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ISSUE 1691 • JANUARY 15 • 2020
Fatboy Slim LISA FISCHER • CONRAD SEWELL • JOSH WOLF • SLEEP TALK • EDUCATION SPECIAL
24 YEARS OF DANCEFLOOR HEAT
M E L B O U R N E R E C I TA L C E N T R E P R E S E N T S
Holly
Herndon Tue 21 January All remaining tickets $45
Breathtaking creations merge music and machine like never before, making Holly the face of new music today. ‘Pushing the boundaries of electronic music’s potential.’ Morning Star
Tue 11 February 7.30pm / Tickets from $45 Dreamy cosmic soundscapes, mesmerising vocals and blissful psychedelic rock. Presented inside The Lightship, a perception-shifting, visual environment light box helmed by artist Emmanuel Biard.
‘Akin to being awake in a dream’ The Line of Best Fit
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Thu 20 & Fri 21 February 7.30pm Tickets from $69
The long-shining indie stars return for the first time in 10 years to deliver their infectious hooks, sweet harmonies and a pile of power-pop riffs. ‘The New Pornographers are stronger than ever.’ Paste
Sat 14 March 7.30pm Tickets from $59 The soul-stirring voice and masterly banjo and fiddle playing of Rhiannon Giddens bridges musical genres and time. With Italian multi-instrumentalist and jazz musician Francesco Turrisi they produce a stunning hybrid style of gospel, opera, bluegrass, early Baroque and Mediterranean music.
Cnr Southbank Blvd & Sturt Street Southbank #melbrecital
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melbournerecital.com.au Box Office 9699 3333 Transaction & delivery fees may apply
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FREE ENTRY
15−16 February 2020 Pier Promenade Frankston
Food trucks Markets Rides
waterfrontfestival.com.au thewaterfrontfestival frankstonevents #frankstonevents Frankston City Council acknowledges the traditional owners of the land in and around Frankston City
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2020
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
ALICE SKYE AMARU TRIBE BAD BANGS BIRDZ BOLER MANI BUMPY BUSBY MAROU CASH SAVAGE AND THE LAST DRINKS CREATURE FEAR DALLAS WOODS DELSINKI DR SURE'S UNUSUAL PRACTICE DRMNGNOW EBONY BOADU EMILEE SOUTH FACE FACE FRANCESCA GONZALES FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK GORDON KOANG HANNAH KATE HOT DUB TIME MACHINE HORNS OF LEROY FT. THANDO HUNTLY IAKI VALLEJO INDIGENOUS HIP HOP PROJECTS JADE IMAGINE JUNO DISCO KEE'AHN KYLIE AULDIST MAL WEBB & KYLIE MORRIGAN MAMA KIN SPENDER MERPIRE MESSY MAMMALS MEXICAN MUSIC MAN MIKHAELL PIRRITU POOKIE PORT ROYAL PRESS CLUB RAT!HAMMOCK REMI SHIPS PIANO STONEFIELD SURF TRASH TEENAGE DADS THE BLACK SORROWS THE HAPLOIDS THE HUNTER EXPRESS THE REBELLES TIA GOSTELOW THE KITE STRING TANGLE UPTOWN BROWN VINCE THE KID YERGURL ZO FOX AND THE ROCKET CLOCKS
PLUS A VERY SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY GUEST
AUST
ST RGE
IA'S LA RAL
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ISSUE 1691
Contents EDITOR Tom Parker DIGITAL EDITOR Kate Streader SUB EDITOR Greta Brereton EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Gabriella Beaumont, Jacob Colliver, Joshua Martin, Emilia Megroz, Saskia Morrison-Thiagu, Leland Tan GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Alex Foreman, Ruby Furst MANAGING DIRECTOR Patrick Carr ADVERTISING Greg Pettinella (Advertising/Editorial) greg@beat.com.au
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Mark Stockden (Advertising/Editorial) mark@beat.com.au
PBS Drive Live
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE accounts@furstmedia.com.au DISTRIBUTION Free every second Wednesday to over 3,200 points around Melbourne. Along with being handed out at Train Stations. Wanna get BEAT? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS now online at beat.com.au SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Ian Laidlaw CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS David Harris, Lewis Nixon, Sally Townsend, Andrew Friend, Rochelle Flack, Anna Madden, Dan Soderstrom, Joshua Braybrook, Tasha Strachan, James Hughes
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Fatboy Slim
Georgia
Editor’s Note The start of the decade, hey? Chyeah, we already rolling into the third week of January 2020 and it feels as though there’s already been releases left, right and centre. Rising UK synth enthusiast Georgia has dropped her long-awaited second album, making the early impression. We chat to her about the process behind Seeking Thrills. There’s also been records from Easy Life, The Big Moon and Beach Slang already – everyone’s out to make some noise… early. Aside from the standard releases, 2020 has also seen plenty of bushfire relief compilations. Billy Twyford, teenage lead singer of local punks Disco Junk, has compiled 33 songs from 33 bands onto a tape titled, There’s Gotta Be Hope, Right? He’s talking to you Mr Morrison. Chapter Music have put out their own compilation record of some the record label favourite creators. Think Little Ugly Girls, Beaches, The Goon Sax, NO ZU, Holy Balm and all the other Chapter cherubs on the one record. 100% of proceeds to be split between Wildlife Victoria, Fire Relief for First Nations Communities and Gippsland Emergency Relief Fun. Hats off to you, Ben and Guy. Down to the nitty gritty and in Beat #1691, we feature conversations with Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Flying Lotus, Amanda Palmer, Cash Savage and more – it’s truly jam-packed. Let’s start the decade off right, hey? Adorn a rashie, it’s gonna get wet. TOM PARKER, EDITOR
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News Columns Arts Guide In The Pit Fatboy Slim Beat Presents: Midsumma Festival PBS Drive Live Vampire Weekend Eight Bushfire Benefit Gigs You Can’t Miss Simon Moro Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee
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Chapel Summer Sessions, Bobby Alu Flying Lotus, Georgia Amanda Palmer, Cash Savage Newmarket Scavenger Hunt, Mary’s Mad Zach, Moon Duo Best New Album Albums Gig Guide
COLUMNISTS Christie Eliezer, Sose Fuamoli, Augustus Welby, Morgan Mangan, D’arcy McGregor, Sam Howard, Anna Rose CONTRIBUTORS Alexander Crowden, Dan Watt, Augustus Welby, Alex Watts, David James Young, Bronius Zumeris, Natalie Rogers, Holly Pereira, Claire Morley, Jacob Colliver, Anna Rose, Christopher Lewis, Christine Tsimbis, Eliza Booth, Ellen Pritchard, Holly Denison, James Robertson, Rhys McKenzie, Jono Coote, Jonathan Reynoso, Lexi Herbert, Luke Carlino, Marnie Vinall, Maria Glykokalamos, Meg Crawford, Scott Hudson, Tammy Walters
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GIVEAWAY We’re giving five lucky Beat readers the chance to win a double pass to Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s live presentation of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. For more info, head to beat. com.au/win.
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18/01 - HOLLOW COVES 20/01 - THE AMITY AFFLICTION, SOLD OUT
NORTHLANE, TONIGHT ALIVE, OCEAN GROVE + WINDWAKER
BUSHFIRE BENEFIT SHOW
21/01 - GARETH REYNOLDS USA - SELLING FAST 22/01 - GARETH REYNOLDS USA - SELLING FAST 22/01 - GARETH REYNOLDS USA - SELLING FAST 24/01 - JOHN GARCIA & THE BAND OF GOLD USA 26/01 - POP CRIMES THE SONGS OF ROWLAND S. HOWARD 29/01 - OMAR APOLLO MEX/USA 31/01 - FONTAINES D.C. IRELAND - SOLD OUT 01/02 - HORSEHEAD SELLING FAST 04/02 - JAMES SMITH SOLD OUT 05/02 - JAMES SMITH SOLD OUT 07/02 - A WONDERFUL SPLASH: BRIGHT EYES ‘I’M WIDE AWAKE IT’S MORNING’ 15 YEAR PARTY
08/02 - BOB MARLEY BIRTHDAY BASH 09/02 - JAKE ‘THE SNAKE’ ROBERTS WWE HALL OF FAME
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AUTUMNAL PARK 35 YEARS STRONG
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USA
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11/03 - JOEP BEVING SOLD OUT SOLO PIANO CONCERTS
12/03 - FREYA RIDINGS UK - SELLING FAST 14/03 - NGAIIRE 20/03 - THINGS OF STONE & WOOD 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR
26/03 - THE EXPLOITED SCOTLAND 27/03 - POP WILL EAT ITSELF UK - SELLING FAST 02/04 - WAVVES USA 03/04 - MARIANAS TRENCH CAN - SELLING FAST 04/04 - FRANK TURNER UK - SOLD OUT 09/04 - WALTER TROUT USA 13/04 - THE ALLMAN BETTS BAND USA 16/04 - LARKIN POE USA - SELLING FAST 17/04 - MAD CADDIES USA - CELEBRATING 25 YEARS 19/04 - KEVIN BORICH EXPRESS 20/04 - JOHN MAYALL UK - SELLING FAST 17/05 - BIG THIEF USA - U18s ONLY MATINEE SHOW
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17/05 - BIG THIEF USA - SELLING FAST 18/05 - BIG THIEF USA - SOLD OUT 19/05 - BIG THIEF USA - SOLD OUT 23/05 - BEN BÖHMER GERMANY - SOLD OUT 24/05 - THE HOLD STEADY USA - SELLING FAST
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PLUS HEAPS MORE AT WWW.CORNERHOTEL.COM
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GRACE CUMMINGS
VOID OF VISION
USA 28/01
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THE MAMAS 24/01
RON S. PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS 02/02
BIG YAWN | SLEEP D | CALE SEXTON | PJENNÉ 1 7 / 0 1 - KEY HOO 1 8 / 0 1 - DEAD CITY RUINS 1 9 / 0 1 - TEX PERKINS & MATT WALKER 20/01 -‘MONDAY NIGHT MASS’ WITH LACHLAN DENTON & STUDIO MAGIC / PRUDENCE / HOUSE DEPOSIT / SHOCK FRIENDLY 22/01 -‘WIND IT UP’ PRESENTS COLIN SELF RVNG | JUNE JONES | DIIMPA 23/01 - U-BAHN EU SEND OFF 24/01 - THE MAMAS 25/01 - STREAMS OF WHISKEY 26/01 - ABLAZE 28/01 - SEBADOH USA - SELLING FAST 29/01 - SEBADOH USA - SOLD OUT 3 1 / 0 1 - ADRIAN EAGLE SOLD OUT 01/02 - GRACE CUMMINGS SELLING FAST 02/02 - RON S. PENO MATINEE & THE SUPERSTITIONS 03/02-‘MONDAY NIGHT MASS’ WITH JUNIOR FICTION / PORPOISE SPIT / STOP THAT MAMMOTH / HANNAH KATE 06/02 - DICK VALENTINE USA - ELECTRIC 6 07/02 - THIGH MASTER 1 5 / 0 1 -‘WIND IT UP’ PRESENTS
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THE FITZROY DOOM SCENE 09/02 - MIJO BISCAN MATINEE 14/02 - VOID OF VISION SELLING FAST 15/02 - VULGARGRAD 20/02 - ZUHAIR 21/02 - AN HORSE 23/02 - ALL INDIA RADIO MATINEE 24/02 -‘MONDAY NIGHT MASS’ WITH PLEASURE SYMBOLS / BITUMEN / DARK WATER 27/02 - THE DREGGS SELLING FAST 29/02 - FLYYING COLOURS 04/03 - LEIF VOLLEBEKK CAN + AINSLIE WILLS 07/03 - TYDE LEVI SELLING FAST ALL AGES - ALCOHOL FREE - MATINEE
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News
Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Image by Naomi Lee Beveridge
St Kilda Festival REVEALS WHOPPING 40TH ANNIVERSARY LINEUP To celebrate four decades as Australia’s biggest free live music festival, St Kilda Festival is going all out for 2020. Bringing over 50 acts to its various stages, the festival will showcase some of the hottest talent in the country. The Main Stage will feature a slathering of Melbourne’s favourite acts, including Cash Savage and The Last Drinks, Kylie Auldist, Stonefield, The Kite String Tangle, Port Royal and Busby Marou. Not to mention, as a 40th anniversary treat, there will be a secret special guest performer whose identity will be revealed on Friday January 31. The program is as diverse as it is impressive, with both emerging and established artists encompassing a range of genres set to hit the stage across the day. St Kilda Festival goes down at St Kilda Foreshore on Sunday February 9. For more information, head to the festival website.
Emma Donovan
Dick Valentine
Four Lions
Sunnyside
Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee
ELECTRIC SIX SINGER REVEALS TOUR
KICKING OFF 2020 WITH A BANG
FREE INDIGENOUS CULTURAL FESTIVAL RETURNS
The acclaimed vocalist of Detroit rockers Electric Six, Dick Valentine, has just revealed an Australian tour that will take him to each corner of the country. Alongside shows in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, Valentine will drop into the Northcote Social Club on Thursday February 6. Since their inception, Electric Six have proved incessant in both North America and Europe, touring constantly while also releasing their 14th album, Bride of the Devil, in 2018. Valentine’s reputation is just as enduring. Grab your tix via the venue website.
Central Victorian roots rockers Four Lions are kickstarting 2020 the right way, announcing a tour through Victoria that will see them stop by The Spotted Mallard on Friday January 17. 2019 was a big year for the five-piece, seeing them release their acclaimed fourth album, Hard Days, and complete a huge tour of the country. Channelling the likes of lWilco, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few, the band mould a potent blend of roots, rock and altcountry. Tix for the show available via Moshtix.
RISING FUNKSTERS TAKE OVER HOWLER To celebrate the release of their second LP Momentum, six-piece collective Sunnyside are taking their new tunes to the stage. Jazz-funk instrumentalists and purveyors of groove, Sunnyside are all high energy, tight rhythms and good vibes. They’ll be unleashing their sound in all its glory with a full-venue takeover of Brunswick’s beloved Howler later this month. The band will be joined by the likes of Surprise Chef, Bananagun and Aarti Jadu for the event, which goes down on Friday January 24. Tix available via Moshtix.
Returning this February, City of Port Phillip’s annual Indigenous cultural festival Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee has revealed its program for 2020. Beloved vocalist Emma Donovan leads the lineup and is set to deliver a soulful performance with her band The Putbacks. Alongside Donovan and co., performances from ‘80s outfit Coloured Stone, alt rockers Key Hoo and emerging artist Kee’ahn will keep live music lovers entertained throughout the day. The festival hits O’Donnell Gardens in St Kilda on Saturday February 1 and is totally free. Find out more via ywnf.com.au.
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NEWS
PBS 106.7FM
Elton John
Mac Miller
The Amity Affliction
DROP 2020 DRIVE LIVE LINEUP
PLEDGES $1 MILLION FOR BUSHFIRE RELIEF
NEW POSTHUMOUS ALBUM TO BE RELEASED
REVEAL NEW ALBUM
Elton John has announced that he will be donating $1 million to bushfire relief. As he closed his set in Sydney on Tuesday January 7, the music icon paid tribute to those working endlessly behind the scenes. “There are people out there who have lost their lives trying to save homes,” he said, as shown in a video posted on his Instagram. “There are people who have lost their lives and their homes … And lastly there’s the plight of the animals.” Elton John continues his marathon farewell tour through January and February.
Prior to his tragic passing in 2018, rapper Mac Miller was working on his follow-up album to the critically acclaimed Swimming. The recordings from that period are now set to be released as part of a new posthumous album, titled Circles. According to a statement posted to Miller’s Instagram, Circles was intended to be a companion album to the predecessor Swimming but looked to be largely different stylistically. Circles will be released on Friday January 17. Check it out via streaming services when it drops.
Arts Centre Melbourne
Bootleg Rascal
REVEAL EXTRAORDINARY NEW SHOW, METAL
REVEAL NEW SINGLE AND MELBOURNE SHOW
Seymour Alternative Farming Expo
What do you get when you invite eight metalheads and five dancers on the one stage? You get a fearless presentation testing cultures, art forms, languages and belief systems. Metal is a production devised by Melbourne-based dance company Lucy Guerin Inc in collaboration with Ensemble Tikoro, a heavy metal choir who arrive straight from the underground music scene of Bandung, Indonesia. It goes down each night from Monday February 24 to Thursday February at Arts Centre Melbourne. More info and tix via the venue website.
Sydney-based party-starters Bootleg Rascal have just revealed a new single to go along with east coast tour dates. Already in the midst of an epic regional run that is taking them to each corner of the country, the band have just announced they’ll play some extra shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne during March and April. As part of that, the band who meld hip hop with reggae and dub influences will take to Howler on Friday April 3. Tix available via the venue website.
Marking one decade since its inaugural free series of in-studio performances, local community radio favourites PBS 106.7FM have revealed a cracking program for this year’s edition of Drive Live. Between Monday February 3 and Friday February 7, the likes of RVG, Angie McMahon, Bad//Dreems, Clowns, Sleep D, Coda Chroma and more will drop into the PBS studios to perform live-to-air. Sessions are from 5pm to 7pm each evening and entry is free, however RSVPs are absolutely essential as it always books out. Reserve your place via surveymonkey.com/r/DriveLive.
Legendary Queensland metalcore band The Amity Affliction have just revealed details of a new album, set to be released on Friday February 21 through Warner Music Australia. Titled Everyone Loves You… Once You Leave Them, the album follows on from 2018’s critically acclaimed Misery. In a joint statement, the band revealed the album “is a result of our re-found love for heavy music … We wanted to make a heavier album to back up our most recent releases to let our fans know that we understand what the majority want to hear from us.”
Image by Wayne Smith
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OFFBEAT FARMING SPECTACULAR From Friday February 14 to Sunday February 16, Seymour will come to life with the Seymour Alternative Farming Expo which combines farming with markets, food and entertainment. Held in Seymour’s prestigious Kings Park, more than 400 exhibitors will strut their stuff and showcase the next phase of farming innovation. Entertainment will come via music, arts and variety performances with the program yet to be announced. Find out more and grab tix via the event website.
Sarah Mary Chadwick UNVEILS SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM Adventurous pop purveyor Sarah Mary Chadwick has revealed a new single just in time for her new album, Please Daddy, which hits the shelves on Friday January 24. Titled ‘Let’s Fight’, the track is the third single lifted from the imminent record – a parcel of playful sarcasm that Chadwick puts in her own words, “Who doesn’t like fighting until someone cries?”. Check out the track now via streaming services and keep an eye out for the album when it drops via Rice Is Nice Records.
COLUMNS
Beat Eats
Hip Hop
Industry
Metal
WITH D’ARCY MCGREGOR
WITH SOSE FUAMOLI
WITH CHRISTIE ELIEZER
WITH ANNA ROSE
Sam Smith
Guerilla Roasters
Run The Jewels
Poppy
How to help bushfireaffected local businesses
Three artists set to drop big 2020 records
Six music industry predictions for 2020
Feeling hopeless and have no idea how to help the communities ravaged by the bushfires? Yeah, me too. But with so many communities burnt, homes and businesses destroyed, the economy of these towns has been ruined too. Supporting local businesses by buying their produce and products direct means there’s no extra commission fees they have to pay. Here’s just a few businesses affected by the fires you can buy from directly.
With 2020 now off and running, the spotlight has quickly turned back to the charts and namely in hip hop circles, whose sounds are going to further permeate the mainstream. In 2019 we saw the emergence of a new breed of hip hop star (Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, the late Juice WRLD), blending hip hop and rap with pop sensibilities that brought them further into the broad public scope. Three (of the many) artists positioned to drop big records this year are below – who have you got your money on?
1. A GREATER EXPLOSION OF TALENT
GUERRILLA ROASTERS
The NSW small batch roaster has taken a financial dip. Located in Mossy Point, the roasters are surrounded by and essentially cut off from most of NSW by the fires. These guys raised over $5,000 for the firefighters by giving away free coffee even though their cash flow dropped. Put your caffeine addiction to good use and grab a bag of ethically sourced coffee direct from the roaster’s website. guerrillaroasters.com/shop VINTELOPER
Like many vineyards in the Adelaide Hills region, Vinteloper was devastated by the SA bushfires. Owner David Bowley lost everything in the fires – his home, business and vineyards are gone. Buying direct from the Vinteloper website means Bowley might be able to rebuild his business. It’s estimated if Bowley can start rebuilding now, it’ll take seven years for the vineyard to grow back to its current state. vinteloper.com.au HINTERLAND HONEY
The family-run Byron Bay business has been decimated by the recent fires. The destruction of hives and bees not only affects honey availability and small business, but also greatly affects the pollination of plants, and therefore food availability and food prices into the future. It will take years for the bush lands to recover and for flowers to re-establish. They don’t currently have a website, but you can message them through their Instagram to purchase products. instagram.com/hinterlandhoneybyronbay NORTH OF EDEN
Time for the gin craze to give back to its distillers. The independent micro gin distillery, North Of Eden, in the Bega Valley area, is surrounded by fires. They’ve been unable to continue with business as usual and have had to cancel their events for safety reasons. You can support the local business by grabbing yourself a bottle of gin, or a gin school gift voucher to visit the distillery once it’s safe to do so. northofeden.com.au
MEGAN THEE STALLION
Having generated huge hype around her Fever mixtape last year, the Houston bred artist quickly became the face of ‘Hot Girl Summer’, all the while getting her college education on. The release of Fever made the #10 spot on the Billboard 200, while the release of ‘Hot Girl Summer’ (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign) gave hip hop fans a bonafide summer anthem leading into 2020. No one is touching Meg when it comes to widespread appeal at the moment, so with a debut full-length project expected to surface this year, we can only imagine what the response will be when she comes through. She’s definitely proven her worth as a deft lyricist and rapper, but a full studio album will give us an insight into how much she can actually flex on record when given the room to do so. RUN THE JEWELS
It’s been four years since we’ve heard from El-P and Killer Mike. Considering the first three Run The Jewels albums were released within two years of one another, safe to say I’m beginning to feel a lil impatient. The duo have been keeping their release plans pretty closely guarded, which tells me something good is potentially on the way to crack open a new decade. Still, it’s not like Run The Jewels have been resting on their laurels. Killer Mike’s 2019 Netflix show Trigger Warning with Killer Mike brought in a whole new audience, while El-P has been working steadfastly on music behind the scenes too. Run The Jewels are on the Coachella line up for 2020 too, so fingers crossed we hear some more from them in the lead up. J. COLE
It was a big year for J. Cole last year. The release of Revenge Of The Dreamers III under the Dreamville label banner saw Cole and his crew go straight to the top (his sixth #1). It didn’t take long for J. Cole to announce his next moves either, revealing that 2020 would be seeing the release of a new record, set to be titled The Fall Off. No date has been announced for the release yet but we can’t wait.
Similar to how punk music freed the minds of grandparents on who could make music, the current Minecraft/ TikTok generation grew up shaped to be independently creative. AI tools make the whole writing, recording, distribution and monetisation process so simplistic and quick that anyone can be an artist. What we’ll see is the start of an explosion of varying talent from anywhere in the world that, via AI, will be able to target its audience and hence increase the revenue it can make. 2. ISSUES FOR STREAMING SERVICES
Australian music streaming services will have to contend with the music industry pushing harder for quotas for Australian music – they may have to up their monthly subscription rates. Unlike Netflix, they have yet to address inflation and its inevitable pull. 3. THE END OF REGIONAL SUMMER FESTIVALS?
