BMA Magazine 455 - 7 January 2015

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AUSTRALIA DAY LIVE: IT’S A FREE GIG AY

Classiest New Years pick up line : “You don’t have to wait until midnight to see my balls drop.” # 4 5 5 J a n 1 4 Fax: (02) 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com

Austraya Day. Where we all roll our eyes at what song makes the Hottest 100 (at least Dennis Leary knew what he was) and have to cope with a sea of people, previously ambivalent to the concept of national pride, sporting Aussie flag bikinis and dodgy stick-on tattoos (that are impossible to wash off by the way – don’t ask me how I know this). No matter, we welcome everyone, and no one is more Austrayan than Paul Kelly, who is headlining this year’s Australia Day Live proceedings.

There’s no denying Kelly’s gift of telling an Aussie yarn through song – I dare you not to have ‘something in your eye’ during ‘How To Make Gravy’. Even Chief Executive of the Australia Day council Jeremy Lasek is suitably stoked – “It doesn’t get much better than hearing Paul Kelly play all of his greatest hits live.” Indeed. Also on the bill is Jessica Mauboy, with more to be

announced in coming days. The event also combines Australian of the Year celebrations with the gig itself, held on the lawns of Parliament House. Gates open at 3pm, with proceedings expected to kick off at 4pm.

All ages welcome and it’s free entry. Ay bro (a nod to our Kiwi friends). For more info head to australiaday.org.au.

TAKE THAT KERMIT: IT IS IN FACT EASY TO BE GREEN If you haven’t been to The Green Shed you’re a tool (geddit). It’s a reuse and recycle facility where you can get rid of anything you don’t deem to be worthy of a whimsical Frankie magazine cover feature and pick up something that just begs to be uploaded with sepia filters.

The best bit is that the Shed gives away all of its clothing FOR FREE and has done for the last five years as part of their ongoing commitment to the environment and your urban cool quotient. The Green Shed now has three locations - Mugga Lane in Symonston; Flemington Road in Mitchell and the somewhat recent Garema Place

store in Civic. More details at thegreenshed.net.au.

WINNERS CORNER: WHY MUSIC TASTE IS A DEALBREAKER. END OF STORY. NO EXCEPTIONS. Some people saw High Fidelity as a sad indictment of what loving music a little too much can do to relationships. I saw it as a blueprint for future proofing your relationship.

Casey submitted this entry to our recent High Fidelity comp and clearly concurs: “I once dated a girl, a beautiful girl, a really nice, quirky, intelligent girl that I liked a lot; however..... She was into country. I thought I could live with that cos she also was a fan of You Am I, Ben Harper and many other good things. One day she bought us tickets to see Keith Urban in Melbourne.

I broke up with her shortly after. I feel bad, but I really hate country.”

Well played sir.

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

Tony Abbott won’t be at this thing will he?

NEXT ISSUE 456 OUT Jan 28 EDITORIAL DEADLINE Jan 21 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Jan 22 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA Magazine is independently owned and published.

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

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FROM THE BOSSMAN Well slap me sideways with a sausage and called me Frank… It’s only gone and got all 2015 on us already.

Yes, it’s that time of year when the human race is brought together to fire platitudes to each other along the lines of, “Where DID the time go?” and “<Insert Year Here> already!

Shitballs!” before settling grandad down with a nice gin and tonic.

So a very Happy New Year to your splendid selves. I hope you managed to get a relaxing and enjoyable slab of time off and if you didn’t, I hope you made bank from the rest of us screaming “Entertain me!” as we now wallow in the muck of New Year poverty.

The end of one year and the start of a new one is always curious.

This human construct of Time that we created to keep ourselves in order (or perhaps just for something to do way back then) takes on a different meaning as the calendar ticks over.

We feel there are now two of us - in my case a Past Allan and Future Allan - where hopefully Past Allan did the things he’d promise to do for Future Allan before the holiday, like tidy the desk and clear out emails so everything will be nice and clean for the start of the year (ha!). Past Allan will make promises to Future Allan about life goals - drink less, run more - who in turn flashes a wry smile, crosses his arms whilst slowly shaking his head side to side before ruffling Past Allan’s hair with a, “You know better than that” gesture.

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.]

Is it foggy outside Canberra drivers? Are you having trouble seeing whilst driving because the fog is so thick you need use fog lights?Let me answer that for you... NO IT IS NOT FUCKING FOGGY BECAUSE ITS MUTHAFUCKING SUMMER.So don’t drive around with your fucking fog lights on, they’re annoying in my review mirror, and they shine muthafucking bright when you’re coming towards me, which obviously wouldn’t happen if it were foggy due to the fog putting a fog filter over your lamps.

So by all means, turn them on when it’s goddamn foggy and not when the sun is belting down at 32 fucking degrees.And also remember to fucking turn them on in winter when it’s foggy, coz damn, you’re a bunch of daft c**ts turning them on in summer and leaving them off in winter.Where the fuck do you come from?

Tasmania?! Now go preach this lesson. Shit faces.

Much love and anticipation of you not turning your fog lights on until May at the earliest.

Ps If you can’t fucking see whilst driving that you need to put your fog lights on when there is no fog, you need to stop fucking driving. Quick smart.

With time seemingly hurtling by at a faster pace each year, we claw desperately at the notion of trying to slow it down over holidays. Whereas at work we are dictated to by Time - get to work on time, have the right amount of time for lunch, meeting time, office cricket time - on holiday we are presented with 24 hours to fill with whatever the gosh darn heck we want.

Fancy a nap at 3pm in the afternoon? Go for it. Want to stay up until 5am watching a boxset? Knock yourself out. Want to get in a good reading session? Be my guest. Fancy cracking out a glistening glass of Sav Blanc at 9am just because you can?

What’s that you say? That’s only me, and I should probably talk to someone about that? Right you are, then.

But then again I have kids, so scratch that ‘doing whatever you want’ philosophy. As far as Time Flying goes, the greatest measure is not, as you would expect, your own kids growing up, but other people’s kids. “Oh, they grow up so fast,” we all coo about our own children but I don’t necessarily find that. My munchkins turned four and two last month and they very much feel like four and two. After all, we’ve been there with them night and day.

No, we do the proverbial time warp again when you talk to other people you haven’t spoken to in a while - maybe at a party - about their kids that really gets you.

“How old’s your Sam now? He must be what… 7? 8, even?”

“The little fella turned 39 just like week.”

“Shut the front door! Where DID the time go?”

And a new year is also, of course, a time for reflection and for (hopefully) positive changes. With that in mind, we’re set for some big, positive changes for 2015 including - but not limited to - a snazzy print redesign and an exciting overhaul for the website. We hope you join us for the ride, and here’s to a cracking 2015. - ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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Image credit: jarrad Seng

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WHO: KIM CHURCHILL WHAT: SINGER-SONGWRITER WHEN: FRI JAN 16 WHERE: THE ABBEY

Fresh after his stints at Falls and Southband festivals, Kim Churchill will be back in town to support new tune ‘Single Spark’ from his latest album Silence/Win. The roaming singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has snagged support slots for Billy Bragg and Michael Franti, done a stint at Glastonbury and headlined his own tours throughout Canada, the UK and Europe, all by the tender age of 24. He’s wooed audiences worldwide with his extensive vocal range, intricate guitar playing, as well as being a whizz on the bass drum, harmonica, tambourine and percussion. Doors from 6.30pm. Tickets $15 +bf from theabbey.com.au.

WHO: THREDBO BLUES FESTIVAL WHAT: FESTIVAL WHEN: FRI–SUN JAN 16–18 WHERE: THREDBO

This year the Thredbo Blues Festival reaches another milestone, celebrating its 21st birthday with its biggest lineup yet. With 22 acts over three days, the lineup features Russell Morris, Jeff Lang, Ray Beadle Band, Rick Price and much more. “I love how it feels as though the whole town has given itself over to music for the duration of the festival,” quips festival veteran Lang, who’s been playing Thredbo Blues festival for the past 19 years. Tickets start from $50+bf for an evening pass, all weekend passes $150+bf, with accommodation packages available. For more details and to book tickets, head to thredbo.com.au/thredboblues.

WHO: GHOST NOTES WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: MON JAN 26 WHERE: SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Fans of Mogwai, The Dirty Three and Tortoise will dig Brisbane instrumentalists Ghost Notes, who have just released their third album, Moonlight State. On this album, the band’s signature musical spaciousness remains, but their evocative instrumental rock moves in darker territories, from melancholy folk eulogies to noise-rock freak-outs. Ghost Notes draw on influences from jazz, kraut rock, folk and spaghetti-western soundtracks along with post-rock, to make their epic sound. Ditch the tired Australia Day BBQs and wander down to Smith’s Alternative to catch the five-piece, supported by Cracked Actor and Ecruteak. 8pm, price TBC

WHO: JOEL BARKER WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: FRI JAN 16 WHERE: SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

During a six month stint in England playing shows and festivals, Perth singer-songwriter Joel Barker wrote and recorded his new album, Beyond The Crows. The album features Beth Orton on guitar, as well as appearances from Matt Parker of indie rockers Mystery Jets and Barker’s sister, Emily. After a successful crowdfunding campaign last year, the album was released and played on radio stations across the country and across the pond. Catch Barker’s melodic brand of folk rock at Smith’s Alternative on Friday January 16. Doors 7.30pm for 8pm start. Price TBC.

WHO: SUPER RAELENE BROS WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: SUN FEB 1 WHERE: SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Dance hall acoustic activist outfit Super Raelene Bros return to Canberra to launch their brand new album Revolution Day. With just an acoustic guitar, fiddle, tambourine and a kick drum, the duo blend roots and dance that will get your toes tappin’ and hips shakin’.Their new single, the anthemic ‘Revolution Day’, won NT Roots Song of the Year, receiving community radio airplay acclaim up and down the country. With support from Non Profit. Kicks off at 3pm. A measly $10 gets you in the door and a free copy of the debut album.

WHO: CJ RAMONE and the Hard-Ons WHAT: ALBUM LAUNCH WHEN: WED FEB 11 WHERE: TRANSIT BAR

Hey ho, let’s go! The CJ Ramone will be in the country playing songs off his new solo record, Last Chance To Dance – and a swag of Ramones hits too. Joined by his band, which includes Steve Soto and Dan Root (Adolescents) on guitars and Pete Soso (Street Dogs) on drums, Ramone will be making his debut Canberra appearance at Transit Bar on Wednesday February 11. He’ll be in good company too, as the bill includes Sydney legends the Hard Ons (pictured) and Queanbeyan’s own No Assumption. 8pm.

Tickets $34.70 from oztix.

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SCOTT ADAMS “Sorry about that. I had some wingnut on the phone trying to talk about microphones.”

That’s the life of the jobbing rocker these days. According to some survey or other I read the other day, even ‘well-known’ or ‘successful’ musos have to run day jobs these days to make ends meet and Steve Gray, prime mover and lead guitarist of Canberran veterans TONK, being both well-known and successful, is no different. But we’re back on track for our chat now after that short delay and it’s a very important chat too, as Tonk have, after a gestation period that would have had an elephant screaming for the induction stirrups, finally given birth to their s-tonking (sorry) second LP, the gargantuan Ruby Voodoo.

This is a moment worth celebrating and Gray for one is keen to do that with Canberra’s liveliest read.

So, tell us a bit about Ruby Voodoo. What was the recording process like this time around? “It was all really positive,” says Gray. “No matter how much you prep for this kind of things there are things that happen that throw you off a bit but I think we did quite well. We ended up working with Nick DiDia – he’s done a lot of stuff!”

All this doesn’t come cheap and the recording process really wiped the band out financially, didn’t it? Which leads us to your Pozible Campaign – what’s the go with that? “I felt a bit bad about launching it.

I always used to look at these things and see them as a kind of begging, but I can’t really hammer any more credit cards or take out any more loans – all the boys in the band are at the same point really and we really want to get this thing out! I don’t know if I’ve got any more albums in me and it would be good to see this one getting released,” says Gray.

“We’ve got a little way to go and the target we’ve set [$7000] is basically just to cover the costs of what’s left to get the record out. And hopefully we’ll be able to shoot a promo clip for the track ‘Voodoo’ too.”

Most people use auto-tune on everything – Protools coming out of every orifice – and although I think there’s a place for that, it just isn’t Tonk

He has indeed, including longtime BMA faves The Living End. Over 40 million albums have been sold with his name on them. But we digress. Carry on. “He was able to relate so much back to things he’s worked on,” Gray says.

“At one time I was struggling to get a sound and I said ‘I’d really like to get that AM-Radio sound going on this… you know, like that Stone Temple Pilots thing you worked on?’ And he flicks a few dials and there it is! Plus he had a lot of very interesting stories that I’m probably not allowed to tell you about.”

Gray proceeds to tell me an extremely amusing tale concerning hair metal also rans Jackyll, which your modesty prevents me from relating here. How does a band from Canberra get to work with an international name like that? “You pay for it!”

We both laugh, but there must be more to it than that? Did you put together a wishlist of names, were you put together by mutual acquaintances? We need to know how this sort of wheeling and dealing goes down. “Well, because of the way we record – we tend to track everything ‘live’ together as a band and then add in solos and vocals afterwards. We’re looking for that vibe that everybody used to have in the studio and there aren’t that many people who record that way these days. There just aren’t that many options.

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“Most people use auto-tune on everything –Protools coming out of every orifice – and although I think there’s a place for that, it just isn’t Tonk. So I did a bit of research around Australian studios and the thing that came up about 301 in Byron Bay is that they’ve got an old early seventies Neve mixing desk that used to belong to Festival records. It actually recorded a lot of Australian hits at that time and when Festival went under a lot of overseas studios were sniffing around it. Peter Garrett actually heritage listed it! So they set it up in Byron. There’s something magical about those desks and that was a big consideration.”

There must be plans for a grand Canberra unveiling, yes? “Yes! We’ll launch the disc on Saturday February 21 at the ANU with Renegade Peacock and Night Train along with us. That’s it at the moment as I’m still only just getting everything done. I’ve just sent the thank you lists off. The whole thing is all encompassing – I’m just a musician!”

Will people be able to but the album there? “That’s the plan.

CDs these days, you can get turned round in ten days, but we’re struggling with the vinyl at the moment.” Well vinyl or no, there’ll be a band playing at the ANU withsome new songs they’re keen for you to hear. I’ve heard the album and I can say, without fear of my nose gaining length, that it is a fabulous slab of straight up, guitarheavy hard rock of the very highest calibre. If that sounds like you, get on the interweb now, get involved in the Pozible campaign and I’ll see you down the front at the ANU. Tonk launch new album Ruby Voodoo at ANU Saturday February 21, with Renegade Peacock and Night Train. Time and price TBC. Help the band release the album at pozible.com/project/188777.

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CODY ATKINSON Sussan Ley was just elevated to cabinet in the last government re-shuffle but a (relatively) little known fact about Ley is that she was a punk in Canberra in the late ‘70s. In honour of Ley’s promotion and punk background, this week Cody Atkinson questions the links between music and the people on the hill.

I’ll get this out of the way early – pollies surely don’t give a shit about music, do they?

Music is an integral part of Australian life in the 21st century. THE TRUTH. If Parliament is meant to be representative of Australians, then why wouldn’t they like a bit of music?

Surely music and politics is a pretty recent thing?

Well, Paul Keating was in the band management biz with The Ramrods before Parliament. He said he took the young band, “from nowhere to obscurity”. Eventually he became infatuated with classical music, to the point which he suffered one of the greatest dreads of an Australian politician – to be dubbed an elitist.

