BMA Magazine 449 - 24 September 2014

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TAKE THAT! ARCHEALOGICAL DIG BAND COMP: CIT WODEN JUST GOT REAL

They say from an evolutionary standpoint, we have reached peak beard. # 4 4 9 S e p 2 4 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 Julie Ruttle T: (02) 6247 4816

There’s this other national competition right, something about unearthing teenagers and their high school bands, except we all know that you are expected to then be the next Lorde and pack out stadiums before becoming a jaded soand-so planning a reunion tour to pay for your beach house that is threatened by erosion and is therefore worthless in the current real estate climate.

I’m off to collect my Rambling Digress Award, but before I do I’ll tell you that CIT Woden is calling for registrations for its School Stars Band Competition to be held on October 30. You can find the registration form at is.gd/CITSchoolStars and it’s open to bands and solo artists.

IMPERSONATING PENNYWISE FOR A GOOD CAUSE Are you a singer, actor, clown, dancer, poet, comedian, or circus performer? Stop scaring people with long-held clown fears and get your head around performing in the 2014 Mindscapes Festival Mish Mash Variety Night for Mental Health Week. Whether you’re an amateur or professional, Mish Mash is a great way for you to

practise performing your craft in front of a live audience whilst helping to raise awareness for Mental Health. Organisers can’t pay you in dollars but they will be hiring a videographer to set up a number of cameras to then edit the show together.

All performers will receive a YouTube link to their performance. Registration closes on Wednesday October 1 so get onto Ben Drysdale for more info on 02 6264 0252, email ben.drysdale@bcsact. com.au or visit mhccact.org. au. The show will be held during Mental Health Week on Thursday October 9 from 7–11pm at The RUC @ Turner, McCaughey Street, Turner.

Labor Club (Chandler Street, Belconnen). Doors open 6.30pm for a 7.00pm start. $20 per person, table seats 8–10.

Tickets available at the door.

My wish would involve rather unseemly requests from Nick Cave: don’t try this at home kids.

USE YOUR PENCHANT FOR TRIVIA TO GAIN MORE THAN A BAR TAB

The 2013 program featured 63 films from 31 countries. In addition to screening feature films and documentaries, there is always a suite of other events such as Q&A sessions as well as panel discussions with directors, producers, actors and the broad range of artists involved in the filmmaking process. The event is on from Thursday October 23 to Sunday November 9 at Dendy cinemas.

We’ll announce the program via BMA social media on Thursday September 25 so check out our Facebook page and Twitter feed to be ahead of the pack.

Make-A-Wish Australia has been bringing hope, strength and joy to children since 1985 and is the only children’s charity in Australia that focuses solely on wish granting. Make-AWish receives no ongoing government support and the last 25 years wouldn’t have been possible without the support and generosity of donors and the dedication of volunteers.

The Make-A-Wish Canberra Branch is holding a Trivia Night to raise much-needed funds for children with life-threatening medical conditions on Friday October 17 at the Belconnen

CIFF: TILDA SWINTON’S STILl GOT IT Yeah, I have a thing for Swinton, and she’s in that Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive which was a highlight of last year’s Canberra International Film Festival (CIFF) program.

Now in its 18th year, the CIFF celebrates cinema by showcasing extraordinary films from around the globe.

E: accounts@bmamag.com

Sub-Editor & Social Media Manager Chiara Grassia Graphic Design Chris Halloran Film Editor Melissa Wellham

What an interesting key party this will be!

NEXT ISSUE 450 OUT Oct 8 EDITORIAL DEADLINE Oct 1 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Oct 2 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.

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YOU PISSED ME OFF!

FROM THE BOSSMAN Hello and welcome to the Mental Health Week edition of BMA Magazine, wherein we add ten pages to cover the various activities happening in October in an effort to raise awareness and promote positive mental health and wellbeing.

It’s a funny old thing, the brain. It’s the driving force for what makes us who we are and yet it can just as easily lead us astray.

The lurking monsters of Depression and Anxiety have been bedfellows of mine and my family, and I have friends who battle bravely with acute disorders whilst holding down high-stress jobs and raising children. Truly they are the unsung heroes of everyday life.

In this issue’s front cover chat with Bill Bailey - amongst recanting tales about nearly knocking his head off - he says of going to see comedy, “It connects us to a collective experience which we crave, perhaps because the world is a uncertain place”.

I would argue that this is the same for mental illness. It can be a world of terrifying uncertainty. Suffering from, or being with someone suffering from, mental illness can be an isolating experience. But Mental Health Week proves that you are not alone. There are people to help, to understand and to show that things can be better.

Being so close to mental health and wellbeing helps you view the world through a different lens. Permit me a brief anecdote.

In this line of work we get many a press release. Some are brilliant (a hat-tip goes to XL’s PR which includes a mini-interview with the artists in question, evidently compiled by a talented music writer) but many you suspect are rushed together by an overworked staff member or some hapless intern forced by time to go to the well of stock phrases and generic descriptions.

There have been at least 17 bands that are the “hottest thing out of Melbourne” this year. About half of the acts are “unique”, and that many again are “explosive”.

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 all online shoppers, yes even you, YOU PISS ME OFF! Everyday I ride past brilliant, innovative, locally owned and operated businesses in order to deliver the junk that you’ve ordered online from China. Your weak attempt at scabbing a few extra dollars by shopping from the festering confides of your internet dens is not only damaging local businesses, it is also harming the environment through over-packaging and transportation costs whist simultaneously crippling Australia’s tax revenue (which helps substitute your shitty existence in far too many ways)!!!!

So, here is the plan; instead of degrading our beautiful land with your online shopping addiction, waddle on down to any of the friendly Canberran outlets that you like, socialise a bit and stop being a detriment to society.

Alternatively, don’t complain when you find your next package of crap delivered to your roof or a nearby tree-top; thats my way of encouraging you wobbegon’s to at least get some fresh air.

You piss Postman Pat off.

One term that has popped up more than once to describe an act is “schizophrenic”. I will admit, I have never batted an eyelid to the use of the term. On the surface it makes sense; you’re describing the music as arcing wildly from one style to another. It was only when Editor Tatjana pointed out that using what is essentially a mental illness as an adjective to describe music is slightly off, that I viewed it in a different light.

I have always struggled with where to draw the line as far as offense is concerned. I wrote a column some years ago about hating people who get offended. And if it turns out that BMA Mag HQ is being wire-tapped, I’m likely to go to jail for Bad Taste.

The late-great Joan Rivers once said that as far as comedy goes everything and everyone is fair game, and I agree with that. But I’m also a 32-year-old Godless heathen of a white male with aspirations of middle-class so I’m not exactly in the position to understand suffering/persecution. In the same way that we have largely abandoned using ‘gay’, ‘spastic’ or ‘retarded’ as descriptive terms perhaps the time is now to do away with ‘schizophrenic’. I truly believe said over-worked PR penners mean no offense by using the term - in the same way I didn’t see anything wrong with it until recently - but phasing out it shows a step in the right direction.

The fact that we’re talking about this, and that Mental Health Week exists, is a wonderful thing. So whether through the healing power of comedy or through community spirit be sure to get out there and reaffirm there’s plenty of good in the world.

ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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WHO: Kingswood WHAT: Album launch WHEN: Thu Sep 25 WHERE: ANU BAR

WHO: Canberra Massacre WHAT: Metal gig WHEN: Fri Sep 26 WHERE: The Basement

Image credit: Jory Lee Cordy

WHO: Southside Evolution WHAT: FEstival WHEN: Sat Sep 27 WHERE: PJ O’Reilly’s Tuggeranong

WHO: The Griswolds WHAT: Album launch WHEN: Sat Sep 27 WHERE: Zierholz @ UC

WHO: Lepers and Crooks WHAT: Album launch WHEN: Wed Oct 1 WHERE: Transit Bar

WHO: Slow Turismo WHAT: Single Launch WHEN: Sat Oct 4 WHERE: Phoenix

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It’s been a very good year for four-piece Melbourne rockers Kingswood. Their recently released debut album Microscopic Wars has been met to stellar acclaim (including given the golden ‘Album In Focus’ by BMA’s own Rory McCartney), nabbed Triple J’s Feature Album of The Week and rocketed up the ARIA charts to #6. Having already clocked up a hundred shows this year alone, including slots at heavy weight festivals such as Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival, Kingswood are hitting the road for a 22 date regional tour.

Catch ‘em at ANU bar. 8pm. Tickets $22.23–44.40 available from ticketek.

Continuing to nail it as Canberra’s prime choice for fans of heavy, heavy music, The Basement are hosting Canberra Massacre, with a stack of national and local talent. Headlined by the mighty Chud, the rest of the lineup is killer too - In Death... (QLD), Tensions Arise (NSW), Internal Nightmare (VIC) and locals Na Maza and Hence The Testbed.

For set times and more details, check out the Canberra Massacre Facebook event page. 18+. Doors open at 9.15pm sharp. Six bands and a whole lotta noise for $15 at the door.

Nothing happens on the south side? Well, this is happening – Southside Evolution, a one day festival dedicated to strengthening a live music culture in the south side and forging connections between local acts. Winners of Transit Bar’s Battle Of The Bands, power trio The Gaps, will be making a racket with their blues infused rock. The rest of the lineup includes Loud So Clear, Tundrel, Cherie Kotek, Critical Monkee, Raucous Fracas, The Feldons, Rum Shack, Local Horror, Georgia Davis and Dylan Hekimian. Kicks off at 3pm and runs til 1am. Eleven acts (and possibly your new favourite band) for just $10.

With a hook to make Vampire Weekend jealous and plenty of summery vibes, Sydney’s The Griswolds’ latest single, ‘Beware The Dog’, has been a Triple J staple and also shot up the American Billboard Alternative Songs charts. Their debut album Be Impressive has been met with rave reviews for its party vibe and heartfelt lyrics. Regulars on the festival circuit, they’ve been wowing international and local audiences alike with their energetic live shows. See what all the fuss is about when they play Zierholz @ UC on Saturday Sepetember 27. 8pm. Tickets $18.40 available from oztix.

Lepers and Crooks are a five piece rock band from Sydney, whose sound has drawn comparisons to Pearl Jam and contemporaries Kingswood. With debut album This Must Be Make Believe under their belts, the boys are finally making their way to Canberra to tear it up at Transit Bar. Despite lead singer Sam Baker hailing from Canberra, this will be Lepers and Crooks first show in the ‘berra, so give ‘em a warm welcome. Along for the ride is Brisbane sibling duo Barefoot Alley, who have been shattering audience expectations with their full sound and explosive energy. 8pm. Tickets $10 +bf from moshtix.

Winning hearts all over the place, Canberra outfit Slow Turismo play the kind of slick indie pop that fans of Cloud Control, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Strokes will lap up. Despite being a pretty new addition to the local scene, they’ve already racked up a reputation for their rousing chorus, dance floor ready hooks and relatable lyrics. First single ‘Breathe’ has been doing the rounds on Triple J and their second single, rocky relationship anthem ‘Thunderstorm’, is about to drop. They’ll be at the Phoenix on Saturday October 4, with support from Sydney’s Newman and Dear Frank. Price and time TBA.

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allan sko Those lucky enough to spend time with BILL BAILEY soon learn the man likes a chat. A scheduled 15-minute chinwag about his upcoming Limboland tour soon spanned into an effortless 35-minute jaw exercise about giddy highs, near-decapitating lows, a lightbulb-moment joke and Alfred Wallace.

Bailey sounds happy and energised. And why wouldn’t he be. He is liked in virtually every location in the world.

“I completed my very first very-European stand up tour,” he enthuses. “It was an amazing experience. I did shows in Tallinn, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania. I was amazed not only that there was an audience, but they could understand the nuance of the comedy.”

Bailey tips his cap to the internet for this far-reaching success.

“There’s been a surge of interest. A lot of young people watch clips on YouTube, grow up and become paying punters.” I proffer that this “renaissance of comedy” could be linked to the current stress in the world. “There’s been a rise in attendance to live events,” Bailey says. “It reminds and connects us to a collective experience which we crave, perhaps because the world is a more uncertain place. We’re more aware than ever before.

News is updated by the minute. [Back then] people only knew what was going on in their village. Now we’re in a state of convulsion in terms of the… amount of conflagrations going on.

There’s a state of weariness, which creates an enhanced desire to remind ourselves of good, positive experiences.

“I was bombarded with offers [to do more afterwards],” Bailey says. “[I would love to do a documentary on] Georg Steller, a German biologist who accompanied Vitus Bering as the first Europeans to discover Alaska. It’s an extraordinary tale of adventure, mishap, brilliant biology… A real boys adventure tale. He’d be one on my list. Definitely.”

As for what comedy component would make his Best-of, Bailey cites one joke in particular - an audience clapping in unison sounding like a giant breaking a twig.

“That was a light bulb moment where I realised there was an audience you could do things with. [Early on during standup] I realised that the stuff in my head that made me laugh should be on stage rather than what I thought people might find funny.”

On audience interaction, I ask if Bailey is aware of the running audience gag for his Canberra shows where, for years, when he brandishes a stringed-instrument people repeatedly shout back, “Is it a mandolin?”

Bailey chuckles knowingly.

I think it may be time to bring a mandolin.

“For me comedy is very simple,” Bailey continues. “I’ll hopefully entertain you for a couple of hours, you’ll have a laugh and then go away. It’s a cathartic experience to laugh. You feel better for it; it’s a bit of a shakedown.”

With many comedians finding fans across the shores due to the bite-sized nature of social media, has this affected how Bailey writes comedy in 2014?

“Perhaps it does make us more succinct, which may not be a bad thing when used well,” Bailey ponders. “Brevity is the soul of wit after all. I’m aware that bits of my shows find their way onto the internet in two or three-minute sections but you can’t be too aware of it [when writing]. You don’t want it taking over - ‘Can I say this in 140 characters? If it can’t be retweeted then it can’t be in the set!’” he laughs.

With Bailey’s storied career - standup, Black Books, films, documentaries, orchestras, Doctor Who - I wonder what the man himself would like to see in a Best-of Life DVD. “The documentary about Alfred Wallace I’m very proud of,” he immediately offers. “I fought the BBC for many years to commission it. The producers would say, ‘This bit, you and the headhunter do a shot!’ Nah-nah-nah, I don’t think Wallace would’ve done that. ‘Well uh, OK, how about, then, we go to the jungle and you do standup...’ No-no-no, you don’t get it. The story’s interesting enough, it doesn’t need songs and gags.

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“I think it may be time to bring a mandolin.”

With the curious human desire to show our admiration for a celebrity by shouting their catchphrases back at them in public, I wonder which ones he’s suffered most. Surely his “robot prostitute from the future” bit from Black Books would get a healthy run?

“I was going through airport security and there was a guy on the other side who started to act out holding up the neck-massager to his breast going, ‘Bernard! Bernard! Bernard! Bernard!’ He freaked everyone out to be honest.”

With so many career highlights what would make the Bailey Blooper Reel?

“In Tinselworm,” Bailey says, chuckling, “there was a segway segment with a trouser press on the front and I was doing a dance with it. We didn’t plan on the fact that being on the segway meant you were up about another foot off the ground, and the screen on the back of stage was designed only for my height. I realised this a couple of seconds before I was about to go onstage at Wembley Arena and nearly chopped my head off. I was so shaken by it I couldn’t enjoy the show. I shudder when I think about it.”

Before we part ways, I couldn’t resist the temptation to lower the tone of the interview by indulging in a game of marry, fuck, kill.

