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All the passion, all the power, all the hits (and more) in a powerful new full-band performance!
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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. By Nathan Jolly
five things WITH
LIONS AT YOUR DOOR
Edward Furlong posters. As I got a little older, my love of pop music took over and in year three I decided I wanted to be Janet Jackson, so I learnt the words (and dance moves) to all the songs on Rhythm Nation. In high school it was all about grunge and Riot Grrrl - I learnt how to play bass and started my first all-girl grunge band when I was 13. The rest is history. Inspirations [Nick] My favourite musicians tend to be ones who consistently put together long-lasting albums with strong songs, but spice it up with a little pop nous too. On the one hand I’m fairly shallow, so my ears prick up on catchy singles; but on the other I’m fairly pretentious so I yearn for some depth, something that will get caught in my whiskers when served up with a nice walnut camembert… Think James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem. I heard plenty of singles and thought of it as pretty throw-away fun-times stuff; Then I listened to This Is Happening. Its smart. And fun. Perfect. It’s not a genre thing, its an approach thing.
2.
Growing Up [Marihuzka] I became obsessed with music 1. from a very early age. Lucky for me, my parents had a very diverse record collection - everything from Celia Cruz to Little Richard to Bob Dylan. Thanks to rage on ABC, I discovered Bon Jovi and Kiss when I was about four. In my early years of primary school, I remember having these giant posters of Boy George and Kiss on my wall, right next to my sister’s Leonardo and
3.
Your Band [Dirk] Well we’re a six piece with Marihuzka on vocals, Dirk on guitar, Nick on Bass, Dave on Keys, Sweetie on violin and Izaac on drums. Dave and I started the band a few years ago and
quickly roped Marihuzka in, ‘cos she is amazing. Then came Sweetie on bass, but we quickly realised she is a much better violinist than a bass player! So we got Nick in on bass duties instead. And Izaac is the new kid on drums! We all work day-jobs unfortunately, but we spend pretty much all of our spare time doing music. No major differences musically, we all have different tastes, but we kinda bring them together when writing. So I’ll bring a harder edge that balances out with Dave’s pop sensibilities while Nick brings a darker, punk vibe. Sweetie brings an epic classical sound with her violin, which ties in nicely with Marihuzka’s riot girl/lofi pop melodies. Finally, Izaac’s drums keep it all together! The Music You Make [Dave] Over the last year our sound has 4. changed quite a bit. Rather than banging together a riff and a beat and calling it “dance rock”, I guess we’ve become a little more about writing songs. That might sound somewhat self evident, like I am some sort of simpleton manchild unaware that bands would ever write songs, but I think we employ more craft and care with how we put a song together now. Maybe we’re learning to listen a little better, maybe we have benefited from watching the “classic albums” series, I couldn’t say for sure. We’re less afraid
to drift in the pop direction as well – well, as much as six piece indie band with a violin can! Our latest single ‘In a Sea’ is a good example; it has an epic quality, big hooky chorus, but at the same time a lovely build from the restraint of verses. It’s a real ensemble performance, and hopefully a winner. Music, Right Here, Right Now [Dirk] The music scene is really strong 5. at the moment, with great aussie bands like Cloud Control, Step-Panther, The Protectors and Sideways Hitchhiker doing great things that we all love. The best thing about the local scene is probably just bumping into people from other bands you’ve played with around town – it’s a great way to make a ton of rad new friends! We love venues like Oxford Art Factory, Spectrum, The Annandale - the usual suspects. We played a show at The Vanguard in Newtown recently too, and it was great!
Who: Lions At Your Door With: Papermoon + Jack Cowell & The Owls What: Freshly Cut @ The Gaelic Theatre When: Thursday August 19
MANICS BACK
PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 9552 6333 ARTS EDITOR & ASSOCIATE: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 9552 6333 STAFF WRITER: Jake Stone jake@thebrag.com NEWS CO-ORDINATORS: Chris Murray, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Jake Bruce SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Ashley Mar, Rosette Rouhana, Daniel Munns, Patrick Stevenson, Susan Bui, Robert Lee, Maja Baska COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Violet Parr SALES/MARKETING MANAGER: Blake Rayner 0404 304 929 / (02) 9552 6672 blake@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9552 6618 les@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Sara Golchin - (02) 9552 6747 sara@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Christian Moraga - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance) INTERN: Rach Seneviratne
4 realz, Manic Street Preachers are touring. After disappearing for many years, they’ve returned from the abyss to play a series of shows in Australia this November. The band are on their tenth record, Postcards From A Young Man, due out September 24. Tickets on sale Wednesday August 18. GO GET!
CABIN FEVER
Once we took a bunch of acid and went out into the woods and danced around with a little pixie, and then took him and locked him in a cabin ‘til the morning when we would let him out to play with us again. Then we forgot about him for a few days, and when we returned to the cabin, there was a dead toddler in there. Also Cabins, the Sydney band, are playing MELT on August 20. Bright Victory is really pretty great, and live they’re even better. Don’t take acid.
Ben Kweller
OH MERCY LAUNCH KEITH ST
The best moment in Roy Orbsion’s entire discography is in ‘Pretty Woman’ when he exclaims “ohhhh mercy”, and you just wish the entire world was black and white again and all the women looked like Audrey from Twin Peaks. Celebrating this moment in musical history is the band Oh Mercy, who are launching their Keith St 7 inch at Oxford Art Factory on August 27. Joining them for the launch is Kieran Ryan of Kid Sam, Georgia Fair and the gorgeous Kimbra, who you should definitely arrive early to see, as she will be your next crush.
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Bridie Connell, Bridie Connellan, Oliver Downes, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Chris Familton, Lucy Fokkema, Mike Gee, Alice Hart, Kate Hennessy, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Andy McLean, Amelia Schmidt, Romi Scodellaro, Xanthe Seacret, Jonno Seidler, RK, Luke Telford, Caitlin Welsh, Beth Wilson, Alex Young
BOY & BEAR
Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 153 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9552 6866 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Art Work, Ad Bookings Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad Cancellations Tuesday 4pm Published by Cartrage P/L ACN 104026388 All content copyrighted to Cartrage 2003 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get The Brag? email distribution@furstmedia.com.au or ph 03 9428 3600. PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 Win a giveaway? Mail us an stamped and addressed envelope, and we’ll send it on over
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Oh Mercy
BEN KWELLAH, Y’ALL
Ben Kweller might be the most likable person in the history of the world. He made adorable Weezer-pre-Maladroit pop songs in his teens, he writes a Ben Folds piano ballad better than Ben Folds, he recorded an amazing country album when the whole world went electro for a bit, and his favourite Velvet Underground record is Loaded. Also, he’s the only person in the world to make the word ‘fuck’ sound polite… all drawned out in his Texan accent – ‘fuuuuck.’ He is coming out to Australia for no promotional-touring cycle-based reason; he just likes playing live to y’all. He and Delta Spirit are coming to the Factory Theatre on October 3, and tickets are on sale now.
A few months ago we turned up early for a Cuteface Lisa Mitchell gig, and upon entering were smacked in the face by some dangerous harmonies. When filling out an OH&S complaint form (there was also an unmonitored keychange towards the end; we aren’t total party poopers), we found out the dangerous renegades in question were Boy & Bear. Now they’re embarking on their biggest tour yet, in support of their third single, the scientifically accurate ‘Blood To Gold’. They hit Oxford Art Factory on October 29, and tickets are through moshtix.
DIRTY MEREDITH
The Dirty Three are one of the best bands in the world, according to a lot of well-versed, well-respected people. I will refer you to their bio, which describes them as mixing: “folk melody, rock energy, elements of classical, chamber music, jazz and blues, Celtic, and other European folk styles.” Huh. Ok, how about this. You know ‘He War’ by Cat Power, yeah? That awesomely loose, brilliant rhythm track with that riff? THAT’S Dirty Three. They are headlining the 20th Meredith Festival this year, which is especially fitting seeing as this year is the twentieth year it’s been on! The Subscriber Ticket Ballot is now open. Old subs should check that email address they used to use but don’t anymore. New and yetto-be-subs should head to mmf.com.au
FESTIVAL OF THE SUN!
Upon reading in the presser that Festival Of The Sun is “set to blow Port Macquarie halfway to Auckland,” we were concerned and called Timbertown, Peppermint Park and Fantasy Glades to ensure that all theme parks were cleared of children. Turns out it was just a spot of wordplay to indicate the quality of the lineup for this two-day December Festival. They were right in hyping this one, with Xavier Rudd, Regurgitator, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, British India, Calling All Cars, That 1 Guy, Dallas Frasca, The Gin Club, The Seabellies, The Chemist, and many other acts heading down to Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park to make sure this caravan (park) is-a-rockin’. Did we mention tickets include two nights free beachside camping? I’ll be your Shane, if you be my Angel…
TRUST AN OLD MAN RIVER
Old Man River fell into the usual sophomorealbum-trap of recording his follow-up album in Sydney, Tel Aviv, Mumbai and LA. He even followed that well-worth path of unearthing an obscure Indian producer from the ‘60s who hasn’t recorded in thirty years, and getting him to produce some sessions... Typical. The album is called Trust, and the tour for the album is called The Trust tour. It hits the Basement on September 30, Lizottes (owned by Diesel’s brother: fact!) on the Central Coast on October 1, and Lizottes in Newcastle on October 2.
GIG OF THE WEEK
GiRLTHING So it’s time again for another installment of Sydney’s LOOSEST queer girl party GiRLTHING! Presented by the Snatch&Grab crew, if you’re a gay/gayish girl, and you haven’t been to one of these, you must live under a very large, cold and soundproof rock. This month’s party is an exercise in taking things back to their roots, keeping it simple and letting the music speak for it’s self. No themes, gimmicks, album launches... just Sydney’s best DJs delivering indie party gemes in one room and dancefloor annihilating weapons in another. Bringing the Bang this month: Neonhearts DJ's Lonewolf BenLucid Cunningpants Slipperywhenwet NatNoiz Astrix Snatch&Grab DJ's Clarence Does Radio See ya Saturday!
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rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. By Nathan Jolly
he said she said WITH
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM Jack Colwell & The Owls
IVAN FROM GHOUL Pav, Anthony and I were kicked out of a band and Hanno was the only drummer we knew. We started playing together in February 2008. We’re like a turbulent family – we bicker and fight but always pull through in the end. Pav can pick up anything and play it: drums, guitar, piano… Anthony loves his effects pedals and Hanno can cook a mean veggie curry. I can’t stand and play guitar at the same time very well. Keys are much easier. We released a free EP back in 2008 called A Mouthful Of Gold, and we’re currently getting ready to release something new - later this year or early next. It’s a bit more concise, electronic and rhythmic. The whole thing was recorded with two microphones in my bedroom and garage. Our mate Burke Reid mixed it and got it sounding real nice!
D
ad played recorder in an early music ensemble, mum bought disco records - I met them halfway and listened to Limp Bizkit, RATM and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I learnt how to play a bit of piano and clarinet, but was never really serious about it; I just wanted to play video games. I bought my first guitar when I was 17 and started to write songs and fiddle with recording. I never really intended it to go anywhere; it was just for fun really. Things
got a little more serious when Pavle bought a bass, and we started jamming together. My favourite records are: Talking Heads’ Remain In Light, Dirty Projectors’ New Attitude EP, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, This Heat’s Deciet, Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and On the Corner, Dr Dre’s The Chronic 2001, The Necks’ Sex, Burial’s Untrue, Arthur Russell’s Calling Out of Context and Radiohead’s Amnesiac B Sides.
There are lots of talented Aussie acts doing great things. Anything on the Two Bright Lakes label from Melbourne is pure gold. Otouto’s debut is the best thing I’ve heard in ages, and Kid Sam’s record from last year is fantastic. Absolute Boys are most definitely my favourite Australian up-and-comers, and I can’t wait to hear Megatick Fanfare’s new stuff. And of course Seekae, Bearhug, Kirin J Callinan and PVT… Who: Ghoul With: Seekae, PVT Where: Manning Bar When: Saturday August 21
working hard, touring constantly, releasing a string of EPs and building an actually legitimate fanbase based on his actual legitimate talent (Oh, Hark!). His second EP Transition to Colour comes out in October - and he’ll be launching it at Melt Bar in Kings Cross on October 14. So there.
PURPLE SNEAKERS’ PYJAMA PARTY
Despite spending years celebrating everything that is supposedly ‘hip’, ‘cool’ and other buzzwords the kids use, Purple Sneakers have done a complete 180 and are declaring themselves the perennial outsiders in a city full of hipsters. Perhaps this has to do with The Bedroom Philosopher doing a guest DJ spot on August 20, the same night they’re hosting a Pyjama Party. The night will also be the official Sydney launch for new records by Freelance Whales and Klaxons. On top of this M.I.T, Kill The Landloard, Fantomatique and a bunch of others are DJing... Apparently hipsters aren’t allowed, which may make the world implode. Bite. Hand. Feeds…. Fun. Temper Trap
EARTH HOUR
Remember how last Earth Hour you rebelled by turning on the vacuum cleaner and leaving it whirring in the corner unused, even though it drowned out that episode of The Wire you weren’t watching while you microwaved nothing and sat in front of the heater with the window open, blowdrying your toenails? Well, other people aren’t as rubbish as you, and in the best global proof of your attitude problem to date, the Earth Hour 2011 video has just been premiered on facebook.com/earthhour. It’s basically a three-minute hug set to Temper Trap’s ‘Sweet Disposition’, and proves that this world isn’t the sterile hostile ball of hate that your Punkorama compilations make it out to be. Check it.
THE CHARLATANS TOUR!
When I am reimagining history, I like to pretend that instead of mucking around with cocaine and court-cases and dicking about in studios for six years, The Stone Roses instead released The Charlatans’ 1990 album Some Friendly. While the Roses went down in a mess of infighting and funk-jamming, The Charlatans carried on, and will release their eleventh album on September 17. They’re touring said album, and will be playing The Metro on November 11 - and tickets will be on sale Friday August 20. Also in this reimagined history, Diver Dan never left Seachange and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ was on Sgt. Pepper. And Vedder was the one who shot himself in ’94 (after hearing the album Cobain and Stipe made together).
SFX IN VERONA
SFX has moved to the St. James Hotel and has nestled in quite comfortably, and will this Saturday
be hosting Buried In Verona’s EP launch, supported by Flatline Drama and City In Crisis (also launching an EP)! There are giveaways, DJs playing tunes and the promise of beer St. James Hotel on Castlereagh St, Sydney - don’t get lost, now.
JINJA LOVE
BRAG loves Jinja Safari, triple j love Jinja Safari, loads of people who saw them at Splendour love Jinja Safari - and now you, our loyal, dear readers, are getting your very own chance to love Jinja Safari. They’ve just released their debut self-titled EP and will support Art vs Science on August 21 at The Metro. They have also just been announced for Falls Festival - everything is coming up Jinja!
MATT CORBY TOUR
Matt Corby is, yes, the guy from Idol – but he’s doing things the so-called ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ way now:
FRESHLY CUT @ GAELIC
The penultimate showcase in this sixweek journey at The Gaelic Theatre sees Lions At Your Door (frenetic indie-dance punks) headlining the night, with the affable Paper Moon (fragile, modernist blues) and the debonair Jack Colwell & The Owls (folktronica forerunners) supporting. The live shows of all three artists are much raved-about; Lions At Your Door have a rich performing past, Paper Moon will make even the most giddy-drunk of punters feel a little melancholy; and be sure to make it in time to see the classically-trained, pop-musicallybrained Jack Colwell & The Owls. Thanks to Radar Radio and Jim Beam’s theLBLM. com, we have five double passes for y’all on August 19… Just tell us what you’d do if there were actually lions at your door.
YAY! VOTE TIME!
In keeping with us not being a newspaper, we’ll make this as music-oriented as we can apparently Clare Bowditch has been deemed red-haired enough to interview our Prime Minister, for MySpace Presents... Julia Gillard. It’ll be an exclusive interview ready for viewing from 6pm on Tuesday August 16 at www.myspace.com/today. Saturday 21 is Vote Time.
Angus and Julia Stone
BONFIRE NIGHT
We love rock duos. The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Sonny and Cher… and Bonfire Nights, who are launching their self titled debut EP on September 3 at World Bar with the support of friends Post Paint and Send Fire. Apparently they sound like My Bloody Valentine mixed with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club with boy/girl harmonies, which sounds like they sound like the Best Thing Ever. Tickets on the door, so don’t even bother trying to pre-book, or someone will track you down and make your life a misery.
LOW TOUR
You know how you rave on about Led Zeppelin, even though they basically STOLE a bunch of old blues songs from black songwriters, and then didn’t even acknowledge the fact? Well, despite what that says about you, Robert Plant - chiefwailer and shark-inserter of said band - is a huge fan of US act Low. He probably likes them more than you like Zeppelin; he’s covered two of the band’s songs on his latest record. Low are heading down under this October, and will play The Factory on the 22nd. Tickets go on sale August 27.
THE MESS HALL TOUR
Well we heard you like The Mess Hall, but the set times at Splendour clashed and, you know, you couldn’t see them because the pill you railed made you want to cry in your tent… Fret no longer! You can catch them at the Annandale on Saturday September 11 – jump on the Annandale’s website to book.
FALLS FESTIVAL LIST 2010
The organisers of Falls Festival have released a list of oddly-strung-together words with no inherent meaning. Here it is: Interpol, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The National, The Living End, Public Enemy, Klaxons, Angus and Julia Stone, Tame Impala, The Rapture, Ladyhawke, Cold War Kids, Sleigh Bells, Peaches, Hot Hot Heat, Paul Kelly, Ash Grunwald, Children Collide, The Beautiful Girls, The Soft Pack, Dan Sultan, The Morning Benders, The Cool Kids, Junip, Kitty Daisy and Lewis, Marina and the Diamonds, The Middle East, Cloud Control, Yacht Club DJs, Washington, Boy and Bear, Sally Seltmann, The Bamboos, Tijuana Cartel, A-Trak, Chris Baio (Vampire Weekend), Beardyman, The Cuban Brothers, World’s End Press, Casiokids, Dan Kelly, Daara J Family, Jamaica, Charlie Parr, Jonathan Boulet, The Jezabels, Big Scary, Last Dinosaurs, Sampology, Eagle And The Worm, Jinja Safari, Tim And Jean, and more. Tickets are available from September 9, but there’s a ballot too... Hit the website.
“If I can shoot rabbits then I can shoot fascists” - MANIC STREET PREACHERS 10 :: BRAG :: 375 : 16:08:10
Proudly supported by triple j, The Drum Media and Faster Louder
NEW NEW YEARS YEARS 29TH 29TH DEC DEC -- 1ST 1ST JAN JAN
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THE DYNAMITES FEAT. CHARLES WALKER BORN RUFFIANS LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION PVT DECODER RING THE AUDREYS THE BREAK WASHINGTON CLOUD CONTROL JONATHAN BOULET FREQ NASTY SPACE INVADAS THE JEZABELS DAN MANGAN THUNDAMENTALS STEVE POLTZ JOEL PLASKETT KING TIDE HORRORSHOW WATUSSI PARADES BIG SCARY SPIT SYNDICATE BELLES WILL RING AND MANY, MANY MORE
TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 19TH AUGUST 9AM EST Tickets are available through Oztix www.oztix.com.au Peats Ridge is an Over 18 event. Children and Youth are permitted only if accompanied by a guardian aged 25 years or over.
www.peatsridgefestival.com.au BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 11
dance music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au
he said she said WITH
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM Kon
SKRYPTCHA and encourage people to think differently.
Skryptcha
I’ll give a shout out to the local crew – it always bugs me out how much I’m surrounded by such talented people. My friends often inspire me more than anything. I got into hip hop as a young cat, but it wasn’t till I was about 16 that I started to rap. Yeah, still on the day job hustle, but the ends haven’t quite met yet, damn busy kid at the moment for real! I’m all about that soulful hip-hop, I’m a huge fan of artists like Brother Ali, Murs, Mos Def, Common’s old stuff.. I’ve always followed artists like these and have always wanted to make music just like them. I just try and bring that same love to life on the live tip. I want to bring people in to see what I was feeling when I wrote each particular track, huh.
I
grew up in a pretty diverse musical family. My dad’s mum was a concert pianist so that side of the family was all about their classical music. I was always surrounded by it and was pushed to learn the piano, but I just couldn’t hack it! Then mum’s dad was a jazz musician so I had that around me as a young kid, too. It wasn’t till my early teens that me and all my mates got into hip hop through skate videos - I’ve got mad fond memories of discovering Dr Dre and Cypress Hill as a lil’ fella.
I’m into a pretty diverse range, but it’s usually always around that hip-hop/funk/ reggae/soul region. One of my favourite artists would have to be Michael Franti; the man is a King. The first song of his I ever heard was ‘Rock The Nation’, which is a real gritty political song. I’ve always been a massive fan of artists like that, who really empower the listener and give you a reason to speak up for what you believe in. I’m inspired by musicians like that, who can really articulate their views on the world,
The music scene at the moment is pretty killer - the standards are definitely being raised, which is dope for the music and definitely keeps us all on our toes. The reality of dwindling CD sales is always a constant obstacle for musos, but it’s dope we still have a local scene that support this shit from the grass roots, and understand good music can’t survive unless it’s supported. I saw Urthboy smash a festival late last year that was mad inspiring for me, just made me realise how far this shit’s come…
Who: Skryptcha Where: Spectrum When: Saturday September 4
TRANSATLANTICS & KON
Come August 21, The Basement will house the freshest of funk and the smoothest of soul in an intimate groovin’ night featuring Transatlantics and Kon. The Adelaide eight-piece Transatlantics dress well, channel the best of James Brown, Motown and American Soul (more convincingly than our opening sentence, too), and have “a shared love of quality barbecued meats”…so what’s not to like? Kon is one half of Kon & Amir from the US of A, and will be broadcasting his oddball penchant for obscure disco and boogie funk. To win a ticket-for-two, tell us the name of your favourite Transatlantics band member. We have two double passes up for grabs, so get amongst it!
Murphy is leading the support brigade, along with Ben Drayton, Sveta and Lovertits - while failed-model-cum-stripper Aaron Manhattan will be doing a ‘provocative’ live act to give a much needed risqué edge.
Justice
M-PHAZES
One of Australia’s foremost hip-hop talents, M-Phazes, is set to embark upon his first national tour of the country. Having produced tracks on many major Australian releases over the last few years from acts such as Bliss N Eso, Phrase and Drapht, M-Phazes finally released his debut LP, Good Gracious, recently to considerable success – the LP topped the independent Aria charts. The M-Phazes train rolls into town on Thursday August 26 when he headlines The Annandale, and he will be joined by an elaborate support cast including Drapht, Muph, Mantra, Illy, Solo, Spit Syndicate, Nine High, 13th Son and Dialectrix.
BOTTIN
FIELD DAY
Party institution Fuzzy have delivered another gargantuan lineup for its 10th annual New Year’s Field Day bash, which will be held as always on January 1 at the Domain. Justice, Erol Alkan, ‘Duck Sauce’ – Armand Van Helden vs A-Trak in their only Australian show – Klaxons, Peaches, Yuksek, Plump DJs, Aeroplane, Tensnake, The Rapture, Public Enemy, Chromeo, Trentemoller, Neon Indian, Tame Impala and Zombie Disco Squad will all be performing, with locals still to be announced. Tickets go on sale Midday August 26 through Fuzzy.com.au
BATTLES MINUS BRAXTON
Tyondai Braxton has left Battles. The New York-based band, for which Braxton sang and played guitar, have posted the following statement on the website of their label, Warp Records: “Battles and Tyondai would like to let their fans know they have chosen to follow their own musical paths. Due to Battles’ ambitions of finishing their second studio album followed by commitments to a full touring schedule in 2011, and Tyondai’s own commitments as a solo artist and his desire not to tour, both Battles and Tyondai have decided to move on without each other. It is a sad but amicable split. Battles wishes Tyondai all the best.”
HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR DJ SET
Kim Ann Foxman, who is a member of the popular crossover/cross-dressing nu disco troupe Hercules & Love Affair, will play a DJ set at Club 77 this Friday. A raver-girl from Hawaii who ended up in New York as a DJ, jewellery designer and dyke style-icon, Kim will be playing a mixture of obscure disco and house in the gloomy confines of the ‘bat cave’. In her own words, “I am like a faggy, lesbian messenger boy that delivers legends and messages for the Gods.” I dare say the message may diverge from your typical church sermon on this occasion. Local gay icon Mark
Italian disco proponent Bottin makes his Aussie debut and will play GoodGod Small Club on Friday September 24. With heavy praise and a Myspace sign up from Italians Do It Better boss Mike Simonetti, Bottin has been the ambassador of Italian Disco for a while now. It was the 2009 releases of ‘No Static’ on Simonetti’s Italians Do It Better label and his ‘Horror Disco’ on Bearfunk that really put him on the map, but with remixes of Lindstrom, In Flagranti and even local lads Lost Valentinos all circulating, Bottin has continued to broaden his listenership in recent times. Though many have come before him during the current disco resurgence, Bottin’s playful and at times kitsch tracks have cemented his dominant standing in the disco paradigm. Presale tickets for this are available online for $15.
SENCITY
Sencity is a ‘multi-sensory’, multi-faceted event for the deaf and hard of hearing, slotted for Friday August 27 at Home Nightclub. Through the use of special techniques like a vibrating dance floor, Sencity will allow deaf people to feel the music the way others hear it, while the lyrics will be interpreted into sign language by ‘Sign-Singers’. The concept has proved a success within the deaf community in Europe and Africa and is now set to expand to Australia. A swag of locals will be representin’, including Bluejuice, Bang Gang’s Jaime Doom, Joey Kaz, Samba Ninj and Carina Hägg. Further info can be found at www.your-sencity.com.
BOUNDARY BONDS WITH...
EL OKINE, RACH D OF PRODUCTION, HEA HOPSCOTCH FILMS
Tell us a little about Hopscotch… We’re an Australian owned and run company, which has been around for eight years now. The business was initially built on releasing independent cinema, but has since moved into DVD distribution too. The most recent addition is our own production arm, which develops and produces projects ranging from feature films to television to new media. What was the catalyst that got you interested in the film industry? My first ever job I got when I was 15 was working in a cinema in Brisbane, and I’ve stayed in the industry ever since! What’s the toughest part of your job? Having to tell people their project isn’t right for us. What’s on the horizon for Hopscotch? Our next film out in cinemas is a comedy called The Kids Are All Right – it stars Julianne Moore and Annette Bening as a lesbian couple whose children go looking for their donor father – it’s very funny. On the production front, you’ll see a great new animated series from us on air on the ABC early next year called The Gradual Demise of Phillipa Finch, which is narrated by Toni Collette. And we expect our first produced in-house feature film to go in to production in 2011 as well!
“Ritual beginning Sacrifices starting Prophecies unfolding Armageddon calling” - SOULFLY 12 :: BRAG :: 375 : 16:08:10
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 13
dance music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au
five things WITH
2.
