BMA Mag 301 15 May 2008

Three01 May 15.08

ALSO INSIDE: I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN, UTAH SAINTS, RAIDEN, CHRIS FRASER, SIN CITY AND MORE

bma magazine

bma magazine

FREE STUFF Free stuff. It’s stuff, and it’s free. If you want free stuff for free, send your answers through to editorial@bmamag.com and… Ah, stuff it.

Gizusakiss, Love…

Ahead of their immanent departure Stateside, Kisschasy have released Too B or Not Too B, a b-sides and rarities collection comprising their first two out-ofprint EPs, the United Paper People b-sides and three never before released tracks from the Hymns for the Nonbeliever sessions. On top of all of this, there's a DVD featuring all of the band’s clips to date. It’s a veritable treasure trove of ‘chasy treats, I’m sure you will agree.

So, to get you in the right mind frame for their May 27 show at the ANU Bar with The Donnas and The Getaway Plan, EMI have very kindly slung us a bunch of copies to hand out. To win one, send us another bad pun.

Proceed with Caution Lust, Caution, is the latest film from Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has just been released on DVD through Universal. It’s a startling erotic espionage thriller set in Shanghai during Japan’s WWII occupation of China, telling the tale of a Japanese government collaborator who begins an affair with his wife’s friend, Wang. It’s picked up a swag of awards, including multiple gongs at the Venice Film Festival, Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and seven awards at the Golden Horse Film Awards. Our very own Mark Russell awarded it four stars upon release, noting “Once again, Lee works in that strange area that’s a little too slow for mainstream Hong Kong, and a little too out there for mainstream Hollywood.”

He concluded thus: “Overall this is a very captivating and intense film.” To grab a copy and judge for yourself, tell us a cautionary tale.

Damn it Feels Good to be a Gangsta Inspired by a true story, American Gangster, starring Russel Crowe and Denzel Washington, highlights the complex relationship that exists between those who live above the law and those who live to uphold it. Set in the drug war of the 1970’s, Frank Lucas (Washington) embraces aggressive tactics to establish himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan, while Richie Roberts (Crowe) is the ‘good cop’ who leads the search to unearth the kingpin of the drug world. Directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Hannibal), the film features an all-star support cast including Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nominee Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jnr and of course Wu-Tang main man the RZA, the Razor. This epic crime thriller is out now on DVD through Universal as either a single disc or extensive two-disc collectors edition. To win a copy, tell us which character the RZA played.

Phoned In Dancefloor felons need never be with choons again, as the latest video remixes from the world’s top international DJs are now just a click away with the launch of 3 mobile’s new Ministry of Sound Mobile TV. Featuring clubland’s hottest artists, the 90 minute made-for-mobile show also contains clips, interviews and music news. MOS TV and music is part of a huge range of entertainment content available via Planet 3 or online at 3’s Music Store www.music.three.com.au - home to thousands of tunes, vids, free music samples, artist interviews, promotions and tones galore. And what better way to view MOS mobile TV than with the Nokia 6288, boasting a big 2” screen designed for 3’s mobile TV. It also has a 2 megapixel 8 x zoom camera, face-to-face video calling function plus access to Planet 3.

To get yer mits on this awesome Nokia 6288 phone, courtesy of the good folks at 3 Mobile, just tell us the first track you’d grab from the online store.

STRUTH BE TOLD When I was 15 I recorded my first album of songs. This was done in my bedroom, on a little cassette walkman with a stereo microphone blu-takked to the indoor clothesline.

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I aimed to nail each track in one take, but I’d usually stuff up somewhere along the line and have to rewind back to the start. I tried ‘dropping in’ halfway through a song, but it left me with more pops and clicks than a retirement home. Naturally, the recording’s were no-fi and dusted with tape hiss, but they captured the essence of the songs, and the whole process prepared me for many of the factors a musician in the studio can face.

I gave the album the title AdLiberation (my affinity with puns blossomed from an early age) and cover art, made up of a wobbly texta drawing of the planet earth with arms holding a sign that read ‘the end is nigh’. (A sense of pre-millennium tension as early as 1995). The songs themselves were structurally ambitious, usually running over five minutes in length, with about eight verses and a prog-folk ‘strum solo’, (a genre created by the cat sitting on the lyrics). The subject matter was equally bold. One song, I Will Never Leave You, was about a father returning home from war while another, Thought She Loved Me, was an angsty break-up ballad including the immortal lines “I loved you” (x4).

All of this from someone whose only Kiss so far had been their greatest hits. I just figured that’s what songs had to be about, like an emotional version of playing dress-ups.

While my production values were primitive, I still strived to improve my sound. In 1996 I experimented by moving my studio into the bathroom as I liked the acoustics better. The odd feeling of sitting on the toilet with the seat down kept me alert, and I informed Mum if she was going to knock on the door then it had to be in 4/4 time. In grade ten, when my peers were playing NBA Jam and making prank calls, I was singing about existentialism. “Time moves so fast, you forget who you are”. I was a wise old sage with a bowl cut and a Kuta Lines polar fleece.

I never suffered too much anxiety when it came to listening back to the recordings. I’d always been fine with hearing my own voice, and felt safe hanging out inside my own sonic cubbyhouse. Playing them for my family was a different matter. Add a human to the mix and the songs became instantly embarrassing. I’d press play on the stereo before running outside and hiding under the trampoline. Listening to the tapes recently, I could have sworn they were done on high speed dubbing, but no, my voice really was that high. At that stage the only balls dropping were the ones hit to me at cricket.

I look back on those days with fondness, when music was an activity that I did for the sheer joy it gave me. There was no business side to consider, or performance schedule to maintain. There was no chance to over-think or overcook the recordings. The songs rolled off the guitar already finished, all I had to do was catch the butterfly in the net. It’s good to have that texta drawn blueprint for simplicity, reminding me of the power of unaccompanied guitar and voice, and the days when I’d sit watching the tape wheels go round and round, fantasising about my own time in the sun.

JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD www.bedroomphilosopher.com

NEWS Barnes-storming One of the country’s last true rockers, Jimmy Barnes, is undertaking his first major theatre tour in more than a decade. Following the success his late-2007 LP Out in the Blue - which debuted at #3 on the charts and became his 10th platinum album - Jimmy will be playing theatres right across Australia prior to a tour of England and Europe in the Spring.

Recorded in a fortnight with Nash Chambers (Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson), the LP is Jimmy’s most bare bones and honest work to date, much of it written while he was recuperating from open-heart surgery.

With 16 solo albums to draw from, not to mention the Chisel oeuvre, the shows, tailored to a theatre environment, are sure to be diverse affairs. “It’s something I haven’t really done since Soul Deep,” the man says. “I’ve had a fantastic run of big outdoor and winery shows over the past Summer but I’m itching to get back indoors. The rooms are small enough to still get intimate with the audience, but you can stretch out more than in a pub.” The tour will be somewhat of a family affair, with Barnes’ son Jackie back from the US to drum in his dad’s band, while his eldest daughter Mahalia - last in town with Tim Finn – and her own band will support at all shows, ahead of her debut album due in mid-June.

Barnes hits the Canberra Theatre on Wednesday June 25, with tickets on sale through the usual outlets.

Straight to Hell City Perennial BMA favourites the Hell City Glamours (above) are back in town, dispensing their own brand of rock ‘n’ roll justice in a flurry of big hair, skintight jeans and Cuban heels. This visit, however, won’t see them at their usual haunt the Transit. Rather, they’ll be kicking out the jams, and anything else in the vicinity for that matter, at the ANU Bar on May 30 in support of former Skid Row mouthpiece Sebastian Bach – a man who’s leathery chest is now permanently emblazoned on my mind after two months of dealing with his latest set of promo pics. The Glamours are currently putting the finishing touches to their long-awaited debut LP which is due out July 5 through MGM. Stay tuned to www. hellcityglamours.com for news on the LP, and the accompanying launch tour, as it comes to hand.

It’s All Relative Seemingly omnipresent Sydney partystarters Grafton Primary are stopping by for another skirmish on Canberra’s dance floors, this time striking the ANU Bar with the recently really-really-bloodypopular popsters Faker. Indeed, the Sydney electronica trio’s reworking of Faker’s This Heart Attack was, just quietly, a bit of smash, permeating the triple j airwaves like that bottle of spoiled orange juice did the BMA office just yesterday. The band recently released an electrifying video clip for their current single Relativity, directed by Daniel Jameison (Illegally Parked Vehicle). Apparently it took a good three months to perfect the animation for the vid, so keep yer peepers peeled for that lil’ nugget. Keep on top of it all at www.myspace.com/graftonprimary .

Laugh Shack, Baby. Laugh Shack The latest instalment of Comedy ACT’s The Laugh Shack brings Joel Ozborn to town on Wednesday May 21 from 8.30pm at The Venue, Erindale. Fresh off a stint at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival, where his show Stand Out had the punters laughing heartily, Joel returns to

Canberra for one night only. The man has busked in Sydney, toured through America supporting The Amazing Jonathan and regularly toured with Arj Barker and Akmal Saleh. Joining him are the local louts from Comedy ACT, including Jay Sullivan (Raw Comedy finalist ‘08), Tom Gibson (Green Faces winner ‘07), Nick Smith (Raw Comedy Canberra winner ‘08) with Geoff Setty (Raw Comedy Canberra winner) MCing the night.

Yep, between them, the rag-tag Comedy ACT troupe have certainly seen their fair share of comedy comp spoils, and with their monthly shindigs at The Venue attracting some of the nation’s finest comedians, the lads remain dedicated to providing the Capital with a unique alternative.

Cracklin’ Rosie Rosie Burgess, Melbourne-based singer/ songwriter, has carved out a unique sound, infusing blues, roots and folk music into her own special blend, and subsequently wowing audiences all across Australia. Her raw and heartfelt lyrics, combined with her skilful rootsy guitar, harmonica and mandolin playing, make for a live experience not to be missed. Rosie recently received a ‘Vic Rocks’ grant from the Victorian Government which allowed her to embark on a national tour, and so you can catch the lady herself at the Hippo Bar (17 Garema Place, Canberra City) on Thursday May 22. Doors open at 8pm, entry is a slender $7. For more info on this promising young lass, head to her website at www.rosieburgess.com .

Birds Have Risen Woah! How about Plastic Palace Alice at Bar 32?! If you weren’t there, well, we aren’t about to delude you to the fact it’s the only thing worth complaining about missing, because on Thursday 22 May is a smashing night of rock ‘n’ roll that you can’t miss! Dead Farmers (Syd) are going to create mayhem with always impressive locals Voss, The Cherry Marines and The Fighting League, all for the marvelous price of $5. These boys love Canberra and good-hearted, shredding rock, with balls. And then a weird third ball that you should probably get checked. Stay tuned for the next brief edition of Birds Love Fighting news with word on Snowman, Dad They Broke Me, Tomas Ford, Spartak and ii. Goodness, I’ll have much more to discuss! Until then, visit myspace.com/birdslovefighting for more info on shows and Gangbusters.

My Home is the Sea Eight years since the release of their critically lauded debut Blessed Unrest, The Holy Sea return with one of the most distinctive and heartfelt releases of 2008.

From its pining pedalsteel opening to its final whispered words, A Beginner’s Guide to the Sea is an aching journey of love and loss, set amidst the ever present Australian landscape. Staggering from the suburbs of Perth to the backstreets of Melbourne, A Beginner’s Guide… is a powerful exploration of geographic and personal dislocation exploring the time-honoured themes of love, death and alcohol. Formed in 1999 around singer songwriter Henry F. Skerritt, The Holy Sea became a mainstay of the Perth music scene. Drawing from a wellspring of Australian influences such as The Triffids, The Go-Betweens and Nick Cave, The Holy Sea attracted a devoted following for their intelligent songwriting and passionate performances. To witness the band in full flight, with The Haunted Attics and Thickshake in support, head along to The Pot Belly on Saturday May 31.

AND ANOTHER THING...

YOU PISSED ME OFF Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well, send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance. And for the love of God, keep it brief! ALL ENTRIES CONTAIN GENUINE SPELLINGS.

I woke up with a start, mainly due to the fact that my face was wedged up against the cold glass. I couldn’t move my head away from the glass because what appeared to be a flight case full of drum parts was resting on it. From what I could make out through the steamed-up window, we were travelling, at speed, along a main road in the middle of the night, which was strange because the last thing I remembered was getting stuck in the revolving doors of the hotel as I tried to get away from the party in order to get some air.

I didn’t have a watch on, but I guessed that that was some hours ago.

A watery dawn was breaking and I just managed, as it flashed past, to make out what the sign said on the roadside: A2 Dover 38 Not good. The hotel I’d been at was in Kensington, West London; I lived in Cricklewood, North London. By my reckoning I was heading at speed away from where I wanted to be; at this point about 45 miles away from where I wanted to be. I heaved the flight case off me, determined to take action. I was met with a blast of cheers and handed a bottle of export strength lager. The cheers came from the band Hed P.E., an American nu-metal outfit I’d been doing t-shirts for. Having gone back to their party after a ‘triumphant’ debut London show, I had become a little worse for wear and, realising I’d left my coat in the van, gone out to ‘take the air’ before doing a disappearing act before things got too messy. (BMA fruit expert Allan Sko will tell you all about my skill at ‘disappearing’). Apparently, I’d nodded off in the back seat where the band found me as they assembled to take the ferry to the continent and points east on their European tour. Not wanting to wake me, they’d decided to head off with the ‘swag guy’ in tow.

So here I am, passport-free and bound for France, feeling much as a press-ganged Roger the cabin boy must have, having woken to find he was on his way to Trafalgar. Still, England expects, and as luck would have it, the band, all resourceful souls, had hatched a plan.

“We’ll hide you in the trailer. No one will think to look in there after they’ve shaken the minibus down. You’ll be fine.”

Of course, her Majesty’s Customs and Excise department take a dim view of human traffic, and as I didn’t feel like becoming another pixellated head on the next episode of Border Patrol, I decided to make a break for it at the next available opportunity. I’d had a few close shaves in my time as a merchandiser – guns poked up my nostril by bootleggers in Italy, German men of ‘specialist’ interest taking a shine to the pertness of my leather-clad buttocks, etc etc - but I really didn’t want to have to explain to Mr Plod or, worse still Monsieur Plod, what I was doing attempting to cross the channel with no passport without being covered in Goose grease and accompanied by a support vessel.

Luckily, the band were almost as distressed as I had been hours earlier and, on stopping at a service station to empty aching bladders, I was able to make good my legs and effect a quick exit and hitchhike back to the metropolis. A close shave, I’m sure you’ll agree. Like the man at ANU said the other night – always be with your photo ID, brothers and sisters.

SCOTT ADAMS thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

bma :: Issue301 www.bmamag.com "bma: ghostridin' tha whip" Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd | ACN 097 301 730

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

To the illiterate fuck whose letter appeared in the most recent issue of BMA, YOUR RIDICULOUS GRAMMAR AND JUVENILE ATTITUDE PISSED ME OFF. My retinas physically burned whilst attempting to interpret your poor spelling and awful sentence structure. Furthermore, anonymously bagging out someone for lacking breasts is not dissimilar to an occurrence I witnessed during my most recent visit to the National Zoo and Aquarium; two Colobus Monkeys hurling poo at each other. Go back to high school for this kind of exasperatingly futile bitchiness.

While you are there, consider paying attention in English as an alternative to evidently blowing your teacher in order to achieve a pass. For wasting my time with your pseudo angry rant, I hope your face is chewed off by flesh eating piranhas.

To the smart-arsed chinese supporter at the olympic torch relay who gave a double singlefinger salute to those supporting the tibetan cause: If I ever see your fucking face around this town, you’ll get a flaming torch shoved up your arse! And to all the other chinese torch supporters shouting

‘bullshit’: you are low-life scum!

Have you even been to Tibet to see the havoc being wreaked on a peaceful and beautiful culture by your government? I doubt it. Well I have. You piss me off, turds!

To the boys formerly of Erindale College. Thanks for coming to The Butterfly Effect, no really.

You managed awesomely to be the group that everyone wishes would fuck off and die and NEVER come to a live show again. Thanks for ruining the mosh, thanks for smashing into girls half your size, thanks for trying to make a death pit during slow tempo songs, you really managed to show your intellect. It’s only through sheer luck that you all didn’t get punched in the face, I wish you all had. Thanks for basically being a bunch of scum bags. YOU PISSED ME OFF!!!

To Da other person pissed off about glass bottles in The Can - RIGHT ON! Duck’n’weaven to swerve that shit is all a sista can do to protect her wheels. Put your rubbish in the bin, we needn't live with your shards of shit all over the streets. Observe - that’s a double pissed-off from two BMA readers, you lazy arse drinkers!

FROM THE BOSSMAN Ahhhhhh yes… a heavy tax on bitch piss and threatening to enforce lock out times to prevent ‘bar hopping’. That’ll keep us rowdy proles out of trouble, eh? By lord, as if it wasn’t tough enough for our brave boys on the battle front – the bars and venues – without further governmental pressure. Alcohol can lead to drunkenness and rowdiness; yes, I think Socrates established that one (where do you think his fabled “To thine own self be true” came from? The man was wankered at the time). Alcohol also leads to joyous occasions, smiles aplenty, and the smashing down of social barriers that makes friends of strangers and lovers of friends. And it gets ugly people laid.

