VISIT A TELSTRA STORE OR PARTNER | TELSTRA.COM
OMGB!
BONUS 1GB DATA ON YOUR FIRST $30 RECHARGE LG GU290f
129
$
*
PRE-PAID 1.3 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA HIGH QUALITY VOICE AND SOUND ENGINE
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: Network unlocking fee applies to handset. Limit 1 per customer (except SA). No trade sales. Availability of colours may vary at participating outlets. Bonus data offer available to new customers only until 1/11/10. Bonus data is valid for 30 days, cannot be used overseas and can take up to 48 hours to be applied. 速 Registered trade mark of Telstra Corporation Limited, ABN 33 051 775 556. TEL3271_BRAG_LG
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 3
Proudly supported by triple j, The Drum Media and Faster Louder
NEW NEW YEARS YEARS 29TH 29TH DEC DEC -- 1ST 1ST JAN JAN
ANGUS & JULIA STONE TRENTEMØLLER (LIVE) BUILT TO SPILL FREESTYLERS DJS KATE MILLER-HEIDKE SHOUT OUT LOUDS
THE DYNAMITES FEAT. CHARLES WALKER BORN RUFFIANS LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION PVT DECODER RING THE AUDREYS THE BREAK WASHINGTON CLOUD CONTROL JONATHAN BOULET FREQ NASTY SPACE INVADAS THE JEZABELS DAN MANGAN HORROWSHOW STEVE POLTZ JOEL PLASKETT KING TIDE THUNDAMENTALS WATUSSI PARADES BIG SCARY SPIT SYNDICATE BELLES WILL RING AND MANY, MANY MORE
TICKETS ON SALE NOW! Tickets are available through Oztix www.oztix.com.au Peats Ridge is an Over 18 event. Children and Youth are permitted only if accompanied by a guardian aged 25 years or over.
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au 4 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 5
6 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
ANZ STADIUM
MONDAY DECEMBER 13
ON SALE 9AM, FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3 ticketek.com.au/U2360 or 132 849
For complete tour information, visit www.U2.com For local information & tour updates sign up at www.livenation.com.au I www.coppel.com.au Produced by Live Nation Global Touring in association with Michael Coppel and Live Nation Australia All concert tickets include Major Event rail and bus services to and from ANZ Stadium
U2 360 Live at The Rose Bowl in stores now BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 7
8 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 9
10 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Four heads are better than one. And four Wagon Wheels are also better than one. But not quite as good as six and a half. choc-coated, biscuit, jam and marshmallow baby
that weighed forty-eight grams and was eaten by thousands of people every single day because it’s just so deliciously mouth-watering and delicious and scrummy and Heaven-on-Earth-like.
Wagon Wheels Product Innovation Team.
It took a lot of thinking to invent the Wagon Wheel. After all, who would have possibly thought that merging such disparate properties such as jam, marshmallow and biscuit, and then choc-coating the lot would have worked? Well, clearly, we did, or else the Wagon Wheel that you know and love would not exist in its current form. And if you had thought of it, would you have had the wherewithal to bring such an outrageous idea to fruition? It’s all well and good to have the idea, but without an extensive knowledge of circles, mathematics, the colour brown and an advanced degree in deliciousness from the Open University, getting on with mass marketing the world’s best forty-eight gram snack is incredibly problematic. That’s why we at the Wagon Wheels Product Innovation Team are so proud. In a way, the Wagon Wheel is our baby, if our baby was a
It’s been many years since we perfected the Wagon Wheel. We remember it like it was yesterday, if yesterday was many years ago. In fact, yesterday was 1980. Or it might have been the seventies. Or 1962. Although it may have been 1952, 1953 or 1954. Either way, when we finally came up with the final design, we were euphoric. It was like Christmas had come early and Santa had delivered a brand new Commodore 64 with a disk drive, and had left the Wagon Wheels and milk we put out for him behind, and we were really excited because Christmas had come early and if Christmas had come early then it still meant that Christmas lay ahead of us, and who knows maybe Christmas would come early again, and we could have three Christmases in one year! That’s how ebullient we were. However, we’re not ones to rest on our laurels (or our Hardy’s). No, we’re always striving to improve on perfection. However, even after many attempts we haven’t been able to. Clearly, we need all the help we can get. That’s where you come in. Win $8008 if you go to www.wagonwheels.com.au and tell us how you’d reinvent the Wagon Wheel. Perhaps you fancy a white choc-coated Wagon Wheel? Or a chick en f lav oured version? Tell us. And like a running marathon runner, you’ll be in the running too.
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 11
rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. By Nathan Jolly
five things WITH
RUSSELL FROM FISHING
Growing Up Growing up, music was running 1. round the house while hitting a
much better than you, it’s kind of depressing as well as inspiring.
pot to ‘The Little Drummer Boy’, campfire songs (feat Frankie Lee and Judas Priest), piano lessons, Sega Mega-Drive game soundtracks, and a primary school education via Greenday and The Offspring. High school progressed through lunchtime sausage-fest guitar-tab sessions, until the day I discovered an old Roland synth stashed in a school storage cupboard...
Your Band Music, Right Here, Right Now I was spending the time not-doing-essays Music is so all up in everyone’s collective 3. 5. by producing ridiculous melodic tracks which grill at the moment. Things just happen so
Inspirations Jibes n’ vibes. Music that 2. doesn’t hit you with a straightup meaning-blast but just casts a little bubble of time and place over you. It seems like everything you hear makes you think about things differently, even if it’s terrible. We can no longer pass any second hand shop without going in and checking out the cassette collection... Inspiration is hard because often if things are too
were good to play on the game Audiosurf. Now Doug and I have joined forces, and are making jams together; usually when we start looking for sweet samples, we end up spending the whole time just listening to entire tapes. We’re playing with samplers and controllers live, which is heaps of fun for us and hopefully for the audience as well - because trying to play all the beats and parts out on pads is sketchy, chaotic and GOOD. The Music You Make Fishing is essentially electronic, but we try 4. to keep an organic kind of feel to the songs. We make instrumental jams which are a mix of samples, synths and real life sounds. It’s all just for fun, so the emphasis is on keeping it melodic, listenable and bouncy, creating a little snippet of feeling or atmosphere. It’s weird because I’ve never really listened to any I guess ‘classic’ stuff, like Dilla or Avalanches or Madlib - which is all stuff Fishing has been compared to. I think we happen to be coming
to electronic music from pop music, not the other way around like many producers.
quickly now; a track can be ‘old’ in a few days because of the amazing blog culture that has such an emphasis on the new. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing - because so much of that new stuff is genuinely brilliant. It’s amazing to be able to engage in such current and immediate networks of influence and creativity, though there is a risk of becoming a bit dislocated from the local scene. Ours is filled with world-class people like Cloud Control, Danimals, Sherlock’s Daughter, Philly Jays… oh hang on, they’re all jetting. Oh well, at least we still have guys like Guerre, RIYM, Collarbones, Kyu and The Seekaez… Who: Fishing What: Verge Festival Housewarming w/ Jonathan Boulet Where: Verge Festival Tent @ Sydney Uni When: Wednesday September 1 More: vergeartsfestival.com
CHECK THIS OUT
PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 9552 6333 ARTS EDITOR & ASSOCIATE: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 9552 6333 STAFF WRITER: Jake Stone jake@thebrag.com NEWS CO-ORDINATORS: Chris Murray, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Jake Bruce SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ashley Mar, Rosette Rouhana, Daniel Munns, Patrick Stevenson, Susan Bui, Robert Lee, Maja Baska COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Violet Parr SALES/MARKETING MANAGER: Blake Rayner 0404 304 929 / (02) 9552 6672 blake@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9552 6618 les@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Sara Golchin - (02) 9552 6747 sara@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Christian Moraga - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance) INTERN: Rach Seneviratne
NZ boyz The Checks have been killing it of late. They’ve played with The Hives, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, AC/DC, Muse and Oasis. I know, right? Their album Alice By The Moon, is doing just fine back home, so now they’ve come to share it with us. They’ll be hitting Spectrum on September 1, supported by Kids At Risk and Convaire.
JAMIROQUAIIIIII!
Holy shit! There is a tiny man running around in a tracksuit with a face made of dolomite and magnesite! Oh, chill - s’just Jamiroquai promoting a new album. Rock Dust Light Star is set to drop on the October 29, but you’ll probably hear the new single, ‘White Knuckle Ride’, on the wireless later this month. You excited?
Angus & Julia Stone
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Bridie Connell, Bridie Connellan, Oliver Downes, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Chris Familton, Lucy Fokkema, Mike Gee, Alice Hart, Kate Hennessy, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Andy McLean, Amelia Schmidt, Romi Scodellaro, Xanthe Seacret, Jonno Seidler, RK, Luke Telford, Caitlin Welsh, Beth Wilson, Alex Young
DEEP SEA ARCADE LAUNCH
In Japan, the world’s first underwater video games arcade has opened to massdrownings and high-scores on Killer Instinct. And in factual news, Deep Sea Arcade will launch their 7 inch single ‘Keep On Walking’ at Oxford Art Factory on September 1. They’re also supporting Cloud Control nationally in October - but I’ll tell you more about that in a month or so. Don’t move...
Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 153 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9552 6866
DEATH RAVE FESTIVAL GOOD TIME
EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Art Work, Ad Bookings Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad Cancellations Tuesday 4pm Published by Cartrage P/L ACN 104026388 All content copyrighted to Cartrage 2003 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get The Brag? email distribution@furstmedia.com.au or ph 03 9428 3600. PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 Win a giveaway? Mail us an stamped and addressed envelope, and we’ll send it on over
12 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
Deep Sea Arcade
FOR PEATS SAKE
Tickets are on sale now, you guys - so hurry. The following acts will be there trying to find a phone charger: Angus & Julia Stone, Trentemøller, Built to Spill, Freestylers, Kate Miller-Heidke, Shout Out Louds, The Dynamites Featuring Charles Walker, Born Ruffians, Lightspeed Champion, PVT, Decoder Ring, The Audreys, Washington and a heap more.
Breakcore and 8bit? Gross, right? Not when it’s in a seedy warehouse where you can smoke and drink your own booze and ciggies. There’ll be some low-bit visuals too, and Banki from Melbourne is worth the trip alone. With supports like Ten Thousand Free Men & Their Families (whose vocal- and Game Boy-assault must be seen to be believed), Abortifacient, Killjoy, Godinpants (still a great name), Vicious Cyclist (dude is rabid), Noisehatedisco and Skullfuckdisco, you’re really in for an [expletive deleted]. Get to $H!P\70VV$ secret warehouse location on the 28th of August - google “Death Rave August 28” if that means nothing to you.
PAUL DEMPSEY’S EMPTY FLIGHT
Paul Dempsey has announced the re-release of his 1998 album An Empty Flight, via intershop iTunes. Paul Dempsey’s what now? I like to consider myself pretty versed in the trivia category ‘Australian music which received heavy Triple J play throughout the ‘90s (Custard and that)’, but I don’t at all remember a Dempsey solo album from 1998… Which is obviously what he’s trying to correct with this re-release. BUY!!!
RICHARD IN YOUR PIKELET TOUR
Richard In Your Mind announcing a tour is news enough, so the additional news that Pikelet is co-headlining the whole thing was exciting enough for me to levitate with glee [based on a true story]. It’s not until September 25 that they hit The Gaelic Club, but tickets are available now for $12, so keep them between the pages of a book for safekeeping and then write down the name of that book on page 93 of another book.
HIT ME BAABA ONE MORE TIME
Bellingen Global Carnival has announced that Senegalese muso Baaba Maal will be playing at two exclusive performances for the carnival. Baaba Maal fuses rock and blues with authentic West African beats and melodies in a way that Sting never will. This is the first time he’s performed in Australia for eleven years, and he’ll be joining a lineup that includes Ash Grunwald, The Bamboos, Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, Vulgargrad, The Bombay Royale and a huge bunch of internationals. They’ll all be at Bellingen Valley from October 1 - 3 - check out globalcarnival.com for the full list and details.
GIG OF THE WEEK
BURLESQUE After a brief winter vacation 34B returns with its most alluring and seductive show yet! Lower your hat, wink at the doorman and make your way through the shadows to the whiskey drenched glow of 34B. With international burlesque stars, travelling troupes and captivating circus sensations, Vixens, Vamps and Dolls is a veritable who’s who of the burlesque (under)world. Featuring: Lola the Vamp: One of the most internationally recognised and impeccably styled burlesque divas. Come for the rare opportunity of seeing this burlesque superstar shine. Tasia: Recently returned from a tour of the U.S, with a much-lauded performance at Las Vegas. Her enticing mix of contemporary concepts and old world chic never fails to take your breath away! The Judy Dolls: Hailing from Brizvegas it is a rare treat to have five of the most beguiling new burlesque starlets gracing the 34B stage. Kitty Van Horne: A prowling feline temptress with a voice to make you howl! Kitty is all class and a purring delight. Kira Hula-la: Sultry and sensational! How many hoops can this lady spin around her captivating body!! With MC Francois Buble –This seminal French cabaret star is a master performer and a snappy dresser to boot! And DJ Jack Shit – A god to his people! Mr shit spins downright dirty tunes from the golden age and today to keep your night swingin. It’s a midnight grab bag of bewitching burlesque treats with a ravishing all-star cast. Slide in and sit down and try to avoid getting into T.R.O.U.B.L.E… that’s trouble!
WED 25 AUG NAME DROPPERS
PATRICK AND THE DEEP END JACK COLWELL & THE OWLS
BRENDAN MACLEAN + ROCKETS
8PM-$8
THUR 26 AUG
HOT DAMN NORTHLANE
RISE FOR NOVEMBER CITY LIGHTS FADE THE CITY IN MOTION 8PM-$10/$12
FRI 27 AUG A DEATH
IN THE FAMILY (VIC)
LUNGS THE OUTSIDERS (NZ) HIRA HIRA AFTER 11:30
SILENT ALARM $5 8PM - $12
SAT 28 AUG
PAPPA VS PRETTY SIERRA FIN LOON LAKE (MELB) GOLDHEARTED AFTER 11.30
P*A*S*H WITH DJ'S
KNIFE & GOLDFOOT 8PM - $10pre $13door
THUR 26 AUG
HOT DAMN SARAH SPANDEX HEARTATTACK MARK C NAT NOIZE
9PM-$10/$12
FRI 27 AUG
SOSUEME LIVE
ELKE (BRIS LIVE)
PLUTO JONZE BRIGHT QUITO SPRING DJ'S
JOYRIDE
ALISON WONDERLAND
NIC YORKE + SEABASS & MASH
ZAPZAPZAP + THE AU DJ'S VS O.N.E LEONID TECHNOLOGIC
THUR 26 AUG
HOT DAMN BACK IN PHOENIX
AGAIN!
9PM-$10/$12
FRI 27 AUG
VOID
GRIME V DUBSTEP
SYDNEY V MELB
CAMO + A13 + AFFIKS MARK PRITCHARD MAX GOSFORD PAUL FRASER
MC FRAKSHA + MC RAPAPORT
10PM-$20
SAT 28 AUG PHOENIX RISING
8PM-$10
RESIDENT DJ'S INCLUDE DAN MURPHY, JOHAN KHOURY, MARK ALSOP, AND RADO,HIGH ENERGY HOUSE, VOCAL, UPLIFTING
BURLESQUE VAMPS, VIXENS & DOLLS
4AM-$10
SAT 28 AUG
LOLA THE VAMP TASIA THE JUDY DOLLS KITTY VAN HORNE
EVERY FRIDAY MEMBERS ONLY EVERY SATURDAY MEMBERS ONLY
SAT 28 AUG
HELLO RATS / &DIMES PRESENT
KIRA HULA – LA MC FRANCOIS BUBLE DJ JACK SHIT
FAUX MO CLUB
8:30PM - $20
10PM-$5/$10
BURLESQUE BU TH SATURDAY THIS AUGUST 28
MON-FRI
10am TIL LATE
SAT-SUN
9am TIL 6am
SUN RECOVERY 9am TIL LATE
HAPPY HOUR 5pm-7pm DAILY
34 - 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst - www.exchangehotel.biz - 9331 2956
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 13
rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. By Nathan Jolly
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
he said she said WITH
BEN FROM THE KREMLIN SUCCESSION (VIC) I think our music is a kind of pop psychedelia, but there’s a bit of country and blues influence in there too. Recently we’ve released a single called ‘Time (Won’t Take You Away),’ recorded with Jack Farley (Beaches, Love of Diagrams) who is an absolute legend to work with. I think we try to keep our live shows as honest as the music we write, as in - don’t expect any pyrotechnics or anything like that.
I
grew up in a typical small country town in a typical small country family. I found I was too small to play footy so I just got into learning music. My dad played guitar, so he really started me on that. Lots of Stones, Beatles, Floyed, AC/DC and Jimmy Barnes could be found in my olds’ collection. I love all the usual 60s bands, as well as 50’s rock n roll. But as my tastes matured I found myself discovering a lot of amazing local bands on the scene, as well as the big
internationals like BRMC, Jonestown etc. Always been a massive Lennon fan and lately I’ve been listening to that a lot There is a really tight music scene in Melbourne. I mean, every one plays together, everyone drinks together. We just started the band after a lot of drunken nights of shit talk. Kind of amazing we actually pulled it together really, but even after all the shit talk, everyone was real keen to get it happening.
It’s been a while since I’ve ventured to Sydney, but I’ve been listening to bands like Belles Will Ring and The Laurels - who recently toured together. There just seems to be a surge of really great bands coming out across the scenes; it’s especially good to see a revival of shoegaze and psychedelia. It’s always hard to compete with so many good bands but I guess it does mean that the quality of the music has to be high to be noticed. I’m looking forward to playing up at World Bar in Sydney. I think it’s good to escape the bubble of the Melbourne music scene every now and then - and when I’ve played at World Bar in the past they seem to treat you well, and the punters really get off on good music. Who: The Kremlin Succession What: ‘Time (Won’t Take You Away)’ is out now on Major Label Where: Mum @ The World Bar When: Friday August 27
Beam hat, because that’s NOT HOW IRONY WORKS, OKAY?
BEST IN THE CITY AWARDS
Citysearch’s Best in the City Awards don’t muck about awarding artists in categories that don’t exist, like ‘adult contemporary’. Instead they have proper awards for things like “best vinyl spinner” and “best place to catch a gig.” And it’s Sydney-centric, which means Eskimo Joe won’t win everything! Voting is open until September 17, but you have to go all the way to the Internet to do it - citysearch.com.au. And then you have to wait until October 4 to find out who won. Life is a pain sometimes…
JD IN EXILE
Even though nobody knows what date or year Jack Daniels was born, they do know it was September sometime. So, in the spirit of his spirit (triple meaning), most celebrators simply go on a month-long bender, completely
Zeahorse
ZEAHORSE
It’s The Gaelic’s final week of the Freshly Cut showcases, and it seems like they’ve saved the best ‘til last. The Laurels will headline August 26’s activities, with Zeahorse supporting and The Dark Bells kicking off the night. The Laurels’ shoegazey, harmonious pop will contrast Zeahorse’s psychedelic punks, who probably have the best song names ever – (e.g ‘Spider Stole My Fungus’ and ‘The Goo Will Be Gone Real Soon’). The Dark Bells’ mesmerising guitars and dreamy vocals will be a wonderful musical entrée, if their demo ‘Wildflower’ is anything to go by. We have five double passes; to win one, tell us your favourite song up on The Laurels’ MySpace.
OH MERCY
The very Shins-esque Oh Mercy have been relentlessly touring most corners of our country, with the likes of Lisa Mitchell, The Panics, Ben Folds, Grizzly Bear, The Temper Trap and, most recently, at Splendour. They’ve apparently run up more than 50,000km in their touring van in just the past 12 months (that’s a lot of petrol), all in the name of spreading the Oh Mercy love. After playing a string of festivals and tours, you’d think they’d want to put their feet up for a while – but no, a headline tour it is! We have two double passes to bequeath, for you to see your next favourite band at their launch of the ‘Keith St’ 7” at Oxford Art Factory on August 27. Tell us the name of their EP.
ruining all the good they did in Dry July. The JD Set are hosting a kick arse party in which You Am I play the entirety of Exile On Main Street while guests like Washington, Nic Cester, Tex Perkins, and Adalita wander onstage occasionally to help out a bit. It goes down September 15 at Oxford Art Gallery, and tickets go on sale this Tuesday August 24 at thejdset.com.au. It’ll sell out quickly, so stop picking up BRAG on a Thursday, yeah?
OPEN ARMS FESTIVAL
If you find yourself sitting in a caravan at Coffs Harbour on November 20 thinking about how there is nothing to do, then you are a fool - The Open Arms Festival is happening at the Showground, and Birds of Tokyo, Metals, Grafton Primary and The Living End are playing. But you know, you could watch that episode of The Nanny where Fran meets Barbara Streisand... Ah, that Brighton is an underrated character...
Big Scary
Little Red
BIG RED
Little Red are getting big. This means you have to get on board with this shit ASAP, or you’ll look like one of those tools who likes things a bit too late. They have a new album coming out, Midnight Remember - and with a producer like Scott Horscroft on the job (The Presets, Panics), how could it possibly be anything but shit-hot? The tour itself is being made all the more attractive with Sparkadia tagging along for the whole shindig, finally back home from the UK, where they’ve been for pretty much AGES. Get to the Metro Theatre’s website to book your tickets for Friday October 8. It’s all ages too, so there’ll be an all-round good-time vibe!
RAGGAETOWN SIDESHOWS
If you stop brushing/washing/caring about your hair this instant, you may be able to achieve some semblance of dreadlocks just in time for two amazing Reggaetown sideshows. Katchafire hits Selina’s on September 17, although if they were hoping to smoke weed out of a Fanta can with Tiki Taane and DJ Samobara, they would have missed them by a week - as the latter play Selina’s on September 10. The Cairns festival is on September 10 and 11, and tickets for both sideshows are through Moshtix. Jah bless.
14 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
JAGER BIZ-OMB.
The fifth annual Jagermeister Independent Music Awards is happening, okay? It’s happening October 1 at The Forum in Melbourne [final resting place of Madge Bishop], and to celebrate the obvious awesome link between alcohol and music [they each make the other better], Cloud Control, British India, Sally Seltmann and Amity Affliction will perform live on the night. You can go for thirty dollars, even if you aren’t dating a member of the band. Doors open at 8pm - and don’t wear your ironic Jim
BIG SCARY WINTER
The second in Big Scary’s four seasonal EPs is ready to drop – and according to the presser, Winter is “dominated by haunting soundscapes, lilting harmonies and building emotion that fades to a bleak nothingness.” Much like the season itself, AMIRIGHT?! The Melbourne pair are launching this one at the Vanguard on August 27, before heading into the studio to write about grass, flowers, love, cider, ponies, and all the other things that happen in Spring...
UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY UNION PRESENTS...
cloud control the jezabels
richard in your mind guineafowl
7PM, FRIDAY 3 SEPTEMBER AT MANNING BAR, THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY TICKETS: $5 ACCESS / $15 GENERAL ADMISSION / MORE ON THE DOOR AVAILABLE FROM MANNINGBAR.COM / OZTIX 1300 762 545 / ACCESS FRONT DESK, LEVEL 1 MANNING HOUSE BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 15
dance music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
he said she said WITH
UNITED COLOURS We formed (as all the best crews do) around the little dining table at Don Don, hatching plans for world domination. The crew consists of pocket-sized party juggernaut Bad Ezzy (Hoops), the distinguished gentleman Chux (Disco Punx), the music machine Wax Motif (Sweat It Out), the lovers Act Yo Age (Southern Fried) and last but not least, late night magic man Kato (Wamp Wamp / Bandits).
United Colours
We like to call our sound ‘hot inter-racial house music’ - a combination of tropical world music influences with cutting edge house and positive vibes all the way. You can also expect to hear little excursions into UK funky, dancehall, diva vocals, disco and that awesome nu-garage post-dubstep type sound-thingie. M-Phazes
U
nited Colours is kinda like our little mixed race baby. It grew from the collective musical experiences and DJ careers of our crew. We wanted to create a party with a positive fun vibe, that pushed the forward-thinking house music and artists we love. It’s also a reaction to a lot of nights in Sydney that are all about profits, where the DJs are forced to chase the crowd with hyper-crowd-pleasing cheesy sets. We’re re-wiring the game so people come to us to get off on our vibe, and it’s working!
Xxx
Our inspirations come from all over: Club nights like Mad Racket, Numbers and Fabric, DJs like Justin Martin, Radioclit, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, L-Vis 1990, Solo, Buraka Som Sistema, DJ Gregory, Mujava, Cleo and Zombie Disco Squad. Original roots artists for us are the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Masters At Work, Technotronic, Hugh Masakela, The Avalanches and Sly & Robbie. All in all it’s the music that inspires us to keep doing what we do.
A lot of people like to bitch about the scene at the moment, but for the most part they’re all talk – we’re out there making our own fun happen. Goodgod Small Club is one of the most awesome and important venues in Sydney right now, supporting great music and parties week in week out, and that’s why we’re throwing a fundraiser for them, to help the club get fully operational. It’s like an investment in the future of good times. Who: United Colours Loves Goodgod Fundraiser ft Daniel Farley [Bakehaus NZ], Act Yo Age, Bad Ezzy, Wax Motif, Chux and (Birthday Boy) Kato Where: Goodgod Small Club When: Friday August 27
a detrimental impact on his sound though – indeed Black Noise ought to feature on many year-end ‘best of’ lists come December. The Field is something of a maverick even by the standards of his Kompakt label, merging neo-trance influences with ambient (and more recently pop) leanings – see his cover of ‘Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometimes’. As for Harvey, an acquaintance of mine recently saw him play a marathon set at Berlin’s citadel Berghain and came away salivating, eagerly anticipating another fix of disco-cum-housevia-techno. He’ll need to be restrained when he learns Harvey is heading our way. Full Meredith lineup at www.mmf.com.au
Merging aural pleasure with opulent surrounds, High & Dry is a new Saturday night party held at The Water Bar on Woolloomooloo wharf. With a disclaimer emphasising that “young, fun, music lovers are welcome” – that’s you, dear reader – the organisers have enlisted a range of well-known DJs to spin their “nonbanging tunes” from the hours of 7.30pm through to midnight. Hoops, Mirror Mirror, Knife Machine, Alley Oop and Dangerous Dan are some of the selectors locked in over the next six weeks, and you can check it out for s.f.a as it’s free to get in.
Grrilla Step is the beats of DJ Dexter (from The Avalanches) mixed with the percussion of PNG’s Airi Ingram (Drum Drum) mixed with the live krump moves of Dandenong’s Royal Fam. They’re bringing it all down to Beach Road Hotel this Friday August 27 from 8pm – and we definitely suggest you bring it too.
Art Vs Science
MEREDITH GEMS
The Meredith Music Festival, scheduled for December 10 at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre in Victoria has announced its lineup, which includes a few hugely impressive – and esoteric – electronic acts. (‘Esoteric’ in comparison to the sort of dance acts getting booked for other festivals around the country). Hendrik Weber, better known as Pantha Du Prince, will be making his Australian debut at the event courtesy of Future Classic, and he will be flanked by Axel Wilner, aka The Field, and disco stalwart DJ Harvey. Pantha Du Prince debuted on the esteemed Dial imprint but released his latest LP, Black Noise, out of the traditionally indie stable Rough Trade. The shift did not have
16 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
BOUNDARY BONDS WITH...
RDINER, JOSHELAGA NCE PUBLICIST FRE
What’s the most common reason for someone hiring a publicist? When people have got something to share or (to put it bluntly) sell, they’re typically going to want more than just their friends, family and colleagues to know about it. Beyond finding someone with a more extensive contact list, it’s also about finding a person who understands you and knows what to do with what you’ve got to offer.
It’s only been a few months since Flying Lotus’ third full-length Cosmogramma, which was released to a generally rapturous critical response – indeed from memory it was crowned Brag’s ‘Album of the Week’. However the Californian producer has already announced a new EP for Warp, Pattern+Grid World. In the label’s words, where Cosmogramma aimed to converge 20th and 21st century musical forms, “high in concept and wide in musical collaboration”, this EP focuses on Flying Lotus’s hardware, with synth and vocoder playing a starring role in EP opener ‘Clay’. Pattern+Grid World is seven tracks long, and features art by Theo Ellsworth. The best bit is there really isn’t long to wait at all - Pattern+Grid will be released on September 21 via Warp.
A normal day for you involves….? Lots of research and reading, mostly online. You need to know what content is out there and how each media outlet is set up. Once you’ve been brought on to do a job, you’re pretty much left to your own devices. Beyond building and maintaining relationships with the media folk, it’s lots of planning, emails, phone calls, setting up interviews, writing pressers, and collating clippings – you need these to prove to the client that you’re not spending their billed hours cleaning turtles in the dishwasher.
JOAKIM
Frenchman Jimi Bazzouka, aka Joakim, plays a headline set for Future Classic at Adult Disco this Saturday. The man behind the Tigersushi label, Joakim comes from a classical and jazz music background, influences which were evident on his debut LP when it was released in the early noughties. Since then, Joakim has established himself as one of the more quirky and eclectic producers in the electronic scene, though to pigeonhole him as a dance/electronic artist is deceptive – have a listen to his most recent album, Milky Ways, and you’ll see why. There’s no doubting Joakim holds his own in the club environment though, and with a broad back catalogue of remixes for JJ Cale, Annie, Antena, Röyksopp and Tiga in the bank you can expect an eclectic, warped disco odyssey come Saturday night at The Civic Underground.