Of his three big career loves - comedy, music and nature - which would be which?

“Marry, fuck, kill. Hmmm…” Bailey ponders for a time. “Alright, let’s just do it in that order. Comedy, music, nature.”

And there we have it, ladies and gentlemen. Bill Bailey wants to kill nature. If you want to catch the environment-stomping chucklehound he will be telling gags and not holding up a mandolin at the Royal Theatre on Saturday October 4. Tix, if available, range from $81-91 + bf from Ticketek.

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LOCALITY

It’s finally spring and in the spirit of the season, there are plenty of Canberran releases popping up all over the place! First up, Finnigan and Brother have dropped a couple of tracks on Bandcamp, with the first tune, ‘Roadkill’ featuring the lovely Bec Taylor on percussion and guest vocals. It’s a really interesting tune; a first person telling of a familiar Canberran tale: the unpleasant meeting of kangaroo and car on a dark stretch of road. It’s groovy, then frantic, and somehow… a little bit sexy? I don’t know, but the description in the lyrics is certainly not what you expect from a song with this kind of subject matter. “Hey Kid 606, remix this” is the second tune on the release, and is just as delightfully strange, reflecting on modern dating, sex, drugs, surveillance, internet culture and pretty much everything you should be worried about right now, building from an ethereal opening to an angry and absurd climax that is wonderfully bizarre. Not for the faint hearts or those who are scared by things that confuse them, , you can find these tracks at finniganandbrother.bandcamp.com.

With the release of their debut album fast approaching, Cracked Actor have dropped a new EP to support their single, ‘Hollywood’ Having recently made its grand entrance via Mess and Noise, it’s quite a haunting tune, with Sebastian Fields’ vocals weaving softly through the recording’s many intricate layers, resulting in a song that feels both light and dense all at once, kind of like a really good sponge cake. They’ve also recently entered into a partnership with hellosQuare, so you can find the release via the latter’s Bandcamp page at hellosquare.bandcamp.com/album/hollywood.You might think we’re done with new releases, but Pocket Fox have a new single coming out too! They’ll be celebrating the release of ‘Heartsong’ with a show at The Street Theatre on Friday September 26. Doors open at 7pm, tickets are $15 and will get you a show that will also include the likes of CJ Bowerbird, The Burley Griffin and the Canberra Swing Katz. If that isn’t value for money, I don’t know what is. Grab your tickets from thestreet.org.au. If you feel like something a little more sultry/science-filled, Rock Hard: The Geological Cabaret is an adults only show where sex, love and relationships form the perfect metaphor for geological processes.

If you feel like getting a little dirty (awkward pun totally intended) then head along to the Green Couch Room at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science at ANU on Friday September 26 from 7:30pm. Tickets are free but must be reserved at bit.ly/rockhardcabaret. Finally, there’s one hell of a Bootlegs coming up at The Phoenix on Sunday October 5. (Yes, Bootlegs on a Sunday – long weekend, dude!) From 8pm, you’ll see the likes of PAINT on PAINT and Ben Drysdale, as well as blow-ins Fudge Factor and Kley. As always, entry is free, but it’d be really rad if you threw some money into the hat/boot/bucket/whatever the hell is doing the rounds on the night. Yeah, it’s a bit of a quiet fortnight gig-wise, but there’s still plenty to keep you busy, and there’s HEAPS coming up next fortnight, so stay tuned!

NONI DOLL NONIJDOLL@GMAIL.COM/@NONIJDOLL

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I SMELL A RAT ian mccarthy I’m not quite sure what to say about DUNE RATS that hasn’t already been said. If you follow Australian music you should already know about them. They’re constantly stoned, crazily impulsive and make some solidly surfy garage-punk. In the past year they’ve supported garage-rock legends The Hives, toured the world and released their first full-length LP. Beats my year. I called up bass player Brett Jansch and although he was a bit too busy “frying some bacon” to pick up at first, when he finally called back he had lots to say about the band’s building success and their upcoming Australian tour.

I guess in the capital cities there’s more big-wigs who are gonna hate on us ‘cause we’re sloppy

It’s been roughly four years since Dune Rats first formed after “getting fuckin’ cooked together” and the Dunies are proud not only of their own accomplishments, but of the entire music scene in their hometown of Brisbane. In Jansch’s words, “Early in the days, none of those [Brisbane] bands were big so we could just play venues…and put our own lineup on, which was all our friends’ bands…and it was able to grow bigger that way.” He continues, “We definitely have all like risen up together and without each other it definitely wouldn’t be what it is now.”

The success of Dune Rats themselves seems to have culminated with the release of their self-titled debut album earlier this year which was preceded only by a series of short EPs. Explaining the long wait for an album, Jansch says, “It was kind of just like a natural progression into it, I think. It’s not intentional to not do a full-length straight up…I think it’s good to kind of put out EPs beforehand to try and figure things out sound-wise and find out what you can actually achieve.” And Jensch certainly seems happy with what they’ve finally achieved. ”It’s been really, really sick to just see it be put out and people enjoy it,” he says. “I guess that’s the complete reward…that someone’s enjoyed the music that we’ve made up together in our fuckin’ cooked brains.”

And for those of you who do appreciate their cooked brains, Dune Rats are gearing up for an Australian tour comprised entirely of shows in regional Australia, which Jansch seems particularly keen for.

In his words, “Coastal people and people in regional towns, I think they really value when, like, a fun band from out of town comes and plays in their town and, like, the shows are fuckin’ sick,” he says. “I guess in the capital cities there’s more big-wigs who are gonna hate on us ‘cause we’re sloppy but all these chilled coastal and regional shows is just a fun thing without all the rating and reviewing.”

Dune Rats will be stopping by Transit Bar on Thursday October 2 and you can grab tickets for just $15+bf through Moshtix

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Image credit: Cole Bennetts

ONE DAY AT A TIME jade fosberry

What do you get when you take seven musicians, four separate hip hop entities and a friendship that’s over a decade long? 2014’s answer to the ultimate boy band, a pretty wild tour and the inception of hip hop collective ONE DAY, composed of Jackie Onassis, Horrorshow, Spit Syndicate and Joyride.

The majority of the boys have been friends since early high school days, with Joyride joining the crew a little later. As a result, the boys have all been an influence on each other as musicians, a clear conclusion listening to any of the four projects. That said, their separate sounds seem to differentiate quite a bit. “I’d say Spit Syndicate are more lyrical,” says Raph Dixon of Jackie Onassis. “They’re technical with their raps and given that they get their beats from a variety of really talented producers, they have that versatility. Horrorshow are more atmospheric and moody. And Solo is a really good storyteller, so they’ve got that kind of emotive side to their music. Joyride is in a lane of his own – I don’t think there’s anyone in the world like him. He’s this giant human who can play every instrument under the sun, can DJ, rap, has the most gorgeous voice and seems to sing almost exclusively about drugs and women. Then there’s Jackie Onassis. I guess we like to have fun – we’re kind of young and excited. I’d say our music is young and excitable.”

I guess we like to have fun – we’re kind of young and excited

Does collaborating mean veering away from their individual signature sounds? “I wouldn’t say it’s a marked diversion from any of our styles,” says Dixon. “It’s just more what you get, like a melting pot.” Debut album Mainline is just that – an amalgamation of all seven, separate talents, but in a natural way, demonstrative of the obvious chemistry between the boys.

“It’s quite personal and honest,” notes Dixon. “I guess that’s a product of being in an environment with people you’ve known for that long.

We were telling stories and reliving moments that we’ve all spent together. There’s a bunch of reminiscing and also some romanticising of the area we’re from, the inner west of Sydney.”

The closeness, the chemistry and the obvious need for the boys to eventually gather is where the name One Day originates; the thought of coming together and producing something amazing, ‘one day’.

Dixon assures that this is definitely not the end goal – the boys have much bigger plans in mind. “We want to keep growing and building, we’re definitely not going to rest on our laurels,” he says. “We’re in this lucky position, us being together, having fun and making music – we’ve been able to take that on the road and kind of turn into a business.

The prophecy of One Day, it lives on for sure.”

One Day will be ending their seven-stop, month-long tour at ANU Bar on Friday September 26. Tickets are $42.11 from Ticketek. Doors at 7.30pm.

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THE REALNESS Things are a lot quieter after all of the excitement on the touring front in last week’s column. Definitely worthwhile giving the Souls of Mischief gig another plug. Don’t forget to grab your tickets for this one, set to go down at Transit Bar on Friday October 31.

Regular readers while be fully aware of my love the analogue format.

2014 has definitely been the year of the cassette, with artists within these borders and overseas opting to release or in some cases re release albums via this format.

Melbourne based Crate Cartel are one such label that has been prolific locally with the resurgence of the cassette release. Previous releases from label artists Fluent Form and label owner Geko have been lapped up by the collectors and now fetch serious price tags on the various auction websites. Unfortunately for punters, the firstedition of the recently released Crate Cartel Mix Tape series Beats, Blends & Remixes Vol 1. has sold out. However you can still enjoy the free download while you search for a copy of the tape at a reasonable price!

Adelaide duo Dialect & Despair have also ventured into cassette territory, recently releasing their 2010 debut album The Vortex on the format. Astonishingly there are still copies of this one available via their website. Don’t sleep though; the limited release Australian hip hop doesn’t stay on the shelves for too long.

Stateside, a couple of veterans in the game have been reliving their past and utilising the format once again. One of Boston’s finest, EDO.G has just dropped his 11th (yep, you read that right!) studio album After All These Years on cassette. Not content with just one release, he has dug into the vaults with the limited pressing of his 2004 album My Own Worst Enemy, a collaboration project with Pete Rock. My Own Worst Enemy has been given a special red tint casing to celebrate its 10 year anniversary since release.

The other veteran in question is Nashville native Count Bass D. Again, not content with just one release, he too has dropped a double whammy on consumers. Recently releasing a beat orientated project on cassette titled Handshake Vs. Dap. He also dug into the back catalogue to re issue his 2003 project BEGBORROWSTEAL on a limited issue tape run. At the time of print, there were limited copies of both still available, hopefully you are able to grab one before they are all snapped up.

It wouldn’t feel right to discuss so many re releases or re issues without mentioning the re issue of Queens MC Cormega 2001 debut album on cassette. Pressed up on a clear yellow tint cassette casing, and again limited in numbers, this won’t last the shelves for too long. Actually, thinking on it, this one will definitely fall into the re issue category, noting that albums were still being manufactured on cassette in the states at this point in time.

Fittingly this column will close with releases from the label that was at the forefront of the cassette revolution, Redefinition Records. Definitely worth adding Damu The Fudgemonk’s Public Assembly to your cassette collection today. You don’t have a cassette collection, well then kick off proceeding with Damu!

BERT POLE bertpole@hotmail.com

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cody atkinson Last week U2 released their first album in five and a half years, Songs of Innocence, through the exclusive distribution of Apple and other streaming services. This week Questioning looks at the real questions of the U2 album release, as sourced from twitter. Or, as Judge Judy might say: the people are real, the questions are real, the answers are final. This is Questioning. @camrainbow_: Who the hek isU2?

Really? No idea who U2 are? How about you, K M M? @killamajor: Tbh I don’t even know who U2 is.

Secondly, you probably have enabled automatic music downloads on your iTunes. As it was a free gift from the friendly folk at Apple, when your phone logged into your Wi-fi network it automatically downloaded. ENJOY! @xo_pier_xo: WHO THE HELL IS U2!! I DIDN’T EVEN BUY THEIR ALBUM TF

You’ve helped contribute to the U2 financial enrichment fund

OK then, let’s do a primer.U2 are an Irish rock band, often considered as one of the most popular rock bands of the 80s to the early 2000s. They used to be a little more bluesy and moody, but over the last two odd decades they’ve moved increasing electronic in nature. @123_demetrius: I don’t know what/who a U2 is [tears of laughter emoji, tears of sadness emoji] It’s a who. They’ve been around since the mid-70s. Even if you’ve never heard a U2 song, you’ve probably heard of Bono, a ubiquitous sunglasses wearing humanitarian who agitates for a bunch of change while wearing sunglasses. Did I mention that Bono wears sunglasses?

@MeganBotha_: WHO IS U2 AND WHY IS THEIR WHOLE ALBUM ON MY PHONE CAPS LOCK YAY. Well, the album is on your phone for two reasons. Firstly, Apple paid an alleged $100 million to Universal Records and U2 to exclusively distribute their album for five weeks. This gave access to the album for their 500 million product owners and users and a few streaming services (such as Beats Music) also purchased access.

CALM. THE FUCK. DOWN. If you’re looking at the U2 album through iTunes, on an iPhone or on a Mac of some description you did kinda pay for that album. Since Apple paid for the album upfront for all of their users, if you’ve bought an Apple product you’ve help contribute to the U2 financial enrichment fund.

Apple has had a decade long relationship with U2 and most people have probably heard U2 on an Apple ad or two over the years. It is unclear at this stage whether Apple and U2 first bonded or not over their alleged tax minimisation strategies, or if that was a happy alleged coincidence. Allegedly. @BaileyGiancola: why is there a U2 album on my phone. literally so confused and sad for the person who listens to U2 I can’t disagree with you there. I can’t say I willingly listen to modern era U2, but it’s a free album. Free music is a pretty bloody good gift and it hurts no-one. You may as well give it a shot. @ChillYeezus: Who is U2 and why is his album on my phone, I like it though.

That’s the attitude. Fun fact: Kanye supported U2 on their 2009 world tour. Yeezus is U2 approved, too. But realistically, it’s not a great album. It’s patchy in quality, with a tendency towards bland, middle of the road, anthemic rock. U2 released their best album over 25 years ago. That’s a long time in rock and roll.

But if you don’t like it, you could just delete it... @arunsinghains1: Who the fuvk is”U2” that can’t be deleted on my library Oh.

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DANCE THE DROP

Outrageous celebrity demands are not simply an invention of our generation. Way before Kimye, bowler-hatted promoters from the horse and cart era probably dealt with the frivolous demands of famous lounge singers who wouldn’t do so much as to enter a theatre without a blow=up swimming pool full of brown puppies, seven white sofas and a world map made out of Italian liquorice adorning their dressing room. There is something carcinogenic that comes along with ‘being well known’. The onset of celebrity can cause an ‘infamy infection’ – symptoms include the loss of morality and a stupendous increase in self-importance. Well-educated celebs

circumvent this ailment by hooking a big IV bag full of good deeds up to their arms, regular charity work, connecting with the common man and reliable ol’ empathy drip into their blood stream, preventing their transformation into detached, self-proclaimed deities. A large number choose to shun their lingering connection to the real world and instead opt to welcome their new douchebag selves with mink coated open arms.

I hosted club nights here in Canberra for many years. During my tenure I had the opportunity to schmooze with countless big named DJs and performers. Most were generally convivial but a handful of special humans did everything in their power to live up to the synthetic celebrity stereotype. One example that sticks out in my mind concerns a certain Danish act famed for their moody electronica. They were in town the week after New Year’s Eve, a date that is famous for bombing in this city, so the pressure was on to deliver a well-oiled and enjoyable show. I had organised dinner at a well-known local Tepanyaki restaurant and we sat down to enjoy a fresh cooked meal before the club opened. The first sizzling dish off the grill was seasoned chicken. The plump pieces glistened with fragrant oil, dripping with spices and making my mouth water like a drugged up Great Dane. As I looked over to gauge their reaction to this almighty meal, I was presented with empty seats. Their manager leaned over to me and said, “They don’t like chicken served before the rice. They go somewhere else.”

