BMA Magazine 450 - 8 Cctober 2014 by BMA Magazine

ad space

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ad space

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ad space

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ad space

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

You’re the voice, try and understand it. # 4 5 0 O c t 8 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 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Sub-Editor & Social Media Manager Chiara Grassia Graphic Design Chris Halloran Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE451 OUT Oct 22 EDITORIAL DEADLINE Oct 15 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Oct 17 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.

You Are Here is calling you out for March 2015. You Are Here is Canberra’s festival of experimental and emerging arts. Multi-talented organisers produce events that highlight the strange, risk-taking and playful nature of the ACT arts scene. If you’re an artist who loves to challenge themselves and be challenged, that likes using unusual spaces, enjoys blurring the boundaries between art forms and are keen to interact and collaborate with other artists in unpredictable ways, then they want to talk to you! You Are Here are looking for both event ideas and artists. Introduce yourselves to the gang by emailing festival@ youareherecanberra.com. au or just tip organisers off as to which local creative communities you think they should know about. Call out closes 31 October 2014. More info at youareherecanberra. com.au

INHOSPITABLE BASTERDS Most of us have had experience working in the hospitality industry and therefore understand the irony of having to serve with a smile when you’re not feeling particularly hospitable, not to mention suffering from a continuing case of FOMO as you see everyone else having a great time while you clean up their gross detritus. The folk at QT Hotels hope to quell this bitter tsunami of disenchanted waiters by hosting a series of Hospitality Industry Party nights (otherwise known as HIP: what a serendipitous acronym!). They’re conveniently held on a Monday night, giving bartenders, floor staff and kitchen staff a chance to get together and bitch about the tip you didn’t leave. However, HIP is a lot more than this. QT Canberra’s Food and Beverage Manager, Tarn Morrow, is also hoping to promote the local industry and use it as an opportunity to push the food and wine scene forward. “This is important for us. We really

Media

ROCK PHOTOGRAPHY: BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE

NATIONAL BANDANNA DAY: OR DRESS LIKE SEBASTIAN BACH DAY

If you’ve ever been at a gig looking longingly toward the photographer pit and thought you could give it a shot (oh the humanity) then the Rock The Light photo workshop might be your in. Award winning photographers Mark Turner (markturnerimages.com) and Matt Allan (silkimagery.com) take you though what you need to know to make your mark in the industry. Join the guys at The Abbey for a full day of enlightenment, fun, knowledge and experience to get you started. Five informationpacked sessions will cover: • Camera settings • Camera and lens equipment

• Venues • Lighting • Post Production The event includes a chefprepared dinner as well as a networking session with local industry experts. The first 15 people who purchase the Pit Pass level access get all the above plus the experience of photographing three live acts in real life conditions and get to work to a magazine’s brief like you would in real life. Your work will be reviewed, feedback given and a winner will be selected by Matt, Mark and international Rock Photographer, Matthias Hombauer as well as published in print and online. The event is on Sunday October 26 at The Abbey, Gold Creek, Canberra.1.30pm – 9.00pm – Dinner included. Tuition Pass $190 + booking fee, Pit Pass $250 + booking fee. More info at facebook.com/ events/747263415320254/

I’m not sure anyone can really rock a bandanna. The folk at Canteen don’t care that you look like a member of an ‘80s cockrock band, they just want you to wear one as part of a huge fundraising campaign to fight cancer. You can get involved by selling bandannas, having a tea party or daring someone to do something brave. I’m gearing up to ask Bossman Allan Sko to let me have control of the office CD player for an entire week, thus giving my ears respite from that relaxing genre known as ‘drum and bass’. More info via canteen.org.au. Like the spokes in a neon bicycle, these are the Days of Our Hipsters.

KNOWING WHERE YOU ARE AT ALL TIMES

see the Canberra hospitality scene as a united team that is working across hundreds of venues to provide the very best for Canberra. The recent Australian Hotels Association Awards and the Good Food Awards have shown that Canberra can compete with the very best from Sydney and Melbourne, and HIP Night is simply a celebration of this fact. The launch event is sure to bring back the spirit of the glory days of the Bobby McGee’s industry nights in the mid-to late ‘90s. There was simply no other place back then,” says Morrow. “While Lucky’s provides a more sophisticated venue than Bobby’s was back in the day, we are bringing back that sense of community and cohesion. HIP Night is a night where everyone in the room has something to share.” Ahh Bobby’s. That place you were dragged to after work and hope nobody ever saw you. The event will be kicking off on Monday October 13 at Lucky’s. More info at qtcanberra.com.au

• Accreditation • Shooting for a publication • Pit Etiquette • Shooting Styles • What to pack • Social

@bmamag

FROM THE BOSSMAN Fullly [sic] “What does YA mean?” Editor Tatjana asked me recently. I pondered awhile, gathered some context (it was being used in this issue’s film column blurb) before retorting… “Oh right, that means Young Adult, as in young adult fiction.” As a man of an age with a foot firmly entrenched in the Old Ways of writing and pronunciation, I tend not to use abbreviation in speech all that often. Conversational acronyms are useful in placing someone’s age. Much like cutting a tree trunk and counting the rings, you can discover precisely how old someone is based on their acronyms knowledge (Do you know what LOL means? No? Then you’re 62). We took pains in debating whether we should put a (Young Adult) parenthesis explainer after the YA. You are often caught between such rock-and-hardplace scenarios in the world of publishing. To not include it may leave some confused. By putting it in we leave ourselves open to ‘DUHs!’ from the streetwise acronym cognoscenti. Another such tricky beast is whether to use a [sic]* when quoting someone else’s error. Not using [sic] means readers would assume you had been the one to make the mistake, whereas using it makes you look like some sniveling grammar Nazi egregiously pointing out another’s error like a devout practitioner of schadenfreude.

YOU PISSED ME OFF! Care to immortalise your hatred in print? Send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and see your malicious bile circulated to thousands. [All entries contain original spellings.] To the ACT Government, or whoever, who decided that ripping up Bunda Street just as we finally get some warm weather was a good idea. I’m all for a shared space. I’m sure it’s only now that approvals came through and why wait another nine months. But ripping up the centre of town after businesses have suffered a brutal winter is harsh. AND it’s during Floriade, the one event the same people try and flog as a Canberra tourism landmark. Madness.

I was at Corroboree Park the other day and read with a heavy heart that the playground was to undergo rennovations. Here we go. We know what that means. The beautiful unique old fashioned METAL slide and swing set will be placed by some watered-down piece of plastic crapola. I’m all for keeping kids safe, but building slides that don’t even slide just kills the fun for everyone. Next there will be government-issued crash helmets and floaties issued at the entrance to every playground. Let the kids live a little.

But I digress. I’m not adverse to the occasion ironic uttering of an acronym, such as peeling a banana and shouting YOLO! But one set of letters I find myself using without any hint of sarcastic derision is FOMO. FOMO - for those of you 41 or above - means Fear of Missing Out. It’s a beauty. In four simple letters we sum up a complex human feeling. Who can’t identify with the plight of missing out? Even my two-year-old daughter gets it. Upon learning her elder sister was going with Mama to buy some more eye-rapingly bright shoes and she was to stay home with Dada... Ooooo-wee! The world has yet to find a measurement for the volume of protesting noise that followed. As a youth, my FOMO was raging. An impending New Year’s Eve was a nightmare; an explosive geyser of panic on the need to do The Absolutely Positively Bestest Bestest Thing EVA or else life was ruined for the next year. The idea of someone else having a better time than you was like a hole in the heart. But as tufts of hair started to sprout merrily from my ears and other amusing signs of aging occurred, my FOMO levels waned. Having kids certainly helped with that. Now, instead of the need to scale a 20ft main stage stripped to the waist, covered in month-old peanut butter, pilled to the eyeballs screaming, “I am a golden GOD!”, now simply avoiding my girls playing a spirited game of Who Can Hit Dada Harder in the Groin will suffice. You’ll still find me front-and-centre at many a concert busting out moves that make Seinfeld’s Elaine Benes look like Flashdance but the insatiable NEED to be where the action is at has subsided and I, for one, am a happier and more relaxed man for it. I have learned if you spend too much time desperately seeking, you can miss out on what’s right under your nose. And with that wank I would like to add another addition to the wonderful world of conversational acronyms… MOFFOMO. Missing Out For Fear of Missing Out. A phrase as poignant as it is grammatically awkward. You totes deffo need that in life. LOL ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com *If you weren’t aware, a [sic] is when you’re “quoting some other source mmaterial [sic]” and they’ve got something wrong.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

WHO: ARRESTER WHAT: EP LAUNCH WHEN: SAT OCT 11 WHERE: SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

WHO: THE TEA PARTY WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: FRI OCT 17 WHERE: ANU BAR

WHO: THE SUPERJESUS WHAT: ROCK WHEN: FRI OCT 17 WHERE: ANU BAR

WHO: SOUND SEARCH WHAT: COMPETITION WHEN: SUN OCT 19 WHERE: LA DE DA BAR

WHO: THE JAC WHAT: JAZZ WHEN: WED OCT 22 + THU OCT 23 WHERE: HIPPO CO + SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

WHO: THE LIVING END WHAT: PUNK WHEN: THU OCT 30 WHERE: ANU BAR

Rising from the ashes of experimental pop band Aleks & The Ramps and Potential Falcon, Arrester are a three piece indie rock band hailing from Melbourne. They’ve just released their debut EP, Life A Lonely Spell, full of jangly pop with a distinct 90s flavor. Listen close and you can spot influences such as Bluebottle Kiss, Buffalo Tom and Dinosaur Jr. Catch them on Saturday October 11 at Smith’s Alternative before they head back into the studio to record their EP number two. Support locals including folk titan Tom Woodward and bluesy singer songwriter Hayley Shone. $10 at the door. 7pm start. Tickets $39 +bf/$35 +bf avaliable from thestreet.org.au. 8.30pm “There’s nothing like touring Australia...the fans are unlike anywhere else on the planet. I can’t wait to share the Rock & Roll communion,” says Jeff Burrows, drummer for Canadian rockers The Tea Party. Good news for him (and fans alike) then – the band are returning to our shores this month. They’ll be touring to celebrate the release of their first studio album in ten years, The Ocean At The End. Catch The Tea Party as they swing by the ANU Bar on Friday October 17, with support from the recently reformed The Superjesus. Tickets are $81.46 +bf, available from ticketek. Doors at 7.30pm. After last year’s sold out reunion tour - their first shows in ten years, 90s rock wonders The Superjesus are back, baby. Their tour gathered much buzz and excitement from fans and critics alike, who feverishly raved about the band’s endless energy. Lead by the swaggering prowess of frontwoman Sarah McLeod, The Superjesus boast a string of rock anthems (including ‘Shut My Eyes’, ‘Gravity’, ‘Down Again’) and a solid reputation for powerful live shows. Catch them when they support Canadian rockers The Tea Party at ANU Bar on Friday October 17. Tickets are $81.46 +bf, available from ticketek. Doors at 7.30pm. Listen up, local troubadours! The Studio Sixty-Eight Sound Search is a singer-songwriter competition drenched in the frothy format of springtime’s SundaySessions. Hosted in the lofty heights of Belconnen’s favourite art-filled space (La De Da), the sessions will each feature six solo singer-songwriters crooning their way to riches and glory. Up for grabs is a fully produced single recorded at Canberra’s boutique recording facility, Studio Sixty-Eight followed by a dedicated single launch to be held at La De Da on Sunday 30 November. More info at facebook.com/studio68canberra. Free entry. Kicks off at 3pm. Have a double hit of New Zealand jazz ensemble The Jac as they play two Canberra shows this month. Sitting somewhere between a small combo and a full big band, the four horn, four rhythm instrumentation of The Jac is highly flexible, capable of both explosive power and also quiet intimacy. Since releasing debut album, Nerve, earlier last year, they’ve been busy touring. They’ll be playing standards and originals at Hippo Co (under the moniker JB5) Wednesday October 22 at 8.30pm. Catch them again on Thursday October 23 at Smith’s Alternative. $15/$10 at door. 8pm. Get ready to squish into the ANU bar and get all sweaty with punk rock legends The Living End in a rare intimate show as part of their three date NSW/ACT tour. The Melbourne boys are playing their first headliner shows since their massive Retrospective Tour in 2012 and Canberra has been lucky enough to score one of these exclusive dates. They’ve been a little quiet on the live scene of late, but they’re currently working on their seventh album to be released early next year. Tickets are $49.10 – nab one, quicksticks, from moshtix. Doors at 8pm.

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

rory mccartney With a mammoth 33-year career in their back pocket, Australian rock icons THE CHURCH continue to evolve, exploring new worlds of lush, atmospheric music. The band has a strong Canberra connection. Key members Peter Koppes and Steve Kilbey grew up here and played in their first outfit, Baby Grande, before moving to Sydney and forming The Church. BMA caught up with guitarist Peter Koppes in advance of the tour to launch The Church’s 25th album, Further/Deeper, to find out more about the record and what drives the band. In a band’s formative years they often evolve to a certain point and then plateau when they find a style with which they are comfortable. That has not been the case with The Church who, while a mature band, are still progressing their sound. Importantly, not only do albums bring their own characters but, explains Koppes, “Every song on a record is different from the others in style and genre, which is typical for our albums.”

to the forces of the music industry – operating away from the medium level, away from radio.” Koppes adds that the band’s enduring popularity is largely due to them never being massively commercial, although this has also resulted in them being under-appreciated. However, this seems to be of secondary importance to Koppes because, “as a musician, your greatest hope is that the people who know what they are talking about like it. We have patrons because it is a matter of self-respect to them that they help us and we don’t like to let them down by giving them crap.” Further/Deeper brings yet another leap and Koppes speaks enthusiastically of the influence of exPowderfinger guitarist Ian Haug, who joined the band in 2013, replacing Marty WillsonPiper. “Further/Deeper is more up-tempo and swings a lot more than our records have for a long time. There is a different relationship, guitar wise, between me and Ian and the music is more joyous. I don’t think The Church has ever swung before – you can tap your feet to this,” says Koppes. “It’s possibly made the band more accessible to audiences than before, without diluting the quality at all.”