And they want to take this away from uuuuuuuuuuuus!?! <tears shirt asunder, outside during a rainy day preferred, with one of those ariel tracking shots like Tim Robbins had in Shawshank Redemption. Yeah, cool>. Putting an early close on bars in Queensland just redirected the problem (and caused greater taxi queues), and placing a higher tax on our sweet suds just means alcoholics are poorer, and more prone to stealing. Hell, why not just go all prohibition on our asses, so we can usher in a glorious new era of the speakeasys. I always regretted missing out on that. Dibs on being the Beer Baron.

Right, I’m off to scull a pint of super cheap turps and knife some bastard for looking at me cock-eyed.

ALLAN “YOU WANT SOME!?! DO YA!?! SKO

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

Editorial Assistant Shailla Van Raad Super Sub Editor Julia Winterflood Graphic Design Jessica Condi Film Editor Mark Russell Principal Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo/Nick Brightman/John Hatfield Issue 302 Out May 29 Editorial Deadline May 16 Advertising Deadline May 22

bma magazine

TIDBITS WHO OXFAM & LOCAL DESIGNERS AND STORES WHAT A FAIR TRADE FASHION PARADE WHERE KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE WHEN SUN MAY 18

Oxfam ACT and Knightsbridge Penthouse have teamed up to bring you a fashion parade with a twist. Modern Morals: A Fair Trade Fashion Parade will promote ethically sourced, locally made and recycled garments from local stores and designers during the Fair Trade Fortnight, with emporiums such as Tree of Life, Ruby & Rogue, Fully Stoked, Eline, Mooble and Grazed Youth participating. “The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) estimates there are 300,000 people working at home in small makeshift factories in Australia, making the clothes that you wear,” writes Julian Lee in How Good Are You? That’s just in Australia, so imagine how many others are in worse circumstances around the world. This parade will highlight to consumers and businesses how everyday buying decisions can help to make a world of difference. Modern Morals will be held at Knightsbridge Penthouse on Sunday May 18. Doors open at 5pm. There are only 100 tickets on sale for $25 each, which includes a free sample of a Fair Trade Cocktail, and all proceeds will be going to Oxfam Australia. Tickets from the Oxfam city store or Knightsbridge Penthouse, more info at www.oxfam.org.au . EMMA CSIBI

WHO 1STANCE (SYD), DJ CXL (NZ), DIRTY MOB (BRIS) WHAT MULTI-STATE HIPHOP COLLAB WHERE ANU BAR WHEN FRIDAY MAY 16

New Zealand’s DMC Champion of 2003 and hip-hop heavyweight, DJ CXL, is teaming up with Brisbane based Dirty Mob for an assault on the ANU Bar on Friday May 16. The two are here to support the launch of the club banging single Take 1 by Sydney artist, 1Stance.

The three will also unleash their collaboration of Take 1 - Tha Remix due for release later this year. DJ CXL has been terrorising the 1200s for the last decade. After winning the 2003 NZ DMC finals, he then represented NZ at the DMC World finals in London, winning a spot in the top 12. As the sole DJ to support DJ Q-Bert on his NZ tour, it is evident that CXL’s talent is internationally respected. Dirty Mob and CXL have also supported acts such as 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Black Eyed Peas, Cypress Hill, RZA and Destiny’s Child, to name a few. Dirty Mob flaunt a unique sense of style, fuelled by a true love of hip-hop. They present anything from hard-edged street anthems to club bangers. For more info, head to www.myspace.com/1stance . EMMA CSIBI

WHO A SLEW OF GUESTS FROM THE CANBERRA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FEST WHAT FINALE CONCERT WHERE STREET THEATRE WHEN SUN MAY 18

The Canberra International Music Festival has decided to introduce Canberra to the joys of music marathons with their finale concert - at The Street Theatre this Sunday May 18 - stretching for a mammoth seven hours. The concert will be a mish-mash of guests from the entire festival program with string quartets alternated with multimedia and electronica.

The idea is to expose us young ‘uns to traditional forms and introduce the old guard to more experimental types of music. It’s admirable and it might just work. However, most appealing for the music nuts and/or celebrity hounds will be the chance to pigeon-hole the musicians as they wander around the Street Theatre foyer in between sets, which guests are encouraged to do. My pick of the program will be the 1:30 to 3:30pm session, where you can catch Czech avant-garde violinist, singer and composer, Iva Bittova, and Rob Schwimmer, the world’s best Theremin player. The music marathon will be held in three two-hour sessions with half-hour breaks in between, starting at 11am and winding up around 6pm. For more info hit www.cimf.org.au . (Pictured: So Percussion)

WHO DARDANELLES, ANGELAS DISH, BRAINDEAD LOVERS WHAT THE JD SET WHERE THE VENUE WHEN SUN JUNE 8

Ever since the early 1790s when Mozart got blasted and wrote La clemenza di Tito, music and the good stuff have always gone hand-in-hand. It’s no surprise, then, that Jack Daniel’s have taken matters into their own hands and introduced The JD Set. The premise is simple: fans vote for their favourite up-and-coming bands, the winners are picked, and they tour the country together. The JD Set will be staged four times this year, seeing 12 of the country’s brightest hopes hit the road before the year’s out. The three winners of The JD Set’s first round national tour have been announced; Central Coast pop-rockers Angelas Dish, touting their recently released debut album, War On Time; St Kilda’s Braindead Lovers, fuelled by classic British glam and punk of the ’70s, and fresh from supporting the Divinyls on their reunion tour late last year; and perennial Canberra favourites, Melbourne’s psychedelic indie upstarts Dardanelles who scored a final round nomination in the 2007 Australian Music Prize (The AMP) for their brilliant debut Mirror Mirror. Catch them at The Venue on Sunday June 8, tickets through Moshtix outlets and www.moshtix.com .

WHO HYJAK AND TORCHA WHAT PLAYING THE OBESE RECORDS BLOCK PARTY WHERE ANU BAR WHEN FRI MAY 23

Hyjak and Torcha are two of Australia’s most respected and innovative MCs. A 15-year-old Hyjak first burst onto the scene in ’98, sneaking into a Bondi pub to enter, and win, his very first MC battle. Almost a decade later we find a mature songwriter and storyteller who still retains the happy-go-lucky attitude and witty freestyles that put him on the map. Torcha also has a rich history in Australian hip-hop as an original member of Sydney’s Et-nik Tribe.

He’s a realist with untamed battle lyrics and great storytelling ability, bringing well-planned concepts and conscious balance to the group. Aided by veteran Australian DJ Bonez on the decks and production, they dropped their long-awaited and highly acclaimed LP Drastik Measures in 2004. And then silence. But worry not, as they boys are back in town as part of the Obese Records Block Party and, with their sophomore LP Frozen State due out this year on Obese, they’re bound to have a few sneaky previews up the sleeve to sate punters thirsty for new material.

WHO wons phreely, phdj (purple sneakers) & many more WHAT LONDON CIRCUIT, A NEW INDIE NIGHT WHERE PJ O'REILLY'S, CIVIC WHEN thu MAY 15

Cooler than Carnaby St. More Beats than the Beatles. Bigger than Big Ben. Yes, on May 15, that sleepy ol’ stretch of road we call London Circuit is set for a shake up. Concieved in a bar late one night to the sounds of Bloc Party, the ‘berra’s brand spanking new club night London Circuit promises an eve of indie beats, disco treats and old school tunes.

Commanding the decks will be PhDJ, the man behind both the Boundary Sounds label and Sydney’s massive indie club night Purple Sneakers. Samson, Terrorvision and Sydney’s John Oh will also be on hand with the tuneage. On the live front, heading the charge will be Sydney folk-pop troubadour Wons Phreely, with highly-touted locals The Magic Hands and The Trivs bringing up the rear. LS aims to be accessible to all, providing a comfortable environment to enjoy great music. There’s only one rule - NO FLUORO! Pre-sale tickets - available through london.circuit@gmail.com - are all but sold out, so get in early on the night and grab one on the door for $10 from 9pm. Head to www.myspace.com/ londoncircuit for more info.

7 Akuna St

Canberra City

ALL SHOWS FREE ENTRY

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

11

KISSABILITY

"I guess because the songs have still got a little bit sugar to them, everyone always goes ‘oh yeah, kids band,’ but I’ve seen some of the drunkest people in my life at our shows – it’s ridiculous!"

Peter Krbavac And so, in the immortal words of silver-mained songsmith Neil Diamond, “On the boats and on the planes, they’re coming to America. Got a dream to take them there, they’re coming to America.” Sure, the song may have originally told the optimistic story of the wave of immigrants seeking a new life in the US in the early 1900s, but the sentiment still holds for Balnarring, Victoria rock combo KISSCHASY. Y’see, after one final reel ‘round Australia, the band will depart on a lengthy American junket, spreading the good word to our Southern brothers and sisters.

But, unsatisfied with hearing all this from a press release, I decided to go straight to the source, break out the tin cans and string, and communicate directly with the band’s bassist Joel Vanderuit. When we spoke a few weeks back, the massive storms lashing Victoria had tempered and Joel was left with a not insubstantial cleaning job. “It’s been real, real knarly weather down here today,” he says. “We’ve got some trees over in the back yard and stuff’s just a mess at the moment.”

Nevertheless, being the stoic professional that he is, Joel drags himself away from domestic duties and brings this writer up to speed on everything Kisschasy related.

We start with the biggest news first, that being the temporary relocation to America.“We’ll be on tour the whole time we’re there,” he explains, “just tyring to tour for as long as we possibly can and get a bit of a groundswell.

We come in midway through their summer and just basically stay there while we still can tour and have enough money to keep going.”

Joel is typically pragmatic when considering his hopes as to what the US tour will achieve:“Basically to be able to sustain living and touring in the US and further than that; Europe and so on. So, to be able to continue the longevity of the band, to be able to keep touring, growing and progressing.

We’re not looking for world domination, we’re not looking to be the biggest band in the world, we just want to have a good time and live well.”

This leads us to the band’s Skin and Bones Australian tour, which will not only serve as a farewell to their homeland but will also see the four revisiting some of their early material.“We’ll probably be overseas for the rest of the year,” Joel explains, “so we wanted to do a pretty big tour to kind of say ‘yep, we’ll be back but we’re gonna be gone for a little while.’ We’re trying to split the set up into quite old, almost at the start of our career songs, and then some from Hymns… as well, and everything in between.”

While some bands all but disown their early material, Joel says he’s happy with how Kisschasy’s early tunes have stood up a few years down the track. “As songs I think they’re great,” he says steadfastly. “It definitely takes a bit of work to remember how to play them to the standard of the ones we’ve been playing for the last two or three years. Darren forgot all the lyrics and we’re all missing tiny little parts.” Joel says that revisiting and relearning the old songs evoked fond memories of the early days of the band. “We all had to go back and listen to all the old stuff… so you get a little nostalgic and remember the first time you went on tour - and a couple of songs are about that old. It’s fun!

"You’ve gotta be proud of everything you’ve done,” he later adds. “From our first EP to [Hymns…], I’m not ashamed or embarrassed of any of it.”

Continuing the retrospective theme of the tour, the band have just released Too B or not Too B, a collection comprising their first two, now out-of-print LPs, the b-sides from their United Paper People singles and three outtakes from the Hymns… sessions, plus a DVD of all their clips to date. “It should be good,” Joel enthuses. “Old Kisschasy fans that already

have the EPs can get it and still get a few songs that they would have never heard before, songs that we recorded for the album but didn’t quite fit in so we just ditched ‘em. We’ve never played them live, so it should be good for people to hear something different.”

Joel does admit that there was initially some uncertainty about the prospect of releasing a compilation only two LPs deep into their career.

“There was definitely talk about that. We toyed with the idea of another DVD but we thought we didn’t really have enough footage for that. We toyed with the idea of another EP and trying to write a few songs for it but we didn’t really have time for that. It’s not like releasing a greatest hits record… we’re advertising it as a b-sides and rarities album. So it was debated as to whether or not it was premature. It’s not going to sell a million copies of anything, it’s just something to keep the juices flowing for the people back here for a little while. Hopefully releasing that album will keep our names in people’s heads and soon we can come back, start a new album and start the next chapter.”

But before the beginning of that fabled next chapter, we allow ourselves a few moments to reflect on the Hymns for the Nonbeliever LP, easily one of the finest pop records to see release last year. From the outset, Joel says the band were determined to make the album that became Hymns… a complete body of work, rather than merely a grab bag of songs the band had kicking about at the time. “It was pretty much the only thing we had in mind,” he reiterates. “That’s why when we say ‘bsides’ for this other thing we’re releasing, they’re not b-sides in that they weren’t good enough for an album… They’re great songs on their own, but they just weren’t in keeping with the theme of the other tracks off Hymns for the Nonbeliever.”

Lyrically, Hymns… clearly displays the bands musical maturation over the past couple of years, with a far more cynical and jaded outlook than the happy-go-lucky do-doing and whoa-ohing of yesteryear. “There’re some negative comments towards pop culture, the scene in general - the music scene,” Joel agrees. “It even gets so far as Darren getting pretty into his animal rights and stuff like that. He writes all the lyrics, so he threw everything by us – he would never put anything out there that we didn’t totally agree with. It is scathing, but everything’s still pretty light-hearted at the root of it,” he explains.

The album’s also gone a long way to dispelling the common perception of Kisschasy as a ‘kids band.’“For ages everyone just thought we were a kids band, and we kind of did too,” admits Joel. “Then we started seeing show numbers changing, we were selling much better with our overage crowd than we were with our underage crowd. We were wondering ‘what the hell’s going on here?’ I guess because the songs have still got a little bit sugar to them, they’re still kinda poppy, everyone always goes ‘oh yeah, kids band,’ but I’ve seen some of the drunkest people in my life at our shows – it’s ridiculous,” he laughs.

On a more serious note, Joel adds “If you don’t write to [a specific audience], to a specific genre that you’re supposed to be in, if you just write - and Darren writes pop songs - then it’s going appeal to…” he pauses. “We’ve obviously got electric guitars with distortion, but if you just write pop songs then everyone has at least a chance to like it.” So, to horribly dismember the lyrics of Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “Take a chance, take a chance on Kisschasy.”

Kisschasy play at the ANU Bar on Tuesday May 27 with The Donnas (US) and The Getaway Plan. Tickets are on sale from Ticketek on 132 849.

“You can hum and har about similar decisions in life all the time, but the fact is it all happened and, be it good or bad, it’s water under the bridge. I think at the time we were all very stressed and it was really a make or break time for the band…”

WHEN GOODBYE MEANS FOREVER John Hatfield The year 2007 was set to be the busiest and most significant year that Adelaide metalcore band I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN had experienced. After recovering from the split with former frontman Michael Crafter in 2006, they bounced back stronger with new vocalist Ed Butcher and subsequently released their most successful album Music for the Recently Deceased. Breaking into the ARIA top 30 charts and gaining a sizeable increase in their fan base, IKTPQ embarked on continuous tours that saw them circle Australia multiple times as well as trekking across the US, Europe and Asia. Yet in January 2007, the news broke that their new found UK native singer had left mid-tour due to a severe case of homesickness. The next few months saw the band in a state of limbo, completing their tour dates with fill-in vocalists but never gaining a permanent replacement. Then came the final death blow, guitarist and band manager Jona Wienhoffen received an offer to join US metalcore outfit Bleeding Through, with the band deciding as a whole that there was no point continuing without a permanent vocalist.

Guitarist Kevin Cameron offers no regrets to the way things turned out.

“You can ‘hum and har’ about similar decisions in life all the time but the fact is it all happened and, be it good or bad, it’s water under the bridge.

I think at the time we were all very stressed and it was really a make or break time for the band, so in those months it was an appropriate move.

Ultimately, being in the position to get a new singer who fitted in well was going to be a tough task, but then Jona getting the offer for BT was something we couldn’t bounce back from. Maybe if we were a US band who had new members coming and going monthly it would work, but we all felt finding two important replacements and maintaining the level we were at in Australia was pointless. I didn’t really see it coming, and the whole decision was made in about two days during what seemed like a never ending overseas tour.”

Cut to May 2008 and IKTPQ have reunited with their original vocalist and are about to embark on their Say Goodbye tour, playing 22 gigs in 18 days. And as I found out, Michael’s return was an easy decision to make despite his unceremonious firing last time. “I guess the first few months after the initial split were very tense. Unpleasantries were fired back from both sides but life goes on, we all made up in the following months, and now it feels like old times. Obviously we couldn’t tour with someone who had no prior involvement with the band, and our relationship with the more recent frontman is far more sour than that with Michael; that hatchet is long since buried. I think outsiders took it a lot harder than any of us that were actually involved in the end, being that the internet gives everyone a very open opinion on subjects they may not be so well versed in.” Regarding Ed Butcher and any contact he has with the band, Kevin seems reticent to fuel the online rumours about the reasons behind the split. “We have no contact anymore. That’s all I’ll say.”

