BMA Mag 313 30 Oct 2008

THREE13 October 30.08

BIGGER THAN KYLIE MINOGUE?!?

YOU AM I

THE PANICS

THE GETAWAY PLAN

XAVIER RUDD

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FREE STUFF celebrating its birthday – the big five-o. To mark this milestone in candy history, Chupa Chups will create laneways in Melbourne and Sydney that are to be dubbed ‘Chupa Chups Lane’. You can help celebrate their 50th by getting your own luscious lips around one of these royal sweets. We have two big tubs to give away, so to get your hands on one tell us what are Australia’s two most popular flavours?

Oh-oh, Spaghetti-O! Sukiyaki Western Django is a classic spaghetti western film combined with a Japanese genre and BMA has three copies that you can get your hands on. The movie follows two clans clashing after the Genipei War several hundred years ago, and it’s an

What a Bloody Pyker Not content with the spoils of his debut ARIA Award-winning LP Memories & Dust, Josh Pyke has returned with his sophomore effort Chimney’s Afire, and in doing so has cemented his reputation as one of Australia’s most compelling singer/songwriters. Chimney’s Afire is the cry whalers would make when they harpooned a whale and a plume of blood and water spurted out of its blowhole into the air. “It’s a horrifying, brutal image, but the actual language is evocative and quite amazing,” Pyke says of the phrase’s influence upon his new album. While sales of Chimney’s Afire in Japan are expected to dwarf those of any other Australian album released there, Pyke’s honing of melody, quirky song structuring and lyrical intrigue since Memories & Dust has made his new 'un a critically acclaimed success domestically also. We’ve got three copies of the album to give away to any wouldbe seafarers. To grab one, tell us the highest position that one of Pyke’s songs has made it into on triple j’s Hottest 100.

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Bunch of Suckers 1958 was the beginning of one of the biggest revolutions in lollipop history, when a Spanish confectionary pioneer, Eric Bernat, decided he wanted to create a ‘sweet on a fork’. The result of this Einstein-like vision was the famous Chupa Chup, known across the world today.

While originally there were only seven flavours of Chupa Chup, the delectable range gradually grew to a whopping 127 flavours that are sucked and gobbled by tongues and cheeks on every continent on the globe. Towards the mid-'90s Chupa Chups even sent out a request to cosmonauts at the Mir Space Station and they became the first lollipop sent to space. And now Chupa Chups is

epic tale involving dirty tricks, betrayal, blood, love and greed.

Takashi Miike, the director of Ichi the Killer and Children of the Lost Souls, wrote and directed this movie. Said to be one of his wildest films yet, this cultbeckoning movie is made up with beautifully colourful production

and carefully constructed cinematography. So if you’ve been hanging out for some astonishing and exciting fight scenes, or maybe just like the tasty sound of a spaghetti western film, then get your free copy by telling us whether you anticipate Sukiyaki Western Django to be a historically accurate film.

Break Down My Shitty Wall!

Mongol is a stunning historical movie that depicts the early years of Genghis Khan, a fearless and inspiring leader who united the many groups in Mongolia.

Focussing on the development of this amazing man and the relationship with his wife, this movie incorporates beautiful landscapes, shockingly stark battle scenes and an astonishing story line of triumph, love, and survival. Like Bill & Ted, you too can get taken back to the distant period of history, by winning one of three copies of this spectacular movie. To win this little nugget of a time capsule, presented in a very stylish back-slip case with foil embossing, tell BMA who directed this movie.

STRUTH BE TOLD SUGGESTED OPENING LINES FOR NOVELS Frank couldn’t decide which was worse, the angry black flames that spewed from the hull of the cruise ship, or the Jesus shaped Midori stain on his blouse.

Maurice knocked down a lowly two pins at the bowling alley; turning around, he was ironically knocked down by the two pins of his future wife – Doris Baglet, striding forth in a gold-sequinned mu-mu.

Melody Baker negotiated her robot suit much like a child negotiates a massive pile of jackets they’ve had thrown on them; not all together gracefully, but with a tenacity that can only come from being plunged into a self-imposed darkness – regardless, she was a child of the late 2090s and she was as determined as ever to beat her rival Beatrice Wizzlewang at super tennis.

Rodriguez was the bravest pirate cat there was, but watching sea water slosh into the last bag of dry biscuits could drive even the hardest of bandit mascots to madness.

I lost my virginity on a quiz show.

This is a story not about love or death, of trials or questions unanswered, it is simply the story of how one man invented a skateboarding trick that captured the imagination of the queen of Spain.

“I’m inside!” screamed Gavin, whose thirty years of controversial scientific research had finally paid off, converting his human form into a zip file of data that was now ‘taking a stroll’ through the Windows 95 mainframe.

The moonlight reflected off her rain soaked glasses, like a miner’s torch reflects off a cave wall, and as she lay on the picnic blanket listening to the canaries of the Amazon sing a ten part harmony, it sounded like a ring tone for mother earth herself.

If I told you that the basement level of my cordial factory harboured a laser guided battle rocket destined for the planet K-Mart, you probably wouldn’t believe me.

The contents of Mildred’s thermos flew into her face like a milky ghoul.

“Get the space bananas!” screamed Captain Zaxxon, for the holodeck gorilla was indeed going apeshit.

I awoke, tied to the trampoline, wearing only a Shania Twain t-shirt, with the sound of flashbulbs in my ears, again.

“Gold!” screamed Old Man Whiskers. “It’s gold! Right here!” The men splashed about in the silt river, waving their hats about in anticipation.

“Cut!” screamed Julian. “You’ve found gold, not five cents behind the couch!” Just then, a bomb landed on the studio and everyone died.

It all started on a Sunday. No, hang on, maybe it was a Saturday... anyway, details are irrelevant. Okay, Thursday. Sorry, daylight savings threw me.

Needless to say I wasn’t the best detective around. In fact, the night before, I’d left my wallet in a cab, and now I was down at the police station trying to crack my first case. Well, technically I was still at law school, so okay, not quite a detective... yet. But I’d read a lot of books.

Okay, did I mention I was drunk? I should mention that I suppose. I hadn’t exactly volunteered to come down to the station. But I had a plan. First, I’d retrieve my pants, then my wallet, and then, by God, I was going to clean this city up. I needed a day job, you see, to pay my way through uni, and boy was I tidy with a mop and bucket. So that’s it, chapter one. By God, we all gotta start somewhere!

JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD www.bedroomphilosopher.com bma magazine 7

NEWS Home Sweet Home

The Veronicas are coming home. February ’09 will see Australia’s favourite twins touring through Newcastle, Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

The Revenge is Sweeter tour is The Veronicas’ longest tour since 2006, and to make things even more exciting, hitting the road alongside the pined-over pair are Metro Station and Short Stack.

Canberra will be spoiled with this pop rock tour on February 21 at the Royal Theatre. Tickets go on sale October 28 and are predicted to sell out quickly so say to your mum “hook me up” and get ready to shake it!

relaxing environments, cold beers, snags and a smorgasbord of food, but strictly no amps!

Saturday November 8 is the date to circle, kicking off at 6pm for the barbie, and then the acoustic guitars will begin strumming from 7pm. Tickets are $20 and are on sale now, so get your loose change together and relax at the festival in your most comfortable pair of cons (usually the ones with the holes throughout them).

Converse Allstars are showing us Canberrans an acoustic festival to remember.

of the most fast and furious hardcore you can possibly twostep to. Then there’s Verse, who will be in Oz for the first time showing their stylish approach to hardcore. Headlining is the perennially popular Brisbane boys Against with a new intense, metal-based sound. They’ll all be in Canberra next year on January 20 at the Albert Hall. Tickets are just $25 each and available from Landspeed Records. See you in the pit, you slags.

Behind Crimson Eyes

Roger that, Rogerthat

From Afar. This album is made up of their usual pop/rock penchant, but with a bigger sound and production. The View From Afar is

in stores now and Avalon Drive will be here on December 3 at the Transit Bar to give you a taste of their latest stuff. Entry is free so be sure not to miss them and get ready for another load of new infectious songs that really will be haunting you long after you’ve first heard them.

Woelv and LLoyde & Michael

The John Steel Singers After their national tour with The Grates throughout October, The John Steel Singers couldn’t get enough of the road and have now announced they will be hitting it again with their very own headlining tour, beginning early December. The band will be travelling with their new EP The John Steel Singers: In Colour (released November 1), and will meet a different set of supporting acts in each town they play. The John Steel Singers will be in Canberra on Wednesday November 19 at the Transit Bar. Entry is free, kidlets.

Recreating the Traditional Festival Experience

The Allstars Acoustic Festival is nearly here, where you can catch local notables The O’Hooligans, Hasemoto, Dr Stovepipe, The Wedded Bliss, The Cashews, Mr Fibby (pictured) and The Ellis Collective, all amongst the snug surrounds of Gorman House.

There will be eager crowds, bma magazine 8

After an eventful tour through the UK, Rogerthat have won the hearts of many fans through their high energy shows and psychedelic sounds. Having toured with groups including Spiderbait, Butterfingers, The Black Seeds and Custom Kings, their November 14 ANU show will see them joined by our own Casual Projects. The show will present a chance to hear their latest EP, Tangerine Bird. Recorded in a self-made shipping container-cum-studio, the EP comprises a mash of electric blues, reggae-rock and a slightly twisted psychedelic sound.

Roger that!

The boys are back in town Like the return of a prodigal son, one of the country’s most loved hardcore tours is here again.

Travelling to more cities and towns than it ever has before, The Element Boys of Summer Tour is playing host to some of the biggest local and international hardcore bands. Carpathian, Comeback Kid, Verse and Against comprise the line up for 2009.

Carpathian is the straightedge hardcore band from Melbourne, full of determination, passion, catchy hardcore riffs, wrathful lyrics and an abundance of energy. Comeback Kid are a couple of Canadians with a reputation for playing some

Behind Crimson Eyes have been focusing on writing and recording for the past 12 months and have now finally mastered their new single Addicted which will be available from iTunes on November 8. A Revolution For Despair revealed the dark side of Behind Crimson Eyes, but next year will see their more light-hearted side, as their thick eyeliner turns thin. In addition to Addicted, Behind Crimson Eyes have also told us to expect an album out March 2009. We told them we also have a magazine out in March 2009. Two, actually, which is one more thing that you guys, so how do you like them apples, huh? They didn't seem to care. And with good cause. Catch the boys on tour this November as they venture up and down the east coast. They’ll be at the Transit Bar on Wednesday November 12. Entry is free, but don’t get too excited young ’uns, because it’s only 18+.

Avalon Drive First was their self-titled EP which consisted of addictive songs that would be stuck in your head for weeks. Next was The City of Burnt Out Lights EP which had kick-ass songs that kept you coming back for more. Now Avalon Drive have released their latest EP, The View

Two North American underground favourites, Woelv and Lloyde & Michael, will be taking on the Canberra folk scene in November. Woelv is a French Canadian folk musician. Her name is Genevieve Castree but she goes under the name Woelv when playing her enchanting music. Lloyde & Michael are a two piece band with floaty pop songs that makes their appeal a gently creeping, unstoppable force.

Don’t be fooled by their name, the band consists of a male and a female! Being defined as ‘dusty desert folk’, Lloyde & Michael alongside Woelv are gearing up for Australia and will be passing through Canberra on November 27. Tickets are $15 and the Front Gallery in Lyneham is where the action will go down.

AND ANOTHER THING...

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 GENUINE SPELLINGS.

“When the world falls apart some things stay in place, Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face…”

Thus spake Billy Bragg on his 1986 album Talking With the Taxman About Poetry, on the song Levi Stubbs' Tears. There won’t be any more tears from Levi, of course, as the man died on October 17, and his passing could go unmarked by this column, dedicated as it is in the most part to rambling about the musics of times passed. Stubbs’ impassioned baritone was one of the voices that soundtracked my childhood days and young adulthood. As lead singer of the Four Tops, his was the main voice behind such Motown classics as Standing in the Shadows of Love, Reach Out (I’ll Be There), Bernadette and Baby I Need Your Loving, amongst others, all of which were favourites of my parents, and I grew up with the idea that Stubbs’ urgent, impassioned delivery was the, make that THE, way to sing. Of course, later on I decided that Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson were the only men worth following, but interestingly, on the only two times I’ve come up against the forces of reaction whilst busking, it’s been Four Tops songs that I’ve been singing when the long arm of the law has moved me on.

But I digress. Like Mr Bragg says in his song, there was a gratifying solidity about the music of the Four Tops, a certainty that Levi was singing of your pain when he sang of “Standing in the shadows of love / Waiting for the heartache to come” that somehow always got you through adversity. Girlfriends could, and inevitably did, come and go, and when they did, as they did to both me and Richard Hall in the otherwise glorious summer of 1986, you could console yourself by bellowing drunkenly (though in close harmony), tears streaming down vodka-reddened cheeks, whilst doing the washing up: When you feel lost and about to give up (to give up.), ‘Cause your best just ain’t good enough (just ain’t good enough), And you feel the world has grown cold (has grown cold), And you’re drifting out all on your own (drifting out on your own), And you need a hand to hold, Darlin’, (reach out) come on, girl, Reach out for me (reach out).

Reach out for me.

I’m sure both our respective former partners would’ve been reduced to quivering masses of love had they been party to this spine tingling performance – they’d almost certainly have returned tearfully to our arms for one final embrace at the very least – but that’s the effect that Levi had, has and, despite his demise will continue, hopefully, to have on normally functioning human beings. It’s rare, in these days of Idol fame, dullard adulation and the appalling Human Nature, to come across anyone that can convey real emotion – especially hurt, aching and longing – in the space of a three minute pop song, but Levi Stubbs could, and the world is undeniably a poorer place now he’s gone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC4DKNfR0b4&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HQEhuylZmg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbF3RASX02o SCOTT ADAMS thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

To all Canberra real-estate agents, you didn’t just piss me off, you FUCKING pissed me off.

You have “open houses” for 10-15 minutes and to bad if you’re 1 minute late, you take applications and never call people back. You’re all money hungry bastards who invade the privacy of anyone who is unfortunately looking for a place to live. Group certificate? Bank statement? 4 verbal references?

Written references? Current payslip? Why the fuck do you need all this? And if I don’t give it to you I’m passed up for some other poor sucker who’s assumed the position. And a big fuck you to real-estate agents that sit on properties waiting for people to get desperate and start offering above the asking price. Fuck you that I can’t afford the extra $50 per week above what’s asked so you can go out and buy another pair of ray bans, standing there at the apartment door, pants at your ankles, grinning, ready for the next unfortunate soul to walk in, a wod of $50 notes to clean yourself up with after. I think I speak for a lot

YyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooOOOOOOOUUUU! <points fingers squarely between your beady Howard Moon-esque eyes> Answer me this, peasant. How oft have you cast aside the “measly” 5c piece? Huh? Think you’re above holding onto that, do you? Well think again! Sitting on the couch right now? Lift up the cushion. Bam. There’s four 5c pieces right there. We moved offices over the weekend. After tearing out all the desks, what do you think was found lurking there, covered in vintage dust from 1974? 5c pieces. Six of ‘em. “But what does this all mean, you rambling idiot?“ I hear you cry. Well, Rudd’s desperately passing bills like a casino highroller to get consumers to pump money back into the economy in time for Christmas. But it’s simple mathematics, people. Behind nearly every couch and desk there's at least 30c in 5c pieces. 30c times some one million locations equals three squillion dollars. Three. Squillion. It’s a sobering figure, and that’s just for Australia. Bollocks knows how many rupees in the red we are.

So buck up, people! Dig (in your pocket) for victory! Cast not aside your 5c pieces, and instead pump them into our silver-starved economy.

Your local friendly fast food outlet will love, admire and respect you for buying your value meal with 100 5c pieces. ALLAN “TOP ECONOMIC ADVISOR TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION” SKO

"bma: your only reason to get out of bed each day now that 90210 has been cancelled."

Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko: T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Ben Hermann T: (02) 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Fahim Shahnoor : T: (02) 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

bma is independently owned and published Opinions expressed in bma are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

To which I wanted to reply “No no one but me and I got high and flew up! its the only WAY!!- BUT I UNDERSTAND IT IS A LIFE OR DEATH SITUATION AND I WANT YOU TO REMAIN CALM! HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I GOT UP HERE YOU LAZY ASSHOLES!?!??! before there were lift’s there were stairs and before theire were stairs there WERE BRAINS but obviously you missed out because you were too busy waiting for the FUCKING LIFT! and when you got up here you look at me with this sad desperate face and say ‘ I HAD TO TAKE THE STAIRS’ to which i WANTED to reply ‘ oh dude are you alright?!?!!! the rest of us just flew?!’ Fucking LAZY fucktards. Im breaking the lifts every day from now on. It will change your life.

Yes, it’s all about the credit crisis these days, or credit crunch if you will. Well, in true Mighty Boosh style, let me tell you a little something about the crunch.

The rigid finger of blame has been quivering righteously at many figureheads; greedy stockbrokers, Wall Street, unscrupulous lenders ™, global warming. But there’s one group almost solely responsible that haven’t copped nearly enough flak.

Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608

Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd | ABN 76 097 301 730

To the absolute wankers who called me at my desk from the bottomr floor of my building this week and said this ‘ Um it appears as if both lifts arent working?! have other people arrived?.”

FROM THE BOSSMAN

bma :: Issue313 www.bmamag.com

of people when I say. YOU PISSED ME OFF.

Super Sub Editor Julia Winterflood Graphic Design Jenny Freeman Film Editor Mark Russell Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo/Nick Brightman/John Hatfield Issue 314 Out November 13 Editorial Deadline October 31 Advertising Deadline November 6

bma magazine 9

TIDBITS WHO JONNO ZILBER WHAT YOUNG BLUES BLOKE WHERE MERRY MUSE FOLK CLUB WHEN SUNDAY NOV 9

WHO GATHERING 3 WHAT PSY TRANCE MANIA WHERE MERCURY BAR WHEN FRI NOV 14

WHO HELLOWEEN WHAT METAL HEAVEN WHERE THE BASEMENT WHEN SAT NOV 8

bma magazine 10

19-year-old Jonno Zilber is finally releasing his long awaited solo album Bigger, Better, Zilber.

