The Brag #416

+ NEW NAVY

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

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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

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

five things Growing Up My parents were never really 1. affiliated with music; they’re all about work and family orientation.

My mother likes Bryan Ferry and my father ZZ Top. Overall, they had a nice joint record collection, so the family BBQs were drenched in some romance and tit rock. In my early teens I spent a lot of time sitting in my room and teaching myself songs on guitar, but never actually had a lesson for any particular instrument. I don’t think that it has anything to do with where I’m at now. As much as I love what I am doing, I still could not give an actual answer as to how I got here.

Inspirations 60s girl groups and Phil 2.

Spector, for being the pioneers of pop music. Alan Vega and Martin Rev, for starting the coolest band in the world. Leslie Gore for dropping a power bomb like ‘You Don’t Own Me’. DAF, more industrial than a steel mill. The Ramones, first punk rock band ever... Some

MARC RC FROM MYTH & TROPICS

new bands I enjoy are Cold Cave, XX Teens, O. Children, Crocodiles and The Soft Moon.

we all have day jobs. We do not walk around the city unemployed telling everyone our occupation is ‘Musician’.

Your Crew I met Liam through 3. friends when we were

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

We love all of our Sydney band

in our late teens, in his hometown in Queensland.

We’ve travelled together, lived together and now play in a band together.

Rebecca has just joined us as our drummer and has fit in really well. We both adore her.

friends like Dark Bells, New Brutalists, The Gooch Palms and Mesculin Feminin. Aref, the man behind Low Bar and Low Records, is certainly making a positive change to the Sydney scene with all the shows he’s hosting – he’s now releasing singles on 7inches for unsigned bands. I can comfortably say he is Sydney music’s true hero.

The Music You Make Our sound has 4. a drone pop element alongside an industrial punk facet. We recorded our current single ‘Waikiki ‘71’ with our good friend Evan McHugh in my bedroom through an Mbox (budget option, but effective). It’s hard being a poor band. In saying that,

VENTS

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: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Cai Griffin, Ken Leanfore, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachy, Rosette Rouhanna COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant SALES/MARKETING MANAGER: Blakey Boo-Boos! We’ll miss you! Good luck!

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, Jemma Cole

It’s taken Aussie hip hop artist Vents four years to record a follow-up album to the triple j-loved Hard To Kill; so long, in fact, that we assumed some nutter took his album title as a personal challenge, and won. Turns out Vents was just in the studio with Trials (producer of Drapht’s ‘Rapunzel’, the only hip hop song to combine Kinks-style guitar with Tim-Tam-ad-genie-style rap) crafting a follow up. Marked For Death is the name of the album, and you’d better catch him at the July 16 launch at Beach Road Hotel, Bondi before a nutter takes that title as a personal challenge...

SYDNEY BLUES & ROOTS

Got the blues? Here are the options: a) Suicide. If you have ever watched M*A*S*H, you’ll have learnt that it’s painless.

If you’ve listened to Nirvana you’ll know suicide is deep, and if you’ve listened to Joy Division you’ll know that suicide turns mediocre dance tracks into works of tortured art, maan… Or: b) Go to the Sydney Blues and Roots

What: ‘Waikiki ’71’ is out now on Major Label With: New Brutalists Where: Low Bar, Darlinghurst When: Sunday June 19

More: generalpants.com.au/ MajorLabel

festival, have a great time and realise life is too short for that pesky depression. Check that lineup: Jeff Lang, Ash Grunwald, Jeff Martin (The Tea Party), The Break (Midnight Oil, without the bald guy), Chain, The Flood, Bondi Cigars and many more. It’s on October 28-30 and if that’s not enough bands for you, the second lineup drops July 1.

Tickets on sale now.

MAJOR LABEL

Major Label, the indie singles label with a better roster than any major label, have just scooped up three more of the best new bands in the country and are shouting loud about it. The new signings are Olympic Ayres, the two-piece who started playing CooleyHighHarmony at parties before deciding to record their own cool high harmonies; Myth and Tropics, who sound like Toto on ecstasy (although I assume that would just involve bearded middle-aged men talking for five hours about African harmonies?) and Crops, a guy called Adam who mixes synth and early house beats with a superior ability to write songs.

Jen Cloher

FACTORY STORM

Last time I heard the phrase “Storm In A Teacup” was when I booted out my flatmate for using my DVD of Gilmore Girls Season 4 as a coaster. It didn’t apply then, but it certainly applies to the mix of folksy loveliness that’s getting set to play Factory Theatre on Friday June 17. Tinpan Orange, Harry James, Jordie Lane, Jen Cloher, Husky and Liz Martin will be collaborating in a way not seen since that crossover Boston Public/The Practice episode; a two-hour folk set, singing duets, playing songs together and pretending the world isn’t an empty shell of selfishness. We’re all in this together,as Ben Lee/the cast of High School Musical sang – so sing it loud. (Not too loud though, you’ll drown out the acoustic guitars...)

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Joshua Blackman, 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, Hugh Robertson, Romi Scodellaro, Rach Seneviratne, RK, Luke Telford, Rick Warner Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 8 Malborough Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag.

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Art Work, Ad Bookings Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Ad Cancellations Tuesday 4pm Published by Cartrage P/L ACN 104026388 All content copyrighted to Cartrage 2003 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get The Brag? Email distribution@furstmedia. com.au or 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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STRANGELOVE MAGAZINE

Cut Off Your Hands

CUT OFF YOUR HANDS @ LAST NIGHT

Last time we went to a Cut Off Your Hands gig they were called Shaky Hands, Last Night was called Purple Sneakers, and we were called by Alan’s mum and asked why he’d come home with a witch’s hat and then passed out in the kitchen. By all accounts, the name change hasn’t changed Cut Off Your Hands’ live show - the NZ indie four-piece are still guaranteed to jump around on everything they see (stacks, drumkit, you). They’ll be playing Last Night at The Gaelic on Friday June 17, backed up by Step-Panther and Only The Sea Slugs, before Indian Summer, PhDJ, M.I.T and Randall Stagg spin every single tune that you didn’t know you wanted to hear.

First things first (I’ll eat your brains), Strangelove magazine is a monumental achievement, and you should all read the first issue and save the print industry. But if you are just into gigs and beer and that, get along to the magazine’s official launch on Tuesday June 14 at Oxford Art Factory, and check out Ghoul as they croon and blip the night away. Also performing on the night is Oscar + Martin, Evil J & Saint Cecelia, Heath Franco and Sands Through The Hourglass, with Dave Graney reading from his book and fronting a Q+A. The magazine is amazing, too: long features, photo essays and fresh angles, with Toby Creswell as editor-inchief - the guy from Juice and Rolling Stone Australia.

Radio Star photo by Jeremy Williams

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rock music news

free stuff

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

he said she said WITH

CLAIRE EDWARDES OF ENSEMBLE OFFSPRING

A

lthough my parents weren’t musos, I was desperate to learn music as a young child. I began playing piano when I was five, and later flute. I didn’t start percussion till late primary school, though - I was desperate to play with other people in wind bands and make some loud noise (which ruled out the flute).

My big percussion inspiration as a high school student was Synergy Percussion.

Their concerts were highlights of my year, and I lapped up the weird and wacky stuff they performed at the ABC Centre in Ultimo.

Other inspirations over the years have been Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, the symphonies of Beethoven and Shostakovich, the music of Steve Reich and Philip Glass and more recently Gotye, Sufjan Stevens, and Holly Throsby’s children’s music.

Ensemble Offspring is made up of some of the most eclectic classical- and jazztrained musos in Sydney. Veronique Serret, our violinist, plays with Joanna Newsom and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Geoff Gartner on cello recently guested with the Sydney Dance Company and bassist Dave Symes plays with Missy Higgins and loads of other bands. We are all connected by our education at the Sydney Conservatorium – most of us went through the Con at about the same time in the mid-to-late 90s.

Domeyko/Gonzalez

HOPE, SMOKE AND EVERYTHING

Indie folk darling Jack Carty is hitting the road this July with indie darling folkster Jordan Millar and that folksy darling of indie, Leroy Lee. The three handsome troubadours will be embarking on the ‘Hope, Smoke and Everything’ tour, which hits FBi Social on July 14, at Kings Cross Hotel.

Michael Chugg awarded Jordan Millar “Best Tasmanian Artist”, which kinda undermines all the good work Abel Tasman has done… Check out this show, it’ll be well worth it.

RED, WHITE AND CRUE

We’ve all read The Dirt and marvelled at the rock and roll decadence, and the lack of AIDS the band members caught. And now the band with tight jeans and loose morals (Mötley Crüe) are coming down under to tear Australia a new one. They are bringing along Bret Michaels too, the frontman of Poison who is diabetic and needs to inject himself with insulin six times a day (true story). This makes him, what, the fifth highest needle user on this tour bus? September 23 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre; tickets on sale June 21.

‘Professor Bad Trip’ is composed by an Italian guy called Fausto Romitelli, and it sounds a bit like classical music on drugs. The small orchestra is completely amplified and includes instruments like electric guitar, bass guitar and keyboard, giving it a rock music flavour. It is extremely virtuosic and every instrumentalist has to play to the limits of their physical capabilities - definitely not something a real orchestra would ever take on! The music is inspired by the drug-fuelled writings of Henri Michaux and the wonderful psychedelic colours and style of the Italian cartoonist Gianluca Lerici.

This is the first time this work will have ever been heard in Australia, after dozens of performances in Europe and the USA. Our biggest challenge is finding money to support what we do. It is really expensive to present the projects we like to put on, and to tour our musicians around Australia and the world. But the scene itself is really thriving at the moment, which is really good for our audience development and support – these are exciting times for what we call “new” music!

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

LIAM FINN

Remember when Liam Finn released his debut album I’ll Be Lightning and you thought your life was complete? Sorry to say it, but you were wrong. Not only is Liam’s second album FOMO about to rock your world, but he’s backing it up with an appearance at Splendour In The Grass as well as a tour of his very own, which hits Sydney on August 26 at Oxford Arts Factory. Obviously we’d like your life to be complete once more - so we’re going to give three of you not only a copy of the bearded troubadour’s album, but a nifty tote bag to go with it. All you gotta do is tell us the name of Liam’s new single.

