WWW.FIBRA.COM.AU WWW.FIBRA.COM.AU PRESENTS PRESENTS
ziggy ziggyand andthe the wild wild drums drums 6PM 6PMSUNDAY SUNDAY- -JUNE JUNE13 13 FRFEREEE BEACHROADBONDI.COM.AU BEACHROADBONDI.COM.AU
Michael Coppel by arrangement with Phil Mcintyre Entertainment proudly presents
N I G H T WO R K T O U R
One Show Only
BIG TOP TUESDAY JULY 27
ENT. CENTRE THURSDAY JUNE 10 FINAL TICKET RELEASE 136 100 or ticketmaster.com.au
Don't miss Russell's new movie Get Him to the Greek. June 17
1300 BIG TOP or bigtopsydney.com ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100
New album Night Work in stores June 25
L I V E
BIG TOP
THURSDAY JULY 29 1300 BIG TOP or bigtopsydney.com
BY DEMAND, A 2ND SHOW
ON SALE NOW!
136 100 or ticketmaster.com.au
ENMORE THEATRE
SATURDAY OCTOBER 23 New album ‘Wake up the nation’ out now THE ALBUM ‘HEADFIRST’ OUT NOW
TICKETEK.COM.AU OR 132 849
ON SALE NOW! Presented by Michael Coppel I www.russellbrand.tv I scissorsisters.com I goldfrapp.com I paulweller.com I coppel.com.au
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 3
SIDESHOWS
PRESENTS
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The Album ‘Go’ CD/DVD - Experience Edition - out now
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TICKETS: WWW.METROTHEATRE.COM.AU OR WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU
ASH the album A-Z Vol.1 OUT NOW WE ARE SCIENTISTS the album Barbara out June 18
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
CLOUD CONTROL
FRIDAY JULY 30 METRO THEATRE Tickets: www.metrotheatre.com.au or Ticketek www.ticketek.com.au
TIX: METROTHEATRE.COM.AU OR TICKETEK.COM.AU
New album THE RUNAWAY Out July on Heavenly/Cooperative MY BEST FRIEND IS YOU out now on UMA www.getmusic.com.au/katenash
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8 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town with Nathan Jolly
he said she said WITH
COOP FROM THE BASICS my dad’s mum was a piano teacher in Berlin - so I suppose a have a somewhat musical background. Favourite musicians = The Beatles. Hands down. Simply for their ability to communicate with each other, and perfectly compliment the others’ strengths. Even when the BS was going down, they still made some truly amazing music. There’s some pretty okay solo stuff which came along after, too! The band, the band… Well there’s Wally “Rodney” De Backer, Tim “T.” Heath and myself (call me “Coop”). It’s been a beautiful and sometimes trying six years of playing as The Basics around the country - and internationally - but we’ve outlived a lot of our contemporaries. Wally and I actually started The Basics eight years ago now, and it’s funny looking back at the old streetpress clippings and all the band names that came and went…
I
think my strongest memory was back when I was really young, and my older sister was doing her chores and listening to the Top 40 chart. My younger brother and I would march ourselves around
the table for hours, strumming on invisible guitars and singing along. I’m sure it was very cute to watch these mops bobbing up and down in time with the music... My mum played classical guitar when she was young, and
We’ve always aimed for bigger and better. The last lot of stuff – including 2009’s Keep Your Friends Close and the recent Wait For You EP – was all mixed at the one-and-only Abbey Road Studios in London, where I did a stint in 08/09. We’ve recently done a live
album and we’re planning on getting that mixed over there, too. It’s certainly our best work to date, and highlights our strengths as a band that have previously been obstructed by budgets, recording choices, and time... I guess for the first time we really sound like us. The music scene is a funny old number. I tend to think it just exists “out there,” and I guess I’ve never truly felt a part of it. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that when you’re winning, so-to-speak, you just get swept along with whatever’s happening and you get a sense of the actually “industry”. The rest of the time you’re on the outer, just doing your own thing. It’s cool when you consider all the people that make up the ever-changing face of the Australian scene in particular – in reference to what I said about old streetpress clippings, there’s certainly been a lot of contenders for that fame thing! Who: The Basics, supported by Fergus Brown & Richie Cuthbert Where: The Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday June 10
SURFER BLOOD
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: Irina Belova SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ashley Mar, Sofii McKenzie, Rosette Rouhana, Daniel Munns, Patrick Stevenson, Jeremy Bowring, Julian De Lorenzo, Jay Collier, Renee Rushbrook SALES/MARKETING MANAGER: Mark Brownie 0411 547 356 / (02) 9552 6672 brownie@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
Not a cryptic clue in a TV Week crossword (answer: ‘Bondi Rescue’) but one of the best indie-pop bands in the world right now. These guys have been hyped to death, and it’s still not enough praise for that Astro Coast album. Their music is like what would happen if Rivers Cuomo and Brian Wilson (’65 edition) teamed up and made an album of infectious pop-rock, then brought it out to Australia. Splendour has sold out (literally, not figuratively), so Manning Bar August 3 is the place to see these guys ride the wave of success (figuratively, not literally.) Tickets on sale at oztix.com.au
…MORE LIKE AWESOME SUMMIT
You know the other day at work when you had five diet Cokes in a row, stood on your desk and declared “there is no possible way that Song Summit 2010 can get any better?” Well, you have some backpedalling to do (again.), considering the additional speakers they just announced - including vocal gymnast Katie Noonan, award winning jazz musician Jonathan Zwartz, singer songwriter Dan Kelly and Frente (!) singer Angie Hart. It’s on June 19 – 21 at the Sydney Convention Centre - visit songsummit.com.au
Arcade Fire
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Bridie Connell, Oliver Downes, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Chris Familton, Lucy Fokkema, Mike Gee, Alice Hart, Kate Hennessy, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Amelia Schmidt, Xanthe Seacret, Jonno Seidler, RK, Beth Wilson, Alex Young
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
12 :: BRAG :: 365 : 07:06:10
Perth-based four-piece The Chemist are teaming up with that human harmony machine Boy & Bear for a run of shows, two of which fall within the borders of this fine state. Thursday June 10 sees them play the Beach Hotel in Byron, and the next day sees them wake up early, dry-eyed and hungover for the drive to Brisbane, before coming back on Saturday night all cranky and bleary for their show at The Annandale.
RE:COGNISE
EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag.
DEADLINES: Editorial Wednesday 12pm (no extentions) 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
BOY & BEAR AND THE CHEMIST
Telafonica and about a zillion other artists are playing the latest Clan Analogue gig - to launch the collective’s new compilation. Clan Analogue, for the uninitiated, is an underground electronic music and arts collective that started in the early 90s, and their release is Re:Cognition - the Clan Analogue Legacy Collection. Best part is, the whole thing happens at The Red Rattler - which, if you’ve never been, is exactly like the dreams that Dale Cooper has on ‘Twin Peaks’ with the dwarf in the red room, and the strange backwards talking and ‘40s jazz. It’s on Saturday June 12 from 5pm ‘til some ungodly hour, will only cost you a tenner, and may blow your mind.
Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 153 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9552 6866
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121
Boy & Bear
THE ‘BURBS
Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher and Corey Feldman team up in this delightful comedy which pokes light-hearted fun at the suburbs and the kooky residents housed therein. Not to be confused with The Suburbs, the third full-length album from claustrophobic Canadians, Arcade Fire. To celebrate the existence of both the film and the new album, the band are releasing a double A-sided 12” of first album singles ‘The Suburbs’/‘Month Of May’, available in all good record stores as soon as you finish that piece of toast.
ONE FLEW EAST
This Wednesday, Sydney band One Flew East will be launching the absolute shit out of their new single ‘Hopstotch’ at Spectrum. Helping them hurl it into the stratosphere are the too-appropriately named Box Rockets from Melbourne, the symmetrical city. Doors at 8pm, cost $8.
CREATIVE WRAP
Just wanted to let you guys know that the coolest ever wrap party for Creative Sydney is going to be amazing, featuring live performances from Cloud Control, Songs, The Paper Scissors, Richard In Your Mind, Shady Lane, Seekae and Pivot (PVT) DJs. While you were kicking arse on Grand Theft Auto,
registrations CLOSED for this event - proving that when we say ‘hurry’, it isn’t just to create hype. Well, at least you can tune in at home via FBi Radio from 6pm on June 13. Hurry!!
COME TOGETHER AFTER PARTY AT SFX
Too busy riding the rollercoasters and pushing into the fairy floss line at Come Together to see any bands? Tarantula Music and the Big Top are hosting the after party, and although there is an embarrassing lack of Pluto Pups and upsidedown-ness, there is a live DJ set by Deez Nuts, a live set by Twelve Foot Ninja (tall enough for any ride) and Trash and SFX either alternatively playing party tunes, or playing alternative party tunes - depending on how you look at life. At SFX on Liverpool Street. No carnies.
AVALANCHE WARNING
Assuming you come to The Brag for all your seismic updates, that headline would have pretty much jumped at you like the War Of The Worlds of our generation. On the off-chance you’re here to find out about gigs and releases, you will be pleased to discover that British India are launching their new album Avalanche at the Gaelic Club on July 9, before sloppy seconds-ing it at the Cambridge the following night. The other month at Groovin’ The Moo these guys played a cover of ‘Lithium’ and I tried really hard to hate it, but it was fucking boss. Hopefully they do it again.
GIG OF THE WEEK
OFFICIAL
COME TOGETHER AFTERPARTY
Taking over four rooms of the exchange hotel this Queen’s B’day Long weekend we have a lip smackingly, hip shakingly good extravaganza of music on offer at the OFFICIAL COME TOGETHER AFTERPARTY. M-PHAZES has forged a reputation as Australia’s beat-maker par excellence, dropping floor-shaking joints for a host of Australian and International MC’s. Local audiences can rejoice as the merchant of music himself drops by Spectrum for his first ever live Sydney show. With support on the live front from Joyride Sounds System and Mailer Daemon Sound System and on the DJ front from British India, Boy & Bear, SOSUEME, P*A*S*H, Hobogestapo, F.R.I.E.N.D/s and Hot Damn. So all you festival musos, dignitaries, laughing clowns and long weekend revelling ex-colonials come party on our never ending rollercoaster ride of proverbial musical merriment.
THUR 10 JUNE
WED 9 JUNE
UPSTARTS: ONE FLEW EAST (LAUNCH SINGLE)
HOPSCOTCH + THE BOX ROCKETS (MELB) [LAUNCH DOUBLE A SIDE – FISHES/STAY] LE DOOGAN
8PM-$8
HOT DAMN:
AS SILENCE BREAKS
8PM-$10/$12
FRI 11 JUNE UPSTARTS
VOID DUBSTEP
9PM-$10/$12
MARK PRITCHARD LUKE SNARL
FRI 11 JUNE
FIVE STAR PRISON CELL
SAFE HANDS AZLOCK
HOT DAMN SARAH SPANDEX HEARTATTACK MARK C NAT NOIZE
THUR 10 JUNE
SOSUEME LIVE
THE PREACHERS
LYYAR + HATTIE CARROLL THE FUTURE PREHISTORIC DJs
JOYRIDE + ROSE
ALISON WONDERLAND + LONEWOLF COITUS INTERRUPTUS + MIKE WHO
8PM-$10
DESIRE THE HORSE
SAT 12 JUNE GHETTO DISCO
AFTER 11.30
SLICKER CITIES
Weekend Edition
GALLERI + THE TOURIST CASSIAN + PIPEMIX JAMIE VON PARTY VS PAUL DONE A CASUAL END MILE STEVE CASTEL + STRESS LESS
SILENT ALARM $5 8PM - $8
SAT 12 JUNE
CHICKS WHO LOVE GUNS
THE GO ROLL YOUR BONES DOC HOLLIDAY TAKES THE SHOTGUN
AFTER 11.30
P*A*S*H 8PM - $10
FRI 11 JUNE
ALPINE CIRCUIT + OMZ LAY MONKEY GENIUS COITUS INTERRUPTUS
8PM - $10early $15late
SUNOFFICIAL 13 JUNE
COMEAFTERPARTY TOGETHER Live sets from:
M-PHAZES
JOYRIDE SOUND SYSTEM MAILER DAEMON SOUND SYSTEM DJ love from: BRITISH INDIA + BOY & BEAR HOT DAMN +P*A*S*H + HOBOGESTAPO
9PM-$12moshtix $15door
LABEL TRIBUTE NIGHT
EVERY FRIDAY MEMBERS ONLY EVERY SATURDAY MEMBERS ONLY
LORNA CLARKSON VICTIM ELI 10PM-$10
SAT 12 JUNE
4TH SATURDAY DIRTY: OF EACH MONTH MANY BURLESQUE ROLLINS BABY BEAR 11PM-$15
SAT/SUN DAYCLUB RISING DAYCLUB DJS JOHAN KHOURY DAN MURPHY + CHIP,
HIGH ENERGY VOCAL, UPLIFTING HOUSE
5:30AM $10/$15
SUN 13 JUNE
LOOSE ENDS MATT VAUGHAN +GUESTS
& & * 4 " 8 & 4 0 . &
MON-FRI
10am TIL LATE
SAT-SUN
9am TIL 6am
SUN RECOVERY 9am TIL LATE
HAPPY HOUR 5pm-7pm DAILY
10PM - free
34 - 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst - www.exchangehotel.biz - 9331 2956
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 13
rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town with Nathan Jolly
five things WITH
RENAISSANCE MAN What happened at your first birthday? You probably won’t remember, but a part of you inside knows that it was kickass. This will probs be the case at disc spinnin’ extraordinaires Generic Collective’s 1st birthday party, as they’ve rounded up the juiciest party princes in all of the lands to bring you a wicked show at the Civic Underground on June 11. The line-up includes Generic DJs, Kato, Levins, Wedding Ring Fingers, and Helsinki’s house music aficionados Renaissance Man. These lads have been playing at festivals around the world - and their huge sound should set the scene for some loosey-goosey shenanigans at the Civic. To win one of three packs containing a signed Renaissance Man poster and a double pass to the show, tell us the name of Renaissance Man’s new EP!
BERTIE BLACKMAN
Growing Up I grew up in small bear caves in 1. somewhere land. I think I’m actually half creature… we would listen to the sound of gongs in the distance, and dream of the far away land from which the glorious sounds would bell. I use my imagination. The gaps are for your pictures. Inspirations Inspirations? It’s a tough realm, I’m 2. pretty much a little open book. Everything can inspire me, from being surprised that I’m breathing when I wake up to the macabre death march of the invasive insect in my bath. Puzzles of music, noise, words, life screams.
CLOUD CONTROL
3.
Your Band My band consists of Neal Sutherland, Sam Lawrence and Manny Bourakis. They are crazed shadows I found in alleys… I love them as a mother. We certainly have different musical perspectives, from jazz to stadium rock to electro to rabbit foot techno. It’s an interesting mix in the tour van, that’s for sure.
The Music You Make This seems like an obvious thing 4. to answer - my Wikipedia says it all! But I will talk about my live show and my contemporaries. I love to be onstage. It’s a feeling I cannot describe so well other than, the sound of realising a moment in between chaos or silence. I’m in writing mode at the moment… so live, the next album will be presented differently. But that’s my exciting
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
secret to share with you all when the time comes! My main contemporary is the beautiful 1940’s silvertone guitar I have just acquired. Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene everywhere is buzzing 5. more than I’ve ever seen it. Indie music has entered the wider world! I saw Jay Z and Beyonce watching Beach House at Coachella this year - that was an awesome sight! I’ve been based in Chicago for a little while now, and go back and forth from
London, so I haven’t had a chance to see the next rad thing from Sydney… But I hope to when I get home next month for the festival. My only wise words amongst this babble of hopefully sense is that you’re your own obstacle. Fucking persist. Who: Bertie Blackman What: Come Together Festival When: June 12 & 13 Where: Luna Park
Blue Mountains foursome Cloud Control have beguiled and mesmerised the populous with their sexy, psych harmonies and earthy, natural tones - the band that Fleet Foxes wish they were. (Heh.) The new single ‘Gold Canary’ has been dubbed by many as the single of the year - a song that rides on a harmonious chant that would unite the most bitter of enemies. The chant builds and swells with layer upon layer of percussive hand claps, honest vocals and euphoric synths. We have just one copy of the limited edition Gold Canary UK 7” to give away, so get your hands on it, listen to it, and imagine you’re on a gondola, on a river, in clouds made of hay and compassion. To win, tell us the name of their debut LP.
Records Gala Ball. The whole thing will finish at the Metro on July 17 with The Presets, Philadelphia Grand Dury, Jonathan Boulet and loads more. Ticket prices vary, but it’s cheaper for supporters. So, you know, support.
Gyroscope
GOOD STUFF AT ANNANDALE
In you’ve been watching iRock, you’ll be aware that every single local gig happens at the Annandale Hotel - and the latest Tone Defeat show is no exception. Indie darlings Deep Sea Arcade will be joined by indie darlings Fergus Brown, indie darlings The Silents, and many other darling-esque independent bands. It happens Saturday June 19, and will cost you $12, most of which you will get back on the cheap drinks available throughout the night. Also, there are giveaways….err, I mean, GIVEAWAYS!!!!
COME TOGETHER THIS WEEKEND!
If there’s just one thing that the Queen would like us to do when celebrating her birthday, (I got her a broach, what did you get her? All answers to steph@thebrag.com) it is to come together. We thought it was a fairly vague directive until we realised that Her Majesty is in fact a clever and subtle marketing tool used to push the Come Together festival - held over two bombastic days at Luna Park. I’ll get to the bands in a bit, but the most important part is that you get to ride all the rollercoasters your (mid-strength) beer-filled stomach can handle... for free! Well, as part of your ticket price… Anyway, so on Saturday, Gyroscope, The Butterfly Effect, Frenzal Rhomb, and Strung Out will be mooning at the ‘coaster cameras, while on Sunday Grinspoon, British India, Bertie Blackman, Kisschasy, Jonathon Boulet, The Snowdroppers and loads more will be pusher-inner-ing the fairy-floss line. Needless to say, it’s all pretty exciting and will no doubt start a ‘ride plus band’ trend, that will culminate with a huge slip ‘n’ slide down the side of every music venue in Sydney. You heard it here first.
BLONDIE AND THE PRETENDERS
Deborah Harry and Chrissie Hynde, the two women that invented the idea of sex appeal, are bringing their respective bands to Australia in what promises to be a mammoth, mindblowing double bill. The Pretenders and Blondie will be playing a series of shows around the country, including the launch of the A Day On The Green season. You’ll have to wait until December, but at least you’re guaranteed that this won’t be a completely bleak Christmas. Clear your party schedule for either December 7 at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre, December 11 at Bimbadgen Estate, Hunter Valley or December 14 at Canberra’s Royal Theatre.
SYDNEY SOUNDS LIKE…
Traffic, mostly. But once you train your ears to ignore that dull hum (much in the way you ignore that ticking biological clock), Sydney
actually sounds pretty good. Especially this July, with the news that FBi Radio are holding another round of fundraisers. The type where you can feel all smug about helping out a worthy cause, while at the same time knowing that you acted out of purely selfish motives because the lineups are always So Good. On July 9, Oxford Art Factory hosts the adorably named Cuddle Puddle, where FBi DJs will play a mentally good selection of electro, disco, dub-step, wonky (?), tropical house and other dubiously-named genres. On July 10, The Factory hosts a daytime festival named Choose Your Own Adventure, where, like the books, if you chose ‘comedy’ when you really meant ‘live bands’, you can flick back and pretend you didn’t. Loads of rooms with DJs, art, stalls, bands, comedians and more… And then the next weekend, Koolism, Thundamentals, and the phonetically sound Ozi Batla will join loads of other acts on July 16 at the Gaelic Theatre for the Stolen
Birds of Tokyo
Song Summit LIVE Showcases Song Summit 2010 kicks off for its 2nd year on Friday week, and part of it is Song Summit LIVE - a series of public showcases from some of Australia’s leading and upcoming musical talent, as well as international musos. Running on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th June at HOME nightclub, the showcases kick off once the conference program has closed for the evening. Here are some more of our picks: On Saturday June 19, One Movement For Music Perth (OMFMP) - the essential tastemaker and music industry event in the southern hemisphere – will kick off the night with some of Australia’s finest acts, Jezebel, Parades and Dan Sultan. OMFMP is now firmly fixed in the annual calendar, and this year hundreds of artists, delegates and speakers will join thousands of music fans for four days of networking, conferences and showcases.
TOASTED AT COASTER
Cypress Hill have made an entire multimillion dollar, jetsetting, decade spanning, platinum award winning career out of singing about smoking weed. Which pretty much makes them geniuses. They will be bringing their deep-seeded political message to the Central Coast on September 25 for the Coaster Festival. Helping them spread the word are Birds of Tokyo, Art vs Science, bluejuice, Basement Birds and, buried way too low on the list, Silversun Pickups, who’s ‘Lazy Eye’ is the best Smashing Pumpkins song since ‘1979’. Tickets available from oztix.com.au
On the night of Sunday June 20, Music Max presents Brag favourites Dappled Cities and Dan Kelly at Home on the mezzanine level from 7:30 – 8:30pm. Also on Sunday, NZ On Air presents The Earlybirds, Computers Want Me Dead and Artisan Guns. NZ On Air are an independent government funding agency who invest in a colourful range of cost-effective local content, to extend choices for different New Zealand audiences. Tickets for Song Summit LIVE are available for Sydneysiders and visitors via Ticketek, or through the Song Summit website at www.songsummit.com.au/LIVE
“Don’t move to slow, ‘cause the man from Mars is through with cars, he’s eatin’ bars” - BLONDIE 14 :: BRAG :: 365 : 07:06:10
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 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
ROCKSTEADY / KING TIDE
M-PHAZES (VIC) ones. Some would call me the lone wolf… sort of like Will Farrell. I don’t think I have a particular style, not now anyway. I try different things all the time, and try not to limit myself. My main work has been with various artists including Supastition, Kenn Starr, Muneshine and a lot of underground artists. Some bigger names I have worked with include Pharoahe Monch, Amerie, Trey Songz, M.O.P, Masta Ace and a few others. I also have an album out with all Aussie MCs - Drapht, Phrase, Illy, Pegz, Delta and a heap more.
M
y father owned a Mexican restaurant as I was growing up. He’d play lots of Cat Stevens and Neil Diamond - I remember helping him clean the joint during the day and I’d turn the music up, all the time, louder, and louder. Mum wasn’t a musical person, she liked the Gypsy Kings and Kenny G - typical mum music. I think I first heard hip-hop on rage and was amazed by how it sounded. My parents were always supportive of what I wanted to listen to, but they weren’t too cool with NWA and Ice T. I’d dub tapes off my friends and listen to them quietly in my room so my mum couldn’t hear… They ended up not caring too much. My inspirations have been groups like RUN DMC, De La Soul, Public Enemy
and NWA. J-Dilla is probably my biggest inspiration production-wise. It was a mix of the raw energy, music and how they carried themselves which made me fall in love with the style. It was different, it didn’t conform to any standard in pop music. I went through the whole baggy pants stage, trying to act like I was from Brooklyn, but I think the more you learn and grow the more you realise it’s about being yourself. I’m a hip hop producer, originally from the Gold Coast in QLD, currently residing in Melbourne. I was in a rap group called Trace Elements, we parted ways a while back, but I’m still good mates with the other guys. I don’t really have a crew, I just have a bunch of good friends in Melbourne I work with a lot - Phrase and Illy being the main
I like where the music scene in Australia is at the moment. Hip-hop still gets overlooked by the big wigs in the industry, but all in all we are in a much better place than five years ago. I recently finished touring with Illy as his DJ and we did the Groovin’ The Moo tour, along side Silverchair, Miami Horror, Grinspoon, Funkoars and Lisa Mitchell. I made sure I checked out most of the groups playing and they were all amazing - standouts for me were Grinspoon and Miami Horror. Who: M-Phazes With: Joyride Sound System and Mailer Daemon Sound System What: Official Come Together After Party When: Sunday June 13 Where: Spectrum
In another celebration of music’s relationship with film, the Sydney Film Festival’s Sounds on Screen initiative brings us Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae. Rocksteady is a documentary which emphasises an often forgotten musical evolution - the mid-1960s link between frenetic ska and politicised roots reggae. The film is steeped in nostalgia without being saccharine, featuring some Rocksteady legends: guitarist Ernest Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, and Bob Marley’s backup singers the ‘I Threes’, who wax lyrical about the glory days of this essential musical period. Energetic reggae-ska outfit King Tide will also be performing live following the screening. To win one of three double passes to the June 12 or June 13 screenings at Sydney Opera House, tell us the name of a song up on King Tide’s MySpace.
WATUSSI
Watussi is apparently Cuban slang for ‘the most handsome man at the party’. We’ve been racking our brains for a one-word equivalent of that phrase in the English language, and all we can come up with is ‘McLovin’. Ergo, the Cuban language is cooler than the English language. Anyway, this saucily-named 8-piece from Sydney are back from a South American tour and are celebrating their return with a gig at The Annandale on June 11. Playing a Sydneyinfused blend of Afro-Colombian roots & rock and ably led by the charismatic Oscar Jimenez, this gig will be an unmissable funky bonanza! Lucky for you we have 5 doubles to give away, just tell us the name of Watussi’s album!
Underworld
BOUNDARY BONDS WITH...
NICOLE BZ
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RS ASSOCIATION OF ARTIST MANAGE What is the Association of Arts Managers? The Association of Artist Managers (AAM) is the peak industry body representing Australia’s professional music managers. The AAM brings together the industry’s leading music managers to address the issues facing managers and their artists, and relate them to the government and industry, to safeguard Australian music and music managers.
WLS
For any of you living, like, totally under a rock, the annual winter festival We Love Sounds is on this Saturday at the Entertainment Quarter, Fox Studios. To recap, the lineup includes Underworld, Tiga, Crookers, Laidback Luke, Markus Schulz, Seth Troxler, Zombie Nation, Roger Shah, Proxy, Ellen Alien, Paul Ritch, The Revenge, Sonic C and Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team. Tickets are still available online, so if you have a sudden urge to indulge in a day of revelry, then remember you have that option. Afterparties have been announced for the Arthouse and Plantation, though the specific DJs who’ll be ‘backing up’ had not been revealed at the time of us going to print…
MAD RACKET WITH TOM TRAGO
Part of the ‘next wave’ of Dutch DJ/producers, Tom Trago headlines Mad Racket this Saturday for a ‘Regal’ party on the hallowed turf of Marrickville Bowling Club. Trago initially warmed to the hip-hop of the early and mid 90s before graduating to deep house, disco and Detroit techno, and various production projects. Name-checking everyone from Phillip Glass to Moodymann as reference points, Trago holds residencies in Amsterdam, Paris and Switzerland and will make his Aussie debut on the back of considerable praise from those in the know. Support comes from the resident racketeers Zootie, Simon Caldwell, Ken Cloud and Jimmi James, all of who will be embracing the regal theme with considerable panache.
INDEX
Having staged a bona fide coup by bringing out the enigmatic producer Shakleton in March, Index return this Friday for a more restrained locals bash. It’s a local affair with a twist, with Void regulars selecting their favourite labels of
all time and playing one-hour tribute sets. Mark Pritchard will be selecting some classic cuts from DMZ, Luke Snarl will be focusing on Hyperdub and Lorna Clarkson will be pushing Warp, with other canonical labels also set to get a look in. Kick off is at 10pm this Friday at Phoenix Bar, entry $10 on the door.