Recording the final album in Sweden with famed metal producer Fredrik Nordstrom saw a shift in IKTPQ’s music towards the now popular Swedish melodic death metal sound. And shows with Ed Butcher featured fewer and fewer of their older songs; at the time it seemed like they were further distancing themselves from their earlier work with Michael. So one would expect reuniting and playing a mix of older and newer songs to be a big change, both for the band and also for what audiences can expect. “Definitely; obviously the last album was the most successful and what a lot of people know us from, but there’s years of history before that time in IKTPQ’s career. For this final tour we felt it was important to play a mix seeing as Michael was in the band for a long time and it would obviously serve as nostalgia for fans of the older works.

Keeping fans old and new happy was imperative as well as having a fresh feel for it ourselves. It’s funny that everyone makes a big deal about the shift in style, because I don’t seem to notice it that much. We’ve been fans of that Swedish sound for a long time even if it didn’t shine through so much early on. When we were writing the previous releases, there were tonnes of half-songs that got scrapped in a similar vein to Deceased because we were like ‘it’s too metal’. I guess maybe we thought it was dangerous going for that kind of style which hadn’t taken off here. Cut to three years later (the album was written and recorded a year before being released in mid 2006) and everyone’s doing it.”

The interview couldn’t end without at least a mention of frontman Michael Crafter’s recent entry into the Big Brother house, and subsequent departure three days later. Far from a record company’s calculated publicity stunt, Michael had taken it upon himself to drum up an internet campaign, leveraging his 18,000 myspace friends to get voted in. It was always somewhat of a joke to Michael and the rest of the band and was never a threat to the tour despite what was being said on the internet. “Well, at time of press he’s already out. I thought him going in was a possibility, but yeah, it’s done now and we’ll be jamming hard from now on up until the tour,” laughs Kevin.

In regards to future reunions of IKTPQ, Kevin remains open to the possibility but considers it unlikely as most members have been quick to find new projects since the split - Jona now spending most of his time overseas with Bleeding Through, drummer JJ Peters fronting his rap hardcore act Deez Nuts, as well as new bands for both Kevin and Michael. “You never know what could happen down the track. This tour will obviously be a lot of fun but at this stage it’s the final tour and we will go on to our other projects after this.”

I Killed the Prom Queen will be saying goodbye to Canberrans of all ages on May 27 at the UC Bar, joined by Bring Me The Horizon (UK), The Ghost Inside (US), Melbourne’s The Red Shore and localS band Dead Kings. A special tour edition of Music For The Recently Deceased is being released with four bonus tracks featuring Crafter’s original vocals, two live tracks and a music video. bma magazine 13

ALL AGES

It’s like that.

A tip of the hat to you on this fine day. I hope all of you have been keeping yourselves occupied through the cold nights, cold days,

and savoring those little rays of sunlight that peep in through the window every now and then letting you in on what it’s like to actually feel warmth.

The Friday May 16 brings us over to Woden Youthie, where Corporate Takedown are set to take the stage alongside Friend or Enemy for the night. As always, the boys are set to put on a great set, and if each and every one of you has the opportunity to get on out I highly recommend you do.

6pm on the rocket clock.

year, placing themselves in the spotlight as the Columbian cocaine of the Canberra music scene. Grade A, pure disco shit.

Without the disco… or the shit.

On the eve of releasing their second album within around 12 months, the band has been paving new paths for the scene by playing a vicious amount of shows over the past few months. The Friday May 16 will be the next show kids, playing at the Richard Larter exhibition at the National Gallery.

Andi and George have been making more than a name for themselves over the past

If, however, you can’t make this one, a bigger show is on its way.

Thursday May 29 is the album

launch over at the Front Café. The album, Sun and Moon, is set to be unbelievable so score yourself a place on the dance floor while you can. Stay tuned for more info.

If you’re looking for something special, this is it. Get on down.

Dancing will be required.

It’s been a while since the youth on the ‘berra have been treated to a good ol’ fashioned punk show, so it’s timely that Melbourne trashers Cut Sick have decided to trundle through town. Taking their queues from classic Australian punk bands such as the Hard-Ons, The Meanies and Massappeal, they’re loud, they’re fast, they’re raw and, basically, they rule.

They’ll be joined by local legends Hardluck plus Eye Gouge!, Eat a Brick and Repoman. The bands start at 6.30pm sharp, $10 is your admission fee and the Tuggeranong Youth Centre is the venue. Dig it.

If the rather large article on the previous page hadn't already tipped you off, the time is nigh.

I Killed The Prom Queen will be bidding a fond farewell to the punters of Canberra with a massive UC Refectory show as part of their Say Goodbye tour. Tickets have been selling stupidly fast for this tour, so don't be left out in the cold. You'll also get British deathcore act Bring Me The Horizon, Californian hardcore band The Ghost Inside, Melbourne metalers The Red Shore and newly-formed locals Dead Kings as part of the bargain, so there's value if ever I saw it!

Tickets to their May 27 show are on sale now through Moshtix outlets and www.moshtix.com.au .

So go. Go now!

I leave you with a thought. Over the past months I have heard the words “the Canberra all ages scene is dead” one too many times. It’s a serious issue my friends, and I believe it’s time that we make sure that the all ages scene thrives just as hard as it once did. I leave it up to each of you to get off Myspace and MSN and get on up and get down to all that this town has to offer. Make it massive, just bring your friends and turn it into a fucking party. Do what you need to do.

Let’s just do it.

And that’s the way it is…

Peace. Love. Funk.

JOSH MOLONY joshmolony@hotmail.com

LOCALITY Generally a solo artist, Alice has been performing on her lonesome around Canberra since the very tender age of 13. And, like almost every Canberra musician at the mo’, you can also catch her ‘round town as part of the ever-expanding Andi and George Band empire.

The very exciting news is that Alice has just recorded her first EP, titled Goodbye Winter.

Alice herself pegs the sound as “as an atmospheric mix of folk and rock, plus a few epic ballads, backed by a two-man stringed orchestra.” It’s sure to send nostalgic shivers down your spine... Alice will be launching the disc, handily enough, at the launch of the Andi and George Band’s long-awaited double album, Sun and Moon, at The Front Cafe & Gallery in Lyneham on Thursday May 29.

The festivities kick off at 7pm, and entry is $10, going towards funding both Alice and A&G on their east coast tour, beginning in early June. As anyone who’s attended one of the Andi and George Band’s legendary front gigs will attest, they’re basically just a massive, massive party. And who doesn’t like parties, eh?

always, there’s a stellar cast of local purveyors of the hard stuff in support. Local heavyweights System Addict and Machete (who have a very impressive pedigree, check the band profile on page 34 for more info) will be on hand, as will Tortured, playing their debut show. “This line-up is sure to tantalise the taste buds,” our magnificently bearded correspondent continues. “Ten big ones at the door and raise those hands in the air.” You heard ‘im…

While the space is usually reserved for over-excited primary school kids or doomed, early-

twenties playwrights in berets, thoroughly charming indie pop kids Margaret Helen King are launching their new CD at The C-Block Theatre, Gorman House later this month. The show is on Friday May 23 and features the equally delightful Cashews and the intriguingly-named Jane, The Hula Hoop Wonder in support.

8pm is your time, $5 your price and fun is your reward.

Fresh from their jam-packed EP launch, those dashing rogues The Haunted Attics are ducking over Northside-way to the Pot Belly at the end of the month – in

fact, quite literally the end of the month on Saturday May 31. They’ll be supporting local Perth legends The Holy Sea, who are touring on the back of their first album in almost eight years. Local upstarts Thickshake will also be there. Will you, eh?

The esteemed Carrie Dennes is currently dead centre in the middle of our sunburnt the country, attempting to make her fortune panning for gold. In the interim, please direct all emails to editorial@bmamag.com and they’ll be duly passed onto our fill in guy, ARTHUR JACKSON.

It may be a well-kept secret, but local lads Hancock Basement will be opening for those affable purveyors of hip-hop/indie/ funk/whatever Bluejuice this Friday May 16 at Transit Bar, from around 8.30pm. Make sure you get there bright and early to witness tunes from a forthcoming EP/mini-album that the boys have been recording at Sydney’s Bigjesusburger studios with Jorden Brebach (You Am I, Dappled Cities Fly, The Church).

Keep your ears to Canberra’s pristine pavements for more ‘Cock recording rumblings soon.

This from Jamie Dohm, lead throat of System Addict and general patron of the metal scene: “After two successful shows in Canberra, Sydney’s metal gods Herratik are back to play a gig at The Basement on Saturday May 24.” Sure, that’s all well and good, but it’s not exactly local, now is it? Well, that’s where the cheeky scamp gets me once again. As bma magazine 15

DANCE: THE DROP Welcome to the 301 issue Dance Column bonanza, O creatures of the night.

Wanna know my opinions of the latest big dance releases? Alright, I’ll tell ya: The Presets Apocalypso – Filthy shards of electro house, self-reflexive quiet bits, and an undertone of homosexuality (have you seen the video for This Boy’s In Love? Two scantily clad men wrestling in a suspiciously creamy fluid?) Good stuff. Them gays* are alright.

Pendulum In Silico – A member of online dance zine inthemix described it as “a soul destroying album, and I have no idea how they went from the innovators they were to what they are now – emo rock drum ‘n’ bass. Makes me wanna vomit!” I would liken it more to a childhood fairground ride revisited – it’s the same, it’s lost its initial spark, but it’s not without its charms.

Cut Copy In Ghost Colours – Enjoyably emotive synth driven electro house with Duran Duran-esque vocals. Crap at V Festival, great on record.

The Roots’ new album: I never got sent a review copy, so I dunno. Why didn’t I just buy a copy? Didn’t notice my trousers are held up by rope, huh?

If this last case rings true then rejoice, fellow laundromaters, for there’s plenty o’ free gigs to be enjoyed.

Pulse is a new free (free, I tell you) drum ‘n’ bass night that’s crept its way into Celebrity Lounge, celebrating its sophomore eve come May 15 with DJ C, Dred, Kilojulz and Fourthstate.

But for old hands of the Canberra dance community, the May 30 Pulse provides a chance to revisit the sublime deck skills of erstwhile Canberran come Byron Bay resident DJ Kaos, AKA Nik Harrison. His brother, and promoter of the eve, Julz told me: “Kaos has been absent from the Canberra scene for the last two years (studying music production, again) and we would love to be able to give him the homecoming he deserves. He has been one of the most influential promoters, DJs and music producers to ever come out of the Capital. He has a large following here and has been über busy writing heaps of sick new tunes.”

The man shall be supported by Dred, Buick, Karton and Kilojulez. And yes, you penny pinchers, it’s also free.

Exposed have some big nights coming up. They’ll be blowing out the glowsticks on their first birthday cake on May 30 at Transit Bar, and hearty congratulations are extended to the amiable troop. The night in question is shaping to be a bit o’ a monster, with no less than seven acts: Kiss Off, Electric, Staky, Terrorvision, Beat It, The Duchess of Danger, Sevens and Red Baron. Surely such a stunning line up couldn’t be free could it Al?!? Yes, my friends. Yes it is.

Following that, on June 13, the Exposed crew are teaming up with hot young promotional guns Institutional Eyes and Head Up Productions to present a DJ Comp. Institutional Eyes are a new events and promotional team comprising five folk: Duncan Brown, Dominic Burgess, Alexandra Cowell, Matthew Jordan and Shanae Lynam, all of whom are students of music business and technical production at the Canberra Institute of Technology. “The final has been narrowed down to a list of ten competitors on the night via mixtape screening,” Matty Jordan told me. “With virtually no budget we have accomplished a great deal in order to provide an awesome night for the growing hoards of dance music lovers in Canberra.”

Again, it’s free and should prove to be a good eve with high stakes; the winner will score a guest set at Exposed on July 26, a $500 pair of sunnies from The Sunglass Hut and a $300 voucher to i trip i skip clothing.

Right, that’ll do. To those going to that purveyor of filth-laden drum ‘n’ bass, Raiden, at Mercury Bar on May 17, I shall see you there. Those not going, enjoy your knitting.

ALLAN “RUBEBWOY” SKO *gays meaning people exuding much merriment.

"Ah yes, well unfortunately it is languishing in the back of my garage, although it may resurface one day - most probably on Ebay"

CANONIZATION Tim Galvin

Some of you will remember that the ‘90s was an interesting decade for cultural metamorphosis across the globe. Back when Jason Donovan wasn’t a powder-sniffing reality TV whore and we all knew not to jump in the pool wearing a hyper-colour t-shirt, we were also introduced to some of the most important bands of the 20th Century. Contemporary music was at a turning point, giving birth to new side genres such as gangster rap, indie and, most relevant to this article, the evolution of the stadium dance band.

If you asked the average teenage clubber who the UTAH SAINTS are, they would probably think it was a US basketball franchise, but being a bit more seasoned than your normal alcopop-fuelled nightclub scamp, most dance music fans on the wrong side of 25 will remember them as a dynamic UK dance act who, along with other seminals such as the KLF and Underworld, rocked the globe with their pioneering live shows and worldwide chart success.

Jez Willis and Tim Garbutt are the duo responsible for such classics as What Can You Do for Me, Believe in Me and Something Good, which has just re-entered the charts with a fresh rework by local lads Van She Tech.

“Well it was all kind of a happy accident really,” Jez explains. “We love looking on all the blogs for fresh music and ideas. We came across the Van She Tech Myspace page where they had posted their remix of Something Good and we really liked it.”

Having been on somewhat of a hiatus since their last release in 2000, there has been a real shift in focus for the guys. “We have been making tracks that we use to DJ with but haven’t released anything as Utah Saints (they have been making remixes under the guise BeatVandals).

It’s some of the old sound that we are known for with a twist. We will be putting stuff out again, but at the moment we are just refocusing and reenergising and really just falling back in love with music. It is an exciting time for music with the open-mindedness that people have and with the way the internet has expanded opportunity.”

It seems like a timely return to notoriety for the group, as suburban malls are currently littered with Reebok pumps and fluro day wear much as they were back in the Saints’ heyday. I know a lot of youngish Australian party veterans that have been itching to grab their Mambo tee and rollerblades and skate their bouffant hair to a Utah Saints show.

“It’s a good time to come back as it’s beginning to be all about the music again, it’s music-driven and the energy is back.” He adds, “We have also never been to Australia before and we are particularly excited about coming there.”

Known for their explosive live gigs, I wonder if Jez plans to unleash the famous Yamaha 2000 sample guitar in one of their future shows. “Ah yes, well unfortunately it is languishing in the back of my garage, although it may resurface one day - most probably on Ebay,” he laughs.

Utah Saints play alongside Mixmaster Mike (US), Cassius (France), Bonde Do Role (live), Hybrid (UK), The Potbellez, Ajax, Kid Kenobi and many more at Warehouse winter music festival, held on Saturday May 31 at the AIS Arena.

Final release tickets are on sale through Ticketek and Landspeed.

Henry Holland

RAW POWER

Guess who’s back. Back again. Fraser’s back. Tell a friend. That’s right people, Canberra’s former dance music golden-boy CHRIS FRASER is set to grace us with his presence once more for the release of volume two of RAW FM’s hit compilation series, RAW. And yes, that’s right, my journalistic ability is so lacklustre that I just blatantly plagiarised lyrics from an Eminem song for the introduction of this article. But don’t let my incompetence distract you from the good news. And if you are Eminem, please don’t sue me. Ah, who am I kidding, Eminem isn’t going to read this so I can say whatever I want about that egotistical hack. But I won’t because that would be unprofessional. And I’m really here to tell you all about RAW Volume Two. The first RAW compilation smashed sales records for an independent radio station release when it hit stores midway through last year. Few people expected the album to garner so much success, but Chris Fraser says he always had confidence in RAW’s debut effort.“It was predominantly going to be a Canberra thing and I always had a firm belief that the Canberra market is stronger than a lot of people think, and RAW FM has a really strong following,” Fraser says.“I thought that if we were to put out a release under the RAW banner that it could do really well, and it did.”

The success of RAW Volume One afforded Fraser more free reign to source tracks from further afield for the second edition. He says he is ecstatic with the final result, which includes tunes from the likes of The Presets, Stanton Warriors, Sinden & Count Of Monte Cristal, Hot Chip and The Aston Shuffle.

Fraser, who has just earned a residency at Sydney’s baronial club-night Famous, has also included five of his own remixes on the album.

“You want to try and put as much of yourself into these things as possible,” he says. “It’s always a bit of a balance between what the station represents and my own personal tastes. Disc 1 is very much what I’m playing or have played recently and disc 2 has more of the big hits on it that people would have heard a lot on the radio.”

To support the launch of RAW Volume Two, Fraser will be jetting off around the country for a string of club dates. The parties will be broadcast live across the entire RAW network and will include promo versions of the CD, giveaways of the full release and other treats for those that get involved. You can be sure none of the events will be as full of debauchery as when Fraser again sets foot in his old stomping ground, Academy.

“Coming back to the club and catching up with everyone is always great,” he says. “It’s kind of like coming home. Hopefully everyone is as excited as I am about the new CD. We’ll be doing anything we can do to spread the nightclub experience around and make it as interactive as possible. I can’t wait.”

