BMA Magazine 426 Sep 25 2013 by BMA Magazine

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Following PM Abbott’s example, BMA Magazine declares itself Magazine for Silence.

#426SEPTEMBER25 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 427 OUT OCT 9 EDITORIAL DEADLINE SEP 30 ADVERTISING DEADLINE OCT 3 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.

The Canberra International Film Festival has decided to stretch its legs this year, branching out beyond the festival itself. After the hubbub has subsided (the festival runs Wed Oct 30–Thu Nov 10), Harvey Weinstein will be visiting Canberra from Friday November 22 to Sunday November 24. One half of indie super-producer duo The Weinstein Brothers (Pulp Fiction, Lord of the Rings, Sin City), Harvey Weinstein will be joined by Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths, Guy Pearce, Sam Neill, and others for the first ever ‘Body of Work’ forum to … well, essentially, to hear about how great he is. President of the Canberra International Film Festival and Body of Work architect, Nicole Mitchell, says of the event, ‘We’re extremely proud to be hosting and recognising Harvey, here in Canberra, for the first Body of Work. The weekend of activity will pay homage to Harvey’s extraordinary … overall contribution to the Australian film industry.’ Events over the weekend will include a Virgin Ball, Q&A sessions, and a master-class. Head to canberrafilmfestival.com.au for more information on the festival and on the Body of Work events.

$1000 Up For Grabs in Open MC Battle Sydney battle veteran The Tongue is headed to Canberra on Friday November 22 to play an hour-long set at the ANU Bar. The main event on the night, however, will be the finals of a battle comp: Main Event. (See what they did there?) If you’d like to register to do battle with The Tongue, Greeley, and five other finalists, head to kokyprik.com/gig-guide/914main-event-mc-registration1000-prize.html to sign up. The knockout competition will leave only one person standing, taking away the full $1000 prize. Local and interstate artists from the KP Records line-up (including Big Dave, who

Entries Open for 2014 Weereewa Photography Competition The 2014 Weereewa Festival Photography Exhibition and Competition will take place at X Gallery in Bungendore from Saturday March 15 to Monday May 12. Designed to elicit responses to the landscapes and themes of the Lake George and Weereewa, the festival’s theme this year is ‘AWE’, an acronym for the festival’s primary concerns: air, water/ Weereewa, and environment. Now, since there’s hardly a single photographer in the ACT who hasn’t thought to take a trip down to Lake George, it’s likely the competition will be stiff, but if you’d like to make a bid for the $500 cash prize you can enter the competition now at weereewafestival.org. The work that best responds to this year’s themes will be chosen as the winner.

The Canberra Musicians Club Books Out 2013 Before the end of the year, the Canberra Musicians Club will have put on over 30 shows at six separate venues. In their own words, the ‘shortage of things to in Canberra’ is ‘over, at least contemporary music-wise’. In chronological order, and no doubt with more acts to be added, the CMC will, before Saturday December 7, present Beth ‘n’ Ben, 30 Bangers, Waterford, Luciana Harrison,

Chrissy Higgins, The Cashews, Buck et al., Strange Tourist, Reptile Park, Alice Cottee, Jude Kohn, Fiona Bolton, Bubbles and Yeti, David Rovics, New Gods of Thunder, Trumpet Club, The Ding Dong Ping Pong Sing Song Porch Band, Alex Richens and Joel Davey, The Gordons, Riley Cathrall, The Bearded Gypsies, Zoopagoo, Bladder Spasms, The Young Docteurs, Soursob Bob, Juliet Ward, Cactus Channel, The Cannanes, Evan Buckley, Hayley Shone, Cuddlefish, Hashemoto, Twin Beasts (formerly The Toot Toot Toots), Oh Pep, The Perch Creek Family Jug Band, Cracked Actor, Los Chavos, The Monotremes, The Hatty Fatners, The Little Stevies, The Ellis Collective, James Fahy, The Tiger and Me, The Crooked Fiddle Band, and more. Details on all these shows, and others, can be found at canberramusiciansclub.org. au/coming-events. Point being, if you hear anyone complain that there’s nothing to do here, you have full right to hit them in the face with a fish.

Canberra Music Workshop Going on Seven Years Strong Now in its seventh year, the Canberra Music Workshop continues to provide a space for professional, non-professional, experienced, and amateur musicians to practice, play, learn, sing, or simply watch. Providing a PA, a drum set, some amps and mics, and free live recordings of sets, the CMW will next meet on Thursday September 26 at Harmonie German Club, Narrabundah. For more information, head to canberramusicworkshop. com.au.

Canberra’s going to wine and stein him. Get it? DO YOU GET IT?

Harvey Weinstein to Visit Canberra for Full Body Massage

collaborated earlier this year on a track with Snoop Lion) will keep the night moving. If you just want to watch you can purchase tickets now for $29 + bf through Moshtix.

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FROM THE BOSSMAN A big thanks to everyone who turned up to our sale as part of the Bloom Festival. With all the music debate and hard drinking throughout the day the office resembled a cross between High Fidelity and Black Books. The day was a great display of three things . . . 1) A reconfirmation of just how sexy the BMA Mag readership is, and a reminder of 2) The concept of ‘Wild Eyes’ and 3) The ‘Mid-’90s Same Song Syndrome’. Explanation to follow. Nothing gets the memory going like a saucy rummage through a collection. An old tune can fire the synapses and send you back in time. For example, the eminently upbeat Change from Brit-poppers The Lightning Seeds reminds me of crying like a melon in school assembly because my two besties – in the time honoured tradition of kids being dicks – had decided to oust me. Conversely, The Chemical Brothers’ Hey Boy Hey Girl will forever be tied to my first and only Glastonbury experience, a furiously joyous occasion where my wonderful and foolishly trusting parents allowed a 17-year-old me to brave the seething den of decadence to see The Chems and Fatboy Slim play back-toback. I was high as balls the whole time. Haha, just kidding family members that read this column . . . I have never, ever in my life touched any kind of drug . . . Stop sniggering at the back. The sorting through and upending of an old collection for the sale led me back to the halcyon days of the ‘90s, a time where artists enjoyed a thing known as ‘revenue from CD sales’. That’s right, my young poppits … Back in the day, if you wanted to listen to music for free, you’d have to sketchily record it off the radio. Or failing that, heaven forfend, go and buy the song.

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 soft-edged pieces of shit sitting in the middle of the room at Bloom festival on Saturday night – fuck you for shouting, fuck you for talking, fuck you for getting out your soft-edged piece of shit phones to play soft-edged piece of shit games instead of watching the best bands in Canberra play FOR FREE you soft-edged pieces of shit. Fuck you just for being there – why were you? To play Bubble Blaster or some soft-edged piece of shit abortion that used to be Scrabble? Is that what you’ve come to? That wasn’t a pub, and even if it was, if that’s what you do at pubs, fuck off home to your computer desk and mash your dick into your shapeless shitty palm some more you soft-edged softdicked fuckwits. You pissed me off. Shelve each other’s heads until you suffocate. The world is increasingly lambasting smokers. They are being pushed further and further out of society. I’m not here to judge. Hell, I used to smoke once. I get it. But I will say this. If you drop your cigarette butt on the ground, you are an ASSHOLE. You may have held a door open for a little old lady earlier that day and donate money to charity, but if you then go on to flick your cigarette butt on the floor, you are an ASSHOLE.

With money pouring through the industry, lavicious labels indulged in The Mid-’90s Same Song Syndrome, in which impressionable youth like me were ensnared. We all have musical skeletons in our closet; you don’t instantly know what good music is, you have to find your way there. As such, I can not-so-proudly claim that 16-year-old me was more than a little obsessed with pseudo-rave hillbilly chart topper Cotton Eye Joe by The Rednex, an England no. 1 for many weeks. I must have listened to it some 100 times, convinced it was the pinnacle of music. Sad, I know. But that lameness was matched only by the towering genius of bringing out follow-up single Pop in An Oak that sounded exactly the same. Go on … Run onto YouTube and confirm. But despite it being the same song, it landed a Top Ten spot. And Rednex weren’t the only ones. Lou Bega of megahit Mambo No. 5 followed up with track I Got A Girl, which was the same song with higher numbers. And there was the queen of recycled melody, Whigfield, who released four versions of smash Saturday Night under different names. Money. At another point in the sale day, I was reminded about ‘Wild Eyes’. This occurs when a fervent fan of a popular show discovers a person has yet to watch it. It is usually accompanied by the exclamation ‘Dude!’, frantic hand gestures, rambling descriptions of the show before finishing up with the offer of coming around that evening with the ten-disc boxset for a marathon. Telling people who have yet to see The Wire summons the kind of facial expression that would erupt if you have just blurted out that you’re still a virgin at age 40. ‘Dude! We have to fix this NOW!’ they bark. And have you ever seen a Star Wars fan find out someone hasn’t seen it yet? Classic entertainment. And so it was with the sale. There were Wild Eyes, recollections, creepy invitations for boxset watching and - if one may be permitted a Hallmark moment - bonding. We may be steadily moving into a colder world of digital listening and commenting, but little powwows like this still exists. And I like that. On that note, I’m off to listen to Cotton Eye Joe for 101st time. Wish me luck. ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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Image credit: Joe Holzer

WHO: Madre Monte w/ Los Chavos WHAT: Latin Reggae Cumbia Tropical WHEN: Fri Sep 27 WHERE: Digress Bar

All the way from Melbourne, nine-piece Latin reggae group Madre Monte are bringing their horns section, tight rhythms, and funk style down to Canberra for one very special event. The group have played to huge crowds at Brunswick Music Festival and the Port Fairy Folk Festival to date. Hosted alongside Los Chavos, Canberra’s reigning Latin reggae kings, who will also be performing, the event is being run by the ANU Latin American Students Association (LASA) and Australian National Centre for Latin American Studies (ANCLAS). With a free Latin dance lesson at 7pm. Doors at 8pm. $15 (presale). Tickets through trybooking.com/62377.

WHO: ACT PUNK VETERANS WHAT: Electric Eighties WHEN: Sat Sep 28 WHERE: The Croatian Club

Canberra Punk and Beyond, Funky Pleasure, Kick Up Your Heels, and the Canberra Musicians Club are bringing together a huge line-up with the best Canberra’s 1980s bands have to offer. Featuring Crow, Young Docteurs, Hell Yes, Vacant Lot, and Original VOODOO DJs, this event celebrating Canberra’s Centenary is sure to bring some nostalgic fans out to party. With two stages, Electric Eighties is going to be crazy. Upstairs will showcase the sounds that emerged from underground dance clubs, with the Centenary marking 30 years of Canberra’s hip hop scene. 8pm ‘til 2am. Tickets from $25 through trybooking.com/DKAS.

WHO: Steve Lane & the Autocrats WHAT: Birds Taking Flight Tour WHEN: Sat Sep 28 WHERE: The Front Gallery & Café

Steve Lane & the Autocrats took everyone by storm with their debut album in 2011, The Romance of Communication, which was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize and nabbed album of the week on ABC DIG Music. They’re now back, and following up their successful debut with their second album – Birds Taking Flight. It’s reportedly a much more personal release, and emphasises lyrics that look less at external events for inspiration. Featuring more introspection, it’s said that ‘if Matt Berninger grew up in Bendigo he would be writing songs like Steve Lane.’ Doors open 7:30pm.

WHO: The Gooch Palms WHAT: Novo Single Tour WHEN: Wed Oct 2 WHERE: The Phoenix

‘Novo’ is a word that describes the ‘actions, attitudes, beliefs, and dispositions (among other things) of a lazy, apathetic, and above all, worthless individual from Newcastle, Australia,’ and it’s the title of The Gooch Palms’ brand new single. As the title track of the duo’s debut album, it only seems appropriate that this national tour is in support of the scuzzy garage hit. The slacker-punk track sounds effortlessly fun, and their very first headline tour promises to be much the same. Welcome them with open arms as they pass through Canberra in early October. 9pm. Free.

WHO: Death Audio WHAT: You Can’t Shoot Me Down Tour WHEN: Sat Oct 5 WHERE: The Basement

Metal fans worldwide lap up the musical stylings of Death Audio, with the band earning respect wherever they play – and now they’re coming through Canberra. The five-piece don’t hold anything back when they play, and they’ve shared the stage with bands like Static X, HellYeah, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Carnifex. In 2009 they won Best New Band at the Australian Metal Awards, and released three singles over the past few years. All of this leads up to their self-titled debut album, which is due out soon. Playing with Na Maza, Bleeding Gasoline, and Reign of Terror. 8pm. $10.

WHO: Sistema Criolina, et al. WHAT: Brasilia– Canberra Exchange WHEN: Tue Oct 10 WHERE: Gorman House Arts Centre

A group of Brazilian artists will be visiting Canberra for a range of appearances and performances this October, as part of an exchange program supported by the Centenary of Canberra. Musical collective from Brasilia, Sistema Criolina, will hold discussions on the obstacles and advantages artists face in some cities which are often seen as ‘sterile’. They’ll appear at Gorman House on Friday October 10 at 6pm, where they’ll talk about their work and perform a DJ set. Director of Canberra Museum and Gallery Shane Breynard will join them to discuss exchanges between the two capitals. See canberra100.com.au for more info.

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pete huet ‘90s Canberra punks had youthful memories of mohawked dudes passed out in Garema Place, but knew very little about them or whether or not they were a fair representation of what Canberra punk had been. The punks of the ‘70s and ‘80s had apparently moved away, grown up, or worse. So who were the first punks of Canberra and what did their bands sound like? HEAD FULL OF FLAMES: PUNK IN THE NATION’S CAPITAL 1977–1992, ALTERNATE SUB-KULTURE AND TRIBAL INTERACTION, a book and exhibition to be launched at Canberra Museum and Gallery on Friday September 27, is set to answer that question. The book’s creators have picked the perfect year to finish this first instalment of the history of Canberra punk, for it was in February of 1992 that Nirvana came to town. The Seattle trio famously played at the ANU, with ticketless fans ripping off doors and breaking through the roof and windows to get in. The gig marked the re-emergence of punk from the underground, where it had remained for more than a decade.

team, they’ve contributed their own material to the book, as well as interviewing and collating contributions from people who had reconnected through the page. ‘The first half of the book is a lot interviews and photographs with people that were there and who made the scene during various periods,’ Shakallis says. ‘Personal recollections and stories; everything from the music that was going on to the discovery of punk, and shit sharehouse living.

It’s good for young people to know that all these bands came out of Dickson College or Phillip College

Chris Shakallis, of early psych punks Young Docteurs, initially thought of documenting the first 15 years of capital punk in the late ‘90s. The idea had remained not much more than that, until Shakallis was asked to appear on an ABC radio special dedicated to Canberra independent music of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Following the show, Shakallis set up the Facebook page Canberra Punk & Beyond to continue with the theme. ‘Unexpectedly there was quite a response,’ Shakallis says. ‘By the end of the week 200 people had joined the site, and it just kept growing. It started to act as a catalyst to reconnect a lot of people from the early punk days in Canberra right through to the various waves of the punk scene.’ Shakallis says the first punk gigs to take place here happened in 1978, which raises the question, ‘Who was the first Canberra punk band?’ ‘Not really sure,’ he says with a laugh. ‘Myxo were definitely one of the early punk bands who probably did a few firsts. They were the first to play various venues. There was another band called Berlin, who were kind of punk, maybe a bit new wave. [There was] Thalidomide, Guthugga Pipeline, and my band got together mid’78.’ Shakallis explains that the first important punk gigs were the ‘anti-discos’ run by Dave Brown, which featured Thought Criminals from Sydney as well as locals Myxo, Tactics, and Thalidomide. After these shows, he says Rock Against Boredom, the ‘original DIY gigs’, soon followed. With the energy generated by the Canberra Punk & Beyond page came the collaboration needed to get things happening. Graphic designer Robina Gugler, former zinester Cody Anderson, Julia Ford (of The Framed), and photographer Steve Nebauer joined Shakallis to make reunion gigs, an exhibition, and the book possible. As a

‘The next part of the book looks at the bands. We cover the local bands extensively then look at the various interstate and international bands that came through Canberra.’

Of the many bands who came through, which included Dead Kennedys, The Cure, XTC, and The Saints, the show that stands out is The Ramones playing the Hellenic Club on July 16, 1980. Take a moment to think about that. So were the street punks who were often in a bad way in the chess pit typical of Canberra punks pre-1992? ‘The really early thing was different to what it became later,’ Shakallis explains. ‘It was before there was a punk uniform. It was before the archetypal Sid Vicious look came along. It was probably more freeform, in terms of peoples’ appearance.’ Shakallis was reminded of this fact when putting together the exhibition. ‘There are a few of my leather jackets in the exhibition and none of them have got studs on them at all. I was saying to Cody, “Oh fuck, I haven’t got a jacket with studs on it,” and he said, “Did you know anyone who was wearing studs back then?” And I said, “No, not really.” That didn’t happen on force until around 1982.’ For years, books and documentaries have covered the likes of Sex Pistols and The Clash, but lately, punks have been telling the stories of lesser-known bands and scenes. Shakallis mentions a recent documentary covering the early Chicago scene. ‘There was nothing coming out of Chicago that was in any way superior to anything that I’d heard come out of Canberra,’ he says. And shortly, Canberrans who weren’t there will get a picture of what the early scene in the capital was like. ‘I think it’s kind of good for Canberra to have an idea about its alternative history,’ Shakallis says. ‘I reckon it’s good for young people to know that all these bands came out of Dickson College or Phillip College. [That] Steve Kilbey [went] to Lyneham High.’ Head Full Of Flames: Punk in The Nation’s Capital 1977–1992, the book and the exhibition, will be launched at the Canberra Museum and Gallery, Friday September 27. Free entry. An accompanying gig, Electric Eighties, featuring Crow, Young Docteurs, Hell Yes, and Vacant Lot is happening at The Croatian Club the following night, Saturday September 28, at 8pm. Tickets from $25 + bf at trybooking.com/DKAS.