RENAISSANCE MAN
Renaissance Man (which despite the deceptive title, comprises more than one member) returns to Sydney for an exclusive show at The Civic Underground on Friday June 11 to celebrate the first birthday of the Generic Collective. As leaders of the “quirky tech movement”, the Finnish duo will be touring off the back of their much anticipated Babbadabba EP, which follows last year’s breakthrough Spray Can release on Switch’s Dubsided imprint. Renaissance Man push left-of-centre house music that draws influences from techno, hip-hop and bassorientated sounds, and will be supported by a self-described “Brag friendly” lineup that includes Kato, Levins, Generic DJs and The Wedding Ring Fingers. All it costs to party with our friends is $25 on the door!
DJ Spun
PICNIC
Picnic returns with the double-bill of US stalwart DJ Spun and Scotland’s Graeme Clark, who also works under the pseudonym The Revenge. Clark has released notable re-edits of Stevie Wonder, Unfinished Business and Hot Chocolate over the past few years, along with a stream of more ‘serious’ cuts such as the deeper Revenge cut ‘The Soul Part II’, which was included by my man Seth Troxler on his Boogybytes compilation. DJ Spun also boasts a rather smashing sonic CV, comprising releases on labels such as NOID, Editions Disco, Big Bear, and his own Rong Music. Spun founded the “trailblazing” Rong Music imprint in the early noughties as a safehouse for likeminded friends and peers, and has since released material from jazz great Chico Hamilton, Mudd, Chicken Lips and Woolfy. First bounce at 10pm Saturday June 12 at The Civic Underground, with support from The Loin Brothers, Matt Trousdale and Marcus King.
Why should people come to the AAM seminar? This night involves the most exciting music managers and their support networks. The quality of panellists and topics is great, and we’re sure that audience members will walk away with tangible results - you’ll be able to go home and book a successful tour after this night. The people in this room could be your next tour support opportunity, your future mentor or employer, or your future break-through band. What does your role involve? My specific role involves a Board position where I act like the organisation’s ‘secretary’. It feels more like the best education I’ve had. I’m a lot like everyone attending this conference - a music manager trying to make a go of it! In fact, my involvement with the Association started out by my appealing to the experience and intelligence of half the panellists... What’s your #1 piece of advice for emerging Australian music managers? Be prepared to work harder than you can possibly imagine, but focus on working smarter. Develop your systems one gig and one artist at a time… And then do some more work!!!
“I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses. I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises” - IAN DURY 16 :: BRAG :: 365 : 07:06:10
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 17
free stuff
dance music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au
five things WITH THE
SFX / COME TOGETHER
REVENGE (UK)
Growing Up Music was always part of my life from 1. as far as I remember - I’ve got a picture
The Music You Make There’s a few releases coming soon from 4. all of the projects. There’s a new release on
of me at about 6 or 7 years old with a Stranglers t-shirt on so that’s probably my earliest memory. I was lucky to grow up with great music from both my parents Billy Cobham, Kraftwerk, The Eagles, AC/ DC, John Martyn and loads more. I think growing up listening to a variety of stuff definitely gave me a wider appreciation of music in general.
Instruments Of Rapture from a guy called Craig Bratley - we’ve done ‘6th Borough Project’ and ‘Burnt Island Casuals’ remixes of that. I’ve just done an album track for a new project Ben Watt is working on called Flowers & Sea Creatures and also just finished a remix for Holy Ghost on DFA. There’s a couple of album projects due later this year too.
2.
Inspirations John Martyn’s stuff blew me away when I heard it - very evocative and distinct with so much emotion. A real talent. Lots inspires me - anything from music to movies to books or art ... Inspiration can come from many places.
Your Crew I’ve got a lot of close production and 3. DJ partners, although we don’t get to play often together these days. Craig Smith, Harri, Ali OOFT and DJ 2Three are some of the guys I work with. I got into producing at about 15 years old, after getting a computer program and a cheap sampler. My sister was listening to rave music at that age and I started to experiment with creating similar stuff, and got hooked. Luckily music’s a full-time occupation at the moment - even though it sometimes means the odd 23 hour day.
Diafrix
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
Music, Right Here, Right Now I think the scene is great; there’s loads 5. of fantastic tracks out there at the moment, it just takes a little more digging to find the gems. The main obstacle is just not getting caught up in the rat race, trying to compete with what everyone else is doing - and just focusing on your own sound. Scotland’s really vibrant musically, with so much good stuff going on. We’ve got Optimo, Hudson Mohawke, Firecracker, Franz Ferdinand, Sub Club, Soma ... spoilt for choice, really. I’ve not seen a lot of bands recently, but I think Crazy P are great live - they have such a great energy, and really command the crowd’s attention. Who: The Revenge What: Picnic When: Saturday June 12 Where: Civic Underground
putting on a pulsating live show, with their Live at Christchurch Town Hall album capturing the troupe at their peak. Have a listen with the volume cranked well up to prepare for what should be a choice night on Sunday.
LOCKOUT DEBATE
Brag’s own political activist and occasional journalist Tony E tipped me off that there is again talk of imposing a 3am curfew on assorted Sydney clubs in attempts to quell drunken violence (I’d suggest banning fidget house may prove more fruitful in that regard…) The Police Association has challenged the state government and the Australian Hotels Association to conduct a three-month trial before the state election in March to determine if a 3am closing time would make a difference. Judging from the remarks of The Premier Kristina Keneally, it seems unlikely to go ahead, as Keneally affirmed she was not in favour of a ‘’one-size-fits-all approach’’ that also punishes premises that are incident-free.
Luna Park’s Come Together festival has earned itself a swarm of devotees in the past few years, with two defined teams the hard rock/punk Saturday crew and the sensitive indie Sunday folks. If you find yourself barracking for day one, you might want to hear what we have to give away. If you’re craving some musical dessert following the festival, then you might want to head to SFX, the club which all the Come Together bands have been invited to party on at. The after party shindig will feature a live DJ set from Deez Nuts and a live showcase set by Twelve Foot Ninja. To get your mitts on one of 5 double passes to the after party on June 12, give us the names of two bands playing on Saturday at Come Together.
CLAN ANALOGUE Australia’s oldest electronic music and arts collective Clan Analogue is so old that it was almost invented before electronic music itself. This conglomerate of electronic diehards are returning to Marrickville’s Red Rattler Theatre on June 12 for their second ‘Bandwidth Live Showcase’. The showcase is not only offering the special-est of guests, but it’s also doubling as the official launch for the Clan’s new compilation, Re:Cognition – The Clan Analogue Legacy Collection. The showcase includes Bleepin’ J Squawkins, Lunar Module, M.o.R., Telafonica, Loopsnake, Actual Russian Brides, and more.To win a double pass to this all-ages showcase, name the founder of Clan Analogue. (*cough* Google!)
GUETTA BASHING
My usual bag of fanmail this week also included a few disgruntled readers who have taken offence to my alleged David Guetta-bashing. On this tip, I felt it was appropriate to cover the Frenchman’s own views on his ‘credibility’. “Dance music is the only genre, until now, where being successful is a bad thing,” Guetta told The Guardian in a recent interview. “There is always going to be an underground scene and it’s really exciting. But what makes us strong is that there is some big names, some underground names, and the fact that we are all together makes the whole thing big. [Before] dance music was for kids on drugs or gay guys… the high tempo was not the right format for radio and they said it would never work…” He rambled on for a fair while longer, but he truly outdid himself when he declared, “I have said this many times; I am not trying to be credible, I am trying to be incredible”. And with that we have a new tagline for dance music news – “Welcome to the Frontline” just seems stale and outmoded in comparison to that sublime ‘Guettaism’…
DIAFRIX
Footscray duo Diafrix will be joining Ozi Battla and Nikkita for an aural threesome at Oxford Art Factory on Friday July 9 in the Sydney leg of their ‘Concrete Jungle’ tour. Only a matter of weeks ago Diafrix tore the stage apart (metaphorically speaking) at the Make Poverty History concert in Canberra, which cemented their burgeoning reputation as standout live performers, following slots at Good Vibrations, Pyramid Rock, Hot BBQ and Sydney Festival. The lads have been touring frenetically over the past year to support the release of their debut LP, and following this Sydney threeway they will return to their native Africa soil to be part of the ‘Collaboration 4 Change Project,’ which is the next step on their path to antipodean domination.
WE MIX YOU DANCE
Local party brand Purple Sneakers launch their We Mix You Dance this Friday June 11 at The Gladstone Hotel, 115 Regent St, Chippendale. The 2CD mix is spearheaded by Purple Sneakers DJs M.I.T and BenLucid, and covers material from Vampire Weekend, The XX, Hot Chip, Phoenix, La Roux, Animal Collective and Memory Tapes. To ensure the album is launched in an auspicious fashion, Sneakers regulars Toki Doki (‘sometimes’ in Japanese), Kill The Landlord, Wacks and Fantomatique will be joining the fray – and you can too, for only $12 on the door.
SPICE’S BLACK BOX
Sydney after-hours institution Spice, which is now held every Sunday morning at Home nightclub, has announced a new room; a concept, if you will, ‘The Black Box’. The title is appropriate given the room has no windows, just the essentials: a
big sound system, a low ceiling and a DJ booth. The idea is apparently to provide clubbers with a safe-haven from the glare (and reality), and offer a darker option to explore the “tougher side” of techno and house. There will be a plethora of guests and resident DJs playing both on the terrace and in the black box over winter – those of you planning to check it out this weekend can expect to see France’s YokoO and Schwa toughing it out well into the morning.
Common
SHAPESHIFTER
New Zealand live breakbeat outfit Shapeshifter return to Australia on the back of their fourth LP, The System Is A Vampire, for a performance at The Metro on Sunday June 13 (and remember it’s the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend, so you have Monday to recover.) A five-strong line up both in the studio and on the stage, the Kiwi veterans have lost none of their salience over the past decade, and retain a reputation for
COMMON
Stop the press! The Common and Kid Capri Australian tour, which had included a Sydney performance scheduled for this Friday at The Forum, has been postponed until September 2010. Ticket-holders can receive a refund from place of purchase, or hold on to their tickets which will still be valid for the new dates. No reason for the postponement was given, but I kinda dig that – no bullshit and an air of mystery…
“I will give you my finest hour, the one I spent watching you shower” - BLONDIE 18 :: BRAG :: 365 : 07:06:10
The world’s biggest singing show is coming to Australia. It’s open to anyone over 16 including groups, even if you’ve tried out before. This time you will get a helping hand from judges Ronan Keating, Natalie Imbruglia, Guy Sebastian and Kyle Sandilands. REGISTRATION 9.00AM TO 3.30PM AUSTRALIAN TECHNOLOGY PARK BAY 4 LOCOMOTIVE ST, EVELEIGH (SYDNEY SOUTH) NSW 2015
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Industrial Strength Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer
Life lines Born: The child of singer David Campbell and wife Lisa was on its way as this issue went to print. Expecting: Twins for Celine Dion, 42, and husband manager Rene Angelil. They have a nine year old son Rene. Expecting: Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon? Hospitalised: Simone Felice’s Australian tour this month was cancelled after he was rushed to a New York hospital for open heart surgery. In Court: Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh filed for a restraining order against an elderly neighbour who allegedly threatened to kill him, after he came onto his property last month and attacked his personal assistant with a block of wood. Died: Temptations singer Ali-Ollie Woodson, 58, cancer. He led the Motown act in the 1980s and ‘90s with hits like ‘Treat Her Like A Lady.’
PARISI LAUNCHING WUNDERKIND Michael Parisi, the former Warner A&R president and head of Festival Mushroom, is set to launch his own Wunderkind Music. The first signing is 18-year old Melbourne pop singer Owl Eyes (aka Brooke Addamo) whom he discovered at one of his Dream Inc workshops - and who counts Sire’s Seymour Stein as a big fan. Mushroom Music has signed Owl Eyes to a publishing deal. Another act may be signed to Wunderkind before the end of the year. Wunderkind will be distributed through Warner Music, with whom Parisi still consults in an A&R capacity. Parisi’s signings included Regurgitator, Gabriella Cilmi, Eskimo Joe, Motorace, and The Superjesus. He left Warner in late 2008 to set up Michael Parisi Management. Parisi
20 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
tells this column that he and MPM colleague Jacqui Wilson will oversee the label, choosing different teams of marketers and publicists around each act.
AAM ANNOUNCES TOUR SEMINAR Major talent managers Glenn Wheatley, Larry Wanagas, John Watson, Bill Cullen, Aaron Chugg, Cath Haridy and Baz Barrett will hold a seminar called ‘Touring Australia and Beyond’ on Wednesday June 23. It’s an initiative of the Association of Artist Managers (AAM), a body set up by music managers to safeguard and publicise issues of interest to managers. The seminar will trade tips and secrets on touring logistics, road crews and facing the global tour circuit. It’ll be held at Notes (73 – 75 Enmore Rd Newtown) from 6:30pm – 10:00pm. It costs $40 — but presale tickets are $20. Those who buy presale tix go into a draw with a prize that includes a headlining show at Notes, ads in Sydney magazines like The Brag and radio spots on FBi Radio. See www.aam.org.au.
ARIA INVESTIGATING CHARTFIXER.COM ARIA is investigating new site chartfixer.com, which began trials in Australia last week. It’s offering a service where for $30,000 its team of downloaders will buy 5000 copies of a single, and get it into the ARIA and iTunes charts. What you pay for the service is more than made up for in royalties. The site says what it is doing is legal. The site argues that once you get into the charts, then radio will play you and retailers will be more amenable to stocking you. A statement from ARIA CEO Stephen Peach said, “ARIA is aware of Chartfixer and is currently taking advice as to options available to us. ARIA will take all necessary steps to preserve the integrity and accuracy of the ARIA Charts. Additionally, the sales for any release found to be using this service would be disqualified.”
TMN RELAUNCHES WEBSITE
Music industry weekly bible The Music Network last week launched a new site at
www.themusicnetwork.com to become “the music industry’s homepage,” according to publisher Adam Zammit. Aside from news and charts, the site will have exclusive prerelease music and advance samples of DVDs, exclusive artist interviews, and behind the scenes footage from gigs and industry events. Another new feature on the site is Black Book, a free national industry directory with contacts. Coming up soon is the national venue directory Vroom, which keeps adding information and will have 1300 venues on its database by December.
MORE TALK THAN MUSIC Listeners tend to listen more intently to talk radio than music stations, says the Nielsen Company Listener Attention Study, released last week. It found that 58% of listeners tune into yakety-yak radio compared to 21% for music. Talk stations appeal most to those aged between 25 and 64 years, to males, and to young singles and couples.
PEATS RIDGE GREENEST FESTIVAL IN WORLD The Peats Ridge Festival was announced the winner of the UK’s Greener Festival Awards, which recognises festivals who take initiatives to cut down on their carbon footprint. Peats Ridge provide virtually everything from recycled goods — including an inflatable stage made from left over tents, bunting from recycled banners, organic food, and workshops to teach attendees on how to be more green. A record eight Australian festivals were on the list, including Bluesfest, The Falls Festival and WOMADelaide. Meanwhile, applications for Peats Ridge 2010 are open as of Monday June 7.
SHOW GOES ON AT OPERA HOUSE The Opera House denied it was closing any of its six performance venues or struggling in a financial crisis, or that it would cost $800 million to repair outdated stage gear. Instead, it said, it would cost $50 million to do up its cramped backstage area and update its stage machinery.
THINGS WE HEAR * Which young NSW band got so shitfaced at the Darwin Bassinthegrass festival post-party that they got turfed out by a bouncer at 2:30 am? “Do you know who we are?” they shrieked. Clearly not. * Also at the festival, Silverchair’s Daniel Johns introduced ‘Freak’ by saying “This is our last song ... ever” which led to speculation the ‘Chair might be splitting up. They aren’t; put it down to his bizarre sense of humour. * Soundwave promoter AJ Maddah wasn’t hiding his exasperation when he revealed that he failed to secure Rancid for the festival — for the sixth time. * Tamworth radio 2TM changed its name to 2JW on the weekend to officially acknowledge the 40th anniversary of the beginning of John Williamson’s career. * Umm, Ozzy Osbourne reckons Johnny Depp should play him in a movie. * Some media claim that the new Australian tourism jingle is similar to the old Mickey Mouse Club theme song.
BE AMONG THE FIRST IN A TO HEAR T USTRALIA H PLUS PRIZE E NEW ALBUM S & GIVE AW AYS
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thechemicalbrothers.com | theinsoundfromwayout.com BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 21
Cover Feature
By Alasdair Duncan
all my different campaigns and projects. Take Dim Mak records – we’ve been around for over 13 years, we’ve put out 155 records, and we have some very large acts - like The Bloody Beetroots and MSTRKRFT - that require a lot of attention, and we have an amazing team that handles that. Without them, there’s no way all these things could be happening.”
teve Aoki, a native of California’s upscale Newport Beach, doesn’t like to keep still for long. As a youngster he played in a series of hardcore bands, before switching his focus to the dance floor. Churning out numerous remixes and collaborations he eventually switched his focus again, to his own solo productions. His record label Dim Mak, conceived when Aoki was barely out of his teens, introduced Bloc Party to America and The Bloody Beetroots to the world. That’s to say nothing of the various clothing, sneakers, headphones and publishing brands he has a hand in. Or his career as a celebrity DJ, where his antics behind the decks are frequently documented by hipster photo blog The Cobrasnake. Or the Korean BBQ restaurant he co-owns with various sundry Strokes and cast members from That ‘70s Show... It would be fair to say that Aoki, constantlyproductive, is something of a Type A personality. He laughs when I put this to him. “That’s definitely one of my traits; you could call it a weakness!” he says. “I love being in the centre of chaos with a lot of things happening, because it’s stimulating – it creates more energy. But there’s no way I would be able to handle [it all] without the dedicated and solid team that manages
Aoki’s initial foray into dance music was in 2005 when, working alongside Blake Miller in the project Weird Science, he crafted a remix of Bloc Party’s ‘Helicopter’. Numerous other re-workings and collaborations and one highly-eclectic mix compilation (Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles) would follow before Aoki felt the urge once more to try something new – an album’s worth of his own productions. For the last year or two, Aoki has been hooking up with a wide array of vocalists – Kele of Bloc Party, Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, rappers Lil’ Jon and Kid Cudi, and sometime Daft Punkcollaborator Romanthony among them – to work on the record. The finished product, he says, may surprise some fans. “I’m known for making big, aggressive music, and the remixes I’ve been putting out and the tracks I’ve been collaborating on are club records, really big club records, and that’s what people are going to be expecting,” he says. “But this album’s not going to be like that. I really wanted to focus on building my song craft this time around. It’s going to be well-rounded and full – I didn’t want to just create a bunch of songs that would sound massive in clubs; I wanted to create quality album tracks. It’s going to be really interesting to hear what people think about that. It’s not all abrasive, harsh dance music.” It would be fair to say that Aoki’s new, mellower approach comes down to the various vocalists he collaborated with this time around. “In the past, I would write tracks without really thinking about the vocalists,” he says. “That’s because I was working mainly with hip-hop vocalists, and by nature hip-hop artists are known for freestyling
over anything. When I started working with rock singers, that’s when I started tailoring music more around the vocals, and I guess it kind of built from there.” He uses his work with Rivers Cuomo to elucidate the point. “He was amazing to work with – when I sent him a track, he sent his vocals back within two days. I wrote my track to him as if I was writing a pop track... but I kept on re-writing the track and making different versions as I listened to the vocals, because I realised I really wanted to focus on them as much as possible.” Aoki is old friends with Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke, and their collaboration promises to be an exciting one, too. “We’re sixty five percent done with that at the moment,” he says, when I ask him about the track. “I’ve given him a lot of breathing room to do his vocal, but Kele is really good. I’ve known him since back in 2003. We put out the first Bloc Party record on the Dim Mak label, and Kele is one of the most eclectic writers I know – he’s able to come up with really unique melodies. I wrote a basic structure for him to play with, and he’s writing things to go on top of that. At this stage, working on our track, we’re just stacking things on top of each other. My view of collaborations is that they’re really about different worlds coming together to create something new and exciting.” The album will hopefully be out later this year, but Australia’s next taste of Aoki will come this month on his national tour. He’ll be playing this weekend at Sydney’s We Love Sounds, and with all the talk of new stuff, I’m wondering what we can expect to hear. “I’m definitely going to be playing a lot of new and unreleased tracks,” Aoki tells me. “I’m not really going to play songs from my album – eventually, I’ll be making club remixes of those songs that I can play out, but for now, I’ll be playing a lot of my recent collaborations with producers like Armand Van Helden, Laidback Luke and Afrojack. There are some newer remixes I’ll be playing as well, like the Kid Cudi one, and a few other big stompers that’ll be coming out soon.”
But fans expecting pure dance music may be in for a bit of a surprise when Aoki busts out his voice on some of his hardcore tracks, as he’s known to do in the middle of DJ sets. “I do vocals for a couple of songs,” he says. “Some people don’t like it, but it’s part of my set now – I perform hardcore songs by our new band Rifoki.” Rifoki is a band Aoki formed with Bob Rifo from The Bloody Beetroots. “It’s a very typical hardcore band; we recorded during the time when we produced ‘Warp’ together last year. We recorded five punk songs – I did the vocals and Bob played guitar.” And they’re songs he’s not planning to drop from his setlist, either. “For the kids who just want dance music, they might not like hearing thrashing, screaming hardcore - but I sing those songs in my set.” From DJing electro tunes to shredding his lungs as a hardcore singer then, there’s not a great deal that Steve Aoki doesn’t get involved in. As someone who’s already done so much in a relatively short career, there’s no telling where he’ll end up next. When I ask if he has any burning passions or goals he still wants to achieve, Aoki tells me he’s too fixated on his album to think of anything else just now - but I wouldn’t be surprised if one day he emerges, Richard Branson-like, at the top of his very own global Aoki empire… Who: Steve Aoki With: Underworld, Tiga, Crookers, M.A.N.D.Y, Markus Schulz What: We Love Sounds When: Saturday June 12 Where: Entertainment Quarter
“I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses. I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises” - IAN DURY 22 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
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Crowded House House Of Intrigue By Mike Gee
A
pparently, Neil Finn has grown a moustache. Let’s just think about that, slowly now. Neil Finn has a moustache. For the life of me I could never have imagined the younger of the Finn brothers with a moustache. His son Liam has spent of much of his performing career under enough facial hair to qualify for a role alongside Gimli as one of the dwarves in Lord Of The Rings - but Neil truly isn’t hirsute. So, what brought it on?
To find the answer, we should begin at the end of this interview. Finn is sitting comfortably at home in Auckland where it’s beautiful and sunny. Today’s topic is Intriguer, the second album for the reformed Crowded House - now a four piece featuring Finn, the fashionable and educated bassist Nick Seymour, longtime keyboardist and guitarist Mark Hart, and drummer Matt Sherrod - who replaces the late and fondly remembered Paul Hester. Having reached the end of our 15 minutes, it was finally time for the most obvious question: Who is ‘The Intriguer’? “Good question,” Neil replies. “I don’t really know. It’s a presence we sense. He stands back in the shadows around the edges and watches things unravel - a shadowy presence on the fringes of our life.
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“‘The Intriguer’ was first identified by Michael Leunig and I in Sydney,” Neil continues, “in the window of a top-floor room of a hotel in Pitt Street.” Leunig is an acclaimed cartoonist, responsible for the artwork of the latest album from Crowded House. “Since then, there have been a few possible sightings of The Intriguer. If you go to the website of BFM in Auckland, there’s a video of somebody defiling a poster of us, with a drawn-on moustache. Actually, that was my motivation to grown one, -” (and there it is, everyone), “- and at the end of the clip is another possible sighting.” I couldn’t find the clip, but at the BFM website I did find a show called The Cornucopia of Flowers with Cornelius Neil Finn. The gist of the show is simple: Each week Neil Finn reviews a flower - the peony, the poppy, the humble sunflower. It’s a peculiar sideproject, sure, but then Neil Finn has always been a little intriguing. In the 33 years that he’s written bold and large over the musicverse – from Split Enz to Crowded House to the Finn Brothers – he’s retained a remarkably low-key presence. His private life has stayed just that despite the adulation and critical acclaim. Not an easy trick, with such a rollercoaster bio. The seminal early Split Enz embraced the 19-year-old Neil in 1977. They disbanded in 1984, a year before the opening chorus of Crowded House. The ’House doors shut in 1995, culminating in that unforgettable farewell concert outside the Opera House – after which followed solo albums, and duo releases with big brother Tim. Then there was the rebirth of the Enz, and finally the resurrection of Crowded House… Through all of that, Finn has seemed in control, always doing what he wants, and doing it faultlessly.
