BMA Magazine 441 - 21 May 2014

COVER

COVER LINE

Inside:

ad space

2

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

3

ad space

4

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

5

ad space

6

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

7

ad space

8

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

9

subscriber drive

ad space

10

@bmamag

barefoot bowls

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

11

2XX SUBSCRIBER DRIVE

I’ll see those grubs next Tuesday # 4 4 1 M A Y 2 1 Fax: (02) 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com

Editor Tatjana Clancy T: (02) 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com

Accounts Manager Fahim Shahnoor T: (02) 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Sub-Editor & Social Media Manager Chiara Grassia Graphic Design Chris Halloran Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 442 OUT JUNE 4 EDITORIAL DEADLINE MAY 26 ADVERTISING DEADLINE MAY 29 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA Magazine is independently owned and published.

Opinions expressed in BMA Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

12

Community radio is a funny thing. Firstly because the station I worked at eons ago had a country music presenter that took his job so seriously he wore his headphones over his Stetson, and secondly because people forget it actually requires some community spirit to keep it ticking along.

Canberra community radio stalwarts 2XX aren’t asking you to wear themed headgear but they ARE asking you to become a subscriber to the station – and here’s why you should. You not only support a local institution, you have access to ongoing giveaways and the chance to be involved with the inner workings of a radio station. This is in case you wish to present a show to rival those city fat cats with their gold microphones and questionable value systems.

You can also wave your subscriber card around town to enjoy discounts on books, food, coffee, music and to save money at cinemas and live music venues. To further entice you, the official subscriber drive starts later this month and includes seven events over seven days at various locations around town. It all kicks off at a Barefoot Bowls event at the RUC Turner, a family friendly do with free bowls, live music, giveaways and hopefully the odd foot massage. Other events during the week include a dance/club night, comedy event, and trivia night. Feel the love from May 25- 31.

Discounted subscription of $25 during the drive, $50 thereafter.

More info at 2xxfm.org.au/ subscribe.

RAW CANBERRA I confess to initially thinking this was a raw food event.

It’s not. It’s actually another amalgamation of talented, arty overachievers showcasing their works. Raw: Natural Born Artists is an international movement that supports and showcases artists in diverse fields. The collective mission statement is to provide independent artists with the tools, resources and exposure

they need to inspire and cultivate their careers. The local chapter will showcase their work at the Uni Pub on Wednesday May 28 and will take place over three levels. The second floor will feature the latest works from visual artists, the third floor is a chillout zone and the fourth floor will stage fashion, music and performance art. Don’t ask me what happens on the first floor – I’m assuming it’s too risqué to mention.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at rawartists.org/ canberra.

CANBERRA SHORT FILM FESTIVAL Deadlines are much closer than they appear. That’s why you need a plan. Or friends.

Especially if they’re handy with a camera. It’s that time of year again when you get to think big, film short. Yes, the 19th Canberra Short Film Festival is now open for submissions.

Accepting entries in several categories, you are free to make documentaries, music videos, highly creative very short shorts, genre films or just good old kitchen-sink dramas.

Just make ‘em cinematic. And under 20 minutes. Check out the details at csff.com.au and get cracking. Tuesday July 15 is closer than you think.

HEART OF A DOG Surely this should read ‘hair of the dog’? The soundtrack is rock ‘n’ roll enough. Let me start at the beginning though; this is a local production you should go to if you would like to see more Canberra actors/writers and directors do their thing.

Funded by one of those increasingly rare Australia Council grants, Heart of a Dog is written, directed, acted and produced locally.

Directed by Nick Byrne and starring PJ Williams, Heart Of The Dog is, wait

for it, a bold, beautiful Russian satire written in Wanniassa.

Writer and composer Jim McGrath has reworked a beloved Mikhail Bulgakov story into a musical with grit.

To say the least. The set is an S&M industrial warehouse, the costumes range from rubashka to dominatrix, and legendary political musical satirist Moya Simpson features wearing an – ahem – strap-on appendage. The music sounds pretty good too, with notable local musos performing what can best be described as Nine Inch Nails meets Gilbert and Sullivan. Together at last! You can catch this play and take a casual glance at a dildo in the name of high art at 8pm for three shows May 22-24 at The Street Theatre. Bookings via thestreet.org.au.

winners corner We asked you to name the contents of your ideal rider in order to win tickets to British India. Your answers ranged from quaint: “Salad made by my mate Pav. Hot dogs from Wendys.

Pizza from Regal Chicken in Charnwood. And fresh berries!” To ridiculous: “1 Indian Elephant, 1 African Elephant.

200 Litres of seawater,1 water desalinator, 6.7 rolls of bubble wrap EXACTLY, All Security staff must wear Stormtrooper outfits at all times, Anyone who talks must be blindfolded and hung upside down from the nearest flagpole,1 Flagpole,1 Jai Lai Glove,1 Large Gong to be rung each time I take a drink, Ear Plugs”. There are no incorrect answers, but I do wish to know what’s in Pav’s salad.

I dare you to give me shit about my hat

AY

@bmamag

FROM THE BOSSMAN HOST: Hello and welcome back to the Home Shopping Network.

We’ve seen some wonderful products today - wasn’t that radish fart extractor a beauty? - but coming up now we have one of the most unusual innovations we’ve seen in years. Here to tell us about it is Big Joe. Welcome, BJ, whaddya have for us?

BIG JOE: Thanks, great to be here. Do you have problems with stubborn deficits that won’t go away? Are you looking to get your finances back on track but hate spending time rolling out meaningful arts programs? Well now, with the Slice ‘n’ Dice 87000000 you can hack, slash and cut your way through troublesome arts initiatives with ease. Just one quick application and BAM! Years of stubborn arty build-up GONE. HOST: Just like that?

BIG JOE: Just like that. This baby cuts, and cuts deep, saving you big money the more you use it.

HOST: But wouldn’t this leave a huge mess, Joe? BIG JOE: I’ll take that as a comment. Here, let me show you how easy it is to use. If you’re tired of those pesky artists getting funding so they can make sense of the world through artistic interpretation and provide entertainment to others, then one click of this button and POW! See how easily it slices through the Australia Council for the Arts?

YOU PISSED ME OFF! Care to immortalise your hatred in print? Send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and see your malicious bile circulated to thousands. [All entries contain original spellings.]

To the (frankly revolting) man opposite me, Buddy, you’ve got some reprioritising to do. Firstly, delete all the photos off your iPhone of the women modelling underwear – don’t think I didn’t notice that was the only time you had your camera out. Secondly, fix that watery-eyed squint you’ve got going on there – it’s insidious and menacing, and professional though those models were, it unsettled them. Thirdly, close. Your. Legs. This runway is not in your basement (thank God) and you are not surfing thepiratebay in your Playboy boxers.Fashion shows are not put on so you can ogle young women’s bodies without consequence.

If you really want to argue this with me, I’ll call up my pal the Grim Reaper and have Emmeline Pankhurst and her first-wave feminist suffragettes resurrected. Watch your letterbox isn’t set on fire, all I’m saying. - Indigo Trail

HOST: Wowee, I see whatcha mean, there. That’s taken a beauty of a chunk out in one go. That really cuts through the funding.

BIG JOE: And if you’re like me and are fed up with the increasing quality of Australian films and want to make sure drivel like Muriel’s Wedding, Animal Kingdom and Samson and Delilah stay off our screens for good then give this handle a little twist and KAPOW! Screen Australia SLASHED! HOST: Heck… That’s devastating.

BIG JOE: But why stop there? This baby has plenty of juice in the tank. It goes through the ABC and SBS like butter. And if you’re like the rest of Australia and think both arts and Adelaide are a waste of time then you’ve come to the right place. The Slice ‘n’ Dice 87000000 smashes through the Adelaide Festival Centre like it’s not even there.

But that’s not all! The Slice ‘n’ Dice also has a Snatch ‘n’ Grab feature. I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of proverbs, and one of my favourites has to be - Give a man a fish and he’ll feed himself for a day; teach a man to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.

HOST: Yep, that’s a good one alright.

BIG JOE: Well, with the Snatch ‘n’ Grab we’ve wrenched that rod right back and not only saved $5 off materials, but an annual $65k a year for the fisherman. That’s a saving of $65005 with the cutting of one rod. How good is that?

HOST: But what about the fish? And won’t that affect unemploy...

BIG JOE: But it doesn’t end there. We’re rolling out a special Broken Promises Bonanza… If you order within the next 24 hours we’ll throw in a set of steak knives to plunge into the backs of the Australian voters. And if you aren’t completely satisfied with the results, then we don’t give a rat’s ass.

HOST: Well OK, thanks for your time Big Joe. I have no doubt this will be a big hit.

ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

facebook.com/bmamagazine

13

Image credit: Shay Tobin

14

WHO: CLOSURE IN MOSCOW WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: THU MAY 22 WHERE: ANU BAR

“We are here to stand tall, ugly around the edges, take up arms and MELT. EVERY. F**KING. FACE. OFF...” So declared Melbourne’s Closure in Moscow in their lengthy manifesto (which can be found on their website). The five-piece, whose sound has drawn comparisons to The Mars Volta and Tool, are set to shake up the scene again with their new album, Pink Lemonade. Their sophomore effort doesn’t disappoint – frantic, trippy and with a touch of math-rock. They’re playing at the ANU Bar with Atlantis Awaits, The Alternative and The London Town Fire. Tickets are $23.50 from oztix. 8pm, 18+.

WHO: CHAIKA WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: FRI MAY 23 WHERE: THE ARTISTS SHED, QUEANBEYAN

Describing their sound as ‘worldly folk jazz with cinematic classicism’, Sydney-based Chaika easily enchant with their seamless blend of genres, elegant instrumental arrangements and four-piece harmonies. Featuring clarinet, violin, piano, accordion, doublebass, guitar and percussion, the six piece have just dropped their second album, I Monti (The Mountains), a collection of both original and traditional songs. To celebrate their latest release, they are embarking on an east coast tour to celebrate, stopping by The Artists Shed in Queanbeyan along the way. Entry is $15/$12.

7.30pm start.

WHO: BEATLES MAGIC WHAT: BEATLES TRIBUTE ACT WHEN: SAT MAY 24 WHERE: THE WODEN TRADIES

Let It Be. Hey Jude. With A Little Help From My Friends. Here Comes The Sun. Twist And Shout. A Day In The Life. Come Together.

Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Yesterday. All You Need Is Love. Yellow Submarine. Help! So many, many classics. Will your favourites make the cut when tribute act Beatle Magic hit the stage at The Woden Tradies for one night only? Find out for yourself by nabbing a ticket and head along on Saturday May 24. Tickets $45. Bookings can be made by ringing (02) 6285 1995. Doors at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

WHO: GOLDHEIST WHAT: DROUGHT RELIEF GIG WHEN: SAT MAY 24 WHERE: SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Layering her honey-smooth voice over keys and live drums for an electro-pop feel, Sydney-based songstress Goldheist (aka Hester Fraser) mixes the classical with the quirky. She’s currently touring the country as part of the Dust for Drought Relief tour, an effort to raise funds and awareness for the drought and its devastating effects in rural Australia. Her latest song, ‘Dust’, taps into this theme, with all proceeds from the single going directly to the cause.

She’ll be joined by fellow Sydneysider Natalie Magee, a jazz pop singer. Doors at 8.30pm for a 9pm start. Entry is $15/$12.

WHO: HELL CITY GLAMOURS WHAT: FAREWELL GIG WHEN: FRI JUN 6 WHERE: TRANSIT BAR

After 12 years and many solid tunes, Sydney legends and firm local favourites Hell City Glamours have decided to call it a day. “We began this band as friends and we will end it as exactly that. This has always been a brotherhood and that won’t fade,” say the lads.

But they’re not going out without a bang. They’ll be releasing their second (and final) full length album on Friday June 6 and playing Transit later that night for what’s gonna be one helluva show.

Shimmy into those tight, tight pants and get on down. Tix $18.40 from moshtix. 8pm. 18+.

WHO: SPARTAK + A DRONE CODA WHAT: EP LAUNCHES WHEN: THU JUN 5, SAT JUN 7 WHERE: TRANSIT BAR, SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Prolific experimental trio Spartak are taking to Transit’s stage to launch their new EP Five Points. The night has a bittersweet edge as it’ll be the last show for beloved ‘berra dream poppers Mornings. Joining them is bugged-out beats outfit Power Moves.

It’s free entry so you have no excuse. 8pm start. Another date for your diaries is Saturday June 7, when A Drone Coda – who merge tension and texture into tightly wound songs – launch their latest EP Demonstration Model. They’ll be supported by Sydney noisemakers Yes I’m Leaving and local electronic act Raus. Kicks off 8pm, $10 at the door.

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

15

baz ruddick White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is unlike any other production you have seen before. Firstly, the actor is just as much in the dark as you are, having received the script right there and then on stage.

Secondly, the role of the director has been made redundant, with the voice of the writer speaking directly to the audience. Thirdly, patrons are encouraged to leave their mobile phones on. Audience participation is encouraged. Playing on five consecutive nights, with five different actors, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a play about censorship, compliance, manipulation and control, all thrown together through playful and humorous rhetoric. Written by 29 year-old Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit has been met with positive audience reception and critical acclaim the world over. I spoke to Street Theatre Director Caroline Stacey and actress Kat Bhathena about the play’s unorthodox approach to theatre, the ‘foolhardiness’/braveness of the actors involved and the importance of Nassim’s message.

Forbidden to leave his native country at 29 years old, Nassim Soleimanpour turned his isolation from the world into his advantage. As a ‘satellite’ writer, Nassim’s script is sent all around the world to be performed in theatres he has never visited, by actors he never meets.

A directorless play, Nassim’s presence in the theatre is the central focus. At the full mercy of the script, the actor is a vessel for his words and in this way he paradoxically present while being absent. Stacey shares with me how she sees Nassim’s role in the production. “There are many directors who don’t believe in the writer’s importance in any way and that it is actually the director’s voice that is critical,“ she says. “So this absolutely undercuts that in every way possible. It also undercuts the notion of being locked into a country and not being able to speak to anyone elsewhere in the world. His isolation is turned into his own advantage as he has made this work a provocation to audiences across the world”.

quality, the sense that everyone is in this theatrical experiment together and that anything can happen along the way are really great dynamics to be playing with,’ Stacey says. “The gravitas of the work is totally there.” The production plays with the irony that the writer’s situation is transferred to the experience of the audience and the actor. Adds Stacey, “I love the idea that everyone has to give themselves up to Nassim!” In order to successfully put on this production a mix of actors were chosen. Differing in race, background, age, nationality and gender, the interpretation of the actor to the script naturally alters substantially. The power ultimately belongs to the human voice and it is up to the actor to have faith in their script.

UK born actress Kat Bhathena is making her Australian stage debut in White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. With an acting career that started at the age of eight, Kat has performed extensively on stage, screen and film. Performing lucky last in The Street Theatre production, Kat Bhathena anxiously awaits the production. With a deliciously warm accent and a charismatic demeanour she shares with me her feelings of embarking on this adventure. “It is quite a leap of faith doing something like this!’ she says. “I thought ‘this will be great’, but then when I tell people about it they go ‘you are doing what?!’” So as an actor what is the appeal for throwing yourself out there at the mercy of the stage, in such a ‘foolhardy’ and ‘mad’ way? “I feel like it is quite rebellious. It’s bold and daring and I like that,” Bhathena states. “I like the idea that this is going to really challenge every single person who is in that theatre to accept whatever happens and have the guts to go with it”. The impossibility of preparing for a production in which you don’t even have a script can be daunting and terrifying.