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ALL AGES Hi there! I’ve been reading a book about anti-gravity lately; it’s been impossible to put down. I’m in a bit of a silly mood lately, so apologies in advance for the hailstorm of puns. If it gets to be too much, they might have to send me to the punitentiary … Did you hear about the astronomer who got knocked out? When he woke up, he was seeing stars … and you can too, at Mount Stromlo’s Star Gazing Evenings. Held once a month, the Mt Stromlo Observatory opens to the public 7–9pm, with the closest being Friday October 11. Be spellbound by the rings of Saturn and mesmerised by the craters of the moon. Entry is free, but remember to check the weather before you head out, as star gazing will be cancelled in the event of bad weather. Why was the artist released from jail? Because he’d been framed. Ba-dum-tsssh! The Rotary/Art Society Art Show is back with over 500 works of art from all over Australia, along with demonstrations and talks from the artists themselves. The works are all on sale, and profits go to local charities. Between Sat–Sun September 21–29, visit City Walk, Civic Square from 8am–5pm. Entry is free. If you’re a band or solo musician in years 7–12, check out the 8th Annual School Stars Band Competition, hosted by the CIT Music Industry Centre. The competition is on Thursday October 24. Registration is free, at is.gd/CITSchoolStars, and closes Monday October 14 at 9am. There’s a fantastic stash of prizes, including studio recording time to the value of $2000, a scholarship to the CIT Music Industry Centre, and miscellaneous gift vouchers. Also, all bands will receive a complimentary free live DVD of their performance. Sounds great, right? Get practising! I was up all night wondering where the sun went, and then it dawned on me … by the way, don’t forget that Floriade, Canberra’s celebration of spring, is still on until Sunday October 13 in Commonwealth Park. This year’s theme is ‘Beautiful Innovation’, and a great range of stunning displays and exciting events to do with invention and sustainability are there to be seen, free to the public. Also don’t forget Floriade Nightfest, Floriade’s after dark extravaganza of light shows, live music, and comedy, between Wed–Sun September 25–29, 6:30–10:30pm. Entry to Nightfest is from $10, at the door or online through Ticketek. And if you keep an eye out, you might spot everyone’s favourite flying fish, Patricia Piccinini’s hot-air balloon The Skywhale, near the Regatta Point entrance to Nightfest on Friday September 27. It will also be visible at Stage 88 on Saturday October 12. Wait, you say you think my puns are average? Well, that’s just mean. I forgive you though, and I’ll still tell you about the Spring 2013 Handmade Markets. This fusion of art, design, craft, style, and gourmet food is all inspired by spring. Everything is handmade by local craftspeople, so by enjoying the gorgeous creations, you’ll also be supporting Canberran artists! So head down to the National Convention Centre between Sat–Sun October 5–6, from 10am–4pm, to check it out. Just remember, a good pun is its own reword. Stay funky, VICKY CONSTABLE allagescolumn@gmail.com

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LOCALITY

YOU MADE MY DAY!

An exhibition chronicling punk in the ACT from 1977 to 1992 is open now at Canberra Museum and Gallery, though it launches officially on Friday September 27, 6pm. It’s called Head Full of Flames, and it’s truly unique. Few scenes in Canberra have been so diligently reassembled, let alone scenes that thrived over 30 years ago. The fact that the people who lived that scene are still here, that they still care, and that the punk scene in Canberra is right now undergoing a fierce renaissance – milestones that big are rare in this city, at least musically. And after the launch, an equally significant milestone can be found a little further north: the Canberra Musicians Club is celebrating its fifth birthday at The Polish White Eagle Club from 8pm, with CMC favourites galore.

Email editorial@bmamag.com to send a message of gratitude, warmth and generosity to the world at large. Aw.

Almost every issue of this magazine in the past couple of years has included a photo by Adam Thomas (properly credited or otherwise). Bands in Canberra have benefited from his unrepentant photodocumentation at every turn, and never has he asked for a whisker of compensation. Finally, someone has come up with the brilliant idea of an Adam Thomas Appreciation Night. Local bands will come together at Smith’s Alternative on Saturday September 28 to thank the man from 7:30pm. Also that Saturday, Dollface will play from 7pm at Iron Bar at the Goolabri Golf Club, as part of the bar’s opening weekend; and Electric Eighties, a Kick Up Your Heels and CMC event, in conjunction with the Head Full of Flames exhibition, will showcase Canberra punk veterans Young Docteurs, Vacant Lot, Bladder Spasms, and more at The Croation Club from 8pm. Tickets are $20+ at the door.

You know that if the service and/or food was genuinely shit

To the smart people who tip wait staff - thank you. Not only do you understand the majority of reasons for doing so but you’re also genuinely nice individuals. You realise that yes, we hospitality staff (in most cases) make enough hourly wage to not have to justify being tipped in Australia but that you should tip if you get good service based on the amount you spend. You know not to be the stingey cunt who takes their $2.25 change back from their $37.75 bill (or worse, $197.75 bill). You have tact. then you’re not obliged to tip for these reasons but also that the staff and establishment won’t know to remedy this unless you tell them - totally fine. You’re also smart enough (in most cases) to know that the world is bigger than yourself and everyone has their own problems and that those few extra cents change can really make someones day. To everyone who considers themselves one of the above people and isn’t a compulsive liar, You Make My Day (affordable!)

CIT presents The Bootleg Sessions on Monday September 30. They’ve got Citizen Kay, Keegz, and Myronizinfektious on the line-up, but they may as well not be on it because Coolio and Housemouse are headlining! That’s realness. 8pm, free, as per usual. The National WIRED Band Comp is ongoing at Charlie Black in Manuka every Tuesday night from 7pm til late – just about every local band is having a crack at it. Charlie Black’s working hard to get live local music on their line-ups – get a seat and support a good cause south of the city; Tuesday October 1 is the next heat. Locals Nyash! are play at The Phoenix Bar on Thursday October 3 from 9pm with Cameron Ewens. And Hoodlum Shouts are appearing at Transit Bar on Saturday October 5 with Life and Limb from 9pm. Their 2012 LP Young Man Old Man registered high on BMA reviewers’ 2012 albums of the year. Don’t miss them live – $10 at the door. Locals Bacon Cakes and Waterford are supporting The Cannanes with Day Ravies on Sunday October 6 at The Polish White Eagle Club from 3pm to 7pm. And finally, on Monday October 7, The Bootleg Sessions at The Phoenix are hosted by the CMC, with Trumpet Club, Evan Buckley, and Strange Tourist appearing. And that’s everything local I care about. ASHLEY THOMSON editorial@bmamag.com @aabthomson

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RORY McCARTNEY Ever noticed how many songs have ‘cinnamon’ in their title? There are quite a few, so it’s a fitting name for new local label CINNAMON RECORDS. BMA spoke to Jordan Rodgers, who currently comprises the complete board of management and staff of the new label, which provides a broad range of services at a minimal cost to bands. Established just last year by Rodgers, a music teacher and member of local acts such as Mornings and Sex Noises, the label’s name came from his hair colour as much as anything else. ‘It was started as a little undertaking to record and put out some bands that I played in, as I’d had CDs that had not been well promoted. From there I went on to put out stuff from friends’ bands.’ Rodgers’ friends wanted to release discs but did not know where to start with things like printing and distribution. The new label was an avenue for Canberra bands to put some music out, and get help with gigs, promotion, and issues like that. ‘I don’t sign bands to the label but aim to release their work on the label. The guys from punk band Beach Slut approached me for help so I offered to record them for free.’

The label’s stable of talent includes local acts Sex Noises, Mornings, Beach Slut, Mikey Shanahan, and others. As to how Cinnamon gets new bands, the process is pretty simple. ‘It tends to be music I like personally, where I invite the band to record for the label. There’s a new band I’m practicing with which has members from most of the Cinnamon bands put together, the Cinnamon “super group” Sweetshop.’ Artists are sometimes known for being temperamental with labels. While Rodgers has not experienced that with his current crop, he has seen things in the past which also encouraged him to start his own label, which is friendlier and less business-driven. ‘Issues can arise over money, so I want to take only enough to let the label promote the gigs.’ Big labels are famous for putting artistic pressure on bands, but Cinnamon Records aims to be the complete opposite, not being involved in creative decisions unless help is wanted.

With their short lifespans, I want to make sure that Canberra bands leave some sort of record

Cinnamon Records tends to go farther than other labels, which concentrate on managerial issues. With the cooperation of his boss at the Jerrabomberra Academy of Music, Rodgers’ work there doubles as recording studio time. Rodgers has even played instruments on recordings and done some production, helping to shape the way the songs sound. Promotions are a big part of the label’s activities. This includes talking to radio stations like 2XX FM, which plays some of the label’s music on Local n Live, and sending material to music blogs which do reviews and publish Cinnamon links. ‘Promotions are usually internet-based, including the Cinnamon website which is getting a facelift courtesy of a friend of mine who is a website designer. On the website, a lot of material is for free, or a pay what you want deal.’ Bandcamp is also a major means of promoting music as it’s largely free to use, up to a certain point. Bandcamp helps with promotions as site visitors tend to find other new bands by clicking on links there. ‘Now I’m getting more interest and starting to put CDs into stores like Smith’s Alternative, Landspeed, and Wildwood in Braddon. Landspeed helps out by playing some local CDs in the shop.’ Apart from promotions, Jordan is also doing recording and mixing, which is a passion of his. ‘If recording costs are minimised, more money can go to printing some records.’ The label business itself is not a license to print money. It tends to generally cover its costs, raising funds through ‘Cinnamon gigs’ such as Bootlegs at The Phoenix, trying for self-sufficiency with poster printing and getting bands to pay for CD printing.

Rodgers has ambitious plans for the label. He hopes to branch out to bands he does not know, including some from interstate. ‘Canberra being a small place, bands tend to recycle members between them so it would be good to get some fresh people.’ So far Rodgers has helped interstate bands put on shows and hopes to sign some up. He also aims to put out a Cinnamon Mix Tape with a couple of tracks of new material from all the label’s bands. ‘Overall, I’d like to generate more interest in the label, make it less insular, make it more diverse, with styles such as electronica that are not on the label yet, so it can grow into something more substantial.’ Asked about higher label goals, Rodgers shows he’s got a bit of an archivist streak. ‘A lot of Canberra bands don’t last for long. They stick around for a couple of years and that’s it. I’ve had friends in the past who didn’t record anything due to cost. With the short band lifespans, I want to make sure that they leave some sort of record of their music. I want them to have something to look back on as a memory or an “if only”.’ In a message for unsigned bands, Rodgers is happy to be approached. While bands do tend to hop from label to label, he is not sure yet how to approach bands which are already signed. ‘It can get quite personal, especially if they are on a small label and you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes by being seen to poach bands. I’m happy to record bands, even if the music will be released on the label they are already with. That way it will be like a Cinnamon Records recording, as released on the other label.’ Cinnamon Records is on the lookout for fresh meat. You can view the label’s wares, read reviews, and make contact at cinnamonrecordsmusic.com.

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FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT TO STYLE

peter krbavac

It seems oddly fitting that, for a band established on the principle of free improvisation, the restless experimentation of its members has eventually pushed SPARTAK towards more traditional forms of songwriting. In fact, the band of 2013 is markedly different from the founding duo of Shoeb Ahmad and Evan Dorrian, who from 2006 released three albums, toured Australia and Asia, and built up an international reputation in experimental music circles.

The single-minded approach is what kept that band going

The seeds of change were planted in 2009 when drummer Dorrian moved to London as the pair were preparing to release their second album, Verona. The two exchanged songs they were writing online, and when Dorrian finally returned to Canberra, a second band called Savages – ‘which was before the much-hyped English outfit was even around,’ Ahmad points out – was established as their electronic pop outlet. Over time, the two projects simply merged. ‘We were both a bit creatively numbed when we got to Spartak,’ Ahmad says. ‘I wasn’t really into it anymore and all my sweet melodies were going towards the songs, while Evan had an improvisational outlet with Pollen Trio. What became obvious was that we enjoyed writing the songs and experimenting within them, be it with weird guitar sounds or expanding our knowledge of electronic hardware.’ Last year, the newly minted trio, featuring bassist Matt Lustri, debuted a set of beat-heavy tunes with a strong vocal focus – both new elements for the band. ‘The essential thing for Evan and myself is the important blend of really simple and affecting melodies with great rhythms and a level of “funk” that we weren’t really known for,’ Ahmad explains. ‘As we have kept going on, we keep thinking about The Fall and how their music always changed from release to release, but the single-minded approach is what kept that band going. ‘But the biggest change has been writing lyrics and making them seem relevant,’ he continues. ‘I think we both speak about human relationships and bigger picture kind of issues, but we like to keep things abstract at the same time.’ This year has seen Spartak expand again to include Rory Stenning, aka Raus, on synths. Now a four-piece, they also released Consistence, the second single from next year’s Five Points EP, and have a lightning-quick tour of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore scheduled for next month. This all precedes the far-reaching album I Fought the Style, which the members have been methodically working on for some time. The title, a quote from a former head of the Bauhaus school, appealed to Ahmad as ‘something that described Spartak to a tee. Honest, hardworking lads with no pretensions – just making whatever what they want musically and if it’s good, it stays!’ Catch Spartak at The Street Theatre on Friday September 27 with Outer Space (US), Central West, Blahnket DJs, and Zonkvision. Doors 8pm. $15.

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mel cerato Sam Hales is one happy guy. Songwriter and lead singer of Brisbane’s THE JUNGLE GIANTS, Hales is affable, chatty, and genuine; just happy with life. And why wouldn’t he be? The Jungle Giants just released their first LP, Learn to Exist, and it was received rather well, hitting #12 on the ARIA charts and #3 on the Australian Album charts. They’ll be starting their first big headline tour next month, and Hales says that the band members are all enjoying their free time before they hit the road. At the time of the interview, he is hanging out with some mates on his deck, eating strawberries. ‘Yeah, just hanging out at home, there’s a few people over, we’re about to go to the Gold Coast and do a DJ set,’ Hales says. ‘We’re not very good, but every now and again a club will invite us to come and DJ. We get free drinks so it’s totally cool.’ While getting the opportunity to spin some of their favourite tunes for a whole bunch of people is a blast for the band, Hales says that their favourite thing to do is to stir things up. ‘I like dropping funk at a club where funk isn’t really the thing that people are listening to,’ Hales laughs. ‘Like, people will just want Flume and shit and I’ll come up and play some Herbie Hancock and it’s just hilarious. People get down to it, I make them like it, I say, “Let’s get funky everyone”.’ You get the idea that not much gets this guy down. ‘I’m generally a pretty upbeat person, all my friends joke about me being happy all the time, I have a pretty hopeful disposition,’ Hales says. ‘I guess that really comes through the music. At the base of all our ideas is hope.’ The four-piece has garnered national attention with the ultracatchy She’s a Riot getting flogged on both triple j and commercial radio stations. Hales speaks about the band like a proud father showing off his baby to the world. ‘When we first started, I had these secret songs that no one ever heard, and I knew the other guys from school, and I was like, “Hey, I’ve been working two jobs for six months and I have all this money; do you guys want to come around and learn the songs and then we’ll record them and just see what happens?” I knew Cesira [Aitken] really well because she had been playing guitar in bands that I was in in school, it was a no brainer that she would be in it,’ Hales explains. ‘And I knew Andrew [Dooris] was a really nice guy and I knew he played guitar but he didn’t play bass. But I sent him a Facebook message and said, “Hey man, I know you don’t play bass but I’m writing some songs and, well, do you want to play bass in the band?”’ By adding drummer Keelan Bijker to the mix, The Jungle Giants were born.

Mixing jangly guitars with pop sensibilities, The Jungle Giants are quickly garnering a reputation as a fun, easygoing, crowddelighting band. In the short few years they have been together, they have supported the likes of Last Dinosaurs, Boy & Bear, Two Door Cinema Club, and even The Vaccines. But this will be their first big headlining tour, and Hales says the band can’t wait. ‘It’s going to be the biggest tour we’ve ever done,’ he says excitedly. ‘It’s going to be a whole month on the road and the venues are way bigger. It’s going to be a little nerve-wracking playing to the biggest crowds we’ve ever played on our own, but we are totally psyched and totally ready. We’ve played some really big venues in support of bands, but it’s going to be totally surreal having a big crowd all to ourselves. We can do whatever we want. I feel like when we play for a support, we hold back a little because we don’t want to fuck with the other band’s vibe. But this time, I can, you know, set my guitar on fire, cry on stage, do weird shit.

People will just want Flume and shit and I’ll come up and play some Herbie Hancock and it’s just hilarious

‘Touring for us is really chilled,’ he continues. ‘The four of us are really good friends so there are never any bad horror stories. We just go on tour and we party and rehearse a lot before we go, just to make sure we are ready and don’t disappoint any fans. We have a great time. The guitarist in our band really loves cooking, so if we are ever staying in a hotel for a few days, we’ll go grocery shopping and she’ll make homemade lasagne or chicken pie or something, then we kinda just play chess or cards and get drunk,’ he laughs. The Jungle Giants are a band you’ll be hearing for a while longer yet too, with plans for a second album already in the making. ‘Well, I’ve been writing lots and lots and I’ve already spoken to my manager about really wanting to get started on recording again,’ Hales says. ‘I’ve got a few songs that I’ve got going at the moment [that] I feel really good about, and possibly playing with interesting new influences in our music; I cant wait to record again.’ Hales is a hardworking guy, that much is obvious. ‘I like it too much,’ he laughs. ‘It’s pretty much the reason I feel happy. It’s music, it makes me the happiest, and for that reason, I think I’ll be doing it for the rest of my life. I see no other high like that, I’m a junkie like that I guess.’ Catch The Jungle Giants at Transit Bar on Thursday October 10 at 8pm, supported by Northeast Party House and The Creases. Tickets are $23 + bf through Moshtix and Landspeed Records.

