BMA Mag 362 Dec 8 2010 by BMA Magazine

20 10 CANBERRA’S NO. 1 FREE ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE

Landspeed record fair

Guess what’s on page 69? Hint: it involves penis. # 3 6 2 DEC 0 8 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko T: 02 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Super Sub Editor Josh Brown Graphic Design Cole Bennetts Exhibitionist Editor Yolande Norris E: exhibitionist@bmamag.com

What better way to while away a Saturday morn than at a record fair at your favour record store? On Saturday December 11 around 1,000 used LPs will be on sale at Landspeed. There’ll be rock, pop, indie, blues, metal, jazz, funk, hip-hop and more. It kicks off at 10am so be sure to set foot in their early; all that tasty vinyl is sure to be snapped up in a flash.

How To Make Gravy iPhone App Paul Kelly’s critically acclaimed memoir How To Make Gravy is now available as an iPhone/iPad App. But it’s more than just an app, it’s a reading experience. The How To Make Gravy app brings to life the words, music and magic of one of Australia’s best loved singer-songwriters. Mirroring the unique structure of his memoir, this app will not only let you read the unabridged ebook of How To Make Gravy, it will also consult your iPod library, so you can listen to any versions of songs you might already have. The first six songs referred to in the book are included to get you started. The app also contains a very personal video introduction by the iconic entertainer as well as six audio extracts. Tickets for Paul’s A to Z tour, which is stopping by The Playhouse from Thurs Jan 27 to Sun Jan 3, are on sale now through the venue.

Film Editor Mark Russell

Pollen Trio at Smiths Alternative Bookshop

Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo Nick Brightman

Upon drummer Evan Dorrian’s return to Australia from London, Pollen Trio are now well and truly back in action on the local scene. They have begun releasing a series of singles on their blog, leading up to a 2011 album release. Pollen Trio are somewhat of a supergroup, with members from outfits as diverse as Kasha, Spartak, and jazz pioneers 10 Part Invention. They launch the beginning of a new chapter with a gig at Smiths Alternative Bookshop on Friday December 17 at 8pm,

NEXT ISSUE 363 OUT JAN 19 EDITORIAL DEADLINE JAN 10 ADVERTISING DEADLINE JAN 13 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.

Pang!’s hugh foster new owner of Trinity Hugh Foster of Pang! Promotions has taken over Trinity Bar in Dickson and has immediately stamped his authority on the joint by hauling out a dazzling December calendar of local, national and international DJs. Some highlights include We No Speak Americano Dcup on Thursday December 16, Cassian on Thursday December 23 and on Boxing Day Will Styles and Aston Shuffle will help you to dance off all that Christmas ham. All shows start at 8pm and, good gracious, are free. There’s also a free BBQ every Friday from 5pm. Hugh, you legend. Welcome back!

A word from Canberra’s own Omar Musa “Hello there my lovely party people! I am about to head to Reunion Island to represent

Australia in the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam. Next year is also jam packed, with trips to writers festivals in India, Sri Lanka and China planned. Most importantly, however, I am recording an album with Mighty Joe (a Korean-American rapper with whom I just toured in Indonesia) in California and Seattle, USA. We go by the name of MoneyKat and I believe we have a very special musical partnership, with a focus on poetic lyrics, soulful music and personal stories. Here comes the crunch: we are trying to raise funds to pay for studio time, production, mastering, mixing, all that good stuff, which needless to say, is not very easy. We thought doing an online fundraiser might be a good way to help us along. Please help us out – even $5 would make a difference. Every bit helps! Punch in the link if you’re up for it.” http://www.fundbreak.com. au/beta/index.php/archive/ index/164/description/0/0 .

Omar Musa

with Brother Gozu in support. Head to pollentrio.wordpress. com/ for more.

FROM THE BOSSMAN Ahhhhhhhh… The end of another year! And because we’re so fed up of each other by now, it’s time to crack out all the typical twee bollocks we love roistering in lieu of meaningful conversation. “Ooooooo… End of the year already! My, doesn’t time fly!”/ “I swear it was only January last month!”/ “O no, quiet with you! It’s NOT December! You’ll be the death of me with your talk, I haven’t done ANY fucking Christmas shopping yet.”* It’s the same every year. Parrots look disdainfully at us and think we’re repetitive. Except – damn it – I actually enjoy the repetitive rhetoric, because I’ve succumbed to the other kind of head-slapping repetition so prevalent in many of our lives. The Dad Joke. Allow me to explain. Or don’t, I’m sure you’re terribly busy. By the time you read this, I will likely be striding boldly into the realm of Dad-dom, spending the break getting to know the latest slobbering addition to the Sko dynasty. Which is an unnecessarily fruity way of saying I shall be a father. I have been called many things beginning with the letter F over the years, and now ‘Father’ can join the rich canon. It has a wonderfully softening effect becoming a father, and not just on the stools. As regular readers will know, I have witnessed many strange personality transformations over the past nine months including, but not limited to, travelling to the other side of the globe to buy a rug, sobbing at the prospect of Andy finally parting ways with Woody in Toy Story 3 (“they grow up so fast!”), and an increasingly disturbing fascination with lamps. I may not have written about this last one, but it still exists I’m afraid.

YOU PISSED ME OFF! 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 the two monumental douche-bags at the 2.40 screening of Skyline at Hoyts Belconnen on Tuesday the 16th you pissed me off!! And you have to know who you are because there were only 7 people in the whole cinema, only two of whom were glaring douches. Just because you will never know the gentle loving touch of either woman or man does not validate your talking all the way through a marginally decent movie ruining the scarce joy of everyone present. We all know that losers such as yourself have plenty of free time outside of the movie and your grueling masturbating to animated bondage schedule to talk incessently to your gormless air drumming sidekick. Also on the topic of air drumming, firstly, no one past the age of thirteen or with any ability on the drums does it , no less in public or in a cinema and secondly, doing it to THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS?? There is no excuse to like them outside of being a girl with the hots for Jared Leto and even then you watch the clips with the volume muted. Please, go back in time and strangle yourself in the womb. P.S. a little advice for life, it’s not that girls don’t get you it’s that you’re really insufferable. You Pissed me off.

Another inevitable change is the transition from comedy comprising of erudite observations, acerbic wit and pinpoint timing… to Dad Jokes. Pallid puns and lavender comedy have been my bedfellows this past month. I have been the Padawan to my Father-in-law’s Jedi Master when it comes to the art. The man wields a pun like Yoda wields a lightsabre. He even managed to pull out this admirable number during his speech at my wedding: “It’s been a very emotional day. Even the cake is in tiers.” Boom-tish. Nowadays, any food caught in the beard after eating is not to be immediately removed, “it’s for Ron.”** A cemetery is no longer a hallowed and sombre piece of real estate, but “the dead centre of town!” Any time someone dares say “I feel like a… <sandwich/ pie/drink>” I draw blood biting my tongue in lieu of loudly and proudly barking “Funny! You don’t look like one! HA!” A recent BMA Twitter update penned by yours truly read: “Just put some heavy rock on the CD player. Unfortunately it has crushed it beyond repair and we now have no music. Damn granite.” Not only should there be a “No Tweeting when you’re drunk” rule, but a “No Tweeting when expecting” too. And I’m also bidding a fond farewell to accuracy, as the inevitable “getting modern things slightly wrong” trait so prevalent with parents kicks in. Facebook becomes Facetome. iPhone, iFace. Television, Pictocube. “Are you Facepaging your friends, Cecil? Or do you prefer Twitting them these days?”/”Jesus, Dad, it’s Facebook and Tweeting. And my name’s Doug.” Repetitive rhetoric, Dad Jokes; this is our language as a people, and it’s as soft, delicate and loving as the human heart can be. It may be twee, repetitive, dull or just hair-tearingly unfunny, but it’s ours damn it, and it symbolises the love and warmth we have for one another – the need to make each other smile and groan, neatly summed up in head-slapping pun form. So enjoy it. Relish it. And for God’s sake, whatever you do, be sure to… Pull my finger (“ave it”).

* my grandmother can be a handful at times ** Ron, as in later on. I know, I know.

and

another thing…

I’ve had enough. I’m writing something, for another organ, that involves getting people to send me lists. Lists of heavy metal albums. This was in response to a list I’d sent them, containing some ideas about what constituted a ‘classic heavy metal album.’ I asked for their comments – what additions they’d make, but, perhaps more importantly, what albums featured on my list they felt should never, under any circumstances, be let anywhere near such a list. The list was emailed out, and I waited. Quite frankly I was stunned by what came back. Only one album was universally reviled – indeed some responses to this album utilised language the like of which I’ve only previously heard on board the ships of her Majesty’s Navy – and that album, astoundingly, is one of the five greatest AOR albums of all time. I can see a look of confused incomprehension spreading over your faces as you listen. What kind of an album, hailed on the one hand as an all-time classic yet on the other attacked viciously, mercilessly and without pity, could arouse such devotion and loathing? I’ll tell you… Everybody’s Crazy was released by Michael Bolton in 1985. It was his fourth album as a solo artist – his debut, released under his real name of Michael Bolotin in 1976 had sunk without trace as had the second, whilst the third, released in 1983 to critical acclaim but precious few sales (despite the attractive Anglicisation of his moniker), had conspicuously failed to set the world aflame. Bolton was now on his last legs as a performer, despite having had hits as a songwriter providing chart fodder for the likes of Laura Brannigan – so he threw everything into Everybody’s Crazy. Put simply, there haven’t been many better albums in the melodic hard rock field than this. From the opening synth drum barrage of first song Save Our Love to the closing chords of the appositely titled Don’t Tell Me It’s Over, the quality – in performance, songwriting, production… the whole nine yards – doesn’t let up for a single second of the all too brief 37 minute duration of the album. If you only know Bolton from his constipated, insincerity-clogged soft rock years, the sheer power on offer here is liable to shock you to your very core on first listen. But Bolton, armed only with a leatherlunged bellow and a bunch of songs so good even a talent-free chimp like Ben Drew might sound good, really shows the opposition how it’s done. If you like bands like Journey, Survivor, Foreigner, I implore you to put away any preconceptions you may have about the man and give this album a bloody good listen. You’ll thank me for this advice. * * * * * You may think I bash this rubbish out in a couple of minutes during ad breaks of reruns of Packed to the Rafters, but it takes a team of highly trained researchers to keep me in vintage rants; and one of them has just whispered in my ear that this is the last AAT of the year because everyone is going on holidays for a few weeks. If this is indeed the case – and who am I to doubt one of my gophers? – then may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a marvellous (if predictably well-oiled) holiday break. We’ll reconvene here in the new year for a fresh round of directionless rambling and, if you’re very lucky, pointless reminiscence on a wide range of subjects that only you and I are interested in. Salut! scott adams thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

WHO: Festival Fiends WHat: summer rHytHm Festival WHen: sat Feb 19 – sun Feb 20 WHere: GOOlabri resOrt, suttOn

Summer Rhythm Festival aims to broaden people’s knowledge of mental health through a two day event submerged in music, with a focus on roots, reggae, funk, dub and electronic, or anything else with rhythm. The event exudes friendliness, participation and having a good time with new and old friends. Acts confirmed so far include The Beautiful Girls, Space Invaders, Phrase, The Tongue, King Tide, The Red Eyes, Canyons, as well as a solid local contingent consisting of Dub Dub Goose, Fun Machine, Super Best Friends, Beth n Ben, Readable Graffiti and more. Head to summerrhythm. com.au for all the info.

WHO: FlyinG lOtus WHat: dubstep dOn WHen: Wed Jan 5 WHere: tHe ClubHOuse

Flying Lotus didn’t have to search far for musical inspiration. Talent and creativity shone within his incredibly talented musical family. He is the great nephew of the late legendary jazz pianist Alice Coltrane, wife of John Coltrane, and a cousin of jazz musician Ravi Coltrane. His music has been described as the sound of creating, and has helped inspire and craft the future of dubstep, hip-hop and electronic music. With innovation and skill he has crafted his own cult position as a pre-eminent figure within 21st century art. Supported by Electric Sea Spider and Sofie Loizou. Tix through Moshtix and at the venue before 11pm.

WHO: Cell blOCk 69 WHat: rOCkinG tHe rOCk Out OF tHe rOCkers WHen: tHurs deC 23 WHere: tHe street tHeatre

“Cell Block 69 have given Canberrans the greatest gift of all, rock, every X-mas for about six years. This will be their first show since they rocked the rock out of the rockers at last January’s 100th Big Day Out. This legendary performance had the stars all a-twitter with triple j’s Dom Alessio tweeting “Cell Block 69 are my new favourite band!” while Joel Quatermain (Eskimo Joe) wrote “The highlight of the night has to have been the appearance by the ‘best band in the world’, Cell Block 69”. If they can inspire rock stars to go mental, imagine what they can do for a commoner like you.”

WHO: ‘80s Film buFFs WHat: ‘80s mOvie revival WHen: variOus dates WHere: arC Cinema, natiOnal Film and sOund arCHive

Whatever nouveau ‘80s kids, enough with your tight stonewash jeans. But an ‘80s movie revival at Arc Cinema I can handle. Like The Karate Kid when there was actually karate in it and Footloose with a side of Bacon. The Outdoor Season starts on Boxing Day with Die Hard II: Die Harder and continues in January and February with Ghostbusters and a 30th anniversary screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. In February, Arc hosts the only Canberra screening of The Human Centipede in a Friday night horror double with the homicidal sell-out of 2010 CIFF: Rubber. Book on 6248 2000. www.nfsa.gov.au .

WHO: JOsH tHOmas and CHarlie piCkerinG WHat: testinG neW sHit WHere: Canberra COurtyard studiO, Canberra tHeatre WHen: JOsH: mOn Feb 7 – sat Feb 12. CHarlie: sat Feb 6 – sun Feb 7

Josh Thomas is returning to C-Town for a week in February to develop his brand new stand up show for 2011. He will be performing his work-in-progress material in the intimate surroundings of the Courtyard Studio at the Canberra Theatre Centre for six days. You’ll see it before anyone else but Josh wants you to know that it might be a bit shit. Charlie Pickering will also be testing out his new stuff on the Canberra guinea pig masses, but he didn’t say anything about his new material being a bit shit. You can buy tickets for both comedians’ shows from canberratheatrecentra.com.au or by calling 6257 2700.

WHO: mOtHer & sOn WHat: surFinG rOCkabillies WHen: sun deC 19 WHere: tHe FrOnt

“We are Mother & Son from Wollongong, and you should come to our show because what else are you gonna do on a Sunday night? We play loud surf/rockabilly tinged garage rock ‘n’ roll with growly vocals and misfortunate tales. We also have a tendency to jump on the tables at Phoenix and drink too many pints of Bulmers. We are also launching our LP! And The Fantastic Fighting League are playing! So it’s gonna be a crazy night… might be an idea to call in sick for Monday… it sure beats staying home and watching the Sunday night movie.”

For over a year now Effigy have worked hard to bring you the best in quality electronic music from Australia and around the world. For their final show for 2010 they wanted to go back to their roots for a night of all things progressive at the venue that helped it all happen. In one of their biggest line-ups to date, Effigy Entertainment is proud to present Jerome Isma-Ae, Jaytech and JML, with support from Peekz, Fourthstate, String-Theory, Gabriel Gilmour and Brenton Kalisch. Doors at 8pm, $15 on the door. Head to the Effigy Entertainment facebook group for more info.

WHO: Effigy Entertainment WHAT: Jerome Isma-Ae (GER), Jaytech & JML WHEN: Fri Dec 17 WHERE: Hippo

A host of international, interstate and local music provocateurs from Canada, China, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Australia will collide, move walls, swap domiciles, and cross-pollinate in the exploration of their sonic art forms at the SoundOut 2011 Festival of Free Improvisation, Free Jazz and Experimental Music. It will include innovative performances from The Thing (power house free jazz trio), Magda Mayas/Tony Buck Duo, Cor Fuhler, Kim Myhr/Jim Denley, Duo Vulgarites, Yan Jun, Dale Gorfinkel, Rosalind Hall, Laura Altman, Mike Majkowski, Monika Brooks, Michael Norris, Richard Johnson and Spartak.

WHO: Free thinking radicals WHAT: SoundOut 2011 WHEN: Sat Jan 29 – Sun Jan 30 WHERE: The Street Theatre, Tix through the venue

Now firmly established on the European and UK festival circuits, Hat Fitz, Australia’s wild man of blues and Northern Ireland’s Cara Robinson, return to Australia to perform selections off their eagerly awaited and critically acclaimed CD Beauty ‘n’ the Beast. Take one heaped teaspoon of Seasick Steve, a liberal helping of Catfish Keith and a pinch of Joni Mitchell. Finish well with a dusting of Blind Willie McTell and put into a studio at gas mark five. Bake for one week. What you get is an eclectic pie with so many flavours that perhaps shouldn’t work together, but somehow just do.

WHO: Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson WHAT: An eclectic pie that shouldn’t work but does WHEN: Wed Dec 15 WHERE: The Irish Club, Weston

Christmas Eve is always a special time at the Knightsbridge Boathouse. Saunter in to a time when men were men, women should have been Farrah Fawcett, and the airwaves filled with the smooth sounds of easy listening rock (no roll). Weekend sailing became the choice form of leisure in the summer months, and thus in recent times this genre has come to be referred to as Yacht Rock. Come prepared to party with a Pimm’s Cup in one hand, fingers snapping softly in the other, dressed in pastel and cream, just oozing pure appeal and questionable class. Absolutely must dress for the occasion.

WHO: You, you sexy minx WHAT: Yacht Rock WHEN: Fri Dec 24 WHERE: Knightsbridge Penthouse

“Having spent the best part of 2010 in the beautiful and eerie surrounds of country NSW recording our follow up to 2007’s Mood Patterns, Belles Will Ring are returning to the open road to showcase our brand new songs, in particular our new horn-laden single Come North With Me Baby, Wow. We will also revisit some old rarities, and throw in a few surprises along the way. Expect the familiar intricate harmonies and spiralling guitarscapes, and a host of new songs chronicling the rocky road trip of the soul. Come along, tune in, drop out or whatever it takes to free up your mind.”

WHO: Belles Will Ring WHAT: Intricate harmonies and spiralling guitarscapes WHEN: Thurs Dec 9 WHERE: Transit Bar

“My name is Laura Jean. My Norwegian friend Jenny Hval (pictured) and I, as well as her band members Håvard and Kyrre, will be playing a show at The Front Gallery on Saturday December 11. I would really like you to come. I love playing in Canberra. The audience is always full of people with interesting jobs, like protective escort to the Minister for Forests (do they wear brown pants and a green velvet top with a hat made of leaves for camouflage?). The person with the most interesting job on the night will get a free CD. The music’s going to be great too.”

WHO: Laura Jean and Jenny Hval WHAT: A heady mix of pop, poetry and rampant sexuality WHEN: Sat Dec 11 WHERE: The Front

GOOD CHEMISTRY Cyclone Wehner THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS have stripped things back for their seventh album, Further. They’ve disavowed guest vocalists and crossover bids, returning to their underground roots. And critics are proclaiming it their best effort in years. In fact, Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands simply wanted Further to be closer in spirit to their live performances. Further is still a collaborative album of sorts. The Chemicals commissioned their visual allies Adam Smith and Marcus Lyall to devise videos for all eight tracks – and these provide a synchronised backdrop for what is less a multimedia show than an experience. The Chemicals previewed Further with four sold out nights at London’s Roundhouse in May. Now the Brits are touring Australasia for the first time since 2008 and, says Simons, they’re anxious to highlight their latest material. “Last night in Hungary we played a first stab at a new show which is like an amalgamation of quite a lot of the tracks off Further – but then seeing how they work with some of our older music,” he reveals. “It’s the same people who’ve made all this music so, even though we’ve changed styles and we have lots of different music, we hopefully have a consistency in our production that helps it all live together. So in Australia and New Zealand we’ll be playing big tunes that we’ve decided we like playing live from Further, but along with some of the older stuff.

If you’ve made a lot of music, there’s a danger that you’re kind of like a retro act… we don’t wanna be one of those retro bands!

