’s a part of I’m Still Here which many have speculated might be the lone bit of realism amongst the hoax. Just after his Youtubehighlight interview on Late Show With David Letterman, Phoenix breaks down into sobs of “I’ve ruined my career”. We’ll soon see if he’s right as he’s due back on the show. We’ll have to see if Dave blows a big ‘fuck you’ gum bubble in response.

quote of the issue “I was so drunk, I thought a tube of toothpaste was astronaut food.” Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) The Other Guys

I’m Still Here

Despicable Me

The Other Guys

I should preface this review by saying that when I watched this film it hadn’t yet been announced that the whole thing was a hoax. I assumed it was, but this uncertainty undoubtedly affected the way I watched it, and is probably a main reason why I had a negative reaction. Watching the repercussions of Joaquin Phoenix’s decision to quit acting and take up a career in hip-hop is difficult. This is mainly because he’s a total and utter twat. He’s ridiculously self-involved, an arsehole to everyone around him, and is completely deluded about his abilities as a rapper.

It feels a tad cruel – despicable, if you will – to give this bright ‘n’ breezy film a mere three stars, for it is not without its charm, sentiment and humour. Suburbia dwelling supervillain Gru (Steve Carell) is dogged by feelings of inadequacy, instilled by his never-proud mother (Julie Andrews) and exacerbated by new-kid-on-the-block Vector (Jason Segal). With the aid of his squishy yellow minions and the aging Dr Nefarious (Russell Brand), Gru plans to win back respect by stealing the moon, but to implement his plan he must adopt three young girls who threaten to derail his dastardly plans with possibly the greatest evil of all: love.

The team who brought us Anchorman and Step Brothers offer up a third Will-Ferrellman-child comedy. This time Ferrell’s onscreen team-mate is Mark Wahlberg. Together they’re a pair of screw-up cops who are thrown deep into a multi-billion dollar case that’s obviously way over their heads.

It’s undoubtedly a great performance. Knowing everything was faked, Phoenix wears the skin of the prima donna Hollywood wanker like he was born in it. But as a film, it never really succeeds. The uncertainty over what I was watching kept me oscillating between two modes of thought. As a documentary, we never really get close enough to the subject. The motivations behind everything Joaquin does are almost always kept a mystery. Our insights are limited to ‘J.P.’s’ own ramblings, which we’ve long since pigeon-holed as emanating from somewhere slightly left of Jupiter. Viewed as a mockumentary, his destructive nature and the dark spiral the second half takes, suck the comedy out of it all. Maybe it was my own ego at feeling that Casey Affleck, an actor I admire, was trying to pull the wool over my eyes. But then, as this whole thing drips with self-destructive narcissism, why should the reviews be any different? MARK RUSSELL

Yes, it sounds toe-curling but for the large part the film steers away from twee sentimentality, largely thanks to your friend and mine, slapstick violence. Where the film falls slightly flat is in the writing. Unlike Pixar animations which are adult films for children, Despicable Me is very much aimed at just the kidlets and thus lacks the same razor sharp wit and twist-and-turn plotting of, say, The Incredibles. While you can see a lot of the jokes coming, the film is not without its laughs – Brand’s Nefarious is a highlight, and two toilet gags had me chuckling – and there’s an overall gentleness to the film that has to be admired. Carell also does well, using Gru’s accent and his own trademark vocal pacing to good comic effect. So no, it’s not the thigh-slapping gagfest you may have come to expect from other animated fare but it’s not without its charms, and your little nippers will lap it up. allan sko

The plot’s not too important. What’s important here is the chemistry between the two leads, and whether we’re laughing. Or at least, that’s what should be important. The Other Guys chooses to take a little more of a ‘middle of the road’ focus however. As it stands, there’s a tad more crafting with plot than you’d expect, but not so much that you couldn’t have a high speed chase through the plot-holes. At the same time, it’s all slick and funny without pushing to the absurdist heights that its predecessors reached. It ends up leaving one foot in the ‘action comedy’ camp, while the other presses down on the ’straight comedy’ pedal. What results is a fun and fresh-ish film that is unlikely to stick too long in the memory. It’s entertaining for the first hour and a half, and would have been very potent had the whole thing been crammed into that time, but instead it overstays its welcome a little and loses momentum as a result. Still, this is well worth the price of admission, and at the least a small popcorn. MARK RUSSELL

the word on dvds

NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU [Madman]

