BMA Magazine 425 Sep 11 2013 by BMA Magazine

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GARETH LIDDIARD ON – SHAKESPEARE – THE UPSIDE OF PERPETUAL HANGOVERS & THE NECESSITY OF SLAYER INSIDE NGAIIRE TWELVE FOOT NINJA RÜFÜS BLOOM 2013 FELICITY WARD

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On this day in 1954, the Miss America beauty pageant made its TV debut. Spare a thought for the lives lost . . .

#425SEPTEMBER11 Fax: (02) 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com

Advertising Manager Scott Johnston T: (02) 6257 4360 E: sales@bmamag.com

Editor Ashley Thomson

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

Accounts Manager Hongyan Ao

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Sub-Editor & Social Media Manager Jeremy Stevens Graphic Design Chris Halloran Film Editor Melissa Wellham NEXT ISSUE 426 OUT SEP 25 EDITORIAL DEADLINE SEP 16 ADVERTISING DEADLINE SEP 19 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA Magazine is independently owned and published. Opinions expressed in BMA Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

Taking shameless advantage of the Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centres’ Bloom 2013 festival, we at BMA Magazine are interpreting ‘open studios throughout Gorman House’ to mean a chance to get rid of all the LPs, EPs and singles we no longer want! And just quietly, it’s quite a few. From midday until 3pm on Saturday September 21, Editor Thomson, Bossman Sko, and Ad Manager Johnston will be manning desks covered in highlights and lowlights of music from the past few years. And a pick of our selection – lone gems, handfuls, and armfuls – will be available for a nominal fee (which will likely be determined by the amount of craft beer consumed by that point in the day). If you’re in the mood to fill a spring stocking with goodies, come along, say hi, have yourself a peek in the BMA Headquarters, and leave with a smile and a half-day’s worth of new listening.

ACT’s headspace Centre Celebrates FiveYear Milestone The ACT’s headspace centre is celebrating a significant milestone this month. Since 2008, the centre has supported more than 4,000 12-25-yearolds from the area, running confidential, friendly youth services. To celebrate their fiveyear anniversary, headspace will hold a one-day festival on Saturday September 14 in Garema Place, Civic, from 12pm to 4pm. Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson, Bluejuice’s Jake Stone, DJ/producer Paul Mac, and others, including a raft of local performers, will be there to partake in the celebrations. Head to headspace.org.au/ act for more info, and come along on the day for the free festivities.

Capital Chemist Art Award not as Creepy as Their Ads The Capital Chemist Art Award, a collaborative prize curated Tuggeranong Arts Centre, offers $2,000 to the winning recipient, with smaller prizes to the People’s Choice and a Canberra Centenary-themed piece. Submissions are due by Tuesday October 1, and you can submit via tuggeranongarts. com/g_competitions.html. Judges this year include Helen Maxwell, and CMAG’s Mark Bayly. Sadly, only artists over 25 may apply, but hey, if people lied about their age so they could go to war, why not for this?

Look to the Independent Music Awards for Spring Listening Flume, Big Scary, Dick Diver, The Drones, Jagwar Ma, Vance Joy, Collarbones, Kingswood, and more are all among the (regrettably) Carlton Dry Independent Music Awards nominees in 2013. Every act has been responsible for a

tremendous release in the past 12 months, and they have ensured that no category – from Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album to Best Independent Blues and Roots Album – is a weak grouping. If your playlists are empty this spring, start at any category on air.org.au, and give something a spin. The ARIAs this ain’t.

Lonely Instruments Given a Home An Aussie musician, Jennen Ngiau-Keng, has launched an online platform for the redistribution of pre-loved instruments. A world-first, free to use online hub, Lonely Instruments, launched last week, allows musicians to share instruments free of charge. Said Ngiau-Keng, ‘For me, Lonely Instruments is not about generating a profit. It’s all about connecting musicians from around the world, and therefore there is no commission or finders fee.’ Head to lonelyinstruments. com for more info or to give the service a spin.

Dragon Boat + Gnomes = Profit A dragon boat full of gnomes will make a grand entrance at Floriade as the Canberra Griffins Dragon Boat Club paddles 20 pint-sized versions of themselves across Lake Burley Griffin. As Katt Williams would say, I’ll give that to you one mo’gain: a dragon boat full of gnomes. If you’d like to see pictures, visit canberragriffins. com.au, and head to Gallipoli Reach, Lake Burley Griffin, on Saturday September 14 at 11am to blind yourself with awesome as it rows towards you.

Look! Famous people look like idiots when they wear denim too!

BMA Magazine to Open Doors for an LP, EP, Singles, DVDs and Miscellanea Sale!

help if they’ve done something amazing in the last 12 months, but that’s basically the only criteria. Nominate someone before Wednesday September 25 via youth.act.gov.au and they go in the running to be declared the 2013 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year, thereby earning themselves a $2,000 prize. And even if they don’t win, they can win in one of the sub-categories: Personal Achievement, Group Award, Youth Arts and Multimedia, Individual Community Service, and Young Environmentalist. Winners will be announced Friday November 15.

Nominate a Young Canberra Citizen of the Year They have to be between 12 and 25 years of age. That’s the only standing criteria. I mean, it’ll

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FROM THE BOSSMAN And so here we are, the first From the Bossman column under new political leadership. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. I would like to remind them that as a trusted print personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves. At time of writing it is unclear if Abbott – the first Liberal PM since John Howard – will take up permanent residence at The Lodge in the Nation’s Capital. You will remember that Howard famously shunned Canberra, instead choosing to hang his gold–tasseled curtains in Kirribilli House on the harbourside of Sydney for the duration of his Prime Ministership – much to the ire of Canberrans and the general smug amusement of the rest of the country. However, given the Liberal party’s stance on climate change – that it poses as much threat as a dropbear – I believe that unlike Canberra–Makes–Me–Break–Out–In–Hives Howard, Abbott will in fact be hanging the blue curtains and pegging the budgie smugglers to The Lodge’s backyard washing line during his term. For you see, Canberra is a climate change skeptic’s paradise. As the recent onset of spring reaffirmed, you can set your watch to the region’s seasons. Despite enduring a thoroughly English winter – with some weeks in August serving as a perfect backdrop for a bleak Dickensian drama – September 1 magically ushered in an idyllic azure sky with nary a fleck of impeaching cloud to be seen, gleefully flicking the thermometer’s mercury to a perfect 24 degrees for the first time in months.

YOU PISSED ME OFF! Care to immortalise your hatred in print? Send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and see your malicious bile circulated to thousands. [All entries contain original spellings.] To the not-so-dear old lady I stopped to let pass on the Macarthur Ave footpath. I saw you walking your bike and stopped my bicycle to the side to let you pass, concerned that you may have had a flat tyre. Instead of a ‘thanks’ or a ‘good morning’ or even a smile, you say “It’s a foot path, not a bike path”. Well, you very rude and unappreciative mean old biddy, let me enlighten you: I’m perfectly within my right to ride on that footpath, furthermore, I’m carrying an 8 year old child as a pillion and I’m not about to take up the sport of dodging traffic. So, please, do the world a favour and get on your bike too. And instead of taking up the whole stupid footpath by walking beside it, go ride on the road and hopefully some car will kindly put you out of your misery and leave the world a happier place. what do you do when you buy a product which you think is a good price i google it research the price see if i can find a better price . usb hot water bottles that you do not fill so cudo had them on special for $19.00 so bought 2 .Two weeks later sam,s warehouse had them in there flyer on special $6.99 each so contacted cudo who said bad luck so i unsubscribe its a big company do not care about the little people not happy jan

Spring, right on schedule. As it is every year. The first day of autumn browns the leaves with a snap of Father Time’s fingers. The first day of winter is as cold as a witch’s teat. And the rest. Yes, while central Tasmania may have experienced a record minus 12.1 degrees on July 9, and the Bureau of Meteorology tells us we’ve just experienced our hottest year on record (with January 7 taking the plaudits as the hottest summer day) in Canberra everything is just peachy. No climate change here. No sir–ee. Just four perfect seasons right on schedule thankyouverymuch. In fact so proud are we of our timely quarterly climate bundles, it formed one of the rejected slogans for Canberra’s Centenary: ‘Four Seasons. On Time. Farkin’ Have It.’ Not sure why that never got chosen. Which is all to explain why Mr Abbott should find himself right at home in Canberra, at least as far as the weather is concerned In fact, my insiders tell me that one of his first acts as Prime Minister is to change the signs on the borders of Canberra to read: You Are Now Entering the Australian Capital Territory … Where Our Timely Seasons Prove Global Warming Doesn’t Exist. So usually this would be the time for a funny sign off line, but unfortunately the cut backs have to be made, so instead I leave you with this: FUNNY SIGN OFF LINE ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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WHO: The Eternal WHAT: 10th Anniversary/ Circle of Light Tour WHEN: Sat Sep 14 WHERE: The Pot Belly Bar

Melbourne dark metal lads, The Eternal, will be heading our way to celebrate their tenth anniversary and the release of their latest album, When The Circle of Light Begins To Fade. The album, engineered and produced by singer and guitarist Mark Kelson, is the first to feature second guitarist Brad Cook, and takes the band into darker and more emotive territory. This tour, they’ll be playing 80-minute retrospective sets, sourcing material from the present right back to their debut album. Supported by Myridian and Claret Ash. 8pm. $15 on the door.

WHO: Cory Branan WHAT: Album Tour WHEN: Sun Sep 15 WHERE: Smith’s Alternative

Cory Branan will be visiting our shores soon, coming all the way from Mississippi to play some very intimate shows. Now based in Nashville, Branan released his third album, Mutt, through Bloodshot Records (Justin Townes Earle, Murder by Death) last year, receiving widespread acclaim. He has performed on Letterman, received praise from Rolling Stone, and toured with The Gaslight Anthem. Local Aussie acts are locked in to join him on this tour, with Tasmania’s Lincoln Le Fevre ready for the Melbourne show, and Jen Buxton in Newcastle and Sydney. Supported by Pete Akhurst. 8:30pm. $18.40.

WHO: The Plot In You, et al. WHAT: Australian Tour WHEN: Wed Sep 18 WHERE: The Basement

Michigan metalcore band For the Fallen Dreams have unfortunately had to withdraw from their planned Australian tour due to a serious injury Chad Ruhlig (vocalist) suffered in a motorcycle accident. The tour will still go on, though, with Ohio metalcore group The Plot in You, Fit For A King, and Storm The Sky travelling the country (and adding local supports in each city). Those seeking refunds for shows can do so from point of purchase. Supported by local acts Reigner and Knives to the Throne. 8pm. $29.10.

WHO: Fourteen Nights at Sea WHAT: Great North September Tour WHEN: Thu Sep 19 WHERE: The Phoenix Bar

Visiting all the way from Melbourne, post-rockers Fourteen Nights at Sea will be performing in the nation’s capital. The five-piece have recently released their second album, Great North (through Hobbledehoy/MGM), to mesmerising results. Working with acclaimed engineer Neil Thompson (My Disco, Augie March) turned the record into a dark journey through a landscape of ice. Supported by Sydney alt-country threepiece Devotional, and local indie electro boundary pushers Spartak. 9pm. Free.

WHO: The Arachnids WHAT: EP Tour WHEN: Sat Sep 21 WHERE: Transit Bar

Brisbane four-piece The Arachnids are going to be dropping by Transit Bar this September in support of their second EP, Lack of Control. Lead single Daydreaming has been drumming up support across community radio and YouTube, and is accompanied by four more tracks (including next single Until The Sun). ‘We’re on a mission to shake the arses that will not shake, make people lose control of their inhibitions, and submerse themselves in the music,’ said Po Hobman (bass and vocals). Supported by The Khalasar and Brother Be. 8pm. Free.

WHO: Osloh WHAT: Audiovisual show Tour WHEN: Wed Sep 25 WHERE: The Front Gallery Bar & Café

Hailing from Adelaide, South Australia, Osloh have made some waves, and fast. The jazz-trained instrumentalists will be fresh off stage from supporting Canadians BadBadNotGood at their Outsidein Festival Adelaide sideshow, before they bring their show to The Front. It will be their first interstate show, and you won’t even have to pay to get in. Bringing together a wide range of influences, including down-tempo electronica and film music, they’ll be showcasing their intimate audio-visual show this spring. Don’t miss it. 7:30pm. Free.

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JUST LINE THEM UP dan bigna

The last time I saw THE DRONES perform live was at the Melbourne ATP festival in February. The band curated the Sunday bill and also played a blistering set that could be read as a passing of the baton from ‘alternative’ Australian bands from times past, like Beasts of Bourbon and Crime & the City Solution, to a more contemporary scene.

When The Drones took to the stage there was no stuffing about, and a highly enthusiastic audience was treated to what seems to pour forth from this group with ease – intense and involved music, and lyrical explorations that stir the intellect. Although ATP put on a dream selection of international acts, it was the line-up of local musos including My Disco and Dan Kelly that struck a chord with The Drones’ vocalist/ songwriter Gareth Liddiard.

That song sees the world for how it is – life can be grim

‘I was amazed at all the local bands,’ he says. ‘When you put them all on the same bill on the same day it was just killer. It was all really cool and really fun, and we also played alright which is always good.’ Significant international bands also brought the goods at ATP, and I ask Liddiard how he felt American underground lifers Pere Ubu stacked up against local counterparts. ‘I got into Pere Ubu in my early 20s, and before them I was listening to things like The Scientists and The Birthday Party,’ he says. ‘When you first hear The Birthday Party, you go, “Wow that’s original,” and then when you hear Pere Ubu you go, “The Birthday Party are probably not that original.” You can’t really say enough about David Thomas [Pere Ubu founder]. And he was really in a good mood that day too.’ The fact that Liddiard enthuses about such unconventional bands as Pere Ubu and The Birthday Party tells us much about The Drones’ desire to rail against boundaries by discovering new ways to present lyrics and sounds. The upcoming tour will promote sixth studio album I See Seaweed, which immerses the listener in little micro-worlds shaped by shifting levels of intensity in mood, sound, and narrative streaming from Liddiard’s heightened consciousness. The opening title track sets the scene, with free flowing lyrics and a charged atmosphere, particularly when the emotional punch of the guitars kick things along. ‘It was the first one we had a go at recording for the album. It’s a difficult one to describe,’ he says. ‘It’s not necessarily trying to say something or come to a conclusion. It exists in a world of uncertainty, I guess. It’s got everything in there, the personal and the prosaic, a worldly thing going on. It talks about the past and the present. It’s also a love song. It’s about a girl. It’s real. That song sees the world for how it is – life can be grim.’ You quickly learn from talking with Liddiard that he has listened and read widely. Bands from across the musical spectrum

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pepper his conversation, along with the likes of Shakespeare and philosopher of the will Arthur Schopenhauer. He’s generally cool with it all, but also a realist and somewhat aware that the world can be a difficult place to inhabit. The upside is self-expression, with the glorious power of electrified noise. ‘It feels good,’ Liddiard states bluntly. ‘Iggy Pop said rock ‘n’ roll has raw power. That’s what it has over other forms like classical and jazz. It’s just way louder. Even something like Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, you could say, “Well, that doesn’t sound powerful.” But compared to a jazz combo, the sound is fucking loud. Then there are things like AC/DC and Slayer. I mean, Slayer are the masters of taking noise to its limit. You’ve got to have a bit of that.’ There is, of course, more to it. Liddiard likens the band’s compositions to ‘a Shakespeare play with three acts,’ which accounts for the overall flavour of a group that crams myriad ideas into any given song. This explains Liddiard’s self-observation that he can’t write songs to order, a distinguishing factor when it comes to music that matters, compared to run-of-the-mill bullshit that will always find its way into the top ten. The Drones are made of more complex stuff. ‘You are arranging ideas,’ Liddiard says. ‘You can do a narrative which goes from A to B or you can get a bunch of weird lines and just line them up.’ I See Seaweed is crammed with ideas that stimulate the senses, forcing you to taste the kind of intensity that links together everything this band does. This extends to the first-rate solo Gareth Liddiard performance I checked out at the ANU bar a few years back, which gave free rein to ragged acoustic blues that stretched boundaries further still. ‘There are rules, but rules are like red rags to me,’ Liddiard says. ‘If you are told everything has to be short and succinct I am like, “Fuck that”, and I also wanted it to be stark after writing for a band that can sound like an avalanche. It was great to keep the solo stuff simple and let notes and scales do the talking rather than textures and power.’ Sometimes, however, the best thing to do is let guitars off the leash and that Iggy Pop raw power vibe loose. This is what should happen when The Drones take to the stage at UC. ‘Touring is shit, but it’s also fun because it turns you into a different person,’ Liddiard says. ‘You know how when you walk away from an argument with someone and later on you are turning it over in your head and you say, “Fuck, I should have said that”? When you are tired and perpetually hungover, you don’t have that problem because you tend to say whatever you think. That is what touring is about.’ The Drones are dropping by Zierholz @ UC on Thursday September 26 at 8pm. Supported by Money For Rope. Tickets are $34.70 + bf through Oztix.

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Party at 6pm on Sunday September 15. Tickets start at $14.50 + bf. For more details and ticket bookings, visit the Dendy website: dendy.com.au.

ALL AGES Little darlin’! It’s been a long cold lonely winter … To celebrate this lovely weather we’re starting to get, how about a few nature-themed all ages events? So we sailed up to the sun, ‘til we found a sea of green … and … what’s this? A flying whale? Yes, you can get up close and personal with the infamous Skywhale balloon at the Bloom 2013 Festival! Come along to the Ainslie Arts Centre on Friday–Saturday September 20–21 to see it for yourself, along with a huge program of performance art, music, theatre, and food and market stalls – say hi to the local artists and craftspeople! Entry is free, but make sure you bring a bit of spending money for the markets. The long and winding road … that leads to the Old Bus Depot Markets’ Green Savvy Sunday, on Sunday September 15 between 10am and 4pm. The same markets we all know and love, only with an environmentally friendly theme, focusing on sustainable living, organic food, and eco-friendly technology. Entry is free. Well, I’ll bet you I’m gonna be a big star, might win an Oscar you can never tell … and a great first step is through the Canberra Short Film Festival, screening at Dendy Cinemas. Six separate genres over three days, see the Best of Canberra, Best Documentary, Best Australian Comedy, Best Australian Drama, Best International Cinema, and Best of the Best, beginning with the Gala Opening at 6pm Friday September 13, and ending with the Finals and Wrap

Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song, for the next heats of the PLAYitLOUD Smells Like Centenary Spirit Battle of the Bands Competition have been announced! You’re sure to enjoy this cacophony of young talent, as Pleased to Jive You, No Assumption, The Knows, Reptile Park, Salad Bomb, and Finding Eve battle it out to become top dog of Heat Two at the Tuggeranong Community Centre at 6pm on Friday September 20. Heat Three will be held at the CIT Music Industry Centre in Phillip at 6pm on Friday September 27, and will feature Venom Inside, Fires in July, ReImage, The Institute, Strange Tourist, Behind the Silhouettes, and The Steptones. Whether they’ve been practising for eons or have just started out, each of these bands will bring something new and exciting to Canberra’s music scene, and are well worth checking out. Entry is free, so get on down and watch the making of history! I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love … but it can buy me a whole new wardrobe’s worth of vintage fashion at the Hustle&Scout Twilight Fashion Market. Hosted at the Nishi Commercial Foyer in NewActon on Saturday September 21 between 4–9pm, this is a unique chance to experience high-end and vintage Australian fashion design, music, jewellery and accessories, and food, with performances by Amber Nichols, James Pender and DJ Dayo. Whether or not you choose to spend all your savings, you’re sure to enjoy the atmosphere. For more info, check out hustleandscout.com.au. Nah nah nah nah-nah-nah-nah … Stay funky! ANDIE EGAN - allagescolumn@gmail.com

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LOCALITY

I understand why some people don’t like jazz. It’s much the same as understanding racism, climate change scepticism, and Rise Up Australia; all are unfortunate by-products of underexposure and ignorance. Consequently, I think the newest addition to Smith’s Alternative’s entertainment roster, Smith’s Jazz Jam, is a happy event. Head along on Thursday September 12 from 9:30pm to sample some Canberra’s most skilled musicians at play. Over at The Phoenix Bar that same Thursday, locals Time and Weight will be supporting Sun God Replica from 9pm.

