BMA Mag 305 10 Jul 2008

THREE05 July 10.08

DAZZLES, DELIGHTS

PETER COMBE

THE SUNPILOTS

AND BEWILDERS

MARK KOZELEK

ALSO INSIDE: THE BEARDS, SNOG, DAZED & FLAWLEZZ, THE ROLE MODEL, GOODNIGHT NURSE & MORE.

trackside FULL PAGE COLOUR

bma magazine

bma magazine

FREE STUFF No funny intros this week, just a whole load o' free stuff. Send your answers to: editorial@bmamag.com and keep watching the skies...

band’s personal archive and live performances from throughout the ‘80s, show casing the band’s early Glastonbury performance through to their self-assured big tour concerts of later years. This DVD brings all these elements together for the first time, into one comprehensive package, and we are lucky enough to have five to giveaway. To win one, tell us the origin of the name New Order.

The Magic Number

New Order, New DVD You won’t find many music lovers unfamiliar with New Order – rising from the ashes of Joy Division after the tragic death singer Ian Curtis. In the face of adversity, and against all odds for a band who’d lost such a charismatic frontman, they went on to release eight seminal, era-defining albums.

To achieve this status once, is an incredible feat, but to achieve it twice, which they did with the success of Joy Division and New Order, is truly remarkable. New Order: Live in Glasgow is a live DVD of the Carling Academy, Glasgow concert in October 2006. Filmed over two nights it features tracks and footage highlighting the band’s extraordinary career, as well as including a number of Joy Division songs. Also included is a bonus disc featuring neverseen-before footage from the

The third series of the hit TV show Numb3rs is set to hit DVD on July 10, and thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment, you have the chance win one of five copies of season three. For those of you that aren’t up to speed on Numb3rs, it’s about FBI Agent Don Epps (Rob Morrow) and his mathematical genius brother Charlie (David Krumholtz). Charlie helps Don solve crimes for the FBI using technical mathematical techniques that no normal person can understand. The brothers often clash, mainly because Don’s instincts are different to what Charlie’s maths is saying, though Charlie is normally right.

The show equally focuses on the relationships between Don, Charlie and their father Alan (Judd Hirsch), and the brothers ability to fight crime, most of which happens in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. For your chance to win Numb3rs series three on DVD, answer the following question - who plays the part of Agent Don Epps?

- David Krumholtz - Rob Morrow - Judd Hirsch

Unshaven The Beards’ rather bristly musical mandate is simple; music about people with beards, for people with beards. With songs like No Beard, No Good and If Your Dad Doesn’t Have a Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums, you’ll find yourself joining the Beard Revolution! So adamant are the South Australian quartet that they’re even applying a “beard concession” to their forthcoming Greenroom show on Friday July 11 (“full beard only, no goatee or moustache discount”).

To celebrate all things hairy, we have a prize pack comprising a double pass to their show and a copy of their latest album. To win, tell us about a hairy situation you found yourself in. The Beards will be joined by the O’Hooligans and Handsome Young Strangers. $8/$5 beard concession.

Stars in their Eyes Despite sounding like a star warsesque video game, Star Assassin are actually a Melbourne based prog rock band that encompass all their emotion and energy into live shows. This four piece have been playing together since they were wee lads of 15, and eight years on, Star Assassin have earned huge international appeal (possibly something to do with their infectious rock tunes and an incredibly attractive bassist) as well as forming a solid fan base here in aus. The first single off Star Assassin’s forthcoming debut album is called ‘Hey Kid’, a catchy pop/rock tune sure to get your attention. We’ve got 5 copies of their debut CD single to give away, thanks to Vemma Records.

To pick up a copy, tell us the most

interesting way anyone has ever said “hey” to you.

Following The Herd Politically motivated Sydney band The Herd are coming to Canberra for one night only. After recently releasing their fourth album Summerland, which debuted at position seven on the ARIA charts, The Herd have launched their Summerland Tour; which kicks off on July 17 in Bunbury, before winding up in Adelaide on the 6th of September. The Herd’s enviable live reputation gets wilder, with an unpredictable eight-person dynamic and a backdrop of visuals decorating the stage. Accompanying them on the entire Summerland tour is the Last Kinection, a creative force of dope modern hip-hop and proud Aboriginal Culture. The Herd and Last Kinection will be in Canberra on Friday August 8 at the ANU Bar. This is your chance to win tickets to the show, simply by answering the question - What was the Herd song Scallops about?

- Ordering food at a take-away - Potatoes - Fish - John Howard

STRUTH BE TOLD I found life much more hilarious after I broke up with my one true love. Yeah. Hard to believe, huh? Correct. Such a paradox.

An oxymoron if you will. Yes, I just called you an oxymoron.

For I have no respect for you.

Honest. I’m not just being facetious or overly controversial for the sake of evoking a response. Sometimes I am just so crippled by unease about my own upbringing that I assume the rest of the world has had a better life than me and that you have probably just like, I dunno, paid off a car that you went halves in with your parents who both have full time jobs and planned family barbecues that were hilarious and had cool half-drunk conversations with you when you were 16 about their past and made you realise how decent these people were and playfully ruffled your hair when you were rabbiting on about some high school crush you had and caught you off guard with their graceful perspective. Dads with Steely Dan T-shirts and attractively greying facial hair. Mums with beyond-their-years luscious red locks and room filling laughs. Neat houses in prime inner city locations, but always an underlying sense of modesty and ‘oh this place, we do our best but it’s no paradise.’ And actually you’re living in fucking mansions with trust funds acquiring an extra figure a year which you can access in your gap year and buy $5,000 Epitone guitars and take advantage of the childhood of Kinks and Byrds albums that your dad brought you up on and fool about in expensive jeans and come up with some jangly open chords and wail on some nonsense to your painfully side swept fringed friends off their block on pricey gin and accidentally stumble on some easily marketable fortuitously trendy retro psych-rock that your swollen bank accounts can accommodate with a super producer who turns your handful of ideas into some radio friendly pop-smart EP that gets so ‘accidentally’ sent to the most influential indie-website that so effortlessly emblazons it with its gold seal of oh-so-fleeting approval, enough to get some equally ‘now’ kids with parents helping them pay off their Mac G5’s so they can get their underground film movement off the ground to your gigs where your ‘double garage’ rock is spurted out under a safety blanket of reverb and drums riding higher that your ironic ‘70s jeans, surmising to such a potentially awesome racket that the artfully aloof crowd for fear of being the only ones not reading between the lines of your genre-defying genius are forced to bang their fifty dollar hair waxed hands together and anoint their shrill lips with over fermented European beers that feel good against their hot little nail bitten hands ‘cos they find life “so unfair like, today I saw a homeless guy on the street and I would have given him money but I was halfway through a cheeseburger and like, y’know?!” Yeah, well, where am I during all this? I’m standing up the back next to the slimy A&R rep who left his wife of 20 years for his teenage daughter’s best friend, who despite an arse to declare war for also has a wicked sense of humour and isn’t laughter so healing when you’re a pseudo paedophile in Italian leather shoes. And he really thinks these kids have got something, and through his chauvinistic, ego smoking poker games knows the bloke who runs some big label can get these kids hooked into the right ‘mechanics.’ I’m standing next to this guy. I’m not smiling, not frowning, not drinking, breathing or blinking. I’m very disappointed and at my best guess it would take at least one lifetime of lending me money and introducing me to your good-looking friends so we can fool about on your cousin’s waterbed to prove to me that you’re worthy of being exempted from my A-1 100% counsellor proof cheer destroying scorn.

JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD www.bedroomphilosopher.com

NEWS Birds. Yep, Birds.

If there’s something you missed in the last few weeks it was Laura Jean and Grand Salvo at The Front Gallery last Saturday night. The shows at The Front and presented by Birds Love Fighting are quickly becoming an icon worth stepping out into the cold for. Keep your eyes on the gig guides for those magic nights. Speaking of missing out, there’s nothing you’re going to miss out on at Bar 32 Gangbusters with much more frequent mixed bills of punk, hardcore, indie, psych, electro, art school acts of all sorts. Coming up is the said art talent of Dead Kitten Parade and the novelty electro of Tomas Ford on Thursday July 17, all more a mere $5, easy. www.birdslovefighting.com .

Mixing it Up The 2008 Sony Inthemix50 is what celebrates Australia’s favourite DJs, club nights, events and producers. Since 2002, the Inthemix50 has established itself as the barometer for who’s hot and who’s not in the dance world. 2003 to 2005 saw Kid Kenobi take out consecutive titles, before Ajax took the top spots in 06 and 07. Last year saw a record number of votes cast in the poll and with the chance to win an awesome home studio and Bluetooth stereo prize for wireless music streaming between Walkman, stereo and Notebook, worth $3,500, there'll doubtlessly be a voting frenzy this year. Voting closes at midnight on Sunday August 3, with the results announced on August 20.

Go to www.inthemix.com.au/50 to vote for your favourites.

I See Red Over the past two years, Sydney Songstress Tracy Redhead has been busy crafting and refining the sounds of her soon-to-be-released debut album, Walking Home a Different way. The first single Where it fits is currently doing the rounds, receiving excellent exposure via the triple j website, where it's nabbed over 6000 downloads. Tracy’s s honest songs will inspire and move you, telling tales of friendship, happiness and struggle. Her smooth delivery and infectious personality give her a unique sound and captivating presence. She is currently on tour with Spazzys and will be appearing at The Transit Bar on Sunday 13 July.

Oh Susanna Originally from New York, now spending her time in Sydney and Brisbane, Susanna Carman’s last few years haven’t been what you would call easy or pain free. Her cousin was killed in the 9/11 Attacks, her husband died suddenly two years later, shortly after her stepson died because of a brain tumour and last year her father died. Susanna’s current album, Holy, mines that vein of experience with ten poignant, quirky unforgettable songs as she moves from grief and loss into bittersweet renewal and new love.

“Carman’s attractively relaxed voice, which touches on some real pain, lets you feel it without histrionics, then finds an optimistic route out each time” - Bernard Zuel, Sydney Morning Herald. Susanna will be at the Folkus Room on July 25 at 7.30pm, and will be at a song writing workshop at Daramalan College on July 26 from 10am.

Daft Hands Kiwi band Cut off Your Hands are heading out on their Expectations Tour later this month, performing tracks from there highly-anticipated debut album You and I. They have recently had a lot of success in Australia and in the land of our Eastern neighbours, following their self-titled Blue on Blue EPs. During 2008, Cut off Your Hands have been supported the Black Kids and Edwyn Collins, in between recording You and I in London with ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler. Cut off Your Hands will be playing at the Transit bar on Saturday July 26. Free entry.

Frosty...

The hidden benefit of operating in Perth, outside the glare of the spotlight that beams on a handful of global media hubs, has allowed Snowman to secretly develop their own sense of logic, their own aural landscape, their own code of conduct and rules of engagement.

Snowman began playing live in local shows in 2003 and have since gained a solid live reputation. They have played numerous times in their home town with touring bands along the likes of Wolfmother and Sons and Daughters. Their first album, self-titled Snowman was released in September 2006 to very positive reviews. Now comes their second, The Horse, The Rat and The Swan, released last month. Snowman will be appearing at the Transit Bar on July 19 with Baseball.

Gaggin' for it Mathew Kenneally is one of Australia’s brightest young comedians. His career kicked off in Melbourne in 2006 when he appeared in Comedy Zone at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. At the 2007 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Mat performed his solo show Mathew Kenneally for Parliament? winning the award for Most Outstanding Comedy at the Fringe.

In November he toured the show in Canberra, performing for an extended season of eight sold out shows. His comedy is satirical, topical and dark, all delivered with a smile. He focuses on the big issues concerning society, such as politics, terrorism and getting drunk and walking into inanimate objects.

He'll be at The Venue on July 16 at 8:30pm. Tix $10, bookings on 6296 3060. ...Doin' it for Themselves This month the dynamic girls of Oz rock will be getting out their guitars and ripping some riffs for us. On the July 13, Even, Aus power-pop royalty, will be joined by the femme-punkers The Spazzys, and the unique indie smoothness of Sydney girl Tracy Redhead, to perform at the Transit Bar. Even’s self-titled fifth album was recently been released internationally, while The Spazzys are touting LP number two Dumb is Forever and Tracy’s got her Walking Home A Different Way long-player, so there will be plenty of new music and old favourites. Entry is free.

The Circus is in Town Cirque Du Soleil have been astonishing, awing and sometimes frightening the world since forming in Quebec, Canada in 1984. Their shows are generally sold-out affairs and always leave a lasting impression on the viewers. After last year's Varekai, this year we'll be treated to Dralion, a “fusion of ancient Chinese circus tradition and the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil”. It all happens at the Grand Chapiteau (opposite the National Library) on the July 23. Bookings on 1300 130 300.

AND ANOTHER THING...

Great Train Journeys of the World: Part One. “If you hurry, the 12:37 goes via Leamington Spa. You can change there.”

Thanking the man at the information desk, I gathered my kitbag and made a run for it. I made the train with seconds to spare. Leaving Marylebone Station on an early Friday afternoon, the train to Birmingham was sparsely populated, leaving me the choice of seats in my compartment. Marvellous. I stowed my bag, pulled out the new copy of Q Magazine and cracked open the first of what I hoped would be many cans of Cider as I embarked for a weekend at the Phoenix Festival, where I was ostensibly meant to be working.

At Wembley Stadium, the first stop, a dreadlocked young man boarded the carriage and, spying my open can of cider, decided to sit next to me even though I was the only person in the whole bloody compartment.

“Mind if I join you?” he said, waving his own container of ‘electric lemonade’ cheerfully at me.

I couldn’t say ‘yes, I do mind,’ as he’d already sat down and so we travelled in silence for about 20 minutes until we’d both finished our respective cans. Sitting as I was by the window, I couldn’t now get to my bag and the precious supplies therein, which my companion clearly sensed.

“Here, try some of this, I make it myself.”

From inside his army greatcoat he produced a pewter hip flask which he eagerly proffered.

Looking dubiously at the container but nevertheless quite thirsty, I took it and had a slug. Fucking Christ almighty. Were I to have been a cartoon character, the top of my skull would have opened to reveal a small mushroom cloud whilst my eyes would be standing a foot out from their sockets accompanied by a klaxon noise. This was evil stuff.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” said the red-headed stranger, obviously pleased to have broken the ice with his generous gift. I couldn’t answer him, because the skin had been burned away from the inside of my throat. I grinned weakly, nodded, and tried to give the hip flask back to him.

“No. No no. You keep that one. Plenty more where that came from!” he burbled happily, standing up and rooting about in his own kitbag. After a couple of minutes he triumphantly brandished what appeared to be an industrial size jerry can full of the stuff, which he revealed to be “like moonshine, but stronger. I make a variation of it that’s like gin but a couple of my friends have passed out on that one after only a can full, so I’m sticking to this. I’m Jim, by the way. Are you going to the Phoenix?”

I nodded, still unable to speak. I looked out of the window, tears streaming down my cheeks as the ‘stronger than moonshine’ liquid did its stuff.

20 minutes later we’re passing through High Wycombe and things don’t seem so bad. After a couple more swigs you get used to the taste both during and after consumption, but I decide it would be polite now to offer him some of my Cider, for safety’s sake if nothing else.

“Don’t mind if I do,” says Jim, who appears to be holding up remarkably well at this point. We tuck into the Cider, having discovered a mutual love of crust punk titans The Levellers. Jim is excited to learn that I work for said combo, and spends the next 20 minutes quizzing me about their every move in the last year or so. Then it hit me.

Next issue: Banbury to Long Marston, changing at Leamington Spa, police willing.

SCOTT ADAMS

YOU PISSED ME OFF Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well, send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance. And for the love of God, keep it brief! ALL ENTRIES CONTAIN GENUINE SPELLINGS. To the four nazi skinheads who mugged my seventeen year old brother at the civic bus interchange, you really pissed me off. Why don’t you little pussy boys step out from behind the swastika and pick on someone your own size instead of having four misguided old fucks against one boy. If you don’t like that Australia is a multicultural place then you bitches are in the wrong country. I have an idea. Next time you want a bit of extra cash why don’t you let go of your bowling ball shaped, shiny heads and grow your hair out a bit and get a real job and earn your money instead of stealing it from a seventeen year old boy. We all know what happened to the last psychotic fuckwit that hid behind the swastika and I hope that you pathetic excuses for human beings suffer the same fate. You nazi skinhead cunts really pissed me off!!! to the scum thieves who brake into cars and steal what doesn`t belong to them you are scum of the earth,you are mold,a fungus,a defect that

was created in human society,a menice to society,aform of rabies that cannot go away,i hope that when you do brake into cars the owner comes out and catches you and brakes every bone in you narrow minded,immature and irrespectable body, or here`a great idea: you need to be tortured till you die of pain or loss of blood,start small with the toes and fingers... <snip> ...then with your skeleton,throw down a mine shaft so you will never be found. YOU KNOW wHO YOU ARE AND YOU FUCKING PISS ME AND ALOT OF OTHEr PEOPLE OFF....

To the unsightly woman who believed it was appropriate to yell at her young daughter and first aid staff at Coles after said daughter had fallen out of a trolley and cut open her head.

Perhaps you should have taken your daughter to see a medical professional, instead of continuing to yell at your daughter whilst continuing your shopping and thinking only of yourself. Some people should not be mothers.

YOU PISSED ME OFF!!!

FROM THE BOSSMAN Apparently, I managed to sleep on an angle no human person should possibly able to achieve last night, and I am now sporting the worst crick in my neck-slash-general-shoulderarea I’ve ever suffered. I empathise with Derek Zoolander; I can’t turn to the left. All day, anyone vying for my attention on said side has been inadvertently shunned.

Peter (to Allan’s left): Hey Allan! (he says, eager to show off his new haircut) Allan: “Huh?” <Tries to turn slowly> “Ahhhhhhh!”

Peter: “Alright, fine! It’s too short! <whispers> Gitface.”

I can hear that whisper, Peter, our office is only two square metres in size after all. I’m just too bashful to tell you so, like all quivering journalist, I use the medium of print to vent my rage.