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think that’s also because I’m a female vocalist.’

WHAT’S THAT IN THE BUSHES? ian McCARTHY While I certainly can’t claim to be an expert on sex noises, I imagine these are about as exciting as they get. Fast rhythms, powerful riffs, and the aggressive cries of a woman; everything my weekends seem so desperately to lack summed up by one fierce, punk fourpiece: SEX NOISES. Sex Noises started as a duo between partners Anja (guitar, vocals) and Jordan (drums). ‘Jordan taught me how to play guitar maybe a year ago, and then I decided I wanted to do something,’ Anja says of their beginnings. ‘Originally it was just the two of us, and then we got Jimmy to play bass. Sean joined a couple of months later.’

People think Canberra bands either don’t exist or don’t go anywhere, but I don’t think that’s true

Despite the Canberra punk community being quite strong, it doesn’t make things for a group like Sex Noises any easier. ‘It’s hard in the Canberra scene because there’s a small group of bands and they play all the time,’ Anja says. ‘And sometimes people in Canberra get so oversaturated with the same bands that they stop going … It’s a hard thing because bands need to keep playing to build up an audience, but then if you play too much nobody will go. They’ll be like, “Oh, we saw them last week …” And people think that Canberra bands either don’t exist or they don’t really go anywhere, but I don’t think that’s very true.’ But for Sex Noises, when it comes to the rewards of being in a band, they keep things simple. Says Anja, ‘I just like it when people say they like it.’ You can catch Sex Noises at The Phoenix on Wednesday October 2, supporting The Gooch Palms and The Fighting League, and again on Saturday October 5 at 7pm, supporting Beef Jerk and Yard Duty with Mornings and Mikey Shanahan.

But the decision to no longer perform as a two-piece was deliberate for the group. ‘There were way too many The White Stripes comparisons,’ Anja says. Jordan elaborates: ‘Whenever there’s a two-piece, it always seems to be a couple in a relationship. We didn’t want to have that stigma.’ About the name Sex Noises, Anja tells us, ‘Originally we were gonna call it Sexy, like the pronunciation of the word, like “sex-ay” when you break it up. But then we were like, “Nah, it should just be Sex Noises.”’ ‘It started as a joke,’ adds Jordan, ‘but it became real. People don’t really seem to get offended or anything … It makes for a good poster when you’ve got Beach Slut and Sex Noises.’ However, when it comes to the band’s sound, Jordan needs only two words: ‘Punk band.’ ‘I guess so,’ agrees Anja. ‘But Sean and Jimmy, the other two guys, do a lot of hardcore stuff. They’re in a band called Hygiene. They’re almost like thrash metal. So, they kind of bring a more hardcore, heavier element, I think.’ ‘I don’t think it sounds really punk,’ Anja continues, ‘even though we get labelled as a punk band, but I

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‘Just thinking that’s the same stage that Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane all played on

noemie huttner-koros I first heard PARTY GRAVY at their gig at The Abbey in February of this year. It was the funkiest and most enjoyable performance I’ve been to, with the whole audience on their feet dancing and going crazy. So you can probably imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Kimber, one of the band’s saxophone players, during my work experience week at BMA Magazine. Party Gravy was formed last year, and they are HUGE. They have a massive sound, which comes from the size of the band: two saxophones, two trumpets, two drums, two trombones, and a bass guitar.

Mooseheads. Dirty, gross, but everyone’s just having a really good time.”’ Their favourite gigs have been at The Phoenix; the crowd is always involved, and as it’s such a small place, it feels like there’s so many people there having a great time. ‘It’s just so great to get a whole room on their feet dancing,’ Kimber says. ‘The way we play the songs – without a singer, people feel more inclined to sing along,’ which is, of course, a goal. Party Gravy has been off for the last couple of months, with band members overseas, and they are excited to get back into it. There’s a possible Justin Timberlake cover in the works, but simply seeing Party Gravy is not to be missed, and will guarantee a great night. The dream place to play at would be the Village Vanguard in New York, one of the famous great jazz clubs, explains Kimber. It’s the only club that’s never shut down or changed hands, and ‘it’s really cool being in a room where all the greats have played,’ he says. ‘Just thinking to yourself that that’s the same stage that Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane all played on.’ Having found a popular niche in the ACT so quickly, Kimber’s advice to any young jazz band or musician is to:

They’re influenced by New Orleans-style brass bands; Party Gravy write a lot of their pieces using jazz standards, and cover a lot of pop songs with a bit of a New Orleans brass twist. As Kimber says, ‘The New Orleans thing is to play the pop songs of the day, so that’s what we try to do, and that’s very characteristic of New Orleans brass.’

1. Practice as much as you can and make sure your practice is benefiting you. Be focused and try be as productive as you can with your time.

Kimber has been to New Orleans himself, and describes the atmosphere of the city: ‘When I got back, someone asked me what New Orleans was like and I said: “It’s like an entire city that’s like

3. Listen, get involved, and don’t be afraid to play with people.

2. Get a good teacher that inspires you. Party Gravy’s album launch is at Zierholz @ UC on Saturday November 2, with special guests. $18.40 + bf thru Oztix.

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I never expected to be talking to BBC World via Skype from my lounge room

Barrington (guitar and vocals) met at the University of Canberra, Adam Bridges (drums) joined. They now write songs for fun instead of trying too hard, and they no longer like their name. ‘At first we started out trying to be too fancy with six-minute masterpieces – now we write two-minute punk songs to have fun with and rock out to.’

ORBITING SUCCESS alisha evans Kevin Rudd may have had his political moment in the sun, but he will remain immortalised for his lesser known talent as a music video star. K Rudd, along with Tony Abbott, Clive Palmer, Anthony Albanese, and numerous others, stars in the video for Round and Round, local band SUPER BEST FRIENDS’ latest single. The Canberra band became an overnight sensation after the release of their video on YouTube. Bassist Matt Roberts says they expected to get some traction, but not as much as they did. ‘We released it on the Monday and the next day we had interview requests rolling in. I never expected to be talking to BBC World via Skype from my lounge room.’

The name Super Best Friends came from a South Park episode, and would be changed if the guys had something better to change it to. ‘We all the hate the name now and we’ve had many conversations about changing it, ‘cause our music has changed.’ The band has also had a member leave town, with Barrington now based in Melbourne, which makes songwriting a little harder. ‘With John in Melbourne the writing is not as fluid. He’s been there a year trying to be cool and trendy.’ Roberts may sound a little jilted, but Super Best Friends is still at heart a Canberra band. Super Best Friends and Wampire support Regurgitator on 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.

As Roberts is a cameraman at Parliament House, rounding up the politicians simply involved asking the question. He says knocking on the pollies’ doors and asking them to be in a video isn’t very punk, but it worked. What Roberts finds ironic is that Round and Round is about the 24-hour media cycle, and how one day you’re in fashion, and the next you’re not. It may have taken more than a day for Super Best Friends, but the hype surrounding Round and Round has slowly died out. To fix this, the guys are heading on a 12-show tour from Melbourne to Brisbane, including a Canberra date. They will be supporting Regurgitator at their Canberra show on Thursday October 3, and they’re stoked. ‘They’re one of our favourite Aussie bands, they fit into so many different genres and it’s good fun music to rock out to,’ Roberts says. ‘We’ve seen them live, so to be playing with them is awesome.’ Regurgitator is also one of the band’s musical influences, alongside Queens of the Stone Age, The Vines, and The Bronx. Super Best Friends has changed a bit since it began five years ago: soon after Roberts and John

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THE REALNESS Over the last few weeks there has been a fair bit of discontent towards RZA’s imprint, Soul Temple Records. Soul Temple has been behind some of the biggest releases of 2013, including the impressive Twelve Reasons to Die project by Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge. Complaints include very lengthy delays in actually receiving packages purchased directly from the site, with some customers still waiting on packages from April this year. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be a one off occurrence. The ‘Boycott Soul Temple Records’ Facebook Page has given voice to hundreds of disgruntled customers. If this story sounds familiar, then it would be beneficial to visit the Boycott STR Facebook Page to obtain further information. Having recently dropped his third studio album, The Cold Light of Day, Sydneysider Dialectrix is returning to the capital to entertain the masses. Embarking on a national tour of the same name, Dialectrix will be stopping by Transit Bar on Saturday October 12, backed up on stage by DJ 2Buck and a yet-to-benamed special guest. In between national tours, Dialectrix found time to collaborate with Aussie legends Resin Dogs on their recently released single Still the Beats. The single is the first taste from Resin Dogs’ forthcoming Beats from DownUnder EP, which is scheduled for release sometime in October. Expect this funky track to be on high rotation this summer! 20 years seems like a long time ago to most – some of you may not have even seen 20 years of life yet. But 1993 was a great year for hip hop, some claiming it to be one of the golden years for the art form. Souls of Mischief’s debut album, 93 ‘til Infinity, is one album which was released that year. So thankfully 2013 sees Souls of Mischief return once again, this time teaming up with go-to man Adrian Younge to release There Is Only Now. However, originally slated for a September release, there seems to be a slight delay with the drop date. Luckily, Gummy Soul Records have us covered with their 93 Still free download. The Gummy Soul guys have dug into the crates and pulled out the samples used for some of the classic tracks released by the hip hop group in 1993. They’ve re-crafted the 93 ‘til Infinity beats utilising these sample sources and melded them over the 93 ‘til Infinity a capellas. Once again, Gummy Soul Records has hit a home run with this project. Do you remember when you used to be able to buy cassette tapes straight out of the back of the trunk? Nah, me neither. However, how about experiencing the next best thing – cassette tapes direct from the artist via Bandcamp. MC and Producer MIC LEGG has got you covered there. Not content with just providing a free download, MIC LEGG has also pressed up 50 copies of his GETOBOX project on cassette. At a measly $5 a tape, purchasers of the cassette are also treated to an exclusive instrumental download of the project. Why not also add his previous cassette release SASQUATCH&THECRATES to your cart to save on shipping costs. Finally, don’t sleep on Detroit producer 14KT’s recent Nickel & Dimed Project, available now. BERT POLE - bertpole@hotmail.com

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Machinedrum’s new LP, Vapor City, is due Monday September 30. The single Eyesdontlie off the album was released a while ago, and coupled with the more recent release of single Gunshotta, showed that Machinedrum fans won’t be disappointed – his dreamy soundscape with hyperactive percussion production is as sharp as ever. But of course, it’s already leaked, so have at it. Get your chinos on and do the top button of your shirt up, Disclosure are coming to town. The London duo and friends will hit Canberra on Friday October 4, part of a killer line-up featuring crossover darlings themselves Disclosure and beat-maker extraordinaire Duke Dumont. Along with AlunaGeorge and local rising stars SAFIA, it promises to be one helluva night at the University of Canberra Refectory for a ticket price of $66.25. Worth it? Definitely. Trinity Bar will play host to Peking Duk and Italian producer of schizoid dance music Crookers over the next fortnight as well. Peking Duk are playing as part of their Feels Like tour and can be seen for $15 (before 10pm) on Friday September 27. Meanwhile Crookers, now composed of just Francesco ‘Phra’ Barbaglia, is playing on Sunday October 6. Entry is $30 before 10pm, and supporting artists include Offtapia and Tim Galvin. There are some very exciting new releases and news of new releases on the horizon. Darkside, the joint project of wunderkind Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington, has finally released the title and release date of its upcoming album – Psychic will be out Tuesday October 8. After their brilliant full-length remix of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories earlier this year, and their 11-minute teaser posted online a few weeks ago, all indications are Darkside’s brooding mix of guitar lines and electronic washes will produce a spectacular album.

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Gesaffelstein will release his debut album on Monday October 28, and has just revealed a cryptic teaser of the album along with the title ALEPH. It will be his first full-length release after a bunch of EPs and singles that displayed his trademark relentless, rattling bass style. There’s still no news as of yet about Hudson Mohawke’s album which was slated to drop sometime this year back in March. And a current release that has really grabbed my ears has been Forest Swords’ newest LP, Engravings. It’s a unique album, in the same vein as his 2010 EP Dagger Paths with its mish-mash of styles, genres, and sounds. Here he’s refined his sound further – still retaining the core elements of loops, simple beats, echoing vocals, and beautiful guitar lines – while straying slightly even further away from what most people think electronic music can be. While his hypnotic, melancholic style owes something to the post-dubstep sound of his native UK, Forest Swords incorporates so much more. Matthew Barnes, the man behind the project, said he mixed the entire album on his laptop while sitting outside, and that’s pretty symbolic of what this album is about – a fusion of cold electronica with warm ‘natural’ sounds. The more I listen to Engravings, the more I notice elements about it, and the higher it goes on my list of releases of the year. That’s it from me, until next time. DONG HYUN SUH

DANCE THE DROP

Future Entertainment has recently announced their Future Music Festival line-up for 2014 to near universal acclaim. However, the debate about festival vs. club sets goes hand in hand with the increasing mega-festival bills these days, and while the 2014 FMF line-up seems to be scaled back from last year, there’s still the worry of missing out on an artist’s A-game as they toe the line between keeping the masses happy and really stretching their legs creatively. Can artists do both in the one festival set? If you’re someone like Deadmau5, who openly admits to pressing play when he plays ‘live’, unless you’re debuting a whole set of new material, it’s very difficult to do more than twiddle some FX knobs in order to differ your sets from one to the next. Move away from the main stage and there seems to be less pressure to deliver constant ‘hands in the air’ moments, with a crowd that is perhaps eager to be led into uncharted territory. Don’t know the vocals or the hook? Doesn’t matter, the tune’s still rocking. There’s a time and a place for everything. Festivals don’t happen all year round, and people spend hundreds – sometimes thousands – to travel/attend/party, and they don’t want to be disappointed. But when your main drawcard is an act that’s never been here before, and won’t be back soon, there’s always the scary thought of getting a watered-down festival set … but hey, it’s better than nothing, right? And the magical after parties are always a possibility.

On Saturday September 28, Trance Answer will make its debut at Trinity Bar. Yours truly (Peekz) will be headlining, with support from Jorg Uhr, Enerv8, Jarred Downey, and Palajda. On Saturday October 5, Transit Bar is hosting Hoodlum Shouts, with Life & Limb and DJ Alistair Erskine on supports. This week’s celebrity top five comes from local boy turned globetrotting prog/trance guru, Jaytech! Myon & Shane 54 – Outshine (Nigel Good Remix) [Ride Recordings] – Canadian Nigel Good takes the sweet vocal elements from the original track and forges a sublime electro-progressive remix. Top notch! Mat Zo & Porter Robinson – Easy (Lemaitre Remix) [Anjuna/ MOS] – This less-noticed but equally awesome remix by Lemaitre sends the original idea in a French direction, with blissed-out chords in the breakdown and funky grooves when the beat kicks back in. Jaytech feat. Nathan Grainger – Labour of Love (Matt Fax Remix) [Anjunabeats] – Last year, myself and fellow Canberran Nathan Grainger teamed up to make one of the leading vocal tracks from my artist album, Multiverse. This year sees the release of this new dancefloor-oriented remix from Matt Fax, a 16-year-old producer from France who’s doing some great stuff at the moment. Alex Wackii & Julian Wess – Pacific [Portrait Digital] – A great melodic festival track that’s been going down great lately. Woot! Madeon – Technicolor [popcultur/Columbia] – Another synthy electro-pop epic from French producer Madeon, featuring awesome production values and a structure that will keep you guessing. GAVAN O’CONNOR-RISCH

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METALISE

for younger fans, the good news is that the show in Sydney on Saturday March 29 is an all ages show also featuring Be’lakor. You can get tickets for their show at The Hi-Fi near the SCG from thehifi.com.au.

Kicking off this issue’s tour announcements is the welcome silly season visit from the most bitchin’ LA glam lords there ever was, Steel Panther.

In a similar vein, there are still tickets available for the Stratovarius tour, also at The Hi-Fi, on Friday October 25. If you’re a super keen fan, there’s a meet-and-greet ticket package for a reasonable $92 you can pick up from the metalmassacre.com.au website. The promoter is offering meet-and-greet package deals for all of their upcoming tours, which include Sirenia in December and Amorphis in October.

Hitting the country for five shows in December, the band are also bringing out the similarly glam (yet maybe not as deliberately so) Buckcherry for the shows. Tickets are available from Ticketek for their show on Saturday December 7 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.

