The Brag #393

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rock music news

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. With Nathan Jolly

he said she said WITH

DAN MANGAN (CAN)

music fun. My sister and I would go through our parents’ old record collection and just play whatever LP had a cool looking cover. We made up a radio show called The Bob and Shirley Show. I was Bob. She was Shirley. We ruled.

I think there are more great bands now than ever. In recent years, I’ve been really moved by Bon Iver, Wilco, M. Ward, Chad VanGaalen, Arcade Fire, Sigur Ros, Broken Social Scene. There are a lot of staples though – Radiohead, Tom Waits, Elliott Smith, Beatles, Hayden.

I’m pretty lucky – I’ve got the most amazing band. They’re all jazz types, and when they’re not playing with me they tend to be on the road playing jazz with all kinds of heavy Scandinavian cats. I picked them out of other projects I’d seen them in one by one; the longer we play together the more it feels like a band. It’s becoming less about me and more about the ensemble.

W

hen it came to music, my parents were very encouraging, but not dogmatic. Instruments were always

around and part of the household, and they would always pay for lessons if we wanted them, but it was a soft sell. I think that kept

As I’ve progressed, I’ve gotten more and more interested in expanding musically.

I recorded ‘Nice, Nice, Very Nice’ with the intention of getting out of the “singer/

Arrested Development

songwriter” box – trying to integrate some other inspirations and influences. Right now we’re in the studio again working on the next album, and it’s going in a completely different direction altogether. I never want to make the same album twice, so it’s been really rewarding to keep evolving the sound.

It’s an amazing time to be in a band.

Never before has there been as much selfdetermination in music. Not just in terms of the DIY stuff either, but also in how music is created, heard, expressed. It’s a really creative time in music. I live in Vancouver, Canada, and I’ve seen this city explode with great bands in the past decade - I think Canada in general has had a solid 2000s.

It’s always a pleasure to get over to Australia and see what’s happening down under. The isolated nature of the country gives way to both a strong pride in your own music, and a deep appreciation of any band that makes its way over.

With: Andy Bull, SpookyLand Where: Oxford Arts Factory When: Friday January 14

February shows, and refunds are also available from your friendly ticket seller.

XMAS EVE BLOWOUT

So, I’d planned to spend Christmas Eve in front of the telly watching the Olson twins classic To Grandma’s House We Go while eating an entire ham, but then Ratbag Music had to go spoil my plans by putting on a sweet Xmas Eve party at Tone in Surry Hills, with WIM, Guineafowl, The Spirits, We Say Bamboulee, Leroy Macqueen + the Gussets and RATBAG DJs spinning (or iPod queuing, let’s face it) Britpop, indie and dance tunes, to celebrate the birth of Moses (or something?). Five dollar entry, four calling birds, three French hens...

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: Jonno Seidler NEWS CO-ORDINATORS: Nathan Jolly, Cool Thomas, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Dara Gill SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Susan Bui, Reef Gaha, Ashley Mar, Patrick Stevenson, Tom Tramonte, Rosette Rouhanna, Daniel Munns, Jay Collier COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Isabella Moore 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) INTERNS: Liz Brown, Rach Seneviratne REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Benjamin Cooper, Oliver Downes, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Lucy Fokkema, Mike Gee, Andrew Geeves, Thomas Gilmore, Kate Hennessy, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Andy McLean, Amelia Schmidt, Romi Scodellaro, RK, Luke Telford, Caitlin Welsh, Beth Wilson, Alex Young 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.

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FREE NEW YEAR’S FUN!

FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHT!

If you’re sick of turning up to Sydney Festival First Night hoping to see somebody perform ‘Mr. Wendall’ only to be brutally disappointed that Al Green or Brian Wilson didn’t slip it into their sets, then your streak of bad luck may be running out - Arrested Development are playing this year. They’re not the only act on the bill though; Sydney’s streets and parks will be overrun on Saturday January 8 by the likes of Circa, Daara J Family, DJ Nomad, The Dynmaites Featuring Charles Walker, Eddie Perfect in Misanthropology, Emmylou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys, Hanngai, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis, Lah-Lahs Musical Wonderland, Michel Tuffery MNZM, Nukkan Ya Ruby, Smoke and Mirrors and even more, still to be announced! We’ll be the ones pushing past you to get to the front.

PRIMAL SCREAM NEW VENUE

Screamadelica is pretty much one of the greatest things to ever be pressed onto CD or vinyl or even recorded onto a cassette - and to celebrate its easy mastery of all these extinct formats, Primal Scream are playing the entire album live in Sydney. And before you tut and say ‘Ohhh I read that on a comic-sans-heavy blog months ago’ - this is merely the setup to the announcement that because so many people agree on its awesomeness, there’s been a venue change to accompany more of us.

Selina’s @ Coogee Bay Hotel is the new venue, Saturday January 29 is the same old date and there are new release tickets on sale now.

JHNO SETEL SNGIESR

Do you fancy yourself as the next DJ Jedi Jayz, or the next DJ Mixing Deck? Do your friends laugh when you mention how crazy shit gets when you cut up the decks? Well if this sounds like you (or if you have Garage Band) then The John Steel Singers want you to remix their latest single ‘Overpass’. If they deem your mix the greatest, you win a $200 voucher to spend at JB HiFi, 12 months worth of CDs from Dew Process, a signed copy of their new album Tangalooma and a double pass to see the band live in your city, on their next headline

tour. Unless you live in Canada or something - now you’re just being silly (but thanks for reading, eh?). You have til January 10 to head to thejohnsteelsingers.com and “rip up the beatz, wicky wicky”, as they say in the industry.

MUM GONE TIL JAN 7 :(

No, not a note left on a fridge that sparked a DOCS investigation, but a reminder that if you turn up to World Bar this Friday or the next hoping to see one of the 50 DJs or billion indie bands that frequent the floors and stages at MUM every Friday night, you’ll just be left buying an overpriced slice of pizza down the road, and trying your luck with the inordinate amount of attractive people wandering around... Or, you know, you could spend Christmas and New Years Eve with the people you love... but then again, it is good pizza....

NEW EDITION, NEW DATES

New Kids On The Block were the whiter, cleaner version of New Edition, the teen group started by the same evil genius that put together NKOTB. Bobby Brown from New Edition went on to kick New Jack Swing arse and Johnny Gill went on to hit ‘The Floor’. Anyways, they were set to jet out here, til an illness in the Bobby Brown camp forced them to reschedule their December 18 show til February next year.

But never fear! Tickets are transferrable to the

You know the TV live telecast? Where you usually go for New Year’s Eve? It turns out that sometimes you should get out of the house more. This year at the amazing free concert/ fireworks/young-people-kissing spectacular that is Darling Harbour NYE, we’ll have The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker (who opened for James Brown, Etta James and Wilson Pickett back in the day), the UK Orkestra Del Sol who play big brass band music which sounds like Ravi Shankar and Alex Chilton joined the Norfolk Community Brass Band, Melbourne’s multi-cultural, multi-instrumental eight-piece Sol Nation (who’ll be confusing your head with a blend of Indigenous, Jamaican, East Timorese, African and Cuban music), and The Continental Blues Party, who do exactly what it says on the tin. Kiss someone at midnight!

RAGGAMUFFIN 2011

Jah has blessed us all with the rudest lineup seen yet for Raggamuffin 2011 on Friday January 28; Mary J. Blige, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest, Sean Paul, The Original Wailers, Ky-Mani Marley, The Black Seeds and The Red Eyes. Amazing. Tickets are $119 until Xmas day, when they will rise to $129 - so get them now, pretty much!

HUNGRY KIDS TOUR

Hungry Kids of Hungary have been touring like an old ‘50s blues band, crisscrossing the country at least four hundred times this year. Maybe.

Anyway, they’re at it again, dropping in at Mona Vale Hotel on January 28 and bringing along Slow Down Honey and The Paper Scissors. Buy tickets now, and buy Escapades now too!

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on, down and around town. By Nathan Jolly

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

CAM FROM AMY MEREDITH another band ‘cause he is hands down the greatest drummer who ever lived, and we had to have him. Then on a hot summer’s night after a big night out of drinking, jamming and passing out, Amy Meredith was born.

I work as a delivery driver, Wade and Joel used to work at Freedom Furniture and I don’t think Christian has worked a day in his life. Kosta won lotto, so he’s a millionaire.

The Music You Make We all listen to a variety of different 4. styles, we all have different tastes, and they all come together when writing new music; the album Restless goes from pop to rock and back again. Christian’s vocal ability definitely sets our music apart from other bands and gives us a signature sound - plus I think Wade Osborn on the bass is why we got a record deal.

1.

Growing Up When I was growing up, music usually involved whatever my older brother was listening to. He used to make me mixtapes of his punk rock collection - Strung Out, Unwritten Law, NOFX, Blink 182 - and I would listen and sing along to them over and over on my beat-up cassette player in my room. My mum was in LOVE with Elvis, but other than that, music wasn’t a major part of our family.

Dad brought home a guitar one day for me to learn, I think with the hope that I’d never be out of a job if I knew how to play it.

2.

Inspirations I don’t really have any favourite musicians.

I remember watching film clips of my favourite bands thinking that that was what I wanna do when I grew up: be a punk rock superstar and never have to work again. I think every kid has a rockstar dream at some point. Seeing bands like U2 and AC/DC inspire me to be in the biggest band the world has ever seen. Those guys have lived and are still living the dream...

I want a solid gold house.

Your Band Wade, Joel and myself grew up in the 3.

‘Shire, a pretty tight knit community where everybody knows everybody. We all lived around the corner from one another except for Kosta, our drummer. We poached him from

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene right now is a hard 5. industry to crack. There are so many bands out there at the moment trying to hit the big time. Sometimes it’s not what you know but who you know - or just being in the right place at the right time. There are a lot of great bands around at the moment who aren’t getting the credit they deserve.

With: Tool, Rammstein, Iggy & The Stooges, M.I.A, Angus & Julia Stone, Grinderman, SIA, Lupe Fiasco, Die Antwoord and more Where: Big Day Out @ Olympic Park When: January 26 & 27, 2011

Sleigh Bells

SLEIGH BELLS

What happens when you combine the former guitarist of a hardcore band with the former member of a teen pop group? The answer we’re looking for today is Sleigh Bells. Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss make up the noisepop-chaos-party duo, and they must have at least seven arms each given the amount of sound they create. Their debut album Treats is a stupendous cacophony of crashing drums and audacious guitars, led by the pure vocals of Krauss. The Bells (can we call them that?) are coming out here for the Falls Festivals and doing a cheeky stopover at The Forum on January 8, with able assistance from Vampire Weekend’s Baio on the decks, Rat Vs Possum, and the Purple Sneakers DJs. We have three doubles to give away, just tell us your favourite Christmas carol!

CODE ONE PARTY YOU’RE INVITED!

Everyone likes a party. THE BRAG especially.

We particularly enjoy parties where we can chill with good friends (FBi & Code One Entertainment) and listen to bands like Dead Letter Chorus, Zeus and Jason Collett (from Canadian outfit Broken Social Scene.) These guys will all be playing on Tuesday January 4 at Notes in Newtown. Organised solely for Brag readers and FBi listeners, entry is guestlist only - and to be on the guestlist, all you gotto do is send us your name and we’ll add a ‘+1’ to the end of it. Do it!

Amanda Palmer

Katie Noonan and The Captains

AUSTRALIA DAY FUN

Yes, yes, we know you speak with that hip fake transatlantic accent and are all bohemian and everything. That’s good. We quite like that about you. But if there is one day you should embrace being Australian, it’s Australia day (or Hottest 100 day), and you should spent it at the Rocks at a massive ten hour free music festival featuring Katie Noonan and The Captains, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers, Tijuana Cartel, Spooky Men’s Choral, Casey Donovan, Andy Bull, The Medics, Pia Anderson, Street Warriors, Eli Wolfe, Robyn loua, Gail Page, The Big Singing Thing and more (over 70 acts!!!). It will be like someone tipped all of the inner-city venues into Old Sydney Town, and forgot to charge for entry. From 11am til 9pm.

THIS MUCH IS TREW

If the idea of visiting the opera house on Australia Day makes you feel a little uncomfortable about how closely your life resembles a jingoistic postcode, then fear not - you’re only there so you can catch a live solo show by the amazing Amanda Palmer, the artistic fuel of Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn. She’ll be sharing the night with special guests Neil Gaiman, cabaret act Meow Meow and Mikelangelo & The Black Sea Gentlemen. Also, THE BRAG is presenting this, so there is a certain level of quality assurance... You’re welcome. Head to the Opera House website for details!

KWANZA PARTY

Those Canadians, they love The Trews. So much so that the band, having conquered and slayed in their homeland, are now trying their luck in other territories, leaving Canada as a weeping trail of crying teenagers and shunned magazine staff.

They’ll play Melt Bar in the Cross on February 23, and the following night at the Sando. Go both nights and ask somebody oot.

Christmas is a hectic time, but you really should cross off whatever you have on your calendar under ‘December 22’, because Oxford Art Factory is hosting the The Chocolate Jesus Kwanzaa Party. The line-up is Domeyko/Gonzalez, Piano Is Drunk, Sick Python, Old Men Of Moss Mountain, Disco Club and PING! See, Aunty Joan’s Xmas party isn’t sounding so hot now, is it?

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

BUILT TO WIN

Firstly let’s get something clear. There will be no diamonds; just Marina. Much like the ruse that is Florence’s Machine, this is very much a solo act - but a lovely, clever, tuneful one at that. Marina will be playing December 30 at the Factory, before Field Day at the Domain on January 1. If you haven’t heard her music before we recommend grabbing her debut record The Family Jewels, scuffing up the booklet a bit, and pretending like you’ve had it for ages.

AMANDA PALMER GOES DOWN UNDER

Do yourself two massive favours. YouTube Built to Spill’s ‘In The Morning’, and marvel at the moment when sloppy indie-pop hit its absolute apex - and then book tickets to see the Idaho-based band play tracks from their seven ace albums at The Metro on December 29, the sideshow for their stint at Peats Ridge Festival. If you like good things (and judging from that streetpress ink on your hands, you clearly do), then you will like this show. they

MIDDLE EASTERN THEATRE

The Middle East

Those Townsville-based indie sweethearts The Middle East have found time between hanging out with Jesus at birthday parties (it’s a reference to their new song, we’re not just being weird) to play a headline show on January 19, at Sydney Theatre Company’s Richard Wherrett Studio. It’s an all ages show and they’re on at 7:30pm, so turn up early - you won’t get the chance to see them headline again til halfway through next year. Tickets on sale now from sydneytheatre.org.au

“You think when Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a fucking cross? It’s like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a rifle pendant.” - BILL HICKS 20 :: BRAG :: 393 : 20:12:10

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dance music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said WITH

PLAYMODE

M

Exploited, Sweat It Out! and Exit Row. Expect the steady rhythmic chugging of a 4x4 kick drum and various unexpected woops and whistles. It has been described as music to make babies to on the dance floor. My Remember When EP has just dropped on Shir Khan’s Exploited Records. Get it while it’s hot.

y father was a member of the house band in the Mos Eisley Cantina, so I had a disengaged upbringing, trying to realise my identity as the son of an alien. My earliest memory is of my fingers bleeding after too many piano lessons while trying to follow in the footsteps of my father.

Carl Craig tore the seat out of my pants back in ‘96. I also find inspiration in that ‘Tiesto fail’ YouTube video. And the David Guetta one. Oh and the motorcycle fail video. Anything to do with hyperbass and unhypered bass. I started out with a thick interest in hip hop and club music, but my tastes quickly changed and so did the wind. My music tastes turned to house music, while my face was stuck the way it was.

My group consists of the United Colours Crew. Kato, Chux, Bad Ezzy & Wax Motif, usually at United Colours parties, which have been decorated in United Colours decorations, and host United Colours-related acts such as Solo, Kingdom, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team and Round Table Knights. Upcoming parties include Zombie Disco Squad, Hot City and a surprise special international guest. We

like to slam out some mad tropical joints and destroy bass bins around the place. No bass bins are safe when you’re talking about United Colours. With some of the best selectors in the world joining the United Colours quest for excellence, these are parties to be reckoned with.

I make contemporary house music which has so far been released by

Music is definitely not how it was back in ‘96 when Carl Craig tore the seat out of my pants.

But yes I do like that Fat Boy Slim song. Sydney is fortunate to have so many awesome artists coming to its clubs and festivals. Where I come from, even an umbrella can’t stop the acid rain and there’s not the talent pool that Sydney is swimming in. So get out there and see some shows, especially United Colours ones, because they are almost the best fun you could ever have. You might even get to hear some hyperbass.

What: United Colours presents Zombie Disco Squad (Made To Play, Dirtybird UK) With: Playmode, Chux, Bad Ezzy, Kato & more Where: GOODGOD Small Club When: Sunday January 2

Bag Raiders

NYE @ THE BREWERY

We see plenty of press releases here at the BRAG. Very few, however, are quite as exciting as the one we received from The Brewery at Queens Wharf in Newcastle for their big NYE bash. In addition to seeing Regurgitator, Bag Raiders, Urthboy and Van She Tech (among an assortment of others) live, they also promise that you will be mesmerised by the “gypsy whipcracking, drag-queen-spanking, boxing, shimmying, singing, stripping, mean machine that is a burlesque boxer”. We were sold at “drag queen spanking”. To win a double pass, tell us your best NYE story.

SHORE THING

Mr ‘fu*k me I’m famous’, Frenchman David Guetta, headlines Fuzzy’s annual Shore Thing bash on New Year’s Eve at Bondi Pavilion.

Guetta has attained levels of exposure to rival his compatriot Bob ‘Love Generation’ Sinclar thanks to a string of ubiquitous singles of late, including ‘Sexy Bitch’ featuring Akon and collaborations with Kelly Rowland and The Black Eyed Peas; the man is an unashamed ‘dance popstar’.

Guetta will be flanked by Armand Van Helden, notorious for his party jam ‘U Don’t Know Me’ and remixes of Dizzee Rascal and Daft Punk, while newly crowned ITM #1 DJs the Aston Shuffle will be playing live to round out the triumvirate...

Tickets are on sale through www.fuzzy.com.au.

Snoop Dogg

SUPAFEST LINEUP ANNOUNCED (SNOOP)

The inaugural Supafest drew over 65,000 people earlier in the year, and if next year’s lineup is any indication then they’ll be looking at similar, if not even greater numbers in 2011.

Heavyweights Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Taio Cruz and the precocious Bow Wow are all on the bill for next year’s Supafest, slotted for Saturday April 9 at ANZ Stadium. It’s a lineup that pretty much speaks for itself. Tickets are currently available online for $125.

N*E*R*D/CHROMEO/BOYZ NOIZE

Some people may be tempted to celebrate the New Year a week later this – or rather next? – year, with heavyweight internationals N*E*R*D, Chromeo, Boys Noize and Tinie Tempah playing together at the Horden Pavillion on Friday January 7, 2011. While Chromeo will also be appearing at Field Day, this show represents the only chance to see the other three perform in Sydney. Now for a brief rundown of the lineup for the uninitiated few: N*E*R*D, the conception of The Neptunes’ Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, are responsible for hits like ‘She Wants To Move’, ‘Provider’ – for those who missed it, the Zero 7 remix is a must – and most recently ‘Everyone Nose’. Chromeo are in town on the back of their third LP, Business Casual. Boyz Noize is the electro brainchild of German producer Alexander Ridha. And Tinie Tempah is a UK grime act who has only recently ‘broken through’. Tickets to this delectable foursome are available online, for just $95.

BOUNDARY BONDS WITH...

MEG HORAN,

T SCARLET ARTIST MANAGEMEN Give us the low down on what your day involves…

After working for various other bigwigs within the music industry I decided to go at it alone, and started my own company - which is equal parts exciting and terrifying.

I manage three acts: Guineafowl (debut EP out in Feb), Rat vs Possum (debut album out now) and just started working with beautiful and talented singer/songwriter, Imogen Harper. My days consist of getting my head around starting up a new enterprise and all the boring but necessary legalities of that, touting the bands to anyone who will listen, dealing with labels, talking to the bands, venues, booking agents, travel agents - and generally doing a lot of planning and emailing!

GOODGOD NYE

GOODGOD has thrown together a ‘last resort’ NYE option for the many people who still don’t know what the fu*k they’re doing. This humble, ascetic NYE option does have a number of selling points, namely: the cheap $15 entry price on the most inflated night on the party calendar; the ‘holiday resort’ dress theme; and an eclectic sonic soundtrack courtesy of DJs Smart Casual, Smokey la Beef and Jimmy Sing, with “many more friends” still yet to be announced.

PNAU IS BACK

After a lengthy sojourn, Pete Mayes and Nick Littlemore are ‘re-animating’ their PNAU project with the anthemic new single ‘The Truth’, a harbinger for their fourth studio album, purportedly due for release sometime in 2011.

‘The Truth’ will hit the airwaves in late January to coincide with the band’s performances at the Big Day Out festival, as they prepare to follow on from 2008’s self-titled LP which was described by none other than Sir Elton John as the “best album he had heard in 10 years”.

DÂM-FUNK @ TONE

After his sold-out Australian debut in May, LA-based singer/DJ/multi-instrumentalist ‘ambassador of boogie funk’, DâM-FunK, returns to our shores early next year and will play an intimate show at Tone on Thursday January 6 (before the huge one with Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and The Gaslamp Killer the following night.) Despite bursting onto the scene in that acid-washed summer of ‘08-’09 with remixes of Baron Zen and Animal Collective and the release of his acclaimed debut album Toeachizown on Stones Throw, DâM-FunK has been producing music for many, many, many years. In fact, he recently released a collection of forgotten recordings from his teenage years, Adolescent Funk, which features tracks originally recorded on cassette tape in the late 80s and early 90s...

Justice

FIELD DAY IS HERE!

Party institution Fuzzy have delivered another gargantuan lineup for their 10th annual New Year’s Field Day bash, which will be held as always on January 1 at the Domain. You probably know it all already, but a brief refresher: 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, Trentemøller, Neon Indian and Zombie Disco Squad are the international drawcards throwing down ahead of local support. Happy new year indeed.

What qualities does a band need for you to consider managing them?

How long is a piece of string? Talent, SONGS! Star factor... It’s just a thing that clicks. I generally use my feet/ smile factor to decide about a band: if watching a band my feet ache, I know it’s not moving me, but if I can’t wipe the smile off my face, I know it’s good.

What aspects of working in music still surprise you?

I’m loving the camaraderie between other managers which seems to be a lot more prevalent these days; the sharing of knowledge and general support. I work from home, so it’s great to know that there are others out there to bounce ideas around with, without feeling threatened about people stealing your ideas.

“When you’re high, you can do everything you normally do, just as well. You just realise that it’s not worth the fucking effort.” - BILL HICKS 22 :: BRAG :: 393 : 20:12:10

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 23

free stuff

dance music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... With Chris Honnery onthefly.com.au

five things WITH

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

TRON DAFT PUNK WOAH

It’s the most anticipated movie soundtrack since the How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days soundtrack (LOL, just kidding, we hate Matthew McConaughey), and it features the greatest pop culture marriage (the music of Daft Punk with the child of TRON) in the history of the solar system. The helmeted Parisians have gone all-out with this epic soundtrack, composing 24 tracks and having an 85-piece orchestra at their disposal. It’s been described as a mix of electronic and orchestral, but there probably isn’t a more insipid way to describe a soundtrack that has arguably garnered more hype than the film itself. To win one of 10 copies of this juicy slab, tell us what you want the mostest from Santa.

BENI (MODULAR)

Growing Up My dad was always in bands growing 1. up - the one I remember the most was called Touch And Go. He used to take my brother and I to all of his shows, and we would watch from the side of the stage. I always loved it.

Inspirations Obviously Michael Jackson was a great 2. inspiration. I loved everything he did from his music, to his album artwork, to his videos everything he did was amazing.

Your Crew We have a great group here in Australia.

3.

Obviously with Modular there are so many great bands on the label, and then there is the Bang Gang, and You Only Live Once. I’m fortunate to be able to tour a lot overseas, so I have a lot of great friends in Japan, Europe and America also.

The Music You Make At the moment I’m really inspired by 4.

Chicago house and Detroit techno, all the way from Theo Parrish to Marshall Jefferson.

Hopefully I will have at least some masters back from my album and remixes that are getting done soon, so that I can play them at Field Day in January!

5.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene is always going to go up and down. I think that these days a lot

more types of dance music are accepted - not necessarily just one style. I actually saw Jay-Z last night, and that was amazing. His backing band was incredible. Also Theo Parrish, Moodymann and Carl Craig recently at D25 was great; it’s great to see a DJ not play any new tracks at all, and still have everyone loving it.

GORILLAZ XMAS ALBUM

While on tour in Australia, Gorillaz have confirmed details of a free album due out on Christmas Day. The release is called The Fall, and was recorded while frontman Damon Albarn was on tour in October. It’s mostly been made on an iPad, with “a few non-iPad sounds” added. Albarn confirmed all of this on an interview with triple j, which you can listen to on the station’s website, where Albarn also performs stripped-back takes of Gorillaz songs.

WHAM!

Wham! favorite Klaus Hill will be transforming into his annual pseudonym ‘Santa Klaus’ and jumping into the ring as part of a Boxing Day battle royale this Saturday. There’s talk of the club being transformed into a mini boxing arena and hyperbolic promises of “mayhem” – but anyone who frequents Wham regularly would surely expect this already. Aside from Santa Klaus and MC Losty going head to head, the DJs battling it out are as follows: James Taylor Vs Illya, Wax Motif Vs Levins, Trent Rackus Vs Pablo Calamari and Husky Vs Hannah Gibbs. Upstairs in The Office, Ben Morris and Ben Korbel will be catering for those with a proclivity for the deep and techy stuff… $15 before 10pm at the World Bar.

With: Justice, Klaxons, Duck Sauce, Sleigh Bells, The Rapture, Public Enemy, Tame Impala and more Where: Field Day 2011 @ The Domain When: January 1, from midday

Daft Punk destined to continue his momentum into the New Year. He’ll be playing live in his Australian debut, with $20 presales online.

QUARION

Quarion is the moniker of Swiss born DJ and producer Yanneck Salvo, a figure who’s attracted comparisons with everyone from Derrick May to 4hero for sets that traverse hip hop, nu jazz and techno. Quarion rose to prominence via his memorable melodic take of Sydney producer Jamie Lloyd’s ‘May I?’ on the Future Classic imprint, so it’s appropriate that he will be playing for the local brand at The Civic Underground on Saturday January 15. Far from a one track wonder, Quarion has also crafted the cuts ‘Karasu’ which was heavily endorsed by the likes of Ame and Dixon, and the tribute to Mad Mike, ‘The Light’, which led to him to tour with Detroit luminaries Theo Parrish – how about his

performance at D25?! – and Omar-S. A glowing endorsement if ever there was one.