The new era of the fierce mega-bushfire is bad news for regional summer festivals. They will become too expensive to insure, and will have to exchange picturesque camping-friendly locations for highly controlled environments. Promoters will face uncertainty as patrons hold off from buying tickets until the last minute. 4. TIKTOK AND TRILLER RIVALRY HEATS UP
With 750 million users and growing, will TikTok reach the top five of social media channels for popularity? Triller, with 26.5 million monthly average users and 75 million users in total, has already overtaken TikTok in the US and with backing from major record companies, $40 million fresh funding and a 500% month-overmonth growth, maybe Triller will climb atop TikTok too.
You can’t kill the metal There’s a most excellent song by Tenacious D called, quite simply, ‘The Metal’. In it, Jack Black, in all his endearing comedic ways, sings about the longevity of heavy metal and how, despite the surfacing of many would-be contenders, has never failed to endure – and I could not agree more. I listen to this song frequently when I feel like injecting a sense of solidarity into my soul. Tenacious D are good like that. That being said, my trust in the metal scene was briefly called into question when, in the first week of January, I opened up Spotify for the first time in a while to see that my Weekly Radar (a specially curated playlist of new releases) consisted only of covers. Yes, covers. Renditions of some metal classics across all the subgenres, as well as some questionable crossovers between genres that only served to enrage me. Then the press releases started rolling into my inbox, and my soul was saved. Thank the higher powers for the bands below, who’ve wasted no time whatsoever in announcing the release of new material pretty much from the moment the words “Happy New Year” were cried. Covers be damned, in the words of the great Jack Black, “You can’t kill the metal! The metal will live on!”. POLARIS – THE DEATH OF ME
Due out February 21, this is a highly anticipated release from the Sydney metalcore outfit. The tour in support of the second album kicks off in Melbourne on release day, with Wage War, Crystal Lake and Alpha Wolf in support. THE AMITY AFFLICTION – EVERYONE LOVES YOU… ONCE YOU LEAVE THEM
A pretty heavy title for a pretty heavy band, TAA will also drop their new record on February 21. This announcement follows the release of two singles from the album, the hardhitting ‘All My Friends Are Dead’ and ‘Soak Me In Bleach’.
5. YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE TO QUEER ME
MAGG DYLAN – AMETHYST
What is woke about the growing visibility of queer artists is a greater tendency to portray themselves and their songs with more authenticity, and using their power to influence social changes. Last year, Sam Smith encouraged the use of “them” rather than “she” or “he”. Who’ll do a cultural revamp this year?
Alt-metal outfit Magg Dylan have a new album coming out that addresses the band’s experience with depression and alcoholism. Latest single ‘Naked Alone In A Tub’ is an oddly uplifting track and points to good things to be heard in the new release, due out February 21 via Eclipse Records.
6. TECH NO PRISONERS
POPPY – I DISAGREE
We’ll become more realistic about the negative impact of technology and social media. Last year, the biz abandoned facial ID technology. A December 2019 Roy Morgan study found Aussies believe social media has negative shade on mental health of the young (86%) and divides the community (75%). Over 70% want the government to set up a regulator to ensure digital platforms act for the common good.
Hear me out, because Poppy has some crazy heaviness happening in her third studio album. While she’s sickly sweet at times, the illusive artist has some pretty solid sentiments of anguish and rage coursing through this one. Out January 10, give this one a spin for her clever manipulations of pop, metal, and dub step.
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ARTS GUIDE
Arts Guide
BEAT’S K TOP PIC
The Rise and Fall of Saint George GEORGE MICHAEL TRIBUTE ARRIVES A musical production dedicated to the late great George Michael is coming to Arts Centre Melbourne as part of Midsumma Festival. Spearheaded by electro-pop musician Paul Mac, playwright Lachlan Philpott and director Kate Champion, The Rise and Fall of Saint George details the life and achievements of the singer through the perspective of the LGBTQIA+ community. The performance will feature a handful of established musicians including Ngaiire, Joyride, Brendan Maclean, Handsome, Marcus Whale, Andrew Bukenya and Jacqui Dark, in addition to a massive community choir. The Rise and Fall of Saint George runs between Thursday January 23 and Friday January 24 at Arts Centre Melbourne. Tickets via the venue website.
REVIEW
The Gentlemen
Cleverly dropping in cinemas on Wednesday January 1, Guy Ritchie’s new star-studded crime comedy, The Gentlemen, will certainly appeal to anyone who wants to escape Disney’s double punch of Frozen and Star Wars sequels. In the vain of Snatch, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Ritchie comfortably returns to his roots, bringing a Tarantino-inspired cast mix of A-listers, fresh faces and faded stars turning comebackworthy roles (for Hugh Grant in particular). Thankfully, instead of trying to replicate the gritty feel of his earlier work, Ritchie swaps wannabe gangsters for established crime bosses capable of carrying the swagger and bankroll required to reflect the higher production value. The English charm still shines through, thanks to well-scouted
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locations with plenty of old-timey pubs, lush country fields and rich aristocratic estates. The story works well for the times, avoiding tech-heavy spy and action film tropes and instead focusing on the colourful characters within. It’s told through flashbacks of a conversation between Grant and Charlie Hunnam (also in top form), revolving around Matthew McConaughey’s kingpin weed dealer amidst handover of his business. But in true Ritchie fashion, seemingly unrelated parties collide and chaos ensues. Next to Grant and Hunnam, Colin Farrell is the other standout as “The Coach”, as well as Michelle Dockery playing McConaughey’s headstrong wife. Unfortunately, it is Succession’s Jeremy Strong who proves to be the weak link, choosing to ham it up more than necessary. The constant twisting and turning of the story isn’t overwhelming, largely thanks to the editing gimmicks used and the film’s high-energy soundtrack. Ritchie also clearly backs his audience, never feeling the need to dumb things down or twist things more than necessary.
Don’t try to dive too deeply into this one. Overthinking the plot, shots and characters will only quell its charm. Instead, leave your brain at the door, then you’re sure to enjoy the hell out of it.
The Gentlemen is in cinemas now. BY CHRIS BRIGHT
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ARTS GUIDE
This Bitter Earth LIFE OF A YOUNG QUEER PERSON Between dating apps and genitalia pics, navigating the world – let alone the dating world – as a young queer person isn’t easy. This Bitter Earth is an anthology of millennial crises and everyday queer existence, which examines a patchwork of LGBTIQA+ lives through the lens of hazy nightclubs and existential dread. From writer Chris Edwards and director Riley Spadaro, This Bitter Earth comes to Theatre Works in St Kilda from Friday January 17 until Sunday February 2. Tickets via the Theatre Works website.
Home, I’m Darling Them & Us
You & I
2001: A Space Odyssey
THE PERFECT HOUSEWIFE
A POLITICAL STAGE DEBUT
CELEBRATING LOVE & INTIMACY
On the back of a sold-out run at London’s National Theatre, Home, I’m Darling makes its way to Melbourne. Following a woman’s quest to be the perfect ’50s housewife, the production observes gender roles and our pursuit for perfection, all with a comedic spin. Starring Peter Paltos, Nikki Shiels and Jane Turner, Home, I’m Darling will kick off Melbourne Theatre Company’s 2020 season with a bang. It comes to Southbank Theatre from Monday January 20 through ‘til Saturday February 22. Get your tickets via the MTC website.
Award-winning contemporary artist and author Grayson Perry will make his Australian stage debut when he brings his one-man show, Them & Us, to Hamer Hall this month. An interactive look at politics and personal events, Perry explores everything from Brexit to gender identity. Audience members will be able to have their say via electronic keypads throughout the performance, if only to reveal the flaws of democracy. Catch Them & Us at Hamer Hall on Saturday January 18. Tickets via the venue website.
You & I is a celebration of love and intimacy via high-level acrobatics, trapeze and dance, and it’s coming to Gasworks Arts Park as part of Midsumma 2020. A daring exhibition of skill and artful movement presented by Casus Circus, You & I is an empowering production drawing from gay stories and the love between two men. Casus co-founders Jesse Scott and Lachlan McAulay invite you into their world from Wednesday January 22 until Saturday January 25. For tickets and more info, visit the Gasworks website.
Epic sci-fi flick 2001: A Space Odyssey is getting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra treatment. Kubrick’s film is well-known for its classical concert soundtrack, featuring compositions like Richard Strauss’ ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ and Johann Strauss’ ‘On the Beautiful Blue Danube’. A Live Presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey takes place on Saturday January 25 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Tickets via the MSO website.
Louis Theroux
Mov’in Bed
Haring x Basquiat
THE DOCUMENTARY KING IS HERE
MOVIES ON THE BEACH
A CLOSER LOOK
Multi award-winning documentary maker Louis Theroux returns to Australia with his brand new show Louis Theroux Without Limits, hosted by Julia Zemiro. Delving into his extensive catalogue, the show provides a behind-the-scenes look at the inquisitive and curious documentaries Theroux has produced throughout his career. The performance will also include Megan Phelps-Roper, who featured in Theroux’s controversial TV film, The Most Hated Family in America. Get your tickets for Without Limits – which happens at the Plenary Theatre on Sunday January 19 – via ticketmaster.
Combining the comfort of watching a movie at home with the experience of seeing a film at the cinema, Mov’in Bed brings 150 queen size beds to St Kilda beach to create the biggest outdoor bed-cinema in the world. The program ranges from classics like Pulp Fiction and Dirty Dancing to recent releases like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Get comfortable under the stars with Mov’in Bed at St Kilda Beach, Pier Road from now until Sunday February 23. Screenings start at sunset. Find the full program at movinbed.com.
Across their fertile careers, artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat challenged the notion that artworks ought to be confined to a canvas board and positioned safely within a frame. Many of their groundbreaking works are currently on display at NGV as part of the Keith Haring | Jean-Michel Basquiat: Crossing Lines exhibition. This weekend, exhibition attendees will get a rundown of the pair’s unconventional methods of making, presented by NGV’s Curatorial Project Officer Meg Slater. Slater will highlight a range of important works from the exhibition at 2pm on Saturday January 18.
LEGENDARY FILM REIMAGINED
Banoffee
Midsumma Carnival THE BELOVED LGBTIQA+ FEST ARRIVES Kicking off the celebrations for this year’s Midsumma Festival is the annual Midsumma Carnival, which returns to Alexandra Gardens this Sunday. The huge party stretches through the day and night and brings a huge slate of entertainment to the stage. You can expect to see drag performances, DJs and lip-synching, as well as a dog show and loads more. Capping things off with a dance party headlined by Banoffee, this year’s Midsumma Carnival looks to be a ripper. It’s happening on Sunday January 19. Find out more at the Midsumma website.
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FOUR LIONS HARD DAYS
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THIS BITTER EARTH | POORLY DRAWN SHARK | BIRDOIR | NEW BALANCE | LEOPARD PRINT LOINCLOTH | THIS BITTER EARTH | POORLY DRAWN
W BALANCE | LEOPARD PRINT LOINCLOTH | THIS BITTER EARTH | POORLY DRAWN SHARK | BIRDOIR | NEW BALANCE| LEOPARD PRINT LOINCLOTH |
THIS BITTEr Earth POORLY DRAWN SHARK
Jan 17 - Feb 2 Jan 18 - 26
BIRDOIR
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LIVE
In the Pit Beyond the Valley
Image by Nick Tamiakis
SATURDAY DECEMBER 28 – WEDNESDAY JANUARY 1
Sun Cycle WEDNESDAY JANUARY 1 As idyllic a site for a festival it may be, the Coburg Velodrome hasn’t always proved itself to be the finest designation for a New Year’s party. With previous events at the Northern suburb’s bike track being marred by sound issues, disappointing ticket sales and the fallout from the infamous Freedom Time toilet debacle of 2018, it was beginning to seem like the Velodrome was cursed, despite the best efforts of festival promoters and staffers. Returning with a lineup spilling over with some of the finest electronic and hip hop artists from home and abroad, this year’s soldout inaugural Sun Cycle marked a triumphant return to what punters should expect from a day out at the ‘Drome. With Interstellar Fugitives, College of Knowledge and Ella Haber on warm-up duties as the crowds sauntered through the gates, it was clear from the get-go that Sun Cycle had taken all measures possible to ensure there’d be no mishaps this year. The sandy floors of the Body Heat stage made for an optimal environment to stomp about in if you weren’t too worried about clogging up your kicks, while the abundance of bars, water taps and Portaloos a-plenty made sure that managing liquids would be a breeze. As the midday sun reared down overhead and Andras took to the decks on the Body Heat stage to deliver a dosage of blissed-out future disco, it was hard to think of any other way to spend the day. Back at the larger Inner Orbit stage, Elle Shimada and her band treated the milling crowd to a delightfully odd mix of wonky jazz and electronica, with Shimada bolstering the set with her formidable stage presence and virtuosity upon violin. The vast planning of the festival made for migrating between stages stress free, allowing us to enjoy a slamming final 15 minutes of house from DJ JNETT before the sensational CC:DISCO! jogged the wheels of steel for a romping set at the Body Heat stage. With a set chock full of feel-good summer cuts, classic house stompers and a dash of her titular disco, CC:DISCO! was a class act behind the decks, taking the time between breaks to remind the crowds to stay hydrated and maintain the vibe. Despite DRMNGNOW putting on an
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impassioned set over at the main stage, it was hard to escape the temptation of letting it loose amidst the throng of moving bodies at the Body Heat zone. Things soon changed when US rapper Freddie Gibbs took to Inner Orbit to perform. Pulling one of the largest crowds of the day, Gibbs’ ripped through his catalogue at a burning pace, facing a blunt and popping bottles of bubbly as he performed a set full of cuts from his acclaimed Madlib collaborative tapes Piñata and Bandana. While Jayda G tore through a hot mix of funk, soul and percussion-heavy disco on the sands of Body Heat, Sampa The Great graced Inner Orbit with a full live ensemble to reinstate the fact that she’s one of the country’s finest artists. With her energy matched by the colourful regalia and musicianship of her band, Sampa is truly an artist of her very own, with live renditions of ‘OMG’ and ‘Freedom’ proving to be a major highlight of the day as the sun retreated into the west. Although it was quite heartbreaking retreating from the stank sounds of Swedish lo-fi don DJ Seinfeld on the Body Heat stage (that first half-hour was sensational though), the prospect of a live set from Floating Points was too good to pass up. Opening his show with the one-two punch of ‘Ratio’ and ‘Nuits Sonores’, Floating Points singlehandedly commanded a desk full of drum machines and modular synths in impeccable fashion, utilising wild feedback loops and jarring white noise in tandem with a syncopated light show to create a wild multisensory experience unlike any other. The jittery modular drums and soaring synths of newer cuts ‘LesAlpx’ and ‘Coorabell’ proved to be a delight among punters on the dancefloor, while the semi-controlled sonic chaos of ‘Bias’ brought the evening to a dizzyingly good end. As the ravers rendezvoused for kick-ons and massaged their slackened jaws on the journey out of the ‘Drome, it seemed to be a clear consensus that Sun Cycle had defied all odds to deliver an incredible inaugural event.
Sporting a lineup that marvelled both in stature and prestige, in its sixth year running, Beyond The Valley is on track for evolution, and evolution almighty. The founders’ near faultless execution of a boutique festival, nimble responses to uncontrollable conditions, and offering of world class talent is a testament to their strengths, especially when their peers are struggling for the same endurance. Familiar multi-hued flags swarming the Dance Tent on day one and the kooky metal scaffolding of Dr Dan’s were welcome relief from camping logistics. But on increasingly baking afternoons, it was the beachy accommodations of the Tinder pools which proved to be game-changers, albeit with questionably murky waters as days boiled ahead. No such muskiness was found by day two’s inauguration; back to back sets from Cassian, Owl Eyes and Confidence Man quickly fanned off siesta hours, and Honey Dijon’s triumphant return from her famed Boiler Room set at Sugar Mountain was midday dessert. Amidst satanic temperatures, Meg Mac’s ‘Roll Up Your Sleeves’ was all too literal, but how the songstress was draped from head to toe yet emoting all at once was unfathomable. CC:DISCO!’s European endeavours possibly underscored the biggest evolution of a jockey’s sound at the festival, but come sunset it was Floating Points that won the day’s machinations. Utilising a Buchla synthesizer, the visuals followed his finger movements as he played, and ranged from tornado-like eyeballs and free-form butterflies to psychedelic mustard. Day three saw Bag Raiders comfortably pushing tunes from 2019’s Horizons and snugly capping off with global meme tune ‘Shooting Stars’, before punters skedaddled over to the Dance Tent for DJ Seinfeld. Hobo Johnson & The Lovemakers, Matt Corby, Claptone, and Mallrat brought the most ironic progression I’d ever witnessed on a single stage, with each switching their own turnstile of fans between sets, but it worked a charm considering the gradual decline of attendance at the Dance Tent for Snakehips. Cub Sport were angelic as always . Vocalist Tim Nelson donned the same flashy half-piece as in music video ‘Hearts In Halves’,
Highlight: Floating Points’ brilliant closing set. Seriously, the man’s a genius. Lowlight: Constantly emptying the sand out of your sneakers on the Body Heat stage. Crowd Favourite: CC:Disco!’s dancefloor obliterating mixing masterclass. BY WILL BREWSTER
Hobo Johnson, Image by Andrew Bibby
and ‘Party Pill’ saw confetti and a home-video of the band’s newlyweds on screen, but it was their cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘when the party’s over’ that encapsulates how underrated the Brisbane quartet are. Tyler, The Creator, lest everyone forgets, had his tour forcibly cancelled by protestors in 2015. Ostensibly forgiven now, the rapper, like much of 2019’s acclaimed IGOR, revels in healing, pushing past bygones, and contentment in the face of pain. His performance was half sloppy, which he blamed on jetlag, but no one really gave a damn. He rocked up in his signature suit and wig, bitched about it, but asked the audience for help finishing his songs; “Cause when it all comes crashing down, I’ll need you” – the lyricism from ‘EARFQUAKE’ suitably met. Like Flower Boy, this was Tyler at his most honest, and between fumbling on Frank Ocean’s cameo lyrics, and letting the crowd finish Kali Uchis’ verses on ‘SEE YOU AGAIN’, it was a long overdue appearance from a beloved artist who can do no wrong. He did right just by showing up. The final day started on a bit of a paltry note as the almost inevitable technical difficulties crept in like the proverbial virus; sets were reduced, sometimes to a mere handful of songs. London Topaz, Big Words, Set Mo, Lion Babe, and The Veronicas all felt a blow, most notably with ‘I Belong Here’ being the only song managed by Set Mo and Woodes. Ask any punter to elect a producer to ring in the New Year with and RÜFÜS DU SOL would conquer by margins. The Australian electronic darlings have subdued expectations but achieved global singularity with SOLACE and Bloom; it lends to the credence of BTV that they’ve managed to pull this one off. ‘Like An Animal’ and ‘You Were Right’ were appetisers to the second half, which detonated into ‘Underwater’, ‘Treat You Better’, and of course, a perfectly timed ‘No Place’ positioned to perfection for the countdown.The headliners never misplaced a thump or pummel, with the sonic echoes in their productions comfortably matching the ensuing celebrations. Horns in check, confetti cannons aligned and a bellowing “There’s no place I’d rather be” later, and we were in 2020. Highlights: RÜFÜS DU SOL, Denis Sulta, Tyler, The Creator. Also, no walls of death. Lowlights: 43 degree heat for two days. Crowd Favourites: ‘SEE YOU AGAIN’, ‘Untouched’, and ‘Innerbloom’. BY LELAND TAN
14 – 16 FEBRUARY 2020 KINGS PARK, SEYMOUR Daily 9 am – 4 pm
BUY TICKETS ONLINE AND SAVE 15% seymourexpo.com.au
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COVER STORY
Fatboy Slim On his love of Australia and playing in “dirty” clubs. BY TOM PARKER
Electronic master craftsman Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, has delivered dancefloor heat coming up to 24 years. He’s a connoisseur of groove who channels his inner-adolescent to create music that’s at home at adolescent parties and rings true in adolescent ears. But never confine him to an underage hoot in mum and dad’s garage – the music of Fatboy Slim spans generations. To put it simply, he’s a party king. And this month he makes his return to Australia, a place that has offered him so much joy throughout his career. “Just about the first time I came as Fatboy Slim to Australia, it was very apparent that Australia got me,” Cook says. “It was at a time that what I was doing was slightly offkilter with traditional house music but the Aussies just seemed to go, ‘Yep, we like that, we get that’, and something about the sense of humour and the reverence of it all sort of struck a chord. “I’ve always found Australians a very appreciative crowd but also a very inspiring crowd because they can be as loony as me and that just encourages me to go to more stupid places. “There’s some places you go to and you just think, ‘You’re not really singing from the same hymn sheet’, he continues. “But Aussies
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I’ve always found kindred spirits; a bit like me, you’re not shy when it comes to it.” Last time Cook was in Melbourne he followed up a performance on the sands of St Kilda Foreshore with a club set at Revolver Upstairs. Spontaneity courses through Cook’s veins like a road train on a highway – replace ‘Quentin’ with ‘surprise’ and you get his middle name. Videos went viral of that one Tuesday night down Chapel Street but such impulse is like drinking coffee white to guileful master Slim and it’s randomness that keeps him engrossed after all these years in the game. “It’s how to keep me interested and excited and invigorated by it. If you just went on an arena tour, you’d be burnt out within two weeks. When I play the big shows, I have to work really hard because you have to keep the audience and take them to bigger, bigger places and it’s quite hard work,” Cook says. “But when I play in a little dirty club, I can have fun. So selfishly, I have more fun playing in the small venues because I can just do more, I can take more risks and go on a journey with the crowd. Then through that comes inspiration because I would try things out in a nightclub that I would never try out in front of 20,000 people for fear of falling flat on my face.”
Aside from a steady drip-feed of new singles, the last album Fatboy Slim released was 2004’s Palookaville, the record that spawned ‘Wonderful Night’ and the memefriendly ‘Slash Dot Dash’. Long-players just aren’t in the Fatboy Slim wheelhouse anymore, it isn’t by matter of spite but rather a perished desire. “Something happened about ten years ago where I fell out of love with making records. I don’t know if it’s because I got older, I dunno,” he says. “When making music, you kind of have to live and breathe it and think about it all day and that just stopped happening – it didn’t with DJing but it did with going in the studio and reproducing people. “I think something came from the way music’s changed with downloads and now streaming, yeah, I don’t get the same kick out of it. Now I’ve been gone so long, I listen to what my kids play and I think, ‘I can’t make music like that, I don’t fit in’. “So rather than inflict on you my sort of idea of what I think you should listen to, I just thought I’d take a back seat.” When Fatboy Slim arrives in Melbourne for two shows, at Sidney Myer Music Bowl and as part of the Australian Open’s Live Stage, expect a sky-reaching spectacular that takes you on a trip down memory lane. It will
serve not only as an exploration of a precious discography but as a chronicle of electronic music history. So in the lead-up to the show, don’t just listen to You’ve Come a Long Way Baby, ‘Eat Sleep Rave Repeat’ and the remixes that have characterised Fatboy Slim’s recent output, dive deeper into the acid house of his early days, check out his unheralded debut album Better Living Through Chemistry or even give one of his Beats 1 radio shows a spin. Only then will you get a fair shake of the sauce bottle, a real insight into the creative mastery Cook’s brain houses. And when it comes that fateful day on Friday January 24 at Sidney Myer Music Bowl, those who’ve done their research will be rewarded. Because for Fatboy Slim, this is the big show. “It’s the big show, it’s the big show, it will be all the bells and whistles,” Cook concludes. Fatboy Slim hits Sidney Myer Music Bowl on Friday January 24 and the Australian Open Live Stage on Sunday January 26. Grab your tickets via Frontier Touring and the Australian Open website respectively.
