BMA Mag 390 March 14 2012 by BMA Magazine

CANBERRA’S NO.1 FREE ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE #390 MARCH14

“

if i was a cook i’d be writin’ out

‘revolution’ with broccoli

HILLTOP HOODS+HOLLY THROSBA PLAYY INSIDE INSIDE SNAKADAKTAL+MIDSUMMER ( ) FUNKOARS+FLICKERFEST WITH SONGS

”

www.bmamag.com

Song Summit 2012

I get by with a little help from my friends. #390MARCH14 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Advertising Manager Paul Foley T: 6257 4360 E: sales@bmamag.com

Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Yu Xie T: 02 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Super Sub-Editor Josh Brown Graphic Design Cole Bennetts Exhibitionist Editor Julia Winterflood E: editorial@bmamag.com Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 390 OUT MARCH 28 EDITORIAL DEADLINE MARCH 19 ADVERTISING DEADLINE MARCH 22 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.

APRA|AMCOS’s Song Summit is a three-day creative, businessdevelopment and networking expo designed to provide songwriters with educational support as well as networking and business opportunities to help further their musical careers. The three day program held at the Sydney Convention Centre from Saturday May 26 to Monday May 28 includes live performances by international and local talent as well as workshops, conferences, showcases and networking opps. Acclaimed songwriters and musicians Neil Finn and Paul Kelly will be speaking, along with Dave Batty, The Jezebels manager, Rick Chen, co-founder of Pozible, Jen Cloher, Marc Fennell, Paul Kelly and many, many more. If you’re serious about making it in the music biz Song Summit is invaluable. For all the info head to www.songsummit.com.au .

Canberra Roller Derby League 2012 season Missing your favourite roller girls? Well, 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. Each of CRDL’s teams is raring to rip into the new season and make their mark, while also introducing their new recruits. From the first bout onwards, each team will introduce an enthusiastic batch of fresh skaters. CRDL’s newest members are previously dedicated fans who aspired to join the fray, training for months to meet the gruelling standards necessary to become bouting

Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band at the Polish Club The Canberra Musicians Club proudly presents Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band on the Canberra leg of their 2012 Australian tour, with local support from The Wedded Bliss. Grammy Award winner and six time Grammy nominee, Peter Rowan is a bluegrass singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades. From his early years playing under the tutelage of bluegrass patriarch Bill Monroe, Peter’s stint in Old & In the Way with Jerry Garcia and his subsequent breakout as both a solo performer and bandleader, Rowan has built a devoted, international fan base through his continuous stream of original recordings, collaborative projects, and constant touring. The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band consists of outstanding musicians with over 100 years of combined recording and performance experience. Joining guitarist Peter Rowan are Michael Witcher on dobro, Keith Little on banjo, and Paul Knight on bass. It’s all happening on Wednesday March 21 at the White Eagle Polish Club, opposite the O’Connor shops. $30/$25 for CMC members.

Ensemble Offspring present New Radicals Unearthing the sonic possibilities of the acoustic and the electronic, Ensemble Offspring present New Radicals to kick off their 2012 program. This is new music to be seen,

heard and most importantly felt. It’s modern folk music gone insane – think megaphones, bell laden gloves and a mass of melodicas. Introducing the remarkable sound spectrums of six cutting edge composers hand picked from around the globe, New Radicals is sure to excite and push the envelope. Check it out at The Street Theatre on Sunday April 1. Tickets $25/$15. www. thestreet.org.au .

the Brian Jonestown Massacre play ANU Bar Principal Entertainment are proud to present legendary psychedelic rockers The Brian Jonestown Massacre along with Danish indie rock duo The Raveonettes in Australia for the first time this May. They’re playing the ANU Refectory on Friday (woo!) May 18. Australian audiences would need no introduction to The Brian Jonestown Massacre or indeed to their enigmatic musical director Anton Newcombe. The psychedelic collective have been embraced by Australian fans who have rewarded the band with numerous sold out shows in the past with punters eager to see what the next genre defying salvo delivered by Newcombe and his cohorts will be. The next quiver from Newcombe’s musical bow is the forthcoming album Aufheben which will be released in Australia on April 30. Aufheben was recorded in Berlin in Anton Newcombe’s studio and the infamous East German Radio Station Studio East. The BJM will be joined in Australia by the fabulous Raveonettes. Tickets are on sale now through Oztix and Moshtix.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre play ANU Bar

skaters. Doors for each game open at 5pm with the game starting at 6. Tix through Oztix.

FROM THE BOSSMAN Dearest Lady Alcohol, It’s been seven days since I last saw you, and I think you know the reason why. When you first came into my life - me as a gangly teenager who didn’t know his arse from his elbow - it was like a rush; all my senses tingled, my eyes were opened, in short... I fell in love. I grew up so quickly then. For years - nay, for as long as I can remember - you were there to greet me like a warm friend at the end of a hard day. You were there to offer a hearty backslap during times of celebration and a warm hug during moments of solace and despair. Lady Alcohol, in the early days you were always there for me when I needed you; I loved you for that, and probably always will. As the years rolled on and the stress of life increased, our relationship shifted. We went from being good friends to devilish companions; overstaying our welcome at happy and sad occasions alike to the detriment of us both. By the time it came to the end of a hard day, we had seen so much of each other already that the occasion had soured. I can sense you feel it too. As you know, the relationship worsened further once we hung out all the time. Freewheeling blindly together through the early hours of a weekday morning, followed sometimes by the rough, haggard kiss of first light where our breath stank like the hair of a dog. It was at these low moments that I knew the relationship had crossed the line.

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 my friends bombarding me about Konny2012 - do your own research, don’t donate to a sketchy charity such as invisible children, do donate to bona fide charities based in Uganda. Your uncritical slacktivism pisses me off. To the rubber neckers of canberra who decided that the dam overflowing meant you could park illegally and overtake the single lane bridge as pedestrians and not move out of the way for residents who were trying to get home, you pissed me off. How would you like it if 50 of my friends came and stood around in your street, blocking you from getting home, and flipped you the bird when you beeped to try and get us out of the way. To the salty bitch at the bus stop at Circular Quay in Sydney last night after Bon Iver, was it really necessary to be such a salty bitch when i was simply asking if ‘that bus goes to Newtown?’. I’m sorry that its 12:00 at night and i’m not from Sydney and i don’t want to get on the wrong bus and get raped and murdered! A simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed, i didn’t care for your snide grunt and dirty look. Next time someone asks you for help, maybe try being NICE, and you might end up with some good karma!

And so it is I write to you, Lady Alcohol, to say that I quit you. I know you have heard this platitude from me countless times before, with head hazy in thought and pounding with regret, but this time I mean it. It’s over. I know that the timing is terrible - we had so much planned together for the You Are Here and Canberra Festival shenanigans, not to mention my birthday coming up where we would usually enjoy a spirited 12 hours in each other’s company. I won’t lie; I shall miss snuggling together in the confines of a dark pub as we bathe in others’ artistic talent, or to see you dressed in finery in an up market restaurant. I shall miss the giddy thrill we enjoyed in the early years. But we both know we’re bad for each other, and it must end before one of us gets killed. Don’t sud up. I know you’ll find another. We’ll always have Paris (what a blinder of a weekend that was). And maybe one day, a long time from now, we can pop out for a quick meal or say a brief hello if we cross eyes at the pub. But until that time this is goodbye. As we always used to jokingly say to each other - stay out of trouble. Yours Regretfully, ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com NB: Whoa, whoa whoa... What the hell was that?!? I thought this was meant to be a humour column? Well worry not, gang. Allan will be back to his usual whacky funster antics next issue where he will wrestle with such heavyweight issues as greasy glasses, penis billboards and muscled kittens.

WHO: Bob Log III WHAT: One Man Band Slide Guitar Party WHEN: Mon March 19 WHERE: The Phoenix

Bob Log III is an “American Slide Guitar One Man Band”. He plays old silvertone archtop guitars, wears a full body cannonball man suit, and a helmet wired to a microphone which allows him to devote his hands and feet to guitar and drums. The spectacle has been described as a guitar dance party, full of sweaty smiles, jumps and kicks. Playing over 150 shows a year in more than 30 countries, Log and his guitar never, ever quit. His version of quick Delta blues sounds like three drummers, two guitar players, and one sort of singer. This is sure to be one of ‘those’ nights at Phoenix, so miss it at your peril.

WHO: The Waysmiths WHAT: With Tonk, London Circuit, Deathcap Mushroom WHEN: Fri March 23 WHERE: The Greenroom, Woden Tradies

The Waysmiths have been around the traps for a few years now and since crafting their debut album Your Home Town are starting to stretch their musical legs to explore the nation and join their mates on the road. The band is made up of musicians from the ACT and Sydney and they’re buzzed about returning home for their first show in a while, and are particularly excited to play the impressive (new) Greenroom. You Home Town is out now through MGM and will be available at Landspeed Records and on iTunes from 2012. $10/free for members. 8pm.

WHO: Freyja’s Rain WHAT: Debut LP Pozible Fund WHEN: Now! WHERE: www. freyjasrain. pozible.com

Freyja’s Rain have been inspiring Canberra audiences for three years with their catchy tunes. Jenny Sawer’s soulful voice weaves heartfelt lyrics with a unique style influenced by blues, jazz and gospel. Inspired by musicians such as Eva Cassidy, Joni Mitchell and Adele, she sings of love, loss and being outrageous. Combined with Alan Hilvert-Bruce’s elegant guitar, Leonie Gall’s funky bass and Mark Lever’s jazz-inspired drumming, Freyja’s Rain are a tight outfit that always get crowds singing and dancing. They are releasing their first full-length album Outrageous in 2012 and need your support to fund it. Head to www.freyjasrain.pozible.com for details.

WHO: Ruth O’Brien WHAT: Light & Shade WHEN: Friday-Saturday March 30-31 WHERE: Tuggeranong Arts Centre

Local Canberra singer-songwriter Ruth O’Brien will perform her original compositions and cover some of her favourite jazz, pop and soul tunes at the end of the month. A recipient of the most recent round of artsACT Start-Up grants, Ruth has been working hard to bring together a polished and professional show. Performing alongside her will be Alan Hilvert-Bruce (guitar), Matt Smith (bass), Clare Dawson (keys) and Taliya Blom (drums). If you’re a fan of sultry jazz, blues and cabaret-style music, this show is not to be missed. Tickets can be purchased from the Tuggeranong Arts Centre on 6293 1443 for $15.

WHO: Zoopagoo WHAT: Canberra’s newest funk outfit WHEN: March 16 and March 22 WHERE: The Phoenix and The Front

“We don’t ignite the dancefloor – we send it into spontaneous combustion!” So says Zedman, Six String Twanga of Canberra’s newest eight-piece “Paladins of Funk” Zoopagoo. The charismatic Funklestiltskin Chickenstrut (formerly of Changeable Dan) fronts this crack squad and exudes sexuality sending dancers into a voodoo like trance. “At the end of the gig the dancers are just like a quivering mass of jelly legged, sweat covered beasts, such is his aura,” says the man himself. Ha. With a horn laden back line including the O.P. (Original Playa) on bass, Zoopagoo are here to party. Catch them at The Phoenix and The Front!

WHO: The Bon Scotts WHAT: Unique folk-pop WHEN: Wed March 28 WHERE: The Front Café and Gallery

The Bon Scotts play a unique brand of folk-pop full of sarcastic rebellions, sweet melodies, arresting percussion, and sing-along choruses. It’s an infectious blend of playful cynicism and youthful fancy, laced with irony and hype, unconventional hooks and a distinct, eclectic sound that has won over audiences nationwide. From their passionate recordings to their intense live show, The Bon Scotts demonstrate they are superb songwriters, musicians and performers. Amongst this collection of multi-instrumentalists you’ll find a charismatic union of found sounds; rickety rhythms, acoustic pounding and bellowing choruses. 8pm, $10.

TIM GALVIN On a warm Saturday afternoon in New York City, Mickey Mantle slammed a fast ball over the fence – his last home run at Yankee Stadium. Groups of shabby teenagers queued outside the Rochester cinema for the opening day of American Graffiti and over in the Bronx, the religion of hip-hop was born. It was the 11th of August, 1973 and on this day Lawrence Parker aka KRS-ONE aka The Teacha had a musical and spiritual epiphany that would shape the next two generations of American music. “According to legend, which is a true story I might add, Cindy, who was Kool Herc’s sister, was having a birthday party and asked Kool Herc to DJ there,” says KRS. “He started playin’ at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in a community centre in the Bronx and after he finished it just got so big that he had to come outside into this park. He had this huge sound system and was playing just two turntables. That’s where I got my first taste.”

If I was a cook I would be cooking something that had the same message; I’d be writin’ out ‘revolution’ with broccoli

For the better part of the next decade, KRS dabbled in MCing but it wasn’t until 1984 that he began taking the idea of becoming a full time music artist seriously.

“It wasn’t until I met DJ Scott La Rock. He was actually a social worker and I was one of the homeless people in a men’s shelter,” he says. “He asked me ‘What is your profession?’ and I said ‘I’m an MC’ and usually when I said that to a social worker they would laugh it off and be like ‘Tell me what you really do’ but when I said it to him he said ‘What do you mean you are an MC? Do you mean you want to be signed?’ and I was like ‘Oh! I can’t believe he is asking me serious questions about this’. I realised that he was a DJ and he invited me down to Broadway International, which was a club down in Manhattan and that was like my other real taste of hip-hop.” The two formed an unbreakable bond and in 1987 they, along with D-Nice, formed the infamous trio Boogie Down Productions, whom many credit for the birth of early gangsta rap music. Many years and countless hit records later, KRS is using his musical talents as a vehicle for worldwide spiritual enlightenment. He considers hip-hop to be a religion; a faith with as much credibility as any conventional theology and he speaks about it with such passionate conviction that it starts to make mainstream pietism seem almost ludicrous.

“I’m looking to start hip-hop as a nation, as a legitimate nation in the world. I want to start things off as a tribe and work our way up from there. Hip-hop is just starting to realise that it is a community but KRS is always the one who is ahead of the game,” he says. “This is something that average hip-hop minds can’t comprehend but I think I could achieve this in my lifetime. I’m passionate about nation building.” Every religion needs a place of worship and in 1996 he formed The Temple of Hip-Hop, a cultural mecca for the art of urban expression. It was the tactile embodiment of the hip-hop movement, a repository of the mind, a place for likeminded souls to learn in a way that they understood and trusted. “When we were coming up in the ‘70s we had no political standing in our own country, we couldn’t influence any voting or any local government. What we were being taught in schools completely degraded us and offered us no inspiration,” he says. “When I first announced The Temple of Hip-Hop in 1996, the first thing I got was ‘Oh this is a cult and you are a cult leader!’ so I had to fight that for five years,” he says, with a booming laugh. “Back in 1997 I did a census where we asked people ‘What is hip-hop?’ and the best part was that I had used these explanations to write the gospel of hip-hop. So I’m letting Australians know that there is no distance between us, you are helping to create the hip-hop that we are living today, you guys are co-authors on this and I have the files to prove it!” Those who are down with the KRS will be excited to see what he can deliver once the lights go down and the bass is turned way up to 11, so open your ears and open your mind for The Teacha’s gospel. “I’m here to bring light to people’s own culture. You know, Aboriginal kids are more interested in playing modernised synthesizers and drum machines as opposed to picking up the didgeridoo,” he says. “I’m here to put on a real show. It’s gonna be straight up savagery. Loin cloth and spear. This will be a show you will have never seen before, this is raw hip-hop in your face and I’ll show you what raw means. I’m goin’ all out. It’s just what I do and who I am. You know, if I was a cook I would be cooking something that had the same message, I’d be writin’ out ‘revolution’ with broccoli.” KRS-One is not just a brand or a façade, if anything the man himself seems almost bigger and badder than his on stage persona. His words are prodigious but so are his exploits, so when the KRS speaks, you had better listen. Catch KRS-One live at The Southern Cross Club on Friday April 13. Tickets cost $85 + bf and are available through Moshtix.

fireworks display in Skyfire’s long history. The fireworks will go off to a soundtrack created by FM104.7 specifically for the event.

