The Brag #414

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SECRET SOUNDS PRESENTS

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS STRANGE TALK

AUG 3 METRO THEATRE TIX: BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 | TICKETEK.COM.AU, PH 132 849

TICKETS ON SALE NOW SPLENDOURSIDESHOWS.COM 4 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

IAMKELE.COM

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SECRET SOUNDS PRESENTS

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

T H E G R AT E S

T H U R S D AY J U LY 2 8 HORDERN PAVILION T I C K E T S F R O M T I C K E T E K , W W W. T I C K E T E K . C O M . A U, P H 1 3 2 8 4 9

TICKETS ON SALE NOW SPLENDOURSIDESHOWS.COM

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Get your free app now!

The ever-growing, never sleeping events guide that lives online and in your pocket.

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SECRET SOUNDS PRESENTS

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

TUESDAY AUGUST 2 METRO THEATRE

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE GRATES

THURSDAY 28 JULY HORDERN PAVILION

With special guests Husky

Tuesday August 2 The Factory

with special guests WITH GUESTS

E GIANT G TH YOU-NT HE C

AUG 2 Y D ART FACTOR R O F X O 3 G U A

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THURSDAYOUJULY 28 T SOLD THE FACTORY

Guineafowl

29.07.11 Metro Theatre

SIDESHOWS ON SALE NOW

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS STRANGE TALK

Wednesday 27 July. Hordern Pavilion

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

THURSDAY JULY 28 ANNANDALE HOTEL

AUGUST 3 METRO THEATRE

WITH GUESTS

DZ DEATHRAYS DEATHRA A AYS

WED 27 JULY THE BASEMENT

JULY 29 ANNANDALE ANNANDALE HOTEL HOTEL

FOR TICKETING INFO VISIT SPLENDOURSIDESHOWS.COM BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 9

Secret Sounds presents

AUSTRALIA 2011 With Special Guests Pulp have decided to get together and play some concerts this year.

The shows will involve the original members of the band (Nick Banks, Jarvis Cocker, Candida Doyle, Steve Mackey & Mark Webber) & they will be playing songs from all periods of their career.

(Yes, that means they’ll be playing your favourites) If you wish to know any more then please visit www.pulppeople.com where you will be subjected to a barrage of cryptic questions.

In the meantime ask yourself this: “Do You Remember The First Time?”

Thank you for your attention.

Wed 27 July Hordern Pavilion Tickets from Ticketek, www.ticketek.com.au, Ph 132 849

ON SALE NOW SPLENDOURSIDESHOWS.COM

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WITH SPECIAL GUESTS PURPLE SNEAKERS DJ’S

ALBUM OUT NOW THROUGH INERTIA WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SELECTTOURING // WWW.DOESITOFFENDYOU.COM

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VILLAGE SOUNDS AND SECRET SERVICE PRESENT THE 11TH ANNUAL ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL

FRIDAY 29, SATURDAY 30, SUNDAY 31 JULY 2011 TICKETS ON SALE NOW

3 DAYS U ONSITE CAMPING U MULTI STAGES

WOODFORDIA, WOODROW ROAD, WOODFORD QUEENSLAND 1.5 HOURS NORTH OF BRISBANE U ALL AGES & LICENSED

COLDPLAY (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U KANYE WEST (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U JANE’S ADDICTION U THE HIVES PULP U THE LIVING END U THE MARS VOLTA U REGINA SPEKTOR (ONLY 2011 SHOW...ANYWHERE) BLISS N ESO U PNAU U MOGWAI (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U DJ SHADOW U FRIENDLY FIRES U GLASVEGAS THE GRATES U DEVENDRA BANHART AND THE GROGS U MODEST MOUSE U THE MIDDLE EAST KAISER CHIEFS U JAMES BLAKE U KELE U THE VINES U ELBOW U ESKIMO JOE U NOAH AND THE WHALE CHILDREN COLLIDE U THIEVERY CORPORATION U CUT COPY U ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN BLUEJUICE UÊ THE KILLS U BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS (FEATURING THE RELATIVES) ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI U FOSTER THE PEOPLE U THE PANICS U JEBEDIAH U THE VACCINES GOMEZ U BOY AND BEAR U GOTYE U DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? U CLOUD CONTROL U MONA SPARKADIA U WARPAINT U MUSCLES (LIVE) U FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS U THE JEZABELS DRAPHT U BRITISH SEA POWER U TIM & JEAN U LEADER CHEETAH U GROUPLOVE U SEEKER LOVER KEEPER YELLE U KIMBRA U PHRASE U OH MERCY U DANANANANAYKROYD U THE BLACK SEEDS U MARQUES TOLIVER THE HOLIDAYS U GHOUL U LIAM FINN UÊ THE HERD U YOUNG THE GIANT U GUINEAFOWL HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY U JINJA SAFARI U WILD BEASTS U ILLY U CUT OFF YOUR HANDS GARETH LIDDIARD U ALPINE U WORLD’S END PRESS U MOSMAN ALDER U LANIE LANE PLUS DJ’S THE ASTON SHUFFLE U FLIGHT FACILITIES U D-CUP (WE NO SPEAK AMERICANO) U AJAX (MEGA JAM SET) HOODRAT & DANGEROUS DAN U LIGHT YEAR U HOOPS U CASSIAN U WAX MOTIF U KATO U TONI TONI LEE CHARLIE CHUX U TRANTER U TRIPLE J UNEARTHED WINNER AND LOCAL ACTS TO BE ANNOUNCED TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM MOSHTIX.COM.AU

VISIT SPLENDOURINTHEGRASS.COM FOR UPDATES

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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly

he said she said WITH

MONTE FROM THE DELTA RIGGS

M

recorded it in seven hours, at 301 Studios in the beginning of May with the help of our good friend and producer Rob Conley.

y parents weren’t super into music, although I do remember my old man telling me about bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, trying to drum it in. I was too interested in surfing at the time to pay attention. It wasn’t until my early teen years that I reached out and started searching for all of what music had to offer; I picked up a guitar and that was the end of it, really.

I think the ‘scene’ is way too overpopulated at the moment; there are too many advocates of mediocrity throwing around words like “amazing” and “incredible”. To be honest I’ve pretty much stopped listening to new music, it’s tiring to try and keep up with it all - bands rise and fall before you can even listen to their album. On the other hand, it’s a great thing for musicians to have their music so accessible at the click of a finger. You can upload a track and have it heard around the world within a day. My thoughts are just keep writing great songs and you can’t be ignored.

A band with great songs will stand the test of time.

I used to love discovering new music - it was what inspired me. Being the first person I knew who got onto something and then watching it become a massive success was always a great feeling. As a bass player, I draw influences from great rhythm sections.

Stu Cook from Creedence Clearwater Revival has been a big influence on my playing over the past couple of years.

I’m a bit of a social butterfly, and am known to love a chat, so as a result I’ve become friends with quite a lot of awesome people in my time. Everyone has their musical differences - even in the band we all differ in what we enjoy listening to - but music brings us together, and I guess that’s the beauty of it.

Who: The Delta Riggs What: Talupo Mountain Music EP is out now

I’m not really one to pigeonhole bands into a certain genre, especially not The Delta Riggs. We are what we are, and ultimately that is a live band; we record everything live

because that’s how we like to be represented.

We’ve recorded two EPs now, the new one is Talupo Mountain Music. I really believe in it, and think it’s hard to fault. We pretty much

Where: Old Manly Boatshed / The Lansdowne Hotel When: Thursday June 9 / Friday June 10 More: myspace.com/thedeltariggs

BAND OF LEONS

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 WRITERS: Jonno Seidler, Caitlin Welsh NEWS CO-ORDINATORS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Vicky Nguyen, Thomas Peachy, Alicia Starr COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant 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: Meaghan Meredith (02) 9552 6725 meaghan@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Matt Banham - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance & parties) INTERNS: Sigourney Berndt, Lenny Adam REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Joshua Blackman, Mikey Carr, Oliver Downes, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Lucy Fokkema, Max Easton, Mike Gee, Thomas Gilmore, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Peter Neathway, Romi Scodellaro, Rach Seneviratne, RK, Luke Telford, Rick Warner Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 153 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9552 6866

Kings Of Leon, the band whose hit ‘Sex On Fire’ paved the way for similar acts like Noiseworks and the John Stevens-fronted INXS, have announced labelmates Band Of Horses as the special guests at all of their Australian shows, including the only two you closeted city-types really care about: November 4 and 5 at Sydney’s Acer Arena. There are tickets still available, so beg, borrow or use somebody.

Teeth & Tounge

ANNANDALE SHOWDOWN

Showdown At The Annandale has put together eleven awesome acts on one bill, and it has been confirmed that yes, this is a showdown, and it’s happening at the Annandale.

On June 11, you can expect to share the questionably-carpeted room with Melody Black, Self Is A Seed, Engine Three Seven (VIC), Geminine, The Dead Love, Red Remedy, Marlow, Dumbsaint, Beggars Orchestra, Kaleeko and The Wire. Boom.

GLASVEGAS!

When you land a Mercury Prize nomination for your debut record and spend the rest of your year playing around the world to adoring crowds like it ain’t no thing, then the only way is down ...under - for Splendour In The Grass!

I’m talking about Glasvegas, and the sideshow I mentioned (pretty sure I mentioned it) takes place on July 24 at The Metro Theatre. Let’s totally go up the front.

SEEKER LOVER KEEPER DO A SECOND SHOW

Turns out that if you put Sally Seltmann, Sarah Blasko and Holly Throsby together and

TEETH/TONGUE

There’s something about a boy/girl musical duo that is, in every way, perfect. The symmetry, the clash of the sexes, the female member’s fringe (usually). Teeth and Tongue are one of these boy/girl/fringe duos, and they are launching their hypnotic, dark, layered second album Tambourine at GoodGod this Thursday June 2, with Magnetic Heads and Melodie Nelson in tow. It’s a brilliant album. You should buy it.

Ghoul

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

AQUATIC PETS

Pets with Pets isn’t an in-depth exposé on why Pluto was kept in a kennel while Goofy had a house and a vehicle licence; it’s actually a very good psych-band whose debut record Saturday Aquatic Pixie Acid is both brutal and sparkling – kind of like Passion Pop. They (finally) launch it at Dirty Shirlows on June 10.

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 phone 03 9428 3600.

PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 Win a giveaway? Mail us a stamped and addressed envelope, and we’ll send your prize on over...

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book a venue one hundredth of the size of their combined fanbase, people are interested enough to promptly see the show sell out.

That’s exactly what happened to the Seeker Lover Keeper show at The Factory on Friday July 8, so the trio have kindly added a second show set for Saturday July 9, with tickets on sale now.

GURRUMUL TOUR

GHOUL + COLLARBONES = YES PLEASE

Experimental bands are usually a bunch of old toss (citation needed desperately), but Sydney four-piece Ghoul was a successful experiment - so much so that they almost trumped Seekae at their +DOME album launch in April (which could have had something to do with what shall from now on only be referred to as That Unfortunate Fire Alarm Incident). Ghoul are playing GoodGod Small Club on Friday June 3 with Melbourne’s very special Collarbones, as part of a co-headline tour where they’ll be showing off their own releases; Ghoul’s Dunks and Collarbones’ Iconography. They are both brilliant albums. You should buy them.

Gurrumul has a voice that defies description (extremely convenient for anybody reporting on his upcoming live show), but Sting has given it a go, and came up with “the sound of a higher being.” A bit pedestrian and overly dramatic, but hey, this is Sting - a guy who thought three hours of Police songs in symphony mode was a winning idea. Still, he’s correct when he says that Gurrumul is freaking amazing. He’s embarking on a rare tour in August, playing the Opera House on August 29. Tickets go/went on sale Wednesday June 1 – and they will sell out.

*

FISHERKING

*

THE CIRCLES TOUR 28TH MAY Victoria Park, Camperdown SYDNEY

4TH JUNE Elwood Park, Elwood MELBOURNE

5TH JUNE Veludo, St Kilda MELBOURNE With The Moon Project & Shane Walters Band

9TH JUNE Vanguard, Newtown SYDNEY With Bob Stamper

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

MELODY BLACK

OWL EYES

4.

The Music You Make We recorded our forthcoming debut album Love Your Demons in three days including overdubs, and mixed it with Greg Clarke at Audio Boffin Productions. Our debut iTunes single/video ‘Pretty Ugly’ is out now.

Our stuff is direct, melodic and powerful, with all lessons learnt from classic songwriters - elements of punk, hard rock and pop are in the mix, along with a dark edge. Think in contemporary terms, like Alkaline Trio, Foo Fighters, AFI, Amen etc. Live is where we excel, it’s a live SHOW. I can listen to music at home but live, I wanna be entertained.

This is the band we wanted to see.

1.

Growing Up They say the first cut is the deepest.

An older friend played me a song by The Sweet and then showed me their pic, and I was gobsmacked! Slade, KISS, Cheap Trick and The Pistols followed, among others. My parents listened to ‘parents’ music - Tom Jones, Elvis, Beatles, Stones etc - and that didn’t hurt. As a kid I just practiced and dreamed of growing up and doing it for real, and spent all my allowance on music magazines and records...

2.

Inspirations I was well and truly infected by the

POLAROIDS OF BANDROIDS

Polaroids of Androids, the music website that contains almost no instant photography of cyborgs of any type, are putting on a party this Thursday at OAF. With Dead Farmers, The Fighting League, The Nugs (check out these guys, possibly the best scuzzy-rock band in the country), Marf Loth and Karoshi, it’s well worth the $5 entry fee.

DON’T PYKE

Member of Josh Pyke’s fanclub? Then this news concerns you. (The rest of you, chat amongst yourself.) Pyke is playing GoodGod Small Club on June 23, to preview tracks from

Liam Finn

KISS bug. Gene Simmons on the cover of KISS:Alive! made me wanna be a bass player - “whatever the scary guy does, that’s what I wanna do” - he’s still my biggest influence!

But to this day, nothing inspires me as much as getting on stage; our tunes are written to go over live.

Your Band My band would be my partners in crime, 3. and a crack squad they are too - Tubby Wadsworth on drums, Johnathan Devoy on vox and Phil Bowley on guitar. We have some great history between us, so we have some great chemistry too.

his new album Only Sparrows, and he’s giving his fan club the chance to pre-purchase tickets already. The rest of you (come back, you guys) will have to wait til Thursday June 2, at which point it may have sold out - so go to joshpyke.com and join the fanclub already.

MUSIC VIDEO MASH UP

Are you the kind of video producer who meticulously auteurs your creation over months, from initial conception through to the finished product? Well a) no you’re not and b) this competition won’t suit you at all. Music Video Mash Up pairs off bands and filmmakers like that’s a normal thing, and gives ‘em three days to put together a film clip. There are over $10,000 worth of prizes, and entries close on June 3. Eek. Visit mvmu.com.au for more details.

RED BULL GIVES YOU WINNINGS

Missed Red Bull Bedroom Jam phase one?

Melbourne band Welcome Wednesday didn’t, which is how they won the chance to fly to London to record and to perform at the UK

Music, Right Here, Right Now The scene is forever changing. Venues 5. close, but new venues always seem to open up too. Bands need to work hard to get people along to shows these days, and they need to be professionally minded about every move they make.You might only get one shot, so make it count!

What: Love Your Demons is out now Who: Melody Black, Self Is A Seed, Engine Three Seven, Geminine, The Dead Love, Red Remedy, Marlow, Dumbsaint, Beggars Orchestra, Kaleeko, The Wire Where: Showdown @ The Annandale Hotel When: Saturday June 11

Melbourne songstress Owl Eyes has been hard at work in the studio completing her second EP, and the 20-year-old hit the road late last month to celebrate the launch of the single and title track of the release, ‘Raiders’. Her sultry voice has been winning hearts and impressing audiences round the country, not to mention that of New York hep cat Darwin Deez. Your chance to check out her skillz is this Friday June 3 when she hits The Gaelic for Last Night, alongside New Navy, Brackets, your fave Purple Sneakers DJs and party legends Shimmy Up Top. Oh yeah, and she’s totes babin’. Win a double pass by giving us the name of Owl Eyes’ first EP!

AN HORSE

An Horse – proper grammar? Perhaps.

Proper indie rock? Yes. They’ve been proving it across the US with a bunch of performances, including one at SxSW in Austin, Texas and another on the Late Show with David Letterman. We reckon they’re pretty great and you will too when you hear their new album, Walls - our indie album of the week. Get down to the Annandale Hotel this Friday June 3 to catch them live supported by The Gold Coats, before they head off to New York and Europe. You can win a double pass courtesy of BRAG by telling us what you reckon is the best name for a [sic] horse...

Download festival. So don’t miss round two.

If you are between 14-19 (age, not Final Fantasy hit points) and have a webcam (as all teenagers should), then perform a song in front of it and upload it to redbullbedroomjam. com.au, and you could be recording in LA. Visit said site for more info.

Ngaiire

R.I.P SILVERCHAIR

There’s a scene in the documentary of the making of Diorama where Daniel Johns stands on a cliffside overlooking LA with a crown on his head and jokingly declares, “People think I’ve changed…” While we would dearly love to pinpoint this as the moment where the trio encountered their insurmountable differences, truth is it’s just a pretty funny moment. Anyways, as Uncle Internet may be broken to you already, Silverchair have effectively split. (Like when they split after Neon Ballroom. Or after Diorama.) We are sad, but also excited to see whatever it is that Daniel Johns comes out with next. Farewell, Silverchair - BRAG will miss you. ‘Paint Pastel Princess’ is an underrated song.

CHANGING TUNES FESTIVAL. DO IT.

Changing Tunes is happening at Tone on Sunday June 5 and seriously, check this lineup: Billie McCarthy, Dylan HoganRoss, Cafe Of The Gate Of Salvation, The Green Mohair Suits, Maxine Kauter Band, Daddy Long Legs & The Swamp Donkeys, Brian Campeau, Mr. Percival, Ngaiire and Marcello, The Concious Pilots and Alphamama & The Love Drug.

They are all brilliant. The thing starts at 2pm and runs ‘til midnight - kinda like the ‘just a couple of Sunday arvo drinks’ you have each weekend...

You

LIMB FUN

FOMO stands for Fear Of Missing Out, and should never be confused for MOFO, which is a phrase native to the Jersey-region of America. FOMO is also the title of Liam Finn’s second album, and the reason he is bothering to trek out to Oxford Art Factory on August 26.

(You may know his dad from that old TV show, Hessie’s Shed. He was also in some band or something?) Tickets to the album launch are on sale now, the new stuff is better than the old stuff, and the old stuff was amazing.

Alesana

SOUNDWAVE REVOLUTION ON SALE THIS WEEK!

If you’re planning to surprise your girlfriend (or somebody else’s) with a romantic picnic on September 25 at Old Kings Oval, Parramatta Park then you should move it. That’s the day and place Soundwave Revolution is happening, and it’s totally going to ruin the vibe you were going for. American rockers Alesana have been added to the huge bill that already included Van Halen with David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Bad Religion, Machine Head, Hole, Panic! At The Disco, Thursday, Dashboard Confessional and maybe fourteen hundred other huge acts. Tickets go on sale Thursday June 2 - so get ye to an internet.

LOOKING FOR DANCE NEWS?

BRAG’S got a whole new section!

Flip to the back for it, foo’.

“I’m inbred, mothers milk fed, i was born with no brain in my head. When I say head I mean heads cos theres two of them.” - THE NATION BLUE 16 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

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The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer

Lifelines Arrested: Former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent, for allegedly assaulting his wife and dragging her over broken glass in their home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, after a drunken argument over a woman that Vincent was talking to.

Died: Joseph Brooks, 73, Oscar-wining songwriter of ‘You Light Up My Life’, committed suicide in his New York apartment while awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulting over a dozen women.

Died: former Legion of the Damned bassist Twan Fleuren, committed suicide.

MORE MUSIC ON TV We might be losing Spicks and Specks, but music lovers still have enough reasons to watch TV. Channel 9 picked up talent quest The Voice, a show which began in Holland and has been adapted in the UK and the US to big ratings. And from China comes Rockband, as show which follows bands out of the garage and into stadiums. It gets 150 million viewers in China on TV and online.

BUTLER LEADS APRA NOMINATIONS John Butler leads the list of nominations for the APRA Music awards with five mentions.

His ‘Revolution’ is up for Song of the Year, he has two songs - ‘Close To You’ and ‘One Way Road’ - up for Most Played Australian Work, and a nomination in the Blues and Roots category. Birds of Tokyo are up for four different awards, and Powderfinger, Kasey Chambers and Jet for two apiece.

Also nominated are Bliss n Eso (who have two mentions in the Urban section), Hilltop Hoods, Guy Sebastian, Catherine Britt, Tame Impala, Angus & Julia Stone, Sia, Lee Kernaghan and Art vs Science, who get their first APRA nomination. Also in Song of the Year are Kasey Chambers’ ‘Little Bird’, Sia’s ‘Clap Your Hands’, Angus and Julia Stone’s ‘Big Jet Plane’ and Birds of Tokyo’s ‘Plans’. The Breakthrough Songwriter section, introduced last year, has some exciting names including Birds Of Tokyo, The Jezabels, Kevin Parker of Perth outfit Tame Impala, Dan Sultan and co-writer Scott Wilson, and Megan Washington.

The APRA awards are being held on Tuesday June 21 at Carriageworks, and Paul Kelly has already been announced as the recipient of this year’s Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music.

MAX will film the night for a special to be broadcast on Thursday July 7. Full list at apra.com.au

SALTWATER FRESHWATER HEADS TO TAREE The nomadic Indigenous Saltwater Freshwater Festival, which draws 10,000 a year, lands in Taree in 2012 on Australia Day. It will offer a mix of local, regional and national Indigenous music, dance, workshops, art and market stalls showcasing Aboriginal culture. The Saltwater Freshwater

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Arts Alliance has contracted The Dreaming festival founder Rhoda Roberts as its artistic director for 2012 - she will rejoin festival producer Sharna St Leon and the team behind the creation of the Sydney Dreaming Festival.

STAGEIT AIMS AT AUSSIE MARKET

and artist management companies representing three or more Australian acts to apply to have their music promoted and distributed free through its AirIt service (airit. org.au). So far only 100 record labels have been awarded free business accounts, says Amrap Manager Chris Johnson.

TOURING PROGRAM GRANTS

StageIt is a web-based platform free service that enables artists to stream and make money from live performances via webcam. Artists can choose when they want to perform and how much they want to charge. StageIt has put together a contest geared directly toward Aussie artists that closes on June 30, which gives you the chance to win $250 by performing from your laptop if you sign up now. Among acts that have used it are Korn, Lisa Loeb, Jimmy Buffett and Plain White T’s.

‘DARK SIDE’ COVER IS THE BEST, SAYS POLL A poll of musicians and fans on British music site MusicRadar.com.au chose Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon (1973) as the greatest album cover of all time. The simple image by design team Hipgnosis features a ray of white light being split by a prism, which represents Floyd’s stage lighting and lyrics. Prisms traditionally have seven colours, but Hipgnosis left out indigo.

Second in the list was Nirvana’s Nevermind, depicting the joy of a baby thrown into water, followed by The Beatles’ collage of famous people on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Clash’s picture of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar on London Calling. #5 is Rage Against The Machine’s Rage Against The Machine, followed by Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast, The Beatles’ The White Album, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, King Crimson’s In The Court Of The Crimson King and Pink Floyd’s Animals.

AMRAP EXPANDS TO PR, MANAGEMENT, FIRMS

Minister for the Arts Simon Crean announced 23 successful applicants with funding totalling $294,000 for Round 21 of the Contemporary Music Touring Program.

Eight came from NSW, with a total of $104,730.54. Recipients from this state were An Ocean Awaits Records ($14,754) for a five state/territory run in support of Catherine Traicos and the Starry Night’s Gloriosa album; Kiama-based rock/roots/ reggae fourpiece Penny and the Mystics ($15,000); Music NSW for a two-week ‘Indent Tour,’ to do 16 shows and six workshops ($15,000); The Strides for 17 shows and six workshops ($15,000); Sydney experimental jazz trio Roil for 11 shows and three workshops ($10,000); and Wyndhambased solo blues artist Hollerin’ Matty Southon, to do 25 shows over 12 weeks ($5,000). NSW-based management also got funding for Adelaide’s The Beards ($15,000) and Perth’s Young Revelry ($14,976.54).