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MIDSUMMA SPECIAL
Eight eye-opening events to check out at Midsumma Midsumma, Australia’s premier queer arts and culture festival, has truly exceeded expectations with this year’s lineup of events. With world-class art and performance, hilarious comedians and dance parties with plenty of glitter, whatever your cup of queer tea, there’ll be plenty for you to enjoy. To give you a head start, here’s our list of the most eye-opening events set to go down. BY MARNIE VINALL
How Gay Am I?
.CHURCH.
ADAM & EVEryone
Gay female comedian, Sunanda Sachatrakul in her debut solo show asks, How Gay Am I? Running between Monday February 3 and Saturday February 8, the one-hour performance combines storytelling with comedy in an exploration of ‘all the gays her life could’ve gone’. The audience will be taken from her humble beginnings of Sachatrakul coming out to conservative Indian parents to all the queerdos she could have been. Think a poon-jabbing Punjabi, a lesbian who presents a TED Talk and a serenading Mustachio – just to name a few.
Put on your Sunday best and head down to .CHURCH. to feel born again in this variety performance of circus, burlesque, sideshow and cabaret. With all performances backed by a live choir, and the stage treated as holy ground, here you’ll discover a new form of worship in queer culture and all the glitter that comes with it. The lineup also features Miss Burlesque Australia 2019, Bettie Bombshell, and is on between Thursday January 23 and Sunday January 26.
If you’ve ever wanted to go to a massive allgender inclusive queer naked dance party, now is your chance this Friday January 17. ADAM & EVEryone is back for another year to celebrate body positivity and diversity in a huge festive dance setting. Shake your tail feather on the huge techno dancefloor and boogie down to pop, disco and funk as the likes of Chiara Kickdrum, Estée Louder and Female Wizard jump behind the decks. Doors open at 10pm, and as they put it, you can ‘expect a very late night’.
Confessions of a Mormon Boy Steven Fales has lived an emotional rollercoaster of a life to date and is here to tell you about it in his Off-Broadway solo hit, Confessions of a Mormon Boy. In the true storytelling, Fales takes the audience on his journey from being a sixth-generation devoted Mormon and former missionary with two kids to coming out as gay after going through conversion therapy and being excommunicated from his former church. Catch the performance from Friday February 7 to Sunday February 9 at Chapel Off Chapel.
Teknofag
BLOW
Man Up!
Faguette
Midsumma After Party
BLOW is a performance, party and celebration of Indigenous femmes and Pacific women of colour. A cast of local performers, assembled by Samoan performance artist Jaycee Tanuvasa, take up space and join in solidarity to share their stories through vogue dance, cultural drag and ballroom culture – all to a backdrop of live electronic and vogue music. Plus, there’s an element of audience participation with the guidance of MC and ballroom chanter, Gardinier. Join the party on Saturday February 8 at Abbotsford Convent.
Based off numerous interviews with everyday people, Man Up! explores societal perceptions of what it means to be a man, norms about male behaviour and questions on where masculinity is headed in the future. Through this, the show gives insight into issues of domestic violence, aggression and homophobia, while also shining a light on the nurturing, vulnerability and sensitivity side of men that’s not frequently shown. Catch the touching performance from Wednesday January 22 to Saturday January 25.
In Faguette, French comedian Julien Furnace puts on a one-hour stand-up show for all. If you can relate to being discriminated for being queer, a vegetarian or a foreigner, or just privy to an awkward one-night-stand, this show’s for you. At the heart of the show, Furnace addresses the homophobia he experienced during high school and then tells his (very funny) coming out story. Catch the performance either Tuesday February 4 or Wednesday February 5 at Hares & Hyenas.
Get into the Midsumma spirit by getting camp at New Guernica on Sunday January 19 with the CAMP Midsumma Carnival After Party. Get into the groove on the two dancefloors with beats playing from resident DJs Mattylonglegs and Jack Hardmën. There’ll also be sets from Tory Allen and Casey Leaver while the kitchen dancefloor will see Luke Tatterson, Teknofag and Marsh Long perform. Doors open at 9pm and the bar will be flowing with free shots every hour on the hour, $10 cocktails and free champagne for all drag queens.
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Midsumma takes over Melbourne from Sunday January 19 to Sunday February 9. Tickets and more details for all the mentioned shows can be found at midsumma.org.au.
MIDSUMMA SPECIAL
The Rise and Fall of St George
Queen Bette
Photo by Scott Marsh
If you had to pitch your show to a stranger, what would you say? The Rise and Fall of St George is bold, moving and unique. How many other live shows bring together some of Australia’s most exciting rising music stars with a massive choir to sing a collection of moving queer songs by the iconic Paul Mac? What does your show say about society today? Theatre should bear witness to our times. This work takes you back to the marriage equality plebiscite and a recent period of LGBTIQA+ history that was hard to forget and scarred many of us. Where do you plan to take your show after Midsumma? This is actually a work in progress. The songs themselves are finished but they will form part of a larger top secret project that Paul, myself and director Kate Champion are still creating. We don’t plan to show this version of St George again, anywhere, so it’s a special peek into the process at a pretty exciting time. If your show was a flavour, what would it be and why? It’s more than one flavour, it’s an orgy of flavours. There’s unlimited aphrodisiacs but the best one is the generous energy of sexy acceptance for everyone. Who should absolutely not come to your show? Theatre too often plays to the converted, so for those who voted no, or who thought the world would end when queer people were granted the same right to marry, come along and see the other side in St George. The Rise and Fall of Saint George hits Arts Centre Melbourne for Midsumma on Thursday January 23 and Friday January 24. Grab your tickets via the Arts Centre Melbourne website.
If you had to pitch your show to a stranger, what would you say? Bette Davis was a fearless movie icon of the 20th century. She had two Oscars, four husbands, fought the studio system that tried to control her and had a reputation as the biggest bitch in Hollywood. This one-woman show with the extraordinary Jeanette Cronin as Queen Bette tells the whole story. What does your show say about society today? The casting couch is no new thing. Before #metoo, Weinstein and way before the internet, actors like Davis were facing incredible odds to get their voices heard: “I have never been able to keep my mouth shut. Now mine was a voice that couldn’t be ignored.” Who should absolutely not come to your show? If you are easily upset by a woman speaking her mind, do not come and see this show. Actually, come and see this show. You might learn something. What motivated to you get involved in Midsumma in the first place? We are very proud to be part of Midsumma, one of the most inclusive, exciting, innovative festivals around. And the people who run Midsumma are all gorgeous. What do you want the audience to take away from your show? Google us – our reviews have been amazing. “Cronin’s ability to have us fall in love with both actor and character, is sublime,” wrote blog Suzy Goes See.“We feel as though suspended in time, watching her genius in action, with all its technical proficiencies, emotional astuteness and physical splendour.” Presented by G.bod Theatre, Queen Bette comes to Gasworks Arts Park as part of Midsumma from Tuesday January 21 to Saturday January 25. Tix are $25-$35 via the Midsumma website.
Gasworks: Your Midsumma hotspot Gasworks will once again be the southside hub for Midsumma, Melbourne’s premier celebration of queer arts and culture. BIG Glittery SH!TSHOW
BY SCOTT HUDSON
The diverse program features visual art, performance, and workshops spread over the arts precinct’s theatres and galleries. Kicking off the program is the onewoman play, Queen Bette, devised by Peter Mountford and actress Jeanette Cronin. It tells the story of Bette Davis’ fight for artistic independence against the powers that were in Hollywood, a fight that won her two Oscars, four husbands, and a venomous reputation. Also featured on opening night is Cabaret Abnormal’s Jinxed!, which returns by popular demand after a highly-acclaimed debut at the Melba Spiegeltent. The self-proclaimed “delectable creepshow” features energetic circus and burlesque acts performed with a live band and a whole lot of vaudeville sass. Taking circus in a more introspective direction is Casus Circus’ You & I. Dancers and creative directors Lachlan McAuley and Jesse Scott use trapeze, acrobatics and dance to illustrate an intimate relationship of love and trust between two men.
Gasworks is also set to feature the Victorian premiere of award-winning play The Campaign, by playwright Campion Decent. Directed by Peter Blackburn, it relays the real-life events that unfolded after 100 people were arrested in Tasmania in 1988 for petitioning to reform the state’s draconian anti-homosexuality laws. It will be a much more one-sided affair when Melbourne’s daggiest dad’s, Mark, Gavin and Keith sit audiences down for comedy company PO PO MO CO’s latest sketch show, Once Upon A Drag Storytime. Devised and performed by the aforementioned dads (Lily Fish, Hallie Goodman and Kimberley Twiner), the show is physical comedy for the whole family that still manages to be effortlessly outrageous. A far subtler performance will be the reading by 2019 Playtime Award-winner Angus Cameron, of his new work, Cavemen. It tracks the lives of four gay men as they
cross paths around the world in search of something seemingly indescribable. Another not-to-be-missed play is Adam by Francis Poet, which chronicles the journey of a young trans man as he flees death in his native Egypt to find sanctuary in Scotland. A similarly tear-jerking evening can be had with When the Light Leaves by Citizen Theatre. The four-hand play, written by Rory Godbold and directed by Jayde Kirchert, tells the story of Dan, a terminal brain cancer patient, who is trying to decide how he wants to end his life. Despite being supported by his partner, sister and nurse, Dan must ultimately face the reality of his own mortality and waning control alone. A raucous and sexy circus spectacular guaranteed to be totally out of control, is BIG Glittery SH!TSHOW. The winners of the Gasworks 2019 circus showdown, Jack Wilde and Shona Cona, employ cupcakes, dildos and various states of undress in an energetic
show that nevers slows down. The final work to be performed at Gasworks will be a preview of comedy musical Girls Are Hot by the Green Room Award-winning team Flesh Coloured Panties. This female-focussed tale looks at the roles women play inside and outside their queer communities. So there you have it. Another year, another diverse and exciting line-up of acts at Gasworks for Midsumma. Make sure to grab your tickets early as performances will sell out. Midsumma takes over Gasworks from Tuesday January 21 to Sunday February 8. Grab your tickets and find out more about the program at gasworks.org.au
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FEATURES
PBS Drive Live
PBS Drive Live books out quickly. To RSVP, head to pbsfm.org.au
10 years of Australia’s best music, live to you BY TAMMY WALTERS
Melbourne’s PBS 106.7FM celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2019 and in 2020, they’ll mark ten years of their revolutionary in-studio gig series, Drive Live. The glisten of the past decade shines brightly with performers such as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Spencer P. Jones, Courtney Barnett, Tropical Fuck Storm and Amyl & The Sniffers sharing the honorary platter over the years, mirroring the expansive nature of the station’s playlist rotations. This year, the program boasts Sleep D, Danika Smith with choir and Big Yawn on night one, Bad//Dreems, Angie McMahon
and Birdz when we go again. The likes of Coda Chroma, Elizabeth, Grace Cummings, Clowns, Spiral Perm, Baby 8, RVG, Surprise Chef and Tanzer fill out the remaining nights across the week, Monday February 3 – Friday February 7. “PBS strives daily to represent a thriving, diverse and engaged music community and this is reflected in our Drive Live bookings,” PBS Marketing and Events Coordinator Aleisha Hall says. “When curating the lineup, we look for established and emerging artists who reflect the eclectic and varied nature of PBS. From jazz to punk, rock to soul – PBS
is a beautiful amalgamation of many music genres.” The lineup selection was, and continues to be on brand with the 40-year deep mission of PBS in supporting and fostering the everevolving, ever-erratic, and ever-exciting local music community. PBS’s mission and values have birthed a number of memorable moments within the Drive Live setting, with Hall’s stand-out moments including, “The day it was 40-plus degrees and the crowd was halfway out the door while The Drones smashed all sound restrictions and the studio – there were some sweaty folks that day. “[Then there was] Sampa The Great with her full band and REMI just popping in for a quick vocal – nothing says community like that. And Aldous Harding perched on a stool with nothing but her voice, an acoustic guitar and a silent studio audience.” It’s moments like this that couldn’t happen without PBS’s passionate staff members and plethora of volunteers, and stems throughout their multitude of programs, sessions and events. “Music and community radio are deeply intertwined, each complementing and supporting the other in a constant dance that makes no sense as a solo,” she says. “PBS is deeply embedded in the live music community because our people are deeply embedded; from the staff members who are personally active as musicians, DJs, and sound engineers, to the over 400 volunteers
who bring their passion and music knowledge to the station every day and make this thing possible. We maintain and grow with it because we’re part of it.” Moving into the next decade, growth will play a major role in the station’s next steps. PBS 106.7FM will be shifting from their iconic Easey Street location to their new home at the Collingwood Arts Precinct. While the Drive Live event and station’s birthday call for celebration, it is also the end of an era, a sad goodbye to the past and a warm hello to the present and future PBS. “To celebrate the 10th Drive, in what might be the last year at the Easey St station is the perfect end to an amazing decade of music, and one that I think will be remembered for years to come,” Hall explains. “Drive Live at Easey St has always been about showing real radio in the making. The artists perform in the studios giving the audience a somewhat fish bowl experience of live music. The exciting part of our new home is the purpose-built performance space for all live performances, which will surely add a new level of depth to Drive Live moving forward.”
The 10th PBS Drive Live hits Easey St in Collingwood from Monday February 3 to Friday February 7. It’s totally free but RSVP is required for each session.
Four artists you can’t miss at PBS Drive Live
Danika Smith with choir Birdz
Spiral Perm
RVG
Melbourne folk artist Danika Smith will be helping to kick things off on Monday February 3. A 2011 triple j Unearthed High finalist, her music blends acoustic melodies with soulful undercurrents, as demonstrated on last year’s single ‘Suit Of Armour’. Smith’s airy vocals will be backed by a choir when she takes to the PBS Drive Live stage, making for one mesmerising performance.
Thursday February 6 is going to be a raucous one, with PBS dubbing it their Fang It! night. This is where garage rockers Spiral Perm will be afforded their time to shine, bringing their sparkly guitar riffs and phenomenal vocals to the Drive Live studio. Ali, Kate and Rita make up the talented trio, their sound reminiscent of The Black Keys and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Make sure to tune in for this one.
Closing out the week of PBS Drive Live are local legends and Drive Live alumni, RVG. These guys are a regular fixture across Melbourne’s live music scene – and with good reason. Vocalist and band-namesake Romy Vager harbours some serious vocal power, backed by the equally impressive Reuben Bloxham, Slahn Davis and Marc Nolte. If you haven’t already, check out their post-punk inspired sound when they hit the studio on Friday February 7.
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Political lyrics and smooth, rhythmic flows are Birdz’ bread and butter, creating a musical medley with the power to move your body and motivate your mind. The Indigenous rapper has released a steady stream of music since 2013, with his latest EP Place of Dreams dropping last year. Having collaborated with Mojo Juju, Ecca Vandal and Serina Pech, the Northern Territory native has earned his place as one of Australia’s most esteemed Indigenous hip hop artists.
FEATURES
Vampire Weekend Band frontman Ezra Koenig on the bushfire tragedy and what must happen next BY TOM PARKER
Vampire Weekend’s recent Australian tour came at a time where the country was being ravaged by one of the worst bushfire events in its history. While the 2009 Black Saturday fires were more destructive in a fatal sense, claiming the lives of 173 people, and an unnamed bushfire event of 1974 was more widespread, burning through 117 million hectares, the 2019/20 bushfires are significant due to the length of time for which they’ve been burning. In the past, January and February have proven to be the most hazardous months when it comes to bushfire risk however, during the 2019/20 event, some fires have been burning since October. So what does all this have to do with an indie rock band bred out of New York? In August, Vampire Weekend announced they’d return to Australia as part of the Falls Festival circuit, playing shows in Lorne, Byron Bay, Marion Bay and Fremantle. It would be their first Australian show since they headlined Splendour in the Grass in 2018 and their first venture Down Under since the release of their critically acclaimed 2019 album, Father of the Bride, their first record in six years. On Sunday December 29, Falls Festival announced that its Lorne leg would be abandoned after one day due to the impending risk of the bushfires. Tasked to bring in the New Year, suddenly Vampire Weekend’s first Victorian show in six years was cancelled.
Days following that announcement, Beat Magazine was presented with the unique opportunity to speak to the band’s frontman Ezra Koenig, face to face at Melbourne’s Langham Hotel. Their two headline dates and remaining festival slots would go ahead; on this day, the band readied themselves to play The Forum. As a devastating phenomenon tore through the heart of Australia, would the progressive, intellectual and humanitarian Koenig choose to shed any light? “I don’t know what to say, it’s terrible, it’s an absolute nightmare and you know, on a smaller level, we’ve dealt with similar things in California [in 2018] so I know how devastating it is for people who lose their homes,” Koenig says. “The very first show we did with our new band, this still ended up being a year before the record [Father of the Bride] came out, was this weekend in Ojai, California, which was a community that was really ravaged by fires and we donated all the proceeds to help people who were affected specifically, undocumented people who really have a hard time when dealing with a natural disaster.” On that occasion the band raised money by selling shirts for the cause Upper Ojai Relief, while also matching donations up to $10,000 for the 805 UndocuFund, a disaster relief organisation for immigrant families in the region. The current Australian bushfires have inevitability brought into question the
leadership of the country. How has the government coped in the wake of unmitigated disaster and how has the current rubric held up? Prime Minister Scott Morrison is a conservative comfy with a climate policy that ranked last of 57 countries in the recently compiled 2020 Climate Change Performance Index. This report was prepared by a group of thinktanks comprising the Climate Action Network, Germanwatch and the NewClimate Institute. The United States of America were ranked second-last of the 57 countries, yet, there’s a Senator out there attempting to steer the ship around. “I guess the question is what happens next,” Koenig continues. “Being here, I’ve been emailing with our management about finalising some stuff that we’re going to do for the Bernie Sanders campaign in the next couple of months, which we did four years ago. “To go support a politician who is truly outside the norm of the last few decades of American politics, at least that is a small piece of hopefulness. “I’m sure people here feel the same way. It’s frustrating to feel like, no matter how many people get in the streets and no matter how many people are upset and disturbed by what’s happening that none of us can have real impact on how business is conducted or how the environment is protected because that requires these big governmental bodies.
Obviously voting is now more important than ever.” So what’s the next step for Vampire Weekend? As Koenig affirms, there certainly won’t be a six-year wait until album five. “I think about ‘what’s next’ all the time and ‘what’s next’ is the next album,” Koenig says. “I don’t want it to take six years again, that is not appealing to me. “In some ways I feel like with this album, we kind of had no idea. We knew we had fans, we knew that people listened to our music but, for instance, when you’re planning a tour, you don’t know what size venues to play. “We played Madison Square Garden for the first time ever, that’s a big deal when you’re from New York. We did the full 360 thing, there was a lot of tickets and that’s nerve-racking. The only info you have to go on is five years old, that’s the last time we did this. “You have to have some faith and guess and do your best and hope that people like the new album enough and all that shit. But now that we’ve done all that stuff, it just feels like something’s there.” Vampire Weekend have wrapped up their Australian tour. Following the band’s Melbourne show on Tuesday January 7, the band revealed via Instagram that they would be donating $10,000 to Wildlife Victoria to support bushfire relief.
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Eight bushfire benefit gigs you can’t miss We’re in the midst of a national crisis with bushfires of unprecedented force ravaging much of Australia. Such is the scale of generosity that bushfire benefit gigs have been popping up all over Melbourne in recent weeks and there are plenty more to come. To get a head start, consider buying tickets to some of these events.
Hobsons Bay Coast Guard
Oh Pep!
Sleep D
Fire Relief at The Retreat
Three shows at The Spotted Wind It Up at the NOSO
The folks over at The Retreat realise that, while we all want to help with the crisis sweeping the country, not everyone is in a position to dig deep into their pockets. So they’ve announced a bushfire relief show with a sliding scale entry fee of between $5 and $15. The acts performing include Sunbeam Sound Machine, Poppongene, Hobsons Bay Coast Guard, Swazi Gold, Field Maps, Tali Mahoney and more. It’s happening on Saturday January 18, with tickets via donation on the door.
The Spotted Mallard are hosting not one, but three bushfire fundraiser events between Thursday January 23 and Saturday January 25. The lineup for the first show includes Oh Pep!, The Maes, John Flanagan and Earthworker Bushdance Band. Date two will welcome the likes of Dallas Crane, Rocket Science and BATZ. The third show, including Mick Thomas, The Orbweavers and loads more, is already sold out. All money raised through ticket sales will go to bushfire appeals around the country. Grab your tickets via The Spotted Mallard website.
Cosmic Kahuna
Nai Palm
FeeFee’s Bar for animal relief Blaze Aid at The Night Cat The loss of wildlife as a result of the ongoing fires is almost incomprehensible. Reports suggest half a billion animals have already been killed, with that number certain to rise. Then there’s the matter of the animals whose habitats have been destroyed, affecting their ability to live healthily and propagate in the future. FeeFee’s Bar in Collingwood is doing what it can to respond to the horror with its Bushfire Animal Relief Benefit featuring Cosmic Kahuna, Ramblin’ Gold and Fleetwood Mac tribute band, Rumours. It takes place on Saturday January 18.
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At $20, entry to Blaze Aid would be a steal on any day of the week. The lineup includes Hiatus Kaiyote’s Nai Palm, psych-funk groovers Messy Mammals, hip hop artist Cazeaux O.S.L.O. and loads more. All proceeds will be donated to Neil Morris’ Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities. Many First Nations communities stand to face the harshest consequences of the Federal Government’s obdurate inaction on climate change, so events like these have never been more urgent. Blaze Aid takes place at The Night Cat on Saturday January 18. Tickets via Eventbrite.
Esteemed local gig promoters Wind It Up have pulled together an excellent lineup for a fundraiser at their old stomping ground, the Northcote Social Club. There’ll be live sets from UK garage descendants Big Yawn, Melbourne electronic underground luminaries Sleep D and minimal synth wave producer Cale Sexton. Pjenné, aka Penny O’Brien, will be behind the decks. All proceeds – including designated performance fees – will go to the Wildlife Victoria Bushfire Appeal. Entry is by donation, but $10+ is suggested. Get down to Northcote on Wednesday January 15.
Total Control, Photo by Amy Hill
Gus Dingwall
The Toff joins the cause The Toff will be throwing a party with 100% of the show’s profits going to the CFA, New South Wales Rural Fire Service and the Australian Red Cross. The show will feature performances from Cropley, Gus Dingwall and Xirita, for a Sunday arvo sesh also featuring MLNIUM on the decks. Tickets start at $15 and donations can easily be made on top of that, if punters feel comfortable doing so. It all goes down on Sunday January 19.
Bad Moon Born
Big names hit The Tote
Band Together at Stay Gold
Across two nights, The Tote will host a stack of local favourites to raise funds for the First Nations Fire Relief Fund, Victorian Bushfire Disaster Fund, RFS, Wildlife Victoria, WIRES, SA Country Fire Authority and the Tasmanian Fire Authority. On Friday January 31, Jen Cloher headlines a lineup that also includes Sui Zhen, RVG, Jess Ribeiro and Cool Sounds. On Saturday February 1, you can catch Total Control, HTRK, Alice Skye, Civic, Disco Junk Bank and The Snakes. Tickets are $50+bf or $60+bf (pay what you feel) for each night.
