BMA Magazine 404 October 10 2012

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

BMA Magazine now used as toilet paper, makeshift weatherguards, flyswats and table mops by over 25,000 people.

#404OCTOBER10 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko

T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com

Advertising Manager Elisa Sko T: 6257 4360 E: sales@bmamag.com

Editor Ashley Thomson

T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com

Accounts Manager Yu Xie

T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Sub-Editor Greta Kite-Gilmour Graphic Design Marley Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 405 OUT OCTOBER 24 EDITORIAL DEADLINE OCTOBER 15 ADVERTISING DEADLINE OCTOBER 18 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.

10

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen: the 2012 Corinbank [Take 2] line-up in all its rejuvenated splendour. Appearing in a herculean assembly of regional and national solidarity from Friday November 30 to Sunday December 2 will be: Busby Marou, Dallas Frasca, The Barons of Tang, Cilla Jane, Heath Cullen, Jack Carty, Lucie Thorne, Amax, Beth n Ben, Big Score, Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Caity Sarah, Cracked Actor, D’Opus and Roshambo, Fun Machine, Hashemoto, James Fahy and his Trio, Julia & The Deep Sea Sirens, Matt Dent, Moochers Inc, One Foot in the Gravy, Pocket Fox, The Burley Griffin, The Ellis Collective, The Fuelers, Son of Rut and, last but certainly not least, Waterford. The festival is relying on support derived from its Pozible campaign (open until Tuesday October 16), donations to which will be rewarded with prizes as varied as a champagne breakfast with any of the Canberra bands on the line-up and campsite performances by Fun Machine, performers from The Bally, The Ellis Collective and others. Visit pozible.com/ Corinbank to get involved. Get your tickets now via corinbank. com and stay tuned for the performing arts program on Wednesday October 17. Finally, every local band on the line-up is performing pro bono. Good on all of you.

The Botanic Gardens’ Summer Sounds Series Seeks Songsters The Australian National Botanic Gardens are getting ready for their popular Summer Sounds Concert Series coming this

40% Reduction By 2020 Accepted As Carbon Emissions Target By ACT Labor And Greens ACT Labor and the ACT Greens are set to meet a 40% emissions reduction target while the Canberra Liberals have failed to yet produce a climate change policy. On Friday, all major parties responded to the Vote for your Climate election questionnaire, established by four community groups with an interest in addressing climate change. The ACT’s nationleading legislated emissions reduction target of 40% by 2020, along with the recent ACT Government announcement of 90% renewable energy to reach it, have national attention turned to the ACT election.

‘With 2012 set to be one of the hottest years on record and the worst melt of Arctic sea ice, it’s clear that we need urgent action. People want to see policies to tackle this problem,’ said spokesperson for the groups, Phoebe Howe of Canberra Loves 40%. All responses will be made public

at love40percent.org allowing voters to compare parties’ climate change policies for themselves.

Enlighten Accepting Expressions Of Interest For Architectural Projection Project The Electric Canvas will be back for Enlighten 2013 to work their projection magic and Events ACT is calling for expressions of interest from Canberran artists who would like to take on the challenge of developing imagery for this event. Artists from across the visual arts spectrum are encouraged to apply – graffiti art to textiles, graphic design to painting. Artwork which uses strong colour and incorporates light is most effective in the projection context. For a full artist’s brief and details on how to submit an expression of interest, visit the website at enlightencanberra.com.au/ event-info/expression-ofinterest. Applications close at 2pm, Friday October 26.

Local John Burgess And Orbis Tertius Finalists In Int’l Space Time Concerto Competition Congratulations to John Burgess, graduate of ANU School of Music and bassist, and Orbis Tertius, ACT progelectro four-piece, who have both become finalists in the Innovation category of global initiative, the International Space Time Concerto Competition. Burgess’ concerto, Concierto de Aranjuez, and Orbis Tertius’ Trial of the Ignorant Truth will be performed live on Sunday December 2 in the Newcastle Conservatorium, tickets available through Ticketek. Good luck! And don’t lose or we’ll disown you, love BMA and your families.

Commonly believed to refer to carbon emissions, the 40% is actually a reference to Canberra’s shrinking white majority.

Corinbank [Take 2] Line-Up Unveiled!

January. Held every Saturday and Sunday evening throughout January, Summer Sounds give Canberrans and their visiting friends and relatives an opportunity to get together, relax and enjoy a summer’s evening with some fantastic live entertainment in the beautiful surrounds of the Eucalypt Lawn. If your jazz, latin, reggae, brass, blues, rockabilly or folk band are looking for some local exposure and are keen to join the 2013 Summer Sounds line-up, send your bio and demo to the Public Programs Officer, Australian National Botanic Gardens, GPO Box 1777 Canberra ACT 2601 or email visitorcentre@anbg.gov.au no later than Monday October 15.

FROM THE BOSSMAN ‘I’d just like to apologise for my remarks. It’s funny, because most of my best friends are gay...’ ...Or black, or Asian, or reverse-magni-sexual, or whatever set of society a celebrity has managed to aggravate with their latest overheard conversation.

Yes, we’ve all heard the ‘some of my best friends are...’ line trotted out in celebrity apologies again and again, and with increasing regularity. Considering the Orwellian nature of social media and handheld recording devices (read: smart phones) with the ability to snare a snippet of conversation in previously thought to be safe locales such as the back of a taxi - this is hardly a surprise. Tracy Morgan, Jason Alexander, Paris Hilton and - everybody’s favourite pompous petrol pourer - Alan Jones have all been lambasted and vilified recently for poorly chosen remarks, and many of them have cowered behind the ‘some of my best friends are...’ shield.

It’s an amusing notion to consider... ‘As I have formed close personal ties with someone of this race/sexual orientation, this surely demonstrates that I have looked past their grotesquely amusing features and into their soul, thus illustrating that my remark about rounding up and killing all the bongo-slapping noodle-slurping limp-wristed nerf herders was meant as mere light-hearted jest and should not in any way be perceived as offensive or heartless.’

A refreshing approach to the celebrity apology - whilst simultaneously being completely erroneous - would be to take the process in the opposite direction, swapping the desperate fishing-out of a suitable friend with a flat out plea of good oldfashioned ignorance. Like so:

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

To the school kid cunts on bicycles that let my rescued RSPCA mastiff cross off his lead and kicked him (yes…literally) around the dickson shops while i was out of town and my girlfriend was shopping, you pissed me off. You all deserve to burn in the deepest levels of hell, and when i find out who you are, ill be sending you there in fucking pieces. Animal abuse is vile, and to abuse someone else’s pet isn’t any retribution for the assfuckings your father probably dished out to you as a child. See you boys real soon.

To the person tagging up Turner by scrawling ‘Inner city apartment wont buy you happiness’ on apartment walls and writing ‘People are’ before the For Sale signs. It’s hard to know whether to submit this to You Pissed Me Off or You Made My Day, you amusingly sad little wretch. I’m all for a bit of antiestablishment, but you’re painting on someone’s else home, you fucking douchebag. You’re like a 16-year-old with the brains of a 12-year-old. Put down the spraycan, get a fucking job, then maybe you’ll spend less time being angry and more time being able to afford the things you’re so pissed about not having. Or just have a fucking wank and calm down. You Made My Pissed Off Day!

‘I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for my comments. You see, I have absolutely no friends of this race/sexual orientation whatsoever and so am completely disconnected with their struggles. From here I pledge to befriend one of their kind and learn more about their peoples, their culture and way of life so I may better hone the level of my insult, and have something to hide behind when the inevitable media shitstorm descends.’

While there is no place for hate-filled comments - celebrating a Prime Minister’s death or accusing homosexuals of being a bit AIDS-y (as some celebrities have) is over-egging the pudding to the point of it being a fucking omelette - on the other hand (as alluded to in a recent column) people can get offended a little too easily and tend to go seeking something to be offended about.

If technology keeps at this pace, we will soon be able to peer into celebrity brains in true Thought Police fashion to hunt down for every trace of offensive thinking in their lives so we can positively lather ourselves in a bath of daily outrage.

The lines of what’s genuinely offensive versus harmless fun are extremely blurred and always will be. Pushing the boundaries is what makes comedy such an exciting art form. But dialing down the hate (comment) and outrage (reaction) in equal measure would help. Without being able to tweak at each others’ foibles and lovingly prod at each others’ differences, the binding power of comedy will never be allowed to take place. But if even thickskinned folk find comments hurtful, then it’s probably taken it too far. How far is too far? Heck I don’t know, you stupid cracker.

I would like to end this column by apologising for my cracker comments. It’s funny, some of my best friends are crackers...

ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

11

12

WHO: Microwave Jenny WHAT: EP Tour WHEN: Wed Oct 10 WHERE: The Front GALLERY AND Café

Coinciding with the release of new single, You, Me, Backseat, Central Coast locals Microwave Jenny have hit the road, showcasing songs from their brand new EP, Chasing You. Husband/wife duo Tessa and Brendon Boney kicked off 2012 with a daringly original web-based touring concept, ‘Who Wants Microwave Jenny to Play at Their House? !’ with an overwhelming response that resulted in performances in 20 houses over six states. Such reception was a wake-up call fuelling the tour of their blend of ‘pop, folk and love’. The fact that their name is derived from the Aussie cult classic The Castle only adds to the band’s appeal. 8pm. $15 + bf presales, $18 door.

WHO: The Last Prom WHAT: The Last Prom Presents ‘War’ WHEN: Sat Oct 13 WHERE: The Front GALLERY AND Café

The Front is preparing to embrace a nightmarish high school dance – with an apocalyptic twist. The story concept for each Last Prom show is as follows: The Antichrist and The Four Horsemen have banded together to end the world. Since the Antichrist is a fixated pop music fan and a hopeless romantic (clearly), he has recreated the Horsemen into a pop band and incorporated the world-ending ritual into his idea of the ultimate life-affirming experience; the high-school dance.

Sounds logical enough. Dress to the twin themes of Prom Night and War for a night of swoony pop and OTT theatrics. 8pm. $10. With The Sin Birds, Handsome Luke, Dead DJ Joke. See thelastprom.com.

WHO: KOOII WHAT: EP Release Tour WHEN: Sun Oct 14 WHERE: Honkytonks

After ten years of blowing away audiences with their superbly crafted beats, KOOII are on the road with a swag of new tunes from their latest four-track EP, Call Out, and they’re ready to open hearts. The Brisbane-based seven-piece deliver a dynamic live show made for dancing, delving from the hypnotic depths of Reggae rhythms into Afrobeat grooves via some Malian desert blues.

The understanding shared by these talented musicians allows for colourful improvisation, resulting in free-flowing music that leaves audiences glowing. Perfect with a tasty cup of Sangria on a balmy Sunday arvo. Doors from 3pm. Free. Band details at kooiimusic.com.

WHO: The Woohoo Revue WHAT: Live Gypsy Jazz WHEN: Fri Oct 18 WHERE: The White Eagle Polish Club

Being described as everything from ‘Balkan gypsy brass’ to ‘a soundtrack for Looney Tunes’ with the odd comparison to Johnny Depp, there really are no parallels to the The Woohoo Revue. A high-octane sextet of horns, strings and drums, The Revue have forged a reputation as festival favourites with an adrenalin-fuelled celebration fit for dancing, drinking and ignoring tomorrow. Their fiery compositions and virtuosic musicianship are an occasion, transporting the listener to ‘a rampaging after-party at a circus sideshow in a palatial ballroom’. Prayers = answered. With NYASH! 7:30pm. $15 + bf presale, $20 door.

WHO: Gilded WHAT: Abstraktions 4 WHEN: Sat Oct 20 WHERE: The Street Theatre

Australian experimental/ambient duo Gilded are set to showcase their debut album, Terrane. Gilded brings together the similar but distinct musical directions of Matt Rösner and Adam Trainer, who forge a new approach to composition and sound creation that is based as much around rhythm and repetition as it is around drone and abstraction. Terrane describes a geological formation that has become dislocated from its original position and sutured onto a new landscape. The compositions strike at the heart, reflecting quietude punctuated by the uplifting and revelatory. With Mornings. 8pm. $10 through thestreet.org.au or (02) 6247 1223.

WHO: Hat Fitz & Cara WHAT: Album launch WHEN: Thu Oct 25 WHERE: Harmonie German Club

Following an extensive tour of Britain, Hat Fitz and Cara are looking forward to introducing home crowds to their wonderful Wiley Ways when they return to Australia. Contrary to what the title may suggest, their recent album showcases a harmonious affair which is nothing other than honest and revelatory. Produced by Aussie guitar maestro Jeff Lang, with a ‘sought-after sound’ created by banging bed pans and packing cigarette box pedals into old leather glad-bags, Canberra’s crowds are in for a treat with the launch of the lovingly moulded album. 8pm. $20. For more details contact the venue at (02) 6295 9853.

Lauren strickland ‘Actually, can we make this a meeting too?’ Festival producer David Caffery leans across the café table to curator Bec Chandler and begins listing issues that have popped up in the last 24 hours: artists that have backed out (‘Street artists are so elusive,’ he sighs), new artists who have come forward, ideas that came to him in the middle of the night. With only a few weeks left on the clock and 100 or more artists to wrangle, David and Bec sure have their hands full. This is the ART, NOT APART festival coming to life.

There are three art exhibitions running: Model Citizen, Draw That Beast and a show from internationally renowned photography collective Oculi called Life As Art; these pop-up exhibitions will occupy two hotel lofts and transform an office building’s lobby. (That the Model Citizen exhibition in part critiques the traditional spaces art is thought to fit in – like galleries or museums – is particularly apt.)

Then there’s the pop-up cinema, offering the best of the Canberra Short Film Festival and free popcorn, the organic food markets, the locally-designed clothing stalls and the Suitcase Rummage – a market in microcosm where the seller’s luggage doubles as a stall. Bec enthusiastically points out the focus on handmade and vintage items, on the locally grown and healthy food, culture and art. Dave agrees: ‘I think it’s really important to have a local art focus with occasional national and international artists who influence [and] bring a different perspective. We organisers have travelled a lot and there’s a lot of international influence on what we’re trying to do here and I think it’s really important to bring that to Canberra as well.’

It’s all an experiment, but I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes

‘The idea of the festival starts on a pun,’ Bec says, ‘but it’s sort of letting in ideas of all different arts and what people see as creative endeavours; we have been pretty much open. There are things that have stretched my idea of what is art.’ Listening to them describe it, the festival as they see it sounds more like a street party – albeit an enormously quirky street party – than an art exhibition.

‘There’s an amazing body painter coming up from Melbourne,’ Dave gushes. ‘She takes body painting far beyond kids’ fairs.

[She’s] turning the body into an artwork. On the day of the festival, we’ll have contemporary dancers, circus performers and musicians roaming around and they’ll all be body painted.

Actually the circus performers are going to be a little highlight,’ Dave grins as he outlines their secret plan to have the circus performers disguised as they wander the festival’s laneways, surprising onlookers with spontaneous bursts of juggling. With everything from cigar boxes to spraypaint, it’s easy to see the philosophy behind Art, Not Apart is anything goes.

‘Anything that’s passion-driven,’ Dave corrects. ‘As long as its not commercially motivate. We’re not an arts market; we don’t want people to come here to make money, we want them to explore their own artworks.’

Unfurling a massive map of the NewActon precinct, Bec and Dave walk me through the plan for the day of the festival. A central, 360-degree stage allows festival goers to view the eclectic music from all angles, while forcing the bands to fully engage with their audience. The lineup, deliberately and carefully built, includes improvisational funk band Goji Berry Jam, jazz-funk collective NYASH!, and, as Dave puts it, ‘a quite psychedelic cellist from the Canberra Symphony Orchestra who’s putting together a small ensemble to play with loop pedals and to blur the boundaries of classical and jazz.’ All this will culminate in a performance by dub-electronica-jazz musician Hypnagog.

‘We found last March that people would come and they might come to see the classical music – but then there’d be spraypainting happening at the same time. But they’d be more open [to see the spraypainting as art] because they see this common thread of passion tying all the art together. And by the end of the festival... people will be more open to those sorts of new things that they haven’t experienced before.’

14

Art, Not Apart is (as the name suggests) all about the connection between art and everyday life. The experimental, sprawling scope of the festival is a product of this philosophy.

‘There’s no fourth wall and there’s no division between the observer and the artist,’ says Dave. ‘One of the things that the festival unveils is the making of the art. I’m a bit tired of going to exhibitions where everything’s static and finished.’

‘It’s such a closed thing,’ Bec agrees. ‘You don’t get to meet the artist, you don’t get to talk to them about the creative process. This is about sharing that.’ Dave continues: ‘We think engagement with the artist will affect the art.’ Many of the major exhibitors finish their pieces under the festival audience’s watchful eye – from abstract painter Natalie Mather to Allen Geddes, with his life-size robot and life-size origami projects, to a collective of gold and silversmiths meticulously producing tiny watch cogs. Dave and Bec have also arranged for artists to create along with the musical performances, using everything from spraypaint to duct tape to create their works.

‘I think Art, Not Apart shows how art connects to our wider lives and [asks] where is the boundary where art stops,’ Dave muses. ‘I’d like to think that this festival shows that it doesn’t really stop.’ The festival best lives up to this goal with it’s plans for an interactive and artistic kids’ section – a jumping castle, playable musical sculptures and a plaster artist who will be inviting kids to contribute to her installation.

‘It’s all an experiment,’ admits Dave. ‘But I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes.’

Art, Not Apart is on Saturday 27 October, 1pm-7pm, in the NewActon precinct. See newacton.com.au/ana for more details.

The event is free!

LOCALITY

Bla bla bla clever intro. Tomorrow night, Thursday October 11, local playwright David Temme’s play, Our Shadows Pass Only Once, opens at The Street Theatre. The product of three years’ work, the play opens at 8pm and runs over the following fortnight. See thestreet. org.au for info and tickets and turn to page 30 for our interview with Temme and director Andrew Holmes.

Local apocalyptic supergroup The Last Prom are bringing ‘War’ to The Front Gallery and Café at 7:30pm on Saturday October 13.

Supported by Handsome Luke, The Sinbirds and Dead DJ Joke, tickets are $10 on the door so dress warry or apocalypsy and punch on. The following day, Sunday October 14, The Living Green Festival at Albert Hall will be running from 10am-4pm. Having grown enormously, the festival will showcase live music, sustainable foods, educational talks, free yoga, workshops, a children’s play area with activities, cooking demonstrations, sustainable businesses and much more. And it’s all completely free, not-for-profit and volunteerrun. Turn to page 36 for our interview with organiser Jessica Ferry.

One of the more interesting album launches this year will take place on Wednesday October 17, 8pm, at The Front. Fats Homicide will play a live soundtrack to two Luc Besson films, Le Denier Combat and The Last Battle. It’s $10 on the door. Like a stack of pancakes with a discounted film ticket but with jazz instead of pancakes. ExDAAS member Tim Ferguson will bring his solo show to Canberra Theatre the following two nights, Thu-Fri October 18-19. Turn to page 37 for our interview with the man himself but the basics are: 8pm, $49.80 + bf through canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

If you made it to this year’s National Folk Festival and saw The Woohoo Revue, chances are you won’t mind seeing them again.

Who doesn’t enjoy seeing an impish brunette in a corset charge into a seated audience waving a fluorescent violin? Hypochondriacs.

Thanks to Canberra Musician’s Club, they’re playing The White Eagle Polish Club, Turner, on Thursday October 18 from 8pm with NYASH! And the CMC are continuing their run at the Polish Club on Friday October 19 with No Hausfrau’s EP launch from 8pm.

(Also, I’ve never seen The Aston Shuffle but apparently they come from here and people like them so if you weren’t aware that they’re playing Academy the same night, now you are.)

Saturday October 20 provides quietude and depravity in equal measure, like a kid who masturbates furiously but only when sleeping. hellosQuare’s Abstraktions 4 at The Street Theatre has brought experimental Perth duo Gilded to town with locals Mornings, providing the quietude from 8pm for $10. And The Clubhouse have brought favourites Doctor Werewolf back to town and backed them up with Ben Penfold, Key Seismic, Logic and MRNP for the depravity from 10pm for $20. And whichever you attend, Los Chavos offer the perfect hangover material from midday on Sunday October 21, hosting an eight-hour Argentinian BBQ at The Front to raise money for a coming release.

And that’s everything local I care about.

ASHLEY THOMSON - editorial@bmamag.com

15

YOU MADE MY DAY!

Email editorial@bmamag.com to send a message of gratitude, warmth and generosity to the world at large. AWWW. To my friendly, genuinely caring and honest travel agent: Thanks for your extensive guidance and advice re. the destination to which I’ll be travelling, but, more importantly, the manner with which you delivered it. Far beyond simply providing the standard, run-of-the-mill safety, insurance, visa etc. diatribe included within your occupational responsibilities, you engaged with me on a personable, honest and, quite simply, human level which I seem to experience increasingly less from retailers and customer service employees across the board. Rather than simply going through the motions like some soulless postOrwellian borderline-robotic worker drone, you candidly shared with me some eye-opening and incredibly moving personal stories, which have been far more useful to me than the contents of any kind of automated, generalised safety travel brochure.