NEW SIGNING #1: THE RAPTURE JOIN MODULAR The Rapture have signed with Modular for Australia and New Zealand. They release their third album In The Grace Of Your Love on September 2. They cut it with French producer Philippe Zdar (Phoenix, Beastie Boys, Chromeo).

NEW SIGNING #2: CAMERAS HEAD TO SPEAK N SPELL Sydney band Cameras have joined Speak N Spell’s roster, and will release their debut album later this year. The band, formed in 2008 by Eleanor Dunlop (vox/keys) and Fraser Harvey (vox/guitar/bass), are about to tour the US.

The Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap) will now allow publicity agencies

THINGS WE HEAR * As this column bids farewell to Silverchair and thanks them for some awesome shows and records (in particular, who could forget their teaming up with Tim Rogers on a ferocious Radio Birdman toe-tapper for the ARIAs?), 30 Seconds to Mars’ refusal to make another video fuels rumours they too are planning an extended, or permanent, break. * Things got hectic at Parkway Drive’s show at Byron Bay High School. Fans, knowing they were being filmed for a DVD, stage dived with rubber boats and surfboards, and one even did some streaking. * Justin Bieber faced a mutiny from his road crew about going to Japan. But he insisted, and has become something of a

Tinie Tempah

GLOBAL AWARD FOR SOUNDS AUSTRALIA Australian music export initiative Sounds Australia has won a global award for its work in raising the profile of Australian music and musicians at industry events around the world.

It took the peer-voted Best Export Office award at the YMCA (Yearly Music Conference Awards) held at the Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK. Sounds Australia beat nominees from the UK, Canada, Poland, Norway and Finland. Last week Sounds Australia was at Liverpool Sound City in Liverpool UK, and in Singapore for Music Matters.

BEHIND THE WARNER SALE The new owner of Warner Music Australia, Access Industries, did not come up with the highest bid; that came from a consortium that included Sony Music, Guggenheim Partners and MacAndrews & Forbes, says Billboard magazine. But the consortium’s offer was conditional on Sony’s ability to sell the Warner Music recorded music operation to MacAndrews & Forbes, which could have caused problems getting regulatory approval as Sony is also a major label. Warner’s directors decided to go for Access’ less stressful bid. 17 parties were interested in Warner; ten came up with bids.

CALLING MUSICIANS AND FILM MAKERS The Music Video Mashup arrived last year in Brisbane, and in its second year it has expanded to Sydney and Melbourne. Bands with a recorded original song and filmmakers with a camera and crew register at mvmu. com.au, and will be paired up randomly on June 10. They are given three days to create, shoot, edit and submit a music video. All clips will be screened in the first week of July in respective cities; the prize includes airplay on Video Hits.

BIG PRIZES FOR FM99.3 North Shore community radio station FM99.3 certainly pulled out the big guns when it came to prizes for its recent radiothon. It gave away $80,000 worth of 3energy Solar systems to ten new subscribers over ten days.

national hero as a result. He donated part of the proceeds of his sell-out shows to Japanese relief, and visited the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo where he met with children from the town of Otsuchi, which was destroyed by the tsunami. * Gwyneth Paltrow’s talks for a record deal and a country album have gone kafooey. * Blue for you: to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Blues on Broadbeach Festival, the Broadbeach area used lights to turn its building blue. Even the trees went blue, courtesy of LED lights. * Tinie Tempah sets a new US record for his single ‘Written In The Stars’. He is the first British rapper to sell a million copies there with a debut single.

SATURDAY

JUNE 18 With Special Guests:

FDEL (DJ Set) DJ Frenzie (Groove Therapy) www.soulcityproductions.com.au | www.ticketek.com | www.lyricsborn.com SoulCity Productions

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 19

X-MEN:

FIRST CLASS

By Kelly Griffin

ld is in the It’s the early 1960s and the wor It’s a time al. eav uph grips of socio-political and the Civil filled with hope, thanks to JFK e of heightened Rights Movement; it’s also a tim , the Space anxiety, fuelled by the Cold War is. Escalating Age and the Cuban Missile Cris Soviet Union is the and US the tension between – and the world threatening the entire planet ce of m utants. ten has just discovered the exis

I

n X-Men: First Class, producer and story creator Bryan Singer, who directed the critically acclaimed first two X-Men movies, takes us back to the origins of the X-Men saga, when Professor X was the naïve and idealistic Oxford student Charles Xavier, and Magneto was Erik Lehnsherr, an angry young survivor of the Holocaust.

Talented Scottish actor James McAvoy is outstanding as the young Xavier, a character originally played by sci-fi stalwart Patrick Stewart. Lauded for his work in Atonement and The Last King of Scotland, McAvoy says this film “isn’t just about how Professor X became Professor X or how Magneto became Magneto, it’s about how their relationship was born and broken.”

themselves, rather than it being so straightforward.”

Fassbender and McAvoy first met a decade ago on the set of the Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries Band of Brothers. “I was watching him at that point and thinking, ‘This guy is interesting, I think he will do well,’” recalls Fassbender. “I always liked his sense of humour, and he has a bit of mischief to him, and he’s a very talented actor – and one of the contributing factors in me deciding to do X-Men.”

I’m speaking to McAvoy, his co-star Michael Fassbender (Hunger; Inglourious Basterds), and producer Bryan Singer at the British press junket for X-Men: First Class.

Fassbender, who is sporting a fake tan and bottle-blonde hair today for his lead role in Prometheus, plays Erik (a role formerly performed by Sir Ian McKellen).

While frenemies on-screen, the two hit it off after hours, as McAvoy recalls.

“Fassbender and I ended up playing a hell of a lot of pool and getting exceptionally drunk – he’s a fucken shark, he’s a shark. I beat him maybe like four times out of twenty, but I can hold my drink better than him,” boasts the Scot. “That’s probably half true,” replies Fassbender. “I think we had some pretty good pool games. He’s exceptionally talented on the pool table as well, but his driving skills leave a lot to be desired. I have to say, he managed to write-off a buggy at Pinewood (Studios),” he smiles.

“The interesting thing [about First Class] is that you have an ambiguous feel to the characters,” Fassbender tells me. “The villains have the potential to do negative and positive things, and the heroes likewise. It’s not so black and white.” Fassbender worries that audiences tend to get spoonfed these days. “I think the audience should have to work a little bit in the cinema. They should definitely leave the cinema asking themselves questions and trying to come up with the answers

Fassbender and McAvoy star alongside an impressive lineup of emerging talent that includes Academy Award-nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone), Nicholas Hoult (Skins), Zoe Kravitz (yep, Lenny’s daughter) and Australia’s Rose Byrne (Get Him To The Greek). Meanwhile, Madmen’s January Jones goes from ‘60s housewife to 60’s badgirl Emma Frost, and Kevin Bacon is brilliant as Sebastian Shaw – both members of the nefarious Hellfire Club.

Besides writing and producing, Singer was involved with the casting and some of the design elements – and, most importantly, bringing British director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) into the X-Men stable. Singer had been set to direct X-Men: First Class himself, until a schedule clash with another project (Jack The Giant Killer) forced him to step aside. “I’ve made other X-Men films before,” he shrugs, “and I thought it might be interesting to see someone else realise my ideas.”

Convincing Twentieth Century Fox to take Vaughn on wasn’t easy, however – even with the success of his previous films Kick-Ass, Stardust and Layer Cake. As Singer explains, the studio were holding a bit of a grudge against Vaughn, who had been attached to direct X-Men: The Last Stand (the third film) but dropped out at the last moment, citing a schedule clash. It was only a chance meeting between Singer and Vaughn at London’s Soho House, and some smooth talking from the New York born-and-bred producer, that got Vaughn a second chance with the X-Men series. Singer even suggested that they shoot the film in the U.K., catering to the fact that Vaughn and his wife were expecting a baby.

As far as tension between Vaughn, Singer and Twentieth Century Fox, Singer assures me there was “terrible blood between all of us”, but that the studio “was able to patch up the bad blood with me to make this movie, and it was only poetic that they would patch up the bad blood with him.”

He recalls the first conference call between him, Vaughn and Fox’s Chief Executive Officer, Tom Rothman. “It was very funny… and it was a little emotional, actually. It was nice, but Tom said to Matthew: ‘you can’t leave this one.’”

While die-hard fans of the comics may be disappointed by the film’s deviation from established storylines, Singer argues that all the X-Men films have been original stories. “The characters may have been based on the comics, and some of the drama that happens in them, but what I’ve always tried to do is tell an original story – but also maintain some faithfulness, and capture the essence of the characters.”

X-MEN CHEAT SHEET Publisher: Marvel Comics (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, The Avengers) Created by: Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby First appeared: September, 1963 X factor: At first, the ‘X’ referred to extra powers – but later it came to stand for a mysterious gene that the mutants had, which accounted for their superhuman abilities.

Good guys: Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) started the X-Men as a league of mutants who would use their powers for the good of humanity. At Xavier’s college, young mutants are taught how to harness and hone their abilities.

Baddies: Magneto, the chief archnemesis of the X-Men, created the League of Mutants to fulfil his anti-human and pro-mutant agenda. Their activities range from general mischief-making to terrorist activity and plots for world domination. The Hellfire Club (named after the popular 18th century gentlemen’s clubs) is an elite secret society for the wealthy and powerful, with a nefarious Inner Circle – lead by Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw (pictured) – who seek to influence world events to meet their own agenda for power.

McAvoy is also very aware of the comics’ fan base. “The reason they exist is because the X-Men world is so rich – you can understand why they care about it so much. The one thing X-Men has always had in every single generation and every single medium it exists in, is that no matter what’s happening politically or actionwise, or who the bad guy is, the key characters are always outsiders that are persecuted or on the run or being bullied; [or] they’re scared of themselves, they’re self-loathing… And I think that appeals to a hell of a lot of people. It makes people feel not alone in their criticisms of themselves or the fact that they stand on the outside of a group, whether it be a social or a political group. So you can understand

why people really affiliate themselves to it strongly. There’s definitely going to be things in here that not every fan is going to like,” the actor acknowledges, “but hopefully they can see past that and see it as a new, fresh beginning.”

As for what the future holds, Singer admits he is already toying with an idea for the next X-Men film - and most of the key cast are signed on for potential sequels. But whether another will be created, naturally, depends on box office sales. If people want more X-Men, then that’s what they’ll get.

What: X-Men: First Class When: Opens June 2

“Were gonna burn down your town. Were gonna burn your fucking whole town down. Hot stepping on toxic ground, Damnation. - THE NATION BLUE 20 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

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The Kills Blood Hungry By Alasdair Duncan

T

he first time I try to call Jamie Hince, he doesn’t answer his phone. All kinds of possible rock star scenarios run through my head – I picture him passed out in a flophouse somewhere like a dissolute French poet, or maybe held up by customs agents. Half an hour’s worth of worried calls to managers and record label people later, I manage to get hold of him, and the truth of his whereabouts turns out to be a little less debauched than I’d imagined.

“I’m in a record shop in Portland, Oregon,” he admits, somewhat sheepishly. “I was so into looking at all the old 45s that I forgot I had an interview!”

Did he at least manage to find some good bargains? “Well actually, I’ve just bought a jukebox, so right now I’m buying 7” singles for it. My plan is to make it the greatest jukebox in the world. So far today, I’ve picked up Althea & Donna’s ‘Uptown Top Ranking’, The Wailers’ ‘Road-Runner’, a bit of Sonics, a bit of Small Faces, some Toots & The Maytals, some Yardbirds and a Led Zeppelin single!” This one is the pride of his purchases so far. “I never knew they released a 7”, but I managed to find one of ‘Whole Lotta Love’, which I’m very happy about.”

Based in London, Hince and his Kills partner Alison Mosshart have been making music together for nearly ten years now, but unlike a lot of bands at this point in their careers they’ve lost none of what made them so vital in the beginning. The same dead-eyed cool, the same sense of menace that hummed through their earliest records and live shows remains today. For want of a better way to put the question, I just flat-out ask Hince: what is it that’s stopped The Kills from slacking off and getting shit like so many other bands of their era?

He laughs heartily at this. “I don’t know,” he says. “I think we want to be strong, which sounds like a stupid thing to say, but I’ve thought about it a lot.

We’ve been through quite a lot and we’re still great, great friends and creative partners. I think that’s because we want to be – we want to be the one creative being, and we want to be going strong. You have to want it and I don’t know, for some reason I’m still really hungry when it comes to writing songs. It’s a life or death thing for me.”

It also helps that he and Mosshart are kindred spirits, complementary souls. “We rarely clash when it comes to writing songs,” he says. “I think she’s a good antidote to me, and I’m a good antidote to her, and we fit together like that. She comes up with a lot of ideas very quickly but can’t always finish the songs musically, which is what I love to do. On the other hand I’m very slow when it comes to songwriting, so her persistence with me helps add a bit of spontaneity. When she presents her songs to me, she’s always happy for me to tinker with them, to change the arrangements around, sometimes change them beyond recognition.”

One such song is ‘The Last Goodbye’, the heartbreaking waltz that forms the centrepiece of the latest Kills album, Blood Pressures. “When Alison first wrote that, it sounded kind of like a Velvet Underground ballad,” he says. “I loved it, but it occurred to me that we have one of those slow, ballad-y songs on every record – ‘Gypsy Death And You’, ‘Ticket Man’ and ‘Goodnight Bad Morning’.

Whenever we do one of those beautiful, slow songs we make them lo-fi and scratchy, so I just thought it was time to try something a bit different, and I turned the song into a waltz. I tried to take it out of my comfort zone, if you like.”

“We want to be the one creative being, and we want to be going strong. You have to want it. I’m still really hungry when it comes to writing songs. It’s a life or death thing for me.”

When I think of The Kills I’m often reminded of The Fall, a band who’ve continued releasing great records, unconcerned with prevailing musical trends and doing things their own way (or at least Mark E Smith’s way) for going on thirty-five years.

I ask Hince if this is the kind of career trajectory he’d like for his own band, and he says it absolutely is. “I see The Kills unfolding over a long period of time,” he says. “Decades. Bands like Sonic Youth and The Fall inspire us most of all. It wasn’t about making a buzz with a debut record and then going mainstream; every record of theirs is just a snapshot of where the band happens to be at the time.”

What: Blood Pressures is out now on Domino Records, through EMI Where: The Metro Theatre When: Tuesday July 26 More: Also playing at Splendour In The Grass in Woodfordia, Queensland with Kanye West, Pulp, Coldplay, The Hives, The Mars Volta and more 22 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

The Kills photo by Sean Black

Mosshart has taken time out of The Kills in recent years to play with The Dead Weather, the scuzzedout Nashville-based rock band whose lineup also includes one Jack White. As Hince tells it, the tricks she picked up there were tremendously influential in shaping Blood Pressures. “The Dead Weather are a nothing-spared, balls-out heavy rock band,” he says, “and Alison had to sing over that every night, so her voice got really strong. There’s much more of a confidence about her voice now, an American rock swagger to it. When we went into the studio we’d go into decompression time almost, to get her back to a Kills place. I like all the cracks and squeaks in her voice, I like when it breaks into a whisper – I like that stuff just as much as the powerful vocal technique she picked up with [The Dead Weather].”

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 23

Battles x By x Fit By Luke Telford Fighting works!’” he laughs, “Or, ‘This part isn’t working.

We need a wrench thrown into the works!’ The stresses interplay there.”

The most impressive achievement of their 2007 debut Mirrored was that it managed to crook the discrete musical agendas of four such stronglywilled individuals into a series of coherent and cohesive narratives, that worked on a very fundamental level: it was intoxicatingly weird and dextrous, but it was, essentially, pop. The live show this writer witnessed shortly thereafter was a different story altogether. The tension that haunted the record was palpable on stage, apparently magnified in some instances by a sly pre-show stimulant or two. Each member seemed to vie to keep afloat in the maelstrom.

They played like drowning men clawing at the shore, while the heavily

inebriated audience fought to keep upright on the floor of the steamy Auckland venue.

When Konopka describes the working atmosphere for the band’s second album Gloss Drop, it becomes apparent that Battles has always been a stressful act to be part of. For one, they entered the studio a quartet and left as a trio, with multi-instrumentalist Tyondai Braxton walking out just as the record was nearing completion. “We were trying to adhere to deadlines and we forced ourselves to go into the studio,” he explains. “I think we were pretty unprepared but for the most part, as a four piece, we were just not gelling. Sometimes, in the past, trying to play two different songs within the same song was cute and interesting and stuff, but there was way too much of a difference in what we [each] wanted to do.”

In order to streamline the writing and recording process, and bypass any personal tensions, the band committed parts to disk in isolation, each packed away in their own booth recording themselves, and passing their pieces on to each other remotely. The results were unsettlingly incoherent. “We were sitting in the control room, and listening to these songs and I’m like, ‘Wait, who’s that?’, and they’d be like, ‘That’s my part.’ ‘Really? I’ve never heard that before. That’s really bizarre,’” relates Konopka. “And that was across the board for everybody. It was not the best way to make an album.”

All good rock bands argue, and Battles is no exception. Guitarist/bassist Dave Konopka confirms that arguments are an important part of how the NYC group writes. “There’s a lot of differences of opinion over which way a song should go, how much to overdo it, or how minimal to keep it. The three of us are very opinionated people as far as the creative process goes. Sometimes it’s just about trying to find that compromise. I think that becomes the most stressful part of being in the band,” he says. “For the most part, I can’t say that it’s ‘I want to write a love ballad, and you want to write a metal song’. It’s more along the lines of, ‘Oh God that part was working so well, and you just threw a wrench into the

The band literally lived in the studio, and the production line approach to writing was doing little to soothe the growing schism. “A lot of that had to do with this disposition between us. There was this huge separation that was happening and I think it was in the vein of multitasking, but it just seemed like some people weren’t into

“For the most part, as a four piece, we were just not gelling ... Ty made the call that he didn’t want to do this anymore.” it, for real. That became evident after a while, and Ty made the call that he didn’t want to do this anymore,” Konopka says. “As corny as this may sound, it was super dark. It was the summer and we’d already been there for three months when Ty quit … But really, when you’re faced with this obstacle, it allows you to rise to the occasion.”

The resulting record, then, represents something of a triumph. Featuring vocalists like Gary Numan, Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead and Boredoms’ Yamantaka Eye, Gloss Drop manages to be infinitely more playful than their first, without jettisoning any of the cerebral appeal. It’s less weighty, almost saccharine, shifting the focus from the mathy abstraction of their previous work to a surreal strain of futuristic prog-pop. “I like prog a lot better than math rock,” laughs Konopka, apparently relieved to have changed topics.

“At least progressive rock has some goofball sensibilities. There are some fun things associated with it.” It’s no surprise that as a point of reference he singles out Yes, one of the most absurdly whimsical bands in music history. Battles may not give in to the heady stylistic excesses favoured by bands of that ilk, but the playfulness of Gloss Drop certainly feels akin to them. “Math rock - nobody really associates ‘fun’ with that,” he ponders. “I think that an important part of Battles is that we’re actually kind of fun.”

What: Gloss Drop is out June 3 on Warp, through Inertia

Death Cab For Cutie There’s No Place Like Home By Christine Lan

“Y

ou know today, when I went to the sandwich shop, the guy didn’t take my order right away. He froze up and asked if I was who I was and in the band that I was in, and he said, ‘Can I please buy you a sandwich?’ I said, .‘ ..Sure!’” chuckles Jason McGerr. The drummer of Death Cab For Cutie sounds flattered, but a little uncomfortable.

In building their foundation on a rare depth of emotional sincerity wrapped in superblytextured, melancholy alt-pop, the Seattle-based group have spent over ten years acquiring one of the most loyal fanbases in modern rock. But it still hasn’t quite sunk in. “I still feel like I’m a little guy in a little band from a little town.”

Indeed, unlike most world-touring bands, Death Cab don’t feel like successful musicians.

“The only thing that ever indicates that we have a bigger audience and career is when we’re having to book things out six to eight months in advance, and I’m doing interviews with a country that’s an 18 hour flight away,” McGerr says (before hinting that they might be making that flight before the year is out). “But none of us really think about [how] much has changed since the early days, other than that we get to ride in a nicer bus - or just a bus in general.”

Death Cab For Cutie’s following grew stronger with each of their first three releases, but it was the group’s fourth, Transatlanticism (the first to feature McGerr, their third drummer), that would cement the band’s significance. Along with increased media love, Transatlanticism won them enough commercial appeal to attract Atlantic Records, who offered the most artistic freedom of all the majors and released their fifth LP, Plans. If its follow-up, Narrow Stairs, was the band’s darkest and most experimental release, their seventh album, Codes And Keys, may be their most warmly explorative.

A cohesive album of impressive sonic and emotional scope, Codes And Keys embarks on a journey through building atmospherics, soaring orchestral grandeur, stirring emotional poignancy and hook-laden pop. It’s a brilliantlycrafted record that revolves around themes of

displacement and self-discovery, finding one’s home and one’s inner peace. “It’s funny how we all kind of arrived at this title at the same time,” McGerr recalls. “All of us were thinking about Codes And Keys because of how much it had to do with all the themes in the record. It was Ben (Gibbard – vocals, guitar, piano) and Chris (Walla – guitar, production) who decided first that that’s what it should be called, and they texted Nick (Harmer – bass) and I at the same time, and we both wrote back: ‘Of course!’ “[The title] meant a lot, not only in the context of the themes of the record … but because we travel so much, we have a lot of different meanings for home,” he explains. “It seems like all of us need to enter some kind of a code or key to access that home ... and there’s an emotional code to unlocking where you consider home to be and sometimes it’s not always apparent, you need to search for it.”

The past few years have marked a profound period in the lives of the band members.

Gibbard and Harmer married their partners, and McGerr’s wife gave birth to their second child. “Narrow Stairs was mostly written while we were on tour, and it was a long tour,” McGerr says. “Transatlanticism through to Plans was like one big run – we were living on the road and it was difficult to maintain relationships because there wasn’t one place that you called home. A lot more stability was able to be in place while we were writing for Codes And Keys.

“Overall it’s a more positive record, because all of us are in a more positive place,” he continues, “because we get to have both of those things. I can be in a band that can travel around the world and make music for people, and I can have a couple of children and have a wonderful life at home with a family that’s patient enough to let me do my thing. It’s the same with Ben [Gibbard] – he has more understanding and order in his life now, while also being creative.” Gibbard, the group’s frontman, recently tied the knot with actress

and musician Zooey Deschanel. “It’d be funny if we wrote lyrics and music that was really melancholy and sad this time,” McGerr says.

“People would wonder what’s wrong.”

Codes And Keys is also a distinctive album for Death Cab in that it was the first time they handed the mixing reigns over to someone other than Chris Walla. The role was taken by Alan Moulder, a legendary English producer.

Moulder has worked with Depeche Mode, My Bloody Valentine and The Smashing Pumpkins – it’s safe to say he knows how to build a mood.

“I think it’s by far our best sounding record,” McGerr says.

The first single to be released off Codes And Keys was ‘You Are A Tourist’ and its fi lm clip, directed by award-winning filmmaker Tim Nackashi, made history last month as the first ever single-take music video to be broadcast live during its filming. “Tim made it seem so dangerous and fun that if anything went wrong it would be charming,” McGerr laughs. “45 minutes before we were about to go live to the world there were some problems with the feed and we weren’t entirely sure if it was going to hold up. When we went live, the

“I still feel like I’m a little guy in a little band from a little town.

None of us really think about how much has changed since the early days, other than that we get to ride in a nicer bus.” dancers’ costumes were starting to become unravelled, so people were worried and there was this sense of danger,” he chuckles. “We really worked hard three days straight building the set – it kind of looked like a variety show. I think it came across really charming.”

What: Codes & Keys is out now through Warner

“Feedback baptise my soul, divorced from rock and roll. Brought up by open chords and endorsed by noise.” - THE NATION BLUE 24 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

Battles photo by Jason Frank Rothenberg

B

attles make music that is uncompromisingly dense, but their peculiar chaotic matrix isn’t always intentional (although a playful fondness of technicality-for-its-own-sake may have something to do with it). Instead, the complexity seems incidental, as though it’s a reactive byproduct generated by a group of singularly talented musicians refusing to cede too much ground to each other’s ideas. Songs appear to sprout irreverently from within other songs. Keys and time signatures are merely guidelines to be meddled with or ignored completely. Every second of sound conceals layers upon layers, each executed with the exact precision of a fresh razor. Sinewy guitar tendrils and synth stabs – pedantic, staccato – sound as though they’re sparring with one another. And as it turns out, they often are.