No other genre of music in the ACT does charity benefit gigs like the hard rock/metal crowd. Rage Against Cancer for Analee McGuigan will take place at The Basement from 8pm on Friday September 13, with Tundrel, The Khalasar, Eyes to the Sky, and more all enlisted for the cause. The door is a $15 donation.

YOU MADE MY DAY!

Email editorial@bmamag.com to send a message of gratitude, warmth and generosity to the world at large. Best thing about Saturday night? This guy, and the greatest name in Christendom: ‘Party crashed: Mr Abbott’s election victory party on Saturday night was briefly disrupted when a protester gained access to the venue wearing a fake security wristband. Fregmonto Stokes, 25, mingled with guests for more than an hour and posed for photos with Mr Abbott and his family, before security personnel eventually detected the intruder and took him away.’

Head Full of Flames, an exhibition chronicling punk in the ACT from 1977 to 1992, will be open to the public at Canberra Museum and Gallery from Saturday September 14. The official opening isn’t until late September, so look out for our feature next issue. Local youth community organisation headspace celebrates its fifth birthday that same Saturday in Garema Place, with Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson, Bluejuice’s Jake Stone, and a whole bunch of locals performing between 12pm and 4pm, all free. That night from 8pm, The Basement will host The Gaps, The Burley Griffin, and Husky Strutters for a $10 door. And The Phoenix has Latham’s Grip and locals Brother Be supporting Vulpes Vulpes from 9:30pm. The Bootleg Sessions on Monday September 16 will sport Bears With Guns, Liam Gale & the Ponytails, and locals Pleased to Jive You and Hinterland from 8pm. On Wednesday September 18, The Phoenix also has another instalment of the poetry slam madness that is BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT! from 8pm. Both are free. The next heat in the Smells Like Centenary Spirit: Play It Loud band competition will be held at Tuggeranong Community Centre between 6pm and 10pm on Friday September 20. All the heats are free, and guarantee an introduction Canberra’s best new bands. But you don’t want to be there. You want to be at Bloom 2013! The reinvented Bloom festival this year brings together the best of Gorman House Arts Centre (BMA Magazine’s beloved home) and Ainslie Arts Centre over two days, Fri–Sat September 20–21. Featuring live music, food stalls, a pop-up bar, open studios throughout Gorman House (including BMA’s), a zine fair, and the one and only Skywhale, Bloom 2013 is set to be tremendous. Don’t miss it. (And if you see Gorman House Director Joseph Falsone, tell him he owes me money for this.) After a short hiatus, Party Gravy is back in action at The Phoenix on Saturday September 21 from 9:30pm, and Fun Machine is on at The Front. Maybe head there when you’re done at Bloom. Maybe. And finally, local artist Bonnie McArthur opens a solo exhibition, Stanzas & Sketches, at The Front Gallery and Café on Tuesday September 24. She’s very talented, so go. And that’s everything local I care about. ASHLEY THOMSON - editorial@bmamag.com; @aabthomson

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INXS, Midnight Oil, Chisel, just playing all the pubs … that’s more like what we’re hoping to achieve

FROM BAY TO BURNING BAY ian McCARTHY It’s been a big three years for JINJA SAFARI. In 2010, the band went from formation to heavy triple j rotation, a Splendour set, and support slots for the likes of Boy & Bear and Miami Horror. The Safari now has a full length album under their belt and are gearing up for another national tour. The band’s very own Marcus Azon spoke to us about their travelling, their album, and the upcoming tour.

Jinja Safari’s self-titled debut album was released in May of this year after international touring and travelling, included trips to places like India, Cambodia, Germany, and Canada, as well as some time for Marcus in the band’s namesake Jinja, Uganda. ‘It just kind of, for me, legitimised our decision to name the band after a place that was a reference musically and thematically,’ Marcus says. ‘It was an important thing to do and I think I tried to kind of soak up as much of the (safari-like) guitar tone as possible … playing some of those funny little raga tone beats. It’s a really great vibe.’ Their album was largely acclaimed by fans across Australia and the world, but Marcus tells us that the band is fairly removed from the commercial side of things. ‘It’s hard to gauge exactly what’s going on but from what our friends and family have said it’s all thumbs up … Even if it doesn’t get any attention in the ARIAs, that’s not really our intention right now.’ Marcus insists that the band’s previously existing success added no extra pressure to the album, saying, ‘It’s just a very unusual music market today. There’s such a small attention span so to get a band recognised generally you have to grab attention in such a short amount of time … as opposed to the old days of INXS, Midnight Oil, Chisel, just playing all the pubs and that sort of thing and they build this fan base pretty solidly … and I guess that’s more like what we’re hoping to achieve.’

The band’s Bay of Fires tour, their most extensive Australian tour yet, kicks off in September, and is making 16 stops across the country. Their live shows are known for their elaborately themed sets and fan costumes. Marcus is especially excited about the set-up for this tour. ‘The most exciting thing is the visual projections that we’ve got organised for this tour. A good friend of ours is a mixed media artist … He’s basically put together this full-length feature trip through our whole set and basically worked out a little combined animation and media art extravaganza for each song,’ Marcus says. ‘It just sort of re-imagines each song and takes you to a completely different place than what you would initially think of … I think you’re gonna find that us in the band are gonna be watching the back of the stage for a lot of the show. We’re just gonna project it onto our bodies and onto the back of the stage.’ Jinja Safari will return to ANU Bar for the third time in as many years on Wednesday September 18, at 7:30pm. Tix are $27.95 + bf thru Ticketek.

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I existed in a state of aloneness, and used that aloneness to find inspiration in myself, by myself

FROM LITTLE THINGS, BIG THINGS GROW

humour and darkness is what inspired the Filthy video: we paired this sad, sad song with images of people smearing themselves with food and loving it.’ YouTubing Ngaiire is an electrifying experience. Featuring orgasmic cake eating, balcony bonfires, bondage, and body paint, the singer’s music videos seem more like condensed art films than music clips. Although Ngaiire is heavily involved in the creative process, she laughingly proclaims that the highlight of performing is getting the chance to dress up.

tedi bills

‘I definitely try to dress as crazily at my shows as in the clips. My style is based around the idea that if I’m getting up to perform, I want to go out and give people more than they’re paying for. Besides, I’m tiny, so the bigger the dress and the headpiece, the more confident I feel!’

NGAIIRE may just brush five foot, but there’s nothing small about this woman. Fresh from recording her first studio album, Lamentations, the pocket rocket is getting ready to explode onto a stage near you.

A turf war of hyperbolic adjectives, Ngaiire’s press release set my teeth on edge. Turns out, the album really is that good, and the singer really is that damn cool.

After travelling across the world to hunt out her idol, Japan-based collaborator and pianist Aaron Choulai, Ngaiire developed the aesthetic for Lamentations in a tiny bar in Tokyo. ‘I’d never met Aaron properly before we started working together. We’d never even had contact before I sent him an email saying, “I love what you’re doing, I’m going to fly to Japan and work with you.” He was surprised, and a bit freaked out, but he came around. Two weeks after I went to Japan, we’d written the whole album.’

Check out Ngaiire and her headpieces at Transit Bar, Thursday September 19. Doors at 8pm. Tickets are $15 + bf on Moshtix, or $20 on the door.

Although Ngaiire worked closely with a number of artists while making Lamentations, she found her creative process was primarily introspective. ‘It was really important for me to be in a different place while writing. I needed to step out of my comfort zone and be in isolation. Japan kind of exists in its own little bubble. The challenge was to be by myself, without being able to fully communicate. It meant that I existed in a state of aloneness, and used that aloneness to find inspiration in myself, by myself.’ Lamentations is, in many ways, the product of devastating personal hardships. Prior to recording the album, Ngaiire was involved in a serious car accident that left her with a fractured spine. Shortly after the accident, she lost two close relatives. ‘That’s why the album is called what it’s called. It’s been a time of change, and grieving, and grappling with melancholy. ‘I’ve always been attracted to the idea of melancholy; what creates it, and what can come out of it. Sometimes, something quite dark can be made to sound happy. Other times, I can find humour in the melancholic. The idea of contrasting

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BLOOMERS ARE BACK

alice McSHANE Undoubtedly Canberrans are well versed in the trials and tribulations of winter. We knuckle down, rug up, endure; we get by. So when September finally comes around, the relief felt by this weather-beaten city is palpable. As Canberra blooms magnificently into spring, our well worn winter patience is finally rewarded. It is in the spirit of awakening, rejuvenation, and celebration that the newly formed Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centre precinct prepares to celebrate BLOOM 2013 on Friday and Saturday September 20 and 21. For the first time, the annual Ainslie Arts Centre festival and open day will include Gorman House Arts Centre, transforming what was once a showcase of the musicfocused Ainslie Arts Centre into an all-encompassing celebration of arts in Canberra. Resident artists from both centres will open their doors to the public, inviting all to come and discover the myriad of creative work taking place in these artistic hubs. Programs and marketing manager of Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centre, Yolande Norris, took time to talk about her vision for the new precinct and how it all begins with Bloom. Since bringing us the You Are Here festival earlier this year, Norris has turned her creative attentions in full force to the rejuvenation of Gorman House. She’s not left it all behind her though, having taken full advantage of the interconnectedness of Canberra’s artistic community in her preparations for Bloom. ‘Through You Are Here we discovered a lot of groups and collectives that were doing really interesting things. The whole thing with You Are Here was mobilising pre-existing arts activity and people who were already doing amazing stuff in Canberra, and putting them together under one banner of the festival for ten days. I was really keen to work with all of those people again because their projects are ongoing.’ Meeting in the sunny courtyard of Gorman House amidst the buzz of its weekly market, it’s clear what Norris is so excited about when it comes to the imminent celebration of this iconic artistic site. At once inviting and secretive, this hub of creativity feels like a serene refuge despite its close proximity to the city’s centre. The very walls of this former youth hostel and current artist residence allude to countless untold stories, and beautiful works to be discovered. With two very distinct past lives, the unique history of Gorman House plays a vital role in Norris’s mission to reconnect Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centre to their communal roots. Starting its life as a public service hostel in the 1920s, Gorman House went through decades of housing young people, with Norris likening it to ‘a uni residence’, explaining, ‘It would have been really fun, it would have been crazy, and for a long time it was women only as well. It would have been kind of wild. ‘So even though Gorman House is heritage, which makes people think of [an] old, nice and lovely vibe, it actually is a place where young people gathered for years and years and years, so we’d like

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to remind ourselves of that. That it is a place where people would come for entertainment and to spend time with one another.’ It then became the arts centre that continues to operate today, and can boast of having housed a ‘power list of amazing people’ who have each added to its fascinating history.

This is going to continue being at the forefront of artistic and creative practice

‘We’re still filling studios now; there’s lots of spaces at Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centre that are here for the arts community to use for their own events and their own gatherings. The festival’s a good opportunity to remind all these people that these spaces are here, and they’re ready for use for arts activity all the time throughout the year.’ Positively brimming with excitement as she lists the many activities on offer at the upcoming Bloom festival, Norris’s passion and energy have clearly had an incredible influence on the excitement and anticipation greeting this year’s biggerthan-ever event. Across Friday night and Saturday, Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centre will be offering a host of activities, including a special edition of the Gorman House Markets, with new stalls to be held by emerging practitioners, as well as an expanded food court, tours, exhibitions, a zine fair, a costume sale, live music, and an appearance by the Skywhale. BMA Magazine readers will be excited to know that as part of Bloom, the magazine offices will be open to the public, alongside numerous other resident organisations and a diverse array of individual arts practitioners. These include glass artist Carole Griffiths, painter Tim Phillips, weaver Fay Skyring, and print-maker Franki Sparke. Inspired by the inclusiveness enabled by emerging and experimental arts festivals, Norris has worked hard to engage as many people with the precinct as possible. ‘This is going to continue being at the forefront of artistic and creative practice, and it’s got this prime opportunity to capitalise on our location and the current state of the artistic community in Canberra to really draw people in and make this their home base.’ Bloom it seems is just the beginning for Gorman House and Ainslie Arts Centres. Taking the momentous rejuvenating energy of Bloom, a new era is imminent, one of openness, access, and comprehensive utilisation of this beloved hub. Head to Bloom 2013’s Facebook page for more info. And turn up at Gorman House Arts Centre or Ainslie Arts Centre on Friday September 20 from 4pm and all day on Saturday September 21 to enjoy the full range of festivities. All events are free.

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STRANGELY FAMILIAR GUS McCUBBING After cleaning the house listening to Slightly Odway, I’d reconnected with all my teenage angst and excitement in time to interview Kevin Mitchell. Of course, the frontman of Jebediah also goes by the stage name BOB EVANS, which he uses for his solo work. His latest solo album, Familiar Stranger, was released in March. What drew Mitchell to the path of the solo artist was differing musical influences, and the need to reflect those new influences in the music he was producing. Mitchell says the music Jebediah produced in the ‘90s ‘fitted into a fairly narrow genre, and I think that I just knew at the time it was gonna be difficult for us as a band to travel very far outside of what we did.’ Mitchell wanted to make a concerted effort to separate his solo work from that of Jebediah, so the name Bob Evans was chosen in order to be able to play ‘incognito’. ‘But these days that’s all ancient history,’ says Mitchell. ‘These days it’s more just an avenue to explore music on my own, without any sort of hurdles.’

I’d be quite happy to never play them again … It just feels like work

Familiar Stranger marked for Mitchell a mini-renaissance within his solo work. ‘I didn’t want to make a record that was steeped in all the old country and retro influences in three of the records I’d previously made.’ This new turn was inspired by a growing interest in what he defines with a chuckle as ‘progressive pop music’. He lists Goldfrapp, Santigold, and Beck as major influences, while highlighting that the only rock bands he’s really listened to lately are Wilco and Spoon. The album was written over three years between 2008 and 2011. During this time, Mitchell experienced the death of a family member and the birth of his first child – two experiences which bookmark the album. ‘Literally the first song is a song about grief and the last song is about new life, and so all the songs in between hopefully tie those two themes together.’ On the future of Bob Evans, Mitchell has an immediate plan in mind and was imbued with a sense of urgency. ‘In the short-term, I want to make another Bob Evans record very quickly. There’s been such big gaps with the Bob Evans records – in ten years, I’ve only put out four records, so it’s quite a slow strike rate.’ Meanwhile, Mitchell points out that Jebediah has remained active playing live sets, which he still finds very enjoyable, but that no plans have been made yet for a future record. ‘When it comes to performing, I’m a bit of people pleaser – I like the crowd to enjoy themselves.’ He explains classic tunes like Leaving Home and Teflon are still fun to play, ‘but only if there’s a crowd in front of me; otherwise, I’d be quite happy to never play them again. Rehearsing those songs is a drag, just because we’ve played them so many times. It just feels like work, but it never feels like that on stage.’

Bob Evans will be playing The Abbey on Saturday September 21, doors 6:30pm. Tickets are $20 + bf (show only) or $65 + bf (dinner and show) through theabbey.com.au. All ages.

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DANCE THE DROP

Hello dance lovers! It’s Peekz here, filling in for the lovely Tim Galvin. Recently I discovered that in the US state of Nevada, via a loophole in legislation, it’s legal to charge different prices for events based on sex. How do you feel about venues charging males up to 100% extra just to avoid a sausage-fest? Who knows, maybe too many ‘bros’ are infesting Vegas nightlife/pool parties and harshing the buzz for decent partygoers? I feel for males who are being gouged when all they want to do is see their favourite touring DJ. The concept of controlling the numbers of each sex in a venue isn’t new. Bouncers have frequently rejected males for trivial things – shoes, jeans, shirts, hair, tattoos – in order to make the venue more appealing, so it’s somewhat of a logical extension, but is price-hiking at the presale stage a step too far? Is it not enough to allow doormen to refuse entry? Would you tolerate gender-based pricing? Canberrans seem to be a fickle bunch sometimes, using tenuous excuses to justify a quiet night in, but preferencing like Nevada allows would be a just reason to avoid forking over your hard-earned cash. Now, in live music, Friday September 13 (ooOoOoOo!) sees Trinity Bar hosting the Lot 33 Reunion Party, which is dedicated to an era of Canberra clubbing that is fondly remembered and missed. The night sports a stellar line-up of selectors from the Lot 33 parties of lore: Dave Norgate vs. Pred, Offtapia vs. Cheese, Anjay, Timtulip, and Fourthstate and myself battling it out for ultimate champion of the universe. Also on Friday September 13, Academy are hosting Ember & J-Trick, supported by Leuky, Runamark, and Jared de Veer. Saturday September 14 sees Mobin Master from Melbourne perform at Treehouse, and on Friday September 20, Alive Fridays @ Academy is hosting RüFüS for a live show sure to be full of indie dance goodness. Supports on the night are from YesYou and SOSUEME DJs. On Saturday September 21, North Bar are hosting WolfPack DJs, supported by Lucatrive and BiTMORE. Here are my current top five tunes; stay tuned next issue for a super special guest top five as well!

Omnia – Immersion [Armind] – Starting off with some trance, Omnia always delivers a quality tune for me and this is no exception. Blood Groove & Kikis – Vesta [Silk Digital] – These guys are really nailing the laid back melodic prog sound, perfect for early set tunes. Also check out the remix from French teen prodigy Matt Fax for more proggy goodness. Reflekt – Need To Feel Loved (Trong Lai’s Bootleg Remix) [CDR] – This one’s free on SoundCloud at the moment, an almost perfect update of this classic tune, missing only the strings sampled from Thomas Newman’s Ghosts. Luckily someone added them in. ;) Bedrock – Heaven Scent (Matt Lange Secret Booty) [CDR] – Another one that’s free online, Matt puts his intricate and immersive progressive spin on this all-time classic and once again nails it. Max Graham – The Evil ID [Re*Brand] – I’ve got a bit of Max Graham fever. This one is a massive big room prog-trance tune that will smash any dancefloor. Play only with adequate safety gear. GAVAN O’CONNOR-RISCH

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BORN BEFORE BIEBER alisha evans It’s been 17 years since some Christian groups tried to get their album Tu-Plang banned from Aussie department stores, and REGURGITATOR still know how to write a tune. Their sound has matured since they hit the music scene in 1993, and Ben Ely, vocalist and bassist, says as they’ve gotten older, they’ve gotten wiser. ‘Our sound isn’t quite as abrasive as when we began, we’ve settled into more of a pop realm. Now I’m older I like to be more experimental with songs, I like more experimental and instrumental songs.’ This is evident in their latest album, Dirty Pop Fantasy, released in early September. It contains some unusual tidbits, such as the 39-second instrumental piece named Dolphin Chakra Alignment, but also has your more traditional ‘Gurg with the likes of Home Alone Stoned.