Another October tour announcement has been for the nostalgic revisit of ‘nu-metal’ kings, Limp Bizkit. Durst and the gang are playing the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Saturday October 26 as a part of their five-date run of Australian shows. Tickets from Ticketmaster for that one; let me know how that goes for you …

Also freshly announced is a visit from Sweden’s Dark Tranquility, who have announced a four-date Australian tour with Orpheus Omega. Lotsa hooks and melody from this Gothenburg mob and

This fortnight has one of my most anticipated first visits to Australian from one of Japan’s absolute top three heavy acts of all time – and no, Scott Adams, Loudness is not one of those three. For me, the land of the rising sun has produced a tonne of great bands, from the primitive grindcore charm of Unholy Grave, legendary d-beat lords like GISM, or the considered artistry of bands that have often visited, like Boris, Ryokuchi, or Birushanah. For me though, my top three are Corrupted, Eternal Elysium, and headliners of this year’s Doomsday Festival – Church of Misery. If you’ve not yet discovered the band, the best way to summarise them is to take the lyrical focus of serial killing-obsessed Chicago death grind band Macabre, combine that with the serious wall of Black Sabbath and rad psychedelic doom-inspired riffing, and sprinkle it with liberal doses of Japanese charm for the win. Over a 13-year career featuring five outstanding doom metal records, including this year’s sensational Thy Kingdom Scum, the band have maintained a consistent presence on the world doom metal scene with regular appearances at Roadburn, and now, finally, thanks to 666 Entertainment, there are three Australian shows headlining this year’s festival. The Sydney show at Hermann’s Bar in Newtown on Friday October 4 with Melbourne riff-slingers Clagg and Sydney acts Summonus and Cruciform will make for a great night. Be there! JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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Rudimental

by Martin Ollman UC Refectory 2013

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

MEN OF MYTH AND MEMORY ALICE McSHANE Anyone raised on a healthy diet of Australian television would certainly consider the portion occupied by John Howard to be a substantial one. Much like David Wenham’s immortal turn as Diver Dan in SeaChange (300 eat your heart out), JOHN HOWARD has had a career filled with iconic roles, not in the least on the aforementioned SeaChange as Bob Jelly, as well as John Taylor in Always Greener, Dr Frank Campion in All Saints, and Tom Jennings in Packed to the Rafters. It is a fitting happenstance, then, that this acting legend has achieved the most rewarding collaboration of his career with a writer more myth than man: living treasure TIM WINTON. Although the pair of them are more likely to be discussing SBS series Housos than the theatre at hand, the frank, no-nonsense Howard has enjoyed immersing himself in the challenge of realising the writing of a man he has a great deal of respect for. ‘It’s not like great writers grow on trees. There’s a lot of writing out there but, like anything, there are not many of the quality of Tim. And certainly my last experience in Sydney was a pile of dross, frankly – it was rubbish. Mutton dressed as lamb, as my mother would say. When in the case of Tim Winton you get lamb and a lot more. Well-seasoned, well-cooked, delicious lamb.’ Although SHRINE is just Winton’s third play, it is already his second project with director Kate Cherry and Howard. They first collaborated on Rising Water, a novel turned play that brought out a newfound enthusiasm in Winton. ‘Tim’s not always been pleased with adaptations of his work,’ Howard states. ‘He also confessed that he was a one-man-band, that he liked having the control. And of course in theatre, the writer is probably the most important element. It’s interesting that he seems to enjoy the process of playwriting now. And that he’s learned incredibly quickly, which is not a surprise at all; he has considerable ability and intellect.’ It is this growth that has led to ambitious experimentation with form in Shrine. Gripped by the fleeting tragedy of passing a roadside shrine, Winton centres his piece around this symbolic landmark, telling the story of a privileged young man, Jack, who is killed in a car accident. Traversing time, memory, and perspectives, the play’s much-touted ethereal quality apparently stems from the dream-like interweaving quality of the storytelling. As with all Winton writing, the piece revels in uncanny depictions of the Australian landscape and the human condition, this time focusing its attentions on an affluent family who live in Albany, and the cathartic effect brought about by a young working class woman who disrupts their grief-induced paralysis.

Realising such a poetic script has been an invigorating challenge for Howard, who muses, ‘Winton’s writing is layered writing, so to uncover and be able to properly perform the levels of emotion and spirit that’s in his writing, like any good writing, that takes some time … But his writing in Rising Water and in this, sometimes in the most unexpected moments of the story that I know well, will evince from me emotions that I haven’t expected to feel, and that’s how his writing works.’ Howard plays Adam, the father of the young man killed. A man of considerable privilege, Adam struggles to reconcile the life he had planned for his son with the way in which his son passed away. It is Adam who, it seems, has the most difficulty accepting the presence of the shrine erected in honour of his son. ‘Although he hates the shrine and knocks it down constantly, he also spends a lot of time at it. He spends a lot of time looking out at the ocean where his son used to surf. Which he admits is a stupid thing to do, but he can’t help it. In other words, he’s drawn to the places that he doesn’t understand; where this total cancellation of his son has happened.’ The roadside shrines have long been a practice throughout Australia, the marking of a moment of profound loss and a way of reclaiming that which is utterly intangible. When pressed on the significance of roadside shrines to his character, Howard praises the honesty of Winton’s writing. ‘The reaction that I get from audiences is that they find it very truthful and sometimes painful and sometimes amusing and ironic. Last year I was in Namibia, in the middle of the desert, and there was a cross beside the road. God only knows how the boy hit anything. But these little shrines are everywhere. So this play, in the sense of the event that sets the play going, is universal, and the repercussions go through every generation and every part of society.’ Most importantly, Howard is acutely aware of Tim Winton’s significance to Australia’s cultural landscape, and has taken it upon himself to ensure Winton continues to produce these extraordinarily truthful and harrowing pieces. ‘The other day he suggested to me that he might, if he writes more plays, that he might just keep them in his bottom drawer, so other people get a go. I said that’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard in my life. Talk about hiding a light under a bush or whatever that old expression is. So hopefully I dissuaded him from that point of view.’ You can see Shrine at The Playhouse, Thu–Sun September 26–29. Prices range from $40–$73 + bf through canberratheatrecentre. com.au. Session times vary – check the venue website.

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ANIMENIACS MEGAN McKEOUGH Nothing can portray the beauty of a Japanese youngster interacting with the supernatural, nor the mechanical destruction of a giant robot in apocalyptic Tokyo, better than the elegant lines of anime. From fartrodden Tokyo dystopias to castles in the sky, anime can do it all – and REEL ANIME 2013 is bringing it all to Canberra.

Advance), not just because they are awesome films, but because it will be difficult to fully understand what’s happening in 3.0 if you don’t have a bit of previous knowledge. That said, Evangelion 3.0 is a great addition to this remake set of films, with all the robotic fights and whiny Shinji faces you could ask for.

Now in its fifth official year, Reel Anime has always been the place to see the brightest and most innovative anime coming out of Japan – and this year is no different. This year’s festival showcases the latest instalment in the Evangelion franchise, Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo, as well as the prequel feature Ghost in the Shell: Arise (border 1: Ghost Pain), both of which are sure to please fans. Also showing is The Garden of Words (from the director of 5 Centimeters Per Second), a dreamy story about two lost souls in Tokyo who meet every time it rains. Rounding out the program is the mischievous, sweeterthan-mochi A Letter to Momo, which is also a beautiful portrait on overcoming loss; and 009 Re:Cyborg, a re-imagining of the Cyborg 009 manga about a group of heroes re-banding together to fight for justice. Reel Anime 2013 is sure to delight both anime-aficionados and rookies alike, so dust off your Rei and Shinji cosplay (just kidding … no one would ever dress up as Shinji) and don’t forget to BYO Pocky.

Ghost in the Shell: Arise (border 1: Ghost Pain)

Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo This sci-fi anime staple from Hideaki Anno heads up the Reel Anime festival this year, and once again it’s all-out mayhem and confusion as Shinji awakens with little to no knowledge of where he is and what year it is – just scathing glances from those he once fought to protect, and no Rei in sight. Evangelion 3.0 is the third instalment in Anno’s rebuild of the 1995 anime TV series, Neon Genesis Evangelion. As more information unfolds, Shinji is in for a few surprises – some pleasant (blush-inducing piano duets with Kaworu), but most distinctly unpleasant. Shinji battles with whether to once again pilot an Evangelion Unit, and come to grips with what his past actions have meant for Earth and Tokyo 3. The thing about Evangelion is that when it’s not a wild and somewhat cheesy battle sequence (lasers and robotic arms zipping around), the scenes are very still and somewhat bittersweet, something I’ve always loved about the series. However, as it is now getting to the business end of events, I did find myself missing the lighter elements of the series, and I do wish there was more of Shinji actually doing stuff (not to mention more Rei). It is definitely recommended to watch the two preceding titles (Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone and Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not)

This film is the first in a set of prequels to the successful Ghost in the Shell series, and a real sci-fi treat – slick, engaging, and clever. It will no doubt prove highly enjoyable and accessible for both fans and those people who have never seen Ghost in the Shell before (of which I am one). Motoko, a tomboy cyborg hacker in the year 2027, must unravel the mysteries of her own cyberbrain while following the clues to solve the murder of her late mentor, Lt. Col. Mamoru. Though she is tough and skilled at solving cybercrimes, Motoko enlists some help from agent ‘Sleepless Eye’ and police detective Togusa. Also in the mix are some ‘mobile land mines’ (which look like blonde dolls with creepy limb movements), corrupt officials, and a mysterious organisation – and in the end, Motoko must accept that reality isn’t always what it appears to be. This fast-paced mystery has all the coolness of great sci-fi, executed with style. [Shows in a double feature with The Garden of Words.] The Garden of Words Anime isn’t all about dystopias – The Garden of Words is a sweet, fleeting story about two people in need of a connection. Quiet student Takao dreams of being a shoemaker, while the off-kilter Yukino is another lost soul whose wisdom doesn’t yet match her years. The two meet by chance in a rainy nook of a park in Tokyo, and a friendship blossoms – one that is strengthened with every rainy day meeting. The animation is absolutely amazing in this, with the bright rainy garden scenes coming alive with colour, and the intricate tableaus of Tokyo conveying both an energy and a loneliness. The backdrop of the rain coupled with the musical score offsets the interactions between Yukino and Takao in a really lovely way. While it did take me to an unexpected place, The Garden of Words is a delightful gem that really embraces the beauty of telling a simple story. [Shows in a double feature with Ghost in the Shell: Arise.] Reel Anime 2013 shows at Dendy Cinemas Canberra between Thu–Wed October 3–16. Check out reelanime.com for more info.

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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

WILLINGLY BUSY luisa ryan WIL ANDERSON just wants to make you laugh. While well known for his political commentary and razor sharp social critique on the Gruen series, Anderson sees his primary role as being funny. ‘If people want to go and see a public speaker, they can go to a TED talk; if they want to listen to someone formulate policy, they can go and listen to a politician talk at a town hall meeting. My job, the reason that people are paying money, is to have a little break from their lives and hopefully laugh their arse off … But’, he modifies, ‘that said, if you can be funny for an hour, then you’re allowed to talk about whatever you want.’ Anderson’s shows are diverse, with topics ranging from asylum seekers and gay marriage to his personal life and dick jokes. ‘The glue that holds all the things I want to talk about together is the comedy,’ he says. Anderson tours with the same show for the best part of a year, so wants to be as interested in his own material on the last night of the tour as he was on the first: ‘You might want to talk about Miley Cyrus for one night … but the idea of going on stage for nine months, doing 100 shows talking about fucking Miley Cyrus, I would just lose my mind.’ The material in Anderson’s latest show, GoodWil, is drawn from Anderson’s life and the state of the country. ‘I was having a shitty year, but I have a great life. So I was trying to think about how you reconcile those two things,’ he says. ‘I realised that it was very reflective of something that was going on in Australia, which was that we are a very lucky country, but we complain a lot about how shit everything is.’ Despite health issues and other life dramas, Anderson seems to be in a good place. He works hard: 11 months of stand-up per year, with three months cramming in television commitments as well. Then his podcast, TOFOP/FOFOP, which broadcasts around twice per week. ‘It kind of feels like that’s my mix,’ says Anderson. ‘I feel happy and balanced with the shit that I’ve got going on and I want to try and concentrate on getting better at the stuff I’m already doing.’ Now US-based, he says it’s challenging playing to smaller audiences that don’t know him, for example in Alaska. He is driven to keep honing his comedy, and hopes to showcase the new skills he has developed in his current tour. Anderson studied in Canberra for three years and says it’s a pretty easy place to play. ‘When I play somewhere like Canberra, it feels very close, the audience is very close to the person that I am. So I find that connection with them a very simple thing to make.’ Anderson will be performing his new show, GoodWil, at the Canberra Theatre on Thursday October 10. Tickets are $48 + bf, available at canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

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UNINHIBITED Art and war have gone together for centuries; the former sometimes glorifying, sometimes protesting, sometimes commemorating, and sometimes simply documenting aspects of the latter. For a few years I worked at the Australian War Memorial, where my role was to assist visitors in finding their way around. One day I was walking past the prisoners-of-war in Europe display, when I stopped to say ‘hello’ to a diminutive old man. He pointed to a photo of artists in the infamous prison camp Stalag Luft III, and said ‘That’s me with the Dali (moustache)’. He explained how he had helped dig tunnels in preparation for the ‘great escape’. The man was A. H. Comber, a Royal Australian Air Force pilot who had been shot down over Italy in 1942. Comber was also a painter. His evocative depiction of a forced march, Strange Moonlit Ghosts, hung near the photo. The Memorial is known for its planes, tanks, and weapons; these are probably what you remember about the place if you haven’t been there since childhood. The quantity of artwork in its collection is incredible, but somewhat unsurprising given that the Australian Army and the War Memorial have commissioned official war artists to depict the experiences of Australian servicemen and women since the First World War. Big names such as George Lambert, Ivor Hele, William Dargie, and Arthur Streeton are just a few of these artists.

What is surprising is that the Memorial possesses more than 250 Sidney Nolan drawings and paintings. Nolan, who is one of many unofficial war artists included in the collection, completed his Gallipoli Series over a 20-year stretch and presented it in 1978 in memory of his brother. A few of his paintings were on display in the First World War gallery in my time, which made me wonder what veterans (who I imagined to be conservative) thought of his adventurous works. But Nolan is not the only exponent of modernist styles whose paintings are included in the collection. Among others, there’s William Dobell (whose work The Billy Boy is a highlight) and Second World War artist Donald Friend. Friend’s unsettling Japanese dead from suicide raid, Labuan, while far from being photo realistic, is possibly the best representation of conflict in the collection. War is unsettling. Many Australians were reminded of their nation’s war art recently as a result of the work of Ben Quilty, who was the fourth artist the Memorial sent to Afghanistan. A haunting episode of Australian Story documented his experience, and those of the people he painted – focusing on the psychological effects of war on those who serve. Quilty’s intimate images of returned Afghanistan veterans have a similar effect on the viewer as the works of Friend. If you were too young to take note of the art last time you were at the Australian War Memorial, it’s worth heading back to take in some of the collection. You can also browse through the Memorial’s collection on its website – awm.gov.au. Pete Huet petehuet@yahoo.com

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ARTISTPROFILE: Hardy Lohse

What do you do? I’d like to think of my photography as social economic documentary. In Berlin, my work was on the spaces left abandoned after the reunification of Germany, and in China on the displacement of people by huge amounts of construction. When, how and why did you get into it? The turning point/ motivation for going to Art School came from a book my mother gave me called Highways to a War by Christopher Koch. Who or what influences you as an artist? Visually it can be my environment, politically it can an ideology. As for other artists, Richard Avedon, Nadav Kander, Robert Polidori, and Kirk Crippens amongst many, but locally it would be a whole bunch of people that I’ve met through Art School and through exhibitions. Of what are you proudest so far? Either getting a scholarship, or being included in exhibitions like Hatched, which was a show

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for recent graduates, or being included as part of the Australian contingent for the Pingyao International Festival of Photography. What are your plans for the future? I’d really like to do some work around asylum seekers, showing the journeys they make and why they’ll take any measure to try and improve their situation. What makes you laugh? Apart from my own terrible attempts to dance, all my friends as they’re just great and funny people. Oh, and my niece and her jokes about cows eating moo-sli for breakfast. What pisses you off? More than anything in the world, Tony Abbott. What about the local scene would you change? If I could, I’d suggest moving all the workshops into one location so photographers, painters, video artists, print makers, textiles and crafts people etc were all in one really big vibrant area. Upcoming exhibitions? I’ve got work from China showing from Thursday September 26 at CCAS Manuka, and some cool portraits showing from mid-October at Deus Ex Machina in Sydney. Contact Info: hardy.lohse@gmail.com; hardylohse.com.

CLASSICS IN REVIEW Ten Days That Shook the World John Reed [First published: 1919]

John Reed, the American writer who rode alongside Pancho Villa in the Mexican Revolution, who was buried in the Red Square Necropolis in 1920, and whose life work was later banned by Joseph Stalin, was a journalist by trade, socialist by conviction, and historian by compulsion. In 1919 he published his Ten Days That Shook the World, a first-hand account of the Russian Revolution. From the outset, Reed is clear in his stance towards history: for him, objectivity is no object. He acknowledges himself as a subjective observer looking on at the game from the sidelines: unable to greatly affect the present state of play, but naturally barracking for his heroes, while we, the bewildered spectators of the grand strategy, are relayed across the generations and his own interpretations and understandings of the tactical plays. Reed’s first obligation to the reader then, is to state this plainly, writing:

‘In the struggle my sympathies were not neutral. But in telling the story of those great days I have tried to see events with the eye of a conscientious reporter, interested in setting down the truth.’ Others, those devotees of what British historian EH Carr – author of another classic of another kind, What is History? – slammed as the ‘cult of facts’, might be tempted to denigrate him for this acknowledgment of partiality, but it is a fairly strange reaction to scoff at a writer for his or her very subjectivity, as if it is possible to separate ourselves from our selves. Historian AJP Taylor, in an indispensable introduction to the book, gives a more considered critique of Reed. Offering wise counsel to the reader, Taylor cautions us of Reed’s journalistic instinct to dramatise events, as well as his considerable misunderstandings of facts and forces. Ten Days That Shook the World provokes a barrage of questions to keep you lost deep in thought late into the night. What is it to be a partisan, and what is it to be a propagandist? Can we be anything but a partisan for our own worldview? Is the ‘objective’ historian no better, if not far worse, than the overt propagandist; in denying the truth of his or her very subjectivity, the truth of his or her valuation of incomplete facts, the truth of the innate loading of language, do they delude both themselves and the reader into believing in a purely fabricated history? Historical theory and debate aside, Ten Days That Shook the World is marked by a distinctive aesthetic and powerful voice. He narrates – ‘So plunged the Bolsheviki ahead, irresistible, overriding hesitation and opposition’ – and describes – ‘night was yet heavy and chill. There was only a faint unearthly pallor stealing over the silent streets, dimming the watchfires, the shadow of a terrible dawn grey-rising over Russia’ – the revolution with an acute sense of enormity and history. Begin Ten Days That Shook the World for an understanding of the Russian Revolution, savour it for its prose, and remember it for its deviance from the ‘objective’ historical norm. TIMOTHY GINTY

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ARTISTPROFILE:

What about the local scene would you change? I think the local scene is so bloody supportive! It’s great! I actually think Canberran artists have a drive and edge which you just don’t get from artists who have come from a city where there are a lot of opportunities. One thing Canberra lacks is affordable and accessible studio spaces.