Anyway, rejoice Canberra, because the line-ups for our festivals are starting to creep in. Stonefest, Trackside, Foreshore… they’re all queuing up for your love. So if you’re cold now, here’s a fact to warm you through the winter: there’s a month-long period at year’s end that will see over 70 world class acts gracing ACT stages. O yes. It’s enough to make one forget the searing pain one’s in.

For now, you’re buggered though.

ALLAN “WINTER WONDERLAND” SKO

thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

bma :: Issue305 www.bmamag.com "bma:we belong to everyone (particularly at tax time)" Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd | ABN 76 097 301 730

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

Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko: T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Peter Krbavac: T: (02) 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Fahim Shahnoor : T: (02) 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Super Sub Editor Julia Winterflood Graphic Design Jessica Condi Editorial Assistant Shailla Van Raad Film Editor Mark Russell Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo/Nick Brightman/John Hatfield Issue 306 Out July 24 Editorial Deadline July 11 Advertising Deadline July 17

bma magazine

TIDBITS WHO ARC CINEMA WHAT A CELEBRATION OF CELLULOID WHERE NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVE WHEN JULY ONWARDS

Cinophiles rejoice! Arc’s calendar for July and August has been released, featuring a line-up of films which continue the NFSA’s commitment to screening a diverse range of quality titles from Australia and the world. Highlights include new and restored prints of Albert Lamoisse’s Children’s classics The Red Balloon and White Mane, Kurosawa’s Yojimbo, George Lucas’ debut feature THX1138 and Wim Wender’s The American Friend. There will also be Canberra premieres of Brian de Palma’s new film on the Iraq War, Redacted, and Mexican director Carlos Reygadas’ Cannes and Sydney Film Festival award-winner Silent Night (Stellet Licht). Other highlights include the best in new Indigenous Australian filmmaking with the return of the Message Stick’s Touring Film Festival; special screenings as part of the Vivid National Festival of Photography; and, as part of the launch of the 2008 L’Oréal Paris AFI Awards Canberra screenings, the Canberra premiere screening of Not Quite Hollywood – a fresh look at “Ozploitation” cinema of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Pick up a copy of the calendar today or check out Arc’s website at www.nfsa.gov.au/arc to browse online or download as a pdf!

WHO GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU & SHELLIE MORRIS WHAT INDIGENOUS FOLK ARTISTS WHERE JULY 13 & 14

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu is an interesting character; he speaks little English, lives on Elcho Island, off the coast of Arnhem Land, and he has been blind since birth. He’s been touted as having the potential to be to indigenous music what painters such as Rover Thomas were to indigenous art. Geoffrey’s new album, Gurrumul, has been described as the most beautiful recording ever made by an Aboriginal musician, his voice holding an emotional power that is reminiscent of the great Aaron Neville. Although he grew up listening to the likes of Elvis and Neil Diamond, Geoffrey sings in his native Yolngu, with only two of his songs having English lyrics. “I feel uncomfortable with English,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. “The meanings of the words in Yolngu and English are different because we have different things in our life.” Geoffrey’s rarely performs, and thus any chance to see him should not be missed. He will be performing with Shellie Morris - ‘the Janis Joplin of Jingili” - at the National Gallery on Sunday July 13 and Monday July 14.

Tickets $40 for members, $45 concession. Bookings are essential. DANIEL LIEBECK

WHO AUSTRALIA'S ASPIRING FILMMAKERS WHAT ST KILDA FILM FEST. TOUR WHERE DENDY CINEMAS WHEN TUE JULY 22

If you missed out on the St Kilda’s smorgasbord of visual feasting in May, you’re in luck.

That’s right; it’s time for their Film Festivals national tour! After the success of the festival, and celebrating 25 years of short film making, they have been touring around the country showing us their favourite flicks. And this year, for our viewing pleasure, they will be showing the highlights of the 2008 festival at Dendy in the Canberra Centre. The awardwinning short films range from comedy to drama to documentary, with the highlights including Beggar’s Belief, Aunty Betelnut, My Country and Len’s Love Story. It’s sure to be a good night, celebrating the genius, dramatic, comical and profound of Australia’s worthiest film makers, so if you’re an arty type, a film buff, or simply like a good flick, go take a gander at the talent on show. The films will be shown in two sessions, one hour each, the first beginning at 6.30pm, the second at 8pm. This is for one night only, so get in quick to buy your tickets or you’ll miss out! VIVIAN LESCHEN

WHO D'OPUS WHAT DURHAM CASTLE ARMS RESIDENCY WHERE THE DURHAM, KINGSTON WHEN FROM JULY 17

Insatiable cad that he is, local wax spinner D’Opus is adding the Durham Castle Arms in Kingston to his ever-growing list of parties to cold-rock. Just last weekend he, along with partner in crime Roshambo, launched the duo’s debut LP The Switch to a buzzing ANU crowd. The album’s been picking up praise left, right and centre, and with triple j flogging the living balls out of their lead-off single Million Dollar Bill - currently available for download from the JJJ website - the man’s schedule will be manic to say the least.

Regarded as one of the Capital’s finest selectaz, you’ll be able to enjoy the man’s patented blend of funk, hip-hop and soul in the comfort of the Durham over the next couple o’ months. For more info on other performers playing the Arms, flip back to page seven, whydontcha. Go on, you know you wanna....

WHO SPL WHAT DRUM & BASS FELON WHERE MERCURY BAR WHEN FR JULY 11

Within just a few years, Sam Pool - aka SPL - has become a widespread name in the world of forward-thinking drum and bass. With a musical background built upon years of work in the studio and behind the decks, SPL has realised his vision of futuristic sounds and delivered it to the world in the form of groundbreaking production and captivating DJ sets.

In 2007, SPL went full-throttle with his hugely successful record label Lost Soul Recordings, delivering a slew of releases from today’s most talented DNB producers. To make 2008 even stronger, SPL is putting the finishing touches on his debut LP as well as launching Hollow Point Recordings with Roommate for a heavy new take on dubstep. While running two record labels, consistently touring the globe, and producing various styles of electronic music, SPL continues to deliver cutting edge beats to countless ears. SPL is at the Mercury bar with local loudness Dred Buick Chills, Centaspyke, Kilojulz, Miss Universe, Fourthstate and Twisted System on Friday July 11. $15 at the door.

WHO TAO DRUMMERS WHAT WADAIKO TROUPE WHERE CANBERRA THEATRE WHEN TUE JULY 22

Tao: this single Chinese character stands for "road" or "way", perhaps a sign for the amount of touring demand and worldwide success and popularity for this wadaiko - traditional Japanese drumming, but you knew that - troupe. Founded in 1993, the 18 member group has been delivering performances worldwide since 2004. Boasting a different themed show each year, Tao embarked on extensive tours to Europe and the USA in 2005 and first found Australia in 2006. Now they’re back, with a 24 date tour everywhere (not just Melbourne and Sydney!) all over the country. These performers combine wadaiko drums with elaborate storylines, special effects and choreography to create an experience the likes of which haven’t been seen in Canberra since… well, since they were last here.

Tao are incredibly unique drumming troupe who have managed to turn this traditional entertainment into a modern, innovative performance that has awed people everywhere, making them certainly one of the leading groups in the field. Check them out at Canberra Theatre on the 22nd of July.

7 Akuna St

Canberra City

ALL SHOWS FREE ENTRY

bma magazine PH/FAX 6162 0899 / transitbar@gmail.com | www.myspace.com/transitbar

11

Allan Sko: So have you had the phone glued to your ear all evening?

Bill Bailey: Well, not really glued, no, but certainly pressed in a very friendly sort of way.

AS: That’s good. As long as it’s not too much of a burden, or indeed leaves any residue after you finish.

BB: Ah yes, well I usually clean it off afterwards and then I hold it slightly away from my ear…

AS: Yes, well, you’d have to raise your voice up I imagine, so you’d want to be careful about scratching your throat up.

BB: Yes, yes, well it’s a nightmare, isn’t it really, the whole phone process. There’s a lot to do really, there’s so many options.

AS: It’s a frightening modern world we live in, there’s no doubt.

BB: Yes, it’s terrifying… So many choices! I mean there’s so many cheeses, for one thing. Where do you start? The luxury cheese, the nice cheese, the ordinary cheese or valley cheese… The differences are bewildering! All the different kinds of cheddar cheese you can get…

AS: Let’s not even get started on that, that’d take up huge amounts of time.

BB: Farmhouse, mature… extra mature! And all these handy little guides that tell you how strong the cheese is. I mean, I just I don’t know, I… I get mesmerized, I get hypnotized. I’m hypnotized by the choice. I daren’t look!

AS: It’s startling isn’t it (laughs).

BB: And then you need to find someone to get the cheese for you. That’s the ultimate luxury…

AS: Let’s not even get started on that. I know with many of your shows, you say you have trouble starting the shows. I’m not sure if it transgresses onto interviews as well, does it?

BB: Well, yes, I’ve stopped dead, because I’m scared of answering the question now. And I fear that may lead me onto more conversation about cheese.

AS: (laughing) Well, you never know when it’s going to leap up on you.

BB: It might do, it might just creep up on me. Okay, okay, let’s try this together, and let’s forget this whole cheese deal and start now, start again.

AS: Yes, let’s give it a crack, eh?

BB: Hello!

AS: Hello!

BB: How are you?

AS: I’m very well, Mr Bailey, how’s yourself?

BB: I’m very well, thank you! Very good to hear from you.

AS: Ah, marvellous, marvellous…

BB: Canberra you say? It’s Australia’s home of cheese…. Ahh! How did that happen?!

AS: I stopped my timer there and I think we got about 15 seconds. That’s got to be some kind of record.

BB: Oh, right, okay.

AS: I ‘spose I can only blame myself for sending through ten questions based on cheese, so you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself.

BB: Yes, well, that’s really what let me down that cheese road…

AS: Haha, brie alley…

BB: That’s it, down the old cheddar gorge…

AS: You shouldn’t blame yourself. Damn journos, always tripping you up with some kind of tasty slice.

BB: Oh God yeah… I’ve forgotten where I am now.

AS: Ah yeah, I generally have that… It’s a backlash of being a journalist, you generally don’t know where you are most of the time.

BB: You don’t who you are or what you are.

AS: Well have all your other interviews been permeated with cheese, or did you sort of…

BB: I managed to keep it at a minimum ‘til now. Now it’s all gone… Well, cheese crazy.

AS: Evidently. Is this a nice way of avoiding having to talk endlessly about yourself, because God only knows you would have had an absolute parade of interviews in your time.

BB: Oh yeah, well, over the years, I’ve talked at length about sheds, cheese, anything really, other than uh…

AS: Peregrine falcons?

BB: Yes, well, peregrine… now you’re talking! Peregrine fallcons… falcons or fallcons?

AS: Well, I usually go for falcon, but fallcon sounds like it probably should be said if one is training them.

But people might confuse that with fulcrum and then you’re in some kind of mechanical nightmare…

BB: Yeah, I mean why would you train a fulcrum? I mean, how could you train a fulcrum?

AS: Well, I hear they’re very useful physically, so who knows?

BB: No, you’re right actually, they are very handy… particularly if you need to balance something… or looking at some crucial point between two other points. Whereas a fallcon, a fallcon would just be a liability in that situation.

AS: Well, you can’t really balance anything on that, for example a tray of cheese. It’s a nightmare.

BB: Yeah, but get two dead voles, then bob’s your uncle.

AS: Well, that’s how the fulcrum was first camouflaged, really, was two dead moles.

BB: Yes, exactly. ‘Ahh, my lord, I bringeth forth the voles!’ ‘But how will we balance such fine creatures?’ ‘Why my liege, I have here a new device I have been developing.’ ‘Well pray let us see it!’ ‘I’m calling it the falcon.’ ‘Why, no one would believe you! I suggest calling it a fulcrum.’ And thus the legend was born.

AS: And that’s what I love about your shows, and indeed talking to you in person. It’s a history lesson come to life.

BB: It is, yeah. It’s all physically and mentally totally accurate.

AS: And God bless it for it. Good stuff.

BB: I should really answer a question now, shouldn’t I? For the full interview transcript, jump on to www.bmamag.com . Bill Bailey brings his show Tinselworm to the Royal Theatre on Saturday September 13. Tickets are available through Ticketek on 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au .

bma magazine 13

ALL AGES SHINE ON, YOU CRAZY DIAMOND(s) It’s been drawn to my attention that we as the people of Canberra have truly drawn the short straw.

After driving to the coast on Wednesday, I hopped out of the car to find the weather at the South Coast was in fact amazing.

I immediately stripped out of the 2000 layers clothing I generally wear on the streets of Canberra around this time of the year into little more than a singlet, thongs and shorts in order to compensate for the sun’s burning rays of delicious heat. Alas, to no avail. It was just too hot, but not in a gross way, just in a ‘I was not ready for this’ kind of way. My mind went a-walking… Why is the weather in Canberra so incredibly mediocre? Well I’m still not sure, I know Wikipedia could tell me but I’m too cold to type on this keyboard in case my fingers slowly freeze and fuse to the keyboard.

Anyway, in short: Coast = good weather Here = Not so great.

KICK IT. They’re back! That’s-a-right boys and girls, Thursday July 10 will bring us another ripping show from The Getaway Plan all the way from Melbourne. The guys have made their way straight to the top after playing show after show and making quite a name for themselves. For those of you that missed out on the Kisschasy, The Getaway Plan show a few months back now is your chance to see what all the fuss is about.

The show will be held over at The Venue in Erindale and will just one of their many shows as part of their Where the City Meets the Sea tour.

These guys don’t seem to stop, literally taking Australia buy storm over the past few years. Get your hands on a ticket though your closest Moshtix distributor before they sell out. Word.

So they say the ‘scene’ is dead. Well fear not, help is on its way. For those of you who haven’t heard of Pleased to Jive You, your missing out. These young lads had proven that they have what it takes. Vast potential, which is equaled by their originality, has many wondering what the future holds for the funk/rock/experimental outfit from the South.

The reasoning behind my preaching lies within the originality of the band. It’s rare to find a band doing there own, doing it well and enjoying themselves. If you’re keen to check these guys out then head on down to Woden Youth Centre on July 11 when the boys play Digbyfest along side Slovac and Crab Shrapnel. $5 entry will get you through those glowing youth centre doors at around 6pm. Be there.

For those of you that have noticed more than a bit of quite on the old show front. Don’t worry, I have some exciting shows lined up for you to all get frantic about. These include; So Long Safety releasing their first EP. This EP is sure to blow the young fragile minds of Canberra’s youth; a few shows from electronic big boys Paqman who now grace the beautiful people of Melbourne with their music; and of course, Fistful Of Nothing’s album launch for their album People Of The 5th Dimension, which has been underway for around a year. Who knows peeps, perhaps all this will happen at once. All I ask is that you keep an eye out for these shows, as they will undoubtedly be some of the biggest this year.

Out. JOSH MOLONY joshmolony@hotmail.com

LOCALITY Well hellloooo Possums!

How are you?

I’ve missed you.

I notice that dear old Arthur has done a bangup job since I left to: (select one of the following) a) Pursue my interpretive dance career (I make an awesome tree). b) Teach Micronesian to trained Llamas (harder than it looks). c) Do the Australasian karaoke circuit (Girls just wanna have fu-un.).

toffee apples in the ACT. From the man who brought you such hits as Newspaper Mama, and Mr Clicketty Cane is coming to Queanbeyan (ew) for a matinee, and then to the ANU Bar, BOTH on July 20 for live kickin’ shows with the Juicy Juicy Green Band.

Fun times ahead! Get more info from www.myspace.com/ petercombe .

Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens have been making tracks about the place, particularly making a splash (do you see what I did there?) in Victoria and New South Wales. They’re returning home to the mothership on July 25, complete with new guitarist and

sparkling new sounds yet to be unleashed upon the Canberra public. Check them out at The Greenroom from 8pm with special guests Margaret Helen King. In the words of the late Big Kev, “they’re excited!”

And last but not least, local heavyweights of a few years back Me the Conqueror (pictured) are making a return of sorts on Saturday July 19 at The Greenroom. Y’see, they recorded an EP a couple of years ago but then went their separate ways.

The good news is the EP has been finished and will be finally unleashed upon the general public. So grab a sneak preview

of Sleeping Alone at their CD listening party. 8pm.

I’m thrilled to be embedded back in the bi-monthly treasure trove (ooh, kinky) that is BMA Magazine. Write to me, lover.

CAZ “NO MONTY PYTHON REFERENCE HERE” DENNES cazzed@hotmail.com

Take your pick.

Canberra’s very own Hooligans, The O’Hooligans, are gigging themselves silly at The Greenroom on July 11 with The Beards and Handsome Young Strangers - and here is a blurb I found whilst driving down the information superhighway:. “The Beards arrive in Canberra fresh from South Australia’s Big Day Out and on their way to perform at the opening ceremony of the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Alaska. The show at The Greenroom also marks the triumphant return for O’Hooligans and Handsome Young Strangers first appearance in the territory.” So anyway, for more info on the O’Hooligans, check out www.ohooligans. com.au, and for more info (no joke) on the 2009 World Bears and Moustache Championships in Alaska, check out www. worldbeardchampionships.com .

So you may have noticed some relatively freaaaaaky looking posters around the place, advertising Moh Van Wah, Using Three Words and The Chuffs. They’ll be playing at The Greenroom on July 18, it’ll be kicking off from 8pm, and you’ll be able to check out some new bits and pieces from all the bands. Make sure you check out Moh Van Wah’s myspace, they’ve got a few tracks up there that are worth listening to. www.myspace. com/mohvanwah .

What’s black? And what’s white?

And red all oooover… You could not possibly be more excited than I am to see that the one, the only, Peter Combe is heading on back to lick his bma magazine 15

DANCE: THE DROP You gorgeous love-mongers. Look at you.

You’re like living emoticons.

Yes, it’s that time of year already. inthemix Top 50 votin’ time. Yes, already.