Creativity is trying to control the chaos in your mind and in life

The title track, Dirty Pop Fantasy, is more electronic and has remnants of ‘80s synth pop songs. ‘It’s like any Regurgitator album, in that it jumps around stylistically,’ Ely says. Dirty Pop Fantasy has been released online, on CD, and pressed on vinyl for the hardcore fans. Ely says he and Quan Yeomans, lead singer and guitarist, have a creative desire and like being expressive. ‘Regurgitator allows us to create music in any genre.’ Ely takes his inspiration from the freedom he finds in being creative. ‘Creativity is trying to control the chaos in your mind and in life. There’s a spirit of excitement, of what that creativity will be.’ Music isn’t the only creative outlet for the band – they’ve also designed t-shirts, the new album cover, music videos, and costumes for their upcoming tour. In December, Regurgitator will turn 20, but there are no big plans to celebrate; Ely thinks when they turn 21, they’ll revel. Being around longer than Bieber has been alive means Regurgitator don’t party as much as they used to, but Ely thinks the quality of their work is better. ‘With the last two albums, we were better at producing them as well as writing better songs.’ Another benefit, according to Ely, is that their shows are longer and their costumes are cooler. ‘I get a kick out of performing live, it’s a huge part of us and it’s built our career.’ Despite this excitement, the soonto-be 43-year-old prefers the solitude of creating an album. ‘It’s good to be a hermit at home alone, being creative.’ Ely says one of the reasons they have stayed together is they no longer fight, and they have different tastes in music. Ely has been listening to a lot of Goat lately, and Yeomans is into Kanye West’s latest album Yeezus. ‘It’s funny we exist; we’re into very different music styles.’ The guys also have solo careers, but Ely prefers his work with the band because he enjoys when they write together.

Regurgitator play Thursday October 3 at Zierholz @ UC, doors open at 8pm. Tickets are available from the UC campus outlet shop or Oztix, and are $39.80 + bf.

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Hey all, I’m Dong Hyun and I’m the new QETCM columnist. Moving on, there are a couple of shows to look out for around Canberra. Friday September 13 will see Trinity Bar host the Lot 33 Reunion Party, which will host some of the ex-resident DJs from Lot 33 to recreate the Lot 33 experience for one night. The line-up will include names such Offtapia and Anjay. Doors open at 8:30pm and tickets will be $10 before 10pm. The Clubhouse will host Oski, a talented 19-year-old hailing from Sydney, a week later on Friday September 20. He’s on the rise with a growing reputation, evidenced by his expanding online presence and shout-outs from acts such as Mt. Eden and Doctor Werewolf. His musical output covers a wide territory, oscillating between glitch-hop, dubstep, and trap. It’s not exactly cerebral and tends to be kinda cheesy, but his music is definitely geared towards getting people to have a fun time on the dancefloor. It starts at 10pm with support acts including Sumyunguy and Synthetiket. Pop drum ‘n’ bass sensations Rudimental will play at UC Refectory on Wednesday September 18, but of course it’s sold out, so you’ll have to find a ticket yourself, and expect to pay upwards of $60–$70 at this point. IDM wizard Clark will release a two-disc collection of remixes, slated for a Monday September 16 release, entitled Feast/Beast, with Feast representing his more melodic side, and Beast his harder, more intense side. The compilation will feature remixes of Clark produced by other artists, as well as Clark’s remixes of artists like Amon Tobin, Depeche Mode, and Massive Attack. Of the album, Clark has said, ‘In some ways these remixes represent the range of music I have released over the [last] ten years in my albums … but they are more unhinged.’ Berlin-based, Adelaide native Kyson, who was recently named one of Nina Las Vegas’s top five Australian producers to watch, will release his debut album on Tuesday September 24, entitled The Water’s Way. Kyson’s music is ambient down-tempo with silky, floaty vocals that’s really easy on the ears, and his debut album will apparently feature a lot of Kyson’s own instrumentation and vocals. Some of you may have read Skream announce earlier this year that he was stepping away from dubstep, the genre he helped to ram into the forefront of the public’s consciousness, but he’s been busy since then. He tweeted that he hasn’t been this excited to premiere a record in a long time, and the track he was referring to was Rollercoaster feat. Sam Frank. Skream has shown he’s not a one trick pony, the track is pure retro-future disco bliss. The supergroup Magnetic Man are also said to be working on a new album, although it’s said to be different in concept to the group’s first album of bassy, dancefloor anthems. And finally, Flying Lotus, Soulwax, and Kavinsky have all been confirmed to be curating their own radio stations in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. Flying Lotus’s track list includes an exclusive track made just for the game by Tyler, the Creator, Hudson Mohawke, Machinedrum, and Aphex Twin. I’m really looking forward to blowing up cop cars from a helicopter while listening to Windowlicker. DONG HYUN

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or exotic, and that’s what we wanted with the name.

Q&A: RÜFÜS sinead o’connell Lead singer Tyone of new ‘indie dance’ radio sensation RÜFÜS took a moment to explain how they are baffled by success, spent their election day in a water tank, and found each other through the music of Booka Shade and Trentemøller. What does the name mean/where did it originate from? I guess musically we like taking ourselves to places that feel either foreign

When he came to the table with … broccoli trees and jelly mountains, we were both puzzled and sold

When it comes to writing and mixing, when/where do you all work best together? Well for our album Atlas we wrote and recorded down the south coast of NSW, in a farmhouse just outside a small town called Berry. We were fortunate enough to have a month there, soaking in the sunshine and staying up all hours of the morning writing without any disruptions. In terms of putting yourself within a genre – there is a tendency online it seems to coin you guys as indie/dance, would you agree with that? I just know what I like and what influences us. I’d say ‘90s house and deep house are big influences, but I wouldn’t categorise us in that either. How did the band come together? Started up in Byron Bay with me and Jon sharing a love for Booka Shade and Trentemøller. Wrote a few songs together and then poached our drummer James from a local indie rock band to start working out our live show. Now we all write, produce, and record it together, and it’s all grown pretty organically from there. Tell me a little about how Atlas began to come about. Were you expecting it to do so well? We’re all in a bit of shock really. Just knowing the album would be out and available to the public was overwhelming enough. I mean, you spend over a year, full-time, on something, and you can’t help but grow quite close to it. When it comes to music videos, how do you decide or create the themes around the music? Specifically in relation to both Take Me and Desert Night. Jon’s younger brother Katzki actually makes all our music videos and is in the middle of shooting the third one. When he came to the table with the idea of shooting miniatures and odd landscapes of broccoli trees and jelly mountains to create this feeling of odd exotic/ foreign locations for our song Take Me, we were both puzzled and sold. So we just let him do what he wants. What will you be doing (physically, not who will you be voting for) on Saturday September 7? Hopefully, if it’s a nice day, we might start with a swim in the ocean, and then I guess we’ll just be rehearsing in our studio It’s an emptied out water tank that we kitted out and converted into a DIY recording space with help from the crew at swamp.net.au. Catch RÜFÜS at Academy on Friday September 20, with guests YesYou. Tickets are $17 + bf thru Moshtix.

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THE REALNESS The question needs to be asked: is Jonwayne the doppelganger of Jesus of Nazareth? Let’s break down the similarities between the two figures and find ourselves a definitive answer. Long flowing locks that the ladies would swoon for: check. Ability to engage a crowd and convey one’s message through witty wordplay: check. Trusty hand skills whether working a MPC or hanging a door around the house: check. Rocking a crowd in a floral Hawaiian shirt: um, sort of – check. Able to make roman sandals look like a stylish fashion choice: check. Okay, so I’ve slightly altered the scales when undertaking the comparison checks. But save for a few kegs around the midsection, you would have to agree there is a slight resemblance to the messiah. If you need further proof, check out his amazing wordplay in action on YouTube at the Boiler Room Rap Life in L.A. I do believe that Jesus had more receptive crowds though!

The video includes the actual Heaven’s Gate Cult Initiation videos, which are interspersed throughout the mix to congeal the tracks together. Sprinkle in various scenes from b-grade occult and horror movies, a pinch of porn, and a two-minute ‘80s film edit set at hyper speed that will induce epilepsy, and it all combines nicely to create a 35-minute head trip that will leave you thirsting for more. Speaking of b-grade movies, back in 2004 Murs and 9th Wonder released their first collaboration album, Murs 3:16 The 9th Edition. Normally artists release music videos to help promote their album; Murs decided to create his own movie based off of one track from the album, Walk Like A Man. Physical copies of the movie proved very hard to obtain, and even sourcing an online version had been difficult for many years. That is until recently, when someone finally decided to upload Walk Like A Man to YouTube for our viewing pleasure. It’s been chopped into three parts, and sure, it’s not the greatest acting you will ever see, but it defined Murs’s independent hustle during this period of time and is worthy viewing. BERT POLE - bertpole@hotmail.com

If you feel you have witnessed the Holy Ghost and need something a little bit dirty and nasty to cleanse your soul, then Captain Murphy surely has the answer for you. Late last year, the enigma that was Captain Murphy dropped his Duality mixtape, which went viral. Questions were raised surrounding the identity of Captain Murphy and many assumptions were made. There were links to members of Odd Future and L.A. producer Flying Lotus being the masterminds behind the project. It finally was revealed that indeed it was Flying Lotus’ side venture into hip hop, and his identity was concealed to let the project stand on its own merits. The Duality project was steeped in references to infamous cults, virgin sacrifices, porn, and the dark ruler himself. What really separated this project from the masses was the 35-minute visual piece that accompanied the audio. If you found the audio alone quite disturbing, then you will be suffering from a conniption fit and sleeping with the lights on for a week after viewing the video.

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SILENT MACHINES AND ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSHES carrie gibson What’s making the crowds go wild this year? TWELVE FOOT NINJA. With their distinctive sound and antics, they are setting their sights high. We caught up with the band’s guitarist Steve ‘Stevic’ Mackay to chat about their upcoming American and European tours, the perfect toothbrush, and basically all things ‘Ninja-y’.

Tell us a little about the debut album: what had to be included into the material, do you feel you have nailed it? I think so, I know this sounds a little pretentious but an album is never really finished, just abandoned, you know? I feel positive in saying though that it’s not perfect – it’s all a learning curve so it’s okay, it’s the next stage.

Heading off on a rather extensive tour through November. Lucky I caught you! Australia, Europe, and North America – come on, think big, geez. How are you feeling about the tour? Yeah I know right, it’s so exciting right now, we have certain levels of apprehension as to be expected, being on the road for that long in very close quarters [laughs].

Do you feel a lot of expectation with the album due to the mass lead up surrounding it? I don’t know exactly. Wow, I’m like full of fucking clichés today – we’re staying true to ourselves, we have done what we wanted, people will say shit regardless you know – but we are staying true to ourselves and I believe we’re staying true to our fans also.

What is one thing that you definitely need to bring on tour with you? Some creature comfort… I would have to say there are about three things that I can’t live without – thongs, because it’s just awkward wearing plastic bags over your feet in the shower, a good toothbrush, and a towel.

What inspires the band to lead this crazy lifestyle? Yeah … [laughs] I guess it’s rather an entrepreneurial adventure with no money in it until you reach that critical mass, but I mean I just love how unrestrictive it all is, the chance to cross over to the audience and the strange thing is, we have a rather large following by the metal community. It wasn’t until we played with Fear Factory this year – we didn’t see it as an opportunity for ourselves, it’s only that we just simply love Fear Factory that we put our hands up – but the Fear Factory fans were going ape shit for us and ‘metal heads’ are amazing people, once they lock onto something they are so fucking loyal, they’re so open-minded. We were a little apprehensive opening up the show, there stood like big dudes in black shirts with their arms folded not looking impressed, you can never tell what a metal head is thinking [laughs]. Then after the show they come up to you all like, ‘Fuck man, that was awesome!’ It’s pretty great [laughs].

I did hear about your quest to find the best toothbrush, how have you fared? It’s a big decision, I’ve even asked our fans on Facebook. Right now it’s a decision between Oral B and Colgate.

It was Faith No More who said it; you shit what you eat, so we are being as ‘ourselves’ as we can

Your first Australian tour sold out every capital city; do you now find yourselves on the right platform then? Yeah for sure, we definitely feel that we are on the upper trajectory, we appreciate everything, it is humbling. Saying that, Twelve Foot Ninja have taken Australian by storm (and no doubt Europe and the US by the end of the year): what has been the defining moment for the band up to this moment? I think there have been a couple actually, ironically the moments we consider not that huge ended up being some of the best things to happen to us. For instance, when we supported Tesseract at The HiFi – Jay Postones (the band’s drummer) has quite a huge online following, and he posts how much he enjoyed Twelve Foot Ninja – after that it’s just been madness. But I mean to have someone of that calibre go out of their way to highlight our music was amazing. Word of mouth is still the most effective way to promote your music, as opposed to the fluff media releases and such. Fluff media releases do have their stake in the world – for instance, the band really know how to run with a campaign when releasing material. Project 12 – absolutely brilliant idea, have you always had plans for something as grand as this for the release of Silent Machine? I guess the idea came about quite easily, we just all sat down and discussed what we wanted to do, how we wanted to go about it. That was the easy part [laughs]. We didn’t want to release everything in one go, the balancing act is really important. Over time the idea came to life. How long did it take to nut it all out? The idea took five minutes, the execution on the other hand [laughs] … that took forever. I mean churning out a 72-page comic was huge. It had to be memorable though and your ideas are only as good as they are executed.

We have gone over a bit of the influence Twelve Foot Ninja have had on the audience, but what influence has Twelve Foot Ninja had on you personally? Whoa, fuck, um … I guess that I’ve become more publicly introverted [laughs]. I’m serious, I am getting really paranoid, I go into some weird Woody Allan-type state, people all know the band and what we do, all the fucking lyrics. I don’t even know all the lyrics or remember half the crap we do in the videos. I’ll be sitting somewhere having a coffee quietly … then all of a sudden some random person will come up and start screaming ‘lyrics’ at me, whilst I’m sitting there in horror. Why is this person screaming at me? [laughs] … Ah, what was the question again? The music of Twelve Foot Ninja is adored – what is the secret to your success? Geez, you ask the tough questions – I guess I would put it down to keeping strong principles and not following on from someone else; the key to success is having an open mind, it was Faith No More who said it; you shit what you eat, so we are being as ‘ourselves’ as we can be, we have so many influences as musicians so I’d like to think that we are separating ourselves from the pack. Twelve Foot Ninja will be visiting Zierholz @ UC on Thursday September 12 at 8pm. Supported by Meniscus and Escape Syndrome. Tickets are $21.45 + bf through Oztix.

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date tour is closest at The HiFi in Sydney on Friday January 17 and you can get tickets though thehifi.com.au for $44.50 + bf.

METALISE So good, thanks to The Melvins for finally making me advertise an awesome show right here at the ANU Bar. Yes, the Big Brother lineup of The Melvins and ‘90s stalwarts Helmet will be jointly jaunting around the country to make their trip out for the Meredith Music Festival worthwhile. The bands will hit the ANU Bar on Thursday December 12 and tickets are available through Ticketek. If you’re a drummer, you can’t miss an opportunity to see this line-up live, as the twin drumming thing between Dale Crover and Coady Willis is just jaw-droppingly awesome. Great early Christmas present! The Vee Bees are decimating The Basement in Belconnen on Saturday September 28 with their own peculiar brand of yob ‘n’ roll that makes them a true jewel in the ACT’s musical crown. Joining in the fun will be The ACID Monkeys and Old Time Glory, so get along to welcome spring with a beer-induced spew after knocking back a few. When The Vee Bees are on the case, too many is never enough. Some cool shows coming up next fortnight include Melbourne doom main stays The Eternal with Myridian at The Pot Belly in Belco on Saturday September 14, and then Sewercide are at the Magpies City Club on Wednesday September 18 with Sick People, Eye Gouge, Hygiene and Coffin Birth. Greek extremists Rotting Christ announced a tour last week with Sydney’s The Amenta and Melbournians Terra Australis. The three-

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The full Doomsday line-up headed by Japanese super doom group Church of Misery has been announced for Friday October 4 at Hermanns Bar in Sydney. Summonus, Clagg, and the reformed Cruciform are all confirmed for the show, and that looks like a hefty slab of slow. The Basement has also booked a bunch of shows for the next few months with The Plot in You on Wednesday September 18, Oceano on Tuesday October 8, Adept on Monday October 14, Between The Buried And Me on Sunday November 17, and I Killed the Prom Queen on Sunday December 8 for your fridge calendar. There’s a pretty decent slab of Aussie metal at a fest called Steel Assassins 2013 happening at the Bald Faced Stag on Parramatta Road in Sydney, Fri–Sun November 1–3, with the full line-up just announced. Playing are Widow, Razorwyre, Elm Street, Malakyte, Soulforge, Gorefield, Sabretung, Majister, Avarin, Damnations Day, Hazmat, Bane of Winterstorm, Fenrir, Mason, Matronarch, Head in a Jar, Enter Six, and Cerebral Contortion. Super bummed last fortnight with the news of Joey LaCaze’s passing away in America. Joe played drums for The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight and Outlaw Order, but is most well-known for being a founding member of New Orleans sludge titans Eyehategod in 1988. Touring with them last year left me with the impression Joey was nothing short of an absolute top bloke, as well as gifted drummer. He was only 42 years old and died of respiratory failure after a lifetime of lung issues. He is survived by his wife and young daughter. RIP Joey. JOSH NIXON - doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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

Image credit: Anna Boydell

ARTS | ACT

CROWDSOURCING EQUALITY lauren strickland You can find it in the question, ‘What do women want?’ You can find it in that section of the newspaper that’s full of shopping tips, recipes, home decorating ideas – they’ll give it the heading, ‘Lifestyle’, but more often than not, there’s an invisible No Boys Allowed sign on the door. You can find it in dozens of editorials on Julia Gillard playing ‘the gender card’ (what the fuck is that, anyway? I think I’ve lost mine), in the sentence, ‘Men and women just think differently’, in colour-coded kids’ toys. Everywhere. What kind of voice do women have in Australia right now? It’s a contentious topic, one some consider to be utterly irrelevant – you’ve got the vote, what more do you want? – and others consider to be vital. THE POWDER ROOM, a new collective founded by local women Jude Kohn and Ingrid Barnes, think the voices of women are at risk of being drowned out, even shouted down. Their simple response: Q-and-A-style sessions inviting Canberra women of note to get up on their soapbox and speak about absolutely anything they want. ‘People don’t actually often sit down and listen to women talking,’ says Barnes. ‘Unless they’re talking about “women’s stuff”, and the audience is all women.’ The Powder Room, a series taking place at The Front Gallery and Café, aims to give women a platform where they are not automatically forced to tick the box marked female. If this sounds counter-intuitive for a feminist event, it’s really not. ‘It’s not about them being a woman, it’s about what they have to say.’ Kohn says that the idea originated as a platform for queer women. ‘It just struck me that I was so used to hearing women talking in these niche groups, and about certain topics that were only relevant to queer women or only relevant to feminism, and [that] I hadn’t heard of a format of women just talking about something that they’re actually interested in and that they’re well-versed in.’ The idea, mulled over for several months, was brought to a head watching the leadership spill in which Kevin Rudd replaced Julia Gillard as Prime Minister. Barnes recalls: ‘The way the media reacted to this very intelligent, articulate woman, who was trying to communicate various things to the public – the response to that was, you know, talking about her genitals. It’s really alarming … Amongst your friendship group you can think that things are going all right, and then watching the news you might suddenly think, “Oh, maybe not so much.”’