CLAUDE VONSTROKE

San Francisco’s Mr Barclay Crenshaw, aka Claude VonStroke, will play an extended set for Future Music at Nevermind on Sunday January 2. Crenshaw stormed onto the scene with his impressive debut, Beware of The Bird, in 2006; an LP that spawned the cuts ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’ and ‘The Whistler’, each instantly recognisable for their quirky samples and ‘phat’ basslines. He followed up with Bird Brain, which gave us ‘Vocal Chords’, while he’s also delivered a number of ‘stonking’ remixes of luminaries Kenny Larkin and ‘the elevator’ Kevin Saunderson. The DirtyBird headhoncho is apparently set to bunker down for an extended set, with $20 presales available online and a few more held back on the door for anyone who misses out.

PICNIC NYE Aloe Blacc

BECK’S BAR PROGRAM

Fans of dance music should take serious note of the program for the Sydney Festival Beck’s Bar, with regular performances to be held at the Hyde Park Barracks throughout January, featuring an assortment of global talent. Germany’s Henrik Schwarz headlines the Future Classic night on Thursday January 13, DJ Harvey spins for Picnic on Saturday January 15, Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme play the venue on Friday January 28 before the following night Detroit pioneers Octave One round off the season with the traditional Mad Racket bash. Cobblestone Jazz, Arrested Development and Scribe are just some of the other acts performing at the Beck’s Bar over January – check out the full program at sydneyfestival.org.au.

Underground disco proponents Picnic have announced details of their NYE warehouse bash. One half of NYC duo Rub N Tug, Eric Duncan (aka ‘Dr Dunksone’) will be throwing down along with Lovefingers, who is also the label manager of his own ESP Institute imprint. Lovefingers is one half of Rong duo The Stallions with pal Lee Douglas, and is renowned for a sound that conflates classic disco elements with more psychedelic touches. The Loin Brothers and Steele Bonus will be providing support, with party details (and warehouse location) to be released through picnicstuff.com.au. Presale tickets are available online for $50, and keep in mind this is a BYO affair – extra booze for your buck, peoples!

Regurgitator

TENSNAKE

‘Pool party nu-disco posterboy’, the German producer Tensnake, headlines Adult Disco at The Civic Underground on Sunday January 2. His track ‘Coma Cat’ has been one of the biggest anthems of 2010, tearing through Ibiza and finding its way into the UK pop charts - not to mention Tony E’s iPod gym playlist. It also paved the way for his first mix CD, Tensnake In The House, on the Defected imprint - and with remixes of Scissor Sisters, Aloe Blacc, Goldfrapp done and dusted, Tensnake seems

THE BREWERY NYE

The Brewery in Newcastle has announced its NYE lineup. Indie stalwarts Regurgitator and electro DJ/producers Bag Raiders are the dual headliners, while Urthboy, Van She Tech, Cassian and local bands Nova & the Experience and Backbeat will also be representin’. Aside from the music, you can also expect a party experience comprising podium and cage dancers, cigarette girls, magicians, circus performers and sideshow booths. General Admission entry is $50, with doors open from 6pm.

“Life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves.” - BILL HICKS 24 :: BRAG :: 393 : 20:12:10

ITUNES / JB HIFI / SANITY BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 25

The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer

IN THE MOOG

While working in the US, Nicole Skeltys of Australian electronic music collective Clan Analogue met up with Michelle Moog-Koussa, daughter of Bob Moog and executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation, in Asheville, North Carolina, at Moogfest. They discussed Moog’s legacy, his influence on Clan Analogue and their shared passion for sound synthesis and technological development in electronic music. Skeltys presented a copy of their retro compilation Re Cognition: The Clan Analogue Legacy Collection for the Foundation’s collection. Clan Analogue is working out how to send a delegation of its artists to perform in the US for the next Moogfest.

NEW OWNER FOR EMI BY CHRISTMAS?

Reports in the UK suggest that EMI might have a new owner by Christmas. After current

Life lines Born: Daughter Catalina Mae “Kitty” Henderson to Sydney radio host Jackie O and husband Lee Henderson.

Dating: After turbulent relationships with Charlie Sheen and Richie Sambora, Denise Richards is now with Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx.

Injured: Perth musician Xave Brown had serious head injuries after a car crash which killed his girlfriend Alexis Davis, and injured his son Jasper. A benefit was scheduled on December 18 at Fly By Night Musicians Club.

Hospitalised: Duff McKagan underwent surgery on his sinuses after years of cocaine use left him with a hole the size of a quarter.

In Court: Justin Bieber escaped criminal charges over an alleged October 15 incident where a 12 year old claimed the singer hit him at a laser tag center. Police evidence showed the kid and friends were tormenting Bieber.

Suing: Former Adelaide Triple M presenter Kym Dillon took action against Austereo. He lost his gig when the breakfast team of Kym, Ali and Chris Dzelde was dissolved in September. Austereo wants the suit thrown out.

Suing: US rapper Paris initiated a US$20 million lawsuit against the giant NBC network, claiming it stole his 2007 concept for Your School Makeover and used it in the series School Pride.

Jailed: US rapper Ja Rule, for two years, after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a gun. Cops found the gun in the back of his car after a gig in July 2007. “Minor setback for a major comeback,”

THINGS WE HEAR * Ian Moss confirmed that after Cold Chisel’s set at the Deniliquin Ute Muster in October, they’re in writing mode. They plan to go into the studios by mid-2011. * Acer Arena is currently in talks with possible new naming rights sponsors, and could strike a deal with one by mid-2011. * The Australian reveals that when Yusef Islam was here late last month to promote his Roadsinger tour DVD, he also spoke to promoters about the possibility of Australia being the first country to stage his Moonshadow musical, made up of hits he made as Cat Stevens. * Gorillaz have said that reports on various owner Terra Firma lost its lawsuit against lender Citibank, it is expected that Citibank will take over most of EMI. It will then restructure EMI and get it ready for a sale next year. Steve Jobs is apparently interested in buying, either for Apple or for himself.

HILLTOP HOODS INITIATIVE RETURNS

The Hilltop Hoods Initiative, courtesy of the ‘Hoods and APRA, is back to give a hip hop act who hasn’t yet professionally released an album the chance to get a $10,000 grant, to fast-track their career. It’s to cover the making and promotion of a CD, plus advice from David Vodika and Media Arts Lawyers. The judging panel includes Canberra’s Hau of Koolism and triple j, Sydney manager, booking agent and promoter Ran-Dee, and Melbournebased artist and Blank Clothing owner Raph.

Applications close February 22, with the grant recipient announced on March 31. Go to: apraamcos.com.au

SANDRINGHAM HOSTS INNER WEST BAND COMP

The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown hosts the first Inner West Festival Band Competition.

Every Wednesday from February 2, 32 emerging bands will play over eight heats and two semi-finals, until the Grand Final on April 13. The prize pack includes a spot on the Inner West Festival, recording time with Zen Studios, mixing time with The Lab Studios, mastering time with Butler Mastering, manufacturing with Mad CDs and a photo shoot with Love Print. Entries close first week of January. See: myspace.com/innerwestfestbandcomp

HALL OF FAMERS

Alice Cooper, Neil Diamond, Tom Waits, Dr. John and Darlene Love will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in New York.

They beat out Bon Jovi, Donna Summer, Chic, Laura Nyro, The Beastie Boys, Donovan and The J. Geils Band for the honour.

PUT IT AWAY

Jim Morrison of The Doors was pardoned last week by the Governor of Florida, for a conviction for drunkenly flashing his old fella on stage, during a Miami concert in 1969. He was appealing the conviction when he died in Paris in 1971. But up pops one Jorge Casuso who attended that train-wreck show after mowing lawns to pay for the tickets. He says it was the worst concert he ever saw, and now wants the Gov to get his money back.

Australian websites about bassist Paul Simonon being taken to hospital in Sydney and suffering from a stroke are incorrect, and that he was “fine”. * How true are rumours circulating hip hop circles, that Usher’s wife is demanding he stop touring after he was caught knocking boots with a backup dancer? * Faith No More ended their reunion at a show in Chile with a cover of the Manhattans’ ‘Kiss And Say Goodbye’. * As a closure of the whole Short Stack review plagiarism affair, the Mess + Noise site ran a “review” of the band’s new album made up entirely from reviews from other publications of other albums! * Daniel Johns cleared up a Silverchair

› THE MUSIC NETWORK TOP 40 The top 40 for 2010 YE TI HP ARTIST

TRACK

LABEL

1 42 1 Train

Hey, Soul Sister

SME

2 43 7 Lifehouse

Halfway Gone

GEF/UMA

3 40 6 John Butler Trio

Close To You

JAR/MGM

4 39 6 Jet

Seventeen

VIR/EMI

5 39 2 Adam Lambert

Whataya Want From Me

SME

6 40 7 Muse

Undisclosed Desires

WBUK/WMA

7 48 14 Powderfi nger

Burn Your Name

UMA

8 42 1 Jason Derulo

In My Head

WB/WMA

9 31 2 Scouting For Girls

This Ain’t A Love Song

SME

10 41 15 John Mayer

Heartbreak Warfare

COL/SME UMA

11 37 4 Vanessa Amorosi ft. Seany B

Mr. Mysterious

12 47 6 Rob Thomas

Give Me The Meltdown

ATL/WMA

13 36 1 David Guetta ft. Kid Cudi

Memories

VIR/EMI

14 27 5 Train

If It’s Love

SME

15 35 4 Lady Gaga ft. Beyonce

Telephone

INT/UMA

16 40 12 Rob Thomas

Mockingbird

ATL/WMA

17 30 1 Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg

California Gurls

CAP/EMI

18 31 1 Owl City

Fireflies

UNI/UMA

19 26

1 Adam Lambert

If I Had You

SME

20 27

1 Uncle Kracker

Smile

ATL/WMA

Richard Vission & Static Revenger ft. Luciana

I Like That

VICIOUS/UMA

Lady Gaga

Alejandro

INT/UMA

23 29 3

Taio Cruz

Break Your Heart

ISL/UMA

24 31 8

Pink

Ave Mary A

SME

25 28 1

Enrique Iglesias ft. Pitbull

I Like It

INT/UMA

26 30 4

David Guetta

Gettin’ Over

VIR/EMI

27 28 12

Gyroscope

Baby, I’m Getting Better

UMA SME

21 35 12 22

28

1

28 31 1

Usher ft. Will.i.am

OMG

29 33 11

Amy Meredith

Lying

SME

30 31 4

Brian McFadden ft. Kevin Rudolf

Just Say So

ISL/UMA

31 30 11

Thirsty Merc

Mousetrap Heart

MUSH/WMA

32 28 2

B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars

Nothin’ On You

ATL/WMA

33 41 24

Mumford & Sons

Little Lion Man

DEW/UMA

34 32 11

Powderfi nger

Sail The Wildest Stretch

UMA

35 27 6

Ke$ha

Your Love Is My Drug

SME

36 20 2

Usher ft. Pitbull

DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love

SME

37 27 8

Michael Buble

Haven’t Met You Yet

WB/WMA

38 23 7

Michael Paynter

Love The Fall

SME

39 28 5

Orianthi

According To You

GEF/UMA

40 31 2

John Butler Trio

One Way Road

JAR/MGM

themusicnetwork.com

Need posters or flyers over Christmas and new years? We’re open!

See our webpage or email us for more info 26 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

rumour that he covered up the make of his amplifier onstage, because the manufacturer wouldn’t give him an endorsement. He told Guitar International Magazine, “No, no, there was never any kind of war or anything! I’ve always covered up the brand of my amps and stuff anyway, just because I don’t want an endorsement. The last thing I want to do is a guitar amp endorsement and get my photo taken in front of an amp, and have it splashed all over guitar mags.” * Aussie drummer Alex Carapetis, who went to America to play with Nine Inch Nails and now Julian Casablancas, is apparently embroiled in a sex scandal. Pix leaked to the internet allegedly show him and girlfriend Ke$ha having sex.

02 9317 5777 gnpprint@tpg.com.au

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& STRANGE TALK

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cityandcolour.ca BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 27

December 29, 2010 - January 1, 2011

I

t’s always hard to pick your party for NYE - but if you’re afraid to brave the city, then you e. can always find solace at Peats Ridge.

With a beautiful plot of land kissed by sun, un, surrounded by water and graced by the likes of Angus & Julia Stone, Kate Miller-Heidke, eidke, Built To Spill, Decoder Ring, Itch-E & Scratch-E, The Jezabels, PVT, Washington ngton and so many more, the three-day camping ing festival also hosts art, film, cabaret, theatre, atre,

circus circus, workshops, the Trash Temple - even a Tim Burton-inspired playground. All of that, plus aw award-winning sustainability! We caught up with a fe few of the acts flying down to party with us, and a couple of the local bands we’ll be circling on our festival schedule... Don’t worry, we printed one out for you too - head to our centre spread on pp pp. 38-39. See you at Peats!

Where: Glenworth Valley, an hour north of Sydney When: December 29, 2010 - January 1, 2011 More: http://www.peatsridgefestival.com.au/

The Great Wide Yonder By Tyson Wray

A

nders Trentemøller, one of Denmark’s finest musical exports, has spent the last decade developing and refining an eccentric brand of electronic music.

Renowned for complex compositions and multi-instrumental dexterity, Trentemøller’s unique musical aptitude has seen him branch out into many different forms, dismissing the conventions that otherwise bind his genre.

Returning in 2010 with his sophomore record Into The Great Wide Yonder, his progression as an artist has been vast.

A delicate and cerebral album, Into The Great Wide Yonder showcases Trentemøller’s love for pure, unadulterated experimentation. “When I listen back to it, I really do notice how it isn’t quite as electronic-sounding as my debut [The Last Resort],” he tells me. “This was just a natural development; I really began to miss the effect of playing physical instruments.” It transpires that Trentemøller played keyboards and drums in different live bands before he started creating electronica. “My first album was primarily programmed, and therefore of course more electronic sounding,” he tells me, “[but for my second] I really wanted to move back to using physical instruments... I also wanted it to sound a lot more organic and natural, with recorded sounds, and that shaped the way the album sounded and felt quite a lot.”

It wasn’t just the tools that changed between records, but the method of production itself.

“The whole writing process was quite different from my debut album,” he explains. “With The

Last Resort, I was generally starting off with a note or a programmed piece and building up from there; with this album, I was actually starting most songs by writing and playing them on my own piano.” The new process allowed Trentemøller to concentrate much more on the melodies and the chord progressions; “It felt much more like traditional song-writing in a way. Only afterwards would I go to my computer and begin producing and enhancing the songs.”

In addition to his original tracks, Trentemøller has been responsible for poignant, meticulous remixes that have cemented his reputation as one of the most exciting electronic artists around today. Working for artists like Depeche Mode, Franz Ferdinand and Moby, his creative replications are revered for the way they diverge stylistically, whilst still holding true to the original. “When I’m creating a remix, I’m always looking for something special within the original song. Whether it’s a melody, a hook, a synth-line or a great vocal - I’m looking for something that makes the track special and unique, that I can build around. For me it’s all about trying to add something extra, and taking the track to a new direction.”

Trentemøller’s live show has been transformed too, now including an entire band, theatrics and visuals; a truly unique live experience which he’ll be taking to Peats Ridge Festival. His seventh visit, Trentemøller clearly has a love affair with our country, and it’s mutual; his live sets have been embraced nationwide during each of their evolving forms. He tells me that his current show,

which has already travelled to Glastonbury, Melt, Lowlands and Roskilde, is vastly different to that of three years back. “Obviously now that we’re playing a lot of tracks from Into The Great Wide Yonder, there’s a lot more live elements. In a way, it was a little bit easier to transform the music from this album to the live state.

“People can expect a show with a lot of energy but also with a lot of good melodies,” he continues. “Into the Great Wide Yonder is perhaps a little bit more rock-orientated and sounds a bit more analogue, but the tracks that we’re playing from the album are made to be a bit more up-tempo - and even a bit more techno-sounding live. We’ve made them a lot more danceable than they are on the record.”

The translation from studio to stage is a process he especially enjoys. “When I’m writing and producing music it’s a very lonely process, I’m doing everything by myself and without any feedback. Of course when you move onto the road and tour, it’s a complete contrast; you’re receiving feedback and getting a response from other musicians and the crowd, which is extremely rewarding. I don’t think I could work without this side,” he says. “It really brings the music to life.”

What: Into The Great Wide Yonder is out now Where: The Bellbird Stage When: Friday December 31, 11pm More: Also appearing at Field Day 2011, New Years Day @ The Domain

All My Friends By Jonno Seidler

T

here are lots of blogs in the world. Some written by famous people and others by anonymous nobodies; some worth reading and others entirely not. But if there’s one that you absolutely must subscribe to, it’s that of Devonte Hynes. The man behind Lightspeed Champion writes posts in pretty much the same way he writes songs; scathing, self-deprecating and bizarrely hilarious. “I haven’t updated that in a while,” he laughs when told that his interviewer was reading it for the better part of three years. “I hope you haven’t read anything too crazy!”

After the collapse of his first band, the laughably titled Test Icicles, Hynes was the bespectacled and reinvented troubadour that nobody saw coming. And these days, he lives a pretty crazy life. A cosmopolitan musician who divides his time between Britain and Brooklyn, he’s in such high demand as a songwriter after stints with Basement Jaxx and Chemical Brothers that he’s currently writing a whole swag of hits for Beyonce’s little sister, Solange. His schedule is getting so hectic that he’s barely had time to concentrate on his own material. “I only really work if someone wants something,” Dev jokes. “I can write songs and whatever, but I really need people to tell me what they want... and that’s actually true for myself as well. It’s nice having a spec when you start writing.”

Still, amidst all of the business, he’s somehow already written the next record. “Oh yeah – it’s done, all the demos. But I don’t know if it’ll ever come out.” Hynes doesn’t say this lightly, either; there’s a bit of a queue. He’s already got an album under his third moniker, Blood Orange, ready to go early next year - and he’ll probably have to tour as someone else after that. “I actually put one [Lightspeed] demo up on the Myspace a few weeks ago, and I didn’t really tell

anyone,” he confesses. “I’ve seen that gadget where it tells you how many people listen to it so people are hearing it, but nobody seems to have figured out that it’s a new song yet!”

You can’t blame Lightspeed Champion fans; Hynes’ output is about as sporadic as it is prolific.

He releases huge amounts of material through various outlets at a time, and then disappears into the ether. Making things even more difficult is the issues he has with stuff he’s already written; for a long time, the relationship addressed in his debut, Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, was so raw that Hynes couldn’t play any of those songs live. “Yeah, I’m at peace with it now. I’m actually going to play a lot from it when I get to Australia.

It’s just taken me a while…”

If you need more of an idea about the kind of character Dev is, a selected and telling excerpt from his blog will help you out: “I see no point in pushing forward and chasing someone that I may have interest in. Because the absolute best case scenario of meeting the love of my life, getting married, having kids, will inevitably end in either me, or them, dying.” That same twist of the macabre has always peppered Hynes’ work, from the stapled eyes of ‘Midnight Surprise’ through to various images of drowning, dying and drying up - all usually related to love. With such a big, open heart, it’s no surprise that Dev has genuine love for his friends, including Florence Welch, who used to perform in his band and is now blitzing the planet. “I actually surprised her [recently].

She was performing on SNL and some of my friends are writers on the show, so I just turned up and knocked on the dressing room door!

“I’ve managed to do that a few times this year,” he continues. “It’s been fun. I think people forget that I live in New York. I know what it’s like from

touring - even the slightest familiar face seems like the greatest thing ever.”

Back in blogland, it turns out that Dev’s been slacking off a bit lately - and it isn’t just his fans who’ve noticed. “Many of my friends, who I didn’t even know followed it, called me up and said ‘What’s going on!?’” To his credit, he’s been occupied; although his latest full-length only came out this year, he’s just put out a new EP, Bye Bye - and it just so happens to have string arrangements from the legendary Van Dyke Parks. “The string master!” he raves. “I’m a big fan. I used to listen to Discover America all the time so it’s kind of crazy, because I was listening to the work-in-progress as a fan. Hearing new Van Dyke Parks music, only to realise it was my music!” Hynes, who in addition to playing guitar, piano and drums is also proficient at both violin and cello, says having the legend in the studio with him is pretty much synonymous with how random and unexpected his life has become.

After his foray into the OTT orchestrated world, Dev says his new stuff is “surprisingly minimal, compared to everything else. Just my voice and a ton of Fender Rhodes piano and stuff. We’ll see what happens, I guess.” As for the blog, avid online readers will just have to trawl through the archives for a while. “Yeah, I’ve put some pretty crazy stuff up there,” Hynes laughs. “I’m really happy nobody official has told me to take it down yet!”

Where: Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You is out now on Domino, through EMI Where: The Bellbird Stage When: Thursday December 30, 5pm More: Wednesday December 29 @ Oxford Art Factory, with Spacecamp

“Keep thinking about every straight face …wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces”- SLEIGH BELLS –The Forum, Jan 8 28 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

Festival Highlights

Desert Songs By Mitch Alexander

T

hey say that the first album you write often amounts to an amalgamation of all that you’ve listened to up to that point, and that the follow-up is flavoured by everything you’ve heard since. That’s why you can pretty much pinpoint when someone handed Brandon Flowers a copy of Bruce Springsteen’s Born To Run, or when The Joshua Tree became an integral part of the Followill music library - and it can be especially obvious in singers with a native tongue other than English. “It’s funny - I was just listening to the first album and my voice is kind of weird, very American, and I don’t really know why,” admits Adam Olenius, frontman of Swedish indie pop specialists Shout Out Louds. “I think when we started the band I was listening to a lot of American lo-fi, like Dinosaur Jr. and Grandaddy... I haven’t made an effort not to sound like that since then, but maybe I’m just listening to other music more now.”

If Howl Howl Gaff Gaff was Adam’s unknowing tribute to American lo-fi slacker rock, then 2007 follow-up Our Ill Wills held closer ties with bands from closer countries - specifically those from Great Britain in the early ‘80s, as they bubbled away at the stripped-down jangly rhythms that would give rise to new wave. And then there’s 2010’s offering, Work - written in large part in Australia, after the five band members flung themselves to the far winds for some well-deserved rest. Adam, the band’s principal songwriter, recorded makeshift versions of most songs with only a few instruments and a laptop while on his holiday.

Trial by committee, the songs travelled back and forth around the world to other members

until the band was convinced that an album was there - at which point the services of producer Phil Ek (Band Of Horses, The Shins and other indie royalty) were rendered.

Over ten months since the album was released, there’s uneasiness in his voice as Adam describes the process from holiday hobby to finished product. He’s not dissatisfied with the album; just with how his intended vision was modified along the way. “I was with my girlfriend in Melbourne, and I just started writing songs alone,” he says. “Because of the time difference, there was a sense of isolation from the others, so it was more on my own.

“I think it’s an album that takes a few more listens than the other two - especially than the last one, which is more of a pop album,” he says. “The melodies may be a little bit more hidden on this record...” For a band like Shout Out Louds, an admission like this is almost akin to describing a friend as ‘good natured’ or ‘interesting’; a telltale sign that, behind the general confidence in his own abilities, Adam wishes he could have another go at it. After a little more gentle scratching at the surface, Adam becomes quite candid on how he feels about the Work LP. His language becomes more colourful (i.e. sweary), as his opinions become less polite. “Our minds were set on doing a more stripped-down record; just five instruments, that sort of thing,” he explains slowly. “And we knew that a producer could just come in and fuck everything up. So we were in two different camps – we wanted the songs to stay very traditional-sounding, but we also wanted Phil to make them sound epic.”

“Phil is one of those hi-fi guys,” he continues.

“He spends a lot of time making everything sound as crisp and perfect as possible. He works really, really hard on every single instrument, but it takes so fucking long. I like that, but now that I listen to it, there’s something I still want to do with it...” Adam tells me that his goal next time is to record all of the vocals on his own, and add different parts like layers, one by one. “When I listen to the demos I recorded on my own, there are some things there that I like better... I’m already thinking about ideas for the next album.”

There’s a sense of economy to Shout Out Louds, a familiarity of sounds that’s due in large parts to Adam simply being a broad fan of music. It’s a synthesis that stops just before parody; a tribute without the overt sense of nostalgia. Even if Work didn’t quite hit the mark the band were aiming for, the throbbing semiquaver bass notes and sparse guitars throughout suggest that Adam was enjoying more than just the kebabs and all-black dress code during his Melbourne stay. Work draws on the previous new wave influences, but this time

heard through a sun-drenched Australian filter.

And as it turns out, Adam’s music collection stretches across oceans. “I like those songs, I call them desert songs - like The Triffids and early Midnight Oil and The Go-Betweens where they sounded really sparse and stripped back, but inside they were really huge,” he explains.

“I knew I would end in up in Victoria / I took too many pills and wrote my will just to get to you” he sings in ‘Walls’. A bit of a name-check, perhaps? “Yeah, that’s Victoria, Australia - I was writing there around that time. People in Sweden have been asking me about that actually, because right now Victoria is the Princess of Sweden... That would have been a whole other story,” he adds, with a giggle.

Where: Work is out now through Dew Process Where: The Bellbird Stage When: Wednesday December 29, 8pm More: Sunday January 2 @ The Annandale Hotel, with The Seabellies

Local Pickings Some favourite Sydney-based acts on the lineup tell us all about the year that was, and the year that will be...

Biggest lesson of 2010?

Don’t fall in love with mermaids: it’s a complicated, fishy experience.

What’ll you remember most?

The year we started a band, got some of our closest childhood friends together and played around Australia.

Jonathan Boulet [cover star] guitar/vox Favourite moment of the year?

The Dirty Three at Meredith Music Festival. Warren Ellis can kick the air like a gymnast.

Best record you heard?

Mine is Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz. Pepa’s is Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People, Joe’s is Beach House - Teen Dream, Jacob’s is Tame Impala - InnerSpeaker and Alister’s is Ron Kenoly - Lift Him Up Best book you read?

The Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac Best film you saw?

Animal Kingdom - David Michôd

Biggest lesson of 2010?

Don’t be a massive dickhead.

New year’s resolution?

To stop telling our percussionist, Alister, to quit smoking.

What’ll you remember most?

It was the most exciting year of my entire life.

Where: Underworld When: Friday December 31, 9:15pm

Best record you heard?

Rohnert Park - Ceremony Best book you read?

Mastering Audio - Bob Katz Best film you saw?

The Holy Mountain

Lanie Lane - Songwriter/guitar/vox Favourite moment of the year?

So many cool things – but singing ‘Like A Prayer’ with my beautiful friend Lisa Mitchell at the Enmore and in Melbs was pretty special!

Biggest lesson of 2010?

I can sing and dance underwater in front of a camera in a massive tutu if I need too.

Marcus Azon [cover star] - guitar/ vox Favourite moment of the year?

Standing in flowing water, in the middle of the road, where a nearby dam had overflowed.

Best record you heard?

Your Anniversary - Elana Stone Best book you read?

How It Feels - Brendan Cowell Bst film you saw?

Animal Kingdom. Jacki Weaver was the mother from hell. Stunning performance.

New Year’s resolution?

Record an album, play more with my band instead of solo, and travel more (and more!)

New Year’s resolution?

You know when you think you know someone, and then you find out there’s something quite not right about them, like having a genuine fear of buttons? I have a button phobia. I’d like to get over that.