“If you’ve been in a band, or you’ve made a lot of music, there’s a danger that you’re always kind of like a retro act. I think it was good for us that we felt that all the tracks from Further are current and people would wanna see them. We feel that we can mix them up. But we don’t wanna be one of those retro bands!” The Chemicals, both London-born, met while, strangely, studying Medieval History at the University of Manchester. The city’s key attraction for them was, of course, its nascent rave culture. Rowlands had been in the ill-fated Ariel. He and Simons began DJing as The Dust Brothers, later switching to The Chemical Brothers (after their track Chemical Beats) when faced with legal action from the US producers of the same name. The duo’s earliest official recording was Song To The Siren, which Andrew Weatherall signed to his Junior Boys Own. Back in London, The Chemicals established their clubland credentials at the Heavenly Social, a hub for the big beat

phenomenon. In 1995 the pair unleashed their much anticipated debut, Exit Planet Dust. The follow up, Dig Your Own Hole, encompassed their first number one, Setting Sun – with Oasis’ Noel Gallagher. The Chemicals also emerged as leaders of the so-called electronica explosion in the US. By 1999’s Surrender, they were bona-fide pop stars, transcending dance. Along the way, The Chemicals inspired Norman Cook’s transformation into Fatboy Slim. The Chemicals’ last foray, 2007’s We Are The Night, again topped the UK charts and won them another Grammy (Best Electronic/ Dance Album). They’d collaborated with the nu-rave Klaxons as well as Midlake’s Tim Smith. Yet Further breaks with a tradition, or formula, The Chemicals set on Exit Planet Dust, which had seen them hire indie heroine Beth Orton. This time there are no star vocalists. They’ve even avoided any obvious hits, like the gimmicky (or divisive) hip-house Salmon Dance. Further’s subliminal lead single Swoon evokes the countercultural My Bloody Valentine and Midnight Juggernauts’ space-rock. If anything, the album has the underground feel of The Chemicals’ lowkey Electronic Battle Weapon DJ issues. Nevertheless, their old influences remain: the acid, house, techno, psychedelia and Balearica. “The main thinking was that we wanted to make an album that was generated just by the two of us,” Simons outlines. The Chemicals didn’t need to rely on other artists – and their schedules. “[The last two albums] Push The Button and We Are The Night had a lot of guest vocalists – and it changes the way you work. You’re always expecting someone else to come in and finish off the music that you’re making and you’re waiting around on other people.” Being largely instrumental, Further is about sound. “It left us with some space. We’re really into playing around with our synthesisers and stuff – and all that’s come to the fore a bit more.” However, with Further, The Chemicals weren’t striving for credibility, Simons maintains. “I don’t think we were aiming for the underground – we were just aiming to achieve a style of working that excited us.” Further has garnered The Chemicals’ strongest reviews in years from outlets as varied as Mixmag, the BBC and Pitchfork. Most artists with an album are keen to liaise with the press, but in recent years The Chemicals have declined interviews. Ironically, this started before Simons was linked to Lily Allen, becoming a paparazzi target and tabloid victim. Simons insists that they’re not deliberately shunning the press – although, in what he admits is a “cop-out,” their stance is that listeners should be able to appreciate Further without its creators’ explanations. “Apart from touring and making the music, we’re really lazy – I am in particular very lazy.” The Chemical Brothers are set to headline the Future Music Festival, held at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Saturday March 12. Tickets start from $159.30 (+ bf) and are available through Ticketmaster.

DANCE THE DROP December is a month of excess; a raucous effort to consummate your annual self contamination masterpiece before repenting your sins to the invisible priest who only appears inside the toilet bowl for the first few hours of the new year (Camode Confessions? Let’s pitch this one to MTV). So what’ve been your favourite moments of 2010? Don’t answer that question just yet because there might be some fresh additions to the list, beginning with a different kind of Ministry. Gotta Make a Move was definitely one of my most played records this year, so caps off to Sydney-based hit machine Hook N Sling. It is no surprise then that the prince of progressive disco returns to Academy as a headliner for the 2010 Ministry of Sound Annual Tour on Friday December 17. The Vacation Records stable has produced a handful of genuine superstars over the years, none more so than audio wunderkind fRew. The 4Sound crew have managed to secure an exclusive show featuring the talented caps-lock accident on Friday December 24 at Lot 33. Effigy just haven’t impressed us all enough this year, or at least that’s what they think, with another immensely over the top line-up squeezing into the comfy confines of Hippo Bar. Their next special event is a kinky all male threesome headed by German tech trance subduer Jerome Isma-Ae and featuring Canberra ex-pat Jaytech and interstate icon JML. Local supports for the night include Peekz, Fourthstate, String-Theory, Gabriel Gilmour and Brenton Kalisch.

myspace.com/pangnight

Stop the press! If you were with me last issue you would have read my concern over the whereabouts of local promoter Hubert (PANG!) – well it turns out that the big bear has just awoken from his winter hibernation and taken the reigns of swish Dickson nightspot Trinity Bar. Not one to waste any time, PANG!’s December roster includes some early stocking stuffers like Sam La More (Syd) on Friday December 17, Bass Kleph and DJ PP (Uruguay) on Sunday December 19 and a special Xmas Eve party featuring former #1 DJ in Australia Ajax. Welcome back! Those of you who aren’t making the holy pilgrimage to one of the many oversold interstate events on New Year’s Eve will be happy to find that Canberra can also provide a few satisfying options for your official ‘welcome to 2011’ celebrations. Academy have secured the services of MOS headliner Goodwill for their NYE event and the New Paradigms crew are set to unleash another stellar event out at Caloola Retreat featuring a swag of local and interstate performers. To all you readers, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I’ll see you all back here in the year of flying cars and alcoholic robots, 2011. TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

ALL AGES Well, this is it – the final issue for the year. It was to my relief that some events ended up popping up at the very last minute, and thus I did not have to leave you running on empty for the summer. The only unfortunate element of the events I am about to announce is that there are a couple of dates that seemingly were more appealing than the rest to touring artists and venues alike, and thus some overlapped, leaving you with some serious decisions to make concerning your summer entertainment. On Saturday December 11 you can be part of the Woden Youth Centre’s final gig of 2010. Break Out! will feature an exciting line-up of local acts including No Assumption, hard rock band The Unnamed, funk rock quad La Vida as well as country boys Resistance from Wagga Wagga. Tickets are sold at the door for just $5. Be there for the venue that has always been there for us. The Woden Youth Centre will recommence hosting live shows early in February next year. The Axis Youth Centre in Queanbeyan is yet another venue that has become extremely supportive of the ‘Canberra’ all ages music scene. On Saturday December 11 they will play host a free gig. The evening will feature local acts Corporate Takedown and Steady the Fall. Doors open at 1pm. You also have a chance to witness a spectacular line-up of local and Sydney-based acts such as Phantoms, hardcore four-piece Reigner, Sydney’s Endless Heights, our own Vera and Legions on Thursday December 16. Tickets cost $12 and will be sold at the doors of the Axis Youth Centre when they open at 6pm. I sincerely believe that there is not a soul in western society who has not at least heard of Linkin Park. This six-piece American rock band have obtained such a point of fame that they require little to no introduction. So why on earth would they be coming to Canberra? I have not a clue. But nonetheless they ARE, and they will be in Canberra on Thursday December 16 at the AIS Arena as part of the A Thousand Suns world tour, of course in celebration of their fourth studio album A Thousand Suns. Tickets can be purchased from Ticketek – it costs $102 for silver tickets and $132 for gold. Doors will open at 8pm and tickets for this one will sell fast. Opening acts are yet to be announced. Blondie and The Pretenders, one of the most popular bills of the year, are coming to the capital on Tuesday December 14. These two timeless acts will hit the National Convention Centre for a spectacular night of rock and nostalgia. Tickets are selling through Ticketek for $115 (+ bf). Doors open at 7pm. You can’t miss out on this one, folks, and ticket sales are booming, so I’d get them fast. Until next year I bid you all adieu, and of course I wish you all a magnificent summer, Christmas and all my best wishes for the New Year. NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

At The Church’s brilliant gig at Tilley’s last Saturday Steve Kilbey spoke of a review in the Chicago Tribune that proclaimed “the greatest records of all time are Sergeant Pepper’s, Dark Side of the Moon and Untitled #23 (The Church’s 23rd collection of studio recordings), but not necessarily in that order”. The quote made me wince; not because of the records that were listed but because it reminded me of the extremely arduous task I’d been griping about for the past fortnight and was yet to commence: compiling my top ten albums of the year. “This top ten bollocks is hard!” I exclaimed on facebook. “Whose idea was it to have top tens in BMA anyway? Damn their eyes!”

A few hours later, previous BMA editor and music and arts critic extraordinaire Ben Hermann shot back, “Julz, just do what I do. Pick your top ten favourite albums of the year and substitute five of them for albums that you didn’t really listen to or like, but that you want people to think you like because it makes you look cooler/more esoteric/more ‘in the know’ (or whatever vibe you’re going for) than anyone else. Make sure your number one is something that isn’t too obvious, but also something people won’t disagree with (or won’t know enough about to disagree with). Pick the order of the rest of them out of a hat, make some type of semi-complimentary comment about them (be sure to make it known that you know the group’s complete back catalogue – chances are the album you’re talking about won’t be as good as the group’s debut that sold 27 copies at a youth centre show in 1998) and hey presto! – you’ve got yourself a top 10!”

Thanks, Herm Balls, you nailed it. As Cole Bennetts, BMA’s graphic designer and all round magnificent hunk o’ man said to me sternly, “People judge.” Now, for the last month the Bossman and I have wholeheartedly agreed on what was to be our number one album of 2010: Steve Mason’s Boys Outside. Haven’t heard it? I’m not surprised. We wouldn’t have either if it weren’t for our revered writer and good friend Justin Hook, who reviewed it back in August. Lately however I’ve had a niggling feeling about what readers will make of editor and Bossman having the same (relatively unknown) number one. “Those streetpress types, steeping themselves in indie cred, getting all esoteric on our asses and acting like they’re more in the know than anyone else”. It’s honestly not the case, and I think the fact that Scissor Sisters’ Night Work comes in at number seven in my top ten is proof. Boys Outside was simply the record Al and I spun and loved the most, and it was the one record of 2010 that both moved me to tears and made me groove; no easy feat, methinks. I hope you enjoy our bumper end of year edish, dear readers, just as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Ha! This is certainly the last time I put together a 72 page street rag. Then again, that’s what I said last year. JULIA WINTERFLOOD julia@bmamag.com

SMAOSDHFIUNN G kg

Even the most neurotic, wan, self-deprecating cynic would admit deep in his black heart that there is an undeniable awesomeness in a sport that combines roller skates, hotpants, oestrogen-pumped alter-egos and people getting smacked down. “It’s the best of both worlds,” says Bambi von Smash’er, captain of Canberra’s elite Roller Derby League team, the Vice City Rollers. “Roller derby allows me to employ this wacky persona… it’s just a great combination of something serious, tough and sporty, with a little bit of theatrics on the side.” Tattoos, tutus, tights and other rockabilly or punk aesthetics add to the histrionics of this show-sport. But while the risqué costumes are a part of this recent revival, the spectacle has always been elemental to roller derby. The term roller derby has been around at least since the 1920s, although it was actually in reference to the endurance roller skating races popular at the time. It was in the 1930s that roller derby began to evolve into the rough and tumble sport it is today. As the old saying goes, behind every great woman is a great man. In this case it was Chicago cinema chain owner Leo Seltzer who was the first to get the skate wheels rolling when he initiated the Transcontinental Roller Derby in 1935. Seltzer was at first reluctant to modify the game to encourage more aggression and exaggerated theatrical elements, as suggested by a sportswriter at the time. That, however, all changed when he saw the bloodthirsty crowds lap up the spectacular stacks and sensational slams. This didn’t stop Seltzer from trying to legitimise the sport by promoting junior roller derby leagues and adding more teams. But the derby spirit with all its brazen showmanship was irrepressible during its 1970s and 2000s resurrections.

I’ve always had a fairly sizeable butt and for the first time in my life it’s actually a total asset

While roller derby is a decidedly women-dominated, female-first sport, it was actually, again, another man who was responsible for its recent resurgence. In 2000, a musician called Devil Dan of Austin, Texas gathered Gen X roller girls to enact his vision of ‘Hell on Wheels’ – a wild, carnival-esque affair with clowns, carnage and, curiously, blazing bears. For some reason, Devil Dan’s whiskeyinduced dreams did not really take off and he soon fled town. But the women he had recruited took over and established Bad Girl Good Woman Productions the following year. Since then, all-female roller derby leagues in the States have mushroomed onto the scene, experiencing a particular upsurge after the reality series Rollergirls hit TV sets in 2006. The Canberra Roller Derby League was established in 2008 by four mighty mamas: Peachy, Dr. Hell, Bullseye Betty and Roulette Rouge. As an old friend of Roulette Rouge, Bambi von Smash’er was one of their first recruits. A database administrator at the National Gallery of Australia and a PhD student who’s just submitted nine years of work on the art history of Thai body tattooing, Bambi is clearly no doe-eyed doll. She quickly became the league’s star jammer and is now spearheading the Vice City

Rollers as they meet the Sydney City Assassins at the AIS on Saturday December 11. “This is a full on aggressive sport and emotions can run high,” admits Bambi. “As captain of the Rollers, I’m big on communication. Derby is a team sport and we desperately rely on every skater in the team to carry weight.”

The commitment required of the Canberra Roller Derby League (CDRL) skaters with eight hours of training a week suggests that these feisty felines are serious about their pastime. Most modern leagues follow the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association rules. For anyone who hasn’t seen Whip It, roller derby happens on what is known as a flat track where two teams of five players, comprising one jammer, three blockers and a pivot, play two minute ‘jams’ counter-clockwise on a circular track. The aim: to break a jammer through the opposing team’s defence of blockers and pivots to score points. On a more conceptual level, the roller derby movement has been underpinned by DIY and third-wave feminist principles, providing women a platform where they can be both deadly and dead sexy. But the sport is not without its critics, some who question whether it really does espouse feminist ideals when it is essentially about chicks decking each other in some of the most brutal ways known to woman. To that, Bambi deftly retorts: “You can lay out any action with a theoretical context. I guess the thing that likens roller derby to feminism is that it’s so empowering to do it. Women often don’t get the opportunity to play a really aggressive sport. And it’s a women’s sport first. We have a great women’s basketball team, but AFL and basketball, they’re really all about guys. For me, I feel empowered because I’ve always had a fairly sizeable butt and for the first time in my life it’s actually a total asset.” Asses and assets aside, the real reason Bambi von Smash’er can happily face a team of fierce, frothing females is a simple one. “I just love skating,” she coos. “I really love the sport… I can wear fishnets and a bit of makeup – it’s great!” This beautifully brutal sport has seduced a great many other women in The Can. Secret She.E.Os have been signing up in their multitudes to be CDRL’s ‘Fresh Meat’, so much so that no more intakes will be held until 2011. At least it will give your humble narrator enough time to save up for a certain eBay purchase on certain retro Puma quad skates. Roll on. Support your local roller skating babes as the Vice City Rollers take on the Sydney City Assassins at the AIS Arena on Saturday December 11. Tickets

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

Léon Bakst Costume design for Shah Zeman 1910 from Schéhérazade

In 1976 the gallery made another substantial purchase and, along with steady acquisitions over the past three decades, subsequently became one of the world’s most renowned holders of Ballets Russes costumes. “Nothing has been loaned for this exhibition - everything is owned by the NGA” explains Bell. “We have chosen about 150 costumes, but unfortunately not everything is in displayable condition. […] We had to make some hard decisions about which costumes we could have restored for this exhibition. The exhibition represents 24 ballets, so we’ve selected one or two costumes from each.”

HOW BALLET CHANGED THE WORLD BEN HERMANN It’s difficult to quantify or qualify exactly the impact that BALLETS RUSSES (French for Russian ballet) had on the development of 20th century art, except to say that it was, from its outset, enormous and historically irreversible. The company formed in 1909, and in its infamous first two decades - under the directorship of Sergei Diaghilev - radically transformed the direction of dance, music and art in Europe. To celebrate the centenary of its foundation, the National Gallery of Australia is hosting Ballets Russes: the art of costume, which will showcase a selection from the Gallery’s extensive collection of Ballets Russes costumes. In 1973 the NGA was still in its youthful, formative years, seeking to establish itself as a nationally and internationally renowned institution. The Gallery’s first director, James Mollison, was actively building the collection on all fronts, particularly focusing on modernist influences, when the chance arose to purchase a considerable number of costumes from the Ballets Russes. “He had an interest in theatre arts, and how modern art could impact on decorative arts and design” says Dr Robert Bell, the NGA’s Senior Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, and curator of the Ballets Russes exhibition. “From around 1968, Ballets Russes had come back into prominence. There were a lot of sales going on in London, and he [Mollison] decided the NGA would make a bid at one of the last big auctions. We were successful in about 400 of the auction lots, and those pieces formed the basis of the collection.”

The Ballets Russes is most famous not only for its lavish costumes, but also for the artistic collaboration behind each ballet’s production. Choreographers, composers, artists and dancers all contributed to each production, with notable participants including famed choreographers Mikhail Fokine and Vaslav Nijinsky, composers such as Igor Stravinsky, and visual artists including Picasso, Chanel, Matisse and Leon Bakst. At the beginning of the 20th century, painting and other visual arts had well surpassed dance as the most progressive and avant-garde art movements. Not only did Ballets Russes’ decorative artists and composers produce groundbreaking pieces, but Diaghilev reinvigorated ballet as a progressive art form, in particular through his use of male dancers as prominent characters. “One of the major legacies of the ballet in its first 20 years was to bring ballet out into the world of modern art” explains Bell. “It hadn’t been part of that world until 1909. By involving people like Picasso and Matisse, and combining that with avant-garde music and experimental choreography, they really placed themselves in the front line of modern experimentation in the arts.” Although the exhibition focuses primarily on the costumes, it is also provides a broader look at the Ballets Russes’ history and artistic inspiration. “Stylistically, you’ll see how the ballet responded to the fashion and interests of the time” says Bell. “From the very beginning, when there was a lot of historical revival and Orientalism, up to the end, when there was more modernism and a lot of influences from the Russian revolution. The exhibition also has drawings, photographs, and some of the music associated with the ballet. We’ve also created a small theatre at the entrance where you can see a film of the ballet when it came to Australia in the 1940s.” The ballet briefly dissolved in 1929 upon the death of Diaghilev, but was revived shortly afterwards, touring until the aftermath of WWII. Continued on page 26

HOW BALLET CHANGED THE WORLD CONTINUED From around this time, dancers and choreographers began departing to various points around the world, often setting up their own dance studios and companies, the most notable of which being the founding of the New York City Ballet by Ballets Russes choreographer George Balanchine. “The ballet came to Australia three times in the ‘40s, and made a huge impact” says Bell. “Some of the people involved with the ballet stayed in Australia and went on to have a huge impact on Australian dance. The Australian Ballet, in a way, has its genesis back in the Ballets Russes.” It’s difficult to imagine one company or production nowadays having a similar impact to that of the Ballets Russes between 1909 and the 1950s. However, as Bell suggests, it may simply be that such an impact may not be as noticeable as the Ballets Russes’ stark shakeup of the arts in the early 20th century. “I think that a single theatre company nowadays couldn’t have the same impact as the Ballet” he speculates. “But that’s not to say that some of the movements won’t. The smaller, experimental theatre and dance companies, as well as urban dance, street art, art installations they all contribute to new ways of thinking and self expression.” The exhibition Ballet Russes: The art of costume opens at the National Gallery of Australia on Friday December 10 and continues until Sunday March 20. Check out www.nga.gov.au for visiting details.

CLOSE TALKER Vanessa Wright Celebrities all have big heads, right? Correct. Or at least according to the National Portrait Gallery’s current exhibition of Martin Schoeller’s photographic portraits, CLOSE UP. Schoeller’s style of intimate and extreme close up portraits of famous faces are both fascinating and confronting. And trust me, this is closer than you have ever been (or maybe want to be) to George Clooney, Iggy Pop, Kanye West and even Sarah Palin among many others. After moving to New York in 1993, German photographer Schoeller got his break working for Annie Leibovitz. He then started doing his own portrait commissions for publications such as the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Vogue. Schoeller’s work is immediately recognizable due to his signature close up cropped style, which removes all context from the picture plane except the face of the sitter. As a result his photographs are visually powerful - striking in their simplicity and absorbing in their detail. Schoeller cites the German photographers Bernd and Hilla Bercher as inspiration for his uniform style. The Bercher’s photographs feature stark, abandoned industrial buildings in an unchanging documentary style, which inspired Schoeller to adopt an overall template for his own work. His uniformity of style creates a democratic platform, allowing each face to be equal and comparable to the next whether the subject is a movie star, a politician, a musician or an unknown (the exhibition also includes portraits of anonymous subjects). For the artist this uniformity of style facilitates “a search for a flash of vulnerability and integrity” in his subjects. With only the bare minimum to go on - simply the features of the human face - Schoeller hopes to capture an unguarded and previously unseen aspect of these famous personalities.

Natalia Goncharova Costume for a seahorse c 1916 from Sadko

Michael Desmond, senior curator of the National Portrait Gallery, believes that the power of Schoeller’s photographs is in this “faux intimacy” he creates through his use of the extreme close up, “a visual trick used to create an emotional response in the viewer”. In real life being this close to another person indicates a level of personal intimacy or confrontation, which makes being this close to a celebrity impossible and at the very least voyeuristic. It is an interesting comment on the nature of celebrity and the media today that to see an untouched and sometimes unflattering image of any kind of celebrity indicates a level of reality and an aspect of the “real person”. Close Up, Martin Schoeller’s first Australian exhibition, is a compelling experience that explores the nature of celebrity from a different perspective, confronting the viewer with the intense and expressive details of the human face. Martin Schoeller: Close Up is showing at the National Portrait Gallery until Sunday February 13. Check out www.portrait.gov.au for more information.

Iggy Pop 2001 Martin Schoeller Type C colour print

HOT HOT HEAT NAOMI MILTHORPE JUDY HORACEK is something of an icon in Oz. Her drawings adorn tea towels, greeting cards, and fridge doors across the country. She’s published seven collections of cartoons for adults, from 1994’s Unrequited Love Nos. 1 – 100 to her latest book, If you can’t stand the heat. With her signature focus on the absurdity and minutiae of contemporary life, Horacek has become the oracle of the harried modern human. Horacek’s influences range from Peanuts to Michael Leunig’s bittersweet drawings, but she has said that it wasn’t a particular artist so much as “the idea of cartoons – that there were people in the world drawing pictures to make other people laugh or exclaim or think.” Horacek does all three, often simultaneously, in If you can’t stand the heat dipping into the realities of the modern world, from overwork to global warming to globalisation. “Shortly after I named this collection, Masterchef Australia went into full swing, and every second person on the show was saying ‘If you can’t stand the heat…’,” Horacek describes. “More recently, with the strange Federal election just held in Australia, lots of politicians and political commentators have been saying it. And that’s why I love it as a cliché, you can apply it all the way from popular culture to politics – just like the cartoons in the book free-range across these areas.” The best cartoons in the collection work through the combination of the gentleness of the ink and watercolour images, with verbal directness. In one, a tangerine parrot reads to its green-feathered child before bedtime. The melting sorbet colours of the cartoon underscore the conversation between the parrots: “And they all lived happily ever after.” “They didn’t become extinct?” “It’s a fairy story darling” Humour of this sort is particularly unsettling in that it manages to hit at the heart of the terrible dilemmas facing the earth, dilemmas that Horacek wisely shows are created by human beings. While many of the cartoons focus on the destruction of animal habitats, Horacek never loses sight of the human cost, or cause, of global problems. One cartoon, all the more eloquent for its wordlessness, shows a suited white man drinking a cocktail on a banana lounge, balanced on an Earth carried by a struggling black woman. The smilingness of the man celebrating his dominion over the earth is reversed in the desperate downturn of the woman’s mouth. If you can’t stand the heat contains some of the best commentary around on the dilemmas facing the world today. Even better: it’s funny, and witty, and wise, and beautiful. If you can’t stand the heat is published by Scribe. You can find more Horacek at her website: http://horacek.com.au/ .