More valuable than anything, however, was the reminder that there are still people out there who endeavour to break the profit-driven, budget-based, mechanical retailer-consumer ‘relationship’. You treated me like a warm-blooded, conscious and equal individual – for that I truly do thank you.

ALL AGES Hey folks. I don’t know about you, but I’m currently on holidays and that means plunging headfirst into a fantasy movie frenzy and pretending that I’m Legolas drawing back my arrow of awesomeness. Or Arwen, who Aragorn conveniently loves. All I had to do next was find some jokes to fit my mood and a column that needed Lord Of The Ringification.

The LIFT OFF music competition and festival is back again, so think of your band like the Fellowship Of The Sing and think of winning the comp as destroying the ring at Mordor. Except instead of ending up at Mount Doom, you end up with recording sessions, a professional photo shoot, website design and advertising in BMA. There will be three heats to decide the winning band. The first two heats will be held on Friday November 2 and Saturday November 3 at the Woden Youth Centre. The finals and festival will be held on Saturday November 10 at Eddison Park in Woden where House vs.

Hurricane will be headlining. Registrations close on Friday October 12. For updates and registration forms see their Facebook page: facebook.com/liftofffestivalcanberra.

It would be very orcward if you knew that The Woohoo Revue were playing at the White Eagle Polish Club on Thursday October 18 and you still didn’t go. Anyone who saw them live at the folkie earlier this year raved about them and we’re absolutely Galadriel that they were there. The gig starts at 7:30pm and is $15 at the door.

Instead of taking the hobbits to Isengard, take them to Southern Cross Stadium in Tuggeranong to watch two local Roller Derby teams battle it out with The Surly Griffins Vs. The Brindabelters on Saturday October 20. Just don’t let Frodo in the skating ring; he’s bound to destroy it. Doors will open at 5pm for a 6pm start. Tickets are $11.75 + bf and can be bought online at Oztix.

What’s that you say? Gimli some tickets to Hot Chelle Rae? Just make sure you’re free on Sunday October 28 when they play at The Royal Theatre. They’re supported by Cher Lloyd. Tickets are $89.90 +bf and can be bought online or by calling Ticketek on 13 28 49.

You shall not pass ‘coz you’re under 18. Just kidding, come to the Tuggeranong Youth Centre on Sunday November 4 to see Touche Amore and Make Do And Mend. The gig goes from 6:30pm-10pm.

Tickets are $35 + bf and can be bought online at Moshtix.

One does not simply walk into a game of Roller Derby. One must skate. Don’t miss Roller Derby Xtreme, the touring Roller Derby tournament from America. They play at the AIS Arena on Sunday November 25. Tickets start from $64 + bf and can be bought online or by calling Ticketek.

You are Sam and Parkway Drive is your Frodo, so don’t you dare leave him. I know you don’t mean to. They will be playing at the UC Refectory on Sunday December 16. They’re supported by I Killed The Prom Queen, Northlane and Survival. Tickets cost $45.90 + bf through Ticketek.

I’m out – but before I go, I’d like to say, ‘high five!’ Oh, Frodo? I’m so Saruman. High four?

ANDIE EGAN allagescolumn@gmail.com

16

RADIO KILLED THE RADIO STAR

JUSTIN HOOK

RICHARD CLAPTON’s literate songwriting has always been out of step with the crowd. That hasn’t stopped the hits rolling – Girls on The Avenue, Capricorn Dancer and Deep Waters still sound as fresh now as they did decades ago. Take 1977’s wry Down in the Lucky Country: ‘We’re doing fine in the lucky country/ Doing alright ‘cos we’re making money.’ In a nation where rich mining plutocrats dictate public policy, these lyrics are remarkably prescient.

There used to be a time when you could hear this stuff on the radio all the time. Not anymore, says Clapton. ‘I learnt a few days ago that no radio station in Australia played one track from the new Springsteen album. Shit, I saw Springsteen sell out six entertainment centres. I have to ask the questions: Does radio really know what they’re doing?

Do they know who’s out there? I’m being told there are a lot of young people in radio who do no research whatsoever. They only play what they like when they go out clubbing with their friends. It’s a tragic situation. Back then you could have Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Little Feat who could sit comfortably against Flock of Seagulls. I don’t understand at all now, it’s just rubbish.’

I think I speak for all my contemporaries when I say we’ve got work coming out of our arses

Clapton sees his most recent album, Harlequin Nights, as a bookend to 1977’s Goodnight Tiger and, in the 35 years between, the nature of the industry has changed irretrievably. From Clapton’s perspective, ‘I’m not a celebrity type of person, so in 2012 it’s a weird world for me. All these people who are literally dying to be celebrities and will do anything to be one, I just abhor that whole system.’

It’s hard to underestimate the power of music television back in that era; ABC’s Countdown was a virtual arbiter of national music tastes.

Clapton knew how to play the system, but history with the show was rocky. ‘I used to get in a lot of trouble in the ‘70s with Countdown and the pop shows because I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t play Randy Newman. He had a number one single on the charts (Short People) but they wouldn’t touch it.’

This might all sound like the weary despair of an aging fighter. Make no mistake; he’s a fighter, but he’s far from complacent. ‘I can’t but help that a lot of pop artists from the old days are trying to make comebacks and it just doesn’t work for them. There’s sort of a posse of us – Ian Moss, James Reyne – and we’re out there still. Not just treading the boards, we’re earning a good living and I think I speak for all my contemporaries when I say we’ve got work coming out of our arses. We’ll never be unemployed.’ And besides, those songs mentioned above still get a pretty decent run on radio despite the narrowcasting. ‘I know. It’s good for my APRA statements.’

Richard Clapton brings his Australian tour to Canberra’s Thoroughbred Park on Friday October 19. Tickets/times TBA.

17

GREAT SOUTHERN SOUNDS julia winterflood KATIE NOONAN is arguably Australia’s greatest music superwoman.

You name ‘em and she’s probably collab’d with ‘em. Pick a style and chances are she’s nailed it and nabbed an ARIA along the way.

On the day of our conversation her latest endeavour, Songs for the Southern Skies – a unique exploration of Oz and NZ songs performed with illustrious classical guitarist KARIN SCHAUPP – was nominated for two: Best Adult Contemporary and Best Independent. ‘It’s the first independent full length album I’ve made and produced so it’s pretty awesome it was nominated straight away,’ Katie enthused.

The whole “genre” thing I’ve just never understood; It’s all music and it’s all connecting

Songs for the Southern Skies is a very different creature, musically and anthropologically, and its timbres, colours, textures and histories are what make it so. Katie and Karin’s list of collaborators is incomparable. Nowhere else would you find Chris Cheney’s fret work on the same album as Maori woman Whirimako Black’s booming, earthy tones and Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu’s spectral strains. Explained Katie, ‘I literally just formed a wish list and everyone very graciously wanted to be involved. I wanted the list to be diverse, to reflect the diversity of what we’re celebrating.’

Just as Katie has never limited herself to one style, the album embraces classical, pop, jazz and traditional folk. Throughout them all Karin’s skilful guitar resounds.

‘When working with a classical, non-improvising musician it was good to have an envelope to wrap everything up in thematically and really celebrate all that’s great about the music we make here and in New Zealand,’ said Katie lovingly. ‘But the main thing was to really rediscover the songs in new arrangements – particularly for the guitar. We had some amazing composers and arrangers who know Karin’s playing very well. And obviously she’s a brilliant and virtuosic guitarist with a huge vernacular at her disposal.’

The songs themselves could hardly be considered a ‘standard’ Australian and New Zealand collection either; Nick Cave’s Into My Arms and Gotye’s Heart’s a Mess are nestled alongside lesser known tracks by Icehouse, Bic Runga and The Easybeats. Neil Finn and Split Enz feature, naturally, but the diversity of song choices is yet another testament to Katie’s genre defiance. ‘The whole “genre” thing I’ve just never understood; I’ve just never thought that way.

Often people call me a jazz singer, but I genuinely don’t think I am. It’s all music and it’s all communication and it’s all connecting, whether it be with someone who’s incredibly virtuosic in a classical sense – like Karin – or whether it be with someone who is completely instinctive, like Geoffrey Gurrumul. They all have things to teach me and bring out different qualities in my sound. I love that challenge.’

18

Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp appear twice, on Saturday October 13 at 8pm and Sunday October 14 at 6pm, at The Street Theatre. Tickets are $39/$37/$29. Bookings: thestreet.org.au or (02) 6247 1223.

We just wanted to do what we could and what we can provide is a good meal and a drink

THE WAY TO A MUSICIAN’S HEART

zoya Patel

Have you ever wanted to sing for your supper? Or, at the very least, do you consider your musical abilities to be worthy of a good meal and a drink? Well, you’re in luck: Wednesday nights at The George Harcourt Inn have become SING FOR YOUR SUPPER nights. Musicians are invited to drop by, sing or play a tune or two and are rewarded with a calming beverage and a hearty meal for their troubles.

be mad not to try it. You don’t have to book in to Sing For Your Supper either – though you are also welcome to – just show up and get on stage. Chenoeh mentions that playing live is a good way to get your career started. ‘We had an open mic night here years ago and it went really well. We used to have people who played like Tom Woodward, Rafe Morris and Ben Drysdale and all those people are doing really well now!’

As well as Sing For Your Supper, Chenoeh has big plans for The George this summer, with the annual Georgfest coming up on Saturday November 10. Running from 12pm to 12am, Georgfest boasts two stages, five bars and non-stop music. ‘We also have a kids’ area every year, so we have jumping castles and face-painting and people can bring their picnic rugs and set up.’ Sound pretty idyllic.

If you’re keen to play at a Sing For Your Supper night, you can book ahead by contacting Chenoeh on 0406 354 055.

I caught up with The George’s Functions and Events Coordinator, Chenoeh Miller, to talk about their plans for music at The George over the summer.

Sing For Your Supper is Chenoeh’s baby, though she won’t take credit for the idea, admitting, ‘It was actually my mum’s idea.’ Chenoeh’s parents own The George Harcourt and the family have been keen to get live music happening more frequently.

Paying artists is something she really cares about, but it isn’t always as easy as counting fifties out of a till. ‘There’s not always a lot of funding around for music and although [paying musicians] is something we want to do and try to do, we just wanted to do what we could and what we can provide is a good meal and a drink to settle the nerves if necessary!’

The George does pay musicians on their Sunday afternoon slot and Chenoeh says that playing at a Sing For Your Supper night is a good way to land a paid gig.

‘It’s a great opportunity for us to hear people that may be new and up-and-coming who we haven’t heard before. And if we like them enough, we’ve got the Sunday afternoon slot, so we’ll pop them in there for a couple of hours and it’ll turn into a paid gig.’

Free food and the chance to get real money for your music – you’d

19

greta kite-gilmour Catching BEN HARPER on a particularly demanding morning of back-to-back interviews and associated occupational pandemonium, his cheery description of the day’s proceedings as ‘extra special’ perfectly encapsulated an unwavering optimism that tangibly interlaced each of the heartfelt and passionate words which ensued. A quality evident both lyrically and thematically within each of his 11 studio albums, his upcoming retrospective compilation, By My Side, is the first for which this positivity forms the very foundations.

‘By My Side just came together once we had a direction,’ Ben recalled. ‘When [we decided] it was going to be ballads, I ran with optimistic ballads, with songs like Forever, Gold to Me and Beloved One.’ This career-spanning odic collection will be Ben’s first release since 2011’s Give ‘Til it’s Gone – a title revelatory of another of his personal maxims. ‘Give ‘Til it’s Gone was a statement that I recognised as being something to live by for myself,’ explained Ben. ‘You know, you just gotta give and give... and if you’re lucky you can give ‘til it’s gone. I figure you’ve got to measure someone by what they give rather than what they’ve made anyway.’

I’m just looking to go deeper into the well that I’ve already dug and prevent it from becoming a grave

In a manner suitably consistent with this humble adage, Ben was reluctant to elaborate upon having declared this album his best yet. ‘I don’t know, I think it’s ridiculous for a musician to critique their own work – or any artist for that matter. I think it’s very unbecoming and unflattering, so I’ll restrain.’

Acknowledging that such behaviour may simply be a product of the human condition, he nevertheless persisted, ‘Being a human being isn’t an excuse for sounding ridiculous.’

Having released each of his previous albums through Virgin,

By My Side will see the cessation of his long-running affiliation with the label. However, Ben wasted no time in settling into a new family of record stampers, with an impending album already produced on Concord – a collaboration Ben described with audible excitement.

‘I made a blues record [Get Up] with one of the greatest blues musician of all time, Charlie Musselwhite! It’s coming out next January.’ Bubbling with boyish glee, he added, ‘It’s the best music I’ve been a part of in a long, long time – so fun! I can’t wait to dig in and get at it with him next year.’

It seems blues isn’t the only genre Ben has recently added to the rich musical diversity showcased across his discography. ‘I just did a project with Leonard Hubbard, bass player from The Roots, and it pushed me out into some unchartered territory –

20

the RnB realm. It was really fun! It took me by surprise; it caught me off-guard and challenged my instincts. And by challenging my instincts, it sort of brought some new instinct to me. It was a great time.’

While remaining open to future musical experimentation (though quick to admit, ‘I’m not as brave as Neil Young!’), it seems Ben’s current focus lies elsewhere. ‘I dunno, at this point I just look forward to touring. This tour is inspiring so much songwriting. I’m having the greatest time of my life touring on my own. It’s inspiring songs that I’d never have imagined to have come out, in different ways. So right now, I think I’m where I’m supposed to be. I don’t really want to have to reinvent the wheel at this stage.’ Hastily, he added, ‘Not that I’m comfortable all of a sudden – ‘cos I’m not – but I’m just looking to go deeper into the well that I’ve already dug and prevent it from becoming a grave.’

Another first for the musician, Ben’s upcoming Australian tour will be an intimate, entirely solo and predominantly acoustic performance. Audiences are in for a show which is set to feature some less-than-obvious song choices. ‘I’m bringing out new songs to the stage that are seemingly going very well.

I’m approaching songs that no one should. Like, no one should ever play Hallelujah again! But I’m doing it, mainly as a tribute to one of my favourite artists of all time – [Jeff Buckley] is the truth, the ultimate. So I’m getting to dig in different directions that have surprised myself. I would never do Hallelujah unless I thought I could actually do it in a way that I thought would be approved of not only by Leonard [Cohen], but by Jeff in particular.’ He added, ‘It’s about setting the bar high. It would be really easy to get up and play two songs off ten records and have done the night, but really I want to reach out and play piano, play ukulele, play nylon string guitar, do covers that are not easy or not obvious.’

However full his hands may be with touring, songwriting, collaborating and, recently, producing, there is one thing with which Ben has remained staunchly involved throughout – and long before – his career trajectory. Activism continues to play an important part in his life. In his recent North American tour, Ben performed at an Anti-Wal-Mart Rally in the historic Chinatown area of LA. Ben reflected, ‘I think it went as good as it could have. I don’t think there’s a Wal-Mart there yet, but you win some, you lose some – you’ve got to be prepared for both sides of that coin. I’m just glad to at least have some solidarity with them. Tom [Morello, of Rage Against The Machine] was there as well. We didn’t play together that day but we do that often.’

Although aware of the ability to utilise his position to champion such causes, Ben warily remarked, ‘You can over-utilise it too.

It’s a fine line, but I’ve always found that standing up is better than sitting down when it comes to what you believe in.’ With a sound like Ben’s, there could be no better voice for a cause.

Ben Harper will showcase An Acoustic Evening at Canberra Theatre Centre on Thursday November 8. 7:30pm, doors at 7:15pm. Tickets are $92.15 + bf from canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

This was a very dangerous subject to take on. If I got it wrong it would explode in spectacular fashion

was a very dangerous subject to take on. If I got it wrong it would explode in spectacular fashion. So I just sat down and started writing words that made no particular sense in isolation.

MORE THAN A GHOST IN TIME Justin hook ICEHOUSE’s 1982 hit, Great Southern Land, is one of those songs that defy classification. It’s a song inextricably linked to the idea of Australia but doesn’t once mention beer or kangaroos. It’s anthemic without being chest-beating. It’s also very elusive; eerie drifting synths, arid rhythms, rainy harbours, burning deserts and streamof-conscious, imagery-laden lyrics that sound quite specific but are actually loose and tangential.

It sounds mystical but, as is normally the case, reality is far more prosaic according to the song’s author, Iva Davies. ‘I was starting the process of writing ten new songs for another album. It was a process I’d never been through before and everything rested on it.’ Those new songs would be the Primitive Man album and the pressure came from the band’s record company, keen to follow up the success of their debut release, Icehouse.

The song itself was born out of a plane journey across Australia, where Davies felt the pang of homesickness and the awe of viewing the vast continent from a new perspective. But writing something to encapsulate an entire country is tricky and Davies knew it. ‘This

‘I left myself with quite disconnected phrases. The reason they survived was because I believed they were evocative of a number of things; there are a number of different ways to interpret them. So I deliberately wrote this song with multiple meanings. I wanted to make the sum of the parts larger than the five minutes into which I could fit things.’ It seems odd now, but Davies had no idea what he had on his hands. ‘The eight-track demo sounds remarkably like the final version.

When I took it to the record company they reacted immediately in a way I was not expecting. I was just delivering proof of what I had done so far. It was just one in a collection of songs I was obliged to write.’

Thirty years on, the song has experienced many lives. It’s been re-released numerous times and a re-imagined version was a centrepiece at millennium celebrations in Sydney. It’s probably the song people think of when they think of Icehouse. This hasn’t always been the case, though.

‘It’s fantastic to recognise how important this song has become to a lot of people. But for a long time I was utterly convinced that my life was going to be defined by a song called Electric Blue [from 1986 blockbuster Man of Colours] because that was the one everyone talked about all the time. Great Southern Land had disappeared, apparently. It’s quite peculiar to have this turnaround to a song so much older.’ And with that, order had been restored to the universe.

In celebration of the 2012 release of Anniversary Editions of Man of Colours and Primitive Man, Icehouse will bring their Primitive Colours tour to Canberra Southern Cross Club, Woden, on Tuesday October 30, 8:30pm.

Tickets are sold out.

21

Greta kite-gilmour Politicians, fireworks and porn. For longer than most locals care to remember, Canberra’s cultural offerings have been repeatedly and somewhat imprudently reduced to this insufferably cringey trifecta. Now more than ever, such archaic banalities can be considered demonstrably obsolete, thanks largely to the city’s increasingly flourishing nest of local artists and musicians – many of whom have since spread their wings and talents across international waters. Perhaps none have done so with greater success than our homegrown disc-spinning dignitary cum worldrenowned EDM mogul JAYTECH.

I think the title Multiverse is kind of as epic as you can get. It encompasses everything I’m going for quite nicely

Fresh off the back of a recent North American tour, the nomadic DJ and producer, currently based in Berlin, has once again touched down on familiar turf for a whirlwind four-city tour, including, of course, his hometown. Armed with his recently released and highly-praised second album Multiverse, 26-year-old Jaytech (known amongst familiars as James ‘Jimbo’ Cayzer) hit Academy for what was undoubtedly an energy-packed journey through lush euphoric soundscapes and sunny electronic grooves.

James explains, ‘The general idea behind [the album] was to step everything up in scope. Everything is Ok, my first album, was largely a home-listening album. Over the following few years, I’ve just been over-exposed to the trance scene around the world – the global dance scene – and I think I’ve drawn influence from that and all of the crazy adventures I’ve had. I really wanted to send a message with the album that I’m stepping things up and heading in new directions. And I think it’s worked really well.’ He adds with an endearingly playful laugh, ‘I think the title Multiverse is kind of as epic as you can get! I think it sort of encompasses everything I’m going for quite nicely.’

As musically panoramic as the title suggests, Multiverse is indeed nothing short of, well, epic. Nevertheless, in stark contradiction to whatever grandiose connotations this label may ostensibly imply, James maintains a characteristically grounded, tonguein-cheek approach to the whole concept. For this very reason, he admits that the most enjoyable tracks to produce were, in fact, his deliberately cheesy, classic euphoric trance mixes. ‘With tracks like Rabbit Raiders and New Vibes, part of the reason those projects are fun for me is because they do have a tacky element to them as well. Rabbit Raiders has this almost ‘80s feel; some of the synth and the melodies can definitely come across as a little tacky but it’s all done for the sake of fun.’ With an audible smile, he continues, ‘In that sense, I think those more light-hearted tracks are definitely more fun to produce, because you don’t spend so much time obsessing over the little details – it’s not too serious.’

22

Of course, that’s not to say the process involved with the production of Multiverse was devoid of the meticulous scrutiny and attention to detail that has become unequivocally synonymous with the work of this scrupulous producer. ‘You do have to be very critical of your own music. Even just finishing this album, when it was at the 90% mark I was stressing over everything so much. I think I’ve analysed it to death.’ It seems this element of self-criticism is not confined to the musical realm.

‘I think it sort of comes with the territory. A big part of being a producer and running a music career is constantly questioning yourself and working out what’s wrong with things. I think that definitely translates into real life as well. Obviously the branding and your own image is very important too; you have to constantly assess how people are seeing you and how you come across to people.’ While achieving international celebrity status justifies the necessity to consider these factors, James nevertheless adamantly strives to remain true to himself and his audience. ‘I think the most important thing is to make your image an accurate representation of who you are – that’s always a work in progress, always a learning experience for me.’