Inspirations Sting makes the kind of music that, whether you’re young or old, you can feel. When I first heard Ludacris, he stuck out for his delivery on the mic - he could spit it fast, slow or in any style, which I do in my songs. I respect Alicia Keys for her talent, and Hector Lavoe - I feel like he’s someone I can relate to, not only because of his music but because he was real, he suffered problems in life, and even if he’d be going through hardship, when it came time to be on stage he put it down like the best of them. I respect Dr Dre, Pharell and Timbaland, for their uniqueness in producing music and pushing boundaries - and Bone Thugs and Harmony for creating a rap style that’s all their own. Growing Up You I was the type of kid that didn’t like doing 1. I’m the first rapper from Australia to be 3. his homework. In year 9, my high school was flown to the United States to perform in some throwing out this old piano they had, so my dad bought it for me for $50. I was always trying play what I would hear on the radio or on CDs, and in time taught myself how to play the piano. As a kid I used to listen to Grand Master Flash, Run DMC, Sting, Whitney Houston, Jodeci, Ismael Rivera,
LA LECHE!
D-MINUS
Naughty by Nature, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe… My Mum used to always play a whole lot of Elvis, Micheal Jackson and Sting. Having all these influences growing up definitely inspired me; if you listen to my music, you can hear that I’ve incorporated all these styles, and developed a sound that’s all my own.
of L.A’s most prestigious clubs, to crowds of thousands. In Australia I perform on a regular basis around the country. I was the first artist to do the first ever “reggaeton” film clip made in Australia, directed and produced by myself. I also collaborated on a track with Tupac Shakur’s group, Outlawz.
The Music You Make My music is makes people dance. I 4. also I like to switch it up and do a slow jam every now and then. My music is a variety of different styles from up-tempo hip hop, RnB, house, reggaeton, salsa and rock. I’ll be releasing the album later this year. Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene at the moment has 5. gone through a metamorphosis; with digital distribution, bigger labels are almost on the same playing field as the smaller ones but some things have remained the same. People say Australia isn’t big enough to make real money in the music industry, but if some of these overseas artists can sell out Acer Arena three times in a row, there’s no reason why an artist from here can’t. The main problem to overcome is how to get enough funding to be able to market music nationally and internationally. The future holds good things; we’ll see an emergence of many upcoming artists in all genres, which will raise the level of quality in local music. As for myself, I’ll be releasing my album later this year. Stay tuned for that, and get ready for a lot of surprises - including my USA Tour, where I’m performing in L.A, Miami and New York.
La Leche is Spanish for ‘milk’. The theme for this party is ‘white’. What time is it? Time for Europe’s most hedonistic gay and lesbian party to come to Australia. La Leche has earned its stripes as the most outrageous party with outrageous dresses all around the world, from Ibiza to London, to Barcelona, to New York - and now it’s Sydney’s turn. Apparently it’s the most decadent display of rampant hedonism and orgiastic excess you will most likely ever be a part of. So there. The evening of debauchery is taking place at The Metro on October 3 and we have two doubles to bestow upon you. To win, tell us what the Spanish word for ‘turtle’ is.
THE BEDROOM PHILOSPHER
The Bedroom Philosopher did that song a few years back which had at least one line that everyone could relate to in some way or another; for us it was “I’m so postmodern I go to parties I’m not invited to / and locate the vegemite and write my name on everyone”. On the back of his latest release Songs From The 86 Tram, the king of awkward intellect and biting sarcasm, and his aptly named band The Awkwardstra, are embarking on a national album tour, including a stop at The Factory Theatre’s August 20 show. We have two double passes for this - to win one recite to us the palindromic haiku in ‘I’m So Post Modern’!
Who: D-Minus Where: Cameo @ The Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour When: Every Saturday from 10pm
VILLAGE PEOPLE
The Village People are touring. Seriously. The iconic troupe responsible for ‘In The Navy’ et al. will play a how at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday October 16. What’s left to say about the Village People that hasn’t been said already? Well, perhaps this: The Guinness Book of Records has certified their 2008 Sun Bowl appearance as the world’s largest YMCA dance, where over 40,000 people busted out the infamous moves. Which says a fair bit about the world we live in…
Subsonic
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
ART VS SCIENCE
For all the hype surrounding Art Vs Science, it may surprise more casual radio listeners
that the Sydney outfit, who tha Fizz once likened to The Presets in a state of slightly overzealous delirium, are still yet to release their debut album. But that’s about to change. The band’s new single ‘Magic Fountain’ is the first taste of their highly-anticipated debut album which is set to hit shelves in the new year. Recorded by Berkfinger and mixed by Adrian Bushby, who has lent his sonic mastery to the likes of Muse and Foo Fighters, the album is self-described as “AC/ DC throwing robots in a guitar shop”. (Sounds like something Seidler would write, huh?) For those who can’t wait till next year, Art Vs Science will no doubt be previewing new material when they play The Metro on Saturday August 21 – tix $25 door.
SUBSONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL
As we move away from the wretched season that is winter, it is time to look forward to summer – and this year, summer is all about the Subsonic Music Festival. Held over the first weekend of December 3-5 at the picturesque Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, located three hours from Sydney at the foothills of a World Heritage Wilderness area, the Subsonic festival was last year’s best-kept secret. This year it promises to well and truly raise the ante. The organizers have a formidable electronic music pedigree, having been involved with Earthdance and Deep As Fu*k events in the past, and the first lineup announcement for 2010’s festival reads like any discerning clubber’s wet dream. Revered Kompakt kingpin Michael Mayer will be joined by compatriot Dominik Eulberg along with the likes of Extrawelt, Heinrichs & Hirtenfellner, Jens Bond and Boris Brejcha all playing extended sets over the course of the weekend – and that is just the beginning. First release tickets are now on sale through www.subsonicmusic.com.au
MAD RACKET
On Saturday September 11, Mad Racket will showcase the first ever Super Melody show in Sydney in a special live performance at Marrickville Bowling Club. Super Melody is the creation of Melbourne’s James Cecil, onetime member of globe and genre-trotting pop group Architecture In Helsinki. After several years of recording in suburban studios in the garden city, the debut Super Melody album Destination Unknown is soon to be released, and this is your chance to preview the sonic buffet on offer from Cecil et al. Super Melody will rattle the copper ceiling with a 4-piece lineup that features Cornel Wilczek on lead guitar, a rhythm section of Sashi Dharann and Tom ‘Gus’ Gould, with Mr Cecil crooning away up front. Support comes from the Racketeers Jimmi James, Zootie, Ken Cloud and Simon
Caldwell, with Murphdog selling presale tickets through his adult concept store Spank Records on Bourke St.
Midnight Juggernauts
BONE THUGS-N-HARMONY
American hip-hop outfit Bone Thugs-NHarmony play The Gaelic Club on Thursday November 11. The tour comes on the back of their new album, Uni-5: The World’s Enemy, the latest chapter in an imposing musical dynasty. Ease off the congratulatory platitudes you say? On the contrary, the fact that Bone Thugs-N-Harmony have sold over 30 million albums worldwide and worked with the likes of 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, and, er, Mariah Carey, surely deserve some sort of recognition - even if it does border on sycophancy. Presale tickets are available now through the interweb.
MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS
“Midnight Juggernauts achieve autonomy from the lazy genre known as “indie dance. Vital.” Thus proclaims music bible The Daily Telegraph in an epithet of journalistic brilliance so inspired I have reproduced it here. The Melbourne group have finally dropped their sophomore LP The Crystal Axis, available now through Inertia, and to celebrate they’re taking things on the road - rolling into Sydney on Friday August 20 for a gig at The Forum. The Juggers ought to be at their finely tuned peak as they’ve played a slew of high profile international festival dates of late, including Bennicassim in Spain, the Exit Festival in Serbia and the Montreaux Jazz Festival – impressive, no? Their latest single ’Vital Signs’ made the cut for the NME’s ’10 Tracks You Have To Hear This Week’ about seven weeks ago, and the honour rings just as true today as it did two months ago.
“Doomsday calling Karmas burning Seeing black Chaos forming Vulture culture Total rapture”- SOULFLY 14 :: BRAG :: 375 : 16:08:10
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 15
Industrial Strength themusicnetwork.com
Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer
CREATIVE VIBES: “WE’RE BA-ACK!” Sydney label Creative Vibes is back in action after collapsing 18 months ago. One of its three owners, Peter Pasqual, has teamed up with indieland guru and MGM head Sebastian Chase who put in the bucks. Says Chase, “I was a fan of Creative Vibes as a label but understood it was too weighted by the things it wasn’t good at, such as logistics and distribution. I’m looking forward to helping Peter as a partner, to support his dream.” Its first signing in 2010 is its first signing in 1994, DJ Soup, who has an EP coming. A new site is coming at www.cvibes.com.
BUCHANAN DEPARTS DMG The face of DMG Radio Australia, Dean Buchanan, has left the company. He was there for ten years, half the time as Group Program Director. He launched the Nova and struggling Vega (now struggling Classic Rock) brands. Buchanan did not reveal his future, but said, “After ten years, it’s time to have fresh ears and direction on the brand, and it’s a good time for me to pursue new challenges.”
CHANGES AT MUSICNSW NSW music association MusicNSW has appointed Eliza Sarlos as its Executive Officer during a review of its operations. A new Operations Manager will be announced shortly. The review comes after the departures of its two longest serving staff — VROOM Project Manager Tracy Redhead who joined The Music Network and Corporate Director Greg Carey, who’s focusing on his management company Umbrella Music.
and gold single ‘Still Standing’. One of the other tracks also provides the title of the Hoods’ next project, a zombie film they wrote, produced and starred in which is out on Halloween…
NSW ACTS HEAD TO BIGSOUND The NSW government is parting with $17,000 to get 17 NSW acts to showcase at Big Sound in Brisbane next month. Each will get $900 to pay for accommodation and showcase costs, while MusicNSW got $1700 for pre-planning. Among the bands chosen were The Jezabels, Stiff Gin, Bridezilla, Kyü, Deep Sea Arcade, Perry Keyes and Richard In Your Mind.
MANAGER GO ROUND Alicia Keys and longtime manager Jeff Robinson (he signed her as a teenager) have parted. They’ll continue to produce albums together but Keys’ company AK Worldwide will take over her touring, sync licensing and new business. Meantime jailed rapper Lil’ Wayne is hit with a lawsuit from his former manager Melissa Philipian, who wants a further $500,000 on the top of the 15% she earned from the $200 million he earned five years ago. In 2005 he fired her for booking him into a subpar hotel room.
US REP FOR SIENNA SKIES Sydney six-piece experimental/post hardcorists Sienna Skies have scored US representation with Matthew Stewart of Arlington, Virginiabased Outerloop Management. It is home to Misery Signals, Emery, Darkest Hour, We Came As Romans, Carnifex, Ivoryline, A Plea For Purging and Beneath The Massacre.
HILLTOPS DO DOUBLE PLATINUM
CLOUD CONTROL SIGN FOR UK
Hilltop Hoods’ State Of The Art album has now gone double platinum (sales of 140,000 units), fourteen months after the day of its release. It’s a milestone for an Australian hip hop act. The album, which won ARIA and APRA awards, yielded a platinum single ‘Chase That Feeling’
NSW band Cloud Control have been signed to UK label Infectious in the aftermath of a run of British dates. The band is signed at home to Ivy League, and its Bliss album is up for triple j’s J Award.
THINGS WE HEAR
* Are the reunited Soundgarden returning for Big Day Out? KRS-One is coming, as De La Soul’s Maseo revealed during his DJ set at A Tribe Called Quest’s Sydney show… * Bliss N Eso’s MC Esoterik’s told The Music Network that his girlfriend promised to get “Big Macca” (his real name is Max Cranebrook, who took two weeks off work to build a giant Nova Boy out of wood, chicken wire and 500 metres of tape, and drive it around Sydney for seven days in trailer. He was choked-up when he got a cheque for $50,000, saying, “We’ve got debt up to our ying yang, we’re behind in everything, school fees, credit fees, home loan…” Other nutty listeners flashed signs on live TV, printed napkins, hired skywriters, jumped from planes and decorated boats, while NRL’s Bulldogs redesigned their website, the Roosters branded their jerseys for a game, Famous let the team guest edit an issue and Nandos rebranded their stores to Novandos, with revamped menus.
GILETT’S EXHIBITION The Annandale venue manager Matthew Gilett is a self-taught painter whose passion was reignited after he sustained a serious head injury at the hotel. Now fully recovered, he used his painting to deal with the anxiety and insecurities from the injury. Now he’s holding his first exhibition, ‘Peace Inside Anxiety’, at Mart Gallery, Surry Hills from Thursday Sept 30 - to Sunday Oct 16.
MUSIC IN THE HOUSE The music biz gathers each year at the NSW Parliament House for Music In The House luncheon. It honours biz folk who do charity and also helps to raise money for Support
MacKinnon) tattooed on her bum cheek if their Running On Air went to #1. While the band were winging it to Perth for shows the day after the news, galpal was heading to the tattoo parlour… * Miley Cyrus took to her Facebook page to thank her Aussie fans for helping her album Can’t Be Tamed go gold here.
Act Ltd. This year, they meet for the sixth time on Wednesday September 22, hosted by NSW Minister for The Arts, The Hon. Virginia Judge. Getting the gong this year is John Paul Young for his work with NSW Variety Bash and the children’s emergency transport service NETS, through its 4WD4Kids fundraiser. JPY will do an acoustic set. Bookings can be made by calling 02 8569 1144, or by e-mailing: events@supportact.com.au.
GAGA PRODUCER GETS DEAL US producer Red One, who was instrumental in Lady Gaga’s futuristic-but-retro sound (and got a Grammy for it), has got his own record label called 2010 in a deal with Universal Music. Born in Morocco (real name: Nadir Khayat), he will write and produce the acts. First signing: Swedish-Congolese singer Mohombi. Red One previously worked with Mika, Little Boots, Akon and Enrique Iglesias.
MCCLYMONTS SCORE US DEAL Grafton NSW-based country sister act The McClymonts have their Australian goldcertified debut album Chaos and Bright Lights released in the USA on August 17. It will be through the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas-based Executive Music Group. The act has been promo’ing the States this year and on August 12 they launched their first US tour, opening for country acts Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum as well as, umm, Ozzy Osbourne.
AUSTEREO DRAWS IN THE LOOT
Life lines Expecting: Tex Perkins and partner Kristyna Higgins, their fourth child in October. Dating: US singer Ke$ha and US based Aussie drummer Alex Carapetis (Barnes, Delta). He moved in 2005 to join Nine Inch Nails, and is now with Julian Casablancas. Hospitalised: former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino, after a drug overdose of aspirin and sleeping tablets. In Court: Neil Jason Annesley, 30, pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to having 60 drinks for the 24 hours before a Def Leppard show in Canberra on November 11, 2008. He left the show early and walked to nearby Radford College, where he graff’d a wall, set a classroom on fire and stole a computer. Arrested: Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge on assault charges after the ‘Warped’ show in Denver, following an altercation with members of Alesana and their tour manager. He says he had drunkenly entered their tour bus thinking it was another band’s, and things got nasty when Alesana told him to get out. Suing: R&B singer Lil’ Mo plans to hit Ja Rule, Murder Inc. Records and Def Jam for $15 million in unpaid royalties for the 2001 hit song, ‘Put It On Me’. Died: R&B guitarist Phelps “Catfish” Collins (who played in James Brown’s J.B.’s, Parliament-Funkadelic and younger brother “Bootsy” Collins’ Rubber Band,) 66, following a long battle with cancer.
Austereo posted a profit of $47.1 million in the 2009/10 financial year, after revenues rose $263.6 million from $258.9 million. It marked a 13.8% rise in profits, which were $41.4 million this time last year. The broadcaster said it was due to Triple M regenerating in Sydney and Melbourne, and the Today network continuing to perform well. In the most recent ratings survey, Austereo won the #1 FM place in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and #2 in Adelaide.
PPCA CALLS OUT If you are an Australian recording artist whose music is being broadcast, or you hold the copyright in recordings receiving airplay, you may be able to share in license fees collected by PPCA. Register with the PPCA by September 15 to be eligible: ppca.com.au.
GIMMICK OF THE WEEK #1: ELEFANK TRAKS Sydney label Elefant Traks had the biz buzzing when it issued an apology for hip hopper The Tongue lashing out at a scribe. “We unequivocally condemn any musician resorting to violence against music journalists, and The Tongue has been disciplined for his behaviour.” Turned out the confrontation came from a setup media conference when a “journo” goaded the rapper. Check it out on YouTube.
GIMMICK OF THE WEEK #2: SOUNDGARDEN When reunited Soundgarden did their first official show in 13 years in Chicago, tickets were hidden around the city, and fans were alerted via Twitter and Foursquare.
GIMMICK OF THE WEEK #3: BARCLAYS Unsigned UK pop duo The Reclusive Barclay Brothers found a new way for people to listen to their debut single ‘We Could Be Lonely Together’ - by paying them for it. Music fans had to go to www.newlowformusic.com and submit their email addresses. Over the next month, they will randomly pick 100 people and give them £27 (A$47).
GIMMICK OF THE WEEK #4: NOVA BREKKIES Nova 969’s brekky team Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee’s ploy to give their entire $250,000 advertising budget to listeners to promote the show didn’t increase their ratings. But it made a difference to Tony, a father of five from
›› TMN TOP 40 The top 40 most ‘heard’ songs on Australian radio. TW LW TI HP P1 P2 P3 ARTIST
TRACK
LABEL
LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE
INT/UMA
2 12 1 13 28 52 ENRIQUE IGLESIAS FT. PITBULL
I LIKE IT
INT/UMA
3
3 10 3 14 30 57 ADAM LAMBERT
IF I HAD YOU
SME
4
1 11 1 18 43 81 UNCLE KRACKER
SMILE
ATL/WMA
1
4
2
6
1 11 24 52 EMINEM FT. RIHANNA
5 13 24 46 FLO RIDA FT. DAVID GUETTA
5
9
6
5 11 5 15 44 66 TRAIN
8
CLUB CAN’T HANDLE ME
ATL/WMA
IF IT’S LOVE
SME SME
7 11 4
7 13 24 52 USHER FT. PITBULL
DJ GOT US FALLIN’ IN LOVE
8
8
8 14 26 57 KATY PERRY
TEENAGE DREAM
CAP/EMI
9
6 13 6 11 28 43 TRAVIE MCCOY FT. BRUNO MARS
BILLIONAIRE
ATL/WMA
10 10 3 10 14 25 54 LADY GAGA
DANCE IN THE DARK
INT/UMA
11 15 3 11 12 23 51 TAIO CRUZ
DYNAMITE
ISL/UMA
12 7 15 2 18 43 71 SCOUTING FOR GIRLS
THIS AIN’T A LOVE SONG
SME
3
LOVE THE FALL
SME
14 13 7 12 12 35 58 MAROON 5
13 12 7
MISERY
A&M/UMA
15 14 14 1 15 29 53 KATY PERRY FT. SNOOP DOGG
CALIFORNIA GURLS
CAP/EMI
16 27 5 16 11 26 47 ED KOWALCZYK
GRACE
SME
17 16 12 12 14 29 50 GYROSCOPE
BABY, I’M GETTING BETTER
UMA
18 20 5 18 11 22 40 THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS
CLOSER TO THE EDGE
VIR/EMI
19 24 6 19 9 31 49 NICKELBACK
THIS AFTERNOON
RR/WMA
20 66 2 20 11 25 54 THE SCRIPT
FOR THE FIRST TIME
SME
21 39 4 22
17
7 13 29 61 MICHAEL PAYNTER
21 13 24 57
23 6
18 46 59
VANESSA AMOROSI
HOLIDAY
UMA
JET
SEVENTEEN
VIR/EMI
23 28 8
23 13 30 53
BRANDON FLOWERS
CROSSFIRE
ISL/UMA
24 18 9
18 12 36 57
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
REVOLUTION
JAR/MGM
25 34 26 1
TRAIN
HEY, SOUL SISTER
SME
26 35 12 26 12 23 41
18 49 61
OU EST LE SWIMMING POOL
DANCE THE WAY I FEEL
HUS/UMA
27 22 24 6
17 44 74
JOHN BUTLER TRIO
CLOSE TO YOU
JAR/MGM
28 25 27 7
17 42 54
LIFEHOUSE
HALFWAY GONE
GEF/UMA
29 29 16 3
15 28 46
TAIO CRUZ
BREAK YOUR HEART
ISL/UMA
30 21 14 11 14 46 76
THIRSTY MERC
MOUSETRAP HEART
MUSH/WMA
31 26 17 11 14 28 54
AMY MEREDITH
LYING
SME
32 40 6
32 14 22 45
BIRDS OF TOKYO
PLANS
CAP/EMI
33 36 3
33 11 23 51
THE POTBELLEEZ
HELLO
VICIOUS/UMA
KE$HA
YOUR LOVE IS MY DRUG
SME
3OH!3 FT. KE$HA
MY FIRST KISS
ATL/WMA
PARAMORE
THE ONLY EXCEPTION
ATL/WMA ATL/WMA
34 33 17 6
14 27 52
35 19 13 19 7
24 43
36 23 17 14 14 33 49 37 31 15 2
12 24 50
B.O.B FT. HAYLEY WILLIAMS
AIRPLANES
38 38 23 2
15 42 58
ADAM LAMBERT
WHATAYA WANT FROM ME
39 30 17 4
12 27 46
DAVID GUETTA & CHRIS WILLIS FT. FERGIE & LMFAO GETTIN’ OVER YOU
VIR/EMI
40 41 21 4
14 44 70
VANESSA AMOROSI FT. SEANY B
UMA
MR. MYSTERIOUS
“Blood fuels the prophets of destruction Blood staining their profits from corruption”- SOULFLY 16 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
SME
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 17
OAF 3RD BIRTHDAY THREE YEARS WORTH OF STORIES...
It’s been three years since the Oxford Art Factory landed on Oxford Street - and this weekend they’re throwing you a party about it. We asked the founder and owner, Mark Gerber, all about the ups and downs... What’s been your favourite night at OAF? The now-defunct Dobry Den store on Crown street had their first birthday party at the OAF a week after we opened. Ed Woodley form China Heights showed the lovely store-owner Nicole around before we’d even finished building... It was the first time that the OAF was filled to the brim on a Thursday night with the sort of people we love; it put a smile on my face so big that I’ll remember it always. What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen at OAF? Lady Gaga performing at the OAF - can you believe it? It was the first time she performed anywhere in Australia. Frontier Touring told me she was coming out for a promo tour, and asked if I’d be interested in securing her for the OAF. She only performed a very short set, but from the moment she came out after the intro video-collage (Andy Warhol footage mixed with Malcolm X, Lenny Bruce, the Munich Olympics ‘72, and the black panthers salute), I knew that this was bigger than anyone realised. She was awesome - and this was the craziest thing: I knew it would be the last time I’d be able to speak to her in person, and hang out post-gig. OAF asks different artists to decorate the space. Who’s been your favourite? Ed Woodley and Ben Frost. Ed did huge painted versions of well known contemporary branded images like Misfits, Alice Cooper and Gene Simmons. Ben’s was in fact the first wall chosen for the OAF. He wallpapered huge versions of his trademark pop-art-inspired work with the trademark send ups, mixed with photographic images of everything from pregnant women to Anna Nicole Smith.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY VIOLET PARR 18 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
The VENUE ▼
Both had a lasting impression on not only me, but many others, who still comment on them now. OAF has recently announced it’s being threatened by restrictive licensing laws... Could you explain a little about what’s going on? Keeping it short, We’re applying to be able to trade during the day as I want to be able to host all manner of events – like all ages live shows, corporate functions, band showcases and film shoots. We get lots of people wanting to start their events well before 6pm, and at present we’re not able to. I’m also asking that the trial period for our latenight trading license be removed and made permanent - I feel that the OAF has proven over the last three years what we are about! Neighbours have objected to these applications, so it’s now up to us to prove to the Council who and what we are. I’m hoping that it’s just a case of the Council not having all the facts, rather than OAF being thrown into some State- and city-wide objective to do with licensed premises. The OAF is not your average venue, and it certainly isn’t a nightclub. It’s first and foremost a premier live music venue for Australian and international acts and performers, but it’s so much more; hell, I’ve even conceived book launches mixed with live band nights - just had Bret Easton Ellis and Models, as a matter of fact! How can we help? If you care enough, and want more, then email the Council and let them know how you feel; that’s the best that anyone can do. And if the worst were to happen then join me at the barricades, comrades, and fight for what is rightfully ours - because art belongs to us all! And in the meantime? We’ll keep coming up with new ways to entertain people, ways that step outside the normal, to put Sydney on the global map of the arts.
The FATHER ▼
MARK GERBER
HOW TO MAKE AN OAF... I started playing guitar at 14, and haven’t stopped my association with music since. Either by playing solo at home, in bands or in recent year’s DJing and running Q bar, to creating and setting up Spectrum, to conceiving and building the OAF; my passion for music is undying and will go with me to my grave. The idea for an art-based venue like the OAF came about at the end of 2004, when I was asked to save the then-Lizard Lounge (Spectrum) from impending financial ruin. Me and my brother Matthys, an amazing internationally-recognised artist, both saw the need for a place where young artists could hang out; a meeting place not unlike some of the bars in the Montmartre district of Paris. It didn’t work for Spectrum, so we went for live music there instead. I brought in my brother to paint (sadly though, his beautiful striped walls are gone), and brought in Rob G to book. Spectrum was born. Move forward to early 2005 and Central Station Records was closing. I knew the space well, having bought records there for years, and I also knew what an incredible venue it would make. I was asked by backers to come up with a plan.... Hmmm, I know! I can marry the original old idea of an art-based bar/cafe with live music - and this time on a bigger scale! My aim was to be the best live music venue in Sydney. A venue that sees all manner of art being carried out over all hours of the night and day. So far so good, but there are still parts of my original plan which haven’t come to fruition yet... Now that OAF has learned to swim on its own a bit, I’m devoting more time to making those elements come alive.
The BANDS ▼
The STORIES ▼
• The Black Eyed Pea s • The Klaxons, the first impro jam at an after par ty. It lasted hours. major ‘cool’ act to play but a super-packed gig at , and a worried Mark Ge the venue. A secret show, • Duran Duran’s Simon rber. Le Bon, being served sho Thankfully, no injuries. On Film.’ .. ts and dancing to ‘Girls • James Lavelle of U.N .K.L.E – the first major to play at the back of DJ to play at OAF – ele the cting • Q-Tip’s DJ set at the room instead of on stage. Tribe Called Quest afte ensued at the front, and r-party last week... Fis ticuffs he stopped the music wanna do boxing, set a date at the Rod Lav to chill the crowd. “If you er Arena”... Classic.