ARTISTPROFILE: Stella Rae Zelnik

What do you do? I’m a photographer. When did you get into it? I’ve been into photography for about five years. But I’ve certainly realised that I’ll be doing it for the rest of my life - it’s part of who I am now fortunately. Who or what influences you as an artist? My biggest influence would be the skateboarding scene. I’ve met so many amazing people from all over the world and they have had such an impact on the style I have now. When it comes down to it the scene really does have the best atmosphere around it, it gets pretty addictive after a while. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Finishing 20 Dudes Magazine! That was six long months of blood, sweat and tears. But now seeing people hold it in their hands is really rewarding, and photographing 20 dudes…well that’s always fun. What are your plans for the future? First thing is to get the next issue of We Are Not Obscene published, which should be out around April. But as for the rest of my life? Just killing at bein’ awesome. What makes you laugh? Bernard Black from Black Books. That man can kick me out of his store any time... What pisses you off? I hate the fact that film is getting so expensive. That really pisses me off. What’s your opinion of the local scene? I think people really underestimate the Canberra scene. When you find a group of people who really support what you do and understand your intentions it’s great! When I think about what I want to do with my own photography there is a lot I want to achieve and I know that I can do that here, ‘cause I think Canberra is only what you make it. What are your upcoming projects/exhibitions? In January I’ll be exhibiting 20 Dudes in Melbourne at the Blue Tile Lounge which will be extremely fun. You gotta love showing art work at a bar, it’s the perfect combination for success! Contact info: stellazelnik73@hotmail.com, stella-raephotos.tumblr.com . 20 Dudes is sold at Smiths Alternative Bookshop in the Melbourne Building, 76 Alinga Street Canberra City. We Are Not Obscene can be found at iTrip iSkip, Lonsdale Street, Braddon and other reputable zine outlets

IN REVIEW

Space Invaders: Australian. Street. Stencils. Posters. Paste-ups. Zines. Stickers. The National Gallery of Australia Running until Sunday February 27 I love street art. I know it’s a very broad statement - assuming street art is a cohesive culture that groups together an impossibly wide range of ideas and styles. Nonetheless, there is an insistence in the art world to label ‘street art’ as a single idea - possibly because doing so makes it something that can be talked about. NGA Curator Jaklyn Babington has developed an exhibition that does just this, looking back over the last ten years to establish, and perhaps define, contemporary gallery-based street art as a genre.

The highlight of the exhibition is certainly the zine display, where visitors are encouraged to handle and read an enormous range of artwork. In this way the NGA has cunningly quieted anyone who might suggest that placing such items in a gallery context reinvents them as holy relics to be seen and not held. Instead, by allowing visitors to interact with them as they would in real life, the NGA excitingly reinvents the very idea of a gallery space. As an overall exhibition, Space Invaders is vibrant and engaging, embracing the myriad of styles, genres and mediums inherent to street art culture. JEMIMA FORT

Nonetheless, Space Invaders is quirky, colourful, probing and reflective. It combines a motley variety of styles with motives that alternate between determined and restrained. All the while, and importantly, it is essentially approachable - digestible to a mainstream audience. Essentially this is Pop Art: accessible to a wide audience and therefore inherently commercial. It is this incarnation of street art that was satirised and criticised in UK street artist Banksy’s recent film Exit Through The Gift Shop, yet happily the NGA manages to exhibit this genre with far more dignity and discretion.

Ghostpatrol Hexen 2010

I won’t pretend that walking through Space Invaders is much like walking down colourful laneways. To the contrary, the exhibition is clean and ordered. The works are mostly framed, and offset against standard white walls. Decorative touches, like crate display cases, make the show fun and exciting, but don’t lend authenticity. Artists’ stickers, affixed casually to the walls of the exhibition space, add to overall atmosphere, but also serve to highlight the unnatural setting.

IN REVIEW

Retrieval Canberra Youth Theatre National Library of Australia Friday November 19 – Sunday December 5 Our adventure began in the main foyer of the National Library of Australia. Sheets of white blocked out the familiar sights of the cafe and bookstore while a sign informed us that the library was closed for renovations. On the mezzanine above us a giant moth appeared, and we were herded, like rather stupid cattle, into groups led by the Three Unities - a trio of steampunk inspired performer/guides.

Rather than passive entertainment, entering the world of Retrieval felt very much like I’d started playing a game where I didn’t entirely understand the rules. I’m fairly sure the three different groups of audience members had vastly different experiences with their different guides in their journeys around the same spaces. Afterwards, I tried to unravel it all, or even figure out the order in which we had traipsed through the maze of corridors and book stacks. I couldn’t orient myself, as much as I wanted to, and was stuck on the ideas presented in Retrieval for days - the sublime, profound, terrifying and tragic. And because there was no curtain call, I now madly applaud all involved. EMMA GIBSON

My group’s guide (Lee Constable) was ever so proper and apologetic, taking us on a journey across five floors of the library, visiting different performance sites. We never retraced our steps, which, coupled with the fact that it was mostly dim and we were visiting places usually off-limits to the public, made the experience both disorienting and disconcerting. It was a journey through histories and fictions, where we were audience to a multitude of stories, including those about to be forgotten. We were in there to bring back knowledge - whether a story we remembered in our minds or a slip of paper from a fortune cookie - saving fragments as tenuously as that. Our guide, for her part, clung to a dictionary. She hoped to give this dictionary to the character of Pandora (Farnoush Parsiavashi), the library’s digital archivist and preserver. But Pandora couldn’t help us and it seemed there was no way to save knowledge - except in the minds of each of us intrepid ‘theatre’ goers.

bit PARTS WHO: Liz Williamson WHAT: Exhibition - Textiles WHEN: Until Saturday December 18 WHERE: Craft ACT Craft & Design Centre Craft ACT Craft & Design Centre is currently showing the forth installment of their series Living Treasures – Masters of Australian Craft. Being honoured this time around is textile artist Liz Williamson. Williamson, who has carved out a niche by experimenting with cutting edge weaving techniques, presents a series of new works that includes objects as well as wearable pieces such as scarves and wraps. The exhibition provides an opportunity to experience and appreciate this practitioner’s outstanding skill in the field of textiles, her research into the qualities of cloth and the extraordinary contribution she has made to Australian craft culture and innovation.

WHO: The Forgery WHAT: Jewelry launch WHEN: 6pm, Friday December 10 WHERE: iTrip iSkip, Lonsdale St Braddon Jewels! Beautiful jewels! The Forgery is the brainchild of local artists Danyka Van Buuren and Jessica Herrington, who have recently begun collaborating on a collection of wearable art pieces. This unique “hand forged frippery” includes rings, necklaces and brooches, each a chunky blend of glitter, gems and oversized crystal growths. The pieces are nothing short of eye-catching, being undeniably over-thetop and bordering on the ugly - a fine line the girls like treading. If regular jewelry bores you to tears then come check out the launch of their inaugural collection Painted Gold at iTrip iSkip. WHO: Aboriginal artists WHAT: Exhibition Yiwarra Kuju - The Canning Stock Route WHEN: Until Wednesday January 26 WHERE: National Museum of Australia

Liz Williamson, Liz Williamson: Woven in Asia series (detail), 2008, wool, lycra, silk. Photograph: Creative Image Photography

The Canning Stock Route is a place where Indigenous and nonIndigenous histories intersect. First surveyed by Alfred Canning in 1906, it is the longest historic stock route in the world, running almost 2,000 kilometers across Western Australia, from Halls Creek to Wiluna. This groundbreaking exhibition tells the story of the Canning Stock Route’s impact on Aboriginal people, and the importance of the country that surrounds it, through the works of senior and emerging artists and the stories of traditional custodians. It is a story of contact, conflict and survival, of exodus and return, seen through Aboriginal eyes, and interpreted through their voices, art and new media.

WHO: Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art WHAT: Acting course WHEN: Beginning February 2011 WHERE: Right here! In Canberra!

WHO: proppaNOW WHAT: Exhibition New Recent Works WHEN: Until Saturday February 12, 2011 WHERE: Canberra Contemporary Art Space Gorman House “Individually they are much exhibited, awarded and collected. Occasionally they exhibit together under the banner of proppaNOW. This is one of those rare and special times,” says the catalogue essay by Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak, and ain’t that the truth. Now’s your chance to check out the political, compelling, challenging and sometimes downright funny artwork of Australia’s most important artists collective. The CCAS galleries are set to be taken over by works from Vernon Ah Kee, Tony Albert, Bianca Beetson, Richard Bell, Jennifer Herd, Gordon Hookey and Laurie Nilsen. They’re proppaNOW. They’re changing the world. And if you’re organised you’ll be able to make it along to the opening: 6pm Friday December 10. Check www.ccas.com.au for updates.

Ever dreamed of becoming an actor? Now you can train right here in Canberra! The Canberra Academy of Dramatic Art is launching two courses to help you get started – one aimed at those who want to explore their potential, and one aimed at the serious actor who’s looking to go professional. The first, The Actor’s Craft, is a six-month full-time course which incorporates the Certificate III in Acting. The second course, The Working Actor, extends those skills and prepares you to become a versatile performer across a range of media. Interested people are asked to contact CADA (phone 1300 908 905) to arrange an audition. Courses start in February 2011. More info can be found on the CADA website: www.cada.net.au .

WHO: Little people and the folk who have ‘em WHAT: Shop Lellow WHEN: Open seven days WHERE: Lonsdale Street, Braddon (next door to the Hive) Once upon a time there was a kid’s shop that was sick of all the tacky plastic crap or computer operated junk that passes for toys these days. That shop was Lellow, and last month they opened their doors to provide Canberra with a better option for buying kid’s toys and clothes. Lellow supports handmade and locally produced goods, so you can pick up something unique while giving back to the creative community. If you have a little person to buy a pressie for this Christmas it’s definitely worth the trip, and if you don’t you’ll still have fun, and can check out the beautiful mural by local artist Lisa Twomey inside the shop. Or have a game of hopscotch out the front. Just sayin’.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR

UP IN THE CLOUDS

MATT PETHERBRIDGE

josh brown

It comes as no surprise that the ACT Government has invited one of Australia’s most iconic bands, THE WHITLAMS, to celebrate the last moments of 2010 with the people of Canberra at New Year’s in the City. Frontman Tim Freedman talks about the demo stages of his debut solo album, the upcoming ABC broadcast of The Whitlams performing with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and his love for ringing in the New Year on stage. “I always prefer to work than revel,” Freedman laughs. “The best place to be is on stage on New Year’s Eve! They’re great because everyone’s in a good mood. I like a civic event!”

2010 has been a pretty exciting year for up and coming Blue Mountains indie band CLOUD CONTROL. The group’s bassist, Jeremy Kelshaw, sat down for a bit of a chinwag with BMA to discuss their impending move to the UK, their stunning debut LP Bliss Release and what it was like to support The Temper Trap and Tame Impala.

Forming 18 years ago, The Whitlams are regarded as one of the best Australian bands of all time. After releasing six studio albums and a greatest hits album, Truth, Beauty & a Picture of You in 2008, they have since taken to the stage with Australia’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, including the West Australian, Melbourne, Tasmanian and the Sydney Symphony Orchestras. So how did it feel performing with an orchestra for the first time?

The best place to be is on stage on New Year’s

“It was exhilarating. An orchestra sounds best when you’re right in the middle of it!” Freedman exclaims. “We had about seven or eight different composers creating arrangements for the songs. There was a whole range of arranging styles across the shows.Some songs sounded like an Ennio Morricone soundtrack, some of them sounded like a Hitchcock film. Some even sounded like discordant modernism.” ABC2 is broadcasting a very special performance on Sunday December 12 at 7.30pm of The Whitlams celebrating the 12th anniversary of their ARIA-winning third album Eternal Nightcap, by playing it in its entirety with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. This follows on from the news that The Whitlams will perform Eternal Nightcap it its entirety again, this time with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra in January 2011. That show may very well be The Whitlams’ only show next year, as Freedman is devoting the year to finalising his debut solo album, which he hopes to have out mid-year. For two weeks he has been recording demos with a new band, including guitarist Heath Cullen, involving them as much as possible during the demo stages, stating “I like to get a producer in after the band has had free reign on the songs… musicians work better when they aren’t getting over-directed.” So what can Whitlams fans expect from this new record? “I’m looking for a different sound; I’m going for a real ‘70s vibe. I won’t be afraid to wear my influences on my sleeve.” Freedman names classic US band Steely Dan, the early Elton John records and cult favourites Little Feat as these influences. “All through my filter, of course. I’m hoping to make a pretty upbeat, enjoyable record.” Catch The Whitlams with local supports Who’s Ya Daddy and Kiwi G live at Civic Square (London Circuit), Canberra City on Friday December 31. Free entry, families welcome with the first fireworks display set for 9pm.

I hear the band is relocating to the UK next year. What prompted the move? We’ve never been a band with a five year plan. The idea to spend some time in the UK next year has only come about recently after some love from our now UK label Infectious Music (home Big or small, of The Temper Trap and Local I don’t care Natives). It’s always been a – I just like dream for us all to play music ues ven playing full time and this move is one that are full step closer to doing that. So who knows how it’ll end up? Bliss Release has been nominated for a swag of awards this year (and won some too!) at the ARIAs, the Air Awards and the J Awards. Is it nice to receive this sort of recognition from the industry? Along with no five year plan, we wrote the album with no expectations or thoughts towards how the album would go critically. So is it nice? Totally! Crazy, even. We worked real hard on the album and think it turned out great, so it’s inspiring when other people agree. Your upcoming show in Canberra at Transit Bar will definitely be an intimate affair. Do you prefer smaller shows like that or bigger ones, like the sets you will perform at the Laneway Festival early next year? Big or small, I don’t care – I just like playing venues that are full. It makes people go nuts and demands you play ‘til you’ve got nothing left. Laneway will be awesome. This will be our first travelling festival experience and it’s great that it’s with Laneway. Lots of mutual love! You’ve played some shows in the UK recently supporting some other rising Aussie talent, specifically The Temper Trap and Tame Impala. How important were those shows in getting your name out there internationally? Any interesting tour stories you’d care to share? All the shows in the UK have been great and both of those bands are full of great people too. We also played with Local Natives who are also an amazing band. Getting your name out there is about playing as much as you can with likeminded artists, so that’s what we’re doing. Tour stories, hmmm… Briefly: Noel Gallagher, Noel Fielding, baked dinners, Stonehenge, X Files and snow fights. Good times. What plans does Cloud Control have for 2011? Do you plan to work on the follow up to Bliss Release while in the UK? Shows, shows and more shows. We will try and write where we can but we are in unchartered waters so we’ll sort something out! Catch Cloud Control with support from Cat Cat live at Transit Bar on Thursday December 16. Tickets are available through Moshtix.

HERE THEY COME shaun bennett Christmas time is upon us once again and while most of us are finishing for the year and are planning our holidays, SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR thought they would head out on the road again to end the year in full Christmas spirit. Inspired by their favourite Seinfeld episode, the gang found the theme for their The Festivus For the Rest of Us tour which will live up to the plot of the episode with “a nut-bag annual celebration where they replace It’s nice being the family Christmas tree with an aluminium away from the city and in your pole and have family fun events such as ‘the own space airing of grievances’ and family wrestling without any matches called ‘feats of strength.’” ns distractio

This laidback approach is a reflection of the band’s attitude to music at the moment. The band are fresh from playing at the Queenscliff Music Festival in Victoria and have been locked away at a beach house along the Great Ocean Road for the best part of this year working on a new album.

I’m able to steal frontman Mark Lang from the studio to enlighten me on how the as yet untitled album is coming along. “We like what’s happening at the moment. It’s been nice being away from the city and being in your own space out here without any distractions,” he says. When I last spoke to Lang back in February the band were, by their own admission, exhausted, worn out and broke but had found the time to record their new single One Long Week. Since then, apart from a few gigs in Melbourne and Sydney and an appearance at Splendour, the band have been happily recording at their beach house and putting the final touches on the new album. Lang says that this setting has directly influenced his style of writing as he has been in a better headspace. “The other day we were getting frustrated in the studio and things were not progressing at all. Then I suggested to the band that we take a break and have a swim in the rock pool by the beach. When we came back it was like we had no issues at all and we worked better together than we had all day.” The band have also wanted to maintain a live presence since they want the chance to sample some of their new songs live. “At Queenscliff we played one of our new songs called Here She Comes and it’s always nice workshopping songs that people don’t know yet.” However, Lang intends to get the songs for the album ready for our consumption early in the new year in Nashville with producer Brad Jones. “I’m looking forward to heading over to Nashville to mix the album with Brad. We had a really good time working together on Sift The Noise so it’ll be nice to head back over there,” he says. “At this stage the album should be out in May.” In the meantime, Skipping Girl Vinegar will play at The Street Theatre on Saturday December 11 with Lady Grey. Tickets are $20 from the venue box office on 6247 1223 or at www.thestreet.org.au. Doors open 8pm.

BUST A CAP palimah panichit LOS CAPITANES are Canberra’s proverbial ‘that band,’ with a twist of particularly limey lemon. You know the type. The ones who are relatively outspoken, generating buzz wherever their sly ska ship may sail; the ones who conquer and collide simultaneously. However, despite them being ‘that’ archetype, they remain totally fresh in an almost stagnant musical space; a band with gravitas that often chooses to go left while others dare only go right. Their upcoming new record, Rest For The Wicked, is self-described “tastelessly mashed together genres, Sometimes the stream of consciousness ADD music.”

punkest thing to do if everyone else is playing punk is to not play punk

Frontman Tim Kent is surprisingly articulate and slightly reserved – a genuinely cool dude – reminding me that you should never judge a DVD by how much Judge Dredd is on the cover. “We’ve always considered ourselves a punk band, in terms of our attitude rather than our music,” he says. “Sometimes the punkest thing to do if everyone else is playing punk is to not play punk. “With this album, we wanted to create something polished and perfect. A lot of bands are putting out this lo-fi stuff, and it’s really saturating every aspect of the media – this kind of fake grittiness. It’s really easy to hide behind lo-fi plugins and effects and say ‘we were going for a grungy, shit kind of feel, so if it sounds shit we’re doing it on purpose.’ With an album that we did so meticulously and quite cleanly, there’s really nowhere to hide.” Like every decently aware musician, Kent comments on the music industry with insight and wariness, knowing where to tread and when to self-censor. “Uniqueness is something that we just absolutely crave. Especially that it’s so rare in the Australian music industry,” Kent muses, sipping on coffee and pouring BMA another glass. “Sometimes it just seems that the most successful bands in Australia are the ones that most successfully replicate successful American bands. Is there really no one willing to step into those shoes? It’s time for a changing of the guard.” Los Caps are currently preparing for their Australian-wide tour at the end of January, and listeners will be surprised at how much they’ve changed. “This is a transitional album. We took a lot of risks in terms of recording a lot of slower songs, and a lot of darker songs and trying to take ourselves a little bit seriously sometimes – which is a terrifying prospect for us. Once you start taking yourself seriously then you’re open to criticism. “We’re not content with this album, in the sense that we want to keep pushing it. Hopefully the next album will be even more extreme. We want our slow stuff to be slow, our heavy to be heavy and to run the full gamut of human emotions.” Kudos to the Caps.

Los Capitanes’ new record, Rest For The Wicked, came out just last week and can be purchased through all good record stores.

group drinking Slivovitz, a plum concoction from Croatia which, like everything about The Woohoo Revue, is unusual and slightly left of centre.

GYPSIES, TRAMPS AND THIEVES marissa paine I felt slightly bad when I spoke to Dannie McKenzie, guitarist of Melbourne gypsy collective THE WOOHOO REVUE. It was, after all, a Saturday morning and Dannie did seem on the sleepy side, probably owing to the fact that the band had played a show in Byron the night before, and it sounded like it had been a considerably late one. Since the release of their 2008 debut Dear Animals, The Woohoo Revue have been travelling the country playing festivals and shows, a nomadic existence that suits their infectious, gypsy folk sound just fine. Dannie explains that they make “wild, crazy, gypsy party music,” but a five word description doesn’t seem to do justice to what can only be described as ‘20s swing meets western fiddle meets frantic tango with a dash of debauched romanticism. He names French bohemia as the time period he would most love to be in, which is indicative of the vibe the band creates; half vibrant whorehouse, half glamorous opium den. I always thought gypsies drank absinthe, but apparently you’ll be more likely to catch the

Canberra was one of the first places we really got a following

The last time the band were in Canberra, they played at The Front and its eclectic, haphazard decor provided the perfect setting for what was a pretty magical night where you couldn’t help but spend the majority of it on your feet dancing. And it helped that you could tell the band was having a pretty great time as well. “Canberra was one of the first places we really got a following, after Melbourne,” says Dannie. “We always get fantastic crowd support.” However, one thing the group dislikes about our botanic city is the “cruel temperature.” Fair enough – any Canberran would wholeheartedly agree with that. Hopefully by the time they make their way up for their show on Wednesday December 15 it’ll be looking more like summer. They’ll be in Canberra just before a stint at the Woodford Folk Festival and in the midst of recording a live album, with a studio album to follow in the winter. Talking to Dannie was a chance to get some insider’s advice, as my teenage years were spent actually believing I could be a gypsy when I grew up, complete with a caravan and no shoes to call my own. “Don’t have material possessions,” I’m told, “and get used to travelling,” which seems like a bit of a Buddhist life, until you remind yourself of the potent Croatian alcohol. In the last two years things have been pretty much non-stop for The Woohoo Revue and it doesn’t seem like it’ll slow down anytime soon. Although if they keep a bottle of Slivovitz and a shot glass handy, I think they’ll be right. Catch The Woohoo Revue live at The Front Gallery and Café on Wednesday December 15. Tickets are $12 on the door and doors open at 7.30pm.