Chris Fraser launches RAW Vol. 2 at Academy on Saturday May 17.

“We’ll be doing anything we can do to spread the nightclub experience around and make it as interactive as possible. I can’t wait”

“This techno influenced sound is certainly getting bigger and more interesting, so there’s every reason to keep on keeping on”

FILTH MERCHANT

Allan Sko

Filth merchant. It’s not a title you’d be particularly proud of touting in many contexts. But within the giddy field of pulse-pounding drum ‘n’ bass, Estonian resident RAIDEN positively swells his chest at the mention. For you see, his brand of cloudy rumbles, tsunami drum rolls and jagged synth-laden rhythms could loosen the bowels of the world’s most renowned tight-ass. A regular rider on the Trouble on Vinyl label, Offkey label head honcho Raiden has been one of the most groundbreaking artists in drum ‘n’ bass for the past seven years, pushing the genre’s darker, more electrifying territory by surging energy through his musical concoction like Frankenstein through his fleshy menagerie.

“My sets are an eclectic mix of many styles of electronic music all mashed up into D&B and remixed on the fly,” the man says from his Estonian fortress of solitude. “I combine my own material with splices from artists as varied as Jeff Mills, Nitzer Ebb, Vengelis, Aphex Twin and Surgeon.” The man’s well known love and dabbling in different dance genres has lent an edge to his music. “It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of techno, especially the Detroit sound from the mid-to-late ’90s. I was in a minimal techno club in Berlin last night and I found the music incredibly boring, but I’m not a big fan of stupidly hard techno either. There doesn’t seem to be much going on in between minimal and shranz these days, so until the Detroit vibe comes back I will be sticking firmly with D&B.” Fortunately for us Canberra punters, the man’s upcoming mid May show will allow us to catch him on a creative peak. “I’m loving what I’m doing now more than I ever have done as I’m getting really close to what I’m trying to achieve musically,’ Raiden chirps. “I’m very busy production wise at the moment. I’ve just finished a batch of remixes that include Adam Freeland’s We Want Your Soul, Woody McBride’s Basket Ball Diaries and a remix for a US hip-hop crew called Prolific. On Offkey, I have some tracks on the Firm compilation LP, a collaboration EP with Current Value and a Dying Punks EP. I also have a single coming on the Position Chrome label this year with some more experimental ideas and also a Dubstep release with Subtrakt. Over the last two years I have been quiet in terms of production as I have been building up OffKey and breaking new artists, but this year I plan to be a lot more active in the studio.”

A master class of Detroit techno-infused drum ‘n’ bass awaits those bold enough to enter the newly refurnished interior of Mercury Bar (ex Echo Bar). Our man Raiden is certainly excited, and so should you be. “I love this sound as it has all the elements I want in electronic music. I’m very much into the hypnotising Detroit techno vibe fused with basslines and energy whilst always focusing on experimentation. I feel this sound is just starting to blossom so there’s much more work to be done in refining it. This techno influenced sound is certainly getting bigger and more interesting, so there’s every reason to keep on keeping on.”

Raiden plays Mercury Bar (next to Bar 32 along Northbourne Avenue) on Saturday May 17, along with reprobates Bec Paton, Escha, Karton, Rookie One, Fourthstate and Miss Universe. $15 entry. Let the games begin.

"I would like to do collaborations within various creative genres outside of music as well, and expand my canvas"

COMING SOON: FRI May 30th

SEBASTIAN BACH (SKID ROW) Sat May 31st

THE AUDREYS THURS June 5th

RESIN DOGS

NOT LIKE I FAINT EVERYTIME WE TOUCH

TUES June 24th

ROSETTA SUN June 13th

STRUNG OUT & NO USE FOR A NAME

Luke McGrath Hey budding musicians! Want to work with a world-renowned DJ? Think you’ve got what it takes? DJ KRUSH “would love to collaborate with anyone with solid originality in sounds they make, casually leaving a strong smell that no one could copy.”

DJ Krush is from Japan.

May

His real name is not DJ Krush at all, but rather Hideaki Ishi.

He was once reportedly in the Yakuza. The Yakuza is the Japanese mob.

It is not known if this is why he changed his name.

Sometimes people liken DJ Krush to DJ Shadow. There are a lot of similarities. Both have penises and make loads of instrumental hip-hop, for instance.

DJ Shadow has only been to Canberra once. DJ Krush has been here three times before. Therefore, despite their similarities, DJ Krush is three times better.

FRI May 16

1 STANCE, DJCXL, DIRTY MOB, YOUNG HATE + MORE $8

THU May 22

LANDSPEED present DJ KRUSH + SPECIAL GUESTS

Tix @ Landspeed $25+bf

While he’s known for his more relaxed take on hip-hop, he asserts he “plays a lot more up-tempo stuff now. As with production, I create various types of tracks depending on concepts and themes I have.”

Even still, much of Krush’s music has a soulful, almost spiritual quality.

Asked if he is religious at all, he said “I don’t see my music to be especially religious. I’m just filtering all the experiences I have up ‘til now through me, converting them into paintings/literature/visuals of sounds inside my brain, and delivering them as what I am. No borders or barriers of nationality or languages exist there. So I would like everyone to listen to or feel my music without any prejudice.”

He’s recorded several albums, with titles like Krush, Meiso and Kakusei.

When he’s not performing or recording, he can be found fishing, taking photos and going for walks. He admits this is “not flashy.” In fact, anything flashy seems to be the antithesis of DJ Krush, making him decidedly at odds with the bling-centric focus of most hip-hop in recent years. When asked if he is a fan of artists like Kanye West or Fifty Cent, he claims “I haven’t got any chance to really listen to them, so can’t give any comment.”

Kakusei means “disillusion” in Japanese.

When he does listen to music, he says “I tend to play more laid-back, dubby stuff,” but finds himself “reading books more than listening to music right now.” This ties in with a seeming shifting focus in his interests in general; he states later that “ideally, I would like to do collaborations within various creative genres outside of music as well, and expand my canvas.” What this means for fans as yet is uncertain.

In the meantime, DJ Krush is coming to Australia and he “hopes everyone’s ready and set to welcome DJ Krush!”

DJ Krush will be performing on May Thursday 22 at ANU Bar, tickets are $25 + BF from Landspeed records.

FRI May 23

adidas, ORIGINALS & OBESE RECORDS present BLOCK PARTY 5 feat. PEGZ, CHASM, MUPH & PLUTONIC, SPIT SYNDICATE, HYJAK & TORCHA + MORE!

Tix available @ Oztix & ANU Bar TBA TUE May 27 WED May 28

KISSCHASY + THE DONNAS & THE GETAWAY PLAN

Tix on sale NOW @ Ticketek $40.70*

FAKER + GRAFTON PRIMARY & VIOLENT SOHO

Tix on sale NOW – Ticketek $30.70* *Tickets thru Ticketek. Transaction fees apply.

Pre-purchase tickets & guarantee entry!

METALISE Ho-hum, another Metalise column announcing yet another international band’s set of dates!

Lacuna Coil, possibly the most photographed band in metal of the past few years, are at The Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Wednesday June 25. The night before, they’re down in Melbourne at The Billboard.

Blood Duster have never shied away from causing controversy intentionally or otherwise. The band recently announced reissues of every album ’til now, featuring a slew of extras including video of lineups at the time of their respective back-catalogue and live material, including covers. As an interesting look into modern PC society gone awry, not one but two major CD cover printing companies in Melbourne - Regency and Technicolor - have refused to print the sleeves due to photographs on the inner sleeve being too offensive for either the staff or the general public. Sounds to me like Jason PC has gotten out his medical dictionary of venereology for band photos again… Still, weird to think that Fisting The Dead came out 15 years ago now with artwork from the same book, as did the Yeest EP in ’96 and Str8OuttaNorthcote in ’98. I guess it’s good to see controversy still being courted after 17 years as a band.

Blood Duster’s drummer, Dave Healy of Psycroptic, has a busy year ahead. Aside from heading to the US in May for a three week run of dates with Blood Duster, he’ll be back in Australia for a run of Australian shows with Australia’s most potent death metal band Psycroptic in June. The tour comes to Sydney on June 7 at the Bald Faced Stagg with Daysend and Beyond Terror Beyond Grace. Check it.

Sydney grindcore seems to be enjoying a resurgence of late, with a fair bit of activity coming in the form of larger shows from the more notable locals, as well as some bigger festivals the bands are collectively organising in August. The first event costs a mere $10 and comes under the charming moniker of Tits & Grind. Featuring Syphilis, Ebolie, Cunt Butcher, Bombshell Girls (“half-time entertainment,” according to the press release, and one would assume the "tit" component of the gig’s title), Grannyfist and Skippy The Bush Kangaroo - possibly the most amusingly named metal band in Sydney’s history. It’s on Friday June 20 at the Live House in Lewisham with the doors opening 8pm. I don’t think this one is all ages…

To continue the grind report, The Day Everything Became Nothing have released their third album through uber grind label No Escape.

Simply and accurately ntitled Brutal, it sees the band pushing the boundaries even further into the recesses of bottom end gore-soaked grindcore. Hot on the heels of this release, the band is undertaking its first international tour in the US, and I can’t wait to hear the new record.

In late-breaking news, the final line-up for Chaos ACT has been announced! The fourth instalment of what is now Canberra’s largest metal fest sees 16 of Australia’s choicest heavy acts converging on The Basement in Belconnen on Friday June 6 and Saturday June 7. June 6 will see Mytile Vey Lorth, Synperium (NSW), Daemon Foetal Harvest (NSW), Templestowe and Rake Sodomy hit the stage from 8:30pm onwards. June 7 will kick off a bit earlier, with doors at 12:30pm and boasts Tasmania's Separatist (playing their only show on the mainland) plus a posse of local and NSW-based acts including Infinitum, Futility, Antonamasia, Aeon of Horus, Red Valley, Sword Toward Self, Ironwood, Leicohtica, Epoch Of Inexistence and Punishment. There’ll be a number of metal stores on site, plus a BBQ on the Saturday too.

Tickets are available from Landspeed, The Music Shop (Belconnen, Civic and Woden) and www.moshtix.com .

JOSH doomtildeath@hotmail.com NP: Suicide in Progress – The Melvins – Nude With Boots

Alistair Erskine

BACH-ANALIA

He asks for the correct pronunciation and gets it first time. “I’ve been to Australia many times, but I’ve never been to Canberra. I have heard a lot about it though.” What on earth had SEBASTIAN BACH heard?

Surely this wouldn’t be good… “Well, it’s a very recognisable name.”

And so is his. Lead singer of big-haired late '80s kick-ass take-noprisoners metal gods Skid Row, he is coming out here to headline a tour promoting his new record. Why did he release another album? “All I wanted to do was to put another record in your iPod that makes sense next to Slave to the Grind. And it sounds great, and my band is awesome and I’m bringing them to Australia.”

And I can’t even pretend any different. Angel Down is awesome. He hasn’t wavered from the old style much, except to make the songs, kind of, more powerful… Is that right Seb? “I think it’s better – everyone’s got their high school memories of this and their prom dates, and that’s really hard to compete with, but a couple of my favorite bands are Aussies - AC/DC and Rose Tattoo - and they all have 30 or 40 albums out each, so I figure I’ve got a whole lot of rock left in me.”

How does it feel to have the first Axl Rose tracks recorded in ages laid down on your album? “It’s mind-blowing, it’s such an honour, and in the history of rock, for Axl to sing on my album whilst everyone is waiting for Chinese Democracy, it’s just such an incredible compliment to me. We sound really good together, I really love Stuck Inside, and he goes off at the end and he hits this high screaming note that is so intense. I’m just so lucky that the record companies all let us do this. The head of the record companies, even Axl doesn’t control them - we had to send it to them, and they heard it and actually allowed it, and it’s mind-blowing.

It’s kind of hard for me to talk about, actually.”

I ask him how his band back in the day made the leap to global superstardom - and for all you aspiring musicians out there, listen up.

“What we did was saved up for ages, and recorded a really kick-ass demo. When we played it back the first time, me and the boys couldn’t believe how beautiful this sounded, we were crying and shit,” he laughs, enthralled. “We had spent a lot of money on this, but with today’s modern technology that you can get on your laptop, anyone can do this.

The onus is on the band to make it sound so good, just bust your ass and make a really amazing demo tape, put it on the internet, and that’s all you can do. Make it awesome, work really hard to do so, and that’s all.

You can’t just sit there waiting for someone to see your potential. Make people hear it, by making it come out the first time round.”

Great advice, but the man has one last message for you all: “It’s very exciting for me as a singer to be playing somewhere we have never played before. I have been waiting about 20 years to come to Canberra, so bring it on! I can’t wait!”

Sebastian Bach's Angel Down Under tour rolls into the ANU Bar on Friday May 30. Tickets are available through Ticketek. Angel Down is out on EMI.

“…A couple of my favorite bands are Aussies, AC/DC and Rose Tattoo, and they all have 30 or 40 albums out each, so I figure I’ve got a whole lot of rock left in me”

SPOT THE FAKE Stevie Easton Fresh from playing Triple J’s One Night Stand in Collie, WA, and as the band prepare to embark on a national tour, I spoke to FAKER singer Nathan Hudson about his past, the long road to success, and even the Beijing Olympics. With incredible nonchalance punctuated by short bursts of defensive laughter, Hudson is a lot more soft-spoken than his on-stage personality might suggest. When asked how he first got started, he explains how in his youth, travelling to and from the city gave him plenty of walkman time, which meant that music became like another form of language. “My day would be described by whatever I was listening to.”

Over time, Hudson says, this became his own language to express himself. Now, with the runaway success the band has been experiencing over the last couple of years, they are just getting to the point where they can call themselves full-time musicians. “It’s nice to have more time to do what I want to do,” Nathan says, looking back on the days when he worked three jobs, often on nightshifts. “If you want to do something, you find the time. But man, I lost a lot of sleep.”

On the topic of the future, Hudson says he hopes to just be busy doing what he does best – still losing sleep, but all for the band from now on.

When I mention that he is beginning to sound like a damn hard worker, Hudson’s reply is candid and revealing, “Actually, I fear constantly that I’m really lazy.” I point out that only a workaholic would fear that. At this point, our discussion takes a turn for the weird. The clichéd question about the band’s name leads us onto David Bowie, who described himself as a ‘faker’, but is he? Or is change necessary for the expression of one’s true self? Nathan hopes so. Moving on from Bowie, I throw in a little current affairs: Free Tibet? “Yes.” Would you play at the Olympics? “We actually were offered a spot and we turned them down.” Really? “Yes.” Leaving the hard-hitting issues to Naomi Robson, I head back into more familiar territory – the upcoming tour, named after their massive single, This Heart Attack. “I think that going out on this tour will be a different thing entirely, because it feels like the rules have changed a bit for us, having had a single that’s done so well.” Using such a well-known name for the tour is sure to attract as many new fans as possible along the way, which should make for some big shows. In Nathan’s words, “It‘ll be exciting to see how people respond.”

On the subject of Canberra, “Two members of Faker are officially from Canberra, so it’s always a warm show.” Yes, despite the weather. “We always have fun in Canberra… oh, there’s that one time that Nic got electrocuted. That was not the funnest time, but we’ve had some fun times there.”

Faker’s This Heart Attack tour comes to the ANU Bar on Wednesday May 28, supported by Grafton Primary and Violent Soho. Tickets through Ticketek and the ANU Union. Faker's album Be the Twilight is out now on Capitol.

PARADISE FOUND “It’s just such an honour to know that you have people who do want to hear your music.

You can’t ask for anything more than that” Cecilia Pattison-Levi After 18 months spent constantly on the road, THE AUDREYS will be staying on the road. Following the release of their new album When The Flood Comes In, they’ve announced a series of new shows with a national tour and a stop here in Canberra at the ANU Bar. The Audreys began as a band in Adelaide in 2004 and have grown in leaps and bounds, culminating in their ARIA award for Best Blues and Roots Album for their debut Between Last Night and Us. While some bands spend many years trying to build a name for themselves, it only took The Audreys 12 months. “We made our first album a year after our first gig, but it was released about six months after we made it,’’ says Tristan. “We were lucky to get stuck in a rain storm at a winery and discover these guys playing bluegrass, as we realised that we could use and play those instruments too.”

The constant travelling gave The Audreys a chance to road-test the material for When The Flood Comes In. “I am in the van travelling as we speak with all the gear - but obviously I am not driving,” Tristan adds.

“We have started playing live and our first gig with the new songs was last night. We were a bit nervous at first, but the new songs went over well and we were really happy with the sound.”

Even considering their wildly successful debut album, the band still wants to make fresh music rather than stick to the formula that earned critical acclaim. “The new album’s sound is a little darker than our first album and the instruments sound a little more disguised, but we wanted to explore that musical direction. I think it would be a danger to try and replicate something; we just wrote the best songs we could and then took them into the studio and did what we felt the song needed,” says Tristan. “That meant that the lead single Paradise City has changed somewhat since we first started playing it. It has changed a lot from the version we'd started playing live, but it’s changed for the better. It’s always a great track to play live, and now it has a new life on the record.