As a musician, your greatest hope is that the people who know what they are talking about like it

Every two or three albums, the band ‘jumps’ in its stylistic development. Having a debut record that was just, as Koppes describes it, “a bunch of songs”, the sophomore was created as a true band effort, with the third LP being much more orchestrated. Later, Priest=Aura was influenced by the band’s drug use. After the they temporarily stopped making music due to internal disputes, the torch was carried by some members under the title The Refo:mation, before The Church restarted with Hologram of Baal involving yet another stylistic jump. The last release Untitled #23 brought about a very mature, jazzy style. As Koppes explains, it’s “not blues or Dixieland jazz, but jazzy in the sense of The Beatles or Jimi Hendrix with their complex harmonies. Neo-psychedelic progressive rock is about the best way to describe it.”

The Church has had its fair share of instability, with major line-up changes over the years, but it never formally broke up. Asked if it was the Kilbey-Koppes-Powles axis which kept the them together for so long, Koppes states that it was more the Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper bond which had been the key. He also reveals a lesser known feature of the band’s longevity. The Church has been able to pursue its own excellence in music due to a unique team of supporters which other bands can only dream about. “We have a lot of professionals in our infrastructure who are Church fans, including a litigation lawyer in the US and an accountant in Newcastle who provide their services for free,” reveals Koppes. “Then there’s a millionaire patron in Austin, Texas who paid for the recording process for this album. These people have been overwhelmed by our new record, so that’s a good reflection. We have been able to be very artistic and not kowtow

Koppes urges punters to listen to ‘Pride Before A Fall’, the advance or emphasis track from the new album, available on Soundcloud. “It’s a psych ballad, in the style of The Beatles, a piano driven song in the mould of ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Let it Be’ and ‘Imagine’, all jammed together,” he says. “It also has the same healing aspect, as we don’t do melodramatic ballads.” The record draws its name from lyrics from the track, which is in keeping with The Church’s overall manifesto of “being deep without a meaning” as a surrealist band. Asked about what drove song themes for the album, Koppes speaks highly of Kilbey’s songwriting talents. “Steve is a prolific artist who can write lyrics for two songs in a day. He doesn’t sit around dwelling on it – it just pours out of his very active imagination and he also loves words, as a bit of a poet.” Koppes admits the new album is a bit dark, compared to previous works, with the theme being given away by the opening words on track one ‘Sinister Bastard’. That being said, he explains that there are two songs that almost fit into the dance music genre. “One’s like a dark, dance pop song and the other is like gothic Euro-disco, with Dr Who undertones,” says Koppes. In keeping with other recent tours, The Church will play the album right through. “That’s how much we believe in this material,” says Koppes. “Without trying to force it down people’s throats.” The Church will start their new tour right here in Canberra, at the ANU Bar on Friday 24 October at 8PM. Tickets $52.50 + bf available through ticketek.

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

LOCALITY

They’ve been in hibernation for a while, due to members moving interstate or working on side projects, but Fun Machine will be returning with a vengeance at The RUC in Turner on Friday October 10 from 8pm. At the time of writing, supports and ticket details are yet to be announced, but one thing’s for sure: it will be loud, there will be glitter and you will have an absolute BLAST. You can keep track of updates by keeping an eye on their Facebook page: facebook.com/ funmachineband. There’s a lovely folky line-up coming to Smith’s Alternative on Wednesday October 8, with Dylan Hekimian, Alex and Joel and Darling Mermaid Darlings all set to take the stage. And what will it cost to get your ears tickled by the delightful sounds provided by these wonderful people? No more than $10, which is a very nice price for a very nice way to celebrate getting past the mid-point of the week – and it’s all thanks to Canberra Musicians Club. Did you miss the grand Glitoris debut back in March? Did you worry that you missed your chance and they were gone forever? Never fear! This powerhouse of feminist magnificence are returning to play at Transit Bar, Saturday October 18 from 8pm. They’ll be supported by Faux Faux Amis and Ell Bella, with 10% of proceeds going to Canberra Domestic Violence Crisis Centre. Tickets are a measly $12 and are an absolute bargain, going off the reports of their performance at You Are Here earlier in the year. The word is that future Glitoris gigs will be few and far between, so don’t miss this chance to see them in all their glory. There’s been a ton of Canberran releases pumped out over the last few weeks and now Silver Sun are joining that number, launching their second album Balance & Falling at Smith’s Alternative on Saturday 18 October. Doors open at 7pm, with Burrows as support. Tickets are $12 at the door. Burner Collective have also got a new release in the latest EP from Bottle Brush, No Man’s Sky. Opening track, ‘Ryder’ is a thrumming, pulsing tune that invokes images of running across desert planets and other incredible sci-fi movie scenes. It’s not particularly complex, but that’s not a bad thing. Check out this comfortably enjoyable release for yourself at burnercollective.bandcamp.com/album/no-mans-sky.Citizen Kay has also dropped ‘Freedoom’ and is already getting spins on triple j. It’s significantly more politically fuelled than the party anthems (‘Raise A Glass’) or relationship reflections (‘Manage’) that have made up his last few releases. Its sound is quite powerful, with lyrics demanding accountability from its audience, which is intriguing and thought-provoking. If you want to take a listen, you can find it at soundcloud.com/citizenkaytm. If you’re a local artist or band who’s got a gig coming up or a new track or album on the cusp of release, please feel free to get in touch. All genres are welcome! The only rules are that your gig has to have a local headliner or a majority of local bands bill. Just drop me a line at nonijdoll@gmail.com or tweet me @NoniDoll and let’s have a chat! NONI DOLL NONIJDOLL@GMAIL.COM @NONIDOLL

@bmamag

facebook.com/bmamagazine

GUS MCCUBBING Fans of music featuring both instruments and computer sounds will soon be able to set their meat hooks into two new releases from local acts RAUS and CRACKED ACTOR (pictured). Both artists are now working with the independent Canberra-based label hellosQuare, which will enjoy its tenth birthday next year. Since starting in then-teenager Shoeb Ahmad’s bedroom a decade ago, the label’s focus has shifted from indie guitar and electronic music to experimental electronica, sound art vision, improvised jazz and noise rock. Ahmad says he was drawn to the “distinctive approaches” to songwriting of both Cracked Actor and Raus, which he believes lead to “slightly skewed and intriguing” end products. While differing in sound, Sebastian Field of Cracked Actor and Rory Stenning, a.k.a Raus, share much in common: a penchant for their live music to stray from their recorded works, a workman-like attitude to recording and a polite willingness to laugh at my bad jokes.

leaving his house. “I don’t know if I was really ‘being an artist in Canberra’, I was just writing music in my bedroom. “I don’t know if you’d even call it ‘recording’, given that not much of it is acoustically recorded,” Stenning confesses. “Most of it is just bits of audio that I’ve chopped from wherever, which I’ve then arranged on a computer. “On the last track, ‘Odyssey’, which has some saxophone, I just pointed a microphone at Andrew [Fedorovich] and got him to play some stuff. That was probably the most normal instance of recording for the whole thing.”

I don’t know if I was really ‘being an artist in Canberra’, I was just writing music in my bedroom

Throughout this process, Stenning spent most of his time listening to Mark Pritchard and UK grime, which he calls “really heavy, repetitive and quite silly type of music.” While reluctant to admit to explicit influences within his music, Stenning reveals that conceptually LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip probably directed him to his “electro-popdance vibe”.

Following on from its debut album Solar Driftwood, released last year, Cracked Actor will soon be dropping the single ‘Hollywood’, the band’s first collaboration with hellosQuare. Tight-knit but complex, the single is a portent of things to come from the album Iconoclasts, which will be released in early 2015.

Currently on his first national tour, Stenning says his songs do change a little every time he performs live. On the road with drummer Luke “Yether” Keanan-Brown, Stenning has only been playing two tracks from LP, accompanied by a “bunch of other freeform jams.

When I ask him names of bands that have influenced him, Field says he hasn’t really been “actively” listening to anything lately, aside from Aphex Twin’s latest album Syro.

“We’ll have a bass line and some vague structure and we’ll just jam away for a bit,” Stenning explains. “We ran into way too many problems trying to deconstruct the tracks enough in a way to be able to play them.”

Field reflects that he was mainly addicted to IDM [‘intelligent dance music’] throughout his formative years. Having recently learned that Gareth Liddiard of The Drones likes to read four books at once during his song-writing process, I was intrigued to see if Field had any similar creative habits. Field explains that when the “germ” of a song is introducing itself to him, he “pretty much just stare[s] at a wall for hours on end, playing the same thing over and over again.” Yet Field is by no means a musician-drone. “I really appreciate the recording process,” Field says. “It’s the essence of being a musician. Others will say that it’s performance they appreciate best, but I think crafting the songs and the album can be likened to the painting of a picture - you create exactly what you want and, hopefully, the person who gets to listen to it appreciates it.” Raus’ Stenning is similarly no-nonsense. He says LP – his debut EP – was the culmination of two years spent writing music and rarely

In terms of living and working as an artist in Canberra, both Field and Stenning express the desire to take off and explore the world, while simultaneously showing an appreciation for the supportive hub provided by the capital city. Described as a “big, weird family” by Stenning, Field says Canberra’s music scene stands as a “supportive creative community.” Meanwhile, Ahmad says that that although the number of musicians playing in more than one group is “pretty insane”, it means that there’s always a “good number of bands born in people’s garages than can then play around town. “It will always ebb and flow due to the transient nature of Canberra’s population, but as long as the steady flow continues and younger generations think about working with us older folk and not superseding us, then things should travel smoothly.” Raus and Cracked Actor play Transit Bar on Thursday 9 October. 8pm. Entry is free!

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

THE REALNESS BRIGGS will be hitting the road for a national run of dates in support of his brand new album Sheplife, stopping by Transit Bar on Saturday October 25. Sheplife is the culmination of generations of observations, experiences and stories. The aggression is there but it’s tempered with a thoughtfulness that is always the separator between the good and great artists. Former Queanbeyan resident and current Triple J Hip Hop show host Hau will be a special guest on the night. Hau will be performing tracks of his recently released Footballs, Feats and Funerals mixtape. Other supports from Philly and Nix. It’s safe to say that not many would regard Washington

DC or DMV area as a mecca for hip hop culture. However, there is a very tight knit scene within these borders that has been constantly releasing dope music for as long as I can remember. One such group supporting this claim is the 1978ers, who have just dropped the single ‘One-Nine-7-T-8’ in preparation for their full length player People of Today. The 1979ers consist of MC yU and beatsmith Slimkat. Just in case you hadn’t figured it out, both members of the group were born in the year of 1978.yU is also a member of Diamond District, who recently released their second single Lost Cause from the groups upcoming album March On Washington. Diamond District consists of members Oddisee, Uptown XO and the aforementioned yU. Lost Cause is produced by Oddisee and features all members of the trio rhyming some of their most impassioned bars to date. The three emcees bring wildly different styles to the track and offer listeners something very fresh. Like brothers who’ve gone down different paths, yU, Oddisee and Uptown XO all started in DC and have grown into their own unique solo careers. Diamond District brings them together again as a testament to both their perfect chemistry and their uniqueness as individual elements in the musical world. Grammy award-winning, legendary producer Diamond D of the historical Diggin’ In the Crates (D.I.T.C.) collective returns with a brand new, star-studded compilation titled The Diam Piece. The album features the likes of Pete Rock, Talib Kweli, Skyzoo, Rapsody, Hi-Tek, A.G., FAT JOE, Alchemist, Pharaohe Monch, Black Rob, ELZHI, Kurupt, Ras Kass, Scram Jones, Guilty Simpson, Tha Alkaholiks, Nottz and more. This is Diamond’s first production compilation album and is produced entirely by himself, except for the bonus track ‘Superman’ produced by DJ Scratch. No watered-down hip hop, just an MPC 3000, a Yamaha Motif ES8, an intricate selection of samples and mic skills. Hopefully you all enjoyed Cassette Store Day a couple of Saturday’s ago. There were some very dope releases floating around out there, but definitely the highlights were the offering available from Stones Throw Records. Titles consisted of Madlib and MF DOOM’s Madvillian collaboration, J Dilla’s Donuts, Guilty Simpson with the The Simpson Tape and lastly but definitely not least, Ras G with Raw Fruit Vol 3. Congratulations if you have these in your collections – if not, good luck getting yourself a copy! BERT POLE bertpole@hotmail.com

@bmamag

CHIENG GANG ian mccarthy “Hey fellas, hey guys, have you ever gotten in trouble with your girl over some shit Kanye West said in a song once?” These were the first words I ever heard out of the mouth of Ronny Chieng and I was immediately hooked. With his sharp observations and charmingly smug delivery, Chieng is easily one of the strongest new comedians on the Australian circuit. I recently had the chance to chat with Chieng who spoke about his stand up and the struggles of writing good, original comedy. One of Chieng’s signature trademarks is his intriguing stage persona, which is probably best described as a sort of endearing arrogance. He is made even more distinguishable by his ability to move past stereotypes. Chieng is a Singapore native who moved to Australia only ten years ago to study. However, instead of forming his material around the stigmas that may be attached to his geographic origin, Chieng often opts to talk about more universal observations and pop culture references.