THE REALNESS What a year! For anyone into forward thinking, inventive and creative music, 2010 was a goldmine. You can peep my Top Ten for my ‘must haves’ of the year, but in addition to those amazing releases there was a landslide of dope music released across a variety of sounds and styles. Get your pen and pad ready, here we go… It’s only right that we kick off on the hip-hop tip with Drake. His Thank Me Now album was commercially successful whilst remaining inventive and original. The Roots took it back to the mid-‘90s with How I Got Over and proved they can do no wrong, while Guilty Simpson and Black Milk both repped for Detroit and dropped killer sophomore efforts. Veterans Slum Village showed why they are still relevant with Villa Manifesto despite their hardships of the past few years. And there’s still a whole slew of hip-hop I haven’t heard yet so maybe we’ll do another catch up in early 2011. Bass music was everywhere in 2010, penetrating a multitude of genres and cross-pollinating all over the place. On the downtempo vibe, the following artists all released stellar full lengths: Maxmillion Dunbar, Baths, Aardvarck, Jules Chaz, P.U.D.G.E., Tokimonsta, Onra, Eskmo, Take, Bonobo, Lazer Sword, Dimlite and Lorn. Oriol, Onra and Jimmy Edgar all repped for the space-funk heads too, pushing the tempo up with ‘out of this world’ full lengths. Melding with ambient and ‘chill wave’ (I hate that term) a selection of artists released brilliant albums and pushed their sounds into new and fresh parts of the musical galaxy – I’m talking Emeralds, Oneohthrix Point Never, Toro Y Moi, Teengirl Fantasy, Solar Bears, Delorean, Small Black, Salem, Balam Acab, Forest Swords and oOoOOo. Favouring the more ethereal, off-kilter indie vibe, I also really enjoyed albums from Glasser, Deerhunter, Twin Shadow, El Guincho, Holy Fuck, Matthew Dear, Gayngs, Ariel Pink and Beach House. Big name artists like Foals, Hot Chip, Mark Ronson and Gorillaz also delivered brilliant follow up records and showed why they are loved and adored worldwide. On the dance/electronic tip Pantha Du Prince offered up one of the most gorgeous records of the decade with Black Noize whilst veterans Autechre, Shed and Dop released genre-bending techno and house influenced mindfucks. On the funky tip Roska’s name was everywhere and his debut was fun and infectious. Dubstep was suddenly everywhere and the ‘dubstep album’ blossomed in 2010 with absolutely killer records from Guido, Breakage, Ital Tek, Ikonika, Terror Danjah, Starkey, Jack Sparrow, Eleven Tigers, Phaeleh and Maddslinky. Skream and Benga took over the world – both with Skream’s brilliant sophomore Outside The Box LP and their Magnetic Man album with Artwork. Both albums were big, fun and showcased their impeccable production skills. Heading up the 170+ bpm end of the spectrum, Noisia, Genotype, Sunchase, Craggz + Parralel, Sabre, Alaska, Netsky, Klute, Artificial Intelligence, DJ Fresh and Danny Byrd all unveiled great new records and proved d‘n’b ain’t dead yet. And finally, if you haven’t checked out the Juke phenomenon yet – peep DJ Nate, DJ Roc, DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad. Planet Mu pushed the sound in 2010 and I expect more craziness next year. Wow, take a breath! Peace out and bring on 2011. Who knows what treats we are in store for… but one name should be at the top of your list though. Mr James Blake.

Roshambo roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

METALISE 2010 came, saw and conquered and left rafts of metalheads looking for a second job to pay for all the insane amount of tours both international and domestic. The forecast is that it’s only going to get better/worse in 2011 with sideshows from the largest heavy music touring festival in Australian history touching down in February in the form of Soundwave. Before getting to that, there’s a whole bunch of great local shows to keep you entertained from now through to January 19 when BMA returns. The Basement is Belco’s home of metal and The Maram is ramping up with more and more shows so hopefully this will help kick-start some new bands on the local front going into 2011. The day after this issue goes to the streets, Thursday December 9, you can catch Queensland’s Ekklesia playing with a four-piece melodic death metal band from South Africa, The Dead Will Tell. Also along for the show are Tortured and Basement regulars Never Trust A Bunny. Friday December 17 features Alice Through The Windshield Glass and a big show on Saturday December 18 with Tortured, Hate Disciple, Frostbite and Daemon Feotal Harvest rounding out events. New Year’s Eve is a big one with Second Sun, Matt Dent, Fat Controller, Frostbite, The Vaine and Australian Kingswood Factory confirmed and more bands to be confirmed on a shopping list of goodies to see in 2011. Tuesday January 4 sees a visit from Californian psyche trio Earthless who bring their long form audio travels to town. Check out the Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky album over the next month to get you ready for this show which is a great surprise and a real treat for the first week of 2011. Finally Fattura Della Morte bring their new vocalist to town on Saturday January 15 with Pod People, 4 Dead, Teen Skank Patrol and The Weapon. The latest raft of international tour announcements includes Finnish folk metallers Finntroll on an ale-guzzling jaunt in March. Motörhead and Black Label Society are coming out in April. Sidewave shows are taking shape, and some Metallise readers will like the Devildriver, Ill Niño, All That Remains and Nonpoint show on Wednesday March 2 at The Forum in Sydney. 2010 was great on the live front, finally getting a chance to catch Macabre two nights running after 20 odd years of being a fan. Coffins were also great. Acid King are super cool guys and gal too. I hope you guys enjoy and have a safe festivus and rest up for the onslaught of metal hitting our shores early next year. Stay brutal. Top Ten Albums of 2010: High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine [E1 Music] Electric Wizard – Black Masses [Rise Above Records]. Cough – Ritual Abuse [Relapse/Forcefield Records] Ufomammut – Eve [Supernatural Cat] Kvelertak – Kvelertak [Indie Recordings] Lair of the Minotaur – Evil Power [The Grind-House Records] Ghost – Opus Eponymous [Rise Above/Metal Blade Records] Black Breath – Heavy Breathing [Southern Lord Records] Les Doigts de L’Homme – 1910 [Lamastrock] Bongripper – Satan Worshipping Doom [Féretro Records] JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

IGNITE RIDER daniel boyle Sydney technical death metal band IGNITE THE IBEX are stopping by Canberra on the Harbingers of Storm tour. I talk with drummer Anthony on the phone and he tells me it’s actually their first time out of Sydney. “We’ve never toured in the four years we’ve been together. We’ve been waiting for this to come together for quite a while now. It’s great it’s all come together.” Ignite The Ibex play a very technical style, helped along by some eight string guitars. Anyone who is a fan of bands like Meshuggah would be interested in giving this band a listen. “We were actually the first band in Australia to use the eight string guitars,” Anthony explains. “We picked them up at the factory and went to play the Australian launch for the eight string guitar. That was a great night, everyone was curious to see what these monsters looked and sounded like.”

Everyone was curious to see what these monsters looked and sounded like

Alongside Ignite The Ibex will be another band of Sydneysiders, Alice Through The Windshield Glass. “We’ve played a few shows with them before, we’ve become good friends and they’ve ended up with the same promoters, Assidian. We’re also going to be playing some of the dates with Elysian, who are from Melbourne,” says Anthony. Having self-released an album earlier this year, there will be another one in the works next year. “We did everything ourselves for the album. We’re very pleased with the way it sounds. When people see our live show, they want to know if that will come across on the recorded sound and people have been really pleased with it. There was a lot of work put into it – we weren’t going to release anything with any mistakes in it.” The Harbingers of Storm tour takes them through plenty of countryside, playing most of the east coast, as well as more regional areas such as Orange and Wagga Wagga. “The tour will go through until the end of February – after that we’ll start to write for the next album. As for the sound of the new album, it’s about keeping one step ahead of the pack. We play in a low E tuning at the moment, but we are hearing of more and more bands starting to play in that tuning, so I guess for the next album, we’ll still have that technical death metal sound, but we’ll have to try and go a bit lower.” Visiting plenty of places, it will be a great experience for people to hear about Ignite The Ibex. “I hope that people will come and check us out and enjoy the show, listen to the album. The calibre of metal in Sydney is really improving lately, there’s a metal show on somewhere every week. It’s a great chance for bands like us and Alice Through The Windshield Glass to play regularly and get our names out.” Catch Ignite The Ibex, Alice Through The Windshield Glass and Elysian live at The Basement on Friday December 17. Tickets are $15 on the door.

the word

on albums

NEBGirl Talk

all Day [Illegal Art]

album of the issue Kanye West My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Roc-A-Fella Records]

Apparently, in the face of adversity Kanye West flourishes. Quiet since the VMA faux pa that had him in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, West returned to the scene earlier this year with his Good Fridays campaign, which saw him release a new track every Friday through his website. Then came the mammoth 40 minute video for single Runaway and West was touted as a visionary. And finally, after months of hype and notquite-secrecy, he has dropped his latest album, which is a colossal kaleidoscope of slick flow, superstar collaborations, honest confessions and tongue in cheek self-deprecation. West has always been pretty brilliant, but Fantasy elevates him to genius. The album covers every bit of ground imaginable, with frenzied, thumping club tracks such as Monster and So Appalled, radio friendly beats like All of The Lights, and soulful, sometimes painful confessions in the form of Dark Fantasy and Blame Game. Fantasy reflects West as a person; frantic yet easy, risky yet completely in control and boastful, yet flawed. West has set the bar for hip-hop, challenging it to be radical, monumental and pretty damn perfect. MELISSA PAINE

Girl Talk really does make his music a work of art; taking smatterings of every song you’ve ever known and making it into something completely original. All Day is no different to the others; a confusing, ADHD acid trip of mash-ups ranging from Bush to Billy Idol to Jay-Z. The problem with Greg Gillis’ fifth release is that it starts to feel a bit samey. In fact, at times it goes way beyond that and becomes slightly disappointing, because for the majority of the album no moments even come close to creating the atmosphere that blew everyone away on Night Ripper and Feed The Wolves. There’s the usual selection of uncovered B-sides and songs you haven’t heard since ’93, but the further he digs to find tracks, the more obscure it seems to become. The great thing about Night Ripper was the unashamed moments of pop or r’n’b, but on All Day the delving becomes deeper and it loses translatability because of it. Down for the Count manages to squeeze 28 samples into six minutes; it remains as actioned packed as Girl Talk has always been, but even with all that’s going on, sadly it doesn’t feel or sound new. In an age where anyone can DJ or make a five-minutes-of-fame inducing mash on their laptop, Girl Talk stands out and shows true brilliance in the field; you can guarantee if it the song has been recorded, Girl Talk will sample it, but this is not the crowning moment. katy hall

Kid Cudi Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager [GOOD Music] In the firmest cynical sense, being the only man on the moon would blow (or woman. Or ‘womyn’, if you’re into that kinda thang). It becomes frightening when one considers that you would be the only ‘man’ on the moon. And, without aid, you would die within literally less than milliseconds. Initially it would truly be awesome; mocking gravity would be a first step for most (damn gravity and shit). But then the loneliness - or such - would set in. The Legend of Mr. Rager would definitely be in my Twenty-Ten pick to take to infinity and beyond. Kid Cudi’s second studio batch is one of the more left-field mainstream releases this year, as well as being among the profoundly darkest. Scott Mescudi vs. the World is the perfect set-up before the execution, which comes near the end. More on that later. REVOFEV, or Revolution of Evolution, evokes echoes of Day n Nite era Cudi, but is decidedly set on the melancholic: a stoner’s take on sweeping grandiosity. The rest of the album passes in a blur – if the ‘blur’ was the Millennium Falcon (The freakin’ Falcon). It’s utterly fearless yet tragically lonely, exploring the fringes of alternative hip-hop dead space. It moves between genuinely affecting, brilliantly experimental soul-plumbing and schizophrenic scene changes with ease. It also ventures into power-pop. Seriously, listen to it and wonder. Or laugh your arse off, as I did mine. palimah panichit

MV & EE Liberty Rose [Arbitrary Signs] People get sucked into appreciating all sorts of things in popular culture that probably don’t matter too much, whereas great stuff worthy of attention often exists under the radar. The latter aspect fits superb psychedelic group MV & EE, having released a voluminous amount of full length albums, CD-R live performances and experimental jams since getting together in Vermont in the early part of the last decade. My favourite recording remains the Ecstatic Peace album Drone Trailer from 2009 which found the perfect balance between cosmic strangeness and earthy acoustic blues in a way that has not been experienced since The Grateful Dead. But it so happens that the core twopiece has a wealth of lysergic improvised blues up its astral sleeve, and committed listeners are duly rewarded. This is the case on Liberty Rose originally released in an edition of 99 copies. I guess when a band releases up to ten albums in any given year, small first editions are understandable. But discerning listeners should also make an effort to seek out unique music of the mind-expansive kind when the opportunity exists, and each of the six tracks comprising Liberty Rose make the grade. With this in mind, I really like second track Flow My Ray which might have fit comfortably on that classic 1975 Neil Young album Tonight’s The Night with little fuss, but other acid excursions on offer pleasantly haze up the night sky. Dan Bigna

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

The Smashing Pumpkins Teargarden by Kaleidyscope: Vol. 2 The Solstice Bare [Martha’s Music/ Rocket Science] Marking the second of 11 limited edition EPs that physically consolidate the free, downloadable 44-song concept album of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope for diehard fans, The Solstice Bare sees The Smashing Pumpkins showcasing their famed gothic/ psychedelic trademarks in a different way. The Fellowship spits and crackles Who-esque synth arpeggios as frontman Billy Corgan delivers the chorus, “Are you with us/Or against us tonight?”, an anthemic call to arms for Pumpkins fans of the future. Freak packs a punch with its fuzz-laden blunt force trauma guitar riff as Corgan socio-politicises about the state of America in a stream of consciousness-influenced lyrical tirade, including this beauty, “they let our children starve in the name of peace/ they march to the beat of a killing machine”. Spangled is beautiful and punctuated by harpsichord stabs and a free-flowing rhythm section, while Tom Tom, the strongest Teargarden... release to date shines through with a punchy as clockwork beat and reverb laden guitars. Looking to the past but heading into the future with a renewed energy and a lust for sonic experimentation, The Solstice Bare cements The Smashing Pumpkins again as a force to be reckoned with. MATT PETHERBRIDGE

The Phantom Band The Wants [Other Tongues/Chemikal Underground] Just when almost everybody had settled on their Top Ten list for the year, along comes Phantom Band to screw up the schematics and make a late bid for Album of the Year. You see the Phantom Band are tricky, pulling you in with savvy pop sharps only to pile on layer after layer of every imaginable genre (Krautrock, power-pop, Berlin-era moody Bowie, surf-rock…you name it) until you’re left reeling, confused and bewildered. The greatest trick of course, is making it work. The Wants represents the difference between a band throwing all the sounds of all their favourite albums into 45 minutes like impatient teenagers and a group of assured, deliberate and relaxed musicians writing dense, complex and unpredictable minimasterpieces. Take The None of One for example; an elegant, gentle banjo-flecked ballad that stumbles into a thumping rave-up before settling into an elliptical electronic fadeout. Now that shouldn’t work and I’m sure it reads ghastly but as each layer intersects and cross fades, The Phantom Band make it seem necessary and designed – not clamour for clamour’s sake, a notion that bogs down similar bands from, say, Brooklyn for example. Then there’s A Glamour where shadowy guitar riffs float over Miles Davis style hard-funk circa On The Corner. Ultimately this is a bastard, gnarled pop record and unlike most potential Albums of the Year, The Wants has longevity and puts some other bands trawling the same ditch to shame. And they’re Scottish. Huh. JUSTIN HOOK

Weezer Death to False Metal [Geffen Records] Originally called Odds and Ends, Death to False Metal is a collection of previously unreleased Weezer tracks that were recorded for other albums, but were for one reason or another cut. Because of this, the songs are quite different to one another and the album sounds a little disjointed as a result of the tracks being recorded at different times over the past seven years. It’s still quite obvious this is a Weezer album though. The voice of Rivers Como is unmistakeable – if you’ve heard one Weezer song, you’ll recognise them all. The songs are well produced and delivered, though a little depressing and heavy. The most upbeat and poppy sounding song, I’m a Robot, contains the darkest lyrics and it’s clear the band is aiming at the emo teenager or the ‘alternative but not too alternative’ mid-20s listener. If I didn’t know these songs were written at different times, I’d swear the lyricist was subjected to a very recent and nasty breakup. The band lists Nirvana as one of their influences and the start of the album definitely reflects this. It concludes, however, with a cover of Toni Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart which contains just the right amount of falsetto in the vocals. If you’re a huge Weezer fan, this album will be one to add to your collection. If you’re only a passing fan, or kinda like their music a bit, this album demonstrates why these songs never made it onto other Weezer albums. Clare Butterfield

Art vs Science Finally See Our Way [Independent] More wordy than anything they’ve ever done before, Finally See Our Way finds AvS also going more epic than ever before with some overdone synth atmospherics, training montage synth-solo and uh, some extra crunchy synths as well. Sure it’s a bit ‘Juggernauts-y but it’s a good change of pace for these merry pranksters.

Altiyan Childs Somewhere In The World [Sony BMG] Congratulations X-Factor voters, you’ve just created the next JD Fortune. That must feel special.

Rihanna ft. Drake What’s My Name? [Def Jam/UMA] Caribbean trance pop? And it’s popular? Oh yeah, it’s got Rihanna and Drake on it, but I swear if there was no ‘star power’ to this it wouldn’t go anywhere. Which is a good thing, because for a chart hit What’s My Name? is really kinda weird. And actually pretty decent.

The Naked And Famous Punching In A Dream [UMA] Awash with distorted electro flashes and some awesomely big, pounding beats, Punching In A Dream manages to not just carry the torch from Passion Pit, MGMT (first album that is), et al but to steal that torch, light a durry with it, jump on a skate board and do a triple somersault off a bridge onto a passing speedboat made out of Skittles. Yeah, it’s pretty fucking cool.

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Barn Burner – Bangers [Metal Blade] Not, as some assumed, an album about the sausage industry, Bangers was a rampaging slab of sludge/stoner/ doom metal that, whilst failing dismally in the originality stakes, scored highly in the demented hair flailing/wailing along like a dog with distemper awards this year.

9. Terry Brock – Diamond Blue [Frontiers]

8. First Signal feat. Harry Hess – First Signal [Frontiers] Harry Hess once sang with hair metal no-hopers Harem Scarem – First Signal deletes all nasty memories of that band in three quarters of an hour of hard rock mayhem that touches all the required bases whilst never coming across as tired or hackneyed.

7. Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier [EMI] Not the all-conquering return to the mid-‘80s many fans had hoped for but still the best thing they’ve done this century, and in Coming Home they penned the song of the year, in any genre.

6. Issa – Sign of Angels [Frontiers] Classy hard rock from a relatively unknown Scandinavian songstress of seemingly limitless talent. Every song is a winner, and every chorus will have you singing along like a crazed karaoke king or queen – the whole point of a song, surely?

5. Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent [Shock] Displaying a shocking amount of fire and passion for middleaged ‘rock stars’ seemingly in their dotage, Jazz Coleman and co. showed all the young punks how it’s done in 2010 on this album.

4. Kvelertak – Kvelertak [Indie Recordings] An utterly exhilarating record, mashing up punk fury, black metal ludicrosity, rock ‘n’ roll swing and, most importantly, damn fine tunes in one huge, unholy shitstorm. Hair-raising. Brilliant.

3. Avantasia – The Wicked Symphony [Nuclear Blast] For pure, unadulterated pomp few can touch Sammet’s Avantasia imprint, and here the likes of Jorn Lande, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, Klaus Meine and Russel Allen are given songs of pure gold to warble over.

2. Auras – New Generations [Frontiers] Brazil? AOR? Two words together, as Dave Mustaine might have said, that don’t make sense. But New Generations, with its perfect synthesis of Journey, Toto, REO Speedwagon and Survivor, makes perfect sense. Oh yes sir.

1. Allen-Lande – The Showdown [Frontiers] When I reviewed this album for BMA earlier in the year I tried to award it a six out of five rating, such is its beyondperfect nature. The ‘powers that be’ wouldn’t let me. So I’m doing it now.

I’ve always had a soft spot for this band as songs like Plans and Saddest Thing I Know were stuck in my head for long periods this year.

9. Angus & Julia Stone – Down the Way [emi] Their last album A Book Like This didn’t do much for me. They redeemed themselves with this one however with wonderfully produced pop songs like And the Boys and Big Jet Plane.