After raising over $15,000 through its Sydney iteration, Band Together makes its way south. The Melbourne instalment of the charity concert will donate all proceeds to CFA and Wildlife Victoria, with Palace Of The King, Bad Moon Born, Echo Del Tusker, The Radio Sun, El Colosso, Cicadastone, The Credits, Shadowqueen, Atomic Riot, IDunnö, DJ Paul Miles, and DJ Kellin in the Name all hitting the stage for the cause. It’s happening at Stay Gold on Monday January 27. Tickets are $30 via Eventbrite.
Various charities and organisations across Australia are taking donations for bushfire relief. Before donating, take a second to read through the appeals to find one that best aligns with you.
WEDNESDAY 15 JAN 2020
WHISKY WEDNESDAYS
$6 Basic, $9 Premium, $12 Cocktails 7PM FREE THURSDAY 16 JAN 2020
UNI NIGHT WITH TEQUILA SPECIALS! FEAT LIQUID DISTRICT (JAN RESIDENCY) & GUESTS 7PM
THURSTY THURSDAYS
LIVE MUSIC JANUARY
FREE
FRIDAY 17TH JANUARY
LAURA KATE & LORENZO 9PM
BAR STOOL GHOSTS
SATURDAY 18TH JANUARY
MOOGY MORGAN BAND, D HENRY FENTON 9PM FREE
6.30PM FREE
9PM
DAN PURDEY AND THE STORMY SEAS
5PM
ANYA ANASTASIA 9PM
TRACEY READ BAND, POWERFUL OWL, HUGH JENNINGS 4PM $7 TUESDAY 21 JAN 2020
OPEN MIC $15 jugs, free performer drink 6PM FREE
FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY
WEDNESDAY 22 JAN 2020
HAWAIIAN UKELE JAMBOREE
WHISKY WEDNESDAYS
$6 Basic, $9 Premium, $12 Cocktails 7PM FREE
7PM
THURSDAY 23 JAN 2020
KATE LUCETTA TIM WOODZ
QUARTER STREET SUNDAY 19 JAN 2020
THURSDAY 23RD JANUARY
KAREN
SATURDAY 18 JAN 2020
DOORS AT 8PM $20
SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY
UNI NIGHT WITH TEQUILA SPECIALS! FEAT LIQUID DISTRICT (JAN RESIDENCY) & GUESTS THURSTY THURSDAYS
8PM
9PM
7PM FREE
SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY
LOS PARCEROS
FRIDAY 24 JAN 2020
9PM
THE MADELEINES DEBUT SHOW 6.30PM FREE
SUNDAY 26TH JANUARY
WILSON BLACKLEY
5PM
WEEKLY SPECIALS
BRIDGET ALLAN (BAND), OH DAISY, SUZI YAGHMOOR AND SOCIAL STREET 8.30PM FREE SATURDAY 25 JAN 2020
THE IN THE OUT, ROUTINES 9PM $10
MONDAY HAPPY HOUR 10PM - 1AM $6 JAMESON $4 POTS $8 PINTS $6 WINE
TUESDAY TRIVIA 8PM (FREE) $10 BURGER & PIZZA
WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC 8PM $10 BURGER & FRIES
THURSDAY $10 PINTS & $1 BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS OR VEG CAULIFLOWER
FRIDAY HAPPY HOUR 4PM - 6PM KITCHEN OPEN LATE EVERYDAY TILL 11PM
SUNDAY 26 JAN 2020
THE BONE FOLDERS, BRITTLE SUN, THE DUFRANES 4PM FREE MONDAY 27 JAN 2020 SURFARAMA SWAMP FEST 3! FEAT:
INTOXICA, PLASTIC SECTION, THE VIBRAJETS, NICKY DEL REY’S SURF’N’TURF, MR EUGENE 3PM $15 TUESDAY 28 JAN 2020
OPEN MIC $15 jugs, free performer drink 6PM FREE
WEDNESDAY 29 JAN 2020
WHISKY WEDNESDAYS
$6 Basic, $9 Premium, $12 Cocktails 7PM FREE THURSDAY 30 JAN 2020
UNI NIGHT WITH TEQUILA SPECIALS! FEAT LIQUID DISTRICT (JAN
THURSTY THURSDAYS
RESIDENCY) FRIDAY 31 JAN 2020
RYAN STERLING 6.30PM FREE TREAT FIRE 9PM FREE
THE THORNBURY LOCAL 635 HIGH ST, THORNBURY 3071 TEL: (03) 9495 0341 INFO@THETHORNBURYLOCAL.COM
BOHJASS + BEN CARR QUARTET + OSCAR FRANCE BAND 7:30PM, DONATION
THURSDAY 16TH JANUARY
GROUNDWORK + BREAKPOINT 8PM, DONATION
FRIDAY 17TH JANUARY
FRIDAY 17 JAN 2020
TIM WOODZ AND THE DIRTY SHOES
WEDNESDAY 15TH JANUARY
HAPPY HOUR TUE-FRI 5PM-7PM $6 PINTS, $3.50 POTS, $5 WINE/BASIC SPIRITS $10 BURRITOS THURS TO SUN
facebook/swamplandsbar
ORION HAZE + JADE ALICE + FREEBOOTER REPUBLIC
‘
8PM, $10
SATURDAY 18TH JANUARY
TSAR GREEN + 10 DOLLARS + DISTRACTED BY PINK + PETE HACHEL
Friday 17th January 9.30pm
ROD PAINE AND THE FULLTIME LOVERS (Rockin’ Blues)
Saturday 18th January 9:30pm
COLD HEART (Country Billy)
7PM, $10
SUNDAY 19TH JANUARY
THE CLUNK ORCHESTRA 3:30PM, FREE +
CRUPS + CRYBONES + BIG SNOUT TRUFFLE HUNTER 7:30PM
MONDAY 20TH JANUARY
PLAYGROUND COMEDY FEAT: ROSS NOBLE + GUESTS TUESDAY 21ST JANUARY
STONETHROAT + COSMIC WRANGLER + GECKO COLLECTIVE 7PM. $10
WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY
BOHJASS + LO-RES +SHOL 7:30PM, DONATION
THURSDAY 23RD JANUARY
BUSHFIRE RELIEF ART FUNDRAISER: SUNBEAMS AND ROCKETS + WORLD SICK + NOVA 6PM
Sunday 19th 5:30pm
CARINO SON (Cuban Grooves)
Tuesday 21st January 8:00pm
IRISH SESSION WITH DAN BURKE AND MARTY KELLY Friday 24th January 9:30pm
EZRA LEE VS JULIAN JAMES (deuling blues)
Saturday 25th January 9:30pm
MUDTRAIN
FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY
‘BALKAN BRASS PARTY’
OPA! 8PM
SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY
HOMEBASS: KODIAK KID + AURAMECHANIC + SPECIAL GUESTS 8PM, $10
SUNDAY 26TH JANUARY
‘SURVIVAL’
(Blues Express)
Sunday 26th January 3:30pm
A DAY FOR AUSTRALIA DAY BUSHFIRE BENEFIT
MONDAY 27TH JANUARY
PLAYGROUND COMEDY
FEAT: ROSS NOBLE + GUESTS 7PM
TUESDAY 28TH JANUARY
SMILING POLITELY COMEDY 7:30PM, DONATION
WEDNESDAY 29TH JANUARY
BOHJASS + GLORY B + BIRD CONFERENCE
(bands to be announced soon)
Tuesday 28th January 8:00pm
IRISH SESSION WITH DAN BURKE AND MARTY KELLY
7:30PM, DONATION
THURSDAY 30TH JANUARY
‘BLUES, SOUL’ KICKIN THE B AT 303’ THURSDAY HAMMOND SESSIONS:
WEREWOLVES OF MELBOURNE 8PM DOORS, $10
303 HIGH ST NORTHCOTE 03 9482 4577 | 303.NET.AU FACEBOOK.COM/BAR303NOTHCOTE
Wednesday 29th January
LAMOND ACOUSTICA ALL GIGS ARE FREE 225 NICHOLSON STREET, BRUNSWICK EAST. PH 9380 1752
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Getting the best bang for your buck when recording In this, the third instalment of the Simon Moro Series, we chat to the renowned music producer and engineer about being smart with recording: where you can’t take shortcuts, how to be strategic with your time and helpful tricks to help you progress faster and record quicker. WITH SIMON MORO
If your goal is to make a career as a successful artist, it may be worth asking yourself if a recording budget would be beneficial. The answer; only if your music isn’t compromised. Remember that fans can’t imagine the potential in your songs, they’ll just hear them as they are. There’s a few smart ways to cut costs and invest wisely; here’s some tips and tricks to help you navigate the recording minefield. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
Three crucial yet commonly overlooked factors in recording your own music are the room, the gear (mic, preamp, outboard) and the convertors. These elements alone can contribute to common issues with budget recording, so they aren’t worth skimping on. If you’re facing any of the following, it’s probably an issue with one of these key recording elements: • Low-end, difficult to contain or balance • Lack of focus/sharpness in the image • Little or no separation (even with sparse arrangements) • Harsh high frequencies in vocals, cymbals and guitars • Thinness/lack of body in sounds • If this is the case, rather than blame yourself and lose enthusiasm, brainstorm ways that you could access better spaces
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or gear. It’s a hard battle to win, so go easy on yourself, and find ways to be
DIRECT RECORDING
While recording vocals at home can be more comfortable and cost-effective than hiring a studio, there are some issues that can arise. The most common problem I hear with home recordings is that the high frequencies and sibilance is harsh, the tone is thin, and the background ambience gets recorded, which affects the placement of the vocal. These issues come down to the mic, preamp and converters. Buying high-end gear could cost almost $10k+, so consider hiring something awesome for a weekend.
If you’ve got good convertors and preamps, you can likely record bass, electric guitar and keyboards to a decent standard at home, and use amp emulation. For guitars, you could use your vocal recording setup and put a mic on your amp if you prefer the tone. Amp emulation has come a long way, and can sometimes be more useful than recording amps. For example, if you record your guitars or bass early in the production, as you add other instruments, the frequency response of the production can change a lot. When using amp emulation, you can quickly scroll through different amps in the context of your finished arrangement to find ones that sit better overall in the song.
SOFTWARE INSTRUMENTS
MIXING
The great thing about software instruments is that the engineering is already done. If the sound is sample based and high-end convertors, decent mics and outboard were used, they will already sound great. You can really take your time getting the parts right, and experimenting with them. You could also use them to augment other parts of the recording. For example, if you have recorded a distorted electric guitar, but it’s lacking some body, try finding a low, distorted synth sound that you can blend with the guitar. If done well, it just sounds like a full, solid electric guitar.
What I learned from Michael Brauer, is that mixing makes more of a difference to the emotion and energy of a song than I ever thought possible – making this an area worth investing in. You’d be looking at around $1000 per song for someone experienced enough to make a significant difference to what you can do. If you do explore cheap mixers, the most important thing to assess is their first mix. If it’s underwhelming from an energy and emotion viewpoint, it won’t be fixed by turning a few things up and down and tweaking settings.
resourceful with what you have. VOCALS
If that’s the case, I’d consider ceasing further investment if change requests carry a cost. The first mix from an experienced mixer will sound and feel great – you’ll find that your change requests are purely taste based, such as ‘more/less reverb’, or ‘turn up this part here/ that part there’. CONCLUSION
Recording is an exciting process, filled with emotional ups and downs. As songwriters and performers, allocating your time can be challenging, and it’s a good idea to be aware of where it’s going. If you notice that you’re spending 80 per cent of your time on production, and 20 per cent on writing and rehearsing, it’s probably worth correcting the balance. Labels sign songs, so remember to invest time in that too.
To find out more about Simon Moro’s work, head over to his website, ninetynine100.com.
68 SYDNEY RD BRUNSWICK 3056
The Northside’s newest place to party – and throw parties! Wed Jan 15
Wine, Whiskey Women: 8pm Torii Dunbar 9pm Tanya Ransom Thu Jan 16
7pm
Open Mic Night Fri Jan 17
Traditional Irish Music 8.30pm Doggerel
6pm
Sat Jan 18
Ciaran Boyle 9pm Bakersfield Glee Club 3pm
Sun Jan 19
The Bona Fide Travellers 6.30pm Kyle Phillipson and the Barley St Three 4pm
Tue Jan 21
Tribute Tuesday: The Treblettes play the songs of the Andrews Sisters 8pm
Wed Jan 22
Wine, Whiskey, Women: 8pm Rachael Lia 9pm Georgia Gordon
Open to the public every Thursday and Friday night. Serving a selection of imported beers, wine and Spritz on TAP with our authentic Italian bar menu.
CLOSED JAN
OPEN 4PM 1AM 7 DAYS
BAR & BEER GARDEN HAPPY HOUR
MON - WED ~ ALL NITE THURS - FRI ~ 4PM - 7PM
$7 PINTS BEER + CIDER
FREE COMEDY
FUNNY NEAR THE BRUNNY $7 PINTS ALL NITE
RE-OPENING FEB 6TH
Have your party
AT OURS!
OPEN STAGE
Plans tonight? FIND HUNDREDS OF EVENTS AND SHOWS ON BEAT’S GIG GUIDE
THE SELTZER SESSIONS HOSTED BY HAMISH MCNAB $7 PINTS ALL NITE
UPCOMING GIGS TOM REDWOOD + NITIDA
8PM
BERGY BUSHFIRE RELIEF 8PM
WITH SARAH EIDA + LONG HOLIDAY SORDID ORDEAL + I HAVE A GOAT
TANG! - RE-UNION SHOW!
8PM
WITH KILL TWO BIRDS THE CLOSE TALKERS + PRIME MINISTER
DEAR MATILDA - SINGLE LAUNCH FT: OH NORTH +VIOLET TOLHURST
6PM
BEAT.COM.AU
Thu Jan 23
8pm
Josh Gilmore Fri Jan 24
ON TAP
Traditional Irish Music Session 8.30pm Chris Pickering Experience
6pm
8PM
Sat Jan 25
Kraken Folk Session 9pm The King & The Easy
3pm
8PM
DAMIEN VANDEGEER
JAD JAGUAR + KRISTY SHERIDAN
JADE EMPRESS
BEE VIRGINIA
Sun Jan 26
Van Walker 6.30pm The Ferriters 4pm
Tue Jan 28
Tuesday Tribute: The Ocelots (IRE) play the songs of The Kinks 8pm
The Drunken Poet 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au
8PM
Contact us at: ciao@olivasocial.com.au for private function enquires.
BAILEY JUDD
SEB SZABO + FOLK BITCH TRIO 5PM
BYO VINYL SUNDAY
HOSTED BY MELBOURNE RECORD CLUB
/olivasocial @olivasocial
olivasocial.com.au
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FEATURES
Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee It’s time we got more acquainted with First Nations culture. BY ANNIE-MEI FORSTER
Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee is a free annual celebration of Australia’s Indigenous cultures. It returns next month with another great lineup of Indigenous artists from around the country. Yaluk-ut Weelam means ‘people of the river’ and is a clan belonging to the Boon Wurrung people who resided in the Port Phillip area, commonly known today as St Kilda. The festival loosely means ‘People, Place, Gathering’ and hopes to bring people together who are both Indigenous and nonIndigenous. Now in its fifteenth year, the City of Port Phillip worked with the Boon Wurrung people to create a program showcasing different Australian Indigenous cultures through music, dance, film, technology, a marketplace and a sustainability program. Over the years, the festival has hosted great Australian talent including Archie Roach, Lady Lash and Dan Sultan, just to name a few. This year, the festival promises as good a music lineup as previous years, with both new talent and some familiar faces too. Festival Producer Fred Gesha says Yalukut Weelam Ngargee is an important event because it’s a chance for people from all over Australia to come together. “It’s a chance for the whole community to get involved and to be exposed to different indigenous cultures and languages.” Headlining this year’s 2020 music instalment are Emma Donovan & The Putbacks. Donovan is a revered Indigenous vocalist who has forged quite the reputation alongside Melbourne rhythm combo The Putbacks. Expect to hear tracks from 2014’s critically acclaimed Dawn, an album that brought us ‘My Goodness’ and cultural anthem ‘Black Woman’. Coloured Stone have been around since the ‘70s and are recognised worldwide for their mix of rock, ska, reggae and unique Aboriginal sound that incorporates traditional instruments such as clap sticks, didgeridoo and bundawuthada (gong stone). They’ll perform at 2:20pm; for a truly special cultural experience. The festival has incorporated more inclusive activities over the years such as market stalls and cooking demonstrations that showcase different aspects of Indigenous culture. Gesha says it’s important to break down the stereotypes of Indigenous culture.“People think of Aboriginal culture as didgeridoos and clap sticks, which is fine but not all indigenous tribes use those instruments.” Gesha says while dot paintings and traditional languages are some of the things that immediately spring to mind when people think of Aboriginal culture, it’s much more dynamic than that.
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“We’re still practicing our culture and we’re using the latest technology to share that with the community.” Since the inauguration of Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee, Indigenous artists have come along and it’s now the norm to see such musicians picked up by triple j Unearthed. These artists have played at music festivals around the country and have created their own unique space and sound; Baker Boy and Alice Skye stand as just two examples of the stellar rise in Indigenous representation. Storytelling is a big part of Indigenous culture and Gesha says many Indigenous artists are drawing on their culture to create innovative music, weaving storytelling into their rhythm and beats. “Indigenous artists are using the latest technology to create music. Yet, they’re still remembering traditional values and discussing issues that affected us in the past and that still affect us today.” Last year’s event focused on Indigenous women in rock, and the organisers ensure that there is an even representation of men and women each year. Alice Skye and Mojo Juju, two previous Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee performers, both picked up awards at the 2019 Australian Women in Music Awards. Mojo Juju also received Album and Song of the Year at the prestigious 2019 National Indigenous Music Awards, with her music resonating with fans all across the country and beyond. On top of the music, there will be plenty of other activities and market stalls for the whole family to enjoy. Torres Strait owned and run business Mabu Mabu, will hold a cooking demo on the day to expose people to Indigenous food. There’ll also be an Indigenous hip hop class and a Bush Animals workshop, run by Aunty Bronwyn from Mirrnong Minnie, to keep the kids entertained. There are around 500 nations and languages that make up this country with thousands of dialects, making us more culturally diverse than Europe. “‘Aboriginal’ is an all-encompassing word that doesn’t express the diversity of the way we look, the way we sound and our customs,” Gesha says. Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee has been a champion of young people in the arts with a focus on the next generation of musicians. Gesha says he’s most looking forward to the bands but also the great family atmosphere. He enjoys meeting people who come down to check out the event and the safe space they have created. Check out Yaluk-ut Weelam Ngargee on Saturday February 1 at O’Donnell Gardens next to Luna Park in St Kilda. The event is free and runs from 11am until 7pm.
For more info, check out ywnf.com.au for the full set times and events guide
CHAPEL SUMMER SESSIONS
Chapel Summer Sessions One of the greatest elements of Melbourne’s music scene are the understated venues that quietly host evenings you’ll never quite forget. BY CAITLIN HYNES
Chapel Off Chapel is one such venue, who’ll be hosting an enigmatic lineup of emerging and internationally recognised artists for the upcoming Chapel Summer Sessions next month. Running from Saturday February 1 to Friday February 21, the 2020 Chapel Summer Sessions will see performances from Sydney duo Jess & Matt, acoustic crooner Kyle Lionhart and regular guest Thando, to name a few. From rock’n’roll to hip hop and gospel to folk, Chapel Summer Sessions exhibit how innovative the Chapel Off Chapel team are in their campaign to deliver music for all. Chapel Off Chapel’s Marketing and Producer Liasion Officer, Ibrahim Mustafa, has been with the company for 14 years, and has seen this annual event grow from strength to strength. “We’re an all ages venue, so these shows are for everyone, no matter the age or genre preference. Your whole undivided attention is
to the music and that’s so beautiful,” explains Mustafa. Launched in 2016, the Chapel Summer Sessions have humbly delivered utterly intimate performances that move you deeply, whilst also allowing punters the opportunity to experiment comfortably with different genres and musicians. “We want to appeal to music lovers of all genres,” says Mustafa. “These sessions give people the opportunity to try out different genres, styles or musicians. “Once you go into the venue, everyone is hooked onto the music and no one makes a sound. They fall into the magic of the artist. The venue and its intimacy add to the theatrical element of the show.” Like MTV Unplugged, the Chapel Summer Sessions deliver an unforgettable opportunity for the artist to deliver their music from a completely different angle. Similar to Kurt Cobain’s stripped back MTV
performance with Nirvana in 1993, Chapel Off Chapel gives artists the chance to perform differently, in an intimately live setting. The superb acoustics, lighting and classic stained-glass windows deliver aesthetics that only heighten the magic of the music and demands the audience’s attention like a magnetic pull. “The performers also use the venue to strip back their performance to something raw and honest. There’s no back-up dancers or anything like that,” Mustafa explains. “For example, Kyle Lionhart usually has a full band but for this event he’s using a string orchestra and stripping his music right back.” What Chapel Off Chapel achieves with its Chapel Summer Sessions are iconic moments in time that feel so intimate, they rock you right to your core. It’s those moments where musicians you love, or are alternatively just discovering, belt out lyrics and chords like their life depends on it, and it pierces so clearly through the Chapel air. The sessions are a unique experience, and something you’re not likely to forget.
They aren’t short-lived performances either, with the musicians delivering two sets that are broken up by an intermission. This means you’re able to spend substantial amounts of time under a musical spell, becoming more acquainted with the artists across the 2020 program. “It’s basically a bargain special with these artists performing a full-sized show,” says Mustafa. “Really, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these artists in one utterly intimate location.” Mustafa and Chapel Off Chapel have also done us all a favour by immortalising past performances, selecting three songs from each artist’s set to record and publish on the venue website. Do yourself a favour and watch one of Thando’s former appearances at the Chapel Summer Sessions, especially her performance with Ngaiire. You won’t regret it.
experiences. Ultimately, I think we can become better versions of ourselves.” “My music is also light, as well,” Alu reasons. “We’ve only got this life once, so it’s like, we might as well have a good time and not be so deep all the time. It’s finding the balance, that’s what I’m after.” As part of his lengthy touring schedule this month, Alu will be performing at Chapel Off Chapel. With music so well suited to those easy breezy, chilled out kind of days, Alu admits it will be a challenge, albeit a welcome one, to adapt to the acoustics and tone of a venue like Chapel Off Chapel. “I love that about different venues,” says Alu. “To put your own perspective into a room – that happens every night and I enjoy that challenge.
“For me, it’s always been, ‘Let the music speak for itself and I’ll do everything in my power to perform these songs and get to that space’. “I’ve been really looking forward to Chapel Off Chapel. I’ve been wanting to play this venue for a long time and I’m really looking forward to sharing my flavour.”
Chapel Summer Sessions runs from Saturday February 1 to Friday February 21 at Chapel Off Chapel. You can find tickets and the full program on the venue website.
