BMA Mag 384 Nov 23 2011 by BMA Magazine

CANBERRAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S PREMIER ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE #325MAY21

#384N OV 2 3

Dub be good to me Inside:

Spicks and Specks // Gurrumul // Tim Minchin // Children Collide // Jinja Safari // Terry Pratchett

siren presents

Summer A hot season of events, under the glow of the summer sun Sat 26 + Sun 27 November Launch of Summer Cocktail Menu (anyone for a Hot Crace Tradie?) plus loads of summer giveaways.

Sun 4 December - Huge Summer Launch Party with blow-up pools, palm trees and sand on the deck, live RAWFM broadcast and more summer giveaways.

Sun 11 December 2012 ACT Firefighters Calendar. Signing, mingling and a cool bevvie with the stars of the calendar.

Fri 16, Sat 17 + Sun 18 December Santa photos! The only bar in Canberra where you can make your Christmas wish directly to Mr Claus himself.

Full list of events at sirenbar.com.au

We went, we drank, we left.

# 3 8 4 N O V 2 3 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Advertising Manager Paul Foley T: 6257 4360 E: sales@bmamag.com

Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Yu Xie T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Super Sub-Editor Josh Brown Graphic Design Cole Bennetts Exhibitionist Editor Julia Winterflood E: editorial@bmamag.com Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 385 OUT DEC 07 EDITORIAL DEADLINE NOV 28 ADVERTISING DEADLINE DEC 01 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA is independently owned and published. Opinions expressed in BMA are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

THE SLOG has 2012 calendars for sale that showcase interstate and local musicians such as Abbie Cardwell, Beth‘n’Ben, Brothers Grim, Cash Savage, Fun Machine, Graveyard Train, Grinspoon, Julia & the Deep Sea Sirens, Mikelangelo and Saint Clare, Mojo Juju, Snowdroppers and many more. Calendars are available through Smiths Alternative Bookshop and featured artists’ shows, but you can also purchase them online for $14.95. Each calendar sold raises funds for THE SLOG site and makes the back of your toilet door damn sexy for 12 months. To check them out and secure yourself a copy, head to slogmusic.com .

Henry Rollins at The Street For more than a quarter century Henry Rollins has toured the world as a spoken word artist, as frontman for both Rollins Band and Black Flag and without a microphone, as a solitary traveller with insatiable curiosity bypassing the resorts in favour of places like Siberia and Senegal, or Burma and Bangladesh. Or Canberra. His curiosity and hunger for experienced based knowledge, teamed with his willingness to travel, his no-holds-barred delivery of his opinions and observations, and wicked sense of humour make him one of the most inspiring and interesting commentators/entertainers of a generation. He returns to Australia in 2012 for The Long March tour, a month long national odyssey, which is stopping by The Street Theatre on Sunday May 6. Tix through the venue.

Sand Pebbles at The Front Melbourne flower-punk luminaries Sand Pebbles embark on a national tour next month to launch their acclaimed new album Dark Magic. When Wes Holland joined Sand Pebbles a couple of years ago at the age of 18, Andrew Tanner

Heatwave Festival Hits Canberra The hardworking KP Records crew are at it again, bringing to Canberra their biggest venture to date; all out hip-hop festival Heatwave, so called due to its summer date of Saturday January 21 and its hot hip-hop line-up. This truly international affair, playing out at Epic Arena Canberra, plays host to Tech N9ne (US), D12 (US), Obie Trice (US), Koolism, Big Dave and Grantwho?, DJ Rush, D’Opus And Roshambo, Kodak, N2W (NSW), Dlinkwnt (NSW), Kitty B (NSW), Bishop, DJ Skae (NSW) with Eitha, Deon and Collossuss, and is hosted by the BRB. We have also been assured there will also be beer gardens, overnight camping facilities, stalls, merchandise, street art displays, live graffiti demonstrations, food, and just one stage so you don’t miss a set. There are also at least two big internationals still to be announced, which shall be rolled out in the coming months, so stay tuned for details on that. It’s an 18+ event, with first

release tix on sale now costing $110 + bf, second release $140 + bf and VIPs $160 + bf from moshtix.com.au, Landspeed Records and Co-op Bookshop in the city. For more info, details and messages from the artists head to kokyprik.com .

BMA Presents a Laneway Festival sideshow Having been announced for Laneway’s Sydney and Melbourne events, Givers and Portugal. The Man will also be bringing their bright breed of psych-pop to Canberra along with special guests Guineafowl. All three bands are as renowned for their dynamic live performances as for their irresistible tunes and musical prowess. Givers’ In Light is a vibrant debut album, perfect for the warm summer months ahead and bursting with invigorating melodies, shifting rhythms and an abundance of energy as many will know from their revitalising first single Up Up Up and new single Meantime. Alaskan quartet Portugal. The Man released their much anticipated sixth album In The Mountain In The Cloud in July. The album is filled with pulsing riffs and rings true to the buoyant rock and roll style that has permeated each album since the band’s ‘06 debut. Got It All (This Can’t Be Living Now), the infectiously catchy first single was played on high rotation at triple j, and the momentum continues to build. It’s all happening in the UC Refectory on Wednesday February 8. Tix through Ticketek.

Portugal. The Man playing a Laneway Festival sideshow in February

THE SLOG calendars

had just turned 50. The band quickly realised they ran a unique age gamut; a member born in each decade in the history of rock ‘n’ roll – ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Far from disowning this unique fact, they decided to use it to inform their next album. The result, Dark Magic, speaks from many minds and many times. It’s hypnotic, cosmic, kinetic and freewheeling. Catch them at The Front with The Sun Blinde on Friday December 2.

YOU PISSED ME OFF!

FROM THE BOSSMAN When you get to my age (that is 29 going on 82) with yet another year drawing to a close, you start to get all nostalgic about the past, your roots, where you’ve been to get where you are… Y’know, all that ‘ratings gold’ prime time TV style bollocks. And so my thoughts have turned to when I first set foot in the BMA Magazine office (don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a D&M personal piece; it’s about farting in a confined office space. And there’s you all worried I was about to raise the editorial bar…). You may have a certain idea about what a Street Press office looks like. I certainly did nine long years ago when, as a wideeyed, trembling poor man’s writer and women-poor student I set foot into the BMA Magazine offices for the first time. My 20-year-old self expected an expansive room stretching as far as the eye could see, with perfectly symmetrical desks all lined up with Chinese-grade regiment; people barking into telephones, perpetually barging into rooms shouting ‘Stop the press!’ while frantically waving pieces of paper like surrender flags. Instead I was treated to a room that could give a tissue box an ego, with four people huddled over seemingly the same desk (it could have been multiple desks joined by paperwork). And even though smelling of a jock strap (or perhaps because of it) there was a majesty, a warming vibe and hum to the place that summoned an undeniable sense of awe. I was walking on egg shells; not wanting to breathe too sharply such was my adulation. Now as Managing Director – or Head Arseclown to use the official office title – it’s amazing to look back. The digs are bigger now; we can fit a sofa in here for those just-got-backfrom-an-important-pub-meeting 3pm snoozes, and corridor sports actually play out in a corridor. But it’s still delightfully cozy. We pretend we’re in a bigger office, sure. If someone calls the editorial line seeking the advertising manager, even though one’s knee is rested daily in the other’s armpit, we’ll still carry on with “I’ll just see if he’s available” and feign walking down a nonexistent five mile corridor. It’s good for morale.

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 original spellings] To my amazingly wonderful boss who has spread a rumour that I’m having innappropriate relations with my students... You are such a wonderful woman, also thanks for firing me in a staff meeting I wasn’t actually at and blaming me for your fuck ups. I can’t believe you haven’t won Australian of the year yet...! Enjoy everyone hating you even more now since you’ve gotten rid of your only decent staff member who actually did work (mind you I would have earned more on Centrelink!) and helped students. I hope you burn in hell you evil fucking bitch. No wonder you’re an old sad lesbian with a dried up wrinkly pussy and no love in your life except from your dead lizard. Oh, I’m being mean... Oh no... how rude of me, I’m so sorry, what are you going to do about it... FIRE ME?? FUCK YOU CUNT BUCKET, FUCK YOU! I’m going to dance on your grave.YOU PISSED ME OFF. Wow.. that feels much better.

Where once I wouldn’t dare breathe out of place, years in the same abode, getting to know and love the people you work with tends to, how should we say, relax things somewhat. On a building site, open gruffing isn’t much of a thing. But if you’re the type of person that likes to keep up with the ballet, forthcoming farts aren’t usually the go. But as you get to know someone and a bit of offending wind at first politely knocks at your back door before attempting to thump it down with the violence of a Baltimore gang banger, and the choice is to either send the offending gas on a 180 degree destructive path through your lower bowel or to attempt to silently squeeze one out in front of your long term colleagues well… You know where this is going. It was an unholy smell, akin to tying together a brimming bin liner in an overcrowded share house where one person has a penchant for fish and another has a champion pooping baby, and wrenching the knot together thus sending a belch of the foulest air into your nostrils, through your brain and out to puncture the ozone layer and outlast the concept of time. Sadly, grossly flaring my nostrils in an attempt to hoover up the smell like a cartoon character didn’t quite pan out. But this frankly juvenile act of letting one slip became symbolic of how close I am with my colleagues, and how far I have come. Let your wind, and your bonding, fly free. ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

WHO: Amnesty International WHAT: ARTillery Festival WHEN: Thurs Dec 1 – Sat Dec 10 WHERE: Locations around Civic, Braddon and New Acton

Amnesty International’s ARTillery Festival is taking over Canberra with its unique fusion of cutting edge art and human rights activism. The not-for-profit festival, run entirely by volunteers, started in Perth in ‘08 with the goal of using art to get young people thinking and speaking out about human rights. Enlisting an army of established and up-and-coming artists from a variety of disciplines, ARTillery has been proving to locals that human rights activism can be inspiring as well as a great night out. ARTillery promises to deliver the same electricity and fight-for-your-rights spirit to the national capital. For the run down of all the exciting events, head to artilleryfestival.com .

WHO: Atluk WHAT: Saccharine-folk WHEN: Thurs Dec 1 WHERE: Transit Bar

Hannah, Catherine, Andy and Frank all moved from Canberra to Melbourne in early 2011. Whilst finding their feet in a new city they found each other again and this reunion lead to the formation of Atluk. Dubbing their style as saccharine-folk, their music mixes the narrative style of Belle & Sebastian and the light-hearted romance of She & Him. They also have the occasional group harmonies of Boy & Bear and the warm melodies of Angus & Julia Stone. Every song is a quest to tell you a story and a tune get stuck in your heart. They’ll be joined by Fox and Fowl and The Streelight Parade. Free, 8pm.

WHO: Treehouse and Blahnket Presents WHAT: The Gaslamp Killer WHEN: Thurs Dec 1 WHERE: Top floor of UniPub, tix through moshtix

Los Angeles-based The Gaslamp Killer is a DJ whose electric style ranges from psychedelia and world music to dubstep and left-field hip-hop. Associated with Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder Records, he’s a resident DJ at the world-renowned Low End Theory club night, has received global acclaim for his turntable skills and larger-than-life stage presence, and is a raw revolutionary who is an Australian favorite. The Gaslamp Killer is supported by a swag of Australia’s most promising beat makers, MoR, Paqman, Roleo, Onetalk, Deaf Cat, 2Fuddha, JPS, and Faux Real, making this an absolute gem on the calendar for anyone interested in live electronic music.

WHO: His Merry Men WHAT: 9-piece funk machine WHEN: Fri Dec 2 WHERE: Potbelly Bar

Nine-piece funk machine His Merry Men are set to tour Australia’s east coast to celebrate the launch of their new single Super Secret Spies. Hailed as Brisbane’s latest darlings of funk, His Merry Men contemporise a classic sound with influences from surf rock, electronica and hip-hop. Their energetic new single brings back the hey day of pop rock with an infections spy/funk theme. HMM will be hitting the Potbelly armed with local juggernauts The Brass Knuckle Brass Band, a New Orleans style funk outfit. One thing’s for certain, there’ll be an outrageous horn party at this gig with a total of 10 horn players busting ridiculous funk chops all night long.

WHO: South side dwellers WHAT: 23rd Tuggeranong Festival WHEN: Sat Nov 26 WHERE: Tuggeranong Town Park

Doc Neeson, previous frontman of The Angels will be headlining the Tuggeranong Festival this year. The free family friendly event will be held from noon until 10pm, with the main act commencing at 7.45pm followed by a monster fireworks display over Lake Tuggeranong. The festival will also include children’s activities, rides and amusements, community and commercial stalls, free sailing, an antique car and bike exhibit, the RAAF Tethered Balloon and Canberra’s own Town Crier. I didn’t even know we had one. Check out the full program at tuggeranongfestival.org.au .

WHO: BMA Presents Darren Hanlon WHAT: Chrissie tour WHEN: Wed Dec 14 WHERE: The Street Theatre

After spending most of 2011 touring across the US and Europe, the now homeless Darren Hanlon will end the year with his customary Christmas shows. Usually Darren’s Christmas tours consist of a few scattered dates, but for the first time this December he’ll play a substantial lap of the country stopping in most capital cities and starting with a rare, extensive tour of North Queensland. As always Darren will perform solo, playing stripped back versions of the songs from his extensive canon. Also along for the ride is David Dondero (USA), Darren’s first signing to his own label Flippin’ Yeah Industries. Tix through the venue.

mellow

dubmarine

DUBMARINE SINEAD O’CONNELL Having an awfully busy past 12 months, there still remains no end in sight for legendary reggae-dub fusion outfit DUBMARINE. Just returned from their hit tour in Europe with shows in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Czech Republic, the group only have one weekend off from here until January. Reassuring though that time taken off is a luxury they intend to skip for the sanctity of their studio. With the new year however comes a new hope for some them time, they laugh. Coined as “Australia’s high-powered, high energy dub and dancehall sub bass vessel”, Dubmarine were nominated for a Deadly award in the Best Band of 2010 category and a Q Song award.

It’s no surprise then that their latest album Depth of Sound reminds us of their many gems in a vast collection of hidden treasures. Depth of Sound brings forth the group’s staple bassdriven foundations, trombone and synth explosions as well as their soulful trip-hop combinations. The EP is compromised of three studio and three live tracks and is an imaginative experimental collaboration contrasting up-beat hip-hop bass with velvety reggae vibes. The tracks also feature classic dub and dancehall with sentimental emphasis on their riddims – the drum and bass components of the melody. Using their twin trombone blasts and lead vocal gymnastics of Indigenous rockstar and Darumbal man D-Kazman, who captains their team, they harvest the “sound and fury of electronic music live, in all of its bass crunching, rhythm pounding, hip shaking fiendish glory. All played by musicians, all real.” Emphasis on the real.