“The Intriguer was first identified by Michael Leunig and I in Sydney, in the window of a top-floor hotel room of a hotel in Pitt Street. Since then, there have been a few possible sightings...” The only dent in the near perfect record was 2007’s first album for Crowded House 2.0. Time On Earth lacked passion, lacked killer songs and, most of all, lacked the intimacy the band was all about. At its best, the House was an impossibly high romance; elegant, so close you could almost touch it – it breathed in your ear until your glasses misted over. Thankfully, Intriguer remedies that glitch, defining CH 2.0 both as a band, and as songsmiths. ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Either Side Of the World’, ‘Falling Dove’ and ‘Isolation’ are some of the best Crowded House songs to date. Here, the reinvention has taken hold and given us something new to celebrate. “Actually I’m pretty happy with the album, with everything,” Finn says. “It does feel like a different era. This band has to have its own attitude and character, and having everybody there from the start means that it’s now defined by the sum of its parts. Some of the gains we made from being on the road for months on end you can’t get any other way. I had a good reminder of that the other night, when I saw Wilco. They had a great mix of intuitive togetherness and a willingness to step off the edge. I think there is a similarity between their audience and our audience, in that they’re willing to let the band and things develop. “As for the songs,” he continues, “well, one way or another they evolved very nicely; they allowed a few tangents to jump in.” Neil loves a good tangent. He has an admitted way of writing where he circles a song, constantly adding, subtracting, picking. And sometimes, it ends up completely repainted with a brand new sheen. “I’m happy for a complete transformation to take place,” he explains. “The only people disappointed by the writing process are those who got used to the songs sounding one way; say, on the road, when we were basically demoing them.” The album’s triumph lies in the combination of an intimate band that’s come to know one another in some cases for a second time, and effortless songs that whisper away like close friends. Version One was always going to be hard act to follow - so much history. But Version Two succeeds. “I think Split Enz and Crowded House have different approaches to the same end,” Neil says. “It’s all about drawing people in, entertaining people, sending them away feeling a little lighter. To put a smile on the face, a tear in the eye.” Perhaps that’s exactly the type of entertainment that draws The Intriguer in? “Perhaps,” says Neil Finn wistfully. “Perhaps…” Who: Crowded House What: Intriguer is out June 11
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Shapeshifter All Roads Lead Back Home By Tony Edwards
S
hapeshifter’s long career, now approaching a decade, has established them as one of the world’s premier live Drum n Bass acts. Interesting, because their music is rarely restricted to the DnB genre; soul has played an equal part in their musical make-up, as have elements of dub and electronica. DnB is more just the tempo they use to generate energy, and if you’ve ever been to a Shapeshifter gig you’ll know that it’s all about energy. People tend to jump really high in the air. Relying much more on song-based structures these days, it’s the voice of P-Digsss that brings the human soulful human element to the group. “I’m in Auckland,” the vocalist tells me over the phone, as we discuss the group’s fourth full length album System Is A Vampire. At the last album’s recording, the members were spread far and wide over NZ, Victoria, NSW and Queensland, but now they’re living in closer proximity to each other. “Nick [Robinson] and Sam [Trevethick] are back now – the boys moved back over after a stint living in Australia. Only Johnny Hooves [drummer] still lives in Melbourne.” Four studio albums in and you’d think they’d be used to it now - but P-Digsss reckons that
making this record was still pretty intense. “You go through all these highs and lows of emotion and shit, it’s quite an ordeal. But when you come through it on the other side, it’s a pretty good thing,” he laughs. Fans of the last Shapeshifter record Soulstice, with it’s soulful rollers like ‘One’ and ‘Bring Change’, will feel ‘The Touch’ and ‘Lifetime’ off System Is A Vampire - while those with a fondness the earlier material will love ‘Tokyo’ and ‘Dutchies’; both a little bit harder, with more rocky influences. “If you go back and listen to all the albums, there’s heavy shit on everything really. Right back at the beginning especially, most of it’s pretty heavy. Our sound has changed over time, we just let our inspirations and our influences that we grew up with come out in our music. But [this album]
is still very Shapeshifter, you can tell it’s us.” After their current Australian string of shows, the group are off to Europe for no less than their fifth UK tour. “We’ve done a few trips to Europe… London Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Edinburgh, Dublin. This time around, Hospital Records want to help us out, so hopefully this year we can get out to a few more places we haven’t been - like Austria and Hungary.” Hospital Records, the seminal uplifting South London DnB label, has worked with the NZ outfit previously; most famously for the Nu-Tone remix of Shapeshifter’s ‘Long White Cloud’. “We have massive respect for the label,” continues P-Diggs, “They’re all awesome peeps. Good friends to have.” Coming to play the Sydney show with the band are Electric Wire Hustle, a newly emerged Kiwi
soul outfit. “Oh my goodness, wait until you hear these soulful brothers, they’re incredible,” P-Digsss enthuses. “We always try to bring something special over with us, you know. Usually they aren’t Drum n Bass, because we don’t want to saturate the whole night with it. We usually bring artists that make us happy, and inspire us before we go on. [Electric Wire Hustle] are incredible artists, they make beautiful music.” Who: Shapeshifter What: System Is A Vampire is out now through Inertia When: Sunday June 13 Where: The Metro Theatre, with Electric Wire Hustle
Gayngs Synth Soul In Slo-Mo Lee Hutchison
H
ow many musicians does it take to screw in a light bulb? If it’s 23 or less, Gayngs might be able to help out. Although the new collaboration involves the talents of almost two dozen musicians from around the USA – including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon (on nine of the eleven tracks), Rhymesayers MC P.O.S, The Rosebuds’ Ivan Howard, and Megafaun – the project is the brainchild of three men. Producer and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Olson (Digitata) and electro glam rockers Silent Gold, aka Zack Coulter and Adam Hurlburt. The project came together on a whim, explains Olson. “They [Silent Gold] called me to come down and play some bass with them, and then we just got drunk and decided we should start making some music.”
The Snowdroppers Dick Jokes & Neitzsche By Willie Newland
D
escribing themselves as a ‘fucked up group of misfits and STD carriers,’ and with their name being taken from the 1920s slang for cocaine addicts, The Snowdroppers have either a very well developed sense of humour, or some serious problems. Mixing old time blues with a more modern rock n roll sensibility, the Sydney rockabilly band stay true to the ethics of the music they’re inspired by - and are never happier than when they’re slogging it out on stage. Luckily for them they’re getting plenty of chances to do just that. In the middle of a national tour, they’re getting pumped to play Come Together festival at Luna Park over the June long weekend. “We’re kind of in the middle of a big old tour right now, wandering hither and thither and yon, spreading the love,” singer and banjo player Johnny Wishbone tells me over the phone. “I’m actually standing outside the pub right now, and I’ve maybe got enough time for one drink before I have to go and get ready – ‘cos we’re playing tonight with Wagons,” he adds, the sounds of a slowly growing Annandale crowd filtering through from the background. While some people might find the constant slog of life on the road maddening, Johnny prefers to take a lighter look at it, turning pitfalls and problems into punch-lines. “It’s very base though, I must admit. People always ask ‘what’d you get up to on tour?’ and I kind of think, you know what it was? It was five guys in a van talking about dicks… that’s touring,” Johnny confesses to me with humourfilled honesty. “You know, I wish I could make out it’s something grander, I mean we do play some shows as well - but mostly it’s the talking about the dicks. “I think that’s fairly common. I mean, I can’t think of any bands off hand who discuss Nietzsche or something like that when they’re hung over
in the back of the van. Maybe they do - and I’m not saying that we as a band are devoid of our own philosophical leanings - but we do enjoy the simpler pleasures of a good old dick…” He pauses, and I hold my breath awkwardly before he laughs, adding, ‘joke, I meant dick-JOKE.” This refreshing refusal to take themselves too seriously forms the core of The Snowdroppers’ charm. Just like the old blues musicians they idolise, the band are honest in their song-writing, dealing with everything from intoxication to fornication while always making sure they’re having as much fun as possible. “What’s the point otherwise?” Johnny asks. “Really, I mean you have to have a good time, you have to be up there laughing.”
The direction came from Olson, whose vision was to create an album full of lush, ‘80s-inspired synth-pop and reclined, soulful funk. This vision, says Olson, began as a result of a love-hate relationship with the music that the group’s newly released record Relayted celebrates. “I just ended up getting really heavily into 10cc, mainly into the song ‘I’m Not In Love’, and I thought, ‘I’d really like to do something like that.’” The entire album was actually inspired by that one song – and the whole thing was written at 69 bpm. “After waking up to the white rock radio stations in Minneapolis every day for two years straight, I started to realise that I actually loved some of these songs. I’d wake up and be like, ‘Man, I could listen to that all fucking day’. “It just started to seep into my brain,” Olsen continues. “It used to wake me up because
I’d be so pissed off with Phil Collins coming through in the morning and then … instead of waking up frantically to an alarm clock and throwing it across the room, I’d just wake up and rock out and then have the song in my head all day at work.” So, I can’t help but wonder – was there an element of self-loathing involved in saluting the music Olson was initially frustrated by? “No, I came around … a lot of that stuff is timeless, and I wanted to make something in that vein. I was going through a ridiculous break-up and I was getting all those generic feelings that everyone gets when they’ve had their soul crushed. All of a sudden these soft rock hits mean something and you can completely relate. No matter how cheesy it is, it’s still on point.” He tells me that when they were working on Relayted, he was living in “complete fucking misery.” “The main perk in life was getting to record. I had a lot of shit going on like bands collapsing and relationships in general. It was just a bullshit zone to be in, and that’s why I connected to the songs in the way that I did.” If you’re worried that this is just another supergroup who won’t live up to the hype, well, fear not. Olson doesn’t lump his project into that category too easily. “[Supergroup] is a stupid term … with us, it’s more like a mega collaboration. We didn’t intentionally get these groups together. They were just players that were friends of mine who I wanted to play with.” It was just that these particular friends happened to be in high places...
But don’t think it’s all dick jokes and blues riffs. Johnny and the band are very well aware of the subtle equilibrium one must achieve between humour and music, sillyness and seriousness, in order to engage an audience. “It’s all about finding that balance, and if your balance is out of whack it can come across as insincere.” Perceived insincerity isn’t a problem the band are likely to have in the near future, as it’s not success or popularity that drives them but rather a sense of development and growth. “It’s all about momentum for me, man. I mean, I’m happy as long as we are progressing in some way, shape or form. As long as we’re not the house band in some dodgy regional RSL, I’m laughing.” Who: The Snowdroppers What: Come Together Festival When: June 12 & 13 Where: Luna Park
Who: Gayngs What: Relayted is out now through Jagjaguwar
“Elvis and Scotty, days when I ain’t spotty, sitting on the potty - curing smallpox” - IAN DURY 26 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
Ratatat Autoharps & Video Arts By Mikey Carr
R
atatat’s layers of instrumentation over minimal beats and throbbing synth loops have been rising from the vintage synth-filled depths of New York’s electronic music scene since 2004. On the back of their last release, 2008’s LP3, multiinstrumentalists Mike Stroud and Evan Mast have toured the world, remixed Bjork, played on David Letterman and even tried their hand at hip hop - they contributed two tracks to Kid Cudi’s debut album, Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day. And last week they finally released their fourth studio album - the inventively-titled LP4. This latest release was written around the same period in which LP3 was born, and one could easily expect the two albums to sit side by side. But LP4 showcases a more daring and stranger side of the band, as they incorporating more sounds than ever before. “I think it’s just a matter of trying to keep ourselves entertained during the recording process,” Evan tells me, of the band’s endless stockpiling of new instruments, sounds and samples. “I feel like we’re always trying to make some sound that we’ve never made before. I mean even if we write something that we think is pretty good, like a good melody or something, unless it’s brand new to us in some way we just can’t get excited about it.”
time we’re doing real videos that aren’t just like cut up footage from movies,” he explains with a self-deprecating laugh. “We’ve reached out to a few directors and we’re trying to make it happen, but it’s a bit weird - we haven’t really done a lot of collaborating with other people in the past, so this is one of the first experiences we’ve had of handing the reigns over to someone else.” With this new approach comes new lessons to be learnt; and after years spent toiling in creative isolation, Evan is struggling giving up all of that control. “It ends up being a totally different skill,” he tells me. “Even if you have this brilliant idea, if you can’t communicate it properly [alone] it can end up falling flat. I don’t know though, I think it’s a skill I haven’t really developed. I’m working on that,” he says. “I just hope we get everything done in time for the release...” Who: Ratatat What: LP4 is out now on XL, through Remote Control
It’s not just a case of grabbing whatever’s lying around and recording it though. The duo often have to take to time to experiment with and get to know an instrument before they absorb it into their music. One example is the autoharp, a chorded zither-type stringed thing which features prominently in parts of LP4. It’s all thanks to Evan and Mike’s dedication to finding exactly the right sound. “We bought that thing just before going into the studio,” Evan says. “So the night that we got there, we were in this room with all these instruments, getting excited you know - and I sat down with the autoharp and played a couple of chords. It sounded like this Cupid, sparkly harp thing and we were just like, ‘oh no, this was such a mistake buying this thing, it sounds horrible’,” he recounts with a chuckle or two. Sparkly Cupid things don’t really have a place in the Rotatat register. “But a few days passed and then we sort of figured out how to use it.”
MIXED BY
“Right before we start working on a record, we have these periods of watching YouTube videos of people in India playing weird percussion instruments, and then trying to track them down.” Listening to this latest album reveals that this sort of experience must not be a seldom one. With the core of their sound still made up of layered guitar, bass and synth parts, the rest of it presents a boggling array of textures, with sounds popping up from all over the world - and some seemingly from outside of it. You might think then that Evan and Mike spend all their time on eBay bidding on sitars or steel drums, but in fact their instrument shopping sprees tend to take on a more cyclical character. “I guess it more kind of happens right before we start working on a record; we have these periods of watching YouTube videos of people in India playing weird percussion instruments and then trying to track down places where you can mail order them from. I mean, our recording process is pretty inexpensive for the most part, so we tend to spend our money on buying instruments.” And why not? Why bother paying some big name producer half a million to make you sound like someone else when you can just do it all yourself and spend the money hunting for new toys? It’s how Anton Newcombe got pretty much all of his recording gear - and it’s a tactic Ratatat have long held to. Still, it seems that the duo’s era of selfsufficiency is coming to something of an end. The band are working on a series of three music videos to accompany the release of LP4 and for the first time, Evan isn’t the one making them. “Well up until now, every video that we’ve had I’ve made myself. In the past it was kind of like all the videos were what we used for our tour visuals, so this is the first
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Bridezilla Permission To Pash. Slowly. By Amelia Schmidt
“I
t kind of felt like we were on holiday more than work. It kind of felt more like we’d taken our gap year in a week or something.”
Holiday Sidewinder and Millie Hall are sipping coffees and basking in that strange day of sunlight that fell between the cyclones and grey showers of last week. We’re talking about the UK tour their band Bridezilla just finished up. “The shows were just a sidetrack,” Millie adds, and both agree that they were happy with their performances. “I guess they’re so easy now that we don’t even really have to think about them.” Just last September, Bridezilla were in New York, playing at the Flaming Lips-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties. This UK tour has taken their music to yet another new audience. “I think England’s a bit like Melbourne in terms of crowd,” says Holly. “Kind of very cultural, but critical. It’s less about having a good time, and more about listening and deconstructing. I thought we went down really well though.” The good reception has meant more confidence and motivation for the band, who are working on a new album - when they can. With almost all the band members playing in side projects, there are lots of ideas floating around; but Holly says that they “save the best for Bridezilla.” For Holiday personally, some motivation has come
from her discovery of the keyboard organ. “I got a chunk of money from APRA,” she explains, “and I bought an organ on eBay. Basically I’d got a bit sick of guitar, and I’m not a very good guitarist. Keyboards are kind of easier. You just.. press things.” Millie interjects that Holly has said before that she really likes playing any instrument she doesn’t know. “Yeah, that’s true. Maybe I got so familiar with guitar that I ended up playing normal chords rather than weird, interesting stuff. I’m enjoying the drum machine as well, but Josh will probably oppose that.” A new instrument in a band can often take the sound in a different direction, but for Bridezilla, there seems to be an unwavering vision. “I think we generally have a clear picture of what our sound is, regardless of the instrumentation,” says Holly. “There’s always that light at the end of the tunnel that we strive for: a warm, thick, challenging, yet easy, melodic, rhythmic… Utopia of music.” Bridezilla will be headlining the June installment of Oxford Art Factory’s Showcase Series - and they’re excited to be sharing the bill with two bands they’ve never seen play. Holly tells me that the drummer from Step Panther was her high school sweetheart. “I’m really happy that he’s playing music again,” she smiles. “And they’re really, really good as well. I bought their EP the other night. There’s this one song ‘Fight Like A Knight’ that’s so good.” She’s also curious about the magic of Domeyko/ Gonzales. As a big fan of Seekae and Ghoul, Holly is enthusiastic about that experimental-electronica scene rising out of Sydney right now. “It’s nice when some different waves pop up in Sydney. Unfortunately when we started we came out in the electro 80s/Libertines wave. It was interesting though, because we had something to rebel against. It was all these synths and pedal wars, and then we came along with acoustic instruments. “I hope we can spawn a bunch of bands that use different instrumentation,” Holly says. “It’s nice when there are a bunch of people helping with a movement. Not a sound, because obviously each band has its own sound, but more like a direction. I like the idea of movements.”
“Tell the Brag readers that we’d love them to be making out during our set if they want to. There are couches there. Maybe we’ll bring some pillows...” Speaking of movements, the one towards various local warehouse spaces and unconventional venues really seems to upset Holly. Despite playing recent shows at the Wharf, with an aerial acrobatics school at the Opera House and in a loungeroom in Newtown, Bridezilla maintain they never would have made it without the smaller pubs and venues – and the threat they’ve been under is a pretty sore spot. “I’m still so upset about the Hopetoun,” Holly laments. “That was a real step up where, if you started writing some songs you could go do a show, and anyone could go see you. There’s no initial step now. You have to jump straight into something.” In order to be heard now, new bands have to develop their recorded sounds first, releasing them for free online. Which is all well and good on paper, but misses out on some pretty important developmental stages for a band. “We completely developed our sound from doing live shows - and as much as we hate that people got to see us begin really bad and then slowly get better, it’s nice for someone to have been with you from the start.” Bridezilla’s live show really is something unique. Ethereally beautiful multi-instrumentalists with soaring voices dancing on stage, their evocative, romantic music takes on a life of its own. “Unfortunately we’re not going to give you that rock’n’roll good time, have-a-dance-have-a-pash kind of experience,” Holly laughs. Millie looks a little strange for a moment as she considers someone pashing to their music, but Holly’s okay with it. “A slow pash is OK,” Holly says. “Tell the Brag readers that we’d love them to be kissing and making out during our set if they want to. All couples welcome. I mean I’ve seen someone getting it on once at Oxford Art Factory. I wouldn’t mind if that happened either. There are couches there. There’s some comfort there. Maybe we’ll bring some pillows...” Who: Bridezilla With: Domeyko/Gonzalez and Step-Panther What: OAF Showcase Series When: Wednesday June 16 Where: Oxford Art Factory 28 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
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Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Ready For Feedback By Oliver Downes
T
o quote the Comic Book Guy, ‘loneliness and cheeseburgers are a dangerous mix’. Well, the same might be said of tape recorders and eight-tracks. Especially if you’re Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, AKA Ariel Pink. Ariel has spent the better part of the last fifteen years famously and obsessively compiling a seemingly endless catalogue of reconstituted pop, 60s surfer tunes, advertising jingles, stadium anthems and 80s cheese, integrating them all into a style that might be thought of as Prom Queen meets Horror Show. But for every critic repulsed by the lo-fi imperfection and seeming amateurishness of Pink’s analogue recordings, another has recognised that the sheer mediocrity of the sound quality – and it is bad, at times almost unlistenably so – is as much of the point as is the mishmash of genre that makes up the songs themselves. Pink has chosen to scrape away the studio polish of disposable product, to expose a vehicle capable of bearing his wounded, abject voice. “I cut my teeth early on sub-par equipment,” he tells me, with an almost audible shrug. “It
Secret Sounds presents
wasn’t so much being attracted to the sound of shittiness per se … It was a means to an end. [It was about] making something sound good out of it, rather than blaming the lack of quality on the lack of gear.” The outsider mystique that grew up around his wretched loner shtick, as well as the undeniable quality of the songs, yielded paydirt eventually. A union with Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks back in 2004 resulted in the release of selected material that had previously only existed on CDRs. Subsequent releases such as The Doldrums (2004) or Scared Famous (2007) have simply mined the back-catalogue however, the music carrying no sense of growth or progression. Rather, it expresses a bizarre time-warped sense of stasis, as well as a loneliness so hyper-aware of itself that it’s bruised misery is immediately erased by the self-reflexive pisstaking that’s present in its very articulation. That was then though and this is now - for Ariel Pink has turned a corner. Last year’s sprawling double-disk opus Grandes Exitos marked the end of his DIY era. “Music is a means to an end y’know,” he says. “You should make your art and purge those demons that you so desperately need to exorcise. I’m over that stage of my life where I’m just a heart bleeding onto a tape deck. I’m very anxious to get some sort of feedback, some reflection on what I was doing. I’ve got a whole different set of circumstances now.” Among other things, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti is no longer simply a moniker for the artist’s bedroom project. It’s a full band now, feathers and all. Previous attempts at performing his music solo produced less than stellar results (“I think it came off pretty bad”, he admits), but Pink is quick to staunch any doubts regarding the group’s ability. “Who says that it’s impossible to do this stuff live? All we need is commitment, people to be on the same page. “The live part is what I have to do in order to continue playing my music. Otherwise I’d need to get a job and continue to make a bunch of tapes in my bedroom. It’s [been] this total lesson in how to handle one’s affairs.” He laughs, adding, “I’m a lot more of a social butterfly; I like the attention, too.”
nd
T MON 2 AUG - LMETRO THEATRE D OU special guests BOYS&OBEAR and JOHNNY FLYNN
EXTRA SHOW ! ADDED
SUN 1st AUG THE FACTORY
“I really feel like there’s no reason to be just a stupid entertainer for the sheeple, just the heroin for the masses - we don’t need any more of that.” Other positive life steps have included being signed last year to UK indie label 4AD; any former recalcitrance towards participating in the monster that is the modern music industry eventually gave way to the desire to reach an audience. “It was no secret; we needed to get signed to a real label,” he says. “I’ve made every mistake in the book in the last five years, and I’ve continued to, I’m a slow learner … but I’m lucky, I feel like I’m chasing heights. The longer I do it, the more I feel I’m in control of my craft. It’s a new trajectory in my life that I’m really into at the moment; it’s very different.”
special guests THE MAPLE TRAIL
All Ages. Tickets from The Factory, Ph 9550 3666, www.factorytheatre.com.au
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Before Today is the first album of this new period. At an even twelve tracks, it is easily Pink’s most coherent and accessible statement to date. Songs like ‘Fright Night (Nevermore)’, first single ‘Round And Round’ or the wonderfully Billie Jean referencing ‘Menopause Man’ benefit from digital production with a rich day-glo sound, while retaining the knowing wink and disruptive sexual overtones of his previous work.
I SPEAK BECAUSE I CAN OUT NOW ON EMI
www.lauramarling.com
FREE Sampler! Check out some of our favourites. Go to secret-sounds.com.au to download your Playlist 30 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
So what lies ahead? “Same thing only better, hopefully. I don’t want to punish the crowd or chastise humanity or whatever … Whatever I’ve already laid the groundwork for - it’s all tacky already. My job is not anywhere near done.” Who: Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti What: Before Today is out now on 4AD
Photo by Tim Saccenti
Pink seems reconciled with the excesses of what he obviously sees as a previous incarnation – there is a clear sense of him having passed through the crucible, arriving on the other side by and large intact, and with a renewed thirst to create. “At the risk of being a cartoon of myself, I do like to lead the life that I want to lead, and kind of lead by example. I really feel like there’s no reason to be just a stupid entertainer for the sheeple… just the heroin for the masses - we don’t need anymore of that.”
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Seth Troxler
Style Junkie By Mikey Carr
The Hater By RK
S
eth Troxler hates himself, and his biography captures it brilliantly. Whether he’s DJing in L.A., Berlin, or Buenos Aires, the American usually ends his evening in a corner somewhere, his head in his hands, his hands running through his hair, his eyes staring at the ground and his conceptually-rich mind wondering why all of us, not just those in the world of house and techno, don’t see it: his immeasurable skill as a DJ and producer of dance jams that leave people feeling somehow ...molested. “I am a beast!” chimes the affable and actually quite likeable Seth Troxler down the line. “Sure I like to party a little bit – it’s something I love actually, and people like good times that are sexy as hell. Good time jams, I am having a good time dancing, maybe I might get laid at the party! If everyone gets laid at the party I will have done my job. Seth Troxler will play fuck-jam, because he wants everyone to get laid!” None of this miscreant-type banter is to detract from his unique take on electronic dance music. Growing up in Michigan, and living halfway between Chicago and Detroit, a young Seth found himself getting into the soulful and melodic elements of everything from Detroit techno to Chicago house. “I actually grew up in the same suburb as Matthew Dear,” says Seth. “Basically, I enjoyed music and enjoyed the partying. I got a job in the record store and then met a couple of influential people in my life - guys who put on parties and things. I did all the usual stuff - high school and college and all that - and then out of nowhere, it just became a career.” So what started as a hobby became a regular weekend activity, and then took him to Europe – Seth is now based in Berlin. “Right now it’s just a pursuit of something that I really enjoy. “I like a wide range of music,” he tells me, “and at home I listen to a lot of indie rock. I like everything from broken beat to something that’s progressive or even harder techno. I never put myself in one place musically.” His favourite DJ tool is Serato AKA Scratch Live, a digital vinylsimulator popular with a lot of big time DJs. “It allows me more flexibility; I like to check what the beat is doing to the vibe. It’s a thing between the crowd and the DJ. I like contemporary dance music – whether it’s house, minimal or even pop, it’s about having fun.”
Gift Of Gab ift of Gab is a rare figure in the world of hip-hop. Finding popularity as half of legendary Bay Area duo Blackalicious, he’s one of the most prolific artists working in hip hop today - collaborating with the likes of DJ Shadow, Lateef The Truth Speaker and even Gil Scott Heron over the course of his career. A pretty huge rollcall, but what really marks him out from the seemingly infinite crowd of rappers and hip hoppers is his inscrutable ability as both a lyricist and MC. With songs often based around concepts as leftfield as chemical reactions or interplanetary travel - topic matter matched with his inimitable tongue-tying multisyllabic flow - Gab’s writing challenges the limits of hip-hop, while at the same time still holding some mysterious oldschool vibe that’s so hard to put your finger on, but so central to the music.
G
released his fifth solo album, Escape 2 Mars recruiting San Francisco producer DNABEATS for most of the album, as well as Headnodic for a few tracks. The album, which was two years in the making, sees Gab keeping up his tradition of superb collaborations. With such hip hop heavyweights as Del The Funky Homosapien, Brother Ali and Lateef The Truthspeaker popping up, it’s obvious Gab still gets inspired by working with exciting artists. “I think that’s how great crews are formed,” he tells me. “Everyone from Native Tongues to The Juice Crew, you have different creative minds who are building off each other, just a group of different minds pushing each other to be better - and that’s always a great thing.” It’s through working with other artists that Gift Of Gab feels able to expand his own creativity. “I’m student as well as a writer; I’m a student of the art, so I study.
After finishing up touring in support of Blackalicious’ 2005 album The Craft, Gab has just recently
“When I work with X [Chief Xcel, Blackalicious] we have a certain chemistry that is Blackalicious. We both think in quite similar ways - I think lyrically and he thinks musically - but when I’m with other producers, I get to learn other people’s point of view, and learn from other people’s creative process.” It’s not surprising then to find that Escape 2 Mars, while holding the bounce and groove of a Blackalicious release, has a different approach than that which a hardcore fan might expect. It incorporates mainstream pop influences in terms of the song structures and choruses, while the beats have a decidedly underground L.A., Flying Lotusvibe to them. The album as a whole shows how much of a musical chameleon Gab can be. “I would consider myself a style junkie,” he explains. “I want to stay unpredictable. I don’t want to be put in a box, I don’t want people to say this is the only thing that Gift Of Gab does, I don’t want people to predict what I’m going to be able to do next.”
The focus on fun gives me the feeling that his career of choice was perhaps a by-product of simply never growing up. “I think it has a lot to do with going out, the memories of going out. Times getting loose; they are such good memories and I want to use that to inspire myself. That’s allowed me to relive moments of my life that were really beautiful.” Having the opportunity to spend time in the studio collaborating with greats, or travelling the world playing to legions of adoring fans – I suppose it’s something you wouldn’t want to forget too quickly. Finally, Seth tells me of his plans on starting a label. “Actually it will be pretty broad in terms of the range of releases; we’re doing some releases with Guy Gerber and Tel Aviv. I also did some vocals with Agoria and then am possibly doing an album, and a few other things - which are a work in progress... See you on the dance floor in Australia soon!”
So one can only hope for hints at what’s next, and I’m lucky this time round. Gab lets slip in our chat that he and Chief Xcel have already started work on a new Blackalicious album. “New album, top of 2011,” he exclaims with a deep laugh. “I gotta keep tight lipped though, it’s still pretty top secret - but it’s coming together nicely.”
Who: Seth Troxler What: We Love Sounds When: Saturday June 12
Who: Gift Of Gab
Where: Sydney Entertainment Quarter
Where: Oxford Art Factory When: June 11
The Beatnuts Psycho Beats By Cameron this year. Psycho Les is on the phone, talking to me about how the duo have been keeping busy. “As far as the Beatnuts go, we’ve just been taking a little break from the road, from touring. I’ve just been in the studio working on one of my artists that I’m putting out on my label. I got this European tour happening at the moment and then, after Australia, we’ll come back and I’m just going to finish a few projects I’ve got. Then we’ll see... If JuJu’s ready to get in the studio, we can finish this Beatnuts album.” He’s talking about the pending Beatnuts project, Planet Of The Crates. “If it was up to me, it’d be definitely out within the next couple of months but, you know, it’s two people, two different lives, so he’s doing what he does...”