Acclaimed Aussie hip hop maestro M-Phazes has been sneakily biding his time behind the scenes, earning stripes as a producer for a swag of Aussie hip hop artists (Phrase, Bliss N Eso, Drapht). He spent two years honing his own craft, and upon dropping his debut album Good Gracious his efforts were rewarded, earning #20 on the ARIA charts and #1 on the AIR charts. Now M-Phazes has embarked on a national album tour, accompanied by an entourage of Australian hip hop aficionados - including Mantra, Illy, Spit Syndicate, Phrase and more, who will be supporting at his shows. To win one of five doubles to the August 26 show at The Annandale, tell us M-Phazes’ real name.
GRRILLA STEP
NEW FLYING LOTUS
HIGH & DRY
M-PHAZES
COASTER FESTIVAL
A dance stage has been added to the Coaster Festival, slotted for September 25 at Gosford Showground. Crowd favourites Infusion, Sam La More, The Aston Shuffle, Bass Kleph, Bang Gang DJs, the Sosueme mob and the Purple Sneakers cats will all be joining a lineup that already includes the likes of Cypress Hill, Birds Of Tokyo, Art Vs Science – appearing in Dance News for the second week running?! – bluejuice, Basement Birds and Silversun Pickups among others. Full line-up at www.coasterfestival.com.au
The hardest part of working freelance? You might find it a tad lonesome at times - but then you spend all day talking to great and interesting people. Best perk of the job? The autonomy and variety. In a nutshell, it’s not a 9 to 5, partitioned office gig. That’s heartening as hell. If I wasn’t a publicist I’d be an... Archaeologist. I have a degree in anthropology; I just need some khakis and a year to camp somewhere remote and scrape dirt.
SPRING TOUR - OCTOBER 2010 WITH JOHN STEEL SINGERS & FELICITY GROOM
THURSDAY 14TH THE ENMORE SYDNEY TICKETEK.COM.AU - 132 849
TICKETS ON SALE NOW DEBUT ALBUM ‘INNERSPEAKER’ OUT NOW tameimpala.com
modularpeople.com
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 17
dance music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au
five things WITH
BIG SCARY
NICK FROM SLIMEY THINGS Monty Python song, the entire Even Worse album by Weird Al Yankovic and used to tape Danny Elfman film scores from VHS onto mix-tapes. As a teenager I was typically brainwashed by mainstream record companies into liking grunge and punk, until I discovered the music that changed (ruined) my life: Primus, Mr Bungle, Zappa, King Crimson, John Zorn, Stravinsky, death metal and bebop. Your Band Slimey Things 3. started at uni as an
exercise in style. It is rigorously composed and constructed. It is totally unsentimental, concise and deliberately defies the principles of ‘good song-writing’. There are plenty of others doing that. It focuses on the sonic, and the rhythmic elements of modern music. It is hopefully an affront to the false, corporation-engineered idea of the serious and overly earnest rock & roll rebel – a dinosaur and outmoded mentality. It is absurd yet profound. It tries to be all those things anyway. Check out our 2010 Quantum Reality TV album and judge for yourself. Or don’t. Whatever. Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene right now is like a 5. concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre where the entire audience is on the stage. Everybody’s in a band...only some of which are amazing. Aussie bands like Captains, Five Star Prison Cell, Darth Vegas, Toy Death, Captain Kickarse & The Awesomes, Pirate and Squat Club are out there reminding us all how awesome music can be when it’s not all done as an attempt to be signed by a major record label.
Growing Up Growing up on Planet Thaldor in the 1. hotbed of conservatism that is suburbia,
excuse to not attend uni. Most of us met there. On Planet Thaldor.
I sought escape in comics, books, video games, movies and my own imagination. I was essentially a studious, good little Sundayschool attending boy… Then I discovered rock & roll.
The Music You Make Sci-fi rock. Retro-futuristic proto-pop. 4. Cute-metal. I write and demo all of our
Who: Slimey Things
material and we then learn it as a band and play it for a while before recording it properly. I don’t really have contemporaries or inspirations anymore - I hardly listen to any music, I’m usually busy developing some new song or piece. Slimey Things is an
Where: Space Prom 3000 @ The Gaelic Theatre
Inspirations In my early years my musical tastes were 2. somewhat bizarre. I knew the words to every
Mark Pritchard
Collection, his third LP. The new album purportedly shuns the brass in favour of Brooklyn b-boy sonics and retro synth sounds, and as always he’s recruited a high-profile cast of collaborators. ‘Lose It (In The End)’ was co-written by Jonathan Pierce of The Drums, features ‘rhymes’ from Ghostface Killah and vocals from Ronson himself who also sings on the album’s title track, which was purportedly written by Nick Hodgson of the Kaiser Chiefs. Jake Shears of Scissors Sisters, Cathy Dennis, Anthony Rossomando, and Andrew Wyatt all had a hand in writing ‘Somebody To Love Me’, while Boy George also features on another track. Record Collection is out September 24 through Sony.
JACK
VOID
Two of the heavyweights of the Aussie dubstep and grime scenes join forces this Friday in a battle royale at Phoenix Bar. Melbourne’s longest running dubstep night, Heavy Innit, is bringing its crew up to Sydney to take on some of Void’s finest in a night of interstate beats. Three of Void’s best and brightest, Mark Pritchard, Max Gosford and Paul Fraser, will be pitted against Melbournians A13, Camo and Affiks, while two of the country’s best Grime MCs, Frashka and MC Rapaport, will be lending their vocal chords to proceedings. It begins at 10pm, and entry is $20.
RONSON WRAPS RECORD COLLECTION
Mark Ronson is set to release the follow up to 2007’s uber-succesful Version with Mark Ronson & the Business Intl’s Record
18 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
“Hey Chris. It’s me again. Thanks again for including JACK last month. It’s on again on Friday, August 27, last Friday of every month. As you probably know, it celebrates all things House - old-skool Chicago House as well as a touch of Disco, Detroit, Acid House and everything in between. It’s on at The Polo Lounge, Oxford Hotel. It kicks off at 9pm and goes till late. DJs and hostesses are Mark Murphy (Spank! Records) & Magda, Syd (Speakeasy). It would be nice to have someone of your standing in the community on the dancefloor with us – drop by on Friday.” Though flattered by Mark’s email, I told him in no uncertain terms I don’t set foot in a club these days without my standard appearance fee. Those of you less conceited than myself ought to swing by for what is a delectable dissection of the house genre from a few respected Sydney stalwarts – it’s free to get in.
DMX BUSTED (AGAIN)
In this week’s police beat, American rapper DMX has been busted by police, the latest in a long string of transgressions. Earlier this year the Ruff Ryders leader was released from jail, only to be sent straight back due to a reckless driving charge from ‘02. And last Friday, after serving 18 days of that 90-day sentence, he apparently got in trouble again the very same night! And the best bit? It was for another driving offence. DMX’s manager Nakia Walker has issued a statement to AllHipHop claiming that “DMX is not a criminal, and for the record he was not issued a speeding ticket. The media portrays him to be this horrible person that just can’t get it together. This is so untrue.” Walker adds that “in the coming months you can expect to see and hear more about DMX as he positions himself back on the road to redemption.” A
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
With: Captain Kickarse and the Awesomes, Pirate, Toy Death, Jimmy Swouse and the Angry Darts, Jay Katz and Nickels(&Dimes) DJ sets. Where: Friday August 27
very poor analogy given DMX’s record on the roads…
GOODGOD FUNDRAISER
The word should be out by now: GoodGod Small Club is back. However, the much-loved Sydney nightspot needs to raise funds to complete renovations on their ‘other room’, as they seek to improve the venue; as a result they’re throwing a fundraiser on Friday night. It’s ten dollars to enter, and in exchange for your buck you’ll hear NZ’s Daniel Farley, Wax Motif, Act Yo Age, Bad Ezzy and birthday boy Kato spinning tunes. GoodGod Small Club is located at 55 Liverpool St in the Spanish Quarter of the CBD.
As part of what is arguably the coolest, funnest, bestest concept ever, Melbourne pairing Big Scary have released the second of four seasonal EPs, Winter. A small EP-sized musical offering will be dropped by Big Scary each season, culminating next year with February’s Summer. Winter has captured the desolation, melancholy and bleakness of the coldest season - a sonic exploration of the emotions and fragility associated with winter. We’re hoping the weather will mirror the sound on August 27 when Big Scary play at The Vanguard as part of their Winter EP tour. At the same time, you don’t want to freeze your figurative balls off just for funsies. We have five double passes to giveaway, to get one tell us one thing you love about winter.
SENCITY
A normal night out in Sydney can be a bit of an assault on the senses – doof doof muzik, unwarranted groping, dirty kebabs, and the percolating aromas of fake tan and urine throughout the club. Home The Venue is here to liberate your senses of such torture, with a sensorial nirvana of sorts – including a vibrating dancefloor, sign-language jockeys (lyric interpreters), video jockeys, food jockeys and aroma jockeys…Pretty much every kind of jockey under the sun except for nob-jockeys. Ever wondered what bluejuice tasted like? Well August 27 could well be the to find out, when they’re joined by Finland’s Signmark and Bang Gang’s Doom among others. We have just one double pass to this saucy evening – to win, tell us what you’d like your seventh sense to be.
and Dubbel Dutch. Mr Phil K - a perennial fave among the clubbing cognoscenti – will be spinning in the other room, and any of you young sconies sauntering down to check out Momma’s Boy should do yourselves a favour and check out Phil K’s set too. It will be club pedagogy at its finest.
Erol Alkan
FRIENDLY FIRES SUCK MY DECK
English trio Friendly Fires have mixed the next Suck My Deck compilation for the Bugged Out crew, the latest in a series that started in grand style thanks to one Ivan Smagghe. And before you question Friendly Fires’ dance music pedigree, here’s a free history lesson, buster. The three band members grew up listening to electronic labels like Warp, and lead singer/synth-man Ed Macfarlane released tracks on respected Manchester electronic imprint Skam and Hooj Choons offshoot Precinct. “I mean, I’ve been DJing for longer than Friendly Fires has existed,” drummer Jack Savidge states, explaining his club qualifications. He describes the mix as “more of a party compilation than anything, but there’s lots of variation too,” before observing that “music for the dance floor isn’t as one dimensional as it’s often painted. There’s a lot of dance music that’s thoughtful and sad. We wanted to combine that with some of the more banging stuff that’s elsewhere in the mix.” Friendly Fires have attempted to achieve this by including material from Tensnake, Munk, Bot’Ox, Aeroplane, Joe Goddard’s 2 Bears and Tom Trago. You can grab a copy when it’s released on September 27 through !K7 Records.
MOMMA’S BOY
Chinese Laundry are at it again, making me feel old-skool... Apparently cool young Parisian Mike Gnacadja has been punching KOs with his Mommas Boy & Mikix The Cat alias’s. With releases on Trouble N Bass, ESP, Sound Pellegrino, Anabatic & Acid Jacks’s Idiot House Records, he has also released an EP, At Night, and an acclaimed Loco Nino release that included remixes by Act Yo Age
FIELD DAY
Reminder: Field Day tickets go on sale this Thursday at midday through Fuzzy.com.au. “Uh, hey man… yeah, like, who is playing Field Day?” A very astute question Mr Seidler. Those of you who have managed to avoid the Field Day lineup thus far, congratulations… I’m guessing you also didn’t realise there was an election last Saturday... We’re giving you one more chance: Justice, Erol Alkan, Duck Sauce (Armand Van Helden and A-Trak in their only Australian show), Klaxons, Peaches, Yuksek, Plump DJs, Aeroplane, Tensnake, The Rapture, Public Enemy, Chromeo, Trentemoller, Neon Indian, Tame Impala and Zombie Disco Squad will all be performing at The Domain on January 1, 2011.
* 1 , / / $ & 72 / / $ &
2 * ,1
2 7 87
7 8 23URPRWHUVQDJHUV (YHQ
W 0D
:
683 72
( $5
325
387
( /2
7
21
2.,
:25
62
1*
. :
0(
7 2
,7+
*5(
$/%8
<28
$7
0
(9(1
76
/$81 &+(6
*,*6 76 $5
(9(176
FRQWDFW 1DWKDQ DW WKH $% +RWHO *OHEH RQ IRU DOO HQTXLULHV BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 19
Industrial Strength themusicnetwork.com
Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer
YA MEAN YA WANNA GET PAID? Australia’s 44,000 artists — one in four who are musicians and composers — earn an average of $35,000. That’s not just from their art but also from their “other jobs”. Most Australians make an average of $43,000 from one job. 16% earn less than $10,000 (struggling the most are writers, painters and dancers), and 5% more than $100,000. One in 50 make $150,000 a year. One third to 50% make their money from outside the arts or from an arts-related gig — which is frustrating because they don’t have the time to devote to it. But others say working “other” gigs develops more skills within themselves. These stats were released last week by the government’s funding body, the Australia Council for the Arts - and there are more, too: : * 54% in the arts are male (who do mostly music and composing), 46% are women (mostly dancing and visual arts). Women earn half from their artistic pursuits * Are they bloody bludgers? Less than half the artists applied for grant assistance in the past five years. Only 29% got any funding * The median age of an artist is 47 * There are eight bankers for every artist in Australia * Both studies suggest that artists are becoming more savvy about their income — 86% have superannuation, compared to 46% twenty years ago * 60% of artists believe that the internet will increase their income * One in three promote themselves online * Over one-quarter of artists were unemployed between 2004 and 2009 * Artists in capital cities earn 30% more than those in regional cities
DEADLYS ON SBS The 16th indigenous awards The Deadlys return on September 27 to the Opera House and to SBS-TV. Voting has already begun, with finalists in the music categories including Dan Sultan, Casey Donovan, Dubmarine, The Medics, Adam James, Indigenous Intrudaz,
Life lines Born: daughter Harper Rain Sinclair McGlinchey to ex-Rogue Traders singer turned TV head Natalie Bassingthwaighte and drummer Cameron McGlinchey. Married: singer/actress Hilary Duff and hockey player Mike Comrie. Injured: Chris Martin injured his leg while surfing in New York in between recording the next Coldplay album, and now sports a plaster. In Court: Nirvana’s management company London & Co. have settled their $1 million lawsuit with Courtney Love. They wanted a share of her earnings after she sold a portion of Nirvana’s catalogue for nearly US$20 million. In Court: German singer Nadja Benaissa was accused of having unprotected sex with a man knowing she was HIVpositive. Fined: singer Erykah Badu was hit with $US500 fine for her naked stunt at the JFK assassination site while making a video for her ‘Window Seat’. Died: Robert Wilson, bassist for funk and R&B group The Gap Band, 53. Died: Dr. Frank Ryan, Hollywood plastic surgeon to the likes of Gene Simmons and Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, 50, in a car accident. Died: US jazz singer and actor Abbey Lincoln, 80, in New York.
20 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Street Warriors and The Last Kinection. There are some new non-music categories this year too, including Leader Of The Year.
BUTTER FINGERS Newcastle City Council temporarily lifted alcohol bans in Camp Shortland for the Fat As Butter fest in October. The Inner City Resident Group had complained that patrons had been drunk before and after the 2008 event, and been vomiting, pissing and vandalising neighbouring areas. But The Council thought that promoters Mothership Promotions had spent a lot of time and money on safety.
OATES BACK IN SYDNEY After running her Original Matters management company in London over the past few years, Cathy Oates has relocated back to Sydney. The company looks after Angus & Julia Stone, Darren Hayes and Sydney singer-songwriter Jez Mead. It is at 259 Riley St, Surry Hills email contact is cathy@originalmatters.com.
AUSSIES HELP CHRYSALIS BOOST UK publisher Chrysalis Music says that its 5.2% rise in royalty income in the third quarter was mostly due to the UK #1 success of Pendulum’s Immersion and Kylie Minogue’s use of Chrysalis writers on her UK chart topper Aphrodite.
NEW SIGNINGS #1: YOU AM I SPEAK OTHER TONGUES After two albums with EMI, You Am I’s eighth studio album You Am I is out through indie Other Tongues on October 8. Tim Rogers called their relationship with EMI “strong, affectionate, intelligent,” but opted for a hand picked crew.
NEW SIGNINGS #2: BON SCOTTS AT POPBOOMERANG Popboomerang Records signed Melbourne folk rockers The Bon Scotts whose speciality is playing home-made instruments. Their first album is Oddernity.
NEW SIGNINGS #3: HUNGRY KIDS AT STOP START Brisbane’s Hungry Kids Of Hungary have joined Old Man River and Maniac on the roster of new indie Stop Start Music. Their Escapades is out October 1.
THINGS WE HEAR
* Powderfinger’s Golden Rule album goes double platinum while Angus and Julia Stone’s single ‘Big Jet Plane’ went gold. * So how come the staff of ABC-TV’s Media Watch was on hand when the Bully Girls played at the Roxbury? Because their executive producer is singer Lin Buckfield (ex-Electric Pandas). * The Doors’ Robby Krieger told journo Joe Matera he and Ray Manzarek were approached by Russell Crowe to do some shows in Australia where Crowe would sing. Then he got busy with his movie, and the idea was abandoned. * Bono admits that he took up smoking after his back surgery. * Kings Of Leon turned down having their music used in the TV show Glee, as well
as having a cameo in Ugly Betty. * There’s been a run on fans wanting to buy Space Invadas’ T-shirt after Jarobi was spotted wearing one at A Tribe Called Quest’s show at the Hordern. * Charles Darwin University political economist Rolf Gerritsen says nightclub owners should be made responsible for a “zone” around their venues, and should have to pay if police have to be called if their patrons brawl or injure themselves. * In a poll by InTheMix’s contributors, The Avalanches’ ten year old album Since I Left You was voted their most favourite, beating Daft Punk. * Someone hacked into Axl Rose’s twitter account and claimed — falsely — he’d cancelled Guns N’Roses’ December visit to Oz.
FINALISTS FOR NA2R
KAZAA AT DIGITAL FOREFRONT
Ten names from 300 applications were announced as finalists in this year’s New Artist 2 Radio (NA2R) showcase, the radio industry’s initiative to discover unsigned, independent music artists for commercial radio. They are: 15 year old Melbourne pop singer songwriter Alexandra Valmorbida, 16 year old Brisbane singer songwriter Kirsten Allendorf, Sydney electro-popsters Radio Ink, Brisbane pop rock band Starlight Theatre, Brisbane electro-rockers The Smart, Perth-hailed Georgia Juliette, pop rock band Delamare, Newcastle trio Solver, indigenous hip hop posse TDB and urban pop singer Vera Fernandes.
Former bad boy Kazaa.com is still at the forefront of digital music, with the beta release of its cloud-based music streaming application allowing consumers unlimited access to over 1.6 million tracks and 1 million song lyrics. It allows consumers to fully integrate the latest social media capabilities, allowing access to more content and more money for artists.
NEW EVENTS FOR COFFS Three young music fans - Matt Rumsey, 17, Zach Scholes, 19, and Tim Nealon, 20 - have set up Coffs Shows Promotions to stage entertainment events in Coffs Harbour. See www.myspace.com/coffsshows.
MAYDAY RAISES $1.1 MILLION MC Mikey Robins, Potbelleez, Australia’s Got Talent winner Justice Crew and Australian Idol 2009 winner Stan Walker entertained 150 media execs at the annual MAYDAY charity event at Hemmesphere. MAYDAY (Media Assisting Youth) raised a record $1.1 million for youth charity. The charities included Rare Earth Foundation, South Sydney Youth Services, Fighting Chance, Carevan, Oasis and KidsXpress. Hourigan International’s new marketing mentorship program was announced on the night.
›› TMN TOP 40 The top 40 most ‘heard’ songs on Australian radio. TW LW TI HP P1 P2 P3 ARTIST
TRACK
LABEL
1
3 11 1 14 30 57 ADAM LAMBERT
IF I HAD YOU
SME
2
1
LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE
INT/UMA
NEW SIGNINGS #4: AERIAL MAPS GO MOBILE
3
2 13 1 13 28 52 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS FT. PITBULL
Sydney band The Aerial Maps have been signed by booking agency Mobile Industries, joining a roster that includes Sarah Blasko, Jack Ladder, Songs, The Paradise Motel and Smudge. They release their second album next year.
4
8
NEW SIGNINGS #5: COLLARBONES
7
1 11 24 52 EMINEM FT. RIHANNA
I LIKE IT
INT/UMA
4 14 28 58 KATY PERRY
TEENAGE DREAM
CAP/EMI
5 11 4
5 13 24 52 TAIO CRUZ
DYNAMITE
ISL/UMA
6
7
5
6 13 25 52 USHER FT. PITBULL
DJ GOT US FALLIN’ IN LOVE
SME
7
5
9
5 13 24 46 FLO RIDA FT. DAVID GUETTA
CLUB CAN’T HANDLE ME
ATL/WMA
8 14 26 54 LADY GAGA
DANCE IN THE DARK
INT/UMA
4
8 10 4
IF IT’S LOVE
SME
10 4 12 1 18 43 81 UNCLE KRACKER
9
6 12 5 17 44 68 TRAIN
SMILE
ATL/WMA
11 13 8
LOVE THE FALL
SME A&M/UMA
7 13 29 61 MICHAEL PAYNTER
Artist-run Two Bright Lakes pacted Collarbones, an electronic project between Adelaide’s Travis Cook (Cyst Impaled) and Sydney’s Marcus Whale (Scissor Lock), who formed over the internet after circulating their songs on blogs.
12 14 8 12 14 35 59 MAROON 5
MISERY
13 47 2 13 11 24 44 GOOD CHARLOTTE
LIKE IT’S HER BIRTHDAY
VIR/EMI
14 12 16 2 18 43 71 SCOUTING FOR GIRLS
THIS AIN’T A LOVE SONG
SME
TRIPP CLOSING SHOP After 40 years in the music business, Phil Tripp has made good his promise to retire this year. The 45th edition of his music directory, out September 1, will be his last. Three different companies are negotiating to buy it, while his themusic.com.au site is also being sold. The Immedia! office will be sold next month and he is relocating to Coffs Harbour where he continues to be the Oz rep for SXSW.
MONDAY LAUNCHES SUNDAY SESSIONS Monday Records will from September 5 start a free Sunday afternoon session at the Sly Fox Hotel, 199 Enmore Rd, Enmore. It will feature bands, poetry readings, a DJ, and a merch stand - where local zine authors and other writers and artists can sell their wares. To get involved, email radi@mondayrecords.com.
3D FAIT Sydney filmmaker Vashti Rosenberg is not revealing too much about the making of Fait Accompli’s 3D clip for their next single ‘Blue Eyes’.... “Yes, ‘Avatar’ was inspirational 3D,” he tells us. “What’s appealing is the way 3D still has such an old school, B-Grade horror film connotation to it.”
15 9 14 6 11 28 43 TRAVIE MCCOY FT. BRUNO MARS
BILLIONAIRE
ATL/WMA
16 18 6 16 12 22 43 THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS
CLOSER TO THE EDGE
VIR/EMI
17 20 3 17 12 27 59 THE SCRIPT
FOR THE FIRST TIME
SME
18 19 7 18 10 31 50 NICKELBACK
THIS AFTERNOON
RR/WMA
19 NEW 1 19 16 30 74 TAYLOR SWIFT
MINE
BIG/UMA
20 32 7 20 15 23 46 BIRDS OF TOKYO
PLANS
CAP/EMI
ED KOWALCZYK
GRACE
SME
21 16 6
16 11 27 48
GYROSCOPE
BABY, I’M GETTING BETTER
UMA
23 15 15 1
15 29 53
KATY PERRY FT. SNOOP DOGG
CALIFORNIA GURLS
CAP/EMI
24 22 24 6
18 46 59
JET
SEVENTEEN
VIR/EMI
25 28 28 7
17 42 54
LIFEHOUSE
HALFWAY GONE
GEF/UMA
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
REVOLUTION
JAR/MGM
22
17
13 12 15 31 57
26 24 10 18 12 37 57 27 25 27 1 28 21 5
18 49 61
21 13 25 57
29 27 25 6
18 43 68
30 33 4
30 11 25 50
31 51 3
31 11 23 51
TRAIN
HEY, SOUL SISTER
SME
VANESSA AMOROSI
HOLIDAY
UMA
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
CLOSE TO YOU
JAR/MGM
THE POTBELLEEZ
HELLO
VICIOUS/UMA
KE$HA
TAKE IT OFF
SME
32 34 18 6
12 26 52
KE$HA
YOUR LOVE IS MY DRUG
SME
33 29 17 3
15 28 46
TAIO CRUZ
BREAK YOUR HEART
ISL/UMA
34 31 18 11 14 28 54
AMY MEREDITH
LYING
SME
35 37 16 2
B.O.B FT. HAYLEY WILLIAMS
AIRPLANES
ATL/WMA
BRANDON FLOWERS
CROSSFIRE
ISL/UMA
DAVID GUETTA & CHRIS WILLIS FT. FERGIE & LMFAO
GETTIN’ OVER YOU
VIR/EMI
THIRSTY MERC
MOUSETRAP HEART
MUSH/WMA
36 23 9
12 24 50
23 15 32 53
37 39 18 4
12 27 46
38 30 15 11 14 44 69 39 36 18 14 14 34 49
PARAMORE
THE ONLY EXCEPTION
ATL/WMA
40 41 21 4
VANESSA AMOROSI FT. SEANY B
MR. MYSTERIOUS
UMA
14 44 70
A CAN N I L L O the ic capsule CK Nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; R
yn wa sturdy d can thro 100% RliO body and or your Roadie st a -c ie d u d yo am
t
ck so abuse With a ro can take all the age or neglect. f 1 o M ance, s E n RĂ&#x2DC;D g sig perform ut showin h quality nty*, you ig h le it, witho b a r reli warra 1 to offe lifetime on the M gig. And with a ly re n a c after You me. r day, gig ars to co day afte re for ye e th e b l ydney il andale, S know it w t The Ann king the
ollide roc
C Children
*Lifetime warranty subject to online registration at rodemic.com within one (1) month from the date of purchase. For full terms and conditions please visit rodemic.com
M1 a
rodemic.com/M1
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 21
Moving Forward By Jonno Seidler
J
ohnny Mackay has been lying to me. Five years ago, when the electric frontman of Children Collide had only two EPs to his name, he announced to this very publication (and author), “If we’re still going in five years, we won’t sound a thing like we do now.” As it turns out, some of the material for Children Collide’s sophomore record, Theory Of Everything, harks back to the Very Early Days of the band. Which means someone’s been telling porkies… “It’s funny that I would say that,” muses Mackay. “We’ve turned into this very non-linear band when it comes to treatment of time and songs. I’m pretty much always plagiarising myself!” But Johnny offers me a concession; “I knew I was going to be lying, but I also knew it would give me something to talk about. I didn’t inhale, that’s all I want to say…” If it sounds like Mackay is full of it, their latest video clip for triple j-feted single ‘Jellylegs’ has proven otherwise. For the uninitiated, the somewhat unnerving footage involves Johnny getting a laryngoscopy. In layman’s terms, he stood for eight minutes (or two runs of the song) with a camera tube down his throat. And apparently, there was nothing peculiar to be found; “Luckily I’ve got a clean bill of health on my larynx - but I did come out feeling like I’d been invaded.” It is suggested to Mackay that he use future video clips to further
supplement free medical treatment; third single, colonoscopy, fifth single, MRI, that sort of thing. “They should definitely start getting more surgical procedures into music videos,” says an understandably wary Mackay. “It’s a great way to get inside the band.” Speaking of getting inside things, the shot above of Children Collide has the trio mucking about with what seems to be a stuffed kangaroo. Clearly that’s symbolic of something, right? “We thought we were going to be riding the kangaroo. Nobody told us it had been to the taxidermist’s. Thanks a lot, Bindi!” As it turns out, there is method to Mackay’s madness; “Well, kangaroos are one of only two animals in the world that can’t walk backwards,” he explains, “So it’s really about moving forward. We kind of inspired Julia Gillard’s entire campaign.” So there you have it: Theory Of Everything, via some stuffed local fauna, is actually all about Australia; “not in a Cronulla sort of way,” Johnny clarifies. “Perhaps more generally.” It’s at this point that he safely announces, “We’re all about Melbourne bush. That’s actually the precise genre of music that we play.” Those wailing ‘90s guitars, pounding punk drums and limber basslines that characterise Children Collide’s sound were just crying out for this form of classification. As the band gets tighter and the songs get stronger, the alt-bush stylings of the trio become more apparent. Now that Theory Of Everything is in the bag and Mackay has returned from recording
“Westinghouse and I have been working on air-conditioned pants for some time. There’s little units in each leg of your jeans, which keeps you firmly planted on the ground...”
with legendary producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith) in L.A., he’s got a lot of time on his hands. To stave off the boredom, Johnny spends his days in Melbourne creating all kinds of bizarre things that are necessary to a rock musician’s survival in this harshest of climes. He’s already locked down a number of different patents, so many indeed that he he tells me he actually created Children Collide as a secondary name to put on the documents. Among these varied inventions are, allegedly, air-conditioned pants, designed during the Big Day Out heatwave of 2009. “Westinghouse and I have been working on this collaboration for some time. There’s little units in each leg of your jeans, which keeps you firmly planted on the ground.” Add that to the new musical genre, medicalinformative music vids and Johnny’s unique strategy for passing out on planes (“Eye mask, ear plugs, hoodie and half a sleeping tablet”) and you’ve got one busy front man. But new fans of the band have only recently discovered by far the best thing Mackay has invented. “I keep getting people asking me about the effects on the guitar,” he laughs, “but it’s just distortion, and I’m playing fast! People might say I discovered it, but we don’t have to brag about it...” Theory Of Everything marks the culmination of a new chapter in Children Collide’s career Johnny has minor freakouts when he realises that fans may actually know some of the new material before they get to play it live. As their sound becomes more cohesive and moves out of the apartment (where they used to record everything) and into proper studios, Children Collide are starting to appear like the popular rock band they were almost certain they’d never ever become. For the first time in the interview, Johnny doesn’t lie; “It’s all new territory to me, because up until about a year and a half ago, almost all of our songs felt
kind-of unknown,” he says. “Sometimes people even sing along to our songs now!” Naturally that will have changed if we haven’t done some Moving Forward by the time this piece goes to print; which is why Johnny’s got some contingency plans, including putting his stuffed kangaroo on wheels so it can finally move backwards. He’s even asking at what point in the album interviewers get bored and turn it off, so that he can get back in touch with the people. “’Future Monks’ is one of my favourite tracks, but that’s at the beginning,” he laughs. “My attention span isn’t that great, either.” They may be more layered and widescreen, but one thing’s assured with Children Collide: their tracks will always be punchy and to the point, even if they aren’t as mind-bendingly fast as they used to be. But despite gearing up for a nation full of easily distracted kids, Mackay maintains that if he had it his way, “I’d love to record an album that’s just one, forty-five minute song. It’d be pretty funny for the guy who takes it to radio to have to go into Nova... We could do an acoustic version of the forty-five minute song just for them.” As it turns out, Nova has some sort of fifty-minute ad-free deal going at the moment anyway, which can now be entirely full of Children Collide. Clearly the master of patents is at it again... But don’t believe Johnny Mackay. He’s just a filthy liar. Who: Children Collide What: Theory Of Everything is out on August 27, through Universal Where: The Metro Theatre When: Friday September 17 More: Fat As Butter 2010 w/ Wolfmother, Ice Cube, Bliss N Eso and more...