The greatest person I’ve met at OAF: It would probably have to be Nick Cave at the All Tomorrow’s Parties after party. After the festival, a bunch of us went down and drank til the wee hours, and at some point I believe I had a brief, embarrassing encounter with Mr. Cave. I remember very little – indicitive of the impression I must have made... The most outrageous use of space I’ve seen at OAF: We actually did our own installation in 2009, which involved up-rooting our combined bedrooms and setting up shop in ‘the cube’. We spent three nights in our new bedroom, surrounded by artworks we’d made, some video installation, and a whole lot of confused spectators. Needless to say, by the end of each night we were pretty tanked (thanks to some cleverly-disguised whiskey in a coke bottle) and one lucky boy even got to share the bed with us (as well as some more x-rated experiences). Not my most dignified moment, but one of the more memorable. The craziest birthday party I can remember: It involved getting stuck in a lift for two hours with 12 other people, on the way up to a rooftop party in Kings Cross. Most of us were already well on our way to being totally annihilated, but one unfortunate dude was stone
Photograph by Pedro Ramos
JACK MANNIX from CIRCLE PIT
cold sober and freaking out badly! There was a knife-fight between two friends, several displays of nudity, a truckload of amyl nitrate being sniffed and goon all over the place… We were eventually rescued by some rather shocked police officers and amazingly, nobody was arrested. You’re making OAF a mixtape for their birthday. What are 3 songs on it? Naked on the Vague – ‘These Days’, St Helens – ‘Coffin Scratch’, The Garbage & The Flowers – ‘Alamo Rose’. If OAF got me to paint the wall, I would paint… a larger-than-life portrait of Pamela Anderson on one wall, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator on the other.
DAN CUNNINGHAM from PARADES
who are feeling awful for their kid. I’ve been the only guy that showed up. It fucking sucks.
The best birthday party I can remember: Literally like 50 boxes of pizza turned up to feed everyone. There is no greater feeling than when you’re looking at that much pizza, and it’s for everyone. I will be buried in a man-sized pizza box when I die.
You’re making OAF a mixtape for their birthday. What are three songs on it? My Bloody Valentine’s ‘I Only Said’, The Pharcyde’s ‘Drop’ and ‘The Astral Plane’ by Flying Lotus. That last one is the best floor-filler in the galaxy.
The worst birthday party I can remember: It’s terrible when someone throws a birthday party and no one shows up. What’s far more horrific is when YOU are the only dude who shows up, and you have to play out this sick and farcical pageant where no one is stating the obvious - you still eat the food, you still play the games. But it’s just YOU there, with the guy and his parents,
The best night I’ve had at OAF: We were stoked enough at the time to have just played at Seekae’s Remix EP launch at the OAF last year - and then, during their set, they pulled out their version of our song ‘Hunters’. It was total euphoria.
GUINEAFOWL
Only one friend out of fifteen turned up to my party. I have never fully recovered.
You’re making OAF a mixtape for their birthday. What are 3 songs on it? The Temptations: ‘Aint Too Proud To Beg’, The Cure: ‘Friday I’m In Love’, INXS: ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. ...What? I can’t not make a romance theme mix tape… If OAF got me to paint the wall, I would paint… a portrait of Lucas from Empire Records, with a caption saying, “What’s with today, today?” You see it’s funny, but it also makes you think. The worst birthday party I can remember: My own twelfth birthday. My mother and I planned a really big party, where a whole heap of my friends and I were supposed to go bowling and then to Planet Hollywood for dinner. I was born in early January, and there was both a spike in Sydney tourism, and a very warm summer going on.... The perfect storm.
If OAF got me to paint the wall, I would paint… the Hubble Deep Field. Google that.
The most outrageous use of space I’ve seen at OAF: I walked into the OAF once, and in that small clear box that connects the main room to the gallery bar there was a really, really overweight stripper, covered in cream cheese and other foods, wearing a plastic pig snout and, well, doing some pretty wacky things to herself which I will explain to you when you’re all a little older... You should go to OAF’s third birthday because: Firstly, in this blooming expensive city of ours, a free night out is quite a rare thing. Secondly, there are some great bands playing and the line up is diverse enough to appeal to all different musical tastes. And lastly, celebrating OAF’s birthday is a good way to show the city council, who are giving the OAF grief, that it’s both a necessary and utterly beloved venue. See you there.
The PARTY ▼ What: The Oxford Art Factory’s 3rd Birthday. (Happy birthday!) With: Parades, Circle Pit, Guineafowl, Rapids, Traps, Joysticks, Whipped Cream Chargers, Sticky Fingers and more Where: OAF! When: Friday August 20, 7pm til laaaate How Much: Free!
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BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 19
Bearhug Big, Warm And Fuzzy By Alex Young
M
y conversation with Nick Mabbitt plays out very easily. Similar in age, we were both into hardcore as teenagers, we are both studying the Arts at university, and have both participated in international exchange study programs. We both have no clue what we’re going to be doing post-study, and we both really like Broken Social Scene; I’m thinking we’re pretty much the same person... But Nick is a drummer – an excellent one at that – and his band, Sydney’s Bearhug, recently signed with Spunk Records; one of Australia’s larger independents, and home to Joanna Newsom, Bright Eyes, Antony and the Johnsons, Arcade Fire and, yes, Broken Social Scene… So there go our similarities. When asked of the signing, Nick gives a small laugh of disbelief, before hastily downplaying the situation. “It’s pretty humbling! It’s only their [Arcade Fire’s] Australian label, it’s not like we’re on Matador or Sub Pop or something like that… But a lot of our favourite bands are on Spunk.” And while the signing would be the ultimate coup for many aspiring musicians, for Bearhug the deal was simply an unexpected piece in the
puzzle. Nick muses: “[Having a label] was never really important, it just kind of came about. It definitely helps, it’s helping us now with exposure and stuff, but we were never out there. We never started making music with the idea of becoming some huge kind of thing.” It took almost five years for Bearhug to finally get together. Although they attended the same high school, they weren’t all properly acquainted until well after. The band began with just four members and after various stints overseas and changes in line-up, the friends came together as a five-piece under the somewhat hilarious guise ‘Skeletal Explosive’. The name gets a hearty laugh from Mabbitt. “I have no idea how Skeletal first started, but it stuck for awhile. But people were getting the wrong idea about our music, so we thought it was time for a change. And somehow ended up with ‘Bearhug’.” If you’re familiar with the music of Bearhug, you’ll recognise the name change as a wecome one. Warm tempos, hazy vocals and ringing guitar melodies spill across lyrics like “rest my weary head / down on you”: these sounds call neither skeletons nor explosions to mind. With the new name, and a free recording session in Byron Bay, the group’s Cartoon Islands demo was born last year - eight tracks of easy sprawling rock, equal parts delicate and raw, complete with a hint of Radiohead. When asked about the rougher, lo-fi sound of the demo, Mabbit remains apprehensive about coining the group’s music with a phrase that’s turned into more of a pigeonhole than a description. “We didn’t really go in with the intention of making it ‘lo-fi ’ or anything. I don’t know… I don’t really understand what people mean when they say lo-fi, in what way they’re speaking about it,” he shrugs. “Is it that sound, or performances? I can never really tell.” When Bearhug returned in June with their debut EP To Anything, it was a slicker and smoother effort that highlighted the band’s ability to craft technically busy songs into easy, honest and not-quite-pop wholes. Tracks like their new single ‘Grapefruit’ offer up intricate parts from all band members, and Mabbit explains that the group maintains a collaborative song-writing process. “For the most part, [it’s] a group thing. We all just get together and jam and mess around till something feels right.” Doesn’t that usually pave the way for competition, arguments and fistfights? He laughs. “I probably shouldn’t say too much – I don’t want to offend anyone!,” before qualifying that, “Nahh.. No problems have come up yet!”
“It was pretty daunting meeting Broken Social Scene for the first time. There was chaos the first day. But after that it was fine, you know? We drank with them and hung out and it was cool.” It’s just as well, as this month the band were asked to support long-time idols Broken Social Scene on their Splendour In The Grass sideshows. An experience that Mabbitt admits was initially a little overwhelming. “It was pretty daunting meeting them for the first time. There was chaos the first day, they were coming down from Brisbane and their freight got delayed, and it was a bit of a rush and everyone was stressed and we got to the venue, and they were in this room and we didn’t really want to say anything. It took awhile for them – not to warm to us, but to meet us properly. But after that it was fine, you know, we drank with them and hung out and it was cool!” Bearhug will be launching the EP in Sydney on Friday, before they head off later in the year for a yet-to-be-announced huge national tour, supporting one of Australia’s finest bands... Nick admits that music is turning out to be a bit more of a realistic career option than they’d anticipated. “It’s hard to know what to make of it all, when it’s really hard to make money out of music – so we all do other things at the same time. We try to take this as seriously as we can, but we’re not very serious kinds of people! In the long run, yeah - it’s definitely something we want to pursue, and hopefully someday make a living out of.” Who: Bearhug With: Seagull What: To Anything is out now on Spunk Records Where: Melt Bar, Kings Cross When: Friday August 27 20 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 21
Bedroom Philosopher Meet The Tramily By Steph Harmon
J
ustin Heazlewood was born at Bernie hospital in Tasmania at 7:33am on June 12 1980, and stopped wetting the bed when he was eight. He wrote his first series of comedy songs when he was 15, and had his first proper relationship the year after. It only lasted a week - the girl cheated on him, before apologising by sticking the lyrics to Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’ to his locker door. Too much information? Well, it’s all in his bio: a highly detailed and deeply personal year-by-year bulletpointed run-down of his life to date. Because that’s just the kind of guy he is. “If you’ve read my bio you’d know that I lost my virginity after a Silverchair concert, and was Christian for ten years,” Justin tells me. “I have no secretions. I mean, secrets.” Since recording his first cassette tape in 1995 (sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, with his walkman microphone Blu-tacked to an indoor clothesline), Heazlewood has turned the comedy-music thing into the largest portion of a multi-faceted career. The Bedroom Philosopher is not only a comedian, musician and performer, but an actor (Race Relations) and also a writer (Frankie Magazine, BMA Magazine. J-Mag and The Big Issue). His latest output is Songs From The 86 Tram, a collection of odes to public transport
commuters, from the acerbically dissatisfied Catholic Irish girl (‘Irish Girl’), to the innuendo-laden sleazy tram inspector (‘Tram Inspector’), to the middle aged mum who opens the album in ‘Middle Aged Mum’. “Albums usually have a bangin’ track to begin with,” Justin explains. “I like to rebel and think, ‘what’s the most inappropriate way to begin a music/comedy album? Ah! A piano ballad about a depressive emptynesting middle-aged mother.’ It took a long time to get the voice right... I think I sound like Antony.” The leading single is ‘Northcote (So Hungover)’, a searing re-enactment of every hipster-douchebag phonecall you’ve been forced to overhear on public transport. Riding around on the ’86… So hungover… Gonna go down to JB Hi-Fi…. Flick through ‘Indie’…. The film clip (featuring cameos from Tim Rogers, Kram, Angie Hart and more) is spot-on – blackrimmed glasses, ridiculous moustaches, horrific fringes and deadpan dialogue, delivered in what Justin refers to as the “nu-Australian” accent. “If I do the voice for too long, it starts to take me over like a virus,” he says. “I wake up in the middle of the night and I’m wearing those jeans, and the moustache from the clip is crawling around on my face.” We talk for a while about what it means to critique a culture that’s already so cynical; how do you out-Vice Vice? “Someone on YouTube described it as ‘post-ironic core’, which I like,” he replies. “We’ve gone full circle on irony, and now there’s something bafflingly earnest about a track like ‘Northcote’. Life is strange enough, you don’t need to add too much satire. It’s more like a musical journalist presenting the facts; holding a mirror up to society, so that they can do their hair.” But Heazlewood is a Melbournebased musician, comedian, and writer; he’s got to identify himself as at least partially within the scene that he’s ripping to shreds? “No one is willing to admit that it’s about them,” he tells me. “There’s a lot of ‘I know that guy’, and then you go up to that guy, and he says, ‘Yes, I know that guy’. It’s been called the Kath & Kim for Gen Y. It’s fun judging those who do the judging.”
“...like a musical journalist presenting the facts; holding a mirror up to society, so that they can do their hair.” Turns out more friends of his were alienated by my favourite track from the album, ‘New Media’: I’ve got a short film called ‘Journey’ / it’s an animated montage digital projection of me giving birth to myself / Yeah! Pretty cool, huh?!... Justin tells me that when he first performed that song live, it was met with an icy reception. “I had a few design pals come up to me with these great bewildered expressions saying, ‘Was that song about me? I’ve had my jeans on for six weeks, and I was writing a grant application with ‘cross-platform’ in it..?” The Bedroom Philosopher has an undeniable ability to nail whole sub-cultures to their stylised crosses with a single pun, sure, but the most impressive thing about this release is the musical talent on show. With each album (and this is his fourth), Justin seems to tread a finer and finer line between comedy and music. He admits he’s written 100-odd serious songs that, as The Bedroom Philosopher, he has nowhere to go with. “It’s like a volcano of song-writing emotion that I’m trying to suppress, and it keeps leaking into Bedroom Philosopher stuff. That’s why my albums are becoming more and more musically dense; the musician in me pins the clown down and insists on putting two minute prog-rock outros on everything.” Take the psychedelic jam-out at the end of the album closer, ‘Old Man At The End’, for instance. “I’m most proud of that song,” Justin says. “It’s like Rodney Rude meets Radiohead. The Great Australian Public Transport Metaphor For Life With 70s Pink Floyd Synth And Reverb Guitar JamOut.” According to Justin, this latest album contains just the right music/comedy blend that he needs to stay sane; “but if I don’t get some Neutral Milk Hotel action, the next album will probably be a comedy concept album about schizophrenia and impotence.” The bio of The Bedroom Philosopher hasn’t been updated since the end of 2009, so I have no idea what’s happened this year - nor what’s coming next. He fills in the blanks for me. “Double album, commercial failure, drug abuse, breakdown, stint hosting childrens’ TV show, tell-all memoir, relocation to Thailand, ad campaign for Maggi Noodles, mildly successful reunion tour, tax problems, random marriage to Megan Washington, gradual death...” Who: The Bedroom Philosopher & The Awkwardstra With: The Boat People, Pinky Beecroft and The White Russians What: Songs From The 86 Tram is out now Where: The Factory Theatre When: Friday August 20 22 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
Wiley A New Beginning, With Eyes On The Prize By Simon Hampson iley, the so-called Godfather Of Grime, has a new lease on life. In March, the UK rapper walked out on his new fouralbum deal with Island Records and last month, he leaked eleven zip files full of 200 unreleased tunes, in CD quality. The leak included The Elusive, the first record from the Island deal, which was set for release later this year. At the same time, he fired his manager. Over Twitter.
W
record with blah blah.’ That’s the power I wanna have. You can make music wherever you are and whoever you are. If you’re someone, and people like you, and you like them, and you can bond and make music that will make money, then you can be wherever in the world, bro!” Wiley says. “In England they don’t think outside the box; they think London is the world. And that’s not really good enough for me.”
The online grime communities were sent into a frenzy – the Grime Forum website went offline from all the downloads. Had Wiley gone mad? Was he melting down? ...Judging from my conversation with the artist, it was actually all pretty rational. “I looked at Drake and Lil’ Wayne, and saw the way they leaked,” he explains. “We’re living in the time of downloads - sometimes you have to use the free downloads thing, you have to get in the game. I didn’t have to give it away but I did, and the love that has come back is immense, bro - I’ve never had that before. So I know that it is definitely a new day.”
It’s thrilling to hear this kind of determination from someone like Wiley, who’s been in the game for so long. “I wanna sell a couple hundred thousand records, I don’t just want a deal. …I was watching a little documentary and the manager said, ‘numbers don’t lie’. And he’s right,” Wiley says. “The highest numbers is who you are, bruv. And that’s what I wanna be.”
But what of breaking his record deal, and firing his manager John Woolf? “I respect every person I have worked with - no matter what,” he tells me. “I fired him from being my manager, not because I hate him - I think he’s a cool person - but I need him in a different position in the company… He needs a different job title so that I don’t feel this way towards him.” Wiley continues, explaining me that Woolf is a very businessminded person, which isn’t a bad thing at all. “I need a business person,” he says, “but then obviously, a business person who’s quite clever might try to be too clever on a different day - and then when I work it out in four weeks time, I’m angry at him.”
Who: Wiley With: Tiesto, Calvin Harris, Major Lazer, Robyn and more What: Stereosonic 2010 Where: Sydney Showgrounds When: Saturday November 27
“What I’ve really got to do is travel the world. In England they don’t think outside the box; they think London is the world. And that’s not good enough for me. I wanna sell a couple hundred thousand records.” As for the label? “Every label that I have worked with, I’ve got so much love for.” That love, he tells me, goes deeper than the business. It’s about loyalty, too. “They didn’t give up, no matter what. If I walked out, or couldn’t handle it any more, they were understanding. And they could have been much more angry, because they did give me money for the music. So I can’t hate them, and I never will. All I will do is look back and say ‘Cool, maybe I’ll work with them in a different way. I won’t be underneath them, they won’t be underneath me; maybe we’ll be equal.’” Losing the manager, and losing the label, means that now it all comes down to Wiley – if he fails, he says, it will be his fault. But that’s not such a bad thing either. “I want it to be my fault,” he says, “because then I can’t blame someone else.” He admits though that all of this responsibility comes at a cost. “It’s hard though man, because most of the people in the world who work as hard as me in other countries, like in the US they do less. They don’t have to worry about all the things I have to worry about, do you know what I mean? Their managers, everyone, has got everything so tight that all they have to do is just fuck about really... ‘Scuse my language.” Regardless of the hard work ahead, it all feels a lot like an exciting new beginning. “Yeah definitely, man,” he replies. “Definitely! My whole point, why I even leaked the tunes, is because I said, ‘Right, cool... If I leak these tunes, that’s a challenge for me to make the next twenty tunes build on top of [the zip files].’” It’s working, too - Wiley tells me that since the leak, he’s been writing a song or two a day. Wiley’s next album, King Richard The 2nd, is due out later this year on his new label All Around The World - and this time, his focus is worldwide. “What I’ve really got to do is travel the world. I don’t really want to sit down here, I’ve been here for 31 years… Engand is a small horizon.” Wiley will begin the global mission by returning to Australia for Stereosonic - a welcome announcement after the cancellation of most of his club tour here last year. But his vision goes further than just our humble island. “Timbaland, people like that, they do music on a scale where - he’s at home and he decides, ‘You know what? I want to go to Holland today, ’cause I wanna BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 23
Soulfly Going Heavy By Tom Hersey
M
ax Cavalera is the sort of artist who will forever have their latest output compared to their back-catalogue. The singer, guitarist and much-revered Sepultura-founding frontman has been at the forefront of the heavy metal world for years, with projects like Nailbomb and Cavalera Conspiracy. Cavalera’s most consistent project since his messy extrication from Sepultura in late 1996 has been Soulfly – whose seventh album, Omen, is a blistering attack of thrash metal, and arguably one of Cavalera’s most satisfying since Sepultura’s 1996 release, Roots. Speaking in a deep, heavily-accented voice, the heavy metal legend describes the process of piloting his band through their seventh record. “Omen has been a process of two years, from the beginning of writing it to it being finished,” he tells me. “Since Dark Ages, Soulfly went down an avenue of becoming heavier, darker and more aggressive and this record continues that.” He tells me that Omen is even more aggressive and explosive than the albums which preceded it. “It’s a collaboration of the kinds of music that I think represent what Soulfly is today, which are metal, hardcore and a bit of thrash metal.” Max tells me that the varied discography of
Soulfly is one of the most interesting aspects of the band to him. “I think every album has its own characteristics, and represented my state of mind at that time.” Dark Ages, for instance, was recorded following several tragedies that hit Cavalera hard - on December 8, 2004, one of his close friends, “Dimebag” Darrel (Pantera, Damageplan, Rebel Meets Rebel) was shot dead, and two days later Cavalera’s eight month old grandson died from health complications. It’s no wonder the sound of Soulfly got a bit more angry. “That’s the thing I really like about Soulfly; we’ve evolved and many changes have come with the music and within ourselves.” While there are always songs that break the mould of each Soulfly album, the over-arching stylistic change the Phoenix-based four-piece took for Dark Ages - stripping the band of the nu-metal grooves and raps - has helped Max to evolve the musical output of the band. He’s been recapturing the primal, punk-fashioned sound that made Sepultura’s earliest releases so good. Cavalera himself marvels at the ascendancy of Soulfly’s regression-spawned success. “With Dark Ages I took a chance, because I wanted Soulfly to become heavier,” he says. “It seemed like the right thing to do, and the popularity of the band became bigger. We got more fans as we
The Transatlantics
went heavier, where we would have had less if we’d became a more commercial band.” One of the heaviest albums in Soulfly’s impressive cannon, Omen, is also their most violent; perhaps the most violent album ever from a band who dedicate their output to God. In fact, the levels of gore and death that boom through the speakers are rarely seen outside of a Gwar live show... “I wanted the lyrics to match the music. They had to be as violent as the music. Which is how we ended up with songs like ‘Jeffery Dahmer’ and ‘Lethal Injection’.” But, says Cavalera, not all of Soulfly’s songs are wrapped up in dark violence. “‘Vulture Culture’ is
about how politicians hide behind brainwashing machines like CNN, and ‘Counter Sabotage’ is about war. “So there are other themes on the record, but most of the songs turned out to be about murder and violence. It was a reflection of the music,” he continues. “I just roll with it.” Who: Soulfly What: Omen is out now through Roadrunner Where: Roundhouse (UNSW) / Panthers (Newcastle) When: September 9 / September 10
The Gangsters’ Ball For Guys And Dolls By Oliver Downes
Bringing The Funk By Tony Edwards Do you consider (Melbourne funk outfit) The Bamboos inspiration, competition or other? The Bamboos are definitely an inspiration, and have really lead the way in bringing appreciation of the [funk] genre back to Australian music lovers. But, if we find out that it was Lance who egged us outside the East Brunswick Club last weekend… it’s on. Why is your saxophonist nicknamed ‘Sugarcane’? Because he’s relatively tough and fibrous on the outside, kinda tall, and filled with sweet, sweet nectar.
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he Transatlantics have earned their place at the round table of modern Australian funk. With revivalist elements, new directions in groove, and an all-round appreciation of fine instrumentation, the Adelaide group are headed to Sydney to showcase their sound at The Basement. The Brag spoke to the group’s drummer, Kevin van der Zwaag, about the Aussie summer’s effect on Marva Whitney, what turtles have to do with their debut album, and the best bits of Adelaide, in case you ever have reason to go there… How did The Transatlantics get started? Me and the bass player, Ross, formed the band over a cup of tea sometime in 2007. What’s been your career highlight so far? Getting the chance to play at Falls Festival last year as part of Marva Whitney’s Australian tour was pretty epic. Marva suffering a stroke and collapsing ON STAGE in the middle of the set wasn’t quite so epic, though. Thankfully she’s back home and back to health again now. What’s Tara Lynch’s vocal background? What did she do before fronting your band? Before fronting The Transatlantics, Tara worked in a Post Office, while dabbling in Jazz study at uni. How did it feel to get the album out? And how did you link up with UK based Freestyle Records? Getting the album out finally has been a massive relief for us, as it’s been turtle-necking for almost two years now. We shopped around for a while to get a release and we’re stoked to now have Freestyle Records behind us - and having the international distribution and support that they offer. They picked us up after hearing a demo that we sent them ages ago.
What’s the live music scene like in Adelaide? It’s strong; there’s a bunch of amazing musicians coming out of Adelaide that are really positive and proactive - the quality of support for live music in Melbourne and Sydney always amazes me. Maybe it’s just a size thing. Also, I think one of the biggest problems in Adelaide has been the imposition of noise restrictions on venues, which has impacted on their number and quality. That shit just makes me angry. Where are the best venues in Adelaide, then? Best venues for my money would be: Jive – good medium size venue with a cool balcony (only one I can think of in Adelaide); Rocket Bar – consistent late-night club venue for live music, tiny stage but good system; Supermild – another late night venue, hipsters and Coopers long-necks. Crown & Sceptre – killer cocktail menu. What’s next for the band? We’re all digging on working on the next album at the moment. There’s a whole bunch of new material that we’re looking forward to developing and touring over the summer. Personally, I’d like to go to Japan sometime and maybe New Zealand. That would be nice. What can we expect from your upcoming Sydney shows? Dudes, if it goes down like the sold-out Adelaide and Melbourne shows, it’s gonna be one big party. Pack a towel. We’ve also got Kon (of Kon and Amir) spinning tasty treats all night long, which makes me, for one, pretty freaking excited. Who: The Transatlantics & Kon Where: The Basement When: Saturday August 21
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abaret cats and burlesque buffs have reason to rejoice - the third annual Gangster’s Ball is set for September 4 at the Metro. With a dazzling blend of burlesque, cabaret, and vaudeville live performances on offer, and of course a live ten piece swing band, Gangster’s Ball is shaping up again to be a calendar highlight to any who are that way inclined. Gangster’s Ball is the brainchild of Graham Coupland, who conceived the idea three years ago after growing increasingly dissatisfied with the burlesque and cabaret events that were running on the Sydney circuit. “I thought the ideas and the concepts were really interesting, but thought that the amount of entertainment and quality on offer was disappointing – I wanted better value for money,” he explains. With a stellar ten-piece swing band at his behest – Coupland is the guitarist and bandleader of Gangster Ball house band The Velvet Set – he sat down at the drawing board, determined to curate a completely unique event that drew on inspiration from the sounds and style of the twenties and thirties. “It was a time when music was fun,” he enthuses about the era. “It was performed by fantastic musicians to fill dance halls, where people would leave their troubles at the door for a night, drink cocktails, bring their partner or find a partner and dance to fantastic big bands. “The twenties and thirties were a really tough time to live with,” Coupland continues. “Prohibition, the war, the depression - people needed some form of entertainment to take their mind off their troubles and for me that era, particularly the big band swing era, was the time when people embraced the humour and laughter and enjoyment of music. That’s what attracts me to it.” He’s not alone. Over the past couple of years, the events Coupland runs have been sell-out successes; over a thousand gangsters, molls and flappers crowded into The Metro last year. For the uninitiated, ‘moll’ refers to a gangster’s girlfriend – think Dillinger’s sweetheart all dolled up in Public Enemies – while flapper girls were, according to Coupland, “the trashy chicks you’d see now dressed in their short skirts and their little tops freezing their tits off in the middle of winter. If you picture them back in the 20s and 30s, they were the bimbos at the bar looking for a free martini and a good time.” For Gangster’s Ball 2010, Coupland has organised some of the best cabaret and vaudeville performers in the country to strut their stuff, including Circus Trick Tease (currently wowing audiences at the Edinburgh Festival), the duelling magicians Mada Vs Vegas, aerial hoops and lira performances. And of course, the internationally acclaimed cabaret singer Madame Leila Montansano, who in addition to performing with The Velvet Set will keep proceedings humming along, spinning tales from around the world as master of ceremonies.
What sets Gangster’s Ball in a league of its own is the sheer volume and variety of attractions on offer; poker tables, photo booths and cigarette girls competing for attention alongside the scheduled performances, and the night’s highlight - the swing and rockabilly dancing competition. “It’s a great opportunity for dancers in Sydney to come along with their partners and show a thousand people what they can do, really carve up the dance floor – and there’s some fantastic prizes on offer. “With Gangster’s Ball, I’ve wanted to create a once-a-year exclusive event that people really look forward to, with entertainment that they just can’t see every weekend – and that’s what they’ll get. It’s going to be pretty special.” What: Gangster’s Ball With: The Velvet Set and Madame Leila Montansano, burlesque, circus, magic, poker, roulette, black jack, pinups, the swing and rockabilly dancing competition, and more! Dress: Gangster, Moll, Flapper, Burlesque, Vintage, Swing & Rockabilly... Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday September 4
“This corrosion creeps and it’s crawling too deep. This corrosion creeps and it’s making you sick”- SOULFLY 24 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
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Darren Hanlon Big Heart, Small Guitar By Dee Jefferson
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couple of weeks ago as I was waiting to go on radio, I buzzed-in a nice looking fellow with a battered, runt-sized guitar case – ‘Hi, I’m Darren – I’m here to play some songs’. ‘Oh dear,’ – I thought to myself – ‘this guy can’t even afford a proper instrument.’ We got chatting about films, which lead to ‘Oh, I recently shot a film clip with my favourite actor ever - Eli Wallach.’ Oh Christ, I thought. ‘What’s your last name?’