Bobby Alu Closing out 2019 on a high, ukulele strummer, drummer, and singer Bobby Alu, is riding the wave of joy that his third album, Flow, has brought. BY ANNA ROSE
The record has received wide acclaim for Alu’s audio presentation of his mantra: “move and be moved”. Flow delivers a robust energy that reminds us to have a good time while remaining pensive about life’s surprises. The uplifting and diverse instrumentation of the album has left many in awe of Alu’s quick stylings and rampant rhythms. Alu is, of course, floored by the reception. “It’s different with this one,” he begins carefully. “I think with past albums I had this element of expectation, what quantified it doing well or what quantified success. “With this one, I felt so happy and really spent a long time on these songs that I really just wanted to have it out there. Whatever comes back comes back, [but] I was really content with having it out there. “Having these thoughts, these feelings, I was really grateful for that, and whatever happens [now] is a bonus.” Conversations surrounding Flow – not just with friends, but with strangers – have had the greatest impact on Alu. “People have said, ‘Hey, I really love your album, it’s helping me through this and that,’ and
that’s huge for me, that means a lot. That’s sort of why I did this.” The album itself is largely Alu’s observations of people around him and how they live their life – but it also provides insight into who Alu is as a musician, and how he channels his energy into those observations. Not only does music serve as a catalyst for Alu’s creative reflections, it allows him to generate connections with the aspirations he holds as an artist to the world around him. “Ultimately, I feel super lucky I have an outlet,” he says. “I feel like there’s so much stuff going on in our heads – everyone you know is going through some sort of battle, sometimes they tell you, sometimes they don’t. “For me to have this vessel to communicate whatever is going on, to help the human experience, I feel I’ve got that. So, if there’s any way I can help and let others do the same… Yeah, I’ve got an amazing community around me who are really inspiring. “I really try and keep myself open to that inspiration, because you can really close yourself a lot when you’ve got your head in your own shit. Open up, listen to other people, share these
Bobby Alu will perform at Chapel Off Chapel on Friday February 7 as part of Chapel Summer Sessions. Find tickets and more info via the venue website, chapeloffchapel.com.au.
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FEATURES
Flying Lotus “Man, you got some weirdos down in Melbourne. Y’all so strange – I love it.” BY WILL BREWSTER
It’s ironic to hear such a barb come from Steven Ellison, yet if there’s anyone who’s got a licence to put things in the weird basket, it’s him. Having made some of the most forward-thinking electronic music of the past 15 years under the Flying Lotus moniker, Ellison’s no stranger to surreal forces. Flamagra, his latest full-length effort, spills over with crooked grooves. The 27-track record features contributions from fellow oddballs such as Shabazz Palaces, Solange, Tierra Whack, George Clinton and David Lynch, who combine with Ellison to create the perfect soundtrack for an apocalyptic rave on top of a scorched earth. “Flamagra is apocalyptic, but it’s not,” says Ellison. “I don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing. I think it’s change. Most people don’t like change, but then others do. Some people want to go and burn their diaries just so they can move forward.” Although it arrived a whole five years after his electro-jazz opus You’re Dead!, Flamagra is by no means a return for Flying Lotus. Ellison chipped away at the record while making his directorial debut with the film Kuso and producing frequent collaborator Thundercat’s record Drunk. However, Ellison says it was bearing witness
to a changing world and the homogenisation of popular music that truly informed his direction on the album. “I felt like I was watching the world change. I’m a reactionary artist, so I felt like I needed to be out there again. In the landscape of music and art right now, I felt like there was nothing in the realm of what I was trying to do, so I had to do it. “It was also a time where everyone was trying to sound the exact same, everyone using the same drums, same samples, same everything. Like, what the fuck? People have been rinsing this trap shit for a long time man. It’s a cool thing, I love it, but no thank you. I think it would be healthy to be as sound-less as I can and just try make something different.” One of the hallmarks of a Flying Lotus record is that it’s not so much an album as it is an experience; a trip to somewhere not yet conquered. It’s a prospect Ellison is currently toying with on his wildly inventive 3D tour behind Flamagra, which collides his broken beat compositions with lucid, brain-smashing visuals to create a multi-sensory encounter unlike any other. Ellison describes the process as somewhat similar to that of performing with a band.
“It’s all improvised,” he says. “We’ve got the same people every night, that’s the only way it could work. They know my music, they vibe off of what I’m doing, they know when I’m going to drop the drums out. But that being said, they’re still trying to do their job every night.” Ellison makes it clear that this creative modus operandi isn’t limited to the Flying Lotus canon, but to his perspective on electronic music in its entirety. “Just because you’re working with loops doesn’t mean you can freak yourself out and try things you’ve never done before,” Ellison extols. “That’s the same thing people do in jazz, that’s just improvising, and people who improvise in
jazz are never fully improvising. They’re playing licks or phrases that they know or have practised a million times, and now they’re just piecing them together in a way which flows.” “People always rely on things that they know – they’ve got their own loops, or voicings, or chords. But they’ve got their sound. I think there’s something that can be said for setting your shit to where it can be very expressive every single night, instead of pushing spacebar or plugging in and letting rip.”
of sound recording. I looked to Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Madonna, Eurythmics, Prince, Japan, The Blue Nile... all of these artists pushing these ideas. I looked at the way dance music infiltrated pop music, shaping it into what it is today. I really wanted to find a direction that felt more succinct, and to make the whole thing a step up.” While there are obvious touchstones sonically amidst what Georgia is doing on Seeking Thrills, there are also a few names she mentions that seem out of place in this musical Venn diagram. “I found myself going back to all the classic songwriters,” she says. “Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, Curtis Mayfield. I wanted the songwriting to really improve, and there’s no better way to do that than to study the absolute best.” Not only is Georgia coming at her music from
a unique compositional perspective, her live performances are similarly quintessential. Rather than performing with a band, Barnes operates everything herself – and, rather than keyboards or synthesizers, she plays a standup electronic drum kit with both real cymbals and trigger pads. Watching it all go down live is a sight to see, and it’s something Barnes prides herself on. “I didn’t really want to have a band,” she says. “I explored that, and it didn’t work”. “Hot Chip asked me to support them in New York a few years back, and the way my live set-up was at the time there wasn’t a way it could fit on stage. That’s where I got the idea to just do it solo and I was so satisfied with the way it came together.”
Catch Flying Lotus 3D at The Forum on Saturday January 25. Tickets via Ticketmaster.
Georgia As a precursor to her second album Seeking Thrills, multi-instrumentalist and producer Georgia Barnes – better known simply as Georgia – released a new single in mid-2019. BY DAVID JAMES YOUNG
It was a great success, with its rushing electro-pop grooves and big beats accruing some 5 million streams on Spotify. She even performed it at Glastonbury, raising a sea of hands in front of a packed-out Park Stage. There’s just one problem; the song’s title, ‘About Work the Dancefloor’, makes literally no sense. “I grew up around dancefloor culture,” she says. “One of the bands I was completely obsessed with was Cybotron, who were one of the first commercially-successful techno groups. “If you look at the way Juan Atkins would use vocals in their music, a lot of the time what he was saying wouldn’t make grammatical sense. He’s just taking you through this trip – it’s phonetically rhythmic, and it goes with the music and the overall atmosphere. “I had an idea in my mind that I didn’t want ‘About Work the Dancefloor’ to make sense – a lot of the time, when you’re on the dancefloor, nothing makes sense. You feel things that sometimes you just can’t articulate. You just know something important is happening. The
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hook needed to be nonsensical – you’re not thinking about what I’m saying, you’re just in the moment.” To say that Seeking Thrills has been a long time coming is a considerable understatement. Barnes has been stringing along teasers for the record along from as far back as 2017. Ultimately, half of the album was released prior to the record’s actual release date last Friday – and yet, there’s still a sense of freshness and newfound vitality when these songs are arranged as such. It was always Barnes’ goal to create a more cohesive effort than her eponymous 2015 debut, and she was able to achieve this thanks to channelling her influence and inspiration to its logical conclusion. “I wanted this album to be a return to my roots,” she says. “I looked to the early ‘80s as the kind of main aesthetic of the production. I got very inspired by this period where analogue met digital technology. “There were these incredible synth-wave bands that were really pushing the boundaries
Georgia’s new album Seeking Thrills is out now via Domino.
FEATURES
Amanda Palmer She’s unapologetic, unsparingly honest and a gem of the music world. BY TAMMY WALTERS
Front-woman of Brechtian punk rock cabaret band The Dresden Dolls and an accomplished solo artist, Amanda Palmer is bringing her critically acclaimed one-woman show, There Will Be No Intermission, to Hamer Hall this month. “Australia is finally getting the best part of the tour,” says Palmer. “Usually Australia and New Zealand get me when I’m a puddle on the floor. It’s been building and building and building into a better show every night, so weirdly the best shows are going to be in Darwin. Come to Darwin to see the final explosive shows for Amanda Palmer in her best form ever.” There Will Be No Intermission is an amalgamation of Palmer’s various forms of artistic expression, dissecting her deepest personal trauma and suffering for her trusting community. Audiences be warned: sensitive subjects of abortion, miscarriages, abuse and grief feature heavily within the show. However, Palmer has created a safe space for these discussions. “One of the things that I love so much about the turns that my career has taken is I’ve built up a trusting enough relationship with my audience that I can get away with doing a
show like this and it works,” Palmer says. “I don’t think I would have been brave enough to do a show this emotional and honest even ten years ago. It’s not a comfortable show by any stretch of the imagination. It’s one of the most uncomfortable shows I’ve ever toured but it’s also paradoxically the most acceptable and funniest, because those things have to be there to balance each other out.” This blend of the uncomfortable and the downright hilarious fosters an incredible sense of community at Palmer’s shows, not just from the stage to the audience, but within members of the audience. “I constantly see strangers talking to each other and helping other and passing each other tissues and asking if people who are alone and crying need a hug or need to talk,” Palmer says. “I’m really proud of the fact that whatever garden I grew, these are the people that decided that they want to hang out. It means a lot to me. I think your fanbase really reflects who you are.” Though, Palmer’s relationship with her community is not one-sided. While her job title covers singer-songwriter, playwright, pianist, author, director, ukulele enthusiast,
touring artist and mother, she can add therapist to the list as well, offering an ear and a warm embrace to each of her supporters. “I’m in an open marriage but sometimes I feel like I’m in a relationship with thousands and thousands of people – a real relationship that requires time and energy and communication and consent,” she says. “All of the hundreds of thousands of abortion stories and abuse stories and miscarriage stories and suicide stories, they all come with me and they don’t feel like a burden. “They feel like a collective blanket of comfort that I carry around with me knowing that my story is not unique, ever, because so many people are going through so much suffering on a daily basis that I would be insane to think that my suffering is important or more important than anybody else’s.”
The tour takes its name from Palmer’s latest album. Throughout the process of writing the album, touring the show and hearing peoples’ stories, Palmer admits she’s in a good place in her life. “These shows have been incredibly therapeutic to me but in a way they’re only as therapeutic to me as they are to others. I am only able to advance my little piece on the board game when everyone else is dancing around with me [laughs]. I don’t get to just bust out and win. It doesn’t work like that.” Join Amanda Palmer for There Will Be No Intermission on Wednesday January 22 at Art Centre Melbourne’s Hamer Hall.
Cash Savage & The Last Drinks The Melbourne songwriter reveals the only aspect of the songwriting process she understands, is that she doesn’t understand the songwriting process. BY DAN WATT
Cash Savage has been sharing her life and experiences with audiences for over a decade now. The vessel for this consummate story telling is a rollicking iteration of folk-rock that is powered by Savage’s vocals, and guitar that is then enhanced by her six-piece band, The Last Drinks. In 2018 the band released their fourth studio album Good Citizens, the contents of which herald a sweet spot in Savage’s songwriting. The album topped RRR, PBS and many Beat writer’s Album of The Year lists. This resonance was generated from the huge mirror the song’s lyrics held up to individuals who live on the right side of history, (generally) reside in Melbourne’s north, and harbour the belief that the patriarchy, along with Scott Morrison, can get fucked. If this is your first time reading about Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, please don’t be fooled into thinking that the songs are entrenched in an idiomatic local-only code.
Cash Savage, by Naomi Lee Beveridge
Far from it, instead tracks like ‘Good Citizens’ and ‘Better Than That’ are ensconced in the atmosphere of ‘now’, with their appeal as hard to pin down as the abstract concept that fuels it – the zeitgeist. “I’m not one of those songwriters who are like, ‘There’s a topic, I need to write about it’. I usually write songs by having a guitar in my hand, think about stuff and then it comes out,” explains Savage. “When I wrote Good Citizens, it was for me to sum up a time in my life that spanned about six-months. When I listen back to that album there are songs that I know if I wrote them again now, they would be very different. “So while I am currently working on songs for what will be my next album, I don’t want to talk about what those songs may end up sounding like because I don’t want to impede upon a process where I have no idea how it actually works.” In the aforementioned title track ‘Good
Citizens’, Savage explores a common form of self-sabotage that we dress up as the inevitable paradox of the five-day work week. She sings, “And Saturday is going to be a big night/And Monday morning is going to be rough.” When this powerfully self-reflective story telling is coupled with Savage’s earnest singing voice, over the top of music that sounds like a funeral march, the impact is profound. Savage reflects on how the nuanced ‘Good Citizens’ manifests in a live setting. “I like to keep it stark so none of the intensity of the recording is lost,” she says. “From the very first time I wrote and played that song to when I play it now, the intensity and the emotion it evokes in me has not changed.” At this point of the interview, Savage deftly avoids being drawn on whether Melbourne has a north/south divide by drawing attention to the fact Melbournians give a massive fuck
for local music city-wide. “Props to the people of Melbourne who come from all over to go to St Kilda Festival. Everyone has sat on that 96 tram under the arm pits of a heavy, sweaty punter for 30-minutes to get to St Kilda Festival in Melbourne life.” “I am really excited for our set because the band is gelling so well at the moment,” says Savage. “That’s the lineup of Rene Mancuso [drums], Joe White [guitar], Kathleen Mear [violin], Nick Finch [bass], Jess Zubkevych [guitar] and Roshan Khozouei [keys]”. Cash Savage & The Last Drinks are playing St Kilda Festival on Sunday February 9. Head to the festival website for the full lineup.
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FEATURES
Newmarket Scavenger Hunt As part of a recent rebrand, Newmarket Hotel along Inkerman St in St Kilda is holding a competition to get their customers more involved in the venue and its offerings. BY MARNIE VINALL
As Zoe Trewin, the marketing coordinator and creative mastermind behind the concept explains, “We wanted to shift the focus onto the community and getting the customer involved and making them feel like they’re part of the family. “I thought to get the word out there, actually having a campaign where people can submit their ideas for burgers and potentially have that added to the menu was the perfect way to start that conversation.” The competition is two-fold. Firstly, you’ll need to go on a scavenger hunt to find one of their posters, which will be posted outside on the surrounding streets and in a few cheeky shops. Next, you’ll need to take a photo of the poster and upload it to social media with a caption that fills in the gaps of the burger with ingredients you’d want in your “dream burger”. You’ll also need to tag Newmarket and use the hashtag #NewmarketDreamBurger, so they
can find your stellar creation. As Trewin states, the Newmarket Hotel are basically asking punters, “If you could have the perfect burger, what would it have in it?”. Now, if you’re wondering whether creativity or taste will be a bigger factor in the decision process, Trewin says that your best bet is to dream big – especially as you’ll be trying to impress more than just the Newmarket staff. In fact, it’s the public who will decide the winner, through the venue’s social media page. “We won’t even make the final decision, it’ll be up to the general public to vote for their favourite,” Trewin says. “We’ll pick six of our favourites and put it to the general public to vote on social media.” However, she does offer some advice. “At the end of the day, you want it to taste good.” So, make sure to keep flavour in mind when you’re selecting your ingredients. It’s a drool-worthy prize too, with the
winner staking claim to a year’s worth of free burgers from the venue. “So they can go anytime and either have their dream burger every time, or if they get sick of that, try any other burger,” Trewin explains. There’s no need to feel left out of the running if you’re a vegetarian or vegan either, as Trewin confirms this competition is 100 per cent for you too. “I tried a Beyond Meat burger for the first time the other day and it was amazing, so just seeing something like that would be great as well to include everyone,” says Trewin. “That’s what we want to do, just have options for absolutely everyone.” Even if you’re not the chosen winner, you’ll still get a little something, as everyone who enters the competition will have a drink waiting for them at the bar. As Trewin explains, “All they have to do is go in and show that they’ve entered by showing their post on
social media, and we’ll shout them a free drink.” The competition will be running for two weeks, kicking off on Friday January 17 until Friday January 31. “The sky’s the limit in terms of what you can come up with for burgers, so go for it. We’re really excited to see what you come up with,” Trewin says. Newmarket have also pledged to donate a dollar from every schooner and pint of Furphy sold to WIRES, supporting animals in need following these devastating fires. So make sure to grab a cold one while you’re on the hunt in the area.
their hard-earned money, so it’s really important to us to deliver a great experience. “Our family is hospitality born and bred, and Mary’s returns the fun that was missing from other restaurants.” The team behind Mary’s Melbourne also pride themselves on a menu that has a deep, organic connection to the produce trade right here in Victoria. “Being in the backyard to the people whose products makes up our patties and wine list, it’s like a wry smile knowing this happened organically for years and has been part of our story for ages. This isn’t manufactured,” Smyth explains. “We also like to make good food and we do try keep things considered and thoughtful, and it’s become something that people have come to know us by.”
“We’re passionate about helping build and support the Melbourne community,” adds Graham. “We think everyone deserves Mary’s because a Mary’s burger is the most delicious thing. That’s how seriously we take this. We’re passionate about our product, but we are also ready to listen to what people want.” Mary’s Melbourne is set to deliver the usual suspects from their Newtown location, including their epic vegan menu, as well as some Melbourne specific items. Bookings will be available for eight or more guests, as well as the opportunity for venue hire.
The Newmarket Hotel Scavenger Hunt gets underway from Friday January 17 and runs until Friday January 31 and there’s a year’s supply of free burgers up for grabs. Find out more via newmarketstkilda.com.au/ dreamburger.
Mary’s Melbourne Following on from its success in Sydney, Mary’s Melbourne is set to become your newest burger obsession. BY CAITLIN HYNES
It’s safe to say that we Melbournian’s love food, booze, good company and music. We produce some top-quality exports in all of these areas, and it’s something we’re pretty proud of. It’s no surprise then that our city is something of a pinnacle for restaurateurs, with many business owners across the country flocking to make their mark in Melbourne. Opening Monday January 20 on Franklin Street, Mary’s Melbourne will be another exciting addition to the culinary fold, specialising in fried chicken and juicy burgers, with some vegan options too. If you’re a burger fiend, you’re probably already familiar with Mary’s trademark delights, which have made appearances, popups and takeovers across Melbourne over the past few years. “When we do these pop-up events, it’s our toe in the water to see if there’s any interest,” explains co-founder, Jake Smyth. “Melbourne has been on our radar for fucking years. That’s why we’ve always loved doing those takeovers at places like Leonard’s House of Love, Leonardo’s Pizza Place and Belles Hot Chicken. Any excuse to get down here we’ve jumped at because we love Melbourne.”
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Hailing from Newtown in Sydney and named after the street it’s located on, Mary’s has become a mecca of originality, individualism and plain old good food. It’s no wonder then that owners Jake Smyth and Kenny Graham have expanded southward into the 3000 postcode with Mary’s Melbourne. “We’re incredibly lucky and we know that,” says Graham. “We turn up to work with a big smile on our face knowing that. “Some days you struggle and some days you drive home with a big win. Signing the lease in Melbourne was definitely one of those big wins. We’re so excited to call 3000 home.” Mary’s Melbourne is set to deliver everything a Melbournian could (and does) want - a discreet laneway entrance, good food done well, Insta-worthy interior design and a team of staff who deliver excellent service while also being down for a chat and a laugh. “Mary’s is a true representation of who we are, and we want to drive home that we do this because we have a genuine empathy and care for humans,” says Smyth. “It stems and breathes from honesty. No pulling the wool over anyone’s eyes or cutting corners. People come into our home to spend
Mary’s Melbourne opens on Monday January 20 at 167 Franklin Street. Keep up to date with Mary’s via their Facebook page.
FEATURES
Mad Zach SAE Creative Media Institute presents an exclusive masterclass with producer, performer and educator Mad Zach. With over 20 million YouTube views, 10+ million plays on Spotify and tour experience in over ten countries, renowned music producer Mad Zach is a well-respected leader in the electronic music scene. The Berlin-based professional will be sharing his trade secrets during his upcoming Masterclass series. Exciting audiences at major international festivals such as Coachella, Shambala, Fusion Festival, Lightning in a Bottle, Earth Frequency and more, Mad Zach is one of the best in the biz. He’s also gained DJ and label support from the likes of Aphex Twin, Tipper, Bassnectar, G Jones, Eprom, Claude Von Stroke and Deadmau5 and collaborated with Sydney outfit Haiku Hands on their latest single ‘Onset’. Mad Zach started making beats 13 years ago, following a childhood of playing guitar. Beginning with hip hop instrumentals and evolving to incorporate electronic sounds and experimental rhythms. He steadily integrated more and more synths and hardware into his productions too. Along the way Zach developed a unique style of using midi controllers like instruments and started sharing production techniques and sample packs with the world through various videos for prominent DJ blog DJ Tech
Tools, as well as software companies such as Ableton and Native Instruments. Zach will be revealing the production techniques behind his dark, distinctive and innovative style in exclusive and inspiring masterclass sessions presented by SAE Institute and Plasma Collaborative in Byron Bay, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne (in conjunction with Ableton). In this two-hour workshop, Zach will guide attendees through the exciting process of building an original sound pack in Ableton Live, drawing influences from hip hop, glitch, drum and bass, dub and trap, and using the pack to write a fleshed out track. Participants get to engage in the creative process with Zach, as well as ask questions along the way. Topics covered will include finger drumming and controllerism, sound design tricks, foley recording, mix engineering, synthesis, advanced sampling, as well as the technical tools and concepts to support those topics. In addition, Zach will be sharing some of his favourite workflow tips, including some unusual and effective techniques that can be employed for maximum productiveness in the studio. Combining the masterclass sessions with a national tour, this will be Zach’s
third time visiting our shores after an extensive Berlin residency, and the San Francisco native can’t wait to come back. “I love to connect with local producers in the places I travel and to share what I can. It’s always a learning experience for me too,” he says. “I’m also looking forward to seeing old friends and sharing new music and ideas.” If you’d like to connect with Mad Zach, his Masterclasses are taking place nationally in February at SAE Institute Campuses, further information can be found at sae.edu. au/events Mad Zach’s Melbourne masterclass session will be held on Thursday February 13th at Plasma Lab pop up-event at QQQ ST, 4 Peel Street Collingwood, from 6pm until late. This is a free event but places are limited, so head to eventbrite to register your
attendance. Melbourne attendees will also be provided with a voucher for the Mad Lab Sound Packs X 1 Collection, valued at 30EUR, as well as a download of the sounds and Ableton Live project created in the workshop. You’ll also go into the draw to win a two-day recording package at SAE studios – one day recording, one day mixing of a single song.
some dancing and incantations, repetitions. This whole idea of saying something again and again or playing a rhythm again and again or singing something again and again, it’s woven throughout the entire history of the species.” Moon Duo albums are a great advertisement for songwriting in partnership rather than as a solitary exercise. Johnson and Yamada employ a strongly intertwisted practice, and the band’s strength stems from the equal commitment of the two individuals. “We both practice meditation and we have a lot of parallel interests in the occult and the esoteric and spirituality and psychedelia in general,” says Yamada. “So I think our parallel evolution as individual people has been ping ponging off of each other for all this time and that the space between us has evolved in that time as well. “Making the music together is a conversation that we can’t have in words. It’s like a conversation of energies.”