Last year, the ACT shamelessly revealed its Mikah Freeman love affair, voting the Freeman-sporting Aston Shuffle #2 and Mikah himself at #1. Rounding out the five were Milkbar Nick #3, X-Dream #4 and Karton #5. The national poll saw Ajax take the top spot, Dirty South in second, Stafford Brothers third, TyDi fourth and John Course fifth. Who will spin their way into your hearts this year? Voting is open now (or “now open”; delete as according to literary pomposity), and you can start racking up the points for yer favs by jumping onto www.inthemix.com.au/50 .

Be advised that Random Soul will no longer be playing at Minque on Sunday July 13. Instead, party starter DJ Taras will pop past from Sydney to take their place. You'll still be able to enjoy the sweet sounds of Ashley Feruade and Rexy DJs as well, so chin up and get involved.

Minque are really looking to fill out their calendar over the next few months thanks to some deft new management, so keep an eye out for the smooth jazz of the James Lafevre Quintet from 2pm in the afternoon of Saturday July 19 as part of the regular Jazz Sessions, and flicking forward to Friday August 15, you'll have DJ D to enjoy. More details on that party to follow in a future issue.

That filthy love nugget Milkbar Nick is at it again, championing the newly installed FutureLoveAffair parties at Academy. But why editorialise, when I can just quote from Nick himself?

“It’s an exclusive intimate party in Academy’s Candy Bar,” sayeth the Nick. “Inspired by the infamous loft disco parties from NYC in the ‘70s, DJs Milkbar Nick, Rubicon and guests play disco, house, tech and sprinklings of prog from 11pm every Saturday. Entry is strictly guest list only, email milkbarnick@academyclub.com.au to be on it.”

Don’t be left out in the cold. Jump on the ‘puter and get guestlistin’.

In extremely pleasing news, C-tek Collective are back on the promotional radar with the Hijinx party at Akuna Bar (next to Ticketek, Civic) on Saturday August 2. It promises to be a night of techno, house and minimal electronics spun by the likes of talented tykes Eukali, Walski, Steve Sobevski, Anjay and Dante. According to their Facebook blurb, you can expect music by Joris Voorn, Robert Babicz, Richie Hawtin, Technasia, Magda, Marc Houle, Bookashade, The Hacker, Klko, Stephan Bodzin, Oliver Hunterman, Kaliber, Alexi Delano, Cari Lekebusch, Adam Beyer, Oxia, Jasper Dahlback, Minilogue, Extrawelt, Sven Vath, Steve Bug, John Tejada, Misstress Barbara, Dousk, James Holden, Carl Craig, Slam, Wighnomy Brothers, Marco Corola and much more. Anyone who knows ten or more of those names wins a lollipop. It’s only five clams entry too. Gravy. And as if that wasn’t enough you can download a mix from C-tek luvvie Chris “Walski” Wallis by heading to http://www.complexual. com/musicdir/HiJiNXPromo_ChrisWallis.mp3. I recommend its freeness.

Speaking of jaunty free downloads, Aston Shuffle have dredged up some love for you. “We have been getting lots of lovely messages from you out there in internet land about where to get FCKVRN,” international hair model Mikah Freeman said this week. “It’s been super mega ultra limited and exclusive up till now, but FINALLY here it is for you all to download… FREE!! http://www.zshare.net/audio/14555760dd30c9a3/.”

THE ASTON SHUFFLE

So get on over and enjoy the free music love. Isn’t living in the oh-eight great? Well, not if you want to make music AND make money, of course.

USA-ian SPL will be bringin’ the noise drum ‘n’ bass style to Mercury Bar on Friday July 11. With a typically tough style reminiscent of compatriot Hive, the man will be mixing up a primordial soup of tunes from his Lost Soul Recordings label, his forthcoming debut LP, as well as his upcoming Hollow Point Recordings label with Roommate, exhibiting a heavy slant on dubstep. A thumping good time awaits. The night has also got Chils (they're multiplying), Dredd, Buick, Miss Universe, Kilojulz, Fourthstate, Centaspike and Twisted System in support. $15 entry.

SPL

Monkey Bar on Akuna Street in Civic has become a glorious “ugly duckling” success story this year. Born from the scourge that was Mombasa, Monkey Bar has swanned into the Canberra limelight and gone from strength to strength, doing extremely well to carve a reputation with its slick new interior and solid house/breaks music policy in an otherwise harsh Canberra winter climate. The good times continue with house aficionado Mark Dynamix on Saturday July 12, who will be joined by DJs Kiz, Tim Galvin and Trent Richardson. Doors 9pm, $10 before 10pm, $15 after.

A fortnight later on Saturday July 26, Matt Nugent, one of the men behind the latest One Love mix series alongside Grant Smillie and Crookers, will grace the Monkey Bar. Proving the theory that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, supports are by DJ Kiz, Tim Galvin and Trent Richardson, with doors 9pm, $10 before 10pm, $15 after. 'til next time, keep your noses clean (ahem) and I’ll see you in the gutter.

ALLAN “OOO AHH, JUST A LITTLE BIT” SKO

HARDLY FLAWED Darcy Wigram These guys don’t seem to lie. They call their promotions For The People and their night My Favourite Things. Obvious, but why beat around the bush with your intentions?

DAZED & FLAWLEZZ played a gig out in Belconnen earlier this year that absolutely destroyed everyone in attendance. The feedback from many of the more cynical heads led me to become intrigued, and I happened to catch them later and feel the rapture - dynamic, exciting, familiar and bassy, their sentiment was positive and the crowd appreciated it as such. But where did they come from?

“Well, it all started about four years back when we met up doing an audio engineering course,” Flawlezz chimes in. “I saw some guy with his hat to the side, so we got chatting ‘cause we were the only two obviously hip-hop guys there. We didn’t know each other, but on the first day found we had some common ground, and found out we had the same goals, same passions and same loves. We were in a new city, and over time began to kind of lean on each other for a lot of stuff as we settled in.” Dazed continues: “[We’re] pretty much two dudes that really like their hip-hop. What makes us different is that, opposed to your general Aussie hip-hop crews that grew up together and have known each other their whole life, these are two guys from completely different backgrounds that bonded over hip-hop. And in that there are different aspects - Flawlezz loves the West Coast kind of sound, where I’m more into underground beats, so we have to meet somewhere in the middle of that, and that’s what makes us who we are.”

To date, there is nothing of theirs to buy in stores, so do they have any intentions of releasing material, or are they just going to stick with the live shows for the next while to make their mark?

"We got tired of going to hip-hop parties and seeing the same thing - lots of wall flowers, staunch dudes being tough, and we just wanted to put on a party where people have fun, there’s no attitude, lots of good tunes and everyone having a nice time... It’s a night for the people" Flawlezz reckons that “the live shows don’t hurt in getting people into it, and I think our live show is our strongest weapon. We have plans to release stuff, but we are battlers - and by battlers, we are living day to day, we weren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouths, so that will come in time."

Dazed agrees: “There is also about an album-and-a-half of Dazed & Flawlezz stuff, about an album of solo tracks each. We just need some money or someone to sign us or something.” Noting that distance between the members makes things tough - with Flawlezz living in Canberra, their DJ Mad Cow in Sydney, and Dazed in Melbourne - they explain that “the internet has made it heaps easier. On that note, we have a mixtape that’s almost all done, all we need is a little more studio time and it will be finished.”

And they are bringing My Favourite Things to Canberra, but this is the third instalment, and one that looks surprising to the uninitiated.

“There are a lot of people from down here who had been to the first two, so I didn’t want to rip them off by pretending the first two didn’t happen, even if they were interstate,” Flawlezz says with authority.

Dazed continues: “We got tired of going to hip-hop parties and seeing the same thing - lots of wall flowers, staunch dudes being tough, and we just wanted to put on a party where people have fun, there’s no attitude, lots of good tunes and everyone having a nice time... So we put on the first two in Sydney, and they were great! It’s been about a year and we thought we should have a reunion of sorts.”“It’s a night for the people,” Flawlezz concludes. “A good old-fashioned night where we can get down and have a say in what music is played.”

MFT3 features Dazed & Flawlezz with DJ Mad Cow alongside Sydney’s MC Undertow, Rhymeministers, B-Ware, Halfcast and DJs Alistair and Miss Universe on Saturday July 12 at Mercury Bar. There'll be giveaways, open mic, MPC jam, fresh kicks comp, and all for a thrifty $5 entry.

"We’re both kind of rowdy guys, we’ve got a lot of energy and love to put as much of that energy into our live set as possible. We try to get the crowd to have fun"

THA REALNESS Lots of new music out at the moment, and first up is Broken Tooth’s newest signing Gargoyle with his new album Saintsinner. Produced by Gargoyle himself with guest beats from Tornts and French beatmaker I.N.C.H, the album stays true to the grimy sound

Broken Tooth is renowned for.

Gargoyle’s style is captivating and highly original, exploring the dark side of Australian life, spinning tales of decrepit characters and casting his eye, often with scathing observation, at the world around him. Saintsinner is out now through Shogun.

HERE COMES THE BREEZE GARGOYLE

Hot off their killer appearances on the Red Tape Renegades album last year, Brisbane’s Pure Product have released their debut fulllength album. The Eviction Notice is predominantly produced by The Optimen’s Sammsonite and Dats and is a continuation of the brilliant sounds found on The Optimen’s Boomtown record of a few years ago.

Pure Product give you that straight-up, no-nonsense lyrical hip-hop, and The Eviction Notice runs the gamut from topical to personal to conceptual, succeeding on all counts. Rich in wordplay and honest in delivery, The Eviction Notice is well worth your time. It’s also out now through Shogun.

Pioneer of British hip-hop Chester P (Task Force) has caught my ears yet again, this time with his debut solo album From The Ashes which is now out through Rawdog. The record is aptly titled, as the first version of the album was lost in a house fire of album producer Louis Slipperz.

Instead of being defeated by the tragedy, Chester saw the turn of events as a challenge and created an even better record than he had initially.

Filled with both humor and melancholy, From The Ashes is an extremely accomplished record, conceptually intelligent and always pushing forward with new sonics and ideas. Chester’s storytelling is again impeccable and the album is banging from start to finish. You need it now.

Giant Panda’s debut album Fly School Reunion was one of my faves a few years ago when it was released, knocking my speakers to bit with its true school and funk aesthetics.

Like the recent Time Machine release, Giant Panda have developed their record for the now, casting a nod to their original sound while pushing it towards the future. Their new album Electric Laser, while still banging and completely head-nodding, has juicy electro samples embedded in the tunes and the album as a whole was recorded on analog tape, which makes for an extremely fresh sound. Electric Laser is immediate, original and essential.

GIANT PANDA

To tour news now, and Canberra favorites The Herd will be back in town on Friday August 8 at the ANU to promote their brand new album Summerland. With The Last Kinnection and new Elephant Traks signing Horrorshow in tow, I can’t wait.

The State of the Art boys are back with a furious vengeance with a triple-header album launch at the ANU on Friday July 25. Drapht, Mind Over Matter and 360 will all be launching their brand new albums in what will be a riotous night of quality hip-hop. Local professionals Alikeminds, House Of Reps and Wax Lyrical will all be in support and if that’s not already reason enough to be there, then I really think there is little hope left for you!

To hear great music from all the above and more, tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM, Tuesday nights from 9.30pm.

ROSHAMBO

Stevie Easton As the Australian hip-hop scene continues to grow, so do the opportunities for talented young MCs and DJs to get some recognition.

One such pair of young rappers slouching along confidently into a music career just a couple of years after finishing year 12 are MCs Willow and Smiles Again, known together as MIND OVER MATTER. I spoke to Willow about their rapid success, their brand new album and the upcoming tour they are soon to embark upon.

While you may not have heard their debut recording, an underground mixtape available for download called For Our Hip-Hoppers, plenty of the right people in the industry have and they’re saying good things about it. The boys recorded it right after they finished school, after a chance meeting with fellow Sydneysider MC Fame (Overproof ) in 2006. “It was really good because these were the first real songs we were making; we had no idea of what we were doing really, so it was good for him (Fame) to help us out in that way.”

Next, mixtape in hand, the boys went around to shows, handing it out to punters and anyone else who would listen, until they ran into Nurcha Records head honcho Shrek. “We gave a whole bunch to him, to put some out or just have a listen. He called us up the next day and was just amazed; he just loved it and wanted us on board from then.”

Almost a fairytale, but it’s not just good luck that’s got Mind Over Matter to the prime position they now find themselves in. It’s clear from my conversation with Willow that he’s got the dedication, drive and work ethic to go far with whatever he chooses. “We really believe that if you put your mind to anything you can achieve it, and we’re not going to stop until it happens.”

The first such achievement is the album Keepin’ it Breezy, a collection of all new tracks they recorded with the help of the whole Nurcha Records crew. It includes the single Proud, which features both a primary school choir and a beat from international producer Stylez Fuego, who’s apparently qualified to drop names like Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg and Kelis. That’s right, Mind Over Matter are only two degrees of separation from the song Milkshake. Willow still sounds blown away by the man when he tells me about the day spent recording the track at 301 Studios, for which the only adjective he can find is “Crazy.”

Having been at it for just two years, the only plan now for Smiles and Willow is to keep working hard on their music. Amazingly, they are working on their next album already, before they’ve even launched their debut, and they’re ready to rock shows around the country starting with their official album launch in Sydney on June 26.

When they make it Canberra, expect to see the high-energy show that Mind Over Matter already have a reputation for. “We’re both kind of rowdy guys, we’ve got a lot of energy and love to put as much of that energy into our live set as possible. We try to get the crowd to have fun.”

Less than three years out of school and with their debut in the shops and a new one on the way, the future looks bright for Mind Over Matter.

Keepin’ It Breezy is available now from Nurcha Records. Mind Over Matter play at the ANU Bar on Friday July 25 for a three-way album launch with Drapht and 360, plus locals Alikeminds, House Of Reps and Wax Lyrical.

Presented by State of the Art.

“Our philosophy has a few different prongs.

Probably the most obvious one is to be wary of the mainstream media… one of the great things about alternative culture is that it lets people know they are not alone”

KISS OFF Dan Bigna The creative act becomes a democratic process when it reflects a sharing of knowledge between the artist and audience. In this sense, intense electro outfit SNOG reacts against the homogeneity of capitalist culture through a creative expression that aims to enhance the listener's awareness of the world. Formed by David Thrussell in the late 1980s, Snog has ruggedly pursued a singular agenda within the Australian independent music scene and song titles such as Corporate Slave, an early single from 1992 that I remember seeing on Rage a lot, bears this out. The band has also successfully contributed to the tradition of experimental electronic music in Australia that has its origins in the late 1970s with electro pioneers like SPK, Severed Heads and Ollie Olsen.

Reflecting on the detail of Snog compositions, Thrussell says, “We make dark, kind of playful electronically based music that is centred around songs. When we began, we identified as a small indie band, and we were entirely comfortable with that. I guess we would describe what we did then as dark electronic music with attitude. We were somewhat aware that there existed a tradition of this kind of music in Australia which has largely been forgotten, but we were definitely aware of it with bands like SPK and (Ollie Olsen’s) No. We knew all that music and definitely liked it.”

As the band began to take shape it also pursued a specific political view point, suggested by the title of the 1993 debut album, Lies, Inc. “Our philosophy has a few different prongs,” Thrussell says. “Probably the most obvious one is to be wary of the mainstream media and other external influences. I try to be honest and down to earth about these things, and one of the great things about alternative culture is that it lets people know they are not alone.” Thrussell’s sharp perspective is reflected in the band’s music, which has in part been influenced by a hard-edged form of electronic music whose origins can be found in the dark, intense experiments of post-punk groups like Throbbing Gristle in the late 1970s.

Thrussell points out that although he is not a big fan of labels being attached to Snog’s fire-brand electronica, there are certain aspects of industrial music that have influenced his ethos. “At the root I found this kind of music more honest than straightforward pop music. Yes, it’s dark, electronic and foreboding but it can sometimes be quite cheeky.” These latter aspects can be found on Snog’s 2007 album The Last Days of Rome and follow-up EP City, whose title track conjures a brooding atmosphere that would not sound out of place on one of Barry Adamson’s imaginary soundtrack albums. “That song follows a classic theme in music that you could say goes back to the industrial revolution,” Thrussell says. “Cities can be prosperous, exotic places, but they can also be places to beware of. It’s quite a sentimental quasi-romantic song, and it’s also quite ironic that the demise of the protagonist in the song is connected to inanimate objects such as a bunch of buildings. As for the music, we started off with a minimal and spacious feel and we felt that it worked well.”

Apart from the recorded material which runs to eight albums, Snog in live performance should be worth checking out given Thrussell’s colourful description of the band onstage as akin to “a very shaggy, unkempt Kraftwerk concert. It’s pretty electronically based. There are some guitars in there, a couple of keyboards and then there’s me hurling myself around. Think maybe of a very shaggy Kraftwerk in a bad mood.”

Snog make their live debut in Canberra on Saturday July 19 at the Holy Grail Civic, alongside Sobriquet (live), the Vamp DJs (Robot and Evil Chris) and the Chrome DJs (MetaVirus, Stealth.Elf, Salem).

METALISE Carcass. Yes, metalheads’ bandwidth has been eviscerated, much like a collage of post-mortem photos the English grind/ death pioneers championed back in the day, with the news that Australia is in for a five shows in five days assault. Sunday October 12 in Sydney at the Metro Theatre and October 13 at Billboard in Melbourne are the two closest shows for Canberra keensters. The touring line-up is Bill Steer, Jeff Walker, Mike Ammott and Daniel Erlandsson, taking Ken Owen’s drum spot due to Ken’s ongoing health problems following a brain haemorrhage in 1999. Ken was seen onstage at Hellfest in France recently, coming out for a friendly wave.

All the reviews from their recent festival shows have been glowing, so get along and grab a ticket through Ticketek, apparently they’re going fast.

Too follow on the great domestic releases this year such as The Day Everything Became Nothing’s Brutal and the Captain Cleanoff record Symphonies of Slackness, joining the grind parade later in the year will be reformed Melbourne grind three piece The Kill. Following a hiatus after releasing The Soundtrack To Your Violence, the core line-up of Roby on guitar and Jay (from Fuck… I’m Dead) on drums recruited Nik from Melbourne grinders Super Fun Happy Slide on vocals and rekindled perhaps the most unrelenting brutal one foot grind blasting machine this country has ever seen. Nik informs that the band will hit the studio with their album-ready material as soon as they can decide on which one they’ll do it in. Structural engineers should be recruited for that one.