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sycho Les and JuJu rose to prominence as the Beatnuts in Queens, New York back in the early 90s. Both of a Latin American background, they became affiliated with the Native Tongues crew - which included other seminal hip hop groups like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest and The Jungle Brothers. By
1993 they’d released their debut LP Intoxicated Demons, later following this with another classic in 1994, The Beatnuts: Street Level. Since then, The Beatnuts have released a handful of albums and remix projects, with another LP in the works touted for release later
The Beatnuts are in Australia now for the tri-state tour of Rap City, a hip hop festival of sorts that’ll be hitting the Forum on Sunday June 13. The lineup features DJ Premier, Masta Ace & Edo.G and the Beatnuts - all legendary acts who’ve retained an astounding level of productivity after so many years, and to get them all together on a stage is no mean feat. Les describes what punters can expect from the gig. “Every show is different man, we usually just go by the crowd. It all depends on the crowd, really - if there’s an old-school crowd we’ll do a lot of classics, but sometimes we’ll get a bunch of new kids, so we’ll hit ‘em with the party jams, the newer stuff that they can relate to. We’ve got some entirely new stuff we’ll be performing, too.” Psycho Les is also excited about the crate-digging opportunities the tour will present. “I’m definitely looking forward to
the record stores and bringing back some new flavours.” The pair have always retained a strong focus on the beats they use for projects, and I ask Les for his perspective on the music/vocals dichotomy. “Production is number one for us. For me production is first and then rap, I do it for fun. The kind of music I make is crazy, because I could listen to that shit with no vocals.” The Beatnuts have always been noted for their sample-heavy sound. In their earlier records they were influenced by jazz and funk, but later offerings would follow a more Latin-based sound. JuJu has readily admitted the pair aren’t the greatest rappers to have recorded verses, but it pains him to hear “nice MC’s rhyming over fucking garbage.” In some ways, this is quite representative of the origins of hip hop. The DJ and the music were the axis of the party they were playing at, and MCing was a secondary development once breaks were looped continuously. Therein lies the inherent value of the Rap City show - half a dozen artists with a learned old-school mentality about hip hop music, and the way it should really be done. Who: The Beatnuts With: DJ Premier, Masta Ace & Edo.G, DJ Eclipse When: Rap City, Sunday June 13 Where: The Forum
“Fuck this for a lark” said Sweet Jack of Hearts “Which one of you bastards has shit on my tarts?” - IAN DURY 32 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
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arts frontline
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arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...
brushstrokes WITH PHOTOGRAPHER DAVID
Blaine Harrison from Mystery Jets by David Shripton
R
ecord label owner. Artist Manager. Photographer. Through Speak’N’Spell, David Shrimpton has not only brought some amazing bands to our ears (School of Seven Bells, Four Tet, Cut Off Your Hands, to name a few) but he also takes amazing photographs. Dave’s been shooting since his late teens when a girlfriend introduced him to the wonders of slide photography.
PEATS RIDGE ARTS
Peats Ridge has just opened up online applications for artists interested in presenting work at this year’s festival. Held over New Years in the luscious Glenworth Valley, the 2010 instalment of Peats Ridge will no doubt serve up its typically potent brew of music, art and culture – and people dressed in various permutations of cheese cloth. Arts applications close August 11, so whether you are emerging or, you know, Yayoi Kusam, if good people and outdoor art sounds like your cup of chai, check out all the details at www.peatsridgefestival.com.au
VAMPIRES
SHRIMPTON
How did slides turn into this obsession? I think it was just getting to see the images in a crystal clear way, in such large dimensions. We had some big ol’ white warehouse walls to blast the pictures against at the time. It really felt like you were in the picture itself (6ft x 4ft type of size) - I still love looking at images that way.
that level of connection or interest with your subject, then you’re kinda stuffed. I have seen on occasion really good photographers who are able to control - with the use of their own witty or very smart personalities - the way the subject is feeling or looking, on almost a higher level. That’s a serious skill to have though.
How has your technique changed? I only use film cameras, mainly from the 60s and 70s, so there’s a real need for almost ‘uptight’ technicality to get a good result. Until a few years ago, that use to actually get in the way of what I was trying to photograph. Now I think I feel so comfortable with the technical side of shooting, I can relax (a little) and think about the subject more, or what’s actually going to make the photo.
Which photographers inspire you? Steve Gullick is JC as far as I’m concerned in the world of still images. I love everything about his work, and just watching him do what he does is amazing. His personality as he shoots is off the charts. It’s easy to understand how he got to spend so much time with Nirvana, shooting them right at the peak of it all, and why he’s Nick Cave’s choice for the Bad Seeds
Some might say that working and touring in the music industry provides the perfect storm for photography: spontaneous fun, and charismatic subjects. Yes that would have to be true for sure. To be totally honest, it’s landscape stuff that I’m really interested in and like the most - although music stuff can be fun.
What’s your camera/lens of choice? My Nikon F is as trusty as a 70s camera can be. However my Rolleiflex is the first thing would reach for, it has a built in 80mm fixed lens, which can be a bit limiting, but learning to work around it is actually where half its charms are hidden. What: Everything In Its Right Place When: June 11 - 26
How do you draw out personality on shoots? I think that’s kind of the million-dollar question. You can become the best technically skilled person around, but if you can’t make and hold
Where: MART Gallery (156 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills) More: speaknspellmusic.com
As part of Sydney Film Festival 2010, the Sydney Opera House is showing a selection of films from the Immortal Seduction retrospective – including Murnau’s silent vampire classic Nosferatu, with a live soundtrack by Darth Vegas, and Guy Maddin’s Dracula, pages from a virgin’s diary. We have 3 double-passes for the one-off screening of a rare print of ‘70s Ozploitation flick Thirst, which is being billed as ‘Australia’s only postmodern vampire movie’. Instead of supernatural creatures, Thirst re-imagines vampires as a secret society of rich people who drink human blood like other people might drink milk. Set on a rural ‘farm’, where the blood is harvested, the film follows a young teen who is torn between innocence and a bloody destiny. Fab! Thirst screens Saturday June 12 at 6pm, at The Playhouse (Sydney Opera House). To get your hands on a double pass, tell us the name of the film’s director. www.sff.org.au
PLAY NOW ACT NOW
PNAN has just announced the winning entries for the first of its monthly “mini competitions” each winner receives $100 cash and progress to the Play Now Act Now grand final in October. They’ve also announced the theme for their July competition: ‘Crime Story’. The deadline for the next round of entries is midnight June 25. 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, since we all know that smoking is criminally insane. All the deets at can be founds at playnowactnow.com.au
EDGE OF EMPIRE
The last time we heard from Phillip George, he was mashing up Bondi surf culture with a scathing indictment of Australia’s immigration policy, and our participation in the Iraq war, by decorating surfboards with intricate Islamic patterns. We don’t know if it worked, but they were exquisitely beautiful. In his latest exhibition, Edge of Empire, George continues his long-standing fascination with the relationship between the West and the Middle East. It’s opens this Thursday June 10 from 6–8pm at BREENSPACE 289 Young Street, Waterloo.
UNDERBELLY ARTS LAB
Moon by Sam Ash
Rumour has it our favourite public arts lab is moving from CarriageWorks to a new (heated?) venue. Underbelly Arts is a project developed to support emerging and experimental artists in the creation of new works – and connect those works with an audience. The project begins with a 10-day lab where participating artists and performers build and create their works on site – during which time the public are invited to witness the process, in guided tours. It all culminates with a weekend long festival celebrating the results! The lab kicks off from July 5, and put the weekend of July 17 & 18 in your diary, coz this is when the party drops. www.underbelly.com.au
VIVID LIVE: EPIC CONTINUES
Well it’s official - Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson give good festival. So congratulations, whoever had the brainwave of lending them the Opera House for a few weeks. We were dazzled by Laurie’s retrospective show Transitory Life (check out the epic review on p.42) and had our foundations rocked by Japanese punk-noise band Boris (p.47), and survived Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio (even feeling a little bit stronger. perhaps). This week we’re excited about seeing The Shipment, a darkly humorous trip through African-American stereotypes, created by Korean-American experimental theatre-maker Young Jean Lee. For all the rest, hit up vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com
SWEET SIXTEEN
Coming up at Somedays Gallery is Sixteen, an exhibition of works by 16 emerging and established photographers from around Australia. We’re not sure what the curatorial principle was, but a couple of names that caught our eye were Sam Ash, who is known for his beautiful, dreamlike landscape shots; Jackson Eaton, who is also being shown as part of the Hijacked 2 show at ACP this weekend; and Ross Jenkinson (whose photos we’ve never seen, but whose face really rings a bell…) Expect portraits, landscapes, and the unexpected. Opens June 9 from 6pm @ Somedays, 72B Fitzroy St Surry Hills.
Women Without Men, Men, by Shirin Neshat
SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL: OFFICIAL COMPETITION
Since we last spoke, the Festival has opened, and is continuing its healthy run of sell-out sessions. Every night this week you can catch the Official Competition contenders at the State Theatre, followed by 10am morning sessions the next day (why not just bring a sleeping bag and sleep over?) – and in most cases by midday Q&A sessions with cast and crew. Monday June 7 is Lola, by avant-garde Filipino director Brillante Mendoza; Tuesday June 8 is Romanian entry If I want to Whistle, I’ll Whistle; Wednesday June 9 is Cannes Palme D’Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Remember His Past Lives; June 10 is Women Without Men, by regular Biennale artist Shirin Neshat. And so on. So go on, see a film that doesn't star Seth Rogen, and hasn’t been hyped to death. sff.org.au
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Measure for Measure Benedict Andrews explores the law of desire, and the desire of law, in Shakespeare's darkly comic political thriller. In Measure for Measure the Duke of Vienna, frustrated by the moral laxity of his subjects, pretends to leave the city, putting his deputy Angelo in charge; however unknown to anyone, the Duke returns in disguise, to spy on the people. In the Duke’s 'absence', Angelo arrests the nobleman Claudio for getting his fiancée pregnant. Claudio asks his sister Isabella, a nun, to beg Angelo for mercy; struck by her beauty, Angelo seeks to blackmail Isabella into his bed, by promising he will spare her brother's life. Isabella, despairing for her virtue, is visited by the Duke (disguised as a friar) who persuades her to swap places with Angelo’s old lover, Mariana (the infamous ‘bed trick’). The plan works, and Angelo unwittingly sleeps with Mariana instead of Isabella; however, afterwards he decides to break his promise, and proceed with the execution of Claudio – forcing the Duke to reveal himself, and intervene. “The play is about how power is exercised in society; and what laws (and what contradictions within laws) hold that society together; and what costs hold that society together. It peers into the nerves of the state, and the frayed membrane between commerce and exchange and desire and law,” says Andrews. He has collapsed the play’s three settings - a prison, a whorehouse and a nunnery – into one. “The hotel room is sort of the David Lynch site par excellence,” the director enthuses – “in contemporary language, [Lynch] is the one who excavates the underside of desire, and fantasy and law – and the hotel room is a core site in what he does with film noir. But it’s also a room of power, a room where deals are made, a room where meetings with whores happen.”
B
enedict Andrews has long been considered a radical within Australian theatre, based on his bold re-imaginings of national classics such as Patrick White’s The Season at Sarsaparilla (STC 2008), and canonical works such as The War of the Roses (STC/Sydney Festival 2009). But for Andrews, who spends most of his year directing works with Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre, his approach to theatre is par for the course. "In my definition, Thomas’s Hamlet and my War of the Roses are not what you’d call radical,” he laughs – “they’re just good theatre!”
Andrews is referring to the Schaubühne’s explosive, rock-n-roll production of Hamlet, which Artistic Director Thomas Ostermeier brought to the Sydney Festival in January. With equally rabid fans and detractors, the production busted open our ideas of what could be done with Shakespeare; however, Andrews says that in Germany, “[Schaubühne] are considered not necessarily y a radical company”. He pauses, before conceding, “of
course throughout the rest of the Europe and the world, Thomas’ work is considered to be at the vanguard of dramatic thinking." The extent to which Andrews’ approach to theatre stands out within Australia is perhaps best exemplified by a comparison of his 2009 Schaubühne production of A Streetcar Named Desire, with the Sydney Theatre Company’s sell-out production, starring Cate Blanchett. The latter strived to maintain the authenticity of the piece - from script to production design, and Southern inflection; Andrews’ production (besides being in German) completely stripped away the context of 1940s New Orleans. “They’re a study in contrasts; they’re from completely different notions of why you put a preëxisting work on stage," the director argues. "One re-animates it, and the other decorates it as a fine museum thing to be looked at.” This concept of ‘reanimation’ is a through-line of our discussion,, as is the notion of get getting g ting g tto o the ‘nerves’ of a play. How Andrews does this
is what makes his productions so compelling. At the centre of each work is a visually striking storytelling apparatus: in War of the Roses, this included the sparkling gold confetti that fell continuously throughout the first Act; in The City, it was the tiered black ‘negative space’ stage, shaped like a giant staircase; in The Season at Sarsaparilla, it was the decision to collapse White’s stipulated row of three houses into a single house. In his upcoming Company B production of Measure for Measure, Andrews has created an extraordinary, dynamic apparatus: a revolving hotel room, with a network of cameras (two fixed, and one handheld) projecting live footage of the action onto screens at either side of the stage. Although these different visual devices could be perceived as gimmickry, on a superficial analysis, they are in fact integral. “You only ever construct an apparatus in order to then unlock the relationships in the play, and make sure that they’re theyy re taking g place pl p ace in the present,” present,, argues the director.
This room is also a kind of impromptu film set, where surveillance cameras, and a handheld camera (operated by the actors) become part of the storytelling apparatus. By putting the “production of images” at the centre of the piece, Andrews both heightens the idea of this 'laboratory of human emotion, and relationships' that the Duke (and on a meta level, Shakespeare) has set up, and he comments on the centrality of image and spectacle in modern society. The use of images also allows him to pare back the text significantly. Andrews is highly theoretical, obsessed with language, but also a massive fan of the ‘postBresson’, image-driven, dialogue-lite cinema of filmmakers such as Carlos Reygadas, Pedro Costa, Abbas Kiarostami, and Michael Haneke (in fact, Andrews suggested that his current cast watch Haneke’s The White Ribbon). The director acknowledges that his discussion about his techniques may sound cerebral, but suggests that it’s all in the service of bringing Shakespeare’s play to life. “It’s also really fun!” Andrews assures me – “I’m really trying to play it like a psychosexual thriller.”
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www.supanova.com.au
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Supanova hits Sydney Olympic Park from Saturday June 19 to Sunday June 20. We have five whopping double passes to the weekend up for grabs! Email freestuff@ thebrag.com and tell us which Incredible Hulk will also be attending the show.
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Australia’s largest expo of popcultural goodness is swooping in next weekend to give us a much-needed respite from the highbrow delights of Sydney Film Festival and Vivid, with their special super strength dose of sci-fi and horror, comic books, gaming and anime. In the red corner, presenting vampires, is True Blood’s Godric (aka Allan Hyde); in the blue corner, representing the wolves, is New Moon’s Chaske Spencer (pictured left). Reffing the match (we hope) is Dollhouse’s sassiest agent, Eliza Dushku (previously professional Vampire Slayer Faith) and her handsome handler, Tahmoh Penniket; looking pretty on the sidelines and making lots of noise is Buffy’s professional foil, Cordelia Chase (aka Charisma Carpenter). And that’s just the headliners. But forget the sex appeal – it’s the people who turn up to Supanova in full kick-ass costume that make it fun.
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SUPANOVA POPCULTURE EXPO
What: Measure for Measure, by William Shakespeare; Dir. Benedict Andrews When: Opens June 9. Where: Belvoir St Theatre
Rehearsal photo by Heidrum Lörr
Damon Gameau has a moment of self-reflection, in Benedict Andrews' Measure for Measure.
GIVE YOUR UNI AMBITIONS A SIX MONTH HEAD START. Many people get ahead of the game by starting their degree six months earlier through the mid-year entry program at the University of Western Sydney. So, if you want to give yourself a six month head start in achieving your goal, you can. We have courses on offer in Law, Business, Science, Teaching, Engineering and much more. But you have to hurry because applications close on June 11.
Don’t Miss Out! Mid-Year Entry Applications close June 11. Visit uws.edu.au/midyear or call 1300 897 669.
S Y D N E Y O P E R A H O U S E A N D S Y D N E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L P R E S E N T
SOUNDS ON SCREEN The Playhouse at Sydney Opera House will be home to Sounds on Screen, a celebration of the special relationship between film & music. In parallel, we also present three Vampire film events as part of the Immortal Seduction series.
SOUNDS ON SCREEN: JUNE 12 T H 2 P M TICKETS FROM $17*
IMMORTAL SEDUCTION: JUNE 12 TH 6PM TICKETS FROM $17 *
SOUNDS ON SCREEN: J U N E 1 2 TH 9 . 3 0 P M & J U N E 1 3 TH 3 P M TICKETS FROM $25*
IMMORTAL SEDUCTION: JUNE 13 T H 7PM TICKETS FROM $17 *
NO ONE KNOWS A B O U T P E R S I A N C AT S
THIRST
R O C K S T E A D Y: THE ROOTS OF REGGAE WITH KING TIDE LIVE
D R A C U L A : PA G E S F R O M A V I R G I N S D I A RY & SEDUCE ME
This Swiss documentary is hailed as ‘the Buena Vista of Rocksteady.’ Followed by a live performance by Australia’s best reggae/ska/dub act – King Tide.
Guy Maddin’s vampire ballet, filmed in 2002, that looks like it could have been made in 1902! Plus Isabella Rosselini’s series of shorts about the seduction rituals of animals.
W I T H PA N E L D I S C U S S I O N
How does pop music survive since being banned in Iran? Followed by a panel discussion on the issues raised in the film.
DIRECTOR TONY GINNANE WILL I N T R O D U C E T H E F I L M A N D TA K E Q U E S T I O N S A F T E R WA R D S .
Australia’s only postmodern vampire movie, Thirst presents an inventive twist on convention by depicting blood drinking as ‘the ultimate aristocratic act.’
BOOK NOW ON 02 9250 7777 OR FIND OUT MORE & BOOK ONLINE AT SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM SFF.ORG.AU OR 02 9690 5390
SOUNDS ON SCREEN SUPPORTED BY TRIPLE J
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 39
Hijacked 2 [PHOTOGRAPHY] Australia and Germany through the lens. By Bridie Connell searches, McPherson avoided the usual names and art world clichés, assembling a youthful mix of professional and amateur photographers in a sleek coffee table book, to much acclaim.
Initially conceived as a photographic zine of the same name, McPherson produced ten issues of Hijacked from his Perth home in 2005 before becoming frustrated with the ‘fringe’ tag associated with zines. “Zines are a great platform for cheap, quick, personal exchange of ideas, rather than just using blogs,” he explains, “but my long term objective was always to go into a more professional aesthetic.”
Focusing on merit rather than notoriety or style, and enlisting independent German curators Markus Schaden and Ute Noll as co-editors, McPherson travelled extensively between Australia and Germany before selecting the final 32 photographers who feature in the book and exhibition.
Taking on the world of independent publishing, McPherson established Big City Press, and in 2008 released Hijacked, a bilateral survey of contemporary American and Australian photography. Sourcing photographers through word of mouth recommendations and Internet
Riding on the success of Hijacked and turning his attention to Germany, McPherson wasted no time in posting an online call for Hijacked 2 submissions. “This time we used an open submission process,” he explains, “but I was also actively using the same method of following links of recommendation. I’d get random emails from people saying they’d heard about Hijacked, and in the end we received over 300 submissions.”
While much emphasis has been placed on the point-and-shoot, street-wise style that dominated Hijacked, McPherson is keen to point out that stylistically Hijacked 2 is very different from its predecessor, owing much to the existing social and cultural differences between Australia and Germany. “In my view the second book is completely different. It’s a more mature book and edit.”
Sydney Sessions [CREATIVE SYDNEY] The tribes unite, every night. By Dee Jefferson
Whilst a casual point-and-shoot approach is clearly favoured by many of the Australian photographers, the repeated Becheresque industrial buildings and technically advanced compositions reflects the German tradition of formal training. “Some of the photographers are self taught,” explains McPherson, “but there’s no indication of this idea of schooling with photography in Australia compared to Germany, where you’ve got all these renowned photography schools and the students will go to a particular school because a particular professor is taking classes.” With images ranging from isolated European border posts and rioting G8 protestors, to fly-on-the wall snaps of Schoolies Week revellers and suburban mothers, McPherson cites geography as a major influence on subject matter. “The Germans are shooting a lot outside of their own country – they’ve got so many neighbours. Contrastingly, the Australian stuff is mostly looking internally at Australia, about the people, the places, the suburbs and the structure of the society.” “Not a lot of books [or exhibitions] are looking at this bilateral comparison but we’re not trying to say ‘this is Australia’ or ‘this is Germany.’ It’s a snap shot survey of two countries - like a sample of DNA of a hybrid. It’s about trying to bring photography to new audiences, not just inviting all the same people.”
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With ten years of experience in independent media – including publications such as SummerWinter, Empty and Hotpress - and as Director of the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards, Scully is abnormally connected within the Sydney scene; even she, however, is conscious of the cultural 'feedback loop' that we can too easily fall into. “We have this incredible fractured and niche media,” she agrees. “I tend to find out about most events through Facebook, and Facebook kind of preaches to the choir: something only pops up in your stream if you already know about it, or if a friend of yours already knows about it, or if you’ve become a fan of that group.” Sydney Sessions will expose audiences to groups and artists they haven’t yet heard of. I, Robot, on Wednesday June 9, will throw Even Books (parties for book lovers) and Dorkbot ('people who do strange things with electricity') together with the Australian Theatre for Young People. As if that wasn’t already mashed enough, each participant is
40 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
Finally, on Friday June 11, A Foreign Light brings together indie supergroup Parades, the NOISE string quartet, new media artist Harriet Birks, performance artist Robyn Wilson (aka Flutter Lyon) and award-winning filmmaker Husein Alicajic. “I met with Robyn and Parades and we worked up a very loose idea of what a night combining all of our different bits might look and feel like,” Alicajic says of the creative process. “I’ve ended up shooting some stuff that will be projected live during the Parades performance that connects to the feel of the music, and the ideas we were talking about.” What: Creative Sydney - Sydney Sessions When: June 7 - 12 fr. 8.30-10pm every night. Where: Foundation Hall, MCA Register: online at creativesydney.com.au AND: Husein Alicajic profiled on p.
Where: Australian Centre for Photography More: acp.org.au / bigcitypress.com.au
[THEATRE] Kate Gaul’s Siren Theatre Co. tackles Chekhov. By Barlow Redfearn feel too English, and it feels very contemporary. He uses short sentences, lots of verbs, and sentence construction we are very familiar with. It’s unlike the English translations we would have read before, which feel very archaic and ponderous.”
also bringing sub-projects into the collaboration: Dorkbot are bringing Toydeath, the Dubtable (James Hullick) and Radar Synthesiser (Dan Stocks) to the table, while the ladies from Even Books are sourcing their favourite local illustrators Beef Knuckles for some fill-in-theblanks robot love comics. “And maybe some break-dancers to lead the robot dance-off,” says Even Books co-Founder Angela Bennetts.
reative Sydney is continuing its strong performance strand this year within the 'Sydney Sessions'. Held every night from 8.30pm at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the sessions will pull together unlikely combinations of creative-types, to make oneoff collaborative performances. “The idea is to kind of cross the tribes,” says Artistic Director Jess Scully. “What would happen if you mashed Dorkbot with Even Books? The content would be amazing, and it would be a really compelling mix of lo-fi and high tech; but it also means that people who knew about [each project] would discover the other.”
When: opens June 11; artist talk June 12 1pm
The Seagull
Left: Scratching the Surface (detail)
The following night, punters can check out Scratching the Surface, which brings together street artists Numskull, Roach, Max Berry, Phibs and Beastman, with Laura Scrivano’s Rapid Response theatre project and the atmospheric, postrock sounds of Sydney band Cameras. In the case of this session, the collaboration has been far more free-form, with each group preparing their own performance separately. In the wake of controversial new anti-graffiti laws, and with many councils now destroying walls that were once legal, the group of street artists have painted a giant horizontal wall that will be installed on site at the MCA all week, leading up to the session on Thursday June 10, where it will be the focus of a performance that the artists have devised. “The whole night is about the temporary nature of works,” says Roach, who is also part of the Keep Australia Colourful movement.
What: Hijacked 2
Additionally, Chekhov fans may be interested to know that Hampton’s version restores several lines from the original, which were excised by Russian censors. Since graduating from NIDA in 1996, Gaul has consistently presented exciting new theatre for Griffin Theatre Company, Company B and Ensemble Theatre, including her 2001 production of The Laramie Project, which received rave reviews, and her 2003 production of Brendan Cowell’s surreal black comedy Rabbit. Most recently, she staged a playful version of Shakespeare’s Richard 3 at CarriageWorks. The Seagull will be her first stab at Chekhov, however.
Lizzie Schebesta & Josh Wakely in The Seagull.
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s it prepares to stage its first ever production of a Chekhov play, Siren Theatre Company is perhaps coming of age; and while the Russian playwright’s seminal tragicomedy The Seagull is new territory, it’s probably a subtle and fragile dramatic territory that all theatre companies must eventually traverse. Written in 1895, The Seagull was Chekhov’s first full-length play, and is representative of the style and nature of all his great works, in that it is driven by character rather than plot, and its dialogue is richly sub-textual, full of furtive yet often mundane interactions between characters. The story revolves around the romantic and artistic conflicts between a group of disenchanted artists who have congregated at provincial Russian estate. Taking the helm of Siren Theatre’s upcoming production is the company’s co-founder Kate Gaul, working from UK dramatist Christopher Hampton’s contemporary version of The Seagull. “[This] version is done in very modern English, the language feels tasty and energetic,” says Gaul. “Essentially he has written an English play, but it doesn’t
“It’s a really big challenge,” Gaul admits, “but I guess its one you eventually have to take.The best part is watching the play build itself as you rehearse, as it’s not always easy to understand a scene, or a character, or even how or why things happen in The Seagull. But as you rehearse it and you keep an attentive eye and ear to it, it begins to reveal itself.” And for those punters who will be experiencing Chekhov’s classic for the first time, Gaul has good news. “I know a lot of young people have come across Chekhov at university, but when you see it brought to life on the stage you have a much easier entrée into [his work],” says Gaul. “It’s certainly not ‘rock-music-upped’, and I believe young people are capable of understanding things at all sorts of levels. "Good theatre speaks to everyone, and Chekhov has endured,” the director enthuses. “It’s his humanity; it’s what he says about the fragility of human life and human connections. He doesn’t judge people. And I think that’s why people keep watching Chekhov.” What: Siren Theatre Company - The Seagull When: runs until June 27 Where: Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville More: sirentheatreco.com / sidetrack.com.au
Scratching the Surface (detail) by Numskull, Roach, Max Berry, Phibs, Beastman
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ig, bold, beautiful and at times confronting, Hijacked 2 is not your average photography publication. Released this month to coincide with a major exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography, it’s the second in an independently published and unconventionally edited series founded by West-Australian artist and entrepreneur Mark McPherson. Hijacked 2 offers a social and cultural snap shot of Australia and Germany, through the lens of 32 contemporary photographers – including award-winning Herald photographer Tamara Dean, and Swedish-born-and-trained Glebe local Ingvar Kenne, who won the National Photographic Portrait Prize last year.
AS SEEN ON
ABC1
SER ERIES RIES S TWO
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he glitzy award winning comedy returns to strut its stuff from New York to London, the suburbs, and beyond. Inspired by the memoirs of fashionista Simon Doonan the ‘beautiful people’ are back.