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 25

Bachelor Girl Pop’s Not Dead By Mike Gee

‘T

hey don’t make pop music like they used’ may be a massive generalisation, but at its heart lies the truth: pop’s blood has been slowly thinning since the 1960s. It might just be that classic pop music is irrelevant in an age of DIY, when record companies can no longer commit long-term to artists’ development – or perhaps a matter of the technology of music production becoming so accessible that it’s splintered the genre beyond recognition. Tania Doko should have some idea: in 1998, she and her musical partner James Roche co-wrote a classic pop song that became a smash Australian hit: ‘Buses and Trains’.

By 2003, just over a decade after Doko and Roche formed Bachelor Girl, their band was dead. Now, eight years on, it’s been resurrected around the spirit of their never-released third album, four tracks of which appear on Loved And Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl. A short tour has been organised, and Doko – who is based in Sweden these days – has returned to her old stomping ground. Even though Bachelor Girl’s debut album, Waiting For The Day, went Platinum, Doko

admits to being unsure about the outcome of their upcoming album and tour. “We’re either going to be irrelevant in today’s market, or wildly successful. I feel now that I’m even more up for it than when we were doing our thing [in the ‘90s], and I was getting itchy feet to try different things.” Taking her publishing deal with her to Sweden, Doko got to try those different things, writing across genres that ranged from dance to electro-pop and rock.

“It’s been interesting to see what modern pop has become,” she says. “But I do miss a great guitar pop song, where you can strip it back and play it on just a guitar and piano. It makes me wonder what pop music is going to be remembered from this era in 20 or 30 years time? Lady Gaga, I suppose.”

The week of this interview, the cast of Glee spent a show doing Fleetwood Mac’s all-time classic rock and pop album, Rumours – admittedly not that well, but it did underscore the show’s devotion to classic music from the 1960s-1980s, mixed in with a smattering of Britney, Gaga and rap. “You can do Britney pop, but you aren’t going to be moved as much are you?” Doko says. “That’s what we’re trying to achieve … people were moved by the songs [in the ‘90s]; hopefully, they still will be.”

It’s all a bit of an unknown. The music industry these days is a vastly different entity to what it

was in the early 2000s: the major record companies have lost the complete control they used to exert; the amount of money they spent on projects, videos and promotion has been cut; and bands can be independent like never before. Yet the situation is far from perfect; success is vastly unpredictable, and for most artists the music industry is a struggle on many levels. Bachelor Girl remember the last years of the majors’ spending spree… “We spent $150,000 on the ‘I’m Just A Girl’ video – one of the most expensive Australian clips ever made,” Doko says. “I don’t know what we were thinking; it was indulgent. I knew it was at the time. That wouldn’t happen today.

“You can make great-looking clips for much less – it’s all about the technology these days, and now you have far greater access to a much larger audience. But the basic things are the same,” Doko suggests. “You can reach people far easier if you have a budget. And while there’s not the same amount of dollars that used to be spent on marketing plans, you can do a lot of good things on the internet. You just have to work it all out yourself.”

What: Loved And Lost: The Best of Bachelor Girl is out now through Sony Where: The Basement When: Friday June 3

My Friend The Chocolate Cake

Owl Eyes Leaving The Nest By Jonno Seidler

The Carnival Returns By Mike Gee

W

hen I was kid growing up in England we used to go the seaside in the summer, and on the piers and seafronts there would inevitably be a Punch & Judy show.

Children would sit spellbound in front of the colourfully striped tent and watch the knock-medown puppet drama unfold, greeting each blow with howls of laughter. Looking back at eight or nine-year-old me, I think that even then I was aware of the underlying darkness that seeped from each show. Years later, in the mid-’70s, I found the same darkness again in the satire of Aunty Jack – and it doesn’t surprise me when one of Australia’s greatest songwriters, David Bridie, says he found inspiration in that very same show.

His fine band, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, embraces a similarly sinister edge.

B

rooke Addamo is very diplomatic. The one-woman voice behind Owl Eyes has just finished a tour in support of New York hep cat Darwin Deez, and she’s very politely explaining away his on-stage banter during his Sydney show – during which he frequently told the audience how hot she was.

“They’re such a fun band, on and off stage,” she says. “Their energy just really lifted us up and they were so welcoming. We had no idea what to expect because it was the first international support I’ve done. The last show he kind of did a lot of shout-outs for me, and it was really lovely…” Those conspiracy theories will have to wait – it seems like that indie match-up made in heaven won’t happening any time soon – but Owl Eyes has got plenty more on the backburner to keep you entertained. The accomplished singer-songwriter is gearing up to release her Raiders EP (and the single of the same name) with a run of shows down the East Coast, and she’s pretty buzzed about it.

Raiders follows a different path to Owl Eyes’ first outing, Faces, with Addamo taking a more introspective approach to songwriting.

“I really tried to get in there and almost have a monologue with myself,” she says. “I wanted to make it very personal and intense, just to push myself a bit more [vocally] and make it more exciting to the listener.” The sonic template of her new work is also inspired by much of what Addamo has been listening to in her downtime, which includes what she terms “ambient, softer electronic music like Seekae and Oscar + Martin.” The theme, if there is one at all, “is probably more one of ‘space’ – between the music, in the music and also the space in which I’ve had more time to grow. The songs aren’t necessarily diary-like – ideally there’s room for interpretation in my voice,” she says.

The EP brings back multi-instrumentalist, producer and favoured foil of Owl Eyes, Jan Skubiszewski – you may remember him as one half of Jackson Jackson, or as the man responsible for some of the premier productions in Australian hip hop and alternative music. For Addamo, teaming up with Skubiszewski for the second time running was a no-brainer. “I’m really frustrated when people you work with try and change you or put their stamp on your work,” she says. “With Jan, it really fell into place – we wanted to write the same kind of music, and we work so well together.” While Faces was the sound of her experimenting, Raiders is where she really got to concentrate on her songwriting. “I wanted to make a mini-album, so it would really have a flow and a vibe. The bass is something Jan’s really good at, and we got the drummer in from The Melodics to do some live tracking.”

It many ways, it’s all in the character of the carnie, of the circus clown, of even the carnival itself.

Almost 22 years and seven studio albums since Bridie and cellist Helen Mountfort formed the band as a side project to the seminal ensemble Not Drowning, Waving (NDW), the band’s latest LP, Fiasco, may well be its best yet. Rollicking romps, ballads and heartfelt stories set on bed of acoustic alchemy. A carnival of emotions.

Bridie started as a schoolboy musician, playing in a nameless band at underage gigs. “My oldest sister was responsible for my music taste. She introduced me to Aunty Jack – I loved those Errol and Ned songs, especially,” he says. “I remember when I was 14, every time I heard the theme to Aunty Jack I would get up and go to the piano and sit down and try to play. You get your inspiration

from different areas. For some reason that song, the melancholy of it, enthralled me. I liked the feel of the song, which considering the absurd comedy is kind of strange.” Bridie hears an echo of that mood in the music of MFTCC. “We have so much darkness in our songs that we always need a counterpoint. At one gig, we did a cover of Billy Ocean’s ‘Love Really Hurts Without You.’” No. Really? “Yeah, we slowed it right down so it was like we were playing ‘Hallelujah’.

“We did a gig in Adelaide on the Hotel Radio [a Bridie solo album] tour and the guy supporting us finished with Sam Fox’s ‘Touch Me’, and did it in a similar style. You could slow down most songs and most would sound deeper, meaningful,” he says. “On the next solo album I’m going to do The Only Ones’ ‘Another Girl Another Planet’, and I’ll probably do it that way.”

This strange collective of brilliant musicians really have few limitations. Bridie talks long and fondly about the birth of Fiasco; the collective family Chocolate Cake came back together in the band’s 21st year and decided that such a celebratory album couldn’t be safe. To Bridie’s ears, the end result is perhaps as good as that classic self-titled first album from 1991. “I think with Chocolate Cake, even more so than with Not Drowning, Waving, that idea of ‘no limitations’ is true; the band started as a side project and the members have different musical tastes. So it goes from Miles Davis to Snoop Dogg and pretty much everything in between, [and] it even happens on stage. I can be singing on stage looking really serious and I look across and there’s Helen and Hope Csutoros [violin], laughing away…”

Having just come off the bandwagon with the all-singing, all-dancing Deez, Addamo’s learnt a thing or two about how to survive the rigours of touring. “I’ve been getting pretty sick lately,” she reveals. “It’s a lot of running around, doing gigs late at night and then on normal days, when you actually get to bed at a sane hour, you just can’t get to sleep because everything’s out of whack!” But true to her stage persona, Owl Eyes is always up for trying new things. “Next tour we’re driving to some places, which is new because I’ve only caught planes so far,” she laughs. “So that should an be interesting experience!”

What: Raiders EP is out July 1 With: New Navy, Brackets Where: Last Night @ The Gaelic When: Friday June 3

What: Fiasco is out now through Shock Where: The Basement / Lizottes, Newcastle When: June 4 / June 5

“Bastards bowing to the rot uprisings off. For every soul in hell plant sugar in the crops.” - THE NATION BLUE 26 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

THE ROCKS POP-UP PROJECT 4 BUILDINGS, 6 MONTHS LIMITLESS THINKING Feel the pulse of a new level of artistic energy in The Rocks as an ever-changing mix of creative minds take up residence in four vacant heritage buildings.

WHEN// 11am to 7pm Wednesdays to Sundays WHERE// 47, 77, 77½ and 85 George Street CHECK THEROCKS.COM TO FIND OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK

arts nsw

SUCK IT AND SEE

THE NEW ALBUM OUT JUNE 3 www.arcticmonkeys.com www.dominorecordco.com BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 27

THE OFFICIAL COMPETITION

sff.org.au

Just four years after it was introduced by Festival Director Clare Stewart, it’s hard to imagine the Sydney Film Festival without its Official Competition strand.

With a total of 12 films, programmed nightly at the iconic (and desperately romantic) State Theatre, the Competition is like getting the degustation menu at a two-hat restaurant: a taste of unique flavours from the current cinema spectrum, with a special emphasis on the original and the unique.

If you want to explore uncharted territories, and have heated post-screening discussions, the Official Competition is an excellent pathway through the festival. Chosen by Stewart for their emotional power and resonance, audacity, courageousness and unique approaches, many of these films will divide audiences – although there are also some (like last year’s winner, Heartbeats) that are irresistibly charming. Below are four that we’ve seen and can recommend, and three we’re holding our breath for. More at sff.org.au

for humanity, investigating our relationship to nature and our need for guidance from a higher power.

For all the buzz which precedes a Malick picture (there have been only five in four decades), his work is singular and not easily accessible.

Revered amongst cinephiles and creatives alike, he belongs to that rare breed of artists able (and given the means) to paint intimate stories on a large, Hollywood-scale canvas, to cast superstars in films which are neither commercial nor conventional.

His style is unique, and expresses itself here without compromise.

A middle-aged man (Sean Penn) looks back upon his childhood in an effort to understand the man he has become. Growing up with two brothers in suburban Texas, Jack (Hunter McCracken) was constantly torn between the strict, often belligerent teachings of his father (Brad Pitt) and the more harmonious values of his mother (Jessica Chastain). As he comes of age, Jack is challenged by these contradictions, forced to accept

a world that seems unjust and arbitrary.

This simple story beslies the incredible philosophical and stylistic complexity of this ambitious, long-awaited new film

by American maverick Terrence Malick (Badlands; The Thin Red Line). Structured like a meditative daydream rather than a conventional narrative, Tree Of Life uses this all-American family as a parable

Pitt and Chastain are excellent as the parents, but it’s McCracken – playing Jack as an 11-year-old – who steals the show, his face a subtle mix of resignation, curiosity and interiorized pain. In a mostly silent performance, he magically captures childhood’s vulnerability, contradictions and sense of heightened reality.

Encompassing a visual history of evolution, and animated by near-constant philosophical and theological questioning, this is an expansive work sure to baffle as many as it impresses. Those who surrender to its mystical overtones, majestic beauty and languorous tempo will find a way into the narrative and will see their active participation handsomely rewarded.

– Mathieu Ravier

Toru Watanabe looks back on his days as a university freshman in Tokyo. The student riots of the late ‘60s are no competition for the inner turmoil of first love. Toru is caught between his relationship with the vulnerable and introspective Naoko (Academy Award-nominee Rinko Kikuchi), born from mutual attachment to Toru’s recently deceased best friend, and his attraction to the gregarious and lively Midori. It’s a choice between death and life, between the past and the future, between losing and finding oneself. Wisdom and happiness emerge as opposites, defining the hard choice one must make at the gates of adulthood.

Haruki Murakami’s poignant novel Norwegian Wood was a publishing phenomenon in Japan in the late ‘80s, becoming – like a literary Twilight, perhaps – a generationdefining pop culture reference for millions of young people. Tran AnhHung’s adaptation uses every tool afforded by the medium to capture the sensual and emotional tone of the book: luminous cinematography

by Ping Bin Lee (In The Mood For Love), complex harmonies courtesy of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (who also scored There Will Be Blood) and inspired acting from a young and attractive cast.

Anh-Hung beautifully captures the melancholy and languorous rhythms of the novel, propelling his narrative by means of voiceover or the reading of letters, punctuated by drawn-out stretches of silence. The emotional impact resides almost entirely in the sensory experience, and viewers’ willingness to read into these images. Mortality casts a shadow on everything, and depression is no easy thing to film, but it isn’t hard to find beauty in this existential pain. Characters appear to float like ghosts hovering across lush landscapes, and their dilemmas feel real and relatable.

Like Jane Campion’s Bright Star, Norwegian Wood is a delicate film that will enthral those in tune with its laconic poetry.

– Mathieu Ravier

MORE PICKS

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Three films we’re dying to see:

TAKE SHELTER

Even before it debuted at Venice Film Festival last year, Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Attenberg had built up a certain anticipation among cinephiles, partly due to her producing credit on Cannes 2009 winner Dogtooth – with whose director, Giorgos Lanthimos, she has a long-term collaborative relationship. It was enough to get some people asking: is this a Greek New Wave? One of those people was Clare Stewart – who, when we spoke to her earlier this year, said she had talked about this with Tsangari, but concluded that it was more of a cell of talent, like Australian collective Blue Tongue Films (Animal Kingdom).

If Dogtooth and Attenberg are anything to go by, it’s a cell to watch.

Set in a small Greek town at the turn of the 20th Century, Attenberg centres around three lonely individuals who have formed their own social cell: 23-year-old Marina (Ariane Labed – who won best actress at Venice), her father Spyros, and her best friend Bella.

Having lost her mother at an early age, and been raised in relative isolation by her father, Marina’s 28 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

approach to other people is more anthropological than social; more scientific than emotional. It comes from too many hours watching David Attenborough programs, and having frank philosophical discussions with her father. With Spyros dying of cancer, however, Marina finds herself making her first – painfully awkward, if it wasn’t for her complete lack of selfconsciousness – ventures into living among others.

Attenberg is a slow-burning film with a cool eye for the boxy architecture, whitewashed walls and damp colour palette of decaying small-town Greece. At the same time, it has an almost aggressive energy, and a quirky sense of humour that manifests in slapstick, sight gags, and offbeat flourishes – including the animalistic dance interludes performed by Marina and Bella – and a soundtrack that ranges from the ‘70s protopunk electronica of Suicide to J.J. Johnson’s bebop, and the wistful romance of Françoise Hardy. Tsangari’s abstract point of view on the quotidien is as mesmerising as it is revelatory. – DJ

(USA) WR/DIR JEFF NICHOLS The buzz: Nichols’ debut film Shotgun Stories, which was largely informed by his own formative years in Southeast Arkansas, was a standout of Sydney Film Festival 2008.

He returns with a moody, atmospheric feature (once again starring Michael Shannon) about a man whose increasingly violent visions of the Apocalypse begin to fray his sense of reality.

Debuting at the Berlin Film Festival in January, followed by Sundance and South By South West, Miranda July’s The Future quickly flagged itself as one of this year’s most anticipated films. Ostensibly a film about a couple who decide to adopt a cat, it’s about as unusual a creature as you’d expect from the woman who gave us Me And You And Everyone We Know, but less obviously funny. July bravely pitches her tent right on the precipice of her mid-30s, and proceeds to execute an interpretive dance about all the existential angst, self-doubt and disappointment that characterise that moment when you realise you’re not as smart as you thought you’d be, nor as interesting – and you’re probably not going to change the world.

Sophie (July) and Jason (Hamish Linklater) are 35, live in L.A., have dead-end jobs, and have been together four years – just enough time to think about getting a cat, but also long enough for the shine of romance and the allure of the unfamiliar to have well and truly worn thin. Facing the crushing prospect of disappointed ambitions – a prospect that seems to be drawing them further away from

each other, rather than closer – they decide to adopt the terminally ill ‘Paw Paw’ from the animal shelter.

Expected to live for no longer than six months, Paw Paw represents an excuse to procrastinate from selfimprovement, without being too much of a commitment.

But when the vet tells them that Paw Paw could live up to five years, suddenly Sophie and Jason feel the finite future closing in on them. “In five years we’ll be 40,” says Sophie.

“Forty is basically 50, and then after 50 the rest is just… loose change,” replies Jason. “Like, not quite enough to get anything you want.” With a month left before they can pick up Paw Paw, they quit their shitty jobs, disconnect the internet, and vow to ‘find themselves’ – to make something extraordinary of their lives. Which is when the real stage fright begins.

Funny, uncomfortable, heartbreaking and terrifying by turns, the most distinctive and impressive aspect of the film – much like Me and You before it – is the sense of emotional honesty.

– Dee Jefferson

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TOOMELAH

(AUS) WR/DIR IVAN SEN The buzz: Word is uniformly positive about Sen’s third narrative feature, which is based in the small, isolated town where he grew up, largely cast with non-actors, and revolves around a small boy who unexpectedly finds himself at the centre of a gang war. It’s been nine years since Sen’s mesmerising debut, Beneath Clouds, and we’re ready to see what he’s been working on.

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SLEEPING BEAUTY

(AUS) DIR JULIA LEIGH The buzz: Already dividing critics at Cannes, novelist Julia Leigh’s debut feature stars Emily Browning (Sucker Punch) as a young student who participates in an unusual boutique service for gentlemen.

With an adaptation of Leigh’s novel The Hunter, starring Willem Dafoe, hitting our screenings later this year, she’s clearly someone to watch.

S Y D N E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 2 0 11 G U I D E

D: WE RECOMMEN ram into Film Festival 2011 divides its prog

As in previous years, Sydney on. It’s Laugh, Sounds on Screen, and so films pathways: Fire Me Up, Make Me le who know what kind of peop for ram, prog the to d inroa the quickest w – films e provided some inspiration belo they like. For the rest of you, we’v of tea (or take you by cup your be just t migh that d, we’ve seen and love val ging our reviews daily from the festi a surprise). As usual, we’ll be blog and running ns, essio impr g enin -scre post (thebrag.com), tweeting our edition. s both online and in next week’s range of interviews with filmmaker

Mike Mills has directed music videos for Yoko Ono and Pulp, recorded for Beastie Boys label Grand Royal, designed record covers for Sonic Youth and Beck, and made a feature film with Tilda Swinton (Thumbsucker).

In other words, he’s someone you want to pay attention to.

His latest feature, which closes this year’s Sydney Film Festival, is worthy of your undivided attention. It charts the hesitant love story between graphic designer Oliver (Ewan McGregor) and French actress Anna (Melanie Laurent). Both are scarred, lonely souls, who haven’t been very good at relationships. Oliver’s father Hal (Christopher Plummer) has just died after battling cancer, adding another weight to the man’s shoulders.

Yet it’s in Hal’s story that Oliver finds comfort and, eventually, the strength to confront his demons. Hal, we learn, came out of the closet after the death of his wife, choosing to embrace his sexuality and live it up in his final years. The clever premise of this bittersweet film is to chart the parallel stories of these two men, both beginners in the game of love.

A sense of authenticity and emotional

honesty permeates Beginners, even before you learn the story is autobiographical. It helps that the script is served by some great acting.

Plummer is excellent, a revelation as a dying man who shirks convention in a last-ditch attempt to be true to himself, and Ewan McGregor gives simply the finest performance of his spotty career.

Mills uses a variety of quirky tricks to tell his story, from an adorable subtitled dog to colourful hand drawn illustrations, confidently setting a tone halfway between Michel Gondry and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. More than mere gimmicks, they add layer upon layer of meaning and warmth to the story.

Hipster affectations are kept in check thanks to a welcome ban on ironic detachment.

Mills displays a true original style, an extension of his experience as an artist – at once personal and authentic – which adds up to something moving, entertaining and entirely of the moment. Beginners is a guilt-free arthouse crowdpleaser: resistance to its charms is entirely futile. – Mathieu Ravier

The chameleon-like Japanese director Takashi Miike is so prolific that this film, made in 2010, is not even his most recent. It’s not even his most recent Samurai film. Best known in the West for shockers like Audition and Ichi the Killer, it’s no surprise that 13 Assassins is a trifle violent. But it’s also an energetic samurai pic with strong echoes of Kurosawa; one that culminates in a 45-minute barrage of flaying swords, rivers of blood and clever character development.

While comparisons to The Seven Samurai are obvious (even the structure is the same) 13 Assassins is actually a remake of Eiichi Kudo’s 1963 film. Set just before the Meiji restoration in the 1840s – the twilight of the samurai era – we follow the mid-ranked samurai Shinzaemon Shimada (Koji Yakusho), as he assembles a motley crew of 12 assassins to take down the evil Lord Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki), brother to the Shogun, ruthless murderer of the people. It’s a film of two halves: from the steady introduction to the characters as they discuss honour and bushido with fierce

Kapadia’s great achievement here is his storytelling. He eschews the traditional talking heads of most documentaries and instead relies on archival footage. In doing so he creates an unnerving first-person experience that’s told largely through Senna’s own words.

Newly recorded audio interviews with notable figures such as McLaren boss Ron Dennis and F1 chief medico Sid Watkins fill in the missing details. At the heart of the film is a portrait of a complex and gifted man – a genius driver who was fiercely religious and gently

The 13th assassin comes in the form a wanderer found hanging in a net from a tree, and he gives the katana-swinging proceedings some levity. Almost inevitably some of the characters become interchangeable, but the leads, including Yakusho and Yûsuke

The Western is a genre that has helped shape America’s cultural and political identity. Like Meek, it is more interested in tall tales than self-doubt. In Kelly Reichardt’s minimal, laconic cinema (Old Joy; Wendy and Lucy), stories are moved forward by tiny moments and silent speculations. Hers is a cinema of pertinent questions rather than easy answers.

men with land to conquer.

While it seems nothing much happens in Meek’s Cutoff, there’s plenty of gold nuggets to be found if you sift through the silence. One question Reichardt asks – with clear resonance for Australians – is how different the settlers’ story might have been if women had had a role in decision-making.

What would have been the fate of Native American tribes had curiosity and dialogue trumped fear and

persecution? How was the West won, and need there have been a fight?

Meek’s Cutoff is a delicate gem that invites viewers to read between the lines and wonder what founding myths would have prevailed if the stories they were built upon had been written and told by women?

Reichardt’s wise, poetic contribution to an entirely male-dominated genre is very welcome indeed. – Mathieu Ravier

drawn 40-something characters.

Hanna and Simon are both open-minded liberal intellectuals, unbound by dogma or hang-ups.

Through them, he explores the possibilities afforded to us by true sexual liberation, while painting a convincing portrait of middle-class ennui.

charismatic but would do anything for victory. Later in his career he would grow acutely aware of the dangers of his sport; he was contemplating quitting altogether shortly before his tragic crash at the San Marino Grand Prix in May, 1994.

The film spends a great deal of time on Senna’s legendary rivalry with Frenchman Alain Prost, and their much-publicised feud is emblematic of his struggles with the political aspects of his sport. Senna had little patience for the bureaucratic nonsense that robbed him of the 1989 World Championship; he was a born driver who revelled in the on-track experience. Cleverly made accessible to the broadest audience, Senna also benefits from the inclusion of fascinating, unearthed footage of the drivers’ dramatic pre-race meetings.