And at the recent Victorian State election Tex Perkins ran for the seat of Albert Park, with his sole platform based around getting a major party to commit to saving the Palais Theatre. After getting the support of the Labor Party to save the Palais, he then announced his support for them and publicly stated that people shouldn’t vote for him. Tex took his own advice and wrote down the name of the Greens candidate instead of his own (or even the Labor candidate he had a deal with). And the less said about The Basics elaborate attempt to promote their politically themed new EP the better.

Clive Palmer loves a bit of a twerk and a bit of Elvis on the side

So who was the first musician to be elected to Parliament?

Well, my half-arsed research shows that Athol Guy, the dude with glasses from The Seekers, was elected to the Victorian parliament as a Liberal in 1971. That concludes everything I know about Athol Guy, or everything I care to know about Athol Guy. Thank you. And of course the last Parliament was host to one of Australia’s finest rock ’n’roll singers.

Yeah, Peter Garrett was great with Midnight Oil...

Peter Garrett? I was talking about Craig Emerson. He of ‘Whyalla Wipeout’ fame.

Come on...

As far as I know only one member of the 43rd Parliament has been invited on TV with his band since then and it’s not the tall bald man.

It is Emmo, appearing with his crack band on The Chaser Decides.

Craig Emerson... Hang on... (gets megaphone) CRAIG EMERSON IS ONE OF THE FINEST ROCK SINGERS IN AUSTRALIA OF HIS GENERATION. Surely that was satire...

A TV appearance for a band is no laughing matter, unless it is.

How about other musos who have tried to make the conversion to the political stage?

PG (post-Garrett) there have been a few musicians of various genres and political persuasions who have run for public office.

Angry (Gary) Anderson has had a punt at running for Parliament, gaining pre-selection for the Nationals in 2012 for the Division of Throsby. He got 10% of the vote, a 4.8% swing his way and good

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enough to earn himself another shot at parliament, this time on the other side of Sydney in Cessnock. The 2013 Federal election saw several candidates with backgrounds on stage, probably the most prominent of which was Graeme Blundell, winner of multiple Golden Guitar awards, who was the lead candidate for Katter’s Australia Party for the Queensland Senate. He was, to put it politely...

Not successful.

What about the musical tastes of those currently on Capitol Hill?

If Parliament is meant to represent different segments of the community, it partially shows in their diverse tastes in music. Current Treasurer Joe Hockey has publicly declared his love of Delta Goodrem and Nickleback (no comment), whilst his predecessor (SWANNY!) has stated his admiration for Bruce Springsteen and his daughter’s pop-rock band from Brisbane (Streamer Bendy). Julie Bishop loves a bit of Elvis, Dusty Springfield, Hunters and Collectors and Queen Bey, which is an diverse group of artists for a 57-year-old. And we all know, in graphic detail, that Clive Palmer loves a bit of a twerk and a bit of Elvis on the side.

But Anthony Albanese probably takes the cake from my POV. A noted Pixies fan, Albo is pretty much a rusted-on fan of ‘80s and ‘90s indie and has shown love for The Pogues, The Go-Betweens, The Smiths, Nick Cave, Joy Division and PJ Harvey. Adam Bandt from the Greens has shown a like for The Go-Betweens too, with some Arcade Fire and Bloc Party in there too.

How about the PM? Tony Abbott has released some of his favourites over the years, with Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, The Beach Boys and Katy Perry being announced as favourites of Abbott. It’s unknown to this point who Abbott’s favourite local bands are, other than Canberra’s very own Super Best Friends, whose video he appeared in (alongside other pollies).

OK, so should someone’s great or terrible taste in music be a reason to vote for them?

Absolutely not. Of all of the reasons to vote for someone to govern the nation and make decisions that may affect their day to day lives, their tastes in music rate very low on the list.

But fuck, it’s your vote. If you want to vote for someone because they like your band, or even your favourite, go for it. It’s your vote after all.

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LOCALITY

The weather is warm, the sun is out (sometimes) and Canberra has woken from her summer slumber. With a whole ton of local musical goodies, January 2015 certainly seems to be aiming to please!

Take advantage of the longer daylight hours in a beautiful natural setting with Summer Sounds at the National Botanic Gardens, every Saturday and Sunday until Sunday January 25. Each night starts at 5.30pm, the lineup of shows covers a range of genres, with acts for the forthcoming dates including Dr Stovepipe, The Fuelers, Annie and the Armadillos and Franklyn B Paverty, who will play an extended set for Australia Day Eve. Entry for all performances is $5 for adults, $2 for concession folks and kids up to 17 get in free. If you want to find out more about who’s playing on what dates, as well as details on parking and much more, visit anbg.gov.au/gardens and follow the links.

If you like your gigs indoors, you may find that The Front Gallery and Café is where you want to be on Thursday January 15, when Fossil Rabbit, Alphamale and former-Canberran now-Melbournite Aphir will be treating their audience to a night of delightfully chilled sounds. It kicks off at 7pm and will set you back $10 at the door before spinning you out with their various ambient tunes.

On Friday January 23, you can head back in to the loving arms of Smith’s Alternative for Second Sun and their acoustic/folk/pop/ rock sounds. It kicks off at 8pm, with the door charge yet to be confirmed at the time of writing. Or if you’re looking for some “Same Venue, Different Day” action, you can check out the country and blues tunes of Urban Drover, who’ll take to the stage on Tuesday January 27 from 8pm. Again, door charge is TBC. It seems that 2015 is going to be a big year for releases, with the year’s first releases already out in the world, the first launching at the same time as the New Year! Tom Woodward dropped his latest work, Beautiful Shadows at a CMC event on New Years Eve, while high school go-getters Triumverate let their first demos out into the online wild on the same evening, with the release of The Black Death Tapes.

There’s also plenty of exciting snippets floating around in regards to recordings that haven’t hatched just yet. Over the Christmas break, Chris Endrey of PAINT on PAINT spilled the beans on Twitter about some of the names we can expect to see on their album, which should be out later this year. Recent Canberra-leavers Bec Taylor and Nick Peddle make appearances on synth and drums respectively, with Mustered Courage’s Josh Bridges also popping in to contribute some bass lines. Couple all those lovely tidbits with the delightfully haunting tunes that Endrey and bandmate Hannah Beasley have been putting together and you’ve got a release that is definitely on my Most Anticipated list.

Overall it’s a good start to 2015 and there’s so much more to come.

So here’s to new releases, more gigs and hopefully the re-opening of some beloved venues in the next 12 months. After a rocky 2014, we deserve it, Canberra.

NONI DOLL NONIJDOLL@GMAIL.COM @NONIJDOLL

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DANCE THE DROP

Welcome to Hill Vale! I know that every one of you has at least one annoying friend who thinks that they are the first one in the world to work out that Wednesday October 21 2015 was the ‘future’ that Marty J Fox visited in Back to the Future 2. The holographic shark, the techno fashion and yes the pink hoverboard – it’s picture after status after picture dropping bombs like ‘ooh I guess I better start dressing like a camp action figure’. We get it, we all saw the movie.

The truth is that technology hasn’t progressed as fast as the 80s brain surmised it would. Here we are in 2015 and all we have are scary drawing board versions of flying cars and a sub par floating

plank that wouldn’t be out of place on an air hockey table. Pepsi is still served in a regular bottle, thugs don’t wear thimbles on their heads and standard clothing doesn’t give you a blow job. What has progressed in leaps and bounds is music.

Imagine playing Skrillex to Robert Zemeckis back in the mideighties, you would have been dragged away by the men in white coats before you could even drop the bass! Not even Zemeckis’ brilliant mind could have conceived of a future where children gather and writhe around like electrified snakes to computer noises.

Between then and now, dance music was strapped to Matthew McConaughey and sucked into a tesseract, its structure torn apart and rebuilt in a completely different dimension of sound. We are entering an age of incomprehensible audio evolution; the last two years have been a step backwards so that the rest of the world could catch up (I’m looking at you America). Now we are ready to evolve as a singularity. It is a very exciting time to be alive, albeit with our feet firmly planted on the ground.

Trinity Bar plays host to the next instalment of Hard Envy on Saturday January 31. This edition is solely dedicated to all things hardcore, headlined by Sydney brain bashers Dyprax and Toon & Raziel. If you like your music jackhammer fast with a hint of permanent ear damage, look no further!

The last few weeks have provided me with a huge haul of juicy musical fruit. Grab a case of Canadian Club & Dry, a carton of ciggies and your nearest laptop and check out these little numbers. Friction is my favourite Drum n Bass producer of the moment. He has this ability to pull epic out of thin air and his remix of Wretch 32’s ‘6 Words’ is no different. ‘Beezeldub’

by Paleman is a quirky minimal tune that will test your bass-bins, while Konektiv’s ‘Kilometros’ is one of the strongest progressive house tunes I have heard in the past six months, a must have for your collection. Roger Shah and Sian Kosheen have teamed up to rework the classic ‘Hide U’ with ‘Jerome Isma-Ae’ on the remix – big is an understatement here. Sam Smith’s ballad ‘Like I Can’ has been completely turned on its head by Jonas Rathsman – this dark slow burner is an early contender for record of the year for me! Finally the Daft Punk-inspired Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo’s ‘Rhymes’ is set to be one of the biggest house anthems of the summer. Welcome to the start of 2015, its good to be back.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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WRITING ON THE WALL RORY MCCARTNEY READABLE GRAFFITI consists of the ex-Canberran trio tagged Chris Readable (guitar, 808, vocals), Christian Graffiti (keys, drum pads, laptop) and vocalist Buttons Machiavelly. BMA spoke to guitarist Chris Herscovitch about the band’s upcoming tour in support of its new EP Out to the Races.

A quick scan of the band’s Facebook page reveals their genre as ‘alco-pop’. So, is their music fun and bubbly, or does it sound better after a few beers? Herscovitch laughs, “While it’s probably a bit of both, I think that title has been there for a long time and we have forgotten about it. The band is more electronic pop than dance. We started out doing long-winded instrumentals with a few vocals, but now it’s turned into more punchy stuff with a chorus. We do have dance elements though, with build ups, snare rolls and things like that.” While a move to Melbourne would appear to increase the scope for Readable Graffiti gigs, the results have been different. “We have probably done less gigs,” he admits.. “Canberra has a nice little scene where everyone knows everyone and a bit of a DIY approach. Here, there isn’t the same community kind of spirit and it’s harder to get your foot in the door. Still, we have played new venues and met new people.” However, the move has put them closer to their producer, Yen Nguyen from Casual Projects, while the reduced emphasis on gigging is partly due to their focus on recording.

Herscovitch speaks enthusiastically of their latest record when comparing it to its predecessor Male Mood Swings. “Out to the Races is a moodier effort, more dramatic than our previous light hearted approach,” he says. While a couple of the songs have been played at gigs, the upcoming tour will be the first real opportunity to road test the new material on the punters. Asked about his favourite from the EP, Herscovitch has a ready answer. “The title track has dynamic changes, an uplifting melody and lots of harmonies. It feels like a step up from our previous stuff, in terms of layering and production.” Herscovitch is sure the crowd will appreciate the attitude and humour injected into their live shows. “A lot of electronic acts have a guy standing behind a table, whereas we have our vocalist Buttons

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We have our vocalist doing a hairy Peter Garrett kind of thing and keeping the attention off us doing the knob twiddling

out front, doing a hairy Peter Garrett kind of thing and keeping the attention off us doing the knob twiddling. We just try and make it fun.”

Readable Graffitti has high expectations of its Canberra show, as some of its best gig memories feature the capital. “Our last launch in Canberra was a great night, with a lot of people we didn’t know singing along out in front,” says Herscovitch. “Groovin’ the Moo was also great, being on the big stage and getting the chance to run around and meet interesting people back stage. The home town shows are really good ones.”

Readable Graffiti, with support from local lads Mondecreen, will play at Transit on Saturday January 17. Tickets $10 at the door, 8pm.

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There’s always one, isn’t there?

tatjana clancy - EDITOR

And by that I mean, in the glittering world of putting together the inevitable Best-Of lists for the end of the year, there’s always one (or 10, or 87) bits of output you wished you included in said list. So the purpose of this section is for BMA Mag Editor Tatjana Clancy, Sub-Ed Chiara Grassia, Questioning Section’s Cody Atkinson and yours truly to share wonderful things that humans did in 2014 that deserve your attention. Enjoy - ALLAN SKO

Reading Cody Atkinson’s piece in this very feature sent me into a bit of a panic. He’s dead right, Total Control’s absence in our album review pages was an oversight. A HUGE oversight, as they are a genuinely exciting and talented band, both in the studio and in all their on stage too-young-and too-many-guitars glory.

ALLAN SKO - PUBLISHER Having provided albums last year, I switch my focus to individual tracks that grabbed my attention.

RÖyksopp delivered their final album The Inevitable End in 2014, a brooding, melancholic affair that, fittingly, dealt with the theme of endings. The album was a solid final bow and included muchlauded collaborations with Robyn, but opening track ‘Skulls’ pulsed with urgency, an arresting synth/bassline sounding like Daft Punk in a Blade Runner universe. Thanks for the tunes, RÖyksopp. You will be missed.

George Maple (Sydney’s Jessica Higgs) with ‘Talk Talk’ delivered a tale of unrequited physical love atop a hypnotic, driving calypso drum bassline. What sells this track is Higgs’ earnest vocals with Harley Streten’s (Flume) erudite production, beautifully layering the track’s elements and allowing sections to bubble up in the mix at the right time. Listen to it with good quality headphones.

Continuing the sexually frustrated vibe, Redinho’s ‘Playing With Fire’ gave us a track that was all swagger. Vocoder has been used in abundance over the years but it works perfectly here for this charged tale of being led astray in the world of love. Proving that a lot of brilliant producers were enamoured with the thought of unrequited love and sexual frustration, Movement’s ‘Like Lust’ delivered a beauty of a track. The Sydney trio took an emotional, strutting R&B vibe and layered it over a trip-hop aesthetic that would make Massive Attack proud, producing one of 2014’s finest tracks. The cinematic breakbeat with earnest vocal swirls keep you coming back for more.

The strange battlefield of love continued over in the world of hip hop with Busdriver’s ‘Cookie Face’. Busdriver has often pushed the esoteric envelope with his hip hop and did so again with Perfect Hair. Whilst the album can be a bit of a difficult listen in places the Greyhat remix of ‘Cookie Face’ was my pick for hip hop track of 2014. The production is amazing, the guest verses fantastic, the lyrics on point and the switch up at the three-minute mark is epic.

Whereas the aforementioned artists stuck to genre and nailed it, San Francisco’s Tycho blew the rulebook out of the water with ‘See’. Shoegaze meets IDM with a splash of post-rock... It’s the kind of stuff that makes it worth getting up in the morning.

Happy listening, my friends.

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But then I realised that this is part of what it is to live and breathe music both personally and professionally. Whatever you’re not writing about you’re listening to in your car at full throttle, embarrassing yourself at traffic lights, busting it out at parties telling everyone to listen to ‘this next bit’; basically absorbing a record into the fabric of your being and perhaps loving it too much to be in any way objective.