One area in which a distinct transformation is evident since his last release is, as promised, the subsonic plain across which Multiverse daringly explores. Straying from the chilled hypno-tech beats woven seamlessly throughout James’ 2009 debut, listeners can anticipate a fresh range of melodies and tempos, exhibiting snapshots of formerly unchartered territory. James credits this predominantly to his local peers. ‘I have started to get a bit of a glitch element because I’ve been coming back to Canberra and a lot of my friends here are listening to glitch, glitch-hop, dubstep and mid-tempo – all those kind of new genres that have just popped up over the last couple of years,’ James explains. ‘And just on a personal level, the music I’m listening to at home is so much more in that sort of direction. House and trance music is sort of...

I love it to pieces, but it’s also a nine-to-five job for me. So just for my own personal enjoyment, I really am getting into that style of music and it’s definitely something I want to do more of.’

While open towards experimenting with new genres, there are some which James intends to keep firmly outside the production domain. ‘I don’t think I would ever do a straight up classic-style dubstep track. You know, with the really big wobbly bass. I think it wouldn’t be in anyone’s best interest – not for the listeners or anyone! I do like that music – you know, if I’m in a clothes store or something and I hear some ridiculously crazy, wobbly dubstep track I really do enjoy it!’ He chuckles, ‘But I think if I were to go and write that sort of thing it would be a train wreck!’

Although neck-breaking wonky basslines may not be his forte, it seems almost every genre the man touches turns to gold. And if the kaleidoscopic Multiverse is any indication, who knows what horizons are yet to be explored by this young local luminary.

Multiverse is out now via Anjunabeats.

DANCE THE DROP

The only poor souls who begin their vocation at 3am are DJs, garbos and Kochie. The obtrusive factor that serves to polarise the nocturnal trio is this: no matter how many people watch morning television or wheel out their recycling bins, the smug bald man and his smelly friends still get to work. This is not so for DJs. All too often we spend days preparing for a performance that never eventuates. Mental pictures of belting out classic records to raging punters until the lights come on are what DJing is all about, but in Canberra it is more common to be told a venue is closing early than to step up onto the most desired of mantles and deliver your swaggering masterpiece. This one goes out to all the music junkies who were turned away, slinking back into their beds at 3:30am with little more than an unscratched itch.

A big shout goes out to Peking Duk who toppled local stalwarts The Aston Shuffle in the recent ITM Top 50 poll with a #1 placing in the ACT and a mind-bottling #6 national ranking. The Duksters’ popularity is growing quicker than member Adam ‘soul glo’ Hyde’s hair – and that’s saying something. The ‘Shuffle are counterpunching with news of their own, having just announced they’ll be return to Academy on Friday October 19 with a new live show.

Fancy yourself as a Jungle Juggler? Twisted Audio and True Jungle Souljahs have put together a tasty DJ comp, Homegrown FreQ’s National DnB Mixing Competition. If you can work it like Koop from Human Traffic, head to twistedaudio.com/news/twisted-freqs to find out how you can be crowned the first ever Homegrown FreQ national champ! ‘Rhythm is a dancer, it’s a soul’s companion, you can feel it everywhere.’ Remember that classic slice of tasty ‘90s pie? The artist was of course SNAP! and in 2012’s most surprising announcement, Academy will host the Canberra leg of their Greatest Hits tour on Friday November 2. Go on – you’ve got the power!

Fresh from mixing the latest One Love, Sydneysider A-Tonez stays true to today’s theme and provides us with his Top 5 closing records.

A-Tonez ft. Laura Noir – Bass Drop (Original Mix) [One Love] – My first original release, out now on One Love – Bass Xplosion.

Delta Heavy – Get By (Original Mix) [Ram Records] – I’m a sucker for a vocal and piano with a huge drop!

Knife Party – Bonfire (Original Mix) [Big Beat Records] – Love the reggae-style breakdowns and massive drops.

Spectrasoul ft. Tamara Blassa – Away With Me (Kito Remix) [Shogun] – Heard the first eight bars of this tune and knew from then I was going to love it.

Tantrum Desire – Reach (Original Mix) [Technique Recordings] – Just an absolute weapon, not much more could be said.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

Stone Day ‘rocks’ and it is back on Friday October 26 at Zierholz @ UC. Everyone’s favourite Stone sideshow, the silent disco, is being directed by Strangeways DJs and friends so why not slap on some headphones and dance like no-one is watching – except that everyone is watching.

23

THE REALNESS A FUTURE CLASSIC alistair erskine The critical inquiry of triple j this year was: ‘Have you heard FLUME yet?’ One of the forbearers of the amazing left-of-field electronica coming out of Australia in 2012, Flume crowds are lapping it up as much as the critics. On the eve of his first national festival tour, which will include a date at the annual Foreshore extravaganza, Flume discussed how it feels to have gone from being unknown to a festival circuit darling in one widely-acclaimed crazy year.

‘It’s been a bit of a mindfuck. Having the whole fan thing is really new to me and it changes your world. It changes how everyone around sees you. I’m really glad people are taking to something so different – but I’m still blown away by it.’ He added, ‘I’ve noticed that friends are getting inspired.

Heaps of them have rekindled their creative sides and started painting and making art. And we have weekends that are just Ableton sessions with beers and laptops and we will make new songs together. It’s great to see this change – it’s really inspiring to me, too.’

To have a label like that come along... it changed everything.

They want to hear me play my stuff, not someone else’s

With an evident focus on the glitchier side of chill-wave and the crunchier side of minimal, Flume explained the reasoning behind his direction thus far. ‘I haven’t been into experimental electronica very long – maybe three years at the most. Like everyone, I was big into dance music. But then when electro died, I was kind of lost and it was only when I listened to Flying Lotus and Toro Y Moi that I got turned in a new direction.’ Popularity seems to inevitably result in the pressure to conform to playing music for a bigger stage. Thankfully, Flume has stayed true to form. ‘I’m always gonna do what I do, I have complete creative control,’ assured Flume. ‘People are coming to see me play because they like what I do, because it is a bit different.

I never really pushed my music. For instance, [breakthrough track] Sleepless was sitting on my hard drive for about a year before I even sent it anywhere. But I was encouraged to enter the Future Classics label’s Originals competition and managed to win that. I was 19; I knew no one. To have a label like that come along, just to show the track to people that I would never have any contact with... It changed everything. They want to hear me play my stuff, not someone else’s.’

With this confidence and support, the future appears to provide a wealth of opportunity for our energised youngster. ‘The album is 100% done. It comes out on Friday November 9; it’s 15 tracks long.

Right now I’ve been doing a lot of touring, then I’m going to complete a new EP with What So Not, my side project with DJ Emoh Instead.’

Flume will appear at Foreshore Festival in Commonwealth Park on Saturday November 24. Tickets are $123.55 + bf. Flume’s self-titled debut album comes out Sunday November 9 on Future Classic.

24

It’s been two years in the making but Draino’s The Rap Cella website has just finished undergoing a major rebuild and remodel. Featuring more than 5,800 artists, 5,900 albums released and over 25,700 tracks, it is by far the most comprehensive guide out there for rap music fans across the globe. Check it out at therapcella.com and do some hunting for yourself!

Canberra producer Ghosts In The Room has just unleashed his debut, self-titled production album through Mudd Music. Teaming up with a huge cohort of vocalists from both Australia and America, the album is set to put the local producers name in the spotlight, especially through some of its big name collaborations. The album features Bishop Lamont, Briggs, Armageddon, Kool G Rap, Iron Solomon, 360, Chaundon, Newsense, NJE, Solomon Childs, Omar Musa, Joe New, Big Pooh, Prime, Has-Lo, Block McCloud, Tornts, Fluent Form, Havoc and more. Definitely wishing the producer all the best for the album. Check it out and support your local talent!

Out of the blue, the ever-prolific Smoke DZA has just dropped a new mixtape entitled K.O.N.Y. The album features Wiz Khalifa, Currensy, Fat Trel, King Chip, Joey Bada$$, Ab-Soul, Big K.R.I.T. and Asap Twelvvy. Production comes from DJ Dahi, Lee Bannon, Harry Fraud, 183rd, Ski Beatz and J.Dilla. Check out Smoke’s Rugby Thompson album with Harry Fraud while you’re at it. Nice stuff.

Former Canberra resident Dazed has just released his latest solo product, Hearing Not Listening, through DFTC. A real reflective and honest listen, Dazed is fast becoming one of the most prolific veterans of the local scene, building his resume with workaholic passion and perseverance. This new release features beats from Discourse, WIK, Realizm, Ante Esco and Ciecmate and guest raps from the entire DFTC crew, Centre Left, my man Baptist and Rezadent. Another sure shot then from the man Dazed.

The legendary Photek is set to return to the full-length arena with his first album since 2007: Ku:Palm. Having made the move away from D&B (like many of the genre’s former pioneers) and exploring slower tempos, Photek is reportedly ‘revelling’ in his newfound freedom and has embraced new sounds. Ku:Palm is out Tuesday October 23 and features singles Sleepwalking and Aviator.

Pinch is getting set to drop a batch of older originals and remixes through his Tectonic imprint. Entitled MIA 2006-2010 the collection chronicles the first chapter of his production career, assembling lost classics and remixes for the likes of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, 30Hz, Emika and Henry & Louis. It’s out on Monday November 19.

The always-dope Hippos In Tanks label is gearing up for the release of their next full-length from the awesomely named Triad God. His album NXB scheduled for November and will showcase his style of melancholy hip hop and spoken word (in Vietnamese). Something fresh, different and most blunted for your ears, then!

Finally this fortnight, that dapper Frenchman Fulgeance will release his next project. Step Thru, on Rx:Tx this month. Another outlet for his suitably low-end heavy hip hop productions, Step Thru features a bunch of instrumentals alongside collaborations with vocalists MC Yinka and Fresh Daily. Plus, there’s a remix from the always-dope Kelpe. That’s it, then, now be off with you until next time…

To hear music from all these releases and more tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM every Tuesday night from 9:30pm.

ROSHAMBO AKA CED NADA - roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

JUST A MOMENT

sinead o’connell

After a four-year sabbatical, TZU are back and continuing to thrive with the production of their fourth album, Millions of Moments.

‘We’ve found a new groove and we like it. There’s a real fire in TZU right now and I think we’re gonna stay that way.’

The new album is of the ‘concept’ persuasion and Joel aka Joelistics reassures, ‘We wanted to follow a very uncompromising artistic vision with this album and to just work within those limitations.’ The concept album is a collection of stories set throughout this nation’s vast landscape, differing in content just as much as tone.

[Millions of Moments] might not have as much commercial appeal, but for us it was all about exploring

The narrative progression follows the adventures of Persepehone, who trials a drug called Chronos, sending her hurtling through time to inhabit the consciousness of an array of alluring folk. ‘From a ghost story set in colonial times to an 18th Century stalker, from an end-of-the-world apocalypse to a love on the brink of destruction, Millions of Moments taps into points in time and history that weave the tapestry of our very existence – and then some.’ Despite admitting that the band has changed dramatically in both sound and symptom, he remains avid in a belief of their strength. ‘We’re all different people and our tastes have changed – but we put art at the top of the list. We knew [Millions of Moments] might not have as much commercial appeal, but for us it was all about exploring, about pioneering a new sound in music.’

TZU formed in 1991 with a genesis sparked by ‘friendships rather than vision.’ Drawn together through lifestyle and music, they became a founding entity in the context of the emerging Australian hip hop scene. They are as close as they were way back when, still using constructive arguing to maintain a healthy production process. For TZU, everyone is a producer; Millions of Moments is collectively written and recorded, with Joelistics as the premier songwriter and Count Bounce the executive producer. Joel firmly believes that the whole ride together has been the highlight of their musical journey.

Millions of Moments is an original composition of colour and charisma, delving further into the electronic direction explored in their previous album, Computer Love. The track Beautiful (the aforementioned colonial ghost story) in particular is one of the most outstanding and creative, showcasing the array of new techniques acquired to produce this concept album; yearning lyrics contrasting with hip hop beats and definitive dubstep-infused melodies. TZU have come a long way and this next chapter is as limitless as the last.

TZU will share their musical journey with Canberra at Transit Bar on Friday October 12, 8pm with special guests Sietta. Tickets are $23.50 + bf from Moshtix.

25

baz ruddick Founder and director of Canberra’s very own hip hop label, KP (aka Kokyprik) Records, BIG DAVE is a self-made artist driving Canberra’s hip hop scene to new levels. With well-established links in the US and a list of achievements that would put any self respecting MC to shame, Big Dave has just released his debut album, Self Made. With a plethora of KP label-mates and international acts, Self Made is the culmination of six hard years of demos, mixtapes and internet releases. I spoke to Big Dave about KP Records, the importance of a homegrown music scene, his debut release and his US links.

had in my mind. But every time I would get to the end of writing an album I would look at the tracks and pick at it. I would think “that’s not very me” – lyrically and stuff. The stories weren’t too polished and my delivery wasn’t quite right.’ The process of learning how to craft a record took place over many years of releasing mix tapes and demos via the KP website, which Dave manages himself.

The sad fact is that a lot of our good guys leave to Melbourne or Sydney... If we can establish ourselves here, people can stay and have the same success

Primarily a promoter and a label man, it is after six years of putting on shows and filling opening slots for touring US acts that Big Dave has finally put his name down on his own record. A self-confessed workaholic, the majority of Dave’s time and energy goes into the management of KP records.

‘Most of my time goes on the label – I always feel guilty if I am putting too much time into my career when there are nine other acts doing the same thing as me. So when we have multiple projects going I probably do seventeen hours of the day. Dusk till dawn with a dinner break.’

From humble beginnings, KP records built up slowly. As a struggling artist, Dave decided to cut the crap out of searching for a record label and make one himself.

‘In the beginning I was sending out demos. I was doing the battle scene like everyone else and I couldn’t get my music out there. So I thought the next step is that I make my own label so I have a vehicle to put my own music out.’ With blood, sweat and tears, KP records grew from strength to strength.

Teamed up with producer buddy Grantwho?, Big Dave and the KP team have made it their mission to help hip hop artists – local ones in particular – get established in the music scene.

‘As we grew, we always wanted to keep it Canberra-based. In every other city there are outlets for musicians – labels, radio support and record stores. So in the past [Canberrans] had to push into other cities. The sad fact is that a lot of our good guys leave. They go to Melbourne or Sydney, which is a shame because then the next generation have less established artists to lean on and get guidance from. If we can we can establish ourselves here, people can stay and have the same success.’

Despite being well experienced in the business, it was not until recently that Dave felt ready to release an album. ‘I think I always wanted it to be sort of... perfect. To be exactly what I

26

By putting on shows for international acts and spreading his music via the internet, Big Dave has found himself one of the most well-connected men in the business, illustrated by his support slots with the likes of De La Soul, Ice Cube, Xzibit, D12, Obie Trice and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.

‘By establishing connections and demonstrating that we are hardworking, passionate, have goals and love what we do really shines through.’ Hard work coupled with a bit of luck have meant KP have some of the most solidly established links in the business.

Utilising both his label-mates and international friends, Big Dave has created an album with a stellar list of guests, including Necro, Kurrupt, Joell Ortiz, WC and HYZA. ‘When I was looking at guests, I wanted to collaborate with acts that I have been a fan of and that I really respect. Kurrupt was out here with Snoop and when Snoop finished the tour he stayed behind. He got in touch and asked if we had a studio and I said yes – even though it is more of a converted garage.

So he dropped in and recorded a verse for the album and a few downloads.

‘Then I hit Necro up about collaborating on a track. We have kept talking and now he’s going to put the track from my album onto one of his albums!’

With a sound that likens itself more to a cross between ‘90s American hip hop and house music than to contemporary Aussie hip hop, Big Dave is paving an original path in the scene.

‘Most people have questions as to how we are driving it into a sort of dancey house element. The hip hop stuff definitely has more ‘90s influences. The track They Tried – you could probably stick an American MC on that and release it in 1995. I think the hip hop from the ‘90s has a lot more substance to it. A big hip hop hit now disappears in three months, but you still have people playing Tupac and Biggy.’

Self Made and other Kokyprik releases are available from Landspeed Records, Garema Place. Check kokyprik.com for contact details, downloads and track previews.

CATERING FOR ALL jade fosberry You usually pick music based on what best correlates to your current mood. Sometimes you want to be inspired, other times you want a sweet beat to bop your head to, then there are those times you just want to listen to witty lyrics that make you laugh. No matter what your mood, you’ll find all emotions satisfied with SETH SENTRY’s new album, This Was Tomorrow.

Seth’s kept us waiting since the release of his Waiter Minute EP, but he’s been busy working with some of the best in the business to produce his debut LP. Seth’s created an album that’s deep yet unpretentious, which will set your mind alight with everything from scorn for the hospitality industry to dreams of hoverboards.

I think, “I wanna hear a song about hoverboards,” so I write a song about hoverboards

‘I just write songs that I wanna hear. I think, “I wanna hear a song about hoverboards,” so I write a song about hoverboards. Every song, especially in that vein – the real nerdy sort of thing – I go, “Fuck, no one’s gonna wanna hear this,” and then people love it. It’s crazy.’

The contrasting styles throughout the album are perhaps attributable to the multifaceted production of three hip hop greats: Matik, Styalz Fuego and Trials of The Funkoars. After working with Matik on the Waiter Minute EP, it was a no-brainer to collaborate again. ‘We did it very much the same way we’d always done it, where he gives me the beat and then I find a beat that I get a little movie in my head to, which is always kind of the way it starts. It’s a real visual thing for me. Then once I find that, I write my rhymes and we go back together and co-produce the rest of the song.’

A standout song musically and thematically is Thanks For Your Hospitality. Being as eloquent as he is, it’s hard to believe Seth dropped out of high school in Year 11, picking up a job at the local pub and earning his own money. ‘I was like, “Yeah man, I’m on 15 dollars an hour – cop that!” and then ten years later that’s still what I was doing,’ Seth explained with clear resentment.

‘It’s probably the thing that’s pissed me off the most in my life and I wrote that song when I was mid-hospitality. It’s been written for a long time and I wrote a lot of the bars on serviettes and stuff while I was at work. So all the rage you hear in the song was all written mid-shift.’ His fictional boss in the song is the voice of Aussie hip hop king, Mantra. Seth’s quick to point out, ‘I’m sure I’ve ruffled a few feathers for having such a sick rapper as a feature on my album and all he does is speak – but he nailed it!’

Seth is bringing his This Was Tomorrow tour to Transit Bar on Saturday October 20, 8pm, with special guest Grey Ghost. Tickets are $20 + bf from Moshtix.

27

METALISE Doomsday 2013 hits town this weekend with the awesome instrumentation of the Atomic Bitchwax headlining the sludgefuzz and rumble at ANU Bar this Saturday October 13. Sydney’s Mother Mars, Fattura Della Morte, sludge lords Law Of The Tongue and the indomitable guitar skills of Marcus De Pasquale (Looking Glass) are all primed to deliver another killer night of riffs and licks. Blind Eyed Gods, the whiskey-guzzling, southern-fried metal act, have reformed for a one-off show this Halloween (Wednesday October 31) at Flamingoes Nightclub in Goulburn with Sewer Sideshow, Rather Be Dead and Remnants. Doors at 7:30pm.

Eyehategod hit ANU Bar on Friday November 23 with I Exist and Law Of The Tongue. After a 12-year hiatus, 2012 saw Eyehategod release their much-anticipated track, New Orleans is the New Vietnam.

November will mark their maiden voyage south of the equator; they’ll be headlining the very first Cherry Festival, together with headlining shows in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Also in doom-sludgy good news, the Doomnations Festival next March just got even more ridiculously awesome with a first-time visit to Australia from doom lords Yob, joining Elder (USA), Hangmans Chair (France), House of Capricorn (NZ), Beastwars (NZ), Destroyer of Light (USA), Triceratops, Clagg, Law of the Tongue, Arrowhead, Agonhymn and many more. Tickets through bigcartel.com. Hurry and book now – it really is the heaviest doom bill Australia has ever hosted.

On a purely metal front, the excellent Evil Invaders V festival line-up is now finalised with the full bill now including Cruciform, Crone, Stand Alone, Sadistic Intent, Midnight, Nocturnal Graves, Cauldron Black Ram, Grave Upheaval, Sacriphyx, Ignivomous, Black Jesus, Witchammer, Archgoat, Portal, Vassafor, Erebus Enthroned, Hordes Of the Black Cross, Kingdom Of Decay, Bleakwood, Whitehorse, Inverloch and Spire. They’ll all be coming at you in Sydney next June with tickets on sale soon.

Marduk, oh grim and brutal black metal stalwarts, are going to inject some winter grimness into Australia this summer with a tour including Queensland’s Lovecraftian genii Portal and Order of Orias. They’ll be playing in Sydney at Hi Fi on Saturday January 12 with discounted tickets this October through Moshtix. The good ol’ Wollongong crew have a cool prog-metal-type fest happening on Saturday November 3 at Cabbage Tree Hotel. Perpetual Tides fest features Voyager, Troldhaugen, Katabasis, Rise of Avernus, The Veil, Hemina, Mish and Saralisse.