Senna is rather brilliant; exciting, funny, dramatic and ultimately, tremendously moving. Sometimes you literally couldn’t have written it any better. – Joshua Blackman

Iseya as the mischievous Koyata (recalling Toshiro Mifune’s Kikuchiyo in The Seven Samurai), are fine. The story of 13 Assassins is actually pretty simple, but Miike outdoes himself in the finale, an epic showdown that must surely go down as one of most exciting prolonged battle sequences ever filmed. 13 Assassins was already a stylish and moody historical drama; that sequence pushes it close to greatness. – Joshua Blackman

Set in Oregon in 1845, Meek’s Cutoff follows three families and their covered wagons as they attempt to find their way through harsh, barren landscape. Their guide Meek (Bruce Greenwood) seems to have led them astray, more interested in tall stories than in coming clean about his inability to lead them. Soon they run out of water and their lives are at risk. One of the men’s wives (Michelle Williams) seems to have more sense in her than all the men in her party combined, though she’s never asked to contribute an opinion.

The first sign of rebellion against the dogma of the American Western is the 4:3 aspect ratio. The squarish image reflects the point of view of the women, whose sightlines are limited by the bonnets they wear.

Gone are the customary widescreen vistas, the point of view, perhaps, of

Winner of the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for documentary, Senna is a riveting snapshot of arguably the greatest racing driver who ever lived: Ayrton Senna. Whether you’re a rev head or a Formula 1 newbie, there’s much to enjoy here as director Asif Kapadia charts the Brazillian’s career, from his formative go-kart days to his superstar status at the peak of motorsports.

conviction, to the fury of battle, when Shimada’s warriors trap over 200 of enemy soldiers in a small township.

Germany’s Tom Tykwer made a big splash in the ‘90s with fast-paced thriller Run Lola Run, which propelled him into the ranks of A-list directors. After a few underwhelming high-profile English-language projects (The Princess and the Warrior, Perfume, The International) Tykwer returned to Germany to shoot a low-key, intellectually playful relationship drama called Three. The result is a true return to form.

extent, replaced by true complicity and a sly, intimate friendship.

Both have rewarding jobs in creative industries, yet something appears to be missing from their comfortable lives. Hanna begins an affair with Adam (Devid Striesow), a professional acquaintance.

Simon – much to his surprise – also lets himself be seduced by Adam after an encounter at the pool. Neither know about Adam’s other lover.

Simon (Sebastian Schipper) and Hanna (Sophie Rois) have been together for 20 years. The passion has subsided to some

This bizarre love triangle, however, is more than a gimmick or a high-concept premise. Tykwer has a real interest in his well-

Three is a conventional European drama and all the better for it; at heart, Tykwer is a master storyteller. The rare times the film goes off the rails is precisely when he indulges his appetite for stylistic flourishes. And if it can sometimes be hard to sympathise with these somewhat cold-hearted characters, who intellectualise every emotion, the three titular actors eventually win us over with charisma and candour.

Well cast, smartly written and putting its Berlin locations to great use, Three makes up in honesty with what it lacks in warmth. It’s an elegant drama for grown-ups, sophisticated but sincere, with an optimistic conclusion that really satisfies. – Mathieu Ravier BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 29

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brushstrokes WITH BECK

B

eck Cole is part of a small cell of filmmakers who are bringing tough Indigenous stories to the big screen.

Her debut feature, Here I Am, brings some of these filmmakers together: it’s shot by Warwick Thornton (Cole’s husband) and produced by Kath Shelper – the director/producer team behind Samson and Delilah. Set in suburban Port Adelaide, Here I Am follows a young woman’s struggle to rebuild her life and her family after being released from prison. We spoke to Beck and Kath in the week following the film’s premiere at Message Sticks Film Festival.

Beck – where did you get your start in the industry?

I started at Imparja (an Aboriginal television service in Alice Springs) as a cadet journalist, and then from there I went to Bathurst and studied Communications. [After that] I went to the ABC and ended up at the Indigenous unit there, under Rachel Perkins (Radiance; Bran Nue Dae). That was when I made my first documentary – maybe 13 years ago?

ROYAL BURLESQUE

Messr Bublé and his troupe of lovelies have decided to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday the only way they know how: an evening of royal entertainment, 34B Burlesque-style. Holding court are Holly J’aDoll, Donna Dynamite, Kira Hula-la, Charlie J, Prince Harry, Evie Va Voom, Electric Dreams, MC Drew Fairly and DJ Goldfoot. It would kinda be unpatriotic not to go.

Saturday June 11, at 34B (The Exchange).

TV MARATHONS

COLE

Was it luck or purpose that took you to Imparja in the first place? You must have been quite young…

I was, I was 16. And I didn’t want to go back to school – I was over school. So they said, ‘well you’ve gotta get a job then’. I did [the cadetship] for a year, and then I went back and did year 12 – because I’d decided I wanted to be a journalist – and worked in the newsroom after school. I guess it was pretty ambitious for a young girl, but it was fun – and there’s not a lot to do in Alice Springs!

How did journalism lead to filmmaking?

I started doing journalism [at Bathurst University] and didn’t particularly like it – and then the Media Production course was introduced and I said ‘I’ll do that!’ I’d always grown up with cameras around me, and influenced by Aboriginal media. [My family] has always been involved with CAAMA (the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association). After I joined Imparja (I think the following year) my father became the director of CAAMA. Funnily enough, Warwick’s mother had just left that position!

Small world!

BC: Yeah well in Alice, Aboriginal media, for people my age, has been a big influence – and I think these films that are coming out now are a direct result of that.

What was your first strong connection with cinema, growing up?

[Alice Springs] didn’t have even a cinema, so cinema wasn’t a huge influence – there wasn’t

even a drive in. [But] I remember seeing Tracy Moffat’s Night Cries when it was first released [in 1990], and that was pretty amazing. I loved the film, I thought it was beautiful and intriguing.

And I remembering seeing one of Warwick’s early films, Payback, which one of the lecturers showed us. Those films were quite influential – and I thought ‘yeah, I can do that!’

Kath – how did you and Beck come to work together?

I was working on a film in Alice Springs that Beck also worked on – Cold Turkey (2003), produced through CAAMA – so we spent lots of time together. It was a very tough shoot. And one day Beck said ‘I’d like to make a ghost story.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll produce it!’ [Ed note: that film was Plains Empty, a 28-minute drama].

Beck – why did you feel so compelled to make Here I Am? It was just this character [of Karen] – she got under my skin. She came from a concern I have about [the fact that] so many of those sorts of women are in prisons. I was possibly interested in exploring that through documentary, but then I thought [as a drama] it could be a good character study; telling the story within a set time gives you a beautiful opportunity to be observational, and really get to the heart of the matter.

We’ve all done it – in fact, frankly, we live for it: the all-day, all-weekend TV marathon: just you, your lounge, an endless pot of herbaltea/chocolate/cookies and the boxset of Madmen/TwinPeaks/ArrestedDevelopment/ TrueBlood/TheWire. Sydney Film Festival understand – they just want to cultivate your habit, broaden your horizons, and perhaps get you out of the house… They’re screening two all-day TV Marathons this year, bringing the best of international cult television to the big screen: This Is England ’86, created by director Shane Meadows and based on his cult film This Is England (screening Saturday June 11 from 2pm at AFTRS, Fox EQ); and Dreileben, Germany’s answer to Twin Peaks, in nine glorious, chillingly atmospheric episodes (screening Sunday June 12 from 1pm at AFTRS).

Thanks to Sydney Film Festival, we have a double pass to each of these TV Marathons up for grabs. To get your hands on one, head to sff.org.au/public/films/program/ tv-marathons and tell us which one you want to see!

What: Here I Am, Dir. Beck Cole When: Opens June 2 More: hereiamfilm.com

Dreileben

WINTER FESTIVAL

It’s that time of year when we get invited to go ice skating (and discover that despite the fond childhood memories, we're actually pretty shit on skates.) Luckily, the Australian Winter Festival celebrates winter noms and mulled wine just as much as it celebrates feats of icy athleticism. The Festival kicks off on July 28, bringing its massive 1000-square-metre ice rink to Cathedral Square in the CBD, plus an assortment of bars, food stalls and live entertainment. Entry to the festival is free, but 45-minute skating sessions start at $20 – and the slots at any time after 6pm sellout in advance, so be organised and head to winterfestival.com.au

ROCKS POP-UP

Running for the next six months, The Rocks Pop-up Project is an incubator program linking emerging designers, artists and creative groups with space (in The Rocks!) where they can create, sell and perform. The four organizations taking part in the project are: Gaffa (an independent artists’ collective committed to nurturing cross-platform collaboration); Western Sydney’s Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE); The Red Room Company (a non-profit proponent of new Australian poetry); and The Rocks Markets – a longterm incubator for Sydney’s creative talent. The venues can be found along George Street at no. 47 (The Rocks Markets & ICE), 77 (Red Room’s Poetry Clubhouse), 77.5 (clothes and coffee from Son of a Master Tailor) and 85 (Gaffa artists) For more deets, see therockspopup.tumblr.com

ROOFTOP CINEMA

FIRST & LAST LETTERS

Typographic artist and illustrator Helen Mycroft (aka Les Pretend) is opening a show of new work at The Wall this week, called First & Last Letters. Previously featured in the Go Font Ur Self and Don’t Go Into The Attic group show at LO-FI, this will be Mycroft’s first solo show, and she says it’s going to be heavily typographical, with a mix of personal projects, posters and EP artwork that she’s been working on in recent months. On her process, Mycroft says, “Everything is print-based but most of the work I have drawn or made by hand before editing on screen.” First & Last Letters opens this Wednesday June 1 at 7.30pm as part of World Bar’s weekly arts night, The Wall.

30 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

Imagine watching Bladerunner from the vantage point of a rooftop cinema, backgrounded by a slice of Sydney skyline; imagine you’re sitting in a deckchair, beverage in hand, bathed in Sydney’s balmy summer night air. Melbourne got their Rooftop Cinema in December 2006 – so where the fuck is ours? That’s what Sydney’s Right Angle Studios are wondering, so they’ve come up with a diabolical plan to bring Rooftop Cinema to Surry Hills, alongside a restaurant and bar. Unfortunately, not everyone likes awesome, so you need to sign a petition supporting their development application. Head to gopetition.com and search for ‘Rooftop’.

GET-UP! RALLY

At time of print, GetUp had only got a depressing 3,440 RSVPs for their climate rallies across Australia this weekend. GetUp's Sam McLean writes: "I just finished reading the Australian Climate Commission's new climate science report – and frankly, I'm scared. The risks have never been more clear and the case for action has never been more urgent.

Scientists know this, you and I know this, but the rest of Australia still needs to hear it." Ok Sam. Prince Alfred Park, Sunday June 5, 11am.

LOVE STREET BANDITS

LO-FI Collective is back for the winter months with a series of group shows planned for June and July – starting this week with Love Street Bandits, an exhibition showcasing the times, trials, and misdemeanors of three dysfunctional roommates living down the dusty end of Brunswick street: SOFLES, Fintan McGee and Scott Marsh. With quite divergent graf styles, it will be interesting to see what these fellas get up to. As always, free Asahi for those who arrive in a timely (and over-18) fashion. wearelofi.com.au/collective

A4 PAPER FESTIVAL

The Paper Convention Collective – a group of Sydney-based artists “dedicated to the documentation of paper expressionism” – are launching their papery revolution this week: The A4 Paper Festival. Designed to ‘highlight the diverse creative applications of paper,’ the festival will showcase twelve Australian and international paper artists, including Yoshinobu Miyamoto (JAP), Hattie Newman (UK), Benja Harney (AUS), Jesse Brown (US), Emma van Leest (AUS), Anna Gleeson (HK) Trial+Error (AUS), Matthew Roland Bannister (AUS), and Bianca Chang (AUS). For more info, and to RSVP for their opening night at (appropriately enough) The Paper Mill, trot long to blog.paperconvention.com. The A4 Paper Festival runs May 31 – June 5.

SONGS OF LOVE & TORTURE Sarah-Jane Norman launches a brief season of durational performance at Serial Space this week, called Songs of Rapture and Torture.

Each performance involves Sarah-Jane singing her interpretation of an iconic love song on loop for an extended period; more importantly, she will be singing this work personally for you, if you choose to book in for one of her intimate, one-on-one performances. The idea is to explore the intimacy, desire and longing that exist between audience and performer. First up is ‘Never Tear Us Apart’, from 8pm this Friday June 3. The following Wednesday, June 8, Sarah-Jane will pose as a singing mannequin for the pleasure of passersby (6 Botany Road, Alexandria) and perform ‘Walk On By’. For the rest of the cycle, check out serialspace.org

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SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL: YOU’LL BE CRUSHED IF YOU MISS OUT 33 SERENE MOMENTS 113 PASSIONATE KISSES 8 BLOODY REVOLUTIONS 99 SCARY MOMENTS 200 LITRES OF BLOOD 143 BELLY LAUGHS 14 SCREAMING CAR CHASES 765 DEADLY BULLETS 58 EPIC JOURNEYS 22 BLISSFUL REUNIONS

This year SFF introduces new venues into the mix including expanded screenings at Events Cinemas George Street, international television marathons at Australian Film Television and Radio School, a new talks and festival club venue at Grasshopper Bar in George Street, a big screen in Martin Place and the iCinema experience at UNSW and more.

See it all at sff.org.au and check out some of the highlights below.

161 FILMS 42 COUNTRIES ONE FILM FESTIVAL

CEDAR RAPIDS

EVEN THE RAIN

POM WONDERFUL PRESENTS: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD

TAMBIÉN LA LLUVIA

SUN 12 JUN 9.35PM WED 15 JUN 9.00PM

STATE THEATRE EVENT CINEMAS

SAT 11 JUN 8.45PM TUE 14 JUN 5.25PM

STATE THEATRE EVENT CINEMAS

FRI 10 JUN 9.15PM SAT 18 JUN 4.15PM

STATE THEATRE EVENT CINEMAS

Director: Miguel Arteta

Director: Icíar Bollaín

Director: Morgan Spurlock

Ed Helms (The Office) stars as a stunningly naïve small-town insurance agent headed to the ‘big city’ in Iowa for an insurance convention in this riotously funny comedy. John C Reilly, Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock Jr (The Wire) co-star.

Gael García Bernal (Amores perros) stars as a director on location in the jungles of Bolivia who is shooting a film about a 16th-century Indian uprising.

Morgan Spurlock’s documentary about branding, advertising and product placement is financed and made possible by brands, advertising and product placement.

SING YOUR SONG

THREE

WIN WIN

DREI

THU 9 JUN 9.00PM THU 16 JUN 4.00PM

STATE THEATRE DENDY OPERA QUAYS

WED 8 JUN 8.45PM MON 13 JUN 9.35PM

DENDY OPERA QUAYS STATE THEATRE

Director: Susanne Rostock

Director: Tom Tykwer

This inspiring documentary about musical legend and political activist Harry Belafonte is puntuated by outstanding archival footage.

Tom Tykwer’s (Run Lola Run) stylish drama (and visual tribute to Berlin) centres on a 40-something couple who separately fall in love with the same man.

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TUE 14 JUN 9.30PM SUN 19 JUN 1.45PM Director: Tom McCarthy

STATE THEATRE EVENT CINEMAS RATED M

Paul Giamatti is at his angst-ridden best as a blundering attorney suddenly stuck with a client’s runaway grandson in the new comedy from Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent).

FREE TALKS PROGRAM MEET THE FILMMAKER SFF AT THE APPLE STORE

FILMMAKER STUDIO SERIES

To celebrate the SFF and the spirit of filmmaking, the Apple Store will host free events including the popular Meet the Filmmaker series, where you can hear the film industry’s leading writers, directors, producers and actors discuss their latest projects, and answer your questions.

EXTENDED Q&As

SFF partners with Metro Screen, the leading independent screen learning and development hub in New South Wales, on an exciting series of filmmaker workshops. The guest filmmakers, all of whom have films screening at SFF 2011, share their knowledge and insight about the creative process and establishing a career in the film business. Workshops include film clips and Q&A sessions.

Check our website for the full talks schedule and updates

Virgin Atlantic’s Hong Kong Hideaway @ Grasshopper Temperance Lane, Sydney.

As well as a venue for relaxing and getting to know other festival-goers, Virgin Atlantic’s Hong Kong Hideaway @ Grasshopper is the location of SFF’s Extended-Mix Q&A series, where many of the festival’s guest filmmakers will talk about the making of their films.

ELITE SQUAD: THE ENEMY WITHIN

THE GUARD

JANE EYRE

TROPA DE ELITE 2: O INIMIGO AGORA É OUTRO

MON 13 JUN 3.30PM THU 16 JUN 9.15PM

EVENT CINEMAS STATE THEATRE

THU 9 JUN 4.00PM SAT 18 JUN 9.15PM

EVENT CINEMAS STATE THEATRE

FRI 17 JUN 9.30PM

STATE THEATRE RATED M

Director: José Padilha

Director: John Michael McDonagh

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

This nail-biting action/thriller about corruption in Rio’s police and intelligence services is the highestgrossing Brazilian film of all time.

Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle are the perfect odd couple as an acerbic Irish cop and an uptight FBI agent in this wickedly funny, action-packed caper flick from Ireland.

Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), breathes fresh air into this modern telling of Charlotte Brontë’s novel, with Mia Wasikowska starring as the governess heroine and Michael Fassbender as the master of the house and romantic foil.

SACRIFICE

SENNA

THE WHITE BALLOON

ZHAO SHI GU ER

WED 15 JUN 8.50PM SAT 18 JUN 2.00PM

BADKONAKE SEFID

STATE THEATRE EVENT CINEMAS

SUN 19 JUN 12.45PM

STATE THEATRE

MON 13 JUN 12.20PM

STATE THEATRE

Director: Chen Kaige

Director: Asif Kapadia

RATED M

Director: Jafar Panahi

RATED G

This historical blockbuster directed by Official Competition Jury President Chen Kaige is adapted from the first Chinese opera to become known in Europe and is about a doctor who sacrifices his son to protect the last of a noble clan.

Buckle up for an adrenalin-fuelled ride in this thrilling documentary about Formula One champion and Brazilian sporting hero Ayrton Senna.

Bring the kids along to this charming Iranian classic about a young girl’s quest for a goldfish.

Directed by Jafar Panahi, it won the Camera d’Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and screens as part of our Panahi and Rasoulof tribute program.

BOX OFFICE (02) 9690 5390 BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 33

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

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

What's hot on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

mca annual zine fair

PICS :: TL

Here I am

■ Film

HERE I AM

22:05:11 :: Museum Of Contemporary Art :: 140 George St The Rocks 92452400

Released June 2 Beck Cole’s directorial debut is an ambitious film that looks at redemption through the spectrum of Aboriginal women’s experience. Showing plenty of potential, this South Australian film is pulled short of its high aims by its clunky dialogue.

Here I Am is the work of the team behind the award-winning Samson and Delilah (2009), with Warwick Thornton (Cole’s husband) acting as cinematographer, and Kath Shelper producing. Shai Pittman stars as Karen, a recently released inmate who goes to live in a women’s shelter as she tries to put her life back on track and reconnect with her estranged family.

PICS :: TL

jay collier exhibition

Offering an alternative view of the Indigenous Australian experience, Here I Am is populated by Aboriginal women and set in urban Port Adelaide. This contrasts with traditional tropes that imagine all Aboriginal people live in the Red Centre or ‘the bush’. It is also a pleasant change to have a female lead, with the film proving to be a celebration of the strength and resilience of women.

17:05:11 :: Bandstand Café Darlinghurst :: 01 Victoria St Darlinghurst

The cast, which includes many non-actors, is a mixed bag. While some of the first-time actors prove to be naturals others fail to shine, with the dialogue often feeling more read than acted. Some of the responsibility for this must fall on Cole as the writer.

The earnestly didactic nature of her script proves infuriating at times. One potentially powerful scene, where the women of the shelter are sharing their life experiences, is jolted out of authenticity when one character starts rattling off statistics of Aboriginal incarceration.

PICS :: TL

firstdraft gallery

Here I Am is a good film, but too often it feels like a read-through. Certain filmic aspects seem to have been sacrificed to the greater desire to get across an important message. On the flipside, however, it is a credit to Cole’s seriousness that the reality of redemption is treated with gravity. Pittman brings an important believability to Karen, who is not given an easy road to a new life.

18:05:11 :: Firstdraft Gallery :: 116-118 Chalmers St Surry Hills 96983665

The film represents a fresh new perspective that, though not wholly successful, suggests that there are still very exciting things to come from Beck Cole.

Beth Wilson ■ Theatre PICS :: AM

the dip

[TITLE OF SHOW] May 24-29 / Sidetrack Theatre

18:05:11 :: The Dip @ GoodGod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St 92673787

NOM NOM NOM

Tasty new section coming 13.06.11!

For advertising rates please call Meaghan on (02) 9552 6333

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There’s something truly joyous about this satirical one-act musical. Originally conceived and written by one-time Broadway nobodies Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, and brought to life here in Sydney by Squabbalogic Productions, [Title of Show] is a must-see production for aspiring theatre creators and lovers of musical theatre.

The show’s creators, Bowen (played by Blake Erickson) and Bell (Jay James-

Moody), are the chief protagonists in this ‘true to life’ account, which begins with the two budding writers deciding to write a script for entry into the New York Musical Theatre Festival. With only three weeks until submissions are due, and struggling for ideas, the two musical theatre geeks decide to write a musical about two men writing a musical…

It’s part of [Title of Show]’s irony that even as a musical, and even though it originally ran at the Lyceum on Broadway, in essence it is the antithesis of Broadway.

With only four cast members, one piano, and four chairs, the show is modest and resourceful, and the most small-scale Broadway production I can think of.

[Title of Show] is also absurdly reflexive.

Along the lines of the hit US television series Glee and Community, Bowen and Bell’s script is heavily laced – to the point of almost being weighed down – with intertextual references, and in-the-know references to musicals past. But like everything in this production, it somehow works.

Barlow Redfearn ■ Theatre

ONCE UNDER A SKY Until June 4 / Old Fitz I was full of hope as I entered the Old Fitz, which had once again (see Trapture review) been transformed. An imposing, bandaged wall formed the backdrop of the set, whilst strips of sandy-looking lino stretched out across the floor. Above my head were two large nets with painted water bottles attached. In the middle of the stage were the two performers, Kate Sherman kneeling over Freya Sant’s sleeping body. I love it when performers start on stage at the Fitz because it means they have to sit through the box office attendant delivering the “thank you for supporting independent theatre” speech.

The payoff is usually large when they do finally come to life.

Disappointingly, Once Under A Sky never lives up to this excitement. The story of August (Sherman) and May (Sant), a classic ‘odd couple’ who both love the sea yet find themselves lost in a desert, failed to provide a reason to watch. The heart of the problem was the story’s complete lack of stakes: nothing was important, and so I wasn’t invested in the characters’ journeys. At times it felt as if that were meant to be the point – that we were in absurdist territory, and the futility of it all was meaning enough in itself; however, this was then contrasted with a very clear narrative, which constrained the meaning of the work without providing a reason to care.

There were some nice images, most stemming from the pair’s physical work, and it seems that this is where the duo is strongest. My favourite moment of all was when a serious August packed the childlike May into a bag, out of frustration. It was hilarious and intriguing. I wonder if the show would have been more stimulating if it was stripped of script and presented as a physical work.

Henry Florence

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Film & Theatre Reviews

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S T E P H E N P AV L O V I C

What's hot on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

■ Film

THE HANGOVER PART II Released May 26 This sequel to the 2009 smash-hit is little more than a rehash of the original. In the world of sequels, it’s another Home Alone 2 – a remake of the first film transplanted to a vibrant, zanier setting – this time sprawling, grimy Bangkok rather than the decadent squalor of Las Vegas.

This Hangover finds Phil, Stu, Alan and Doug in Thailand for Stu’s wedding to a beautiful bride (Jaime Chung). Stu (Ed Helms) is adamant there will be no bachelor party, lest they slump into the madness that previously got them involved with a tiger, Mike Tyson and a hooker with a heart of gold played by Heather Graham.

Inevitably, Stu gets his arm twisted into having “just one” beer by a beach campfire, and the next morning they find themselves awakening in a dingy hotel greeted not by a giant stripykitty, but a chain-smoking, drug-dealing monkey.