“Ordinary Joe, goes by the name of Mark, better known to most as M-Phazes” SOLO – M-PHAZES 22 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 23
TeenagersInTokyo The Next Chapter By Alex Young
A
fter the release of their celebrated self-titled debut EP back in 2008, Sydney indie-dance five-piece TeenagersInTokyo headed off on a three week tour of the United Kingdom – and had signed to London’s Backyard Records by the time they returned home. They quit their day jobs in radio soon after, said farewell to Sydney, and by May 2009 were back in London indefinitely. The group’s lead vocalist, Samantha Lim, recalls the bizarre experience of her transcontinental relocation. “At first it was totally difficult, because you leave so much behind – I’ve only ever lived in Sydney for my whole life; you’ve got your family and your friends and so many years of experience and history. And then suddenly you have to pack up and go to a new place where you don’t know many people, and you don’t know where your favourite coffee shop is, or where to go to get a good pair of shoes.” Of course there are difficulties inherent in packing up and jumping ship, but the Teens have been enjoying one hell of a ride since
the move. They opened Brighton’s coveted Great Escape showcase, have received unanimous support from British radio and, most recently, had their track ‘Peter Pan’ remixed by indie gods The Horrors. Opportunities have come thick and fast; something Lim simply puts down to the population size and culture in the UK. “There are a lot more people here… It’s been a while since we played in Australia, but after a while it just seemed like people knew who you were - it didn’t seem like there were many people discovering you as [there are] over here.” Nearly a year on from their last Australian performance, Lim enquires about the current scene in Sydney, admitting her last months in the city were quiet due to lack of “fun things to do”. She notes that the attitude of English punters has definitely been the most significant difference: “It seems like people [in England] are more willing to take a chance on a band that maybe they just read about, or they happen to just be at their local pub and decide to check it out… It’s the same in Europe, people just happen to turn up to the show because they know the venue or the club night – they trust the taste of the promoters.” After months of gathering new fans, constant gigging around London and a European tour, the band set off into the Welsh countryside to record their debut album, Sacrifice. Amongst the rolling mountains and a nearby airport base (which contributed to some “weird noises”), the housemeets-studio saw the group secluded from the outside world, to fill simple days with meals, frisbee, and recording - an environment Lim remembers as relaxing. “It was really nice being disconnected from having to worry about day to day things like going grocery shopping or go to work. It was really good to have that separation.” Securing the services of David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Gossip) was a coup for the band. “He has just got such an amazing ear for sound, and really refining people’s ideas”, Lim praises. Furthermore, where control and process might sometimes be lost with a big-name producer, Kosten supported an organic process, sitting down with the group from the beginning to run through their demos and talk through their ideas. “It was not like he comes in and is like, ‘this is what you need to do to sound like this’,” Lim recalls. “When you have a producer you do want someone who recognises they are not a person in the band, but [still] has a position rather than being like ‘I’m the producer. I’m going to do it like that’.”
“People in England are more willing to take a chance on a band that maybe they just read about... It’s the same in Europe - people trust the taste of the promoters.”
ALBUM LAUNCH TOUR
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND THE EXCELSIOR HOTEL, SURRY HILLS w/ Cameras and special guests Tickets from the venue
RUNNING RED LIGHTS OUT NOW via iTunes & Red Eye Records 24 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
The result of this relationship is Sacrifice – a crawling album packed with heavy bass grooves, sparkling synth and sharp guitar solos. Dark melodies referencing everyone from Joy Division to Siouxsie & The Banshees belie the sometimesdreamy, sometimes-confronting vocals of Lim; but despite its moody atmosphere, Sacrifice has an innate dance-ability (albeit unintentionally). Lim attributes this to the group’s love of pop music. “One of the most important things to us is to be able to write a really great melody, or a lyric or story that people can really respond to.” This approach to their songwriting is most evident in the album’s title track and opener – which was actually the final song they added. The track was created in its entirety in the studio, and Lim says it ultimately tied the album together. “I think that it does sort of say a lot about that experience, us moving over here and recording the album, and having to literally sacrifice quite a lot to get here and do this.” And so the album was born: but as Lim explains, not always from stark places as the name might suggest. “What we liked about it was that ‘sacrifice’ isn’t always necessarily a dark kind of thing - it can be really something beautiful. You choose to sacrifice something, to make a commitment, or to make something else - for example, coming over here to make this project work. It can be a beautiful thing as well.”
Who: TeenagersInTokyo What: Sacrifice is out now through Stomp
Agoria An Eclectic Equilibrium By Chris Honnery
F
renchman Sebastien Devaud has a well-deserved reputation as one of the more innovative individuals in the electronic music sphere. As Agoria, he is highly respected by dance aficionados, with a multi-faceted musical sensibility that is encapsulated on his latest mix, Balance 16 - his third compilation after previous outings Cute And Cult and At The Controls. “It really goes further,” Devaud says through his thick French accent. He positions the new compilation as an expansion of his earlier releases. “Every time I make something, I try to do something different, something that represents all of my taste. I tried to put all the music that I love on this mix CD.” Balance 16 ranks as one of the most eclectic and ambitious mixes in recent memory. Spanning a concoction of classical, ambient, techno and house tracks from artists like The Field, LCD Soundsystem, Vladislav Delay and even a ‘70s cut from Greek prog-rock outfit Aphrodite’s Child, Devaud used the ‘Balance’ title as inspiration to construct a double-CD mix based around the concept of equilibrium. “You can’t appreciate it [by] comparing it to other DJ mix CDs. It’s not a DJ mix, it’s more a song installation,” Devaud elucidates; and it’s the sort of poetic turn of phrase one would expect from a French impresario. “It’s good to have a concept in mind, because in the end it gives you more freedom.
the ‘quantity over quality’ approach of many other dance labels, asserting that too often it becomes “not about art, but consumption”. InFiné has cultivated a reputation as a subversive and daring imprint, and this is epitomized by the label’s imminent release from Lebanese singer Bachar Mar-Khalifé. “We always try to release something special… There are so many good labels releasing ‘DJ food’ every week that I don’t see the point of me doing the same thing,” Devaud avows, coining a wonderful new phrase for a generic club track in the process. “We are into signing all kinds of things. If you asked me five months ago I would have said it’s not pleasurable for your ears to hear someone singing in Lebanese, but it’s a fantastic album. I don’t care if it’s slow or classical or progressive or house – it’s all music we’re going to sign.” Who: Agoria With: Superflu When: Saturday September 4 Where: Plantation Bar
“I was really mathematic with each disc,” he continues, “starting and finishing with the same track - and the middle is really the climax. It’s like going to the top of the mountain and then going down - the concept of symmetry. Selecting the tracks to do this was a bit like a puzzle, a rubix cube, but it really was quite exciting to make it like this and not just do a ‘classic’ DJ mix… It’s good to do something to excite yourself.”
“I was really mathematic with each disc, starting and finishing with the same track - and the middle is really the climax. It’s like going to the top of the mountain and then going down - the concept of symmetry.” Devaud has been experimenting in all manner of different realms of late, including scoring his first soundtrack, for the Luc Bessonproduced action flick Go Fast. “You have to forget everything you know about making music when you’re working on a soundtrack,” he asserts. “The music has to be behind the story, it can’t be too present. In the beginning it was difficult, I was going too musical, trying to show too much. Sometime a few notes are more relevant than a big orchestration. That’s what I learned with this; to forget about me and focus on the story.” When pressed, Devaud – himself a former film school student – admits that Go Fast “is not exactly a movie I would watch myself because it’s a bit too commercial”. But he’s overwhelmingly positive when discussing the experience, and states that he wishes to do more soundtrack work in the future. For now though, Agoria’s priority is working on his third artist album, a follow-up to 2006’s The Green Armchair. “It’s going to be really eclectic. I can’t do a concept album with just one sound, one approach. I’m someone who always tries to do different kinds of music because this is what I love. I have to finish recording the album in September. I’m glad the French team did really bad at the World Cup; it meant I spent less time in the bars and more time in the studio!” Devaud also reveals details of a forthcoming high profile collaboration, which may or may not feature on the album but will be released as a single around October... “It is called ‘Speechless’ and it’s a track with the vocals of Carl Craig,” he divulges. “We played together last year and were speaking about music …I asked Carl if he’d like to sing on a track. He was like ‘yeah’, so I sent it to him and he did the vocals. It’s going to be cool.” It’s no surprise that Devaud’s bold sonic ethos as a DJ and producer is also paralleled by his approach to managing his record label, InFiné. He describes the label as a counterpoint to BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 25
Horrorshow Up Close & Personal By Mikey Carr
W
ith a slew of achievements buckled under their belts since their 2008 debut The Grey Space, Horrorshow have proved one of the most promising and successful hip hop acts to emerge from Sydney in the past few years. And they’ve gotten even stronger with their follow up, Inside Story; the improved production and matured lyricism led to a headline tour that sold out The Factory Theatre twice, and built the pair an even larger fanbase. What lies at the heart of their success is the deeply personal connection their music makes with their fans. While most hip-hop acts present an impenetrable image of confidence and bravado, Horrorshow embrace a much rarer vulnerability and openness; MC Solo’s lyrics often paint the picture of an imperfect and fractured individual, at the mercy of his own emotions as much as he is in control of them. The music holds
a depth of character that sets Horrorshow apart from the countless two dimensional artists out there, often more worried about putting out a cool and collected image than communicating honestly with their audience. It’s a personal connection manifest in the live shows of Horrorshow; if you’ve ever been to a gig, you will have seen how dedicated and involved the fans are. But according to Solo, it’s a connection that extends far beyond getting a bit passionate in the mosh pit. “I’ve had some intense experiences on this last tour,” Solo explains to me. “I had a couple down in Victoria who came to speak to me at the merch desk after the show. They basically told me they’d been together for a number of years and had this horrible break up, but they decided to go to the Horrorshow gig together, to try to be peaceful and have a good time with each other. So it’s the end of the night and they’re telling me this story, and they’ve come back together, and I don’t know - I almost felt like a therapist or something, you know?” While the occasional role of counselor might not be the most comfortable position for Solo, he nonetheless recognises the privilege offered to him. To be able to have such an impact on people and their lives purely through his music and creativity is something he’s quite proud of, despite how unnerving it can be. “That kind of shit is pretty to crazy to deal with. On one level, all you really did was sit in your room and write a song about something that happened to you,” he confesses, “but I think that’s kind of the whole point of being a musician. It doesn’t really freak me out or anything, I understand why it happens and I understand that process ‘cause I’ve had that relationship with so much music. But it’s kind of a strange feeling to be put in a situation like that.”
“They get to listen to beats and rhymes on the one hand, and on the other hand they get to cry over their girlfriend who just dumped them... It’s not something that really happens all the time in rap music.” Solo is unsure and unwilling to put a label on what it is about his music that engenders such a strong response. But when we talk more specifically about the sheer amount of couples or heartbroken singles that approach him at shows, it becomes apparent that it’s Solo’s gift at pulling on the heartstrings that’s responsible for a lot of the connection between the band and their audience. “It’s part of the danger of going anywhere near the topic of love,” he tells me with a self-reflexive laugh. Having been unfairly labeled as emop in the past (a mix of emo and hip-hop, if you’re a bit confused), Horrorshow undoubtedly let emotion play a large role in their music. But unlike a lot of the facile emo bands out there, they explore it with depth and honesty. “I mean, these guys love the shit out of hip hop, and particularly out of Australian hip hop,” Solo explains of his fans, “and when they come across artists like us there’s a bit more emotion to it. So they get a bit of the best of both worlds; they get to listen to beats and rhymes on the one hand, and on the other hand they get to cry over their girlfriend who just dumped them, you know what I mean? Which I guess kind of makes sense when you think about me and [DJ] Adit, and what we’re like.”
NEW ALBUM OUT NOW
OUT NOW
TOURING THIS SEPTEMBER THU 2 – ENMORE THEATRE, SYD klaxons.net 26 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
www.washingtonmusic.com.aumodularpeople.com
Not happy to just string a few sappy images together like some sort of Hallmark-meets-DefJam musical abortion, Horrorshow never gloss over difficult feelings or situations. And this is what makes the music so genuine; because like life, it’s complex. At a time when it’s hard to walk down the street without being bombarded by manufactured emotion, it’s great to hear something that rings true to the heart. “It’s not something that really happens all the time in rap music,” Solo says, “but I think that’s part of the reason why the songs we have that go down that path have resonated so much with these kids.” Who: Horrorshow What: Inside Story is out now on Elefant Traks With: Seth Sentry Where: The Gaelic Theatre When: Friday September 3
Feel Presents
“I’ve been a fan of Low for a long time. That whole spook element. Monkey is such a great song - I don’t think I could write anything half as good as that”. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
Friday 22nd October The Factory Theatre TICKETS ON SALE FROM WWW.FEELPRESENTS.COM
M E L B O U R N E L AU N C H
SY D N E Y L AU N C H
S AT U R DAY 2 1 AU G U S T T H E TO F F, M E LB O U R N E
F R I DAY 27 T H AU G U S T T H E VA N G UA R D , SY D N E Y
TICK ETS @ MOS HTI X: W W W.MOS HTI X.C OM.AU OR 1300 (G ET TIX) 438 849 (S E LLI NG FAST)
TICK ETS @ TH E VANG UAR D: W W W.TH EVANG UAR D.C OM.AU OR 02 9 020 6 9 59
ST
W I N T E R
E P
L A U N C H
NG T H I N K IY O U ABOUT / PA CE .C O M W W W.M YS AN D BI G SC AR YB
WWW.BIGSCARY.NET WWW.MYSPACE.COM/BIGSCARYBAND
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 27
Autolux Spaced Out By Luke Telford
T
he phone rings. A crackly connection sparks up. A tired voice greets me from the end of the line. “Uh… Hi Carla?” “… yeah?” she croaks. For some reason it’s 1.30am in LA, and not mid-morning like we were both told it would be. Percussionist Carla Azar has just returned from an intensive rehearsal with her band Autolux, and she’s pretty knackered. She casts aside the mistake with a disarming laugh, seeming genuinely unfazed and keen for a chat. Autolux have been rehearsing for the first of many shows in support of their impressive sophomore release, Transit Transit. The record has been six years in the making – not unheard of in the music industry of old, but pretty unusual for a group that was once sought after by the likes of Thom Yorke and PJ Harvey. The sublime shoegaze allusions of their debut have been muted this time around, transposed into inviting, spacious arrangements that seem both foreign and comforting. The band now favour measured melodies and chord changes, tempered by a vaster sound palette; still very much headspace pop, but now more inventive and lush.
According to Azar, the delay between releases was a direct consequence of bloated record company indifference. “Our first record was six years ago. After touring on that record we immediately started working on Transit Transit,” she explains. The catch was that they were still signed to DMZ, a subsidiary of Columbia Records founded by famed musician and producer T-Bone Burnett. When Burnett moved on from the label, Autolux found themselves in an unfortunate type of purgatory… “[Sony/Columbia] didn’t renew his contract, and we were stuck on the label because our deal was sorted with Burnett but through them, because they had the money. So we were there for year and a half with no one doing anything. They wouldn’t give us money to record, and they wouldn’t drop us. It was hell, actually.” Having experienced the pointy end of the recording industry, Azar is pragmatic about the future of music as we know it. “I think all music is going to be free, unless you go to a club and actually see the band,” Carla laughs. She thinks it was the major labels who shot themselves in the proverbial foot. “They didn’t want to jump on board with progress and the modern way things were going. You can start building followings through the internet now; I do think that artists are going to take more on themselves and be more responsible for certain things, and not let a label have so much power, and own them.” After being asked by The Flaming Lips to play 2009’s All Tomorrow’s Parties, Autolux inked new deals with tbd records and ATP Recordings. The album is finally with the world. Are Autolux relieved? “So relieved,” Carla sighs. “I think we needed to get that out; it was a hard record to make. We had to grow individually, and we had to get this record out in order to move to the next thing, which is what we’re doing now. We’re writing, looking ahead.” A promising perspective from musicians who’ve just emerged from major label limbo - it’s not an environment particularly conducive to nurturing the creative spark. Which makes you wonder how the band kept the songs fresh for so long... “There’s no real system,” Carla says. “Some of the songs come from us experimenting, playing together in a room. We record everything, and we’ll fall into some sort of hypnosis. The next day we might come in and find the best bits. “We don’t sit down and write a song on an acoustic guitar,” she continues. “We have all these sonic ideas and production ideas first. Pretty much once the foundation of a mood is created, instantly our mind goes to production. We start hearing harmonies here; it’s not even based on the song.”
“We were stuck on Columbia Records for a year and a half with no one doing anything. They wouldn’t give us money to record, and they wouldn’t drop us. It was hell, actually.” While an excellent way of capturing those elusive genius moments, this method of writing tends to spool out of control, especially if indulged over a six year period. “The hard part is refining all that stuff and really making it great… We have all these big sounds pushing against each other. They’re not always simple chords, but we hear melodies, they find themselves out of the weird dissonance.” A time-consuming mode of work compounded by the fact that the band chose to self-produce Transit Transit. “Production is something that is sort of married to the songwriting, with us,” Carla says. “T-Bone Burnett worked with us on the first record, but we were very much hands on [this time]. The sounds all came from our direction, pretty much.” There’s a painterly sense of space amongst the dense production and alien-pop phrasings; a kind of order that Azar reckons comes from beyond the bands musical interests. “I really like Jean Michel Basquiat. He’s one of my favourite painters,” she says. “I got turned on to him before I was a drummer. I always thought the way he painted was very rhythmic and quick and simple and very childlike, and it was always something -” she pauses... “I like music that’s very simple, but the more you look at it - the more you dive in and get in there - you realise how complex it is. I like to operate with a lot of space.” Who: Autolux What: Transit Transit is out now through ATP Records 28 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Miami Horror Plant Branches Out By Leigh Salter
B
Photo by Elvina-Mae
enjamin Plant’s sideline in production and continual on-point remixes (Faker, Midnight Juggernauts, Stardust) have pushed the Melbourne-based artist’s profile pretty much up to ‘guaranteed hit-mix go-to guy’. Yet in this fickle music world the 22-year-old has been careful to stay one step ahead of the fads, and took his sweet time building up his own canon of songs before choosing that all-important Right Moment to unleash Miami Horror: The Band - and their debut album, Illumination. The timing meant that Plant was a club-compilation fixture attracting interest from overseas even before his monster singles (‘Don’t Be On With Her’ and ‘Sometimes’) dropped. The plan of attack seems to have worked perfectly. Led Zeppelin’s vocalist might be a curious place to begin this feature, but it turns out that Ben’s curious name-sake Robert Plant falls within the realm of surprising influences for Miami Horror. “I do appreciate the ‘Plant, and Led Zeppelin, it’s true… Most of my tastes are prog-rock, or proganything, really,” he laughs. “Actually, the Plant side of my family have this gene that makes everybody turn out exactly the same… and much like Robert Plant, the men in my family don’t age well at all.”
length release. “Some stuff has been hanging around for about six years, waiting for [the album],” Ben says. “I think a lot has been made of how long this has taken to finish, but over half of it was written in the last 12 months or so.” With the album finally out, all that’s left for Miami Horror to do is just keep riding that wave. The band is heading off to the US this week, before coming back for some Summer festivals. “It’s kind of a catch up at this stage, because although the album’s still new, I’m already into a bunch of different stuff,” Ben says. He ponders that idea quietly, before adding, “I’m interested in touring the band internationally quite a bit, because I think we have a lot of overseas influences. I purposely didn’t want us to sound too Australian, but rather something else that I won’t name…” he cackles mysteriously. “It was a case of if it doesn’t work here, then maybe we would be big in Europe - or at least be able to tour there, if it stiffs in Australia,” he laughs. Who: Miami Horror What: Illumination is out now through EMI
With his Miami Horror project so far having produced naught but blistering electro-rock anthems, just what is Ben hearing in these bighaired dinosaurs that the rest of us aren’t? “I like that those bands never had conventional song structures,” he reasons. “They always had these big elaborate parts that would only occur one time, and then you’d have a second and a third completely different build-up. They never repeated themselves in their songs.”
“The music was so programmed on my Bravado EP; it just seemed really retarded to try and play like that as a live band. So when it came to recording this album, we decided to write it in a way that would suit a band more.” Talk of prog bands and unlikely links to techno turns to German rave act Scooter, and his abhorrent cover of Supertramp’s ‘Logical Song’. As Ben reveals, Miami Horror covered the song too – for triple j’s Like A Version. “I was against the idea at first because of Scooter’s version,” he chuckles. “I felt it was kind spoiled for good. But in the end we just tried to keep it nice and simple… and nothing like Scooter.” Don’t expect Miami Horror’s Supertramp homage to pop up in their live set though – instead they’ve opted for the Manfred Mann classic ‘Blinded By The Light’. “I think my voice is better suited to that one; and besides there’s just something magical about it.” After discussing Miami Horror’s blinding live sets around festivals last year, Ben describes how his studio creations needed a big re-jig for a full band if the songs were going to work in concert. “The music was so programmed on my EP (Bravado); it just seemed really retarded to try and play like that as a live band. So when it came to recording this album, we decided to write in a way that would suit a band more. It just wouldn’t have made sense to do it any other way,” he explains. The development of the band itself came about following a couple of fundamental collaborations. Josh Moriarty wrote ‘Don’t Be On With Her’, and Dan Whitechurch wrote the lyrics for ‘Sometimes’; the former is now the guitarist for the band, and the latter plays keys. “I basically went from doing DJ sets in bad clubs to writing with those guys, finally getting a full-time drummer and in the process becoming an actual band. It’s very much a collaborative effort all the way now,” Ben says. In fact most of the lyrics on Illumination were written by the rest of the band; Ben’s been stuck in the studio. “Literally for like twelve hours a day over the last year I’ve been in the studio, and when I’m not doing that, we’re touring,” he laughs, “so I didn’t exactly have a lot to say, I guess. I wasn’t so much as reading a book during the time.” Miami Horror’s name has been bandied around for the best part of three years. Tours with Lily Allen and festival billings at Splendour, Groovin’ The Moo and Good Vibrations landed at Ben’s feet, after some early top-rated remixes including Faker’s ‘This Heart Attack’ and Tegan and Sara’s ‘Walking With A Ghost’. All of that without a fullBRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 29
Dead Letter Circus The Warning By Mike Gee
B
risbane’s Dead Letter Circus’ debut album was one huge and welcome surprise for the Australian alt rock scene. Mature, visionary, complex and emotional; big but not overblown. This is The Warning was an epic journey that represented the coming of age for four Queenslanders who’ve been at it for five years since evolving from the band Ochre way back in 2005. Five years is about right, too. Instead of rushing out some immature bunch of soundalike emo-rock or pop they took their time. Mick Thomas from the near legendary Weddings Parties Anything once told me he reckoned bands shouldn’t be allowed to sign a label deal until they’re at least three years old. Dead Letter Circus have done what WPA and thousands of bands before them did - played the pubs and clubs up and down and around the country for years. They gelled as a band, found their feet as musicians and songwriters, and had a sound of their own to deliver on their debut. And that’s what Dead Letter Circus has - a sound of its own. Sure there are elements of others; think Muse colliding with Gabriel-era Genesis, Tool, Pearl Jam, U2, Mars Volta, and even Pink Floyd. This Is The Warning offers up a vastness of ebb and flow and contrasts; light and dark colliding in a
war of words and riffs. It’s an Australian album unlike any other. Singer Kim Benzie tells me it has all come from sweat, tears, dedication and attention to detail. He grew up listening to his parents’ Pink Floyd - he name-checks the psychedelic masterpiece Ummagumma, and King Crimson records. The first tape his mum gave him was by Supertramp, and he credits other bands as a major influence too. “I actually come from a heavy background - Sepultura, Pantera…”, Benzie says. “Rob [Maric, guitarist] comes from a Fleetwood Mac, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden background. The area where our tastes crossed over was grunge. That was the middle ground. We’re talking good, cohesive music that flows. “We like to write good, serious music. I think Tool probably wrote the best heavy rock ever, Ænima; but Karnivool are my favourite rock band. I like the stories they tell. Then Muse, Mars Volta... Cog is the first Australian band I heard and I was like ‘holy shit’. I was in another band that’d broken up and I was about to give music away, and they changed my mind completely. Their music is so full of passion.” Benzie’s so excited by it all that he’s already
got the second album gelling in his brain. And, he tells me, it’s going to be epic. “Massive,” he says. “That sound - we know what we want now. We weren’t sure about what we were doing before, and now we are. We know what Dead Letter Circus is. As we made this record, I was hanging to do more progressive songs like ‘The Design’, and the title track. I love that.” So from a stuttering start which nearly didn’t happen to an interrupted conception (mostly because, as Benzie says, “we took every gig we could”), Dead Letter Circus grew out
of its youthful exuberance and found in its nascent maturity a sound, a vision and a record company that let them grow, and didn’t interfere. This album really is a warning of what may well be the most potent - and interesting Australian rock band in a quite a while. Who: Dead Letter Circus What: This Is The Warning is out now Where: The Metro Theatre When: Friday September 3
The Shake-Up Have No Shame By Denis Semchenko
S
ince 2007, Sydney punk-rockers The Shake Up have been slogging around the country, building a national fanbase in support of bands like Birds Of Tokyo, Rocket Science and The Fratellis. In July this year, they dropped their debut release – twelve loud and catchy tracks produced by Jim Diamond (The White Stripes) and mixed by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinonsaur Jr). We caught up with The Shake Up’s drummer Tim Browning, on the eve of their album launch gig... How long did it take you to record ...If You Have No Shame? We spent a week recording with Jim Diamond in Sydney, squeezing in a horn section, guest vocals from The Punisherz and a gang chorus. We then spent 10 days mixing with John Agnello in Hoboken, New Jersey. How did Jim Diamond and John Agnello get onboard for the recording? Jim really liked some demos we’d done and offered to work on our album, so we flew him over! We sent the rough mixes to John, who had just finished producing The Hold Steady. After mixing our record, John went straight back to work producing the latest albums from Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr! You’ve been together for some time now but the album’s only just come out – you must have been gigging pretty hard! Correct! We’ve done two national tours over the past year, to launch singles from the album. We’ve gradually worked up to this release, and we’ve gotten a lot of mileage out the material in the process. Can you tell us a little bit about The Shake Up’s songwriting dynamic? Miles [Selwyn, singer/guitarist] gets passionate about something, writes some words and guitar parts, then Ben [Caruana, bassist] and I help him flesh it out into a song.