Had I led them straight into a cultural culinary ambush? Was the delivery of delicious chicken in this particular order such a Danish faux pas that it had caused a hasty mass exodus from the restaurant, or were they just massive dickheads? I am leaning towards the latter. The moral of this story is don’t be a wanker and always choose pizza. Everyone loves pizza.

Someone who will never let infamy go to his head is B-Tham. The host of weekly dance music podcast 4Sound is celebrating his 200th episode on Tuesday September 23 with a special show featuring Kazu Kimura (JPN), Sunju Hargun (THA) and Fourthstate.

Head to the 4Sound Facebook page for more details.

Wobble-meister Benson is heading back to Trinity Bar on Saturday September 27. If you like house music and truffle-shuffling, then this is the event for you.

I told you that the Thank You Ma-am brand would be back! Canberra’s most up front club night is heading back to where it all began on Friday October 5. Head down to Trinity Bar and buy yourself a drink to celebrate.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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RORY McCARTNEY FRED SMITH is both a member of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a musician, with a full time career that has taken him to some hot spots around the world and provided themes for his songs. Having released albums as varied as Lovethongs, Urban Sea Shanties and Dust of Uruzgan (which brought his talent to wider attention), Smith is touring in aid of his eighth long player. BMA spoke to the Canberra-based Smith as he was recovering from a long tour of WA and gearing up for his next road trip.

While called Home, there are obvious links to previous albums, with tracks including a sailor’s tale and remembrances of Afghanistan. Smith has found that a lot of soldiers have had a difficult time returning. “I wrote ‘Derapet’ [about the battle at that location] after getting an email for a former soldier had come back and was having trouble coming to terms with the events of the day described in the song,” says Smith.

I started playing on the step one night and 200 faces come out of the darkness

New album Home is a banner for a new direction for the well-travelled Smith.

“It’s about coming home and calming down,” he explains. “I’ve been wellknown for travelogue albums, such as Dust of Uruzgan which was a collection of songs I wrote while working as a political advisor alongside Australian troops in southern Afghanistan. Then there was Texas, about my travels in the United States between 2004 and 2007 and Bagarap Empires, about my time working on peace monitoring missions on Bougainville Island and the Solomon Islands.” Now Smith is entering into a phase of life where he’s settling down, having had a daughter in January, as a first time father at the late age of 44.

Smith found that his music could actually assist with his diplomatic work with the locals, when in Bougainville as part of an unarmed peacekeeping group which was trying to heal the wounds of a long civil war. “In the early stages we spent a lot of time just showing a presence,” Smith says. “If you are in a village in the Pacific with a guitar, you don’t need a reason to be somewhere, you are made welcome.” Smith wrote songs in the local Pidgin language and a whole patrol structure was created around his music. They would pile into a four wheel drive and show up in a village so Smith could sing songs. Such was the success, that the Army recorded them onto a cassette (in 1999!), with 20,000 copies being distributed around Bougainville.

“I was living in a burnt-out old supermarket and we had the only light bulb in town,” says Smith. “I started playing on the step one night and 200 faces come out of the darkness. I had to say something that meant something to them, so I wrote songs in Pidgin.” Opportunities to use his music in Afghanistan existed, with the interpreters and some district officials on bases, but the security situation prevented more public performances. “The Afghan musical tradition is so foreign to ours and their grasp of English is nil. Also, it’s hard to play a guitar when you’re wearing body armour.”

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like Uruzgan.”

Asked if he invested as much of himself in the more family and relationship based songs of Home as he did in his travelogue LPs, Smith reveals, “There’s probably more of myself in this one. The previous Uruzgan recording generally had other people’s stories, but there’s more of myself in this one.” Smith admits that the new album has an enhanced meaning because he has spent so much time in difficult places. “Nothing makes home more attractive than stints in a place

Smith has also found that making major changes in his life can be a difficult process, but that his music has helped him make that adjustment. “Whatever I write tends to be what I’m living at the time. It’s been a long process for me settling into family and domesticity,” he says. “I was not a natural at it, I’ve got to say and there was a lot to let go of in that process. This comes out in songs about my exs and letting go of all that.” While a friend of his cautioned him not to write too many gooey love songs, the track ‘Beautiful Girl’ is dedicated to his new daughter. “This one banged down the door – I couldn’t stop it.”

Snippets of nursery rhymes have wormed their way into a couple of the tracks. Asked about their source, Smith puzzles, “Good question. I guess nursery rhymes are banged into us at a pretty young age. If they re-emerge later in life, it’s not surprising.”

In Canberra, Smith will be supported by a band, including his long-time side-kick Liz Frencham on bass and local Fiete Geier, from Mikelangelo and the Tin Star, on guitar. As to what’s next for Smith, he’ll be touring his new album for about six months and then he’ll see. “Probably less war zones, now that I’ve got a daughter,” he says.

Fred Smith with his band will play at The Street Theatre on Saturday 27 September at 8pm. Tickets $38 + bf (concessions and group discounts offered, available through the venue website thestreet.org.au.

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METALISE Well I reckon Conan was about the heaviest thing that has ever been in the ACT ever at their show at the Basement a couple of weeks back. Absolutely ridiculous for the 100 or so people that were on hand to have their fillings vibrated out of their heads. Stunning performance.Equally stunned was my reaction walking into The Basement on the Tuesday arvo amidst a throng of tradesmen who were putting a no nonsense renovation into the home of heavy in Belconnen. Lance Fox who was coordinating activities took me through the plans and showed me around and I had to reach for his shoulder in shock at the extent of the work and investment that has gone into the venue.

A new PA, upgraded higher stage, large walls being removed and a really smart reconfiguration of the back room to include a bar and a venue that could hold around 100 folks without disturbing action going on in the now HUGE room that has had some serious works to tune and act to baffle and balance the sound. In short, you NEED to go out there and check out what I figure would be the most impressive investment in a local venue that caters to heavy music since the Gypsy Bar moved from the old Terminus on East Row to underground beneath King O’Malley’s. Bands, get booking and punters get prepared for a significantly improved night out in Belco.

Kudos Mr Fox, kudos to you.

At any rate, it was a good thing the new PA wasn’t ready for the Conan set as I reckon they may well have broken it. This Saturday you can go check it all out with the Darc3ll, Renegade Peacock, The Origin of Janken and Sewer Sideshow or in a couple of weeks for the Wednesday October 8 night visit from the darkness of Cauldron Black Ram, Undergang from Denmark, Hellbringer and Tyrannic.

International tour news this week includes the welcome return of Marduk in January with two piece Seattle based black metal band Inquisition. The tour claims to be hitting every capital city, except Canberra and Perth aren’t getting shows this time. They’re on at the Hi Fi bar in Sydney on the Saturday January 17, but if you’re planning on going, I reckon the show to go to is at the Hi Fi in Melbourne on Friday January 16 as Marduk will be performing Panzer Division and Those Of The Unlight albums in full. Not as kVlt but also of note is the Tirvium and In Flames announcing a joint jaunt in November, being two years after the two bands were here for Soundwave.

Friday November 21 they play at the Roundhouse in Sydney and the show is licenced all ages for the teen fans looking to get their parents to take them to the show.

There’s a new festival set in country Victoria over two days in January next year. It’s a pretty ambitious affair with the idea being folks go along and camp at the site in Tarwin Meadows which is around two hours drive from Melbourne – But it would be more like an seven-ish hour drive for Canberrans as it’s in the west of Victoria a bit past Lakes Entrance. Why would you drive all that way? The Unify festival features The Amity Affliction, Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Thy Art Is Murder, Deez Nuts, Break Even, Confession, Buried In Verona, Hand Of Mercy, Antagonist AD, Hellions, Storm The Sky, Endless Heights, Aversions Crown, Stories, Elekrik Dynamite and Earth Caller. It’s 18+ with tickets covering your site fees to camp.

There’s DJs, BYO and licenced areas, mini golf a late night cinema and more. $99 bucks if you want Santa to get you a ticket.

WITCHING HOUR CARRIE GIBSON From humble beginnings in 1985, members of Canberra doom rock band WITCHSKULL were destined to cross paths once more.

With a ravenous appetite, Witchskull formed with a common goal in mind – to play music true to their roots. “About 18 months back, Marcus Depasquale from Looking Glass formed Witchskull with Tony McMahon,” explains drummer Joel Green. “They asked if I was interested in the project and sent me a demo. I was immediately keen and the idea of playing in another band with him sounded perfect.”

Knowing all three members came from very similar musical backgrounds and the fact there was a great musical chemistry, Witchskull cut to the chase. “We are not trying to break through any barriers – we just believe that in most cases, less is more,” says Green.

“There is a time and place for intricacy, but we feel there is often too much emphasis on it. Keeping things simple and primal is what motivates us.”

Keeping things simple and primal is what motivates us

The band have been burning the candle at both ends over the past twelve months to release their debut EP. Green reveals that Witchskull’s particular attitude towards making music is what differs them from their peers. “I can’t think of too many bands at the moment with our approach,” he says earnestly. “The music of Witchskull is a lot more primal and a lot of elements dictate whether an idea becomes a song in the end.

And what have they set out to achieve with the debut EP? Green doesn’t hesitate to be blunt. “We are only interested in creating music that we want to hear,” he says, before detailing the advantages of growing older as musician. “The beauty of creating music in your 40’s means you are less concerned with what others think. We simply don’t care what people think and with that attitude you can’t go wrong.”

Witchskull’s touring schedule these days is pretty damn busy, with several shows pencilled in over the next few months including the epic Heathen Skulls Doomsday Festival in Sydney on Friday October 3. For further updates and show announcements, keep a close eye on the band’s Facebook page.

Catch Witchskull at Doomsday Festival 2014, featuring Windhand (USA) and Beastwars (NZ) annual, on Friday October 3 at Hermanns Bar in Sydney. Tickets $44.90 from oztix

JOSH NIXON - doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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A POUND OF GODFLESH ALbert Peterson I’m listening to the new GODFLESH album A World Lit Only by Fire as I put this interview with Justin Broadrick together and it is fucking banging. Which is rather fortunate as the band will be hitting our shores for the first time ever for Soundwave 2015.

So what’s it like to be tagged as a founding father of industrial metal? The faint twang of a Birmingham accent is still apparent as Justin jauntily replies.

“I wasn’t crazy about the term originally but now I’ve started to think that it is appropriate…”

Returning to the new album he says, “I had loads of concepts but I wanted to sit on them for a bit; I didn’t want to rush them; a lot of bands reform and they immediately get an album out in the first year of their existence to capitalise on their popularity but I really wanted to work on the new material and give it some time to breathe and make sure that we came with material that we were really 100 per cent happy with. We didn’t rush the material. A lot of bands who have reformed - over a three or four year period they’ve already released two or three albums… Hopefully we can come with new records a lot more frequently now that we’ve done this. We set ourselves a really high standard and I’m proud of the back catalogue and I didn’t want to rush anything; all the way from the writing, the riffs, the beats, the production – even to the way it was presented.”

So what can Australian fans expect for the Godflesh Soundwave 2015 set? “We don’t want to come to Australia for the first time and only play new music so we’re gonna play ‘the classics’ with a few new songs thrown in.”

We touch on Birmingham, Justin’s hometown (although he moved away 20 years ago) and we end up using the polished turd/glitter analogy before I ask my last question about what he hasn’t done musically that he’d like to have a go at. “I’d really like to score a film. I’ve never had the opportunity to do the entire soundtrack for a film and I’d love to do that – my music doesn’t get used that much in film anyway.” So what sort of movie? “I’m not really sure but obviously with my music it would have to be something pretty dark and depressing! I don’t think it’d be a rom-com – well, you never know – I’d do a rom-com, if I had to! It would have to be a fucking dark rom-com though, wouldn’t it?! Without a happy ending…”

Within about two days it felt like we were back to where we left off...

Given the diversity of their musical influences (Justin is a huge dub fan) is it difficult to limit the number of influences that seep into the music? “Yes and no; I do a lot of projects other than Godflesh so I have a lot of avenues to explore the different sides of my influences and different inspirations. But with Godflesh we’ve been around long enough to have a pretty good idea of our direction and what we want to achieve. Everything goes into the melting pot but as you say, reggae and dub is a big influence on the music I make and you can still hear it in Godflesh, even if it’s just as subtle as the use of echo and delay on the voice.”

Godflesh will be playing at Soundwave 2015. Tix available from Oztix.

So was it difficult to get back into the Godflesh mindset after the Jesu and Greymachine projects? Justin pours out his enthusiasm: “I was really excited to get back to Godflesh, I was really excited to get back to that form of expression with the music that has that more aggressive angle. Initially, because I’d spent nearly as much time doing Jesu as I had on Godflesh, at first it felt a bit scary. We weren’t even sure if we could do this. When me and the other half of Godflesh [GC Green] got together with our machines again, we booked a load of rehearsal time thinking, ‘Oh man, this is going to take forever,’ and within about two days it felt like we were back to where we left off. We were playing some songs that we’d not played since the late eighties and we knew them off by heart! When we formed Godflesh we were pretty young – I was 18 or 19 – and by the time it finished I was about 33 and it was so much a part of our early years so I think it’s just ingrained in us.”

Given that it’s taken four years, since reforming in 2010, to release the new album; how come you also released the EP Decline & Fall (April 2014) six months before A World Lit Only by Fire (Oct 2014)?

“It took a long time to build up to these new records; it took a good year-and-a-half of playing shows before I even started writing new material. I had loads of ideas but I didn’t want to put them to paper; I was really enjoying playing live Godflesh again. But then towards the backend of 2012 I was like, ‘Right, I’m gonna start writing music and getting this stuff down’.

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grab basic tickets for $56.50 or VIP Meet and Greet tickets for $156.50 through Oztix. On Friday October 31 you can celebrate Halloween with bulk amounts of punk rock at the Magpies City Club catch sets from Melbourne’s Inedia and Littlefoot along with Speedball from New South Wales and locals Rather Be Dead for just $10 on the door.

I really need to stop leaving this column ‘til the early hours of the morning just before it’s due. I’m just so sleepy and if there happened to not be enough on and I had to fill column inches with interesting creative introductions I just don’t know how I would manage in this condition. Luckily, that’s not the case though. Head down to The Phoenix on Thursday September 25, to support Oxen as they release their highly anticipated 12” record. They will be joined on the night by two other local bands, Ecruteak and Mind Blanks for a mere $5 door charge.

To celebrate the release of their new album Your Town through Poison City Records, Sydney’s Mere Women will also be tearing through The Phoenix on Saturday September 27. They will be supported by locals Wives, who will be celebrating the release of their new single ‘Buried’, along with the newly formed Agency which features members from Spartak, Hoodlum Shouts and A Drone Coda. If you enjoy not paying for shit, then stop by The Basement on Sunday September 28 to celebrate some birthdays and catch a solid line-up of hard punk bands including Teen Skank Parade, Cockbelch and Critical Monkee. It’s free, of course!

Absolute punk legends The Dead Kennedys are coming to Australia from the end of this month and if you don’t mind a bit of a trek you can catch them at The Hi-Fi in Sydney with support from Australia’s favourite party band The Bennies on Sunday October 5. You can

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The 2014 Zombie Invasion is coming on Saturday November 1. In order to help raise funds for the Brain Foundation, the following stack of sick bands will be playing at the Magpies City Club: Melbourne’s Littlefoot and Inedia, Sydney’s Nerdlinger, KANG and The Great Awake and locals Revellers and No Assumption. More details for this one are coming soon.