Their first speaker, Melanie Poole, spoke about the transformative potential of LGBTIQ rights and women’s reproductive rights. Poole is Parliamentary Advocacy Coordinator at CARE Australia, co-founded women’s rights charity Vocal Majority, and has just won a Fulbright Scholarship to go and study public policy in the US. Despite her vast array of accomplishments, Poole reported feeling unworthy of having a whole event centred around her. ‘It’s just how women are taught that their voice is heard; they’re taught to take a back seat, to defer to other people,’ Kohn theorises. ‘[It’s difficult for women] to put themselves forward and say, “Yes, what I have to say is valuable enough, people should sit and listen to me because I am an expert on this topic.” That’s quite hard for women to do.’ The platform’s daunting lack of guidelines may have a little to do with that as well. Barnes says this is part of the point: ‘To just have the voice of someone who has a lot to say heard, without any filter or constraints.’ Kohn continues, ‘We’re not an organisation, and I’m really set on keeping it that way. The Powder Room is just going to be a collective; at the moment it’s me and Ingrid, and a few others … The launch really did feel a lot like a community event. We want to make it so broad that anyone can join in and put up speakers.’ With such noble, egalitarian goals in mind, why call it The Powder Room? Doesn’t it fall into this silly ‘women’s business’ category? ‘There was a debate between The Powder Room or The Soapbox; both quite … trivialising. We wanted to poke fun. The concept is very threatening to some, and we wanted to keep it mainstream, accessible, and by trivialising the title, that was one way to do it. So it was a little bit strategic. ‘We also wanted to keep a little bit of humour, and intimacy. The powder room is where women go to talk. What are they saying in there? They’re discussing men, they’re discussing their lipstick. No! When you actually put women in a room together they say really interesting, informed things. So it’s a nod to that – that actually, women have been talking for years and years and years and years – and what they’re saying isn’t actually trivial. Despite the fact that it is often perceived that way.’ The Powder Room’s next event is at The Front Gallery & Café on Monday October 7, and will feature Prof. Hilary Charlesworth. More info at facebook.com/powderroom.soapbox, including contact details, if you are a woman with something to say!

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Q&A: FELICITY WARD scott johnston Firstly, what made you want to get into comedy writing and performing? Was it something you thought about doing for a long time, or simply jumped right into? I never considered it until I accidentally joined the Sydney Uni (which I didn’t attend) Arts Revue. When I started doing it, I was hooked, but not stand-up. I was never going to do that. That was for freaks that could handle being themselves on stage. I liked being a character. Then by a series of events I ended doing a stand-up spot (underneath pools of my own sweat and suicidal thoughts), and I had my Oprah Winfrey lightbulb moment. Then I started my own book club, which is why I am now one of the most powerful women in the media and literature industry. Your style of comedy is unique, quite self-deprecating and reflective. I love this about your stand-up shows, but mostly I get into your impressions. Is this poke at different groups something you’ve always done, or merely crafted for your shows? I’ve probably always impersonated people, but it’s never been out of malice. It’s been out of recognition of myself in them, or of something wonderful that I want to celebrate about them. I grew up in an area that had heaps of junkies and bogans and young mothers, and I don’t see myself as separate to them. I see myself of one of them, and I get to represent them on stage. What was it like growing up in Woy Woy? Was it really comparable to a ‘Titty Bar wrapped in an anus’? (Because that sounds amazing.) See above. It’s a strange place, the Central Coast, because it is astoundingly beautiful: Beaches, national parks, incredible waterways, but when you have a large area that’s populated by kids who have nothing to do, and underlying petty crime, then dysfunction breeds and is passed down. It’s also not a fertile ground for nurturing art. When I was growing up it was seen as a bit of a hobby; something nice to do outside of work. I wanted it to be my work, and I wanted people to care about art. It wasn’t compatible with that. I needed to be surrounded by more wankers like me. So I moved to Sydney. Being a (very) small time stand-up comic in Canberra myself, one of the hardest parts for me is not the nerves or the writing of material, but having to reuse the same material. Whilst I know this is how the industry operates, how do you feel about this? What do you think is a comfortable level of new vs. old material and use? It’s tricky. In the US, and UK, the population and ubiquity of comedy clubs is so much greater/higher, so you get to work your material up to a stage where you’re happy with it, before you need to

turn it over … or you can do that alongside new material. You move around. You test it in front of new audiences. You find new tags, and lose unwanted fat off jokes the more you try it. In Oz we don’t have as many clubs so we’re constantly having to write new material to cater to that. On the one hand, that’s wonderful because we get to write new stuff all the time, and it inspires us to be more prolific, but on the other hand sometimes we don’t get given the opportunity to hone it into the shape we want in front of audiences. My opinion fluctuates. I still have little pangs when performing older material in front of comics, but then I remember they’re my mates, not my employers. By the way – are comedy nerds reading this? Because I think only comedy nerds will enjoy this. For anyone else still reading: MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT! I WILL NOW RELATE SOME OF THOSE DIFFERENCES SO THAT WE CAN CONNECT … I’ve fallen in love with applications like Vine which are amazing for comedy skits and ideas, and have had such an impact on bringing young up-and-comers to light. What’s your take on new mediums like this? Do you think it’s great for comedy, or diluting the market with too many new players and not enough talent? I think all new mediums are necessary for comedy to grow. I’m not adept at Vine. I sometimes feel like the old person in the room. Clips and YouTube and Vine, they’re all so permanent and ephemeral at the same time. For some reason I’m more fearless on the stage than in front of a camera. Maybe because I have so many bad video diary ideas that I am terrified I’ll accidentally upload one when trying to put a sketch or a vlog [video blog] online. Is that a thing? Has that happened? It’s the equivalent of opening up your laptop in front of friends and a porn popup window being on your desktop. With the recent success of your show ‘The Hedgehog Dilemma’, do you think Melbourne is the place you’ll stay to pursue your comedic talents, or could you foresee a permanent move to another city or country, should the opportunity arise? Well, I moved to London in May. I don’t know if it’s because of any success I’ve had, rather than in pursuit of getting better, or seeing if I will get better in an environment that provides more pressure. I’ll be back at the end of the year for some gigs (see: sunshine) but who knows where I’ll be in 2014. Maybe I have a massive potential market in Burkina Faso I haven’t tapped into yet. Felicity Ward will be appearing at Floriade Nightfest’s Moonlight Lounge, Wed–Fri September 25–27. See floriadeaustralia.com. au/nightfest for tickets and times.

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UNINHIBITED There was a meeting I wasn’t at, which I heard about third-hand. So take this as you will. But it’s worth repeating, as there’s nothing unbelievable in it. And more to the point, there’s a lot about what is wrong with our city in it. This was a meeting regarding recent planning developments in Canberra, and this section of the meeting addressed the new bike paths in the city. A government chap was detailing the background to the path, the planning, and building thereof. A question was put to this chap, from another government chap, asking why in hell the path was built the

way it was. In Sydney, so said the questioner, the path that runs from Surry Hills to Woolloomooloo works a treat. It’s in the ‘Copenhagen’ style, on one side of the road, separated from the footpath, and either on-road parking or the road itself by curbs. It’s simple, defined, and it flows. Why, asked this questioner, was the new bike path that snakes through bits of Civic down to Acton, not built in this way? Why was it built on both sides of the road? Why is it on the same level as the footpath, thus not providing a clear delineation between where to walk and where to cycle, but then drops to road level at intersections? Why the weird changes in height? Why the lack of definition between pedestrian space and bike space? Why? The response was brilliant. Bear with me. The response ran something like this: to make the bike path like the Sydney path, or the New York path, or those that thread throughout Europe, the ACT would have had to change the road rules. Because under current legislation bikes are considered both vehicles and pedestrians, and the path had to shift in order to effectively allow both – at intersections they’re cars, so the path has to be lowered. In the middle of the block bikes are people, and have to be a pedestrian height. They were powerless to change it, apparently. And so we have the most confusing, feckless attempt at a cycle lane in the nation. By claiming that hands were tied, the ACT Government has ratified everybody’s worst, clichéd idea of what governments and bureaucracies do. By making such a meal of the bike path, when the ACT Government proposes stage two of the project, there will be a backlash. Pedestrians will recall horror stories of near misses. Drivers will whine about the lack of space, asking why it has to be on both sides of the road. And the project might falter as a result. This is what happens when governments don’t get projects right. Sometimes they fail honestly. But in this instance, the ACT government failed to study successful paths, make the requisite changes to legislation (i.e. ensuring that bicycles are treated as they are in NSW and elsewhere), and build to the damn template. It’s like an episode of Parks & Recreation without the laughs. It’s feckless and stupid and all-tooCanberra. We need better.

GLEN MARTIN glenpetermartin @gmail.com

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ARTISTPROFILE: Jemima Parker

What do you do? I sew, construct, draw, and screen-print. More specifically, I make sculptural textiles that can be worn, or installed in a gallery setting as objects in their own right. When, how and why did you get into it? I’ve been drawing and making things for as long as I can remember – ever since I was able to hold a pencil. I grew up without a television and with constant encouragement to draw, sew, make, cook, and imagine. My parents are both incredibly creative (Dad in joinery and Mum in ceramics) and this was a big influence. However, after I finished high school I initially opted for what I thought was a ‘sensible’ career. I studied law and worked in a law firm where I used to prepare contracts and leases. My favourite task was to make the staff birthday card envelopes look snazzy – I realised my heart simply wasn’t in law. So, I left my job, my desk, my office attire, and my regular pay-cheque behind and went to art school to follow my dream. Who or what influences you as an artist? I draw inspiration from my surroundings – both nature and architecture. I have a big love for pattern and texture. I look for patterns in my surrounds and in the everyday – my current print designs are drawn from images of magnified household textiles. I also have a love of origami and contemporary Japanese fashion. In particular, Japanese fashion designers Issey Miyake and Junya Watanabe are big heroes of mine.

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Of what are you proudest so far? The opening of my first solo exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre in May this year had an enormous and very proud grin fixed on my face. I was also incredibly proud (and delighted!) to move into my studio at Gorman House Arts Centre this August – I’m currently completing a six-month studio residency thanks to Canberra Contemporary Art Space. What are your plans for the future? To keep creating! I’m super excited to be exhibiting work in the Tamworth Textile Triennial next year. I also have a couple of solo exhibitions coming up, as well as some group shows on the horizon. And I’m dabbling in teaching some workshops. In the future, I’d love to undertake an overseas residency. What makes you laugh? ‘90s sitcoms – particularly Seinfeld. What pisses you off? People who underline in pen in library books. What about the local scene would you change? I can’t think of anything that I’d change – except more funding for art schools! Upcoming exhibitions? I’ll be having an open studio on Saturday September 21, as part of Bloom Festival at Gorman House Arts Centre – I’ll be working in my studio between 10am and 2pm, with a little pop-up exhibition on display as well. I’ll also be showing some work in an upcoming exhibition at Photospace Gallery, ANU School of Art, together with the other five 2013 Canberra Contemporary Art Space Residents. Opening at 6pm on Thursday October 17, it’s sure to be a diverse and intriguing show! Contact Info: jemima_parker@hotmail.com; jemimaparker.com; facebook.com/jemimaparker.artist.

LITERATURE IN REVIEW An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientist Richard Dawkins [Ecco Press; 2013]

The nature of a memoir makes it impossible to separate the reading of it from the retst of the writer’s life and work, so I suppose I’d best be upfront: I find Richard Dawkins unbearably smug and nasty, and was certainly prepared to dislike An Appetite for Wonder purely on that basis. It covers event from Dawkins’ birth in 1941 to the 1976 publication of The Selfish Gene, the book which made him famous and resulted in the coining of the term ‘meme’, but stops well before The God Delusion, which catapulted him to cult-like status as the divisive figurehead of a growing atheist movement. Surprisingly, the first half of the book is rather charming. Setting aside the dull opener on Dawkins’ ancestry, his retelling of his early years with his parents in Africa is sweet and deftly told. Intercut with a few too many remembered poems and songs, as well as long excerpts from his mother’s journals, Dawkins’ childhood recollections paint a picture of an unremarkable child in a remarkable setting. Neither particularly studious nor athletic, with a knack for music but lacking the discipline to develop it, he’s a better storyteller than character, and his descriptions of the idylls of his childhood are richly textured and lovely. When the setting shifts to the English boarding schools Dawkins attended in the ‘50s, the tone shifts as well, becoming more critical and reflective, as he shows open bafflement at the behaviour of his teenage self. It also touches on the unsettling undercurrent of the school system of the time: as a pretty young boy, Dawkins had to fend off the ‘extremely disagreeable’ advances of older, stronger students and teachers, and saw nothing unusual or remarkable about it. Despite his indifference as a student, Dawkins scraped into Oxford, and the book suddenly becomes stunningly dull and extraordinarily impersonal. Rather than a memoir, the latter half of An Appetite for Wonder reads like a braggish listing of accomplishments – authored this paper, conducted this study, keynoted this conference, took this professorship. His wife, co-author of many of his papers, gets scarcely a mention, but he devotes a whole chapter to a study he did on birds pecking at pictures, and another to an early programming language he wrote apparently solely to make fun of literary scholarship. It’s dense and boring: the sort of thing I’m sure would be interesting if one had wanted to read a book on animal behaviour, but bafflingly out of place in an autobiography. By the time we reach the publication of The Selfish Gene, Dawkins is reduced to explaining whole paragraphs from that book, patting himself on the back for being very clever, and I am reminded over again of why I find him so unbearable. emma grist

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A R T | C O M E DY | D A N C E | L I T E R AT U R E | T H E AT R E

IN REVIEW Arj Barker – Go Time Canberra Theatre Saturday August 31

Arj Barker wasted no time delivering on the promise of his new show. The comedian ‘clicked off’ the show, literally, with a song and dance number. Why? Because it’s go time! Barker hilariously blended observational humour with small bites of his own ‘go time’ life philosophy that not only entertained the packed crowd at the Canberra Theatre, but managed to inspire. Of course, the show never strayed too close to motivational speaker territory, there were plenty of silly gags to make sure laughter reigned supreme, and Barker was the king. Barker found the funny in mundane situations, such as his experience getting laser eye surgery, encounters with wildlife in Australia, and a genius bit about ordering hot spring rolls at a Chinese restaurant that had the audience in hysterics. There were excellent Breaking Bad impersonations, as well as a series of catchphrases Barker was trying to use to fill a gap in the comedy market, such as ‘Why don’t you build a pyramid … and get to the point!’ I know, I know. These slogans sound lame reconstituted on paper, but Barker weaved them into his show to like a pro to maximum comedic effect.

was reduced to wild giggling once more. It’s a tough balancing act that Barker pulled off with ease, despite a few awkward moments when he tried to prove his local knowledge of Canberra with outdated Fyshwick quips, vague mentions of landmarks, and the usual touring comedian claim, ‘I really love this town’. Spending time with Barker was like being in the company of a hilarious Buddha who doles out wisdom and witticisms in equal measure. Pray to the comedy Gods he returns again soon. cameron williams

Sometimes Barker wasn’t afraid to walk the tightrope with darker humour, as he mused on the plight of unhappy workers in the Apple factory, saying that their sadness was worth it for an iPhone. Barker’s deadpan delivery ensured that each joke, no matter how bleak, was dripping with irony. Barker continually brought the topics back to the theme of the show by theorising about the concept of a ‘job’ and focusing on completing a task rather than allowing monotony for the sake of employment. These theories evolved into a big speech about the eventual death of the sun and the fate of the universe, which exemplified the power of living in the moment. Barker kept the crowd laughing, but underneath the mirth was a sweet nudge toward following happiness in the short time we have on Earth. I often wondered if Barker was suddenly going to try and sell an eight-disc self-improvement DVD set, but before he could get too profound with ideas, he was quick to admit that he ‘secretly enjoyed getting diarrhea’ and the horde

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IN REVIEW

In conversation with In Canberra Tonight Special Election Special Old Parliament House Tuesday September 3 From a wild and salacious affair between Hey Hey It’s Saturday and Adam Hills Tonight, a love child called In Canberra Tonight was born. The fifth outing of this labour of love variety show turned its attentions to the federal election; a stellar line-up of acts alternately tapped into, fed, and alleviated the weary cynicism palatable in the audience. Toeing the line dangerously between selfindulgent shambles and endearing mess, ICT errs just on the side of the latter by embracing a spirit of solidarity and genuinely heartfelt disillusionment rather than sarcastic detachment. The structure of this special edition ICT didn’t alter drastically from the norm, despite its new location; host (and co-creator) Chris Endrey led a two-hour show of interviews, sketches, and musical performance, shifting from the serious and hard-hitting to the purely entertaining.

A unique feature of ICT is its fascinatingly diverse array of speakers and performers, brought together under the banner of each week’s overarching theme. Accompanying ICT regulars Pablo Latona and co-creator Meg O’Connell were: poet Omar Musa, who delivered two insightful pieces; SBS World News Australia chief political correspondent Karen Middleton, who recounted her memories as a cadet journalist in Old Parliament House; Dr Steve Hatfield-Dodds, a philosopher who discussed his frustration at politicians’ refusal to commit to definitive climate change goals; well-known local musician Hannah Beasley; virtuoso pianist Adam Cooke, who captivated the audience with a recital of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C# minor, and Dr Philip Nitschke, who discussed his reasons for forming the Voluntary Euthanasia Party. Endrey’s affable hosting style and sharp wit were matched by his charismatic guests. In what seems to be a recurring trend, the high-calibre guests took it upon mostly themselves to articulate in-depth their fascinating stories and perspectives when the interview questions fell just short of probing, due to both time constraints and Endrey’s own easy-going nature. Admirable in particular, however, was the way in which each guest was engaged; Chris Bucknell from the Bullet Train for Australia party led the Bullet Train Game, in which he suggested how a bullet train could fix a series of crowdsourced problems. The insightful interviews with Crikey cartoonist First Dog on the Moon and The Canberra Times cartoonist David Pope ended with a hilarious flash cartoon-off. Such performative, pertinent, and engaging touches ensured that no two segments were alike, each as fleeting and immediate an experience as possible. With In Canberra Tonight, creators Endrey and O’Connell have tapped an endearingly, masterful, and completely daggy fashion into Canberra’s unique communal spirit, producing a weird and wonderful show. This terrific endeavour is sure to continue growing its devoted fan base as more and more people are swept away by its charm.

alice McSHANE

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Image credit: Adam Thomas

A R T | C O M E DY | D A N C E | L I T E R AT U R E | T H E AT R E

Christ on a bike! Is it not abundantly obvious to all that this country is in crying need of a military dictatorship? ! Having been plunged into the midst of your seemingly unending election campaign, I am of the singular opinion that, given the merits of the respective candidates and the chronic shortage of moral discipline among the masses, a ruthless military dictatorship of indeterminate length is the only reasonable course of action open to you. Unfortunately, due to the paradoxically tireless nature of Mr Ashley Thomson’s crippling lethargy, this missive will not be published until after the result of your election is known. However, regardless of the result, I feel I can confidently predict a few things. The victor will be in equal measure revered and reviled. They will be utterly devoid of charm. Having been elected largely on a cult of personality, it is that very personality which will necessitate a shortlived premiership. They will lack the moral grit to take exclusive control of the military in order to wage the necessary war upon the unemployed. Their staggeringly inadequate leadership will be matched only by that of Mr Ashley Thomson. I half expect to be offered a Minister’s portfolio by whomever should triumph, and as a socially savvy individual, it is clear to me that what this pubescent nation requires is the immediate formation of the Ministry for Thrashing and Unswerving Bigotry. You see, I have dabbled in politics myself, successfully addressing two troublesome social issues – both the bedraggled environment and overpopulation of London’s dockyards – by successfully reframing the legal definition of ‘murder’ as ‘refuse collection’ when applied to the underclass.