Welcome news that Sydney band The Amenta have entered the post production phase on their new album n0n. This follows on from 2004’s very well received Occasus record and provides 12 tracks that feature no less than two drummers, two bass players and six vocalists. Lachlan Mitchell is working on the mixes ahead of mastering at 301 by Steve Smart. They’ll have their work cut out as the band are talking up using over 100 recorded tracks on some songs. Should be interesting to say the least!

Ahead of their new album in October, it’s awesome to see that Psycroptic, my favourite Tasmaniacs, have been picked up by uber label Nuclear Blast, with Stomp taking care of the domestic side of the equation. The band is ecstatic and they sure deserve it. Nuclear Blast are talking them up as one of the world’s premiere technical death metal bands and the label finally gives the lads a huge promotional platform to show the rest of the world what we all knew years ago!

A bunch of local thrashers have teamed up to pay homage to the work of Dio under the banner Live Evil. Formed by local guitar hero Matt Davis last year, the group comprise Jason Phelan (guitar), Russell Knight (bass guitar), James Irving (keyboards), Duncan Beard (drums) and the man himself on vox. They’re an accomplished set of musicians, with backgrounds as diverse as jazz, blues, punk and death metal, who’ve united over the bombastic rock of Dio, Black Sabbath and Rainbow.

Following many hours in the rehearsal room, Live Evil have whipped together an exciting and grandiose live show that’ll illicit horns from the hand of any punter within earshot. After packing out The Greenroom a couple of months back, the boys are at it again, this time at The Basement in Belconnen on Friday July 18. Tickets are $15 on the door, so get in early, people!

LIVE EVIL

I’m many of you will already have tickets for Meshuagah’s show Monday 13 at the Roundhouse in Sydney touring ObZen. Ticketek for your tickets if required!

Don’t forget the Slaughterfest show at The Basement. Blood Duster fans be aware this will be the last tour for a while, so don’t miss out.

August 8, with Space Bong, Ebolie and Pod People.

JOSH doomtildeath@hotmail.com Burning Saviour - Pentagram - Day of Reckoning

"Your first album is always the scariest. Everyone judges you by it forever"

TAKE A RUN AT THE SUN Caitlin Croucher Raj Siva-Rajah, lead singer of Australia’s latest commercial chart-huggers THE SUNPLILOTS, has had a pretty interesting story behind his vocal work. He was actually classically trained by his Sri Lanken mother, an expert when it came to the music of the East. Naturally, this kind of training also inspired Raj to musically chew into a more pop-culture friendly snack of rock and pop. So began the kind of fusion that has made The Sunpilots what they are today. A little bit of pop, a little bit of grunge, a touch of Eastern charm. Maybe even a sitar or two…

Originating from Sydney as four bright-eyed chaps in 2005, The Sunpilots quickly claimed commercial skies with the release of their first EP, featuring the track Spotlight in the Sun. Apparently a lot of people liked the whole sun analogy, because the track quickly became iTunes Single of the Week, the most watched Australian music video on Youtube and received regular airplay on Video Hits and Channel V. They were fairly chuffed.

So chuffed, indeed, that they locked themselves in a studio for a good few months and proceeded to do what all self-respecting Channel V darlings do. They recorded an album. The title has little to do with the band flying themselves into a giant ball of gas, but it is called Living Receiver. Co-produced by Aussie producer Phil McKellar (Silverchair, Grinspoon, Kisschasy) and mastered in New York by Ted Jensen (Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance), Living Receiver has been a year in the making. Raj thinks their debut album “reflects all the different colours and shades of what we do. Grunge, jazz, they’ve all got a bit of Sunpilot.

There’s even a string quartet featured in a few of the songs.

“Your first album is always the scariest. Everyone judges you by it forever,” Raj admits. The guys aren’t planning anything too challenging for their Channel V audience. It’s all about the listeners, after all. “You need a sound which people can recognise,” he notes.

The Sunpilots have certainly been recognised recently overseas, perhaps more so than in Australia. The band was recently one of 15 rock finalists in the International Songwriting Competition (nominated alongside fellow Aussie chaps Eskimo Joe). A new track from Living Receiver, entitled Metric System, was chosen by the judges as being one of the best of 20,000 entries from around the world, so obviously they’re striking cords with people.

Last year they won Best International Artist on a Canadian College radio. They weren’t even aware they had been picked up until one of their songs “started to spread from station to station. It was a bit of shock!” recalls Raj. With Living Receiver less than two months from release, and a comprehensive national album tour throughout July, August and September planned, The Sunpilots are preparing to take flight (Oh, shut up…). Living Receiver is said to be “an astounding debut album which intertwines the refined complexity of the East with the direct energy and power of the West.” Whatever ever that means, sounds like there are going to plenty of people listening. And Raj for one is looking forward to the tour. They bought new jackets and everything. “Yeah, we’ve got really cool jackets which we got overseas. Kind of military. Anything but the shoegaze look!”

The Sunpilots will be playing at the Transit Bar on Thursday July 17 with Using Three Words and Hancock Basement. Free entry.

"I can’t play the NHL game; I’m useless at it because I can’t see the puck, but it’s fun hearing your song on there"

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

Daniel Liebeck

Rising from an Auckland garage, GOODNIGHT NURSE flew into the New Zealand music industry like a bat out of hell - blind and screaming. From humble beginnings, Goodnight Nurse have charmed their way into the hearts and minds of the Kiwis and a fair portion of us Aussies. While they’re still relatively unknown on the worldwide stage, Goodnight Nurse aren’t exactly accomplishment free. They’ve toured New Zealand many-a-time, including the history making Boost Mobile NZ Schools Tour in 2004, where they managed to pull of 120 shows in 5 months, making it the biggest tour one band has ever done in New Zealand. They were also on the On and On tour with Steriogram and 48May, where they did 32 shows in 35 days, and have played some of New Zealand’s biggest shows, such as Edgefest, Crusty Demons and Beach Day Out. They won the Best Breakthrough Video at the Juice TV awards with their catchy debut single Loner.

Lead singer Joel Little says there’s no real story behind the name Goodnight Nurse.“At the time we didn’t think that we were gonna be particularly popular, so we just thought ‘we’ll just chose a name for now, and think of something a bit better later.’ Goodnight Nurse kinda just stuck, and I’ve grown to like it now so that’s okay. That’s how we found it, we just wrote a lot of names on a piece of paper and it was the least crap one.”

Their debut album Always and Never went gold a week after it was released and debuted at position five on the RIANZ chart. Their second album, Keep Me on Your Side, also debuted at number five on the RIANZ chart, but shot to number 1 on the Itunes chart. Recently, My Only, a single from Always and Never, was included in the NHL07 video game.

“Jaden, our drummer, likes the FIFA soccer games,” Joel says, “so he’s holding out to be on one of those games. I can’t play the NHL game; I’m useless at it because I can’t see the puck, but it’s fun hearing your song on there.” Always and Never also included a rock version of that annoying song by Kelis, Milkshake. When asked what the story behind that song was, Joel laughs and explains “it was really just for a joke at the time. We thought it would be a funny thing we could do, but somehow it came out really well. We started playing it at the shows, it was four years ago now, and people are still kind of discovering it. People hear that song and like it, and they come and check out what band played it.

It’s such a good song to play live” Critics and fans have likened Goodnight Nurse to American bands such as Green Day and Blink 182, which Joel takes as a compliment: “I think both of those bands are legendary. You know, we haven’t done anything near what they have, and New Zealand, compared to other countries, only has a small music industry. Because we kind of play in a similar vein, like punk or whatever you wanna call it, people like to compare every band to somebody else. [Green Day and Blink 182] are two of our favourite bands, so when people compare us to them we take it as a compliment.”

Goodnight Nurse are currently supporting Melbourne rockers The Getaway Plan on their Where the City Meets the Sea Tour. “I hope we steal all their fans,” Joel laughs when asked if he thinks that playing with The Getaway Plan could help build their own fan base. “Hopefully our band’s music will work well together and their fans will like our stuff too.

They’re getting really popular in Australia now, so hopefully they will get good big crowds so we can leach some of those fans off them.”

Goodnight Nurse play with The Getaway Plan and Closure in Moscow at The Venue in Erindale on Thursday July 10. Tickets are available from The Venue, The Music Shop in Belconnen, Civic and Woden, Landspeed Records or from the Moshtix (www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 438 849). Keep Me on Your Side is out now through Warner.

"Anyone who wears a moustache or a goatee is basically wearing an advertised insult to beards on their face"

COMING SOON: WED August 20th

PETE MURRAY + GIN WIGMORE

Spencer Lee “This band basically exists to encourage people to grow beards, and once everyone has a beard then we’ll stop doing this, we’ll quit the band because our mission will be complete.” So states Nathanial Beard, bassist and vocalist for South Australian folk-rock band THE BEARDS. The band has a simple yet direct modus operandi – they play songs about beards, for people with beards. Just that. And joined by cohorts Johann Beardraven, Facey McStublington and John Beardman, Nathanial is preparing to take his hirsute message to the rest of the country.

TUES September 2nd

GYROSCOPE

+ SHIHAD & SUGAR ARMY

“We’ve spent the last five years gigging in every available place we can in Adelaide and trying to spread our bearded message,” he says. “We have noticed an increase in the amount of beards both in our audience and also as we walk down the street… we like to think that we’re at least partly responsible for that. We’re ready to take our message around Australia and then on to the rest of the world. We’re happy to play to anyone, beardless or bearded, because every beardless face is a potential beard, and we’d like to think that we could convince them during our 45 minute set that growing a beard is indeed the right thing to do.”

But before we get too far in, I want some clarification as to exactly where stubble ends and a beard begins. Somewhat of an expert, Nathaniel is only too willing to oblige.“If you look into the beard and you can see less than 20 percent skin and mostly just hair, that’s a beard. But it’s also about where the beard grows. Personally, I feel that a beard must join burn to burn, and that can take any of three routes: it can go via the chin, it can go via the moustache and leave the chin exposed or it can go from burn to burn via the throat - as long as it joins all the way ‘round it’s still a beard.”

Keen to know the band’s stance on other forms of facial hair, I broach the subject of moustaches and goatees. “If I see a man with a moustache or a goatee, he’s basically saying to me ‘I could grow a full beard but I’m not going to,’” Nathanial plainly says. “Anyone who wears a moustache or a goatee is basically wearing an advertised insult to beards on their face. However, an extremely large goatee I will pay,” he concedes.

As for on-the-road beard maintenance while they’re touring, the lads are well prepared. “We’ll have our combs, we’ll have our conditioner. We’ll be looking after the beard, just as the beard looks after us. On that, being on tour and just in our general lives, it’s important for us to live a life that doesn’t tarnish the name of beards, ‘cause beard are already harshly and negatively judged by the majority of people.”

But before our chat ends, Nathaniel has an anecdote he want to share.“One time we’d just played a show and this drunk beardless guy came up to me,” he remembers.“Naturally I don’t trust beardless people, I think they’ve got something to hide, but he said to me 'Man, I really like your set and you’ve got a good point - I should have a beard. Why am I spending money and time and effort shaving it off? I’m going to grow a beard!’ But he was drunk so I said 'No you’re not, that’s not true.’ And he said 'Yes it is, I’ll come to your next gig with a beard.' Two weeks later I was playing a show and this guy was in the audience and he had a beard. He said ‘Remember me?’ and he’d actually grown a beard. That was so encouraging and inspiring. We said when we set out to do this five years ago, ‘Look, if we spend five years doing this band and one person grows a beard because of us, it will have all been worth it.' To be honest, it really has.”

But back to Nathanial’s initial statement - when their utopian vision of a bearded planet is eventually reality, will the band really call it a day?

“There’d be no need for this band to exist if people just grew beards like they ought to. Why waste time, energy and money shaving it away when it’s just going to grow back again? You can’t stop the beard - nobody can!”

The Beards play at the Greenroom on Friday July 11 with the O’Hooligans and the Handsome Young Strangers. $8 entry, or $5 beard concession price.

July/August FRI July 11

THE MISSION IN MOTION + ZERO DEGREES & FALLING SO LONG SAFETY & AFRAID YOU'LL FALL $8

SUN July 13

BLUE MURDER, BLUNT MAGAZINE & BOMBSHELL present STRUNG OUT & NO USE FOR A NAME & LAMEXCUSE Tix on sale now @ Ticketek $40.70*

SUN July 20

PETER COMBE + SPECIAL GUESTS Tix available @ Ticketek $27.40*

FRI Aug 8

THE HERD + SPECIAL GUESTS TIX ON SALE NOW @ TICKETEK $27.70*

*Tickets thru Ticketek. Transaction fees apply.

Pre-purchase tickets & guarantee entry!

Justin Hook

MARK KOZELEK isn’t a showy character, despite the fact he can rip off Crazy Horse-style guitar shards at ease for well over ten minutes, or just as easily sing sweet lullabies to his cat - one of which rested next to him during our conversation. His trick, for want of a better term, is consistency; you know what to expect with each release and yet remain delighted despite the stylistic similarity that marks his resume. Somewhat surprisingly for a guy whose sepia toned, textured, cardboard-thick recordings suggest a man in the grips of morbidity, he was effusive, expansive and damn near energetic when I spoke to him from his house in San Francisco. Although reminisces of European tours dampened his mood a little - “For me there’s always a little sense of gloom and doom every time I have to fly into Heathrow. I really don’t like flying. You’re stuck in a plane for 12 hours then all of a sudden you’re very far from the people you’re closest to.”

And it’s not just those who you have left behind that you worry about: it’s those you meet on the road that also cause their fair share of worries.

And yourself, as Kozelek explains. “You find yourself acting strange.

Sometimes when I’m on stage and I start rambling about my personal life or spilling my guts to some weird fan that’s gonna post what you said online in half an hour... it’s a weird world, a whole different thing. Being in that world where people are obsessed with you is strange, idiosyncratic and exclusive.” But he’s not being the archetypal whinger bemoaning ‘life on the road,’ displayed as the juvenile, excessive, groupies and airports affair by so many who have come before him - he’s making a cogent point that travelling, whilst sounding great on paper, is actually a bit of a bore. “You make a connection with people but not in a way that you do with the people you love at home, its very different.”

And the next time you’re bounding out of a venue, vocally declaring the gig you just saw to be the best ever - well, since the last one at least - just remember it isn’t all strippers and blow backstage. At least it isn’t for Kozelek: “Sometimes, even though you’re out there playing for 500 or 1000 people, so for two hours you sort of have the world in your hands, but in a second those people are out the door, on trains. And I’m backstage with the club guy, who really just wants you to get the fuck out of there because he has to do the same thing tomorrow night, and all of a sudden you’re in a cab and in a hotel room, jetlagged, fucking lonely as hell, and you can’t call anyone ‘cause it’s fucking expensive and it’s some weird hour somewhere else.” Honestly, on paper it sound like a moan, but it was the best description I have ever heard from a musician on the tedium of a professional life on the other side of a guitar. And a topic discussed equally brilliantly in Dean Wareham’s (Luna) recently released autobiography Black Postcards, recommended by Kozelek himself as a true depiction of life as a struggling indie icon.

From his earliest days in intense, emotion-heavy folk rockers Red House Painters to his more recent incarnation as Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek has been no stranger to critical acclaim. But don’t think a few sharply phrased, introspective fan boy observations will get you into his scrapbook of well-thumbed reviews. “I never get into the cryptic writing of a journalist who’s explaining the record - I was there!” Fair point, actually. “There’s really nothing I have to learn from what someone else has to say. Often times things are not accurate – ‘This song was written about something that happened in a hospital room.’ No it wasn’t!”

ALWAYS GOOD FOR A LAUGH

A sage reminder to all music fans who think they ‘really get’ their artists of choice - lay off the dozy interpretation and enjoy the ride.

Pragmatically, Kozlek has his mind elsewhere “It doesn’t matter to me.

I just want the review to be good.”

And he has every reason to hope for that as well, self-releasing on his own imprint Cobra Verde. “I’m in a different place now, I’ve got my own label, got my own website - you know, I’m trying to sell records.

So when we get the press I definitely cross my fingers that it’s good, because it’s an investment for me.” Not that we should expect beer company banners proudly emblazoned at Kozlelk shows any time soon.

“Honestly, if I got bad reviews it wouldn’t affect me. I wouldn’t second guess the album - ‘Aw man - they were right, this record sucks’ - and I have gotten some bad press on records in the past. Tiny Cities (Sun Kil Moon’s album of Modest Mouse covers) got some bad reviews but it didn’t affect me personally. Pitchfork, Rolling Stone gave it bad reviews and it pretty much trickled down from there, so I was like ‘fuck, I’m trying to sell records, this isn’t good.’ But I totally have a sense of humour; it doesn’t matter to me because I’m making music and I believe in it and I wouldn’t put these records out if I didn’t.”

Red House Painters dissolved slowly in the late ‘90s as the band became more a solo project for its singer/guitarist than a functioning band, so Kozelek made it a formality, began recording under his own name and released a series of acclaimed (naturally) records featuring radical reimaginings of Bon Scott-era AC/DC tracks. Songs like If You Want Blood, Riff Raff, You Ain’t Got a Hold on Me and Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer were stripped of their sinewy lascivious sexuality and lust, revealing a sense of yearning and despair hitherto unseen in the three-chord Young/Scott wonders.

Covers they may have been, but they felt like Kozlek originals conforming to the sombre pacing and almost monotone delivery of pretty much every song he’s committed to wax. In his choice of covers (AC/DC, Kiss, The Cars, John Denver) or original subject matter (boxers felled before their prime), Kozelek sounds exactly the same. Indeed, he chose to abandon the Red House Painters name and start again as Sun Kil Moon because he predicted fans and critics had become bored of his old trading name.