In what may well end up being the punk event of the year, the lineup has just been announced for the first annual Gingerfest in loving memory of the Ginger Ninja. The festival will take place at The Factory Theatre in Sydney on Saturday December 6 and will see sets from 28 Days, Bagster, Totally Unicorn, Born Lion, Clowns, Super Best Friends, Hightime, The Punk Rock Hillbilly, Revellers, Lindsay ‘The Doctor’ McDougal and Lincoln Le Ferve with even more acts to be announced! Tickets are go on sale no and going for just $27.50 +bf through factorytheatre.com.au, with all proceeds going toward Vision Australia.

As always remember to tune into Haircuts & T-shirts on 2XX FM every Monday night from 9.30pm for your weekly fix of local and international punk and hardcore news and music.

Thanks for reading I guess.

IAN McCARTHY PUNK.BMA@GMAIL.COM

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

PORT IN A MEDIA STORM ZOE PLEASANTS IIf you find yourself turning to shows like The Roast or Shaun Micallef’s MAD AS HELL for discerning political commentary, or wondering whether Utopia is actually a documentary, then chances are you’d enjoy THE WHARF REVUE. That is, if you’re not already a fan. In its fifteenth year, this irreverent political sketch comedy show has become an anticipated highlight of the Sydney Theatre Company’s annual season. It is written by Phillip Scott, Drew Forsythe and Jonathan Biggins and is usually performed by these guys too, along with a fourth, female cast member. But this year, due to other commitments, Forsythe isn’t performing (although he still helped write the show) so Douglas Hansell is taking his spot on stage alongside Scott, Biggins and semi-regular cast member Amanda Bishop (who you’d know from At Home with Julia). I spoke with Hansell, who Biggins joked would bring in the hipster crowd to see the show, about the Revue and importance of political satire in today’s unrelenting 24 hour news cycle.

I ask Hansell, a self-confessed political junky, about the show’s longevity. “It’s got great appeal because Aussies love to poke fun at people in power, particularly now, given that everything is so awful in the political world,” he says. “There’s not much good news coming out of Canberra in terms of people running the show. People kind of need comedy as a relief from all that. For me it’s kind of good because I can get very angry about the things I read and hear coming out of Canberra. But then doing the show is so much fun, so joyous, it was a nice respite from all that.”

The show is written six weeks before opening night, which as Hansell points out “must be terrifying for [the writers]”, but probably made possible by the amount of material helpfully contributed by our politicians. I ask Hansell whether the Revue fills a void created by the 24 hour news cycle, within which there seems to be no time for reflection or piecing together the long-story. He agrees, particularly lamenting the annoying habit of politicians these days to reduce everything to a slogan. “It’s just so frustrating because I think the language or the political literacy of people is really being done a disservice,” he notes. “I found it really quite distasteful. Something like ‘Operation Bring Them Home’, it’s so reductive – like for something that is desperately sad, like the tragedy of that plane crash and then to give it a sloganistic title like that. But it’s great fodder for comics.”

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Hansell doesn’t play any of his political idols in the show – far from it – but he’s enjoying playing Christopher ‘Robin’ Pyne; Scott Morrison, who he definitely doesn’t like; Kevin Andrews, “which is great because I look nothing like him”, he quips; Andrew Bolt and ‘Blinky’ Bill Shorten.

“There’s also a Peta Credlin Opera – I come on for two lines and they’re some of favourite lines in the whole show. I play Warren Truss in that,” adds Hansell. And there is more. A sketch set in the locker room of the Palmer United Party at half-time, a take on the Canterbury Tales about a miner and a banker who are going to Canberra to lobby Joe Hockey for favours. “We also so touch on the Catholic Church child abuse scandal, which people don’t necessarily expect from the Revue,” says Hansell. “It is the most sedate and sombre item in the show, but it works really, really well. You’re trusting that the audience will go with you for a few minutes [for that sketch] and have a bit of a think and then we’ll get back to the laughter. But we need to do it.”

With all the different characters and costume changes, Hansell describes the show as a duck paddling water. “It looks very smooth on top but underneath, or [back stage], it’s all going frantically,” he laughs.I ask Hansell whether he’s looking forward to touring the show to Canberra, given the audiences’ affinity with the political scene. “I’m not joking, Canberra for me is the one I’ve been most looking forward to because it is a city built on politics,” he says. “Everyone there will know everything, they’ll know more about certain issues than we do, or the guys that wrote it. It’s kind of terrifying too because they’ll kind of go, ‘no, that’s not Christopher Pyne’ or ‘yeah, that’s Christopher Pyne’. But I think they’ll have a really good time.”

The Wharf Revue typically attracts an older audience, so towards the end of our conversation I ask Hansell what he thinks the show could do to attract a younger audience. “You can’t blame the 20-oddsomethings for not getting engaged in theatre if they don’t want to,” he says. “But I think political theatre really can be an agent for change.

This show, I think people who are interested in politics will find it fascinating and I think our generation can get something out of it and there’s a reason why this kind of comedy works. There’s a reason its survived for so long, because it’s really good at the end of the day. It’s just comedy done really, really well.”

The Wharf Revue is on at the Canberra Theatre from Tuesday September 30 until Saturday October 4. Tickets from $45 +bf/40 +bf onwards, available from the venue.

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IN REVIEW Fragment ANCA Gallery Wed–Sun Sep 10–28

Dan Lorrimer’s work is always elegant, thoughtful and striking and Fragment is no exception. There is a simplicity to Lorrimer’s new collection of works and a subtlety that contradicts the heavy machinery and hand worked detail involved in the creation process.

Entering the exhibition space, the viewer is immediately aware of the large, elongated, rectangular metal forms. These works are not only striking in appearance, but they also have a powerful unspoken presence. There is an age and depth to these pieces that makes them incredibly mysterious and their origins ambiguous. They could just as easily be remnants of a forgotten civilization, or simply emerged out of the earth. The size of these pieces, particularly Suspended Convergence and Fracture Point, which are almost two meters tall, add to presence of the work and allow the viewer to be overwhelmed and immersed by the scale.

Dan Lorrimer lives and works in Canberra, graduating from the ANU School of Art in 2009. He is a sculptor and product designer and his understanding of design and industrial process is evident in the sophistication and finish of all his pieces. In his short career, Lorrimer has worked with a significant number of established artists and designers based locally, including Richard Whitley, Mathew Curtis, Robert Foster and Geoffrey Farquhar-Still.

Fragment is the result of ideas and concepts Lorrimer has been exploring for a number of years, ideas that he steadily examines and reexamines in his work. In Fragment, Lorrimer sees the rectangular, block like works as parts of a larger whole. Each work is designed as if part of an epic grid configuration, the edges are sharp and angular to give impressions that each piece could have been slotted out or displaced from its original format. The works in the series don’t fit together, or even appear to come from the same place, but they are all distinct and isolated fragments of an unknown whole.

Each work gives the appearance of being a solid block of metal, but a block of metal fragmented by a great force. These are impact points, as the artist describes them, or in the case of Departed Trajectory and Focused Traverse, the residual effect of an impact point. These points of impact have a huge effect on the metal, causing it to crease, fold and fracture creating an interesting and dynamic sense of movement on an otherwise solid and unmoving object.

Every progression of Lorrimer’s work can be directly connected to what came before and it is exciting to see an emerging artist so fully inhabit his work, to challenge, test and develop his concepts thoroughly. This is a stunning collection of work by an impressive young artist and I’m already looking forward to what comes next.. vanessa wright

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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

THE ITALIAN JOB claire capel-stanley I pride myself on my mediocre Italian gleaned from six years of primary school lessons, but even I was at a loss for words when I saw the poster for this year’s LAVAZZA ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL. I thought human perfection had been achieved with the creation of Gael Garcia Bernal, but it turns out there’s a new King of foreign film (GGB die-hards will get that reference). His name is Kim Rossi Stuart and he is the star of Those Happy Years, set in 1970s Milan. I have a sudden urge to brush up on my Italian verbs and jump on the back of his Vespa, if you know what I mean.

While the 2014 Italian Film Festival delivers a fair amount of eyecandy (being attractive and eating carbs seem like two bafflingly incompatible national pastimes to me, but there you go), the program presents a diverse range of Italy’s most compelling cinema. Festival Director Elysia Zeccola Hill’s passion for Italian film is written all over the program of 34 contemporary films, as well as the restored 1964 Sophia Loren classic, Marriage Italian Style, which will close the festival. Zeccola grew up eating olive oil popcorn and reading subtitles – her father founded Palace Cinemas in 1986 and established the Italian Film Festival in 1999. Zeccola

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took over the directorship about four years ago and since then, as she says, “We’ve just gone from strength to strength. This year, it’s the biggest lineup yet.” The selection is divided into four categories.

‘Direct from Cannes’ features The Wonders, this year’s Grand Jury Prize Winner and Zeccola’s pick of the festival, the hotly-anticipated Incompresa by indie director Asia Argento starring Charlotte Gainsbourg. ‘Drammatico Italiano’ includes Like the Wind, based on the life of Italy’s first female prison governor, Armida Miserere.

The film stars internationally-renowned Valeria Golino in what Zeccola describes as her best role yet. Armida’s character is “very strong and very respected, so she keeps getting moved to prisons where there are big problems, always having to uproot her life,” says Zeccola. Unconventional portrayals of women also feature in the heart-warming documentary Off Road (Fuoristrada), about the loving relationship of transgender mechanic Beatrice and her partner Marianna.

This year’s lineup is heavy on comedy, featured in the section ‘Laughing, Italian Style!’ This was something of a surprise to me, as news reportage from Italy has been fairly consistently grim since the Global Financial Crisis. But as Zeccola explains, having a laugh at the movies has helped build a sense of hope. “Last year, the film industry actually grew and that was driven by the local smash-hit comedies that people were flocking to see,” she says. A Lonely Hero is one of them, a darkly comic look at work in Milan post-GFC. It’s this sense of unconventionality that typifies recent Italian cinema. As Zeccola says, “I think with Italian films, you can expect unpredictable endings. With Italian films, you can be surprised.” I’ll raise a prosecco to that. Viva Italia!

The Lavazza Italian Film Festival runs from Tuesday September 23 until Wednesday October 15 at Palace Electric Cinema. Full details at italianfilmfestival.com.au.

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UNINHIBITED It’s something I think about a lot. Actually it’s something I worry about. I worry about it in terms of myself, but also in terms of others.

Pretension. As a word it sounds fairly prosaic – an engineering term, maybe, something that’s actually useful. But it’s quite the opposite.

Pretension: the assertion of a claim. Of course, what’s really under the microscope here is the evil sibling, pretentious, which means making an excessive claim to great merit or importance. From there we head over to ostentatious – showing off. And that is where it’s ridiculously easy to become unstuck, for what is a creative life about if not exactly that, ‘showing off?’

Many of us have in our lives an artist who could be (or should be) described as pretentious. Thankfully most musicians, the contemporary kind at least, seem to be able to escape the charge, probably because their art form is just so difficult, or lifethreatening, that they simply can’t afford to be that overly solemn person who thinks the world of themselves. Visual artists, however, often fall into the trap of believing that their work is more important than it really is. Sadly, it’s the writers who often come off second best, especially the poets and novelists.

No one ever wants to invite a poet over for dinner, because he or she (though, let’s face it, the male poets are demonstrably the worst offenders) will spend the evening discussing their hand-bound, signed-by-the-author, first edition of Shakespeare’s collected works while exploring, in excruciating detail, all facets of their own literary oeuvre, which in reality amounts to nothing more than a stapledtogether chapbook published in 1994 by their aunt to no critical acclaim whatsoever.

This might be an odd thing for a writer to say, especially a writer who recently described himself as a ‘rabid advocate for the arts’. Let me make it crystal clear: I believe that humankind has only two real gifts to the planet (probably to the universe): love and creativity. I’m not joking. Have a close look at history and you will see what I mean. In the end, all we ever want to know about a community are the quality of the relationships – micro and macro – and what the creative folk have left behind. So why is it that I have a pathological aversion to those who are absolutely sure of their societal offerings?

There’s no point putting forward an argument along the lines of, real artists are humble and shy. Real artists can be anything the fuck they want. However, the problem with pretentiousness comes from a debilitating – for all concerned – lack of self-awareness and selfreflection, as well as a desperate bid to prove their worth.

None of us would try having a creative life if (a) we didn’t love what we do, (b) believe that what we do is, in its unfathomable way, a little bit special, and (c) feel that our own lives would be much less without it. But keeping in check our dreams and expectations and contributions is always a wise move, as is keeping on hand a large bottle of humility. Also on hand should be some words from the High Priest of the Arts, Oscar Wilde: ‘No artist desires to prove anything.’ nigel featherstone

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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: Oscar Capezio

What do you do? Work and think through the things close to hand, about that which I cannot contain.

When, how and why did you get into it? In 2012 I decided to start playing the role of the artist. I made the choice in order to flex my particular vision and perform its contradictions.

Who or what influences you as an artist? The comedy of Larry David and the Italian escape artist Maurizio Cattelan/Tautological loops and the mobility of metaphor.

Of what are you proudest so far? Apart from giving life and winning a prize (the M16 Art Space Emerging Exhibition Prize 2014), it would

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have to be my big Break Through (five bullets embedded in the gallery wall) at CCAS Manuka in 2013.

What are your plans for the future? To keep my palms open and my sleeves full.

What makes you laugh? See above question about influence.

What pisses you off? See below question about the local scene.

What about the local scene would you change? ? Its shortsightedness, reluctance to take risks and lack of conversation and initiative. But maybe that was just winter.

Upcoming exhibitions? My second solo exhibition WORKING TITLE is at the M16 Art Space Canberra from Thursday–Sunday October 2–19 and at Constance ARI in Hobart from Friday October 10–31.

Contact Info: oscarcapezio.com, oscar_capezio@hotmail.com

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LITERATURE IN REVIEW Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage Haruki Murakami [Harvill Secker; 2014]

Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage is the latest, coming of age novel by acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Over one million copies were sold in Japan within seven days of release. The story is told entirely from the point of view of the main character – a suicidal youth – and follows him on a pilgrimage to find the truth to an event that leads him to live a life of self-doubt, loneliness and isolation.

Tsukuru Tazaki grew up in Nagoya and during his adolescence was a member of a quintet of friends made up of three boys and two girls. Each of their surnames has a colour for their meaning except for Tsukuru. This is a problem for him as he believes it renders him colourless and therefore, invisible and inferior to the others.

After the five friends leave high school he is the only one that leaves Nagoya to study in Tokyo and pursue his passion for train stations.

In his sophomore year on a trip home to Nagoya, Tsukuru discovers his friends have cut him off with no explanation. This sends him “teetering over the precipice” of death for half a year, functioning only through daily routine.

He survives after not being able to take his own life and 16 years later, his girlfriend, Sarah, sets him on a path to track down his four friends and find out why they cut him off so abruptly. Sarah believes the banishment is baggage that will stop them from having a complete and fulfilling relationship: “You can hide memories,

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suppress them, but you can’t erase the history that produced them.” With her encouragement, he meets the two boys, Aka and Ao, and discovers the truth of how they sacrificed him to protect, one of the girls, Shiro, whose violent death some time after his banishment is shrouded in mystery.

He resolves to find out more and travels to Finland to meet with Kuro, the other girl and it is here he has some measure of closure.

Murakami vividly describes the dark places of Tsukuru’s mind and the physical manifestation of his thoughts, feelings and dark dreams through some of the best examples of showing how a character feels rather than simply telling I have ever read.