ALL AGES On Saturday March 17 you can enjoy Canberra’s FM104.7 Skyfire spectacular. But you can be entertained for the entire afternoon/ evening embracing the beauty of Lake Burley Griffin. Then perhaps have a picnic, socialise a bit, watch the crowds of people flood in and scatter along the lakeside. At 6.10pm you can watch in awe as the Navy 723 Squadron Helicopters put on a show that’s sure to catch your eye, then you can be amazed as the Roulettes Aerobatic Display will force your eyes to the stage once again. The Justice Crew will show us their moves on the Regatta Point stage from 7.30pm. After this great day of entertainment to suit all tastes, the grand finale will blow you away, as 2012 promises the biggest

On Friday March 23, the Woden Youth Centre will bring to you the Music Magic Mayhem Festival, with live bands, magic, illusions and a spectacular light show. This gig costs a ridiculously cheap $5, and all profits go to charity. This year the festival will feature an assortment of local bands and entertainers including Dan Sweeto, Black Squire, Luke Bola the fire spinner, Magic Man Jim Tin Wong, Sharptooth, Josh Illusions, Nightmare and Psychic Asylum. There will also be a number of free giveaways on the night. You can get tickets at the door or buy them online at www.trybooking.com/ BEJR and receive a special deal. It’s not too late to buy your tickets to one of the biggest tours of the year to come through Canberra. Evanescence will be in the capital for one night only at The Royal Theatre (or National Convention Centre) on Friday March 23. Having dropped out of the Soundwave line-up, the legendary four-piece have embarked on their very own national tour, a great decision as far as us Canberrans are concerned. Touring the country with them will be Blaqk Audio, the electronic side project of AFI’s Jade Puget and Davey Havok. Tickets cost $99 (+ bf) through Ticketek. The show starts at 8pm. To our great disappointment, youth centre gigs are becoming a rarity nowadays. So to have two youthy gigs in one month is really something to get excited about. Hands Like Houses and When Giants Sleep, two rapidly rising Canberra acts are headlining a spectacular line-up at the Tuggeranong Community Centre in the grand form of a split launch. Joining them will be local acts Love and Satellites, Ameliah Brown, Transience Invalid, Sharptooth, Indistrict and Castilia Lane. This rare opportunity will cost you only $15. The action takes place on Friday March 30 and doors open to the masses at 4pm. With the threat that the Tuggeranong Community Centre may soon be unable to hold music events, this is a gig that should be very much appreciated. The Tuggeranong Youth Centre needs all the support that they can get on this front. So please empty your wallets, scrounge under cushions on the couch or tip out that jar of five cent coins in your room and come support this great venue and these great bands. Hopefully a great turn up will increase the chances of more gigs at the Tuggeranong Community Centre. NAOMI FROST allagescolumn@gmail.com

LOCALITY

Hello dear readers. I’ve been so flat out getting to the squillions of amazing events on in Canberra during the past fortnight I plain ran out of time to pen a column. Thankfully I have The Best Boss in the World, and he whipped one up for me minutes before print deadline. What a champion. Eternal thanks Al. Here it is:

January 18 marked the ninth anniversary of the devastating Canberra bushfires. As tragic and destructive as that event was, it delivered to us one clear thing: the strength of the Canberra character. It summoned the kind of mettle that saw Canberrans put the flames out of their neighbour’s home whilst theirs was still on fire. And once again in these past weeks the Canberra character has been proudly on display, this time donning the floaties of defiance against rain of biblical proportions. The highly anticipated first March weekend was a disaster, with Corinbank, ENLIGHTEN, NGA’s Sculpture Garden, the Farmer’s Markets and other events all canned after months and months of tireless work. Tragedy. And then came the fabulously named Corinbank Cancellation Consolation Congregation, manically thrown together by the CMC and Cardboard Charlie, which not only saw more people at the Polish Club than it has probably ever housed, but fostered a great community spirit. More on this magnificent event in the Gig Reviews section on page 48. When we were finally blessed with that long forgotten burning orb in the sky known as the sun, boy did we ever take advantage of it. The Canberra Day long weekend saw a pleasing wash of peeps at the myriad events on offer. The ENLIGHTEN festival was thrumming with happy families. Canberra Punk and Beyond saw over 300 people in attendance. Art, Not Apart at NewActon was an arts revelation, delighting the throng of foot traffic with everything from interactive art installations, spoken word poetry from Omar Musa, lively performances from Joe Oppenheimer, hot-as-heck Brazilian dancers and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra coupled with a painter reacting to their music, as well as stalls aplenty from local artists touting their fantastic wares. It was a blessed occasion that shows the kind of wonderful things that can happen in one of Canberra’s newest precincts. Also an attendance success has been the beautifully eclectic You Are Here festival, which has injected Canberra’s once lifeless spaces with unbridled creativity and energy. I spoke with Co-Director David Finnigan at Canberra’s 99th Birthday bash at Old Parliament House, and he told me “attendances have been excellent; we’re really happy”. And even though funding ceases after the Centenary in 2013, there are already plans afoot to keep You Are Here as a permanent fixture in the Canberra entertainment calendar. Ka-loo ka-ley, as they say. Come fair weather or foul, the Canberra character has been brazenly on display this month, and it makes me proud to call myself a second generation Canberran. And next year is set to be even more nuts. More on that next issue… ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

DANCE THE DROP

For most dedicated bedroom bangers, the road to becoming a successful club DJ involves a lot of hard work. It can take years of late night repetition and endless frustration before your level of skill matches your level of enthusiasm. Then come the demos and tireless self-promotion, juke-boxing at friends’ parties, DJ competitions and then some, and only some will get a shot at actually playing to paying punters in a decent club. This is why it really grinds my gears when I see manufactured starlets booked to play prime time sets at major events and festivals because of the size of their chests or how many horny Facebook acquaintances they can solicit to the show with their sultry promotional photograph. I urge promoters to stop thinking with their hip pockets (wallet and genitals included) and to help build a scene that rewards hard work rather than hard nipples. The Clubhouse’s March roster is filling up quicker than K-Rudd’s naughty swear jar with three major events lined up for the month. On Thursday March 15, Electrosex brings bass magician Bar9 to the main room alongside locals Key Seismic, Ben Penfold, Sandman and Logic vs Nay Nay. The next night, Friday March 16, is taken over by the Monster Bass crew who present Play Me Records mainstay Kurk Kokane supported by Lost The Plot, Sidesteppa, Riske and Logic. To round things off, local firebrand City Kid Music is back again on Saturday March 24 with Sydney moombahton duo The Mane Thing pumping out the low bpm throbble. Haven’t The Aston Shuffle done well for themselves! With more hits than you can poke a major recording contract at, the local duo have taken the country by storm in recent years. The guys are returning home to say “aw thanks guys” with a special updated live show at Academy on Friday March 23.

I don’t know about you, but I love musicians who love messing with your mind – those who find ultimate pleasure in belting your brain with unfamiliar and invigorating aural attacks. UK producer Boy 8 Bit is one of the most well accomplished electronic mind melters and he returns to Trinity Bar on Friday March 30. Wearing a hard hat and knee pads is recommended, but not essential unless they match your handbag.

SINSATIONAL MIDWEEK DEAL! Half price entry, $4 basic beers and $5 basic spirits when you show your student ID card on Wednesday and Thursday nights. Exotic dancers four nights a week. Fully licensed bar. Non stop podium shows and lapdances available. Sinsations is the home of Miss Centerfold Australia and Exotic Angels Australia competitions! We cater for bucks’ nights, birthday parties or any occasion that requires a great time. Ladies very welcome. Positions available. Like us on Facebook Sinsations Adult Nightclub Canberra. 32 Grimwade St Mitchell ACT | 02 6242 9996

I have some homework for all you house music fans out there. Grab a pen and write these tracks down, grab your parent’s credit card, head over to your well worn laptop and buy these records! Nicky Romero – Generation 303 is a crazy acid-tinged main room monster, Moguai – Mpire puts the ‘big’ in ‘big room house’, Tom Moroca – Hello is a fidgety electro banger, Rory Lyons – I Know (EP) wobbles like a fat guy on a pogo stick, Spenda C – Getting Dumb (Mind Electric Mix) brings out the fist pump and Get Stellar – Bump Shake Whine (Shaolin Mix) proves that even if you are the world’s tallest midget, you can still make exceptional house records. TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

E X H I B I T I O N I S T “This was supposed to be on for two weeks in a studio theatre in Edinburgh one wet November’.” Greig and McIntyre worked together for a long time fleshing out the storylines and the characters of Bob and Helena, much of which was inspired by the experiences of the writers and actors themselves. Greig has said previously that the play’s advantage over, and distinguishing point from, musicals is that while in musicals the songs help tell the story itself, in Midsummer, the songs act as a means of conveying the thoughts and feelings of the characters, thereby giving the audience a greater insight into their minds. McIntyre began writing the songs once the pair had a basic idea of the characters and the plot, shortly after which Greig wrote the script in a “short, intense writing burst”, as he describes it. As he wrote more of the script, he came up with new song ideas that he would put to McIntyre.

MIDSUMMER LOVIN’ Ben Hermann When Scottish playwright David Greig and his collaborator Gordon McIntyre were contemplating how to title the play that would eventually become MIDSUMMER (A PLAY WITH SONGS), they sought to draw attention to the musical element of the production while simultaneously avoiding the chance that it be confused with a musical or an opera. “We were keen not to be described as a musical, simply because I think had we been described as a musical people might have been disappointed by it,” Greig says. “Whereas a play with songs gave us a bit of leeway. In truth, the play is much more concerned with playing with the genre of Hollywood romantic comedy. That’s really its roots.” The play’s script was written by Greig, the songs by Scottish singer/ songwriter McIntyre of indie group Ballboy. Set in a rainy Edinburgh in midsummer, it follows Helena, a divorce lawyer, and Bob, a shady low level criminal – two 30-somethings who meet at a wine bar and enjoy a lustful night together. Within hours of parting ways, the hungover pair meet again by chance and make a spontaneous decision to spend the $25,000 that Bob was en route to deliver to a petty gangster. The play received extensive acclaim after its debut at 2009’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and has since gone on to play in Ireland, Canada, the USA and now Australia. It has also been translated for productions in Germany, Quebec, Portugal and Brazil. “That’s been a huge surprise to me since Gordon and I genuinely thought we were making it for about 2,000 Ballboy fans in Edinburgh,” Greig says, speaking of his and McIntyre’s ongoing disbelief with the production’s success. “I genuinely made it because I was a fan of Gordon’s music and I wanted to make a play for other fans of Gordon’s music. Walking up to the Sydney Opera House, clutching our ukuleles and our grubby plastic bag full of props, I thought ‘what the hell has happened here? This wasn’t supposed to be how it went.

“During that burst I rang Gordon up a couple of times to say things like ‘I need a song entitled Japanese Rope Bondage and I need it tomorrow morning’, which he responded to with commendable promptness and aplomb,” he explains. Since its debut the two person cast of Bob (Matthew Pidgeon) and Helena (Cora Bissett, who was awarded the Stage Award for Best Actress at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival) has remained the same. After so many performances, Greig admits that the way the characters are portrayed has changed, albeit unintentionally. “The roles haven’t changed but the performances have become much darker and richer and deeper. I describe it as like when you make a chilli and it’s delicious,” he says. “But if you leave it overnight on the stove top, the next day it’s just better. It’s not that you’ve done anything in particular, or added any new ingredient. It’s just become more complex as all the flavours mingle. Every time we do the show it gets better, I think. Matt and Cora bring more and more of themselves to it.” The characters and their adventures were borne of the stories – both personal and secondhand – of Greig, McIntyre, Pidgeon, Bissett and the production’s designer Georgia. Greig describes how the group would sit around and tell their stories to each other, with most of the more embarrassing anecdotes finding their way into the script. “We were – when we made the show – all hovering around 35, the midsummer age. So we’d all been where Helena and Bob have been. I stole stories left, right and centre. I think that’s why the script has the ring of truth,” Greig suggests. “But writers can be very cruel. It can’t be nice for an actor to tell you an embarrassing story about a wedding, when drunk, and then come into rehearsal the next morning to find it’s in the script.” Although all audiences have connected with either Bob or Helena, or their situations, to some degree, Greig finds it interesting that each audience will draw more from one character than from another. “The reactions are subtly different in each place though,” he says. “In Australia a lot more of the audience see it as Bob’s story. Elsewhere it’s tended to be Helena’s story more. I don’t know why that is. Sympathy for the underdog, maybe?” Canberra Theatre Centre presents the Traverse Theatre Company Production of Midsummer (a play with songs) from Wednesday-Saturday March 28-31 at The Playhouse. Tickets from Canberra Ticketing or www. canberratheatrecentre.com.au .

THE REAL DEAL

BODY ART

GEMMA NOURSE

CHLOE MANDRYK

THE REAL AND IDEAL is the current photography and video art exhibition showing at Griffith’s M16 Artspace. It is the brainchild of emerging Canberran curators Grace Carroll and Katrina Osborne, initially conceived over a cup of coffee last year. It presents the work of six artists – Katherine Griffiths, Amy McGregor, Alexander Bell Moffatt, Samantha Small, Natalie Azzopardi and Johnny Milner – whose work, although very different to each other’s, creates an open dialogue once placed alongside each other within the gallery. Each work presented in The Real and Ideal explores, at the most basic level, the relationship between people and space – both natural and constructed – while entertaining an interest in the artist’s task of ‘capturing’ this interplay through the lens of a camera.

HELANI LAISK has just closed Mammal, an exhibition of sculpture and works on paper tied to the Canberra Contemporary Art Space residency program. She is now exhibiting with a You Are Here festival project called Petite Public Art as well as in Fine Lines at the ANU Foyer Gallery. Helani weaves, knots and dapples colour and texture to manufacture the most familiar object of all, our bodies.

“The title [of the exhibition] is the underlying theme,” reflects Grace, “and the medium of photography is important in that. It’s different from other forms of art in its documenting authenticity.

These doll parts are blown out of scale and reworked in domestic materials such as wool, fabric and thread. Helani disproves the idea that sculpture is an inert object. There can be dripping, a kinetic buzz or, in this case, mutant limbs which kick out into the audience.

“The ‘ideal’ is what’s being challenged,” adds Katrina. Whether the ‘ideal’ is notions of reality and truth, idealised moments, or indeed a slipping into the surreal, each artist plays with our ideas of reality and, on a subconscious level, our expectations of a work of art. Natalie Azzopardi is one artist whose work engages strongly with the latter concern. She has printed single sentences, accompanied by photographs of unfamiliar landscapes, onto fabric which is precariously pinned to the central wall in the space. The effect is that of leaving the audience member feeling somewhat disoriented. “She’s created these pieces that have a narrative and we expect that it’s going to be a logical story that we can follow – the ideal being that we expect to be guided through and told a story,” says Grace, “but she actually denies you that. She gives you fragments that are not meant to be one consistent story – they don’t make sense.” Similarly, Johnny Milner’s piece – a black and white home video reel of children playing, accompanied by a quite sinister musical composition – plays on the viewer’s expectations of a body of work. “We rely on the visual image and we think that what we look at depicts a narrative,” says Grace. “But in fact, when you put different sounds over that image, it completely colours the way you see it. He has played with the idea of what the camera can promise.” The exhibition as a whole, like the works presented therein, is philosophical without being impenetrable; playful while intellectual. It succeeds in conjuring a complex array of meanings that give an uncanny energy to the gallery; a credit to the curators, and a long way from a cup of coffee. The Real and Ideal is showing until Sunday March 25. Katrina Osborne and Grace Carroll will be giving a floortalk at M16 Artspace Gallery on Saturday March 17 at 1pm.

At face value her sculptures don’t look like the human body. But first impressions can be deceiving and if you look a little closer, you might notice nipples, nodules, clumps of hair, armpits, your naughty bits, and even text book representations of the structures that lie beneath such as cells, flesh, blood and follicles.

