BMA Mag 387 Feb 01 2012

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CANBERRA’S NO.1 FREE ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE #387FEB01

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Friday 2 March • The Tradies Club with special guests CLAY PIGEONS Launceston Street Woden • Tickets $25 available at the club • Doors open 8pm New single ‘I Can Make You Love Me’ OUT MARCH 20 on iTunes

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BMA Magazine and ENLIGHTEN present the West Side Stage

Accounts Manager Yu Xie T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

ACT Tourism and BMA Magazine team up to program the ENLIGHTEN stage on the weekends of March 2–3 and 9–10. The program will deliver a fantastic line-up of Canberra’s best musicians alongside some of Australia’s beloved emerging acts. Head to the stage in the ENLIGHTEN Entertainment Precinct’s West Zone for rumbling blues, laid back reggae, hip jiggling pop and oh-so-whimsical folk. On Friday March 2, the West Side Stage will be lovingly hijacked by a phenomenal line-up of Australia’s best electronic artists playing alongside Canberra favourites. It’s a fully licensed, fully free event (minus paying for your beverages and food of course) located near the National Library of Australia (corner of Enid Lyons Street and Mall Road West). Full lineup details for all four nights will be released shortly. Each night will run from 6.30pm through to 11.00pm as part of the wider ENLIGHTEN program featuring over 35 free and ticketed events spanning music, art, cinema, light projections, food, drink and more. You can find out more at www.enlightencanberra. com.au .

Super Sub-Editor Josh Brown

Red Cross Pal-Ups Program

Graphic Design Cole Bennetts

Red Cross is looking for committed volunteers aged between 18 and 25 who are interested in mentoring newly arrived young migrants and introducing them to life in Canberra. The program matches a trained volunteer with a teenage migrant, refugee or asylum seeker (12 to 21 years old). The mentor and participant pair meet every fortnight, spending time doing fun activities as a way of getting to know each other, breaking down some of the cultural barriers typically faced by migrants as they settle into a new life. For more information on volunteering as a Pal-Ups mentor, contact Red Cross Client and Volunteer

Meta is the new meta.

# 3 8 7 F E B 0 1 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

Exhibitionist Editor Julia Winterflood E: editorial@bmamag.com Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 388 OUT FEB 15 EDITORIAL DEADLINE FEB 6 ADVERTISING DEADLINE FEB 9 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.

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David Guetta at Stage 88 On Friday May 4 Canberra will play host to one of the world’s biggest DJs David Guetta, brought to you by Canberra’s hit music station, 104.7 and Kicks Entertainment. Stage 88, set in Commonwealth Park, is a unique outdoor venue which David Guetta will set alight with his full live show, including fireworks and blistering visuals.

This will be the first time this iconic venue has hosted such a large youth driven event, which is all ages with 18+ licensed areas. With in excess of 25 million fans on Facebook and over half a billion views on YouTube, multiple Grammy Award Winner David Guetta is one of the most watched people on the planet. Joining him at Stage 88 are Bombs Away, Timomatic and local heroes Jared de Veer and Rawson. Pre release tickets are available to kicksentertainment.com.au subscribers. The first round of general release tix go on sale Thurs Feb 9 through Moshtix.

Van Walker at The Front Van Walker moved from the wilds of Tasmania to the big smoke of Melbourne in 2001.

Word soon spread that this troubadour was bringing a new energy into the well-worn roots genre, which culminated in his first solo album The Celestial Railroad. From here literally hundreds of songs followed and so did the releases. Van produced nine full length

albums in just over two years, and independently released five, without management or funding, building his own name and audience through passion and hard work, a one man cottage industry personified.

Van Walker is a prolific songwriting talent, a brilliant performer and a star worthy of wider recognition. Catch him at The Front on Thurs Feb 9. $10, $7.30pm.

New Southside Venue (Possibly) If ever you believed in voting with your feet and want to support the venue future of Canberra, now my friends is the time to act. Old favourite The Greenroom is to take up residence at The Woden Tradies Club but for one month only as a trial. As The Greenroom’s Garry Peadon told us recently: “The plan is to gather hard data from the tills to submit to The Tradies board members in order for them to approve a permanent, purpose built, mid-sized venue that this city lacks,” he says. “So for the month of March you’ll be able to come check out the basic idea and catch a variety of acts including British India (Friday March 2), Closure In Moscow, and Funkoars. If all goes well the entire venue will be redone as a musos club – that’s all I can say about the final plan at this stage.” Make sure you come down and see at least one gig to keep the venue alive. Friday nights have $5 early bird specials and half price drinks from 6-8pm. Tix will be through Moshtix and tix giveaways/more info can be found at facebook.com/ greenroomcanberra .

British India are playing The Greenroom at Woden Tradies on March 2

Assessment on 6234 7634 or email volunteernow@ redcross.org.au .

FROM THE BOSSMAN Hello everyone. I am here today to talk to you about men.

It is well documented that men are inept at performing two tasks at once. “A watched pot never boils”, was in fact an idiom used to describes men’s failed efforts to pay attention to more than one thing in the kitchen at the same time. This sits right alongside the more popular yet not quite as snappy “An unwatched pot boils over and spills scolding water all over the hob which you then try to feverishly mop up only to burn yourself, sending your hand in an arc of pain that knocks over a nearby bowl of miscellaneous small things that then perform the impressive task of scattering over the kitchen and beyond in the broadest spray pattern possible with many being discovered in regular intervals weeks later in the most unusual places, such as in the soap in the bathroom”. Y’know, that old chestnut.

And while we may like to tell our potential bed partners that we are wildly proficient in performing two tasks at once (It’s... It’s just not true... We mean well, though) in fact there is only one simultaneous act in the space of human history that men can perform successfully. That’s the art of starting up the car and putting on the seat belt whilst in motion.

We regularly indulge in this magnificently dangerous trait for two reasons; it saves a modicum of time, and it makes us feel cool.

YOU PISSED ME OFF! Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance.

And for the love of God, keep it brief! [All entries contain original spellings] To all the fresh-faced fashionable young people who move to Canberra this time of year, You pissed me off! You never fail to! I suppose, technically you are different people who arrive from Sydney or Melbourne sporting interesting fabrics and boutique designs, but LOOK AROUND YOU. Everyone else is wearing corporate fashions brought to you by a combination of Target and the Roger David discount rack and was perfectly happy about it. We have an understanding here... there is no need for a suit to be any colour other than dark grey or for a fabric to exist that is not polyestercotton.

Except when looking in the mirror or gaggling in group of gradlings, please note a complete absence of well tailored trousers or slim-fit French cut shirts, because last year’s trendsters all got with the program around May when it’s time to buy a shapeless oversized black duffel coat. Please hurry up and lose your style so we can go back to feeling united and happy in our mediocrity.

Boldly skirting road safety issues for the sake of saving a precious few seconds of time is vital to your average bloke.

There are many places we need to rush off to so we can spend just that little extra bit of time sitting down and vagueing out, whether it be in front of a beer at the pub, or in front of the cricket at home.

Doing things to make us look cool, much like water, makes up about 80% of the human male being. It is the vital coal to fire our machismo furnace. Despite nearly swerving into parked cars as we make the awkward grope behind our shoulder for that flamin’ belt as our better halves scream at us for being stupid, we all know, deep down, that their loin hair is bristling with excitement at just how cool we are. The physical touch of a slap to the head is merely an affirmation of this thought.

If we don’t look and feel cool, then no-one will love us. We know this to be unequivocal, unarguable truth; every day we awake with the crushing pressure of needing to violently spin the stick of cool once more* lest the wobbly plate of psyche comes crashing to the hard floor of truth.

This is why we wear our belts around our knees to show you how much we’ve spent on our underpants; this is why we lean out of cars and holler obscenities at passing cyclists; this is why we use words like ‘holler’. We want to look cool, because we need love.

So next time your inwardly sensitive ball of testosterone sticks his tongue in the corner of his mouth in concentration as he attempts to fasten the belt, even whilst veering dangerously close to that parked Mercedes with a pissed off looking rich guy in it, grit your teeth and say “Wow, honey... That’s so impressive!”

It might just save a cyclist being yelled at.

ALLLLAN SKOOOO... Sorry, I was trying to type and sip coffee at the same time there. *this is not a wanking metaphor

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WHO: James Fahy (pictured), No Stars, Cracked Actor and NOZL WHAT: BMA Magazine presents The Bootlegs WHEN: Mon Feb 13 WHERE: The Phoenix

From the Ed.: For the third BMA Bootlegs I’ve roped in my good friend James Fahy (whose erudite words often appear in these pages), my good friend Gemma Nourse, my new favourite band Cracked Actor and the nutty men of nozl. James calls his music “indie-soul-folk” but the man sure can belt out a song. Gemma of Ah! Pandita is now performing love songs with electric guitar and loops under the name No Stars. Cracked Actor’s EP Solar Driftwood is my most spun record of the year so far and nozl, well… you’ve just got to check ‘em out.

There is no band like them in the country. So head on down to Phoenix on Feb 13 and maybe buy me a beer cos it’s my birthday!

WHO: Raw City Rukus WHAT: Genesis EP Launch WHEN: Fri Feb 10 WHERE: ANU Bar

After more than two years of countless live shows and multiple festival appearances (including Groovin the Moo and Foreshore 2011, Raw City Rukus are proud to finally release their anticipated debut EP Genesis. On Friday Feb 10 the ANU will play host to a massive night of live music to celebrate the occasion. Joining Raw City Rukus on stage are Canberra’s finest hip-hop duo D’Opus & Roshambo, DJ Rush, MoneyKat (Melb) and Onetalk (Syd). Doors open at 8pm and entry is $12, or pay $20 for entry and a copy of the EP. Tickets are only available at the door so head down early to avoid disappointment.

Who: The Get-Up Club What: Punk and hardcore club night When: Fri Feb 10 Where: Laneway Bar (upstairs Bar32)

To make use of Bar 32’s upstairs Laneway Bar, the team at REV is firing off the year with some new club nights to satisfy the diverse musical tastes of its crowd. First up is the new monthly night The Get-Up Club featuring local DJs jamming the dancefloor with punk and hardcore. Throw in some pop plus giveaways and special guests, and The Get-Up Club is definitely one to keep in your monthly calendar. Best of all Canberrans will no longer have to head interstate to get their punk and hardcore fix. Instead you can stay in town, get loaded and still wake up on a stranger’s floor, and now it’s only a short bus ride home in the morning.

WHO: Treehouse & Blahnket WHAT: Killer double header of Hudson Mohawke and Ras-G WHEN: Thurs March 1 WHERE: Transit Bar

Treehouse & Blahnket bring it to you real with a killer double header of Hudson Mohawke and Ras-G. Glaswegian producer Mohawke’s ascent has been swift and steady over the past few years, with The Guardian calling Hudson Mohawke “the new J Dilla” while placing him atop a new generation of producers including Mark Ronson and Jamie xx. Ras-G has been a fixture on the underground hip-hop scene in Los Angeles since the early ‘90s. He is a proud South Central LA resident and cofounder of the Poo-Bah Label as well as having releases on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label. Presale tickets $35 + BF from Moshtix.

WHO: The Lighthouse Keepers WHAT: Last Ever Canberra Show WHEN: Fri Feb 3 WHERE: White Eagle Polish Club

From Greg Appel, one of the Canberran members of The Lighthouse Keepers: “There was a small punk movement in Canberra in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s and a very eclectic group of young people were making their own punk inspired sounds.

Amongst them were the core of The Lighthouse Keepers. But their music was almost an opposite reaction to all this sweaty male electric stuff. They began as exiles in far away Sydney – playing country music covers and rediscovering melody. They are briefly reforming as part of the release of their best of CD Ode to Nothing.

Come and see some Canberran history. 8pm, $25 at the door.

WHO: ROLLER DERBY WHAT: WHEN: WHERE:

Missing your favourite roller girls? Come March 31 they are back!

Canberra Roller Derby League’s Black ‘n’ Blue Belles, Brindabelters, Red Bellied Black Hearts and Surly Griffins will be returning to the flat track in CRDL’s 2012 home season. The 2011 Grand Final saw the Griffins beat the ‘Belters for third place, and the Black Hearts narrowly defeat the Belles to reign as season champions. The first bout of the season will see the ‘Belters up against Black Hearts – a pairing that will pit the team on the bottom of last year’s ladder against the team at the top. Doors for each game open at 5pm with the game starting at 6. Tix through Oztix.

Photo: Rush

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GIVE AND TAKE

GIVE AND TAKE zoya patel Taylor Guarisco of GIVERS is not an arrogant man. In fact, after chatting to him for a few minutes, it became pretty clear that if anything, Guarisco is so humble he seems to have no concept of just how far GIVERS have come.

Coming straight out of Louisiana (and don’t you just know it, from their Congo-inspired sounds), GIVERS have been climbing steadily up the indie-pop ladder since their formation in 2009. After signing to Glassnote Records early last year, the band released their debut album, In Light, in June and have continued to grow in popularity ever since.

Heading out to Australia with Portugal. The Man on a co-headlining tour is just one more accolade on their already heavily notched belt, but Guarisco can’t quite get his head around it. “Is that really the way it’s going down, like, co-headlining? Because that’s ridiculous, I don’t think by any means that we compare to [Portugal. The Man]. I mean, we opened for them in New York and the crowd they had was so big, it was such a testament to what a huge following they have. The fact that we’re both headlining, I think it’s nuts!”

The fact that we’re both headlining, I think it’s nuts!

And yet, GIVERS are in a similar place as Portugal. The Man in terms of having a large fanbase, and an ever-increasing international reach. Their popularity is only growing, with a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last year, and their single Up, Up, Up being featured on EA Sports’ FIFA 12.

With the use of multiple vocals and the layering of numerous instruments to create a rich, textured sound, GIVERS are creating indie pop with a slightly different edge. “I think it just works for us to have a more complex sound,” Guarisco says diplomatically.

“For other bands it can be stripped down, and have a minimalist approach to everything. Our sound happens to be layered, with lots of instruments and lots of things going on.”

In particular, In Light carries strands of afro-inspired beats and zydeco-esque sounds that the band themselves weren’t even conscious of, but that are symptomatic of their environment.