It’s about genuinely respecting the audience and their wish to have a good time

When it comes to influences they say it’s mostly just “where they’ve come from musically. From gypsy swing bands, to New Orleans second line brass bands, some of the guys have reggae backgrounds, others electronic backgrounds, or some simply favour the basic drums, bass and dub.” Basically they are a fantastic melting pot of genres, admitting that there are even some unashamed Michael Jackson fans in the crew. “We’re a bunch of mixed bags, but I mean you can find good music in every genre and it’s healthy for musicians to experiment and mix. People are seriously mixing their music these days!” They’ve coloured in the map of the world travelling in recent years and ultimately they conclude, “anywhere where there’s a new crowd and a good exchange with a crowd is a place we love.” In fact it is the travel itself that makes touring for them not just

their career but their lifestyle. “No travelling musician makes any money these days,” they laugh, “so it’s places like Cairns, Alice and New Caledonia” that remind them it’s the little things that mean the most. “It’s the moments when you’re touring, like when you’re bleary-eyed, walking around Newtown, drinkin’ some kind of juice that gets you thinking about music and its ability to connect as a common language for people everywhere.” If you’ve ever been to one of their shows or have read reviews, you’ll know that their reception sits high above any normal standard. Mostly you’ll find descriptions in awe of the feeling and atmosphere that is created when they perform. As though a vibe itself has manifested amongst the audience, contributing and connecting to the rhythms and flow of their music. In response to this they preach that their ultimate aim is to merely entertain. “People just want to see your band and have a good time, so we’re keen to give them what they want. We know what we like as musicians and we like to represent that… it’s about genuinely respecting the audience and their wish to have a good time.”

Dubmarine believe in adhering to the dogma of strict musical integrity which bonds them to the audiences, but as always what it comes down to is the satisfaction of having a bunch of talented people “getting up there, nailing it and being generous to their audience.” Anything on a CD is just a glimpse of the full capacity of Dubmarine; their music is the kind that fits best on stage, especially when necessitating the aesthetics of their productions which involve two trombonists, two percussionists, guitars, synths and attractive vocalists. It’s the kind of music that translates a fluid energy, and when given the opportunity their frontman transcends verses and evolves it all into exotic Jamaican hip-hop movements. Their album explores many territories of genre beyond the norm, including crunk, ambient and minimal, orchestrating a full and vibrant sonic soundscape. Sound the Alarm – a signature tagline for them – is definitely a warning to be heard; these are not beats for the fainthearted. It is impossible to synthesise the music with a description like, say, Billy Mystic meets The Cat Empire, because they are the best deal – a colourful and delicious blend of all our favourite fruits. They act as a conduit for the booming trip-hop scene in Brisbane and in greater Australia. They’re always keen to meet people they’ve never met before, so if you happen to see them, go and say hi; they’re the type of crew that won’t say bye. Catch Dubmarine live at the Summer Rhythm Festival, held at Goolabri Resort between Friday-Sunday December 9-11. Tickets cost $65.30-$102 (+ bf) and are available through Oztix.

Tim Galvin Adam Hills is a well-oiled machine; the Australian comedian possesses an infallibly polished and likeable demeanour that transcends even the most hardened generational acumen. His resume is bursting with international achievements, though the most prominent feather in Hill’s cap would still be his tenure as host of the ABC darling SPICKS AND SPECKS, which has been a suitable seven year long vehicle for his charmingly universal appeal. The biggest weapon in Spicks’ arsenal, the one quality which enabled it to succeed against its more shiny rivals for all 277 episodes, was definitely its celestial allure. During its lifetime, the program was watched religiously by an eclectic spectrum of fans; hipsters streamed it on their iPads, retirees stayed up past their bedtime to catch every new episode and it finally stopped families from fighting over the remote after dinnertime. “I think part of what really worked with the show was that we were doing things a little differently to anyone else and one of those things was to never outstay our welcome and to call it a day when we thought we had done as well as we could do,” says Hills.

People always assumed I knew a lot about music but I was just reading questions that were written for me!

For the benefit of those of you who have spent their last few hundred Wednesday nights hidden under a rock, it was announced this year that the seventh season would be their last, a revelation that Hills is only just beginning to come to terms with himself. “This is the first time I have started doing interviews for the end of Spicks and Specks and hearing it spoken about in the past tense is the first time that it’s hit me that it is kind of over!” he says, adding almost apologetically “it’s like ‘there used to be this TV show’ and it’s like ‘oh my god, this is how they will be talking about it in years to come!’” The public reaction to the end of the show has been quite a sombre one, while some fans have taken to their Twitter page applauding the show’s success, most are confused by the decision and find solace in publicly mourning its loss. “People have been really devastated and have said as much, but luckily the fact that we weren’t axed was a good thing,” says Hills. “The fact that it was Alan, Myf and I that made the decision, I think people understand that and they realise that seven years is a really good run. We always did the show for the right reasons and they trust that we are finishing it up for the right reasons.”

The success of the show almost came as a surprise to Hills and co-hosts Alan Brough and Myf Warhurst, all three signing on with only a generic idea of what to expect from each other. “Alan and I knew each other from comedy festivals but Myf and I had never met and we had to spend a few nights on the phone to get to know each other before episode one.” Even though Hills ensures me he “has always loved music”, he was brought into the production as a kind of comic foil for musical brainiacs and competing team captains Brough and Warhurst. The format of the show was largely based around musical trivia, although as it developed it became more of a half hour improv comedy performance loosely garnished with abstract facts, all masquerading as a light-hearted competition between the two teams. “Myf and Alan had the real music knowledge and the real love of music and I was a bit of a layman sitting in the middle and I was there to basically translate their knowledge for the people at home,” he says. “I think that’s why it worked; if the person hosting the show had a great knowledge of music it would have all seemed a bit too insular but because I was the dumb guy in the middle going ‘I don’t know who you are talking about’, it added something else. People always assumed I knew a lot about music but I was just reading questions that were written for me!” laughs Hills. Such an iconic show deserves a suitably prodigious send off and the troublesome threesome are preparing to get back on the road to say goodbye to their Australian fans in the form of ‘The Finale’, an epic live show which Hills insists will provide quite an interesting challenge. “It’s one thing to host a TV show but to be on stage in front of 2,000 people night after night when it’s just the three of you, you really have to have each other’s backs,” says Hills. “Fortunately on the last tour we had a band with us, who we will have again this time around, the drummer of which is 26 and he drums with Tex Perkins. Alan and Myf and I forgot that we are not 26 nor are we drummers in a rock band when we tried to keep up with him. The scariest day of the tour was when we realised that we could pull off the show with a hangover.” As Hills prepares to sign off, one burning question remains. Will the death of Spicks and Specks turn their hungry throng of fans onto competing Australian musical quiz show RocKwiz? “It’s weird, we are doing competing tours – I think they are on tour at the same time as us so there might be some kind of West Side Story standoff in the middle of an Australian town somewhere!” he laughs. Farewell Adam, Alan and Myf live at the Spicks and Speck-tacular Finale at The Royal Theatre on Saturday-Monday December 10-12. Tick=ets are $99 + bf and are available through Ticketek.

ALL AGES On Friday November 25 the Axis Youth Centre in Queanbeyan will be hosting a FREE event, open to all over the age of 12 and under the age of 25. The line-up will feature local acts When Giants Sleep, Immersion, Martha Moxley, Der Riese and Ameliah Brown. Doors open at 6pm and the show will run late into the night. So come take advantage of a free night of entertainment to welcome the summer. Cherished rising local act Drawing North are set to put on a spectacular Christmas show to raise money for a tour of New Zealand in January! So please come and show your support for

a talented young Canberra band who time and time again have entertained us free of charge. The action will take place at Alliance Youth in Calwell on Saturday December 10, kicking off at 6.30pm. But that’s not all! The show will feature a mind-blowing line-up of local talent including Martha Moxley, The London Town Fire, Ameliah Brown and Flynn. Tickets cost $10 (+ bf) online or $15 at the door of the venue on the night. There will be prizes for the best Christmas themed costumes, so get festive! Don’t forget to reserve your tickets to the best New Year’s Eve party on offer! The end of the year is closing in fast and before you know it you will be partying hard at Mission To Launch which will feature an unforgettable line-up of both local and international artists to usher you into 2012. The line-up will feature The Living End, Sneaky Sound System, Ian Carey, Cloud Control, The Beautiful Girls, The Herd, The Potbelleez, British India, Yacht Club DJs, Bag Raiders, Grafton Primary, Andy Murphy, The Novacaines, Naysayer & Gilsun and Softwar, along with more local acts who are yet to be announced. Meanwhile, with a spectacular soundtrack, you can enjoy the beautiful views of Lake Burley Griffin from Weston Park. There will be a free bus service to and from the event from the city. The event is officially open at 3pm on Saturday December 31. Tickets cost $130 (+ bf) through Moshtix. Unfortunately this is a 16+ event. On the eve of Thursday January 12, the Alliance Youth Hall will play host to one extremely unique act. The Red Paintings are known for their creatively eerie ‘“orchestral art rock” and you will have the chance to experience it all on their Black Paintings tour. Their performance will take you on an unforgettable journey. Tickets cost only $22 (+ bf) through any Moshtix outlet. The magic starts at 5pm. Hope to see you there! I am also proud to announce the outcome of the CIT School Stars Band Competition that took place on Thursday November 10, which was once again in 2011 an extremely fun and successful event for bands and their audiences alike. The Crowd Pleaser award, as voted by the audience was The String Theory, representing Canberra High School. The Best Individual Performance award was presented to Nicola Hall from Lyneham High School and the Best Performance award went to Mango Jam from Canberra Boys Grammar. Congratulations to the winning artists but also to all amazing participants in the competition! NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

When this ish hits the street The Phoenix will be at day three of their 18th Birthday Party Week, all geared up for the launch of Super Best Friend’s new single Karma Karma. Thursday heralds an eve of Phoenix bands of yore The Way Hip Antelopes, The Pete and Fiete Band, Fred Smith and The Fuelers, while the Saturday celebrations kick off at 2 with highlights including Mr. Fibby at 3.30, blues pilot Jonno Zilber at about 7.30 and Tom Woodward’s new project Judge doing their first ever gig around 9. Sunday afternoon sees a special session of BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! which – as the ad to the right pitches it so perfectly – is “Canberra people who like to SHOUT poems into microphones”. I love honest advertising. To get warmed up for the birthday bashes I threw the call out to Facebook for folk to throw me their first time at Phoenix tales. The following is a selection of the G rated anecdotes printed verbatim. We may be street press, but as I assured The Phoenix when it posted “Oh sweet jesus, please be gentle”, BMA always adheres to the loftiest of journalistic standards. Damn straight. Vorn Doolette: The first time I went to the phoenix I was just 18. I was taken there by a friend. It was life changing. The people there were kind of like me. I looked at them....they looked at me. We fell in love. I fell in love with this strange fish bowel like experience. You didn’t have to be perfect to be accepted at the phoenix. This was a place for artists, poets and musicians. This was home. Adam Hadley: I actually don’t remember the first time I went to the Phoenix. I assume I went there for a first time, but it’s all caught up in the rich, tequila-scented tapestry that is being a piece of furniture at the Phoenix. I would also describe my experience of the Phoenix like being in a fish bowel. Catherine Keely: The first time I went to the Phoenix a mysterious man read my palm and advised strongly never to wear anything with concentric circles. Alistair Erskine: The first time I went to the Phoenix, I couldn’t find a seat. This happened the next 3 times, and then finally I decided to make friends with another seatless drinker. Eventually, I got a seat, but I also gained something you can never lose - friends made at the Phoenix. Marissa Paine: My friends and I wanted Midori Splices (because we were 18 and that’s what 18 year olds drink). They didn’t have cream at the bar, so we went to the petrol station to buy some. Came back and they didn’t have any Midori. I’ve since learnt that the Phoenix is for beer, not cocktails. And I’m better for it. Karuna Gurung: The first time I went to the Phoenix, I was supposed to meet a guy, but I had left my phone at home, and had had a stupid day, AND the boy was an infuriating five minutes late, so I fled and stood him up. The guy would go on to become my husband. JULIA WINTERFLOOD julia@bmamag.com

DANCE THE DROP

Coming to you live from festival season, this edition is brought to you by short shorts, steroids and 15 dollar beers. Maybe you have already caught ‘festival-itis’, but how can you be sure? Leading medical specialists (not including Convict, er, Conrad Murray) state that symptoms may include a desire to woop loudly and sporadically, throwing your hands in the air ‘like you just don’t care’, not remembering the last time you ate and feeling a special connection with sunglasses that are much too big for your face.

Canberra could be considered a possible ‘ground zero’ for the outbreak of festival-itis, with tens of thousands of young infected party-goers fist pumping their way into cavernous stadiums and

open fields, amassing into a throbbing swarm of flailing limbs and wobbly jawlines in celebration of the sun finally poking through the clouds. Two very different sonic leviathans let out their mighty roar in the coming weeks, namely the Foreshore Summer Music Festival and the Summer Rhythm Festival. For those of you who have been stuck in an Austrian man’s basement for the past five years, Foreshore, taking place this Saturday November 26, is a stoic institution in the local scene. The festival is a full throttle 12 hour outdoor jubilee involving the hottest local, interstate and international artists on the planet. This year’s festival has taken, some might say controversially, a mature step forward by adding a raft of popular indie artists to the usually DJ-heavy line-up, including Boy & Bear, Gotye, Gypsy & The Cat and Architecture in Helsinki. Whatever your taste, the day is sure to be a killer experience if last year is anything to go by. The Summer Rhythm Festival, taking place over three days in the surrounding bushland of Goolabri Resort from FridaySunday December 9-11, is still in its infancy although this year’s second effort is also impressively diverse. The line-up includes Hook N Sling, Van She Tech, Goodwill, Cassian, Shazam, Hermitude, The Bird and Salmonella Dub and a long list of local and interstate guests. A three day camping and entry pass will only set you back around $95 (plus bf) if you book prior to the event through the website. See you there! As easy as it is to forget about nightclubs in summer, Academy just keep reeling us back with enormous parties in Dec and Jan. The two biggest shows they’ve just announced are UK scallywag and personal favourite Kissy Sellout on Friday December 16 and superstar Calvin Harris on Friday January 6. Pre-sale tickets have sold out for Mr Harris so you’ll have to get there very early on the night if you want to score a coveted ticket on the door. Well I’ve just gone and blabbered on too much this edition and there’s no space to talk about any new releases - see you in the mosh! TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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

art; trippy paintings that distort the perception of the viewer and leave you questioning what you truly see. Sequeira also remarks that this is a “dream show” with which to open his gallery. Vickery’s work encapsulates the style and time period with which op art and abstract expressionism are most associated. These works were completed in New York during the period 1967-1970. This is the time of Woodstock, the Chelsea Hotel and during this period Vickery came into contact with some of the major artists of the era, such as Jackson Pollock and William de Koonig. While these paintings are completely of their time and place, they have an amazing ability to transcend that time and look remarkably contemporary. In particular, Spectrum #45 The Dotted Line could easily be mistaken as digital print of some kind of pixellated distortion.