Overall though, he remains comfortable in his own skin regardless of what name it goes by.“I’m 41 now so it’s simply a matter of becoming who you are. It’s like a Woody Allen movie; you use the same guy every time, because it just works. I’m at that stage in my life where I don’t wanna fuck around. I know who I am, what I wanna do and what works for me. AC/DC, Stereolab, Will Oldham (Bonnie “Prince” Billy) have all got a way of doing things and I’m just like that. I don’t have any bag of tricks. There’s one thing I know how to do and I’m not gonna try to pretend to be anyone else.”

Mark Kozelek performs under the Sun Kil Moon banner on Friday July 25 at The Factory Theatre, Sydney, supported by Emily Ulman (Melbourne).

Tickets are $30 plus BF from the Enmore Box Office (9550 3666) or www. factorytheatre.com.au . April is out now on Spunk.

"You’re out there playing for 500 or 1000 people, so for two hours you sort of have the world in your hands, but in a second those people are out the door, on trains. And I’m backstage with the club guy, who really just wants you to get the fuck out of there because he has to do the same thing tomorrow night, and all of a sudden you’re in a cab and in a hotel room, jetlagged, fucking lonely as hell”

"One of my great passions in life is to raise children’s music to status of children’s literature.

It is nowhere near that at the moment"

TAKING HIS CUES “The laptop concert is now generally deemed too private, too exclusive, with little of the performer/ audience interaction... I actually like this tension and approach the situation as a challenge to involve the audience by the intensity of the music alone” Owen Carroll Andrew Pekler makes the type of music that is hard to pigeonhole.

How would he describe the kind of music he makes? Well, in his own words, “I would describe it slowly, over a bottle of wine. But who has time for that?”

Geographically, ANDREW PEKLER was born in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (then U.S.S.R.), grew up in the USA, and currently resides in Germany. Musically, he has been just as far across the map. His discography stretches from early analogue bedroom soundtracks as Sad Rockets on Matador Records, to jazz-influenced, improvised electronic forays on the ~scape and Staubgold labels. Yet despite the shifts in sound, the goal has always been the same, as Andrew explains: “to take the listener to a very specific sonic world, with every element (music, production, artwork) contributing to a detailed topology. Music is a non-mimetic medium; it only sounds like music and does not represent anything from the world. As such, it has an almost magical capacity to invoke highly specific states of reflection.” This ‘detailed topology’ is strongly represented on Cue, Pekler’s latest album, released through Kranky records last year. Inspired by ‘library music’ (records produced with the functional purpose of providing anonymous music for radio, TV or film), Pekler began with short descriptive phrases of mood, instrumentation and structure around which the music was then built.

The result is an album of playful and dynamic electronic music that successfully balances the more abstract with the accessible.

Touring Australia as part of the hugely successful Liquid Architecture festival, I ask Andrew how, as an electronic musician, he adapts his music into the live environment. “The laptop concert is now generally deemed too private, too exclusive, with little of the performer/audience interaction apparently demanded by spectators... I actually like this tension and approach the situation as a challenge to involve the audience by the intensity of the music alone.” But once again a balance exists. “I try to do as much as possible live, improvising with a small array of effects, instruments and a mixing desk,” Andrew continues. “Also, I tend to play a good deal of ‘work in progress’ material. This leaves me room for improvisation and I feel that the audience definitely hears and feels that something is being created in the moment.”

And something definitely will be created in the moment, as Andrew will also be performing in a “semi-improvisational” duo with Adrian Klumpes, pianist with electronic jazz behemoth Triosk. Describing how it may pan out, Andrew humbly states: “I have complete faith in Adrian’s talents so that even if I contribute nothing of any substance, it will still be an interesting performance.” The two are recording in Sydney prior to the show, and should be in full flight by the time they the hit Canberra. Whatever happens, it’s still going to be a rare opportunity to see someone like Andrew Pekler in a setting as intimate as The Front.

He may not have the time to describe his music to you, but you should definitely come and listen for yourself.

Andrew Pekler’s music can be enjoyed slowly, and most likely over a good bottle of wine, at the Front Galley and Café, Lyneham, on Friday July 18 with Adrian Klumpes (Triosk) and Shoeb Ahmad.

NOT JUST FOR KIDS Lucy Battersby

PETER COMBE once thought he could be the next Paul Simon. In the late 1970s he packed his bags and moved from Adelaide to London to prove that he had the songwriting abilities to be major star. But it is his own fault that things did not turn out, because he kept on sending copies of his children’s songs back to the ABC in Sydney. "Deep down you realise and understand there is about a million other people trying to be the world’s next Paul Simon."

Meanwhile, Combe was getting good feedback for the songs he sent home and soon realised that the right place and time for him to become a star was not London in the ‘70s, but Australia in the ‘80s - as a children’s songwriter. “I discovered there was a whole audience out there who were really keen to hear brand new songs for children because, literally, no one was doing it,” he says. “It was a completely unexplored area by both songwriters and record companies.”

The ABC produced several Peter Combe albums, and in the late 1980s they made a decision which brought Peter Combe into daily contact with a whole generation of kids who had an obsessive devotion to afternoon television. ‘’The critical move came from the ABC, which agreed to make a full length video clip for Toffee Apple,” Combe says, explaining the full length clip not only grabbed children’s attention, but was long enough to draw them into the story of the song. “Because if you try and promote a song with just ten seconds, its not going to work because you’re not going to have that emotional response to it.”

It was this daily exposure to Peter Combe’s music on the ABC which endeared him to a generation of Australians. And that generation seems to have unconsciously memorised a whole catalogue of songs which remained locked in their long-term memories until, with the help of a few beers, they suddenly find themselves at age 25 singing and swaying along to songs with no sense of self-consciousness. This partly explains why we love Combe’s music so much, because it reminds us of those safe days as a clumsy child when someone would still cut apples for us and dancing consisted of jumping side to side and shouting the lyrics out loud.

Combe, who says he “did quite well financially” out of his records, wrote songs that are aurally and contextually attractive to both adults and children. He says that his on-going popularity is not just due to nostalgia, but also that audiences really adored the songs when they first came out.

“Whenever I write a kid’s album, I never want to write down to them. I’m always trying to write something that is tasteful and that is musically challenging.” He admits to a love of folk music and lists influences such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Peter, Paul and Mary, Judy Collins, Tom Waits, Eric Bogle and, of course, Simon and Garfunkel.

He also wants children’s music to maintain a good status in Australian culture, and laments the lack of high quality music available today. He does note The Wiggles and Hi-Five dominate the market, and wishes producers would put more emphasis on the young audience. “One of my great passions in life is to raise children’s music to status of children’s literature. It is nowhere near that at the moment. And it saddens me after all these years that a kid’s album can be completely ignored by everyone.”

After a successful tour last year, Combe is again circling the country.

This time he has a full band, including his son Tom on guitar, and has included several children’s shows in this tour.

Peter Combe and the Juicy Juicy Green Band play two shows on Sunday July 20, an afternoon matinee family show at the Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, from 3pm (tickets from www.theq.net.au or 6298 0290) and an over-18s show at the ANU Bar. Tickets from Ticketek, ANU Bar, Landspeed.

BLACKBOX

Sad news: Australia’s most passionate and entertaining gardener Peter Cundall is about to hang up his secateurs for good.

The excitable face of ABC’s Gardening Australia (ABC1, Sat Jul 26, 6.30pm) will sign-off on a lifetime of broadcast gardening - he started with the ABC in 1969 - with an explanation of his infamous six-bed crop rotation system. While other networks fill their screens with celebrities looking for a star vehicle with swish new landscaped gardens, week after week Cundall has brought his own passion for rubbing dirt (and often compost) between his fingers. Even your loyal correspondent, who has so many black thumbs that more than one cactus has bitten the dust at chez Blackbox, looked forward to his enthusiasm for worms. Pete, goodbye to you and your patch - you shall be missed.

Also news that later this year, WIN will air the Australian version of Japanese sensation Hole in the Wall. Problem number one - the host is Jules Lund, who should have exhausted his 15 minutes already.

Problem number two - the factor that made the Japanese show such a hit is the crazy enthusiasm of the Japanese contestants. It’s doubtful whether they’ll find Aussie contestants with the same level of fervor.

Understatement is not really a lynchpin of Japanese game shows.

Instead of trying to fulfill local content obligations with rip-offs, why not buy the Japanese show and produce some quintessentially Australian fare? What’s next, a local version of Dr. Phil?

It’s going to be a busy few weeks on the box. Aside from the race to find how much Catholicism can be injected into the programming schedule during the Pope’s World Youth Day visit and the plethora of new programs that have come out of nowhere, the schedules are littered with one-off episodes and interesting (and in some cases quirky) docos.

From coverage of the papal motorcade to a look at the role of women in the church, catholic programming is making the box look like the Vatican. SBS coverage begins with the arrival - Pope Benedict in Australia LIVE (SBS, Sun Jul13, 3pm) and continues throughout the following fortnight. There’s also the World Youth Day Pilgrimage Walk (Prime, Sat Jul 19, 11.30am), a doco - The German Pope: Benedict XVI (SBS, Sun Jul 20, 8.35pm) and a three part series on the Catholic Church on Compass (ABC, Sun Jul 20, 10.10pm).

New shows coming up include Celebrity Singing Bee (WIN, Thu Jul 10, 8.30pm), an Australian version of Don’t Forget the Lyrics with D-grade celebrities playing for charity, yet another Gordon Ramsay escapade Ramsay’s Boiling Point (Prime, Tue, 10pm), Dexter (SCTEN, Sun, 9.50pm) about a serial killer cop who kills serial killers, and the return of Burn Notice (SCTEN, Mon Jul 21, 10pm).

The odd and the interesting include The Cars that are China (SBS, Tue Jul 29, 8.30pm), a doco about the newfound love affair with motoring in Beijing, once known as the bicycle kingdom; Jamie’s Fowl Dinners (SCTEN, Wed Jul 23, 9.30pm) in which that other chef, Jamie Oliver, looks at animal welfare issues; Jamie Oliver’s Eat to Save your Life (SCTEN, Wed Jul 16, 8.30pm); Walk Like a Man (SBS, Tue Jul 22, 7.30pm) about a gay rugby trophy named after the man who stormed the cockpit of flight 93 in 2001; JK Rowling: A Year in the Life (Prime, Sun Jul 13, 6.30pm) so you can see if she really does practice sorcery; The Real Rain Man (ABC2, Wed Jul 23, 10.10pm) about Kim Peek who inspired the Dustin Hoffman character; What the Future Sounded Like (ABC, Sun Jul 20, 5pm) that charts the history of the synthesizer; The New Inventors (ABC, Wed Jul 23, 8pm) which features a fold up electric guitar; mY Generation (SBS, Wed Jul 16, 8pm) and for the ultimate in passive viewing, there’s the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant (Prime, Mon Jul 14, 10.30pm).

Ending too soon is The Gruen Transfer (ABC, Wed Jul 30, 9pm) and not soon enough, Big Brother 2008 Season Finale (SCTEN, Mon Jul 21, 7pm).

If you missed the first episode of The Hollowmen (ABC, Wed, 9.30pm), don’t do it again.

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

"The role really doesn’t reflect my real personality, but it makes it a bit more interesting playing a person you wouldn’t be in real life"

A NEW ROLE Daniel Liebeck I recently had the chance to interview Jethro Pitcher from the upcoming stage show THE ROLE MODEL. Now being as this was my first official interview it’s safe to say I was nervous as hell. It’s not every day you get to interview a 15-year-old actor. I had my list of questions to ask our aspiring actor, which he happily answered - and which I was very grateful for.

Jethro is playing a “highly depressed young man called Adam” who is helped out by former Olympic gold medallist Scott, whose career is in tatters after a fling with his best mate’s wife. The character of Scott is based on Layne Beachley, seven-time world surfing champion, who helps young women suffering from depression by taking them surfing, as studies say that exercise is more effective then medication. However, despite the weighty subject matter, Jethro promises the play to be a comedy and for it to “be pretty funny.”

Jethro seems to like his role, but when asked if he was going to pursue a career in acting, he replies “I think I’d like to pursue acting as only a hobby, rather than an actual career. It’s something I find enjoyable to do at the time - even more enjoyable after it’s all been done, with the glory of having been in a play.”

Jethro maintains that he and his character Adam are nothing alike. As Jethro puts it, “the role really doesn’t reflect my real personality, but it makes it a bit more interesting playing a person you wouldn’t be in real life. I like him, and it’s been quite enjoyable so far.” There does seem to be a bit of confusion over Adam’s age. Jethro said that Adam is 16, whereas the press release said that Adam was 18. I would have to believe Jethro, as he is the one playing the character.

And although he is but the tender age of 15, Jethro explains doesn’t really get stage fright, he just gets nervous. However, he has his own technique to get over it: “I like to imagine if I was in the audience, what I would find appealing or amusing, and always try and focus on acting and incorporating those things. Hopefully the audience will feel the same way I do and they will enjoy it as well - it’s worked for me so far.”

As in all comedies, there are the serious characters too; in The Role Model’s case it is Wanda. When asked which character Jethro thought could be different, he said “maybe Wanda could be a little bit funnier I think, she’s too serious when it comes to things.”

For someone my age - just on 18 - The Role Model has its strengths, as it deals with a real life issue, and also a particularly important issue, that affects so many people, especially teenagers. That said, The Role Model tries to take a light-hearted approach, as it is comedy. And whether they can indeed pull of a comedy with such a serious theme as depression presents an intriguing prospect. My advice, check it out for yourself.

The Role Model will be at The Street Theatre from Wednesday July 23 to Saturday August 2. Tickets range from $15 to $25. To book, give The Street Theatre a call on 6247 1223.

THEATRE COLUMN Finally, a couple of plays came along to knock the wind out of the sails of the Good Ship Ennui that had been threatening to transport Theatre Column to the Land of Nod. Moonlight has again come up trumps with their staggering production of Edward Albee’s The Goat. Directed with verve by Bridget Balodis and featuring impressive performances from Jerry Hearn and Christa de Jager as a married couple helplessly caught in a domestic maelstrom, The Goat steers the audience into a bleak, tragic storm only barely contained by Albee’s superb black humour and graceful writing. Powerhouse stuff.

Compelling on a different scale was Bohemian’s A Prisoner’s Dilemma at The Street Theatre, which deservedly got a near-sellout season. This gripping exploration of game theory and manipulation cleverly invites the viewer into the play before it grasps them by the scruff and forces them to sit through the consequences of their decisions.

Let’s Go to Bed NUTS, the National University Theatre Society, is bringing Bed, by Oz theatre darling Brendan Cowell, to the ANU stage. It’s on for three nights only, from tonight to Saturday July 12. Tickets are cheap as at only $10 for slackers and $15 for grown-ups. There’s no booking number – it’s a ‘first come, first served, at the door, on the night’ basis. Get into it!

NUTS presents Brendan Cowell’s Bed directed by Lucy Hayes and Andrew Holmes. ANU Arts Centre Drama Lab, Thursday July 10 – Saturday July 12 @ 8pm.

So You Think You Can Shakespeare?

No, it’s not Channel Ten’s latest grab for ratings (but imagine if it was: 40 pimply-faced wannabes reciting ‘Now is the winter of our discontent’ with back up dancers and body mikes while Natalie What’s-Her-FaceWith-Too-Many-Letters-In-Her-Name simpers in the middle distance).

It’s Bell Shakespeare putting out for the kids. Yes, Bell is offering the chance of a young’n’emerging’s lifetime with their Regional Performance Scholarship. High school students are invited to audition for the chance to attend a week of rehearsals, workshops and masterclasses with Bell Shakespeare. You need to prepare a 2 minute Bardologue and you have to register quicksmart before Friday August 1. Registration forms are available from Canberra Youth Theatre, who are also very helpfully co-hosting an audition workshop with B.S. the following week to help aspiring auditionees. For info and to register, give CYT’s Pip Buining a call on 6248 5057, or email at pip@cytc.net .

You Would Cry Too If It Happened To You (doo doo doo doo do) Opening in a coupla weeks, It’s My Party (And I’ll Die If I Want To) is a black comedy which aims its barbs at the neuroses of your typical suburbanite familial disfunction.

Canberra Repertory presents It’s My Party (And I’ll Die If I Want To) by Elizabeth Coleman, directed by Catherine Hill. Thursday July 25 to Saturday August 16 at 8pm. Matinees at 2pm on August 2, 9 and 16 and twilight shows at 4pm on August 3 and 10. To book tickets call Rep on 6257 1950.

A few of my favourite things Wait, that’s the wrong musical. I guess I’m still bitter about Audrey. But don’t be deterred, and certainly don’t forget: Opera Australia’s My Fair Lady is coming to town from August 9 to 23. This is big ticket musical theatre so grope under the couch for spare shrappers, rob an old lady, put everything on black… just get down to Canberra Ticketing and get yourself a seat. O wouldn’t it be… what’s the word?

Opera Australia’s My Fair Lady at the CTC. Check out www. canberratheatre.org.au for info and to book.

NAOMI MILTHORPE princessnaea@gmail.com

DISCOLOGY Agency Dub Collective $O$ (Foreign Dub Records) Anti-capitalist leftwingers Agency Dub Collective aren’t your average band. After ten years, quite a few different band members, and a whole lot of touring, they’ve signed a record deal. That’s important because it means they can have great sound, guests like Wayne Lo-tek (UK), and you can buy this album in stores. I have a feeling that if you’re into dub, reggae or hip-hop, you just might want to. $O$ combines a little hip-hop with some of the best reggae and dub music you will hear - from a local band or otherwise - and is absolutely saturated with the rebellious politics that made the music from Jamaica so powerful. Recorded first on analog tape and mixed in digital form for a professional yet authentic sound, every element seems perfectly balanced on this album. Steve Turnock’s percussion and Dan Sommariva’s drumming are both incredibly sharp and precise; Liam O’Connell’s singing and rapping are both very impressive, and he’s frankly awesome on the trumpet and melodica too.

STEVIE EASTON The Andi and George Band Sun and Moon (Independent) Since the release of their debut self-titled CD, the Andi and George Band’s prominence in Canberra’s music scene has become more greatly embedded, and with the seemingly continuous expansion of their live repertoire and band membership, Sun and Moon has been highly anticipated by many a local live music punter.