This idea has been hyped again and again in works that make up the history of art, see: Joseph Beuys, Meret Oppenheim or Annette Messager. And like those artists, particularly Messager, Helani explores the ideas we prescribe to objects of the modern world and considers how we form and break apart ideas concerning our inner worlds. She circles some “superficial” items out as important – the things we find comfort in or shelter with, such as blankets (a stacked installation of folded blankets reaches the ceiling in Mammal). Helani’s work could also be about encounters; she indicates that the existential ideas of Jiddu Krishnamurti were a major inspiration. The artist deliberately uses colours that refer to skin or organs, her craft tests her coordination and physicality and the product is left to our imagination. Helani explains, “I’m interested in the shape of the clothing; how it pulls, drapes, puckers, bulges, as well as the shape of the hollows and holes, the joins and stitches, the openings that remain open and those that also close. “I’m interested in the tangibility and the skin-like qualities of these materials, and the roles that these materials play in everyday life. How they relate to the body, their proximity and their function in relation to a body.” To Helani “drawing is a way of thinking, drawing out a thought, a tangible extension of an abstract concept.” As mammals we create, destroy and improve our tools. The most potent tool is our body and with it you can do anything, like make art. Helani Laisk’s work is featured in the Petite Public Art program of the You Are Here festival. It can be viewed around the CBD from Thursday-Sunday March 8-18.

IN REVIEW

YOU ARE HERE I don’t really read Smiths Alternative Bookshop Thursday March 8 Somewhere on the huge list of excellent functions of You Are Here I read this: Bringing Underappreciated Goodness to the Foreground Where Everyone Can See It. Rolling as we are in a money pile of musicians, poets, dancers, visual artists and magazine journalists, it can be easy to overlook some of our talent. Circus performers, baristas, bicycle builders, curators, magazine journalists and runners of combination indie café/gallery/bookshop venues often slip through the adulatory cracks. Our case today: writers of fiction. Canberra has a fantastic history of writing talent: journals like Block, stores like Smiths, the ACT Writers Centre and its alumni are the tip of the wordy iceberg. I don’t really read brought together five vibrant storytellers who hypnotised their audience. Cheeses were announced and eaten, names were presented on beautiful placards, and the packed bookstore crowd couldn’t have been more pleased. The collaborative curator model has caught on in Canberra – recently, the Phoenix flagship Bootleg Sessions has begun rotating its leadership between musical organisations – and IDRR was an ideal expression of the trend. lip magazine, Scissors Paper Pen, yet to premiere indie reader Us Folk and new literary journal Burley each presented a favourite writer. The blend of poetic short fiction, essay and recitation dovetailed neatly. Irma Gold took us into the mind of a middle-aged woman, verses of her poetic hunt for love broken by her teenage son’s hormonally angsty chorus. Anita Patel led a tour of multicultural tensions in a set of brief poems, pausing between them for less than a breath and a few words of explanation. Cinnamon-scented punctuation was provided before and after the break (for cheese!) by the A-B-C of Zoe Konovalov: apples, beatings and cruising the late night streets of Washington D.C. A highlight of the night’s performances was Ashley Orr’s story about a peacock, inspired by a photo in an old newspaper clipping. The National Library was once frequented by an (evidently erudite) feathered friend, who struck up a friendship with a fellow named Harry. If Ashley’s story is anything to go by, the peacock read aloud from the classics until he and Harry were well into their old age. I won’t ruin the twist in the (shiny) tale, but it involves reading! Zoya Patel reminded us all that writing isn’t just for make believe with a rousing lambast of the “criticising folks who wear leggings” industry. The magic of the evening wasn’t just in the words leaping out of these author’s pages; it was there in the ready laughter and eager anticipation of the crowd, and in the burst of applause that footnoted each reading. Authors of Canberra: you are no longer as underappreciated as before! Now for the circus performers… words and photo by JAMES FAHY

Before you know what’s happening to you, drag queen Tammy Pax is singing a version of The Little Mermaid’s Part of Your World that will “ruin your childhood” (I’m pretty sure the Disney version never mentioned fisting); balloon covered burlesque performer Sparkles is proffering an intense, crazy-eyed declaration of love to a girl foolish enough to sit in the front row; and magician Pablo is dragging slightly out of it “volunteers” onto the stage (there’s that audience participation we were all so afraid of) and pouring red cordial in their shoes.

IN REVIEW

You Are Here Horseface Ethel and Her Marvellous Pigs in Satin The Newsroom Thursday March 8 “We’ve lost Ethel” It was a curious venue; but then, it was a curious show. Occupying the space that once belonged to an infrequently visited newsagent, the cheerful light drew people through dark, rainy streets into a weird and wonderful cabaret extravaganza: Horseface Ethel and Her Marvellous Pigs in Satin. The show opened with The Brass Knuckle Brass Band, Canberra’s own New Orleans-style street funk band, wending their way through the audience during their first tune. Right away, the crowd knew this show was something special in which they would be made to play a part. A few whispered nervously at the prospect of audience participation. Horseface Ethel is an experience, one that creeps up on its audience.

Despite the wide variety of acts, the night had a sense of cohesion, each surprising performance fitting into place alongside one another. The only exception was pianist Marc Robertson: his gravelly tones and discordant playing evoked the show’s namesake (‘Horseface Ethel’ is a line from Tom Waits’ song Circus), but the sombre atmosphere he created seemed out of place with the rest of the line-up. It was the Marvellous Pigs themselves who kept the night together – satin-wrapped girls in grotesque pig masks, who were constantly weaving their way through the audience. Their masked counterpart MC (festival producer Adam Hadley) would remind you every so often that “we’ve lost Ethel, but her Marvellous Pigs in Satin are still with us”. Each act that took the stage was as unpredictable as the next, and the ambiguity of the program – even when acts were announced, their descriptions didn’t give much away – gave the impression you were no longer inside a forsaken shop; you were tucked in the back corner of someone’s mind, alongside all their creativity, imagination, and crazy. Maybe that someone was Ethel. Lauren Strickland PHOTO BY ADAM THOMAS

age – although legally able to drink in America. Bronwyn responds, “Flickerfest has become a true adult now, for sure, but still a cheeky one – we would never want to become too serious! We’ve grown from 200 entries and a five day festival back in 1997 to a ten day short film fest with 40 national touring venues. The great thing about this growth is we are able to show more fabulous films to more audiences across Australia – which makes it all worthwhile.”

FLICKERFEST’S ALL GROWN UP MELISSA WELLHAM FLICKERFEST is one of the most exciting short film festivals in Australia – and Festival Director Bronwyn Kidd certainly agrees. “[It’s] a fabulous smorgasbord of a journey, through captivating and inspiring cinematic gems from around Australia – and around the world – that you wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to see! For me, short film is the most exciting place to work in cinema today. It’s where true creativity meets inspiration and passion, minus the commercialism of feature film box office concerns.” Flickerfest had humble beginnings as a short film festival in Balmain in 1991, but over the years it has become a major player on the short film festival circuit – in fact, it’s the only short film festival in Australia that has BAFTA and Academy accredited status. It has come a long way for a sprightly young thing that is only 21 years of

When asked what kind of fabulous films audiences can expect to see, Bronwyn is enthusiastic about the diversity of themes. “I think the great thing about Flickerfest is the wonderful eclecticism… from a young Pauline Hanson, to a spaced out folk singer of dolphin awareness songs, to a manic trip across the Nullarbor and two make believe Maori Santas – you never know what you are going to get!” In the future, the aim of Flickerfest is “to continue to provide a platform for nurturing our next generation of Australian filmmakers… we will also be taking Flickerfest over to Bali again for the second time this year.”The festival is currently on tour, and – as well as screening in Bali – will this year be shown at 37 venues across Australia. Bronwyn says that it’s “been fantastic! People have found the programs uplifting and inspiring and we’ve had enormously positive feedback… When you spend all year working to bring the best short films to Australia, it’s a great joy to see audiences embrace Flickerfest so strongly.” Bronwyn says, “I hope Canberra audiences this year love and ms as much as other audiences have around the country. Flickerfest promises two fabulous nights of cinema in Canberra, and we are thrilled to be touring here again for our eighth year.” Flickerfest will take place at Dendy in Civic over Saturday-Sunday March 24-25. Tickets cost $18/$16 for one session or $30 for both and are available direct from the cinema.

ARTISTPROFILE: Dean Butters

What do you do? I make photographic, video and print-based works. When did you get into it? I’ve been a practicing artist for the last year, since having left art school, though I would trace the roots of that interest back to when I got my first camera in the mid-‘90s. Who or what influences you as an artist? My work at times involves appropriation. So with that work there is the direct influence of the source material on me to make me want to appropriate it in the first place. Those influences often come from films, comics and art history. I also think that having been a teenager in the 1990s influences my work, with those interests filtering how I approach what I make these days. More generally though I like to try and see as much new work as I can, to be aware of what is going on around me. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? That would have to be a toss up between being awarded a Canberra Contemporary Art Space Residency upon graduating art school or getting an ArtStart grant late last year from The Australia Council. What are your plans for the future? I’m heading off to the US in late May to build some contacts in both New York and Chicago. Other than that, keep making work. The ball has already started rolling for my next body of work, for a group show in October. What makes you laugh? All sorts of things, but nothing that comes immediately to mind.

What pisses you off? As an at times print maker, it would be nice if the Opposition and Greens could get their act together and allow Megalo’s residency of The Fitters Workshop. The need for the current enquiry was much more about political points scoring than any cogent argument presented in opposition. I worry that in the end Melago, a nationally respected, well established arts organisation, will get screwed over for the sake of the political game. What’s your opinion of the local scene? There are some great artists that have come out of Canberra in recent years. We do unfortunately lose a lot of them interstate or overseas, but that just shows the calibre of emerging artists coming out of the Canberra scene, and that we are able to produce artists that can compete on that level. What are your upcoming performances/exhibitions? I currently have work in Blaze 6 at Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Gorman House. That show runs until Sunday March 25. Also my solo show An Unkindness of Ravens opens at CCAS Manuka on Thursday March 15 at 6pm, and also runs through to Sunday March 25. Contact info: www.deanbutters.com, contact@deanbutters.com

UNINHIBITED Remember the Fitters Workshop imbroglio of 2011? Of course you do. Had everyone talking. Recently, architecture critic for the Sydney Morning Herald Elizabeth Farrelly refreshed the discussion with a column called Eve of Destruction (SMH, Wednesday February 1). She may have reignited the debate about the ‘suitability’ of the new tenants, the Megalo Group, calling the Fitters a “truly special space, musical genius”, but it’s the ongoing conversation that’s most interesting. We must welcome a continuing discussion about the way we allocate space in this town. It’s an argument which will inevitably create winners and losers, and so it goes. What I welcome most is the argument about the city, and what I wonder is why more of us aren’t taking part in it. At the heart of all that’s wrong and right about Canberra is the land and how the spaces within it are carved up. The move toward an urbanism popularised by Melbourne and its ubiquitous laneways is sweeping through our cities (witness the small bars of Surry Hills and Brisbane’s ‘Melbourne style’ rejuvenations near Spring Hill). Just as suburban life was living at its most fashionable post-war, the cosy inner city cycleway chic of the current moment is as much a thing of fashion as your shoulder pads or your double-breasted blazer.

But the importance of these discussions about ideal living can’t be discounted. These fashions colour the way we live. And the one thing we have more of in Canberra than in any other major Australian city is potential – the chance to craft something fresh. Tyler Brule, editor of Monocle and self-styled guru of modern living, suggests that the ideal urban hub begins with creative people taking over a space 12m x 3m, and making something happen. We have an example of that idea in action. At NewActon the stuffy, rarefied toytown vibe has been broken by the milk crates of Mocan, a tiny café that has singlehandedly changed the fabric of the area. It’s a first class example of urbanism done well. The lack of space means that patrons take over the path, the planter beds, wherever they can find a flat surface. They begin to own the street by making it work for them. It’s this kind of action that facilitates a feeling of ownership in a city. The ACT Government released the 2030 Time to Talk report last year, and its findings suggest that the people of Canberra want an active, high density urban lifestyle with “infill opportunities (which) will establish greater social mix and richness of neighbourhoods.” Less motorways, less suburban sludge. More Mocan than MacGregor. We lose a lot of creative people to cities like Melbourne every year. Why stay to build something that already exists elsewhere? There’s the rub. But there are many of us who’d prefer to build something than go live in something pre-built. That’s the thing about a city that isn’t quite there yet – there’s still space to create. It’s something we should be talking about. GLEN MARTIN glenpetermartin@gmail.com

bit PARTS WHO: Political Asylum WHAT: Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group WHEN: Wed-Sat March 21-24 WHERE: Civic Pub Political Asylum is Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group, performing regularly to sell out crowds in Melbourne, and featuring appearances from the best political comedians this country has to offer. In preparation for a big new show at the 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, they’re bringing their core team of talented funny men to the nation’s capital for a whistle stop tour. There is certainly something distinct that sets political comedy apart from the wider stand up scene, and often it’s as much about the audience as the performer. Says comedian and co-founder of Political Asylum Mathew Kenneally, “Our audiences read the paper and watch the news, and they’re clamouring for some pointed humour at the expense of Barnaby Joyce or Mark Arbib. We do our best to oblige.” Start time is 7.30pm, and tickets are $20/$15. For more info head to www. politicalasylum.com.au .

WHO: Sarah Quinn WHAT: Weird Lonely Strangers WHEN: Wed-Thurs March 23-24 WHERE: The Street Theatre Weird Lonely Strangers is the latest offering from critically acclaimed writer/performer Sarah Quinn, who was last seen at The Street in her sell-out self-help parody Other People’s Problems. Billed as a “tender, sexy, silly and sad satirical solo sketch comedy”, Weird Lonely Strangers is “packed with oddball folks and idiosyncratic nobodies, in all their lovely weirdness.” With fast-paced vignettes satirising subjects as diverse as Jon Bon Jovi’s fierce will to live, writers who can’t speak, and speed-dating for commitmentphobes, Weird Lonely Strangers promises to be an unpredictably offbeat mixer for the inarticulate, the uncomfortable and the overlooked; people you might not notice, some you’d rather ignore. For tickets call 6247 1223 or www.thestreet.org.au . WHO: David O’Doherty WHAT: Winner 2008 Edinburgh Comedy Award & 2010 Irish Comedian of The Year WHEN: Sat March 24 WHERE: Canberra Theatre Centre Irish comedian David O’Doherty has spent the past year touring and writing, and doing bits for British and US television. Last year he became the least famous person ever to have hosted the BBC quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and his latest book 100 Facts About Sharks co-written with Claudia O’Doherty and Mike Ahern was published worldwide. In November he recorded his latest CD We Are Not The Champions in Dublin and in February he became the first Irish comedian to record his own Comedy Central TV Special in America. On March 24 David O’Doherty presents an hour of talking, songs and a movie proposal for Canberra. He is terribly excited to be coming back. Bookings through the venue. WHO: headspace ACT WHAT: National Youth Week WHEN: Now! WHERE: www.headspace.org.au

WHO: The Australian Ballet WHAT: Telstra Ballet in the Park WHEN: Fri March 16 WHERE: Stage 88 The Australian Ballet’s 50th anniversary wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the nation’s capital. A specially selected array of repertoire will be performed featuring many company highlights from throughout the decades. Sumptuous divertissements from La Favorita, Don Quixote, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire and Molto Vivace will sit alongside an emotionally charged pas de trois from Graeme Murphy’s 2002 masterpiece Swan Lake. Finishing off the evening will be an excerpt from the Russian classic La Bayadere. Featuring 12 female dancers in a sea of white tutus, tiaras and tulle, The Kingdom of the Shades is a superb showcase of a strong corps de ballet with ensemble work that demands absolute precision. 7pm sharp, free.

headspace ACT is running a competition for National Youth Week which runs from April 13-22. The competition is open to young people aged between 12 to 25 years old living in the ACT or surrounding regions. It requires the young person to enter a piece of artwork, digital image or photo that corresponds with the theme ‘Imagine, Create, Inspire’, which is the theme for this year’s Youth Week. The winner will receive an iPad2 and will be announced at the National Youth Week Expo at Garema Place on April 13. Entries close March 30 and can either be emailed to headspaceACT@canberra. edu.au, sent or dropped in to the headspace ACT office. For more info go to www.headspace.org.au . WHO: Us Folk Magazine WHAT: Launch WHEN: Fri March 23, 7pm WHERE: Smiths Alternative Bookshop Come along to Smiths Alternative Bookshop on Friday March 23 to celebrate the launch of Us Folk Magazine. Us Folk is a new magazine founded by locals Ash Peak and Juliette Dudley that focuses on exposing young talent from unknown illustrators, writers, photographers, artists and designers from the Canberra Region. There will be lovely people, wine, soft chairs to rest upon, nibblies, and most importantly their first issue! Issue One of Us Folk will be available for sale at Smiths for $12, as well as for free online. Everyone is welcome, so come along and support a group of very talented locals.