The weaving of La Mal du Pays from the first of Franz Liszt’s three suites known collectively as Years of Pilgrimage played by the pianist Lazar Berman adds depth to the characters that are linked to the music. This piece is a perfect accompaniment to the morose tone of the story and the dark and deeply affected characters.

I mostly enjoyed reading my first Murakami and will happily read more.

ALSEY ANNE CONDIE

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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

A mildly tolerable acquaintance of mine recently took receipt of a solid kick to the knacker’s yard. His usually straight-backed posture crumpled like a tokenistic electoral pledge as his procreational orbs absorbed the blow – a sickening feeling that most any man can attest to with tears brimming in his eyes.

As he alternately gagged and tried to draw in lungful’s of air, the iota of his consciousness not wholly consumed with crippling pain may well have pondered whether or not his ability to sew his genetic seed had been compromised. I, too, may have pondered on his behalf, were I not still in admiration of my swift delivery of a buffed, brown leather Oxford to his nethers.

As I left my acquaintance wheezing on the pavement, I strode homeward and began to reflect upon this planet’s now gross over-population, and whether the similar, orchestrated delivery of force to the collectables of undesirable men may go a long way to preserving the world’s fragile store of resources.

At the time of writing, the population of Earth stands at 7,261,036,152 and is growing at a rate of around 1.14 per cent per year. This is clearly unsustainable in the long term and solutions which may at first appear radical, may well become integral to the survival of a species.

Grievous testicular compression by way of flashing, brown leather Oxfords would certainly be a cost effective mode of population control; and judiciously employed, would spare the world from a host of nefarious individuals whose absence would only be a boon to the rest of us.

Before you write off this increasingly practicable policy, think of the benefits to all had it been adopted prior to the arrival of Tom Waterhouse, the popular bookmaker.

His offensively inoffensive omnipresence on your televisual wonderboxes is something that has drawn the opprobrium of both government and populace. But his purposeful erection of a chummy cult of personality did not generate so much of a blind spot that Mr Waterhouse could not conduct a public climb down similarly drenched in the publicity that is his stock in trade.

In his latest assault on the public consciousness, Mr Waterhouse implores us all to ‘Take on Tom’. I was hugely encouraged that by way of recompense for his chronic existence, Mr Waterhouse would be benevolent enough to permit people to unceasingly thrash at his torso with a rusted tyre iron.

However, it turns out that to ‘Take on Tom’ predictably equates to tendering more of our own money into the already overcrowded confines of his wallet, money that would be better spent researching the constraining effect on the population boom of crushing blows to the testicles, thereby sparing us from Waterhouse’s self-serving ubiquity dressed up as social mobility.

More people in the world means a higher percentage of those willing to siphon their cash over to Mr Waterhouse, which will generate even more Mr Waterhouses. Think about that the next time you decline the opportunity to kick someone in the groin. gideon foxington-smythe

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bit PARTS WATERHOUSE NATURAL SCIENCE ART PRIZE WHAT: Art exhibition WHEN: Fri Sep 26 WHERE: National Archives One of the most popular exhibitions in Canberra each year, the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, which showcases and celebrates the relationship between science and visual art, is on again at the National Archives. The collection holds 32 winning and highly commended artworks, selected from hundreds of enerties around the world. This year, works of three Canberra artists are among the top entries in the prestigious competition. Some of the vast topical themes explored in the art piece include climate change, natural wonder and species loss. The exhibition opens Friday September 26 and runs until Sunday November 9.

HUSTLE & SCOUT WHAT: Fashion market WHEN: Sat Sep 27 WHERE: Hangar #47, 8-10 Point Cook Ave, Fairbairn Celebrating their one year anniversary, Hustle & Scout are pulling out all stops to celebrate by doing what they do best – throw one hell of a fashion market. They’re moving from their regular spot in NewActon to the spacious Hangar #47 at Canberra airport, a historical building that’s never before been used for a public event. Featuring 53 fashion stalls, The Forage food market, roaming model performances, tiki bar and lounge and phot booth. There’s live music from folk trubador Dylan Hekimian, chilled vibes of The Feraude Trio and Sydney soul and hip hop duo Yum Yum. Free parking. 2–7pm.

CAPO AUCTION WHAT: Art auction WHEN: Sat Oct 4 WHERE: Canberra Museum and Gallery Hope you’ve been savin’ those cents and dollars, as it’s that time of year again. Local philanthropic not-for-profit organization Capital Arts Patron Organisation (CAPO) are throwing their annual Art Auction. All money raised from the auction goes towards funding Canberra artists through grants and residences. This year, the auction will be hosted by CAPO’s newly appointed Patron Of The Arts 2014, renaissance man and sharp as a tack Paul McDermott. Tickets to the event are $110. For more details, tickets and to take a peek at the artworks on auction, head over to capo.org.au.

JACQUES HENRI LARTIGUE – THE PLATNUM PRINTS WHAT: Photography exhibition WHEN: Sun–Fri Oct 5–31 WHERE: Manning Clark House Iconic Photographs of Jacques Henri Lartigue - The Platinum Prints is a rare chance to see seminal work by one of modern photography’s founders. Lartigue (1894-1986) initially combined his growing interest in photography with a lifelong love of sport capturing events such as the French Grand Prix, before later becoming part of the illustrious Parisian salon scene of the early 1920s. Produced on glass negatives, autochromes and films, his photographs appeared in sporting magazines, as well as in Life Magazine. The photographs in this collection are limited edition platinum prints. Opens Sunday October 5 at 4pm. Gallery hours are Thu–Sat 9.30am–2.30pm.

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the word

on albums

album of the issue ryan adams Ryan Adams [Pax-Am/Sony] We all know that Ryan Adams records a lot of music and his creative output can be wide ranging. As you would expect from someone who has released many, many albums in all manner of combinations and conditions the results can be patchy at times, but when the muse strikes good things come.

So it is with this latest self-titled effort.

It explores an openly expressive rock n roll environment that straddles the fine line between Bruce Springsteen and alternative heroes in the same vein who were somewhat more budget constrained like The Replacements and R.E.M around the time of debut album Murmur. What got me going with this one was the usual Friday afternoon visit to Civic record shop Landspeed which had this album playing at decent volume over the shop speakers.

Opening track ‘Gimme Something Good’ hit the right spots with its ringing guitar tone and brash, catchy chorus. The opening lines capturing the experience of anyone suffering the horror of the week long day-job: “I can’t talk/my mind is so blank.” Who doesn’t know about that? What I particularly like is the way this music clings to a ragged vibe that reeks of vulnerability despite the fact that the sound is clean, the production is immaculate, choruses seek out the

anthemic and moods and observations scale epic heights like the opening lines on ‘Feels like Fire’ which ask, “Are you there/screaming in the night?”

Yeah, I’m sure a great number of hard rockin’ hair bands sometime in the mid 1980s strived for the same effect with the results tasty and cringeworthy at precisely the same time. Adams is able to nod approvingly at all that FM radio excess, sometimes sounding a bit like a downtrodden Rick Springfield (remember that stratospheric chorus to ‘Jessie’s Girl’ in 1981 – perhaps not). Or occasionally entering Bon Jovi territory, which we all secretly get off on even if no one wants to admit it – an aesthetic that works its magic on hip swinging album track ‘Stay With Me’.

But there is also a straight up confidence that tells the mainstream where to get off – something like what rock n roll heroes Big Star explored so well in the early 1970s. You could say that Ryan Adams is all and none of these things. A song like ‘Trouble’ is Springsteen-like with its poetry and resolve wrapped in an affecting melody, but it is probably better to consider the 1980s alternative music scene in the US that had it sorted with bands like Green on Red and The Dream Syndicate. This makes me want to approach a blunt line from Adams like, “Am I safe if I don’t wanna be with you,” expressed with a sparkling acoustic backdrop, as something to be taken seriously – I happen to hear those words while caught up in my own relationship issues.

And when it all gets a bit much and you expect Neil Young to step out at any moment with a stack of Marshall amps, Adams pulls things right back and allows all that unspoiled production to reveal a naked acoustic guitar as on ‘My Wrecking Ball’.

So, the deal is a wide musical spectrum on a collection of concise songs that retails for ten bucks, no less. What more could an astute music fan want? dan bigna

Fred Smith home [Independent Release] As an Australian diplomat and a folk singer, Fred Smith has both used the experiences drawn from his career in framing his lyrics, and found that his music could actually assist his work with the locals in Afghanistan and Bougainville. Having been on the road less travelled himself, Smith displays an understanding for those in unusual situations, like soldiers and sailors. He now releases his eighth LP, which maintains thematic links with previous albums Dust of Uruzgan and Urban Sea Shanties.

Melodies are sweet and simple, with more body provided by the electric guitar of Shane O’Mara, a special touch of violin adding atmosphere to the opener, and a blast of harmonica adding drama to the closer about the Battle of Derapet. Smith is an excellent story teller, mixing earthy stories with humour and emotion. He sings of old and new wars and old and new loves.

In ‘Ellie May’ there’s a curious injection of Australian slang ‘stone the crows!’ into a song about the American civil war. Smith is equally comfortable writing about macro geopolitics and micro domestic politics, with the latter more prominent in this album.

‘Going Home’ caries a special message for the men and women in khaki, about war in the Middle East and leaving ‘40 good men in the ground’. A keen observer of life, Smith throws in references to Malvern Stars, Facebook and old Nokia mobiles in the snappy track ‘Heel and Toe’. Perhaps reflecting on his fatherhood role, there are even snatches of nursery rhymes, with elements of ‘This Little Piggy’ in ‘Seasick Song’ and ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ in ‘Beautiful Girl’. Whether it’s a whiff of cordite or the fug of traffic in Lonsdale Street, Smith brings it to life. rory mccartney

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The Acid liminal [Infectious]

jungle jungle [XL Recordings]

The Dark Shadows Autumn Still [Select A Vision Records]

After letting the minimalist electronic grooves of this debut album Liminal work their way into my head over the last week, I was pretty stunned to discover that The Acid are the latest musical venture of Adam Freeland, alongside fellow LAbased producer Steve Nalepa and ex-pat Aussie vocalist Ry X. The eleven tracks here couldn’t be further from the breakscentred aesthetic that Freeland’s previously established a reputation for, instead centring around a beguiling fusion of subtle nocturnal synth atmospheres and pulsing house rhythms that occasionally calls to mind the likes of M83. The sense of epic ‘less is more’ maximality is nicely topped off by Ry X’s intimately mixed vocals, which form the foreground of almost all of the tracks here, the presence of subtle digital treatments adding to the woozy sense of slow-motion flow.

The plain black case of Jungle’s self-titled debut – in the vein of other contemporary artists such as The Beatles, Peter Hammill and, yes, Spinal Tap - works well as a summary for the album. It reflects the slick nature of their sound whilst nodding to the mystery surrounding the details of modern soul group. If I’m to dig myself a little deeper into this hole of a metaphor, the shiny gold lettering on the cardboard cover could represent Jungle’s approach to striking sonic flourishes around a simple foundation.

Since 2006, the Sydney female trio has produced a flurry of EPs, some vinyl disks and now, their second LP. Sounding a little garage and a whole lotta post-punk, they have added their own special goth laminate over the top. Since forming, the band has morphed from ‘Brigitte Handley and the Dark Shadows’ to a straight ‘The Dark Shadows’, signifying a more cohesive group focus on their music.

There’s more than a stray ghost of witch house to be found in ‘Clean’ as eerie sparse rhythms echo out over a vast distant wall of brooding bass synths and RyX’s delaytreated vocals bleed out into space, only for a backbone of pulsing minimal techno rhythms to suddenly rise out of the haze, dragging things off into more streamlined ebbing territory. ‘Animal’ meanwhile comes across like a far more eerie and spectral take on Alt-J’s vocal centred electronic pop as Ry X’s multitracked harmonies flit against spooky cello strokes and retro drum machines suddenly flicker into life over swelling sub-bass tones. Elsewhere, ‘Creeper’ kicks the pace up a few notches as Ry X’s teasing falsetto vocal arcs against a rattling backdrop of rapid-fire techno rhythms and murmuring bass pulses, in what’s easily one of the grittiest moments to be found here. Strong stuff indeed chris downton

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The initial line up of Jungle comprised of two west Londoner boys, ‘J’ and ‘T’. Immediately from the siren-like synths of opener ‘The Heat’, a sense of the urban pervades the record (I am aware that the economic prosperity of their home doesn’t match my fantasy of colourful yet worn inner-city that this music conjures, but I am willing to ignore this in the name of art). This is then combined with the aforementioned simplicity, heard particularly on silky serenade ‘Drops’, and the darker hum and whistle of instrumental ‘Smoking Pixels’.

Throughout, smooth keys and 4/4 rhythms luxurious enough to sink into are met with sharp production that incorporates majestic touches, such as the horns on ‘Busy Earnin’ and the buoyant, funky bass of ‘Crumbler’.

Whilst pretty on the ear and fitting with the soul-mould perfectly, falsetto vocals hover in a cloud of similarity across the record. This often requires the listener to observe them separately from the rest of the music for complete appreciation. Due to this, more can be gained from ingesting the album in concentrated chunks or as individual songs, yet as a whole Jungle is a glossy and effortless taste from the young metropolitan group.

ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

Autumn Still maintains the vibrant, catchy rhythms from their early Stand Off days, but comes with a bit more gloss. In keeping with the band’s popularity in the Continent, the record drops ‘Berlin’ into the second track title and a cover of ‘Eisbär’ (Ice Bear) by 80’s Swiss band Grauzone delivers some German lyrics to keep the Teutonic punters rocking. No longer predominantly a guitar band, The Dark Shadows have adopted a broader exploitation of keys and electronica that produces a smoother sound. This has helped their music has assume darker hues, building on their goth-punk image. There’s a balance of speed and more pensive tempos, with song themes circling fitfully around the quest for meaning, isolation and the search for a life partner. There are flickers of light between the storm clouds too, remembering that things are not always as bad as others make them out to be.

Front woman Brigitte Handley has lost some of the Babes in Toyland snarl of her earlier material, and gained a more sultry edge.

The band’s knack of crafting stirring, catchy rhythms is its key strength. The melodic riffage of opener ‘Distant Mind’ recalls the glory days of Nitocris, while there are sharp beats a plenty in ‘Written in the Snow’.

Despite their fondness for keyboards, the fast, guitar driven songs are their best work. rory mccartney

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The Genes Deep in the Heart of the Rat Race [Rubber Records]

Jonathan Boulet Gubba [Popfrenzy]

Teleman Breakfast [Moshi Moshi]

From the sleepy metropolis of Cabarita Beach near Tweed Heads come The Genes.

Lead by Nolan Angell, with brother Morgan and Dominic Cuttcliffe on drums, the trio has laid down its eighth LP in a musical trail lasting almost a quarter of a century.

Jonathan Boulet’s preceding 2012 album We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound managed to receive a warm critical reception from widespread corners, with Boulet going on to spend a fair chunk of the next year touring alongside the likes of Tame Impala and Mumford & Sons. Last year saw Boulet relocating from Sydney to Berlin in the wake of a European tour, and this third album Gubba (his first for Popfrenzy) is certainly a very different beast to its predecessors.

While those two aforementioned records leaned towards indie rock, the 14 tracks collected here come built around crunching downtuned doom-metal guitar riffs sped up to garage-rock tempos.