NOTHING AND EVERYTHING VANESSA WRIGHT You probably haven’t heard about EVERYTHING NOTHING PROJECTS; there’s no flashy advertising campaign or huge media release. Maybe you saw something about it through some form of social media like I did, or you heard a whisper from a friend. And that is just the way David Sequeira, the director of Everything Nothing Projects, wants it. ENP is a place to happen upon, to discover and to delight in. Sequeira’s enthusiasm for this project is palatable and his excitement is contagious. He is hugely passionate about his new gallery space, which will specifically showcase geometric colour art. Owning and operating a gallery has been a dream for Sequeira for as long as he can remember. Working in a variety of roles within the arts in the last 20 years, he has been constantly immersed in the world of art – as an arts educator for major institutions, a curator, an arts commentator, an artist, as well as recently completing a PhD. And if that weren’t enough, he continues to do it all while running Everything Nothing Projects. Everything Nothing fills a gap in the Canberra gallery scene, a gap that wasn’t even previously apparent. Sequeira argues that this is in fact a gaping hole all over Australia; a genre specific art gallery. Everything Nothing Projects restricts itself to only art which can be classified as geometric colour. While this may seem highly limiting, Sequeira only sees the possibilities and the joy in challenging the viewer to re-evaluate what they consider to be abstract or geometric art. For Sequeira, geometric art can be anything from minimalism, conceptual art, hard edge abstraction, colour field painting and op art (optical art). These are genres of art which are often considered as belonging to a very specific time and place, in particular the 1960s. The very first Everything Nothing Projects exhibition showcases the work of expat Australian painter, John Vickery (19061983). As Sequeira describes it, “Vickery has mastered the creation of powerful optical sensations.” Vickery’s work is quintessential op

Everything Nothing Projects is a shoebox of a gallery. Located on the second floor of the old Canberra Centre building, now most known as the location of Academy, Sequeira is inspired by the ‘60s architecture of this Enrico Tagletti-designed building. One of Canberra’s most iconic spaces, the upstairs of the building has for many years been left vacant and underused. The geometry and precision of this space inform the gallery and despite its modest size and surrounds, this little space has great ambition. The advantage of such a small space is the scope it allows the curator to experiment, whilst still being able to retain creative control. Sequeira views the size of the gallery as an opportunity to produce “tight, focused shows”. The next exhibition to open at Everything Nothing Projects is one such example; it will be a monochrome painting show. It could be argued that monochrome is as controversial a subject in art as pissing Christs and raw meat. Who hasn’t thought ‘that’s not art, it’s a black square. I could do that. A six year old could do that’? As Sequeira states, “A black square, it can be everything and it can be nothing.” Everything Nothing Projects captures that place, that no man’s land where nothing suddenly becomes everything. Sequeira truly lives for that moment. Included in this upcoming exhibition will be a variety of emerging, mid-career and established local and international artists, all entranced by the monochrome. Artists include David Thomas, John Nixon, Derek O’Connor, Robert Jacks, Louise Blyton, Jane Keech and Craig Easton, as well as David Sequeira. Despite Everything Nothing Projects being open for barely two weeks now, Sequeira is already thinking about the wider scope of the project. Not letting himself be confined to the dimensions of the gallery space, Sequeira is already developing satellite Everything Nothing Projects around Canberra, in Perth and even as far as Berlin. For Sequeira, Everything Nothing Projects is a “small space with big visions”. This is an extremely personal project for Sequeira, this gallery is built around a desire to engage people with the kind of art which really excites him. Geometric colour art is not everyone’s cup of tea, but my bet is David Sequeira can change your mind. Everything Nothing Projects is located at Level 1, Centre Cinema Building, 50 Bunda Street, Civic. Open Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm and by appointment. The monochrome painting exhibition starts early December, check everythingnothingprojects.com for more details.

MO SHOW, FO SHO ASHLEY THOMSON Joanna Gilmour is an unusual ambassador for Movember. She is an expert in Australian women’s history and writing and Assistant Curator at the National Portrait Gallery. She is also the pioneer of JO’S MO SHOW (WITH BEARDS), a fascinating exhibition detailing the Australian male’s facial hair from 1780 to the present day. The ebbs and flows from trimmed gentility to Enkidu-like robustness and back are mapped in a two-part exhibition, with an interactive website and a walkthrough trail of the mo’s history at the Gallery. “I have always been struck by how much you learn about the history of fashion from studying portraiture,” observes Jo. She has brought this lesson home. The website is graced by 60 genuine portraits, each with their own biography. They range from Captain Cook and Ned Kelly to Henry Lawson and Errol Flynn. Perhaps the best is a wonderful caricature of an early 20th century Premier of New South Wales, Jack Lang. In attention to detail, the exhibition lacks nothing. After perusing the site, I put it to Jo that in comparison to some of the animalistic styles, facial hair today seems conservative. “There’s a contemporary renegotiation of ideas about masculinity happening at the moment,” she replies. “I have acquaintances who revel in very blokey things... but who are also equally involved in raising their children, who are proud of their abilities in domestic spheres (cooking, gardening etc), and who are not afraid of acknowledging that they are concerned about their health, fitness and appearance.” It seems that facial hair is as cyclical as any other fashion. However, this is not to say it could not extend further. “Certain sections of society can’t get away from the idea that facial hair is somehow dodgy and undesirable,” Jo observes. “It’s very telling I think, for example, that Australia hasn’t had a Prime Minister with facial hair since the First World War.” As a bearded man, I began to question my dream of being the next Julia Gillard. It’s possible that reasons for having facial hair just aren’t as compelling as they once were. According to the Mo Show website, shaving was once considered “a painful, vexatious and not merely useless but actually unwholesome custom.” During other periods it was believed that moustaches acted as filters for harmful dust. Imagine a hospital where they distributed moustaches to patients in place of facemasks, or to surgeons about to operate. What a glorious myth science has dispelled. As a cultural and historical goldmine (and provocateur of thoughts like these), Jo’s Mo Show is a pleasure. And if you like, you can even upload a photo. Visit Jo’s Mo Show at the National Portrait Gallery or through their website at portrait.gov.au . The exhibition runs until Sunday April 1, 2012.

of time maintaining the shit that everyone has to do: endless emails, tax, contracts and all that. But actually I feel like I’m not prolific enough which is probably why I work so hard. Obviously there’s circularity to that – you feel like you’re not working enough so you end up actually putting out quite a lot of stuff.”

A CHINWAG WITH MINCHIN

As one of Australia’s most successful and internationally praised comedians of the last 20 years, Minchin is – as they say – in a good place. “I’m in the weirdest stage ever of my career at the moment in that the biggest difficulty is my job is so fun and so exciting that I’ve gotten myself in a fix for the first time. I’ve always just been keeping up – you know I’ve promised shows, or I’ve got another Edinburgh and I’ve just been working on keeping up. And now I’m suddenly sitting in a space where I have a deal with a big animation company in LA to write songs for a film, and I’ve got Broadway producers wanting me to make a live action musical and I just want to do a dark, grown up musical. Plus I want to make an album of my own.”

On the face of it TIM MINCHIN is the hardest working man in showbiz. In addition to the hundreds of shows he plays every year – one of which, a collaboration with the 55-piece Heritage Orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall, has just been released on DVD – the Australian comic/musician adapted the Roald Dahl story Matilda into a musical, has plans to write his own musical from scratch, has an animation project in the works and raises two small children in his spare time. It looks hectic, though not to Minchin.

Indeed it’s this last point that is most telling – Tim Minchin writes songs that happen to be funny. But he considers himself a songwriter first, comedian second. In fact when pushed he’ll admit he doesn’t even consider he’s a comedian. “I’ve been a songwriter for 20 years but I have never made a studio album of non-comic songs. The thing that people don’t realise is that actually I only do one job – write songs with funny or interesting words, non-pop songs. I get sick of calling them theatrical songs. So really, it’s all the same job. It might sound weird but writing a ballad for Matilda and writing The Pope Song is really the same job. You just gotta choose your colours.”

“Yeah… it looks busy from the outside and I do work a lot, in a weird way. But if you’re just working a normal eight hour day, every day you should be able to do a lot of shit. It’s quite hard to be able to work eight hours a day on creative stuff – you spend a hell of a lot

Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra - Live at the Royal Albert Hall is out now on DVD and BluRay through Universal. Tim will also play shows next year at The State Theatre in Sydney with The Sydney Symphony on Thursday-Saturday February 2-4. Tickets through Ticketmaster.

JUSTIN HOOK

SADDLE UP ben hermann Canberra-formed MIKELANGELO AND THE BLACK SEA GENTLEMEN have experienced a veritable profusion of adventures in the ten years since their premiere performances at The Street Theatre. Having tirelessly toured their notoriously macabre brand of ‘Kabaret Noir’ throughout Australia and Europe, the boys are returning to The Street Theatre this December with their new show Ten Long Years in the Saddle, exhibiting a collection of songs from the group’s career, including “many songs that haven’t seen the light of day for some time”, according to lead man Mikelangelo. Looking back on ten years of assumed characters, darkly comedic cabaret, deeply layered musical arrangements, swooning violins and alarmingly well-honed vignettes and storytelling, Mikelangelo pinpoints the Sziget Festival in Budapest, Hungary and serenading Bob Hawke at last year’s Woodford Folk Festival as two highlights of the decade. “He has very soft skin,” Mikelangelo says. “I stroked his cheek and sung him the lines “Sodomy is not just for animals, human flesh is not just for cannibals”.” Alongside Mikelangelo, The Black Sea Gentlemen comprise ‘Rufino the Catalan Casanova’, ‘The Great Muldavio’, ‘Guido Libido’ and ‘Little Ivan’. Coupled with foreign audiences and stories of past lives in Europe, some parts of their act can sometimes be lost in translation. “It’s difficult maintaining the character offstage, particularly when your friends may be there laughing in the background,” Mikelangelo says. “Talking to European fans can get a little uncomfortable when someone is convinced you are from a specific province in Romania or wants to know about the town you grew up in on the Black Sea. Any relationship between performer and fan is always a bit weird anyway, so best to not take it too seriously.” Although forming and playing their first shows in Canberra, the group are now spread up and down the eastern seaboard and get together for a few intensive rehearsals each year in which they arrange songs which Mikelangelo, for the most part, brings already formed. “The theatrical side of the group is as important as the music, and we will often work with a theatre director on this, developing stories, character pieces and visual scenes.” Mikelangelo goes on to describe his creative process, even citing contemporary pop culture as an influence. “I have an overactive imagination, and there is always a steady flow of ideas jostling for attenuating in my feverish brain,” he says. “I’m enjoying the third series of True Blood at the moment; they really know how to push the line about as far as possible with the gore, sex, emotional abuse and supernatural weirdness, while still managing to make a totally entertaining soap opera.” Mikelangelo and The Black Sea Gentlemen will perform at The Street Theatre on Thursday, Friday and Sunday December 8, 9 and 11. Tickets from thestreet.org.au .

Despite its humour, the Discworld is a treacherous place, and Snuff explores themes of genocide, stolen generations, class wars and racism. With this weighty material, Pratchett delivers a solid novelistic start, an arresting middle, and a slightly unsatisfying end.

BOOK REVIEW TERRY PRATCHETT’S SNUFF ALLAN SKO Four years ago beloved fantasy funnyman Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Far from slow down, the man has been churning out interviews, documentaries, and of course books, counterpointing the undeniably sad news with the triumph of latest Snuff – his 50th release as author. At his best, Pratchett uses the fantasy scape of the Discworld to reflect our own, finding humour in the absurd and making insightful social commentary. Snuff’s sleeve suggests Pride & Prejudice territory but its story is more akin to film Hot Fuzz. Always-on-thejob city Watchman Sam Vimes, at the insistence of his boss Lord Vetinari and his wife Sybil, takes a reluctant holiday to the country only to uncover a grim, long standing town secret.

Snuff takes its time to set up its countryside premise and gently introduce its characters before hitting a steady pace that makes the book a genuine page turner through its middle stages. However the pace, and interest, fade towards the end for a number of reasons. Pratchett’s skill has always been to create lovable, flawed heroes and scurrilous villains so strong that they make the transition across books. But with the exception of young country policeman Feeney, most characters old (Fred Colon, Cheery) and new (Jethro the blacksmith, Stinky the goblin) – feel tacked on and underdeveloped rather than expertly weaved into a cyclical narrative. The villain, whilst known about early in the book, turns up very late in proceedings and, minus a sharp reveal scene, doesn’t make the impact of previous novels. His conclusion also feels a tad serendipitous. With a stunning 39 Discworld books, Pratchett has a wealth of characters to call upon, so an editing decision had to be made lest the book resemble Lord of the Rings in size, but this means beloved characters Pratchett has taken such pains to develop get a minor role. While not one of the better Pratchett books, it’s still worth the time. Pratchett’s hallmarks – the expedients that have made him so successful and beloved – are very much in force; the language sparkles with wit and energy (“Do I strike you as a dashing man?” Vimes says to his bodyguard butler Willikins. “More of the running type, sir.”) and there are a wealth of wonderful ideas such as oxenpowered ferries. So whilst not his best Snuff is another sturdy addition to Pratchett’s legacy. Snuff is out now through Random House Australia - randomhouse.com.au .

bit PARTS WHO: ANU School of Art Graduates WHAT: Graduating Exhibition of 2011 WHEN: Opening Fri Dec 2 at 6pm. Duration Sat Dec 3 – Sun Dec 11. WHERE: ANU School of Art

Rhys Jones, Collection of Prototypes, 2011, radiata pine, nylon, aluminium, vinyl, PVC, Plasticine, foam, fibreglass fabric

With over 130 exhibiting artists across the entire ANU School of Art, the Graduating Exhibition is one of the biggest exhibitions in the ACT Arts programme. This year’s exhibition features the works of students completing their studies in Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours, Bachelor of Visual Arts, Bachelor of Digital Arts and the Diploma of Art. Students have majored in wood, textiles, sculpture, print media and drawing, photography and media arts, painting, gold and silversmithing, glass and ceramics. The works are displayed in the School of Art Gallery, Foyer Gallery, Photospace and in Workshop spaces throughout the School. Many of the works are for sale and provide a great opportunity to support the recent graduates.