The album is supported by the ACT government, recorded at Canberra’s Artsound Studio and produced by internationally renowned Blues performer Lloyd Spiegel. With a collection of twelve tracks, the album captures his common laid back and entertaining style, as well as a new unique, quirky nature throughout the songs. Also included in the album are some interesting and thoughtful versions of familiar songs written by well-known artists including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Ian Anderson. The CD launch will be performed at the Merry Muse Folk Club in Turner on Sunday November 9 at 9pm, doors open 7pm. Tickets are $15 at the door, so head down to the Muse in November to watch Canberra’s top touring blues act bust out his version of the blues. SHELLY DAWSON Sideproject has audaciously decided to extend its fifth birthday celebrations into November, with their next event, Gathering 3. This time, some excellent psy trance and progressive music from across Australia will be pumped out for your enjoyment. For the first time, we welcome Spliffun (UP Records, Byron Bay) to Canberra. In addition, he will be joined by UP Records boss Alex from Sydney, who will be performing a DJ set that showcases the richness of the UP Records sound. Joining them will be top quality local DJs Jahla (DJ), Psytata (DJ), and Eukali (DJ), with Disect and Aneurysm performing live sets. Smooth sound will be provided by none other than the Servants of Sound crew, there will be lighting provided by Azza and SoS and decor will be provided by Sideproject. Candles, fruit, incense, chupa chups, glowstix, great vibes, great atmosphere, great people. What more could you want in a night out? The whole shindig goes down on Friday November 14 at Mercury Bar. Entry is now a reduced $15 on the door!

The carnage returns! If you were hoping that this Halloween it would once again be safe to roam the streets of Belconnen without succumbing to the temptingly evil delights wafting up the stairs from The Basement, then you will be sorely disappointed. On November 8, the Helloween festival will return to The Basement for its second coming, this time featuring an army of the Dark Lord’s musicians, including Mytile Vey Lorth, Templestowe, System Addict, Machette, Barbarian, Taliesin, Inside the Exterior, The Devilz Work, Tortured and Reign of Terror.

Like last year, it will be fancy dress, so be sure to bring your best Helloween clobber. There will be a BBQ fired up out the back, and festivities will get going at 12:30pm on Saturday November 8. Entry is $20. BEN HERMANN

WHO MARK DYNAMIX WHAT DJ SUPERSTAR WHERE MONKEY BAR WHEN SAT NOV 8

One of Australia’s most prominent and significant DJs, Mark Dynamix, is returning to the nation’s capital for a night of thumping beats and glorious house at Monkey Bar this November 8. Dynamix, or MDX as he is also known, has been DJing since 1993 and in that time has pumped out 27 mix CDs and eight original releases. Now residing in Berlin, MDX’s recent performances have seen a larger injection of deeper minimal sound with some more aggressive percussive techno beats. He has also recently launched a totally independent label, Long Distance Recordings, which allows for electronic experimentation in minimal and tech styles, and aims to pair up Australian artists with producers overseas, thus forging a stronger bond between the Australian and European dance scenes. MDX plays at Monkey Bar on Saturday November 8. Doors open at 9pm and entry is $10. BEN HERMANN

WHO SUMMERSLAM WHAT TWO FLOORS OF ALL AGE DANCE MAYHEM WHERE HOLY GRAIL, CIVIC WHEN FRI NOV 14

Summerslam will be the block buster of the season. No, it’s not a set of sweat-soaked musclebound ’roid bags DDT-ing each other’s skulls in the solid steel of a prone chair, although it will have much the same effect. Rather, it’s a two-level entertainment smorgasbord of over 16 drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, dubstep, hip-hop and breaks acts, a graphical and modern art exhibition, breakdancing, and an old school arcade game comp. Headlining proceedings is a UK D&B double header, with Hospital label darlings Brookes Bros and Danny Byrd, who will no doubt have the room a-swayin’ with their melodic yet ball-tearing brand o’ D&B. I bet you’re under 18 and reading this jaunty yarn with an increasing sense of dread. Well cheer up, shorty! It’s all ages, don’t cha know? If you’re over 18 and reading this lively short and thinking “Shit! I can’t get me a beer now”, well turn that frown upside down, handsome! It’s licensed all ages! I’ve gushed so much superlative, I’m all outta exclamation marks. O no, here’s one more. It’s only $25! 7pm – midnight, you slags. ALLAN SKO

WHO BELCONNEN COMMUNITY FESTIVAL WHAT YOUTH AND SUSTAINABILITY EXTRAVAGANZA WHERE BELCONNEN LIBRARY COURTYARD WHEN SAT NOV 15

Although for a majority of the year the Belconnen Library Courtyard doesn’t see much action aside from a few scallywag skateboarders or possibly a couple of delightfully cute bookworms sneaking a crafty pash, on November 15 it will for the second time be transformed into a carnival playground of free food, free activities and live bands for Block Party 2, as a party of this year's Belconnen Community Festival. Among the feast of free demos and competitions will be a performance by renowned graffiti artists Kurt Laurenson, boxing and wrestling demos, a chalk drawing competition, and, in case that all sounds a little too healthy and active for you, a Donut King donut-eating competition. The community festival as a whole will also focus on the Future Footprints Sustainability Expo, focussing on how communities as a whole can tackle environmental and sustainability issues. There will also be performances by Kash Boys, Mykaphobic, Epic Flaggan, the Magic Hands and Los Chivos. The revelry will go from 12pm to 7pm on Saturday November 15 at the Belconnen Library courtyard.

7 Akuna St

Canberra City

ALL SHOWS FREE ENTRY

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11

Josh Brown Daydreaming about your ultimate music festival lineup: who hasn’t done it? Lord knows I’m guilty of such flights of fancy. I quite often find myself mentally salivating at the prospect of artists such as Jeff Buckley and PJ Harvey gracing the stage in the festival of my mind. Well, somewhere in Colombia, one lucky music fan’s improbable music festival wish will soon be granted. Come early November, Bogotá, the Colombian capital, will play host to a festival that sports a lineup combining the unlikely duo of Melbourne indie-electro party starters CUT COPY with none other than Aussie pop princess Kylie Minogue. How did this peculiar pairing come about? I demand that Dan Whitford, frontman of Cut Copy, explain himself.

“It’s kind of a strange one,” Whitford admits between chuckles. “Kylie’s on one stage and we’re playing in the dance tent.” So who is supporting who then Dan? “Technically Kylie’s supporting us as we’re playing after her in the tent,” he boasts. “Maybe that’s been written on our myspace page wrong – she’s actually supporting us.”

Bigger than Kylie. This is a bold claim from a man whose band is only two albums into their career. But one look at Cut Copy’s exhaustive touring schedule quashes any doubt that Whitford and bandmates Tim Hoey (bass) and Mitchell Scott (drums) have earned their stripes. Since the release of their sophomore album, In Ghost Colours, in March this year the band has criss-crossed the Atlantic as if it were a small puddle and played a swag of shows across North America and Europe.

Breaking into the overseas market can prove to be quite difficult for some Aussie bands. Whitford reflects on the factors influencing Cut Copy’s rise to international stardom.“When we first started we didn’t really think of ourselves as being totally like an Australian band,” he ponders, but is quick to add, possibly to ensure he doesn’t offend anyone back home, that “we obviously identify with our roots and starting out in Australia. But I think we always considered our music would have a fairly broad appeal internationally so it’s reassuring that it seems to be catching on so well.”

The success of an album can so often depend on the timing of its release. With a four year gap between Cut Copy’s debut, Bright Like Neon Love, and its successor, Whitford is keen to come clean about the delay. “[Our first record] came out in the States maybe six months or a year after it came out in Australia and then later again in the UK and Europe,” he explains. “It was spread out over a couple of years, so we ended up touring When asked to discuss some of Cut Copy’s “We were actually really scared of going is going for probably a couple of years longer ‘this stranger touring experiences, Whitford t ugh tho we e aus bec e on stag than we would have had it just come relays a tale about a predominantly metalna throw to be intense’ and ‘they’re gon out all at once.” He notes that the delay based Swedish festival.“I think there was y the gs son en in betwe boiled down to a scheduling issue, only one act that we really knew on the bill bottles at us’ but… y’” which is something the band is keen to and that was Interpol. The rest were weird just started chanting ‘Cut Cop avoid in future.“We hope to have our Swedish metal bands,” he recalls.“We were next record written next year and released as soon as possible after that. I actually really scared of going on stage because we thought ‘this is going don’t think we’re going to be waiting three or four years for the next one.” to be intense’ and ‘they’re gonna throw bottles at us’ but when we went on it was one of the most insanely positive festival crowds we’ve ever had,” Whitford admits the band was worried about the possibility of their he reveals.“In between songs they just started chanting 'Cut Copy.' Not name dropping out of the public eye, but ultimately felt confident in the even for the encore! In between regular songs in our set, they just started quality of the music they’d created. “I guess if people didn’t catch onto chanting and it was just absolutely nuts!” it because of the timing of it we still would have been happy that the Cut Copy’s popularity is unsurprisingly not strictly limited to obscure Scandinavian metal festivals. When I speak with Dan, he’s calling in from Seattle, at the end of a long tour across the United States co-headlining with Modular labelmates the Presets. “Doing this tour with the Presets has been great because we’re big fans of theirs and great friends as well,” Whitford muses. “When we first started, we toured for a long time with those guys so it’s cool we get the opportunity to tour again.”

Unless you’ve been hiding under an extremely large rock, you’d be aware that in addition to Cut Copy and the Presets, Modular boasts a stellar line up of the hottest indie-electro acts that Australia has to offer.

Whitford expands a little on the subject of the camaraderie felt between Cut Copy and their labelmates. “What we really value about Modular is, beyond the label itself, the other acts,” he says appreciatively. “[They’re all] people that we really get along with and enjoy hanging out with. We obviously have musical admiration for them as well but just as people, we all hang out and we’re all good friends.”

The Yanks seem to be embracing the Aussie electro explosion like a long lost relative, with the majority of shows on the current Cut Copy/Presets tour selling out in quick time. “The States have been where our record’s caught on the most out of anywhere in the world,” Whitford points out.

“We’ve sold a lot more records in the States than we have anywhere else and our shows here are as big as the ones in Australia.” He notes that the sheer size of America has enabled them to expand their tour to thirty odd shows, a feat not so easily achieved in their homeland. bma magazine 12

record itself was a really good one,” he says with pride. “But thankfully it doesn’t seem to have made a massive difference. It’s almost like it was almost too long but not that long that people don’t still appreciate what we’re doing musically.”

With outstanding album sales and sold out shows across the globe illuminating their musical résumé, Cut Copy could be forgiven for wanting to take a break. But Dan Whitford is not one to rest on his laurels.“It’s definitely not like it’s time to retire [and we don’t feel] like we’ve done everything that’s there to be done,” he tells me.“Our measure of success is more based on what we’re doing creatively rather than achieving commercial success or big crowds at our shows. We’re just excited to try and push the envelope on the next record and to continue to innovate and write great tunes and make good records. That’s what our aim is, ultimately.” With their glittering track record and passionate outlook, it wouldn’t surprise me if Cut Copy are indeed the most popular act at this upcoming festival in Colombia. Watch out Kylie…!

Cut Copy will be showing off their better-than-Kylie stylings at Trackside on Saturday November 22. Joining them will be The Living End, Gyroscope, The Panics, Bliss N Eso, British India, Something With Numbers, plus a whole swag more. Get amongst it!

bma magazine 13

ALL AGES

Greetings, kidlets. It’s your old Bossman Allan here. Your regular wily scamp Josh has disappeared on us and not handed his column in. So he’s fired, and you’re stuck with me for the time being.

But don’t worry. I may be hurtling through my mid-‘20s but I’m hip.

I’m with it. Ducka-ducka-duckaducka-ducka.

A licensed all ages dance event.

Now you don’t get treated to those all that often, eh pooglets? But come Friday November 14 at the Holy Grail in Civic, we’ll have just that, where you PYTs can rub shoulders with us hairy degenerates. Summerslam is the name of the event, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep, breaks and hip-hop is the musical flav du jour, and over 16 acts will be tearing it out. Headlining proceedings is a UK D&B double header, with Hospital label darlings Brookes Bros and Danny Byrd, who will no doubt have the room a-swayin’ with their melodic yet ball-tearing brand o’ drum ‘n’ bass. There’s also breakdancing demos, graffiti and art demos, and the rather intriguingly titled oldskool arcade competition. $25 tix can be nabbed from Landspeed, or by calling 0410 371 317. From 7pm to midnight. Should prove to be fun.

A tip of the cap must go to the Tuggeranong Youth Centre, who have been raising their game this year and channelling a wealth of all ages shows into tha ‘Berra. One of Sydney’s foremost post-hardcore groups of the current era, Irrelevant, will be ripping it up on December 6 there in support of their forthcoming album New Guilt. The album has been described The thoroughly relevant as an ambitious effort, combining Irrelevant the brutal purity of the bands’ 2001 EP Reflecting and Refracting, the fierce musicality of their 2005 debut Ascension, and the maturity that comes with a menacing decade of dedication to the road. Good times.

Mary Jane Kelly is also scheduled for a Tuggeranong Community Centre show on Saturday November 15. The Wollongong troupe will be touring their Our Streets Turn White EP, with the band’s singer Justin Bortignon saying, “We’re all just kids doing the things our parents never let us do when we were younger, and if you’re down with that, then come and hang out with us, climb rocks and not shower for a week at a time.”

Done and done, Justin. I can’t remember the last time I showered. No really, I can’t.

Continuing with the Tuggeranong Youth Centre, the gang are putting on a balls-out festival at the end of November which will definitely be worth keeping an eye out for. Details are sketchy at this stage, but don’t say you haven’t been vaguely notified.

In the interim, you have Block Party 2 to enjoy, featuring those scallywags The Kash Boys, Magic Hands, Epic Flagon and Mykaphobic. It all kicks off on Saturday November 15 at the Belconnen Library Courtyard and rolls from midday to 7pm. I believe it’s free, but don’t trust me on that one.

And I trust you all have your Trackside tickets yes? It’s the biggest all ages event eva, after all. You haven’t? Really? Well for the love of God, hurry! Use your young legs to good advantage! That shit be selling like hotcakes. But not like hotcakes with shit. I imagine sales would be somewhat down on that number.

Right, that’s all from me. My back’s hurting and I need to scare some kids off my lawn. Remember stay safe; don’t do the funky chicken without your plastic longjohns on.

ALLAN “DO THE FUNKY GRANPA” SKO bma magazine 14

WE COULD BE HAPPY UNDERGROUND Shailla Van Raad Jessica Holmick is an ambitious young woman. Her innovative, business savvy mind has extended her passion for writing and producing smooth, luscious RnB not only into an album, Straight from the Heart, collaborating with equally talented muso-friends Chris and Al, but also into a productions company. “We formed Invazion Productions after we started recording the first CAPITAL UNDERGROUND album for two reasons. One was mainly for security purposes in regards to our music, but also we realised that we wanted to help other artists in the Canberra music scene.”

Invazion Productions hopes to manage live performance acts, to train dancers and host hip-hop/RnB parties. “Other artists get burnt when trying to produce music because they are usually naïve and don’t think to do their research. There isn’t anything in Canberra that provides support for emerging artists and Invazion Productions wants to tap into that market and provide that support.”

er

model rath “We want to be a positive role than a gangster group”

Besides the pioneering company, what first started this snowball effect off – the collaboration to album, album to production – was a mere coincidence at the gym. “I met the guys at the gym; we hit it off really well. We had a jam session and we went from there. Both of the guys are really talented. Chris is an awesome lyricist.”

The three budding artists, brought together by their love of RnB, started jamming together and before you know it, Capital Underground Crew was born. “The name Capital Underground Crew comes from a rap the guys did before they met me. The name comes from capital, as in referring to money, and underground, which refers to the forefront of the underground RnB music scene here in Canberra.” The debut album Straight from the Heart followed. “Before I had met the guys I had written half the album and they are heavily featured in it. The next album that comes out will be more of a collaboration between the three of us.”

Straight from the Heart features Jessica’s soulful vocals with a classical edge, and the boy’s amazing remix abilities. “I was traditionally trained classically. I started playing piano at about the age of seven. As I grow and develop musically I realise I am incorporating more and more classical elements into my music.” The next album will soon be highly anticipated and Jess ponders level-headedly about the group’s future.

“Every musical group dreams of world domination but I guess realistically, we want to be a positive role model rather than a gangster group. We want to be able to talk about things that matter and our life experiences in our music. As a group we want to have a little more depth.”

To launch Capital Underground, Invazion Productions will be hosting a major concert known as an Urban Carnival to raise funds for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

“The showcase coming up on November 8 will be a fantastic experience.

Capital Underground will be performing, there will also be floor pirates, and a dance circus, soul funk bands and it’ll eventually explode into a massive RnB party.”

Capital Underground will launch their CD at Urban Carnival on Saturday November 8. Tickets are $10 pre-sale or $15 on the door. They will be joined

by Grand Jester, Byron Low and many more. Doors open at 5:30pm.

LOCALITY Hello dear readers!

If this city is like a fine restaurant, then BMA is the menu.

Consider me thus your humble waiter and allow me to steer you towards the best meals on offer.

No more filling up on bread for you, dear reader – this column contains only the freshest, juiciest selections to placate your appetite and soothe your very soul. So, without further hyperbole, here are this fortnight’s safest bets:

Collective. Get there on time for a barbeque, and swoon to the sounds of the resident DJ, who will be rocking a restored ‘Rexonola’ gramophone (!).

Angels Are Architects (formerly The Fallen) are launching their debut EP on November 6 at the Serbian Club, Mawson. The five tracker was recorded at The Grove Studios on the Central Coast way back in 2007. The band certainly hasn’t been resting on its laurels since then – this year saw them play such far-off locales as Singapore. $10 will get you in and a chance to see Canberra’s own

Idol Hayley Jensen providing able support.

Gangbusters takes place every Thursday night at Bar 32 and features some of the best local, interstate, and occasionally, international bands. It’s always a fun night with an eclectic lineup, generally favouring the noisy, experimental end of the pop spectrum. And at $5, it’s cheaper than your mum. November 6 sees Condorcet, The Sharks, They Bite! (VIC), Psyus and Code of Lies (NSW) getting all sweaty for your entertainment and edification. If you can’t

wait that long before seeing Condorcet, you are in luck! They are also playing on October 30 at Gangbusters alongside the shouty dance-rock of Ohana and Like Foxes. Go along and have your generation defined!