Was there a story behind the song ‘Crawling All Around’? That’s a reaction to the Howard government’s last couple of years, in particular the media strategies they employed to push their conservative policies – extravagant advertising budgets and scaremongering through tabloid news. Who came up with the idea for the megasaucy ‘Everybody Loves It’ film clip? That was Tony Davison – he directed that and our ‘Makes Me Sick’ clip, which featured a cross-dressing carnie and vomiting chavs… He’s directing our next clip for ‘Every Friday Night’, which will be another kettle of fish altogether! ‘Every Friday Night’ is a great power-pop song! How did it come about? Miles lived across the road from a couple who fought loudly every weekend, so he’s pondering the nature of these arguments from a neighbour’s perspective…
6s & 7s
What are your main musical and artistic influences as a band? We really dig bands with vibrancy, a great sense of melody, a strong interplay between the musicians and a story to tell - The Stooges, The Clash and Supergrass, to name a few.
opular Perth musician Josh Fontaine knows all about being in a band. While 6’s & 7’s – the brainchild of Fontaine, and the moniker which he currently adopts – have only just released their debut Choose The Sentinel Blooze, Fontaine was a key figure in one of Perth’s other loved acts, The Stickfigures. After several years without releasing a recording, the band stunned their devoted local fans by announcing their split. A plain and simple example that sometimes, things just do not work.
The Shake Up have toured with the some pretty huge acts. Which was the most fun for you guys? It’s pretty hard to top the response we got from The Fratellis’ fans at the sold-out Hi-Fi show in Melbourne! And finally, what’s next for you guys? After this month’s shows, we’re announcing a full-scale tour of Australia and New Zealand, through October and November. Our first overseas shows! Who: The Shake Up What: …If You Have No Shame is out now through Nomorecords/MGM Where: Teenage Kicks @ The World Bar, Kings Cross When: Thursday August 26
Getting It Right By Alex Young
P
Fontaine muses on that period of his life. “We had several aborted attempts at recording, but I guess I was a little bit of a perfectionist, and perhaps still am… It didn’t sound like what I was listening to. I do regret that now.” While the energetic-pop-song writer can admit his shortcomings and recognise the errors of the past, the development of 6s & 7s has meant that it has all worked out for the best. “Either I’ve developed more skills to do it, or a better vision, or just determination to get it right… That’s my outlook,” he says. “I’m not being blindly optimistic, but my choices are to either be pissed off about the past, or to think ‘I can do it right this time’ - and move on to do all the other things I have been doing, and look to the future.” Those ‘other things’ have included a number of years performing solo, opening for acts like Perth favourites The Panics and winning a WAMi award for his song ‘Holidayz’ in 2007. Given the chance to focus on his vision and re-work his material to release it in the fashion it was intended, the advantages of his solo years were clear - but for Fontaine, it was more about preparing for the next group venture. “[Playing solo] could be very soulful… but you’re pretty vulnerable up there by yourself,” he says. “It’s like when you break up with someone - I guess bands can be likened to relationships sometimes. It was about two years,
three years of playing solo before I was ready to start a band again and tour, and do all those things I couldn’t do before.” The result of waiting comes in the form of Choose The Sentinel Blooze – a voyage through day and night that includes appearances from up to twenty local musicians on peculiar instruments that range from a boat to a durango. With a very warm aesthetic featuring rusty guitars and booming brass, tracks like ‘Sunshine’ reflect Fontaine’s succinct song-writing skills and knack for easy-pop hooks. While on closer inspection, words of desolate cities and drunk liberties reflect a darker side to Fontaine’s composition, the writer maintains he was always a little wary of becoming too fragile. He laughs, “I tried to have a bit of a sense of humour with it - and tried to take away anything too precious from having a lot of the dark sentiment; not becoming too precious or too pert.” Joined by the four core-members of 6s & 7s, Fontaine now embarks on his very first journey to the East of Australia, in celebration of Choose The Sentinel Blooze. While his more experienced band mates are already acquainted with the highs and lows of touring, he admits equal amounts of excitement and nervousness will make it hard to keep things sensible. “I guess I’m sort of mum and dad of the group, and I just want to be the spoiled brat!”, he snickers. Oh well - Sydney will welcome the whole family with open arms. What: 6s & 7s What: Choose The Sentinel Blooze is out now on Love Is My Velocity With: Traps & Des Miller Where: Melt Bar When: Thursday August 26
“Beatmakers meet M-phazes, wanna hit him up for production tips” MANTRA – M-PHAZES 30 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Disco Nap Op Shop Suits And Six Feet Under By Denis Semchenko
W
hen Brisbane’s much-admired Iron On split up, its members never stopped making music. Bassist Ian Rogers went on to form fearsome drone-rockers No Anchor, singer/guitarist Kate Cooper teamed up with Intercooler’s Damon Cox to form indie-pop duo An Horse, and frontman Ross Hope eventually founded Disco Nap - with Iron On’s guitarist Darek Mudge. Forward to August 2010, and the release of Disco Nap’s crisp debut album Running Red Lights: a moody adventure in happy/sad nostalgia, which harks back to The Postal Service-era of honest and warm indie-pop, albeit with a distinctive Australian flavour.
“We did it in very a different style to what I was used to,” Ross tells me. “One or two days a week over a period of six to nine months of recording and mixing. It was a slow, gradual process which I actually enjoyed this time around.” This patience seeps into the mood of the LP; a slow-burner, with guestmusician credits that read like an honours list for Aussie indie-rock. Screamfeeder’s Dean Schwereb on drums, The John Steel Singers’ Scott Bromiley on trumpet, Something For Kate’s Pip Branson on the violin, Sekiden/Regurgitator’s keyboardist and acclaimed solo artist Seja Vogel on backing vocals and The Gin Club/Ed Kuepper’s Jane Elliot on the cello... to name just a few. “I think sometimes when people do solo records, they can play more instruments than me; I invited some guests because I can’t play the drums or much else, besides the guitar and singing,” Ross chuckles.
row,” he recalls. “It’s my favourite TV show of all time. I also think it gives a realistic insight into the human condition.” He says the dark subject matter struck a chord with him at the time, as he farewelled the old band. “It helped me say goodbye to that period of my life, and it kind of affected a few songs that I wrote, like ‘The Soft Sell’ – about things ending, and you moving on to something new.” Despite his current preoccupation with Disco Nap, does Ross think there could be chance of an Iron On reunion in the future? “We’d have to bring it back from the dead a little bit,” he laughs. “Look, I never say never in this life, because strange things just happen, but I don’t think so. Kate’s obviously busy with An Horse overseas, Ian’s got No Anchor... I think it’s probably a phase in our lives that’s over for all of us,” he says. On to the next phase then... Who: Disco Nap What: Running Red Lights is out now With: Cameras, Sleepyhands Where: The Excelsior Hotel When: Thursday September 2
“After Iron On stopped, I had a lot of spare time besides working, so I’d come home and watch the box set with my partner - five series of Six Feet Under in a row. It kind of affected a few songs that I wrote...” The song that truly announced Disco Nap’s arrival on the scene was the Unearthed-winning single ‘The Soft Sell’. Accompanied by a narrative, Spartan video (shot by local filmmaker Matthias Cerwen), the slightly melancholic number has since become Ross’s calling card. “We’ve kind of had this idea for a while – an image of men in… not those perfect business suits, but the op shop ones, in the ocean. When it came around to doing the video for ‘The Soft Sell’, we both just came up with basically the same idea of using the suits on the beach - and we wanted to use the pine forest north of Brisbane for that creepy, eerie feeling. We shot it in a couple of days, and [Matthias] edited it really quickly. It turned out really well - just a couple of locations and a few very cheap suits!” Ross later admits that ‘The Soft Sell’ is probably his favourite song. “Going into recording, I never really imagined that it would come out as a single – it started as this slow, quiet acoustic song, and through the process of recording we added some layers, electronic stuff, keyboards... Suddenly, we were looking at each other going, ‘this kinda sounds like the single!’” It was certainly the song Ross was the happiest with, but he didn’t know if it was radio-worthy at the time. “I thought ‘Home Karaoke’ or ‘False Teeth’ were the pop songs – and they are – but everyone agreed that ‘The Soft Sell’ should be the first single. I’m most happy with how that one turned out.” Other standouts from Running Red Lights, like the aforementioned ‘Home Karaoke’ and ‘Song For Meg’, draw from Ross’s own biography. “I still write music from my life and experiences,” he tells me. “I know some people can write fictional stories about pirates or, I dunno, fictional characters, things like that - but ‘Home Karaoke’ was pretty much about me growing up on the Sunshine Coast; my friends introducing me to music like Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins when I was a teenager, sitting around and having a few drinks,” he shares. “It’s about growing up as someone who liked music rather than skateboarding, surfing or rugby league. ‘Song For Meg’ was a song I wrote for my partner Meg for our first anniversary. I’ve never really written a song as a present for someone before - I thought that was a bit schmaltzy - but I’ve grown up enough now to pull this off. I don’t have to just write depressing songs about my life – I was wanting to write happy songs and love songs as well.” According to Ross, the haunting US sitcom Six Feet Under was another important songwriting influence on the songs of Disco Nap. “After Iron On stopped, I had a lot of spare time besides working, so I’d come home and watch the box set with my partner - five series of Six Feet Under in a BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 31
arts frontline
free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com
arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...
brushstrokes WITH LADY
CAVE OF THE JUDY DOLLS
T
and showgirls are dream figures for us all.
Who or what are The Judy Dolls? The Judy Dolls are all dolls that come to life, and our characters go like this: Lady Cave is a murder ballad styled around 1920s Weimar Republic Germany; The Diamond Dahlia is the Black Dahlia risen from the dead to take vengence on her killer; Davina Mercy is a 1940s vintage doll who has come to life to seduce us all; Blaike Starlet is a Parisian temptress; and Dynamite Boom Boom is our va-voom doll! How did you all meet? Four of us met at Lola the Vamp’s “La Lola Salon” burlesque school. We had all graduated from Lola’s classes, and as burlesque tends to do, we had become obsessed with everything about burlesque and decided to form a troupe and kick off shows. Then following our 2009 Melbourne tour we finally were able to talk Davina Mercy into the DollHouse. Davina had always been the official hairstylist and a close friend of the troupe’s.! What are your performance backgrounds? Well myself, The Diamond Dahlia & Dynamite Boom Boom all trained in Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary for approximately 13 years
What are you bringing to 34B this Saturdy? We’re bringing our biggest show yet as it is the first time we have all been able to perform solos, as well as a group dance, at 34B. Our group dance is a 1940s Sailor pin-up-inspired dance using our favourite bra-pop technique! On top of that li’l number, The Dolls will be performing a mix of traditional & neoburlesque solos using traditional feather fans, parasols and marabou feather-boas tipped with chandeliers.
with Dearne Holmes School of Dance. The Diamond Dahlia also studied musical theatre and is an amazing vocalist, she was always the lead in all high school musicals. Davina Mercy has undergone similar training & Blaike Starlet hadn’t ever had professional training before the La Lola Salon, she’s one of those gals that got drawn into dance by burlesque. What are your signature routines? For group performances we generally try to mix traditional & neo-burlesque themes with a black hand-fan as a signature group prop. We always try to keep our group performances fun and lively as a contrast to some of the more sultry performances that we do as soloists. Who are some of your inspirations? Vintage movies & costumes have been a major inspiration. Traditional Hollywood starlets
Vice co-founder Shane Smith gurns about Mexican Narco Cinema.
What’s the Burlesque scene like in Bris? It's experienced a major revival over the last year. We have so many ingenues coming through the scene now compared to when we founded the Dolls, and to add to the revolution the Rockabilly and circus performance scenes continue to be very close-friends of burlesque. What else are you ladies up to in 2010? We’ve just started production on our latest event, “Tassles & Tapas”, which is aimed at supporting the local burlesque scene in a sit-down cabaret environment. This will be a monthly event showcasing the headliners of the local scene and our favourite rockabilly and indie bands, Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art Class, What: Vixens, Vamps & Dolls When: August 28, doors at 8.30pm Where: 34B / 44 Oxford St Darlinghurst (The Exchange Hotel - entry through Q Bar) Tickets: $20 general entry, reserved tables $30pp (min 4 people) tenderloins.com.au
submissions is midnight August 29, which gives you this week to get cracking on your short fiction, film or design work. Participants are invited to incorporate PNAN’s theme (some reference to alcohol or drugs) into their entry – which doesn’t sound like much of a stretch. All the deets at playnowactnow.com.au
OH ALFRED!
Feel like getting crafty? Token Imagination are running weekly workshops for folks interested in being part of their installation for the upcoming Art & About (September 23 – October 24) ‘festival of public art’. To celebrate the re-opening of Prince Alfred Park, Token have assembled ten local artists to work with YOU to turn the construction fence around Alfred Park Pool into an explosion of colour and craft. The works created will reflect participants’ experiences of the park, from memories to imaginings and dreams, and everything in between. ANYONE can be part of the project, regardless of talent – and it’s a great chance to met good peeps and maybe learn ‘stuff’. To find out when and where the weekly workshops are held, hit ohalfred.wordpress.com
SOH SPRING DANCE
After last year’s successful season, Sydney Opera House is bringing back Spring Dance - four weeks of exceptional artistry, athleticism and grace from some of the most exciting choreographers and performers working across the globe: Flemish / Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui performs in a Sadler’s Wells production; tap legend Savion Glover makes his first Australian appearance; and Artistic Director of Chunky Move, Gideon Obarzanek, returns to the stage for the first time in 18 years! They’re also bringing back the free dance films on the forecourt – including Powell/Pressburger’s seminal The Red Shoes. Check out the full line-up at at sydneyoperahouse.com/springdance Thanks to Sydney Opera House, we have two double passes for Singular Sensation (September 14-19), by Israeli choreographer Yasmeen Godder. Singular Sensation presents her intense, provocative work on finding excitement, thrills and connection in our hyperinformed world. To get your hands on a double pass to the opening night on September 14, email us with the name of one other act on the Spring Dance line-up.
SCIENCE THEATRE
This week TINA’s Crack Theatre Festival Coordinator Dave Finnigan is at the Powerhouse Museum as part of True Logic of the Future, a production by Canberra-based sciencetheatre ensemble Boho. Science Theatre? (Strokes beard, pensively). An interactive theatre performance billed as a science-fiction thriller, True Logic has an eleven-show run this week as part of the Ultimo Science Festival. If you’re looking for a vision of Sydney on the brink of collapse, where sea levels and the population are rising while food and water are in short supply, then this is the show for you. Unfortunately, it’s all based on current research on climate change and globalisation. (Sad face). Dave says, “What we ask in True Logic is: What are people willing to sacrifice once the situation becomes desperate?” August 23-28 @ Powerhouse Museum powerhousemuseum.com/bookings
Grease Wrong Prom
KALDOR PUBLIC ART THE VICE GUIDE TO FILM
The ABC are capitalizing on the fact that their iView audiences are skewing young, by programming The Vice Guide to Film, a documentary series created by Vice founder Shane Smith and filmmaker Eddy Moretti. The mind boggles. It premieres on August 30 at www.abc.net.au/iview with each of the episodes taking in a different country: the only ever look at Kim Jong-il’s film studios in North Korea, the Narco Cinema funded by Mexico’s drug lords, the parallel cinema movement in Russia, filmmakers working against the odds in Palestine, and a visit to Tehran to explore burgeoning Iranian Film. We don’t get it – this kind of sounds… fascinating. In a good way. www.abc.net.au/iview
PAPER MILL FUNDRAISER
As part of the City of Sydney’s laneways rejuvenation program, they’ve given a prime spot in Ash Street, just off Angel Place, to The Paper Mill – an artist-run space that’s all about paperbased art. Someone’s taken one too many trips to Melbourne? Or something about ‘joining’ versus ‘beating’… The Paper Mill will be running classes, workshops, talks, exhibitions, launches, studio residencies, projects, gallery openings and a zine library – and they're raising funds this week with two events at Oxford Art Factory: on Thursday August 25, it’s band night, with The Paper Scissors and others; on August 26 it’s theatre with two double-barrel Zoes (Coombs Marr and Norton Lodge). Go on, support paper. Everyone’s doing it. www.thepapermill.org.au
SHOPFRONT x ZOMBIES
We’re intrigued. Shopfront’s latest project is a large-scale, multiplatform theatre piece about zombies – and how to survive them. And it’s 32 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
written by Bambina Borracha’s Tim Spencer, our favourite one-man theatre-troupe (Words They Make with Their Mouths, I Scare My Sixyear-old Self). From August 24, At The Drive-In – a new work created in collaboration with, and performed by, young Australians – is premiering at Gymea’s Hazelhurst Galleries. Combining live music, performance, dance and film, and bringing together country, rural, emerging and first-timers… At The Drive-In will be performed at the Galleries from August 26-29, before becoming a unique youth arts festival in the Living Desert, Broken Hill, from September 10-11. www.shopfront.org.au
PLAY NOW ACT NOW
Play Now Act Now is calling upon young creatives aged 16-25 from NSW to submit entries for the final round of their monthly competitions – the winners of which receive $100 cash, and progress to the grand final in October. This month’s theme is ‘This Life’, and the deadline for
Head along to the St Peters Brickworks this week to check out The Sound of Red Earth, an installation by American sound and media artist (and former punk guitarist) Stephen Vitiello. Stephen’s been travelling around the Kimberlies in WA collecting sounds for this project and actually managed to capture the ‘sound of starlight’, which may (or may not) sound like the sighs of small children as they sleep… The Sound of Red Earth is presented by Kaldor Public Art Projects, the organisation behind Tatzu Nishi’s temporary rooms outside the AGNSW last year, and Jeff Koon’s giant puppy outside the MCA in the 90s. Kaldor are currently seeking submissions from sound artists and musicians for a digital compilation to be released in conjunction with Vitiello's project, exploring the prevalent themes of isolation, remoteness, distance, nature, environment and earth. Submission guidelines at soundofredearth.tumblr.com
BEERxTHEATRE = PLAYTIME
We remember when Playtime was just a glint in Dan Chin’s eye; six months later it’s going strong. Held monthly as part of The Wall night at World Bar, and presented by Actors Anonymous, Playtime is a “tapas” of short plays, held in the Club Room (beer and theatre = awesome). Playtime #6 runs the gauntlet from James Dean and Alfred Hitchcock to public servants, Twitter, sex, lust, existentialism… all sprinkled with olive oil and minced garlic, and washed down with a swig of tempranillo. What? Wednesday August 25 @ World Bar Club Room (24 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross) from 7.30pm. $10 entry for eight short plays. Bam. www.worldbar.com
FINAL WRONG PROM
We’re pretty sure that every Wrong Prom so far has sold out; so the question we’re asking is: why is it hanging up its dancing shows this Wednesday? That’s right: the last ever Wrong Prom is this Wednesday August 25 at CarriageWorks, Sydney’s home for good music and daggy dancing. But not so daggy after all… The fellas from WP are going out with a show-stopper: Chicago. With that kind of inspiration, it’s gotta be smoking hot. So maybe go rent out Rob Marshall’s version, take some inspiration from Catherina and Renée, grab a gin and some glad-rags, and shimmy your way to Eveleigh... www.carriageworks.com.au
Singular Sensation photo by Tamar Lamm
he Judy Dolls popped their 34B Burlesque cherry last November, for the 4th birthday party. This Brisbane-based troupe are shimmying down south again for Vamps, Vixens & Dolls, this Saturday, with a killer line-up that includes all your 34B favourites - Lola the Vamp, Tasia (recently back from a killer US tour), Kitty Van Horne, and Kira Hula-la – and of course, MC Francois Bublé, and DJ Jack Shit.
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 33
BOY
By Beth Wilson
war hero; he the reality is a lot more ore disappointing. disapp
A
fter his Oscar-nominated d short Two Cars, One Night (2005), 005), which swept up awards on the festival circuit, New Zealand nd director Taika Waititi confounded ed critics and audiences alike with h his debut feature, the super-oddball all and darkly comic Eagle vs Shark ark (2007), which starred Jemaine e Clement (pre-Conchords fame). e). With his sophomore feature, Waititi hits the mainstream, with a charming, ng, big-hearted comedy that won the audience prize at this year’s Sydney ydney Film Festival, and has become e the highest-grossing New Zealand d film of all time.
IV
E
A W AY
Filmed in New Zealand’s North h Island, in the small community y of Waihau Bay where Waititi grew w up, Boy is set in 1984, at the height ht of Michael Jackson's Thriller-fever. er. As the film opens, two young brothers thers – Boy (James Rolleston) and Rocky (Te Aho Eketone-Whitu) – are adjusting to their father Alamein’s in’s return home after a seven-yearr stretch in jail. For 11-year-old Boy, this involves creating a vivid fantasy fa antasy in which his father is a superstar supersttar or a
G
Academy Award-nominee Taika Waititi and his young star talk about making New Zealand’s highest grossing film - ever.
Waititi, Waititi who describes his inspirations as both “true and inspira imagined imagin memories”, spent a few ew years writing the script; however, er, after a number of successful short hort films, he decided he didn’t want nt to make Boy his debut feature. “I just felt like I wasn’t really ready ady to make my first film, in my home e town”, he explains. Instead, Waititi chose exp ose to focus focu on the smaller-scale Eagle vs Shark. “I thought I'd just make Sh ake something really small and that somet at I could sort of learn how to make ke a feature film on; learn from any feat ny mistakes mistak I would make, and apply pply that knowledge to Boy.” k As with wit his earlier films, Waititii infuses infuse Boy with his own unique ue blend of comedy and drama. Although Althou he intentionally plays s with tone in his work, he is concerned ned by how this th mixed-genre filmmaking ng is sold to audiences. “Eagle vs Shark was really hard to market...In the re States it was marketed as an all-out comedy comed and people went along g and went- ‘ah it’s not that funny’y there here are actually acctually some really depressing depresssing
parts to it. People go along expecting pecting one thing and then it takes them th em a while to adjust, to figure out why hy it’s not as funny as the poster.” One of o Waititi’s main challenges es with Boy B was finding the right actor to carry-off Alamein's fundamentally car entally immature character in a way that immat hat was also sympathetic. “I like that a hat this character, who is obviouslyy ch a dickhead, has got some really dick ly loveable loveab parts to him as well. He actually actual tries, but it is just a really ally twisted twiste way that he attempts to o connect conne with his kids.” After almost a year of struggles, a s, Waititi decided to cast himself in the role. “I “ had re-called people probably obably six or seven times and just wasn’t asn’t getting something I hadn’t seen n before. before I felt it was kind of typical cal of what wha we are known for in New ew Zealand, that kind of acting, orr that Zeala kind of o portrayal of Maori men.. I wanted wante the character to be obviously viously clumsy clums and kind of uncomfortable able in his body. It felt like most of the he people who were auditioning just ust tried to t be tough.” Rolleston Rolles ston was originally cast as a an
GANGSTERS’ BALL COMPETITION
T
his annual party celebrates everything swing, cabaret and vaudeville, with a dash of circus burlesque on the side. Last year more than 3,300 gangsters, molls and flappers rocked-out in a venue decked-out with gambling tables, a themed photo booth, merchandise stalls, cigarette girls & pin-up models – all to the sounds of 10-piece swing band The Velvet Set. This year’s Ball will be hosted by Madame Leila Montansano (Paris/Berlin), who will do her best to manage a line-up that includes troublemakers Circus Trick Tease, Mark Winmill, Kelly Ann Doll and Imogen Kelly. The Gangsters’ Ball swings out of the corner on September 4 at The Metro.We have two double VIP passes to up for grabs, each of which includes access to the Official After Party. To get your hands on one, email freestuff@thebrag. com and tell us one other artist on the line-up. NB: costumes are mandatory! For inspiration, head to gangstersball.com.au
34 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
extra, rather than the lead. “I was in class clas and a lady came in and nd asked us if we wanted to do some ome auditioning for a feature film. I got auditio to the audition and I met Taika and I had to do a skit, and I got cast st as an extra. ext Then when I went to have a wardrobe wardro fitting I was walking around introducing myself, saying hello introd o to people and everybody was blown own away - and then three days before efore shooting shooti I was cast [as Boy].” Given the pressures on Waititi in the lead lea up to filming, and given en Rolleston’s late casting, there Rolles wasn’t much time to build up rapport rappo between the 'family unit'; nit'; however, howev Waititi suggests that this inadvertently added to his character inadve racter development. “I was so busy, I develo couldn’t couldn hang out with [the kids], s], so I actually actual felt like a bad dad right ht from the start sta - because I wasn’t paying aying them that much attention!” With Boy’s success in his home B me country, countr one wonders how Rolleston leston has navigated the media attention. na tion. “I’m not n really a fan of any of this his [publicity],” he admits – “I get quite [public shy. y I get g shyy as when people p p call out myy name in the street, because beccause
everybody looks.” This hasn’t everyb dented the young actor's ambitions, however. howev “I’m hoping to do more acting; acting [but] I’d like to do other things as well, we like marine biology, or have my own ow hunting show. Or both.” Meanwhile, Waititi’s next role is Meanw in Martin Campbell's comic-book Ma adaptation Green Lantern (out 2011). adapta “The casting agents had seen [Boy] c at Sundance and asked if I would Sun read for f a part in the film. It seems quite preposterous to me that I even p got into int it, but it was really enjoyable seeing the whole Hollywood thing – just a new experience.” With Waititi spending about half his W time in the States at the moment, what is i happening with his own filmmaking? “I am writing scripts; lmma some are set back home and some ar e se set there [US]. It is just a matter are gets finished first and of whatever wha whatever gets funded first. It hasn’t whate been too hard getting interest in the States. Things are looking pretty States good so far.” Wha Boy, Dir. Taika Waititi What: When: Opens August 26 Whe p g
WIN AND BE STUNNED AT JAZZ ROOMS @ THE BASEMENT THIS SATURDAY! WIN DOUBLE PASSES TO THE BASEMENT FOR 窶連 NIGHT AT THE JAZZ ROOMS' 2010 AND $50 BAR TABS. Check out the new Motorola Milestone handset at your nearest Optus retailer
LIKE THE MOTOROLA AUSTRALIA FACEBOOK PAGE TO WIN. Visit the Motorola Australia Facebook page for full terms & conditions
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 35
Milk Crate Theatre [THEATRE] Word from the street. By Holly Orkin
T
who meet one night at a crisis shelter, and have to navigate each other’s stories as well as their own. Artistic Director Beck Ronkson describes it as “a show about the twists and turns our lives take. It looks at how we carry our baggage through life, how we negotiate the obstacles and opportunities that arise. It’s humanity at its most raw and most beautiful.”
he theatre of ancient Greece was the theatre of the polis, the people; it was a chance for the citizens to passionately communicate with the wider community and with their leaders. It is this same passion for communication that inspires Milk Crate Theatre, in its eleventh year. Born out of a collaboration between Darlinghurst Theatre Company and South Sydney Council in 1999, and working out of Wesley Mission’s Edward Eagar Lodge, Milk Crate are Australia’s only theatre company for the homeless and disadvantaged; committed to creating original, ‘devised’ works, each Milk Crate show is created in collaboration between professional actors and artists and participants who are, or have been, homeless or disadvantaged. Primarily through the workshops they run, Milk Crate seek to create opportunities for participants to make connections with new people, and provide a safe space for their voices to be heard.
According to Milk Crate performer and founding member Maurie Barlin, Intersection is one of the company’s most ambitious works to date, involving 40 participants, a team of professional actors and artists, and a ‘Greek chorus’ comprised of the Sydney Street Choir. Given the intensive, hands-on creative process inherent to devised theatre, and with most of the participants being, as Barlin puts it “in transition”, creating Intersection was not without its challenges. Besides the commitment of meeting twice a week to create the work, Barlin says that the process itself was challenging for some participants, who found using non-verbal communication while workshopping ideas particularly stressful or confusing.
While most of the Milk Crate shows are performed for the homeless community, Intersection is one of their sporadic public shows, which explore the experiences of the participants and open up a conversation around the myths and facts of homelessness and life on the streets. Opening this week for just four shows, Intersection bills itself as "a collision of epic Greek tragedy, interactive dialogue and a city tour of homeless hotspots”. The story revolves around James and Sally,
Barlin is keen to emphasise that while Milk Crate works in the field of community development, their mission is to empower participants through theatre, not through therapy. “There have been times where people's stories or experiences have come up, and yeah, that can be hard because we’re
Intersection by Milk Crate Theatre
not there as counsellors; we just have to give the person space - but also work out how to get on with the rehearsal. We just treat them with respect and they give you the same back. Some of these guys, like Dave and Di, have been doing it for five years, they’re my friends now. We’ve been accepted into their community and them into ours, creating a wider community - which is really something that we’re about.” At the end of the day, however, Milk Crate is about creating great theatre. Because the works are devised, and all the content in the shows is original and personal, they are often more visceral than mainstream theatre; and, as Barlin points out, the issues have a
broader relevance for audiences than just ‘homelessness’; this is a story about family, community and connection. As an indication of Milk Crate’s success, this week’s short season of Intersection has (as we go to print) completely sold out; however, the company plan to run a film screening of the show in late 2010, so stay tuned… What: Intersection by Milk Crate Theatre When: August 26 – September 3, various times Where: Edward Eagar Lodge, Surry Hills More: milkcrate.sitesuite.ws
LO-FI Collective
[THEATRE] No strings attached. By Dee Jefferson
Josh Quong Tart in The Wild Party
As far as I can tell, the catch is this: that it may only be here for a brief moment in time. For six months, Go Font Ur Self* curator Marty Routledge has creative control over the top floor of Kinselas – prime inner-city real estate by anyone’s standards, but even more precious among Sydney’s creative tribe, who often find themselves pushed outwards (geographically speaking) by the inexorable process of gentrification. Over that time, around 50 Australian artists will have the chance to exhibit – from well-known locals like Ben Frost (Stupid Krap), Beastman and Numskull, to in-demand tattoo artist Josh Roelink, hipster blogger extraordinaire Yimmy Yayo, and Brisbane’s nextbig-(graf)-thing, Sofles. How did Routledge score such a sweet (and salaried) deal? The short answer is trend; when the new owners of Kinselas went looking for a way to revitalise the business, they evidently embraced Sydney’s trend towards boutique spaces that combine good food and drink with great music, and art that punters can relate to. In the second floor space that used to be Middle Bar, you can now find LO-FI Bar – a stripped back industrial-meets-warehouse type of affair; on the level above, for the next six months, you’ll find LO-FI Collective – a huge gallery-meets-studio space, with six ‘resident’ artists/creatives – including Karina Zerefos, Mia Taninaka, and Bones – and a weekly rotation of fresh exhibitions.