KATCHAFIRE

It’s not easy to find good reggae – except right now when Katchafire are releasing records and announcing tours all over the place. These guys know what they’re doing; their album On The Road Again is pretty much platinum in their hometown of New Zealand. BRAG has one double pass for their Sydney show at The Enmore Theatre on June 24 - and if you want it, you just gotta tell us why you need some good reggae in your life.

Who: Ensemble Offspring presents ‘Professor Bad Trip’ Where: Bay 20 at CarriageWorks, Eveleigh When: Saturday June 18

KILBEY & MAYMI

There’s some story about a mythic genius junkie poet called David Neil who died too soon and never left his mark and blah blah blah - but all we care about is that Steve Kilbey, from the only church we can rely upon for true solace, comfort and answers (The Church) and Ricky Maymi from Brian Jonestown Massacre (as seen in that documentary you always get drunk and talk about) are teaming up for a July 7 show at Notes in Newtown. It’s in support of The Wilderness Years, a collection of songs from this mythic genius junkie poet David Neil…

Ruby Rose

PINBACK, PADDYWHACK

Californian indie-rockers Pinback mix power pop, folk and reggae in a completely sublime way. Four albums in and they’ve realised that Australians love them, so they’d better come down under, right? Plus the dollar is better, the girls are prettier and the surf is exactly the same but it’s winter, so who gives a shit? (Rhetoric question; please don’t write in). They’ll be at the Manning Bar on August 20, and tickets are on sale now.

NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA

Parades

The third and final New Weird Australia gig at FBi Social is coming up this Thursday June 16, and it looks like they’ve saved the best til last.

It’ll be headlined by local collective Forenzics, for whom we are coining a new genre: Post Noise-Psych Drone Art-Rock. Also on the bill are our favvies Domeyko/Gonzalez who are launching their awesome mini-album, No Way Back – as well as Jusgo Mosh and Robot House, with visuals from Redcell. New Weird Australia have been collecting the best in experimental and eclectic tunes for exactly two years now – so if on the night you see Stu Buchanan, the ever delightful genius behind it, buy him a Happy Birthday beer, yeah?

GANGSTERS’ BALL

FITZ & THE TANTRUMS

If Wham! were based in Detriot in 1965 instead of various cottage-stalls in London circa 1985, they would sound like Fitz & The Tantrums; Motown stomp with an ‘80s twist. We love them, and Dew Process love them too - enough to sign them for an Aussie deal. The LA six-piece will be playing The Basement on July 27 while they’re down here for Splendour In The Grass.

Get along and pretend you liked them before anyone else.

First they brought us The Go! Team, then they brought us Bag Raiders – and now, Live On The Lanes at Strike Bowling in Darling Harbour have asked Ruby Rose and Andy Murphy & Generik to take over the decks while you bowl your arm off. Mixing booze with live tunes and bowling is one of those ideas that we can’t believe didn’t happen sooner – and also, the event is free. Head to Strike at King Street Wharf on Thursday June 23, and remember to wear socks.

MAJOR RAISER DO GOOD THINGS

Major Raiser is a pretty great initiative, hosting live music events to raise awareness and funds for youth charities. Their next event is coming up on July 16 at The Gaelic Theatre, and they’ve booked Parades, Bon Chat Bon Rat, Rufus, The Lockwoods (U2’s new favourite band? Google it) and Boats of Berlin to play. The designated charity this time is Australian Youth Against Cancer – for more info, head to majorraiser.com

Dust off your fedora, fluff up your feathers and find out what spats are; it’s time for the Gangsters’ Ball. This year’s 1930s & 1940s extravaganza features The Velvet Set – a ten piece swing band – along with aerial artists, sideshow vaudeville, burlesque, a photobooth, roulette, poker & black jack, and the dance competition where you perve on all the rockabilly couples. It lands at The Metro Theatre on Saturday September 3, so you’ve got a couple of months to paint those tiny stripes up and down your three-piece suit.

DANCE NEWS? WHERE? BRAG’S got a whole new dance section! Flip to the back for it.

“Silver spoon and needle, witchy tombstone smile. I’m no puppet. I engrave my veins with style,”- MOTLEY CRUE 10 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

Ruby Rose by Daniel Boud

LIVE ON THE LANES

ROYSTON

VASIE

Welcome to the Pop Bou que EP ‘Terribly Impressive’ - BEAT ‘A wild tantrum of raw electrifying sound’ - TONEDEAF ‘Such a big sound’ - FASTER LOUDER

Featuring singles ‘Wreck Your Health’ & ‘Pop Bou que’ As heard on Triple J & 3RRR

OUT THROUGH SHOCK

IN STORES 17 JUNE ‘POP BOUTIQUE’ SINGLE LAUNCH SATURDAY 25 JUNE - THE TOFF Second Floor Curtain House, 252 Swanston St, Melbourne ckets available through mosth x.com.au and Polyester Records with special guests MONEY FOR ROPE + THE RUN RUN

roystonvasie.com

KOBRA KAI

+THE BOTANICS +JC +MIKE WHO

THURSDAY 8PM

JUNE 16TH

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 11

The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Industry Music News with Christie Eliezer

Lifelines Expecting: Lauryn Hill and longtime boyfriend Rohan Marley, their sixth child.

Recovered: Richie Sambora is out of rehab, and has rejoined the Bon Jovi tour.

Jailed: Ja Rule, for criminal weapon possession and unpaid taxes.

Jailed: Phony music promoter Antywan Ross for 21 months, for bilking a New Jersey investor of $330,000 for nonexistent Mariah Carey concerts in Dubai.

Died: Former Allmans Bros Band drummer David Toler, 59, from ill-health following a liver transplant two years ago.

Died: British record producer Martin Rushent, 63. He worked with The Stranglers, XTC, Human League, Fleetwood Mac, Generation X and T-Rex among others, and was father of Does It Offend You, Yeah? guitarist James.

Died: Long time CBS and Sony exec Steve Popovich, 68. He played a key role in the careers of Jackson 5, Meat Loaf and Johnny Cash.

APRA SWEATS OUT DEAL WITH GYMS

The Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) struck a deal with Fitness Australia for its 67,000 songwriter and publishing members. Rates paid by fitness centres for the use of their music will rise from next month. It will be phased in over a two-year period, for a five-year licence term. Fitness Class Operators must select from one of two rates at the beginning of each year, to apply for that year. The first tariff starts at $1.50 per class and will be increasing to over $2.50 + CPI in the fifth year. The second tariff starts at 90 cents per class with 10 or less customers and $2.10 per class with over 10 participants, and builds up to $1.50 per class for 10 or less customers, and $3.50 per class + CPI in the fifth year. “APRA anticipates a 160% increase on existing revenue from fitness class rates when the new rate is fully phased in,” APRA’s head of policy and business development told this column.

BOMB THREAT FOR STA FM…

STA FM in Inverell, NSW had to be evacuated after a bomb hoax. At 6:30pm, a male muffling his voice rang to say there was a bomb in the station’s office in Otho Street. The presenter who took the call grabbed important documents and got everyone out. Police, with fire fighters and ambulances, were at the site for two hours and are now trying to trace the caller.

…AND BOMB SCARE FOR DARWIN RADIO

MIX 1049 Darwin has a morning show segment called “Tradio” where listeners trade items on air. Rather than phone in about wanting to trade a 20kg “dead” bomb for a V8 Hot Pass ticket, one genius decided to walk into the studio carrying the aforementioned bomb, which he said he’d picked up from a bombing range 15 years ago. Cue two members of the Defence Force bomb squad charging into the studio to grab it, and announcers Rick Knight and Lisa Pellegrino asking them if they wanted to trade anything….

GAGA: ROMANCING THE UK, NOT LEBANON

Lady Gaga was the most played artist in Britain last year on radio and in bars and restaurants. Her ‘Bad Romance’ topped the airplay charts, while ‘Alejandro’ was #3. At the second spot was Alicia Keys’ ‘Empire State Of Mind’. At #4 was Plan B’s ‘She Said’, followed by Kylie Minogue’s ‘All The

Lovers’, Olly Murs’ ‘Please Don’t Let Me Go’, Ke$ha’s ‘Tik Tok’, Florence and the Machine’s ‘Rabbit Heart’ and Train’s ‘Hey, Soul Sister’, with Kings of Leon’s ‘Sex On Fire’ rounding off the Top 10. The list was provided by PPL, which collects airplay royalties on behalf of artists and record labels, who took in a record £143.5m last year, up 11% on 2009. But don’t expect Gaga to be topping the charts in Lebanon.

The country has banned the Born This Way album, deeming it “offensive to Christianity.”

It earlier banned the ‘Judas’ single from radio, and we won’t even go into the crucifix that hangs from her leather undies…

CONVAIRE WIN SPANK! ORIGINALS

Sydney band Convaire won the Spank!

Originals competition, run by Future Classic and Spank! Records. The quest was for the most exciting, new, original tracks in Australia. This honour fell to Convaire’s ‘Troy’ from almost 500 entries. The $15,000 prize pool includes a digital & vinyl release and development deal with Future Classic, a home studio from Native Instruments and Arturia, plus a day’s recording, mixing and mastering with Studios 301.

THREE FROM GENERAL PANTS

The one-off releases by General Pants’ label Major Label have led to greater things for some: Guineafowl got signed

by Dew Process, Felicity Groom cleaned up the recent WAMi awards in Perth with six wins, and Brian from Places, People is about to issue his debut album. Major Label’s signings for June are Sydney electro-experimentalist Olympic Ayres, Sydney ‘tropical punk’ innovators Myth And Tropics, and Melbourne bedroom producer Crops.