SPEAKER MOTHER LEAPER James Fahy Autumn-voiced folk chanteuse HOLLY THROSBY has been flat out recently, and soon she’s going to kick back and take a rest. A lot has happened in the world since she was last here, but she’s been keeping so busy that she probably hasn’t noticed. “I feel like last year was so busy, I did the children’s album [See!] and then I did Team and the Seeker Lover Keeper album, and then I did a bunch of tours, and I’ve just been overseas for a month, doing a Team tour in Europe.” It’s no wonder that her next tour will be her last for a while. “I feel kind of weird because I haven’t written a new song for a long time… I think I need to sit down for a couple of months with my guitar and like, remember how to do it.” Throsby recorded her albums See! and Team back to back in a 19th century church with producer Tony Dupe, and both records boast a beautiful clean reverberance and a creative approach to orchestration. It’s an interesting sonic relationship between two albums of totally different content. See! contrasts Throsby’s signature calm before the storm vocal technique with field recordings of kids “generally being ridiculous”. Team, on the other hand, deals with themes much more familiar to fans of her previous works like A Loud Call – breakups that read like beautiful poems, indecision that pins you to the floor, attempts to explain the unexplainable: “A miner in a mine / couldn’t find what I thought of you”. The continuity of her delivery is tempered by some exploration into glitchier, more experimental backing – half of a word will leap out at you, grabbing your attention, before it quietly loops in with the more acoustic susurrations of the percussion, and the vocals begin in earnest. It’s an excellent nod to newer instrumentation, in the context of the kind of masterful songwriting that could hold an audience in thrall even if the lights went out and all Throsby had to go on with was her voice.

I think I need to sit down for a couple of months with my guitar and like, remember how to do it

Throsby has always made a good impression here in Canberra – she’s an excellent complement to the city’s solid folk music community, and her long-time collaborator and drummer, Brie Van Rijk, is an ACT native. She’ll be joined this time around by the unique folktronica of Caitlin Park and the banjo assisted indie folk of Shelley Short, the Portland native who has joined Darren Hanlon on his most recent tours down south. Combined with the novelty of catching a show at the new Zierholz venue at the University of Canberra, this line-up is enough to drag any inquisitive listener out of the house and into the encroaching autumn weather, not to mention the inevitable crowd of avid Holly Throsby fans. I’ll be there, in both camps, to catch her before she takes a breather from all this hard work and disappears for a well-deserved holiday. Catch Holly Throsby & The Hello Tigers supported by Caitlin Park and Shelley Short (USA) live at Zierholz at the UC on Thursday March 22. Tickets cost $23.50 and are available through Oztix.

HELLO CELLO ZOE PLEASANTS BEN SOLLEE chose to play the cello back in the third grade. He chose it because of the weird noises he could make with it. Like anyone subjected to a music program at primary school, he probably started out by annoying his family and neighbours with broken renditions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. But while most of us probably gave up not too long after that, Ben didn’t see these same limitations that we did in learning a classical instrument. Instead, he saw the opportunities it presented. Today, Ben is heralded as an up and coming, what’s next, undiscovered artist. He plays highly original, but thoroughly engaging music that is a little difficult to classify. And since I can’t classify it, I asked Ben to. “It is traditional folk,” he explains, “as in, the music people make with the things around them.” And why the cello? “Because it’s the Swiss army knife of instruments,” Ben tells me. “It’s very utilitarian, you can play bass, texture, melody with it; you can create so many different sounds with it,” he explains.

[The cello is] the Swiss army knife of instruments

Growing up in Kentucky Ben’s music is, perhaps unsurprisingly, influenced by old time music, R&B, bluegrass, rock and of course his classical training. “I was exposed to a huge range of artists growing up,” he tells me. This combination has given Ben’s music what he describes as “a confidence and dissidence” that is reflected in his second solo album Inclusions. “It is more intentional than my first album,” Ben tells me. “I’m getting a better handle on my story and who I am.” I asked Ben where he looks for inspiration for his music. “All over the place, in every part of life,” he responds. As a result this album embodies the people, places and things Ben grew up with. Before I spoke to Ben I had read that he and his band had recently toured around the US by bike, with all their gear (including Ben’s cello) strapped on. I was intrigued. “We travelled over 3,200 miles, without a support vehicle,” Ben explains. “We didn’t do it to be superhuman or to be particularly green or sustainable; it was more about travelling at a slower pace of life.” And then he added “maybe it’s because I’m from Kentucky, or maybe it’s because I’m lazy, but I feel more comfortable with a slower pace of life.” I was charmed! And the benefits of slowing down? “It forces you to be in the present and to want to experience what is around you.” This is Ben’s first visit to Australia so I asked him what he wanted to see or experience while he was here and, if I wasn’t charmed enough by him at this point, he told me that mostly he was enjoying meeting and chatting to Australians because we have a “thoughtful casualness” about us. This left me completely delighted with him! Catch Ben Sollee live at The Street Theatre on Wednesday March 21. Tickets cost $39 and are available from the venue’s website.

KRYSTLE CLEAR

TEXAS FOREVER

Zoe Pleasants

JUSTIN HOOK

You may not be familiar with KRYSTLE WARREN, but if you’re inclined to the more folksy, soulful side of music then listen up, because you’re in for a treat. Krystle’s voice has variously been described as smoky, husky, assured and elegant. Indeed, there have almost been as many adjectives used to describe her voice as to classify her music from folk, jazz, soul, blues to funk and pop. Krystle is originally from Kansas City, Missouri, she cut her cloth in New York, has spent time in San Francisco, and is currently living in Paris.

When you’re lead singer of “best live band in the world” AKA The Hold Steady and have a reputation for putting on shows that are more akin to communal clarion calls for the redemptive power of rock, or something, there are a couple of ways to approach the solo record conundrum. You could take the Ace Frehley route and release an album that basically replicates your main band – and debatably betters them – or you could take the Sting route and become even more insufferable by making serious, message music. CRAIG FINN has opted for neither, thereby making this false dichotomy utterly redundant.

When I first listened to Krystle’s second, and latest, album Love Songs, I found myself dreamily drinking a martini in a dimly lit, chic, inner city basement bar, probably in New York. Krystle’s music transports you, it makes you feel good, and it’s sexy. They wanted me When I spoke to Krystle she to stick to pop, was sitting in a hotel room in whatever pop is London itching for a smoke. I but s, these day We began talking about Love g bein was I like felt Songs. I had read on her asked to learn the website that while she was alphabet again putting this album together she made a list of all the songs she’d written and discovered she had around 150! Where had the inspiration for all these songs come from? “I was travelling at the time,” recalls Krystle. “I’d just moved to New York, my head was open and buzzing from new experiences and the shock of being in another place.” Krystle selected 24 songs from this list to appear on the album. Together, these songs form a portrait of a couple. “You are thrown into the domestic life of this couple; you get to know these people,” Krystle explains. Some of the songs are snapshots from Krystle’s own life but when she put them together, the picture was no longer of her. This transformation reminded her of Bob Dylan’s autobiography Chronicles. “He was married three times,” she explains, “but in the chronicles he never mentions his wife’s name, he only refers to her as ‘his wife’. By doing this he links the common thread through the three of them” and, in a way, he creates a different story. This album transformed Krystle in another way too. She wanted to have full creative control over it and found she wasn’t getting it at the label she was with, so she started her own. “They wanted me to stick to pop, whatever pop is these days,” Krystle explains, “but I felt like I was being asked to learn the alphabet again. And once you have a comprehension of the alphabet of music it is hard to go back to ‘A’… I felt like I was losing too much of what is me.” This combination of talent, creative integrity and bravery is getting harder to find these days; it is inspiring, perhaps a little intimidating, but mostly it is to be enjoyed. Catch Krystle Warren live at The Street Theatre on Wednesday March 28. Tickets cost $45 and are available from www.thestreet.org.au .

Clear Hearts, Full Eyes was recorded in Texas after Finn found himself at a loose end, with few Hold Steady commitments on the horizon. Brimming with slide guitar, Nashville strings and lush countryesque melodies, this certainly isn’t Hold Steady territory. And quite deliberately so, according to the singer/guitarist. “The only thing I wasn’t going to do was make a Hold Steady record. Wasn’t even going to try. That would defeat the whole point. I wanted to make the album its own thing.”

I wasn’t going to make a Hold Steady record. That would defeat the whole point

As it turns out his own thing was inspired by one of rock’s great miserablists, Mr Lewis Reed. “Me and Mike [McCarthy, CHFE producer] listened to those first three Lou Reed solo records [Lou Reed, Transformer and Berlin] and specifically the way the vocals interact with the music. There was a lyrical, vocal-first approach… then the music kinda comes in around that.” But really, like all things from the pen of Craig Finn, there’s a strong thread of characterbased storytelling involved and immersion in created realities. And there are some other hangovers from his day band, as Finn explains. “Well The Hold Steady is all about discomfort. Whether it was recording an album or going out on tour, I was trying to create something for myself that wasn’t entirely comfortable. So for this one, there’s definitely an intimidation about recording and touring it.” Even if the crowd aren’t going bananas? “No, people aren’t climbing on top of each other or throwing beer all over the place.” And for all you Coach Taylor freaks – it’s definitely NOT a Friday Night Lights tribute album. Sadly, for fans of high school footballthemed TV shows. “You know it got a little bit irritating early on when it was perceived as a concept album as if all the songs were about the show. Basically the record needed a title and because I recorded it in Texas I wanted a Texas reference. It influenced the whole thing – the whole project spiritually lives in Texas. I just wanted to give a nod to Texas.” Getting back to that day band? “I’ve been writing some stuff and we’re going to start recording a Hold Steady record this summer.” Start ordering those celebratory jugs of beer for throwing, people – your time is nigh. Clear Hearts, Full Eyes was released on Friday March 2, distributed by Longtime Listener, and is available from all good record stores.

JONNO BE GOOD Mel Cerato JONNO ZILBER has led an extraordinary life. Becoming a professional Australian blues musician at just 16, touring the country and then leaving it all behind to become a pilot, 23 year old Jonno has just released his third solo album, called Johnny Who?!. In his press release, Jonno refers to an incident in Bega involving a junkie in a pub and a headlock. Naturally I had to ask about it. “Yes, it’s all too true! I used to play guitar in a folk/country band called Pete & The Pelicans. We did a short south coast tour a few years ago and one night in Bemboka we faced the methamphetamine-fuelled wrath of a gentlemen known only as ‘Bemboka Jim’,” Jonno explains. “He wanted us to play Smoke on the Water; obviously that wasn’t really our area, being a small folk band, [so] he snapped and Along the way I grabbed Pete around the neck rediscovered my and threatened to stab him. Nick [drummer] and I did the love for making heroic thing and ran to the er nev I t tha music opposite side of the room and I d lise rea y trul left Pete to defend himself!

had lost

“There’s a song on my new album entitled Bemboka Jim which is probably a true story, or at least how I would like to think he got to where he is today – in prison.” The new album is a collection of songs written by Jonno about life after spending his late teens on the road. “Johnny Who?! is, in a nutshell, my life after music,” Jonno says. “A little over two years ago I decided I’d follow my childhood dream and become a pilot. I have succeeded but along the way I rediscovered my love for making music that I never truly realised I had lost.” According to Jonno, starting his music career at such a young age has proved to be an interesting challenge when releasing new material. “When I started out it was all, ‘Have you heard Jonno Zilber? He’s only 17!’ but now that I’m 23 I can’t rely on my age anymore – I’ve been thrown in with the big boys. Now it’s got to be, ‘Have you heard Jonno Zilber? He’s a great musician!’, or else I’m just, well, ‘Johnny Who?!’” After launching the new album at The Press Club on Thursday March 29, Jonno hopes to take his mate Tom Richardson along the north coast for a couple of tour dates. Then it’ll be back to behind the wheel of those big flying machines. “I never had big dreams of fame and fortune but one day I hope that someone who has a copy of one of my CDs will be flying in a big jet plane and they’ll hear my voice come over the cabin speakers – ‘…this is your captain speaking, my name is Jonno Zilber’ – and that person will lean over to the person next to them and say ‘I’ve got that guy’s CD!’ That is when I’ll know I’ve made it.” Catch Jonno Zilber live at The National Press Club in Barton on Thursday March 29. The event is free for members and invited guests.

MOVING ON UP Rory McCartney If you are partial to a bit of music over coffee, chances are that you’ve also sampled the music of Canberran NATALIE MAGEE. She maintains a hectic schedule, gigging in such diverse places as The Hyatt, Urban Pantry and even Dendy Cinema. I caught up on the goss with her about her recent projects and a forthcoming move to Sydney. Natalie says “pop and indie are my passion, and I like to bring these genres together with jazz to create something a bit different”. While she’s performed with trios and even The Royal Military College big band, Natalie’s usual backing is a four-piece with piano, bass, guitar and drums. Her band buddies are other students she’s met through The ANU. Natalie has played at jazz festivals in Merimbula and Manly, but these weren’t mentioned when I asked about her favourite gigs. “My best gig experience was being joined onstage at The Folk Festival for an impromptu jam by Grammy-winning Hawaiian guitarist Jeff Petersen. That was a bit nerve-wracking. My most unusual gig was playing at ANU, outside at 10pm in June, with Norwegian ice instrumentalist Terje Isungset. Terje played a drum, horn and a viola phone, all made with ice.”

Pop and indie are my passion, and I like to bring these genres together with jazz to create something a bit different

I asked how she found the reaction from people waiting to see flicks at Dendy. “I’ve played there for five years and get a really good response from movie goers. I also get a lot of performance opportunities, such as functions, through playing there. Recently The Canberra Swing Cats have joined us, to dance while we play, and people love it.” Natalie’s own songs are inspired by life experiences and observing people. She says “a good song is an honest story”. Natalie mixes a few covers into her setlist too, including songs from such favourites as Amy Winehouse and Coldplay. She released Natalie Magee Live in 2010, recorded at her favourite haunt, The Street Theatre, and her next big gig will be used to record both a CD and DVD. Having just completed a Bachelor of Music, majoring in vocal jazz at ANU, Natalie speaks fondly of her ANU mentors Vince Jones and Kristin Berardi. “I value their wisdom, industry experience and songwriting inspiration.” While at ANU, she relied on performing to help cover life expenses and admitted “yes, I’ve gigged my way through uni”. Having completed her studies, Natalie is all set to move to Sydney to set herself up as a performance artist. Before then, she’ll holiday overseas, including opportunities to play in the US and Paris.

Inspired by her move to Sydney, Natalie’s show Natalie Magee – A New Chapter Begins, is on at 7pm on Thursday March 29 at The MIC Lounge, CIT Southside, Phillip. You can be sure of a comfy time, as the venue will be decked out cabaret-style, with cushions, couches and candles. Tickets cost $15/$10 and are available through Natalie’s website.

TASTY MUSICAL TREATS Alistair Erskine When interviewing bands or musicians, my BMA colleagues will all agree that one of the more standard responses to the question “Have you ever been to Canberra?” is mostly along the lines of “Oh, yeah, not since we went there in like Year 8 on excursion.” When it came to talking to SNAKADAKTAL’s bass player Jarrah, I have to admit, I was slightly excited about asking that otherwise filler question – his response will probably be like “yes, last year on excursion”. Or something. Because Snakadaktal were the 2011 winners of Unearthed High, so I took the massively unprofessional step of asking that clichéd filler question first cab off the rank. “Actually, never. I think Shaun might have. But yeah, until we got booked to play there, I don’t think we had even considered that there would be a music scene there. You only really hear about bands from Sydney, so it will be cool to discover.”