Zydeco music was developed in Louisiana in the early 19th century, and arose out of the Creole culture that permeated southern Louisiana at the time. There’s a strong summer vibe to zydeco songs, and this is certainly evident in In Light. “It’s kind of something that’s in the air down here, living in Louisiana,” Guarisco explains. “Cajun music, zydeco music everywhere.”

But apparently, the influences on GIVERS’ sound were totally unintentional. “It’s something that, when we were writing songs,

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we never directly said anything like ‘oh yeah, this bridge, it’s going to have a kind of two-step or double clutch zydeco beat’ you know?

Anything that you hear on the record that sounds like that, it’s kind of an indirect influence.”

In fact, the influence is so indirect that the band were surprised themselves when they noticed it on their songs.

“It was kind of a weird thing that happened a few months ago when we were playing in Colorado. We were doing a radio show, and Kirby the drummer was sound-checking the drums,” Guarisco says. “And he was just playing the beat of one of our songs, and I was suddenly like ‘oh my god, that’s a zydeco beat’ and he was like ‘oh yeah, really?’. It was just a funny thing. We were like ‘I guess all those people writing reviews about how we’re influenced by Cajun and zydeco sounds… I guess they’re right in a way!’”

Full of summery pop hits, In Light is a cohesive album that gives a good insight into GIVERS’ sound and style as a band. Of all the tracks on the album, the one that Guarisco feels best epitomises the band is In My Eyes. “It’s a song that is really cinematic in the composition of it, and that’s something that we’re all really into.

It’s something we want to explore even more in the next album.”

Heading out to Australia this month to play The Laneway Festival, and also several sideshows with Portugal. The Man (including their Canberra show, which is being presented by this fine rag), the band are fairly excited to be touching Australian soil again.

The structure of the Laneway Festivals is unique, and Guarisco is keen to see how it all unfolds without one specific stage area.

However, he’s certain that it’ll be amazing just by virtue of it being in Australia. “The only festival I experienced in Australia [Byron Bay Blues Fest] was amazing, so I imagine every festival in Australia has some special aspect that everyone is going to be taken by, you know?”

One thing he’s less optimistic about, however, is getting a chance to explore Australia very much, having grown accustomed to the significant shortage of time the band has on tour. “Sometimes we have time off to go visit places, but a lot of the time it’s just so fast-paced that we just get there, go to sound-check, eat dinner somewhere, play the show and we’re out. We never get our expectations too high,” he explains, clearly disappointed. If they were to get the chance though? “We’d really just try to find a local and ask them what we should do!”

Well, if it came to a choice for me, I’d rather see GIVERS on stage than run into them in Circular Quay anyway! Tourist destinations be damned – this band are too good to waste a single moment of the music.

GIVERS will play a show at The UC Refectory alongside Portugal. The Man and Guineafowl on Wednesday February 8. Tickets are $43.90 + bf and are available through Ticketek.

UP IN THE CLOUDS zoya patel John Gourley may be one of the most chilled out musicians I’ve ever taken a trans-Atlantic phone call from. The moment his voice crackles through the earpiece, I can tell that the frontman of PORTUGAL. THE MAN is the kind of guy that rarely gets nervous for interviews. Speaking to me from just outside of Paris, Gourley feels optimistic after the Alaskan band’s recent shows in the UK. “It’s kind of a harder market to break into, because they have so much going on there,” Gourley says. “We hadn’t really put any records out there until this new album, so it’s like the beginning stages of really being able to tour the UK.” As well as opening up new touring avenues, Portugal. The Man’s most recent release, In The Mountain In The Cloud, has heralded other beginnings as well, most notably the band signing to Atlantic Records after releasing five studio albums on their own since ’04.

“Someone would say ‘this could be better’, and I would say ‘okay cool, let’s make it better, how could it be better?’, and then get a lot of ‘well, I don’t know how to make it better’ or ‘maybe you should do this’, and I would say ‘okay, we’ll do that’, and I would try doing it and it took us eight months before we realised that we had stopped being a band, and just started listening to the producers.”

Just when things were looking dire, though, Gourley had a meeting with the CEO of Atlantic, Craig Kallman. After they talked it out, Gourley finally felt like he was on the same page.

“I thought ‘okay cool, I know what Craig wants, and Craig is Atlantic Records’. I thought ‘we’ll make this really clean pop record for him’.

And as I was leaving, he was like ‘hey John, you know what? Just forget everything I said. Just do whatever you want. That’s the record I want to hear, we don’t care what it is, we’re going to put it out. Just do whatever you want’.”

Considering their long history of creative control and independent releases, I had to assume that it was a tough transition to move to a label. Gourley, however, disagreed, ht eig It took us actually professing we ore bef s month to enjoy the label’s realised that we suggestions and had stopped being a critiques during the band, and just started recording process.

From that moment, the band felt more at liberty to work on the record in their own way, and what they created in In The Mountain In The Cloud is an energetic, ethereal psych-rock masterpiece that proves that the band have far from sold out. In fact, if anything, they’re just getting better.

“It’s been natural, and in some sense it’s been a very freeing experience for us,” he explains. “I know people hate to hear that a label will come in and offer a suggestion [about the music], but they do. They do it in much the same way that a producer will do it.

With the record breaking through the airwaves, and the European tour still chugging along, Portugal. The Man are getting fairly excited for their shows in Australia when they visit for St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in February.

listening to the producers

“I like having them come in and say ‘you know what, I think this chorus could be better’. I never really took it like ‘what do you want the chorus to sound like? You want it to sound like Ke$ha? You want it to sound like Rihanna?’ – we never did any of that, it was just like ‘the chorus can be better? Alright, we’ll write another.””

Although that may sound a lot like bowing to the corporate machine in a way, Gourley sees it as more liberating in the sense that the band now have the chance and opportunity to write more than one chorus, without having to stress that their funds won’t stretch to a second or third recording of the same track.

And in fact, during what was a relatively tumultuous recording process for In The Mountain In The Cloud, Atlantic acted as a guiding force for the band in a way that they hadn’t expected.

With the added voice of A-list producers in the studio (Casey Bates and John Hill), Gourley found that maintaining creative control was a challenge.

“We wouldn’t have made this record without Atlantic, and you can take that however you take it I suppose, but I mean that in the best way,” Gourley concludes.

BMA Magazine will be presenting a co-headline show with the band and fellow indie pop outfit, GIVERS, at The UC Refectory on Wednesday February 8, and the guys couldn’t be more excited to get here. “Oh my god,” Gourley gushes when I ask what he’d like to do down under. “It’s such a tourist thing to do, but of course we want to see some koalas. I actually want to get out and go for a hike at some point and see some wildlife, do some things that are different from what I had in Alaska.”

For Gourley, that’s what a lot of all this music business is about – being able to understand more about the world through touring and experiencing different cultures and countries. “In the least hippie way possible, not to say anything bad about hippies, but we get to experience a lot and I personally really appreciate that. I think it’s cool.”

Not as cool as Portugal. The Man, I’m fairly certain.

Portugal. The Man will play a show alongside GIVERS and Guineafowl at the UC Refectory on Wednesday February 8. Tickets are $43.90 + bf and are available through Ticketek.

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ALL AGES Funny Sydney man Akmal will be coming to The Courtyard Studio at The Canberra Theatre Centre to test out some new jokes on us Canberrans. Due to popular demand he will be doing 12 shows from Tuesday-Sunday February 7-19. Tickets are a rather cheap $25 (+bf) through The Canberra Theatre.

In case that isn’t enough comedy for you, later in the month you could be witness to the magic of master ventriloquist David Strassman’s hilarious new show Be Careful What You Wish For. Accompanied of course by his companions Chuck and Ted E. Bare, you’re in for a great night of laughs. Strassman will be doing six shows at The Playhouse Theatre of The Canberra Theatre Centre from Tuesday February 28 until Sunday March 4. Sunday through Thursday adult tickets cost $54.90 and concession tickets cost $49.90. For Friday and Saturday night performances, the prices have been pushed up a bit making adult tickets $59.90 and concession tickets $54.90. All tickets should be purchased through the venue. This show has been rated MA 15+, and is not suitable for children under 12. Those between 12 and 15 must have a responsible adult present with them.

Corinbank is back! You can be part of this unique three day festival at the breathtaking Corin Forest Mountain Resort from Friday-Sunday March 2-4. The line-up for 2012 is a spectacular

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one, including Josh Pyke, Busby Marou, Bonjah, Skipping Girl Vinegar, The Bamboos, The Barons of Tang, The Crooked Fiddle Band, D’Opus & Roshambo, Ganga Giri, Jen Cloher, Sietta, The Little Stevies, Thundamentals, Tinpan Orange, Beth n Ben, Cracked Actor, Fred Smith Band, Fun Machine, Julia & The Deep Sea Sirens, Lucie Thorne, The Beez (Germany), The Ellis Collective, The Fuelers, The Pigs, Alice Cottee, Big Score, Caity Sarah, Cilla Jane, Hashemoto, Jack Carty, James Fahy & His Trio, Matt Dent, One Foot in the Gravy, Pocket Fox, Rafe and the Well Dressed, Sidney Creswick, Son of Rut, The Burley Griffin, Waterford and more to be announced closer to the event. But the vast array of music isn’t all that’s on offer. You can also enjoy a number of other creative performers, attend one of the many interesting workshops on offer, fill your stomach with great food, or just browse the market stalls!

This is an all ages event, but people under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. The second round of 16+ event passes are on sale now for $139 (+ bf). Under 16s only pay $5 (+ bf). If you can’t stay for the whole event, day passes are also available. For more ticketing and event information visit www.corinbank.com .

Unfortunately we don’t have many gigs on the list since the tragic end to music events at The Tuggeranong and Weston Creek Community Centres, but we have some comedy to tide us over and a spectacular festival on the horizon.

With this all time low in the all ages music scene, I would like to encourage all artists, bands, venues or even members of the public to shoot me through an email if you know of any upcoming events. If you let me know in advance I would love to include it in the column, as I’m sure the public would like to know about it.

NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

Yep, it’s true. BMA Magazine Is Seking A Editorr. (That’s the Bossman for you, never short of a laff). After three years in the ed’s chair and nigh on 70 issues I’ve decided it’s time for change. It’s true what I said in my previous column, I am moving to Vietnam, but first I’m heading home to Alice to hang with my family a while.

“Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I’ve got a wonderful feeling that everything’s going my way”. The chorus of Oklahoma!’s opening number played on repeat in my head when Allan Sko’s email arrived in November ’08. I’d been offered my dream job at 20; I deferred uni and floated around in an elated haze for days.

Before taking up the position I spent three months backpacking in India and Nepal. Towards the end of my trip anxiety about becoming editor trickled in. I’d just turned 21; surely I wasn’t old enough, wise enough or experienced enough to edit a music magazine!? Not long ago I was reminded of these fears by the close friend I was travelling in India with. “You were consumed by self-doubt; you doubted your writing ability, you doubted your music knowledge, you doubted everything. And now look at you,” he said smiling. This is my 66th issue. 66 dragons dead on the floor. I’m pretty proud of that fact.

These irrational fears didn’t fade immediately though, dear readers.

Ohhh no. There were more than a few moments within my first month when I honestly thought Al had made a huge mistake and had hired the wrong gal. I spent late, late nights in the office during my first few deadlines oft on the verge of tears; the terrifying thought of missing a print deadline or forgetting to place an ad always on my mind (the latter happened, but only once). It was the selflessness of previous editor Peter Krbavac that saved me; he gave countless hours of his time to help me find my feet and I’ll forever be indebted to him. So thanks Pete.

Naturally the super late nights in the office gradually disappeared.

When I made it to five issues I was so thrilled I had a little party to celebrate; five issues, when ten weeks prior I’d wholeheartedly doubted my ability to produce any at all. I was one happy lass.

And then came the day I discovered I could get my name on the door for almost anything. I could barely believe it. After countless trips to the ANU Ticketek outlet in first year where I’d hand over the majority of my youth allowance every fortnight, this revelation came as a surge of euphoria. Free gigs. Free gigs! I could go to anything and everything I wanted! Living the dream, thought I. And it has been a dream, this job. And not just for the three years of free gigs and films and festivals and theatre, but more importantly for the family I’ve gained. More on them next issue. Ohhh yeah. You know it. I’m gonna drag out this self-indulgent nostalgia bollocks right up until my very last ish. Cos I’m the editor of a street rag baby and I can print what I want! sdlruthstuhsesrdtsertselritsdrliughsdrt.

Travis H Heinrich eat your heart out.

JULIA WINTERFLOOD julia@bmamag.com

BMA Magazine Is Seking A Editorr Our pulchritudinous Editor - who has forever been expeditious with deadline and a bold swinger of an editorial sword when it comes to slaying deadline dragons - is off to capture the world. If you understood and, indeed, enjoyed that last sentence then perhaps you have professional feet big enough to fill her voluminous boots.

The editor’s role requires:

>> A deep love for, and knowledge of, a wide range of music >> A strong commitment to supporting Canberra’s music and arts scene >> A superb command of the English language >> An eagle eye for detail >> Exceptional communication and people skills >> Exceptional organisational and time management skills >> Ability to handle over-zealous PR folk and DadManagers who claim their son’s band is the best thing since AC/DC >> Experience with Adobe InDesign CS4/CS5 and Photoshop >> The ability to put up with outrageously inappropriate humour >> Early signs of alcoholism Starting salary $40K + superannuation + phone, with six-monthly wage review If that sounds like you, send a CV and cover letter to allan@bmamag.com. We are looking to fill the position within the next one to three months.

If you have any questions feel free to call (02) 6257 4360. Good luck!

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DANCE THE DROP

At some point in our lives, while curled up on the couch with a gallon of cola and a pillowcase full of cheese and bacon balls, we have all endured the admonishing anti-piracy advertisement that precludes most of our innocent movie nights. Unfortunately this limp-wristed ‘war’ has now become a tactile invasion, but instead of the American world police invading a sandy country for its precious oil, the 51st airborne are now planning to cross over our digital borders into musical cyberspace with their itchy trigger fingers pointing directly at serial downloaders just like me and you. This movement, led by grey-haired dinosaurs that grew up snorting cocaine off vinyl records in their drug dealer’s basement, serves to threaten the

entire dance music blogosphere as we know it. Music is made to be shared, so don’t let the threat of being bummed by a horny biker in a federal penitentiary ever dissuade you from that ultimate truth.