I discovered Darren Hanlon in the summer of 2002-03, when a ‘special someone’ kept inserting tracks from Hello Stranger into mix tapes. (I’ve never seen him live - clearly.) His songs are perfectly-contained little stories of bittersweet nostalgia, wrapped up in folk-pop; romantic moments in time, wistful memories, and whimsical songs about squash (the game), pinball, and touching elbows with Radha Mitchell on the dance floor. Three albums (and many singles) later, I Will Love You At All, retains all this – although it’s being billed as Hanlon’s ‘mature’ album. On air, between performing new tracks ‘Home’ and ‘Folk Insomnia’, Darren is an engaging
storyteller, spinning vignettes about his preference for performing in caravan parks rather than pubs; about being a roadie for Slim Dusty (and getting busted trying on The Hat); on meeting and making a film clip with legendary Hollywood actor Eli Wallach; and about his guitar, which he bought for $50 from a pawn shop in Lismore in 1999, while he was at uni. “I love cowboy guitars,” he explains later. “They’re portable. And I love the boxiness of those little ones – they sound like the 1940s.” When I catch up with the singer-songwriter a week later on the phone, he’s in his hometown of Gympie (QLD) rehearsing for the first leg of his album tour. The tour kicked off on August 6 at the Majestic Theatre in Pomona – just a few kilometres from the Hanlon family farm, and Australia’s ‘home of silent cinema’. “They play silent movies every week, so I grew up going to those; they’d have new movies on the weekend, but we’d see the old silent ones as well.” Hanlon’s love of cinema stretches back almost as far as his love of music, and the two are closely intertwined. While his parents had Slim Dusty and Kenny Rodgers on high rotation, they also watched a lot of westerns. Darren’s favourite is Sergio Leone’s The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, starring Clint Eastwood - and Eli Wallach. In 2002 he released an eponymous song-tribute to Wallach: I’ve only known you for ten minutes / But I’d prefer you didn’t die just yet / You’re on a horse / Your hands are tied / And there’s a rope around your neck. Years later, a friend of Jenny Lyn, the daughter of American playwright Joseph Stein, gave Wallach a copy of the song. The elderly actor, who starred opposite Kate Winslet in The Holiday, and can currently be seen cameoing in The Ghost Writer, was tickled pink. “He’s 95! So he doesn’t understand about the ‘internet’,” Darren explains. “He just asked me to call him, so I called him from a payphone in New York and had a little chat; the next time I came [to New York] Jenny said ‘Oh, Eli wants to meet you’ – so I went to his apartment.” Hanlon asked his hero to be in a film clip for ‘I Wish That I Was Beautiful For You’. The clip was released in May this year - less polished than most of Hanlon’s clips, but with the same feel of being inspired by cinematic eras past.
“For this album, I went to Coonabarabran. A few of them still have one, crappy old caravan down the back under a tree, that they rarely rent out. And that’s the one I’m after.” “I really like American ‘70s films, you know, the Hal Ashby catalogue [Harold and Maude, Being There, Shampoo], and things from around then; and just growing up around here, I really love early silent films, the whole Buster Keaton era, and Harold Lloyd.” In the clip for ‘All These Things’, the super-sweet lead single from I Will Love You At All, Hanlon awkwardly hops, skips and jumps around a painted set while friendly ninjas rearrange the furniture and backdrops, shower him in confetti and snow, and form an impromptu backing band, on tuba and cardboard-piano. “The first sequence is inspired a little bit by West Side Story; I mean, I wanted there to be more dance in it, but I just can’t dance,” he demurs. Place is another key element in Hanlon’s music. In the writing stages, he takes himself off to a caravan park. “I’ve been to a few different ones now. I used to go to one in Manilla (NSW); for this album, I went to Coonabarabran, because I’d never been there. A few of them still have one, crappy old caravan down the back under a tree, that they rarely rent out. And that’s the one I’m after.” When it came to recording, he headed to Type Foundry Recording Studios in Portland (Oregon). “A lot of my good friends are there now, and Cory [Gray, long-time collaborator on keys] lives there,” he explains. Besides all this, Adam Selzer – engineer for M Ward, She & Him, The Decemberists and the owner of Type Foundry – had emailed Darren after hearing him play a few songs at a gig, and asked to work on the album. “I thought, well, that’s a good sign!” Who: Darren Hanlon What: I Will Love You At All out now When: Wednesday August 18 Where: The Heritage Hotel 26 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
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brushstrokes WITH COMPOSER
PHILLIP JOHNSTON
Festival in 2008), Murnau’s Faust, Buster Keaton’s Cops, and the original Georges Méliès Project in 1997. Five years ago Johnston and his wife (playwright Hilary Bell) moved from New York to Bondi.
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ydney Opera House’s Screen Live series (films + live music) is back, after spectacular form earlier this year with sell-out sessions of Metropolis and Nosferatu. Next up is the Australian premiere of The Georges Méliès Project. Along with the Lumière Brothers, George Méliès (1861-1938) was one of the cinema’s earliest directors. His extensive slate of short films rose out of the ether of conjuring, automata and magic theatre of his time, uniting the humorous and the fantastical. The Georges Méliès Project will feature a selection of superb new prints of rare Méliès films, with live musical accompaniment by highly-regarded American avant-garde jazz composer Phillip Johnston and a threepiece band. Besides his slate of feature film soundtracks, Johnston has been commissioned by New York’s Lincoln Centre to composed live scores for Page of Madness (which he also performed at Sydney Film
What is your background/training as a musician? I didn’t have a traditional conservatory training; in the beginning I was largely selftaught, though I took piano lessons as a teenager and could read music. I learned through study on my own, and from the great musicians that I had the good fortune to play with; John Zorn and Joel Forrester were two big influences when I was young. Later on, I studied privately with composer Edgar Grana, who gave me a more traditional classical training in counterpoint, orchestration and composition. You’ve done heaps of soundtrack work – what do you enjoy about it? I have always been drawn to film music as a genre, even before I began working on films. Many of my favorite composers were film composers, and that music influenced the music I wrote for various bands. I like the way music can change the meaning of an image, or add to it, and I like the opportunity to experiment with different styles of music. What is your creative process for creating soundtracks for silent films? The first job is to get a take on the whole film – I try to make each of my silent film scores different from the ones I have done previously in some basic way. Next I map out the whole dramatic structure of the film, and then, well, fill in the blanks.
Powell/Pressburger’s seminal The Red Shoes - and the online global dance competition – My Mutation. August 31 - September 26, full line-up at at sydneyoperahouse.com/springdance
LO-FI BAR + COLLECTIVE
There’s a new drinking hole in town, and it's called LO-FI. The site that used to be Kinselas’ Middle Bar has been stripped back to its original foundations (something something 'morgue') and the iconic bar has been transformed by awardwinning interior designers Luchetti Krelle (Sake Restaurant & Bar, Bootleg Bar). Sitting pretty on the top floor will be the LO-FI Collective, a studio/ gallery in which resident artists will create, and the rest of us will gather on a weekly basis to make appropriately awe-stricken sounds. You can practice this on Thursday August 19 at the launch of LO-FI Collective: Go Font Ur Self* Chapter 5 or you can wait until August 27, when the LO-FI Bar will officially open to the public.
Which film composers do you admire? There is so much to admire in film music, it’s a very rich history – in fact I teach a course on it at the Australian Institute of Music. Composers I admire: Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Angelo Badalamenti, Randy Newman, are just a few. I like scores that in some way up-end the traditional relationship between music and film, and play with the diegetic/ non-diegetic divide. When did you first see the films of Georges Méliès? At a repertory theatre in San Francisco called The Intersection in the early '70s, an institution that has sadly fallen by the wayside. I was immediately drawn to them because of his obsession with angels and devils, with magic and with sleight of hand, as well as the wonderful humour and playfulness, and the do-it-yourself quality of them. Why do you think your style of jazz suits these films? I chose the Méliès films partially because the short length of them allowed me to experiment with different relationships between music and film in one project. And perhaps the primary thing that my music and the films have in common is a playful sense of humour. What: The Georges Méliès Project When: Sunday August 22, 5pm Where: The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House More: sydneyoperahouse.com/screenlive
KICK-ASS This year’s funnest film – and one of the most controversial – Matthew Vaugn’s Kick-Ass features geeky teens taking justice into their own, vigilante hands – and killer costumes. With star turns from Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) and Nicolas Cage, the real star is pintsized super-chick Chloë Grace Moretz (also about to star in the American remake of Swedish vampire flick Let The Right One In). To get your hands on one of ten copies up for grabs, email us the name of the fella who wrote the original Kick-Ass comics. (Hint: read our DVD review on p. 35)
STAIRWELL X STEF
You might wanna pop via Sugarmill’s Stairwell Gallery this weekend and checkout their latest concoction, an exhibition of work by photographer Stef Mitchell. After spending three years in rural Australia studying the written word, Stef decided to throw it all away and move to New York with about $5 US and her Canon. Since then, she has spent six months interning for the iconic Annie Leibovitz, stumbling her way through coffee orders to finally scoring a role assisting on set of one of Leibovitz’s infamous Vogue shoots featuring Lady Gaga and Lily Cole. That bitter taste in your mouth right now? That’s envy. Runs til September 24 at Sugarmill’s Stairwell Gallery (33 Darlinghurst Rd Kings Cross) X
VIXENS, VAMPS, DOLLS Julie Fragar THESEAREONLYSMALLSCALELIES (2008)
MCA PRIMAVERA
MCA are spring cleaning (har), throwing out the old, and welcoming in two fresh new exhibitions. Opening on August 21, In the Balance: Art for a Changing World comprises works by 30 artists and collectives responding to contemporary ecological issues in Australia and beyond. Opening on August 19 is our favourite annual artbonanza, Primavera. There’s the usual blend of familiar and not-so-familiar names – from Agatha Gothe-Snape to painters Julie Fragar and Jackson Slattery, sculptor Emma White, and photographer James Newitt. And MORE. mca.com.au
SPRING DANCE
After last year’s successful season, Sydney Opera House is bringing back Spring Dance - four weeks of exceptional artistry, athleticism and grace from some of the most exciting choreographers and performers working across the globe: Flemish / Moroccan choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui performs in a Sadler’s Wells production; tap legend Savion Glover makes his first Australian appearance; and Artistic Director of Chunky Move, Gideon Obarzanek returns to the stage for the first time in 18 years! They’re also bringing back the free dance films on the forecourt – including 28 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
Sydney’s premiere purveyors of burlesque, Tenderloins, are kicking it old school for their next show, Vixens, Vamps and Dolls; brush up on your film noir and get ready to sizzle with our favourite femmes fatale: Lola the Vamp, Tasia (recently back from a killer US tour), The Judy Dolls (BRIS), Kitty Van Horne, and Kira Hula-la. And no 34B Burlesque would be complete without MC Francois Bublé, and DJ Jack Shit. This midnight grab-bag of goodies looks like trouble, smells like the faint whiff of gun smoke, and tastes like whisky; your rendevous with danger is August 28 at 34B (Exchange Hotel – entry through Q Bar). Tix are on sale from tenderloins.com.au
GANGSTERS’ BALL
Staying on trend: you might want check in on The Gangsters’ Ball, happening September 4 at The Metro. This annual party celebrates everything swing, cabaret and vaudeville, with a dash of circus burlesque on the side. Last year more than 3000 gangsters, molls and flappers rockedout in a venue decked-out with gambling tables, merchandise stalls, cigarette girls and pin-ups – all to the sounds of 10-piece swing band The Velvet Set. It’s like New York the ‘20s – but with more babes and booze, and fewer guns. This year MC Madame Leila Montansano (Paris/Berlin) will do her best to manage a line-up that includes troublemakers Circus Trick Tease, Mark Winmill, Kelly Ann Doll and Imogen Kelly. For details and dress code inspiration – hit gangstersball.com.au
WILD PARTY
Having sold out its previous season at Raval, cult theatre hit The Wild Party is back, in a new version directed by Sidetrack Theatre’s Kate Gaul, and starring Josh Quong Tart, Vashti Hughes, Eliza Logan and David Keene. The play is inspired
by Joseph Moncur March’s sexy and cynical jazz poem, which was written at the height of the Roaring '20s, and banned after the Chicago police seized and destroyed it. Beat poet hero William S. Burroughs said of it: “It’s the book that made me want to be a writer.” Damn you, Moncur. The Wild Party will have a limited season at Raval from August 27-28. For show times, see raval.com.au
SIAF X UTS
After a superb line-up last year that included a focus Canadian funnyman Don Hertzfeldt, the Sydney International Animation Festival is back at UTS from September 24-26 – happy times! Let’s talk program highlights later (did someone say The Glue Society?) In the meantime, there’s a couple of competitions to sink your teeth into: animation company Sixty40 is looking for creatives inspired by underdogs. To win cash, mentorship and a festival screening, all you gotta do is make a really short film between 60 and 40 seconds long – deadline August 23, deets
at Sixty40.com/protoninja; next up, the Creative Industries Innovation Centre and STAEDTLER are looking for stop motion films about inspiration AND the first 50 to email makeit@ creativeinnovation.net.au will get four free packs of 56g blocks of FIMO to get them started! Phew. Run! www.siaf.uts.edu.au
DANGEROUS IDEAS
Festival of Dangerous Ideas is back to cause trouble, with a series of talks and discussion panels covering the thorny dilemmas of modern living. Geoffrey Robertson and Alan Dershowitz will go toe-to-toe on the scandal of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church; other naughty thoughts include Why the Religious Will Inherit the Earth, What We Can Learn from Terrorists, why We Are All Climate Change Deniers, that The Pursuit of Happiness is Making Us Miserable and Australian Husbands are the Worst in the World and Why it is Women’s Fault… October 2-3 at Sydney Opera House / sydneyoperahouse.com
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Dumb & Bomber
By Jody MacGregor
Riz Ahmed, star of jihadi-comedy Four Lions, talks about working with controversial comedy director Chris Morris.
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hris Morris has a history o off courting controversy with h his comedy. His news and current urrent affairs parodies The Day Today a and nd Brass Eye laid down the template ate for The Onion and The Chaser, but utt took even more risks. During an episode sode of Brass Eye satirising drug panics, an nics, Morris even approached real drug ru ug dealers on-camera, trying to buy uyy made-up substances from them. m. Accordingly (perhaps) his new feature-length movie, Four Lions, nss, is a buddy comedy about terrorists. British actor-slash-MC Riz Ahmed med plays Omar, the half-bright leader ader of a squad of jihadists who spend pe end more time quarrelling with each ch other over trivialities than they y do plotting destruction; their bombbmaker’s brilliant plan involves strapping explosives to crows.. In a way, Four Lions does for terrorists orrists what Hogan’s Heroes did for N Nazis, azis, portraying them as bumbling fo fools ools you can’t take seriously – except ept it humanises them at the same ttime. ime. Ahmed says that’s because mu much uch of the movie is based in truth. “The film isn’t about, ‘Let’s take ke ea subject that in real life is deadly dlly serious and invert it in some fa farcical arcical way.’ It’s very realistic,” he explains, plains, “because what we usually gett is the boiled-down headline that’s t’ss very serious and drumroll and d sensationalist, but there’s a whole hole load of bloopers and out-takes s either side of that headline that at we don’t see. And of course there e are, because terrorist cells are groups ou ups of guys trying to organise something hing - and groups of guys trying to organise anything are going to o screw it up, they just are.” Morris spent three-and-a-half yyears ears researching Four Lions, talking g to everybody from wannabe jihadis dis to MI5 agents and ordinary Muslims. liims. Ahmed was involved in that process ro ocess from quite early on. “Film Fourr had given me some DVDs of people ple making martyrdom videos,” he e says, “and you watch it - or you ou u watch it on YouTube - and you u hav have
some young guy in Bosnia going, oin ng, ‘Brothers, come out here. Come ‘Broth me brothers. The country fight jihad, j nttry is beautiful, the people are beautiful beaut uttiful the kebabs are amazing.’ W What and th hat fuck did he just say? Did h he the fu e say come out and fight jihad because au use kebabs? And yeah, of amazing am h, he did. That is the reality of m men, just d en, basically. It’s a testosterone-driven basica riven enterprise in many ways, and tthat’s enterp hat’s what yyou get.” Although it’s called Four Lions, Althou s, there are five main characterss in movie. Besides Omar, there’s the m re’s Riz Ahmed tries to look serious.
bomb-maker Faisal, who’ll pretend bomb ettend to be a woman but won’t get rid d of his beard; 2Pac fan Hassan, who be who delivers delive threats via hilariously bad rapping; rappin British convert Barry, who thinks you can throw-off the police olice by eating your SIM card; and the eat child-like Waj, who can’t wait to child-l o go to heaven because he’s been told hea told it’s just jus like an amusement park. arrk. Omar and Waj in particular are re e surprisingly sympathetic characters surpri acters and by b the end of the movie you yo ou find yourself hoping things work yo orrk out for them, the despite yourself. “The weird group dynamic in w the film was almost mirrored offofffscreen scree amongst us five actors,” s,,” says Ahmed. “[We] were holed A d up in slightly depressing student ent accommodation in Sheffield; I think accom that was w a deliberate ploy of Chris’s Chris’s to make ma sure we all got cabin fever fever and lived liv in each other’s pockets ke ets and became like bickering brothers.” b otthers.”
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Ahmed Ahme describes the low-budget dg get shoot in Sheffield as remarkably bly hassle-free, even though theyy hassle were blowing things up in fields. ds. Though Thoug they disguised notes about about where they were filming each d day ay as invitations to children’s parties, inv ties, it wasn’t was really necessary. There erre were no locals no problems p prob roblem lemss with with lo local calss or or the th authorities. authorities. “The whole shoot was
THE ROUNDHOUSE PRESENTS… C
heer up! UNSW Roundhouse is here to save you from the dull drudgery of the dark winter months - with standup from comedic champions Tom Gleeson and Mikey Robbins, tasty musical treats offered up by The Beautiful Girls, from their fifth album Spooks; and blues and roots king Ash Grunwald, fresh from a string of international gigs.
Thanks to UNSW Roundhouse, five lucky readers can win a double pass to a gig of their choice, from the list below. To win email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us which gig you want to check out, and the name of one other band playing the Roundhouse in September. www.unswroundhouse.com The Beautiful Girls - Thursday August 19 / doors 7pm Tom Gleeson & Mikey Robins - Tuesday August 24 / doors 7pm Ash Grunwald - Wednesday September 1 / doors 7pm 30 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
“Film Four gave me some DVD of people making martyrdom videos with a young guy in Bosnia going, ‘Brothers, come out here. Come fight jihad, brothers. The country is beautiful, the people are beautiful and the kebabs are amazing.’ What the fuck did he just say? Did he say come out and fight jihad because of amazing kebabs?” very painless and the reception p on n of the film has been overwhelmingly ngly positive. positiv It’s strange in a way, isn’t isn’t it? When Wh you hear the tagline of of this project projec you hold your breath and an nd go, ‘Uh-oh, ‘Uh-oh trouble!’ But it’s really been been trouble-free the whole way through, troubl ro ough, from start to finish. s This positive energy has translated p slated into good ‘bank’ for Four Lions. g s. “We beat Iron Man 2 on screen b en averages,” Ahmed boasts. “The avera e amazing thing is that the film ju just amaz ust wouldn’t would go away from cinemas. ass. Six weeks in it was still opening on n new screens. Now, three months in, scree n, it’s still showing at some cinemas. sh s.. It’s kind of o insane. I guess Chris has has his cult cu following, but I think the he e fifilm’s lm’s lm s been bee so successful succes suc cessfu s ul because beca ause it transcended transcended even that – just just got
embraced as a great comedy rather embra than a political film or anything that people peopl may have assumed it was.” With Four Lions about to open in F Australia, it begs the question: Austra what about America? “There’s this a perception that America’s not ready perce for it,” Ahmed replies, “but a couple of thousand Americans have seen it tho at [Sundance and the Los Angeles [Su Film Festival] and they all seemed F to love it. I think maybe sometimes it’s pre-emptively shitting your pants pre about this film when you should watch it and instead piss your pants, pants laughing.” What Four Lions, Dir. Chris Morris What: When: August When n: Opens Opens Augus Au gustt 19 19
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A Canadian in Cairo [FILM] Ruba Nadda talks about putting Patricia Clarkson on the Pyramids. By Beth Wilson
It may have been Nadda’s dream cast and location, but Cairo Time was far from an easy ride for the young filmmaker, who had to navigate government censorship and pressure over casting choices. “I remember our financiers for the film trying to convince me to change the [lead] character and make her in her 20s or her 30s. I was really firm about having her being in her late 40s. In the movie she’s 50. For me it was really important to keep her at that age; I knew had it been a woman in her 20s, it wouldn’t have carried the same kind of weight.” Cairo Time’s success is reliant on the central performers’ chemistry, and Nadda knew exactly what she wanted. “I wanted Alexander badly. I’d written the role for him, I’d been a huge fan of his over the years. And then I wanted Patricia. I just saw them together, I felt that they fit.” The two leads more than lived up to her expectations. “The thing about
Alexander and Patricia is that they are so experienced, they’re so amazing, so talented, when I had talked to them about their characters and the story, they really got it.” Of course the other great character of the film is Cairo itself and Nadda’s script had specific famous locations written in, some of which had never been open to film crews before: the Pyramids, and El Fishawis coffee shop. Nadda had to use her Syrian nationality to get access to these areas - “I would say ‘look I’m an Arab filmmaker, you have to give me permission, you can’t say no to me.’” Nadda was similarly determined when it came to protecting her project against external pressures. “I was really committed to not altering the script because of the Islamic censorship. I was like ‘you’re not putting money into this movie, you’re not going to tell me how to shoot it’. My crew and I felt very strongly that if we got Cairo, we were not going to get pushed around. The script I wrote, I basically shot in the end. I am actually quite proud of that, because it was a real battle with the censorship woman, who was hired by the government and who literally was signing every reel before they were being shipped back.”
I had to get rid of her because she wouldn’t have allowed us to film. So we had all these little ploys and plans for removing her when we needed to.”
Nadda and her team had to come up with ways to circumnavigate their unwanted government tag-along. “For certain scenes
With its lovely balance of visual wonder and character charm, Cairo Time has earned Nada some long-awaited kudos at home.
Tusk Tusk as we discover that the children are perhaps not left alone by choice.
Although the play focuses on children, it’s certainly not aimed for young audiences. “[This] is a play for adults and about the consequences of adult behaviour” says Murphy.
A
This week her follow-up, Tusk Tusk, opens at the Wharf as part of the Sydney Theatre Company’s Next Stage program, with Shannon Murphy at the helm. “What’s so interesting about Polly’s work is that she has a great understanding of contemporary voices but also writes in a classical structure which is something that’s really appealing to a wide variety of audiences” says Murphy. If That Face was a bleak portrait of middleclass breakdown, then Tusk Tusk is equally bracing. The setting is a new flat, littered with unpacked boxes, where two teenagers and a child play hide and seek - no parents in sight. This seemingly innocent scenario soon unfolds into a blistering picture of deprivation
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What: Cairo Time, Dir. Ruba Nadda When: Opens August 19
Fresh blood and inspiration hit the SBW Stables stage. By Dee Jefferson Sam Strong at Griffin's Stables
Like That Face, Tusk Tusk examines the power of sibling relationships – something that drew Murphy to the play. “I have a very close relationship with my own brother and for me this was a piece of writing that really encapsulated the sibling relationship and how strong it can be and how in extreme situations the bond can grow even further.”
fter a successful debut in the UK in 2007 and a West End production in 2008, Polly Stenham’s startling first play, That Face opened to critical acclaim both in New York and at Sydney’s Belvoir St Theatre earlier this year. This kind of achievement is rare for any debut, but is all the more remarkable for the fact that Stenham was barely out of high school when she penned the play.
“I’ve been an outsider to Canadian film for many years, and all of a sudden with Cairo Time, it’s like I’ve finally been accepted into the ‘filmmaking clique’ here; it feels nice.”
Griffin's Next Stage
[THEATRE] U.K. wunderkind Polly Stenham returns to Sydney Stages By Simon Binns Miles Szanto, Airlie-Jane Dodds and Kai Lewins
Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig in Cairo Time
Tusk Tusk is another important notch in Murphy’s directing belt after successful productions of Crestfall for Griffin Theatre Company and My Name Is Rachel Corrie at B Sharp, as well as some important assistant director gigs with heavyweights such as Neil Armfield, Marion Potts and Brendan Cowell. It’s also a challenge for the young director, with two teenage leads and a seven year old in the key supporting role – calling to mind that old showbiz adage, ‘Never work with children or animals’. “Oh yes” smiles Murphy, “it’s a gamble working with that age group… I also have professional actors in the room who are playing the older characters so it’s kind of like working on three different levels in the rehearsal room.” The young talent certainly have some role models in the cast to look up to, with Helpmann Award-winner Marta Dusseldorp, (War of the Roses; Like A Fishbone) and Krew Boylan, who also appeared in the Company B production of That Face in February. Thanks to a lengthy rehearsal period, Murphy is feeling ebullient. “They’re extraordinary actors… it’s wonderful!” What: Tusk Tusk by Polly Stenham; Dir. Shannon Murphy When: August 18 – September 4 Where: Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company More: sydneytheatre.com.au
I
t’s been a fascinating 12 months for Sydney theatre, with major shifts in the artistic directions of our three main companies. Cate and Andrew have transformed Sydney Theatre Company into a truly international beast, with overseas tours of A Streetcar Named Desire and Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and collaboration with world-class theatre-makers such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Steven Soderbergh, Oregon’s Artists Repertory Theatre, and Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Across the city at Belvoir, long-standing Artistic Director Neil Armfield stood down after 25 years, having successfully brought the company from the financial ‘red’ back into surplus. Sydney’s theatrati held their breath in anticipation, with two young guns in their early 30s poised in the wings: Company B’s literary associate Sam Strong, and artistic associate/set designer Ralph Myers. When Myers took the reins, it was with a new vision for the company that included the demise of B Sharp – arguably Sydney’s premier incubator for independent theatre since 1998. Over at Griffin Theatre, this presents a Golden Opportunity – compounded by the appointment in May of Sam Strong as incoming Artistic Director, taking over from Nick Marchand. For the past 30 years Griffin has been a ‘new writing theatre’ specialising in Australian drama, distinguishing it from any other Sydney company. Strong’s credentials as a dramaturg make him a perfect match. Previously he developed the writing residency program at Melbourne’s Red Stitch Theatre, where his production of Tasmanian playwright Tom Holloway’s Red Sky Morning was nominated for six Green Room Awards. At Griffin he will have the chance to work in a developmental capacity with a larger range of writers and directors - plus, of course, being able to directly choose who those people will be. Strong has had a headlong rush into his new role; no sooner had he wrapped a successful season of David Hare’s Power of Yes at Belvoir than he was at his new digs, getting ready to renovate
not only the physical premises, but the infrastructure of Griffin’s annual program – with two shows in the 2010 season opening in quick succession: Like a Fishbone, the STC co-production, and Quack, which is in rehearsals for a September opening.