Kat tells me how it all comes down to relying on the principle foundations of acting. “Improvisation and devising skills. Some of the first things we learn as actors,” she says. These are the things of paramount importance to the actor. Optimistically, Kat sees the silver lining to such a venture. “I think it will be really liberating because it is going to really strip back any pretensions on the character which you normally build,” she explains. “We have all been given the basic background of the environment, so I guess from that I can already begin creating an emotional context for myself given the situation.” In order to channel the voice of the writer, Kat reflects back on her time out from acting and how the loss of creative outlet made her feel. “The time I took out in performing between leaving the UK and coming here really affected my psyche on improvisation and performance.

Even though I was busy and doing good things, I didn’t have that creative outlet. That was actually a really oppressive feeling!”

She adds, “Obviously this is in the context of me being in a very safe environment but these are all things I can start thinking about and that I can bring that into what I can do on stage and the atmosphere”.

When I tell people about it they go ‘you are doing what!?’

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit caught the attention of Stacey a couple of years back when it swept Edinburgh Fringe stages by storm. “It just seemed that this work set up a really interesting construct in relation to a sense of writer. Also the work has this capacity to cross cultures and speak to global audiences in a really direct way,” she explains. The play seemed a natural fit for Canberra audiences.

After a run at the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, The Street Theatre managed to secure the rights to bring the production to Canberra. “Canberra audiences are intellectual audiences that absolutely eat up ideas,” says Stacey. “I really thought they would be interested in notions of what censorship means and the idea of someone trying to speak through someone else. The work deals with manipulation and engages with notions of obedience, and it does that by asking deceptively simple questions about the notion of live art.” The production engages the audience, involving them immediately and directly. This, along with the unpredictability of response gives the play its exciting quality. “This game-like

16

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit will be at The Street Theatre from May 28-31 and June 1. Tickets are $25 + bf and are available from thestreet.org.au.

@bmamag

LOCALITY

One thing that’s always fascinated me about local music and across a number of different locations has always been how there can be a brilliant musician in your midst without you even realising. This week, I discovered that one of the ladies from my office is a bit of a songstress, performing at functions across the ACT. Just goes to show that it pays to ask folks what they do with their spare time – you never know where brilliant local artists could be hiding.

Hopefully this instalment can help you hunt a few down in their natural habitat. If you’re the kind of person that believes restrictions put upon individuals by society’s uncompromising gender labels are so last century, you should definitely treat yourself to a ticket to the Gender Blender Ball at The RUC Turner on Friday May 23 from 8pm.

Led by neon- rock wonders Prom, the night will also feature Pocket Fox, Boogers (aka Zonkvision’s Danny Wild) and a special supersecret performance from Chris Endrey. This will be a beautiful night of androgyny, perfect for breaking down the male/female binary.

Tickets are $15; just remember to leave your cissexism at the door.

After an incredible 12 months that included playing at Falls Festival, and supporting mother-freakin’ Public Enemy, Canberra’s Citizen Kay is launching ‘Manage’, -his latest single, at Transit Bar on Friday May 30. He’ll be joined by Tkay Maidza for what’s sure to be a killer night of hip-hop. Tickets are available via the Transit Bar website for $12 plus booking fee, which really is a measly sum when you consider you’re getting to see two incredible rising stars, one of whom is a proud local. If you’re asking for more, you’re just being greedy.

ad space

Another local act going places is SAFIA, who are unleashing their new single ‘Paranoia, Ghosts and Other Sounds’ at Transit Bar on Saturday May 24 from 8pm. Having scored their own little piece of Hottest 100 glory and caught the eye of Lorde, it’s pretty likely that it’s only going to get harder to see these guys play locally, so better take the chance while you still can. For $10 plus booking fee, you don’t really have an excuse not to.

Occasionally a band’s name just intrigues me, and this is certainly the case for Veronica’s Boyfriend, who are playing Smith’s Alternative as part of their Sunday Sounds and Sangria program on Sunday June 1 from 3pm. Entry is $5, with their mixture of light acoustic guitar and growly vocals a delightful way to ease your way out of the weekend and prepare for inevitable Monday. At the time of writing, The Phoenix is still closed, but they have spent the last few weeks being absolute teases via the medium of Facebook. A couple of photos have surfaced of promising progress from the front of the premises, as well as a shot of happy staff sitting on a brand new stage. Hopefully their doors will be open again by the time we go to print or at the very least sooner rather than later.

Until next time, keep your eyes and ears open – your new favourite artist could be right under your nose.

Noni doll NONIDJDOLL@GMAIL.COM @NONIDOLL

facebook.com/bmamagazine

17

CODY ATKINSON Let’s face it: your taste in music sucks. It is the cultural nothingness where good taste goes to die. Trust me: I’m a music critic and I know all. I should get a t-shirt with that printed on the back, and the front should read, “I’m with bland” and a movable LED arrow pointing to you. I’m Cody Atkinson, and I look at why everyone’s tastes suck.

Name? You. Age? You’d know better than me.

Location? Reading a copy of BMA Magazine.

So, what’s wrong with my taste in music? You should be wondering what’s right with it. You generally listen to similar types of music, played in similar forms with similar instruments. You fucking hate metal, and if you don’t you probably hate euro-dance, and if you don’t you won’t touch early ‘70s afro-beat.

Cultural appreciation is necessarily limited by the potential for consumption of said culture. There is no way that any one person can listen to all the music being released worldwide every day. As such, your potential taste is limited by what you can listen to, not that that would help you.

manner. Music critics also tend to have some form of involvement in the music industry, from being performers to promoting shows to even having friends who are promoters. As such, they bring some (potentially limited) form of expert analysis.

Critics generally rely on tropes in order to communicate their opinions in a manner that makes communication to the potential audience easier. This is why it seems like critics coalesce around a particular artist or genre, because the inherent framework surrounding the field is necessarily limited, and many critics approach the music they listen to from a very similar perspective and undertake to review it in the same way.

So then why is my opinion worthless? I never said that. Your opinion may be as valued as any opinion of a critic, if not more so. At the end of the day opinions are just opinions, and they’re almost always subjective when it comes to music.

Your opinion also comes with an extra bit of value: commercial value. A critic usually gets music given to them for free, where an average punter has to make the conscious decision to purchase music (in some form) to listen to it.

Jason Derulo may get panned by critics, but he sells a lot more records (and likely makes more money) than the critically acclaimed Yo La Tengo. In that regard the opinion of an average listener has more value to the artist than a critic. However, a critic’s opinion gains worth as an unofficial arbiter of the merit of a album, and may help to convince consumers to buy an album.

Some artists value the opinion of critics way too much, and get really shitty when they get poor reviews.

Your taste is equally subjective and sucks

But why is a critic’s taste better than mine?

Well, to be honest, it’s not. All music critics are merely music consumers, albeit rabid ones. Their predilections are often even more pronounced than yours, and they’ll dismiss bands and artists on name alone. Most critics specialise in location and genre, and will fight for certain artists due to an alignment of these properties.

Yeah? And, to paraphrase noted cultural theorist Hayley Mary from The Jezabels, most Australian music critics, “have fucking jobs”. Music is a obsessive hobby for most, and it certainly is for almost all contributors to this fine publication. Critics don’t have access to special speakers or headphones, or any different way to listen to music.

But my taste in music still sucks? Yes, but here’s where the clarification kicks in. Your taste sucks because of its necessary limitations. If the evaluator of musical taste is someone other than yourself, it is very unlikely that they would recognise musical brilliance in the same ways and forms that you do. Taste is entirely subjective, and it’s a great thing that it is. And if you can articulate and justify your taste, even better.

So why should I read this publication? Because the mere payment for wordage doesn’t validate the ideas and opinions contained within. If an opinion has worth, it should be on its merits and not be derivative of any other factor. You should read this publication because the opinions and comments contained within its pages and columns are well thought out and argued. If you don’t agree with this proposition, the words become meaningless.

That doesn’t answer my question. Why does my taste suck? In this case, it’s because I’m writing the column and I’m setting a particularly high bar for what constitutes “good” taste. You don’t listen to enough music; no-one does. When you do listen to music, it’s not the right stuff. When you do listen to the right stuff, you don’t listen to it and value it in the same way that I do.

Wait, so why do the opinion of critics matter? Well, mainly for the fact that they are opinions, and often well argued ones. Most critics tend to listen to more music than the average person, and they think about the music that they listen to in an analytical

It’s a lesson that everyone has to deal with. Everyone but me.

18

My taste is totally subjective and is perfect. Your taste is equally subjective and sucks.

@bmamag

DANCE THE DROP

Imagine how alienated modern day artists must feel, standing up there on stage in front of thousands of mobile phones. A human audience is physically present, but their camera lens, not their perfectly functional human eyes are watching the performance – I find this trend disturbing. It is a very slippery slope towards a soulless dystopian future where human interaction has been completely usurped by a mechanical middle man. Will our senses become so dulled with disuse that our ancestors will exist only as benumbed clusters of meat and bones that communicate through impersonal electronic impulses? It would be the ultimate Darwinian deviation, the real world Matrix– our minds subjugated by selfaware social media.

Why are we so driven to capture and share rather than experience right then and there? I refer to this ideology as ‘Picsperiencing’- the act of living through your camera lens rather than seeing and feeling the real world around you. The new tech savvy generation wants to prove where they are and what they are doing at all times in an unconscious effort to make their lives seem more exciting on social media sites. Their best self exists only within their online profile, while they become exceedingly introverted and socially lethargic.

Do not let technology experience life for you. Capture it all with your senses, store it on your unfillable neurological hard drive and share it with someone who is standing right in front of you – you know, by like, talking to them and stuff.

Sexual superstar Cassian is heading back to Canberra with newcomer Lancelot for a double headline show at Meche on Friday 23rd May. The event marks another strong showing for new brand Thank You Ma’am. It’s good to see some new exciting things happening to heat up the city during the unnervingly cold winter season.Apologies for any confusion in the last edition of The Drop, the FINAL of the PANG! DJ competition is being held on Saturday 24th May. If you enjoy watching young bloods scrapping over prize money, I suggest you get your butt down to Trinity Bar and show some support! Good luck to all of the finalists – Code C, Jarred Downey, Alex York, Veneris, Lumic and Ness.

Let’s talk music, because that’s why you are really here isn’t it?

Melbourne based industry legend Luke Chable has been unlocking a lot of his classic progressive tracks on his soundcloud page. If you love having a musical orgasm, head on over to http://soundcloud. com/lukechable/tracks, look for the files with ‘download’ available and enjoy a sweet sonic release.

Ghanaian born Sydney based MC/producer Miracle is one of the most exciting new artists to pop up in 2014. His unique crossover blend of hip hop and energetic electronic beats is really fresh and interesting. Commercial wise, I don’t think we will see a bigger Aussie newcomer than him in the next half of the year. Check out his latest dope beats at http://soundcloud.com/miracleisiller/ tracks.

Fans of trap and dubstep will already be familiar with Hatch. The classically trained youngster is riding the new wave with his monster ‘re-hatched’ edits of some of clublands biggest records filling the playlists of some of the industry’s biggest names. You can grab a free download here http://soundcloud.com/hatch. Don’t say I never do anything for you!

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

facebook.com/bmamagazine

19

THE REALNESS So I’ve been very vocal in this column about the lack of gigs passing through the nation’s capital. Finally, someone out there has heard my whinging and decided enough is enough, time to give the people what they want, GIGS! And what a way to kick proceedings off, with one of the hottest producers blazing trails through the underground, Apollo Brown. The Detroit native will be stopping by Transit Bar on Thursday May 22, supporting his yet to be released album Thirty Eight (.38). Supported by Words Eye View, Susvess and Faux.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to get out there and throw your support behind this gig. Hopefully we will start to see a return of international guest detouring via the capital.

Sydney group Thundamentals have releases their third studio album So We Can Remember via Obese Records. Jeswon, Tuka and DJ Morgz are already riding off the success of their first single Smiles Don’t Lie which came in at #32 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2013. Production duties have been kept in house with DJ Morgz laying the foundation for the album and guest spots kept to a minimum.

Chasm has returned with the final instalment in his four part EP series, with the final project titled Night Vision. This time around he has teamed up with UK legendary MC Blak Twang for the entirety of the EP. The lead single Summer featuring Ozi Batla and Hau will nicely warm up your mittens during these winter months. Not many

20

artists, let alone groups, make it to their ninth studio album. Luckily the LA duo of Thes One and Double K or better known as People Under The Stairs have done just that with their latest album 12 Step Program. Never ones to chase a fad or use gimmicks to sell records, PUTS have stuck to their guns, using sample driven beats and back and forth wordplay to show the kids how grown men rock a mic! 12 Step Program is available on all formats via the Piecelock 70 website, however only limited quantities have been pressed up.While on the subject on longevity in the music biz it’s hard to ignore another duo from the Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Atmosphere recently released their eight studio album Southsiders.

While they may have lost some of their earlier fan base, their formula as remained synonymous over the years. Upon pressing play you are guaranteed to hear Slug sharing his words of relationship wisdom over Ant’s live instrument based production style.

Personally I’d like to see more of the soul sampled beats from You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having album, but why switch up a winning formula.The themes of the previous paragraphs provide a perfect segue into checking out the latest video from a true hip hop pioneer.

Mr Reggie Noble aka The Funk Doctor aka Redman has released a very tasty sample of what could be coming our way on Muddy Waters 2. Dunfiato sees Redman return to his roots, lyrically destroying all wannabe MC’s, sending them back to the wardrobe scared to emerge for fear of retribution for even picking up a microphone. Check it out!

BERT POLE - bertpole@hotmail.com

@bmamag

Expect nothing and take everything as an awesome gift

this kind of disillusionment and confusion, not really knowing where you’re ‘home’ is. You just have to get over the every-nowand-again when you’re a bit foggy in the brain and you do a show and blink and its like ‘wow, where on earth have I even been today’?” he laughs.

THE BEAR NECESSITIES sinead o’connell Killian “I literally have no relatives in Australia” Gavin was born in County Cork Ireland, immigrated to Australia “at the prime age of two” and raised in Mona Vale in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. More importantly however, he is one of the loveliest musicians you may ever come across, championing the fine constitution of our beloved BOY AND BEAR. Touring almost all year, the band recently returned from a North American circuit promoting their second album Harlequin Dream, released in August last year.

The album received an overwhelming amount of praise, including Best Rock Album at the 2013 ARIAs. “As always you’re flattered and humbled that things have gone so well. You don’t really expect anything, so when you start hearing how successful it is, it’s fantastic,” says Gavin. “On the other hand – and it’s not that we don’t appreciate the accolades by any means – it doesn’t really change anything perse.

We still just get out, play shows and go on tour and we love that part of what we do.” Life on the road can get “exhausting” he says – the obvious but often marginalised downside in being so famed. “You get

facebook.com/bmamagazine

Rest days for the boys include finding a beach if possible and a spot of socialising. “Wherever there’s an ocean that’s appropriate to swim in, we’re there,” says Gavin, alluding to author Karen Blixen’s sentiment, ‘the cure for anything is salt water. Sweat, tears and the ocean’ to which he couldn’t agree with more. On socialising, he adds that ironically, “you think you wouldn’t want to drink alcohol because you’re so tired right? So you end up going out…to rest…which makes no sense.” He then offers a final insight into the continuously changing eco-system of music productivity, coining it as a “liquid industry”.

“You want your art to succeed and you want to be able to survive, but what used to be a platinum selling record might only be a gold selling record now because of streaming. Or it could be because people don’t necessarily like your new record. It’s so hard to figure out what equals what,” says Gavin. “Initially, just expect nothing and take everything as an awesome gift no matter what it is.” I ask if he applies this theory to everyday life. “I would love to say yes...but that would probably make me a liar,” he admits. Leaving it there, he furthered by stressing how he’s looking forward to being in the capital again – “Canberra audiences have always been really fun. You guys are safe…we don’t hate you.” How endearing (seriously).