WHO: Canberra Youth Theatre WHAT: Artists Unite WHEN: Previews Nov 22, 23; performances Nov 24, 25, 26; matinee Nov 26 WHERE: C-Block Theatre - Gorman House Arts Centre Throughout Canberra Youth Theatre’s 40 year history the organisation has always strived to nurture young talent. Artists Unite by emerging playwrights, and produced by emerging directors, designers and technical designers, is no exception. CYT’s emerging artists were all college and university students, but when presented with a play written by ten and 11-year-old budding playwrights the opportunity to have a young director was too good to pass up. Four short plays make Artists Unite. The Last Dragon’s Tooth is a thrilling adventure story that sees the reluctant young hero Tom set out on a dangerous quest to bring back the only cure for his dying father, the last Dragon’s Tooth. The play joins Silver Gelatin by Camilla Sheather-Neumann, Frogs Body by Olivia Hewson and Circcestra by Farnoush Parsiavashi. cytc.net .

WHO: Performance artists WHAT: Bone Idol WHEN: Fri Nov 25 WHERE: Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House Roll up roll up for the first ever Bone Idol performance art contest! Get ready to have your mind blown and your standards overthrown. Bone Idol is a new event on CCAS’s calendar and combines the talent, laughs and general embarrassment of Australian Idol and Red Faces, with the startling magic of performance art. Contestants will battle it out for the highly coveted Bone Idol Trophy and a prize of $500. Don’t think that this guarantees that the quality of the performances will be high, as part of the fun will be acts by those who dare to take performance art to new lows. At the end of each performance the artists will be judged Australian Idol style; expect humiliation, shrieking and unapologetic praise. WHO: Yulyurlu Lorna Napurrurla Fencer WHAT: Yulyurlu exhibition WHEN: Now until Sun Dec 18 WHERE: Drill Hall Gallery Warlpiri artist Yulyurlu Lorna Napurrurla Fencer (c.1924-2006) was a senior law woman who started painting in 1986. This is the first major survey of Yulyurlu’s work and it illustrates her exuberant and innovative approach to traditional Warlpiri imagery. The works in this exhibition have been chosen to show her artistic development over 20 years, in particular her contribution to the Lajamanu region, but also her relationship to the western desert art movement. Often likened to the great Emily Kngwarreye, Yulyurlu achieved considerable acclaim during her lifetime as one of the northern desert region’s most prominent and original artists. WHO: History’s great thinkers WHAT: Handwritten: ten centuries of manuscript treasures from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin WHEN: Opening Sat Nov 26 WHERE: National Library of Australia Unique and precious documents from history’s greats will go on show in Handwritten: ten centuries of manuscript treasures from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, a blockbuster exhibition to open the NLA’s new Exhibition Gallery. Handwritten will feature 100 unique manuscript treasures from Germany’s largest library which celebrates its 350th anniversary this year. The exhibition, a who’s who of history’s greatest thinkers, spans more than 1,000 years. It features a handwritten document by Michelangelo – a receipt for a portrait of the Virgin Mary commissioned in 1519, Einstein’s anti-militaristic article, My Opinion on the War, written in 1915, Mozart’s original Marriage of Figaro manuscript, a battlefield letter by Napoleon, and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony score from 1808 plus many more handwritten treasures. nla.gov.au/media/handwritten . WHO: Burlesque lovers WHAT: Miss Kitka’s Kitten of the Year WHEN: Sat Nov 26 – Sun Nov 27 WHERE: Canberra Irish Club Come along to Miss Kitka’s Kitten of the Year and vote for the Audience Choice Kitten of the Year while enjoying Miss Kitka’s house band The Matadors. Each solo performer in Kitten of the Year is required to research and where possible contact the performer, and then pay tribute to a burlesque performer pre circa 1965. The winner of Kitten of the Year then becomes the public ‘face’ of Miss Kitka’s House of Burlesque for the following 12 months, and is also given performance opportunities and teacher training. Tickets for the Saturday night show are available through Moshtix, and for the Sunday night dinner and show, through the Canberra Irish Club. misskitka.com.au .

WANDERING STAR

HOWLING OUT LOUD

julia winterflood

jessica conway

Nigh on three years ago for a feature in this fine rag I spoke to Michael Hohnen, GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU’s close friend, fellow musician and producer, just after Gurrumul’s debut self-titled album went gold. Since then it’s gone double platinum, and his sophomore album Rrakala, released in April this year, went gold a couple of months back. This time when we speak Hohnen’s voice is vastly different; no longer bright and cheery he’s obviously worn down and weary. It’s entirely understandable; Gurrumul played for Obama the day after our interview, and was the only Australian to perform for the Queen a When you’ve no month before. “Everyone’s desire for fame running around like mad chickens. There’re more logistics than and fortune it you can imagine. I know they’re the s change closing the entire air space so picture entirely it must be an incredibly major exercise,” says Hohnen.

Despite it being a leisurely 9.45am when my phone rang, it was close to midnight for HOWLING BELLS frontwoman Juanita Stein. The quartet had just finished another gig on tour with Elbow, this time in Amsterdam. Despite the hour, Stein didn’t sound remotely fatigued by the rigorous touring schedule, nor the impending drive to Paris – oh the glitzy, globe-trotting lifestyle of touring artists. “You know what, it’s not as glamorous as it sounds,” she responds, a tone of disenchantment coupled with a smile in her voice.

Gurrumul, the blind Yolngu Mata man from Elcho Island in North East Arnhem Land has dominated world music in Australia since the release of his debut, and is frequently affixed with the phrase “world music superstar”. In reality, Hohnen tells me, this couldn’t be further from the truth. “Gurrumul’s in a more humble place than he was [three years ago]. He lives on Elcho now with his family, his mum and dad and about 15, 16 other people. He’s surrounded by family the whole time, and he loves that. They bring him seafood and he’s involved in community life, which is quite a healthy, positive environment. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place where he lives. So his situation hasn’t blown out of proportion in any way. He’s very much the same – he’s probably happier now, because he understands what’s going on, whereas it was all very new then.” Gurrumul is an industry phenomenon. His massive swag of awards; ARIAs, Deadlys, AIR Awards, virtually every music award there is to win in this country he’s won (his portrait even won the ’09 Archibald), and flock of famous fans; Elton John, Sting, Björk (and now surely Obama – “Gurrumul calls him a blackfella. It means a bit more to him that he’s black”), do not hold a candle to the happiness he finds in simply being in his homeland. “He likes making money because he loves giving it to his family. But when you’ve no desire for fame and fortune it changes the picture entirely,” muses Hohnen. Without Hohnen – his collaborator, translator, spokesperson, seeing aid and label Artistic Director – it is fair to say Gurrumul’s success as a solo artist may not have been as great. “It’s overwhelming, but because of the way Gurrumul is it’s not nearly as overwhelming as it could be. It’s just pulled back from that overwhelming stage because of how humble he is.” Did I mention Hohnen also has three very young kids? He, along with Gurrumul, are true heroes of the Australian music industry indeed. Gurrumul plays The Royal Theatre supported by Dewayne Everettsmith on Saturday November 26. Tickets are $81.65/$71.65+bf through Ticketek. Doors at 7pm, show starts at 7.30pm.

So, how is Amsterdam, I probe. “Fun!” she exclaims. “I think that’s the most important word… We’ve had the most time off here, and I guess if you’re gonna have time off then Amsterdam is the place to do it!” she giggles, keeping the tales of deviance and debauchery We found ourselves in some to herself.

really dirty and gritty parts of America and you meet some… fruity characters

The London-based Aussie band are returning home, proudly toting The Loudest Engine, their new album recorded in Las Vegas. It was produced by The Killers’ Mark Stoermer and penned while travelling around the US on tour with Coldplay – their tour bus inspiring the album’s namesake. “The album was about looking back, gaining perspective and summarising the whole experience,” she says. “We found ourselves in some really dirty and gritty parts of America and you meet some… umm,” she trails off, “fruity characters. Yeah, we’ll leave it at that.” Stein thoughtfully concludes, after mentioning a flowing track, Sioux, written about a wandering homeless man they met in Nashville. The Loudest Engine permeates ‘70s-esque pop with psychedelic indie rock flavours, twangy and gritty guitars, subtle percussion and Stein’s ethereal vocals rounding out the album. Many a Hitchcock film was watched in the production process, adding to the theatrically brooding undertones. Male vocals add a nice element to a few of the tracks, changing the dynamic and keeping the compilation engaging. The album has a continuity in its sound which will translate well on stage; audiences are set to be enchanted by the lyrical stories and smouldering tracks. Their first single, Into The Sky, was born out of a challenge. “I wrote it about my…” she pauses, searching for the right word, “…loved one, I guess you could say. He challenged me because I was complaining either he was always going away, or I was always going away – so he set me a challenge, to filter all my sadness and frustrations into a song. He said ‘when I land in the next country in so many hours, I want you to have written a song’. And so I wrote that song and played it to him over the phone when he landed.” Our time comes to an end all too quickly, and I leave the lovely Stein to head for the land of snails, frogs legs and “lots of red wine”. Howling Bells will play a show at The ANU Bar on Thursday December 8. Tickets cost $24 + bf and are available through Ticketek.

Don’t Work and Hate Me, Cat Cat guitarist Warwick Smith says the band are looking forward to getting out and showcasing their growth since the Waking Space and Dig Mountains extended players.

HILL SONG LIAM DEMAMIEL Stalwarts of the local music scene, Canberra’s own CAT CAT are on the verge of bringing us Uralba – the band’s debut long player and first release since relocating to Melbourne. Soon to embark on a national tour and having just released singles Keys and Locks

We were really inspired by the atmosphere of the place and at the time the way nature and life can turn against you rather quickly

“The initial writing process was fairly swift as we had some new and old songs on hand following our Waking Space EP,” Smith says when asked about the creation of the album. “We were determined to get at least nine, ten or even 11 songs out.” Smith also notes the anxiety at play when the band decided to step up to the full length format. “Most things are decided over a drink,” he laughs. “The challenge is overcoming the feeling that people might not like every song, but everyone has their favourites with albums.”

When it came down to choosing the album’s name, Smith says the choice was rather obvious. “We recorded the album at a property called Uralba, which in an Indigenous Australian translation means ‘home in the hills’, and it literally was. We were really inspired by the atmosphere of the place and at the time the way nature and life can turn against you rather quickly,” he says. “We recorded our last two EPs at Uralba and wanted to pay homage to it and its accommodating inhabitants, and it rolls nicely off the tongue.” Despite Cat Cat’s strong links with Canberra and the solid reputation it gained within the local music community, the band decided to relocate to Melbourne. “Moving did have a real influence on how we play the songs live now,” says Smith. “We all moved within a six month period and I think that has also influenced our new songwriting and twisted some of the existing songs we had. We spent a long time moving to Melbourne and collecting ourselves so we only got the vocal tracks and engineering down during the last few weeks before sending it off to be pressed.” Whilst Uralba will not see release until December, new single Keys and Locks Don’t Work gives an interesting insight into what can be expected. “The song came about just after the Waking Space EP was doing the rounds and it is fun for us to play; it has a flowing energy about it,” says Smith. “I think it has great lyrics thanks to Conor. We think it is the right bridge for people to cross from the Waking Space EP to Uralba. We thought it was a perfect first single.” Cat Cat will be launching Uralba at Transit Bar on Thursday December 8, supported by TV Colours and Biscuits. Tickets are $5 on the door.

JINJA NINJAS JAMES FAHY If you think that the collapse of the global economic system has very little to do with your sweet self, think again. Like it or not, real lenses or fake frames, we are all swimming in indie culture, and one of the tenets of indie is the do it yourself ethic. Handmade, upcycled and Etsied/Regretsied are de rigueur, and it’s not just because of clever ad campaigns by the Wool Industry and the Big Knitting. We need to do it for ourselves, children, in this time of scarcity. The irony is we independents need someone to look up to in this, as in every social movement. Enter potential flag-bearers JINJA SAFARI. Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight seem to have appeared overnight, but a dedicated crowd is already turning up to their shows wearing homemade animal costumes, a part of the JS aesthetic that began with their YouTube hit Forest Eyes. “The kids have sort of taken ownership of that, dressing up as the forest animals, and that’s kind of out of our hands now,” opines Marcus Azon, who with Pepa Knight composes and creates and, well, everything elses. “When Cam and I wrote those songs, I just said ‘let’s go to everybody with it, let’s make film clips, let’s take some photos, let’s just, like, throw it at people’. See what happens. It was definitely a part of our thing, having a strong whole product to give out.”

All of a sudden you’re playing this massive festival, and I’m like ‘this is the first band that I’ve sung in!’

The two create their music in their Lindfield bedroom headquarters, a rambling townhouse transformed to beautiful effect in their clip Hiccups. Despite recent online record label chatter about the band, they’re keeping their independence. “You figure out how to please yourselves, and your band mates, and the audience, and your managers, and your booking person, so there’s enough involvement there. Once you involve record people and another producer, I think that’s just more colours that you’re forced to paint with.” Not that the two eschew their band, a multi-talented rhythm section drawn from a variety of Sydney acts. “It’s just so much better having the people, the great drummers that we have in our latest release.” Jinja Safari are here to remind us that with some DIY hard work and a dream, things can grow at tremendous speed. Less than a year into their career, their African influenced rhythms have cantered through enormous festival appearances for the Big Day Out, Splendour, and this month, Foreshore. Marcus Azon seems to embody the paradoxical mix needed for a post-GFC icon: well-travelled and hands-on, naïve and ambitious, talented and humble. “It was all well and good, you know – Cameron’ll be producer, I’ll be the lead singer, we’ll get the boys, we’ll get it all together, have a bit of a bash, have some fans, and all of a sudden you’re playing this massive festival, and I’m like ‘this is the first band that I’ve sung in!’” Jinja Safari will play at this year’s Foreshore Music Festival, held in the Parliamentary Triangle on Saturday November 26. Tickets are $119.95 + bf and are available through Moshtix.