8. Deftones – Diamond Eyes [Warner Bros] It’s good to see the boys revive their White Pony/Deftones era sound on this album. While Chi Cheng was not present on this CD the songs still impress, most notably Diamond Eyes and Royal.

7. British India – Avalanche [Shock] It’s nice to see an Aussie band stick to their roots. Songs like Vanilla, Safari and Because of You are a nice reminder of what non-candy pop sounds like.

6. Clare Bowditch & The New Slang – Modern Day Addiction [Island] This lady is what all pop stars should aspire to be. This album talks about all things plaguing society at the moment… war, consumerism and politics in a way that truly touches the heart.

5. The Vasco Era – Lucille [Universal] The Apollo Bay trio are back rocking with their unique blues rock sound. After a change of direction on Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside the boys have revived their catchy old-school rock sound.

4. Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens – Family Pets [Honeybeast] I was a latecomer to Julia’s music, but am now a fully committed fan and loved this album from the word go. She is a true talent out of the nation’s capital and a staple in our music scene. Little Surprises... more like No Surprises.

3. Children Collide – Theory of Everything [Universal] Loved their last album The Long Now, so it was a relief this one didn’t lessen my love for them. The boys continue with their new-age grunge brand on this album, most notably with Jellylegs and My Eagle but also throw in pop-rock songs like Arrows and Loveless.

2. The Roots – How I Got Over [Def Jam] Their hip-hop/jazz fusion never gets old. Listen to How I Got Over, Dear God 2.0, The Fire and Walk Alone if you need proof. Nuff said!

1. Massive Attack – Heligoland [Virgin] After much doubt the trip-hop pioneers are back with one of their greatest albums yet. For me this is on par with Mezzanine, as it brings back the days when Daddy G and 3D were writing together. Well worth the wait as this is an album for all occasions.

Shaun Bennett: Contributor

Scott Adams: And Another Thing Columnist

Terry Brock lent his undeniable vocal talents to three albums this year – almost certainly too many in terms of quality control song-wise – but he had the good sense to save the best ones for this, the only one of the three released as a solo outing. Pure AOR class.

10. Birds of Tokyo – Birds of Tokyo [emi]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Sia – We Are Born [Monkey Puzzle/Inertia]

rubs off.

Apparently this is the album that Sia has wanted to make for a long time, and when you listen to it, it’s easy to see why. She sounds like she’s having a blast and the fun definitely

9. Goldfrapp – Head First [Mute]

8. Washington – I Believe You Liar [Universal] What a year for Megan Washington, and what a record to back it up! It’s proved to be the gift that keeps on giving, packed to the brim full of quirky and intelligent pop songs. No wonder she scooped the ARIAs.

7. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz [Asthmatic Kitty] Oh Sufjan, you keep us hanging for five years in a postIllinoise daze and finally return with a crazy mixture of glitch, bombast and autotune. Equal parts risk and ambition, the indie wunderkind manages to pull off an incredible album once again.

6. Zola Jesus – Stridulum II [Pod/Inertia] A latecomer to this list, Zola Jesus burst out of nowhere and into my life with the brilliant Stridulum EP. Building on its forerunner’s dark energy, Stridulum II is for anyone who likes their female singers brooding and with a voice so powerful it could rattle windows.

5. Jónsi – Go [Capitol] Steering away from the ambient (and forgettable) turn he took with other Sigur Rós side project Jónsi & Alex, Go is an uplifting and inspired new direction for the angelic Icelandic singer.

4. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night [Jagjaguwar/Inertia] The shimmering guitars and cavernous vocals of And This Is What We Call Progress was my first taste of this amazing and ambitious record by Canadian indie-prog band The Besnard Lakes. Love at first listen.

3. Beach House – Teen Dream [Mistletone] I must admit my original reaction to hearing Norway was that it sounded way out of tune and horrible. Then something clicked and now I can’t get enough of this gorgeous and dreamy record.

2. Owen Pallett – Heartland [Domino Records]

its best.

If gay marriage was legal in this country and both Owen and I didn’t already have boyfriends, I’d propose. Seriously, the guy is a genius! Heartland is soothing orchestral pop at

1. The National – High Violet [4AD] “I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees / I never married, but Ohio don’t remember me.” Yup, still gives me chills after the umpteenth listen. Oh, and the rest of the album is pretty outstanding too. Ahead of the pack, deservedly so.

You may think they have wussed out, but this record is simple, fun, pleasant, repeatable garagey Americana. I love it.

9. El-P – weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 [Gold Dust] Epic collection of beats and ideas, where El-P even tries his hand at a death-drummy dubstep track.

8. Gonjasufi – The Caliphs Tea Party [Warp] The remix companion disc really came into its own this year, but this is the one that stands out as realising the true potential of the original material. Excellent, essential.

7. The Budos Band – III [Daptone] Such an enjoyable funk record that I can’t even tell if it’s cheesy or not. I’m going with not… it’s too wylin’ in places and too pretty in others to be anything but an amazing recording of dope tunes by a wicked band.

6. The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream [Blue Horizon Ventures] Best heavy psyche album of this year, from the world’s best heavy psyche band.

5. No Age – Everything In Between [Sub Pop] Beautifully packaged (once again). Great despite the hype (once again). Takes ‘til the third song for you to get sold, but you never get off the train after that (once again). This time is better than the first.

4. Pantha Du Prince – Black Noise [Rough Trade] The textures and tones in this sparse, beautiful mnml record for the most part make me feel like I am a puddle or a pond, and I am reflecting nicely, and raindrops pleasantly blur my reflection to outside observers. No record has ever made me feel like a puddle in the rain before. Kudos.

3. Holy Fuck – Latin [Young Turks] Starts all soft, funky and nice, but by the climax you can’t hear your neighbours screaming at you to turn it down as you have wrapped yourself up in all the sheets in the cupboard and are now rebounding off the walls down the corridor, breaking stuff and laughing maniacally.

2. Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! – Sea Priest [Dot Dash] Deliciously moreish in an understated way. The ‘peoplewatching on public transport’ album of the year – focus on passengers nearby and let these Adelaide kids sing you a story that generally works about whoever you are now creepily staring at. Brilliant.

1. Jeff The Brotherhood – Heavy Days [infinity cat] Came out on January 5, took six months to get to community radio, now another six before I declare it the best album of the year. And it is, by a country mile. Guitars, drums, psyche outs, grunge. Slays everything else, entirely.

Alistair Erskine: Contributor

Josh Brown: Super Sub-Editor and Contributor

Goldfrapp ride the divide between introverted atmospheric chamber pop and glitzy disco with ease. It’s the latter that they returned to in 2010, with a good dose of ‘80s glam swagger added to the mix.

10. The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack [Kemado] [Monkey Puzzle/Inertia]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach [Parlophone] We’ve all heard it and we all love it. Plastic Beach is the newest record from the musical prodigies that we all know as Gorillaz; this time with a fresh, relaxing charm.

9. Boy & Bear – With Emperor Antarctica [Island]

Techno expert Agoria provides a master class in sonic synthesis; two discs of absolute bliss mixed like a murky cocktail on a faraway beach. It’s like that little scruffy puppy at the pound, imperfect and yet alluring in all the right ways.

9. Pendulum – Immersion [Warner] It was only a matter of time before our finest broken beat export produced something really special. Immersion proves that metal guitars and illegal drugs really do mix.

8. Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History [Glassnote]

8. LCD Sound System – This Is Happening [DFA Records]

Tourist History has proved to the world that the Irish have more to offer than beer and limericks. These musical geniuses have crafted ten tracks each as breathtaking and playful as the next.

James Murphy is a fucking genius and if you don’t agree I will fight you in the face. Take all the coolest genres in the world and mash them into a shiny disc shaped object and I present to you This Is Happening, aptly titled because, well, it really is… right now.

7. Agoria – Balance 016 [EQ Recordings] This is the album you play on repeat in the car until it dies of old age. French DJ Agoria, in the newest of the popular series of Balance compilation albums, has created a unique and relaxing two disc set that you will be happy to have as the soundtrack to your life.

6. The Amity Affliction – Youngbloods [Boomtown] Brisbane band The Amity Affliction, with their new and brilliantly produced album Youngbloods, continue after eight years to add light to their unique breed of melodic post-hardcore.

5. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (II) [Fiction] The duo’s second self-titled album, while being a far cry from the first, still upholds the rebellious reputation that we know them by. Steering away from the clean electronic sound that occupied most of their first album, the second is full of the harsh, deep and distorted bass of Alice Practice.

4. Little Red – Midnight Remember [Liberation] They have caught the attention of the masses with Rock It, which, let’s face it, is the song you have to play five times in a row to get your fix. Each and every track on Midnight Remember has the same energising effect.

3. Rout – Spirit of Humanity [Independent] We can always count on Britain to produce great dubstep, and Enter Shikari frontman Rou’s dubstep project is no exception, mixing gentle, relaxing electronics and absurd dialogue with the dense and powerful dubstep that we all love.

2. Yeasayer – Odd Blood [Secretly Canadian] Two words: uplifting and enchanting. Yeasayer have merged genres to craft an indescribable sound that will pick you up and make you appreciate everything around you.

1. The Books – The Way Out [Temporary Residence Limited] This is one of the most mesmerising albums I have ever heard. The Way Out can only be described as a masterpiece, a journey, whisking you away with The Books’ quirky and almost meditative concoction of sound effects and dialogue.

7. B.o.B. – B.o.B. Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray [Grand Hustle Records] I could handle listening to commercial radio if every cheesy chart smash featured B.o.B. The best thing about him is that he doesn’t pretend to be anything but a well marketed hook monster, kidnapping your ears with catchy melodies and recklessly infectious lyrics. My guilty pleasure of 2010… shhhhh.

6. Slash – Slash [EMI] Maybe I’m just a huge Gunners fan, maybe I was all hopped up on his awesome autobiography but I just liked this album a lot. This long awaited solo effort is perfect windows down cruising music for the aging ‘90s chart metal guru.

5. Eminem – Recovery [Aftermath/Shady] Taken from my own review in BMA: “I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the lyrical delivery on Recovery is the best I have ever heard, and I am a huge hip-hop fan. Recovery is raw, honest and complete.” Nuff said really.

4. Cee Lo Green – Lady Killer [Elektra Recordings] Brilliant, soulful, funny, loves a late night rendezvous and knows how to have a good time in a navy blue suit. My review of this album reads more like a lonely hearts advertisement.

3. Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) [Bad Boy Records] The strength in this debut release from newcomer Monae lies in its warm diversity. This is nu-era pop perfection; I have a lot of high hopes for little Miss J in 2011.

2. Caribou – Swim [Merge] Swim is like the musical equivalent of a girl who wears her underpants on the outside; it’s attractively quirky in all the right places, namely the groin. This is baby making music.

1. Rusko – OMG [Downtown Records] Rusko has been the most impressive purveyor of dark alley grime in 2010, and this long-player is a testament to his abilities as a gutter genius.

Tim Galvin: Dance The Drop Columnist

Naomi Frost: All Ages Columnist

These Sydney boys produce the feel-good music that inspires you to hit the road with nothing but friends, petrol money and a guitar. triple j has played this album constantly, but nothing can take the joy out of it.

10. Balance 016 – Agoria [EQ Recordings]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. The John Steel Singers – Tangalooma [Dew Process]

10. Chromeo – Business Casual [Modular/UMA]

With a modest repertoire of social anthropologicallythemed, indie-pop gems already in the bag, along with Robert Forster on production duties, it was no surprise that Tangalooma proved a loveable treat. However, it’s the ‘filler’ which truly impresses.

Chromeo hit it big with Business Casual, another homage to eras and keyboards gone by. As well as its awesomely poppy tunes Business Casual is all about the duo’s dexterity, throwing down some French-ed up sex jams and disco workouts.

9. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang [SideOneDummy]

9. Tanlines – Settings EP [True Panther Sounds]

Yet another group introducing Springsteen to a new generation, the Gaslight Anthem’s uncanny invocation of the classic Jersey Shore sound reached new heights on American Slang. Poetic, nostalgic and irrefutably rockin’.

8. Angus & Julia Stone – Down the Way [EMI]

Ben Hermann: Contributor

7. The National – High Violet [4AD] Matt Berninger’s witty, self-deprecating lyrics seem to strike closer to the bone than ever before on High Violet. The group’s songwriting as well has never been more lovingly dark, layered or rewarding.

6. Antony and the Johnsons – Swanlights [Secretly Canadian] Experimenting with exotic, surreal tones and even the odd slather of shoegaze-style reverb, Antony Hegarty and his group departed from the somewhat morbid, confronting themes of The Crying Light for this discernibly more hopeinspired offering.

5. Holy Fuck – Latin [Young Turks] I usually hate any form of experimental, quasi-industrial post-rock electronica-wank garbage. …But I love this.

4. Danny and the Champions of the World – Streets of Our Time [Loose Music] Somewhere between Dylan, Neil Young, Ryan Adams and lead singer Danny Wilson’s own Grand Drive, Streets of Our Time pays beautiful, touching, yet sprightly homage to the trials and tribulations of ageing. There’s a banjo, too!

3. Cloud Control – Bliss Release [Ivy League] Not only the undisputed winner of the ‘most appropriate album title of the year’ award, Bliss Release’s take on The Smiths, crossed with some afrobeat chanting and beautiful Go-Betweens style harmonies revealed Cloud Control as Australia’s newest musical prodigies.

2. Grinderman – Grinderman 2 [Mute Records] Grinderman’s first album sounded a little too similar to the Birthday Party for some Cave fans, so it was pleasing that on this, their second release, the scratchy, lo-fi guitar was toned down a little and Ellis’ notoriously haunting bouzouki was given a greater role to play. Most satisfying though is Cave’s sleazy, violent humour, which has rarely seen better days.

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs [Merge] The Springsteen influences of Montreal’s finest baroque pop septet were finally placed centre stage in this earnest, bittersweet ode to life in the ‘burbs. Moving away from the epic, complex arrangements that characterised their former albums, they’ve created instead a sprawling, understated opus more consistent and ultimately more moving than their previous work.

8. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening [DFA/EMI] James Murphy’s disco wonder-group conquered in 2010 with their third disc This Is Happening. Just try and stay still while Murphy and co blast their way through Dance Yrself Clean.

7. Wild Nothing – Gemini [Captured Tracks] It’s embarrassing that all the immaculately staged haziness of Gemini comes from the mind of just one dude, but indeed Wild Nothing manages to layer his dream-pop leanings into oblivion while keeping it ever so cinematic.

6. Bag Raiders – Bag Raiders [Modular/UMA] It feels like I’ve been saying that ‘next year’ will be the big one for Bag Raiders for about four years now, but I’m pleased to say I was right, as they definitely were untouchable in 2010. Smart but always fun, clubby but still listenable, this album is awash with treasures.

5. Dom – Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP [Burning Mill Records] Dom, the eponymous leader of his band, is kinda like the Tweet generation’s Holden Caulfield. Snotty, selfimportant and already world weary, he’s incredibly cool and just like Catcher In The Rye was in Year 11, he’s essential reading listening.

4. The Drums – The Drums [Moshi Moshi/Shock] Full of jubilant, whimsical, surfy, poppy, garage-y indie rock, all you really need to know is that this is heaps of fun, and now that the weather’s warmed up it’s a perfect summer record.

3. The Radio Dept. – Clinging To A Scheme [Labrador] While everyone else in Sweden gets off making ridiculously happy music, The Radio Dept. took a further dive into the shadows with another achingly good record of nights on the couch and bruised emotions.

2. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker [Modular/UMA] Dropouts ripping bowls in a feedback loop doesn’t sound like fun, but damn. Damn. This is an incredible record. Dripping in ideas and ambition it’s immersive listening.

1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Def Jam/UMA] Forget the BS, hearing is believing. And once you hear Kanye’s comeback record, you’ll believe it too: Kanye West is easily the most magnetic, entertaining and forward thinking rapper working today.

Dave Ruby Howe: Singled Out Columnist

The Stones endeared themselves to many with their ‘Frankie-in-musical-form’ debut A Book Like This, however it was the deeper, enchanting nourishment that Down the Way offered which cemented their status as Australian folk-pop royalty.

Often instrumental, a little bit weird but always very entertaining, Tanlines have nailed a union of tropical beats and synths to create what I’m calling calypso-electro. Just go with it and enjoy.

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Gemma Ray – Lights Out Zoltar! [Bronzerat Records] The second album from UK singer-songwriter Gemma Ray pays homage to vintage pop. While the style harks back to the ‘50s and ‘60s, the tone has morphed from the chirpy tunes of that era to a much darker atmosphere.

Mantra-like tracks expand over meticulously thought out beats, with hardly any songs able to be classified as ‘bangers.’ It’s a strange move for the Chemmies, who now seemingly prefer patient meanderings over obvious hooks. Does it work? Post-listen, a better question would be: what the fuck?

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

9. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) [Universal Motown]

The Shake Up’s album is an attractive mix of alcoholsoaked themes, skin-tight riffs and an arrogance that’s spoiling for a fight. Songs combine infectious rhythms with clear lyrics and choruses you can shout along to.

8. Over-Reactor – Lose Your Delusion I [Independent Release] Ezekiel Ox, the hyperactive frontman of bands Full Scale and Mammal, has returned! His hardcore/punk duo delivers eye-jabbing vocals, bone-jarring riffs and spinetingling programming.

7. Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago [Matador/ Remote Control] Texan folk rock outfit Shearwater have created a new style of unconventional sea shanties in this avant garde album that combines full-bodied, soulful vocals and music of astonishing beauty and inventiveness.

6. Tash Parker – Waking Up [Inertia/Little Buildings] The indie folk-pop debut of Tash Parker is a pearl. With a soft and sweet voice that comes across with a strong dose of Dido and a few hints of Regina Spektor, it’s a wonderfully attractive combo.

5. Alpine – Zurich [Ivy League] In their extraordinary debut EP, Melbourne indie synth-pop band Alpine have crafted a captivating formula that blends clever, catchy tunes with inventive vocal patterns created by the interplay between the lovely Phoebe Baker and Lou James.

4. Dead Letter Circus – This Is The Warning [Warner Music] Flying at you at breakneck speed, Kim Benzie’s impassioned vocals carry a consistent challenge to be true to your values. His voice has a cool, calming quality that stands out from the angry edge often dominating in rock.

3. New Young Pony Club – The Optimist [PIAS Recordings/Liberator Music] Take a Tardis ride back in time with UK electro-poppers New Young Pony Club. Sound effects weave Tahita’s rich voice into this full-bodied, layered creation.

2. Gyroscope – Cohesion [Universal] Their previous album Breed Obsession may have been so pretty sounding as to be almost verging on power-pop. Well, the rock is back! With Cohesion, Gyroscope have done a U-turn and emerged closer to their garage roots. The boys from the West have done it again and this is an album for the true believers.

1. Cloud Control – Bliss Release [Ivy League] Cloud Control from The Blue Mountains have delivered an outstanding debut album, heavily influenced by world music sounds. Super catchy Afro rhythms and strong spiritual themes appear frequently. Combined with their vivacious live performance style, it results in a stand out, crowd-winning sound.

An album born from the right side of the brain, this rare analogue wonder grooves under Badu’s oft elliptical lyrical style. So damn smooth.

8. RJD2 – The Colossus [RJ’s Electrical Connections] Twenty-ten, if anything, was the advent of the producer, and there are few finer than RJD2. Let There Be Horns is the perfect schizophrenic instrumental opener, spinning plucky Middle Eastern alongside positively phat brass.

7. The Reign of Kindo – This Is What Happens [Candyrat Records] What sounds like a ridiculous sequel to some sort of hilarious Yoshi strap-off is actually a damn fine record. The musicianship is calculated, the melodies heart-warming and the songs can vary from King Crimson-esque berserk-outs to smooth jazz respites – sometimes within the breadth of a single song.

6. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager [GOOD Music/Island] The single most claustrophobic clusterfuck of an album this year. The intensity doesn’t let up, never quite bubbling but always seething; the musical equivalent to someone breathing down your neck. Cudi’s semi-melodic delivery of oft startlingly insightful lyrics is masterful. Mojo So Dope is the new So Fresh So Clean.

5. Janelle Monae –The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) [Wondaland Arts/Bad Boy] Afro-futuristic messianic android narrative mixed with most genres under the Death Star? Oh yeah.

4. The Roots – How I Got Over [Def Jam] Profound in a subdued way and almost delicate without the maudlin, this record is close to as real as The Roots get. When The Roots dig deep, it’s time to pay attention.

3. Four Tet – There is Love in You [Domino] One of the best records of the year released in the first month. Unparalleled in glitchy goodness and sharing more common properties with vapour than with a humble CD, this hazy ethereal trip is confusing in the best possible way.

2. Tipper – Broken Soul Jamboree [Tippermusic] Alongside truly masterful production and obsessive compulsive attention to minute detail, UK producer Tipper brings forth timing changes and fingerprint unique eclecticism, weaving a speechless tale between synthetic webs of intrigue. There is deep emotion here, the kind of stuff that rebukes those who still believe that ‘computer music isn’t real music’.

1. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach [Parlophone/Virgin] Just listen to it. I’ve not even read a review that does this justice, nor do I believe that any could.

Palimah Panichit: Contributor

Rory McCartney: Contributor

10. The Chemical Brothers – Further [Parlophone]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Deerhunter – Halycon Digest [4AD/Kranky] Proving that Deerhunter are still fantastic, Halycon Digest is filled with a combination of upbeat tracks like Revival and ghostly songs like Helicopter.

9. Kate Nash – My Best Friend Is You [Fiction] Refreshingly less twee than Nash’s debut album, My Best Friend Is You is pop-tastic. Maintaining the cheeky mean streak that the songstress is known for, tracks like Kiss That Grrrl prove that Nash can bitch with the best of them.