Only an issue away from Bastardfest with headliners Blood Duster releasing a new single SVck just ahead of the touring fest that kicks off this weekend in Brisbane. Canberra’s shows, over Friday November 9 and Saturday November 10, feature Blood Duster, I Exist, Aeon Of Horus, Kong Parrot, The Reverend Jesse Custer, Daemon Foetal Harvest, Futility and Alice Through The Windshield Glass on night one. Night two sees Psycroptic, Voyager, Captain Cleanoff, Disentomb, Aversions Crown, Mytile Vey Lorth, Desecrator, House of Thumbs, Descending Upon Eden and Law Of The Tongue. All at The Basement, Belconnen. Set hangovers to stun.

Unkle K’s Bands Of The Week are now at cacophemisms.blogspot. com.au so go and hit him up on there and check out all the bands I didn’t get to tell you about yet.

Stay brutal.

28

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

We have a habit of sneaking up on punters right before a solo

its way into the hands of Steve James [who cut his teeth producing music for The Sex Pistols]. We cut a deal and headed to Byron Bay to record the band’s first EP. It was then we realised, this was serious, this could really be something’.

I PREDICT A RIOT CARRIE GIBSON SUNSET RIOT pump out a staggering amount of energy with stamina to make even the Energizer Bunny blush. With plans to become the biggest band in the world, these pitbulls have latched on and no show sign of pulling up. I caught up with Dellacoma Rio to chat about the aspirations of wireless drummers, your average American and everything Sunset Riot.

The band have climbed even higher since then, touring the States on more than one occasion. ‘They love it, they LOVE it! Americans love Aussies and Aussie rock, we are truly blessed. I mean Sunset Riot has a real American sound; it’s stadium rock, as higher calibre as AC/DC. I mean, the average American doesn’t know of that many Australian rock bands so it’s definitely an advantage when we tour.

‘We’re all wireless, except for the drummer of course, so we have a lot of fun with the crowd. We have a habit of sneaking up on punters right before a solo, all good fun, sing-alongs are always encouraged, relentless headbanging; we operate with the ethos to squeeze every last drop of energy we have into a set and that energy is infectious.’

Sunset Riot will play The Hellenic Club, Civic, with Tonk, Escape Syndrome and Knights of the Spatchcock on Friday October 19. Tickets $15 + bf

There aren’t too many full-fledged rock bands these days; it’s all about the death metal or the hardcore; what led you down this path? ‘It’s the ethos of the rock band; we love the depth of this style. Rock bands can pretty much do what they want musically, you know; a soft song, a hard song. We’re all human and have different emotions; rock enables us to have a bigger range, plus we love the energy of rock.’

The band have been extremely busy in the last two years, accomplishing more in those two years than many bands accomplish in a decade.

‘For us, it’s the matter of working hard. You put us all together and it’s incredible. We love the music we play. All the songs of Sunset Riot are written by the band as a collective; the flow-on from that is nothing but pure energy. We believe in what we do, we love the music we play, we believe in the band. When people ask us, “What’s the band’s main goal?” it’s simple: We want to be the biggest band in the world.

It’s not an arrogant statement, it’s simply the energy and excitement the five of us have for the music of Sunset Riot; it’s bigger than all of us.’

So where did the band get its first break? ‘Funny enough, a small town called Warhope. It was definitely a milestone for the band. Anzac Day, 2009, Sunset Riot had been looking for a singer for over 12 months. I happened to meet them all together at a BBQ that day. We jammed soon after, wrote a song; didn’t really know where to go after that. It was a gig in Warhope where a demo found

29

E X H I B I T I O N I S T

IN THE SHADOW OF A DOUBT BEN HERMANN When we look back on our past selves, it is all too common for us to cringe and feel embarrassed by what we wore, what we thought and the things we did. We often forget, however, that our present selves are a product of the collective experiences and manifestations – both good and bad – of who we once were. So it is that ten days out from the opening night of his new production, OUR SHADOWS PASS ONLY ONCE, Canberra writer David Temme reflects on the script’s difficult three-year development.

‘No, none really whatsoever,’ Temme says of the final production’s resemblance to its original conception three years ago. ‘The original piece got thrown away fairly quickly. It was a matter of the piece continually evolving into something that I wasn’t 100% sure what it was. Through continuous re-writing and thinking and putting things together and throwing things away, it has finally developed into what it has developed into. I have looked back at some of the earlier drafts and shuddered. It’s just terrible.’

The production was developed through the Street Theatre’s HIVE writer’s program and will be performed as part of The Street’s five-month Made in Canberra season. Through 15 individually themed vignettes, the production follows the degradation of two relationships and the inevitable fallout of falling in and out of love and our own questioning of how we see others and how we believe they see us. ‘The original concept of forgiveness has stayed in there, but I realised that I couldn’t really sustain that for a whole script,’ Temme says. ‘It’s pushed far more towards love now; if you loved someone or if someone was in love with you, how much hurt that could inflict on someone... but it still has a line of forgiveness running through it.’

During the final phases of the script’s development, director Andrew Holmes began working with Temme to tighten up elements of the script and ensure it was production-ready. Holmes has been working predominantly as a dramaturge in the HIVE writer’s program, but after ‘bugging’ The Street Theatre’s Artistic Director/CEO Caroline Stacey for some directing work, Stacey saw similarities between Temme’s script and Holmes’ preferred style of theatre. ‘I have a passion for choral works and choral texts and the way multiple voices can work in pieces, particularly in poetic-style theatre,’ Holmes says. ‘David’s text, I think, is poetic and has a multi-text angle and multi-voice angle.’

Temme explains that Holmes’ assistance during the final stages of the script’s development not only helped polish the script, but gave him guidance for his future writing endeavours. ‘It really helped take out some of the things that weren’t necessary and showed me what I had to do to give [the script] to Andrew as a director, to give it a more dramatic shape than it currently had.’

30

The final cut of Our Shadows Pass Only Once follows its subjects via 15 themed vignettes, each with its own thematically-inspired soundtrack created by Shoeb Ahmad of hellosQuare Recordings.

Temme explains that he had not originally set out to tell his characters’ stories through vignettes, but he found that it was ultimately the most effective means of exploring the characters and the play’s themes. ‘For quite a while I was still writing in the whole “Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3” structure but it wasn’t really working,’ he says. ‘I wasn’t really able to explore deep enough within the relationships. Creating the vignettes and by giving each a title like Love or Dreams, it gave me a focus point that the scene would talk about. It worked really well with my way of shifting focus and shifting style and points of view between characters continuously.’

Holmes adds that the use of vignettes which shift across perspectives grants the audience a more involved experience. ‘What’s really interesting is that we have 15 episodes that occur between two different relationships and they’re out of a possible 20,000 that might have occurred. So practically, to see 15 out of 20,000, it makes the audience think what else we may be missing in these characters’ lives and their journeys. Having the audience piece together the missing bits, to me, that’s a really interesting thing for them.’

Throughout the 15 vignettes, live video feed is used to produce a further alternative perspective for the audience. Temme draws a comparison with Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape, explaining that the live feed is a means of interrogating personal relationships and exploring personal conversations and intimate confessions in a documented sense. ‘The play, to me, is very much about how we see each other and ourselves when we’re in a relationship and how we then think other people see us.’ Holmes adds, ‘In a theatrical environment, the audience is seeing us and the characters from our perspective, but then providing various camera angles it is then giving the audience another angle from which to see the characters or to communicate with them.’

It’s clear that Temme has invested a significant amount of physical and emotional energy into the production. Such a complex and untraditional work – both thematically and practically – would have drained even a seasoned writer and director, let alone an up-andcoming local. Discussing potential future projects, Holmes suggests Temme write ‘something funny.’ ‘I want to. I’m not sure I’m wired the right way, but I’d love to,’ Temme says. ‘Something for kids, maybe.’

Our Shadows Pass Only Once plays at The Street Theatre from Thu-Fri October 11-19, 8pm. Tickets$20/$22/$25 available on (02) 6247 1223 or from thestreet.org.au.

31

32

33

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

CITIZENS’ REVOLT

HARD TO HANDO

chloe mandryk

justin hook

MODEL CITIZENS is a show of contemporary art set in two apartments on Kendall Lane during the Art, Not Apart festival. An apartment may seem like a strange place for an art exhibition, but it lends itself well to the idea that the things a person has at home – posters, chairs, rugs, pets or works of art – might give you a clue to who that person is (or thinks they are). The chance to occupy empty apartments provokes though about this person: the citizen.

It’s difficult to imagine just how controversial Romper Stomper was when it was released in 1992 if you weren’t around at the time.

The film, starring a young Russell Crowe as Hando the skinhead thug, took audiences directly into the violent heart of a group of neo-Nazis prowling the streets of inner city Melbourne dishing out mayhem. According to director GEOFFREY WRIGHT, the decision to refrain from making explicit statements about the motives of his protagonists proved difficult for some critics. ‘The outrage came from people like David Stratton, who felt that the film did not editorialise and make the position clear enough in the bluntest terms. But that would have defeated the whole purpose. We wanted to put the audience inside the gang, not stand back objectively like in American History X. As good as that film was, I always felt I could stand back and praise it objectively. It doesn’t catch me up in its fury.

We wanted the audience to have a sense of that adrenaline so we made Romper as subjective as possible.’

A citizen is not a tangible thing, but an idea of where you belong, what you subscribe to and, importantly, why you believe that either of those things were your choice in the first place. Spaces such as the museum or gallery, as well as ideas, objects and politics, shape us outside of our control. And so, artists who take back control by using materials in unexpected ways to carry unexpected messages have been chosen to exhibit as new ‘Model Citizens’. This show is a chance to celebrate descent, outsiders and rule-breakers. Some artists do this in their subject, others in their material. They rebel by avoiding the foundations of how we think about art – oil paint on a canvas, prints on paper, a still life in a 2D format. The same goes for ideas; portraits and landscapes are art, but is a giant blow-up mattress or a puppy made out of feathers?

Artists that share strong and unique ideas on representation will showcase their ideas. The group is comprised of Julia Boyd, Rowena Boyd, Alexander Boynes, Rachel Bowak, Byrd, Tiffany Cole, Nicola Dickson, Daniel Edwards, Shellaine Godbold, Holly Granville-Edge, Gregory Hodge, Helani Laisk, Jemima Parker, Emily Valentine, Adam Veikkanen, Fiona Veikkanen and Jonathan Webster.

Through the act of painting, Gregory Hodge and Jonathan Webster pose a thoughtful dialogue on ‘representation,’ what is ‘real’ and how we fit into the world – the impetus of the exhibition. Gregory’s practice involves working across abstraction via painting and works on paper. His recent methods involve the construction of abstract compositions using painted motifs, drafting film, paper and masking tape before rendering these collages in paint. Using ‘trompe l’oeil’ effects and a manipulation of the paints transparency and opacity, he transforms the ephemeral and volatile nature of these collages into an explicitly fixed painted state.

This exhibition brings together works that at face value may look very different, but are united by extraordinary materials, a sense of self and reinvention, promoting diverse ways of being rather than one model. Profiles and images for the artists participating will be posted in the lead up to the exhibition at the Art on Show website.

Model Citizens will be open on Saturday October 27, 1-7pm and Sunday October 28, 10-4pm at Apartment G09/G10, Kendall Lane, NewActon. Entry is free. Check artonshow.org for more details.

34

Romper Stomper is a confronting film and remains difficult viewing because it thrusts ugly issues into the foreground. Disenfranchised kids looking for scapegoats, in this case the flourishing Vietnamese community with whom Hando and his crew engage in running battles. ‘Hando’s view of the Vietnamese was resentment about their ability to be alien in his eyes and yet get on and thrive.’ Far from objecting to the film, much of the local Melbourne Vietnamese community vocally supported it. ‘It’s interesting. We never had backlash from the Vietnamese community. We had lots of support and, in fact, one of the people in the film was at one stage Lord Mayor of Richmond.’

Despite the blatant right-wing imagery and politics of the characters, Wright isn’t so sure Romper Stomper is a political film.

‘It’s more a film about human behaviour. Radical politics is not about influencing the political landscape. It’s about catharsis and getting a sense of being empowered and “in the moment.” What really interested them is the sense that they felt a part of something, to smash the place up and get away with it.’

In a sense, Romper Stomper got away with it too; a violent ugly film that addressed problems by taking a step back. ‘That’s what made people like David [Stratton] absolutely crazy – they needed that traditional left-wing liberal stamp of disapproval spoken from the mouths of characters. The plot said all you needed to know about where this kind of behaviour would lead you. But this is the guy who had a problem with Gone With The Wind because it didn’t condemn slavery. If you’re going to have a problem with Gone With The Wind you’re certainly going to have a problem with Romper Stomper.’

Romper Stomper: 20th Anniversary Edition is out now on Blu-ray through Roadshow.

so it’s okay.’ Elusive as ‘they’ may be, it is encouraging. Much like any national film festival, there is an option for everyone. For the independents there is Hunger, for the art-house folk there is Mourning. Also, Here Without Me is inclined to be a hit in our well-read city, it being a film based on Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, not to mention Facing Mirrors, the award-winning controversial feature exploring transgender.

With its inaugural year featuring a predominantly non-Iranian audience, this year will also most likely gain momentum from those of us in Canberra who take the opportunity to learn about a nation quite foreign and quite unexplored cinematically.

SICK OF HOLLYWOOD? ENTER: IROLLYWOOD sinead o’connell In its highly anticipated second year, the IRANIAN FILM FESTIVAL greets Australia once again in October. Spanning 25 days and five capital cities, the festival offers its audiences the opportunity to venture into the world of Iranian identities. Much like the cinematic movement of Nigeria (Nollywood), Iranian cinema is a growing industry across the globe that champions not only the talent of Iranian directors and actors but also acts as a hub for generating awareness around Iranian politics, religion and culture.

In saying that, this event is not necessarily about the cinema itself.

In many ways, it is about appreciating the men and women behind this inspiring industry whose prerogative does not stem from a wish to earn or be known, but to expose life and a nation in need of attention. For this reason, should it be your will, head to the National Film and Sound Archive and see for yourself.

The Iranian Film Festival will run from Thu-Sun October 11-14 at the National Film and Sound Archive. Tickets are $5/$9/$11 through the NFSA box office or by calling (02) 6248 2000. See nfsa.gov.au for more information.

The goal of the festival, co-directed

by Anne Démy-Geroe and Armin Miladi, is to provide us with a highly diverse range of films, particularly ‘recent or topical films that have won awards in the last year or are on the festival circuit.’ In this way, the films become outlets where Iranian voices are heard and ‘cultural understanding and tolerance’ may be appreciated.

‘This year, we hope to challenge our audience even further by introducing short films and documentaries to the programme. The shorts session truly embraces the concept of ‘global,’ featuring Iranian filmmakers from across the globe, including a number of our home-grown talents.’

Of the politics Armin says, ‘The films that are offered have already been checked and okayed by Iran so we don’t have to negotiate what necessarily can be shown or not shown.’ However, he admits that conflict may arise when they showcase an international film about Iran that disagrees with certain requirements of how the festival may depict the nation.

Armin summed it up well, adding, ‘They can’t tell us what to do though,

35

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

IT’S SO EASY BEIN’ GREEN RORY McCARTNEY Sick of looking at tulips? Then give the very last day of Floriade the flick and go to THE LIVING GREEN FESTIVAL instead. The festival brings innovative green and carbon-reducing practices to the Canberra community, with an emphasis on low-carbon food and other products. It aims to raise awareness of the environmental consequences of human choices and show how simple and enjoyable it is to live a sustainable and compassionate lifestyle. You can greet the morning sun while simultaneously enjoying a bite of something righteous and listening to our hottest local talent. I spoke to the very busy Jess Ferry, a principal festival organizer, nanny, student and Co-President of ACT Animal Liberation to boot.

‘We started out three years ago and thought we could be up and running in a few months, but it took over 18 months to do the first festival! 2012 is our second. Last year the ACT Government helped out but this year ACT Animal Liberation and Magnetite (a double glazing company) are gold sponsors. We are very much a grassroots, community-based outfit, relying totally on volunteers.’

It certainly appears that all of the helping hands have made a huge difference to the festival’s continuous growth. ‘This year will be bigger and better. We hoped for 500 people in 2011 and stopped counting at 2000. Space was the main issue last year so we will have more outdoor areas this time, including speakers’ tents and an entertainment area.’ This year the festival boasts an entertainment line-up including Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens, Beth ‘n’ Ben and Pocket Fox, all of whom also donate their time on a voluntary basis.

However, anyone who wishes to get involved can do so easily.

‘People offering to help can sign up online, indicate their particular skills and be offered tasks. These vary from handing out flyers at Floriade, helping at stalls or coordinating festival areas.’

From 30 stalls in 2011 to 60 this year, Canberrans can expect a diverse array of products and clubs. ‘There will be clothing, jewelry, goods made from recycled material and cleaning and beauty products. The not-for-profit stalls include everything from ACT Rescue and Foster, Sea Shepherd, Medical Advances Without Animals, Animal Liberation and Amnesty International, right up to the Nudist’s Club.’ Carnivores beware, however; food stalls will be strictly meat-free: ‘More than that. [The food] will all be vegan at our “kind food” stalls. Going vegan is the best way to lower your personal carbon footprint.’ Not to deter the meat-loving masses, Jess added, ‘Plus, we will have a grog shed this year.’ Got kids? No problem. ‘Parents can leave children at our new Kidzone where they can have fun and learn about better environmental practices.’

The Living Green Festival will be held on Sunday October 14, 10am-4pm at Albert Hall, Commonwealth Avenue. Free entry. For more details and volunteering applications, check out livinggreenfestival.org.au.

36

as he underwent part of his schooling right here in Narrabundah and DAAS had their genesis in the unwashed streets of Civic.

That urban mecca of consumerism, Narrabundah shops, was also witness to Tim’s first ever stage experience, at the salubrious Boom Boom Café. ‘Canberra is the big off-Broadway melting pot, where DAAS could practice in the street, crooning to the middle classes.

Canberra also gives birth to the worst comedians in the country, up in the big house on the hill.’

STICKIN’ IT TO THE MAN RORY McCARTNEY One third of the famed Doug Anthony All Stars (DAAS), TIM FERGUSON, was living the dream life of a successful international comedy career until he was struck down with Multiple Sclerosis in the late ‘90s. The effects of the illness precipitated the breakup of the All Stars; however, Tim has not let illness slow him down and believes that having the right attitude has helped. ‘Nothing scares me as I’m well-practiced in denial. The condition helps focus your mind – like waking up one morning and finding that the person you’ve been living with for years hates you. I just had to change my style.’

Tim’s compatriot, Paul McDermott, recently appeared at the Canberra Theatre in Paul Sings. However, there won’t be any singing in Tim’s show, apart from some film clips to bring back the glory days of his youth. Asked for an insight into his show, Tim gave a few hints. ‘It will be a bit scary, with some interpretive dance, a few secrets and there will be some stripping towards the end. I might let slip a few stories I shouldn’t tell in public. Except that I have nothing to lose and don’t care.’ Any hecklers should beware: Tim will have his stick with him and he’s not afraid of smacking a few heads.

Tim Ferguson appears in Carry a Big Stick at the Canberra Theatre at 8pm on Friday October 19. Tickets $43.80/$49.80 +bf through canberratheatrecentre.com.au. Doors 7pm.

Although MS did not affect his ability to generate brilliant material, he did have to change direction. While doing less standup comedy, he appeared in Fat Pizza: The Movie, has been a radio talk-show host, has written TV comedy and appeared in numerous TV shows. He also teaches comedy at RMIT and claims to be the nation’s sole teacher of narrative comedy writing. Tim has written The Cheeky Monkey, a comedy-writing manual for screenwriters and comedians. ‘It helps explain the principles of comedy and how it all works,’ says Tim. ‘These have not changed much over time, as man has been laughing since caveman days when he first let rip a big fart.’

Now Tim has used the experience of the hard-yards brought on by his illness in his new, very personal show, Carry a Big Stick.

Canberrans can anticipate a lot of references to their home town,

37

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

[Scene: Canberra Multicultural Festival, Iraq Stand.]

American: [Wearing red hat, shouting:] Hi, I’m American. Name’s Matt.

Iraqi Woman: [Startled:] Oh! What brings you here? Weren’t you just at the Afghanistan Stand?

American: It’s pronounced ‘Afghanistan,’ not ‘Afghanistan-stan.’

Iraqi Woman: Yes, that’s what I said; ‘Afghanistan Stand.’

American: Stan Afghanistan? There is only one ‘stan’ in Afghanistan.

Yes, I just came from it.

Iraqi Woman: [Confused. Sees Afghanistan Stand on fire.] Okay?

American: I just wanted to thank you for today. The food here is excellent! This is for you. [Places a large American flag on a pole in front of the Iraq stand.]

Iraqi Woman: Thank you. We have an ancient heritage. Would you like some reading material to take with you?

American: No, I don’t really like to read history. But I wanted to demonstrate my thanks.

Iraqi Woman: Demonstrate?

American: Yes, you see [two large, intimidating men gather around] we didn’t have a stand in the Multicultural Festival today – America, that is. So we decided to... how can I put this? Well, we wanted to help liberate someone else’s stand. Take some pressure off.