With the demise of B Sharp, Strong’s mission is to reposition Griffin as Sydney’s premiere independent theatre company, and draw Australia’s best theatre-makers back to the Stables – where many of them started their careers. “For me, the best way to ensure you’re making high quality work is to make sure you’re attracting the highest quality artists – it’s about making the building a hub for artists," says Strong. Part of the strategy has been renovating the foyer area of the Stables in a way that allows for smallscale gatherings and events. In terms of content, Strong has expanded the perameters of the Griffin Independent strand. “In terms of independent spaces in Sydney, there is a need for a broader curatorial approach,” Strong suggests. Griffin will ideally become the home of the best new writing, local or otherwise. Strong also hopes to woo artists by increasing ‘accessibility’ – including designated drop-in times for artists, a comprehensive engagement with independent theatre happening around Sydney, and the upcoming Housewarming Week, in which Griffin will hold its first ever ‘open auditions’ for their 2011 season, among other things. Perhaps the most exciting development, from an audience perspective, is the diversification of the Griffin program to include things like film screenings, readings, discussion forums and parties. Gathered under the general title ‘Between the Lines’, the first in this series of “amplifying events” (a phrase they borrowed from the National Theatre in London) will take place in conjunction with the season of Quack (August 27 – October 2). “Because the writer Ian Wilding and director Chris Mead got quite excited in the making of Quack about riffing on certain cinematic genres – particularly westerns and zombies – we thought we’d extend the bounds of the ‘experience of Quack’” – including late night screenings of zombie films, and a Deadwood marathon." Strong's strategy so far is as intuitive as it is clever. As for the 2011 season itself, we’ll have to wait until later in the year for the full reveal. What: Griffin’s Housewarming Week When: August 16 – 21 Where: SBW Stables, 10 Nimrod St Kings Cross More: griffintheatre.com.au
Tusk Tusk photo by Grant Sparkes-Carroll
“C
Canadian-Syrian filmmaker Ruba Nadda has been receiving rave reviews for her fourth feature, an old fashioned romance that shows off the talents of Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig and the beauty of Egypt’s capital city. In this delicate ‘West meets Middle East’ romance, a magazine editor who arrives in Cairo to find that her reporter-husband has been indefinitely delayed, allows herself to be taken on a tour of the city by his colleague Tareq.
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Arts Snap
Film & Theatre Reviews
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week.
13th birthday
PICS :: TL
What's hot on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
04:08:10 :: Global Gallery :: 5 Comber Street Paddington
■ Film
SALT
design sushi
PICS :: TL
Released August 19
de mexico
PICS :: TL
05:08:10 :: MetaLab :: 10b Fitzroy St, Surry Hills
06:08:10 :: China Heights :: 257 Crown Street, Surry Hills
Arts Exposed What's on our calendar...
Peer Group Media & Kirin present
GO FONT UR SELF* CHAPTER 5 Opens August 19, 6pm / LO-FI (383 Bourke St, Taylor Square) This week our favourite typographical art party returns to its home town after packed-out shows in Brisvegas and Melbourne. Chapter 5 has a killer line-up, including New York giants Michael Doret (artwork pictured left) and Morning Breath Inc., graf legend Gary (of Heavy Artillery and Mad Society Kings crews), and Ale Paul, of Argentinian type foundry Sudtipos. In other exciting news, GFUS has moved to a bigger (and brand-spanking new) venue - meaning more room to hunt art and throw back some Kirin. We also hear there’s a live lino-cut demo by Two-One, so you might want to snag yourself a souvenir. MORNING BREATH / WE BUY YOUR KIDS / GARY / FIODOR SUMKIN / MICHAEL DORET / TWO ONE / JEREMYVILLE / ALEJANDRO PAUL / MAURO GATTI / OKAY / AMUSE SWB / FRIENDS OF TYPE www.gofonturself.com.au 34 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
Inception aside, it’s been a pretty mediocre year for the mainstream action blockbuster. In this climate, Salt is a breath of fresh air, a breezily entertaining, straightforward action film. Oh, it’s completely ridiculous, and features acts of gymnastic wizardry by Angelina Jolie’s svelte spy that would shatter the bones of any mortal being. But then, Jolie is no mere mortal. Jason Bourne or James Bond, whatever the maleequivalent (in fact, Salt was originally written for Tom Cruise), she is captivating in a role designed to keep the audience unsure of her true allegiances. Is Evelyn Salt a Russian-spy, undercover in the CIA ranks, tasked with bringing down her nation’s Cold War enemies from within? Or is she what she claims she is - a patriotic CIA officer? Her taciturn boss (Liev Schreiber) believes the former, while his sidekick, played by the always-reliable Chiwetel Ejiofor, is not so sure. They’re at odds with each other as Salt careens from one action set-piece, and one lorry rooftop, to the next. Meanwhile a shadowy syndicate muses over superpower-toppling schemes that include an assassination plot on the visiting Russian President. (Between this and the fourth Indiana Jones, the Russians seem to be making a comeback as movie villains.) Salt is hokum worthy of '60s camp, but Aussie director Phillip Noyce and his actors play it straight. In its favour, Noyce is a master craftsman with an assured sense of space. His action sequences rely largely on practical special effects and exhibit Jolie’s physical prowess as much as her stunt doubles’. Particularly effective is an early scene where Salt busts out of the CIA with a home-made rocket launcher (made MacGyver style with available tools), and a fraught highway escape that involves our heroine indulging in some back seat driving with a stun gun. James Newtown Howard’s punchy score adds to the top technical credentials, but it’s Jolie, all steadfast glares and skittering feet, that glues the pic together. Joshua Blackman ■ Film
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD Released August 12 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is dizzying, so packed with ideas, gags, pop-culture references, jump cuts, visual effects, split-screens and kinetic action that the experience of watching it is like clinging to the roof of a 200mph train. Whether or not you can hold on for the ride will depend on your age (non-geeks over 30 need not apply), video game savvy (do you know your Pac-man from your Legend of Zelda?) and attention span (the shorter the better). When it’s not zipping by on director Edgar Wright’s colourful visual style or witty script, Scott Pilgrim rides the performances of its rich comic cast, among them Anna Kendrick as Scott’s snappy sister and Kieran Culkin as his amusing gay roommate. There was some doubt, among die-hard fans of Bryan Lee O’Malley's comics, about casting Michael Cera - but Scott Pilgrim is his most distinctive character yet. He still pines over women (Mary Elizabeth Winstead as the
rainbow-haired Ramona Flowers) and is officially “in-between jobs,” but he has pep and is convincing as the bass guitarist of three-piece garage band Sex Bob-omb. To win Ramona’s heart Scott must defeat her seven evil exes, which include Chris Evans as a too-cool-for-school Hollywood actor, a glowey-eyed vegan played by Brandon Routh, and ultimately Jason Schwartzman’s Gideon Gordon Graves, whom he fights with two flaming lightsabers. Each fight sequence draws inspiration from a different game (Mortal Kombat, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero) and each sizzles like a sugar rush. Unfortunately, Wright’s pace is so incessant that by the second half you’re pummelled by the constantly-hilarious dialogue and eyepopping graphics; by this point, character development has become secondary to the action. No matter; Wright has already staked his claim as a master of ironic mashups with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and with Scott Pilgrim he heightens these postmodern stylings to frenzied levels. It’s not going to work for everyone, but it’s exhilarating filmmaking and for its target audience, an almost assured future classic. Joshua Blackman ■ Theatre
WOYZECK Until August 29 at Belvoir St Taking on Woyzeck is no small task. Not only is Georg Büchner’s epic one of the most influential German plays ever written, it is unfinished, meaning that a director must make strict choices about how the play is to be completed, let alone performed. This production feels as though it has been wrestled out of the original text, by director Netta Yashchin. Woyzeck is the story of a poor soldier who, to pay for his illegitimate child, agrees to take part in the pseudo-experiments of his regiment’s doctor. The details of these experiments are unclear, but one thing is for certain – Woyzeck is only allowed to eat peas. Understandably, this has a negative effect on Woyzeck’s mental health, and the play spirals from here. The scenes of this unfinished text don’t always flow in a linear direction; rather than fighting this, Yaschin has embraced it, responding to different scenes with different tools. The theatrical language here often eschews psychological realism in favour of dance, image, and pop culture references that range from professional wrestling to Katy Perry. As she says in her program note, this is Yashchin’s “primal” response to the play. Unfortunately, this means that occasionally the piece lacks a clear directorial vision; audiences risk disorientation as Yaschin’s production gets lost in its own web of cultural references and mixed styles. Holding the play together is the performance of Michael Pigott in the title role; one never doubts him as he grapples with Woyzeck’s metaphysical crises. The supporting cast is generally strong, with Zahra Newman’s intensity standing out as she plays Woyzeck’s insatiable love interest. With live musicians, dance sequences and a Spice Girls reference, this is a unique and engaging hour and a half of theatre that will stick in the memory. Henry Florence
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
DVD Reviews What's been on our TV screens this week The Good, the Bad and the Totally Unicorn
KICK-ASS
BENEATH HILL 60
Matthew Vaughn’s energetic deconstruction of the superhero myth flunked at the box office, despite a select chorus championing it as one of the most entertaining films of the year. Like Scott Pilgrim (reviewed opposite), Kick-Ass, based on a provocative series of comics by Mark Millar, is designed to make comic geeks and fanboys giggle with joy at its brazen disregard for political correctness.
In 1917 the 1st Australian Tunnelling Division detonated 19 mines under the German frontline in Belgium, producing the biggest ever man-made explosion. The blast, it is said, was heard as far away as Dublin. The lead up to this momentous event is the subject of this awfully old-fashioned war movie, set in the muddy misery of World War I. Don’t expect cries of “war is hell,” existential crises or sharp political comment; Beneath Hill 60 tells its story with a straight face and minimal reflection.
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Released August 19
It achieves this mainly through the character of Hit Girl, played by the astounding 11-year old actress, Chloë Grace-Moretz. Her character is like a sociopathic, cussing squirrel with knives, and she has the ability to effortlessly slaughter dozens of enemies twice her size. She and her wannabe-Batman father, Big Daddy (Nic Cage at his insane best), are so compelling that they overshadow the main story of Dave Lizewski (Nowhere Boy’s Aaron Johnson), an average masturbatory teenager who, thanks to a wet-suit and some riot-batons, has appointed himself the new neighbourhood superhero. While the film doesn’t fully exploit its satirical, superpower-devoid premise (and by the end merely devolves into the – admittedly superior – comic-book movie it's targeting), Vaughn and Jane Goldman’s witty script has genuine heart, in the form of the unconventional Hit Girl/Big Daddy relationship, and Vaughn directs the action with consummate skill. The main drawcard for the 2-disc DVD release is a candid two hour documentary about the making of this $30 million independent film. It’s fascinating to see Vaughan argue with his editors argue over the soundmix; not the sort of volatile material you usually find in behindthe-scenes material. Rounding out the disc is some art, production stills, and a feature commentary by co-writer/director/producer Vaughn. Joshua Blackman
Paramount Home Entertainment Released August 19
This approach would have worked if our band of heroes were not underdeveloped and expendable. Plucked from working in the mines back home, these tunnelling and explosive experts are lead by the soft-spoken Captain Oliver Woodward (Brendan Cowell). Working class men with little training, they are treated with disdain by the regular recruits for being literally “diggers”, not soldiers. Their struggles are juxtaposed with flashbacks to Woodward’s perfunctory relationship with sixteen-year-old farm girl Marjorie Waddell (Bella Heathcote), which is low on romance but high in creepiness. Despite impressive production values and cinematography (and a budget of only $9 million), director Jeremy Sims’ heavy theatretrained hand is bludgeoning. Music swells, men fall in a slow motion swathe of bullets and heroes make the necessary sacrifices for the greater good. It’s undone, too, by some peculiar self-conscious acting, though Steve Le Marquand impresses as the gruff Fraser, a chiselled man who’s not afraid to state his mind. The disc is disappointingly light on features, with only an audio commentary by Sims and screenwriter David Roach and some preproduction storyboards. For war-movie completists only. Joshua Blackman
Street Level With artist Anthony Lister yes - I studied painting and sculpture at Queensland College of Art.
his weekend aMBUSH Gallery are gathering four of Australia’s best street artists to create a one-off piece of art, in front of an audience, to raise funds for the Information and Cultural Exchange (I.C.E.), who run creative arts programs for disadvantaged youth in Western Sydney. From Friday night til Sunday afternoon, you can head down to Cockle Bay Wharf and watch Anthony Lister, Meggs, Ears and WeBuyYourKids in action, while Future Classic deejays crank out tunes. The completed work will be auctioned in October, with all the proceeds going to I.C.E. Brisbane-born Lister has come back from his New York studio for the Project.
T
How is NY? And what are you up to in Oz? New York is great. I have had such a great year and have had so many successes, it is really overwhelming how supportive America has been to me over the years. But there is no feeling like coming back to your home country, I love Australia. On this trip I am here for the Project 5 thing and to get a look at the gallery I will hold my next solo show in November. What’s your artistic background/training? Firstly I was introduced by my grandmother, who was a painter and had these great Arthur Streeton placemats that I ate my lunch and dinner off. From there it was always a passion for me to admire and create works of art. And
What have been some of the highlights? It has been quite a trip meeting and hanging out with artists that have been huge inspirations to me as a younger artist, like Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Ron English and Chuck Close. One time I was doing paste-ups in London with WK and we nearly got shot by some guy whose building we were working on; that was quite a formative experience. Why is I.C.E. important? I believe that helping others is very important for your soul, especially those that are less fortunate than myself. If it was up to me I would let the kids run wild in the streets. But I guess this is the next best thing. What ideas/issues and materials are tickling your fancy at the moment? My superhero works are based on concepts of contemporary mythology. When I was a child comic books were more important than religion or education. Most days I spend my time thinking, drawing, sculpting and painting about this concept. Who collects your work these days? The spectrum of collectors is vast. I have sold work to movie stars and big collections and at the same time had pieces stolen off the street. One time a whole wall I painted was removed from a house people were living in. They had to put up a tarp so the rain wouldn’t get in. What: Project 5 (August 20-22) When: Friday 6-9pm; Sat-Sun 12-3pm Where: Cockle Bay Wharf More: www.project5.com.au BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 35
Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK MIAMI HORROR Illumination EMI
Men from the city of showers bringing sunshine to our lives. Awesome.
Those of us who were around during The Great Electro Revolution of the mid-noughties will remember the first incarnation of Miami Horror; all handclaps, popping bass and ‘80s throwbacks designed exclusively by Benjamin Platt. The transition from the delirious excess of ‘Don’t Be On With Her’ through to Illumination has been the product of years of hard work, the acquisition of some seriously talented band members, but above all, Platt’s vision for a world where disco is not a dirty word. As the brains behind Miami Horror, Platt doesn’t settle for writing songs as singles; the man consistently pens anthems. Before this album had even dropped, ‘Sometimes’ and ‘Moon Theory’ were already festival mainstays, and there are at least three more songs here that’ll instantly
FREELANCE WHALES
S. CAREY
It would be really easy not to like Freelance Whales, if they weren’t so darned adorable. Everything about this New York band, delicately poised on the brink of indie overdose but totally in control, is a lesson in texture. Their voices sound pretty much like they just dropped in from Seth Cohen’s personal stereo, but the expert delineation of every whimsical idea means that these guys are very aware of what it means to write good music. They basically tick every box; from the honeyed crooning of Death Cab For Cutie, to the banjos of Mumford & Sons, to the hilariously twee lyrics that really couldn’t emerge from anywhere else but a city of elevators and lofts. And all of that, by the way, is nailed in the first two minutes of the record. But as Weathervanes progresses, Freelance Whales become less like a one-trick pony and more like the owners of the stable. They intricately weave together songs like the awesomely hip ‘Starring’, which any act on Canadian label Arts & Crafts would kill to have written. Given the type of tunes they produce and the overwhelming joy with which they do it, Freelance Whales are a band that I really thought I’d be sick of after one rotation - but instead, I find myself continuously replaying the album to delve further into its mysteries. It’s kind of like opting not play a computer game you know you can win and going for the one that’s gloriously challenging instead. But the only challenge Freelance Whales pose is how they can possibly better what is, really, a very accomplished and enjoyable debut. The name of this band is now going on my business card instead of ‘Freelance Journalist.’ It just sounds better, doesn’t it?
Sean Carey was last seen on these shores as part of Justin Vernon’s touring band for Bon Iver. Seeing the group perform at Angel Place last year was a chilling, thrilling experience - so when Carey’s debut album dropped into my lap, I sat up and took notice. But sadly, when I hit Play, my interest quickly wore off. I tried, too. I listened to All We Grow on the train, in the lounge room and walking through the city. I played it on the stereo, laptop and iPod. Heck, I even tried it at night, with all the lights out. But frustratingly, this damn record just could not hold my attention. The curious thing is that Carey uses all the same ingredients as Bon Iver. Everything is slow-burning; everything is quietly understated. Many songs are built on repetitive percussion and/ or guitar; they take their own sweet time to reveal themselves. Mournful, layered vocals echo through the songs, deliberately telling you half the story, no more. The rest you have to work out for yourself. So why does this record fail, where For Emma, Forever Ago succeeded? I think it lies in the repetition. Justin Vernon used this with deft skill on tracks like ‘Lump Sum’. He built something ghostly and atmospheric, while his plaintive vocals held you captive. But Carey, on tracks like ‘We Fell’ and ‘All We Grow’, clings to repetition to the point of monotony; and his voice just doesn’t have the same power of expression to rescue things. Having been part of the Bon Iver story, maybe Carey would be best advised to branch out and do something uniquely his own. Otherwise he’ll always suffer by comparison. Andy McLean
Jonno Seidler
This is deliberately gleeful club music that can be enjoyed anywhere. It looks skyward rather than at its own navel, and is joyously positive in a manner that has all but been forgotten but Australia’s electro elite. Platt’s picked a great team with Aaron, Josh and Dan, who take his songs out of the studio and straight to the mainstage. ‘Holidays’ simmers, the Kimbra-driven ‘I Look To You’ is a surefire smash in the making and ‘Summersun’ will have even the toughest critics throwing shapes. Plant, whose basslines still define each song, is a wunderkind - and deserves to be celebrated. Jonno Seidler
PAPA VS PRETTY
All We Grow JagJaguwar
Weathervanes Dew Process
join that cachet in coming months. The key to this band’s success is dedication, high production values and an inherent knowledge of what makes a great track, even if it doesn’t conform to industry standards. Miami Horror’s music almost embodies the tone and the title of one of the first songs Platt ever remixed, ‘Music Sounds Better With You.’
Heavy Harm Peace and Riot/EMI These guys are so tight live, so focused on nailing their set, that they refused my attempts to get them liquored-up on rider last time they played while I was working behind a bar. Then again, that was a few years ago, and they were probably in Year 10. You’ve got to hand it to front-man and main songwriter, the now-19 year old Thomas Rawle – he’s obviously talented, and the dude can yowl. This part of Papa Vs Pretty perfectly suits the radio-humping vibe of the opening title track, with its steady chorus, which is still stuck in my brain space. But something starts to waft in during ‘Sgt. Suffer,’ as the band confuses with cheesy licks atop unnecessary, distant falsetto harmonies. It’s a shame, as the track ends with a solid jam apparently led by Isaac Brock, who seems to have spirited himself into Rawle’s larynx. And this perfectly highlights the dichotomy of their sound: whilst they can proffer predictable schmaltz, there are flashes of something more, when the simple drums drive insistent and surprisingly-threatening vocals. By the time ‘Ask Yourself’ plops down, the main criticism of the Paul Dempsey-produced EP has reared up in its entirety. Heavy Harm has eclectic influences and wide-ranging aspirations, but these concepts alone do not a successful pop release make. There is a definite appeal to parts of these songs, but an occasional catchy hook underpinned by straining vocals, while the music leaps from pubrock to Buckley ballads, just leaves the listener a little disappointed and confused. This release suffers from stylistic clutter and odd choices; catch ‘em live and you’ll see how much more they're capable of.
Dark Continent, Cold Century Vitamin Records Dark Continent, Cold Century is as beguiling and ambitious as its title suggests, emerging like an awakened giant left to survey the progression, destruction and decay of the century passed... But for such a sprawling epic by one man (ex-The Hauntingly Beautiful Mousemoon’s D.A. Calf), it manages to be fairly concise:
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‘Broken Glass In My Mouth’ and .‘ ..Aagh’ are stabbed with industrial synths while ‘In & Out’ slowly builds into a fire before extinguishing itself. Somewhere in between are tracks laced with that paisley sound, like ‘Flying In Dreams’ and the more playful ‘Fruits Of The Earth’ - all heavy whispered vocals, dreamy guitars and weighted drum brushes. The catchiest song would have to be ‘Push/Pull’. It charges along only for Alexander Evan Knight’s stammering drums to stall it in the first few choruses, sounding like a one man band tripping over himself down the stairs.
For all its cheesiness though, this is a strong album - and I think it would become something entirely amazing live. Tracks like ‘Jump Back’, ‘Even Judas Gave Jesus A Kiss’ and ‘The Hammer’ are jammier, edgier tracks that dissolve into beat-driven dance numbers; and ‘Steady As The Sidewalk Cracks’, ‘The Most Certain Sure’ and ‘AM/FM’ are surefire club hits. Bring on !!! at some summer festivals, where this music could really shine. A few drinks, friends, smoke machines and the warmth of the sun could take this album from good to great. Kirsty Brown
Despite the gear-shifting from one track to another, and the fact that Calf assumes a range of different vocals throughout, there is no jarring on the ears - a feat attributed to both the smooth skills of producer Scott Horscroft (The Panics, The Presets), and the faint sense of narrative that discreetly travels alongside the album. It’s like flicking through a dated history textbook or your grandparent’s photo album, imbuing a sense of loss, be it nostalgia or despair. Not bad for a solo project. An example of how having a farreaching scope doesn’t necessitate getting swallowed up in your own majesty... Kilian David
Color Your Life Popfrenzy
Recorded in Berlin, this is Ian Brown goes to the Discohaus, with a bit of New Jack Swing and house thrown in for good measure. There are saxophone solos galore, ravestyle vocal hooks from chicks with big voices, headphone pans that make the music sound like it’s gone underwater, and the dark drum machines and brooding synths that add to that end-of-the-century paranoia which influenced music after the optimism of the 80s.
Benjamin Cooper
ten polished tracks which promise more than most double albums do.
TWIN SISTER
Strange Weather, Isn’t It? Warp / Inertia Any doubt that I had about a ‘90s revival being in full swing has been put to bed with the latest album from Californian punkfunkers !!! - it sounds like a fusion of Surrender-era Chemical Brothers, The Stone Roses and late INXS. So much so that anyone who remembers the era as vividly as me will find it hard to hear Strange Weather as a fresh, original piece of work; I keep expecting Shaun Ryder to pop out of a rainbow, and for someone to refer to Madchester.
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE BOOK OF SHIPS
!!!
Brooklyn's Twin Sister garnered considerable buzz Stateside on the strength of their debut EP Vampires With Dreaming Kids - which they thoughtfully made freely available through their website. Although their second LP delivers some radiantly chromatic moments assuring them their place on the ‘ones to watch’ list - it does so without ever becoming uncontrollably drool-worthy. The tone is set from the get go, ‘The Other Side Of Your Face’ kicking Color Your Life off to a hypnotic start with rippling phased guitars parsing over an unfaltering drumbeat. Singer Andrea Estella’s waifish vocals unobtrusively cut through the texture, before allowing the song to collapse into a post-rock fade out – kind of like a moving light refracting through a steadily held prism. Radio-ready single ‘Lady Daydream’ is beguilingly chilled as is ‘All Around And Away We Go’, which circles around a point of white euphoria and provides the EP’s most memorable moment. But this same moment also makes the group’s debt to the likes of Stereolab abundantly clear – and ‘Milk and Honey’ leans towards the ‘theft’ side of ‘influenced’. While Estella’s voice takes a little while to warm to, being beautiful in the same way that Charlotte Gainsbourg is (strangely, undefinably so), Twin Sister works better with her than without. The EP’s single instrumental, ‘Galaxy Plateau’, is a piece of sinister ambience straight from the void, which acts as little more than an extended introduction to original final track ‘Phenomenons’ (the actual final track, Australia-only ‘#6’, sounds more like an undeveloped demo’). Color Your Life is a moody little collection which suggests that as soon as the band shrug away the burden of their influences, only good things are possible. Oliver Downes
OFFICE MIXTAPE Wondering what the 'experts' listen to? Here's the music that drives The Brag... for this week, anyway. BEASTIE BOYS - Paul's Boutique HELLO SATTELITES - Hello Satellites SLEIGHBELLS - Treats
LIARS - Sisterworld LAURA VEIRS - July Flame
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 37
Single Reviews
Vinyl Record Review
By Jacob Stone
HOME BLITZ
BEST COAST
SINGLE OF THE WEEK
Perpetual Night [7”, 2010] Almost Ready
Boyfriend
Cover art for New Jersey’s Home Blitz always tends to sits in the strikinglysimple category. But assume that any of this shit is basic, and the almighty will bestow upon thee the title of SUCKER.
Hallucinogenic, summery, fuzzy girl-pop from the hipster army of America. This is a brilliant song, produced with one foot in the nostalgic innocence of the 50’s and 60’s while the other pushes the cutting edge of indie rock and roll. Forward-thinking and classic, this Californian surf-pop group warp the current obsession with surf rock through a prism of delay and reverb that enhances singer Beth Cosentino’s unreciprocated romantic ache, and adds menace and sparkle to the song’s knowing, generic construction. None of this is bad - these are the building blocks of classic pop. Despite a lack of breathing room in the vocal, and sense of unrelenting layers in the mix, this song rules.
NO COVER IMAGE AVAILABLE
NO COVER IMAGE AVAILABLE
CLARE BOWDITCH
THE SMALL HOURS
DZ
DARREN HANLON
TEENAGERSINTOKYO
Modern Day Addiction
Sleeping Through Alarms
Gebbie Street
Modern History
Peter Pan
Clare Bowditch has changed her tune since her alt folk beginnings. We’re listening to a more accessible pop incarnation for the songwriter, the intent presumably being to interact with and comment on popular culture from an appreciable distance. But I’m not sure exchanging her spare, considered arrangements and lyricism for this wordier, more glib format has worked as she intended it would... The line “You will feel better when you have the operation” sticks out nicely, and neatly satirises modern attitudes - but if a song is defined by the strength of the melody and lyrical intent, this is no competitor for her previous single, ‘The Start Of War’.