Goth-country Sydney band Greta Mob fit that bill. Gypsy Town Revisited was a long-form rock jam EP released after their debut Let The Sunburnt Country Burn by a group with a menacing axe to grind; enlisting Spencer P. Jones (Beasts of Bourbon) to wield his swamp-stained guitar on the reversioned ‘Gypsy Town’. Their DIY ethos and succinct bio is refreshing in my world of adjective-laden press releases. Observe: ”Conceived in Wangaratta, incubated in Berlin and a Mudgee shearing shed, and born in the ashes of the Sandringham Hotel Sydney.”

Not everything was obscure either; take This Is All Yours by Alt-J. I don’t know what would have been more destructive for this highly-anticipated sophomore release; the crippling, careerkilling pressure of having won the Mercury Music Prize with your debut (2012’s Awesome Wave) or sampling Miley Cyrus in your first single (‘Hunger of the Pine’). Either way, This Is All Yours was gorgeous. It didn’t try to emulate the sing-along crowd-pleasers ‘Tesselate’ or ‘Breezeblocks’, but gave in to the simple beauty of shimmering, multilingual harmony and nerdy digital effects.

Rarely is album artwork as intriguing as Dean Blunt’s Black Metal.

An entirely black cover, liner notes and physical CD, it demanded to be played as if it would unlock the secrets of the universe. And if the meaning of life is a voice like warm honey melting over Tricky inspired beats and Leonard Cohen spoken word prose, then this is it folks. Bearhug’s So Gone didn’t break new ground in the shoegaze effects pedal manual, but the lazily sweet ‘Chlorine’ with its satisfying tempo change was on extremely high rotation. Johnny Marr’s second solo release Playland cemented the mercurial Smiths guitarist as a frontman (Morrissey who?), his vocals not remarkable but his iconic guitar work intact. Brisbane quartet Tape/Off launched a strong debut in Chipper, their effortless lo-fi sound reverberating in the too-small Melbourne venue I cheered them on in. Infinity Broke’s River Mirrors proved that Jamie Hutching’s previous project in Bluebottle Kiss wasn’t a faded ‘90s memory, but a precursor to an outlet for experimental, grimy darkness. Just checking the word count here, I think I can include Gruff Rhys’s American Interior, Gum’s Delorean Highway, Lower’s Seek Warmer Climes and Sincerely Grizzly’s Halves. Pretty sure I’ll be desperate to add to this list when the pain from me kicking myself subsides, so expect a bigger list at bmamag.com.

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cody atkinson - QUESTIONING COLUMNIST

chiara grassia - SUB-EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

There’s so much music coming out these days, guys. So much. And to be honest sometimes it’s a bit hard to keep up with everything being released. At the same time, column inches and word limits are imposed on our want to write about whatever we can get our hands on. Here’s some more stuff I wish I could have written last year, but was too slack to do so.

I’m at least a year (sometimes decades) behind with new music. In 2014, I made a conscious effort to listen to as many new releases as possible – and hey, it paid off.

Somehow BMA didn’t review Total Control’s Typical System.

Maybe it was a product of the lack of promo for the album, or the band deciding not to tour on the back of it. Whatever it was, that wrong is now righted. Typical System takes where 2010’s acclaimed Henge Beat left off and keeps pushing. It pushes towards New Wave, with the phenomenal ‘Flesh War’. It cleans up the up the gutter punk, such as on ‘Systematic Fuck’. It continues the genre hop, but instead of creating chaos, like on Henge Beat, somehow it’s tied together as a coherent work, as an album of serious weight. Lawrence English sometimes gets more respect for the stuff that he puts out on his label (Room40) than his own music. This is a travesty. This year English released Wilderness of Mirrors, perhaps the best solo album in his decade plus career. Its dense textures and delicate moods overwhelm, and Wilderness of Mirrors succeeds at being both a great album and a different album. Maybe it was overlooked in the hype for Ben Frost and Owen Ambarchi this year, or maybe it’s hard to get people excited for experimental electronica, but either way this album shouldn’t have been overlooked.

“Yes I’m Leaving are a band from Sydney, Australia,” reads their brief online bio. The album that accompanies said bio, Slow Release does all the talking for the band. Slow Release isn’t as raw sounding as their previous three albums, but it still hits like a tonne of bricks. Seriously, this thing just doesn’t let up, even remotely. But for all its aggression, Slow Release remains catchy, with hooks and chorus piercing through the ether. Ty Segall decided to polish the edges a bit on Manipulator and it paid off in spades. Reeling in his noisy garage rock ambitions, Manipulator introduces splashes of Baroque pop, Bowie-esque extravagance and even ‘70s rock into the mix. At times the retro-fetishism pushes the boundaries of “too much”, but the underlying song writing is just so strong that it overrides it.

And even in an overlooked music list, I’m overlooking a tonne of stuff. Like Harmony’s fantastic slice of gospel-tinged postrock (Carpetbombing), or Straight Arrows straight out garage attack of an album (Rising). Both Parquet Courts (Sunbathing Animal) and Parkay Quarts (Content Nausea), who are for all purposes the same band, released great albums which should be impossible or banned or both. Way-out-there local pop was rep’d by Spod’s depressive redux of his debut album Taste The Sadness, and Donny Benet’s selection of funkified duets Weekend at Donnys. And a number of local bands, such as Mind Blanks, California Girls, Wives, New Age Group and Raus, remain criminally underappreciated.

I guess 2014 was a pretty good year.

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Old favourite, Mark Lanegan, released the hypnotic Phantom Radio, which picks off where 2012’s electronic venture, Blues Funeral, left off. It’s a good time to be a Lanegan fan – in the past three years alone the ex-Screaming Tree has released four solid LPs along with countless collaborations.

Favourite new discovery is poet and playwright Kate Tempest, whose suckerpunch album Everybody Down deftly traces the lives of three characters struggling through their twenties. Tempest’s timing is sharp and her delivery languid, while Dan Carey’s beats perfectly match the mood, erring towards paranoid as the story intensifies.

There’s a wave of scrappy, political and DIY to the core bands coming out of the UK at the moment – I love it. My pick are Big Joanie, a trio influenced by The Ronettes and post-punk. The four tracks on their Sistah Punk EP shimmer like the Throwing Muses, with shifting tempos and riffs that snake around haunting vocals.

Sometimes you have to time travel to hear new music. In an anarchist vegan café in Portland, Oregon I stepped into 1989 (the year, not the album my housemate threatens to play me), where everyone cut their own hair into bowlcuts and the lo-fi rumblings of K Records dominate the Pacific Northwest music scene. I finally witnessed Calvin Johnson’s weirdo dance moves in his current band The Hive Dwellers, the intense Mecca Normal and original riot grrrl Tobi Vail’s new band Spider And The Webs. Live, SATW feature a dude hovering in the corner in a Rastafarian wig, occasionally whacking at a bongo.

The first time I saw them was playing with DC punks Priests, a phenomenal live band. Donning a stringy straight blonde wig, Priest’s singer Katie Alice Greer howled and sneered and stared intensely around the room, looking terrified and terrifying, jumping off drumkits and withering on the floor. Their newie Bodies and Control and Money and Power is well worth a listen.

Another record worth a listen is Speedy Ortiz’s Real Hair, if only for ‘Everything’s Bigger’, easily my favourite song of ’14. Driven

by Sadie Dupuis spiked-sugar drawl and her fidgety guitar lines, Ortiz is the younger sibling of Pavement and Helium. ‘Everything’s Bigger’ is luminous, with riffs that dip up and down against jigsaw puzzle lyrics; “Me, I’m just like my wife/she’s a blade and I’m a dull knife”. Someone bring them out to Australia soon, please.

Closer to home, Davey Lane (You Am I) finally released his debut solo album, Atonally Young, which sounds exactly like his haircut (I expected no less).

There are a lot of bands that have been on my radar all year and I can tell you all about them next year, when I finally catch up.

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carrie gibson Spencer Chamberlain has endured an intense twenty four months. From the shock disbandment of Underoath, to losing his home, couch surfing and then the light at the end of the tunnel – recording a debut album for his latest project SLEEPWAVE. “When you’re in a band, you never think it’s going to get big and I mean I’ve been in bands my whole life,” says Chamberlain. “To find a band that you make a real connection with is an amazing feeling.

We started out playing tiny shows and then the boom came – you don’t expect it. The years pass so fast but I always use to fear ‘what if we broke up one day?’ I never went to college, I’ve been doing this my whole life, this is how I make my money.

The debut album Broken Compass, how did it all come together?

“This album is probably the album I am most proud of anything I’ve done in my career,” says Chamberlain. “During my time with Underoath I was in fact writing for Sleepwave, during my down time. I love so many styles of music, I’ve been writing music my whole life, there are so many different sides to me and I’m always working on stuff. I love making noise and stuff,” he laughs. “A buddy of mine, who lives in my hometown would come over to mine with a few beers and we’d just jam, eventually we had written some really amazing songs, that we never thought were good enough to release on a record.

The trick is to never second guess yourself and always trust your gut and it has paid off

“You never think it will happen when things are going so well, sure bands fight but you get through it, you’re a band, you’re a family. So when it was announced that the band weren’t just going on hiatus we were going to break up and never play another show ever again is devastating, especially when it’s not your call, I felt confused and angry and then when it finally came to a head and you finish your last show, that last day, you realise that you are no longer ‘Spencer Chamberlain, vocalist for Underoath’. You’re now that guy who use to sing for Underoath. It becomes your identity, you are known for this and then you feel kinda lost.

“So much shit happened after that – the economy crashed, I lost my house. I was writing for Sleepwave but it took ages to find the right label and manager. I sunk all my money into getting Sleepwave started, I was sleeping on my friends couches. It was tough. Once I finally got into the studio and started recording the band’s first album I felt good but then another realisation – new bands are broke, how can a new band tour with no money? I had a new record I couldn’t tour with, I had to refuse so many tours, it was so frustrating and family members would come to you and say things like ‘maybe your time has come and you need to do something else’ but I just held on for dear life and kept going. I was continuously getting kicked down but I still had so much to say. I have an amazing support system; my father and girlfriend have always supported me and believed in me and it kept me going.

Now we are booked solid for 2015. 2015 is the year for Sleepwave, it is our year.”

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“The whole record is the last two years of my life, basically. If you were in a plane crash and landed in the middle of nowhere and all you had was a compass [and] the device in which is suppose to tell you which direction to go in for salvation is now broken – my life was basically [that]. I had to start again. Every day I would wake up knowing that I was going to write or practice or play with Underoath. Once it disbanded I had no sense of direction,” says Chamberlain. “I went through the worst shit I’ve ever been through in my life. The trick is to never second guess yourself and always trust your gut and it has paid off, I’m touring with my new band and the future looks bright.”

The blood, sweat and tears poured into this project over the past two years has paid off – Sleepwave have made the line-up for Soundwave 2015. “Yeah I’m stoked, I really am,” Chamberlain says.

“I was told it was a possibility – we were talking to AJ and things were looking good. We got the call on a pretty bad day actually – we had a tour booked for January and it fell through, it was one of those ‘dammit’ moments but the Soundwave call picked us up again. I do love Soundwave, I’ve done it twice with other bands and I’ve been to Australia like ten times through multiple support tours and every time I’ve really, really enjoyed myself. Even regardless of playing shows, the people are nice, the food is great, totally worth that ridiculously long flight,” he laughs.

Make the long flight worthwhile by catching Sleepwave as part of the Soundwave festival on Sat Feb 28 and Sun March 1 at Sydney’s Olympic Park. Tickets are $188 +bf for weekend pass or $132 +bf for a day pass via soundwavefestival.com/tickets.

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METALISE Bunch of great shows coming up this month for fans of more traditional metal right up to more “core” oriented tastes with I Killed The Prom Queen who are playing a show down at the Magpies club on Saturday January 24. Having rejuvenated the lineup and put out a well received album of new music last year and a tonne of touring, the lads are bound to be in form for those who need to brush out their festivus cobwebs with a good breakdown mosh.

One of the Brisbane and Australian metal scene’s all time heaviest bands were the indomitable Misery. From the ashes of Misery comes Laceration Mantra and they’re bringing the brutal to the Transit bar on Friday January 23 with locals Wretch and Inhuman Remnants at the time we go to press, though I hear they may have some other bands along for their ritual aural massacre.This serves as a warm up for all three bands who head up the Hume on Saturday January 24 for the seventh annual gathering at the Bald Faced Stag in Sydney for this years instalment of the Under The Southern Cross fest. Canberra is being well represented this year with headliners in the form of our own Psychrist along with Cruciform, Laceration Mantra, Wretch, Disintegrator, Gutter Tactic, Viscera and Inhuman Remnants.

Wretch are not slacking off as much as yours truly this January with the band going into Studio Anders Debeerz with Adam Merker

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who manned the desk on the latest offerings of Disentomb and Aversions Crown last year. It will be their first record with Ben Bourne (also of Law Of The Tongue) on vokills, so I’m pretty keen to hear how this one turns out.

Also in the studio this month are Witchskull, one of the first bands to record in the new Goatsound Studio in Melbourne with Jason PC of Blood Duster/Dern Rutlidge/ The Ruiner etc. I took the opportunity before 666mas to check out the new studio in Reservoir as PC was putting the last coats of paint and finishing touches on. The building features a five room rehearsal space that is also wired to a massive upstairs control room for lounging around in while Jason mixes or you listen to your bandmates track. I am keen as mustard to hear the fruit of the Witchskull lads labour.

Also neck deep in the recording process are 50% locals The Levitation Hex who are following up their excellent debut and I believe they should be well on the way to mixing it for a release later this year.

Don’t forget a couple of great international shows coming up in the next few weeks. If you can’t make it to Melbourne Friday January 16 for their performances of the Panzer Division and Those Of The Unlight albums in full, you need to hit the Hi Fi in Sydney on Saturday January 17 for the Marduk and Inquisition tour. It will be grim as all buggery.

After witnessing Sleep absolutely CRUSH the Manning Bar in December I can hardly wait to catch New Orleans’ most genre defining sludge masters Eyehategod on Saturday January 31 with I Exist and Lo! JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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Turbobelco, Time and Weight and Casters all take over the Transit Bar stage for just $15.

If you’re in the mood for something edgier you can check out Newcastle hardcore bands Disparo and Deathframes at the Magpies City Club on Monday February 9 with support from Foreign Kings and Fight Milk, all for just $8 on the door.

Hello and happy New Year. It’s drunk and I’m deadline so here’s some shows that I prepared earlier. There’s lots.

On Friday January 16 you can catch Sydney’s Corpus and Absent Hours at Transit Bar along with locals Ecruteak and Lost Coast. The show will cost you just $10 on the door.

On Thursday January 22 you can catch The Nuclear Family from Sydney when they stop by The Phoenix. They’ll be joined by Wollongong’s Solid Effort along with locals Primary Colours.

You can catch a big lineup at Summer Slam on Saturday January 24 when The Vee Bees, Australian Kingswood Factory, Mucho Sonar,

On Wednesday February 11 the one and only CJ Ramone will be stopping by Transit Bar as part of his Australian tour, playing some compulsory Ramones hits along with work from his own new album Last Chance to Dance. He’ll be supported by Hard-ons and No Assumption. Tickets for this one are set at $34.70 through Oztix.

If you missed Melbourne’s Smith Street Band last November, you can catch up on Sunday February 15 when they stop by the Magpies City Club as part of their ‘Get High, See Everyone Tour.’ They’ll be joined by Canada’s PUP, The UK’s Great Cynics and Melbourne’s Apart From This. This will be The Smith Street Band’s first ever All Ages show in Canberra and you can grab tickets for $34.70 through Oztix.