Clothes speak volumes, and gym gear in public says, ‘I don’t care; comfort is more important than looking polished.’ This is totally cool for everyday life, though you might think twice in a board meeting. Of course, that ‘careless’ message is only true if your gym wear is a stained tee and ancient school shorts. What those sleek yoga pants and super-soft hoodies say is, ‘I’m so rich I don’t wear a suit, and so confident in my body I don’t need a tailored waist. These things make my butt look amazing, and I’m probably on my way to a massage.’ If you wear yoga pants like that into a board meeting, you probably own the company. Now that those smoothly non-chafe, high-tech ‘breathable’ (since when could clothes breathe?) racerback singlets can cost more than an interstate flight, we should stop calling gym-wear ‘sloppy’. It’s not sloppy. It’s a slippery slope to a gold-plated bilingual sweatband with a heart-rate monitor in it. Welcome to now. Functionality is the bare minimum we ask of our clothes. You want functionality, body confidence, and something you can wear to the supermarket after. Shorts and a ratty tee-shirt might be the more sensible option, but there’s no way I’m going anywhere in anything that doesn’t cover my knees. (My mum always used to apologise to me for my inherited lumpy knees, and now I have mild paranoia about an area of my body that, as far as I can tell, literally nobody ever notices ever.) alice fraser - You can follow Sydney-based writer/comedian Alice Fraser on Twitter at @aliterative and find out more about her at alicecomedyfraser.com.

I therefore know what I am talking about when I say it is only by the employment of a hopelessly out-of-touch, ageing, jingoistic Army General as your Prime Minister, that you as a nation will successfully charter these choppy waters of adolescence, lest you descend into the liberal cesspit of juvenile delinquency. An alarmingly detached, borderline insane chauvinist would be the preference, as I sense that you are already some way down the treacherous path of laissez-faire inertia. The most obvious sign of your current course would be the loathsome reliance upon polling. That the wider public should persist under the misapprehension that their governance be anything to do with them is bad enough, but for your craven political ‘leaders’ to pander to these polls as if they granted coveted access to the most exclusive corners of a Gentleman’s Club renowned for its barely-tolerable sexual deviancy is itself abhorrent. The infatuation with ‘preferences’ also serves as testament to the undermining of required rule. ‘Preferred Prime Minister’, ‘two-party preferred vote’, ‘my second preference’ … When will all those of negligible wealth, who cannot even claim to have inappropriately touched a cousin, acknowledge that their preference is immaterial? Important matters which determine your day-to-day living standards, as well as your standing in the international community, are best navigated via the hallucinatory detachment of a fusty old nobleman. Preferably one who wields a frankly irresponsible degree of firepower. gideon foxington-smythe

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bit PARTS ANIMA WHAT: Group Exhibition WHEN: Sat–Sun Sep 7–29 WHERE: Tuggeranong Arts Centre Art by Harriet Schwarzrock

Local artists Linda Davy, Mariana del Castillo, Rebecca Hadley, Tanya Myshkin, Luna Ryan, and Harriet Schwarzrock are putting on a group exhibition where they explore Jung’s term for the feminine archetype – Anima. Looking at the concepts of character, intellect, memory, and consciousness in each of their mediums, the exhibition will include glass, sculpture and assemblage, and drawings and etchings. Schwarzrock says, ‘I am interested in addressing a sense of tenuous balance, of stillness and of tension.’ Tue–Sun, 10am–3pm (weekdays) and 10am–4pm (weekends). See tuggeranongarts.com for more info. COLLECTOR KEEPER FINDER SEEKER WHAT: Mixed Media Exhibition: WHEN: Mon–Fri Sep 9–20 WHERE: Photospace Gallery, ANU School of Art

Art by Naomi Xeros

Collector Keeper Finder Seeker is a group mixed media exhibition, and features new work from Oscar Capezio, Heather Corrigan, Grace Cramer, Andy Mullens, Chris Sutevski, and Naomi Xeros. Focusing on time, its passing, and the expression and impression of meaning, CKFS searches for answers within the nature of memorable encounters and objects. By taking something from context to context, the artworks attempt to understand through appropriation, documentation, and preservation. Engaging with the past and present, this exhibition that approaches art from a fresh perspective. Opening is Wed Sep 11, 6pm. MINING THE TRUTH WHAT: Canberra Documentary Premiere WHEN: Thu Sep 12 WHERE: Palace Electric Cinemas Mining the Truth is a documentary centred around untold stories of the fossil fuel mining boom, presenting tales from doctors, students, campaigners, and academics. The Canberra premiere will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Peter Martin from the Southern Highlands Coal Action Group, Matt Grudnoff from the Australia Institute, Peter Tait from the Climate and Health Alliance, and students in the film. Laura Hogan, a student participant, says, ‘Those who work in the mines are people too.’ The film starts at 6:30pm. Tickets are $5-10 through trybooking.com/DLQW. WONDERLAND WHAT: Stage Show WHEN: Tue–Sat Sep 24–28 WHERE: Belconnen Community Theatre

Art by Andrew Grenfell

Wonderland is a stage show that explores issues of love, possession, youth, and innocence, through the ups and downs of a young relationship. Playwright Alexandra Howard says, ‘Wonderland offers a realistic reflection placed in a fantastical setting of how we are raised to view relationships and how that expectation can sometimes exceed reality.’ Additionally, there is a free exhibition showcasing the art in Wonderland (by Andrew Grenfell). The exhibition is on Tue Sep 10, 7pm, at Belconnen Theatre, and is free. Tickets to the show are $30–$45 through lexxproductions.com.au.

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the word on albums A record that focuses on a particular time runs the risk of being too bogged in the era, but the brilliance of The Silver Gymnasium is that the references are hazily peripheral. The sounds are reminiscent to me of the ‘80s, but not clearly. Like the narratives within, the record sounds like a memory of a time just out of focus. The saxophone and synths are period correct (and invite Springsteen comparisons, which is no bad thing at all), and the white soul of your Style Councils is there in the background. But it’s not explicit, and it makes the trip so much more evocative.

album of the issue okkervil river the silver gymnasium [ato] So there’s nostalgia, and then there’s nostalgia. It’s the issue of our age, that weirdly numbing feeling that everything was better sometime before, with the technologies of the moment allowing us to archive our lives as we live them (and possibly spend more time watching the footage than paying attention in the first place). In music, everything old is indeed new, and new bands struggle to get clear air amongst the onslaught of old bands reuniting. Eras are ignored and then deified. It feels like we’ve been in a feedback loop for a while now. Okkervil River was a band I was mildly obsessed with in the mid-‘00s. They were a strange combination of low-key Americana and shouty dramatics, responsible for two classic LPs and a clutch of EPs that revolved around singer Will Sheff’s peerless ability to squeeze a million words into space normally fit for five. Then key foil Jonathon Meiburg left to focus on his other band Shearwater, and the last two Okkervil records sagged. After their peak around Black Sheep Boy and The Stage Names, many listeners left the tent with me. Their new album is something of a concept set, a quirk Sheff is fond of. This time, we have an album focused on Sheff’s youth in the small but leafy and semi-prosperous New Hampshire town where he grew up. It’s a record set in the 1980s and now, juggling memory and reality. A nostalgia fest, but a very personal one. And it’s excellent. Opening track It Was My Season is a snatch of ‘60s soul played with the ragged charm the band could toss off with ease at their peak, and across the next 11 tracks the quality doesn’t wane. Cleverly, Sheff has invited Meiberg back to offer guest vocals. But Sheff is very much the star of this show.

The emotional centrepiece of the LP is most probably Down Down the Deep River, a six-plus minute trip to 1989, where we get a clear picture of Sheff age ten. Imagine a weedy, wordy kid, feeling everything that little bit too much. Probably the most annoying kid in town, but prodigious, destined maybe to be the super-smart burnout in an open plan office, or a sad drug casualty, or maybe (just maybe) some kind of star. This song is indebted to the rush of the most aspirational Springsteen, but in place of great ripped rocker is this foureyed Tolkien nerd, looking for a story behind a story. And it’s magnificent. As a tune and an evocation of both an era and of that time in a boy’s life where things start to feel important, it is a towering, splendid thing. It’s not the only classic amongst this set – Stay Young is a brilliant slice of ‘80s cheese, without being studious enough to remain cheesy. White and Lido Pier Suicide Car both threaten to come off half-baked before cracking into action midway through, opening the curtains onto the kind of drama Okkervil River have always been able to summon at the strike of a snare. They’re both thrilling tunes. The link between TV Colours’ album and this might not be obvious, but both trade in ideas of a remembered era. What’s interesting is that for TV Colours, it’s remembered via cultural works, not first hand – YouTube clips of fuzzy taped television, re-runs of John Hughes films. For Sheff, it’s remembered from real life, and is therefore a whole lot less precise. TV Colours channel the time through a modern lens expertly. Okkervil River do so through the fog of remembering. Something that works very much in their favour is Okkervil River’s sonic shagginess. This record would be boring if its recollection of the 1980s was too precise. Their unkempt charm serves the material well. I’ve no idea how to describe them as a band on this set – there’s an Americana influence via Wilco, and perhaps some classic folk shapes too. But these are pop songs, really, played mostly with guitars, keys, and drums. Though there’s a lot of sound, the sonics are simple and direct. The band sounds like its own invention. It’s refreshing. Now, I’m about the same age as Sheff, and this review may well be slanted to my shared memories of scratchy VHS tapes and the thrill of capturing a song off the radio on a C60 cassette. Maybe I’m too close to the target and you’ll have a different experience. I’m interested to know, actually, as this record hits home in a very direct way. For this reviewer, it’s a very welcome retelling of stories both personal and universal. With any luck, this record will reclaim lost fans and win a bunch more. GLEN MARTIN

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little mac & the monster men monster stomp [independent]

no age an object [sub pop]

invsn invsn [razor & tie]

You’ve got to love a band whose members include ‘Nutbag’ and ‘The Spook’. Meet locals Little Mac & the Monster Men, who were the surprise find of the night when they supported The Resignators at Transit in April. Forming in 2011, LMMM’s Monster Stomp is their debut EP, with songs in traditional rock ‘n’ roll style, souped up with a dash of punk and swampy blues.

Since they first formed back in 2005, Los Angeles-based noise-rock duo No Age have built themselves a substantial fanbase by virtue of a heavy live touring schedule, though design commissions from skateboard companies and multimedia appearances alongside Chloë Sevigny haven’t hurt their cause any. They’ve also become known for their firm anti-corporate stance, a position that extends to this fourth album An Object, which saw drummer and vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall personally printing, packaging, and shipping the first 10,000 copies themselves.

Breathtaking. Just utterly breathtaking. That’s the only word I can think of that adequately describes this superb album, the latest to emerge from the febrile musical imagination of Sweden’s Dennis Lyxzén.

Apart from rockabilly covers, LMMM specialises in original songs in the vein of such classics of the ‘50s and ‘60s as The Monster Mash and Purple People Eater. The opener I’m Gonna Cast a Spell shows the full-bodied, throaty side of vocalist Susan Mackell and the electrifying guitar of Alex Plegt. It’s a song made for swing dancing (for the accomplished) or just plain body shaking (for those with trouble telling their left foot from their right). There’s plenty of quirky humour in psychobilly songs such as I’m in Love with Dr Frankenstein, with lyrics like, ‘I lay on the slab and he started to like me’. James Newhouse maintains a smooth rhythm line on the double bass in a cover of Stormy Gayle’s Flipsville, and tribal drumming from Nathan Danks launches a cover of the Charlie Feathers song Jungle Fever. Highlights include the band’s signature tune Monster Stomp, a real hip-twister that comes complete with wolfman howl, and the fast and bouncy Attack of the 5ft Woman. The EP is chock-full of hot licks and the satisfying rumble of the double bass. LMMM have made their mark with song themes from the limited scope of vintage horror films. The challenge now will be to broaden their range of material. rory McCARTNEY

Coming off the back of two years of solid touring, upon first listening not too much seems to have changed stylistically in the No Age camp since 2010’s Everything In Between, with the duo further honing their approach more than anything else. Opening track No Ground sees Spunt and Randall forging the sort of straight-ahead, thundering fuzzed-out noise-punk that’s pretty much become their hallmark by now. Elsewhere, I Won’t Be Your Generator fuses a bassline that’s a close cousin to Joy Division’s Transmission, with the sorts of jangly guitar scrapes and artfully lazy vocals you’d expect from one of Sonic Youth’s poppier moments. It’s precisely at this moment, though, that some of the cracks start to appear. Spunt’s often thin and off-key vocals simply haven’t got the sense of presence and charisma to make more than a few songs here really memorable, and there’s a nagging sense that the duo are simply tracing out the same ground repeatedly. A pity, as atypical moments here such as closing track Commence, Commence, Commence’s compelling slide into drone-y ambience tease at some of the opportunities perhaps missed. chris downton

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You’ll remember Lyxzén, of course, through his work with punk legends Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy, two acts rightly regarded as legends in their own right. With INVSN, Lyxzén eases off the piss and vinegar a little to create a frankly superb album that takes all of its clues from ‘80s US and British new wave acts like Berlin, Animotion, Device and, um, A Flock of Seagulls, to create an absolute masterpiece of sonic nostalgia. I’m using the word nostalgia absolutely in a non-pejorative fashion, of course, but you have a listen to storming opening track #61 and tell me it’s not the music that played over the closing credits of a long-lost Molly Ringwald film (the name of which just escapes you) and tell me I’m wrong. You won’t be able to. Tracks like Down in the Shadows ram home this mental picture you’ll have formed after that opening track. It’s all jangly guitars, trebly bass, and hair-raising synth washes – an absolutely authentic stab at the sort of music we used to put on in 1985 at parties when trying to get off with goth girls. Whilst the trembling The Promise brings to mind acts like The Cure and Furniture, such is the back-combed, trench-coated grandeur of its construction. Dennis Lyxzén cements his reputation as a Midas-touched maverick with this album. As unlikely as it seems given his former bands, he’s come up here with an unqualified success of an album. scott adams

album in focus

dog trumpet medicated spirits [orange lounge] Every now and then a song will stop you dead in your tracks; Shiny Armour, squirreled away towards the end of Dog Trumpet’s sixth release, is one of those songs. A simple chord progression backed with weeping slide guitar gives way to a slow waltz. It’s the story of a man returning from distant battles only to find his girl couldn’t wait, and went off with someone else. There’s nothing too tricky going on, it’s just a brilliantly composed pop song with delicate, yearning melodies of loneliness that slip away far too soon. Dog Trumpet started as a low-key side project for brothers Reg Mombassa (Chris O’Doherty) and Pete O’Doherty in 1990 when their main band – Mental as Anything – went on a short hiatus. A decade later, they’d both left the Mentals and the side project was now the main band. Both have enormously successful artist day jobs, so Dog Trumpet albums arrive unhurried and unburdened by any need to prove anything. As such, Medicated Spirits sounds like it could have been released any time over the last 30 years, and even though it skips all over the genre map, it is a rarity – a double album with no filler. Part of it is simple mechanics; the album is bookended by a pair of lush instrumentals. It starts joyously with Elizabethan which sounds like Richard Thompson slowing down just a tiny bit and forgoing the complicated chords. Over an hour later it closes with Aqualine, a tumbling slide guitar-infused

prog-pop nugget. Though not exactly an exclamation mark, there’s an air of satisfied conclusion about it, knowing full well the circle has been completed. Of course, if you choose to pick and choose album tracks, you might notice Medicated Spirits resembles a cult radio station playing vaguely familiar but totally unknown gems. There’s languid scuzzed-up summer pop (Speed of Light), light and fresh bucolic psych (Moon and Star), off-kilter folk (Tell Me), and light country (Telegraph Pole, With Good Reason). Oddly, the only song that really sounds explicitly like their previous band – the chugging Camel Rock – was written and sung by Bernie Hayes. The common denominator throughout it all, regardless of overt musical styling, is that every track brims with classic power pop melodies and offbeat tweaks. Then there’s Reg Mombassa’s elegiac slide playing, which can rattle between heartbreaking – as above, Shiny Armour – and driving blues (Penal Colony). Without a doubt, one of the most underrated guitarists in the country. Lyrically, the O’Doherty brothers aren’t exactly strangers to quirk. But don’t make the mistake that many have before of assuming that clever puns and cunning rhymes aren’t masking anything deeper, that it’s just funny imagery. Even an overtly politically themed songs like With Good Reason, full of modern anxieties (war, climate change, imperialism) can sound like a breezy Saturday afternoon amble. Medicated Spirits is eclectic, but often that word is proxy for occasional good ideas buried amongst barely refined demos and a scattershot approach to songwriting that is jarring. But this sort of eclecticism is a pair of seasoned songwriters fashioning a bunch of songs cut from the same cloth, that still manage to sound completely different. It’s also an album of confident relaxation, stretching out with friends (Amanda Brown, Iain Shedden, Bernie Hayes) and family (Declan O’Doherty) but not wasting anyone’s time. Amazingly, in 2013 Dog Trumpet has released an industrydefying double album of fully realised and outrageously catchy songs, that stakes a serious claim for the year’s best. It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of musicians. JUSTIN HOOK

soda eaves like drapes either side [Brierfield Flood Press] Like Drapes Either Side is Melbourne-based poet and musician Jake Core’s first foray into (primarily) solo singing and songwriting – an effort to pinpoint and capture a sense of quiet, suburban nostalgia through sparse, lo-fi folk. Languid instrumental No One Else is an effective introduction to Core’s ideal: as he sets thin strands of slowlypicked guitar among rustling, ambient noise, the effect is both quiet and melodic, and strongly reminiscent of the rough, clattering lushness of a stripped-back Dirty Three track. As song structure goes, Like Drapes Either Side is largely unambitious; Core presents conventional folk-pop songs wrapped in his own specific lo-fi aesthetic. Through tasteful selection of texture – enveloping his simple songwriting ideas and stories in a wash of fuzzy, crackling ambient sound here, or in gentle, hazy distortion there – Core deepens and sets apart tracks that could have landed as pleasant, middleof-the-road, and immediately forgettable. Flowers of Evil presents the biggest sound on the album, a solid verse-chorus-verse effort that well exemplifies Core’s ability to work within convention in creating standalone, catchy indie-folk. Interlude A Hundred Years to the Day sets a recorded, spoken-word tale of stolen life against a background of simple guitar, sparse strings, and ambient noise. The echoed backing creates a sense of chilling, vast open space that complements the unsettling storytelling perfectly, creating a strange, unique, and chilling highlight near the album’s close. Together, these tracks exhibit Core’s pleasing and genuine range. Ultimately, the lo-fi aesthetic comes across as a deliberate artistic choice wielded well – one that lifts the album from a competent singer-songwriter exercise into something much more nostalgic, melancholic, and meaningful. david smith

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james iha look to the sky [Stop Start/The End Records]

onslaught vi [afm records]

pikelet calluses [chapter music]

Anyone familiar with the few b-sides he managed to craft in between Billy Corgan’s creative stranglehold already knows that James Iha was the gentle, melodic, and restrained force lurking beneath The Smashing Pumpkins’ bluster. Indeed, it was no real surprise that when his 1998 solo debut album Let It Come Down finally emerged, the territory being explored was acoustic and gentle in nature, with almost wide-eyed pop vocals and nary a fuzzbox in sight. What’s curious is that it’s taken Iha 15 years to finally get around to recording a follow-up (stints with A Perfect Circle and his own Tinted Windows notwithstanding), as this second album, Look To The Sky, pretty much picks up straight from where that preceding collection left off.