85'*9.5= +4:+8:'/43+4:
NEW ON DVD FROM ALL LEADING DVD RETAILERS BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 41
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 bare-boards around town.
slightly to stage left. A simple configuration of down lights and a strategically activated smoke machine completed the atmosphere.
■ Dance
BODYTORQUE.A LA MODE Reviewed May 30 @ Sydney Theatre
head on festival
PICS :: TL
This year, the Australian Ballet added five emerging choreographers to five young fashion designers and gave it a very vigorous stir. Result? Bodytorqe.a la mode, a fresh look at the long-established partnership between ballet and fashion.
26:05:10 :: Global Gallery :: 5 Comber Street, Paddington 93605728
The program begins with Fold, a work by dancer Robert Curran. His delicate, fragile choreography, partnered with Ryan Euinton’s beautifully draping fleshtoned costumes, explored the notions of bare skin and the body, and how underclothes diffuse nudity. The highlight, however, was lone percussionist Eugene Ughetti, who created a haunting, echoing accompaniment to the piece. Unusually, he was featured onstage and it was fascinating to see a musician out of the orchestral pit. Daniel Gaudiello’s South of Eden used almost acrobatic choreography to explore the lives of female escorts. Melanie Bower’s costumes evoked a jagged, midnight world of fetishism and darkness. As in Timothy Brown’s Nocturnal Phantasm (inspired by the garish, fascinating mystique of the Marchesa Casati of Venice) the narrative wasn’t quite carried off, becoming jumbled and disjointed. Bridie O’Leary’s costumes for Nocturnal Phantasm were wonderfully theatrical, including an inspired pair of crimson, feathery gloves, but they came to overpower the choreography.
launch my label
PICS :: RR
Birthday Suit, a cheeky piece by Damien Welch, explored the affect of clothes on our self-image using futuristic, almost robotic choreography. The concept of mannequins coming to life was accompanied by a hilarious recording of various voices reflecting on their attitude to clothes (‘Of course I have a personal stylist’).
27:05:10 :: Embassy Events Centre :: 826 George Street, Sydney 0425318202
Arts Exposed Our hot tip for the week...
CREATIVE SYDNEY
JUNE 7-13 / MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART This week we’ll be heading to the MCA every night after work to catch Creative Sydney's ‘Sydney Sessions’ - one-off collaborative performances that cross our city's creative tribes. They kick off Monday June 7 from 8.30pm, with ‘Right Brain Business Models’ - using the popular Pecha Kucha format, participants will take us on a speedy tour of their innovative ways of making and promoting projects – including Spod (talking about his Fantasyze podcast); Alex Munt (LBF: The Film) on guerillla filmmaking; Rick Chen (FundBreak) on funding your projects from your fanbase; and Alice Gage talking about Ampersand magazine. Even better, the MCA bar is open every night from 6-10pm. Register for the Sydney Sessions online at www.creativesydney.com.au 42 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
Trace, Alice Topp’s debut work, was the highlight. During their duet, Vivienne Wong and Calvin Hannaford slithered their way in and out of stretchy pieces designed by Crystal Dunn and Georgia Lazzaro. The fabric was given life and shape by the dancer’s twisting bodies and Topp’s sinewy, sensual choreography. A remarkable success for Topp and a standout piece in a diverse, exciting program.
Anderson plays on an instrument of her own creation - held and played like a violin, but with a bow made out of magnetic tape, instead of horsehair, and magnetic tape across the bridge. The sounds are deep and abrasive, rumbling and epic – more noise than melody; elsewhere her use of synths and effects evoke the electronic soundscapes of David Lynch. Against this blue lit, mist-strewn atmosphere, backgrounded by bird noises and an epic, throbbing note from her instrument, Anderson’s stories take centre stage. She opened with a ‘dream time’ tale set at the beginning of time, about birds and the birth of memory – speaking with a measured, hushed sense of importance. She switched between this stylised ‘storyteller’ voice and a far deeper, electronic ‘vocoder’ permutation throughout the performance, so that at times (with a quizzical twist of her eyebrows and a smirk on her face) she appeared almost devilish. Anderson’s show is so compelling because her anecdotes draw on an extraordinarily rich life, and diverse experience: the time she experimented in shedding her technological support system by travelling to the countryside to hang out with the Amish; hitchhiking by road and air from New York to the North Pole, one sweltering summer in the '70s; the time when, as a twelve-year-old, she dove backwards off a high board, but broke her back, and ended up immobilised in the children’s intensive care ward, afflicted by adults who told her lies and children’s stories; the time she decided to explore mass production by taking a job at McDonalds. Anderson tells her tales with a stand-up comedian’s sense of timing and inflection – every story, while revealing something about herself or her perspective on the world, was infused with wry humour. At the same time, there is an epic, moralistic (in the broad sense rather than the ethical or religious sense) base-note underlying the show as a whole. An anecdote about taking her dog Lolabelle for expeditions in the countryside turns into an allegory for post-9/11 New York; at another point, she re-imagines humanity’s precarious position as one of those scenes in an old Western, where a breathless worker bursts into the local saloon, saying ‘there’s trouble at the mine’ – whereupon everyone dashes to the mine. “Citizens,” Anderson booms through her vocoder, “there is trouble at the mine.” A chill runs down my spine. Are we collectively missing the signs? What will it take to get us on our feet?
Lucy Fokkema
It occurred to me at a certain point during the performance, as Anderson talked about her childhood spent ‘high on coffee’ in the meeting room of the local church, that her upbringing with a strict Southern Baptist grandmother, listening to the Old Testament on high rotation, might be the foundation stone of her extraordinary sense for telling a good yarn, and holding the audience in the palm of her hand.
■ Vivid LIVE
Dee Jefferson
LAURIE ANDERSON’S TRANSITORY LIFE Reviewed June 1, Sydney Opera House Transitory Life is a retrospective of Laurie Anderson’s critically acclaimed solo shows, which include her songs, violin compositions and stories. As such, it presented one of two main chances at Vivid LIVE to assess the creative work of Lou Reed's co-curator – best known to many Australians (including myself) for her 1981 song and video-clip ‘O Superman’. Anderson is an incredible performer, whose skill as a storyteller is matched by her ability to create a watertight onstage persona (or series of personas, as it happens), and weave all the different creative and production elements together to create a totally immersive atmosphere. The stage was set simply, with a line of palms across the back, half submerged in shadow, and the stage foreground scattered with tea-lights; a dusky rose armchair to stage right; Laurie and her keyboard, sampler, score and script
■ Sydney Film Festival
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA (USA) Thursday June 10 @ 2.05pm Monday June 14 @ 12.30pm “It wasn’t that we were on the wrong side, we were the wrong side,” says whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg of the Vietnam war, words that have eerie resonance to the complicated modern day conflict in the Middle East. Ellsberg, government employee and idealist, was responsible for turning over the top secret ‘Pentagon Papers’ to the press in 1971, and he is both subject and narrator of this fine Oscar-nominated documentary. Directors’ Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith stylistically unremarkable but compelling narrative charts Ellsberg’s transition from toeing the public service line to reformed anti-war protestor. Ellsberg describes this epiphany himself, which
Film & Theatre Reviews What's been on our TV screens this week
See thebrag.wordpress.com for more reviews occurred while listening to draft dodger Randy Kehler calmly announcing to a protest group how he would soon be joining his friends in prison. This idealism struck Ellsberg; 7,000 photocopied pages later, The New York Times found themselves with a document describing the government’s plans for the secret expansion of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg’s leak indicted administrations as far as back as Harry Truman’s, and stated inexplicably that 70% of the reason for American’s maintained presence in Vietnam was only to avoid a humiliating U.S. defeat – in other words, to save their nation’s public image. As equally astonishing is the attitude of President Nixon, represented in real Oval Office tapes, who offhandedly recommends the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam to a more cautious Henry Kissinger. The documentary is a timely reminder of a government’s responsibility to its people, and a fine portrait of a government stooge turned activist. Joshua Blackman ■ Sydney Film Festival
THE ROBBER (GERMANY) Friday June 11 @ 4.35pm Sunday June 13 @ 9.15pm Benjamin Heisenberg has based his glacially cool second feature on Michael Prinz’ novel about Austria’s notorious bank robber, 'Pump-gun Ronnie'. Keeping dialogue and character exposition at a minimum, the film follows marathon runner Johann Rettenberger (Andreas Lust Revanche) after his release from prison, for attempted armed robbery.
During his incarceration Rettenberger has kept to a rigorous training schedule, and upon his release into society, he intersperses his fitness regime with brief, cardio-vascularly-intensive bouts of bank robbery. Neither winning the prestigious and highly competitive Vienna Marathon or making away with hundreds of thousands of Euros ever seems to satisfy our protagonist, who continues to train, and rob banks (without ever spending the money). He begins an affair with an old acquaintance, who allows him to stay in her flat – until she realises what he is up to; even then, the prospect of losing the one friend or human connection he has, can’t divert him from his course. While seducing you with its icy visuals, and keeping you hooked with Rettenberger's increasingly extreme exploits, Heisenberg’s film is at heart a fascinating (and often chilling) case study: although ostensibly a specific tale about a real life ‘adrenaline junkie’, the film also feels as though it is pointing a finger at a broader pathology – whether it’s Germanic or purely athletic, I’m not sure. This probably won't get a release, so see it at the festival. Dee Jefferson
Street Level With filmmaker Husein Alicajic (www.2ndsight.com.au)
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orn in Sydney to Bosnian and Scottish parents, Husein Alicajic studied economics and philosophy, before giving in to filmmaking; since then he has made a swag of award-winning short films, commercials and trailers – including the Sydney Film Festival 2010 trailer. This Friday, he’s performing as part of Creative Sydney’s A Foreign Light session, with performance artist Robyn Wilson (aka Flutter Lyon), and indie supergroup Parades. What is your creative background? Growing up I was always writing my own stories and encouraged to read a lot. I’d record stories I wrote onto an old portable tape player with me doing all the different voices and sound effects. When I finished high school I did an economics degree, which was kind of strange but I think at that point I didn’t really have the guts to admit that what I wanted to do was make films. Once I finally did I was rejected from AFTRS three times and worked sweeping the floor at Channel 9 and running up and down the sideline pulling a camera cable on the NRL while I studied graduate philosophy and then later the graduate film course at UTS.
Any formative experiences that stand out? My short film Beginnings was a bit different and strange in structure - I had things going in reverse and shots looping and everything else. When I was finishing it, friends of mine were a bit like “Husein you have to take out the crazy bits, it’s not good, it’ll make it so much better if you do.” I had spent all my own money funding the film and had written produced directed and edited it. But I remember this moment I had where I thought, if I never make another film again then I don’t care because I like how this one is. And the lesson I think is that those bits that people were saying to take out are the best pieces and make the film what it is. [Ed note: Beginnings won Sydney Film Festival DENDY award in 2002]. What was your first short film? The first proper film work I made was at UTS, and was called Wish. I’d written a bit of a fairytale story, and I remember being really big on the piece needing to feel like you were inside a really profound dream. We shot on
16mm black and white reversal film on a wind-up bolex camera, and I edited it on a steenbeck flatbed. For the end sequence we crawled into what is now the Sydney Dance Company pier at Walsh Bay, and shot inside this beautiful abandoned space - there was a huge hole that had been burned into the floor and you could see the water underneath. You’re getting up your first feature at the moment – in the US rather than Australia? Yes - Divine Shadows is shooting at the end of this year in New Mexico; but it’s never locked in until you’re on set and say action. Even then things can change, but at this stage it’s all looking good. In Australia I get the sense that things are shifting a bit - for the better. I think the next generation of filmmakers are beginning to finally get their shot and are putting in to practice all the things we wish we'd seen earlier. What: Creative Sydney: A Foreign Light When: Friday June 11 from 8.30pm Where: Foundation Hall, MCA More: creativesydney.com.au
Themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 43
CD Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
CD OF THE WEEK Latin Young Turks/Remote Control
Latin is enormously inventive given how worn its source material is. Listening to it at full tilt will make you feel like cocaine has been rendered redundant as a recreational drug.
Holy Fuck are battlers. In late 2008 they were named as one of the reasons for the abolition of PromArt, a $4.7m initiative by the Canadian government to promote their country’s culture internationally. Gutted, but not sufficiently discouraged, they powered on with their defiant name and sound to announce their new album earlier this year. Latin starts with a very post-rock build that denies you a crescendo, short-changing you with some squirrelly delay before trampling your eardrums with ‘Red Lights’. First single ‘Latin America’ follows, and here they show their true Faust-on-steroids colours. The signature keysdriven, percussive propulsion is no longer naggingly
FABULOUS DIAMONDS
BLITZEN TRAPPER
Fabulous Diamonds II Siltbreeze/Chapter Music
Destroyer of the Void Subpop
I didn’t think I was going to like this album. I generally find the whole Suicide-esque routine of bands like this repetitive and boring, but something about the way it’s realised on this record is really engaging. In recording the album, Mikey Young of Eddie Current fame has followed his own band’s ethos of recording live, and not getting too carried away with all the bells and whistles. This resulting album is raw and honest, offering minimal post punk with a strange sort of dub influence coming in through the airy drums and delayed snare hits. This album is by no means accessible - but the way its monolithic melodies and hypnotic rhythms shift and change into something else without you even noticing is visceral and human. While they might usually play with lo-fi punk bands, I’d say Melbourne’s Fabulous Diamonds have more in common with the wavering minimalism of The Necks or Steve Reich, albeit with a much more restricted sense of melody. Unfortunately this sort of music is always going to garner some shitflinging from the critics (just go to their MySpace, where they proudly display their bad reviews as proof), usually because music journalists hate anything that sounds so simple they could do it themselves. But this is some of the most interesting music of its kind that I’ve heard in a while. There's great subtlety to this record - almost too much, as some of the best parts can slip by without you noticing. But if you listen closely and with the right ears, I think you’ll find one of the best indie Australian releases of the year so far.
Blitzen Trapper and Tenacious D would make good bedfellows. It’s all there: generic gymnastics, invented (but incredibly American) mythology and superb vocal harmonisations - not to mention a megalomaniacal songwriter who thinks that he’s Dylan, Cash and Cat Stevens all rolled up into one tight little package. Ok, so that’s totally flippant and unfair. But Blitzen Trapper can certainly not be accused of originality. Head honcho Eric Earley traverses a wide array of well-trodden territories from Americana, 60s pop, country, folk and 70s rock with skill. But is this at all a big deal? Well, no, not really. In a sense Earley and the rest of the Portland-based sextet are pulling off a similar trick to Dr Dog, consciously bringing a modern context to bear on the parameters developed by the 60s and 70s greats. Destroyer of the Void is therefore able to open with the sprawling soft-prog, Queen-inflected acid trip montage of the title track, before passing through upbeat indie pop ('Laughing Lover'), folk-rock ('Below the Hurricane'), spaghetti western balladry ('The Man Who Would Speak True') and piano and strings syrup ('Heaven and Earth'). It works most of the time, as much due to the strength and narrative flow of Earley’s lyrics (he pulls off a turn of phrase as fine as "for the truth in truth is a terrible jest" with ease) as to the cohesion that the band bring to the material. But that said, too much of the material here falls flat; nothing quite matches the brute punch of 'Black River Killer' from 2008’s Furr. Destroyer of the Void comes off less as a continuation of tradition than as a slightly flabby simulacra. Which just goes to show that aping Queen never pays.
Mikey Carr
insistent: instead it flattens you with strident, stomping resolve. It’s no surprise HF led with this; it’s Krautrock taken to its logical, pop-perfect conclusion. Thankfully, HF don’t make the mistake of indulging too heavily in the Krautrock necrophilia that’s currently in vogue. Besides their obvious pop smarts and bristling virtuosity, there are a number of things that set them apart. Tracks like ‘Sht Mtn’ mangle a woman’s monologue, casting a decidedly creepy light over a prickly harmonic guitar workout. ‘Stillettos’ conjures visions of a heavenly kosmische roller disco. Photo by Norman Wong
HOLY FUCK
Latin reveals a more aggressive and refined band. It sounds like they’ve processed the gloriously scuzzy jams of their 2007 LP through some kind of Talking Heads/Funkadelic transmogrifier. It’s a testament to them that this newfound funk isn’t a bad thing. Luke Telford
CABINS
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
Bright Victory Ivy League I don’t think I ever really got what Cabins were trying to do until I heard this album. While they put on one hell of a live show, Bright Victory shows a depth to the band that I’d never really noticed before. Opening track ‘Hounds’ is pretty rocking, but the following track ‘Oceanic Blues’, an odd mixture of Tool and Bob Dylan, is the real standout of the first few tracks - its syncopated mandolin riff swinging around in a way that just makes you want to rock out, even though the song itself is a pretty laid back tribal folk number. Track five, ‘The Moon’, is another standout - and another more down tempo and number. Opening with guitar work that's somehow at once reminiscent of Tom Waits and the theme from Sponge Bob Square Pants (with it’s twangy island timbre), this song has mood in spades, and does a better job at conjuring up images of dive bars full of remorse and regret than anything I’ve heard come out of Australia bar The Drones. The only real problem is that the more laidback songs are the best on the album, and there just aren’t enough of them. While the up-beat rockier stuff does indeed rock, the songs just don’t sound as fat as they should. They need some more of that Dead Meadow grunt in their guitars, and for the most part a lot of the songs seem to hold back from blowing your face off when they should be exploding your head. Rather than just shamelessly appropriating what’s popular overseas, Cabins have (mostly) offered an incredibly well crafted example of where rock n roll should be going in this country. Mikey Carr
Oliver Downes
KODE 9 DJ-Kicks !K7
Barbara Liberator We Are Scientists often get lumped in with the British Dance-Rock Invasion of 2005, and it’s kind of understandable - regardless of their being from California. Their debut With Love and Squalor made excellent use of the angular guitars and propulsive rhythms that had all the indie kids dancing again, and had Gang Of Four’s name being taken in vain on an hourly basis. But there’s always been a sense that whatever trendy sheen their sound might adopt, W.A.S do have some things to say about a girl or a night out, and feel that the best way to say ‘em is through three minutes of a tune. It’s endearingly straightforward pop music.
Kode 9 approaches his music intellectually, but I’m not going to approach this review intellectually. I’ll just tell you if I think the mix is any good. Because he’s packed the tracks in - 31 tunes of diverse music that’s incredibly difficult to sequence, so the Scot gets credit for that alone. The tracklist reads like a who’s who of new electronica, and the genres spanned are more numerous than any DJ Kicks that’s come before it. UK funky, grimy, ragga, early rhythmical techno, experimental, weird, dark psychedelia of the likes to fuck with a K-user’s melting mind, but you know what? A dubstep mix it ain’t. There’s much more Autechre here than there is Skream & Benga.
Five years and two LPs later, they’ve taken a leaf out of the Kings Of Leon Guide to World Domination and doubletracked the vocals, beefed up the guitar sound, and made the whole shebang sound bigger, richer, prettier and poppier. The stellar ‘You Should Learn’ updates Nick Zinner’s spacey guitar sound from Yeah Yeah Yeah’s ‘Zero’ and aches for a singalong, while ‘Pittsburgh’ builds a slow-burn arena anthem out of a single line and epic drumming from Razorlight sticksman Andy Burrows.
The UK’s Lone opens proceedings with a retro-influenced beat, but the mix quickly gets strange. Ill Blu’s ‘Bellion’ holds a rhythm, and gets danceable for a brief moment, but then again the off kilter percussion takes over. Mr Mageeka’s tune stood out, DVA’s ‘Natty’ perked me up as well, and Zomby’s ‘Godzilla’ did so even more, with its clever synth and 8-bit production combination. Kode 9 references global ghettotech movement with Mujava. There’s also few of his own tunes are thrown in for good measure.
It’s noticeably more radio-friendly than their previous efforts (which weren’t exactly inaccessible), and as much as half of it goes in one ear and out the other. It took maybe five listens to make most of it stick – but that said, I was more than happy to listen to it five times in two days. If you’re Splendourbound, get to their set – this will be eight times more fun live.
I caught a whiff of Toddla T's Fabriclive mix in parts, or maybe just his ethos - you know, that unmistakable UK hardcore attitude. But like Toddla’s mix, the overall experience of this one lacks flow. It’s certainly a showcase of styles, but at no point does it all gel together. Some people will defend Kode 9’s genius for days, and others will just feel this mix is IDM taken way too seriously.
If you don’t share my weakness for slick, precocious pop-rock (and fucking hilarious liner notes), you’ll probably forget about this as soon as you’ve heard it. But if you enjoyed With Love... even a little bit, you won’t be able to help but have fun.
The tempo’s pitched pretty high throughout, but if it’s a club mix, it’s the weirdest party you’ve ever been to. I don’t necessarily get my kicks out of the same vibe that Kode 9 does. But 'forward thinking' typically means 'tricky to embrace'.
Caitlin Welsh
Tony Two-Tone
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK
OFFICE MIXTAPE
ERNEST ELLIS
Wondering what the 'experts' listen to? Here's the music that drives The Brag... for this week, anyway.
Somewhere in between Beck’s Seachange, Neil Young’s ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’ soundtrack to The Proposition and The Assassination of Jesse James lies Ernest Ellis’ debut album, Hunting - twelve tracks of brushed drums, thick instrumentals, echoing soft vocals and brooding lyrics.
to make every track a big hit, Ellis has created a long, wandering journey of calm, mature songs that strive more towards cohesion and beauty than instant popularity. Maybe I’m changing, growing older, growing complacent, but I don’t mind that these songs aren’t grabbing me by the throat. As an album, it transports you to some simpler place, a place of foggy mornings, rolling fields and swinging porch seats at purple twilight. It’s not surprising that this album was recorded mainly in a house out in the country, sometimes even outside.
It’s a very relaxed album for a debut. Where other bands are desperate
The single and opener ‘Loveless’ is definitely a favourite – heady, thick and
Hunting Dew Process
44 :: BRAG :: 365:: 07:06:10
warm, like a one-man Temper Trap. ‘Heading for the Cold’ is an uplifting track to position towards the start of the album, too. Lyrically, Ellis is not so much a bard as he is a weaver of imagery – his abstract, reflective lyrics are often beautiful, intelligent and at times even strange (‘When I Feel Like Jesus’ Son The World Will Feel Much Different’). I want to say that this album is too long – that not all of these songs are definitely necessary – but that’s not what it’s about. Maybe our music industry is cutthroat and competitive, but this album and attitude is not. It’s calm, confident and conceptual. And it works. Amelia Schmidt
WEEN - Chocolate And Cheese LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - This Is Happening BEAR IN HEAVEN - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
THE DRUMS - Summertime TOOTS & THE MAYTALS - Greatest Hits
Single Reviews
Vinyl Record Review
By Mikey Carr
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
SLEIGH BELLS
HOME BLITZ
Tell ‘Em
Out Of Phase 12” Richie Records
You know how you spent all that time waiting for industrial rock, guitar noise and poppy female harmonies to be lumped together into one glorious band? Yeah? Sleigh Bells. Attacking the idea of pop with a furious amount of balls, ‘Tell ‘Em’ is pretty much what a Lady Gaga song would sound like if Trent Reznor and M.I.A were producing. It’s full of fast-paced and twee vocals juxtaposed over the top of angular, distorted guitars and gunshot percussion. While lacking some of the charm of other tracks like ‘Riot Rhythm’ or ‘Infinity Guitars’, ‘Tell ‘Em’ makes up for it with relentless force. The track was released last month, but the album Treats is out next week...
Home Blitz’s second longplayer Out of Phase opens with everything and the kitchen sink being thrown at the mike. ‘Nest of Vipers’ sees Daniel DiMaggio softly breathe lines like “I’m not over/ new-world closure/but it’s just like pulling teeth”, before the cacophony threatens to continue into the second track. The madness is slain, however, a couple of bars into ‘Two Steps’ as the New Jerseyian provides insistent and catchy jangly-pop in the style of Jonathan Richman.
THE ARCADE FIRE
BOYS BOYS BOYS!
MAGIC SILVER WHITE FANFARLO
KANYE WEST
Month Of May
Ticky Ticky Boom
I Knew That I Loved You
Fire Escape
Power
The B-side to the recently released ‘Suburbs’ single makes The Arcade Fire sound like they added Josh Homme to the line-up, and has to be one of the most in-your-face songs the band has every produced. Driven by a relentless Queens Of The Stone Age guitar riff and catchy pop-drumming, the song has a charm all of its own – but not of The Arcade Fire as we know them. It’s pretty good, but for anyone who generally listens to the sort of music they’re appropriating, it’s a little tame. Toward the end, something interesting starts to emerge, but then it just fades out - and you’re left with a bit of an empty feeling inside. Fingers crossed their forthcoming album delivers a bit more…
Approaching their music with all the forethought of a pregnancy scare, Perth’s Boys Boys Boys! offer up the most meaningless slab of over-sexualised kiddie pop I’ve ever heard. Am I the only the only one who finds a singer who sounds and sings like a child (and don’t tell me this is coincidental) singing about “latent sexuality” somewhat horrifying? “Check it out, making out, you know where my buttons are, push them right, I’ll be yours for the whole night.” This track of pseudo-erotic bubblegum pop is a pretty disturbing statement about where our society and creative culture is heading, sure – but also, it’s just really bad music.
Made up of members of Mountains In The Sky, Qua, Mononoke, Sailor Days and songwriter and (until now) bedroom musician Jojo Petrina, Magic Silver White could be Melbourne’s first indie-electronica supergroup. Unlike most supergroups though, these guys deliver some proper decent tunes. While sounding a bit on the safe and poppy side of electronica for a jaded cynic like me, this is a stunning little number, rife with shimmering synths, catchy basslines and Seekae-esque harmonised vocal samples. What I like most about this track though is the fact that it achieves a very difficult goal - making subtle electronica accessible to a wider audience. Keep it up.
Rife with acoustic guitars, organs, horns and sortawimpy vocals (a kinder reviewer might call them “heartfelt”), London’s Fanfarlo are yet another addition to the already-bulging sack of bands held under the moniker of ‘joyous folk-pop’. While exhibiting a fine-tuned ability to craft large harmonies that sweep through the song, ‘Fire Escape’ is fundamentally a simple pop song – it runs through the simple chorus-verse structure, with the heavy backing wall of instruments ebbing and flowing with every chorus. A finely crafted yet formulaic pop song which I can’t really fault for anything, other than it being a bit boring and unadventurous.
If you’re a fan of Kanye you’ll probably love this - the production and rhyming is all in line with what he’d usually do. Big K's comeback takes the production’s layering just a little bit further, and goes just a little bit back to his original rap roots. Personally though, I find this song boring and tired, and nowhere near as good as ‘Jesus Walks’. Kanye has lost the plot, in case you didn’t know, needs to be brought back to earth and put back in touch with some proper hip hop production, like J Dilla or Madlib. But that’s not going to happen, so just sit back and enjoy yourselves as the world spins itself ever closer to damnation...