Lastly, if you are in a band, and in need of some ‘big-ups’, sling a line to lukemcgrath@hotmail.com (tips are welcome – remember I’m just like a waiter). Until then dear readers, it’s been real.

LUKE MCGRATH lukemcgrath@hotmail.com

After nearly six years and over a thousand bands, The Greenroom is closing down.

You read right – The Greenroom, that beloved bastion of hard rock, and one of the few remaining venues where a local act could get a leg-up, will be shutting its doors permanently. Help them go out in style at their final show on November 1 with Tonk, Black Creek, Penguin and Spoil. There may be a few tears, but there will certainly be a few beers.

The newly formed Canberra Musicians Club is forging ahead with a whole raft of interesting gigs. When The Band Broke Up is a night asking the simple question “What would happen if all the bands in Canberra broke up?” In answering it, they have enlisted many of Canberra’s leading bands' frontmen and women to perform solo at the Front Gallery, passing a single guitar around between each song. The final night is being held Tuesday November 4 featuring Jim (Dr Stovepipe), Julia (Julia and The Deep Sea Sirens) and Sam (of Mr. Fibby and Dahahoo fame). One can only hope this becomes a regular event.

If that wasn’t enough to sate your taste for all things unplugged, you will definitely want to be at DNA Studios (Gorman House) from 6pm Saturday November 8 for the Allstar Acoustic Festival. Billed as a “local festival – just without the amps”, for just $20 ($15 concession), you will be treated to some of the region’s finest acts including The O’Hooligans, Doctor Stovepipe, Hashemoto, Mr Fibby, The Wedded Bliss, The Cashews and The Ellis bma magazine 15

DANCE: THE DROP

My dear friends, this will be the last Dance Column I write for some time. Perhaps forever. Only time will tell. So shush now, dry those tears. We have much to get through before we’re done.

at Transit Bar on Thursday Nov 27, has now been declared a FREE SHOW. For your entry – which, you will recall, was FREE – you also get the talents of Scottie Fischer, Mig-L, Hubert, Dave Norgate and the Exposed DJs. My street level “ears on the ground” have reported that mass hysteria has broken out in Sydney based on this news, so we can expect this to be a seriously enormous eve.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It’s one of the bigger pieces of dance music you’ll hear all year; the previously reported Booka Shade show, scheduled to play

There’s many ways to entertain yourself this Melbourne Cup day (I believe you can do a “flutter” on a “GG”, or something? I don’t know;

all sounds very “gangsta” to me), but an odds-on favourite for an entertainment win has got to be Subsumo’s lavish Lawns Party at Thoroughbred Park on Nov 4. Mark Farina (San Francisco), The Aston Shuffle, Rob Kay, Downtown Brown, Paul Wheeler and Hubert will be ripping it up. It’s a posh dance affair. Tix are $157 + bf, which covers all your food and alcohol for the day. There is a dress code, with thongs and camouflage not being permitted. Nor should they. Filth.

Tix from www.subsumo.com or Landspeed Records.

(Trinity) Bar are cracking out their Sound Baked Sundays series again, kicking off on November 9 with Aussie DMC champ DJ Perplex, ACT DMC champ DJ Just 1, Chinese Laundry’s Steve Lind, Nathan Frost, perennial scallywag Jemist, the amusingly titled Frat House Phillips and Dave Parkes. How much for such awesomeness, I hear you cry? Natch. Zip. Zilch.

Zero. Just get there at 2pm for the BBQ and have a ruddy good time of things.

Summerslam. Not a variety of steroid-pumped men going at it in a ring, but a massive two-tier licensed all age night at the Holy Grail in Civic on November 14.

It’s drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, dubstep, hip-hop and breaks at its finest, led by the awesome UK double thwack! headliners of Brookes Bros and Danny Byrd. There will be over 16 – count ‘em – 16 acts to enjoy (well go on... count 'em; the flyer for it is just across the page there). “FUCK ME! That’s LOADS!” I hear you shout. Well yes, but for God’s sake keep the swears down. The fucking nuns are trying to sleep. Jeez. Anyway, it’s from 7pm til late, and tix are $25 from Landspeed Records. Dr Fun prescribes you get involved.

Pang, Pang, Pang. Can’t bloody help themselves. You think you have a night free? Think again, mortal! For Pang have nodoubt plundered the clubbing depths of the UK to put a kick arse international on. Tuesday November 4 sees the UK’s Jack Beats. $20 entry there. The sureto-be-epic Grum night on Friday November 7 has escalated into a UK double header (the flav de jour this month, it seems) with fellow pie-eating patriot Dave Parkes joining in the fray, along with Mikah Freeman. And yet the fee remains at $15. Tasty.

Rounding off a massive weekend on Saturday November 8 is the return of Sampology, where he will be accompanied by a super disco visual party. As gnarly as it sounds. $15 for that. It all goes down at Lot 33 kids.

bma magazine 16

And that, my dear, dear diluted pupiled friends is all from me.

You can still catch me rambling within these pages. But for now, the lovely and considerably taller Tim Galvin will seize my mantle. He’ll even start writing the Dance Column from now on.

Yes, one final bad knob gag. You know you’ll miss it. ALLAN “LOVE YOUSE ALL” SKO

appy “I am very h someone Tim Galvin that maybe ther side of Since the abhorrent death of electro house, the rise of the aptly named over the o tening ‘fidget’ has seen DJs all over the world embracing the intriguing the world is lis mish-mash of hip-hop, house and Baltimore, heralding a new age of and may to our music superstar producers. CROOKERS have been at the forefront of this some be inspired in mind-bending wave of musical progression, having remixed the likes of s me ke Armand Van Helden, The Chemical Brothers and Moby to name but a few. way, this ma very proud” The Italian duo are somewhat of an enigma to Australian audiences as the only thing we really know about them is that they make music for people with ADD. I spoke with Bot to unravel some of the mystery that surrounds them, their long awaited artist album and the story behind their iniquitous moniker.

“We wanted to call ourselves something that reflected the fact that electronic music is so structured and everything is in time but our music is crooked and not the same as this. I personally have a lot of inspiration from hip-hop artists like Madlib and Flying Lotus who also make this music that is not true to your normal structure.”

“Well two things for us, friendship and money! If we are friends with someone or we meet someone on tour who we like we might do a remix for them, for the others it’s just about making money I guess,” he laughs. “It is good for us too if we don’t end up making the remix then it gives us inspiration for a new tune in the future.”

Their music is hugely appealing to clubbers with short attention spans, I mean it’s 2008 people! Who wants a consistent 4/4 beat, bassline, synth and vocals these days when we can have a sonic explosion of key changes, time signatures and twisted structure to bend our brains under the disco ball on a hard earned weekend. Luckily the guys are much more focused on their own work than partying.

Crookers have always been popular when visiting Australia, with their last tour leaving local clubs resembling the Xavier College oval after a game of Yr 12 Death Ball. “I was very surprised last time we were here in Sydney, it was very busy and the line went around the block! People were cheering loud for us on stage yelling ‘Crookers! Crookers!’ and we were blown away! It is funny because here in my own country nobody gives a fuck who I am,” he laughs.“When Australian audiences like something they really get into it!”

“We are working hard at the moment, in December we will take a break from touring and get into the studio and finish off our album. We have much material and a lot of beats that we have to make sense of. There will be a lot of different sounds on this album, some down tempo, some club stuff and also a lot of different thing like Bmore influences and hiphop influences; we will look to have it finished by February.”

Drunken chants and internationally anonymity aside, Crookers have made a name for themselves for one thing, producing ball tearing club bangers and I’m sure their forthcoming tour will christen a whole new army of fidget fans. “I am very happy that maybe someone over the other side of the world is listening to our music and may be inspired in some way, this makes me very proud.”

Solo productions like their heralded EPs Knobbers and Mad Kidz have spawned a veritable hydra of remixes, as soon as one is cut another one appears to take its place. This commitment to their art is embodied in the sum and quality of their work which it seems is fuelled by a dual persuasion.

Crookers will send thumping beats through the Kingston streets on Sunday November 23 when they play at Lot 33. Joining them will be Dave Norgate, Hubert and Exposed DJs Sean Kelly and Staky. Tickets $20+bf from Landspeed and Lot 33.

THE NUMBER SONG

PLANNING FOR GREATNESS Elizabeth Rowley Since the release of their album Other Voices Other Rooms earlier this year, THE GETAWAY PLAN or TGP as they are affectionately known to their legions of devoted fans, are fast becoming the most celebrated alternative rock group to come out of Melbourne’s underground scene in a long time. For a band who when first started performing would not have been allowed to attend their own shows, they’ve come a long way from the emotional pre-pubescent young boys we once knew.

Following the success of the single, Where the City Meets the Sea, the dynamic foursome have just released their latest single Shadows and are gearing up for their biggest headlining tour yet, and I was lucky enough to have a chat with the band’s beat-boy drummer, Aaron Barnett.

When starting out in 2003 the members of the band thought “it was more of a hobby than anything but now it’s definitely a job… but saying that, it’s still very much enjoyable.” Since he was in year six Aaron says, “I wanted to be in a band, so I’ve always wanted to play music, but I’ve never thought I’d get to where I am now so yeah, it’s definitely very, very cool.” And I’m sure it is, considering Aaron was recruited to the group at a house party.

When quizzed on how the band retains such a uniquely diverse sound, I was told, in between yelling at the rest of the band to “shut the fuck up”, that it was simply because they all “listen to totally different things… that’s what I think is so good about us, and why we work so well together, coming from different pages of music.” I was also told that Aaron simply “could not choose one or two bands that would be an influence on the band.” However, he did tell me their two favourite bands to perform with were “Closure In Moscow… ’cause they’re good friends of ours… and My Chemical Romance… in a massive arena; it was the first time we’ve done something like that.”

For a band that are non-stop touring machines, and boast one of Australia’s most elaborate rock shows it is no surprise that the boys are looking forward to getting back on the road in the next few weeks.

Barnett tells me, “I get sick of home, when I’m home… when we are away we’re always busy all the time… we just had a two, three week break. It killed me, I get so bloody bored. It drives me insane… I think we’re all the same.” He also tells me how the group have mixed feelings on whether they prefer their all ages gigs or over 18s shows.“Our under age shows are always crazy, like energetic, but it’s always really satisfying when you have a really good over age show.” He also tells me that Adelaide used to be the bands' favourite place to perform, but has recently “died in the ass”, but you’ll be happy to know my fellow Canberrans that Canberra is up there on their favourite places to play, and the group are looking forward to taking the stage for Trackside in November.

TGP are a band that when they have been on tour, anything that may go wrong probably has gone wrong. From “being way too drunk for our own good, and playing like absolute shit, shows where we’ve stuffed up songs pretty bad, tours where we’ve busted tyres. Broken down vans, missed our flights, lost our gear… if anything could happen on tour, it has happened!” They seem to back each other up pretty well, Aaron says, “we’re all like a tight little family, it’s really cool, we’re like brothers.” He secretly plans that they could “maybe move into a little house together or something.” So let’s hope the band make it to Canberra in one piece.

The Getaway Plan play at Trackside on Saturday November 22 alongside The Living End, Gyroscope, Cut Copy, The Panics, Bliss N Eso, Sparkadia, Muph & Plutonic, Carpathian and a whole stack more! bma magazine 18

Shelly Dawson “One time while performing I did a handstand on a bass drum and fell over. My hand went on the snare and Dave hit it with his drum stick.

I had to go to hospital because I broke my finger.” This hilarious yet questioning quote sums up the entire personality of the young singer/ songwriter Jake Grigg, SOMETHING WITH NUMBERS vocalist.

Something With Numbers formed on the Central Coast of New South Wales seven years ago. Going under the three music genres of soul, rock and pop, this well experienced five-piece band is one of Australia’s fastest breakthrough groups. Something With Numbers are enjoying the musical life and are proud to say they are best mates. They never fight, even for control of the stereo on road trips. “We are all satisfied with Triple J,” Jake says proudly.

Hey man, that “WOAH IT’S A LLAMA! Woohoo! e ever seen!” is definitely the best llama I hav Jake is definitely a one-of-a-kind musician to interview. During a meaningful conversation about the band’s future work, Jake yells out “WOAH IT’S A LLAMA! Woohoo! Hey man, that is definitely the best llama I have ever seen!” After a few more excited yells he finally returns to the conversation. “Sorry, a llama just walked past me. I’m walking through the city.” Yes, well moving on…

New material is definitely to be expected in the near future from this determined and energetic band. Something With Numbers are currently experimenting with different material and slowly putting together new songs. “A bit of hip-hop is involved,” claims Jake, “not much influence yet though. We’re just kinda doing a whole bunch of stuff.”

“You get a lot of holidays,” Jake says, explaining what the best things about being in a band are. “Right now I’m in Tasmania, going out to an island soon. It’s good hanging out with mates in other bands too.” Ahh, the easy life you’ll think. But it’s not always easy. At the end of last year Jake reached his lowest ebb, suffering a meltdown. He saved himself by pouring his heart into writing a whole heap of songs and the result was the band’s latest album, Engineering the Soul, which came out last September. In reference to the album title, Jake said “music is what powers the soul. We make the music. We are engineering the soul.” The first song released off the album was Stay With Me Bright Eyes which reached number 52 on the ARIA charts. Stay With Me Bright Eyes is the band’s most favourite song to play. “The crowd knows it the most and they get involved heaps. There’s always a loud applause.”

Something With Numbers will be showcasing their music to live audiences at the Trackside festival in November.Canberrans are growing more and more excited, and for Jake, the feeling is much the same. “Yes I can’t wait until Trackside! Last year was sweet. And I can’t wait to hang out with The Living End, British India. be awesome.” Jake didn’t need to hesitate once after getting asked what he likes most about live shows.

“The applause,” he touchingly replied. “And the fact that I never know what to expect. Never know what can happen.”

Something With Numbers play at Trackside at Thoroughbred Park on Saturday November 22. Joining them are The Living End, Gyroscope, Cut Copy, The Panics, Bliss N Eso, British India, The Getaway Plan and many more.

JUICY FRUITS

PANIC ATTACK Ben Hermann

Marianne Mettes Sydney-based party boys BLUEJUICE carved themselves a place in the Australian music scene last year, when their song Vitriol became the second most played song on Triple J in 2007. The song became an anthem to many young people across Australia who resonated with the lyrics declaring not to take sh*t from anyone and just add some vitriol, or punk, to your life. This month, the song has returned to the airwaves in the form of a ‘bizarro/rave’ remix by E.L.F.

und is… what we “…Screaming and jumping aro ng for a while” do and it’s what we’ve been doi

Bluejuice have turned the word Vitriol, which also means sulfuric acid, into an outlook and attitude to life. In fact, the band’s bass player, Jamie Cibej, can no longer think of the word in any other way. “When I see that word written around, it’s sort of annoying,” Cibej says,“because I automatically associate it with the song and I can’t read a sentence containing the word vitriol in it without hearing the organ line coming in.”

“A little bit of vitriol” is exactly what the band is all about and they make sure not to take themselves too seriously. Rambunctious, tongue-in-cheek escapades are carried out throughout their wild stage performances, and even show up in the form of phony biographies.

“Yeah, we’re looking good for a bunch of 55 year olds,” Cibej laughs as he explains how their bio came to claim that three of the boys were part of Aussie rock band Sherbert back in the ‘80s. “That whole Sherbert thing is a complete fabrication and is utterly false... There is a band called Sherbert and we actually got a ‘myspace’ message from Sherbert’s tour manager once. He seemed to think it was hilarious, but that’s the extent of the contact we’ve had. The rest of the bio goes on to say that Jake and Stav were Thai transexual runaways.”

But hey, what’s a party band without some trouble? When further questioned about how the band actually did form, Cibej sighs and says that the story is “horrendously unoriginal and maybe that’s why we did invent the story, because the real story is in fact quite tedious.”

However, their lovable antics are featured in concerts and festivals across the country and are keeping the boys busy on their toes. After being on stage every single night for a week, performing at festivals and touring with the US band We Are Scientists, Cibej describes the experience as a “kind of a monstrous week which I don’t look forward to repeating. But a good experience and certainly healthy for our frequent flyer points.”

About to set out for Trackside, their first festival in the nation’s capital city, Cibej speaks about keeping the band’s energy levels up on-stage for every performance. “In the early days of the band, we used to try and play some slower songs and try and do things more softly to give the set a more balanced up and down sort of thing, but we just can’t seem to do it very well. So just screaming and jumping around is really the only alternative I think. I guess it’s just what we do and it’s what we’ve been doing for a while.”

Bluejuice will play at Trackside on Saturday November 22. They may or may not be playing Sherbert covers and dressing up as Thai transexuals. You will just have to go along and see for yourselves. Tickets are $79+bf from Landspeed Records, Stocks, www.moshtix.com.au, and Ticketek outlets.

“It was a massively long day. We haven’t done much of the awards stuff.

It was very validating, even if for most of the day I had loud pop groups being blasted into my ears.” I spoke to Jae Laffer, guitarist and vocalist for Perth group THE PANICS only days after the band picked up the 2008 ARIA Award for Best Adult Contemporary Album for their 2007 album Cruel Guards, an award which Laffer seems to have received with at least a small sense of mixed emotions.“It’s important that we don’t measure the success of the album on any particular award. If we didn’t win an ARIA, I wouldn’t have a different judgment of the album. The J-Award [which the group received last year for the same record] was different, as it was like comparing us to our contemporaries. At the ARIAs we didn’t really fit into any of the categories. The brand ‘adult contemporary’ isn’t that flattering. It certainly did leave us wondering where guitar groups like ourselves belong in terms of genres and categories.”

Although Cruel Guards has been out in the public domain for just over a year now, Laffer remembers that upon the completion of its recording, he already had a sense that its positive reception would by far surpass that of their former albums A House on a Street in a Town I’m From, and Sleeps Like a Curse. “I think we knew it was a pretty unique-sounding record. There were songs that could hit people between the eyes better than the songs on the albums before. It did the job really well. We don’t make music for any reason than to make something better than our previous album and to better ourselves.”