Split between two discs - the ‘Sun’ disc and the ‘Moon’ disc - this collection of songs is sure to exceed the expectations not only of newly-acquired followers but also those already familiar with the band’s brilliant mix of creative flair and musical professionalism. Disc one, Sun, brings together a majority of the group’s live essentials, such as Man Alive, Rub a Dub, Strike Song and Ready to Run. Bringing together the electric mix of Latin jazz, soul, funk and reggae, it sits in contrast to the Moon disc, which encapsulates the smooth, tranquil, folk-inspired inclinations of the group’s early days. Like most albums whose songs have been heard in the live arena many times previously, it does not sound as large or ‘full’ as might be expected on first listen. However, Sun and Moon’s ability to so tightly transfer the live brilliance of such a talented and large group into an album so extensive ensures that listeners will be left not only ecstatic, but thirsting for anything more the group has to offer.

BEN HERMANN The Apples in Stereo Electronic Projects for Musicians (Yep Roc) The Apples in Stereo’s sunshine pop could undoubtedly brighten the day of the most bitter cynic. There is a glowing sensibility to the Apples’ talent for crafting a seemingly limitless supply of bouncy, infectious melodies and bittersweet lyrics that avoid melancholy where possible. In the indierock stakes, the band stands out for its musical references to Motown, late ‘60s

psychedelia and the Monkees more so than myriad punk rock progenitors.

The Apples have been unassumingly brightening up the alternative scene since the mid 1990s and Electronic Projects for Musicians collects otherwise hard to find tracks that span a mostly satisfying body of work. It kicks off with the lively and addictive Beach Boys-styled melody of Shine (In Your Mind), which originally appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the band’s enthusiastic album debut Fun Trick Noisemaker from 1996. Another 13 enticing pop nuggets complete this worthwhile venture. Standout track has to be the sparse, acoustic The Oasis which features the beautifully understated line, “so you threw up at the bar/that’s okay they know who you are/man, you’re a star.” Nice.

DAN BIGNA Coldplay Viva La Vida (EMI) The album opens promisingly with a jaunty instrumental that would not sound out of place on the About A Boy soundtrack.

Roping in famed eccentric producer Brian Eno (Talking Heads, U2) for their fourth album has clearly broadened the band’s palette, if not their range; inventive percussion arrangements frame tracks like Cemeteries Of London and 42, and waves of ethereal synths wash over nearly everything else. Lyrically, it’s business as usual - Chris Martin and cohorts have “rivers to cross” (Lost!) and “races to run” (Lovers in Japan). First single Violet Hill is a slight anomaly, more straightahead than many of these tracks, what with their instrumental codas or welded-together song fragments, and certainly not nearly as drenched in reverb and delay. Whilst catchy in parts, the whole thing seems a little soul-less; it feels like Coldplay are going through the motions of what is expected from a typical big rock band - this, their “experimental” album will now be followed by their “back to basics” triumph.There’s much to admire on this album and even some parts to like, but little to love.

LUKE MCGRATH Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue: Legacy Edition (Sony/Caribou) Living in the shadows of a talented sibling is surely a burden - being Brian Wilson’s brother is another thing altogether.

Dennis Wilson was the rough diamond of the Beach Boys - a boozer, abuser, drummer, surfer (the only one in the band), womanizer, transcendental meditator, romantic tough guy and exceptional songwriter, as this re-issue proves beyond doubt.

Pacific Ocean Blue is one of the great lost albums of the rock era - excelling in directness, passion, excitement and despair where brother Brian’s own overpraised lost classic Smile suffered from an overabundance of ideas and dynamic flights of fancy, overpowered narrative and song structure. Before its release expectations were low - he was only the buff, goofy drummer for goodness sake - but a trio of tracks lift this release into genius and necessary purchase status; Thoughts of You, where a single disquieting symphonic swell rises like a dark killer wave after a gentle apologetic introductory reflection on lost love; Farewell My Friend’s joyous parting sentiments that were played at Denny’s own funeral seven

years later; and the ravaged, hopeful, beautiful End of the Show. The glossy and lush ‘70s production can be a little off-putting at times, but I have more patience with this wayward Wilson than a million Stephen Stills. Arguably the real treat here is the second disc, the follow up sessions for Bambu.

Despite faltering over many years as the ever more incoherent Wilson grappled with all sorts of demons, the unreleased tracks demonstrate he was refining his skill and emerging as a muscled Randy Newman taking on ragtime, New Orleans soul funk and radio ready ballads. There are some notable oddities and omissions: Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) adds vocals to the previously instrumental Holy Man for some unexplained reason.

Frankly, being a drummer and surfer is insufficient reason to deface Wilson’s legacy, but he kind of pulls it off. And more perversely - three of Wilson’s best tunes Baby Blue Eyes, Holy Morning/Morning Christmas and Lady/Falling in Love are absent. The unreleased demos and lost tracks are a bonanza to be sure, but their exclusion is a major disappointment and renders this collection sadly incomplete. However, the songs on this double CD are easily up there with the best of the Beach Boys and deserve the wider recognition this collection will hopefully encourage. It also goes some way in redressing the offensive imbalance of Beach Boys hagiography stipulating there was only one genius song writer in the band (next week my shameful love of Mike Love will be revealed for all). The Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu story is rich in mythology, but this is one instance where the myth echoes reality.

JUSTIN HOOK Drapht Brothers Grimm (Obese Records) Oh yeah, Westralia’s in the house!

Drapht drops his third album on the Australian hip-hop community, leaving us stunned and amazed at the passion and effortless rhymes evident in the 15 bomb tracks. The publicity included with this LP suggests Drapht is reminiscent of Q-Tip and Grand Puba, but his vocal technique is decidedly more stressful than the aforementioned hip-hoppers and it gets a little irritating. Still, the production on here is fantastic and with world-class Australian guest producers like Plutonic Lab, M-Phazes and Simplex, Brothers Grimm is worthy of recognition at the highest peak of Australian hip-hop.

SIMON HOBBS

Front End Loader Laughing With Knives (Illustrious Artists/Fuse Music) Can you believe this is FEL’s first live album? Recorded at The Annandale Hotel in May 2004, this great sounding 22-track realityrecording takes me back to The Terrace Bar (RIP) and Uni of Canberra bar in the early 1990s, when the band first began dipping their toes into the vast Oz rock waters. This has all the elements I remember from those booze-fueled days. Powerful drums, a two-part harmony vocal attack with recycled and rehashed Rose Tattoo and AC/DC riffs played at full pelt. Included is a 19-track bonus disk of b-sides and rarities.

SIMON HOBBS Heavy Trash Going Way Out With Heavy Trash (Yep Roc/Inertia) Despite the toocool-for-school vibe once conjured by post-punk primitives Pussy Galore, vocalist/guitarist Jon Spencer is content these days to promote his credentials as a committed fan of late 1960s/early 1970s Rolling Stones where possible. He seems to have a good ear for what made that music work in terms of direct, in-yourface vocals, guitars that replicate the greatest come-on line a girl will ever hear and a hard and fast beat. Spencer explored this alluring dynamic further in the Blues Explosion and now seems to have become something of a rock ‘n’ roll historian on this second Heavy Trash collaboration with guitarist Matt Verta-Ray. Both musicians, along with a highly capable supporting cast, celebrate first-class noise making of times past with 1950s rockabilly treated with a particular reverence. Fifth track That Ain’t Right revisits the stripped-down earthiness of the best Johnny Cash Sun Studio recordings, and the opener Pure Gold recalls the raw simplicity of those fantastic Johnny Burnette Trio recordings which ushered in the most enduring 1960s garage punk. Sure, there is a lot of referencing going on, but Spencer and Verta-Ray ensure an essential grittiness is accentuated to the utmost.

DAN BIGNA

The Night Marchers See You In Magic (Shock/Vagrant) John Reis is one of the most dependable men in rock; his name basically being a Quality Assurance sticker from the Department of Slashing Guitars, Beer Sneers and Riffs. The Night Marchers sees Speedo return to the spotlight as lead vocalist/guitarist after the dissolution of Hot Snakes, dragging Gar Wood and Jason Kourkounis with him, but other than the name and a revised rhythm section, not much has really changed. See You In Magic doesn’t rewrite the Reis Handbook, merely adding another chapter of incendiary garage punk, sweaty rockabilly, sandy doo-wop and even a little bit of balladering. The early one-two punch of I Wanna Deadbeat You and Jump in the Fire is an easy highlight – the former being an storming staccato anthem whilst the latter appears to have fallen out of the jangle-dominated indie charts circa 1986. The value of records such as See You In Magic lies in their immediacy and simplicity, creating a vibe of timewarp timelessness.

Reis has, as always, got it right.

JUSTIN HOOK

Jason Mraz We Sing, We Dance, We Steal (Atlantic) Mraz’s third album consists of a dozen up-tempo foot shuffles that, whilst remaining earthy, seem to have an element of pretentious lovey-dovey to them. The album as a whole could make or break Mraz, as there are moments of genius with songs that are sung at the speed of a locomotive (The Dynamo of Volition), great lyrics (Only human) and extremely established and inspired music (Make it Mine). However, there is enough flakiness to bury the talent. Songs like Coyotes and Love for a Child are proof that Mraz has given in to the industry’s demand for cheesiness. If everyone who was thinking of getting divorced knew that their child would write a song as cheesy as Love for a Child, the divorce rate would be well, well down. Overall, a top listen, but Mraz needs to be careful of record number four. He has two choices: to be remembered for writing one of the essential ‘00s albums, or to become just another James Blunt cheese factory.

TIMOTHY BOCQUET The Lurid Yellow Mist featuring Dave Graney and Clare Moore We Wuz Curious (Cockaigne) It is 13 years since Dave Graney, resplendent in pink leisure suit and coiffured wig, accepted the ARIA for Best Male Vocalist. Since then, his public favour may have waxed and waned, but his vision has remained the same.

Eshewing rock theatrics long ago, the music on We Wuz Curious is a bed of dreamy major seventh chords and softly softly cocktail jazz, the perfectly refined foil for Dave’s half-sung tripped out tales. Bring Me My Liar rides a wave of Herbie Hancock-esque piano stabs and brooding bass, while singalong single Let’s Kill God Again sees the perennial growler testing his falsetto.

A little Dave can go a long way, but this album may be his best and most replayable since ‘97’s The Devil Drives.

LUKE MCGRATH Scouting for Girls Scouting for Girls (Epic) Elvis isn’t dead. Or at least according to Scouting for Girls he isn’t. Nor is this band’s ability to infuse sunny piano-driven harmonised pop, and this album is so alive it spins, twirls and jumps in puddles with its excitement.

There are elements of Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and The Coral, but the band manage to maintain their own sound throughout - so no need to call them a neo-Brit-pop-rip-off band, just a neo-Brit-pop band will do. From the blatant, bawdy, and boner-baring She’s so Lovely, who’s lusty lyrics go incredibly well with the music, to the Airplane Song, which could almost be co-written with Graham Nash as an ode to Joni Mitchell. The best is Elvis ain’t Dead, an Elton John-esque (the good Elton) number that uses Elvis’ living for a metaphor for reclaimed love. Get your hands on this record and for 37 minutes and 47 seconds you will not care that summer is still five months away.

TIMOTHY BOCQUET

Shihad Beautiful Machine (WEA Records) The latest offering from New Zealand’s favourite rockers is probably the best thing they’ve done since The General Electric, but it’s still a lot more style than substance. It’s clear that with this album, the band have tried to experiment with mixing different kinds of synthesised electronic sounds with their standard four-piece set up.

The problem is these newer elements are only superficial - this is a band that seem to have reached the limits of their abilities, and while they try to be diverse and interesting, it’s like their wasting good album space by not rocking out. They really should just stick to the four elements of rock: drums, electric guitar and bass, and vocals. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of good tracks on here – the heavier ones like One Will Hear the Other, Chameleon and Count It Up. Fans are going to love it, but it’s nothing special, in my humble opinion.

STEVIE EASTON These New Puritans Beat Pyramid (Domino) Ripping off the Fall is the new ripping off Joy Division. Beat Pyramid, the debut album from These New Puritans, was critically lauded upon its release, and the hype surrounding this four-piece from Southend shows no sign of blowing over - they’re currently on a world tour taking in Australia in August.

Presenting a refreshingly cerebral take on today’s new wave music, These New Puritans also offer the most interesting fusion of angular guitars and electronica in recent years. Too bad Beat Pyramid’s lead-off track, Numerology, is Sesame Street for post-punk copyists.

Next up is Colours, which contains the album’s most generic riff. Elvis is the stand-out and although pounding an open string has been done better elsewhere, you want to believe vocalist Jack Barnett when he says, “I’m gonna tell you my secrets.” Unfortunately, it turns out to be faith misplaced.

Navigate-Colours recycles lyrics from Colours, and the whole thing trails off.

These New Puritans deserve credit for not being another band of brooding depressionists, which for some, may be reason enough to buy Beat Pyramid.

Just don’t expect it to mark a new epoch in alternative music.

PAUL KELLOWAY TZU Computer Love (Liberation) Pull it off the racks/TZU’s got 14 tracks/full of ‘80s nostalgia/better than the prices at the bowzer/the Australian foursome/reference N. Kelly and Lawson/Kingswoods and Bladerunner/and with some help from Renee Geyer/they inject sexual energy/with an element of poetry/full of hip-hop and melody/mixed by Tonie Espie/although there should be some mention/of moments of pretension/but it goes with the genre/like threats go with Belinda and Bosca/TZU hold their topical music dear/and it should remain clear/Aussie h-h is their dominion/so it is of my professional opinion/that their new CD/is totally S.A.C (Sweet As Cuz)…

TIMOTHY BOCQUET

Cell Out

With Mark Russell; he missed it by... well, heaps actually.

I mean, wow... not even close.

Only a few more sleeps 'til Dark Knight! We finally get to see whether the stream of actors heaping posthumous praise on Heath’s performance is celebrity posing or if he really did nail it. From the scenes of him in the prolifically-shown trailer, it’s looking like the latter. Director Christopher Nolan has set himself a pretty high bar with Batman Begins, but he’s started the follow-up well by jettisoning Katie Holmes in favour of the infinitely more talented Maggie Gyllenhaal. We could just be looking down the barrel of that rarest of freaks - a good sequel.

Get Smart Get Smart was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting a ridiculous farce full of cringe-worthy gags, a flimsy plot and pathetic overacting. To my delight, not only was it more than watchable, it was actually pretty entertaining (despite some overacting, and one or two lame gags, that is).

Another TV show adapted for the big screen (nostalgia seems to be a big seller these days), Get Smart follows Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), an analyst at secret agency CONTROL who dreams of being a field agent. He has a bumbling yet charming quality – and though he can more than hold his own in a fight, he has yet to be promoted.

When the organisation KAOS starts attacking CONTROL field agents, and ransacks the headquarters, Smart finally gets his promotion and hits the

Gotham Knight Gotham is a city rotting from an inner pestilence of crime. The only one who stands in the way of the total slip into anarchy is the guy in the thick black pleather suit. Gotham Knight sets itself after the events of Batman Begins, taking six different perspectives on The Bat through six animated vignettes directed by various notable anime directors. They look at the many facets of his character - gadget king, nightmarish vigilante, scientific detective, tortured soul - bringing their own interpretations of it all.

If this concept sounds familiar, it should. Back in 2003 The Animatrix burst onto DVD, stylishly fleshing out The Matrix’s mythology and taking it to

Kung Fu Panda Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Michael Clarke Duncan, Seth Rogan <and breathe>; it’s the kind of ensemble that could resuscitate Robert Altman. Having watched the film, however, you’d be forgiven for not realising half these people were even voicing it. Jack Black is always irrepressible, and it’s hard to mistake Dustin Hoffman’s gravely tones, but the rest of the cast merge into their characters like computergenerated second-skins.

Our hero is Po (Black), a kung-fu-obsessed noodle-shop worker who is suddenly thrust into the company of his heroes, a group of warriors known as The Furious Five. They must all

"There’s no charge for awesomeness… or attractiveness."

Po (Jack Black) “ Kung Fu Panda

streets with partner Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) aiming to track down the culprits. Oh, and there’s some stuff with nuclear weapons, too.

Get Smart doesn’t try to imitate the TV series too closely – thus it doesn’t thoroughly make an ass of itself, which I respect. Carell does a great job as Smart, having perfected his slightly downtrodden ‘everyman’ expression that just makes you want to pat him on the head. Hathaway is a great ball-breaking 99 (whose potential as eye candy is well-exploited), and Alan Arkin as the Chief is fantastic as always.

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson smoulders as Agent 23, and proves that he’s more than a buff stage prop by actually turning in a pretty solid performance, and handling comedy more than adequately.

I won’t get too wrapped up in praise,

however – there were more than a few jokes that fell flat, and overall it’s not the most original outing. Some plot aspects stretch the imagination a little too far, and the big ‘reveal’ is hardly a surprise. When the plot seems to get carried away with matters deemed serious, director Peter Segal tries too hard to revive the mood by inserting some comedic moments, which stick out like a giant neon sign screaming ‘LAUGH NOW! DON’T FORGET THIS IS A COMEDY!’. The result is some forced ‘there for the sake of it’ jokes and some annoyingly inconsistent scenes.

Overall though, Carell and Hathaway charm, and there’s more than enough here to keep you happy for the running time.

new levels. Unfortunately for Gotham Knight, the Wachowskis’ did this kind of thing with more power, punch and consistency.

Here the quality wavers too much.

Have I Got A Story For You is a natural choice to open proceedings since it focuses on people having different perspectives on what Batman is really like; but it is also poorly structured and among the weakest of the collection.

In Darkness Dwells is another lowlight, chock-full of painfully expositional dialogue and odd plot choices.

This said, Gotham Knight finishes strong. The second to last film Working Through Pain is brilliant. It manages to capture the burdens of loneliness and turmoil that are such an integral part

of Batman’s character, and does so in a very potent and understated way. And Deadshot finishes it all off. Inventive and interesting, it harks back to the delightfully dark and exceptional animated Batman series of the '90s.