There’s a proliferation of garage bands locally and internationally who are raking about in the remains of Modern Lovers, hoping for a disposable poncho pop song. But it’s difficult to remain skeptical of how DiMaggio fits in this context when the vinyl package, and the music itself, is taken into account. The sleeve is glossy. It shines if you hold it at different angles under a lightbulb. The lyrics are scrawled on thin paper, circling one another until the whole album is written out - as a maze. And there’s a hand-written bookmark from DiMaggio asking for emails from people who can help him play the album live. There are some odd tracks like ‘Live Outside’, where DiMaggio records field noises and nothing much happens. But these moments are rare, and for the most part we’re treated to awkward powerpop-tastic gems from a songwriter who seems committed to engaging melody and DIY beyond the normally bullshit aesthetic pretensions. Benjamin Cooper
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 45
live reviews What we've been out to see this week...
dismantled a stage and threw road cases at each other’s heads. So much for you are what you eat. Leaving Dillinger to finish their meal I head into The Metro and get instantly smacked by a Bon Jovi-ish “Whoa oh! Whoa oh!” chorus from opening band Maylene & the Sons of Disaster. With other five star (prison cell) Australian mathcore bands out there, it seemed a colossal waste to give such a precious time slot to such a predictable American southern rock band.
RICHMOND FONTAINE Brass Monkey Thursday May 27 There’s a reason the art of storytelling has lasted through the ages: Everybody loves a well-spun yarn. Tonight, the bill features three exceptional lyricists (two of whom are published authors), so the narrative quality of the songs is no surprise. Robert F Cranny is first up to the mic and he quickly justifies his reputation as one of Sydney’s most gifted songwriters. His lyrics carry the weight of nostalgia and regret across the grimy landscapes of small towns and the inner city; his guitar playing offers tempo changes and structural twists when you least expect them. It’s an impressive combination. With Katy White now recruited on keyboard/ melodica, the next chapter of Cranny’s career is beginning to take shape. If some harmonies were added, to lift his vocals a touch, who knows where it could lead? Jason Walker sticks to a more tried and trusted formula to tell his tales. His acoustic strumming has a distinct country twang while the lyrics feature sad, angry men propping up bars while drinking women’s tears. Walker is a charismatic performer, throwing in one-liners between songs, and his powerful voice gives his stories added punch. His musicianship is so sharp that it’s hard to believe he was added to the bill just 24 hours before the night commenced. The storybook is now passed on to singer Willy Vlautin who, with Dan Eccles, makes up half of Portland, Oregon’s Richmond Fontaine. Opener ‘Welhorn Yards’ begins a series of evocative, often harrowing testimonies from a gallery of rogues. We hear of a violent criminal’s guilt, a gambler’s losing streak and a boxer’s journey from obscurity to victory to injury, both physical and psychological. On the surface this sounds bleak, but if you peer between the cracks there are signs of redemption and catharsis: ‘Two Broken Hearts’ and ‘Post to Wire’ both see lovers united after shared pain, while ‘Polaroid’ concludes: “Not everyone lives their life alone/Not everyone gives up or is beaten or robbed or always stoned”. Throughout, Dan Eccles gives everything, as if he might squeeze the very life out of his guitar - while Vlautin proves himself to be a major country-rock talent. He might not possess the same vocal range as Springsteen or Adams but, when it comes to storytelling, he’s ahead of them both. Andy McLean
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MAYLENE & THE SONS OF DISASTER The Metro Theatre Friday May 21 It’s hard to believe that the mayhem Dillinger Escape Plan unleashed at the Metro was fuelled by honey pumpkin and soy bean rolls prepared by Buddhists. But there the boys were in the window at Mama Chu’s Vegetarian Restaurant before the gig, having a healthy meal before they
46 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
Dillinger fans bicker about the old (uncompromising) material versus the new (accessible) material, but both sides likely limped away happily tonight. They went back eleven years to play ‘Destro’s Secret’ and ‘43% Burnt’ from Calculating Infinity, and new album Option Paralysis’ tracks ‘Room full of Eyes’ and set closer ‘Farewell Mona Lisa’. It was obvious no encore was happening when the drum kit came to pieces in a sea of feedback - but we were mostly relieved the finale was over and there’d been no broken bones. Tyler Broyles
AUTECHRE, ROB HALL The Forum Friday May 28 Seeing live music at Fox Studios has never sat quite right with me. It all feels a bit too much like the shopping centre of a gated community for anything of substance to happen. So it was an odd choice of backdrop for Manchester duo Autechre, in Australia for the first time in fifteen years to promote their new Oversteps album. As pioneers of intelligent dance music, they challenge their audience to follow them out on a limb - and I was worried that such a polished, controlled setting wouldn't do it justice. Thankfully, they were able to make it their own. Rob Hall warmed us up with forays into dup-step, hard techno and breakbeats - weaving together one of the most interesting mixes this year. He appeared a little dead-eyed though, staring straight at his MacBook, but the lighting flashed along contentedly and we appeared to be on course. Only problem is that the place Julian Casablancas where he dropped us off, exciting though it was, was maybe not where we needed to be. Lights off and enter Autechre - and by the time the erratic bass began, it was obvious that I was going to have to shift down not up for the main act. What transpired from then on occurred in pitch black with nothing to illuminate the packed venue save for the glowing Mac symbol onstage and a few LEDs. It all made for quite a surreal experience seeing the silhouette of your neighbour standing anonymous in the dark, listening to undanceable music, considering the sounds. It was all essentially a complex arrangement of bass stabs at erratic intervals in lieu of a regular beat, throbbing sub-bass with some midrange fuzz and the occasional screech. The system was a little bass-heavy but even taking that into account, Autechre maybe didn’t utilise enough of the high range. There was nothing of the ingenious ambient soundscapes that are on Oversteps album. What was striking
Julian Casablancas live by Jay Collier
Dillinger Escape Plan
Dillinger Escape Plan shows always start with a sucker punch. A creepy synth intro and kerblamb!, they pounce from the wings, ripping into ‘Panasonic Youth’. Through the eye-melting strobes I can make out a flawless display of highly technical mathcore being played, while they pull stunts like tantrumming Olympic ice-skaters. There’s wrathful spread-eagled leaps, pissed off pirouettes, enraged stage dives, tandem jumps from the kickdrum and one spectacular doublearound-the-world-loopty-loop guitar swing. If I tried any of these stunts I’d knee myself in the face and split my pants open but Dillinger make it look easy, all the while playing uncalculable time signatures. Seeing anger expressed with so much athleticism was a thrill, but the throbbing Daft Punk-esque lighting rig incessantly torched my retinas and, blinded, I missed a lot of the action. There’s no way in hell I could ever pick the drummer out of a police line-up.
live reviews What we've been out to see this week...
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s getting a little bit depressing going to gig after gig at the Oxford Art Factory, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the way things are going with venues in Sydney, I guess. I mean really, where else is there for exciting local bands? Notes at Newtown seems unreliable, Annandale is hard to fill, The Vanguard is expensive, the new room at the Sando is still underutilised, and warehouses all seem pretty out of the way - especially on a possibly cyclonic pre-winter evening. Still, at least OAF is around; the bands tend to be great, and tonight is no exception. An excellent lineup of young Aussie bands which lived up to every expectation I had for another Saturday night gig in the Year Of The No-Really-Reasonable-Smallish-VenuesOther-Than-Oxford-Art-Factory. Step-Panther have been kind of wrongly branded as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;surfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; music, or even â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;surf punkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. They have, as far as I can tell, one or two surf songs, while the rest of them are clearly more in the indie-punk camp. If anything, their music is laid back and fun enough to skirt around simple genre classifications. They laugh wildly and talk over songs, grinning while never letting the pace drop. Following that, Parades brought to the stage a great big sound, powered almost entirely by young brilliance. Featuring Jonathan Boulet on drums and Alyx from Kyu on keys and vocals, Parades played a set that was tightly packed with perfect harmonies, complex rhythms and rich melodies. And finally Melbourne's Crayon Fields, fronted by the humbly gifted Geoff Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor - who sets up the stage with roses and ferns to compliment his atmospheric, dreamy and poetic pop music. Their understated live sound lilts and chugs along with nonchalance, and that typically indie happy-sadness. This show featured most of their latest album All The Pleasures Of The World, as well as some older tracks. With favourites â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Mirror Ballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Gracelessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and the title track going down a treat, there really wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a person in the room not all warmed up by the Southern boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; unselfconscious tunes. Perhaps it's the Melbourne chill that forces their pop to glow so warm and bright. Amelia Schmidt
WAGONS, THE EXILES, THE SNOWDROPPERS The Annandale Friday May 28
Nell Greco
VIVID LIVE: BORIS The Studio, Sydney Opera House Saturday May 29 Exploring the worlds of punk, metal, post-rock and noise, Japanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Boris arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really the parent-friendly band youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d expect to see at The Opera House - but thanks to Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, they managed to sell out two nights in a row. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actually really hard to describe what this show was like - either because I spent the whole gig two rows from the front head-banging my neck into nearly complete paralysis, or because unless you have a degree in audio engineering or an obsession with generating noise yourself, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to know what the fuck it is that Boris do on stage. While I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t describe the noise they make, I can describe its effect. Imagine feeling your whole body humming with the music, almost as if the sound itself had become a part of you, with nothing separating your being from the furious feedback and colossal crescendos. With so many bands, you start moving once you start getting into it, but with Boris movement is almost involuntary - their slow-moving rhythms and towering walls of noise actually force a visceral physical connection with the music. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all just so hypnotic that by the end it felt like Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been watching them for maybe half an hour, rather than two. As far as the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stage presence goes, they come off just slightly less sombre than Charon waiting at the ferry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and just about as intimidating. All except the drummer, who plays like some twelveyear-old prodigy, gurning his face off and making over exaggerated arm movements. (At Noise Night, two nights later, he finished the set standing on top of his kick drum in a white suit, holding one hand up in the sign of the beast and pointing out over the crowd, his jet black hair cascading over his shoulders like some twisted Japanese mix of Jim Morrison and James Bond.) You couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have hoped for a better performance from the band. Joined by Ian Astbury from The Cult for their encore, Boris sent the audience packing with smiles on their faces, a painful ringing in their ears and a violent need for more. Mikey Carr
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As the first band of the night, The Exiles seemed to give everything they had but they still came off as a pub-rock band with a little too much showmanship and not enough oomph. The energy and excitement of The Snowdroppers lifted the room up and kept it buzzing. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Rosemaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Good Drugs Bad Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and 'Do the
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â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re playinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; really well tonightâ&#x20AC;? is a phrase you want to hear from a band you forked out 20 odd clams to go and see on a Friday night. Although you may not realise it from that mild quote, Henry Wagons is not a shy man - at one point he told the crowd â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I want you to spit it back at me!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Imagine!)
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Oxford Art Factory Saturday May 29
I felt like Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been treated to a two-forone headline show, and thoroughly recommend you keep an ear and an eye out for both The Snowdroppers and Wagons on their next tour. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll make you want to drink more and dance harder - your liver and your legs might be sorry, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be well worth the trade off.
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CRAYON FIELDS WITH PARADES AND STEPPANTHER
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Kurt Johnson
The man and his band are a force to be reckoned with, but after witnessing The Snowdroppers' dirty and electric Tommygun rockabilly, I was worried that Wagons might be overshadowed. Yet between Henry Wagons' one liners, his stand-up comedy between songs and the actual music, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no denying the fun this band has. Using all of the stage (and part of the bar), Wagons churned out over an hourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth of alt-country blues and rock, and brought out a double encore.
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As my attention waned, I started contemplating the situation itself. The amount of mental space that listening to this type of music in the dark provides allowed me to realise that what was happening here amounted, paradoxically, to collective alienation - all of us together in being completely alone, a little scared and very much left out in the dark.
Stomp' worked the crowd into a frenzy of liquor-sweaty dancers. It was almost a shame their set had to end.. Except that it meant Melbourne's Wagons could begin.
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was the changeability of the music, as it moved from an ominous whirr to a throbbing densely-packed series of beats without warning - but even the jarring effectiveness of that wore off after a while.
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Jagermeister, Mess+ Noise & Drum Media presents
The Minor Chord The All Ages rant bought to you by Indent.net.au. By Melody Forghani
THE ANNANDALE HOTEL’S
and perform music by his father, he admits, “Without him, I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today”. When asked by Indent whether he finds it hard to get his music out there as a young person, King replied, “It can be a lot harder. You know, it is my dream at the moment to play somewhere like the Oxford Arts Factory, but being under 18, it is really difficult. But considering my age, I have been very fortunate in getting gigs and showcasing my music.” TMC hopes that you’re as inspired by Taylor King as we are.Young, dedicated and passionate about what he does, he’s proof that a little bit of hard work goes a long way. His success should be a lesson to all you cats who feel limited by your age – it really just is a number. Check him out at myspace.com/ taylorjking
th
10
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS ******
JUNE 24
DALLAS CRANE w. Dan Brodie & The Grieving Widows
JUNE 25
CLOUD CONTROL JUNE 26 ELEFANT TRAKS presents Ozi Balta (album launch) w. The Tongue + The Last Kinection + very special guests
JUNE 27
JIMMY BARNES JUNE 25
RICHARD CLAPTON ON SALE NOW
17-19 Parramatta Rd, Annandale Ph 9550 1078
WWW.ANNANDALEHOTEL.COM 48 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
T
here is definitely no denying that under 18s have it tough when it comes to accessing gigs. It’s made especially worse when we live in a country – specifically, a city - so thriving with music, arts and culture. We have all gone through, or are currently going through, this stage in our lives and let’s be honest -at times it ain’t pretty. You know what we’re talking about. One day you open up a magazine, tune in to the radio, surf the web, and there it is - your favorite band is touring. In that split second, you have already decided who you’re going with, how you’re getting there and how you are going to convince your parents to pay for the ticket. And that’s when it happens. In that very same moment of sheer joy, where your mind has gone into overdrive just imagining the night’s festivities, you are faced with a sad truth; it’s an 18+ event. It happens to the best of us. You could even say it’s a modern day rite of passage. But amongst the rain and clouds, there’s always a ray of sunshine - or in today’s case, a pot of gold. Whilst those under age don’t always have a vast array of gigs lined up, they are not completely devoid of live music and arts, which leads TMC to believe that there really is wisdom behind the old saying ‘quality not quantity’.
Point is, you’d be crazy to miss this event. To book your spot for this years Generationext call (02) 9241 7196 or email through your details to generationext@mca.com.au. Registration closes Thursday June 24, so get in quick before you lose your place. Kicking off at 1pm, Sunday June 20, The Lucky Australian Tavern is hosting an afternoon of alternative/metal/hardcore goodness where you can catch My Hallowed Fantasy, As Silence Breaks, Pledge This! and Five Star Prison Cell. If you aren’t already familiar with these bands, then TMC suggests you start getting yourself affiliated, for they are truly rockin’. Just take it from the guys behind My Hallowed Fantasy who claim “they shred, they scream and they party like no tomorrow!” Whip out your jazz hands for ‘Jazz: Cool For School’ - afternoon show at the Seymour Centre Thursday June 24. For a small fee of $17.50 you’ll be treated to the tunes of Sydney artists Carl Dewhurst Trio and Elana Stone Band. With Carl Dewhurst being noted as one of Australia’s most revered and versatile guitarists and Elana Stone’s music described as ‘raw, soulful and uplifting’, you can guarantee a real musical experience. Budding musicians and lovers of soulful jazz should head down to the Seymour to see how it's really done. The moral of this week’s column? Embrace your youth. To hear more from The Minor Chord, be sure to tune in to FBi Radio 94.5 on Wednesdays from 5pm.
How does a night of free music performances, interactive art, and most importantly, free food sound to you? Perfect, no? Yes. Sunday June 27, from 5.30 through to 7.30pm, the Museum of Contemporary Art presents Generationext; a night of energy and creativity in the form of contemporary music and art. If you’re aged between 12 and 18, and are a current high school-goer, this can all be yours. Held as a part of the 17th annual Biennale of Sydney, the MCA is here to showcase the inspired works of over 100 Australian and international contemporary artists. Each year the Biennale employs a theme to which the artists must respond to, and this year the theme is ‘the beauty of distance’. With such a broad spectrum of ideas to work with, you can guarantee that the works presented at the MCA will be extremely diverse and imaginative. The night continues to get bigger and better, with a live performance from Sydney indie rock band The Zebs. Influenced by Sounds, Neon Love and Foals, they describe their music as, ‘strategically placed sounds, sorted in an intrinsic manner, to create a larger sound.’ Solo artist Taylor King will also be playing alongside The Zebs, bringing you sounds and lyrics inspired by ‘everything that can be seen. everything that can be heard.’ Just 17 years of age, Taylor sounds like a young Thom Yorke – and he’s already released his first EP Ready. Aim, which has featured on triple j, FBi Radio and Channel V. Taylor King’s story is a classic case of ‘like father, like son’. Initially inspired to compose
Elana Stone
Send pics, listings and any info to minorchords@thebrag.com
Remedy
The Big Top, Trash, and SFX present
Party with the bands from Come Together at
More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
Sat 12 June
REED’S NOISE ANNOYS
We had to laugh at reports that Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Trio show at the Opera House had some folks looking for the exits within minutes of it beginning. What were these poor souls expecting from an outfit with the words “metal” and “machine” in their name? A nice run through Transformer from a man with a 40 year passion for the avantgarde? And they paid out good money not knowing he has an infamously famous slab called Metal Machine Music to his name? Too damn funny.
ROBINSON BACK WITH KORN
There was a time when producer Ross Robinson was the more extreme end of metal’s Rick Rubin, the everywhere-atonce guy who was constantly setting a new agenda in a conservative rock world. One of the bands he did his thing with early on was Korn on their first two defining and quite unique releases, Korn and Life is Peachy. So it’s good news that he’s back on board for their ninth album Korn III – Remember Who You Are, which is due out on July 9 and is the band’s first release for Roadrunner Records.
BOOK NEWS 1: ROUGH TRADE RECORDS
BOOK NEWS 2: STEVE TYLER
Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler’s autobiography is out in November and it could well be a beaut. Curiously titled Does The Noise In My Head Bother You?, we’re hoping he recalls the stuff he told us many years back - like staking out The Stones hotel in Boston in the sixties and getting Brian Jones’ autograph which he kept in his wallet for years after. Not too much about the past 20 years though, please.
BOOK NEWS 3: RADIO BIRDMAN
It seems that Radio Birdman book we mentioned will be more a coffee table, archival memorabilia type affair, which will be kinda cool. Word is that Shock Records are also putting out Birdman guitarist Deniz Tek’s autobiography.
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GRINDERMAN SOPHOMORE
Nick Cave’s more rock alter ego, Grinderman release slab number two with the cryptic title of Grinderman 2 on September 10. A European tour kicks off on September 25.
JOHNNY WINTER
Hard to believe now but there was a point in time when Johnny Winter was being hailed as a new rock god complete with - for that time - a glitter-falling-from-the-rafters type stage show. The searing Johnny Winter And live set with Rick Derringer did plenty to keep that ball rolling, but the big time never happened, sadly. Glory days are back with Johnny Winter: Live at The Fillmore East 10/3/70, a show from which parts of the original recording were drawn. This is better – if anything, because it’s longer.
MASTADON CANCEL UK TOUR
Mastodon had to cancel their tour of Europe that was to have begun on June 5 in Germany as guitarist Bill Kelliher, who has been diagnosed with pancreatitis, has to continue his treatment. The band will however be part of BlackDiamondSkye in Chicago with Alice In Chains and The Deftones in September.
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PARTY ROOM
There’s a book out in August called Document and Eyewitness by Neil Taylor that’s “an intimate” history of the UK’s Rough Trade Records, as told by folks like label founder Geoff Travis, Jarvis Cocker, Robert Wyatt, Johnny Marr, the late John Peel and many more. From the early releases by Cabaret Voltaire through to The Fall and The Smiths, Rough Trade was a ground breaker and new cultural deal maker. Author Taylor was on the spot too, having worked for NME during the mid 1980s.
OFFICIAL AFTER-PARTY
indie electro pop y late 9pm - ver hip hop Discounted entry retro with Come Together party tunes wristband
ALTER N alte ATIVE r nat RO i and ve anth OM em p ar ty
tune s s
Space: 127 Liverpool St
DEREK TRUCKS
Derek Trucks shone with Eric Clapton a few years back, and has been keeping the family blood lines pumping in the Allman Brothers - which fits perfectly, as he’s a deadringer sound-wise for Duane Allman. He’s back with a double live album out on June 18. Called Road Songs, it was recorded over two nights at Chicago’s Park West in 2009 with a full horn section added to the group’s six-piece lineup. The set includes a fourteen minute version of the John Coltrane-famed ‘Afro Blue’ and Dylan and The Band’s ‘Down in the Flood’.
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Grease: The Complete Skydog Singles Collection by The Flamin’ Groovies which completely and utterly smokes. One of the bands that time (and almost everyone) forgot rips with garage grit and plenty of spit through stuff like Chuck Berry’s ‘Little Queenie’ and ‘Sweet Little Rock and Roller’, The Stones’ ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ and of course ‘Shake Some Action’. Wonderful, wonderful stuff. Also spinning is The 13th Floor Elevators' amazing Headstone: The Contact Sessions which, for a band in 1966 with a jug player (as in, a guy who blows into a jug), were so damn wild they almost made The Velvet Underground sound straight and normal. These guys weren’t unplugged by any means but man, they sure were unhinged.
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS Solid Gold Hell is back on June 12 at the Sly Fox Hotel, Enmore from 9pm - 3am, for free too. It’s a…er…pirate themed rock n’ roll party which works, as both Keef Richards
and Johnny Thunders both wanted to sail the high seas and hey, The Keefster actually did (on screen anyways). DJs Stu (Zombie Ghost Train), Paul Powerhead (Divine Electric), Jonny Optional (Grand Fatal, The Optionals) as well as Demonika and Cutthroat will be doing the spinning. Hell Crab City - featuring former members of The New Christs, Panadolls, Jim Cobain, Rule 303, WWXXIV - are launching their second slab, Full Bore on June 25 at the Sandringham at Newtown with special guests Spencer P Jones, Life Adjustment Disorder and Lobster Prophet.
Hell Crab City
The mighty Holy Soul, The Stabs and more are on at the Oxford Art Factory on July 22.
Send stuff for this column to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to The Brag please. www.myspace.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 365:: 07:06:10 :: 49
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hot damn
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up all night out all week . . .
It’s called: Purple Sneakers DJs ‘We Mix You Dance’ Album Launch + Dance Off
It sounds like: All your indie drea ms rolled into one night and one sexy 2CD compilation!!
the holidays
27:05:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711
DJs/live acts playing: Purple Snea kers DJs, Toki Doki, Kill The Land Fantomatique, Wacks. lord, Sell it to us: Highlight will be the ’We Mix you Dance-Off’ competit ion where everyone that enters is a winner!! Every single person that busts a move or two for the pleasure of the crowd will winners will take home a sweet-as- score themselves something, and the fuck copy of PSDJs’ new album and bucket of booze! a The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Recreating the dance moves in chal on the walls of The Gladstone. k Crowd specs: Move-busting, matc hing-tracksuits-wearing lads and shapemaking, lycra-leotarded ladies!! Wallet damage: $12 free before 8pm. Where: Purple Sneakers, The Glad stone Hotel. When: Friday June 11
the crayon fields
PICS :: TL
party profile
purple sneakers
PICS :: RRU
27:05:10 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245
operator please
PICS :: AM
29:05:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711
27:05:10 :: The Forum :: Entertainment Quarter Moore Park 50 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY LAUNAY :: JER ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
TUE 08 JUN
WED 09 JUN
ROCK-STEIN TRIVIA MC - HAMISH ROSSER “THE VINES”
TANGO SALOON QUARTET + BAZ
FRI 11 JUN
FAIT ACCOMPLI + THE LAZYS
SAT 12 JUN
NO EDUCATION = NO FUTURE ft SOLKYRI + SET SAIL
GENERATION SWINE + CONTRABAND
SAT 24 JUN
+ MARDI PANNAN + MAGGIE ECKFORD
JUST ANNOUNCED
SPIT SYNDICATE COMING SOON
TUE 15 JUN
ROCK-STEIN TRIVIA
FRI 18 JUL
ALESTORM (SCOT)
SAT 19 JUL
PAUL DIANNO
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
presents
BRAIN N GAME for
Music Heads Jake Grigg l a i c e Sp Guest
Something With Numbers
MCs
Hamish Rosser
The Vines
$10 $10 Dinner
Menu
jugs of Coopers
DRINK RESPONSIBLE OTHERWISE YOU WILL GET THE ANSWERS WRONG
Visit the new look Gaelic 64 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills | www.thegaelic.com.au
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 51
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club blink
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up all night out all week . . .