I could continue this rant for aeons but I understand your time is precious, and that you probably came here to read about what the hell you are going to do with your weekends!

City Kid Music are back with a vengeance at The Clubhouse on Sat Feb 11. Xkore (UK), J.Nitrous and F3tch – Atom will be representing on the night along with a special Hypnosis Recordings showcase.

Wanna be on TV without murdering someone or being on the wrong end of Shane Warne’s orange trouser snake? The Stafford Brothers have invited their film crew to join them at their upcoming show at Academy on Friday February 24 to film scenes for season two of their tongue in cheek reality TV programme.

You could be the next Timmy Trumpet, except taller and dressed more appropriately.

If Transit Bar were a pillow it would have two cool sides; the lads have been bringing some absolute heaters to the small stage in the past few months and March is no exception. UK demi-god Hudson Mohawke (UK/Warp) and Ras-G (LA/ Brainfeeder) are both served up piping hot on Thursday March 1 and the legendary DJ Krush (Japan) returns for another spellbinding turntable set on Thursday March 8.

I have some special releases so get your keyboards and credit cards ready. John Dahlback returns with one of his best tunes to date, the enormous guitar sampling Grunge; Wil Bailey, Hatiras and Nom De Strip prove that threesomes are always good with their tech banger Swagnum P.I.. Avicii teams up with Nicky Romero on the lovingly titled Fuck School; Fatboy Slim, Riva Starr and Beardy Man join forces on Get Naked and the Cassian/ Shazam collaboration Country Club has spawned one of the best records of the year with their remix of Monkey Safari’s Fat Papa.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T was painful,” he says with conviction. Even in high school his was the lone voice advocating an apology to the Stolen Generations in his legal studies class. Even his teacher vehemently disagreed.

He is astounded that there are still groups of people who don’t understand the importance of healing. “Possession is what’s given us everything that we enjoy, and what we call a great country. But some people don’t see how the loss of culture and language and the reliance on government handouts has affected Indigenous people.

Even people who have not been born yet are going to be affected by a colonial imperial regime.”

Not long after starting his Indigenous Studies course at Monash University, Luka found himself in the Northern Territory unrolling a swag and camping down in a remote community called Boorroloola.

Surrounded by a circle of Yanyuwa people who spoke not one word of English, he succumbed to a massive culture shock. “I was sitting there and really feeling everything sinking in about what exactly has been lost, and what’s not there when you walk around the city.”

WE’RE SLAMMING sarah mason Call me a gutter-mind, but I wanted to know. Do poetry groupies exist? The query incites laughter from Australian Poetry Slam Champion Luka Lesson, who will be performing as part of the PLEASE RESIST ME POETRY SLAM TOUR in New Acton later this month, but his response is affirmative. “One of my friends and I joke about being rock star poets. We get put up in hotels, flown places, and yes... there are fans. It’s a viable lifestyle.”

Luka is a self-confessed addict to poetry performance, or ‘slams’ – organised competitions where live poetry is rated by the crowd and a winner is named. “It’s exciting because it’s scary. Every single movement, every single whisper, every single blink of the eye is watched and heard and seen. It’s just so raw.”

Though his first experience of poetry reeked of archaic English scribes, “like Pride and Prejudice, but far worse”, once Luka discovered Tupac and delved into Greek classics Homer and The Iliad, he was hooked. “In Australian schools they tell you that poetry has to be like Shakespeare. They don’t click that every culture has had a history of poetry, and hip-hop is poetry as well,” he says. Being a good Greek boy, Luka grew up singing with his guitar-strumming brother at weddings, Easter and Christmas celebrations. “Now, listening to Greek music or reading poetry makes me feel at home, although I’ve never been there for more than a couple of months,” he says. “It’s my version of ‘the new country’, the place I want to go back and discover for myself.”

After first performing in 2009, Luka quit his day job teaching Indigenous Studies at Monash University and took to the stage. “On the face of it, it was a risk, I could have been getting paid regularly, but going against my soul and my heart was much more of a risk.

I knew that none of the perks could have compared.” Luka holds strong and innate beliefs about Australia’s history, and at the start of the interview, he wishes me a happy invasion day. “Australia was invaded and it wasn’t legal, it was done by force, it was violent and it

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Luka has since been visiting the community and running workshops and language preservation programs with the elders and young people. “They hold all this information about our world and our cosmos – the loss of Indigenous languages worldwide is such a huge tragedy for humanity,” he says. “But the kids in the community love learning poetry.”

Luka acknowledges that the ‘P’ word is not as acceptable to a lot of young people as hip-hop, which is how he introduces the concept and gets his workshoppers writing. Rather than bringing back the ye olde English forms of prose, he encourages each person to write about what’s important to them. “All I’m doing is letting a new way of expression come through so they feel that it’s comfortable. The poetry has already been there forever.

“They get confidence, they start to feel at home with a teacher.

Best of all, we use local words which are in danger of dying out,” he says. After a workshop, the participants usually perform in front of the elders, giving them a voice in their own community and kudos with their peers. Luka’s own performances are infused with his experiences working with remote Indigenous communities. “Making enjoyable poems is important, but performing is an opportunity to disseminate information that’s not available through usual modes of media. Being a poet is a great opportunity to delve deeper into issues, find the nuances and the subtle differences between arguments and discover a closer truth,” he says.

A poetry slam does not have a genre, nor a word limit or a designated style. A slam performer can say anything they want.

While Luka leans toward rhyming and rhythm because of his hiphop background, the style is fluid. Luka says, “while hip-hop has developed this hyper-sexualised and sexist vernacular that’s come through, women can get up at a poetry slam and be anybody. There’s no hierarchy and it’s respectful. If you go to a performance of poetry written by the performer, that brings a power and understanding and empathy that you can’t get just from reading words in a book.”

Australia’s young slam poetry performers Joel McKerrow, Alia Gabres and the Australian Poetry Slam Champion Luka Lesson will conduct a workshop at the Kendall Lane Theatre on Feb 21 and perform in the New Acton Courtyard in New Acton South on Feb 22. The poets are co-directors of The Centre for Poetics and Justice, facilitating writing and performance workshops and presenting quality acts around Australia. Visit www.cpj.org. au and www.newacton.com.au for more info.

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work for the dancer and choreographer, supported by The Street Theatre. The local Canberran and founding artistic director of Dance Beyond Barriers describes her style as “upfront”. Commenting on her choice of subject matter, Keed explains that when forming her company she “did not want a dance company that doesn’t have meaning behind its performances”. For her, this meaning is one that acknowledges the past, yet is not enveloped by it, and instead highlights the unique culture of Indigenous Australians.

BITTERSWEET MOVES Grace Carroll The Stolen Generation is a part of Australian history that continues to strike sorrow and disbelief in the hearts of many. THE HIDDEN SORROWS by the Dance Beyond Barriers Company presents a contemporary perspective on this shameful period that also draws upon the more recent past. With its debut at The Street Theatre on Monday February 13 set to coincide with the anniversary of then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s national apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008, the dynamic dance performance choreographed by Casey Keed and Amy Minchin offers an inspiring message for the future of Indigenous culture.

An Indigenous Australian whose family has been touched by the Stolen Generation, Keed’s involvement in The Hidden Sorrows is highly personal. The performance is the culmination of three years

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The progressive “dance triptych” combines contemporary Indigenous and non-Indigenous dance styles with ballet. Believing that “dance can speak so powerfully”, Keed considers that this fusion of styles offers a “raw” quality to the performance that pays respect to the real issues it explores. The selection of both trained and untrained, Indigenous and non-Indigenous dancers, which form the ten-strong company (including Kerr and Minchin), contributes to this dynamism.

The performance’s three pieces take the audience on a journey that culminates in an inspiring celebration of Indigenous culture.

The opening piece highlights the trauma experienced by helpless children removed from their families “when nobody was looking” in the dead of night. The second piece is a poignant exploration of the relationship between a mother and daughter (played by Minchin and Kerr respectively), both before and after their forced separation.

The finale is shaped around Rudd’s apology and offers a positive vision of the future of Indigenous culture. Kerr describes this event as the catalyst for “a great change” for Indigenous Australians that signalled the potential to finally “move forward”. This message is something she hopes to encourage through the dance performance, and dreams of seeing it “travel all over Australia” after its debut.

The Hidden Sorrows is at The Street Theatre, 7pm Monday February 13. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased through www.thestreet.org.au .

“Last year was really a test,” explains David Finnigan. He ran the festival last year, convincing property-owners that they had nothing to fear by turning empty spaces into venues. “It went really, surprisingly well… it felt as if there was a need for something like this.” This year he has – Shiva-like – sprouted extra arms, in the form of theatrical impresario Adam Hadley and curatorial art-writer wunderkind Yolande Norris. With this much power behind it, the festival has increased its scope enormously: for every event that worked perfectly last year (like Pub Theatre at PJs), the team has conjured up a magician’s hat-full of new material.

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE James Fahy You may recall that during last year’s autumn, coffee shops, pubs and empty shopfronts began to sprout art and theatre and music at an amazing rate. That was 2011’s YOU ARE HERE festival, the first of its kind, lauded by the city’s friends and frenemies alike as the perfect product of the ACT underground’s creative resources.

Highlights included spoken word performers at Lonsdale Street Roasters that ended up naked and shouting on the dining table; a choreographed mash-up dance party Skyfire alternative; a wikimodel of our ideal city in fluorescent colours; and the Judgement Day Prom that squeezed the last of the delicious juice out of the Zombie craze.

This year, the festival is really pulling up its sleeves, eager to prove that 2011’s show consisted of the baby steps of a beautiful ballet dancer who in 2012 will fall in love with a kid from the streets, master jazz/hip-hop/krunk overnight, and dazzle her stuffy instructors.

So You Think You Can Hipster will be a nod to RiotAct’s ‘You Are Hipster’ criticism, with DJs and a fashion show, “a general stupid-fun event”, says Hadley. Norris is curating a walking tour of tiny artworks hidden around the city, spanning the panoply of Canberran artistic talent. The traditional South Coast beach trip will be brought to us with a back alley car park dance party in the centre of the city.

A brief interview with the team behind You Are Here produced so many fantastic events that a whole magazine would be needed to relate them. Says Hadley, “there will be a festival program.” How about dance-art where the resonance of a musical floor will be sampled live and incorporated into the soundtrack, you ask? It’s obvious why the organisers can’t keep the excitement out of their voices.

“You live in Canberra, you work in Canberra, and there’s free art happening in the doors that you’re going to walk past from March 8th to 18th.” It’s just like a team of excellently talented artists and curators are going to throw a festival that will yell ‘clear!’ and give the city’s artistic heart a jump-start – without the cost of health insurance.

You Are Here will take place in various locations between Thursday-Sunday March 8-18. For more information check out www.youareherecanberra.com .

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Karl Hartwig Gregor von Meusebach, Letter to Ernestine von Witzleben, (24 April 1804)

Pen comes in. After filling a pub and a café with people and words, Scissors Paper Pen is joining forces with The NLA, Women of Letters, Women of Notes and a stellar line-up of guests to explore the past, present and potential of the handwritten, all in one very enlivening evening.

Some of BMA Magazine’s own Women of Notes will step outside their usual home at Transit Bar to fill some more studious surrounds with their siren songs and ethereal tunes. Julia Johnson and Cathy Petocz will bring their own contemporary counterpoints to Handwritten’s classical compositions. Marieke Hardy and Michaela McGuire will also be bringing Women of Letters to Canberra, along with an exceptional line-up including Julie Posetti, Eva Cox, Latika Bourke and Melanie Tait, all of whom will present their response to the theme ‘A Letter to the History I’d Like to Rewrite’.

ENLIVENING THE HANDWRITTEN duncan felton If you’re not as frequent a library dweller as myself, you might not have ventured into The National Library of Australia to peruse its most excellent new HANDWRITTEN exhibition. Handwritten contains 100 manuscript treasures spanning ten centuries, sourced from Germany’s largest library, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin.

There’s a manuscript book of Virgil’s Aeneid, letters from Charles Dickens and Darwin, scores composed by Mozart and Bach, and many more inscribed pieces of history. But one might wonder at the significance and disparity of such objects to a time of Twitter, tablet computers and txtspk. While you could view these pieces of precious ephemera as artifacts from a fast-fading age, maybe they point to a resurgence of interest in the handwritten, its coexistence with the digital; an enduring, evolving relationship still being negotiated. This is where Handwritten Live: Scissors Paper

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Finally, a panel discussion will interrogate the role of the handwritten today. NLA Curator Susannah Helman will reflect on the exhibition, Marieke Hardy will speak of her various textual forays, Vice President of Amnesty International Kathy Richards will compare the effectiveness of letter writing and online activism, and Canberra Times political cartoonist David Pope will divulge his reasons for moving from pen and ink to tablet.

If all that isn’t enough, get there before the music and crowds begin to view the Handwritten exhibition itself. But before you switch your iPhone to silent, don’t forget to ready some paper, a pen and, more importantly, your most primed senses. All in all, it should be a wonderful evening – an exploration and celebration of all things handwritten.

Handwritten Live: Scissors Paper Pen begins at 6pm Thurs Feb 16 at The NLA. You can book tickets at profile.eventarc.com/profile/nla or by calling (02) 6262 1271. For further SPP deets, head to www.scissorspaperpen.com .

ARTISTPROFILE: Patrick Larmour

What do you do?

I am primarily a painter but like messing around with all sorts of things – sculpture, installation, drawing, print. I will try pretty much anything put in front of me.

When did you get into it?

I’ve been doing this since I could hold a pencil. My favourite oldest drawing is a tiny one of a Power Rangers villain.

Who or what influences you as an artist?

I like artists that stretch or play with the medium they use.

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

Getting through art school, being happy and proud of the work I made there. A couple of awards at graduation didn’t hurt either.

What are your plans for the future?