THE REALNESS It’s getting close to the end of the year and the time to start compiling those damn end of year ‘best albums of the year’ lists. I’ve been working on mine and it’s shaping up nicely. As well as the Top Ten, I’m also working on a big healthy list of great releases from the year across a number of styles and sounds which might help you check for a few albums you may have missed and help fill your Christmas stockings. Stay tuned! Back to business though for now, and the new collaboration album from Crate Cartel’s Geko and Aetcix under the name GOATMOB. It’s out now and is a crazy listen! The record is a “result of cathartically unconscious writing, steering clear of contrived attempts to cover particular topics”. While experimental in this sense though, the album has a consistently gritty sound and is heavy on the social criticism. Truly original and consistently engaging, this is proper creative hip-hop music. The album features 1/6, Fatty Phew, Budsa, Raven, Fluent Form and Maundz. Get that! Hot on the heels of excellent new albums from Phonte and 9th Wonder respectively, the other member of Little Brother, Rapper Big Pooh, has just dropped his sophomore LP Dirty Pretty Things. Like Phonte, Pooh’s effort is on the smooth tip and features Torae, Focus, Novel, Darien Brockington and more. Production comes from Mass Prod, Nottz, DJ Khalil, Mo Heat and more. Clipse legend Pusha T has just unveiled his debut solo album proper. Entitled Fear Of God II: Let Us Pray it’s a continuation of his previous mixtape and features a superstar line-up of Diddy, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Tyler The Creator, Meek Mill, 50 Cent, Pharrell and Rick Ross. As usual, Pusha is a beast on the microphone and lays it down over beats from Rico Beats, Shawty Redd, The VIPs, The Neptunes, Bangladesh, Tha Bizness, Hit-Boy and The Inkredibles. Danny Brown is one of my hip-hop heroes of 2011. His XXX is close to a Top Ten spot at this stage and his charisma and goonery (new word?) are unparalleled at the moment. He’s teamed up with his mate (and fellow Detroit native) Black Milk for a joint EP entitled Black & Brown. It’s a short but sweet listen of trademark Milk boom bap and stylin’ flows. It’s out now on Fat Beats. Finally on the hip-hop tip, make sure you grab the new free mixtape albums from Freddie Gibbs and Asap Rocky. Both very different from one other, but both very dope and showcasing the work of two of my favourite new talents from different ends of the hip-hop spectrum. Finally, if you haven’t got your tickets to Xzibit for his show at The Maram on Wednesday November 30 then you better get crackin’. Illusive, Mudd Promotions and MTV are bringing the West Coast legend to town for a special mid-week show. It’s going to be a big one with support from Canberra’s Raw City Ruckus, Big Dave, Kodak, Buick and D’O and I. See you there! To hear music from all these releases and much more, tune to The Antidote on 2XX 98.3FM every Tuesday night from 9.30pm or stream at 2xxfm.org.au . Roshambo aka Ced Nada roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

ONE DUB SINEAD O’CONNELL Cake. That is the word SALMONELLA DUB would use to describe their essence as a group. “Extreme chocolate with King Island cream and vanilla bean ice cream served by a hot waitress at a beach side café overlooking a beautiful sunset.” Enough said? You’d think so, but there is so much more to this group of original dubsters. It’s been nearly 20 years for Salmonella Dub, sharing with the world their craft of this elite trade. They have conquered crowds from here to Europe, earning a role as one of the most disarming and captivating live acts in the world. It all began in Christchurch for this Kiwi collective where their original music scene was thriving. When they started they were loyal Our audiences are members of the reggae, dub, awesome; there is hip-hop persuasion, a trend an ambience that that fitted with their “groove exists between us based philosophy”. Soon they ventured into their own progression of drum and bass, “which we dived into quite happily. It’s all an enjoyable journey of discovery.” They played at parties and friends’ venues and everyone mixed it up by jamming in each others’ bands. It’s hard to believe that once upon a time “we were juvenile delinquents waiting for the weekend.” Now one of the headliners at Peats Ridge Festival and Pyramid Rock Festival for New Year’s Eve, at heart they are still those teenage chillers who, in between chaos, just love a good surf, fish, beer and lyric. Despite having played all over the joint, there are never any favourites. “Everywhere is friggin’ amazing, people have been awesome and we have really enjoyed every place we have played.” It’s clear they love their audiences as much as they do each other and the music. “Our audiences are awesome; there is an ambience that exists between us that locks us into some kind of crazy trance together.” Salmonella Dub could have taken a big hit when they lost Tiki Taane a few years ago, but channelled the focus instead into their sound to create more dub and electronic elements. However, their main feats are still the seismic bass and drumming of Dave Deakins who takes on the vocals now too. Combined with guitarist Andrew Penman and multi-instrumentalist Pete Wood, the group leads audiences into a dark forest of relentless funk, dub detonations, house and even horns. They frequent lulls in the middle of their progressions as well, allowing a surge in their finale tracks for a lil’ dancefloor thriller. Ultimately they are an incredible synthesis of textured liquid dub with exotic drops of reggae. Their live act offers an ephemeral image, a feeling of being on beach; standing alone with Pacific grooves filling the space around you. It’s raga, its dancehall, it’s classic reggae instrumentals, jungle, soul croon and hip-hop electronica, fusing to hook an infectious beat that can bring an audience up, and help bring them back down. Catch Salmonella Dub live at the Summer Rhythm Festival, held at Goolabri Resort between Friday-Sunday December 9-11. Tickets cost $65.30-$102 (+ bf) and are available through Oztix.

METALISE In their 20th year, Texan black metal outfit Absu have announced their first ever Australian tour, headlining the Australian Connexus Conjuration tour in January. With six albums and a bunch of EPs and 7” releases on their resume, some of the USA’s most stalwart underground warriors bring their fused in fire brand of black, thrash, death and traditional metal into their own signature sound. There is no more appropriate day for their Sydney show, Friday January 13 at The Sandringham Hotel in Newtown. The supports are absolutely first class, Queensland’s Portal, Tasmaniacs Ruins and locals Ourorboros and Norse. A stellar show and well worth the 43 odd dollars it will cost all up on Moshtix where tickets are now on sale. If you’ve been very naughty for 666mas, you might get one in your stocking with your lump of coal. Ruins also features members of Psycroptic, who’ll release their fifth studio album The Inherited Repression in early February next year. At the risk of repeating myself for like the fifth column in a row, Looking Glass’ new record III is another stocking stuffer that any self-respecting fan of psychedelic Sabbath-laced riffage needs on their summer playlist. The guys are playing an official launch at The Basement on Friday December 2 with one of my other favourite Australian treasures, Adelaide’s amazing Hydromedusa. The guys released their six track debut on Bandcamp for free earlier in the year (hydromedusa.bandcamp.com) and it is well worth a few MB of your monthly download budget to get acquainted with their music before the show. Now if Infinitum and The Kill can hurry up and release their awesome upcoming records by the end of the year, my top ten could almost be comprised primarily of an Aussie set of releases. The next night at Belcompton’s basement home of brutality is a big covers show featuring The Cult tribute Sonic Death Cult playing with Def Leppard tribute band Leppard on Saturday December 3 for a mere 15 smackers. Negură Bunget are a late scratching from their show out at The Maram due to a leg injury sustained by their drummer. Scott Kelly of Neurosis and John Baizley of Baroness are embarking on a “joint” solo tour (holy nonsensical sentences Batman!) in February. The good news is we get one of the shows right here at The ANU Bar. Wednesday February 8 is the date. Daemon Foetal Harvest unleash their unforgiving miasma of malevolence over Belconnen at The Basement on Friday November 25. The show also welcomes back long time Brisbane thrashers Lynchmada to town along with Tortured, CHUD and the amusingly named Festering Drippage. March welcomes back Japanese uber trio Boris to our shores for a three date stint. Closest to Canberra is the Thursday March 22 date at The Metro on George Street in Sydney. Unkle K’s band of the week: The Hookers, cheesy good fun that our man Unkle K suggests as a delicious accompaniment to a Vee Bees show. To check out the good times, chuck a squiz at myspace.com/ hookersvalhalla . JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

COLLISION COURSE mel cerato An ARIA Award nomination for Best Rock Album for Theory of Everything has CHILDREN COLLIDE bassist Heath Crawley excited. “Infinite gobs of that tasteful food, [including] the dessert that usually rules, somewhere over the red carpet. Trays overflowing with the best beer and bubbly persistently presented at your lap. Just one excessive glitzy party!” Heath says eagerly. “Isn’t there some rumour that Sir Elton John may be making an appearance?! Feasting with a knight at a round table’s not something you do every day. [But] mostly, it’s an honour just to be recognised as an Australian artist on such a level.” Children Collide are a trio from Melbourne, probably best known for standout single Loveless, and the amazing film clip in which singer/guitarist Johnny Mackay gets an aggressive head shave and his clown make up scrubbed off. The clip was infamously recreated by triple j’s The Doctor earlier this year. “He did a great job!” Heath says of The Doctor. “He actually nailed it, almost to a T.” It’s in our best interests to concoct songs to our tastes in a positive atmosphere, not to contrive singles from knots of stress

Children Collide will be heading to Canberra in January next year for the annual car festival Summernats, alongside other Aussie acts including Drapht and The Screaming Jets. In the meantime, the boys are hard at work mixing and putting final touches onto their next record. The as yet untitled third album is a continuation of the winning sound Children Collide have crafted, according to Heath. “The first two albums were made up of songs that were written throughout the entire evolution of the band. Some from very early on and some written just prior and during recording,” he says. “This album will be predominantly new material and so possibly a bit more cohesive throughout.” He feels that working locally with Aussie producer Woody Annison again has allowed the boys to tinker with the recording process and produce some great stuff. “Each song has been given the chance to breathe as we go, and grow organically,” Heath says happily. The success of Theory of Everything could’ve been daunting to the trio, but Heath says that it has had no effect on the recording of the next album. “Getting all hung up, comparing what you have done to what you might do would only cramp the creation and sterilise the outcome,” Heath says. “It’s in our best interests to concoct songs to our tastes in a positive atmosphere, not to contrive singles from knots of stress. Being honest is win-win.” Unfortunately the boys are too busy working on the album to take part in the tradition that is the Aussie festival season. “No music festivals at all this year, which will be extremely odd for us, but we are in the process of planning our album tour for this coming March.” As for any other plans for Heath and Children Collide for the rest of 2012? “We will have to wait to see.” Children Collide will perform at Summernats at EPIC on Friday January 6. Tickets through summernats.com.au .

the word

on albums

album of the issue CAT CAT URALBA [DREAM DAMAGE]

I left Canberra just before Cat Cat came into existence. All their members, to me, were part of that cute little gang of youngsters who would go to Dappled Cities shows at The Green Room. Warmed the cockles. This year, they have upped and moved down to Melbourne and with their move completed their vinyl/digital only album Uralba, and it’s remarkably pleasant. Kicking off with the bold Bobby Killed The Cat, Cat Cat introduce themselves as a band that busts out distinct riffage, some vocal harmonies, clattering cymbals and pop sensibilities all over the shop. Like a laidback Love of Diagrams, Water Goes and Keys and Locks Don’t Work suck you into the trance that the engaging, slightly mathy nature of the songs weave, enveloping you in a fuzzy warmth that is missed once you turn the music off. The band is charming – there is something very beautiful about a band with the unashamed confidence to regularly harmonise as men, and this comes around on four or five of the songs. This is a fabulous release and one that should garner them a fair few new fans, without alienating the old. ALISTAIR ERSKINE

Cold Chisel All For You [Warner]

dick diver New Start Again [Chapter Music]

dubstep allstars Mixed By Distance [TeMPA/INERTIA]

As a long-time outsider to the cult of Chisel I’ve no particular barrow to push. Growing up in their heyday – the cusp of the ‘70s and ‘80s – it was impossible to escape their presence; the great Australian hard drinking, hard fighting, sweat drenched wild men of pub rock. In the intervening years they became talismans for ute/yobbo rock. It’s difficult to disaggregate the band from the myth but in hindsight they were utterly unlike their peers. Grafted onto the standard 4/4 blues-based rock band found at any pub on any Saturday night was one critical element: Don Walker – co-songwriter, calm head and source of their unique sound. Walker’s piano dominates every song but is never overpowering or distracting. Even on basic rockers like You Got Nothing I Want, Walker’s Jerry Lee Lewis-like runs hover in the background, adding much needed complexity.

Much has been made of Dick Diver’s ‘Australian-ness’, perhaps because it’s still reasonably rare to find a band writing about this country using distinctly Australian cultural references. Until recently, it seemed it was considered a bit naff for local musos to write directly about their homeland.

The music establishes the languorous summer vibe: shuffling drum beats, loping basslines and wavering, occasionally trem-armed guitars. Album closer Head Back sees listeners off with an understated drum and bass groove, featuring drylydelivered lines, culminatign in call-and-response guitar leads and a harmonica solo. Lovely.

Like many of his peers, UK-based dubstep producer Distance (Greg Sanders) has formative roots as a teenage metal fan, but despite these portents this latest eighth volume in Tempa’s Dubstep Allstars mix series certainly isn’t some Skrillexstyle distorted bro-step extravaganza. On the contrary, this 25 track mix sees Distance practicing subtlety above all else, and eschewing massive peaks in favour of a rolling momentum. The first 20 minutes here are spent slowly winding the levels of tension up, with Distance’s own Mind Control laying down the path for Cyrus’ Soulseeker and the eerie Predator soundtrack samples of District’s swaggering, steelplated 3.5 Grams. By the time the spooky detuned synth chords of Tunnidge vs. Distance’s Blame slot into place, the scene is pretty much set for a descent into the heart of darkness, with Kryptic Minds’ Transcendent and Benton’s booming 20/20 locking things down into a relentlessly moody cyborg grind. Bonus points arrive here for the inclusion of Benga’s stellar Chemical Compound, as well as an appearance from NZ’s Truth and an inspired dubtep retooling of Above & Beyond’s Sun And Moon by Distance himself. In this case, it’s Distance’s keen deployment of subtlety that makes DA Vol. 8 a consistently gripping mix session that’s perhaps most geared towards late night headphone listening, whilst also easily living up to Tempa’s established high quality standards.

PETER KRBAVAC

CHRIS DOWNTON

Of course Cold Chisel were also a democracy with each member penning classic, definable Chisel songs: Ian Moss (Bow River), Steve Prestwich (Forever Now), Phil Small (My Baby) and Jimmy Barnes (You Got Nothing I Want). So when they clicked they were more than the sum of their parts; the luminescent Saturday Night for example. The tribute album (Sarah Blasko, Ben Lee, Living End etc) from a few years back tried to rebirth the band, but you know these songs already and either love or hate them. It’s unlikely All For You will encourage widespread side-shifting or revaluation. JUSTIN HOOK

It’s a point that’s hard to avoid with the Melbourne indie-pop band, whose lyrics mention Hills Hoists, Omo and Kerri-Anne and include memorable lines such as “Bird shit splats into a Southern Cross.” Canberra even receives a slightly unflattering nod in Interstate Forever, when a friend’s decision to move back to the capital prompts the narrator to consider “the link between planned cities and Hitler.” Across the album, guitarists Rupert Edwards and McKay, bassist Al Monfort – who plays in The UV Race and Total Control – and drummer Steph Hughes – also of Boomgates – all share singing duties. The band wander around the suburbs, observing the glow of TVs through screen doors and scenes through shopfront windows and spend long afternoons in backyards and on river banks, baking in the sun.

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

FABRIC 60 mixed by dave clarke [balance/emi]

Pajama Club Pajama Club [Lester Records]

The Fighting League Tropical Paradise [Dream Damage]

“Reach for the laaaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeeeers!”