Iraqi Woman: [Confused.] Liberate?

American: [Walks behind the stand with the two muscle-bound intimidators.] You see, you have all of these wonderful resources here – food, oil – a great position in the middle of the festival.

[Sweeps arm around. Afghanistan stand has been reduced to cinders.]

We could help you to distribute these more... democratically.

Iraqi Woman: [Pushed to sideline, seated.] But I don’t want you to.

American: Nonsense! [Shouts to crowd:] Step right up! Step right up!

Get your genu-ine Iraqi cuisine! Enjoy your mezze, Bamia and kebab!

Limited time offer of two dollars!

Iraqi Woman: But they cost ten dollars!

American: We figure you’ve been inflating the price. Besides, look at the hype we’re creating. People are into this Iranian stand now.

Iraqi Woman: But we are Iraq.

American: Whatever. We’re getting the wheels turning again.

[Addresses crowd again:] Get your kebab! That looks dry. Here.

[Splashes olive oil on the dish, removes spout and douses oil everywhere, toppling the bottle.]Whoops. [Opens a second.]

Iraqi Woman: We only have a limited supply of that oil! Be careful!

American: You got plenty. Look at the reserves here. [Indicates boxes of olive oil under the table.]

Iraqi Woman: But that must last us the whole festival.

American: You got plenty. Hold on... Sorry, I’m being replaced.

Iraqi Woman: Replaced?

American: Yes, my term has ended. So long! [Grabs and gathers five jars of oil and leaves the stand.]

Iraqi Woman: What is happening?

American: [Same American, now wearing blue hat:] Hi, we can’t afford to stay here. We’ll be leaving soon.

Iraqi Woman: Won’t you clean up? You’ve made a mess here!

American: [Counting money from food takings:] Who votes that we leave? [Two muscle-bound men put up their hands.] And stay? No one? [To Iraqi woman:] There you have it. Today, you are independent.

You are now able to stand on your own.

Iraqi Woman: What about the money you collected?

American: No, no, no. This is China’s money. Had to fly in from overseas and whatnot. We borrowed it. China funded our exhibition.

We’re off to their stand now to repay our debt. Where is their stand?

Iraqi woman: It’s the one over there. Past the Afghanistan stand.

American: Who’s Stan? Oh, right, the one with all of the little children.

So long! [Grabs jars of oil as he departs but leaves the flag behind.]

MATT BULMAN - A surrealist comedian who lives and performs in Canberra. You can contact him at matthew_bulman@yahoo.com and view more of his work at thebulmanblog.blogspot.com.au.

38

BEYOND A JOKE ben hermann Despite being a beloved institution of Sydney Theatre Company since the early naughties, it took The Wharf Revue until 2010 to finally bring their inimitable brand of musical political satire to Canberra. Unsurprisingly, Canberrans embraced the show almost possessively and The Wharf has returned at every chance. This October they bring RED WHARF: BEYOND THE RINGS OF SATIRE to The Playhouse – a performance taking aim at all up-to-the-minute political targets in sketches such as ‘The Same Sex Marriage of Figaro,’ ‘The Peter Slipper Handicap,’ and ‘The Trial of the Heretic Flannery of Padua Before the Collegium of Rome.’

‘We also do a Star Wars send-up with the Liberal Party going over to the Dark Side, which is one of my favourites. I also like the same sex marriage sketch. We haven’t dealt with that issue before. And I get to dress up as a woman,’ says Phillip Scott, The Wharf’s musical director who, together with Drew Forsythe and Jonathan Biggins, has written and performed the show since its inception. For almost ten years, the cast has consisted of the three writers, accompanied by a regularly rotating female actor. This time around, Biggins was unable to appear, allowing new recruit Josh Quong Tart (Home and Away) to join the gang. Many will also be pleased that Amanda Bishop (At Home with Julia) will once again be joining the lads.

During The Wharf’s previous trips to Canberra, both Forsythe and Biggins have expressed their gratitude for the endless source of material that Federal politicians give The Wharf for their shows; every year they seem to exceed ever-growing expectations of just how much farce and rhetorical slapstick they can produce.

‘I think certainly politicians seemed to have abandoned their idea of “the big picture” and the public good for the sake of short-term political gains,’ says Scott of the perceived demise of public political debate and policy. ‘I think it’s driven by the 24/7 media cycle – people are not all that impressed with the constant belittling of each other and the personality politics. Luckily, that’s the sort of thing we have a go at,’ Scott explains, before clarifying that the 24/7 news cycle is not always beneficial. ‘The hardest part is that our shows go for around three and a half months, so we have to pick things that won’t completely go out of the public awareness before it ends.’

The Wharf Revue does not traditionally perform impressions of politicians, instead finding some kind of ‘theatrical model,’ as Scott says, in which to place the politicians. ‘But having said that, there are catchphrases that you’ve just got to quote,’ Scott says. ‘They make it very easy for us by repeating these things all the time – but it’s certainly very boring.’

The Wharf Revue’s Red Wharf: Beyond the Rings of Satire shows at The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre from Tuesday-Saturday October 23-27, 8pm. Tickets are $45-$53 + bf, available on (02) 6275 2700 or canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

39

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

EMBODYING SUBJECTIVITY chloe mandryk CHARLIE WHITE has created 80 black and white photographic portraits, which will be on show for one night only at a house on the north side of Canberra. The idea that our minds have an affect on our body is an interesting element of portraiture, which comes through strongly in these images.

With Charlie’s controlled composition of a person set against a black background you can focus on the nuances of their shape.

The pose of the sitter gives clues to, but also conceals, their inner world. This traditional portrait style – otherwise known as embodied subjectivity – has pulled an audience for some time, from Robert Mapplethorpe’s images of artists and friends to Jacqueline Mitelman’s contemporary work.

Charlie uses a Hasselblad camera to solicit a reaction from the people he photographs, explaining, ‘It is a beautiful and unusuallooking camera. It commands more respect than if I’m just shooting with some black plastic DSLR. People seem to sit up straighter and be more serious.’ The act of creating the image is key, as Charlie adds, ‘You hold the camera at the waist and look down into the viewfinder, so I could make eye contact with people and talk to them while I was taking the photo. It makes the portrait process more personal.’

It’s interesting to look at the people in these images as a medium.

You can imagine them cajoled like a daub of paint, bent by the sculptor, but still holding their base properties. In that sense, the sitter is used just as light or form to create an aesthetic – an aesthetic of emotional intimacy unique to each person. Charlie’s images, like photographer Ella Dreyfus’, question the insanity of a contemporary culture where to look similar is to be beautiful.

All the portraits were shot on film and are silver-gelatin prints. As a result, the image is made of small pieces of silver burnt by light.

The printing process uses Selenium toning in which the artist places the prints in a bath of Selenium, turning the silver in the paper to a compound of Silver-Selenide and blacks into deep purples. ‘It’s the little things that count,’ Charlie says, ‘Doing it this way rather than making digital prints gives the portraits a tonal range like they’re carved out of stone.’

‘I want people to feel like the work is theirs. Whenever I see someone’s artwork that really touches me, it feels like it’s mine… I’d be over the moon if people felt that about my portraits… I’m excited to be using a living room as an exhibition space instead of a gallery. I made these portraits to show the dignified beauty in people I know personally. It seems right that the show should be more like a party with portraits than a stiff-upper-lip gallery opening.’

40

80 will be exhibited at 13 Blackbutt St, O’Connor, from 7:30pm on Friday October 12. There will be performances by Runaway, Skyline and E A V E S. Free entry. Free beer and wine.

UNINHIBITED The received wisdom is that it is never wise to meet your heroes.

Recent experience of mine suggests that you should, but you should also be mindful of who those heroes are and what you’re asking of them.

A couple of months ago my bandmate and fellow BMA columnist Pete Huet called me with the exciting news that Stephen Malkmus was coming to town.

I baulk at the word ‘hero,’ but it’s tough to avoid in this case. Malkmus is my musical MVP, the top of my listening tree since I first cadged a cassette of Crooked Rain in 1994.

This was a big deal. Then Pete delivered the kicker: our band would be supporting him. Later that night I had the first of several anxiety dreams in which I was trying to play a guitar with hands shaped like flippers.

partially why meeting these figures can be so uninspiring. The other reason is perhaps because the balance of the relationship is so weirdly skewed as to be little but uncomfortable. What do we want from these people? A souvenir? A story? How can the object of this attention feel anything but adored yet used?

Hence, it’s handy to have heroes who aren’t assholes. In the case of Malkmus, we met the band, made small talk over cities and equipment, played our show, hung out and chatted a little afterwards. I got some records signed and my photo taken. I was terrified by the lameness of asking if I could get a photo and Malkmus said, ‘It’s not lame at all, man – if I was into a band I’d do it.’

That’s the key. He’s still a fan, recognising what fans do; these little transactions that are part of what make the machine work. We all bow to someone. If someone bows to you, it’s best to be cool.

GLEN MARTIN glenpetermartin@gmail.com

As Ian Rogers’ excellent Occasional Musician blog points out, support shows are overwrought. Bands want big supports. They’re a large part of every band’s press release; if your band has supported big bands, you’re worth a look.

The thing is that support slots are often the worst shows you’ll play.

The crowd aren’t there for you.

You don’t get a soundcheck. And those dreams of hanging out with your heroes, finally elevated to the status of peer because you’ve shared a stage? Forget it. The headliners will be having dinner while you play and, if you’re a local act supporting an overseas act, you’re a couple thousand miles away from peer status. You’re just some dudes who will hopefully bring a drum kit they can use.

We confuse singers with songs too often. It’s a significant part of our Warholian celebrity clusterfist system. The presumption that our heroes are as we imagine them is fraught. We imbibe their songs, words or images and swill them about in our heads, creating an ideal kind of monster. That’s

41

E

X

H

I

B

I

IN REVIEW

Paul Sings: Paul McDermott Live In Concert Canberra Theatre Centre Sunday September 16 Paul McDermott on stage, as funny as ever, calls to mind strolling through City Walk on Saturday mornings in the ‘80s and encountering those larrikins The Doug Anthony All Stars. The Doug Anthonys haven’t been seen in decades, but McDermott’s fresh comic stories and lightning-fast wit seemed akin to what one might expect if they performed again now. Billing this as a concert fooled nobody. The audience came prepared to interact, respond and applaud colourful stories – and if your response wasn’t all McDermott wanted, he gave it to you until it was.

McDermott describes himself as ‘not a musician.’ However, it seems that the lyrics he sang were his own, as were his melodies.

This music all originated in the three or four TV series in which McDermott has played a major part. He bitingly thanked all those who kindly recorded songs from those series and put them on YouTube, as recovering them from the dustbin of history might otherwise have proven too much to contemplate.

McDermott’s songs are not quite what you’d expect from his spoken satire. Mostly serious, these are songs that – shock and horror – express care and heartache as much as disrespect or cynicism. And, though not without musical form, they are distinct.

McDermott was accompanied by a very talented four-piece band, whose only fault was the unfortunate tendency of one member to sing his harmony flat. These four musicians created a sound beyond their numbers. Rory ‘Lord Bison’ Macdougal’s drumming was reliable and varied surprisingly in emotional flavour. Keyboardist Stu

42

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

‘Sausage Fingers’ Hunter’s occasional switch to accordion jumped continents and genres. Dave Symes’ bass guitar was truly tuneful, often adding another singable melody. The music’s soulfulness extended very much to both piano and bass. Finally, guitarist Patch Brown’s playing was a phenomenon in itself, doubling as both lead and rhythm and somehow throwing in slides through unidentifiable means. Unfortunately, it was slightly difficult to just settle in and enjoy every song. Perhaps the sound engineer was too far away from the drums to realise the intensity of the sound blasting from them – some audience members blocked both ears during the most drum-intensive songs.

McDermott applied his trademark irreverence with great intelligence and purpose. Unlike some television comedy hosts, he usually drew the line at being offensive for the sake of it. In that sense, his irreverence was not only refreshing but also, in some ways, comfortable. Though expert at insulting his entire audience, he did so with their complete cooperation and understanding.

By the end of the evening, not a single crowd member could help but share in the laughs.

JOHN P. HARVEY

IN REVIEW Rolling Home The Courtyard Studio Mon-Sat September 17-22

What a delightful, heartwarming production of this work by Greg Lissaman. From the moment the lights dimmed and Figaro (Chrissie Shaw) came on stage, children and adults alike were spellbound by this tale of two gypsies who make their way in the world by relying only on each other and their storytelling.

The central figures, Figaro and Georgio (Catherine Hagarty), were brought to life beautifully by two gifted actors with the capacity to engage an audience, including the younger viewers. They drew everyone into the story with tremendous vigour and joy – even during the scary and sad moments, in which the energy was kept high – keeping children enthralled. Shaw and Hagarty also managed the perfect amount of audience involvement; small children could feel included and simultaneously stay safe as observers.

The costuming was wonderfully creative, colourful and versatile, allowing the story to exist at any point in time. The set was very cleverly constructed, ensuring easy and natural movement by the actors throughout, which allowed the scenes to change effortlessly to fit Georgio and Figaro’s stories. Some enchanting puppets also joined the cast along the way, to the obvious delight of the children.

It’s tricky to pace a small children’s production well; the action must go quickly enough to keep children engaged but slowly enough for them to follow. The pacing in this production was exactly right.

Another of the very pleasing aspects was the choreography of movement and dance; it allowed all members of the audience, who sat in two groups on opposite sides of the stage, to always see at least one of the actors’ faces.

A great deal of thought has gone into everything in this production, culminating in a delightful experience for all. One of the loveliest messages in this play was beautifully expressed by a young audience member. At one point, Figaro tried to cheer up Georgio by explaining that all they needed to get through their troubles was imagination. Figaro asked Georgio, ‘Do you have imagination?’ A very small child behind me quietly replied, ‘I’ve got imagination.’ And really, that often is all you need in life and certainly all you needed to bring with you to enjoy this wonderful play.

Michele E. Hawkins

The lighting was masterfully handled to evoke the changing moods and the music was truly wonderful, performed with warmth and joyfulness by Shaw and Hagarty, who respectively played accordion and ukulele while singing and dancing. The sound levels were just right, to the relief of everyone who is exposed to excessive volume at almost every performance these days.

43

E

X

H

I

B

I

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

unfinished ideas – a way of seeing which seems normal today. You can see how this might be an invaluable idea for a contemporary artist who is concerned with the ephemera of life, such as fleeting images, poetry and graphics.

A SAVAGE GARDEN OF IDEAS chloe mandryk James Lieutenant took some time to share some insight into his upcoming solo show TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY, opening this week at Canberra Contemporary Art Space in Manuka. As the exhibition title implies, the artist’s attitude is pointed and intense. He explained, ‘I don’t find making art a particularly enjoyable process. The enjoyment comes through thinking of ideas. If I had a more peaceful personality I don’t think I’d be making art.’

The painting and drawing in this exhibition has been formed in admiration of some of the markers of ‘60s French New Wave imagery and style. The films of this period tried to break conceits of representation; Jean-Luc Godard’s Weekend (1967) particularly influenced this show. Some films in the ‘60s were made more realistic with jumpy camera work, long takes and fragmented or

44

As part of his process, James has been reading Michel Houllebecq, a writer who (in addition to being critiqued for cynicism, nihilism and misogyny) confronts the strictures society puts on itself, such as traditional relationships, economics and religion. Similarly obsessed by the shock value of sex, drugs and peoples’ emotional defects is Will Self, an author James cites as important background noise in his art practice. It would appear that James is inspired by Self’s selfconfessed prerogative: ‘What excites me is to disturb the reader’s fundamental assumptions. I want to make them feel that certain categories within which they are used to perceiving the world are unstable.’

Institutions have a curious place in the creation and reception of art and are an essential tool to teach us how to think of the world and ourselves. A uniting topic for many artists is their experience at Art School and, more often than not, they admit that the best lesson they learnt was to ignore the opinions of others.

James seemed to concur. ‘I learnt that the easiest way for people to interpret artwork is by placing it into a comprehensible context. It’s much easier for people to understand what you’re attempting if the context or material process is very clear. It’s easier to say, “It’s about an engagement with art history” or “material” than it is to try and attempt something that entertains or makes people think.’

It will certainly be interesting to see how James Lieutenant’s philosophical inspirations look on paper.

Truly, Madly, Deeply is on show at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space in Manuka from Thursday October 11-Sunday October 21. Open Wed-Sun, 11am-5pm. Free.

ARTISTPROFILE: Betty Holdsworth

What do you do? I paint, draw, animate, illustrate, sew and basically dabble in anything artsy. I also teach art and design to high school students.

When, how and why did you get into it? I was always drawing and making crafty things for my family from an early age; it was just something I had to do. In college I had an amazing art teacher who really encouraged and pushed me into painting. She gave me my first canvas to paint on and it was then I realised I could actually paint and I fell in love with it. I knew that painting and making art was what I wanted to do forever. (She also inspired me to become an awesomely encouraging art teacher like she was.)

Who or what influences you as an artist? Patterns, fabrics, intense bright colours, organic lines and reflections on glass are just some of the things that captivate me. I often find myself staring at everyday objects observing particular qualities like line, shape and pattern inherent within them and imagining how they might move or change. I’m inspired by artists such as Gustav Klimt, the ‘Fauves,’ Del Kathryn Barton and James Morrison for their use of bold colour, strong line, pattern and/or texture. There are so many incredibly talented and innovative emerging local artists, which is really exciting. I am constantly stimulated by the works of my peers who open my mind to what can be done with just pencil and paper.

What pisses you off? Nastiness, selfishness and laziness. I’m working on it! Love is really all we need, being kind and loving to others; the earth and yourself is what really matters.

What about the local scene would you change? In my experience, it’s a very transient place. One minute, you’re in an awesome group of likeminded people who expose you to new experiences and ideas and the next they’ve all moved on to other places and you’re left on your own. It would be nice if there was more consistency. However, there is beauty in transience as it forces you to find other awesome people who take you on very different journeys.

Upcoming exhibitions? My solo show State of Mind was on recently at the Brunswick Street Gallery in Fitzroy Melbourne and I’m planning another similar show in Canberra very soon. Details will be up on my website.

Contact Info: wix.com/bettyholdsworth/artist facebook.com/bettyholdsworthartist

Of what are you proudest so far? Producing a body of work for my solo show in Melbourne this year. The work is quite different to my past practice. I’ve really learnt and grown so much as an artist this past year and it’s such an awesome feeling to complete something and have it displayed.

I was also pretty stoked when the stop-motion animation I created for local band Readable Graffiti was played on rage last year!

What are your plans for the future? Keep making art that challenges and develops my skills and thinking. Further study and travel are also on the cards, or a combination of the two together would be awesome.

What makes you laugh?

My buddies make me laugh.

Looking back on misadventures and misunderstandings also sometimes makes me laugh.

45

E

X

H

I

B

I

bit PARTS CANBERRA NARA CANDLE FESTIVAL WHAT: Japanese/Australian Cultural Festival WHEN: Sat Oct 27 WHERE: Lennox Gardens, Yarralumla Origami, saké and 2000 candles can only mean one thing. The annual Canberra Nara Candle Festival is upon us, celebrating ten years with a stellar line-up of entertainment and Japanese arts and crafts. The festival is a tribute to Canberra’s sister city relationship with Nara in Japan and brings together Japanese and Australian culture through arts and crafts such as calligraphy, lantern making, origami, ikebana workshops, markets and kite flying. This year’s festival welcomes the sensational Japanese drumming ensemble TaikOz (who will also host a drumming workshop – limited numbers), plus Japanese country singer/ guitarist Zoi and high-energy Japanese dance group Yosakoi. Local entertainment will include the ACT Senior Concert Band, Harrison School Japanese choir and the Narrabundah College dance group.

Not to be missed are the martial arts demonstrations and mochi pounding – a demonstration of traditional rice-cake making by the Embassy of Japan. 5pm-9pm. Free. Info at: events.act.gov.au.

T

I

O

N

I

S

T

ALONG PARALLEL LINES WHAT: Painting exhibition WHEN: Wed Oct 10-Sun Oct 21 WHERE: ANCA Gallery Paintings by Bruce Tunks and Susan Barnett capture the natural beauty, energy and regenerative power of desert landscapes. Each interpret the landscape differently – Tunks uses ground pigment and PVA on paper to produce colourful and abstract gestural interpretations, whereas Barnett’s spacious ochre-toned diptychs are contemplative and reflective. This rich exhibition is a celebration of two interpretations of the vibrancy of Australia’s heartland.

Opening event Thu Oct 11, 6pm. Open Wed-Sun, 12-5pm. Free.

DRAMATIC RECOVERY WHAT: Interactive Theatre WHEN: Thu Oct 11 (CMAG) & Sat Oct 13 (QL2) WHERE: Canberra Museum & Gallery & QL2 Theatre Dramatic Recovery is a series of interactive short plays created by the Mental Health Foundation ACT’s Imperfectly Sane Productions.

The three plays are devised and performed by Canberrans who have experienced mental illness, weaving together stories into works of fiction that remain true to life. The plays are performed twice, the second time in which audience members are invited to take to the stage, replacing one of the actors to create a different ending. Thurs 12:30pm, Sat 7:30pm. $5/$15. Bookings: (02) 6282 6658.