This understated bit of indie pop really shines: a nineties slacker pop aesthetic that combines early Youth Group, The Lemonheads, and any number of buzzy, airily melodic guitar bands from that decade. Despite the relative modesty of the song, Mark Smithers has a glassy, capable voice, and his lyrics effectively reflect the ennui of spending your mid-twenties in a town like Sydney. The melodies are key, shared equally between Peter Watts’ alternately twinkly and warm keyboard lines and Smithers’ bright, clean guitar leads - and the rhythm section does a motivating, unfussy job. Satisfying and sad, especially because the band just played their last show ever. Adios!
Whether they know it or not, this band are The Mess Hall. Seriously, it's pretty much the same thing - just more electro and hip hop influenced. And no, it’s not that I’m giving this a cursory listen and making a snap judgement. It slots into the modern two-piece blues rock template EXACTLY over-amplified, with a cutting, danceable edge. And in that sense, it’s retrograde. There’s always a band doing this kind of thing, and these guys include just enough production quirk to make the cut... but nothing more. The singing alternates between sneering and screaming, and it’s rare that you’d remember a melodic hook. It’s good, but I’ve heard better.
Well, this is a sad song. Darren is getting better with age, but he’s still playing alt-folk with quirky, semi-scientific lyrics that only barely disguise the melancholy that rolls in and out of his adult life with tidal repetition... It’s a hard song to listen to, as Hanlon evokes old lovers with an honest sense of futility; “Let the golden vines of modern history grow, to cover you and everyone you know”. The song might be a bit long and less sticky than ‘Falling Aeroplanes’, but he has the gall and tenacity to write heartfelt, adult music within an entirely hostile, fickle industry. This is beautiful and engaging music, even if it won’t kick around your head for days.
A step up from the pointless, monochromatic stuff this band released at the start of their career - but it still won’t quite cut it. Time spent recording in the UK with Bat For Lashes’ producer tightened the band, and now they have a definable arrangement that works for them. The layers of keyboard and the agit-pop rhythm section are entertaining and very modern, but also extremely derivative. Sam Lim’s vocal is more self-assured and varied, but still melodically limited to a chant until we hit the chorus, which is upbeat but ultimately underwritten and forgettable… This is a New Young Pony Club/Joy Division amalgam, that arrived a year too late.
38 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
Any initial distrust of the band’s first coloured sleeve is immediately kicked aside when A-Side ‘Perpetual Night’ explodes, with Daniel DiMaggio laying down the law from the moment the needle touches the black. The mundane of “punch card/coffee bar/ it’s all the same” has never sounded so enticing and fun. Piano runs the main support for the start of DiMaggio’s yelp, rather than the usual guitar. This isn’t some meandering Cold War Kids bullshit right here though, people: less than two minutes in and DiMaggio lets rip with a savvy and indulgent screecher of an axe solo. Flip the disk and a cover of The Searchers' 1981 track ‘Murder In My Heart’ loses the thundering drums for some driving and cluttered percussion. The choice to omit some of the original verses in place of repetition of the title line, with DiMaggio’s trademark upward whine, gives a sense of communal urgency and joyous violence. But the only threatening part of this release is on the reverse of the sleeve, where a blood-stained dagger drips next to the track’s name. I’m wiggling my worm straightup for an insulting fist of pop, which signs the back of the sleeve “Thanx To No One, Die!’ Benjamin Cooper
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 39
The Minor Chord The All Ages rant bought to you by Indent.net.au. By Melody Forghani
Bliss N Eso
NOISY BY CHOICE
Out in Burwood, a bunch of youthful go-getters are embracing their formative years by making some pretty great contributions to the local arts through local music events. These events are run by young people, for young people - and they are doing a call out for likeminded peers to get amongst it. In the last four years, the Noisy By Choice crew have worked with a mass of up-and-coming local musicians to showcase their talents and acknowledge their achievements on a professional stage. The bands compete for a bunch of prizes, the best including studio time and professional mixing. Now in their fifth year, the young champions of Noisy by Choice are taking the time to add the world of drama and hip hop to their CV, for the inaugural Local Performing Arts Festival. How can you get involved? If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested in hip hop or drama or perhaps event management, the crew wants you! To be part of the celebrations head to indent.net.au for all the forms and information.
40 HOUR FAMINE CONCERT
Forget teenage angst; here are some more young people doing good things. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen the ads, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve heard the
ALL AGES GIG PICKS THURSDAY AUGUST 19 Bliss N Eso, Diafrix, Mind over Matter Enmore Theatre
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 Taylor King, Will and the Indians, Viridian, Beyond Reckless & Sum of Us Camden Civic Centre
SUNDAY AUGUST 29
Galapagos Duck, Scrim & more Experiment Farm Cottage
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3 Death Before Dishonor, Against, Restless & Phantoms Live At The Wall, Leichhardt
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FINABAH AT TWISTED SOUNDS
Now for some juicy gossip from Liverpoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own all-ages, drug and alcohol free festival. Happening this September at the PCYC, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve just got word through the grapevine that Twisted Sounds have locked in their first headliner: the rocking Finabah from Queensland will return to our city (after last visiting school halls at lunch time), for the special local festival. Watch this space as weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll soon be revealing the full line up!
BILL N ESO
A reminder that this Thursday Bliss N Eso are playing a very affordable and very enjoyable gig at The Enmore Theatre in Marrickville. The boys are touring in support of their most recent album release Running on Air, which features some hip hop heavy weights including RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan fame) and Xzibit. On Thursday you can pick up the album and check out Aussie heavyweights Diafrix (Melbourne) and Mind Over Matter (Sydney) who are playing in support. Tickets are going fast at a price that your wallet agrees with: $10 only!
DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR & MORE
Now something for those of the hardcore persuasion; Death Before Dishonor, Against, Restless and Phantoms are taking the stage at Live at the Wall in Leichhardt, Friday September 3, for a night of madness. Drawing from influences such as Blood for Blood, Madball and Death Threat, Boston's Death Before Dishonor have been touring relentlessly around the world for quite some time, making a name for themselves in hardcore history. Hit up Moshtix for tickets to the show.
GALAPAGOS DUCK
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hype, but have you ever been to a 40 Hour Famine concert? This August 21, the kids of Camden are bringing you Taylor King, Will And The Indians, Viridian, Beyond Reckless and Sum of Us before them; all to raise awareness and funds for World Vision, aiming to put a stop to world hunger. Will And The Indians started when Will entered a school talent quest, without a band. After tracking down anyone with an instrument, they got on stage, won the crowd over and you could say the rest is historyâ&#x20AC;Ś or the script for a new Hollywood movie? If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re keen to have a listen to their music, then head to their MySpace. Tickets to the show are dirt cheap, so you have no reason not to go! Get yourself to Camdenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Civic Centre from 7â&#x20AC;&#x201C;9pm for the showdown.
Death Before Dishonor
Last but certainly not least, we bring you Galapagos Duck, a popular Australian jazz band that formed way back in 60s. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let their age hold you back, because from what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been told with age comes wisdom - and apparently great music. The band are playing an all-ages afternoon gig this August 29 at Experiment Farm Cottage in Parramatta, alongside Scrim and bands from Epping Boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; High and Northmead High. Tickets are available on the door.
Send pics, listings and any info to minorchords@thebrag.com 40 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
Remedy
More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
Monster Magnet
HENDRIX’S BLUES REISSUE
Expect further from movement from the Hendrix camp in October, with pumpedup reissues of the Blues album (which is real weird as it was a compilation in the first place, with the smokinest, ampblowingest version of ‘Hear My Train A’Comin’ ever recorded), as well as his Woodstock and BBC Sessions. And that ain’t all. There’ll also be a four slab box of out-takes and the like, titled West Coast Seattle Boy. While James Marshall (now there’s a fate-filled middle name for you…) Hendrix wasn’t initially accepted in the US, when he finally was some bright spark must have seen the future - damn near every note he ever played anywhere was put on tape. Thankfully.
BUNT IN JAPAN
Sydney's Bunt have been on local roads with Japan’s Vivarta lately, but in midOctober they go visit Vivarta in Japan where the Buntsters are bigger than The Beatles. They’ve got a new four track EP out called My Maryanne.
DAVID LEE ROTH & VAN HALEN
Word is that Van Halen have reunited with David Lee Roth for a new slab and
world tour in 2011. While it’s great news, we’ll take a greatest hits tour over a new release any day thanks. Actually, we’ll just take two hours of DLR talking to an audience. Or doing stand up. They’re probably the same thing.
NEW MONSTER MAGNET Monster Magnet’s next album is, incredibly, their ninth. It’s called Mastermind and will be out in October.
SOUNDGARDEN BEST-OF That Soundgarden compilation we mentioned a while back, to mark the band’s reunion, is called Telephantasm and is out on September 24. The best-of set will be released on September 27 and 28, “inside 1 million copies” of the new videogame Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock in North America. Naturally, there’ll also be three expanded versions of the package which will include a double disc with 12 additional tracks (five of which previously unreleased), Soundgarden’s first ever DVD featuring 20 videos (13 of which have never seen the outside world), a 3 LP vinyl edition and an individually numbered Super Deluxe Collector’s Edition. We’re glad we weren’t asked for a contribution to help finance it all…
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is The Angels’ Face to Face and No Exit albums. Man, those guys had some magic. Great songs, a guitar sound to match anything AC/DC did in that same period of the late seventies (Marseille for example) and Rick Brewster’s baby symphony-like guitar solos. Great stuff. Also spinning is Thin Lizzy’s tough but majestic Bad Reputation (how great is that rolling title track people?) – and, funnily enough, Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation is copping it too. Tough but trashy; we like that.
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS Solid Gold Hell is back on September 11 at the Sly Fox Hotel at Enmore. Metallica’s pretty-near-sold-right-out Australian tour got a whole lot weightier last week, with the announcement of not one but four opening acts - depending on where you are and what month it is. The September dates will see Fear Factory and The Sword - who we’re big fans of here at the Big R - doing curtainraising honours. Then Lamb of God and Baroness step in for the OctoberNovember leg. All to do with everyone’s schedule we imagine. The shows at the Acer Arena on November 10, 11 and 13 are sold out, but there’s another show at the Acer on September 18 still available at time of print, with Fear Factory and The Sword. The Annandale has Shihad attacking their Killjoy release in its entirety on August 20 with Knave Knixx. The first announcement for this year’s Meredith Festival - which is celebrating its 20th year - is the magnificent Dirty Three. The event is happening at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre on the Nolan Farm, Meredith, Victoria from December 10 to 12. Register for the ballot at www.mmf. com.au
Our Last Enemy are about to hit the road with their new slab Fallen Empires, which was recorded in LA with Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolbers handling production. Dates are August 20 at Sirens Nightclub, Terrigal, August 21 at the Lights Out Festival, The Basement, Canberra, August 22 at the Lucky Australian, St Marys (all ages), and September 1 at Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle. The Soundwave festival lineup for 2011 has to be one of the best dream bills we’ve seen since the mid nineties Big Day Out - maybe better. There’s Iron Maiden, Queens of The Stone Age, Slayer, Primus, Slash, Avenged Sevenfold, Rob Zombie, Social Distortion, Gang of Four, Pennywise, The Gaslight Anthem, The Bronx, Monster Magnet, The Melvins, High On Fire, Sword and stacks more. It’s all happening on February 27 at Eastern Creek, and the mighty Maiden are at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on February 24. None of us are even remotely worthy of this. To be eligible for the Soundwave Festival members pre-sale thing, you must be registered as a member on the website at www.soundwavefestival.com. Pre-sale tix for members for the Sydney leg of the festival are available from August 18 at 9am. General public tix on sale at 9am on August 26.
Send stuff for this column to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag please. www.myspace.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 41
live reviews What we've been to see...
THE SPLENDOUR SIDESHOW SPECIAL… HOT CHIP & LCD SOUNDSYSTEM The Hordern Pavilion Monday July 26
As far as double headlining bills go, this is a truly exemplary one. And with the looming threat from James Murphy that this was to be LCD Soundsystem’s final lap, anticipation was very high – the only downer being that this double-banger fell on a Monday night. Certainly Hot Chip would have benefitted from playing on a Saturday, as their opening slot kicked off to a half-full Hordern (which grew and grew throughout). Joe Godard was absent from their tour, so a crazy video projection, super close-up of his big beardy face substituted for the evening while the rest bounced around like the nerdy musical lab doctors they are. They ploughed through a hit-heavy set, but Hot Chip have never done anything for me live. I feel as though they reach their sonic best on record and live, it’s all about just watching a Kraftwerk-lite act of musical performance that doesn’t bring anything new to the mix. Harsh? Perhaps, but I’ve seen them four times now and they’ve never roused any more than a slight boogie from me – but drop a track at a club and I’m all over it. LCD Soundsystem took to the stage and you could barely hear yourself think over the roar from the audience. They bust it out with ‘Us Vs Them’ and as Pat Mahoney first hit that cowbell, the crowd literally went wild. I have never heard a cowbell get its very own applause before - but this one signalled something different: it is time to DANCE. James Murphy sounds clear and loud, and the depth of his booming voice when he sings “blaaaaack out the sun over me, spoil all the fun won’t you please” is as near-perfect an LCD Soundsystem moment as you’re ever going to get. The band sounded brilliant and the long, meandering, jammy nature of many tracks was the perfect chance to show just how musical they really are. It’s not just clever riffs and samples with this band, who recreated gorgeous hits like ‘All My Friends’ and ‘Get Innocuous’ and turned on the bass for funky versions of ‘Drunk Girls’ and ‘Pow Pow’. ‘Tribulations’ kicked off what felt like an LCD RAVEsystem finale, and things really got moving, with a near-feverpitch reached during ‘Daft Punk Is Playing At My House’. Finishing with ‘New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down’, which segued into Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State Of Mind’, the night was over - but favourites like ‘Someone Great’ and ‘North American Scum’ didn’t get a look in, so I’m pretty grateful that Murphy has revealed he’s on one last lap of the world which will bring him back to Australia one more time… That should really be a greatest hits set.
Kirsty Brown
SCISSOR SISTERS Big Top, Luna Park Tuesday July 27
Look I’ll be blunt up front. Splendour In The Grass was the Scissor Sisters show that Sydney missed out on; up north, Jake Shears got naked. Ana Matronic deepthroated the microphone. Del Marquis wore a more festive neckerchief. But this New York pleasure-seeking troupe only give after they receive, and Sydney was a selfish lover. The cover of Night Works blatantly defined what we all came for: an oversized backdrop of tautly grasped buttocks served the perfect setting for this avalanche of hot, hot, heat. Matronic’s style has decidedly classed-up and slimmed down without losing any of its buxom magnetism; with her fiery hair pristinely styled in a Grace Kelly scroll, and wearing a vinyl cobalt minidress, she quips, “Back in my day, Tuesdays always meant drag queens.” To the dismay of Video Hits punters, new tracks dominated - from the sweltering prophylactics of ‘Skin Tight’ to the '70s silk of ‘Whole New Way’. Recorded in a barn renamed Discoball Jazzfest, Night Work shows the more slick ‘Sisters - a sound that grabs a gold star from parents Elton and Kylie. With a newfound sensitivity, new tracks represented a more mature outfit, as disco was momentarily forgotten in the balladry of ‘Fire With Fire’. Reach high, grasp the air, pull to the chest; Celine who? But electro clash anthems from 2007’s Ta-dah finally sent a skerrick of excitement through the largely immobile crowd. With a jangle and three dropped microphones, the royals of glamrock delighted with favourites ‘Take Your Mama’, ‘She’s My Man’, and the ex-shaking “Kiss You Off”, as Matronic kindly referred to a past love as ‘dime store lipstick’. Oozing more charisma than Old Spice, the fivesome rediscovered that mystical thing the fates call the ‘stage’, as Matronic’s strutting lap-dance of a solo ‘Tits On the Radio’ politely indicated things had “progressed to second base”. But ironically, favourite ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancing’ finally captured the uncooperative Sydney crowd, a bunch of still-standing naysayers who you would think could muster up a little “soft-shoe gentle sway”. Sheesh y’all, at least pretend you know which way to bend. With a scarlet change of attire for Matronic and the re-donning of the shredded singlet Shears was almost wearing, a fiery encore proved a wake-up call, with their stripped-back falsetto take on Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’ and the magic of ‘Invisible Light’ followed by a powerful yet stripped-back version of anthem ‘Filthy/Gorgeous’, the dynamic comradery between these vocal pistols exploded the two tackled showmanship, covered it in bondage and found it a fuchsia pair of Scissor Sisters
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live reviews What we've been to see...
Christian Louboutins. Unfortunately for the throbbing Scissor Sisters, Sydney just did not feel like dancing.
By Bridie Connellan
Kyü
YEASAYER, KYÜ The Metro Theatre Wednesday July 28
When I heard that Kyü had won the Yeasayer support slot, I thought it was a bit of a mismatch - the former I consider stripped-back and experimental while the latter are prone to lush arrangements and, if not exactly mainstream, involve at least orthodox elements (albeit combined in an unorthodox way.) Kyü are chilling for reasons I still don’t fully understand – maybe it’s the sparseness and clarity of their sound which evokes some sort of arctic landscape, or maybe they are just so refreshing it feels like a splash of cold water in the face. Whatever the reason, I stood in the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, beaming a gummy smile throughout the whole thing, and if the inarticulate but supportive profanity-dropping group behind me were an accurate litmus test, then I was not alone. Now consider a late nineties teen movie, where a school is divided into numerous social groups; the jocks, the nerds, the ethnics, the AV-enthusiasts (amongst others)… Now, imagine a band which appears to consist of a representative from each of these groups, and you’ve got Yeasayer. It was pleasant to have my preconceptions shattered once again, because far from singing like a pick’n’mix band, from their opening song (‘Wait For The Summer’), Yeasayer functioned together as one. Their impeccable voices released soaring harmonies, complimenting one another and delivering a set that was heartfelt and passionate. They played evenly from both their albums, relying on the quality when playing from their inferior second one Odd Blood. One real treat was playing ‘Tight Rope’ from the compilation Dark Was The Night. It was quite astonishing how accurately they were able to reproduce such heavily-produced songs in a live context. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to find a gripe, it would be that there was little live improvisation. Yeasayer taught me that sometimes it is nice to be wrong; they and Kyü aren’t worlds apart; they both exploring passionate and sublime harmonies. They taught me that a band that looks oddlymatched can play harmoniously, and that shooting from the hip when judging a band means you are liable to miss.
Kurt Johnson
BAND OF HORSES, MIKE NOGA & THE GENTLEMEN OF FORTUNE The Enmore Theatre Thursday July 29
The Drones’ drummer has stepped out from behind the kit to front Mike Noga & The Gentlemen of Fortune, for a fun set that switched genres so often that instead of leaving me impressed it left me feeling a little empty. Three fifths of them in suit jackets and looking like lovely boys, I’d take them home to meet my mum any day, but wouldn’t necessarily seek their music out again. It was fun to see Band of Horses’ lead Ben Bridwell play roadie and help switch guitars between songs,
to roars from the crowd. The Gentlemen’s keyboardist reassured us that we’d have more from Ben later. As indeed we did! Bridwell’s tattoos and proclivity for smoking on stage were a bit of badass which was incongruous alongside the ethereal quality of his lush voice, as the band did what they do best: fill a room to its brim with sound, leaving you holding your breath. A series of stills, mainly black-and-white nature shots, were projected on the wall behind them through the show though, which evened out the vibe a little. Seeing the Horses live always makes me feel a little high. It’s wonderful that they still have this effect, considering their latest album, Infinite Arms - despite charting higher than previous releases - oscillates between, at best, very-similarto - and at worst, not-quite-as-good-as their older stuff. But while collective sighs came up from the audience when old favourites started, there were definitely fans of the new stuff. Everyone clapped and sang along with ‘Older’; and latest single ‘Laredo’ got some of the loudest cheers of the night. Everyone shared a moment when a security guard made a guy put out the lighter he was waving in the air: Ben gestured and encouraged him to light up again and dozens of spotfires flared around the audience. Although I’d hoped for a quiet acoustic encore of one of Infinite Arms’ highlights ‘Evening Kitchen’, it’s hard to complain when they returned with ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’. It was a great night – but I’d love to see them take a new direction with future releases, so we get something a little different in the live show. Romi Scodellaro
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE Metro Theatre Wednesday August 4
I found myself asking a lot of questions at this gig: “Isn’t that the bass player playing percussion?” “Are there 11 or 12 people on stage just now?” “Wasn’t the guy on trumpet playing guitar at the start of this song?” Chances are you’ll find yourself asking similar questions if you ever get the chance to watch Broken Social Scene play… And chances are, what you’ll hear will be brilliant, if this performance is anything to go by. The Canadian ensemble tiptoed and tore through a spellbinding set, maintaining a highlycharged and constantly evolving on-stage presence. The band morphed into and out of styles, sounds and genres, with non-stop lineup tinkering that saw them add and subtract musicians and a fourpiece brass section as required through the evening. The state of constant transition was reflected by the individuals onstage, most of whom swapped instruments between and during songs, contributing to the classic BSS sense of a well-ordered chaos. This vigorous shapeshifting, combined with the band’s deep and varied back catalogue, kept all of the musicians interested, and provided an unforgettable experience for the audience. This is truly a band pushing itself forward through collaboration, exploration and the fearlessness that comes with belief and ability. The band thundered through the openers ‘World Sick’ and ‘Stars and Sons’, pausing along the way to nail ‘Forced To Love’, ‘Superconnected’, and ‘Cause=Time’ before bringing it all home with “Ibi Dreams Of Pavement” and “Meet Me In The Basement” Ethereal without being lightweight. Sonic without veering into esoteric noodling. Bombastic yet emotional and evocative. This was a show to re-charge the musical tastebuds, a course set well apart from the frequently lightweight fare tossed around in the hype, heat and flash-in-thepan of the indie-music stir-fryer. In short, a great gig by a great band.
Steve Keogh
BRAG :: 375:: 16:08:10 :: 43
snap sn ap
kate nash 05:08:10
PICS :: RR
up all night out all week . . .
:: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666
Twist and Shout
06:08:10 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Road, Newtown 9550 3666
party profile
florence & the machine
PICS :: AM
It’s called: Twist and Shout ‘60s Dance Party - Election Eve Dance-a-thon It sounds like: The classic Aussie election movie Don’s Party but with great genre-smashing ‘60s dance music, heaps of dancing, funky outfits and no Graham Kennedy. Who’s playing? Doctor J, Milli Von Ill, Twist and Shout DJs Three records you’ll hear on the night: ‘It’s My Party (and I’ll Cry If I Want To)’ by Lesley Gore, ‘Twist and Shout’ by The Beatles and ‘Friday On My Mind’ by The Easybeats. And one you definitely won’t: ‘The Ninja Rap’ by Vanilla Ice Sell it to us: Sydney’s favourite decade-specific dance party is back with an election eve dance-a-thon. Our party promises more soul, more rock and roll, more surf, more rhythm and blues, more psych and more sore feet at the polling booths the next day! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: If you remember it, you weren’t there. Crowd specs: Mop-tops, Motowners, mods and Mad Men all welcome. Hippies and beatniks use side door. Wallet damage: $5 Where: Brighton Up Bar / cnr Riley and Oxford Sts, Darlinghurst.
gypsy and the cat
PICS :: AM
When: Friday August 20 / 9pm - 3am (the night BEFORE the election.)
trash
PICS :: RR
05:08:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711
club blink
PICS :: RR
07:08:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566
06:08:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566 44 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
) :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER KA :: ANDREW VIDLER BAS A MAJ :: NA HAN ROU E ROSETT
MAR ::
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 45
snap sn ap
hot damn
PICS :: RR
up all night out all week . . .
05:08:10 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245
PICS :: RR
sfx
party profile
The Transatlantics and Kon
07:08:10 :: Agincourt Hotel :: 871 George St City 92814566
It’s called: The Transatlantics and Kon It sounds like: A special night of funk, soul and rare grooves from some of the sharpest names in local and international talent. Who’s spinning? The legendary Kon from ‘Kon and Amir’ and The Transatlantics (Adelaide). Sell it to us; The Transatlantics are one of the freshest young funk and soul bands hitting the scene today and have just released their debut album through Freestyle Records. Kon is of course from the well-known beat seeking duo Kon and Amir. Together these two acts are poised to set the dance floor off for a night of all around good times. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Dancing and grooving through the night to some fresh raw funk and soul. Crowd specs: Anyone looking for a great Saturday night out! Wallet damage: $25 +bf Where: The Basement
teenage kicks
PICS :: AM
When: Saturday August 21
mumford and sons
PICS :: AM
07:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
03:08:10 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Road, Newtown 9550 3666 46 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
) :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER KA :: ANDREW VIDLER BAS A MAJ :: NA HAN ROU E ROSETT
MAR ::
presents presents...