Sensitive, unsettling lyrics supersized to anthemic, arena proportions. Just like in suburbia, on this album there’s grit beneath the gloss and sass.

9. Interpol – Interpol [Soft Limit] A moodier offering than their previous work and certainly not their best, but worth a nod. The fact that this album is self-titled stands as an affirmation of everything Interpol: hidden hooks and sinister atmospherics underpinned by funk bass lines and a pervading sense of arrogance and irreverence.

8. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me [Drag City]

Parades are what one would call an incredibly accomplished band, and Foreign Tapes demonstrates their talent perfectly. This album is full of incredibly intricate and layered indie pop, and if the drum beats don’t get you hooked, the vocals are sure to.

This epic album unfolds like a story book in three compact discs. Newsom’s trademark haunting vocals and the inclusion of strings and horns give the album all the wonderment of a fairytale.

7. Little Red – Midnight Remember [Liberation]

Odd Blood was meant to be the ‘pop’ album for the Brooklyn band, but with touches of psychedelia, gospel and reggae, it isn’t exactly mainstream. Nonetheless, the standout track is the pop-infused O.N.E., an uplifting and liberating festival anthem.

I won’t lie, the change from Little Red’s signature ‘60s rock to a more ‘70s synth-inspired album was jarring at first, but this album has grown on me to the point of becoming a staple in my glovebox. Tracks like Slow Motion and Place Called Love are instantly addictive.

6. Vampire Weekend – Contra [XL Recording] So what if picking Vampire Weekend is a total cliché? They’re really good, in case you haven’t heard! Contra is full of catchy tunes and the signature falsetto vocals that made Vampire Weekend’s first album amazing, without being repetitive or lacking progression.

5. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs [Merge Records] The Suburbs retains Arcade Fire’s signature ethereal sound, with light melodies and airy pop making for a great listen. I can honestly say I like every track on this album, but highlights include Ready to Start and We Used to Wait.

7. Yeasayer – Odd Blood [Mute/Secretly Canadian]

6. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can [Virgin] Packed with imagery and nostalgia that would send Keats into a head-spin.

5. Bag Raiders – Bag Raiders [Modular] Just when we were starting to feel a bit nostalgic about the ‘90s (were we?), this cheeky Aussie duo delivered a fastpaced nod to the rave era with elements of sunshine pop, funk and acid house mixed in. The tracks in the middle get a little samey, but it’s hard to care when you’re having so much fun.

4. The National – High Violet [4AD]

Post paradise? More like right in the midst of it! With layered funk grooves and falsetto vocals, The Holidays’ debut album is perfect summer listening, with single Moonlight Hours sure to be a dance favourite.

We’d all waited patiently for three years and then internet pirates ruined the fun by leaking a low quality version of High Violet online. But the band bounced back, premiering the album on the New York Times website, and quickly shooting to number three on the Billboard chart. A gold star for talent and resilience.

3. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor [Frenchkiss Records]

3. Deer Hunter – Halcyon Digest [4AD/Remote Control]

4. The Holidays – Post Paradise [Liberation]

For a largely unknown indie band from LA, this self-funded album comes rife with swoony pop tracks and melodies that tug at your heartstrings.

The swoony, layered vocals and tumbling guitar riffs of Desire Lines, the blown-out vocals and meandering sax of Coronado, the eerie echoes and drips of Sailing…

2. Cloud Control – Bliss Release [Ivy League/ Infectious]

2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Rock-A-Fella]

Bliss is certainly what this album inspired in me. Truly masterful, Bliss Release is full of soaring guitar melodies and harmonising vocals that can only be described as hauntingly beautiful.

He threatened never to rap again; thank goodness he changed his mind. Featuring brand new tracks and reworked numbers from his Good Fridays project, this album is a testament to the fact that a bit of public humiliation is good for the creative soul. His best album yet.

1. The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards [Third Man Records]

1. Vampire Weekend – Contra [Rough Trade]

To quote a friend of mine, “this album is sex.” With sultry vocals and sensual bass lines, Sea of Cowards has an addictive sound that is irrepressible. Alison Mosshart’s screeching on The Difference Between Us makes my skin crawl. In the best way.

I knew this would be my number one when it was released all the way back in January. Vampire Weekend’s overcaffeinated, Afro-infused pop punk proves that even after The Strokes and Talking Heads, NYC’s still leading the charge in terms of style and originality.

Katherine Quinn: Contributor

Zoya Patel: Contributor

8. Parades – Foreign Tapes [Remote Control/ DotDash/P-Vine]

10. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs [Merge]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. Menomena – Mines [Barsuk]

10. Caribou – Swim [City Slang]

Mines achieves what Grizzly Bear’s third album, Veckatimest, did. The at times alien-like and alienating experimental sounds are tempered with esoteric pop, exemplified by the striking melodies and gospel theme.

With the aim of making music that sounds like it’s underwater, Caribou succeeded in composing a tight set of blissful electronic excursions. Swim has a warm pulsating heart that bubbles in the excitement of creation and pleasure of knowing just how wonderful it really is.

9. Angus & Julia Stone – Down the Way [EMI] It’s not a flawless album but the soft melodies and the siblings’ sweet vocals are intricately and considerately layered with strings or other instruments like mellotron.

8. The National – High Violet [4AD] These veterans of music have learnt over time what works and what doesn’t. Once again Matt Berninger’s morose vocals are effortlessly moulded with poetic lyricism and clever instrumental arrangements. If you ever get a chance to see them live, don’t hesitate. They will make you cry.

Peter Rosewarne: Contributor

I’ve often in the past found this dream pop band to be a bit samey. Teen Dream, however, is a lot more playful. According to Beach House this album is perfect to listen to whilst entangled with a lover. That’s perfect for those whose Portishead albums are a little worse for wear.

6. Glasser – Ring [True Panther] If you wanted to make a stop motion video of an origami swan being folded with a strobe light on, you might use a song from this album. Initially singing into her laptop, Glasser later replaced computer stock sounds with marimbas, chimes, saxophone, koto and heavy drums and synthesizers.

5. Robyn – Body Talk [Konichiwa] Body Talk was released as three EPs to, finally, produce a whole album. All three EPs operate as dance anthems. You’ll likely hear many of the songs from Body Talk throughout the next year. It’s been a fun project to watch unfold!

4. Kelis – Flesh Tone [Interscope] Flesh Tone (produced by the likes of Burns and Boys Noize) unveils Kelis as a vibrant electro dance goddess. This is rare house music where you can enthusiastically sing along while jumping and jiving.

3. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz [Asthmatic Kitty] Stevens finally cut the crap and released some new music, criticising his own insistence on being innovative. The Age of Adz showcases Stevens at his most relaxed and honest.

2. Groove Armada – Black Light [Cooking Vinyl] It’s a surprise but this gritty album already feels like a classic; the songs operating often somehow as both retro chill out and disco dance.

In another year of stagnant lifeless hip-hop, only a few artists (The Roots, Drake, Black Milk) dared to push the envelope. Outkast’s Big Boi shined bright with a vibrant set of jams showcasing his jaw-droppingly dope flow over fresh canvasses of juicy, colourful booty-shaking funk.

8. Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner [Ghostly International/Notown] Very special debut from Mr Panda defying genre classification and rich in glowing textures, live instrumentation and global influences. With echoes of Four Tet, Lucky Shiner is organic, soulful and sublime.

7. Janelle Monae – The Archandroid [Bad Boy] With unparalleled vision and courage, Ms Monae marched soul music into the future whilst dipping her toes into just about every sound and style of the past. Highly original and gorgeously addictive, Janelle’s voice is a weapon!

6. Darkstar – North [Hyperdub] Surprising everyone, Darkstar pulled a massive 360 and abandoned their dubstep trappings with a mesmerising set of synth-pop on Kode9’s brilliant Hyperdub label. North captures the strange, shimmering melancholic beauty of a robotic world.

5. ASC – Nothing Is Certain [NonPlus+] Alongside amazing albums from Sabre, Sunchase and Craggz + Parallel, ASC led the charge for the d‘n’b resurgence in 2010 with his debut LP, dropping minimal half-time two-step rhythms over icy electronics and deeeeeep subs.

4. Actress – Splazsh [Honest Jons] Strange and ambitious, Splazsh shows no regard for genre labelling, song structure or conventional rhythm with Actress chopping and splicing beats and samples into strange musical algorithms. Absolutely incredible.

3. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella] With hands gripping his balls and a middle finger in the air, Yeezy silences the haters by taking a good long hard look at himself and the price fame has brought him. A crazed opus from one of the world’s most interesting performers.

1. Sia – We are Born [Monkey Puzzle]

2. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma [Warp]

The ARIAs for Best Pop Release and Best Independent Release are well deserved. Though cute, bouncy and involving, Sia’s music carries a beautiful sad undertone with its upbeat drive. It is remarkable how different but equally as good this album is compared with 2004’s Colour the Small One.

The Brainfeeder don and leader of the LA beat scene delivered his sophomore set of broken soul, sending his sound shooting into a psychedelic jazz-fuelled stratosphere.

1. Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers [Hotflush] Short, sweet and perfect, Crooks & Lovers exemplifies all there is to be excited about creative modern bass music. Released on Scuba’s Hotflush, the London duo intertwine organic field recordings, moments of bittersweet beauty, subtle clicking riddims and rumbling sub-bass, sounding like no one else as they morph, twist and redefine the boundaries of dubstep.

Roshambo: The Realness Columnist

7. Beach House – Teen Dream [Sub Pop]

9. Big Boi – Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty [Def Jam]

Top ten albums of 2010 10. El-P – Weareallgonnaburninhellmegamixxx3 [Gold Dust] Not just a startlingly brilliant MC, El-P once again proves his production chops too. Typified by his truculent beats, El-P’s epic production is like the soundtrack to a zombie apocalypse. Foreboding, and awesome.

9. Anjunadeep Vol 2 mixed by jaytech & james grant [Sony]

8. The Ruby Suns – Fight Softly [Sub Pop] Ever wondered what would happen if Animal Collective and Discovery had a love child? Well a) aren’t you a big weirdy then, and b) probably this. Check out Closet Astrologer; one of the year’s loveliest tracks.

Allan Sko: Bossman

7. Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers [Hot Flush] No Boards of Canada release this year, but ol’ MK came to the fore with a downtempo electronic number equally fascinating, forward-thinking and mesmeric. Weird and wonderful.

6. The Roots – How I Got Over [Def Jam] The Roots are the sober, soothing yin to Kanye West’s raging grandiose yang, once again sliding in with a seemingly effortless piece of measured cool; if the group had more heart, they’d be a cardiac unit. Unsurprisingly surprising.

5. Noisia – Split The Atom [Vision] Those three freaky-deaky Dutchmen once again prove their musical pioneer status, turning a gym into a recording studio (capturing gunshots, flying karate kicks etc) and meticulously constructing nuclear-grade tunes. The cover art tells you all you need to know.

4. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy [Roc-A-Fella] I mean shit, you try to dislike the man, then he comes up with something like this. Yeezy uses his money, fame and connects to pull out a pompous, overblown and utterly brilliant piece of maximalist hip-hop. If you can call it hip-hop. “Let’s have a toast to the douchebags” indeed.

3. Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner [Rough Trade] “It’s the old meets new, East meets West… one of 2010’s most intriguing, beautiful and enchanting albums. Lucky Shiner is largely undefinable. One listen to the roborant Same Dream China will have you mesmerised.” Well said, me.

2. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach [EMI] We knew it was going to be a bubbling melting pot of styles. We knew it would have inspired collaborations. We knew it was going to be fantastic. And it was. On all counts. Damn you bastards for touring just as we’re having our first kid!

1. Steve Mason – Boys Outside [Domino] Where so many albums this year had four or five great songs then a bunch of filler, Beta Band ex-pat Mr Mason whipped up ten of the most emotionally honest and melodically beautiful tracks of the year. Simply brilliant.

Simple, solid, honest and raw, Eddy Cuz’s third LP has cemented them as Oz’s finest purveyors of erudite garage rock.

9. The Ruby Suns – Fight Softly [Sub Pop] More than just an Animal Collective stopgap, Fight Softly is a jubilant technicolour synth-pop dream, ingeniously splashed with hazy reverb, intricately layered vocals and a marvellous melding of world music rhythms and electronica.

8. Best Coast – Crazy For You [Popfrenzy] 29 minutes of woozy, swoony, sandy, syrupy, Californian surf pop gems dripping with teenage love, longing and hilarious little lines.

7. Scissor Sisters – Night Work [Polydor] Gayer than Will and Grace’s Jack with all the pomp and spectacle to match, Night Work is a rock-hard record of relentless glow-sticks-in-the-air anthems bursting with bombastic stadium-sized percussion and wickedly raunchy rhymes. It’s even got a dash of spoken word from Sir Ian McKellen thrown in for good measure. Hot.

6. Kyü - Kyü [Popfrenzy] The two Sydney lasses have released one of the best songs of the year in Pixiphony, and the rest of their dark yet joyous experimental pop debut resonates with the same urban warrior woman vivacity.

5. The Roots – How I Got Over [Def Jam] On top of the inspiring execution of socio-political, environmental and economic invective, one of the greatest testaments to The Roots’ brilliance is their seamless amalgamation of disparate musical elements. Jim James of Monsters of Folk, Joanna Newsom and Dirty Projectors blend in as flawlessly as John Legend. The coolest record of 2010.

4. The Leisure Society - The Sleeper [Pod] ave It For Someone Who Cares is reminiscent of the S Babar theme. Need I go on? I will, to say this tender, bittersweet and beautiful record of Brits doing Americana, with its glorious harmonies, pastoral themes and ornamented arrangements (kalimba and ukulele were made for each other), is one of the year’s most magical.

3. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record [Spunk] I thrashed this record in the first half of the year then caught their set at Splendour; spinning it after seeing them live elevated the once exuberant listening experience to euphoric heights. The instrumental Meet Me in the Basement is ecstatic.

2. Grinderman – Grinderman 2 [Mute Records] “I keep hanging around your kitchenette / And I’m gonna get a pot to cook you in / I stick my fingers in your biscuit jar / And crush all your gingerbread men.” Nick, you bad, bad man. You and your boon companions have done it again.

1. Steve Mason – Boys Outside [Domino] As Justin Hook espoused in August, “Throughout it all Mason’s biggest weapon shines – a luxuriant, ghostly textured voice more open and honest than ever before. Boys Outside already sounds like a lost classic.” Thanks a million, Hook.

Julia Winterflood: Editor and Locality Columnist

Smooth, deep, emotional… and co-pioneered by Canberra’s very own James “Jaytech” Cayzer! Jaytech & James Grant’s gorgeous Moth begins a beautiful two-disc journey. Vertiginous 4-4 electronica.

10. Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Rush to Relax [Shock]

the word

on films

WITH MARK RUSSELL

Well folks, this is my last issue as film editor of BMA. From here on in, I’m afraid I’ll be dedicating myself almost entirely to writing films for other people to tear to shreds. I’ll still be contributing the odd review but am relinquishing whatever power the page may have to the very capable hands of Melissa Wellham. Thank you to anyone who’s regularly read over the years, I appreciate the intellectual charity as always. Enjoy!

quote of the issue Megamind (Will Ferrell): In case you’ve noticed, you’ve fallen right into my trap! Metro Man (Brad Pitt): You can’t trap justice! It’s an idea, a belief! Megamind: Even the most heartfelt belief can get corroded with crime! Metro Man: Justice is a non-corrosive metal! Megamind: But metals can be melted, by the heat of revanche! Metro Man: It’s REVENGE, and it’s best served cold! Megamind: But it can be easily reheated, in the microwave of evil! Metro Man: Well, I think your warranty’s about to expire! Megamind: Maybe I got an extended warranty! Metro Man: Warranties are invalid, if used beyond their intended purpose! Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey): Girls, girls, you’re both pretty! Can I go home now!?

Due Date

14 Blades

Megamind

Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jnr) has to make it from Atlanta to Los Angeles in time for the birth of his first child. But the road home features a particularly large speed hump in the form of an Aspberger’s-level, man-child - acting hopeful Ethan (Zach Galifianakis). When Ethan gets them both on a no-fly list, Peter is set on a road-trip that just might teach him a few life lessons along the way... yeah. Despite having The Hangover writer/director Todd Phillips at the helm, as well as sporting that film’s highest draw card in Galifianakis, Due Date is a pretty poor follow-up. The two central characters are infinitely dislikeable and often we’re not really rooting for them to win the day, but rather seeing their troubles as karmic retribution. Most baffling of all, Peter’s heavily pregnant wife (Michelle Monaghan) is so patient and kind, the polar opposite of Peter, that we can’t imagine how they ever ended up together.

14 Blades certainly shapes up to be a rollicking good film.

Sharp script; A-grade voicecasting; slick, comedic tone. Megamind is a superb time in the dark. We follow the titular character (voiced by Will Ferrell), a super villain who finds his life lacks meaning when one of his schemes actually works.

The awkward comedic tone isn’t quite at the level of The Office, instead lingering somewhere between annoying and mildly amusing. Many of the jokes fall flat with few emotional highs or lows attached to them. It’s not really offensive enough to have shock value but it’s not endearing enough to have heart. In short, this is a decidedly monotone bit of celluloid. Both of these actors are incredible talents but what we’re watching doesn’t showcase either particularly well. This film isn’t painful, just uninspiring considering the potential.

MARK RUSSELL

It’s a kung fu thriller set during the Ming Dynasty centred on a secret service agent – the keeper of the protective 14 blades – who must capture and return the royal seal by making alliances with questionable characters along the way. It has the magnificent Donnie Yen as the main star; the thinking man’s arse-kicker. And it throws everything into its action sequences; kung fu, swords, whips, even teleportation. But director-writer Daniel Lee lets himself down in the execution. CGI (and not particularly good CGI at that) is used heavily in many of the fight scenes, greatly diminishing their impact. The action seems to push from one plot point to the next without flowing smoothly (“I have done this, I will now do that HAHA!”) and, most crucially, the relationship between the core characters falls short from having the chemistry to make them truly believable and affecting. There are glimmers of character interaction that hint at a greater film – most notably between Yen and love interest Wei Zhou – but oft clunky dialogue dampers any real emotional connection. Which is a shame, because 14 Blades could have been a very entertaining and affecting flick, which the not-too-bad ending suggests. If you need a wellcrafted martial arts flick with a story, try the Yen-sporting Ip Man or Hero first. ALLAN SKO

This is a great film. The animation’s polished, the dialogue is witty and a good concept plays out through a solid structure. As with any animation (especially one featuring super-heroes) comparisons with Pixar are unavoidable. This was never going to be The Incredibles that’s an unfairly high bar to set. But <here comes the rant> its minor faults highlight the difference between Pixar’s productions, and all the Shreks, Madagascars, and every other pixel coming out of Dreamworks’ studios. I’m talking about the tacky and patronising need to pander to ‘the kids’ with totally unnecessary pop-culture references. This may seem harmless but I would bet the entire budget of this tent-pole flick that none came from writer or director. They smack of a nervous, interfering studio lacking faith in their strength of character (excuse the pun). Instead of believing in timeless themes/character or situationbased comedy, they date the film and break our immersion in the created world. Granted, in this instance it’s a long way from a fatal flaw, but it is fucking irritating. This aside, Megamind succeeds brilliantly and is a very enjoyable piece of cinema. MARK RUSSELL

top ten films

WITH MARK RUSSELL

2010 brought us a fair swag of quality. As well as those in the list below (at least partially designed to make my tastes seem broad), there are honourable mentions for The Town, Mother and Child, An Education and Up in the Air. These, as well as Animal Kingdom, Mother and Kick Ass, all feature particularly brilliant female performances, making it a year to sing it for the sistas. It was also the year the Best Picture category featured ten films (still creating the weakest crop for a decade), and the year an independent war drama beat out the highest grossing film ever. Despite all this, for me, it was the year Chris Nolan showed us you don’t need alternative source material to make great cinema. Yes, there is still originality in Hollywood, it’s just hidden in our dreams.

10. Mother

5. scott pilgrim vs the world Although the weakest of South Korean director Joon-ho Bong’s three internationally-released films, Mother still show-cases his great skill with character, comedy and suspense. Anchored by an infinitely-superb central performance from Hye-ja Kim, it ratchets up the tension step by step and delves into a fascinating study of humanity. Slowly we see the depths a mother will go, to clear her son when he’s accused of murder.

9. Kick Ass

The real indie hero of the year, this film subsequently managed the most dramatic ‘love it or hate it’ effect too. If you didn’t get it, you really didn’t get it with many of the <ahem> older set finding little charm in its comedy/ action stylings. But I couldn’t get enough. Michael Cera may be a one-trick pony, but it’s a helluv an endearing trick.

4. Fantastic Mr Fox What happens when normal citizens try to be superheroes? Not a gadget-happy billionaire but rather a kid whose only real power is a slightly impaired pain threshold. Kick Ass is funny, actionpacked and slicker than crude on a reef. It also created one of the great supporting characters in Hit Girl. This sharp-talking, ultra-violent little fiend worked her way into our hearts, and (in a more literal way) those of every henchman she met.

8. Animal Kingdom The best Australian film this year by far and the best Aussie gangster flick... pretty much ever. From the brilliantly twisted opening sequence, to the endlessly pitch-perfect performances, to the rich cinematography; Animal Kingdom gave it to us in spades. Jackie Weaver was a particular highlight as the criminal dynasty’s sinister matriarch but everyone brought their a-game.