Where: Underworld When: Thursday Dec 30, 11:15am

What’ll you remember most?

The crazy amount of shows I have played! Love it so much.

Best record you heard?

Dan Sultan - Get Out While You Can

Best film you saw?

I’m gonna cheat and say a TV series – Boardwalk Empire.

New Year’s resolution?

To get cracking on a new album…

Where: The Lyrebird Stage When: Wednesday Dec 29, 8:30pm

Where: The Bellbird Stage When: Friday December 31, 2:15pm

Matt Corby [cover star] - songwriter/ guitar/vox Favourite moment of the year?

Laura Marling gave me her AAA pass at Splendour, and I used it to get into the production tent and stand next to the sound guy for The Strokes.

Ngaiire [cover star] - lead vocalist/ guitarist/pronounced like ‘Diary’ but with an N.

New Year’s resolution?

Have a new year’s resolution...

Where: The Bellbird Stage When: Thursday Dec 30, 3:45pm

Best book you read?

I haven’t had time to read even one book. It’s a disgrace, I tell you!

Best film you saw?

Well, also not much time for films unfortunately. But the worst thing I saw (and possibly EVER) was the trailer for The Human Centipede…

Favourite moment of the year?

Darkchild randomly liking what I’ve been doing over this corner of the world was pretty mind-blowing. The artists he’s produced are all ridiculous; Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Whitney, Mary J. Blige… It makes you think that maybe you’re not just here to sing songs for your parents.

Biggest lesson of 2010?

NEVER dry your undies in the microwave. You end up with crotchless panties. Totally hot… literally.

What’ll you remember most?

2010 really took me around the bend. I had my car smashed, lost my license, lost my day job, lost my phone, lost my house but all the while music was just climbing and climbing. Music IS a ‘real’ job, and 2010 was really trying to beat that into my brain... I really started to believe that I had to work harder.

Solo - MC Favourite moment of the year?

Supporting Hilltop Hoods at their sold out show at Koko in London. To be so far away from home rocking such a huge show with a band we look up to was a truly special feeling.

Biggest lesson of 2010?

If you’re going to release hundreds of thousands of classified government documents, don’t have unprotected sex in Sweden.

What’ll you remember most?

All the touring. Good times on the road with our old friends Spit Syndicate & Joyride, and our new friends Seth Sentry & Jackie Splash.

Best record you heard?

The Temper Trap – Conditions. I was a bit slow on this one…

Best book you read?

Marching Powder. Such a cliché but it’s true…

Biggest lesson of 2010?

I learnt how to wash my own clothes.

A valuable lesson indeed.

What’ll you remember most?

This year will always remind me of airport struggles. The day I get from Sydney to London without falling victim to “random” security briefings and checks, I will be a happy man.

Best record you heard?

The Marshall Tucker Band’s self-titled album Best book you read?

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks Best film you saw?

Scott Pilgrim vs The World What’s your New Year’s resolution?

I don’t have one, because I know I wont stick to whatever it is.

Where: The Lyrebird Stage When: 10:30am, Friday Dec 31

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:08:10 :: 29

Riva Starr The Original Baltic House Gangster By Dan Watt

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rinking beer, wine, and spirits generally signifies a pretty good time - and while some of us might overindulge on the odd occasion and turn the positive into a negative, for the most part getting drunk is fun.

Italian DJ/Producer Riva Starr’s song ‘I Get Drunk’, with its distinctive gypsy sound, has captured the exhilarating rush of intoxication and has upped the energy level on dancefloors across the world. Stefano Miele is the man behind Riva Starr (a name taken from Gigi Riva, the 1950s Italian soccer star), and when we talk, he admits that making ‘I Get Drunk’ took him hardly any time at all - and, yes, he was drunk.

“I work extremely quickly and that song, ‘I Get Drunk’, was written and recorded in less than a day,â€? he tells me, a soft smile oozing through Miele’s heavily accented and animated tone. He goes into more detail of the song’s conceptualisation, as excitement continues to build in his voice. “I’m really into traditional folk and gypsy music, so I really wanted to write a dance track which captured that sound.â€? He got in touch with NĂ´ze, a French dance act who are heavily influenced by traditional music,

and asked them to come over and lend him a hand. “Those guys are so funny. We sat in my studio and wrote ‘I Get Drunk’... I was pretty drunk by the end of it,� he laughs.

Miele has been releasing music as Riva Starr since 2007, but it was only with his latest album, If Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade, that he won the kind of mainstream success which would represent a career turning point. Miele has toured the world many times over now, including two previous trips to Australia, and although it’s a seemingly clichĂŠ question he becomes very animated when asked which country’s audiences go the craziest at his shows‌ “I have really enjoyed the shows on my two earlier trips to Australia,â€? he offers first, somewhat obliged, “but you want to know which crowds got the craziest?

Well, I always have amazing experiences when I go to China.�

So what exactly makes the Communist nation so mind-blowing to play for? “Clubs are so big in China, and even if you’re not a big-time DJ they get a lot of sponsorship for the tour - so they’ll put your face on a huge flier and hang it from a skyscraper.� The animated Italian becomes slightly out of breath as he recounts his experiences in China. “You arrive in their cities and there’s just this big image of your face!

And when you’re playing they bring you these huge bottles of champagne - you know, the ones the F1 drivers get when they win races? ...The craziest things always happen in the clubs there, because they spend so much money on customising them with moving floors and secret crazy rooms for super rich people...�

“Clubs are so big in China. Even if you’re not a big time DJ they’ll put your face on a huge flier and hang it from a skyscraper. You arrive in their cities, and there’s just this big image of your face!�

At this point, it’s easy to infer that the fasttalking Miele has one of those non-stop personalities, for whom everything has to be action, action, action. It comes as no surprise then that he’s also a budding film editor, with his greatest achievement so far being the film clip for ‘I Get Drunk,’ which features clips from 1998 Yugoslav romantic comedy Black Cat, White Cat. When it came out, the film was an underground sensation, picking up the lauded Silver Lion for Best Direction at the Venice Film Festival - and for the film clip, Miele has edited footage from the film which depicts a gypsy wedding and spliced it with various other scenes, edited in time with the song. “Again, that’s an example of me just sitting down and doing something in less than a day,â€? Miele tells me. “It was a lot of fun‌ I really like that movie, and I think that the gypsy culture [it depicts] is very interesting.â€?

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30 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

Although his DJ name comes from that of a soccer player, Miele admits his moniker isn’t just a tribute to a much-loved sport. “I was trying to come up with a name that would be found easily on Google, and one that no-one else had. When I Googled ‘Riva Starr’, there was only one result that came up, and it was about this girl who died in the war and she was a poet,� he explains. “I don’t think anyone will get confused between us when they’re searching for me!�

We’ve established that Miele is a creative musical dynamo, an adept video tech, and a lover of China, soccer, gypsies and perhaps obscure war poetry. So now it is time to address the big elephant in the room. What does he think of Yolanda Be Cool’s ‘We Don’t Speak Americano’, which many accuse was a little too heavily based on ‘I Get Drunk’? “I know those guys, and I think they’ve had a lot of success with that track,� he says, the vicissitudes of his Italian accent calm as he speaks frankly. “They sent me the track just after they’d finished it and said that they loved my work, and it was an inspiration for them,� he says. “And good for them. They’ve killed it with that track.�

With: Digitalism (GER), Sneaky Sound System, Dennis Ferrer (NYC), Rico Tubbs (FINN), Atomic Hooligan, Good Will, Metals, Kato, Cosmonaut and more Where: Harbour Party @ Luna Park When: New Years Eve 2010, from 6:30pm

The National Going Global By Matthew Hogan

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ince releasing their fifth album in May, the profile of crooning indie heroes The National has risen rapidly. The reception of High Violet afforded the Brooklyn-based band headline slots at some of Australia’s biggest festivals this summer – and this October, it even won them the Q Magazine award for Best Album. “We’ve gotten on year end lists from time to time, but this is the first time we’ve actually ever been given an award that’s made out of metal,” bassist Scott Devendorf begins. “It was a surprise for sure. Q’s a big English music magazine obviously, and they had a big music magazine event to go with the award ceremony, which was interesting. It was midday, but it was set up to feel like it was night - and Bernard Sumner handed us the award, which was awesome.”

Meeting the New Order and Joy Division guitarist wasn’t the only honour of the year - they also got to do a ‘Fleetwood Mac circa 1993,’ and hung out with the leader of the free world. In 2008, The National were staunch supporters of Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign, selling t-shirts featuring Obama’s image and the words ‘Mr November,’ and even playing at a rally in their hometown of Cincinnati to encourage voting. And this year, during the midterm elections, they did the same.

him for a few years now because he lives in the same neighbourhood,” Devendorf explains.

“We’ve shared studio space from time to time; he used our studio to record The Age Of Adz. We share equipment and while we were recording our record, he popped by the studio a few times and helped us out on a couple of songs – doing vocals, harmonium, things like that. So yeah, it’s been an organic relationship in that way. He’s a great guy and he’s been busy because obviously he’s got a new record and he’s been touring - but he happened to have some time off at the end of tour, so he came over for a few days to hang out in London, and he played a show with us.”

Stevens will be arriving in Sydney three weeks too late to make it on stage with The National – but if past gigs are anything to go by, they won’t need any help to win over the crowd.

What: The expanded edition of High Violet is out now on 4AD, through Remote Control With: The Middle East When: January 7 & 8 Where: The Enmore Theatre

“We were on tour in the States and we were going to be in Madison, Wisconsin, which is in the northern Midwest - it’s a big college town,” Devendorf explains, setting the scene. “It turned out that about a week before we were going to be there, we got a call from Obama’s team – his organisers – and basically they were doing a pitch about voting, for students. It was before the midterm elections, which kind of went badly in retrospect, but the president was going to be there and we were going to be there and they asked us, and we said ‘sure!’ We went to the rally and we played a few songs acoustic – we amplified them, but it was just a couple of guitars and some speakers, not the whole band thing.

Ben Harper was there too and he did a couple of songs, there were a few speakers from local politics as well - and then Obama spoke.”

“Obama was very cordial - he had that thing about him, you know about presidents having a magical quality? We tried to make some jokes. He was super funny, and we probably weren’t...”

Afterwards, the band got to meet President Obama for a couple of minutes, which Devendorf says was both awesome and bizarre. So what did the bassist say to the president? “Probably something really dumb,” he laughs. “We were kind of lined up in a hallway in a very secure area and he came up, and he was very cordial – he had that thing about him, you know about presidents having a magical quality? He was very charismatic and he was super nice. He shook each of our hands and said thanks for performing, and we tried make to some jokes. He was super funny and we probably weren’t, but it was an interesting experience for sure.”

Devendorf concedes that when The National started out 11 years ago, he never thought theirs would be the type of band that met world leaders... “No way,” he says, incredulous. “In fact, even when we were asked to play the rally we were thinking that it wouldn’t happen. It was a bit of a surprise in the end, because obviously presidents have things to do that are a hundred times more important than talking to some band.”

To top off the year for The National, they’ve just reissued High Violet with an extra disc of unreleased material. “We had b-sides that were released here and there which we kinda wanted to compile for people, and we also had a couple of tracks that didn’t make the record. We just put them together as a sort of end-of-year round-up,” Devendorf explains. “I think the record company wanted to put something together to let the record get more notice, but also we didn’t want people to buy it all over again. So you can buy the tracks individually – if people are still paying for tracks or whatever...”

The National have played some of the biggest shows of their career recently, leaving them on a hot streak as they head to Australia in January.

At London’s O2 Academy Brixton late last month, fellow indie rock royalty Sufjan Stevens joined them on stage. “He’s a good friend, we’ve known BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 31

Cold War Kids The Kids Are Alright By Caitlin Welsh

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any an indie band have struggled with the notoriously troublesome second album - particularly those whose debuts rode an ever-cresting wave of superlatives, hype and praise. A rarer phenomenon is a band who will admit freely not only that the second album is particularly hard, but also that theirs was less than stellar.

Cold War Kids are such a band. A series of promising EPs won over the masses with their ramshackle soul and crackling guitars, dragged along by frontman Nathan Willett’s raw-edged wails. By the end of 2006, the acclaim for their debut album Robbers & Cowards was almost universal (a now-infamous “meh” from Pitchfork notwithstanding), and the band spent two years touring a record packed with everyday melodramas, yelp-along melodies and backroom attitude. It was when they settled in to record the follow-up, Loyalty To Loyalty, that the trouble began. Their second album was generally felt to be over-long, under-focused and less than fully-formed; Willett himself admits to feeling sad and disappointed upon its release.

Darkest Hour Darkness Falls By Tom Hersey

lesson about rushing things. “We didn’t really allow ourselves a lot of time,” he explains, of the Loyalty sessions. “After getting home from tours, we started right away, and spent not a lot of time on songs - and for myself as the singer and kind of band-leader, I was really… I kind of just let everybody do their thing, I didn’t really take a lot of ownership.” He sighs heavily here, adding that the reason behind the vague, flat feeling in much of Loyalty is that he was trying to move away from the narrative structures of Robbers into something more abstract.

On the forthcoming third album, Willett feels like he’s struck a much better balance between storytelling and personal revelation. “[After Loyalty], lyrically speaking, I really wanted to do something more personal that I could feel more connected to, [so] I felt like I was risking something, was revealing something.”

“It’s kind of the cliché, that bands spend such a long time rehearsing and playing shows [which creates] that early inspiration and magic when they get to making their first record,” Willett says.

“And then they come back from two years of touring to record the second album and try to record something which has that magic in it, which is often times a lot harder to get to. I think that was definitely the case for us.”

The leading single from Mine Is Yours, ‘Louder Than Ever’, lives up to the promise of its name; purposeful and propulsive, it sports a cavern of reverbed guitar and drums, with a sleeker vocal performance from Willett himself. The overall sound echoes the sonic shift that Kings Of Leon underwent between Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because Of The Times. Many a critic will attribute this to the influence of producer Jacquire King – whose previous work includes producing albums by Tom Waits, Modest Mouse and, well, Because Of The Times. “Sonically, he’s definitely the one to whom we can attribute the bigness of the sound,” Willett confirms.

Willett is in a hotel room in Athens, Georgia, amid a mini-tour through California and the Southern states that’s giving the material for album #3 an airing in front of small audiences.

Half the set is new stuff, allowing the band time to “get comfortable” before Mine Is Yours drops in January and they embark on the major tours. Willett says he’s more than learned his

While it wasn’t their intention to make a stadium record, Cold War Kids found that much of the new material “had a really anthemic thing” about it. “We just ran with it,” Willett says. “It’s definitely a bigger sound. It’s definitely different.”

Well, we’ll get to see for ourselves in January if bigger really is better - listening to Willett, it’s clear that happier certainly is.

What: Mine Is Yours is out in January Where: The Enmore Theatre When: Thursday January 6

“E

very night people are complaining that we didn’t play their favourite song.

It’s funny too, because it’s happened so much at this stage that it kind of feels like a person has come up to us and listed every song.” When I catch up with John Henry, vocalist for Washington D.C. melodic death metal outfit Darkest Hour, our man is grumbling good-naturedly about the practical impossibility he and his band mates are faced with night after night; playing every song that a particular audience wants to hear.

The pressure on John and the rest of the five piece to chose the perfect crowd-pleasing set list is only getting harder. From the Gothenburg roar of Hidden Hands Of A Sadist Nation to the album that single-handedly lent the metalcore genre credibility, 2006’s Deliver Us, Darkest Hour have fortified a formidable back catalogue that isn’t easily whittled down. “We’ve got six albums out now, so there’s a lot of material to choose from. That doesn’t make it easy, man.

But when we come back to Australia we’ll be bringing a good cross-section of our catalogue,” he continues. “I think whatever set we choose, it will be good for people who’ve seen us before; we’ll do some older stuff that we probably haven’t played much on our past visits, but we’ll also get into the last couple of records for some of the newer fans - try and present a complete history of the band.”

It’s a history which has been marked by continual progression, catalysed by line-up changes and ever-increasing technical skills – an evolution which Henry and the Darkest Hour crew have aimed to capture on their next long player, The Human Romance, which should see the light of day in February next year. “The band’s been evolving for a long-ass time, but I think there’s been a real step up on

the songwriting for this new record. We’ve gone through member changes since the last record, and we’re finally getting into an awesome songwriting groove with our new guitarist. I think you can hear the evolution on our new record, which is a lot different to the last one. On the last one we tried to get a straightforward, aggressive, angry vibe - but the new one has way more melody happening, and way more musicality to it.”

Henry tells me that 2009’s The Eternal Return was fuelled by the anger and frustration that Darkest Hour was feeling towards their old label. “We were stuck in this perpetual cycle of going nowhere and were very unhappy with the business side of the band, and I think that really was reflected on the last record. Maybe that’s why it [sounds] so pissed off,” he offers.

“This new record is about re-finding our sound, branching off from what we did with the last one. But we’re not going crazy,” Henry assures.

“It’s not going to be some totally different shit.”

As for the band’s upcoming Australian tour, which will see Darkest Hour take to our stages while the rest of us recover from New Years Eve festivities, John sounds stoked. “It’s going to be a good way to kick off the New Year, for sure. Because we’ll come over and it will be your guys’ summer, so I mean, shit, that’s a great way to start off a year. We’ll be hanging out, wearing some board shorts and going to the beach,” he says, before a laugh. “Not really.

We’ll probably just play the shows and fly out.

But I always like to imagine we’ll get to hang out more than we do…”

Who: Darkest Hour Where: The Factory Theatre When: Wednesday January 5 - all ages

The Snowdroppers Keeping Cool By Bridie Connellan

“O

h you’re fucking kidding me, I’ve run out of fucking teabags. FUCK my life.

FUCK my life. No - that’s a silly thing to say; I’m sure there are some here somewhere.

There’s got to be... Oh, fuck yeah! It’s shitty Twinings stuff, but that’ll do.”

With apologies for not being his usual “sprightly self,” Johnny Wishbone - the frontman of Sydney’s blues/rockabilly outfit The Snowdroppers (named for cocaine and underwear thieves) - is feeling somewhat foggy on a Friday morning. He’s “dealing with the flu or some shit” by curling up on the cool porcelain of his kitchen tiles. “I am certainly not feeling very raucous today, so I can’t be bothered fronting the rock & roll shtick.… but - where were we?”

With the rolling, rambunctious and rowdy debut LP Too Late To Pray scoring the foursome some serious radio play, Channel [V] ads, cheap booze, late nights and blue devils, it’s no surprise that Wishbone’s a little run-down. Fresh from a supporting gig with the revered Reverend Horton Heat, and gearing up to support Seasick Steve in January, the next massive challenge for The Snowdroppers will be finding the money to head to Texas in 2011 for a coveted SxSW showcase. Held in the homeland of the gravelly blues and gospel tradition, Wishbone agrees that taking The Snowdroppers to Austin might have the same effect as taking a Celtic tribute band to Cork. “I don’t know whether

America will enjoy it, or think that we’re taking the piss,” he laughs, cutting short the excitement of the invite. “It is surreal, but all I could think of was, ‘How the fuck are we going to be able to afford this?’”

The irony for Snowdroppers is that any bag of cash would in fact defeat their cliché - of 1920s Depression-era Southern gospel rockabilly blues, which Wishbone is only too happy to embrace. “Oh look, we don’t do ourselves any favours dressing the way we dress, or calling songs ‘Good Drugs Bad Women’,” he says, with a sinister chuckle. “When we started the band, it was a bit of an embellishment - a caricature, if you will - of all the things we enjoyed about the genre. We shot ourselves in the foot pretty early.” With lyrics about whores, pimps, “good rimmings”, and lines like “bitch take a sniff ‘cause amphetamines are slimmin’”, how are Mama and Papa Wishbone taking it all? “When the album came out my Dad, god bless his heart, made a special mix for my Mum just containing the songs from the CD which didn’t have swear words on it,” laughs Wishbone. “So there was only about four songs on Mum’s version.”

With The Snowdroppers’ debut LP Too Late To Pray surfacing last year, Wishbone admits a pretty token problem at hand; the sophomore album stigma. “Honestly, we have no fucking idea what we’re going to do,” he tells me. “I’m

not afraid to say I feel the pressure a little bit, because people want to hear that the band are totally in control of their direction. For me, we always have been and always will be a live band, because that’s what it’s all about. I have no interest in spending my entire time in a studio.”

Too Late To Pray garnered hefty praise - even though almost every album review claims synonyms of ‘dirty’ or ‘hoedown’. Wishbone is as fine with that as he is quick to defend the beauty of consistency. “There’s only so many three-chord banjo songs you can write - but at the same time, if people like hearing three-chord banjo

songs, and we like playing three-chord banjo songs, then everything’s cool,” he says.

“You’ve got to write for yourself - any songwriter will tell you that - but you’ve [also] got to walk that line… You can’t turn around and make an avant-garde laptop noise album. Everyone will see through it.”

What: The Filth presents KISS/HUG With: The Snowdroppers, Bridgemary Kiss Where: Club 169, Oxford Street When: Friday December 24

“I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three feet of bullet proof plexi-glass. That’s faith in action folks!” - BILL HICKS 32 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

N*E*R*D Nothing To Hide By Hugh Robertson

D

espite having interviewed dozens of musicians over the past couple of years, as well as befriending a few, I still sometimes feel as though rock stars live on a modern-day Mount Olympus, swanning about on a higher plane and only interfering in the lives of mortals when they deign it absolutely necessary.

So I get a small shock of the familiar when Shay Haley tells me he’s at home in Virginia having an early dinner with his six year-old daughter, who I can hear giggling in the background. Haley, of course, is best known as “the other dude” in N*E*R*D - an outfit he shares with Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo who, as The Neptunes, have dominated Top 40 radio for much of the past decade.

It’s not just the sound of his daughter’s laughter that serves to bring Haley down to earth; it’s the faint hint of wistfulness, coupled with a healthy dose of awe, when he talks about touring with the world’s only cartoon band a couple of months ago. He seems a little bit lost for words. “Gorillaz, man... Wow”, he begins. “It’s like watching a Pixar film every night. It was incredible, man. Damon having the creative freedom to do whatever he wants was just a pure joy”.

rough,” he admits, “but we worked it out, and polished it up... So if you appreciate what the band does, you’ll definitely enjoy the show.

“We still have that great, amazing band back there, and the sound is still superb. And Pharrell and I come out and put on a hell of a show.” A word from the wise, though – wear earplugs, or prepare for a world of pain: N*E*R*D play LOUD, punishing a venue’s sound system past the point of destruction.

It’s something which clearly delights Shay.

“We command the house engineers to really pump that sound,” he says, with a hint of mischief. “And so sometimes we do blow out the system – we’ve been known for that.

That’s why a lot of club promoters don’t allow us to come back, after we’ve wrecked a multithousand dollar system.” Here’s hoping the Hordern will be adequately prepared...

What: Nothing is out now through Universal With: Chromeo, Boys Noize, Tinie Tempah Where: The Hordern Pavilion When: Friday January 7

It’s interesting that “creative freedom” is the single aspect of the Gorillaz experience that has caused Shay’s breathlessness. N*E*R*D’s fourth album Nothing came out about six weeks ago, with the band branching out from their traditional rock/rap party boy sounds towards a much softer, even jazzier vibe that recalled early 70s soul and funk. And although they’ve never exactly received rave reviews from critics, Nothing did even worse - 4.1 from Pitchfork (“a parade of deliriously bad ideas”), 6/10 from NME, and this reviewer’s 2½ stars in these hallowed pages - with many commenting that N*E*R*D* only really works when sticking to the party anthems.

“ Pharrell and Chad thought it could work, but I just didn’t feel like the core N*E*R*D fan would really appreciate us putting out that kind of music... It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it wasn’t us.”

Almost in passing, Shay mentions that Nothing almost didn’t happen. Apparently, there was an entire album’s worth of material that was completed and poised for release long beforehand - but after a few internal disagreements, the project was ditched. “We were working on another album called Instant Gratification,” Shay explains, “where we went for a more ‘pop’ sound, and we tried to make music [that fit] with what was going on today. But it just didn’t resonate well with me. Pharrell and Chad thought differently, and thought it could work – but I just didn’t feel like the core N*E*R*D fan would really appreciate us putting out that kind of music... It’s not that it was bad, it’s just that it wasn’t us”.

I respond that his assessment of the little album that couldn’t is actually quite close to how I felt about the album that was released - and to his credit, Shay is happy to discuss the poor reception of Nothing. He asks me why I didn’t like it, and listens to what I have to say – even if he does shrug it off, noting that the buzz on Facebook and Twitter has been positive.

“Unfortunately”, he continues, “you can’t make everybody happy. But we wanted to break away from the norm, and I feel like we definitely accomplished that.” Still, it’s a stylistic excursion which will be short-lived for N*E*R*D; Haley casually mentions that the band are already back in the studio “putting together another masterpiece that the world will enjoy.” He won’t say much more about it - except that it will be released very, very soon.

In the meantime, though, there’s an Australian tour to take care of – which will see N*E*R*D, Chromeo, Tinie Tempah and Boys Noize take over the Hordern Pavilion for one huge night.

The new material demands more of him when playing it live, of course; it’s Shay’s job as MC to keep the energy up, even when the music kicks back to relax. “N*E*R*D is known for performing with intensity,” he explains, “but this new material shows more of a mellow, psychedelic side to the band. And so I try my hardest to maintain the energy, but still take people on that emotional rollercoaster.” After playing the new material a handful of times, the live show is starting to take shape. “The first couple of shows were a little BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 33

The Gaslamp Killer No Compromises By Tyson Wray

“T

he crowds back in my early days absolutely hated me,” laughs William Benjamin Bensussen, with a vicious tone. “I was basically forced to play shitty clubs... There was nowhere else to go. They wanted to hear shitty R’n’B, pop, house and electro but I wouldn’t give it to them.”

The Gaslamp Killer, a self-professed ‘angry psycho,’ was raised in San Diego’s Gaslamp district and turned to DJing at 17. He soon earned the name ‘killer’ by continually killing local dance floors, through his refusal to conform to mainstream tastes. “I’d only play stuff that actually appealed and inspired me as an artist,” explains Bensussen. “It wasn’t what they wanted to hear. I’d get boo-ed, have stuff throw at me, gum put in my hair and people even literally stopping my records.”

Tough beginnings, but it was his dogged determination that’s made The Gaslamp Killer the esoteric, undefinable but critically acclaimed artist that he is today. After a decade of pushing his love of all things weird, eerie and unique, 2010 sees the release of his third EP, Death Gate. A cosmic exploration, the EP showcases his musical

“I’m coming to Australia with some of my biggest idols in beat movements, so I can’t see how the show is going to be anything except really fucking rad.” development, fuelling the international fervour which surrounds his limitless productions.

“Death Gate’s release was a long time coming,” Bensussen tells me. “There’s a song with Gonjasufi that we wrote two years ago, a collaboration I did with Computer Jay two years ago and a more recent production I did with Mophono… It’s a bunch of beats that I was really into the idea of releasing, before I start working further on all of my new stuff.”