ROCK YOUR FROCK WHAT: Dance Party Fundraiser WHEN: Sat Oct 13 WHERE: Harmonie German Club Ovarian cancer is one of the most common cancers affecting women, with one woman dying of it every 10 hours in Australia.

October is also known to some as Frocktober – a month-long fundraiser for ovarian cancer research. Think Movember, but instead of a dirty mo, it involves sporting pretty frocks. Rock Your Frock not only raises money for research into ovarian cancer, it’s a fantastic night of dancing for all styles. Swap your gender issues with a frock and get dancing.7pm-late. $10 door. See frocktober.org for more.

HARVEY WHAT: Theatre Production WHEN: Wed Oct 17-Sat Oct 20 WHERE: ANU Arts Centre, Drama Lab

STUFF WHAT: Catalogue launch & exhibition WHEN: Wed Oct 10 WHERE: DesignSpace @ CIT, Reid ‘Woo! A million-dollar cheque for doing sweet FA! Delivered straight to my mailbox too! Hang on...’ We’ve all fallen victim to the spiritcrushing world of unsubstantiated junk mail offers; now someone’s finally putting it to good use. Stuff is a public art project by Canberra-based artist Bernie Slater. The project consists of 20,000 fake junk mail catalogues delivered to Canberra homes, commenting on consumerism, waste, advertising and recreational affluence.

Slater uses the graphic design elements typical of junk mail advertising to address our desires, suggestibility and the sensory overload that comes with modern consumer culture. 6pm-8pm (and throughout the coming weeks in mailboxes across Canberra). Free.

See facebook.com/StuffjunkmailProjectCanberra for more.

46

Harvey is a story which follows the life of Elwood Dowd, a wellspoken and friendly gentleman who is close to his family and fond of company. Also, his best friend Harvey happens to be an imaginary six-foot rabbit. The play questions what it means to be ‘normal’ and whether the desire to conform to social obligations should override considerations of human genuineness. Not forgetting perhaps the most important question of all: have you seen Harvey? 7:30pm.

Tickets $10/$15 + bf at shop.anusa.com.au/tickets or on the door.

SAUCY PANTO WHAT: Dinner Theatre Pantomime WHEN: Sun Dec 9, Thu Dec 13, Fri Dec 14 & Sun Dec 16 WHERE: Teatro Vivaldi, ANU ‘Tis the night before Christmas and the Candlegrove Club is feeling the pinch. Mr Pinchbottom (the Candlegrove’s miserly manager) invites a motley panto crew to butter up the festive crowd in a last-ditch pull to financial glory. Instead, the pantomimers bring filth, mirth, anarchy and violence – the true meaning of Christmas.

Warning: ‘Not for children... or humourless gits.’ Sun 4:30pm, Thurs & Fri 7pm. Show only $40-$60, dinner & show $70-$90. Bookings: (02) 6257 2718 or enquiries@vivaldirestaurant.com.au.

47

the word

on albums

R.E.M. DOCUMENT (25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION) [EMI]

album of the issue

grizzly bear shields [Warp Records]

How to follow a breakthrough is the most compelling of rock narratives. Stumble, tread water, reinvent, or just find a way to get better?

For many of us, Veckatimest was a landmark record, but Grizzly Bear’s Shields feels like a step up. The sound is familiar (it’s not their Kid A), but a fresh immediacy permeates the set.

Sonically, the record is still laden with the shimmering guitars, leaping time signatures and harmonies of prior records.

The opening Sleeping Ute, the perfect pop of A Simple Answer, the yearning baroque lilt of Half Gate and the extraordinary catch-andrelease of the closing Sun in Your Eyes are unquestionably Grizzly Bear™ tunes. But the most significant factor transporting this record up a notch is confidence.

From the moment Ed Droste sings the title of the pop single of the year, Yet Again, you hear the primary change in Grizzly Bear; a tone of

48

relaxedness. The mood is jagged – there are dark twists throbbing underneath many of these sweet melodies – but the delivery is unaffected.

Droste’s voice is now directly addressed to the listener, not buried behind shimmering effects.

Critics of Grizzly Bear point towards a certain preciousness, an all-toocleverness in previous offerings. Certainly, the band are unapologetic about their craftsmanship, but their ability to carefully craft walls of perfectly placed sound run the risk of doing so at the exclusion of the listener.

What lifts Shields above its predecessors is its directness – beautifully written and played widescreen pop songs with visible rough edges.

Will you feel it if you’ve not felt previous Grizzly Bear records? It’s possible, but unlikely. If you’re in the tent though, prepare for a treat.

Unlike previous outings, Shields doesn’t aim to impress you so much as engage you. In the end, it does both.

GLEN MARTIN

Document is the album that propelled R.E.M. into the big leagues, ushering in an era of firsts: the first overtly political album, the first mainstream chart hit (The One I Love), the first massive world tour, the first co-production with Scott Litt (who would stay with the band for over two decades) and the first one this reviewer ever owned. Of the latter, I’m sure Michael Stipe is proudest. Appropriately, Document bursts out of the starting blocks, all coiled rage and steely-eyed intensity. The enormous hollow bass and drums of Finest Worksong sound stadium-ready (even more so with the remastering) fulfilling the promise of Lifes Rich Pageant, over which Stipe is fiery, referencing 19th century transcendentalist/abolitionist agitator Henry Thoreau. The tone of civil disobedience is established. Welcome to the Occupation worries about South America, only this time set to a more delicate jangle.

The message is explicit: Trust not the government. For all this confidence it’s also a contradictory album. The One I Love is about monstrous obsession – nothing to do with love. Likewise, It’s The End of the World As We Know It is despair set to jaunty, highly melodic guitar pop.

The raw energy herein was the last true burst of incendiary power the band would ever produce. Nothing managed to capture that sense of chaos, fear, anger and, oddly, hope the way Document did.

JUSTIN HOOK

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE CENTIPEDE HZ [Domino/EMI] Animal Collective’s preceding 2007 collection, Merriweather Post Pavilion, offered up their biggest breakthrough to a mainstream audience, meaning that this latest album, Centipede Hz, has been subjected to the highest levels of anticipation surrounding the group yet. Perhaps the biggest question was: Would they respond to this newfound success by making a record that was more accessible or more difficult? In truth, it’s a little bit of both. It’s certainly the busiest and most detail-packed AC album so far – something that’s no doubt due to all four members being back in action for its recording. It’s easily the most synth-heavy and hard-edged album from the group to date, ranging from the throbbing, near-industrial beats and bass synths that suddenly explode into a technicolour wash of vocals on opener Moonjock, through to the near-constant distorted radio fragments and interference that whispers between tracks.

It’s rare to find music that manages to remain so dynamically saturated and heavy, yet joyous at the same time. If the first three tracks see the quartet offering up some of the most dense and head-spinning moments, later tracks such as the gorgeously shimmering Wide Eyed and the vaguely electro-oriented Father Time offer up some of their sweetest radio-friendly pills yet, without sacrificing any of the weirdness that’s made them distinctive. Long-time Animal Collective fans can let out a sigh of relief.

CHRIS DOWNTON

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI mATURE THEMES [4AD] Ariel Pink speaks of schnitzels and cross-eyed goats, but it would be folly to dismiss his latest album as novelty. With Mature Themes, Pink casts a kaleidoscopic light on the bizarre and the banal, uniting the two in an odd, multifaceted romance born of quirk and introspection turned outward to the world. Pink spent his formative years absorbing and meticulously storing fragments of sound from times past, later pulling them out and joining them into a prolific chain of quizzical, lo-fi psychedelic pop albums. There is no denying his talent in crafting melody, but only recently, with Before Today and now Mature Themes, has Pink had the opportunity to develop a professional sound.

It’s clear that Pink has taken to this stage with nonchalant ease, and Mature Themes is melodically strong. Kinski Assassin and Is This the Best Spot trundle along with swirling, disorienting angularity, peppered with Pink’s weird and often circular utterings, while some, such as album closer Baby, move with a measured swagger. Tracks Schnitzel Boogie and Pink Slime, however, grate fairly quickly, reaching for pure weirdness not quite novel enough to hold their own weight. Only in My Dreams is an album highlight. With it, Pink wraps an old-fashioned tale of young love in a bright, engaging and deceptively complex melody. It feels simple, sweet and disarming, helping cement the diversity of sound that allows Mature Themes to elude easy summation.

DAVID SMITH

ZZ TOP LA FUTURA [American Recordings]

THE XX COEXIST [Young Turks/Inertia]

DAPPLED CITIES LAKE AIR [HUB/Inertia]

It’s been a long time coming but the new Rick Rubin-produced ZZ Top album is finally here.

And it’s… disappointing.

London-based trio The xx certainly can’t be accused of rushing this highly anticipated second album in the wake of the unexpected success of their self-titled debut. If anything, Coexist bears the marks of its careful construction over a near year-long period, as well as The xx’s substantial development as a band over this time.

Dappled Cities is a band as arty as the play on words in the title of their fourth album. Wellknown for flamboyant, rainbowhued music, soaring vocals and complex melodic arrangements, the guys positively burst the eardrums as they reach new altitudes with this indie tour de force. Recorded in Paris, LA and Sydney and then mixed by Englishman Cenzo Townshend, this is truly an international creation. Complex, flowing keyboards weave their way through all tracks, their aura matched only by the soaring vocals of Tim Derricourt.

Opener Run With the Wind is one of the best pop songs you’ll hear all year, with its unconventional structure, startling, shouted vocals and repeated cascading keys. The Leopard dishes up joyous pop with a multitude of harmonies like rapturous sighs. In Work in the Mould, the last line repeats on and on, like ranks of soldiers in a never-ending army. The title track trips along with dreaming keys, a danceable rhythm and a singable chorus.

Heralded as a return to the Texan band’s gritty dry and dusty Tres Hombre roots, La Futura is nothing of the sort.

There’s no doubt the band have their swagger back but the stop/start nature of this album’s gestation hasn’t helped it cohere as a unified statement.

It often feels distracted, vague and disinterested.

The opening track is all promise; the best on the album by a long margin and a cover to boot.

I Gotsa Get Paid is a gnarled reconstruction of the late ‘90s hip hop hit 25 Lighters by DJ DMD. Weather-beaten riffs stutter and hang before rising up in unholy accord to propel the wicked, winking choruses.

This is the sound of a band in total control of dynamics. Billy Gibbons’ husky growl shows no sign of faltering anytime soon, although some of the middle notes have taken a vacation.

Still, not bad for a man of 62.

But despite pointedly saying there’d be no return to the ‘80s high gloss commercial, Chartreuse argues otherwise, sounding closer to Legs than La Grange. In the end, La Futura doesn’t hold up to scrutiny despite the Gillian Welch/Dave Rawlings co-write and some first class Gibbons blues riffage.

Apparently the band had problems figuring out what Rubin was trying to achieve during production. It shows.

JUSTIN HOOK

A far more minimalistic and post-club influenced collection than its predecessor, the eleven tracks here see vocalists Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sims heightening the sense of unresolved tension that swirls like the oil of the sleeve art through their lyrics to even more palpable levels.

Also particularly impressive is Jamie Smith’s substantial progression as a producer, with his increased use of silence and teasing, non-repeating bar patterns adding an increased depth to the band’s sound, while Reunion even sees live steel-pan textures making an appearance. When more rhythmic dance elements do emerge on tracks, such as the spectral house-tinged Sunset and the hi-hat strewn Swept Away, they feel strangely hollowed-out amidst the spacious mixes, reduced down to melancholic ghosts of their former selves. In short, Coexist sees the trio focusing on the elements that have made them so individual, partly through insulating themselves further from the surrounding hype to the advantage of both artist and listener. The xx’s debut album managed to set expectations very high; this is a more-than-worthy successor.

CHRIS DOWNTON

Other highlights are Real Love and Born at the Right Time, the latter of which puts an interesting perspective on getting it all too easy without really having to try. Dappled Cities can write the most obscure lyrics and then wrap them in sounds that shimmer with light and energy.

Don’t try too hard to drill down into the meaning of songs such as Icecubes – just hold on tight and live the music.

RORY McCartney

49

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

I’ve never quite understood why as soon as somebody puts some prosthetics on their face, they immediately become Oscar contenders.

Charlize Theron got her ugly on in Monster and people raved. Nicole Kidman put on a slightly more Jewish nose in The Hours and film writers seemed to obsess over it all awards season. Okay, there were also fairly powerful performances behind these prosthetics. But if it is the plastic that gets the gold, I just want it on the record that I’m fine with any and all accolades that Joseph GordonLevitt may receive.

quote of the issue ‘Time travel has not yet been invented.

But 30 years from now, it will have been.’

– Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Looper

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD Beasts of the Southern Wild is a surreal, magic realist dream and nightmare in equal measure.

Set in the bayou community of ‘The Bathtub,’ a six-year-old girl called Hushpuppy (the stunning Quvenzhane Wallis) must face her father’s fading health as melting ice caps begin to flood her ramshackle community.

The film is an unexpected delight and it makes a number of difficult elements work. Magic realism, an unwieldy beast, helps create a dreamlike journey for the viewer. Voiceover narration, pretty much my least favourite thing in filmmaking, is here a lyrical addition to a visually poetic film. The cinematography is striking, the music arresting.

It is a beautiful and touching film. Have all of my adjectives persuaded you yet?

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the film is the creation of The Bathtub. It’s a world where rusty old riverboats are as common as taxis and houses sprout out of the green forests like fungi. The inhabitants of this fairy grotto are redneck witch doctors and kings of kingdoms constructed from junk.

They drink moonshine and probably shoe polish. There is beauty in the broken people and places alike.

Filmed with an amateur cast, Beasts is not always in control of its own wild, unruly story and themes – but what it lacks in perfection it makes up for with piercing ideas and what it lacks in consistency it makes up for in compassion.

MELISSA WELLHAM

50

RUBY SPARKS

LOOPER

In Ruby Sparks, Paul Dano plays Calvin, a young writer with limited social skills who achieved early success with his first book, but remains stumped as to his follow-up. He dreams of and subsequently writes about his perfect girl – Ruby (Zoe Kazan), who is that annoying ‘manic pixie dream girl’ trope (although the film is tongue-in-cheek enough about the whole concept to make it bearable). Lo and behold, Calvin’s imagination is strong enough that she appears in his life as a real person – and then the fun begins.

Writer and director Rian Johnson – who first gave us the high-school neo-noir Brick, before following up with the dapperly-dressed con-man film The Brothers Bloom – brings us Looper. A smart and slick sci-fi, Looper is thought provoking as well as thrilling – just don’t concentrate on the time travel too hard.

The script, written by Kazan herself, is clever enough, despite its cliché Hollywood conclusion. There are some darker themes that arise in the second half, as Calvin ‘tweaks’ Ruby to make her more to his liking. The story delves a lot deeper than what expected and is pretty self-aware about being a bit twee, which I respect.

Ultimately though, I didn’t like Calvin at the beginning, middle or end of the film; he is never redeemed after his character climax (read: acting like a complete psychopath).

That being said, Ruby is entertaining, and says enough about the nature of controlling relationships and wanting the perfect mate to make it a worthwhile venture. As actors, Dano is wonderful as the overthinking Calvin and Kazan pretty delightful herself.

Ruby Sparks is a little bit Stranger Than Fiction, but does offer something different – worth a look if you enjoy indie romances with a difference.

MEGAN McKEOUGH

In 2072, time travel has been invented. When the mob wants somebody gone, they send them 30 years into the past, where a hired gun – called a ‘looper’ – awaits.

Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt – swoon) is one such looper, whose life spins wildly out of control when he is required to kill his future self.

Looper has thrilling action scenes, dark humour and emotional weight. It is creative and intelligent. It has force and fury. However, it’s lucky the film is fun and fast enough that you don’t try to linger over the logic, as the time travel doesn’t make sense.

There is a scene in the film when Old Joe is discussing time travel with Young Joe. Young Joe is all, ‘How does this shit even work, dude?’ Old Joe slams his fist on the table and thunders something to the effect of ‘IT DOESN’T MATTER!’ I feel like this may have been Johnson’s attitude, too.

Anyway, internal inconsistencies aside, it’s one of the best sci-fi releases in quite some time. You don’t need time travel to know that this film will stand the test of time.

MELISSA WELLHAM

the word on dvds

shaun micALEF’S MAD AS HELL [Roadshow] Shaun Micalef is one of those guys you wish the best for, regardless of what he’s working on. Not a mean or vicious comedian but neither safe nor harmless, Micalef succeeds because he works hard and takes risks. Even his recent family-friendly vehicle (Talkin’ Bout Your Generation) had a sufficient amount of abstract wit to make it bearable.

In small doses. He enjoys one of the more balanced careers available in Australian entertainment – creating drama (BlackJack), film roles (Bad Eggs, The King), TV roles (Laid, Offspring) and his first love, comedy. Micalef’s career path is a reminder it’s never too late to drop everything, quit your day job at the law firm and move to Melbourne and live the life of a dirt poor struggling comedy writer. It’s also a reminder that you will probably struggle to find the right show that captures your world view – and when you do it probably won’t last anyway.

In this respect think of Mad as Hell as an updated version of Newstopia, the short-lived show that skewered politics and current affairs. Working with his regular collaborators (Francis Greenslade, Roz Hammond) Micalef takes the same approach on Mad as Hell. The format isn’t new – people have been poking fun at authority since Aristophanes hosted his first late night variety show at the Theatre of Dionysus. It’s the delivery that counts and Micalef has settled into the very comfortable role of Australia’s chief absurdist and deliverer of non-sequiturs.

Plus, he’s not afraid to use his intellect and allow punchlines to float. They don’t all land – some of the faux-interviews veer into the obvious, not working that well, and current affairs satire has a very limited shelf life – but for the here and now, Mad as Hell is funny. It’s good to have him back.

JUSTIN HOOK

FALLING SKIES - Season 1 [Warner home video]

HAWAII FIVE-0 [paramount]

Falling Skies has pedigree; Steven Spielberg co-produces, series creator Robert Rodat wrote Saving Private Ryan and Justified and creator Graham Yost is also on board. Plus it’s set six months after an alien invasion has wiped out millions so there’s plenty of opportunity for post-apocalyptic ennui.

Finally, it had a killer promo poster of a giant suspended alien ship on the horizon, all dangly bits and menace. If you’re waiting for the ‘but’ you’ve come to the right place.

Despite all these credentials, Falling Skies isn’t that great.

Cleverly, the show sidesteps the messy (and expensive) alien warfare storyline and cuts straight to the occupation plot where our space overlords are well into their colonisation efforts. No explanations are given as to why the invasion happened but characters speculate motives as they mount rolling insurrections and attempt to rescue hundreds of children that have been kidnapped and fitted with strange vertebrae devices that make them worker drones for the aliens. There’s plenty to work with but it fails to fire.

Back in the day, Hawaii seemed like the most exotic location on earth. Eternally sunny, surrounded by beaches and forever in the grip of Casual Friday, it was the sort of place that looked great in travel brochures and on the idiot box. Problematically, idyllic locations don’t usually lend themselves to chaos, crime and dramatic tension. Sure, your car got stolen. Pull up a sun bed and a margarita. Plus, it’s a little bit distracting when every car chase is backgrounded by postcard-quality scenery. The original Hawaii Five-0 exploited the relatively new colour TV medium and limited opportunity for mass plane travel to become the first example of travel show/weekly crime series. But to its credit it was also one of the first to have an extensive non-white cast.

This isn’t an action show so don’t expect big budget battles and the flashes of excitement are short-lived, looking cheap and underfunded. The whole gritty realism of a ragtag bunch of survivors was perfected

by Battlestar Galactica and this simply doesn’t stack up.

In the absence of dazzling set pieces, Falling Skies becomes a character-driven show about resilience and rebuilding.

Problem is, the dialogue is universally B-grade, the actors often appear like they’re acting in different TV shows (one scene The A-Team, the next Dr Quinn Medicine Woman) and the ruminations on philosophy meant to provide depth only highlight how much better the show needs to get. Noah Wyle, Moon Bloodgood and Steven Webber try valiantly to lift Falling Skies, but fail.

JUSTIN HOOK

This remake is a steady CBS performer, the latest in a long line of dependable crime procedurals. These shows (NCIS, CSI, Criminal Minds) are staggeringly popular and critically scorned because they offer quick resolutions to semi-serious problems. Moral quandaries are left in the locker with pictures of the wife and kids. To its credit, this second season has at least tried to break out of the crime-of-theweek shackles by introducing a conspiracy plot that bubbles away in the background, potentially going all the way to the top – as they tend to – thereby neatly overcoming the criminal constraints of a small holiday island.

Oddly, for a show trading on its good location, this reboot is far grittier than expected.

However, plotting and dialogue has a tendency to fall into the ‘been there, done that’ realm and Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica) seems idle and bored. For a non-cable, network drama Hawaii Five-0 could be far worse, but it struggles to rise above average.

JUSTIN HOOK

51

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

Borderlands 2 Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Developer: Gearbox Software Length: 25 hrs Verdict: Buy The first Borderlands was a frustrating experience; poor storyline, weak gameplay mechanics and all the worst elements of grinding for loot that typify the latest instalment of Diablo III. (There, I said it. Diablo III should be renamed ‘Auction House Tycoon’). But Borderlands 2 is a very different beast. Better team dynamics, a more compelling storyline, smoother gameplay and the looting more a benefit of playing the game than the main focus.