Boy and Bear are playing at ANU Bar Friday May 23, with Patrick James supporting. Tickets $41.30 + bf through Ticketek. Doors at 830pm.

21

SUPPORTING SAFIA ian mccarthy If you haven’t heard of SAFIA yet, consider this your last chance before you start looking foolish. They have come a long way since my first encounter with them, when they played an early slot at Canberra’s Groovin’ the Moo in 2013. Since then they’ve released a bunch of great singles, gained thousands of fans and won some massive awards with the MAMA for Best Indie or Alternative artist and a J Award nomination. They’ve also managed to score slots on some amazing bills, sharing stages with the likes of Rudimental, Disclosure and in a couple months’ time, Lorde. If they’re good enough for Lorde, they should be good enough for you.

The story of SAFIA stretches surprisingly far back. As vocalist and producer Ben Woolner revealed, “We’ve been going to school together since like year six. We all played a bit of guitar and we did the whole band thing…played some pubs around Canberra…” Then came a change of direction.

“We decided to take things a bit more seriously,” says Woolner. “New direction and, I dunno, kind of our live background, like rock background harboured with like a new love for electronic music…” Comparing performing in a rock band to performing in SAFIA, Woolner says, “It’s a lot harder but our live stuff’s like always…There’s so many different ways to do it. We’re always changing it to like better it and kind off setting it up so it’s more efficient…so it’s always changing, but we try to have as much live element as possible…”

It’s gonna be good not being the support band

As well as developing their live performances, SAFIA have also developed a reputation for their genre spanning work, largely due to a wide range of musical influences. As Woolner explains, the title line for hit single ‘Listen to Soul, Listen to Blues’ was no coincidence.

“I grew up with my dad’s vinyl collection and there was all this like old classic jazz and soul and blues, which would always play in the house.

So I’ve always kind of grown up like that a bit and so, you know kind of mimicked those singers…” Speaking of some of the bands other influences, Woolner states, “We all have a big rock influence, from like the classics to the new-wave stuff. I even like a bit of classical here and there and like a lot of reggae as well. So our influences are so broad it’s always been hard, even before SAFIA, deciding what I wanted to do.” SAFIA are now getting ready to set off on their first ever headline tour which will kick off May 21 in Canberra and then continue to nine more stops around the country. Woolner seems equally excited and apprehensive about the tour. “It’s gonna be good not being the support band,” he says. “At the same time it’s pretty daunting ‘cause we gotta get people through the door but yeah, it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

SAFIA will be kicking off their first ever headline tour on Saturday May 21 at Transit Bar with tickets priced at $10 for presale which are available through Moshtix or $15 at the door.

22

@bmamag

The kind of posturing found in the mainstream is absent, instead replaced by a truthful expression of feeling and sound that Paper Kites guitarist Sam Bentley looks for. “People will always make comparisons to the music they hear live or listen to at home,” he says.

“As an artist I think that, although you draw influences from a lot of different places, you want to try and be that band others in that vein get compared to. It’s the ongoing struggle of any creative process to take things that influence you, but still reproduce what you love with a level of originality and relevance.”

FLYING HIGH dan bigna There’s nothing like the sweet sensation of raw creativity to get those juices flowing. Melbourne band THE PAPER KITES have the creative expression side sewn up and the listener can provide the other bit.

This purposeful relationship is the heart of The Paper Kites’ appealing debut album States. A song like ‘Living Colour’ sends out the right vibe with overlapping instrumental textures colouring hints of ragged guitar and beautiful female harmonies, all of which hit the sweet spot.

From the band’s fully fledged appearance in 2010 there has been radio airplay, satisfied gig goers and the right kind of influences on album track ‘A Lesson from Mr Gray’, which sends out psychedelic vibrations somewhat like The Brian Jonestown Massacre without the distrustful overload. The Paper Kites are part of a modern musical tradition that includes the nascent alt-country scene in the 1980s – an outcrop of the post-punk devotion to art. Other artists like The Byrds and Will Oldham also enter the mix.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

The plaintive melodies on States are both original and relevant but good melodies are not always easy to come by. “I put a lot of thought into the way I wanted the songs to sound and how I wanted the album to feel,” Bentley says. “But it was still an organic creative process because most of the ideas weren’t over-thought and were without limitations.” Some of those musical ideas take the listener into an intimate realm where spinning the album puts you in the same room as the band. ‘I Done You So Wrong’ is a personal song title which reflects a common uncertainty. Are personal experiences important to the music of The Paper Kites?

“Yeah definitely,” Bentley says. “Pretty much every song is written from something that’s been going on for one of us. This does make the album super personal, almost like you’re reading someone’s slightly over-poetic journal entries. People like things that are real and lyrics that are relevant to their own lives. It’s great when someone comes up to you and tells you how much a particular song means to them.

You appreciate it because the song means something to you too and they’re getting from it what you’ve put into it.”

The Paper Kites play Transit Bar on Saturday May 31. Tickets are $23.50, available from moshtix.

23

HAVE YOU HERD?

BEARD NATION

MEL CERATO

DANIKA NAYNA

Australian hip-hop group THE HERD will be getting together after some time apart to headline The Peak Festival next month. Known for their socially-aware song lyrics, The Herd have been fairly quiet of late, only playing sporadic festival gigs in between a bunch of solo stuff. “It’s been a quieter year as there are so other side projects going these days,” percussion and beat-maker Kenny Sabir says. “It’s hard for us to coordinate anything.”

Sabir, better known as Tracksewt, is a co-founder of Elefant Traks record label and founding member of The Herd. Comprised of eight members, The Herd is a band made up of artists from Elefant Traks that has released five records to date, the last album being 2011’s Future Shade.

These are the conversations we would be having anyway

Best known for their electrifying live performances and continual political and environmental activism, The Herd has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most politically orientated bands. “It’s not something we made our mission to become a political band,” Sabir explains. “These are just the stories we care about, these are the conversations we would be having anyway. We’re talking about life – some songs are about politics and some are about the politics of life.”

The Herd will be taking their brand of funk-inspired hip-hop to The Peak Festival to share the stage with a whole range of other musicians, artists and performers. The Peak Festival will feature over 130 concerts across nine stages, welcoming the start of the snow season on the June long weekend, from Friday 6 to Monday 9.

Formerly known as the Perisher Snowy Mountains of Music festival, The Peak Festival is one of Australia’s only winter festivals and takes place on the snowy fields of The Perisher Valley.

Joining The Herd at the festival are the likes of five-piece Melbourne folk band The Little Stevies, huge 17-member African-funk outfit Public Opinion Afro Orchestra and Brisbane folk and blues artists Sally Harris And Little Big Smoke. Keyboard extraordinaire Lachy Doley will be bringing his band along to rock n’ roll and Ethiopian soul singer Dereb the Ambassador and his eight-piece ensemble round off just a taste of the exciting mix of acts sure to impress. With eight people living all over the country, Sabir says that the festival is a great excuse to get everyone from the Herd together to have some fun and enjoy the snow. “People are dispersed to different areas so it’s getting hard to get us altogether,” Sabir says. “We’re going to make a bit of a weekend, a bunch of us are going up early to hang out and play in the snow.”

You can catch The Herd, plus a bunch of other acts, at The Peak Festival on the June long weekend, Fri–Mon June 6–9, in the Perisher Valley. Purchase early-bird tickets at $125 by Sat May 31 at peakfestival.com.au.

24

On the eve of the Federal Budget, BMA Magazine heard that The Beards band member and little-known Minister for Beards and Beard Services, Johann Beardraven, would be answering questions on current beardy issues. Not one to miss out on a reach-around opportunity in the media pack, BMA felt its way up to the front and asked the usual hard-hitting questions.

Mr Beardraven, what are your hopes for beards and bearded Australians in relation to the national Budget?

It is a good time for beards at the moment. Lots of people have beards and that makes me feel really good. We must allocate money for people who have beards, particularly those whose beard is preventing them from getting a job.

They should have access to beard funds, subsidised beard combs and beard shampoos. It’s about time our clean-shaven government did something for the bearded man.

Canberra’s up there with the beardiest places in Australia

Following Austria’s bearded lady Conchita Wurst’s win at Eurovision, Russian leader Vladimir Putin declared it the “end of Europe”. Could this beard cause a war?

We were thrilled when we heard about Conchita. When we released our latest single ‘All the Bearded Ladies’, we hoped to inspire people worldwide so we’re very proud to have obviously influenced that result. Regarding that clown Putin’s comments, he has problems with a lot of things but he doesn’t have a beard so I don’t give him any thought. We’re against beard hate … any kind of hate. We don’t care which way you swing as long as you have a beard. As a sign of protest from the Minister for Beards I shall make a personal visit to the Kremlin, bring another bearded man and hold his hand as we walk in.

We have a question from Canberra’s representatives of the beard (Facebook page Beards of Canberra). Do you consider Canberra our beard capital? If not, who do we have to fight for the title?

We love Canberra! We’ve always had a good time there are impressed by its beardiness. Per capita, Canberra’s up there with the beardiest places in Australia. If not Canberra, I’d have to say Hobart. Canberra and Hobart are quite cold, so very conducive environments to beards.

Hobart has more of a woodsman beard attitude, more of a bushbeardness. There’s a good young beard culture in Canberra.

And what do you have to say to the hateful ‘Open Letter to Bearded Hipsters’ by Nicki Daniels?

As long as you have a beard, that’s number one. There’s no bad reason to grow a beard. The hipster beard, the big bushy beard, the lazy beard, they’re all beards. What we don’t want is for the trend to end.

The Beards return to Canberra with The Beard Album: Australian Launch Tour on Saturday June 7 at The Abbey. Tickets are available from theabbey. com.au for a mere $25 +bf.

@bmamag

facebook.com/bmamagazine

25

Hey punks. Winter is near, and above all else, winter brings with it the following dilemma: to keep warm we could do with a lot more moshing and drinking, yet we are presented with far fewer opportunities to do so.

This is why I must present the following plea: to all Canberra punk bands, promoters and venues, FOR THE LOVE OF JOEY RAMONE PLEASE DON’T STOP PUTTING ON SHOWS IN WINTER. For one, I have column inches to fill. But also, let’s be real, if there were ever a dreary and oppressive season that needed to be protested against, IT WOULD BE WINTER. I know we’re all punks here and it’s not exactly in our nature to be sensible, but let’s try to be a bit… sensible. Whatever, do what you want. Here’s some stuff that’s on.

This Wednesday May 21 you can catch Thee Nodes from Montreal, Canada at the Magpies City Club. Joining them will be Gentlemen from Melbourne along with locals Hygiene, Harrow, and Primary Colours.

Melbourne’s Max Goes to Hollywood will be also be at the Magpies City Club on Friday May 30. They will be joined by fellow Melbournians Foley along with locals Revellers and Jack Livingston.

Beloved locals Mornings will be succumbing to the upsetting Cinnamon trend of playing their last ever show. I’m not quite sure what I will do without mornings, but presumably I will be relieved of all hangovers. Shitty puns aside, their last show will be taking place at Transit Bar on Thursday June 5 in support of Spartak who will be celebrating the release of their new EP Five Points. They will also be joined by Sydney producer, Power Moves.

Coming up on Saturday June 28 you can mosh for a cause at Punx for a Cure, a punk rock benefit show at the Magpies City Club, with all proceeds going toward the Leukaemia Foundation in line with World’s Greatest Shave. The show will feature sets from Sydney’s Yo! Put That Bag Back On, Unbranded Animals, Burlap, Goner, Camilo Zannoni, and Wollongong’s David M. Johnson with even more acts to be announced. Entry on the night will be $10 and punters will also be able to make extra donations to the Leukaemia Foundation.

You should all know this by now, but for the thick ones out there, I’m gonna remind you to tune into 2XX every Monday night from 9pm for Haircuts & T-shirts. What is Haircuts & T-shirts, you ask? Are you serious…

Well, there goes another instalment of Punk and Disorderly. I’m not going to put another joke at the end of this one because quite frankly I can’t be bothered. Between you and me, I have to google them and it’s late and I fear that if I travel onto the internet right now I could be led astray very quickly. Feel free to laugh at the end of this anyway.

And go.

IAN McCARTHY

26

@bmamag

chrome

METALISE Sepultura, or what’s left of the Brazil thrash institution, is coming back to Australia for an east coast jaunt in October, landing at the Manning Bar in Sydney on Sunday 5. Well I guess that’s not fair – 50% of the band is OG with Paulo and Andreas, so it’s at least 50% true. If you’ve not seen ’em before, don’t let my tepid response dull your keenness. Just know that in 1992 they were the best thrash band at the peak of their powers to ever tour Australia on the Arise tour. Most violent mosh ever.

There’s a big night of tributes on at the Basement in Belconnen on Saturday May 24 with some of our best bands taking on covers of some the greatest bands of the 70’s. John Wickham is taking on Bob Dylan, No Assumption are playing the gabba gabba hey of The Ramones, The Moon Units are doing The Who, Johnny Roadkill are doing Kiss, the mighty Tonk are doing Led Zeppelin (respectfully, the lads may need a testicle vice for some of those high notes!) and perhaps most fittingly, Looking Glass will take on a set of Black Sabbath classics. That is a fun ass night for drinking good times.

For something altogether more modern, Zeirholz UC Bar on Sunday 25 May hosts the Northlane national tour with Thy Art Is Murder, Veil of Maya, Volumes, Make Them Suffer and locals Reigner and more breakdowns than a mid-70’s Datsun.

In the hard rock stakes, Sydney’s Hell City Glamours have been good friends of the ACT for their whole career and it’s fitting they’re saying goodbye at the Transit bar on the Friday June 6. Supports are yet to be announced. It’s an amicable split, but the timing is right so get along and say goodbye.

Don’t forget that the Coroner show is just around the corner at the Basement on Monday June 9. There’s also the fresh announcement of former I Killed The Prom Queen alumni Deez Nuts and Confession doing a national winter tour and hitting up the Magpies Bar in the City on Wednesday June 25 which is also a licenced all ages show. July sees the Corrosion of Conformity, Weedeater and Lo! show here at the ANU Bar on Saturday 19. There’s also a slew of international shows in June/July that you should have tickets for – Earth, High on Fire, Carcass, Pelican, Anathema, Finntroll are happening up the road so don’t sleep on those.

It’s been an interesting first half of the year for releases and I’ve had my ears on a few rippers of late. Autopsy have really come back with a vengeance with their third LP following their comeback in 2009.

Torniquets, Hacksaws & Graves keep a stranglers grip on the title of “greatest death metal band of all time” for me.

Floor finally released their second record Oblation with more bomb notes than you can blow a speaker with, Conan have released one of my records of the year with Blood Eagle and related act Coltsblood have done likewise with Into The Unfathomable Abyss. Go hit Landspeed or JB up for a copy of these records to warm your ears this autumn.

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

facebook.com/bmamagazine

27

E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

INTO DARKNESS zoe pleasants Despite his own reluctance, Tim Watts found himself drawn to tell the story at the heart of his latest show, IT’S DARK OUTSIDE. Created and performed by himself, Arielle Gray and Chris Issacs, the show uses shadow puppetry, animation, live performance, mask work and an enchanting original soundtrack, composed by Rachel Dease, to explore the world of an old man suffering from Alzheimer’s. I spoke with Watts about how he came to make a show about such a bleak topic.

Originally, when the Perth Theatre Company commissioned him to make a show, Watts was working on something, “with a tent, about a gorilla that falls in love with a man. So it was a very, very different show at inception!” At that time, Watts’s grandparents were both suffering from Alzheimer’s and this loomed large in his subconscious.

“I was kind of denying… I wasn’t going to make a show about Alzheimer’s. I was like that’s just a personal issue I don’t need to make a show about that. But [the show] just kept going that way and there was this very rich theatrical content to be explored there, so we just kept on going down that path really,” Watts explains.