Describing the EP as “a collection of my mind”, he tells me it’s in the same vibe as the My Troubled Mind EP, released in 2009. “You know how I’ve been making beats for a few years now? Some of the very first stuff I ever made is better than anything I’m making now. I felt that I had to release all of this stuff, as it really sums up the sound that I’ve had over the past five years.

“The new record that I’m going to be working on will definitely be different, with a lot of live music and a lot less sampling,” continues Bensussen.

“That’s something I’ve been working a lot on in 2010 - but it won’t be ready until next year. I don’t know when, I don’t know how and I don’t know with whom, but it’s going to be awesome.”

Bensussen proudly wears his production badge second; his first love is performing. The Gaslamp Killer’s shows, while notably different from the sounds and resonance of his records, are comprised of the same aura, impressions and unmistakable left-field characteristics. “As a producer, I’m still finding my feet and finding my form. As a performer I was born and raised for this, I was built for this. My mother was a standup comedian and all around funky woman, and my father was singing on the radio in Mexico City in the 50s - and would always been singing and whistling around the house,” he laughs.

“Always singing and whistling, all day.

“When I was young, I was always trying to perform for their friends when they’d come over.

I was one of those kids who wanted to talk to everyone, and who was a little outlandish and crazy,” admits Bensussen. “I feel as if DJing is something that I was able to channel all of that into. DJing is something that I put absolutely all of my energy into, and I’m able to create something that’s a much more exciting experience than other DJs are able to [create].

“As a producer I’m still trying to find my sound, but as a DJ I’m able to play anything that I want and twist it into my mix, and make it work,” he continues. “Obviously how good I play or how I’m received depends on the audience that I’m playing to, but having my shit together as a performer is just something that’s second nature to me.”

The Gaslamp Killer is returning to Australia for the third time, for a monumental quadruple bill with fellow beatsmiths and sonic pioneers Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke and DâM-FunK. And after a shattering headline show at last March’s Golden Plains festival, it’s safe to say that anticipation for his set is at an all time high.

“I can’t wait to get back down there. I’ve always been received really well in Australia, and the parties have always been wild. The people appreciate what I’m trying to do and what I’m playing which is a really important thing, especially for me.

“Currently I’m using an iPad to control my cue points in Serato, and sound effects, to actually change the songs and how they sound,” Bensussen tells me, when I ask what we can expect. “I’ve got a few more songs and a few more exclusives, but basically it’s a DJ set with a lot of bells and whistles and a lot of energy...

I’m also coming to Australia with some of my biggest idols in beat movements, so I can’t see how it’s going to be anything except really fucking rad.”

What: Death Gate is out now on Brainfeeder With: Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, DâMFunk Where: The Forum When: Friday January 7

34 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

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g g guide g our gig picks for the festive season

Reptiles, Young Docteurs Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills $10 8pm Bondi Cigars Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why 8pm Cherrybomb Christmas Show: Sunset Riot, Torch Le Monde, L.U.S.T. Notes Live, Enmore $10 (+ bf) 8pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $105 8pm King Tide, Dog Trumpet, B!G Annandale Hotel $20 (+ bf) 7.30pm Melody Black, Familia, Black Label, Jimmy Swouse & The Angry Darts Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10– $15 8pm Natural Selection, Tin Sparrow, Patrick James Melt Bar, Kings Cross 9pm Rockin Christmas Show: Big Bozza Band, Carlisle, Ray Ray Ray & The Jetsons, The Underground Architects The Valve, Tempe free 7pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 24 ROCK & POP Kiss/Hug: The Snowdroppers, Bridgemary Kiss Hopscotch @ Club 169, Darlinghurst 8pm Tone Defeat XXXmas Special: Sticky Fingers, Only the Sea Slugs, Preachers, The Zebs, Crochet Crooks Annandale Hotel $10 (+ bf) 8pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 26

MONDAY DECEMBER 27 JAZZ The Not New Years Eve Show: James Morrison, Donald Cant, Roy Best, Tina Harris, Willoughby Symphony, Macquarie University Singers, Sergei Golovko Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $47.20 (member)–$120 (adult) 8pm Tim Freedman, Heath Cullen The Basement, Circular Quay $38 (+ bf)–$86.80 (dinner & show) 8pm

TUESDAY DECEMBER 28 ROCK & POP The Butterfly Effect, After The Fall Waves Nightclub, Towradgi $33 (+ bf) 8pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Tuesday Night Live: Tin Sparrow, Love In The Circus, Sye McRitchie Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free

JAZZ The Not New Years Eve Show: James Morrison, Donald Cant, Roy Best, Tina Harris, Willoughby Symphony, Macquarie University Singers, Sergei Golovko Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $47.20 (member)–$120 (adult) 8pm Tim Freedman, Perry Keyes The Basement, Circular Quay $38 (+ bf)–$86.80 (dinner & show) 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Renee Geyer, Kate Gogarty Brass Monkey, Cronulla $51 7pm

ROCK & POP Front End Loader, The Celibate Rifles, Peabody, Gay Paris, The Shake Up, Zeahorse Annandale Hotel $20 (+ bf) 8pm The Sunday NiceUp!: Budspells, Foreign Dub Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 6pm

HIP HOP Boxing Day Special: Blades Great Northern Hotel Newcastle free

WENESDAY DECEMBER 29 ROCK & POP A Psychedelic Symphony: The Church Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $73.80 (+ bf)–$80.50 (+ bf) 7pm Cog

MONDAY DECEMBER 20

Tuesday Night Live: Howler, Friends of Man, Burning Violet Bridges, Kokroller Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm

ROCK & POP Dean Carroll, From Willow, Super Florence Jam, Greenthief Macquarie Hotel, Liverpool free 8pm Ian Moss, Halfway to Forth Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $43 (show only)–$113 (dinner & show) 7pm Nicky Kurta Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm

TUESDAY DECEMBER 21 ROCK & POP Adam Pringle Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Tim Rogers, Scott Spark The Vanguard, Newtown $35 (+ bf)–$40 6.30pm

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WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 22 ROCK & POP A Very HooDoo Christmas: Mojo Juju & the Snake Oil Merchants, Frankie Valentine, Papillion, Lillian Starr, Kira Puru & The Bruise Great Northern Hotel Newcastle $12 9pm Bondi Cigars Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $20 (show only)–$60 (dinner & show) 7pm Cog, After The Fall, Overreactor Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $35 (+ bf) 8pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber 8pm Doc Neeson Brass Monkey, Cronulla $30 (+ bf) 7pm

Jager Uprising: Mavens, Kell Taylor, Vienne Circus, Orca!

Straight Ahead!

Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Sideshow Wednesdays: Trial Kennedy, The Spirits Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm The Official Blues Brothers Revue: Wayne Catania, Kieron Lafferty Workers Blacktown $18 (member)–$20 7.30pm Tim Rogers, Scott Spark The Vanguard, Newtown $35 (+ bf)–$40 6.30pm YourSpace Muso Showcase: Double Crosses, Feick’s Device, Hal2000, Drop Tank, Matt Reilly, The Snake Men, Rex Havoc, Richiko & Shannon, Ben Breidis, Emad Younan, Sally Hackett, David Sattout, Belltowers Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 23 ROCK & POP A Very Klondike Kristmas: Chris Klondike Masuak, Decline of the

gig guide send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Ash Grunwald, Mama Kin, The Widowbirds Coogee Bay Hotel, Beach Bar $25 (+ bf) 8pm Built To Spill (USA), Bearhug Metro Theatre, Sydney $49.70 (+ bf) 8pm Lightspeed Champion (UK), Spacecamp Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $33 (+ bf) 8pm Peats Ridge Festival: Angus & Julia Stone, Trentemøller (Denmark), Kate Miller-Heidke, Shout Out Louds (Sweden), The Dynamites (USA), Lightspeed Champion (UK), PVT, Decoder Ring, The Audreys, The Break, Washington, Cloud Control, Jonathan Boulet, Space Invadas, The Jezabels, Thundamentals, Steve Poltz (USA), Joel Plaskett (Canada), King Tide, Horrorshow, Watussi, Parades, Big Scary, Spit Syndicate, Belles Will Ring, Ernest Ellis, Itch-E & Scratch-E, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Bomba, Ganga Girl, Jason Collett (Canada), Oka, Jinja Safari, Deep Sea Arcade, Fire! Santa Rosa Fire!, Zeus, Ngairre, Waiting for Guinness, Papa Vs Pretty, The Liberators, Afro Moses, Kim Sanders & Friends, Guineafowl, Laneous & the FamilyYah, Chocolate Strings, Folk Uke (USA), Gossling, The Medics, The Stiff Gins, Dead Letter Chorus, Idea Idea, Barrel House, Monkfly, Flatwound, mcArtney, The Delta Riggs, Daniel Lee Kendall, Ryan Meeking, Lanie Lane, Matt Corby, Evan & the Brave, Lolo Lovina, Holly Martin, Jack Carty, Georgia Potter, Svelt, Mortlock, Fishing, Georgia Fair, Khancoban, Emma Davis, Favourite Son, Blackbird Hum, Leigh Woods, iSOMA, Cass Eager & the Company, John Vella, Lucy Hall, Arkestra, Beatrice, Claude Hay, Tin Sparrow, The Cairos, Red Ink, Chris Assaad, Steph Dunn (Canada), CHAINGANG, The Retreat, Amy Vee, Ellen Kibble, The Lurkers, Alex Chudnovsky, Pear & the Awkward Orchestra, Sofiella Watt, Beth Knights, Pave Leclair, Sarah Jane O’Hara, Veil, Few 2 Many, Prem, Aitchmann, Love Child Grooves, Big Bud, The Versionaries, Dizz1, Westernsynthetics, Mark Walton, Shamik, Budspells, 3rd Eye, Spherix, Sophie Loziou, The Abyss, Victim, Foreign Dub, Jesse Morris & the 3 Beans, Rollers Music, Dan Kelly & His Dream Band, Kyu, Love In The Circus, Know U, Muscletone, ISHU Glenworth Valley, Peats Ridge $125 (day ticket)–$295 (+ bf) 12pm Sideshow: The Fumes, Self Is A Seed Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm YIS, The Nice Folks Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm

JAZZ Renee Geyer The Basement, Circular Quay $40 (+ bf) 9.30pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 30 ROCK & POP Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns The Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay $39.80 (+ bf) 8pm Jager Uprising: Howler, GodDog Annandale Hotel, Annandale $8 8pm Marina & the Diamonds (Wales) The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49.50 (+ bf) 8pm Peats Ridge Festival Glenworth Valley, Peats Ridge $125 (day ticket)–$295 (+ bf) 12pm Sizzling: bluejuice, Philadelphia Grand Jury, Purple Sneakers DJs Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra $28.50–$33.50 (at door) 8pm

New Year's Eve 2010 FRIDAY DECEMBER 31

The Living End

ROCK & POP Grayson, Elisa Kate Grand Hotel, Newcastle $90 (presale) 8pm Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns Shellharbour Workers’ Club $39.80 (+ bf) 8pm Harbour Party - New Years Eve 2010: Digitalism (Germany), Sneaky Sound System, Dennis Ferrer, Riva Starr, Goodwill, Metals Luna Park, Milsons Point $124.50– $304.50 (premium) 6.30pm Hardcore NY: Un Quarto Morto (Italy), Slogan Free Youth, Porn Ring, We Escaped, Bottled Violence and many more The Valve, Tempe free 7pm Hot Damn NYE Spectrum, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf)–$20 (+ bf) 9pm Last Night: The Paper Scissors, Guineafowl, Gold Fields, Ghoul, Bearhug, Purple Sneakers DJs, FBi DJs, Surecut Kids, Butcher Blades, Kato Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $24 (member)–$29 8pm Peats Ridge Festival Glenworth Valley, Peats Ridge $125 (day ticket)–$295 (+ bf) 12pm New Years Eve @ The Brewery: Regurgitator, Bag Raiders, Urthboy Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle $50–$150 (premium) 8pm Same Old Lang Syne: The Gin Club, The Holy Soul,

Psychonanny & the Babyshakers, The Maladies, The Jewel & The Falcon Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 8pm SFX NYE: Clubs Blink, Trash & SFX St James Hotel $20, $15 with flier or on list 8pm The Vasco Era, The Fumes Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $25 (+ bf) 8pm

Thirsty Merc, Reel Sessions, Miss Match, Beth Yen Star City Sports Theatre & Bar, Pyrmont 9pm Tumbleweed, Spiderbait, Hytest Waves Nightclub, Towradgi $44 (+ bf) 8pm

JAZZ Hollywood Babylon: Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants, The

Snowdroppers The Vanguard, Newtown $85 (+ bf) 8pm Masquerade Party: Shy Guys Penrith Panthers $120 (dinner & show) 7.30pm The Dynamites (USA), Charles Walker, Sol Nation Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour, Sydney free 7pm

Digitalism

Regurgitator The Jewel And The Falcon

New Year's Day 2010 SATURDAY JANUARY 1 ROCK & POP Peats Ridge Festival Glenworth Valley, Peats Ridge $125 (day ticket)–$295 (+ bf) 12pm

COUNTRY Spurs for Jesus Annandale Hotel $10 5pm

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gig guide

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

SUNDAY JANUARY 2 ROCK & POP Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra $37.75 (+ bf) 8pm Josh Pyke Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $51 (show only)–$106 (dinner & show) 7pm Shout Out Louds (Sweden), Seabellies Annandale Hotel $40 8pm Steve Poltz (USA) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Kincumber $28 7pm The Sunday Niceup!: The Nomads (Nz), Mc Rayjah45, Shamick (Canada), Mike Who & Dj Ability Beach Road Hotel, Bondi $15 8pm

MONDAY JANUARY 3 ROCK & POP Born Ruffians (Canada) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $42 (presale) 8pm Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns Sussex Inlet RSL Club $39.80 (+ bf) 8pm Mystery Jets (UK), The Holidays Metro Theatre, Sydney $46.10 (+ bf) 8pm

TUESDAY JANUARY 4

Steve Poltz (USA) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $28 7pm The Morning Benders (USA) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $42 (presale) 8pm Tuesday Night Live: Hunter Adams, Jimi James Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm

HIP HOP Public Enemy (USA), Ozi Batla Metro Theatre, Sydney $71.50 (+ bf) 8pm

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 5 ROCK & POP Batts and Battleships, Teal, I Am The Agent, Let Me Down Jungleman Gently The Valve, Tempe free 7pm Darkest Hour (USA), Carnifex The Factory Theatre, Enmore $46 (+ bf) 8pm Future Of The Left (Wales), Further Annandale Hotel $42 (+ bf) 8pm Sideshow: 78 Saab, Underlights Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Steve Poltz (USA) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $28 The Soft Pack, Deep Sea Arcade, Bleeding Knees Club Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $32.30 (+ bf)–$38.50 (+ bf) 8pm

JAZZ Daara J Family (Senegal) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm

ROCK & POP

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Interpol (USA), Bridezilla Enmore Theatre $83.50 8pm

Matthew Barber (Canada) Brass Monkey, Cronulla 7pm

DâM-FunK

The Woohoo Revue The View Factory, Newcastle free 7pm

Paul Kelly

THURSDAY JANUARY 6 ROCK & POP Casey Donovan The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf)–$28 (at door) 6.30pm Cold War Kids (USA) Enmore Theatre $75.30 8pm DâM-FunK (USA) Tone, Surry Hills 10pm Hot Hot Heat (Canada), Papa Vs Pretty, Fuzz Phantoms The Factory Theatre, Enmore $44 (+ bf) 8pm Jason Collett (Canada), Zeus, Dead Letter Chorus Brass Monkey, Cronulla $25.50 (presale) 7pm Matthew Barber, 49 Goodbyes Raval, Surry Hills $12 (+ bf) 7.30pm Steve Poltz (USA) Vault 146, Windsor $18.40 (presale)–$43.90 (dinner & show) 6.30pm Sydney Festival: Smoke & Mirrors: iOTA The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $60 (+ bf)–$65 7.30pm The Beautiful Girls, The Chemist Waves Nightclub, Towradgi $30 (+ bf) 8pm The Potbelleez Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill free 8pm The Rapture (USA), Erol Alkan (UK), Strange Talk Metro Theatre, Sydney $55 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY JANUARY 7 ROCK & POP Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke (Scotland), DâM-FunK (USA), The Gaslamp Killer The Forum Theatre, Moore Park $58 (+ bf) 8pm Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $30 (+ bf) 8pm Jason Collett (Canada), Zeus Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $22 (+ bf) 8pm Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (USA) Annandale Hotel $60 (+ bf) 8pm N*E*R*D (USA), Chromeo (Canada/USA), Boys Noize, Tinie Tempah (UK) Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park $95 (+ bf) 8pm Purple Sneakers presents Last Night: The Soft Pack (LIVE), Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) DJ Set, Cabins (LIVE), Matt Van Schie, Purple Sneakers DJs The Gaelic, Surry Hills $10 7pm Steve Poltz (USA) Brass Monkey, Cronulla $25.50 (+ bf) 8pm The Beautiful Girls, The Chemist The Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay $30 (+ bf) 8pm The National (USA) Enmore Theatre $69.30 (B Res)– $76.40 (A Res) 8pm The Rocks Markets by Moonlight: Papa Vs Pretty, Owl Eyes The Rocks Market free 6pm Tumbleweed, Dropping Honey Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West $20 (+ bf) 8pm

SATURDAY JANUARY 8

SUNDAY JANUARY 9

ROCK & POP

ROCK & POP

Deadwood ‘76 Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club $15 5pm Earthless, Nunchukka Superfly, Dead Farmers, Naked on the Vague Annandale Hotel $30 (+ bf) 8pm Grinspoon, Howl, Chicks Who Love Guns Mounties, Mount Pritchard $37.75 (+ bf) 8pm Jon English, Jonah’s Road Lizotte’s Restaurant, Lambton $38 (show only)–$102.50 (dinner & show) 7pm Junip (Sweden), Ghoul Metro Theatre, Sydney $55 (+ bf) 8pm Sleigh Bells (USA), Baio, Rat Vs Possum, Purple Sneakers DJs The Forum Theatre, Moore Park $49.50 (+ bf) 8pm Steve Poltz (USA) Notes Live, Enmore $25.50 (+ bf)– $47.95 (dinner & show) 7pm Sydney Festival First Night: Emmylou Harris (USA), The Red Dirt Boys, Amos Roach, Dave Arden, Paul Kelly, Renee Geyer, Tiddas, Dan Sultan, Archie Roach, Arrested Development (USA), Daara J Family (Senegal), Hanggai (China), The Dynamites (USA), Clinton Walker, Eddie Perfect, iota, Martin Place, Hyde Park & The Domain free 3pm Sydney Festival: Smoke & Mirrors: iOTA The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $60 (+ bf)–$65 9.30pm The National (USA) Enmore Theatre $69.30 (B Res)– $76.40 (A Res) 8pm

Diana Anaid, Kate Gogarty, Remo Street, Lab 64 The Vanguard, Newtown $18 (+ bf)–$20 6.30pm Sydney Festival: Kitty Daisy & Lewis (UK) The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $45 (+ bf) 7.30pm The Sunday Niceup!: Astronomy Class Sound System, Firehouse, Mike Who, DJ Ability Beach Road Hotel, Bondi $15 8pm

JAZZ Sydney Festival: The Dynamites (USA), Charles Walker, I Like It Like That Orchestra, DJ Stevie G Beck’s Festival Bar, Sydney $38 (+ bf) 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Old Man Luedecke (Canada) Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $20 (conc)–$25 6pm Sydney Festival: Emmylou Harris and The Red Dirt Boys (USA) State Theatre, Sydney $90 (B Res)– $110 8pm Sydney Festival: Hanggai (China) The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $35 (+ bf)–$30 5.30pm

HIP HOP Mos Def (USA) Enmore Theatre $72–$106.10 (premium) 8pm

Sleigh Bells

ACOUSTIC/FOLK Sydney Festival: Hanggai (China) Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith $40 (+ bf)–$44 8pm

“You need to know how, to say you’ll backtrack, Between the clear bag,” Somewhere in your habitat,” - SLEIGH BELLS – The Forum, Jan 8 40 :: BRAG :: 393:: 20:12:10

MUSIC...

VE LI TS...

E K R SUMMER MA BALMY NIGHTS...

JANUARY’S LIVE MUSIC...

Fri 7 Jan Owl Eyes – 6pm and 6.45pm Papa vs Pretty – 8.15pm

Fri 14 Jan Jeff Stanley – 6pm and 6.45pm FisherKing – 8pm and 8.45pm

Fri 21 Jan Jess Ribeiro – 6pm and 6.45pm Mama Kin – 8pm

Fri 28 Jan Brett Hunt – 6pm and 6.45pm Pat Capocci – 8pm and 8.45pm

MAJOR SPONSOR

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 41

club guide g our club picks for the festive season

Freestylers DJs

MONDAY DECEMBER 20 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills I Love 90s - Full Moon Party Grumpy Grandpa free Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Attic, Mona Vale Hotel The Beat Live Project Jammin $10 (+ bf) The World Bar, Kings Cross Ooh Face, Hot Carl and friends free

TUESDAY DECEMBER 21 Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Valve, Tempe Underground Tables Disco Rossco, Grand Wizard, Gee Whiz, Benji The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, djs The Cosmic Explorer, 16 Tacos, Nic Yorke free

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 22 Bank Hotel, Newtown Girls’ Night DJ Sandi Hotrod free Fringe Bar, Paddington F.R.I.E.N.D/s $5 drinks & pizzas, free entry Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Special Moments Long John Saliva free Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West Elev8 Under 18’s Christmas Party Toneshifters, X-Dream, DJ Jaytee, Wolfpack, Mozzie, Waz, MC Losty $25 (+ bf) World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Down the Rabbit Hole free

THURSDAY DECEMBER 23 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills V.I.P Thursdays Tikelz, Moto, J Lyrikz, Naiki, Rkayz, Mistah Cee Goldfish, Kings Cross The Funk Quarter Phil Hudson, Phil Toke, Dave 54, Michael Wheatley free Home The Venue, Sydney Sublime Xmas Rewind Peewee Ferris, MC Losty, Suae, XDream, Nomad, Hardforze, Nasty, Haze, Dover $15-$20 Melt Bar, Kings Cross Natural Selection Tim Sparrow, Patrick James Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Polaroids of Xmasroids Intentions, Assassins 88, TV Colours, The E.L.F, Further, DJ Christianity, Dark Modds, $a$$y Claw$, Grace/Off, DJ Rape $10 Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn! DJ Sarah Spandex, Mark C, Heart Attack $10–$12 Raval, Surry Hills Xmas Tony Danza Xtravaganza 2 Up $10 (+ bf) Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Basement, Circular Quay Uncle Jed $15 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) The Rouge, Darlinghurst Deckhead, Josh flanagan, J smoove $5 The Roxy Theatre, Parramatta Del Hamo, Peiter T, Tyson Tyler, Logikal, Big Kash, Brandon P, Jordan Gavet, Lazy J, Big Guy, Spadez, Peter Gunz, Tikelz, Johnny Beretta, Joey Pistols $30 The World Bar, Kings Cross Teenage Kicks Urby, El Mariachi, Johnny Segment, S.Kobar free

FRIDAY DECEMBER 24 Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Bass Thiefs, Oh-Glam, Sweet Distortion $10–$15

The E.L.F.