Bros. NZ-born Kimbra relocated to Melbourne to make her debut album Vows with producer Francois Tetaz. Her first two singles got picked up by triple j, 500 bloggers mentioned her, and one video got half a million views on YouTube. Her manager Mark Richardson of Outpost Management said of the Warner deal, “She will have access to a wealth of expertise to help build her creative and commercial future. Artist development is in their DNA.”

WANNA WORK AT MUSICNSW?

MusicNSW is looking for someone to take over the Executive Officer position while Eliza Sarlos goes on maternity leave.

The not-for-profit association was set up to support the creative and economic expansion of the contemporary music industry in NSW. The Sydney-based gig is part-time (four days per week) and pays pro rata of $65,000 p.a. plus a 9% superannuation contribution. To apply, email your CV with a cover letter and a statement addressing the selection criteria by June 20 to Eliza Sarlos, Executive Officer, PO Box K497, Haymarket NSW. See musicnsw.com for more.

NEW BONDI WAVE COURSES

Bondi Wave has some new weekend courses running this month and in July.

Nick Bainsbridge will run one on audio recording (setting up, mixing, latest software) on Saturday June 18 and 25, between 11am and 4pm. Brendan Gallagher, Tania Bowra and Jason Rooke take on a songwriting workshop and masterclass on Saturday July 16 and 23, on developing your ideas and how to finish off your songs-in-progress to workshop. For more info, call the Music Coordinator at the Bondi Pavilion on 8362 3400.

BRAG, TMN MOVE OFFICES

COLDPLAY DENY NICKING SONG

Coldplay have been accused of nicking other peoples’ stuff in the past, by guitar hero Joe Satriani (who settled out of court two years ago), Cat Stevens and singer-songwriter Don Gallagher. They’re copping it again on their new single ‘Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall’ – which bloggers have pointed out sounds just like Mystic’s 1990 dance track ‘Ritmo de la Noche’. Chris Martin agrees he has loved the track ever since he heard it in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s movie Biutiful, but Coldplay point out that the Mystic track is based on the late Aussie Peter Allen and Adrienne Anderson’s 1976 maracas shaker ‘I Go To Rio’, who are credited on the Coldplay song.

WARNER BROS INKS KIMBRA

Fast rising nu-soul singer-songwriter Kimbra signed a global deal with Warner

The Brag and The Music Network have moved to 8 Marlborough Street, Surry Hills 2010. Contact numbers remain the same.

PARKLIFE BEST FEST

Parklife was listed by the international edition of CNN as one of the best summer music festivals in the world. The list included England’s Glastonbury and Bestival, America’s Bonnaroo, Pitchfork and Summerfest, Denmark’s Roskilde, Vojvodina’s Exit and Japan’s Fuji Rock.

DEW PROCESS SIGN FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS

Dew Process have signed LA’s rising “muso’s musos” band Fitz And The Tantrums. The band is bringing its mix of Motown and ‘80s pop to two club shows in Sydney and Melbourne before their set at Splendour In The Grass. Their debut album

THINGS WE HEAR

* Making its rounds on the internet: a video from a U2 show in Helsinki last year, where Bono introduces their new song ‘Glastonbury’ as “This is for our new biggest influence, (Sydney band) The Lockwoods”. * After getting mucked about last year by the NSW State Government over holding a New Years Eve show in Sydney headlined by Sting, promoter Andrew McManus Presents is giving it another go. He has been talking to the present regime about a New Year’s Eve concert for 40,000 at Glebe Island.

Names like Springsteen, Black Eyed Peas and the Stones have been bandied about as headliners. So far, the parties have just been talking. * Will we see Rod Stewart here in February? And hip hopper Aesop Rock in October? And Justin Timberlake next year? * US fish flying fans are pissed at Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler.

Since he appeared as a judge on American Idol wearing rooster feathers in his hair, it has become an A1 fashion accessory.

Everyone wants to buy the hard-

Kimbra

Lily Allen

Pickin’ Up the Pieces is now streamed on fitzandthetantrums.com

SONGSALIVE! AUSTRALIA LAUNCHED

Songsalive! co-founders Gilli Moon and Roxanne Kiely have launched Songsalive! Australia to run independently of Songsalive!. The pair set up Songsalive! in Sydney in 1997. It found success abroad and Moon moved to LA two years later to set up a chapter there, while Kiely ran the Aussie arm until it got too difficult to cater to both Australian and overseas writers. Kiely will run Songsalive! Australia as President, with her husband Stephen as Vice President and Creative Director, with their team of Keith Holden, Rita Bratovich, Eleanor Baker, Russell Neal, Dom Gannon and Paul Kougias. Moon will run Songsalive! in LA as President, with David Harvey as Executive Director and a team across North America and Europe.

TAX PROTESTERS TO TARGET U2 AT GLASTONBURY

Irish protesters will target U2 when they play the Glastonbury festival to protest at how the band shifted parts of its business affairs from Ireland to the Netherlands five years ago. A group called Art Uncut says that this avoiding of tax has had an impact on schools and hospitals in Ireland. They won’t disrupt the Glastonbury show, but will put up a large inflatable banner with the slogan ‘Bono Pay Up’ in lights. Meantime, why did Bono do a call-out to Canadian ice hockey star Gilbert Brule at their Vancouver show last week? Because earlier in the day, the singer and his assistant had gone for a walk and got caught in heavy rain, and were thumbing for a lift. Brule picked him up.

to-get feathers which are used by fly fishermen, and tackle suppliers are running out of stock. * Insurer Lloyd’s Of London is refusing to pay out $17.5 million to promoter AEG Live, over the cancelled 50-date run in London

by Michael Jackson. It says AEG didn’t tell them about the singer’s addiction to prescription drugs, or details about his personal physician. * A 12-year-old English DJ Ted Lavender – aka Ted At The Controls – scored the dream gig of playing at Lily Allen’s celebrity-studded wedding on the weekend, after he sent her his demo. * Among items thrown onto the stage at Def Leppard shows through the years: dildos, underwear, ninja stars, scissors and, er, a live cat. * Universal execs are denying that legendary label Motown is being folded, after Erykah Badu, a Motown artist, tweeted that it was. * Brian McFadden went out clubbing with cast members after a taping of Dancing With The Stars, and had such a good night he can’t remember how he woke up with a ‘W’ shaved into his hairy chest.

“Gigolo sounds so cold Call me teacher’s pest. Twice a day, double pay, at my trade I’m the best,”- MOTLEY CRUE 12 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 13

sound,” muses Rogers. “[T]he last record I paid no real attention to the sound – well I did, but it was much more about the songs, and about me... I think this one was much more about creating the sound-worlds that the songs could inhabit, and I think it needed that other element - The Dreamlanders thing - to help give a name to the sound. And those guys are all experts in their field, and they did contribute a lot to the record, but the songs were quite well-defined before going in to the studio as far as melodies and rhythms go.”

By ‘studio’, Rogers is referring to the castle in Yass, in country Victoria, where they recorded Hurtsville last year. The band holed up there with the current go-to local producer, Burke Reid, and stayed up until all hours throwing sounds at the old walls to see what stuck.

“We did hours and hours of Kirin just making obscene [guitar] noises at five in the morning,” Rogers recalls. “And for [lead single] ‘Cold Feet’, Kirin did a great job on that, and it was amazing recording it. I remember walking on the roof while he was recording in this big atrium chamber that goes three stories straight up; I was walking on the roof and I could hear it all perfectly. Burke did a great job of capturing that three-dimensional sound.”

But while it’s easy to dwell on the atmospherics, the songwriting also demands attention. The album is only eight tracks long, but none clock in at under five minutes; the longest, the title track, is eight minutes flat. “I guess I was working on eliminating choruses,” explains Rogers. “When I first started writing songs it was [about] coming up with the big catchy chorus idea, and I realised that that was very time-consuming within songs, and kinda boring, because you’re repeating the same thing over and over again. What I wanted to do was have very short little choruses that happen more frequently but don’t go for as long, which gives you a lot more time to paint a picture of a situation, or a story.”

T

im Rogers – Tim to his mum, local lanky crooner Jack Ladder to the rest – is definitely over the Nick Cave Thing.

“People have been saying ever since [the first album that] I sounded like Nick Cave,” he sighs in his dry, drawling baritone, down the phone from his place in the Blue Mountains.

“And I didn’t sound anything like him at all, other than having a low voice - and it wasn’t even that low. And people thought it was dark and brooding, and it wasn’t really dark at all...

But now it kind of is a bit like that. I don’t really care about that stuff anymore. I’m just trying to work with what I’ve got – I’m not going to turn around and sing falsetto, because I can’t really do that.”

The mind boggles at that image. While “what he’s got” is certainly one of those distinctive Cave-Cohen-Berninger baritones, Rogers avoided the lowest registers on his last album, the AMP-nominated sophomore effort Love Is Gone – more comparisons were made to David Byrne’s idiosyncratic, jerky croon. But these days he has to embrace the comparisons to a degree, because with

Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders’ new album Hurtsville, they’re staring you right in the ears. Blanketed with reverb, Kirin J Callinan’s expansive, eerie guitar tones and impossibly widescreen production, the third Jack Ladder album leaves behind the bare-bones rock’n’roll of Love Is Gone, apparently for good. Instead, there’s wry gloom and bleak romance, couched in the vernacular of the darkest, most atmospheric pop. It plays like a jukebox on random in a Marrickville pub, flicking through Triffids and Roxy Music cuts, riddled with familiar-sounding licks and subliminal Oils shoutouts. Rogers’ gravelly croon drips gravitas on ‘Blinded By Love’, a ‘Wild Roses’-esque ballad in ¾ time - there’s a Gothic, lugubrious sexiness that owes a debt to nobody so much as Cave, and despite his initial resistance, Jack Ladder sounds more comfortable there than ever before.

Rogers acknowledges that such a remarkable shift in an artist’s sound doesn’t happen in a vacuum. “I can’t argue that when Kirin started playing with us, things changed,” he admits.