What do you do? I do a variety of different things including illustration, large-scale murals, paste-ups, sign-painting, visual arts, and sometimes design. More recently, I’ve begun experimenting with film as a representation of sight. I just keep collecting skills but they all feed into my practice in a weird sort of way.

Upcoming exhibitions? Anger Management and the Importance of Personal Hygiene is my first solo show, happening at the New Acton Nishi Gallery from Fri–Wed October 11–23 October. The opening night is Friday October 11 from 6–8pm, and everyone is welcome. It should be a ball!

When, how and why did you get into it? I always drew and painted, but after year 12 I decided to study Graphic Design at the University of Canberra. During uni I would always create these elaborate projects for myself and after graduating I continued to explore creative projects on the side of working in design. I guess at some point that all kind of got out of hand and took all of my time and energy, and started to pay me enough that I could just start making beautiful things.

Contact Info: goodgeorgerose.com; george.is.also@gmail.com; georgeisat.tumblr.com; facebook.com/GeorgeRoseIllustration; instagram.com/George_Rose; twitter.com/_GeorgeRose_.

George Rose

Who or what influences you as an artist? I have folders in my phone just for photos I take throughout the day. I have a library of images on my computer from trawling through the internet, and so many lists of artists and designers that inspire me. The best inspiration I find is the people I’m surrounded by. Of what are you proudest so far? Gosh gee … that’s a hard one. I’ve worked with such wonderful people on some extraordinary projects and I’m pretty chuffed to be able to work with and on them all. What are your plans for the future? Keep working! I’ve already got plans for more works or art I want to create! I can say that one of my goals is to one day do a mural on the façade of a multi-storey building – five-plus stories would be nice. What makes you laugh? It’s probably far too easy to make me laugh. What pisses you off? Arrogance. I have this thing about people thinking or acting better than others, which sadly happens a little too often in the art world.

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Bakers of Canberra: what business is it of yours how I choose to spend private moments with a wholegrain, thriceleavened baguette? As I stood at the counter of the dubiously titled ‘Baker’s Delight’, keen to get my hands on France’s sole contribution to human progress, the worryingly overzealous young lady with whom I placed my order subjected me to a torrent of inquisition: Foolish Girl: ‘How is your day going? Have you finished work? What do you have planned for the weekend? Anything on for the rest of your day?’ Erudite Gentleman: ‘Enough! Firstly, my dear, my day is “going” nowhere. ‘As a unit of time derived so that we may grapple with the vagaries of the cosmos, my day is not on its way anywhere. Consider it a register of moments past rather than the pursuit of a future terminus. ‘Had you an education of import, you would neither dabble in such idiocy, nor maintain the illusion that your plain flour-dappled smut factory constitutes any station of delight.’ I have since been informed that this inappropriate examination passes for some insubstantial, ridiculous concept known as ‘customer service’, whereby a business owner or employee feels it fitting to extract details of their patrons’ most private arrangements under the misapprehension that ‘taking an interest’ constitutes polite competence. Polite competence would be to give me my bread. Polite competence would be to avert your obsequious gaze and doff your hairnet to the splendour of my unrivalled moustache. Polite competence would be for Mr Ashley Thomson to immediately tender his resignation. In short, polite competence is a commodity absent in this society. Let me be clear: the King of England could not extract from me the clandestine nature of my dough-based deviancy with all his probing implements of anguish. Privacy considerations aside, the nature of my favoured pastimes would be enough to turn the stomach of any king, let alone that of the Saturday girl at my local bakehouse. That many members of your retail sector deem it good practice to probe and prod at the darkest recesses of my private life is a pursuit as misguided as your nation’s insistence upon bestowing electoral suffrage to commoners. And look how that turned out. However, occasionally, creamy salvation from ignorance erupts from the scab of unseemliness, like so many pox-ridden pustules. As with St Paul on the road to Damascus, an epiphany so often proves adept at conversion from witlessness – a sudden epoch, the blinding light of which cuts through the cataract of stupidity. For my young inquisitor, her revelatory manifestation also appeared heaven-sent, pouring forth through the iridescence of a cloud burst; the cloud of virginal white flour bursted from her cheek as my calloused hand made decisive contact upon her outrageous enquiry as to my preference for a thick or thinly sliced loaf. Must I lash at every citizen of Canberra before you avert your prying eyes from my unorthodox engagement of baked goods? gideon foxington-smythe

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bit PARTS Stronger Than Fiction WHAT: Documentary Film Festival WHEN: Thu–Sun Sep 26–29 WHERE: Palace Electric Cinema Canberra’s first documentary film festival features a dozen films and covers topics as diverse as life inside a North Korean prison camp and Burma’s first girl band. The festival, curated by filmmaker Deborah Kingsland and festival director Simon Weaving, will feature international guests, and includes a Documentary Pitching Slam contest which will see filmmakers given 60 seconds to pitch ideas for a documentary to a panel of producers. Weaving says the festival will ‘fill a gap in the cinema culture of Canberra’. Tix through Palace Cinemas in NewActon. See strongerthanfictiondocs.com for full program details. Mungo Woman WHAT: Art Exhibition WHEN: Fri Sep 27–Sun Oct 13 WHERE: Belconnen Arts Centre

Womb; 2013

Brenda Runnegar’s Mungo Woman paintings and mixed media works explore stories surrounding the Mungo woman, who lived around Lake Mungo in western NSW over 40,000 years ago. Runnegar explains that her work uses ‘parts of the landscape such as trees, hills, desert, rock, fossils and shells as both physical and symbolic realities as a representation of the unconscious, in which human forms masquerade as natural features and landforms.’ This exhibition will be opened at 5:30pm on Friday September 27 by Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak. Meet Runnegar at 3pm on Sunday October 6. 10am–5pm, Tue–Sun. Free. 2013 Italian Film Festival WHAT: Italian Film Festival WHEN: Tue Oct 8–Sun Nov 3 WHERE: Palace Electric Cinema Returning for its 14th season with a huge line-up of 27 brand new titles and a much-loved classic, the anticipated 2013 Lavazza Italian Film Festival is certain to entertain and inspire viewers. Opening night galas in each state will feature The Great Beauty, a drama from writer/ director Paolo Sorrentino, which showcases a critically acclaimed performance from Toni Servillo who plays a famous and charming journalist. Closing Night will see the screening of the 1972 classic Roma, from late director Federico Fellini. For more information on the festival, visit italianfilmfestival.com.au. Empire WHAT: Circus, Cabaret, Vaudeville Production WHEN: Fri–Sun Oct 11–20 WHERE: Civic Square Standing ovations and sold out performances in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth are nothing to scoff at, and now Spiegelworld is bringing its new show, Empire, to Canberra. Taking circus, cabaret, vaudeville, and burlesque all together and reinventing them is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what they’ve done. Their 700seat antique tent will showcase the talents of a varied and eccentric cast, featuring the Lime Green Lady and Carrot Man, and the Ethiopian foot juggler, Black Flintstone. Shows from 7:30pm, and tickets start at $59 + bf. See canberraticketing.com.au for more info.

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album in focus

arctic monkeys am [domino] For a band to arrive fully formed has proved to be a problem throughout pop music history, and the class of the early 00’s is faring very badly indeed. This year’s Franz Ferdinand effort is limp, Bloc Party and The Strokes are shadows of their once towering selves, and the rest are plotting classic album tours to keep the bank accounts steady. Longevity in these hyperspeed modern times is tough. Arctic Monkeys crossed over from shouty lads to affect both the charts and the critics, because their first two records fulfilled a need we didn’t realise we had – to combine the wit and insight of Jarvis Cocker with the jagged guitar menace of Wire and the best of Northern Soul. What an unthinkable yet perfect combo. The first two Arctic Monkeys records are justifiably revered. The next two are best not spoken of. So how does number five fare? The first song suggests good things – Do I Wanna Know? is both a towering, majestic piece of dirty sex rock, and an appropriate repositioning of the Monkeys in the eye of popular culture. They’re no cheeky chappies anymore. They’re Class A rock stars. And this is a song for rock stars. It’s brilliant. Weirdly, that massive riff is almost echoed on the next song, R U Mine?, which is lesser in every regard. One less note in the riff and a less affecting chorus make this listener wonder why the two are placed side by side, up front like this. It’s no bad tune, but the sequencing is a problem.

From here, more problems emerge. One for the Road is a slinky number that doesn’t offend or enthral, but does solidify the role of Turner as the leather-bound lothario haunting house parties to check if he is indeed gonna get lucky (spoiler alert – he does. But not always with the right girl. Breaking up with Alexa Chung must be hard to do). Arabella is an unsatisfyingly leaden piece of ‘70s sub-Sabbath hard rock, replete with nonsense (‘A helter skelter round her little finger and I ride it endlessly’ – really?). I Want it All stomps along satisfyingly, whilst leaving no real trace. No. 1 Party Anthem is a terrific, swaggering heartbreak number, but a little too close to the torch song template to really affect, while Fireside could have been genuinely great if given a lighter touch, but lacks the vulnerability to cut through. The tipping of the hat toward R&B is clever, and when it works it can be thrilling, such as on Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High? The falsetto of drummer Matt Helders is a layer that makes the totality of the aesthetic clear. Snap out of It is cracking pop music too. So these aren’t bad songs as such – they’re just not quite up to the standard of both past records and the magnificence of Do I Wanna Know? Turner is frequently criticised for failing to engage the heart with his wordplay, but this strikes me as no bad thing. In an age of eternal over-sharing, having to work a little is admirable. However, the pose affected throughout AM seems unrealised. Turner is a proper LA-based quiffed rocker now. So his tales of the night are very different to yours and mine. But the songs that have depth detail a lack of confidence behind the veneer. And he never goes quite deep enough. Maybe he’s being honest, skating along the surface of things. Or maybe he’s scared to fulfil the promise. Tellingly, the most affecting lyrics of the set are those on the closing tune, I Wanna Be Yours, and they’re taken from a John Cooper Clarke poem. For a writer of his ability, Turner is slacking. Or losing touch. Tough to know. I want to like this record, because I want the Arctic Monkeys to be essential, to show longevity, to sex up clever rock and roll. This is close to being a great record. Close, but not close enough. GLEN MARTIN

bob dylan The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 – Another Self Portrait (1969–1971) [columbia] The fact that Bob Dylan was writing anything at all in 1969 is extraordinary in itself. He had released a string of album masterpieces earlier in the decade, and then recorded a bunch of material with The Band in 1967 that would eventually see the light of day as The Basement Tapes. The semi-songs and sketches on The Basement Tapes represent a shift in musical direction towards a more country/country-rock bent, which had also been approached on the stripped-back John Wesley Harding album of 1968. Dylan had been paying attention to what The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers introduced to the counterculture, when it was very uncool to mention country music in the same sentence as The Doors or Jefferson Airplane. This is not to suggest that he was jumping on a bandwagon of any kind, but there is much to make of the pre-rock ‘n’ roll roots focus of the 35 tracks collected together here, in this latest instalment of the mostly superb ‘official’ Dylan bootleg series, now at volume ten. The compilers have focused on unreleased tracks and alternate versions of songs mostly from the Self Portrait and New Morning albums, both recorded in 1970, with insightful liner notes from Greil Marcus providing context as a welcome addition. Self Portrait has generally been regarded as a baffling piss-take by Dylan followers, and New Morning mines a vintage country vibe that had already appeared without fanfare on the 1969 album Nashville Skyline. On virtually every song featured on Another Self Portrait, Dylan gets the magic happening with little more than voice, guitar, and assorted minor embellishments, with a seriousness of intent that worked all down the line. dan bigna

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king krule 6 feet beneath the moon [xl/remote control]

bloc party the nextwave sessions ep [frenchkiss records]

adalita all day venus [liberation music]

Over the last few years, it’s been interesting to watch the emergence of south-east London post-garage grime soul as a legitimate scene, with the likes of Professor Green and Plan B increasingly fitting that bill. While there’s a nod towards classic Motown/Rat Pack-era soul, it’s balanced with a latent sense of wariness and unrefined aggression.

Winning over fans with their tightly crafted, high-energy indie guitar rock on 2004’s Silent Alarm, it remains a mystery to me why Bloc Party ever swapped their electric guitars for synthesisers. Maybe it was the band’s second impending hiatus, but even Four’s attempt to revive the band’s signature angular rock was lacklustre. Despite what the name suggests, The Nextwave Sessions EP doesn’t show signs of a fresh beginning for the band either.

With Geelong band Magic Dirt on hold since 2011, front woman Adalita Srsen has been going from strength to strength with her solo career. Her 2011 self-titled debut LP dedicated to the late MD bassist Dean Turner, who had a strong influence in its realisation, was a stunner. Filled with songs which pulsated with emotion, it was essentially a one-woman project.

19-year-old producer, singer, and songwriter, King Krule (real name Archie Marshall) certainly slots easily into that scene, but in this case, the real difference is the presence of rough edges and a constant emphasis on textural rawness. And then there’s the voice, which is likely to represent the biggest tipping point here for new listeners. Alternately majestic, sonorous, and off-key, Marshall’s reverb-heavy bark constantly dominates the spacious, beat-driven arrangements here – and even though UK producer du jour Rodaidh McDonald (The xx, Savages) is involved, the satisfying urban grittiness remains intact. With a broader canvas to work with, Marshall manages to hint at a much wider range of influences here. If the floaty Ocean Bed nods towards flamenco-blues, the delicacy of the intricate guitar plucks is nicely counterbalanced by Marshall’s earthy growl and almost yelped choruses, the sheer sense of ‘itchiness’ that results from the clashing elements being a large part of the appeal. Elsewhere, Baby Blue nods towards retro Sinatra-era croonage, held against a stripped-down backdrop of hip hop beats and fluid guitar bends, before A Lizard State sees a curiously Stranglers-esque skank-jazz groove locking into place against Marshall’s basso growl. While this doesn’t feel like Marshall’s ‘big statement’, 6 Feet Beneath the Moon clashes styles – and to impressive effect. chris downton

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It’s surprising that a collection of songs penned on the road of Bloc Party’s biggest ever tour sound so stale. As inane as the catch cry ‘get ratchet’ is, rambunctious EP single Ratchet is good fun. Kele tries on Dizzee Rascal-style bravado for size, with raps like ‘When I get fucked up/ When I get half cut/ Gonna make them prang get rowdy’. But the derivative dance beats get a little old on the unremarkable, slow burn house tune, Obscene. The zig-zagging reverb guitar riff on French Exit signals a quick return to standard Bloc Party rock, before the EP goes back to electro with sentimental house ballad Montreal. Finally, Children of the Future closes the EP on a slower rock number. Despite the track’s uninspiringly literal lyrics (‘They’re the next phase/ They’re the next stage/ Time is on their side’), the EP at least ends on a catchy enough guitar riff. For a band that started off with such promise, it is disappointing that Bloc Party has struggled to evolve beyond a temperamental dalliance between guitar rock and dance music binaries. If this is all that Bloc Party’s revival can muster, maybe the band’s indefinite hiatus should stay a little more permanent. anne widjaja