Watts describes the show as a surreal western, with the old man wandering out into the wild at sunset and being pursued by a dark, shadowy figure. Inspired by his grandfather’s sunset wanderings – a fairly common and very concerning symptom of Alzheimer’s for some sufferers – this behaviour became the show’s starting point.

Watts found his grandfather’s wanderings quite fascinating. “I thought there was something quite poetic, tragically poetic, about them,” he says. The show then depicts the old man losing his memories, “which play out in the scenes throughout the show, like he’s reliving them before they disappear forever,” adds Watts. Imagining how this would feel for the old man was quite a challenge for the show’s three creators. “There’s a lot of supposing you do when trying to create the point of view for someone suffering with [dementia] because you can never really know,” says Watts. “But’s that really what we tried to achieve, showing his point of view of it all.”

Working with people that know each other well and are willing to trust their instinct to shape a show are important parts of the creative process for Watts. “I very much do collaborate with people I know,” he says. “I actually feel that the creative team is more important than any

28

other thing really… More important than the idea, more important than having money. It’s how Pixar works – it’s not about ideas for them, it’s about people. If the idea isn’t good then the right people will make it a good idea, but if you’ve got a good idea and a bad team they’ll waste the idea, really.”

Watts and Gray met at uni – they have worked together and been a couple ever since. They met Issacs the year after they graduated when he approached them about using their theatre company to put on a show he’d written. Watts and Issacs regularly improvise together as part of a Perth comedy troupe.

In creating this show, the three of them tried not to get too attached to any ideas they had. “For me, I find it a bit of a trap when you’re too fixed on a particular scene or idea or story because when you start improvising with making content you’re closed to anything that doesn’t fit that story. And particularly when you’ve got time constraints you’re like we’ve just got to make content that fits!” says Watts. But by leaving themselves open to new ideas they found they, “ended up with moments that were so absolutely intrinsically linked to our story and our themes that we attacked it from a completely different angle not known by us and we arrived back in a much more interesting and original and theatrically beautiful way.”

For Watts, a bleak subject matter does not necessarily mean bleak viewing – it is important to him to make theatre that is filled with joy and humour. And using puppets helps. “I like the way [puppets and animation] make the audience connect with the show, particularly puppets, which make the audience really imaginatively connect with the show. It’s a very playful art form that, if done right, is just inherently fun,” explains Watts. “We like to say it’s a fun show about sad things.”

And such shows are important because they can be cathartic for people who relate to the subject matter. Watts says he has been humbled by the chats he’s had with people after the show for who “the show has really meant more to them than just a night out at the theatre.” It’s been an outlet for them to deal with some pretty difficult emotions. “That’s what’s been really special,” he says.

It’s Dark Outside is showing at The Street Theatre, Tue– Sun June 3 –8. Tickets $35 +bf, $32 +bf concession, $25 + bf student, available from thestreet.org.au.

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

29

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

IN REVIEW Fashfest Canberra Airport Thu–Sat April– May 30–3

I was sceptical about how Canberra would pull off a fashion show described as a “classy take” on our major city’s fashion weeks. Upon discovering that the mysterious “warehouse” venue for Fashfest was Canberra Airport, my expectations dropped along with the temperature on the final night of the four day event. But in spite of my big city snobbery, Fashfest was on many fronts, unexpectedly cool. Seeing as the final night completely sold out, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. At the entrance of the event, an event coordinator, drowning in lists, informed me that they had even run out of media passes. I was so taken by the industrial fit-out at the event that I barely noticed her disparaging comments about how I couldn’t pull off a “model” pass, as she chose a more fitting “sound and lighting crew” pass for me instead.

If the five minute pre-show promo for BMW didn’t give it away, the turn out made it clear that in just two years, Fashfest has become the biggest and most lucrative event for the Canberra fashion industry. But unfortunately, when it came down to the real business end of the event, the runway show was not as impressive. Given my knowledge of fashion design stems from binge watching Project Runway, I won’t claim to be an expert on fashion. But I can say it’s likely that Tim Gunn would’ve been concerned. An abundance of prom dress tulle, unflattering silhouettes and overly styled models consistently featured throughout the show.

Although, what Fashfest did reveal was a whole lot of potential.

Corr Blimey had a technically impressive “structural streetwear” menswear collection, mixing earthy fabrics with geometric shapes.

Hijab House, a 2010 label for young Muslim women, stood out for its simplicity in a sea of torturedly over-designed collections. With a simple colour palette, the collection featured elegant, soft feminine blouses and beautifully tailored pants. The tableaux of models at the 4 Minutes 33 show added a dramatic flair to proceedings, as if the close up shots of the live violin player on the runway didn’t scream serious fashun loudly enough. But the real highlight of Fashfest was that it also revealed a whole lot of love for Canberra fashion. The show might’ve taken itself too seriously, but it was thrilling to sit in a large crowd of hungry fashion appreciators. As the show came to a close and the founders of Fashfest emerged, smiles and loud cheers spread infectiously through the aisles. In this moment, despite my own reservations, it was undeniable that the audience’s warmth made the event one to rival even the country’s hottest fashion weeks.

Image credit: Martin Ollman

anne widjaja

30

@bmamag

A R T | C O M E DY | D A N C E | L I T E R AT U R E | T H E AT R E

Alas, having been made to cohabit people whom I imagine take genuine pleasure in Mr Derulo’s unutterable ramblings (when they’re not emptying the collected remnants of discarded That gratification of any sort should be derived from what essentially constitutes the society-sanctioned raping of the English language is indeed depressing.

It was while the Australian Federal Police Constable was taking down my particulars that I took the opportunity to leaf through an edition of BMA Magazine for the first time.

A periodical typically of use only for its absorbency, as I idly flicked through its pages, my eye was caught by a brief critique, written

by Mr Cody Atkinson, of what I believe to be an article of musical entertainment.

Mr Atkinson employs the simple repetition of the author’s lyrics in order to highlight their contemptible nature. That he should follow up with a mildly less infuriating acronym, so deftly deconstructed in my last epistle, is an aberration I am willing to overlook.

The singer in question is one Mr Jason Derulo, and the muddle of words (one hesitates to adorn them with any quantifiable structure), with which he is happy to go on public record runs thusly:

Now, the band of fools who comprise the BMA legal department have asked me to underscore that said magazine does not consider Mr Derulo to be a rapist, nor even an inexpert fondler. There is no evidence to suggest he has been anywhere near the sexual offenders register. Unfortunately, there is a similar paucity of evidence to suggest he has been equally near a dictionary or thesaurus.

Please don’t consider my position staid; I am not against progress. Of course language evolves and slang will always play its part. Indeed, were it not for such lingual evolution, I would be unable to accurately describe idle, foolhardy, fad lyricists as ‘cunts’.

GIDEON FOXINGTON-SMYTHE

CANBERRA SHORT FILM FEST

“Hot damn it/Your booty like two planets/ Go ‘head and go ham sandwich/ Whoa/ I can’t stand it/ Cause you know what to do with that big fat butt.”

I for one fear for Mr Derulo’s mental state. There are few circumstances under which I can fathom anybody would wish to represent themselves in this fashion, and mental illness sits atop the pile.

Or perhaps Mr Derulo is being held captive? Forced against all reason to discharge this damaging drivel by a very rich, influential man whose wife Mr Derulo has defiled? That he should be made to destroy any reputation he may have had for coherence is presumably just one rung on a particularly vertiginous ladder of recompense upon which Mr Derulo teeters.

Why else would anyone willingly quantify buttocks in planetary terms? Perhaps, in his dark, dank prison cell, his mind has been addled by the denial of the most basic sustenance – hence his pleas for swine-based meat snacks. The man is obviously in some difficulty.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

31

E

X

H

I

B

I

UNINHIBITED I almost threw it across the room. In fact, I almost threw a lot of things across the room. First it was the mobile: textie after textie after textie; coffee meetings, deadlines. And then the landline: family dramas. Before the laptop: Facebook updates and private messages, Twitter feeds (I’m responsible for three) and more private messages.

I had images of me boiling the mobile in the saucepan and snapping the laptop in half on my thigh. I had a fantasy of giving up everything and raising chooks for a living – bliss.

No doubt I’m not a natural fit for social media. (The only machine in my house that I truly adore is my record player.) No doubt I’m not really a natural fit for communication of any kind. Which can’t be true: I’m a writer with two decades of experience and I’ve been paid for the majority of my output. If a day goes by when some kind of story isn’t on the make – a short story, a novella, a novel, a review, an artist profile, a column – it’s a very bad day indeed.

I have things to say, or in my little brain I think I have things to say.

I want to move people, I want to be memorable. With writing at least. In real life I’m more than happy to be the guy leaning against the brick wall listening to Burial EPs on a ten-year-old MP3 player while adjusting the leather-plat buttons on his faded green, knitted cardigan.

32

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

So, is all this reliance on technologically-assisted communication really that necessary? Is social media essential? It must be.

Everyday we see someone crossing the road while glued to their phone, scrolling, hoping, as a gang of sulphur-crested cockatoos bang around above. We’ve looked in the rear-view mirror to see a driver checking Instagram.

For normal people, all this might be okay. (Not so okay, obviously, if you’re responsible for keeping a vehicle on the road.) The thing is, if art is an act of communication – we have a point, we want that point to be heard, we want to rearrange things so better lives are possible – aren’t we diluting our powers by communicating twentyfour-seven?

What if we shove a lid on it? What if we post nothing for weeks even, months? What if we invest all our frustrations at the world – our anger, our disappointment, our deep sadness, despair perhaps – into our work? But you’re probably thinking, is it so bad that I want to share on Facebook my view that our little country is going down like the devil wearing velvet trousers? Do I really have to refrain from gushing at my best-friend’s pic of his bright red Stratocaster?

Please, please, please can’t I just send a tweet to say that I’ve burnt the rice while listening to the latest Kylie album? Seriously, is any of this really so wrong?

Yes, communicating absolute bollocks all the time might be wrong.

If we want to create great fucking art.

NIGEL FEATHERSTONE

@bmamag

A R T | C O M E DY | D A N C E | L I T E R AT U R E | T H E AT R E

ARTISTPROFILE:

What are your plans for the future? I would love to get involved with some kind of underground collective and work with others to produce some crazy work, but for now it’s just keeping on with what I am doing, learning some new techniques, pushing some more darkness into my work and just keep creating.

What do you do? Being a full-time graphic designer pays the bills, but what I love doing most is experimenting with illustration and digital painting.

What makes you laugh? B-grade horror movies, when my girlfriend gets cranky with me, my friends, and of course my favourite TV show that I’m sure is hated by all, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’.

When, how and why did you get into it? Growing up consisted of lots of drawing and scribbles until one day I decided to sign up for a course and jumped into the world of graphic design. I’ve since been employed in the field for about 15 years. Although designing doesn’t involve a lot of illustration work I practice this in my out of work hours. Illustration and digital art is ultimately where I would like to concentrate my work.

What pisses you off? Ok. So I have quite a large list of trivial things that piss me off, but I will try and keep it to a minimum. Douche bags, rude people, over-sized trolleys at Costco, paying a mortgage, pain in the ass clients, people who wear lycra and those who do not share their Lotto winnings.

OWEN GIBBONS

Who or what influences you as an artist? Definitely other artists.

It’s so amazing checking out the gobsmacking work there is out there. Other influences are dark arts, horror and sci-fi movies, comics, and basically anything that gets me in the mood to draw or paint.

Of what are you proudest so far? I’m not sure if this is the best answer, but I guess I am proud of the skills I have acquired over the years and where I am now. Sure a little more pushing and challenging myself is to be had, which I am working at on a daily basis, but all in all I am happy with where I am.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

What about the local scene would you change? I haven’t been too involved with the local scene that much so I cant really comment but I guess more casual bars like Honky Tonks who showcase artwork for free would be awesome. And just more art being created, especially in the horror genre.

Upcoming exhibitions? I have nothing planned for the moment except trying to knuckle down and progress forwards from where I am. A show case at Honky Tonks along with friends and ice cold beer would be awesome, and a possible hook up with RAW(Canberra) is on the cards at a later date.

Contact Info: owengibbons@gmail.com/Instagram: b_u_t_c_h_a

33

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

IN REVIEW Don Quixote Canberra Theatre Mon–Tue May 5–6

The Russian Imperial Ballet is currently touring Australia with its production of Don Quixote, the literary masterpiece written

by Miguel de Cervantes and published in 1605. Cervantes’s Don Quixote (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha) is the story of Alonso Quixano, a retired gentleman from La Mancha, Spain, who becomes fixated on reviving chivalry. Changing his name to Don Quixote, he recruits a local farmer, Sancho Panza, whom he dubs his squire, to accompany him on his adventures – or, rather, misadventures. Don Quixote, his perceptions distorted by his idealism, mistakes fictions for the real world and goes about interfering in the lives of all he comes across, causing disaster for himself and Sancho by way of beatings and maltreatment, and failing to help anyone. It’s during one of these misadventures that he famously fights windmills, believing them ferocious giants.

Finally, beaten by the real, unsympathetic and harsh, world, he returns home, dejected and broken. His self-deception eventually gives way and sanity returns; but he never really recovers his health and he declines and dies.This Russian Imperial Ballet production of Don Quixote bears little resemblance to Cervante’s work; in fact, Don Quixote seems irrelevant and an odd interloper when he and Sancho appear on stage.

The ballet’s story is of a young man and a young woman whose love her innkeeper father disapproves of – the father is set on marrying his daughter off to a rich fop. Naturally, conflict follows; daughterly pleadings, daughterly disobedience, lover’s heroics, escapes and discoveries and finally – well, either true love or money triumphs.Unfortunately, the person of Don Quixote didn’t seem to be anything – dreamer, idealist, chivalrous, defender of the less fortunate, or tilter at windmills. There was no discernible quest, no adventure, no high or low and no resolution of anything to do with him. Nevertheless, audiences attending any production by the Russian Imperial Ballet expect beautiful and accomplished dancing, wonderful sets and lavish costumes and these the company certainly delivered. The dancing was excellent. Some of it was exceptional; some, exquisite. There were athletic pas de deuxs and exciting solos and the corps de ballet filled the stage with lively, enjoyable dancing. Various characters were masterfully portrayed: the innkeeper father was ebullient and very likeable; his daughter was happy, innocently flirtatious and in the full throes of young love; the rich fop was quite loveable; and Sancho was marvellously comic. The costumes were rich and beautiful, the lighting created great moods and the music was delicious. The entertainment arising from flirtations, jealousies and the odd flung knife, woman, or insult was a nice bonus.This ballet is less a story than a collection of vignettes displaying dancing virtuosity, but if you would like to enjoy a few hours of well-performed classical ballet and don’t mind not having either an emotional journey or seeing an interpretation of Cervante’s Don Quixote, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this production.

MICHELE E. HAWKINS

34

@bmamag

art exhibition comp

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

35

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

bit PARTS BATMAN & ROBIN WHAT: Art exhibition WHEN: Fri–Sat May–June 16–21 WHERE: Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House.

Holy artistic interpretation, Batman! Artist Dean Butters takes one of pop culture’s most recognised couples – Batman and Robin – and dismantles their iconic relationship. Through this series of portraits, Butters breaks down the tropes of the classic Batman and Robin pairing, teasing out loaded themes of childhood, adolescence, selfdestruction and isolation as well as consumerism, pop culture and fiction. With a sharp wit, tender humour and a splash of cynicism, the paintings tackle the darker side of identity politics and growing up. On at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House; gallery is open Tue-Fri 11am–5pm and Sat 10am–4pm. Free entry.