Keep making work, that’s the main thing. I’ll be taking up Megalo and CCAS residencies this year so I should be pretty busy on that front.

Try to rustle up some space for a show or two on the side as well.

What makes you laugh?

Art jokes and the absurd/mundane. I met a lady who told me about seeing a seal that painted pictures at Seaworld and how people

were paying a whole $50 for them. If only I was born a furry marine animal, then I’d be set for life.

What pisses you off?

Losing that thing I just put down a second ago.

What’s your opinion of the local scene?

I think there’s some really great stuff happening, especially now that it feels like everything is gathering a bit of momentum.

Contact info: patricklarmour.wordpress.com, pat.larmour@gmail.com

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UNINHIBITED

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN CHLOE MANDRYK THE PHOTOGRAPHY ROOM in Queanbeyan is a newly established commercial gallery space, studio and point of call for artists and students. It has a loft-like appeal, boasting natural light and a new paint job. As the brainchild of Sean Davey, artist, TPR’s Director and co-curator, it was originally intended to be a room of his own, a slice of tranquility within a larger studio space of ceramicists, musicians and painters who together inhabit The Artists’ Shed.

Sean saw he could have it both ways. “I will spend time working away in my studio, which is within the gallery so I want to be moved and stimulated every time I look at the walls and am in the space.” The Artists’ Shed “has a really honest atmosphere and all the people there have a strong integrity about what they are doing, which I find really motivating.”

We spoke on the opening night of their current show, Pictures of Life. I asked how the gallery came to be, and what it aspires to be.

Sean’s first impression was the scale of the task ahead.

“On the first day I saw the space I stayed in it for over an hour, just thinking, umming and erring about whether I would have a crack at giving it a go.”

He concedes that setting up any business has its perils, mainly financial, but that the ephemeral knowledge you pick up while working in ‘the arts’, like in a gallery, a shop or taking freelance work, is invaluable.

The gallery encourages a documentary style but stresses that this is no limit on what we can expect to see there. In lieu of promoting a ‘house style’ they will respond to artists who are willing to investigate their own time and place. “I like video work, audio work, all sorts of work that examines the world as it is.”

In late February 2012 there will be a group show called Multiples, followed by the work of Woulter Van de Voorde which promises to throw light on a sinister side of Canberra, and later a suite of large format colour photographs (over) exposing friends and lovers by Sydney-based artist and curator Spiro Miralis.

TPR aspires to act as a bit of a satellite state, Sean explains. “It’s hard for photographers to get exhibitions in galleries, everyone knows that and I wanted to create a space that can host work that I believe to be of value, not only to the photographer, but also to photography and the arts community.”

Pictures of Life runs until Sunday February 19 in The Photography Room at The Artists’ Shed, located at 14 Foster Street, Queanbeyan. Opening hours are Wednesday-Sunday from 12pm – 6pm.

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I set off on a summer holiday to Hong Kong full of arts-related excitement. Aside from a plan to eat my bodyweight in dim sum, most of my intention was to get a look at the burgeoning HK art scene. I’d been reading about how big name art fairs such as Frieze had set up in HK, using the city as a bridge from their traditional European markets to the east. HK, so I’d read, was the perfect intermediary – officially Chinese and yet kinda not, free enough to allow sales of Chinese artists to the west and Western artists to the newly minted east.

In light of this, my expectation was that the small gallery scene in Honkers would be pumping. This was in error. And it got me thinking about cities and scenes, energy and action, and most of all the elements in a city’s infrastructure that allow the arts to flourish.

HK is a major and magnificent world city, but it doesn’t contain a major and magnificent gallery. I saw a good show at the HK Arts Centre and a couple of fun, tiny things in the Sheng Whan precinct – really, really small shows in spaces the size of living rooms. A Damien Hirst show was opening the day after I left, but that was about it. The problem? Money and space, as always.

Turns out that the art world in HK is a market-based affair – the big events come a couple times a year, but year round the artists and galleryists struggle for space and cash in the world’s most expensive city to rent. There is no shortage of skilled practitioners keen to make a mark. But, thanks to the difficulties in getting seen and shown, they’re either migrating elsewhere, or making do on a shoestring. Sound familiar?

In a market-dominated city such as HK, the argument against the arts is one of fundamentals – what’s in it for us? Why should the city give up scarce real estate for marginal practices? Viewed through a Friedmanonic lens, this argument makes sense.

After HK I flew to Singapore, and found a different take on economic fundamentalism. Singapore has struggled for years against a reputation of staid conservatism (fact – it remains illegal to publically chew gum in Singapore). Yet in recent times the Singaporean government has poured millions into public art programs, galleries and art schools. They realised that the thing missing in their city – soul – could come from a healthy investment in the arts.

In Singapore I saw spaces of real power and excellence. The work wasn’t quite world class. But the spaces were, and the work will come from those eager kids studying in the new and vast purpose built practice spaces. Don’t be surprised to read of Singapore as a centre for the best in world arts in a decade or so. Testament to the power of investing in activities that don’t reap obvious rewards on a spreadsheet, but enrich the unseen heart of a place. glen martin glenpetermartin@gmail.com

bit PARTS WHO: Lisa Twomey WHAT: Exhibition Solstice Eyes WHEN: Opening 6pm Fri Feb 3 and continuing ‘til Sun Feb 12 WHERE: Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka Solstice Eyes crosses the boundaries between fashion, painting, installation and performance. The gallery space will be transformed into a solstice night’s dream where ritual meets rock royalty and reality is bent, gilded, and made into fantasy.

Twomey’s portraits have a feeling of the historical and are filled with symbolism, but unlike traditional portraiture they present the sitters as complex and beautifully flawed. Fruit, flowers and moths are upheld like icons of fecundity against a background of gold. Twomey’s elaborately decorative clothing climbs across the walls of the gallery, saunters in the corners, and floats through the air. On opening night the dream will become reality with a performance where the characters of Twomey’s art will burst to life, exaggerated and wild. Entering Lisa Twomey’s world audiences will be dazzled, dazed, and depart with solstice eyes.

WHO: James Reyne WHAT: Optus Flix in the Stix Tour WHEN: Sat Feb 25 WHERE: National Botanic Gardens Highly respected Australian singer-songwriter James Reyne will headline the Optus Flix in the Stix Tour. The former Australian Crawl frontman will be accompanied by bush poets Murray Hartin and Peter Mace forming a fantastic line-up of entertainment. Reyne, along with Australian Crawl, is renowned for a host of songs such as Reckless, Boys Light Up and Downhearted. Heralded as one of Australia’s funniest bush poets, Murray Hartin was selected as part of the line-up because of his unique Australian storytelling. Flix in the Stix audiences will also get a taste of some of the best short films from Australia and around the world. Tickets are available from www.flixinthestix.com.au, from Moshtix, or over the counter at Landspeed Records in Garema Place.

WHO: Masahiro Asaka WHAT: Exhibition Transition - A Captured Moment WHEN: Now until March 15 WHERE: Canberra Glassworks Recent Thomas Foundation Artist in Residence at Canberra Glassworks and winner of the 2011 Ranamok Prize, Masahiro Asaka is exhibiting his new series of works that includes the winning piece from Ranamok, Surge 12. Masahiro is inspired by nature and the tensions people create with the natural environment. He uses the raw qualities of glass to express fragility, strength, illumination and power as a metaphor for man’s relationship with the natural world.

His striking work highlights the transparency and the beauty of glass and exposes the notions of energy and gravity which are the fundamental elements for glass to be formed and the effects of which are so essential to his art.

WHO: Miss Kitka’s House of Burlesque WHAT: Special Valentines Burlesque Bazaar WHEN: Sun February 5 from 11am to 4pm WHERE: Canberra Irish Club

WHO: European filmmakers WHAT: Windows on Europe Film Festival WHEN: Sat Feb 10 – Fri Feb 16 WHERE: Dendy Canberra Centre An illuminating and thought-provoking program of award-winning European films will delight audiences when the Windows on Europe Film Festival returns to Dendy Cinemas Canberra from February 10 to 16. Returning for its seventh season, the Windows on Europe Film Festival will showcase films and talent from 14 countries. This year audiences will have the opportunity to explore cinema from Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, UK, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The versatility of European cinema is reflected in the many genres represented including comedy, drama, thriller, romance and documentary. For a full list of films and synopsis, visit www.dendy.com.au .

There’ll be retro, vintage, pin up, recycled and alternative costumes and accessories, burlesque pasties and tassels, hair fascinators, jewellery, cupcakes, corsets, lashes, lingerie, shoes and much more.

There’ll also be raffles and performances every hour, as well as a pin up photo booth with make up and hair artists available for that special moment. Entry is $5 and customers will receive a $5 Kitka discount voucher they can use if they purchase items worth $20 or more in a single transaction. The first 50 people through the door will also receive a free show bag with samples, local business information and more surprises. For more information email burlesquebazaar@hotmail.com .

WHO: Fash ‘n’ Treasure Market WHAT: Kicking off in 2012 WHEN: Sat Feb 4 WHERE: Old Bus Depot Building The first Fash ‘n’ Treasure market for 2012 is kicking off on Saturday with a great range of vintage, recycled and designer fashion stalls.

The market is held at the Old Bus Depot Building on Wentworth Avenue, Kingston on the first Saturday of each month from 10am to 3pm. As well as fashion there are a number of stalls selling records, magazines, comics and books. International food stalls, great coffee and live music make this a great way to spend a day with friends or just take the time to browse and find a treasure or two. Bypass the malls and the derivativeness of retail shopping and discover the joy of pre-loved and vintage fashion, accessories and collectables. www.fashntreasure.com.au .

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HEATING UP

SWEET RETURN

Alistair Erskine

Clare Butterfield

Adelaide’s FIRE! SANTA ROSA, FIRE! battled into our ears a few years ago, with radio stations everywhere picking up on the excellence put forward in the snappy album Sea Priest. With their impending set at The Gumball Festival, I first ask singer Caitlin Duff if her band has a special affinity for playing Hunter region festivals, having played The Peats Ridge Festival for the last two New Years in a row, as well as other gigs in that region.

14 years ago CUSTARD told us music was crap. Now, after a ten year hiatus, the much loved indie rock four-piece from Brisbane are back.

Throughout the hiatus there had been rumours of a reformation, but it was an invitation from Powderfinger to play a gig to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Queensland that got the band back together.

“There had been thoughts and murmurs about playing again,” says drummer Glenn Thompson, “but being invited to play a big show in Brisbane seemed to be the spark that made it happen.”

“We tend to get a fair few sets up that way, and love it. We play at things like O-Week for Newcastle Uni, and know a few of the bands up there – Newcastle is quite like Adelaide in the way it has about the same sized music scene, so we feel very at home up there, and so many of the gigs are in such beautiful locations.”

We have to make this happen, even if it’s just playing in someone’s living room!

The band have been taking some time getting their follow up album made, releasing a single last year, but how imminent is their next long playing release? “Well, it won’t be ready by Gumball sadly, but we have a lot of the songs written, and are just working them out,” she says. For those that haven’t heard any of the new stuff at shows, I ask where the band’s enigmatic melting pot of influences has taken their sound. “With this one, we have been given a whole bunch of space, probably more so than with Sea Priest where we had quite a strong push by our then record label to get it out. The difference is that now we are letting the space sit more, not trying to make the songs quite so dense. We had this fear that any space in the tracks would be seen as us not knowing what we were doing, even if it wasn’t necessarily a banger of a track.

“The other thing is this time we are giving our influences more a chance – there are five of us in the band, all from different musical backgrounds. Our drummer comes from a hip-hop background, Nathan loves his psychedelic rock, and what we are learning to do is let them come to the fore a little more. Our single Panther Shine has this rather psychedelic, trip-hoppy vibe, and that’s an example of what we are allowing ourselves to do now.”

I ask when they will be playing in Canberra next. “WE NEVER HAVE! Not through lack of trying – but for some reason every gig we get booked to play there always gets cancelled – with Dappled Cities, at the Uni Bar, with John Steel Singers! We have to make this happen, even if it’s just playing in someone’s living room!”

Seriously, Canberra venues – book Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! to play a show – they are wonderful live, lovely people and this injustice needs to be righted!

In the meantime you can catch Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! live at The Gum Ball Festival, held over Friday-Saturday April 27-28 in the Hunter Valley. Tickets start from $170 and can be purchased through the festival’s website.

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Thompson describes Custard’s sound as “just a form of rock ‘n’ roll” that is “more upbeat and sideways than some”. Since reforming, the band have played a handful of shows, with more on the way. Touring hasn’t changed much, says Thompson. “We haven’t played that many shows yet, but so far it seems like the same story.”

We just play the hits. We’ve always been crowd pleasers

Despite the length of time between drinks, performing songs so long after they were written isn’t a problem. “A song becomes a version of the original as soon as you’ve played it a few times. Each time you play it, it is slightly different again. It becomes a welltravelled path that you repeat from beginning to end.”

For Custard, the challenge is to make the old songs feel fresh. “Each time [you play the songs] you need to try and make it seem like the first time, otherwise it is very boring for everyone. So, as long as you still like them, old songs can be great fun to play,” Thompson says.

Song selection from the back catalogue isn’t an issue either. “We just play the hits,” says Thompson. “We’ve always been crowd pleasers.”

In the decade or so since Custard last recorded an album, technology has come far. Choosing the order of songs for a CD was “a beguiling mystery in the days prior to mastering,” says the drummer. “The band cut out song names on paper, but iTunes is good for shifting song orders around now.”

When discussing the prevalence of large-scale music piracy these days, Thompson is philosophical. “The copy protection on [previous albums] was purely driven by the record company. They’re the ones that had something to lose,” he says. “As far as I can see that is still the case. It’s not the inventors of the material under copyright that litigate against theft, it’s the owners of the copyright who do. If it wasn’t for some pimply kid in a bedroom somewhere writing a song, tens of thousands of record industry people wouldn’t have a job.

The kid just wants everyone to hear their song, the industry people want to keep their jobs. That is an oversimplification, but it’s worth thinking about.”

That it is.

Custard are a part of the line-up for The Gum Ball Music and Arts Festival, held in the Hunter Valley over Friday-Saturday April 27-28. Tickets are available through Oztix.