Question: What does an ex-Crowded House/Split Enz legend do in the evenings when the kids have left home and TV is boring? Answer: start jamming with the wife. So, take Neil and Sharon Finn, add fellow Kiwi Sean Donnelly and drummer for hire Alana Skyring (fresh out of The Grates) and you have Pajama Club. The name comes from the band’s late night genesis. The result is quite unlike Neil Finn as you’ve ever heard him before. The first trio of tracks are pretty random, which had me thinking that this is what happens when a bloke lets the missus get involved in his work.

Tropical Paradise is the debut from Canberran punch-poppunk outfit The Fighting League, and at its best this album is reminiscent of the pent up London Calling-era Clash. It’s discordant and melancholy, packed with life and growling youth. Their proposed aim in the stripped-down production of this record was to “reproduce the energy and anticipation of a live show”. Unfortunately, this goal has undermined the music on a couple of occasions. The punchier numbers would have benefited immensely from individuality, something to distinguish them. On the other hand, the gutsy franticness of the high energy tracks was made for this sound. The charged melodic numbers also cut to the bone, Sacrifice and Tropical Wasteland especially. Then there’s the fireworks. Think of that beautiful smashing in The Clash’s cover of I Fought The Law. TFL jump nimbly from hillbilly rock to uncompromising bluesy gnarl and almost every track starts with a riff that gets you by the teeth. On album highlights Bad Attitude and Like The Rolling Stones the droning choruses torn through by Dominic Death’s piercing vocals are wonderful. On 4 Square you can feel yourself going mental in the mosh. On personal favourite 19 the infectious lyrical hook scrapes on this rough surface like grit between bricks. Overall, this album might have benefited from simple brevity, a couple less tracks. That said, a band with such potential couldn’t be blamed for wanting to deliver on a first record. And they have.

That’s right fleet of foot and wide of pupil dance denizens, it’s 2003 all over again with stalwart Dave Clarke’s addition to the ever expanding, ear demanding Fabric mix series. Via 17 tracks, Clarke has put together a fitting homage to a club night out, with careful selection and deft mixing to resemble the build up, crescendo, and inevitable comedown of a rinsing night on the tiles. Starting with the swift and effortless movement of Crotaphytus’ Chemidophorus Sexlineatus into Tommy Four Seven’s Armed 3 into Marc Romboy/Paris The Black Fu’s Dark N Lovely, the stomping four-four beats and moody bass conjure images of a club’s dark recesses as it begins to fill. From here the sound is ramped up further with a section that includes the highlight of the disc; the insistent thumping, stripped back Silence Complot by Cute Heels, a pure techno track if ever there was one. The mix is steered into old school territory with Exzakt’s Clarity, continuing for a time before easing the foot off the pedal for the final comedown tracks. Clarke’s mix immediately cakes the skin with that 4am post-club grime, summoning nostalgic feelings of grotty, sweaty euphoria. This is a hugely enjoyable snapshot of club life perfect to warm up or cool down a night out, or to simply remind you of another time while you chip congealed baby milk from your shoulder. ALLAN SKO

But wait! From then on it gets genuinely interesting. The feature of this album is the sheer inventiveness and daring of the sound, throwing together an unconventional mix of melodies and fooling about with vocal combos. Sharon, on bass, takes a minor part in the vocals in most songs (sometimes just a few sighs), but her contribution is often a key part in forming the character of the individual track. From a Friend to a Friend impresses with a mish-mash of distortion and delicate notes that comes together so well. Dead Leg has a special charm, with a sound that raises a faint spectre of Split Enz and TNT for Z is a ballad with the beautiful solemnity that characterises many Crowded House hits. Other highlights include the boppy Daylight and the bluesy Diamonds in Her Eyes. RORY MCCARTNEY

Ashley Thomson

Architecture In Helsinki W.O.W [Modular] This is seriously the most lush, wonderful, ebullient nugget of pop music you’ll hear this week. And yes I did just use the word ebullient. What of it?

Deep Sea Arcade Girls [Ivy League] Less to do with the fizzy indie pop that so enamoured me to them originally, Deep Sea Arcade’s latest is still a total gem built on equally dreamy and jangly Brit-pop sensibilities from the ringing guitars to the spot on vocal delivery. Dig in.

Ricki-Lee Raining Diamonds [EMI] Certainly the least terrible of Australia’s papier mâché pop stars, Ricki-Lee is the latest to succumb to the ‘club banger’. As such Raining Diamonds sounds like it could be anybody’s song. It’s got zero personality and a lot of senseless yell-singing with a hollow refrain about ‘it’ (the sky? your jeweller?) raining diamonds. Whatever the fuck that’s even meant to mean. Pass.

The Fighting League Guys You Want To Be [Dream Damage] Like you didn’t already know The Fighting League are the funnest punks roaming the Supabarn fruit corner right now, but as Guys You Want To Be shows the dudes can also perform thoughtfully with the hoarse narrative recalling misspent school days and aging cool points. But even if they think they’re past it these guys are still the coolest kids you wish you were friends with.

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Every now and again an actor comes along who walks the fine line between quality actor and Hollywood heartthrob. And yes, I’m implying that the two are usually mutually exclusive. Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, even Sean Penn – and now Ryan Gosling. He’s come a long way from The Notebook, and while he still does roles like Crazy Stupid Love, he is better known for his independent flicks like Lars and the Real Girl and Half Nelson. Has this spiel been nothing but an excuse to write 90 words about Ryan Gosling? You betcha!

quote of the issue

“Hey kid, you want a toothpick?” Driver (Ryan Gosling), Drive

Drive

Moneyball

Attack the Block

Drive (directed by Nicolas Winding Refn) is a hyperstylised, fully-realised, arthouse action – with a fantastic synth soundtrack and lush cinematography.

Moneyball combines two things that I love: baseball, and using maths to solve crime. Wait, that’s not right. I mean, using maths to assemble a winning baseball team.

Ryan Gosling is the ‘Driver,’ a stunt driver by day, who moonlights as a getaway driver for heists by night. He lives a solitary existence, but when he falls for his neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan), and becomes close to her son Benicio (Kaden Leos), his life of emotional distance is kicked into gear. When the Driver becomes embroiled in a heist involving Irene’s estranged husband Standard (Oscar Isaac), which goes horribly wrong, he finds himself tailgated by criminals that are after more than money.

General Manager of the Oakland Athletics Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) grows sick of watching as other, betterfunded baseball teams steal all his best players. Beane then meets Jonah Hill (a serious role? Don’t know how I feel about this!), a recent graduate who is keen on using baseball statistics to help Beane reassemble his team – after all, winning games is about getting runs, and to get runs you don’t necessarily need the best players. Cue some scenes where the underdog team gradually earns respect… but not without controversy. Also, there are hot baseball uniforms.

It’s November 5th, Guy Fawkes night, and fireworks are exploding over a rough council estate in inner London. Amidst this cacophony an alien space ship crashes both earth and a mugging, a neat little event that introduces us to the film’s protagonists; a gang of ne’erdo-well youths, a vulnerable young female nurse and, of course, aliens. When more arrive it becomes inner city versus outer space.

Drive isn’t a film driven by plot or copious amounts of communication between the characters – rather, by its vague but great emotions, and lofty abstracts of greed and ambition. It’s also not a speedy film – if anything, Refn has applied the brakes. It’s slow, and big, and complicated – everything ‘car’ films are not supposed to be, but it works. The horsepower in Drive lies in its blend of entertainment, but also originality. It’s slick but also shocking. It’s a combination of both high and low art. For every scene of neon-drenched ultraviolence is a shadowed shot of hypnotic slow-motion. This is a film that features driving, but this is more a film about what drives people – what motivates them, and the events that push people forward.

Melissa Wellham

Moneyball seems too long, and despite being co-written by Aaron Sorkin there’s not the speedy plot progression you would expect. However, the film portrays well the passion and sheer speed of decision making on which profession league baseball thrives, and it is here that Sorkin’s input is obvious. That said, Moneyball is very engaging, and Pitt turns in another solid (if not entirely memorable) performance. Watching as Beane trades players as though they’re Pokemon really drives home how much professional baseball is controlled by money. Overall, a solid film, but not your typical fist-pump sort of sports film. A must for any baseball fans however. MEGAN McKEOUGH

So often we hear of mixed genre pieces that aren’t strong enough in either category to make a film work. Fortunately Attack the Block is the opposite; a comedy horror that is both fiendishly funny and suitably scary. The claustrophobic nature of the apartment block is used to good effect to create tension, with time-sensitive lights, smoky hallways and dark corners successfully utilised for the black-furred gorilla-like aliens to lurk in all their eyeless neon teethed glory. But the film’s undeniable highlight is the dialogue; the lippy London teens’ banter is fast-paced, often over-lapping (the beanie-sporting Pest has the lion’s share of the best lines) and is the perfect counterpoint to Nick Frost’s slow drawling stoner. Through its setting, and the fact these kids are forced to crime to survive, the film makes a timely comment on poverty in England adding weight to the story. Although the film steers into twee territory towards the end, this is a hugely enjoyable experience that will have you clinching your seat and relaxing your jaw. ALLAN SKO

the word on dvds

Jurassic Park Trilogy [Universal]

Restrepo (bluray) [Madman]

Armadillo (bluray) [Madman]

Jurassic Park was, in many ways, a dinosaur. Obviously it all started with a small mad whitehaired scientist bringing that extinct species back to life on a tropical island with delightful/ disastrous results. But it was also a big budget blockbuster, and when it was first released – 1993 – popcorn epics were falling well out of favour; Pulp Fiction was just around the corner, landing a significant blow against the blockbuster for a while. Sure Michael Bay, Roland Emmerich and their ilk would continue to ply their gaudy, noisy trade – but Steven Spielberg was always more than a big, bam, slam director.

The genesis of the phrase ‘hearts and minds’ – referencing military campaigns that aim to win over the locals – is difficult to trace. Some place it as far back as the early 1800s. Lyndon Johnson used it during the Vietnam War and George W. Bush was fond of it in the early stages of the Iraq invasion. Bureaucrats think a little bit of glad-handing, chai-sharing and ear-badgering will somehow repair the collateral damage of war – innocent civilians filled with bullet holes, villages destroyed, families displaced, entire ancient cultures uprooted… You get the picture.

Much like Restrepo, this Danish doco follows a young unit through Afghanistan. Much like Restrepo, this doco shows a bunch of young conscripts bumbling through a foreign country, seemingly forever under fire and finding themselves in the middle of a local scandal revolving around the death of a cow. The value and importance of simple things like livestock – and tradability thereof – seem to elude these guys. And much like Restrepo both films show the occupying forces trying to subdue the local population with little understanding of the sheer outright horror and death they are inflicting.

Widely credited with inventing the summer blockbuster genre with 1975’s robo-shark slasher Jaws, Spielberg always tried to infuse something else into his pictures – heart, and a sense of wide-eyed wonder. Sometimes cloying and ham-fisted (Empire of the Sun) but sometimes reasonably successful (Close Encounters...). The Jurassic Park trilogy veers wildly between all points in Spielberg’s career: the first is terrific, unashamedly fun, crippled somewhat by clunky dialogue but rescued by some still impressive, yet embryonic, CGI. Lost World is a not-so-good but not overly terrible sequel afflicted by weak, copybook baddies. The third sits firmly in the middle. For all intents these films are chase films – with massive lizards instead of cars. This set collects all three films in hi-def and is an absolute treat as well as a completist’s dream. There’s a trove of features, most of which were produced for this collection. Just like the films, Jeff Goldblum is the star attraction – his scuzzy, stream-of-conscious delivery is quixotically appealing as ever and Sam Neill is hilariously frank (“The real acting was not laughing”). When Spielberg hits the target the results are always enjoyable, so leave your brain at the door and revel. JUSTIN HOOK

As a PR mechanism it has entered the vernacular as shorthand for military propaganda. So you can’t help but recoil when it’s rolled out regularly in Restrepo – a gritty, first hand POV doco focusing on Bravo Company, 2nd Platoon’s running battles with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in 2007. It’s a constant reminder that despite the best intents of the grunts (and sometimes the worst) war is more or less about killing people, usually people they don’t know or understand. Restrepo is a good war doco – but it’s deliberately and defiantly the view of the American solider and therefore, incomplete. Author Sebastian Junger and photographer Tim Hetherington take us excruciatingly close to the action, but it would be a major failure if we didn’t feel in awe of the situation. The larger contextual map of what they are doing in Afghanistan and how it fits into the entire campaign is unexplored, to say nothing of any internal analysis of if they should be there. To do so would make this a very different, albeit nuanced, doco. But it’s possible. One of the greatest war docos ever made managed to juggle these competing strands. It was released in 1974 and called – you guessed it – Hearts and Minds. JUSTIN HOOK

Both the Danish and US forces are at pains to point out how they are looking for adventure, a touch of ‘boy’s own adventure’ type larkery; one prescient scene in Armadillo shows a couple of wide-eyed soldiers whooping slaughtering pixelated enemies on their PS3. On the job training I think they call it. Is it any wonder they have trouble connecting with those on the other side of the barrel? It’s all one big computer game. What is clear from both of these docos is that Afghanis are perplexed that the occupiers don’t get it – they put locals in an invidious position: collaborate and the Taliban will kill them, help the Taliban and the Allied forces kill or incarcerate them. War is tragedy on a huge scale; every day the subjects of these docos go back to protected barracks. In fairness, Armadillo attempts to storyline the larger picture and their role in Afghanistan. It is the better for it. But both are hobbled by the rules of access – these aren’t the stories of the victims (deliberately so) and in their own different ways they lionise the occupying troops. This one is more warts and all, and they are some tremendously ugly warts. JUSTIN HOOK

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

Batman: Arkham City Developer: Rocksteady Platforms: PS3, 360, PC Length: 10+ hrs Rating: Worth grabbing Two years after the release of the critically acclaimed and may I add awesome Arkham Asylum, Rocksteady are back with the creatively named Arkham City. One thing to commend Rocksteady on is their attempt to mix it up a bit. Whereas the previous Batman focused on small brawls with two or three enemies, Arkham City immediately throws mobs of angry henchmen at you. While this sounds like good fun, unfortunately with taking on that many enemies the combat system shows its rough edges. For those of you unfamiliar with how Batman’s beat-downs work, essentially you tell the B-Man which enemy you want to attack next and Batman kindly obliges, with style. When the combat works, it’s a thing of beauty, especially with the inclusion of the dual reversals and the rapid gut punch manoeuvre. The problem is that Batman doesn’t always agree on who should be taken down next. When such a decision means you end up taking another fatal blow to the Bat-sack, it starts to become a bit frustrating. Even when things are going more your way, the routine consists primarily of: mash the reversal button, flip over an enemy’s head, get a quick punch in and repeat. With the combat being such a core element of the game, it doesn’t take too long before it starts to tire a little. Another area where Rocksteady has chosen to mix it up a bit is with the gadgetry. Whereas the first game eased you into each of Batman’s goodies, Arkham City chucks you in head first. While this isn’t bad for the returning player, having jumped platform between titles, I found it took a bit of time to get my head around it all. As it was, a bit of time elapsed before I remembered I could blow enemies up, let alone perform Scorpion-esque grapples on them. Rocksteady also neglect to tell you what you should and shouldn’t be doing. For instance, taking on the street gangs is a no-no, however clumsily sneaking up on an enemy seems to be pretty effective. With regards to the premise, the game is genuinely interesting, at least if you ignore all the Joker voicemail crap. Once again the voice acting is top notch, as are the models and animations. My only qualm is that it feels like it’s trying too hard. Within the first ten minutes, you’ll meet half a dozen big names, many of whom are ultimately irrelevant and only serve to distract from the main story, or should I say stories, given that at any given time at least two seem to be occurring. While this game hasn’t brought as much to the franchise as Asylum, it’s still very enjoyable and will provide you with many hours of fun, old chum. TORBEN SKO