I’m a really down to earth guy, but I’m getting pretty famous

Speaking about this point of difference, Chieng says, “I don’t do racial stuff for the sake of it. If I have something funny that mentions race so be it, but I don’t want to go there just because it’s easy...I think easy jokes, like about race, they’re still funny but it’s just stuff that anybody on the street could have thought of…so if you’re a professional comedian, you should be coming up with stuff that no one else could have thought of.” Chieng jokes in his stand up, “I’m a really down to earth guy, but I’m getting pretty famous.” Through his apparent skyrocket to popularity, along with appearances on triple j and countless Australian television shows, Chieng is quickly becoming a highly recognisable Australian figure, making it easy to forget how relatively fresh he still is to the game. As little as three years ago he would mention how daunting he found the idea of ever having to write more than fifteen minutes of comedy at a time. Since then, he’s written two separate hour-long shows. Speaking about his hesitance in retrospect, Chieng says, “The first time I put together an hour I was like ‘there’s no way I can do it,’ and then I did. And then the second time, same thing, ‘How am I gonna write an hour?’ [Now] this is the third hour and I still wonder how to do it but... writing a new hour is just something you’ve got to do, for me.” He laughs, adding, “I still don’t know how to do it, though.” Ronny Chieng will be stopping by Zierholz @ UC on Thursday October 23 as part of his Chieng Reaction tour. Tickets are $32.65 or $25.50 concession through Oztix

facebook.com/bmamagazine

DANCE THE DROP

I haven’t the slightest idea where things are headed. I’m Christopher McCandless lying on his back and staring up at the stars in Alaska. I know where things are and where they used to be, but the future is muddy and uncertain. Staring deep into the heart of the opaque clubbing crystal ball, it is hard to see your inky nightclub stamp in front of your face. Dance music is less revolution and more recognition – we are revisiting what has already been done, albeit with a sprinkling of modern oomph to season the meat of it all. The past few years

have spawned a glorious resurgence in house music, but house is the bedrock of electronic music, it is the warm motherly embrace that children return to when things get too rough in the real world. Trance, in its purest form has been liquidated by EDM. So much heavy sound has been shovelled on top of the genre that im surprised it doesn’t fall out of the air like a brick. It is possible that the thousands of shirtless bro’s packing in front of the main stage at an American music festival have their hands in the air just so they can shoulder the weight of the obese audio pushing down on them like a collapsing roof. When will the trend of recycling end? Maybe the best way to predict the future of electronic music is to scribble old genres on ping pong balls and pull them two by two out of lottery blower. ‘Ok we have breakbeat and minimal techno – someone call Calvin Harris and tell him how to construct his new album’. The industry has become so focused on owning a Beverly Hills mansion that it has lost its innovative spirit. A handful of hard working trailblazers who have achieved success are followed by hundreds of greedy imitators. Don’t be afraid to say no to conformity. Search far and wide for something which grabs you by the genitals, slaps you in the face with a wet fish and screams ‘YES!’, for you are the fishy faced future of dance music – go forth and create. Revelry Entertainment Canberra is our cities newest production team. They have taken over as mainstays at Trinity Bar and their first party on Friday 10th October is headlined by our favourite acronym, LDRU. Let’s all make them feel welcome shall we! This may confuse some people but Acaddemy is appearing at Tongue and Groove on Saturday 11th October. It sounds like the old cinema building is bursting forth from its foundations, and dragging itself across the road to play a DJ set - but it’s not. The Ministry of Sound House Sessions Tour is coming to TnG, featuring one of Sydney’s favourite young rising stars, Acaddemy. This boy is good, so strap on your most shiny shoes and get on down. I only have a short time left to talk about new music, so let’s get on with it. Crookers have returned from a hiatus with a sure fire banger called Picture this. Armand Van Helden is also back with a stellar house mix of Sam Smith – Im not the only one. Canberra boy Magnifik has turned out a gem of a package for his latest record Float (The Essess mix is my pick) and Walden blows up your eardrums with another original called Xaya. Enjoy!

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

@bmamag

cody atkinson It seems like a near annual occurrence – Radiohead are silent for about a year, then make a concerted push over a two-week period to grab everyone’s attention. This year’s effort started innocuously with the rumour that they were writing a new album. By the end of the week they had played the indie hype machine to perfection. For a band that started up over a quarter of a century ago, few are better at getting publicity in an increasingly digital age. You could even say that they were at “Peak Radiohead”. Cody Atkinson questions the week that Radiohead. I mean “was”. Is it really a shock that Radiohead gets media coverage? Of course the most critically acclaimed band of their era is going to receive media coverage for any major announcement that they make. It would be a little absurd if they didn’t. It’s more the manner in which they have gained the attention of the hype machine. OK, what kicked it all off? On Monday Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich (the band’s long time producer and member of Yorke’s Atoms for Peace) shared a photo of a mysterious white record on Tumblr, setting the music press frothing at the mouth at the potential for a new record.

Ah cool, you did that currency conversion thing like they do in a real newspaper. Sweet! Yeah, if this column stands for anything, it’s correct currency conversion. Probably should find something better to stand for... BACK TO THE COLUMN. Have people been receptive? So far in the first three days over 400,000 people have downloaded part or all of Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes but it’s unknown how many people have just downloaded the free tracks. But over 3,000 people seemingly thought that the $6.84 price is too high and have decided to illegally torrent the album for free instead of legally torrenting the album for pay.

Thom Yorke tried to change the paradigm of music delivery

Oooh, shiny new mysterious thing. What happened next? Tuesday had Jonny Greenwood announce that he will debut some of his solo classical work in Manchester, and Phillip Selway did interviews for his second solo album. Waaaaaaaaaaaait, who’s Phillip Selway? He’s the drummer, and apparently on the side he does melancholy folk music. The more you know. I still don’t believe that a “Phillip Selway” is a member of Radiohead, but what happened next? Sometime over this period, a photo was taken on twitter which may be alternative music’s version of The Last Disciple. The photo concerns a certain Nick Cave and Jonny Greenwood: https://twitter.com/huntingowls/status/514523462631567360 I mean, everything about the photo is perfect. From Nick Cave looking like the Fonz minus the motorcycle, to Jonny Greenwood wearing a backpack for reasons unknown, to everyone standing around them giving zero fucks, to the slightly blurry nature of the picture itself. It’s visual proof why indie music both matters and doesn’t matter in 2014. A Pulitizer for the photographer, or at least a free round. And then? Then Thom Yorke eventually announced what the “secret white vinyl” was; namely his new album. Along with the vinyl version, Yorke has also announced the release of the new album via the relatively untested method of paid BitTorrent. Paid BitTorrent? Surely that’s an oxymoron? It was until, like, last week. Yorke’s album, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, is the first album bundle to use BitTorrent’s pay-gate feature. Yorke and Godrich

facebook.com/bmamagazine

went on to draft a press release stating their intent was to see if the general public was receptive to buying an album in such a manner. According to the press release, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes bypasses the self elected gate-keepers and no one else takes a cut from the sales of the album. The price is also quite low, at only $6 USD ($6.84 AUD).

Right... Wait, hasn’t Thom Yorke done something like this before? Well, Radiohead has, if that’s what you were thinking.

Probably so. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Yorke has tried this type of alternative release strategy, with the 2009 Radiohead album In Rainbows made available online as a “pay-what-you-want” purchase. Back to Peak Radiohead now. But that’s just a big week for them, but nothing over-the-top... And during the week Radiohead dropped the nugget that they were two days into recording their new album thus dropping the music press into a tizz even though they had repeatedly announced over the last year that they were recording in September. So to recap – two members of Radiohead released solo albums, archival material was released by the band, tours for band members’ solo projects were announced and the band started recording their new album. And Thom Yorke tried to change the paradigm of music delivery, shifting the profitability back in favour of the recording artists to the detriment of the middlemen. Right, and that. But is that really Radiohead courting attention deliberately or just the hype machine looking to fill content with whatever they can get their hands on in order to keep reader eyeballs on their pages? Probably the latter there. It’s much easier to believe that the music press knows that anything with some combination of “Radiohead”, “Thom Yorke”, “secret”, “new album”, “purple monkey dishwasher”, “tour” and “unique” will get all the readers. Without getting all “conspiracy theory” on you, clicks and circulation drive advertising prices and Radiohead is an easy way to help drive those things. I mean you’re reading this now, aren’t you?

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, Overdoze and Inedia, Sydney’s Nerdlinger, THRASHED, KANG and The Great Awake and locals Revellers and No Assumption. More details for this one are coming soon. Oh hey, didn’t see you there. I was a bit too busy spewing due to the possibly permanent hangover I’ve developed from all of the ridiculously cool punk shows happening. And it’s not even close to stopping. I reckon by the end of this summer my diet will consist entirely of bacon and egg rolls and Beroccas. Also music, except music isn’t really edible. At least I don’t think it is, but the kids are up to some pretty crazy stuff these days. I’m gonna go toil with this idea for a bit while you read about these shows.

In what may well end up being the punk event of the year, the first annual Gingerfest is coming up 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 on sale now for just $27.50 +bf through www.factorytheatre. com.au, with all proceeds going toward Vision Australia.

On Friday October 17 you can catch Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt (great band name) from the Central Coast along with Sydney’s JXCKXLZ on a co-headline tour at the Magpies City Club. They’ll be supported by locals Blight Worms, Lost Coast and Foreign Kings for a slick $10 door charge.

The beloved Haircuts & T-shirts radio show is moving from its home at 2XX into a cosier arrangement. You can now catch them online at PunkRockRadio streaming Tuesdays from 10:30pm, still sporting the best music and news from local, interstate and international punk and hardcore artists.

Sydney’s Yes, I’m Leaving will be launching their new album Slow Release at The Phoenix on Saturday October 25. They will be joined by Canberra locals New Age Group and Nature Kids for a mere $5 door charge.

Just an update, I’m still not sure how the whole eating music thing would work. I suppose you could try eating physical CDs or whatever but that would probably hurt. Plus, what about all the digital music that’s out there? Come back next issue where I’ll probably pretend this conversation never happened.

A bunch of tight interstate bands will be headed to the Magpies City Club on Friday October 31. Catch Shepparton’s Inedia, Melbourne’s Kill Dirty Youth, Sydney’s Ebolagoldfish, Sydney/Canberra/ Goulburn’s Rather Be Dead and Sydney’s Speedball.

IAN McCARTHY

@bmamag

METALISE Looking Glass had a great show with Conan a few weeks back and put on display some absolutely crushing new material that they’ll be recording in the next few weeks. If you missed that show want to get a preview of the new stuff, there are a couple of shows this month to live test the new stuff. On Monday October 13 at the Phoenix is a chow with Teen Skank Parade, Foreign Kings and comedian Hamish Hudson. On the Friday October 24 the boys are play at the rekindled Basement with Bent Hen and former Hoodlum Shouts bass player Luke Robert’s new band Agency. Get along cause the new stuff is serious killer.

The Gorguts tour is only a few weeks away now and the local supports have been added to the already welcome inclusion of Australia’s premiere extreme metal band (in my opinion anyway), Queensland’s Portal. Fellow Queenslanders Disentomb released a very well received record Sunken Chambers of Nephalim back in 2010 and have a new album entitled Misery that they will be bringing on the road for the show at the Newtown Social Club on Saturday November 15. The band has a new track from the record up on YouTube entitled Vultures Descend that no doubt will be brutal. I mentioned the Unify festival early next year in rural Victoria. If you were thinking of getting a ticket I’m sorry – it sold out in three hours. I reckon we may have a new home grown festival with some legs on the boil. Lets see how they run the event logistically first, but if it goes well it might have some legs. JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

The Basement has some great shows this fortnight. On the Friday October 17 is Inebriator, Reign Of Terror and Rise with doors at 8pm for ten bucks. Saturday October 18 is Avarin’s CD launch show with Taliesin, Steelswarm and Despite Eviction. On the Tuesday October 21 Comeback Kid, Rotting Out and Relentless are on. Aversions Crown announced a national tour with Molotov Solution and they’ll be at the Basement on Thursday November 13. For those needing some neo classical shred in their lives, he of the puffiest pirate shirt, the most scalloped of fretboards and the super Swede Yngwie J Malmsteen announced a tour for early next year with a show at the Metro Theatre on Friday February 6, announced a couple of weeks back. Budding guitar fiends put a ticket on your Santa wish list. Confession released their fourth record Life & Death earlier this year and are on tour this month round the traps and hit the Magpies in town on Wednesday October 22. The show is a licenced all ages show with Prepared Like A Bride and Grave. The 2008 documentary on Canadian band Anvil is a cracking feel good ode to persistence. The band have been pretty much touring solid and releasing two new albums and a compilation since the movie came out. Lips, Robb and co are heading out for, I think, their third visit to Australia since the movie and are in Sydney on the Sunday November 9 at the Hi Fi.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

E X H I B I T I O N I S T Image credit: lORNA sIM

ARTS | ACT

FINDING YOU ZOE PLEASANTS The inspiration for local playwright, Cathy Petocz’s debut play WHERE I END & YOU BEGIN came from a curious experience she had involving her ex-boyfriend’s laugh. Shortly after they broke up, “I sort of, as anyone does, wanted to be away from him and I found myself laughing in a way that wasn’t my own laugh and I recognised his laugh coming out of my mouth!” This got Petocz thinking – she started to see people as a mishmash of everyone they had ever met, loved and hated. And she wondered, what if we could carefully peel off all of these other people, would we find our pure-self underneath? This search is at the heart of her play which features two Raymond Chandler-esque private detectives trying to crack missing person cases and can be seen at The Street Theatre this October. Not only does this play have an intriguing premise but it also has an interesting structure. The stories of the two private detectives are separate plays performed at the same time, “sometimes over the top of each other, sharing the same physical

space.” Petocz, who is also a musician, wrote the play on paper in two columns, side-by-side. “It was like scoring orchestral music because sometimes the dialogue in one play would be a solo instrument and the dialogue in the other would be quite repetitive and lower interest in terms of the focus,” she says. “Sometimes the dialogues would be a duet, sometimes in unison, sometimes echoing. So the sound of the dialogue is a strong feature of the work.” This is a challenging work for the actors and Petocz is quick to acknowledge the skill of director, Caroline Stacey. “I’m lucky to have Caroline Stacey directing it,” says Petocz. “She’s very decisive and she also has this great sensibility for the musical quality of it because she usually directs operas.” During the rehearsal process Petocz had the opportunity of working with the actors and re-writing the script before finally handing it over to Stacey. “Everyone keeps asking me, ‘Are you nervous?’ I’m not, I’m excited … theatre is collaborative and I trust the director, I trust the actors and designers and I feel that I’ve worked the text to the extent that what I want is in the text,” she says. While I like the idea of using a private detective to find myself, for others such a search would not appeal. I ask Petocz about this and she agrees. “It is a painful process finding yourself,” she says, “In fact one of the central characters, Polly, private detective she is relentlessly searching for herself and at one point she kind of stops and is afraid and thinks what am I going to find? And when I find it is it going to be something totally unexpected and will I want to know this person? So it’s all there, it’s all in the play.” Where I End & You Begin runs from Saturday-Sunday October 18-26 at The Street Theatre. Tickets $30 +bf, with dinner and show packages avaliable from the venue

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

After a bout of glandular fever at 15, Chambers experienced an episode of depression so crippling she saw no other option than to take her own life. Fortunately the only pills she got hold of at the time were antibiotics, which meant she wasn’t successful in her attempt, but did end up in the emergency room. “The doctor sat me down and told me I had clinical depression and I didn’t really understand what that meant,” recalls Chambers. “Being a teenager is a fairly rugged time anyway and I assumed that like any illness it could be fixed.”