When The Panics stride into

for an excuse to “…In the end, I was just looking see Supergrass for free”

Canberra for the Trackside festival this November, all five boys will be in tow. However, Laffer has recently played a number of solo shows, most recently in support of Supergrass on their Australian tour. “It was interesting from the crowd’s perspective, as they’re waiting for a huge rock band, and they’ve got one guy playing a guitar and a piano. I’m a huge fan of Supergrass and was stocked to get the call, as well as to have the chance to play some new songs. But, you know, in the end, I was just looking for an excuse to see Supergrass for free. That was definitely the main motivation.”

Like all groups who make an album which is distinctly more successful than their previous efforts, The Panics are striding forth with a tenacious resolve to once again better themselves. “We’re about a dozen ideas into the next album. The process has been very similar to the past album recordings. We’re feeling very creative and confident at the moment, and feel like we can make a really great album. We really want to outdo ourselves and make something unique, powerful and energetic.

Something that surprises people.”

Returning to Canberra for the second time this year, I mentioned to Laffer that the Panics seem like the type of group who would be more suited to intimate, headlining/support gigs, rather than festival shows.

“Well, I guess so”, Laffer admits, “but we’re all about the festivals at the moment. Clubs are good because they’re all about you, but at festivals everyone has so much energy as they’re so pumped with music. We’ve had some awesome gigs this year. Our crowds have doubled in size, and you can never get sick of that. There’s nothing like hearing a packed room of people waiting to hear you play.”

The Panics play at the Trackside Festival on Saturday November 22, alongside The Living End, Gyroscope, Cut Copy, Bliss n Eso, British India, Grafton Primary, Lost Capitanes, Hancock Basement, and many more. bma magazine 19

METALISE Brutal Halloween greetings thrashers, the weather is warming up and there’s plenty to get a sore neck about starting on Friday with Pig Destroyer hitting The Greenroom for a fitting send off to one of Canberra’s best venues in recent years. Joined by Melbourne’s Terrorust, 4 Dead and Aeon of Horus, this is going to be close to the best metal show you will see in town this year. Tickets from Moshtix online or anywhere Moshtix are sold (Landspeed, The Music Shop etc).

If that’s not enough to smash your weekend, then the very next night at The Basement in Belconnen you will have the opportunity for a massive bill of local brutality. Helloween ’08 kicks off at 12.30 pm Saturday November 8 with a huge lineup of bands, from first to last, Reign of Terror, Tortured, The Devilz Work, Inside the Exterior, Taliesin, Barbarian Machete, System Addict, Templestowe and headlined by the almighty

Mytile Vey Lorth. In between all the brutality, your eardrums will be kept conditioned for a caning by Regulators Metal DJ. Punters are encouraged to rock up in their most Halloween-brutal outfits and a BBQ will be on hand for this, the second annual event at Belconnen’s home of brutality and twice the size of last year’s event. Should be a great weekend for ACT thrashers, perhaps get a neck brace for the inevitable ‘bangover’ that will set in Sunday.

YOB have reformed. This may not mean much to many, but one of my absolute favourite bands of the past decade have decided to reform and that is good news for fans of doom everywhere.

For those undecided on which Grave show to go and see, the Melbourne show at the Corner Hotel in Richmond on December 7 will not only feature the Swede’s bearing riffs, but also the as announced this week, the last gig of one of Australia’s premiere Black Thrash outfits, Gospel of the Horns. Yes, sadly after 16 odd years of thrashing, the guys have decided to call it quits. The support in Melbourne is a fitting send off for one of this country’s best exponents of the style, and they’ll be sadly missed by this columnist. Of course if Melbourne is too $$$, then the Sydney Grave show is Thursday December 4 at the Gaelic Theatre, with tickets through Moshtix.

The Lycnh Mob and Faster Pussycat are touring and on Thursday December 11 at the Metro Theatre in Sydney they’re having an all ages show, senior citizens welcome (sorry glam fans, couldn’t resist).

With the decline of CD sales particularly affecting smaller heavy acts, The Bezerker have announced they’re leaving their oft touted former international label in favour of their newly constructed label, Bezerker Industries. The band’s new album will never hit stores as their sales model works on one-to-one internet sales. http://www. berzerkerindustries.com is the place to purchase their new album.

Josh – np: Gore: The Kill: ‘The Soundtrack to your Violence’ JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com bma magazine 20

bma magazine 21

CHASING THE SUN

MUSIC'S XAVIER Ben Hermann When I speak to XAVIER RUDD, he sounds as relaxed and calm as he does whenever he is seen on TV, heard on the radio, or indeed experienced live. To hear his cool, soothing voice coming through the line was therefore somewhat as a surprise, considering that his latest album, Dark Shades of Blue is a notably darker record than any of his previous work. Returning to Canberra this November, Rudd will be able to showcase his slightly new direction, which, he points out, is more of a change of emphasis within the songs rather than an overall change in mood. “I wouldn’t say it’s a lot darker than any of its predecessors. It’s not an album of darkness because I’m depressed or anything like that.

I think we’ve just captured the darkness a bit better. My songwriting covers a lot of different spectrums, emotionally, and I think that this one is no different.”

ause I'm “It's not an album of darkness bec I think we've just depressed or anything like that. ter” captured the darkness a bit bet

Dark Shades of Blue was mixed by Joe Barresi, who has produced albums for Tool, The Butterfly Effect, Queens of the Stone Age and Bad Religion.

Such bands would not be considered traditional bed-fellows with an artist like Rudd, however he points out that it was Barresi’s ability to make the album sound less artificial and almost less polished, that led him to partner with the hard rock/alternative-oriented producer. “I was always a big fan of the production on Tool records”, Rudd admits. “He did 10,000 Days, and that was amazing. He came and saw us in LA and we had a bit of a chat and he was keen to mix the music, and I realised that he could get that ‘live’ album feel that I’ve been looking for.” Ironically, Dark Shades of Blue has actually pleased Rudd more than his previous albums, which, when he describes them, makes them sound almost as practice-runs for the sound he has created on the new album. “I love the tone of the new album. I love the whole thing. It’s taken me a few recordings to achieve what I’ve wanted to achieve. On every album I’ve learned from the previous one how to do things and also how to do things a little better.”

Of course, one must also remember that, like all musicians, Rudd’s music may well be influenced by his surroundings, which now largely consist of tour buses, hotels, and airports, rather than the quiet life he lived 10 years ago. “I think the positives of touring still outweigh the negatives.

You get run-down and sick, but at the same time I’ve always felt lucky to do what I do. I came from a small town where I was spending a lot of time on my own. To get out in the world and be in cities all the time and around a lot of people all the time was very different.”

When Rudd returns to Canberra this time, he’ll also be bringing along drummer/percussionist Dave Tolley, who recorded with Rudd on Dark Shades of Blue and who has been touring with Rudd for the past year and a half.“Dave is the fist person I’ve toured with full-time. He’s great – he’s such a beautiful soul and we’ve really connected. There haven’t been many times where we’ve disagreed. It’s a very free-flowing musical relationship.”

Xavier Rudd will play at the Canberra Uni Refectory on Monday November 3.

Joining him will be Dallas Frasca. Tickets from Ticketek.

bma magazine 22

Josh Brown

THEREDSUNBAND like touring. A lot. They must think Canberra’s a bit of alright too, as barely four months have elapsed since the pintsized purveyors of broody dream pop last graced the beer-soaked stage of the ANU Bar. This time the Sydney-based trio – combining sisters Sarah (guitar/vocals) and Lizzie Kelly (keys), with recent addition drummer Jasper Fenton – are bringing they of Forever Young fame, Youth Group, along for a co-headlining tour around the nation. I spoke with Sarah straight from the heart of the action: the tour bus.

One of the first things Sarah tells me about her surroundings is the noticeable gender imbalance within the vehicle. “There are two girls and ten boys in this van,” she laments, admitting that she and Lizzie did have some minor concerns about being outnumbered by blokes on tour.

“We purposefully asked to get a girl (Laura Imbruglia) to support us for the second half of the tour, just to try and even it up a little bit more,” she adds. “I’ve found that when touring, even a couple of girls can make the guys behave a whole lot better. So I think our influence will be fairly positive and hopefully the van won’t smell too much!”

n a couple of girls “I've found that when touring, eve le lot better” can make the guys behave a who If, like me, you think pairing the glittery pop songs of Youth Group with the dark and distorted tones of theredsunband seems a strange choice, well, you’d be wrong. “I think our two bands are more similar than maybe is immediately obvious,” Sarah argues. “When we’ve played shows together in the past it’s really worked because we are both very melodic bands.”

She also notes that the two bands share a history dating back to the early days of the millennium. “The first show that Lizzie played with theredsunband was a Youth Group support at the Hopetoun Hotel back in 2002,” she recalls. “And Toby has this awesome story of being given an early copy of Sleep Forever – which was our second single – and he gave it five stars in a magazine review. I wish I could find that, because I think that’s pretty nice.”

Pleasantries and praise are fine and dandy within the confines of the tour bus, but will the claws be out when it comes time to decide which of the bands will headline each night? “We staged a coin toss. We went out to Erskineville Oval one afternoon, got an old Australian penny and just flipped it a few times,” she explains. “But it was organised so it would be fairly even, even if one person won all the coin tosses which, I would like to point out, I did!” she exclaims with a cheeky sense of pride.

Coin tosses aside, Sarah assures me that the quality of the Youth Group/ theredsunband bill is definitely not a gamble and neither is her passion for touring. “We like being on the road,” she admits, with the prospect of traversing hundreds of kilometres across five states and territories clearly not troubling her. “We really like touring because we like the travelling and we like going back to all the places we’ve been and visiting our friends. We really love doing it,” she reiterates. “I don’t think we’ll ever stop.” The gig-going public of the nation’s capital implore you, Miss Kelly: please don’t! theredsunband will play with Youth Group and Laura Imbruglia on Thursday November 6 at the ANU Bar. Tickets are $23.45 from Ticketek.

TRULY YOURS Peter Krbavac In the first salvo of promo for their new album Dilettantes, YOU AM I released a video in which awkward, bespectacled, logger-hated journalist Symon Parnell of Under Oath Magazine bumbled his way through an interview with the band, asking all the wrong questions, constantly referencing his own two-bit beat combo and completely ignoring the band's fine new offering while heaping praise on their beatified mid-nineties LP Hourly, Daily. Your stereotypical Bitter Young Man of the Fanzine Press. The whole thing was, obviously, a parody; Parnell played by that jovial chap Timothy Adrian Rogers. And I guarantee that it made every ‘journalist’ in the land – who all seem to be You Am I fan boys, as if the two go hand-in-hand – panic slightly. No one wants to be that guy when conversing with Australian rock royalty.

However, talking to indomitable Rusty Hopkinson – the man in the big chair at Reverberation Records, and undoubtedly the finest Australian to ever take up twin lengths of hickory and beat ‘pon stretched animal skin – is, as always, a pleasure. Just as happy to discuss second-hand record hotspots as he is his band and their new LP; the man is, frankly, a living legend, and quashes every mean-spirited drummer joke in the book.

This round of interviews finds the band in a chirpy, jovial and altogether relaxed frame of mind, following the tense mood surrounding their last full length, the rollicking, spit ‘n’ thrash maelstrom that was Convicts.

“There was a feeling of our back being against the wall,” Rusty admits of their last album. “There was all this tabloid journalism circulating, people thought we had split up and I suppose Convicts was a reaction to it.

Kicking against the pricks I guess.”

“After eight albums we've still got our hair, and our relevance.

I'd hate to think we'd ever try to look like the latest thing” Considering the more downbeat, sombre tone of the new LP – particularly in contrast to Convicts – many have commented that Dilettantes blurs the lines between You Am I and Tim Rogers’ solo outings. Rusty seems to confirm this: “[Dilettantes track] Wankers started out as a solo thing,” he mentions. “Tim wanted to do it as a lullaby. He was playing it in rehearsal one day and I started playing the big, glam-y drum beat.”

Parallels can be drawn between Dilettantes and the band’s proverbial millstone Hourly, Daily, both records an eclectic grab-bag of the band’s varied and always impeccable collective music taste. Dilettantes comes in at all angles: the self-referential Kinksian lark Davey’s Gone Green Again, the aforementioned glam stomp ‘n’ Carry On camp of Wankers, another Rogers heartbreaker in the string-swathed title track, and the epic finale The Piano Up the Tree.

And given the diverse nature of Dilettantes, it’s no surprise to hear that there weren’t any round table discussions or grand concepts floated when the band went in to put the album together – it was simply a matter of playing what felt right. “We actually talked about what we didn’t want to do,” Rusty explains. “We didn't want to just fall back on what some would call our ‘default setting’ – windmills, Keith Moon drum fills and so on.”

Musically, we find the band subscribing to the ‘less is more’ policy, creating a more refined though no less powerful sound. Rusty explains it was about “trying to be sympathetic to the song. Not over-rehearsing, just banging a song out. But still keeping things considered.”

Make no mistake: Dilettantes is an outstanding LP, standing shoulderto-shoulder with any release in the band’s oeuvre. “After eight albums we’ve still got our hair, and our relevance,” Rusty smiles. “I’d hate to think we’d ever try to look like the latest thing.”

You Am I will play at the ANU Bar on Thursday November 13 with Tame.

bma magazine 23

TERRA-IST ALERT Stevie Easton Having just dropped a new album at the end of August called Music to Live By, Adelaide’s TERRA FIRMA are rolling into town on November 15 to headline Rhyme Intervention 4 at the ANU. As they prepare to take to the road with their new tracks, BMA tracked down MC Simplex to give us the status report from right inside one of Australian hip-hop’s most fertile breeding grounds. Simplex relates that after “five years on and off” spent working on the album, in many ways it’s simply relieving to get the finished product out there. “It’s a weight off our shoulders, in a way.” I see what he means when I do the maths, and see that five years on and off doesn’t actually add up to that much when you subtract the other things he, Raph AL, Mic Lez and DJ Dyems have been up to over that same period. I could bore you with details of collaborations with countless other hip-hop artists, opening new record label Simbiotic Audio, and of course touring and playing loads of live shows, but I’m sure you get the picture. It seems that TF are in a great place at the moment; they’ve got a new album and they’re keen to get out on the road and promote it outside of Adelaide, where it’s already been received with enthusiasm. “With every group, it’s in the home city where you get the best response.”

t boxing, “We just like to keep it simple. A bit of bea and strippers...” orks firew s, rkler spa e scratching...maybe som Like many artists from the local music scene lately, Terra Firma have benefited from fairly rapid developments in digital recording equipment, making the production quality of this album the best they’ve had so far. Turning to the subject of the upcoming Rhyme Intervention gig, Simplex is very keen to step up with so many other acts, and of course occupy the headline position at the all-day indoor festival. “I’m keen… there’s a lot of them I haven’t seen play before.”

When it comes to their own live set, Simplex says they don’t dress it up too much, but suggests you expect a bit of everything, and that even some of our own local products might make their way onto the stage. How would he describe it? “Disorganised? Nah. We just like to keep it simple. A bit of beat boxing, scratching… maybe some sparklers, fireworks, and strippers...”

Looking into the crystal ball, does Simplex see recording, producing, touring, or just chilling out for himself and Terra Firma? “All of the above.

I’m working on a solo album, and we’ve all got a lot on our plates right now. But it’s like we’re just starting to get the ball rolling, so I don’t think we’ll slow down now.” That includes more hard slog for one of Australian hip-hop’s leading lights, whose members plan to keep on collaborating and recording for years to come. “We're not going to stop now, even though I need a holiday,” says Simplex. If you look at his resume, you’d see why.

Terra Firm play at Rhyme Intervention 4, Canberra's largest hip hop charity event, on Saturday November 15. Joining them will be Dialextrix, Last Credit, Social Change, Mind Over Matter, Scott Burns & DJ Mathmatics, and a swag-load more. Tickets are $28 + bf from Landspeed Records, The Music Shop (Woden), the ANU Bar and on the door. Doors open 2pm.

bma magazine 24

GRUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE Allan Sko Hot young spark GRUM – and I do mean young, the git’s only 22 – is conjuring up some clubbing magic over in homeland UK, and it’s a whimsical dance spell he’s preparing to cast over us lucky Antipodeans.

The Leeds-via-Scotland Grum, or Graeme Shepherd to his dear Ma, has a biography that describes his music as “melodic, heavy electro trash, with a twist of ‘80s disco funk thrown in for good measure.”

“There’s a bit of Italio disco influence in there as well,” Shepherd's amiable Scottish accent tells me down the phoneline.“I like the cool disco synths and sort of spacey sound of Italio stuff. And a bit of funk, and funky bass in particular, is important. For the club, I like a sound with big production.”

It’s a meticulous musical concoction much loved by both chin-stroking industry moguls and sweaty-browed young things of a dancefloor. With ten smashing remixes already under his newly bought belt (including Love Motel, Tronik Youth and Revolte; all of which can be heard on his Myspace) Shepherd has no less than five new remixes on the go and an eye on the ultimate production prize; his first artist LP. “I’m working on an album deal right now,” Shepherd says. “Original stuff is what I really like doing, so hopefully next year it will be ready.

I’m aiming for a mixture of emotion and big dancefloor numbers. I find there is a lot of merit in albums that experiment with different speeds and sounds, so that’s what I intend to do.”

h, with a twist of “…Melodic, heavy electro tras d measure” goo for '80s disco funk thrown in

And you can get a sneak peak of the man’s original wares; tracks Heartbeats and Runaway are being pinned as first singles, snippets of which can be lovingly purloined from his Myspace. With such promising early work, Grum’s ascendency to international stardom seems only a matter of time, placing himself firmly in the “ones to watch” category. And, like many things in life, we can blame trance for this.

“When I was 14 or 15, trance snared me. This was back in 1999. There was a lot of hype about it on TV and local radio stations in Scotland. This led me to get into production…” …which, of course, steamrolled into the giddy juggle of production and gigging the man now experiences. But, as the old English adage goes; mustn’t grumble. “It’s difficult,” Shepherd says of the workload.“Waiting in airports has to be the worst part of it, especially in situations where the time in the air is less than the time you’re waiting at the airport. But this is the best job in the world. Spending countless hours working and tweaking a track, then seeing people dancing to it and enjoying it is simply the best feeling the world.”