“We were playing the old songs, and Kirin just

doesn’t play blues. Or rock’n’ roll, even. But the ideas that he brought to what we were doing,” he trails. “And I’d totally changed the way I was thinking about things as well. So I was very willing to do [older] songs like ‘Love Is Gone’ or ‘Case Closed’, but doing them at half-speed, and letting them open up space for the vocal.

And being able to fit the phrasing in... I was racing things too much [before], and working on standard pop song tempos when it’s really not that comfortable for me as a singer. I work slow, and low, and I was trying to sing higher and break my voice. It’s about becoming comfortable with what my range is. And I think that helps a lot.”

‘The Dreamlanders’, it should be noted, doesn’t necessarily refer to the all-star cast of musicians behind Rogers on this record. The band – Callinan, PVT’s Laurenz Pike, and recent Rice Is Nice signing Donny Benet – is hardly a lineup to fade into the background, but the moniker refers more to the sound they create than the men themselves. “I think I was a little short-sighted in making it [sound like] a band as such. It’s more of an idea of the

The title track – a bleak, mildly apocalyptic paean to the suburbs – is based on a structure Rogers compares to Hank Williamsstyle, country-folk songwriting – think Bob Dylan’s ‘Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’, which eschews chorus in favour of that one hook of a phrase at the end of each verse (and is not known for its brevity either). When I raise this comparison, the conversation turns to Dylan’s recent tour, and Rogers starts rattling off the envy-inducing list of great songwriters he saw in one 12-month period: Lou Reed in New York, Tom Waits in Ireland, Leonard Cohen on his last Australian tour. “And it was very telling – who could sustain that same sort of energy, and faith in their own songs?” says Rogers. Reed was “hard work”, he says, in a tiny club with an overbearing house band; but “[Cohen] didn’t have to mess with the formula, because the songs are so well-written, he’d just pined over every word – he was able to deliver the same thing with the same intensity, because nothing is insignificant or disposable.

“And I guess I sort of realised at that point that that would be the kind of song I would like to write. But you can’t just decide to do that,” he hurries to add, as if I’m about to mistake him for someone who’s done just that. “You have to work really hard... And I work really hard at music. I spend a lot of time trying to write songs, with moderate success – I think I did an OK job, but there’s a long way to go.”

Who: Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders What: Hurtsville is out now on Spunk Records Where: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel When: Saturday June 18

“Handful of grease in my hair feels right but what I need to make me tight are girls,”- MOTLEY CRUE 14 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

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

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 15

Gurrumul His Own Space

By Melanie Lewis

“G

urrumul’s one of few musicians I work with that brings complete arrangements.

He’ll do beautiful, subtle things like write verses with phrases of three, but the final verse in four. Occasionally [I make a suggestion], but I don’t ever want to be seen as someone who rearranges things.” Three lines from Michael Hohnen – producer and double bass player for indigenous phenomenon Gurrumul Yunupingu – define their long collaboration. Away from the studio in Australia’s top end, it can appear a curious partnership... “I’m totally fine with it now - but sometimes, in public, I notice people watch us,” Michael admits. Two fortyish men from opposite backgrounds, walking armin-arm as Michael guides his blind, cane-less friend around. “More people know who he is now, but in earlier days people were intrigued.”

I suggest that the attention might just be a simple interest in who is leading who. “Yeah,” Michael agrees. “We both sort of lead each other.” He recalls drama class trust exercises at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), where one falls back into another’s waiting arms. “I do that as much with him as he has to with me. [We’ve known each other] for so long that what we do has a much bigger effect than what we say.”

The relationship between Hohnen and Yunupingu must be explored in order to understand the artist himself. You won’t extract anything from Gurrumul: he famously leaves press to Hohnen. Avoiding interviews is “to do with him being quoted, actually,” Hohnen explains - and when I ask about Gurrumul’s relaxed poise in recent Rolling Stone photographs, Michael tells me Gurrumul never would have posed if it wasn’t for Dr. Hook. The band’s song ‘Cover Of The Rolling Stone’ is an old favourite of Gurrumul’s, and the only real reference the blind man had to any music publication. “It was an anomaly: four years working with him in the media, then going, ‘Oh, Rolling Stone want to…’ and he was like, [animated], ‘Yo, yo, yo! Manymak! [okay!]’. I said we’d have to go to Sydney and still, ‘Yo, yo, yo!’. Adrian Cook, the photographer, was very sensitive but it all looked a bit formal. Then I took Gurrumul’s shoes off. He said, ‘Yaka yaka, don’t take my shoes off!’, but it achieved great balance.”

When putting together his much-anticipated second album, Rrakala, Yunupingu valued Hohnen’s advice - though Hohnen chose carefully his moments to offer it. “He puts so much effort into making it right he’ll leave other decisions to me… He’d probably love [to have deferred more], but Rrakala’s about presenting [the] Gurrumul that people don’t know.”

With that brief, more of Yunupingu himself was able to shine through. For instance, his piano playing, which Hohnen describes as delicate and special.

“Most people play melody right-handed, chords in the left but he plays both hands as a block together – he’s never watched anyone else play.” The songs too “are more to do with him and his own clan,” and even the work’s physicality came from the man himself: “The album’s name, the artwork – he described what he wanted. You don’t live that long, so you have to do what speaks to you the strongest.

What he and I did on Rrakala followed that priority.”

‘Warwu’ is a standout track on the album; I felt like crying when I first listened to it. “I remember that sense when he did the harmonies for it,” Michael says. “It’s funny, people take it as a sad album but it’s different from sadness. It’s to do with nostalgia; wanting to be in that place that gives you harmony, peace, connection with ancestors. …With the technological onslaught most people are on a trajectory away from [that] – but most people want that connection.” Gurrumul manages to provide exactly that; it’s incredible how evocative an image can be, conjured by a story in another language told in a few lines by a man who’s never seen.

“The song ‘Banbirrngu’,” Hohnen relates, “I heard the demo and said, ‘I love this. I want it played at my funeral.’ Gurrumul laughed. ...But we got to translation and it is a funeral song. It’s curious how strong the sentiment comes across with us not really getting [a lyrical explanation] from him.”

“You’re surfing; you get on the wave, it carries you. It’s not some intellectual experience. It’s a very felt, unaffected performance.”

While Hohnen’s Melbourne High School and VCA education sharply contrasts Gurrumul’s selftuition on homemade instruments, it’s their shared appreciation of music’s power that forms the basis of their creative connection. “I’ve had experiences playing jazz where you stop having to think. Working with Gurrumul, you get that feeling. You’re surfing; you get on the wave, it carries you. It’s not some intellectual experience you’re going through. It’s a very felt, unaffected performance,” he says. “I listen to most pop music thinking, ‘Oh God, they’re trying.’

To fit in, make it into the charts, to be successful.”

Michael imagines all music as a pie chart. “In contemporary charts there’s this tiny wedge of music that’s all the same… and everyone’s competing for that wedge,” he says, incredulous.

Avoiding the wedge makes small victories large.

“We did this Creole-Aboriginal ‘Waltzing Matilda’, and 2GB flogged it. Little breakthroughs are rewarding when you’re working out of Aboriginal Australia. You don’t expect that.” Humble is the man who saw Gurrumul to the world stage, to the Australian charts and to the receipt of ARIA, Deadly and AIR awards.

For Hohnen, extra validation came from Steve Macklam, the manager of Norah Jones and Elvis Costello. “’You’re working with someone who’s not derivative. I’m not sure what genre you’ve created, but it’s got its own space,’ [Macklam said]. It’s like a big bookshelf. You push a few books aside and suddenly you’ve made space for another classic book. I love that idea.”

What: Rrakala is out now on Skinnyfish, through MGM 16 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

ensemble offspring PROFESSOR BAD TRIP mind altering classical music

SATURDAY 18 JUNE 8PM TICKETMASTER.COM.AU This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

ensembleoffspring.com

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 17

Tex Perkins She’ll Be Right By Duncan Idaho

B

eautiful Kate is a disturbing and brilliant Australian film, but while the performances, imagery and screenplay are all excellent, much of its greatness lies in the stunning soundtrack that burns under the screen. The music was created by Tex Perkins and Murray Paterson, and the same gents have collaborated once more as Tex Perkins and the Dark Horses, to release another powerful and engaging set of songs.

I was thrilled to speak with Perkins, the former frontman of The Cruel Sea - and more than a little nervous. I’d expected him to be gruff and laconic; the dilapidated rock star thing that seems to set in sometime after the age of thirty - or indeed at the age of twenty, if you’re going for that sort of thing. But he was the very essence of warmth and friendliness. I ask him about the Beautiful Kate soundtrack, and how the album was received – and am shocked and disappointed to hear it had “slipped under the radar.”

“I’m really proud it exists,” says Mr. Perkins, “but yeah, it sort of slipped out of view. The film was very controversial, and I think it turned a lot of people off. And so the music didn’t really pick up either.” We speak in some depth about the intense detail required when scoring a film – “It has to start and end here at 43 seconds, the emotion has to peak at this exact point…” – and then soon we come to the connection between the Beautiful Kate soundtrack and his most recent effort, Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses, which is launching in Sydney this week.

“After Beautiful Kate, me and Murray just kept going, writing stuff together. Some of the songs originally planned for the Beautiful Kate soundtrack ended up on this album; there’s definitely a similarity in tone between the two. Murray used a Baby Martin Acoustic Guitar, and that gives a certain sound that leads you down a certain path.”

Indeed, there are remarkable similarities between the two records. Both are infused with a country-driven folk feeling; it’s music drenched in Australiana. There’s plenty of detail and carefully structured songs with complex melodies and intricate instrumentalism, but the overall effect gives one the feeling of space and freedom. The music is quiet, reflective and eerie but also, like Beautiful Kate itself, it is strangely (and at times intensely) uplifting - like two car beams pushing against the darkness of an outback road.

‘Everything Is Gonna Be Alright’ is the highlight of the album, a beautiful song with a fine message of Aussie stoicism. “It’s just about feeling okay, you know?” Perkins offers.