If you’re not folk-punked out by the Smith Street Band, then you can catch Melbourne’s Maricopa Wells along with Lucy Wilson & The Sugarcanes at The Phoenix on Thursday February 19. They’ll be supported by Swoon Queen and Bo Loserr. The show will cost you just $5 on the door.

Sydney’s Oslow and Brisbane’s Seahorse Divorce are headed out on an East Coast tour in February which includes a stop

by The Phoenix on Monday February 9 with support from Sydney’s Agency and Canberra’s very own Oxen.

Melbourne’s Clowns will be headed to Transit Bar on Monday February 26 as part of their ‘Bad Blood Tour.’ They’ll be supported by the USA’s American Sharks and a local act TBA. And as always, Haircuts & T-shirts is on Punk Rock Radio with a new show airing at different times throughout the week giving you the best mix of local and international punk/hardcore music and news. For more info, head to punkrockradio.net.

I told you there were lots. You didn’t believe me but I wouldn’t lie to you. I think I should go to sleep now.

IAN McCARTHY PUNK.BMA@GMAIL.COM

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

MASTER OF PUPPETS BAZ RUDDICK Distinguished puppeteer and puppet maker, Marianne Mette’s production BAZ ‘N’ SNAGS will be playing this Australia Day at the National Museum of Australia. Following the tale of a mullet- clad city slicker goof ball, Baz and his sausage dog Snags’ quest to tame a wild brumby in rural Australia, Mette’s production uses humour to pay homage to Australia’s equine heritage, all the while making a special nod to Australian bush verse.

Born two years ago, Baz ‘n’ Snags was inspired by Mette’s real life sheep farmer friends in rural Queensland. On a trip to the farm, Mette filmed a series of web videos in which the goofball Baz and the much brighter Snags participated in the daily runnings of a real life farm.

“We rode around in a tractor, on a quad bike and we fed all the animals”, Mette tells me. “I think we even attempted to shear a sheep.”

Famed Australia wide for her innovation and skill as a puppeteer and puppet maker, Mette was sought out by the National Museum of Australia to give Baz ‘n’ Snags a new life on Australia Day. Fitting in with the Museum’s Spirited exhibition, which celebrates the horse in Australian rural culture, Mette’s duo become a trio with the addition of a puppet horse. “There is a lot of slapstick involved and it is actually quite funny. I was really, really happy that the museum asked us to create a puppet. Adding a new character has put a breath of fresh life into it!” Mette shares with me. “They all come together with a new dimension and they really become a family at the end of it. They were always meant to be together!”

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Tying together Baz and Snags’ quest to tame the wild brumby is a nod to traditional bush verse. “We are going to use a little bit of Banjo Paterson to drive the main part of the plot”, says Mette. “Just an essence to give it that added bit of Australiana”. Perhaps not as elegant or daring as Paterson’s Man from Snowy River, Baz and Snags trial their own hilarious techniques to tame the wild brumby. “They both go off in their own ways to try and go about it. Baz is a little sillier and Snags is a bit more cluey.”

Usually a two puppet show, Mettes and her brother Jonathan have risen to the challenge in controlling three puppets simultaneously.

“We swap who is doing the third one,” Mettes says. “Sometimes Jonathan is doing the horse and the dog simultaneously which is pretty challenging but he pulls it off pretty well!”

For Mettes, puppets are perfect marriage of art, performance and creativity. As a performer, a teacher and a puppet maker, Mette wants others to feel the magic she feels. “The magic moment, which I think is the most beautiful thing about puppetry, is when you are building a puppet and you have spent hours on it then you put the eyes on it and then you put it on your hand and you make it move. At that moment this little life force pops out. It is absolute magic.”

Catch Baz ‘n’ Snags at the National Museum of Australia at 10 am and 2.30 pm, January Monday 26. Free entry

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UNINHIBITED It happened on one of those post-Christmas/NYE evenings when everything is about emptiness. It had been a hot day, a real stinker, but a change had come through and by early evening rain had started to fall. After pouring myself a vodka, lime and soda, I found myself in my library. It’s true: I have a personal library, as in actual shelves with actual books. It’s the smallest room in my tumble-down old house, but there’s a fireplace with mantelpiece and my library towers up on both sides. It’s a room of great, near-endless adventure.

After some deliciously dreamy minutes of staring at the books, I was soon gazing at a corner beside the piano. An old stereo there, preCD, so it had a tape deck – I’d completely forgotten about the thing.

From the cupboard in the spare room I retrieved a plastic box of old tapes. London Calling by The Clash. Rank by The Smiths. Eponymous

by REM. And quite a few too embarrassing to mention. There was also a handful of tapes with homemade covers but a remarkable lack of labelling. I slid one of these into the tape player. What strange sounds: fast-paced arpeggios; one part Casio keyboard, one part baroque music on steroids. It had to be the infamous minimalist composer Phillip Glass. I soon worked out that it was the soundtrack to The Belly of an Architect, a Peter Greenaway film from 1987, though a Google search told me that the music is actually by Wim Mertens.

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I turned the tape over. This time it didn’t take long to work it out: an album by Lush. All multi-effected Rickenbackers, Lush were one of the UK’s most popular shoegaze bands from the mid-90s. Centring on the dynamic between singer-songwriters Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson, Lush came to an end when their drummer, Chris Acland, committed suicide in 1996. To be frank, I was never a massive fan – I liked the gloomier, rougher side of shoegaze (early Slowdive and anything by Ride and My Bloody Valentine), but here I was, 20 years later, being absolutely gobsmacked. To the point of tears.

Gobsmacked tears for two reasons.

One, this was a tape made for me by a mate (who I still know). We’d obviously watched Greenaway’s film, liked the music, and he’d somehow tracked it down, which was no small feat in the preinternet age. What intimacy there is to receiving a mix-tape – twice.

Secondly, and this is what really got me: I was being profoundly moved by a band I’d liked but had never truly loved. Had it taken over two decades to appreciate the genius of Lush? Maybe. I just wish that somehow Berenyi and Anderson could have been able to surreptitiously Skype in and watch me as their music kicked and swirled and soured. All those risks they’d taken, all the hardships they’d endured, and the ultimate tragedy, meant something.

So thank you. To my mate Dave for the mix-tape – if I didn’t say it then I’m saying it now. And to Peter Greenaway, Wim Mertens, and Lush. For everything.

NIGEL FEATHERSTONE glenpetermartin@gmail.com/petehuet@yahoo.com

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

ARTISTPROFILE: Eadie Newman

What do you do? Drawings! A lot of works on paper. Also some sculpture, zines, comics, bits and pieces. Humorous, expressive, anxious work about people and things.

When, how and why did you get into it? From a young age.

Studying art at school and uni helped. It’s important to me as a means of expression and communication.

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

Josefa Tolra, Gwen John, Leonora Carrington, Shary Boyle.

Symbolism, magical realism and the arts and crafts movement. I find work that addresses people’s personal or inner lives interesting.

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Of what are you proudest so far? Many small achievements, none too special.

What are your plans for the future? Keep on working on projects, keep making art, keep looking for things to do and challenge myself with.

What makes you laugh? Puns, other people laughing.

What pisses you off? Myself, from time to time.

What about the local scene would you change? Better public transport, especially in evenings.

Upcoming exhibitions? The Mysterious North, an exhibition with Louisa Giffard at the Front from the Thursday–Monday January 15–26.

Contact Info: anemoneears.tumblr.com

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LITERATURE IN REVIEW Burial Rites Hannah Kent [Picador; 2013]

I was given a copy of Hannah Kentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut novel Burial Rites for my birthday and added it to the stack of books on the floor by my bedside table. There it stayed until one rainy afternoon when there was nothing else to do but start a new book. My copy has no less than five references to awards the author has won for this book on the front cover. My expectations were high as I settled myself on the couch and started to read.

The premise is straightforward and is based on the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir, the last person to be executed in Iceland in 1830 for her part in the murder of two men. Written in both thirdperson and first-person narratives, it is a tale of longing and betrayal.

Agnes is in love with Natan, a personality of the time and goes to live at his home on the understanding she would be the house mistress.

Upon arrival at his remote farm Illugastadir, she discovers there is already a house mistress and that she is to be the maid. Blinded by her love for Natan she makes the best of the arrangement until things turn sour and Natan and another man are killed.

Agnes and two others are tried for the murders and she is sentenced to death. She is eventually sent to wait out her final days on the farm of a District Officer, his wife and two daughters in the valley where she started her life. The District Officers family is none too pleased they must host a convicted murderer in their home and they are hostile toward her.

The only person who speaks with her is the young Reverend Toti whom she specifically requested to provide her spiritual counsel.

His role is also to prepare her for her death.

The Revered tries to understand her and it is through their oft strained conversations that the guarded young womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s harsh life story unfolds.

The chapters leading up to the execution are exhausting after a long build up. It was hard not to weep for her and also to weep for Margret, the District Officers wife, who, despite her own advancing illness showed deep compassion for Agnes and her predicament.

The promise of this compassion emerged from the moment Margret scrubbed a filthy Agnes clean after her arrival in shackles. She eventually saw that Agnes was not the cold blooded murderer she was convicted of being.

The rhetorical questions Agnes asks in her own musings of her predicament and of her life are somewhat repetitive. The prose is dense, descriptive and even cinematographic and each chapter has internal section breaks cutting from scene to scene making it not too much of a stretch to imagine this story on the big screen.

ALSEY ANN CONDIE

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A R T | C O M E DY | D A N C E | L I T E R AT U R E | T H E AT R E for web-based genocide.By enticing feeble-minded punters with the promise of the remarkable, organisations who dare to call themselves journalists only offer the kind of odious cerebral sludge that, in order to avoid, one would happily release a sedated white rhino back into the wild. Back into the wild, I say!

I trust you all had a tolerable Christmas and have made cast-iron resolutions to lift yourselves from the gutter. With the pleasantries now over, I can continue to highlight the many aspects of modern life in need of urgent correction.Regular readers will know that I am a keen advocate of bloodsports. Whether the traditional grouse shoot or the more specialised vole shaving, the affirmation that Man is unshakeable in his position at the apex of the food chain serves as a worthy reminder to lesser members of the animal kingdom for whom a quick death and a garnish of apple sauce is no longer good enough.

In pursuit of this pre-eminence, the employment of bait is standard among those brave hunters who have been known to take on the wilful otter with little more protection than eight shotguns, a pack of bloodhounds and only limited access to Her Majesty’s Royal Air Force.

By making use of bait, one is able to coax the prey from its usual reticence and thereby ease the transition to the bludgeoning – perfectly appropriate use of a tactic now being abused by the many hawkers who dwell within nebulous cyberspace.

‘Clickbait’ is another facet of 21st century living which must be confronted. It is a means by which to coax the unsuspecting reader in, only for them to be bludgeoned by banality – much like the otter that, mercifully, has only to succumb to raining buckshot rather than the spectacle of manifest idiocy making a significant argument

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So that you may sidestep these traps, below are a few paraphrased examples: ‘A celebrity of minimal worth did something utterly unremarkable… you won’t believe what happened next’ ‘Something totally inconsequential took place somewhere… you just have to see the results’ ‘Ten reasons why you should avoid this: this very thing you are about to do. Click here to find out why you shouldn’t have bothered’ The aim of these baited traps is to encourage one to remain on a given website so that not only may one’s intellect be actively degraded, therefore depleting the defences against future temptation, but also to expose oneself to the double-edged menace of combining the slurry with a raft of advertisements.

‘Four reasons why you are left with a sharp sense of worthlessness having not taken our advice to avoid the previous article’ ‘Fifteen existential crises only people who click on these links will understand’ Be warned – these malevolent invites are some of the more underhand examples of distraction and subterfuge employed by those who would simultaneously empty the contents of both one’s velour change purse and one’s mind, without so much as a stuffed and mounted badger by way of compensation. gideon foxington-smythe

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bit PARTS THE MYSTERIOUS NORTH WHAT: Art exhibit WHEN: Tue–Mon Jan 13–26 WHERE: The Front Gallery The Mysterious North is a new collection of work by local artists Louisa Giffard and Eadie Newman. Giffard’s pieces depict old, enigmatic North American houses and giant sprawling European styled trees.

These works are observational, directly inspired by exploration around the countryside. Working mostly on paper with a range of mediums, graphite, watercolour, ink and coloured pencil, Newman creates characters that inhabit their states and worlds sometimes in states of angst, but also often with a strong sense of humour. Exhibition opens at The Front Gallery on Thursday January 15 at 6pm until 7.30pm. Free.

NIDA SUMMER PROGRAM WHAT: Acting holiday program WHEN: Mon–Sun Jan 19–25 WHERE: Canberra Theatre Image credit: Maja Baska

This summer NIDA is excited to be bringing their popular public courses to Canberra to share their renowned actor training with local performers. And it’s not just for kids – their courses cater for people of all ages and abilities. Whether you are looking to try something new or hone your professional skills, NIDA’s summer program has something for every skill level. Classes include drama school, actors project and screen acting boot camo. For ages eight and up. Costs range from $310 to $595. For more info or to enrol, visit open.nida.edu.au.]

IMAGINARIUM WHAT: Art exhibit WHEN: Fri–Sun Jan–Feb 23–15 WHERE: Belconnen arts centre Curated by Amanda Stuart, Belconnen Art Centres’ new exhibition Imaginarium delves into the realm of imaginary creatures and hybrids, exploring ideas, places and imagery. Playful, intriguing and even confronting, the collection examines the political, spiritual, technological, biological, ecological and cultural. The exhibit showcases the work of 20 local and national artists working in a range of mediums, including Suzie Bleach and Andy Townsend, byrd and Hanna Hoyne, Chloe Bussenschutt and Matthew Smith. Gallery opening hours 10am– 4pm Tue–Sun. Meet the artists on Saturday January 24 at 2pm. Free.

HORRIBLE HISTORIES: BARMY BRITAIN WHAT: Theatre WHEN: Tue–Wed Jan 27–28 WHERE: Canberra Theatre We all want to meet people from history – the trouble is everyone is dead. Beloved Horrible Histories series brings history to life in its new live stage show Barmy Britain, complete with dazzling 3D effects.

Can you beat battling Queen Boudicca? Will you love Richard the Lionheart? Lose your heart or head to horrible King Henry VIII? Find out for yourself when Barmy Britain comes to Canberra Theatre for three performances – Tuesday January 27 7pm and 10am and 2pm on Wednesday January 28. Tickets from $50+bf onwards, family of four for $200+bf available from canberratheatrecentre.com.au or call (02) 6275 2700.

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35

the word

on albums

album of the issue Felicity Groom Hungry Sky [Spinning Top] Despite the praises it received in print, the music of Felicity Groom went quietly unnoticed with the release of her debut record, Gossamer. Her second album is a luscious continuation of Gossamer’s roots, with Groom concocting a bewitching blend of blues, indie and pop on Hungry Sky. Her impressive writing abilities are showcased well throughout, achieving that simple yet rare balance of different sounds coming together into a cohesive core. Sure, one could look at the list of producers – one front-man of Tame Impala included – and attribute the album’s attainment of this to them. However, it is Groom’s solid and playful song-writing that solidifies the record. Nary a dud track to be seen, Groom weaves her way through various experimentations that should, in theory, create a jarring irregularity, but in reality are bound together by the consistency of a good songwriter. Hence the surprise when acknowledging this is her second record – Groom is either very good at her trade or very good at faking being good at her trade.