42 :: BRAG :: 393:: 20:12:10

Civic Underground, Sydney Plus One Xmas Party Murat Kilic, Yokoo, Schwa, Robbie Lowe, Matt Rowan, Telefunken, Mike Acetate, Mesan, Nic Scali, Nick Belshaw $10$15 Greengate Hotel, Killara SOSUEME DJs, Joyride, Kato, Alison Wonderland, Cassian, Levins, Holidays DJs, The Gameboys, Hobogestapo DJs, Fans DJs, Rogers Room, Disco Punx, free before 3pm, $5 before 6pm, $10 after Kit & Kaboodle, Darlinghurst Falcona Fridays Secret International Headliner, DJ Hansom, Kato, Devola, Nes $10 Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Hook ‘n’ Sling, Tommy Trash $20 The Attic, Mona Vale Hotel Huge Xmas Eve Party Purple Sneakers DJs The Loft, Darling Harbour Late at theloft Somatik, Noel Boogie, Noodles, DJ Huwston, Meem, The Swat DJs, Lippo free Tone, Surry Hills Soul Power free (early bird)–$10

SATURDAY DECEMBER 25 Bondi Pavilion Community Cultural Centre, Bondi Beach Sunburnt Christmas Freestylers (UK), Yolanda Be Cool, DCUP, Ping Pong DJs, Oakes & Lennox, DJ Helena (UK), Bag Raiders $59–$69

SUNDAY DECEMBER 26 36 Degrees Bar, Star City, Pyrmont Blaze free Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Teez, SMS, ZOMG, Kittenz, Disco Volante $10–$20 Home Terrace, Sydney Spice After Hour Simon Caldwell, Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe, Rifraf $20/$10 King Street Hotel, Newcastle West Afterparty The Potbelleez, Silent Disco, 3Levels, Laneway Sandringham Hotel, Newtown South West Royals, BustaCap, High Noon, Sennet Squad, J Neri $12 Scenic Lounge, Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford RED Nightclub $10–$15 Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Deck, Luna Park The Balcony on Boxing Day CO-OP DJs, Matt Rowan, Simon Bell Blank Canvas DJs FAF The Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Twilight Sounds Boxing Day Classics 2010 Andy Murphy, Mark Dynamix, Ben Morris, John Glover, Mo’ Funk, Cadell, Jace, Zannonl, Rogers Room, Illya, Pablo Calamari, Kristiano, Sax On Legz, Steve Frank, Van Wilder, Jackal, Matt Ferreira, The Gameboys, Banger’s ‘N’ Mash, Slappin’ Plastic, Robbie Thieves $18.20 - $28.50 The Rouge, Kings Cross Boxing Day at The Rouge Guy Tarento, Keli Hart, John Glover, Dave Winnel free The Roxy Theatre, Parramatta Ember, Charlie Brown, Lady Lauryn, 15 Grams, DJ Regz, Banzel, Ilija The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Boxing Day Battle Santa Klaus Vs Mc Losty, Trent Rackus Vs Kato, James Taylor Vs Illya, Wax Motif Vs Levins, Husky Vs Hannah Gibbs, Negghead (Nightmares On Wax), Ben Korbel, Ben Morris, Telefunken, Disco Punx, Mo’ Funk, Moneyshot $15/$20 after 10pm

Yolanda Be Cool

MONDAY DECEMBER 27 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills I Love 90s - 80s vs 90s Grumpy Gramps, DJ Alloy free Ivy Pool, Sydney SHE Pool Party Junior Jack & Kid Crème, Danny De Sousa Marcus Nick Vidal Graham Cordery Liam Sampras Paul Hatz Dave 54 Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Space Mykonos DJ Angela Pandelis, DJ Tom Hyper $24 The Attic, Mona Vale Hotel The Beat Live Project Jammin $10 (+ bf) The World Bar, Kings Cross Ooh Face, Hot Carl and friends free

TUESDAY DECEMBER 28 Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Valve, Tempe Underground Tables Disco Rossco, Grand Wizard, Gee Whiz, Benji The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, DJs: The Cosmic Explorer, 16 Tacos, Nic Yorke free

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 29 Fringe Bar, Paddington F.R.I.E.N.D/s $5 drinks & pizzas, free entry The Potbelleez

Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club Special Moments Long John Saliva free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Salsa Lounge Latin Mafia Sound System free Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West Elev8 Under 18’s Christmas Party Toneshifters, X-Dream, DJ Jaytee, Wolfpack, Mozzie, Waz, MC Losty $25 (+ bf) World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall free

THURSDAY DECEMBER 30 Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Mojito Central Dante Rivera, DJ Vicco free Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills V.I.P Thursdays Tikelz, Moto, J Lyrikz, Naiki, Rkayz, Mistah Cee Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn! DJ Sarah Spandex, Mark C, Heart Attack $10–$12 Raval, Surry Hills Xmas Tony Danza Xtravaganza 2 Up $10 (+ bf) The Basement, Circular Quay Uncle Jed $15 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) The Roxy Theatre, Parramatta Del Hamo, Peiter T, Tyson Tyler, Logikal, Big Kash, Brandon P, Jordan Gavet, Lazy J, Big Guy, Spadez, Peter Gunz, Tikelz, Johnny Beretta, Joey Pistols $30 The World Bar, Kings Cross Teenage Kicks Urby, El Mariachi, Johnny Segment, S.Kobar free Tone, Surry Hills Loop Thursdays $30

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 43

club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

New Year's eve 2010 Breakbot

FRIDAY DECEMBER 31 Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Beni, Nick Thayer, Anna Lunoe, Emily Scott, Snob Scrilla Sound System $30 Bondi Beach Shore Thing David Guetta (France), Armand van Helden (USA), The Aston Shuffle $135 (+ bf)–$225 (premium) Bungalow 8/The Loft, Darling Harbour Party Under the Stars Frankie Knuckles (USA), Crazy P, Mobin Master & Karina Chavez, Mo Funk $79 (+ bf)–$99 (+ bf) Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Teez, Zomg!, Kittenz, Disco Volante $20 Cargo Bar, Darling Harbour NYE on the Harbour Miami Horror, Breakbot (France), Bag Raiders, Van She Tech, Sosueme DJs, Cassian, Joyride, Alison Wonderland, The Gameboys, F.R.I.E.N.D.S DJs, Falcona DJs, Roger’s Room, Hoodlmz, Mr Belvedere, DJ Equal, Anna Lunoe $105 (final release) – $170 (+ bf) Chinese Laundry, Sydney Out of This World NYE Nick Warren,

Yusek, Matttt, Jeff Drake, Glove Cats, Club Junque, Spenda C, Doctor Werewolf, Bella Sarris, Sam Scratch, Yayogi, A-Tonez, Will Styles, Robbie Lowe $35 (+ bf)–$50 (+ bf) City Hotel, Sydney Mani, Av El Cubano $40 (early bird)– $60 (at door) Club 77, Kings Cross Starfuckers NYE Starfuckers DJs $23-$28 Coogee Bay Hotel, Beach Bar Full Moon Party $25 (+ bf) Cream Tangerine, Bondi Beach Paradise Lost NYE Live bands and DJs $74-$135 Cruise Bar, Circular Quay HED KANDI NYE10 Circus Ilumina Hed Kandi $84-$95 Fanny’s of Newcastle Amy Young, Gemstar, Stellar MC, Sax on Legs, TK, DJ Jaytee $20 (presale)–$25 (at door) Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills Last Night The Paper Scissors, Guineafowl, Gold Fields, Ghoul, Bearhug, Butcher Blades and a hand-selected FBi Open Day band DJS: Purple Sneakers DJs, FBi DJs, Surecut Kids, Kato $24 (FBi Supporters), $29 Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Britpop Rubbish DJs $15

Goodgod Small Club, Sydney The Last Resort Jingle Jangle, Chimmy Sing, DJ Hut $15 Helm Bar, Darling Harbour Privelege DJ Flite, DJ James V, DJ JayP, DJ Mel $55-$75 Home The Venue, Darling Harbour NYE Masquerade The 808’s, Matt Ferreira, Hannah Gibbs, Venuto, Great Dane, Dave Austin, Flite, Seiz, I.K.O. and MC Uncle Abe along with special guests $45-$99 Hotel Sweeneys, Sydney Bare Essentials Two Secret Internationals, Carlos Zarate, Garry Todd, Bump DJs, Telefunken, Matt Weir, Mitch Crosher, Sam Roberts, Ben Dunlop $50 Ivy, Sydney Pacha NYE Basement Jaxx (UK), Bob Sinclar (France), Flight Facilities, Matt Nugent, Johnny Gleeson, Mo Funk, John Glover, Jonny Powell, Tass, Graham Cordery, Liam Sampras, Robbie Santiago, Ben Zooky, Trent Rackus, Kocho, Dazzla, Murray Lake, Adam Jacobs, Mark Matthews $150 (+ bf)–$300 (premium) Jacksons on George NYE Destination 2011 Guest DJs $55 Luna Park, Sydney Harbour Party NYE 2010 Digitalism, Sneaky Sound System, Dennis Ferrer, Goodwill $126 Marrickville Bowling Club Mad Racket NYE Chris Duckenfield, Session Victim, Ken Cloud, The Racketeers – Zootie, Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell $55-$65 Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney NYE @ The MCA Ralph Lawson (UK), James Curd (USA), Acid Mondays $300 (1st release)–$350 Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst A NYE Massacre Singha, Revolver, Polographia, German Shepherds, PMA Project, Felony Crew, DJ Obey, RA, Redial, Smackdown, Nadisco, Whynot DJs $30 (+ bf) Penrith Paceway Fantasy NYE DJ Teez, DJ Mmiiddii, DJ Dempz, Dickey $166.50 Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Stereosexual Nacho Pop, Selwyn $40 The Rouge, Kings Cross NYE at The Rouge Guy Tarento, Slapping Plastic, Coops, Neon Stereo, Micky P $10 The Roxy Theatre, Parramatta Halikarnas NYE Party Senol Uzman, Cethun, Ahmet Polat, Seroz $75 Vivaz Restaurant & Nightclub, The Rocks Club Havana Band, Chocolate, Suave $40 (presale)–$50 (at door) Wildfire, Sydney NYE Cocktail Party Femme Fatales $387.50

Yuksek Bob Sinclar

Bag Raiders

David Guetta

“Deaf chords, dead ends Sling set can’t meet their demands”- SLEIGH BELLS – The Forum, Jan 8 44 :: BRAG :: 393:: 20:12:10

club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

New Year's Day 2010 Carl Cox

Sebastien Leger

SATURDAY JANUARY 1 Bella Vista (Star City Casino Wharf Pick Up) Spice Afloat NYE Sunrise Cruise Slam, Milton Jackson, Bjorn Wilke, Murat Kilic, Yokoo, Robbie Lowe, Shades Of Gray, Bump Djs, Nic Scali, Sam Roberts, Mitch Crosher $120 Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park Space Ibiza Carl Cox (UK), Steve Lawler (England), Francois K, M.A.N.D.Y., Sebastien Leger (France), Darren Emerson, Dave Seaman (UK), Andy C (UK), High Contrast, Nick Curly, Camilo Franco (Spain), Elio Riso, Netsky, Break, Ralph Lawson (UK), Kobra Kai, MC Lowqui $120 (+ bf) Home The Venue, Sydney Day One Freemasons, Katherine Ellis, Dan Murphy, Haylenise, James Tobin, Jayson Forbes, MC Glammer, Oxford Hustlers $57 (presale)–$102 (premium)

Bang Gang Deejays

SUNDAY JANUARY 2 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach The Nomad (NZ), MC RayJah45, Shamik, Mike Who, Ability Chinese Laundry, Sydney Garden Party Chase & Status, Subfocus, Nero, Doctor Werewolf, The Hump Day Project, Typhonic $50 (+ bf) Civic Underground, Sydney Adult Disco Tensnake, Future Classic DJs $20 Club Nevermind, Darlinghurst One Night Only Claude Von Stroke (USA) $20 (+ bf) Goodgod Small Club, Sydney United Colours Zombie Disco Squad, Playmode, Chux, Bad Ezzy, Kato, Wax Motif $15-$20 Home Terrace, Sydney Spice After Hour Int’l Guest, Jeremy Joshua, Garry Todd $20/$10 Scenic Lounge, Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford RED Nightclub: Artist/s unknown $10–$15

MONDAY JANUARY 3 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills I Love 90s Grumpy Gramps, DJ Alloy free The Attic, Mona Vale Hotel The Beat Live Project Jammin $10 (+ bf) The World Bar, Kings Cross Ooh Face, Hot Carl and friends free

Tone, Surry Hills Edan the Dee-Jay (USA), Tuka, DJ Ology, Studio Tann, Shantan Wantan Ichiban $15 (presale)–$20 (at door)

TUESDAY JANUARY 4 Metro Theatre, Sydney Public Enemy (USA), Ozi Batla $71.50 (+ bf) Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel Summer Series Selinas DJs free The Valve, Tempe Underground Tables Disco Rossco, Grand Wizard, Gee Whiz, Benji The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, DJs: The Cosmic Explorer, 16 Tacos, Nic Yorke free

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 5 Fringe Bar, Paddington F.R.I.E.N.D/s $5 drinks & pizzas, free entry Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Special Moments Long John Saliva free Goldfish, Kings Cross The Salsa Lounge Latin Mafia Sound System free Tone, Surry Hills Promoe & Cosmic, The Tongue, D*Phy, RETALI8 $20-$35 World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall free

Ivy, Sydney Ministry of Sounds Classics The Bang Gang Deejays, John Course, Groove Terminator (USA), Chris Duckenfield, Ken Cloud, Nick Law, Kate Monroe, Illya, Matt Roberts Ben Morris, Soulshaker DJs, Tim McGee, Trent Rackus $64.45 (presale) Metro Theatre, Sydney Hospitality Andy C (UK), High Contrast, Break, Camo, Krooked, Netsky, Kobra Kai $60 (+ bf)–$120 (whole event) Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks Get Together Fag Tag DJs, Bitch $45 (+ bf) The Domain, Sydney Field Day Justice (France), Duck Sauce (USA), Erol Alkan (UK), A-Trak (Canada), Peaches (Canada), Yuksek (France), Plump DJs (UK), Aeroplane (Belgium), Tensnake (Germany), Chris Baio (USA), Zombie Disco Squad, So Me, DVNO, Klaxons (UK), Sleigh Bells (USA), The Rapture (USA), Tame Impala, Public Enemy (USA), Art vs Science, Chromeo (Canada/USA), The Cool Kids (USA), Trent Moller, Mystery Jets (UK), Marina & the Diamonds (Wales), Neon Indian (USA), Casiokids (Norway), Jamaica, Beardyman (UK) $135 (+ bf)–$195 (+ bf) The Forum, Moore Park Bass Drop Andy C, High Contrast, Netsky, Camo & Krooked, Break, MC Lowqui, Royalston, Kobra Kai (Live) Sariss, Linken & Vertigo $60-$120 The Roxy Theatre, Parramatta Senol Uzman, Halikarnas, Josh Keles, DJ Willie $25 Tone, Surry Hills Church of Techno - NYD Marathon Chris Fortier, Dopamine, Tim Culbert, Dave Stuart, Javi Sampol, Shepz, Sari Amia, Kerry Wallace, Jordan Deck, Joey Tupaea, Joey Kaz, David Fedele $20

THURSDAY JANUARY 6 Home The Venue, Sydney Killa Kela, Andy Knowles, DJ Skeletrick $25 (+ bf) The Forum Theatre, Moore Park The 2 Live Crew $44 (+ bf) The World Bar, Kings Cross Teenage Kicks Urby, El Mariachi, Johnny Segment, S.Kobar free Tone, Surry Hills Dam-Funk (USA)

FRIDAY JANUARY 7 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Freq Nasty (NZ), Athson, Blog Wars DJs, Autoclaws Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Rip It Up! Rae Le Hero, Roberto de Roque free Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills Purple Sneakers The Soft Pack (LIVE), Kele Okereke (Bloc Party) DJ Set, Cabins (LIVE), Matt Van Schie, Purple Sneakers DJs $10 The Forum Theatre, Moore Park Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke (Scotland), Dam-Funk (USA), The Gaslamp Killer $58 (+ bf) The Rouge, Kings Cross Streetlife Fantomatique, Alley Oop, Joyride, The Velvet Sound Machine, Messy Digital $10

Major Lazer

Peaches

SATURDAY JANUARY 8 Chifley Plaza, Sydney Sydney Festival First Night Nomad free Chinese Laundry, Sydney Plump DJs, Steven Marx, Jeff Drake, Spenda C, Dirty D & Ahab, Mos Def

Erol Alkan

Nick!, King Lee, Mike Hyper $15$25 Civic Underground, Sydney The Revenge, Brennan Green, The Loin Brothers, Matt Trousdale $20 Ivy, Sydney Junior Jack, Kid Crème, Beth Yen, Liam Sampras, Tass, Kocho, Robbie Santiago, Danny De Sousa Martin Place, Sydney Sydney Festival First Night Arrested Development (USA), Daara J Family (Senegal), Hanggai (China) free Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst A-Trak, Kato, Anna Lunoe, Harry Cotton $35 Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst Trinity Mike Blades, Lindsay Le Strange, DJ Man, Lindsay Le Strange, Colin Jowell, Big J, Adam Byrne $23 Phoenix Bar, Darlinghurst VOID Loefah, Breakage, Victim, Paul Fraser $38 Tone, Surry Hills Lord Finesse, Boogie Blind $20

SUNDAY JANUARY 9 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach The Sunday NiceUp! Astronomy Class, Firehouse, Bentley free Beck’s Bar, Hyde Park Barracks Sydney Festival The Dynamites, Charles Walker, I Like It Like That Orchestra, Russ Dewbury, DJ Stevie G $38 Enmore Theatre Mos Def (USA) $72–$106.10 (premium)

“Got my A machines on the table Got my B machines in the drawer”- SLEIGH BELLS – The Forum, Jan 8 BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 45

arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...

brushstrokes WITH DAVID

HARRINGTON (KRONOS QUARTET) granddaughter is even learning Mandarin in second grade, at her school. And so to me it felt really right to jump into a huge exploration of the music and culture of China – and that’s really what A Chinese Home Is; from Ancient China to the Cultural Revolution, and the present. What we’ve tried to do is take our audience through an experience of the music and culture of China – and kind of create, basically, a ‘home’.

C

oming out of Seattle in the early '70s, Kronos Quartet have been at the forefront of the musical avant garde for over three decades now, without losing any of their fearless energy. David Harrington formed the group at the tender age of 22; a violin prodigy who was already passionate about the quartet format, he started Kronos after hearing a recording of George Crumb’s hauntingly beautiful Black Angels on the radio.

He was determined to play it, and he formed a group. The rest, as they say, is history.

I hear you created a 30-minute ‘soundtrack’ for the intermission, to set the scene for A Chinese Home…

Yes - I wanted to create this collage of sound from a very different place than what we hear normally… Some of the sounds are very particular to certain cities and areas of China – there’s a really great Chinese call to prayer, that’s amazing; and you can hear factories and trains and airports…

Since those early days, Kronos have broken pretty much every genre barrier that might normally be imposed on a string quartet: from renditions of Jimi Hendrix and Sigur Ros, to jazz, world music and experimental fare (their last performance in Sydney, for example, was Jon Rose’s avant garde Music From 4 Fences, in which Kronos actually played large sections of fence, onstage).

This January Kronos returns to Sydney for two very special productions, as part of Sydney Festival – both of which showcase their longstanding interest in and flair for the theatrical. First up, they will be performing Philip Glass’s soundtrack for Todd Browning’s 1931 masterpiece Dracula, which they first recorded with Glass almost ten years ago.

(Glass will play with them live, on keys).

How did A Chinese Home come about?

We’ve been working with Wu Man since 1992; in that time there have been four major pieces that have been written for all of us by various composers – including Ghost Opera. At a certain point, it just seemed like it would be wonderful to make a piece ourselves.

Secondly they will play a Chinese-themed double bill with Chinese pipa player Wu Man: Ghost Opera, which was written for Man and the Kronos by Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon); and A Chinese Home, which was composed by Kronos and Wu Man, in collaboration with director and visual artist Shi-Zheng Chen.

Where does your interest in Chinese history and culture come from?

Kronos has worked with many different Chinese composers – maybe 20 – over the years. And you know, living in San Francisco… there’s a huge Chinese community. You can walk down the street just near my home and it almost feels like you’re in Hong Kong. My

and win the $2,500 major prize. It’ll be better than a kick in the face. And your piece of work will be exhibited as part of the It’s All About My Brain art exhibition in March 2011. Entries close on January 22. brainartexhibition.com

RETURN OF THE TROPFEST

WE <3 MARDI GRAS

The news that actress/comedienne Lily Tomlin is coming to Sydney in February for the Mardi Gras has pretty much made our week. With her perfect storm of kooky charm, intelligence and naughty humour, we’re planning to adopt her as our honorary ‘wacky Aunt’, and look forward to the bent excursions to Taronga Zoo that the relationship will undoubtedly entail. We’ll probably bail her up with our proposition at her oneand-only Sydney show, March 4 at Enmore Theatre. The other celebrity drawcard for this year’s Mardi Gras is author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City) - aka Uncle Maup - who will be in conversation at the Sydney Opera House on March 3 (the night before). Once you’ve put those dates in the diary (oh and the parade on March 5) head to mardigras.org.au for the rest of the fabulous lineup.

BRAIN ART COMPETITION

The first annual Brain Art and Writing Competition has just launched, in conjunction with It’s All About My Brain - Australia’s first brain art exhibition and ‘unconference’, set to take place in March 2011. The press release is long and fairly thorough, but nowhere does it explain what an ‘unconference’ is… We’re not particularly fond of conferences, so we have to assume that an unconference would be right up our alley. And getting money for art? We likey. If you likey also – and figure yourself a bit of a sweet touch in the creative department, you should enter the competition, 46 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

Having been awarded the main prize at Tropfest 2010 by Frodo Baggins, director Abe Forsythe is back this year to share his learnings with prospective Tropfest entrants.

In a surprisingly un-amusing webisode he and actor Patrick Brammell (who starred in his Trop winner Shock) impart the following wisdom: stay positive; stick within your budget; centre your film around one idea; keep it 5 minutes or less; keep your audience in mind.

Oh, and include the signature item: key/s.

Anything else? Oh yes, submit your entry by January 6 (the deadline). (You can see why these guys won.) If you do all the above, your film will doubtless be selected as a finalists, and screened on February 27 in the domain.

We’ll see you there! youtube.com/tropfest

BILL HICKS AT DENDY

Not to be confused with David Hicks (in fact they are not even related) Bill Hicks was an American comedian who built his reputation

Can you tell me a little about Philip Glass’s Dracula score?

You know if you just kind of step back and listen to the music, and watch the film, it’s as though he’s found a way that the music itself kind of propels the action of Dracula.

I think it’s just ingenious – it’s the perfect complement to the movie. I think what he accomplished with this is one of the greatest things that he’s ever done. I love this music!

What: Ghost Opera & A Chinese Home / Dracula.

When: January 12 / January 14 at 7.30pm & midnight.

Where: State Theatre More: sydneyfestival.org.au/ghost

on ‘criminally unpatriotic’ anti-establishment satire. Or, as Bill used to say, “Chomsky with dick jokes.” Bill died in 1994 at the age of 32, from pancreatic cancer. American: The Bill Hicks Story – a documentary portrait of his unusual life – is getting a limited cinema release in Sydney, off the back of its success on the international festival circuit (at London, Seattle, SXSW, SUFF and Toronto among others). American: The Bill Hicks Story opens at Dendy Newtown on January 6. www.americanthemovie.com

SHAKESPEARE FOR SURE

If you love a bit of the Bard, or enjoy words such as ‘fashionable’, ‘dauntless’, ‘embrace’, ‘inauspicious’, ‘lustrous’, ‘outbreak’ and ‘pander’, all of which he MADE UP out of thin air (or by smashing together other words in the world’s first linguistic mash-up), you will love the Sydney Shakespeare Festival, which starts January 6 with performances (on alternating nights) of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet. It’s on in Bicentennial Park, Glebe Foreshore (For Sure) every Thursday to Sunday at 8pm from January 6 until February 27, and kids 12 and under, and people aged 65 and over, get in free. It’s a foregone conclusion (he made up that phrase too!)

UNE PAPER FÊTE

Opening on January 11 at The Paper Mill, Une Fête dans le Papier (trans: A Feast in Paper) is the “rhizomatic coming together of two artists’ practices eventuating in excessive celebration, bittersweet in its intimacy with tragedy.” (Not for the faint-hearted, clearly.) The artists are Penelope 'Red Rattler' Benton and Alex Clapham, and the press release continues by dropping references to Versailles and Marie Antoinette, Basquiat, First Draft…

Where it gets really interesting, however, is the part about building a ballroom out of cardboard, in which the two artists will hold an extravagant dinner party, to which all the rest of us are invited - to watch, not eat - until such time as the leftovers shall be thrown open to the public. Curious. It’s something to do with the intersection of food, art and environmental health, and we’re definitely seeing you there. thepapermill.org.au

SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD ON DVD Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is the charming but jobless bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb. When he meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him.

Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is out now on DVD. Thanks to Universal Home Entertainment we have five copies up for grabs. To get your hands on one, tell us the name of the actor who plays Scott’s best friend.

2010 IN REVUE

That Was The Year That Was (aka Australia’s Comedy Gala Event of the Year) is back (for the third year), with some of our funniest comedians summarising 2010, cracking wise and generally making your night immensely enjoyable. Hosted by James O’Loughlin, That Was The Year That Was stars Mikey Robins, Peter Berner, Jeff Green, Hannah Gadsby, Rod Quantock, Paul McCarthy (not to be confused with Paul McCartney, lest you pee your pants), and Clayton Doley’s Organ Donors. It’s at the Opera House on Wednesday 29 and Thursday December 30.

Tickets from at sydneyoperahouse.com.au or by calling 9250 7777.

RAW COMEDY 2011

If you fancy yourself a bit of a comic genius – or have a hilarious mate that you feel like foisting upon the world – this is your chance: RAW Comedy, Australia’s biggest open-mic comedy competition, is calling for entries.

Anyone who has earned less than $500 from performing comedy is eligible, and five minutes of new, original comedy material is all it takes. Heats will be held around Australia during January, February and March, with winners advancing to the state finals held in March. State finalists will then compete against one another at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April. To find out more, and register for the Sydney heats, head to rawcomedy.com.au

BABABA X GOODGOD

Billed as "the only place to be if you have nowhere to be," the Table of Solace is a cross-pollination exercise in dining from Sydney-based performance collective Bababa International and GOODGOD Small Club. If, like us, your family appears to be disintegrating into a puddle of anxious nonsense, you may want to consider spending your evening with complete strangers, at this Christmas Eve meal-drink experience.

A group of four eats for $50, and a group of eight for $100. People who cannot marshal even four friends for the occasion can turn up on their own, and take their chances with the steaming masses. If, however, you struggle with spontaneity and independence, book a table by emailing info@goodgodgoodgod.com

NIGHTY NIGHT

So, um, we're just gonna take a small nap, please wake us up when it's January 10; if you must party while we're hibernating, please do it safely, and while wearing appropriate footwear.

XOXO BRAG ARTS

20TH INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 7 – 16 JANUARY 2011 BONDI PAVILION, BONDI BEACH, SYDNEY FLiCKERFEST.COM.AU Flickerfest celebrates its 20th birthday in 2011! Once again Australia’s only Academy® accredited and BAFTA-recognised short film festival will bring you the cream of the world’s hottest short films, with 100 of our most innovative Australian and international shorts handpicked from over 1790 entries. Come join us at the beach for fabulous parties at our panoramic bar and a summer of cinema not to be missed!

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BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 47

THE KING’S SPEECH Director Tom Hooper solidifies his silver-screen cred with this regal crowd-pleaser. By Joshua Blackman

A

t first glance it appears little more than award fodder. With an A-list cast, period setting and archetypal story of a troubled but honest man overcoming his demons, a cynic might dismiss The King’s Speech as nothing more than a feel good fable designed to set hearts aflutter and snap up Oscars. But who’s complaining? It may not have the cerebral chops of Inception or the upcoming Black Swan, but The King’s Speech is a beautiful story, beautifully acted and beautifully told. And it’s all Australia’s fault.

“The only reason I knew about this film is because I am half Australian, half English and live in London,” director Tom Hooper tells me. “My Australian mother was invited in late 2007 to make up part of a token Australian audience in a fringe-theatre reading of an unproduced play called The King’s Speech. And she’s never been invited to a play reading her entire life.

She almost didn’t go because it didn’t sound extremely promising. But thank god she did, because she rang me up and said, ‘I think I’ve found your next film.’ The moral of the story being: listen to your mother.”

It was not the only time the universe would align during the film’s development, such as in the obvious but apt casting of Geoffrey Rush as the real-life Australian speech therapist and failed Shakesperean actor, Lionel Logue.

“The same theatre script was delivered in a brown-paper envelope to Geoffrey [Rush]’s Melbourne doorstep one Christmas morning, because a runner who worked for the same fringe theatre company happened to be Australian, and happened to have delivered a package to him at some point in the past. It had a note saying, 'Mr. Rush, you don’t know us, but would you do our play?' Amazingly he didn’t throw it in the bin. He rang his agent and said, not as a play, but I’d love to do it as a movie.”

And so The King’s Speech began its transition from a little-known play to an Oscar-contender with tremendous critical buzz. The narrative is based on the true story of King George VI (Colin Firth), whose debilitating stammer

G

IV

E

A W AY

Director Tom Hooper on set

Colin Firth stars as King George VI in The King's Speech became a national concern when he reluctantly accepted the throne of England in 1936, after his brother Edward abdicated to elope with an American socialite. Seeing the distress his ailment causes him, George’s wife Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) enlists the services of speech therapist Lionel Logue, an Australian expat whose methods prove unorthodox. Whether delving into the King's family history, prompting him to speak while listening to deafening music, or having his wife (and future Queen Mother) sit atop his diaphragm (“It’s actually quite good fun!” she exclaims), Logue takes delight in ignoring established social and royal conventions.

“It’s about an Australian who feels the freedom to challenge aspects of the way the King was brought up; challenge the class system, and challenge the deference you’re meant to pay to the King. It’s all about that kind of challenge, and having that freedom as an outsider.

“For a while I’ve been wanting to find a story that deals with that side of my heritage – either an AngloAustralian story or an Australian film – and one of the narratives of my childhood growing up was my Australian mother dealing with the effects of my father’s upbringing,” says the director. “[At three years old] my father lost his father in the war - a

Geoffrey Rush as speech therapist Lionel Logue

bomber-navigator killed in 1942 at the age of 30. And as a result my father was packed off to full-time boarding school from the age of five. And [my mother] was very public about it in a way that an Englishwoman from the same background would never have been. It was definitely her Australian freedom - her cultural freedom coming as an outsider into London.

And in many ways that’s what the film’s about.”

Best known for directing the acclaimed mini-series John Adams for HBO, Hooper says The King’s Speech is his most personal film.