36 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Inevitably, LO-FI Collective will bring fresh blood, and business, into the Kinselas building; however, the most interesting part – and the recurring theme of my conversation with Routledge – is the ‘free’ factor. LO-FI won’t charge artists a cent to exhibit and will take zero-percent of any sales made. If you’re not an artist, then there’s no reason to know how much of a financial commitment exhibitions really are – but Routledge, who works as a graphic designer by day and moonlights as a graf artist, calculates the average exhibition debt for an emerging artist in the thousands. It just doesn’t seem fair. “In music, musicians are paid and need not pay any rent on space, punters pay to get in and drinks aren’t cheap. In the visual arts world, artists pay for the space, pay for all their materials, spend months preparing, need to provide free drinks to some degree, and then the gallery even takes a cut of the sales; they’re polar opposites within the creative industry. It needs to be balanced out,” Routledge suggests. Most importantly perhaps, from a punter’s perspective, is the effect that all of this ‘free’ will have on the art itself. As the LO-FI curator explains, once you take fees and hire out of the equation, the artists involved are going to be far less commercially-minded when it comes to the work they’re showing, and the prices they’re asking. Good news for everyone, it seems. The first cab off the LO-FI rank is Melbourne's MEGGS, followed a week later by Don’t Go Into the Attic, a group show curated by Routledge. What: MEGGS - sons of privilege When: Opens August 27, 6pm Where: LO-FI Collective / Level 3/383 Bourke St Taylor Square (above Kinselas) More: www.wearelofi.com.au/collective
The Wild Party
[THEATRE] The debauched cult cabaret returns for another round. By Simon Binns
W
hen Joseph Moncur March released his epic poem (that’s a literary term) The Wild Party in 1928, it was almost immediately banned for its racy content. As we all know, a little controversy can go a long way, and the book went on to become a classic. Written against the backdrop of Prohibition-era America, March’s tale of seduction takes us into the sordid party of the blonde vamp Queenie, where guests pour their gin from the illegal supply in the bathtub. Queenie plans on getting revenge on her lover Burrs by pursuing the most enticing man she can find. Unfortunately, that man arrives on the arm of her best friend - and the plot entangles from there. A fairly lacklustre film adaptation was made in 1975, but with its lyrical quality and hard-boiled style, it was only a matter of time before kings and queens of Broadway would turn it into a musical. However, a few years before they got their hands on it, Sydney’s own Vashti Hughes beat them to the punch. “A friend gave me the book as a present maybe 16 years ago… as soon as I read the first few lines I thought this would make a great show”. She quickly gathered some friends from the University of Western Sydney where she had recently graduated and put together a show, comprising four actors and a live jazz band; a show, in fact, that would go on to sell-out both in Sydney and at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. This week the show is back, for its second return season this year after another sell-out run at Surry Hills’ Raval in April. For Hughes the project was a “no-brainer”. March’s stylish language “just jumps of the page at you and you can here it in your ears. It’s written in a really punchy style, it’s got a dark underbelly but it’s really entertaining as well.” To help them
get the most out of this sordid tale, the group employed well-known Sydney theatre director Kate Gaul. “I felt very lucky that she had the time to commit to us. Kate had one look at it and naturally saw where it could go and with her help it became more a sharp, animated, crazy ride.” The actors move between characters and often act as narrators in this poem-cum-musical, but each performer has a main role to play. For Hughes, who will be known to many in the Sydney cabaret scene for her 'Mavis Brown' work, the central role of Queenie is what makes the show such a joy to perform - “I get to play the ultra-sexy vamp, blonde bombshell, what fun!” Josh Quong Tart plays her brutish lover Burrs, while her hard-drinking best friend Kate is played by Eliza Logan. David Keene rounds off the line-up as the debonair Black that Queenie can’t help but fall for. With one exception, the cast has remained the same across the 15-year period, and if you think you recognise a name, you might be right, although probably from a slightly different context. Josh Quong Tart is well known to Australian audiences for his roles as Matt Horner on All Saints and now Miles Copeland in Home & Away. Although Surry Hills cabaret might seem a long way from the sunny sands of Summer Bay, Hughes assures us that Josh is “such a strong stage personality. He’s got a beautiful voice... I wish people who love Home & Away would come and see it to see what this guy can do.” What: The Wild Party When: August 25-27 at 9pm / August 28 at 8pm & 10.30pm. Where: Raval / Level 1 of Macquarie Hotel, 42 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills More: raval.com.au
LO-FI Collective photo by Isabella Melody Moore
S
ydney’s newest gallery may look suspiciously fashionable - a strippedback warehouse space, above a Surry Hills bar, that specialises in Australia’s leading low brow art; however, LO-FI offers a radical proposition, in this place and time: it’s free. In a gallery culture where emerging artists expect to pay thousands to fund their shows, LO-FI offers them a space for free, and takes zero cut of sales. And it’s not run by council, or funded by philanthropy – it’s a totally private enterprise. What is the catch, you’re wondering?
Sexual references, comedic violence and infrequent coarse language
TYPE THIS ADDRESS WWW.FUNKDAFIED.COM.AU INTO YOUR BROWSER! BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 37
Arts Snap
Film & Theatre Reviews
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week.
What's hot on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
The Killer Inside Me ■ Film
Frank’s racist tendencies begin to creep into his work and problems quickly emerge.
Released August 26
Moore has written some truly great dialogue here, and many of the scenes fire perfectly, but unfortunately, he attempts to cover too many issues, rather than honing in on the central problem of race, and as a result, the play feels like it ends three times. If the scope had been narrowed, this could have been a tighter 60-minute affair.
12:08:10 :: Chalkhorse Gallery :: 94 Cooper Street Surry Hills 9211 8999
Anyone with even the vaguest interest in film is aware of the hoopla surrounding British director Michael Winterbottom’s (24 Hour Party People) first American film and the levels of violence it depicts. Unfortunately the discussions around The Killer Inside Me means that as a viewer you can never watch it without some prior knowledge and the influence of the strong opinions surrounding its content (consider not reading on if you have managed to avoid hearing anything thus far). Based on a 1952 pulp novel by Jim Thompson (who also wrote The Grifters), the film follows Lou Ford (Casey Affleck), a sociopathic, small-town deputy sheriff, viewing the action from his perspective. With a loving girlfriend, Amy (Kate Hudson) and a seemingly contented life, Ford’s hidden nature comes to the fore when he is asked to run Joyce (Jessica Alba), a prostitute, out of town. When a blackmail scheme and the chance for revenge coincide, Lou’s psychotic behaviour is unleased on his unsuspecting friends and colleagues. The thing that most film commentators have taken from The Killer Inside Me is its violence, which is graphically displayed and brutal to watch. There has been so much talk about this that you’re on tenterhooks watching the film. Ultimately anticipation robs the film of some of its power, dulling its confronting and shocking nature.
PICS :: RR
this way ->
Winterbottom has defended his film against detractors, saying that violence on screen, especially realistically depicted, should disturb viewers. And he makes a good point; violence in films is rarely accompanied by any sense of its truly horrifying consequences. Perhaps more worrying to Winterbottom is the number of people who accuse the film of being misogynistic.
12:08:10 :: Gaffa Gallery :: 281 Clarence Street, Sydney 92834273
Arts Exposed What's on our calendar...
Sydney Theatre Company presents Steppenwolf Theatre Company's
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY by Tracy Letts Runs until September 25
Tracy Letts’ latest, Pulitzer Prizewinning play is already being billed as a modern American classic - and fits right into the American dramatic canon, alongside Sam Peckinpah, Flannery O’Connor, Sam Shepherd and Eugene O’Neill. Set on the southern plains of Oklahoma, August: Osage County takes place within one house, as three sisters return to the family home to look after their pill-popping mother, after the disappearance of their alcoholic father.
At 3.5 hours, and with 12 characters, this is a marathon of dysfunction; but it’s also phenomenally entertaining, and surprisingly hilarious – on opening night the crowd were applauding during the first act, and cheering by the end of the second. Besides all this, we have the privilege of seeing Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company perform their original version, with almost the same cast – including lots of familiar faces for film buffs and West Wing fans, including Amy Morton (Up in the Air) and Gary Cole (VP Bob Russell!) A-Reserve tickets are $40 for under-30s. www.sydneytheatre.com.au 38 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
With a highly stylized noir aesthetic and impressive performances from the whole cast, including an excellent turn from Affleck, this is a good film, but really nothing more. It isn’t the profound look at human nature, or the unique take on the genre you might have expected from a director of Winterbottom’s calibre; but then again it isn’t the gratuitously violence, exploitation film that has been suggested either. Beth Wilson ■ Theatre
ALASKA Until August 28 / ATYP, Walsh Bay Racism is often the elephant in the room in Australia. Whether in the debate raging in the press about asylum seekers, or in a casual conversation over a beer with friends, the influence of our prejudices too often goes unspoken. Alaska, the debut play for British playwright D C Moore is an investigation of racism - from the simplest of jokes to the most radical of white-power ideologies. The play’s main character, Frank, is a 24-year-old working at a cinema. After dropping out of uni because his fellow students didn’t live up to his educational standards, Frank now takes his superiority complex out on those who work with him serving popcorn and ripping tickets. When an Indian girl named Mamta is hired,
This production however is really about the actors. Matt Hyde launches himself into the leading role with fervour, to the point where I genuinely wanted to get up and shake him during one of his particularly racist monologues. However, the standout for me was André Jewson, whose tender performance as Chris, a co-worker who can’t help but be attracted to Frank, found an honesty in the role that is not seen often enough on our stages. In spite of the play’s flaws, Alaska is worth a visit to see some exciting new talent sinking their teeth into a worthy script. Henry Florence ■ Theatre
TUSK TUSK Until September 4 / Wharf 1, STC Polly Stenham is interested in the breakdown of middle class families. In her debut That Face, which Sydney audiences saw at Belvoir earlier this year, she explored the problems of a family with an overlycontrolling yet drug-controlled mother. In her follow-up, Tusk Tusk, we see the story of another family being attacked by a drugaffected mother; however this time rather than controlling, she is absent. Tusk Tusk is the story of three siblings, Cassie (Airlie-Jane Dodds), Eliot (Miles Szanto) and Finn (Kai Lewins/Zac Ynfante), who are left alone just after having moved into a new house. It soon becomes apparent that what might at first seem like a childhood dream – an empty house strewn with exciting unpacked boxes, is in fact more like a prison as the family wait for a phone call. These characters are just kids after all, the oldest a few days away from turning 16. Cassie and Eliot’s relationship is the main subject here, and Shannon Murphy’s warm production focuses on the love and affection that exists between the two. Stenham’s text could have been taken to quite dark places, but instead Murphy has kept the focus firmly on the comfort and support that sibling relationships can offer. A co-production between Sydney Theatre Company’s Next Stage program and their neighbours Australian Theatre for Young People, Tusk Tusk is a brave move, demanding strong young leads. However, this decision has paid off with Murphy getting proficient performances out of all of her youthful cast, with 16 year-old Dodds putting in a particularly strong showing as the tortured Maggie. As she dances and slinks about the stage, Dodds finds a playfulness in the 14 year old role that could have so easily slipped into melodrama. Kai Lewins is suitably adorable as the eight year-old younger brother channelling every kid’s Where The Wild Things Are dreams. Henry Florence
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
August Osage County by Grant Sparkes-Carroll
laurel nakadate
PICS :: RR
THE KILLER INSIDE ME
DVD Reviews What's been on our TV screens this week The Good, the Bad and the Totally Unicorn
A PROPHET
THE BOOK OF ELI
On its release this was being described as the Godfather of modern France, and that hype is not (too) far wrong. It’s not Coppola, and it’s not 9 hours, but Jacques Audiard’s latest film is a transfixing crime drama that will pin you in your chair for the shortest 155-minute ride of your life. Despite the occasional violent outburst, Audiard’s film is a study in restraint; despite its handheld camerawork, it is a study in elegant storytelling.
In Albert & Allen Hughes’ postapocalyptic western, Denzel Washington stars as Eli, a man in his 40s who has been walking across America for 30 years, on a mission to take a special book – which he believes can save humanity – to a community where it will be safe. Eli has grown up in a world where a major war has left the earth a dry, barren landscape, roamed by the kind of robbers and cannibals that George Miller prefigured in his Mad Max trilogy; Eli, in fact, is a true ‘road warrior’ – a kind of lo-fi samurai, willing to do what it takes to carry out his mission.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment August 17, 2010
We follow Malik El Djebena’s six-year journey from the bottom rung of the prison hierarchy to the top, and it’s partly the intricate politics and narrative momentum that sucks us in, with a screenplay that constantly surprises you. It’s also the charisma of the character – Malik, like Coppola’s “Michael”, combines a certain calm disposition with a highly developed political instinct, and a sense of ambition – the result is unstoppable. Tahar Rahim plays with as much subtlety as the script demands, and has that irresistible juxtaposition of a gentle disposition and the ability to “do what is necessary”.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment August 17, 2010
Part of the problem with this film is that you know what the book is before the ‘reveal’; what book could possibly be so controversial that it would cause a world war, and consequently be burned across America – except for this one copy… There’s another (bigger) reveal near the end of the film that you may not see coming, however.
Underlying all this is a portrait of multicultural modern France in transition: inside the prison, Malik is torn between the two main prison contingents: the Corsicans and the Arabs. Outside, the Corsicans, Italians and Arabs face off in a struggle for power.
Anyway – Eli is on a mission, but he’s not the only one who wants the book; as he finds out when he reaches a small, dusty town governed by self-appointed ‘sheriff’, Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who believes in the book’s power every bit as much as Eli, but for very different reasons.
Fans of The Beat that My Heart Skipped will find this far less playful – although it does show through in Audiard’s taste for visceral hip-hop but The Godfather films didn’t become classics because they were fun. Excellent extras on the single-disc release include a subtitled audio commentary with the director, star and writer.
The Book of Eli poses as something more profound than it actually is; the not-soprofound message is that that religion can be put to both good and malicious use; it’s the super-stylish packaging, juiced up with action and atmosphere, that makes this film worth a look.
Dee Jefferson
Dee Jefferson
Street Level With Ben and Shannon from Verge Festival When you applied for the job, what was your vision for Verge? Ben: Bigger events, inclusive events. I think one thing that students do better than anyone else is come together to create something entirely un-cynically for the love of the project. We’re trying to capture some of that collaborative feel. What was your favourite thing at Verge '09? Shannon: the Chai Night, where Barons of Tang and Hobo Bordeaux created a gypsy dance-fest in the Festival Tent. Rad cinnamony times.
V
erge might be a Sydney Uni thing, but we’re all welcome to the party! And it’s even more radtastic this year, thanks to Manning’s 10th birthday celebrations – expect indie wunderkind Jonathan Boulet and whimsical electronic outfit Fishing, Megan Washington, Dan Kelly, plus Silent Disco, a 24-hour comedy bender, the night markets, and the Australian Premiere of Adam Bertocci’s already-cult and White Russianinfused Elizabethan parody Two Gentlemen of Lebowski. The creative team behind it all are Shannon Connellan and Ben Jenkins, this year’s shiny bright Verge Festival Coordinators. What are you studying at uni? Ben: I’m studying Arts, majoring in film studies and linguistics. Shannon: I’m studying media and communications and art history. What is your background in performance? Ben: I’ve got a bit of a background in writing and performance, doing a couple of Melbourne Comedy Festival shows and the national final for Triple J’s Raw Comedy. Shannon: I currently work as a presenter for FBi, and I’ve always loved putting events and exhibitions together, everything from mini music festivals to theatrical productions to art exhibitions.
What are you most excited about this year? Ben: We managed to score the rights to perform Two Gentlemen of Lebowski at the very last minute from Universal. They were really excellent and understood that we were just a bunch people who were really passionate about the play. So now we’re the only people in Australia who can do it! Oh, and we’re doing a Storytellers night called ‘When We Were Young’ and we’ve got Benita Collings (from Playschool!) to do a story for us! How do you work as a team? Shannon: We actually work really well together because we’ve both brought a whole heap of experience from previous projects, knowing what works and what doesn’t. Ben: Shannon has a real passion and depth of knowledge for the music side of things, which has meant we’ve got an absolutely killer line-up. Me, I’m pretty amazing in Microsoft Excel, so our spreadsheets have been both informative and incredible. What else are you up to this year? Ben: A couple of mates and I run a comedy room at Hermann’s Bar, so that’ll probably fill the Verge shaped hole in my life after September 10. Beyond that, I’m working at the National Young Writers Festival at TINA and maybe, just maybe finishing my damn degree. Shannon: Yeah, I really should get those essays done... What/when: Verge Festival (September 1-10) Where: Sydney University Campus More: www.vergefestival.com BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 39
Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK KOOLISM
The ‘Umu Invada/Remote Control Records
I like the way this record doesn’t sound over-thought, or over-produced; it’s just fat in an effortless, confident way.
Is The ‘Umu better than Koolism’s previous four albums? I don’t know, I don’t own them. Is The ‘Umu dope? It sure is. Danielsan’s production is tight and original, with ridiculously huge sub bass and some clever sample use - but not over-use. Hau’s ego-less delivery is casual, which makes for a nice change from the oversaturation of bravadostyle rapping. His is a style that’s always been better suited to the stage than the studio. Which makes listening to The ‘Umu a reminder that you should buy tickets to their next show… ‘Hanz High’ is a really distinctive production, with bass that just boils and boils. It’s potentially Danielsan’s most impressive production off this record, earning its number two spot on the tracklist.
BEN SOLLEE
Tony Two-Tone
MENOMENA
Outside The Box Tempa
Listening to Ben Sollee’s rather lovely debut in the middle of an election campaign is a somewhat bizarre experience. First released in the US in 2008 B.O. (Before Obama), Learning to Bend overflows with deeply felt left-leaning political sentiment generated in the lead up to Bush the II’s ousting from the White House. Not that this dates Sollee’s songwriting in the least; a song like the opener ‘A Few Honest Words’ channels public disgust at political duplicity in a sentiment that’s timeless: “I don’t need no handshake or a firm look in the eye / don’t tell me what you think I oughta hear”.
Skream is without a doubt one of the biggest names in dubstep; he and his close collaborators were behind some of the early scene’s finest moments. There’s also been much written about his period of writer’s block - and this album would tend to suggest that that period is not completely behind him.
Sollee is undoubtedly a committed activist – if it wasn’t clear from his own lyrics, which occasionally veer on the side of the overly direct, his decision to cover Sam Cooke’s sixties classic (and Mr O’s spiritual theme song) ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ confirms it. But the real attractions to be found here are musical; Learning to Bend is, aside from anything else, an invigorating cross-pollination of bluegrass and soul.
‘CPU’ is comparable to cinematic “future beat”-style dubstep, but it turns out less impressive than most of the other stuff available. ‘Fields Of Emotion’ finally comes through with the wobble bass style that dubstep purists will be listening for, yet it doesn’t seem to have enough parts to it; you could maybe play it to close a set. ‘Wibbler’, however, is DJ friendly, and has some signature heavy drops.
With Sollee’s subsequent LP Dear Companion (written with Daniel Martin Moore and produced by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James) already available, it’s a shame that this debut has taken so long to reach Australian ears.
The album’s lead single ‘Jam Hot’ is fun in its derivative fashion, but there’s better tracks to be found - like ‘Turning Back’, which clocks in at number 14 of a whopping 16 tracks. ‘Yeah’ is a real highlight, and probably my pick of the bunch. It brings good energy to the album’s second half and also contains my favourite line: “But mind you / I’ll be right behind you like Gilchrist”. Aussie rap genius, sure; but the best thing about Koolism is that they don’t sound, and never have sounded, like any of the other Aussie hip hop acts…
SKREAM
Learning to Bend Shock Records
Sollee wields his instrument of choice, the cello, with understated skill. His effortlessly articulated pizz provides the foundation for some great contributions from banjo-picking fellow travellers Abigail Washburn and Bela Fleck (from Sollee’s other project The Sparrow Quartet), while he sings in a soulful lilt – think Eli “Paperboy” Reed meets Andrew Bird.
It’s backed up by ‘Ready’, another banger, and you start to get the feeling this album is carrying some weight. Next up ‘Cash Monet’ gets jiggy – and normally I use that phrase in derisory fashion, but this time it’s in just the right kind of way.
Murs’s rap on track two, ‘8-Bit Baby’, sounds like any other lazy, generic US mic whore: “LA nigger, what the fuck is you playin’?” That sounds pretty lame to me, and I don’t think it’ll fly with his home audiences in the UK either, who have always demanded more from their beat poets. Murs is capable of more.
‘Where You Should Be (ft Sam Frank)’, with its rave-y, emo vocoder-pop, is an attempt to fuse too many styles - and is followed by an even more pointless vocoder track. La Roux’s vocal on ‘Finally’ turned my head, and for me it’s the album’s high point; though admittedly through La Roux’s contribution, and not the underlying production. ‘Reflections’ with D-Bridge & Instramental sounds kinda cool, and is potentially something you could use as a linking track in a headphone mix. Outside The Box then closes with a… drumroll… samey jungle track… Meh.
Portland experimental rock three-piece Menomena have a more unusual writing process than most groups of their stature, laying down loops by the dozen before slowly assembling the resulting audio mess into distinct songs in the comfort of their bedrooms. Either they were working to sharper schematics than in the past, or they’ve honed the process to a fine art - Mines is their most coherent yet consistently surprising release to date. Surprising in every sense, too. A track like ‘Taos’ rolls along quite nicely in alt-rock cruise control before veering through half a dozen musical flourishes – strings, a lone arpeggiated piano, a choir of Loony Tunes extras, slickly irregular drum licks from Danny Seim, sudden Zepplinesque guitar vom. And Brent Knopf’s not-quiteunlikeable yowl provides the pivot on which the whole thing turns; a sweetly unassuming lyrical come-on developing the confessional overtones of a serial sex addict. More exhilarating grounddropping-away-beneath-you moments in the space of one song than many manage in an entire album. Menomena draw their emotional oomph by picking through the detritus of failed relationships, and they do it in lyrical style: ‘you’re five foot five, not a hundred pounds / I’m scared to death of every single ounce’ (‘Queen Black Acid’). But Mines pulls together far too much diverse musical territory for it ever to become depressing; more moments of consummate awesomeness include the ascending piano hook and girl-group back-up vocals on ‘Oh Pretty Boy, You’re Such a Big Boy’ or the bitter twist of the saxophone on ‘Five Little Rooms'.
I couldn’t find too many positive things to say about this album; I think the creative-vacuum album title says it all for me.
Full of surprises, this is one of the most endlessly listenable rock releases of the year.
Tony Two-Tone
Oliver Downes
THE TIGER & ME
THE VERSES
Mines Spunk Records
From A Liar To A Thief Show Off Services
Seasons Warner
Well well, The Hooper siblings are back, fresh from a gruelling course at the strenuous University of Nicks and Buckingham - which they clearly passed with flying colours. This album sees the band moving light years away from their work with Killing Heidi, swapping the proto-sci-fi anime outfits and suitably teenage hairstyle and lyrics for an alt-country exploration into Fleetwood Mac territory. It makes perfect sense; 'Mascara' went to number one on Ella’s 17th birthday in 2000; it's inevitable that her songwriting has matured somewhat. In interviews past, she spoke of influences gleamed from parental record collections, but these were rarely audible; the group’s recorded output was heavily driven by svengeli Paul Kosky, in which a lot of the natural charm of the siblings’ songs was obscured by cutting-edge production techniques. But on Seasons, they deliver a fullyrealised vision. ‘Still Come Around’ and ‘Want Everything’ are obvious Fleetwood Mac shuffles, no doubt inspired by The Verses’ recent tour with the group. ‘Lonely Moon’ is a laidback highlight, while ‘Midnight’ is the closest to Killing Heidi in structure and tempo, and also the album’s only second-rate track. ‘Never Knew’ is a cute countrylite tune, with the chorus hook catchy enough to ensure a future home on commercial radio. What format this record will land in, however, remains to be seen. This record might be too middle-of-the-road to appeal to a large commercial audience, or to recapture anyone left over from the heady Heidi days. But that’s not the goal here.
Born of the gypsy leanings of Ade Vincent and Jane Hendry, the current incarnation of Melbourne’s The Tiger & Me juggles a plethora of musicians, stringed and brass instruments - and there’s no doubting the tent-party vibe. Current single ‘The Circus Or The Zoo’ provides a measured stomp that threatens to lose the listener in ambient carnival noises – and things aren’t helped by the rushed conclusion of the song, with its unfortunately bland guitars and uninspired vocals. But there’s appeal in the honesty and roughness of the male vocals on ‘Many Things’; the simple and repeated lyrical phrasing is held aloft by the understated country twang of the strings. The same combination does briefly descend into schmaltz on ‘Til Sunrise’, but redemption is at hand through the believable sincerity and restraint of the lyrics. It’s when the band keeps it non-affected that they offer something more memorable. Elaborate metaphors about animals and nature are all well and good – but the effect is lost if the band are the only people who believe in the magic. It’s obvious that these are passionate musicians, and yet there is a scarcity of genuine moments anchoring the album. There’s no expectation that an act like this will invent a new sound, but this gypsy gang are clearly enjoyable live, and would definitely get a room swaying and clicking along.
Seasons is a classy record that reestablishes the Hooper siblings as great songwriters.
It's steady genre music with few surprises, best appreciated at your aunty’s next wedding / dusty music festival.
Nathan Jolly
Benjamin Cooper
Oliver Downes
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK JINJA SAFARI
Jinja Safari EP Young Mine/Other Tongues Sydney's Jinja Safari don’t seem to be the sort of folks to mess around. The band consists of soulfully-bearded sorts Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight, and has been in existence for less than eight months – yet they managed to swing the rather neat trick of winning triple j’s Unearthed Splendour competition, netting them the privilege of opening the festival a few weeks back. Not too bad for a local group that performed its first show in the beginning of May.
40 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Not that the pair are quite the greenhorns the PR line suggests. 21-year-old Knight released a solo album Start late last year, which stood him in good stead for producing the lush, exuberant sound typical of Jinja Safari’s self-titled debut EP. As with recent stuff from groups like the Ruby Suns or Vampire Weekend, Jinja Safari reeks of the influence of Graceland-era Paul Simon, although the spectre of Peter Gabriel also seems to hover at the edge of the firelight… Cue the sound of synthesized pan flutes.
In practice this simply means: tribal beatz, the twanging waft of sitar and delicate arching harmonies that seem to speak of morning light and crisp mountain air – all very North-Coast NSW really. First single ‘Peter Pan’ is a case in point; bells, chimes and handclaps supporting an effortlessly optimistic lyric (‘love has come at last / leave your sorrows in the past / dancing in the rain’). It’s all very life affirming, to be sure and it’ll be interesting to see if the fellas can muster up a bit more depth for the long player which is undoubtedly in the works. In the meantime, go see them live – it’ll be a blast. Oliver Downes
OFFICE MIXTAPE Wondering what the 'experts' listen to? Here's the music that drives The Brag... for this week, anyway. THE DEAD WEATHER - Horehound THE BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER - Songs From The 86 Tram V/A - Five Years Of Dirtybird Records
DISCO NAP - Running Red Lights DESTROYER - City Of Daughters
Single Reviews
DVD Review
By Jacob Stone
BLACK SABBATH
ANGUS & JULIA STONE
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Hold On
I hated this band until now; a beautiful song which deserves to kick their record sales into hyperdrive. It has all the elements of great altfolk-pop, not least the lovely lead vocal from Julia, who has finally paid her debt to Joanna Newsom and harnesses an idiosyncratic sense of sunlit melancholy here. The lightness of the string arrangement works as background for the broken halftime drum-groove, and both subtly colour Julia’s meditations on romance with real ache and sprawl. There’s something autumnal about the way she says, “and I’m waiting for the day... inside my
Classic Albums: Black Sabbath – Paranoid (Eagle Rock/Shock)
mothers clothing store”. It’s the sound of a whole personal narrative falling apart, coming to a close. And it’s beautiful.