It’s an experience we shall soon be able to enjoy this November when Pang brings the plucky whelp to the snuggly confines of Lot 33, marking the first time the man has played in Australia. It appears to be a mutually enjoyable experience. “I understand electro’s really big,” Shepherd correctly surmises about our homeland. “I’m looking forward to the crowds. So keep an eye out for me and come down if you like!”

I might just do that, Graeme, you disgustingly young and talented bastard. I bet he’s good looking as well, eh? <looks at press shot> Shit.

The UK’s Grum will unleash his Italio and ‘80s disco funk influenced brand of melodic, heavy electro trash at Lot 33 come Friday November 7. He will be joined by former UK dweller Dave Parkes, and local luvvie Mikah Freeman.

Tis but a mere $15 entry.

October/November THU Nov 6 THU Nov 13

THEREDSUNBAND & YOUTH GROUP

Tix on sale NOW @ Ticketek $23.45*

YOU AM I + SPECIAL GUESTS Tix on sale NOW @ Ticketek $32.75*

RHYME INTERVENTION IV 20+ HIP-HOP ACTS RAISING MONEY FOR THE CANCER COUNCIL SAT Nov 15

feat TERRA FIRMA, DIALECTRIX, LAST CREDIT, SOCIAL CHANGE, MIND OVER MATTER, SCOTT BURNS & DJ MATHMATICS, RHYME MINISTERS, NEWSENSE & HEAPS MORE. FOR FULL LINE UP GO TO: WWW.MYSPACE. COM/RHYMEINTERVENTIONFESTIVAL TIX AVAIL @ ANU BAR, LANDSPEED & THE MUSIC SHOP WODEN $28+BF

*Tickets thru Ticketek. Transaction fees apply.

Pre-purchase tickets & guarantee entry!

bma magazine 25

BLACKBOX

While the Australian series of Top Gear (SBS, Mon, 7.30pm) is still finding its feet, it is already attracting a loyal following. And rightly so. The challenges and commentary on cars available in Australia are a hoot and cartoonist Warren Brown is proving a winner. Last week’s lawn bowls segment was inspired, and the show is taking on Australian topics like this week’s investigation of the ‘Toorak Tractor’ phenomenon. The only criticism that can be directed thus far is the show’s strict adherence to the British format – right down to the copycat set, the camera angles, voiceover and the personalities of the hosts. Hopefully, with a bit of time, the hosts, in particular Charlie Cox, will step out of the shadow of their UK counterparts and let their own personality shine. Personality is largely what has made the UK show so successful and it would be a pity for the Aussie version to suffer an identity crisis on this basis. Attempting to copy a show lock stock and barrel may have worked for Steve Vizard in the ’80s but in these days of ‘fast-tracking’ (a term that should be relegated to the cutting room floor) and in a situation where the original show has such a loyal audience, it simply doesn’t wash. Just ask those few who even bothered to watch last week’s debut of the US version of Kath and Kim. After one poorly performing ep and a panning in the press, Prime have seen the error of their ways and yanked the show, preferring to air reruns of the original Kath and Kim (Prime, Sun, 7pm), even acknowledging in their own publicity as ‘the original and best’. Let’s face it, Kimmy needs a muffin top, Kath needs to be unfashionable, Brett is supposed to be a dork, and Kel as a sandwich shop owner just doesn’t quite cut it. The US version of The Office (SCTEN, Sun, 11.20pm) has managed to find an audience because it developed its own flavour – a satirical look at the US workplace.

A copycat that is probably likely to work (as reality or observational docos often do) is Face Painting with Bill Leak (ABC1, Mon Nov 17, 8pm) which builds on the Rolf Harris show. In Leak’s version, the subjects are no longer with us and he goes on a quest to find out what they were really like before completing their portrait.

SCTEN have had a bit of a shake-up in their schedule – Californication (SCTEN, Sun Nov 9, 10.40pm) will need to re-program recorders as repeat episodes of NCIS (SCTEN, Sun, 9.40pm) push it to a later timeslot. And Friends is gone from the weeknight slot replaced with reruns of Will and Grace (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm).

Those who’ve not made the commitment to Life (SCTEN, Thu, 9.30pm) should take the opportunity this week with a special double episode.

Good scripts and plots and an ongoing theme make this a show to add to your regular viewing roster.

Docos to keep an eye out for include Humpbacks: From Fire to Ice (ABC1, Sun Nov 16, 7.30pm), The Howard Years: Change the Government, Change the Country (ABC1, Mon Nov 17, 8.30pm), Sunday Arts (ABC1, Sun Nov 16, 5pm) which features an article with film director Julien Temple (The Great Rock and Roll Swindle, The Filth and the Fury, Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten) who is in Sydney directing Eternity Man, Cooking in the Danger Zone – Chernobyl (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 8pm) and Hairtales (ABC1, Thu Nov 20, 9.30pm) which takes an offbeat look at hair, including an ex-gothic mortician, a Canadian hair academic, a country girl bikini waxer and a myopic hair artist.

Political geeks will be in heaven this week with the US election. Auntie’s new ABC News Breakfast (ABC2, Mon Nov 3, 6am) premieres just in time, World News Australia: America Decides (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 3.30pm) follows the action live with the help of CNN, and Dateline (SBS, Wed Nov 5, 8.30pm) airs live from Washington. On the lighter side is Mr Firth Goes to Washington (SBS, Tue Nov 4, 8.30pm) part docudrama, part mockumentary, the show follows The Chaser’s Charles Firth as he goes to Washington and attempts to get an interview with George Bush. The following week British political satire The Thick of It (ABC1, Fri Nov 21, 9.40pm) hits our screens.

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com bma magazine 26

ROBOTS IN DISGUISE “…I always want to come back to Australia because the food in London is terrible” Shailla Van Raad With a blast of laser power reminiscent of rebel insurgency music, a galactic alliance soundtrack and some synth, THE GALVATRONS’ new wave pop has risen to an ultra-popular level with their hit When We Were Kids. Inspired by the epic '80s flash changing-metal clanging series Transformers, The Galvatrons, who are Johny ‘Galvatron’ (vocals, guitar), Manny ‘Maverick’ (drums), Pete ‘Condor’ (bass), and Pete ‘Gamma’ (keyboard), extend the success of their inspirational namesake in a very different direction. ‘Gamma’ likes to be ambivalent about the true story behind his name: “Gamma sort of just happened. It’s a name that exists to distinguish one Pete from the other in the band. I don’t even remember where it came from.”

Gamma also tells me a little more about where he came from, although this is a little ambiguous a little, too. “I moved from Canberra to Melbourne. I moved down originally to study but then I started playing in these bands. The band stuff kept on going and going, and I’m still here now with The Galvatrons. This is a dream job for me.

“I started playing piano when I was three – music has always been there.

When I first moved down to Melbourne it was the longest time that I had been away from the piano and I started freaking out.” So what is the dream job like? “The band has been a full time job for me. For most of us, it’s what we do. It’s good to be able to rehearse most of the time, without having to work casually. We’ve been lucky in that sense. I don’t think fame really has affected me. I’m still not that recognisable; I can still go to bars and have a quiet drink or two.”

The Galvatrons, though deeming themselves from out of space, still think our nation’s capital is definitely worthy of their alien presence. “On our tour we’ll be coming to Canberra twice. We last visited in May and it was raucous fun. Transit Bar was packed to the rafters, we stayed up for most of the night, but it wasn’t too crazy. We look forward to coming back.”

Their Foreshore show gives them another chance to grace us with their sound, that seems to light up some asses on the dance floor and instantly create a stampede. “Our music hinges on a play of different elements and our understanding of these elements and how they work together. In the future our sound will develop and change, as all music goes. The album will be out in March and its single Cassandra will be coming out in a month. The production for our new album has been done by Matt Lovell. He produced the likes of Eskimo Joe and he’s great fun to work with. The band really enjoyed having some fun with him.”

When asked who else they had had fun with, Pete was more than happy to tell all about their crazy times on tour. Unfortunately this section had to be edited out due to censorship and we could only publish this: “on tour with Shihad was one of our best times. They took us under their wings and let us drink their Rhino.”

World domination shouldn’t be far from here, especially from a band with a name derived from a successful ’80s metal cast and a claim to outer-space origins.

“The plan from here for the band is touring the UK in March and the USA during summer. We’ve been to the UK twice and think it’s grand.

London’s amazing; there’s always something going on. You can get lost there; it’s a very unique place. Although I always want to come back to Australia because the food in London is terrible.”

The Galvatrons will be eating themselves some bad festival food at Foreshore on Saturday November 29 at Commonwealth Place. They will also be supporting Def Leppard on Tuesday November 11 at the AIS Arena.

THEATRE COLUMN

original novel than the Nicholson vehicle. Featuring a cast of young’n’emergings from the NUTS stable and directed by Cara Irvine, it’s sure to entertain.

NUTS presents One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at ANU Arts Centre November 5 to 8. I assume it starts at 8. The theatre always starts at 8!*** Tickets at the door.

Well, with Titus behind us, there’s not much on the horizon of Big Ticket Drama coming to the ’Berra – that is unless you, like me, look forward to a spot of Soviet in the silly season. If that’s the case, get in quick for tickets to The Red Shoes, the Prokofiev-scored ballet getting a rerun from the West Australian Ballet this December.

With a story adapted from Theatre Column’s favourite Grimm tale, choreography by Simon Dow, and music from the great Sergei, it’s going to be a cracker.* Pretty cheap too, with U27 tix going for just $30. Check out the CTC Website for more details.

BAD JoY HAPPY PANiC! This city has been itching for another Hadley production, and thanks to Erindale College, now we have it. BAD JoY HAPPY PANiC! has been directed by

Ben Sticpewich, penned by the notorious Hads, and has live music by local songsmiths Please To Jive You. The production tells the tale of pube Sam Sevenandahalf and his travails with Charlotte, who has an alter-ego named Dr Monsoon who has escaped from an insane asylum (again with the crazies!). The two have to battle a ‘brace of creepy dentists’ while on a quest to the moon. I’m not making this up. Hadley is.

Erindale College presents BAD JoY HAPPY PANiC! at Erindale Theatre, TODAY OCTOBER 30 at 11am and 2pm for $5, and Friday

31 and Saturday November 1 @ 7pm for $10. Bookings phone 6205 8111.

NAOMI MILTHORPE princessnaea@gmail.com * Yes, that horrible pun was totally intentional. What’s it to ya? ** Yes, this column is cronyistic.

What’s it to ya? *** Yes, I’ve been wrong on this before, but I refuse to do any more work [viz: actually *calling* the people involved to check the details] because, let’s face it, I’m lazy. WHAT’S IT TO YA?

Tutte, tutte Nothing says Australian Classic like a bit of Louis Nowra, and nothing says Louis Nowra like Cosi. Yes, Rep are giving this Oz stalwart a once-over, with a cast of some of Canberra’s pro-am finest: Soren Jensen, Ian Croker, and my personal favourite, my mate Carly Jacobs.** Nowra-persona Lewis, a young director, is working in a mental institution and decides to mount a production of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. Crazies and creativity go hand in hand in Nowra’s comedic examination of reality, relationships and… all that big stuff.

Canberra Repertory presents Cosi directed by Jim McMullen at Theatre 3. Preview November 20. Season Thursday November 21 to Saturday December 13 @ 8pm. Matinees and twilight shows on Saturdays at 2pm and Sundays at 5pm. Tix $33/$27.

For bookings and info phone 6257 1950 or head to the Rep website at www.canberrarep.org.au Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

Again with the crazies – must be something in the air. The final NUTS show for the year is an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Don’t go thinking you’re going to get Jack-manque, because this adaptation is more faithful to the

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DISCOLOGY Ani DiFranco Red Letter Year (Righteous Babe) The - what? 4015th album? - from Ani DiFranco begs the question, “Does anyone actually care anymore?”

DiFranco still holds in her arsenal an amazing voice that can be used to great effect when fused with moving lyrics and well crafted music. Sadly this album just feels self-indulgent and badly realised. Ani seems to believe that simply playing a few notes on a piano and describing a party in excruciating detail is tantamount to creating a song. Like a friend who won’t allow you to stay at their house when you’re visiting town for just a few days because their boyfriend… oh sorry. Got distracted by some personal issues. But see what I did there? I censored myself. I realised that most people aren’t interested in my own pitiful whining about personal issues. If only someone at Ani’s record company understood the concept.

CARRINGTON CLARKE Axl Whitehead Losing Sleep (Sony BMG) AHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Stop it, Ax, me old mate, you’re killing me!HAHAHAHAH AHAHAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! No, but seriously, as a pointer to where our culture stands in 2008 this is a very sad indication.

For viewers of the less intellectually challenging programming of Channels 7, 9 and 10 only.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Poisonous, mind-rotting, toxic drivel of the most pernicious kind, worse even than The Veronicas or anything featuring Natalie Bassingthwaite.

AHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! Really, I’d be crying if I wasn’t laughing so much.

SCOTT ADAMS Demi Lovato Don’t Forget (Hollywood Records) Demi Lovato has been in Camp Rock and featured on Ellen’s talk show. She has just released her brand new CD, Don’t Forget, in only a matter of months. Her new CD is a lot more edgy in sound and has a rock facade. Lovato reminds me of Canadian singer Skye Sweetnam. The tracks La La Land, Get Back, Gonna Get Caught, Trainwreck and Don’t Forget will keep the pop world turning. This is more of a classic pop rock album that will fill the airwaves over Christmas and it’s – on the whole – not that bad.

It’s a very danceable album and should keep teens and pop rock fans happy.

CECILIA PATTISON-LEVI

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Dragonforce Ultra Beatdown (Roadrunner) If you start at point (a), where your premise is ‘Dragonforce are utterly ludicrous’, and accept same as not necessarily being a bad thing, then you’ll find much to enjoy on the European power metallers’ fourth studio outing. UB isn’t as good as its predecessor, the utterly monolithic Inhuman Rampage, mainly because the production, by Threshold drummer Karl Groom and various band members, lacks the punch found on previous works; rather than being engineered to sound monstrous rolling out of big stereo speakers, everything has been compressed to sound great on your portable device, and, to old ears like these, that’s an annoyance. Add to this the fact that the band has now unavoidably lost the element of surprise – everything here is a version of something the band has done before – and Ultra Beatdown’s impact becomes significantly lessened.

It’s still good – especially the Eurovision-style ballads – and if an enjoyable romp over familiar ground sounds like something that’d get your juices flowing then all well and good. But this band is titanically talented musically, and it would be nice to see them getting into something more ‘real’ and less gimmicky – the appeal of ‘everything faster than everything else’ wears thin after a while – sometime soon. Enjoyably crass.

SCOTT ADAMS

Fucked Up The Chemistry of Common Life (Remote Control/Matador) Obviously naming your band Fucked Up is either an invitation for overblown, suburban tabloid shock or insider sneering a la “Ugh, wow – how outrageous”.

The truth is, it isn’t shocking and it just appears to be a way to get noticed.

Like the annoying kid who eats dry Gatorade powder on the bus or the co-worker who reheats his curry in the microwave oven in his desk drawer at 9.30am. Life is full of bullshit. So imagine how great it is when you realise how fucking great Fucked Up are. I know – it’s fucked up. The Chemistry of Common Life is a post-punk-progrock-kinda-hardcore masterpiece. One minute it sounds like a manic Tommy, the next a feral Hives then another apprehensive Jethro Tull. Admittedly, the Jethro Tull part arrives in the first 15 seconds and doesn’t outstay its welcome but whatever – the Tull are awesome. Songs turn on their axis’ with a moment’s notice, massive layers of melodic guitar, aggressive distortion and chiming feedback pounce from unaware speakers – all the while lead singer Pink Eyes strains for notes that don’t exist. It sounds like alcohol, sweat and piss. It reeks heat and is tomorrow exploding in your face. It’s fucking outstanding.

JUSTIN HOOK

hard to appreciate why she’s been singled out. McRae has a strong, unaffected alto voice that belies her young age, and her pop/R&B hybrid songs have roots that stretch back to the age of singer songwriters before her birth.

Her debut opens with the memorable Every Day (When Will You Be Mine) an excellent stand out single. The album has 11 tracks that delve into love’s highs and lows. Her music has power and soul. The end result is an album that manages to season modern pop energy with time-honoured songwriting more effectively than most.