We took a lot of time to get it right in the studio.”

The Audreys offer one simple piece of advice as the key to success in the music business. “Make great music; if you make good music and put on good shows then people will notice, that’s how it works,’’ says Tristan.

“It’s just such an honour to know that you have people who do want to hear your music. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”

The Audreys bring their charming blues and roots to ANU Bar on Saturday May 31. Tickets through Ticketek. When The Last Flood Comes is out now on ABC/Warner music.

“We always have fun in Canberra… oh, there’s that one time that Nic got electrocuted. That was not the funnest time, but we’ve had some fun times there”

CITIZENS OF SIN

Caitlin Croucher

So, the kind of soiled, seedy pub-ish rock and roll that makes you want to tear the garter strip off that chick in the French maid outfit dancing on your table while you hack into a good old-fashioned leg of deep fried southern chicken may appear to have disappeared since the late ’60s, but SIN CITY are trying their hardest to bring it all back.

It appears this Melbourne dirty rock/punk four-piece with a sexbombish female lead are thoroughly dedicated to spreading their sins throughout as many cities in Australia as they can possibly muster.

Having just released their debut album Hungry For Love, Sin City was still a little hungry for something by the sounds of it (oh shut up). Now Getaway, the second single off the LP, is ready for rotation on the radio jibe. Tommy Gunn, aspiring porn star/drummer (aren’t all drummers?) and really nice guy explains that, “‘we pretty much tour non-stop – as much as we can play. It helps when you finally know how to play your instruments!” Yes, it does, rather.

Having been in Melbourne since 2004, the band are beginning to feel pretty confident in themselves and their unique personalities. The successful release of Hungry for Love has been a boost of confidence for the guys. They’re going to continue having fun with that kind of gritty old school sound, but they’ve also matured a lot in the past few years. “Originally we were a lot punkier and generally trashier, but I think we’re getting pretty good at what we do now!” The Gunn explains. And it always helps to take the piss out of yourself a fair bit.

“I look in the mirror every morning and think ‘how can I take myself seriously with a face like that?’” he chuckles.

After 400 shows you’d think they’d be feeling a little worse for wear, but it appears that when Tommy says, “Sin City is in the blood!” he really means it. Everything these guys do seems to be with a refreshing lust for life and possible injury. They are unashamedly sexual, a little popish and still excited about the prospect of wearing a lot of leather, big heels, and some studs perhaps. “Realistically, we won’t be able to record anything for a while,” Tommy ponders, a moment of reality crawling through what I imagine is a very nice head of hair. He quickly recovers. “But we’ve got four or five new songs to unleash on Canberra.”

Unleash being the operative word. “We’ve had some awesome carnage during the shows,” he explains. Like what? Dead cows? “Probably the craziest gig we’ve ever done is where two guitars got broken and I got a cymbal through my skull. I went for the rock and roll head bang and ended up with a lot of stitches,” Tommy fondly recalls. Not to worry, there was a full recovery. And it hasn’t scared him off the drumkit either.

“Sometimes a good show means there’s a bit of pain involved. Besides – gaffa tape can mend most things on stage.” Except heads, perhaps.

Tommy will be gunning it along with those other crazy citizens of Sin City at The Basement Friday May 30. They'll be joined by local roustabouts Penguin and System Addict, doors at 8pm.

"Probably the craziest gig we’ve ever done is where two guitars got broken and I got a cymbal through my skull"

BLACKBOX Autumn is the Blackbox pick for season of the year. Despite the fact it requires enduring the most biased awards show in the world – The Logies – autumn is also host to the best. That’s right ladies and gentlemen – it’s time once again for the glorious kitsch of the Eurovision Song Contest. The continent that takes itself seriously when it comes to culture and the arts is also able to laugh at the absurdity of this multilingual pop-fest. It’ll be held in Belgrade and this year there are semi-finals over two nights (SBS, Fri May 23, Sat May 24, 8.30pm) before the final (SBS, Sun May 25, 7.30pm). It’s hosted by Julia Zemiro and of course there’ll be the obligatory commentary from Terry Wogan – it wouldn’t be Eurovision without it. So grab your friends, put together a spread of the most retro Euro snacks you can muster, open the champagne and have a sweep – guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat longer than the Melbourne Cup. If you have been wondering why the likes of Andrew Denton and Adam Hills were going hard at the product placement at The Logies or have been ringing the ABC to complain about ads, you’ll be pleased to know it was all publicity for The Gruen Transfer (ABC, May 28, 9pm), a show about advertising, hosted by Wil Anderson.

While many are still reeling from the disappearance of the ultimately watchable Terminator spin-off from WIN’s schedule, the folks at Prime have shoved Dirty, Sexy Money tapes into the basement and shut the door. Its demise makes way for a new series of the fabulous Boston Legal, which has made even Blackbox come around to Shatner.

Perhaps it’s the fallibility of Denny Crane that makes the most annoying Starfleet captain actually likeable.

The runaway success of Underbelly (rumoured to be followed by a prequel) has lead to resurgence in the production of crime dramas. The Strip, a 13-part police drama for WIN, is about to start filming on the Gold Coast. And while the location may have leant itself to a CSI Miami feel, with Wildside and East West 101 producers and stars such as Aaron Jeffrey and Bob Morley, it’s likely to have a distinctly Australian flavour. It’s good to see Australian television finally finding stories in our cities (where most of us live) rather than the outback or seachange destinations where we holiday.

Prime follows the crime route with Crimes That Shook the World (Prime, Tue May 13, 9.30pm) beginning with The Green River Killer.

As predicted last column, Louis Theroux (Prime, Mon May 19, 10.30pm) has been packaged as a series and is well worth a look.

If you’ve been wondering what Lateline (ABC1, weeknights, 10.30pm) host Tony Jones has been up to since he cut his hours back, don’t fret – you’re about to see a lot more of him. He’s already on air with Q&A (ABC1, Thu, 9.35pm) and his new vehicle ABC Fora (ABC2, Thu May 29, 5.35pm and Fri May 30, 8am). The show promises talks, lectures, public addresses and debates from Australia and around the world. So if opinion and debate is your bag, Tony will help you out.

The development of ABC2 has given Auntie the chance to take risks on programs that it might otherwise have avoided. Moving Wallpaper (ABC2, Fri May 30, 8.30pm) and its partner program Echo Beach (Fri May 30, 8.55pm) are a good example. Moving Wallpaper is a comedy drama about the making of a TV soap and Echo Beach is the soap (or the subtle piss-take of a soap in this case).

CUT TO THE CHASE

Henry Holland

To most Australians a chaser is a mild beverage, such as beer or soft drink, taken to help the ingestion of hard liquor. But in recent years another type of chaser has emerged, with the evolution of a group of the country’s most daring, impudent and witty political commentators. Best known for their show The Chaser’s War On Everything, there is little that the Chaser team has shied away from. They have an inimitable record of pranks that includes everything from trying to hug the Prime Minister with a running chainsaw to offering a gag to Muslim cleric Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali. Now they have decided to take their humour to the stage in the form of THE CHASER’S AGE OF TERROR VARIETY HOUR. With a mandate to steadfastly strive for mediocrity in a world of excellence, the Chaser kicked the Age of Terror tour off in Canberra in March and has since travelled to every state as well as that other Territory. And now they are bringing the show back to Canberra.

The stage show features topical analysis, pranks, performances, music and sketches in the same vein as the television series. The boys are not unfamiliar with the stage, having previously toured with their show Cirque Du Chaser in 2005. Chaser founding-member Craig Reucassel says most of the show will be new material.“There are one or two items from the Cirque Du Chaser show that were great and we thought not many people saw so we’ll show them again,” Reucassel says.“I think with a few more years experience with the live audience we are experimenting with some different things – there are more sketch things and there is certainly more singing and dancing, so I think it is slightly more ambitious than last time.”

It is still unclear whether the Chaser will return for another series of the War On Everything or whether they will focus on a new program when they have finished the stage tour. If the Chaser does decide to take on another series of the War On Everything it will be without the butt of so many of their jokes, John Howard. But strangely Reucassel says he’s not sad to see the end of ol’ Johnny.“It’s quite nice to have some fresh meat. And I don’t think I could handle getting up at five AM to go on another one of John Howard’s walks. Apparently Kevin Rudd does an evening jog, but we still haven’t seen any proof of this. I don’t know what’s in store for Mr Rudd but certainly that will be one of the fun things about going back to television.”

Reucassel insists the controversy surrounding the Chaser’s now infamous breach of security at last year’s APEC summit will not make the Chaser rethink any of its pranks in the future, despite the threat of jail time for the 11 people involved. “We weren’t planning to break the law on the day, it’s just that a couple of things went wrong,” he says. “The thing is you can never bloody well tell what sort of thing you’re going to get arrested for.

Often things we fret over for days turn out to be totally uncontroversial, and the ones where we do actually get a bit of police hassle are the ones that we may not have thought are going to be a problem at all. It’s hard to judge sometimes where it’s going to go pear-shaped.”

So while both hard liquor and Australian politics can leave you feeling numb, confused and perhaps even a little enraged, you can always rely on a Chaser to help it all go down easier.

The Chaser’s Age of Terror Variety Hour returns to Canberra, running from 7pm between Tuesday May 20 and Friday May 23. Tickets available through Canberra Ticketing on www.canberraticketing.com.au or 02 6275 2700.

Science geeks or the inquisitive should tune into Absolute Zero (SBS, Sun June 1, 8.30pm).

Black Box thumbs up for the new series of Big Love (SBS, Sat, 8.30pm), The State Within (ABC1, Thu, 8.30pm) and the new series of Spooks (ABC1, Fri, 9.20pm) Don’t miss Taxi Driver (ABC2, Sat 31 May, 9.30pm) for De Niro’s classic line and of course the aforementioned Eurovision Song Contest.

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

“It’s quite nice to have some fresh meat. And I don’t think I could handle getting up at five am to go on another one of John Howard’s walks”

THEATRE COLUMN Interesting movements at the ANU, with the getting-into-gear of the next Moonlight show and the second (already!) NUTS show of the year. Moonlight are currently in audition/rehearsal process for Edward Albee’s 2002 Tony triumph The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? which according to an Albee interview is “about four human beings and a goat… and it involves human relationships.”

What those relationships are, and how they play out in Albee’s drama, ask tense questions of sexuality and taboo.

More likely than not, Moonlight’s June production will bring something unseen and unsettling to the light of the NC stage. A (probably) more comfortable and enjoyable meditation on sexuality and relationships is Brendan Cowell’s Bed, which in July will form the second NUTS production of the year. Cowell (soon to be the melancholic prince in Bell’s Hamlet which if you want to see, you’ll need to go to Sydders ’cos it ain’t comin’ here, natch) draws the comedic sexual dilemma of the Modern Man with a deft hand and this kind of show is perfect material for the young ’n’ emergings of NUTS. Speaking of Bell, their As You Like It was to my mind a spectacular return to form. Saskia Smith as Rosalind was at once funny, fragile, authoritative, beautiful, and jelly-legged-with-love, while Stephen Phillips’s gorgeous performance as Orlando commanded all the attention that I usually reserve for Father-Of-My-Unborn-ChildrenIf-He’ll-Have-Me, Julian Garner. The late Jennie Tate’s diaphanous set was a beautiful realisation of the wonder and innocence of the Forest of Arden. My only gripe was with Lexi Freiman’s performance as Celia, which strained the beauties of the Bard in an attempted translation into modern Strine. As You Like It was, however, a strong, funny, top-shelf production. ’Twas a marked contrast to the other show I saw last week, Free Rain’s Rebel Without A Cause, of which the best that could be said is that it had strong performers (Jess Brent, Cameron Thomas, Adrian Flor) whose talents could be better utilised.

A Funny Thing Stephen Sondheim’s modern classic, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum is being produced by Philo soon. Their website is uncharacteristically silent on the subject of dates but I think I can construe fairly accurately that it will play at the Southern Cross Club in some kind of dinner/theatre ménage. The ever-delightful and dramatically dextrous (try saying that three times fast) Geoffrey Borny is directing, so it should by rights entertain.

Hit the Wall Musicals seem to be the order of the week, with the Supa production of Pink Floyd’s The Wall hitting the Arts Centre stage on May 9. It runs til the 24th so you still have time.

Supa presents Pink Floyd’s The Wall at the ANU Arts Centre, May 9 – 24 @ 8pm. Bookings through Supa – head to their website at www. supaproductionsinc,com . You can also get dinner/show packages through Teatro Vivaldi – give ’em a bell on 6257 2718.

A final word: Woops!

Last column I mistakenly informed the gentle reader that Rep were responsible for It Was That Way When I Got Here. I was wrong. The responsible party was Phoenix Players’ Phoenix Rising programme.

Apologies to all for not giving credit where credit was due (tho, to be fair to me, the Rep website from whence I drew my info was ambiguously silent on the topic, so how was I to know? A lesson to all on the importance of informative publicity).

NAOMI MILTHORPE princessnaea@gmail.com

bma magazine 25

DISCOLOGY Alec Empire The Golden Foretaste Of Heaven (Eat Your Heart Out) Alec Empire, former Atari Teenage Riot frontman, could release a duets album with Barbara Streisand and still be one of the baddest motherfuckers ever. In fact, he’s probably working on that this very minute. I wouldn’t say that Empire is softening (at least not to his face), but this record has actual songs on it with verses and choruses and everything.

He doesn’t really sing any of them (singing is clearly still for pussies then), but more or less intones lyrics over the top in a ‘just shot up with Lou Reed in an alley’ kind of way. No guitars either (apart from one track), just icy synths and dank drums – the only way this record could be better is if it was actually titled The Golden Foreskin Of Heaven.

LUKE MCGRATH Benga Diary Of An Afro Warrior (Tempa/Inertia) Following on from numerous 12"s and mixes, Benga finally delivers Diary Of An Afro Warrior and believe me, it’s not gonna let you down. If you believed that dubstep was a sleeping pill after grime, this album definitely stands up tall against those fellas with gunshot rhythms and digital bass straight out of East London. Taking cues from what seems like the history of house (some of those synth lines are pure Orb!), as well as dub and minimal techno, Diary runs a skeletal line throughout the record, staying true to the pulses and grooves to the point of no return. Fans of Dizzee Rascal, Carl Craig, Wire and My Disco could all find something in common over this joint for sure!

SHOEB AHMAD Bob Mould District Line (Remote Control) So Bob Mould’s moved on from the chaotic, drugaddled, Flying-V fuelled, aggressive, spiteful times and settled into a suburban life as a DJ, relationship-focused songwriter and dance promoter of sorts. Kind of, not really and big deal nonetheless. Those pinning for Hüsker Dü part deux simply don’t get the fucking deal – how would you feel if someone asked you to act and feel like you used to over 20 years ago? It makes no sense whatsoever (ED: or perhaps, it makes no sense at all - zing!). Having said of course, District Line is a welcome return to the electric guitar sonics of Sugar after an electronic-tinged divergence that gained few fans and pleased fewer. With the plead of “Please listen to me and don’t disagree” on album opener Stupid Now, it would be nice to think he’s going to launch into a vengeful Beaster-era rage, but whilst the sentiments are a little bland at times, the tunes are vintage Mould – bright, catchy as hell, simple chord progressions a beginner could feasibly master, but only a veteran could construct in any memorable way. As someone who purchased Warehouse: Songs and Stories on cassette upon release I’m glad to hear Mould again,

and not the least bit disappointed he’s found some semblance of happiness and normalcy. We all need anger in our lives to keep us on an even keel: real anger, not this phoney constructed bullshit dogging the past ten years or so of contemporary music, so if you really want to hear a real snarl I’m sure Zen Arcade still sounds as incendiary as ever, but for those who are happy to allow a little growth, District Line is pretty fantastic.

JUSTIN HOOK Dropkick Murphys The Meanest Of Times (Dew Process/Universal) The sixth Dropkick Murphys’ LP finds the band on a new label (Dew Process), mixing it with the likes of Sarah Blasko, Bernard Fanning and The Grates. Never fear, because they still pump out bollocking hard Paddy-punk that’s as at home in the pubs as it is in the streets. There're 15 tracks, but being Aussies, we get an extra two plus a video. After six longplayers, you should pretty much know what to expect from this seven-piece band. Football chant choruses and Celtic pride, belted out with punk-rock guitars, mandolin and that incessant bloody bagpipe. This reviewer’s pick was bonus track, Promise Land. Maybe one for the converted.

SIMON HOBBS Firewind The Premonition (Century Media) Greek power metal. If that isn’t a phrase to get you off the couch and into yer leather strides I don’t know what is, but hey, I’m 40 now and not in touch with the young people, so what do I know? I’ll tell you what I know – The Premonition, whilst pretty good, is nowhere near the stellar brilliance that was its predecessor, the absolutely magnificent Allegiance.