I was really shocked. I never thought we would win, we were so lucky

Before he gets too carried away, wanting to ask about large roundabouts, I interrupt, and get him to take me through what it was like winning triple j’s Unearthed High competition. “I got lifts [to school] all last year, and started listening to the radio a lot just on the way to and from school. We actually had this label chasing us at the time, and I think triple j might have been speaking to them, and I think we found out we were in the top ten one night through them, and we were all like ‘wow’. Just that by itself was pretty cool, we were pretty happy, and then they got it down to seven and we were still in there, and they were just playing our song almost all the time. My mum would be driving and my song would come on every day I was in the car to school. It was bizarre but awesome. On the day of the announcement, just before they were going to call the person, they mentioned the last two digits of the number of who they were going to call – I pretty much knew if they were going to call Shaun, as he had the most contact with everyone about it to that point. When the call came in, and we knew, Shaun gave the most bored sounding ‘hello’. I think he was in shock the whole time. My family was going berserk, I was really shocked – some of the other bands were really good. I never thought we would win, we were so lucky.” So now they have graduated. Well almost all of them. Jarrah says of their singer Phoebe: “She’s doing her VCE this year, which makes it a little hard for her to tour – she has to take a fair few Mondays and Fridays off school. Luckily she is really smart and will be able to handle it. There is no way I could have, I would have dropped out for sure.” Catch Snakadaktal live at Transit Bar on Thursday March 22, supported by glorious locals Pocket Fox. Tickets cost $12 + bf on the door.

THE REALNESS D Bridge’s Exit Recordings is one of those labels that manages to be both highly prolific and incredibly consistent, releasing singles and records which ‘push the lope’ of contemporary d‘n’b whilst giving a natty chin-stroke to its past. Not content to simply release headcave 175 scattershot rinse outs, Exit explores the fringes of d‘n’b where compositions are stripped back, there’s space and atmospherics aplenty but the riddims remain razor sharp. Romanian resident Dan HabarNam is one such artist on Exit who fits this mould, incorporating techno, ambient and other elements into the 170bpm template. His programming is meticulous and reportedly suffers from an ‘audiophile’s attention to detail’. According to the Exit label, Dan recorded the CD version of his new album from the vinyl masters to achieve that distinct analogue-y sound. His debut album From The Known is set to be released on Monday March 19.

the label’s previous releases. With one eye on the lower end of the sound spectrum, Ramp has fast become one of the go to labels for quality bass music. The compilation looks back on the label’s back catalogue and features amazing work from the likes of Zomby, FaltyDL, Shortstuff, Destro, Sbtrkt, Doc Daneeka, Dro Carey, Stay+, Hypno, Cupp Cave and more. It’s out Monday March 26. Speaking of Cupp Cave, the Belgian producer (sometimes aka Ssaliva) is set to release his new album Retina Waves on Ramp in April. Should be suitably smudgy, psychedelic and enjoyably weird. Metalheadz head honcho Goldie is marking the 100th release on his famed label with a brand new effort of his very own. Freedom will be a single-sided 12” vinyl plate and features the vocal blessings of Natalie Duncan. It’s a soulful epic number and a fitting way to mark a great milestone for the ever consistent Metalheadz. Night Slugs are set for another big year and their first LP release for 2012 will come from London’s Jam City in May. Check out The Courts online now. B-side The Night Life features Main Attrakionz on vox. Jam City’s explorations of grime, house, hip-hop, electro and R&B sonics never cease to push dem boundaries, so should be interesting to see what he conjures up for the album proper.

Sven Weisemann’s The Invisible Insurrection album under his Desolate alter-ego was criminally slept on last year. Undoubtedly indebted to the sounds of Burial, Weisemann’s template consists of gaseous ambience, subtle beauty and dubbed out slo-mo garage rhythms. Hopefully peeps won’t ignore his upcoming record Celestial Light Beings which is due for release on Hamburg’s Fauxpas Music on Monday March 12.

Finally, this month – I simply can’t recommend the new Burial EP Kindred on Hyperdub enough. Three epic tunes from the mystery man, all of which ebb, sway and grow fresher and more addictive with each spin. If you don’t get it and love it, then there really is little hope left for your soul. Another gold medal for Mr Burial then.

Hot on the heels of sister label Brainmath, UK’s Ramp Recordings are set to release a new compilation in March which showcases

ROSHAMBO AKA CED NADA roshambizzle@yahoo.com.au

To hear music from all these releases and more, tune to THE ANTIDOTE on 2XX 98.3FM every Tuesday night from 9.30pm.

FURIOUS FUNKOARS

A LIGHT ON THE HILLTOP

Baz Ruddick

Hard touring and hard partying hip-hop boys FUNKOARS are on the verge of releasing their fourth album, The Quickening, with a “sporadic” nationwide tour to follow. I spoke to DJ Reflux as he took a break from strapping on a nail bag and rebuilding his studio to rival the glory of MC Debris’.

Aussie hip-hop has emerged in the past 15 years as one of the biggest genres in the country. At the forefront of success stands three guys. For the past ten years, the Adelaide born and raised HILLTOP HOODS have been going from strength to strength, releasing album after album of commercially successful music. Hard hitting beats, tight lyrics and infectious samples are signature moves of MC Suffa, DJ Debris and MC Pressure. Drink From The Sun is their fifth studio album and by far their biggest and most anticipated record so far. I spoke to Pressure about their ‘baby’.

Born from the ever strong Adelaide hip-hop scene, yet slightly overshadowed by their commercially successful label mates Hilltop Hoods, Funkoars have been a constant touring force in recent years, leaving a blazing path of hip-hop party-fuelled destruction across the country. “We try and keep on the road as much as possible. That’s where we built our fan-base and our sound. Hip-hop is a live kind of music really. Our brand of hip-hop is to be enjoyed live... a lot of our subject matter comes out of touring. It’s not introspective sooky kind of stuff. We had a rep of going pretty hard. That has kind of followed us... it’s tamed off a far bit in comparison to what it used to be. But I think that was inevitable. We couldn’t keep that up, otherwise we would be dead!”

We were one of the first crews to put it down and say ‘this is how it is’

While the boys have a reputation for their hard, spitting, angry delivery, DJ Reflux explains that they are often misconstrued as angry because their music is “high energy and hard hitting”. He explains that “When you compare it to other types of music out there that’s talking about splitting up with partners and that sort of thing it’s a different flavour. That [type] comes across as normal now... most hip-hop back in the day you would have classified as angry music. “The hip-hop outlook is the underdog outlook,” DJ Reflux explains. “We were one of the first crews to put it down and say ‘this is how it is’. It was confronting and pretty rude at the time because we were very blatant with it. We didn’t try to disguise or hide it in any way. We got a rep from that obviously. However, it’s opened the door for many artists nowadays to feel like they can do it.” The Funkoars enlisted the help of many notable guests on their new LP, including internationally renowned New York-based producer, Large Professor. DJ Reflux explains to me how working with Large Professor gave them a chance to diversify their sound and challenge themselves. “Not a lot of people actually get the Funkoars sound. When we sent our stuff to Large Professor we didn’t have a clue how it was going to come back. We were surprised. It’s kind of a malfunctioning thing. It’s up tempo. It progressed and we worked with it. He’s stoked with the track. He loves it. We can’t really ask for more than that. We were pretty happy with the end product.” Catch Funkoars with supports Raw City Rukus, Old School Al and Mattrix live at The Greenroom on Friday March 30. Tickets cost $25 + bf and can be purchased through Moshtix.

From humble roots, blowing off school and rapping over mix tapes, putting on their own gigs and taking loans to make records, the Hoods have grown into huge success. “When we started making music it was a way to pass the time. We came along in a good time when it was starting to take off. People were starting to stop imitating what they heard from America and do their own thing. They were branching out and making music for themselves with a bit of Aussie identity to it. This helped the scene because people could actually connect with it. It really has forged its own identity. Now it’s entrenched. It’s been an amazing ride to be a part of.”

People were starting to stop imitating what they heard from America and do their own thing

If people don’t know Aussie hip-hop, they still know the Hoods. That’s how huge they are. Being a pivotal part of the Aussie hip-hop genre means more than releasing album after album of kick arse tunes. The Hoods keep the health of the genre in mind. “I’m proud that we stuck by our genre and that we kept doing things from the start in the same vein. And now that genre is one of the biggest in this country. What’s good for us is good for the hip-hop scene. Before we started the record label we did the grant to try and help young artists get a record out there. We have always tried to give back and help the scene grow. Not just because it is good for us, but also for the love of hip-hop.” Their most recent album features more session musicians and guests than any before. The album features huge names, including Black Thought from The Roots, Charlie Tuna from Jurassic Five, Solo from Horrorshow, Sia, Nova Scotian rapper Classified and hip-hop reggae superstar Lotek. “We have been doing it full time solidly for 18 months. Definitely this album is my favourite because I haven’t heard it for ten years! It’s new and fresher. It is really a hard call to critique your own music. For me all the lyrics I wrote on this album are me now. People change in ten years’ time and some of the shit I said on the record back then might make me cringe now. It’s more current and it’s more me.” Hilltop Hoods are one of the headline acts for this year’s Groovin The Moo festival, held at The Meadows of The University of Canberra on Sunday May 13. Tickets cost $99.90 + bf and are available through Moshtix.

METALISE Everyone over their Soundwave-induced poverty and hearing loss yet? Good, time to put a slew of great local releases and shows on your radar. 4Dead have been delivering liberal doses of malevolence and mayhem across the region since they started burning their bridges with the various providers of Public Address (PA) services in the ACT in 2001. The collective work of at least three years has gone into the making of their latest offering, the full length Anchors which is now available for sale through the Trial & Error website (trialanderror. limitedpressing.com/products/16530). Should you pre-order one of the three delicious vinyl offerings in green, black and blue or white (black and blue would be appropriate), you will receive instant access to a digital download of the album which has been mixed at Godcity by Mr Kurt Ballou (yes, he of Converge fame). Artwork duties were handled by Ryan Patterson of Coliseum. There are only 100 of each colour available; I would hurry up if I were you. In celebration of this release, the band headline a great bill at The Basement on Thursday March 15, with a stellar supporting cast including Victorian doom terrorists Whitehorse, The Reverend Jesse Custer and Throat of Dirt. I caught up with Whitehorse frontman Pete Hyde in Melbourne recently and Canberra audiences will get to see the band on the cusp of a major US tour and about to be a part of no less than three split 7” releases. This all adds up to a great show of local delights. Check it out. Law of the Tongue are a killer new sludge doom act on the local scene and are hitting the boards for the first time at The Pot Belly in Belconnen on Friday March 30 with another newer Canberra doom band known as Mammon, as well as another band as yet unconfirmed. Well worth a squiz. Don’t forget Kill For Satan have a new album out entitled The Final Conflict and their album launch is on at The Basement on Saturday March 31 with Rise, Reign of Terror and Aeturnus Dominion. Shred fans should remember that we’re very lucky to be getting the G3 tour rolling through town on Tuesday March 27 at The National Convention Centre. The tour features Joe Satriani (who has played Canberra several times), Steve Vai and Steve Lukather of Toto and session guitar monster. Three absolute maestros of the electric guitar and welcome visitors. Devildriver are touring Oz again in May with the nearest show up at The Hi Fi in Sydney which is a licensed all ages show on Saturday May 5. Unkle K’s band of the week: Magpyes. Killer UK grind with sludge bits and a killer film clip worth sussing out on YouTube. magpyes. bandcamp.com . JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

the word

on albums

album of the issue

Cracked Actor Solar Driftwood [Birds Love Fighting Records]

Solar Driftwood is the brilliant creation of locals Sebastian Field, Grahame Thompson, Nick Delatovic and Jordan Rodgers, and was mixed and engineered by Canberra’s Midas, Sam King. Comparable to Radiohead and Portishead, the band’s ambient post-rock is diffused with experimental elements also cultivated by local acts Mornings and Spartak. Cracked Actor exude musical confidence and unique sensibilities. Solar Driftwood spells success. Long Road debuts their intricate rhythmic and melodic associations. Everything is swimming in light and shimmering inside and out. The chorus breaks like a bright, euphoric wave – a sonic high that forms an addictive motif on the record. In Silver Wheel, Thompson’s rhythmic attitude is intrinsic and ghostly cello manifests over progressions which evoke Radiohead circa 2003. The poetics of I’m Never Sad hint at a curious back story while cello grates violently then soothes. More nightmare than daydream, Paper Suit

confronts the hypocrisies of social constructions with provocative lyricism. Here especially, Cracked Actor develop a rich post-rock sound without exhausting energy. Thompson makes masterful use of the kick and sticks, keeping his beats diverse across the EP. The prologue of distorted vocals/ guitar with a smooth riff make an emotional finis – signed Cracked Actor. Intimate vocals sound higher in the mix on Permission as stuttering electronics lead listeners to a place both comforting and unnerving. Check the instrumental prowess. Manics in Love is awash with eerie romanticism; a slow beat, lush cello and lustful guitar. Field’s staggered vibrato is haunting, beautiful and ethereal, the cello is technically and texturally well-utilised and the drums come with a light touch and sharp energy. Interludes of instrumental/ vocal overdubbing don’t lose pace or the sweet, cohesive tonality. With ominous lyricism and ‘pressure and release’ musicality, the aural experience of Solar Driftwood is shadowed, elusive and transformative in the best possible way. Ensconce yourself. SOPHIA MCDONALD

Alpen Inside The Sky [Feral Media]

Bruce Springsteen Wrecking Ball [Columbia]

Feral Media co-founder Danny Jumpertz has some good excuses for the seven year wait for a follow up to Alpen’s 2005 debut Overdub. In the intervening years his work on this second album has been delayed twice; firstly the birth of his son, and secondly by his recent relocation (along with Feral Media) from Sydney to New York. Thankfully, this all instrumental collection proves to be more than worth the wait, with a brace of regular Alpen collaborators including Comatone, John Thjia and Splinter Orchestra’s Martin Kirkwood making appearances. Throughout the majority of the 13 tracks, it’s smooth, lazily flowing guitar textures that form the foreground, underpinned by subtly placed electronics and a post-rock imbued sense of cinematic atmosphere. It’s a sweeping and occasionally melancholic aesthetic favoured by the likes of To See One’s Self From Above, which calls to mind Godspeed or Dirty Three’s wounded yet majestic crawl, while elsewhere Coconut Ants leans closer to Can-esque motorik grooves as circular strummed guitar figures cling tightly to a streamlined backing of bass runs and clicking drum machines. Atomiser meanwhile sees the brittle and spiky electronics rising more to the forefront with a brief side trip into IDM territory, before Am Nobody drops things down into ominous Mezzanine-esque triphop in what’s easily the most menacing moment here. Well worth seeking out.

Springsteen’s 17th is unnecessary: enjoyable maybe, but so is sleeping in. Springsteen’s buggered his alarm clock: the riffs, though big and beautiful and feminine as expected, are repeated with boorish frequency, leading to terminally long songs. Some attempt a quasi-symphonic structure, ending up tiresome extended snippets; others are brief, ending up tiresome extended snippets. Much feels stolen – This Depression = When the Levee Breaks, Wrecking Ball = Wake Up. The sound is cluttered rather than expansive, leaving the listener little room to fit it. And Bruce isn’t helping his aesthetic by declaring himself the 99% – Google his income – and taking the Republican route by requesting the heartland to believe. In what? He never says; either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.