TRYA WHAT: Art competition and exhibition WHEN: Mon May–Jun 19 –2, Fri–Mon June 6 –30 WHERE: Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Art by: Tori Heron

As Canberra’s longest running annual youth arts competition, TRYA has given young local artists a leg-up in the art world for more than two decades. Submissions for this year’s TRYA exhibition are now open. If you’re between the ages of 15 –25, get creating. Visual artworks of any subject and medium will be accepted and there’s an ace prize of $2,000 for the winning piece. Be quick though – the deadline is Monday June 2.

Exhibition opens Friday June 6 ,with the winner announced that night.

Want more info? Hit up tuggeranongarts.com, ring (02) 6293 1443 or e-mail to info@tuggeranongarts.com.

SHORT SEASONS WHAT: Short film festival WHEN: Thu May 29 WHERE: National Film & Sound Archive On Thursday May 29, National Film & Sound Archive will be a host to a plethora of short flicks – with everything from drama, documentary, comedy to animation. A specifically non-competitive film festival, Short Seasons showcases and celebrates the high standards of the local independent film scene. Highlighting filmmakers from Canberra and surrounding regions, each film is easily digestible in bite-sized chunks, running less than ten minutes.For ages 15 + – if you’re under 15, grab an adult to accompany you and you’re good to go. Bookings recommended; just give the NFSA a bell on (02) 6248 2000. 7pm start.

A NIGHT OF COMEDY FOR SIDS AND KIDS ACT WHAT: Charity fundraiser WHEN: Sat May 31 WHERE: Ainslie Football Club Dig deep and gear up for a night full of laughs as SIDS and Kids ACT host a night of comedy all for a good cause. Headlining is Logie-nominated comic Tahir, best known for his role in home-grown sitcom Pizza and Swift and Shift Couriers as well as stints on Rove Live and Thank God You’re Here. Also featuring Jay Sullivan, Chris Ryan, Daniel Wong, Hamish Hudson and Eddie Nelson. Proceeds go directly to the charity which is dedicated to eliminating the sudden and unexpected death in young children. Doors at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Tickets $25, available from trybooking.com.

36

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

37

the word

on albums

album of the issue Damon Albarn Everyday Robots [XL Recordings] Damon Albarn’s path from upstart Britpop chancer to semi-stately unofficial musical laureate of the British Isles is well documented. What is less commented upon is how good he’s been all this time. Bowie had it sorted for 9 years, maybe 10 at a stretch. Lou Reed and Bob Dylan veered from epoch defining classic to turgid sonic error in increments. Only the Tom Waits, Nick Caves and PJ Harveys of the world have managed to remain consistantly excellent within the glare of main stage pop culture over many years. Albarn doesn’t occupy those stylistic worlds, but in terms of a hits-to-misses ratio he must now be considered amongst this top tier. If there was a justified criticism always nagging at Albarn circa Blur it was the characters that inhabited those songs served as distancing agents, and their best songs (‘For Tomorrow’, ‘The Universal’, ‘This is a Low’, ‘Beetlebum’, ‘Tender’) were primarily first person.

Instead of addressing this with his next band, Gorillaz went the other way and hard- the band were cartoons, the narrative invented, the desire to connect intimately completely overlooked.

Everyday Robots corrects this. A solo record is probably the right time to pull back the curtain, and this is Albarn having a crack at autobiography. He’s been open about the process of being open on this record, and the result is one that indicates a great benefit

38

in releasing your first solo LP at the age of 46. There’s much to explore, musically and thematically. It’s a record about connections - of seeking to connect one on one and the impediments of the modern world that get in the way of such connection. Hence the first two singles and their focus on the screens that we consume ourselves with, scrolling and swiping in private and public. ‘Everyday Robots’ and ‘Lonely Press Play’ could’ve been perfect soundtrack moments for Spike Jonze’s Her, concerned as they are with having our heads stuck on screens while real life continues around us. If there’s a problem with Everyday Robots, it’s a good one to have. The singles are terrific. ‘Hostiles’ & ‘The Selfish Giant’ roll along well enough. ‘Photographs (You’re Taking Now)’ and ‘Heavy Seas of Love’ are excellent. But ‘You & Me’ and ‘Hollow Ponds’ stand so far above the rest of the pack that said pack starts to look a little shoddy by comparison. In fairness, anything would. ‘You & Me’ is perhaps the best thing Albarn has done, a piece of music that somehow unites Davies, Massive Attack, Syd Barrett, the pastoral folk of Pentagram or Fairport Convention and the subtle R’n’B of a less horny D ‘Angelo. It’s a metaphysical flit across the places of Albarn’s life, and it is magnificent. Meanwhile, ‘Hollow Ponds’ is another curious and haunting trip through Albarn’s back pages (the heatwave of 76, the graffiti he saw in 93 which gave Blur’s second album its title, that Westway that lurks through his entire career). There’s nothing as stirring as Blur’s (presumed) swansong ‘Under the Westway’, nor anything too lively except ‘Mr Tembo’, perhaps the best (and perhaps the only) pop song written for a Tanzanian elephant. It is however a mark of great confidence to make something so hushed. As a long term fan I held out great hope for this record. Having lived with it for a time, it’s exactly what it needs to be. A summary of a life so far, with moments among the very best of this extraordinary, still-growing oeuvre.

He may not be likeable, he might be as likely to annoy as enthral and he’s never going to write an anthem that unites the lads like his old sparring partner Mr Gallagher. He doesn’t need to. He’s way above all that.

gabby young and other animals One Foot in Front of the Other [Gift of the Gab ] Gabby Young and Other Animals have an indefinable sound, full of too many styles and instruments to keep accurate tabs on – and their latest venture, One Foot in Front of the Other, continues in that tantalisingly compelling vein. Not quite as brilliant as their 2012 record, The Band Called Out for More, this undertaking nonetheless offers up a sublime blend of genres, making the listening experience a real Easter Egg hunt.

One Foot in Front of the Other deftly fuses together folk, jazz, opera, musical theatre – even a slice of something that sounds suspiciously like cabaret – until the listener is left deconstructing a kaleidoscope of sound.

Rather than being a chaotic cacophony, however, the record weaves along effortlessly; it’s as though, with every song’s opening strains, the band are saying ‘ah, you thought you had us pinned? Try again.’

Young’s vocals, always strong, are more subtly operatic this time around and while that could be a pitfall, it instead layers the album with yet more complexity.

One of the highlights of the album is ‘I’ve Improved,’ a jazzy, irresistible track in which Young manages to trill about Google and croon about modern incompetence all at once. Another particularly enticing track is the softer, delicate ‘Fear of Flying.’ Gentle, fluid and vulnerable, it allows Young’s thoughtful lyrics to stand alone, an oasis in the band’s voluntary anarchy. Overall, One Foot in Front of the Other is, in that fundamentally incongruent way, both musical chaos and beautifully organised sound. Gabby Young and Other Animals have truly carved out their own niche – here’s hoping they never leave it. indigo trail

glen martin

@bmamag

Saskwatch Nose Dive [Northside Records]

EMA The Future’s Void [Matador / Remote Control]

Backsliders Darkside [fusegroup]

Everything about Melbourne based band Saskwatch (another name for the so-far mythical creature aka Bigfoot) is huge. At nine members they will struggle to fit into the Transit Bar Stage when they play there in June. Then there are the diva strength vocals from front woman Nkechi Anele.

Combined, they produce a big brassy sound, blasting out songs with a strong funk/soul emphasis. Recorded under the baton of Lachlan Goold (Regurgitator, Gerling) in the sanctified acoustics of converted church Applewood Lane Studios, the exotic range of instruments included an Omnichord, Fender Rhodes electric piano and a whole mess of pedal effects.

The Backsliders have assumed a legendary status amongst the blues community during the band’s twenty eight year career, with fourteen LPs under their belt and a couple of ARIA nominations too. The band’s membership includes founder Dom Turner, Jim Moginie, Rob Hirst (ex-Midnight Oil) and harmonica supremos Brod Smith and Ian Collard. In their latest LP, the band weaves the signature sounds of the fender rhodes piano and resonator guitars in crafting their delta blues vibe. However, the harmonica is king in this LP, with the mouth organ laying the keel in several tacks. There is great story telling song writing too, painting vivid portraits with a trans-Pacific quality that stretches all the way from the bad side of Newtown, Sydney, to the Tallahatchie River in Mississippi.

This CD brings a mix of catchy melodies and impressive, impassioned performances.

With heaps of variety in pace and style, Saskwatch’s fresh, incandescent sound generates a real excitement that will give fellow soul/funk heroes The Bamboos a run for their money.

South Dakota-born singer / songwriter Erika M. Anderson first emerged onto the US indie music scene as the lead singer of drone-folk outfit Gowns, before her 2010 debut solo album as EMA Little Sketches On Tape saw her venturing further into noise-rock and manipulated sound collages alongside her own powerful vocals.

Three years on from her critically lauded follow-up Past Life Martyred Saints, this third album The Future’s Void sees Anderson crafting some of her most stark and emotionally intense landscapes to date. The overarching conceptual theme uniting these ten tracks centres around the increasing commodification of everyone through internet media, a dark topic that sits perfectly against the increasingly industrial-edged textures that predominate here. ‘Satellites’ introduces the moody electronics and harsh bursts of noise that lurk amidst much of this record as tensely threaded handclaps and smeared out orchestral samples build into a crunching crescendo against Anderson’s soaring vocals and squealing analogue tones. The spectacular ‘Cthulu’ meanwhile provides an epic centrepiece here that sees slow hissing beats, feathery guitars and ominously prowling bass synths building up a cold and obsessive-sounding sense of cinema as Anderson shifts from a growl into near operatic flight, in an offering that suggests Zola Jesus meeting Nine Inch Nails head-on.

Elsewhere, the strikingly candid 3 Jane sees Anderson detailing the personal effects of online blogs and fan photos (“feel like I blew my soul out / across the interwebs and streams”), a theme further covered on the closing ‘Dead Celebrity’ as distant sampled fireworks crackle against against a forlorn, weary sounding fanfare of organs. An epic third album from EMA that will probably make my end of year lists.

RORY McCARTNEY

chris downton

Fans of their debut Leave it All Behind will find their second LP marginally less up tempo. However, slower does not mean there’s any less assertiveness from the brass section or any less power from Anele, who can put a lot of emotion into a slow song. Opener and CD highlight ‘Give Me a Reason’ starts with a deep bass groove, before the guitar/keys combo bites deep and then Anele commences her vocal assault. There’s a funky strut to ‘You Don’t Have to Wait’ and the dramatic ‘Left Me to Die’ carries some of the best horn sounds in this album. ‘Hands’ has a Jungle Giants brightness to it and ‘A Love Devine’ impresses with its big vocals, brash brass and ragged edged guitar. Anele’s impressive vocal range, on show in songs such as ‘Tomorrow’s Promises’, is rocketed to new heights by backing from the brass section.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

The smokin’ harmonica bursts out in the opener ‘Dark Side of Newtown’, boogying right through the track. There are great vocal arrangements in the muddy groove of ‘Kill the Emotion’ before ‘Prayer Flags’ emerges through a curtain of percussion tingling like broke glass. ‘I’ll Fly Away’ begins with a plucked tune with all the solemnity of the ‘Last Post’, before shifting to Gospel mode. Apart from their own material, the band tips its hat to other blues greats, with covers including Jesse Fuller’s ‘99 Years and One Dark Day’ and Skip James’ ‘Hard Time Killing Floor Blues’. The swampy blues backbone is turned on its head with the inclusion of a couple of dub remixes by ‘Fingers Malone’ including ‘Flannelette Border’ with its dominant overlaid beats and hip hop style delivery. The band swaps between the expected blues topics and current day themes, including the amusing ‘Phone Cap Blues’, about being trapped with loud mobile phone chatterboxes on public transport.

RORY McCARTNEY

39

Fox & Fowl Fox & Fowl [mgm] After following a year-long break to travel, ex-Canberrans Fox & Fowl settled back down to make their debut EP. Brisbane, their new home has been noted for churning out some sunny pop the past couple of years, with the likes of Last Dinosaurs, Hey Geronimo and The Jungle Giants (maybe it’s the weather?). The final product from the five boys sweetly nestles them within the indie-pop of their peers, making them a band to watch for the sheer enjoyment factor.

On debut EPs, with a short duration to convey an artist’s ethos, it is crucial to establish a set sound; no time for experimentation here. With its four tracks of fast-paced uplifting sounds – clocking in at 14 minutes - Fox & Fowl wastes no time in doing this, although they do throw in few subtle curve balls like the horns on ‘Pilot’. The listener is immediately doused in indie-pop with its staccato bursts and vibraphone-esque chirrups of ‘Jungle Punch’.

It reminded me of Lego Racers 2 (for PC).

Not a well-known comparison for the over tens, I know, I know, but a good indication of how fun Fox & Fowl are at crafting colourful landscapes and charismatic rhythms. This is indie pop with the intention to delight and incitement to dance; not altogether a new concept, but the crisp execution works to their advantage in staying remarkable.

The EP finishes with the polished ‘Birds on a Wire’, layers of guitar melodies underlined with synth flourishes. Fox & Fowl’s debut studio release introduces them as undeniably appealing indie-pop outfit; a good EP to momentarily shake off the winter blues and as they instruct, “Pull out your favourite sweater, and roll up the sleeves.”

ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

40

Eels The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett [E Works] As the title indicates, the Eels’ eleventh album more than ever cements Everett as the embodiment of the band as its songwriting muse and only consistent member. The LP was made in two parts.

Intimately linked to his past, Everett found the autobiographical songs so personally challenging that he left off working on them, and went on to make the band’s last album Wonderful Glorious. After that respite, he was bizarrely determined to make the temporarily shelved songs even more personally revealing. In this latest record, Everett climbs onto the couch and treats the listener as his therapist, pouring out his family skeletons and emotional baggage.

The deeply personal lyrics revolve around either the search for the inner self or dark flashes representing pain, regret and a troubled upbringing (not surprising given Everett’s fraught family history).

Musically, the results are quite at odds with the upbeat, rock vibe of ‘Wonderful Glorious’. The snap, crackle and pop of the electric guitars and percussion have been replaced by acoustically driven songs and orchestral arrangements including strings, woodwind and brass. The beautiful melody in ‘Series of Misunderstandings’ comes from the peculiar tinkle of a celesta piano.

Tracks are equally split between the slow and gentle and those with bright acoustic melodies. Folk influences are evident in highlight tracks ‘Parallels’ and ‘Where I’m From’, while Everett’s gravelly voice takes on a strong Tom Waits timbre on ‘Gentlemen’s Choice’. While a brave self-revelation, the hard edge of the message is softened by the elegant delivery, making the LP less powerful than it might have been. The therapy session must have succeeded, as the LP closes with a vision of sunflowers and a message of hope.

Ball Park Music puddinghead [Stop Start / Inertia] Brisbane-based indie rock five piece Ball Park Music have enjoyed a rapid rise in profile over the last five years or so, something that’s as much down to solid support since the early days from Triple J as it is to more recent national tour supports for the likes of Boy & Bear and Weezer. Rather than doing the obligatory usual ‘third album thing’, Puddinghead sees the band opting to retire to their Brisbane studio and produce themselves, though they have brought in Tony Hoffer (Beck, M83) to contribute a characteristically big sounding final mix. If anything, the eleven tracks here represent a collection that’s more honed and focused than before, avoiding some of the band’s earlier hijinks whilst running with previous album Museum’s increased production values.

It’s also an album that sees lead songwriter / vocalist Sam Cromack’s arrangements and observational pop lyrics moving in more diverse directions. Opening first single ‘She Only Loves Me When I’m There’ shifts from a stripped down airy opening vocal section into some of the most catchy and confident indie-rock hooks the band have crafted to date as Cromack’s yelped chorus collides with vaguely punk-funk guitars and fuzzed up synth riffs, a path also followed by the likes of ‘Next Life Already’.