Overnight Stu seems to have taken a trip to the local tattoo artist, while Zach Galifianakis’ Alan is now missing a head of hair. Naturally, the boys must find out what the heck has happened – and rescue the bride’s missing brother (Mason Lee), a teenage prodigy and his father’s favourite son.

What made the first Hangover great, aside from being a rather hilarious, was the ingenious flashback structure and the element of surprise.

You can’t blame director Todd Phillips for thinking “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but would it have killed him to come up with a more risky variation on the theme? Still, what worked the first time around works to an extent here.

The first film’s breakout star, Galifianakis, gets most of the best lines, though his confusing man-child act here crosses into oh-pleaseare-you-really-going-to-do-that territory, as if he had stumbled into an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Hunky Bradley Cooper continues to prove he’s movie star material as the de facto leader of the group, and Ken Jeong (Community) is back too as the occasionallynude gangster, Mr. “bitches!” Chow.

Compared with the (brilliant) upcoming Bridesmaids, the film feels like a sausage fest – even, perhaps, when you don’t expect it – and Heather Graham’s bubbly presence is missed. While sporadically funny and of brilliant technical cred, it’s ultimately lazy and cynical, something that doesn’t seem lost on the characters either, who frequently exclaim something to the effect of: “How can this be happening again?!” You’ll be asking yourself the same thing.

Joshua Blackman

THIS WEEK! 86 -:' s MON & TUES 7.30PM

Street Level

456%*0 s 5*$,&54 THEIR M USIC IS GORGEOUS , EVOCATIVE AN D HAUNTING MAKING POP M USIC SOU N D VITAL AN D N EW AGAIN .

With Dave Harmon

W

hen Dave graduated from the NIDA Directors Course in 2008, he and his five classmates decided that rather than going alone, they’d pool their talents in a group called Theatre Forward.

The sextet aimed to challenge and inspire each other to exciting new theatrical heights, with innovative projects and interesting ideas.

It was a far cry from the Sydney University comedy shows and arts revues where Dave got his start; however, that love of comedy has never left him – and you could see that in his musical version of Dr Strangelove, which toured to the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

An interest in cult cinema also culminated in an internet adaptation of The Big Lebowski, which went viral. His latest project, Sam Shepard’s Tooth Of Crime – which Dave describes as “part rock concert, part poetry slam, part death match” – continues this interest in an underground style of art.

What was it about Tooth Of Crime that really got to you? It’s a post-apocalyptic, rock’n’roll Western, which I think is really exciting. A friend of mine had told me about the play years ago and Sam Shepard is one of my favourite writers – it’s really electric and this is one of the plays he wrote when he was younger, living in the Village in New York, performing in rock bands and hanging out at the Chelsea Hotel with all these crazy people.

On top of that it’s kind of like a live rock show.

Who’s in charge of the music? Basil Hogios. He is a fantastic composer who I met a couple of years ago and he recently worked on Trapture at the Old Fitz. He’s very good at ambient, sinister music, which is a perfect fit for this... Basically the play’s a brawler. There’s this old rocker Hoss who’s a superstar cowboy gangster, and then there’s an outsider, this gypsy called Crow who comes to take it all away from him. The whole thing is the looming threat, and Basil gets that perfectly – covering everything from Lou Reed-inspired numbers to Massive Attack and Die Antwoord.

But it’s not musical theatre? It’s not musical theatre because it’s not underscored.

The band aren’t sitting there in isolation up the back behind a scrim, or down below, underscoring every moment with emotional significance. Rather, it’s a bear pit play where two people circle each other and the songs

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Director Dave Harmon

smash right out of it – sometimes so that people will be talking and then the lights change, they hit the microphone, do a big rock number and then go back to the play.

THE SONY LOUNGE 6PM TIL LATE

What kind of experience can punters expect? I think people don’t go to shows, they go to ‘nights out’ – and the bar that you go to beforehand and afterwards is part of the whole experience. I really like it when a show fits into that in a way you’re not expecting; when you walk into a space and you’re suddenly confronted with a wall of musicians tuning, or you’re taken into a strange location that you don’t expect to see theatre in… that’s the type of theatre that we’re trying to do, something that is much more an event than a theatre show. If you’re a fan of music you’ll get something out of it… It’s exciting, loud, young and raw.

What: Tooth Of Crime by Sam Shepard; Dir. Dave Harmon When: From June 2 - 25 Where: ATYP / Wharf 1, Hickson Road More: www.atyp.com.au

SOAK UP THE VIVID LIVE VIBE AT SYDNEY’S NEWEST POP-UP BAR. FEATURING A ROSTER OF DJS PICKED BY CURATOR STEPHEN PAVLOVIC, IT’S A DESTINATION IN ITSELF. DOWNLOAD THE VIVID LIVE IPHONE APP

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BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 35

Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK PAPA VS PRETTY United In Isolation Peace And Riot / EMI Papa Vs Pretty’s debut record is so good both in the writing and the raw, thrilling way it makes you feel - that the band deserve every superlative and lofty comparison thrown their way. They sound like an army and may be the next Silverchair, but they’ve skipped all the way to Neon Ballroom.

Australian rock may have lost two of their most long-serving groups in the past twelve months, but Papa Vs Pretty have the future stitched up.

From the charging opening ‘Life’s Got A Hold On Me’, which pummels drums and vocals into your ears harder than any major label effort of the last five years, through to the phenomenal choruses of ‘Look For Me’ and ‘Conquistador’, this record is orchestrated and aurally mapped to perfection. The hooks get deep inside and

THOSE DARLINS

FRIENDLY FIRES

Screws Get Loose Spunk

Pala XL / Remote Control

The self-titled debut

by Those Darlins was a quiet achievement, filled with kick-arse rockabilly and all the hallmarks of girl-punk: three chords, volume and suggested promiscuity. With Screws Get Loose, the Tennessee once-trio (now with an official fourth member, Linwood Rosenburg, on drums) have expanded their sound, taking the narrow power of their debut and treating it with more expansive guitar tones, a greater diversity of influences and a fashionably heavy dose of reverb.

The album’s opener, leading single and title track is the first highlight, rolling out of the blocks with one of the laziest, most relaxed timings I’ve ever heard for an anthem. The swamp romp of ‘Tina Said’ is a lethargic, foottapping sprawl with Jessie Darlin’s nasal whine interjecting in all the right places, while the lyrically confused ‘Be Your Bro’ (“I just wanna be your brother, you just wanna be my boyfriend, I just wanna run and play in the dirt with you, you just wanna stick it in”) is another favourite, a welcome respite from the album’s general repetitiveness.

While the record offers up the same wild-eyed, tequila-fuelled power of their first, the production and occasionally weak songwriting loses Those Darlins a few points. Each track is so washed with reverb that it’s almost waterlogged, obscuring the artful instrumentation behind walls of echo. If you can get past the cavernous production though, there’s a powerfully cool record hiding within.

Screws Get Loose is a typical second record; upped production, artistic progression and a minor loss of the charm of their first.

Max Easton

‘Pala’ is a reference to Aldous Huxley’s utopian novel Island, where the island Pala is depicted as a kind of heaven on earth “dedicated to the creation of a psychedelic culture”. Friendly Fires have taken this as a sort of mission statement for their second album; where their self-titled debut saw them craving a new life in Paris or hesitating to jump into a pool, this time around they’ve jumped in, emerged from underwater and found themselves on the shore of a sun-kissed Hawaiian paradise.

‘Live Those Days Tonight’ has a carpe diem urgency to it, with its helter-skelter flurry of percussion and frontman Ed MacFarlane’s bombastic vocal leaps fleshing out the funky backbone of the song. Cascading piano chords reverberate through ‘True Love,’ and the effortless RnB groove on ‘Show Me The Lights’ exemplifies the band’s ability to stretch their style. The slow, ethereal title track flourishes with tantalising, Oriental-flavoured plucks and McFarlane’s breathy falsetto, proving the band is worth far more than cowbell-cluttered dance funk.

Having written the entire album in a garage under drab English skies, they’ve sifted through a smorgasbord of instrumentation to take you to a faraway place where they, and you, would rather be. Lyrically, McFarlane gives insight into a gallivanting, joyous world; anthems of escapism and mystical bliss are married to the sexy, tropical, rhythmic shoegaze which the trio have perfected, with producer superstar Paul Epworth thrusting it to even loftier heights.

With an appreciation for dynamics, tempo and George Michael, Friendly Fires have taken you to their very own ‘Pala’: a utopian wonderland where everyone is naked, sexy, happy and high.

stay there without needing to revert to simple four-chord, cycle-of-fifths pop. Just take ‘Honey’, which both in tone and composition could belong to The Bends-era Radiohead, but veers in an entirely different direction with the late inclusion of an earth-shattering guitar solo that recalls the heyday of glam.

Frontman Tom Rawle is an absolutely peerless performer. Vocally gifted and shredding his axe like a pro across the album, he works off his enviably talented rhythm section to drop songs like cluster bombs. Exquisitely moody in places - particularly the hammering ‘Charity Case’ and pared-back ballad ‘I Felt Nothing’ - United In Isolation is nonetheless a joyous record; it celebrates the power of music created by passionate, uninhibited musicians. Whether it’s the dexterous drummer Tom Myers providing pitch-perfect harmonies across ‘Darkest Way’ or

THE ELECTED

Start & Complete Domino Records

Bury Me In My Rings Vagrant

Here’s the premise.

Get Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor to loosely pen a bunch of songs. Get him to gather up his friends and lock them in a studio for a 24 hour period. Give said friends the basic outline of the songs to jam on for the aforementioned time period.

Record the results.

Recorded in the renowned Abbey Road studios, the album begins by sounding akin to the pop band who made the room famous. ‘Don’t Worry’ and ‘Repair Man’ are classically Beatles-esque with simple guitarpop melodies and McCartney-style vocals saturated with Rhodes keys and shimmering psychedelic chords.

The first half of the album gets you thinking that if they can turn out songs like this in a one-day jam session, then they should definitely put some time aside for an in-depth studio album… But that was never really the idea behind About Group.

Delving further into Start & Complete, you're taken deeper and deeper into the experiment. The compact song structures are replaced with meandering jam pieces and hazy, slumbering ballads. Songs like ‘Nothing But Words’ and the title track sound half-finished and unsurprisingly loose in their delivery, and while the eleven-minute lead single ‘You’re No Good’, with its neo-soul keys, funky guitars and irresistible vocal hook, shows the listener just how good this release could be, it’s not enough to carry the overall project. While not a bad album, it’s not especially good either.

As an improvisational jaunt, there is unmistakable quality to Start & Complete, but in the end that’s exactly what it is – a successful experiment, but a somewhat hitand-miss LP. Rick Warner

Blake Sennett’s “other” project (“other” meaning other than Rilo Kiley co-songwriter, Jenny Lewis' ex-boyfriend, and appearance as teen boy-witch Michael in Buffy) has always flown further under the radar than it deserves to. This is the outfit’s third full-length, and comes after Sennett took several years away from making music to get over the disintegration of Rilo Kiley. He’s come back at it with apparently renewed vigour, and while Bury Me In My Rings feels almost off-puttingly slick and cutesy on first listen, a poke around under the bonnet reveals that his characteristically sharp, subtly lovely songwriting is still at work.

Sennett’s voice is nothing special – a papery, plaintive thing with a sweet falsetto, it nonetheless works equally well when paired with crackling, lo-fi accompaniment (‘Ripchord’, from RK’s near-perfect More Adventurous, is a gem) as it does buried in the stylised, sheeny production on show here.

The Elected’s country-folk leanings are still there, in the prominent Bob Wills lap steel twang, ukuleles and audible six-string scrapes, and the cheatin’-heart vernacular of ‘Jailbird’ and ‘When I’m Gone’. The rest of the references are mildly cheesy soft-rock tributes: ‘Babyface’ could be a Hall & Oates deep cut, ‘Go For The Throat’ lays it on thick with mildly grating ELO-style rainbow harmonies, and ‘When I’m Gone’ has a lovely, dark groove that’s part Fleetwood, part Supertramp. But while the sugary ‘70s excursions are a worthwhile experiment, it’s when Sennett gets a little dark and dirty that the genre-play works best: in ‘Who Are You’, there’s a fey spookiness to his delivery that’s both endearing and unnerving.

Walls Mom+Pop Walls opens with its first single 'Dressed Sharply', and it’s a warm and reassuring beginning to a wonderful second album from the Brisbane duo.

The record feels immediately familiar - not just because Kate Cooper and Damon Cox streamed it prior to release, but because the tracks seem so much like a natural extension of their first release, Rearrange Beds, that it’s like listening to a tape you’ve just

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An Horse still know how to play to the strengths that they identified on their debut. You’ve got the lovely, messy melodies that make their music so much fun, with the plaintive lyrics about love, loss and distance repeated with different emphasis on each iteration. They also revisit their astute use of silence, which isn’t something everyone can do well in music. For An Horse fans experiencing the usual second-album trepidation, this release will bring a sigh of relief. It’s like coming home.

Codes And Keys Atlantic Death Cab For Cutie have never tried to be anything other than what they are. It’s a talent rarer even than the ability to make seven really good albums in a row: the ability to satisfy the faithful, placate the sceptical and intrigue the uninitiated all at once.

For the last several albums, Ben Gibbard’s lovelorn, self-lacerating undergraduate protagonist has been looking outside himself for answers; Transatlanticism was overtly preoccupied with distances, on Plans he sought to make sense of love through pondering death and vice versa, and on the ambitious and wrenching Narrow Stairs, he hovered just outside happiness, alternately bitter, wistful and resigned.

Codes And Keys seems to shed the sad-sack overcoat once and for all - Gibbard has stopped attributing every feeling to doom, and has become a more contented agnostic (‘St Peter’s Cathedral’), a beaming lover (‘Stay Young, Go Dancing’), and a newly-minted adult distributing genial life advice to himself (‘You Are A Tourist’). The stylistic expansions that paid off so brilliantly on Narrow Stairs are back in force here as well, to wonderful effect. ‘Some Boys’ has a quirky, cavorting rhythm that recalls Animal Collective, the unabashedly glossy anthem ‘Tourist’ has an unstoppable earworm of a riff, and there are gnarly, earthy guitar tones that are as definitively Northwesternindie as the crisp kraut excursions are not. There is space here, but it’s not all down to Alan Moulder’s trademark aircraft-hangar mixing; it’s the sound of Death Cab politely, but definitively, outgrowing their old pigeonhole.

DCFC have emerged into grown-up life with confidence and a thirst for subtle novelty; each new record is a rich, comforting paean to old ways and new prospects.

Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin Welsh

But Walls isn’t just more of the same; as the album continues, you can hear how the band has developed their sound. There’s a fiercer rock edge to the brave and energetic ‘Trains And Tracks’, and something new in the syncopated drums of ‘Know This, We’ve Noticed’.

Harmonies throughout the record are generally more layered, and although the production remains subtle, there’s clearly a bit more happening in each song. While there are no real surprises, there needn't be; this is the sound of a band that trusts itself.

An Horse are growing into their sound, not away from it – and it’s working great for them.

Romi Scodellaro

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

She & Him & Hall & Oates & Belle & Sebastian – if any part of that little mismatched fondue party appeals to you, give this a spin.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK realised flips to the other side.

Jonno Seidler

ABOUT GROUP

Rach Seneviratne

AN HORSE

bass player Angus Gardiner arranging the epic string backing on ‘Look For Me’, the talent and scope is all here.

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...

BUILT TO SPILL - You In Reverse DAS RACIST - Sit Down, Man BEASTIE BOYS - Solid Gold Hits

SUICIDE - Suicide WYE OAK - Civilian

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 37

The Minor Chord The all-ages rant bought to you by Meg Williams

ALL-AGES GIG PICKS SOCIAL PIONEERS

Applications are now open for the Foundation for Young Australians' 2011 Young Social Pioneer program, but get in quick as they close this Friday June 3. The Foundation for Young Australians is a philanthropic foundation set up to represent young people through advocacy, research, funding and support. Their Social Pioneers fellowship brings 14 “change makers� together each year with the aim of combining like-minded individuals who can learn from each other. Essentially this is 12 months of training and professional development for individuals who have an idea for a project that they think will enact positive social change. Recent alumni include Chris Boyd, who established Australian Youth Against Cancer, and Genevieve Clay, who started Bus Stop Films, a production house working with Accessible Arts to create gateways into the arts for young people living with Down syndrome. Got an idea? Are you passionate about a cause?

Then head over to indent.net.au for more information and how to apply.

(USA)

SEVEN HILLS SHOOT-OUT Besides being a record company, Burgess Bookings are also event managers and they book a helluva lot of all-ages gigs.

They are currently taking submissions for the Seven Hills Shoot-Out, an all-ages band competition. Heats are running throughout June and July, with a prize pool of $4,600. Email burgess_ventures@ bigpond.com for more details and how to enter.

BANDS COMPS

While we’re on the topic of band comps: the Fitz Band Competition returns to Fitz Youth Centre in St Ives. Entries are due by July 1, so there’s plenty of time to get your demo and application form perfected. Heats will be held weekly on Fridays, starting from July 29. A local haven for all-ages gigs, the youth centre is fully equipped to hold everything from the hardest of core bands to the softest of acoustic sets. The annual band comp, whether you are a fan or in a band, is a great opportunity to jump headfirst into a thriving music community. Watch this space for more on the artists entering.

(USA)

BURIED IN VERONA

Sticking it out on the north side: this Friday June 3, Manly Youth Centre is hosting Buried in Verona, For All Eternity, Pledge This!, To Our Forefathers, My City Screams and From the Sky. Buried in Verona are a hard core six-piece from Sydney who recently released their second album Saturday Night Sever through Riot/Warners Music, and are on the verge of putting out their new video ‘The End’. See them live this Friday – and please, stretch out your neck before you start headbanging! Tickets $15 on the door.

LITTLE RED: ALL MINE

This coming long weekend a plethora of all-ages gigs will guide you through the

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SATURDAY JUNE 11 Come Together Festival: Drapht, Urthboy, Illy and more The Big Top, Luna Park

WINTER CHILLS FESTIVAL

Pumice (NZ), Pets With Pets, Oscar + Martin, Collarbones and more Croatian Club, Newcastle Queens Birthday. Friday June 10, Little Red return home for their All Mine tour at the Metro Theatre. ‘All Mine’ is the third single from sophomore album Midnight Remember, which recently went Gold!

The fellas have been touring relentlessly overseas, picking up tricks and developing their live show even further, so this show falls in the ‘not-to-be-missed’ basket.

Supported by Melbourne’s World's End Press, just to top it all off. (Oh and Little Red will also join The Flaming Lips, Mix Master Mike, Snoop Dogg and The Killers as “special music friends� when they support Yo Gabba Gabba! this June in Melbourne.)

COME TOGETHER

On Saturday June 11 we’ll see the return of seminal long weekend festival, Come Together – but in an interesting twist, Come Together turns hip hop this year.

Drapht will headline, with Urthboy, Illy, Muph and Plutonic, M-Phazes, The Tongue and triple j unearthed winners Daily Meds. Daily Meds are part of the new hip hop collective/record label Big Village, who are releasing some of the finest and freshest local Sydney hip hop – so definitely one to check out.

WINTER CHILLS

For those willing to drive and eager to source some new and innovative tunes, Newcastle is the place to be with the third installation from a series of season specific festivals at the Croatian Club on Saturday June 11. Winter Chills features some of the most innovative acts from around Australia and New Zealand including Melbourne’s Pets with Pets and Oscar + Martin (a must-see, they create weird pop layered over catchy hip hop beats), Collarbones (SA/NSW), Mere Women (NSW), plus so many more. Oh and Pumice, a lo-fi legend from New Zealand (this is his only Australian show!)

A licensed all-ages affair, tickets are strictly limited (only 500 available) but are insanely cheap. Find them on Oztix.

DON’T FORGET

For all this and more please tune into FBi Radio 94.5 for The Minor Chord Live, 5pm every Wednesday with Kate and Eva.

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Send pics, listings and any info to minorchords@thebrag.com 38 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

Remedy

More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

BAD BOYS MAKE GOOD

Gregg Allman

This one's from the 'bad boys make good despite their best efforts' directory: there’s a Melbourne stage production based on Bon Scott’s life, called Hell Ain’t A Bad Place To Be. Meanwhile, in Dublin, Thin Lizzy – and Phil Lynott in particular – are being remembered in August with a “street pageant” to mark the man and the band’s contribution to rock life as we once knew it, long, long ago. Big Phil’s big day, which is being organised by the local council, is August 20 – the hugely charismatic bassist’s birthday. Funny thing (to us anyway) is that both Bon and Lynott would probably be as embarrassed as chuffed about being placed on such a pedestal by a society who they always saw themselves proudly standing apart from.

TULL TOURS

Jethro Tull hit the road in the Northern hemisphere next month to mark the 40th birthday of their loosely-based concept classic from 1971, Aqualung. The recording, which we for (more than) one consider their finest hour, is a stunning bringing-together of their whole folk minstrel thing and grinding blues-rock grooves, a pairing which worked perfectly despite how weird it might sound on paper.

but two underrated slide players. “I used to have a brother who played slide,” he quietly drawled before deftly changing the subject.

SERIOUS ROCK ACTION

VALE: BOB GOULD

It was sad to hear of the passing of legendary Labor Party figure Bob Gould, who for as long as we can remember was running a book – and back in the day, record – store in various parts of Sydney.

Back in the ‘70s he had a place in George Street near the corner of Bathurst Street, and the gold mine of now-priceless vinyl he had sitting in those racks would make a grown geek collector cry these days.

But back then no-one seemed to get too excited. Humans, eh?

ROCKING READS

Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers has an autobiography on the way, as has The Who’s Pete Townshend. Both should be beauts but for similar but different reasons – if that makes any sense. Townshend has always been a fine philosopher underneath all the guitar windmilling and axe smashing, while Allman (who looks unbelievably cool in recent promo shots, with long grey ‘elder statesman’ hair, tatts, and fists full of rings, among many other colourful things) was briefly married to Cher, and of course tragically lost his brother Duane, probably THE slide guitarist of all time, at the peak of the Allmans’ powers. Great story: the folks from the sorely underrated band Raging Slab were once chatting to Allman in a bar and pinching themselves to check it wasn’t all a dream. Allman was delighted to hear that the Slabbers had not one

The Jim Jones Revue This will be some serious rock action: those mighty saviours of traditional rock’n’roll, The Jim Jones Revue are teaming up with Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot at London’s Brixton Academy on July 24, and Manchester Academy on July 25.

Joining Team Setzer will be Stray Cat’s Slim Jim Phantom.

YOUR HOMEWORK

One of life’s small but hugely satisfying pleasures each weekend is reading Mark Dapin’s column in The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend. The man is probably the best writer in the country, and recently exceeded even our lofty regard with a rave about what drives him nuts.

Among the glorious rant was why we had to lose Joe Strummer from The Clash and Poly Styrene from X Ray Spex but still have to put up with the likes of Rush.

But for balance he adds in a footnote at the end of the piece that Ian Stuart from notorious Brit Oi punks, Skrewdriver is no longer with us. Anyway, his general position can be applied to a variety of bands you love and hate. Try it.

ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Chicken Shack’s Complete Blue Horizon Sessions, which features both master guitarist Stan Webb and future latter-day Fleetwood Mac keyboard goddess, Christine Perfect (aka McVie). Chicken Shack were part of the blues boom in the UK in the late ‘60s but never remotely received the attention that Fleetwood Mac did with Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer blazing away. But damn, da Shack were as good with Perfect playing like a female Otis Spann. It’s impossible to get their stuff as a rule and this three-disc set is an embarrassment of riches – so save yourself the legwork (and we’re guessing great expense) of their respective original albums, and just grab this. We’re also currently wading through the Chrome box, which is only three discs, annoyingly minimal liner notes and, frustratingly, only parts of their various recordings – but is pretty mind-blowing, nonetheless. This is where The Stooges meet Can, who had already met Beefheart and the Residents and gotten really, really drunk.

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS The bill for Bastardfest on September 10 at the Sandringham, which already features Psycroptic, I Exist, Pod People, Bane of Isildur, Ouroboros and Chaos Divine, has been further boosted to include Blood Duster, The Dream Killers, Claim The Throne, Dawn Heist and Anno Domini. bastardfest.com.