Impossible though it may seem, heavy metal’s unruly son, thrash, turned 30 this year. And while the genre’s ‘big four’ (that’s Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, and Megadeth, if you’re new to this) have largely – with one or two very honourable exceptions – been content to trade on former glories for the second half of that period, there are a lot of very big noises being made in the second and third tiers of the thrash hierarchy.

While Pikelet first came into the world in 2007 as the loop-driven solo project of Melbourne-based artist Evelyn Morris, known for her hardcore drumming in bands like Baseball, 2010’s Australian Music Prize shortlisted Stem album saw the addition of three new members. If anything, in retrospect Stem now feels like something of a transitional collection, with this latest third album Calluses properly capturing the richness of her live band in full flight, who’ve also had the benefit of three years of touring to hone their balance.

There’s a noticeable step up in the production lushness however, and an impressive guest list of collaborators including The Cardigans’ Nina Persson, Sara Quinn, Tom Verlaine, and Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger. Opening track Make Believe offers up a taste of this increased gloss, as close-mic’d acoustic guitar strokes and Iha and Persson’s dewy vocal harmonies float against layers of bleeping electronics and lush synth-strings. First single To Who Knows Where meanwhile is easily the closest thing to a Pumpkins track that Iha’s turned his hand to since leaving that band, its trailing shoegazer guitar hooks and vaguely Peter Hook-esque bassline calling to mind parts of Adore more than anything else. Unfortunately the biggest stumbling block is that Iha isn’t much of a wordsmith, with many of the tracks here starting off promisingly, only to collapse around some truly cringeworthy, even trite, lyrics. This one’s for those with a sweet tooth. chris downton

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One of the scene’s most vibrant ‘lesser known’ contributors are Brits Onslaught, who returned to the fray (don’t they all) in 2004 after an extended hiatus, and are now presenting us with the third album of their second wind, and sixth in all, hence the title. And whilst in their early days it was easy to write the band off as a Brit-lite version of, by turns, Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica, with maturity has come the location of the band’s own voice – and a very strident one it is too. Sure, there’s still an awful lot of Slayer on offer here, particularly in the chunky riffage of longstanding axepert Nige Rockett and his sidekick Andy Rosser-Davies; however, if you stand this up against the last couple of albums delivered by Tom Araya and co., it’s the pupils who now sound like the masters. Tracks such as Slaughterize, Dead Man Walking, and the hilariously heavy 66Fuckin’6 are prime slices of modern thrash, positively dripping hatred and spite from every festering pore. Vocalist Sy Keeler has sensibly dropped from the stratosphere range-wise to deliver a bileful growl, which fits the mood of the music completely, leaving the band sounding as good as they ever have. scott adams

There’s a distinctly greater sense of confidence here than before, which also results in what’s easily the most divergent and exploratory collection that Pikelet have released so far. Particularly noticeable here is the influence of ‘70s cosmic kraut-rock, with spiralling analogue synths occupying the foreground on tracks like opener Electric Gate alongside reverb-heavy pop vocals and angular post-punk drumming. Projections meanwhile manages to merge an almost Italo-disco shimmer with tribal punky drumming and fluid bass runs, before dropping down into a Euro-pop tinged chorus. Forward Motion sees things wandering out into exotic space-rock amidst slow-burning guitars and church organ-styled synth swells. There’s also an added level of darkness here compared to preceding Pikelet records. The slightly menacing Pressure Cooker, which suggests Ladytron produced by Stereolab, hints at this with its bittersweet, ‘These are our darkest days/ we have to use our heads’ chorus hook, while elsewhere, Friends offers up a cautionary tale about keeping your friends in jars that’s easily the most spooky moment here. All up, Calluses is easily Pikelet’s most fully realised album yet amongst an impressive back catalogue. chris downton

album in focus

regurgitator dirty pop fantasy [valve] To call Regurgitator ‘musical chameleons’ seems clichéd these days. But there’s no denying that this, their eighth long-player, marks yet another confident, slick, and hugely enjoyable genre-bending contribution to their increasingly wacky canon. I have always believed the name ‘Regurgitator’ refers to Messrs Yeomans and Ely’s penchant for lovingly consuming the gamut of musical genres and regurgitating them in their own inimitable style, adding a sense of playfulness and knowing humour. Each track is like a love-note to each genre they ape. Although it may often seem mocking, The Gurg rarely mock a style (intro to All Fake Everything excepted) but instead homage with a twist. Hence Song Formerly Known as ! flipping the script on a dance party anthem by ostensibly making the subject about staying at home. And so it is with Dirty Pop Fantasy, a record Quan himself describes as, ‘the band finally and unequivocally disappearing up its own arse.’ By that I assume he means a record that ploughs the depths and scales the heights of all things pop across various ages, and condenses it into 19 tracks across a tight 42 minutes. Throwing a slight curveball, the record opens with Brain Brain, showcasing a brief bout of distortion and machinegun hardcore drumming before melding into first ‘pop’ effort Sine Wave, a dreamy rock track that lives up to its title both through the oscillating guitar line and lyrics, ‘You go up, and then down

… Just trying to figure it out.’ It’s a great choice for the opening track, taking the essence of rock pop by taking a notion and exploring it through lyrics – such as being ‘spun like a record, baby’ – yet choosing something Gurgy like a sine wave. From here the album moves at a lively pace, skipping through the Human League on speed antics of Made to Break, the surf guitars and amusingly deep vocals of Mountains (which wouldn’t feel out of place on a Drums album), and the punk energy of My Little Terrorist. But it’s the titular track and the wonderful Home Alone Stoned that perfectly capture the spirit of this record. The latter is a pure ‘80s ballad dripping in the ethos of the times that will have you perming your hair and singing into the hair brush. And Dirty Pop Fantasy perfectly explains the album’s intentions – a purposeful 4/4 beat, elevating synth stabs, and whispered vocal repeating ‘dirty, pop, fanta-see’ making it the soundtrack to any 3am club dungeon. That it comes as far down as track 11 shows the boys don’t want to give too much away, hoping to sucker you in with some genuinely catchy hooks, riffs, and lines. From here the ‘It’s Pop, Jim, but not as we know it’ ethos gets a thorough workout, with the almost Bieber-esque love ballad Can’t Stop and The Monkees’-esque We Love You, both replete with ironic lyrics and amusing swearing. Also of note are the segue tracks, which round out the record neatly by throwing more genres into the mix. Hong Kong, with its dramatic bubbling synthline, sounds like it could sneak its way into a Daft Punk single; the wonderfully titled Dolphin Chakra Alignment briefly whisks one away to a day spa, and March of Thor smacks of War of the Worlds. Whilst Fantasyland ends the energetic record on a bit of a dour tone, as soon as the final note rings out you soon realise how entertaining the album, with an instant hit of the replay button warranted.

big star nothing can hurt me [Omnivore Recordings] Difficulties arise when thinking of anyone in popular music that combined harmonysaturated pop music with the soulful fire of southern American rock ‘n’ roll as effectively as Memphis group Big Star – a group that released three album masterpieces in the 1970s before basically fading from popular consciousness. The inability to connect with a mass audience despite the greatness of the music makes for a sad story laid out in a forthcoming documentary, to which this album compilation is the accompanying soundtrack. It makes for a concise, nonchronological survey of the band’s small, yet essential, body of work, containing recent remixes, demos, and the highly emotive Chris Bell solo track I Am the Cosmos. When listening to this music in 2013, it is bewildering that Big Star did not live up to its name – to become one of the most successful bands of all time. The melodies are sublime and seep into the skin; the guitars have just the right amount of grit, and as time went on and Big Star songwriter and vocalist Alex Chilton became increasingly frustrated with mainstream entertainment, the music began to mutate and develop a life of its own.

This is Regurgitator’s most enjoyable record since Unit. Everything about the band – from their hilarious press shots to the quirky album art – reeks of fun, subversiveness, and wit, but they match this with an assured execution and a knowledge of music that seems effortless. Long live The Gurg.

Everything on this collection is great, including the unpolished demos of early material that would turn up on first album #1 Record (1972) – that also featured pristine harmonies on My Life Is Right and all-out rock ‘n’ roller Don’t Lie to Me. And what about the strangely atmospheric pieces Holocaust and Big Black Car from the third Big Star album Sister/Lovers (1978)? This collection finishes with September Gurls from Radio City (1974) – a slice of pop music perfection more heavenly than anything else on regular rotation.

ALLAN SKO

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bastian’s happy flight heart/works ep [independent]

bell weather department bell weather department [mgm]

london grammar if you wait [Dew Process/Universal]

Of Heart/Works, the EP promo states: ‘What to do when life throws you lemons? Drown the misery in saccharine pop.’ True to this sentiment, the EP from musically astute Western Australians Bastian’s Happy Flight plays out pretty much as labelled, handing out generous, honeyed slices of catchy ‘80s pop with a self-aware, yet unabashed and heart-on-sleeve delivery.

Since they first formed back at the start of 2010, Sydney-based six-piece band Bell Weather Department have spent the past three years building up their skills in the live domain, with support slots to the likes of Boy & Bear and DZ Deathrays. Three years on from their debut EP, this self-titled album sees them going firmly for a lush and distinctly maximalist sound that highlights the benefits of their extended line-up, with skyscraping guitars and vocal hooks being fused to leftfield electronics and dense layers of keyboards. It’s certainly an ambitious first outing that bears the influence of UK rock more than anything else, with Radiohead in particular repeatedly rearing their heads as a touchstone.

UK art-rock three-piece London Grammar has its genesis in a chance encounter at Nottingham University. Hot on the heels of their first EP Metal and Dust, which did well with Australian iTunes followers on its release just last February, comes a debut LP.

To begin with the exception: the dark, echoed slam of the rhythm section, and wry spoken word verse (‘I don’t like saying things twice/ I don’t like saying things twice’) of second track Vodka Ginger leans toward the sardonic, Ariel Pink-esque side of referential ‘80s pop. While not a bad track, in the context of the easy melodic flow of the rest of the album, the lack of melodic progression feels obtrusive, and a bit stilted. Looking past that, happy highlights abound: Relationshipdenial is a simple, sweet reflection on being happy and letting go (‘Relationship denial/ You’ve fallen in love so be happy for a while’). Carried to climax on an irresistibly catchy and upbeat synth riff, the song feels like the simplest, best, and most natural realisation of the sincere pop indulgence the band seeks to create. The anthemic Hooray is slower and more straight-faced, yet it sees the band selling arena-sized guitar riffs like it’s the easiest thing in the world. The combination is impressive, and the track proves an apt closer. In the year 2013, there’s a certain level of respect to be afforded to a band that affixes the label ‘disco’ to itself and pulls it off with sincerity – and of this, Bastian’s Happy Flight have proved themselves worthy. Read the label, know you’re getting exactly what you expect, and there is little chance of disappointment here.

That said, if the nods to Thom and co. are occasionally obvious here (see the otherwise Beatles-esque End Of The Yellow Brick Road’s ascending bassline), it’s the overriding sense of confidence and overall ‘big is better’ approach that most impresses here. The moody Hole in the Sky manages to inject a punk-funk drum shuffle into its wall of howling guitars and twinkling electronics, alongside frontman Jacob Moore’s multi-tracked vocals, in a manner that would give the likes of The Temper Trap a good run for their money. Elsewhere, the wiry guitar-driven rush of The Pursuit of Blue and Receivers’ wander out into strummed acoustic guitars, massed backing vocals, and twinkling keys sees Bell Weather Department channelling a vibe that feels closer to latter-day U2 more than anything else, with mostly fruitful results. While not everything here hits home, it’s refreshing to see an (almost local) independent band thinking so big, and mostly pulling it off. chris downton

The most striking aspect of the record is the voice of Hannah Reid. With the power of Florence Welch and a timbre reminiscent of Little Green Cars’ Faye O’Rourke, her outstanding vocal range is fully demonstrated in CD highlight Strong, soaring one moment, rich and deep the next. However, it’s the subtle guitar of Dan Rothman and the keys/percussion of Dot Major which come together with her voice to make London Grammar a remarkable triptych. The opener Hey Now captivates with its electronic flourishes and haunting singing. The music changes hues, flickering and scintillating like an aural aurora. London Grammar used it to launch themselves, posting the song online in December 2012. Being featured in Help Me Lose My Mind on Disclosure’s album Settle did not hurt their public profile either. Predominantly sombre and spectral in its vibe, the album also has soul influences in Stay Awake and glimpses of funk in When We Were Young. In an album full of wonderful tracks, there are several highlights. Nightcall is propelled by Major’s djembe playing, and If You Wait maintains a delicate poise between spaced electric piano notes and a steady keyboard hum. London Grammar makes extensive use of echoes and loops to add layer upon layer to the vocals, always maintaining a balance between vocalist and instruments in an uncluttered musical landscape. This is a remarkable release for a new, young band. rory McCARTNEY

david smith

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the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Balancing sex, and violence, and sexual violence is a difficult art in films – and one that often fails. Where the first Kick-Ass film felt just ultra-violent enough, Kick-Ass 2 feels a bit crass and unnecessary in comparison – especially in an uncomfortable scene that revolves around gang rape. Stoker has both sex and violence in excess, and while sometimes uncomfortable, it never feels out-of-place. Let’s put it down to Park Chan-wook’s direction – brutality seems to be his specialty.

quote of the issue ‘I try to have fun. Otherwise, what’s the point?’ – Colonel Stars and Stripes, on violence (Jim Carrey), Kick-Ass 2

kick-ass 2

blue jasmine

red obsession

The law of diminishing returns is proved to be correct as far as Kick-Ass 2 is concerned, and the sequel falls short of the original in its attempt to blend humour, heart, and violence.

The title of Woody Allen’s new film, Blue Jasmine, is a little deceiving. It should simply be called Acting: The Movie. Incredible performances drive a tale of family, class, and psychosis. A New York socialite, Jasmine (Cate Blanchett), stripped of her wealth, moves to San Francisco to live with her sister (Sally Hawkins) after having a breakdown. There is a difficulty curve portraying characters that represent ‘the one per cent’ and sympathising with their fall from grace. Blanchett wonderfully depicts Jasmine as entitled, vapid, and narcissistic, but watching the character succumb to madness is fascinating.

Despite the fact that its hideous title sounds more like a follow-up to 50 Shades of Grey than a respectable wine documentary, Red Obsession is a must-see for anyone who enjoys a hearty red, or has an interest in economics or an appreciation for interesting documentaries.

Dave Lizewski’s (Aaron TaylorJohnson) alter-ego Kick-Ass has inspired a citywide wave of caped crusaders and masked vigilantes – regular people who have stepped up to become superheroes. Dave wants in, and joins forces with a group led by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). Mindy Macready (Chloë Grace Moretz) – aka Hit Girl – has decided it’s time to try and be a regular teenage girl, a feat she accomplishes with varying degrees of success. But when Chris D’Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) transforms himself into a super villain called The Motherfucker, things get deadly. The problem with Kick-Ass 2 is that we’ve tasted this particular recipe before, but this time it’s reheated and rehashed, and there’s not quite enough bite. The scenes intended for shock factor feel vulgar, and the direction of Jeff Wadlow feels too much like it trying to imitate that of Matthew Vaughn (who directed the original). It’s certainly not the worst superhero movie ever released (hello, Green Hornet exists), and Moretz is still a beacon of hope for child actors everywhere – but Kick-Ass 2 won’t leave you wanting more. That said, there’s probably a third instalment on the way anyway. melissa wellham

Blanchett is only as good as the actors who support her, though, and there’s not a weak link in the chain. Hawkins, Alec Baldwin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bobby Cannavale, Louis C.K., and Peter Sarsgaard fill out a fantastic ensemble who all devour and elevate Allen’s conversational dialogue with ease. Allen expertly navigates the drama through the entitled world of the wealthy and midto-lower class living. There is an excellent parallel between Jasmine and her sister, who are facing similar ordeals, yet coping differently. You can’t help but feel that Allen is pointing out how ill-equipped the upper tiers of society are when faced with responsibility, but regardless of status, the complexities of relationships still flummox the psyche of all the characters. Blue Jasmine does get repetitious, but overall it’s a complex examination of adulthood and mental fortitude. cameron williams

Red Obsession provides a fascinating peek into the Bordeaux wine region and the top chateaux that reside there. The fate of the Bordeaux wine region has, and still does, depend on the rise and fall of the global empires that comprise its market – and post-GFC, China has emerged as Bordeaux’s new hope. Russell Crowe narrates our journey as we learn about the ups and downs of these renowned, quality wine brands (like Château Lafite Rothschild, Château Margaux, and Château Latour), and the boom Bordeaux wine experienced after the unprecedented consecutive top-quality vintages of 2009 and 2010. This well-paced doco also explores the status of Bordeaux wines in China – where collectors buy and hoard bottles of the finest Bordeaux vintages, and brands like Lafite are highly revered and in demand, selling for thousands at auction. Not at all dry or humourless, this engaging film should be considered a triumph – especially since a wine documentary could so easily be an exceedingly dull affair. If you’ve got a bottle (and a bottle opener) handy, crack open some red and enjoy. MEGAN McKEOUGH

@bmamag

stoker

the best offer

A psychological thriller from Korean director Park Chanwook, Stoker uses almost every element thought to make films edgy and noir-esque: violence, incestuous undertones (oh, okay – overtones), sparse dialogue, and retro ‘40s throwback costuming. I may sound facetious, but these elements come together to create a film that is full of sumptuous imagery and mysterious characters. In other words, it’s good.

A vortex of intrigue sucks you into The Best Offer. Writer and director Giuseppe Tornatore pulls off deceit with elegance and style. A prominent art auctioneer, Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush), is tasked with cataloguing the contents of a large mansion that’s owned by a shut-in named Claire (Sylvia Hoeks). Oldman is an absorbing character who finds the company of his possessions more pleasing than people. Enter Claire, who indulges Oldman’s obsessions while finding common ground as someone who has difficulty facing the world. Tornatore does a fantastic job of keeping the plot on a tenterhook as Claire’s frenetic behaviour pushes Oldman away, yet Oldman keeps returning to her manor looking for answers. In this dramatic bliss there is maneuvering that goes on unnoticed, right under your nose, so when it comes time for Tornatore to reveal the film’s big secrets you’ll be kicking yourself for missing the trickery.