And there’s the rub. Where Allegiance sounded fresh and exciting in it’s homages to the '80s glory of Joshua, Rainbow and the Michael Schenker Group, Premonition sounds a little forced, maybe even a little stale. It’s never a good sign when a cover is the best track on an album, which is the case here, as the band utterly pulverise Michael Sembello’s Flashdance anthem Maniac, whilst everywhere else there’s a lot of bluster, no little skill but not much inspiration, though the perky Mercenary Man gets close in a Gary Moore style. A near miss, which is a shame, and not what I was hoping to report.

SCOTT ADAMS Guru Guru’s Jazzmatazz The Mixtape: Back to the Future (Rapster Records/ Inertia) The Jazzmatazz series is deservedly revered, delivering beautiful nuggets of soul ‘n’ funk infused hip-hop since 1993. This 20 track strong collection – comprising many accrued members of the hip-hop pantheon such as Common, Aceyalone, Mr Lif and Yungun amongst others – showcases the best o’ the best, with the British gangster flick licks of

Knowledge, the insistent synth pulse of Common-sporting State of Clarity, and the Dilated Peoples shared melody of So What It Do Now? being personal highlights. But I just wish ‘host’ DJ Doo Wop would shut the fuck up and let the music do the talking. In nearly every track, his ear-piercing vocal chatter intervenes with utterly pointless PR pimpin’, such as “Yeah-yeah-yeah baby!

Gu-rooo! Jazz-a-ma-tazz, baby! Seven Grand record label, baby! Seven Grand!

Gu-roooo! Facebook, baby!” Je-sus, my man, I’ve got the damn record haven’t I? I think you can put the pimp out to pasture. Whilst this doesn’t ruin the mix, per se, it certainly doesn’t help. In short, great tracks, annoying MC. ALLAN SKO Madonna Hard Candy (WB) It’s not quite granny porn, but the sight of a 49-year-old mother of three wearing a corset and spreading her legs is a slightly unsettling, even if it is Madonna.

Equally disconcerting is hearing the same 49-year-old sing lines like “Come on into my store, ’cause my sugar is sweet”. Ick. This is Madonna’s supposed ‘urban’ album, meaning she got Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and ‘Danja’ Hills to produce. Which is a brilliant idea of course, and exactly why Britney, Beyonce, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and EVERY OTHER SINGLE POP STAR IN THE WHOLE WORLD HAS ALREADY DONE IT. LUKE MCGRATH Pegz Burn City (Obese Records) Already out now for six months, Burn City is the third and final album for Pegz as a solo artist, and it plays like a testimonial to the career of one of the country’s most successful MCs, and Aussie hip-hop’s most influential figures. The beats, cuts and samples on this album all come together well to produce slick sounds – experienced Obese producers Jase, Suffa and Plutonic Lab combining talents with DJ Bonez here, making sure that every track will keep you moving. Lyrically, this is a fairly complex album – Pegz includes his own take on socialist politics, gets the party started and pays respect to the struggling artists out there, all at the same time. This is a good mix

of themes to define the contribution Pegz has made to the Australian music industry, for which he is sure to be recognised more in the future.

STEVIE EASTON Pendulum In Silico (Warner) “How the mighty have fallen”, could be an easy sentiment for a journalist to adopt on this, drum ‘n’ bass magnificos Pendulum’s sophomore album. Their inaugural effort Hold Your Colour was groundbreaking; a D&B nugget that effortlessly straddled the boundaries of commercial viability and pulse-pounding, furry-hoodie wearing underground credibility. In Silico has pushed forward in some part, sure; it’s more ‘band’ oriented, contains more vocals, and has a lot more guitars ‘n’ stuff. But the sound? The structure of songs? Pretty much the same Pendulum formula. The album is not without its moments: opener Showdown is awesome (with a particular nod to the slowed smashing beat at the three minute mark), Midnight Runner has a welcomely varied set of stilted drums to start, before morphing wonderfully into sick pulsing synths, and The Tempest is a stare-into-the-middle-distance closer. But overall, the album is akin to watching that loved-at-the-time early ’90s film once again now; it’s the same, it’s lost its charm, but it’s still good fun.

ALLAN SKO Unearthly Trance Electrocution (Relapse/Riot) Marvellous. It’s the only word to describe this, UT’s third album. A crushingly desolate soundscape full of anguished howling, clattering drumming and brutal riffing, this really is a perfect exposition of extreme music.

Which probably means you’ll hate it, but, if a doom/death fest of epic proportions sounds like something you’d like to know more about, then get down the ol’ heaviosity emporium and invest now. One listen of the frankly cataclysmic Distant Roads Overgrown will have you sold.

NAMBUCCO ‘CHAOS STAR’ DELIRIA

Portishead Third (Island/Universal) Musical reunions usually fall into one of two categories.

Bands get back together either because bank balances are running low or to attend to some form of unfinished business. Thankfully, Portishead belong to the latter category. Despite the decade-long wait between Third and its self-titled predecessor, the trip-hop trio from Bristol has reemerged from obscurity with some of its most exciting work to date. The style and substance of Third aren’t exactly puppies and rainbows. There’s a dark and vulnerable edge that permeates throughout the eleven new offerings, exemplified by the stuttered industrial throb of first single Machine Gun. Despite her fondness for chain smoking, singer Beth Gibbons’ piercing vocals and bleak lyrics are mesmerising and go hand in hand with the haunting sounds emanating from the instruments of collaborators Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow. Though it feels slightly minimal at times, there is a lot to discover on this album. In this writer’s opinion, Third time’s a charm.

JOSH BROWN

bma magazine 27

Cell Out

With Mark Russell; he's a man of iron...y.

Robert Downey Jnr - what a guy. The man sings, dances, has brilliant comic timing for dialogue, and if you've ever seen Chaplin, does a mean bit of physical comedy as well. It’s pretty hard for anyone to deny he’s talented, but personally I’d go far enough to describe him as the best all-round male talent of his generation. This opinion first crystallised for me when I heard the quote he gave when describing his drug addiction to a judge: “It’s like I’ve got a shotgun in my mouth, with my finger on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal.” Oooooh, gives you chills don’t it? Someone give this man a writing contract so he can outclass everyone in that as well.

Iron Man

Soldier: “Is it true that you went 12for-12 with the Maxim Girls last year?”

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jnr): “Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but December was twins.”

Iron Man

This near seamless integration can not be seen with the supporting actors.

Gwenyth Paltrow is strangely likeable, and doesn’t frustrate or annoy with her usual prowess; but Jeff Bridges and Terence Howard, both regularly brilliant, just don’t have the goods. Their roles are terribly underplayed with Bridges kept aside much too long and Howard ending up the military everyman and general plot convenience.

Drop half an hour and do a few more interesting things with Iron Man’s powers and this would have been a less-dark Batman Begins, but as it is, it feels a little too much like the set up for Iron Man 2.

Jon Favreau steps up to add his two cents to the ever-growing cash cow of comic book adaptations. The milk in this particular instance is the slightly lesser known hero Iron Man. Iron Man’s peripheral status as a comic may just be the reason this film works better than so many of its contemporaries.

The first half in particular is witty, funny, sharp and often brutal. But the main reason for Iron Man’s success is its star: Mr Robert Downey Jnr. If anyone can play charismatic and super-talented - but with a destructive Peter Pan complex - it’s him.

Downey Jnr plays Tony Stark, the guy putting the cool back in science, one military killing machine at a time.

Captured by the enemy, Stark escapes

by engineering a suit of armour that is its own weapon. When he gets back home, he discovers the powers the suit gives him could help the good guys along a bit.

As far as origin films go, Iron Man does quite well. The early assembly of the suit is interesting and the testing stages provide much of the comedy that is the film’s strongest element. The technology and computer generated imagery is integrated into the action better than any effects heavy blockbuster so far with Stark’s interaction with his robots a notable high light.

Unfortunately, it all becomes a little tedious as the suit goes through yet another development stage.

Smart People

Church) turns up and Lawrence meets Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), a doctor with a few issues of her own, things really start to get interesting. Sort of.

There are some good elements to Smart People, but mostly it seems a bit empty, with an intagible 'something' missing. It never quite hits the right note, never quite endears you to its cause, and while there are some genuinely heartfelt moments, overall there’s not enough to hold the piece together.

Director Noam Murro is clearly more than competent, and there are some good moments in the script, but somehow Smart People still falls short.

On the positive side, Church really saves proceedings, dragging the film out of complete self-absorption, and contributing some great scenes. Quaid

doesn’t deliver his best performance, and while Parker isn’t too bad, she should branch out of the ‘uptight professional’ role that she seems to have favoured post-Carrie. None of the characters are particularly likeable, which also means that Lawrence and Janet make a pretty unconvincing couple. The implausible and convenient ending grates a little, and overall Smart People tries too hard, as cardboard characters wander around a situation that’s just a little too contrived. While there are some good lines and nice moments, it’s not enough to drag this film out of mediocrity. Ironic, no?

Kutcher is a layabout with no motivation, no prospects and no worries.

Don’t worry about their character names, they’re each playing a blended mush of everyone you’ve seen them as before. Cameron loses her fiancé, Ashton loses his job, and their respective sidekicks take them to Vegas to blow away life’s worries. Think you’ve already seen this movie? Not like this you haven’t. Hmmmm, how to credibly explain how the two of them end up married and legally compelled to stay together in order to get their share of three million dollars? Sorry, can’t; I musta blinked through that bit. Needless to say: he’s gross, she can’t loosen

up, and I can’t leave till we all learn that - as Paula Abdul always maintained - opposites attract.

A couple of wacky bit-part characters and a good half an hour more film than was needed and you’ve got a watered-down version of the thin story-broth that has helped other cinema tales limp through the box office. There are a couple of moments that come together enough to generate titters of laughter but, as the saying goes, even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Smart People is that person you really, really want to like – they’re the type of person you normally enjoy hanging out with, there are a lot of things that are good about them, you really should find them interesting and compelling - but somehow they’re just not doing it for you.

Widower Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a pretentious professor with a gruff exterior, a chip on the shoulder, and a lumbering walk. Life is complex for Lawrence and his two children - the slightly prissy, socially backwards, exceptionally smart Vanessa (Ellen Page) and the exasperated but artistic James (Ashton Holmes). After Lawrence’s bumbling but endearing brother (Thomas Haden

What Happens in Vegas To call this film a formulaic romantic comedy is to incorrectly suggest that this sort of thing has worked in the past. The writers of What Happens in Vegas read the liner notes of the ‘Rom-Coms for Dummies’ book but managed to skip the overall intent of it all, namely – insert romance and/or comedy. It should be noted that the timeless notion that a couple are ‘two sides of the same soul’ doesn’t mean you only need to use half a character for each of the leads!

Cameron Diaz is an anal-retentive and career-obsessed power woman with her life in perfect order. Ashton

MARK RUSSELL

MEGAN McKEOUGH

MARK RUSSELL

GIG REVIEWS British India/Inanimate Objects/The Supporters @ The Greenroom, Friday April 18 Fresh from the summer festival circuit and with a string of rave reviews under the belt, British India’s recent Canberra gig was always gonna be a big one. And the Melbourne lads didn’t disappoint. The Greenroom throng - a mish-mash of barely-legal teens and seasoned gig-goers - squeezed in for a serve of kick-arse garage rock.

The Supporters warmed up the crowd with some ol’ school pub rock, capped off by a cover of the Divinyls’ classic, All the Boys in Town.

(Perhaps these blokes should hook-up with The Donnas in a few weeks’ time at the ANU Bar!) Wollongong’s Inanimate Objects kept things on a high, drawing a positive response from the mob - thanks, in no small part, to the appearance of an electric ukulele, a double bass and melodica. The only downer was the mix, which smothered Patrick Arnold’s vocals. A strong set nonetheless.

But this was British India’s night. The Melbourne four-piece has a well-deserved rep’ for rocking out live, as anyone who caught their gig last year at UC will attest. But 12 months since the release of their debut long play, Guillotine, the boys have taken it up a notch; they’re tighter, more confident and definitely on the cusp of bigger and better things. Not surprisingly, Triple-J faves like Run the Red Light, Tie up my Hands and Black and White Radio had the whole room moving and singing at the top of their lungs. But the response for lesser known tracks like Council Flat, Outside 109 and Teenage Mother was just as strong - it was great to see.

They also busted out a few new songs from their forthcoming album, due for release in late July, and from the sounds of it, it’s going to be worth waiting for. Put yer good money on these fellas, and don’t miss ‘em next time they’re in town.

MICHELLE MCGRANAHAN DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist @ UC Refectory, Wednesday April 24 You can’t fault the pedigree. If DJ Shadow never followed up debut Endtroducing… his legend would be assured. Cut Chemist is widely regarded for his work with backpack rappers Jurassic Five; both men have an appreciation for the history of turntablism and both are recognised for their determination to push things forward (as they espoused to Carlisle Rogers in BMA 298).

The Hard Sell tour here in Australia follows their collaborative The Hard Sell mix album. Unsurprisingly, the sets are very comparable. Hell, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Even still, repeating a DJ set can make for a somewhat redundant live performance - while a singer can sing a particular line innumerable ways on any given night, once a DJ puts a needle into the groove, it will sound the same every time. If the crowd is also familiar with the material (such as the album), the performance needs to be lifted in some respect - something these two auteurs clearly recognise and brought in spades.

For starters, the visuals were incredible - never one to have previously been won over by the “art” of VJing, it was all but an essential part of this night’s performance. In addition to the usual psychedelic graphics favoured by many VJs, there were cameras fixed discretely at various locations around the stage. These were cut to much like a sports broadcast, highlighting various action as it took place. Across the eight turntables (and foot-pedals), it would have been impossible to tell what each DJ was doing if not for the cameras. Typically, a DJ’s “performance” as seen by the audience is limited to how much they nod their head and the occasional throw of their hands to the air - this inside glimpse into the action was both informative and entertaining, and an approach I hope more DJs will adopt.

(Continued on next page)

BRITISH INDIA @THE GREENROOM: PHOTOS BY ANDREW MAYO bma magazine 29

The crowd ate up the show, loudly shouting their approval for every choice cut the lads dropped. Both were affable hosts; each made liberal use of their own microphone and would intersperse titbits as they saw fit (most cringe-worthy: “Apache on 45? Bet you thought that didn’t exist!” I’m not sure anybody having it large that night was concerned with the format).

While the dynamic duo presented an enjoyable first set full of booty shakers and dancefloor fillers, the second set was clearly for the connoisseurs. More abstract and less danceable for a start, its eclectic mix started with songs inspired by early ‘80s arcade games, before moving to large instrumental sections flavoured with flourishes of Afrobeat and Indian music. The boys also had fun with tempo for stretches, dropping songs to snail’s pace in somewhat challenging fashion (well, at least it made it hard to dance to).

The set closer was fantastic: both DJs stepped out from behind the decks strapped with wireless portable turntables, and proceeded to scratch in time to Metallica’s One. Every sharp staccato riff was matched with scratches, and the performance aspect (if not the actual sound created) was awesome. If this more hands-on, audience baiting, performative approach is not the future of DJs in general, it certainly has to be the future of turntablism.

LUKE MCGRATH Against Me!/Crime in Stereo @ The Greenroom, Sunday April 27 This show was the first time I’d been to the Greenroom since its timely return to Phillip. The last show I’d been to before its closure was Frankie Wants Out - it had been a Friday night and the Melbourne swing/big band group had the crowd burning up the dancefloor like it was a 1920s New York dancehall flouting Prohibition. The suavely dressed nostalgia addicts of that show couldn’t have proven a greater contrast to the black-clad, tattoo-coated army of here-and-now punks who swarmed to The Greenroom this rainy Sunday afternoon to see the eventual return of Against Me! to our city.

Against Me!’s support act for the Australian leg of their tour were Canadian melodic hardcore act Crime in Stereo and, although most of the crowd were still downstairs in O’Sheas swilling beer and whisky for most of their set, the group gave a solid performance to those who were willing to sit in patience in the upstairs alcohol-free area. It was obvious that Crime in Stereo has yet to build up an extensive fan base in Australia, and although they had a couple of people jumping along in front of the stage, their rather formulaic metalcore riffs and oscillating soft/loud vocals didn’t offer the crowd anything that we don’t already have within our shores.

By contrast, about ten minutes before Against Me! were to begin their set, O’Sheas had been abandoned like a sinking ship, with the crowd migrating upstairs and packing out the room. When the group finally took the stage, opening with one of their newbie favourites Up the Cuts, the floor erupted into a frenzy of jolting bodies flailing about madly, with the moshpit being transformed into a sweaty, dripping cake of hair, skin and flab in less than three minutes. Until the end of the end, the band and the crowd fed off each other’s energy. The beginning of the group’s set was all New Wave tracks, with the crowd shouting themselves hoarse to the “ba ba ba da da da” part of Thrash Unreal and the “protest song” chant of White People for Peace. While the rest of the set was also dominated by new tracks, the crowd’s energy never waned, lapping up every second of buzzing guitar they could sink their teeth into. When the group launched into old favourites like Sink, Florida Sink or Pints of Guinness Make You Strong, their passion seemed to transcend to an even higher level of force. The group closed their night with the legendary We Laugh at Danger (and Break all the Rules) and although both crowd and band seemed exhausted, the smiling faces on both sides of the crowd barrier showed only too well the electricity that had been created in the previous hour.