A “conversation of energies” might sound terribly abstract, but Stars Are the Light is undeniably Moon Duo’s most inviting album to date. It’s a party album, in its own way, which extends a pair of arms out to the listener. “[It’s a response] to the larger human situation that we’re all sort of living through right now,” says Yamada. “A big part of that is speaking to this shared desire for connection, that all people have, that feels extremely present in this moment. “That’s absolutely one of the defining characteristics of this record – addressing the desire to connect with other people who have a need for community and need for shared humanity.” x
SAE has campuses across Australia and offers courses in Animation, Audio, Design, Film, Games and Web and Mobile. SAE also offer Postgraduate Certificates, Diplomas and the Master of Creative Industries. For more information visit sae.edu.au
Moon Duo Across seven albums, Moon Duo’s Eric “Ripley” Johnson and Sanae Yamada have used songwriting as a means of conversing with one another. BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
The duo’s records explore concepts, thoughts and states of consciousness in a similar manner to the way people reach for something higher through psychedelic drugs, yoga or transcendental meditation. Stylistically, the band’s first six albums drew heavily on psychedelic rock and kosmische musik. This sound culminated in 2017’s back-to-back LPs, Occult Architecture Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. But the Portland band’s latest album, 2019’s Stars Are the Light, sheds the abstract impressionism of its predecessors. Stars Are the Light has a more immediate and concrete energy, with Johnson and Yamada taking inspiration from disco music. “We definitely wanted to do something that was different than what we’ve done before,” says Yamada. “We’ve always hoped that our music had an element of dance inspiration in it, simply by virtue of having very repetitive beats. “But we wanted to make an album that took that a step further and actually embraced some of the elements of disco music specifically – to try and push that aspect of it more out into the forefront.”
Repetition has been a central element of the Moon Duo modus operandi since the beginning, and its utilisation on Stars Are the Light yields frequently enveloping returns. The formal qualities of the compositions can be broken down fairly easily – the chords and time signatures are never overly complicated – but the use of repetition summons feelings that can’t be communicated through formal analysis. For example, the fact the main chord progression in ‘Lost Heads’ is instantly familiar or that one can easily discern the shape of the ‘Flying’ bass groove, doesn’t detract from the emotionally stirring quality of the songs. “I think there’s something really primal about [repetition] and the way that a human being responds to it,” says Yamada. “Especially repetition in rhythm – it hooks into the body in a way that few other things do. For me that was, and remains, one of the major draws of playing repetitive music; trying to access some of what I think of as the primal effectiveness of music in general. “Across any spiritual practice throughout history, a lot of times you find chanting and
Moon Duo come to Melbourne Recital Centre on Tuesday February 11. Grab your tickets via the venue website.
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NEW MUSIC
Albums & Singles BEST NEW ALBUM
8.5
HAYLEY MARY
The Piss, The Perfume
Hayley Mary has a gritty, soaring voice. No stranger to captivating audiences as lead singer of The Jezabels, she’s delivered here a debut solo effort that feels as if, after a stint away from music, she’s back to writing pop that’s bold, enthralling and emotionally mature. On title track and opener ‘The Piss, The Perfume’, Mary’s voice is at its best. She bellows “I heard you’re coming back to Sydney’’ with such a longing conviction that it guarantees the listener will be gripped for the EP’s runtime. Songs like ‘Brat’ and ‘Like A Woman Should’ are driving, wonderful songs that hint to The Cranberries and Concrete Blonde, but what renders Mary’s songs as particularly striking is her play on hindsight. She understands the all-too-romanticised tragedy of the femalefronted rock lineage of the early ‘90s that so evidently shapes her sound – her songs echo of desperate, exhausted songwriting where Mary knows how all those stories have ended, and wrestles with that inevitability for herself: “I wish I was born in the future… and walk the street like a woman should, like nobody was around.” The EP is released appropriately through I OH YOU who have increasingly become the bedrock of a fervent Australian style of songwriting – driving, wallof-sound rock that embodies emotional turmoil and coming of age. The drawback for this release is that the material here feels like it ought to belong on a full-length. It’s a thrilling EP that plunges the listener into Mary’s world and pulls us back out just as quickly. It’ll leave you wanting more. Label: I OH YOU BY MICHAEL VINCE MOIN
SINGLES – WITH AUGUSTUS WELBY
SARAH MARY CHADWICK
MOSES SUMNEY
MICHAEL STIPE
OKAY KAYA
When Will Death Come
Polly
Drive to the Ocean
Asexual Wellbeing
Sarah Mary Chadwick’s songwriting has often felt candid and intimately expressive, but the singer’s pain is unsettlingly close on ‘When Will Death Come’. It almost feels disreputable to be entertained by this instead of making an urgent inquiry into Chadwick’s welfare. But then you hear the band playing with explosive intensity and realise that, while the song pines for the termination of daily suffering, the act of creation indicates a commitment to keep going.
‘Virile’, the first taste of Sumney’s double LP græ, was brash and occasionally recalled Savage Garden. On ‘Polly’, the LA songwriter strips back to folky acoustics to deliver some of his most direct storytelling alongside vocal layering and voice modulation. He’s in awe of Polly – they’re innocent, aberrant and love to dance. But does Polly actually give a shit about him? Or is he just conveniently available? It’s a beautiful composition that leaves you with a sort of crooked feeling.
Michael Stipe’s first two solo singles have been released via pay-what-you-want download. Proceeds from October’s ‘Your Capricious Soul’ went to Extinction Rebellion and ‘Drive to the Ocean’ earnings will go to the non-profit organisation, Pathway to Paris. So, in a sense, it doesn’t matter if the songs are any good, but ‘Drive to the Ocean’ is definitely the stronger of the pair. I challenge anyone with a soft spot for the former R.E.M frontman’s emotively-soaked warble to not be moved by this song.
The latest cut from Okay Kaya’s upcoming Watch This Liquid Pour Itself LP is a playful synth-pop number that makes a case for mediocre sexual performance not being a deal breaker. Like someone whose sense of smell is shot but has extraordinary hearing, Kaya Wilkins indicates she has bountiful things to offer outside the realm of coitus. Hearing the topic discussed is a nice change of pace, particularly when pop music tends to lust and boast but not divulge the nitty gritty details.
Label: Rice Is Nice Label: Jagjaguwar
Label: Jagjaguwar Label: Futurepicenter
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NEW MUSIC
8
ALGIERS
There Is No Year
Another brooding, borderline epic quartet from America, Algiers attack their targets with almost malevolent intent. Rightfully so, because siding with the philosophy of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers among others can only lead to such results. These urban radicals aim to dismantle the decaying capitalist state by giving it one straight between the eyes. The first half a dozen songs are cloaked with overt radical thought which aims to foster a parallel cultural universe. Despite this, Algiers are more mischievous than terrorist. As if to symbolise disillusionment with the previous decade and usher in a potentially better new one, listen to dongs such as ‘Dispossession’ and ‘Losing Is Ours’. Seeking to awaken the consciousness of the listener, Algiers succeed in this endeavour. Echoes of their previous work such as ‘Hymn for an Average Man’ or ‘Walk Like a Panther’ course though the veins of this record. As their homeland stumbles from one shambolic mischief to another, the band stand resolute and bemoan this state of affairs on ‘Nothing Bloomed’ and the closing bonus track ‘Void’. An album of insurrectionary bravado is simply condensed in the words “Freedom is coming soon” on ‘Dispossession’. Here’s to Algiers, their repertoire stands up to scrutiny under the watchful guidance of Randall Dunn and Ben Greenberg. A victory for the thinking person.
8
ALICE BOMAN
5.5
Dream On
The press release for Alice Boman’s debut album says that cinema is what inspires her the most, especially films “where you lose sense of time and place” such as Moonlight and In the Mood for Love. It’s within this timelessness that Dream On resides – a beautiful chamber pop album that sounds like something you’d find in the furthest depths of a second-hand record store. Opening track ‘Wish We Had More Time’ perfectly sets the stage for the romantic, cameo-tinted world that Boman has built. “When you take me in your arms/make me forget it’s for the last time/I wish we had more time” she sings over delicate keys, simultaneously conjuring a sense of uplift and heartbreak. Dream On wrestles with disappointment and sadness throughout its ten tracks, the majority of which are structured like traditional pop songs – this is quite possibly the influence of producer Patrik Berger’s resume, which includes work with Robyn, Charli XCX, Icona Pop and Santigold. Its lush, quiet details invite you to slow down and reflect – if you’re looking to get lost for a while, Dream On is an invitation you should definitely accept. Label: Play It Again Sam/Inertia Music
BEACH SLANG
The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City
The Deadbeat Bang of Heartbreak City delivers a touch of the ‘80s. If you’re interested in banging your head alongside an omnipresent drumkit and guitar licks, this is the album for you, however, if you’re looking for more than that in terms of lyrics or songstructure, the album doesn’t deliver. Beach Slang’s frontman, James Alex, nails the vocal tones that flagship the ‘80s hardrock movement, but fails to bring any new innovations or a personal touch to the genre. ‘Nowhere Bus’ and ‘Bar No One’ are the strip-backed contributions, a song technique typically used to spotlight the lyricism in an otherwise heavier tracklist, however ‘Nowhere Bus’ produces lyrics “I’m a one-way ticket on a nowhere bus” on repeat for two minutes over a strummed guitar and string section, which offers no new chords nor character. ‘Tommy in the 80s’ is a clear ode to artists such as Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar and Starship, but fails to stand out as anything more than a shadow of their creativity. There is a place for this album alongside ‘80s nostalgia, but it falls short in its true recollection and would fail to contend among an already competitive modern music landscape.
BY TOM WALTERS
8
EASY LIFE
Junk Food
They might be singing about romantic yearning, obsessions with death and celebrity, and the very destruction of our planet, but Leicester quintet Easy Life bring a stoic hopefulness to their made-for-playlists mix of Brit-pop, hip hop and R&B on Junk Food. Twisted samples play over a lethargic funk beat on opener ‘7 Magpies’, with jazzy guitar chords setting the stage for frontman Murray Matravers’ intimate croon. ‘Nice Guys’ ups the ante (and the tempo), with a disco rhythm, a noodling bass line and delayed guitar swells seemingly pulled from another cosmos. ‘Dead Celebrities’ stands out as a catchy trip-hop comedown anthem, replete with vintage vinyl crackle and glossy keyboards, and sporting a chorus that takes off like a 747 destined for sold-out festival singalongs. Matravers swoons, with half-dead heroin chic: “Riding with models in the back of a cop car/ Jump in the pool from the roof of a five-star/ And one day I could be/A distant memory.” The track is accompanied by the same lock-jaw grin of rehearsed optimism that pervades the rest of the record. In this sense, Junk Food is perhaps the perfect start to 2020. The world might suck right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look forward to tomorrow. Label: Island Records
Label: Dew Process
BY JAKEB SMITH
BY SCOTT HUDSON
Label: Matador/Remote Control BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
EDITOR’S PICK
VARIOUS ARTISTS
There’s Gotta Be Hope, Right? Teenager Billy Twyford might just be the most motivated musician in Melbourne.
The lead singer of rising local punk band, Disco Junk, Twyford has voiced his concerns. Firstly, it was underage musicians not getting a fair go. Secondly, it was the Liberal Party. For Twyford, there’s issues left, right and centre and he’s not just gonna sit back and watch the world go by. On Friday January 10, he pumped out There’s Gotta Be Hope, Right?, in just a matter of days. It’s a compilation tape of 33 different songs from 33 different bands, including his own. 100% of the tape’s proceeds will go to both the NSW Rural Fire Service and Victorian Country Fire Authority. As Twyford put it on Disco Junk’s Facebook on the day of release, “Ladies and gentlemen.
After 11 days of frantic messaging and sleepless nights. There’s Gotta Be Hope, Right? IS OUT!”. Mad respect. The record spits out all the curiosities channelling through Twyford’s brain in 74 minutes of action. It’s largely punk and garage, but the likes of P.P. Rebel, Dragnet, Sunfruits and Easy Browns scale things back. If anything, There’s Gotta Be Hope, Right? shows the capability of people power. Get out there, folks. Label: Independent BY TOM PARKER
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GIGS & EVENTS
Gig & Events Guide WEDNESDAY 15 JAN
ROCK, PUNK, METAL SPACE VISITATION & THE FORMATION, LAYLA, TAPDOG The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. FREE. TERRIBLE SIGNAL, GUMBOOT, FREEDOM CLUB, HIGH MAINTENANCE Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7pm. $10. MCLUSKY*, BENCH PRESS, SHEPPARTON AIRPLANE Corner Hotel. Richmond. 7.30pm. THE GROWLERS, STARCRAWLER Pier Bandroom. Frankston. 8pm. $55.60. RIPPLE EFFECT BAND, PUNKO, TERRY Thornbury Bowls Club. Thornbury. 4pm. $15. HER, THE DAVIE SMITH DUO Dogs Bar. St Kilda. 9pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES OPEN MIC Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 5pm. FREE. KIM CHURCHILL PRESENTS: ONE MIC, ONE LIGHT Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $30. MODERN OPERA, NATHAN WONG, PABLO PACE The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $10. THE GRUBBY URCHINS Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. WHISKEY WEDNESDAYS Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 7pm. FREE. RIPPLE EFFECT BAND, PUNKO, TERRY Thornbury Bowls Club. Thornbury. 4pm. $15. TANYA RANSOM The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 9pm. FREE. TORII DUNBAR The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8pm. FREE. COQ ROQ: UNPLUGGED Lucky Coq. Windsor. 9pm. FREE.
CAVETOWN, SPOOKYGHOSTBOY Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 3.30 - 8pm. $49.90.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/FUNK AT LAST: A TRIBUTE TO ETTA JAMES FEAT: THE EMILIA QUARTET Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. THE SIDEWINDER SEXTET Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $25. BOHJASS, BEN CARR QUARTET, OSCAR FRANCE BAND Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm.
THURSDAY 16 JAN
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK BRETT CHAMPION QUARTET The Moldy Fig-7pm. FREE. GROUNDWORK, BREAKPOINT Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. TONY LUKAV Corner Hotel. Richmond. 7pm, FREE. KABOOBIE Bar Open. Fitzroy. 7pm. FREE. COLTRANE & CANNONBALL ADDERLEY Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $30. LIVE MUSIC THURSDAY FEAT: MR CLIFF, PERON Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 5pm. FREE. THURSDAYS W/ GOODSPORT FEAT: GOODSPORT, CARL OS Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 6pm. FREE. ORGANIX, JARED BAUM Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. JACKIE BORNSTEIN: FROM PARIS TO BRAZIL Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8.30pm. $30.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES TOM REDWOOD, NITIDA The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL PANGEAN NIGHTS: WIRES FUNDRAISER FEAT: ISSA, TOMMY GROVES Section 8. Melbourne. 6pm. FREE. WIND IT UP, BIG YAWN, SLEEP D, CALE SEXTON, PJENNÉ Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 7pm. FREE. UPSTAIRS BEATS SESSIONS FEAT: TAWHIAO, PRIZEFIGHT, ALI, RUBY LOU Bar Open. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP
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JAMES FRANKLIN, KAI LANE-U'REN Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. KIM CHURCHILL PRESENTS: ONE MIC, ONE LIGHT Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $30. NOAH EARP, DANIEL TRAKELL, DEVORAH Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $10. ORVILLE PECK, GENA ROSE BRUCE Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8pm. DOM ROGERS, MARTIANS OF ERROR Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 6.30pm. BRIAN CADD & RUSSELL MORRIS Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 8pm.
GERRY HALE Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. OPEN MIC NIGHT The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 7pm. GERRY HALE Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL BOLLARD, THE WIRES, HUNTER MILE & THE FRENCH PRESS, PERFECT WHIP The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. ILL GLOBO, MESS, KRUL, BLOOD MOON The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. CRASH MATERIAL, PLASTIC CHAIRS, POPOLICE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. FREE. RHYLEY MCGRATH, MILO & STRINGS, DAN BUTLER Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 8pm. $10. PLASTIC, DOROTH Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 9pm. FREE. GUN LAWS, GOING SWIMMING, HOT WINGS Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $8. MESA COSA + THE MIYAGIS Globe Alley. Melbourne. 9pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP CAVETOWN, SPOOKYGHOSTBOY Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 3.30pm. REALNAME & TEETHER PRESENT LEAVE YOURSELF ALONE - THE MUSICAL FEAT: TEETHER, REALNAME, CHEF CHUNG, SOFT POWDER Red Betty. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE. LOUISE TERRA, ROLES, DYADON Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 7.30pm. FREE. THROWBACK FEAT: MATT RADOVICH, EZRA HARVEY, ILRESPONCE, B-TWO, AYNA, NAM Lucky Coq. Windsor. 9pm. FREE.
FRIDAY 17 JAN
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK MIFF The Moldy Fig, 7pm. $5. PUNKY REGGAE PARTY FEAT: THE RESIGNATORS, BOSS MELODY, DËRTY BËRD, BRAZAMAN Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 8pm. $10.
PJ THE DJ Globe Alley. Melbourne. 6pm. FREE.
TIM RIES, IZY Yah Yah's. Fitzroy. 8pm. $25.
PATRICK RYAN, RUBY JONES Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE.
CLAPS, MESSY MAMMALS, ASTROVILLIAN, EMELYNE Bar Open. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $16.35.
MUMA GANOUSH, POLLY & THE POCKETS The B.East. Brunswick East. 8.30pm. OBSIDIAN MONOLITH, TELOS, IN EDEN SLAIN, ALL IS VIOLENT Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $10. THE GROWLERS, STARCRAWLER The Croxton. Thornbury. 8pm. $61.20. THURSTY THURSDAYS UNI NIGHT FEAT: LIQUID DISTRICT, MORE Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 7pm. FREE. BONE GRAFT, THE MOONSNAKES, KILL BELL The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne. 6pm. $10. RIPPLE EFFECT BAND Gasometer Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. $13.25 - 18.35. LOUISE TERRA, ROLES, DYADON Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 7.30pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL NIEUW MONDAYS The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $10. SOUP THURSDAYS FEAT: MUTUAL ATTRACTION Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 8pm. FREE. GUERNS FEAT: FOSTA, HIT MACHINE, LOZI, BIGMAC, ELISHA CATLOW, MORE New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. FREE. LOUISE TERRA, ROLES, DYADON Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 7.30pm. FREE.
NO REGRETS - THE EDITH PIAF STORY, NIKKI NOUVEAU Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. IN OUR OWN WORDS: LEONARD COHEN FEAT: ERICA BRAMHAM Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $32.50. NIELS ROSENDAHL: CELEBRATING THE TEXAS TENORS Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $30. WILDLIFE VIC BUSHFIRE APPEAL FUNDRAISER FEAT: BEC BARTLETT, ALXF, SHARYN BRAND Stay Gold. Brunswick. 11pm. $10.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL THE AUSTRALIAN ALICE COOPER SHOW, BLACK PURPLE The Central Club Hotel. VIC. 8pm. $20 - 25. BERGY BUSHFIRE RELIEF FEAT: I HAVE A GOAT, SARAH EIDA, LONG HOLIDAY, SORDID ORDEAL The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. ORION HAZE, JADE ALICE, FREEBOOTER REPUBLIC Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $10. BLAZE MELBOURNE 2020 FEAT: ORPHEUS OMEGA, FRANKENBOK, ZEOLITE, THE DEAD AMIGOS, THE BALLS, TRIPLE KILL, GARLIC NUN, BLUNT SHOVEL, SCAPHIS, FILTH DIMENSION, HIGH AS HELL, PLANET OF THE 8S, MORE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 5pm. $28.60 - 49.
GIGS & EVENTS
PUNKY REGGAE PARTY FEAT: THE RESIGNATORS, BOSS MELODY, DËRTY BËRD, BRAZAMAN Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 8pm. $10. BEACH PANIC, THE SUBURBS, DOONIE WAY, FLAGSTAFF The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $12.25. U-BAHN Yah Yah's. Fitzroy. 11pm. $10. ROBOT LOVE, FOREVER RENTER, VIERA MOTEL Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. MAITLAND STRUT Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 9pm. FREE. CRY CLUB, HYDRA FASHION WEEK, NOTHING REALLY Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $15. KEY HOO, FLETCHER GULL, SIENNA WILD Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8.30pm. $12.85. PRIVATE FUNCTION Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $18.53. RAZZMATAZZ Globe Alley. Melbourne. 9pm. $10. THE ANGELS + BOOM CRASH OPERA Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8.30pm. $55. CLAMM Cherry Bar. Melbourne. 11.30am. $44.50. TEX PERKINS WITH MATT WALKER Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 8pm. $34.50. HIDEOUS SUN DEMON, SYNTHETICS The B.East. Brunswick East. 8pm. FREE. ROCKER Royal Hotel, Essendon. 9pm. THE AMITY AFFLICTION Pier Bandroom. Frankston. 8pm. BONE GRAFT, THE MOONSNAKES Old Bar. Fitzroy. 5pm. FREE.
9.30pm. FREE. ALISTER TURRILL Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. KIM CHURCHILL PRESENTS: ONE MIC, ONE LIGHT Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $30. KYLE BREW Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE. IRISH TUNES & SONGS, SHAUNA TONY & CO. Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. IZY Bar Open. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE. JUAN RAFFIN + CAPT'N JUSTYNA + HANNAH POTTER Red Betty. Brunswick. 7.30pm. FREE. D HENRY FENTON Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 8pm. FREE. TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SESSION The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 6pm. FREE. DOGGEREL The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8.30pm. FREE. BAR STOOL GHOSTS, MOOGY MORGAN BAND, D HENRY FENTON Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 9pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP THE BEASTIE BOYS LIVE EXPERIENCE, CURSE OV DIALECT, MISS GOLDIE Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $20 -25. MIRROR FEAT: ADAM WICKS, BANDO, ALEGRA, CONOR MAC, DOSHPOT, MORE New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. $15. CHILADELPHIA FRIDAYS New Guernica. Melbourne. 4pm. FREE.
ORION HAZE, JADE ALICE, FREEBOOTER REPUBLIC Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $10. X-GENZ FEAT: The Missing Gorilla Bar. VIC. 6pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES LAURA KATE, LORENZO The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 9pm. ROD PAINE & THE FULLTIME LOVERS The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East.
WILDLIFE VIC BUSHFIRE APPEAL FUNDRAISER FEAT: BEC BARTLETT, ALXF, SHARYN BRAND Stay Gold. Brunswick. 11pm. $10. ELECTRIC KOOL-AID FEAT: RINGS AROUND SATURN, SUI ZHEN, CHIARA KICKDRUM, KUZICH, NICE GIRL, ALEX ALBRECHT, MELQUÍADES, DJ KITI, MOOPIE, NERVE, ZAMBEZI MOON, DR CONDIMENTS, DAWN AGAIN, BIGGIE, KAYROY, SIMONA CASTRICUM, MORE Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 4pm. $10. FORMATION FEAT: DONNY Lucky Coq. Windsor. 9pm. FREE.
CLASSICAL CATS The National Theatre (Melbourne). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
SATURDAY 18 JAN
DJ A-MAN Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE. CITY BEATS Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10am. $25. TEMPERANCE FRIDAYS FEAT: ADAM TRACE, NICK VAN WILDER, DJ T.P.C Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 8pm. FREE.
NO REGRETS - THE EDITH PIAF STORY, NIKKI NOUVEAU Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. QUARTER STREET Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 8pm. $20. OPEN JAM FEAT: DELYRIUM, 2K Open Studio. Northcote. 8.30pm. $12. QUARTER STREET Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 9pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL THE AUSTRALIAN ALICE COOPER SHOW, ZEPPELIN ALIVE Eddie's Bandroom. VIC. 9pm. $30. TANG! - RE-UNION SHOW, THE CLOSE TALKERS, KILL TWO BIRDS, PRIME MINISTER The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. TIM WOODZ & THE DIRTY SHOES The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 9pm.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK
TSAR GREEN, 10 DOLLARS, DISTRACTED BY PINK, PETE HACHEL Bar 303. Northcote. 7pm. $10.