EXCESS BAGGAGE tatjana clancy The notion that you can’t run away from your troubles is a cliché for a reason but Kristy Chambers, the author of IT’S NOT YOU, GEOGRAPHY, IT’S ME, has spent a large chunk of her life testing that theory anyway.

Chambers went on to study nursing, experiencing the highs and lows of looking after terminally ill patients amidst her own struggles with mental illness. After trying a myriad of treatment options, the right dose of medication smoothed out the edges enough for her to consider travel. The story traverses Asia, Europe, the United States and South America, with all the usual travelling mishaps coexisting with an often private world of anxiety and depression. Concurrent protozoan (look it up) in Mexico City and a massage with unintended benefits in Vietnam makes for great dinner party stories, but New York saw a period of anxiety so intense for Chambers she had to cut her trip short and head home to the cocoon of her regular life. It seemed that one of the hardest parts was the difficulty in telling her travelling companion, Renae, her reason for leaving. “She knew I was struggling but didn’t know how to help,” says Chambers. “If it had been a broken leg it would have felt easier to say why I couldn’t continue our holiday, but depression is so much harder to communicate.” Between trips, Chambers continued nursing, finding herself working with drug and alcohol addicted patients, a section of the community she admits she related to by virtue of having self-medicated with alcohol in the past. “I knew that could have been me, so it forced me to look at the ways I had been using alcohol to cope. It’s why I enjoyed that work for a long while because I could empathise with the patient.” In Stephen Fry’s documentary The Secret Life of The Manic Depressive he conducts a straw poll of his interviewees with the question, “Would you ever give up your mental illness?” Chambers, thankfully, isn’t offended. “It’s funny you ask that – my mother read the book and said, ‘Well, after all you’ve been through, look what you got out of it! A book!’” Finally, what are the ultimate travel tips she can pass on for when things are not so hilarious? “Sleep, enough medication and money. You always need to know that sanity is only a plane ride home.”

IT’S NOT YOU GEOGRAPHY, IT’S ME by Kristy Chambers is out now via University of Queensland Press

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

UNINHIBITED There’s no chance that I could live without it. If I go deaf I’ll really be in trouble. It’s what makes a day worth living. Music. Ever since I was a snotty North Shore boy catching buses and trains to a posh Sydney school I’ve been obsessed with the bloody stuff. I’ve never understood people who don’t like music, or just listen to ‘whatever’. How could you not engage with these sounds of the human kind? How could you not have an opinion on something as important as this? It’s a prosaic challenge, banal even, but there is something to be said for pitching music (so to speak) against, say, literature, just to see if sparks will fly. Music, to my mind, is a gut response: it gets you in the belly and the crotch, and it does it immediately. But this isn’t technically true. Some music takes a while to become a part of us. Faith by The Cure did that to me when some decades ago I moped about trying to convince all and sundry that life wasn’t worth living. So did The Queen is Dead by The Smiths and DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing… PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake gets my synapses firing even though I don’t care for England or war. There’ll be more truly great albums over the coming decades, for which I’ll be eternally grateful – my list of absolute favourites will keep growing.

amongst meanings; complexities bouncing off each other; the tiniest of details becoming almost everything – a blinding shiver of light. Like the best music, the best literature says, Things are not what they seem. Music is a hand that says, Don’t just sit there, get up, move, move anyway you like, anyway you need, just move – we don’t have to call it a dance, just get your blood and bones shifting to the beat and the melody and all that’s in between. But literature is a hand that says, Come here, sit down, there are some questions that need asking, some adventures that we need to go on together, there are things beneath the surface we need to find, we must put the puzzle together in new and sometimes baffling shapes, but let’s do this – we will be better, the world will be bigger. Literature is a light in the darkness, a glow over the horizon, but it’s also the darkness itself, it’s the other side. There might be answers, truths even, but we might also be left wondering, What the fuck was that? But don’t worry. Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient does all this to me and more, as does Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain. Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave. The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna. Very recently I finished reading The Snow Kimono, the first literary novel in 25 years from the ACT’s Mark Henshaw and I know that among those pages is everything I want in life: horror and beauty. For what is life if not horror and beauty? If I go blind, and cannot read, I’ll be truly lost. nigel featherstone

If music – excellent music – demands an emotional response, literature is a different beast altogether. Mostly. Like a classic album, a classic novel is a multi-layered proposition: meanings

@bmamag

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

ARTISTPROFILE: Melinda Heal

What do you do? I make dyed-textiles that depict Australian birds and flora using the Japanese textile techniques katazome and yuzen. When, how and why did you get into it? I went on exchange to Kyoto Seika University in 2008 during my degree at ANU and found I really enjoyed the hands-on processes of Japanese dyeing. Since then, I graduated from ANU, spent some time working but then quit and went back to Kyoto to undertake a Master’s Degree in Japanese Textiles. Who or what influences you as an artist? I love the natural environment we are surrounded with in Australia. We have amazing birds, plants, colours and forms all around us. I’m always thinking about how I could incorporate them into an artwork. Of what are you proudest so far? I’m most proud of spending four years living and surviving in Japan whilst working on completing my Master’s Degree, almost entirely in Japanese! Of what are you proudest so far? ? I’m most proud of spending four years living and surviving in Japan whilst working on completing my Master’s Degree, almost entirely in Japanese! What are your plans for the future? To graduate from Masters and come back to Canberra to setup a studio space where I can make textiles, drink coffee and sing loudly. What makes you laugh? Aussie humour.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

What pisses you off? Art-wank. People who rely on pretentious artspeak to promote their art and make themselves look important. It would be nice if those in the visual arts could be a little more down to earth. There’s nothing to be gained from alienating people. What about the local scene would you change? Not sure, I think Canberra has a great art community that’s very generous and friendly. Upcoming exhibitions? I’ve just exhibited my textile work with fellow Canberra artist and ANU Alumni Amy Kerr-Menz (moyou.com. au) at ANU School of Art and the next exhibition in Canberra will probably be August next year. See my website for updates! Contact Info: somerutextiles@gmail.com, so-meru.blogspot.com, so-meru.com

PARTICLE FEVER

DIOR AND I

This is a documentary about the Large Hadron Collider, and it’s completely and utterly fascinating. Unlike the documentaries about atoms and particles you were undoubtedly forced to watch by cantankerous science teachers back in the day, on faulty VCR players, this film makes physics awesome.

Dior and I is a film about fashion, but that doesn’t mean it had to be superficial.

This film follows six brilliant scientists over a number of years, in the lead-up to the launch of the Large Hadron Collider – the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, designed to find out what was inside of atoms. Or what was inside of the stuff already inside of atoms. Okay, look – the science may have gone over my head a little bit – but the themes of the film did not. This is a story about the people behind the machine, as they struggle with technical setbacks, professional catastrophes, and the question of whether humans will ever know why we exist. Directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker, Particle Fever deftly and simply explains the science – and will leave you wondering how physicists sleep at night. The universe in a vast and mind-boggling and slightly terrifying thing. Particle Fever is never dull, and that may be because at the core of the film is the Higgs boson – a particle which potentially explains the origins of all matter. This documentary has the suspense of a thriller, and raises the metaphysical questions of a Terrence Malik film. It is informative and exciting and – most impressively – inspiring.

The solo directorial debut from Frédéric Tcheng, Dior and I investigates a pretty significant event in the fashion world. When Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons was hired to replace John Galliano at iconic fashion house Dior, he had only eight weeks (as opposed to five months) to pull together his first haute couture collection. Tcheng got his cameras in behind the scenes, and was able to film everything. The tensions between personalities at Dior, the development of creative vision to creation, and the real heroes of the show – the artisans working behind the scenes to help the designer craft his dream dresses. There is so much material here that should have made for compelling viewing. Unfortunately, it falls flat. The disputes and personality clashes between Simons and others at the house feel unemotional; Simons’ creative process is talked about, but we never really get a look inside his head; and despite the frantic pace with which the team at Dior were trying to create dresses, that tension never really translates onto film. The film doesn’t really pick up until the last quarter, when the suspense leading up to the show finally stars to feel actually, you know, suspenseful. The last ten minutes of the movie are masterful, edge-ofyour-seat viewing – it’s a pity there wasn’t more like it. MELISSA WELLHAM

melissa wellham

@bmamag

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

In just one of the countless ways in which I continually widen the gap between my intellect and yours, I am currently refreshing my familiarity with the Persian Empire and the myriad alliances forged and kerfuffles fought over a couple of hundred years from approximately 550BC. Alliances are unusual things. Formed for mutual benefit, these unions often contain ulterior motives which will trump any collaboration once the onetime ally’s usefulness is surpassed by the benefits of their removal. During their heyday, the Persians proved adept at striking a balance between charitable assimilation and the callous eradication of wouldbe subjects, bucking the trend of unwavering oppression to appease citizens and produce a more productive society than could be achieved with wave after wave of wronged slaves and mouldering corpses.

Alliances and collaborations, while often fleeting in nature and suspect in construction, are capable of social good. Therefore, allegiances which at face value appear jarring should nevertheless be given time to prove their worth. It is in this spirit that I announce my newest business venture with the good people of Chicken Gourmet. Their delightful barnyard produce, which quite often has never even seen a barnyard, is the perfect way to round off a wasted evening in the local hostelry lamenting your pitiful life. The sheer volume of hormones ingested via our suspect poultry hand snacks will be more than enough to alter your brain chemistry and turn your thoughts from the fact that your very atomic composition is a sorry waste of the cosmos’ constituent parts. As if that weren’t motivation enough, find one of Monsieur Guetta’s fingers in your Crispy Chicken Picnic Pack this weekend and receive a $6 voucher! gideon foxington-smythe

It was this realisation which played a large part in enabling the Persians to not only forge the greatest empire ever seen (up to that point, pedants), but to manage a territory which spanned the great and ongoing cultural divide between East and West – a dilemma with which civilisation continues to struggle. Nowadays, similar alliances between ostensibly opposed authorities seem increasingly prevalent, from terrorist threats thawing the frosty diplomatic dealings between rival nations, to meddling migrants and their absurd hopes of a better life leading to prosperous nations abdicating their responsibilities to the ill-equipped. Many obstacles can be more easily overcome as part of an alliance, and cooperation has arguably produced more things of which to be proud than competition, which, while capable of great drama and achievement, often leads to the ruination of its participants. By way of illustration ‘Maneater’ by Hall and Oates is a tremendous ditty in the finest dance hall traditions, achieved through collaboration. Compare this to any ‘versus’ remix involving David Guetta and you will immediately see my point. Incidentally, Monsieur Guetta is a man of such intangible and yet acclaimed worth that I have issued a warrant demanding the delivery of three fingers of his right hand just to prove he exists.

facebook.com/bmamagazine

bit PARTS FOURPLAY WHAT: Rock and roll string section WHEN: Sat Oct 11 WHERE: Street Theatre Fresh from stunning audiences at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Barbican Centre, Sydney’s FourPlay are back in the country to tour their new album. The string quartet with a rock n roll edge, FourPlay cut their teeth by performing covers of diverse acts includes Radiohead, Robert Johnson, Rage Against The Machine and Leonard Cohen. Their first full-length album of entirely original material, This Machine, pushes their talent for compositions in a different direction. You can hear their new tunes at The Street Theatre on Saturday October 11. Tickets $39 +bf/$35 +bf avaliable from thestreet.org.au. 8.30pm. LIVING GREEN FESTIVAL WHAT: Family festival WHEN: Sun Oct 12 WHERE: Albert Hall Sunday October 12 marks Living Green Festival’s fourth year showcasing fun, easy and practical ways to tread lightly on the planet. Taking over Albert Hall with over 80 exhibits and stalls, the familyfriendly festival boasts an array of “low carbon” cuisine, a dog café and free kids activities including rock climbing wall. There will also be workshops, yoga classes, food demonstrations and talks ranging from writing to rescuing wild animals throughout the day. Live music from MC Pony (Sydney),10th Man (Bathurst) and locals hip hop duo Coda Conduct and folk band The Burley Griffin. 10am - 4pm. Free entry. JOEL CREASEY WHAT: Comedy WHEN: Sat Oct 18 WHERE: Zierholz @ UC Hot on the heels from a string of sold-out shows in Canada and the USA, Joel ‘Acid Tongue Prince’ Creasey is back on home turf to tour his new comedy show, Rock God. The 23 year old comedian has quickly built up a cult following with his acutely intelligent observations, popculture expertise and acerbic style. He’s appearanced on TV shows such as The Project, All Stars Supershow and Tractor Monkeys. See what the fuss is all about for yourself when Creasey takes Rock God to Zierholz @ UC on Saturday October 18. Doors at 8pm. Tickets $35 +bf available from ticketek. CANBERRA ENVIRONMENT CENTRE FUNDRAISER WHAT: Charity do WHEN: Fri Oct 24 WHERE: Nishi Gallery The Canberra Environment Centre is pulling out all stops for their annual fundraiser this year, with top music and conversation. Cherished Melbourne singer-songwriter Dan Kelly will fill Nishi Gallery with his spacy psychedelic-pop gems, including new single ‘Melbourne VS Sydney’. And catch In Canberra Tonight/Fun Machine’s Chris Endrey in conversation with political cartoonist David Pope, ACT Greens member Shane Rattenbury and former director of Get Up, Simon Sheikh. There will be roving entertainers, lucky door prizes, charity auction and a complimentary cocktail on arrival. Kicks off 8pm until 11pm. Tickets $45 from ecoaction.com.au – but be quick, spaces limited.