CHRIS DOWNTON

Nasty this all is, it’s also unimportant. The album is not bad because Springsteen is plagiarising – his greatness was rarely original – or due to whiffs of hypocrisy. This is a bad album because it is redundant. He’s never written a spiritless melody or a wallowing chorus, but do not pay for this record. Its ‘experiments’ – violins, drum machines, rapping, and wah-wah – don’t set the work apart from anything prior. It isn’t ‘angry’, as purported. It’s samey. Springsteen claimed recently that his work is about the gulf between dream and reality, and here, rather literally, he has let his subject dictate his style. THOMAS HARDLY

Deep Sea Arcade Outlands [Ivy League] Deep Sea Arcade have come a long way since they kicked off as a glint in the eye of teen mates Nic McKenzie and Nick Weaver. Outlands, the debut release from the Sydney fivepiece, injects some sun into what has been a cool Aussie summer, with surf music for the 21st century. They don’t sing much about catching the breakers, but the vibe is unmistakably beachwear casual and suntan lotion smooth. Chirpy choruses, bright keys and happy riffs spell beach party in large letters. Granite City Girl may be set in Scotland, but the “ooh-ahh”s are straight from The Beach Boys. Apart from the usual boy-girl song fodder, the album has curious links to classic cinema, courtesy of Nic McKenzie’s studies of movies at art school. The lyrics in both the title track and The Devil Won’t Take You owe their origin to old flicks. Nic’s laidback vocal carries a sea shell echo with it that delivers a fuller, sweeter tang to the songs. Girls, the album highlight and the first single from the CD, is unstoppable with towering harmonies in the chorus, psychedelic guitars and a melody that cements itself in your mind. Lonely In Your Arms is a throwback to the ‘60s, scented with the guitar licks of classic surf music, and a super catchy sing-along chorus. The show ends with the reckless good cheer of vintage Brit pop in Airbulance. RORY MCCARTNEY

Dirty Three Towards The Low Sun [Anchor & Hope/Remote Control] This record reminds me of a certain coastal town – everything a little rough round the edges, decaying old buildings made new by street art, and the ocean heaving behind it all. There’s an unpredictability to Dirty Three that mimics natural energy and the elevated moods being away from the big city can bring. It’s that sonic coalescence of hard, raw edges with the melancholy-smooth. The band’s first release since Cinder (2005) has been criticised by some for lacking the direction and shape of their previous records. However, if you’re willing to listen through and let the music settle, the record is as instinctual as it is deliberate, as lush and conflicting as it is lucid. Overdubbing and noise (Furnace) make for satisfying textures, settled by some chilled tunes and sorry laments (Ashen Snow). Listen for Jim White’s tormented beats and washes of percussion (Sometimes I Forget You’ve Gone), while guitarist Mick Turner conjures gentle brooding (Moon on The Land), and intense post-rock sounds (That Was Was) not unlike a Drones’ recording. As a violinist, I often meet string-infused musical endeavours with gritted teeth, but there’s something in Warren Ellis’ playing – the beauty, brutality and understated stylistic confidence – that gets me every time. Towards The Low Sun is an interesting continuation for committed Dirty Three listeners, and a good one for newcomers to peruse and enjoy. SOPHIA MCDONALD

LEFTFIELD TOURISM [WARNER MUSIC AUSTRALIA] Leftfield helped guide and pioneer electronic music in the ‘90s via erudite vocal collaborations and by fusing electronica with well worn genres, taking the headnod of reggae and dub and melding it with warbling synths and punchy beats. The seminal Leftism adorned mainstream magazines and Top Ten lists, making a wider audience aware that electronic music wasn’t all clang ‘n’ bang but capable of complexity, depth and structure. And so, 22 years on, we have Tourism - a 2CD + DVD live set captured at their Future Music Festival 2011 set. The roar of the crowd (never too obtrusive) and live vocalisation give the songs a renewed urgency, as does the extended mix of most of the tracks. There are beautiful moments of blissful, surging psychedelia that play out over ten minutes such as Black Flute and Space Shanty (starts blissful, ends maniacal) as well as a punchy hip-hop flavour in Check One and Africa Shox before closing with the ultimate rumbler Phat Planet. Great though they are, the complexities and midrange sounds are strangely absent from some tracks, such as on Africa Shox (no coudy vocal snips) and Afro-Left (no underlying synth line). Although this gives familiar tracks a new sound they seem oddly absent. Still, this doesn’t ruin a marvellous set, and it’s wonderful to hear the tracks with space to breathe and build. New artist album now please! ALLAN SKO

Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman World Wide Rebel Songs [New West] Rage Against The Machine/ Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello’s acoustic alter-ego The Nightwatchman has always come across as his personal love letter to the politically loaded folk of Pete Seeger and Billy Bragg, with the cover art of this third album even paying homage to Phil Ochs’ Protest Songs. While the two preceding Nightwatchman albums have predominantly been acoustic affairs, this latest effort sees him enlisting the aid of a full electric band, The Freedom Fighter Orchestra, for a collection of considerably more plugged in and rocking tracks. While there’s the occasional nod towards the heavy funk rock licks employed by Morello during his RATM tenure on heavier tracks like It Begins Tonight, first single Save The Hammer For The Man gives a better indication of the overriding mood, with Ben Harper adding guest vocals to Morello’s Seeger-esque protest folk lyrics. Perhaps the closest aesthetic touchstone would be some of Bruce Springsteen’s early period, a comparison that particularly springs to mind given the number of pro-union songs here. I have to confess that while many of my favourite politically-themed albums have deployed elements of subtlety and satire, this does neither, resulting in a collection that comes across as too earnest, po-faced and occasionally too cheesy to be really convincing. chris downton

the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

In a move that surprised no one, The Artist won Best Picture at the 2012 Academy Awards. Meryl Streep won an award because she turned in a good performance in a truly annoying film, The Iron Lady – but mostly because she had been nominated 17 times for Best Actress but only won once before, in 1982 for Sophie’s Choice. The true star of the Oscars, however, was definitely that cute dog from The Artist. OH MY GOD, HE’S JUST SO ADORABLE. Ahem. I mean, like art house film and stuff. Yeah.

quote of the issue

“I don’t have a sense of humour and I don’t want one!” Penelope Longstreet (Jodie Foster), Carnage

My Week with Marilyn

Carnage

Weekend

My Week with Marilyn is a luscious, seductive film – about a woman who is well known for being the same. Although ostensibly a film about Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) who becomes enthralled by Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams) when she comes into conflict with Sir Laurence during the production of The Prince and the Showgirl – really, this is a film entirely about Marilyn. The other characters are just there for some subplot.

Directed by the controversial Roman Polanski (more controversial due to his personal life than his films) and based on the play by Yasmina Reza, Carnage is a compelling, amusing film that shows how childish adults can be. Penelope and Michael Longstreet (Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly) are the parents of six-year-old Ethan, and Nancy and Alan Cowan (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz) are the parents of nine-year-old Zachary. Ethan and Zachary were both involved in an incident of bullying, and their respective parents stage a meeting to discuss the issue.

A mediation on modern romance and sexuality, Weekend is a beautifully-shot, surprisingly touching and ultimately heartbreaking film.

It would be incredibly intimidating to take on the role of one of the most famous and lusted-after women of all time – but Michelle Williams does an admirable job. She completely inhabits the character, and at times I forgot I was watching Michelle Williams. It felt like watching Marilyn, on screen, as if in Some Like It Hot. She shines, and manages to capture both the magnetism and vulnerability of the star. However, Williams’ performance is what makes the film standout, and there’s not a whole lot going on besides that. If I’m being honest, the script is lazy and shallow, with a lot of distracting voiceover that delivers exposition. It’s a light film that doesn’t offer a lot of original insight into Marilyn’s character, but it does offer a delicious couple of hours of guilt-free escapism. Plus, you will be suitably intrigued enough to go out and buy a biography. Melissa Wellham

Although the meeting between the couples begins cordially, as the time progresses the discussion descends into chaos. As the film unfolds, the layers of civility of modern society are peeled back from the characters, leaving their raw underbellies exposed: their relationship dramas, their personal insecurities, and their failed idealism. Which sounds depressing – but it’s funny. Honest. Although the script is quite clearly adapted from the theatre – the action never moves out of one room – it works well as a film because of the performances from the actors involved. The closeups, their expressions, and their movements make the closeness a camera can provide worthwhile. Foster, Reilly, Winslet and Waltz all turn in fantastic performances – and look like they’re having a lot of fun while they’re at it. Carnage is a short, sharp, and biting feast. It’s absolutely vicious. Melissa Wellham

The kind-hearted, awkward Russell (Tom Cullen) is out of the closet, but still uncomfortable with how society perceives his sexuality. After a quiet Friday night with his straight friends, Russell heads to a gay bar alone to pick up. He does manage to pick up the skinny, whip-smart, angry Glen (Chris New) – but what is supposed to be a one night stand turns into something much more. Russell and Glen spend the next 48 hours together – and in that short amount of time, they learn about themselves, and what they want from the future. Weekend is an alternative, independent slice-of-life character study – but a lot less pretentious than that description implies. Where many films that fall into this ‘genre’ have an understated script, almost to the point of being devoid of dialogue, what makes Weekend so fabulous is how conversational and realistic the script is. Weekend is a film very much in the tradition of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Capturing the quirks of modern British life, Weekend has also done well in choosing relative unknowns for the two main characters – who also happen to be very good actors, turning in subtle and moving performances. Weekend is a simple, stunning, and lovely romance – where the main couple just happens to be gay. MELISSA WELLHAM

the word on dvds

Game of Thrones [Warner Home Video] What’s left to say about Game of Thrones that hasn’t already been said? The multi-award winning medieval epic based on George R. R. Martin’s equally multi-award winning series of books is critically adored and a ratings smash for HBO. So what’s all the fuss about and was my esteemed colleague Mr Allan Sko correct in calling it the “best series of 2011”? In short order (1) dynastic power squabbles in a faraway land and (2) probably. Set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, GOT is a fantasy story for those who – like myself – steer well clear of the genre and its obsessively intricate plotting, arcane character motivations and anachronistic dialogue. GOT is also one of the few shows in recent memory that arrived fully formed; it didn’t take a couple of episodes to hit its stride. Within five minutes you knew exactly what was in store and then sure enough – shock horror – it delivers! There are no mid-season stumbles, no pointless diversions or ‘bottle episodes’. It sets a cracking pace from the start, maintaining – arguably extending – the quality as it progresses through its ten part run. Plot development makes perfect sense; meaning, there are stakes and ramifications that are followed through. It’s no spoiler to say some characters don’t make it all the way through and some suffer fates worse than death by merely surviving. Weaving so many storylines together would have been migraine-inducing stuff, but the writers have pulled it off. The acting is on par with the very best on the small box, although Peter Dinklage’s languid and shrewd portrayal of Tyrion Lannister is first amongst equals. Don’t be afraid of Game of Thrones. It’s not genre TV. Its bleak earthiness is for everyone. JUSTIN HOOK

New York: A Documentary Film [Madman] New York is a paradox. A city that welcomes strangers, revels in diversity, embraces culture clash and thrives on chaotic energy. But it’s also incredibly insular; people can live their entire life never venturing beyond arbitrary lines of their blocks. It’s a city where anonymity is almost guaranteed but produces singular, unique artists and individuals. The epicentre of world capitalism and leading light of the literary, cultural, culinary, fashion and art worlds for decades. How do you capture this in televisual form? Ric (brother of Ken) Burns has given it his best shot and, like the city itself, it’s an exhilarating and exhausting experience. Economic and political history? The episodes dealing with The Great Crash and the city’s recovery have you covered. The birth of the modern city? Recollections of La Guardia’s mayoral reign sum it up perfectly. The decline and rebirth of inner city urbanisation? Well, you can’t go past the couple of hours tracking Robert Moses’ total transformation of the city. Indeed Moses is one of the doc’s most compelling figures, a man who refused to back down and never lost a fight. That is, until he proposed a freeway through Greenwich Village. The World Trade Centre episodes verge on excess, but that might be the point; gleaming icons of capitalist exuberance, indifferent to the citizens below until their destruction when they came to represent something far bigger and more ephemeral. It’s handled delicately and free of “U-S-A!!!” jingoism and barrow pushing. New York... has enough to satiate the history buff (Robert Caro, Peter Hamill, Mike Wallace all feature), travellers romanticising the cut and thrust of a pulsating city, and neophytes unfamiliar with the peculiar magnetism of Gotham. JUSTIN HOOK

To Kill A Mockingbird [Universal/Sony] A staple of the English Lit curriculum for since forever, Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird is the Rosetta Stone of white guilt about racism, injustice and prejudice in pre-Civil Rights America and a textbook on how we should all just understand each other and get along. On the other hand it’s a simplistic, almost naïve, morality tale where White Man is the hero and one that cribs its austere Southern Gothic style from others like Flannery O’Connor, who commented upon its release: “It’s interesting that all the folks don’t know they’re reading a children’s book.” Either way, it’s an undeniable turning point in American history, not because it outlined a dramatic new way of thinking but because it stated the blindingly obvious: freedom. Lee hoped for Spencer Tracy to play Atticus Finch; the book’s vision of stoicism and resilience defending a black man accused of raping a white girl. In the end, Gregory Peck got the part and reeks of gravitas, spinning out nuggets of wisdom and frank homilies to the young children who scamper about his house; Scout, Jem, and occasionally big city blow-in Dill. When it was released in 1962 (this 50th Anniversary Edition is part of the 100th birthday celebration of Universal Studios) the book was still young but already on its way to carving itself into history. And it’s a great film, a justifiable classic that maintains its heft with a restoration job radiating warmth. Arguably it’s better than its source material by resolving one of the most criticised aspects of the book – a narrative voice that jumps unconvincingly between adult and child without rhyme or reason. In the film, an elder Scout narrates her younger self on the screen. A masterstroke in a masterful piece of old Hollywood filmmaking. JUSTIN HOOK

the word

BLACKBOX

on games

RAGE Developer: id Software Platform: PS3, 360, PC, Mac Length: 5+ hrs Rating: Take or leave This might seem like a weird review given Rage did appear back in October, however only in the last few weeks have Apple fans had a chance to try this reasonably well hyped game. Keen to see if both my laptop and legendary Doom creator, Carmack, have still got it I decided to give it a bash (yep, there’s a Rage pun there, but it’s not worth the ink to explain it). To my laptop’s credit (although I suspect more of the credit should be given to Carmack) the game runs very well. Granted, the scenery does tend to skip around a bit whilst it loads in more detail. Overall though the game runs smoothly, whilst also looking pretty spanky. Much of this comes from the amount of detail placed into the game, allowing it to avoid that cut and paste feel that many of the open world games have. In this way, the game gets one up on the similarly post-apocalyptic Fallout 3. In most other ways, it’s inferior. What lets this game down is how small, linear and unbelievable its world is. With many of the missions being walking distance away and involving mind-numbing tasks, the game fails to capture a feel of grandeur. In the opening alone, the disappointing character voiced by John Goodman claims we need to hide from the bandits. He then literally drives around the corner and pulls into his house. While on the bandits, far from feeling like a terrorising force tearing the last of humanity apart, they seem more content with joyriding and committing unseen atrocities. What’s more, your allies despite always being ‘under threat’ seem hardly phased, with most appearing to be surprisingly upbeat about the whole thing. Hell, there’s even car racing in amongst all of it, that despite being conducted in a town populated with a only a handful of stereotyped and forgettable characters, still seems to not only pull a great turn out, but manages to find racers despite the ridiculous death toll. While I can live with a game featuring such an inconsistent world, what disappoints me most is just how family-friendly and frankly boring the game is. While in comparison Doom 3’s entertainment value was pretty schlocky, what with it relying on a mix of brown moments and cheesy horror storytelling, fact of the matter is that shit was interesting. This game distinctly lacks any form of mechanic, be it gameplay or story-based, to keep you hooked. Overall the best thing about this game is gameplay; the gun combat at least, given the racing feels like a poor man’s Motorstorm. Unfortunately, when that’s not matched by an engaging story, there’s only so long that will last you. Torben Sko