He was very specific (“I suppose it would be fair to say I have a relatively controlling personality,” he admits, smiling) about achieving a particular visual and aural style to complement and emphasise the film’s inspirational story, and its trio of nuanced, awardworthy performances from Firth, Rush and Carter.

“Stammering is about silence, and nothingness and absence, so I wanted to find a visual way of putting Colin’s space in relation to absence and nothingness. So I thought about framing his face in close-ups in relation to negative space, to big areas of nothing. So I framed him

against these big empty walls. By shooting the close-ups slightly wider than normal, it puts the space in communication with his environment.

It’s only in these close-ups that you reveal the poignancy of how much Bertie wants to do the right thing, and can’t, and the way he drowns in these silences.”

Rounding out the film’s impressive credentials is the elegant yet energetic piano-led score from the outrageously talented French composer Alexandre Desplat who, between Harry Potter and Twilight, seems ubiquitous in Hollywood. “[Alexandre] really understands what great acting is,” says Hooper.

“He enters into an almost complex dance with the actor, and allows the performance in the space to continue to be complex and layered; he doesn’t reduce the meaning of the performance. I admired the fact that he was able to score these performances without saying ‘No, no, no, what Colin really means is that he’s just sad’ - and that was very exciting.”

What: The King’s Speech, Dir. Tom Hooper When: Opens December 26.

TOMORROW, WHEN THE WAR BEGAN: DVDS! Having stormed the Australian box office this year, and the IF Awards last month (scoring a best actress award for Caitlin Stasey, plus the Best Feature Film and Best Script awards), Tomorrow, When The War Began is about to take small screens across Australia hostage. Adapted by writer-director Stuart Beattie from John Marsden’s beloved novel, and starring a who’s-who of young Australian talent, Tomorrow, When The War Began follows eight teens who go camping to celebrate the end of high school, and return home to find their town – and indeed the country – has been invaded by a foreign army….

Tomorrow, When The War Began releases on DVD on December 30. Thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment Australia, we have five copies to giveaway; to get your hands on one, tell us the name of the character that Caitlin Stasey plays!

48 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 49

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

At the heart of the arts Where you went last week.

curvy #7 & muscle up

PICS :: TL

What's hot (or not) on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

away from here

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08:12:10 :: LO-FI :: L3, 383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 93113100

11:12:10 :: LO-FI :: L3, 383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 93113100

Somewhere

■ Film

SOMEWHERE

PICS :: SR

07:12:10 :: Bondi Icebergs :: 1 Notts Avenue Bondi Beach 93659000

Arts Exposed What's on our calendar...

Sydney Festival 2011 presents

FESTIVAL FIRST NIGHT

HEARTBREAKER

Released December 26

Released December 26

Sofia Coppola is exceedingly accomplished at creating mood. Mixing a languid plot pace with pretty visuals and chilled out soundtracks, The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation are as much about generating an atmosphere as telling a story.

I’m going to wish for a Christmas miracle; hell, I’ll let the cast of Glee dance and carol around my prostrate form—post-work Christmas party—if people will ignore the fact that this film is subtitled and get their butts on seats.

Coppola’s latest work is no different. Filmed on location at the legendary Hollywood hotel Chateau Marmont (situated on Sunset Boulevard), and with a soundtrack by frequent collaborators Phoenix, Somewhere is set in the world of films and fame, but is very much focused on the reality of this seemingly glitzy existence.

90s heartthrob Stephen Dorff stars as Johnny Marco, an actor numbed by drugs, booze, sex and celebrity. Marco is between projects when his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) unexpectedly turns up to stay, causing him to re-examine his life.

Alex (French heart-throb Romain Duris) is the attractive bait in 'operation breakem-up', a business he runs with sister Mélanie (talented comedic actress Julie Ferrier) and her husband Marc (François Damiens). Got an unhappy sister, friend, or daughter with a rotten other-half? This trio will sort it out, using a combination of surveillance (Marc is the resident geek), role-play (Mélanie, mistress of disguise), and seduction (Alex’s modus operandi).

Sleazy? Well, no. Alex only ever kisses the ladies, then fake cries in a manner that will make you cringe and giggle. After a string of money troubles, the gang’s latest mission - to break up Juliette (Vanessa Paradis) and Jonathan (Andrew Lincoln, last seen fawning over Keira Knightley in Love Actually) - is set to restore order.

Somewhere is nowhere near as moralistic as the synopsis sounds. Coppola is familiar with the world of Hollywood and celebrity, and the scenes involving awkward press conferences and award ceremonies feel real. Add to this Dorff’s backstory (slipping from a promising early career to B-grade fare) and this film has a fascinating metafictional quality.

flickerfest launch

■ Film

Dorff proves his dramatic chops as the emotional centre of the film, allowing you to care about a character who might otherwise be highly unpleasant. The father/daughter dynamic in the film feels unaffected, and Fanning (who is a natural in front of the camera) provides a perfect counterweight to Dorff’s more introspective performance.

Chris Pontius, who is best known for his role in Jackass, cheekily improvises his way through the role of Sammy, Marco’s friend, and is kind of great.

Somewhere’s slow pace isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste, but if you allow this film to cast its spell, you’ll be basking in the afterglow as you leave the cinema.

Thoughtful, poetic and evocative, it isn’t hard to see why Somewhere won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice International Film Festival.

Beth Wilson

Paradis shows incredible poise and convincing emotional fragility as Juliette.

The chemistry between her and Duris is palpable - him looking like a petite, more mischievous version of Russell Brand.

All due credit to both leads for displaying equal parts comedy prowess and real emotion, offsetting a potentially ridiculous plot.

Director Pascal Chaumeil succeeds in combining all the best elements of a spy jaunt, a romantic comedy, and an action film, then making them sing. The slick, fast-moving camera shots and anglicised soundtrack add a further layer, but also make this film commercially attractive.

Sacrebleu!

It’s probably poor form to begin a review with ‘suck it, Jennifer Aniston’, so instead, I’ll end it with the same. Suck it, Jennifer Aniston. This genre-bending romantic comedy has more to speak for it than ten of your little movies.

Katia Nizic

Heartbreaker

This summer institution not only invites us to reclaim the streets and parks of the CBD for our playground, but provides all the entertainment - for free! In Hyde Park Eddie Perfect, iOTA and the cast of Smoke & Mirrors are providing a carousel of cabaret entertainments; in Chifley Square a 12-storey high multimedia art projection will transform office blocks into historical tableaux from the Captain Cook era; meanwhile the Domain is being stormed

by Australia’s best loved country music stars, in a tribute to the late legendary Ngarrindjeri singer-songwriter Ruby Hunter - followed by American diva Emmylou Harris; and in Martin Place, well, you know, there’s punk throat singers Hanggai and hip hop collective Arrested Development, among others… Bring your dance pants, we’ll see you there! sydneyfestival.org.au/firstnight 50 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Festival First Night photo by Prudence Upton

Saturday January 8 from 3-11pm / Sydney CBD

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BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 51

DVD Reviews What's been on our TV screens this week Everything just got a bit meta.

TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

LE DONK & SCOR-ZAY-ZEE

Madman Entertainment Released December 1

21 22 23 24 25 26

Tu We Th Fr Sa Su

The Kids Are All Right MA15+ Tomorrow When the War Began* M Machete MA15+ CLOSED CLOSED Due Date MA15+

28 29 30 31

Tu We Th Fr

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo MA15+ Life as We Know It M Inception M CLOSED

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02 Su Eat Pray Love M *

No free list

Centennial Park Tickets at moonlight.com.au or at the gate.

Gates open at 7pm, screenings at approx. 8.30pm

Madman Entertainment Released November 10

“My name is Adrian Grenier, and I’m a celebrity.” With this opening shot, delivered in the actor’s insouciant LA accent, I groan a little inwardly. But while Adrian Grenier is no auteur, Teenage Paparazzo achieves a unique and surprisingly thoughtful meditation on paparazzi culture.

Having proved himself as a purveyor of British 'lads culture', via gritty, social-realist comedies like This Is England and Somerstown, Shane Meadows takes a shot at a low-budget mockumentary, via WARP films - the production company behind Chris Waitt's pseudodoco The Complete History of My Sexual Failures.

The documentary was shot mostly in 2007, when Grenier’s HBO series Entourage was entrenched as the brilliantly candid masculine equivalent of Sex and the City. Grenier, a prime target for paparazzi due to his prettiness and apparent proclivity for boinking starlets, found himself confronted one day by a blonde-haired, baby-faced 13-year-old ‘pap’ named Austin Visschedyk. Precocious, self-aware, and nonchalantly charismatic, Austin also works with the kind of focus that borders on sociopathic.

The sight of this child barrelling forth into a star's personal space with so little hesitation prompts the question of whether it’s “right” for him to be doing this at his age. And this raises further questions, such as whether it’s right for anyone to be doing it, the extent to which Hollywood success precludes privacy, and why there is an audience (and lucrative market) for a blurry shot of a twenty-something blonde frowning in a car.

Conceived by Meadows and Paddy Considine (who previously collaborated on Dead Men’s Shoes and A Room for Romeo Brass, and before that in bands), Le Donk was shot in just five days, and poses as a documentary by Meadows about roadie and wannabe-manager ‘Le Donk’ (Considine), and his pudgy rap protégé Scor-ZayZee (who, in an interesting meta-fictional touch, is played by real-life rapper Dean Palinczuk).

Following them on the road during an Arctic Monkey’s tour, the mockumentary pokes fun at reality television series, lads culture, and the music industry.

Apart from the heavy-handed Captain Obvious voiceover, Grenier is a fairly adept guide. While the film initially aspires to being an exposé of the paps’ world, it’s at its strongest as a character study – watching Austin’s profile rise, along with his discomfort at being examined and “stalked” by Grenier’s crew – and as the most meta examination of celebrity to date.

Grenier, with his turn-the-tables approach, breaks down the delineations between photographer, subject and audience so effectively that by the end you’re on pretty much everybody’s side.

Caitlin Welsh

Scor-Zay-Zee – aka Dean – is a reformed chav from Notting Hill who has converted to Islam, and sports a ‘hugs not drugs’ cap at all times.

Donk is a woolly-headed, socially inept bogan, who nevertheless has watched enough of The Osbournes to know about the manipulative strategies of TV crews, and the PR benefits of a strategically-timed display of religious fervour.

Somewhere along the way, however, Donk’s plan to springboard Scor-Zay-Zee’s rap career gets hijacked by his own ego.

With a solid pedigree, an interesting premise and good performances, this nevertheless feels like an over-extension; it’s only 70 minutes, but feels more like an over-long tv pilot. It’s no crime that it went straight to DVD in Australia, but talent like this would have made for some great extras – rather than a very ‘meh’ set of deleted scenes.

Dee Jefferson

Street Level With Eddie Perfect What do you think your daughter will make of all the naughty words in Misanthropology?

Luckily the midnight timeslot in the Famous Spiegeltent will mean that my daughter’s pure mind will not be polluted by her father’s stream of musically comedic high and lowbrow filth.

S

omeone should give Eddie Perfect his own television show, then give him free reign to do whatever he likes.

Ratings would skyrocket, and a whole bunch of Australians who used to watch Channel 9 would be humming along to songs like ‘Where’s my flatscreen TV, Bitch?’ and ‘Shine like Shane’…

Since graduating from WAAPA in 2001 the multi-award-winning actor, singer and musician has barely paused for breath: from his album Angry Eddie to guest appearances on Kath & Kim and his solo debut, Drink Pepsi, Bitch, Eddie has kept audiences laughing with his darker-than-dark sense of humour. His latest show, Misanthropology, is debuting at Sydney Festival this January, in the Famous Spiegletent. And it promises to go to all the places your therapist told you not to...

This is your first solo show since Drink Pepsi, Bitch; what took you so long?

I thought I needed to play with others for a while. Turns out I don’t play well with others.

This one seems to be asking some dark, deeply existential questions…

Misanthropology is a twisted analysis of our nature as humans. I’ve always found human anthropology documentaries to be a little selfcongratulatory. My show isn’t like that. I look at all the ways in which humans are messing things up and failing. I find that infinitely more refreshing than the “aren’t humans awesome” approach to history.

52 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

You won a Helpmann Award for Shane Warne the Musical; what did that mean to you?

You have to be philosophical about awards but there was something especially sweet about winning the Helpmann for SWTM. A new Australian musical is a rare thing - so any encouragement for the genre is only going to make the industry more robust.

I heard one of the songs in Misanthropology is called ‘At the Eco-Lounge’. Who did you write the show for?

I wrote the show for anyone crazy enough to venture out at the stroke of midnight. I think to see a show that late you’d need to be insane or drunk - and both of these types are welcome.

I have a dark, dark sense of humour and I’m constantly surprised that some of the nicest people on the outside can have scorched and blistered souls on the inside and laugh at all kinds of sick stuff. It’s good for you to get it all out. For everyone else, there’s Hey Hey It’s Saturday I guess...

Have you always wanted to perform a show at the Witching Hour?

I like the fact that I’m performing a show that starts so late, it actually begins tomorrow morning, every single evening. That doesn’t actually make any sense. It’s a good sign when even your show’s start time doesn’t make sense. It’s a time void. Like the hour you lose during daylight saving. Come along and lose an hour that doesn’t exist.

What: Eddie Perfect’s Misanthropology When: January 9-30 (except Mondays) at midnight.

Where: Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park More: sydneyfestival.org.au/perfect

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Star Wars Retold

From January 7-16, Sydneysiders can take refuge from the Summer heat inside the iconic Bondi Pavilion, at Flickerfest International Short Film Festival. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Flickerfest will offer up a treasure-trove of bite-sized comedies, dramas, documentaries and animations from Australia and around the world - plus a couple of new programmes, and a special Star Wars Tribute. Below, we've compiled a list of must-sees, to get you started... For the full lineup and schedule, head along to flickerfest.com.au FOCUS ON: Glenn Owen Dodds

Star Wars Shorts

By Caitlin Welsh Star Wars is so iconic, so important, so stupidly monolithic an element of Western pop culture that literally dozens of its tropes, quotes and images are instantly recognisable even to those who have never seen the films. Of course, as we’ve seen in our own time with Harry Potter, anything so spectacularly successful is ripe for parody and loving homage alike.

GLENN OWEN DODDS David Wenham is at his bogan best in this sweet comedy that reimagines God as a well-meaning but slightly inept bureacrat who is stuck in the '80s, with the bad hair cut, brown slacks and slightly incompetent filing system that entails… Writer/director/actor Abe Forsythe plays a sceptical young man, whose day takes a turn for the better after he stumbles into the office of Glenn Owen Dodds (aka G.O.D.). Director Frazer Bailey has been learning his craft on the job since 1995, and it shows!

Previous screenings/awards: Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 2010; Sydney Film Festival, 2010.

Session: Best Of Australian 4

A long time ago – before Robot Chicken, before Family Guy: Blue Harvest, before the general fad for yelling “It’s a trap!” at random junctures, and before George Michael Bluth videotaping himself lightsaber-duelling in his garage – Star Wars had already been parodied, referenced, paid homage to and painstakingly recreated many, many times.

The combination of a comfortingly familiar good-vs-evil narrative and a staggeringly detailed fantasy world created an unprecedented cult of obsessive fandom that hasn’t diminished 33 years later, as well as an inviting blueprint for perfect parody: complex, yet instantly identifiable.

A PARACHUTE FALLING IN SIBERIA Russian astronauts, drying machines, and the tide rushing in over the baths at Coogee… Fans of Look Both Ways will love this magical-realist drama based on Stephen McGrath's short story about a couple grappling with mortality and imminent separation.

Directed by SOYA 2010 nominee Ian Meadows, with superb performances from the wonderfully craggy-faced Anthony Phelan (currently playing in STC’s Uncle Vanya) and Noni Hazlehurst, it’s lovely to watch actors of this calibre practicing their craft so effortlessly.

Previous screenings/awards: Deluxe Award for Best Performance, CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival; AWG nomination for Best Screenplay.

Session: Best Of Australian 1

While there’s been a recent resurgence with the success of the Robot Chicken and Family Guy versions – both shows created by men from the first generation that never knew a world without Star Wars – the first full-length parody was

WASTE NOT Writer/director/actress/editor/journalist/film-critic Ruth Hessey has turned her hand to a diverse number of things over the years; these days she’s the Communications Director of the Total Environment Centre – which is probably at least part of the reason she’s decided to tackle Sydney’s waste disposal situation in this inspiring short documentary. Instead of focusing on all the things we’re doing wrong, she’s looking at the people who are leading the way towards new, environmentally friendly approaches to waste – from scientists to environmentalists, gardeners and even a famous chef. Prepare to be inspired.

Previous screenings/awards: World Premiere.

Session: GreenFlicks 1

Poland has a rich cinema heritage – but don’t let names like Kieslowski, Wajda and Polanski distract you; there’s a new avant garde producing high-quality documentary and animated films. It’s appropriate, therefore, that Flickerfest are shining a spotlight on Polish film this year, with a programme curated by Krzysztof Gierat, director of the Krakow Film Festival (and also one of Flickerfest’s guests this year).

THE MYSTERY OF FLYING KICKS Writer-director Matthew Bate breaks all the rules with this experimental doco that seeks to expose what those sneakers hanging on telephone lines REALLY mean…

Using an online call out and a phone message bank, this documentary was made entirely from donated photographs, phoned-in theories, video, blogs, and animation. Bate's debut feature-length doco, Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, is one of only three Australian films selected for Sundance this January (along with Ariel Kleiman's Deeper Than Yesterday, across the page) so he's clearly a talent to watch.

Previous screenings/awards: Melbourne International Film Festival 2010 - Best Short Documentary.

Session: Best Of Documentary 1

FOCUS ON:

Polish Shorts

By Edward Truant

First up, we look at Marcel Lozinski, a master documentarian whose work is too often overlooked, and under-programmed, abroad. Lozinski went to Lodz film school with Krzysztof Kieslowski (Three Colours, The Decalogue) in the mid-'60s, where both became proponents of a ‘creative’ documentary style; unlike Kieslowski, Lozinski remained faithful (for a career benchmark, see Workshop Exercises, 1987). In the tenderly observational Post Restante (2008) Lozinski gives a

Mel Brooks’ 1987 spoof Spaceballs.

But with the original films counting luminaries like Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan and James Cameron among their cinematic descendants, it’s no surprise that amateur Star Wars tribute films of all persuasions are a thriving and longstanding art form. In 2002, Lucasfilm Inc. even began running an officiallysanctioned annual fan film competition.

This year, Flickerfest is running a special tribute program of Star Wars fan films.

Only seven months after A New Hope, Ernie Fosselius’ Hardware Wars premiered in theatres. Ostensibly a trailer for a full-length film, the twelve-minute short tells the thrilling tale of gormless Fluke Starbucker, his robot pals 4-Q-2 (say it slowly) and Arty Deco, beautiful Princess Anne Droid, the dashing Ham Salad and his fuzzy pal Chewchilla the Wookiee Monster (a brunette version of everyone’s favourite eating-disordered Muppet), and their battles against the evil but unintelligible Darph Nader. A “sprawling space saga of romance, rebellion and household appliances”, Hardware Wars’ biggest laughs come as we see all the rad space technology of the original films being played by steam irons, tape decks and basketballs. While its production values make Mark Hamill’s facial expressions look convincing, it

controlled 14-minute study of the million or so undeliverable letters that are registered in Koluszki’s Undeliverable Letters Dept. every year, following one of them in particular: one whose address, written in a child’s hand, reads ‘God. Heaven.’

Given that just about every contemporary middle-aged Polish documentary-maker seems to have studied under either Kieslowski or Lozinski (who co-founded the Andrej Wajda Masters School in Warsaw) at some point, it should be interesting to catch two of the next generation’s contributors. In Tomasz Wolski’s The Lucky Ones, blackly funny one-liners, poignancy, and awkwardness abound as we shuffle around in the shoes of the clients and clerks that populate the three rooms of the Registry Office in Nowa Huta: one room for the registry of births, the second for registry of deaths and the third for weddings. (There’s even something Post Restante-y about the synopsis). Bartosz Blaschke, too, relishes the stranger-than-fiction by artfully embellishing it in his character piece Zietek, which won the Best Doco Award at Flickerfest last year. Bogdan Zietek,

At the other end of the spectrum is Star Wars Retold (By Someone Who Hasn’t Seen It) - a witty animated re-enactment of the original trilogy, narrated by a friend of the director who had somehow managed to reach her twenties in the current age without ever having seen the movies. Amanda’s retelling is a surreal mix of the startlingly accurate and the completely erroneous – she knows exactly who Lando Calrissian is, but seems to think Harrison Ford’s character is named Hans. The animation follows her narration exactly, creating a peculiar parallel story that’s like a cross between someone trying to remember a dream they had last week, and a game of MadLibs. But, you know, in space. That aside, she does fairly well for a beginner – yet another testament to the all-pervasive power of a handful of silly movies about lasers, borderline-incest and scruffy nerf-herders.

What: Star Wars Tribute Programme - full lineup of films at flickerfest.com.au When: Saturday January 15, 9pm

a self-taught sculptor and Pygmalion, has been creating life-size sculptures of women for over forty years, and his house has been made 'standing-room-only' by the many nubile, lime-wood women that, for Zietek, are his living mistresses, variously seducing him in the presence of his long-suffering wife.

The endearing eccentricity of these documentary pieces takes a macabre turn in the animated shorts. Millhaven, by Bartek Kulas, is a femme fatale’s murder ballad originally written and performed by Nick Cave (whose quasi-gothic sensibility turns out to have suited the Polish ethos well) and is here boldly interpreted by Katarzyna Groniec, touted as the ‘Polish Edith Piaf’ – an original elaboration.

Michal Socha’s art-film Chick, on the other hand, offers a surrealist and more urbane pathos. Style and content blend in a ‘nonsense narrative’, following the preparations of a woman who is due to meet a man: taking a bath, dressing up and applying make-up. If you like films whose storyboarded frames could be cut up for gallery showings, this one’s for you.

Lastly, to the moral anxiety and seriousness of two lauded new fiction shorts: Magnus von Horn’s confrontational Echo takes as its focus two boys who have murdered a young girl, and are then forced to reconstruct their crime and meet with the family of the victim, driving them to a degree of selfadmission nearly as brutal as the murder their wild feelings drove them to commit.

Newbie is another film for and about existential youth. Based on an short story

by Anna Czajka, and directed by Tomasz Olejarczyk, Newbie centres around a lonely 17-year-old who is trying to earn herself a place in an exclusive group of peers who play dangerous urban games.

She thus invents a daring ‘game’ of her own, designed to provoke the group and especially its leader. Winner of the People’s Choice Award at the 49th Krakow Film Festival, it is also a follow up to Olejarczyk’s widely praised short Luksus.

Do yourself a favour.

BEE STING Writer-director Heath Davis had his first cinematic success with the oddball comedy Spoon Man, about an older gentleman who hires himself out to housewives for post-coital cuddles. (It also won Best Australian Short at Flickerfest 2004). Currently his feature script The Apologist is filming in America, with Giovanni Ribisi in the lead. In the meantime, check out this sweet little number, starring Brendan Cowell as a widower, Matilda Brown (a dead ringer for her mother Rachel Ward, and an incredible new screen presence) as a teacher – and irresistible newcomer Charlie Fraser as the smitten young boy standing between them…

Previous screenings/awards: World Premiere.

Session: Best Of Australian 3 FOR SESSION TIMES SEE FLICKERFEST.COM.AU

Session: Spotlight on Poland

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shows the extent to which Star Wars had already taken hold in the popular consciousness – and, according to the man himself, is George Lucas’s own favourite parody.

Time: Sunday January 9, 2.30pm.

FLICKERFEST GUIDE PROFILE

David O’Reilly

Tord and Tord

By Dee Jefferson In June this year, industry bible Variety named 25-year-old Irish-born, Berlinbased animator David O’Reilly as one of it's "top ten young animators destined to become household names". O’Reilly first shot into the popular consciousness last year, when U2 commissioned the 24-yearold to create the film clip for ‘I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight’. In fact, O’Reilly had already amassed a sizeable fanbase before then, thanks to his Octocat webisodes, and his award-winning short Please Say Something – the bittersweet story of a fractured relationship between a cat and a mouse that took the festival scene by storm and won the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2009. His latest work is The External World – a frenetic mash-up of different storylines from the future that feels as if God is drunk and bored and flipping channels on the TV set of ‘life’.

O’Reilly’s trademark ‘low polygon’ aesthetic flies in the face of the highly detailed work of studios like Pixar and Dreamworks Animation, opting instead to strip back 3D animation models to their basic shapes.

Meanwhile, his narratives run at a million miles per hour, in a sort of hyperactive mash-up of ‘videobytes’ that reflects our attention-deficit, media-saturated age.

The scenarios are darkly comic fusions of cheerful nihilism (a la Ren & Stimpy) and existential angst (as per ‘cartoonist’ Dave Shrigley). In terms of tone and narrativestructure, an obvious point of comparison is American animator Don Hertzfeldt (whose work O’Reilly does indeed admire, and who he says is a good friend).

Please Say Something

TORD AND TORD / Sweden The External World O’Reilly caught the animation bug at the tender age of 15 in his hometown of Kilkenny, Ireland, when he started dropping into the Cartoon Saloon (the studio behind Oscar-nominee The Secret of Kells) after school. At 19 he moved to London and took a day job with Studio AKA, assisting Marc Craste (Jojo in the Stars); by night, he was working for Shynola (the animation powerhouse behind Radiohead’s Kid A animations). In 2007, having worked on the animated sequences for both The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and Son of Rambow, O’Reilly moved to low-rent Berlin, where he blasted out a series of solo shorts – including Please Say Something. From there, he answered some questions I emailed to him (although as you can see, not entirely seriously…)

What attracts you to using cat characters in your shorts, rather than humans? I’ve found after countless seconds of research that cats cost less than actors in a production. They eat a lot less food and when left to their own devices will actually start devouring each other, creating a perpetual life cycle in which only the strongest survive. The ones who make it through three generations of catibalism are given starring roles in my films. This same system with actors was a disaster involving a pending court case.

Thanks a lot, WikiLeaks.

When exactly did your pared-back 3D animation style begin – and why? A few years ago I reverse-engineered archive. org’s Wayback Machine to show websites in the future. After browsing the internet sewer of commercial production companies from 2023, I found they were all using a low polygon style and making money off my future self while I had faded into obscurity, so I reverse-ripped them off by doing my own ideas before I actually did them.

Do you think that humour or humanity is the prevailing mood for you when you are creative? My creativity comes from a meditation technique called Transcendental Flagellation, in which you dive deep within yourself and get eaten by mythological sea monsters. Inside their stomachs lie expensive subscription services in which you can sign up to achieve deeper levels of consciousness and total inner freedom. I have not been able to afford these courses and therefore will run out of creativity pretty soon.

Who/what are your all-time favourite directors/films?

Nothing beats Hitchcock, Kubrick and Tarkovsky, though lately I’m a big fan of NMA.tv’s animated news reports.