Lucy Desoto & the Handsome Devils are at the Sando on June 5 from 4-7pm with very special guest from Rose Tattoo,

Geordie Leach, on bass.

Naked On The Vague launch their Clock of 12’s EP and Abstract Figures 7” at the Red Rattler on June 4. Joining them and launching their new Winter’s Blade album is Lakes, plus Brisbane’s Blank Realm.

Opening the night is a new yet-to-be-named project from Jon Hunter (Holy Soul), Nic De Jong (Naked On The Vague, Ghost of Television) and Nic Warnock (Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys and RIP Society head honcho).

Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays.

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 39

snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .

hot damn

It’s called: Polaroids Of Farking OAFroids Episode 7: The Best Bands In Australia.

It sounds like: The five best bands in Australia (minus The John Farnham 5) all playing at once.

Who’s playing? Dead Farmers, The Fighting League (from Canberra!), The Nugs (from Newcastle!), Marf Loth and Karoshi.

Sell it to us: If you don’t know these bands now then you sure will by the end of the night when you’re rushing out to get their names tattooed on your unmentionables.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Getting a Marf Loth tattoo at 1.15am.

Crowd specs: Neatly dressed scoundrels and badly dressed property moguls – and the babes who love them both equally.

Wallet damage: $5 on the door! $1 per awesome band!

Where: Oxford Art Factory, aka Oxxxford Dream Factory.

When: Thursday, June 2. Doors will open at 8pm. Brains will commence to explode from 8.30pm.

PICS :: AM

party profile

polaroids of oafroids

mac hotel

PICS :: AS

19:05:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245

black cherry burlesque

PICS :: AS

20:05:11 :: Macquarie Hotel :: 42 Wentworth Ave, Sydney 82628844

gypsy & the cat

PICS :: AS

21:05:11 :: The Factory :: 105 Victoria Road Enmore 95503666

19:05:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MAS PEACHY :: ALICIA STARR THO :: YEN NGU Y VICK :: NS MAR :: DANIEL MUN

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:: ASHLEY

hungry kids of hungary

21:05:11 :: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666

PICS :: KC

propaganda

PICS :: AM

20:05:11 :: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

ND MUSIC GREAT FOOD A Y

Calling ts all artisand e iv L r fo Locals!

Contact: es. ott events@liz com.au

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Lizotte’s presents 01 Live and Local JUNE ars 02 Bondi Cig JUNE Rising Stars – 03 NSSWE Youth Big Bands JUNE JUNE mes Reyne 04 05 Ja presents JUNE Lizotte’s 08 Live and Local JUNE s of Soul 09 First Ladie JUNE yan Brothers 10 The Grigo le JUNE Solo and Incredib – l se ie D 11 Friedman & JUNE Kinky 12 Van Dyke Parks

JUNE

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JUNE

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

WWW. LIZOT TES.COM.AU BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 41

snap

“...punk rock R&B – more evocative than ever.”

up all night out all week . . .

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PRESENTED BY

LIVE AT LIZOTTE’S - NEWCASTLE - FRI 03 COMMUNITY THEATRE - BYRON BAY - SUN 05 TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT USUAL OUTLETS New album THE DEEP FIELD out now joanaspolicewoman.com | gaynorcrawford.com

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20:05:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

hunky dory party profile

ENMORE THEATRE THURSDAY 09 JUNE

PICS :: TP

THE GUARDIAN 2011 LIVE REVIEW

It’s called: Hunky Dory Social Club Band Day It sounds like: DJs will be spinning a blend of classic psychedelic garage rock’n’roll, mixed with old school rhythm 'n’ blues and funk ‘n’ soul Bands: The Preachers (5pm), Cameras (7pm), The Gooch Palms (9pm) Sell it to us: We’re talking three bands with great local followings performing on the rooftop level of our triple-decker fun house. Kicking the party off in the afternoon with booze courtesy of Coopers…

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Everything. With HD helmet cams in operation, we will shoot the party from new angles so you will be able to remember the memories no matter how much booze you smash Crowd specs: Dudes with skinny jeans, rude facial hair, fedoras and an appetite for fun. Girls with long legs, razor-sharp cheekbones and a downright bangin’ attitude.

Wallet damage: $10, 3-5 pm free beers.

Where: Hunky Dory Social Club, 215 Oxford St, Sydney

last night

PICS :: VN

When: Saturday June 4

20:05:11 :: The Gaelic Theatre :: 64 Devonshire St Surry Hills 92111687

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ALICIA STARR CHY PEA MAS THO :: YEN NGU MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: VICKY

42 :: BRAG :: 414: 30:05:11

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g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week

John Harkins Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm

COUNTRY

Blacktown Country Music Club The Lucky Australian, North St Marys free 7pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 1 ROCK & POP

SATURDAY JUNE 4

Jebediah

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

Bat For Lashes (UK) $59 - $79 (+ bf) 9pm MONDAY MAY 30 ROCK & POP

Bernie The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Mandi Jarry Opera Bar, Sydney Opera House free 8:30pm WU LYF (UK) The Studio, Sydney Opera House $40 7:30pm

JAZZ

Alison Penney Dee Why RSL Club free 6:30pm James Ryan Quintet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Linda Wood, Naomi Crain, Russell Neal Orange Grove Hotel free 7pm 44 :: BRAG :: 414 : 30:05:11

Massimo Presti, Chris Brookes, Carolyn Crysdale Kellys On King, Newtown free

COUNTRY

Camden Valley Country Music Club Hope Christian School, Narellan free 7pm

TUESDAY MAY 24 ROCK & POP

Adam Pringle Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Burning Violet Bridges, Big Red & The P Hound, Tony Gibson Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Petesot, Ant Beard, Andy Kelly Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 (presale) 7pm

Sarah Paton The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9:30pm The Cure (UK) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House sold out 7pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9:30pm Two Minds Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm WU LYF (UK) The Studio, Sydney Opera House $40 7:30pm

JAZZ

Ali & The Thieves The Basement, Circular Quay 8pm Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL Club free 6:30pm JazzGroove Mothership Orchestra, Kristin Berardi 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8:30pm

Bryen Willems Westmead Tavern free 6:30pm Funky Master Blasters, Odd Man Inn Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills free 7pm Live and Local Lizotte $15 6pm Mark Wilkinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6:30pm Matt Jones Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Musos club jam night Bald Faced Stag Hotel free Nathan Leigh Jones, mcArtney The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf)–$50 (dinner & show) 6:30pm Open Mic Night Coach and Horses Hotel, Randwick free 8pm Open Mic Night Down Under Bar & Bistro, Kings Cross free 7:30pm Songs From The Ether Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Stiff Gins Tone nightclub, Surry Hills $10 8pm Tame Impala Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House $39 (B Res)–$55 (A Res) 9pm The Bhagavad Guitars The Basement, Circular Quay $12 (+ bf)–$18 (at door) 8pm The Cure (UK) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House sold out 7pm The Preachers, Simon Day, James Domeyko, Hero Fisher, James Manson Low 302, Darlinghurst free 8pm These Pretzels, Jake Bennett, Soot & Bones, Metatemporal The Valve, Tempe $10 7pm

JAZZ

Dereb the Ambasaador Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 7pm Mike Nock Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8:30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Tame Impala

Robert Smith (The Cure) Robert Susz & the Continental Blues Party The Rose Hotel, Chippendale free 7pm The Spirit of Moses Quartet Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Carolyn Woodorth Blaxland Tavern free 6:30pm Daniel Coates, Bobby McCloughan, Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7:30pm Dave Seaside Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Eleanor McEvoy (Ireland) Humph Hall, Allambie Heights free 7pm Gavin Fitzgerald‎, Ken Stewart, TAOS Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Russell Neal, Mark Wilkes Kogarah Hotel free 7pm

THURSDAY JUNE 2 ROCK & POP

Anna Lawley Band Woollahra Hotel free 7:45pm Anthems Of Oz The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Boy & Bear, Jinja Safari, Emma Louise Metro Theatre, Sydney $20 (+ bf) 8pm

Boy Outside, Edward Dear, Caitlin Harnett, Emma Swift, Stuart Coupe Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Dead Farmers, The Fighting League, The Nugs, Marf Loth, Karoshi Oxford Art Factory $5 8pm Enola Fall, Charlie Horse Richard Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Fab Two Campbelltown RSL free 5pm Fuji Collective Red Rattler $15 8pm Glenn Whitehall Edinburgh Castle 7pm James Reyne The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf)–$54 (dinner & show) 6:30pm JD Mo, Pleasure Overload, Revertigo The Valve, Tempe 7pm Joanna Melas Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 4pm Johnny Rock & the Limits Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 8pm Kick It Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Mick Aquilina Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 2pm Mick Raven, Troy Zarb, Pal Sheldon Excelsior Hotel free 7:30pm Musos club jam night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Nick Andrews Club Bondi Junction free 5:30pm Noliver Fig Down Under Bar & Bistro, Surry Hills free 8pm Ron Ashton Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Stone & the Sky Kurrajong Hotel, Erskineville free 8pm Teeth & Tongue Goodgod Small Club, Sydney 8pm The Ghosts, Dead China Doll Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm The Jeff Chinky Fan Club, Burning Violet Bridges, Mechanics of Creation, Taylor and the Makers

Annandale Hotel $8 (at door) 7:30pm Tony Mazell & the Four Tunes, Shannon Bacall, Issi Dye South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm

JAZZ

Bondi Cigars Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $23 (show only)–$63 (dinner & show) 7pm Even Lohning Piano Trio Cafe Church, Glebe $10 (conc)–$20 8pm Fuji Collective, The Crooked Fiddle Band The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville $15–$25 (incl CD) 8pm Jo Fabro, Reyes De La Onda

Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 7pm Lounge Sounds Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Renee Geyer, Camille & Stuart French Brass Monkey, Cronulla $51 (presale) 7pm Sirens Big Band, Samba Mundi Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Sonny Rollins Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $59 (C Res)–$150 (gold) 8pm Victor Valdes and The Marin Bros 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8:30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Dave Wilkins Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8:30pm Eleanor McEvoy (Ireland) Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $15 (conc)–$20 8pm Erin McSweeney, Carolyn Woodorth Lone Pine Hotel, Rooty Hill free 7pm Rose Acoustic Sessions The Rose Hotel, Chippendale free 7:30pm SNEZ Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta free 8pm

COUNTRY An Horse

Out of Nowhere Petersham Bowling Club free 7:30pm

DOM

FRIDAY JUNE 3 ROCK & POP

Addison Road, Frieda’s Boss Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 8:30pm A-Live Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Almost Famous Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10:30pm An Horse, The Gold Coats Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 8pm Angry Anderson, Mark Gable, Dave Gleeson, John Swan, Paul DeMarco, Steve Edmonds, Mark Evans, Dai Pritchard Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre 8pm Bachelor Girl The Basement, Circular Quay

Jun

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

02 Jun

ABSOLUTE POWER JUNE 18TH

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

03 Jun

(5:00PM - 8:00PM)

(9:15PM - 1:00AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sat

04

SATURDAY NIGHT

Jun

4(5

sun Jun

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

7%$

5 * .%

*5.%

05

Brokentoys, Amodus, Arrowhead Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7:30pm Camden, Glass Towers Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Chartbusters The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10:30pm Contraban, Mad Charlie, The Static Silohuettes, The Electric Vogues Notes Live, Enmore $15.15 –$37.60 (dinner & show) 7pm Craig Pesco Mounties, Mount Pritchard 8pm Cross City Traffic Camden RSL Club free 8:30pm Darren Jack Vault 146, Windsor 8pm DOM Sydney Opera House, Studio $25 7pm Flamin’ Beauties Crown Hotel free 10pm

NEW CHEF NEW MENU $12 SPECIALS

wed

01

$40 9:30pm Bad Voodoo Caringbah Bizzo’s 8pm Barry Leef Band, Peter Northcote Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9pm Bat For Lashes (UK) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House sold out 9pm Beat Crazy, Rocket To Nowhere, Tony Deveaux Band The Valve, Tempe 7pm Beyond the Darkside The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $95 (B Res)– $120 (A Res) 7:30pm Big Radio Dynamite Kro Bar, East Leagues Club 8:30pm Bno Rockshow The Ranch Hotel, Eastwood free 9pm Boy & Bear, Jinja Safari, Emma Louise Metro Theatre, Sydney $20 (+ bf) 8pm

SUNDAY NIGHT

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

&2)

THE STUDY feat

FAQ + FUNKY MASTER BLasterS ODD MAN IN

JOHNNY ROCK ANDTHE LIMITS THE GHOSTS + THE KHANZ + JUBILANTS PURPLE SNEAKERS PRESENT LAST NIGHT

*5.% (LIVE)

OWL EYES (MELB) + NEW&NAVY PLUS YOUR FAV PS DJ’S

BRACKETS

SRDL DEVOLVED AFTERPARTY

3!4

*5.% WIDOW THE SEA + IGNITE THE IBEX

09/06 ROB BRINKMAN 10/06 LAST NIGHT 11/06 SIED VAN RIEL 12/06 ONYX 16/06 DRUNK MUM 18/06 ABSOLUTE POWER 19/06 AURAL CANDY LAUNCH 23/06 THE MEDICS

COMING SOON BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 45

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

Ghoul Ghoul, Collarbones Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf)–$16 (at door) 8pm Hoss, The New Christs, Nunchukka Superfly Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15 (+ bf) 8pm Intimate Lounge Music Supper Club Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm James Reyne The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf)–$54 (dinner & show) 6:30pm Joe Casale Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Keep the Faith Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Koppen Terrace Club Bondi Junction free 5:30pm Mad Season Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm Millennium Bug Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm Miramar, The Monks of Mellonwah, Veora, The Author

Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $15 8:30pm Mitchell Fingers Trio Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville free 8pm Night Owl Down Under Bar & Bistro, Kings Cross free 8pm Owl Eyes, New Navy, Brackets DJs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (at door) 8pm Pez, Maya Jupiter, and 360 The Factory Theatre, Enmore $20 7pm Storytellers Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Svelt, Dark Rainbows, La Tarantula Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Sweet Teeth, Intentions, Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym Jura Books, Petersham $5 7:30pm The Avalanches Sydney Opera House, Studio sold out 10pm

The Bellhops South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8:30pm The Green Day Show Engadine Tavern free 9pm The Leafs, Matt Banham, The Woods Themselves, Frontiers in Photography Petersham Bowling Club $7 8pm The Nation Blue, Lo!, Firearms Hermann’s, Darlington $15.30 8:30pm The Nickelback Show Penrith Hotel free 10pm The Shooters Party, Fushia, The Archerbolds, Thieves The World Bar $10 8pm They Call Me Bruce Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8:30pm Tres Calaveras, Swingtanic Sextet Club 77, East Sydney $10 9pm

JAZZ

Jorge Campano, Los Monos Eastside Arts, Paddington $22 (member)–$28 8:15pm Josh Muncke, Daniel Hopkins Narrabeen Sands free 7:30pm

HIP HOP

Tuned In: Koolism, Briggs, The Last Kinection Oxford Arts Factory 8pm

SATURDAY JUNE 4 ROCK & POP

2 Of Hearts Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands 8pm Adam Katz, Benny Vibes Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 8:30pm

Agathonas The Factory Theatre, Enmore $36.50 (+ bf) 8pm Angry Anderson, Mark Gable, Dave Gleeson & John Swan Enmore Theatre $79 7pm Barry Leef Band, Peter Northcote Brass Monkey, Cronulla $25.00 9pm Bat For Lashes (UK) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House sold out 9pm Benjamin Benolid Down Under Bar & Bistro, Kings Cross free 8pm Beyond the Darkside The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $95 (B Res)– $120 (A Res) 7:30pm Blue King Brown, Diafrix Metro Theatre, Sydney $25 (+ bf) 8pm Brokedown Engines, Ye Luddites, Vegan Mosquitos Excelsior, Glebe free 7:30pm

Bryan Estepa, Will & the Indians, Andrew Peters Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta $10 8pm Caulfield, Chasing Light, Uncorrected, Road to Canaan Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 (at door) 8pm Chartbusters RG McGees Hotel, Richmond free 9:30pm Countdown Explosion South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm Craig Pesco The Cube, Campbelltown $40 (member)–$44 (+ bf) 8pm Cross City Traffic Coogee Bay Hotel free 10pm David Bailey Marrickville Town Hall $10 (child)–$25 7:45pm Devine Electric, Origin of Janken, Vanity Riots Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo $12 9pm

Charlie Harper Club Cronulla free 8:30pm Hammerhead The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (member)–$20 8:30pm Not Quite Cabaret Paddington Arms $24 7pm Shinola, Alphamama Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm The Grid, Rai Thistlethwayte 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8:30pm The NSSWE Youth Big Bands Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $15–$25 7pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Dal’or Open Mic Cafe Dal’or, Dulwich Hill free 7:30pm

Eagle & The Worm

TUESDAY 31ST MAY

PETE SOT (CD LAUNCH)

+ Ant Beard + Andy Kelly

WEDNESDAY 1ST JUNE

SONGS FROM THE ETHER:

A LIVE MUSIC & FILM EXPERIENCE FROM

ANDREW KIDMAN & THE WINDY HILLS THURSDAY 2ND JUNE

RENÉE GEYER

+ Camille & Stuart French (Feral Swing Katz)

SATURDAY 4TH JUNE

CLASSIC ROCK SHOW (EAGLES, DOOBIE BROTHERS & BEST OF WEST COAST ROCK)

FEATURING BARRY LEEF BAND

SUNDAY 5TH JUN

DARREN JACK BAND (ALBUM LAUNCH)

TUESDAY 7TH JUNE

ANTHONY HUGHES AND THE

INTERNATIONAL LOVE EXPERIMENT + Dean Michael Smith + Hayley Legg

WEDNESDAY 8TH JUNE

JOEL LEFFLER 46 :: BRAG :: 414 : 30:05:11

Friday 10 June King Tide Saturday 11 June Bondi Cigars Sunday 12 June Sarah McLeod Wednesday 15 June Bianca Meier Friday 17 June Georgia Fair Saturday 18 June Steve Flack Monday 20 June Kinky Friedman Tuesday 21 June Kinky Friedman Thursday 23 June English And The Doc Friday 24 June The Gin Club Sunday 26 June Natalie Gauci Thursday 30 June Caravãna Sun Wednesday 6 July James Blundell Saturday 9 July Johnny Cash Tribute Thursday 14 July Martinez Akustica Friday 15 July Dan Sultan & Alexander Gow Saturday 16 July The Paper Scissors Thursday 4 August Diesel Wednesday 17 August Bob Log III Thursday 18 August Wendy Matthews \Sunday 21 August Jace Everett Wednesday 24 August Alvin Youngblood Hart Friday 9 September Ian Moss

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

Katie Noonan and Karin Schaupp

DOM Sydney Opera House, Studio $25 7:30pm Eagle & The Worm Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Flux Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Funkstar Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10:30pm Jam on Toast Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $10 (+ bf) 10am James Reyne Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48–$115 (dinner & show) 7pm Leo Sayer (UK) Workers Blacktown $40 (member)–$45 8pm My Friend The Chocolate Cake The Basement, Circular Quay $34 (presale)–$40 (at door) 9pm Naked on the Vague, Lakes, Blank Realm The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville $12 8pm

Next Best Thing Seven Hills RSL free 8:30pm No Brakes Oatley Hotel free 8:30pm Panda Band, Tales In Space, Bungalows, Patrick James Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Pluto Jonze, Pear Shape, Guerre Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Portland, The Icebergs, Crows Feet Coogee Diggers 8pm Red Hot Chili Peppers Show Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 10pm Renee Geyer Vault 146, Windsor $51– $73.45 (dinner & show) 7pm Roc-A-Tac Guildford Leagues Club free 8:30pm Roy Orbison Reborn Penrith Panthers $26.50 7:30pm Synergy Club Cronulla free 8:30pm The Australian Red Hot Chili Peppers Show

Colyton Hotel free 9pm The Devolved Technologies Show, Widow the Sea, Ignite the Ibex Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm The Jet Boys, Headbutt, Chickenstones, Rukus, Scam (UK), Topnovil, Jarren Zen & The Switchblades, Bunt The Valve, Tempe 8pm The Panda Band, Paper Champion, Tales in Space, The Bungalows, Patrick James Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm The Tsars, Upskirts, Grams, Rufus, Hattie Carroll, Louis London, Liberty Country Annandale Hotel $10 (+ bf) 6pm Tiger Temple Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 8:30pm Tim Kendell Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Toucan Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 8pm Velvet Hotel Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm Yo Gabba Gabba! (USA), Biz Markie (USA), Art vs Science Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $29 (B Res)–$49 (gold) 9:30am, 12pm, 2:30pm

Katie Noonan, Karin Schaupp Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith $39 (conc)–$45 (+ bf) 8pm Paul Sun, Ray Martin, Monique Lysiak Fitzroy Gardens, Potts Point free 9:30am Paul Sun, Mark Szeto, Cameron Andrews Larrikin’s Café & Lounge Bar, Walsh Bay free 5pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm The Groove Depot Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm Water For Life Benefit 505 Club, Surry Hills 8:30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Beecroft Bush Dance Beecroft Community Centre $12 (member)–$17 8pm Ben Osmo, Karma Fire, Jason Matts, Caity Dee, Helmut Uhlmann Terrey Hills Tavern free 7pm Gilbert Whyte Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Nova Tone The Belvedere Hotel free 8pm Paul Hemphill, Jim Pike, The Wheeze & Suck Band Tramshed Community Arts Centre, Narrabeen $15 7:30pm

JAZZ

Blue Moon Quarte Supper Club Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Jacam Manricks New York Quartet (USA) The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $22 (member)–$27 8:30pm

SUNDAY JUNE 5 ROCK & POP

Chris Cunningham (UK) Opera Theatre, Sydney

Opera House $40 (B Res)– $79 (gold) 5pm, 8:30pm Darren Jack Band Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 (+ bf) 7pm Devolved Technologies, Widow the Sea, As Silence Breaks, Absolution, Katabasis The Lucky Australian, North St Marys $15 (+ bf) 5pm Dog Trumpet, 50 Million Beers Annandale Hotel $10 6pm James Reyne Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$108 (dinner & show) 7pm Liz Martin, Jacqueline Amidy, Cody Dillon, The Slowdowns, Deep Girl, The Anon Anons, Emad Younan, Nik Gray The Red Rattler Theatre, Marrickville $20 4pm Lucy DeSoto and The Handsome Devils Sandringham Hotel free 4pm Mr Percival, Brian Campeau, Daddy Long Legs & The Swamp Donkeys, Ngaiire, Cafe of the Gate of Salvation, Alphamama & the Love Drug, The Conscious Pilots, Green Mohair Suits, Billy McCarthy, Maxine Kauter, Dylan Hogan-Ross Tone, Surry Hills $25 (presale)–$30 (at door) 2pm Peter Byrne Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 3pm Peter Northcote, Virginia Lillye Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $10 3:30pm Rumble In The Quad Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Simone Dee Trio Woollahra Hotel free 6:30pm

Su Blu Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 5:30pm The Windy Hills The Vanguard, Newtown $25 (+ bf)–$60 (dinner & show) 6:30pm Triple Imagen South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm Ugly Bitch The Valve, Tempe 4pm Yo Gabba Gabba! (USA), Biz Markie (USA), Art vs Science Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $29 (B Res)–$49 (gold) 12pm, 2:30pm, 9:30pm

JAZZ

Joyce Collins The Belvedere Hotel free 5pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 3pm Monks of Cool Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta free 2pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Desperate Houseblokes Oatley Hotel free 2pm Russell Neal Club Totem, Balgowlah free 7:30pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar 5pm

COUNTRY

Reluctant Friends of Steve Royal Cricketers Arms, Prospect free 3.30pm Wildseed Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club $10 4.30pm

TUESDAY 31ST MAY Tue 14/06 Eora Showcase

Thur 16/06 Georgia Fair + Daniel Lee Kendall

Fri 17/06

FRIDAY 3RD JUNE

Organ In Rock

Thur 23/06 Carus Thompson Request Show

Fri 24/06 D.I.G. 20th Anniversary

Fri 1/07

WEDNESDAY 8TH JUNE

Skipping Girl Vinegar (album launch)

Thur 7/07 Steve Kilby (The Church) & Ricky Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre) + Jill & Alsy (The Triffids) + Richard Lane (The Stems)

FRIDAY 10TH JUNE

Fri 15/07 Deep Purple Tribute

Sat 16/07 Hendrix & Heroes

Fri 22/07 The Strides + Uncle Jed

Sat 23/07

SATURDAY 11TH JUNE

The Sins Single Launch + The Glamma Rays

Thur 28/07 Jeffry Slier CD launch

Fri 29/07 Ron Peno

Sat 8/08 Café Of The Gate Of Salvation

Fri 9/09 Otis Redding 70th Birthday Celebration w/ Johnny G & The E Types

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 47

gig picks

up all night out all week...