Adalita was a fundamentally feminine recording – intimate and intense, with moods varying from erotic, to cheeky, to mysterious. Delicate in construction, it had a sombre character at times. All Day Venus brings a brighter sound, as if to shout out, ‘I was feeling down, but now I’m back – watch out!’ The strength and passion of Adalita’s vocals, so dominant in the debut, are still present, but they carry a different tone from that haunting release. The album, which includes the drumming of Jim White from Dirty Three, is a much rockier effort. It incorporates more of a Magic Dirt vibe, full of powerful guitars and big, spacefilling vocals. The opener, Annihilate Baby, sets the agenda, landing a punch to the head with its growling guitar and PJ Harvey-esque vocals. Track two features full-bodied vocals and simple, repetitive playing, which carries the unconditional demand expressed in the title I Want Your Love. Other highlights include Trust is Rust, the power-pop track Blue Sky, and Too Far Gone – which delivers some of the best licks present. The closing pair, Heavy Cut and Rolled in Gold, are like a look back over the shoulder at her debut, taking on a more emotionally revealing tone – but there’s no doubt Adalita shows a new side to her musical personality in this great sophomore solo release. rory McCARTNEY

lizanne richards lizanne richards [Vitamin Records] Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Lizanne Richards, originally from Lady Grey, has stepped out of the band arena and is releasing her self-titled debut album. It features a combination of jazz, blues, and folk tunes, with Lizanne’s beautiful vocals and haunting lyrics running throughout. The album tells stories of lost loves, the passing of time, and how we, as humans, process issues that come up in our lives. It’s beautifully crafted, and I love the way each song grows, like waves on a beach, ebbing and flowing. My favourite songs are Stuck on You and Racing Time. Stuck on You explores the consequences of a broken marriage from the man’s perspective. The chorus is catchy, but asks important questions, especially relating to the impact of divorce on children. Racing Time is about the limitless energy of children and young people, and this is especially shown by the funk rhythms. I enjoy the vocal harmonies Lizanne Richards employs, but more on some of the less upbeat numbers would have been great. The songs also benefit from moments of anger, heartbreak or excitement, the music intensifying. I’d love to see more of that intensity seen in Stuck on You. As a folk blues fan, this album and style of vocals speak to me. And as a flute player, I wonder what these songs would sound like with some experimenting with other instruments and sounds. There are hints of many different inspirations on this debut, and this is what makes the album so loveable. It sneaks in jazz, folk, blues, and pop, meshed together alongside the stunning lyrics. NOEMIE HUTTNER-KOROS

the barons of tang into the mouths of hungry giants [bird’s robe records] Melbourne seven-piece The Barons of Tang first warmed their piano accordion keys in 2007, and their debut album has finally hit the streets. What a grouse title it has! The band’s gypsy punk style takes after New Yorkers Gogol Bordello, with the exception that the Barons’ work is more instrumental. They have a broad world music pedigree that comes with strong Middle European and Middle Eastern bloodlines and hints of Yiddish Klezmer music. Three Piece Law Suit is full of blind corners, as you never know what surprise will fly at you. Racing along at a reckless pace, it combines music that is carefully orchestrated (but slightly mad) with the raucous singing of Julian Cue. Pocket Full of Sand conjures images of minarets and veils, and was just made for belly dancers’ sequins to shimmer to. The overtly theatrical Case of the Missing Moustache is full of vivid imagery, creating dramatic pictures of shadowy corners and pursuits down echoing laneways. While the band generally favours controlled anarchy at a fast speed, the slower Tin Can Alchemy, with its haunting beginning and hypnotic playing, shows how striking a slower pace can be. The closer, Dogs of Rotterdam, is a wild, galloping tune, with boisterous male lead vocals, strong shout-outs from the band, and powerful female blues singing at its finish. Constantly changing shape, this manic track possesses multiple personalities. Into the Mouths of Hungry Giants fulfils the band’s desire to produce more tracks with vocals, which is great – but while their strong musicianship goes undoubted, this musical style is best enjoyed live, and an impregnable wall of instrumentals, especially with tracks over average length, does not translate very well to ordinary CD listening. rory McCARTNEY

sebadoh defend yourself [domino] Great. Another reunion record. And this time it’s one from a most beloved pillar of ‘90s indie. Probably the inventors of ‘90s indie, really; those first dishevelled records, filled with tape hiss and slack-jawed stoner chops, were sonically iconic and magnificently written. They faded as the production got shinier in the late ‘90s, and audiences were not baying for their return as they were for lead man Lou Barlow’s other iconic act (that’d be Dinosaur Jr, for those playing along at home). So. Is it any good? Fuck yes. It’s great. Especially the Barlow bits. The first lines on opener I Will ask the listener if they ‘can tell that I’m about to lose control?’, but the next three minutes are entirely controlled. And perfect. As far as three-piece rock and roll goes, this is as good as it gets. It’s got huge pop hooks, rhythmic intrigue, and a vocal that fills the heart with gratitude. If there’s a problem, it’s the dual-songwriter issue. This record, like Harmacy, shows Barlow running hot and co-leader Jason Loewenstein not quite measuring up. On last year’s Secret EP, Loewenstein had the run of the green, but here his efforts are too stuck within the world of post-hardcore, with tooobvious nods to Built to Spill. They’re fine songs, but not essential, and the quality of Barlow’s compositions cast Loewenstein’s cuts in a lesser light. However, at its worst, the record is eminently listenable. At its best, in tunes like Love You Here, Oxygen and Let It Out, it’s brilliant. Place this LP below Sebadoh’s stand-alone classic (III) but amongst their mid-period greats (below Bakesale, near enough to Harmacy). This is a very welcome return. glen martin

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space party future surf [independent]

drenge drenge [infectious records]

kate nash girl talk [My Ignorant Youth/Fontana]

Local musician and songwriter Alex Plegt is on a wild nostalgia kick. Not only is he into vintage horror-themed songs as a member of Little Mac and The Monster Men, but he is able to indulge his hankering for the classic ‘60s surf instrumental sound as a member of his side project, Space Party. Besides being an ace guitarist and lyricist for LMMM, he’s a keen composer in the classic surf genre. Alex (ex-Arctic Circles and Forbidden Planet) teams up with skins man Darren Atkinson (ex-Big Heavy Stuff) and bassist Kevin Lauro (ex-Defenders). The CD was recorded locally by Glenn Tinsley (ex-Freeloaders and Groove Dot Com), who also contributed the keyboard work on the closing track.

Blues rockers Drenge have emerged from the countryside of Derbyshire in England’s East Midlands, and as a twopiece who necessarily eschew a deeper low end in favour of the stripped-back guitarist-drummer pairing, their image makes comparison seem straightforward. However, the diversity they manage to cram into the broad subset of blues rock makes filing them neatly on the two-piece shelf (somewhere between The Black Keys and The White Stripes) pleasingly difficult.

Some first things to get out of the way. Given the fact that I pretty much haven’t partaken in terrestrial radio or television for the past six years (yes, the internet is my cathode teat of choice), I’m coming in late on the whole Kate Nash thing. However, get just a few songs into this third album, Girl Talk, and it certainly isn’t hard to pick up on what’s happening here.

The band revels in instrumentals which combine the invigorating salty tang of surf music with the (then) futuristic solid state vibe, made famous by such bands as The Ventures. This surf-science theme provides a neat segue into the sci-fi drenched songs of the band’s second release since their 2006 formation. Opener Creepy overflows with raw, growling guitar, carrying the essence of a heavy, breaking seascape. Most tracks are pure instrumentals, apart from Darren’s sinister injection of ‘creepy’ into the song of the same name. However, Alex’s LMMM compatriot Susan Mackell provides the vocals on the closing cover of Spizzenergi’s Where’s Captain Kirk? There’s a vintage movie sample, warning of the ‘insatiable blood lust’ at the start of Return of the Creature, before CD highlight Surfer’s Paradigm, which offers some of the wildest licks on the disc. However, you can have too much twangy guitar, and the overall consistency in the sound would not stretch past EP length. rory McCARTNEY

Eoin and Rory Loveless present a raw front from the get-go, shoving track titles like Dogmeat and I Want to Break You in Half in at the fore of the list – and a glance at the album cover does nothing to offset an image of grim, stone-faced nihilism. However, Drenge offset confrontation with bloody yet playful irreverence – Eoin’s lyrics favour detached, visceral imagery (‘I put my hands in the air/ You crush my knuckles to dust’) over angst. The duo’s songwriting nous shines in the grafting of flesh onto the sinewy, strippedback foundation of their sound. They heft loping, crunchy blues rock riffs at one end of the record (People In Love Make Me Feel Yuck, Dogmeat) and step into languid sludge at the other (Bye Bye Bao Bao, Let’s Pretend), whilst peppering high-gain punk thrash through the middle. This consistent variation in pace and trajectory could have muddled the album’s cohesion, but the way the duo casually nail the tone at every turn – Eoin pitching tuneful, slouching vocals amongst his own uncomplicated, forceful guitar riffs, and the clamour of Rory Loveless’ driven and creative drumming – sells the package all too well. Drenge is at once brutal, irreverent, tasteful, and ambitious; and ultimately, rock-solid.

After initially surfacing as a distinctly more pop-oriented artist in 2007 and enjoying a UK platinum seller with her debut album Made of Bricks, with Girl Talk Nash has decided that she wants to re-gear her sound towards a harder indie-rock approach. For some reason, this seems to be sacrilegious to the majority of the music press, with any ‘commercial’ artist who attempts a move towards increased credibility attracting far more ire than one who simply adheres to the factory line trajectory. It’s ironic, because I get the impression that if this was some new artist on a label like, say, Sub Pop, people would be going crazy. Parts of it remind me of The Breeders or Elastica more than anything else (see the growling, bass-driven Death Proof, which evokes images of a Tarantino-esque drive across the desert), with a focus on wiry guitars and distinctly rawer vocals from Nash. There are certainly moments here where Nash’s reach over-stretches itself and falters, a case in point being the awkward nod towards distorted hip hop vocals on Rap for Rejection – but overall, it’s the (generally successful) intention on her part that most impresses here. This feels like a transitory step in the right direction from Nash. chris downton

david smith

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the word

on films

WITH MELISSA WELLHAM

Biopics are probably an easier sell to mass markets, but sometimes I wish film studios would just make a straightshooting documentary. A film like Jobs would have been markedly improved were it a doco, concentrating on the psyche of Steve and filled with interviews with his friends, colleagues, and business enemies – the people who knew him best. Instead, the biopic is a fairly wimpy effort to explore a famously prickly personality. But then we would have missed Kutcher dressed like he was back on That ‘70s Show.

quote of the issue ‘I’m not dismissing the value of higher education; I’m simply saying it comes at the expense of experience.’ – Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher), Jobs

jobs

white house down

red 2

Knowing very little about Jobs’ personality and history (I somehow managed to avoid reading much about his life after his death), Jobs should have been more interesting for me than many in the audience. But this ambitious film is, for the most part, superficial and oversentimentalised.

White House Down has a ludicrous Jekyll-and-Hyde complex, which wildly swerves between entertaining action and bland American sentiment. After being turned down for a job with the Secret Service, John Cale (Channing Tatum) goes on a tour of The White House with his daughter. The tour is interrupted by a paramilitary group who take over the building, and Cale must protect President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). There is a scene where Cale and the President try to escape The White House in the Presidential limousine while bazookas, mounted machine guns, and tanks unleash hell around the vehicle. During the firefight, the President hangs out the window with a rocket launcher and destroys a sentry gate. The set piece is completely barmy, but genius in the way it commits to doing an explosive triple backflip into the crazy pool. In fact, the scene ends with the limo flipping upside down and, literally, landing in a pool: bravo! When director Roland Emmerich flexes the irrational muscle of White House Down, it works extremely well.

Our retired but extremely dangerous heroes are back – reprising their roles from Red for the second time around – and this time Frank (Bruce Willis, Die Hard), Sarah (MaryLouise Parker, Weeds), Marvin (John Malkovich, Burn After Reading), and Victoria (Helen Mirren, Hitchcock) embark on a frantic, bullet-ridden aroundthe-world chase that involves a Korean assassin, Russian secret agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Parisian wine lover (David Thewlis), and batty nuclear physicist (Anthony Hopkins).

The film follows Steve Jobs – played by Ashton Kutcher, who really does look a lot like the man himself – from hippie college dropout to the perfectionist developer of some of the most iconic products of the 21st century, who seems to have been equally revered and feared by his employees. Watching Jobs raised two questions: (a) Is everyone who gets involved in techno-business a complete douche (see also: The Social Network); and (b) Was this really the most imaginative and provocative film that scriptwriter Matt Whiteley and director Joshua Michael Stern could develop to celebrate Jobs’ powerful branding of ‘Think Different’? There are a few too many montages and overwrought monologues, where snappy dialogue and a deeper discussion of what made Jobs the way he was would have been more interesting. Jobs had an interesting life, immense vision (along with a great team), and a famously prickly personality – but there’s too much focus on the business of Apple. At the end of the film you don’t really understand the man. You only understand how the myth created a corporation. melissa wellham

All the madness is sadly buried under soppy romanticism related to the seat of power in Washington. These moments unseat the lunacy and screenwriter, James Vanderbilt, seems to be trying to ground the film in patriotism when Emmerich has just blown it to smithereens. It’s a real shame that Emmerich couldn’t commit to indulging his special brand of disaster porn (see: everything he has ever made) into a realm of action movie satire. cameron williams

Red 2 is fast-paced ridiculousness, delivered in a shameless, logic-defying, action movie package. The cast is star-studded to be sure, and they all seem to be having great fun – plus it is enjoyable to see a barrage of Oscar winners and nominees prancing about with automatic weapons. As for the plot, maybe I’ve seen too many action films (or I just think like a secret agent), but I saw most of this coming, including the big finish. It feels like a sequel too, in that since the characters and humour are already established (Helen Mirren with guns! Lol!) no one is trying that hard to win over the audience (although Mirren is delightfully bad-ass). As such, it isn’t much more than shallow, good fun. But it is an action movie after all, and insofar as fights, car chases, espionage, breaking and entering, and straight-up lawbreaking go (for the greater good, of course), Red 2 delivers it all – gleefully and with a bang. MEGAN McKEOUGH

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salinger

paranoia

‘Uncover the mystery but don’t spoil the secrets’ is the tagline for the documentary Salinger, which traces the life of the reclusive author, JD Salinger (who wrote The Catcher in the Rye, under-rock-dwellers). With so much emphasis placed on the skeletons hiding in Salinger’s closet, the doco dies by the empty promise of big surprises, despite an interesting analysis of Salinger’s life and the wartime birth of Rye.

Paranoia isn’t an offensively bad film. It’s just that it’s offensively bland. Adam Cassidy (Liam Hemsworth) is just your regular guy, with movie-world characteristics thrown in – Hollywood goodlooks, actually a genius and into computer engineering, and has to look after his dying father – who is trying to rise up through the ranks at tech company Wyatt Corporation. When his ego costs him his job, Adam’s pitiless CEO Nicholas Wyatt (Gary Oldman) engages him to infiltrate and spy on the company of a corporate rival: Jock Goddard (Harrison Ford). But Adam is merely a pawn being used in a game between two obsessive superiors – and pawns are always the first piece to be knocked off the board.

What director Shane Salerno gets completely right in his film is channeling the excruciating writing process Salinger put himself through. Salinger’s stories were all based on experiences from his own life, and writing was a form of exorcising inner demons. It’s amazing to hear about the evolution of Rye, which sparked from Salinger’s youth and even faced the atrocities of World War II. Sadly, the novelist’s deeply personal stories were often faced with heavy scrutiny and rejection, mainly from Salinger’s mark of success: publication in The New Yorker. There’s a neat look into the fandom around Salinger, and the ritual his followers go through to try and get a glimpse of the legendary scribe, but it’s only passing. Salerno gets tangled looking for the controversy in Salinger’s life as the doco ploughs through family issues, his fascination with young women, and a series of murderers who all cited Rye as an inspiration. As for the secrets? Well, the big revelation is that there are barely any shocks, so tread lightly into the domain of Salinger. cameron williams

Australian director Robert Luketic is in charge here, and while he does an admirable job of maintaining the pace, pace alone is not enough to overcome bland dialogue, poor character development, and the predictable irritation of screen time too devoted to a love interest, the presence of which doesn’t even make that much sense. Proficient but derivative, Paranoia might have been more interesting if this techno-thriller was more of a psychological thriller, and – as the name suggests – concentrated more on the paranoia of the woefully underused Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford. As it is, Paranoia is an acceptable date night film – but it will feel like you are watching a pastiche of better, similar films that came before it. melissa wellham

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the word

on games

Prison Architect (Alpha) Platform: PC Developer: Introversion Length: 10 hrs+ Verdict: Buy The Kickstarter craze that started a few years ago has now well and truly spread to all corners of the consumer globe, and from the simple to the ridiculous (*cough* Phonebloks), it seems that consumers are more than happy to fork over their hard-earned cash in return for the mere promise of product delivery. Into this well-meaning wild west steps Prison Architect, a game that aims to give players the chance to design and run their own prison. This game is similar in concept to Bullfrog’s Dungeon Keeper; you are a seemingly omnipotent entity able to survey your domain from above, but you are only able to interact with it via the careful placement of buildings, rooms, and items. The denizens within your prison will then change their behaviour depending on what you place and where you place it. You can also directly see the needs of your criminals and try to pre-empt their violent tantrums, needs normally centring around food, housing, and entertainment. In my first play through of Prison Architect I managed to lose six prisoners in the first ten minutes of play due to the oversight of a fence around my facility. A quick restart and I rectified this and already was improving the design of my prison, allowing the ingress of needed items such as food and building supplies, whilst preventing the simultaneous egress of criminals from my jail. Less interesting sections of infrastructure will also need to be considered, as seemingly innocuous items such as water supply pipes will (eventually) enable prisoners to crawl through them to freedom, costing your prison some significant cash. It was never clear whether I was just really good at being a ‘Prison Architect’ or whether full-scale prison riots had yet to be implemented as a feature, however violence was definitely a constant and the medical staff were always patching up both guards and prisoners. The ‘alpha’ badge indicates the relative immaturity of the game and that work is ongoing to improve it. The developers have been very open about this aspect of the game, with humourous videos outlining the foibles that are affecting the current build of the game. For instance, an early video showed prisoners taking their lunch trays with them to the bathroom facilities, and then showering whilst holding said trays. This is now fixed, but the game is obviously still being created as many items and buildings are marked ‘Doesn’t do anything’. Prison Architect is getting frequent updates from the developers, and the rapport with the community appears constructive in getting to a game with the greatest appeal and playability, and there is already a community site showcasing a number of successful prison designs. For those interested in shaping the future of a game without the requirement of being a programmer, the $20 price tag offers good value given that you also get a working computer game at the end. peter davis