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

the word

on albums

album of the issue Aphex Twin syro [Warp Heralded by a lime green blimp hanging in the sky over London and graffitied stencils in New York City, announced via deep web viewer ‘Tor’ and packaged in a receipt detailing the costs of production and publicity of the album itself, Syro is Aphex Twin’s (Richard D. James) long awaited return to the stage of IDM. Album opener ‘Minipops 67 [120.2] (source field mix)’, reminiscent of James’s last releases under his AFX and The Tuss monikers, is awash in wonky synths, stuttered drum patterns and human-yet-not-human vocals. A welcoming opener, it evolves through its four and a half minutes, barely allowing itself to repeat a phrase. Syro’s second track, the ten minute dance party ‘XMAS_EVET10 [120] (thanaton3 mix)’, modulates around the same themes satisfyingly, bouncing around with complex acid funk basslines and shuffling rhythms. A track that is known to be seven years old, Richard D. James gratifies fans no doubt salivating maws with its undulating sonic landscape. Syro’s low point comes in the album’s fifth track ‘180db_ [130]’, which dwells on a singular, non-tune like techno rave vibe, which could easily be omitted from Syro without damage being done. But fear not, all is quickly restored with cheeky danceable album highlights in sister tracks ‘CIRCLONT6A (syrobonkus mix)’ and ‘CIRCLONT14 (shrymoming

mix)’. Both measured and calculated, they’re somehow nostalgic of James’s revered record Hangable Auto Bulb (released under his AFX moniker). The possible title track ‘syro u473t8+e (piezoluminescence mix)’ is triumphant in offering a fully fleshed romp in the overall acid funk themes laid out through Syro. Surprisingly, James even throws in some luscious drum and bass in the form of the tenth track, ‘PAPAT4 (pineal mix)’, which keeps the playful dance-able nature of Syro firm well into the tail end of the LP. And then there is the albums’ beautiful closer ‘aisatsana’. Reminiscent of James’ Satie and Debussy inspired piano works from 2001’s Drukqs, it lulls gently over a background of birds chirping and serves to remind the listener that James has built an arsenal of talents which he’ll place in front of you whenever it suits him. If there was to be any major disappointment housed in Syro it may be illuminated by the fact that it doesn’t feature any of the demonic screams or distorted sex appeal of his Come To Daddy or Windowlicker EPs, nor has it the glistening stately nature of Drukqs. But it is, after all, a different record in a reality where Aphex Twin’s’ presence has been sorely missed for thirteen years. Appropriately (and very politely for James), Aphex Twin is letting you know that he is back and happy about it too. Sounding like it could well be well enjoyed by members of an alien race on a night out on the town, Syro is bubbly, frenetic and playful. It excels in displaying James’ talent for analogue manipulation and, overall, it gratifies the thirteen year long wait while it simultaneously whets the whistle for what more may come – which is purportedly quite a lot, what a very, very exciting thing indeed. sebastian field

Merchandise AFTER THE END [4AD] Merchandise from Florida are a busy lot, pumping out almost an album a year since 2010, during which time they have mushroomed from a trio to a five piece. The band shrugs off the usual genre-based classifications, due to their constantly morphing style. After the End was recorded in the home shared by some of the band. The early fondness for 10 minute tracks has gone, in favour of shorter, snappier pieces. Merchandise’s early beginnings of ragged shoegaze music, coupled with relatively clear vocals, have reversed course. The celebrated distortion of songs like ‘I Locked the Door’ from their ‘(Strange Songs) In the Dark’ debut have been dropped, with the music now sharper, but with the vocals transformed to a sleepy tone. The LP opens with a playful instrumental, including wind chimes, evoking a sense of calm with its shimmering percussion. The crystal guitars and foot taping rhythm of ‘Enemy’ are counteracted by the muffled singing of Carson Cox. You will need to resort to the song sheet to get a clear picture of the words. The dreamy singing renders slow songs like ‘Life Outside the Mirror’ rather dull, and ‘Looking Glass Waltz’ spreads a pall of gloom in the manner of The Smiths. However, there are goodies to appreciate in the brighter tracks. ‘Green Lady’ revels in grand rhythms, a big expansive sound and some tricky tocktock percussion. The title track glows with echoed guitar plucks, cascading keys and insistent percussion. ‘Little Killer’ sees Cox escape from his somnolent daze, with exciting cross-hatched guitars and vibrant rhythms. This album had little instant appeal, but appreciation of its music and the deep tones of Cox’s voice grow with repeated rotations. RORY MCCARTNEY

@bmamag

BEAR IN HEAVEN Time Is Over One Day Old [DEAD OCEANS]

Laura Jean LAURA JEAN [CHAPTER]

Broadwing Pinhole Camera [INDEPENDENT RELEASE]

As they enter the second decade of their lifespan, Brooklyn-based indie-rock band Bear In Heaven have managed to cultivate a sizeable global fanbase over three preceding albums, whilst also seeing their lineup continually shift. This fourth album Time Is Over One Day Old sees the band slimmed down to its three-piece core for what’s in many senses BIH’s most dark, sheeny and stripped-back collection to date. It’s also perhaps the trio’s most indie-dance centred album so far, with more than a few ghosts of both New Wave and synth-pop’s past trailing through the ten tracks here. Opening track ‘Autumn’ kicks things straight out into dancefloor-centred territory, welding lithe punk-funk bass and drums to analogue synths and washes of trailing delay effects in a moment that’s more reminiscent of the likes of The Rapture or DFA Records than anything else.

For her fourth LP, Laura Jean settled down in Melbourne, seeking inspiration from family, friends and pets. On her self-titled release, she sings of grocery shopping, everyday living and walking her kelpie, deftly exploring the bleaker side to such experiences with slow deliberation. Featuring on the cover and with a reference on almost every song, Jean’s dog is clearly of great importance in her life. With quirky song names like ‘Sister All I Have Are My Arms’ and ‘Mirror On the Earth’, the crystalline lyrics are clearly from a deeply personal space as she sings of her childhood and her marriage.

There’s more to The Alice than red dust, baking heat and country music. A long way from the big cities usually associated with bedroom producers, comes the NT’s own Ben Allen, who conjures music under the moniker Broadwing. He made an early name for himself by winning the chance to do his stuff in front of a huge Tropfest audience in Sydney in 2012. Not wedding his creativity to one particular mode of expression, Broadwing employs a blend of acoustic, conventional instrumentation and electronics. Pinhole Camera EP is his first release.

By contrast, first single ‘Time Between’ gets far more stripped back and spacious, sending tribal drums powering beneath vaguely psyche-rock tinged guitars with a discernible UK heritage to Jon Philpot’s soaring vocals, before ‘If I Were To Lie’ calls to mind some meeting point between Joy Division and Talking Heads as cold synths trail against thick elastic funk bass grooves and reverbed-out snares. Elsewhere, ‘They Dream’ sends a headspinning blur of kaleidoscopic proggy synths and rattling percussion racing beneath Philpot’s stretched-out vocals in an offering that calls to mind Animal Collective’s stream of consciousness flow before things suddenly slide out into minimalist yet still sweeping ballad territory that suggests The Cars gone Bacharach. A strong fourth album from Bear In Heaven that unfortunately lags a bit during its second half. CHRIS DOWNTON

Laura Jean toes the line between reality and dreams, with her straightforward lyrics wrapped in eerie minor scaling and ringing harmonies. ‘How Will I Know When I Am Home’ is an example of the latter as dancing vocals layer and swirl as she describes the heavy weight of domesticity. Stylistically, it is her sparsest release yet. Whilst the melodies are often gorgeous, the tempo and overuse of constant finger-picking wears down the listener very quickly. It is hypnotic; so hypnotic, in fact, it can be hard to escape the lull of steady guitar. It is songs such as the upbeat, bittersweet ‘Don’t Marry The One You Love’ and the soaring closer ‘Prince of Kites’ that become highlights by default as they present some differentiation in tempo and sound. Unfortunately, the similarities for the bulk of the album do not bode well with the concentration needed to follow the personal stories. It is this candid storytelling, sometimes entertaining, and often brimming with dark truths, that becomes the core for Laura Jean. ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

The cyber percussion in ‘The Virus In’ comes with the primal feel of drums struck by a bare human hand, mixed with electro-pulses of sound and liquid vocals occasionally overlaid by machine made shadows. ‘Anodyne’ has a tubular metal ring like a clockwork glockenspiel, developing a feeling of featherweight fragility and spaciousness. This airy vibe continues in ‘Deliver My Head’, with Allen’s voice displaying a Neil Finn like quality in this amalgam of keys, acoustic guitar and simple percussion. It winds itself up to a fast waltz pace, swept up in the chorus with backing vocals. Broadwing’s producer angle moves to the fore in ‘Pity The Thief’, broadcasting his message in a high pitched voice in a jungle of layered tones. This virgin release closes with the insistent piano melody and tiered vocals of ‘Commerce’. There’s a physicality to Broadwing’s lyrics with lines like ‘pours down my hourglass hands’ and ‘every hand that you shook was sharpening a knife’. This one man band delivers bright sounds and smooth vocals in a melting pot of electro, indie-pop and folk. Carrying a subdued beauty, its appeal grows as it progresses, with the final three tracks glowing the brightest. RORY MCCARTNEY

facebook.com/bmamagazine

A Sunny Day In Glasgow Sea When Absent Lefse]

STEVE SMYTH Exits [IVY LEAGUE]

FINK Hard Believer [Ninja Tune]

Since the band’s inception back in 2006, Ben Daniels has remained as the sole original founder member of A Sunny Day In Glasgow and following his relocation to Sydney in 2009 he’s continued to helm a group that has its members scattered between Brooklyn and Philadelphia. While the band have to opted to record themselves on their preceding releases, this fourth album Sea When Absent sees them working in a ‘real’ studio for the first time alongside producer Jeff Zeigler (War On Drugs, Kurt Vile), resulting in a collection that’s easily their most polished and ‘big sounding’ yet. If anything, there’s more of a focus on a pop edge to the eleven tracks collected here, with the synths and electronics often pushed to the forefront alongside maximalist studio treatments.

Steve Smyth has left both the south coast of NSW and his punk roots a long way behind. Now swapping between Sydney and London, he has released his powerful sophomore LP Exits. Recorded in LA with the aid of drummer Joey Waronker (Beck) and bassist Gus Seyffert (The Black Keys) the album maintains the mix of abrasive, gritty and incredibly mellow singing that graced his debut album ‘Release’.

On the heels of his live album last year alongside The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, this latest collection from Bristolian Fin ‘Fink’ Greenall Hard Believer offers up his fifth album since he made the shift from leftfield electronic DJ / producer to acoustic singer-songwriter (all without ever leaving the Ninja Tune roster). As with his preceding 2011 album Perfect Darkness, the ten tracks here see Greenall working in the studio alongside producer Billy Bush (Garbage, Beck), and the end result is an album that’s certainly his most polished and expansive sounding to date. Compared to his preceding stripped back and folkinfluenced material, there’s far more of a focus on rock and blues elements here, with the expansion of Greenall’s core band into a five piece lending a far more heavy and sweeping feel to these new tracks.

‘Bye Bye Big Ocean (The End)’ opens proceedings with a thunderous wall of fuzzy shoegazer guitars that collides with Jen Goma’s teasing, vaguely Stereolab-esque pop vocals as crashing drum breaks slam against the majestic swells of feedback, in what’s certainly an impressive intro. First single ‘In Love With Useless’ meanwhile sees female chorus vocals that almost sound like microphone bleed echoing against tribal drumming and wiry guitar hooks in a moment worthy of 4AD Records circa 1992, before ‘Crushin’ offers up an airy glide out into synth-edged downbeat pop that suggests the influence of Prince more than anyone else. While there’s an increasingly panoramic feel to the production on these new tracks, there’s never a hint of unnecessary gloss here. An extremely impressive fourth album from a band who deserve to be much bigger and better known. chris downton

The most outstanding feature of Smyth’s performance is the range of his voice. It’s something that could please the ardent lover of high impact blues, or the connoisseur of soulful ballads. Lead track ‘Get On’ is a concussive song, opening with a slamming beat and a huge roar. Smyth’s gravelly tone replicates the efforts of a man with a mouth full of pebbles. Contrast this with the crystal clear, soulful singing of ‘Digital Heart’, or the raspy, ever popular Tom Waits style of ‘Reaperbahn’. ‘Pairs’ stands out with its old time string arrangement, proving a picturesque backdrop to Smyth in his crooner mode. The style changes as the track list progresses, with variety at every turn. A gravelly tone gives a harsh edge to each verse in ‘Desolation Point’, but it switches to a fuller, floating sound in the chorus, all done to warming Hammond Organ key strokes. ‘Manuscripts’ is a highlight, casting a spell with its combination of breathy vocals and a western twang in the melody. The songwriting is alluring, bearing either a dark-hued ferocity or an etched beauty as in lyrics from ‘Reaperbahn’ ‘How the anchor hits the waves to hold rest/your memory harbouring my vessel heart’. Guttural, hoarse and smoky or melodious, it’s an impressive repertoire that either assaults the senses or caresses them. RORY MCCARTNEY

Title track ‘Hard Believer’ certainly kicks things off in deep smoky blues territory as guitar chords wander against sparse foot stomped percussion and Greenall’s multitracked harmonies add a sense of yearning that highlights the undercurrent of moody melancholy that lurks beneath much of this album. ‘White Flag’ meanwhile offers up a wander out into vaguely PiL-tinged dub that sees walls of jagged guitars building into a spectacular wall of sound against Greenall’s weary-sounding delayed out vocals. Elsewhere, ‘Truth Begins’ ushers in what’s easily this album’s most lush, sweeping and meditative offering, as feathery acoustic guitars slowly build over a vaguely hip hopcentred drum groove into a spiralling wash of hypnotic textures against majestic keys and Greenall’s moody vocal lament. While some of the additional gloss here comes at the expense of Fink’s rawer edges, this is strong stuff. chris downton

@bmamag

singles in focus by cody atkinson ICEAGE ‘How Many’