CHROMEO
GRINDERMAN
YEASAYER
SPACE INVADAS
KLAXONS
This band are just always great. Seriously, this Canadian electro-disco duo are KICKARSE musicians, and somehow the Jewishness of singer/guitarist Dave 1 (Dave Malkovitch) and the big fat Arab homeboy vibe of the keyboard player P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel) works to offset what is actually complicated disco/funk/ pop songwriting. And the production! Palm-muted guitar light poly synth pads and arpeggiators together in the air like electric gauze. Hall & Oates would be incredibly jealous; And I love Hall & Oates. Don’t worry about this setting your world on fire like their last single ‘Night By Night’; it’s more of a slow-burn.
The song rolls gloriously in with a sheet of completely distorted pseudo-guitar from Warren Ellis, and then breaks down to a moody bassline - and some disappointment. Nick Cave appears in decrepit crooner mode, salaciously craving pussy. The object of his affection is sitting in the bathtub, sucking her thumb, high on cocaine. She also has a gun, he says. And then Ellis comes storming in on that rain-maker, his electricviolin guitar, ripping all the posters down off the wall. All this would be great if it wasn’t for the fact that the verse is undersold, and Nick goes on a bit in the lyrics... More discipline, more noise needed.
Ah... Nothing satisfies like quality. This Brooklyn band reveal themselves as a much more serious proposition than their touring partners and peers MGMT. This eastern-influenced tune works like ‘Ambling Alp’, but without the propulsive rhythm section. It’s more open and meditative, but the backing instrumentation is still scattered and brilliant - snatches of tribal vocal melodies, huge gated drums and electronic color. This touring-is-hell breakup tune loses its way at the halfway point, but Chris Keating’s romantic woes gain potency by the 3 minute mark and suddenly we’re back in the game. Great band.
This Sydney funk/hip hop/ pop act have done great stuff with a genre that most are frightened to touch but they don’t do it here. Despite production talent from Katalyst, this isn’t as conclusive or well-written as their debut single ‘Done It Again’, meandering without necessary lyrical or melodic motivation. It’s the vocalist’s fault - I cannot buy into his noodling, meandering lack of melodic invention. Even with the addition of a female vocalist to take the weight of the verse, he still fails to progress the hook beyond a garden-variety chorus, and when he jumps in on the second verse, I totally lose my erection.
Hmm... not quite the followup you’d hope for from this talented bunch of space-dance hipsters. Gone are the likably jarring electronic textures of their debut LP, replaced by natural sounds like piano that give vocal harmonies more space to breathe. That said, there’s no discernible hook here. They could have made it sound like the KLF, or EMF, or any number of three letter 90’s dance acts, but I get the impression their big budget, band torpor and conservative label soured Klaxons a little. Rumours suggest the first version of this was shelved for being too druggy, but it might have just been more exciting. It’s got a big chorus, I suppose...
Don’t Turn The Lights On
Heathen Child
Madder Red
Super Sweet feat. Fantine
Echoes
With the release of Black Sabbath’s sophomore effort Paranoid approaching its 40th anniversary, the Classic Albums series has turned their eye towards the influential UK act to unveil the story behind the album that helped establish the genre hereby known as heavy metal. Although running for a mere 54 minutes, the program’s first 14 minutes are dedicated entirely to setting up the story, with newly filmed interviews with all four of the band’s original members revealing how they initially got together. After the introductions are done with, the story behind Paranoid gets fully underway, as the band recounts how the eight songs on the album were written, including ‘Iron Man’ (with that classic Iommi riff which went on to spawn a million doom metal acts), ‘Planet Caravan’ (quite possibly one of the more interesting songs and chapters on the DVD), and the classic ‘Paranoid’ (which was virtually written on the spot in order to lengthen the album). And as with all documentaries in the Classic Albums series, there’s plenty of classic footage of the band from the era, along with a variety of guests including Tom Allom (who engineered Paranoid), Henry Rollins and Jim Simpson (Black Sabbath’s manager from 1968 to 1970). While there’s little revealed about Paranoid that wasn't already widely known amongst diehard fans, this DVD is still an entertaining watch, and a worthy tribute to what is unquestionably one of the classics within the heavy metal scene. Justin Donnelly
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 41
The Minor Chord
The All Ages rant bought to you by Indent.net.au. By Melody Forghani
Attack Attack!
TAKE ACTION TOUR SOMETHING REALLY EPIC
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;LIVE HOUSE 3â&#x20AC;&#x2122; TAIK OZ DUO
Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re starting off the column this week with Something Really Epic â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or, a search for something really epic. For those of you who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t familiar with the name, Something Really Epic is a live music competition for young bands from the Inner West, and pretty much Leichardtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s answer to all-ages entertainment. Now in their fifth year of running, the SRE team is looking for a new set of eyes and ears â&#x20AC;&#x201C; both young musicians and young people interested in running music events - to join the Leichhardt Youth Council to help recreate Something Really Epic in 2010. No real experience is needed, only the desire to be part of it. As a team member, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll learn how to plan an all-ages music event, book bands, gain skills in marketing & promotions, stage management, logistics and so much more. Alternatively, if you are a local artist or band and are keen to get your music heard, Leichhardt Youth Council are also searching for bands to be in the running to compete on the Something Really Epic stage this summer. To have your band be in the running, visit www.leichhardt. nsw.gov.au/Something-Really-Epic.html to download an entry form. Once youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve filled it out, send it, along with a CD (or MySpace address), to the address provided on the form. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out; the deadline for entries is 4pm Friday 24 September 2010.
ALL AGES GIG PICKS SATURDAY SEPTMEBER 11
Dark, Splendour and Dawn: The Sydney Youth Or chestra Sydney Town Hall
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18 %.42!.#% 0/).43 4/ #!-053
4/ #)49 "2/!$7!9 2 &//4"
).' 2$
2. !6% %!34% 2$ 4/ #)49
-!.
$ .).' 2
!6 %
3)49
5.)6%2
6)#4/2)! 0!2+
)
'2!&&)4
-!..
,!7.3
-!). 15!$
&2/.4
% 2$
/6!,
)$'%
&//4"2)$'% 4(%!42%
# )%. 3#
SEPTEMBER 15 & 16
0!22!-!44! 2$
45..%,
4! 2$
-!4
2! 0!2
Twisted Sounds Festival: Finabah + more Liverpool PCYC The Sub City Take Action Tour: Attack Attack! & more Factory Theatre / Oasis Youth Centre
FRIDAY DECEMBER 3 Something Really Epic Leichhardt Town Hall
Hopeless Records, through its non-profit organisation Sub City, is pleased to once again bring you the Take Action Tour Australia. This year the tour will once again spotlight ReachOut.com, an Australian youth service aimed to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young Australian people. Presented by Destroy All Lines, Hopeless Records, Mistake Clothing, Blunt and killyourstereo.com the tour will feature headliner Attack Attack!, in addition to Pierce The Veil and Dream On, Dreamer. The annual charity tour, now in its ninth year, raises funds and awareness for youth involvement in charitable action. If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heard of Attack Attack!, then hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what you need to know: this metalcore band will scream your socks off. Hailing from the U S of A, Attack Attack!, perform metalcore and post-hardcore genres with a touch of electronica influence. You can catch their distintive sounds this September at Wyong's Oasis Youth Centre or Enmoreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Factory Theatre. Dates are below and tickets are available through Ticketek, moshtix or the separate venues.
DARK, SPLENDOUR AND DAWN
Take a visit to the opposite side of the spectrum, with Dark, Splendour and Dawn, the latest Gala performance starring Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very own Youth Orchestra, the new generation of Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outstanding muscians. They are all about bringing the old to the new â&#x20AC;&#x201C; that is, contemporary classics to younger generations - on Saturday 11 September at the iconic Sydney Town Hall.
TWISTED SOUNDS FESTIVAL
The Twisted Sounds festival in Liverpool this September has announced its full lineup and, as revealed last week, Finabah from Queensland will take the reigns in the headline position. Local supports include To The Sky, Luner, Paradox Park, Engage The Fall, Urban Stone and Red Bee. Extra-cirricular activites on the night include air-brush tattoos, BBQ delights, prizes and giveaways and the Twisted Threads fashion parade. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a measly $10 on the door at the PCYC in Liverpool.
INDENT MASTERCLASS
And if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the area, the evening before the grand adventure that is Twisted Sounds, Indent will be hanging around the PCYC to hold an uber masterclass of the music industry, complete with former Indent hero and manager extraordinaire Greg Carey (Umbrella Music) doing the key note, label talks with Graham Nixon (Resist Records), MusicNSWâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eliza Sarlos talking about grants and fundraising for the all-ages industry and Andy Bull talking songwriting. The masterclass will also include reps from APRA and PPCA. It is free but places are limited; email max@musicnsw.com for more details.
Send pics, listings and any info to minorchords@thebrag.com 42 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Remedy
More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
Slayer
BORIS ON VINYL
Remedy faves Boris have finally made it to vinyl. Yep, their Absolutego LP is available for the first time on double black plastic with the sleeve reworked by Stephen O’Malley who if we recall rightly once described the album as the sound of slugs fucking. Sure, a one-hour-plus long track would work best on CD, but apparently the editing to take into account the four sides of vinyl has been with done with love. And it comes with the bonus of Dronevil. Similarly, their second release, Amplifier Worship, is now available on vinyl also.
months back makes it to Blu-ray and DVD in October. Shot in Bulgaria in June, it’s titled The Big Four: Live At Sonisphere 2010. The deluxe version is said to be as many as eight discs, but we’re buggered if we know why… And in related B4 news, there’s plenty happening in Megadeth land. Dave Mustaine’s autobiography is out and about, and on September 10, the final night of Megadeth’s ‘Rust In Peace’ 20th anniversary tour will be out on Blu-ray and a DVD/CD package. Called Rust In Peace Live it was recorded on March 31, with original bassist David Ellefson back on deck for the tour.
GRINDERMAN & FRIPP
SLAYER BOX SET
We’re not usually ones to get all excited about remixes here at Remedy, but Grinderman’s effort for the Heathen Child single is worthy of some serious jumping up and down and shaking of the total stranger next to you - all thanks to the presence of King Crimson doyen and general Godhead, Robert Fripp. The great man is at his glorious full-blown angular-guitar metal-racket best, too.
And in the final B4 instalment for the week, in October Slayer release their second boxed set. This time it’s a vinyl-only affair called what else but The Vinyl Conflict. It includes Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven, Seasons In The Abyss, Live Decade Of Aggression, Divine Intervention, Undisputed Attitude, God Hates Us All, Christ Illusion and World Painted Blood. Pretty cool.
THE BIG FOUR AT SONISPHERE
Time really does get away. Who’d have thunk that it’d been a decade since Pelican first ground into motion? In October there’ll be a boxed set to mark their tenth birthday which will pull from all their releases to date.
That “Big Four” teaming of Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth and Metallica in Europe a few
PELICAN BOX SET
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is the self-titled slab by Malo, the early seventies Santanaish mob led by Jorge Santana, brother of Carlos - which we finally found on vinyl. While it’s more traditionally Latino than Santana it’s got way more guts to it powered by a hurricane of a horn section and Jorge’s searing guitar, which is more incendiary than his bro was early on. Also spinning is Humble Pie’s Smokin’, which might redeem our faith in studio Pie. We still don’t understand why, with all the God-awful acts that people cover, no one ever touches these guys…
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS LA Guns will be at The Forum on September 3. Former Rollins Band guitarist Chris Haskett is doing two solo acoustic shows on August 29 at the Sando, and September 3 at the Excelsior. Beatdisc in Parramatta are celebrating their 15th anniversary. The shop, which is at the far end of the arcade next to St John’s Church, began as a second-hand CD store, but now stocks both new and used titles, with a large vinyl range. They’re actually one of the only remaining shops outside of the CBD and Inner West which stocks current vinyl titles, including brand new imports and secondhand LPs. To celebrate their one and a half decades, they’re having a week-long 15% off storewide sale from Monday August 23 - Sunday August 29. The main partying will be on the Saturday with a free BBQ outside the store, plus some local bands playing acoustically throughout the afternoon. On August 26, The Holy Soul and The Exiles are at Petersham Bowlo. The Fall, the UK legends who’ve thus far in their mere 34-year life span had more lineups and recorded more slabs that 50 other acts have in their entire careers, are returning to our shores for the first time in forever. They’re the punk band for people who think too hard
who, led by Mark E Smith, created a genre that no one really knows how to describe us included. They’ll be part of the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria in December. Everything-quieter-than-everything-else outfit Low - who count one Robert Plant of Led Zep fame as a card carrying fan - are set to return in October for the first time since their performed their 2001 LP Things We Lost In The Fire as part of the Don’t Look Back series. They’ll be at The Factory at Enmore on 22 October. Tickets on sale August 27. The Sydney Trade Union Club Revival gig at the Excelsior Hotel on August 28 has now sold out, people. Tickets for August 27 are selling fast. The bill? The original line up of The Johnnys, who haven’t played since 1984, plus Grooveyard - who’ve been outta action for just as long. To cap it all off is The Party Bores who include Bill Gibson, Geoff Milne (both of The Eastern Dark so expect to hear an ED tune or three) Steve Lorkin (Psychotic Turnbuckles) and Andy Newman (Trans/ME 262). Guest singers with The Party Bores include Mark Roxbough (who’ll be doing some tunes from the Trans/ ME 262 days), Pete Patterson (Melting Skyscrapers) and Alex Darroch. Rare video clips from Trade Union Club legends will be shown on the big screen inside the pub from 8pm. Tickets from Moshtix or Redeye Records.
Send stuff for this column to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag please. www.myspace.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 43
snap sn ap
hot damn
PICS :: RR
up all night out all week . . .
12:08:10 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245
PICS :: AM
It’s called: Vamps, Vixens and Dolls - a soiree noir at 34B
14:08:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566
party profile
sfx
Vamps, Vixens and Dolls It looks and sounds like: A seductive night of beguiling burlesque cabaret featuring some of the best performers in the game …anywhere. Performers/ DJs: Lola the Vamp, Tasia, 5-piece The Judy Dolls, Kitty Van Horne, Kira Hula-la, DJ Jack Shit, and MC Francois Bublé. Sell it to us: After a brief winter vacation 34B returns with its most alluring and seductive show yet! Lower your hat, wink at the doorman and make your way through the shadows to the whiskey-drenched glow of 34B. With international burlesque stars, travelling troupes and captivating circus sensations, Vamps, Vixens and Dolls is a veritable who’s-who of the burlesque (under)world. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Smouldering looks, a ravishing all-star cast, the touch of red velvet on your fingers and a warm glow in your heart. Crowd specs: Gentlemen, cads and lady-killers…and of course, vixens, vamps and dolls - from all over the place! Wallet damage: $20 general admission through tenderloins.com.au Where: 34B Burlesque 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst – Q Bar entry.
big whoop
PICS :: AM
When: Saturday August 28, from 8.30pm
teenage kicks
PICS :: RR
13:08:10 :: Melt :: 12 Kellett St, Kings Cross 93806060
club blink
PICS :: RR
12:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
13:08:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566 44 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
) :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER KA :: ANDREW VIDLER BAS A MAJ :: NA HAN ROU E ROSETT
MAR ::
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 45
snap
max sessions: slash
PICS :: AH
up all night out all week . . .
15:08:10 :: Seymour Centre :: City Rd Chippendale 9351 7944
It’s called: Sin-e It sounds like: Intimate independent live music Live acts playing: Nick La Rosa is Maitre de Ceremonie. Ray Mann, Wim, Lanie Lane. Sell it to us: If you would like to know who is who in the emerging live music scene in Australia, it’s all here, every Tuesday. There’s also great food and cocktails. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: That live music never dies...and those cocktails were really delicious. Crowd specs: Kool open-minded creative sound-lovers from every continent. Wallet damage: free at the door Where: Cafe Lounge / 277 Goulburn St / Darlinghurst When: Every Tuesday – 6-10.30pm
whitley
PICS :: RR
party profile
Sin-e
12:08:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711 46 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
presents presents...
TUE CULT SINEMA 17th August 7:30pm
$5 suggested donation
WED
JAGER UPRISING
25th August 7:30pm
w. Veridian + Rattlesnake + Circle + One Jonathon $8 @ door
THU 26th August 7:30pm
Shake That Noise presents
M-PHAZES Album Launch With very special guests Muph, Illy, Spit Syndicate, Delta, Drapht, Phrase, 13th Son, Solo & Nine High $20 + bf
FRI 27th August 7.30pm
Josh Pyke presents
BUSKING FOR CHANGe
*Sold Out*
Performing Live: Josh Pyke + Holly Throsby + Boy & Bear + The Passenger (UK) $20 + bf
SAT 28th August 7.30pm
REVOLUTION ROCK A Joe Strummer Tribute Night With THE DOMNICKS + THE RUMJACKS + THE CITY LIGHTS + MADONNA + THE TEARAWAYS $10 entry
SUN 29th August Midday - 4pm
SCREAMING SUNDAY
All Ages
w. Worst Case Scenario + In This Defence + Cloud Four + Assemble the Empire (vic) + Clare + Drawcard (qld) + Ghosts on Broadway + Aurox $12 door
Early doors 6pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Book a table at WokĘźnĘźRoll in our beer garden!
SUNDAY DRIVE The Last Sunday of Every Month w. YA AHA + SHAKINĘź HOWLS + THE TOURIST + CAMERAS +THE PIXIEKILLS $10 entry with $1 from every ticket going to FBI
COMING UP: CHASE THE SUN | STONE PARADE | CALLING ALL CARS | THE MESS HALL | CANCER BATS | LORD | RAISE THE CRAZY | BILLYGOAT & THE MONGRELS | BARONESS | HELLMEN | DAN KELLY | JONNEINE ZAPATA
3!4 35. AM PM "OOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL ON
0ARRAMATTA 2D !NNANDALE &ULL LIST OF UPCOMING SHOWS INFORMATION AND SHOW BOOKINGS VISIT
WWW ANNANDALEHOTEL COM
YOUR LIVE MUSIC CHANNEL
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 47
I
t’s been two years since the state government made those welcome changes to the NSW Liquor Act, making it a whole lot easier and affordable for smaller Sydney venues to get their hands on a liquor licence. The City of Sydney council got involved too, making their planning restrictions a lot less onerous for small bars - since August 2008, more than 28 new little drinking nooks have popped up in our city. Richard Roberts works for the City of Sydney council, as the business development co-ordinator of laneways and small bars. He and his department have basically been the go-to point for all of your favourite new watering holes. “All international cities need to offer diverse social activities that reflect their character, and are attractive to both locals and visitors,” he told Brag (as we worshiped him and his council shamelessly). “Small bars offer an insight into the local diverse community that’s missing in bigger spaces; people are often friendlier, there’s food available, you can talk and meet people with similar ideas.”
Welcome to The Brag’s new small bars guide! We’re starting it off with a bit of a splash - profiles on some of our favourite little places to chill, each of which are making Sydney a bit more special. Each week we’ll be running a profile or two, a photo or five, and a small bars guide that we hope will grow and grow and grow.
Most European cities have developed their bar culture over centuries, and we’re only two years in so far. But it’s already been a pretty great start. “We’ve already established a number of small bars and many of them are always full – creating exciting, innovative environments that Sydney was lacking only two years ago,” Roberts told us. “Over the next few years I hope these spaces also allow people to exchange ideas and develop a sense of community, which I believe will lead to a more creative city. I’d like to give Sydney a reputation for having one of the most vibrant bar scenes in the world.”
If you want to get in our good books, email listings@thebrag. com; and if you want to wet your whistle, here are a few of our favourites...
...Well hey - we’re here to help, right?
231A Victoria Street, Darlinghurst
13 Burton Street, Surry Hills
THE HOSTS There are three partners involved in The Passage - Andy, Ed and myself, Mark. Andy was previously general manager and licensee of The Fringe Bar in Paddington, and Ed was the venue manager at Kit & Kaboodle. My background is in project management and digital media - so you’re more likely to see me in the back of house pouring over the administrative and financial components of the business, and less likely to be pouring a cocktail!
THE HOSTS Corridor is run by four young and experienced hospitality professionals – Tess Robens (Owner/licensee), Joshua Mitchell (Bar Manager), Ben Joseph (Bar Manager), and Ryan Smith (Head chef). We’ve all been working in hospitality since we could drink, and once the venue for Corridor was found we decided it was time to give Newtown the kind of bar we’d love to drink at. THE PITCH Corridor is a little piece of King Street tucked away between two well-known Newtown watering holes. Although tricky to locate, it’s worth the hassle once you walk through the doors: a beautiful rear deck fitted with hand-built redwood benches, a cheeky little cocktail lounge, and an ever-changing cocktail list and food menu, created by our head chef who has 10 years experience in five star establishments. You’ll be served by Newtown locals who’ve built the bar you sit at, and who’ll make you feel like part of the family before you finish ordering.
THE PITCH We pretty much said to each other, ‘Where’s a place we would like to drink at?’. We wanted to create a space where we had the best of everything - good food, good booze and good tunes. That way you can start and finish the night in the same venue. WHAT’S IN A NAME? ‘The Passage’ means something different to everyone. It could be because the bar has an entrance from two streets, or the fact that you can start at the front of the venue and eventually end up out the back as the night rolls along… Some people think it’s a verse from a good book. We’re prepared to leave it open! LOCATION LOCATION We’re situated on the site of the old L’Otel Bar - we jumped at the chance to have the opportunity to breathe new life into these infamous premises, and reinstate such an iconic establishment. You’ll notice that we kept the old signage out the front - a tip of the cap to our predecessor. DESIGN INSPIRATIONS We all loved the idea of the ‘affluent 80s’; Alan Bond, Christopher Skase, carefree corporate spending and the Ferrari Testarossa. So when it came to the design of the bar, we wanted to mirror the decadence of the period - marble, mirrors, leather and velvet... THE MENU Our signature cocktail is ‘The Passage Martini’ - Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka shaken with Amaro Montenegro, peach liqueur, passionfruit and fresh apple and pineapple juice. Our signature dish would have to be our Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Goats Cheese and Truffle Honey. YOUR LOCAL FAVES? Grasshopper, Eau-de-Vie, Rum Diaries… The small bar culture in Sydney is growing amazingly - every new bar that opens is a step in the right direction.
THE HOSTS Pocket is owned by Karl Schlothauer and Christophe Lehoux - but we’re not the only ones you’ll see down here all the time. There’s Ben Taouss and Stephane “Poco” - and yes, all of them are French except for Karl. We’ve all been in the industry for some time now, ranging from three to twelve years. Karl and Chris met at a place we used to run in the ‘Cross, and from there it just developed to what we have today! THE PITCH We are what we are because we don’t try to sell ourselves too much! A little local venue that does not have have any of the bullshit that goes with all the big venues: who you are, how you dress etc... THE CROWD We have a mixed bag of a crowd, from suits, to your Green Peace activists, to ma and pa. It’s not about the kind of person we attract, more the kind of attitude - if you know what we mean. WHAT’S IN A NAME? ‘Pocket Bar’ was Chris’ creation, and to be frank I’m a little dirty he came up with first. It symbolises us perfectly: tiny and full of goodies. DESIGN INSPIRATIONS We basically built this thing ourselves: we knew exactly what we wanted before we started, and as it took a very long time for it come about with the amount paperwork involved, we refined it down and down and down. Sam Rigoli from Studio R helped us put it all together - Big Trevor was the builder, and we were the apprentices. THE MENU Crepes and cocktails is our thing! HINDSIGHT The waiting game. There is a massive application process, and if you don’t budget for the amount of waiting you have to do before you start building, you can go broke!
48 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
153 King Street, Newtown
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Although the venue’s size and style suits the name Corridor, it was actually named after the bar’s loving local dog. Billy is a golden retriever who’s a little different - he tends to get lost in his own thoughts quite often, which then results in his family asking him what corridor of time he’s in… This resulted in his nickname, Corridor. THE MENU Our wine list offers a selection of stunning wines, and Corridor’s bar-tenders do a wicked sour. As for our food menu, our seafood is something to rave about, fresh from the markets daily and purchased by the head chef himself, so he knows exactly what he’s serving. HINDSIGHT Our biggest challenge was getting attention on a strip that was already well established. We aren’t huge and we won’t ever be making millions of dollars, but we are happy with what we have; a little piece of Newtown. YOUR FAVES? Our favourite spots in Sydney are by far Hive Bar in Erskinville, and of course Shady Pines in Darlinghurst. Both are small bars with friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere. Gotta love a place where you’re greeted with a smile and a great drink.
Lo-Fi photo by Ken Leanfore
On top of all this, Roberts reckons the new bar culture is also generating a better music scene. “Bars are now offering young bands a small venue in which to practice their craft, and the diversity of some of the bands I’ve seen in small bars is amazing! So hopefully a by-product of small bars may be a rebirth of a diverse local live music scene, which again is important in defining a city on the global stage.”
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 49
small bars
Is There A Bar We Should Know About? Email listings@thebrag.com
383 Bourke St Darlinghurst THE HOSTS Introduced to each other by a mutual friend, Bar Manager Eddie De Souza and GM Richie Haines were both drawn into this project because of the venue’s uniqueness and history. Eddie has previously worked at Merivale, Keystone Hospitality and Bar Solutions Asia; Richie looked after the Satchmo Group and the hospitality interests of a private investment company; spanning hotels, restaurants, cafes and small bars. Both of the guys share a passion for music, art and great drinks, and are seriously excited about this venture. THE PITCH LO-FI perfectly meshes art, music, great drinks and outstanding service in a stripped back, unpretentious and creative space. We’ve come pretty damn close to creating a place that represents our passions, and who we are as people. We’re human, and we’ve made a place for humans - it’s comfortable and easy to relate to, a true living room. We’ve handpicked the cool cats working the bar and the floor because they are not only outstanding professionals, but also understand and love what it is that we’re doing. THE CROWD Artists, musos, their friends - anyone who appreciates these things. If you had to pick a label it would be ‘Surry Hills creative types’. WHAT’S IN A NAME? ‘LO-FI’ is a distillation of everything that we’re doing. It grounds us in music; it’s a tribute to the unpolished stripped-back space that we’ve created; it’s indie; and it’s an homage to the street art that lines the walls.
DESIGN INSPIRATIONS If you wanted to use wanky design speak you would say ‘New York warehouse with an industrial slant’; but it’s all in the name – LO-FI. The building itself is such a beautiful canvas, and that’s what we’ve portrayed by stripping it back to its raw elements of brick and timber. Then one of our mates came along with a crazy idea to rip the ceiling out.... so we did. THE MENU Our signature drink is ‘The Arrogant Rockstar’ – Madagascan vanilla syrup, pressed pineapple and lemon and a handful of mint mixed with Hennessey VS and Licor 43. Delicious.
Photos by Ken Leanfore
LOCATION LOCATION Originally it was the headquarters of Charles Kinsela, undertaker, from 1933 to
1982. There are rumours of a tunnel that ran from under the morgue to behind the courthouse, used for efficient transport of hanged prisoners. Then it was a fine dining bistro, run by none other than Tony Bilson and his apprentice – Tetsuya Wakuda. Through the late ‘80s and ‘90s the building grew to become a hub of local nightlife in various guises… This building is a sleeping giant that was owed a renaissance.
50 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
music / bar / tapas
Leave the kids to the Cross, come play with grown ups
16 Wentworth Avenue Surry Hills NSW 2010 info@tone.net.au (02) 9267 6440 tone.net.au facebook.com/tonesydney
For band/artist and booking enquires please contact ben@tone.net.au BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 51
small bars guide Smaller Than Your Average Hordern Pavilion...
SUMPTUOUS
KATIE NOONAN WITH CHAMBER STRING ORCHESTRA
THE BRAG’S GUIDE TO SYDNEY’S BEST NOOKS SYDNEY CITY Alira Shop 120, 26 -32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont Wednesdays: Paella & glass of wine, $25 Firefly 17 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay The Grasshopper Bar & Café Temperance Lane, Sydney CBD Small Bar 48 Erskine Street, Sydney CBD Monday – Thursday, 12pm – 3pm: main meal, with glass of wine/beer, $20 Verandah Bar 55 – 65 Elizabeth St, Sydney CBD Tuesdays 12pm – 9pm: $9 Schnitzel
INNER WEST Berkelouw Wine Bar 70 Norton Street, Leichhardt Friday 3pm – 8pm: 2 for 1 sparkling wine Bloodwood 416 King St, Newtown Corridor 153a King Street, Newtown Monday – Friday, 5pm - 7pm: $9 Mojitos Wednesday: Mexican night, bowl of soup, turkish bread and a glass of red, $12 Different Drummer 185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Daily, 6pm – 7:30pm: Cocktail ‘Happy Hour And-A-Half’ The Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville Monday - Thursday: Any pizza with a free glass of wine or E’ville pilsner, $12 Kuleto’s 157 King Street, Newtown Saturday 6pm-7pm: 2 for 1 Cocktails Madame Fling Flong Level 1, 169 King St, Newtown Tuesday: Movie deal - mezze plate for one and a glass of wine/beer with film, $20
INNER EAST Absinthe Salon 87 Albion St, Surry Hills Boteco 421 Cleveland St, Surry Hills Café Lounge 277 Goulburn Street, Darlinghurst Tuesdays, 6:30pm: Sin-e with live music, $5.50 champagne cocktails, free entry The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst Thursdays, 8pm: jazz, free entry Ching-A-Lings 133 Oxford St, Surry Hills Doctor Pong 1a Burton Street, Darlinghurst Sundays: Grand Royal Roast, $19 with DJs, mulled wine and fire place Eau de Vie 229 Darlinghurst Road, Darlinghurst
Your bar’s not here? We’ve missed something? Email listings@thebrag.com! The Falconer 31 Oxford St, Surry Hills Fringe Bar 106 Oxford St, Paddington Tuesdays, 7:15pm: Trivia Thursdays 6-9pm: All you can eat pizza Sundays: Lounge Olympics - table tennis, foosball, giant Jenga, UNO & Connect Four Thursdays 9-11pm: $8 cocktails Low 302 302 Crown St, Surry Hills Name This Bar 197 Oxford St, Paddington Daily 4pm – 7pm: $4 Tap Beers, $5 Dumpling Boxes, $6 Mojoitos The Passage 231a Victoria St, Darlinghurst Pocket Bar 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst Monday: ‘Pocket Change’ - $10 Crepes Toko 490 Crown St, Surry Hills Velluto 7 / 50 Macleay Street, Potts Point Saturday & Sunday, 2pm-5pm: High Tea Yullis 417 Crown St, Surry Hills
EAST Mocean 34A Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach Ravesi’s Corner of Campbell Pde & Hall St, Bondi Beach Until August 31: Winter Magic Specials, $36 two course menu The Rum Diaries 288 Bondi Road, Bondi Mondays: live acoustic sets, $5 house wine, $5 Coopers, $5 wedges White Revolver Cnr of Curlewis & Campbell Pde, Bondi Beach Speakeasy Bar 83 Curlewis Street, Bondi Beach Until October 20: ‘The Speaker’s Table’ - a desk harbouring the works of writers.