So what you get is thus: two poor films, two solid ones (Field Test and Crossfire) and two of very high quality. Suitably entertaining, but probably best viewed as a warm up for Dark Knight more than anything else.

prepare to battle Tai Lung (Deadwood’s McShane), a rogue martial arts master bent on discovering the power of the mythical Dragon Scroll.

From pixel one this high-kicking tale hones in, zen-like, on the fun stuff. Its seamless blend of animated physical gags and snappy dialogue make for entertainment whether you’re still battling puppy fat, or you have to puree broccoli to avoid cracking your dentures. Though it’s still half a shade behind either of these animated greats, it manages to combine the comic-timing of The Emperor’s New Groove with the action inventiveness of The Incredibles.

The Furious Five – a tigress, a viper, a monkey, a crane, and a praying mantis – have been animated to accurately portray the actual fighting styles that were created by mimicry of these ani-

mals. Watching them is guaranteed to have you smiling and twitching as you hold back the explosion of fly-kicks you’re ready to unleash.

There are also endless references to kung-fu legends and the old-school films of the Shaw Brothers ilk. These are done with a playfulness and hilarity that will please both fans and critics of this genre.

Crucial to the entertainment power of this film, Kung Fu Panda gets in, does what it needs to do, then ninety-odd perfectly structured minutes later, gets out again. There’s no excess or slow sections, the moral substance is there but not bludgeoned into us, and rewatchability is ensured. Su-poib!

MEGAN McKEOUGH

MARK RUSSELL Screening exclusively at Dendy as part of Reel Anime 2008, ‘til July 16. Check www.dendy.com.au for details.

MARK RUSSELL

GIG REVIEWS Obese Block Party @ ANU Bar, Friday May 23 The fifth Obese Block Party rolled into town and brought with it a showcase of the talent that the label has to offer. For the Canberra show, this included Pegz, Muph and Plutonic, DJ Chasm, Hyjak n’ Torcha and Sydney newcomers Spit Syndicate. A late RSVP also saw local rap pioneers Ciecmate and Newsense from Hospice Crew join the party, and Newsense stay on to host the rest of the night.

DJ Chasm got it going early, followed by a solid performance from Hyjak n’ Torcha, featuring their new tracks and the awesome turntable skills of DJ Bonez. Bonez also put in a great performance on the decks elsewhere throughout the night.

It was a couple of relative newcomers to come on next, the highly anticipated Spit Syndicate. It seems like everyone is talking about them, and from the response they got at this show, it’s easy to see why. I was really impressed by their delivery, stage presence and in particular their lyrics. I hadn’t heard many of their songs before, but I could quickly pick up most of what they were saying in them. They also put their set together well, and finished it off nicely with a great track, Lost Boys. By now everyone was having a great time but the party was only half over, so Chasm came back on for another killer set before Muph and Plutonic - who had the place jumping straight away. Being the only MC on stage for the whole of his set was clearly difficult for Muph, but it didn’t seem to affect his flow too much - the man has lungs of steel. The front of stage area filled quickly as the pair went through all their well-known tracks, from Heaps Good early in the set to the new track Size of the Soul to finish. After that, it was Pegz supported by his mate Dialectrix. Pegz was great as always, and the punters responded as always. His ability to come up with memorable lines and catchy hooks is undisputed, and plain to see; no matter what songs he chooses to play, they are sure to be well-known favourites of Aussie hip-hop fans. Overall, the night lived up to its name, having a fun party vibe right from the start, with a lot of variation, crowd interaction, combined performances and a quick turnaround between acts.

STEVIE EASTON Faker/Grafton Primary/Violent Soho @ ANU Bar, Wednesday May 28 Faker are currently taking the This Heart Attack tour around the country, and they arrived in Canberra to play on a cold Wednesday night, the day after Kisschasy. Not that either of these things affected the size of the crowd, which nearly filled the ANU Bar, set up in its larger format.

The first cab off the rank were Brisbane’s Violent Soho, an enjoyable new experience for myself, but an odd choice for this tour. All overdriven guitars, screaming vocals and spot-on power drumming, combined with all the moody, reflective moments that make up ‘90s grunge, they were a bit out of place here. Next up were Grafton Primary, who earned a lot of fans playing to massive crowds at festivals over last Summer. The first four rows erupted, and plenty of people were dancing and singing along, but on the whole the punters were still relatively reserved as they waited for the main event to kick off. As Grafton Primary drew their set to a close, thanked us all and left the stage, much of the crowd stayed where they were, and many others began to move towards the stage. It was at this point that the relaxed weeknight atmosphere began to get a bit more electrified. People began to push past each other, craning their necks to see better, and the slightest movement of the curtains backstage sent a squeal of excitement through the front of the room.

From these moments before they came out and played The Familiar to open, the room belonged to Faker, and they put on a great show. The set list was designed well to satisfy the fans with all the most popular tracks. Singer Nathan Hudson is clearly a major attraction, as he is a great live rock performer who puts everything into it, thrashing around the stage and working the mic stand. After around 45 minutes spanning both of their albums, the familiar strains of This Heart Attack died out, but the noise surrounding them did not, it got louder. Loud enough to score an encore song, Quarter to Three.

STEVIE EASTON

OBESE BLOCK PARTY @ ANU BAR - PHOTOS BY KLIPS

GIG REVIEWS Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow @ Canberra Theatre, Friday June 13 The Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow is of course a more mobile version of the annual chuckle fest held in Melbourne.

The line-up is always a secretive affair with the tea swilling pre-show excitement of ‘who will it be’ making the experience all the more provocative.

Writing a review of live comedy is quite difficult as most of the humour is sucked into the ‘you totally had to be there’ wormhole of hilarity, but if I had to sum up the whole night in three letters or less it would most definitely be ‘LOL’.

The host Dave Williams was one of the main highlights of the show.

His initial description of a bus ride to Queanbeyan - the most used word of the evening - was hilarious and warmed up well for the first of the acts, Harley Breen.

Harley’s energy on stage was perfect for the start of the show, ironically contrasted with an excellent impersonation of an old man calling up to answer an ABC radio quiz.

He was followed by the stand out of the night for me, Hannah Gadsby, whose deadpan story of her trip to lesbian-ville had the crowd in hysterics.

After a short break we were entertained by the final acts, Micky D and Paul McDermott’s three piece, Gud. Micky D was definitely the dirtiest of the four comedians and he reminded me of a cross between The Penguin and Bobcat Golthwaite… except actually funny.

Gud was a great way to close the show as their interaction and professionalism shone through with some great songs such as the showstopper Cock on Legs.

In all, it was a great night and I can say that on at least three occasions a little bit of wee came out.

TIM GALVIN Sonorcast/ Moh Van Wah/ Na Maza @ The Greenroom, Saturday June 14 Metalheads Na Maza made their first reappearance after a break from playing and a line-up change. Frontman Mila paced the stage before launching into opening number Trauma. Their full-on performance punctured our eardrums with the hypnotic riffs of Whisky Song, the thunderous drumming of Chris on Rancid Orchard and the madness of Pressure. Mila projected himself well with swinging hair and mad gyrations, but would have improved the show by singing more to the general crowd, rather than to one girl by the barrier.

Moh Van Wah combines gut-ripping guitars with clear, powerful lyrics and shows that heavy stuff and melodic vocals can go well together.

Ben’s voice has a great, gritty rock timbre and the ability to draw out long notes, injecting extra passion and intensity to the show. Fire Inside and the slower, heavier Stoner were set highlights. Silhouetted by the blazing backlighting, Ben and the two crazy guitarists made an inspiring sight.

FAKER/GRAFTON PRIMARY/VIOLENT SOHO @ ANU BAR PHOTOS BY NATHAN WEBSTER

The name Sonorcast sounds like a cross between a brand of drums and one of Fender’s guitar models. These funk rockers put on a vigorous show with danceable tunes and striking blend of female and male vocals. Lead vocalist Melissa-Jayne gave a hyperactive performance that was part interpretive dance, part aerobics session (including a cartwheel). She was keen to join the punters on the floor and boogied with the Sonorcast groupies in their band named t-shirts. All this activity soon warmed her up, and the furry boots and a couple of tops from her many-layered outfit were soon cast off. The cool, composed singing by Rab on keys and samples was a foil for Melissa-Jayne’s wild vocals. Just the thing to warm the blood on a cold winter’s night.

RORY MCCARTNEY

theredsunband/Sianna Lee @ ANU Bar, Wednesday June 25 Once upon a time, on an icy winter’s night in a magical land far, far away (okay, so the ANU Bar isn’t that far from Garran, I lie), a small but devoted throng of youngsters assembled to get their booze on and witness some stellar interstate musical talent.

First up was the lovely Ms Sianna Lee, frontwoman of the now on indefinite hiatus Melbourne band Love Outside Andromeda. Playing sans band on the first show of this nationwide tour clearly didn’t faze Lee, as she strummed her way through a number of tender ballads that had more than one audience member comparing her to the great English songstress PJ Harvey.

After a brief but intimate set, Ms Lee made way for the pint-sized powerhouse that is theredsunband (and no, that’s not a spelling mistake). Fronted by the sisters Kelly - with Sarah on guitar/vocals and Lizzie on keys - and assisted on drums by an aesthetically pleasing young lad named Jasper (for those unaware of their history, theredsunband seem to go through drummers as often as Amy Winehouse goes through lines of cocaine), the band launched into a set that was a non-stop assault on eardrums and nearby windows alike.

It’d be fair to say that theredsunband like a bit of distortion. It’d be even more accurate to say that they can’t get enough of the stuff! Their chunky riffs, droning synth-bass and crashing drums all combined to create a massive wall of sound that would have made even the most diehard Sonic Youth fan proud. And atop it all floated Sarah’s enchanting yet slightly deranged vocals. Though she may be small in stature, on some songs (such as the cover of Bill Callahan’s Bathysphere and epic closer Lonely Children from new album The Shiralee) it sounded as if she was channelling the raw emotion and tortured wailing not heard since Cat Power’s early material.

All comparisons aside, theredsunband are a truly talented group in their own right and thoroughly impressed all in attendance. A couple of happy snaps and a poster signing later, this reviewer went home and lived happily ever after.

JOSH BROWN Ivoj Nob @ The Greenroom, Friday July 4 What better way to celebrate the fourth of July than with a tribute to a red-blooded American band. Bon Jovi tribute band Ivoj Nob featured a number of well-known local musos, including Matt (the local champion of retro rock) from Renaissance playing the part of Jon Bon Jovi and a guitarist from Tonk acting as Richie Sambora. Ivoj Nob, with its five member line-up, portrayed Bon Jovi in its earlier years before the departure of Alec Such reduced the band to a quartet. The Greenroom stage was set up with a flash light show and regular showers of gold foil, to give us some of that ‘big arena’ feel.

Matt gave a bottler of a performance with his ability to draw out those long, screaming notes. It was a very creditable rendition of the voice and vibe of JBJ himself. Bon Jovi has transcended the period from the '80s to the 21st century well, with songs that urge fans to make the most of life. Matt’s passionate performance was reflected in the enthusiasm of the good-sized crowd, which sang along to every song. He was great on Bad Medicine and, going it solo on acoustic guitar, brilliant on the softer Ride Cowboy Ride. The two-part set list featured 23 songs, drawing on the hits from most of the band’s albums. Set highlights were Wanted Dead or Alive, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Livin' on a Prayer and Shot Through the Heart. I’ll bet the second show on Saturday night will be even better.

RORY McCARTNEY

THEREDSUNBAND @ ANU BAR - PHOTOS BY KLIPS

BMA BAND PROFILE

THE CHUFFS Where did your band name come from?

From the black birds (spelt Choughs) that you see wondering around in groups of about 13 whilst scavenging and bullying other birds. They also shit on your head. Trust me - I know from experience.

Group members: James Alderman - drums Pat O’Connor - bass Danny Roberts - lead guitar Glenn Elliott - rhythm guitar and vox Describe your sound: 1. Turn amplifiers up to 11.

2. Aim sticks at drums 3. Aim plectrums at bass and guitars.

4. Aim slobber and rock ‘n’ roll licence for bad diction at microphone.

5. GO! Who are your influences, musical or otherwise?

QOTSA, Celibate Rifles, Van Halen, Kyuss, X (R.I.P Ian Rilen), Spinal Tap, Coopers Pale Ale, Carlton Draught and Jim Beam (he’s a pretty cool dude and makes us laugh).

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst playing live?

I’d say when I was dry-retching/choking whilst singing. A bit of my hair had somehow gone down my throat. I was also playing guitar so I couldn’t pull it out. I could imagine someone in the audience seeing the look on my face and thinking “Wow, that guy’s fully sik.”

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

Recording Flambe, our brand new EP. It sounds farkin’ awesome.

And having it played on College Radio in the USA. Plus some of our achievements with the stacking of self-served food on plates at various bain maries around Canberra.

What are your plans for the future?

Getting off our behinds and taking The Chuffs to Melbourne and Sydney. And recording more songs.

What makes you laugh?

A deflated ego.

What pisses you off?

You. Us. Them. Everyone. Everything. We hate it all. We just hate. We Hate. Hate.

What’s your opinion of the local scene?

It’s great. Looking Glass, Penguin, Moh Van Wah, and Fistful of Nothing are some of our faves.

What are your upcoming gigs?

Friday July 18 at The Greenroom with Moh Van Wah and Using Three Words.

Contact info: www.myspace.com/thechuffs - www.thechuffs.com

FIRST CONTACT

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

Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Annie & the Armadillos Annette 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone singer/songwriter(guitar), sax & flute Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Kingswood Factory Sharon 0412 334 467 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Bastards Jamie 0424 857 282/ www.bastards.altpro.net Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Casual Projects Julian 0401 016 885 Catchpenny Nathan 0402 845 132 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 CD and Website Design Brendan 0404 042 574 Chuffs, The Glenn 0413 697 546 Cold Heart Projects Andrew 6294 5450 Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 087 833/colebennetts@gmail.com Colourful Racing Identities Josh 0410 135 605 Cool Weapon Luke 0410 983 450/ Josh 0412 863 019 Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Cumulonimbus Matt 0412 508 425 Dahahoo Rafe 0416 322 763 Dance With Amps Marcus 0421 691 332 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 DayTrippers, The Reidar 0414 808 677, daytrippers@grapevine.com.au (dp) New Media Artists Mal 0414 295 297 DOGACT dog-act@hotmail.com, Paulie 0408287672.

DJ & the Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/karismakatz@yahoo.com.au DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ/MC Bootcamp Donte 9267 3655 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Dubba Rukki Jim 0409 660 745 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com, myspace. com/easymodeband Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com EYE eye@canberra.teknet.net.au Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Dan 0410 480 321 FirePigs, The Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Guff Damian 6230 2767 HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096, Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650 Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884 Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 JDY Clothing 0405 648 288/ www.jdyclothing.com Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jennifer Versatile singer looking for band; 0422 158 362 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Kurt's Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Lenders, The Tim 6247 2076 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Capitanes Tim 0421 842 247 Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Malumba Dan 6253 5150 MC Kayo Marbilus 0405 648 288 kayo_101@hotmail.com, www.myspace. com/kayo_marbilus, Meatbee Ben 0417 492 560 Murder Meal Combo Anthony 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com Myriad Kath 6253 8318 MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus Neptune's Necklace Mark 6253 1048 No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Para 0402 277 007 Petra Elliott Petra 0410 290 660 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Queanbeyan Music & Electronics 6299 1020 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Roger Bone Band Andy 0413 483 758 Rob Mac Project, The Melinda 0400 405 537 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Sara Vancea Sara 6247 9899 Seditious Intent Toby 0419 971 547 Sindablok Duncan 0424 642 156 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Solid Gold Peter 0421 131 887/ solid.gold@live.com.au Stalker and Liife Darren 0413 229 049 strong like sam Luke 0423 762 812 Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 Taboo Bamboo Greg 0439 990 455 That ‘80s Band Ty 0417 265 013 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, 0413 609 832, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 TRS tripstate@hotmail.com Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Woden Youth Centre Jeremy 6282 3037 Zeitgeist www.zeitgeist.xwave Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

GIG GUIDE July 10 - 11 THURSDAY JULY 10

ARTS _____________ Drama Workshops Run by the Canberra Youth Theatre for 7-9 year olds. Until 11th July GORMAN HOUSE Clarinet Caravan Clarinet ensemble for adults and youth from 15yrs. Until 11th Dec AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Drumming and Percussion Classes Until 9th Dec. Info 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Electric Bass Guitar Classes For youth and adults, until 9th Dec. Info 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Flute Classes For youth and adults, until 10th Dec. Info 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Singing Group Classes For adults & college and students. Info 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE String Swing Adult ensemble for violin, viola and cello. Info 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Tarantella Guitar Ensemble for adults and youth from 15 years. Until 10th Dec AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Voyages Photographiques

By Michele Maurin, until 3rd Aug ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY Au Tour D’ un Verre

By Lydia Cheval, until 3rd Aug ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY Photographic Festival With Michele Maurin and Fleur de Henne. Until 3rd Aug ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY Visions of the Light 1992, film screening ARC CINEMA Icon and Archive Photography of the world wars, until the 12th Oct AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL Canberra Dance Theatre 30th Anniversary A spectacular celebration of the many forms of dance. Until 23rd Nov CANBERRA DANCE THATRE Jan Brown: Sculptures, Prints and Drawings Until 21st Sep CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

THURSDAY JULY 10 Pursing Up Check out Rea Harvey’s varied handbag collection CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY Partly Cloudy Day Paintings

By Prudence Flint. Until 27th July CHAPMAN GALLERY Fumed Oak & The Balls Up Comedy play. Until 26th July GALLERY CAFÉ, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA Exhibition by Michael Schiltz Until 13th July IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER GALLERY Milan Milojevic - New Work Until 20th July IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER GALLERY Holiday Screenprinting for Teenagers Until the 11th. $320 MEGALO PRINT STUDIO & GALLERY Indian Gallery In cluding recent additions to the collection NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA Advance Australia Fair?