VARIOUS No Seattle: Forgotten Sounds of the North-West Grunge Era 1986-97 [SOUL JAZZ] On a given weekend you can turn up at The Basement in Belconnen or Magpies in the city or maybe a high school somewhere and check out a bunch of upcoming acts thrashing it out for local glory. It doesn’t matter whether the skill and technique is a bit undercooked as the desire to simply rock out is good enough.These little events form the backbone of more lucrative scenes around the world and in the case of Seattle worthy of documentation no matter how regional a band might be. So it goes for this compilation that features a bunch of bands from the Pacific Northwest letting loose in the garage while better known cousins like Soundgarden and Nirvana were headlining international festivals and getting airplay on commercial radio.You can tell straight away these bands were meant to remain obscure for a reason. Starfish opens the collection with a tasty punk rocker that comes and goes without too much fuss despite the Bob Mould production and it seems that most of these tracks weren’t meant to hang around for too long. There are debts to indie king hitters like Superchunk, Black Flag and The Melvins with the guitars sort of grungy as on Crunchbird’Woodstock Unvisited– a song title with just the right anti-hippie attitude. Elsewhere Pod gets all experimental by stretching out their sound and tossing in a few primitive samples to sustain interest – a good illustration of the DIY aesthetic in action. It all adds up to somewhat of a mess but then grunge was never known for its cleanliness DAN BIGNA

GLASS SKIES GLASS SKIES [Independent Release] The fallout from former Adelaide band Lady Strangelove has coalesced into the duo Glass Skies. With Azz Shaw on bass and keys and Josh Van Looy on everything else, they are a good example of how a small outfit can make plenty of noise. Their debut, self-titled EP was glued together with the assistance of Melbourne’s Liquid Mixes, whose other clients include Bertie Blackman and Kimbra. The band has only been around since 2012, but some of these songs have been on the mind of Van Looy for up to five years. The boys have their sights firmly set on the sounds of the 70s, and even earlier, with expansive soundscapes that revel in throaty riffs, heavy licks and lots of fuzziness. The first pass through calls for comparisons with Wollongong rockers Tumbleweed and brings to mind the flamboyance of acts like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. There’s a solid, rolling riff to opener ‘Highway’, providing firm scaffolding for the washed out vocals. A track for guitar lovers, the rumbling bass/screaming guitar duel carries on and on, before the song ends with a great exhaled ‘Ahhhh’. ‘Lemonade’ is both a highlight and a curious mix. Starting with cheerful Brit-pop licks (harking back to the 60s), it combines a tune with apparent Queens of the Stone Age influences with some funky bass, psychedelic licks and some very cool keys, before coming to an abrupt stop. While Glass Skies makes a lot of the right sounds, it takes more than a selection of riffs and some shadowy vocals to carve out a recognisable identity for a band. Arguably, it’s ‘Lemonade’ which comes closest to achieving that individuality of character, while the other songs lack a coherent distinctiveness.

An epic noise ballad, interspersed with delicate piano and buzzsaw guitars, ‘How Many’ is about as desperate and emotional as Iceage have been across their short career. ‘How Many’ is well-formed, melodramatic without being cloying or cliché.

Cracked Actor ‘Hollywood’ ‘Hollywood’, the new cut from local band Cracked Actor and it lives and dies on an ethereal tide of reverb. Seb Field’s vocals fade in and out across the track, with unconventional percussion cutting through the fog of guitar and processed effects. A tempting taste ahead of their forthcoming debut album.

Yes I’m Leaving ‘One’ This is a balltearer, plain and simple. It gives and gives and gives, ‘til it can’t give no more. ‘One’ is Yes I’m Leaving at their most polished to date, but it’s a smudge of clarity and not an airbrush to oblivion. Billy Burke’s frenetic vocal delivery is the cherry on this slice of noise punk pie.

The Veronicas ‘You Ruin Me’ This is something very different for The Veronicas, but it’s not necessarily a good change. ‘You Ruin Me’ is filled with lazy literary illusions and repetitive choruses. Amongst the sea of piano and strings comes the most unforgivable sin of all – that this song as boring as anything I can ever remember hearing.

RORY MCCARTNEY

facebook.com/bmamagazine

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

This week in the box office we have some action flicks that feature stylised violence, a coming-of-age-in-your-30s film and a YA adaptation of a dystopian novel. Business as usual then. No, no – it’s not all bad. Despite the well-trodden ground, a number of these films feel surprisingly fresh – and there’s also an adult (as in mature, not explicit) comedy about sex, which is Australian no less. Small miracles. Can we ask for another and bring on Oscars season again? It feels like it’s time for the quality films to return.

quote of the issue “Fuck apps; it’s a saturated market. I’m going to start blogging.” – Noah Bloom (Josh Gad), Wish I Was Here

The Equalizer

Wish I Was Here

The Maze Runner

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington uses a variety of implements, tools and materials that you can find in any ol’ Bunnings…to brutally kill a bunch of people.

I love it when films don’t fit neatly into any one genre. This film was hilarious, but I couldn’t call it a comedy because I felt emotionally shattered when the credits rolled. Best I can come up with is a coming of age film for people in their thirties.

The Maze Runner is yet another YA sci-fi adventure – based on a novel, no less – but that’s not necessarily a criticism. The Maze Runner has strong acting, a Lord Of The Flies-esque undercurrent and a genuinely perplexing mystery at its core.

Zach Braff plays Aidan Bloom, an actor, husband and father, struggling to succeed at all three of these roles. Aidan’s father (Mandy Patinkin – movie buffs will know him as Inigo Montoya) subsidises the children’s private school fees and his wife (Kate Hudson) works a monotonous data entry job, sharing a cubicle with an excruciatingly inappropriate man. When dad announces he can no longer provide financial support because all his funds need to go to medical bills to combat the cancer ravaging his body, Aidan finds himself suddenly needing to step up and be a hero, something he should have done many years ago.

When Thomas (Dylan O’Brien who – if you are a 14-yearold girl, or into shows that 14-year-old girls enjoy – you may recognise from shows such as Teen Wolf) wakes up trapped inside a giant maze, he has no memory of his past. He, along with a group of similarly amnesiac boys, must try to fight the monsters that lurk inside the maze – while also piecing together fragments of their past, to discover why they are trapped there in the first place.

McCall (Washington) is a man with a dangerous and mysterious past. He also likes to time himself doing things. Having showers. Making breakfast. Heading to work. This becomes relevant because later it is revealed he likes to time himself KILLING PEOPLE. (It soon becomes apparent that the scriptwriters merely thought that a guy timing himself while beating a whole bunch of dudes was a cool idea and wanted to introduce the motif early on. Soon, the conceit is completely forgotten and McCall stops timing things, even tying his shoelaces.) McCall’s throat-slitting spree stars when he meets a young sex worker named Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), who is being abused and controlled by Russian gangsters. And so McCall finds his new calling: vigilante justice. Washington (a two-time Academy Award winner, remember) is able to deliver his silly one-liners with such gravitas and his threats with such seriousness, that The Equalizer isn’t as bad as it could be. The variety of ways in which he dispatches his foes is also very imaginative – so credit to the writers. I wouldn’t want to meet them in an alley at night. Unfortunately, the plot and script are not Denzel’s equal. The dialogue is cringe-worthy and the plot loses it. Loses the plot that is.

It’s all well-trodden ground so ample credit is due to Zach Braff for making a film of this kind that doesn’t feel clichéd. Perhaps because this film had a ‘fly on the wall’ feel to it – the actors didn’t seem to be following a script so much as living their lives on camera (no, not in a Kardashian kind of way). Plus, fans of the TV show Scrubs will love playing ‘spot the extra’ – there are many familiar faces. Warm, without being corny. emma robinson

The Maze Runner is a plotdriven film, with a sidecar of mystery, which makes it stand out from some of the more lovetriangle-motivated fare of other films in the YA supernatural/scifi genre. Of course, given that the story follows a character with no memory of his past, who is new to the maze, it does mean most lines of dialogue consist of Thomas asking what/ where/why/when – and not a lot of answers in return. This could be forgiven, but the biggest drawback of the film is that there’s just not enough payoff at the end. The conclusion to the film raises more questions than it answers, which is just mean for a movie about mystery. Three stars for being a tease. MELISSA WELLHAM

melissa wellham

@bmamag

Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For There are some sequels that only measure up to but surpass their predecessor (Clerks 2 and The Godfather Part 2 sprung to my mind simultaneously). Sin City 2: a Dame To Kill For sure as shit isn’t one of them. The first Sin City grabbed our attention by deftly mixing film noir with monochrome cinematography that highlighted certain bits like green eyes, red lips and golden hair. This style not only gave the piece an otherworldly feel (possibly making the gratuitous violence a little easier to watch), but also delighted film goers – here was something we hadn’t seen before. Unfortunately, what set the first film apart has made the second film feel repetitive. I suspect the director Robert Rodriguez knew this and therefore amped up some of the more offensive tropes from the last one (the women in this film are either sex workers of some kind or headed for a gruesome death) to set it apart. Unfortunately, this film was a series of stereotypes of both men and women being paraded on the screen. Having said that, the acting cannot be faulted. New additions such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt were fantastic (he’s come a long way since 10 Things I Hate About You) and Jessica Alba flexed her acting skills by portraying a crazier, grief stricken Nancy. Nevertheless, it’s been almost a decade since the first one and it’s just not that original anymore. EMMA ROBINSON

the little death From the opening scene of this film my first thought was, ‘I’m really glad I’m seeing this with an open-minded friend.’ Pillow talk about rape fantasies? Common maybe, but how do you explore in a way that isn’t completely offensive? You watch The Little Death, the directorial debut of Josh Lawson, that’s how. This is not a film that glamorises sex – the scenarios and kinks are unusual and bizarre and the people look exactly like your next-door neighbour. Several middle class couples in cookie-cutter suburban settings start exploring their sexual fantasies behind closed doors. (Ever wonder what happens in the bedrooms of strangers? The possibilities are endless.) One man struggles to reconcile the fact that he is a loving and respectful boyfriend of a woman with the aforementioned rape fantasy; while another woman at the end of her pleasure-free tether delights in the fact that she can finally climax when watching her partner cry. Despite the salacious subject matter this is not an awkward, pervy movie – it has taken an American-style situational sitcom-esque formula and made it believable. It’s very difficult to explore this subject matter in a way that isn’t just a means to titillate and nothing more – but by depicting the sex as real (your hair does not stay flat and you will pull weird facial expressions) the director neatly sidestepped this issue. Can’t wait to see what Josh Lawson does next. EMMA ROBINSON

facebook.com/bmamagazine

the word on dvds

Once Upon A Time In America – Extended Director’s Cut [Warner Home Video] There’s little doubt most re-released extended cuts are pretty pointless. Scenes left in the cutting room are usually there for a damn fine reason and any attempt by the studio or director to revisit source material has its genesis in hubris or commerce. This is different. Very different. Once Upon A Time In America was Sergio Leone’s pet project – he turned down an offer to direct The Godfather in favour of this Prohibition-era mobster epic. Leone, if you need a history lesson, was the Italian director who created an entirely new visual language and sound for cinema in the ‘60s and ‘70s. He’s one of the few who live up to the hype. Upon its release in 1984, the film clocked in at 229 minutes – still a good 40 minutes short of Leone’s original cut. For the general release it was savaged down to 139 minutes and totally re-edited. It’s the version many people first saw, but it was not Leone’s film by any stretch. The original version played havoc with timelines and revelled in long beautifully drawn scenes. This is a visual and characterbased film, not necessarily a plot-rich film. The general release was arranged chronologically and in parts made no sense. It ruined the film, basically. This reconstituted version, overseen by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and approved by Leone’s estate, is the closest thing to the filmmaker’s original conception. Entirely new scenes, like Louise Fletcher’s (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) graveyard conversation with Robert De Niro’s David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson are rough, but add new depth and complexity to an already intricate film. This isn’t Leone’s only masterpiece but it is his American masterpiece and it’s never looked better, or been more complete. This is how director’s cuts are meant to be.

justin hook

Godzilla [Warner Home Video]

Utopia [LABEL]

The last time Hollywood attempted to turn this legendary Japanese monster into a franchise, it was a disaster and not in the way it should have been. Indeed, the 1998 version has been stricken from the canon, with that particular nuclear-infected monster being denied official status as a Godzilla creature. Toho Studios – owners of the franchise – refer to it as a Zilla. So the 2014 version had to reboot the franchise, overcome the stink of the ’98 and still be epic enough in a world where superheroes now routinely destroy major cities with barely a ripple of official complaint (Avengers, Superman et al). Luckily, Godzilla is timeless and has overcome more than its fair share of schlock over the last half century.This current incarnation is helmed by Gareth Edwards, the director responsible for the low-budget monster flick Monster in which a tentacled-creature wreaks havoc in the US-Mexico border zone. That film was a lesson in restraint, holding the monster back to ratchet the tension. The $500,000 budget was probably the main reason. This time around Edwards has $160 million at his disposal but he opts for a similar approach, keeping our hero under wraps for half the film. This annoyed many but it’s a gutsy decision that pays off. By the time Godzilla does arrive the audience is on its side. Up until then a Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organism (MUTO) has led a path of destruction from Hawaii to Las Vegas. The only thing that can save the world is, naturally, Godzilla. The fight scenes between the monsters are suitably devastating and well-choreographed, even though we have all seen this scene in a thousand monster/ superhero films. Godzilla makes some effort to return to the franchise’s roots and even though the human actors don’t amount to much, it’s not them we came for. Just like it always was

Every day – and most nights – a large percentage of this town deals with the machinations of government. Every pointless MO request, every useless meeting, every hastily cobbled together briefing note barely making it over the line, every butchered statistic, every wrongheaded strategy statement and mangled press release – it’s all a bottomless pit of potential satire. Mostly, the drones toiling away at the coal face of unrealistic ministerial demands never get their due. They are never hailed as the heroes of equanimity they so clearly are. Even when that piece of advice that goes through the approval washing machine reverts back to the original text they wrote four days ago, they keep their cool. Their reward – small as it is – is a show like Utopia. Working Dog’s (The Panel, Frontline, The Castle) previous attempt at political humour – The Hollowmen – didn’t quite work. It felt too studied and bureaucratic, becoming the thing it was satirising. Utopia moves the action from the centre of power (Canberra) to a new infrastructure body (Melbourne). It makes for a vastly better outcome. Tony (Rob Sitch) heads the Nation Building Authority. Every day he juggles idiotic request from the hierarchy and manages a pack of idiots hell-bent on doing as little work as possible. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’d feel an affinity with most everything here – if you’ve ever worked in the bureaucracy, multiply it by 100. At least. From staff Christmas party planning to printer driver issues, the small things are expertly observed, written and delivered. And though it doesn’t get everything spot on, the cultural misunderstanding gags were dire, they are rare missteps. Casting is superb with Celia Pacquola, Anthony Lehmann and Michelle Lim Davidson standing out in a cast of equals.