BEN HERMANN

DJ SHADOW & CUT CHEMIST @ UC REFECTORY: PHOTOS BY KLIPS

Helmet/Using Three Words/Tonk @ ANU Bar, Friday May 2 What a great show this was. Its only unfortunate aspect came in the gap between Using Three Words and Tonk’s appropriately heavy rock and roll, and headliner Helmet taking the stage, when I was introduced to a Canberra-based music writer who responded to a complement about his work with a blank stare. It seemed that by speaking to him I had somehow disturbed the stirrings of a great mind. It’s not as if this person, who must consider himself to be some kind of revered local celebrity, is an ace reporter for Rolling Stone or anything like that - in fact, far from it. Anyway, there were far more important things to be concerned with such as Helmet’s first appearance in Canberra, and what turned out to be the band’s fantastic live set.

Both supporting bands turned out solid performances to an increasingly appreciative crowd, and both were well chosen as supports, as the sound flowed well from one band to the next. The sense of anticipation for the main act could be felt in the break, to which I paid far more attention than the aforementioned music writer, and it was also encouraging to overhear a number of committed fans speaking about Helmet’s music in admirable detail. This was a good thing, because it negated a perception of the band as only being capable of playing outdated punk-thrash by people whose only experience with the music was the funk-metal of the House of Pain collaborative track Just Another Victim. Not that this track is without merit. I’m thinking it might even have closed tonight’s show in suitably energised form.

In any case, the band has maintained musical ties with a stream of experimental, post-hardcore noise music that emerged from New York in the mid to late ’80s and this came across while Helmet performed the intensely layered Meantime album from 1992 - but in reverse - just to keep us fans alert (but not alarmed).

Page Hamilton sprayed distorted note clusters from his guitar and kept his playing in tight symmetry with a fiery rhythm section that sustained a high energy level throughout. Meantime also overflows with razor sharp riffs, and there were streamlined textures and riffs aplenty as the band tore through the album. Before that part of the show began, Helmet warmed up with more recent material, possibly including a track from the under-appreciated 1997 album Aftertaste. But it was when the raging chords of Role Model, the monster tune that concludes Meantime roared into life, that the show really got underway. The band attacked that album’s ten tracks with sharp precision and hit a peak with the crowd during the final three, Give It, Ironhead and In the Meantime, which revealed the music at its heaviest. But the band peaked again when it trotted out a number of blistering tracks from the Betty album, including a scorching version of the opener Wilma’s Rainbow and the slow burner Tic, where the crowd was treated to ongoing dissonant blasts from Page Hamilton’s guitar, melding with the heavyweight crunch of the rhythm.

Hamilton maintained total control over his instrument and it also turned out that he’s a pretty easygoing bloke who likes to engage the crowd between songs. Although maybe a little too meandering at times, Hamilton nevertheless kept us entertained with the myriad woes of his love life, his fondness for Cooper’s beer – of which he was particularly fond throughout the show – and his lively appreciation of enthusiastic Australian audiences and guitar players. In fact, it seemed by the end of the show that he was on first name terms with half the audience. This friendliness also extended to a number of females down the front who requested and were allowed to get up on stage. They then proceeded to thrash about while the band ripped into the tight-funk of the Betty track Milquetoast. Girls, audience and band all seemed to be enjoying themselves, and I’m choosing to assume it was all quite innocent. And if I’m not mistaken, at one point I witnessed a stage dive of sorts. Now, that is something I haven’t seen in a while, and was essentially the icing on the cake as it were. The thought occurred as I staggered out into the icy Canberra air after the lights came on, with cigarette dangling from my lips, that it had all been pretty cool. It was an entertaining show for various colourful reasons other than the music itself; the Meantime album sounded great in live performance and the band was in top musical form. It doesn’t get much better than that.

DAN BIGNA

AGAINST ME!/CRIME IN STEREO @THE GREENROOM: PHOTOS BY JOHN HATFIELD bma magazine 31

James Blunt @ The Royal Theatre, Sunday May 4 James Blunt in concert, by definition, is not the easiest performance to attend on your lonesome. It is one of those experiences best shared between two… like a nice cup of tea, a Kit Kat or Valentines Day. The crowd was laden with canoodling couples, both young and freakishly old, and the dateless, who came well supplied with their mothers, vodka, and their bottom lips protruding.

However, there was a league of barely pubescent boys at the concert.

I had a late night theory that this is because they thought The Blunt would have the same effect as Prince and the night would end in outright orgies in the toilets of the Royal Theatre, but seeing as the single girls were all maternally armed and had neglected to shave both leg and armpit I doubt this was the case. These boys were here to hear the musical musings of a man named James.

And James did not let his fans down. The show was a graphically filled amusement park, comprising of camera-laden microphones which projected close-ups of the band onto the rear screen and a backdrop which changed with every song, making the audience feel reassured that if anything, the $90 they forfeited to attend paid the wages of an extremely good graphic designer and, oddly enough, for the acquisition of a rather large Monkey Magic-style gong (I don’t know what it was there for but it was genius). The show consisted of his best from both albums old and new. The repertoire was comprised of love songs such as You’re Beautiful, which had those who were romantically affiliated holding hands and swooning (freaking cringe-worthy), break up anthems like Goodbye My Lover, which were accompanied by the weeping of the dumped/down-trodden, and disco dancing-styled tracks like 1973 that were strategically placed to stop a football-styled riot between the two factions.

Mr Blunt was what could be described as energetic, witty and somewhat sweaty. James leaped all over the stage changing from piano to guitar. His Beatles-styled band backed him up when he decided to jump into the crowd mid set, surf on his piano, and woo the lovely ladies with a series of not-so-smooth finger pointing moves. He had the audience in stiches with his quick comments and smart replies. James performed like this show was his last, hitting high notes that seem to be near-unreachable to any human being other than a eunuch.

The most inspiring song, No Bravery, was performed to background video footage from a tank driving through war time Bosnia which made the somewhat fickle audience take time out to think of what the Blunt described as “the bigger issues.” What is an inarguable fact, music preferences aside, is that the concert was tightly performed and amazingly crafted; James Blunt put on a show that impressed his audience and made all present feel like they had shared a magical moment infused by a legal type of Blunt. Last night Mr Blunt was the man of his own domain. I would even go so far as to say the concert was a fun, if you can handle watching the exchange of saliva between mammals and tears between desperados. The Blunt worked it…and nearly everybody won!

EVA LUBULWA Lee Kernaghan/ The McClymonts @ The Royal Theatre, Friday May 9

HELMET @ THE ANU BAR: PHOTOS BY JOHN HATFIELD

The Royal Theatre is buzzing tonight, with boys (and girls, and mums and dads, kids and grannies - this really is family entertainment) from the bush and all over descending on the Nation’s Capital for their big night out, and those in charge have stocked the venue bars accordingly - Crownies on ice for those looking for some big city glamour, Cougar and ‘cola-flavoured product’ for the less discerning amongst us. Of which I am one, obviously, but that’s by the by, everyone looking for some down-home fun ‘n’ games for the $70 entry fee. So, after a bit of controversy at the guest list (BMA’s plus one had somehow become a plus five, and I looked like an utter fool standing on my lonesome exuding bourbon fumes. Plus five? You? Friends? On yer way sir.). Anyway, a trip to the dunny in case of emergencies and it’s off to the music.

Ah, the music. The McClymonts are a big noise in Australian country music at the moment, and not without reason. They look great (indeed, were I a 15-year-old RM Williams devotee stuck on a property in the middle of nowhere, my bedroom wall surfaces would be covered with pictures of Brooke, Samantha and Mollie. Especially Brooke.), they sound utterly fantastic - their three-part harmonies are bang on the money time after time after time - but, picky git that I am, there’s still something missing. Stagecraft - the girls are all anchored to instruments and their mics and the three man strong backing band have clearly been told to remain in the shadows so as not to deflect any glory from the siblings - is at a premium, with all three girls slightly nervy in their badinage with an audience that is fully behind them come what may, but, hey, they’re young and that’ll come. Their songs are identikit nu-Nashville, but again a couple more years under the belt will help there, and when they launch into their recent hit, the very marvelous My Life Again, all doubts are swept away for a golden three minutes. When they return, they’ll be better for the run and headlining venues like this.

And now for the main event. Lee Kernaghan is one of the nicest interviewees I’ve ever encountered, a thoroughly deserving Australian of the year and a human being who’s integrity is solid gold grade A material… But. And it’s quite a big but. Like many products of the Australian country music scene, there’s an air of America lite about much of the man’s oeuvre, which leaves you wondering if he’s either opting for a watereddown George Strait approach deliberately, or, and this is the greater of two evils, whether he’s not much good at all. Kernaghan is a master of the crying in your beer genre, with the ludicrous (but very good) Missin’ Slim possibly the most maudlin song written about a human man ever, and it’s the ballads that strike paydirt each time. When Lee turns to rock, he comes unstuck badly, with tripe like Love Shack straining so hard to emulate Kernaghan’s obvious reference point Garth Brooks it actually seems a little desperate; That said, I’m the only person in the nearly-full venue who isn’t enjoying the entertainment on offer, so it’s a problem for me to deal with rather than the artist. But I’ll not be back unless he can come up with something with a bit more personality and verve certainly as far as the ‘rockers’ are concerned - which is a shame because I came tonight to praise Lee rather than bury him. Sorry…

SCOTT ADAMS Trial Kennedy/ Calling All Cars/ Kempsey @ The Greenroom, Saturday May 10 Locals Kempsey presented a set of new tunes and bravely asked the audience for feedback on them. The opening song Dizzy Head sounded great with a catchy tune, simple lyrics that stuck in your mind and great vocal harmonies. The set ended with Turn the Radio Up which had a similar appeal. However, I noticed that the band has lost some of the punch which I appreciated the first time I saw them. Whilst I enjoyed the gig, there was not much memorable in the middle of the set. The new tunes need a bit more polish and the presentation was not assisted by the rhythm section drowning out Flynn’s voice on several occasions.

Going off like a bomb after the more restrained sounds of Kempsey, Calling All Cars blindsided us with a killer collection of punk songs that reminded me of a punkier The Living End, minus the double-bass.

Through the miracle of modern electronics, they made their single guitar and bass sound like a swarm of angry instruments. Lead by Haydn on vocals and guitar, the guys from Melbourne stopped briefly mid-set to down a quick shot before screaming into Shake Up, which really got the punters leaping.

JAMES BLUNT @ THE ROYAL THEATRE: PHOTOS BY NICK BRIGHTMAN

With their drum kit resplendent in fairly lights, Trial Kennedy opened up with the energy that bands usually reserve for the final song of the night. They have an awesome, arena-filling sound that is mindblowing in the confines of a more intimate venue like the Greenroom.

This intensity is achieved largely through the incredible voice of their vocalist, who had an amazing ability to hold a note whilst his partners in crime deluged us in incredible waves of insane rock (This inspired some insane ‘interpretive dance’ in the audience). Set highlights were the opener Broken Lens and the radio friendly Neighbours.

RORY MCCARTNEY

bma magazine 33

BMA BAND PROFILE

MACHETE Where did your band name come from?

A big fucking knife.

Group members: Brendan - vocals (also a member of Futility, ex. Deviant Plan), Garth - guitar (ex. Soulcrusher, Gangrel, Kill City), Sam - bass (ex. Requiem), Darren - drums (ex. Soulcrusher, Reignblade, Nemesis, Midnight).

Describe your sound: Flat out metal with thrash influences. We strive to keep it fast and heavy without playing music for just the sake of being fast and heavy.

No one wins a prize for finishing the song first, except for Darren at gigs (bastard).

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise?

Fear Factory, Sepultura, Lamb of God, Slayer, porn and beer.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing?

We were playing with friends of ours System Addict and the PA guy (who it turns out wasn’t a PA guy) left the smoke machine on for ten minutes. We couldn’t see each other, let alone the crowd. It tastes like shit too.

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

Getting paid to play and not spending it all on beer.

What are your plans for the future?

Recording a CD before we spend all our earnings on beer. We also have Kim from Sindablok joining us and he will be playing gigs with us soon.

What makes you laugh?

The suffering of others What pisses you off?

Country music, people who play country music and people who like country music. Country music sucks balls.

What’s your opinion of the local scene?

It’s slowly picking, mainly because we’re back out there.

What are your upcoming gigs?

May 24 at The Basement with Herratik, System Addict and Tortured.

Contact Info: Garth Powell – 0434204727 or garth.powell@hotmail.com Myspace – www.myspace.com/machetemetal

FIRST CONTACT

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

Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Annie & the Armadillos Annette 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone singer/songwriter(guitar), sax & flute Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Kingswood Factory Sharon 0412 334 467 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Bastards Jamie 0424 857 282/ www.bastards.altpro.net Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bolj James 0410 534 057 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Casual Projects Julian 0401 016 885 Catchpenny Nathan 0402 845 132 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 CD and Website Design Brendan 0404 042 574 Chuffs, The Glenn 0413 697 546 Cold Heart Projects Andrew 6294 5450 Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 087 833/colebennetts@gmail.com Colourful Racing Identities Josh 0410 135 605 Cool Weapon Luke 0410 983 450/ Josh 0412 863 019 Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Cumulonimbus Matt 0412 508 425 Dahahoo Rafe 0416 322 763 Dance With Amps Marcus 0421 691 332 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 DayTrippers, The Reidar 0414 808 677, daytrippers@grapevine.com.au (dp) New Media Artists Mal 0414 295 297 DOGACT dog-act@hotmail.com, Paulie 0408287672.

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

Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096, Melinda 0400 405 537 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650 Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884 Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jennifer Versatile singer looking for band; 0422 158 362 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Kurt's Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Lenders, The Tim 6247 2076 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Capitanes Tim 0421 842 247 Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Malumba Dan 6253 5150 MC Kayo Marbilus 0405 648 288 kayo_101@hotmail.com, www.myspace. com/kayo_marbilus, Meatbee Ben 0417 492 560 Murder Meal Combo Anthony 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com Myriad Kath 6253 8318 MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus Neptune's Necklace Mark 6253 1048 No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Para 0402 277 007 Petra Elliott Petra 0410 290 660 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Quagmire Jason 0409 802 543/ Ben 0401 442 099 Queanbeyan Music & Electronics 6299 1020 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Roger Bone Band Andy 0413 483 758 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Sara Vancea Sara 6247 9899 Seditious Intent Toby 0419 971 547 Sindablok Duncan 0424 642 156 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Stalker and Liife Darren 0413 229 049 strong like sam Luke 0423 762 812 Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 Taboo Bamboo Greg 0439 990 455 That ‘80s Band Ty 0417 265 013 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, 0413 609 832, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Tripitide Jason 0409 802 543/ Cam 0412 553 842 TRS tripstate@hotmail.com Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Woden Youth Centre Jeremy 6282 3037 Zeitgeist www.zeitgeist.xwave Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

GIG GUIDE May 15 - 17 THURSDAY MAY 15

THURSDAY MAY 15

FRIDAY MAY 16

FRIDAY MAY 16

ARTS _____________

DANCE _____________

DANCE _____________

Judith Wright: Conversations ‘Til June 22 ANU ART GALLERY Hiroe Swen: From Darkness To Light ‘Til June 22. 6pm ANU ART GALLERY Sesserae: The Works of Dennis Nona Until June 7 ANU SCHOOL OF ART Strange Trajectories Until June 6 ANU SCHOOL OF ART EMERGING ARTISTS Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse Free. Until May 25 AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL Abstracting the Real Until June 8. Exhibition of works

by David Voight BUGENDORE WOOD WORKS GALLERY Crucible

By Abi Howells. Until May 18 CRAFT AND DESIGN CENTRE Long Jack Phillipus Tjakamarra Solo Until May 30 CHAPMAN GALLERY PhotoAcesss Members Show Until June 8. Tues-Fri: 10am-4pm W/e: 12-4pm HUW DAVIES GALLERY The Cross and The Matrix Works by Bruno Leti. 'til May 18 IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER GALLERY Max Dupain on Assignment Until May 25 NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA Bridging the Distance Weekends, until June 15. Free NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA NFSA Screening: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Director Tobe Hooper's unsettling horror classic. Adult: $9.50, Concession: $8 NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ARC CINEMA Black Mountain Landscape Series Weekends, until May 18 STRATHNAIRN HOMESTEAD GALLERY Narrative Creative works. Until May 16 UC DESIGN GALLERY What I See Until May 18 WATSON ARTS CENTRE

Trash Thursdays Featuring DJs Troy Wade and Esscue. $5 entry with two free drinks, plus $2 drinks ‘til 2am ACADEMY

Pang!