Just like the first Borderlands there are four classes: Siren, Assassin, Soldier and Gunzerker. The game provides ample opportunity to exploit the capabilities of each class both individually and in concert.

The Siren can freeze enemies in mid-air allowing the Assassin to take a well-placed headshot, whilst the Soldier can provide down cover with his Sabre Turret and the Gunzerker can lay down a hail of damage whilst wielding weapons. Playing solo is still possible, but the game is significantly more enjoyable when playing with others and utilising a mix of these classes.

The gameplay has been improved on many fronts. The movement and aiming system makes hunting down enemies a much smoother experience and a greater range of enemies makes the chase more interesting. The game areas are noticeably larger than in the first Borderlands with hidden side missions scattered throughout, giving significant opportunity for replaying to enjoy the skills and play styles afforded by each character type without having the exact same experience. My only gripe here would be that the multitude of missions in multiplayer can be confusing to a team of players; teamwork is made difficult by having the team split up, each chasing separate mission objectives.

There is also now a proper antagonist as the main storyline motivator (as opposed to an inanimate object in Borderlands), an amusingly offensive character named Handsome Jack (who is suspiciously similar to the character Archer from the show of the same name). The voice acting has had a serious overhaul both in terms of the quantity and the quality, which can be seen through both the short movies liberally spread throughout the game and when enemies make their feelings towards you known. When much of the dialogue is juvenile, the delivery makes a huge difference to whether dialogue becomes a grating experience or stays as a lighthearted addition to the game – and I’m yet to stop being amused by the dialogue.

Overall, Borderlands 2 is a big step up from the first game, the greatest improvements coming from the subtle improvements across the board whilst keeping the formula constant. If you quickly got sick of Diablo III and feel lost without a four-player RPG, Borderlands 2 is the cure for what ails ya. peter davis

52

On your couch is once again the place to be seen on Sunday nights, so grab some pizzas and beers (or go the gourmet route with wine and cheese) and settle in for the long haul. And you don’t even have to use the remote – (read in commercial radio voiceover tone:) SCTEN is fast-tracking it right to your door.

The fun starts with Merlin (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 6:30pm) followed

by Modern Family (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 7:30pm), The New Normal (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 8pm) a comedy with two men and a surrogate baby, Homeland (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 8:30pm) and ‘60s period drama Vegas (SCTEN, Sun Oct 14, 9:30pm). If that’s not enough, set the DVR for Jack Irish (ABC1, Sun Oct 13, 8:30pm), with Guy Pearce as the former criminal lawyer turned private investigator and debt collector from Peter Temple’s books.

Also starting this fortnight are comedy Ben and Kate (SCTEN, Mon Oct 15, 8pm), the Chaser team’s foray into commercial telly, The Unbelievable Truth (Prime, Thu Oct 11, 9:30pm) and new seasons of Mike and Molly (WIN, Tue Oct 16, 10pm), Survivor: Philippines (WIN, Tue Oct 16, 10:30pm), Supernatural (11, Mon Oct 15, 6:25pm) and The Graham Norton Show (SCTEN, Sat Oct 20, 8:30pm), which kicks off with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

There’s still more to come, including Elementary (SCTEN, TBC) the Sherlock Holmes reimagining with Lucy Lui as Watson, and Scandal (Prime, TBC) a political thriller with everyone’s fave government flack, Josh Malina. The Foxtel fast-tracking list (which they’re calling ‘Express from the US’) is also growing, with new seasons of Boardwalk Empire (Showcase, Mon, 3pm), Dexter (Showcase, Thu, 8:30pm), The Walking Dead (FX, Tue Oct 16, 8:30pm), Gossip Girl (Fox8, Tue Oct 9, 8:30pm), The Vampire Diaries (Fox8, Wed Oct 17, 7:30pm) and JJ Abrams’ newbie, Revolution (Fox8, Wed, 8:30pm).

And if that’s a drama overload, there’s plenty of docos, including Mega Builders: Glitz City (ABC2, Mon Oct 8, 7:30pm), which follows the building of a huge casino resort in Vegas, My Transsexual Summer (ABC2, Fri Oct 12, 9:30pm) which follows the journey of seven transgender individuals, Gypsy Blood (ABC2, Sun Oct 21, 8:30pm), which takes a more serious look at Gypsy culture, and a new series of Who Do You Think You Are? (WIN, Wed Oct 10, 10:30pm) which begins with Martin Sheen. The best fly-on-thewall doco since Newlyweds and The Osbournes is Brynne: My Dedazzled Life (Prime, Thu, 7:30pm). Avoid Geordie Shore (Eleven, Tue Oct 16, 9:40pm). You have been warned. But don’t miss Peter Garrett on Kitchen Cabinet (ABC2, Wed Oct 24, 9:30pm).

There’s so much new telly coming our way, Blackbox hasn’t mentioned the seemingly endless stream of classics in a while. Look out for Thunderbirds (Go!, Sun, 6am) and the original early ‘80s version of Battlestar Galactica (7Mate, Thu, 2am).

The best of the flicks are Tropic of Cancer (ABC2, Sat Oct 13, 8:30pm), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Go!, Fri Oct 19, 7:30pm), Caddyshack (Go!, Fri Oct 19, 9:30pm), Pulp Fiction (Go!, Sat Oct 20, 9:30pm), Jaws 3 (7Mate, Sun Oct 14, 9pm) complete with (crappy) 3D effects, and Whip It (Go!, Tue Oct 16, 9:30pm), which is followed

by Roller Derby X-Treme (Go!, Tue Oct 16, 11:50pm). Finally, fanatics won’t want to miss the Dr Who Symphony Spectacular (Sydney Opera House, Sat-Sun Dec 15-16).

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyherrernan@bigpond.com @ChezBlackbox

the word

on gigs

My Disco, Spartak, Golden Blonde ANU Bar Thursday September 27 At the risk of sounding like a chump, I must admit that I’d never heard of My Disco before volunteering for this review. Like a pair of ill-informed explorers, my friend and I rode to ANU through Thursday’s spring monsoon, vaguely expecting to enter some kind of Saturday Night Fever montage. We didn’t find Xanadu, but our halfbaked theory that the band’s name alone would guarantee us a good time did prove correct. Together with a mess of art school cliques and hipster goddesses, we converged on ANU Bar to hear Canberra locals Golden Blonde and Spartak play alongside the headlining art-rock gods.

Although rain kept the hordes at bay, the crowd trickled in early to see the night’s opening act; Canberran quartet Golden Blonde (formerly known as Kasha). Unassuming and relaxed, Golden Blonde infused their experimental rock with gentle lyrics and taut, repetitious layers of sound that seemed at once tightly structured and eerily discordant. In ANU’s enormous, near-empty bar, their fuzzed-out bass and strong guitar sounded warm and delicious.

After Golden Blonde’s impressive set, it was Spartak’s turn to take the stage. The former jazz improv local duo has recently evolved into a more dance-oriented electronic trio. With a set that featured micro-dub basslines, loops, solid rhythms and enigmatic vocals, Spartak provided both a gentle compliment and compelling contrast to their stage precursors. Evidently consummate musicians, it seemed that Spartak were playing more for each other than to their audience. This didn’t necessarily work against them; their intense focus fed each other and the room, enabling them to take the energy up a notch from the more sonically reserved, if performatively open, Golden Blonde. Spartak presented complex music designed to make their audience move, though only a special few rose to the challenge.

While most of the crowd stood quietly in the shadows throughout their set, three teen pixies and a guy in a truly banging box cut suit twirled in the front row. Considering Spartak’s infinitely danceable new sound (and the fact that suit-man was wearing sunglasses indoors – during a thunderstorm), I couldn’t understand why more people didn’t join in. Why so cool, Canberra? Seriously, suit up. We ducked to the bar for another (slightly warm) Coopers and returned five minutes later to find the cavernous hall completely shrouded in mist. In a flash, bright lasers cut through the smoke-soaked darkness. My Disco had arrived.

PHOTOS BY STUART HARRIS

My Disco proved a real spectacle, which was no mean feat considering the fog made it nearly impossible to see anything at all.

Unable to make out any discernable shapes on stage, I found myself staring at the lights until suddenly one of the band would stride through the path of the lasers like a maddened, man-made god.

The aesthetics were simple, enveloping and utterly mesmerising.

The tunes were pretty excellent too; the Melbourne-based band presented a solid set, grounded in the kind of stream-lined, minimal art-rock for which they’ve become famous. They meandered through both older material and new offerings from their latest release, Wrapped Coast; a four-track record comprised of two original songs and two remixes. With a set defined by their distinctive sustained guitar chords, chaotic beats, repetitive vocals and single note flagellation, My Disco calmly showcased how they’ve continued to impress both local and international audiences over their ten-year career. As My Disco’s final chords echoed into the dark cavern, a lone punter at the front of the stage reared his mulleted head, lashing across the lasers like a space-age shadow puppet. Weird, wild, wonderful. And wet. What an unexpected night.

TEDI BILLS

53

the word

on gigs

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Bearhug, Waterford Transit Bar Thursday October 4 The early crowd is still milling about the fringes when support act Waterford takes to the stage. The local Canberra fixture knocks out a proficient set, their repertoire amply held together by a rollicking bass backing that often ambles high up the frets. Frontman Glen Martin’s vocals drift through the set with a pleasant undulation, walking through mid-set and offering Reasoned with a shimmer that emphasises the band’s harkening toward wistful, Big Star-esque ‘70s pop-rock. While the band’s relatively measured, conventional approach to songwriting brings a comforting consistency to their sound, it does result in an occasional feeling of vague monotony and the set loses a bit of definition around the middle. Nonetheless, Waterford proves a genuinely satisfying opener.

The second support slot is filled by Bearhug. The Sydney five-piece pack snugly into the tight surroundings of the Transit Bar stage before promptly ripping through the mid-set chatter with a pacey, driving instrumental. They slow it down a notch from there but lose no momentum, effortlessly filling the space around the growing crowd with their breezy, heartfelt indie-pop. Bearhug’s sound often channels the summery, meticulously layered nostalgia of baroque Canadian musical collective Broken Social Scene, while mid-set highlight Angeline illuminates the band’s impressive ability to meld gripping, feather-light melody with intricate and deeply compelling guitar textures. Ultimately, Bearhug bring a warm, lively, seemingly effortless energy to the night’s proceedings – an ideal complement to the newly mild spring evening from whence their audience came.

After a short break, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks stroll unceremoniously onto the stage. Malkmus chats amicably for a moment, immediately comfortable in front of the small crowd, which has by now gravitated toward the general direction of the band. Stephen Malkmus built a vast legacy of influence through his seminal indie-rock band, Pavement. We all know he’s been around since the beginning and when early on in the set he sings, ‘I see you/I’ve been every place you’re going,’ it’s easy to pretty much take that as fact.

The crowd tonight is attentive, but not overly warm. The Jicks’ bassist Joanna Bolme playfully prods us to move a little more: ‘You don’t have to be drunk to dance. You can dance out of joy – it’s possible!’ Perhaps the taciturn nature of the gathered crowd is typical of an indie-rock gig, or perhaps many of those present are stoic Pavement devotees who, given the choice, would rather hear Malkmus churn out a few classics from 1992’s Slanted and Enchanted. Regardless, Malkmus & The Jicks are here to (belatedly) tour in support of their 2011 album Mirror Traffic – and they do so in enthusiastic, gleeful and absolutely impeccable form.

PHOTOS BY ERICA HURRELL

54

After belting out a couple of tracks from their earlier catalogue, the band launch into Mirror Traffic single Senator. The track hits immediately and hard, Malkmus navigating the stop-start explosion of the verses and his staccato vocal line with both gusto and consummate ease. They follow this up with typically boisterous, lopsided tracks Brain Gallop and Spaz, every note flowing from Malkmus and his band with gleeful enthusiasm. The band play a good slab of their latest album but also take time to swagger through tunes picked from their back-catalogue, swinging through the sweetly romantic Jenny and the Ess-Dog before bringing the mesmerising, crunchy verse riff of Baby C’mon to life. Near the end of their set, Malkmus jokes, ‘Normally we play stadiums,’ continuing with, ‘but when I go and see bands I like, I always like the smaller gigs better.’ Given tonight’s fun, engaging and hugely enjoyable experience, it’s very easy to agree.

DAVID SMITH

the word

Regurgitator, Senyawa, Hedgehog Zierholz @ UC Thursday October 4

on gigs

It seems spooky to think that it’s been almost exactly 14 years since I saw Regurgitator headline at the Uni of Canberra Refectory just next door, alongside TISM, for their Unit tour. Over the last couple of years I’ve been to some well-attended – but not packed – Regurgitator shows in Canberra, but when I arrive at Zierholz it’s completely sold out. It’s certainly a testament to the pulling power of tonight’s show, which sees the ‘Gurge taking the ‘don’t look back’ route and playing their classic first two albums, Tu-Plang and Unit, back-to-back in full.

It’s a premise made all the more special by the fact that many tracks on both album haven’t been played for ages live, if at all.

It’s become an established tradition for Regurgitator to challenge some of the more ‘mainstream’ chunks of their audience with their choices of support bands and tonight’s opening acts are certainly no exception to that rule. First up are Beijing-based pop-punkers Hedgehog, who feature a tiny drummer who looks about 14 years old. (By the end of their set, I still couldn’t work out whether s/he was just extremely small.) Their decidedly power-pop oriented punk riffs prove to be a fitting warm-up for the rapidly swelling crowd (even if it’s a little lightweight) and I hear a few apt comparisons being made to the likes of Weezer and Foo Fighters.

Indonesian experimental duo Senyawa prove to be a different proposition. Comprised of vocalist Rully and instrumentalist Wukir, who performs on his own self-made ‘bambuwukir’ (an instrument the likes of a mutant take on an electric guitar, sitar and shamisen), they blast out a full-volume set that sits somewhere between noise-rock, gagaku throat-singing and Chinese opera – occasionally all three at once. While the audience reaction ranges from delighted bafflement to outright disgust (in the case of one particularly expressive girl), there’s no ignoring their polarising set.

After a short flashdance-style video intro, Regurgitator – the band core of Quan, Ben and Pete, joined by additional member Seja Vogel on synths and electronics – take to the stage to huge cheers. From there, it’s straight into Tu-Plang’s opening track, I Sucked a Lot of Cock to Get Where I Am, and it’s just as hilarious as it’s ever been hearing an entire audience lovingly singing along word-for-word.

While big singles Kong Foo Sing, Miffy’s Simplicity and Blubber Boy get the expected huge response, it’s the more rarely played tracks that prove to be some of the biggest stormers. G7 Dick Electro Boogie and Social Disaster offer up booming electro-hip hop workouts and I confess to having forgotten just how awesome the dub/noise-rock instrumental Young Bodies Heal Quickly is live.

A quick offstage break and it’s straight into Unit’s I Like Your Old Stuff Better Than Your New Stuff, before Black Bugs, The Song Formerly Known As and Polyester Girl get some of the biggest singalongs of the night.

As a long-time fan, I’m just stoked to finally get a chance to hear World of Sleaze live again, with the entire band barely able to hold it together between giggles the whole time.

PHOTOS BY ADAM THOMAS

There’s a teasing encore that manages to pack in newer tracks Game Over and All Fake Everything alongside a frantic take on Devo’s Girl U Want, then it’s all over. I get the impression that much of the audience would have happily spent the whole night with the ‘Gurge – it certainly was all I’d hoped it would be and more.

CHRIS DOWNTON

55

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 10 - October 11 Wednesday October 10 Arts Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Exhibition – Urban Forest

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

CRAFT ACT

Exhibitions – Earrings

Exhibition – Belco Pride

Monnone Alone

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

A photo series by Lee Grant depicting Canberra’s inner north. 10am-5pm.

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

BILK GALLERY

Comedy Comic Strip

Comedy, cabaret, dance and music meet little clothing. Tix thru Canberra Theatre Centre. 7:30pm.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Film

On The Town

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Latino Wednesdays

$8 cocktails. 9pm. Free.

MONKEYBAR

Theatre Pirates of Penzance

Art by James Lieutenant. 6pm.

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ARC CINEMA

Trivia

CRAFT ACT

Karaoke

Transit Trivia

Exhibition Opening Nonspecific Works

TRANSIT BAR

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

From 10pm.

THE DURHAM

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

Sing For Your Supper

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Singers, poets, musicians! Feeling hungry? Book your slot for a free meal!

(02) 6230 2484. 6:30pm.

Microwave Jenny

Tessa and Brendon Boney playing what they call Pop/Folk/Love. 8pm. $15 + bf (presales)/$18 door.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

56

Exhibition Opening – Truly, Madly, Deeply

HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

Live Music

ANCA GALLERY

BILK GALLERY

Canberra based Japanese country/folk singer. 8pm. Free.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The best in recent 3D kids cinema.

2pm.

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

Coraline (2009, PG)

Karaoke

CRAFT ACT

Zoi

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

The Gilbert & Sullivan classic direct from the UK. Bookings at (02) 6275 2700/canberratheatre.com.au

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) BILK GALLERY

With Glenroi Heights and Andy Starr.

7:30pm. $10.

Flex your noggin. Table bookings essential! 2 for $20 pizzas.

7:30pm. Free.

thursday October 11 Art Exhibition – Urban Forest

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

11am-5pm (12-4pm Sat).

By Monica Engel. Featuring musical treats from Sebastian Field, Dollface and other merriments. 6pm.

Exhibitions – Earrings

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) BILK GALLERY

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 11 - October 12 Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Belco Pride

A photo series by Lee Grant depicting Canberra’s inner north. 10am-5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Comedy Comic Strip

Comedy, cabaret, dance and music meet little clothing. Tix thru Canberra Theatre Centre. 7:30pm.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Film Local Feats: Perfect (2006)

Canberra feature film w/ director’s talk.

6pm + 9pm. Tix/info: http://newacton. com.au/localfeats KENDALL LANE THEATRE

friday October 12 Art Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

BILK GALLERY

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

Karaoke

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

‘Tuggies Idol’ Karaoke Competition

Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

$5 before Fri Aug 31 to win $1000 JB HIFI gift card. 8pm. See facebook.com/ events/512928288733928/ P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Karaoke Night!

1st place wins cash prize! Plenty of bar vouchers to be won too. 8pm.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Live Music The Defects

With Bladder Spasms, Last Call (Melb) and Topnovil (Woll). 8pm. Free.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

CRAFT ACT

Exhibitions – Earrings

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) BILK GALLERY

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

We Don’t Give A F***

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

THE CLUBHOUSE

Exhibition – Belco Pride

10pm. $5.

Defects (Belfast)

ANCA GALLERY

With All In Brawl, Bladder Spasms. 9pm.

A photo series by Lee Grant depicting Canberra’s inner north. 10am-5pm.

Charles and Dave

Exhibition – Urban Forest

THE PHOENIX BAR

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Thursdays At The Bar

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

9:30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

With uniVibes. Beers, bands and DJs jamming in the afternoon sun. Free.

CRAFT ACT

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Comedy

On The Town

Comic Strip

Thursday Ladies Night

Free champagne for ladies til 11pm + iconic tunes by ladies all night from female DJ Pumpin DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

4Some Thursday

Comedy, cabaret, dance and music meet little clothing. Tix thru Canberra Theatre Centre. 7:30pm.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Film

Awesome 4Some Drink Specials. 9pm.

Free entry.

How To Train Your Dragon (2010, G)

Theatre

ARC CINEMA

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

Live Music

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

The best in recent 3D kids cinema.

10:30pm.

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

Optimus Gryme

Pirates of Penzance

Moment of Truth

THE STREET THEATRE

The Gilbert & Sullivan classic direct from the UK. Bookings at (02) 6275 2700/canberratheatre.com.au CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

TJS Presents. 10pm. $15 THE CLUBHOUSE

From 7pm-9pm, followed by resident DJ Craig with dancefloor classics/hits.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Live@BAC

Over Lake Ginninderra: live music, cruise the gallery, drink, catch up. With nibbles! 5:30-7pm. $5.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

57

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 12 - October 16 Sidney Creswick CD Launch The CMC Presents. 8pm-12am. $15/10/8.

THE WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

DJ A-Gee Ortiz (Syd)

Havana Nights Present. 9pm.

MONKEYBAR

Mitch Canas & Special K 5pm & 10pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Academy Fridays

With DJ Femme. 9pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Digress Dual Friday

Funk/live 6-8pm (Happy Hr 5-7pm).

Resident DJ + more play allsorts 9:30pm on. $8 J/bombs 10-11pm.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

TZU

Millions of Moments Tour. Tickets through Moshtix.

TRANSIT BAR

Theatre Our Shadows Pass Only Once

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

THE STREET THEATRE

War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep. org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Pirates of Penzance

The Gilbert & Sullivan classic direct from the UK. Bookings at (02) 6275 2700/canberratheatre.com.au CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

saturday October 13 Art Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

BILK GALLERY

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Belco Pride

A photo series by Lee Grant depicting Canberra’s inner north. 10am-5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Comedy Comic Strip

Comedy, cabaret, dance and music meet little clothing. Tix thru Canberra Theatre Centre. 7:30pm.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Daniel Townes

Frenzied Productions Presents. $20 presale/$25 door. Call (02) 62488422.