GOOD HAIR [Madman]

ThE GREATEST [Village Roadshow]

New York, I Love You, created and produced by Emmanuel Banbihy, is a collection of short films from various directors, based around the central theme of love in The Big Apple. The shorts vary in style, but also quality. Some are funny, some sad; some are good, some bad. The best films are those that take an irreverent approach to depicting love. Shunji Iwai directs an enjoyable mini-romcom, with Orlando Bloom and Christina Ricci. Brett Ratner directs another somewhat more biting but equally light piece, starring Anton Yelchin and Olivia Thirlby. Mira Nair directs a film portraying the relationship between two diamond dealers, a Jain man (Irrfan Khan) and Jewish woman (Natalie Portman), which is interesting for its multicultural take on New York and its community of people that is as multifaceted as diamonds.

Comedian Chris Rock has made a fine living for himself through his incendiary stand-up. While a significant portion of his humour comprises the prerequisite sex, drugs and race relations much like compatriot funster Dave Chappelle, Rock has also proven himself to be a deeply intelligent and socially conscious person over the years through talking head appearances in documentaries such as Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine.

If you can look past the melodrama of The Greatest, you will discover a genuine drama. Rose (Carey Mulligan) and Bennett (Aaron Johnson) are just a young couple in love – until Bennett is suddenly killed in a car crash. Three months later Rose turns up on his parents’ – Allen (Pierce Brosnan) and Grace (Susan Sarandon) – doorstep, three months pregnant. The Greatest follows the grieving family as they struggle to come to terms with their loss. There are great performances from almost everyone involved. Carey Mulligan has natural charm, and a glowing iridescent beauty. She brings a quiet confidence and self-assurance to the role. Pierce Brosnan delivers a standout performance as Bennett’s grief-stricken father. There are moments when his face contorts with such acute anguish, it is almost painful to watch. But his sorrow is subtle, especially in comparison to Susan Sarandon’s portrayal of a breakdown. Her performance has some moments of realism, but at other times is too exaggerated. Johnny Simmons, recently seen in Scott Pilgrim, turns in a solid performance as Bennett’s black sheep brother.

One memorable film, directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Shia LaBeouf, is out of place among the others in the film. It’s difficult to know whether to applaud Kapur for attempting to do something interesting with the short film format, or criticise him for making a film nobody will understand. It’s difficult to make something like this work as a whole – each film is so distinct, the themes so diverse, and the styles so different – and New York is edited together with snapshots and segues that are meant to make the film more cohesive. The overall effect, though, is somewhat contrived. Rather than attempting to bring these films together, it might have been better to let each film stand alone. The special features include the Scarlett Johansson directed short, These Vagabond Shoes, that was cut from the theatrical release, as well as another film Apocrypha, directed by Andrey Zytagintsev. melissa wellham

Good Hair is an excellent example of this. Spurned to action when his daughter asked him “Daddy, how come I don’t have good hair?” Rock takes what could have simply been a knee-slapping jaunt into the comedy of the ghetto and instead provides us with a fascinating and eye-opening documentary about cultural pressure for black women to have “white woman hair”, and the roaring hair trade that goes with it. Anchored by a focus on the Bronner Brothers’ annual hair convention in Atlanta and the colourful characters therein, Rock takes us on a journey from the barbershops of the slums to the spiritual heartland of India; the main supply line for hair. Through scores of interviews – including hair trade contestants, vox pops, plus notables such as Ice T, Eve, Salt N Pepa and the utterly wonderful Maya Angelou – Rock discovers the dangerous and poisonous lengths people will go to for their image, the enormous financial strain this imbues, and the roaring international hair trade where religion and commerce unite. What makes this documentary truly successful is Rock allows his subject to do the talking, sliding in enough comedy to maintain the interest without becoming try-hard funny. As a result, we have an enjoyable and educational documentary well worth your time. allan sko