With Dangerous Dan of Bang Gang fame & DJ Damage (he of Riot in Belgium). $15 B4 midnight, $20 after LOT 33 Friction B.A.D feat Ministry of Sound. $15 ACADEMY Ashley Feraude Spinning a soundtrack of soulful tunes as you sip your after work drinks. From 6-9pm BINARA ONE (CROWN PLAZA HOTEL) Pulse D&B 'n' dubstep with DJ C, Dred, Kilojulz and Fourthstate. Free CELEBRITY LOUNGE After Work DJ Jemist TRANSIT BAR

Take One Tour Stance1 launching single Take 1 with DJCXL, Dirty Mob, and Young Hate. $8, 8pm til midnight ANU BAR

LIVE _____________

ARTS _____________

Blue Juice Spitting Vitriol with Paper Scissors and the Purple Sneaker DJs. Free entry TRANSIT BAR Dave Bishop and Chris Canham Joint CD Launch 18+, $15 THE GREENROOM Toucan Du AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s, AINSLIE Rev Indie/alternative/rock/pop/punk madness every Friday, $5 entry BAR 32 Crash Tragic and Lamexcuse Plus supports. $10. 8pm THE BASEMENT Andy & the Roys BLUE NOTE BAR, MAWSON Mr Lincon From 10pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS TBA 10pm-2am KING O’MALLEY’S Jemist After Work funk 'n' dranks KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Late Night Duo From 6:30pm SOUL BAR The Two Of Us With Aussie divas Christine Anu and Deni Hines, 8:30pm, $25 THE AUDITORIUM @ THE VIKINGS CLUB, ERINDALE

NFSA Screening: Diva Jean-Jacques Beineix's playful tale of opera, a courier and criminla intrigue. Adult: $9.50, Concession: $8 NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ARC CINEMA Fu Hong Solo Exhibition Until June 1 PAINT BOX FINE ART Fresh Face Funk 7:30pm, tix $10 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

LIVE _____________ London Circuit A new indie night that's cooler than Carnaby Street. With Wons Phreely, PhDJ (Purple Sneakers), JohnOh, Terrorvision, The Magic Hands, The Trivs and Samson. $10 PJ O’REILLY’S The Rogue Traders With special guests ANU BAR Live Music DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Ben Ransom 9pm-12am KING O’MALLEY’S Kremlin Live Performances by local musicians KREMLIN BAR Live From the Underground Feat: Wishing Well and Circle TRANSIT BAR Jemist (TRINITY) BAR Chant Sans Paroles With Charlotte Winsdale and Anthony Smith WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Pink Floyd’s The Wall Until May 24. Dinner and show package available. 1300 737 363 ANU ARTS CENTRE FRIDAY MAY 16

ARTS _____________ Soundproof New music by composition students. Free ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC Duologue Competition Finals 8pm. $10 THEATRE 3, ELLERY CRESCENT, ACTON Fresh Face Funk 7:30pm, tix $10 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Kremlin Happy Hour From 5- 8pm KREMLIN BAR Havana Nights Tropical rhythms. Doors: 8:30pm. Free until 10pm MONKEY BAR Live Band Woden’s Youth Centre supports local young bands WODEN YOUTH CENTRE SATURDAY MAY 17

DANCE _____________ Raiden The merchant of drum 'n' bass filth, with support from Bec Paton, Escha, Karton, Rookie One, Fourthstate and Miss Universe. $15 MERCURY BAR (EX NORTH BAR) RAW Vol. 2 With Chris Fraser Plus electro wags ACADEMY Ashley Feraude BINARA ONE, CROWN PLAZA HOTEL Shunji Shunji delivers the main course KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Rockout Sexy house. Doors: 8:30pm MONKEY BAR

GIG GUIDE May 17 - 28 Saturday May 17

Sunday May 18

Tuesday May 20

THURSDAY may 22

DAY PLAY ____________

ARTS _____________

ARTS _____________

Gorman House Markets Mmmm… …stuff GORMAN HOUSE Burley Griffin Antique Centre Open every weekend, selling groove retro furniture and much, much more KINGSTON FORESHORE

Writers and Actors Workshop 10am-4pm GORMAN HOUSE Oxfam Fashion Parade KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE Duologue Competition Finals 2pm. $10 THEATRE 3, ELLERY CRESCENT ACTON Fresh Face Funk 5:30pm, tix $10 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Seen Two With Elizabeth Full and Lisa Stevenson Q PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE, QUEANBEYAN

Beneath the Jaguar Sun

By Damon Kowarsky. 'til June 15 IMPRESSIONS ON PAPER GALLERY NFSA Screening: Dragon Gate Inn Legendary Kung Fu adventure in the vein of Crouching Tiger...

Adult: $9.50, Concession: $8 NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ARC CINEMA The Shakespeare Project Until June 1 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE Glass Roots Thurs-Sun: 10am-4pm. Free WATSON ARTS CENTRE

LIVE _____________ Matty Sykes Quartet AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s Voltera With Our Last Enemy and Defamation. $10. 8pm THE BASEMENT 3rd Exit $8 cocktails. From 10pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS The Conspiracy Plan With Zero Degrees and Falling, Friend Or Enemy 18+, 8pm, $10 THE GREENROOM The Cool 10:30pm-2:30am KING O’MALLEY’S The Wedded Bliss PHOENIX Jazz at the Folkus Black Mountain Jazz Band.

Entry: $10/$12 THE FOLKUS ROOM Swinging the Blues 7pm to late, free TILLEY’S Cuthbert and the Night Walkers With Instituit Poliare and Cherry Marines. Free entry TRANSIT BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ ACT Recreation Summit Call: 6205 0288 or email: stephanie.tooth@act.gov.au HOTEL REALM

DAY PLAY _____________ Old Bus Depot Markets KINGSTON Burley Griffin Antique Centre Selling groove retro furniture KINGSTON FORESHORE Tuggeranong Homestead Markets Home of the hard to find TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD

LIVE _____________ Owen Campbell AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s Irish Jam Sessions From 5pm KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC Majorian Duo Violin and piano recital with John Gould and Anne Stevens WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Drag Bingo 9-10:30pm CUBE, CIVIC ACT Recreation Summit Call: 6205 0288 HOTEL REALM monday may 19

ARTS _____________ In Response 3 Ph: 6247 3150 GORMAN ARTS CENTRE

DANCE _____________ Hospitality, Backpackers, Retail et al Night Feat: Aston Shuffle. Free entry TRANSIT BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Fame Trivia Bookings: 6295 1769 DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Wax Lyrical Session Australian songwriters PHOENIX Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR Carry On Karaoke From 9pm TRANSIT BAR Wednesday May 21

DAY PLAY _____________ Wednesday Lunchtime Live $2 entry, $2 eefreshments WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

LIVE _____________ Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens PHOENIX $5 Night Come drink what you like TRANSIT BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia Night From 7.30pm ACT RUGBY UNION CLUB Carry On Karaoke From 9pm-1am.

Happy Hour from 9pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Kremlin Cocktails Special $6 cocktails menu KREMLIN BAR thursday may 22

ARTS _____________ Lunch Box Concert 4 12pm-1:20pm ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC The Shape of Things Until May 31 CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

DANCE _____________ DJ Krush The revered Japanese turntablist returns. Support from Bec Paton.

Doors open 8pm. Tix $25 + bf from Landspeed, ANU, Moshtix ANU BAR Trash Thursdays Featuring DJs Troy Wade and Esscue. $5 entry ACADEMY Ashley Feraude Warms it up KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

LIVE _____________ Dead Farmers With Voss, The Fighting League and the Cherry Marines BAR 32 Mitch From 9:30pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS TBA 9pm-12 KING O’MALLEY’S Live From the Underground The Trivs EP launch featuring The Magic Hands TRANSIT BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ The Chaser’s Age of Terror Variety Hour 6275 2700 for tix CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE Caribbean Vibes Cocktails and infectious beats.

Doors: 8:30pm MONKEY BAR Joel Ozborn Featuring MC Geoff Setty, Jay Sullivan, To Gibson & Nick Smith THE VENUE

friday may 23

saturday may 24

tuesday may 27

ARTS _____________

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________

ARTS _____________

Nanoplastica

By Erica Seccombe CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE We are Three

By Carla Cescon CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE Touching Space

By Ellis Hutch CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE

The Chaser’s Age of Terror Variety Hour Hit canberratheatrecentre.com. au or 6275 2700 for tix CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE Kremlin Happy Hour From 5- 8pm KREMLIN BAR Havana Nights Doors: 8:30. Free until 10 MONKEY BAR

The Fuelers PHOENIX King Farook Launching their new EP TRANSIT BAR Organ and Symphony Concerts From 7:30pm WESLEY UNITING CHURCH

FRIDAY may 23

DANCE _____________ Downtown Brown Sound KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE What 4 From 6:30pm SOUL BAR Cheese '80s flashbacks from resident spinners Pornstylus and Jemist TRANSIT BAR

LIVE _____________ Obese Block Party 5 The party finally hits Canberra, with Pegz, Muph & Plutonic, Chasm, Spit Sydnicate and Hyjak N Torcha. Tix $35 + bf from ANU, Landspeed and Writer's Block ANU BAR Naked AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s Rev Indie/alternative/rock/pop/punk madness every Friday. $5 entry BAR 32 Alone With You With Stigmata, Outcome Unknown, Barbarian, Bi-polar Protocol. $10. 8pm THE BASEMENT Between Mind and Exile And special guests 18+, 8pm, $10 THE GREENROOM Heuristic 10pm-2am KING O’MALLEY’S Neil Murray Ph: 4782 5867 for more info MERRY MUSE Organ and Symphony Concerts From 7:30pm WESLEY UNITING CHURCH

Saturday May 24

ARTS _____________ NFSA Screening: Don’t Look Back Access all areas to Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour. Adult: $9.50, Concession: $8. Max pass avaliable NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE, ARC CINEMA

DANCE _____________ Rockout Sexy house. Doors: 8:30pm MONKEY BAR Ashley Feraude BINARA ONE, CROWN PLAZA HOTEL Frank Madrid Madness KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

DAY PLAY _____________ Gorman House Markets Mmmm… …stuff GORMAN HOUSE Burley Griffin Antique Centre Open every weekend, selling groove retro furniture and much, much more KINGSTON FORESHORE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ A Compas! To the Rhythm Flamenco for one night only CANBERRA THEATRE sunday may 25

DAY PLAY _____________ Old Bus Depot Markets Find that thing to make that other thing work KINGSTON Burley Griffin Antique Centre Selling groove retro furniture KINGSTON FORESHORE Tuggeranong Homestead Markets Home of the hard to find TUGGERANONG HOMESTEAD

LIVE _____________ Bridge Between AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s Irish Jam Sessions From 5pm KING O’MALLEY’S Vive Le France Ph: 6295 9613 WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Foster and Allen Ph: 6281 0899 for more info and ticket information HELLENIC CLUB

LIVE _____________

monday may 26

Andy Mac AINSLIE BAR @ OLIM’s Herratik With System Addict, Machete and Tortured. $10. 8pm THE BASEMENT Heuristic Kicks off at 10pm. $8 cocktails DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Agent 86 10:30pm-2:30am KING O’MALLEY’S

DANCE _____________ Hospitality, Backpackers, Retail et al Night Feat: Aston Shuffle. Free TRANSIT BAR

Somewhere Else With Julie McCarron-Benson.

Until June 9 TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia Night DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Fame Trivia Bookings: 6295 1769 DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Comedy Night PHOENIX Pot Belly Trivia Every Tuesday POT BELLY BAR The Grief of Our Children National Palliative Care Week.

6pm-8pm THE BURNS CLUB Carry On Karaoke From 9pm TRANSIT BAR Wednesday may 28

LIVE _____________ The Lethals Band debut EP, playing hip grooves and broken beats HIPPO Michael Bublé Ph: 136 100 or Ticketmaster.com. au for tickets CANBERRA AIS ARENA Randall Blair With Ill Starred Captain PHOENIX $5 Night Come drink what you like TRANSIT BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT _____________ Trivia Night From 7.30pm ACT RUGBY UNION CLUB Carry On Karaoke From 9pm-1am.

Happy Hour 9pm DURHAM CASTLE ARMS Kremlin Cocktails Special $6 cocktails menu KREMLIN BAR Comedy Night From 6:30pm SOUL BAR

DVDEVOTEE

Planet Terror (Roadshow Home Entertainment) Robert Rodriguez makes mind-fuck zombie movies, the kind of films that push the adrenaline up to 11, forcing you to cower in the chair one moment and giggle like a little girl the next. Planet Terror is the second of the Grindhouse movies and its pacing, sense of humour and tongue-in-cheek appeal work so much better than Tarantino’s take on the genre. Where Death Proof is overblown and wordy, Planet Terror has so much more fun as a zombie film compared to a stuntman’s wet dream. The plot revolves around a top secret army plan to release noxious gases and create some kind of superhuman anti-venom… or actually it was something like that, I was enjoying the film so much and the plot was so irrelevant it doesn’t matter. The acting is over the top and suits the film perfectly with Freddie Rodriguez (Six Feet Under), Rose McGowan (Charmed) and Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men) all along for the ride, and all looking like they are having an absolute ball. The direction is crisp with all the cheap effects looking like a million bucks and the intentionally scratchy, overexposed film works well in this instance. There’s even a mock trailer (Machete) that looks like more manic than Death Proof. The only kinds of people that might not enjoy this one are the incredibly squeamish, but even they will start to chuckle along by the end. Violent, freaky and way over the top, Planet Terror will be a guilty pleasure flick for years to come. Like Death Proof there are heaps of extras including commentaries, appearances at Comic-con, looks at the effects, stunts and so much more. Planet Terror: I have never found trash so unmissable.

GEOFF SETTY

30 Rock (Universal) 30 Rock has been described by some in a kind of Arrested Development light, but that is underestimating this wonderful program.

Created by and starring former Saturday Night Live! head writer Tina Fey (Mean Girls), 30 Rock tells the story of Liz Lemon, creator of The Girly Show, which stars her best friend Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski – Ally McBeal). Into Liz’s peaceful existence at 30 Rockerfeller Plaza, home of the NBC network, comes the new CEO Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, “the greatest actor of all time”), who insists they need to get the ‘third heat’, so an actor is hired to appeal to the youth demographic - in this case Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan – Saturday Night Live!), a somewhat eccentric performer.

The backdrop of this is the writers’ room featuring a range of quirky writers and a putupon director, as well as an over-enthusiastic NBC page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer). From there we are introduced to a cast of guests and miscellaneous miscreants. Now granted, this plot sounds a little hack and possibly trite. But good God, 30 Rock works and has me smiling at worst and cackling like an insane monkey at best. Performances all-round are extremely good, particularly Baldwin who has excellent comedy timing - being married to Kim Basinger must give you something.

The writing zings with subversive, multilayered, referenced and very funny material - encouraging multiple viewings - and the direction suits the 'show within a show' format. Put simply, 30 Rock is the show that put Jerry Seinfeld back on television (Season Two, Episode One), so you know it’s something remarkable. The only complaint I have is that there are no extra features on the set. But still, what’s here is quality and much better than that Gilbert and Sullivan tribute.

GEOFF SETTY

Wish you were a little Wish you were a baller?bit taller? making all your wishes BMA: reality...

NEXT ISSUE WE'VE GO JAKOB, JEFF LANG AND T: MIXMASTER MIKE, A LOAD MORE ON THE STREETS

ehouse ArtANiDcINleTHE GUTTERS FROM MAY 29

Life On Mars Season Two (Roadshow) Life On Mars is not your typical show – think Twin Peaks meets The Bill. Or even The Sweeney with a dash of The X-Files. Either way, it’s a heady mix of ’70s police drama with science fiction and good old-fashioned mystery. For the uninitiated, Sam Tyler has a car accident in 2006 and wakes up in the same job as a police officer in 1973. Is he mad? In a coma?

Or back in time? *SEMI-SPOILER ALERT* – it’s one of those three. Season Two turned out to be the somewhat premature end to the series.

Thankfully, unlike the dirge that has become Lost, Life On Mars always had an end game plan and bringing it dramatically forward bears no ill effect on your enjoyment of the show. This season starts off as business as usual – Gene Hunt (roguishly played by Philip Glenister) is still the gung-ho old-school yin to Sam Tyler’s (John Simms) by-the-book yang. Glenister chews up scenery like teenage girls chew gum – loudly and incessantly, and their chemistry together is better than most Hollywood romances. This time around they deal with the IRA, Pakistani heroin dealers, “car key parties” and more, deftly contrasting how attitudes have changed in the intervening years. The attention to detail in the series is what places it leagues in front of the pack. The costumes, sets and acting are all uniformly excellent, evoking brilliantly a time before every case was solved via DNA and CCTV. Hell, before there were even acronyms (not entirely true). And the music! What better era to set a cop show in!

David Bowie (natch), Slade, Cream, Roxy Music, T. Rex and on it goes. My biggest gripe with the show has always been the recurring moments where Sam hears voices from the future and his misguided attempts to return to his future life. While I understand the necessity of these from a character and storyline point of view, they slow down the otherwise cracking pace and often distract from the action at hand.

Happily, Season Two has less of these moments until the show starts heading towards its conclusion and needs to start tying up loose ends. I won’t say any more about the ending except that it is a fine if somewhat unsatisfying close to this enjoyable and stylish series. But fear not, for those suffering withdrawal, spinoff series Ashes To Ashes (focussing on many of the same characters, minus John Simms) has just concluded a successful season in the UK. No ideas on whether it will screen in Australia anytime soon, but hey, this is not 1973 – that’s what the internet is for!

LUKE MCGRATH