Just as digital music opened a door to a massive candy store of long forgotten classics ripe for reinvention and reinterpretation, dusting off TV classics to fill ever-expanding schedules has exponentially increased the volume of TV remakes. Except that TV moguls are more like pub cover bands than recording artists. There are some success stories, mainly in the sci-fi genre – Star Trek, which moved the universe on a bit and dumped the Kirk-style bravado for a more eloquent, sophisticated approach; Dr Who, which replaced that quarry with sophisticated sets and CGI while maintaining the character-based plots that served the original so well and even Battlestar Galactica, which has captured a sizable niche following. The list of failures though is lengthy – Knight Rider, Beverly Hills 90210, Get Smart, The Love Boat, Bionic Woman, Melrose Place. The key thing the failed shows have in common – vanilla characters and a cast filled with pretty faces that all look the same. In fact they’re so alike the characters are easily mixed up. At least, barring late night talk shows and reality TV where there are fame and prizes to be won, Australia has been spared local remakes of US or UK shows. So why waffle on about this? Because there are a raft of remakes or reinventions in the works including Wentworth, a new version of Prisoner for Foxtel, The Munsters, a return to Dallas (with Larry Hagman and Patrick Duffy reprising their roles), The Flintstones, Bewitched and two Beauty and the Beasts – one based on the original tale, the other a remake of the ‘80s cult show. And on cue: Maggie Kirkpatrick, best known as Prisoner’s Joan “The Freak” Ferguson appears in this week’s Talkin’ about Your Generation (SCTEN, Wed Mar 21, 8.30pm). There’s also stunning (and much hyped) wildlife doco The Great Barrier Reef (WIN, Sun, 6.30pm), Danish crime drama The Killing (SBS2, Wed Mar 21, 8.30pm) and new Damages (WIN, Tue, 1am) although it’s been relegated to the wee hours. Other docos on offer include the sensationalised One series Ross Kemp on Gangs (One, Tue, 9.30pm), Sunday Best: The King of Kong (ABC2, Sun Mar 18, 8.30pm) about Donkey Kong champions and not the Fay Wray movie, Brave New World with Stephen Hawking (SBS1, Sun, 8.30pm) – a five-parter looking for the next scientific great leap forward, The Real MASH (SBS1, Fri Mar 16, 9.30pm) which looks at the real MASH units in Korea that inspired the show, and Sunday Best: Aileen: The Life And Death Of A Serial Killer (ABC2, Sun Mar 25, 8.30pm) which looks at the case of serial killer Aileen Wuoronos. Food seems to have bumped travel from primetime but there are still a few shows including Places We Go (One, Sat, 5pm), An Idiot Abroad – The Bucket List (SCTEN, Sat, 9.30pm) – squirm-worthy as well as informative, and Getaway (WIN, Sat, 5.30pm). If you’re still looking for food, check out Food Truck (7TWO, Sun, 6.30pm) which follows kiwi chef Michael Wan De Elzen making restaurant quality van food. Auntie’s classic movie slot has gone all Australian with Malcolm (ABC2, Sat Mar 17, 8.30pm), Oyster Farmer (ABC2, Sat Mar 17, 9.50pm), Lucky Miles (ABC2, Sat Mar 24, 8.30pm) and The Coca Cola Kid (ABC2, Sat Mar 24, 10.10pm). Twitter: @ChezBlackbox TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

the word

Lamb of God / In Flames/ The Black Dahlia Murder UC Refectory Thursday March 1

on gigs

It’s been an incredibly wet week in the nation’s capital, but, when the stars come out to play, we don’t let a few million raindrops get in the way of a night on the rock. When your correspondent arrives on the scene muttering is rife in the queues, and I hear one person near us in the shorter of the queues (we’re not stupid at BMA, oh no) saying to his mate that he’s willing to forgo the ability to have one or two sherbets – he’s driving – if it means he can get into the University of Canberra Refectory just that little bit quicker. This clearly isn’t the go, so breaking ranks BMA legs it to the front of the queues to find out what’s happening. As we do this, the band strikes up inside, so now we’re trotting about in the rain whilst simultaneously panicking as to how on earth we’re ever going to get in. Spotting someone we know handing out wristbands to those destined to be dry for the rest of the evening, we ask where the guestlist is. “Through that door,” is the answer. We’ve just quit the queue that’s going “through that door” – do we have to go back to the end and start again? Taking pity on our ever more damp, pathetic visage, she leads us up the stairs, past the nonplussed looking goons and into rock Valhalla, all the while making sure we have the requisite wristbands and stamps to get done what we have to do. There can be no doubt – Anna Wallace, you are a princess amongst women… And so there’s just time to obtain some liquid sustenance before getting on with the job in hand. The Black Dahlia Murder are going about their business, and mighty impressive they are too. There’s not a lot of fuss or flair going on here, but there’s bludgeon aplenty and avuncular frontman Trevor Strnad leads us through a variety of selections from the band’s past (with Necropolis and I Will Return sounding particularly pleasing to these ears). Sweden’s In Flames are a different beast entirely. Whilst the ‘Murder revel in their own heaviness, IF are seemingly desperate to get away from their extreme roots and move away to pastures more melodic. They still look comfortingly heavy and bearded however, and their spot on this bill, the melodic meat in a crushingly heavy sandwich, gives them the chance to take advantage of the fact that the moshpit’s having a breather by treating us to the classic radiofriendly likes of Only for the Weak and Cloud Connected. Unsurprisingly headliners Lamb of God don’t take long to make us forget what’s just gone before. What’s gone before, you’ll remember was two great sets of diverse heavy metal, from bands on top of their respective games. What comes next is a consummate lesson in brutality from a band that is devastating in the live arena. Opening with Desolation from recent release Resolution, they then proceed to level the UC dining facilities with an unbridled force not seen around these parts since Metal for the Brain fell off the metal calendar all those years ago. We don’t get treated to this too often in Canberra, and the punters react accordingly.

photos: adam thomas

It’s great to see big promoters (this bill was brought to the ‘berra by the Soundwave Festival touring operation) finally realising that Canberra has a thriving metal community and the turnout, nudging 1,000 on a filthy night, surely must act as a pointer for other outfits looking to bring acts our way. A top result all round then. SCOTT ADAMS

the word

on gigs

Hudson Mohawke / Ras-G Transit Bar Thursday March 1 I think it’s a pretty safe bet that gig attendance in Canberra has undergone a severe culling in recent months, due to this miserable non-season formerly known as ‘summer’. Admittedly, I’m amongst the many regular punters who have, on at least one occasion recently, chosen to stay comfortably snuggled up on the couch with a steaming cup of tea over experiencing the rapidly expanding Canberra music scene. Last Thursday, March 1, however, I’d happily have rafted down the rapids of Sullivan’s Creek in order to witness the phenomenal double headliner that was Hudson Mohawke and Ras-G at Transit Bar. As has become a custom of Treehouse and Blahnket (pioneers of Canberra dubstep, hip-hop and glitch events), Thursday kicked off on a high note with the musical stylings of various talented local DJs. I think it’s worth mentioning here that over the past few years of seeing some of my favourite international DJs, I have inadvertently been lucky enough to witness the creation and amazing progression of some of Canberra’s most gifted young electronic artists who have supported these acts. Whilst dancing to The Beatsmugglerz’s opening fusion of dub, 2step and glitch, followed by Deaf Cat’s cleverly spliced experimental jazz-influenced hip-hop, it occurred to me that my motivation for attending such nights has recently been attributed as much to the headliners as to the supporting locals. Of these, there are none who I’ve enjoyed seeing perform more than the group up next. Since their first major gig back in January 2011, Onetalk’s technical skill and musical style has evolved exponentially with each performance. What really distinguishes this duo is their unmatchable on-stage energy, which allows for the full potential of their unique music style to be experienced. An almost tangible awe resonated throughout the crowd as Ras stepped up next. I can only describe the music of this LA master as well as the man has himself: “ghetto sci-fi – an extra-terrestrial soundwave transmission of dub, white noise, glitch, off-kilter boombap and sound bites”. Whatever the hell it was, it seemed to induce a pleasant hypnosis amongst the crowd, and by the end of his set, I for one felt as though I’d just returned from an intergalactic journey to some kind of futuristic space ghetto. By the time the main headliner stepped up, my mind already felt sufficiently blown. Perhaps this is partly why I failed to engage with Hudson Mohawke’s set to the extent to which I’d anticipated. Perhaps it was also because I found many of his track choices surprising to say the least. Having worked with a diverse range of artists, from Rustie and Alex Smoke to the more mainstream Chris Brown, Jay-Z and Flo Rida, I couldn’t help feeling slightly disappointed that his set on Thursday seemed to predominantly reflect the latter of these collaborations. Nevertheless, HudMo’s ability to transform even the most cringeworthy of R&B anthems into unique electronic masterpieces was testament to his indisputable skill, and above all, enough to build an impressive, energised dance floor that held strong until the very last beat subsided.

photos: ned hatch ned also shoots for fasterlouder

The show reaffirmed to me the ever-increasing standard of our local artists, without whom such nights wouldn’t be the same. So next time you find yourself deliberating over braving the elements for a gig, why not head there early? Not only will you avoid the worst of the late night chill, you’ll also be supporting your local DJs – and I guarantee that’ll leave both parties feeling warm and fuzzy. Greta Kite-Gilmour

the word

Corinbank Cancellation Consolation Congregation White Eagle Polish Club Friday March 1

on gigs

It was wet, and the brows of Canberra’s music community deeply furrowed. A week of almost relentless rain in the lead up to our favourite local camping festival resulted in a Facebook page festooned with fretful comments. “What happens if the site becomes Corinlake?” was echoed by many, but the official reply was always optimistic: “We’ve had some rain so pack lots of warm clothes, gumboots, ground sheets…” Just after noon on Wednesday Feb 29 a press release declared “Come rain, hail or shine, Corinbank will be on this weekend!” Less than 24 hours later, after a wild fire of rumour, the news that our beloved festival was not going ahead that weekend was made official. Corinbank 2012, after two years of tirelessness from the Corin crew, had been postponed. So it is crucial to note here, dear readers, that the clever moniker Corinbank Cancellation Consolation Congregation, which was conch shelled by the Canberra Musicians Club and Cardboard Charlie in what seemed like seconds after the official announcement, isn’t quite correct, but that our courageous, caring and close-knit music community, and alliteration, are the true champions of the day. For although Corinbank 2012 has been postponed “until the warmer months”, the festival’s omnipotent fighting spirit rained down upon the hundreds of musicians, artists, Corinteers and punters at the White Eagle Polish Club, creating one of the most wonderful nights of live music in recent memory. From the get go the place was packed, the atmosphere electrified by a heady combination of excitement, anguish, and determination to have a damn good time despite the circumstances. Every nook and cranny of the Polish was transformed into a glorious Corinspace. Tantalising aromas of mulled wine and chai wafted through the front room where a cosy crowd, bathed in warm light, sang gleefully along with the ever delightful Rafe Morris. The Brass Knuckle Brass Band kept those tucking into some slow food out front bopping as they belted out a snappy, sexy and sonorous set. The Creative Camps were arranged on the level above the permanent stage upon which performing artists from The Bally twirled LED hoops and balanced on impossible objects and did unspeakable things with their unmentionables, in between bands on the Billy Billy Stage. It was garlanded in good old CMC regalia and erected toward the front of the hall, producing the best sound I’ve ever heard at the Polish. Big Score’s energy was explosive. Has Canberra ever seen an act with more local music luminaries? The masterful musicianship and tremendous talent of each member combined to create funk rock that whipped the fervent crowd into a frothing frenzy. Fun Machine, uproariously clad in rubber ducky floaties, surf life saving gear, snorkels and goggles, delivered a characteristically vivacious, outrageous, and downright rocking set that had the now corybantic crowd singing along to almost every song. ’Twas bliss.

photos: adam thomas

As was watching Hadley’s now infamous Miss Corinbank Sex Bomb routine. In a red cheongsam, black stilettos, inch-long lashes and with sparklers for nipples, he somehow managed to encapsulate everything I love about Canberra in three minutes. Beth n Ben then pulled the biggest crowd I reckon the Polish has ever seen. They can do no wrong these two, and their unique dynamic, remarkable aptitude for catchy hooks and choruses and effortless charm warms the cockles. It was that kinda night. Corinbank co-founder Dan Watters delivered a moving speech, which went something along the lines of, “The very first Corinbank happened after the fires. After fire comes growth, and after rain, too.” What doesn’t kill you… JULIA WINTERFLOOD

GIG GUIDE March 14 - March 16 wednesday march 14

thursday march 15

YAH – Lunchbox: Listening

Arts

arts

Bring your lunch and expand your musical horizons all in the course of your lunch hour. 12.30pm.

YAH – Paste–up Project

4Dead

CMAG’s outside façade plays host to the work of some of Canberra’s most ubiquitous artists.

Exhibition – Music and Light

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

THE NEWSROOM

Whitehorse, Throat Of Dirt. $10. THE BASEMENT

Nightless Lovers 7pm.

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB, BARTON

YAH - You Are Here Presents

Pub Theatre, You Are Quiz, The Last Prom. 7pm. THE PHOENIX PUB

Blaze Six

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

Something Different

YAH – One Wall, One Night

Canberra Festival: Balloon Spectacular

CITY WALK

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

Each night BEAM will project a video artwork by a different local visual artist.

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

Each night BEAM will project a video artwork by a different local visual artist.

Exhibition - Embark

BILK GALLERY

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

Jo’s Mo Show (With Beards)

Facial hair photography. And lots of it. ‘Til April 1. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Alliance Française French Film Festival A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Dance Latino Wednesdays From 9pm.

MONKEY BAR

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

The lawns of Old Parliament House will fill with a flurry of colour and movement. Free. OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

friday march 16

YAH – Applespiel

Morning Commercial Breakfast Radio Show. A trendy radio show constructed before your eyes! 8am. TONIC CAFE

Jo’s Mo Show (With Beards)

Facial hair photography. And lots of it. ‘Til April 1. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

YAH – Debate: We Gotta Get Out Of This Place That ever–burning question for Canberra–bred creative types: do you stay or do you go? 5.30pm. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

Alliance Française French Film Festival

YAH – Lunchbox: Listening

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema.

Live

Charles & Dave

arts YAH – Paste–up Project

CMAG’s outside façade plays host to the work of some of Canberra’s most ubiquitous artists. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Blaze Six

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE - GORMAN HOUSE

YAH – One Wall, One Night

Bring your lunch and expand your musical horizons all in the course of your lunch hour. 12.30pm.

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Each night BEAM will project a video artwork by a different local visual artist.

THE NEWSROOM

Dance

Exhibition - Embark

YAH – Gunpowder Temple of Heaven

Trash Thursday

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

Smirnoff pres. DJ Kronic

YAH – Applespiel

Taking elements of jazz and contemporary classical music to create new musical experiments. 5.30pm. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Local Bands

8pm start, free entry. TRANSIT BAR

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

BAR9

THE CLUBHOUSE

Jo’s Mo Show (With Beards)

MOOSEHEADS PUB

Presented by Electrosex.

HARVEST CAFE

Cube Thursdays

Facial hair photography. And lots of it. ‘Til April 1.

Trivia P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Ashley Feraude

6pm.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Canberra Festival: Balloon Spectacular

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

The lawns of Old Parliament House will fill with a flurry of colour and movement. Free. OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

Karaoke

From 10pm.

THE DURHAM

Transit Trivia

Flex your noggin. Table bookings essential. 7.30pm start. TRANSIT BAR

BILK GALLERY

Morning Commercial Breakfast Radio Show. A trendy radio show constructed before your eyes! 8am.

Doors at 8pm.

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

Something Different

CITY WALK

Live Closure in Moscow

With Strangers and Escape Syndrome. Tix through Oztix. THE GREENROOM, WODEN TRADIES

Lyall Moloney and Ashleigh Mannix

Using loops and several instruments to create a gigantic one man band sound. 7.30pm, $10. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

YAH – Hung Out to Dry

A new installation directed by composer and artist Austin Buckett. Check The Newsroom for times. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Alliance Française French Film Festival A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Canberra Festival: Telstra Ballet in the Park Celebrate the Australian Ballet’s 50th with a free performance under the stars. STAGE 88

GIG GUIDE March 16 - March 19 friday march 16 comedy The chUCkle hut

Feat. The Blanks, aka Ted’s band from Scrubs. Tix via Moshtix. 8pm. ZIERHOLZ @ UC

Live

Canberra Festival: Balloon Spectacular

Tijuana Cartel

The lawns of Old Parliament House will fill with a flurry of colour and movement. Free. OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

saturday march 17

Dance YAH – So You Think You Can Hipster

arts

Baby Freeze, Dead DJ Joke, DJ Dance Captain celebrating all things horrifically hipster. 7.30pm.

YAH – Scissors Paper Pen Panel

Red Bull Foam Party

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Battle of the Locals

CMAG’s outside façade plays host to the work of some of Canberra’s most ubiquitous artists.

PETRIE PLAZA

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Hubert Vs Stunami, Offtapia Vs Bobby Rush, Tim Galvin Vs Anjay and more. Free before 10pm. TRINITY BAR

Kurk Kokane (Play Me Records) Presented by Monster Bass. 9pm. THE CLUBHOUSE

REV

Where Do We Go From You Are Here? A discussion about You Are Here. 12.30pm.