If there’s anything to criticise, it’s that such great performances are let down by a slightly unoriginal script, which occasionally threatens to veer into melodrama. It’s a testament to actors like Mulligan and Brosnan that even when delivering incredibly clichéd lines, they still sound true. The film is especially interesting in that the character the audience ends up liking the most – Bennett – is hardly in the film at all. But in just a few brief scenes Aaron Johnson brings to life a genuinely likeable person. Watching the film, you also feel his loss. The Greatest isn’t the greatest film, but it’s good, with some moments of beauty. melissa wellham

GIG GUIDE Sept 29 - Oct 3 wednesday september 29 Arts Reel McCoy: Gillian Armstrong Double

Roof Needs Mowing (1972) and Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces (1988). 6pm. www.nla.gov.au/friends/ NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Into the Woods JR

Latin Dancing

Dance

MONKEY BAR

Jemist

Every Wednesday.

Fame Trivia

Do you know lots of stuff about nothing? Then why not try your hand at Trivia every Wednesday. 6pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

thursday september 30

A fairytale with a twist. ‘Til October 6. Bookings 6275 2700.

dance

Headspace 10: Self/Reflections

One of the finest Canberra has to offer lays down some wicked groove.

BELCONNEN COMMUNITY CENTRE

The final instalment of the secondary student Headspace exhibition series. ‘Til Nov 7.

Ashley Feraude

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Live

2010 CCAS Members Exhibition

Dialect and Despair

The Bold & The Beautiful. ‘Til October 3. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Disney’s Mulan

Based on the ancient Chinese story about a young girl who goes to battle for her father. ‘Til Oct 9 THEATRE 3

Live The Woohoo Revue

Do not feed the animals.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Foreplay Friday

9pm ‘til 5am with DJ’s Matt and Pete. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

TRANSIT BAR

Kym Campbell

dance Chrome

Goth/industrial/dark electronica. $5, 9pm.

Cosmic Rhythm

HOLY GRAIL, CIVIC

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Stokes the fire of that long-weekend party soul.

With live trumpet.

THUG Beats: Glitch & Dubstep Mayhem by Dredd, Buick, Faux Real, Jemist, Miss Universe, DFP, and Not You. Free entry.

Faux Real

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Monkey Bar Saturdays

Disco, top40, RnB, house, Latin.

TRANSIT BAR

MONKEY BAR

Live

10pm ‘til 5am with DJ’s Matt and Pete.

Dragon Dreaming Festival

With Social Change, Motion and More. $5 on the door.

saturday october 02

Candy Cube

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

The three days arts, music and lifestyle festival set in pristine forest surrounds.

Live

Leisa Keen

The three days arts, music and lifestyle festival set in pristine forest surrounds.

KOWEN FOREST

CASINO CANBERRA

Dragon Dreaming Festival

Acoustic/surf roots chanteuse originally from Seattle. Followed by Fearless Movement. 8pm, $5.

Dos Locos

KOWEN FOREST

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

With Johnny Roadkill and Paulie The Water Tiger.

Domus Adultus

Electric violinist uses digital effects to bring her brand of world and minimalist to life. 7.30pm.

THE BASEMENT

Beth’n’Ben, The Feldons, Starfish Hill. 9pm, free.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

8.30pm.

Jane Aubourg

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Sunset Riot (Syd)

David Pereira Cello Series Program 4 3pm.

Their sound is a frenzied blur of Balkan, gypsy, swing and jazz. 7.30pm, $12.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Chicago Charlie

Empirical

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Wednesday Lunchtime Live

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

THE BASEMENT

10.30pm-2.30am.

9pm–midnight.

With Never Trust A Bunny.

Heuristic

A Plethora of Pianists. Young and talented students. 12.40pm.