TUE CULT SINEMA 17th August 7:30pm
$5 suggested donation
WED
JAGER UPRISING
18th August 7:30pm
w. Domino + Activate Deathray + New Strange Horizon + Phader $8 @ door
THU 19th August 7:30pm
Shake That Noise presents
MILKMAIDS w. Roadside Gropers + Beaufields + Maux Faux $10 door
FRI
20th August 8pm
SHIHAD Playing KILLJOY in its entirety w. DJ Knave Knixx $23 + bf
SAT SHIHAD 21st August 8pm
*Sold Out*
Playing GENERAL ELECTRIC it its entirety
SUN ROCK FOR A CURE 22nd August 4pm
Cure Cancer Australia Foundation Fundraiser w. MEZA + SLEEP DEPT + POST THIS + CROWD TO THE SHORE $10 entry
COMING UP: THE MESS HALL | M-PHAZES | CHASE THE SUN | STONE PARADE
CALLING ALL CARS | THOUSAND NEEDLES IN THE RED | DAN KELLY
Introducing Kicking off August 29th
SUNDAY DRIVE $1 from every ticket going to FBI
With Ya Aha + The Pixiekills + Cameras + ShakinĘź Howls + The Tourist
3!4 35. AM PM "OOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL ON 0ARRAMATTA 2D !NNANDALE &ULL LIST OF UPCOMING SHOWS INFORMATION AND SHOW BOOKINGS VISIT
WWW ANNANDALEHOTEL COM
YOUR LIVE MUSIC CHANNEL
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 47
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week PVT
Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle free 7pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Stephen Fisher-King Glen Street Theatre, Belrose $21 11am Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Sundaze: Audiogasum Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 8pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Whitley Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 8pm
JAZZ
Delilah, The Bob Gebert Trio Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Soup Groove Session Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills free 5.30pm The Glorious Sousaphonics, Psychomotor 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 8.30pm
SATURDAY AUGUST 21
PVT, Seekae, Ghoul Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $20.85 (student) – $24.50 + bf
8pm MONDAY AUGUST 16 ROCK & POP
1/4 Inch: Rafael Anton Irisarri, Anna Chase, Alex White Headlands Hotel, Austinmer 7.30pm Kym Campbell Opera Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Sarah Paton The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Singer Songwriter Night Vic on the Park Hotel, Marrickville $5 8pm Slash (USA), Juke Kartel Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $82.45 8pm Slash After Party: Australian GnR Show Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm Sundaze: The Jam Thing Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 8pm Unherd Open Mic: Derkajam Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Wellsy’s Music Club Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm
JAZZ
Greg Coffin Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Olivia Pipitone Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Soulfood The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 8.30pm Tony Slavich Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Songsalive!: Lisalive, Ford County Four, One Word, Grace and Glory, Jimmy, Steve Robinson, Phil Cole, Under the Purple Tree and guests Springwood Sports Club free 7pm Songsalive!: Vanessa Jade, Lauren Augarten, henderson road society club, Jasmine Crittenden, Josh Singer, Matt Gerber, Helmet Uhlmann and guests Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm Songwriter Sessions Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills free 7.30pm
COUNTRY
Camden Valley Country Music Club Hope Christian School, Narellan free 7pm
TUESDAY AUGUST 17 ROCK & POP
Chris Klondike Masuak & The North Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Elle Harris Duo Opera Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Michelle Cashman Arthouse Hotel, Sydney free 6.30pm Mick & Josh Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Mr Percival Raval, Surry Hills $20 (+ bf) 8pm Open Mic Night
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Tuesday Night Live: Red Slim, Justin Carter, Darling Blue, Castlecomer Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm
COUNTRY
Nick Latta, Clay Couter, Sam Newton, Alex Gibson The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18 ROCK & POP
Alanna Cherote The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf) 6.30pm Andy Mammers The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Ant Beard Brass Monkey, Cronulla $12.25 8pm Basement Birds, Old Man River Bar on the Hill, University of Newcastle, Callaghan $34.70 (student)–$61.20 (incl CD) 8pm Baz, Brian Campeau Raval, Surry Hills free 8pm Bernie Segedin Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Darren Hanlon, Shelley Short Heritage Hotel, Bulli $19 (presale) 6pm Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Erin Marshall, Reese Szabo Dee Why Hotel free 8pm Grinspoon, The Snowdroppers, Electric Horse Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle West $37.80 (presale) 8pm Jager Uprising: Domino, Activate Deathray, New Strange Horizon, Phader Annandale Hotel $8 7pm Jam Nights Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 7pm Jellyfish Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm JP O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Juke Kartel Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15– $20 8pm Rocken Like Dokken: Laura Imbruglia, MachineMachine Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Live n Local Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $13.50 7pm
Mark Wood Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Merenia Opera Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Mike Bennett The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Muso Jam Night Live at the Wall, Leichhardt free 7pm Open Mic Night Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Pete Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free Sideshow: Sound Casino, Stickyfingers Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm The City Shakeup, Broadway Mile Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West 8pm The Liberators Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8pm The Study: Preachers, WIM, Sooners, Aleesha Dibbs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 7pm Wicko Jam Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm YourSpace Muso Showcase: Karaoke Taxi, Art Rush & The New Termites, Thunder Love, Gentle Hurst, Emad Younan, Solomon Barbar, Moonshine Slim, Andrew K and more Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm
JAZZ
John Redmond Trio The Manhattan Lounge, Sydney free 6.45pm Lucie & Jessie: Chelsea Gibb, Ashley Carruthers, Lloyd Harvey, Ash Bee The Polo Lounge and Supper Club, Darlinghurst $45 7pm Paul Sun, John Blenkhorn, Alex Compton Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Salsa Lounge: Afrocuban Latin Jazz Collective Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm The Tom Ferris Group, Chad Wackerman The Basement, Circular Quay $25.00 9pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Col Loughnan Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach free 1.30pm Zohar’s Nigun 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC/FOLK
Jessica Cain The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Songsalive!: Rebecca Fielding, Eve Goonan, TAOS and guests Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Songsalive!: Shining Whits, Pat O’Grady, Russell Neal and guests Harbourview Hotel, the Rocks free 7pm
THURSDAY AUGUST 19 ROCK & POP
Art vs Science, Tim & Jean, Jinja Safari Bar on the Hill, University of Newcastle, Callaghan $18 (+ bf)– $22 (at door) 8pm Backlash Riverwood Sports Club free 8pm Basement Birds, Old Man River Uni Bar, Wollongong University, Gwynneville $34.70 (student)–$39.80 (+ bf) 8pm Belles Will Ring, The Demon Parade Melt Bar, Kings Cross $10 (at door) 8pm Bob Corbett & the Roo Grass Band Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Dan Spillane Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Freshly Cut: Lions At Your Door, Papermoon, Jack Colwell & the Owls Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm G3 Marble Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Hot Damn!: Resist the Thought, Pledge This!, The Abandonment, We Lost The Sea Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10–$12 8pm House Vs Hurricane, Heroes For Hire Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $12 (+ bf) 8pm Ian Moss Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $45 (show only)–$112 (dinner & show) 7pm Jo Vill Windang Bowling Club free 6pm Jon Stevens Brass Monkey, Cronulla $47.95 8pm Juke Kartel Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 8pm Matt Finish The Vanguard, Newtown $27 (+ bf)–$30 (at door) 6.30pm MILKMAIDS: Roadside Gropers, Beaufields, Maux Faux Annandale Hotel 8pm My Future Lies, Kid Mac, Mark Wilkinson Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm Nag Champa Opera Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Raoul Graf Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm Residents: Jack Ladder Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 7pm Shaun Kirk The Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland free 8pm Sketch The Rhyme, Reyes De La Onda Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 9pm
Art vs Science
“Imperial body bags, coming home in dribs and drabs. Life is numbers, with doggy tags” - MANIC STREET PREACHERS 48 :: BRAG :: 375 : 16:08:10
Presented by Pres
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com Smoke & Silver Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free Steve Edmonds Band Empire Hotel, Annandale free 7pm Tenielle Neda, Caitlin Harnett, Luke Webb Raval, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm The Beautiful Girls Roundhouse, Kensington $10 (student)–$28 7pm The Bedroom Philosopher, The Awkwardstra, The Boat People, Pinky Beecroft & the White Russians Harp Hotel, Wollongong $12 (+ bf)–$17 (at door) 8pm The Ghost of Bob Shepherd, Nudist Colonies of the World, All’s Fallow, Spew Your Guts Up, Never Content The Valve, Tempe $10 8pm Up Late With Jim Shirlaw: Sick Python, Old Men of Moss Mountain Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 11pm Vienna Circus, Dean Michael Smith Band Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm White Bros New Brighton Hotel, Manly free 10pm - late Wollongong Wail Band Comp City Diggers, Wollongong free 8pm Woollen Knits, Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm
JAZZ
Dave Halls The Basement, Circular Quay $18 (+ bf)–$22 (at door) 8.45pm Degustation: Juan Jackson, Jennifer Marten-Smith The Polo Lounge and Supper Club, Darlinghurst $45 7pm Didi Mudigdo
TUE 17 AUG
Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7.30pm Funkquarter Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm Jazz Factory The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 7pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm The Brand New Heavies (UK) Metro Theatre, Sydney $59 (+ bf) 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Dennis Aubrey’s Songwriters Night @Newtown RSL free 7pm Helen Mottee Hermann’s, Darlington free 1pm Martha Reich Bliss n Eso Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm Songsalive!: Ben Osmo, Andrew Denniston and guests Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale free 7.30pm Songsalive!: Eve Goonan, TAOS and guests Royal Albert Hotel, Surry Hills free 7pm Songsalive!: Under the Purple Tree and guests Henry Lawson Club, Werrington County free 7.30pm
HIP HOP
Bliss n Eso, Diafrix, Mind Over Matter Enmore Theatre $10 (+ bf) 8pm
COUNTRY
New Stars of Country: Amber Lawrence, Luke Dickens, Victoria Baillie, Luke Austen Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $23 7pm
FRIDAY AUGUST 20 ROCK & POP
2days Hits Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville free 9.30pm Allstar Belmont Hotel free 8.30pm Art Vs Science, Tim & Jean, Jinja Safari Uni Bar, Wollongong University, Gwynneville $18 (+ bf)–$22 (at door) 8pm Barnstorming Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Basement Birds, Old Man River, The Sun Orchestra Enmore Theatre $43.90 (presale)–$65.30 (incl CD) 8pm Bender Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor free 8pm Big Whoop: The Model School, Ivy League, Goddog Melt Bar, Kings Cross $10 11.30pm Blue Fusion Warners Bay Hotel free 9pm Breaking Orbit, Memorial Drive Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington $11.30 8pm Brown Sugar Marble Bar, Sydney free 9.30pm Cabins, Step Panther Melt Bar, Kings Cross $12 8pm Casey Donovan Slide, Darlinghurst $23 8.30pm Cash & Co Iron Horse Inn, Cardiff free 6.30pm Chartbusters Campbelltown Catholic Club free 9pm Clay Couter, Frank Sultana Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta $10 8.30pm Club Blink: Dyscord, Deamon Foetal Harvest, Alice Through The Windsheild Glass
ROCK-STEIN
WED D 18 AUG
FRI 20 AUG
FREE ENTRY
THE PREACHERS
18 Aug
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
19 Aug
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
+ WIM + SOONERS + ALEESHA DIBBS
LIONS AT YOUR DOOR
fri
20 Aug
+ PAPERMOON + JACK COWELL & THE OWLS
(5:00PM - 8:00PM)
STATIC SILHOUETTES
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
+ THE CADRES + THE RUMIATERS + DJ GUS LAKEVIEW
SET SAIL + CHASING BAILEY + JESSICA MACHMER
THE LAURELS (FREE)
FRI 27 AUG
SPACE PROM 3000
FRI 03 SEP
21 Aug
sun
SATURDAY NIGHT
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
COMING SOON THU 26 AUG
(9:15PM - 1:00AM)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
sat
SAT 21 AUG
Show: David Campbell Sydney Opera House $50 (C Res)– $150 (gold) 7.30pm House Vs Hurricane, Heroes For Hire The Loft Youth Venue, Newcastle $15 (+ bf) 6pm Hue Williams Eastern Suburbs Legion Club, Waverley free 8pm Ian Moss Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $45 (show only)–$112 (dinner & show) 7pm Idol Karaoke Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm In Pieces Five Dock RSL free 8pm Jason Hicks Hotel CBD, Sydney free 6.30pm JJ Duo Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 8pm Josh Calloway Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8pm
wed
RADAR RADIO + theLBLM.com presents FRESHLY CUT THU 19 AUG
Agincourt Hotel. Ultimo $12 Cyber Crystals Hotel Delany, Newcastle free 9pm Dave Agius Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Dead Letter Chorus Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Double Whammy Padstow RSL Club free 8pm Eon Beats Trio, Miss Match, Jeremy Kirschner Bank Hotel, Newtown free 9pm Fuzzbox: Border Thieves, Machine Machine, Jesus My Eyes!, The Cosmic Explorer (DJ) The Loft, UTS free 7pm Garry David, The Momos, Vegan Mosquitos Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Granite Revolution Blackbutt Hotel, New Lambton free 8.45pm Homegrown Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 10pm House Cabaret: The Broadway
FREE ENTRY
MUSIC TRIVIA ft MC HAMISH ROSSER THE STUDY presents
The Brand New Heavies
22 Aug
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
HORRORSHOW
WWW.THEGAELIC.COM EVENT EVENT &&FUNCTION FUNCTIONBOOKINGS: BOOKINGS: clayton@selectmusic.com.au danielle@thegaelic.com BAND BANDBOOKINGS: BOOKINGS:clayton@selectmusic.com.au clayton@selectmusic.com.au
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 49
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
Katie Underwood, Matt Dwyer Little Big Band The Vanguard, Newtown $16.50 (+ bf) 6.30pm Killjoy: Shihad (NZ) Annandale Hotel $25–$44 (whole event) 8pm Kim Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free 5pm Line Drawings w/ Arc Archer, Driftwood Drone and Little Napier Spectrum, Darlinghurst $8 8pm Mechanical Black, Dark Order, Kaleeko, Havoc Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Melody Black, Indigo Rising Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7.30pm Merilyn Steele Matraville RSL Club free 8pm Midnight Juggernauts, Dappled Cities, Canyons, Kirin J. Callinan The Forum Theatre, Moore Park $30 (+ bf) 8pm Milestones Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm Monique Brumby, Diana Anaid Oriental Hotel, Springwood Free 8.30pm Moonlight Drive MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle free 10.30pm MUM: LIVE: Sister Jane, Only The Sea Slugs, Violet Pulp, The Priory Dolls, Mother and Father, Monks Of Mellonwah, Orca! Straight Ahead!, God Rest The Good Doctor, DJs: Dave Dappled (Dappled Cities), Walkie Talkie, Jack Shit, Alvin, Animal Chin, Swim Team DJs, Wet Lungs, FiFiDoesDiDi, Kapow, 10th Avenue, 16 Tacos The World Bar, Kings Cross $10– $15 8pm Oxford Art Factory’s 3rd Birthday: Parades, Howl, Guineafowl, Rapids, Traps, Joysticks, Circle Pit, Whipped Cream Chargers, Stickyfingers, La Mancha Negra, Puta Madre Brothers, Mother & Son, Dark Bells, Iron Man, Samara, The Velveteens, Quincy, Goldfoot, Jack Shit, The E.L.F. Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 7pm Party Central Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Pawno Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor $5 8pm Porcelain Beaches Hotel, Thirroul 9.30pm Purple Sneakers: The Bedroom Philosopher DJ Set, M.I.T, Fantomatique, Kill The Landlord, Nic Yorke, Elwizzbomb, Erectro Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale free–$12 7pm Rubicon Fire Station Hotel, Wallsend free 8.30pm Sam & Jamie Show
Midnight Juggernauts
Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 7pm Shaun Kirk The Manly Boatshed, Manly free 8pm Spectacular Feets Mattara Hotel, Newcastle free 8pm Static Sillhouettes, The Cadres, The Ruminaters Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $8 (+ bf) 7.30pm Stephanie Jansen Town Hall Hotel Balmain free 9pm The Bedroom Philosopher, The Awkwardstra, The Boat People, Pinky Beecroft & the White Russians The Factory Theatre, Enmore $15 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) 8pm The City Shakeup, Broadway Mile Harp Hotel, Wollongong 8pm The Demon Parade, Royal Chant The Grand Hotel, Wollongong $10 (at door) 8.30pm The Monks of Mellonwah The World Bar, Kings Cross $15 8pm The Optionals, Easy Company, Local Resident Failure, Running Bear Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm The Sins, Bayonets For Legs, Scenes From A Train, Anthony Ousack Notes Live, Enmore 8pm The Tiger and Me (with Evan and The Brave) The Raval, Surry Hills 8pm The Wharf Sesions: Deep Sea Arcade The Wharf Theatre, Walsh Bay free 10pm Twist & Shout: Twist & Shout DJs, DJ Doctor J Brighton Bar, Darlinghurst $5 9pm Ungus Ungus Ungus, Pat Eyre The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Urban Stone St Marys Leagues Club free 9pm Whitley Clarendon Guest House, Katoomba 8pm Zoltan Taren Point Bowling Club free 7.30pm
JAZZ
Bridge City Jazz Band Club Ashfield free 7.30pm Java Quartet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm Ngaiire, Lucy Hall, Fatback 4 Way, Juanita Tippins Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5.30pm Pianoman Cruise Restaurant, The Rocks free 10pm SIMA: Pochee/Robson Duo, The
Mute Canary Project The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15–$25 8.30pm Susan Gai Dowling Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Andrew Russell Well Connected Cafe, Glebe free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Adam Roycroft, DJ Black Jade Tavern, Haymarket free 7pm Ange Murphy Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm Songsalive!: Neil & Morgan, Andrew Denniston and guests Casa di Musica, Enmore free 7.30pm
HIP-HOP
Dust Tones: Choose Mics, Syntax, Elgen & Johnny Utah, Ability, Lou Lou Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 ROCK & POP
40 Hour Famine Gig (feat. Taylor King, Will and the Indians, Veridian, Beyond Reckless and Sum of Us) Camden Civic Centre $5 A Tribute to Johnny Cash Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Art vs Science, Tim & Jean, Jinja Safari Metro Theatre, Sydney $22 (+ bf)– $25 (at door) 8pm Bellurisa, Veora Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $12 7.30pm Blue Fusion Mayfield Ex Services Club Ltd free 8.30pm Casey Donovan Wentworthville Leagues Club $18 8.30pm Chartbusters Penrith RSL free 9pm Chris Arnott Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly 8pm Cordrazine, Nick Batterham The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 6.30pm Dan Lawrence Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm David Campbell Sydney Opera House $50 (C Res)– $150 (gold) 7.30pm Di Solomon Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free 4pm Diana Anaid, Monique Brumby Coogee Diggers 8pm Doobias Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta $10 8.30pm
Duncan Woods MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle free 8pm Dyscord Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington 8pm Fabulous Boogie Boys St Marys Leagues Club free 9pm Funkwit, Shanna Watson The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm Glenn Shorrock Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $40.50 (show only)–$107 (dinner & show) 7pm Granite Revolution Catherine Hill Bay Hotel free 1.30pm Ian Moss Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $45 (show only)–$112 (dinner & show) 7pm Itchy Feet Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West 8.30pm Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows Newcastle Leagues Club, Newcastle West 8pm Kirsty Larkin Duke of Wellington Hotel, New Lambton free 8.30pm Mark Da Costa Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Marty Rhone, Dean Bourne Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra $35.90–$39.90 8pm Matt Finish The Coast Hotel, Budgewoi free 8pm Memphis Outlaws, Grizzly Adams Ashfield RSL Club free 8.30pm Mick Buckley Terrey Hills Tavern free 8.30pm Murray Byfield Lake Macquarie Tavern, Mount Hutton free 7.30pm Phase III MJ Finnegan’s Irish Pub, Newcastle free 10.30pm Pop Fiction Penrith Panthers free 9.30pm PVT, Seekae, Ghoul Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $20.85 (student)–$24.50 8pm Radio City Cats Marble Bar, Sydney free 10.30pm Ramshackle Roxbury Room, The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $10 7pm Reckless Town Hall Hotel Balmain free 10pm Set Sail, Chasing Bailey, Jessica Machmer Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 7.30pm SFX: Buried In Verona, Flatline Drama, City In Crisis St James Hotel $12 Solid Gold Iron Horse Inn, Cardiff free 9pm Something Else Seven Hills Toongabbie RSL Club free 8.30pm SoundSchool - India: Midnight Youth (New Zealand), Delta Riggs, Big Phallica, Jane Gazzo Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach $20 6.30pm Steve Edmonds Band George Tavern, East Maitland free 8pm The Beatels Workers Blacktown $5.50 (member)–$7.70 8pm The Bedroom Philosopher, The Awkwardstra, The Boat People, Pinky Beecroft & the White Russians Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton $12 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 8pm The City Shakeup, Broadway Mile Newtown RSL Club 8pm The Duchesses, Pixelated Pirates, Stereo Thieves Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm The Final Nightmare: Scary Kids Scaring Kids (USA), Mod Sun, Stealing O’Neal, We Are The Emergency The Factory Theatre, Enmore 7.30pm The Frocks Notes Live, Enmore 8pm The General Electric: Shihad (NZ) Annandale Hotel $25–$44 (whole
event) 8pm The Rebel Rousers Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong Beach free 7.30pm The Ride Ons Wickham Park Hotel, Islington 8pm The Supreme Motown Show Ingleburn RSL Club 7pm The Weird Assembly Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Trash: One Vital Word, Never Content, Legions, Facebreaker Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo $10 (guestlist)–$12 9pm We Are The Champions Queen Show Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 10pm Whitley Sussex Inlet Tavern free 8pm
JAZZ
Didi Mudigdo Berkelouw Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.45pm Glenn Cardier Vault 146, Windsor free 7pm Jazz Visions: Andrea Keller Quartet, Bernie McGann, Warwick Alder, George Garzone Trio (USA), Mike Nock Project The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $25 (member)–$35 8pm Jazz Visions: The Sandy Evans Trio, Sarangan, Bobby Singh, The Vampires The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15 (member)–$25 2pm John Harkins Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8.30pm Pianoman Cruise Restaurant, The Rocks free 10pm Sugar & Soul: Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly, Ross Middleton Goldfish, Kings Cross free 9pm The Transatlantics, Kon (USA), Soulshaker DJs The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (show only)–$73 (dinner & show) 9.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Illawarra Folk Club: Claire Roberts City Diggers, Wollongong 7.30pm Songsalive!: Ben Osmo, Peter Eliot, Andrew Denniston and guests Belrose Bowling Club free 7.30pm Songsalive!: Helmet Uhlmann and guests Grumpy’s Inn, Hurlstone Park free 8pm
COUNTRY
Cash Only Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 4pm
HIP-HOP
Savage (New Zealand) Fanny’s of Newcastle 8pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 22 ROCK & POP
Antoine Harbord Beach Hotel free Birthday Clash - A Birthday Tribute to Joe Strummer The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf)–$17 (at door) Blue Meanies Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 Blues Sunday: Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly Bob Allan Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour free Brothers of Mercy Catherine Hill Bay Hotel free Catfish Soup Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow free David Campbell Sydney Opera House $50 (C Res)–
“Overjoyed… me and Stephen Hawking, we laugh. We missed the sex revolution when we failed the physical”- MANIC STREET PREACHERS 50 :: BRAG :: 375 : 16:08:10
Presented by
Gig Guide
send your listings to: gigguide@thebrag.com
$150 (gold) Diana Anaid, Monique Brumby, Imogen Clark Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor House Vs Hurricane, Heroes For Hire, For All Eternity Campbelltown PCYC, Minto $15 (+ bf) Hunter & Suzi Owens Band Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free Irish Sundaze: The Bad Penguins P.J. O’Brien’s, Sydney free Jonny Gretsch’s Wasted Ones Botany View Hotel free Just Jace Gateshead Tavern free Let It Be: The Beatles Songs of Lennon & McCartney: Jon Stevens, John Waters, Doug Parkinson, Jack Jones Civic Theatre, Civic Precinct Newcastle $99 (B Res)–$119 (premium) Mandi Jarry Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel free Matt Purcell & The Blessed Curse w/ The Ghosts, Alphabet Cities & The Bell Curve The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free Rock For A Cure: Cure Cancer Australia Foundation Fundraiser: MEZA, Sleep Debt, Post This, Crowd to the Shore Annnadale Hotel $10 Samba Groove Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free Shaun Kirk Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle free Songwriters @ The Factory The View Factory, Newcastle free Steve Edmonds Band Bateau Bay Hotel free The Bedroom Philosopher, The Awkwardstra, The Boat People Brass Monkey, Cronulla $12 (+ bf)–$17 (at door) The Black Sorrows
Beaches Hotel, Thirroul $20 (presale)–$25 The Final Nightmare: Scary Kids Scaring Kids (USA), Mod Sun, We Are The Emergency, The Conspiracy Plan City Diggers, Wollongong The Mighty Kingsnakes, Shaun Kirk Wickham Park Hotel, Islington Zoltan Penrith Panthers free
gig picks
JAZZ
Bill Dudley’s New Orleanians Norfolk Hotel, Redfern free Janet Seidel Trio Rocksalt, Menai free Jews Brothers Band (NZ), Wayne Gillespie, Nigel Gavin Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $15 (conc)–$20 Jive Bombers Cronulla RSL free Martini Club, Johnny Gleeson Goldfish, Kings Cross free Shawnuff Quartette Oatley Hotel free The House of Blues: Matt Black & the Phat Cats Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free Yuki Kumagai, Andrew Russell Jazushi Restaurant, Surry Hills free
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Don Hopkins Dee Why RSL Club free Harry Manx (Canada) The Basement, Circular Quay $43 (+ bf)–$47 (at door)
COUNTRY
Bryen Willems, Nicki Gillis Penrith RSL free Lee Brittan, Emma Hannah, Kenny Kitching, McCauley’s Raiders Smithfield RSL free
Parades
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18 The Study: Preachers, WIM, Sooners, Aleesha Dibbs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 7pm
THURSDAY AUGUST 19 Belles Will Ring, The Demon Parade Melt Bar, Kings Cross $10 (at door) 8pm Freshly Cut: Lions At Your Door, Papermoon, Jack Colwell & the Owls
Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm Bliss N Eso, Diafrix, Mind Over Matter Enmore Theatre $10 (+ bf) 8pm
FRIDAY AUGUST 20 Basement Birds, Old Man River, The Sun Orchestra Enmore Theatre $43.90 (presale)–$65.30 (incl CD) 8pm Midnight Juggernauts, Dappled Cities, Canyons, Kirin J. Callinan The Forum Theatre, Moore Park $30 (+ bf) 8pm Oxford Art Factory’s 3rd
Birthday: Parades, Howl, Guineafowl, Rapids, Traps, Joysticks, Circle Pit, Whipped Cream Chargers, Stickyfingers, La Mancha Negra, Puta Madre Brothers, Mother & Son, Dark Bells, Iron Man, Samara, The Velveteens, Quincy, Goldfoot, Jack Shit, The E.L.F. Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 7pm The Bedroom Philosopher, The Awkwardstra, The Boat People, Pinky Beecroft & the White Russians The Factory Theatre, Enmore $15 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) 8pm The Wharf Sesions: Deep Sea Arcade The Wharf Theatre, Walsh Bay free 10pm