7. Toy Story 3

This was the first film to really wow me in 2010 – chronologically at least. The ‘vintage’ look and Wes Anderson direction all pointed to a hipster’s wet dream. It’s supremely entertaining, the voice-casting is perfection, it does justice to the Roald Dahl source material and we’re left with a fun and oh-so-cool cinematic offering.

3. A Single Man Fashion metaphors are a little beyond me so I’ll just say that designer Tom Ford’s first foray into directing was, um, hot... Every frame is exquisite as he charts a sixties professor’s depression and loss after the death of his lover. The restraint is beautiful, both in the simple love of lines and in the 90-something-minute running time.

2. The Social network A yearly top ten wouldn’t be complete without a Pixar entry. The near-perfect-strike-rate studio hit it out of the park again, with a nostalgiapowered film that never once felt twee. The trilogy rounded out with flair, bringing closure to the epic adventures of Woody and Buzz. Some dark themes and real emotion proved once again that Pixar do it right – no condescension to the kiddies makes a great experience for all.

6. Brothers

Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher. That sentence (or fragment, as Microsoft Word’s wavy green line smugly states) is enough to make a man moist. One of the smartest writers paired with one of the most stylish directors – it was bound to be good. But The Social Network was much more. This film gave real meaning and drama to facebook (who would’ve expected that?). It’s also cemented Jesse Eisenberg as one of the great upcoming talents.

1. Inception Brothers gave me the biggest kick in the guts with a hundred minutes of emotional brutality. Each role was brilliantly drawn and acted, and gave us a new window into modern warfare. Don’t go looking for twists and turns in plot, this was a character piece, but what characters! Expect claw-marks in the armrest from the final act.

Number one with a mind-bending bullet. Inception gave us immense, epic action balanced by an incredibly complex plot and a wonderfully high-concept central idea. Christopher Nolan had dirty sex with our synapses through a heist film where our very thoughts are the bounty. The revolutionary idea of putting studio money behind a strong, original idea, shifted 2010’s cinema landscape. Fucking brilliant.

the word on dvds

OSS – Lost In Rio [Madman]

When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors [Eagle Vision]

OSS 117 is a series of French films and books centred on the fictional Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath. Created by Jean Bruce, these are the Gallic equivalents of James Bond in many respects – in fact the 117 spy denomination tag predates Bond’s 007 by a decade. Coincidence or conspiratorial skullduggery? Obviously the latter. Anyway, in the way that Austin Powers spoofed James Bond spy capers, so too does OSS 117 – Lost In Rio parody the original OSS 117 films; still with me? La Bath is a racist, sexist and thoroughly out of step spy who, much like Peter Sellers’ Inspector Clouseau, somehow manages to get the job done, blithely unaware of the path of carnage left in his trail. OSS 117 is sent to Brazil hot on the trail of justice-evading Nazis. A tasteless set up, you might think, but director Michel Hazanavicius manages to get in a few digs at his own country’s treatment of war criminals and the alleged fascistic tendencies of legendary French leader Charles de Gaulle. Indeed, it’s the scenes where de La Bath gets to exercise his blatant and casual colonial racism that are the most rewarding; the condescension of local Brazilians and a thoroughly out of control sub plot involving legions of Chinese assassins is definitely squirm-worthy – but when delivered with such stonyfaced, dead-eyed precision it’s not so easy to dismiss as attention seeking. Of course, asking for the location of Nazis on the lam at the German Embassy’s information desk is high farce, pure and simple. And whilst Dujardin is electric as de La Bath, the production design and cinematography is equally praiseworthy; it has that washed out, over lit, dusty film-stock, ‘60s era vibe down perfectly – thereby making the valid point that parody is more than retro costumes, funny accents and odious catchphrases.

Whenever The Doors appear in visual form, first thoughts often turn to the 1991 Oliver Stone bio-pic, followed by a roasting of the unpleasant kind. But I happen to think this movie is one of the most satisfying cinematic portrayals of any band, because it achieved a proper balance between a major 20th Century artist, namely Jim Morrison, and all the bullshit that goes along with mainstream devotion. The bullshit aspect was somehow dealt with by a rebellious youth who wrote many of the band’s greatest songs without any formal training, and whose alternative perspective on the world was channelled into compelling music and lyrics. Music documentaries of varying quality are all over the place these days, but Tom DiCillo’s superb doco is a winner on every count. DiCillo decided against the standard talking heads format, instead opting for a detailed sequential history of the band using original footage only, with thoughtful narration from Johnny Depp. The many incendiary bits of live footage reveal what an incredible experience it would have been to witness The Doors on stage, as well as the strange dichotomy that Jim Morrison raised between failed film student in the mid-’60s, and erotic poet of the counterculture with millions of records sold. DiCillo has done his research and takes us through early garage band days and subsequent success along with all the weirdness that rapid attention brings. But it seems The Doors were more interested in getting their message across through free creative expression – which is a good thing – rather than alienating themselves from a receptive audience with money and fame. Unfortunately it all turned to shit as Morrison became far more interested in hard liquor than poetry. But a commitment to the craft nevertheless remained which is made clear in this first-rate film.

justin hook

dan bigna

Food Inc. [Roadshow] As a carnivore I approached this with caution. Like most decent, right-thinking human beings I have a fair understanding of how the food that goes into my mouth gets there. I’m not an activist for any of the subgenres of sustainable farming, cooking or preparation – but I do know that if you treat animals like shit and you end up eating that animal, it’ll taste like shit. Food Inc. doesn’t set out to radicalise its audience. There are some shocking scenes of mistreatment and utterly despicable living conditions that farm animals must endure on their way to our plate. But as repellent as they are, it’s the tip of the iceberg. The worst stuff happens way behind closed doors. And I’d like to think Food Inc. is part of a larger movement to revaluate the amount of food we consume as well as its origin, but sadly this is a niche doco – one that plays well to those already engaged but drifting past the general populace; those watching Today Tonight to get updates on where to get the cheapest mince in their area. But I doubt they’ll ever see it. And I doubt they’d have any idea who talking heads Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) or the wonderful Michael Pollan actually are. Nor would they care about the appalling state of food patent laws that have subverted traditional seed farming. That’s the story of the modern industrial agricultural industry. Lax and unenforced standards, shocking treatment of animals, sick and fat consumers and corporations too big to bully. Amongst the despair and cavalcade of grief is some respite. Small scale farmers who attempt to minimise the agony. But it’s tinkering at the edges. The fact is we need to revaluate our food decisions – the what, how, where and why. Food Inc. is a good primer. JUSTIN HOOK

top ten TV

WITH JUSTIN HOOK AND ALLAN SKO

12 months ago we argued the small screen was attracting the best writers, directors and actors around. A year on, nothing has changed. If anything, it just keeps on getting better. Zombie drama The Walking Dead looks impressive, Mad Men fails to falter and the lavish Boardwalk Empire brings erstwhile fast-talker Martin Scorsese to HBO. Multi-casting has freed up our boxes to a whole raft of exceptional shows that wouldn’t get a look-in otherwise (Fringe, Community, et al). Add to that Conan’s new show on GEM as well as both Colbert/Stewart on ABC2 - all of which transmit hours after airing in the US - and you get the distinct feeling some of the programmers are paying attention. But of course, some shows deserve special homage. ..

Eastbound and Down – Series 1 [HBO/Warner Home Video]

The Tenth Inning [PBS, via Amazon and record high exchange rates]

I knew this was going to be a great show when MC5’s Miss X blasted within the first ten minutes. It set the tone perfectly; defiant, aggressive, blue collar and unrepentant. Danny McBride’s Kenny Powers is all these things and more – a tragic antihero. At a mere six episodes long, Eastbound and Down gets to the nub quickly, but it’s not rushed. It’s a finely paced story of redemption and hanging onto dreams – as ill-judged as they are. JUSTIN HOOK

Baseball, Ken Burns’ gargantuan 18-hour history of America’s Favourite Pastime (TM) remains the highest rating show on PBS. But that was 16 years ago and since then baseball has suffered some... troubles. Steroid abuse took down the sport’s biggest names under the compact approval of the authorities. Burns’ latest addition doesn’t match its predecessor – but for neophytes it’s an often gripping, introduction to an unfamiliar sport. And I usually hate sport. JUSTIN HOOK

Bored to Death – Series 1 [HBO/Warner Home Video]

Archer [FX-Fox 8]

Bored to Death is another example of a small scale show scoring week-in, week-out. Jonathan (Jason Schwartzman) is a struggling novelist recently dumped by his girlfriend. With no career ambitions – more content slouching around Park Slope with best friend (Zach Galifianakis) – it’s a tame set-up. But a side career as a private detective, an anarchic pot-obsessed Ted Danson and the Russian mafia make things get very silly, and very good, very quickly. JUSTIN HOOK

Adam Reed – the creator and writer of Archer – was also responsible for Frisky Dingo and Sealab 2010. If this means nothing to you then stop reading. Sterling Archer is a spy and fool. An oversexed, alcoholic, trigger happy fool. It’s an animated James Bond vs. The Office vs. Arrested Development. H. Jon Benjamin is stunning as the voice of Archer – antagonising anyone who crosses his path with an expert balance between smarm, braggadocio and stupidity. JUSTIN HOOK

Modern Family [Sony]

The Shield – SeRIES Seven [FX]

Yes, this isn’t the standard bearer for innovation. In fact, it conforms slavishly to the norms of sitcomland. Everyone does pretty much exactly what you’d expect them to (the gays flame, the South American is hot tempered, the father is an idiot etc) and the stories tie up neatly within 30 minutes. But within these confines, Modern Family works minor miracles. The characters are they key; they are believable, multi-dimensional and most importantly, funny. JUSTIN HOOK

The noose has been slowly tightening on Vic Mackey and his increasingly fractured Strike Team over seven seasons and in this, the finale, writer-creator Shawn Ryan lets the rope strain to breaking point. With moments worthy of Shakespearean tragedy, the writers perform an admirable and brave switch by brazenly turning the audience against Mackey. Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins (Shane Vendrell) provide some of the year’s most intense scenes. ALLAN SKO

John Adams [Warner Home Video]

Boardwalk Empire [HBO]

Never let it be said the Brits have a monopoly on fancy dress drama. John Adams is a sumptuous treat – visually compelling, dense plotting and austere delivery. It has a tendency to labour under the weight of its own importance but it’s a small price to pay for wig-bearing Paul Giammatti chewing through scenery and Laura Linney being simply awesome. Best production design this side of Deadwood, which is saying quite a bit. Cocksucker. JUSTIN HOOK

Whilst not near the lofty heights of Terence Winter’s former work on The Sopranos (but what is, right?) BE still succeeds as a fascinating piece on how corruption and crime fuels society, in this case sumptuous looking ‘20s Atlantic City. Steve Buscemi steps from the shadows of support to main star, with typical aplomb. Stephen Graham’s Al Capone is excellent, but Michael Pitt as the complex Jimmy Darmody is the show’s heart. Even Omar from The Wire is in it! ALLAN SKO

Community [Sony/Universal]

Sons of Anarchy [FX]

Like Modern Family, Community appears to be a standard sitcom set up – a bunch of misfits drawn together at community college ironing out their differences in 22 minutes. And the first few episodes seemed standard. But then something happened and it became one of the smartest, self-aware, self-mocking, meta-comedies on TV. S2 which has just started raises the bar even further. JUSTIN HOOK

The Shield ‘s Kurt Sutter took the grit, crime and power struggles of the LAPD to the biker’s world; with excellent results. While a little ham-fisted and sensationalised to start with, the show soon relaxed into a groove and focused more on the relationships between – and motivation of – the characters, all of whom are forever split between what’s right, and what’s right for “the club”. Compulsive viewing. ALLAN SKO

the word

You Am I / Cabins / Hancock Basement The Maram Wednesday November 24

on gigs

There is so much affection and warmth felt at a You Am I gig, even hours before the band clamber up on stage. Witness the direct beelines from the entrance to the merchandise table. Overhear the eager debates over albums, the swapping of gig stories and enthusiastic retellings of favourite Timmy Rogers moments. An assortment of ages and fans (from casual listeners to the ever-loyal ‘Hourly, Daily changed my life at age 13’ types) slowly made their way into The Maram on a balmy Wednesday night. Despite playing to an initially small, timid crowd, local favourites Hancock Basement instantly impressed with engaging tunes and stage presence. The band proved to be a perfect opening for the night, demonstrating solid pop sensibilities through sleek guitar riffs, group harmonies and swags of charm. Moving away from slick pop hooks was second act Cabins, drenching the room with their sludgy sound. Treading the same murky waters as Blood Red Riverera Scientists, the band boasted a concoction of swamp-rock and muddy blues, and even threw in a slightly sinister cover of Edwyn Collins’ sleazy hit, A Girl Like You. After a rather long break between bands, You Am I finally sashayed on stage. Wasting no time they jumped straight into their songs off their latest self-titled album, churning out Crime, We Hardly Knew You and Shuck, before sinking into Someone Else’s Home from their classic Hourly, Daily. The new material translated extremely well live, with new songs injected with a good dose of furious energy which shimmered alongside older staples. Despite the absence of guest female vocalists for Lie And Face The Sun and single Trigger Finger, guitarist Davey (oh Davey...) Lane’s vocals provided a good substitute. A change of pace was signalled by the brand new Pinpricks, a brutally fast and sharp song that boasts the brilliant refrain of “I wanna kiss her ‘coz she smiles like David Johansen” and a super catchy riff. The band continued with louder songs, including that thick, thick bass line that is Coprolalia from their debut Sound As Ever, as well as latest sonic sprawl, The Ocean. Rummaging through their back catalogue, the majority of their albums were well represented, and all sorts of delights were dug up including #4 Record’s Plans and the stripped down Damage from Dress Me Slowly. Onstage, Rogers exuded a state lodged in between total control and slipping off the edge; all part of his charm and magnetic pull. It was visible in his confident strut, the mad glint in those azure eyes, every swig from the bottle of wine (the prop of choice), even in the ensemble of a structured purple blazer paired with half-buttoned black shirt and tight, ripped flared pants. He hammed up every windmill, pouted his lips, shimmied those arms, even danced over mid-song and persistently tried to rearrange Lane’s hair by fluffing up the fringe. Oh and you know, those vocals are just getting better. With tongues firmly in cheeks, that infamous banter between songs was simultaneously playful and seedy, with a feisty Rogers ever ready to spit out a quotable line to audience heckling; “When can we touch you, Tim?” “Give me three grams of coke and you can touch anything you like.” “I only have two grams!” “Ok, yeah. You can touch my cock.” PHOTOS: SAINI COPP

Crude comments aside, the show’s atmosphere was comfortably intimate. The room was filled with bodies and smitten sing-alongs, doeeyed. Closing the set with the much loved Purple Sneakers, the band swaggered offstage before shortly returning for the inevitable encore, winding up with Minor Byrd, Mr Milk, Piano Up The Tree and Trike. CHIARA GRASSIA

Andrew Mayo

5 Moments in 2010

Pyramid Rock festival, Phillip Island, New Year’s Eve 2009

soulfly at ANU Bar, September 11

The Dead weather at anu bar, march 30

The Drones backstage at Pyramid Rock Festival, Phillip Island, New Year’s Eve 2009

Joel O’Keeffe, Airbourne at Stonefest, UC, October 30

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

RAGE: Mutant Bash TV Developer: id Software Platforms: iOS, Android Length: 1 hr Rating: Worth trying Whilst we’re left to wait another year until Carmack’s next major efforts hit our shelves, for now we’re given its handheld counterpart, RAGE: Mutant Bash TV. The first thing to hit you about this game is how technically accomplished it is. Rage takes it up another notch by featuring a previously unseen level of detail, ignoring Epic’s Citadel’s efforts that is. Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn’t keep to the same high standard. Essentially, there are two enemy types (with some variants) and two weapons, ignoring the stock-standard unlimited handgun. As you would expect, this doesn’t lend itself to much variation, especially when you also consider there are only four levels, each of which aren’t particularly long nor diverse. The final gameplay nail in the coffin is the lack of any game centre support. Whereas the inclusion of a leaderboard would have made the shortness of the levels an advantage by allowing one to master them, instead in its absence there’s very little incentive to try them again. That said, the game is still only a buck or two and for that cost it’s still worth picking up and having a play. Just don’t make the same mistake I did and expect to get more than about an hour’s worth of play out of it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Developer: Treyarch Platform: PC, PS3, 360 Length: 5-10 hrs Rating: Worth trying Having Modern Warfare as your predecessor is both a blessing and a curse. Throughout playing Black Ops, I couldn’t help but draw comparison between the two, noting its many inferiorities. In return Black Ops no doubt gets to reap the financial benefits of being associated with such classics, but that doesn’t stop this from being a slightly disappointing affair. The game feels rushed. Many aspects are unrefined, including scenery that looks so coarse it distracts from the action taking place, which is saying a lot given just how over the top it is. Whereas Modern Warfare felt like a Hollywood blockbuster, this feels like Michael Bay on crack. You fly helicopters and fighter jets, man tanks and trucks, ride bikes and scuba dive. And just when you think you’re done, the game finishes with the corniest, pro-American endings you’ve seen. What with not having ADHD, I just found all of it a little too much. Despite its rushed efforts though, Black Ops still plays better than the majority of first person shooters out there. When you also consider its as-usual, top notch multiplayer, along with ability to play as a smooth talking JFK against a horde of ghoulish zombies, it’s still worth the ticket price. TORBEN SKO

As the party season ramps up, the last thing to worry about while you’re sipping your sixth chocolate martini is whether you remembered to record the 21st repeat of Big Bang Theory (Go!, Thu, 8.30pm) with the napkin signed by Leonard Nimoy. Fortunately there’s a myriad of places to source them. If you just want to see what happened and don’t care about getting a whole episode at once or the quality there’s always YouTube. ABC’s iView has been providing short term access to streams of aunty’s popular programs for a couple of years now (abc.net.au/iview) as well as downloadable podcasts of its own shows such as this year’s best new Aussie show, Rake (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm). The SBS folks also post some of their programs (player.sbs.com.au). SCTEN has streams of some of its shows on its site (ten.com.au) as does WIN on its TVfix site (fixplay.ninemsn.com.au) along with shows such as Mad Men and Dr Who that have aired on other networks. Seven does the same (au.tv.yahoo.com/plus7). So if you don’t have internet on the telly yet, send Santa a letter just like Blackbox did. After all lying on the couch is the way the box was meant to be watched. The extra channels mean this year’s Santa Watch is about to go into overdrive with cartoons for kids and adults alike such as American Dad (Prime, Wed Dec 15, 9pm), The Flintstones, Yogi’s First Christmas, Caper’s First Christmas, Looney Tunes Christmas Tales (Go!, Sat Dec 25, from 9.30), and South Park (Go!, Sat Dec 25, 10.25pm). Those with the Christmas spirit will love Merry Christmas, Mr Bean (ABC2, Thu Dec 23, 9.30pm), Xtras: Xmas 2007 Special (ABC2, Sat Dec 25, 10pm), A Very Specky Christmas (ABC1, Fri Dec 24, 8.30pm and Sat Dec 25, 10am), Catherine Tate: Nan’s Christmas Card (ABC2, Fri Dec 24, 9.30pm), The Vicar of Dibley (Prime, Sun Dec 12, 6.30pm), Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (7TWO, Mon Dec 13, 7pm), To the Manor Born (7TWO, Tue Dec 14, 7pm), Are You Being Served? (7TWO, Wed Dec 15, 7.30pm), Seinfeld (Go!, Tue Dec 21, 8pm), Bewitched, Married with Children, Just Shoot Me and The Dukes of Hazzard (Go!, Sat Dec 25, from 2pm) and Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat Dec 25, 7.30pm). The traditionalists haven’t been forgotten with Carols from St Mary’s Cathedral (ABC1, Fri Dec 24, 7.30pm), The Queen’s Christmas Message (ABC1, Sat Dec 25, 7.20pm), The Pope’s Christmas Mass (Sat Dec 25, 11am), Carols in the Domain (Prime, Sat Dec 18, 8.30pm) and It’s a Wonderful Life (ABC1, Sat Dec 18, 8.30pm). If you’re looking for entertainment while you wrap Auntie Marge’s gift basket there are a plethora of Christmas movies such as Deck the Halls (Go!, Fri Dec 24, 7pm) and Bad Santa (Go!, Fri Dec 24, 9pm) or the food oriented Willie’s Perfect Chocolate Christmas (ABC1, Mon Dec 27, 9.35pm) and Heston Blumenthal’s Perfect Christmas (ABC2, Sun Dec 12, 6pm). Don’t miss Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (ABC1, Sun Dec 26, 7.30pm), fast-tracked from the UK, The Whitlams and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (ABC2, Sun Dec 12, 7.30pm) and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights (ABC2, Fri Dec 17, 8.30pm). If you’re over Santa, there’s always the cricket – Boxing Day Test (WIN / GEM, Sun Dec 26, 10.30am), Pete Helliar’s new quiz show The Trophy Room (ABC1, Wed, 8.30pm) or the movies – let Margaret and David tell you how – At the Movies Summer Special (ABC1, Sun Dec 14, 6pm). TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

GIG GUIDE Dec 08 - Dec 11 wednesday december 08 Arts Close Up

An exhibition by Martin Schoeller. ‘Til Feb 13. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Space Invaders

Australian street art, stencils, posters, paste-ups, zines, stickers. ‘Til Feb 27. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Exhibition - Textiles

Exhibition by Liz Williamson, a Living Treasures – Master of Australian Craft. ‘Til Dec 18. CRAFT ACT

Cream

Top UC projects in architecture, graphic design, industrial design and landscape architecture. GALLERY OF AUSTRALIAN DESIGN

Yiwarra Kuju - The Canning Stock Route

Groundbreaking exhibition tells the story of the Route’s impact on Aboriginal people. ‘Til Jan 26. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA

Live Hippo Live

HIPPO LOUNGE

The Blonde Sessions 7pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

Rapskallion

With Mt Fibby. A doube bill to die for! THE PHOENIX PUB

Rock Nation Unplugged 8pm, free.