Jan Preston

David Pereira Cello Series Program 4

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Aslan

Fun Machine, Burn Out and Sweet Smoke. 7pm.

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Carry On Karaoke

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Tickets from the venue. CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Dan Hanrahan

Free live music at Canberra’s warmest watering hole.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB

Battle of the Backyard Bands THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different

Vocal Sampling

THE PHOENIX PUB

Hippo Live

THE PHOENIX PUB

HIPPO LOUNGE

Rock Nation Unplugged 8pm, free.

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Something Different Trivia

Presented by Overheard Productions. 7.30pm. CANBERRA SERVICES CLUB, MANUKA

Fame Trivia TRANSIT BAR

9pm, free.

Karaoke

9pm ‘til 11pm followed by DJ Pete ‘til 5am. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

friday october 01 Arts On Beauty

An exhibition by Elisabeth Kruger, one of Canberra’s most successful artists. ‘Til Nov 7. ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Oscar

10pm-2am.

Open Mic Night

With The Vampires.

7.30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

One of Cuba’s hottest exports who wow audiences the world over with their unique vocal percussion. THE QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Something Different Havana Nights

Latin dancing every Friday night. MONKEY BAR

Something Different Warm up your vocal cords and get ready to sing from 9pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Nam Fen Schools Project Fundraiser THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

sunday october 03 dance Cube Sunday

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Sunday Beats

Hosted by 4Sound, with Ashley Feraude, B-Tham and Burnie Mac. 3pm, free. HA HA BAR, BELCONNEN

Long Weekend Wha??

Fun times with DJs and dranks. TRANSIT BAR

GIG GUIDE May 30 - June 04 sunday october 03 live Sunday Sessions On The Deck

With Begg, Borrow, Steal. 2pm, free. CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Something Different Salsa Dancing 6pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

tuesday october 05

Wednesday Lunchtime Live

Dan Kelly

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

David Hatch Weber Clarinet Quintet. 12.40 – 1.20pm.

Something Different Trivia

The three days arts, music and lifestyle festival set in pristine forest surrounds.

comedy

Presented by Overheard Productions. 7.30pm.

Comedy Club

Latin Dancing

Your Father’s Moustache

8pm, $10.

HIPPO LOUNGE

Something Different

Dragon Dreaming Festival KOWEN FOREST

9pm.

Leah Flanagan

The darling of the tropical north launching her new album Nirvana Nights. 7pm, $10. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Rocksteady

Sunday reggae and BBQ. TRINITY BAR

Lecture and Recital on ‘Borrowed Bach’

Presented by Colleen Rae-Gerr. 3pm. Tickets at the door. WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Special K Duo 9pm–midnight.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Kooky Fandango 12pm, free.

ADORE TEA, FEDERATION SQUARE, GOLD CREEK

Something Different

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Irish Jam Session

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

TNT Karaoke Love

Sing with the best and the worst of ‘em. Stonefest prizes up for grabs! TRANSIT BAR

wednesday october 06

MONKEY BAR

Do you know lots of stuff about nothing? Then why not try your hand at Trivia every Wednesday. 6pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Fame Trivia Night

Get yer trivia freak on. TRANSIT BAR

thursday october 07

Cirque Mother Africa

100% African, 100% joy, 100% party! Fun for th whole family! Bookings: 6275 2700.

The Clever Country

Dance

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

A new play by Bruce Hoogendoorn. ‘Til Oct 16. Head to thestreet.org.au for more. THE STREET THEATRE

K’MOTION DANCE STUDIO, LONDON CCT

Comedy Club Featuring Dayne Rathbone His first Civic Pub headline gig. 8pm, $10. CIVIC PUB

Battle of the Backyard Bands 7pm.

DEAKIN FOOTBALL CLUB

Something Different 9pm, free.

Open Mic Night THE PHOENIX PUB

Fame Trivia

Arts

Comedy

monday october 04

Every Wednesday.

Arts

Jumptown Swing: Blues Basement

Blues class and social dancing. 6.15pm.