Born from the ashes of a band with a name like a kiddies entertainment outfit ‘Pete and the Pirates’ (where’s Captain Feathersword?), Tom Sanders (vocals/ guitar), brother Jonny (synthesisers) and Peter Cattermoul (bass) took their bat and ball (or, in this case, instruments) and went off and formed a new outfit. In issuing their debut album, they have maintained a link with the feel of their old band.

The band opens with ‘Just Let Go’, a beefy tune, salted with wavering harmonica, that portrays that laid-back evening time, that is the highlight of the day. ‘Another One Radio’ is a folk-country charmer with a tricky guitar tune. That harmonica stars on again in ‘The Valleys’, scattering clods of soil, dug up deep into the song.

Nolan Angell displays a Josh Pyke lit in ‘Drive On’ while ‘Just Like Everyone Else’ has a blues-rock visage which falls away to a floating veiled chorus. Lyrics are simple but they form pixelated images of the fascination of everyday life. ‘The Ticket’ with its marvelous melody, celebrates the miracle of how you can fall drop-dead in love with a girl seen on the street.

With one foot in the folk camp, the other in the country trough and a finger dipped in the blues, this is a band that likes to make the most of a good song. ‘Too Close to the Sun’ is a real epic. This CD highpoint kicks off with a powerful rhythm, and chases its tail in a song that goes on and on. Just as you think it’s coming to a close, the rhythm picks up again; notes tumbling over themselves in search of yet another verse. They never wanted it to end, but it did after nine and a half minutes. And not a moment too long either, in the sequence of indulgent guitar passages that’s so easy to lap up. rory mccartney

Boulet himself describes Gubba as ‘pop music with a scummy outer layer’, and it’s certainly hard to argue with that selfassessment. While much of this record alternately bludgeons and churns though, it’s all done with a clear sense of fun rather than malice throughout. Indeed, throw on the likes of ‘Is Anybody Dooming?’ without checking the CD cover first, and you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for The Melvins before Boulet’s delay-drenched pop vocals kick in. ‘You’re A Man’ meanwhile fuses tribal punk drumming and a vaguely Ministryesque guitar hook as Boulet rants and roars over the furious distorted riffs, only for the entire track to suddenly break down into a churning sludge metal midsection.

Elsewhere, ‘Traveller’ sees near drum and bass breakbeats powering beneath a distorted flameout of howling guitar feedback and metallic soloing, with Boulet’s bright chorus harmonies adding a lighter edge to the chaos that somehow works perfectly. Gubba is the sound of a venue being wrecked gleefully. chris downton

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The results are an amalgam of Brit-pop optimism, boppy tunes and Krautrock synths of a certain vintage. Not your average rockers, there’s a rather genteel vibe to their music, with even the tales of amorous encounters being expressed demurely, and ‘Lady Low’ has a quaint quality with its folky tones and surprising saxophone interlude. A low-fi approach to production has been adopted in places.

‘In Your Fur’ starts with a ‘recorded at a distance’ feel, before the drums and bass kick in to fill out the sound. Off-key keyboards in ‘Mainline’ have a deliberate wah-wah warble, like a stretched cassette tape. ‘Steam Train Girl’ (even the song titles have an antique flavour) is a disk highlight, its electronic mood jazzed up with fuzzy and echoing vocals, all interspersed with a catchy riff. ‘23 Floors Up’ has a slightly regretful, wistful tone to the singing, propelled along by hollow drums and humming synths. ‘Monday Morning’ brings a hip-wriggling, bouncy rhythm with attractive floating vocals and ‘Skeleton Dance’ is another album winner with its unbridled cheer and attractive melody.

Teleman’s debut presents an appealing mix of English accented, ‘80s synth flavoured indie-pop, that strikes up some catchy tunes as it winds its bright, cheery way. rory mccartney

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v

singles in focus by cody atkinson Finnigan and Brother ‘Hey Kid 606, Remix This’

The Felice Brothers favorite waitress [Spunk]

Guerre Ex Nihilo [Yes Please]

For their fifth record, The Felice Brothers lost their drummer, gained a van and travelled the wide stretch of America from New York to Nebraska. The final result, Favorite Waitress, indulges in the established folk rock of their past, combined with deliberate pacing and intent.

Sydney-based electronic producer Lavurn Lee has spent the last four years teasingly leading up to this debut album Ex Nihilo with a smattering of EP releases alongside an appearance on New Weird Australia’s ongoing compilation series, balancing his activities as Guerre alongside his parallel alias Cassius Select. Lee has described this collection as being ‘less emotionbased’ than his preceding work and more centred towards dance music, and there’s certainly an increased sense of viscerality to these tracks, with complex percussive polyrhythmic elements forming the backbone of much of this album. The ten tracks here were recorded over a year with the help of Collarbones’ Marcus Whale, this prolonged genesis mirrored in the meticulous levels of fine detail on display here. For a collection supposedly based more around the body, there’s still plenty of emotional introspection to be found, with ‘Primea’ opening this album gently at first, as gauzy layers of ambient tones trail against glitchy electronics. It isn’t long though before the distantly pulsing broken house rhythms begin to surface, as ‘Premier’ fuses a delicately treated soul vocal with flickering snares and warm organ tones, before ‘Deatheat’ unleashes the more flexing polyrhythms as volleys of metallic percussion roll back and forth batucadastyle against ghostly soul vocals and weary sounding faded synths. Above all it’s Lee’s almost painterly grasp of the balance between subtle light and dark shades that really impresses here, with ‘Adophilia’ merging hypnotic layers of backing vocal harmonies with darkly mechanistic techno elements, yielding a highlight here that’s somehow both menacing and gently reassuring. A brilliant debut album from an artist who deserves easily as much attention as the far more feted likes of Flume and Seekae.

The duration of the record is spent swaying between energetic tracks like the delightful ‘Cherry Licorice’ and slower ramblings such as ‘Meadow of a Dream’.

There’s a unprocessed edge to the album’s sound – take the opening barks of a dog and background noise on opener ‘Bird On A Broken Wing’ - which inform a more casual atmosphere. This is by no means a new technique for the group, heard on previous records, yet still works to great effect. Take ‘Lion’: the lively violin hooks, prominent percussion and accordion add all the necessary components for a successful barn dance tune. Invoking rusticity is token to The Felice Brothers sound. In addition to this, on Favorite Waitress they are unafraid to alternate away from typical folk and country formatting, such as the piano ballad of ‘Hawthorne’ and the shifting dynamics of country rocker ‘Katie Cruel’.

Weak spots on the record are defined by the sparser, quieter moments, bringing the coarser quality of Ian Felices’s vocals to the foreground. An example of this is the near painful ‘Saturday Night’. Thankfully, the melodic guitar tones on ‘Alien’ and tumbling crooner ‘Chinatown’ do better to solidify the band’s attempts at bittersweet.

Even on these darker inclusions, The Felice Brothers glaze their songs with an authentic warmth. It is this, and the band’s confidence in dabbling with different sounds, that make Favorite Waitress an interesting and often enjoyable listen ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

chris downton

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Hey Kid 606, Remix This’ starts out pretty slow, but certainly builds steam throughout.

Finnigan and Brother embark on a furious journey through life, love, celebrity culture and paranoia, with plenty of namechecking along the way. The dystopian climax is totally unsettling, in a way that it’s impossible to stop listening.

Aphex Twin ‘minipops 67 [120.2][source field mix]’ Aphex Twin, back after a thirteen year hiatus, is nothing but unconventional. Frenetic beats mix in with sweet synths on ‘minipops’ and processed vocals cut over the top, but with an absence of actual lyrics. Aphex Twin has created something of real substance with ‘minipops’, a song that demands both an audience and its attention.

Unity Floors ‘Hold Music’ Unity Floors, from Sydney, make fuzzy indie rock threatens to fall apart around every corner, but somehow stays in tact. ‘Hold Music’ goes from the overly simplistic start of plucked guitar, through Harry Nilsson and his Coconut, to an epic noise breakdown.

Redfoo ‘New Thang’ Friends have told me recently that this column is too negative, that I need to look at the positives in life. “You’re getting old, you can’t spend all your life angry at pop music” they say. But they’re not the ones who have to listen to Redfoo. ‘New Thang’ is stupid, not the endearing type of dumb but the type that actively makes you forget why you even bother. And that’s before we get to the mother of all sax crimes.

Ugh.

51

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Australian soaps like Neighbours and Home and Away seem to be pretty good predictors of Hollywood success for Australian actors (see: the Hemsworth brothers), so I predict that we’ll be seeing more of Brenton Thwaites in the coming years. He turned in a surprisingly touching performance in The Giver, and will next be seen alongside Ewan McGregor in Son of a Gun. Of course, The Giver is a standalone and not a franchise like Marvel and/or Hunger Games, so he’s probably still got a way to go before getting on the Chris and Liam Hemsworth track.

quote of the issue “When people have the freedom to choose…

They choose wrong.”

– Chief Elder (Meryl Streep), The Giver

Tarzan Sweet ape-baby jesus. No matter how terrible the human race is sometimes, we did not deserve this film.

The story of Tarzan (voiced

by Kellan Lutz) is exactly what you would expect; but this time there’s the added bonus of an evil businessman who wants to destroy the jungle, in his search for a magical mineral from outer space.

The problem with Tarzan, is everything.

Words cannot describe how bad this film is – it’s more clichéd than that sentence, for one thing. Even the narrator of Tarzan, who so laboriously and tediously detailed every action and emotion the characters felt – presumably necessary because the animation was so lacking that the characters never looked anything but dead-eyed and toy-doll-faced – would have trouble putting into words how bad it is.

The plot is unoriginal, which is a real problem when telling a story that is already very familiar. The script is stilted, and the voice actors’ delivery wooden. That’s actually quite fitting, given that the animation of the characters – ape and human alike – has resulted in slightly terrifyinglooking and bland dolls. These animated characters are less animated than many a Botoxhappy actresses’ forehead.

This is a kid’s film that adults won’t enjoy, but it’s also a kid’s film that even children will find dull. I doubt apes would find themselves intrigued by the shiny, moving colours.

Me, Melissa. This film, crap

52

melissa wellham

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book series was a joke. It was poking fun at the popular comic series Daredevil, and the parody evolved into cartoon series and merchandising juggernaut that has incredible staying power. In 2014, the joke has been taken too seriously.

A group of mutant turtles, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Rafael, face off against a crime boss who wants to control New York City. The bad guy’s plan consist of just saying “the city will be ours” repeatedly, but there’s no mention of what he’ll do with the city once it’s his; it’s that kind of film.

The Turtles are douchey in a special Michael Bay way (he’s on producing duties). It’s “cowabunga dudes” in an Ed Hardy t-shirt, and the Turtles have more in common with people planning to spike your drink at nightclub than anything resembling a group of heroes.

Megan Fox appears so the Turtles can make sexual advances toward her (creepy), and Will Arnett provides comic discomfort and adds to his list of ‘increasingly poor decisions in cinema’.

Director Jonathan Liebesman does craft two nifty action sequences that sit back-toback toward the finale, and you get a glimpse of how much fun the film could have been.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should have been as silly as the title but its stern approach to one of the goofiest pop culture entities is a complete misfire. cameron williams

Step Up: All In Step Up: All In is like every other film in the Step Up franchise, in that while watching the film you wish they would just give up on their feeble attempts at plot and even more embarrassing attempts at dialogue entirely, and just leave in the fun dance sequences. It’s entirely possible that the movie would actually work better as one extended, three-hour long music video clip.

But for those who are interested in things like storyline, there is nominally a plot. In All In, the star dancers, movers and shakers from the previous films come together in Las Vegas, for a dance competition. Tragically, Channing Tatum doesn’t make an appearance. He has too much cred for Step Up these days.

The dance sequences are highenergy, well-choreographed, dazzling displays of street dance. Look, it’s one million times less awkward than watching Julie Stiles learn how to dance hip-hop in Save The Last Dance. Unfortunately, these dance sequences have been interspersed with plot; including a lackluster romance between the male and female lead, that is completely lacking in chemistry. All In actually has more plot than the previous film in the franchise, which feels like a poor decision on the scriptwriter’s part.

The title, All In, implies that this is the last film in the franchise and that they’ve spent all their chips at the poker table. But I have no doubt that we’ll see another plot-lite, skim-dialogue dance movie sometime soon.

MELISSA WELLHAM

@bmamag

What We Do In The Shadows “Makes me sound a lot cooler than I was.”

“Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was. I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.”

These wise words were uttered

by Harry Potter and came back to me forcefully when watching this film. Everyone thinks of the glamorous or depraved myths when it comes to vampires.

We don’t think about the day to day banality, either because it seems ludicrous or because we assume they don’t need to.

Why would a vampire pay rent for example? But the truth is, vampires are dags who squabble over whose turn it is to do the dishes, are totally inept in the art of seduction and prove that just because you’ve been around the block a few times doesn’t mean you’re wiser than the Average Joe. God they’re funny though. This move is quotable quote heaven (fans of Whedon, Tarantino and Smith should watch this one, it’ll feed your vocabulary for years).

A showdown with the local werewolves produces the snort worthy “Watch your language!

What are we? Werewolves! NOT Swear-wolves”. And it doesn’t skim over the tough concepts vampires would have to grapple with; eternal life meaning watching your mortal loved ones die. Tutoring newbies through emotional hardships is tough, even for vampires, as this movie bleakly yet sweetly demonstrates.

The creators of Flight of the Conchords have outdone themselves. Hilarious to the last.

EMMA ROBINSON

The Giver The Giver would have been a very, very difficult story to tell on the silver screen. Perhaps there are some stories that can only be told in text.

The Giver is based on a subtle and philosophical children’s science-fiction novel by Lois Lowry. The story follows Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) a teenage boy who lives in a ‘perfect’ community, where conformity and contentment are valued above all else. But when Jonas is selected to be ‘The Receiver’ of the community’s memories which are being handed to him by ‘The Giver’ (Jeff Bridges) – he begins to realise what the price of perfection really is.

The themes and ideas in The Giver are interesting, although the ‘corrupt government’ villain is starting to feel a little tired, after the spate of dystopian young-adult movies in recent years. The trouble comes with trying to translate these ideas onto the screen, without feeling obvious or didactic – and that’s where The Giver fails.

In an effort to counteract the intellectually heavy first half of the film, the scriptwriters then made the mistake of trying to wrap the movie up with an action-packed finale. This not only feels tonally inconsistent, but naff.

Thwaites is refreshingly gentle as the lead, Bridges should probably stick to meatier roles instead of overacting in fare like this, and Meryl Streep – who plays the Chief Elder in the community – is by far the best thing about the film.

MELISSA WELLHAM

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53

the word on dvds

The Underground [Madman] This year will be memorable for many things for many people, but for me, 2014 will go down in history as the year I spent nearly six hours watching a documentary about trains. If anyone would have suggested this to me in January, I would have been appalled with my future self.

But here I am, equipped with a deep understanding of the London Underground’s multibillion dollar revamp, the man in charge of it (David Wabaso, a man who doesn’t suffer door closing sensitivity lightly), how to drive a train (it largely involves lots of sitting, quipping over the intercom and a joystick) and the ‘one under’.

The one under is when a person finds themselves under a train – through design or accident. The Underground seems to spend an inordinate amount of time on the one under but time is something this ‘lavish’ six part doco has in spades.

There were times when I thought there could have been a tight 90 minute doco could have been possible. But by the fourth hour I was so enthralled by the most discrete scraps of information and the characters who work on the London Underground that a 20-part Directors Cut was starting to look very attractive.