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 Art vs Science, Tim & Jean, Jinja Safari Metro Theatre, Sydney $22 (+ bf)–$25 (at door) 8pm SoundSchool - India: Midnight Youth (New Zealand), Delta Riggs, Big Phallica, Jane Gazzo Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach $20 6.30pm The Transatlantics, Kon (USA), Soulshaker DJs The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (show only)–$73 (dinner & show) 9.30pm
FRIDAY 20TH AUGUST THE BEDROOM PHILOSOPHER DJ SET
M.I.T . FANTOMATIQUE . NIC YORKE . ELWIZZBOMB . ERECTRO
FREELANCE WHALES WEATHERVANES
GIVEAWAYS COURTESY OF SECRET SERVICE
KLAXONS
SURFING THE VOID
GIVEAWAYS COURTESY OF MODULAR
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 51
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week HOOPS
SATURDAY AUGUST 21
Goodgod Small Club
HOOPS
(Bad Ezzy, Anna Lunoe, Nina Las Vegas),
Kato, Wax Motif, Charlie Chux 10pm $10 (Win tix and a bar tab on page 27, thanks to Motorola) MONDAY AUGUST 16 202 Broadway, Chippendale Hospitality Crew free Empire Hotel, Potts Point Bazaar HBK, I Low free One World Sport, Parramatta Ricky Ro free Soho, Kings Cross Comedown free The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Mondays James Rawson (live), Kavi-R free V Bar, Sydney Monday Mambo Mambo G $5–$10 World Bar, Kings Cross Mondays at World Bar Ooh Face, Hot Carl and friends free
TUESDAY AUGUST 17 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 Suburban Alternative DJ Mini Mullet Free World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, DJs Daigo, The Cosmic Explorer, Shipwreck free
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 18 Bank Hotel, Newtown Girls’ Night DJ Playmate 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 Q Bar, Darlinghurst Paradise City Ronnie Rocker, El Mariachi Slide, Darlinghurst Darling Diamond Dolls present “Love Lost” Miss Robyn ‘Ruby WOW’ Loau, Miss Kitty Purrls, Little Tessy Lane, Miss Sammy Shortcakes, Jamilla DeVille. Sly Fox, Enmore Queer Central Sveta, DJ Beth, DJ Bel free The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Bo Funk & Liam Sampras free The Eastern, Bondi Junction John Glover, Tenzin, Here’s Trouble, Cassian, U-Go-B, Steve Frank, Mistah Cee, Kavi-R free The Gaff, Darlinghurst New Generation Franny, Alex, Triky, Electroholics, Con-x-ion, Psygnosis,
Home Terrace, Darling Harbour Unipackers Rnb, Top 40, Electro $5 Judgement Bar, Taylor Square Judgement Night. Sex Worker & Ymerej, weekly guests free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst Simon Alexander free Mansions, Kings Cross Van Sereno and Cavan Te live on rotation free Martin Place Bar, Martin Place Thursdays at MPB Louis M free Petersham Bowling Club Big Bowls Shag, Peach, Shantanwantanichiban, Mailer Daemon, 16 Tacos, Claws & Fangs $5 Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn! DJ Sarah Spandex, Mark C, Heart Attack $10–$12 Sapphire Suite, Kings Cross Flaunt Nacho Pop, Diaz, Eko, Tom Piper, R-Son, Zero Cool free Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney The Social Club Beth Yen free The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Random Soul free The Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction Sneaker Husky, Ant Best Shy, Travis Hale, Dave Rizzle, Yogi free The Rouge, Darlinghurst Surprise Surprise Astrix, Sms, Ember, Lights Out, Tom Piper World Bar, Kings Cross Teenage Kicks Mucky Fingers, Demon Parade DJ Set, Tom Libertine, Urby and Legohead free
FRIDAY AUGUST 20 Bank Hotel, Newtown Absolut Fridays Eon Beats Trio (live), DJ Miss Match & Jeremy Kirschner free Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Dust Tones Choose Mics, Syntax, Elgen & Johnny Utah, Ability, Lou Lou free Brighton-Up Bar, Darlinghurst Twist and Shout: Election Eve 60s Dance-a-thon Twist and Shout DJs, Doctor J, Milli Von Ill, Dylab Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Liquid Sky Shark Slayer (FIN) Lights Out! Slipperywhenwet, Itchy & Scratchy, Teez, Jackpop $10/$15 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bag Raiders, Cassian, Rogers Room, Sushi, Zooshu, Ze Rod $15 all night Civic Underground, Sydney Shrug Pezzner (Freerange / OM Records - Seattle), Murat Kilic (Stil
Vor Talent / Stereo Seven / Beef) Robbie Lowe (Beatcode / Spice) Dave Stuart (Shrug) + DJ comp winner $15-$20 Club 77, Kings Cross Pretty Kim Ann Foxman (Hercules & Love Affair), Mark Murphy, Ben Drayton, Sveta & Lovertits Collector Hotel, Parramatta Corner Shop Tikelz, DJ Browski, J Lyrikz, Naughty, Gunz free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay Johnny Vinyl, Strike free Establishment Hotel Carnival La Fiesta Sound System and special guest DJs all night free Fanny’s of Newcastle Gangster Party $15 (presale)–$20 (at door) Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Purple Sneakers Purple Sneakers DJs, The Bedroom Philosopher DJ, M.I.T, Fantomatique, Kill The Landlord, Nic Yorke, Elwizzbomb, Erectro $12 Goldfish, Kings Cross Sugar & Soul Phil Hudson, Paul Hatz, Agey, Danny De Sousa, Matt Cahill, Tom Kelly free Home The Venue, Darling Harbour Homesexual 5th Birthday Dave Aude $10-$20 Kinselas, Taylor Square Toby Wilson free Kit & Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Falcona Fridays Falcona DJs, The Gameboys $10 Live House, Lewisham Abduction $5–$10 Mansions, Kings Cross Nick Polly, Little Rich, Nick T, Stevie S, Adrian Allen free Middle Bar, Kinselas, Darlinghurst Flavours on Friday MC Q-Bizzi, C-Bu, Trey, Mike Champion, Naiki, Tekkaman $20 Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone Free Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind Greg Summerfield, Matt Brunton free Opera Bar, Circular Quay Gian Arpino free Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst Consequence, Joe Seven Person 3, Boot, Fire & Whitey, Dauntless $20 Plantation Bar, Kings Cross ITM50 Shaun Reeves, Ben Morris, Jordan Deck & T-Boy Raval, Surry Hills Listen Hear Huwston, Micah, James De La Cruz, Chris Coucouvinis free Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Fridays Miss Match, Rob Morrish, Dave 54, Kate Monroe,
Calico, Kermy, Deceptikon free The Lincoln, Kings Cross Kareem the DJ free (guestlist) The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Battery Operated DJ Matt Hoare free World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall/Sugd 16 Tacos, Sheeb (Denmark), Ennsu, Alistair Erskine, Splitter free
THURSDAY AUGUST 19 202 Broadway, Chippendale Basic Foreign Dub, Headroom, Space is the Place, Void free Ching-a-lings, Darlinghurst A Vinyl Only Affair free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool After School Detention DJ Rangi, Mac, K-Note MC Buddy Love free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DJ Dwight ‘Chocolate’ Escobar free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown Brett Hunt free Dug Out Bar, Burdekin Hotel Speakeasy Magda, Dave Fernandes Empire Hotel, Potts Point Episodes DJ Schoder, Wanted, Zahra, Jason K, Johar free Gasworks Nightclub, Albion Hotel, Parramatta Da Bomb with DJ Fresh free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Funk Quarter Phil Hudson, Phil Toke, Dave 54, Michael Wheatley
Pezzner
“I had a dream I wanted to sleep next to plastic. I had a dream I wanted to lick your knees” - MANIC STREET PREACHERS 52 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
club guide
THE SIDESHOW WEDNESDAYS
send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com Chiller $10 guestlist Soda Bar, Golden Sheaf, Double Bay Mike Who, Mr Glass, Brynstar free Spectrum, Darlinghurst Silent Alarm Silent DJs $5 St James Hotel, Sydney One Night in Cuba Mani, Yemaya, Nandez, Av El Cubano $15 Tank Nightclub, Sydney RnB Superclub Def Rok, Eko, G Wizard, Lilo, Troy T, MC Jayson Tao, Sydney Progression Project Rossco, Pato De Gomah, Cryptic & Sonus, Nick Arbor $10 The Argyle Hotel, Rocks John Devechis, Heidi, Kate Monroe free The Forum, Moore Park Midnight Juggernauts, Dappled Cities $54 The Lincoln, Kings Cross The Scene Charlie Brown, Samari The Rouge, Kings Cross Hollywood Gossip Astrix, Guy Tarento, Ember, Josh Flanagan, Magic Happens $10 The Sugarmill, Kings Cross The Gameboys, Calling In Sick, Joyride $10 after 10pm Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Warped free World Bar, Kings Cross MUM Dave Dappled (Dappled Cities), Walkie Talkie, Jack Shit, Alvin, Animal Chin, Swim Team DJs, Wet Lungs, FiFiDoesDiDi, Kapow, 10th Avenue, 16 Tacos $10
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 202 Broadway, Chippendale Headroom Monk Fly, Jonny Faith, Know-U, Suburban Dark, Elliot $15 Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo Trash DJ M!Veg, DJ Absynth $12 Bank Hotel, Newtown Jeremy Kirschner, Beth Yen free BB’s, Bondi Beach Wildlife DJs Mesan, James Roberts, Adriano Giorgi, Dinesh Sundar, Matt Singmin, Chris Kyle free Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Big Guns Down n Dirty DJs, Zomg! Kittenz, Keli Hart, Coopa, Lasttoleave, Coopa $15 – $25 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Billion Dollar House Party Deekline & Wizard, Ajax, PQM (USA), Club Junque, Rodskeez, Trent Rackus, Levins, A-Tonez, King Lee, Luny P $20 Clarence Hotel, Petersham Caesars Sandy Bottom, Justin Scott, DJ Chip free Collingwood Hotel, Bag Raiders
SOUND CASINO
Catcall
18TH AUGUST - 8PM FREE
Liverpool Pop Fiction, Zoltan free Cricketer’s Arms, Surry Hills Pod War free Cruise Bar, Circular Quay DJ Simon Neal, Ben Vickers free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown Kaki $20 Eastern Hotel, Bondi Junction I Love Saturdays Zannon, Tony Shock, Matt Ferreira, Tass, Akay, Don Juan, Dante Rivera, Dennis Agee, Willie Sabor, Oscar Cadena free Empire Hotel/Plantations, Potts Point Beats and Pieces Franchi Brothers, FT Mode $15 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 Goodgod Small Club Hoops (Bad Ezzy, Anna Lunoe, Nina Las Vegas), Kato, Wax Motif, Charlie Chux 10pm $10 Home, Sydney Homemade Saturdays The 808s, Aladdin Royaal, James “Saxman” Spy, Matt Ferreira, Hannah Gibbs, Tony Venuto, Dave Austin, Flite, LKO, Seiz, Uncle Abe $20 VIP/$25 door Hotel Chambers, Sydney Red Room $20
Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy TV Rock, Minx, Cadell, Olly Vale $20 Jacksons On George, Sydney Leno, Aladdin Royaal free Kinselas, Taylor Square Brynstar, Shaun Keble, Yin Yang, Beth Yen and Matt Hoare free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Elaine Benes, Gabby, Cassette (NZ), Alison Wonderland free before 10pm, $10 after, members free all night Mansions, Kings Cross Reckless, Little Rich, Shaun Keeble, Nick Polly free Martin Place Bar, Sydney Bamboo Eko, Nude-E, Mirage, Shorty, Ace, Moto, Qrius, IllDJ $5 Melt Bar, Kings Cross Kontrast Sam Serene, Joey Kaz, Joey Tupaea, Matt Weir, Luke Warren $15–$20 Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Harbour City Bears Crystal Ball DJ Frankie Shin, Buck Naked $20 (at door) Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Shipwreck, Daniel Nall, Leon Pirello $10 after 10pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H Goldfoot, DJ Knife $7 Stonewall Hotel, Darlinghurst Greg Boladian, Nick J free Sydney Showground Endless Summer Cascada,
+ STICKY FINGERS PRESENTS
HYJAK & SYNTAX + ELGEN & JOHNNY UTAH + DJ ABILITY + LOULOU
8PM AUGUST 20TH COMING SOON
SOUNDSCHOOL INDIA 21ST AUG SNOWDROPPERS + JACK NASTY FACE 25TH AUG GRRILLA STEP 27TH AUG GHOSTWOOD 8TH SEP
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 53
club guide
Deep Impressions
clubguide@thebrag.com Guru Josh, Alex Gaudino, Chris Willis, DJ Sammy, Timmy Trumpet $74 - $115 The Argyle Hotel, Rocks Husky, Casa, Phil Hudson free The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Sin City Don Juan, DJ Willie, Mista Kay, MC Q-Bizzi The Dolphin Hotel, Surry Hills DJ Chris Skinner, DJ Carl O’Brien free The Gaff, Darlinghurst Perfect Day Resident house DJs Mark Alsop, DJ Chip, DJ Murray Hood, DJ Miss Match, DJ Brett Austin, DJ Scotty Tanner, DJ James Tobin, DJ Man and DJ Dirty Dan free The Manhattan Lounge, Martin Place Hushhh... DJs Stunna, Sonny, Special K $10 after 9pm The Rouge, Kings Cross Le Rouge James Cornwill, Francesco DaRoit, Keli Hart, Mick P $10 before 11pm The Venue, Double Bay Pure House Ben Morris, Illya, Robbie Lowe, Matt Mandell, Ollie Brooke, Matt Roberts, Simon Caldwell, Kato, James Taylor, Lummy, Mitch Crosher, Phil Smart Tonic Lounge, Kings Cross Tonic Saturdays Gian Arpino $15 Verandah Bar, Sydney The Booty Bar George B, Nasser T, Lenno, K Sera Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Paul Moussa free World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! NEOTERIC (Dubsided), Kato, James
Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery Taylor, Shivers, Wax Motif, Levins, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir, Venuto, Andy Webb, Yogi, Shamozzle, Wedding Ring Fingers, Kingpin $15 before 10pm, $20 after
SUNDAY AUGUST 22 Bank Hotel, Newtown Richie Carter Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Meem and SWAT DJs free Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool Michael Peter Colombian Hotel (Downstairs), Darlinghurst Hotrod Sunday Sandi Hotrod & G.I Jode free Colombian Hotel (Upstairs), Darlinghurst The Deep Disko Phil Hudson, Dave 54, Ollie Brroke free Docks Hotel, Darling Harbour Salsa Caliente Sabroson, DJ Vico free Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown DJ Metal Matt, Louis Tillett free Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club Live DJs Illya, Johnny Gleeson, Miss Match, Jack McCord and Tom Kelly free Home Terrace, Sydney Spice After Hour $20/$10 Kings Cross Hotel Jammin Sundays free Kinselas Hotel, Darlinghurst The Fifth Dimension free
Kit & Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Easy Sunday Mo Hat Mo Play DJs, Adam Bozzetto, Mr Belvedere, Stu Turner, Max Smart, King Lee $10 (at door) Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone & Friends Free Sapphire Suite, Kings Cross Random Sundays Mike Rukus, Tom Piper, James Taylor, Matt Nukewood, Goodfella, Adam Lance, RobKAY free (guestlist)–$15 The Argyle Hotel, Rocks MarcUs, DJ BBG free The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Soul On Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan free The Forbes Hotel, Sydney Church Of Techno Mitch Crosher, Kerry Wallace, Joey Kaz, Jey Tuppaea, Jaded, Shepz $5 The Rouge, Kings Cross Cheap Thrill$ Matt Nukewood, J Smoove, Josh Flanagan free The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Neighbourhood Kate Munroe free The Village, Sydney Sunday Surgery DJ Russ Dewbury and friends free Trademark Hotel, Darlinghurst Soul on Sunday Nino Brown, Don Juan Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Miss Gabby free World Bar, Kings Cross Fortune! Discopunx + weekly guests free /$5 after 10pm
club picks up all night out all week...
THURSDAY AUGUST 19
Kim Ann Foxman
Petersham Bowling Club Big Bowls Shag, Peach, Shantanwantanichiban, Mailer Daemon, 16 Tacos, Claws & Fangs $5
FRIDAY AUGUST 20 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bag Raiders, Cassian, Rogers Room, Sushi, Zooshu, Ze Rod $15 Civic Underground, Sydney Shrug Pezzner (Freerange / OM Records - Seattle), Murat Kilic (Stil Vor Talent / Stereo Seven / Beef) Robbie Lowe (Beatcode / Spice) Dave Stuart (Shrug) + DJ comp winner $15-$20 Club 77, Kings Cross Pretty Kim Ann Foxman (Hercules & Love Affair), Mark Murphy, Ben Drayton, Sveta & Lovertits $15-$20
SATURDAY AUGUST 21 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Billion Dollar House Party Deekline & Wizard, Ajax, PQM (USA), Club Junque, Rodskeez, Trent Rackus, Levins, A-Tonez, King Lee, Luny P $20
Sydney Showground Endless Summer Cascada, Guru Josh, Alex Gaudino, Chris Willis, DJ Sammy, Timmy Trumpet $74 - $115 World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Neoteric (Dubsided), Kato, James Taylor, Shivers, Wax Motif, Levins, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir, Venuto, Andy Webb,
Yogi, Shamozzle, Wedding Ring Fingers, Kingpin $15 before 10pm, $20 after
SUNDAY AUGUST 22 World Bar, Kings Cross Fortune! Discopunx + weekly guests free / $5 after 10pm
Squarepusher
This Week’s Episode: A Strange Fusion
“A
nybody can set up a blog, so now you’ve got 20,000 blogs all over the place and motherfuckers don’t even know what the fuck they’re talking about.” Well said Lil Jon, but how many of those motherfuckers have a column? Ladies and gentleman, I give you this week’s Deep Impressions. Following on from the recent coverage of James Holden, I open this week with a focus on the forthcoming artist album from Norwich-based producer Luke Abbott, which will be released on Holden’s hallowed Border Community label. According to a press release the new record, entitled Holkham Drones, is “danceable rather than dance music,” and is distinctly influenced by krautrock. With standout tracks like ‘Brazil’, it will certainly work on the dancefloor – and it comes highly recommended for fans of artist like Boards of Canada and Nathan Fake. All of the tracks on the LP are previously unreleased except for ‘Soft Attacks’, which Holden included on his recent edition of DJ Kicks - a must buy if you haven’t purchased it already. ‘Intelligent’ dance music pioneer Tom Jenkinson, aka Squarepusher, has announced that he will release a new LP on the French electro noise label Ed Banger. Ed Banger has long sighted Warp as one of their major influences, and they joined forces at last year’s WARP/ED party in Paris that featured Clark, Hudson Mohawke, Mr. Oizo and Sebastian. Nonetheless, this is an extremely unexpected pairing of label and artist, as Jenkinson has previously rarely strayed from the pioneering Sheffield label when it comes to releasing music - so for him to release on the hipster haven of Ed Banger is something of a turn-up. Titled Cryptic Motion, the official artist name for the record is Squarepusher Presents Shobaleader One, which might mean that more Squarepusher Ed Banger releases are in the pipeline. It comes backed by a remix from the enigmatic occasional film director Mr. Oizo, and is described by the gregarious Ed Banger main man, Pedro Winter, as “my dream come true; two worlds, one release.” This ranks extremely high on the curiosity stakes, and we won’t have to wait long to find out how the shift to Ed Banger has impacted on Jenkinson’s sound – the album is due out at the end of this month.
recently revived his Plastikman guise for a series of audio-visual live shows at Detroit’s Movement and Barcelona’s Sonar festivals. Whispers persist that Plastikman will also venture down under later in the year; after the Villalobos Stereosonic announcement, anything is possible. German tech producer Marc Romboy, who oversees the Systematic label, returns to Sydney for a set at Chinese Laundry on Saturday September 4. Romboy has been buried in the studio with Rodriguez Jr of late, crafting the new EP Lac De Nivelles, which includes a remix from UK house maestro Glimpse, who himself released his debut LP on Crosstown Rebels a few months back. I must confess I was slightly disappointed by Glimpse’s album, so my advice to you Romboy fans is to grab the Clara Moto LP from earlier in the year if you’re after a tech album with teeth and substance. Along with Dinky, Clara is surely one of the leading female producers in the game.
LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY AUGUST 28
Joakim The Civic Underground
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3
Thomas Muller & Dario Zenker The Civic Underground
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4 Agoria Plantation
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 11 Mad Racket Marrickville Bowling Club Agoria
Minimal techno overlords Minus will release Kompilation, a decade-spanning compilation of Minus boss Richie Hawtin’s celebrated work as Plastikman in September. Collecting work from 1993 to 2004, Kompilation starts on ‘Plasticine’ and takes in six more cuts, including the classic drum workout ‘Spastik’, before ending on ‘Ask Yourself’. The release is well timed – Hawtin
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com. 54 :: BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10
snap
Soul Sedation
Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom Heavy Beats with Tony Edwards
up all night out all week . . .
Koolism
With A Tribe Called Quest having been and gone this column isn’t exactly sure what there is to wish for anymore. Sometimes dreams do come true, but what the hell do you do afterwards? Soul Sedation is glad as all hell that the opportunity to watch the four maestros work came to pass. Was it everything I thought it might be? Maybe not, but then it rarely is. You could pick the gig apart for sound issues, or for the current “performance capacity” of some of the members, but to what end? It was good fun, we jumped around some, Q-Tip was on point and sounding just like he always does, and now I feel like I’ve paid respect to some of my life’s biggest musical inspirations. I reckon Sydney would have been a little bit more loose if that party was on a Saturday night, so I forgive the crowd for being slightly laidback. After all, getting blazed on hump day can be a pretty exhausting exercise for Tribe fans who are now pushing 30, or indeed well, well past it. Shouts to Horrorshow for a bangin’ warm up, the set is sounding good. And props to Maseo for being such a damn good entertainer, he knew what we wanted to hear, both at the Hordern and at the afterparty as well. Do I believe Tip’s promise that they’ll be back in Australia? I’m not sure - no doubt it depends on if the paycheck is right. At any rate thanks to Niche Productions, Peace Music and Trentslingshot for making like the Starlight Foundation for ‘90s hip hop fans, and bringing Tribe to our city. Koolism are back with a new record, the first since 2006’s New Old Ground. It’s called The ‘Umu, and features guest appearances from Axe Aklins, Jonah Latukefu, Uli and Solomon Theta. ‘Cash Monet’ is the Soul Sedation pick on first listen, but everything else sounds promising as well. It’s out through Invada Records. And on that topic, guess who was wearing a Space Invadas tee while performing live on stage? None other
that Tribe’s Jarobi White - big up for straight reppin’ Sydney’s finest. Remember 2-step? Well, people are still making it. Check out Disclosure, a couple of disgracefully talented teenagers, and their new tune ‘Linstigator’. It’s being passed off as dubstep but we all know the deal - I’d describe it as soulful, dubby 2-step. The sibling production duo have a 7” out on Moshi Moshi this September. And as long as we’re talking 2-step disguised as dubstep, this column hears rumours that Martyn, Illum Sphere and Tokimonsta will all be joining us in Sydney come September. Dubtronica heads stay tuned for more details. Still in electronic territory, and the new Mark Pritchard/Steve Spacek project Africa Hitech has finally hit my desk. Entitled Hitecherous, and released through Warp Records, it’s a short, seven-track album of futuristic, tech-soul. ‘Said Speed’ is really brilliant with its ragga dubstep 8-bit jungle fusion feel. I don’t know if any of you remember the early junglist DJ Soul Slinger out of the US? Well this release gives me a strong feeling that Pritchard is a fan. ‘One Two’ is Spacek’s brightest vocal contribution, reminding us once again of the flexible and creative approach he brings to the studio.
sosueme
PICS ::RR & AM
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.
06:08:10 :: Q-Bar :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375
Russ Dewbury takes charge of the decks at The Village on Sunday afternoons from August, promising “musical counselling for the soul” without the expensive therapist fees. You can find the Village at 234 Palmer St Sydney, and Dewbury and friends will be spinning from 3 to 7pm. This Saturday night, Adelaide’s elevenpiece funk outfit The Transatlantics and dusty old crate digger (the crates, not the DJ) from the US, Kon, will appear at The Basement. Soul Sedation finds the musical output of both artists highly agreeable. Kon mixes up funk, soul and disco rarities, and The Transatlantics’ debut album was so good that Freestyle Records decided to put it out on a global distro deal. You might well want to find out what all the fuss is about. New albums from Skream, Mount Kimbie and Roots Manuva have hit my desk as well. Stop by next week for the breakdown. Peace.
ON THE ROAD SATURDAY AUGUST 21
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 16
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3
OCTOBER 15 & 16
Horrorshow Gaelic Theatre
SAMIYAM TBC
Mulatu Astatke The Basement
Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com
candy’s apartment
PICS :: AV
Transatlantics & Kon The Basement
06:08:10 :: Candy’s Apartment :: 22 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93805600 BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 55
snap sn ap
city to surf
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
08:08:10 :: Sydney City to Bondi Beach
07:08:10 :: Tank :: 3 Bridge Lane Sydney 8295 9966
It’s called: P R E T T Y feat. Kim Ann Foxman It sounds like: Bitchin’ old-schoo l house, disco and classic beats. DJs/live acts playing: Kim Ann Foxman (DJ set) of Hercules and Love Affair! With support from cool-as-fuck loca l queer faves Mark Murphy, Ben Drayton, Sveta and Lovertits, plus Sydney’s most famous failed-model-cum-s tripper Aaron Manhattan doing a Provocative Live Act for youse all. Sell it to us: The darling of the 90s member of the critically acclaimed illegal warehouse scene, and modern-day and awesome disco/nu-disco act will be playing her ONLY SYDNEY SET with us. So be there – whether you’re prett y enough or not, bitches. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Perhaps it’s best to forget some proceedings… of the night’s Crowd specs: Hipsters, punks, misfi ts, slutchops, gaylords, nymphos bean queens, chic freaks, ravers, , leather daddies plus the usual misc lesbos, extraneous plus-ones. ellaneous Wallet damage: $15/20 (moshtix. com) / more on the door. Where: Club 77 / 77 William St, Kings Cross When: Friday August 20
club club re up launch purple sneakers
PICS :: MB
07:08:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958
06:08:10 :: The Gladstone Hotel :: 115 Regent St Chippendale 96993522 56 :: BRAG :: 375:: 16:08:10
S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER BASKA :: ANDREW VIDLER ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: MAJA
) :: ASHLEY MAR ::
PICS :: AM
PICS :: AM
fake launch
party profile
P R ET TY
snap
mum
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
strike bowling bar
PICS :: RR
06:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
05:08:10 :: Strike Bowling Bar :: 122 Lang Rd, Moore Park 1300 787 453
It’s called: Sencity It feels/smells/looks like: A party for five of your six senses. Who’s spinning? bluejuice DJs, Bang Gang (Doom), Joey Kaz, Sam James Spy “Saxxman”, Carina Häg ba Ninja, g, Supersede. Sell it to us: Sencity is clubbing as you’ve never quite experienced it before: catering for the hearing-impaired, the set-up includes a vibrating danc singers, aroma-jockeys, video-joc keys, food jockeys; plus hairdress e floor, ‘sign’ ers, makeup artists and massage therapists – all in the services of creating a sensory explosion. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Did we mention the vibrating danc e floor? Crowd specs: Anyone who enjo ys partying at a higher level. Wallet damage: $17 (moshtix) / $25 on the door. Where: Home The Venue / Cock le Bay When: Friday August 27 / 10pm-5am
the wall
PICS :: AM
05:08:10 :: Cargo Bar :: 52 - 60 The Promenade King Street Wharf 92621777
party profile
big air snow slam
PICS :: AM
Sencity
chinese laundry
PICS :: AM
04:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
06:08:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958
) :: ASHLEY MAR :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER VIDLER REW AND :: KA BAS A MAJ :: ROSETTE ROUHANNA
BRAG :: 375 :: 16:08:10 :: 57
snap sn ap
savages 07:08:10
PICS :: RR
up all night out all week . . .
:: The Gaelic Theatre :: 64 Devonshire St Surry Hills 92111687
It’s called: For tune bliss, shallow house, the World Bar: hedonistic It sounds like: Sundays at no. tech up onbutt o, percussion cave, fixie disc d guests. co Punx and weekly esteeme DJs/live acts playing: Dis their array of special guests tunes from Disco Punx and freshly steamed dumplings Sell it to us: Exceptional the tion men to for more, not will keep you coming back t loooong. Entry is free before 10, so make sure you and the cheap booze all nigh plings, plus $5 Lucky Beer and $5 Shojo Green Tea dum get down early! $5 for six cocktails. ght, I have to work in the the AM: “I’m not drinking toni in ber em rem ll we’ bit The ds, SUCKER. morning” – famous last wor . Crowd specs: Legends only , $5 after 10pm 6pm from e Fre : Wallet damage Bayswater Rd Kings Cross Where: The World Bar / 24 When: Every Sunday
wham
PICS :: AM
04:08:10 :: Fringe Bar :: 106 Oxford Street Paddington 93605443
party profile
f.r.i.e.n.d.s
PICS :: AM
Fortune
starfuckers
PICS :: AM
07:08:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
07:08:10 :: Club 77 :: 77 William St Kings Cross 93613387 58 :: BRAG :: 375:: 16:08:10
S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER BASKA :: ANDREW VIDLER ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: MAJA
) :: ASHLEY MAR ::
CLARE BOWDITCH WEDNESDAY 18 AUG. SYDNEY. FREE.
PRESENTED BY
FOR TICKETS GO TO MYPACE.COM/SECRETSHOWSAU
ALBUM OUT NOW