WU LYF

TUESDAY MAY 31

Owl Eyes

WU LYF (UK) The Studio, Sydney Opera House $40 7:30pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 1 The Preachers, Simon Day, James Domeyko, Hero Fisher, James Manson Low 302, Darlinghurst free 8pm

THURSDAY JUNE 2 Boy & Bear, Jinja Safari, Emma Louise Metro Theatre, Sydney $20 (+ bf) 8pm Teeth & Tongue Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $8 8pm

FRIDAY JUNE 3 An Horse, The Gold Coats Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 8pm Bachelor Girl The Basement, Circular Quay $40 9:30pm DOM (USA) Sydney Opera House, Studio $25 7pm Ghoul, Collarbones Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf)–$16 (at door) 8pm

Teeth & Tongue

48 :: BRAG :: 414 : 30:05:11

Purple Sneakers presents Last Night: Owl Eyes, New Navy, Brackets and DJs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 (at door) 8pm

SATURDAY JUNE 4 Blue King Brown, Diafrix Metro Theatre, Sydney $25 (+ bf) 8pm Eagle & The Worm Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm My Friend The Chocolate Cake The Basement, Circular Quay $34 (presale)–$40 (at door) 9pm

SUNDAY JUNE 5 Mr Percival, Brian Campeau, Daddy Long Legs & The Swamp Donkeys, Ngaiire & Marcello, Cafe of the Gate of Salvation, Alphamama & The Love Drug, The Conscious Pilots, The Green Mohair Suits, Billy McCarthy, Maxine Kauter, Dylan Hogan-Ross Tone, Surry Hills $25 - $30 (at door) 2pm Yo Gabba Gabba! (USA), Biz Markie (USA), Art vs Science Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $29 (B Res)–$49 (gold) 9:30am, 12pm, 2:30pm,

brag beats

NEW!

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

he said she said WITH

RAYE ANTONELLI

Growing Up Growing up, music in my household 1. was pretty solid; mum and dad both used to

The Music You Make Future house/retro techno (or some 4. jazzy genre title like that); Turbo, Comeme,

make a fair bit of noise chasing me around the house with the wooden spoon. My older brother was definitely a gateway for me discovering electronic music at a very early age, which I am truly grateful for. I used to go through my parents’ record collection all the time playing through each record on their old turntable… Everything was fine until I started attempting to scratch them.

Playhouse, Tigersushi, Crosstown Rebels, Kill The DJ and labels like that are all up the front of my wallet. I’ve just finished a remix for Funkin Matt & Teki Latex, and am working on an original EP at the moment. Plenty of party techno vibes, 909 goodness and ‘90s-tinged nostalgia.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think the scene is very healthy. If 5. you sift through all the generic fodder,

Inspirations I’ve been a DJ Premier fan forever, and 2. have been continually blown away by the likes

you discover a great underground culture, with so many great little parties happening regularly. Gigs like Wham! are what’s best about the scene for me; great crowd, best vibe and a music policy that encourages you to do what you love. Musically, the artist that is doing it for me most at the moment would have to be Art Department – the best thing I’ve heard in years, amazing stuff.

of Carl Cox, Derrick Carter, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin, etc., who I was introduced to early on. The first time I heard Itch-E & Scratch-E’s ‘Sweetness & Light’ still sticks with me like it was yesterday – and it’s still my favourite Australian dance release ever. On top of that, I am a total sucker for Soulwax.

Your Crew I’m fortunate enough to be involved in a 3. variety of projects which continually keep me

Who: Raye Antonelli v Johnny Rad With: Klaus Hill v Trent Rackus, James Taylor & MC Shureshock, Reno v Foundation, Telefunken v Matt Weir, Brenden Fing v Oakes & Lennox, Illya v Husky, BJ, Discopunx, The Jackal, Daigo, Temnein, Sushi and more

motivated and excited. I spend my nine-to-five working in the recordings team at Ministry Of Sound, I co-run a media/touring/DJ agency by the name of One Hit Wonder, and spend plenty of time alongside my main man Wongo writing tunes, grocery shopping, playing checkers, etc. I love boshing out with a heap of super-talented local producers, including Little Fritter, Nil By Mouth, Danny T, Wax Motif, Pow! Pow!, Zare and more.

Where: WHAMTARTICA @ Wham!, The World Bar When: Saturday June 4

Yelle

Jesper Dahlback

The Rapture

After recently releasing her second album Safari Disco Club and touring with Katy Perry, France’s Yelle returns to Australia for Splendour In The Grass, and will perform a sideshow at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday August 6. Yelle grew up in a house bursting with musicality, her father a famous musician in the Côtes d’Armor region where she still resides today.

Yelle played the piano before going on to acting, and played in a few bands that never made it past the rehearsals - and any ladies looking to drag their boyfriends along to the gig need only recount the following: Yelle writes songs about smaller breast sizes, lesbian temptation, dildos, sex and jogging. You heard me – jogging.

JESPER DAHLBACK

Sweden’s Jesper Dahlback headlines the Cave at Chinese Laundry this Saturday June 4. Dahlback is a producer with a back catalogue as impressive as it is lengthy, comprising co-production on two Tiga albums (according the Tiga, the two combine to bring “viscera and vision to the funky picture show”), the Hugg and Pepp project with his cousin John Dahlback, and remixes for the likes of Rex the Dog, Zoo Brazil, Arnaud Rebotini of Black Strobe, Robyn, The Knife, and Depeche Mode.

Meanwhile over in the other room, Kato and Snob Scrilla will be among those who’ll be pushing beats. Entry is $15 on the door before 10pm.

DIRTY SOUTH @ IVY

Melbourne’s Dirty South (aka Dragan Roganovic) returns to Sydney for a headline slot at Ivy on Sunday June 12 on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Originally born in Belgrade, Roganovic relocated to Melbourne as a teenager and began experimenting with electronic production, which – fast forwarding through the usual trials and tribulations – ultimately led to the

YELLE SPLENDOUR SIDESHOW

JAYTECH MIX + TOUR

RAPTURE RETURN

Crank up the hype machine: The Rapture have announced the impending release of their new album, In The Grace Of Your Love. The LP, their third to date, is to be released through DFA Records. And although James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy produced some of The Rapture’s best-known early singles – ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ anyone?

– this will be the band’s first full-length offering for their revered New York label, having re-signed to it after a two-album stint with Universal Music Group. In The Grace Of Your Love was produced with Philippe Zdar of Cassius fame, who has worked with Chromeo, Phoenix and The Beastie Boys in recent years, in his own Motorbass studio in Paris and at Gary’s Electric in Brooklyn. In The Grace Of Your Love is set to drop in early September.

first Dirty South release back in ‘04. Roganovic has since rapidly established himself as one of Australia’s most recognisable dance exports, releasing a string of charting singles and remixing the likes of U2, Snoop Dogg, Tracey Thorn,

Depeche Mode, David Guetta and Josh Wink.

Dirty South will be performing with live vocalist Rudy, with support from Goodwill, Minx, Feenixpawl and Nordean. Presale tickets are available online for $39.

Canberra producer James Cayzer, aka Jaytech, has announced a string of Australian club dates in support of the new Anjunadeep compilation, a two-disc album mixed by James Grant and Jaytech respectively. Jaytech has released some luscious prog cuts over the years, many with regular production partner Matt Rowan, and this recent mix purportedly has him traversing a “slightly more upbeat and uplifting electronic house sound that touches on nu disco, electro and more classic house grooves”. The mix includes Jaytech’s own forthcoming cut ‘Djembe’, as well as offerings from Solarity, Dinka, PROFF, Interplay and Maor Levi. In recent interviews, Jaytech has disclosed that he is currently working on the follow-up to his 2008 debut LP Everything Is OK, which is tentatively slotted for an August release. In the meantime you’ll have a chance to see Jaytech in action when he plays Chinese Laundry on Saturday July 9; the Anjunadeep compilation is out now through onelove Recordings.

“You-ooh, in the depleting light / Tip-toe through in the middle of the night” - SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 49

dance music news

free stuff

club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

Dirty South

IRON CURTIS (MULE/MIRAU, BERLIN)

Growing Up I grew up surrounded by a mixture of 1.

German and international ‘80s pop on the radio, basically everything from Herbert Groenemeyer to Phil Collins. The tapes my father recorded for the car had a massive influence on me – he’s always been a big fan of Motown (particularly the early '70s stuff like The Temptations and Stevie Wonder), Stax and the Philly sound of that time.

But there was also Cream, Santana, Jimi Hendrix and Peter Gabriel on those tapes, so quite a mix!

Inspirations My taste in music is still quite eclectic I 2. guess, within electronic music and beyond.

For me it’s just about the music I’m into at a particular time, music that I feel, that puts me in a certain mood – it doesn’t matter if it’s math rock, plastic pop, RnB, jazz or something for the dance floor. If I have to be specific though, I still remember when I first heard Daft Punk’s ‘Music’, ‘The Love Movement’ by ATCQ and Kyuss’ ‘Katamara’.

Your Crew It’s just me and my random personalities!

3.

Recently my friend Jool (aka Edit Piafra) and I started a little project called Achterbahn D’Amour – I wouldn’t call it a band at all, but at least it’s two people in a room working on music. Which is of course both inspiring and challenging!

The Music You Make I’ve heard my sound described by some as simply deep house, but in my opinion it’s more than just that. I was lucky to release

4.

DIRTY SOUTH

some hip hop-ish, downtempo stuff on Retreat, plus some weird takes on acid house (as Achterbahn D’Amour on Acid Test), and I think some of the remixes I’ve done recently are actually closer to techno (i.e. for Pablo Bolivar).

Music, Right Here, Right Now I’m a music fan first and foremost, 5. so follow new trends quite closely. I really like the fact that there are no real genreboundaries anymore; young UK dubstep guys are doing twisted flavours of house, and house artists are increasing their repertoire

with soulful techno etc. I love living in Berlin as it allows me to check out different sounds and meet interesting people. I’ve missed a few shows by people that I really like here recently mind you, like Skudge, Arto Mwambe, DJ Harvey and Hunee - I’ve been busy DJing most weekends!

What: CO-OP presents Iron Curtis & Vincenzo Where: A secret inner-city venue; tickets from Resident Advisor When: Saturday June 4, 9pm - 4am

GAHAN’S SOBER STREAK

Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan was honoured with the Stevie Ray Vaughan award at the seventh annual MusiCares ceremony in LA this week, in recognition of the singer’s 15 years abstinence from drugs and alcohol.

Gahan’s heart infamously stopped for over two minutes in 1996 after he overdosed on a speedball (“heroin combined with cocaine”; “thanks Seidler”) at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles, and he spoke candidly about his personal nadir: “I used to walk around my apartment with a .38 down the back of my pants. Sometimes I would shoot holes in the walls because of my own shadow.” The

Mitzi

Grammy-nominated DJ/Producer Dirty South has been riding a wild wave of success recently, playing at worldrenowned clubs and festivals and producing tracks and remixes with the likes of David Guetta, Snoop Dogg, Axwell and Tiesto. Given such a stellar CV, it may surprise you cynics to learn that Dirty South is in fact Australian, having relocated to our shores at age 13… He’s coming home and bringing friends with him, for his only Australian show at Ivy from 3pm on Sunday June 12 - featuring Rudy, his vocalist, live. With support from Goodwill, Minx, Feenixpawl and Nordean, it’s a 12-hour party, but never fear: the Queen says you can sleep in the next day.

And if you can tell us which country Dirty South was born in, you might just have The BRAG to thank for a double pass!

award ties in neatly with the impending release of Remixes 2: 81-11 in June, a follow-up to the hugely successful Depeche Mode remix compilation, Remixes 81-04, that was released back in 2004. The compilation collates reworks of Depeche Mode by an array of eminent electronic producers, including M83, UNKLE, Trentemøller, François Kervorkian and Dan The Automator alongside Jacques Lu Cont’s rip-roaring rework of ‘A Pain That I’m Used To’.

While avid collectors will in all likelihood have previously heard these remixes, Remixes 2: 81-11 also offers all-new mixes from Stargate, Eric Prydz, Karlsson & Winnberg (from Miike Snow) and Röyksopp.

MITZI - VINYL VERSIONS

Four-piece QLD outfit Mitzi, who’ve just rounded off their debut Australian East Coast tour, are about to release a brand new 12” record called Mitzi - Vinyl Versions on esteemed Sydney electronic bastion Future Classic. One for the purists, the EP will be available exclusively on wax – there will not be a digital release - and limited to only 350 pressings.

And just to tantalise, the wax will include remixes from re-edit maestros The Revenge and LTJ Xperience, local lads Softwar and last but not least, Joakim, the man behind the Tigersushi label who has remixed such ‘peasants’ as JJ Cale, Annie, Antena, Röyksopp and Tiga in years gone by. The 12” will be available from June 20 at all good record stores, which gives you a few weeks to procure turntables. Casual listeners will be relieved to learn that Mitzi’s All I Heard EP is readily available through iTunes.

Azari & III

AZARI & III AT VIVID LIVE

PINKSILVER COMPILATION LAUNCH

Sydney techno DJette DJ Trinity and her Pinksilver partners have put together Twenty4, a compilation featuring 24 tracks by some of Australia’s foremost underground tech producers, which will be released digitally in three parts on Beatport. Some of the artists featured include Deepchild, Infusion’s Jamie Stevens, Michelle Owen, Steve Ward, Uone,

Andy Hart, Mike Callander and Yokoo. To celebrate the compilation’s release, there will be a Pinksilver bash at Melt on Friday June 10 of the long weekend, which will feature sets from Melbourne lads Jamie Stevens and Craig McWhinney alongside locals Nic Scali, Nick McMartin, Dave Stuart and techno ladies Magda, Claire Morgan, Kate Doherty and Trinity herself, all throwing down over two rooms. Doors open at 10pm, and $15 presales are available online.

Canadian outfit Azari & III (pronounced Azari and Third), who play the Opera House this Sunday June 5 as part of the month-long Vivid Live festival, will release their debut self-titled album in Australia on July 29 via Modular Recordings. A throwback to the fouron-the-floor of ‘80s house, Azari & III first gained notoriety DJing warehouse parties before launching their career with the singles ‘Hungry For The Power’ and ‘Reckless (With Your Love)’, both of which function as ultramodern updates of vocal house motifs. The forthcoming LP will be preceded by the single ‘Into The Night’, which includes remixes from Prince Language, Renaissance Man, CFCF and emerging talent Nicolas Jaar. Tickets to Azari and III’s Vivid LIVE show, which will be hosted by iconic Sydney queer party brand Club Kooky, are available online.

“Light, of course / Like a flicker in my left eye / Push, move / Could be perfect if you walk by” - SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM 50 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

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free stuff

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said

DJ Friction

WITH TRIKY

Inspirations I really like James Copeland who has 2. a few different projects, and a lot of other producers as well. I listen to the radio a lot, and get inspiration from the new electronic stuff coming out like David Guetta and other producers.

Your Crew I grew up in Byron Bay where a lot of 3. my mates are DJs and producers, so I like to DJ with any of them. I met some of them at school - it’s a pretty small area to grow up in, so I met a lot of them at parties and around town, too.

The Music You Make When I first started I just wanted to make good psytrance, but after a few years I wanted to try something a bit different involving electro styles and even hip hop.

I’m pretty happy with my latest album Experimental - I think it has a diverse range of styles. I like to think of it as an electronic fusion of genres.

4.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think the scene in Sydney is good 5.

– there are a lot of dubstep nights at the

Growing Up I mainly listened to electronic stuff when 1.

I was growing up, but I went through a stage where I listened to lots of punk stuff as well - I saw AFI live, and managed to score

NEW DUB CITY SOUND

New Dub City Sound are set to release their debut album Home, a release that traverses dub, reggae, hip hop and trip hop influences replete with the passionate vocal delivery of frontman Ali MC. The music on Home is purportedly influenced by Ali MC’s travels around the world; on his journey, Ali collaborated with the likes of UK Metalheadz

an interview with the drummer when I was working for a freestyle motocross magazine.

Listening to Prodigy, Cypress Hill and Snoop Dogg on my headphones is probably my earliest musical memory. dub/DnB producer Mikal and Jamaican-born, New York-bred graphic designer Freestylee, the fruit of which is showcased on this forthcoming release. Home will be available from June 10 on Raspect Records, and its release will be accompanied by free New Dub City Sound performances at the Beach Road Hotel, Bondi on Thursday June 2 and The Brewery, Byron Bay on Saturday June 25.

moment. I still enjoy just going to the pub and hearing a band though; I don’t appreciate only electronic stuff. There are so many spots for good music in Sydney it would be hard to name just one, but I think the venue adds to a good night if they have a big bar with lots of different drinks - and if you don’t have to wait 30 minutes to get one.

Who: Triky What: Experimental is out now

BASS DROP

So we’ve been getting more than a bit excited about an event set to take over Oxford Art Factory this Saturday June 4.

It’s a huge Bass Drop and Shogun Audiohosted night, which will be run by DnB superstar (and Shogun kingpin) DJ Friction, duos SpectraSoul and The Prototypes, and MC SP:MC all the way from the United Kingdom, plus plenty of hot local support.

These acts are seriously top notch, and the sound is going to be suitably massive. If you can handle it (you can), unjumble the letters in “rads bops” to find something relevant for a shot at a double pass. Extra points if you unjumble them and find something irrelevant.

The Potbelleez

Classixx

THE POTBELLEEZ

The Potbelleez have announced a national tour to support their new album Destination Now, which hit shelves over the weekend. An album two years in the making, Destination Now follows their hugely popular debut LP from ’08, which spawned the single ‘Don’t Hold Back’ and led to such prestigious honours as performing at the NRL grand final.

Destination Now was co-produced by Australian veteran Paul Mac (Itch-E & Scratch-E, The Dissociatives) and Justin Shave, and Potbelleez vocalist Ilan Kidron had this to say about the impending tour: “We’re going to employ some wicked new ways to present our music visually, to really rock the audience and give them more reason to get up and dance”. If this sounds like your bag, The Potbelleez play Oxford Art Factory on Thursday June 16.

FUTURE CLASSIXX

LA up n comin’ duo Classixx headline Adult Disco at the Civic Underground on Sunday June 12. Classixx rose to prominence courtesy of their cut ‘I’ll Get You’, which featured Jeppe from Junior Senior and was released through Kitsune, and have since reworked the likes of Phoenix, Major Lazer, Holy Ghost! and Mayer Hawthorne. Of late, it has been confirmed that their collaboration with Mayer Hawthorne, ‘No Strings’, will be released on Stones Throw Records as the label’s first ever 10” record, while Classixx’s new single ‘Into The Valley’ has just come out on Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound.

Classix’s facetious attitude to production is encapsulated in their re-edit of Madonna’s ‘Lucky Star’, which is available as a free mp3 through the Future Classic newsletter – you can sign up through www.futureclassic.com.au

ABOVE & BEYOND

One of the UK’s most popular trance acts Above & Beyond are heading to Australia for a tour that includes a show at the Hordern Pavilion on Saturday September 10. The forthcoming Australian jaunt coincides with the release of Above & Beyond’s second LP Group Therapy, an album that apparently merges “trance house, electronica and even modern classical” elements. Former Faithless and Bent vocalist Zöe Johnston lends her

silky vocals to the tracks ‘Alchemy’ and ‘You Got To Go’, while Richard Bedford also features as a guest vocalist. Group Therapy is out on June 10 through Central Station Records.

LIKE BEATS?

We’re on the look-out for new dance contributors - people who know the Sydney scene, like to write, and know how to do a grammar. Email steph@thebrag.com if that sounds like you!

“I just don’t wanna be lonely / Cause the lights were shining ever so bright / In my hand there’s a pulse of my beating heart” - SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM 52 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

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Koolism Tune In By Mikey Carr

C

apping off this year’s Reconciliation Week, Friday’s Tuned In Festival will see some of Australia’s leading hip hop talent take the Oxford Art Factory stage to help spread awareness of issues surrounding reconciliation, while raising funds for music workshops in Juvenile Justice Centres. It’s an annual, all-ages celebration of music, culture and respect that will be headlined by pioneering Aussie hip hop duo Koolism, with Briggs, The Last Kinection, Tuka from Thundamentals and emerging Redfern crew Stunna Set in support.

A lot has changed since the Tuned In festival’s debut in 2010. Established by the NSW Reconciliation Council to promote discussion of Indigenous rights while offering the local kids a fun and positive event, the festival has already grown in scope and developed its goals. While still very much dedicated to highlighting the importance of reconciliation and the issues surrounding it, this year’s Tuned In is co-hosted by the Heaps Decent initiative, an organisation dedicated to nurturing the creativity of underprivileged and indigenous youth. “I guess the main thing is

JANE BADLER PERFORMING THE SONGS OF SIR

W I T H PA U L G R A B O W S K Y A N D O R C H E S T R A

awareness, to shine a light on reconciliation,” says Hau Lautekefu, who represents one half of Koolism, alongside NZ-native Danielsan Ichiban.

The Canberra duo have an ARIA award and five LPs under their belt, and at Tuned In they’ll be showing off tunes from their latest effort, The Umu. “We as non-Indigenous people tend to feel like we know what indigenous people need and what needs to happen to reconcile our cultures – but I think it’s important we focus on what they want and what they need.”

To Hau, the idea of finding a way forward with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people communicating and working together is the most important goal of Tuned In. The festival aims to focus its activity on encouraging Indigenous and underprivileged youth in regional areas to have their voices heard – and the hip hop workshops put on by Heaps Decent are an ideal medium in which that can happen.

“We don’t want to generalise about youth, but young people can connect with hip hop,” Hau says, “and while they might not all write hip hop or want to make hip hop, we feel this is a good starting point to get them talking about what they want, and to let them tell us what they need to happen for things to be better, rather than us over-parenting them.”

One of the most dominant genres in the world, with our own local scene producing a spree of number-one artists with dedicated and passionate fan-bases (especially amongst youth in regional areas), hip hop represents a more honest and direct language in music, compared to rock or pop – and it’s a genre that’s accessible to anyone with a voice and a knack for beats. “Hip hop has always been a very youth-oriented movement, and while that’s starting to change nowadays, it’s always been about saying what’s on your mind,” says Hau. “Rock and folk songwriters might be a bit more poetic with how they communicate, but hip hop has always been very brash and very direct and in your face – and I think a lot of kids identify with that. Hip hop used to be very anti-establishment, and while it’s different these days, there is still a very strong element of standing up for what you believe in. I think youth will always react to hip hop music, if they can relate to it.”

“If you’re in a position to say something, and people are going to listen, you should say something positive. We still need our Soulja Boys and not everyone can be Common or Mos Def, but there are times where you can say something constructive.”

According to Hau, however, hip hop’s expansive reach comes with a greater responsibility. “I feel that if you’re in a position to say something, and people are going to listen, you should say something positive, some of the time at least,” Hau tells me. “We still need our Soulja Boys, and not everyone can be Common or Mos Def, but I do feel that there are times where you can say something constructive, and it’s your responsibility to take those opportunities – like with Tuned In.”

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54 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

In a world that seems bent on distracting us from anything meaningful with an endless stream of celebrity, gadgets and games, it’s too easy to tune out to difficult social issues.

What Tuned In stands for, and what Heaps Decent are trying to do with it, is no easy task; unified by a love of hip hop, and their belief in its positive influence, they’re striving to find a way to promote reconciliation fairly, openly and respectfully, while effecting social change within underprivileged indigenous communities. “This event is a positive thing,” Hau says, “and we’re more than glad to be a part of it.”

With: Briggs, The Last Kinection, Tuka (Thundamentals), Stunna Set Where: Tuned In @ The Oxford Art Factory When: Friday June 3 More: nswreconciliation.org.au/tunedin, heapsdecent.com

Classixx x By xTo The Classics By RK Back

T

he guys from Classixx are barely into their twenties, yet have already helped define a new sound - and when a music act achieves critical success so quickly, they must be doing something right. A disco groove likened to Donna Summer, their fluid, catchy, synthesised sound has put them at the forefront of the electronic scene in their native Los Angeles.