CECILIA PATTISON-LEVI Lesley Roy Unbeautiful (Zomba/Sony/BMG) Wow! Was this CD a surprise? Yes indeed – it is really good. Unbeautiful is the title of the debut CD from Irish singer songwriter Lesley Roy. The album was recorded by Roy over a two year period. I would describe her sound of music as a mix between Avril Lavigne and Pink. It’s more rock than pop, and that is a good thing since girl rock is on the rise with acts like Paramore and Flyleaf being well received. The album opens with the song I’m Gone, I’m Going. This is a really great fast hard rocking song. Here For You Now is in a similar vein, opening with a memorable guitar solo, and seeing Roy’s voice sounding more rasping. Slow Goodbye is a slower song, but not quite a ballad. Unbeautiful highlights Roy’s deeper more raspy voice. Psycho Bitch is a really good song that would make a great single. Another stand out track on the album is the ballad Come To Your Senses. Unbeautiful is an excellent debut record from a really exciting new star. If you love females that rock you will definitely be a fan of the debut album from Lesley Roy. CECILIA PATTISON-LEVI

Hilary McRae Through These Walls End of Fashion (Stone Road Records/Concord) Book of Lies (Capitol/EMI) Through These The newy from Walls is a more West Australian grown up music rockers End of affair. The album is Fashion is a bit of written by honours a grower. The boys music student have obviously Hilary McRae from learnt a few new USA Berklee Music tricks since their School. At the age last outing and the of 21, she has scored the distinction of sound is tighter and better produced. being the first emerging artist signed The vocal performance in particular to Hear Music, the Starbucks Entertainis light years ahead of their debut. ment/Concord Music Group. It’s not I’m still not overly taken on the lyrics, which at times feel a little corny and forced instead of touching or clever, which hurts the ear on quite a few songs. If the band is going to take it to the next level they’re going to have to get their respective wordsmith prowess in order (or go down the Kings of Leon track and develop thick TV On The Radio accents so no one really knows Dear Science (4AD/Remote Control) what they’re singing…). Burning Thirty years ago, New York City was on the brink of collapse. in Neon is an expedition into The Bronx was burning, the city almost bankrupt and blackslower and more ambient terouts in ’77 led to wide scale rioting. To many Americans ritory which kind of works and only just getting over the disastrous folly in South East might be a precursor of releases Asia, it must have felt like the apocalypse. The soundtrack to come. Walkaway sounds like it to the apocalypse oozed through the boroughs, but its real source was the Lower East Side where Talking Heads, The might just be an atypical garage Ramones, Patti Smith, Television et al made their mark on band track, but they’ve added a CBGB’s and music history in general. Of all the bands in that few bells and whistles to give it era, I lean heavily towards Talking Heads with their erratic, some kick. nervous skittle energy and droll humour quickly incorpoOverall a competent and enjoyrating absurd polyrhythms, minimalist African funk-riffing able outing. Let’s just hope the and ambient textured noise. Thirty years later it’s the world lyrics mature with the band. that’s on the brink of collapse thanks to some geniuses on the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Brooklyn is the new Lower East Side, follies are still CARRINGTON CLARKE happening in the Middle East and TV On The Radio are Talking Heads. Sure, the comparison has been made before but never has it been more obvious. Dear Science is a thoroughly 2008 album – angst and anger, despair and humour. It belongs in the present and demands immediate attention. It also happens to be the most accessible and ‘traditional’ TOTR release thus far, yet this is no slight. There are massive orchestrated choruses; hummable and intransigent. Where in the past songs felt like a worthy ordeal, now there are melodic, snappy yet complex Prince-style soul rock rave ups – and with no cost whatsoever to intensity. The propane urgencies of Halfway Home, Dancing Choose and Red Dress are calibrated with dreamlike releases like Family Tree and the tender Love Dog. The album’s closer Lover’s Day ends with the positive repeated refrain “I’m gonna take you home” and with all the excitement and calamity that preceded it and surrounds us all, I’m prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt and hang on for hope. There will be no better, more complete album released this year so dance whilst the house burns down, freaks.

JUSTIN HOOK

Pod People Mons Animae Mortuorum (Own Label) Can I first take this opportunity to apologise for my tardiness in bringing this review to you? Of course, an apology isn’t really required as it really isn’t my fault. Y’see, on several separate occasions now I’ve slipped MAM into the ol’ portable device with a view to bringing my thoughts to you, the general public, as to whether this release is worthy of your hard-earned, what with the credit crunch looming over us all and everything, but thus far I’m afraid I’ve been unable to. The reason for this is, unfortunately, my sheer inability to deal with the heaviness resident within Mons’ grooves. As soon as album opener Back to Reality oozes forth from the speakers, it’s like being pinned down by a couple of hundredweight of slow-setting concrete resting on your chest. As I’m sure you’re aware, this makes marshalling one’s thoughts – much less typing – nigh on impossible.

Indeed only now – weeks after release – am I able to communicate this all to you, by croaking out my impressions verbally to my nine year old son (who is safely stationed at the other end of the house, in a secure room, listening over the in-house intercom) who is in turn using his rudimentary typing skills to send this review down the mojo wire to BMA HQ. And the verdict?

FUCK MY OLD BOOTS. This is a marvellous record. Really. I know the naysayers amongst you will be crying out that PP are getting an easy ride ’cos they’re a local band, but then they haven’t been kicked in the teeth by Two Eyes Bleeding. Really, there isn’t anyone on the planet who is doing this stuff as well as the Pods are at the moment, and that’s Satan’s honest truth. If you like heaviness for the sake of it, if you like riffs that move slower than a sloth on Quaaludes entered into the slow movement Olympics, Jesus, if you just like feeling your liver twitching about inside you independent of any other organ movement, then this is probably a record you should be hunting down now. Actually, there’s no probably about it – just buy the fucker immediately. That’s an order.

Stupendously brilliant.

SCOTT ADAMS Rosaline Yuen Garden (Independent) Garden is the debut release for Melbourne singer songwriter Rosaline Yuen and it’s a debut that hints at a bright future for her. The CD features six delightful pop ballads and jazzy songs. Yuen has a fantastic voice and has the songwriting skills to back it up. Where Do We Go From Here shows off the jazz influence in her music where songs like Stay With Me A While shows off her knack at writing and singing pop ballads. Yuen (who was recently unearthed by JJJ) is more in the Delta camp than Missy Higgins camp as her music has a wispy melancholia to it. Yuen also tries her hand at an acoustic soul type number on Love Love Love. The result is a CD that is sweetly soulful ode to love. It will be good to hear more from Yuen in the future.

CECILIA PATTISON-LEVI

Sneaky Sound System 2 (Whack Records) The follow-up to their highly successful and ARIA award winning debut takes off just where the original finished and therein lays the problem.

The title 2 expresses exactly what this album is about, more of the same.

The band seems to have decided that they’re at their best when doing poppy tunes dominated by Connie Mitchell’s vocals, and that’s the play sheet from which most of the album takes its cue.

The vocals just dominate everything.

Now don’t get me wrong, Miss Mitchell is a very talented vocalist but her prowess just drowns out everything else on the album. It feels a little flaccid. At times it’s a bit too cheesy-gaycabaret (which I suspect is due to the aforementioned vocals). When We Were Young might be a type of in-joke; sadly I’m not in on it. Lost in the Future borrows a great deal from Daft Punk but is still mostly effected. I Want Everything and Don’t Get You both contain some of the kick of earlier works. The album finishes with another vocal dominated track, Where Do I Begin?, which seems to be nothing more than an advertisement for a solo career for Connie and brings the album to a limp close.

CARRINGTON CLARKE Sparks Exoctic Creatures Of The Deep (Shock) One of the defining moments of Brit TV institution Top Of The Pops was the 1974 performance of This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us by crazed ex-child models Ron and Russell Mael, or Sparks as they have been known for 37 years.

Hamming it in the most delightfully self aware manner possible as they have been ever since, Ron (the Hitler moustachioed one) gave a singularly unnerving yet equally irresistible performance – all of outrageous sideways glances and radical pouting for the camera, whilst his poddlehaired brother pranced around – and prance is a term of endearment for these gents – in a state of perpetual startled-ness. Afterwards, they become minor stars in the UK, but no one else has really understood their unique paella of Brecht, penny opera, power pop, crunching rock, frenzied glam, stadium anthems. Honestly, Sparks are the single most indefinable band in history. Exotic Creatures of the Deep is the third part of one of the most satisfying career recoveries ever, following Lil’ Beethoven and Hello Young Lovers.

The brothers are getting frighteningly closer to the quality of their ’70s work, particularly on tracks like I’ve Never Been High, (She Got Me) Pregnant and Photoshop, and then they go and fuse in modern freak folktronica and throbbing stomp on Lighten Up Morrissey. Laugh at the song titles all you want, but there’s more humanity, honesty and humour contained within one four-minute gem by Sparks than a thousand soulful searching ballads by anyone releasing albums nowadays. Big call? Sure. We should be proud of grand gestures. One of the few influential bands around that actually produce worthwhile product, this album is a timely reminder that the adults have the kids well and truly licked. Thank God for Sparks.

JUSTIN HOOK

Street Dogs State of Grace (Hellcat/Shock) Remember Dropkick Murphys’ first efforts on the punk rock circuit? They had a different vocalist, Mike McColgan.

He left in 1998 to become a firey. He kept writing songs and now he’s back with his band, Street Dogs. Produced by Ted Hutt (Bouncing Souls/Flogging Molly), this showcases the ever-confrontational lyrics of McColgan. There are unreservedly political tracks like Rebel Song and San Patricios calling for Irish-Mexican solidarity. The General’s Boombox is a eulogy to Joe Strummer and there’s even a reworking of The Skids’ Into the Valley. Occasionally personal, this album sounds like Dropkick Murphys without that bloody bagpipe.

SIMON HOBBS V/A Dancehall Queen Australia 2008 (Hardwax/Destra Entertainment) Here’s the soundtrack for the Australian leg of a Jamaican institution that’s occurred worldwide since the early ’90s, when dancehall began stirring outside Jamaica. The staccato rhythms provide the backdrop for energetic competitions where the most creative booty-shakin’, original dancer takes the crown of Dancehall Queen. Compiled and mixed together by Surgeon General Sound (AKA K-Note and Nick Toth), this is a 26-track collection that has some big dancehall names, including

Elephant Man, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Mr. Vegas, Shabba Ranks, Lady Saw and Ninjaman plus many emerging artists.

However, it’s not a good representation of genre. Try before you buy.

SIMON HOBBS Van She V (Modular) Dance music has emerged from relative obscurity this year and last, planting a flag firmly in the music scene once again.

Not since the halcyon days of important and exciting releases from The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers circa early ‘90s has dance music been so relevant. And the reason is simple. Songs. Good old fashioned songs. Choruses you can sing along to. Verse, bridge, chorus structuring. Fucking melody. The Presets, Cut Copy and PNAU have led the charge for Australia, and firing flaming arrows from the safe distance of the pseudo-‘80s comes Van She with another excellent slice of dance-pop delight. There’s much enjoyment to be had from the 12 tracks on offer; earnest lead single Changes, the beautiful melancholia and wonderful scatty drums of The Sea, and Sharp Knife, arguably the best song the ‘80s never wrote. But a true sign of this album’s worth is its consistency; it starts good and gets better, finishing up with some real gems. All up a joy, and hopefully a further sign of dance music lacing some glittering pop nous into the swirling sonics and bombastic beats of dance I love so dearly. ALLAN SKO

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Cell Out

With Mark Russell; he’s got a body of lies... and a brain of mush.

The new Coen brothers film Burn After Reading features Frances McDormand – wife of co-writer/director Joel Coen – in a sex scene. It’s a pretty passionless scene but it got me wondering; how the hell do you direct something like that? Do you teach another man how to get it on with your wife? Or do you maybe concentrate on her, even try and work a few things into your favour. “Now honey I think the character would really like it if you suggested bringing another woman into the bedroom.

Do you think your… ahem… character would be into that?”

Maybe you couldn’t be there at all. It would just be too weird.

Although in this instance the normal alternative would then be leaving the room so you can let your brother tell your wife how to fuck another man. Filmmaking’s awesome.

Body of Lies Electrifying director Ridley Scott and angry actor Russell Crowe team up for a third filmic outing; with this tense study of the terrorism-hysteria gripping American foreign policy. They’ve brought Leornardo Dicaprio along for the ride to play Roger Ferris, a young up and coming spy specialising in the Middle East. His latest mission concerns capturing an Islamic extremist leader and weeding out terrorist cells operating in Jordan. Ferris must use his expertise, diplomacy and connections to work with Jordanian Intelligence Chief Hani (Mark Strong). He reports to CIA bossman Ed Hoffman (Crowe), whose pragmatism borders on callousness through his constant reminders that “no one is innocent”.

Brideshead Revisited Yes, this film is very pretty – it looks beautiful and epic and all that jazz, but at its core Brideshead Revisited is a lacklustre affair. This adaptation of the novel by Evelyn Waugh is pretty slick, and the trailer makes it look positively scandalous and wonderful, but let’s be honest – I fell asleep. Twice. Brideshead tells the story of Charles Ryder (Matthew Goode), who is welcomed into the home, Brideshead, of the affluent Flyte family – the flamboyant son Sebastian (Ben Whishaw), aloof daughter Julia (Hayley Atwell) and strongly religious mother (Emma Thompson) – all of whom have issues galore.

What follows is a tale of sexuality, religion, obsession and betrayal – and

Burn After Reading The Coen brothers. This pair are some of the last vestiges of consistency and quality operating in Hollywood today. They’re able to amass incredible ensemble casts (in this particular incarnation we get George Clooney, Brad Pitt, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton), often getting A-listers to do low screen-time, large impact roles. Burn After Reading is another spectacular bit of cinema.

The brothers suck us in, keeping us enthralled with comedy as sharp as a razor-blade dipped in lemon juice. As usual with the Coens, the real power of the film is achieved through their incredible grasp of dialogue. In high dramas like the recent Best Picture No Country For Old Men, characters speak

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CIA Boss (J K Simmons): “So what did we learn from this?”

CIA Officer (David Rasche): “I don’t know.”

CIA Boss (J K Simmons): “I don’t fucking know either.”

Burn After Reading

Body of Lies attempts to walk a very fine political line. Any film focussing on Americans operating in the Middle East can easily get caught up in either flag-waving or knee-jerk pinko liberalism. Scott manages to avoid this, for the most part, by ignoring the issue.

There are a few heartfelt speeches for each point of view but most of these are given by characters who have already been set up to be extremists for either side. In the end we are only asked to identify with Ferris’s moderate views. The main point this film brings to the table is that it is an over-reliance on technology that is causing the US to lose their war with terrorism. Once the violent fanatics stop using items like mobile phones, surveillance

becomes very difficult.There are a few too many similarities between Body of Lies and the earlier film Syriana – right down to using a daughter’s soccer match as proof that spooks live real lives too. Both films also share sporadic scenes of brutality and torture, though in Body of Lies these scenes try too hard to shock. Overall though, Body of Lies doesn’t tread enough new ground. The only real revelation comes with the demonstration of yet more ways that the US is screwing up this complex situation.

how none of them can escape Brideshead, what it stands for, and what they experienced there. While the early scenes are a delightful prance through the fields of Brideshead and Oxford, the tone quickly takes a nosedive and pretty much everyone (SPOILER ALERT) ends up royally screwed over.

Yes I know, it sounds like it could be interesting, doesn’t it? The frustrating thing is, it should be. There’s just something missing that director Julian Jarrold couldn’t translate into film – though I largely blame the casting.

The acting here is wooden at best, forced at worst. Sebastian (Whishaw) is one of the only characters with any life, and as for Atwell and Goode, well I’ll be

damned if anyone thinks these two are even slightly into each other. Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon’s acting skill only further highlight the vacant stares of the young leads.

Some films get away with epic length, plodding pace, languid storytelling and dense themes. Hell, some manage to make these things poignant and affecting. Sadly, the close of Brideshead left me feeling empty, since I cared very little for any of the characters.

Brideshead, I think just the one visit this time will do, thanks. (Terrible, I know. Shame on me).

in harsh rhythms, soaked in bitter irony.

In comedic pieces such as this we get endless polka dots of wit, highlighting humanity’s absurdity.

The witticisms here come from a bunch of people on the peripheral of the intelligence community. Analysts, personal security, their respective spouses and would-be blackmailers all get a look in as they cheat and carouse through murder and intrigue amongst desperate attempts to fulfil their own agendas. Some of the best moments come through the fact that the real CIA operatives are the only ones who are actually aware of everything that’s going on. But even armed with this knowledge, the spooks still can’t find motive or rationality in the random

acts of these amateurs. JK Simmons embodies this bewilderment in a particularly brilliant cameo-length role as an agency chief.

The sudden moments of jarring reallife violence may shock those who are unfamiliar with the Coens’ style, but this is just another element that makes these filmmakers so singularly original.

Burn After Reading is reasonably short but manages to get in, do what it needs to, then get out again. Overall a thoroughly entertaining time in the near-dark.

MARK RUSSELL

MEGAN McKEOUGH

MARK RUSSELL

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GIG REVIEWS with the crowd right up in front of the band, they put on a respectable set that pleased the crowd, and was a darn sight better than the opening act.

After years of joining, quitting and re-joining bands, and now on the back of his reunion with I Killed the Prom Queen, Michael Crafter has come back with his brand new band Confession. Best described as IKTPQ without the melodic parts, there’s nothing really original about what they do. Doing the standard heavy hardcore sound, it’s fairly obvious that if it weren’t for the aforementioned frontman this band wouldn’t have got anywhere near the amount of attention it has so far. That said, no one in attendance was really expecting musical genius, just a solid performance and plenty of breakdowns, and in that respect the band was successful.

Since first hearing about Deez Nuts I was never entirely sure if it was meant to be some kind of a novelty band or bit of joke that somehow managed to get a fan base. With a name like Deez Nuts I was forever questioning their seriousness. After now seeing them live twice and listening to both their releases, I’m still not entirely sure, but I don’t think it really matters, as long as you’re having fun, the band’s music seems to work. The last time Deez Nuts played in Canberra the night ended with them playing a house party show to a room packed with fans, and tonight’s wasn’t much different. Which is a good thing, because this really is the best situation to see this band in; there was absolutely no separation between band and audience, so much so that frontman JJ Peters was literally engulfed in the audience, and I kept accidentally stepping on the guitarist’s pedals. Big choruses and simple rap lyrics about bitches, booze and partying, backed by a crunching hardcore band, that’s Deez Nuts in a nutshell. Playing every song from their EP and yet nothing from the soon to be released album, which is hardly surprising when you realise the bulk of the fun at a Deez Nuts gig comes from the karaoke mic grab fest that it turns into. How would the kids know the words to songs that aren’t released yet? The room was riotous with kids jumping all over each other and the band scrambling to have a yell in the mic, and it’s all done with a smile on everyone’s face. All in all it was a fun night and you’d be fooling yourself if you expected more than that.

JOHN HATFIELD The Bangles @ The Royal Theatre, Saturday October 11 New bands seem to pop up everywhere these days like threewheeled prams in a south Canberra suburban mall; there are no real pioneers creating new and exciting music that you just know will fill the floor at your grandkid’s wedding. The Bangles are one such timeless supergroup who have produced some of the most memorable head nodders in the last 20 years. I was extremely excited that I had the opportunity to see them strut their stuff live in my own city. Great work on the promoters for getting them to Canberra!

Deez Nuts/Confession/The Payback/Between Mind and Exile @ Tuggeranong Youth Centre, Saturday September 18 Since the Jamison Inn closed its doors late last year the Tuggeranong Youth Centre has become the new home for all age hardcore shows in Canberra, with tonight being one of the bigger shows this venue has seen.

Nu-metal has been dead and buried for quite a few years now, which is why it’s so surprising, and disappointing, to see a young band like Between Mind and Exile put on a set of laughable nu-metal mixed with Aussie hip-hop. And this was basically the reaction from the crowd, just saying to themselves ‘why?’