YAH – Paste–up Project

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

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

Blaze Six

Princi

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

BAR 32

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

One Night in Peru 9pm.

MONKEY BAR

Cheese/ Retro

The best of the worst from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Maybe the 2000s too. OMG. 8pm, free. TRANSIT BAR

Each night BEAM will project a video artwork by a different local visual artist. CITY WALK

Exhibition - Embark

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra. BILK GALLERY

YAH – Applespiel

LONSDALE STREET ROASTERS

A new installation directed by composer and artist Austin Buckett. Check The Newsroom for times.

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema.

YAH – Lunchbox: Listening

Bring your lunch and expand your musical horizons all in the course of your lunch hour. 12.30pm. THE NEWSROOM

Declaration

Machina Genova, Landshark, Frail. $10. THE BASEMENT

Noche Dominicana

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Friday Night Acoustic Series Steve Russell

Full Irish breakfast, green beer, live bands, Irish dancers and more. From 10am. P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Helen Perris and Freyja’s Rain

Bringing songs of love, loss and the things that make us stronger. 8pm, $10. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Oscar

urban live music

Soulful acoustic performances for brunch or lunch. 10am – 2pm. URBANFOOD STORE + CAFE

The Bladder Spasms

Mad Charlie, Rukus, Psychotic Numbskull. $10.

Alliance Française French Film Festival

Bass, violin, looped vocals and a morning coffee. 10 – noon.

Urban Playground

YAH – B–Ball Band Bash (Prison Rules) The Ellis Collective, Fun Machine, Waterford, Super Best Friends battle it out on the B-Ball court. RABAUL LANE, WALES BUILDING UPSTAIRS COURTYARD

Karaoke

Alliance Française French Film Festival A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

Paddy’s Day

Dance

20 minutes of fireworks! Ooo! Ahh! From 8.30pm.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Karton

Presented by The Clubhouse. 9pm.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Skyfire

LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN

St Patricks Day

Free live music, awesome giveaways, comedians and more. THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

THE CLUBHOUSE

DJ Mo

9pm.

HELLENIC CLUB IN THE CITY

Spring Lounge Session

Talented DJs and a late night pizza menu. 8-11pm. NEWACTON COURTYARD

Jemist

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Ethereal lyrics, melodic riffs on big open tuned guitars. With Cuddlefish and Alice Cottee. 7pm. THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Dylan Hekimian

Runner up in the Homemade Jam comp. A BITE TO EAT CAFE

URBANFOOD STORE + CAFE

The lawns of Old Parliament House will fill with a flurry of colour and movement. Free. God help you all. From noon.

With Ashley Feraude.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

urban live music

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Love Saturdays

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

Canberra Festival: Balloon Spectacular

sunday march 18

YAH – Paste–up Project

CMAG’s outside façade plays host to the work of some of Canberra’s most ubiquitous artists. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

A new installation directed by composer and artist Austin Buckett. Check The Newsroom for times.

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

DJ Fergus

THE MERRY MUSE

YAH – Hung Out to Dry

Second Sun Debut Album Launch

Pieta Brown and the Sawdust Boys

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

THE PHOENIX PUB

Something Different

arts

Danny Mack

Poetry is the Real Winner. 3.30pm.

Live

MONKEY BAR

monkey bar

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

YAH – You Are Here Presents

Ft Dj Moe (Sydney).

8pm, free.

With special guest Lucie Thorne

BILK GALLERY

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Supported by DJ Karma, Joey Joey, Hypnotic. Doors open at 10pm.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

YAH – One Wall, One Night

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

St Patricks Day Shenanigans

Exhibition - Embark

MOCAN AND GREEN GROUT, NEWACTON

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Killing The Sound

THE BASEMENT

CITY WALK

Hospitality Sundays

Zoopagoo

Blow your top, groove your tush, move your soul and dance for joy! 8pm, $5.

Mad Charlie, Bladder Spasms, Rukus, Psychotic Numbskulls. 8pm.

Each night BEAM will project a video artwork by a different local visual artist.

Dance

YAH – Hung Out to Dry

THE GREENROOM, WODEN TRADIES

St Pats Oblivion

YAH – One Wall, One Night

music, coffee

Nirvana Tribute 2

Four bands each covering songs from one particular album. $20, 7.30pm.

TRANSIT BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

THE BASEMENT

Fir Croi

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Guaranteed night of wildness? Yes. 8pm start, presale tickets from tijuanacartel. com .

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

Morning Commercial Breakfast Radio Show. A trendy radio show constructed before your eyes! 11am.

Live

Blaze Six

Something Different

Soulful acoustic performances for brunch or lunch. 10am – 2pm.

Something Different Sunday Arvo Trivia From 2.30pm. THE DURHAM

Canberra Festival: Balloon Spectacular

The lawns of Old Parliament House will fill with a flurry of colour and movement. Free. OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE LAWNS

monday march 19 arts Alliance Française French Film Festival

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

GIG GUIDE March 19 - March 24 monday march 19

wednesday march 21

American Movie Treasures: Elia Kazan

arts

A retrospective look at the work of Elia Kazan: Wild River. 2pm.

Blaze Six

Alliance Française French Film Festival

Exhibition – Music and Light

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Exhibition - Embark

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra. BILK GALLERY

Dance Biscuits

Post-weekend sounds from Ryz, Peekz, Kimosabi, Steve On Weekends and more. 9pm, free. TRANSIT BAR

Live The Bootleg Sessions Ft. Bob Log III

One Man Band Slide Guitar Party! DO NOT MISS. 8pm.

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema.

Exhibition – Music and Light

Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group. 7.30pm, $20/$15.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25.

Blaze Six

Jayo

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Exhibition - Embark

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group. 7.30pm, $20/$15. CIVIC PUB

Dance

arts Alliance Française French Film Festival

MONKEY BAR

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Blaze Six

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Exhibition - Embark

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra. BILK GALLERYARCH 20

Something Different

From 9pm.

Live Ben Sollee

Folk soul wunderkind, cellist, vocalist and exquisite songwriter. 8pm. THE STREET THEATRE

Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band 7-10pm.

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Something Different Transit Trivia

THE DURHAM

thursday march 22

Fame Trivia From 7.30pm. THE DURHAM

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Through a Looking Glass

Karaoke Love

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net .

TRANSIT BAR

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

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

C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

TRANSIT BAR

The Aston Shuffle Live ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Katie Karma 10pm.

REV

Indie DJs from 10 ‘til late. $5 before midnight. BAR 32

Live

Cube Thursdays

Matt Dent

THE CLUBHOUSE

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

CHARLIE BLACKS

The Waysmiths

With London Circuit, Tonk, Deathcap M THE GREENROOM, WODEN TRADIES

Music Magic Mayhem Festival

Live Snakadaktal

The Unearthed darlings supported by Elizabeth Rose and Pocket Fox. 8pm start, Moshtix.

Live bands, magic, illusions and a spectacular light show. $5. WODEN YOUTH CENTRE

Daniel Champagne

TRANSIT BAR

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

Faye Blais and Butterfly Boucher (USA)

Key Grip

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Blais’ songwriting is both versatile and magnetic. 8pm, $15.

8pm.

Zoopagoo

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Blow your top, groove your tush, move your soul and dance for joy! Free. THE PHOENIX PUB

Holly Throsby and the Hello Tigers

With Caitlin Park and Shelley Short (US). Tix through Oztix. ZIERHOLZ @ UC

friday march 23

Karaoke

From 10pm.

The deepest and grooviest house, disco, and techno. 8pm start, free entry.

9pm.

Alliance Française French Film Festival

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Alliance Française French Film Festival

NEWACTON COURTYARD

Yosh Party

arts

THE PHOENIX PUB

You choose a deckchair, they’ll choose a movie. Drink and pizza specials by Bicicletta Cafe.

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

6pm.

arts

Tuesday Movie Night

Trash Thursday

TRANSIT BAR

Trivia

MONKEY BAR

THE CLUBHOUSE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Flex your noggin. Table bookings essential. 7.30pm start.

Trivia Night 7.30pm.

CIVIC PUB

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Latino Wednesdays

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Political Asylum

Dance

Political Asylum

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

Havana Nights LLIK LLIK LLIK

Trivia

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Dance

Comedy

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema.

CIVIC PUB

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

Something Different

tuesday march 20

Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group. 7.30pm, $20/$15.

DJ Trent Richardson and Spink. 9pm.

BILK GALLERY

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25.

Political Asylum

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

THE PHOENIX PUB

6pm.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Comedy

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Through a Looking Glass

OLD CANBERRA INN

Identical Strangers Kiwi G

P J O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Friday Night Acoustic Series Ali Penney

Alison is a piano player, vocalist and writer of considerable regard. 8pm, free. HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Evanescene

With special guests Blaqk Audio. ROYAL THEATRE

Something Different Knightsbridge Cocktail Autumn Launch

Get a taste of Knightsbridge’s new cocktail menu, BBQ and jazz from 6pm. Soundtrack by Buick. KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

saturday march 24

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net .

arts

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

Alliance Française French Film Festival

C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Us Folk Magazine Launch

A new local magazine focussing on unknown Canberra talent. 7pm. SMITHS ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP

Weird Lonely Strangers

A “tender, sexy, silly and sad satirical solo sketch comedy”. Bookings through the venue. THE STREET THEATRE

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Through a Looking Glass

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net . C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

GIG GUIDE March 24 - March 28 Weird Lonely Strangers

A “tender, sexy, silly and sad satirical solo sketch comedy”. Bookings through the venue. THE STREET THEATRE

Exhibition – Music and Light

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Blaze Six

ACT emerging artist showcase. ‘Til March 24.

music, coffee

Bass, violin, looped vocals and a morning coffee. 10 – noon.

MOCAN AND GREEN GROUT, NEWACTON

Something Different Beer & Food Matching Launch

A six course meal matched to five interesting and diverse beers and one cider. For bookings call 6295 1769. THE DURHAM

sunday march 25

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Flickerfest - Best of International 1

Bite size chunks of great cinema! Followed by drinks. 7pm. DENDY CINEMA, CIVIC

Comedy Political Asylum

Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group. 7.30pm, $20/$15. CIVIC PUB

Dance

arts Alliance Française French Film Festival A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net .

KREMLIN BAR

Exhibition – Music and Light

DJ Karma & Joeyjoe. 10pm. MONKEY BAR

Princi

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Love Saturdays

With Minx (SheCanDJ Winner 2011). ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

La Musique

Cheese, Offtapia, The Projektz, Nay Nay and more. TRINITY BAR

The Mane Thing

Exhibition – Music and Light

Jo Satriani, Steve Vai, Steve Lukather. Tix through Ticketek.

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Flickerfest - Best of Australian

Dance

Trivia Night

Biscuits

THE PHOENIX PUB

TRANSIT BAR

You choose a deckchair, they’ll choose a movie. Drink and pizza specials by Bicicletta Cafe.

Live

Fame Trivia

7.30pm.

Post-weekend sounds from Ryz, Peekz, Kimosabi, Steve On Weekends and more. 9pm, free.

From 7.30pm. THE DURHAM

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Karaoke Love

CIT Presents The Bootleg Sessions

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

THE PHOENIX PUB

TRANSIT BARTUESD

wednesday march 28

tuesday march 27

Alliance Française French Film Festival

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema.

Natalie Magee

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net .

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012 Exhibition – Music and Light

Starring Matthew Pidgeon and Cora Bisset.

Alliance Française French Film Festival

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Live

Midsummer (a play with songs) CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE

THE PHOENIX PUB

arts

Poetry at the Pub

Tuesday Movie Night

NEWACTON COURTYARD

Charles & Dave

Through a Looking Glass

2.30pm.

ROYAL THEATRE

Something Different

Bite size chunks of great cinema! 7pm. DENDY CINEMA, CIVIC

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

Urban Playground

Live

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Through a Looking Glass

B-tham

Fresh tech grooves all night.

National Photographic Portrait Prize 2012

A new generation of filmmakers will be showcasing the latest trends in contemporary French cinema. ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Through a Looking Glass

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net . C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE

Astrid Breuer’s photos explore the wealth of talent in the Canberra music scene. ‘Til March 25.

Dance

Exhibition - Embark

MONKEY BAR

NEWACTON COURTYARD

Songs about longing, memory and places set by the sea. 4.30pm. $10.

Live

Irish Jam

BILK GALLERY

Joel Harrison

urban live music

Presented by City Kid Music. 10pm. THE CLUBHOUSE

Spring Lounge Session

Talented DJs and a late night pizza menu. 8-11pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Smooth and sultry songstress. A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Steve Lane and The Autocrats THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Declan Kelly

Soulful acoustic performances for brunch or lunch. 10am – 2pm.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The Idea of North

Roots/reggae and afro-beat. 8pm, $10.

URBANFOOD STORE + CAFE

urban live music

Great vocal jazz.

Soulful acoustic performances for brunch or lunch. 10am – 2pm.

THE STREET THEATRE

Creptter Children

THE PHOENIX PUB

URBANFOOD STORE + CAFE

THE BASEMENT

Sunday Arvo Trivia

Quiet Child

From 2.30pm. THE DURHAM

My Friend the Chocolate Cake

monday march 26

“Beautiful, creative, sorrowful, masterful music by a bunch of lovely people” SMH. 8pm.

arts

David O’Doherty

Alliance Française French Film Festival

THE STREET THEATRE

2010 Irish Comedian of the Year. Bookings through the venue. 8pm.

Contemporary French cinema.

Local Bands

Through a Looking Glass

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

8pm start, free entry. TRANSIT BAR

Latino Wednesdays From 9pm.

Live The Bon Scotts

ComedyACT Open Mic

A unique brand of folk-pop full of sarcastic rebellions and sweet melodies. 8pm, $10.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

Krystle Warren

Comedy 7.30pm, free.

THE FRONT CAFE AND GALLERY

The soul singer has a deep, smoky, boundless voice. THE STREET THEATRE

Let Me Down Jungleman. 7.30pm.

Something Different

THE PHOENIX PUB

Six recent graduates from Melbourne and Canberra.

Life and Limb

Genedefect, Not Another Sequel Just Another Prequel, Tensions Arise, Beneath The Tides. $10. The Mandala. 9.30pm.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

ARC CINEMA AND GREATER UNION MANUKA

Presented by CYT and Serious Theatre. cytc.net . C BLOCK THEATRE, GORMAN HOUSE

OUT mar28

the national folk festival big scary jay sullivan the beards machinedrum ...and more!

FIRST CONTACT

SIDE A: BMA band profile

Second Sun Where did your band name come from? From a phrase in a song Aleshia had written before the formation of the band. It fits because if the sun is the most important thing to sustaining life on earth, music is, for us, like a second sun – a second source of life, essential. Group members: Aleshia Flanagan (vocals and acoustic guitar), Marc David Myles (vocals and synth) and Toby King (drums). Describe your sound: Big. Big everything. Massive opentuned guitar, epic vocal harmonies, dramatic synth and hard hitting drums with lots of detail. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Aleshia – The Tea Party, Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell, Dead Can Dance, Tool and William Blake; Marc – Tori Amos, Björk, David Bowie, Amanda Palmer, Nick Cave and Nine Inch Nails; Toby – Danny Carey, Benny Greb, John Dolmayan and Vinnie Paul. What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? Aleshia: Full on fisticuffs breaking out in my first set, around 7pm. This was when I was touring as a solo acoustic folk act! And I was expecting Nimbin to be a little more relaxed than that. What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far? Our biggest achievement so far is finishing our debut album this year. What are your plans for the future? We all share the goal of wanting to play music full time. We want to play around the Australian festival scene and tour the album throughout this year. What makes you laugh? Seeing people do something out of character. It’s great when a person steps outside of their day to day boundaries, it’s usually shocking to them and the people around them and ALWAYS funny! What pisses you off? Unrealised human potential… and Porsche Cayennes! Fucking ugly USELESS cars! What’s your opinion of the local scene? We love Canberra music and musicians! There is such a diverse range of genres and styles – it’s a pleasure to be a part of it! Side note: Toby thinks we need more funk bands. What are your upcoming gigs? Our debut album launch at 7pm on Sunday March 18! Contact info: secondsun@live.com.au, secondsun.com.au, facebook.com/secondsunau

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 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