This oddball stop-motion animation feels like a cross-breed of Roy Andersson’s You, The Living with Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, and Charlie Kaufman’s brain. When a fox called Tord returns home one day to find that a giant white rabbit, also called Tord, has moved in to the apartment nextdoor, a strange relationship develops. Tord and Tord has been collecting devoted fans around the international festival circuit this year. 26-year-old director Niki Lindroth von Bahr, who worked on props and make-up for You, The Living, and made costumes for Röyksopp’s Junior tour, is undoubtedly a talent to watch.

Previous screenings/awards: Annecy Film Festival, Sitges Film Festival, Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Session: Best Of International 5

DONDE ESTÁ KIM BASINGER? / France In his second short film, writer-director Edouard Deluc delivers an offbeat comedy-noir straight from the French New Wave, about two brothers whose late night adventures in Buenos Aires go awry. When Marcus goes in search of a raunchy diversion to cheer up the recently-dumped Antoine, they both get more (or less!) than they bargained for. Deluc, who is an award-winning commercials director, has a slate of cheeky little satires and genre spoofs; with Donde Está Kim Basinger, he proves that he can take the joke beyond the 60-second mark, winning the top prize at Clermont Ferrand, the international mecca for short film.

Previous screenings/awards: Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, 2010 - Grand Prix.

Session: Best Of International 1 The Poodle Trainer

What: The External World, Dir. David O’Reilly Session: Best Of International 3 Time: Jan 11, 9pm / Jan 13, 2.30pm (repeat)

Deeper Than Yesterday Kleiman wrote and directed Deeper Than Yesterday, but he was working within a three-person Melbournebased collective called Stool Pigeon, with Sarah Cyngler and Benjamin Gilovitz. While Ari and Sarah are currently filming in London, Ben was kind enough to answer some questions on behalf of the group…

When was Stool Pigeon formed, and why? 2006. We enjoyed working together and felt that our individual talents complimented each other; combined we had a wide range of multimedia skills (film, graphic design, website design). One of the reasons we formed Stool Pigeon is because we wanted to make a TV pilot, but in between shooting things for it we got more involved with film (especially when Ari was accepted into the VCA), and our work turned more to making quality films (and graphic/web design to help fund our filmmaking). We never did finish that pilot.

PROFILE

Ariel Kleiman

What’s in the name? Well a stool pigeon is an informer. So apart from sounding cool it sort of loosely meant something relevant.

By Dee Jefferson Among an impressive lineup of talent, this name stands out in the Flickerfest 2011 program. It might be because of the recent media burst announcing that the 25-year-old VCA graduate is one of only three Australians whose films have been selected for Sundance 2011; or it might be the fact that Kleiman was awarded the Rising Talent Award at the recent IF Awards, and the SOYA 2010 Award for film…

The fuss started when Kleiman’s graduation film Deeper Than Yesterday, an atmospheric portrait of a man battling to retain his humanity in the claustrophobic, testosterone-fuelled atmosphere of a submarine, was invited to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critics Week in May 2010 – where it won two out of a possible three awards for short film. It went on to be selected for pretty much every international film festival worth mentioning, and picked up a swag of ‘Best Film’ awards that would make James Cameron jealous.

Muscles Deeper Than Yesterday is just one feather in Kleiman’s cap; his previous short feature Young Love (which screened at Flickerfest 2010) was also accepted into Sundance 2010, where it picked up an Honourable Mention from the jury. Incidentally, Kleiman also shot Edward Housden’s atmospheric short drama Muscles, which is screening in Flickerfest’s Australian programme this year – and also screened at Cannes 2010.

What: Deeper Than Yesterday, Dir. Ariel Kleiman / Muscles, Dir. Edward Housden; cinematographer Ariel Kleiman.

Sessions: Best Of International 3 / Best Of Australian 4

How do you three divide up the work between you? When it comes to non-film related stuff, Ari is generally an ideas man (often with help and/or encouragement of Sarah). Sarah and I then make it happen - more specifically, Sarah does the designs, and I put it all together and make it work. I'm often also the one dealing with clients. In regards to film: Ari and Sarah are the writers. Ari is the director. Sarah is the art director, production designer, costume designer, co-producer and muse. I’m a producer. I also dabble in the camera department - specifically camera assistant/focus puller - when budgets are tight. On Deeper Than Yesterday I was the producer and clapper-loader because space was so limited on the submarine...

THE THE POODLE TRAINER / USA

THE POODLE TRAINER / USA At first glance this looks like it could be a Chris Guest mockumentary in the style of Best in Show. Don’t be fooled, however; even though 60-year-old circus veteran Irina Markova looks larger than life, Vance Malone’s short documentary has real heart and soul, presenting in seven brief minutes a snapshot of a woman whose life has been consumed by her canine obsession. Not even her adorable poodles can steal the show (although it’s a close call…)

With a background in commercials, and four Sundanceselected shorts under his belt, Malone’s strong suit is stylised, performance-based portraits.

Previous screenings/awards: Sundance, 2010.

Session: Best Of Documentary Shorts 2

BERIK / Denmark This is the second time in two years that New Zealandborn, Copenhagen-based Daniel Joseph Borgman has had a short film at Cannes, marking the 29-year-old writerdirector as one to watch. (Indeed, he is currently in the process of putting together his debut feature). Produced by Lars Von Trier's Zentropa production house, Berik is a short drama about an unusual friendship between a 33-year-old ‘Elephant Man’, and an 11-year-old boy.

Previous screenings/awards: Grand Prix at the Semaine de la Critique in Cannes, 2010.

Session: Best Of International 5

TUSSILAGO / Sweden The films of writer-director Jonas Odell typically fuse animation with verbatim narratives taken from real life; his signature style is a collage of photos, illustration and rotoscoped live action. His latest, Tussilago, is a short documentary that focuses on a minor player in a reallife police investigation into the proposed kidnapping of a Swedish politician by a West German terrorist, in 1977.

Sounds confusing – but Odell’s fast-paced, quick-cut narrative proves to be absolutely gripping (not to mention visually ingenious).

Previous screenings/awards: Goteberg Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival.

Session: Best Of Documentary Shorts 2 FOR SESSION TIMES SEE FLICKERFEST.COM.AU

More: see flickerfest.com.au for session times

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live reviews What we've been to see...

MUSE

Acer Arena Thursday December 9 There are people - quite a large, vocal number of people - who don’t like Muse. In a way, I sort of wish that the few remaining seats at the trio’s massive stadium gig would have been reserved exclusively for them, because it is literally impossible to argue with a show this entertaining, exhilarating and professional. Rotating skyscrapers with intricate projections beamed from inside, lasers dotted the nosebleed section with cosmic patterns, there were shining silver suits and enough End Of The World art direction to make it seem like Pink Floyd never happened… And that’s just the first song.

Make no mistake, Muse are a rock band who know how to put on a rock show. Their gimmicks, wonderful and exciting as they are, are merely a backdrop to this top-notch group of musicians who, having crisscrossed the globe about as many times as Richard Branson, are finally learning to enjoy themselves. It’s that attitude that sees them pull out the pre-millennium classic ‘Sunburn’ on a grand piano (sitting three metres above ground...), get their Daft Punk-sampling on for ‘Undisclosed Desires’ and break into post-song-jamming at every opportunity they get. After all, if you’re going to be one of the biggest bands on the planet, you may as well act like a band. Though Matt Bellamy and his co-pilots rarely talk to each other (they're on separate towers after all), the chemistry is palpable. You can feel it more on the heavier tracks, particularly the relentless ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and the groovier ones, like ‘Supermassive Black Hole’. Though their new material is starting to become a bit same-y, the Muse classics (and they really are classics by now) stick out like a sore thumb in their genre. There’s nothing else like ‘Plug In Baby’ or ‘New Born’ coming out these days, and Muse don’t let you forget it.

It’s not good journalistic practice to focus most of the attention on a frontman, particularly when the band behind him is so good, but Bellamy doesn’t really offer much of an option. The diminutive musical prodigy is everywhere; running up ramps, sliding down on his knees to perform solos for the audience members sitting behind the stage, using his reflective amp as a beacon and generally commanding far more attention than one would expect from a man widely reported to be an introvert. On top of all that, Bellamy has one of the most consistently phenomenal voices in rock music. The high notes that he hits, especially while playing complex licks underneath on either piano or guitar, are simply breathtaking.

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CLIPSE

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Muse will always straddle the divide between cool and geeky, no matter how many times their songs are used in vampire movies. They put on a glam show worthy of comparison to their countrymen, Queen - and Bellamy, with his huge guitar solos, shining falsetto and even shinier pants, could well be Mercury’s natural successor. We’ll probably find that out for certain on the next Muse tour which, one has little doubt, will take place on the moon…

PURPLE SNEAKERS

The twitterverse did more legwork hyping up this show than any PR company campaign ever could. Ever since one Mr. Kanye West was seen around Sydney in the days leading up to Clipse’s debut Sydney show, the internet was alight with rumours. Will there be a guest appearance? And hold the phone, isn’t the world’s greatest living rapper also currently in Sydney, hanging out with some Irish dudes? Could it be that somehow the planets have aligned, and Sydney's in store for one of those fabled events that you tell your kids about? A gig that coaxes screams of “I was there!” when comparing concertattendance-dick-size over Saturday afternoon beers?

Levins and Nina Las Vegas are on warmup duties as I make my way from the bar to the stage. True to form, their track selection is tight, keeping the dancefloor happy without resorting to over-played classics. It’s not long though before Clipse DJ Rick Geez commandeers the decks, dropping those classic Neptunes accordion stabs of ‘Mama

I’m So Sorry’; and then the brothers Thornton storm the stage.

There’s energy in the Metro from the get-go.

The front row lyric-screamers give Clipse a lot of love, and the happily-astonished duo of Pusha T and Malice feed off their energy and deliver the goods. They treat the punters to a hefty back-catalogue of singles, with most attention paid to their breakthrough 2006 LP, Hell Hath No Fury.

Cuts like ‘Keys Open Doors’ and ‘Mr. Me Too’ draw huge reactions, and it’s a great surprise to hear their 2003 Birdman collab ‘What Happened To That Boy?’ get a run as well. Taking it back to 2002 for a brief spell, they drop ‘Hot Damn’ (with help from recurring collaborator Ab-Liva) and the absolutely massive ‘Grindin’’ (which to me, lacks a little without the Pharrell Williams vocal) - but it's only when Clipse mentions their new album Til The Casket Drops, in particular the latest single ‘Kinda Like A Big Deal’, that the crowd lose their collective nuts. Pusha T mentions his name: Kanye West. This is the moment.

Eyes are peeled on the side curtains, waiting for the man to appear. The dirty electric guitar intro starts. The crowd cheers louder... but then, nothing. No Kanye. Clipse, possibly ignoring the shifted attention, keep going regardless, maintaining their flow until the end with two more recent cuts to finish up; ‘I’m Good’ and the absolutely huge ‘Popular Demand’. But after the lights dim and they exit the stage, even the “Wamp Wamp” chant bellowed from the remaining crowd isn’t enough to coax Clipse out for more than one encore.

Although they battled through average sound and sauna-like conditions, Clipse produced a great show (albeit in under 45 minutes), full of lyricism and boundless energy. Even with the absence of some rumoured guests, the Sydney crowd showed them love in their first ever show here, and Clipse reciprocated in kind. No Kanye? No Jay-Z? No problem.

Rick Warner

THE REVEREND HORTON HEAT, THE SNOWDROPPERS, LA MANCHA NEGRA The Metro Theatre Saturday December 11

Opening bands La Mancha Negra and The Snowdroppers look as much the part as tonight’s audience: rockabilly tattoos under rockabilly clothes under rockabilly haircuts.

The supports provide plenty of tough guy twang and Southern zeal, but with the psychobilly storm of The Reverend lurking, their music sparks interest but never truly ignites.

The Texan men of The Reverend Horton Heat saunter on stage. Jim Heath (AKA “the Reverend”), one of the world’s great guitarists, blazes on his signature Gretsch, Jimbo thwacks his stand-up bass with a devil’s grin, and the crowd stands … motionless, like they’re watching a Betty Page movie. Four songs in and a lanky, VB-gripping punk who’s been jigging up the front on his lonesome turns to the crowd with a hurt look and hollers, “Why don’t you fucking dance? You move your arms like this!” He flails his arms like a drunken hillbilly.

“And you move your legs like this!” His lanky legs fly with hillbilly kicks. “You cunts!”

The Reverend launches into ‘400 Bucks’, Lanky Punk does his dance and security descends screaming “You’re bumping the women!”, as he’s threatened with ejection.

The Rev kicks into ‘It’s Martini Time’ - and Lanky Punk is joined by three dancers. Soon, the dance pack doubles and 30 minutes later there’s a sweaty mess of moshing euphoria and goofy joyous do-ci-do-ing to Lucky 7’s blistering ‘Galaxy 500’, plus ‘Indigo Friends’ and ‘Big Red Rocket Of Love’.

In truth, The Reverend seemed a little careworn compared to other gigs I’ve seen him preside over, but the chaotic energy of the songs conquered the crowd nonetheless.

And what was revealed is that sometimes one brave punter can teach everyone that action is more fun than fashion. Ever-present, rubber-necking, spectating wallflowers be damned! Long live The Reverend Horton Heat and the psychobilly-freakout-kickstarter, Lanky Punk.

Tyler Broyles

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MERRY XMAS

FROM EVERYONE

AT THE

BEACH ROAD

SUNDAY NICE_UP

BUDSPELLS FOREIGN DUB THE NOMADSMC RAYJAH45 SHAMICK MIKE WHO DJ ABILITY

PUBLIC TUESDAY BAR THURSDAY

MICHA WALTER

WEDNESDAY_& SATURDAY

GREG PERANO

ALEX LANGE

FRIDAY SUNDAY SALLY & FIONA JIMMY CARROLL

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 57

live reviews What we've been to see...

BROADCAST, SEEKAE, PIKELET The Forum Wednesday December 8

Pikelet’s arrangements, centring around tasteful keys and Evelyn Morris’ disarmingly disorienting vocals, are the highlight of her set; duelling textural synths bolstered by perspicacious but placid percussion, and even a wry smattering of easterntinged clarinet. But unfortunately, there’s something mutedly business-like about how Morris & Co. go about their business tonight. This is no-one’s fault, really; it must be tough playing complex ensemble pop to a nearly empty room.

Sydney's Seekae are next on the bill, with richly detailed warmth that's ripened by the Forum’s sizeable sound system. They know it, and take every opportunity to fold some immersive sub-bass into their kaleidoscopic electronica. Their first piece builds on a strident electronic rhythm doubled with muscular live percussion, becoming an ineffably sublime beast of a song that stomps along. The growing audience seated in the venue’s central trough is overwhelmed; disbelieving heads bobbing in a sea of bass. The band relaxes after this piece, and never tries to regain momentum; they know they’ve just won us over.

Projections are integral to Broadcast’s performance, dividing the set into three discrete parts, each woven together as a single piece of music with collages of video-library footage. The show begins with a projection of a vintage BBC slide announcing Part 1, ‘Sinewaves’. Squalls of synaptic Korg synth follow, iced with deeply unsettling, near-wordless vocal loops, accompanied by strobing images of tangled branches and rapidly disintegrating charcoal scribbles. It’s like wading forcibly through the formative outskirts of a dream, bewildered. The now brimming audience stand as still as latent zombies.

Part 2: ‘Soundwave and Songform’ fishes some familiar melodies out of the chaotic mire; the room is treated to selections from Ha Ha Sound and Witch Cults, but everything yields to the established chaos.

Songs appear like figures wandering through a canvas, with colours no longer constrained to the outlines that contain them on record. Part 3: ‘Dream And Ritual’ finds us all spinning in the centre of two or three extended pieces, the last of which endlessly repeats the lyric ‘What you want / is not what you need’. YouTube will give you nary an inkling of what this experience is like; being there was akin to stumbling through a dream.

Luke Telford

JACK JOHNSON, TEGAN & SARA The Domain Saturday December 11

Beers, friends, picnic blankets and chips on a stick on a yawning, sunny Saturday afternoon in the Domain. These have become the hallmarks of Jack Johnson's outdoor concerts, which have been almost a mainstay in Sydney for around half a decade. Drawn to our shores for the surf, the lifestyle and (if the masses assembled here are anything to go by) the kudos, Australians have likewise embraced Jack and his band of merry jamsters - Adam Topol (drums), Merlo Podlewski (bass) and Zach Gill (piano, accordion, melodica, whatever). Tonight is no exception.

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara do an admirable job of warming up a pre-warmed crowd. Their instantly recognisable punkfolk-rock-pop isn’t nearly as cutting as their Groovin’ The Moo set earlier this year, but it’s tightly delivered nonetheless. Banter is at a minimum (bar the sisters dedicating every song to someone else); the hour-long set represents a professional compendium of the duo’s decade-long career.

And then comes the screaming. Where fans were kindly appreciative of Tegan and Sara’s performance, as soon as Jack Johnson (tee-shirted and guitar-slinging as usual) hits the stage, it feels a bit like we’ve been transported to the live recording of that other famous American in town for the week... Before he’s even muttered a word, Johnson is drowned out by the whoops

58 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

of an otherwise seemingly normal crowd.

Perennial favourites ‘Taylor’ and ‘Flake,’ and relative newbies ‘If I Had Eyes’ and ‘Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology,’ are welcomed with equally rapturous applause as, early on, the night threatens to turn into a Jack Johnson sing-along.

Johnson ploughs through hit after hit, saying ultimately inconsequential things to an audience so happy that they seem to be splitting at the seams. Brief dalliances in covers – Steve Miller Band’s ‘The Joker’ and the unusual yet apt Tegan and Sara-assisted ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’ – are expertly executed, but largely unnecessary. So consumed are they by the surfing, eco-friendly, carbon-neutral, watersavvy troubadour and his unwaveringly stellar delivery, that Podlewski’s turn at rapping during ‘Mudfootball’ and even Oprah’s firework display (‘Oh, I arranged that for you’, a cheeky Johnson gloats) can’t shake the crowd’s awe.

An acoustic, solo encore, charting Johnson’s romance with his highschool sweetheart (and now wife) - from the wildly popular ‘Banana Pancakes’ through ‘Angel’ and finally to a soaring ‘Better Together’ - was an appropriately lovedup moment, which was adored by the Jack Johnson faithful out in force tonight.

And when he delivers, again and again, in such sensational style, it’s not hard to understand why.

David Seidler

EL GUINCHO, CATCALL, MEGASTICK FANFARE The Gaelic Club Friday December 10

Blame humidity levels high enough to stifle a water-dwelling creature, the fact that it’s a Friday night, Oprah being in town, or a combination of all of the above, but I feel a fiesta coming on... Which I'm sure has nothing to do with the eager anticipation of Barcelonian maestro El Guincho (Pablo Díaz-Reixa to his friends) on stage.

Sydneysiders Megastick Fanfare ease the crowd into carnivale mode.

With trippy, post-rock sounds similar to Animal Collective and Friendly Fires, the foursome switch effortlessly between playing instruments and live mixing, with their energetic frontman capitalising on the strength of his lungs by way of some astute vocal looping. Although their lessexperimental material is well received, Megastick Fanfare produce tunes more suited to (and deserving of) a bigger audience than they can muster this evening.

“I’m feeling really awkward cause you all saw us soundcheck before - so you need to be nice to us, alright?” is the opening demand from Catcall’s lead singer Catherine Kelleher, after faltering through two false starts. Embodying all of the band’s stage presence, Kelleher’s onstage persona might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but with an ample supply of hair and puff sleeves used to maximum effect, her classic rock chick posturing is certainly arresting - and, apart from one particularly enthusiastic middle-aged gentleman, it seems a shame that the crowd isn’t more receptive. With Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Knife as easily discernible influences, Catcall's set is very easy to watch.

Seeming to multiply ten times in as many minutes, the growing audience is well and truly onboard for El Guincho and his two musical associates. After a polyvocal opening teaser, his trademarked calypsoon-speed beat kicks in and the floor of the Gaelic morphs into a united mass of fluid, dancing, clapping humanity. The chorus of ‘Soca Del Eclipse’ is ready-made for a sing-a-long and the undulating crowd happily obliges. Met with equal enthusiasm, numbers like ‘Bombay’ and ‘Antillas’ see Díaz-Reixa channel the octopus that appears on the cover of his latest album, Pop Negro – creating and looping melodic keyboard ostinatos with his left hand, rhythmic ostinatos on a drum pad with his right hand and all the while belting out the melodies. The man sure can multitask, the band gleefully and seamlessly follows and the crowd delights in moving and moving and moving some more. The fiesta has arrived.

Andrew Geeves

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 59

live reviews

In Which A Long-time BRAG Contributor Finally Conquers Her Everest

Actually, this goes back much longer than five years. I’ve loved U2 with a ferocity that would frighten most people, for seventeen years. That makes it the longest-standing relationship of my life. And believe me, loving the shit out of a band is a relationship.

I have crossed the world to see U2 play. I have suffered with them through the last decade of their career, during which they released albums so terrible that I wept.

In the pre-internet dark ages I lined up for tickets overnight - and I bought their records at the living, breathing record store at midnight. I’ve spent money on U2 that would probably by now have made for a nice deposit on a very, very small house...

In Adelaide. I have read every word in books and magazines and newspapers ever written about them. I own without exception everything they have ever released (an archive I intend to donate to the National Library on the occasion of my death). U2 are why I write about music. My name is Elmo Keep, and I fucking love U2.

I NEEDED TO TALK TO BONO

By Elmo Keep

W

ho the fuck is Bono, anyway? Is Bono the Pope? Barack Obama?

Is Bono J.D. Salinger, or someone else equally famous and dead? Is Bono a hologram and not a real person, but rather a globally projected group hallucination? Is Bono actually a doomsday device, and not a man? I ask this because trying to interview Bono is pretty much fucking impossible, let me tell you. I’ve spent the last five years of my life trying to secure an interview with him, and no mortal can get close. It’s become something so intangible to me now that I struggle to even explain it anymore. Every

60 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

And all I want is just 20 minutes with Bono to talk with him about the meaning of life. And also maybe about motorcycles, if he would be into that. And then if there is time afterwards, perhaps we could have a little cuddle.

But I am not Jann Wenner. I am not Chuck Klosterman. I am not the staff music writer of a prestigious city daily. I am not the host of a prime time television talk show, I am not Oprah Winfrey. I am but a lowly freelancer and this, coupled with the fact that Bono is perhaps the most famous rockstar on the planet, makes the likelihood of me interviewing him roughly zero. But I am not deterred. Lifequests were not meant to be easy; if they were, Moses would have just walked on water rather than parting the Red Sea. So when it turned out that in order to interview Bono all I had to do was

almost nothing after five years of pitching up against walls, it was, well, pretty much the awesomest fucking thing that has ever happened.

My buddy Lucy was assigned this weird World AIDS Day event, where Bono would be turning the Opera House red to raise AIDS awareness (because all that needs to be raised is awareness?), and she would be covering it for the ABC: “So you can come along as my intern.” And that was it.

Accreditation sorted. Bono would be there, with the Premier, the Prime Minister, the rest of U2 and some other people, who (combined) required a security detail that looked like something out of Clear and Present Danger. Oh, and there would be a media scrum that we would have to fend off, in order to get in what would be, at most, one question for Bono... One question. For Bono.

I’ve been thinking for many, many years what this one question for Bono would be. Just the one. Where so many others had failed to ask him something even vaguely interesting, I would not.

Those last 17 years of my life careened up behind me and hit me full-force in the back of the head when he was suddenly standing there, Bono, looking right at me...

prisoners to choreography. Are they really a band, or performers acting out a play? Do they really connect, or are they just going through the motions? From such a distance, it’s often hard to tell.

Or it was, right up until Bono recounted U2’s history in Australia: shooting the Lovetown documentary with Richard Lowenstein in 1989; broadcasting ZOO TV to the world in 1993; and copping to what exactly happened to Adam Clayton the night he was so wasted he missed a show with the band on that tour.

And then, U2 took requests. They ran through a gorgeous version of ‘All I Want Is You’ followed by ‘Love Rescue Me’ – which Bono wrote for Bob Dylan on Rattle and Hum, and hasn’t played live in full in over 20 years.

For these tunes there was no stage show to speak of, no seizure-inducing visuals on a 40 foot screen - just the band holding 50,000 people in hushed, rapt attention.

These are the things that U2 can do that makes breaking up with them after seventeen years impossible. They are still capable of heartbreaking intimacy, in spite of the epic scale.

“Your skull is wonky.”

The next time I saw Bono was not at such close quarters, despite my offering to buy him a drink at the conclusion of our little chat (I’m still good for that though, Bono.) A week later the band played two nights at ANZ Stadium.

Of course, I went to both. The highlight was not the eye-popping staging, which could only be more impressive if it disassembled itself, bellowed ‘IT’S OVER’ and strolled out of the stadium at the end of the show. Neither was it when support act Jay-Z jumped in on a verse of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ (that was a terrible, terrible idea). No. U2 have now come a point of such hugeness that their staging is alienating: their show is so big that they are

That’s what I said to Bono, as I reached across him and straightened his tie-pin: a tiny silver skull which was facing the wrong way up. I did this in the way I would straighten my boyfriend’s tie. Everyone in the press pack had their cameras trained on us. They were laughing. And Bono laughed. “Oh, thankyou.

They both are,” he said, pointing at his head. Then he kissed me on the cheek and disappeared into the night, off to continue on his own lifequest, trying to fix everything wrong with world, safe in the knowledge that he is sartorially symmetrical.

More: elmokeep.com, and check page 65 for pictures of the show...

Photo by Jay Collier

writer has their personal Jesus, that one interview they can tick off their list and then die happy. And for me, that person is Bono.

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 61

Remedy More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

2010: THE YEAR THAT WAS

AC/DC, Metallica, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Mogwai

REVIVALS

It was a funny old year from wherever it was we were standing at any given time.

Back in February, everyone was suddenly an AC/DC fanatic - even those who aren’t usually 'rock' fans. The sight of some folks turning up to the shows in stretch limos that had techno blaring from them was surely the stuff of a 120,000 word sociology honours thesis. Metallica seem to be on their way to a similarly broad demographic, if the number of their t-shirts we’ve spotted on very non-metal individuals are any guide. (How all those people got to know every word to the Master Of Puppets material rather than just the “hit” that was ‘Enter Sandman’ was both a revelation and a deep mystery.)

MEDIOCRITY

Just as weird was how people came to take those ‘Search for a Star’-type shows so damn seriously. Like the group of seemingly intelligent people on the train one night who were earnestly critiquing the merits of the candidates that week. As if, you know, it all actually mattered and what was on show had something to offer the cultural world. The mass celebration of the openly mediocre - this year’s ARIAs being a case in point - that’s been going on for sometime has to stop. It’s like giving all the kids in the class awards at the end of the year just for showing up. Even if they didn’t.

Poorly directed encouragement can be a very dangerous thing. It’s how the world got George W. Bush.