justin hook

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

the word

on gigs

Jack Livingston, Duck Duck Ghost, Buck Et Al, Capes, Benjamin Drury Magpies City Club Friday September 19 Blessings to those who drank enough cider to reach the end of the Magpies Club’s five-act bill last Friday, then sit/stood very close to the stage to watch the pale Benjamin Drury’s debut. With a thriftshop taste for Pierre Schaeffer and Kanye West, Drury (surrounded by laptops, pedals and lamps) played two songs, both good. Drury came as a chill sesh after the youngest great songwriters in Canberra, Capes. Too prepubescent to mimic the Strokes or play badly and too old to give up on-stage discussion of recurring dreams, dropping acid and smoking crack with their parents. Cool mosh, also. The semi-glam Buck Et A took the middle slot. Lead man Buck sang about things you recognize and feel all the worse for recognizing: Upworthy, nerd-sex, Britney covers, exchange student sex. Tight rhythm section, loose lead, Buck displayed the confidence someone’s whose survived San Francisco to study demanding subjects at ANU. Duck Duck Ghost navigated a set-time kerfuffle to be the first vox-gtr-drums act. Crowd-drawing, well-dressed and cock-rocking, DDG were RHCP with more 30H!3. Pluses: the most complex technics that night (not counting Drury’s zero-bpm jams). Minuses: looked older than Capes, Drury and Buck. And opening the show, the Canberra singer-songwriter, Jack Livingston. Looking like a Gaslight Bob Dylan, all his aggressively literal and ironic new songs were as good as his old songs, all played with strange, haunting rage, close to tears at one point, then giggling at a self-penned couplet a bar later – “If financial affluence/equals musical success/then I’m about three Gs oooooout of the red.” Jack, please. ALBERT SHIRT

the word

on gigs

The Bennies, Morning Glory, Mucho Sonar, Revellers , Magpies City Club Sunday September 21 It was a shortened line-up, Wolfpack having dropped out with an unconfirmed report that one of them had been hit by a car! I missed Revellers (sorry boys) due to some unsound advice about the start time for the night. On the upside,Mucho Sonar were in full flight with some angry guitars enhanced by a sax and a big black slide trombone. ‘Silence Speaks’ was a set highlight. New York punkers Morning Glory began with ‘The Whole World is Watching’. By the second song, full on shoving and barging had begun in the mosh pit. Front man Ezra Kire’s favoured position was crouching on the floor, either whispering or bellowing the vocals, although he made the brief dashes to the keyboard for a quieter moment mid-song. Morning Glory’s ska influences occasionally rose to the fore, with the bass taking the place of the brass. The band closed with ‘Urban Tribes’, an excuse for a huge jam, matched by chaotic circle work from the punters. The Bennies vocalist Anty Horgan appeared in multi-coloured tights, in keeping with their Rainbows in Space LP title. His furious tapping at the keyboard announced the arrival of the zany ‘Party Smashers’, which caused mosh pit action to increase exponentially. The show demonstrated that, while an album can represent good listening, the right band can make boost it to exhilarating status when played live, Highlights included the chugging, reggae powered ‘Sensi-mi’ and the party anthem ‘Knights Forever’. The Bennies appreciated the harmony between all the punters on display at a licensed-all-ages setup. For an encore, a quick band conference made the call and they played ‘Frankston Girls’ for the first time this tour (Horgan having to pause to recall the lyrics). rory mccartney

@bmamag

the word

Wives, Mere Women, Agency The Phoenix Saturday September 27

on gigs

I have to say that I’m pretty happy that I get to write a review about a gig at The Phoenix again. The Phoeno is key to the Canberra music scene, a launching pad for new bands and a proving ground for old. Welcome back.Made up of the constituent parts of A Drone Coda, Spartak and Hoodlum Shouts, Agency may have looked familiar but they sound pretty different. Dissonant guitars bombarded the room and dual vocals only added to the controlled chaos. Noise rock elements filtered through the set, with attacks and retreats, largely driven by a strong back-line. Hailing from Sydney, Mere Women were in town to promote their stellar new album Old Town. Mere Women came across a little like Love of Diagrams or Total Control, with an angular guitar cutting in and across strong driving rhythms. The haunting yet howling vocals of Amy Wilson, provided the real centrepiece of the set, tying everything neatly together. Mere Women achieved that great feeling of reaching the end of a set, yet making it feel like they had just started. Wives, formerly Sweet Shoppe, have come a long way in a short amount of time. Apart from the aforementioned name change, they’ve moved significantly from they’re “punkier” origins to a more post-punk sound. Sweet Shoppe were always at their best when experienced live and that’s only improved in their new incarnation. Members switched and shifted instruments with ease throughout the set, but retained the same passionate yet cohesive delivery.

PHOTO BY MEGAN LEAHY

facebook.com/bmamagazine

CODY ATKINSON

the word

on gigs

Fred Smith The Street Theatre Saturday September 27 A full house acclaimed the arrival of Fred Smith, as he presented his eighth album Home. Smith walked on wearing his trademark hat, but promptly cast it aside until the encore. The backing band was bigger than expected, with percussion, keyboards, electric guitar and strings, including his long time compatriot Liz Frencham on double bass. The percussionist impressed, often playing the drums with one hand and the keyboard with his other. The show opened with a sea shanty from a previous album, before Smith leapt into ‘Ellie May’ from his latest release. He established an easy rapport with the punters, telling stories of the background to songs and keeping the audience laughing with his dry wit. Playing in Canberra had a special meaning for Smith, due to his early years here and the start of his public performances, under the influence of local art promoter David Branson. Killed in a car accident on Anzac Parade, Branson’s wake had been held at The Street Theatre and Smith played ‘Song So Uncertain’ in his memory. Smith described his early life and his career as the ‘Steve Irwin of folk music’, with lots of travelogue songs. However, he’s now more settled with his first child, hence the latest output Home. He occasionally shuffled out from behind the mic to perform a quick jig, with a funny strut and the odd knee tremble. Frencham gave Smith a break, with the risqué ‘Renovations’, as they reckoned the topic of home renovations was of great interest to Canberrans. With no support, Smith presented his whole album in two sets. Injects were limited to ‘Maryanne’ from Love Thongs and two tracks from Texas. The crowd knew the old songs well and joined Smith in the choruses. RORY MCCARTNEY

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Oct 8- Sat Oct 11

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday october 8

Art Exhibitions Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

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

Trespass: Genevieve Swifte

Traditional photography by Genevieve Swifte. Until Oct 20. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award Screen based portraiture finalists. 10am-5pm daily. Free. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Drawing Godot

Etchings by Nicholas Harding. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat-Sun 9am-5pm. Oct 3-14. Free.

Live Music

On The Town

Something Different

CMC Presents bands every Wednesday

4some Thursdays

Art Underground Open Mic Night

Free entry.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

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

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

TREEHOUSE BAR

BEYOND Q

Organic food, local music. 7-10.30pm. $8/$10.

Theatre

Equus

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

Equus

Wednesday Night Gigs

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

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

Acoustic Soup ANU FOOD CO-OP

Showcasing local talented musicians. 8pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Undergang

With, Tyrannic, Hellbringer, Cauldron Black Ram. 8pm. $15.

Playtime

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

Pete The Sheep

THE STREET THEATRE

A musical based on the picture book. Info: thestreet.org.au

THE BASEMENT

friday october 10

Theatre

A musical based on the picture book. Info: thestreet.org.au

saturday october 11

Art Exhibitions

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26.

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

Australia for UNHCR

Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

Dry Your Tears

Pete The Sheep

NISHI GALLERY

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

STUR GALLERY

THE STREET THEATRE

Live Music

Trespass: Genevieve Swifte

BEAVER GALLERIES

Botanical Edge BILK GALLERY

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

Equus

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

A musical based on the picture book. Info: thestreet.org.au

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

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)

Film Cinema class: Les Emotifs Anonymes

With workshop + Cheese & wine. 5.30pm. $25. ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Karaoke

thursday october 9

DJ Norm

Freshest mixes of the 21st century. 8pm. Free.

Karaoke

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Curry-Oke

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

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

Anna Vissi Live

HELLENIC CLUB (WODEN)

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Chuparosa

Live Music

TRANSIT BAR

Patrick Ryan

Lead of The Steptones brings you sublime solo sounds. 6.30-8.30pm. Free. THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Raus

With Cracked Actor. 8pm. Free. TRANSIT BAR

Thursday Jazz

With The Cope Street Parade. 8pm, $15/$10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke Comp

Dinner Concert

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

HOTEL HOTEL

$500 prize. 9:30pm.

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free.

With Wallflower & Monica Harland Duo. 6-10.30pm. Free.

With The Kingstons. 8pm. Free.

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Green Mohair Suits 8pm, $15.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Traditional photography by Genevieve Swifte. Until Oct 20. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Drawing Godot

Etchings by Nicholas Harding. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm. Sat-Sun 9am-5pm. Oct 3-14. Free. BEAVER GALLERIES

Botanical Edge

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26. BILK GALLERY

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

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

Australia for UNHCR

Gin and Beats

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free.

A. BAKER

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Fingers of gold on the decks. 5.308.30pm. Free.

On The Town Greg

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free. UNI PUB

Alive Fridays

Presenting Generik. $10 all night.

NISHI GALLERY

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19. 10am-5pm daily. Free. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sat Oct 11- Thurs Oct 16 Bloom Linger Breathe

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

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Live Music Machina Genova

With Elevator Talk & Parks. 9.30pm. $5. THE PHOENIX BAR

DJ Esscue

Fash ‘n’ Treasure

Fashion and treasures market, clothes and much more. 10am-3pm. $3. EXHIBITION PARK IN CANBERRA (EPIC)

Theatre Equus

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

Mixing the new and unforgettable. 8pm. Free.

Pete The Sheep

Olympic Ayres

THE STREET THEATRE

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

EP launch. With The Steptones, Mondecreen + Architect DJs. 8pm. Presale via Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

Fourplay String Quartet

Rhythmic strings & original pop. 8.30pm. $30-$40. THE STREET THEATRE

The 17th Freeee Floral Frock Fringe Festival

With Gravy Tram + guests. 5pm. Free. MAGPIES CITY CLUB

All Day

With Remi + Baro. All ages. 6.30pm. $29 through Oztix. UC REFECTORY

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Arrester Album Launch

With Tom Woodward + Hayley Shone. 7.30pm, $10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

A musical based on the picture book. Info: thestreet.org.au

sunday october 12

UNI PUB

Something Different $50k Birthday Giveaway

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

$50k Birthday Giveaway

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

Workshops French Classes

Conversation, pronunciation, grammar or travel workshops for all ages. Info + bookings: afcanberra.c ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

tuesday october 14 Comedy

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

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

Australia for UNHCR

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free. NISHI GALLERY

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19. 10am-5pm daily. Free. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

8pm. $10.

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 4pm. Free.

Karaoke

CMC Presents bands every Wednesday

Nick Rigby

Karaoke Love Competition

LITTLE BROOKLYN

With Brother Be, The Undertow + Dan Musil. 7.30pm. $5-10.

A guitar and vocals powerhouse. 3-6pm. Free.

9pm. Free entry. Grand final prize of $1000 awarded on Nov 4.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THE DUXTON

TRANSIT BAR

Irish Jam Session

Trivia

LITTLE BROOKLYN

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Trivia and Pioneers with Bondy and Kiers

Something Different

THE PHOENIX BAR

8pm. Free.

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

The Acoustic Sessions With Minh Ha. 2pm. Free. IRON BAR

Sunday Sangria Sounds

With Woodlock. 3pm-5pm, $10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Living Green Festival

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free.

QT CANBERRA HOTEL

Sunday Sessions

Love Saturdays Steve

Celebrating the hospitality industry. 7pm-late. Info: qtcanberra.com.au.

Irresponsible Comedy

Something Different

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

HIP Night

Live Music

On The Town With Jake Raven. $10 before 1am.

On The Town

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

monday october 13

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

Trivial Tuesdays

THE PHOENIX BAR

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm. Free Entry. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday october 15 Art Exhibitions Sax Inspiration, Graphic Melodies

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

Trespass: Genevieve Swifte

Rojas Latin Mondays

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

2XX LocalnLive Presents Bootleg Sessions

With Looking Glass, Foreign Kings, Teen Skank Parade + Hamish Hudson. 8pm. Free. THE PHOENIX BAR

Showcasing local talented musicians. 8pm. Free.

7.30pm. Free.

Live Music 7.30pm, $10.

Wednesday Night Gigs

Traditional photography by Genevieve Swifte. Until Oct 20.

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award

Wait Long by the River

Inside Aussie creative minds. With Omar Musa. 8pm. Free. CIVIC PUB

thursday october 16 Art Exhibitions Canberra Grammar Sculpture Festival

Plus Harris Hobbs Small Sculpture Prize. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

Movement

By Aika O’Toole. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

Screen based portraiture finalists. 10am-5pm daily. Free.

Karaoke

Botanical Edge

Curry-Oke

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26. BILK GALLERY

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Thurs Oct 16 - Sat Oct 18 Live Music Dinner Concert

Jazz with trio of resident Miroslav Bukovsky + Julian Fung Trio. 6-10.30pm. Free. HOTEL HOTEL

Thursday Jazz

With Andrew Gander Quartet. 8pm, $15/$10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Nick Rigby

A guitar and vocals powerhouse. 6.309.30pm. Free. THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Illworth’s

Innebriator

With Reign Of Terror + Rise. Doors 8pm. $10. THE BASEMENT

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf T-Shirt

Botanical Edge

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26. BILK GALLERY

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

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

The Real & The Imagined

MAGPIES CITY CLUB

Studio glass inspired by Australian landscape by Holly Grace. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free.

On The Town

Movement

Jxckxlz, Lost Coast, Blight Worms and Foreign Kings. Time & $TBA.

BEAVER GALLERIES

With Stik N Move, Jimmy Pike, Shug Brainless, Filfy Finn + Danggers on decks. 8pm, $10.