It started back when Tyler Blake and Michael David were kids. “We went to middle school together, we both played in bands and we kind of met that way,” Tyler says. “Things kept moving for us during that period, and we decided we’d get together and make music.” It’s not surprising that they started in bands; electronic music isn’t the most widely respected genre in the USA – certainly not to the same extent as in Europe.

“We were inspired by a lot of stuff that we used to listen to as kids. Talking Heads was my dad’s favourite band so that was one, but then there were guys like Michael Jackson as well,” he explains. But there was something missing for the pair, even amidst the music of the greats that their parents were feeding them. “There wasn’t a lot of inspiration there for us, so we spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted to do and the music we wanted to create.” When Michael was asked to remix an existing track, he wanted Tyler to help. And the rest, as they say, is history. “We had a really good time working together and from there, from one single, it eventually went forward.”

“Producers and DJs are starting to pull from older eras and show higher regard for their predecessors. That’s always good for music.”

The world started to take notice of the duo following their funked-up remixes of work from groups like Phoenix, Major Lazer, Holy Ghost! and Mayer Hawthorne; their disco sound was a breath of fresh air amidst the electro-crush of the L.A scene at the time. Classixx have also released a couple of original tracks, ‘I’ll Get You’ and ‘Into the Valley’, in the lead up to their forthcoming debut studio album, all the while blasting out killer club sets. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Firstly, they had to change their name from Young Americans, after a legal threat from a song and dance collective of the same name. And secondly, they didn’t really know what they were doing. “When we first started, we were still learning how to best use recording programs and equipment,” Tyler admits, “so it was a difficult time, learning how to produce and things like that.

[But] over time, you learn what you like and what you don’t like, and after a while we fell into what we thought we were good at.”

Tyler tells me that the remix for Phoenix was one of the first tracks that they really wanted to put together, but even that wasn’t until 2009. “We kept on going, and [released] ‘I’ll Get You’ - and at that point we quit our day jobs and bought a bunch of equipment. And that [equipment] had a lot to do with shaping our sound.” (Rumour has it they bought a bunch of gear off a Backstreet Boy. One can only assume it didn’t come with a free music lesson…)

“We’re now in the studio working on a full length album, doing a bunch of instrumental demos,” Tyler says, when I ask what Classixx are up to these days. “We’re also working on a whole lot of collaborations - basically that’s just us doing some work with great vocalists. So we’re taking a bit of a break from remixes right now, and focusing our efforts on doing that.” One of the tracks the boys are working on is a collaboration with Mayer Hawthorne called ‘No Strings’, which is about to be released on Stones Throw Records.

“Yeah, it’s Stones Throw’s first 10” record ever!” chimes Mike, clearly excited. Most of all though, the lads are looking forward to their forthcoming tour of Australia, which will see them at Adult Disco in Sydney next weekend. “Last time we were there it was for Parklife Festival - this time we’re happy to be playing a club tour. We’ve done a mix for triple j radio, so that will reflect what you might hear us play - we can’t wait to get down there soon.”

“It seems really exciting,” Tyler says, of the music scene in general. “I hear cool new music all of the time... Producers and DJs are starting to pull from older eras and show higher regard for their predecessors, and I think that’s always good for music. I guess that probably provides some influence for us as well.”

Where: Adult Disco @ Oxford Art Factory When: Sunday June 12 BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 55

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COOGE E

ans of the good things in life, such as the pioneering German band Popol Vuh, who are best known for soundtracking the classic films of the inimitable director Werner Herzog, are in for a treat. To mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Popol Vuh’s founder Florian Fricke, SPV records have announced the release of Popol Vuh Revisited & Remixed (1970-1999). The double album will collate a selection of Popul Vuh pieces, along with 10 ambient, downtempo and club remixes from the crème de la crème of the German electronic milieu. Disc 1 will showcase original ambient electronic Popol Vuh tracks, including cuts from the soundtracks to Herzog classics like Nosferatu and Aguirre the Wrath of God. Being well-versed in these soundtracks, my excitement stems from the second disc, which will introduce younger listeners to German prog rock via remixes from the Innervisions ‘supergroup’ A Critical Mass (comprised of Henrik Schwarz, Ame and Dixon), Peter Kruder (of Kruder & Dorfmeister), Berlin outfits Mouse on Mars and Stereolab, Moritz von Oswald, Thomas Fehlmann, Roland Appel and Jazzanova’s Alex Bark, along with Mika Vainio (Pan Sonic) and Haswell / Hecker.

Put simply, we have an assortment of the finest German electronic sonic craftsmen paying homage to a group widely regarded – along with Tangerine Dream – as one of the most influential avant-garde bands of the ‘70s, if not all time. And if the aforementioned names don’t pique the interest of the cognoscenti, then I may as well relinquish any pretensions I have of writing about electronic music. As Stereolab’s Timothy Gane affirmed, “Popol Vuh guided me into a world of wonder and awe. At its core the music is very spiritual, they just sound far out and mysterious. The

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COOGEE DIGGERS 9665 4466 CORNER BYRON & CARR STREETS 56 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

USE ME.

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SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19 Hot Natured AGWA Boat Cruise

Mouse on Mars

clanging guitar chord of ‘Wehe Khorazin’ (from the Fitzcarraldo soundtrack) will stay with me all my life. At that moment you really do travel a million miles.” I can’t end this item without a quote from the man himself, Werner Herzog. But before I throw to Werner, I must urge you to read his writing as well as watch his films. Aside from being a brilliant filmmaker, he also has a remarkable way with words – and when this is combined with his questionable sanity you get gems like, “Look into the eyes of a chicken and you will see real stupidity. It is a kind of bottomless stupidity, a fiendish stupidity. They are the most horrifying, cannibalistic and nightmarish creatures in the world.” A cursory viewing of MTV may challenge that observation mind you…

Underground Quality label boss Jus-Ed, who played in Sydney at Mad Racket last year, has pencilled in a new album release for Mule Electronic this August, his first album released outside of his Underground Quality stable. Titled Vision Dance, all the cuts will be unreleased, and thankfully sans Ed’s trademark vocal interludes on the mic (anyone who has listened to his otherwise serene mix for Berlin’s Tape nightclub will know what I’m on about!).

The album will collect material created between the years of 2006-2011, with ‘This Shit Is Hot Re-Scrub’ being the earliest.

Any neophytes after a proper fix of quality deep house are advised to seek this album out when it drops; given the proliferation of disposable deep duds populating the market at present, I’m backing Jus-Ed to offer a stirring counterpoint. If past form is anything to go by, it’s a pretty safe bet he will.

For those who enjoyed the synth wizardry of Gavin Russom (aka The Crystal Ark) at Vivid LIVE over the weekend, Anthony Rother’s recent album The Machine Room is essential listening. The German electro producer, responsible for such classics in the genre as ‘Sex with the Machines’ and ‘Simulationszeitalter’, has crafted a more brooding and atmospheric album with this offering than he has previously.

Anchored by an array of swelling analogue synthesizers, The Machine Room provides an immersive listening experience; in fact, it is a fitting focus to end a column that begun with a discussion of virtuoso soundtracks, as it may yet be considered an obscure classic for electronic purists and aficionados in years to come. As an online reviewer declared, “The Machine Room doesn’t skimp on atmosphere; it is nothing but that and so much more”.

Allegedly limited to 300 copies, this is well worth the hunt (or download…)

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

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.

S

heffield-born producer Toddla T has his second album in the works.

Entitled Watch Me Dance, it’s out very soon through the Ninja Tune label, who inked Toddla on the strength of his debut 2009 release Skanky Skanky.

Soul Sedation is a huge fan of the man’s Fabriclive mix from the same year, it’s well worth going back for if you haven’t heard it.

The lead single from this new record, ‘Take It Back’, is a nostalgia-steeped early rave/ garage breakbeat track that features vocal contributions from British vocal royalty Shola Ama as well as newcomer J2K. The DJ Q mix of ‘Take It Back’ – which made it into the latest Nextmen podcast – is also heavy on a dancefloor 2-step/UK funky tip.

The Washington Post has reported that Parliament/Funkadelic’s Mothership – George Clinton’s spaceship-style stage prop that he toured around the US – will become part of a permanent music exhibit in the National Museum of African American History & Culture. The extensive musicbased exhibit, for which the museum is gathering artefacts now, will be open to the public in 2015.

Elefant Traks have inked the new Darwin duo, Sietta, to their roster. Sietta’s new single, ‘What Am I Supposed To Do’, is a slightly industrial sounding electro-bass tune, reminiscent of ‘90s Bristol trip hop, with heavy pop diva leanings; if you’re expecting Strine-tinged boom bap, then you’re off the mark. The track is a big performance from vocalist Caiti Baker, who I’d be inclined to suggest soaks up influences from acts like Sia, Björk and Adalita. Beatsmith James Mangohig works on laying down the foundations for Baker’s voice. The pair’s debut album, The Seventh Passenger, is due out late July, and you can catch them live in the flesh at the Vanguard next week, on Wednesday June 8.

In more Elefant Traks news, Joelistics’ debut solo record is out in its entirety. You’ve most probably heard ‘Glorious Feeling’ on jjj by now, and this column can assure you that the rest of the album is well worth checking out. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s got that early The Streets DIY vibe to it. Music for anyone who appreciates slightly off-kilter, yet intelligent, homemade beats and rhymes.

A recent single from Mayer Hawthorne, ‘No Strings’, has been remixed by both Classixx and DJ Jazzy Jeff. The Classixx remix is my pick of the pair, you can track it down through Stone’s Throw. Mr Hawthorne is getting ready to drop his second album this year – he’s just uploaded another new track, ‘A Long Time’, to iTunes. Get involved!

As part of Sydney Opera House’s annual GRAPHIC festival, Gotye will perform his forthcoming album, in its entirety, backed by a mini orchestra, with the cream of Australia’s animator crop taking care of visuals. Good luck getting tickets to that show, talk about in demand. GRAPHIC takes place August 20-21.

Reggae heads should keep their ears peeled for more freshness from Brighton reggae outfit The Resonators. Their second single, ‘Gold Getter’, has dropped off their forthcoming album on Wah Wah 45. The band brings a really great modern filter to

ON THE ROAD MAY 31, JUNE 1 & 2 OFWGKTA Sydney Opera House

THURSDAY JUNE 2 Sonny Rollins Sydney Opera House

SATURDAY JUNE 4 DJ Friction OAF Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Sydney Opera House

WEDNESDAY JUNE 8 Sietta The Vanguard

SATURDAY JUNE 18 Lyrics Born The Metro Theatre

THURSDAY JULY 28 James Blake Factory Theatre

SATURDAY AUGUST 27 Big Boi Enmore Theatre

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Big Boi dub and reggae; a very classy outfit that this column throws the full weight of its support behind. And yet another new British reggae act to surface is the East Park Reggae Collective, you can find a sensational tune of theirs – ‘Love Radar’ – on the First World Records compilation, Two Syllables Vol 5 (free to download at the First Word bandcamp page).

To local reggae: Katchafire are touring in June on the back of their new studio album On The Road Again. They’ll play The Enmore Theatre, Friday June 24, supported by This Version, another very competent up and coming local reggae outfit. This column is expecting to chart their rise over the course of the next couple of years.

This week sees Vivid LIVE officially underway, and the chatter surrounding the lineup of gigs is sure to overshadow most other happenings in Sydney. Hopefully you’re holding tickets to one of the three Odd Future shows (it will no doubt be entertaining to dissect public opinion on the “saviours of hip hop” next week), the Sonny Rollins performance, or the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble show on Saturday night (the US eight-piece is headed our way after completing two shows at London’s Jazz Café). But if you’re not holding said, or aren’t too much into any of that caper, there’s a proper DnB session at the Oxford Art Factory this Saturday, hosted by the Bass Drop crew and featuring DJ Friction, Spectrasoul and The Prototypes. Nice to see you everyone, good to chat, let’s do it again next week!

Katchafire

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CASH, EFTPOS, VISA OR MASTERCARD ACCEPTED C O D E : K W S B R AG 1 1 BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 57

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

club pick of the week Koolism

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

Tuned In Hip Hop Festival Koolism, Briggs, The Last Kinection, Tuka, Stunna Set $10 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) all proceeds go to Heaps Decent

Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am World Bar, Kings Cross Mondays at World Bar Mista Killa free 8pm

THURSDAY JUNE 2 Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill John Glover free 9pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Botanics free 9pm Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am The Gaff, Darlinghurst The College Party 9pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live OFWGKTA (USA) sold out 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby & Mush free (student)–$5 (at door) 9pm

FRIDAY JUNE 3

MONDAY MAY 30

World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Free Dubstep Party free 8pm

TUESDAY MAY 31 Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am The Gaff, Darlinghurst Coyote Tuesday Kid Finley, Johnny B free 9pm

Snob Scrilla

The Valve, Tempe Underground Tables Myme, Ato, Gee Wiz, Benji, BC, One Am, Allstars free 6pm World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, Djs Cris Angel, Nickles, Power Ballads free 8pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 1 Bank Hotel, Newtown Girls’ Night Miss Match free 9pm Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am Marlborough Hotel, Newtown DJ Moussa 11pm The Hive Bar, Erskineville Vinyl Club free 8pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live OFWGKTA (USA) sold out 10pm

FRIDAY JUNE 3 Bank Hotel, Newtown Friendly Fridays Jack McCord free 8pm Blue Hotel, Woolloomooloo Sarah J Hyland free 7pm Candy’s Apartmnt Liquid Sky Threesixteen, Detektives, Digital T $10-$15 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney NuTone Q-Bik, Assasin MC, Ritual, Reload, Mark Bionic, Autoclaws, E-cats $15-$20 10pm Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am Goldfish, Darlinghurst Funktank Mike OConnor, Fabz, Drop Dead Ed 9pm Home Nightclub Afrojack $49 9:30pm Jacksons on George Lenno, Aladdin Royale free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Joyride, Devola, Hobo, Boonie, Thadz $10 8pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 9pm Old Manly Boatshed Botanics 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Tuned In Hip Hop Festival Koolism, Briggs, The Last Kinection, Tuka, Stunna Set $10 (+ bf)–$15 (at door) 8pm The Factory Theatre, Enmore Change It For The Better Pez, Maya Jupiter, MC 361 $20 8pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live The Avalanches, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Canyons, Andee Frost sold out 10pm Tone Let’s Go Crazy All Prince Dance Party $5 Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Bring on the Weekend! DJ Matty Roberts free 9pm

The Avalanches Candy’s Apartment MooWho, Bass Thiefs, SlipperyWhenWet, Disco Volante, Zomg! Kittens $10$20 8pm Cargo Bar, Darling Harbour The Institute of Music 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Jesper Dahlback (Swe), Snob Scrilla, Punk Ninja, Trent Rackus, Kato, Dirtyd & Ahab, Nick!, Naiki, Georgias & Morgan, Marky Mark $15$25 9pm Civic Hotel Winter Opener Eoin Brosnan 8pm Coach and Horses Hotel, Randwick Retro Night free 8pm Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly Ben Morris, Kaiser, Olsen 8pm Empire Hotel, Darlinghurst Empire Saturdays Empire DJs free 9pm Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am GoodGod Small Club Danceteria Slow Blow DJ Dreamcatcher, DJ Junglesnake, Softwar, Mr Beard $5-$10 10pm Hollywood Hotel MOTION Dean Dixon (HAHA), Dave Fernandes (HAHA), DJ Burn-Hard, Northern Soul Poster Boy $5 8pm Hotel Chambers, Sydney Red Room Trey, Naiki, C-Major, Troy T 8pm Ivy, George St, Sydney Dirty Laundry Cadell, Sushi, Liam Sampras, Nat Conway, Adam Jacob $20 6pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Hypnotic Brass Ensemble $39 (B Res)–$55 (A Res) 8:30pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Bass Drop Friction (UK), Spectrasoul, The Prototypes, SP MC, Linken, Vertigo, MC D-Tech, Scott Woodhouse, Mylestone, H Lock, Paul Fraser, Juzio, Anomalous $37 (+ bf) 9pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Luca Antolini $20-$25 9pm

The Forbes Hotel, Sydney We Love Indie $10 9pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live 2 Many DJs (Belgium), Changes, Beni $50 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Whamtarctica! $15-$20 8pm Tonic Lounge Tan Cracker’s Soul Club Tom Tutton $10 9pm Watershed Hoted The Watershed Presents...

Skybar

SUNDAY JUNE 5 Alexandria Hotel Sunhaze Future Classic DJs free 2pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Picnic Sundays Kali 6pm Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am Fakeclub Spice James Taylor, Jaded $20 4am Jacksons on George Aphrodisiac Industry Night free 8pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Session DJ Tone free 7pm Petersham Bowling Club Sunday Jump Kojo $10 2pm Sweeney’s Rooftop Sundaes Hanna Gibb, Ty $10 12pm The Hive Bar, Erskineville Revolve Records DJs free 5pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid LIVE Gemma, Seymour Butz, Horse Meat Disco, Azari & III (Canada), Daniele Baldelli $40 10pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Azari & III (Canada) $25 7:30pm The Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction Anthony K, Demolition, Gee, Gary Honor free 4pm Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Afternoon DJs DJ Brynstar free 3pm World Bar, Kings Cross Disco Punx free 6pm

SATURDAY JUNE 4 Bank Hotel, Newtown Alex Almeida free 9pm Blue Hotel, Woolloomooloo Scott Pullen free 8pm Bungalow 8, Darling Harbour Bungalow Nights free 9pm

Maya Jupiter

“Hip Hip, Hip Hip Hooray / I wanna go home with you and I don’t even know your name” - SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM 58 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

club picks up all night out all week...

FRIDAY JUNE 3 Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Joyride, Devola, Hobo, Boonie, Thadz $10 8pm The Factory Theatre, Enmore Change It For The Better Pez, Maya Jupiter, 360 $20 (+ bf) 7pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live The Avalanches, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Canyons, Andee Frost, Shameless DJs sold out 10pm

SATURDAY JUNE 4

GoodGod Small Club Danceteria Slow Blow DJ Dreamcatcher, DJ Junglesnake, Softwar, Mr Beard $10 10pm Hollywood Hotel MOTION Dean Dixon (HAHA), Dave Fernandes (HAHA), DJ Burn-Hard, Northern Soul Poster Boy $5 8pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Bass Drop Friction (UK), Spectrasoul, The Prototypes, SP MC, Linken, Vertigo, MC D-Tech, Scott Woodhouse, Mylestone, H Lock, Paul Fraser, Juzio, Anomalous $37 (+ bf) 9pm

The World Bar, Kings Cross Whamtarctica! $15-$20 8pm The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live 2 Many DJs (Belgium), Cassian, Beni, Bamboo Musik, United Colours DJs sold out 10pm

SUNDAY JUNE 5 Fakeclub Spice James Taylor, Jaded $20 4am The Studio, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Azari & III (Canada) $25 7:30pm

Chinese Laundry, Sydney Jesper Dahlback (Swe), Snob Scrilla, Punk Ninja, Trent Rackus, Kato, Dirty D & Ahab, Nick!, Naiki, Georgia & Morgan, Marky Mark $15-$25 9pm Pez

2 Many DJ's

LABEL NIGHT | SYDNEY

PRESENTS

TWENTY4 COMPILATION LAUNCH FEATURING

JAMIE STEVENS CRAIG McWHINNEY NIC SCALI | TRINITY NICK McMARTIN DAVE STUART GET PHYSICAL/PINKSILVER

HAUL/PINKSILVER

HOUSE INSPECTION

PINKSILVER/BEEF

PINKSILVER

SHRUG

DOWNSTAIRS : WAX

CLAIRE MORGAN MAGDA BYTNEROWICZ KATE DOHERTY

HAUL

JACK/HAHA

SWARM

JUNE 10TH | 10PM TIL LATE $15 RA | $20 DOOR | MELT 12 KELLET STREET KINGS CROSS WWW.PINKSILVER.NET

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 59

snap sn ap

paddle emporium

PICS :: AS

up all night out all week . . .

20:05:11 :: LO-FI Collective :: Floor 3, 383 Bourke St Surry Hills

It’s called: Tuned In It sounds like: Rappity rap rap Who’s playing? The best Indigenous and non-In digenous acts around – Koolism, Briggs, The Last Kinection, Tuka, Stunna Set – plus DJs Nina Las Vegas, Joyride, Charlie Chux and more.

Sell it to us: We’re throwing a party for Recon ciliation Week, so we’ve crammed as many artists as we could into OAF. charge, so do your good deed and help suppo It’s a silly-cheap door rt the fine folks at Heaps Decent.

wham!

PICS :: DM

21:05:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Dancing your arse off to Koolism, feeling physically intimidated by Briggs, with small glimpses of sobriety amidst rowdy club swagger.

Crowd specs: Heaps decent folk who like good causes and even better music.

Wallet damage: $10 +b/f Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday June 3

bass brains

PICS :: AM

party profile

tuned in

strike bowling

PICS :: AM

20:05:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711

20:05:11 :: Strike Bowling Bar :: 22 The Promenade, King St Wharf 1300787453 60 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER ALICIA STARR :: CHY PEA MAS THO NGUYEN :: MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: VICKY

BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11 :: 61

gallery bar

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

chinese laundry

PICS :: AM

21:05:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711

20:05:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958

pigeon john

20:05:11 :: Tone :: 116 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills, 9267 6440

diggin' in the crates 20:05:11 :: GOODGOD :: 55 Liverpool St. Sydney 92673787 62 :: BRAG :: 414 :: 30:05:11

PICS :: AS

PICS :: AM

dj ember

PICS :: KC

It’s called: Pinksilver Label Night “Twenty4” Launch It sounds like: Avant-garde forward-thinking electr the realms of modern, offbeat house and hypno onic music that sits within tic techno.

DJs: Jamie Stevens, Craig McWhinney, Nic Scali, Trinity, Claire Morgan, Magda Bytnerowicz, Dave Stuar t, Kate Dohe rty and Nick McMartin Three records you’ll hear on the night: Defi nitely tracks from Pinksilver’s Twenty4 compilation, featuring 24 of Austra lia’s fi Michelle Owen, YokoO, Jamie Stevens, Trinity nest – including Deepchild, & Beyond, Darius Bassiray, Craig McWhinney, Forty6&Two, and many more.

And one you definitely won’t: We can guara ntee 152% that you will NOT hear Bloody Beetroots’ ‘Warp.’

Sell it to us: If you ever wanted to do some thing to support the local dance music scene, this is the event for you!

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Will be proportional to alcohol intake...

Wallet damage: $15 on Residentadvisor.net or $20 on the door Where: Melt / 12 Kellet Street, Kings Cross When: Friday June 10, 10pm - late

PICS :: AS

twenty4 launch party profile

0

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21:05:11 :: Fringe Bar :: 106 Oxford Street Paddington 93605443 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ALICIA STARR CHY PEA MAS THO :: YEN NGU MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: VICKY

A 12 WEEK COMPETITION SHOWCASING THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST YOUNG TALENT. NEXT TO THE AUDIO-TECHNICA LOUNGE ON LEVEL 1 WESTFIELD SYDNEY

THE MUSIC: No Drums, Marshall Amps or electric anything just your voice, and natural instruments.

Percussion is welcome as long as you use your hands not sticks. A vocal PA will be provided for Voice and acoustic guitar however acoustic amps are acceptable if you must. Double Bass is always encouraged!

HOW LONG WILL IT GO FOR? Heats and semis will run for 11 weeks with a grand final on August 18th THE WINNER: Winner will be announced in Brag magazine PRIZES INCLUDE: 1 pair of Audio-Technica M50 Pro Studio headphones valued at $299 $300 Westfield gift voucher

$2,500 dollars worth of recording time.

Gig at Surry Hills Cafe Lounge –Sin(on stage and intimate) WHEN: Thursday, 2nd June 2011 Audio Technica Level 1, Westfield Sydney JUDGES FOR THE GRAND FINAL INCLUDE: Wesley von Grabill – National brand manager Audio-Technica David Fesdekijan – National media manager for EMI and Capitol Records James McKenna - Allans Music + Billy Hyde Nick la Rosa – Producer for Neon Hear Dj’s

To enter please go to www.audio-technica.com.au

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