NORTH Firefly Lodge 24 Burns Bay Rd, Lane Cove Firefly 24 Young St, Neutral Bay Miss Marley’s Tequila Bar 32 Belgrave St, Manly Small Bar 85 Willoughby Rd, North Sydney
brag TH
EK
OF
bar E W
E
‘HERE IS A RARE TALENT WITH A VOICE OF EXTRAORDINARY BEAUTY AND VERSATILITY.’ THE AUSTRALIAN
31 OCT
OPERA THEATRE, 7PM TICKETS FROM $40*
<ZIV[IK\QWV NMM WN IXXTQM[ \W ITT JWWSQVO[
0MIZ \PM NI^W]ZQ\M [WVO[ KPW[MV Ja W]Z NI^W]ZQ\M [WVO[\ZM[[# NZWU OMWZOM¼[ 8WTa[MZMVI \W PMZ ITJ]U[ ;SQV -TQ`QZ IVL -UXMZWZ¼[ *W` *MI]\QN]TTa IZZIVOML NWZ I XQMKM [\ZQVO WZKPM[\ZI \PQ[ Q[ I \Z]Ta []UX\]W][ 3I\QM 6WWVIV M`XMZQMVKM
02 9250 7777 SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM 52 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Temperance Lane, Sydney CBD Grasshopper is tucked into a lane that even your iPhone can’t find, but is one of the most delightful little venues on offer in Sydney. Run by Martin O Sullivan (who answered our questions), his partner Belinda Lai, the bar manager John Toubia and head chef Richard Duff, it offers all the homeliest of trimmings – mismatched furniture, tasteful tunes, fancy food and drinks in jars. It’s closed on the weekends for private functions, but perfect for a mid-week, after-work bevvy. Why do you think a small bar culture is important to Sydney? It brings change, new ideas and fresh faces into the industry. We’re all essentially small business owners who care about our products and our customers. Sydney’s needed this change - customers are embracing it and with the continued support of the Council, the city’s drinking culture will change for the better, too. What other changes need to be made? This is easy! Councils across Sydney should adopt Clover Moore and the City of Sydney’s attitude towards small bars and businesses - and landlords need to realise that a bin ridden alleyway or basement isn’t worth $2000+ a week...
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 53
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week Oh Mercy
FRIDAY AUGUST 27
Oh Mercy, Kieran Ryan, Georgia Fair, Kimbra Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm MONDAY AUGUST 23 ROCK & POP
Sarah Paton The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Singer Songwriter Night Vic on the Park Hotel, Marrickville $5 8pm The Jam Thing Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 8pm Unherd Open Mic: Derkajam Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Wellsy’s Music Club Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm
JAZZ
Chris Botti (USA), Mark Sholtez The Basement, Circular Quay $73.95 (presale) 7pm Farfinkel Pugowski 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Olivia Pipitone Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Open Mic & Jazz/Latin Jam Session: Daniel Falero, Pierre Della Putta, Phil Taig, Rinske Geerlings, Ed Rapo Bar Me, Potts Point free 7pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Songsalive!: Phil Cole, In Grace and Glory, Eddie Boyd, Under The Purple Tree Springwood Sports Club free 7pm Songsalive!: Sam Newton, Big Erle, Willow Jones, Jasmine Crittenden, Chelsea Gibson, Salome Cerda-Vargas, Rachel Eldon Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm Songwriter Sessions Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills free 7.30pm
COUNTRY
Camden Valley Country Music Club Hope Christian School, Narellan free 7pm
TUESDAY AUGUST 24 ROCK & POP
Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Cambo O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Chris Klondike Masuak & The North Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Mick & Josh Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Mr Percival Raval, Surry Hills $20 (+ bf) 8pm Open Mic Night Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle free 7pm Phil Spiller Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm The Danny John Trio, Three Wise Monkeys Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 7pm
JAZZ
Chris Botti (USA), Mark Sholtez The Basement, Circular Quay $73.95 (presale) 7pm Chuck Yates Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 8.30pm Continuum Sax, Match Percussion, Natsuko Yoshimoto, Roland Peelman
Eugene Goossens Hall, Ultimo $20 (conc)–$30 8pm Delilah, The Bob Gebert Trio Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Tuesday Night Live: Lovers Jump Creek, Luke Cleland Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25 ROCK & POP
Angus & Julia Stone, Luluc Civic Theatre, Civic Precinct Newcastle $56 (+ bf) 8pm Betty Dargie, Neil Hanson Workers Blacktown $12–$15 8pm Dave White & Luke Dixon Dee Why Hotel free 8pm Diana Anaid, Monique Brumby Brass Monkey, Cronulla $17.85 (presale) 7pm Dirty Little Secret Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm Fur Burka Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Jager Uprising: Veridan, Rattlesnake, Circle, One Jonathan Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Jam Nights Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 7pm JP O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Hosting A Night of Karaoke: Laura Imbruglia Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm
Live n Local Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $13.50 7pm Mandi Jarry Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Me Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Mike Bennett The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Muso Jam Night Live at the Wall, Leichhardt free Open Mic Night Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Panic Research Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle 8pm Sideshow: The Snowdroppers, Jack Nasty Face Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm The Liberators Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm The Paper Mill Fundraiser: The Paper Scissors, Bird Automatic, Eye to Eye, Lucy Hall Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf)–$18 (at door) 7.30pm The Study: Jess Chalker, Scott Mellis, Hey Big Aki Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 7pm The Supreme Motown Show Rooty Hill RSL Club 8pm Two Minds Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm XQuabed, The Side Tracked Fiasco, Rockethead Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $8 8pm YourSpace Muso Showcase Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm
JAZZ
Casey Golden Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Darryl Beaton Band Civic Underground, Sydney free 9pm Geoff Achison, Jeremy Edwards The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 6.30pm Jazzgroove: Arrow, Jane Irving The Basement, Circular Quay $15 8pm John Redmond Trio The Manhattan Lounge, Sydney free 6.45pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Rhys Zacher, Melody Pool, Colin Jones The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Salsa Lounge: Afrocuban Latin Jazz Collective Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Songsalive!: TAOS and guests Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Songwriters & Open Mic: April Sky, Elle Vierboom, Helmut
Uhlmann Mars Hill Café, Parramatta free 7pm
THURSDAY AUGUST 26 ROCK & POP
6s & 7s, Traps, Des Miller Melt Bar, Kings Cross 8pm Aeons, Misère (Bris), idea idea Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross $10 Albert Lee (UK), O’Neill & Rodgers The Basement, Circular Quay $42 (+ bf)–$48 (at door) 9.30pm Angus & Julia Stone, Luluc Enmore Theatre $56.60 (+ bf) 7.30pm Anubis, Buzzard, The Lander Configurations, Pipe Dreamer Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Brassick Mattara Hotel, Newcastle free 12.30pm Calabro, Keep & Foxe Brass Monkey, Cronulla $19.90 (presale) 7pm Coby & The Remedy Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour free 8pm Crushed Ice Camden Valley Golf Resort, Catherine Field free 6.30pm Firehouse, Upright I & I-Ron The Loft, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo free 6pm Freshly Cut: The Laurels, Dark Bells, Zeahorse Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 8pm Funk Party Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Genevieve Chadwick Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle 8pm Hot Damn!: Northlane, Rise For November, City Lights Fade, The City In Motion Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10–$12 8pm Jim Gannon Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Johnathon Devoy Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Morning Melodies: Wayne Horsburgh Penrith RSL $6 10.30am Nhomea Tape Party: Nhomea, Pure Evil Heavy Industries, Defektro, Dead China Doll, Dora Maar, Silver Moon Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free 8pm Octopus’ Garden: Rabble Rabble, The Smoking Ponies, Junk, Greg Perano Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $7 (+ bf) 8pm Ricky Lynch Windang Bowling Club free 8pm
Angus & Julia Stone
“Slice my wrist and spill it on the music of Phazes” PEGZ – M-PHAZES 54 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
Presented by Pres
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com Sketch The Rhyme, Reyes De La Onda Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Smoke & Silver Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Stryper (USA), Devine Electric Metro Theatre, Sydney $73.50 8pm The Dyno-Mics Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm The Final Nightmare: Scary Kids Scaring Kids (USA), Mod Sun, The Mission In Motion, We Are The Emergency Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West 7pm The Suspects Marble Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Up Late With Jim Shirlaw: Whores, The Hacks Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 11pm White Bros New Brighton Hotel, Manly free 10pm - late Wollongong Uni Band Comp: Paper Moon Uni Bar, Wollongong University, Gwynneville 7pm Zoe K Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm
JAZZ
Bondi Blues Jam: Greg Nunan BB’s - Bar Bondi, Bondi Beach free 8pm Colbourne Ave: Barney Wakeford Trio Cafe Church, Glebe $10–$20 7pm Espirito 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm Funkquarter Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm Jazz: Cool For School: James Muller Trio, Steve Hunter: The Translators The Sound Lounge, Seymour
TUE 24 AUG
Centre, Chippendale $17.50 12pm Muso’s Club Jam Night: Jim Finn, Al Britton Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Ross Ward GJ’s Coffee Louge, Cronulla free 6pm Sally Polihronas The Vanguard, Newtown $16.20 (+ bf) 6.30pm Steve Edmonds Band Amber Ale Hotel, Annandale free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Dennis Aubrey’s Songwriters Night @Newtown RSL free 7pm Bliss n Eso Songsalive!: Andrew Denniston and guests Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale free 7.30pm Songsalive!: Pedro’s Epiphany, Carolyn Woodorth, Nick Woodorth, Russell Neal Pennant Hills Inn free 8pm Songsalive!: Under the Purple Tree and guests Henry Lawson Club, Werrington County free 7.30pm
HIP HOP
M-Phazes, Drapht, Muph, Illy, Mantra, Nine High, Spit Syndicate, Solo, 13th Son, Dialectrix, Mase Mattic, Dutch Annandale Hotel $20 8pm
COUNTRY
The McClymonts, Harmony James Dee Why RSL, Auditorium $32 8pm
FRIDAY AUGUST 27 ROCK & POP
2 Of Hearts Padstow RSL Club free 8pm Akinga St Marys Leagues Club free 9pm Alan Barnes Heathcote Hotel free 8.30pm Angus & Julia Stone, Luluc Enmore Theatre $56.60 (+ bf) 7.30pm BhangLassi, Sooners Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Big Scary, Adrian Deutsch The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 6.30pm Bon Jovi Show Penrith RSL $12 (member)–$15 8pm Brett O’Malley, Mandy Shamin Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Brown Sugar Marble Bar, Sydney free 9.30pm Busking For Change: Josh Pyke, Holly Throsby, Boy & Bear Annandale Hotel $35 8pm Cash Only St Georges Basin Country Club, Sanctuary Point $8 10am Chris Byrne Duo Iron Horse Inn, Cardiff free 6.30pm Club Blink: Rise For November, The Eradicated, Sundacy Agincourt Hotel. Ultimo $12 Cross City Traffic Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor free 7.45pm Damien Leith Brass Monkey, Cronulla $39.80 (presale) 7pm Daredevil, Buzzard, Hell Crab City, Birdmouth Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $10– $12 8pm Diana Anaid, Monique Brumby Notes Live, Enmore $17.85 (presale) 7pm
ROCK-STEIN
WED D 25 AUG
25 Aug
FREE ENTRY
SCOTT MELLIS + JESS CHALKER + HEY BIG AKI
SAT 28 AUG
26 Aug
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
fri
27
THE LAURELS + ZEAHORSE + DARK BELLS
Aug
(5:00PM - 8:00PM)
SLIMEY THINGS + PIRATE + CAPTAIN KICKARSE & THE AWESOMES + JIMMY SWOUSE + TOY DEATH SYDNEY ROLLER DERBY LEAGUE PARTY
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sat
28 Aug
HORRORSHOW
SAT 04 AUG
RICHARD DURAND
FRI 10 SEP
(9:15PM - 1:00AM)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
sun
SATURDAY NIGHT
LUST + MORE (9:00PM - 12:00AM)
COMING SOON FRI 03 SEP
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
SPACE PROM 3000 FRI 27 AUG
free 10.30pm MUM: Live: Sister Jane, Only The Sea Slugs, Violet Pulp, The Priory Dolls, Mother and Father, Monks Of Mellonwah, Orca! Straight Ahead!, God Rest The Good Doctor, DJs: Dave Dappled (Dappled Cities), Walkie Talkie, Jack Shit, Alvin, Animal Chin, Swim Team DJs, Wet Lungs, FiFiDoesDiDi, Kapow,10th Avenue, 16 Tacos The World Bar, Kings Cross $10 (guestlist)–$15 8pm Oh Mercy, Kieran Ryan, Georgia Fair, Kimbra Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm Original Sin INXS Show Campbelltown Catholic Club $5 7.15pm Overload Warners Bay Hotel free 9pm Purple Sneakers: DJ Matt Van Schie, Nick Findlay, Monkey Genius, Kid n Bird, LaRusso,
wed
FREE RADAR RADIO + theLBLM.com presents FRESHLY CUT ENTRY
THU 26 AUG
Double Trouble Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 8pm Hooray For Everything Keller Lounge, St Marys Band Club free 8pm Idol Karaoke Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Jack Derwin Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 7.30pm Jamie Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free 7.30pm Jimmy Bazil, Project XIX, Pete Akhurst, Danny Ross Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle 8pm Lord Oxford Tavern, Wollongong 8pm Milestones Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Misbehave MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle
FREE ENTRY
MUSIC TRIVIA ft MC JAKE GRIGG THE STUDY presents
Josh Pyke
29 Aug
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
TRASHED MILF
WWW.THEGAELIC.COM EVENT EVENT &&FUNCTION FUNCTIONBOOKINGS: BOOKINGS: clayton@selectmusic.com.au danielle@thegaelic.com BAND BANDBOOKINGS: BOOKINGS:clayton@selectmusic.com.au clayton@selectmusic.com.au
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 55
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
Wacks, Girls Gone Wrong Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale free–$12 7pm RoadHouse Rockers Wallsend Bowling Club free 8.30pm Rob Henry Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Space Prom 3000: Slimey Things, Captain Kickarse & the Awesomes, Pirate, Jimmy Swouse & The Angry Darts, Toydeath, Jay Katz, DJ Ghetto Blaster Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm Spectrum Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $30 (show only) 7pm Stone Cold Sober Warilla Bowling Club, Barrack Heights free 8pm The Amity Affliction Centenary Hall, Albion Park $23.50 6pm The Australian Red Hot Chili Peppers Show Beresfield Bowling Club free 9pm The Bad & The Ugly Mattara Hotel, Newcastle free 8pm The Dusty Springfield Show: Sheena Crouch Western Suburbs Leagues Club, New Lambton $29 (member)–$34 7.45pm The Johnnys, The Groove Yard, The Party Bores Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills 8pm The Led Zeppelin Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm The Radiators Windsor RSL, South Windsor $20 8pm The Rebel Rousers Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi free 7.30pm The Sydney Trade Union Club Revival #2 with The Johnnys, Grooveyard, The Party Bores Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $20 8pm The Urge Kent Hotel, Hamilton free 10pm The V Dubs The Shaft Tavern, Elermore Vale free 8.30pm triple j Magazine Party: Midnight Juggernauts DJs, Flight Facilities DJs, Cloud Control DJs, Dappled Cities DJs, DJ Zan Rowe, Tom Ballard, Dom Alessio, Tom Tilley, Lewis McKirdy The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm Viagra Falls Fire Station Hotel, Wallsend free 8.30pm
JAZZ
19twenty Vault 146, Windsor free 7pm Bridge City Jazz Band Club Ashfield free 7.30pm Bruce Mathiske Clarendon Guest House, Katoomba $35 (+ bf) 8pm Full Swing Quartet Lane Cove Golf & Country Club,
Northwood free 7.30pm James Morrison, Emma Pask The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf)–$28 (at door) 9.30pm Jive Bombers Brighton-Le-Sands Amateur Fishing Club free 8pm Lanie Lane, The Half Nelson, Gilbert Whyte The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Oscar Jiminez, Shinola Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Pianoman Cruise Restaurant, The Rocks free 10pm Sean McKenzie 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm SIMA: Steve Hunter Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $12 (member)–$18 8.30pm Steve Garry Camelia Grove Hotel, Alexandria free 7.30pm The Continental Blues Trio The Funky Deli Cafe, Newtown free 7pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Adam Roycroft, DJ Black Jade Tavern, Haymarket free 7pm Songsalive!: Bevan Wiles, James Stewart Keene, Andrew Denniston and guests Ryans Hotel, Thirroul free 8.30pm Songsalive!: Russell Neal, Morgan & Neil and guests Casa di Musica, Enmore free 7.30pm Zoltan Revesby Workers Club free 9pm
HIP-HOP
Dust Tones: Grrilla Step, Percussion Junction, Bentley Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm M-Phazes, Drapht, Muph, Illy, Mantra, Nine High, Dialectrix, Mase Mattic, Dutch University of Wollongong, Gwynneville $15 9pm
SATURDAY AUGUST 28 ROCK & POP
The Amity Affliction Masonic Hall, Blacktown $23.50 6pm Andrew Williams Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 4pm Angus & Julia Stone, Luluc Enmore Theatre $56.60 (+ bf) 7.30pm Anna Salleh’s Bossa Boots Astral Bar, Star City, Pyrmont free 6pm
Blind Dogs Lick Catherine Hill Bay Hotel free 1.30pm Casey Donovan Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $30 7.30pm Chikarma, Nova & the Experience, Corduroy Pillow, Grace Turner Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Coby & The Remedy, Soul Nights Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour free 7pm Cyber Crystals Blackbutt Hotel, New Lambton free 8.45pm Damien Leith Brass Monkey, Cronulla $39.80 (presale) 7pm David Helfgott City Recital Hall, Sydney $69 8pm Diana Anaid, Monique Brumby Grand Hotel, Newcastle $15 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) 8pm Elvis to the Max: Max Pellicano Workers Blacktown 8pm Funkstar Marble Bar, Sydney free 10.30pm Gold Cadillac, Johnny Green’s Blues Cowboys Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Granite Revolution Royal Inn Hotel, Waratah free 8pm Hornet MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle free 10.30pm Hot Gossip Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West 8.30pm Karaoke Lake Macquarie Tavern, Mount Hutton free 7.30pm Lisa Crouch, Dig This St Marys Leagues Club free 9pm Lonnie Lee & the Leemen Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $38 (show only)–$78 (dinner & show) 7pm Luke Escombe Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 7.30pm Mark Lee Duke of Wellington Hotel, New Lambton free 8.30pm Mental As Anything Pittwater RSL Club, Mona Vale $20 (member)–$25 8pm Millennium Bug Penrith RSL free 9pm Papa Vs Pretty, Sierra Fin, Loon Lake Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10–$16 (incl CD) 8pm Pop Fiction Castle Hill RSL Club free 10pm Red Alert Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi free 7.30pm Revolution Rock: A Joe Strummer Tribute Night: The Dominicks, The Rumjacks, The City Lights, Madonna [Melb], The Tearaways Annandale Hotel $23 8pm Rubicon Hotel Delany, Newcastle free 9pm Satellite V, Grizzly Adams Ashfield RSL Club free 8.30pm Papa Vs Pretty
Saturday Night Live: Kickstar Oatley Hotel Free 8pm SFX: Worst Case Scenario, Assemble The Empire, Drawcard St James Hotel, Sydney $12 Sinatra & Friends Revesby Workers Club $5 (member)–$10 8pm Solid Gold Iron Horse Inn, Cardiff free 9pm Spy Vs Spy Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 10pm Stewart Nestel, Maxine Kauter Roxbury Room, The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $10 8pm The Johnnys, The Groove Yard, The Party Bores Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills 8pm The Playtapes, Jennifer Young, Chantal Rawson The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm The Re-Chords, Wes Pudsey & the Sonic Aces, Danny & The Cosmic Tremors, Pat Capocci, Rockin’ Marc Rondeau, Rod Almighty Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $15 8pm The Rebel Rousers Keller Lounge, St Marys Band Club free 9pm The Supreme Motown Show Dural Country Club $25 (member)–$27 8pm The Sydney Trade Union Club Revival #2 with The Johnnys, Grooveyard, The Party Bores Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $20 8pm The Waves Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Tin Alley Home Terrace, Sydney $10 11.30pm Trash: Wings Of Icarus, Still Water Claims, Villa Rise, Remains The Day Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo $10 (guestlist)–$12 9pm Troy MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle free 8pm Velvet Hotel Brighton RSL Club, Brighton-LeSands free 8pm Vamps, Vixens and Dolls: Lola the Vamp, Tasia, 5-piece The Judy Dolls, Kitty Van Horne, Kira Hula-la, DJ Jack Shit, and MC Francois Bublé 34B Burlesque 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst $20 8:30pm
JAZZ
A Night At the Jazz Rooms: Grrilla Step, SambaFrog, Russ Dewbury (UK) The Basement, Circular Quay $23 (+ bf)–$28 (at door) 9pm Bobby Gebert Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm Cafe of the Gate of Salvation Notes Live, Enmore $20 (conc)– $25 7.30pm Newcastle Jazz Festival: Jive Bombers Newcastle City Hall 7.30pm Pianoman Cruise Restaurant, The Rocks free 10pm SIMA: Virna Sanzone & Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $12 (member)–$18 8.30pm Sugar & Soul: Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly, Ross Middleton Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm The Hungry Mile Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Tice & Evans, Kaki Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Paul Furniss, Laurie Bennett Newcastle Jazz Festival, Newcastle free 12.45pm and 4.15pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Cafe Carnivale: Papalote, Stole & the Black Train Band Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville $16 (conc)–$20 8pm Israel Cannan, Lanie Lane, Mardi Pannan The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 6.30pm Jimmy Mullarkey Ceili Band Irish Gaelic Club, Surry Hills $10– 56 :: BRAG :: 376 : 23:08:10
$15 7.30pm Songsalive!: Russell Neal and guests Grumpy’s Inn, Hurlstone Park free 8pm The Troubadour Folk & Acoustic Music Club: Buck & Deanne CWA Hall, Woy Woy $7 (conc)–$10 7pm Tim Shaw Revesby Workers Club free 9.30pm
HIP-HOP
M-Phazes, Drapht, Muph, Illy, Mantra, Nine High, Dialectrix, Mase Mattic, Dutch Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $20 9pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 29 ROCK & POP
Big Red Rockets, Dave & The Demons Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Blues Sunday Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 7.30pm Carra Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Casey Donovan Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $25 7.30pm Cash Only Wollongong RSL Bowling Club, Figtree $10 4pm Chris Haskett, Blackie, Bow Campbell Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Dave Agius Harbord Beach Hotel free 6pm Elvis To The Max North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $45 7.30pm Fifties Fair: The Velvet Set, The Re-Chords Rose Seidler House, Wahroonga $15–$20 10am Irish Sundaze: The Bad Penguins P.J. O’Brien’s, Sydney free 5pm Kirsty Larkin Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free 5pm Klassic Blak Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong Beach free 2pm Mandi Jarry Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 3pm Murray Hillbillies Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free 4.30pm Nicky Kurta Dee Why Hotel free 3.30pm Sunday Drive: Ya-Aha, The Pixiekills, Cameras, The Shakin Howls, Tourist Annandale Hotel $10 8pm The Amity Affliction Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong $23.50 6pm The Cat Empire, Clairy Baby Browne & The Bangin Rackettes, Mama Kin Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $62.50 (+ bf) 6.30pm The Rubber Bullet Blues Explosion Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow free 4.30pm The V Dubs Gunyah Hotel, Belmont free 4pm Toca Jorge Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 6pm
JAZZ
Bill Dudley’s New Orleanians Norfolk Hotel, Redfern free 5pm Didi Mudigdo Libiamo, Pyrmont free 7.30pm Galapagos Duck, Scrim, Epping Boys’ High, Northmead High Experiment Farm Cottage, Parramatta $28 11.30am Ginhouse Blues Band Heathcote Hotel free 5pm Janet Seidel Trio Rocksalt, Menai free 12pm Jazz on East: Cady Redford Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle 4pm Martini Club, Johnny Gleeson Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
gig picks
The Cat Empire
Busking For Change: Josh Pyke, Holly Throsby, Boy & Bear Annandale Hotel $35 8pm Space Prom 3000: Slimey Things, Captain Kickarse & the Awesomes, Pirate, Jimmy Swouse & The Angry Darts, Toydeath, Jay Katz, DJ Ghetto Blaster Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm
SATURDAY AUGUST 28
The Paper Scissors Sydney Blues Society Blues Jam: The Chris Harland Blues Band, Sydney Blues Society Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 6pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Ben Jones, Alan Gilbert Cronulla RSL free 12pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Acoustic Sets: Anthony Hughes Oatley Hotel Free 1pm Francesca Sidoti, Annie McKinnon Notes Live, Enmore $21.50 (presale) 7pm Kim Sanders & Friends Qirkz @ 103, Marrickville $20
(conc)–$25 7pm Songsalive!: Rubicon Rising, Ben Osmo, Shane Coombe, Russell Neal Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 2pm Wendy Suiter, Michael Barkl, Stephen Ingham, Michael Dixon, Martin Weley-Smith Recital Hall West, Sydney Conservatorium of Music $10–$30 3pm
COUNTRY
Belrose Country Music Club Belrose Bowling Club free 2pm The McClymonts Campbelltown RSL $32 2.30pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25 The Paper Mill Fundraiser: The Paper Scissors, Bird Automatic, Eye to Eye, Lucy Hall Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf)–$18 (at door) 7.30pm
Freshly Cut: The Laurels, Dark Bells, Zeahorse Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 8pm M-Phazes, Drapht, Muph, Illy, Mantra, Nine High, Spit Syndicate, Solo, 13th Son, Dialectrix, Mase Mattic, Dutch Annandale Hotel $20 8pm
THURSDAY AUGUST 26
FRIDAY AUGUST 27
6s & 7s, Traps, Des Miller Melt Bar, Kings Cross 8pm
Big Scary, Adrian Deutsch The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 6.30pm
Papa Vs Pretty, Sierra Fin, Loon Lake Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10–$16 (incl CD) 8pm Vamps, Vixens and Dolls: Lola the Vamp, Tasia, 5-piece The Judy Dolls, Kitty Van Horne, Kira Hula-la, DJ Jack Shit, and MC Francois Bublé 34B Burlesque 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst $20 8:30pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 29
Sunday Drive: Ya-Aha, The Pixiekills, Cameras, The Shakin Howls, Tourist Annandale Hotel $10 8pm The Cat Empire, Clairy Baby Browne & The Bangin Rackettes, Mama Kin Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $62.50 (+ bf) 6.30pm
AUGUST
27 FRIDAY
MATT VAN SCHIE
NICK FINDLAY . BENLUCID MONKEY GENIUS . RUSSO GIRLS GONE WRONG
JAMAICA
NO PROBLEM
GIVEAWAYS COURTESY OF SHOCK
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 57
club guide club pick of the week HOOPS
FRIDAY AUGUST 27
Krumper from Grrilla Step
Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Dust Tones: Grrilla Step, Percussion Junction, Bentley 8pm free
MONDAY AUGUST 23 202 Broadway, Chippendale Hospitality Crew free Empire Hotel, Potts Point Bazaar HBK, I Low free One World Sport, Parramatta Ricky Ro free Soho, Kings Cross Comedown free The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Mondays James Rawson (live), Kavi-R free V Bar, Sydney Monday Mambo Mambo G $5–$10 World Bar, Kings Cross Mondays at World Bar Ooh Face, Hot Carl and friends free
TUESDAY AUGUST 24 Xxx Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DCE Salsa Lessons $20 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJs Willie Sabor and Guests free