There’s a raft of musical history treats this fortnight including Queen: Days of Our Lives (ABC2, Wed Nov 30, 9.30pm). The two parter charts the band’s history, Australian Story style, including their infamous spats with the NME and The Sex Pistols, quite a few old interviews with Freddie Mercury and unseen early gig footage. It’s nothing fans of the band wouldn’t know but it is a great study on how four very different, strong minded and talented musicians continued to work together for four decades. Oh and a good lesson on overdubbing and why the porn star ‘tache should come off after Movember. Same era, different result – The Agony & Ecstasy of Phil Spector (ABC2, Sun Nov 27, 8.30pm) is from an interview given during his first trial where he talks about his life and work, including his friendship with John Lennon. Elsewhere, triple j Presents Sparkadia (ABC2, Tue Nov 29, 10.25pm), and a new series of Rockwiz (SBS1, Sat, 9.30pm) continues. Other docos to check out include Running to America (ABC1, Thu Dec 1, 8.30pm) about four Indigenous men trained by Canberra’s own Robert de Castella to run the NY marathon, Artscape: Ben Quilty and the Maggots (ABC1, Tue Nov 29, 10pm) which repeats the brilliant doco about the artist, Spellbound (ABC2, Sun Dec 11, 8.30pm) – behind the scenes at America’s National Spelling Bee, Trapped in an Elevator (SBS1, Thu Nov 29, 7.30pm) which tells the history of elevators, interspersed by the story of someone who got stuck in one for 41 hours, and Scarlet Road: A sex worker’s journey (SBS1, Fri Dec 2, 10.05pm) which looks at the work of sex worker Rachel Wotton who works with people with disabilities. The less glitzy of the award shows, the 2011 Walkley Awards (SBS1, Sun Nov 27, 10.15pm) for journalism round up the year and so you don’t fall asleep, The Chaser ( Hamster Wheel) boys will appear. Summer programming has arrived. But don’t panic, there are a few gems including Green Wing (ABC2, Tue Nov 29, 9.30pm) – a hospitalbased, soapie style comedy from the makers of Smack the Pony, two The Thick of it Christmas Specials (ABC1, Wed Nov 30 and Wed Dec 7, 9pm), and Lewis Black’s Root of all Evil (ABC2, Tue Dec 6, 10.25pm) which pits two comedians against each other to make the case for which pop cultural icon or pursuit is worse including Paris Hilton vs Dick Cheney, and weed vs beer. Movies to check out include restored cult classic Dogs in Space (ABC2, Fri Dec 9, 9.30pm) in its first airing in 20 years starring Michael Hutchence and set in a group house at the centre of Melbourne’s ‘70s punk scene, Here I Am (ABC1, Thu Dec 8, 8.30pm) – the award-winning debut from Beck Cole shot in Port Adelaide, Brideshead Revisited (ABC1, Sun Nov 27, 8.30pm), Steve Martin classic The Jerk (ABC2, Sat Nov 26, 8.40pm), American History X (Go, Sat Dec 3, 10.50pm) and Poltergeist (WIN, Sun Dec 4, 1.50am). SANTA WATCH: Better Homes and Gardens Christmas at Dr Harry’s Farm (Prime, Fri Nov 25, 7.30pm), Mythbusters: Christmas Lights (7Mate, Tue Nov 22, 7.30pm), and Six Million Dollar Man: A bionic Christmas carol (7Mate, Wed Nov 23, 6.30am). TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

the word

on gigs

Harvest Festival Parramatta Park Sunday November 13 It’s been a few years since an Australian festival has premiered with an explosive fanfare. Harvest has been causing rumbles for months in music business media, and the press has tended to focus around bombastic promoter/organiser AJ Maddah. He makes a great corkboard to pin the stories to, tweeting irately and exercising a Fearless Leader’s penchant for turning up unexpectedly at the scene of the problem. When Portishead asked for “total silence” from the other festival stages, the request merited a day’s discussion; when Maddah let out a tweet of indignation targeted at a nameless band who was making outlandish demands at the eleventh hour, we could hear the media wheels burning rubber. Melbourne’s public transport bedtime was an hour before Harvest packed it in, so festival organisers cut a masterful deal with Victorian transport authorities for some extra leeway; but a frazzled and terse Maddah showed superstar potential when he burst onto the stage as The Flaming Lips set up, and declared that “everyone is going to make it home tonight. Everyone!” In the end, Harvest has made Maddah look like a new Australian hero. It was incredibly ambitious for a festival to premiere in three cities, but we knew they were music’s equivalent of ‘80s bankers when they let loose with a line-up that could strike fear into a Big Day Out. Portishead, absent for 13 years? The Flaming Lips, the greatest stage show on Earth, or Mars, or… somewhere? Bright Eyes, TV On The Radio, The National and a contingent of great Aussie acts like Dappled Cities and PVT? That’s not even half of it, and they pulled it off in a year when every second show has had the plug pulled by the mysterious ailment sweeping the festival circuit. Even the rarefied air of Canberra was no protection for our oldest – the country’s oldest! – day in the sun, Stonefest. Bird’s eye is well and good, but what about the man on the ground? Punters complained about extortionate prices for drinks, but they mustn’t have attended anything since the Millenium Fireworks (and that was BYO). Our experience in Sydney was completely positive. The ticketing line was non-existent, there were no jerks causing trouble anywhere (none!), and the facilities worked a treat, at least for the boys. Sadly, girls will always have it tough until organisers get with the program, listen to The Beach Boys and supply three girl toilets for every boy. The weather was beyond perfect, and the bands played their heart out from first to last. TV On The Radio turned emotional epics into two minute punk songs, Bright Eyes balanced old material with his new huge guitar lines, and Dappled Cities were glorious as they rocketed through an almost entirely new set.

photos: Allan Allport courtesy of ToneDeaf (tonedeaf.com.au)

In the end, The Flaming Lips were the obvious highlight of Harvest, as anyone who has seen them in the last few years will happily attest. Wayne Coyne was a fabulous frontman, entering the show in a giant transparent beach ball that bobbed across an ecstatic audience. Enormous confetti cannons fired rainbow clouds that drifted through the lasers and the strobe lights, coating hair and faces and the dancefloor with neon colours. Crowds of dancers in matching outfits flanked the band, apparently all selected from the audience during the day’s festivities. Harvest made me feel a bit like those dancers: a chosen one, handpicked to enjoy a festival with all of the good stuff and none of the bad. I wasn’t sunburnt, I hadn’t been crushed in a moshpit, and I had seen a dozen world class acts. I think I’ve found my favourite festival. James Fahy

the word

Straight To You: triple j’s Tribute to Nick Cave The Royal Theatre Wednesday November 16

on gigs

Nick Cave was surely born in the wrong era. His raw and emotive lyrics paint a lucid mental portrait torn from the memories of a ragged bush balladeer, a lonesome poet, a complex man whose only possessions are a pen and a message. It would be inaccurate to say that Cave merely helped shape the local music industry; he also succeeded in perpetuating its history, reviving the dusty soul of Australian folk poetry. Taking on the immensely diverse and unique back catalogue of Nick Cave would surely be no easy task and so it appeared that the loosely assembled cast of frontmen and women appearing onstage at tonight’s Straight To You tribute show would at the very least have their task cut out for them. As triple j’s Dom Alessio strode out on stage to introduce the show, it was disappointingly apparent that the Canberra event was far from sold out. The Royal Theatre is quite an intimidating venue and there was a noticeable gap between the sauced up revellers who had chosen to watch the performance standing up in front of the stage and the more amenable fans who decided to take it all in from the bleachers. All was forgotten as the first wave of cheers erupted to welcome the recognisable beard of Kram (Spiderbait) on stage to open the show. The backdrop appeared ominously blood red as he kicked things off with a brooding rendition of Red Right Hand. The unlikely duo of awkward electro pop act Muscles and indie songstress Bertie Blackman followed up with a pounding version of Do You Love Me? before Muscles took to the electric piano for an impressively restrained and mature solo rendition of Let Love In. Sparkadia frontman Alex Burnett was introduced on stage next, belting out an overly affected version of Shiver, a tune most will probably recognise from the early ‘90s cover released by The Screaming Jets. The “extremely sexy” Johnny Mackay (Children Collide) was introduced next to a rapturous cheer and managed to ‘collide’ with everything onstage during his over enthusiastic rendition of Nick The Stripper. Mackay then backed up with a much more melancholic rendition of People Ain’t No Good and made way for the next act. The dapper Jake Stone (Bluejuice) and Urthboy (The Herd) were up next and really got the crowd on their feet with a duo of amazing dub and hip-hop re-imaginings before Kram returned with Dan Sultan to finish off the first part of the show with a rocking version of the classic track Deanna. The first half of the show was fairly subdued in comparison to the second act, where the performance took on a kind of rock opera feel. Urthboy combined with the lusciously attired Lanie Lane and rock goddess Abbe May for an entertainingly theatrical version of Stagger Lee, the incredible Lisa Mitchell slow danced her way through a jaw-droppingly beautiful version of Into My Arms and the enigmatic mistress of the dark Adalita (Magic Dirt) floated on stage to make her presence felt with another Cave classic before returning the spotlight to the boys once again.

PHOTOS: andrew mayo

To finish off the epic night, Kram returned for a solo rendition of Henry Lee before all of the artists combined for a massive collaborative effort on the fittingly upbeat Get Ready For Love. Considering the enormity of the task and the fact that this show was their first performance together, the ensemble managed to avoid the potential ‘live karaoke’ feel and delivered a fitting tribute to the dark prince of Australian rock music. Tim Galvin

GIG GUIDE Nov 23 - Nov 25 wednesday NOVEMBER 23 arts Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Bridges

A Selection of Mixed Media Artworks by clients of BCS Bridges Program. Opening 1pm. BELCONNEN GALLERY

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Artists Unite - 4 Short Plays

4 short plays by emerging playwrights and directors. www.cytc.net . GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18.

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Live Super Best Friends Karma Karma Single Launch

As part of Phoenix 18th birthday week. Sweet Teeth, Reckless Vagina. Free. THE PHOENIX PUB

Victoriana Gaye and Jeff Raglus Sometimes whimsical, sometimes romantic and sometimes rockin’. 8pm, $10. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

After the Fall (USA)

Melodic hardcore in the vein of Bad Religion, Paint It Black, NOFX, Propaghandi and Kill Your Idols. BAR 32

Mike Chaplain 7-9pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

Hippo Live: Ben Marston HIPPO LOUNGE

Battle of the Bands Final #1 8.45pm – late.

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

The Bridge Between with Jeffro

CIT Momentum 2011

Fame Trivia @ Transit

OLD BUS DEPOT MARKETS

Every Wednesday, from 7:30pm TRANSIT BAR

thursday NOVEMBER 24

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17.

arts

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6.

CRAFT ACT

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Dance

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Boookings through the venue. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4.

Cheese

Exhibition - Phase

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

M16 ARTSPACE

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Error Machine

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Japanese Film Festival

The 15th Japanese Film Festival returns to Arc Cinema. For all the info head to nfsa.gov.au . ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Exhibition – Aqueous

M16 ARTSPACE

Something Different

DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

BEAVER GALLERIES

Eddie Izzard

Artists Unite - 4 Short Plays

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Comedy

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4.

6.30-9.30pm.

11 creative disciplines, 300 participating students, 3 big days and nights.

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24.

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

4 short plays by emerging playwrights and directors. www.cytc.net .

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Companion Planting

HIPPO LOUNGE

Ashley Feraude Live

Anarchist Duck and Beth & Ben

The Gold Coast’s finest reggae funk trio teams up with Canberra’s well loved roots duo. 8pm. TRANSIT BAR

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

Rosie Burgess Trio

Sliding from folk to blues to gypsy-roots and back. With Faye Blais (Canada). 8pm, $12. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The Phoenix Turns 18! - Bands From ACT Past With The Way Hip Antelopes, Pete & Fiete & The Fuelers. THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different CIT Momentum 2011

11 creative disciplines, 300 participating students, 3 big days and nights. OLD BUS DEPOT MARKETS

Think About Surgery

Live art from thinkaboutsurgery.com and underground, fresh music, and good times. THE CLUBHOUSE

friday NOVEMBER 25

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17.

arts

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6.

CRAFT ACT

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

GIG GUIDE Nov 25 - Nov 27 Jemist

Artists Unite - 4 Short Plays

arts

Live

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

Purple Sneakers Presents Bel Air

friday NOVEMBER 25

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Bone Idol

Performance art contest, tickets $10 at the door. 7pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Error Machine

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

ACT Writers Poetry Slam 7.30pm, by donation.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Artists Unite - 4 Short Plays

4 short plays by emerging playwrights and directors. www.cytc.net . GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

With PhDJ (Syd), Princi, Less Than Three, Eddie Shaggz, Architect DJs and more. Free, 8pm. TRANSIT BAR

Slim Pickens

Round John Virgin. 5pm. THE PHOENIX PUB

DJ Dr. Clarence 8pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Charles Chatain 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Hoodlum Shouts

Canberra’s Hoodlum Shouts return with their new single Guns Germs Steel. 8pm. POT BELLY BAR

A Touch Of Soul HIPPO LOUNGE

Friday Night Acoustic Series Feat. Ali Penney. 8pm, free.

Presents Ashley Feraude. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Foreplay Fridays

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Miss Kitka Presents: Kitten of the Year

Comedy

Axis Youth Centre Band Night With Ameliah Brown, Der Riese, Immersion, When Giants Sleep & Martha Moxley. Free. 6pm.

AXIS YOUTH CENTRE, QUEANBEYAN

saturday NOVEMBER 26 arts

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Figments and Fragments Comedy show. 8pm, $10.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Dance Cube Saturdays

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm.

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Ollie Bassweight (NZ)

Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6.