CANBERRA SERVICES CLUB, MANUKA

With Waterford and Special Guests. 8pm, $17 + bf.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Karaoke

9pm ‘til 11pm followed by DJ Pete ‘til 5am. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Funkin’ Gonutz

Buick, Ravs, and Madame Zoller deliver them records. Round and round.

friday october 08 Arts Cirque Mother Africa

100% African, 100% joy, 100% party! Fun for th whole family! Bookings: 6275 2700. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Comedy Josh Thomas

On his Surprise tour. Bookings call 6275 2700. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Dance D’Opus

Back and refreshed from his wild Euro Trip, ready to make party. KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Girl Thing

9pm ‘til 1am with DJs Robbie and Tori Mac. Ladies only ‘til 1am. Free entry ‘til 11pm. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Rewind Fridays

Live

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Retro, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Dos Locos

Live

Rock Nation Unplugged THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Dani Paryce, Freya’s Rain, Flat Earth Confederacy. 9pm, free.

live

Live

The Bootleg Sessions

9pm–midnight.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Special K

Duncan Sargeant, Bridie Hill, Space Party, Adam Cousens (Melb). 8pm, free.

8pm, free.

Domus Adultus

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Tomutonttu

Dragon Dreaming Festival

Solo project of Jan Anderzén, a visual artist and musician from Tampere, Finland.

THE PHOENIX PUB

The three days arts, music and lifestyle festival set in pristine forest surrounds. KOWEN FOREST

Panama Jim Duo CASINO CANBERRA

Cat Cat EP Launch

The Lurkers/Peter Hicks

TRANSIT BAR

THE MERRY MUSE

With Kasha. 8pm, free.

7.30pm, $17/$14/$12.

Captain, My Captain

Little Red

Koolism

THE PHOENIX PUB

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Free music at the most charming pub in C-Town.

10pm-2am.

With Sparkadia and Kimbra. 7.30pm, $30.90.

Australia’s finest in hip-hop launch their new album. Backed by The Wholeshebang. $10 before 10. TRANSIT BAR

GIG GUIDE June 05 - June 10 Something Different Havana Nights

Latin dancing every Friday night. MONKEY BAR

Charles Chatain 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

saturday october 09 Arts Arc: Rock Dinosaurs

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (2007, MA15+). 7pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Comedy Josh Thomas

On his Surprise tour. Bookings call 6275 2700. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Dance Effigy’s First Birthday

Kasey Taylor (Portugal) and Mike Monday (UK), supported by Fourthstate, String Theory and more.

Lakeside Circus

Free music at the most charming pub in C-Town. THE PHOENIX PUB

Cozmo Presents Bach to the Future A delightful concert featuring the beautiful works of popular Baroque composers Bach and more. 2pm. WESLEY MUSIC CENTRES

Something Different Carry On Karaoke

Warm up your vocal cords and get ready to sing from 9pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

sunday october 10 Arts Cirque Mother Africa

100% African, 100% joy, 100% party! Fun for th whole family! Bookings: 6275 2700. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

MONKEY BAR

Cube Sunday

Ashley Feraude

Ready to turn your weekend up a notch or two? You sure? You should be. KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Candy Cube

10pm ‘til 5am with DJ’s Matt and Pete. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Live The Beards

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Day Play Jumptown Swing at Kingston Markets

Swing dancing at the markets, just for fun! 12-12.30. KINGSTON MARKETS

Live

Funky Fedoras Trio

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

CASINO CANBERRA

Tame Impala

With Cabins and Felicity Groom. Tix through Ticketek. ANU ARTS CENTRE

5 Bicentenaries Music & Dance Evening With Alma Latina, Tango Social Club, Los Urbanos, Magangue, Mireya. 8pm, $20/$15.

The Bootleg Sessions

Trivia Night

Sidney Creswick, The Argonaught, Mista Mystery, Angels are Architects. 8pm, free.