28:05:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566
29:05:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566
party profile
trash
PICS :: RR
sfx It’s called: SFX - Come Together Official After Party It sounds like: the best night of your life as band and club cultures unite under the one roof. DJs/live acts: Twelve Foot Ninja (think Karnivool meets System Of A Down), Kings, Queens & Fairytales, Walk ing With Mirrors, and Deez Nuts DJ set Sell it to us: the event is brought to you by Come Together, Trash and All bands will be present and this is your chance to rub shoulders with SFX. favourite bands and experience SFX your first hand. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: meet life long friends, jump around this night you’ll remember forever, as you like a lunatic to songs you really wish hadn’t jumped around to, and may be even score an autograph on your ed you breasts (wherever). arm, leg, Crowd specs: 18-plus, all walks of life and people from different back grounds. Wallet damage: $12 (door) / $10 with Come Together wristband / $8 on a host list. For free entry and a free drink for all your friends befo if you’re re 9.30pm every Saturday, email emma@taran tulamusic.com.au Where: SFX, SPACE, 127 Liverpoo l St, City.
live showcase
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When: Saturday June 12
sunsets
PICS :: AM
30:05:10 :: The Club :: 33 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93574411
30:05:10 :: Fringe Bar :: 106 Oxford Street Paddington 93605443 52 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY LAUNAY :: JER ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 53
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week SAT JUNE 12 & SUN JUNE 13
Gyroscope
Standing Silence, Modern Day Tragedy, Mending Melissa, Modern Era (New Zealand) Manly Fisho’s $10 7pm The Universal Thump Raval, Surry Hills $21 (presale) 7pm
MONDAY JUNE 7 ROCK & POP
Bernie Segiden The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm Carribean Soul Paddy Maguires, Haymarket free 8.30pm Nicky Kurta Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 8.30pm Singer Songwriter Night Vic on the Park Hotel, Marrickville $5 8pm Unherd Open Mic: Derkajam Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm
JAZZ
Come Together Festival Saturday June 12: Gyroscope, The Butterfly Effect, Frenzal Rhomb, Strung Out (USA), House Vs Hurricane, MM9, The Loved Ones, Deez Nuts, Heroes For Hire, Circle Pit, Jerrico, Toe To Toe, Chaingang, Twelve Foot Ninja Sunday June 13: Grinspoon, British India, Bertie Blackman, Dead Letter Circus, Horrorshow, The Jezabels, Calling All Cars, Boy & Bear, Ernest Ellis, Snowdroppers, Last Dinosaurs, Kisschasy, Jonathan Boulet, Parades The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $75.60 (day ticket)–$135.60 (weekend) from 11am
Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Way Out West 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 7.30pm
JAZZ
Accordion Cafe - An Amazing Accordion Extravaganza: Eddie Bronson, Marcello Maio, Lukas Maio, Ross Maio, Robyn PittOwen, George Pengue The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 9.30pm Baz, Showa 44 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 7.30pm Club Jazz Open Mic Night The Manhattan Lounge, Sydney free 6.30pm James Valentine Quartet Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay free 7pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Songsalive!: Pave Leclair, Mai-anh, Russell Neal, Helmut Uhlmann 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 JUNE 8
Runnymede Pop Festival: The Renaissance Players The Great Hall, University of Sydney, Camperdown $30 7pm Songsalive!: July Morning, Russell Neal Club Five Dock free 7pm Tuesday Night Live: Clean Marlin, Lizzy Cross, Monique Fietje Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm
COUNTRY
Blacktown Country Music Club The Lucky Australian, North St Marys free 7pm Bryen Willems Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 8pm Steel City Country Music Club Club Macquarie, Argenton free (member) 7.30pm
ROCK & POP
Andy Mammers Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Daniel Webb Guildford Leagues Club free 12.30pm Mick & Josh Front Bar, Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Mick Vawdon The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm Mitchell Anderson Trio Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Sharron Bowman Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 6pm Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm The Manly Marvels Band Competition: Seek the Silence, Recording All, Sideshow Alley,
WEDNESDAY JUNE 9 ROCK & POP
Andy Mammers Duo Ettamogah Pub, Rouse Hill free 5pm Bliss Bombs The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm City Escape, Therefore I Am Harp Hotel, Wollongong $8 (+ bf)– $10 (at door) 8pm Dan Miranda Gledswood Homestead, Catherine Field free 8pm Delta Riggs Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Georgia Fair, The Falls Hotel Hollywood, Surry Hills free 7.30pm
Hugh Gordon Front Bar, Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Huntings, Panver Queen Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm JP O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Maureen Williams, Andrej Kouznestov St James’ Church, Sydney free–$5 (donation) 1.15pm Mike Bennett The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm Open Mic Night Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Open Mic Fubah on Copa, Copacabana free 7pm Pugsley Buzzard Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Rebecca Johnson Band Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Sharron Bowman Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 6pm Sideshow Wednesday: Royal Chant Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Sooners, The Speakers Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West free 8pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: The Runaways State Theatre, Sydney $15 (conc)– $17 9pm The Duchesses, Dusker Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm The Power of Ten: The Ten Tenors Sutherland Entertainment Centre $80 (+ bf) 1pm The Seabellies, Cameras, Pluto Jonze, Lanie Lane, Wade Jackson, The Champions League Melt Bar, Kings Cross $12 (presale)–$15 7.30pm Tim Finn (NZ) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $85 (show only)–$139.50 (dinner & show) 7pm Uni Night Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 9pm Upstarts: One Flew East, The Box Rockets, Le Doogan Spectrum, Darlinghurst $8 8pm Violence In Action - Improvised Music Bridge Hotel, Rozelle 8pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: nMn Dorkbot Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm YourSpace Muso Showcase: New Strange Horizon, Starr Witness, Bored Of Directors, Justine Wahlin, Hiske, John Van Rossen, Little Sisters Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm
JAZZ
Darryl Beaton Band Civic Underground, Sydney free 10pm
“Down in Chinatown (the year of the cock) he sold the silver belt, put it in hock” - BLONDIE
MUSIC LINE UP FOR WEEK 1
INDOOR ICE SKATING 45 min session $12.50 – 16.50 Open in all weather Book now at winterland.com.au or 1300 723 038
Free entry - no cover charge Thurs 8 July, 6 – 10pm Alt country with Wil Massey and the Ghost Trio, The Lurkers, The Preachers, Charlie Trindall
ART & DESIGN MARKETS Curated by The Finders Keepers
Fri 9 July, 6 – 10pm Disco on Ice with Arithmatix (Future Classic)
LIVE MUSIC 18 live music events featuring over 100 local & emerging musicians & bands
Sat 10 July, 1 – 5pm Singalong with Voices from the Vacant Lot and Another Roadside Attraction
BAR & CAFÉ WINTER TREATS FREE ENTRY (only pay for ice skating)
Sat 10 July, 6 – 10pm Feral Media Showcase with Vorad Fils, Gentleforce, AFXJIM, Textile Audio. Underlapper.
CarriageWorks , 245 Wilson St Eveleigh CarriageWorks, Train: Redfern or Macdonaldtown
AND SO MUCH MORE THROUGHOUT JULY! Winterland is supported by
54 :: BRAG :: 365: 07:06:10
CarriageWorks is supported by
WINTERLAND.COM.AU
gig guide send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
John Redmond Trio The Manhattan Lounge, Sydney free 6.45pm ‘Live at the Reservoir’ Launch: Bob Bertles Quintet, Ben Fink, Susan Gai Dowling Quartet, Lily Dior The Basement, Circular Quay $15 8pm Peter Farrar Quartet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 7.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel free 8pm The Tango Saloon, Baz Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 7pm The Whiskey Angels, Tice & Evans The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 6.30pm
THURSDAY JUNE 10 ROCK & POP
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Illawarra Folk Club Bush Dance: Wongawilli Band Wongawilli Community Hall free (member) 8pm Runnymede Pop Festival: The Renaissance Players The Great Hall, University of Sydney, Camperdown $30 7pm SSA Concert: Pedro’s Epiphany, Paul McGowan, Massimo Presti, Ken Stewart, Taos Newtown RSL free 7pm The April Maze (Melb) The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm
COUNTRY Corrina Steel, Daddy O, Jason Walker Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $12 8pm Simone Felice (USA), Jordie Lane Annandale Hotel $30 8pm South Coast Country Music Club Mount Kembla Heights Hall free 7pm
Bacardi Band Search: Sabretung, I Am The Agent, Origin of Janken, Team Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West free 8pm Blu FM Band Competition: Red House, Yellow Raje, Brother Funk Hotel Gearin, Katoomba free 8pm Carborator, Southern Comfort Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Colin O’Donnell The Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction free 6pm Dan Miranda Gledswood Homestead, Catherine Field free 8pm G3 Marble Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Hip Not Hop The Orient Hotel, The Rocks $5 9.15pm Hot Damn!: As Silence Breaks, Five Star Prison Cell, Safe Hands, Azlock, Hot Damn DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10–$12 8pm Ian McCrae Big Band, Donnie Sutherland Smithfield RSL free 8pm Jo Vill Windang Bowling Club free 6pm Leena, Des Miller, Spooky Land, Jess Dunbar Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 7.30pm Mad Polly Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Mal’s Open Mic Night The Harp, Tempe free 7.30pm Open Mic Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Paki & Kelly & Marsh
Illawarra Yacht Club, Warrawong free 8.30pm Residents: The Strides Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Rumpunch Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Steve Edmonds Amber Ale Hotel, Annandale free 7pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: Oil City Confidential Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney $15 (conc)–$17 8.30pm The Basics Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $14.80 (presale) 8pm The Power of Ten: The Ten Tenors Sutherland Entertainment Centre $80 (+ bf) 7.30pm The Presence, Pax Koan, Ugly Bitch Annandale Hotel $8 8pm The Scarletts Notes Live, Enmore $15.30 (show only)–$38.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Tony Williams Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Cameras Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm White Bros New Brighton Hotel, Manly free 10pm - late Zane Penn Front Bar, Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Zoltan The Mill, Milperra free 8pm
JAZZ
Amanda Baker, Morgan The Vanguard, Newtown $18 (conc)–$23 (at door) 6.30pm Colbourne Ave: The Mark Ginsburg Band Cafe Church, Glebe $10 (conc)– $20 8pm
Dave Halls Band Raval, Surry Hills $17 (+ bf) 7.30pm Jazz Factory The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Mucho Mambo 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 7.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm The Arrebato Ensemble Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $25 (show only)–$65 (dinner & show) 7pm Uncle Jed, Marty Simpson The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf)–$18 (at door) 9.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Bacon & Cabbage, TeeJay Cock ‘n’ Bull Tavern, Bondi Junction free 9pm Beoga (Ireland) Clarendon Guest House, Katoomba $25 7pm Dennis Aubrey’s Songwriters Night @Newtown RSL free 7pm Songsalive!: Snez, Helmut Uhlmann Henry Lawson Club, Werrington County free 8.30pm Songsalive!: Helmut Uhlmann and guests Pennant Hills Inn free 8pm Songsalive!: Taos and guests Camelia Grove Hotel, Alexandria free 6pm
COUNTRY
8 Ball Aitken Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm Nicki Gillis Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 8pm
FRIDAY JUNE 11 ROCK & POP
2days Hits Towradgi Beach Hotel free 8.30pm 8 Ball Aitken Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Adam Harvey, Wendy Matthews North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $39 7.30pm Ahmed Ahmed Persian Basement, Lane Cove 8pm Bernie Tall Timbers Hotel, Ourimbah free 6pm Between the Devil & the Deep, Grand Fatal, Like Alaska, Surprise Wasp Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm Bobby Rydell (USA) Auditorium, South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford $45 8.30pm Bondi Cigars Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $20 (show only)–$60 (dinner & show) 7pm Brown Sugar Marble Bar, Sydney free 9.30pm Caffeine Crunch Jewells Tavern, Newcastle free 8pm Celebration Mix Fred Chubb Lounge, Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm Chikarma Front Bar, Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Club Blink: Hard As Nails, The Dead Rabbitz, Tainted Toys Agincourt Hotel. Ultimo $12 Cog Metro Theatre, Sydney $40 (+ bf) 8pm Cyber Crystals Hotel Delany, Newcastle free 9pm
wed
09 June
(9:15PM - 12:15AM)
thu
10 June
(9:15PM - 12:15AM)
fri
11 June
(5:00PM - 8:00PM)
(9:15PM - 1:00AM)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
sat
12 June
SATURDAY NIGHT
sun
13 THE June
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
mon
14 June
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
PUBLIC HOLIDAY (2:00PM - 5:30PM)
(7:00PM - 10:30PM)
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 55
gig guide send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Double Trouble Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 8pm Double Whammy Padstow RSL Club free 7.30pm Empirical, For All Eternity Chilli Lounge, Wyong $10 8pm End Of August Mattara Hotel, Newcastle free 8pm Fab Four Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi free 7.30pm Fait Accompli, The Lazys, Generation Swine, Contraban Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills 8pm Fender Benders St George Leagues Club, Kogarah free 8pm Funhouse Ingleburn RSL Club free 9pm Gemma Empire Bay Hotel free 7pm Hello Cleveland Smithfield RSL free 7pm Hitseekers Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor free 9pm Jo Elms After Dark Bar, Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 10pm Johnny Rock Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Juicy Fruit Warners Bay Hotel free 9pm Justin Carter (Vic) The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Katrina Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free 7.30pm Meza Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free Miami Horror Waves Nightclub, Towradgi $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 8pm Purple Sneakers: Nick Findlay, BenLucid, Toki Doki, Fantomatique, Kill The Landlord, Wacks Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale $12 7pm RhymeAbuse, The Filthy Seed, Debbie, The Baddies Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $12 8pm Rubicon Cardiff Panthers free 8.15pm Sam & Jamie Show Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 7pm Sam Ferraro Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Singled Out Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Slam Tango Belmont Hotel free 9pm Snake Eyes Long Jetty Hotel free 7.30pm Snowdroppers Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland 8pm Something Else Dundas Sports & Recreation Club free 8.30pm Sosueme: The Preachers, Lyyar, Hattie Carroll, The Future Prehistoric, Joyride, Rose, Alison Wonderland, Coitus Interruptus, Lonewolf Q Bar and 34B, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Steve Edmonds Amber Ale Hotel, Annandale free 8.30pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould Dendy, Opera Quays, Sydney $15 (conc)–$17 2.30pm The Bad & The Ugly Iron Horse Inn, Cardiff free 6.30pm The Beautiful Girls, Washington Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle Fait Accompli
56 :: BRAG :: 365: 07:06:10
West $28 (+ bf) 8pm The Doors Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm The Protectors, Paper Prophets, The Owls Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $8 8.30pm The Rebel Rockers Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club free 8.30pm The Struts @Newtown free 7pm The Widowbirds The Vanguard, Newtown free 11pm The Wonderful Lives, Phillip Bracken, Polyminor El Rocco Jazz Cellar, Woolloomooloo $10 7.30pm Thundasteel, Atomesquad, Virginia Killstyxx Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm To The Next Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Underlights, Radio National, Sound Casino, Stickyfingers Melt Bar, Kings Cross free–$10 9pm Viagra Falls Fire Station Hotel, Wallsend free 8.30pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Parades, Kyu, Flutter Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm Watussi, Samba Mundi, James Locksmith Annandale Hotel $25 (+ bf) 8pm Zoltan St Marys Band Club free 8pm
JAZZ
Bridge City Jazz Band Club Ashfield free 7.30pm Dave Panichi Septet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 7.30pm Full Swing Lane Cove Golf & Country Club, Northwood free 7.30pm Jive Bombers Eastern Suburbs Legion Club, Waverley 8pm Pianoman Cruise Restaurant, The Rocks free 10pm SIMA: The Sandy Evans Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $12 (member)–$18 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Adam Roycroft, DJ Black Jade Tavern, Haymarket free 7pm Cafe Carnivale: Afro Peruvian Project Eastside Arts, Paddington $10 (child)–$28 8pm Gervais Koffi, Yannick Koffi The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 9.30pm The Arrebato Ensemble, Rafael Alcolea, My Sauce Good The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf)–$29 6.30pm
COUNTRY
Macarthur Country Music Club Wests Campbelltown Tennis Club, Leumeah free 7pm
HIP-HOP
Dust Tones: The Botanics, Joyride, Dj Ability Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Gift of Gab, Ozi Batla Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $38.40 (presale) 8pm
SATURDAY JUNE 12
Oh Ye Denver Birds
ROCK & POP
2 Of Hearts Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm ABBA Mania Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $160 6pm Alphamama Club: Alphamama Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour free 8pm Betty Airs, Made in Japan Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Bobby Rydell (USA) Bankstown Sports Club $35 7.30pm Bondi Music Festival: Porcelain, Stickyfingers, King Tide, Glenn Cardier, Sniffer Dogs, Red Slim, Wormholes Exist, Genevieve, Three Quarters Hazel, Naked Parade, Artificial International, The Cardinal Groove Bondi Pavilion Community Cultural Centre, Bondi Beach $30 12pm Boy & Bear, Oh Ye Denver Birds, The Chemists Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm Chicks Who Love Guns, The Go Roll Your Bones and Doc Holliday Takes The Shotgun Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Come Together: Gyroscope, The Butterfly Effect, Frenzal Rhomb, Strung Out (USA), House Vs Hurricane, MM9, The Loved Ones, Deez Nuts, Heroes For Hire, Circle Pit, Jerrico, Toe To Toe, Chaingang, Twelve Foot Ninja The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $75.60 (day ticket)–$135.60 (weekend) 11am Deborah Sinclair Duke of Wellington Hotel, New Lambton free 5pm Dr Watson Band Brass Monkey, Cronulla $15.30 (presale) 7pm Dragon Coogee Diggers $25 (+ bf) 8.30pm Eli Wolfe Great Southern Hotel, Berry free 7.45pm Gary Johns Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 4pm Ghetto Disco: Cassian, Pipemix, Jamie Von Party vs Paul Done, Steve Castel, Stress Less, Slicker Cities, Alpine Circuit, Omz Lay, Monkey Genius, Coitus Interruptus Q Bar and 34B, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Hue Williams Avoca Beach Bowling & Recreation Club free 7.30pm John Currie Fubah on Copa, Copacabana $6.50 8pm Josh Calloway Front Bar, Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton free 8pm Kissteria The Pinnacle, Hurstville South free 7pm Kristen Blakers, Escapade!, Chloe Harrison Hornsby Inn free 9pm Late Night Lounge The Studio, Sydney Opera House $30 10pm Loose Connection Smithfield RSL free 8pm Miami Horror, Cassian, Last Dinosaurs, Jinja Safari Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 8pm Moonlight Drive Catherine Hill Bay Hotel free 1.30pm P-Mac Sir John Young, Sydney free 9.30pm Pop Fiction Penrith Panthers free 9.30pm Radio Bandits Ingleburn RSL Club free 9pm Radio City Cats Marble Bar, Sydney free 10.30pm Richard Clapton Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $35 (show only)–$103.50 (dinner & show) 7pm RoadHouse Rockers Halekulani Bowling Club, Budgewoi free 7.30pm Rodric White Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Salmonella Dub (NZ) Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $35 (+ bf) 8pm
Saturday Night Divas Fred Chubb Lounge, Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8.30pm Seattle Sound Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 10pm SFX: Twelve Foot Ninja, Kings, Queens and Fairytales, Walking with Mirrors Space, Sydney $15 SilverHair Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi free 7.30pm Snowdroppers The View Factory, Newcastle 8pm Songsalive!: Andrew Denniston and guests Grumpy’s Inn, Hurlstone Park free 8pm Soul Rhythm After Dark Bar, Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 10pm Steve Edmonds Band Beaches Hotel Thirroul free 8.30pm Stone Cold Sober Appin Hotel free 8pm Stormcellar Stockton RSL free 7.30pm Story of the Year (USA), Saosin (USA), Bless The Fall Roundhouse, Kensington $55 (+ bf) 8pm Super Groove Hotel Delany, Newcastle free 9pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: Nobody Knows About Persian Cats Sydney Opera House $20 (conc)– $25 2pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae: King Tide Sydney Opera House $20 (conc)– $25 9.30pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: The Runaways Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney $15 (conc)–$17 8.45pm Tall Pop Syndrome Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 9pm The Arrebato Ensemble, Rafael Alcolea, Sabores Latinos Clarendon Guest House, Katoomba $32 (+ bf)–$70 (dinner & show) 7pm The Australian Pink Show Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm The Beatnix Oatley Hotel Free 8pm The Beautiful Girls, Washington Waves Nightclub, Towradgi $28 (+ bf) 8pm The Black Horizon, Hemina, Avarin, Friar Rush Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $10 7.30pm The Last Cavalry, The Curse of Eve, Yardvark, Pistol Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm The Presence Newtown RSL Club free 8pm The Rebel Rousers Wallarah Bay Recreation Club, Gorokan free 7.30pm The Supreme Motown Show Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm The Zeros Caringbah Bizzo’s free 8pm Trash: The Understatement, Seven Steady, Swing From A Streetlight Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo $10 (guestlist)–$12 9pm Vendetta Of The Fallen, Ruins Of An Empire, Datura Curse Chilli Lounge, Wyong $10 8pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Daniel Stricker, Jono Ma, Julian Sudek Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm Wildcatz Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm
JAZZ
A Night At The Jazz Rooms: The Black Jesus Experience, Michelle Martinez, Jimi Polar, Ross Dewbury The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf)–$30 (at door) 9pm Eclipse Alley Five Strawberry Hills Hotel, Surry Hills free 4pm Jive Bombers Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL 7.30pm Maria Okunev 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 7.30pm Motown - The Show: Akinga Auditorium, South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford $10 (member)–$15 7pm Motown - The Show: Akinga Auditorium, South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford $10 (member)–$15 9.30pm SIMA: Tom O’Halloran Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $12 (member)–$18 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Miriam Lieberman, Nina Stamell The Vanguard, Newtown $17 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) 6.30pm
COUNTRY
Whisky Rain Royal Cricketers Arms, Prospect free 7.30pm
HIP-HOP
Horrorshow, Equal Elements City Diggers, Wollongong $17 8pm
SUNDAY JUNE 13 ROCK & POP
Adam Harvey, Wendy Matthews Bankstown Sports Club $39 8pm Barnstorming Bateau Bay Hotel free 2pm Blind Dogs Lick Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow free 4.30pm Blues Sunday Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 7.30pm Chris Byrne Long Jetty Hotel free 2pm Christine Lee Tyrrell, Aubrey & Martin Smithfield RSL free 2.30pm Colin O’Donnell, Paddy, Anthony K, Gary Honor The Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction free 5pm Come Together: Grinspoon, British India, Bertie Blackman, Dead Letter Circus, Horrorshow, The Jezabels, Calling All Cars, Boy & Bear, Ernest Ellis, Snowdroppers, Last Dinosaurs, Kisschasy, Jonathan Boulet, Parades The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $75.60 (day ticket)–$135.60 (weekend) 11am Cool Change Breakers Country Club, Wamberal $10 (member)–$15 (non-member) 8pm Crowdies Show Mingara Recreation Club, Tumbi Umbi free 7.30pm David Scheel Riverside Theatres, Parramatta $31 (u30 yrs)–$39 7.30pm Down Thunder Catherine Hill Bay Hotel free 1.30pm Drive: Peter Northcote Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $10 3.30pm East Coast Rhythm The Entrance Sails Stage free 11am
gig picks
gig guide send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Hue Williams Kincumber Hotel free 2pm Jamie Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free 5pm Keiran Glasgow Oatley Hotel Free 1pm Klassic Blak Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong Beach free 7.30pm Margaret Salem, Sarah Fogarty Fubah on Copa, Copacabana Millennium Bug Towradgi Beach Hotel free 8.30pm Mischief: Deez Nuts, The Art is Murder, The Storm Picturesque, The Violence DJs, Safe Hands, May, Cannon’s Mouth, Mitch-Hell Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $20 (+ bf) 7pm Rebecca Johnson Band Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 3pm Ross Ward Tall Timbers Hotel, Ourimbah free 4.30pm Satellite V Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free 4.30pm Slimey Things, Godswounds, Forenzic, 10k Firemen & Their Families Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Songs of Brel: John Waters The Basement, Circular Quay $40 (+ bf) 9.30pm Steve Edmonds Band Wickham Park Hotel free 5.30pm Stormcellar Bondi Icebergs free 8pm Strung Out (USA), The Loved Ones, The Conspiracy Plan Uni Bar, Wollongong University, Gwynneville $36 (+bf) 8pm
Sudden Comfort Smithfield RSL free 6.30pm Sydney Film Festival Sounds on Screen: Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae: King Tide Sydney Opera House $20 (conc)–$25 3pm The Australian Pink Show St George Leagues Club, Kogarah free 9pm The Beautiful Girls, Washington The Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay $28 (+ bf) 8pm The Owls, Royal Chant, Edens March, The Politiks The Vanguard, Newtown $10 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 6.30pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Wrap Party, The Paper Scissors, Cloud Control, Shady Lane, Songs, Seekae, Richard In Your Mind and PVT DJs Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 3pm Watussi, Justin Carter Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 (presale) 7pm
JAZZ
An Oscar Moment: Matt Baker Trio Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith $22–$28 2pm Bill Dudley’s New Orleanians Strawberry Hills Hotel, Surry Hills free 5pm Feral Swing Katz Rocksalt, Menai free 8pm The Groove Depot Shellharbour Workers’ Club free 12pm The House of Blues: The Subterraneans Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 6pm
up all night out all week... The Shawnuff Quartet Hampshire Hotel, Camperdown free 3pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Cafe Carnivale: The Magic of Ankle Bells Riverside Theatres, Parramatta $22 (member)–$28 3.30pm Green Jam The Hero of Waterloo Hotel, Millers Point free 7pm Kelly’s Heroes P.J. O’Brien’s, Sydney free 7pm Matt Jackson Pontoon, Darling Harbour free 2pm Songsalive!: Russell Neal and guests Forresters Hotel, Surry Hills free 7pm
COUNTRY
Bacon & Cabbage, Mark Oats, Dan Lising Cock ‘n’ Bull Tavern, Bondi Junction free 5pm Greater Southern Country Music Association Bomaderry RSL free (member) 1pm Karl Brodie Royal Cricketers Arms, Prospect free 12.30pm Northern Beaches Country Music Club Balgowlah RSL Club, Seaforth free (member) 1pm
WEDNESDAY JUNE 9 The Seabellies, Cameras, Pluto Jonze, Lanie Lane, Wade Jackson, The Champions League Melt Bar, Kings Cross $12 (presale)–$15 7.30pm Upstarts: One Flew East, The Box Rockets, Le Doogan Spectrum, Darlinghurst $8 8pm
Interruptus, Lonewolf Q Bar and 34B, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Parades, Kyu, Flutter Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm
SATURDAY JUNE 12
THURSDAY JUNE 10
Gift of Gab, Ozi Batla Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $38.40 (presale) 8pm
The Basics Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $14.80 (presale) 8pm
Boy & Bear, Oh Ye Denver Birds, The Chemists Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm
Vivid LIVE: Creative Sydney: Cameras Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney free 8.30pm
Miami Horror, Cassian, Last Dinosaurs, Jinja Safari Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 8pm
FRIDAY JUNE 11 Fait Accompli, The Lazys, Generation Swine, Contraban Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills 8pm Sosueme: The Preachers, Lyyar, Hattie Carroll, The Future Prehistoric, Joyride, Rose, Alison Wonderland, Coitus
SUNDAY JUNE 13 M-Phazes, Joyride Sound System, Mailer Daemon Soundsystem Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 (presale)–$15 (at door) 8pm
The Seabellies
HIP HOP
M-Phazes, Joyride Sound System, Mailer Daemon Soundsystem Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 (presale)–$15 (at door) 8pm
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 57
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week Underworld
Suburban Alternative DJ Mini Mullet Free 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, Daigo, Shipwreck, M.I.T free
WEDNESDAY JUNE 9
SATURDAY JUNE 12
Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park
We Love Sounds Underworld (UK), Laidback Luke (Ned), Markus Schulz (USA), Tiga, Felix Da Housecat (USA), Steve Aoki (USA), M.A.N.D.Y live (Germany), Zombie Nation (Germany), The Proxy (Russian Federation), Gareth Emery, Joachim Garraud, Ellen Allien (Germany), The Revenge, Thomas Von Party, Paul Ritch, Sonicc, Roger Shah, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, Turbo, Dimmak, Godskitchen Arena, Bang Gang, Crookers (Italy) $119.90 (+ bf) MONDAY JUNE 7 202 Broadway, Chippendale Hospitality Crew free Empire Hotel, Potts Point Bazaar HBK, I Low free One World Sport, Parramatta Ricky Ro free V Bar, Sydney Monday Mambo Mambo G $5–$10