The contrasting songs of Hungry Sky slot together with precision whilst shedding predictability. Striking opener, ‘Raise the Roof’, establishes Groom’s creativity, as string arrangements intermingle with licks of electric guitar. The percussion, spacious and detailed, sets out to become an integral spine for the record,

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drawing her ideas together.

Further in it becomes more apparent how wide the breadth of Hungry Sky is, as Groom moves from genre to genre but never sticking to convention. The bitter sweet ‘Better Days’ sounds like a pop song that has rebelled against pop structures.

The waves of piano chords slip into stripped verses flecked with strings; the whole affair is tied together with a sturdy drum beat. ‘Oh Jesus’ is an eerie, spiritual call as she croons “Oh Jesus can you hear me?/ I know you’re a busy guy.” A smoky base is buffered against a shot of sci-fi like synths to create a track that is both earthly and off this planet. ‘Houses Are Gone’ is one of the more sporadic of tracks. Diverse guitar sounds bleed together for dark verses, before a key change and a collection of new noises close it with chaos. Even the layered build of ‘Talons’ – which follows the atypical journey of a synthsurf hybrid – is encrusted with the softest of touches which cumulate for a dreamy, rare finish. Right through to the captivating finale ‘In Light’, Groom does not fail to be engaging.

Perhaps it is the blend of the frantic and the ambling, or the unseen nuances of production, but a certain mysticality pervades the record. It leaves an aura not dissimilar to early Bat for Lashes or PJ Harvey. It does not stop with sound, but moves through into lyrical content.

Groom sings of towers that grow (‘Higher Higher, Taller Taller’), houses that disappear (‘Houses Are Gone’) and a sky that is falling (‘Hungry Sky’).

Groom shifts between delicate spells of softly spun melodies, to darker, more tremulous hexes – between silky croons to affronting wails, from carefully carved harmonies through to unkempt calls. Her delivery matches the ease found in many more seasoned Australian musicians. Never a dull moment, Hungry Sky plays to the strengths of an astounding musician well beyond her performing years.

Here’s hoping that after lingering in the shadows, it shines a brighter light on the magic of Felicity Groom.

ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

Joel Barker Beyond the Crows [Independent Release] Talent runs deep in the Barker family from WA. Folk rocker Joel, brother of folk singer Emily, has released his second LP Beyond the Crows. Recorded in far off London, where Emily is based, the album was mastered by William Bowden whose credits include Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’. Whereas his sister spins bright and catchy tunes, Joel is heavily into more intense, moody pieces, some with an unexpected twist in their construction.

Opener ‘Serant’ throws you off balance with its unconventional tempos. Leading off with a powerful rhythm, it drops to a meandering pace, then slows to a crawl, before jumping up again. Fast, slow, dead slow, then fast; it’s all rather unsettling. Smooth strumming in ‘Shoal’ forms an alliance with warm horns, before combining with strings in a cozy arrangement which wraps up with surprising vehemence.

Barker favours a big finish, as the pattern of a slow, gentle song building to an intense finale is repeated in ‘Lanterns’. Much of the album is delivered at a slow pace, exemplified in ‘Filter’ which moves with the speed, majesty and power of a glacier.

With lyrics focusing strongly on water and nautical themes, Barker is not into simple songs, employing an almost orchestrated set-up in tracks such as ‘Blood River’. While the more complex tracks demonstrate greater creativity, it’s the conventional folky stuff which has greater appeal. The rollicking countrified lilt of ‘Casual Batman’ with pedal steel and accordion is a winner.

While it lacks the fire captured in many of Barker’s songs, the gentle plucker ‘Don’t Count This Out As Love’, with its light as a breeze tune, stands out as another highlight. rory mccartney

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Museum Of Love Museum Of Love [DFA Records]

Andy Gordon Black Sea [Independent Release]

Buffalo Killers Fireball of Sulk [Sun Pedal Recordings]

New Yorker Pat Mahoney is known by many as the former drummer for LCD Soundsystem, but since that band’s dissolution he’s been focused on his partnership alongside longtime friend and DFA Records affiliate Dennis McNany as Museum Of Love. In the wake of last year’s ‘Monotronic’ 12”, this self-titled debut album offers up the duo’s first longplayer, and given the musical background of both artists involved, it’s notable how few real surprises the nine tracks here throw the listener’s way. Indeed, longtime DFA enthusiasts will already have a good idea of what to expect here, with Museum Of Love adhering closely to the punk-funk / disco aesthetic that James Murphy’s label has built a signature sound around, albeit with distinctly more emphasis on cold synths and drum machines than LCD Soundsystem.

Hot on the heels of 2013 LP The Reverent Jorfy, Wollongong born singer Andy Gordon has released an EP done in collaboration with Syd Green. Once a member of band Mistaken Identity, which occasionally gigged in the Ainslea Footy Club, Gordon has four disks of his own and played a part in a grab-bag of collaborations. While the variety in song flavours captured in The Reverent Jorfy has been retained in the EP, the cheery countrified swing of the album has been left behind. Black Sea carries much darker hues and is more folk-pop in approach, with rhythm and blues elements.

Ohio classic rockers Buffalo Killers aren’t my usual listening fodder these days it has to be said, but they do cook up a mighty fine racket on this little Extended Player so why not bring them to your attention?

Rather than going for a concise lyrical presence, Mahoney’s vocals focus on a vaporous sounding croon that often bleeds out into the sheeny analogue electronic grooves that surround it, as is the case with ‘Down South’s opening slide out into clicking motorik rhythms and sheeny night-drive synths. Elsewhere, ‘Fathers’ gets more spacious and downbeat as Mahoney’s vocals ring out against a backdrop of proggy synths that calls to mind a more spectral take on Hot Chip’s melancholia, before ‘The Who’s Who Of Who Care’s unleashes the jazz horns for a wander out into nervous Talking Headsesque disco-funk that’s the most LCD-ish exploration here. It’s ‘The Large Glass’ though that easily offers up this album’s most explosive moment with its Devo-esque collision of chaotic bleeping electronics and punky riffs, but it’s a pity that it arrives so far into this album, highlighting the lack of truly killer tracks here. chris downton

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Recorded at home, ‘off the grid’ in Kangaroo Valley, the smooth vibe comes courtesy of a Farfisa Organ, Leslie rotating amp/ speaker and melodica. The record is slow and contemplative, particularly in ‘Amandine’ with its Salvos band vibe and sombre tempo. It has a hint of Gospel in a non-Gospel song. Opener ‘Your Year’ is laid back pop, with separation between the instruments, coming in separate orbits, with each note being made to count. That clarity, captured so well in the recording process, is maintained in ‘Rollin’ Sea’, a funked up series of questions. While Dylan may have asked ‘How many times must the cannonballs fly’, Gordon’s more prosaic problem is ’How many times can I kiss a girl goodnight?’ ‘New York’ captures the bustling angularity of the city, with impressively big backing vocals from ‘Tania Bowra’ and sudden spurts of the banjo. Songs were co-written with Green, except for a cover of Dire Straits’ bluesy ‘Six Blade Knife’, the CD highlight. It says something when the best song on the record is a cover. Black Sea is cool, cruisy and well put together, but it does not raise goose bumps.

Why not indeed. Although still relatively little known, the band can name some big name chums like Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes and Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys in their following. And it’s easy to see why identities like that would be drawn to the BK standard as the band create a sort of psyche-informed mish-mash of Americana that sometimes brings to mind the Jayhawks (if they listened to seventies metal instead of sixties country rock) or the likes of Mountain or Neil Young’s sometime backing troupe Crazy Horse.

Heavy without being metal, the sound on Fireball brings a laidback take to the art of the wall of sound, all lazy harmonies and benign bludgeon, with lead off track ‘Blankets on the Sun’ and the spectacular ‘Something Else’ being perhaps the finest example of the way they go about their business. If the woozy melodiousness and fuzzed out bliss of the late eighties Paisley Underground floats your particular musical boat then the beautiful tunefulness on show here will snare you in an instant. Even if that fleeting moment of musical history passed you by then there’s still enough quality material here to snare even the fussiest ear.

Simple, yet utterly, compellingly effective, this gem of an EP belongs in the homes of the discerning music lover everywhere. scott adams

rory mccartney

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J. Mascis Tied to a Star [Sub Pop]

Young Magic breathing statues [Carpark Records]

Maverick Quid Pro Quo [Massacre]

Well, Dinosaur Jr. never sounded like this!

For the uninitiated, Mr Joseph Mascis is the frontman for those heavy hitters from Massachusetts, as well as being a player in a number of other bands. He has nurtured his lighter musical side, with Tied to a Star being his second mainly acoustic LP. The track list is a mix of Mascis playing solo and being joined by his backers who include Pall Jenkins (moonlighting from Black Heart Procession), Ken Maiuri, and Mark Mulcahy (ex-Miracle Legion).

A fair attribution to Brooklyn duo Young Magic’s sophomore album is the feeling of trodden paths, with many a box having being previously ticked by other electro synth acts: glitchy rhythms? See ‘Cobra’. Dreamy soundscapes? Listen to the pulsating dance loops of lead single ‘Holographic’. Floaty female vocals? Refer throughout Breathing Statues. Yet, many of these groups kicking about seem to compose with vocals as an integral half to their music, lying parallel to production. Young Magic alternatively manipulate theirs to the point where they seem to melt into the production, like much of the work of Grimes. The vocal samples and leads are utilised to uphold the quality of the whole as opposed to forming a focus point.

Despite releasing an album clothed in a knock-off eighties thrash cover and finding a home with German metal label Massacre, Northern Irish rockers Maverick have actually produced a hard-edged slice of hair metal that is sure to appeal to fans of the likes of modern leaders of the genre Crazy Lixx and older heroes in the vein of Guns n’ Roses and Skid Row.

While opener ‘Me Again’ is a pretty tune, with some fancy finger picking interspersed with strumming, it has no real kick. ‘Every Morning’ picks up the pace with the acoustic rhythm bolstered by some black pepper from the electric guitar. In keeping with an instrumentalist of his class, the guitars are a stronger feature than the singing. However, in an album in which the plucking, though attractive, has a similar look and feel from track to track, it’s the songs which feature some electric highlights, such as ‘Stumble’ which have the most appeal. Better songs include the instrumental ‘Drifter’, fattened up with what sounds like some hand drum percussion, and ‘Trailing Off’ which pleases with the generous licks in the chorus. Plus, there’s ‘Heal the Star’, a stormy song with some great, grainy guitar and an extended jam which flirts with Middle Eastern influences. Cat Power provides a little backing to smooth the vocals on ‘Wide Awake’, but to no great effect.

While it lacks any hotshot tracks, Tied to a Star is filled with lots of attractive moments at the hands of the guitar maestro. With its overall mellow vibe, it is good material to space-out to. rory mccartney

Don’t let me fool you into thinking that Young Magic are electro placebos for the growing scene. Throughout the record, they use dexterity with numerous sounds to keep the album interesting. Silken vocals layers float over a chugging bassline on ‘Fall In’, shifting into the darker breathiness of ‘Foxglove’. ‘Something In The Water’ feels like the second cousin of Purity Ring, the band that boosted Young Magic into prominence with a sample from their debut record, Melt. Young Magic’s genetics bleed through with 80’s synth melodies entangled among sharp handclaps and pulsating undertones. ‘Mythnomer’ demands attention with crunchy, rap verses shrouded in a basic loop; looping has been used often on Breathing Statues, allowing creativity composition to fall around it. A steady hand is applied song after song, with a consistent delivery of sharply produced tracks that neither completely floor nor frustrate the listener. Breathing Statues will probably feel familiar, but for what it is, it has been executed well

It’s an appealing noise they’ve cooked up, one which gets the feet tapping within seconds of impact on the ears. David Balfour’s vocals are gritty enough to achieve maximum authenticity – on ‘Paint by Numbers’ he sounds a bit like LA Guns’ Phil Lewis,and when the going gets a bit tough for him he’s backed up immediately by beer fuelled backups, the whole band defying you not to get involved with some of the catchiest choruses you’ll hear anyone under the age of fifty currently plying their wares in this arena creating.

Semi-title track ‘One More Day (Quid Pro Quo)’ is a fine piece of work, while the slinky ‘Electric’ really does have the sort of low waisted strut the true giants of this genre possess. The song possesses just as much quality melodicism in its verses as it does in its choruses and then tops the lot with a truly brilliant solo. This is truly monstrous stuff.

The bottom line here is that Maverick are offering you absolutely zero if it’s avant garde thrills you’re after. But if you’re more interested in a soundtrack to good times and beer-fuelled high jinx then you won’t find a better purveyor treading the boards in 2015. scott adams

ANGELA CHRISTIAN-WILKES

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singles in focus by cody atkinson Ausmuteants ‘We’re Cops’

Stars No One Is Lost [ATO]

Davey Lane Atonally Young [Field Recordings]

Fifteen years into their lifespan, Montrealbased five piece Stars have maintained a consistent presence amongst indie music circles, even if they haven’t quite tasted the same sorts of breakthrough success as some of their more feted peers. Three years on from their preceding collection The North, this seventh album No One Is Lost sees Stars crafting what’s ostensibly some of their most synth-pop / club-oriented material to date. In truth though there’s an irony to the album’s title, the bright electronics and dance rhythms masking a collection of songs centred around the themes of death and loss, inspired by the cancer diagnosis of longtime manager Eoin O’Leary during the record’s creation.

Having the relentless bass of a gay disco downstairs throb constantly in the background during the album’s recording also apparently exerted an influence on proceedings.

Davey Lane is best known as lead guitarist of incredible rockers You Am I, and as front man for the lesser known The Pictures. His expanding solo talent was first beamed at an unsuspecting public in his 2013 EP The Good Borne Of Bad Tymes. Following its release, Lane gained enough moral and (importantly) financial support via pozible to launch a swift follow up with this debut LP, made with a support band comprising drummer Brett Wolfenden and keyboard player James Fleming.

The latter is particularly apparent on tracks such as opener ‘From The Night’, which sees fluid house rhythms and murmuring bass exploding out into bright guitarladen choruses (the deceptively catchy lyrical hook “I don’t care if we never come back from the night” masking a darker undercurrent). ‘Trap Door’ meanwhile sees surging disco-funk bass grooves colliding with the sorts of shimmering power-pop hooks you’d associate with the likes of Cheap Trick, while elsewhere ‘You Keep Coming Up’ gets dark and spacious, sending vaguely New Order-y synth atmospheres washing out against sparse mechanistic drums and Amy Millan’s delay-coated vocals. While No One Is Lost sees Stars continuing to create sophisticated and wellcrafted pop however, on the whole many of the tracks collected fail to really make much in the way of a lasting impression.

Full of variety, the CD follows a pop-rock core, full (unsurprisingly) of penetrating guitars and intrepid keys, and lent a serrated edge by the weird sounds which creep around the perimeter of songs. Melodically strong, the tunes are sometimes bent to give them a discordant vibe. This feature gives a hint of the clever play on words between the album title Atonally Young and the theme of the lead track. Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov who, after dying at age 40 in the crash of his spacecraft Soyuz 1, could be called ‘eternally young’ (or young-ish anyway). The dramatic thundering rhythm, psychedelic wails and echoing vocals of ‘Komarov’ include a copy of the last transmission from his capsule.