“Everything’s gonna be alright, don’t worry about it - there’s enough things to worry about. Things’ll work out sooner or later.” And in the current, bleak geopolitical environment, it’s a relief (though perhaps an indulgent one) to hear someone crooning ‘keep calm, it’ll work out.’ Tex Perkins and his gang are touring throughout June, with a very good album to back them up. Does it reach the heights of Beautiful Kate? …Almost. Here’s hoping the collaboration continues.

What: Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses is out now With: Adalita Where: The Factory Theatre When: Thursday June 16

Guillemots Walk This Way By Christine Lan

G

uillemots’ Mercury Prize-nominated debut album, 2006’s Through The Windowpane, was always going to be a difficult act to follow - and the London-based alt-rock quartet released their sophomore album, Red (2008), to a largely mixed reception. It was bold and ambitious, but lacked the majestic air, enduring enchantment and resonating adroitness of their debut. For the recording of their next release, Guillemots retreated to Bryn Derwen Studio in the North Wales countryside, amidst the beautiful surroundings of the Snowdonia Mountains. The result? An evocative and celestial third album, Walk The River.

“It was very, very inspiring ... really magical surroundings to do the record in,” says frontman Fyfe Dangerfield. “It was just incredible and it definitely set the atmosphere for the record.”

Dangerfield enjoyed his break from the bustling, bright lights of urban living while recording Walk The River. “Part of the charm of it is there’s a lot less distractions, and we’d go for walks,” Dangerfield remembers. “We all lived in the same house together ... there was a lot of bonding, talking about life, and not having to go off and check emails. It just felt very immersive.” During the making of Walk The River, recurring images of an individual coming into consciousness on an empty planet (and returning to an undisclosed home) were prevalent, rendering the album’s creative journey a profound period of personal and artistic self-discovery. “I think life should always be a journey of self-discovery,” he says. “I hope that never stops.”

Guillemots’ third album maintains an emotional potency and sonic clarity, as captured in ‘I Don’t Feel Amazing Now’, one of the record’s most movingly introspective tracks. “[That] was a weird one,” Dangerfield says of the song. “It was like dismantling this ornate thing and then piecing it back together as something a lot simpler. It had

a real emotion to it; it was very important to keep that on the record.”

That the four-piece have managed to concoct a rather unique musical template can be greatly attributed to their divergent personalities, backgrounds and influences. Dangerfield remains pleasantly surprised by the ideas of his three band mates, Scottish drummer Greig Stewart, Brazilian guitarist Magrão and Canadian doublebassist Aristazabal Hawkes. “I bonded with Greig instantly because he had an enthusiasm and sense of adventure about his music,” says Dangerfield. “I quickly realised that when I played with him... he’s got his own spin on things – he’s just brilliant. I knew Arista for a while before she joined the band and she’s amazing – she feels everything that she’s playing.

“It was funny when I met Magrão because I’d been talking to a few different guitarists in London, trying to get everything going and finding it really hard,” Dangerfield recalls. “He’d seen an ad of mine and written his response in all funny small letters and capitals mixed up saying, ‘I saw your ad. I play the matchbox and the accordion and the typewriter’ - and I was like, ‘Who is this dude?’ I was far more drawn to that than someone who said, ‘yeah, I like Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin’.

“When he first came to my house to play, it was really awkward, though – probably even more awkward than if you brought a date back. But the moment he walked into my room and saw that I had all these old things that I had been collecting, he just starting playing them and I started joining in,” Dangerfield says. “So we were kind of making music before we were even trying to.”

What: Walk The River is out on Wrass Records, through Shock

Ganga Giri The Power Of Voodoo By Rob Newcombe

G

anga Giri is a testament to an old adage: that success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. That’s not a slight on the man or his music, it’s just that his biggest break so far wouldn’t have come about without his hectic schedule of touring, busking and collaborating. Yet ironically, it’s a commitment to gigging that almost cost him his biggest opportunity... “I was doing shows at and around WOMAD in the UK,” Giri remembers, “when someone started ringing me - but it always seemed to be when I was just about to go on stage. He would say, ‘It’s Peter,’ but I’d say I had to do the gig, not knowing who it was... I called the number back and it was Real World Studios - at which point I started to figure out that it was probably Peter Gabriel. He invited me down to Real World to record on his album, which for me was just a dream come true.”

The album in question was Gabriel’s score for Phillip Noyce’s 2004 Rabbit Proof Fence, on which Giri played didgeridoo. It might seem unusual to pick a non-Indigenous musician for the role, but Giri’s association with the instrument goes back to his youth when, after a trip to India, he headed north to Arnhem Land after hearing that his grandfather had married into an Indigenous community in the area. Having already been playing the Yirdaki (the Yolngu name for the didgeridoo) for years, his wanderings eventually brought him

to Djalu Gurruwiwi, a tribal elder and didge craftsman. Gurruwiwi made Giri an instrument and welcomed him into his family, which Giri says was the main inspiration for his current musical path.

Still, Giri’s percussive, multi-layered sound isn’t restricted to the influence of Australian Indigenous culture; his many collaborators bring sounds from all over the world, fusing a variety of tribal percussion with the deep bass and propulsive beats of dub and dancehall. His current right-hand man is French Guiana’s Jornick Joelick, who himself draws on the staccato bark of a dancehall MC and the smooth French Creole sounds of his homeland. It was a chance meeting that brought about their creative partnership. “He wandered out of the jungle on Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada, and heard the dub music our bass player was making at the time. He said, ‘Mon, where the dub music come from?’ We were about to start touring and had some songs we were working on; Jornick jumped up on some songs and it all just clicked, so he organically became part of family. I invited him to Australia - he had always wanted to come here - and we’ve been playing together ever since.”

Although their album Good Voodoo has recently been released, it’s in a live setting that Ganga Giri and his cohort thrive. “It’s

an uplifting dance experience that’s about bringing people together and celebrating community,” Giri says of the live show. “Jornick is out front with me laying the vocals on top of my percussive didge lines. The show is positive and really high energy. We are dripping with sweat by the time we come offstage, and generally the audience is too!”

And it’s in that spirit that the album itself was named. “Generally people have a pre-

conceived idea of voodoo as dark energy, there being a stigma attached to it, but voodoo is really just magic and how you use it. This album is all about good energy, so we called it Good Voodoo.”

What: Good Voodoo is out now Where: Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle / Camelot Lounge, Marrickville When: June 18 / June 23

“I’m like the snake in your drain. I’m taking over your brain cause I can’t help myself,”- MOTLEY CRUE 18 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

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WWW. LIZOT TES.COM.AU BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 19

Gomez Chasing Shapes And Shadows By Max Easton

P

icture this: you’re in your early twenties and you’ve just released your debut record.

No big deal, right? A few months later, the legendary John Lee Hooker says this about it: “I done listen to the record over and over, and I could find no defect”, before awarding you the 1998 Mercury Prize, ahead of The Verve’s Urban Hymns and Massive Attack’s Mezzanine. No big deal? You are Gomez, and you have some pretty big words to live up to.

With the Mercury Prize, platinum sales and a few more awards peppering its trail, the young Gomez hype machine was kicked firmly into gear with the release of 1998’s Bring It On - yet the ensuing records never went over quite as well as their firstborn. Critics seemed to take delight in the opportunity to cast down the follow-ups, with Liquid Skin and In Our Gun the target of ferociously poor critical reception, despite marking the growth of the band’s unique blend of pop-Blues psychedelia. It’s been a strange career for Gomez, then, forced to live in the shadow of their debut while album number seven gets ready to drop. “I think the bar is higher with us for some reason, and I’m not sure why … I don’t know what we did,” muses the hulking figure of

THE FRONTIER TOURING CO. PRESENTS

Gomez’s Ben Ottewell, squinting in the jet-lagged light of his Surry Hills hotel room. “I think it’s hard for journalists because it’s not easy to sell us, there’s not something cool to get behind. I do get the feeling that we’re supposed to be a little better, but we’re not gonna change, y’know? It’s not going to effect us - we’re just making the music we love. It’s not like I’m going to stop singing the way I sing because some idiot doesn’t like it.”

It’s April when we speak, and Ottewell is in Australia without his bandmates for the first time, playing a string of shows in support of his recently released solo record, Shapes and Shadows. As one of the three men fronting Gomez, it’s a unique opportunity to hear a distilled version of the band in an acoustic setting.

“It’s a very different little project for me,” he starts.

“It’s very acoustic, which is always the way I write music. People have been going on at me about doing a solo project for quite a while and I’ve never known why… But it’s been really good, it’s a very simple kind of contained record. It’s so different doing it yourself because it’s exactly how I wanted it to turn out. When you’re in a band … there’s the whole collaborative process which is great fun, [but] while it’s not like there’s any kind of regretful decisions you make, it’s never going to be your thing; it’s never going to be an expression of you.”

Shapes and Shadows is a triumphant solo venture, siphoning his whimsical Vedder-esque roar out of the Gomez quintet for slices of delicate warmth; but it’s not like Ottewell has never touched on that with Gomez. “When you write songs for the band, you give them over,” Ottewell explains. “We’re not precious at all. As soon as you get past a certain point, you don’t claim ownership anymore; it’s a Gomez tune … and all of our best songs have been songs that are truly collaborative. When you write lyrics for a song, there’s a certain amount of perspective there, but in terms of the arrangement and the general feel of a tune, you have to be open for them to be slashed to pieces and rearranged, and I think that’s why the band works so well.”

“This record, in terms of the spirit of it, felt like we were really together on it which maybe hasn’t happened in the past.”

With their latest record, Gomez are back to harnessing the collaborative force of their three songwriters (Ian Ball, Tom Gray and Ottewell), albeit under vastly different and modernised circumstances. Trading the studio for the endless reaches of the internet, the three recorded in patches and uploaded to the web where the rest of the band would give and take until an album was formed - appropriately titled Whatever’s On Your Mind.