Filmed in 2011, a couple of years before the 150th anniversary of London’s train network, The Underground is more than a love letter to anoraks or a neat summation for the history buffs. It’s an epic poem that rambles for thousands of pages with barely any structure (although each episode has a loosely adhered-to theme) full of literary twitches, obscure details, wry prose and flights of fancy. It’s the everyday life of the Tube, the people who keep it together, are remodelling it and the passengers who suffer on it every day. It is quintessentially London. It’s mad. justin hook

54

Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Fourth Season [Warner Home Video] Boardwalk Empire is like that geography teacher who never cracked a smile. You respected them and kind of enjoyed the class through gritted teeth.

Boardwalk Empire is the fictionalised story of Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson (Steve Buscemi) the whey-faced strong man of Atlantic City.

Through tactics and alliances, Thompson imposes his will on the city of vice by the sea although he has barely raised his voice, let alone his fists over the four seasons to date.

His mannered approach to gangsterism is the story of this show writ large – a slow burning series with plenty to admire but not much to love.

This season does offer some respite from the trenchant grimness of the north Atlantic Coast with Nucky taking a road trip to Florida. Don’t expect Don Johnson pastels though.

Nucky regards anything to do with direct sunlight or ‘fun times’ as suspicious and to be shut down as soon as possible.

But he sticks it out in Tampa, expanding his empire – which itself is being threatened by the mysterious Dr. Narcisse (Jeffrey Walker). Boardwalk Empire cleverly weaves in historical characters like J Edgar Hoover, Arnold Rothstein and Al Capone to remind viewers that most of this (fictional) stuff really did happen, although not necessarily in the way they say it did. It’s a useful device and respite from the occasionally overbearing formality of the scripting. But this officious approach to plot, character and dialogue is exactly why Boardwalk Empire is so good. It’s the polar opposite of flippant or contemporary and doesn’t seem to care if audiences don’t have the patience to stick around. It’s a risky gambit and an antidote to binge viewing. But as each season proves, eventually, it’s well worth it.

The Summit [LABEL] Everest may get all the fancy banners and attention, but K2 (Karakoram) – the second highest mountain in the world at the Pakistani end of the raised plateau that also includes Everest – is regarded to be the more challenging climb. Compared to the 2,700 people who have successfully ascended Everest – only 306 have managed to achieve the same feat for K2. Of those who have successfully managed to conquer K2, 85 have perished, usually on the descent. The Summit is the story of the disastrous attempt on K2’s summit in early August 2008 where 21 people made the ascent. A few days later only eleven made it back to base camp. It still ranks as one of the most fatal mountaineering expeditions in history. On August 1 2008, after a month of bad weather that delayed several attempts on K2’s peak, a window of opportunity opened up. The various teams from around the world decided to approach as a combined group.

What happened next is still debated amongst the survivors and their families but basically a bottleneck made the climb perilously slow with many not reaching the summit until the early evening just as the sun was setting. One incredible shot of K2’s shadow creeping into China is worth the price of admission. The climbers then descended in darkness.

This is where it all went very wrong. Using a mix of actual footage from the climbers, photos, recreations, interviews and utterly stunning location shots Nick Ryan’s doco has its share of heroes (Pemba Gyalje, Gerard McDonnell) and villains (Mr Kim). It also makes some interesting editing choices that take al little getting used to. Nevertheless, The Summit is fist clenching stuff – but just one version of events that fateful day. justin hook

justin hook

@bmamag

the word

on gigs

The Little Stevies, Pocket Fox Smith’s Alternative Saturday August 30 Seven piece local act Pocket Fox squeezed themselves onto the tight stage, while all around books with title s from ‘John Howard’ to ‘Lounge Design’ watched on. They were more sharply presented and better coiffed than your average band, with a couple of skirts and even a frock in the ensemble. Pocket Fox are real charmers, with quirky songs and a real sense of fun. Luciana on lead vocals was frequently complemented by almost the whole band, resulting in some complex and clever vocal arrangements, such as in ‘The Brightest Lights’ (formerly ‘The Tassie Song’). We were treated to the ‘world premier’ of new tune ‘Stitch You Up’.

While the harmonies of the support act were impressive, we were dazzled by the beautiful vocal interplay of Sibylla and Bethany Stephen from The Little Stevies. There was a real sisterly connection on display; a single look between them can tell so much (‘yes, we nailed that!’). Highlights included ‘Shattered Dreams’, performed by the girls to the sound of only a single held note, and ‘Thunder’ (which started life as a sexy love song, but ended-up being about a crying baby. Apart from breathtaking songs, they kept the punters amused with plenty of humorous banter, and tales of Sibylla being a nervous flyer and their one radio hit (with ‘Feel It’ reportedly played on JJJ at 630AM one Sunday). The main show closed with the LP title tack ‘Diamonds For Your Tea’, with Sibylla forgetting the opening lyrics briefly before getting on song. Back for an encore, the sisters went super poppy with a cover of Christine Aguilera’s ‘Come on Over Baby’. They took turns forking out the words, with Sibylla dong the low, growling Grrrrrrrs. rory mccartney

the word

on gigs

Ari and Mia, Lucy Wise Trio Smith’s Alternative Tuesday September 16 In a night of beautiful, varied folk music, Melbourne’s Lucy Wise Trio kicked off with ‘Sing For Shanti’, all plucking at their strings instead of bowing away. Wise broadcast her crisp vocals while Holly Downes did the foxtrot with her double bass and Chris Stone (in socks) danced on the spot with his violin. Wise explained the story behind every song, including a yacht trip recalled in ‘Darwin to Ambon’. The instruments captured the essence of the journey, with the fiddle reflecting the shifting winds and the double bass depicting the strength of the swell. They were joined by Ari and Mia at the finish for another song of the sea, ‘Have a Swim for Me’.

Sisters Ari and Mia Friedman from Boston charmed us with a combination of virtuoso early American string music and original compositions. Ari’s voice had a slight country twang, while Mia’s possessed a more folk/bluegrass quality. Beguiling when heard separately, they were brilliant when combined in subtle harmonies.

Ari kept to the cello, while Mia swapped between banjo, guitar and violin. The interplay between them and the exactness of their timing, especially when slowing bows at the tail end of a song, were terrific.

A set highlight was the old time, southern USA barn floor stomper ‘Starry Crown’. Their talents extend beyond the folk arena, with Ari singing the soulful and as yet unrecorded ‘Keeping My Heart Warm’ to a jazzy cello rhythm, while her sister injected a county vibe with the fiddle. Their set closed with their being joined by the Lucy Wise Trio for a powerful rendition of the Shaker classic hymn ‘Land on Shore’, starting with low growls from the double bass and cello, before erupting in a burst of sound from the combined strings. rory mccartney

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55

the word

on gigs

The Chop Shop Grand Opening Palooza The Chop Shop Saturday September 13 If you want the embodiment of what Braddon has been built up to be over the last three odd years, The Chop Shop is probably it. A space in the heart of formerly industrial Canberra, The Chop Shop was funded by the community but very temporary, with only a handful of months before the building is due to be demolished.

The opening of the Chop Shop, however, was beset with problems and delays. After raising enough cash and commencing construction, the venue was hit with delays due to planning approvals, pushing their intended July launch back to mid September. A petition was created, a hashtag was coined (#cantstopthechop) and Canberrans got right behind it.

Categorising The Chop Shop as a venue is a bit of a understatement – while there is a stage, it is far from being the solo centre of attention. Not many establishments in Canberra have a skate ramp in the corner, but that’s what the Chop brings to the table, with skaters shredding up the mini-ramp all night between sets. There’s something surreal about having a relatively prozaic conversation over well mixed music and having the CLUNK-THUD of bros hitting the coping on their boards punctuate every sentence.

For mine, however, the secret highlight of the Chop is the art, with murals interspersed with hung works throughout the venue. Great local artists such as Abyss and Houl featured on the raw walls, while the work of Smalls was exhibited across the open shop floor. There was something to see everywhere and it was all good.

Hitting the live stage first was Suavess, with a smooth flow and silky beats, as provided by DJ Rush. Joined on stage halfway through his set by fellow local Hayds, Suavess drew the crowd in as the set progressed, with sparse beats and inspired instrumentation. At times the vocals were a little muddy, but not enough to detract from the set. For the last track, Oz hip hop royalty MC Hau (of Koolism and the Triple J Hip Hop Show) joined in the party on stage, dropping a slick verse as the set concluded.

Wallflower have an intriguing way of presenting their vocals, for an indie rock band, namely with the power of auto-tune. It takes a song or two to pick and another one or two to get used to. This is not a criticism, far from it, but instead something that distinguishes them from most others. With a set full of shiny indie-pop, songs built up patiently, with urgency not a key concern. However, the high points of the set occurred when Wallflower kicked up the intensity and pushed out of their shell.

The now dim Chop Shop was a hive of cameras and chill, when, “Listen to soul, babe, listen to blues” rang out over the former autoshop and Safia stood elevated on stage.

Safia were in DJ mode on the night and a member short, but that didn’t seem to matter. The crowd suddenly flowed to the dancefloor with lights swirling around the room. Safia were periodically joined on stage by a cast of thousands, but never let the focus drain from the end product. After an hour or so of driving EDM, Safia wrapped it up, handed over to another DJ and walked off stage. The night started to get long in the tooth, but The Chop had well and truly announced it’s arrival.

PHOTOS BY MEGAN LEAHY

56

cody atkinson

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Sep 24 - Fri Sep 26

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday september 24

Art Exhibitions On Men

Louise Paramor & Peter Maloney. Until Sep 27. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am4pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

A Lightness of Being

By Ngaio Fitzpatrick. Sep 11-28. WedSun 12-5pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Capital Chemist Art Award Exhibition

Entries close Sep 15. Exhibition Sep 18-27. Info at: tuggeranongarts.com.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

The Italian Connection

Art exhibition. 9-4pm Mon - Fri. 9-3pm Sat. 9-27 Sept. Opening night 5.30, Wed 10th Sept.

THE Q - QUEANBEYAN ARTS CENTRE

Transitions

Art exhibition. 10am-4pm. Tues-Sat. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

In Translation

An exploration of the Canberra region.

Sep 11-28. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award

Action Stations

Work by Louise Paramor & Peter Maloney. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am-4pm. Until Sep 27. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Karaoke Curry-Oke

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

Live Music

Dry Your Tears

9pm. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

New work by Ray Leggott. Opening 5th Sept at 6pm. Runs until 12 Oct.

Adam & Ash Shake Dat Thursday

Live music. Free entry. 10pm.

Karaoke

Oxen

$500 prize. 9:30pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live Music Cat Canteri

Live music. Tickets $7-$10 at the door.

7.30pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

ELEVATED NIGHTCLUB

Album launch with guests, Ecruteak & Mind Blanks. 9pm. $5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Bryan and Friends 8pm. Free.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Thursday Jazz

Tom Fell Quartet with Wayne Kelly & Guests. 8pm, $15/$10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Sandi Thom

By Kate Smith. Art exhibition.

September 18 - 28. Wed - Sun 11am5pm, free.

Through a Glass Clearly

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Works by acclaimed Canberra-based photographer Geoffrey Dunn. 16-29 Sept. Opening Friday 19th Sept.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Art Exhibitions The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Live Music BBQ & Live Jazz 5-7pm. Free.

POT BELLY BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

TRANSIT BAR

Showcasing local talented musicians.

8pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Trivia

Kingswood

POT BELLY BAR

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Playtime

Top 40, Dance, RnB. 10pm. Free entry.

TREEHOUSE BAR

4some Thursdays

Tranny Trivia

Free entry.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Something Different

Questions with Glamour. 8pm. Free.

With Something Like This. 5pm afternoon session. 10pm band. Free.

Paryce

Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture

Headspace

friday september 26

8pm, presale via Moshtix.

On The Town

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

POT BELLY BAR

Sarah McLeod

The Stilsons, David Knight, Tessa Devine. 7.30pm. $5-$10.

The rapport between music & visuals.

Until Sep 28. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

1st prize $100. 7pm.

Wednesday Night Gigs

THE ABBEY

The CMC presents Wednesday Nights

Colour Music

Trivia at the Pot

TRANSIT BAR

A two piece rock machine. 8pm, presale via Moshtix.

Screen based portraiture finalists.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Trivia

Chicago Charles

King of the North

8pm. $22-$44 through Ticketek.

Art exhibition. 13 Sept-15 Oct. 10am5pm. Free.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Folk/Blues. Tickets $20 at theabbey. com.au. 7.30pm.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

5 short comedies from contemporary US playwrights. 8pm. $10/$15.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

STUR GALLERY

Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke Comp

ANU’s Ursula Hall presents Paws for Laughter

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

8:30pm. $TBA.

UP Friday

Live music. Free. 9pm.

ELEVATED NIGHTCLUB

Special K

10pm. Free.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

The Baker Suite

With Lisa Richards. 9pm, $20. Book at: trybooking.com/98526 SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Anklepants

The masked man of madness. 8pm.

Free.

Shaken & Stirred

TRANSIT BAR

Art Exhibitions

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Live music. 6-8pm. $5.

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Theatre

The Rufus/Sheridan Duologues

thursday september 25

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Ice Floes and Growlers

An exploration of Antarctica. Sep 1128. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

Burlesque. 7.30pm. Tickets $20.

Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

The Escalators

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

A Celebration of Jazz Dialogue.

7.30pm. $10/$15.

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

Vamp

Punk & Industrial Electronica DJ’s. Live music. Time TBA. Tickets TBA. MAGPIES CITY CLUB

M16 ARTSPACE

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57

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Sep 26 - Sun Sep 28 Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

Never Stone Cold

Energetic pub rock. 8pm. Free.

OLD CANBERRA INN

DJ Rawson

9.30pm. Free.

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

On Men

Louise Paramor & Peter Maloney. Until Sep 27. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am4pm. Free.

3rd Exit

10pm. Free.

Elevated Saturday ELEVATED NIGHTCLUB

Theatre

Live music. Free entry before 10pm, $5 after.

Several Devils

Rock/garage/punk. Time TBA. $TBA.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

THE BASEMENT

Hence The Testbed, Internal Nightmare, Tensions Arise, Na Maza, In Death & Chud. 9.15pm. $15.

Colour Music

Canberra trio of girl power & glitter madness. 8pm. Tix on the door.

One Day

A Lightness of Being

HELLENIC CLUB (WODEN)

Canberra Massacre

THE BASEMENT

7.30pm. $42 through Ticketek.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

On The Town Tom Hathaway

House, Electro, Indie/Nu Disco, Chillout & Funk. 9pm. Free entry.

TREEHOUSE BAR

Raw Talent

With New Kids On The Block & Jungle Party. $10.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Theatre Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

ANU’s Ursula Hall presents Paws for Laughter

5 short comedies from contemporary US playwrights. 8pm. $10/$15.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Gruffalo 12pm. $22

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Couples Don’t Talk

A series of plays about the complexity of relationships. 7pm. Tickets via trybooking.com. $15.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

saturday september 27 Art Exhibitions The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

The rapport between music & visuals.

Until Sep 28. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

By Ngaio Fitzpatrick. Sep 11-28. WedSun 12-5pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Capital Chemist Art Award Exhibition

Entries close Sep 15. Exhibition Sep 18-27. Info at: tuggeranongarts.com.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

In Translation

An exploration of the Canberra region.