This sombre recording is followed by the less serious ‘She’s a Timebomb’ with its pixelated lyrics flying out at hypersonic speeds, broken by anarchic guitars in the bridge. There’s a dizzying flip in style to album highlight ‘A Witch in My Mind’ with its funky licks embossed by backing vocals in the chorus. Irresistible clarion guitars cry out in ‘For No One’ while closer ‘The Light of the Sun’ ends in sonic twists, which spin off into space (much like poor Vladimir would probably prefer to have ended).

There’s nothing super complex here – just ‘70s-style punk with a synth thrown in for good measure.

It’s short, fast and angry, but also a bit fun and catchy. And at under 90 seconds it’s not going to bore anyone.

Cat Cat ‘Slime’ A nice slice of mid-fi guitar pop from exCanberrans, currentMelbournians Cat Cat. Sometimes it’s a little hard to pick why a song is so likeable and this is one of those songs. Vocals offset sharply from the driving and the bright sheen of guitar occasionally rears its head from the mix. A quality little track.

Of Montreal ‘Empyrean Abattoir’ Empyrean Abattoir is a rambling indie rock journey, long and languid, with no particular destination in mind.

Frontman Kevin Barnes lobs in guitar licks and surreal lyrics alternately and the back end descends into a solid rock jam, with “whoa ohs” in full effect.

Mr. RealAF ‘Meet Me In Temecula’ This is a song by a guy who drove 35 minutes to fight a guy he argued with over twitter about the ability of a basketball player, who raps about the aforementioned experience. It is the most pointless – and one of the worst – things I have heard.

rory mccartney

chris downton

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39

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Boom! And another year is here! The summer holidays is one of the biggest periods in cinema for Australia and this year saw lots of variety in new releases, with films guaranteed to suit almost everyone in the family.

Although, let’s face it, everyone’s just going to see The Hobbit anyway. On the kids front there was Big Hero 6 and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. In the drama category there’s The Water Diviner and Mr Turner.

And a few more that we’ll cover now.

quote of the issue “Will you follow me, one last time?” – Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

Into The Woods

The Imitation Game

Birdman

This musical-come-movie should have been good. It’s a Sondheim classic! It’s a subversive and satirical twist on the fairytale genre! Meryl Streep plays a witch! But Into The Woods fails to hit the high notes.

It seems there are limitless WW2 stories to be told. I’m often a little skeptical when I see a trailer for another epic story set during this time – the cynic in me thinks the lead actor wants an Oscar (unofficial consensus being that this is the best way to get one). Luckily, this film is original and any Oscar nominations this film receives are well deserved.

Plus, the star-studded cast of Keira Knightley, Mathew Goode, Charles Dance and Mark Strong make for compelling viewing.

When Sally Field won the Oscar for best actress in 1984, she said in her acceptance speech: “I haven’t had an orthodox career and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect.

The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it and I can’t deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me”.

The film follows a series of intersecting stories, as a Baker (James Corden) and the Baker’s Wife cross paths with The Witch (Meryl Streep), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Prince Charming (Chris Pine), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford) and a Wolf whose character exhibits undeniable pedophilic undertones (Johnny Depp).

The songs in Into The Woods were written to gently poke fun of fairytales, but with the exception of one truly hilarious performance from Chris Pine’s Prince Charming, that fact never shines through. The over-thetop orchestrations don’t suit subtlety and the delivery of most of the songs doesn’t feel in any way satirical or self-aware. This reviewer also became increasingly restless as unnecessary subplots were added to the overlong run-time.

The real failure, however, of Into The Woods is the complete lack of aesthetically pleasing scenery or sets. With a film like this, you expect to see it all. Cinderella’s ball! A giant towering over mere mortals! Detailed and beautiful fairy creatures inhabiting the fabled woods (think Maleficient)! Instead, we get close-ups of people’s faces as they sing. There aren’t even any impressive dance sequences.

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This fairytale film doesn’t leave the audience happily-ever-after. melissa wellham

Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is recruited by the newly created British Intelligence agency MI6 to help break Enigma – the code the Nazis used to communicate.

Despite facing considerable opposition from his colleagues, due to his abrasive and exasperating personality, Turing builds a machine (which history will identify as the first computer) that will decipher and break the code.

The consequences reached far beyond determining the outcome of the war given the role computers play in our lives today. Unfortunately, Turing faced persecution in the years after the war due to being gay.

I overheard a conversation as I was walking into the theatre: ‘Alan Turing? That gay guy?’

This is by no means the only way Turing is remembered but it’s still disappointing. There are people alive today who can remember when homosexuality was a criminal offence.

Prejudice thwarts progress – a lesson we still have yet to learn.

In the entertainment industry, performers are either adored or respected. Some are lucky to have currency in both – we used to call them movie stars.

Filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a superb examination of the pursuit of validation.

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is the former star of a popular superhero movie franchise ‘Birdman’. Thomson is trying to rebuild his career by writing, directing and starring in a play opening on Broadway.

As the premiere date nears, Thomson begins to lose his grip on reality as he is agitated by critics (Lindsay Duncan), costars (Edward Norton, Naomi Watts and Andrea Riseborough) and his costumed alter ego.

Birdman is a twisted satire of show business set to an acid jazz drum score that’s darkly comic and completely brilliant.

Keaton is incredible, as are the rest of the cast with not one shabby performance (no matter how big or small the role).

Birdman cleverly deconstructs the current state of the arts and should not be missed.

CAMERON WILLIAMS

emma robinson

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Big Hero 6 Set in the fictional melding of SanFranTokyo, Big Hero 6 tells a story about grief and friendship. The best part? It does it a multicultural, feminist and hilarious way.

Hiro (Ryan Potter) is a 14-yearold genius who has finished high school and is wiling away hours in illegal robot fights (and making a mint while doing so).

His brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) convinces him to apply for his prestigious university and study robotics (awesome).

Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and Hiro finds himself embroiled in an evil plot. His solace is found in his brother’s project: a robot called Baymax (Scott Adsit), whose reason for existence is to help people.

This movie ticks all the right boxes. It’s inclusive of other cultures (something that Disney has previously been criticized for) and set in the not too distant future in a fictional city that combines racial diversity, culture and technology. The main characters have multiple ethnicities; reflective of the world we live in today and not a completely Caucasian one.

It has not one but two female characters, who do not merely serve as a device to further a male plotline. These women are completely different and comfortable in their femininity whilst kicking arse.

I won’t say any more about the plot – spoilers in film reviews are worse than stepping in dog poo in terms of disappointment – but I will say go see this film.

Now! EMMA ROBINSON

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies is, well, another Hobbit film. It’s likely to be exactly what you’re expecting. A little better than An Unexpected Journey and a little worse than The Desolation of Smaug, this third installment is when the ‘one book turned into three two-anda-half hour movies’ plot really begins to wear a little thin.

The third film picks up exactly where the second left off, with the surprisingly sexy-voiced Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) raining his fiery wrath down on the mere mortals of Laketown. Little do Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and the rest of the Company of Dwarves know, an even greater battle awaits. A battle, say, between five different armies.

None of The Hobbit films have reached the levels of awesome of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings series, though they retain typical Jackson features: detailed sets and costumes, sweeping scenery and aweinspiring (okay, sometimes yawn-inspiring) fight sequences. The Battle of Five Armies has a few moments that are truly spectacular, but overall there is too much happening too slowly – it feels like a lot of clashing swords and no real plot progression.

To be fair, The Battle of Five Armies is still a lot better than many blockbusters to hit the screen each year – but as this trilogy ends, you can’t help but feel grateful it’s over.

MELISSA WELLHAM

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine [Universal Sony] A sitcom set in a police station where a bunch of misfit detectives get into weekly scrapes and silly japes under the nose of their disapproving and taciturn boss. There’s a cocky man-child one, a straight up-and-down OCD one, a sexy tough one, the clumsy one, a muscle-bound softie and of course a couple of old stupid ones who do as little work as possible. Not exactly the riskiest or most promising of set ups, but this show – one of the best of comedies in the last few years – gets the basics spot on. Not flawless, but as good as you could expect from a network comedy.

The casting is probably the biggest factor in its success.

Andy Samberg (ex-SNL) might play the ‘lead’ (Jake Peralta) but as the season progresses it becomes clears Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the definition of an ensemble piece. Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life On The Street) is the precinct captain, the aforementioned gruff one who also happens to be gay – a potentially fatal characteristic in an office comedy. Luckily the writers treat it as it should be, no big deal. Braugher, an actor more known for his hard-nosed dramatic persona makes a well-trodden role (suffering police captain/boss) utterly unique and compelling. Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Terry Crews and Stephanie Beatriz as detectives all with varying degrees of neuroticism take about three episodes to make it look like they have been working together for years. The real standout is Chelsea Peretti as Gina the precinct administrator who makes sarcasm an absurd sly art form. It is probably the smallest part in the show, but Peretti steals every scene. Cocreated and produced by Dan Goor and Michael Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation) Brooklyn Nine-Nine comes with pedigree and expectation, it exceeds both not by being innovative – but by being aiming to be the funniest.

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justin Hook

Soul Boys Of The Western World [madman]

The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness [madman]

In a film overfull of revealing moments the following is possibly the most telling. When Spandau Ballet made their debut tour of North America they took with them designers, artists, authors and other likeminded people. Most bands at the time would have gone with a good ‘fixer’, some mates and a troupe of groupies but Spandau Ballet took the cognoscenti of London society, showing them off to confused TV presenters.

Spandau Ballet – the effete, soul-mining overdressed Londoners – made their splash in the biggest music market in the world with a bunch of trendy art knobs who knew nothing about music. Gold.

The Studio Ghibli studio – that magical place where Hayao Miyazaki and a team of animators, cell colourists, artist, writers and producers have created such films as My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke, Ponyo et al – is exactly as you’d hope.

A slow overweight white cat with a smallish tuft of black fur resembling an off-centred moustache lumbers around the building answering to no-one. There’s a sense of orderly chaos, in a way only the Japanese can look elegant.

Yakult is delivered by the Yakult Lady.

But this band was different.

From the very beginning they were just as obsessed with style, as they were with songs.

And in the early 1980’s, the reaction to the punk scene meant that the prevailing style was extreme flounce. Spandau Ballet spearheaded the New Romantic scene but they never had the chart success to reflect their self-driven cultural impact. They were well known, but Duran Duran and Adam Ant had all the hit singles. That is, until ‘True’. The song (and the follow ups, ‘Gold ‘and ‘Through the Barricades’) and the album were gigantic hits in 1984 and made good on their very public promises of mega stardom.

Then the wheels fell off, hard.

Toy Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble (vocals, sax and drums) took songwriter/ guitarist and now-burgeoning actor Gary Kemp to court for unpaid royalties. They lost and Spandau Ballet, already pretty much over, were now a punch line. Soul Boys captures the entire story from the perspective of each band member through narration.

The lack of talking heads is a welcome change, it lets the images and footage fill the gaps. At times it feels a bit rough, but in terms of warts and all music docos, this is the wartsiest I have ever seen. justin hook

Every evening the 74-year old Miyazaki and the entire staff of the studio make their way to the roof to watch the sun set, partly to de-stress but also to get ideas. If you have ever seen a single frame of a Ghibli film you would be aware of its distinctive patina – lush without being overbearing or gauche, calm without being condescending, complex without being overdrawn or fussy, innocent without being childish. Ghibli films represent the vision of its creative leaders (primarily Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki and Isao Yakahata – an absent protagonist throughout this doco) but they also capture ineffable everyday moments with astonishing and heart breaking clarity. This is essential viewing for any Ghibli fan. It is a rare behind the scenes look at the famed studio and first hand account of the hardship of making a Ghibli film (The Wind Rises – Miyazaki’s deeply personal swan song, review next issue). But it’s also the story of Miyazaki – his regrets, doubts, disappointment with the world and mystified confusion; at one point he admits even he doesn’t know what his films mean. For those unfamiliar with Ghibli, it’s a helpful but erratic introduction – meandering beauty. Just like their films. justin hook

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MARK RUSSELL Peter Jackson is a great filmmaker, but he’s lovesick. We’ve all had toxic relationships. The difference is that PJ filmed his Facebook album. With The Hobbit: Battle Of The Five Armies, he’s become the creepy guy outside Middle Earth’s window, drunkenly yelling about the good times.

Thing is, we all want to reminisce. I love The Lord Of The Rings films. They’re a triumph of epic storytelling and a masterclass in narrative compression. When adapting Tolkien’s doorstopper trilogy, Peter Jackson and co-script-writers Fran Walsh and Philipa Boyens cut characters, set pieces, even entire sub-quests – sacrificing them all at the altar of The Greater Story.

The Hobbit trilogy, on the other hand, keeps everything from this book, borrows stuff from other books and invents a bunch of tangents for good measure. The obvious problem is that the novel doesn’t justify three films. It’s not an issue of plot.

Tolkien wrote plots that would earn a Russian’s respect and The Hobbit has natural segments. The issue is subject matter.

timing when The Hobbit embraces the fun adventure at its heart.

And that’s what this could have been. The kind, out-of-their-depth hero swept up in an adventure is a fine story base. We’ve seen it work beautifully in The Lego Movie or Kung-Fu Panda or even The Goonies (if you want a treasure-hunting version). But these journeys thrive on propulsion. A hero so overwhelmed by the rush of obstacles that there’s no time to do anything but hang on. Epic sagas are different however. We need an active protagonist with strong goals. There’s a reason The Godfather trilogy doesn’t follow Fredo.

Peter Jackson knows all this. He’s incredibly talented and much smarter than me. He knows The Hobbit doesn’t have depth, it’s just that he’s besotted with Tolkien’s world. There’s all this great stuff. A simple treasure hunt wouldn’t leave room for grand good and evil, powerful wizards, interspecies fight scenes, interspecies friendships and interspecies love stories (hmm).

So he broadens the canvas. Lends gravitas.

Wise characters give gradually-less-subtle statements about these events affecting the balance of things to come (wink, nod, elbow nudge, “My preciousssss”).

He’s become the creepy guy outside Middle Earth’s window, drunkenly yelling about the good times

LOTR is about the supreme battle of good and evil. The Hobbit is about wanting shiny things. Gold. That’s what we’re after. The dragon’s treasure.

Of course it’s not really about the treasure itself. It’s meant to be a tool for character growth. It’s meant to be a metaphor for the corrupting power of greed. And it is, sort of. But not until this last movie. Not until we’ve been dragged through two, entire films, driven by a motivation that we’re finally told is empty. I cannot sit through eight hours motivated by the acquisition of wealth. That’s what I have a real job for.

Thematic impotency aside, the treasure’s literal influence is also weak. Compare the One Ring in LOTR. We believe it’s powerful not merely due to Elijah Wood’s O-face whenever he’s about to wear it, but because every major character has a powerful – if not life and death – relationship to it.

By contrast, what does Bilbo Baggins think of the gold? I’m pretty sure he’d swap it for a solid morning tea. And what does it mean to Gandalf? To Galadriel? To the Elves? Deeper motivations are shoehorned in for the third film but for two movies the other characters either: don’t know anyone’s after it (the elves); don’t care (Galadriel); or are kinda just shit-stirring (Gandalf).