“This record, in terms of the spirit of it, felt like we were really together on it,” Ottewell says, “which maybe hasn’t happened in the past. But it’s not like we’re sitting around a campfire anymore; we spent very little time in the studio together. We’ve spent a lot of time in each other’s space and it’s always this great, crazy process, but we’d have just burned studio time. The last record, we spent so long having to find places where we could sit and write together, and we’ve all got families and stuff - we just couldn’t have done it. It’s like a money tap, and now that nobody buys records, that’s something you gotta keep an eye on.”

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DEBUT ALBUM HABITS

OUT NOW

Much has changed for Gomez, moving not only from their Southport home to a scattering across the globe, but from the studio to cyberspace. And in an age where the internet circumvented the album sales that would keep Gomez in the studio, it was the internet which was able to bring them together on an album as promising as anything that followed the Bring It On behemoth. It’s just part of a line of dichotomies which seem to have followed the band since its inception; the Mercury Prize which brought pressure and popularity, the digital age which brought perils and possibility and with album number seven, another chance to chase away that shadow.

What: Whatever’s On Your Mind is out on June 17, through Shock With: Leader Cheetah Where: The Factory Theatre When: Wednesday August 3 More: Gomez is also playing Splendour In The Grass, which will be held in Woodfordia, Queensland from July 29 - 31.

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arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

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

brushstrokes WITH MATTHEW

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hen I tell director Matthew Bates that his Sundance-selected documentary, Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, made me feel complicit, and uncomfortable, he’s chuffed. “You’ve said all the right things!” he laughs. Shut Up Little Man! explores a pop-cultural phenomenon: the Peter and Raymond audio tapes. An underground cult sensation in the late ‘80s and early '90s, these recordings documented the daily arguments between Peter Haskett and Raymond Huffman – two pensioner roommates whose volatile coexistence was fuelled by a steady diet of booze and vitriol; one a raging queen, the other a homophobe. Unbeknownst to these two old men, for several years in the ‘80s their (often hilarious) daily arguments were being recorded by their young neighbours, Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell D – in what started as an innocent pastime, and turned into an obsession…

How did you discover the 'Shut Up Little Man' tapes? I collect records; I was in a record store that my friend owns, and there was this older guy there called Ron – one of those mavens of culture who knows about obscure things, who’ll bail you up and turn you onto bands you’ve never heard of. And he just literally wrote it down on a record bag and said ‘You’ve gotta hear these recordings of these two old men.’ I googled it and downloaded some of the recordings – and then I found Eddie’s website, which is sort of the ‘potted history’ of Shut Up Little Man.

UNDERBELLY EXPANDS

After weathering four years of uncertain funding and venues, Underbelly Arts: Public Lab + Festival has demonstrated the principle that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger: they’re expanding this year's festival, with a week-long public lab, culminating in a one-day festival of 24 performance and arts projects taking place across the winter wonderland of Cockatoo Island. There will be interactive robots and arts installations, projections of photography and video, live performance, physical theatre and music, participatory theatrical problem-solving adventures, and sculpture… Reprising their success at last year’s festival, Applespiel (Snail Piece) will conduct an experiment in the power of written stories, called Awful Literature is Still Literature I Guess. The artists will all move to the Island on June 27, and the Public Lab part of the equation runs July 3-12). The Festival Day takes place Saturday July 16, from midday10pm. Diary! underbellyarts.com.au/2011

BATES

Peter Haskett confronts the concept of his own notoriety in Shut Up Little Main!

What appealed to you about the story?

You go through all the history [of the recordings] and, as a documentary filmmaker, the actual story itself is amazing. You’ve got the primary source material – the recordings – which is incredible, then you’ve got the story that goes with it: these two young punks (Eddie and Mitchell) who go West [to San Francisco], looking for a new life, and end up living next door to these two old freaks.

There’s a nice narrative arc there.

So what were your expectations of what you would find, when you began researching Eddie and Mitch? The thing with documentaries is you need a lot of luck.

You sniff out a story – in this case a story arc of these two young guys moving from the

JUST FOR LAUGHS

Sydney Opera House added yet another awesome festival to their menu last week, with the announcement of a new Sydney comedy festival called Just For Laughs – with a super serious lineup that means business: John Cleese (aka Basil Fawlty, aka Minister for Silly Walks), Irish larrikin Dylan Moran, gingerbollocks superstar white guy Louis CK, and intrepid sasspot Margaret Cho. The festival combines the talent pool of Adrian Bohm with the world’s leading producer of comedy festivals (Just For Laughs) and Sydney’s most iconic venue. Just For Laughs Festival runs September 1-4, and tickets go on sale Friday June 24. More acts still to be announced. sydneyoperahouse.com

Flickerfest International Short Film Festival have just wrapped their 2011 touring schedule with screenings in Bali, and return to Sydney to crank up the engine for their 21st year presenting the best Australian and international short films. Having consistently premiered the early work of Australia’s next-big-things (from David Michod, Luke Doolan and the Edgerton brothers, to Warwick Thornton, Cate Shortland and Glendyn Ivin – not to mention providing the best capsule of international award-winners each year – Flickerfest is really somewhere you want to screen your film. Entries are open now, for any film in any genre (as long as it's under 35 minutes) and close in September. Flickerfest 2012 runs January 6-15 at Bondi Pavilion.

More at flickerfest.com.au

This annual party celebrates everything swing, cabaret and vaudeville, with a dash of circus burlesque on the side. Last year more than 3,300 gangsters, molls and flappers rockedout in a venue decked-out with gambling tables, a themed photo booth, merchandise stalls, cigarette girls and pin-up models – all to the sounds of 10-piece swing band The Velvet Set. This year’s Ball will be hosted by MC and sideshow vaudeville performer Asher Treleaven, who will do his best to manage a line-up that includes troublemaker Gypsy Wood, acclaimed acrobatics troupe This

Illustrator and imaginator Catriona Secker opens her exhibition of new work at Gaffa Gallery this week. Entitled Curious Nature, the exhibition features exquisitely rendered ‘scientific illustrations’ in pencil and paint, of a menagerie of plants and creatures straight from Cat’s imagination; creatures such as the sad sack, the hopalong and the anthropod orchid (pictured above)… Cat writes: “Imagine evolution gone astray - these creatures are mutated versions of actual natural specimens that may well inhabit some parallel dimension close to ours. For me, this work is a celebration of the all the weirdness and wonder inherent in the natural world.” Opens Thursday June 16 at Gaffa (281 Clarence Street, Sydney). catseckerart.com

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Midwest to the big city, and going on this kind of weird adventure; they kind of got sucked into the belly of the pop culture beast, and shat out the other end! And that was my rough entry point. But then, of course, there was all this other stuff that came with it.

What do you think the film ended up being about? As I developed the film I got more of an understanding of the 'art versus exploitation' issue. I mean, this is a film about a ‘viral sensation’ before that idea existed – this is a pre-Internet case of a viral sensation. And the more I researched it, I began to see beautiful correlations between then and now – and the modern-day parallels, like Christian Bale’s rant, for example. [This story] was kind of an early warning signal of what was to come! You know, I can film you falling down a flight of stairs, upload it to YouTube tomorrow morning, and 20 million people are laughing their arses off about it. And there’s a certain moral complexity to that, I think!

If you missed out on seeing Sydney Film Festival Official Competition contender Sleeping Beauty last week, never fear: we’ve got FIVE double passes up for grabs to a special preview screening being held at Dendy Newtown on Monday June 20.

Recently playing in the prestigious Official Competition section of Cannes, Sleeping Beauty stars Sucker Punch heroine Emily Browning as a Melbourne uni student who takes on a highly-paid freelance gig as a Silver Service lingerie waitress, and finds herself drawn into the dark sexual proclivities of the ultra-rich.

Written and directed by acclaimed novelist Julia Leigh (whose novella The Hunter has recently been adapted for screen starring Willem Dafoe), Sleeping Beauty is an exercise in poise, restraint, and style – from its elegant, stylised dialogue, to Geoffrey Simpson’s exquisitely framed shots, a wintery colour palette, and Browning’s aloof, dreamy performance.

To get your hands on a double pass to see Sleeping Beauty on Monday June 20 at Dendy Newtown, email us with your postal address, and one other cast member.

What: Shut Up Little Man! screens as part of Sydney Film Festival’s FOXTEL Australian Documentary Prize Where: Event Cinemas (George Street) When: Friday June 17, 6.30pm More: Hear Matthew Bates in conversation on Fri Jun 17 from 11am at Metro Screen, Paddingtown Town Hall / metroscreen.org.au

Get dressed with Wes Anderson and The Royal Tenenbaums

FLICKERFEST ENTRIES

GANGSTERS’ BALL

CURIOUS NATURE

SLEEPING BEAUTY TIX

ROYAL TED&BAMS @ THE WALL

Artsy stuff happens every Wednesday at The Wall, the World Bar’s dedicated visual arts happening. Curated by graphic designer and illustrator Matt Roden, The Wall’s weekly program is expanding beyond the usual ‘pictures on walls’ exhibitions, to include interactive elements like performance and small-scale commerce – such as this Wednesday’s show, Cheated Hearts, which pairs an exhibition of new work by illustrator Sarah Elmgreen, with stalls by Kiss My Button Vintage, purveyors of vintage fashion for women-who-don’t-look-like-stick-insects. Cheated Hearts opens Wednesday June 15 from 7.30pm. The following week, on Wed June 22, vintage installationists Bams & Ted will take over The Wall for By Way Of the Green Bus, a night of Wes-Anderson-related worship, through fashion, music, and goodie bags. artonthewall.tumblr.com

Side Up, mistress of magic and illusion Cath Jamison, aerial artist Melise Avion, juggler Mr Trickster and sideshow vaudeville performer Dangerboy. It all goes down September 3 at Metro Theatre – start planning your outfit now. gangstersball.com.au

GRIFFIN AWARD

Playwright and performer Rick Viede (aka Glace Chase) has won the coveted 2011 Griffin Award for new Australian works, with his play A Hoax. Besides getting $10,000, the award means we can expect to see Viede’s play on Griffin’s stage some time next year.