WORKING ‘TIL THE MONEY RUNS OUT

Ashley Thomson

Shortly before I began my interview with Lloyd Stanton, bassist for Australian jazz trio THE NECKS, I listened to their most recent release Mindset. It’s two tracks, each a full 20 minutes in length.

They’re brooding, densely layered and methodical, exhausting to listen to and masterful. Reviews on their website quite rightly refuse to classify the group as just “jazz”. Towards the end of our interview Stanton mentioned the 20 minute tracks: “They’re almost pop singles by our standards.”

The Necks formed in 1989, making the band only a year younger than me. “It was originally formed as an improvisation band with no intention of performing in public,” We’re constantly Stanton says. “I often say that the humble origins of the band meant that trying to find we were prepared for whatever level new sonic of recognition we got because we avenues in our actually had no ambition for the band instruments whatsoever.” 22 years later The Necks’ level of recognition is beyond improbable. With multiple ARIAs, rave reviews for their albums and performances, and sold out shows in the US, UK and Australia, they have realised a pinnacle in a realm of music where pinnacles are few and far between. Stanton is candid about their approach. “If we’d decided we were flogging a dead horse we would’ve retired it ages ago.

“My definition of passion is sort of a lifelong thing, anyway,” he goes on. “My definition of passion is finding something you find immensely gratifying and fulfilling and doing that for three or four decades.” And neither Stanton nor his two counterparts, Tony Buck and Chris Abrahams, lack alternative pursuits. As technically and creatively brilliant musicians they each sport an epic list of solo and collaborative projects. The Necks are not something they need.

“We’re not making a fortune out of this band but we’re seeing the fruits of all our years of work,” says Stanton. “I don’t know if you’ve heard that joke about the jazz musician who wins a million dollars in the lottery. His friends say ‘what’ll you do now?’ and he says ‘I’ll just keep working till the money runs out’. That’s where jazz is at worldwide.”

But The Necks are not quite jazz. “In The Necks we’re constantly trying to find new sonic avenues in our instruments,” explains Stanton. “And one might call that virtuosic but it’s not virtuosic in terms of trying to impress people with a barrage of notes and using your instrument as a lethal weapon... It’s almost a game that we play,” he summarises, adding with a laugh, “in front of a paying audience.”

The game Stanton refers to is played in two halves, each half an hour long. The Necks improvise uninterrupted for the full length of each.

It has been called “absolutely riveting”, “a post-jazz, post-rock, posteverything sonic experience”, and “a religious experience”. Stanton is less flighty. “I figure if our music can be successful, all sorts of things are possible.”

The Necks will play The Street Theatre on Sunday February 19. Tickets range from $29-39 and are available through The Street’s website.

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SMALL PLEASURES

GOING FOR BROKE

Zoya Patel

SINEAD O’CONNELL

Beth Stephen of THE LITTLE STEVIES is already pretty excited about playing Corinbank Festival in March. “We’ve played Corinbank once before, the second time it was on. So we were kind of right at the birth of the festival,” she explains, as we chat over the phone on Australia Day. “My most vivid memory of Corinbank is when we got to the airport, and we were picked up by a big troupe of Kombi vans.

They transported us all the way from the airport to the site of the festival, it was awesome,” Beth laughs. “And they weren’t like, your old, battered Kombis – they were the shmick version!”

Sister Jane, that coincidentally lovely combination of Sister Ray and Sweet Jane (Velvet Underground) are one of a few exceptionally talented ambassadors for BROKEN STONE RECORDS. A fantastic label that champions an ethos of self-production, where resources are collected and processed at the hands of the bands themselves.

“It’s a very DIY production but there is such a natural community between us all.” In this way Broken Stone Records promotes an entirely new experience for upcoming artists and allows, nay, provides the opportunity to explore a We all feed off each other and musical ground where they experiment and learn on. Bravo Broken Stone what we are doing in the best Records! All this logistics talk is not way necessarily the theme for the bands in the label though – Caitlin Park, Magnetic Heads, The Maple Trail – as frontman Dave of Sister Jane says, “At the end of the day it’s about making interesting music that people want to hear. We love just being able to get out there whatever way we can.”

Corinbank may prove to be the largest audience The Little Stevies will have played to in quite some time – but not because they don’t have enough fans, by any stretch of the imagination! Rather, the folk/indie trio have started a new practice of playing house concerts, where they put on a gig in someone’s living room for their friends and family, instead of playing public venues. “We sort of picked up on the idea of house When I write a concerts when we were in Canada song, if I don’t recently,” Beth explains. “They’re feel some sort really popular over there and you of emotional can do big circuits of them, and it’s attachment to really the done thing to do.”

it I just think it’s rubbish

Having had their interest piqued by the unconventional gigs, the band put a call out to their fans to see if anyone wanted to host them, and soon found themselves with a quite a busy schedule of house shows in different parts of Australia. “One thing I’ve noticed doing these is that everyone has such a great time, because everyone mostly knows each other. So it’s a real community in itself.”

Fostering that kind of community vibe is important to the band, who have just finished their Summer Coastal tour, where they headed up the Victorian coast playing early shows in all-ages venues. The idea was to provide some entertainment for families who left the city for the beach over summer, and especially to provide something for bored teenagers to do that was fun, and had a sort of family vibe.

“It’s been so lovely,” Beth says, clearly not tied down by pretentions of rock and roll. “They’ve been early shows, people have been able to go to bed by ten o’clock, it’s just been great!”

With their second album Attention Shoppers released last year, The Little Stevies have continued to grow in popularity, their lyrics in particular coming under attention for the honesty and simplicity they portray. Songwriting is definitely a collaborative thing for the group, Beth explains, and the words are always personal. “I know for me, when I write a song, if I don’t feel some sort of emotional attachment to it I just think it’s rubbish. It’s got to be there for me to want to play it over and over again.”

The Little Stevies are a part of the line-up for the Corinbank Festival, held over Friday-Sunday March 2-4 in the Brindabellas. Tickets are available via the festival’s website.

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Of going on tour the band speak of being in some kind of road movie. There are arguments and fights and kisses and make-ups as well as doting on their favourite city Melbourne. “Whenever we go to Melbourne we have an amazing time, we’re always meeting likeminded people.” Not to mention the sharing of band members from Belles Will Ring. To the common man this would appear an exceptional feat indeed, for Sister Jane though, ‘tis too easy.

With the chaos of joint calendars, shows and tours, the band still maintains there is only a bright side to their arrangement. “There is such a great energy between the bands. We all feed off each other and what we are doing in the best way.”

During our conversation one of their hilarious quirks stood out from the rest: the comparing of any album they hear to Neil Young’s On the Beach. “It’s just true rock and roll, without sounding too wanky.

The comments started off pretty seriously, but now we just do it as a joke like… ‘yeah, that a good solo but it’s nothing really compared to On the Beach’,” he laughs. As a devout Neil Young fan I couldn’t have agreed more. Otherwise they refer to blues, hard rock, girly rock and a bit of this and that from the ‘80s and ‘90s when composing their own sound.

For them it’s not just how you write a song it’s also how you produce it. That’s where Broken Stone Records come in. “We are always looking at older techniques and using aged equipment mixed with current technology.” With this dialogue we got to talking about particular sounds from LPs. “Sometimes we just sit for hours listening to LPs and EPs, scrutinising every echo, every string and husky intonation from a voice.” So, it’s pretty obvious isn’t it? While organising gigs and relentlessly researching production techniques, this young band are successfully navigating their way through a minefield of nu folk entertainment and rising high above the norm.

Sister Jane will play live at The Street Theatre on Friday February 17 as part of the Broken Stone Records Showcase. Tickets are $10 and are available from the venue’s website.

GROUNDATION FASCINATION Holly Orkin I got seven minutes and 28 seconds with Harrison Stafford, the singer and composer for reggae/jazz/dub (yep) band GROUNDATION. I didn’t know my time on the phone would be so short, but luckily the founding member of the nine-piece band knows how to use his words for the power of good, which isn’t a surprise, since Stafford’s words and message have culminated in seven albums of celebrated music. So how does a nine-piece reggae/ jazz/dub band work exactly (besides noisily)? “I think that [the complexity] was always there, it was a big part for, well the core of the group from the beginning. We’ve been playing music together since 1996 at university in the jazz program. So that polyrhythmic and that harmonic element of blending sound and trying new things has always been there.”

We’ve been playing music together since 1996 at university in the jazz program

What was not always there is the nine talented musicians that now form Groundation.

What started as only a quartet blossomed into a tour manager’s nightmare.

Well... it would be if they weren’t such lovely, calm people. “It can be hard just trying to get everyone onto the bus at the same time but it’s also freeing, because we’re a family. Because then you know who to push and who to pull and how to get space.” This sums up Groundation and their music perfectly – they are curious but giving, while always trying to communicate with their audience.

They’ve had a lot of time to evolve to this point, it’s a journey that takes quite a commitment, though Stafford points out that this kind of music doesn’t exactly lend itself to people who don’t care about what they’re doing. “We started as just a quartet, I came from a reggae background but the other guys were jazz musicians.

The good thing about reggae and jazz is that you have rebels that are playing that music. You don’t have many of them trying to get the girls or trying to be a millionaire or trying to get the big house on the hill; you go to those types of music because you love music.

And that’s what we had as our foundation. The horns and the big nine-piece band started in 2000 when we did our first tribute to Bob Marley. We became a nine-piece from that moment on, for the last 12 years.”

Groundation is playing at WOMAD this year, which is a fitting setting for them, because just like WOMAD is a celebration, so too is Groundation. The band’s name is a play on a Rastafarian word that refers to all night jamming sessions, whose central message was togetherness and understanding. So too Groundation seek to educate and learn and above all, celebrate.

Seriously, I listened to the music for ten minutes and see how chilled out I got? I made barely any animal puns in this article. Right on.

Catch Groundation live at WOMAD, held over Friday-Monday March 9-12 in Botanic Park, Adelaide. Tickets are available online through Foxtix.

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will feature Martina Topley-Bird on vocals. In the press release Clark states that the album is “looming, ambiguous, radiant. Glowing, whole, invincible, complete.”

THE REALNESS Big news this month is that Headhunter is prepping his debut album as Addison Groove for Modeselektor’s ever reliable and forwardthinking 50 Weapons imprint. Following on from the famed Footcrab track Addison’s album Transistor Rhythm is highly anticipated and I’m making an early call that it will be one of the best of the year.

Featuring all unreleased tunes the album will also be available on triple LP coloured vinyl. It’s out Friday March 30. Meet you on the dancefloor for more footcrab madness…

Sonic wizard and experimental beatsmith Christopher Clark returns to Warp for his new album Iradelphic this March. Known for his strange time signatures and sprawling electronics, Clark’s new record

Cambridge duo Commix have been quiet lately but news has just broken that they’re set to release an album of older works written between 2003-2008 entitled Dusted. Rumours have it that this album will clear the cache of old Commix material and signal an end to their D&B sound as they evolve and change. Audio has surfaced of newer Commix material being more in vein of recent Instra:Mental/Boddika work. Dusted will be out early March on Metalheadz.

Scratcha DVA has been at the forefront of cutting edge grime and funk since the genre’s inception and is now finally ready to release his debut album statement. Entitled Pretty Ugly, the LP will showcase his innovative shuffling dancefloor manoeuvres alongside vocal turns from the likes of Fatima, Vikter Duplaix, Zaki and Musinah. It comes courtesy of the always dope Hyperdub label who in turn are set to have a massive 2012 with albums also due from Hype Williams and Cooly G. 2012 should be a big year for local artists and Mr Hill & Rahjonkas are leading the charge with their new album The Feedback which is out now through Born Fresh/ Obese Records. Looking to Canberra, promoters of all good things bass music Treehouse have now officially split from the confines of The Clubhouse and are immediately getting busy.

They’ve teamed up with Blahnket to bring the almighty duo of Hudson Mohawke and Ras G to Transit Bar on Thursday March 1.

They’re also slanging the wears of glitch badman Ill.Gates from the USA at Trinity Bar on Thursday February 2. Both big shows to add to your social calendar.

Under new control The Clubhouse is continuing to roll on with a slew of great bass music gigs giving local artists a chance to spin their wares. They’ve got Haters from Sydney on Sat Feb 4, the J-Nitrous EP launch on Sat Feb 11 and a big surprise coming on Fri Feb 17 from City Kid. Those D&B/ dubstep trooper True Jungle Souljahs are going to be taking over The Clubhouse confines on Friday March 2 for a big one too – more on this later.

To hear music from all these artists, releases and much more tune to The Antidote every Tuesday night from 9.30pm on 2XX 98.3FM or stream at www.2xxfm.org.au. An extended version of this column can be found at www.bmamag.com .

CED NADA aka ROSHAMBO roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

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METALISE A welcome surprise was the news that we’re getting a Sidewave coming off of Soundwave in all its heaving massiveness. Local Canberra folk unable to make the trek up the Hume on Sunday February 26 for the now sold out extravaganza can grab a ticket to see Lamb Of God, In Flames and The Black Dahlia Murder which is going to test the UC Refectory’s structural integrity on Thursday March 1. For about 20 bucks per international (61 smackers) you can catch three of the mega fest’s biggest names and you only have to travel to UC. Good one Soundwave. Tickets from Ticketek.

Lamb of God are on the Prosthetic Records label and recently joining their ranks on the Prosthetic partner label Lost Sheppard are Canberra’s I Exist. Securing a two album deal that sees the band’s second album The Broken Passage released in the USA on Tuesday January 31 and throughout Europe on Wednesday February 8, the band are touring Australia on the Keeping It Denim tour and play The Basement on Friday February 3 with Life & Limb, Venom Eyes and Something Must Break.

More Sidewave good news; Cathedral, one of the most important and longest running doom metal bands since the late ‘80s, are having their swan song last ever tour right here in Australia and in a nice symmetrical way, doing it with a band they first toured Australia with and who were only recently announced for Soundwave.