MORE MEDIOCRITY

Sure, there’s plenty of great music about but you’ve gotta wade through an everrising tide of shit to get to it. The question is, how did the mainstream bar get set so low? Why is the blatantly bare-arsed average now universally and dramatically deemed to be amazing? Gushing 5 star reviews for acts that are essentially tenth rate Pantera or Metallica (does anyone seriously think that Lamb Of God will ever have produce a truly genre-defining moment like Master of Puppets or a Vulgar Display of Power?) don’t really do a service to anyone, least of all provide a perspective for the punter.

wed

22 In Peices

(9PM - 12AM)

thu 23 Anthems Of Oz fri

24 dec

(9PM - 12AM)

Eric Lewis Outlier Trio

(5PM-8PM)

ALBUMS WE LIKED

(9:15PM-1AM)

Anyways, with that off our sagging chests, our releases of the last twelve months (or so) and in no particular order are: Iggy Pop

sat

25 Christmas Day – CLOSED sun

Andy Mammers Duo

(4:30PM-7:30PM)

26 Singled Out dec

CLUB DJS UPSTAIRS FROM 9PM, RETRO DJS DOWNSTAIRS FROM 12AM (4:30PM-7:30PM)

wed

29 Wild Armadilos (9PM - 12AM) thu 30 POD Brothers (9PM - 12AM) fri

31 NYE clubs djs

(6PM-2AM)

sat

01 Rory Mc Vie (4:30PM-7:30PM) SATURDAY NIGHT jan Singled Out (9PM-12PM) sun

02 U2 Elevation jan Reckless mon

(4:30PM-7:30PM)

03 The Donovans jan

Hip Not Hop

wed

05 U2 Elevation

(9PM - 12AM)

06 Double Agent

(9PM - 12AM)

thu fri

jan sat

08 jan

(9PM - 12AM)

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(2PM-5:30PM)

(7PM-10:30PM)

The glorious Built To Spill are at the Metro Theatre on December 29 with special guests Bearhug.

(8:30PM-12PM)

07

Max David A Trio

(4:30PM-7:30PM) (8:30PM-12PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT (4:30PM-7:30PM)

Samantha Brave Williams (9PM-12AM) Bros Trio

sun (4:30PM-7:30PM) (8:30PM - 12:00AM) 09 U2 Elevation jan

RIP

The roll call for the fallen grew again during the year, with the loss of major names like New York Dolls’ and Sex Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren, twisted roots rock n’ roll genius Alex Chilton, the leathered, lunged metal god Ronnie James Dio, Jay Reatard and local road warhorse, Pat Pickett.

MOVIES & BOOKS

We actually got out and about a bit this year and sat in the dark and saw some corkers, including Animal Kingdom which was utterly killer, Devil which worked strongly in concept but fell short in execution and Let Me In which was riveting. Books too? OK, there seemed to have been far more music related tomes this year than normal - and the second best of them had to be Keith Richards’ effort, Life.

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS

(8:30PM-12PM)

The Donovans Trio 27 Benton and Storm dec

mon

and James Williamson’s remix (more like total makeover) of Kill City, The Sword’s Warp Riders, Mogwai’s Special Moves, Built To Spill’s There Is No Enemy, Jon Spencer’s Extra Width/Mo Width reissue, Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge of Town box (which raised the stakes enormously for such packages and put so many others to shame), Jimi Hendrix’s West Coast Seattle Boy box, Iggy and The Stooges’ Raw Power box (which wasn’t the humdinger it could have been but…), Neil Young’s Le Noise, The Swans’ My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, Earth’s A Bureaucratic Desire for ExtraCapsular Extraction, Endless Boogie’s Full House Head, Roky Erickson’s True Love Cast Out All Evil, Quest For Fire’s Lights From Paradise, The Jim Jones Revue’s Burning Your House Down, Tumbleweed’s The Waterfront Years 19911993, Govt Mule’s Mulennium, Radio Birdman’s Live In Texas, Bob Dylan’s Witmark Demos: 1962-1964, The Holy Soul and Damo Suzuki’s Dead Man Has No Second Chance, Zond’s self-titled debut, Hits’ Living With You Is Killing Me, Nighthorse’s Perdition Hymns, The Black Angels’ Phosphene Dream, Dead Meadow’s Three Kings, High On Fire’s (metal mojo comeback) Snakes For The Divine, The Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Rush to Relax and Johnny Cash’s American VI: Ain’t No Grave. We wanted to include the new Electric Wizard effort but to us they’re sadly no longer what it once said on the tin.

Gary Johns Trio(8:30PM-12PM)

On December 26, the Annandale has their traditional big Boxing Day, with Front End Loader, The Celibate Rifles, Peabody, Gay Paris and The Shake Up. There’s a local Nightmare Before Xmas featuring Melody Black on December 23 at the Sando in Newtown, with guests Familia (Ash ex-Caligula), Black Label and iJunk.

Melody Black’s slab is almost done and they’ll be on tour in February.

Suicidal Tendencies. We still warmly recall them opening for Alice In Chains when they proceeded to blow the headliners (not to mention the roof) right off the Hordern

Pavillion. It was like Slayer opening for Radiohead... Anyways, Brother Cyco Miko Muir is leading Venice Beach’s finest back to town mid next year. On May 14, they’ll be at the Metro Theatre.

With his Hitmen commitments finished and a move to Europe looming, Chris Klondike Masuak is taking his solo band The North 40 for one more spin just in time for Christmas at the Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills on December 23. They’ll be joined

by Decline Of The Reptiles and Young Docteurs. All three bands are playing at least one Christmas song and the first 50 payers get a limited edition CD single from Klondike. The K man and his North 40 will be releasing a new album on I-94 Bar Records in the new year.

POST SCRIPT Thanks for reading once more this past year. Again and as always as the great Warren Haynes once said, “We appreciate ya”. Try and remember in all that you do that life really is very short. You only get one shot at it. Try and not fuck it up too badly... Which is something we struggle not to do each day...

Send stuff for next year's first column back to remedy@ ozemail.com.au, by 6pm Wednesday January 5. All pics to art@thebrag please. www.myspace.com/remedy4rock 62 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

PRESENTS...

HANDSOME TOURS & SECRET SOUNDS PRESENT

FOSTERTHEPEOPLE MONDAY FEBRUARY 14 OXFORD ART FACTORY WWW.OXFORDARTFACTORY.COM, WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU PH: 1300 GET TIX (438 849) & ALL MOSHTIX OUTLETS

PUMPED UP KICKS - LISTEN TO IT HERE - FOSTERTHEPEOPLE.COM

Special Guests Last Dinosaurs

9.2 | ENMORE THEATRE Ticketek | www.ticketek.com.au | Ph 132 849 | (ALL AGES)

TOTAL LIFE FOREVER OUT NOW

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BY ARRANGEMENT WITH PRIMARY TALENT INTERNATIONAL

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS PARADES

MON FEB 7 ENMORE THEATRE TICKETS: TICKETEK, WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, PH 132 849 - (ALL AGES) TOURIST HISTORY OUT NOW

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ON

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SALE

NOW BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 63

The Minor Chord The All Ages rant bought to you by Indent.net.au. By Eva Balog

ALL AGES GIG PICKS HILLTOP HOODS AND APRA INITIATIVE

What happens when APRA and the Hilltop Hoods get together? $10,000 in prize money is what! The Hilltop Hoods Initiative is back again for another year to give a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;career changingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; opportunity to an emerging hip hop artist. The call out is open to artists of any age who havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet released an album professionally.

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner, Nambian-born and Melbourne-based artist 1/6 (a.k.a Aaron Stephanus) has already established himself as one of Aussie hip hopâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freshest talents. The $10,000 and legal advice that came as part of Stephanus' prize kick-started his career and increased his recording capabilities - you can check him out for yourself at myspace.com/ oneslashsix. Judges this year included triple j presenter and hip hop artist Hau of Koolism, South Australian graffiti artist and community worker Nish, Def Wish Cast manager and radio presenter Ran-Dee, and artist, author and Black Clothing label owner Raph.

+ JPS + SPIKEY TEE + FOREIGNDUB

Applications for the next round of the Hilltop Hoods/APRA initiative are open now, and close February 22. Check the APRA website for more (NB: you must be an APRA member to enter - but hey if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a songwriter, you should be a member of APRA anyway. Plus, it's free!)

BEST OF 2010

2010 was a pretty special year, and with all the ensuing â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;best ofâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lists, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve created our own - combined by some of our regular The Minor Chord contributors. You can check out who loved what this year at indent.net.au/blog. Being the final column of the year, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re skipping straight over the Christmas weekend (NB: this should be spent eating and hanging with friends and family, and then potentially heading to Peats Ridge for New Year's Eve...), and launching straight into 2011â&#x20AC;Ś

ROLL ON, 2011

First up, and fresh off the back of Falls Festival, Cold War Kids grace Sydney with their presence on January 6 at the Enmore Theatre. This is an exclusive sideshow, and follows their sophomore release Mine Is Yours (which of course you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t heard yet, as it's only out in January!) Be one of the first to hear the album live (plus, we hope, some classic hits from their 2006 debut).

January means one thing in Sydney: Sydney Festival. It kicks off with the Festival First Night on January 8, during which the City's cup doth runneth over.

There'll be a multitude of stages - in Hyde Park, Martin Place, The Domain, Chifley Square, and Macquarie Street - and a line-up that includes Nomad, Dan Sultan,

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Festival First Night Nomad, Dan Sultan, Seekae and moreâ&#x20AC;Ś All over Sydney CBD

TUESDAY JANUARY 25 Crystal Castles, Gold Fields The Enmore Theatre

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 26

Festival Of the Voice Hungry Kids of Hungary, Andy Bull, Street Warriors and moreâ&#x20AC;Ś Circular Quay, The Rocks, Sydney

Seekae, The Dynamites and Emmylou Harris and The Red Dirt Boys, just to name a few. Oh and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FREE - and starts from 3pm.

If festival season hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exhausted you too much, the Big Day Out rolls around (twice) this year, and with it a string of sideshows - including Crystal Castles, who play the Enmore on January 25. The group have headed to our shores a few times in recent years, but this gig comes with an added bonus: support by Gold Fields. Straight outta Ballarat in Victoria (the Ballarat gold fields, perhaps?), this four piece are creating quite a stir in music industry land, and while theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still quite young, they already have some solid, Friendly Firesesque songs under their belt. This looks to be the only all-ages date in their tour, so head to the Enmore early to make sure that you catch â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;em.

Festival season can put a strain on your wallet, so a free Australia day concert in the Rocks is gonna be right up your alley. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Festival of the Voiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is on again, with a lineup that includes some of the greatest indie bands this side of the Pacific Ocean: Hungry Kids of Hungary, Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers, Casey Donovan, Tijuana Cartel, The Medics, Street Warriors and a whole host more including (and coming highly recommended by us at TMC) Andy Bull, whose recent EP The Phantom Pains weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had on high rotation.

From all of us at The Minor Chord, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re wishing you the best holiday season, a safe and happy new year, and we hope that you give Elvisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Christmas another spin.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be hanging out on FBi Radio this week, for a final show before the new year.

So for all of the most up-to-date all-ages news including music, arts and culture, guided by our good friends Kate and Eva, tune into FBi Radio from 5pm on Wednesday.

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Send pics, listings and any info to minorchords@thebrag.com 64 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

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U2 & jay-z

PICS :: JC

up all night out all week . . .

oprah 14:12:10

PICS ::AM

13:12:10 :: ANZ Stadium :: Olympic Boulevard Sydney Olympic Park 8765 2000

:: Opera House Steps:: Sydney Opera House 92471666

party profile

Lightspeed Champion It’s called: It’s called: Lightspeed Champion It sounds like: Lost love with Queen-size 70s-rock pomp, neoclassical interludes, and one ukulele-based chamber-pop song.

Who’s playing? Lightspeed Champion supported by Bleeding Knees Club.

Sell it to us: This is Lightspeed Champion’s one and only Sydney show!

With just a guitar and keys, this is the only chance to catch Lightspeed Champion in such a stripped-back and intimate format. He’ll sing of your triumphs, heartbreak and everything in between. It’s indie, folk, country with a twist. Make it date night and you can, and thank us later!

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Your new favourite song.

Crowd specs: Potential lovers.

Wallet damage: $33+bf – moshtix.com.au Where: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

When: Wednesday December 29, 2010

) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN NS COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 65

snap sn ap

11:12:10 :: Phoenix Bar :: Downstairs 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 93311936

mum

PICS ::SB

the go roll your bones

PICS :: RO

up all night out all week . . .

girls

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10:12:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

gallery burlesque

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08:12:10 :: Manning Bar :: @ Sydney Uni City Rd Chippendale 95636107

08:12:10 :: Tone :: 116 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills

11:12:10

:: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666

) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: NS TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

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party profile

reverend horton heat

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Big Gay Party It’s called: Big Gay Party It sounds like: One big gay party!

DJs/live acts playing: Le Tigre’s JD Samson (NYC), Phil Hewson (UK), Justin Ryan (NYC), Bobby Blaze (NYC).

Sell it to us: For the first time ever, the forces at the Exchange Hotel are combining their party prowess with eight of the biggest gay promoters in Sydney. That means the entire Exchange Hotel complex (Phoenix + Spectrum + 34b + Q Bar + Vegas) will play host to a party packed with New Year's Day shenanigans and hot'n'sweaty dance floors, thanks to the combined powers of Phoenix RISING, Disgraceland, Gay Bash DJs, Hard On!, Girl Thing, Hot Rod, Exclamation Point, Snatch & Grab and Saturday Fucking Night.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: It starts in the AM! Crowd specs: Queer kick-on enthusiasts.

Wallet damage: Pre-sale $35 from daisytix.com Where: Exchange Hotel 34-44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst When: New Years Day 5am - 2pm.

snap sn ap

jack johnson

11:12:10 :: The Domain :: Mrs Macquaries Road Sydney 92318111

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sfx

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up all night out all week . . .

jebediah

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hot damn

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11:12:10 :: St James Hotel :: 114 Castlereagh St City 92618277

09:12:10 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245

09:12:10 :: Annandale Hotel :: 17 Paramatta Rd Annandale 95501078

It’s called: Tone’s Xmas Eve Red Party It sounds like: A bunch of kids throwing a sick party with cool bands and DJs Who’s playing? WIM, Guineafowl (DJ), The Spirits, We Say Bamboulee (DJ), Leroy Macqueen and the Gussets, RATBAG DJs. Sell it to us: Sydney’s newest live music venue Tone is getting generous and putting out more than the milk and cookies; their first annual Xmas Eve Red Party features a mix of live and DJ sets from a string of Sydney indie bands including WIM, Guineafowl, The Spirits, We Say Bamboulee, and Leroy Macqueen and the Gussets. With drink specials and giveaways from Viking Beer, we could make more Christmas puns than you could imagine.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Leroy Macqueen’s ass cheeks.

Crowd specs: Riot.

Wallet damage: Wear anything red and it’s $5.

Where: Tone / 16 Wentworth Ave. Surry Hills.

When: Friday December 24 (Christmas Eve) from 8pm.

) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN NS COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

washed out

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party profile

Tone’s Xmas Eve

09:12:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711 BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 67

Deep Impressions Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery

Radio Slave

I

’ll openly admit that I’m not a patriot by any stretch. In fact last year I declared that --- [rifles through archives to the corresponding issue from 2009] “I find the concept of nationalism to be primitive and largely repulsive. While purporting to celebrate one’s country, lurking below this ostensibly sanguine veneer there is the celebration of difference, segregation and xenophobia.” Though my opinion remains unchanged, I’ll be celebrating Australia Day rigorously this year, as Matt Edwards (aka Radio Slave) will be playing a set at Nevermind on Tuesday January 25.

Edwards absolutely tore the floor apart at the warehouse bash he played for Deep As Fu*k circa January ’09, and anyone who missed that memorable bash ought not to let this shot at redemption slide.

While the Rekids label boss is recognized for his output across a range of monikers, including Quiet Village alongside Joel Martin, his work as Radio Slave is generally crafted with the darkest crevasses of the dancefloor firmly in mind. (Listen to the Radio Slave remix of Minilogue’s ‘Space’ as a reference point.) This will be four hours of thumping, sweaty techno for true techno fiends - the purrrfect way to celebrate Australia Day (eve).

Reclusive Kompakt co-founder Jürgen Paape is set to emerge from the shadows of the other two founders, Michael Mayer and Wolfgang Voigt, with the new compilation Kompilation, comprised entirely of Paape’s releases. Having never made a live appearance or even begun his DJ career, Paape prefers to let his music do the talking; prior to this release he never even had a press photo! Kompilation features 12 Paape cuts, including the classics ‘So Weit Wie Noch Nie’ (which was memorably utilised by Erlend Oye on his magnificent DJ Kicks mix) and ‘Come Into My Life’. It also includes two new tracks: ‘Einklang’ and Paape’s upcoming single, ‘So Wird Die Zeit Gemacht’. Kompilation will be available digitally early in the New Year.

On the local front, props to local DJ/ producer RifRaf for his tasty new cut ‘Philosophy’, which is coming out soon on the Berlin-based Tonkind imprint. The release also includes remixes from highly regarded European producers Alexkid and Philip Bader along with Melbourne’s Uone.

The co-founder of Earthdance and the now defunct – but still revered – Deep As Fu*k brand, RifRaf has been representing on Sydney’s underground circuit for many years, so it’s good to see him doing well on the international stage, and it’s well worth your while seeking out ‘Philosophy’ once

Claude Von Stroke

LOOKING DEEPER FRI DEC 31

Chris Duckenfield Marrickville Bowling Club

SAT JAN 1 Slam Spice Afloat

SUN JAN 2

Claude Von Stroke Nevermind

THU JAN 13 Henrik Schwarz The Beck’s Bar

it’s released – grab a preview listen off Soundcloud in the interim.

Claude Von Stroke’s Dirtybird label has a couple of releases coming out this month.

The first is a remix EP for Justin Martin’s ‘Get Low’ that includes reworks from J.Phlip and S.E.C.T., while the second is a compilation entitled Bass. The ninetrack compilation showcases the various ‘bassy’ influences that run through the Dirty Bird catalogue, with some classics sitting alongside new and exclusive bits such as a ‘DnB style house gem’ from the first lady of Dirtybird, J.Phlip, and the UK’s Julio Bashmore. Von Stroke himself will of course be playing an extended set at Nevermind on the ‘thinking man’s New Year’s Eve/Day’, Sunday January 2, for the admission price of only 20 bones: a must for any Dirtybird fan.

Speaking of New Year’s, it’s about time you figured out what you’re doing. Two options clearly stand out for anyone with a proclivity for quality house and techno and all the antics that come with it: Mad Racket NYE and Spice Afloat. Since the Spice party doesn’t start until 3am on NYD there’s even the possibility for the ultra-committed to do both. To recap: the racketeers will ring in the New Year with a headline set from crowd favourite Chris Duckenfield, aka Swag, at the techno hub that is Marrickville Bowling Club. Duckenfield has been out here six times over the past ten years, but that is more indicative of his popularity with the local clubbing community than him treating Australia as an excuse for a summer vacation. ‘Duckers’ will be flanked by the emerging Berlin duo Session Victim performing live. Spice Afloat is returning for its sixth instalment with the headlining triumvirate of Glaswegian techno dons Slam, Freerange’s Milton Jackson and Björn Wilke ahead of Mr Reckless Republic himself, Murat Kilic, and other locals. Slam, who are also the duo behind the Soma label, were out here last year and I had the privilege of playing before them at Earthdance so can attest to their considerable prowess. Tickets to both parties were still available at the time of writing, but you’d be ill-advised to hold off on your decision much longer.

Whatever option you choose I hope you have a cracker of a night, dance recklessly, embarrass yourselves slightly and I look forward to us doing it all again in 2011. But until then, be good.

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com.

68 :: BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10

Soul Sedation

Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom-heavy Beats with Tony Edwards 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.

W

ith another New Years Eve rolling around, our little indie title is taking a much-needed break for a couple of weeks. There are some serious parties on the cards, and some not-soserious ones too, of course. As always you can find the pick of the bunch in the Soul Sedation calendar. I know I won’t be missing the Fly Lo, Hudmo, GLK and DâM-FunK show at the Forum, and Aloe Blacc’s Becks Bar appearance is shaping up to go down as one of the gigs of the Summer as well.

A Sydney outfit that started the year well with their debut record Super Space Dope Funk is finishing the year well with a killer filmclip animation. Flatwound’s ‘Android Funk 6’ is one of the latest singles to emerge from the One World record bag.

It’s a deep, slow-burning disco groove, a very worthy track - but you really need to catch the filmclip. It’s an oldschool digital approach that’s been put together by visual artist Presser (aka Dead Galaxy) and animated by the Flatwound crew themselves. Put it in your googles right now.

The Void juggernaut rolls on in 2011 with the arrival of the UK’s DJ Oneman. One of his (many) claims to fame is being the only artist to appear on Mary Anne Hobb’s Radio 1 show without releasing a single record. Oneman will be cutting up the dubstep, 2-step, grime and wonky sounds at Goodgod Small Club on Wednesday January 5. Just enough time to sort your head out after NYE, and go again.

XLR8R have posted their top 50 downloads of 2010 as chosen by readers, the list topped by Jimmy Edgar’s early-electroreferencing ‘Hot Raw Sex’. Soul Sedation has said it before and I’ll say it again, that XLR8R mailing list is one you really should be signed up to.

There’s a new Floating Points 10” about to drop on Ninja Tune – ‘Post Suite/Almost In Profile’. If you’re reviewing the year in music it would be hard to go past Sam Shepherd, a classically trained musician bringing freshness to the field of soulful electronica.

Holding it down all year for the inner west hip hop fraternity, Horrorshow have covered Ben Lee’s ‘Cigarettes Will Kill You’ for triple j. It’s a damn good song choice and a damn good cover, and features Jane Tyrell on the track as well. If you’re heading to Peats Ridge you’ll be able to see the boys live in the flesh.

Look out for the Cosmopolyphonic compilation on Japanese label Art Union.

Compiled by Sauce81 of Cosmopolyphonic radio, it features future funk, soul and beats from established names like Onra, Tokimonsta and Devonwho, plus fresh audio art from an emerging cohort of Japanese producers.

Kings of Disco on BBE might make suitable stocking filler for someone you know. It’s

Onra

ON THE ROAD SAT DEC 25 Christmas Day Your House

MON JAN 3 Edan the Dee Jay Tone

FRI JAN 7

Fly Lo, Hud Mo, DâM-FunK, GLK The Forum

SUN JAN 9 Mos Def Enmore Theatre

FRI FEB 18

Kool & The Gang, Roy Ayers Enmore Theatre

SAT FEB 19

Mayer Hawthorne & The County Manning Bar

FEB17-20

Playground Weekender Wiseman’s Ferry

WED MAR 16

Horace Andy & Dub Asante Metro Theatre a great series; this column is across both the Kings Of Reggae and Kings Of Electro instalments. This double disc is compiled

by Dimitri from Paris and Joey Negro. If names like Macho, Yazoo and Larry Heard strike a chord, you should probably check it out.

Also keep you ears peeled for the new Mystro EP, Digmund Freud - quality underground UK hip hop, released in the Asia Pacific region on Loop Recordings.

And last but not least: Belleruche have a new record out on Tru Thoughts, 270 Stories. Listen out for lead single ‘Clockwatching’. The Brighton-based trio will be in the country for the fast-approaching Playground Weekender festival. Merry Xmas y’all!

Aloe Blacc

Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 69

snap sn ap

purple sneakers

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up all night out all week . . .

hopscotch

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10:12:10 :: The Gladstone Hotel :: 115 Regent St Chippendale 96993522

10:12:10 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711 70 :: BRAG :: 393: 20:12:10

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sosueme xmas party

hermitude

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11:12:10 :: Club Hopscotch:: 169 Oxford St, Darlinghurst

11:12:10 :: Tone Venue :: 116 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills 92676440

) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: NS TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

INSTO RE

11 JA N 2011

Mixed by B U L C T S E G G I B E S K TH C A R T L A V I T S E F R & E M M U S OF THE

FEATURING TRACKS & REMIXES DEADMAU5, TIGA, RUSKO, CALVIN BY RIS, FATBOY SLIM, SWEDISH HOUSE MAHAR FIA , WOLFGANG GARTNER, SINDEN, DAVID GU TENSNAKE, MARK RONSON, BOYSNOIZEETTA, ROUND TABLE KNIGHTS, FEDDE LE GRAND & MORE!!

onelove.com.au BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 71

snap sn ap

08:12:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

teenage kicks

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the wall

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up all night out all week . . .

pulse radio presents d25

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09:12:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

11:12:10 :: The Forum :: Entertainment Quarter Moore Park

It’s called: New Year’s Eve 2010 at The Brewe ry It sounds like: A party you don’t want to be standing on the outside of the gates from filled with regret that you are not holding a golden ticket.

Live acts playing: Regurgitator, Bag Raide rs, Urthboy, Cassian, Van She Tech, Nova & the Experience, Backbeat.

Sell it to us: While you throw crazy shapes on the d-floor we’ll also treat you to a whole other world of shenanigans includ ing circus and freak shows, fire breathers, burlesque dancers and two sets of fireworks (just to treat the kid in all of us).

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: How tough it will be to top this party in 2011.

Crowd specs: Everyone and anyone who wants to seriously party this NYE. Wallet damage: GA: $50+bf; VIP: $150.

Where: Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle.

When: Friday December 31, 2010

72 :: BRAG :: 393: 20:12:10

fbi xmas party

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party profile

NYE 2010 at The Brewery

09:12:10 :: The Red Rattler :: 6 Faversham St Marrickville 95651101 ) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN NS COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

BRAG :: 393 :: 20:12:10 :: 73

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chinese laundry

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up all night out all week . . .

koolism

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11:12:10 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958

starfuckers

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09:11:10 :: Melt :: 12 Kellett St, Kings Cross 93806060

11:12:10 :: Club 77 :: 77 William St Kings Cross 93613387

It’s called: Adult Disco feat. TENSNAKE!!!!!

It sounds like: The sweetest disco and house

tunes made for summer dancing.

DJs: Tensnake playing live for his first ever Sydney club show and Future Classic DJs backing him up.

Three records you’ll hear on the night: ‘Coma Cat’ (there will probably be a riot if Tensnake doesn’t play this track), ‘(In The End) fair chance we’ll give the new Mitzi 12” a rinse I Want You To Cry’ - and there’s a out too.

And one you definitely won’t: Anything can happen at the Disco.

Sell it to us: TENSNAKE!!! on the Civic Sound system.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Dancing dancing dancing.

Crowd specs: Adults…

Wallet damage: $20 presale (get in quick) or $30 on the door if not sold out.

Where: Adult Disco @ Civic Underground When: Sunday January 2 (NB Adult Disco is a weekly Saturday but this is a special Sunday instalment to kick off 2011!)

wham! 5th b'day

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party profile

Adult Disco feat. Tensnake

11:12:10 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

) :: ASH LEY MAR :: TOM S : TIM LEV Y (HEA D HON CHO OUR LOV ELY PHOTOG RAP HER ROS ETT E ROU HAN NA :: PATR ICK STE VEN SON :: JAY :: TRA MON TE :: DAN IEL MUN NS COL LIER :: SUSAN BUI

74 :: BRAG :: 393: 20:12:10