One of the finest dubstep talents of NZ. Get ready for deep bass lines and uplifting melodies.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

THE CLUBHOUSE

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

Faux Real

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

Academy Fridays

DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

THE BASEMENT

With Lynchmada, Tortured, Chud and Festering Drippage.

Dance

THE CLUBHOUSE

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18.

Daemon Foetal Harvest

CRAFT ACT

Banging electro spun by party people from Canberra and Sydney.

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

The hottest contest in town. With music from equally saucy The Matadors. Tix $28.60 from Moshtix.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

CHAPMAN GALLERY

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

4 short plays by emerging playwrights and directors. www.cytc.net .

Exhibition - Elements: wood CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Error Machine

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Official Foreshore After Party ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Faux Real

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Day Play Tuggeranong Festival

With Doc Neeson, Milo The Clown, Drag Racing for Dogs, Great Carp Catch, Fireworks and more! Free.

Alex Carder HIPPO LOUNGE

PJ Rocks - Obsessions

P J O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

The Phoenix Turns 18! - Band Day

A full bill of local and touring bands to celebrate The Phoenix’s birthday week. THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Music for El Salvador

THEO NOTARAS MULTICULTURAL CENTRE

Mr Fibby

Most Excellently Disappointing Wireless Adventure Time. Listen on 2XX or stream at mrfibby.com. 9pm. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

Carry On Karaoke P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Siren Summer Cocktail Launch Anyone fancy a Hot Crace Tradie? Anyone? Plus giveways. From 6pm. SIREN BAR

sunday NOVEMBER 27 arts Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

Canberra people who like to SHOUT poems into microphones. 3pm, free. THE PHOENIX PUB

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood

TUGGERANONG TOWN PARK (ON ANKETELL STREET)

The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

Live

Exhibition - Error Machine

The Bastards

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

THE BASEMENT

Foreshore Festival 2011

W/ Armin Van Buuren, LMFAO, Afrojack, Avicii, Pnau, Gotye and more. Tickets $119.95.

CRAFT ACT

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Julia Rose

Miss Kitka Presents: Kitten of the Year

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

PARLIAMENTARY TRIANGLE

Juicy and kookie Aussie tales of love and being on the road rock ‘n’ roll style. 8pm, $12.

The hottest contest in town. With music from equally saucy The Matadors. Tix $28.60 from Moshtix.

GIG GUIDE Nov 27 - 30 Dance

CRAFT ACT

Hospitality Sundays

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. Free entry, free pool and discounted drinks. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Live Deejay Gosper Trio

The blues harp queen and her jazzy band. 5-7pm A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Deejay Gosper Trio

The blues harp queen and her jazzy band. 5-7pm. A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Exhibition - Error Machine

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Perception

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Comedy Comedy Open Mic Night

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Missing Children

7.30pm, free.

With Alice Cottee, Tom West, Charles Buddy Daaboul. 7pm, $10.

Live

The Getaway Plan

The Feldons, The Magic Rob Universe, Pete Akhurst, John Lolback. 8pm.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Tickets from Ticketek on 132 849 or www.ticketek.com.au UC REFECTORY

Something Different Siren Summer Cocktail Launch Anyone fancy a Hot Crace Tradie? Anyone? Plus giveways. From 6pm. SIREN BAR

monday NOVEMBER 28 arts

The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

The Bridge Between 1-4pm.

Exhibition - Elements: wood

The SLOG presents the Bootlegs THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Fame Trivia

Bookings are essential. 6pm. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Trivia @ King O’s

Every Monday night. 7pm, free entry, $100 bar tab first prize. KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

tuesday NOVEMBER 29

Exhibition - Error Machine

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - Perception

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Something Different Trivia @ The Phoenix

Enjoy a vague sense of accomplishment. From 7:30pm, with $10 cocktails from 9pm. THE PHOENIX PUB

Karaoke Love

Every Tuesday, from 9pm. Free entry. TRANSIT BAR

wednesday NOVEMBER 30 arts Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

arts

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24.

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

BEAVER GALLERIES

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17.

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Every Little Thing

Presented by The Radiance Dance Project. 11.30am, free. BELCONNEN THEATRE

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4.

Exhibition - Phase

Exhibition - Elements: wood

CRAFT ACT

M16 ARTSPACE

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17.

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

GIG GUIDE Nov 30 - Dec 03 Exhibition - Error Machine

Exhibition - Error Machine

Exhibition - Phase

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

CRAFT ACT

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

Exhibition - Perception

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4.

Live

Dance

Hippo Live: Alex Raupach

Ced Nada

Something Different

Live

HIPPO LOUNGE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Fame Trivia

The Bridge Between with Jeffro

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

BELGIAN BEER CAFE

Bookings are essential. 6pm.

Canberra’s Official Movember Gala Party Prizes for Mo Bros and Sisters. 7pm. Sign up at http://au.movember.com KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

6.30-9.30pm.

Open Mic Night 9pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

Daniel Champagne

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17.

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Exhibition - Perception

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24.

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

ANU Graduating Exhibition of 2011

With over 130 exhibiting artists across the entire ANU School of Art. ‘Til Dec 11. ANU SCHOOL OF ART

Comedy

TRANSIT BAR

Atluk (Mel)

Jay Sullivan’s European Vacation

thursday december 01 arts Exhibition - Yulyurlu

With The Streelight Parade and Fox & Fowl. Ex-Canberran darlings return for a delightful night. Free

Something Different

Ministry Of Sound - Sound Of Dubstep Vol. 2

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

9pm ‘til 11pm followed by DJ Pete ‘til 5am. Sing to win cash prizes.

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24. BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

Every Little Thing

Presented by The Radiance Dance Project. 11.30am, free. BELCONNEN THEATRE

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

One show only!

ROYAL THEATRE

Karaoke

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

friday december 02 arts Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

With High Rankin and Document One. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Luke Solomon (UK)

With Luc Baker and Daron K. 10pm. MECHE

Princi

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

One Love: Mario Gordon HIPPO LOUNGE

Foreplay Fridays

9pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Maelstrom (France) $15 after 10pm. TRINITY BAR

Live

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24.

Soul. Be In It: Meem

Exhibition - Companion Planting

TRANSIT BAR

BEAVER GALLERIES

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17.

BEAVER GALLERIES

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14. CHAPMAN GALLERY

ARTillery - Poetica Academica 1 part poetry slam, 1 part new works from inventive young poets and performers. 7pm. URBANFOOD STORE + CAFE

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition - Phase

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17. CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Elements: wood

Legendary Meem launching his Monsters Don’t Sleep OK! CD. Free.

The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

Friday Night Acoustic Series

Exhibition - Error Machine

CRAFT ACT

Feat. Anni Piper. 8pm, free.

By Elena Papanikolakis. ‘Til Dec 4.

CRAFT ACT

Looking Glass

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

Exhibition - Perception

THE BASEMENT

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

With Hydro Medusa plus supports.

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14.

Sand Pebbles and The Sun Blindness

CHAPMAN GALLERY

Touring in support of their new record Dark Magic. 8pm, $8.

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

His Merry Men

Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Obsessive Tendencies

The creative risks necessitated by an artist’s obsession to interrogate their work. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

Exhibition – Aqueous

Explores the forms of the insubstantial through drawings, photography and prints. ‘Til Dec 4. M16 ARTSPACE

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Dance

Rockwiz Live - Christmas Tour

DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

8pm, $15/$10.

TRANSIT BAR

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18.

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Exhibition - Error Machine

Fame Trivia @ Transit

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

arts Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18.

CRAFT ACT

He has a way with the guitar that can only be seen to be believed. 8pm, $15.

Every Wednesday, from 7:30pm

saturday december 03

Nine-piece funk machine with Brass Knuckle Brass Band.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Celebrating International Day of People with Disability. ‘Til Dec 4. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

ANU Graduating Exhibition of 2011

With over 130 exhibiting artists across the entire ANU School of Art. ‘Til Dec 11. ANU SCHOOL OF ART

POT BELLY BAR

Comedy

Something Different

Jay Sullivan’s European Vacation

Elska

8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

8pm, $15/$10.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

GIG GUIDE Dec 03 - Dec 07 Dance

Simply Sundays

Cube Saturdays

TRINITY BAR

Chillout and wind down the weekend.

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt and Pete. Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm. CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Live

Sculptures focused on and around a dining table made from a huge slab of elm wood. ‘Til Dec 6.

Minh

Exhibition - Phase

Jemist

Earthy folk and a didgeridoo. 5-7pm.

Faux Real

The Chess Club

Academy Saturdays

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Hobart indie pop six-piece, joined by Iluka and Dougie and the Pizza Boys. 7.30pm, $8.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

1-4pm.

HIPPO LOUNGE

With Ashley Feraude.

Ben Wells & The Middle Names

Sosume DJs vs Blockness Monsters DJs

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

$15 after 10pm. TRINITY BAR

Nightless Lovers

Live

OLD CANBERRA INN

The Bridge Between and Band

Something Different

ROSE COTTAGE

Summertime Picnic

Thee Mighty Childish

GLEBE PARK

4-7 pm. Free.

8-11pm.

10am, free.

Gooch Palms, Little Mac and the Monster Men. 9.30pm.

monday december 05

THE PHOENIX PUB

Sonic Death Cult (Cult Tribute) With guests Leppard (Def Leppard tribute). 8pm, $15.

arts

Emma Davis

ANU Graduating Exhibition of 2011

THE BASEMENT

After selling out The Front on her last visit Emma returns with Atluk. 8pm, $8. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Something Different Mr Fibby

Most Excellently Disappointing Wireless Adventure Time. Listen on 2XX or stream at mrfibby.com. 9pm. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

Carry On Karaoke

With over 130 exhibiting artists across the entire ANU School of Art. ‘Til Dec 11. ANU SCHOOL OF ART

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

tuesday december 06 something different Trivia @ The Phoenix

Blends modernist photography with the craft of the loom. ‘Til Dec 17.

Enjoy a vague sense of accomplishment. From 7:30pm, with $10 cocktails from 9pm.

Exhibition - Elements: wood

Karaoke Love

CRAFT ACT

The dynamic conclusion to the Elements series. ‘Til Dec 17.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Every Tuesday, from 9pm. Free entry. TRANSIT BAR

CRAFT ACT

Live CMC Presents The Bootleg Sessions

Ben Wells and the Middle Names, Juliet Ward, Beth n Ben, Cuddlefish. 8pm. THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different Fame Trivia

wednesday december 07 arts Now Hear This - Local Storytellers

A night of storytelling, presented by and broadcast on ABC 666. THE STREET THEATRE

Comedy

Bookings are essential. 6pm.

Comedy Club

Trivia @ King O’s

CIVIC PUB

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Every Monday night. 7pm, free entry, $100 bar tab first prize. KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

7.30pm, $10.

Live Dub Dub Goose

With His Merry Men. 9pm. THE PHOENIX PUB

Hippo Live

HIPPO LOUNGE

Exhibition - Yulyurlu

Celebrates the work of strong and feisty Yulyurlu Lorna Fencer Napurrurla. ‘Til Dec 18. DRILL HALL GALLERY, ANU

Exhibition - Companion Planting

Explores the dichotomous relationships that can occur between artistic couples. ‘Til Dec 17.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

sunday december 04

CRAFT ACT

Exhibition - Christmas Collection

Dance Hospitality Sundays

Showcasing new prints, jewellery, glass and ceramics. ‘Til Dec 24.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Exhibition - Tjala Arts - New Paintings

10pm ‘til late with DJ TJ. Free entry, free pool and discounted drinks.

BEAVER GALLERIES

Siren Summer Launch Party

Featuring major works by Tjungkara Ken, Tiger Palpatja, Tjampawa Kawiny and many more. ‘Til Dec 14.

With blow up pools, palm trees and sand on the deck. Live RAWfm broadcast. 2pm.

Exhibition - The Table of Earthy Delights

CHAPMAN GALLERY

SIREN BAR

OUT DEC07

LAST ISH OF THE YEAR BABY! THE BEST OF 2011 IN MUSIC, FILM, ARTS AND TELEVISION DARREN HANLON RENAISSANCE EXHIBITION ...AND MORE!

FIRST CONTACT

SIDE A: BMA BAND profile

The Glaciers Where did your band name come from? When the band was formed it was an all-girl three-piece and we hadn’t settled on a name. One day our drummer was rounding us up to go somewhere and said “come on glacier girls” as she thought we were moving at glacial pace. It stuck! When we took on male members we shortened it. Group members: Adelyn (lead vocals, guitar), Laura (vocals, drums), Ray (bass/keys) and Matt (lead guitar). Describe your sound: Diverse! Our sound seems to morph seamlessly between soft, acoustic ballads with sweet vocals and harmonies to screaming high energy guitar rock. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? The best thing about The Glaciers is our diversity. Adelyn loves indie sounds and adores PJ Harvey, Laura is a pop queen, Matt IS rock and Ray comes from a rockabilly background. Adelyn and Ray also have a side electronica dance project so it’s quite the tapas menu. What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? Definitely having bras and blow up dolls thrown at us on stage (on separate occasions!). What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Debuting our video clip for The Garden on Landed Music. What are your plans for the future? Touring the east coast, which we hope to do early next year. What makes you laugh? Our drummer Laura’s accident prone antics. Hipsters. Popped-collar pastel-coloured polos. What pisses you off? Not being able to read BMA’s You Pissed Me Off column. What’s your opinion of the local scene? So many great bands, so little time! Would be nice to see a few more venues open their doors to live music. We need more venues like The Phoenix. And thank goodness for BMA, CMC and Cardboard Charlie! What are your upcoming gigs? Friday December 16 supporting Alithia at The Maram. More coming up in January/February. Contact info: contact@theglaciers.com.au, theglaciers. com.au, and search for us on Facebook.

Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Activate Jetpack activatejetpack@ hotmail.com Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 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 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 982 662 /colebennetts.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com Groovalicious Corporate/Weddings/ Private functions 0448 995 158 groovalicious@y7mail.com Guy The Sound Guy live & studio sound engineer, 0400 585 369, guy@ guythesoundguy.com HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650

Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884 Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 JDY Clothing 0405 648 288/ www.jdyclothing.com Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408 287 672, paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/ dj@karismakatz.com Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Andy 0401 572 150 los.chavos@yahoo.com.au Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Mario Brujo Gordon world/latin/ reggae/percussionist and DJ. 0405 820 895 Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Words for You: writer/publicity/events Megan ph 6154 0927, megan@wordsforyou.com.au Mercury Switch Lab Studios mercuryswitch@internode.on.net Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Rafe Morris 0416 322 763 Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Rob Mac Project, The Melinda 0400 405 537 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Solid Gold Peter 0421 131 887/ solid.gold@live.com.au Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tiger Bones & The Ferabul-Zers Danny feralbul@aapt.net.au Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/ transmissionnowhere Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907