Elsewhere, ‘A Good Life Is The Best Revenge’ offers up what’s easily the most trippy and psychedelic-tinged explorations here, taking things out into trailing, dubbed-out drum grooves and jangling guitar bends that hints at one of Tame Impala’s more widescreen wanders at points. While there’s certainly an increased level of focus and ambition on show here though, there’s a curious lack of centre to this otherwise impressive album. chris downton

RORY McCARTNEY

@bmamag

v

singles in focus by cody atkinson Jonny Telafone ‘jedi training’

Wye Oak shriek [Merge]

Astronomy Class Mekong Delta Sunrise [Elefant Traks / Inertia]

Wye Oak have ditched the folk rock of their past. In terms of playing to what you know, this is a potentially dangerous wildcard for the Maryland duo, throwing in angst-ridden, guitar arrangements for shimmering synth cocktails.

It’s been a good five years since we last heard from Sir Robbo, Chasm and Ozi Batla in their Astronomy Class guise, with 2009’s Pursuit Of Happiness album being their last collective appearance together. As the unexpected subject matter that underpins this third album Mekong Delta Sunrise hints though, they’ve hardly been idle in the meantime. The seeds for this album were originally sown in 2012 when Astronomy Class were invited to Phnom Penh by a local hip hop crew to perform a classic Khmer rock song alongside Cambodian pop star Preap Sovath. After falling in love with the country itself and particularly Khmer pop’s golden era spanning the 1950s through to the mid 1970s.

Constructing music of dreamlike quality is a walks the line between being both relaxed and inviting whilst not remaining monotonous. For a large fraction of Shriek, Wye Oak tread this line. Whilst the interesting pulses and rolling keys are inviting, the lack of tempo change at the start of the album creates a sweeping blur of synths that pass by without recognition.

The combination of Wasner’s crisp vocals and the disjointed play with synth rhythms rings of Chairlift. On ‘Glory’, things freshen as a direct drum-line pushes through to an enduring chorus. This is followed by the crisp shimmer of ‘Sick Talk’, the compelling bounce of the bass highlighting Wasner’s capabilities at her new craft. These more upbeat moments would not feel out of place in a coming of age film set in the 80’s, harking back with nostalgic pop sensibility.

The songs are well-crafted and atmospheric, the glossy sounds expansive. Shriek is not a sad experience; Wasner’s pondering is more meditative than melancholy; “I speak in ex passages, and it keeps me safe in my skin” she croons on ‘I Know The Law’. The reverb soaked ‘Paradise’ provides a glance back at further work with its rough edges, whilst the final track, ‘Logic of Colour’ reverts back to the present, finishing on a clean and uplifting tone. Whilst the sudden adjustment of sound may be a little too foreign for seasoned fans, Wye Oak’s latest successfully pulls of dramatic change to make way for the delicious and the dreamy.

ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

facebook.com/bmamagazine

After Sir Robbo and Chasm subsequently spent time chasing all of the old cassettes they could lay their hands on, Mekong Delta Sunrise was conceived as a tribute to that lost generation, with the core trio joining forces in the studio with Cambodian Space Project vocalist Channthy Kak. Given Cambodia’s troubled history there’s a lot of subject matter to draw from, and it’s notable just how much political and historical ground Ozi Batla covers, with the always reliable MC in particularly sharp form here.

‘Rumdul’ sees him casting all of the various nations that have attempted to claim Cambodia over the centuries as unhealthy suitors, while ‘Russian Market’ pays tribute to all of the great Cambodian singers that disappeared, whilst also telling the story of one who escaped. Elsewhere ‘Father’ tells the story of the late King Sihanouk, who was beloved by the Cambodian people, before ‘Four Barang In A Tuk-tuk’ sees drunk Westerners behaving badly. Not your usual hip hop fare. chris downton

All of a sudden it seems like Melbourne seems to be a bit of a hub for askew, odd-ball pop. Jedi Training, by ex-Canberrean Jonny Telafone, is a off-beat nod to, well, jedi training. Part pure pop, part Ariel Pink, the song is both catchy but slightly inaccessible. Well worth a listen.

Andy Citawarman ‘for velvet rain’ This is a song of two halves. The first meanders atmospherically, failing to trouble the proverbial scorers.

But after the silence at half-time, something good emerges. Something really good. A propulsive slice of noise dance, like mid-era Animal Collective crossed with a bit of Ben Frost and Fuck Buttons. Don’t get put off by the slow start, and if you stick around you’ll be rewarded.

Thee Tee Pees ‘indian bingo’ 78 seconds of startling aggression, of noise. I don’t know if this song really goes anywhere, and I don’t really care. Indian Bingo has an appropriately short guitar solo gussied up near the back end, but its presence isn’t really required here.

This is just a straight up punk rock song, with no want to be anything else.

Justice Crew ‘que sera’ It has to be said that Justice Crew are Australia’s most commercially successful musicians who aren’t really musicians but are dancers instead. This shouldn’t be confused with Doris Day’s Que Sera, nor Jose Feliciano’s song of the same name. It is, as strange as it is to read, slightly hip hop tinged folk, like Mumford and Sons crossed with Macklemore. I’m also not sure if it’s something I enjoy on any level whatsoever.

41

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

After the high points of the last few weeks, this week’s cinematic offerings felt a little dire. Basically, I was left wondering why Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive) can’t release a film every week. That said, this issue saw the release of an Aussie film with a very interesting – and not- set-inrural-outback – concept, 52 Tuesdays. Plus, X-Men Days of Future Past is out soon.

Just keeping our eyes on the prize…

quote of the issue “A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”

– Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes), The Invisible Woman

Healing

Chef

The Invisible Woman

Once you get past the giant bird shaped metaphor, there’s a pinch of drama despite the dingy subplots of the prison setting of Healing. A group of detainees (Don Hany, Xavier Samuel and Mark Leonard Winter) in a minimum-security working farm, participate in a program where they are required to care for injured birds. An inmate close to the end of his 16 year sentence, Viktor Khadem (Hany), bonds with a majestic wedge tailed eagle.

Food as an art form, bafflement at social media, and managing family relations are brought to the boil and simmered to perfection in Chef.

The Invisible Woman wants to show the audience what slowburning passion and restraint looks like. Unfortunately, the deliberate pace of the film just means it feels painfully slow – without any burn at all. Nelly (Felicity Jones), is an adequate actor whose family befriends that of Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) – yep, THE Charles Dickens. The film follows the slow formation of their friendship, which blossoms into a fragile love – despite the fact that Dickens is married.

Nelly becomes the object of Dickens’ affections and his muse, but their relationship has consequences.

Sorry to be Captain Obvious, but the birds aren’t the ones being rehabilitated in Healing.

Co-writer/director Craig Monahan and co-writer Alison Nisselle lay it on thick with the reciprocal nature of the man-tobird relationships. Thankfully, Monahan and Nisselle present three emotionally wounded men looking for a second chance who are all well aware of their mistakes. Empathy is earned despite the deeds that landed them in jail.

Hany, Samuel and Winter are excellent as the primary trio.

The highlight is Andrew Lesnie’s cinematography that captures the rural Victorian setting, and gives the film its pure Australian flavour. Also, Lesnie’s beautiful photography of the birds is entrancing.

A side storyline involving a standover man and drugs is an excuse to create conflict rather than properly service the narrative. Soon, the prison clichés pile up and it’s hard not to produce a few yawns.

Healing is Storm Boy behind bars that mildly soars.

CAMERON WILLIAMS

42

Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) is a chef working at a classy restaurant serving up delicious yet tired clichés night after night – and yearning to bring his own creative vision to the table.

Things come to a head when the king of food critics visits his restaurant, and delivers a scathing review. A few wrong turns in the land of Twitter and YouTube leads to Carl finding himself steeped in a kind of celebrity that is hard to shrug off. After being struck with a ‘what the hell do I do now?’ feeling he ends up in Miami with his ex-wife Inez (Sofia Vergara) and embarks on a cross country trip selling honest culinary delights from a food truck with his son Percy (Emjay Anthony) and loyal friend Martin (John Leguizamo).

Foodies will go wild for this one - the smell practically wafts through the screen. While the Carl’s lack of fluency in social media may cause some to roll their eyes, I found it endearing to watch a layman try his hand at it with disastrous and long lasting results. Carl was somewhat lacking in charisma which was, surprisingly, a refreshing change to Hollywood stereotypes. Watch for the Robert Downey Jr cameo – it’s hysterical.

EMMA ROBINSON

Ralph Fiennes is directing here, and turns in a solid performance in front of the camera even while having to analyse himself from behind it. It’s beautifully shot, the actors all turn in solid performances, and Fiennes and scriptwriter Abi Morgan try to shake up the chronology of the story but… This film is, unfortunately, dull. Very, painfully dull. The only thing that could have saved this film, was if there was a believably intense relationship between Nelly and Dickens – but there isn’t. Felicity Jones is usually mesmerising on-screen, but here she is positively milquetoast. There is no chemistry between Jones and Fiennes. This solemn film wants to tell the story of a complex and nuanced relationship – but it’s difficult to believe that a relationship exists between the central characters. The Invisible Woman is likely to live up to its title, and disappear into obscurity.

MELISSA WELLHAM

@bmamag

Chinese Puzzle

52 TUESDAYS

Watching this film was a bit like catching up with people you haven’t seen in years, but with whom you need no time to get back into each other’s rhythm. The third instalment to the very successful Spanish Apartment trilogy – from writer and director Cédric Klapisch – delivers in spades, equal parts wry observations on how complicated life can be, and how easy it is to be rendered helpless in that feeling. Told from the point of a view of a French writer adept at articulating wry humour everyone can relate to, this transcontinental story is a huge amount of fun.

This feature debut directed by Sophie Hyde is an ambitious effort. The structure is difficult, the central actress a newcomer, and the subject matter is dense – while also being very important. I so wanted to enjoy – nay, applaud this film – but felt it had some serious shortcomings. Billie (Tilda Cobham-Hervey) is a teenage girl wrestling with the recent revelation that her mother (Del Herbert-Jane) has decided to become a man. But what she struggles with more, is that her mother doesn’t want her around as much while she’s transitioning. Billie will be living with her father for a year, and catching up with her mum every Tuesday over 52 weeks. The story is told in snippets from each Tuesday the pair spend together.

The protagonist Xavier (Romain Duris) finds himself picking up the pieces post-separating with Wendy (Kelly Reilly), his partner of ten years and the mother of his two children. He still finds life incredibly complicated. A little of this is his own fault, and partly due his own doing; and partly it’s because life is going to throw you some curve balls no matter what This film is brimming with very flawed characters (and when I say flawed I don’t mean in the irritating stereotype of ‘this character is basically perfect except for one adorable eccentricity’) which make them so very relateable. It also has the drawcard of being set in the most exciting city in the world – New York. A film to inspire laughs and travel.

EMMA ROBINSON

The central premise of the film is strong, affecting, and interesting. Unfortunately, more screen time is devoted to Billie’s coming-of-age and relationship with her friends, than the far more fascinating relationship with her mother.

The subplot that follows Billie’s friendships with her peers feel contrived and sensationalised, as if to scare parents with what ‘kids these days’ get up to. The dramatic tension also lags in these scenes; which isn’t helped by an intentionally muted aesthetic. I was really excited to see a film in this vein, and believe that there is an imperative for films to tell unheard, under-represented stories. But 52 Tuesdays didn’t quite fulfil its promise.

MELISSA WELLHAM

facebook.com/bmamagazine

43

the word on dvds

Muscle Shoals [madman] Deep in the heart of Alabama on the south side of the Tennessee River is a small town called Muscle Shoals. Geographically it’s the rough midpoint between Atlanta, Birmingham, Nashville and Memphis. There’s not a whole lot going on there and the nearest major centre is Athens, Georgia which – if you know your rock history – had a pretty decent scene in the 80’s.

But from the 50’s through to the mid 70’s Muscle Shoals housed two legendary studios and a team of session musicians who changed the course of rock, soul and blues history. These tin-pot studios (FAME and the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios) became magnets for some of the biggest musicians in the world – Aretha Franklin, Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge – all searching for the Muscle Shoals sound. Franklin reinvented her career there, the Stones laid down the base of Sticky Fingers and Pickett invented Southern Rock when a precociously talented young Duane Allman convinced him to cover ‘Hey Jude’ and with the house band in tow, they all ripped the song apart in the coda. The heart of sound and film is that house band, the Swampers – David Hood, Barry Beckett, Jimmy Johnson and Roger Hawkins.It’s hard to conceive a bunch of country white boys from Alabama playing some of the hardest, deepest, ‘blackest’ soul and R’n’B songs of all time, but that’s exactly what happened. Hearing Pickett announce his shock at where he was recording and who they were is worth the price of admission alone. The second half trails a bit as FAME owner, Shoals progenitor and voice of the doco Rick Hall gets lost in 70’s pop after the Swampers jumped ship. But when it hits the groove, Muscle Shoals is revelatory. Like the music it represents. And if that weren’t enough, Keith Richard’s teeth are fantastic. justin hook

44

Orange is the New Black [Roadshow]

american hustle [roadshow]

We all do things in our youth that are easily regretted in later years. Normally the worst reminder is an embarrassing photo and shameful memory, but for Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling) it’s a little different; a stretch in prison is her payoff for youthful indiscretion. In her experimental college phase, Chapman was in a relationship with drug dealer Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) and transported $50,000 in drug money through international airports. Ten years on the pair are no longer a couple and Vause rats out Chapman to score a plea deal.

Now a pretty, cool hipster in the artisanal beauty products caper who is about to get married, Chapman’s self-surrender – and subsequent incarceration – is played for equal parts horror, humour and adventure. Orange is the New Black starts bold – extensive prison shower nudity. Nevertheless, it’s a show about an obvious outsider (preppy, good family, crime long forgotten) navigating the US prison system so lesbianism is a given, and nervously discouraged by the warden.

Chapman’s sense of adventure is soon wrenched out of her when she immediately offends the prison chef and suffers a campaign of hostility that is designed to starve her to death. Great start. Like most prison shows there are battles over turf, forced couplings, sleeping arrangements and who belongs to which group, usually decided on racial lines. It’s not especially fresh subject matter but Schilling’s performance is notably unique; frightened, forceful and shocked. It helps that the show is based on the memoirs of a real-life WASP princess (Piper Kerman) thrown in prison on drug charges so those moments of unbelievability are tempered by real life possibility. Although very serious subject matter, Orange is the New Black often struggles to decide if it’s thoughtful or jokey.

There are points in American Hustle where coherency and purpose is thrown out the window. Where plot points unravel, hit sudden walls or are glossed over entirely.

Where it feels like you are watching a few different films spliced together in some sort of guerrilla filmmaking prank.

There are other times when you get the sense even the actors know all this but are so committed to their characters that they just blast through in a hail of wild gesticulations, ropey accents, gaudy chiffon and room-storming-out-of.

American Hustle wants to be a sprawling 70’s drug, corruption and underworld epic but only gets halfway there and whilst it’s fun, in a manner of speaking, it’s not the sort I’d necessarily recommend. From what I can piece together there once was a small-time hood called Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) who got in a little over his head. After Rosenfeld and his accomplice Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) are busted by the FBI (Brad Cooper) for some mid-level scamming they opt against prison time in favour of being informants. This sets of a chain of events that ends poorly for most everyone involved.

An elaborate ruse to ensnare the bigger fish veers wildly off course as the participants are chronically incapable of sticking to the script. And that’s the nexus point of American Hustle and reality. You see, the actors were given free range by director David O. Russell to ad-lib, meaning scenes and dialogue are occasionally incredibly real (thanks Jennifer Lawrence) but mostly hilariously unhinged (thanks the many hair pieces). There is a real sense of incompleteness about the film. Although based on a true story, liberties were taken and that’s hardly a massive problem. The major problem is that it never overcomes the sum of its parts and is happy to be a crazy film rather than the serious film it purports to be.