Celebrate all things indigenous with NAIDOC Week. 'Til 13th July NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA Crossing - By Otis Williams A photographic exhibition as part of NAIDOC week PHOTOACCESS HUW DAVIES GALLERY Nije Crna (Not Black) Tim Brook and Ruth Hingston A free photographic exhibition PHOTOACCESS HUW DAVIES GALLERY Richard Larter Works from 1996 to 2003 SOLANDER GALLERY Music For People With Disabilities Info 6230 7190 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE Traces of Italy Until 15th Sept WATSON ARTS CENTRE

DANCE _____________ D’Opus Fresh from his launch of The Switch with local wag Roshambo KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Trash Thursdays ACADEMY Blast From The Past Tunes from the ’80s and ’90s MINQUE

THURSDAY JULY 10

FRIDAY JULY 11

LIVE _____________

DANCE _____________

TZU & Lowrider With special guests D'Opus & Roshambo. Free entry TRANSIT The Getaway Plan As part of their Where the City Meets the Sea Tour. With special guest Goodnight Nurse THE VENUE Heavy Metal from the ’70s to the ’00s BAR 32 Heuristic DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Bushido With Sleep Parade, 8pm, $10 THE GREENROOM Kremlin Live Performances by local musicians KREMLIN BAR Mace Francis Orchestra 8pm THE FOLKUS ROOM FRIDAY JULY 11

SPL (USA) Hard hitting D&B, jungle and dubstep breaks from America, with supports Dredd, Buick, Chils, Miss Universe, Kilojulz, Fourthstate, Centaspike and Twisted System. $15 on the door, from 9pm MERCURY BAR Ashley Feraude Spinning a soundtrack of soulful tunes as you sip your after work drinks. From 6-9pm BINARA ONE (CROWN PLAZA HOTEL) Frank Madrid KNIGHTSBRDIGE Souled Out Fridays R’n’Bakhtin with DJ Daz, Nate, Adam MINQUE Havana Nights Tropical rhythms and passionate dancing, 8:30pm MONKEY BAR Kim Starr From 5:30pm SOUL BAR After Work Beats With local sex nugget DJ Jemist TRANSIT BAR

ARTS _____________ Icon On Icon Iconic Photographs projected onto the Memorial’s Entrance.

Until the 13th July AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL Exhibition of Australian Landscapes Works of Ken Knight. Free BUNGENDORE WOODWORKS GALLERY Decade A photographic exhibition by Sonia Turner BUNGENDORE WOODWORKS GALLERY The Silver Light Curated by Julian Laffan, until 9th Aug MEGALO PRINT STUDIO & GALLERY Strike a Pose with Lee Lin Chin Free. Mondays to Sundays 9-5pm NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA Frank Madrid’s Adventures in Global Rhythm 5pm til late OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE Photo/ Not-Photo An exploration of trans-medium photography UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA Vivid National Photography Festival Info 6262 1534 VARIOUS VENUES

LIVE _____________ The Beards Songs about beards for people with beards. With the O’Hooligans and Handsome Young Strangers. $8, or $5 beard concession. No, seriously.

THE GREENROOM Casual Projects With Banawrun (QLD). Free TRANSIT BAR Rev Indie/alternative/rock/pop/ punk madness every Friday, $5 BAR 32 Live Cover Band Playing all your favourites in the cosy interior of the Durham DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Beccy Cole $25 GOULBURN SOLDIERS CLUB

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Lenny Henry - Where You From?

The UK's beloved funny man hits Canberra. 8pm, tix $75/69 from 6275 2700 CANBERRA THEATRE

GIG GUIDE July 12 - 23 Saturday JUly 12

ARTS _____________ Message Sticks Touring film 15+, 4:30pm ARC CINEMA The English Patient 1996 multiple Oscar winner, 7:30pm ARC CINEMA Resonant Sites With Low and Lone Starlie Geikie, from 6-8pm GORMAN HOUSE Drama Workshop 12yrs-adult, $40, 1pm-5pm GORMAN HOUSE Archibald Prize 2008 $2 gold coin, until 17th Aug GOULBURN REGIONAL ART GALLERY The Red Tree Australian Chamber Orchestra LLEWELLYN HALL Aiatsis 10am-4pm celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures NATIONAL MUSEUM Canberra Photographic Society Until the 31st of August STRATHNAIRN HOMESTEAD GALLERY

DANCE _____________ MFT 3 Hip-hop with Dazed & Flawlezz w/ Dj Mad Cow, Undertow and Rhyme Ministers. $5 MERCURY BAR Ivan Gough Of TV Rock fame, supported by Pred and Tim Galvin ACADEMY Ashley Feraude BINARA ONE, CROWN PLAZA HOTEL Jemist KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Jazz Sessions Smooth jazz and wine tastings from 2pm MINQUE Mark Dynamix With DJ Kiz, Tim Galvin and Trent Richardson MONKEY BAR

LIVE _____________ Casey Donovan and Jessica Mauboy From 7:30pm and 9:35pm respectively CANBERRA CONVENTION CENTRE

saturday JUly 12

monday JULY 14

wednesday july 16

Hell City Glamours Sporting their long-awaited debut album. Support from the Veebees and Stilton Detox. $10 THE GREENROOM The Return of Australian Kingswood Factory With The Toxicmen, The Hyenas, The Guests, Yoko Oh No! $10 THE BASEMENT Rockzone DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Jumbledat Ten piece hip-hop jazz fusion TRANSIT BAR Canberra Classical Guitar Society With Arnaldur Arnarson WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

ARTS _____________

ARTS _____________

Kaleidoscope Wind ensemble for adults and youth from 15 yrs. 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE Bastille Day Party 7pm, $10 ALLIANCE FRANCAISE Drama Workshops Until the 18th. By the beloved Canberra Youth Theatre GORMAN HOUSE Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Concert With Shelly Morris, $45; $40. 7pm JAMES FAIRFAX THEATRE Swing Dance For Beginners 6:30-7:30pm. Six week beginner course. Step up MCGREGOR HALL Picture Australia Image makers and curators in conversation. Free entry NATIONAL LIBRARY NIDA On Tour Short courses, Acting Techniques and Screen Acting until 18th July 12-15yrs & 9-11yrs WWW.NIDA.EDU.AU

Swing Dance For Beginners 6:30-7:30pm. 6 week beginner course. Get steppin' WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB, TURNER

DANCE _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

Hospitality, Retail, Backpackers et al Night With Mikah Freeman & guests TRANSIT BAR Tuesday JULY 15

Trivia Night From 7.30pm ACT RUGBY UNION CLUB Carry-On Karaoke From 9:30pm. $1000 grand prize DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Garema Place: Game of Skate 1st place $500. Get involved GAREMA PLACE Ballroom Dancing Titles From 11am, Adults: $18, Others: $5, Members: $5 GOULBURN SOLDIERS CLUB sunday JULY 13

ARTS _____________ Aerial Mater Class 12yrs-adult, 1pm-5pm, $50 GORMAN HOUSE Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu Concert With Shelly Morris, $45; $40. 7pm JAMES FAIRFAX THEATRE

DANCE _____________ Sunday Playground With Sydney's DJ Taras, plus Ashley Feraude and Rexy DJs MINQUE

LIVE _____________ Strung Out With No Use for a Name and Lamexcuse. Ticketek $40.70 ANU BAR Andrew Pekler With Shoeb Ahmad, $10, 8pm THE FRONT, LYNEHAM Even With The Spazzys and Tracy Redhead. From 8pm, free entry TRANSIT BAR

ARTS _____________ Swing Dance For Beginners 6:30-7:30pm. Six week beginner course. Get involved HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB, NARRABUNDAH

LIVE _____________ The Greens 2008 Campaign Concert With music from Fred Smith. $35/$25 conc call 02 6347 6305 THE STREET THEATRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia From 7pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR Carry-On Karaoke Win $1000. Yes, $1000 TRANSIT BAR

DANCE _____________ Caribbean Vibes Recharge for the last leg of the week, 8:30pm MONKEY BAR

LIVE _____________ Metalog Jim Denley, Amanda Stewart, Ben Byrne, Natasha Anderson, Robbie Avenaim, Dale Gorfinkel THE FRONT $5 Night Come try something new, drink what you like for $5!

TRANSIT BAR Lunchtime Live From 12:40pm WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Thursday July 17

ARTS _____________ Rewa Nolan Exposure PHOTOACCESS HUW DAVIES GALLERY

DANCE _____________ Trash Thursdays ACADEMY D’Opus Serving up some tasty beats and grooves for your listening pleasure DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Ashley Feraude KNIGHTSBRIDGE Blast From The Past Re-live your favourite tunes from the ’80s and ’90s MINQUE

thursday july 17

LIVE _____________ Gangbusters Dead Kitten Parade, Tomas Ford, Partybus and Burgerman, 9pm BAR 32 Damien Leith Dinner and show $80, show only $40 SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB, WODEN The Sunpilots With Using Three Words & Hancock Basement TRANSIT BAR friday july 18

ARTS _____________ Distance 665 Innovative aerial dance, 8pm GORMAN HOUSE

_____________ DANCE

Ashley Feraude Spinning a soundtrack of soulful tunes as you sip your after work drinks. From 6-9pm BINARA ONE (CROWN PLAZA HOTEL) Downtown Brown KNIGHTSBRDIGE Pang - Jamie Doom & Sampology $20, 10pm kick off LOT 33 Souled Out Fridays R’n’Bakhtin with DJ Daz, Nate, Adam MINQUE Bliss Supported by Adam Hole. From 6:30pm SOUL BAR After Work Drinks From 5pm, with Jemist TRANSIT BAR Cheese Retroevildoomish with Jemist and Pornstylus TRANSIT BAR Havana Nights Tropical rhythms, passionate dancing. From 8:30pm MONKEY BAR

LIVE _____________ Rev Indie/alternative/rock/pop/punk madness every Friday. $5 entry BAR 32

friday july 18 Rockzone DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Moh Van Wah Doors 8pm, 18+, $10 THE GREENROOM Live Evil A tribute to the career of Ronnie James Dio. $15, From 8pm THE BASEMENT

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Math Southon and Phil Edgeley $5 GOULBURN CLUB Goulburn Racing TAB Club Meet $7; $3 Conc GOULBURN RACECOURSE The Ballad of Mary Anne Brownlow Last woman hanged in Goulburn, until 27th LIEDER THEATRE CO. “Luil” Irish pub music style session OLD GOULBURN BREWERY saturday july 19

ARTS _____________ Redacted Brian De Palma's new feature on infantry platoons in the Iraq War. 18+, 7:30pm ARC CINEMA Message Sticks Touring as part of film NAIDOC week 15+, 4:30pm ARC CINEMA Mathinna From the Bangarra Dance Centre CANBERRA THEATRE La Boheme Booking 02 6275 2700 CANBERRA THEATRE Distance 665 Innovative aerial dance, 8pm GORMAN HOUSE Bastille Day Ball Celebrate French National Day, from 8pm NATIONAL PRESS CLUB Frank Madrid’s Adventures in Global Rhythm 5pm til late OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE NIDA On Tour Acting Intensive, Acting to Camera, Directing Intensive and TV Presenting Intensive until 20th July. Various ages, check website for details 16+yrs WWW.NIDA.EDU.AU

Saturday july 19

DANCE _____________ Ashley Feraude BINARA ONE, CROWN PLAZA HOTEL D’Opus KNIGHTSBRDIGE Pang Night With Random Soul and Michael O’Rourke. $15, 10pm LOT 33 Rockout Saturdays Rocking electro and massive tunes, from 8:30pm MONKEY BAR

LIVE _____________ Jazz Sessions With the James Lavfevre Quintet MINQUE Mr Lincoln DURHAM CASTLE ARMS The 3B’s Show Bee Gees, Beach Boys and Beatles. O yes GOULBURN WORKERS CLUB ACCA/DACCA The ultimate tribute to AC/DC. $25 THE BASEMENT Strangeways Snowman and Baseball Man TRANSIT BAR Sunday JULY 20

_____________ DANCE

Sunday Playground $3 Coronas and finger food MINQUE

LIVE _____________ Chairty Concert Benefiting L’Arche Genesaret Piano concert with Robert Schmidli WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Peter Combe and the Juicy Juicy Green Band Over 18 show, selling fast!

ANU BAR Peter Combe and the Juicy Juicy Green Band The Q, Matinee family show 3pm QUEANBEYAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE

Sunday July 20 Windellama Hall Monthly Markets & Exhibition 10am-2pm WINDELLAMA & OALLEN FORD ROADS MONDAY JULY 21

ARTS _____________ Kaleidoscope Wind ensemble for adults and youth from 15 yrs. Info by calling 6230 7190 AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE tuesday JULY 22

ARTS _____________ Drum Tao Sensational drumming spectacular CANBERRA THEATRE 25th St. Kilda Film Festival, 2008 Come and see the screening of the “Best of the Fest” DENDY CANBERRA Bougainville: Then and Now Exhibition opening, from 6pm UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia From 7pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR wednesday JULY 23

_____________ ARTS

The Role Model A comedy about ambition, dishonesty, greed, sex and the media. Tix 6247 1223 THE STREET THEATRE

_____________ DANCE

Caribbean Vibes MONKEY BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia Night From 7.30pm ACT RUGBY UNION CLUB Carry-On Karaoke From 9:30pm. $1000 grand prize DURHAM CASTLE ARMS

DVDEVOTEE

The Science of Sleep (Madman)

Joy Division A Documentary (Madman)

Classic Albums: The Doors (Eagle Eye Media/Destra)

The Science of Sleep is a film that examines the nature of dreams; what we dream of, and how that influences our waking lives. And while some may find this film frustrating (in particular the lead character Stephane), I found it to be charming and thought-provoking.

Writer and director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind, Rewind) has made another film about unrequited love that is, perhaps, more of a fantasy than anyone initially realises. Creative, shy, and withdrawn, Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal, he of The Motorcycle Diaries fame) returns to his childhood home after the death of his father, and meets his neighbour Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who has also just moved in.

While she has some of the same creative flair as Stephane, she is more reluctant to show it than he is. What Stephane lacks in confidence in the real world, he makes up for in dreams, and a gentle romance begins to blossom. Or does it? With the fourth wall of perception often broken down, and coupled with simple but lovely cinematic tricks, Gondry has made a film to fall in love with. The characters are wonderfully sympathetic, and though Stephane is a little weak, his attempts to woo Stephanie range from being hysterically sweet to incredibly sad. The support characters, most of whom work in the most uninteresting office in the world, are delightfully amusing and add to the dreamlike quality of the film, with Guy (Alan Chabat) being a particular stand-out. The Science of Sleep is worthy of repeat viewings, just to pick up the differences between the dreams and the waking world. At risk of sounding like a rose-tinted Hallmark card, this film is for those who dream of love, and those who love to dream. Extra features include a making of, theatrical trailer, and cast interviews.

Grant Gee’s Joy Division is, as it says on the cover - and indeed, in the title - a documentary. But it’s so much more than this; Rockumentaries have been done to death over the years since MTV first coined the phrase and, whilst the (all too short) 74 minute duration of the film is packed with historical fact, it also serves as several other things - not least of which is its excellence as an epitaph to vocalist Ian Curtis, whose suicide ended the band as they teetered on the verge of world domination. It also documents the resurgence of a city - Manchester - which, before the advent of punk in the mid-‘70s, had languished as a sort of cultural Marie Celeste, adrift in a sea of violent Northern English apathy and hopelessness (the footage of bomb sites and terraced housing here being eerily reminiscent of an episode of Life on Mars). Regular interview snippets with Manc culture guru Tony Wilson and former NME journalist Paul Morley really grease the storytelling wheels here, in a way which Anton Corbijn signally failed to do in his JD biopic Control - also recently committed to digital versatile disc - whilst the whole tone of the film, reverent but never toadying, is a breath of fresh air. Surviving members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Stephen Morris - who went on to form New Order a week after Curtis’s death - are given full time and sympathetic editing to tell their sides of the story, whilst a long-asyour-arm list of contemporary talking heads wax lyrical about what was very obviously a very special time and place for all concerned.

Add to this an excellent hour and a quarter of bonus interview footage and you’ve got a nice little package.

I never really got into The Doors. Jim Morrison’s vacant lothario preening, faux nihilistic primary school poetry and cadaver stage presence was a false start. Whilst presented as the anti-hippie band from down the coast, The Doors were designed for those merely wanting to flirt with Dante-esque slides into decadence. It was marketed as grimy, grungy and grotty - everything the sun and beach culture of LA wasn’t. That 20 years later the same stretch of the Sunset Strip cultivated the preening, empty, although immeasurably more enjoyable glam rock scene should not be forgotten. Having said that, the Classic Albums series doesn’t rely on a love of the band for guilty pleasures - especially if your taste runs to aging, balding recoding engineers dropping EQ levels and gleaming at the camera with murderous joy. I concede a case can be made that the propulsive, hopscotch guitar and keyboard riffage of Break on Through is a reasonable thrill and an amazing statement of intent for a debut album opening track. But the collective reminiscing made me wistful for a time when this music was received as innovative and zeitgeist stuff - not for the music itself but the scene that surrounded it. All the major players are represented here; Robby Krieger looking like a dried prune recently rescued from a bowl of brine, Ray Manzarek coming off like a terribly groovy English Lit professor rapping with the ‘kids’ and John Densmore stating with a clarity borne of first hand knowledge “self destruction and creativity are not always in the same package… you can’t just wear leather pants, drink and make it.” Take note [insert name of every up-and-coming rock band]. What is most rankling about this particular disc is the dismissive attitude displayed by some parties that The Doors weren’t about flower power, but personal power. It simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Mainly because it summarily ignores the work of anything north of LA and deceitfully overlooks the inane ramblings of Morrison, who in less lucid moments was prone to rave on like a self-involved grad student: to wit, the lolling, drug-addled indulgence of his song ‘explanations’, included here in all their foul glory - it’s the type of stuff that went unchecked for years until he checked out for good years later in Paris. This Dionysian dream was nothing but a morally bankrupt nightmare.

SCOTT ADAMS

GEOFF SETTY

"Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought tha noise."

Much like the next issue of BMA: The Herd, DMC Championships, Carpathian, The Gaslight Anthem, Matt Nugent and more.

Out July 24. Know your history.

JUSTIN HOOK