Sure, Thorin might see reclaiming the treasure as his redemption but Bilbo, our hero, is in it for adventure. Sort of. Not by choice, though. In fact, someone is pushing him out the door the entire time. What does Bilbo want? And why? We spent all this time watching movies with his name on them yet his motivation is lukewarm and he’s made almost no decisions. This undercooking is perhaps the saddest thing in the series because Martin Freeman is fantastic. He’s leagues ahead of Elijah et al and has perfect comic

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But this only highlights the problem of any prequel: we know that’s bullshit. We know that, at the end of this, no one’s going to realise how important the ring is and everything else will be forgotten. In LOTR, the entire Hobbit journey is relegated to a chuckling anecdote. But The Hobbit films have trapped themselves in a hyperaware loop where they must keep referencing the latter trilogy, further highlighting how unimportant the current events are. Instead of conflict, the story gets driven by a kind of timewarped nostalgia. We get hours of stuff, with no cohesion.

LOTR works as a trilogy because it unifies plot, character and theme across all three films. The Ring embodies the central idea of the smallest/most-underestimated things having the greatest impact. This idea is personified by Frodo as a protagonist, then ripples into the roles of Sam, Gollum, Pippin and Eowyn. We see it in story elements like a butterfly saving Gandalf. The gap under the wall at Helm’s Deep. Aragorn’s sword etc etc. It informs things.

After three movies, the marketing hashtag #OneLastTime gives me more relief than excitement. I’m exhausted, so I can’t imagine how Peter Jackson is feeling. But I’ve got faith for his next project.

There are moments of brilliance, even here and the overextension into three films wasn’t entirely his fault. He had enablers. Studio executives capitalising on his obsession, whispering in his ear, ‘Go back, Petey. They just need to see how much you care.’ Perhaps it’s a good thing that the Tolkien estate enacted a cinematic restraining order.

Now he can find a new love. Someone worthy of his dedication.

For more from Mark Russell head to his blog: markwilliamrussell.com

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Joan Armatrading, Ashleigh Mannix Canberra Theatre Tuesday December 9 Opener Ashleigh Mannix was partway through her first song when a baby started crying. Who brings a baby to a concert like this? Never mind, as they knew what to do. There was quick action to pop the child on the breast and it was good as gold for the rest of the night.

Mannix confessed to being a bit nervous, but charmed the audience with her country-blues set, kicking off with ‘New York’. Her style may seem a little overly US-oriented, but there’s no denying the intensity of the voice or the strength of the guitar playing. She risked a brand new song as her set closer and carried it off well.

I wondered how Joan Armatrading’s songs would come across without the benefit of a backing band. In a word – brilliantly!

The woman is such a star guitarist, starting off electric, before moving on to six and then 12 string acoustics. Her blues playing, with spectacular slide guitar work, shone out in ‘My Baby’s Gone’, while ‘Lonely Highway’ dropped some crazy licks. Armatrading demonstrated her dazzling ‘S’ shaped strumming style in the poppy ‘All the Way From America’ and blistering finger work, jazz guitar style, in ‘Steppin’ Out’. We were advised that a few backing sounds in the show had been pre-recorded to “add colour and depth”, but these were sensibly kept to a bare minimum, completely avoiding any ‘canned music’ vibe. The hits were rolled out, with a voice that can transform itself from a deep rumble to a soaring high note in an instant. The sing-alongs from the crowd concentrated on the encore ‘Willow’ and a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ at the start of her show, in honour of the singer’s 64th birthday. rory mccartney

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Fred Smith’s Orphans Xmas Phoenix Bar Wednesday December 24 Something something Christmas something something special something something family. That’s normally how the narrative goes.

Fred Smith has been doing his Xmas Eve bash at the Phoenix for quite a few years now, largely targeted at two audiences: fans of Fred Smith/live music and those who don’t really care about Christmas. The latter holds quite a lot of appeal, as live music is always worth the effort, regardless of the time of year. This is especially the case for good live performers, such as Smith and his band.

Smith’s first set was largely built around his repertoire of Australian tinged folk and his seminal record about the Afghanistan war Dust of Urugzan. When the bar at the Phoenix quietens a bit, just to hear the band on stage, you know that they are doing well.

The second set saw more of a party vibe invade The Phoenix, with rollicking rock songs seeing out what was left of the night. People danced, people made merry, people were with people. Smith periodically left the confines of his elevated stage to dance with the crowd, all the while still playing hard. As the clock slowly ticked towards midnight, Christmas seemed both incredibly immediate but also so far away. This was just a night at the pub, spent listening to good music in the company of friends.

CODY ATKINSON

PHOTO BY MEGAN LEAHY

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We take the approach of applying negative situations and using them to create positive outcomes

MORAL HIGH GROUND CARRIE GIBSON Your typical hardcore band generally draws inspiration from the negative aspects of society and increases the amount of anger and negativity of fans to encourage action and motivation through rebel tactics. Evidently there is a lighter side to hardcore – Illinois natives, COLOR MORALE leave the listener with a sense of optimism and comfort. According to Garrett Rapp, vocalist for the band, this was always the tactic. “We take the approach of applying negative situations and using them to create positive outcomes,” Rapp clarifies.

It is difficult to re-invent the wheel when it comes to this particular genre and most hardcore bands will agree that there are only so many ways you can write a breakdown. Color Morale kicked in the so-called “hardcore” box long ago by integrating various other sounds. “Our band has a lot of melodic influence and I feel like there are a lot of creative ways to explore that sound and therefore we’re able to make unique and original music,” says Rapp. “But it’s a constant struggle to find something that is relatable.”

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You have mentioned that you have a strong connection to the bands previous release Know Hope. Do you have a similar kinship with Hold on the Pain Ends? “Yeah, of course,” Rapp says. “The acronym for Hold on the Pain Ends is HOPE. Hope is never easy and it’s an expression of a very negative and personal time for me. I made it a goal a few years back to make myself accessible to the fans whilst selling merch behind a table. It was twelve months worth and possibly the most demanding thing I’ve ever done in my life.

We’d be doing eight shows a week and then selling to an endless line of kids every night, so in doing so it gave me a chance to really observe what kids were feeling and struggling with, what I needed to talk about in the subject matter of the album; and that is the albums foundation.”

So, the new record, being based entirely on your fans and the struggles they have to overcome – how is it being received by fans thus far? “It’s been amazing, I’ve already seen dozens of lyrics tattooed – in fact I saw lyrics tattooed on fans before the latest record was released,” laughs Rapp. Soundwave is fast approaching and it is time for Color Morale to put their methods into practice.

“We’re just really excited to get back to Australia,” enthuses Rapp. “I don’t care about the size of the crowd one or one thousand – just any chance to play your amazing country again!” He also advises, with a chuckle, that fans will more than likely see him sitting back at the merch table for the Australian tour.

Catch The Color Morale as part of the Soundwave juggernaut on Saturday February 28 and Sun March 1 at Sydney’s Olympic Park. Tickets are $188 +bf for weekend pass or $132 +bf for a day pass via soundwavefestival. com/tickets.

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Meredith Music Festival Meredith Fri–Sat Dec 12–14 Having the Hard Ons play mid-afternoon should be a crime. I mean, it’s probably worse than loitering. Their brand of sludgy punk rock is meant for the grit of late nights and not the afternoon.

Notwithstanding this, the temporary four piece (with the addition of original singer Keish) belted through a typically tight set.

Blank Realm might very well be one of the best live bands in the country (TM Everett True and every other critic in Brisbane). There’s no secret to their success – they just write good songs and play them well. Leaning heavily on recent album Grassed Inn, Blank Realm’s chaotic rock slowly wins over the crowd, as if it was predetermined. Near-closer ‘Go Easy’ seemed at the time that it may be the highlight of the festival, even with 48 hours left to run.

Meredith has only one stage, so the idea of missing a band is entirely a voluntary decision. Some punters make the decision to camp out on the hill of the amphitheatre with a couch fort and eskys the size of some small countries. There are certainly worse ways to spend a festival, drowned in a near endless sea of sound.

The rest of the Friday night seemed to blend into one – Mark Lanegan’s sombre soundscapes into Sleep’s extended exercise in maximum stoner riffitude into The War On Drugs Americana-laden indie rock. Of these three, The War On Drugs probably came in with the highest expectations, hot on the heels of their critically acclaimed album Lost in the Dream. But in the expanses of the Amphitheatre some of the ornate opulence of the recorded works seemed lost. It was good, maybe even very good, but it wasn’t great.

Saturday got off to a relaxed start: Tiny Ruins into Mia Dyson into The Harpoons into Phosphorescent. While all four bands are relatively diverse from a genre perspective, they all played to a relaxed midday mood.

Then Cloud Nothings came on and destroyed the joint. Blending indie and punk effortlessly, Cloud Nothings lifted not only the intensity of the festival, but also the mood. A small mosh broke out near the front and by the end of the set a smattering of boots were being waved in the air, a sign from the punters that the festival had hit its highest point.

If San Fran garage rock is a thing right now (it is), then Ty Segall is a perfect example of why. Segall and his crack outfit have managed to find the sweet spot of catchy rock music and for an hour they failed to let their focus slip. Some may dismiss it as being a bit hipster, a bit slacker, but they’d be wrong.

The night slowly burnt into embers, helped along by veteran Jamacian band The Skatalites and hip hop lifers De La Soul. Dust seemingly covered every exposed surface and the atmosphere was becoming looser and looser as time went by. Music continued all night, right up until 7am.

Sunday was largely defined by hangovers, mass Tai Chi, The Lemonheads and a nude sprint. Of these things, The Lemonheads will be the only thing worth remembering a year from now. Evan Dando has had his much publicised ups and downs over the years, but he certainly knows how to play a song. Dando reeled through the years, with Lemonheads and Smudge songs working both acoustically and amped up. cody atkinson

PHOTOS BY PHOTOS MEGAN LEAHY BY ??????????

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the word

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PHOTO BY CRAIG CLANCY

Falls Festival ByronBay Parklands Tue –Fri Dec–Jan 30–2 The weather was biblical. Torrential overnight rain (thank God my proclivity for air-conditioning had prevented me from camping – I too, ‘lied about being an outdoor type’) alongside searing, fierce heat that was inescapable outside of the ‘water misting tunnel’ (yes, that’s a thing). Sydneysiders DMA’s are unlikely to enjoy my comparison, but hear me out boys; your EP is the best Oasis record since Definitely Maybe. I even forgive your guitarist standing around half naked wearing a bumbag for half of your set and later spying him wearing an Africa- inspired onesie. That’s how enjoyable your set was. I very nearly avoided Spiderbait, having seen them in the ‘90s on every street corner, but honestly, they are live statesman, unbelievably energetic and clearly happy to do what they do. Janet even trumped Krams’ signature cover of Ram Jam’s ‘Black Betty’ with an excellent version of Nena’s ‘99 Luftballoons.’ Milky Chance were also a surprise, the German indie-pop duo pulling a huge crowd – every other song was so familiar they could well be considered the triple j house band. Cloud Control had the unenviable task of replacing the side project of Strokes frontman, Julian Casablancas and the Voidz. But like Spiderbait, it was fantastic to see an Aussie band command such an enthusiastic audience. Their set was made even more fun when a particularly excited punter decided to scale some of the rigging (pictured) resulting in a Benny Hill style showdown with security guards. Highlights were the communal singalong to John Farnham’s ‘You’re the Voice’ that continued well after the previous DJ set had ended and festival closers Alt-J, clearly overjoyed to be playing their Gomez-does-digital set to the record crowd.

TATJANA CLANCY

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Lost Paradise Glenworth Valley Tue–Thu Dec–Jan 30–1 Nestled in the foothills of the Glenworth Valley on the famed site of Peats Ridge Festival, Lost Paradise boasted a boutique festival experience. For an extra price punters could ‘glamp’, attend sit down dinners and an onsite day spa. For me it was the traditional festival experience – a superhot Kmart dome tent and a dinner of Hare Krishna curry swilled down with smuggled scotch. With a three day line-up boasting some of the country’s biggest up and coming electronic acts and a smattering of great bands, Lost Paradise was just how a multi-day festival should be – phone reception-less and a shit load of stringless fun.

As the midday heat had sunk into the valley on day one, punters took refuge in the shade of the riverbank trees. Melbourne based synth songstress Banoffee kicked off the festival with her unique and raw style of layered new wave R’n’B, serenading the heat stricken crowd of diehard dancers. Adelaide three piece electronic act Flamingo perfectly followed with their unique brand of ethereal groove and genre hopping electronica. Armed with a bass guitar and an electronic rig, Touch Sensitive towered centrepiece on the stage, delivering a unique brand of bass driven futuristic funky disco.

Canadian duo Bob Moses welcomed the setting sun. Despite initial technical difficulties, the boys played with a building momentum that steadily drummed up a crowd that increased fifty fold throughout their set. The crowd relished the cooling temperature as the hauntingly melancholic vocals and dreamy guitar work of Tom Howie complemented the synth work of Jimmy Vallance.

The vibe was electric on New Year’s Eve with the usual anticipation of midnight’s stoke. The festival was awash with colour and costumes as festival goers transformed into their finest and freakiest garb. Six piece Sydney lads Tropical Zombie hit the stage with a ragtag blend of garage infused surf rock. Harmonies and jungle beats had the crowd bopping singing along to infectious tunes many were hearing for the first time.

Following an out of left field Grammy nomination, Melbourne based neo-soul outfit Hiatus Kaiyote hit the stage as a shiny beacon of electronic infused soul. Melbourne band The Delta Riggs, played an extended set coming back on the stage to satiate a crowd that just couldn’t get enough of a band that plays like a funk band, rocks like a rock band and has the energy of a hip hop outfit. Perth psychedelic pals Pond followed. Isabella Manfredi and Gideon Benson of The Preatures never fail to disappoint with a signature precision and energy that was entirely fitting for the New Year’s crowd. With screaming vocals and infectious guitar hooks, the main stage swelled with punters.

In typical New Year’s style, the night drove forth with a particular form of insanity and frivolity that the real word lacks. With open hearts 2015 was welcomed among a common crowd united in the quest for a good time and it couldn’t have been any better.

BAZ RUDDICK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LOSTPARADISE.COM

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Jan 14 - Sat Jan 17

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday january 14

Art Exhibitions College Express 6

Unique perspectives from young local artists. Until Jan 18.

BELCONNEN 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 MUSEUM AND GALLERY

The Mysterious North

Tue-Mon. Jan 13-26. Exhibition opening Jan 15 at 6pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke From 9.30pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live Music

Cool Sounds

With Melon Melon Melon & California Girls. 9pm. $5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Moontown Cassette Club

Album launch with Holden Hands, Jannah Quill, Cold Emotion & projections from ZonkVision. 8pm. $5 be TRANSIT BAR

On The Town Nail Brewing Tap Takeover

Free samples and live music with Mal Come. 8pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

4some Thursdays

Free entry. $4 drink specials.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

friday january 16 Live Music Thredbo Blues Festival

The Wild Comforts & Flowerbomb. 8pm.

Blues Festival. Fri-Sun. Jan 16-18.

Tickets starting at $50 at thredbo.com. au/thredboblues.

Timothy D

3rd Exit

CMC Wednesdays Presents SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

On The Town Hump Day

Get over the hump with drink specials after 5pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Feminartsy Story-Share: Promise(s)

Story share event with the theme ‘promises’. With music from Darling Mermaid Darlings.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

$10 Express Lunch

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat. TRANSIT BAR

thursday january 15 Dance Chitrasena Dance Company

Presents Dancing for the Gods. 8pm. $45/$65.

THREDBO ALPINE VILLAGE

Live music. 10pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Joel Barker

Live Folk Rock. 8pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Alive Fridays

Presents Destroy The Machines. $10 entry.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Kim Churchill

6.30pm. Tickets $15 from theabbey. com.au.