Paradise Lost played The ANU Bar with Cathedral and locals Alchemist all the way back in 1996 and along with Finn folk metal maniacs Turisas will be playing one of two sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne on Wednesday February 29 and Thursday March 1 respectively. I spoke to Lee Dorian just before Christmas and the band leapt at the opportunity to finish off their touring existence in Australia, before going back to the UK to record one last final record before splitting permanently. They’ve not been in Australia since the Caravan Beyond Redemption tour in 2000 so we look forward to seeing them one last time. Tickets through Ticketek and Oztix for only 37 bucks.

Fu Manchu have announced a LONG overdue return to Australia in April and so far have confirmed Sunday April 29 at Melbourne’s Cherry Rock Festival as a start and hopefully some more shows to be announced off the back of that.

Dirtypunkmutha played the works of Christbait on New Year’s with Blood Duster, and it went so well they’re doing it again in Melbourne on Saturday March 10 and then forming a new heavy band with a more original focus. Featuring members of Christbait, Blood Duster, Pillow and Legends Of Motorsport, head on down to The Tote in Collingwood to check it out.

Unkle K’s band of the week: Saturnalia Temple – www.myspace. com/saturnaliatemple – Swedish doomsters move beyond just being another E.Wizard copy.

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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POWER, RAGE, TRADITION & CRAFT Carrie Gibson For nearly two decades LAMB OF GOD have been purveyors of both wrath and legion. Capturing the gritty essence of American heavy metal they propelled metalcore into the homes of millions of enthusiasts the world over. The latest album Resolution is the follow up to their Grammy nominated album Wrath which again hits the world with a merciless force, a testament to the band’s abilities and their ever-so-unique and admired ‘we don’t give a fuck’ attitude.

We caught up with bassist John Campbell to discuss the new album and the efforts to postpone ageing. So, what can we expect?

“We have slogged our guts out for basically the entire year,” Campbell reveals. “This record is the most important record we have written so far. It’s evolution, it’s the next step. There are your heavy metal songs you expect from Lamb of God for 2012 that are lyrically darker and inspired by a lot of personal stress the members have experienced. It’s crushing, it’s inspiring and we’re really excited about getting it out there.”

There is nothing like playing your ass off to a pit of 70,000 crazed fans

For 17 years energy and excitement have typified Lamb of God, both in ethos and in their music. Campbell enthusiastically agrees. “We like the fact that our music catches you off guard,” he says. “Music has to be exciting, it has to woop ass; hearing our music live is the best way to experience it. It’s five guys who came together with their passion for heavy metal. We stay consistent; it’s been 17 years. You can trust the music to give you the same experience as we had when writing it. We don’t push development; we just grow with the music.”

This commitment to the energy of their craft generates the band’s greatest challenge. “I guess [the hardest aspect] would be writing music that we feel passionate about, that we know our fans will be passionate about, music they can relate to… Music they expect from us. Lamb of God has that bite, you know? That aggression.

We try to make sure our music always holds this quality. The effort in that is the biggest challenge hands down.”

The lyrical meanings behind the songs regarding hypocrisy and personality faults seem to stem from personal experience.

“Generally speaking they do yes,” Campbell says. “We have the primary song writers and whatever the lyrics that are chosen, we tend to make sure we put as much energy into the music behind it as we can, to send the song into over-drive.”

Lamb of God are often lauded for memorable riffs and inspirational themes. I wonder just how much longer the lads can keep the intensity up. “We’re definitely not looking forward to walking away

that’s for sure,” Campbell assures. “Lamb of God has taken a tonne of effort to have it become what it is now, with a lot of people behind it and supporting it. There is always something to say; as people we are constantly affected by the world around us. It’s all inspiring – the good and the bad. Who knows we may even be doing this whilst pushing each other’s wheelchairs onto the stage,” he laughs.

“It is a crazy lifestyle, but it’s definitely the passion for music that we all share that keeps us going,” he continues. “There is nothing like playing your ass off to a pit of 70,000 crazed fans.

We’re lucky to do what we do; lucky to tell our story and have that story resonate through to the fans. It’s a tough life also – so many sacrifices – but in the end it’s all worth it.”

Although they are old hands at this music game, their experience does not excuse them from pre album launch nerves. And pleasingly, even after 17 years, the ‘goosebumps’ of releasing new material and playing it live and loud hasn’t waned. “It’s a big record with big meaning, we spent 12 months writing the material,” Campbell says. “For the first time in our history Mark [Morton] was writing the material for Resolution whilst touring on the Wrath cycle, so many ideas were flowing, whenever he had a spare minute he was writing. It has a lot of energy poured from every direction. We put a lot of heart and soul into this record and can’t wait to unleash it.

“Unleashing a finished product you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into is both exciting and terrifying. You have your fingers crossed that it doesn’t get leaked before its release date, that really sucks. And your anticipation of feedback is high; you hope that the fans dig the music. Right now we have down time before a massive tour with Resolution. It’s a rehearsing frenzy before we hit the road! We start with a home show in Virginia on the 22nd of January, the week of release, which has us over five states doing shows, then Asia, then thought we might come rock you guys at Soundwave, then New Zealand. We have our very first shows in Alaska, South America and India this year, so yeah it’s still exciting… Seeing new places, meeting new people, getting more fans… It’s still a buzz after all these years. Touring sucks in a lot of ways too. As I said there is a lot of sacrifice involved – in the beginning it was 16 years of not making any money!” he laughs.

“But there are definitely the positives, we get to do what we do and it’s amazing.”

Article courtesy of Australia’s most brutal metal website, Metal as Fuck (www.metalasfuck.net). As well as Soundwave, Lamb of God play at the UC Refectory on Thursday March 1 with In Flames and The Black Dahlia Murder. Tix $61.50 + bf from Ticketek.

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the word

on albums

The Black Keys El Camino [Nonesuch]

album of the issue

Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys Live Free or Die!!!

[Z Man Records]

Noah Taylor’s up there with my fav Australian actors, but when I saw his name on the Homebake line-up in the guise of Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys I did, however, cringe a little; why’s he doing the actor-turned-singer thing?

Turns out he’s actually been in various bands over the past few decades. This incarnation is the winner. So the story goes Noah was on hols in Sydney (he’s lived in England for the past ten years) when a friend’s recording studio (BJB no less) suddenly became available. He penned six tracks in a week and recorded them with musical mates Ed Clayton-Jones (The Wreckery) and Cec Condon (The Mess Hall) in 24 hours. The result?

Well, in the words of Nick Cave, it’s “a flat-out, freaked out masterpiece.” The first time I spun Live Free Or Die!!! was on the Wednesday of our final working week of last year. By Friday it had bumped an unlucky contender and made it into my 2011 Top Ten. It became one of my favourite records of the year in the space of three days; such

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is the power of its ferocity and tenderness, salacious sentiments and crude humour, and unadulterated execution. Second track Fuck You, with its smashing cymbals and simple chords is the raunchiest, most honest confession of insatiability (“I wanna fuck you all night long / And all the next day too”) since QOTSA’s Make It Wit Chu. Holiday Sidewinder (what a name) from Bridezilla, who is Taylor’s goddaughter, lends her honeyed tones to Scary which really highlights Taylor’s lyrical genius: “I’m shittin’ my britches / And life is a bitch cos / I’m scared of falling in love”, while Dark and Lovely is as beautiful as it is menacing. Live Free Or Die!!! is raw rock ‘n’ roll.

It’s also bratty, occasionally incomprehensible punk (said Cave of the opener and title track “it surpasses all understanding… it’s thrills and chills all the way”). And in its quieter moments it’s whispered post-coital poetry.

It’s not often a record grabs you by the hair and has its wicked way with you and becomes a true fav in a matter of days, but Live Free Or Die!!! did exactly that.

JULIA WINTERFLOOD

The sticker attached to the cover of this latest Black Keys album reads “Play it Loud”.

This recommendation makes perfect sense from the onset of the lowdown, somewhat sleazy opening chords to Lonely Boy, an all-out rocker in the vein of that fantastic raunch from early 1970s Rolling Stones.

That wobbly decade perfectly suits the funky, stripped back yet over the top vibes suffusing each hard hitting nugget on El Camino. Like on Gold on the Ceiling, where the enthused female chorus raises the earthy rhythmic stomp to the roof in the vein of Ziggy Stardust, Marc Bolan and all those rockin’ predisco glam tunes. It all works well, so when vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach is ready to “run right back to her”, he does so to fulfil a pressing physical need expressed by the music.

I still find it fascinating that nocount ‘60s garage punk could exert a strong pull in early 21st century Ohio where the twopiece first hooked up to tap into a rock ‘n’ roll authenticity with little other than a guitar, basic drum kit and a primal desire coursing through the veins.

When the band teamed up with esteemed producer Danger Mouse in 2005 the sound opened right up particularly on Brothers from 2010, but this didn’t necessarily mean a refined sensibility was on the cards. El Camino is a conscious step back into the garage, and reveals a positive direction in the eternal quest for an essential stripped down wail.

Dan Bigna

Can Tago Mago – 40th Anniversary Edition [Mute] Tago Mago holds a special place in the hearts of many rock fans. Namely, that part where you claim to love something without actually having any idea what it is or what is sounds like, and where you proclaim known unknowns so as not to contravene critical consensus.

Lock step, most everyone falls in line behind certain canonical releases – Sgt Peppers, Exile on Main Street, Blonde on Blonde, Pet Sounds et al. The list is rotund as it is conservative.

Down those lists, for flavour, you might find this headfuck from 1971 – an epic, sprawling, and invigorating album. Over 70 minutes it lurches through prog, funk, ambient, blues, tribal thumping, proto sampling and minimalism; not for nothing did band leader Holgar Czukay study under that mad genius Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Without a doubt the centrepiece of the album is Halleluwah – 18 minutes of grinding hypnotism set to the flawless beat of human metronome Jaki Liebezeit and Damo Suzuki’s impassioned yelping it is a near-perfect representation of what Can are all about. Sands shift beneath your feet as the song veers, saunters, climaxes, falls and starts again. This lack of definition is why it remains so influential and still sounds fresh 40 years later. Despite its cultural baggage (big ups from Bobby Gillespie, John Lydon, James Murphy) Tago Mago is an extraordinary suite of music, if you actually listen to it.

JUSTIN HOOK

Chairlift Something [Columbia/Young Turks] The opening tones of Something announce a pair of young musicians determined to mine 1980s synth and tone for all its worth. It sounds like music made for an Atari game. The forceful slap-beat synth instantly brings clunky consoles, Cyndi Lauper and Flock of Seagulls haircuts to mind. This basis is created by one half of Chairlift, Patrick Wimberly. His skill lies not just in mining this territory but in moulding new and infectious tunes over the raw bones.

Where the ugly simplicity of 1980s pop music drills a hole in my head, using gentle tones and rippling keyboard tones Wimberly is able to give the music body without losing its drive.

However, the thing tying it all together is the silken voice of Caroline Polachek. Great ‘80s divas were not just singers, they were curious women of personality. For all the clichés that have arisen, women like Lauper and Madonna were surprising, affronting women.

Their voices belied insecurities, longings and great aspirations and Polachek is no different.

In the positively gothic pop numbers Ghost Tonight and Cool As A Fire it is Polachek’s song to make or break and her ethereal, sweeping voice is like a cool breeze carrying autumn leaves. Her soaring chorus on I Belong In Your Arms is as anthemic a chorus as Madonna ever pumped out. There are but a couple of tracks that pushed too far, otherwise Chairlift’s mining has struck gold.

ASHLEY THOMSON

Rachael Thoms & Luke Sweeting The Great Unknown [Independent Release] This ‘chamber jazz’ release from an ACT duo is so cool it might be straight from the ice cube tray in your freezer. It’s a very intimate two person ‘jam’, matching the incredible piano of Luke Sweeting with Rachael Thoms’ haunting vocals.

This disc, which pushes the boundaries on what jazz can be, is just one facet of the duo’s drive for new forms of musical expression. Both have their own sextets, while Luke also plays with the ANU All Stars, and Rachael also collaborates with international solo musos.

The CD overture creates a sense of mystery and adventure, with sounds of falling rain and passing cars, before Rachael’s voice illuminates the night. Songs are structured to alternately highlight the vocals and the mesmerising keys. Not all tracks have lyrics, as some are just a medium for expressing the amazing talents of this duo, with the piano jousting with Rachael’s vocal gymnastics.

The songs’ themes – ranging from a mother’s love to fear and loneliness – are expressed by both the inflections of her voice and the fingers of Sweeting, which make the piano keys sing. Highlights include the constantly evolving texture of the piano in Lonely People and Rachael’s kaleidoscopic scatting in The Great Unknown.

This is floating music to take you up high to where the oxygen is rarefied. rory mccartney

Rustie Glass Swords [Warp/Inertia]

Sear Bliss Eternal Recurrence [Candlelight Records]

Since he first emerged in ‘07, Glasgow-based electronic producer Rustie has experienced a spectacular rise thanks to his stellar Play Doe collaboration with Joker and remixes for Kelis and Nicki Minaj. On the heels of last year’s Sunburst EP, debut LP Glass Swords sees Rustie pushing his productions to even more hyper-maximal levels, with cocaine-fuelled ‘80s synth-pop, rave, slick R&B, UK funky and dubstep all figuring into the 13 tracks. It’s a monument to sheer excess, covered with sheeny alien synths, cut-up vocals and rhythmic frills, making this one of those rare records that works on a good pair of headphones as well as a booming soundsystem. The opening title track tosses the listener straight down into this gleaming lush aesthetic, as ‘80s soft-rock guitar solos stretch out over a swelling backdrop of luminous synth trails and synthvocal textures. Flash Back kicks things straight down into elastic bass-synth grooves reminiscent of some fusion between Harold Faltermeyer and Daft Punk as bright synth solos pitchbend over airy synth ambience and snatches of autotuned vocals. First single Ultra Thizz meanwhile easily comes across as one of the most detail-packed tracks I’ve heard this year, threading queasy autotuned pop vocals through a colossal backdrop of juddering G-funk synths and snapping snare breaks that flirts with dubstep’s loping crawl. A strong debut, well worth the wait.

It’s not every day that you hear a black metal band who can flit between punchy guitar riffs and smoky jazz club lead trumpet breaks. But this is the unique selling point of Sear Bliss on their delightfully demented album Eternal Recurrence.