Viede is no stranger to the prize, having won the Griffin Award in 2008 for his debut play Whore, which went on to have seasons at Belvoir and the New York Summer Play Festival in 2009. Griffin Theatre’s Artistic Director Sam Strong described A Hoax as “a fresh and daring interrogation of identity politics and the lengths people will go to to get what they want. The judges responded to the play’s vivid

characterisation, its wicked sense of humour, and its unique capacity to provoke as well as entertain.” www.griffintheatre.com.au

WITHIN & WITHOUT

Fans of the cardboard innovation and shadowplay of whimsical junkyard theatre like The Suitcase Royale might want to check out Within & Without, a new interactive performance that mashes up theatre and visual arts to explore the urban, social and historical landscape of Manila, the coastal capital of The Philippines.

Audience members are invited into the streets of a replica city, created entirely out of recycled cardboard boxes, and immersed in projections and soundscapes that bring to life the religious pageantry, protest marches, survival and shopping of everyday life in Manila. Within & Without is part of Performance Space’s current season of works, entitled WALK, and will take place from June 22 – July 2 at Blacktown Arts Centre. More info and tickets at performancespace.com.au/2011/within-without

SUPANOVA 2011

Words by Alasdair Duncan / Photos by Tim Levy

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elcome to the nerdiest weekend of the year, when ‘nerd’ is not even a pejorative term; when the cosplayers come out in such force that at the Solid Snakes and the Cybermen outnumber the civilians four to one, and when the stars of your favourite sci-fi shows sit down to face the tough ugh questions, like whether there’s a biophysical principle behind the Vulcan mindmeld. Welcome to SUPANOVA! First and foremost, Supanova affords fans the possibility to meet, have their heir photo taken with and attend an array of sit-down seminars with the brightest test stars of the nerd universe. This year’s Sydney convention features some formidable TV and film talent – Tom Felton, aka Draco Malfoy in the Harry ry Potter films, is sure to get fangirl hearts aflutter, while Amy Acker, James s Marsters and Sean Maher will discuss their involvement with various beloved loved Joss Whedon shows. On the anime side of things, voice actors from popular ular series like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Yu-Gi-Oh! will talk about giving life to their characters, while a selection of novelists, including Kevin J. Anderson, son, Rebecca Moesta, Jennifer Fallon and Marion De Pierres, will get you all wrapped up in stories.

And that’s not all Supanova has to offer – wander Exhibitors & Artist Alley ley to be dazzled by an array of comics and graphic novels, designer toys, clothing, hing, collectibles, video game demonstrations and sugary snacks. Sydney fans s can also check out an exclusive preview of Steven Spielberg’s hotly-anticipated ed new show Falling Skies, starring g ER’s Noah Wyle and due forr broadcast later this year on FOX 8. If it takes es your fancy, you can an participate in an anime dubbing bing session, indulge ndulge in some tableabletop gaming g and laser tag, or just stroll around nd the venue in hopes o f catching an impromptu cosplay fight... t...

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What: Supanova 2011 When: June 17-19 Where: The Dome, Olympic Park More: www.supanova.com.au

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GARETH DAVID-LLOYD

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areth David-Lloyd’s Ianto Jones was easily the most beloved character from UK sci-fi series Torchwood – until he was controversially killed off at the end of the third con d season.

As he tells it, however, he welcomed the sea decision to kill Ianto. dec For many Torchwood fans, Ianto Jones was the heart and soul of the show; a mild-mannered paranormal mal investigator, his love affair with handsome time-traveller inve aveller Captain Jack Harkness formed the emotional core Cap e of the show, and his death in Harkness’s arms at the e end of the th third season left many aghast. There were letterwriting campaigns, angry blog pots, and even death writ ath threats against creator Russell T. Davies, all in the thre e hopes hop of bringing Ianto back. Davies stuck to his guns, however, and the show’s fourth season will soon return how without Lloyd. with For Lloyd, the character’s death felt like a natural conclusion.

“Ianto changed my life,” he tells me, “itt was con my first regular TV role, I did it for four years, and nd yeah, yea it’s what launched my career on television, n, so it will always be with me and I will always look back ck at the character with a certain fondness. At the end d of the day, though, it’s about making drama. It wass a sad scene sce when Ianto died, but I’m happy that it made ade a lot of o people cry, because to me, that’s proof I’ve ve done my job as an actor.”

Ianto back was a surprise, even for Lloyd. “I try not to get ge caught up in that sort of thing, but I think there were some fans who took it too far. That’s only a couple coup of the campaigners,” he stresses. “I mean, on the whole, I was happy for the support, and I’m always w touched touch by the comments that people now make at conventions and things like that. But at the end of the conve day, Ianto was a character I played, and I’d finished I his arc ar – it had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and then I moved on to the next job.” t

Lloyd Lloy did at least have some time to prepare forr the potential fan backlash. “I’d known the character was pot going lming goin to make an exit since before we started fifilming the third series,” he tells me, “so I was very grateful teful for that, that at least. You hear stories of actors and actresses resses who aren’t told they’re going to die until a few weeks before befo they’re due to act in the episode, but my agent said ‘they’ll be using you for three or four of the five episodes’ ,” he laughs, “and I thought, oh, okay, he’s epis either eith dead or he’s going on a long holiday!”

Though Thou he’s moved on, Lloyd reflects fondly on Torchwood, especially the show’s humanity and Torch humour. humo “The characters, even in amazing and fantastical situations, were really real,” he says. “I think fanta that’s a gift that Russell has, to take real characters and put p them in out-of-this-world scenarios.” As for Ianto himself, Lloyd tells me that there aren’t many things he and the character share, save for a dry sense of humour. “He has an ability to look at quite dark situations and put a bit of light in there,” he says, “and that’s probably the thing he and I have the most in common.” com

The overwhelming force of the fan campaign to bring

SUPANOVA TICKET GIVEAWAY

hen we heard that Melbourne’s Supanova scored Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for their lineup, we were extraterrestrially green with envy… But then the Sydney Supanova lineup dropped, with Whedonverse favourites James Marsters (Spike from Buffy), Sean Maher (Firefly) and Amy Acker (star of Angel, Dollhouse – and Joss’ upcoming feature The Cabin In The Woods), Harry Potter villain Tom Felton (also starring in the upcoming Rise Of the Planet Of the Apes), Torchwood star Gareth David Lloyd, Evangelion stars Yuko Miyamura, Tiffany Grant, and producer Matt Greenfield… phew! That’s just the tip of the lineup iceberg. We’re also stoked to see local indie horror filmmakers Carlo Ledesma and Enzo Tedeschi are doing a screening and Q&A session for their subterranean thrill-fest The Tunnel. For the full line-up of guests and special sessions, see www.supanova.com.au

Sydney’s SUPANOVA popculture expo runs from June 17-19 at The Dome, Olympic Park – and we have FIVE double passes to the event up for grabs! To get your hands on one, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us what cosplay outfit you’d wear to Supanova in your wildest dreams...

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Jennifer Coolidge

Michael Shannon in Take Shelter

[COMEDY] You Can’t Do That! By Alasdair Duncan

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ome comedians are very serious in real life, saving all the funny bits for their performances, and instead speaking very earnestly about their craft. This is not the case with Jennifer Coolidge. She is in the middle of a Sydney press junket when I call her, and from the moment we start to speak and I ask how she’s enjoying her first trip to Australia, she has me in fits of laughter. “I absolutely love it,” she gushes, “I’m having the best time down here so far! I’m being driven through town right now and we’re going through a tunnel. I even love your tunnels down here!” We’re known for those, I reply. “What’s your favourite tunnel?” she asks me. “Are there any you could recommend?

What’s the biggest, darkest tunnel you could recommend?” Apparently, she’s always like this.

You may know Coolidge best as Stifler’s Mom in the bawdy teen comedy American Pie, or for introducing the bend and snap manoeuvre to the world in Legally Blonde. Then of course, there’s her work in various Christopher Guest movies like Best In Show, and her turn as the ditzy actress Bobbie St Claire on Party Down, both of which highlight just what a whip-smart comic improviser she is. Lately, however, Coolidge has been trying her hand at something new – stand-up comedy. Sometimes in her film and TV roles, she is constrained in what she can say, and just how far she can go, but stand-up gives her an opportunity to vent all that stuff.

in Christopher Guest movies like Best In Show and For Your Consideration. “We get to improvise our dialogue and create a whole look for our characters,” she says. “It’s the most creative job you could possibly be given, I think.”

Her Best In Show character, the gold-digging Sherri Ann, was actually based on a real person.

“It was a girl I once did an acting class with,” Coolidge tells me. “She was always dating these really old men and talking about how great their friendship was, and ... well, she was very clearly sleeping with them, but she always wanted to make it perfectly clear that there was no ulterior motive. She would say the most outrageous things with no idea of how they sounded.”

What: Jennifer Coolidge – Yours For The Night

Take Shelter [FILM] Jeff Nichols’ highly-anticipated second feature makes its Oz debut. By Dee Jefferson

Where: Enmore Theatre When: Friday June 17 More: enmoretheatre.com.au

“What I like about stand-up is it’s the only chance I really have as an actor to voice my opinions without being edited,” she says. “You have to remember that when I’m on something like a talk show, I really have to watch myself. I can’t say who I slept with the night before on The View, or do an imitation of an actress who’s going to be on later in the day on that same show! You have to really watch yourself. When you do stand-up, you have permission to say what you want to. You’re not always liked – I know you take a risk. There are people who want to know you in a certain way, and then it turns out you’re dirtier than they thought. It’s very freeing though – you get to say everything you want to say.”

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abelled by industry site Indiewire one of the most anticipated films of Sundance, and bought sight-unseen by Sony Pictures Classics before the festival even opened, Take Shelter comes to Sydney Film Festival on the tail of a definite buzz. The name of it’s director, Jeff Nichols, may not mean much to you now – and perhaps you’re not even sure who leading man Michael Shannon is (despite his Academy Award nomination for Revolutionary Road in 2008) – but come Oscar season next year, you can expect to see at least one, if not both of them, contending for top honours.