Sep 11-28. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Ice Floes and Growlers

An exploration of Antarctica. Sep 1128. Wed-Sun 12-5pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Action Stations

Work by Louise Paramor & Peter Maloney. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am-4pm. Until Sep 27. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Rachel Collis 9pm, $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Fred Smith

Album Launch. 8pm. $25/$38.

THE STREET THEATRE

The Griswolds

8pm. $20 through Oztix.

Australian Pole Championships Over 50 of Australia’s best pole dancers. 8pm. $50-$106 THE PLAYHOUSE

Live Music Mere Woman

With Wives & Agency. 9.30pm. $5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Oscar

10.30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Gaps

With Tundrel, Cherie Kotek, Critical Monkee & Raucous Fracas. Time TBA. $10.

A series of plays about the complexity of relationships. 7pm. Tickets via trybooking.com. $15.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

ANU’s Ursula Hall presents Paws for Laughter

5 short comedies from contemporary US playwrights. 8pm. $10/$15.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Gruffalo

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

The Socialites

10am, 12pm & 2pm. $22.

sunday september 28

9.30pm. Free.

Live Music

Hands Like Houses

Punk & Drunk For Sammi & Pete’s Birthday

HELLENIC CLUB (WODEN)

8pm. $30 through Ticketek.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

On The Town

TREEHOUSE BAR

Dance

Couples Don’t Talk

Live Music

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

THE TRADIES (WODEN)

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

Sneaky Saturdays

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

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#GRLPWR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

With Hudak. 9pm. Free entry.

With Cock Belch, Critical Monkey, Teen Skank Parade & No Assumption. 6pm.

Free.

THE BASEMENT

CIT Presents The Bootleg Sessions

Brown Sugar

Hearing Voices, Duck Duck Ghost, Oak and Treacle & Maggie Jeffs. 8pm. Free.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

The Acoustic Sessions

Old School RnB. 10pm. Free entry.

Love Saturdays

With The Projektz. $10.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Something Different An Afternoon with Peta & Adelaide 3pm-5pm. Cure Brain Cancer Fundraiser.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

THE TRADIES (DICKSON)

Hustle & Scout Twilight Fashion Market Fashion, music, food. 2-7pm. Info: hustleandscout.com.au.

HANGAR #47 (CANBERRA AIRPORT )

THE PHOENIX BAR

With Derryth Nash. 2pm. Free.

IRON BAR

Jenn Pacor & Christine Jauncey Live music. 6pm. $10.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Tall Black Guy

The US producer dishes out some smooth beats. 8pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Sunday Sangria Sounds

With Quintessential Doll + Ivory Lights.

3-5pm, $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Sunday Sessions

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

4pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

Irish Jam Session

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Mon Sep 29- Fri Oct 3 monday september 29 Comedy Schnitz & Giggles

6.30-8pm, $5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Live Music Decades: Bowiefest 3pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Rumshack

Local Folk Group. 7.30pm, $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

tuesday september 30 Theatre The Wharf Revue: Open For Business 8pm. $35-$63.

THE PLAYHOUSE

Trivia Impact Comics Present Nerd Trivia

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award Screen based portraiture finalists.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Masters of Modern Indonesian Portraiture Art exhibition. 13 Sept-15 Oct. 10am5pm. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Dry Your Tears

New work by Ray Leggott. Opening 5th Sept at 6pm. Runs until 12 Oct. STUR GALLERY

Karaoke Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke Comp $500 prize. 9:30pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live Music Lepers & Crooks

With Barefoot Alley. 8pm. $10 through Moshtix.

TRANSIT BAR

CMC Presents bands every Wednesday

With Joel and Ali. 7.30pm. Free.

With Blonde Friand + Myriad Ways + Lazy Harry’s. 7.30pm. $10-$5.

Fame Trivia

Wednesday Night Gigs

THE PHOENIX BAR

From 7:30pm.

THE DURHAM

Trivial Tuesdays

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

Free Entry.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday october 1

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Showcasing local talented musicians.

8pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

Something Different The Hadley Memorial Poetry Slam Final

Bad!Slam!No!Buscuit! v The Australian Poetry Slam. 8pm. $5.

Art Exhibitions

THE PHOENIX BAR

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Hands-on exhibits to surprise your senses and challenge your mind. 9am5pm. Until May 2015. Admissio

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

Perception Deception Exhibition

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

QUESTACON

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Theatre

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play

Theatre

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Harbinger

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

THE STREET THEATRE

The Wharf Revue: Open For Business

8pm. $20-$25.

A magical world for adults & children alike. 7.30pm. $15-$30.

thursday october 2 Art Exhibitions Bloom Linger Breathe

by Lani Davidson. Oct 2-12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Free.

Equus

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

8pm. $35-$63.

THE PLAYHOUSE

The Hearse Whisperer

By Satyros Comedy Society. 8pm.

Tickets: tinyurl.com/le7r6ye ANU ARTS CENTRE

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

8pm. $20-$25.

Karaoke

A magical world for adults & children alike. 7.30pm. $15-$30.

Curry-Oke

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Harbinger

THE STREET THEATRE

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

friday october 3

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Live Music

Live Music

Chad Croker Duo

The Owls

9pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Own The Streets EP tour. 8pm. $10 through Moshtix.

Bryan and Friends

TRANSIT BAR

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

8pm. Free.

Acoustic Sets

Thursday Jazz

Cinnamon Lane, Neon Honey, Rumshack & Dylan. Time & $TBA.

Jamie Oehlers. 9pm, $15/$10.

THE BASEMENT

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Chicago Charles/ Heuristic

Steve Lane and the Autocrats 9pm. $5.

5pm afternoon session. 10pm Band.

Free.

Dune Rats

Live Music

THE PHOENIX BAR

8pm. $20 through Moshtix.

TRANSIT BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

From 10pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Blkout

Playtime

With Flowermouth, Imprisoned & Take Control. Live music. Time TBA. Tickets TBA.

TREEHOUSE BAR

Live Music

On The Town Top 40, Dance, RnB. 10pm. Free entry.

MAGPIES CITY CLUB

4some Thursdays

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

Free entry.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

LITTLE BROOKLYN

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

Something Different

Greatest Hits Tour. 8pm. $89.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

Mindscapes Poetry Festival

The Wharf Revue: Open For Business

MiSupporting Mental Illness. 6.308.30pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Equus

8pm. $35-$63.

THE PLAYHOUSE

Jimmy Barnes 30:30 Hindsight CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

On The Town SAM

Tasty house tunes. 9pm. Free entry.

TREEHOUSE BAR

Alive Fridays

Presenting Matt Watkins. $10 all night.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

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59

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Oct 3 - Wed Oct 8 Something Different

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Theatre

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

Couples Don’t Talk

Comedy

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Bill Bailey

Vintage Sale

Limboland tour. 8pm. $82-$92 through Ticketek.

More than a detective story. 2pm & 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep. org.au.

The Wharf Revue: Open For Business

The Vinyl Lounge

BYO vinyl. 5.30-6.30pm. Free.

NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVES

Pocket Holiday

By Zonk Vision. 6pm. $5. More info: ccas.com.au

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Vintage clothes, jewellry, books etc. Fri 6pm-9pm. Sat 9am-3pm. Cash only.

ROYAL THEATRE

GRIFFITH HALL

Live Music

Theatre

Black Diamond

Couples Don’t Talk

THE BASEMENT

Time & $TBA.

A series of plays about the complexity of relationships. 7pm. Tickets via trybooking.com. $15.

Oscar

Equus

From 10pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

The Wharf Revue: Open For Business 8pm. $35-$63.

THE PLAYHOUSE

The Hearse Whisperer

By Satyros Comedy Society. 8pm.

Tickets: tinyurl.com/le7r6ye ANU ARTS CENTRE

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play 8pm. $20-$25.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Harbinger

A magical world for adults & children alike. 7.30pm. $15-$30.

THE STREET THEATRE

saturday october 4 Art Exhibitions Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Bloom Linger Breathe

by Lani Davidson. Oct 2-12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

10.30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Special K

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Panache Jazz Group 9-11.30pm. $15.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Slow Turismo

Album launch. 9.30pm. $5.

Comedy

Equus

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

Open Mic

With Shahed Shaify. 7.30pm, $5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

tuesday october 7

The Hearse Whisperer

Music at Midday

By Satyros Comedy Society. 8pm.

Tickets: tinyurl.com/le7r6ye ANU ARTS CENTRE

In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play

Royal Military College Band. Proceeds to Menslink. 11am & 12.30pm. Gold coin entry.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

8pm. $20-$25.

Trivia

The Harbinger

Trivial Tuesdays

THE STREET THEATRE

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

A magical world for adults & children alike. 2pm & 7.30pm. $15-$30.

sunday october 5 Live Music

On The Town

Presented by Thank You Ma’am & Transit Bar. 8pm. $20 through Moshtix.

With Runamark. $10 all night.

6.30pm – 8pm, $10.

Live Music

THE PLAYHOUSE

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

Love Saturdays

Schnitz & Giggles

8pm. $35-$63.

Live Music

Lxury

TRANSIT BAR

Irish Jam Session

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

Free Entry.

Fame Trivia From 7:30pm.

THE DURHAM

Andrew and Shannon’s Pub Trivia 7:30pm. Free.

THE PHOENIX BAR

wednesday october 8

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

Art Exhibitions

Sneaky Saturdays TREEHOUSE BAR

The Acoustic Sessions

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Dry Your Tears

With Jungle Jerry. 9pm. Free entry.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Caribbean Paradise

With Ben Chan. 2pm. Free.

New work by Ray Leggott. Opening 5th Sept at 6pm. Runs until 12 Oct.

Sunday Sessions

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

LITTLE BROOKLYN

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

STUR GALLERY

Reggae music. $10 entry before 9pm.

IRON BAR

Something Different

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

4pm. Free.

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Sunday Sangria & Sound

Bloom Linger Breathe

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

THE TRADIES (DICKSON)

Vintage Sale

Vintage clothes, jewellry, books etc. Fri 6pm-9pm. Sat 9am-3pm. Cash only.

GRIFFITH HALL

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

THE TRADIES (WODEN)

60

A series of plays about the complexity of relationships. 7pm. Tickets via trybooking.com. $15.

THE PHOENIX BAR

LITTLE BROOKLYN

monday october 6

With Joce Moen. 3-5pm, $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

by Lani Davidson. Oct 2-12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Free.

CMC presents The Bootleg Sessions

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

THE PHOENIX BAR

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

With Paint on Paint, Kley & Fudge Factor. 8pm. Free.

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Theatre

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Equus

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

More than a detective story. 2pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Oct 8 - Thur Oct 16 Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award Screen based portraiture finalists.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Karaoke Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke Comp $500 prize. 9:30pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live Music Acoustic Soup

Theatre Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

friday october 10

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

monday october 13

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

HIP Night

Live Music

Celebrating the hospitality industry.

7pm-late. Info: qtcanberra.com.au.

Live Music

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

Live Music

Fourplay String Quartet

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

9.30pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

Trivia Trivial Tuesdays

THE STREET THEATRE

8pm. Free.

Something Different

Wednesday Night Gigs

Anna Vissi Live

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Showcasing local talented musicians.

8pm. Free.

7.30pm. $125. Book now to avoid disappointment: 6281 0899.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

HELLENIC CLUB (WODEN)

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

CMC Presents bands every Wednesday

Something Different

Fash ‘n’ Treasure

With Dylan Hekimian, Alex & Joel + Darling Mermaid Darlings. 7.30pm. $10-$5.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Theatre Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

thursday october 9 Karaoke Curry-Oke

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Live Music Raus

With Cracked Actor. 8pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

On The Town Playtime

Top 40, Dance, RnB. 10pm. Free entry.

TREEHOUSE BAR

4some Thursdays Free entry.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Art Underground Open Mic Night

Share your music, stories, comedy & antics. 7pm. Free. With author Ian McHugh.

BEYOND Q

Theatre Equus

More than a detective story. 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep.org.au.

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

saturday october 11 Art Exhibitions Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Bloom Linger Breathe

by Lani Davidson. Oct 2-12. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

With Heike Qualitz. Until Nov 15. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am-4pm. Free CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

tuesday october 14

Rhythmic strings & original pop.

8.30pm. $30-$40.

Chuparosa TRANSIT BAR

QT CANBERRA HOTEL

LITTLE BROOKLYN

Organic food and local music. 7pm. $8/$10.

ANU FOOD CO-OP

On The Town

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

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

Free Entry.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday october 15 Art Exhibitions

THE TRADIES (DICKSON)

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Fashion and treasures market, clothes and much more. 10am-3pm. $3.

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

EXHIBITION PARK IN CANBERRA (EPIC)

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

$50k Birthday Giveaway

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Swipe your membership card to enter from 4pm. Prizes drawn 6-9pm. Info: thetradies.com.au.

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry.

THE TRADIES (WODEN)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award

Theatre

Screen based portraiture finalists.

10am-5pm daily. Free.

Equus

More than a detective story. 2pm & 8pm. $35/$40. Info: canberrarep. org.au.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

With Heike Qualitz. Until Nov 15. Tue-Fri 11am-5pm. Sat 10am-4pm. Free

sunday october 12

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Live Music

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Irish Jam Session

Until Oct 17. Mon-Thu 9am-8pm. Fri 8am-5pm. Opening: Oct 25, 7pm. Free.

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Acoustic Sessions

Live Music

IRON BAR

Wednesday Night Gigs

With Minh Ha. 2pm. Free.

Sunday Sessions

Showcasing local talented musicians.

8pm. Free.

Acoustic local & interstate musicians.

4pm. Free.

LITTLE BROOKLYN

LITTLE BROOKLYN

thursday october 16

Something Different Living Green Festival

Karaoke

A sustainable fair trade organic festival with music, food and more. 10am-4pm.

Free.

ALBERT HALL

OUT

Oct 8

Curry-Oke

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Ronny Chieng No hausfrau Raus cracked actor ...and more!

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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

Raus Where did your band name come from? My nickname.

Group members? Rory Stenning (me) vocals/ synths/percussion. I have been playing live with Luke Keanan-Brown (Yether) on drums/synth/vocals too. We have been playing a bunch of material that we have written together and will soon start performing under ‘Raus and Yether’.

Describe your sound: Frank Zappa meets LCD Soundsystem meets The Knife.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? The three above + Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, too many to mention… musical ideas/concepts, Australia, other cultures, people, also too many to mention or describe satisfactorily.

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

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Hard to say; I’ve had a lot of great times playing with bands over the years, but really, once I’m playing I don’t remember much. I have realised that I write music to write it, more than to perform it.

Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 649 chrisharlandbluesband @gmail.com

Of what are you proudest so far? The most tangible thing would probably be my EP, but otherwise probably my headspace around writing and living

Danny V Danny 0413502428

What are your plans for the future? Work on new material, hopefully including some collabs.

Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428

What makes you laugh? Zappa, and my mate Richard.

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

What pisses you off? Poor communication.

Drumassault Dan 0406 375 997

What about the local scene would you change? Better/ more venues. Music wise everything’s pretty great. Can’t really complain.

What are your upcoming gigs? Thurs. 9 October in Canberra at Transit Bar w/ Cracked Actor + Primary Colours and Sat. 18 October in Sydney at 107 Projects w/ Scissor Lock, Ollie Bown + Lortica .

Contact info: hellosquare.shoeb@gmail.com rausisout.tumblr.com/ facebook.com/rausofficial hellosquarerecordings.com soundcloud.com/rausisout

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Australian Songwriters Association Keiran (02) 62310433

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

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 Greg greg@gunfever.com.au 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

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