Space is the Place, Void free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool After School Detention DJ Rangi, Mac, K-Note MC Buddy Love free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DJ Dwight ‘Chocolate’ Escobar free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown Brett Hunt free Dug Out Bar, Burdekin Hotel Speakeasy Magda, Dave Fernandes Empire Hotel, Potts Point Episodes DJ Schoder, Wanted, Zahra, Jason K, Johar free Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta Da Bomb with DJ Fresh free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Funk Quarter Phil Hudson, Phil Toke, Dave 54, Michael Wheatley free Home Terrace, Darling Harbour Unipackers Rnb, Top 40, Electro $5 Judgement Bar, Taylor Square Judgement Night. Sex Worker & Ymerej, weekly guests free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst Simon Alexander free Mansions, Kings Cross Van Sereno and Cavan Te live on rotation free Martin Place Bar, Martin Place Thursdays at MPB Louis M free Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn! DJ Sarah Spandex, Mark C, Heart Attack $10–$12 Sapphire Suite, Kings Cross Flaunt Nacho Pop, Diaz, Eko, Tom Piper, R-Son, Zero Cool free Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney The Social Club Beth Yen free The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Random Soul free The Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction Sneaker Husky, Ant Best Shy, Travis Hale, Dave Rizzle, Yogi free The Rouge, Darlinghurst Chaos! Murray Lake $10 Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour Caramel free World Bar, Kings Cross Teenage Kicks The Shake Up (live), DJs Mick Jones, Johnny Segment, Urby and Sarah Jonestown Massacre free
FRIDAY AUGUST 27
DJ Dexter
Martin Place Bar, Sydney Louis M, Sammy free Oatley Hotel Suburban Alternative DJ Mini Mullet Opera Bar, Circular Quay DJ Jack Shit free The Gaff, Darlinghurst Coyote Tuesday Kid Finley, Pee Wee Pete free–$5 World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, DJs Shipwreck, Daigo and Gatsby free
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 25 Bank Hotel, Newtown Girls’ Night DJ Playmate free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Rockstar free Establishment, Sydney Mid Week Hurdle Nic Phillips, Craig Patterson free Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta DJ Fresh free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Salsa Lounge Latin Mafia Sound System free
Q Bar, Darlinghurst Paradise City Ronnie Rocker, El Mariachi Sly Fox, Enmore Queer Central Sveta, DJ Beth, DJ Bel free The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Bo Funk & Liam Sampras free The Eastern, Bondi Junction John Glover, Tenzin, Here’s Trouble, Cassian, U-Go-B, Steve Frank, Mistah Cee, Kavi-R free The Gaff, Darlinghurst New Generation Franny, Alex, Triky, Electroholics, Con-x-ion, Psygnosis, Calico, Kermy, Deceptikon free The Lincoln, Kings Cross Kareem the DJ free (guestlist) The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Battery Operated DJ Matt Hoare free
THURSDAY AUGUST 26 Annandale Hotel, Annandale M-Phazes Album Launch M-Phazes and special guests $20 8pm 202 Broadway, Chippendale Basic Foreign Dub, Headroom,
Bank Hotel, Newtown Absolut Fridays Boogaloo Crew, DJ Abel, Mike McGrath free 202, Broadway Old Skool Jungle ALF, Social Deviant, Munk, Lucian Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Dust Tones Grrilla Step, Percussion Junction, Bentley 8pm free Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Liquid Sky Kyro & Bomber, Sohda, Knocked Up Noise, D.U.I, Bass Thiefs $10/$15 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Symmetry Chris Combe, Defined By Rhythm, Nick!, Dirty D & Ahab, Brain Matters, Dave Winnell, Athson, R!M!E $15 all night Civic Undergound, Sydney Plus One Holger Zilske (DE) Matttt & Tomass, YokoO, Matt Weir, Aureal $20 Collector Hotel, Parramatta Corner Shop Tikelz, DJ Browski, J Lyrikz, Naughty, Gunz free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Johnny Vinyl, Strike free Dug Out Bar, Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Co.Deep Whitey, Fire, Lucian, 40Love, Vicious, Quotient free Establishment Hotel Carnival La Fiesta Sound System and Special Guest DJs all night free Fanny’s of Newcastle Gangster Party $15 (presale)–$20 (at door) Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Purple Sneakers DJ Matt Van Schie, Nick Findlay, Monkey Genius, Kid n Bird, LaRusso, Wacks, Girls Gone Wrong $12 Goldfish, Kings Cross Sugar & Soul Phil Hudson, Paul Hatz, Agey, Danny De Sousa, Matt
Cahill, Tom Kelly free Home The Venue, Darling Harbour Sencity bluejuice, Bang Gang (Doom), DJ Joey Kaz, Samba Ninja, Carina Hagg, Supersede, James Spy $17/$25 Kinselas, Taylor Square Toby Wilson free Kit & Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Falcona Fridays Falcona DJs, The Gameboys $10 Mansions, Kings Cross Nick Polly, Little Rich, Nick T, Stevie S, Adrian Allen free Middle Bar, Kinselas, Darlinghurst Flavours on Friday MC Q-Bizzi, C-Bu, Trey, Mike Champion, Naiki, Tekkaman $20 Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone Free Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind Greg Summerfield, Matt Brunton free Opera Bar, Circular Quay Gian Arpino free Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Grime vs Dubstep - Syd vs Melb Camo, A13, Affiks, Mark Pritchard, Max Gosford, Paul Fraser, Mc Fraksha, Mc Rapaport Raval, Surry Hills Listen Hear Huwston, Micah, James De La Cruz, Chris Coucouvinis free Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Fridays Miss Match, Rob Morrish, Dave 54, Kate Monroe, Chiller $10 guestlist Soda Bar, Golden Sheaf, Double Bay Mike Who, Mr Glass, Brynstar free Spectrum, Darlinghurst Silent Alarm Silent DJs $5 St James Hotel, Sydney One Night in Cuba Mani, Yemaya, Nandez, Av El Cubano $15 Tank Nightclub, Sydney RnB Superclub Def Rok, Eko, G Wizard, Lilo, Troy T, MC Jayson The Argyle Hotel, Rocks John Devechis, Heidi, Kate Monroe free The Lincoln, Kings Cross The Scene Charlie Brown, Samari The Polo Lounge Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst JACK’n August Mark Murphy, Magda free The Rouge, Kings Cross Shock Horror Katie Valentine, mindgutter, Alison Wonderland, Trentertainment, Dan Barrtz $10 The Roxy Hotel, Parramatta Roxy Fridays $10, free for members The Sugarmill, Kings Cross The Gameboys, Calling In Sick, Joyride $10 after 10pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Celebrity Adrian M, Victor Lopez, Andy Rodriguez free (guestlist)–$10 World Bar, King Cross triple j Magazine Party Midnight Juggernauts DJs, Flight Facilities DJs, Cloud Control DJs, Dappled Cities DJs, DJ Zan Rowe, Tom Ballard, Dom Alessio, Tom Tilley, Lewis McKirdy 7pm free
SATURDAY AUGUST 28 202 Broadway, Chippendale Headroom Monk Fly, Jonny Faith, Know-U, Suburban Dark, Elliot $15 Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo Trash DJ M!Veg, DJ Absynth $12 Bank Hotel, Newtown Ben Kelly, Ash Turner free BB’s, Bondi Beach Wildlife DJs Mesan, James Roberts, Adriano Giorgi, Dinesh Sundar, Matt Singmin, Chris Kyle free Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Rex Bar DJ Micha $35 Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Ritual Teez, SMS, Lights Out!, Zomg! Kittenz, Tony Why, Stik $15-$25 Carmens Nightclub, Miranda Stafford Brothers, DJ Zannon, Paul Girdler Chatswood Club DeX-Rated Tom-E, Haze, Nomad, One Kid, Nick Farrell, Kinekt 4, Dover, Nycon, JTS, Big Dan, Zac
“I’ll creep up behind you and drown you in the main stream” NINE HIGH – M-PHAZES 58 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Grrilla Step @ SoCo Cargo St Kilda taken by Andy Braithwaite
send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club guide
THE SIDESHOW WEDNESDAYS
send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com Slade, Monk3y, Convict, Germ, Nik Import $10 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Momma’s Boy (FRA), Bang Gang Deejays, Phil K (Melb), Sam Scratch, Hey Now!, Steve Lind, Matttt, Marky Mark, Naany, Bounce Crew DJs, Sam Watkins $15/$20 Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Joakim, Shunji, Future Classic DJs $15-$25 Clarence Hotel, Petersham Caesars Sandy Bottom, Justin Scott, DJ Chip free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool Pop Fiction, Zoltan free Cricketer’s Arms, Surry Hills Pod War free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DJ Simon Neal, Ben Vickers free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown Kaki $20 Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction I Love Saturdays Zannon, Tony Shock, Matt Ferreira, Tass, Akay, Don Juan, Dante Rivera, Dennis Agee, Willie Sabor, Oscar Cadena free Empire Hotel/Plantation, Potts Point ITM50 pres Shaun Reeves (Germany), DJ T-Boy, Jordan Deck, Ben Morris $20 (+ bf) Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta DJs Matt Hoare and Andy Marc $10 Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Britpop 3rd Birthday Andrew P Street, Johnny Segment, Urby, Johnny Darko, El Mariachi $10 Goldfish, Kings Cross Abel, Tom Kelly, Phil Hudson, Ross Middleton on Sax free Home, Sydney Homemade Saturdays The 808s, Aladdin Royaal, James “Saxman” Spy, Matt Ferreira, Hannah Gibbs, Tony Venuto, Dave Austin, Flite, LKO, Seiz, Uncle Abe $20 VIP/$25 door Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Helena, Cadell, Robbie Santiago, Kocho $20
Joakim
The Snowdroppers Jacksons On George, Sydney Leno, Aladdin Royaal free King Street Hotel, Newcastle ITM50 Wax Motif Kinselas, Taylor S quare Brynstar, Shaun Keble, Yin Yang, Beth Yen and Matt Hoare free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Elaine Benes, Gabby, Cassette (NZ), Alison Wonderland free/$10 Manning Bar, Sydney University Club Kooky Itch-E & Scratch-E, Gemma, Seymour Butz free Mansions, Kings Cross Reckless, Little Rich, Shaun Keeble, Nick Polly free Martin Place Bar, Sydney Bamboo Eko, Nude-E,
Mirage, Shorty, Ace, Moto, Qrius, IllDJ $5 Melt Bar, Kings Cross Jackin Locals Only Illya, Matt Roberts $10 Opera Bar, Circular Quay Krishna Jones free Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Shipwreck, Daniel Nall, Leon Pirello $10 after 10pm Slip Inn, Sydney Lee Coombs, James Taylor, Defined by Rhythm, Vi, Levins $20 Spectrum, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H Goldfoot, DJ Knife $7 Stonewall Hotel, Darlinghurst Greg Boladian, Nick J free The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Husky, Casa, Phil Hudson free The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Sin City Don Juan, DJ Willie,
25TH AUGUST - 8PM FREE
+ JACK NASTY FACE
REPHRASE + SWAT DJS
FREE
SUNDAY 6PM AUGUST 29TH COMING SOON
GHOSTWOOD+SURF CITY (NZ) 8TH SEP CABINS+ALTER EGO MANIA+STEP-PANTHER 15TH SEP THE JEZABELS+THE OWLS 22ND SEP
Itch-E & Scratch-E,
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 59
club guide
Deep Impressions
clubguide@thebrag.com Mista Kay, MC Q-Bizzi The Basement, Circular Quay Live At The Jazz Rooms Grrillastep, Samba Frog & DJ Russ Dewbury $27-$71 The Dolphin Hotel, Surry Hills DJ Chris Skinner, DJ Carl O’Brien free The Gaff, Darlinghurst Perfect Day Resident house DJs Mark Alsop, DJ Chip, DJ Murray Hood, DJ Miss Match, DJ Brett Austin, DJ Scotty Tanner, DJ James Tobin, DJ Man and DJ Dirty Dan free The Manhattan Lounge, Martin Place Hushhh... DJs Stunna, Sonny, Special K $10 after 9pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Le Rouge Stacey Butler, Keli Hart, Christian Luke, Dave Winnel $10 before 11pm The Supper Club, Darlinghurst Atlas, Spank, The Horror, N-Hanz, S-Dee, Convict, Delete, Practice, Bass Conductors, LC $15/$20 The Venue, Double Bay Pure House Ben Morris, Illya, Robbie Lowe, Matt Mandell, Ollie Brooke, Matt Roberts, Simon Caldwell, Kato, James Taylor, Lummy, Mitch Crosher, Phil Smart Tone Venue, Surry Hills Tan Cracker’s Soul Club DJs Gian Arpino, Nick Toth, The Boogie Monster, Kinetic & Mr Rick. $10 Tonic Lounge, Kings Cross Tonic Saturdays Gian Arpino $15 Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross hush free on guestlist Verandah Bar, Sydney The Booty Bar George B, Nasser T, Lenno, K Sera
Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Paul Moussa free World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Daniel Farley (NZ), James Taylor, Levins, Illya, Will Styles, Discopunx, Foundation, Ben Dunlop, Bad Ezzy, Moneyshot, Temnein, Daigo $15/$20
SUNDAY AUGUST 29 Bank Hotel, Newtown DJ Josh Kirkby Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Rephrase (Live), Swat DJs Free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool Michael Peter Colombian Hotel (Downstairs), Darlinghurst Hotrod Sunday Sandi Hotrod & G.I Jode free Colombian Hotel (Upstairs), Darlinghurst The Deep Disko Phil Hudson, Dave 54, Ollie Brroke free Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour Salsa Caliente Sabroson, DJ Vico free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown DJ Metal Matt, Louis Tillett free Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club Live DJs Illya, Johnny Gleeson, Miss Match, Jack McCord and Tom Kelly free Home Terrace, Sydney Spice After Hour Int’l Guest (DE), YokoO, Matt Weir, Aureal $20/$10 Ice Bar, Sydney The Kitsch Sound System, Phil Hudson, Chloe West,
Mark Matthews free Kings Cross Hotel Jammin Sundays free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst The Fifth Dimension free Kit and Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Easy Sunday $10 (at door) Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone & Friends Free Sapphire Suite, Kings Cross Random Sundays Mike Rukus, Tom Piper, James Taylor, Matt Nukewood, Goodfella, Adam Lance, RobKAY free (guestlist)–$15 The Argyle Hotel, Rocks MarcUs, DJ BBG free The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Soul On Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan free The Bunker Bar, Kings Cross Marco Resmann free The Forbes Hotel, Sydney Church Of Techno Mitch Crosher, Kerry Wallace, Joey Kaz, Jey Tuppaea, Jaded, Shepz $5 The Rouge, Kings Cross Cheap Thrill$ Matt Nukewood, J Smoove, Josh Flanagan free The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Neighbourhood Kate Munroe free The Village, Sydney Sunday Surgery DJ Russ Dewbury and friends free Trademark Hotel, Darlinghurst Soul on Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Miss Gabby free World Bar, Kings Cross Fortune! Disco Punx plus dumplings! free
club picks up all night out all week...
THURSDAY AUGUST 26
Supermayer
This Week’s Episode: Revenge of the Veterans
I
’ve spoken at length about German supremo Superpitcher’s long-awaited sophomore album Kilimanjaro, which is due out in early September - a whopping six years after Here Comes Love, but that’s not my main focus to begin this week. Instead, I present a Deep Impressions scoop: the Kompakt kingpin is heading our way, and will play a Halloween-themed boat party on Saturday October 30. [I’ll pause for a moment of realisation and the ensuing raucous cheering and bellowing.] For the record, Pitchfork espouse that Kilimanjaro maintains Superpitcher’s “roots in dance music while managing to have a complete disregard for genre, and adding the involvement of acoustic instrumentation and vocals – a tough integration that works over and over again.” Uninitiated listeners shouldn’t be deceived by the gap between albums into thinking Superpitcher has been inactive on the production front; rather, he’s been spending a lot of time in the studio with labelmate Michael Mayer working on Supermayer productions that have included remixes of everyone from Gotye and Rufus Wainwright to Foals and Alter Ego. I’ll reveal more details of his Sydney party as they emerge, but rest assured you can officially pencil in October 30 for a very special Halloween bash. I must confess my enthusiasm for the esteemed Fabric compilation series has waned in recent times. It was always going to be difficult for the London clubbing institution to maintain the standard of the early mixes it commissioned – Michael Mayer’s Fabric 13 and Eddie Richards’ Fabric 16 are bona fide classics – and the need to continue pumping out mixes at a furious rate of one a month along with a fixation on dubstep/UK rave sounds has ensured I am no longer as excited at the release of a new Fabric as I once was. But Fabric 54, mixed by Crosstown Rebels mainman Damian Lazarus, promises
Holger Zilske
Annandale Hotel, Annandale M-Phazes Album Launch M-Phazes and special guests 8pm $20
FRIDAY AUGUST 27
SATURDAY AUGUST 28
Joakim The Civic Underground
World Bar, King Cross triple j Magazine Party Midnight Juggernauts DJs, Flight Facilities DJs, Cloud Control DJs, Dappled Cities DJs, DJ Zan Rowe, Tom Ballard, Dom Alessio, Tom Tilley, Lewis McKirdy 7pm free
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26 Kaito and Tobias Becker The Civic Underground
SATURDAY OCTOBER 30 Superpitcher Boat Party
SATURDAY AUGUST 28
Manning Bar, Sydney University Club Kooky Itch-E &
All those bandwagon jumping nu-disco dilettantes won’t know what hit them when Ricardo Villalobos makes his first appearance on James Murphy’s DFA label with a remix of Ndf that will be released later this month. Ndf is the duo of Sergio Giorgini and Seattle-hailing techno minimalist Steven Ford, aka Bruno Pronsato, who arguably ‘out-Villalobosed’ Villalobos with his epic 2009 release The Make Up Break Up, which runs for the better part of an hour and was among my favourite EPs/tracks of last year. ‘Since We Last Met’ is the first collaboration between Pronsato and Giorgini, and has been described as a rhythmically inventive slice of techno-pop that recalls Luciano’s classic mid-noughties productions. The Villalobos rework clocks in at almost three times the original’s length, and will be the first we’ve heard from the Chilean on the production front this year. A new album on Perlon is reportedly in the works, and while we wait we can take solace in the fact that Villalobos is finally heading down under as part of the Global Gathering festival in November.
LOOKING DEEPER
Civic Undergound Sydney Plus One Holger Zilske (DE) Matttt & Tomass, YokoO, Matt Weir, Aureal $20
Civic Underground, Adult Disco Joakim, Shunji, Future Classic DJs $15-$25
to reinvigorate my excitement with the series. Lazarus’ Get Lost compilation is a necessary pillar in the CD collection of any tech aficionado, and the man himself affirms that his Fabric mix is more in the line of his club sets than his oft-outlandish podcasts. “I realized that I haven’t made a solid ‘club’ sounding mix for some time,” the Englishman said of the compilation. “Obviously this was reserved for Fabric, and I am super happy with the results” – if you don’t say so yourself Damian. Fabric 54 was compiled with the aid of Lazarus’ long time studio engineer, Matthew ‘The Goat’ Styles, and traverses cuts from Ryan Crosson, Swayzak, The Mole, new Crosstown Rebel-signings Art Department and current ‘it-boy’ Nicolas Jaar. For anyone who has lost a bit of interest in the Fabric, I suggest returning to the fold and grabbing the 54th instalment when it hits shelves in December. Rumours abound that old Lazo will be returning to our shores at some point over summer, but I couldn’t possibly comment on that front.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 10 Scratch-E, Gemma, Seymour Butz free World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Daniel Farley (NZ),
James Taylor, Levins, Illya, Will Styles, Disco Punx, Foundation, Ben Dunlop, Bad Ezzy, Moneyshot, Temnein, Daigo $15/$20
Pantha Du Prince/The Field et al Meredith Music Festival, Victoria. Damian Lazarus
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com. 60 :: BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10
Soul Sedation
Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom Heavy Beats with Tony Edwards
Roots Manuva
Soul Sedation goes live every Wednesday night on Bondi FM (88.0 or bondifm.com.au). Tune in 10pm 'til midnight to hear a deep and soulful selection of the tunes covered here, and plenty more that I don't have room for. Gilles P has released his BBC radioshow retrospective Gilles Peterson presents: Worldwide. It features tunes from Quasimoto, Amy Winehouse, Theo Parrish, Jay Dee, Erykah Badu, Steve Spacek and Recloose. If you haven’t been following the Worldwide releases album to album, this would be a great place to pick up the slack. It’s out through BBE Records, but you’ll have to wait until October 11… And while we’re on Gilles P, head to the worldwidefestival.com and download Simbad’s Supercosmic Revolution Mixtape. It’s house music of the deepest order; Simbad has a style all his own. Last week I promised to let you know what I thought of Skream’s new album, Outside The Box. Well, you can find out exactly what I thought of it by turning to the album review pages... Here’s an excerpt: “There’s also been much written about [Skream’s] period of writer’s block - and this album would tend to suggest that that period is not completely behind him." How awesome is quoting yourself in your own column! Surely that’s a box-ticker for a psychiatrist’s megalomaniac quiz. I also promised to tell you about the new Mount Kimbie record, which this column
ON THE ROAD FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3 Horrorshow Gaelic Theatre
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16 SAMIYAM TBC
OCTOBER 15 & 16 Mulatu Astatke The Basement
is pleased to announce… is awesome. ‘Blind Night Errand’ is one of the album’s finest, but crucially it works well in its entirety. Journalists will probably draw parallels with early dubstep pioneers, but to me the Mount Kimbie sound is a continuation of the IDM sound that flourished through artists like Autechre, however much they and everyone else might not like that term. You can pick Crooks & Lovers up on Scuba’s Hot Flush label. Roots Manuva has released an album under the Duppy Writer moniker, a project he’s working on with WrongTom. The verdict? Steeped in incredible amounts of dopeness. Washington DC label Rhythm & Culture has released an album compilation entitled The Sound of Rhythm & Culture. It’s a dope imprint that pushes reggae, dub and soul on an electronica tip, and as such you’ll find names like Thomas Blondet, Nickodemus, Zeb, Second Sky and label owner Farid on the tracklist. Soul Sedation recommends you get involved. Wah Wah 45s get involved in the pushing of high quality reggae through British eight-piece dub band The Resonators. Produced by Nick Manasseh, long time top producer, the single ‘Sweet Love Affair’ is a sublime slice of beautiful vocal roots music, and in fact has become in a few short listens a bona fide Soul Sedation classic. Featuring instrumentation and production of the highest order, this column can’t wait to hear the rest of the record. There’s two new releases from !K7 subsiduary Strut Records being released in Australia, through those wonderful middlemen/women/folk(?), Inertia. The first is an Atlantic Ocean-straddling collaboration between Lloyd Miller and The Heliocentrics, which Inertia are describing as a “mind-massaging, freeform, psychedelic, Eastern cinematic wonder”. The second is a vintage disco offering from the vault of seminal NY disco don Walter Gibbons, entitled Jungle Music. The man certainly knew his way around the mixing desk, and it’s something else to have all of his productions compiled on this release. This one’s for fans of the recent Bob Blank retrospective.
Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 61
snap sn ap
sosueme
PICS :: TW
up all night out all week . . .
oxford art factory
It’s called: rnb superclub / Not Mys elf It sounds like: Everything sexy from house and electro to Top-40 rnb mash-ups to everyone’s favourite old school, all in their own sexy rooms. DJs playing: Ben Morris, Matt Nuke wood, Charlie Brown, Adrian M, DEFROK, EKO, Troy T, Lilo, MC G-Wizard, Jayson, MC Losty. Sell it to us: The best of rnb mas h-up can be reserved for your party. Sexi s in the main arena with sections that est house and electro beats in the VIP suite with booths for special exclusive parties or that special someone ;) Great hits of ol’skool in the Chill room The bit we’ll remember in the AM: the massive experience and the our sexy staff. smiles of all Crowd specs: 18-25, and never a boring crowd in the past nine year s! Wallet damage: $20 / $15 (guestlist , til midnight) / $10 for students all night. Where: Tank Nightclub / 3 Bridge Lane When: Every Friday
PICS :: RR
11:08:10 :: Hordern Pavilion :: 1 Driver Ave Moore Park 93834000
RnB Superclub party profile
a tribe called quest
PICS :: AM
13:08:10 :: Q-Bar :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375
purple sneakers
PICS :: DM
13:08:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711
spectrum
PICS :: RR
13:08:10 :: The Gladstone Hotel :: 115 Regent St Chippendale 96993522
13:08:10 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245 62 :: BRAG :: 376:: 23:08:10
) :: ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS WALK SON VEN STE ICK PATR :: RENEE RUSHBROOK
snap
11:08:10 :: 2DayFM HQ :: 50 Goulburn Street, Sydney ) :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER VENSON :: THOMAS WALK STE ICK PATR :: OOK HBR RUS RENEE
MAR ::
strike bowling
PICS :: RR
katy perry
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
14:08:10 :: Strike Bowling :: 122 Lang Rd, Moore Park 1300 787 453
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 63
snap sn ap
13:08:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958
PICS :: AM
the wall
dj Marky
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
11:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
Chaos
mum
PICS :: JC
party profile
Rouge It’s called: Chaos @ The with a twist of dirty rock of grimy house beats cut-up It sounds like: a mash-up it down. h and a splash of RnB to was a, Deckhead, Matt Lake, the adorable DJ Pum ray Mur DJ ng? ith. Who’s spinni Sm t Bar DJ & Jwell Skoob Saxton, and the dynamic duo ka/Nudie cocktail y off with a free jug of vod rsda Thu r -up DJs spinning the Sell it to us: Kick you hed rself with our awesome mas with every entry! Lose you ion! uss perc live ing play lst musical wheels of steel whi Want Some Pussy’; the floor: 2 Live Crew – ‘We k roc t’ll tha s ord Three rec Vu’ – ‘Déjà David Guetta mash-ups; Inna ember is that free jug AM: The last thing you rem the in ber em The bit we’ll rem a blur. of vodka – after that it’s all ble, dirty carefree-forhe old, the happy/the misera ng/t Crowd specs: The you ! ney the-moment par tyers of Syd linghurst Rd, Kings Cross Where: The Rouge / 39 Dar til late When: every Thursday, 9pm
wham
PICS :: DM
13:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
adult disco
PICS :: AM
14:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
14:08:10 :: The Civic Hotel :: 388 Pitt St City 80807000 64 :: BRAG :: 376:: 23:08:10
) :: ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS WALK SON VEN STE ICK PATR :: RENEE RUSHBROOK
THE
TONGUE
/ THE SHOW / SINGLE LAUNCH /
FRIDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER SANDRINGHAM HOTEL plus DIZZ1
Tickets available from elefanttraks.oztix.com.au and moshtix.com.au
THE TONGUE SHOCK & AWE plus BAD EDUCATION EP SPECIAL 2CD REISSUE OUT NOW
THE TONGUE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY on SEPTEMBER 10 THROUGH
BRAG :: 376 :: 23:08:10 :: 65
snap sn ap
club club
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
cameo @docks
PICS :: RR
14:08:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959999
14:08:10 :: Docks Hotel :: 225 Harbourside Shopping Cntr Darling Harbour 9280 2270
It’s Called: Soswayme (accordin g to Florence + The Machine) It sounds like: Boney M, Foals, Wu Tang, Paul Simons, Miami Horr or and Stevie Nicks suckling at the teet of a rabid Tyrannosaurus Rex as it fly-kicks encrusted unicorn into space. a diamondDJs/live acts playing: Elke from Brisvegas (live), Pluto Jonze (live ), Bon Chat, Bon Rat (live). PLUS DJ sets from Joyride, Alison Wonderland, Seab ZAPZAPZAP, The AU DJs, Nic York ass, e, Leonid Technologic & O.N.E. DJs. Mush, Sell it to us: Breaking the next wave of talent is what we do best at SOS and on that tip we have one word for you: Elke. And I suppose we shou UEME, the $8 SO-PUNCH-ME Buckets ld mention too, all night, every night. The bit we’ll remember in the A.M ? Man that guy is handsome... I mea Jumping on board the “Pluto Jonze” Train... n talented... Wallet damage: 10 bones all nigh t long. Where: Qbar, 34-44 Oxford St, Darl inghurst When: Friday August 27 / 8pm
hammer horror
PICS :: PS
14:08:10 :: Club 77 :: 77 William St Kings Cross 93613387
party profile
starfuckers
PICS :: AM
Sosueme
falcona fridays
PICS :: PS
13:08:10 :: Kit & Kaboodle :: 33-35 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross 9368 0300
13:08:10 :: Kit & Kaboodle :: 33-35 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross 9368 0300 66 :: BRAG :: 376:: 23:08:10
) :: ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS WALK SON VEN STE ICK PATR :: RENEE RUSHBROOK
DIPLOMA & DEGREE COURSES IN:
Games Design 3D Animation Graphic Design Games Programming Web Design & Development HURRY LAST CHANCE TO ENROL! SEPTEMBER 13TH START DATE
24 - 26 SEPT siaf.uts.edu.au
SPECIAL SPE PECIA CIAL FEAT FEATURE EATUR URE - JURY SELECTION N
UTS STAFF & STUDENT DISC DISCOUNTS COUN OUNTS TS AVA AVAILA AVAILABLE ILAB BLE
TICKETS THROUGH
NEW!
NEW!
OUR SUPPORTERS
W W W. I N S E A R C H . E D U . A U INSEARCH CRICOS provider code: 00859D