THE ABBEY

Stand Your Grounds

Presents Corpus. Supported by Absent Hours, Ecruteak and Lost Coast. 8pm. $10.

TRANSIT BAR

Gravelrash

With Black Mountain, Detonator. Doors 8pm. $10.

THE BASEMENT

Chicago Charles/Shortreef Live music. 5pm afternoon session/10:00pm band. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

saturday january 17

THE PLAYHOUSE

Art Exhibitions

Karaoke

College Express 6

Karaoke Love

Unique perspectives from young local artists. Until Jan 18.

Karaoke. 9pm. Free entry.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Live Music Thursday Jazz

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

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The Mysterious North

TRANSIT BAR

With Tinder Spark. 8pm.

Fossil Rabbit, Aphir & Alphamale

An evening of ambient tunes from some of Canberra’s current and expat lo-fi artists. 7pm. $10.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Chad Croker Duo

Live music. 9pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Tue-Mon. Jan 13-26. Exhibition opening Jan 15 at 6pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Live Music Thredbo Blues Festival

Blues Festival. Fri-Sun. Jan 16-18.

Tickets starting at $50 at thredbo.com. au/thredboblues.

THREDBO ALPINE VILLAGE

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sat Jan 17- Thurs Jan 22 Something Like This

The Fuelers

Longreef

Part of Summer Sounds with The Central. Rockabilly, country & pop.

5.30pm.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Irish Jam Session

Live music. 10pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live music. 8pm. $12.40 via Moshtix.

NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Love Saturdays

Traditional Irish musicians in the pub from late afternoon. Free.

With Runamark. $10 before 12am.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Dr. Stovepipe

Part of Summer Sounds with The Central. Alternative country. 5.30pm.

NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Special K

Live music. 10.30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Den Hanrahan and The Roadsiders

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

2XX LocalnLive Presents The Bootleg Sessions

Presents Hex Bird, Kid of Harith, Babyfreeze & The Girlfriend Experience.

Free entry. 8pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

monday january 19

Live music. 9.30pm. $5.

Something Different

Readable Graffiti

Schnitz & Giggles

THE PHOENIX BAR

Album launch. With Mondecreen. 8pm. $10.

TRANSIT BAR

Timothy D

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

On The Town Chrome

7pm. $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Workshops NIDA Summer Program

Acting holiday program. Mon-Sun. Jan 19-25. Costs from $310-$595. Visit open.nida.edu.au.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

tuesday january 20

wednesday january 21

thursday january 22

Art Exhibitions

Art Exhibitions

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

Bubble ’n’ Squeak

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

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

The Mysterious North

Tue-Mon. Jan 13-26. Exhibition opening Jan 15 at 6pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke

By Michele England, Dash Kossmann & Fran Meatheringham. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 M16 ARTSPACE

A Pinch of Salt

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Square Eyes

Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Beauty Through Motion

From 9.30pm.

Live Music CMC Wednesdays Presents

Jaron Freeman-Fox & The Opposite of Everything. 8pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Paul Wossen

Live music. Tickets $12.25.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Timothy D

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

M16 ARTSPACE

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Live Music Tim Edey Trio

With Gerry Doyle and Sandy Gibbney.

Doors 6.30pm. Starts 7.30pm. Tickets $20/$22/$25 at door.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Kenny P

Live music. 8pm.

Resident DJs playing industrial, EBM, alternative, dark electronic. $10/$5.

Karaoke

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

$10 Express Lunch

Karaoke Love

On The Town

Presents Kimba & Ryan. 8pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Hump Day

Chicago Charles & Dave

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat. TRANSIT BAR

sunday january 18

Karaoke. 9pm. Free entry.

Live music. 9pm. Free.

Julia Henning

$10 Express Lunch

Grunge. 8pm. Free.

Live music. 8pm.

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas

Trivia Trivia Night

Trivia. 7:30pm.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

THE PHOENIX BAR

Live Music

From 7.30pm.

Blues Festival. Fri-Sun. Jan 16-18.

Tickets starting at $50 at thredbo.com. au/thredboblues.

THREDBO ALPINE VILLAGE

50

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Live Music

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Thredbo Blues Festival

Thursday Jazz

Get over the hump with drink specials after 5pm.

None With live music every Saturday and Sunday. 18th Jan - 22nd Feb. Tickets at openaircinemas.com.au.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Fame Trivia DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

TRANSIT BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

FOAM

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat.

TRANSIT BAR

Something Different

THE PHOENIX BAR

TRANSIT BAR

The Nuclear Family

With Primary Colours & Solid Effort.

9pm. $5.

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

On The Town

THE PHOENIX BAR

4some Thursdays

Workshops

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

8pm.

Free entry. $4 drink specials.

NIDA Summer Program

Acting holiday program. Mon-Sun. Jan 19-25. Costs from $310-$595. Visit open.nida.edu.au.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

@bmamag

facebook.com/bmamagazine

51

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Jan 23 - Fri Jan 30 friday january 23 None Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas

With live music every Saturday and Sunday. 18th Jan - 22nd Feb. Tickets at openaircinemas.com.au.

Love Saturdays

With Project M. $10 before 12am.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Annie & The Armadillos

Part of Summer Sounds with The Central. Jazz & Blues. 5.30pm.

monday january 26 Live Music

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr

The Australia Day Live Concert

Imaginarium

Halfway to Fourth & Daniel J. Townsend

Featuring Paul Kelly and Jessica Mauboy. Lawns of Parliament House.

4pm. Free.

Live Music

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Ghost Notes

Special K

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Square Eyes

Live music. 8pm.

PARLIAMENTARY TRIANGLE

J&T

Live music. 10.30pm. Free.

Album lauch tour. With Cracked Actor & ecruteak. 8pm. $10 at door.

M16 ARTSPACE

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Beauty Through Motion

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

Live music. 10pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Summer Slam ’15

Second Sun

Scissor Kick Champs help you celebrate the Australian Day weekend with a whole lineup of acts. 6pm.

On The Town

Karaoke

Huge Australia Day Celebrations

Don’t Stop Believing Karaoke

TRANSIT BAR

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Live Music

Live music. 8pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Mitch Canas/Oscar

5pm afternoon session. 10pm band.

Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Wretch

Long weekend Friday grindcore. 8pm.

Tickets at door.

TRANSIT BAR

On The Town Aus Day Long Weekend FOAM Party Feat. Some Blonde DJ. $15 before 11pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

saturday january 24 Art Exhibitions Bubble ’n’ Squeak

By Michele England, Dash Kossmann & Fran Meatheringham. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 M16 ARTSPACE

A Pinch of Salt

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

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

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Square Eyes

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr M16 ARTSPACE

Imaginarium

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

The Mysterious North

Timothy D

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Official craft beer venue for Canberra and JJJ hottest 100 playing.

tuesday january 27

Caligulas Horse

Karaoke

THE BASEMENT

Karaoke. 9pm. Free entry.

Renegade Peacock, Orsome Wells, Breaking Orbit. Doors 8pm.

On The Town $10 Express Lunch

Live Music

$10 Express Lunch

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat.

Urban Drover

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Hump Day

Theatre

Theatre

Giggle & Hoot

Horrible Histories

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

TRANSIT BAR

10am and 12:30pm. $39.90/$64.90.

sunday january 25 Live Music Franklin B Paverty

Australia day concert. Part of Summer Sounds with The Central. 5.30pm.

NATIONAL BOTANIC GARDENS

Irish Jam Session

Live music. 8pm.

Barmy Britain. $50/$55.

Trivia Fame Trivia

With Joel and Ali. 7.30pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

On The Town

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Free Pool at Transit

Free pool tables. From 2pm.

Jam It

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

wednesday january 28

TRANSIT BAR

Art Exhibitions

Theatre

Bubble ’n’ Squeak

By Michele England, Dash Kossmann & Fran Meatheringham. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

Workshops

Live Music

Acting holiday program. Mon-Sun. Jan 19-25. Costs from $310-$595. Visit open.nida.edu.au.

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

Live Music From 10pm.

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

52

10am and 12:30pm. $39.90/$64.90.

NIDA Summer Program

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Theatre Horrible Histories

Barmy Britain. $50/$55.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Jam It

Jam with young musicians and professional musicians. Tues-Fri. 9am4pm. Multicultural festival gig 1

Presents DJ K-Note. $15 before 11pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Impact Comics Present Nerd Trivia

Workshops

The Jump Club

Get over the hump with drink specials after 5pm.

Workshops

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

Traditional Irish musicians in the pub from late afternoon. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

TRANSIT BAR

From 7.30pm.

M16 ARTSPACE

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

On The Town

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Live music. 10.30pm. Free.

Timothy D

TRANSIT BAR

Beauty Through Motion

Live Band

DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Giggle & Hoot

M16 ARTSPACE

From 9.30pm.

Karaoke Love

Tue-Mon. Jan 13-26. Exhibition opening Jan 15 at 6pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

M16 ARTSPACE

A Pinch of Salt

M16 ARTSPACE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

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

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Jam with young musicians and professional musicians. Tues-Fri. 9am4pm. Multicultural festival gig 1 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

thursday january 29 Live Music Glass Ocean

Rock. 8pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

The Ocean Party

With Totally Mild, Black Springs & Eadie & The Doodles. 9pm. $5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Workshops Jam It

Jam with young musicians and professional musicians. Tues-Fri. 9am4pm. Multicultural festival gig 1 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

friday january 30 None Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas

With live music every Saturday and Sunday. 18th Jan - 22nd Feb. Tickets at openaircinemas.com.au.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Jan 30 - Wed Feb 11 Live Music Lepers & Crooks

Launch their ‘Her Kiss’ EP, supported by Sea Legs. 8pm. Presale via Moshtix.

Timothy D

With Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran and Tracey Benson. 6pm 5th December, continues until February. Tues-F

TRANSIT BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Workshops

On The Town

Jam It

$10 Express Lunch

Jam with young musicians and professional musicians. Tues-Fri. 9am4pm. Multicultural festival gig 1

Pizza & soft drink $10. 12pm-2pm.

Mon-Sat. TRANSIT BAR

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

saturday january 31 Art Exhibitions A Pinch of Salt

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

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

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Square Eyes

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr M16 ARTSPACE

Imaginarium

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Beauty Through Motion

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Live Music

sunday february 1 Live Music Super Raelene Bros

Album launch. 3pm. $10 entry + copy of the album.

SoundOut 2015

Jazz and Experimental music. Jan 31 - Feb 1. Information at soundout2015. blogspot.com.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

wednesday february 4 Art Exhibitions Beauty Through Motion

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Bubble ’n’ Squeak

By Michele England, Dash Kossmann & Fran Meatheringham. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 M16 ARTSPACE

A Pinch of Salt

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

Cub Callaway, The Feldons & After Hollywood SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

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

SoundOut 2015

Jazz and Experimental music. Jan 31 - Feb 1. Information at soundout2015. blogspot.com.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Thando

The Voice star brings her full live band show to Canberra. 8pm. Presale via Moshtix.

Imaginarium

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

Something Different

Live Music

Perception Deception Exhibition

With Heavy Heart II

QUESTACON

TRANSIT BAR

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

Canberra’s own doom festival. Live music. $25 via Moshtix or $30 at the door.

Theatre

Theatre

Mother & Son

Mother & Son

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

From the hit TV Series, brand new stage comedy. $75.90/$99.90. 4-11 Feb.

saturday february 7

From the hit TV Series, brand new stage comedy. $75.90/$99.90. 4-11 Feb.

wednesday february 11

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

M16 ARTSPACE

Live music. 8pm.

Imaginarium

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Square Eyes

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr M16 ARTSPACE

TRANSIT BAR

None

Art Exhibitions

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas

The Bald Archie Prize 2015

With live music every Saturday and Sunday. 18th Jan - 22nd Feb. Tickets at openaircinemas.com.au.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Art Exhibitions

Art competition. 6th Feb - 9th March.

10am-4pm. Entry $5.

WATSON ARTS CENTRE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

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

The Bald Archie Prize 2015

Art competition. 6th Feb - 9th March.

10am-4pm. Entry $5.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Imaginarium

WATSON ARTS CENTRE

Art exhibition. 23 Jan - 15 Feb. Meet the artists 24 Jan. 2pm.

Beauty Through Motion

By Kelly Hayes. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Live Music

M16 ARTSPACE

Bubble ’n’ Squeak

CJ Ramone

M16 ARTSPACE

TRANSIT BAR

By Michele England, Dash Kossmann & Fran Meatheringham. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22

A Pinch of Salt

By Kerry Shepherdson. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Free.

M16 ARTSPACE

Pulse: Reflections on the Body

Album launch. Supported by Hard Ons & No Assumption. 8pm. Tickets $34.70 from oztix.

Theatre Sweet Charity

Award winning musical. Info & tickets: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Mother & Son

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

From the hit TV Series, brand new stage comedy. $75.90/$99.90. 4-11 Feb. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Square Eyes

By Josh Owen, Julian Rouch, Kai Wasikowski. 22 Jan - 8 Feb. Wed-Sun. 12-5pm. Opening 22 Jan. 6pm. Fr M16 ARTSPACE

OUT

Jan 28

exodus cj ramone peter hook soundwave ...and more!

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FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA band profile

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

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

Taka Perry Where did your band name come from? You’d have to ask my parents about that, since I didn’t name myself.

Group members? I’ve got this guy called Taka that plays guitar, keys, vocals and synths on all my songs. Actually, he even does all the mixing and production and he’s also my booking agent.

Describe your sound: Chilled, relaxed and soothing, yet covered in a thick coat of weirdness. I take orchestral influences and then layer it over a sampled frying pan. I go outside and record a fence for ten minutes and then play it on a keyboard.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? My musical influences are very disparate and cover many genres. Some artists that have noticeably shaped my sound include Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Aphex Twin and American Football.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Arranging and performing a funk rendition of my high school song at my graduation ceremony. It was the closest thing to a booked-out show that happened at my school.

Of what are you proudest so far? Getting my first royalty payment check from APRA. Other than that, doing my first radio interview, or releasing my first EP was monumental.

What are your plans for the future? Getting my Ps and hitting the live scene like there’s no tomorrow.

What makes you laugh? Crude, politically incorrect and offensive humour. Friends. Family. Magical jam sessions with people that leave me in a dreamy state of delirium afterwards.

What pisses you off? The fallacy of having to be ‘unique’ to make it in music. Nothing that anyone does will be truly unique, so stop trying to be.

What about the local scene would you change? More ‘allages’ gigs. There’s a solid demographic of musical fanatics that happen to not be 18 yet.

What are your upcoming gigs? 2015 is still fully open, but rest assured there will be a plentiful amount of gigs coming.

Contact info: : takaperry.com, me@takaperry.com, facebook. com/takaperrymusic, soundcloud.com/taka-perry

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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 Greg greg@gunfever.com.au System Addict Jamie 0418398556 Tegan Northwood (Singing Teacher) 0410 769 144

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

Top Shelf Colin 0408631514

Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Zoopagoo zoopagoo@gmail.com

Undersided, The Baz 0408468041

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FROM THE MIGHTY BOOSH

“F R E E W H E E L I N G , C O N T A G I O U S A N D D E L I G H T F U L”

THE GUARDIAN

MON 20 APRIL CANBERRA THEATRE BOOK NOW AT THE BOX OFFICE 6275 2700 OR CANBERRATHEATRECENTRE.COM.AU L U X U R Y C O M E D Y. C O M | A B P R E S E N T S . C O M . A U

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