Maybe demented is a bit too harsh. Eclectic is probably a better description since Sear Bliss control each layer and change so precisely. Headed by bassist and lead vocalist András Nagy, they are capable of blasting tracks like The Eternal Quest and the more punishingly slow There’s No Shadow Without Light with its dreamy guitar riffs. The disorienting, otherworldly atmospherics on Great Cosmic Disorder rattle inside your brain before the superb creepshow riffs of A Lost Cause kick your grey matter further into submission.

Having a horn player will certainly make you stand out, but whether it works or not is another matter. Ballad Of The Shipwrecked is by far the best track, melding the different instruments – including perfect use of Balázs Bruszel’s trumpet – and Nagy’s raspy vocals into one sweeping example of intelligent and foresighted metal.

Pounding out their dark rhythms since 1993 the finest Hungarian export since the, er, Rubik’s Cube have been slowly refining their sound. The result is seven tracks of explosive, daring, heavy, black metal.

Dan Bond

Chris Downton

37

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

I appreciate it when creative folk – writers, directors, musicians – try new things within their field. Dylan went electric. Warhol moved from being a successful commercial illustrator to a famous painter and avant-garde filmmaker.

And now Martin Scorsese has directed a children’s film.

Best known for his super-cool old-school gangster flicks, Hugo is a complete departure from this auteur – and this departure has resulted in the arrival of a kid’s film that is smart, stylish and genuinely heart-warming. There’s nary a kidnapping or brutal assault to be seen.

quote of the issue

“I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason.” Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), Hugo

Young Adult

HUGO

The Muppets

Young Adult is likely to divide young and old alike, but it will divide audiences into two different groups: those who can’t stand watching selfish, shallow, destructive protagonists on screen; and those who relish watching such interesting, honest filmmaking.

Hugo is magical, interesting and beautiful to watch – all of the things good cinema should be but so often isn’t. The film makes sure you remember that, because it’s entirely the point.

The Muppets is a clever, charming and very meta film, that will leave you smiling as you walk out of the cinema – and perhaps breaking into spontaneous song.

Since the death of his father, young Hugo has lived alone in a train station in Paris - turning the clocks for his absent uncle, stealing food, and searching for the key to a wind-up figure that his father had been trying to fix.

After a few chance meetings, the film then becomes more about the early days of cinema, the wonder of story-telling, and the importance of finding one’s purpose in the world. It sounds corny... but it’s actually kind of lovely.

Walter (voiced by Peter Linz) – a puppet, although not yet a Muppet – goes on vacation in Los Angeles to visit the abandoned Muppet Studios with his big brother Gary (a fantastic Jason Segel) and Gary’s partner Mary (a strangely stilted Amy Adams). Walter is the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and so he is horrified when he uncovers a secret plot concocted by Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to destroy Muppet Studios. The only way to save the studio is to get the gang back together and stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever!

Mavis Gary (Charlize Theron), a ghostwriter for a once-popular series of teen books, returns to her hometown when she learns that her high school sweetheart is happily married and has a newborn child. Her plan is to break up his marriage, and convince Buddy (Patrick Wilson) to return to the city with her.

Along the way she also forms a fledgling friendship with a former classmate Matt (Patton Oswalt), who is still suffering from the shadow of his high school identity, much like Mavis.

Mavis is intensely unlikable, but at the same time immediately recognisable – and for that reason, sympathetic. She is as delusional as she is beautiful, as selfish as she is pitiable, and one of the more fucked up characters onscreen in recent memory.

Young Adult marks the reunion of director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air) and Diablo Cody (United States of Tara) who made Juno together, and although their sophomore (high school pun, geddit?) effort is a lot darker and daring than their teen pregnancy flick, it retains the same dry, sardonic wit and dialogue. Young Adult, contrary to the title, is very adult.

Melissa Wellham

It’s flamboyant, but nicely executed. There may not be any gangsters or taxi drivers, but this is still Martin Scorsese at his best, and you can see his love for film come through in this venture. Maybe he’s getting a little sentimental in his older years.

While Asa Butterfield isn’t great as Hugo, excellent support from Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen and Chloe Grace Moretz (though she’s a little irritating) elevates the film.

The 3D is exceptional, actually adding to the experience of the film rather than seeming like a flashy add-on, and the setting and costumes are enchanting.

Overall, Hugo is a magnificent ode to cinema. Go, and remind yourself that cinema is amazing.

MEGAN McKEOUGH

The film is fun and frivolous, but also a little bit twisted and eccentric, in the most delightful way possible. Written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, the script is self-referential, worldreferential, reference-booksreferential. It’s pop culture eating itself, and it tastes delicious.

The show is stolen by the Muppets, and Segal and Adams stand aside to allow their furry counterparts to shine. They are zany, and vibrant, and quirky, and screwball, and now I’m just looking up synonyms in the thesaurus – because it’s hard to describe this film with fewer words. If I had to pick just one, it would be… Muppets.

It’s madcap Muppet mayhem, the whole way through.

MELISSA WELLHAM

38

the word on dvds

The Adventures of Tintin [Madman]

Horrible Bosses [Warner Home Video]

Frozen Planet [Roadshow]

Over the break you may have seen Tintin - that plucky little cub reporter forever in the middle of international incidents - on the big screen in all his 3D smoothed-out glory. There were high hopes the Spielberg/Jackson coproduction would catapult the character into public (read: American) conscience again.

He’s certainly had a lengthy respite from the limelight.

Since his breakthrough low budget debut about man-boy video game obsession (The King of Kong) Seth Gordon has ridden a rocky path. His first feature was a sodden romcom (Four Holidays), his first network TV show (Breaking In) was cancelled by Fox only to be picked up again… by Fox. And his doco about the socioeconomic publishing juggernaut Freakonomics was a false starter. To be fair, Gordon only part-directed the last one and efforts behind the lens on Parks and Recreation, Community and The Office didn’t exactly suck.

At the least, Horrible Bosses gets Gordon back on track.

At an age where most have embraced the warm glow of senility at hourly naps, David Attenborough shows no sign of slowing down. With over 50 years of service in the field, the doyen of the nature doco continues his remarkable winning streak with Frozen Planet. The third part in a quasi-trilogy (Blue Planet and Planet Earth) it was a ratings surprise bonanza for the Nine network last year – somehow overcoming one of the most inappropriate theme accompaniments in human history (that frightful Maroon 5 song). But even if you’ve already seen it, you’ll need to see it again in 1080p to marvel at its spectral grandeur.

First conceived in 1929 by Georges “Herge” Remi as his moralistic derring-do alterego, Tintin and his faithful companions Snowy the white dog and Captain Haddock the pickled sailor lit up young boys’ bedrooms for decades. Some argue the original comics - 23 complete volumes over 46 years - are cornerstones of the modern day graphic novel but Tintin represents something far bigger than oft-argued terminology. For generations he was an escape from the ordinary – a courageous ambiguously-aged cool-headed action hero. His globestraddling antics also planted seeds of travel and colourful images of the wider world young kids could only dream of.

This Canadian production from 1991 is undoubtedly the most complete screen representation of Tintin. Every major comic is covered. The animation is mostly faithful to its source; neither overly flashy nor cheap and at 22 minutes per ep the action is fast-paced and devoted almost purely to plot development. The changes reflect our modern standards – remembering that Herge was a privileged arch-conservative, reactionary colonialist and (allegedly) anti-Semite. The infamous Tintin in the Congo, where unrepentant racism is wheeled out for guffaws is, unsurprisingly, not adapted in here. So yes, the original comics had their problems. Rest assured, though, this collection is family safe and rollicking fun.

JUSTIN HOOK

Three friends (Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis and Charlie Day) are salaried schlubs in hate/hate relationships with their bosses. An off the cuff suggestion to murder their superiors is put into action and quicker than you can say “Gee, didn’t see that coming” matters spin hopelessly out of control. The trio enlist the help of a hit-man (Jamie Foxx) and they’re off; each responsible for murdering one of their friend’s bosses. Poor planning, stupidity and/or poor advice ensue from their hit-man contact, who runs into trouble of his own.

Horrible Bosses doesn’t aim high and is quite a successful film as a result. Whilst charting the same stunted manboy path as Judd Apatow’s sausage movie factory, it has plenty of charm. The casting is extravagantly strong - Kevin Spacey and Colin Farrell anchor the film in equal parts mendacity and stupidity, respectively. Hell, even Anniston is not especially terrible. But the critical factor in this film’s lustre is Charlie Day – the manic, rat-faced, highpitched freak from TV’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, spinning uncontrollably all over the film, stealing an already enjoyable show with graceful lunacy. See it for Charlie.

JUSTIN HOOK

Filmed natively in HD this seven part series focuses on the upper and lower extremities of our planet; the Arctic and the Antarctic. Documenting the lives of these animals is mindboggling. Not only for the technical skill required (covered helpfully at the end of each episode instead of as a special feature) but the animals themselves. The woolly bear caterpillar spends a few weeks every summer eating, growing and having a lark then returns to its nest to be frozen – blood, body, everything – for the rest of the year. Its heart stops beating.

Come summer the process is repeated... For 14 years before it can finally emerge as a moth. That is dedication. Now imagine capturing these harsh extremes on film. Go on – try.

Elsewhere penguins goof off, killer sharks hunt said penguins and polar bears fall around in snow looking like adverts for adorable cuteness.

A couple of minor points of controversy that swirled around this production (a bear cub birthed in captivity; some uncomfortable comments about climate change) fail to derail this stunning and visually arresting series.

JUSTIN HOOK

39

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

Rayman Origins Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier Platforms: PS3, 360, Wii, 3DS, Vita Length: 5+ hrs Rating: Go halves with a mate One of the unexpected hits of 2011 was the highly colourful Rayman Origins.

Back from the dead, Rayman’s latest adventure received a great reception, not least because it offered a reprise from the onslaught of high action, blockbuster titles. But I must admit, whilst it certainly was an enjoyable title, particularly when carving through it with a mate, there was part of me wondering if I was liking it as much as I thought I would.

It’s hard to hold a grudge against a game for being overhyped, but that certainly won’t stop me from trying to set your expectations to a more realistic level. Everything that has been said about the beauty of this game definitely holds true. There’s a fluency and crispness to the visuals that makes it a delight even just to watch. In this sense, I was kinda hoping there would be more of cut scenedriven story to it, but I wasn’t exactly surprised when there wasn’t. It is a platformer after all.

Even without a story, there’s a good bit of comedy slipped in there, with some solid pelvic thrusting, some test tube dry humping and even some bouncing boobs to keep you chuckling.

My qualm is with the gameplay.

Origins is a classic platformer, for better or worse. While the content is tried, tested and stunningly executed, it’s also not overly original. In fact, in trying to pick out a distinctive gameplay element, the best example that comes to mind are the various game homages, which in itself is a bit of an oxymoron. Even within the game itself there’s a good amount of repetition, with each world following the same template design, down to the near-identical damsels in distress. The extra abilities picked up along the way do help to keep the gameplay a bit fresh, but none of them particularly reinvigorate the game. With it also lacking much variation between enemies and very few larger, bossstyle foes, the game starts to tire after a while.

With that said, this is far from a bad game. The co-op alone makes it a very enjoyable experience, assuming your mate isn’t a dickhead. At the full price tag, the cost of the game is possibly a little steep, but even still, there’s much fun to be had here.

TORBEN SKO

40

TV comedies, like good drama, need really good writing and at least one cast member with exceptional skills. Comedy, though, also needs the ability to hook you in from the very beginning. Audiences will forgive a lumbering drama, conceding that a complex backstory needs to be put in place. But when it comes to comedy, if it doesn’t make you laugh by the first ad break, you ain’t going back. Ever.

Fortunately New Girl (SCTEN, Sun, 8pm) had Chez Blackbox in stitches by the time the opening credits started. Zooey Deschanel stars as Jess, the geeky flatmate of three guys. The schmaltzy moments are still funny and Chez Blackbox has already adopted the douchebag jar. The only thing SCTEN could do to improve its Sunday line-up is drop the irritating cross promos from The Project people.

Outland (ABC2, Wed Feb 8, 9.30pm) looks promising in an absurd kind of way. The Adam Richard penned comedy about a gay science fiction fan club, is a comical farce in the great British-Australian tradition of over-exaggeration. Coincidentally one of the best British examples from the late ‘80s returns this fortnight – Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary Specials (ABC1, Wed Feb 8, 8pm) revisits Eddy and Pats over two weeks, for a few bolly stolly cocktails. If you haven’t seen the original, get to the DVD store now.

Also back from the dead is Minder (ABC1, Sat Feb 11, 6.10pm). Britain may have moved on but the dodgy businessman from the East End is a stereotype that’s hard to shake.

Chez Blackbox knows that with all your fav series returning you only have room for a couple of new shows. Don’t waste it on Suburgatory (Go!, Sun Feb 5, 8.30pm) – a fish out of water comedy about a NYC teenager who moves to the burbs. Desperate Housewives (Prime, Thu, 8.30pm) and Weeds (GEM, TBC) have already done cartoon suburban pastiche.

Series returns include House (SCTEN, Sun Feb 5, 9.35pm), Talkin’ ‘bout Your Generation (SCTEN, Wed Feb 8, 8pm), Glee (SCTEN, Fri, 7pm), An Idiot Abroad: Bucket List (SCTEN, Sat Feb 4, 7.30pm), CSI (WIN, Thu Feb 2, 9pm), Adam Hills in Gordon St (ABC1, Wed Feb 8, 8.30pm), Dexter (SCTEN, Tue, 9.30pm), The Office (SCTEN, Tue, 9pm), How I Met Your Mother (Prime, Mon, 9.40pm), The Tudors (ABC2, Mon Feb 13, 9.30pm) and Damages (WIN, Tue Jan 31, 1am).

Docos to check out include the four part Putin, Russia and The West (SBS1, Wed Feb 1, 9.30pm) which looks at the world’s favourite action hero, Dancing with Dictators (ABC2, Sun Feb 12, 10pm) about Burma’s only media company, Singapore 1942 – End of Empire (SBS1, Fri Feb 10, 8.30pm), the four part History of Celtic Britain (SBS1, Sun Feb 5, 7.30pm) with the incredibly intense Neil Oliver who could probably look at joining the cast of Minder if archaeology doesn’t work out.