BLACKBOX As the fall season gets into the swing in the US, we are starting to see local airdates for the big ticket shows including political crime thriller Hostages (WIN, Wed Oct 2, 8:30pm) and the third season of Homeland (SCTEN, Mon Sep 30, 8:30pm). As we go to print, Prime still has a heap of primetime holes in its schedule in the week starting Mon Sep 30, just ripe for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which kicks of in the US on Fri Sep 24, The Blacklist, starting Thu Sep 23 and the third season of Scandal, due to air in the US on Thu Oct 3. Following the ongoing obsession with mid (last) century drama, Auntie’s newest offering Serangon Road (ABC1, Sun, 8:30pm) leaves behind the prim and proper pop art sensibilities of shows like Mad Men and takes the audience into the competing cultural tensions of colonial Singapore. The lush co-production with HBO Asia is essentially an episodic detective story, but that doesn’t give it enough credit. The underlying story arcs speak much more about the relationships between the characters and the cultural clash of colonialism set against a quickly modernising world. Hopefully the first of more co-productions to leave the void left by ABC losing the first run rights to BBC content. Set in a somewhat similar time period, but with all the trappings of the Mad Men palette, is docudrama Masters of Sex (SBS1, Thu Oct 3, 9:30pm) which tells the story of sexual pioneers Virginia Johnson and Dr William Masters. Other new shows on the box this fortnight include Canadian fantasy-noir series Lost Girl (SBS2, Tue Oct 8, 8:40pm), and Chinese dating show If You are the One (SBS2, Tue Oct 1, 7:45pm) – much less schmaltzy than its local equivalents. The second season of Prisoners of War (SBS1, Wed Oct 2, 9:30pm), the Israeli drama that inspired Homeland, offers a much more nuanced look at returned hostages than its American interpretation, with plenty of drama but less wailing, and, sadly, less Mandy Patinkin. There are also new seasons of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror (SBS2, Tue Oct 8 9:30pm), and Whitechapel (ABC1, Sat Oct 12, 8:30pm), Never Mind the Buzzcocks (ABC2, Thu Oct 3, 8:30pm), the final season of How I Met your Mother (Prime, Thu Sep 26, 8pm), and the new season of Sons of Anarchy (Showcase, Wed Sep 11, 9:30pm) kicked off a couple of weeks back. For those who haven’t seen it, Auntie is running all 16 eps of the final season of Breaking Bad (ABC2, Mon Oct 7, 9:20pm). With the final ep due to air on Sun Sep 29, there probably won’t be time for withdrawal pains. Docos to keep a look out for include Kakadu (ABC1, Sun Oct 6, 7:30pm), filmed over 12 months through the experience of rangers and traditional owners, Big Name, No Blanket (ABC1, Sun Sep 29, 9:30pm) about former Warumpi band lead singer George Rrurrambu, and Blur: No Distance Left to Run (ABC2, Wed Oct 3, 8:30pm). Movies to check out this fortnight include 1983 vampire flick The Hunger (Go, Mon Sep 30, 1am), one of a number of films from this era starring David Bowie, Blow (Go, Mon Sep 30, 9:30pm) with Johnny Depp as an ‘80s cocaine king, Daleks – Invasion Earth 2150 AD (GEM, Sat Sep 28, 2am), and Superman/Batman Apocalypse (Go, Sat Oct 5, 11:50pm), proof that nothing good ever comes from superhero sci-fi character mash ups. Look out for BMA alumni The Bedroom Philosopher doing his own version of a promo for ABC2. TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyherrernan@bigpond.com @ChezBlackbox

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the word on dvds

The Good Wife – The Fourth Season [Paramount] In the very first episode of The Good Wife, we are introduced to Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) standing stunned, silent, next to her husband Peter (Chris Noth), as he fronts a press conference and resigns as State Attorney after a sex scandal. The show follows Alicia getting her life back, emerging from the shadows of her famous husband. It’s a show that manages to balance ripped-straightfrom-the-headline plot lines (think scandal-plagued New York politicians Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Wiener, or a certain ex-president called Bill) and personal empowerment homilies: overcoming adversity, gossip, and assumptions. The Good Wife attracted an avalanche of attention and good press when it debuted in 2009, and though the bubbles have shrunk a little, it remains one of the most compelling non-cable dramas going around. And the reason is simple: the actors. It’s hard to think of another show that has a similar depth of talent as The Good Wife does: Alan Cumming, Parker Posey, Matthew Perrym, Archie Panjabi, Michael J Fox, and Christine Baranski are joined this season by Maura Tierney (from the dearly missed NewsRadio) and Nathan Lane. Still, it’s Margulies who continues to drive the show, which makes it all the more frustrating that her back-andforth relationship fandango with colleague Will (Josh Charles) continues to occupy so much time. But that’s TV, folks. Likewise, like any episodic drama with an overarching plot arc, there needs to be breather or case-of-the-week episodes to fill out the season. You wonder how The Good Wife would look at half the length – House of Cards, maybe? The finale implies a shake-up is on the cards which doesn’t seem necessary because plodding along for this show is enough. justin hook

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Friday Night Lights – The Fifth and Final Season [Universal/Sony] People used to gloat about not watching TV. It was wheeled out as some sort of moronic gesture of differentiation and class. Meeting anyone banal enough to peddle this line was a drag, but it also served as an effective filter at parties. Nowadays, you’re just as likely to run into people gloating about watching TV at the expense of films. And though much of the talk about TV’s golden age focuses on cable dramas (The Wire, Breaking Bad et al.), a small brand of obsessives hold Friday Night Lights up to be equal to anything on cable. Some, like me, even go so far as to say it is better than those shows, and is actually one of the best TV shows of the last decade. This final season of Friday Night Lights is exactly like the every season that preceded it: subdued, immaculately scripted and acted, and heartbreaking. It’s unfeasible that a show about high school football players in Texas is so damned good, but that’s the truth. There’s an unforced honesty that is miles ahead of the over-amped, hyper-unrealistic, anti-heroics of cable drama. It’s an adjustment though. Simple day-to-day family stories have been passed over for epic tales of criminal enterprise. These last episodes feel like a well-earned valedictory lap of honour, and there’s been no attempt to shoehorn bigger issues into the show. The show remained ‘til the very end a portrait of a marriage: Coach and Tami Taylor (Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton) achieved the hardest thing of all – making the ordinary seem extraordinary. Coach wins the big game, old relationships are rekindled, and everyone moves on with their lives. Friday Night Lights was not the brashest of TV shows, but it was one of the most confident. Every victory was humble – right to the end. justin hook

Revolution – The Complete First Season [Warner Home Video] The lure of the post-apocalypse genre is obvious. Laws don’t apply and humanity has usually descended to its primal urge – survival. It appeals to our universal desire for things to be better. Sure, humanity might have been near-extinguished, but there’s a rag tag mob of misfits to repopulate and do things properly. Identity renewal is a powerful thing. Then there’s the allegorical transferability: it could be communists, foreigners, ecological disaster, consumerism. Everyone loves the post-apocalypse. Revolution has gone down the technology route. Suddenly, without warning, electricity disappears and everything dependant on it becomes instantly redundant. Cars stop dead in their tracks, phone networks close, ice cream melts, lights turn off, and planes fall from the sky. Fast forward 15 years and North America is split into six territories resembling some sort of militia republic, agrarian self-sufficiency, and home schooling – without the guns or Illuminati-chatter. So at this point, Revolution also becomes a Civil War metaphor. It’s a thrilling premise and the setup looks great, but serious flaws soon become apparent. Despite input from JJ Abrams (producer) and Iron Man’s Jon Favreau (directed first episode), Revolution looks cheap and moves at a snail’s pace. It also confuses itself for a Hunger Games-style teen action/hunt show when Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos) is given screen time. For the first half, it does look like another Lost ripoff, more interested in oblique open-ended questions than plot development, but to its credit, the cause of the blackout is eventually addressed. Nevertheless, Revolution is just a touch too literal: those who control the electricity (power) control the people (power). justin hook

the word

Beach Slut, Sex Noises, Mornings Transit Bar Thursday September 12

on gigs

Bad news hit the gig before the first band went on stage: The Fighting League was a late out, with post-punk outfit Mornings getting a call up off the bench. While not being as matched stylistically to this gig as The Fighting League was, Mornings still kicked out the jams, even if they were playing down a member. Just when you thought you had their direction worked out, they decided to rapidly change courses. Shifting effortlessly between Sonic Youth-esque noodling and Joy Division-inspired post-punk dirges, Mornings seemed to be confident in both their material and live performance. They are a band you have to invest in, and aren’t meant for casual listeners. But, given the time and attention, they impressed. After seeing them three or four times now, I’m still not sure of what to make of Sex Noises. With calls to ‘90s Riot grrrl and X-Ray Spex-esque punk rock, Sex Noises intertwined innocence, lust, and violence throughout their set. It was a tight set, and the band appeared to be growing more comfortable with their songs. This is not meant to be a criticism, but I expected them to hit an extra gear at times, to elevate themselves as a band, and I’m not sure they did that on the night. Labels and genres are a crutch that we all rely on when describing what something is like. Genres and sound-alikes provide comfort, in that what you’re experiencing is within the realms of possibility. I’ve certainly done so writing about Mornings and Sex Noises above. It is hard to write a review of something that others may not have experienced without relying on common points of reference. A DIY punk band will usually remind you of another DIY punk band, chillwave relates to other chillwave, and on and on and on. Beach Slut’s most prominent references aren’t musically based, but are instead based on experience. They write songs about being a teenager whilst being teenagers, and their set was an authentic experience, if a highly sardonic one at times. It recalled youth and discontent, irony and wasted weekends. Beach Slut wore their musical influences on their sleeves, or for this show, on the front of their identical ‘Palm’ shirts. The easy musical comparison is Wavves, both in their evolution as artists (moving from essentially solo bedroom recording projects to a full band) and in their sonic identity. Both deploy fucked-up visions of rock and roll run through the filters of noise and punk, where the lyrics matter but their delivery does not. At this gig, Beach Slut reflected the current Canberra music scene: the (now abandoned) tropical-ness of The Fighting League, the cutting guitars and synths of Danger Beach, and the noisiness of TV Colours. They were an amalgam of the young Canberra scene in late-2013. Their best moments came when they played their aggression off against more measured moments – when they let soft/loud dynamics come into play. The highlights of the night came from songs off their new EP Teen Idle, especially Haircuts (perhaps a subtle nod in the direction of Pavement) and the epic Glide (Pt 1-3).

PHOTOS BY ANNA BOYDELL

That night, Beach Slut sounded like youth: a combination of selfassured confidence, watchful neuroses, laziness, and moments of undeniable brilliance. CODY ATKINSON

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the word

on gigs

Rudimental, Gorgon City, SAFIA UC Refectory Wednesday September 18 A sold out gig means a long queue, and it does not help when the doors don’t open on time. Thankfully the earlier storm passed quickly or it would have been miserable. On a good note, the organisers sent the Moshtix guys down the line with scanners, so when doors opened, we moved quickly. Plus, the boom boom of the sound check carried clearly to us, giving a taste of things to come. Once inside, DJ Nay Nay pumped out the pre-show mixups to create the right ambience. Gaining the first support slot gave local trio SAFIA the most exposure since their Groovin the Moo performance. Their opening song was so new it didn’t even have a name yet, and vocalist Ben Woolner really impressed, sounding ace while delivering his soft falsetto. SAFIA, who were careful to spell out their name (twice), were strong, going to the max on the keyboards with straight instrumental numbers. They wrapped up their set with the impassioned single Listen to Soul, Listen to Blues, and while the crowd was engaged, it only became animated towards the end of the set. UK production duo Gorgon City, also from Rudimental’s Black Butter Records, was up next with their ‘Alight here for Gorgon City’ intro. Unfortunately, they were limited to a DJ set of deep house with recorded vocals. The super loud, super heavy beats got the punters moving. However, without support from their singers like Yasmin, it was a bit sterile. For all the action on stage, it could just have been another night at Academy. Their material was undeniably mesmerising though, which had the more energetic crowd by the stage bopping happily. Back near the bar, there were pockets of dancing, but they lacked commitment. The venue layout caused problems, with barriers between the small spot in front of the stage (for the under-18s and keen fans) and the much larger area behind for the barflies. When the stage area filled, it was a battle to make your way to the side for the male toilets. Later, access to these was closed for over 10 minutes to create a clear path for the headliners to walk from the green room to the stage (literally piss poor!). Rudimental stepped up against a backdrop of the band’s title and the Hackney Peace Carnival Mural, on a stage garlanded with mirror balls. It was always destined to be a huge set, and hands shot up as the initial trumpet blasts burst forth.

PHOTOS BY MARTIN OLLMAN

Known for the gritty street realism in their music and videos, the band delivered great value for their fans. They pounded out all their hits, beginning with Give You Up (they actually played the spoons to kick off the song). Apart from the trumpeter, the London four were joined by one male and two female vocalists including Sinead Harnett. It was the top notch vocalists that really brought Rudimental’s great rhythms to life. The band easily made the whole venue erupt as the bass broke down across the crowd like a pressure wave. Close to the stage, it tended to drown out the vocals, while a better balance was found closer to the bar, where there was plenty of wild hair tossing and some inventive moves as punters broke the grip of the very sticky floor. Highlights included Hell Could Freeze, which leap-frogged through hip hop and soul genres with a touch of disco, the soulful Baby, and Free. The band’s main set closed on Feel The Love, but they came back for a few more, finally wrapping up with Waiting All Night. RORY McCARTNEY

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the word

Twelve Foot Ninja, Meniscus, Escape Syndrome Zierholz @ UC Thursday September 12

on gigs

A healthy number of punters showed up early to greet Escape Syndrome. The locals shook the room with a super loud version of Shadows II, with Matt Faulkner strong on vocals. He threw some hip hop into Fire Field and even managed to get a plug for their merch in mid-song. Keeping it heavy with Trace and The Set Disease, they kept the crowd happy. Instrumental post-rockers Meniscus dressed up their set with constantly changing video projections. They cleverly crafted a mix of delicate sounds and heavy guitars, with intricate patterns undulating, echoing, and swelling. Guitarist Daniel Oreskovic threw himself into it with a frenzy. However, Meniscus were so focused on their instruments that they did not engage well with some of the audience. While there was too much chatter, the band got a good reaction to closer, Cursed.

PHOTO BY ERICA HURRELL

Comic book characters come to life, Twelve Foot Ninja gave a master class in showmanship. Known for their funny, well-presented videos, the band showed that they are no slouches when it comes to delivering a very tight set. Frontman Kin Etik related well to the crowd and showed that he’s equally adept at high, floating vocals and screaming his lungs out. He kept it humorous, with details of the night’s winning Keno numbers entering mid-song, and the girls in the crowd thought he didn’t look too shabby either. Twelve Foot Ninja have created a niche for themselves with alternative metal that fuses heavy rock with jazz and reggae rhythms. They showed that they can get wearers of Anthrax and Fear Factory t-shirts swaying unashamedly in a most un-metal manner. The crowd coaxed them back to play War as the encore. RORY McCARTNEY

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Wed Sep 25 - Fri Sep 27

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue. wednesday september 25

Art Exhibitions 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

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

Work influenced by Keats, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Wilde, and more. 8am-6pm daily. Free. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

City of Trees

10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat). CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

Workshops

Live Music

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

Canberra Music Workshop

Kunvuk

City of Trees

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

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

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Build It and They Will Come Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Science Fiction

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

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

Rock Karaoke

Live local and interstate musicians every Wednesday night. 8pm. Free. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Osloh

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

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

On The Town Floriade Nightfest

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

Theatre Roulette

A work by Raimondo Cortese, dir. By Verity Higgins. 7:30pm. $20/$15 thru cada.net.au.

CANBERRA ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART

thursday september 26 Art Exhibitions Science Fiction

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

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat). CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Head Full of Flames

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

Curated by David Broker. 11am-5pm (10am-4pm Sat).

CHARLIE BLACK

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

Karaoke at The Inn

CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

9pm-2am. Free entry. 8pm-midnight. Free entry. OLD CANBERRA INN

10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat).

With Chud and Claret Ash. Doors 8pm. $10. THE BASEMENT

Betty

7:30pm.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Lost Touch #1

hellosQuare presents Outer Space (USA), Spartak, Central West, Blahnket DJs. 8pm. $15. THE STREET THEATRE

Peking Duk

$15 before 10pm. TRINITY BAR

ALIVE Fridays

With Timmy Trumpet, support from Chief, Rawson. $10 before midnight. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

The CMC’s 5th Birthday Party With Zoopagoo, The Spindrift Saga, Beth n Ben and more. 8pm. Door price TBA.

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

THE POLISH WHITE EAGLE CLUB

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

8am-6pm daily. Free.

Smells Like Centenary Spirit: Play It Loud

Head Full of Flames

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

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

CIT MUSIC INDUSTRY CENTRE

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Oscar

Mungo Woman

10:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Obsessions

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Comedy

OLD CANBERRA INN

Gleny Rae Virus and her Tamworth Playboys

Heath Franklin (Chopper)

Live Music The Preatures

Open Mic Night

Canberra Musicians Club Presents...

Build It and They Will Come

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

Karaoke

Live Music

Art Exhibitions

Karaoke

Is This How You Feel EP launch. 8pm. $15 + bf thru Moshtix.

THE DURHAM

friday september 27

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Karaoke From 10pm. All welcome.

For amateur musos to jam or perform in a non-judgemental environment. 6:3010:30pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Featuring Cheeky Violets. 6:30pm (registration from 6pm).

9pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Raised By Eagles

A four-piece project fronted by Luke Owen. 7:30pm. Door price TBA.

10am-5pm. Free.