Theatre Our Shadows Pass Only Once

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

THE STREET THEATRE

War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Pirates of Penzance

The Gilbert & Sullivan classic direct from the UK. Bookings at (02) 6275 2700/canberratheatre.com.au CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

sunday October 14

AINSLIE FOOTBALL CLUB

Live Music

Art

Obsessions

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

Local rock powerhouse. 8:30pm. Free.

OLD CANBERRA INN

James Blundell

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

With The Sunny Cowgirls. 6:30pm doors, 9pm main act. $29.50 through theabbey.com.au.

Exhibition – Belco Pride

Bass Xplosion

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

THE ABBEY

With The Mane Thing & A-tonez. Special guest: Downlink.10pm. $20.

A photo series by Lee Grant depicting Canberra’s inner north. 10am-5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

monday October 15 Live Music The Bootleg Sessions

ANU Woroni Mag presents Elisha Bones, Runaway Skyline, We Are The Max, Buck. 8pm. Free.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Biscuits

Post-weekend sounds from Ryz, Peekz, Kimosabi, Steve On Weekends! Free pool, 2-4-1 pizza, 9pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

On The Town 2-4-1 Steak and Schnitzel Night Exactly what it says.

THE DURHAM

Mojito Monday

$10 Mojito’s, $7 Nojitos. The best latin DJ’s & Music in Canberra. $7 entry w. free drink.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Theatre War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Songs Of The Southern Skies tour.

Traditional and popular Australian classics. 8pm.

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

Los Chavos

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Trivia

THE PHOENIX BAR

Live Music

King O’s Trivia

ANU Music Society Toddler’s Show!

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

THE CLUBHOUSE

Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

THE STREET THEATRE

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

EP Fundraiser. 9:30pm.

The Last Prom

Support from Handsome Luke, The Sinbirds and Dead DJ Joke.

7:30pm. $10 door.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

music, coffee

Bass, violin, looped vocals or something similar. 10am-11am.

MOCAN & GREEN GROUT

The Griffyn Ensemble

Behind Bars: The Griffyn Ensemble tells a story of the deepest humanity. 5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Art

THE STREET THEATRE

Irish Jam Session

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Saturday.)

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Songs Of The Southern Skies tour.

Traditional and popular Australian classics. 6pm.

Traditional Irish music. 5pm.

House Party Presents. With Eldred, Mickey Foxx vs. Victoria Cranks and more. Free before 10pm/$10.

TRINITY BAR

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

DJs Karma/Jswiss/ Hypnotic/MC Tee

Something Different

10:30pm.

tuesday October 16

Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp

Funky folk guitar and didgeridoo fusion.

Tapas from 5pm, happy hour from 6pm. Free.

The Surrogates

Free entry and bar prizes. 6:30pm.

ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC

Sunday Best: Minh

MONKEYBAR

THE STREET THEATRE

Something for the kids. 10am-12pm.

Naysayer & Gilsun

Urban Playground Present. 10pm.

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

The Living Green Festival

Live music/dance, sustainable food, talks, yoga, workshops, children’s area + more! 10am-4pm. Free.

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

BILK GALLERY

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

A five-piece funk band to ease in your afternoon. 2pm.

Theatre

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep. org.au.

Exhibitions – Earrings

Love Saturdays

ANU ARTS CENTRE

BILK GALLERY

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Goji Berry Jam

MOCAN & GREEN GROUT

With Pred. 9pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Josh Pyke

ALBERT HALL

CRAFT ACT

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.)

With Jack Carty. Tickets through Moshtix.

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

Exhibition – Urban Forest

BILK GALLERY

On The Town

THE STREET THEATRE

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Urban Forest

Old Skool Saturdays

Exhibitions – Earrings

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

58

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

Mix of Old Skool R‘n’B, 80s & 90s.

Free entry. $5 vodka original & flavours 10-11pm.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 6pm.

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

Dance No Lights No Lycra

Dance where no one’s watching.

7:30pm-9pm. $5.

CORROBOREE PARK HALL

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 16 - October 18 Karaoke Karaoke Love

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

TRANSIT BAR

Live Music Archer

Songs of gettin’ by and rollin’ with the punches. With Max Savage.

7:30pm. $10.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Theatre

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

On The Town

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

MONKEYBAR

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

ANU ARTS CENTRE

CRAFT ACT

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

Exhibition – Re-Connections

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

THE STREET THEATRE

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Trivia The Phoenix Quiz

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.)

THE PHOENIX BAR

Exhibition - Wednesdays at the Wall

PJ’s Trivia Tuesday

1st place cash prize with Bar and Kitchen vouchers to be won! 7pm.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Trivia Tuesday

$100 cocktail party as first prize.

7:30pm. Free.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Fame Trivia From 7:30pm.

THE DURHAM

Wednesday October 17 Art Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

Exhibitions – Earrings

BILK GALLERY

The best of the Wall! Celebrating Honkytonks’ first birthday.

HONKYTONKS

Exhibition – Urban Forest

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Comedy Hot Five Comedy Competition

Local & interstate comedians compete for $1000! Entry/tickets at www. comedyact.com.au. 7pm.

CHARLIE BLACK

Karaoke

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

Karaoke

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

THE DURHAM

Latino Wednesdays

$8 cocktails. 9pm. Free.

Something Different Bad!Slam!No!Biscuit!

Poetry slam. 9pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Theatre War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

Transit Trivia

Flex your noggin. Table bookings essential! 2 for $20 pizzas.

7:30pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

thursday October 18 Art Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Re-Connections

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition – Urban Forest

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

Exhibitions – Earrings

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.)

Comedy Tim Ferguson

Carry A Big Stick, directed by Marc Gracie. 8pm. Tix $49.80 + bf thru canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Karaoke Karaoke Night!

1st place wins cash prize! Plenty of bar vouchers to be won too. 8pm.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

‘Tuggies Idol’ Karaoke Competition

BILK GALLERY

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

Album launch w. soundtrack to ‘Le Denier Combat’ and ‘The Last Battle’ by Luc Besson. 8pm. $10.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

BILK GALLERY

Live Music

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Trivia

THE STREET THEATRE

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm. (11am-4pm, Saturday.)

Fats Homicide Album Launch

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

CRAFT ACT

From 10pm.

BILK GALLERY

CRAFT ACT

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

Every week a special Phoenix brand trivia. 7:30pm.

Singers, poets, musicians! Feeling hungry? Book your slot for a free meal!

(02) 6230 2484. 6:30pm.

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

War Of The Worlds

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

Sing For Your Supper

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

$5 before Fri Aug 31 to win $1000 JB HIFI gift card. 8pm. See facebook.com/ events/512928288733928/

Live Music The Woohoo Revue

The CMC Presents. With NYASH! Live afro beat and gypsy jazz. 8-11pm. $20 online/$25 door/ THE WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

We Don’t Give A F*** 10pm. $5.

THE CLUBHOUSE

59

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 18 - October 21 The Pretty Littles

With Creo, The Upskirts. 9pm.

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

Open Decks

Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

THE CLUBHOUSE

Exhibition – Re-Connections

THE PHOENIX BAR

All genres welcome. 10pm.

CRAFT ACT

Crooked Saint

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

With Ashleigh Mannix. 8pm. $10.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Charles and Dave

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

9:30pm.

MIC Night feat. Kirrah Amosa With Aron Lyon & Greg Stott Band.

7:30pm. $10.

CIT MUSIC INDUSTRY CENTRE

Exhibition – Urban Forest

CRAFT ACT

Exhibitions – Earrings

Theatre

Live Music

War Of The Worlds

Seth Sentry

ANU ARTS CENTRE

TRANSIT BAR

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

To Kill A Mockingbird

Free Rain Theatre presents one of the most powerful stories ever told. $2835. Tix: (02) 6275 2700.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

With Grey Ghost and Mr Hill & Rahjconkers. Tickets through Moshtix. 8pm.

Auto Da Fé

With Wayne Swans, Konrad Lenz and the Spirits of the Dead. 9:30pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

The Bridge Between Live music.

CASINO CANBERRA

Doctor Werewolf

Wolfzilla EP Launch. With Ben Penfold, Key Seismic, Logic and MRNP. 10pm. $20.

With uniVibes. Beers, bands and DJs jamming in the afternoon sun. Free.

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.)

THE STREET THEATRE

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

BILK GALLERY

On The Town

Comedy

Art

4Some Thursday

Tim Ferguson

Exhibition – Five Exhibitions @ CCAS

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

THE STREET THEATRE

Thursdays At The Bar

Awesome 4Some Drink Specials. 9pm.

Free entry.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Thursday Ladies Night

Free champagne for ladies til 11pm + iconic tunes by ladies all night from female DJ Pumpin DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Theatre War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Our Shadows Pass Only Once

The product of 3 years’ work by Canberra playwright David Temme. Four characters face an abyss. 8pm.

THE STREET THEATRE

friday October 19

Carry A Big Stick, directed by Marc Gracie. 8pm. Tix $49.80 + bf thru canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Hot Five Comedy Competition

Local & interstate comedians compete for $1000! Entry/tickets at www. comedyact.com.au. 7pm.

CHARLIE BLACK

Dance Name Game

40 dancers under choreographers C Mackenzie, G Comerford and M Cornell.

See QL2.org.au for info/tix.

QL2 THEATRE

Live Music Sunset Riot

With Tonk, Escape Riot and Knights Of The Spatchcock. Tickets through Moshtix/on the door.

HELLENIC CLUB (CIVIC)

saturday October 20

By Leah Bullen, Karin Hanssen, Clare Thackway, Liz McNiven, Lyndy Delian.

11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

BILK GALLERY

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

P J O’REILLY’S (CIVIC)

Exhibition - afterLandscape

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

Boom Ting

Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines

THE CLUBHOUSE

Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

10pm. $5

No Hausfrau EP Launch

The CMC Presents. 8pm-12am. $15/10/8.

THE WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Saturday.)

Tilted Pictures: Mental Health Week Concert

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

THE MERRY MUSE

BILK GALLERY

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition – Landscapes and Place

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - afterLandscape

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

60

With Duncan ‘n’ Sargeant and Jenny Sawer. 7:30pm. $15/$12/$10.

An MJ Dedication Night

DJ Rush’s farewell, with DJ Just 1, DJ Daz, Offtapia and DJ Songz. Free before 10pm/$10.

TRINITY BAR

DJ Trent Richardson & DJ Spink Havana Nights present Canberra’s hottest Latin night. 9pm.

MONKEYBAR

Special K & Oscar 5pm & 10pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Aston Shuffle

Four Canadian and two Australian artists with art two years after a collaboration. 11am-5pm (12-4pm) CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Exhibition - Crucible Showcase

For the first time in Australia. Musical director Rick Gerber. 7:30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

DJs Karma/Jswiss/ Hypnotic/MC Tee

Urban Playground Present. 10pm.

The Surrogates 10:30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

A five-piece funk band to ease in your afternoon. 2pm.

MOCAN & GREEN GROUT

music, coffee

Bass, violin, looped vocals or something similar. 10am-11am.

MOCAN & GREEN GROUT

Love Saturdays

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

With Jared de Veer. 9pm.

On The Town Old Skool Saturdays

Mix of Old Skool R‘n’B, 80s & 90s. Free entry. $5 vodka original & flavours 10-11pm.

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Theatre War Of The Worlds

Exhibition – Urban Forest

ANU ARTS CENTRE

CRAFT ACT

Textile works by Dianne Firth evoking Canberra’s urban forest. Tue-Fri 10am5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition – Re-Connections

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Exhibitions – Earrings

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) BILK GALLERY

Dance

Digress Dual Friday

Name Game

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

QL2 THEATRE

Funk/live 6-8pm (Happy Hr 5-7pm).

Resident DJ + more play allsorts 9:30pm on. $8 J/bombs 10-11pm.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra

Canberra Potters’ Society Award Exhibition of Moraig McKenna. 11am5pm (12-4pm Sat).

Can’t Stop Now tour. 9pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

hellosQuare/The Street Present. With Gilded (Perth) and Mornings. 8pm. $10 door/online.

Goji Berry Jam

Incinerator Gallery and Mooney Ponds exhibitions. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Saturday.)

Exhibition Opening – Imaginitus + More

From 7pm-9pm, followed by resident DJ Craig with dancefloor classics/hits.

Abstraktions 4

Exhibition – Bilk on Tour

CRAFT ACT

Matt Dent Moment of Truth

A fresh new sound on the Australian music landscape. 7:30pm. $15.

MONKEYBAR

Art

Exhibitions by Leah Bullen, Karin Hanssen, Clare Thackway, Liz McNiven, Lyndy Delian. 6pm.

Mark Wilkinson

An international exchange project with the Tree Museum, Canada. Tue-Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 12-4pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

8pm.

THE CLUBHOUSE

40 dancers under choreographers C Mackenzie, G Comerford and M Cornell.

See QL2.org.au for info/tix.

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

To Kill A Mockingbird

Free Rain Theatre presents one of the most powerful stories ever told. $2835. Tix: (02) 6275 2700.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

sunday October 21 Art Exhibition – Long Parallel Lines Impressions of the desert by Susan Barnett & Bruce Tunks. 12-5pm.

ANCA GALLERY

Exhibition – Truly, Madly, Deeply

Art by James Lieutenant. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE October 21 - October 25 Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

Trivia

Fame Trivia

Trivia

King O’s Trivia

THE DURHAM

Transit Trivia

Free entry and bar prizes. 6:30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Exhibition – Re-Connections

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

tuesday October 23

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Art

Live Music

Exhibition – Five Exhibitions @ CCAS

Canberra Blues Society’s Monthly Blues Jam

A great afternoon of blues hosted by Canberra’s leading blues bands. $5/$3 members. 1pm-4.30pm.

STATESMAN HOTEL

By Leah Bullen, Karin Hanssen, Clare Thackway, Liz McNiven, Lyndy Delian.

11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Exhibition – Re-Connections

A fresh new sound on the Australian music landscape. 7:30pm. $15.

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

Irish Jam Session

Exhibitions – Earrings

Mark Wilkinson

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Traditional Irish music. 5pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Sunday Best: Sophisticat

Lovely lady lounge singer with keyboard. Tapas from 5pm, happy hour from 6pm. Free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.) BILK GALLERY

Comedy ComedyACT Open Mic

Something Different

7pm.

Los Chavos Argentinian BBQ

Dance

Last day of the Los Chavos EP fundraising campaign with DJs and Arg Asado. 12pm-8pm.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Creative Collective

Roll up your sleeves! Dive into your own light-filled, all ages space to make a mess! 10am-2pm. $5.

CORROBOREE PARK HALL

Theatre War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

monday October 22 Live Music Biscuits

Post-weekend sounds from Ryz, Peekz, Kimosabi, Steve On Weekends! Free pool, 2-4-1 pizza, 9pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

The Bootleg Sessions

With Still Here, Dahnoir, Cromwell, Florian Roderburg. 8pm. Free.

THE PHOENIX BAR

On The Town

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition – Re-Connections

BILK GALLERY

10am-5pm.

Exhibition – Five Exhibitions @ CCAS

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

By Leah Bullen, Karin Hanssen, Clare Thackway, Liz McNiven, Lyndy Delian.

11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

Exhibition – Five Exhibitions @ CCAS

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

Exhibition – Convergent Worlds

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

Exhibition – Re-Connections

11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Four artists from four continents: Juan Davila, Fiona Foley, Petr Herel and Guan Wei. 12pm-5pm.

Film

Annette Minchin’s works on life in the outback; Beverley Bruen’s life in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

Local Feats: The Last Resort (2007)

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Canberra feature film w/ director’s talk.

6pm + 9pm. Tix/info: http://newacton. com.au/localfeats

Karaoke Karaoke

KENDALL LANE THEATRE

From 10pm.

Karaoke

Singers, poets, musicians! Feeling hungry? Book your slot for a free meal!

(02) 6230 2484. 6:30pm.

CORROBOREE PARK HALL

Karaoke Love

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

TRANSIT BAR

Live Music Billy Bragg

1st place wins cash prize! Plenty of bar vouchers to be won too. 8pm.

Sing For Your Supper

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

‘Tuggies Idol’ Karaoke Competition

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

$5 before Fri Aug 31 to win $1000 JB HIFI gift card. 8pm. See facebook.com/ events/512928288733928/

On The Town

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Latino Wednesdays

$8 cocktails. 9pm. Free.

Live Music

MONKEYBAR

Sydney Blues & Roots Festival

Ain’t Nobody That Can Sing Like Me tour. With Jordie Lane. 7pm.

Theatre

Missy Higgins

Red Wharf: Beyond The Rings of Satire.

Bookings: www.canberratheatrecentre. com.au or (02) 6257 2700.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

The Razzle Dazzle Summer tour. With guest Gurrumul. Tix at missyhiggins. com thru a horrid app.

ROYAL THEATRE

Theatre The Wharf Revue

Red Wharf: Beyond The Rings of Satire.

Bookings: www.canberratheatrecentre. com.au or (02) 6257 2700.

Live music over 4 days. Tickets: www. sydneybluesfestival.com.au

The Wharf Revue

THE PLAYHOUSE

War Of The Worlds

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep. org.au.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

WINDSOR, NSW

The Preatures

The Shaking Hands tour. With Jeremy Neale Band. 9pm. Info/tix thru thepreatures.com.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Hat Fitz & Cara

The Wiley Ways album tour. (02) 6295 9853. 8pm. $20.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

THE PLAYHOUSE

War Of The Worlds

Trivia

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version! Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep. org.au.

Art

Karaoke Night!

ANU ARTS CENTRE

War Of The Worlds

Contemporary jewellers who turned to unique, wearable earrings. 11am-5pm.

(11am-4pm, Sat.)

Live Music

Mojito Monday

Theatre

thursday October 25

Exhibitions – Earrings

Karaoke

THE DURHAM

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

TRANSIT BAR

Art

THE DURHAM

Exactly what it says.

$10 Mojito’s, $7 Nojitos. The best latin DJ’s & Music in Canberra. $7 entry w. free drink.

Flex your noggin. Table bookings essential! 2 for $20 pizzas.

7:30pm. Free.

Wednesday October 24

Dance where no one’s watching.

7:30pm-9pm. $5.

No Lights No Lycra

Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version!

Bookings at (02) 62571950 or canberrarep.org.au.

2-4-1 Steak and Schnitzel Night

From 7:30pm.

PJ’s Trivia Tuesday

1st place cash prize with Bar and Kitchen vouchers to be won! 7pm.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

“Taste the Rainbow” Trivia

With Tammy Paks and the Fabulous Q-Radio Team. 7:30pm.

OUT

OCT24

tex perkins the beards fuck buttons last dinosaurs

Trivia Tuesday

batman follies

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

...and more!

THE PHOENIX BAR

$100 cocktail party as first prize.

7:30pm. Free.

61

FIRST CONTACT

SIDE A: BMA band profile

NYASH! Where did your band name come from? It’s NigerianEnglish for ‘ass.’

Group members? Dan Kempers (drums), Rafael Florez (percussion), Simon Milman (bass), Jack Palmer (guitar), Daniel Kim (guitar), Sophie Chapman (trombone), Andrew Fedorivich (alto sax), Nick Combe (bari sax).

Describe your sound: Afrobeat with instrumental jazz.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Fela Kuti, Prince, Public Enemy.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Momentarily losing concentration and then waking up on the ground in the audience, tangled in my guitar lead with everyone looking at me. I was wearing a tuxedo jacket, avocado face mask and a showercap at the time.

Of what are you proudest so far? That we actually got the band happening after just talking about it!

What are your plans for the future? Play more of our own compositions. Maybe include some vocals as well.

What makes you laugh? A really good Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation.

What pisses you off? The state of Indigenous affairs in Australia at the moment.

What about the local scene would you change? I’d add a couple more venues…

What are your upcoming gigs? Thursday October 18 at The White Eagle Polish Club with The Woohoo Revue.

Contact info: nicholascombe@gmail.com or 0499 654 633.

62

Aaron Peacey 0410 381 306 Activate Jetpack activatejetpack@hotmail.com Adam Hole 0421 023 226 Afternoon Shift 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 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Capital Dub Style - Reggae/Dub Events + DJs facebook.com/CapitalDubStyle Rafa 0406 647 296 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 982 662 /colebennetts.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 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 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Groovalicious Corporate/Weddings/ Private functions 0448 995 158 groovalicious@y7mail.com Guy The Sound Guy live & studio sound engineer, 0400 585 369, guy@guythesoundguy.com 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 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 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408 287 672, paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/ dj@karismakatz.com Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Latin-Ska-Reggae facebook.com/loschavosmusic Rafa 0406 647 296 Andy 0401 572 150 Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Mario Brujo Gordon world/latin/ reggae/percussionist and DJ. 0405 820 895 Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Words for You: writer/publicity/events Megan ph 6154 0927, Mercury Switch Lab Studios mercuryswitch@internode.on.net Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 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 Rafe Morris 0416 322 763 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 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 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 STonKA Jamie 0422 764 482/ stonka2615@gmail.com Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tiger Bones & The Ferabul-Zers Danny feralbul@aapt.net.au Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/ transmissionnowhere 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 Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

63

64