7pm, free.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Powderfinger

THE PHOENIX PUB

Salsa Dancing

On their farewell Sunsets tour, with Jet. All ages. Tix through Ticketek.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

American Popular Classics

UCU REFECTORY

6pm.

Scott Joplin to Leonard Bernstein. With Trio Chicago and friends. Tickets at the door. 7pm.

Something Different Hospitality & Retail Fun

Nurse you’re wounds. Indietastic party fun. TRANSIT BAR

Jumptown Swing

Lindy hop/swing. No rego or partner required. 6.30pm, $14. jumptown.org . GRIFFITH COMMUNITY HALL

Fame Trivia

Come pit your wits against you friends and co-workers with Fame Trivia. 6pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Something Different Irish Jam Session

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

TNT Karaoke Love

Sing with the best and the worst of ‘em. Stonefest prizes up for grabs! TRANSIT BAR

Jumptown Swing

Lindy hop/swing. No rego or partner required. 6.30pm, $14. jumptown.org . HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

HA HA BAR, BELCONNEN

Them beardy folk get rowdy, with Joe Oppenheimer on the support. Joe probably needs a shave too. 8pm. TRANSIT BAR

live

Sunday Beats on the Boardwalk

Monkey Bar Saturdays

Disco, top40, RnB, house, Latin.

tuesday october 12

live

Dance Every Sunday from 3pm. Mus Mus (UK), Gabriel Gilmour, Yohan Strauss and more. Free.

HIPPO LOUNGE

monday october 11

Sunday Sessions On The Deck With James Southwell. 2pm, free.

For Two Equal Voices Duet Album Launch Tickets at the door, 3pm.

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRESUNDAY

OUT OCT 13

STONEFEST BAG RAIDERS BOY AND BEAR ERNEST ELLIS RHYS DARBY ...and more!

Something Different Irish Jam Session

Come and have a fiddle from 5pm. KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA band profile

THE RED VEST Group members: Chris Legge (vox), Nathan Glover (bass), James Kennedy (guitar), Rodney Preston (drums) and Simone Rodrigues (keys). Describe your sound: A melodic car crash of the sweetest rock, metal and groove. What are your influences, musical or otherwise? Future of the Left, Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, Mars Volta, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Radiohead, Björk and Impact Records. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Keeping The Basement at full capacity all night for our first gig. What are your plans for the future? Release our CD at The Maram and play some interstate shows before getting stuck into some new tracks. What makes you laugh? The Mighty Boosh. We have a Llama for a bass player and our singer thinks he can pull shapes. What pisses you off? Plovers… What’s your opinion of the local scene? The scene is getting more and more vibrant and there’s some great bands getting around. The more venues the better. What are your upcoming gigs? We launch our CD on Saturday October 16 at The Maram then we are playing a string of shows interstate. Contact info: theredvest@hotmail.com, www.myspace. com/theredvest

Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Activate Jetpack activatejetpack@ hotmail.com Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Bill Quinn Overheard Productions bill@overheard.com.au, Ph: 0413 000 086 Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 982 662 /colebennetts.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Groovalicious Corporate/Weddings/ Private functions 0448 995 158 groovalicious@y7mail.com Guy The Sound Guy live & studio sound engineer, 0400 585 369, guy@ guythesoundguy.com HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650 Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884 Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 JDY Clothing 0405 648 288/ www.jdyclothing.com Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408 287 672, paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/ dj@karismakatz.com Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Andy 0401 572 150 los.chavos@yahoo.com.au Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Mario Brujo Gordon world/latin/ reggae/percussionist and DJ. 0405 820 895 Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Words for You: writer/publicity/events Megan ph 6154 0927, megan@wordsforyou.com.au Mercury Switch Lab Studios mercuryswitch@internode.on.net Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Rafe Morris 0416 322 763 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Roger Bone Band Andy 0413 483 758 Rob Mac Project, The Melinda 0400 405 537 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Solid Gold Peter 0421 131 887/ solid.gold@live.com.au Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tiger Bones & The Ferabul-Zers Danny feralbul@aapt.net.au Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/ transmissionnowhere Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907