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Something Different Fame Trivia

Dance Open Decks 8pm.

LOT 33

Mingle

Feat. Nina Las Vegas (Syd). TRINITY BAR

friday december 10 Arts What Are You?

Bookings phone 6247 3150. $18/$14 on the door.

Afternoon Matinee

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

A surprising, captivating and controversial exhibition by urban Indigenous artists. ‘Til late Jan.

With Mo Lopez.

Funkin Gonutz

With Buick, Ravs and Jemist. KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

uniVibes Thursdays

proppaNOW

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Soul Be In It

Come North With Me Baby, Wow tour, with Guineafowl and Magnetic Heads. $12+BF through Moshtix.

New soul and funk night for the people!

Domus Adultus

An epic night of party mayhem.

TRANSIT BAR

Monkey Bar Third Birthday Party

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Comedy The Austen Tayshus Comedy Club

Introducing some of the finest emerging comedy talent in the country. Three comedians every night. CASINO CANBERRA

TRANSIT BAR

Bang Gang 12 Inches Party Feat. Jaime Doom (Syd).

TRINITY BAR

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

TyDi & Marlo

4Sound Sessions: Breaks, Glitch, Dubstep

LOT 33

Feat. Tiefschwarz (Germany).

6-9pm.

Foreplay Friday

Ungus Ungus Ungus

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

THE PHOENIX PUB

Roll Up, Plug In And Play

DJ Schmee-J, Tim Galvin, LYLT, B-tham. $10, 10pm.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Dusty Grooves

Progressive funk, rock, pop, psychedelia. Open mic night. 8pm, free.

LOT 33

Ash Grunwald

With Jemist.

With special guests James Fahy Trio. Tix $20+bf though Moshtix.

HIPPO LOUNGE

Chicago Charles

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

With Ashley Feraude.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Afternoon Matinee With Ced Nada.

THE BASEMENT

7pm.

Feat. Gloves (Melb), supported by Cha Cha Char, Get Stellar, Princi, Staky and more. Free.

The Bridge Between Duo

THE PHOENIX PUB

Give or Take

Trivia Night

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

Party By Jake Presents Heartbeat

MONKEY BAR

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Ungus Ungus Ungus, Rafe Morris and Them as Well.

Do you know lots of stuff about nothing? Then why not try your hand at Trivia every Wednesday. 6pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

Belles Will Ring

Your weekly alternative party. DJs spin indie, rock, electro, grunge, punk tracks all night. $5.

2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Live

Funky Fedoras

Arts

2pm.

Dance

Fame Trivia

thursday december 09

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

Dance

CANBERRA SERVICES CLUB, MANUKA

THE PHOENIX PUB

Arts

ITRIP ISKIP

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

saturday december 11

THE CLUBHOUSE

The Rascals

Presented by Overheard Productions. 7.30pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

7pm.

“Hand forged frippery” including rings, necklaces and brooches. 6pm.

Late Night

Trivia

Foam Party

The Forgery Jewellery Launch

The Clubhouse is now open three nights a week. Providing your alternative music needs.

9pm-midnight.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Something Different

HIPPO LOUNGE

7-10pm.

Ekklesia (Qld)

With The Dead Will Tell (South Africa), Tortured and Never Trust A Bunny.

Special K

10.30pm-2.30am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Chicago Charlie 9-12am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

CC The Cat

Gold Coast/Byron Bay hard-working reggae rockers are back on the road. With Beth n Ben. 7.30pm, $12. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Rev

BAR 32

Live Double Happiness

Every Friday from 5pm ‘til late. Head to the Facebook page Double Happiness @ OPH for all the info. OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE

Queen Juanita and the Rockabilly Cowboys 8pm, free.

QUENBEYAN BOWLING CLUB

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

With Pedro, Jerry, B-tham. $10 at 10pm.

One Love

With Mario Gordon. HIPPO LOUNGE

Jemist

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live My Sweet Disposition

With Troy Henderson and Matt Dent. THE PHOENIX PUB

Break Out!

Feat. No Assumption, The Unnamed, La Vida and Resistance. $5, 6-10pm. WODEN YOUTH CENTRE

The Poor

With Tonk and Black Rebel. Tix through Moshtix. THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Oscar

10.30pm-2.30am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Hank Sinatra & The Overtones 1-3pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Skipping Girl Vinegar

Christmas show, supported by the magnificent local gypsy pop collective, Lady Grey.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

With Topnovil, All In Brawl.

Rumjack

Viagro

THE BASEMENT

Oscar

Three On The Tree

10.30pm-2.30am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Karaoke

Charles Chatain

CHISHOLM TAVERN

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

8.30pm.

Karaoke

10pm-2am.

HELLENIC CLUB IN THE CITY

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

THE STREET THEATRE

10pm-2am.

9pm–12am.

Every Thursday from 8pm.

Candy Cube

The Remnants

Something Different

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

TRINITY BAR

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Laura Jean and Jenny Hval

Expect a night of fantastical tales and ethereal music. 8pm. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The Remnants

Something Different

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

FasterLouder Christmas Party

Roller Derby: Lord of the Rink The Two Towers

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

AIS ARENA

Evan & The Brave, Cracked Actor and The Love Recession. 7pm, free.

Sydney City Assassins vs Canberra’s Vice City Rollers. Tix through Ticketek.

GIG GUIDE Dec 12 - Dec 19 sunday december 12 Arts What Are You?

Bookings phone 6247 3150. $18/$14 on the door. GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+) 2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Dance Mooseheads Pool Party

DJs, BBQ, giveaways and more. CIVIC POOL

Round Table Knights Made To Play Spenda C (Steve Lind) and Bounce Crew DJs (Syd). TRINITY BAR

Cube Sunday

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

monday december 13 Arts The Adam Hole & Marji Curran Band

Red Album launch, with The Lavers Brothers. 2-5pm. CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson

Harmonic Generator (France)

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

THE BASEMENT

Launching their debut CD Beauty ‘n’ the Beast. Tix $10 at the door.

Rock Nation Unplugged

Roll Up, Plug In And Play

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

8pm, free.

The uproarious Melbourne gypsy crew kick off their summer tour at The Front. 7.30pm.

friday december 17

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

dance

Something Different

Latin Kaos

Fame Trivia / $5 Night

Fire up your brain and test your knowledge. TRANSIT BAR

thursday december 16 Arts Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

X-Mas party, live band. MONKEY BAR

saturday december 18 Arts Arc: Please Give (2010, M) 4.30pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Dance 4Sound Presents Sam Scratch & Kraymer Supported by B-tham, Cheeky Zizz, Kimosabi. $10, 10pm.

MOS Annual 2011 Tour

LOT 33

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Foreplay Friday

Feat. Princi, Celebrity Sex Tape, Get Stellar.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Candy Cube

Feat. Hook N Sling. Presales on now.

Party By Jake

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

TRINITY BAR

Lot Fridays

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

B-tham, Bobby Rush, Team Wing and more. $10 at 10pm.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Low Freqz

Sam La More (Syd)

With Jemist, Faux Real, Remedy and Ced Nada.

Arc: I’m Still Here (MA15+)

Cheese (‘80s/Retro)

Pang! Presents DJ Antentition

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

TRANSIT BAR

7pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

LOT 33

TRINITY BAR

HIPPO LOUNGE

Canberra’s premier night of all things tacky and awesome.

TRANSIT BAR

Arc: Please Give (2010, M)

Afternoon Matinee

Urban Playground

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

2pm.

7pm.

Dance

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB JAMISON

Open Decks

Emma Bosel

LOT 33

1-3pm.

Open mic night. 8pm, free.

The Woohoo Revue

The Bridge Between Band 1-4pm.

With The Heroines and Spasticardo. 9pm, $10.

8pm.

With Heanalobos.

Des Shore

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm.

Rev

MONKEY BAR

Your weekly indie/alt dance party. $5. BAR 32

Live

Late Night

Priory Dolls

With Frankie.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

With Hoodlum Shouts and Haunted Attics.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Mingle

Live

THE PHOENIX PUB

Bootlegs

TRINITY BAR

The Hatty Fatners

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Duncan Sargeant, Magic Rob, Super Manly Awesome Guys, Changeable Dan.

Dcup (Syd).

Heuristic

Afternoon Matinee

A Jackfoot band from Newcastle. What is Jackfoot? Come and see the show to find out! 8pm.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Over-Reactor

1-3pm.

Soul Train & Lounge Affair

THE PHOENIX PUB

HIPPO LOUNGE

Something Different

With Des Shore.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Late Night

With Scaramouche. Tix through Moshtix.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Effigy Entertainment Final 2010 Show

Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds For the weekend worker - come and unwind with some Monday night fun. TRANSIT BAR

tuesday december 14 comedy Comedy Night

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Something Different Karaoke Love Competition

Love singing? Love competing? Come get involved with our brand new competition and win things. TRANSIT BAR

wednesday december 15 Arts Phil Moriaty Band THE PHOENIX PUB

The Blonde Sessions 7pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

Hippo Live

HIPPO LOUNGE

With D’Opus.

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Live

Feat. Jerome Isma-Ae (GER), Jaytech and JML. Doors at 8pm, $15 on the door.

Sidney Creswick

Full of surprises, groovy tunes and foot stomping action, combining a mix of folk, soul and fun. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Cloud Control

Supported by Cat Cat. Tickets $18+BF through Mosthix. TRANSIT BAR

The Bridge Between Duo 6-9pm.

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Domus Adultus

Beth n Ben and The Hatty Fatners. THE PHOENIX PUB

Annie & Michael

Lounge music from 7-10pm. THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

Linkin Park

A Thousand Suns world tour. Tix on sale now through Ticketek. AIS ARENA

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

Get Me Outta Here Festival

HIPPO LOUNGE

Something Like This

10.30pm-2.30am.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Fred Pilcher THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

The Jetson 5 7-10pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Tortured

With Hate Disciple (Qld), Frostbite and Daemon Feotal Harvest. THE BASEMENT

10pm-2am.

Something Different

Harbingers of Storm Tour

Karaoke Love Competition

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Feat. Ignite the Ibex, Alice Through the Windshield Glass and Elysian. THE BASEMENT

Tranquil Deception

With Mornings and Spasticardo. 9pm, free.

Love singing? Love competing? Come get involved with our brand new competition and win things. TRANSIT BAR

sunday december 19

POT BELLY BAR

Charles Chatain

Arts

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Arc: Chloe (2009, MA 15+)

8.30pm.

Groovalicious

HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON

Friday Night Acoustic Series

With Kevin Bennett, The Wedded Bliss. 8pm, free. HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

4.30pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Dance Bass Kleph (Syd)

With DJ PP (Uruguay). TRINITY BAR

Cube Sunday

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

GIG GUIDE Dec 19 - Dec 24 sunday december 19

tuesday december 21

live

something different

Sunday Sessions On The Deck

Karaoke Love Competition

With DeeJay Gosper. 2pm, free. CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Sunday Best

With Lemvis. 5-7pm, free.

Love singing? Love competing? Come get involved with our brand new competition and win things. TRANSIT BAR

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Mother and Son

With The Fighting League. THE PHOENIX PUB

Timbuck 2 5pm.

ALL BAR NUN

Irish Jam Session

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

The Night Cafe 1-3pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

monday december 20 something different Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds

For the weekend worker - come and unwind with some Monday night fun. TRANSIT BAR

wednesday december 22

Dance

Open Mic Night

Open Decks

POT BELLY BAR

8pm.

LOT 33

Mingle

Special Thursday Rev

Karaoke

Xmas comes early this year at Canberra’s weekly indie/alt dance party. $5.

Afternoon Matinee

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Something Different Fame Trivia / $5 Night

Fire up your brain and test your knowledge. TRANSIT BAR

thursday december 23 Arts Arc: Die Hard (1988, M)

7pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

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

BAR 32

The Blonde Sessions

HIPPO LOUNGE

TRANSIT BAR

Something Different

TRINITY BAR

Skywalker

Hippo Live

Local Band Night

Cassian (Syd).

live 7pm, free.

9pm, free.

friday december 24

HIPPO LOUNGE

With Ced Nada.

Late Night With Jemist.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live Cell Block 69

Rocking the rock out of the rockers. Tix $15+BF through Ticketek. ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

The Bridge Between Duo 6-9pm.

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Chicago Charles 9pm-midnight.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Arc: Please Give (2010, M) 2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Ariel

dance Ajax

The dance legends do what they do best on Christmas eve. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Foreplay Friday

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

X-mas Eve With fRew

Supported by B-tham, Oli Y, Hartattack, Pedro. $10 at 8pm. LOT 33

Xmas Eve

Ajax Sweat It Out (Syd). TRINITY BAR

Mooseheads Christmas Party Party on the eve of Christmas. MOOSEHEADS PUB

Yacht Rock

Sail on the seas of smooth. Boat wear necessary. From 7pm. KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

7-10pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

GIG GUIDE Dec 24 - Jan 07 friday december 24

tuesday december 28

live

something different

B Natural

Karaoke Love: Christmas Karaoke

4-7pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Xmas Evil

With Tranquil Deception and Never Trust A Bunny. THE BASEMENT

Groovalicious

TRADIES CLUB, DICKSON

sunday december 26

TRANSIT BAR

thursday december 30

2pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

7pm.

LOT 33

The Bridge Between Duo 6-9pm.

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

New Year’s Eve in the City CIVIC SQUARE

9pm-midnight.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

saturday january 01 dance Candy Cube

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

Something Different

Urban Playground

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Karaoke

Sunday Best

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Live

5-7pm, free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Irish Jam Session

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

monday december 27 dance Shenanigans III

With Oli Y, B-tham, Tim Galvin, Kazuki. $10 at 8pm. LOT 33

friday december 31 dance New Year’s Eve Latin Beach Party

MONKEY BAR

9-12am.

CASINO CANBERRA

NYE Black White & Pink Party

With B-tham, Oli Y, Hartattack, DJ Loki. $10 at 8pm.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

wednesday january 05 live The Blonde Sessions

thursday january 06 dance Jemist

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Open Decks 8pm.

LOT 33

Live The Bridge Between Duo 6-9pm.

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

Emma Bosel 7-10pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

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

friday january 07

sunday january 02 dance

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. $25 at the door.

5-7pm, free.

Karaoke

The Bridge Between Band

Canberra’s best Latin party hits NYE. Doors open 7.30, free before 9pm. MONKEY BAR

Sunday Best

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB WODEN

POT BELLY BAR

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

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

9-1am.

2pm, free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

2pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm.

Sunday Sessions On the Deck

The Bridge Between Duo

Open Decks 8pm.

Live

7pm, free.

Live

New Year’s Eve With Funky Fedoras

Cube Sunday Live

Glow the night away.

Dance

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

TRANSIT BAR

The Whitlams

Will Styles, The Aston Shuffle, Offtapia, Shifty Business, Dept Of Defiance, Ben Colin and Princi. 10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ.

Soundtrap NYE

MOOSEHEADS PUB

Live

TRINITY BAR

With Oli Y, Bobby Rush, Hartattack. $10 at 10pm.

Arc: I, Don Giovanni (2009, M)

Arc: Die Hard II: Die Harder (1990, M)

Boxing Day

NYE @ LOT 33

NYE UV Party

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Dance

GAREMA PLACE

Arts

Arc: I, Don Giovanni (2009, M)

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Top local DJs counting down to midnight, with a pyrotechnic display to top off the night. 9pm.

LOT 33

Arts

Doors open 7pm.

New Year’s Eve in the City

Shenanigans IV LOT 33

dance Ashley Feraude

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Foreplay Friday

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

Cube Sunday

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

$10 at 10PM

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ.

Lot Fridays LOT 33

GIG GUIDE Jan 07 - Jan 19 friday january 07 dance

Mike Chaplain THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

monday january 10

Rev

Your weekly indie/alt dance party. $5. BAR 32

Buick’s Funk & Breaks TRANSIT BAR

Live

something different Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds

For the weekend worker - come and unwind with some Monday night fun. TRANSIT BAR

The Bridge Between Band

tuesday january 11

12-2.30pm.

GAREMA PLACE

The Bridge Between Duo 5-7.30pm.

THE FELLOWS BAR, ANU

Charles Chatain 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

friday january 07

live Brillig

Groovalicious saturday january 08

Arts Arc: Outdoor Screenings

‘80s cinema under the stars! Something Wild (M). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start. ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Dance Urban Playground

TRANSIT BAR

Foreplay Friday

Live

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Anno Domini

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

Touch Of Soul

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

HIPPO LOUNGE

Something Different

Groovin’ in the City Indie Music Week

Rev

Your weekly indie/alt dance party. $5.

Carry On Karaoke

Something Different Karaoke Love Competition

Love singing? Love competing? Come get involved with our brand new competition and win things. TRANSIT BAR

wednesday january 12 live The Blonde Sessions 7pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

Groovin’ in the City Indie Music Week

dance

The Naddiks

Cube Sunday

GAREMA PLACE

With Souldcrusher and Taliesin. Tix through Moshtix. THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

sunday january 09 dance Cube Sunday

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

dance

8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Open Decks 8pm.

LOT 33

Skywalker

HIPPO LOUNGE

Live Groovin’ in the City Indie Music Week

Sunday Sessions On The Deck

Something Different

Sunday Best 5-7pm, free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Sunday Best

saturday january 15

5-7pm, free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

live

Bootlegs

The 9th Octave, Drew Walky, Hunting Dogs, Jacquie Nicole.

‘80s cinema under the stars! Footloose (M). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Hospitality: Nurse Your Wounds

Yep. It comes with a warning. ‘This show may contain traces of nuts’. Nyuk nyuk. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Dance Urban Playground

TRANSIT BAR

wednesday january 19 live

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm. MONKEY BAR

For the weekend worker - come and unwind with some Monday night fun.

The Blonde Sessions 7pm, free.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

The Heroines. Noon-2pm.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

live

Des Shore

Live 2pm, free.

monday january 17

Dos Locos

Puppetry of the Penis

thursday january 13

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

Something Different

LOT 33

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ.

With ZZG, The Flat Earth Confederacy. Tix through Mosthix.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

TRANSIT BAR

sunday january 16

Riley and Sam Catherall. Noon-2pm.

Comedy

Fire up your brain and test your knowledge.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Live

GAREMA PLACE

Fame Trivia / $5 Night

Warm up your vocal cords and get ready to sing from 9pm.

BAR 32

Velvette. Noon-2pm.

HIPPO LOUNGE

THE MARAM, ERINDALE CENTRE

LOT 33

Candy Cube

Kill For Satan

With Hellbringer Immorium, Teratornis. Tix through Moshtix.

Lot Fridays

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live

Vinyl Only

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

ARC OUTDOOR CINEMA

B-tham, Team Wing and 8 more DJs. $10 at 10pm.

Cheese

Faux Real

Groovin’ in the City Indie Music Week

4Sound Battle of the Locals

LOT 33

HIPPO LOUNGE

D’Opus

TRINITY BAR

3 hour set. With Oli Y and more. $10 at 10pm.

Dance

Arc: Outdoor Screenings

With Riva Starr (Italy). Day show.

B-tham

QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

With Ben Marsden Trio.

Sebastien Leger (France)

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Yep. It comes with a warning. ‘This show may contain traces of nuts’. Nyuk nyuk. Tix: theq.net.au .

Hippo Live

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete.

Puppetry of the Penis

RnB, hip-hop, oldskool, anthems every Saturday night. 10pm. MONKEY BAR

Candy Cube

comedy

$10 at 10PM

GAREMA PLACE

HELLENIC CLUB

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Combining sea shanties, murder ballads, tender tales of lost love and lost life. 7.30pm.

West of the Sun. Noon-2pm.

live

Jemist

friday january 14

1-3pm.

GAREMA PLACE

OUT JAN 19

paul kelly grinderman pnau ratatat

Karaoke

freestylers

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

...and more!

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

FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA DJ profile

THE WHOLE SHEBANG Where did your band name come from? Nowhere special, just thought it would be a cool name to call a group. Group members: Carts2deadly (vocals), The Chippewa Chief Rocker Axe Aklins (vocals) and DJ Goldfinger. Describe your sound: Native tongues over tribal drums. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Musically: Koolism, Bob Marley, DITC and Rodney P to name a few. Otherwise: anyone with the courage to stand up for what they believe in. What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? A friend tried to throw us cans of beer one night, which was a nice thought if we would have known they were coming. So you can imagine our surprise when we were struck in the head by flying cans of beer. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Opening for Percee P at Transit last month. He is someone we have looked up to since we were young fellas, and to get the chance to open for him was a real highlight in our musical careers. What are your plans for the future? We are looking to drop our first release in the New Year titled Spiritual Offence. Then hopefully following that up with a second release in the latter half of 2011. What makes you laugh? I was looking online for photos from the Percee P gig and came across people asking who the hell The Whole Shebang is. Jemist (DJ and promoter of the event) said it’s Axe Aklins, Carts2deadly and DJ Goldfinger. A girl responded “more like Carts2dreamy!” I laughed about that for a good hour, haha. What pisses you off? Not a lot. What’s your opinion of the local scene? A lot of good artists on the grind like Convict, Alikeminds, Gee-wiz and Ro and D’o, all making good music and just wanting it to be heard by the people. What are your upcoming gigs? We’ll be doing gigs in the New Year. Hopefully an album launch at Transit and we might do a free gig at the Queanbeyan Youth Centre for the folks in our hometown. Contact info: WSB.booking@hotmail.com

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