Justin Hook

justin hook

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ad space

45

the word

on gigs

PHOTO BY MARK TURNER

Owen Campbell, Joe Conroy and Tom Woodward The Abbey Friday May 2 The first of two acoustic warm-up acts, Tom Woodward introduced himself as the musical entrée for the night. He could spin a mean tune with complex plucking patterns. Woodward’s songs, delivered in a raspy vocal, ranged from the Australian countryside to Mediterranean summers. Follow-up act Joe Conroy, opening with ‘Two Girls’, was a strummer as opposed to a plucker. He won me over with a laid back cover of The Kinks’ ‘Sunny Afternoon’.

Both were impressed with the venue. Woodward said we were the kindest audience he’d ever played to (maybe the crowd were too busy tucking into their chicken wings and chips to be aggro) while Conroy compared The Abbey favourably with the shipping container conditions encountered in a recent pub. While both were talented musos, one would have been sufficient as the crowd was there we there for some OC action. With a three piece backing band, Campbell wasted no time getting up to speed, opening with a real cracker of a song ‘Wrecking Ball’. Campbell impressed with his powerful vocals and chunky guitar picks that have a real 3D physicality. With the invitation ‘who feels like singing’ Campbell rehearsed the audience (strolling between tables to ensure people were singing) to provide backing vocals for ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing’.

There was slide guitar action aplenty, including ‘Highway Bound’ (done with banjo on the LP). How his fingers can dance across that guitar! There were new songs, including ‘Howlin’ Now’, talk of another LP late this year and some backroom secrets about how management pushes him to do more on Twitter and Facebook. The earthy bass of ‘Sunshine Road’ got some ladies up dancing and the main set closed with the tour theme ‘Remember to Breathe’.

RORY McCARTNEY

the word

on gigs

PHOTO BY ERICA HURRELL

46

Infinity Broke and Vendulka Smith’s Alternative Wednesday May 7 What a dramatic variety; a singer-songwriter who earned her spurs in a TV talent competition and the rock-hardened refugee from Bluebottle Kiss, Jamie Hutchings, who is now cavorting about as part of Infinity Broke. A night of totally different approaches, Vendulka’s style involved taking the crowd with her for every step, while Infinity Broke was intensely internally focused on its own music. Just 16 and already a veteran of X-Factor, Vendulka opened her solo set, somewhat surprisingly, with a cover of ‘Moon River’. She sounded quite elfin delivering that classic, but a lot more power and the beautiful tones in her voice came through in her original song which followed. There was a 50/50 mix of covers/original stuff. She looked like butter would not melt in her mouth, but versions of ‘Little Lion Man’ and the Passenger song ‘I Hate’ soon showed that not all her songs are as innocent as her own ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’.

Infinity Broke performed in ‘lite’ mode, missing percussionist Jared Harrison. They wasted no time getting into their earthy side with ‘Termites’. Hutchings’ berserk instrumentals cut bleeding arcs in front of the steady roll of sound from the drum and bass.

The cool rhythm of ‘Gallows Queue’ flowed assuredly around the unread volumes on the bookshelves. In ‘Monsoon’ Jamie Hutchings fixated on his amp, before breaking into some cowbell percussion and then having an epic distorted dialogue with his guitar. It was disappointing not to get the full percussive magic of the LP (including the famous gas tank). We saw a different construct on stage, but it was no less mesmerising than the LP tracks from which most of the set was drawn. A cover of Patti Smith’s ‘Free Money’ provided a brief moment of more conventional rock.

RORY McCARTNEY

@bmamag

facebook.com/bmamagazine

47

the word

Eurovision 2014 B&W Hallerne, Copenhagen, Denmark Saturday May 10

on gigs

Each year’s Eurovision seems like an exercise in Australia both re-connecting with elements of its diverse melting pot and taking the rare cultural high-ground over a continent with so much of it. Yes: it’s OK to take the piss out of Europe every May but remember the Renaissance.

The contest offers a strange mix of the serious and the silly, and at times the two are inseparable. If you can take the Belarusian Robin Thicke’s ‘Cheesecake’ seriously you’re a better person than I am, but you still have to acknowledge the close parody of current pop music and gender-stereotype reversal evident in the lyrics.

While 2014 was billed as the year of the wuballad, an unholy mix of dubstep and heartfelt ballad, in the end it was a Bond-esque slice of super-soft jazz-pop that won the day. Conchita Wurst standing solitary on stage while pyrotechnics flared around her was likely the iconic image from the event, and rightfully so.

2014 was an aspirational year when it came to the subject matter of songs. Greece wanted us to ‘Rise Up’, Hungary wanted to stop domestic violence and Spain wanted to dance in the rain. Hell, even France wanted to grow a moustache

PHOTO BY MEGAN LEAHY

Eurovision is inherently cheesy and cliched, but that’s a large part of what makes it so likeable. It’s easy to enjoy something that seemingly doesn’t take itself so seriously. Except for the voting, when the claws really come out.

CODY ATKINSON

48

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed May 21 - Fri May 23 Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday may 21 Art Exhibitions Glass Miniatures 2014

Curated by Lisa Cahill. Tues-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 11am-4pm. Until May 31.

Free.

BILK GALLERY

Nuances

By Rebecca Stapledon, Elaine Camlin, Sairi Yoshizawa. May 15-25. Wed-Sat 11-4pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Treasures Gallery

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Elioth Gruner: The Texture of Light

Mon-Fri 10-5pm, Sat and Sun 12-5pm.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Cornucopian Bounty

Pondering society’s consumption of resources. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

One Great Face

An exhibition by members of Access 1 exploring the wonder of the face. Thu May 8 - Sun May 25. Free.

HUW DAVIES GALLERY

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Lawnscapes

Portraits of Canberran Houses by Thea Katauskas. May 6-26. Price TBA. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

New Works by Megan Jackson

May 15-25. Wed-Sun 11-5pm. Free.

CMC Presents local and touring bands

On The Town

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

9pm. Free. Discount drinks 10pm 12am.

Awaiting details. 7.30pm. $5.

DJ Norm

4Some Thursdays

8pm-12am. Free.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Daniel Champagne

Something Different

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Jazzy guitar. 7.30pm. Price TBA. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Vines in the City

On The Town

A. BAKER

Mount Majura winemakers with A. Baker chefs. 6.30pm. $58.

Hump Day Wednesdays

friday may 23

Kick back mid-week with drink specials.

5pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Art Exhibitions

Something Different

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

Trinity Bar DJ Workshop

Every Wednesday 6.30pm-8pm, Every Saturday 5.30pm-7pm. $15 per lesson or $100 for 10. Email trinityb TRINITY BAR

National Simultaneous Storytime

Bring the kids for storytime with 2014 Children’s Laureate Jackie French.

11am. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

The Wonderful World of Work Book launch for a work by Jeanette Purkis for teens with Asperger syndrome. 6.30pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Comedy Gift of the Gab

Christian Comedian Hannah Boland.

8pm. $30-$35 THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow

2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow. Fri-Sat May 23-24.

7.30pm. comedyfestival.com CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Theatre

Live Music

Admission: One Shilling

Lunchtime Guitar Serenade

Patricia Routledge & Piers Lane star in the story of Dame Myra Hess. Tues 8pm. Wed 1/8pm.$59-$89 THE PLAYHOUSE

Trivia

With Lisa Richards. 12.30pm – 1.30pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The World Comes to Canberra

Songs from early 20th century Europe and more. 3pm. $25–35.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

IQ Trivia Fun

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

It’s About Textiles

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Featuring Elison + Myriad Ways + The Gap + Tundrel. 8pm. Free.

Beverley Thomas’ love of land and textiles. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun 1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Luminous World

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

Fun, laughs & prizes! 7.30pm. Free.

thursday may 22 Live Music Lunchtime Piano

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

With Robert Tulip. 12.30 – 1.30pm.

Free.

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting

Thursday Jazz

Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Featuring Victor Rufus Band. 7.30pm. $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Apollo Brown

Karaoke

TRANSIT BAR

Curry-Oke Wednesdays

Hosted by Jonathan Davis. 8pm. Free Entry.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Live Music CMC Presents Cherie Kotek

With Dylan Hekimian, Cracked Actor and Pocket Fox. 7.30pm. $7/$10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Detroit based hip hop producer with special guests. 8pm. $15+bf.

Thursday Long Play

Jazz with Natalie Magee Trio. 5pm7.30pm. Free.

HOTEL HOTEL

Chicago Charles & Dave 9:15pm-12:15am. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

MIC Night

Featuring Dan McLean Big Band.

7.30pm. $5/$10.

CIT MUSIC INDUSTRY CENTRE

Thee Nodes

W/ Gentlemen (Vic), Hygiene, Harrow and Primary Colours. Time TBA. $12

Band Comp Heat 4 TRANSIT BAR

A. Baker Fridays

With DJ Brother J. 5pm-7.45pm. Free A. BAKER

The Gaps

EP launch during the final heat of Battle of The Bands. 8pm, free entry.

TRANSIT BAR

Bad!Slam!No!Biscuit!

9pm, $5

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Dragon

Doors 6:30pm. Tickets $40/$85 dinner and show + bf thru theabbey.com.au.

THE ABBEY

Special K

5pm afternoon session. 10pm band.

Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Jonesez Lazy Boy Album Tour

With No Assumption, Oslow, Rather Be Dead, Raised By Wolves. 8.30pm. $10.

THE BASEMENT

On The Town Vamp at City Underground

Party Monster theme - DJs: Robot, Black Temple, Melina Fahrenheit, Lily DuBois. 7pm-1am. TBA. MAGPIES CITY CLUB

MAGPIES CITY CLUB

facebook.com/bmamagazine

49

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri May 23 - Mon May 26 Retro Weekends

DJ Sass & DJ Tasha. 80’s/90’s party classics. 9pm. Free.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Nu Waves

Music not defined by genres. $10 all night.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Something Different

New Works

by Megan Jackson

On The Town

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

With Runamark. $10 all night.

Joe Camilleri, Richard Clapton, Russell Morris and Leo Sayer in concert.

7.30pm. $76.75.

Retro Weekends

Decades

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

TRANSIT BAR

May 15-25. Wed-Sun 11-5pm. Free.

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

Love Saturdays

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

DJ Sass & DJ Tasha. 80’s/90’s party classics. 9pm. Free.

Something Different

Blokes Don’t Talk

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Beverley Thomas’ love of land and textiles. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun 1. Free.

Every Wednesday 6.30pm-8pm, Every Saturday 5.30pm-7pm. $15 per lesson or $100 for 10. Email trinityb

Luminous World

Blokes Don’t Talk

Play: raising money for Menslink 7pm – 8pm. $10.

Tarot Reading - with Marisol

Private Tarot Readings. 6-8pm. 10 spots. Book Marisol 0404 364 820.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

saturday may 24 Art Exhibitions

It’s About Textiles

Trinity Bar DJ Workshop

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

TRINITY BAR

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

Play: raising money for Menslink. 7pm – 8pm. $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

sunday may 25

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

Apia Good Times Tour

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Playing 90s grunge. Free pool all day.

Free entry. Time TBA.

Northlane

With Thy Art Is Murder, Veil Of Meya, Volumes, Make Them Suffer + Reigner.

5.15pm. $39.90 ZIERHOLZ @ UC

Sunday Sounds and Sangria 3pm – 5pm. $5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Irish Jam Session

Traditional Irish musicians from late afternoon. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

On The Town Blues Dancing Sessions

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

Art Exhibitions

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Comedy

Mon-Fri 10-5pm, Sat and Sun 12-5pm.

Something Different

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow

One Great Face

2XX FM 2014 Subscriber Drive Launch Party

Nuances

By Rebecca Stapledon, Elaine Camlin, Sairi Yoshizawa. May 15-25. Wed-Sat 11-4pm. Free.

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Glass Miniatures 2014

Curated by Lisa Cahill. Tues-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 11am-4pm. Until May 31.

Free.

BILK GALLERY

Treasures Gallery

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Elioth Gruner: The Texture of Light

Mon-Fri 10-5pm, Sat and Sun 12-5pm.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Cornucopian Bounty

Pondering society’s consumption of resources. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

One Great Face

An exhibition by members of Access 1 exploring the wonder of the face. Thu May 8 - Sun May 25. Free.

HUW DAVIES GALLERY

Lawnscapes

Portraits of Canberran Houses by Thea Katauskas. May 6-26. Price TBA. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

50

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

2014 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow. Fri-Sat May 23-24.

7.30pm. comedyfestival.com CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Live Music Goldheist

With Natalie McGee. Raising funds for Beyond Blue. 9pm. $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Safia

Elioth Gruner: The Texture of Light

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

An exhibition by members of Access 1 exploring the wonder of the face. Thu May 8 - Sun May 25. Free.

HUW DAVIES GALLERY

New Works by Megan Jackson

May 15-25. Wed-Sun 11-5pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Nuances

By Rebecca Stapledon, Elaine Camlin, Sairi Yoshizawa. May 15-25. Wed-Sat 11-4pm. Free.

Learn blues dancing + free pool from 2pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Free Barefoot Bowls with local acts Beth and Ben, Hung Parliament + more. From 2pm.

THE RUC (TURNER)

monday may 26 Art Exhibitions Lawnscapes

Portraits of Canberran Houses by Thea Katauskas. May 6-26. Price TBA.

Paranoia Ghosts and Other Sounds Tour. 8pm. $10 + bf.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Aust Kingswood Factory

Live Music

Live Music

Freyjas-rain

Nick Rigby

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

TRANSIT BAR

W/ Rengagde Peacock and The Balls.

8pm. Price TBA MAGPIES CITY CLUB

Surrogates

5-7pm. Free.

10:30pm. Free.

Free Your Mind 2014

70’s Tribute Night

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Local bands covering Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, Kiss, The Who, The Ramones, Bob Dylan. 8pm. $15.

THE BASEMENT

Northlane with Make Them Suffer, Volumes and guests. 530pm. $39.90

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

6.30-9.30pm. Free.

Bootlegs for Phoenix Pub 8.30pm. $5

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The Accoustic Sessions With Minh Ha. 2-4pm. Free.

IRON BAR

Beatle Magic

Beatles tribute act. $45. Bookings: (02) 6285 1995. 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

THE TRADIES (WODEN)

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Mon May 26 - Fri May 30 Something Different In Conversation: The Valley of Amazement

Join Amy Tan to discuss her book on the collapse of China’s imperial dynasty.

5pm. $10.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Trivia Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Transit trivia returns with your host Rainman. Book now on (02) 6162 0899. 7pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

tuesday may 27

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

2XX FM 2014 Subscriber Drive: History of 2XX An exhibition showcasing one of Australia’s longest running community radio stations. 6-8pm. Free.

Hosted by Jonathan Davis. 8pm. Free Entry.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Raw Revolution

Storytime with Jay Sullivan 8pm. $18.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Trivia Henry Ladd’s Game of Knowledge 8-10pm. Free.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Trivial Tuesdays

The Australian Women’s Weekly Fashion Launch

Live comedy simulcast on 2XX. Free.

Time TBA. CIVIC PUB

Short Film Festival

Karaoke Love

Something Different

2XX FM Subscriber Drive: Comedy Night

Karaoke

Live Music

TRANSIT BAR

Art Exhibitions

Film

Curry-Oke Wednesdays

With The Naddiks, Sparrow Folk + Dylan Hekimian and 30+ artists.

7.30pm. $15/$20.

CIVIC PUB

Coopers presents After Dark Private Party

Showcasing wide variety of short films.

Bookings: (02) 6248 2000. Ages 15+.

Free entry.

NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVES

Live Music Shaken & Stirred

Burlesque glamour. 7.30pm. $20. Book online - www.politbar.co POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Lunchtime Piano

With Robert Tulip. 12.30pm – 1.30pm.

Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Featuring special guests British India.

8pm. Price TBA.

Thursday Long Play

TRANSIT BAR

Jazz with the Wayne Kelly Trio. 5pm7.30pm. Free.

CMC Presents local and touring bands

HOTEL HOTEL

BandJava

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

7.30pm. $5.

Blues and Roots. 7-10pm. Free.

Zak and the Greater Good

DZ Deathrays Album Launch

Dos Locos

Hump Day Wednesdays

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

8pm-12am. Free.

Kick back mid-week with drink specials.

5pm.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

9:15pm-12:15am. Free.

Thursday Jazz

TRANSIT BAR

Featuring Mike Price Band + Jazz Jam 7.30pm. $10.

Something Different

Phfat

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

Trinity Bar DJ Workshop

Glass Miniatures 2014

TRINITY BAR

BILK GALLERY

Meet the French writer Thanh-Van Tran-Nhut, author of thriller shorts.

10am-12pm. Free. Must book.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

A. Baker Fridays

DJ Peter.A with Julian Fung on sax.

5-8pm. Free.

A. BAKER

Max Goes To Hollywood

Max Goes To Hollywood, Foley, Revellers. Price TBA. MAGPIES CITY CLUB

Citizen Kay & TK Maidza

With Special Guest. 8pm. $12+bf.

TRANSIT BAR

Oscar

5pm afternoon session. 10pm Band.

Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Gilded Palace of Sin With Arrester. 8pm. $5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Alive Fridays

On The Town

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

With Lisa Richards. 12.30pm – 1.30pm. Free.

Café Musique

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Art Exhibitions

Lunchtime Guitar Serenade

DJ Norm

2XX FM Subscriber Drive

wednesday may 28

Live Music

On The Town

TRANSIT BAR

Trumpet Club & Sax Summit with Canberra Musician Club. 8-11pm. $8/$15.

UNI PUB

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Acoustic bluesy groove rock. 7.30pm.

Price TBA. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Trivia. 7.30pm. Free.

The official launch of The Australian Women’s Weekly Fashion: The First 50 Years. 6pm. $50.

With Palms and Foam. 8pm. TBA.

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm.

Free Entry DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

friday may 30

Comedy

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke Croon and wail your heart out on the Transit stage. 9pm. Free.

thursday may 29

Every Wednesday 6.30pm-8pm, Every Saturday 5.30pm-7pm. $15 per lesson or $100 for 10. Email trinityb

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

“Lights out” Australian tour. 8pm. $15.

Presenting TJR. Tickets from Moshtix.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Retro Weekends

DJ Sass & DJ Tasha. 80’s/90’s party classics. 9pm. Free.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

2XX FM Subscriber Drive: Strangeways

With Neonbombs, Megan Bones, PELVIC, DJ Dead Joke + Architect DJ’s.

8pm. Price TBA. TRINITY BAR

THE BASEMENT

Something Different

On The Town

Tarot Reading - with Marisol

4Some Thursdays

Private Tarot Readings. 6-8pm. 10 spots. Book Marisol 0404 364 820.

Curated by Lisa Cahill. Tues-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 11am-4pm. Until May 31.

Free.

Atelier Littérature

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Talks

Cornucopian Bounty

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Something Different

Café Scientifique

Theatre

Vines in the City

Pondering society’s consumption of resources. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun1. Free.

9pm. Free. Discount drinks 10pm 12am.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

The Government Inspector

Four Winds winemakers with A. Baker chefs. 6.30pm. $58.

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting

THE PLAYHOUSE

Theatre

Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

It’s About Textiles

Beverley Thomas’ love of land and textiles. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun 1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Luminous World

Belvoir theatre. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 2pm/8pm. $50-$83.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit

By Nassim Soleimanpour. An unnerving comedy. $25.

A. BAKER

The Government Inspector

THE STREET THEATRE

Belvoir theatre. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 2pm/8pm. $50-$83.

Trivia

White Rabbit Red Rabbit

IQ Trivia Fun

Fun, laughs & prizes! 7.30pm. Free.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

THE PLAYHOUSE

By Nassim Soleimanpour. An unnerving comedy. $25.

THE STREET THEATRE

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Presentation + discussion in café about “Game-over for space junk?” 5.308pm. Free. Must book.

MT STROMLO OBSERVATORY

Theatre The Government Inspector

Belvoir theatre. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 2pm/8pm. $50-$83.

THE PLAYHOUSE

White Rabbit Red Rabbit

By Nassim Soleimanpour. An unnerving comedy. $25.

THE STREET THEATRE

Art Exhibitions Kensuke Todo: A Survey

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

facebook.com/bmamagazine

51

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri May 30 - Wed Jun 4 Treasures Gallery

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Glass Miniatures 2014

Curated by Lisa Cahill. Tues-Fri 11am5pm, Sat 11am-4pm. Until May 31.

Free.

BILK GALLERY

Cornucopian Bounty

4th Degree

Sexytet

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

10:30pm. Free.

Nova and The Experience

With Daniel Champagne. 8pm. Price TBA.

It’s About Textiles

Beverley Thomas’ love of land and textiles. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun 1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Luminous World

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

With Runamark. $10 all night.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Retro Weekends

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

SIDS Comedy Night

W/ Tahir, Jay Sullivan, Chris Ryan, Daniel Wong, Hamish Hudson, Eddie Nelson. Doors at 7pm for 7.30p

HOTEL HOTEL

Croon and wail your heart out on the Transit stage. 9pm. Free.

Traditional Irish musicians from late afternoon. Free.

Trinity Bar DJ Workshop

Blues Dancing Sessions

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Every Wednesday 6.30pm-8pm, Every Saturday 5.30pm-7pm. $15 per lesson or $100 for 10. Email trinityb TRINITY BAR

Book Launch

“My Mother’s Way of Dying Well” by Dianne Porter. 2pm – 4pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Belvoir theatre. Wed-Fri 8pm. Sat 2pm/8pm. $50-$83.

THE PLAYHOUSE

White Rabbit Red Rabbit

By Nassim Soleimanpour. An unnerving comedy. $25.

THE STREET THEATRE

sunday june 1 Art Exhibitions Cornucopian Bounty

Learn blues dancing + free pool from 2pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Theatre White Rabbit Red Rabbit

By Nassim Soleimanpour. An unnerving comedy. $25.

THE STREET THEATRE

monday june 2 Comedy Schnitz & Giggles

Without A Voice

Play. 8pm. $12/$15. Book at: www. shadowhousepits.com.au

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

TRANSIT BAR

With Perdition, Bladderspasms, Bastard Sons of Liberty, Eager 13, Cult Killers.

7pm. $10. All ages.

THE RUC (TURNER)

The Vee Bees

W/ Meat Beaters and Hell Crab City.

Time and price TBA

Live Music Sunday Sounds and Sangria Featuring Veronica’s Boyfriend.

3pm–5pm. $5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

THE STREET THEATRE

Trivia Trivial Tuesdays

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm.

Free Entry DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday june 4

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Punk and Disorderly: Vicious Circle

It’s Dark Outside

Theatre

It’s About Textiles

Beverley Thomas’ love of land and textiles. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun 1. Free.

Theatre

Art Exhibitions

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The Paper Kites

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Stage Play. 7pm – 8pm. Price TBA

Improvised Comedy. 6.30pm – 8pm. $5.

Live Music

TRANSIT BAR

TRANSIT BAR

The Party

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

With Special Guests. 8pm. $20+bf.

Karaoke Love

Irish Jam Session

Pondering society’s consumption of resources. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun1. Free.

AINSLIE FOOTBALL CLUB

Karaoke

Something Different

The Government Inspector

Comedy

Poet Derrick Brown and Chris Harland Blues Band. 4-6.30pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

On The Town

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

saturday may 31

Bloody Lips

With Shahed Sharify. 8.30pm. Price TBA.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Theatre

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

8pm. $76.75-$93.

Something Different

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

Open Mic Comedy

THE PLAYHOUSE

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

IRON BAR

On The Town

DJ Sass & DJ Tasha. 80’s/90’s party classics. 9pm. Free.

Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

Comedy

With Matt Dent. 2-4pm. Free.

The Larry Carlton Quartet

Love Saturdays

tuesday june 3

The Accoustic Sessions

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Pondering society’s consumption of resources. 10-4pm Tue-Sun. May 14-Jun1. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Brass band style funk. 5-7pm. Free.

Trivia Transit trivia returns with your host Rainman. Book now on (02) 6162 0899. 7pm. Free.

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Treasures Gallery

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Luminous World

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

MAGPIES CITY CLUB

52

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Jun 4 - Wed Jun 11 Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Live Music Hell City Glamours

Farewell tour for Sydney hard rockers.

8pm. $15 +bf.

TRANSIT BAR

Karaoke

Something Different

Curry-Oke Wednesdays

Tarot Reading - with Marisol

Hosted by Jonathan Davis. 8pm. Free Entry.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Private Tarot Readings. 6-8pm. 10 spots. Book Marisol 0404 364 820.

Theatre

Hump Day Wednesdays

It’s Dark Outside

TRANSIT BAR

Theatre It’s Dark Outside

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

THE STREET THEATRE

saturday june 7

Spartak launches ‘Five Point’ EP, Mornings last show. 8pm. Free entry TRANSIT BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Luminous World

It’s Dark Outside

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

THE STREET THEATRE

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

Theatre

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

friday june 6 Art Exhibitions TYRA 2014

Local youth art competition award and exhibition. 9am-5pm weekdays. Free TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Live Music The Beards

Trivial Tuesdays

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm.

Free Entry DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Treasures Gallery

Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

Trivia

Sculptures using objects exposed to the Australian landscape. 10am-5pm ,12-5pm weekends.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Spartak, Mornings, Power Moves

TRANSIT BAR

Hamilton Darroch: Sun Trap

IQ Trivia Fun

Live Music

Croon and wail your heart out on the Transit stage. 9pm. Free.

Art Exhibitions

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting

Karaoke Love

sunday june 8

Trivia

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Karaoke

THE STREET THEATRE

Ivory Lights

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

thursday june 5

Local youth art competition award and exhibition. 9am-5pm weekdays. Free

It’s Dark Outside

Art Exhibitions

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

TYRA 2014

Theatre

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

Fun, laughs & prizes! 7.30pm. Free.

Art Exhibitions

ROYAL THEATRE

Live Music

THE STREET THEATRE

tuesday june 10

The Moon Landing tour, with Busby Marou. 8pm. $107.65 + bf thru Ticketek.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

On The Town Kick back mid-week with drink specials.

5pm.

James Blunt

wednesday june 11

Folk rock with female vocalists. 5-7pm.

Free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

The Accoustic Sessions

Kensuke Todo: A Survey

Kensuke Todo extends his bi-cultural perspective to sculptures and drawings.

12-5pm Wed-Sun. Free.

With Derryth Nash. 2-4pm. Free.

IRON BAR

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Theatre

Treasures Gallery

It’s Dark Outside

By Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim Watts. $35.

THE STREET THEATRE

monday june 9

The Library’s greatest treasures & best known stories. Daily 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Aldo Iacobelli - In The Shadow Of Forgetting Three contemporary artists. May 16 - June 21. Tue - Fri 11-5pm. Sat 10-4pm.

Art Exhibitions TYRA 2014

Art Exhibitions

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Local youth art competition award and exhibition. 9am-5pm weekdays. Free

TYRA 2014

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Local youth art competition award and exhibition. 9am-5pm weekdays. Free

Trivia

Luminous World

Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Transit trivia returns with your host Rainman. Book now on (02) 6162 0899. 7pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Contemporary work by Australian and New Zealand artists, including a Indigenous art. Until June 29.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Karaoke Curry-Oke Wednesdays

Album launch tour With Franky Walnut.

Doors 6.30pm. $25 + bf.

Hosted by Jonathan Davis. 8pm. Free Entry.

THE ABBEY

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

OUT

jun 4

saskwatch rufus hell city glamours la dispute hello satellites ...and more!

facebook.com/bmamagazine

53

FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA band profile

Aaron Peacey 0410381306 band.afternoon.shift@ gmail.com.au Adam Hole 0421023226

Afternoon Shift 0402055314 Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410308288 Annie & The Armadillos Annie (02) 61611078/ 0422076313 Aria Stone sax/flute/lute/ harmonica, singer-songwriter Aria 0411803343

The Ians Where did your band name come from? Wouldn’t you like to know?

Group members? Nic Riley (rhythm guitar/vocals), Matt Rothwell (bass/vocals), Tim Lynch (lead guitar/vocals) and Dan Pearce (drums/vocals).

Describe your sound: Musical fusion of post-technical progressive metalcore and psychedelic proto-jazz. Lol jk, I dunno – pop music which isn’t shit played on guitars?

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Beatles, Stones, Elvis, Nirvana, Run DMC, Public Enemy, The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen etc. Oh, and Adelaide United and Man City.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Not really sure, but we’ll let you know when we memorably experience it.

Of what are you proudest so far? Pride comes before the fall, so we just sit around and feel shame instead.

What are your plans for the future? World domination and a nap.

What makes you laugh? The Abbot Government What pisses you off? The Abbot Government What about the local scene would you change? What scene?

Australian Songwriters Association Keiran (02) 62310433 Back to the Eighties Ty Emerson 0418 544 014 Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422733974 backbeatdrivers.com Bat Country Communion, The Mel 0400405537 Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows-bookings@ birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438351007 blacklabelphotography.net Bridge Between, The Cam 0431550005 Capital Dub Style Reggae/dub events Rafa 0406647296 Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 649 chrisharlandbluesband @gmail.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662 Danny V Danny 0413502428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428

What are your upcoming gigs? Potbelly Monday May 26, ANU Bar Friday August 1, Transit (TBA), Phoenix (TBA)

Dorothy Jane Band, The Dorothy Jane 0411065189 dorothy-jane@dorothyjane.com

Contact info: facebook.com/meettheians, soundcloud. com/theians

Drumassault Dan 0406 375 997 Feldons, The 0407 213 701 FeralBlu Danny 0413502428 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410381306 Lachlan 0400038388 Fourth Degree Vic 0408477020 Gareth Dailey DJ/Electronica Gareth 0414215885 Groovalicious Corporate/ weddings/private functions 0448995158

54

In The Flesh Scott 0410475703 Itchy Triggers Alex 0414838480 Jenn Pacor Singer-songwriter avail. for originals/covers 0405618630 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408287672 paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Kayo Marbilus facebook.com/kayomarbilus1 Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417025792 Los Chavos Latin/ska/reggae Rafa 0406647296 Andy 0401572150 Missing Zero Hadrian 0424721907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots Huck 0419630721 Morning After, The Covers band Anthony 0402500843 Mornings Jordan 0439907853 MuShu Jack 0414292567 mushu_band@hotmail.com Obsessions 0450 960 750 obsessions@grapevine.com.au Painted Hearts, The Peter (02) 62486027 Polka Pigs Ian (02) 62315974 Rafe Morris 0416322763 Redletter Ben 0421414472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404178996/ (02) 61621527 Rug, The Jol 0417273041 Sewer Sideshow Huck 0419630721 Simone & The Soothsayers Singing teacher Simone 62304828 Sorgonian Twins, The Mark 0428650549 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401588884 STonKA Jamie 0422764482 stonka2615@gmail.com Strange Hour Events Dan 0411112075 Super Best Friends Sam White sam@imcmusic.net System Addict Jamie 0418398556 Tegan Northwood (Singing Teacher) 0410 769 144

Guy The Sound Guy Live & Studio Sound Engineer 0400585369 guy@guythesoundguy.com

Top Shelf Colin 0408631514

Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Zoopagoo zoopagoo@gmail.com

Undersided, The Baz 0408468041

@bmamag

sale department

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

55

alex williamson

ad space

56

@bmamag