Movies on offer include Star Trek (2009) (SCTEN, Wed Feb 8, 9.30pm), The Sound of Music (Fri Feb 10, 8pm), The Towering Inferno (GEM, Sat Feb 4, 4.10pm), When Harry Met Sally (GEM, Sun Feb 5, 8.30pm) and Dracula Prince of Darkness (GEM, Mon Feb 6, 1.50am).

Chez Blackbox has joined the twitterverse. Look out.

Twitter: @ChezBlackbox TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

41

GIG GUIDE Feb 01 - Feb 04 wednesday February 01 arts Self Titled

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Plucked Part 1 – Sculpture

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA sculpture department. ‘Til Feb 3.

GALLERY@BCS

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Transition – A Captured Moment Winner of the 2011 Ranamok Prize, Masahiro Asaka exhibits his new series.

‘Til March 15.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Misklectic

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

Lament

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dance Latin Wednesdays MONKEY BAR

Live

Dirty Water

Lament

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Tunes on the Green

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

UC

Misklectic

Bears With Guns, The Soda Pops, 2 Towns. 12-3pm, free.

Ungus Ungus Ungus

Progressive funk rock gypsy pop psychedelia. With Big Score. 7.30pm, $8.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

Dance

Lament

Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy retro! Free entry, 8pm start.

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

Cheese/Retro TRANSIT BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

REV

Kicks off at 7.30pm, book your table early!

Dance

BAR 32

Roller Skate in the City

9pm ‘til 5am with DJ Pete. Two for one drinks ‘til 11pm plus free pool all night long.

Something Different Fame Trivia TRANSIT BAR

Open air roller skate rink, feat. roller derby demonstrations, retro movie nights, roller disco.

GAREMA PLACE

thursday February 02 arts Self Titled

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Plucked Part 1 – Sculpture

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA sculpture department. ‘Til Feb 3.

GALLERY@BCS

Cube Thursdays

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Ashley Feraude

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live

Indie DJs from 10 ‘til late. $5 before midnight.

Dem Slackers (Holland)

With Peking Duk, Lost the Plot, Kazuki, Naynay and more. Free before 10pm.

TRINITY BAR

Nathan Frost

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Havana Nights

Feat. Trent Richardson, DJ Flako and DJ Spink.

MONKEY BAR

Tunes on the Green

Set Sail, The Streetlight Parade, 2 Towns. 1-4pm, free.

UC

The Hillbilly Goats, Brass Knuckle Brass Band

Up-tempo arrangements of MountainGrass Music and Old Time Blues.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Second Sun

Jason Recliner, Drew Walky. 9pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Set Sail

With Streetlight Parade. Doors 8pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Something Different Roller Skate in the City

Open air roller skate rink, feat. roller derby demonstrations, retro movie nights, roller disco.

GAREMA PLACE

friday February 03 arts Self Titled

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

RNB Heat ‘90s Edition Presented by Fambiz.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Live The Lighthouse Keepers Last Canberra Show Presented by the CMC. 8pm, $25.

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Charles Chatain 8.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

The Widowbirds

With Yes/ No and Lachie Doley. 8pm, $10.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

O Yeah!

Feat. Hungary Kids of Hunary, Loon Lake, Atluk. Tix through Moshtix.

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

Matt Dent From 7pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

I Exist

With Life & Limb, Venom Eyes and Something Must Break.

THE BASEMENT

Key Grip 8pm.

OLD CANBERRA INN

Something Different

Autoluminescent: Roland S Howard

Roller Skate in the City

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

GAREMA PLACE

The new doco on the life of The Birthday Party guitarist. 7pm.

Plucked Part 1 – Sculpture

Open air roller skate rink, feat. roller derby demonstrations, retro movie nights, roller disco.

saturday February 04

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA sculpture department. ‘Til Feb 3.

arts

Solstice Eyes

Arc - Outdoor Cinema

GALLERY@BCS

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

The Wages of Fear (1953, PG). Doors at 7pm for a sunset start.

Dirty Water

Self Titled

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

Misklectic

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

42

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

43

GIG GUIDE Feb 04 - Feb 09 saturday February 04

sunday February 05

arts

arts

Solstice Eyes

Lament

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Lament

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dance PBJ

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

Self Titled

Steve Mink, Eldred, Andrea Kay, Cheese and more.

TRINITY BAR

Haters

THE CLUBHOUSE

Timber

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Urban Playground

Feat. DJ Karma and Joeyjoe.

MONKEY BAR

Love Saturdays Launch With Pred.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

THE STREET THEATRE

The Firetree and Ollie Brown Sublime harmonies, contrasting yet complimentary vocals, superb songwriting, 8pm, $8.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The King Hits

The Professor. 9.30pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Incubus

Playing their greatest hits along with their new stuff. Tix through Ticketek.

Carry On Karaoke

All your sing along favourites and current chart hits available. 9.30pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Roller Skate in the City

Open air roller skate rink, feat. roller derby demonstrations, retro movie nights, roller disco.

GAREMA PLACE

UC REFECTORY

Big Score, Pocket Fox, Matt Dent. 8pm.

With Guineafowl. Tix through Ticketek.

Killer Quadruple Line-up

Rohin Jones, Camperdown & Out, Tender Bones, The Broken Needles. $8, 8pm.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Dirty Water

Fame Trivia

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

Hospitality Sundays

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

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Free entry, bookings are essential. 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

tuesday February 07 arts An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

The Shed Sessions

Self Titled

Featuring Liz Frencham. 2pm, paper money donation.

THE ARTISTS SHED

Sunday Session

NeonHoney, MDM, The Barren Spinsters. 3pm, free.

POT BELLY BAR

The Hillbilly Goats 3pm, free.

ROSE COTTAGE

From 1pm.

Reece Mastin - X Factor Winner With Jonny Ruffo. 5.30pm.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB WODEN

Matt Dent

CHARLIE BLACKS

Something Different Burlesque Bazaar

Many stalls selling all things burlesque.

11am. $5.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Roller Skate in the City

Open air roller skate rink, feat. roller derby demonstrations, retro movie nights, roller disco.

GAREMA PLACE

monday February 06 arts Lament

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

GALLERY@BCS

Solstice Eyes

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

wednesday February 08 arts Lament An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Self Titled

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

GALLERY@BCS

Solstice Eyes

Self Titled

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

THE PHOENIX PUB

With special guests. 8pm, $30. No presales, door sales only. anu bar

Something Different Fame Trivia

Free entry, bookings are essential. 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Lament

Live

Solstice Eyes

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TRANSIT BAR

Free entry, sweet sounds from 8pm.

Scott Kelly (Neurosis) & John Baizley (Baroness)-

ROYAL THEATRE

Something Different

BMA Presents Givers and Portugal. The Man

Something Different

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

8pm, $35/$32 conc/$30 groups 4+/$24 students.

Live

The Kujo Kings

The Hillbillygoats

Fred Smith – Dust of Uruzgan

MONKEY BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

The Chess Club

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Latin Wednesdays

THE PHOENIX PUB

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

Live Bluegrass, hillbilly roots and old-time blues with a modern kick. With Dr Stovepipe. 8pm.

Dance

Biscuits Crew

Solstice Eyes

Cube Saturdays

La Musique

Dance

CMC Presents The Bootleg Sessions

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dance

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Live

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt & Pete.

Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm.

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

Free entry, 8pm start.

TRANSIT BAR

Dirty Water

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

thursday February 09 arts Lament

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Self Titled

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

GALLERY@BCS

Solstice Eyes

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dance Cube Thursdays

9pm ‘til 5am with DJ Pete. Two for one drinks ‘til 11pm plus free pool all night long.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Ced Nada

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Live Sleepmakeswaves

With River Of Snakes (Raul from Magic Dirt’s new sounds). Presale from Moshtix, doors 8pm.

TRANSIT BAR

Van Walker

A prolific songwriting talent, a brilliant performer and a star worthy of wider recognition. $10, $7 THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Crash the Curb

Kempsey, Jonesez. 9pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

GIG GUIDE Feb 10 - Feb 15 friday February 10

saturday February 11

arts

arts

arts

Lament

Arc - Outdoor Cinema

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

GALLERY@BCS

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, M).

Doors at 7 for a sunset start.

Self Titled

Lament

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

GALLERY@BCS

An exhibition by U.K. Frederick. ‘Til Feb 11.

Autoluminescent: Roland S Howard The new doco on the life of The Birthday Party guitarist. 2pm.

Misklectic

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

An exhibition by Clem Baker-Finch. ‘Til Feb 11.

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

Self Titled

Solstice Eyes

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Dance REV

Indie DJs from 10 ‘til late. $5 before midnight.

BAR 32

Architect DJs

And friends. Free entry, 8pm.

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

GALLERY@BCS

Misklectic

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

Solstice Eyes

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Dirty Water

An exhibition by Alison Alder. ‘Til Feb 11.

THE STREET THEATRE

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

James Fahy, No Stars, Cracked Actor, NOZL. 8pm.

An exhibition by Lisa Twomey curated

by Alice Dickins. ‘Til Feb 12.

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

Punk, hardcore, pop anthems and party tunes.

Spenda C

TRINITY BAR

Nightless Lovers 4pm.

GALLERY@BCS

OLD CANBERRA INN

Misklectic

The Shed Sessions

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

Launch of the new Artsound FM program feat. The Beez. 12pm, paper money donation.

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

THE ARTISTS SHED

wednesday February 15

Jack Carty

Strumming songs and stories off his brand new album Break Your Own Heart.

arts

Bluesmoke

THE PHOENIX PUB

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Bad!Slam!No! Biscuit!

Live

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

James Leg

Azadoota

Traditional Assyrian dabke with Arabic, Latin, flamenco and pop. 8pm, $10.

THE PHOENIX PUB

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

monday February 13

Ann Vriend and James Forrest

Vriend will grace The Front with her lustrous melodies and heart felt songs.

8pm, $10.

arts

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Matt Dent

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

MCF Official Afterparty

DJ Donbear, live percussionist Eddie Caceres (Chile) and more.

THE CLUBHOUSE

Princi

GALLERY@BCS

Academy Fridays

MCF Official Afterparty

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

With Tydi.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Live Joel Harrison

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Feat. Agee Ortiz (Syd), Donbear, Samba Carnaval and performances.

Purple Sneakers

Bands and DJs, $10, from 8pm.

Raw City Rukus Genesis EP Launch

TRANSIT BAR

Grün

Steve Tyson CD Launch

Hinterland. 9.30pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different

With Trev Dunham. 7.30pm, $17/$14/$12 (MFS members).

Carry On Karaoke

O No!

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

THE MERRY MUSE

Bumblebeez, Koolism, Sosueme DJs. Tix through Moshtix.

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

The Bridge Between From 7pm.

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

Something Different Fame Trivia

Free entry, bookings are essential. 6pm.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Live

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Misklectic

CHARLIE BLACKS

MONKEY BAR

8.30pm.

With D’Opus and Roshambo, Moneykat, Onetalk and DJ Rush. $12.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

J.Nitrous EP Launch

MONKEY BAR

BMA Mag Presents The Bootleg Sessions

Plucked Part 2 – Textiles

Live

BAR 32

With F3tch.

7pm, $15.

arts

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Justice Crew

The Get-Up Club

The Hidden Sorrows

tuesday February 14

Hospitality Sundays

Cube Saturdays

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

With Life and Limb and Mornings. Tix through Mosthix.

Solstice Eyes

Burn In Hell. 7.30pm.

SOUTHERN CROSS CLUB

La Dispute

CANBERRA CITY FRAMING GALLERY

Dance 10pm ‘til 5am with DJs Matt & Pete.

Two for one drinks and free entry until 11pm.

Live

THE BASEMENT

Jemist

A night of pure dance energy. Bookings 6283 7288.

TRANSIT BAR

The oeuvre of Misklectic challenges ideas of visual separation. ‘Til March 3.

Sampology KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Free entry, sweet sounds from 8pm.

Misklectic

From 1pm.

TRINITY BAR

Biscuits Crew

Works by graduates of the 2011 ANUSOA textiles department. ‘Til Feb 17.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

TRANSIT BAR

Dance

sunday February 12

All your sing along favourites and current chart hits available. 9.30pm.

OUT Feb 15

CORINBANK BRITISH INDIA DICKENS’ WOMEN ENLIGHTEN PHOENIX BOOTLEGS 10TH BIRTHDAY ...and more!

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FIRST CONTACT

SIDE A: BMA dj profile

Brenton K Describe your sound: Deep tech and house with a splash of disco.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Musically I listen to a fair bit of jazz.

Both the classic artists like Miles, Coltrane and Bill Evans but also more modern like Robert Glasper. I’m really into the beatdown disco and slow house sound that’s being really pushed by labels like Sleazy Beats, Dikso and Wolf Music.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? I had a set outside in the ANU beer garden and just happened to look up from the decks for a moment and saw a guy in nothing but his underwear run through, past the decks and out the back. It was so quick I wasn’t sure if it had actually happened for a moment!

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Proudest moments for me are really any gig where you get to support an artist you really respect and admire.

Standouts for me though would have to be Butch, Marc Romboy and Jaytech.

What are your plans for the future? I’m running uniVibes this year which has already been hectic. We have some great events planned both for O-Week and for the rest of the year and its going to be full on but I think really rewarding at the same time.

What makes you laugh? Almost everything. I have a habit of laughing at awkward situations or laughing at inappropriate moments.

What pisses you off? People requesting David Guetta. Just please don’t do it...

What’s your opinion of the local scene? People give Canberra a lot of stick but it’s more about finding those select parties and events that will be awesome. In my experience these are often run by the smaller promoters that just do it for the love. Canberra has some great veterans who are so consistently good as well as some young guys who are really talented and really looking for ways to push their performances. I think that while many people would like the scene to be bigger/better etc, while there are these individuals pushing their sound and performing there will always be great parties to go to.

What are your upcoming gigs? I will be playing all around ANU for O-Week along with other uniVibes DJs and bands.

Contact info: brentonkalisch@hotmail.com, www. soundcloud.com/user1724688

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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

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