With Dig Your Own Grave once again postponing their supposed reunion, Goulburn/Canberra lads The Payback took the stage next, or area where a stage would be; this is the Tuggeranong Youth Centre, remember. Now with a solid lineup completed by a new vocalist, the band put forward a more serious sound compared to the breakdown heavy moshcore they started out with. With no stage and no barrier and

DEEZ NUTS @ TUGGERANONG YOUTH CENTRE PHOTOS BY JOHN HATFIELD bma magazine 32

The first thing that hit me when I arrived at the Royal Theatre was the mixture of young and old faces that had come to experience the ’80s rock legends perform.

A pinch of old ducks here, some yummy mummies there, teenage girls, middle aged men, kids whose parents couldn’t find a babysitter and me.

I arrived just as the threesome walked on stage to a mass of applause from the impressive crowd and as soon as they launched into the opening riff of my personal favourite Hazy Shade of Winter, seats were emptied and most of the front section rushed to the stage to dance.

The show was actually quite surreal as I spent most of the performance thinking "OMG I am watching The Bangles!" as they strummed effortlessly through all their hits like Eternal Flame (acoustically might I add), Walk Like an Egyptian, Doll Revolution and Manic Monday along with some new material and cover versions of classic rock songs.

After every few tracks they stopped and playfully interacted with the audience, Susannah Hoffs even announcing that the Canberra crowd had been “the best on their whole Australian tour” which even though may just have been polite showmanship, meant that the entire audience left with a smile… oh, and also with a Bangles t-shirt.

TIM GALVIN Sunflower/Super Florence Jam/Pleased to Jive You @ The Greenroom, Saturday October 4 Local youngsters Pleased to Jive You had an unusual launch to their set, with the keyboard player and guitarist Morgan laying out some cool rhythms together, before the rest of the band joined them on stage.

It was a promising start but the rest of the set failed to deliver. There was little to jive to in the discordant sounds and unmelodic vocals that followed. It had all the randomness but none of the attraction of jazz.

I thought "wow, this is different" as the musos for the next band tunedup the rarely seen pairing of double-necked guitar with double-necked bass. Super Florence Jam was aptly named as their gig was one big jam session. There was a rather random instrumental overture before the guys launched into Ghetto Project. Super Florence Jam’s style also resembled electronic jazz, but with a lot more melody, fun and a theatrical delivery. Although he was five sheets to the wind and hopping about like a monkey on speed, guitarist Laurence gave an impressive show of musical skill. Their songs were filled with long instrumentals and they were not shy of including a few bars from well known tunes in a musical travelogue of madness. Even the Can Can melody made an appearance. Altogether, a crazy show with guys that didn’t take themselves too seriously as they clowned about in showers of confetti.

Beginning with their epic opener India, Brisbanites Sunflower brought us back to the well trodden path of garage rock with the frantic manipulation of crunching guitars and passionate vocals. Their style, sound and the ruggedly good looking frontman David brought to mind fellow Queenslanders The Butterfly Effect. David can deliver slower songs such as Long May You Reign, as well as the faster, meaner numbers such as Ready. Guitarist Mikal (who is also an exponent of the double-necked instrument) was awesome, leaping and ducking madly as his blistering guitar notes plunged and rose, mirroring the emotions in David’s vocals.

RORY MCCARTNEY The Whitlams @ Tilley’s Divine Café, Sunday October 12, Monday October 13 I’d never been to a gig at Tilley’s before – in fact I’d only ever walked in once for coffee and straight back out again, opting for The Front instead.

I find it impossible to be completely still when watching live music; more difficult to be still than to move, so sitting around a table was at first somewhat perturbing as I knew the urge to get corybantic would soon completely overwhelm me. The Whitlams have, after all, a few handfuls of hits that well and truly get me going – despite Tim making the gag (on both nights) that they couldn’t call their ‘best of’ Greatest Hits as they only have a greatest hit, in Blow Up The Pokies. He’s a dry man that Freedman; whilst on a stroll up Mount Majura on the Sunday I wondered what he was up to, what resplendent delights of spring he was tasting. My ruminations were answered as he asked the crowd after sitting down at his baby grand, “Was it a lot warmer today? I couldn’t tell from bed.”

A while back in a review of The Panics’ brilliant gig at the ANU and then again in a review of Cog at UC, I commented on it being all the rage for bands to be heralded onto the stage by obscure and quirky music.

The Panics had a Lone Ranger-esque theme, Cog had Farnsie’s The Voice. And The Whitlams? Just a little bit of Handsome Boy Modelling School! It worked, as did their opener Fall For You from 2002’s sinfully under acclaimed Torch The Moon. In the interview I did with Tim for the mag he told me it came to him in a dream; it is a sublime song and shows the maturity and elegance of his songwriting (and his dreams

as well, I guess). A few lines from No Aphrodisiac were drolly reworked (“Customs, fisheries, immigration, and a picture of you”) while many of their swinging earlier tracks such as I Met My Match, Year of the Rat and Gough were wonderfully revitalised. As the red began to flow at our table thanks to my mate’s gorgeous mum Nance, it seemed like we were the only ones there for a hearty singalong and top-half tango; indeed, our table of four were only joined by three others when we broke free of our furniture fetters and danced wildly to the final two numbers Duffy’s Song (I Will Not Go Quietly) and Louis Burdett. Just before Tim burst forth with the outrageous piano of Louis the lovely Nance cried, “If it isn’t Louis Burdett I’ll just die!”

Seated at the stage the second time around seemed like a good idea at the time, but from where we were Tim was obscured by his piano so we had a hair, right eyebrow and crotch only view. This was no cause for great complaint though as we could see every strum and pluck of gorgeous lead guitarist Jak Housden’s lissom fingers, not to mention every session of eye sex my female friends insisted he engaged in with them. Half way through the boys left the stage for Tim’s solo set. Charlie #2, The Curse Stops Here and Keep the Light On washed the room with an awe-struck silence; the pain in his voice a small silhouette before an ultimately optimistic light. It was during this set I was directed towards a far left window; sparkling and shimmering with raindrops it reflected the back of Tim perfectly. This second view was quite magical; framed by golden wall lanterns his graceful keystrokes were perfectly visible.

Tilley’s is a great venue if you want to sit and quaff wine and nibble overpriced antipasto inertly while casually watching with the occasional head nod, but if you wanna boogie be prepared to be barked at.

JULIA WINTERFLOOD Michael Franti and Spearhead/Cherine Anderson/DJ Nick/The Winnie Coopers @ ANU Bar, Sunday October 19 The ANU was packed and hot on Sunday night. It was buzzing with hiphop fans, where there was no doubt that tattoos, pork pie hats and a fair amount of beer and bourbon were the order of the night. The evening started up with The Winnie Coopers showing the ANU crowd the excitement and energy that is one of Australia’s top hip-hop acts. The Winnie Coopers were full of energy, dishing out their funky style of hiphop to kick off the night. The Gold Coast boys did far more than warm the floor, as the crowd quickly got into their groove and the boys were looking sharp and winning the crowd over with their cheeky songs.

The crowd was treated next to Jamaican soul singer Cherine Anderson, who showed off her range and power with amazing songs and vocals mixed over reggae beats. A bit reminiscent of early Lauryn Hill, but with more funk to her voice, she was extremely charismatic, weaving her way sultrily across the stage. Stating that she needed a recipient for her love music, she approached a young guy from the audience ‘Jack’ to come on stage and be seduced by her song. Lucky boy!

Needing no further setup, Michael Franti and Spearhead immediately took the stage and welcomed the audience with Hello Bonjour. It was so exciting to see so many happy people enjoying the moment. Franti was in great form and his voice sounded remarkably like it does on his CDs, although he sped up many of the tunes with a bit more of a hip-hop styling to his singing. Following the Yell Fire opener, they treated us to Rude Boys Back in Town, a dub-rock heavy tune from the recently released All Rebel Rockers. The entire set featured a nice mix of older and new tunes, all reflecting Franti’s themes of love, activism, and world peace. The new album is especially heavy on the reggae/island sounding dub beats and has a bit of a less political slant, having a more 'all about the love' feel. Cherine Anderson came back on stage to sing on several numbers, notably Little Bit of Riddum. It was a great night and fantastic fun. It is great to know that hip-hop and reggae is alive and well in Australia. For reggae and hip-hop fans nation wide, a Michael Franti concert is one not to miss.

CECILIA PATTISON-LEVI

bma magazine 33

STARFISH HILL

BMA BAND PROFILE

Where did your band name come from?

When Tim and Lach were trying to think up band names they decided they wanted to base it on a funny story. The one they settled on is a little promiscuous. But basically, it involved Hill and someone disappointingly un-energetic. We’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.

Group Members?

Tim Dyer (vocals/guitar), Richard White (bass), Frank Aloe (drums) And currently seeking a new lead guitarist as our old guitarist Lachlan recently left.

Describe your sound: Somewhere between Something With Numbers, Smashing Pumpkins, and the way Powderfinger sounded two albums ago.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise?

Musically we have all been influenced differently. Large influences include U2, The Cranberries, Mars Volta, Rise Against and the Chili Peppers. Also, our song All These Years has a very Middle Eastern, Arabian feel. While overseas Tim spent some time in Turkey, part of which was spent around campfires jamming with some local Arab guitarists. He learnt local tunes and while All These Years doesn’t exhibit the authentic guitar work he learnt, it’s got a straightforward Arabian pop-driven feel. Something to mix it up.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing?

Big granny panties got thrown on stage once, but I think it was meant as a joke. Either that or it’s nice to see we had some of the older ladies loving us too. One of Tim’s guitar strings broke and flicked up and put a nice little cut across Richards’s neck. It scared the hell out of him.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far?

We managed to win the Upstep band competition against five of Canberra’s best, such as The Magic Hands, Rubycon, My Onus, Stigmata and Alone With You. Also, Starfish Hill made it to the finals of the National Campus Band Comp but unfortunately lost by what was apparently only five points to our good friends Rubycon.

What are your plans for the future?

We’ll be heading into the recording studio very soon! Beyond that we hope to secure some nice support gigs and spread ourselves around Sydney and Melbourne. Also, we’re on the look out for a new guitarist in the near future.

What makes you laugh?

The ‘You pissed me off section’ in BMA. What pisses you off?

Metal bands that love themselves.

What’s your opinion of the local scene?

It’s been growing well over the last few years. Venues like Bar 32, Transit Bar and events like Gangbusters and Filth are really helping it to develop. Right now it’s fun but not incredible.

What are your upcoming gigs?

We’re playing ANU Oktoberfest on October 23 with Carnation - on their EP tour with Haunted Attics and Rubycon.

Contact Info: Email: starfishhill@hotmail.com, www.myspace.com/starfishhill. Ph: 0422 725 457

FIRST CONTACT: Write your band’s name as well as the name and phone number of the person to contact (limit of two contacts ie. phone and email) and send $5 (cheque or money order made to Bands, Music, Action) to bma: PO Box 713, Civic Square, ACT, 2608. For your $5 you’ll stay on the register until you request removal. Changes to listings also cost $5.

Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 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 Annie & the Armadillos Annette 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone singer/songwriter(guitar), sax & flute Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Kingswood Factory Sharon 0412 334 467 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Bastards Jamie 0424 857 282/ www.bastards.altpro.net Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Casual Projects Julian 0401 016 885 Catchpenny Nathan 0402 845 132 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 CD and Website Design Brendan 0404 042 574 Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Chuffs, The Glenn 0413 697 546 Cold Heart Projects Andrew 6294 5450 Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 087 833/colebennetts@gmail.com Colourful Racing Identities Josh 0410 135 605 Cool Weapon Luke 0410 983 450/ Josh 0412 863 019 Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Cumulonimbus Matt 0412 508 425 Dance With Amps Marcus 0421 691 332 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 DayTrippers, The Reidar 0414 808 677, daytrippers@grapevine.com.au (dp) New Media Artists Mal 0414 295 297 Dogact dog-act@hotmail.com, Paulie 0408 287 672.

DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ/MC Bootcamp Donte 9267 3655 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 Dubba Rukki Jim 0409 660 745 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com EYE eye@canberra.teknet.net.au Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Dan 0410 480 321 FirePigs, The Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 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 Guff Damian 6230 2767 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 Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 Infra Retina Kyle 0437 137 775/Michael 0430 353 893/www.infra-retina.com

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 Jennifer Versatile singer looking for band; 0422 158 362 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/dj@ karismakatz.com Kurt's Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Lenders, The Tim 6247 2076 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Jules 0413 223 573 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 Malumba Dan 6253 5150 MC Kayo Marbilus 0405 648 288 kayo_101@hotmail.com, www.myspace. com/kayo_marbilus, Meatbee Ben 0417 492 560 Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907/hadrian.brand@live.com.au Murder Meal Combo Anthony 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com Myriad Kath 6253 8318 MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus Neptune's Necklace Mark 6253 1048 No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Para 0402 277 007 Petra Elliott Petra 0410 290 660 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 Queanbeyan Music & Electronics 6299 1020 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 Sara Vancea Sara 6247 9899 Seditious Intent Toby 0419 971 547 Sindablok Duncan 0424 642 156 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 Stalker and Liife Darren 0413 229 049 Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 Taboo Bamboo Greg 0439 990 455 That ‘80s Band Ty 0417 265 013 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, 0413 609 832, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/transmissionnowhere TRS tripstate@hotmail.com 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 Woden Youth Centre Jeremy 6282 3037 Zeitgeist www.zeitgeist.xwave Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

GIG GUIDE October 30 - November 2 THURSDAY OCTOBER 30

THURSDAY OCTOBER 30

ARTS _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

Canberra Dance Theatre 30th Anniversary A spectacular celebration of the many forms of dance. 'til Nov 23 CANBERRA DANCE THEATRE Martin Paull: Dead Planet Opening From 6pm. Exhibition closes Nov 11 THE FRONT CAFE, LYNEHAM Lire en Fete Aboriginal Art Exhibition Continues until Nov 22 ALLIANCE FRANCAISE, TURNER I'll See Your Heart and Raise You Mine A journey into the afterlife for a very special young man. Until Nov 1 THE STREET THEATRE, ACTON Rose Petals Introduces us to the adventures of a young writer and what happens when she sumbles upon the very wrong man in a grim hospital ward. Until Nov 1 THE STREET THEATRE, ACTON I'm Awesome U Know A short film made by boys who participated in the On Track Program at Narrabundah Primary. From 6pm. Until Nov 2 HUW DAVIES GALLERY, MANUKA ARTS CENTRE Drawing Breath: Breathing Place An exhibition of works on paper

by Antonia Aitken. Continues until Nov 9 M16 ARTSPACE, FYSHWICK ARC Cinema: Lou Reed's Berlin Tickets $9.50. Begins 7:30pm NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE Cluedo the Musical Presented by the Narrabundah College Theatre Arts. 7:30pm.

Continues until Nov 8. Adults $15, concession $10 HAWK THEATRE, NARRABUNDAH COLLEGE

Braddon Brainbuster Trivia 6pm rego, 6.30pm start. Beer/ food vouchers, cash prizes to win THE BRADDON CLUB Carry On Karaoke PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC Basement Pool Comp THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Karaoke with a Twist PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Ian Moss and Wendy Matthews On the Never Say Never tour.

With Tempus SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB, WODEN

DANCE _____________

DANCE _____________

Ashley Feraude KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Trash Thursdays ACADEMY, CIVIC Blast From The Past Tunes from the ’80s and ’90s MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, MANUKA One Love Reggae Sessions HIPPO BAR, GAREMA PL, CIVIC Funky Thursday: D'Opus $5 Coopers pints. From 9pm THE DURHAM, KINGSTON

Souled Out Fridays R&B with DJs Daz, Nate, Adam MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, MANUKA Mish Mash Fridays Selected sounds for selected people. From 10pm ACADEMY, CIVIC Havana Nights Tropical rhythms and passionate dancing, 8:30pm.

With Don Juan, live percussion and live singer MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC After Work Beats With DJ Jemist, playing beats so fine they'll make you sweat harder than a gigolo TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Friday Night Mix Up With DJ Craig PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Capital Dub Styles Featuring Kingfisha Along with 5 piece roots reggae backing, and Capital Dub DJs Brujo, Hieronymous IX and De Cruze. Free entry TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Gangbusters: Ohana With Like Foxes, Condorcet and Capillary. Entry $5 BAR 32 The Filth Featuring Traps, Here Come the Birds and Underlights TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Heuristic HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Dos Locos From 9pm-midnight KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 31 31 FRIDAY OCTOBER3131

ARTS _____________ Coulorophobia - Fear of Clowns An exhibition by Cole Bennetts.

Opens 6pm and continues until Nov 29 CCAS, GORMAN HOUSE Permanent Rainbow An exhibition by Peter McKay. Opens 6pm and continues until Nov 29 CCAS, GORMAN HOUSE The New Black A rehearse playreading, written and directed by Melbourne Playwright Robert Reid. From 8pm. Free entry DNA STUDIOS, GORMAN HOUSE In the Can With selections from the Dawn Waterhouse Collection. Begins 5:30pm CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY Constellation An exhibition by Frank McKay CCAS GORMAN HOUSE Halloween Poetry Slam Come along and perform your spooky poetry and win cash prizes! Entry is $3 and free for performers. 7:30-11:30pm THE FRONT CAFE, LYNEHAM

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 SpringOut Launch/ Halloween Party Canberra's Queer Pride Festival.

With DJ Matt Chavasse. Free entry for those in costume, as well as prizes, and local queens.

From 10pm CUBE NIGHTCLUB Frank Madrid Madness KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE ____________ Stonefest Over two days, including Nov 1. Featuring Grinspoon, The Dandy Warhols, Faker, Regurgitator, The Grates, Alan Braxe, The Drones, TZU and many more UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA No Assumptions With This Plague, Rushin' Dolls and Stain the Sunrise. Entry is $5 WODEN YOUTH CENTRE Pig Destroyer With Terrorust, 4 Dead, and Aeon of Horus. Entry $30. Doors 8pm THE GREENROOM, PHILLIP Kudos Rocking on from 10pm THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Misfits Halloween Tribute Show Full dress-ups required! With Toxicmen, Dogact and All In Brawl. Entry $10 THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Dean Haitani From 5:30pm SOUL BAR, WODEN The Remnants 10pm-2am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC Chris Harland Blues Band With Steve Russel. Doors open 6pm. Entry $20/$15 FOLKUS ROOM, THE SERBIAN CLUB, MAWSON

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Ancient Wisdom, Hidden Knowledge Expo This weekend is set to deliver a slew of presentations and documentaries, offering new perspectives on the known universe, in a journey which will take you from the inner world of consciousness to another place.