Steve

By Aika O’Toole. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

UNI PUB

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

Owen Campbell Band

Presenting Kaz James. $10 all night.

TRANSIT BAR

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free.

Alive Fridays

9pm, $5.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Oktoberfest 2014

Something Different

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Stephen Stravenger – Book Launch

THE PHOENIX BAR

Bands & DJs across 2 stages. 12pm onwards. Info: anuunion.com.au

On The Town 4some Thursdays

Plus poetry & music. 7.30-10.30pm, $5. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Free entry.

Theatre

Playtime

Café théâtre avec Les Théâtreux

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

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

friday october 17 Dance

An evening of short plays in French + dinner. 7pm. $25. RSVP by Oct 13. ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

saturday october 18

For The Win

Art Exhibitions

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

By Madeline Bishop. Opening 6pm Oct 16. Until Oct 26. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm.

47 dancers in search of the finish line. By dancers age 8-16. Tickets: canberrarep.org.au

Live Music Granite Town

Jazz and funk festival. Fri-Sun. Oct 17-19. Tickets $40-$100. Online at granitetown.com.au. MORUYA

DJ Norm

Freshest mixes of the 21st century. 8pm. Free. THE LOFT AT DUXTON

The Tea Party

With Superjesus. 7.30pm. $82 through Ticketek. ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Monuments

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Trespass: Genevieve Swifte

Traditional photography by Genevieve Swifte. Until Oct 20. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

27 Aussie artists exploring shifts in understanding of what it is to be human. Until Feb 22. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Canberra Grammar Sculpture Festival

Plus Harris Hobbs Small Sculpture Prize. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

Australia for UNHCR

Glitoris

Glitter & nakedness? With Faux Faux Amis & Ell Bella. Proceeds go to Domestic Violence Center. 8pm. TRANSIT BAR

DJ Norm

Freshest mixes of the 21st century. 8pm. Free. THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Leadfinger

With Il Bruto + The King Hits. 9.30pm, $5. THE PHOENIX BAR

Bluejuice

The farewell tour. 8pm. $37 through Ticketek. ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Avarin CD Launch

With Talisin, Steelswarm & Despite Eviction. 8pm. $10. THE BASEMENT

Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

NISHI GALLERY

Love Saturdays

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

With The Projektz. $10 all night. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

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

Chrome Halloween Eve Special

Arcadia: Sound of the Sea

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

EBM, alternative, dark, with guest DJ Jay. $5/$10.

Expression of the 70s. Aug 14 - Oct 19. 10am-5pm daily. Free.

Greg

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

UNI PUB

Comedy

Something Different

Joel Creasey

$50k Birthday Giveaway

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free.

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

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

Dance

$50k Birthday Giveaway

Australia’s hottest young comic. 8pm. $35 through Oztix.

BEAVER GALLERIES

CANBERRA REPERTORY SOCIETY

Eclectika: Ceramic Artistry for the Table

Live Music

STUR GALLERY

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

On The Town

For The Win

By artists from the collective Claybodies. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 9.

With Burrows - Album Launch. 7pm, $10/$12. trybooking.com/101506

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free.

Thornton Walker – paintings & works on paper

Recalled from dreams, photos, travel & memory. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free.

Second Sun

47 dancers in search of the finish line. By dancers age 8-16. Tickets: canberrarep.org.au

Granite Town

Jazz and funk festival. Fri-Sun. Oct 17-19. Tickets $40-$100. Online at granitetown.com.au.

THE TRADIES (DICKSON)

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

Theatre Where I End & You Begin

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 7.30pm. $30. THE STREET THEATRE

MORUYA

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sun Oct 19 - Thurs Oct 23 sunday october 19 Live Music Sunday Sessions

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 4pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Granite Town

Jazz and funk festival. Fri-Sun. Oct 17-19. Tickets $40-$100. Online at granitetown.com.au. MORUYA

Sunday Sangria & Sound

With The Company. 3pm-5pm, $10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Canberra Blues Society Jam With Los Pajeros. 2–5:30pm. $3 members/$5 non-members. HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Patrick Ryan

Lead of The Steptones brings us sublime sounds. 3-6pm. Free. THE DUXTON

Irish Jam Session

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

Workshops French Classes

Conversation, pronunciation, grammar or travel workshops for all ages. Info + bookings: afcanberra.c ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

tuesday october 21

LA DE DA

Theatre Where I End & You Begin

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 6pm. $30. THE STREET THEATRE

monday october 20 Comedy Schnitz & Giggles 6.30pm – 8pm, $10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Live Music The Bootleg Sessions

With Myriad Ways, Rumshack, Tom Woodward + Hannah Blackburn. 8pm. Free. THE PHOENIX BAR

Eclectika: Ceramic Artistry for the Table

THE STREET THEATRE

BEAVER GALLERIES

By artists from the collective Claybodies. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 9.

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 7.30pm. $30.

thursday october 23 Comedy

Karaoke Love Competition

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26.

Ronny Chieng

TRANSIT BAR

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

9pm. Free entry. Grand final prize of $1000 awarded on Nov 4.

Live Music Urban Drover 8pm, $10/$8.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Comeback Kid

With Rotting out, Relentless. 8pm. $TBA

BILK GALLERY

Chieng Reaction tour. 8.30pm. Tickets from Oztix. ZIERHOLZ @ UC

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

Karaoke

The Real & The Imagined

8pm. Free Entry. Specials for group entries.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Studio glass inspired by Australian landscape by Holly Grace. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free.

Curry-Oke

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Live Music

THE BASEMENT

BEAVER GALLERIES

Trivia

27 Aussie artists exploring shifts in understanding of what it is to be human. Until Feb 22.

From harmonica to guitar to didgeridoo! 6.30-9.30pm. Free.

Canberra Grammar Sculpture Festival

With Chris Potter, Antonio Shanchez + more. Info & tickets: canberratheatrecentre.com.au

THE PHOENIX BAR

Singer/song writer comp.

Where I End & You Begin

Botanical Edge

IRON BAR

Studio 68 Sound Search

Recalled from dreams, photos, travel & memory. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free.

STUR GALLERY

Christo and Raph’s Comic Sans Trivia

With Matt Dent. 2pm. Free.

Theatre

Karaoke

The Acoustic Sessions

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Thornton Walker – paintings & works on paper

7.30pm. Free.

Trivial Tuesdays

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm. Free Entry. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday october 22 Art Exhibitions Monuments

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Plus Harris Hobbs Small Sculpture Prize. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

Australia for UNHCR

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free. NISHI GALLERY

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Minh Ha

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Pat Metheny Unity Group

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Pretty City

With Wallflower + Bruges. 9pm. $5. THE PHOENIX BAR

Something Different Meet with Jean-Yves Camus Discuss the exhibition. Lunch $10. 12.30pm. Free event.

By Madeline Bishop. Opening 6pm Oct 16. Until Oct 26. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm.

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Theatre

Movement

Live Music

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

By Aika O’Toole. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

Confession

Landscapes Territoires Rêvés

MAGPIES CITY CLUB

Where I End & You Begin

CMC Presents bands every Wednesday

THE STREET THEATRE

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

By Jean-Yves Camus. Opening: Oct 22, 7pm. Free. Until Nov 11. Mon-Thu 9-8pm. Fri 8-5pm. ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Macquarie Digital Portraiture Award Screen based portraiture finalists. 10am-5pm daily. Free. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

With Prepared Like A Bride, Graves + more. Time & $TBA.

With Joshua Wellington + guests. 7.30pm. $10-$5. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Wednesday Night Gigs

Showcasing local talented musicians. 8pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 7.30pm. $30.

friday october 24 Live Music Live Music

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Oct 24 - Wed Oct 29 Richard In Your Mind

Psych / indie popsters launch their new album Ponderosa! 8pm, $10 on the door.

Eclectika: Ceramic Artistry for the Table

On The Town

monday october 27

By artists from the collective Claybodies. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 9.

Steve

Freshest mixes of the 21st century. 8pm. Free.

Botanical Edge

Something Different

BILK GALLERY

The Church

Peter Vandermark & Archie Moore

The Hunger Jams: CRDL Grand Final

TRANSIT BAR

DJ Norm

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

Further/Deeper tour. 8pm. $53 via Ticketek. ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

On The Town Alex

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free. UNI PUB

Talks Café Scientifique “The Digital City”

A discussion. 5.30pm. Free. RSVP by Oct 22. ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Theatre Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

STUR GALLERY

By Marian Hosking. Until Oct 26.

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

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body 27 Aussie artists exploring shifts in understanding of what it is to be human. Until Feb 22.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

Landscapes Territoires Rêvés

By Jean-Yves Camus. Opening: Oct 22, 7pm. Free. Until Nov 11. Mon-Thu 9-8pm. Fri 8-5pm. ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Thornton Walker – paintings & works on paper

Recalled from dreams, photos, travel & memory. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free. BEAVER GALLERIES

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

Canberra Grammar Sculpture Festival

Plus Harris Hobbs Small Sculpture Prize. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

boyandgirlco.’s furniture from discarded pallets. 11am-3pm. Free.

The Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize 2014

Nature as seen by the artist. Until Nov 9. Free entry. NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 9.30pm. Free. LITTLE BROOKLYN

Like Thieves

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

Where I End & You Begin

Workshops

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 7.30pm. $30.

French Classes

THE STREET THEATRE

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Live Music

By Aika O’Toole. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

THE STREET THEATRE

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

BEAVER GALLERIES

Monuments

Movement

Album Launch. Info: thestreet.org.au

AIS ARENA

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

Studio glass inspired by Australian landscape by Holly Grace. Oct 16-Nov 4. Free.

Live Music

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

The Alex Stuart Quintet

Theatre

Art Exhibitions By Madeline Bishop. Opening 6pm Oct 16. Until Oct 26. Wed-Sun 11am-5pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Roller derby final. 3pm. Tickets: crdl. com.au

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

NISHI GALLERY

saturday october 25

With Sex On Toast, Brass Knuckle Brass Band, PJ Junior & the Soul Pimps. 8pm. Free.

The Real & The Imagined

Where I End & You Begin THE STREET THEATRE

The Bootleg Sessions

Theatre

Australia for UNHCR

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 7.30pm. $30.

UNI PUB

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Live Music

80s & 90s. 9pm. Free.

Conversation, pronunciation, grammar or travel workshops for all ages. Info + bookings: afcanberra.c

sunday october 26

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

Live Music

tuesday october 28

Sunday Sessions

Acoustic local & interstate musicians. 4pm. Free.

Karaoke

Bob Log III

Karaoke Love Competition

LITTLE BROOKLYN

9pm. Free entry. Grand final prize of $1000 awarded on Nov 4.

With The Fuelers. 8pm. $15. THE PHOENIX BAR

TRANSIT BAR

Minh Ha

From harmonica to guitar to didgeridoo! 3-6pm. Free.

Theatre

Irish Jam Session

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

THE DUXTON

Traditional Irish music. From late afternoon. Free.

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Studio 68 Sound Search

Trivia

LA DE DA

Nerd Trivia with Joel and Ali

Singer/song writer comp.

8pm. $25 through Ticketek.

Something Different

DJ Norm

Sing!

THE LOFT AT DUXTON

THE STREET THEATRE

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Freshest mixes of the 21st century. 8pm. Free.

Yes I’m Leaving

With New Age Group + Nature Kids. 9.30pm. $5. THE PHOENIX BAR

Briggs

Sheplife & Hau: Football, Feasts & Funerals Launch. 8pm. $20 through Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

Presented by Impac Comics. 7.30pm. Free. THE PHOENIX BAR

Trivial Tuesdays

Come and sing along. Info: thestreet. org.au

Hosted By IQ Trivia. 1st Prize $75. 7pm. Free Entry. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Theatre

wednesday october 29

Where in the World is Frank Sparrow?

Art Exhibitions

$15-$21. Book at: cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Where I End & You Begin

Movement

By Cathy Pet?cz. World Premiere. 6pm. $30. THE STREET THEATRE

OUT

Oct 22

By Aika O’Toole. Opening Oct 16, 6pm. Until Nov 16. Free.

CANBERRA GRAMMAR SCHOOL GALLERY

canberra international film festival zombie walk/day of the dead ...and more!

facebook.com/bmamagazine

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

Dave Scotland Where did your band name come from? Parents. Group members? Just me. Describe your sound: Progressive, Electro, Tech, Deep House – with a hint of trance. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Carl Cox, Nik Fish, Pewee Ferris, Pete Tong, Tony De Vit, Roger Sanchez & Norman Cook. What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Playing the main room at Heaven is still pretty special to me. Of what are you proudest so far? I’m quite proud of BMA Sessions. It’s my chance to give back and to build something that goes beyond a gig or a residency. What are your plans for the future? I’m putting a lot of energy into building a community around our new fortnightly mix show, BMA Sessions. What makes you laugh? Stupidity. What pisses you off? Stupidity. What about the local scene would you change? More events, featuring national and international artists. What are your upcoming gigs? We are currently planning an exclusive launch event for BMA Sessions. I’ll also be gigging around town so keep an eye out for details. Contact info: dave@bmasessions.com bmasessions.com Facebook.com/bmasessions

Australian Songwriters Association Keiran (02) 62310433 Back to the Eighties Ty Emerson 0418 544 014 Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422733974 backbeatdrivers.com Bat Country Communion, The Mel 0400405537 Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows-bookings@ birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438351007 blacklabelphotography.net Bridge Between, The Cam 0431550005 Capital Dub Style Reggae/dub events Rafa 0406647296 Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 649 chrisharlandbluesband @gmail.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662 Danny V Danny 0413502428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428 Dorothy Jane Band, The Dorothy Jane 0411065189 dorothy-jane@dorothyjane.com Drumassault Dan 0406 375 997 Feldons, The 0407 213 701 FeralBlu Danny 0413502428 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410381306 Lachlan 0400038388 Fourth Degree Vic 0408477020 Gareth Dailey DJ/Electronica Gareth 0414215885 Groovalicious Corporate/ weddings/private functions 0448995158

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

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

Top Shelf Colin 0408631514

Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Zoopagoo zoopagoo@gmail.com

Undersided, The Baz 0408468041

@bmamag

ad space

facebook.com/bmamagazine

ad space

@bmamag