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

6:30pm doors. $25 show only. $70 dinner and show. See theabbey.com. au for more. THE ABBEY

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Chicago Charles 9:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Drones

With Money for Rope. 8pm. Tickets $34.70 + bf through Oztix. ZIERHOLZ @ UC

On The Town Floriade Nightfest

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

Talks Scissors Paper Pen: The Same Page

Bi-monthly book club feat. BMA’s Ashley Thomson. 6:30-7:30pm. Free. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Theatre The Book of Everything

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

Shrine

Based on the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton. 8pm. $40-$73 + bf. THE PLAYHOUSE

Roulette

A work by Raimondo Cortese, dir. By Verity Higgins. 7:30pm. $20/$15 thru cada.net.au.

CANBERRA ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Fri Sep 27 - Sat Sep 28 friday september 27 (CONT.) On The Town Floriade Nightfest

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

Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

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

Something Different Poetry Slam

Live Music The Acid Monkeys

With 51 Percent, Old Time Glory, and The VeeBees. Doors 8pm. Door price TBA. THE BASEMENT

Trance Answers $10 before 10pm. TRINITY BAR

LOVE Saturdays

With Ashley Feraude. $10 all night. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

TJ James

CD launch with support Amber Nichols. 1pm. $15 + bf. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Adam Thomas Appreciation Night

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Local bands get together to play in appreciation of the work of photographer Adam Thomas. 7:30pm.

Theatre

Dollface

With special guest Ellie Malbon. 8pm. Entry by donation.

The Book of Everything

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

Shrine

Based on the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton. 8pm. $40-$73 + bf. THE PLAYHOUSE

Roulette

A work by Raimondo Cortese, dir. By Verity Higgins. 7:30pm. $20/$15 thru cada.net.au.

CANBERRA ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART

saturday september 28 Art Exhibitions Build It and They Will Come Art by Hardy Lohse. 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)

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

Work influenced by Keats, Thoreau, Tolstoy, Wilde, and more. 8am-6pm daily. Free. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Live music as part of Iron Bar’s opening weekend. 7pm. Free entry. IRON BAR

Vintage Vulva

With No Assumption, Two Lead Fish. 9:30pm. THE PHOENIX BAR

Steve Lane and The Autocrats

With a preternatural feel for the soul of a song. 7:30pm. Door price TBA. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Electric Eighties

With Young Docteurs, Vacant Lot, Hell Yes and more. 8pm. $30/25. AUSTRALIAN CROATIAN CLUB

Casual Sets

10:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

On The Town Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

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

Floriade Nightfest

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

Theatre The Book of Everything

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

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat).

Shrine

Head Full of Flames

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

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

Mungo Woman

Art by Brenda Runnegar inspired by Lake Mungo. 10am-5pm. Free.

Based on the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton. 8pm. $40-$73 + bf. THE PLAYHOUSE

A story about friendship, courage, responsibility, and facing fears. 10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

City of Trees

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

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sun Sep 29 - Wed Oct 2 sunday september 29

monday september 30

Art Exhibitions

Build It and They Will Come

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Bonnie McArthur: Stanzas and Sketches 8am-6pm daily. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Mungo Woman 10am-5pm. Free.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

City of Trees

10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

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

Comedy

Head Full of Flames

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Stand Up Comedy 8:15pm. Free entry.

Karaoke

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

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

City of Trees

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

Head Full of Flames

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

10am-5pm. Free.

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Live Music Davesway 1:30pm.

OJO CAFE AND BAR

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

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

Live Music CIT presents The Bootleg Sessions

Karaoke Love TRANSIT BAR

Sunday Best at A Bite to Eat

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Trivia

Something Different

Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

Story Slam

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Irish Jam Session

CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Masked Rhetoric

8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Head Full of Flames

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

Karaoke

6pm. $15/$10 concession, students, pensioners.

The Night’s Café: Latin gypsy swing jazz and blues. 5-7pm. Free.

10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat).

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

With African Band Keyimba and local band Nyash. 7:30pm. $10. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

9:15pm. Free entry.

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

Raphael Antonio

THE PHOENIX BAR

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Harris Stuckey Jazz Trio

Takadimi

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Build It and They Will Come

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

Mungo Woman

National WIRED Band Comp

$15 entry before midnight.

Art Exhibitions

Live Music

With Coolio and Housemouse, Citizen Kay, Keegz, Myronizinfektious. 8pm. Free.

RNB Heat 15 Year Anniversary

wednesday october 2

Heat nine. 7pm til late. Free entry. CHARLIE BLACK

Irish Jam Session

10am-5pm. Free.

Karaoke

From 10pm. All welcome. THE DURHAM

Live Music Canberra Musicians Club Presents...

Live local and interstate musicians every Wednesday night. 8pm. Free. SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The Gooch Palms

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

8pm. Door price TBA.

TRANSIT BAR

Theatre

THE PHOENIX BAR

Adam Starr Jazz Quartet

Workshops

With Anachel and Alex Meibusch. 8pm. $10.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Canberra Songwriters Workshop

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free. KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

7:30pm. $10.

Cherie & Raz

Live music as part of Iron Bar’s opening weekend. 2pm. Free entry. IRON BAR

On The Town Free Pool Tables

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

Floriade Nightfest

6:30-10pm. $10-25 thru Ticketek.

Free for first-timers and under-18s are welcome with an adult. 6:30pm. THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

tuesday october 1 Art Exhibitions The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat).

FLORIADE

CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Theatre

Art by Jesse Whyte. 8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

Shrine

Based on the acclaimed novel by Tim Winton. 8pm. $40-$73 + bf. THE PLAYHOUSE

Masked Rhetoric

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Head Full of Flames

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

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THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

A story about friendship, courage, responsibility, and facing fears. 10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

With The Fighting League, Sex Noises. 9pm. Free.

Seth Henderson

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Something Different Babies Proms

Tuesday Pub Trivia

An introduction to Baroque music for children. 10:30/11:30am/12:30pm. $18.75-22 + bf.

O’NEILL’S IRISH PUB

Theatre

Trivia First prize $70 bar tab. 7:30pm. Free entry.

Trivia Tuesdays

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

Andrew and Shannon’s Pub Trivia

The best pub trivia ever. 7:30pm. Free. THE PHOENIX BAR

Trivia

7:30pm. All welcome. THE DURham

THE PLAYHOUSE

Brief Encounter

Adapted from Noël Coward’s Still Life and screenplay Brief Encounter. 1:30/7:30pm, $35.90-$89.90 + b CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

A story about friendship, courage, responsibility, and facing fears. 10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Thu Oct 3 - Sat Oct 5 thursday october 3 Art Exhibitions Nostalgia

Three exhibitions that look at myths, legends and story telling. 12-5pm. Free. M16 ARTSPACE

City of Trees

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

Tate Sheridan

Masked Rhetoric

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

7:30pm. $10.

Nyash!

Head Full of Flames

THE PHOENIX BAR

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

With Cameron Ewens. 9pm. Free.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

ANU SCHOOL OF ART

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat). CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Masked Rhetoric

Art by Jesse Whyte. 8am-6pm daily. Free entry. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Head Full of Flames

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

Mungo Woman

Art by Brenda Runnegar inspired by Lake Mungo. 10am-5pm. Free. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Film

Join an acclaimed international textile artist. 1-2pm. Free.

Theatre Brief Encounter

Adapted from Noël Coward’s Still Life and screenplay Brief Encounter. 1:30/7:30pm, $35.90-$89.90 + b CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Finding S___ T____

A new work by Dean Cross. 7pm. $15/$10 door. QL2 THEATRE

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

A story about friendship, courage, responsibility, and facing fears. 10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

friday october 4

Nostalgia

Three exhibitions that look at myths, legends and story telling. 12-5pm. Free.

Comedy

City of Trees

A Bunch of Fives: Improvisation Comedy

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

M16 ARTSPACE

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am5pm. Free.

This week’s theme is ‘Spectacle’. 5:307pm. Free.

Build It and They Will Come

Live Music

Backburning

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

J Smith & the Kids

With Siren Lines. 7:30pm. Door price TBA.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Aeon of Horus

With Schoenberg Automaton, A Million Dead Birds Laughing, Inhuman Remnants. 8pm. $15. THE BASEMENT

ALIVE Fridays

With Duke Dumont, support from Offtapia, Megan Bones & Amine Allali. $10 before midnight. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Born Lion

triple j Unearthed band. 7:30-10:30pm. Door price TBA.

Rascals Festival

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Three exhibitions that look at myths, legends and story telling. 12-5pm. Free.

Special K

Nostalgia

BILK GALLERY

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

10am-5pm. Free.

Art Exhibitions

The best by Canberra’s young filmmakers. 6pm. Free entry.

Klaus Moje

Mungo Woman

BILK GALLERY

Talks

Art Exhibitions

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

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

9:30pm. Free.

saturday october 5

Selected works. 11am-5pm (-4pm, Sat).

Klaus Moje

ANU Art Forum: Michael Brennand-Wood

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

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

Special K

Build It and They Will Come Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

10pm. Free.

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

Curated by Annika Harding, with work by Julia Boyd, Trish Roan and more. 11am-5pm (10am-4pm, Sat).

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat). CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

Masked Rhetoric

Art by Jesse Whyte. 8am-6pm daily. Free entry. THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Head Full of Flames

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

Mungo Woman

Karaoke

M16 ARTSPACE

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Karaoke at The Inn

City of Trees

8pm-midnight. Free entry.

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

On The Town

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Dance

Karaoke

Build It and They Will Come

Blame it on the Boogie Weekends DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

P J O’REILLY’S (TUGGERANONG)

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

A national competition showcasing Australia’s best pole dancers. 3:30/7:30pm. $40-167.50 + bf.

OLD CANBERRA INN

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

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

Rock Karaoke

Backburning

9pm-2am. Free entry. CHARLIE BLACK

Curated by Annika Harding, with work by Julia Boyd, Trish Roan and more. 11am-5pm (10am-4pm, Sat).

Live Music

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Regurgitator

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

They’re back! 8pm. Ticket price TBA thru Oztix. ZIERHOLZ @ UC

The Basics

8pm. $20 + bf thru Moshtix. TRANSIT BAR

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat). CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

10pm onwards. Free.

Theatre Brief Encounter

Art by Brenda Runnegar inspired by Lake Mungo. 10am-5pm. Free. BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Australian Pole Championships

THE PLAYHOUSE

1:30/7:30pm, $35.90-$89.90 + b CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Finding S___ T____

A new work by Dean Cross. 7pm. $15/$10 door. QL2 THEATRE

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE Sat Oct 5 - Tue Oct 8 Live Music Fresh Nelson

sunday october 6

Post rock ambient hardcore. 8pm. $5.

Art Exhibitions

Death Audio

Nostalgia

City of Trees

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Klaus Moje

monday october 7

11am-5pm (-4pm, Sat). BILK GALLERY

Head Full of Flames

With Na Maza, Bleeding Gasoline, Reign of Terror. Doors 8pm. $10.

Three exhibitions that look at myths, legends and story telling. 12-5pm. Free.

An exhibition by Jyll Bradley. 10am5pm. Free.

LOVE Saturdays

City of Trees

Masked Rhetoric

Jeff Lang

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Art by Hardy Lohse. 11am-5pm.

THE BASEMENT

With The Projektz. $10 entry all night. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

M16 ARTSPACE

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

8pm. $30 on trybooking.com.

Build It and They Will Come

Hoodlum Shouts

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE (MANUKA)

With Life and Limb, Alistair Erskine. 9pm. $10 door. TRANSIT BAR

Yard Duty

With Beef Jerk, Mornings, Sex Noises, Mikey Shanahan. 9:30pm. THE PHOENIX BAR

Heuristic

10:30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

On The Town Blame it on the Boogie Weekends

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

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Mungo Woman

THE PHOENIX BAR

Sunday Best at A Bite To Eat A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Free traditional Irish music in the pub from late afternoon on into the night. Free. KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Fash ‘n’ Treasure

The Cannanes

EXHIBITION PARK IN CANBERRA (EPIC)

THE POLISH WHITE EAGLE CLUB

Theatre

Live music at The Sunday Sessions. 2pm. Free entry.

QL2 THEATRE

With Bacon Cakes, Waterford. 3-7pm. Door price TBA.

Sam & Rosie IRON BAR

On The Town Free Pool Tables

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

Michael Francis Willoughby in Elohgulp

A story about friendship, courage, responsibility, and facing fears. 10:30am/12:30pm. $15-$25 + bf. THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Irish Jam Session

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

Live Music

Live Music 7:30pm. $15 + bf presale/$20 door.

Live Music

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

The Bootleg Sessions

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

9pm. Free.

6:30pm. Free.

Art by Brenda Runnegar inspired by Lake Mungo. 10am-5pm. Free.

Irish Jam Session

7pm. $15/$10 door.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

TRANSIT BAR

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

Photochemical Games

Finding S___ T____

7:30pm. $10.

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

Schnitz & Giggles Improvised Comedy

The Three Funkateers: meters style New Orleans funk. 5-7pm. Free.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Irresponsible Comedy

Head Full of Flames

8:30-10:30am. Free.

Adapted from Noël Coward’s Still Life and screenplay Brief Encounter. 1:30/7:30pm, $35.90-$89.90 + b

Comedy

Karaoke Love

Take Flight with Skywhale

Brief Encounter

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Art by Jesse Whyte. 8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

Comedy

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

For all your new and retro clothing wants. 10am-3pm. $3 entry.

10am-5pm. Free.

Karaoke

Something Different

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Mungo Woman

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Jack Carty

See ‘handmade’ films, processing, printing and photochemical games. 6-7:30pm. Donation.

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA

Art by Jesse Whyte. 8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

Masked Rhetoric

DIGRESS COCKTAIL BAR

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

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

The CMC presents Trumpet Club, Evan Buckley, Strange Tourist. 8pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Talks

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Arbroi

Jazz-inspired melodies and folk storytelling. 7:30pm. Door price TBA.

Oceano

The Powder Room

With Aversions Crown, Feed Her to the Sharks, Wretch, Purity. Doors 8pm. $30.

An evening of presentation, Q&A, and discussion led by a woman of note. 7:30pm. Free.

THE BASEMENT

National WIRED Band Comp

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Final one. 7pm til late. Free entry. CHARLIE BLACK

Trivia

Theatre

Rainman’s Trivial Excuse

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

Dr Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat

Based on the all-time favourite book by Dr Seuss. 9:30/11am/2:30/ 4pm. $39 + bf.

TRANSIT BAR

THE PLAYHOUSE

tuesday october 8

Trivia

Art Exhibitions

Tuesday Pub Trivia

First prize $70 bar tab. 7:30pm. Free entry.

Backburning

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

O’NEILL’S IRISH PUB

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

The (Very) Sad Fish-lady: A Migration Tale

Phoenix Trivia 7:30pm. Free.

THE PHOENIX BAR

The quirky tale of the Fish-lady, created by Joy McDonald. 10am-5pm (12-4pm, Sat).

Trivia Tuesdays

Masked Rhetoric

Trivia

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

THE DURHAM

CRAFT ACT CRAFT & DESIGN CENTRE

8am-6pm daily. Free entry.

OUT

OCT9

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

7:30pm. All welcome.

owl eyes adalita living green festival ed kuepper ...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

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

Where did your band name come from? Out favourite Slovenian ice wrestling circus troupe.

Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422733974 backbeatdrivers.com

Moots Huck 0419630721

Group members? Beth Monzo (guitar, vocals), Ben Drysdale (guitar, vocals), Adam ‘Brown’ Brown (bass), Robert Nesci (drums), Nick Combe (sax), Tim Bowyer (trumpet), and Dan Luton (percussion).

Bat Country Communion, The Mel 0400405537

Beth n Ben

Describe your sound: A playful palate of fried folk, sautéed in reggae relish, served on mishmash, drizzled with jazzy jus. Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Tina Fey, Martin Luther King, and Weird Al Yankovic. What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? Our audience of two asking us to play Kiss before getting into an argument with each other and flipping a table over in Geelong. Of what are you proudest so far? Playing the Lyrebird Stage at Peats Ridge. What are your plans for the future? The same thing we do every night, Pinky … Try to take over the world! What makes you laugh? The adventures of Adam ‘Brown’ Brown … featuring the decision to prank answer a call from a blocked number with the phrase, ‘I’ve hidden the bodies, but there’s blood everywhere,’ which happened to be from the Chief of the Belconnen Police department. What pisses you off? Segways; the people who ride them. What about the local scene would you change? Venues paying the same amount of money for original music as they do for cover bands. What are your upcoming gigs? Scenic Roots EP Launch @ The Polish White Eagle Club, Friday October 11, 8pm ‘til late with Brother Be and Party Gravy. Tickets at trybooking.com/dlmg. Contact info: cardboardcharlie@ gmail.com; bethnben. com; facebook.com/ bethnbenband; twitter. com/bethnbenband; youtube.com/user/ bethnbenvideofun; soundcloud.com/ beth-n-ben.

Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus1

Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows-bookings@ birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438351007 blacklabelphotography.net Bridge Between, The Cam 0431550005

Morning After, The Covers band Anthony 0402500843 Mornings Jordan 0439907853 MuShu Jack 0414292567 mushu_band@hotmail.com Obsessions 0450 960 750 obsessions@grapevine.com.au Painted Hearts, The Peter (02) 62486027 Polka Pigs Ian (02) 62315974

Capital Dub Style Reggae/dub events Rafa 0406647296

Rafe Morris 0416322763

Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662

Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404178996/ (02) 61621527

Danny V Danny 0413502428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428

Redletter Ben 0421414472

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

Sorgonian Twins, The Mark 0428650549

Feldons, The 0407 213 701

Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401588884

FeralBlu Danny 0413502428 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410381306 Lachlan 0400038388

STonKA Jamie 0422764482 stonka2615@gmail.com

Fourth Degree Vic 0408477020

Strange Hour Events Dan 0411112075

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

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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