AURORA LUMINA The Moldy Fig, 9pm. FREE.
BADGERS, MELBOURNE CANS, RHIA TARANTO The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 5pm. FREE.
FLOYD THURSBY The Moldy Fig, 7pm. FREE. WILLOWBANK GROVE The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $10. GRAND WAZOO: SUMMERTIME SOUL EXTRAVAGANZA Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $35. THE SENEGAMBIAN JAZZ BAND Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $24.71. DJ LADY LOVE POTION Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $35.
HOODOO MAYHEM Bar Open. Fitzroy. 9.30pm. FREE. THE OFFCUTS Bar Open. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE.
BLAZE MELBOURNE 2020 FEAT: ORPHEUS OMEGA, FRANKENBOK, ZEOLITE, THE DEAD AMIGOS, THE BALLS, TRIPLE KILL, GARLIC NUN, BLUNT SHOVEL, SCAPHIS, FILTH DIMENSION, HIGH AS HELL, PLANET OF THE 8S, MORE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 5pm. $28.60 - 49. DEATH VALLEY DARKHORSE, FOX BOX, LITTLE RITUALS Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 8pm. $10. WILLOWBANK GROVE The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $10. VENICE QUEENS, VELVET BLOOM, LEMON DAZE Yah Yah's. Fitzroy. 8pm. $9.
MEL SEARLE - AN ELLA FITZGERALD TRIBUTE Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $35.
FIRE RELIEF AT THE RETREAT FEAT: SUNBEAM SOUND MACHINE, SWAZI GOLD, HOBSONS BAY COAST GUARD, FIELD MAPS, POPPONGENE, ZOË FOX & THE ROCKET CLOCKS, SNOWY, TALI MAHONEY Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 2pm. FREE.
FEELIN' GROOVY: THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL PROJECT Paris Cat Jazz
BAD BANGS, BABY BLUE Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 9pm. FREE.
Laura Kate & Lorenzo
CLAPS
MATSUMOTO ZOKU The B.East. Brunswick East. 9pm. FREE.
Bar 303
Breakpoint & Groundwork Goodsport BAR 303
BODRIGGY BREWING CO.
THORNBURY LOCAL
BAR OPEN
Enjoy a thrilling night of funk, soul and jazz as Breakpoint and Groundwork tear up Bar 303 on Thursday January 16. For a donation entry, you can catch Groundwork in all their rhythmic and harmonic glory live alongside Breakpoint’s unique spin on hip hop, R&B and soul. Doors at 7:30pm.
Feel-good indie-jazz outfit Goodsport are taking over Bodriggy Brewing Co. on Thursday January 16 and January 23 with support from Carl OS and Shio, respectively. You can expect nothing but fun, inclusive sounds at this free event, kicking off each Thursday at 5pm.
On Friday January 17, dynamic duo Laura Kate & Lorenzo will be sharing their diverse repertoire of 20th century classics live at the Thornbury Local. From pop to country to classic rock’n’roll, come down and sing along to all of your favourite songs. This free event kicks off at 9pm.
Melbourne acid-jazz powerhouse Claps are bringing their new single ‘Unfear’ to Bar Open on Friday January 17 for a hurricane night of rapid tempo and all-consuming guitar solos. Taking place at 9pm with support from Messy Mammals and AstroVillain, grab your $15+bf tix via Oztix.
39
GIGS & EVENTS
DEAD CITY RUINS, THE CASANOVAS, RIVER OF SNAKES, A GAZILLION ANGRY MEXICANS Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8.30pm. $23.29. WHITE DEVIL DETROIT, VICIOUS ADDICTION, THE VENDETTAS Globe Alley. Melbourne. 8pm. FREE. ALBERTS STREET, UVA URSI, NUMBAT Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $10.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOLLY Globe Alley. Melbourne. 6pm. FREE. BEN CARTER Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 5pm. FREE. DYLAN GUY PINKERTON Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 6.30pm. SUNDAY SINGALONG Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE.
HOLLOW COVES Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8pm. $23.29.
TOMMY KENDALL'S BLUEGRASS SOULS Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE.
GIRLS ROCK! MELBOURNE Corner Hotel. Richmond. 1pm. $17.98.
RUSTIC SONS BAND Royal Hotel Mornington. 8pm. FREE.
DJ TARDISCO Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE.
FEELIN' GROOVY: THE SIMON & GARFUNKEL PROJECT Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $35.
LOST SOULS SUMMER FEAT: HANNY J, YEAH DON'T CARE, BIG LEAGUE, DENTAL PLAN, KRUL Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. $15. OBITUARY, WORMROT Max Watt's (Melbourne), 8pm. SONGS FROM TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER - PERFORMED LIVE, THEME TEAM The Croxton. Thornbury. 8pm. $24.50. JAMES BROOK, KYLE PHILLIPSON Old Bar. Fitzroy. 6pm. FREE. TINA GROWLS, PAPER TAPIR, WAY SHIT Grace Darling Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $10. TSAR GREEN, 10 DOLLARS, DISTRACTED BY PINK, PETE HACHEL Bar 303. Northcote. 7pm. $10. BILLIAM'S BIRTHDAY BASH FEAT: DISCO JUNK, THEE CHA CHA CHAS, ILL GLOBO, MOTH, HEARTS & ROCKETS, TRAGIC CARPET, CB RADIO, RV228 Cactus Room. Thornbury. 4pm. $10.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES COLD HEART The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 9.30pm. FREE. BUSHFIRE FUNDRAISER FEAT: DANI ELLA, SEPTEMBER BARKER, INDYANNA, EARNEST JACKSON, JIMMY HARWOOD The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 1pm. $15. TILLY VW, SAM FLETCHER, MILES RECOMMENDS, P.T. COLLIS The Yarra Hotel. Abbotsford. 7.30pm. $10.
QUARTER STREET Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 8pm. $20. JAMES BROOK, KYLE PHILLIPSON Old Bar. Fitzroy. 6pm. FREE. VIC POLYIK'S BLUES COSMONAUTS Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. HARPER BLOOM, WAMALA, DUXIE FRANKLIN The Merri Creek Tavern. Northcote. 6pm. $5. D HENRY FENTON Pistol Pete's Food n Blues, 7.30pm. FREE. KYLE PHILLIPSON & THE BARLEY ST THREE The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 6.30pm. FREE. BAKERSFIELD GLEE CLUB The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 9pm. FREE. CIARAN BOYLE The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 3pm. FREE. FREYA JOSEPHINE HOLLICK, MR. TEENAGE, RUBEN NEESON Old Bar. Fitzroy. 8pm. $12 - 15. PAT MCKERNAN Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 9pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL PAWN SATURDAYS Pawn & Co, Prahran. 8pm. MY DISCO, YING-LI HOOI, NERVE The Curtin. Carlton. 8pm. $25.90. SPELLBOUND FEAT: BANJO, MELO
FELO, SMILEZ, DJ SPELL Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 7pm. FREE. DJ SHADOW Royal Hote Essendon. 9pm.
CHAOS & CHASMS: MUSIC OF THE FRENCH BAROQUE Abbotsford Convent Oratory. VIC. 6pm. $25.
UNITE. PARTY WITH A PURPOSE BUSHFIRE FUNDRAISER FEAT: JOHN COURSE, ANDY MURPHY, MOBIN MASTER, BUTTERS, CASSETTES FOR KIDS, MORE Prince Bandroom. St Kilda. 9pm. $28.60 - $107.10.
CATS The National Theatre, St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
EAT THE BEAT FEAT: BARBUTO, GAV WHITEHOUSE, CHRISS MATTÒ, ANDREA GUADALUPI, MHA IRI, MITTENS, WISER New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. $15.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES
PALACE TRAX: SUMMER SCHOOL FEAT: PALACE DJS, ZBUZZ, HIT MACHINE, EMERSON BIGGINS, CONNOR WALL, MORE Brown Alley. Melbourne. 1pm. $10.
DEAR MATILDA, OH NORTH, VIOLET TOLHURST The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE.
ROOFTOP KICKONS - LAUNCH NIGHT FEAT: SHORT ROUND Brown Alley. Melbourne. 11pm. #LETSHOUSE SATURDAYS FEAT: ADAM TRACE, MARCUS KNIGHT, GARRY SHEBA Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 5pm. FREE. THE ORACLE PRESENTS: A FASHIONABLY LATE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION Red Betty. Brunswick. 5pm. FREE. ELECTRIC KOOL-AID FEAT: RINGS AROUND SATURN, SUI ZHEN, CHIARA KICKDRUM, KUZICH, NICE GIRL, ALEX ALBRECHT, MELQUÍADES, DJ KITI, MOOPIE, NERVE, ZAMBEZI MOON, DR CONDIMENTS, DAWN AGAIN, BIGGIE, KAYROY, SIMONA CASTRICUM, MORE Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 4pm. $10. HARPER BLOOM, WAMALA, DUXIE FRANKLIN The Merri Creek Tavern. Northcote. 6pm. $5. TEXTILE FEAT: VARIOUS DJS Lucky Coq. Windsor. 9pm.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP KATE CEBERANO Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 8pm. LAUREN DAIGLE Palais Theatre. St Kilda. 7.30pm.
CLASSICAL
SARAH EIDA
SUNDAY 19 JAN
BEN CATLEY Wesley Anne. Northcote. 3pm. $12. RIPPLES OF SOUND, THE FIOR, ZACHARY LEO, ANNIE, SORCHA The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 1pm. $16. TRIO GRANDE Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 4pm. FREE. AUGUSTINE ANG Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 4pm. JORDAN WALTERS, HPK, FLISS DART Bar Open. Fitzroy. 8pm. $5. SETH HENDERSON, TILLEY The B.East. Brunswick East. 4pm. FREE. SAMMY OWEN BLUES BAND Royal Hotel Mornington. 3pm. FREE. DAN CHALLIS, STEPHEN GRADY Old Bar. Fitzroy. 3pm. FREE. TRACEY READ BAND, HUGH JENNINGS, POWERFUL OWL Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 4pm. $7. SUNDAY SESSION, LUKE JOSEPH, JACK & JORDAN, TOMMY RANDO Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 2pm. FREE. ROSARIO DE MARCO Elmswood Estate. VIC. 1pm. THE BONA FIDE TRAVELLERS The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 4pm. FREE. TANYA RANSOM Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. THE BORNSTEIN ULTIMATUM FEAT: Pause Bar. Balaclava. 4.30pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL
HOBSONS BAY COAST GUARD
Bushfire Relief Fundraiser
Mythic
CLAMM
Fire Relief Fundraiser
THE BERGY SELTZER
MATTHEW FLINDERS HOTEL
CHERRY BAR
RETREAT HOTEL
The Bergy Seltzer will be playing host to a bushfire relief fundraiser on Friday January 17, with all proceeds donated to WIRES for wildlife affected by these catastrophic fires. There’s a jam-packed lineup including Sarah EiDa, Sordid Ordeal, Long Holiday and I Have A Goat. Doors open at 7pm, support the cause.
Mythic is bringing his unapologetic love for Australian hip hop to Matthew Flinders Hotel on Friday January 17, in celebration of his new EP Storm. Joining him are friends Tevz, Caution and Fruity Lex for a night of rap that spreads positivity and warms the heart. Doors are at 7:30pm, with tix $20 entry at the door.
On Friday January 17, Cherry Bar is kicking off the New Year (and new address) with a 2am rock-out with the raucous local group CLAMM. Enjoy a late night filled with high energy, charging riffs and deep lyricism before rolling into the weekend. Did we mention it’s free?
Brunswick’s home of live music The Retreat Hotel have called on local musicians for their benefit gig, Fire Relief at The Retreat. It all goes down on Saturday January 18 at 2pm and 100 Percent of proceeds will be donated. Donation entry is between $5 and $15 depending on what you wish to contribute.
40
GIGS & EVENTS
DAN PURDEY & THE STORMY SEAS The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 5pm. CRUPS, CRYBONES, BIG SNOUT TRUFFLE HUNTER Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm. MICHAEL YULE, PEACH, DYLAN BEAST, THE KIDS NEXT DOOR The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. $10. ANTI FADE RESIDENCY, SMARTS, MOTH, OUZO! The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 5pm. FREE. WHOLE LOTTA FRIENDS FEAT: HANNAH POTTER, KAKU, NUMBAT, RUSE, WHITE BONSAI, SOFT TACO, THE CIGARRILLOS, THE STAR SPANGLED DRONGOS Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 3pm. FREE. VERY EARLY, SKIM, INDIE KING The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $10. HACHIKU, GO GET MUM, P.P. REBEL Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 3pm. FREE. DAN LETHBIRDGE & SHANE O'MARA Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 4.30pm. FREE. 3XY TOP 40 - LIVE AT MEMO FEAT: JOHN PETERS, ANDREW DE SILVA, NINA FERRO, EUGENE HAMILTON, KYLIE AULDIST, BRIAN MANNIX, MORE Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 3pm. $35. TEX PERKINS & MATT WALKER Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $44.55. JORDAN WALTERS, HPK, FLISS DART Bar Open. Fitzroy. 8pm. $5. FIXATION SUNDAYS, SPAWN, IVY STREEP Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 2.30pm. FREE. HEART BEACH, GREAT AUSTRALIAN BANK, HEIR TRAFFIC The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne. 7.30pm. FREE.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK CLUNK ORCHESTRA Bar 303. Northcote. 3.30pm. FREE. CARINO SON The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 5.30pm. FREE. JAZZ SUNDAYS Howler. Brunswick. 3pm. FREE. SORCHA ALBUQUERQUE ORGAN TRIO
Bar Open. Fitzroy. 6pm. FREE. NO REGRETS - THE EDITH PIAF STORY, NIKKI NOUVEAU Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. THE MAYFAIR SESSIONS, NATHAN LIOW, DAIMON BRUNTON Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7pm. $25. CLUNK ORCHESTRA Bar 303. Northcote. 3.30pm. FREE. SPEAKEASY JAM SESSION, ADAM RUDEGEAIR & HOUSE BAND Red Betty. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE. THE BORNSTEIN ULTIMATUM FEAT: Pause Bar. Balaclava. 4.30pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP PURR FEAT: PIATAŌ Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 8pm. FREE. CAVETOWN, SPOOKYGHOSTBOY Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $49.90. CAVETOWN, SPOOKYGHOSTBOY Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 3.30pm. KILLER HERTZ Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm. $5.
MOODYMANN, MR G Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Melbourne. 3pm.
CATS The National Theatre. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
CLASSICAL
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
CHAOS & CHASMS: MUSIC OF THE FRENCH BAROQUE Abbotsford Convent Oratory. VIC. 2pm. $25. CATS The National Theatre. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
MONDAY 20 JAN
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK PIANO ATMOSFERIX Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6.30pm. FREE. JAZZ PARTY The Curtin. Carlton. 8pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL
KATE CEBERANO Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 2.30pm.
BOLLARD, CUT WIRE, IF SO WHY Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $8.
AO MUSIC FOR RELIEF FEAT: JESSICA MAUBOY, MONTAIGNE, LILY PAPAS Rod Laver Arena. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $20.
MONDAY NIGHT MASS FEAT: LACHLAN DENTON & STUDIO MAGIC, PRUDENCE, HOUSE DEPOSIT, SHOCK FRIENDLY Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 4pm. FREE.
ELECTRIC KOOL-AID FEAT: RINGS AROUND SATURN, SUI ZHEN, CHIARA KICKDRUM, KUZICH, NICE GIRL, ALEX ALBRECHT, MELQUÍADES, DJ KITI, MOOPIE, NERVE, ZAMBEZI MOON, DR CONDIMENTS, DAWN AGAIN, BIGGIE, KAYROY, SIMONA CASTRICUM, MORE Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 4pm. $10.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL CAMP - MIDSUMMA CARNIVAL AFTER PARTY FEAT: JACK HARDMËN, TORY ALLEN, MATTYLONGLEGS, CASEY LEAVER New Guernica. Melbourne. 9pm. $5 - 15. PIKNIC ÉLECTRONIK FEAT:
THE AMITY AFFLICTION, TONIGHT ALIVE, OCEAN GROVE, WINDWAKER, NORTHLANE Corner Hotel. Richmond. 6.30pm. FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES, PYSCHOBABEL, A. SWAYZE & THE GHOSTS The Croxton. Thornbury. 8pm. $66.30.
CLASSICAL LUNARIS, SUI ZHEN Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $31. SPANISH GLORIES OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY FEAT: TENEBRAE Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $64 - 115.
DJS TIL LATE Morris Jones. Windsor. 8pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS, HAMISH ANDERSON Forum Melbourne. Melbourne. 7pm.
TUESDAY 21 JAN
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES THE SELTZER SESSIONS - OPEN STAGE, HAMISH MCNAB, MORE The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. STONETHROAT, COSMIC WRANGLER, GECKO COLLECTIVE Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $10. WILLIAM TYLER Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $31. OPEN MIC Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 6pm. FREE. COSMIC WRANGLER Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. IRISH SESSION The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 9pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL STONETHROAT, COSMIC WRANGLER, GECKO COLLECTIVE Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $10. MATT BOURKE & THE DELUSIONAL DRUNKS, RUM FOR LEGBA, RHYECE O'NEILL & THE NARODNIKS The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. FREE.
Rya Park
Dead City Ruins
Simon Paparo
Cariño Son
THE ESPY
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB
CLIFTON HILL BREWPUB
LOMOND HOTEL
Soul rocker Rya Park, a force to be reckoned with, and Tamara & The Dreams, an indie pop enigma, are uniting at The Espy on Saturday January 18 for a night of powerful voices and bittersweet stories told through song. This free event goes down at 8:30pm.
Think Black Sabbath and early ‘80s Iron Maiden and you get Dead City Ruins. Formed in 2010, these guys have been steadily working their way up the tree and on Saturday January 18 they bring their Hot Way To Live tour into Northcote Social Club. Tix are $20+bf via the venue website.
Simon Paparo returns to the Clifton Hill Brewpub for three sets from 6pm on Sunday January 19. After unleashing his soulful music on the Australian scene for over a decade, Paparo’s musical journey continues into the New Year with new tracks ready for his latest audience to enjoy. It’s all free.
The Lomond welcomes back Cuban Son legend Cariño Son to celebrate their first 2020 gig. Kicking off at 5:30pm on Sunday January 19, this vibrant six-piece act will transport you to Havana, where the nightlife is lively and energetic. Celebrate Melbourne’s diverse music scene at this free gig.
41
GIGS & EVENTS
PUSSY WILLOW, POLLY & THE POCKETS, ALBERT STREET Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. HUMANITY FEAT: SILVER BITE, ESCAPE THE MAZE Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7am. $10. TUESDAY TRIBUTE: THE ANDREW SISTERS FEAT: THE TREBLETTES, The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP KRSTN, JAMES HALL, KRISHOOL The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $9.85. HOLLY HERNDON, SUI ZHEN Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $45. LIL BAO WOW Globe Alley. Melbourne. 4pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL HOLLY HERNDON, SUI ZHEN Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $45.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK HYDRA FASHION WEEK, NIINE Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. JAZZ NIGHT - JOHN BADGERY, MATT O'BRIEN, ROBBIE FINCH Compass Pizza. Brunswick East. 7pm. FREE. THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
CLASSICAL CATS The National Theatre, St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
WEDNESDAY 22 JAN
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/FUNK
BOHJASS, LO-RES, SHOL Bar 303. Northcote. 7.30pm. NATHAN SLATER QUARTET Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $25.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
JESSICA YOUNG QUINTET Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $40.
WIND IT UP, COLIN SELF, DIIMPA, JUNE JONES Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. FREE.
THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
MIND FLUID, PHIL STROUD, GABRIEL LCR, DON GLORI, DJ MUM Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm. $10.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL
CLASSICAL
AMANDA PALMER: THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10pm. $69 - 79.
CATS The National Theatre (Melbourne). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
LEFTFIELD LUXURY, DANITCHY, SPEED MULLET, SNAKES DON’T NEED KEYS The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. $5. SPACE VISITATION & THE FORMATION, ZAK BROWN, S.P TWIN, PUP TENTACLE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. FREE. TERRIBLE SIGNAL, SAGAMORE, HOUSE DEPOSIT, FUTURE SUCK Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7pm. $10. BENDY WEDNESDAYS FEAT: FURLONG, TEAM VOM, SUN TRAITORS Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES OPEN MIC Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 5pm. FREE. ALASKA STRING BAND Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $31. OPEN GRAND PIANO NIGHT Compass Pizza. Brunswick East. 6.30pm. FREE. THE GRUBBY URCHINS Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. PENNY & MOSES, FURNEAUX Open Studio. Northcote. 7.30pm. $10.
THURSDAY 23 JAN
ROCK, PUNK, METAL DAMIEN VANDEGEER, JAD JAGUAR, KRISTY SHERIDAN The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. BUSHFIRE RELIEF ART FUNDRAISER FEAT: SUNBEAMS & ROCKETS, WORLD SICK, NOVA Bar 303. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. POISON FISH, LONG HOURS, RQTBL, RUSE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $5. THE UPLIFTING BELL ENDS, FOGGY NOTION, THE THING FROM SPRING, LUKE SPOOK The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $15. CRASH MATERIAL, FRAG, SCREENSAVER The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. FREE. JAKE GEORGE, MOUK, SILT Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 6pm. $10. TABLE N' CHAIRS The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $10.
Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $8. U-BAHN, SCHOOL DAMAGE, PROGRAM Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 7.30pm. $14.79. TALL RELATIVES Globe Alley. Melbourne. 9pm. FREE. PJ THE DJ Globe Alley. Melbourne. 6pm. FREE. GRAND PINE Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. THURSTY THURSDAYS UNI NIGHT FEAT: LIQUID DISTRICT, MORE Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 7pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES ANYA ANASTASIA The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 9pm. TASHA ZAPPALA Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. THE LUAU COWBOYS Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 6.30pm. GERRY HALE Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. JOSH GILMORE The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8pm. FREE.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK JUDE PERL & MIKE MILLS Wesley Anne. Northcote. 8pm. $22 - 25. ANN OÁRO Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7pm. $31. TAIKOZ: CHI UDAKA Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $65 - 75. HOLLOW DECEMBER + PLAZA-TRG Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $6.15. KABOOBIE Bar Open. Fitzroy. 7pm. FREE.
WHISKEY WEDNESDAYS Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 7pm. FREE.
THE ELECTRIQUE BIRDS, SNOWHITE, MONIQUE KENNY Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE.
GEORGIA GORDON The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 9pm. FREE.
RICHIE1250 Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 7pm. FREE.
RACHAEL LIA The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8pm. FREE.
SPACE VISITATION, CODEINE COWBOYS, MUMA GANOUSH Old Bar.
DANIEL MOUGERMAN QUINTET, JACQUELINE GAWLER, BELLE BANGARD Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $30.
RAGA SHAMBHALA, TENZIN CHOEGYAL, TARO TERAHARA, AYAKO IKEDA Carlton Church Of All Nations. Carlton. 7pm. $30.
Divide and Dissolve
Josh Gilmore
Anya Anastasia
Bridget Allan
COLOUR CLUB
THE DRUNKEN POET
THORNBURY LOCAL
SWAMPLANDS
Melbourne noise connoisseurs Divide and Dissolve are performing alongside fellow reverb masters, Kiernan Ironfield, Sow Discord & Bonnie Mercer for a night of pure drone music. Exploring the deepest capabilities of sound, this one’s for the purists. It goes down at Colour Club on Thursday January 23. Tix are $15+bf via Eventbrite.