Bookings essential THE ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER CULTURAL CENTRE, LADY DENMAN DRIVE SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1

ARTS _____________ ARC: Berlin Alexanderplatz Fassbinder's epic masterpiece screening over two days. See website for session times NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE

DAY PLAY _____________ Gorman House Markets GORMAN HOUSE Burley Griffin Antique Centre KINGSTON FORESHORE

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 Fairday at Westlund House A celebration of queer community spirit. 10am-3pm WESTLUND HOUSE, ACTON

DANCE _____________ Jazz Sessions Smooth jazz, wine tastings. 2pm MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, MANUKA Official Stonefest Afterparty Hosted by Strangeways and featuring Pomomofo, Foo Fight (Soft Tigers DJs) and Strangeways DJs TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Dancehall Queen Contest Featuring Nick Toth (Syd) and Capital Dub DJs PAPARAZZI, MANUKA Sgt Slick Open 9pm. Entry $10 MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC Nathan Frost KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE _____________ Closing Show Featuring Spoil, Tonk, Penguin and Black Creek. The very last show at the Greenroom, EVER, so get along! Tix $20. Doors 5pm. Much love, Garry Peadon THE GREENROOM, PHILLIP Top Shelf HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON 3rd Exit Kicks off at 10pm. $8 cocktails, 4-10 pm THE DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Dark Nemesis With The Dooms. Entry $10 THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Black Ice Probably the best-looking covers group in Canberra. For all your post-Stonefest needs KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2

ARTS _____________ The Colour Red Six women have come together to express themselves through their art and interpretations of the colour red. The exhibition will be opened by Virginia Haussegger. From 3pm YARRALUMLA GALLERY & OAKS BRASSERIE, YARRALUMLA

DAY PLAY _____________ Old Bus Depot Markets KINGSTON Burley Griffin Antique Centre KINGSTON FORESHORE Tuggeranong Homestead Markets TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD Summer Sun Days Every Sunday through Summer, from 2pm. Free BBQ TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Silver Sundays Film Forum KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

GIG GUIDE November 2 - 12 SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5

DANCE _____________

LIVE _____________

LIVE _____________

Sunday Playground Chill out on the Astro deck or misbehave on the dance floor.

Complimented with $3 Coronas and finger food throughout the afternoon MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, MANUKA

Chuse Jazz Tuesdays With the Dave Rodriguez trio. $5 (TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON Mitch and Jason With Dos Locos. 4pm - 8pm ALL BAR NUN, O'CONNOR The Band Broke Up Featuring Jim (Dr Stovepipe), Julia (Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens) and Sam (Mr Fibby), with an introduction by Matilda Abraham. Hosted by Matty Ellis, from 7:30pm sharp. Entry $5 or by donation THE FRONT CAFE, LYNEHAM

Canberra Musicians Club presents "Captain, my Captain" With Matty Ellis, Ben Drysdale, Hannah and Sam, Manoushe a trois and Tom Jackson THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Irish Jam Session From 5pm KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC Low Key From 5pm-9pm ALL BAR NUN, O'CONNOR MONDAY NOVEMBER MONDAY NOVEMBER 33

DANCE _____________ Hospitality Night With Mikah Freeman & guests TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Bootleg Sessions Local musos bustin' it out THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Xavier Rudd With Dallas Frasca CANBERRA UNI REFECTORY TUESDAY NOVEMBER TUESDAY NOVEMBER 4 4

DANCE _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia From 7:30-10:30pm. Book early to avoid disappointment by calling 6295 1769 THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN Carry-On Karaoke Win $1000. Yes, $1000 TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Trivia Night $100 cash prize PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Trivia Night HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Trivia Night THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5 5

Melbourne Cup Mayhem Featuring Jack Beats (UK), Mikah Freeman and Vance Musgrove. $20 entry. Doors open 5pm LOT 33, KENNEDY ST, KINGSTON Lawns Party With Mark Farina (San Fran), The Aston Shuffle, Rob Kay, Paul Wheeler, Hubert and Downtown Brown. Tickets $157, which includes food and beverages for the whole day THOROUGHBRED PARK, LYNEHAM

ARTS _____________

DAY PLAY _____________

DANCE _____________

Melbourne Cup Day Enjoy a delectable selection of oysters matched with Oyster Bay wines THE DURHAM, KINGSTON

Caribbean Vibes Recharge from 8.30pm MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest This adaptation is more faithful to the original novel than the Nicholson vehicle. Featuring a cast of young and emergins from the NUTS stable and directed by Cara Irvine, it's sure to entertain. Until Nov 8. 8pm.

Tickets at the door ANU ARTS CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC Trivia Night ACT RUGBY UNION CLUB Carry-On Karaoke From 9:30pm. $1000 grand prize THE DURHAM CASTLE ARMS $5 Night TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Karaoke HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON THURSDAY NOVEMBER THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 6

ARTS _____________ Darkbot People doing strange things with electricity. Exhibition runs until Saturday Nov 15 CCAS, MANUKA ARC Cinema: The Coca-Cola Kid Writer Frank Moorehouse intros this '80s classic of a Coke-exec down under. Begins 7:30pm NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE

DANCE _____________ Trash Thursdays ACADEMY, CIVIC Blast From The Past Re-live your favourite tunes from the ’80s and ’90s MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, CIVIC King Farook Free entry TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Funky Thursdays: Kudos $5 Cooper pints. From 9pm THE DURHAM, KINGSTON One Love Reggae Sessions With Burjo, Hieronymus IX and De Cruze HIPPO BAR, GAREMA PL, CIVIC D'Opus KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE _____________ Youth Group With theredsunband. $23.45 ANU BAR

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 6 Gangbusters: Code of Lies With Psyus and The Sharks They Bite! Entry $5 BAR 32, N'THBOURNE AVE, CIVIC Carnation With two supports HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Angels are Architects EP Launch With Hayley Jensen opening the show. From 7:30pm. Entry $10 at the door SERBIAN CLUB, MAWSON Next of Kin 9pm-midnight KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Braddon Brainbuster Trivia 6pm rego, 6.30pm start. Beer/ food vouchers, cash prizes to win THE BRADDON CLUB Basement Pool Comp THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Karaoke with a Twist PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Carry on Karaoke PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC FRIDAY NOVEMBER FRIDAY NOVEMBER 77

ARTS _____________ Australian Poetry Slam 08 The first of two ACT heats.

Winners of each heat will receive cash prizes and the winner with the highest score will win flights and accommodation to the National Final in Sydney. With music by The Cashews.

Free to perform, watch or judge!

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

DANCE _____________ After Work Drinks 5pm, with Jemist TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Souled Out Fridays Smooth, sexy R&B, with Canberra's all star DJs MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, CIVIC Havana Nights From 8.30pm MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC Friday Night Mix Up With DJ Craig PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Mish Mash Fridays Selected sounds for selected people. From 10pm ACADEMY, CIVIC

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 7 Grum (UK) With Dave Parkes (UK) and Mikah Freeman. $15 entry. Doors open 10pm LOT 33, KENNEDY ST, KINGSTON UG Beats With Rideckulous DJs, and DJs Stunami, Paqman, Pornstylus and Jemist TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Jemist KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE KarismaKats From 5pm SOUL BAR, WODEN

LIVE _____________ Rev BAR 32, N'THBOURNE AVE, CIVIC Yuddah Narrabundah Contemporary music program WODEN YOUTH CENTRE Keep the Faith For lovers of Bon Jovi HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON Waistcoats, Whiskers and Whiskey Featuring Round Joh Virgin and the Strange Bedfellows, The Wedded Bliss, Dr Stovepipe, The Fuelers, The Brothers Grimm and the Blue Murders (Melb) and CC Thornley's Black Swans of Trespass (Melb). There will also be snags, beer, whiskey and wenches.

Ooooh yeah! Entry from 8pm. $15 full, $10 conc and $5 Canberra Musicians Club Members CORROBORREE PARK HALL, AINSLIE RockZone Rocking on from 10pm THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Cunt Butcher With Nobody Knew They Were Robots, Gasma, and Inside the Exterior. Entry $10 THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN After Dark 10am-2pm KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8

ARTS _____________ Australian Chamber Orchestra - Beethoven 8 Featuring Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, Brahms' Double Concerto for violin and cello, and Beethoven's Symphony No 8.

LLEWELLYN HALL, ACTON

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8

DAY PLAY _____________ Gorman House Markets GORMAN HOUSE Burley Griffin Antique Centre KINGSTON FORESHORE ARC Cinema: Salvation Actor Wendy Hughes intros the Canberra premiere screening of Paul Cox's new film. Begins 4:30pm NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE

DANCE _____________ Sampology - Super Visual Disco Party $15 entry. Doors open 10pm LOT 33, KENNEDY ST, KINGSTON MDX (Mark Dynamix) Open 9pm. Entry $10 MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC Frank Madrid Madness KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Urban Carnival Featuring the Capital Underground CD launch, along with Grand Jester, Byron Low, Floor Pirates, and Assault Squad.

Tickets $10 pre-sale or $15 at the door. From 5:30pm til late ROSE COTTAGE, GILMORE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Carry On Karaoke PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Helloween!

With Mytile Vey Lorth, Templestowe, System Addict, Machette, Barbarian, and many more. Entry $20. Doors open midday, runs til late THE BASEMENT, BELCONNEN Firehouse With Los Chavos (live) and Dubba Rukki. An all-local double bill, baby TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Kudos Kicks off at 10pm. $8 cocktails.

4-10pm THE DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Black Swans of Trespass THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC Heuristic 10:30pm - 2:30am KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 8 Allstars Acoustic Festival With the O'Hooligans, Hasemoto, Dr Stovepipe, The Wedded Bliss, The Cashews, Mr Fibby and The Ellis Collective. With snags, beers, but no amps! From 7pm.

Entry is $20 GORMAN HOUSE, AINSLIE SUNDAYNOVEMBER NOVEMBER SUNDAY 9 9

DAY PLAY _____________ Tuggeranong Homestead Markets TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD Sunday BBQs $10 BBQ lunch between 1 and 3pm. Happy hour from 2-4pm and live bands between 2 and 5pm. Sizzlin'!

THE BRADDON CLUB

DANCE _____________ Sound Baked Sundays With DJ Perplex, Steve Lind, DJ Just 1, Nathan Frost, Jemist, Frat House Phillips and Dave Parkes (TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON Sunday Playground Chill out on the Astro deck or misbehave on the dancefloor. $3 Coronas, and free finger food MINQUE, FRANKLIN ST, MANUKA

LIVE _____________ Jonno Zilber CD Launch Launching his new album Bigger, Better, Zilber, supported

by Julia Johnson. Entry $15 at the door or $12 concession THE MERRY MUSE, POLISH WHITE EAGLE CLUB, TURNER Irish Jam Session From 5pm KING O'MALLEY'S, CIVIC The Remnants 5pm - 8pm ALL BAR NUN, O'CONNOR MONDAY 10 10 MONDAYNOVEMBER NOVEMBER

DANCE _____________ Bootleg Sessions Local musos bustin' it out THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC Hospitality Night With Mikah Freeman & guests TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 11

LIVE _____________ Chuse Jazz Tuesdays New regular jazz night, with the Seb McIntosh quartet $5 beer/wine and free cheese!

(TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON ASA Wax Lyrical Sessions THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC Def Leppard With Cheap Trick and The Galvatrons.

AIS ARENA, BRUCE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Carry-On Karaoke TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC Trivia Night THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC Fame Trivia THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Pot Belly Trivia POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN Trivia Night PJ O'REILLY'S, TUGGERANONG Trivia Night HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12

ARTS _____________ Bill of Writes The ACT Region Playwrights give you a passport to a night of original works by local writers.

Intrigue, humour and suspense are on the bill. Until Nov 15 THE STREET THEATRE, ACTON

DANCE _____________ Caribbean Vibes MONKEY BAR, BUNDA ST, CIVIC

LIVE _____________ Owen Campbell THE PHOENIX, EAST ROW, CIVIC Behind Crimson Eyes Free entry, you slags TRANSIT BAR, AKUNA ST, CIVIC

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC Carry-On Karaoke From 9:30pm. $1000 grand prize THE DURHAM, KINGSTON Karaoke Night HOLY GRAIL KINGSTON

DVDEVOTEE

Martin (Umbrella)

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount)

Martin has a problem. He thinks he’s a vampire, but he comes across as just a shy, confused and disillusioned teenager in the middle of a sexual awakening he doesn’t quite understand or know how to control. Rather than take the normal path of awkward, drunken Saturday night fumbles and constant rejection, he has a nasty habit of drugging, raping and killing strangers. Not recommended, kids. Maybe it has something to do with his overbearing, Colonel Sanders-esque, Nosferatu-obsessed uncle who takes every spare opportunity to remind poor Martin that he is infected with Satan. Or maybe he really is the 84 year old vampire he claims to be, it’d certainly explain the Salem witch-hunt inspired flashbacks he experiences on a regular basis. One of George A Romero’s lesser known films, Martin is one of the filmmaker’s favourites and it’s easy to see why. Whilst not as gonzo gruesome as any in his ...Dead canon it’s one of those great films of the 1970s that uses the decaying core of the American Dream and piles on sub text after sub text. Indeed, this is standard Romero – he has a ceaseless fascination with Dystopia. Martin is basically the story of an introverted vigilante, a kid with a vague chip on his shoulder thrust into the baffling world of sexual politics. There are shades of cable-fave Dexter in Martin; once the blood stops flowing he loses his interest in sex, and his motivation to do anything. Violence is sex, and it’s the only thing that inspires him to keep on going. It doesn’t help that his first consensual experience, with a bored housewife, ends with her committing suicide; but hey, we all have our crosses to bear. In the background, urban Pittsburgh crumbles, much like Martin himself, in the visually arresting way only ’70s filmmakers like Schrader, Scorsese, De Palma, Friedkin et al could capture. Romero belongs in that club, sadly he is often misunderstood as the Gore King despite the sturdy social criticism underpinning every one of his films.

Extras include audio commentary with Romero and the formidable Tom Savini (Martin was his first collaboration with the odd-spectacled genius), short doco, trailers, unsettling TV spots and galleries.

JUSTIN HOOK

Like many people my age, the prospect of a new Indiana Jones film took me back to my childhood, and the excitement that lie therein.

I really wanted to think that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was going to be a call-back to the fantastic adventures ‘Indi’ had during the mid-'80s and beyond. Oh man, was I wrong. This isn’t just a bad Indiana Jones film, it's a bad film period. The ingredients are there, but like Harrison Ford’s wrinkled and grey façade, everything in this film comes across as being old. The plot revolves around an old friend of our heroes', who finds a skull and he has to return it to the resting place.

That’s about it really. Throw in some hammy acting and that's yer film. Ray Winstone, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent all may as well not be there, and Cate Blanchett as the villain is somewhat wasted, particularly when you have to listen to the most aggravating Russian accent ever. But really the Indiana Jones films have always been about Ford and in this film he never really seems to be doing any more than going through the motions. Certainly he swaggers and drops the requisite one-liners, but beyond that there seems to be no effort.

The relationships with those around him seem forced and uninspiring. Karen Allen as Marion makes a pleasant return, but it really is unnecessary, and lacks the spark of the original.

The ridiculous ‘passing of the torch’ to Mutt (Shia LaBeouf ) is predictable and trite. The direction is pedestrian with Spielberg directing clichéd action sequences, and the writing from David Koepp based on a story by George "should have quit after I fucked up Star Wars" Lucas is beyond a joke.

The main problem with this is that the filmmakers set up a lot of consistencies in the Indiana Jones universe that are not held true in the latest instalment. For example, having drunk from the Holy Grail (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), Indiana should be immortal.

Not even mentioned in this film which makes all that happened in the past facile and irrelevant, much like this truly bad film.

GEOFF SETTY

NEXT ISSUE: We chew your face off all Foreshore-like with PNAU and Kazu Kimura, along with Mammal, Little Red, Irrelevant and loads more.Gettin' fresh wit yo mother on November 13. Nom nom nom!

Great Australian Albums – 16 Lovers Lane: The Go Betweens (Madman/SBS) “How many times can we talk about the fucking relationships in the band?” shrieks the smirking, ever wily Lindy Morrison mere minutes into this instalment of the uneven SBS series exploring the classic canon of Oz albums.

Well, another 50 minutes now that you ask, Lindy. Grab a drink maybe and enjoy raking over the ‘failed-relationship in bands’ coals yet again cos it’s a magnificent story. The GoBetweens were one of the most idiosyncratic bands this nation has produced; an effete arch, supremely dapper artist convinces a reserved, movie loving, poetic type to form a band. With little more than a vague notion of playing songs together, Robert Forster and Grant McLennan became one of the great song writing duos of the modern rock/pop era, regardless of nationality. Later, wanting a female drummer Morrison was drafted into the band soon becoming a bedroom partner for Forster, then a few years later Amanda Brown completed the complicated relationship foursome on viola and oboe. And whilst it was Brown’s baroque pop bent that became one of the signature Go Between sounds, it was the art-rock leanings vs. classic easy, almost adult contemporary pop tension between Forster/ McLennan that set them apart. 16 Lovers Lane was the first album to be recorded by the band in Australia after enduring some fruitless and painful years in London. This release is evident throughout the album, nowhere more so than the joyous Streets of Your Town.

The real delight on this DVD, other than the boisterous Morrison and articulately hilarious Forster, is the frank memories of and by bassist John Willstead, a disruptive part time member – from openly berating Morrison’s lack of skin skills through to acknowledging he had no idea who the band were before joining and then admitting he didn’t even like them after he found out. A hoot? You bloody well bet. Grant McLennan is obviously only present through extensive archival interviews and concert footage, but this ain't no wake. It’s a thorough and exhilarating tale of every facet of Lovers Lane told with a wide eyed sense of possibility and bittersweet reflection. It’s also the best and most essential of the series thus far.

JUSTIN HOOK