After India Stoker’s (Mia Wasikowska) father dies, her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) – who she and her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) have barely ever heard of – mysteriously appears, and decides to stay with them in their family manor. But India is wary, and she soon comes to suspect that this unsettling stranger has ulterior motives. While she is infuriated by his very presence, India also becomes infatuated with her uncle. Stoker is an atmospheric film about family and bloodlines – and how we can rarely escape ourselves. A chilling character study, India’s coming-of-age tale conflates violence and the second most visceral theme in the film: sex. There are a few unexplained potholes, a few inexplicable scenes, and a number of overly contrived visual metaphors (India actually steps out of a saddle shoe and into a faux-crocodile leather heel to demonstrate that she has become a woman) – but these intermittent flaws are easy to forgive when the rest of the film is so interesting to watch. melissa wellham

Tornatore does get exceedingly lenient with the story, as if to delay the film’s final punch for the sake of our attention. Rush is perfectly pretentious, yet earns sympathy in quiet melancholic moments. Hoeks is vulnerable in lots of her scenes, even when she is present only in voice, and there is an alluring fragility when she finally appears. The Best Offer is the cinematic equivalent of quicksand. By the time you realise something is awry, you’ll already be in far too deep. cameron williams

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the word

on games

Payday 2 Platform: PC, PS3, Xbox 360 Developer: Overkill Software Length: 10 hrs+ Verdict: Worth grabbing Payday 2 is the follow up to the surprise hit, Payday: The Heist. The game sees you trying to successfully pull off a bank robbery alongside three fellow robbers. The game manages to orchestrate some truly hair-raising moments, such as when you manage to stealthily get in with your vault-cracking drill, only to wait an agonising three minutes before it breaks through. During this time, you’ll be praying that guard doesn’t round the corner. If that poor bastard does, you try to silently take him out, bag up the body, and hope that no one heard. By contrast, in other scenarios you’ll find yourself brute-forcing the situation, laying waste to anyone who stands in the way of you and the greenback. Regardless of the initial intent, most missions have a tendency of breaking down into all out anarchy, making for a thrilling finish. Although the gameplay is enjoyable, it is, for the most part, a rehash of the first title. This sequel avoids straying too far from what made the first successful. New to the game are four distinct skill sets, equating to the roles of team leader, tech guy, heavy, and stealth guy. In all missions, the four roles (i.e. robbers) are present. As such, this means you’ll either be playing with AI allies, other random players, or your mates. Unfortunately, only under the latter condition does the game work. The AI in the game is pretty woeful. Your computer-controlled allies are unable to perform even the most menial of tasks. They can’t carry bags or do anything but shoot people. Unfortunately, the cops aren’t much better. They typically just rush you from different angles, with little regard for their own self-preservation. The game is also burdened with the odd glitch, such as enemies clipping through walls or being shot off into space.

BLACKBOX After the past couple of seasons filling the telly schedule with sub-standard suburban Australian drama and wall-to-wall reality programming, Prime has just started to get interesting again. Apart from obdocs American Pickers (7Mate, Mon and Wed, 9:30pm) and Hardcore Pawn (7Mate, Wed, 8:30pm), or reruns of Seinfeld (7Mate, Mon–Fri, 6pm), Homicide: Life on the Streets (7Mate, Tue–Fri, 12:30pm), Chez Blackbox gave the whole network a miss. Until now. The comeback started a month ago with the brilliant Mr Selfridge (Prime, Mon, 8:40pm). Part period drama, part history of shopping, with a good helping of scandal and social commentary, wrapped in a well-written (and performed) drama. Alas, Prime has seen fit to gallop through it, airing double episodes for the foreseeable future. Also in the Prime catalogue are two of the most talked-about shows from recent pilot screenings in the US, where they both start in late September – but sadly no firm local air dates as yet. The Black List (Prime, TBC) stars James Spader as a master criminal who surrenders himself to the FBI to help them bring down serious criminals and terrorists. Spader’s character has a Silence of the Lambs-style obsession with a particular detective, and as always Spader plays creepy with aplomb. Also queued up on Prime’s ‘coming soon’ list is Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated superhero franchise Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Prime, TBC). Elsewhere there’s Sleepy Hollow (SCTEN, Tue Sep 17, 9:30pm), a psychological horror featuring time travel and the four horseman of the apocalypse, new drama from Aunty with the brilliantly executed Serangoon Road (ABC1, Sun Sep 22, 8:30pm), a detective story set in 1960s Singapore, a new season of Tractor Monkeys (ABC1, Wed Sep 25, 8pm) which starts with a look at fashion, Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery (ABC1, Wed Sep 25, 9:05pm) where the host walks well-known comedians down memory lane, zombie drama In the Flesh (SBS2, Tue Sep 17, 8:35pm), and Power Games: The PackerMurdoch Story (WIN, Sun, 8:30pm, Go!) has finally gone to air. If you missed the first ep, it’s on repeat (WIN, Fri Sep 13, 10pm and Sat Sep 14, 9:45pm). Docos to look out for include Sunday Best: The Tillman Story (ABC2, Sun Sep 22, 8:30pm), which looks at the circumstances surrounding the death of US Army poster child Pat Tillman, and The Tundra Book (NITV, Mon Sep 16, 8:30pm) which takes a journey through the culture of Russia’s Arctic communities.

Despite its flaws, it hasn’t dampened any of the fun I’ve had with the game. The game demands participation and communication between all parties, as there are many ways to complete objectives. When this collaboration works, it’s a satisfying experience. However, from the few random games I had online, people didn’t work together or communicate, and/or they would simply drop out. Overall, it was a bit of a clusterfuck. The moral of the story is that if you want to play this game, you’re going to need to find at least one friend. By extension, the moral of the game seems to be that crime pays if you have a reliable buddy.

This issue’s movie picks include The Never Ending Story (Go, Fri Sep 20, 7:30pm) for the day-dreamers, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (WIN, Sun Sep 15, 11:35pm) because it’s a classic, and Happy Feet (Go, Sat Sep 21, 6:30pm) – who doesn’t love penguins? There are plenty of other movie choices too, such as Revenge of the Nerds II (Go, Wed Sep 18, 9:30pm) and Kindergarten Cop (Prime, Fri Sep 23, 8:30pm). Elsewhere you’ll find 1962’s Rome Adventure (GEM, Sun Sep 15, 1:30pm), Cliff Richards ‘60s musical-come-comedy Wonderful Life (GEM, Sat Sep 21, 11am), and 1973 police drama Cleopatra Jones (GEM, Sun Sep 22, 1am).

If you enjoy playing other PvE games, such as Left 4 Dead or Killing Floor, but feel like killing cops instead of zombies, then this will be for you. Just make sure you have a few friends.

Don’t miss Tropfest TV (SBS2, Sun, 10pm) but steer clear of The Bachelor Australia (SCTEN, Sun, 7:30pm). At least when it was just a US show it was less embarrassing.

nathan osborne

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyherrernan@bigpond.com @ChezBlackbox

@bmamag

the word on dvds

Southland – The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons [warner home video] There are few shows that gather steam as they progress. Most hit an early peak then struggle to maintain intensity or acclaim. Even The Wire is widely regarded to have suffered a final season drop. Then there’s Southland – one of the strangest outliers in recent TV history. It started on a major network (NBC) before being shunted to a minor cable station (TNT). It was a cop show set in LA that looked like every other cop show (gangs, arrests, sass-mouthed crims, anxious junior beat cops, shaky-cam) but felt completely different … a vibe thing. It paid no attention to trends and its biggest names were some guy from The OC (Ben McKenzie) and journeymen character actors. It was a show that seemed terrified of attention. As time went by it garnered plenty of mentions in end of year Best Ofs, but languished in ratings hell. Unsurprisingly, it was cancelled a few months ago after its fifth season. All that aside, Southland remains defiantly unique and crucial viewing. These two seasons are the show’s best yet. It’s as if the engine (simple plots, great characters, realistic tone) had been built earlier, but needed time to hit peak speed. It’s not that every episode is a bravura performance in crime/ cop television; it’s more that you begin to feel as if you are watching a majestically scripted documentary about people’s lives on LA streets instead of a fictional drama. The fourth season gets noticeably jolted with the entrance of Lucy Liu and Lou Diamond Philips, but it’s a testament to the strength of the existing cast that they are submerged into the existing framework. Southland doesn’t reinvent or even perfect the cop show, but it absolutely refines it by removing itself from grand gestures or aggressive topicality. justin hook

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upper middle bogan [roadshow] There are few things easier, or more repulsive, than sitting in a position of privilege and making fun of ‘the other’. Teasing bogans about the clothes they wear, sure; the cars they drive, seems easy enough. But like all comedy, it’s an art form, and if you get it wrong, like Kath & Kim did, then all you prove is a little bit of lazy cultural tourism can be used for professional gain. Sure, I know they said it was a loving tribute to suburban Australia, but it certainly looked like rank exploitation. It wasn’t funny, satirical, or incisive. It was a grab bag of tired catchphrases and daggy tracksuits. Upper Middle Bogan threatened to tread similar ground – textbook fish out of water stuff – where a snooty, well-educated professional finds out she is adopted and her birth parents are dragracing obsessed, McMansion bogans. The title alone didn’t exactly inspire confidence. But Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope (The Librarians, Very Small Business) are smarter than your average comedy writers, and have created a show that balances mischievous digs at suburbanites and inner-city wankers, creating an uneasy tension all the way. The single major difference in Upper Middle Bogan is that the entire show arrives fully formed. Formulaic characters (the yuppie doctor, the redneck car nut) exhibit a depth not usually seen in local comedies, or dramas for that matter. It effectively wrong-foots the audience – expecting one thing but getting another altogether. Annie Maynard as Bess Denyar is brilliant as the adopted toff doctor finding out well into adulthood her ‘real’ family is a bunch of vulgar oiks, as is Michala Banas as the leading vulgar oik. Beyond that, the entire cast one-up and bounce off each other effortlessly. The real risk is people will overlook this loudly brilliant show because of all that came before and its name association. Best Australian comedy of the year. justin hook

Boardwalk Empire – The Complete Third Season [warner home video] Boardwalk Empire isn’t the most action-packed of shows. There are times when you feel the lavish production design and measured performances are one step away from smothering this costly, highclass Prohibition-era drama into a deep coma. But glacial pacing turned into a hallmark, so entire episodes grinding by isn’t fatal; this a show that really makes you work hard to like it. At the conclusion of the previous season, Nucky Thompson (the ever-weary Steve Buscemi) finally overcame all the simpering and hemming and shot his erstwhile protégé Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) stone cold dead. It was a brutish development that caught many viewers off-guard and introduced a big question that this season could unpack – how would Nucky follow it up? Was he committed or connected enough to rule Atlantic City once again? We’re forced to wait a bit for that, because Nucky is too busy screwing around in New York, dreaming of bacon and accepting fancy awards from the Catholic Church to get anything of real consequence done. Slowly though – Boardwalk Empire is unfamiliar with any other speed – Nucky starts to bring all the pieces together, forging alliances with historical gangsters like Capone, Luciano Torrio, and Lansky. Weaving historical into fictional is one of this show’s strongest assets. It gives it a degree of realworld punch whilst not being bound by the dogma of fact. As before, set and costume design are equal partners. It looks phenomenal, easily the best on TV. If anything, that slow start is a sign of confidence by Terence ‘The Sopranos’ Winter and HBO – a ‘build it and they will come’ ethos. Many have given up altogether, writing it off as a noble failure. Those people are wrong. justin hook

the word

Kira Puru & the Bruise, Post Paint, Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens The Polish White Eagle Club Friday August 23

on gigs

Built around the serious vocal talent of Ms Puru, Kira Puru & the Bruise don’t rely on that talent alone, having crafted some fine songs and a coherent and compelling aesthetic sensibility. Defining exactly what that sensibility is, however, isn’t easy. They describe themselves as ‘doom pop’, which doesn’t quite get it – for a start, they aren’t all that poppy. Perhaps the best parallel to draw would be with Massive Attack: stunning female vocals over ominous and stylish instrumentation, although without the electronic element. The two covers in the set worked extremely well: first, a straightfaced and moody version of Kylie’s classic Confide in Me and later, Portishead’s Wandering Stars – interspersed with fragments of Eminem’s Lose Yourself. Despite the serious and dark mood of the music, Puru & the Bruise somehow managed to get the entire room on their feet – a reflection of The Polish Club crowd’s enthusiasm, both for the music they were hearing and perhaps for live music in general (and honey vodka shots).

PHOTO BY ANNA BOYDELL

the word

on gigs

Kira Puru & the Bruise were supported by fellow Novocastrians Post Paint and locals Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens. Julia and the Deep Sea Sirens did their pleasant gentle folk thing well, although the cover of The Drones’ Shark Fin Blues didn’t quite work. In contrast to Julia et al, whose music is sparse to the point of fragility, Post Paint presented a wall of sound, with layers upon layers of guitar, violin, and sometimes saxophone. They were very, very earnest, but made some interesting sounds and clearly enjoyed collaborating with Kira Puru, with whom they have a joint single this tour – the very catchy Crest of the Wave. AMY DOWLER

The Manhattan Transfer, Leisa Keen Canberra Theatre Wednesday August 28 The Manhattan Transfer first formed in 1969, with only Tim Hauser staying the whole distance. However, their current membership of Hauser, tenor Alan Paul, alto Janis Siegel, and soprano Cheryl Bentyne has been together since 1978. With hits going back this far, it was no surprise that many in the audience were in their late 50s. Canberra School of Music graduate, singer, and music teacher Leisa Keen provided the support, showing she’s handy with the electric piano and possesses a powerful voice with good blues and jazz tones. She confined her repertoire to covers of classics like Georgia on My Mind and The Birth of the Blues. After the interval, The Manhattan Transfer strutted out to the famous ‘Boop bop, boop bop’ opening of Tuxedo Junction. There was a surprise in that Hauser was not in the line-up due to back surgery, but his replacement was the very capable Trist Curless, who showed that he can beat box – 1970s style! Now saying TMT can sing is like saying Mark Webber can change gears – it doesn’t start to do them justice. Apart from swing, jazz, pop, and bebop, they specialise in incredibly fancy vocal deliveries. After dabbling in a little a cappella, they took things up a level to vocalese, a kind of jazz singing where lyrics are sung to the tune from an instrumental piece. TMT rolled out their hits including Java Jive, A-Tisket A-Tasket, and Chanson D’Amour. Highlights included Jeannine, the vocalese masterpiece Birdland, and the piano playing of their musical director Yaron Gershovsky. They only did one encore, but it was very special as they joined up with locals The Idea of North to sing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.

RORY McCARTNEY

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Dead Letter Circus by Anneliese Nappa

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Zierholz @ UC 2013

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The Hello Morning, Lavers The Phoenix Bar Thursday August 29

on gigs

To start this on a personal note, I want to give a quick shout out to the carload of pricks that hurled the egg at me while I was en route (as they say) to The Phoenix. I contemplated returning fire, but the egg didn’t break until it hit the ground and no harm was caused (not sure how you mess that up). So, well done. At The Phoenix, seasoned rockers Lavers were supporting and doing a fine job of warming the place up. Playing an acoustic set, they breezed through a collection of old favourites, before ending with a toe-tapping, hand-clapping medley led by lead singer Dominic Lavers. Close to 11pm, the six besuited members of Melbourne’s The Hello Morning took to the tiny Phoenix stage (as lead singer Steven Clifford would later remark, ‘We’re doing alright fitting up here for six uncoordinated guys.’). The Hello Morning proceeded to shake The Phoenix with their distinct sound – a mix of My Morning Jacket and Neil Young, with a sprinkle of Springsteen, and, somewhere buried in the back, an air of Johnny Cash. For 45 minutes they blasted through songs from their self-titled full-length (including Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You, Drive You Home, Edge of Town, and Without You), as well as the entirety of their new EP Tie That Binds (sans the last track on the EP – a cover of Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash’s Jackson). All said and done, it was a warm night at The Phoenix, and I’m sure of two things. One – if you get the chance to see The Hello Morning, then go. They aren’t to be missed. Two – if you can get your hands on the new EP, then do that too. I doubt you’ll regret it. TIM SAUER

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Canberra Musicians Club Presents... Smith’s Alternative Wednesday September 4

on gigs

This CMC live music night had the theme ‘Positively Discriminating’ (in relation to Tony Abbott’s ‘Sex Appeal’ cock-up), and featured ‘feisty women with sex appeal’. First up was Bubbles & Yeti, and they established a lightheartedness that hung around for the night. They played a song dedicated to Family Guy’s Meg Griffin (and ‘Meg Griffins everywhere’), and later performed a cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. Next was Fiona Bolton. Bolton is a Canberra musician that you HAVE to see. As she moved through Dude, the Collage and Dawson’s Creek Song, I was amazed by how well she used her voice. Imagine the best parts of Regina Spektor and Aimee Mann combined. She also played Honey Child – a beautiful track she wrote for her son. The greatest surprise of the night was Hope Williams. This was her second gig, and unfortunately she only had time for three songs. Williams has one of those voices. She’s Fiona Apple with the laid-back edge of Missy Higgins, and she put on an amazing performance.

PHOTO BY ADAM THOMAS

Jude Kohn was up next with her set of acoustic jazz. It’s clear how rooted in jazz Kohn is. The tone and style of her vocals and the melodies of her guitar just dripped with some sort of 1930’s sound that brought to mind the queens of the time. Last up was No Hausfrau vocalist, Alice Cottee. With her folk-country guitar melodies and honeyed vocals, you feel like you’re actually getting to know her. She started with a cover of Konrad Lenz’s Siamese Twin #2, before playing an original track about her upbringing in Queanbeyan, while bringing to mind songstresses like Suzanne Vega and PJ Harvey. TIM SAUER

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Sep 11 - Fri Sep 13

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday september 11

Art Exhibitions City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am5pm. Free. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Science Fiction

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat). CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

ACCEPA Art Exhibition 2013

Presenting selected works by Chinese artists who live or have lived in Canberra. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry. DRILL HALL GALLERY

Gathered Together

Presents CMAG’s important and growing collection of Indigenous art. 10am-5pm (12-4pm weekends). CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke

Theatre

Karaoke

Home at the End

Karaoke

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Everyman Theatre’s latest work. 2pm/8pm. $35-42.

thursday september 12 Art Exhibitions City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Resident Act Betty

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Science Fiction

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat). CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

ACCEPA Art Exhibition 2013

Presenting selected works by Chinese artists who live or have lived in Canberra. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin

Live Music Mark Moldre

A gun for hire in blues and country. 7:30pm. Door price TBA.

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm.

Twelve Foot Ninja

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

ZIERHOLZ @ UC

ACCEPA Art Exhibition 2013

9:30pm. Free.

Shuriken tour. 8pm. $21.45 + bf thru Oztix.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Beach Slut EP Launch

Presenting selected works by Chinese artists who live or have lived in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

Local punks launch debut EP, with The Fighting League and Sex Noises. 8pm. $5 door. TRANSIT BAR

Sun God Replica

With Time and Weight. 9pm. THE PHOENIX BAR

From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Dance Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra together on stage. 7:30pm, $50-83.

Film Mining The Truth

Doco about 60 young people who went to mining communities. 6:30pm. $5/10.

Presents CMAG’s important and growing collection of Indigenous art. 10am-5pm (12-4pm weekends).

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Gathered Together

Phil Dunn

Gathered Together

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Featuring Ellie. 6:30pm (registration from 6pm).

Smith’s Jazz Jam

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Open Mic Night

From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry.

Something Different

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

CHARLIE BLACK

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Launch of an eight-episode digest of the best of Australian radio. 7pm.

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

9pm-2am. Free entry.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Science Fiction

Project Rameau

Wattleseed Pavlova

Rock Karaoke

OLD CANBERRA INN

City of Trees

Chicago Charles & Dave

With new band Finding Eve. 9pm. Gold coin donation. P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

8pm-midnight. Free entry.

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

Papier-Mache

Presents CMAG’s important and growing collection of Indigenous art. 10am-5pm (12-4pm weekends).

Live local and interstate musicians every Wednesday night. 8pm. Free.

Karaoke at The Inn

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

THE DURHAM

Canberra Musicians Club Presents...

Art Exhibitions

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

DRILL HALL GALLERY

Live Music

With Ka-tere-oke. Win $50 cash and vouchers. 8:30pm.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke

From 10pm. All welcome.

friday september 13

Canberra’s finest young musicians at play. 9:30pm. Free.