Northern Ireland sensation Josh Gilmore is bringing his eclectic range of acoustic music to The Drunken Poet on Thursday January 23 for a night of contemporary funk, American folk and classic rock. After releasing his multi-genre project entitled Ridgelake River Rapids in June 2019, Gilmore is ready to let loose at this free gig, kicking off from 8pm.
Straight off the streets of off-Broadway, musical powerhouse Anya Anastasia is bringing her poetic lyricism, soaring melodies and wicked wit to the Thornbury Local on Thursday January 23 for a night of insightful music. Doors are at 8pm. Keep an eye out for ticket info via the Facebook event.
Bridget Allan and her band are diving into Swamplands Bar on Friday January 24 to play their smooth blend of rock, jazz and chill-indie tunes. Allan is taking a break from her climate change activism to tour her debut album NIHILISM with special guests Oh Daisy, Suzi and Social Street. Doors are at 8pm and it’s free.
42
GIGS & EVENTS
THE BRANDON ALLEN QUINTET, MAT JODRELL Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $30.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL
LIVE MUSIC THURSDAY FEAT: MR CLIFF, PERON Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 5pm. FREE.
JADE EMPRESS, BEE VIRGINIA The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE.
THURSDAYS W/ GOODSPORT FEAT: GOODSPORT, PROTO MORO, SHIO Bodriggy Brewing Company. Abbotsford. 6pm. FREE.
CHASSM, THAW, MAMMON'S THRONE The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. NIR TSFATY Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE.
Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 9.30pm. FREE.
Northcote. 8.30pm. $10.
GUITAR SHOWDOWN WITH GEOFF ACHISON & JIMI HOCKING Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 8pm. $23.50.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
IRISH TUNES & SONGS, SHAUNA TONY & CO. Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 8pm. FREE. IZY Bar Open. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE.
LE FLEUR, TAPES, MORE Gasometer Hotel. Collingwood. 7.30pm. $15.
THE HUNTER EXPRESS, NAT VAZER, TOMBOLO Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE.
TERESA DUFFY-RICHARDS & THE FIFTY FOOT WOMEN Coburg RSL Club. Coburg. 8pm. FREE.
THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
CAKEFIGHT, SADULTS, BROWN SPIRITS Post Office Hotel. Coburg. 9pm. FREE.
TRADITIONAL IRISH MUSIC SESSION The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 6pm. FREE.
JULIARNA CLARK & MIRKO GUERRINI, JOHN MONTESANTE QUINTET The Water Rat Hotel. South Melbourne. 7pm. FREE.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL NIEUW MONDAYS The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $10. GUERNS FEAT: SUPER JIM Z, KALKARA, STICKS, STRING THEOREM, KIEREN BONANNO, MORE New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. FREE. THE RISE & FALL OF SAINT GEORGE, PAUL MAC, LACHLAN PHILPOTT Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10pm. $47.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP THE RISE & FALL OF SAINT GEORGE, PAUL MAC, LACHLAN PHILPOTT Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10pm. $47.
CLASSICAL CATS The National Theatre (Melbourne). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
FRIDAY 24 JAN
STAINED DAISIES Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $10. RICHARD CLAPTON, J.R REYNE Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $43. JOHN GARCIA & THE BAND OF GOLD, DON FERNANDO, THE NICOTEENAGERS Corner Hotel. Richmond. 8.30pm. $69.91. KING PARROT Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $28.60. REGULAR BOYS Royal Hotel (Essendon). Essendon. 9pm. TERESA DUFFY-RICHARDS & THE FIFTY FOOT WOMEN Coburg RSL Club. Coburg. 8pm. FREE. TERROR, MALEVOLENCE Pier Bandroom. Frankston. 7.30pm. $48.05.
THE CHRIS PICKERING EXPERIENCE The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8.30pm. FREE.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK OPA! Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. HUGO BLADEL, HOUSE OF WOOD, MORE The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $17.35. TAIKOZ: CHI UDAKA Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 7.30pm. $65 - 75. MAMA ALTO Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 6pm, 8pm. $31.
BRIDGET ALLAN, SUZI YAGHMOOR, SOCIAL STREET, OH DAISY Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 8.30pm. FREE.
SUNNYSIDE Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. $13.38 - $18.53.
THE MADELEINES Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 6.30pm. FREE.
BULLHORN, LANEOUS, THE WOOHOO REVUE Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $20 - $25.
MAJAK DOOR + POLLY & THE POCKETS The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8.30pm. $10. THE FICTION, THEE CHA CHA CHAS, PLASTIC SECTION Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 8.30pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES
DJ CRISPI Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE. KIMBA GRIFFITH QUINTET Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $32.50. FABULOUS DIVA: THE MUSIC OF DR NINA SIMONE Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $35. NORIA ET LES PARIGOTS Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $32.50.
HAWAIIAN UKELE JAMBOREE, KAREN, KATE LUCETTA, TIM WOODZ The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 7pm.
THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
EZRA LEE VS. JULIAN JAMES The
THE MAMAS Northcote Social Club.
PARTIBOI69, JUICY ROMANCE, COMMON NOCTURNE Yah Yah's. Fitzroy. 8pm. MPMA FEAT: MR PITIFUL, KING DELICIOUS, JOHAN ELGSTROM Section 8. Melbourne. 9pm. FREE. FATBOY SLIM - THE OFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL AFTER PARTY FEAT: OBLIVEUS Globe Alley. Melbourne. 10pm. FREE. BANG BANG FEAT: SOPHIE MCALISTER, ELLE SHIMADA, DJ FAIRBANKS Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 7pm. FREE. CLAUDIA JONES The B.East. Brunswick East. 9pm. FREE. ÖONA DAHL, JOE MILLER, MOSKALIN, JAMES PHILLIPS, STEVIE STRAFFORD New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. $15. FATBOY SLIM, 2MANYDJS Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Melbourne. 10pm. $89.90 109.90. THE RISE & FALL OF SAINT GEORGE, PAUL MAC, LACHLAN PHILPOTT Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10pm. $47. CRITICAL SOUND FEAT: ENEI, KASRA, HALOGENIX, PARTICLE, MC JAKES Max Watt's (Melbourne). 10pm. $29.60. MEET THE LOCALS FEAT: HANSEN, BLACKNOISE, TORIK, VITAL MODE, DREER, OUTCRY, MANAFEX, NOMI & DOVEE, MAGE Brown Alley. Melbourne. 8pm. $13.24 - 18.35. WAFIA, BANOFFEE, MAY-A 170 Russell. Melbourne. 8pm. $35. TEMPERANCE FRIDAYS FEAT: ADAM TRACE, NICK VAN WILDER, DJ T.P.C Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 8pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP SELKI Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE.
ADRIAN SWISH
Ezra Lee
WAFIA
Bushfire Relief Fundraiser
Tim McMillan
LOMOND HOTEL
170 RUSSELL
LAUNDRY BAR
CLIFTON HILL BREWPUB
Piano playing wild man Ezra Lee will be bouncing into The Lomond to share his rumbling boogie and untamed rockabilly with the world. The Ezra Lee Show goes down on Friday January 24 and is guaranteed to be rapturous night. Doors are at 9pm and it’s free.
On Friday January 24, rising electro-pop songwriter WAFIA hits 170 Russell alongside supports Banoffee and MAY-A. With over 300 million streams to her name, the now LA-based musician has well and truly solidified her reputation as one of Australia’s most exciting talents. Tix are $35 via Moshtix.
Laundry Bar is sporting a killer lineup on Friday January 24 for their This Is Not A Drill bushfire relief fundraiser. Adrian Swish, Jaynin and J.B.T are just some of the artists set to play the night away with all proceeds being donated to NSW RFS. Doors are at 8pm with $10 entry.
Tim McMillan & Rachel Snow are set to take over the Clifton Hill Brewpub once again for a night of expressive guitar, glowing violin and whimsical storytelling. Catch the duo live on Saturday January 25 as they showcase their latest works and tell tales of travels and woes from 9pm. Free Entry.
43
GIGS & EVENTS
CHILADELPHIA FRIDAYS New Guernica. Melbourne. 4pm. FREE. THE RISE & FALL OF SAINT GEORGE, PAUL MAC, LACHLAN PHILPOTT Hamer Hall (Arts Centre Melbourne). Melbourne. 10pm. $47.
CLASSICAL CATS The National Theatre (Melbourne). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - $49.50.
SATURDAY 25 JAN
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES BAILEY JUDD, SEB SZABO, FOLK BITCH TRIO The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. MUDTRAIN The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 9.30pm. FREE. BRETT FRANKIE Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. FREE. STREAMS OF WHISKEY, VAN WALKER & THE FERRITERS Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8.30pm. $21.17. DAVID KERRIGAN Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 6.30pm. SUNDAY SINGALONG Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE. PAT MCKERNAN Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 9pm. FREE. TOMMY KENDALL'S BLUEGRASS SOULS Brothers Public House. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. FREE. THE KING & THE EASY The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 9pm. FREE. KRAKEN FOLK SESSION The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 3pm.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK
FUNKY KINGSTON FEAT: MOHAIR SLIM, RICK HOWE, DJ JESSE I Section 8. Melbourne. 5pm. FREE. MAGIC IS HAPPENING, ROCK GODS, MAN CITY SIRENS Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. $10. LALIDA Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 5pm. FREE. FULTON STREET, DIVE TEAM 5 The B.East. Brunswick East. 9pm. FREE. DISCO INFERNO Royal Hotel (Mornington). Mornington. 8pm. FREE. THE DARYL MCKENZIE JAZZ ORCHESTRA, NINA FERRO Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $30. SUGARFOOT RAMBLERS Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $32.50. MICHAELA JAYDE - ARETHA: QUEEN OF SOUL Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8.30pm. BORN TO BE BLUE: CELEBRATING THE MUSICAL LIFE OF CHET BAKER Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $32.50. THE NOT-SO-BIG BAND Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 5.30pm. $35. THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL HOMEBASS, KODIAK KID, AURAMECHANIC, MORE Bar 303. Northcote. 8pm. $10. BEAM ME UP: THE FOURTH WALL SPACE DISCO Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 10.30pm. FREE.
ETWAS, MATTEO FREYRIE, ANDREA GUADALUPI, ANTONIO MASTROBERTI, MORE New Guernica. Melbourne. 10pm. $15 - 20. FLYING LOTUS 3D, HAMISH ANDERSON Forum Melbourne. Melbourne. 7pm. $88.94. #LETSHOUSE SATURDAYS FEAT: ADAM TRACE, MARCUS KNIGHT, GARRY SHEBA Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 5pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL BUSHFIRE FUNDRAISER, GRIM RHYTHM, FUTURE SUCK, SMOOCH, SKIDS The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $15. DAL SANTO, CATHOLIC GUILT, SERF, ODD TASTES The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $10. WHISKY GRINN, THE EXPORTS, DOONIE WAY Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 8pm. $10. LAZY SIDEKICK, FLOGS, FULL COLLAPSE, UBLW The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $9.85. THE LAZY SUSANS, SOPHISTICATED DINGO, WAY SHIT Yah Yah's. Fitzroy. 8pm. $9. SEAN SULLY & THE SLEEP INS, FIZ EUSTANCE Old Bar. Fitzroy. 3pm. FREE. BABY & THE KICKS, CLAP FOR ALASKA, MAJOR PLAINS Old Bar. Fitzroy. 7.30pm. $10. KEVIN BORICH EXPRESS Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7.30pm. $22.
PAWN SATURDAYS, COLOUR CASTLES, SUPERMINI Pawn & Co. Prahran. 8pm. $15.
ROCK FOR RELIEF FEAT: ATOMIC RIOT, THE UGLY KINGS, THE MERCY KILLS, SHEWOLF, STACY V, HARRY J Globe Alley. Melbourne. 7pm. FREE.
VANITY, ADRIANA, GREETINGS Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 8pm. FREE.
RICHARD CLAPTON Caravan Music Club. Bentleigh East. 8pm. $44.50.
DJ MARNI LA ROCCA Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE.
YAWNING MAN + NUMIDIA Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. $40.
DJ CHIPS & SALAD Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 9pm. FREE.
BODY SLAM - WRESTLING & HEAVY METAL FEAT: HYBRID NIGHTMARES, CRYPTIC ABYSS, MORE Max Watt's (Melbourne). 8pm. $40.80.
Bar. Thornbury. 9pm. $10. HOTTEST 100 ROOFTOP PARTY 2020 Top Yard Rooftop. Melbourne. 12pm. $11.42. ROUTINES, THE IN THE OUT Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 9pm. FREE. X-GENZ Flanagans Border Inn. VIC. 9.30pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP FLYING LOTUS 3D, HAMISH ANDERSON Forum Melbourne. Melbourne. 7pm. $88.94. HOTTEST 100 ROOFTOP PARTY 2020 Top Yard Rooftop. Melbourne. 12pm. $11.42.
CLASSICAL CATS The National Theatre (Melbourne). St Kilda. 7.30pm. $33 - 49.50.
SUNDAY 26 JAN
ROCK, PUNK, METAL BYO VINYL DAY The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 5pm. FREE. A DAY FOR AUSTRALIA DAY BUSHFIRE BENEFIT The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 3.30pm. FREE. FORKLIFT ASSASSINS, SHAPES LIKE RAPIDS, POCKET ELVIS, NEW AGE, DEWEY & THE PANEL BEATERS, THE NURNIES, POOR PREMENSTRUAL DARLING, THE INTERCEPTORS Whole Lotta Love. Brunswick East. 3pm. FREE. SURVIVAL DAY: BLAK STAGE FEAT: YUNG WARRIORS, CARISSA WATTS, COLOURED STONE, SCOTT DARLOW, MONICA KARO, LEONIE WHYMAN, BRIAN MORLEY, BREANNA LEE Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 6pm. FREE. ROLLER ONE, RUBY SOHO, CLINKERFIELD Old Bar. Fitzroy. 6.30pm. $10.
LOS PARCEROS The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 9pm.
DJ STEFF Royal Hotel (Essendon). Essendon. 9pm.
MIFF Wesley Anne. Northcote. 3pm. $5.
EAT THE BEAT FEAT: SHAF HUSE,
Flying Lotus
Baby & the Kicks
Australia Day
Pop Crimes
THE FORUM
THE OLD BAR
TEMPERANCE HOTEL
THE CORNER
Experimental producer and industry icon Flying Lotus is gearing up for an unforgettable return to Australia at The Forum with a mindbending 3D experience. It will be unlike any other stage show you’ve seen and will go down on Saturday January 25. Doors are at 7:30pm and tix can be found via the venue website.
Garage pop outfit Baby & the Kicks hit The Old Bar on Saturday January 25 for the launch of their single ‘Dead Love’ – an ode to a dear friend lost. Support comes from Major Plains and Clap for Alaska. $10 at the door with proceeds going towards Wildlife Victoria.
The Temperance Hotel is pulling out all the stops for Australia Day, with live music from 2pm, DJs from 10pm and all-day drink specials. Come along on Sunday January 26 to drink some lager and get down to Melbourne’s finest musicians. Open from 11am til late with no cover charge.
The Corner is paying homage to the late Rowland S. Howard on Sunday January 26. Pop Crimes (The Songs of Rowland S. Howard) will honour the influential Australian post-punk extraordinaire’s greatest works, with appearances from Mick Harvey, Harry Howard and Hugo Race. Doors are at 7pm. Tickets are $39 via the venue website.
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THE IN THE OUT, ROUTINES Swamplands
GIGS & EVENTS
ABLAZE, KVLTS OF VICE, JAX & THE WAYWARD, EAT THE DAMN ORANGE Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $17.98. ED FRASER, ALBERTINE SARGES, ROSA MERCEDES Old Bar. Fitzroy. 3pm. $10. POP CRIMES - THE SONGS OF ROWLAND S. HOWARD Corner Hotel. Richmond. 7.45pm. $39.22. WAY TO LIVE FESTIVAL FEAT: YAWNING MAN, NUMIDIA, KHAN, MAMMOTH, SMOKE WITCH, COMACOZER, MORE Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 4pm. $38.01 - 48.56. INXSIVE Matthew Flinders Hotel. Chadstone. 7.30pm. $20.
ORGANIX Edinburgh Castle Hotel. Brunswick. 4pm. FREE. TOGETHER, PRETTY BLEAK, SOPHISTICATED DINGO, SLEEPFLOWERS, FAN GIRL, LOTUS MOONCHILD, NO NAME NATH, NATALIE EX, MIKEY YEAH, MORE Bar Open. Fitzroy. 5pm. $5. THE TOP SECRET VIOLIN CASE FEAT: VARDOS, SASHA ČUHA La Mama Theatre. Carlton. 6pm. $20 - 30.
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
THE NOISY JOHNNIES Chelsea Heights Hotel. Aspendale Gardens. 2pm.
SOFT SERVE - PUBLIC HOLIDAY EVE Pawn & Co. Prahran. 8pm.
THE BONE FOLDERS, BRITTLE SUN, THE DUFRANES Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 4pm. FREE.
GOOD SIZE - PUBLIC HOLIDAY EVE FEAT: GENERIK, SPACEY SPACE, MORNING MAXWELL Prince Bandroom. St Kilda. 9pm. $17.85 - 23.50.
THE PELLY BROTHERS Royal Hotel (Mornington). Mornington. 3pm. FREE.
MODESTEP Brown Alley. Melbourne. 10pm. $25.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES
DIRTY DAYS FEAT: ORKESTRATED, TRAVLOS, T-REK, HOLMES JOHN, ZAC DEPETRO, MORE Brown Alley. Melbourne. 10pm. $25 - 30.
WILSON BLACKLEY The Thornbury Local. Thornbury. 5pm.
SUMMER GATHERING - MELBOURNE EDITION, MINUS THE CROWN, SEFA, TWEEKACORE, WASTED PENGUINZ 170 Russell. Melbourne. 10pm.
THE ALL AMERICAN BLUES CONFERENCE 2020, JULES BOULT & THE REDEEMERS Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 3pm. $45. LOUIS VALENTINE Charles Weston Hotel. Brunswick. 4pm. HOWLIN WOLF SHOW FEAT: THE HORNETS Bar Open. Fitzroy. 6pm. FREE. SUNDAY SESSION, LUKE JOSEPH, JACK & JORDAN, TOMMY RANDO Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 2pm. FREE. ROSARIO DE MARCO Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm. THE FERRITERS The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 6.30pm. FREE. VAN WALKER The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 4pm. FREE. THE BORNSTEIN ULTIMATUM FEAT: THE BORNSTEIN ULTIMATUM Pause Bar. Balaclava. 4.30pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP I.E. & TRAVY P The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8.30pm. $12.25. ARASH & MASIH Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 8pm. $85 - 199. PURR FEAT: PIATAŌ Ferdydurke. Melbourne. 8pm. FREE. KILLER HERTZ Evelyn Hotel. Brunswick. 7pm. $5.
AUSTRALIA DAY AT TEMPERANCE HOTEL FEAT: VARIOUS DJS Temperance Hotel. South Yarra. 11am. FREE.
MONDAY 27 JAN
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK PIANO ATMOSFERIX Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6.30pm. FREE. JAZZ PARTY The Curtin. Carlton. 8pm. FREE. MY 2 CENTS - JOSEPH NAIM WITH THE BLUETRAIN BAND Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $30. DAHLIN! IT'S THE JEANNE LITTLE SHOW FEAT: CAROLINE FERGUSON The Butterfly Club. 7pm. $35.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL BAREFOOT SPACEMEN The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 2pm. $12.25. SURFARAMA SWAMP FEST 3 FEAT: INTOXICA, MR EUGENE, PLASTIC SECTION, THE VIBRAJETS, NICKY DEL REY’S SURF’N’TURF Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 3pm. $15.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK
ELECTRONIC, EXPERIMENTAL
BRIDGE Red Betty. Brunswick. 6.30pm. FREE.
DJS TIL LATE Morris Jones. Windsor. 8pm. FREE.
ARASH & MASIH Melbourne Recital Centre. Southbank. 8pm. $85 - 199.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES
Touring
THE SELTZER SESSIONS - OPEN STAGE, HAMISH MCNAB, MORE The Bergy Seltzer. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. IRISH SESSION The Lomond Hotel. Brunswick East. 9pm. FREE. OPEN MIC Swamplands Bar. Thornbury. 6pm. FREE.
ROCK, PUNK, METAL MAHALIA MATT BOURKE & THE DELUSIONAL DRUNKS, OSCAR GALT, THE FILLMORES The Tote Hotel. Collingwood. 8pm. FREE. DUMB WHALES, CHAMP RUBY, ARABELLA & THE HEIST, GYPSY ROAD The Workers Club. Fitzroy. 8pm. $9.85. PUSSY WILLOW, SHOVE, UVA URSI Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 8pm. FREE. SEBADOH Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. $48.05. TUESDAY TRIBUTE: THE KINKS FEAT: THE OCELOTS, The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 8pm. FREE.
HIP HOP, R&B, POP LIL BAO WOW Globe Alley. Melbourne. 4pm. FREE. TONES & I, ADRIAN EAGLE 170 Russell. Melbourne. 6.30pm.
JAZZ, GLOBAL, SOUL/ FUNK PATRICK LEFEVRE QUARTET Compass Pizza. Brunswick East. 7.30pm. FREE. DAHLIN! IT'S THE JEANNE LITTLE SHOW FEAT: CAROLINE FERGUSON The Butterfly Club. 7pm. $35.
WEDNESDAY 29 JAN
ROCK, PUNK, METAL SEBADOH Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8pm. JAMES BROOK, PROPOLIS, DJ JEKA Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 8pm. FREE. KATANAK The Triffid. VIC. 6pm. FREE.
ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY/ FOLK, BLUES JAMES BROOK, PROPOLIS, DJ JEKA Cafe Gummo. Thornbury. 8pm. FREE.
KIM CHURCHILL WESLEY ANNE JANUARY 15, 16 & 17 THE GROWLERS THE CROXTON JANUARY ORVILLE PECK THE CORNER JANUARY 16 THE ANGELS THE CORNER JANUARY 17 PRIVATE FUNCTION HOWLER JANUARY 17 TEX PERKINS NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB JANUARY 19 HOUSE DEPOSIT NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB JANUARY 20 HOLLY HERNDON MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE JANUARY 21 AMANDA PALMER HAMER HALL JANUARY 22 WAFIA 170 RUSSELL JANUARY 23 U-BAHN NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB JANUARY 23 FATBOY SLIM SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL JANUARY 24 WAFIA 170 RUSSELL JANUARY 24 SUNNYSIDE HOWLER JANUARY 24 FLYING LOTUS THE FORUM JANUARY 25 LAST DINOSAURS THE ESPY JANUARY 26 FONTAINES D.C. THE CORNER JANUARY 31 ADRIAN EAGLE NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB JANUARY 31 JOYRIDE HOWLER JANUARY 31 JEN CLOHER THE TOTE BAND ROOM JANUARY 31 BASTILLE AO LIVE STAGE FEBRUARY 1 DOM DOLLA COBURG VELODROME FEBRUARY 1 MAHALIA 170 RUSSELL FEBRUARY 4 JAMES SMITH CORNER HOTEL FEBRUARY 5 PENNYWISE THE FORUM FEBRUARY 6 BUSBY MAROU SOOKI LOUNGE FEBRUARY 6 MISSY HIGGINS MELBOURNE ZOO FEBRUARY 7 HORNS OF LEROY HOWLER FEBRUARY 8 LANEWAY FOOTSCRAY PARK FEBRUARY 8 ST KILDA FESTIVAL ST KILDA FORESHORE FEBRUARY 9
KATANAK The Triffid. VIC. 6pm. FREE.
TUESDAY 28 JAN
For the full gig guide head to beat.com.au/gig-guide
45
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2020
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