TUESDAY JUNE 8 Xxx Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DCE Salsa Lessons $20 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJs Willie Sabor and Guests free Martin Place Bar, Sydney Louis M, Sammy free Oatley Hotel
Bank Hotel, Newtown Girl’s Night DJ Beth Yen free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Rockstar free Establishment, Sydney Mid Week Hurdle Nic Phillips, Craig Patterson free Fringe Bar, Paddington F.R.I.E.N.D/s $5 VIP/$10 door Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta DJ Fresh free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Salsa Lounge Latin Mafia Sound System free Sly Fox, Enmore Queer Central Sveta, DJ Beth, DJ Bel free The Eastern, Bondi Junction John Glover, Tenzin, Here’s Trouble, Cassian, U-Go-B, Steve Frank, Mistah Cee, Naiki, 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 JUNE 10
FRIDAY JUNE 11 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Dustones Botanics, DJ Ability, Joyride free Bungalow 8, Darling Harbour Bungalow Nights free Cargo Bar, King St Wharf On The Harbour free Chinese Laundry, Sydney DnB in the Cave Riggers, Klute, ROFL, R!M!E!, Doctor Werewolf, Lynken & Vertigo, Morphee & Vesper $20 after 1am Civic Undergound, Sydney Renaissance Man (Finland), Levins, Kato, Wedding Ring Fingers, Generic DJ’s $20 pre/$25 door Collector Hotel, Parramatta Corner Shop Tikelz, DJ Browski, J Lyrikz, Naughty, Gunz free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool Fuego DJ Mac, Don Juan, K-Note, Asado, Dennis Tha Menace, The Empress MC, MC Seba Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Johnny Vinyl, Strike free Establishment Hotel Carnival La Fiesta Sound System and Special Guest DJ’s all night free Fraser Studios, Chippendale Mad As Art Busty Beats free Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Purple Sneakers Nick Findlay, BenLucid, Toki Doki, Fantomatique, Kill The Landlord, WACKS $12.00 Goldfish, Kings Cross Sugar & Soul Phil Hudson, Paul Hatz, Agey, Danny De Sousa, Matt Cahill, Tom Kelly free Home The Venue, Darling Harbour Sublime John Ferris, Scotty G, MC Losty,Arbor, Nasty, Big Dan, Ben Ferris, Ange, Weaver, Pulsar, RaversMVP, Makio, Folk, Zander,
Jin Kang, Kiniption, Kinetix, Monk3y $15 general, free before 11.30pm (guestlist), $10 after (guestlist) Kinselas, Taylor Square Toby Wilson free Kit & Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Gameboy Fridays The Gameboys, Calling In Sick, Isbjorn $10 after 10pm Mansions, Kings Cross Nick Polly, Little Rich, Nick T, Stevie S, Adrian Allen free Melt Bar, Kings Cross UK Kinky Movement, Matt Roberts V Illya, Husky, Travis Hale (Ladylux), Ant Best V Rob Marshall (Townhouse), 2 Phat DJs ( Nic Side And Nathan Cryptic) Jackin DJs, Emme Jay V Matt Mandell $25 Middle Bar, Kinselas, Darlinghurst Flavours on Friday MC Q-Bizzi, C-Bu, Trey, Mike Champion, Naiki, Tekkaman $20 Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Friday’s DJ Tone Free Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind DJ GST and Guests free Opera Bar, Circular Quay Gian Arpino free Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Gift of Gab, Ozi Batla $38.40 (presale) Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Index Label Tribute Night Mark Pritchard Representing Dmz, Victim Representing Planet Mu, Lorna Clarkson Representing Warp, Luke Snarl Representing Hyperdub, Eli Representing Rhythm And Sound $10 Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Fridays Miss Match, Rob Morrish, Dave 54, Kate Monroe, Chiller $10 guestlist Spectrum, Darlinghurst Silent Alarm Silent DJs $5
Common
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 Hotel Chambers, Sydney Timewarp Retro DJs free Judgement Bar, Taylor Square Judgement Night. Sex Worker & Ymerej, weekly guests free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst Simon Alexander free Lady Lux, Kings Cross Notorious Thursdays Die Pritti, Jimmy 2 Sox, Stick Man free Mansions, Kings Cross Van Sereno and Cavan Te (live) on rotation free Martin Place Bar, Martin Place Thursday’s at MPB Louis M free Melt Bar, Kings Cross Tiff & The Kids, 5 Coffees, DJ Dave $5/$10 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 Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction Sneaker Husky, Ant Best Shy, Travis Hale, Dave Rizzle, Yogi free The Rouge, Darlinghurst Surprise Surprise Astrix, Sms, Ember, Lights Out, Tom Piper Tokio Hotel, Darling Harbour Caramel free
“Cover me with kisses, baby, cover me with love. Roll me in designer sheets. I’ll never get enough” - BLONDIE 58 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com 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 Tao Lounge, Sydney Tourism Oliver Gurney, Mark Craven, Jimi Polar, Franchis Bros $5 before 11pm, $10 after The Forum Theatre, Moore Park Common (USA), Kid Capri $85 (+ bf) The Gaff, Darlinghurst DJ Tokoloshe, Sveta free The Loft, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo Remedy Total Science, Vice Versa, Foreign Dub, Fire, Whitey free The Rouge, Kings Cross Kiss n Tell the Hump Day Project, Dejan Sem, Roger Room, Micky P, Tag Team free on guestlist before 11pm The Roxy Hotel, Parramatta Roxy Fridays $10, free for members The Sugarmill, Kings Cross The Gameboys, Calling In Sick, Joyride $10 after 10pm Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Warped free Waves Nightclub, Towradgi Miami Horror $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door)
SATURDAY JUNE 12 202 Broadway, Chippendale Jamrock Nick Toth, Joe (USA), Lukie D, Shotta Paul, Admiral Kilosh $15 Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo Trash DJ M!Veg, DJ Absynth $12 Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Official We Love Sounds After Party $25 BB’s, Bondi Beach Wildlife DJ’s Mesan, James Roberts, Adriano Giorgi, Dinseh Sundar, Matt Singmin, Chris Kyle free Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Rex Bar DJ Micha $35 Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Shake That Monkey Typhonic, G-Mo, Raine Supreme $5 before 10pm, $10 after Chinese Laundry, Sydney Replug Records Matttt, Tim Culbert, Reno & Foundation, Rodskeez $20 City Diggers, Wollongong Horrorshow, Equal Elements $17 Civic Underground, Sydney Picnic The Revenge (UK) & Dj Spun (NYC), The Loin Brothers, Matt Trousdale, Marcus King $20 pre/$30 door 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 Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour Fabulous Nino Brown, Don Juan, Samrai, Tikelz, Solz, Lil B, Robbie Knotts, Broski, Shruggz, MC Q-Bizzi, MC Mike Celekt, Aga, Akay, Dimi K, Yanni-B $20 Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown Kaki $20 Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction I Love Saturdays Zannon, Tony Shock, Matt Ferreira,
Simon Caldwell
Tass, Akay, Don Juan, Dante Rivera, Dennis Agee, Willie Sabor, Oscar Cadena free Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park We Love Sounds Underworld (UK), Laidback Luke (Netherlands), Markus Schulz (US), Tiga, Felix Da Housecat (USA), Steve Aoki (USA), M.A.N.D.Y (Germany), Zombie Nation (Germany), The Proxy (Russian Federation), Gareth Emery, Joachim Garraud, Ellen Allien (Germany), The Revenge, Thomas Von Party, Paul Ritch, Sonicc, Roger Shah, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, Turbo, Dimmak, Godskitchen Arena, Bang Gang, Crookers (Italy) –$119.90 (+ bf) Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta DJs Matt Hoare and Andy Marc $10 Goldfish, Kings Cross Abel, Tom Kelly, Phil Hudson, Ross Middleton on Sax free Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays The 808s, Aladdin Royaal, James “Saxman” Spy, Matt Ferreria, Hannah Gibbs, Tony Venuto, Dave Austin, Flite, LKO, Seiz, Uncle Abe $20 VIP/$25 door Ivy, Sydney SHE DJ Jorj, Angelina, Adam Jacob, Robbie Santiago, Kocho, Yogi, Graham Cordery, Dave 54, Danny de Sousa, Liam Sampras, Mr V on the door: $30, presale: $25, VIP: $40 Jacksons On George, Sydney Leno, Aladdin Royaal free Kinselas, Taylor Square Brynstar, Shaun Keble, Yin Yang, Beth Yen and Matt Hoare free Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown Miami Horror, Cassian, Last Dinosaurs, Jinja Safari $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) Mansions, Kings Cross Reckless, Little Rich, Shaun Keeble, Nick Polly free Marrickville Bowling Club Mad Racket Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell, Zootie, Jimmi James, Tom Trago $30 Martin Place Bar, Sydney Bamboo Eko, Nude-E, Mirage, Shorty, Ace, Moto, Qrius, IllDJ $5 Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill Fiddler Bar DJ Bobby Dazzler free Melt Bar, Kings Cross Kinky Movement Illya, Matt Roberts, Husky, Ant Best,
Rob Marshall, Travis Hale, Twophat DJs, Emme Jay, Matt Mandell $15–$20 Metro Theatre, Sydney We Love Sounds Dim Mak After Party $40 early bird Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst The Proxy (Russian Federation), Redial, Nadisko, Gus Lakeview, DJ Obey, RA, Whynot DJs, Le Night, Always Never, FMA $25 (1st release)–$30 (+ bf) Sackville Hotel, Rozelle Maike free Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Shipwreck, Daniel Nall, Leon Pirello $10 after 10pm Sly Fox, Enmore Solid Gold Hell DJ Stu (Zombie Ghost Train), Paul Powerhead (Divine Electric), Jonny Optional (Grand Fatal), Demonika, Cutthroat free Space Nightclub, Sydney SFX DJs Bzurk, Absynth, Snowflake $10 Spectrum, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H Goldfoot, DJ Knife $7 Stonewall Hotel, Darlinghurst Greg Boladian, Nick J free The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Sin City Don Juan, DJ Willie, Mista Kay, MC Q-Bizzi The Basement, Circular Quay A Night At The Jazzrooms DJ Russ Dewbury, Michelle Martinez, The Black Jesus Experience, Jimmy Polar $25 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... DJ’s Stunna, Sonny, Special K $10 after 9pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Le Rouge Dave Implex, Francesco DaRoit, Neon Stereo, Matt Nukewood, Coops $10 before 11pm Tonic Lounge, Kings Cross Tonic Saturdays Tan Cracker's Soul Club $15 Verandah Bar, Sydney The Booty Bar George B, Nasser T, Lenno, K Sera
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A fantastic opportunity exists for the right person to join one of Australia’s leading music titles.
A mobile phone and car allowance adds to a great package with all the usual benefits.
A knowledge of all things Sydney- its bars, clubs, pubs, boutiques and restaurants is essential.
Plus, you get to work in a cool, inner city location with one of Australia’s foremost youth marketing companies and publishing teams.
This is a flexible role, with the option of P/T or F/T working hours. A retainer and generous incentives are offered, commensurate with experience.
This is an excellent opportunity for the right, self motivated and hard working person to break into the music industry!
Please send your resume with a cover letter through to brownie@thebrag.com The Brag is part of Peer Group, Australia’s foremost youth marketing company and Furst Media, Australia’s biggest streetpress company BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 59
club guide
club picks
clubguide@thebrag.com Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Paul Moussa free World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Chux, Bad Ezzy, Kato, Wax Motif, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team $15 before 10pm, $20 after
SUNDAY JUNE 13 202 Broadway, Chippendale Destination ? Ali B, BKP, Sideshow Rod, Smacks, Random Weapon, Say What?, Tenmin $15 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Bondi Cultura Ziggy & The Wild Drums free Club 77, Kimgs Cross Bag Raiders, Dan Cares! Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool Michael Peter Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Sassy Sundays free Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour Salsa Caliente Sabroson, DJ Vico free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown DJ Metal Matt, Louis Tillett free Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta Sundayze Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club Live DJ’s Illya, Johnny Gleeson, Miss Match, Jack McCord and Tom Kelly free Home Terrace, Sydney Spice After Hour Adam Swain & Dan Abbott, Schwa, YokoO $20/$10 Home The Venue, Sydney
60 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
up all night out all week... Matinee G-Martin, Alex Taylor, Simon Caldwell, Kitty Glitter, DJ Chip, Murray Hood, Sandi Hotrod, Tom Kelly $49 (+ bf)–$89 (gold) Hotel Chambers, Sydney La Chambre Rouge X-Tof, DJ XL, Trey, Twinz $20 Hunter Bar, Sydney Hard Dance Sydney United 2 Arbor, Dlx, Pete Finley, John Ferris, Yoshi, Nik Import, Steve Hill, Amber Savage, Wheelah, Germ, Matrix, Keely, Hardforze, Xdream, Pulsar, Suae, Micky D, Arbee, Infectious Ice Bar, Sydney The Kitsch Sound System, Phil Hudson, Chloe West, Mark Matthews free Ivy, Sydney Queens Birthday DJ Jorj, Mr V Kings Cross Hotel Jammin Sundays free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst The Fifth Dimension free Kit and Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Escape $10 (at door) Madam De Biers, Kings Cross Soul on Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan free Melt Bar, Kings Cross Kontrast Illya, Joey Katz, Joey Tupaea, Venuto & Guests $10 Metro Theatre, Sydney Shapeshifter (New Zealand), Electric Wire Hustle Soundsystem, Jonny Faith, Monkfly $45 (+ bf) Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone & Friends Free Phoenix Bar, Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst Loose Ends Resident DJ Matt Vaughan & Regular Guests Including Seymour
Butz, Mark Murphy, Stephen Allkins, Avra-Cybele, Ben Drayton, Sveta, The Loin Brothers Free Entry From 10pm Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle Renaissance Man (Finland) Sapphire Suite, Kings Cross Random Sundays Mike Rukus, Tom Piper, James Taylor, Matt Nukewood, Goodfella, Adam Lance, RobKAY free (guestlist)–$15 Spectrum, Darlinghurst M-Phazes, Joyride Sound System, Mailer Daemon Soundsystem $12 (presale)–$15 (at door) The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Soul On Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan free The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills B Side free The Forum Theatre, Moore Park Rap City Premier (USA), Beatnuts (USA), Masta Ace, Edo G, Total Eclipse $58.30 (+ bf)–$95 (+ bf) The Rouge, Kings Cross Cartel Barfly, Tom Piper, Tenzin, Matt Nukewood free The Roxy, Parramatta Sunday Social $10, free for members The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Neighbourhood Kate Munroe free Trademark Hotel, Darlinghurst Soul on Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Miss Gabby free
FRIDAY JUNE 11 Chinese Laundry, Sydney DnB in the Cave Riggers, KLUTE, ROFL, R!M!E!, Doctor Werewolf, Lynken & Vertigo, Morphee & Vesper $20 after 1am Civic Undergound, Sydney Renaissance Man (Finland), Levins, Kato, Wedding Ring Fingers, Generic DJs $20 pre/$25 door Melt Bar, Kings Cross UK Kinky Movement, Matt Roberts V Illya, Husky, Travis Hale (Ladylux), Ant Best V Rob Marshall (Townhouse), 2 Phat DJs ( Nic Side And Nathan Cryptic) Jackin DJs, Emme Jay V Matt Mandell $25
SATURDAY JUNE 12 Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown Miami Horror, Cassian, Last Dinosaurs, Jinja Safari $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) Marrickville Bowling Club Mad Racket Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell, Zootie, Jimmi James, Tom Trago $30 Metro Theatre, Sydney We Love Sounds Dim Mak After Party $40 early bird. Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst The Proxy (Russian Federation), Redial, Nadisko, Gus Lakeview, DJ Obey, RA, Whynot DJs, Le Night, Always Never, FMA $25 (1st release)–$30 (+ bf) Renaissance Man
Masta Ace
SUNDAY JUNE 13 202 Broadway, Chippendale Destination ? Ali B, BKP, Sideshow Rod, Smacks, Random Weapon, Say What?, Tenmin $15 Home The Venue, Sydney Matinee G-Martin, Alex Taylor, Simon Caldwell, Kitty Glitter, DJ Chip, Murray Hood, Sandi Hotrod, Tom Kelly $49 (+ bf)–$89 (gold) Metro Theatre, Sydney Shapeshifter (New Zealand), Electric Wire Hustle Soundsystem, Jonny Faith, Monkfly $45 (+ bf) The Forum Theatre, Moore Park Rap City Premier (USA), Beatnuts (USA), Masta Ace, Edo G, Total Eclipse $58.30 (+ bf)–$95 (+ bf)
Deep Impressions Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery
Matthew Dear
Soul Sedation Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom Heavy Beats with Tony Edwards
LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY JUNE 12 We Love Sounds Afterparty Plantation
SATURDAY JULY 2 Stephan Bodzin The Arthouse
SATURDAY JULY 17 Alexkid & Martin Landsky Plantation
SATURDAY JULY 24 James Holden Chinese Laundry
This Week’s Episode: Live Simulations
T
exan maestro Matthew Dear has announced the follow-up to 2007’s Asa Breed album. While his work under other monikers (namely ‘False’, ‘Jabberjaw’ and ‘Audion’) caters for ardent techno fiends, Dear also has a more accessible side – a side that your motherin-law would happily listen to while she’s going about her daily business. And it is this side which comes to the fore on Dear’s forthcoming Black City album, which will continue in the same vein as the Asa Breed LP, merging Dear’s vocals (you could throw the word ‘crooning’ in here somewhere if you were so inclined) with pop and electronic influences. Black City will be released on Dear’s Ghostly International label in August, and in the interim you can stream lead-off single ‘I Can’t Feel’ through Dear’s official website, online, via the Internet. House producer Christopher Spero, who dons the pseudonym Glimpse whenever he sets foot in the studio or nightclub, released his debut LP Runner on Crosstown Rebels last week to a typically muted response from the Australian press. I’m putting an end to that right here. Concocted during his move from London to Berlin (and back again), Runner was made entirely with analogue
The Roots
Stephan Bodzin
equipment, and most of the tracks were recorded live, giving his music an improvised quality. “The process in which I work in the studio has always been paramount to the end product,” said Spero in a slightly conceited and pompous manner. “When I started the album I was experimenting with sampling again and I decided to sample in a more traditional sense, leaving the tails and imperfections in.” Bits of field recordings are strewn across Runner in an attempt to “stamp my environment and current situation on tracks... whether that be a train journey, lo-fi electronica, jazz, pop, dub, techno or a Single Malt whiskey.” Drink up! For those looking for a techno option this weekend, some of the internationals from We Love Sounds will be dropping by Plantation for a WLS after-party on Saturday night. While the promoters remain tight-lipped as to who it will be – I reckon Ellen Allien and Paul Ritch is a very solid bet but then what would I know?! – whoever does end up playing should sate your 4/4 needs. Chilean femme fatale Dinky’s new mix for Cocoon, Musica Libre, rivals Agoria’s Balance as one of the best compilation releases of the year so far. The mix crams thirty-odd tracks into little over an hour, and considering two of those are Ricardo Villalobos epics, that is all the more impressive. “As DJs, we usually feel we need to please hundreds or thousands of people in a club or at festivals,” Dinky explained via a press release. “Of course, we are in the club to party, but I feel and wish that sometimes we would try to be more brave and show the other side of the coin, which I will try to do with this project. This ‘rave alarm pressure’ is limiting us too much as artists and keeps us afraid of playing the most challenging, deep and beautiful music, as we are afraid of losing the floor. I wanted to get rid of this fear on this mix, and show another side of dance music.” I could not agree with her more. On the subject of new mixes, Frankfurtbased duo Arto Mwambe, comprised of Phillip Lauer and Christian Beisswenger, have put together Live at Robert Johnson Volume 6. Eschewing the decks for analogue hardware à la our boy Glimpse, the release simulates a live set at the Frankfurt venue, and features mostly unreleased tunes by Arto Mwambe, plus a couple of oldies along with their most recent single, ‘Love Lift’. So my advice to you is to approach Live at Robert Johnson Volume 6 as a live album rather than ‘just another mix CD’ – but you could probably glean that from the title alone couldn’t you?!
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.
website. The self-titled album will be out late June.
I
The Common Australian tour that Soul Sedation recently announced has been postponed - reportedly until September this year. If you’ve bought tickets you can go back for a refund, or keep them if you’re ok with the reschedule.
t’s not often that I can praise anything that our State Premier has to say, but Kristina Keneally’s response to the NSW Police Association’s attempt to close venues at 3am to curb alcohol-related violence seems uncharacteristically sensible. “The Premier, Kristina Keneally, said she was not in favour of a ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ that punished those premises that were incident-free,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Whether she said it because she’s in the pocket of the Australian Hotels Association or not doesn’t really bother Soul Sedation, because the sentiment rings clear and true. No collective punishment for us please, coppers! It’s hard enough with the banks and the newlyempowered landlords robbing us blind, without you doing your darndest to destroy our nightlife. We’re being attacked from all fronts - some respite from time to time would be nice - please. To new music: Brownswood recording artist and British MC Ghostpoet has dropped a free EP containing four tracks, three original tunes plus a remix of A Tribe Called Quest’s classic downbeat anthem ‘Electric Relaxation’. You can download it through his bandcamp site: ghostpoet.bandcamp.com. Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label will be releasing an album from the new young Californian resident Teebs. Hazy blunted beats are the order of the day. You can get a taste of what’s to come from the most recent XLR8R podcast. Nice. Brazilian maestro Seu Jorge has signed to Now Again records to record an album with Alamaz - drummer Pupillo and guitarist Lucio Maia from the Nação Zumbi, with bassist and composer Antonio Pinto. The first single is a cover of Roy Ayers’ ‘Everybody Loves The Sunshine,’ which is available as a free download from the Stone’s Throw
Scuba comes to town! Niche productions bring us “dubstep, wonky beats, deep house & techno” from the Hot Flush label-boss. It all goes down at the Civic Hotel Friday July 23. Supports from Mark Pritchard, Simon Caldwell, Johnny Faith & Monkfly.
Skewiff fans will want to wrap their ears around his new reggae project Tape Loops. The project features Finley Quaye on vocals and has remixes from Parker, Smoove and Featurecast. Volumes 1 & 2 are out now - wax and digital format - on Jalapeno Records. As I am every year, I was wowed by Giles P’s Worldwide Festival line-up - and if you’re in Europe in early July you really should look into it. But everybody’s favourite hip hop band The Roots have pulled an impressive line-up together themselves for their annual Roots Picnic in Philly, now in its third year. Vampire Weekend strike me as the odd choice for the bill, but they sure have been working hard building a massive fan base, so why not add The Roots to that list: The Roots, Clipse, Mayer Hawthorne & The Country, The Very Best, Nneka, Jay Electronica, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Das Racist, The Foreign Exchange, Bajah and the Dry Eye Crew, Pattern Is Movement, Money Making Jam Boyz, John Legend, Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Raekwon. Fu** Disneyland, mum and dad take me to the Roots Picnic please! If you can’t get there, or to Worldwide, then take solace in the fact that a few dope cats are coming to us this long weekend. It kicks off in an old-school hip hop fashion with Premier & The Beatnuts at the Forum on Friday, and Sunday night Kiwi DnB specialists Shapeshifter light up the Metro. Saturday night you’re welcome to do whatever you want…
ON THE ROAD The Beatnuts
FRIDAY JUNE 11
SATURDAY JUNE 26
DJ Premier, The Beatnuts The Forum
Ozi Batla Annandale Hotel
SUNDAY JUNE 13 Shapeshifter The Metro
SATURDAY JUNE 19 Urthboy The Sandringham
FRIDAY JULY 23 Scuba Civic Underground
SATURDAY JULY 24 Funkdafied Warehouse Party TBC
Ellen Allien
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com.
Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to The Brag (art@thebrag.com). BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 61
snap sn ap
f.r.i.e.n.d.s.
PICS :: RR
up all night out all week . . .
26:05:10 :: Fringe Bar :: 106 Oxford Street Paddington 93605443
party profile
beach palace hotel
It’s called: Queen’s Birthday Sund ay with Timmy Trumpet and Mart ini Club live It sounds like: All your favourite tunes, live and loud! DJs & Acoustic: Timmy Trumpet, Martini Club, Alex Mac and Robbie Santiago Three records you’ll hear on the night: ‘We No Speak Americano’ Cool and DCUP; ‘Memories’ - Davi - Yolanda Be d Guetta ft. Kid Cudi; and mash ups.
And one you definitely won’t: ‘A chy Breaky Heart’ - Billy Ray Cyru s. Sell it to us: It’s Timmy Trumpets birthday bash - what else do you need - ok, and Martini Club rock! And more, two floors of madness! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: That place is huge, and just plain fun! Crowd specs: Licorice allsorts. Wallet damage: $10 cover, $7 Vodk a red bulls 4-6pm. Where: Beach Palace Hotel, Coo gee Beach When: Sunday June 13, from 4pm
photosynthesis
:: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666
autechre
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28:05:10
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mum
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28:05:10 :: The Forum :: Entertainment Quarter Moore Park
28:05:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 62 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY JER :: NAY LAU ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
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oh my!
PICS :: LL
ghettodisco
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up all night out all week . . .
28:05:10 :: Home The Venue:: Tenancy 101 Cockle Bay Whf Darling Harbour 92660600
29:05:10 :: Q-Bar :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375
It’s called: Shapeshifter - ‘The Syst em Is A Vampire’ Album Launch It sounds like: Drum’n’Bass, heav y soul, dirty beats like only Shap eshifter can bring. Who’s spinning? Shapeshifter with Electric Wire Hustle Soundsystem DJs Jonny Faith and Monkfly. (NZ) and The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Shapeshifter launch their fourth stud album The System Is A Vampire io in epic style. Hailed by many as their musical offering to date, The Syst em Is A Vampire features firey new best grooves, leaving fans craving more track . Shapeshifter are also bringing with s and fellow Kiwis Electric Wire Hustle them Soundsystem, to get things warm ed up. Crowd specs: Anyone ready to party on Sunday night to celebrate having the day off on Monday for the Queen’s Birthday! Wallet damage: $45 + bf, presale.
radio social
Where: The Metro Theatre
30:05:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
PICS :: AM
party profile
shapeshifter
candy’s apartment
PICS :: JB
When: Sunday June 13 (Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend)
the wall
PICS :: RR
29:05:10 :: Candy’s Apartment :: 22 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93805600 ) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY JER :: LAUNAY ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
26:05:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 63
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halfway crooks
PICS :: TL
up all night out all week . . .
29:05:10 :: Phoenix Bar :: Downstairs 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 93311936
29:05:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959999
party profile
club club
PICS :: AM
scary canary
It’s called: Wet Wednesdays It sounds like: We play the song s you know and love! Then it gets dirty! Who’s spinning: DJs Lews Lew i, Ahshit, Ryzie Ry, Down and Out. Sell it to us: the brain child of a team which was the ultimate party – lpus of people who wanted to create a night each week we give away well over travel prizes, accommodation, pub 1k in crawl tours and bar tabs! Three records that’ll rock the fl oor: interpretive dance moves to all your Prepare to be rocking knee slides and favourite songs, both old and new. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: the disbelief you experienced whe witnessed our famous Wet T-shirt Competition. Our participants gene n you anything it takes be victorious. rally do
Crowd specs: The Scary Canary generally entertains backpackers and students, 18 – 30. Wallet damage: Free, and your walle drinks for ‘Scary Canary Backpack t won’t even get a scratch, with $3.50 er Bar’ Facebook members and $3.5 sparkling wines. 0 Where: The Scary Canary Backpack er Bar, Cnr Druitt and Kent St, oppo Town Hall Station. site
the palace
0
PICS :: MB
When: Every Wednesday from 6pm
wham
PICS :: DM
29:05:10 :: The Palace :: 169 Dolphin St Coogee 96642900
29:05:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 64 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY LAUNAY :: JER ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10 :: 65
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gameboys
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
come together after party It sounds like: A never-ending rolle rcoaster ride of proverbial musical merriment DJs/Live acts playing: M-Phaze s live, Sosueme DJs , Joyride Soun System, British India DJ set, Boy d & Bear DJ set, Hot Damn DJs, P*A* Hobogestapo DJs, Mailer Daemon S*H DJs, Sound System, F.R.I.E.N.D/s DJs, + more!
starfuckers
29:05:10 :: Club 77 :: 77 William St Kings Cross 93613387
Sell it to us: Taking over four room s Long weekend we have a lip-smac of the Exchange Hotel this Queen’s Bday kingly, hip-shakingly good extravaga of music on offer. Melbourne prod nza ucer Australia’s ‘beat-maker par excellenc M-Phazes has forged a reputation as e’, dropping floor-shaking joints for Australian and international MCs a host of . Loca of music himself drops by Spectrum l audiences can rejoice as the merchant for his fi rst ever live Sydney show, with an army of live DJs supporting him. Crowd specs: A cacophony of festi val musos and dignitaries with laug clowns and long weekend revelling hing ex-colonials. Wallet damage: $12 Moshtix/$15 on the door: half price with festival wristband! Where: Q Bar - 34B -Vegas - Spec trum / 44 Oxford St / Darlinghurst When: Sunday June 13, from 8pm
sosueme
PICS :: PS
party profile
It’s called: Come Together Official After Party
PICS :: AM
28:05:10 :: Kit & Kaboodle :: 33-35 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross 9368 0300
teenage kicks
PICS :: RR
28:05:10 :: Q-Bar :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375
27:05:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 66 :: BRAG :: 365 :: 07:06:10
) ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHODANIEL MUNNS :: :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RING BOW EMY JER :: LAUNAY ENZO :: MAJA BASKA ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: LEE RUSHBROOK :: JULIAN DE LOR PATRICK STEVENSON :: RENEE
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