Talks Canberra’s Budding Film Industry

Monica Penders, Christian Doran and others discuss filmmaking in Canberra. 5:30-6:30pm. Free. ARC CINEMA

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin DRILL HALL GALLERY

Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Dance Project Rameau

Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra together on stage. 7:30pm, $50-83. CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Theatre Home at the End

Everyman Theatre’s latest work. 2pm/8pm. $35-42. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Suppositories of Wisdom

Shortis & Simpson present a witty, irreverent, up-to-date comedy. 8pm. $30/$25. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

PALACE ELECTRIC CINEMA

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Sep 13 - Sun Sep 15 friday september 13 (cont.) Live Music Marina Prior

saturday september 14 Art Exhibitions

DJs Salem, datacipher and Resolute playing industrial/dark electronic/goth. 9pm-3am. $10.

City of Trees

Lady Bones Comeback Special

8pm. $60-70.

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

Heuristic

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

THE PLAYHOUSE

10pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Rage Against Cancer for Analee McGuigan

With Tundrel, The Khalasar, Eyes to the Sky, Throat of Dirt. Doors 8pm. $15 donation. THE BASEMENT

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm.

ALIVE Fridays Double Header

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

With Ember & J-Trick, support from Jared De Veer, Runamark & Leuky. 9pm. $10 before midnight.

Science Fiction

Superstition: A Night at the Museum

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

$5 entry before 10pm. TRINITY BAR

Christopher Coleman & Zoe Elliott

With Ben Drysdale. 7:30pm. $10 presale (bit.ly/czfront), $12 door. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

On The Town Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

Disco, motown, ‘80s and ‘90s. 10pm onwards. Free. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Something Different

Head Full of Flames

Headspace ACT’s 5th Birthday Party

7:30pm.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

GAREMA PLACE

Lot 33 Reunion

Presents CMAG’s important and growing collection of Indigenous art. 10am-5pm (12-4pm weekends).

Live music, in-gallery DJ, lakeview bar, silent disco and more. 6-9pm. $10.

Ben Chan

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Gathered Together

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA

$10 before 10pm. TRINITY BAR

Marshall Okell

Surf roots and Australian mojo rock. 8pm. $20. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

On The Town Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

Disco, motown, ‘80s and ‘90s. 10pm onwards. Free.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

ACCEPA Art Exhibition 2013

Presenting selected works by Chinese artists who live or have lived in Canberra. 10am-5pm.

DRILL HALL GALLERY

8am-6pm daily. Free.

Public Stargazing Night

Dance

MT STROMLO OBSERVATORY

Project Rameau

THEATRE 3

Home at the End

Everyman Theatre’s latest work. 2pm/8pm. $35-42. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Suppositories of Wisdom

Shortis & Simpson present a witty, irreverent, up-to-date comedy. 8pm. $30/$25. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Trivia Horror Movie Trivia Night

For the Brain Foundation. Prizes for best dressed. See canberrazombie walk.com. $15. AINSLIE FOOTBALL CLUB

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

Home at the End

Workshops

From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix.

The Book of Everything

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin

Phil Dunn

The Book of Everything

Theatre

Everyman Theatre’s latest work. 2pm/8pm. $35-42.

Something Different

Theatre

Featuring Phil Jamieson, Chris Jouannou, Kate Peck, Jake Stone and more. 12-4pm. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

A free tour of the universe. 7-9pm.

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Scissors Paper Pen’s WORDSMITHS

Writing talk, workshopping, and more. All welcome. 4pm-5pm. Free. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

sunday september 15

Sydney Dance Company and the Australian Chamber Orchestra together on stage. 7:30pm, $50-83.

Art Exhibitions

Live Music

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Dizzy Spells

8pm. $15/12 concession. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Secret Remedy 9pm. $5.

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon) 8pm. $25 + bf thru Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

The Re-Birth of Rock and Blues With The Gaps, The Burley Griffin Solo, Husky Strutters (formerly Howboy Cat). 8pm. $10. THE BASEMENT

Vulpes Vulpes

With Latham’s Grip, Brother Be. 9:30pm. THE PHOENIX BAR

Special K

10:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Gaps

With The Burley Griffin, Husky Strutters. Doors 8pm. $10.

City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Gathered Together

Presents CMAG’s important and growing collection of Indigenous art. 10am-5pm (12-4pm weekends). CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Head Full of Flames

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

ACCEPA Art Exhibition 2013

Presenting selected works by Chinese artists who live or have lived in Canberra. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

LOVE Saturdays

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

DRILL HALL GALLERY

THE BASEMENT

With The Projektz. 9pm. $10 entry all night.

Chrome

From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry.

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sun Sep 15 - Thu Sep 19 Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Live Music Cory Branan (USA)

Mississippi singer-songwriter, supported by Pete Akhurst. 8:30pm. $18. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

R.A. The Rugged Man

A stalwart of hip hop. 6pm. $25 + bf thru Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

Canberra Blues Society Jam The best Canberra blues musicians gettin’ loose. 2-5:30pm. $3 members/$5 non-members. HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Riley Catherall 1:30pm.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

tuesday september 17 Art Exhibitions

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

DRILL HALL GALLERY

8am-6pm daily. Free.

City of Trees

Dance

City of Trees

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

A Festival of Russian Ballet

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

Art by Tracey Benson. 10am-5pm.

THE PLAYHOUSE

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Science Fiction

Karaoke

Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

10am-5pm. Free.

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

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

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Head Full of Flames

10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

A Festival of Russian Ballet 8pm. $77.90-97.90.

12-5pm. Free entry.

8pm. $77.90-97.90.

Karaoke

From 10pm. All welcome. THE DURHAM

Live Music The Plot in You

With Storm the Sky, Fit for a King. Doors 8pm. $25.50. THE BASEMENT

Canberra Musicians Club Presents...

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free.

THE PLAYHOUSE

Sunday Best at A Bite to Eat

Karaoke Love

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

TRANSIT BAR

Australian veteran songwriter. 8pm. $15 (presale via trybooking.com).

On The Town

Live Music

Free Pool Tables

Irish Jam Session

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Los Pajeros. Tapas + happy hour 5-7pm. Free.

thursday september 19 Art Exhibitions

Dance

Irish Jam Session

10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free.

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin

Ashleigh Mannix

Soul songstress. 5:30pm. $20.

Head Full of Flames

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

Live local and interstate musicians every Wednesday night. 8pm. Free.

Brendan Gallagher

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Something Different

Phil Dunn

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Science Fiction

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat). CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Head Full of Flames

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry. DRILL HALL GALLERY

ANU Three Minute Thesis Final

TRANSIT BAR

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free.

Theatre

National WIRED Band Comp

MANNING CLARK HOUSE

A Festival of Russian Ballet

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

THE PLAYHOUSE

Does exactly what it says on the packet. From 2pm.

The Book of Everything

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

monday september 16 Art Exhibitions Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am5pm. Free. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Head Full of Flames

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Live Music The Bootleg Sessions

With Bears With Guns, Liam Gale & the Ponytails, Pleased To Jive You, Hinterland. 8pm. Free. THE PHOENIX BAR

Trivia Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Transit trivia returms with your host Rainman. Book your table now on (02) 6162 0899. 7:30pm. TRANSIT BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Heat seven. With Dashed, Stolen Memories, and more. 7pm til late. Free entry.

An 80,000 word research project presented in just three minutes! 6:30-7:30pm. 8pm. Free.

Dance 8pm. $77.90-97.90.

THE PHOENIX BAR

CHARLIE BLACK

Trivia Tuesday Pub Trivia

First prize $70 bar tab. 7:30pm. Free entry. O’NEILL’S IRISH PUB

Liam & Andrew’s Holy Testicle Tuesday Trivia 7:30pm. Free, but it will cost you. THE PHOENIX BAR

Trivia

7:30pm. All welcome. THE DURHAM

Trivia Tuesdays

First prize $75 cocktail party. 7:30pm. Free. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

wednesday september 18 Art Exhibitions Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

City of Trees

10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi Art by Tracey Benson. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. 11am-5pm. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Science Fiction

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster. 11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Thu Sep 19 - Sat Sep 21 thursday september 19 (Cont.) Karaoke Karaoke

With Ka-tere-oke. Win $50 cash and vouchers. 8:30pm. P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

Karaoke at The Inn

8pm-midnight. Free entry. OLD CANBERRA INN

Rock Karaoke

9pm-2am. Free entry. CHARLIE BLACK

Live Music Adam Cook

Virtuoso piano. 8pm.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Ngaiire

The Lamentations tour. 8pm. $11.70 + bf thru Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

Chad & Della 9:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Fourteen Nights at Sea

With Devotional, Spartak. 9pm. THE PHOENIX BAR

The Cat Empire

With Hiatus Kaiyote. Doors 8pm. $44.95/$59.95 + bf through Oztix. UC REFECTORY

Horrorshow

With Home Brew and Jimblah. 8pm. $29.20 + bf through Ticketek. ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Open Mic Night

friday september 20

Obsessions

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Science Fiction

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat). CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Head Full of Flames

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry. DRILL HALL GALLERY

Live Music

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Atlas album tour, with Yes You. 8pm. $20 through Moshtix.

SPP: Writers and Editors Don’t Give Up

Meet/question Giramondo and Seizure Publishing. 6-8pm. Book via writetoscissorspaperpen@gmail.com. HA HA BAR

Theatre The Book of Everything

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Phil Dunn

Los Pajeros

Talks

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Art Exhibitions

Amax

8pm. Door price TBA.

Head Full of Flames

With RÜFÜS, support from YesYou, Sosueme DJs. 9pm. $17 + bf thru Moshtix.

Featuring Benny. 6:30pm (registration from 6pm). OJO CAFE AND BAR

ALIVE Fridays

They sing songs about stuff. 5:307:30pm. Free.

RüFüS

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Oscar

10pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Smells Like Centenary Spirit: Play It Loud

ACT Centenary Band Comp: Heat Two. 6-10pm. Free.

TUGGERANONG COMMUNITY & FUNCTION CENTRE

Classic rock done right. 8:30pm to late. CHISHOLM TAVERN

Davesway 7:30pm.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry. DRILL HALL GALLERY

Our Sound ‘Trap Edition’

Live Music

TRINITY BAR

Eye Gouge

Free entry before 10pm.

On The Town Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

With Oily Boys, Black Coffee, Hygiene, Beach Slut. 7:30pm. $10. MAGPIES CITY CLUB

Special K

10:30pm. Free.

Disco, motown, ‘80s and ‘90s. 10pm onwards. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Something Different

THE PHOENIX BAR

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Bloom 2013

A two-day multi-art multi-centre festival. See gormanhouse. com.au. Free. GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Party Gravy

With Sidney Creswick, Hold Harbour. 9:30pm.

Timus’s Bux

With Christiaan Sep, Hence the Testbed, Knights of the Spatchcock, and more. Doors 8pm. $15. THE BASEMENT

LOVE Saturdays

Theatre

With Pred. 9pm. $10 entry all night.

The Book of Everything

Fun Machine

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

saturday september 21 Art Exhibitions Phil Dunn

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

8pm. Door price TBA.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Bob Evans

Doors 6:30pm. $65/20 + bf without dinner. THE ABBEY

Tekno Prisoners

9pm. Door price TBA. TRINITY BAR

8am-6pm daily. Free.

On The Town

City of Trees

Hustle&Scout Twilight Fashion Market

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm.

Rome

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

THE BASEMENT

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

With The Horrorwood Mannequins, Psynonemous, Wretch. Doors 8pm. Door price TBA.

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free.

Designer fashion, vintage fashion, jewellery, accessories, and live music. 4-9pm. Free. NISHI GALLERY

Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

Disco, motown, ‘80s and ‘90s. 10pm onwards. Free. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Something Different

Science Fiction

Bloom 2013

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

A two-day multi-art multi-centre festival. See gormanhouse. com.au. Free.

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sat Sep 21 - Wed Sep 25 Canberra Model Shipwrights Society EXPO 2013

Sunday Best at A Bite to Eat

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

tuesday september 24

wednesday september 25

An exhibition of approximately 150 model ships. 10-5pm. $3/1 children.

Magic Rob: Psychedelic folk rock with a medieval twist and a space rock vein. 5-7pm. Free.

Theatre

On The Town

The Book of Everything

Free Pool Tables

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

sunday september 22 Art Exhibitions Creative Power: The Art of George Baldessin From his widow’s collection. 12-5pm. Free entry. DRILL HALL GALLERY

Phil Dunn

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

City of Trees

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Finding Balance: Mura Gadi

Art by Tracey Benson evoking the region, especially Namadgi National Park. 10am-5pm. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Papier-Mache

Art by Heidi Lefebvre. Opens Thu Sep 12, 6pm. 11am-5pm. CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Head Full of Flames

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Does exactly what it says on the packet. From 2pm.

Something Different Canberra Model Shipwrights Society EXPO 2013 An exhibition of approximately 150 model ships. 10:30-4:30pm. $3/1 children.

Art Exhibitions

Head Full of Flames

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Work influenced by Keats, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Wilde, and more. 8am-6pm daily. Free.

City of Trees

10am-5pm. Free.

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Science Fiction

Theatre

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

The Book of Everything

Adapted from the novel by Guus Kuijer. See canberrarep.org for times and tix. THEATRE 3

monday september 23 Art Exhibitions Phil Dunn

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

Science Fiction

Comedy

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Dee’s Books & Comics and Impact Comics Present. 7:30pm. Free.

Karaoke

Open Mic Comedy

From 10pm. All welcome.

Karaoke

THE PHOENIX BAR

THE DURHAM

All welcome. 7:30pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Karaoke

City of Trees

Karaoke Love

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

TRANSIT BAR

Live Music Osloh

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am-5pm. Free.

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

Head Full of Flames

Live Music

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Art by Erica Secombe and Benjamin Forster, curated by David Broker. 11am5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

Nerd Trivia with Joel and Ali

8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Work influenced by Keats, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Wilde, and more. 8am6pm daily. Free.

City of Trees

A new group from Adelaide. 8:30pm. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Canberra Musicians Club Presents...

Live local and interstate musicians every Wednesday night. 8pm. Free.

Irish Jam Session

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free.

Live Music

Irish Jam Session

The Bootleg Sessions

National WIRED Band Comp

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free.

Punk in the nation’s capital, 19771992. 10am-5pm (12-5pm Sat-Sun). Free.

On The Town Floriade Nightfest

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

With The Skronks, The Steptones, Myriad Ways, Hayley Shone. 8pm. Free.

Heat eight. With Orbis Tertius, Freyja’s Rain, and more. 7pm til late. Free entry.

THE PHOENIX BAR

CHARLIE BLACK

Trivia

Three of Australia’s most intriguing musicians. 7:30pm. $15 (presale via Oztix).

Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Trivia Tuesdays

Two Cool Guys

TRANSIT BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Morgan Joanel, Jordan Millar & Dave Di Marco

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Transit trivia returms with your host Rainman. Book your table now on (02) 6162 0899. 7:30pm.

1:30pm.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

A moonlist extravaganza with comedians, DJs and more. 6:30-10pm. Tickets $10-25 thru Ticketek. FLORIADE

First prize $75 cocktail party. 7:30pm. Free. DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

Tuesday Pub Trivia

First prize $70 bar tab. 7:30pm. Free entry. O’NEILL’S IRISH PUB

Trivia

7:30pm. All welcome. THE DURHAM

OUT

sep25

Canberra punk and beyond retrospective owl eyes disclosure the jungle giants ...and more!

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FIRST CONTACT SIDE A: BMA band profile

Aaron Peacey 0410381306 band.afternoon.shift@ gmail.com.au

Jenn Pacor Singer-songwriter avail. for originals/covers 0405618630

Adam Hole 0421023226

Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408287672 paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au

Afternoon Shift 0402055314 Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410308288 Annie & The Armadillos Annie (02) 61611078/ 0422076313

Crmwll Where did your band name come from? I gave Sam (Crmwll’s guitarist) a list of early-modern surnames to choose from (Gloucester, Tudor, etc.) and he chose Cromwell. We took the vowels out because there’s this other Canadian prog band called Cromwell. Group members? Crmwll is always made up of Warden Sam on guitars & pedals and me (Becki Whitton) on vocals and pedals. Sometimes Dave Flutsch plays with us on drums. Describe your sound: One of my friends once posted a Facebook status that said, ‘Damn, that crmwll and their post power gangsta trip funk’, which seems about right to me. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Mostly hip hop, and David Lynch. What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Some pretty girls at The Phoenix asked me if I would like to have a threesome with them after the show. Of what are you proudest so far? I’m proud of the people in my band – their good ideas and their commitment to constant improvement, and I’m proud of the songs we write. What are your plans for the future? Touring this December, and Sam and I are also in the process of making an album with another producer, Oscar Condon, for our glitch-pop project called Gunwaif, and I’m working on an album for my solo dreamchoral project, Aphir. What makes you laugh? Miley Cyrus. ♥ What pisses you off? Rolf Harris’s wobble board. Rolf Harris. What about the local scene would you change? I think the two main things that will help the Canberra music scene to grow and thrive are for venues to keep their doors open to new acts, and for audiences to keep demanding to see that new talent, because there are heaps of really inspired musical projects in Canberra just waiting for that opportunity to be showcased.

Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417025792

Aria Stone sax/flute/lute/ harmonica, singer-songwriter Aria 0411803343

Los Chavos Latin/ska/reggae Rafa 0406647296 Andy 0401572150

Australian Songwriters Association Keiran (02) 62310433

Missing Zero Hadrian 0424721907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au

Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422733974 backbeatdrivers.com

Moots Huck 0419630721 aspwinch@grapevine.com.au

Bat Country Communion, The Mel 0400405537

Morning After, The Covers band Anthony 0402500843

Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows-bookings@ birdslovefighting.com

Mornings Jordan 0439907853

Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438351007 blacklabelphotography.net

Obsessions 0450 960 750 obsessions@grapevine.com.au

Bridge Between, The Cam 0431550005 Capital Dub Style Reggae/dub events Rafa 0406647296 Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662

MuShu Jack 0414292567 mushu_band@hotmail.com

Painted Hearts, The Peter (02) 62486027 Polka Pigs Ian (02) 62315974 Rafe Morris 0416322763 Redletter Ben 0421414472

Danny V Danny 0413502428

Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404178996/ (02) 61621527

Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428

Rug, The Jol 0417273041 Sewer Sideshow Huck 0419630721

Dorothy Jane Band, The Dorothy Jane 0411065189 dorothy-jane@dorothyjane.com

Simone & The Soothsayers Singing teacher Simone 62304828

Drumassault Dan 0406 375 997 Feldons, The 0407 213 701 FeralBlu Danny 0413502428

Sorgonian Twins, The Mark 0428650549 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401588884 STonKA Jamie 0422764482 stonka2615@gmail.com

What are your upcoming gigs? I can’t give you many precise dates at the moment but we’ll be playing some shows down the South Coast in the first week of December. We’re also playing Sunday Best at A Bite to Eat on Sunday December 1 as a relaxed way to kick off the tour.

Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410381306 Lachlan 0400038388 Fourth Degree Vic 0408477020

Strange Hour Events Dan 0411112075

Contact info: crmwll.bandcamp.com; facebook.com/ cromwellcromwellcromwell; soundcloud.com/crmwll; becki_skye@hotmail.com (for bookings).

Gareth Dailey DJ/Electronica Gareth 0414215885

Super Best Friends Sam White sam@imcmusic.net

Groovalicious Corporate/ weddings/private functions 0448995158

System Addict Jamie 0418398556

Guy The Sound Guy Live & Studio Sound Engineer 0400585369 guy@guythesoundguy.com Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus1

Tegan Northwood (Singing Teacher) 0410 769 144 ThrownUp Scott 0415849619 Top Shelf Colin 0408631514

In The Flesh Scott 0410475703

Undersided, The Baz 0408468041

Itchy Triggers Alex 0414838480

Zoopagoo zoopagoo@gmail.com

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