Set in the same suburban, southern-state, working class milieu as Nichols’ debut, Shotgun Stories – which also starred Shannon – Take Shelter is an exploration of modern anxiety that takes cues from Todd Haynes’ Safe, Spielberg’s Close Encounters, and Kubrick’s The Shining.

Nichols pitches his tent in the family nucleus of Curtis LaForche (Shannon), his wife Susannah (Jessica Chastain, of Terrence Malick’s Tree Of Life), and their hearing-impaired little girl, Hannah. Curtis has everything a man of his means and aspirations could want: a loving family, a home to shelter them, and a solid job at the local sand mines, with great health cover.

He’s well liked by his friends, neighbours and colleagues, and he’s surviving the economic crisis. However as the film opens, he’s begun to have disturbing dreams in which both nature and his family turn malevolent. As his paranoia increases, so too does his chance of losing everything and everyone he cares about.

Speaking of dirty, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask Coolidge about Stifler’s Mom, the character who singlehandedly introduced the word MILF to the vernacular. Surely she must have received a lot of explicit offers from young men as a result of that. “Yes,” she says somewhat coyly, “and that has not ended, I have to say. I think the idea of the older woman seducing the younger guy is a great thing, but around the time the movie came out, I had to wear a disguise when I walked down the street, because I’d get so many offers from young guys wanting to sleep with me later in the day.”

When Nichols starting writing his first feature, Shotgun Stories, he was 24 years old, and determined to have his first feature made by the time he was 25. Having seen classmates David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) and Jody Hill (Observe and Report), among others, achieve indie notoriety, Nichols no doubt felt a competitive desire to throw his hat in the ring. The timing, however, was terrible: just as Shotgun released, in 2007, the bottom fell out of the market, and the indie production arms of major studios began to fold. “It felt like I got to the dinner table, and there was nobody left,” Nichols tells me. “I was like, ‘Hang on a minute!

Of all the roles Coolidge has played over the years, her favourites are

Who’s gonna pay me $2 million to make my next awesome film?’ That’s what’s s’posed to happen [when your first feature does well].”

Nichols went back to the drawing board. “I did something very unusual: I wrote a movie that had visual effects in it, and really wasn’t just the ‘no-brainer’ indie script. But I just wanted to try my hand at it! And at the time, I still had illusions of being able to make a film for between $2-5 million – I thought those films still existed. They didn’t.”

Then a miracle happened: Nichols’ script found its way to Hydraulx, the VFX company run by Greg and Colin Strause (directors of Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem and Skyline). By coming on board as executive producers, and taking care of the VFX side of the picture, Hydraulx brought the budget down to an enticing figure for investors, and enabled Nichols to put Shannon (rather than a more marketable ‘star’) in the lead. “It’s one of those stories about serendipity,” Nichols says appreciatively.

Nichols’ post-debut-film blues and anxiety are more than the backstory for Take Shelter – they are the inspiration. The end of indepedent film’s golden era was compounded by the post-GFC economic downturn, and Nichols’ personal ‘Saturn return’. “I was transitioning from a kid in his 20s, who can go out drinking every night, and risk his entire life savings on his first film, to a guy who’s married, thinking about kids, and really starting to look his filmmaking career in a long-term, sustainable sense… I started to have things in my life that I didn’t want to lose. My anxiety was born out of having things to lose – and I directly applied that to Curtis’s character. [His] fear of things getting derailed, is plucked directly from my life. But I mean, that’s anyone, you know?”

What: Take Shelter – Dir. Jeff Nichols Screening in Official Competition for Sydney Film Festival on Friday June 17 (6.30pm) & Sat June 18, (11.45am) More: sff.org.au

Who’s The Best [THEATRE] post hone their competitive edge By Simon Binns

The ladies of post

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An investigation of the nature of competition, Who’s The Best started as a joke a couple of years ago. “We were making another show and we had a joke that wouldn’t it be funny to come out at the end of a show and say to the audience, ‘Who was the best? Who was your favourite? Can you please vote for one of us?’” recalls Grigor. That joke led to a workshop, which led to an STC ‘Rough Draft’ showing in May last year, where the group attempted to find a way of objectively measuring which of them was the best.

“We divided the ideas of ‘bestness’ into ten equally important categories,” explains Coombs Marr, and Grigor helpfully elaborates: “Looks, personality, intelligence, life skills, tech skills, luck, life experience, talent…” she trails off, and Coombs Marr tells me, “we always lose two of them, but they’re all written down somewhere.”

The original winner in 2010 was Coombs Marr, but in their most recent round of scoring Grigor had risen to the top, a tough break for Coombs Marr. “I’m very, very competitive,” she smiles.

This search for objectivity in the subjective is at the core of post’s new work. “It’s not about competition in races, it’s not about competition in a clear cut way where you can see who is a winner and who’s in second place,” explains Grigor.

The posties started their research by talking to STC’s resident company of young actors, The Residents – which led to them thinking about competition on a different level. “We’re not actors and we don’t normally work with actors so it was interesting for us to think about how competition works in the acting industry,” recalls Grigor. After brainstorming different methods and principles for bettering themselves as actors, the three ladies eventually arrived at the notion of teaching each other how to act by using acting textbooks.

“The point was that it’s so fascinating when someone… is so competitive but they also get so removed from what they’re actually trying to achieve by getting bogged down in the process of getting to where they want to go,” Grigor explains. “You want to be a famous actor, and then all of a sudden you’re in your room practising your different expressions.”

In an unprecendented move for the trio, they’re bringing in an outsider to perform with them.

Eden Falk, who played the young king from Benedict Andrews’ War Of The Roses, is a longtime friend of post and will be joining the trio for the run. “It’s good for us to work with someone who’s totally different,” says Grigor. His contribution also adds another element to the show, which is so heavily focused on the posties themselves. “He’s stepping into this material that’s completely us,” explains Coombs Marr. “It’s a lot of us talking about ourselves, and then us talking about ourselves talking about ourselves, it’s a weird competition wormhole.”

What: Who’s The Best? as part of Next Stage 2011 When: June 17 – July 2 Where: Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company More: nextstage2011.com.au

Who's The Best photo by Grant Sparkes-Carroll

M

ish Grigor, Zoe Coombs Marr and Natalie Rose are well and truly working themselves into the collective consciousness of the Sydney theatre scene.

Performing under the moniker ‘post’, they’ve built a loyal local following over the last few years through shows at PACT Theatre, Performance Space, and the Tiny Stadiums, Imperial Panda and Underbelly Arts festivals. Over the last six months, they’ve been courted by Sydney’s major theatre companies, with Everything I Know About the Global Financial Crisis In One Hour debuting as part of a double-bill at downstairs Belvoir in November 2010, and their new show Who’s The Best programmed as part of Sydney Theatre Company’s Next Stage 2011, a program of formally inventive works by emerging artists.

S y d n e y t h e at r e c o m p a n y , l a b o i t e t h e at r e c o m p a n y And the sydney morning herald present

“SHEER THEATRICAL BRAVADO...

HANG ON TO YOUR SEAT AND ENJOY THE RIDE” THE COURIER MAIL

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Sydney Theatre Company and post present

Sydney’s acclaimed performance trio post are on a mission to settle an ongoing debate – which one of them actually is the best?

A celebration of the magical, imaginative act of theatre, with costumes by fashion house Romance Was Born

Ticket includes a FREE Little Creatures beer (for over 18s)!

TICKETS $25-$35*

DIRECTOR SARAH GOODES SET DESIGNER RENÉE MULDER COSTUME DESIGNERS ROMANCE WAS BORN CONSULTANT TO THE COSTUME DESIGNERS RENÉE MULDER LIGHTING DESIGNER DAMIEN COOPER COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER STEVE TOULMIN WITH PAUL BISHOP, LINDSAY FARRIS, BRYAN PROBETS, EMILY TOMLINS

16 JUNE – 23 JULY 2011 WHARF 1 SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY BOOKINGS (02) 9250 1777 SYDNEYTHEATRE.COM.AU/EDWARD-GANT

Devised and Performed by post – Zoe Coombs Marr, Mish Grigor, Natalie Rose with Eden Falk Sound Designer James Brown Lighting Designer Matthew Marshall

Photo: Justine Walpole

Next Stage is supported by

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17 June – 2 July 2011 Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company Bookings (02) 9250 1777 nextstage2011.com.au

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BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 25

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

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

Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

Bridesmaids

■ Film

BRIDESMAIDS Released June 16

first & last letters

PICS :: KC

This new Judd Apatow-produced comedy, starring Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, has the audacity to cast women, not as one-note love interests, but as fully-fledged characters.

Who’d have thunk it? Not a “chick flick” – whatever that is – and not “The Hangover, but with chicks,” Bridesmaids is an hysterical and achingly real look into a group of women and their friendships, struggles and petty jealousies.

31:05:11 :: The Wall :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

It’s so refreshing to see a film that depicts real people, especially in a mainstream, sometimes gross-out comedy that’s as funny as this. But that’s what you find in the five bridesmaids preparing to help Lillian (Maya Rudolph) walk down the aisle. Our protagonist is Lillian’s best friend and maid of honour, Annie (Kristen Wiig), and the film’s conflict stems from her rivalry with Helen (a pitch-perfect Rose Byrne), a wealthy social butterfly with control issues.

Helen causes a rift in the long-lasting friendship between Annie and Lillian when she instinctively takes the reigns of the upcoming dress fittings, bachelorette party and bridal shower. As the wedding nears, things go more and more awry for the single Annie who, despite having repeated meetings with a nice local cop played by Chris O’Dowd, remains the miserable #3 sex buddy of a rich douchebag played with comedic relish by Mad Men’s Jon Hamm.

Apatow may be the biggest name behind the scenes, but Bridesmaids is all Wiig.

There’s a virtuosic extended sequence on a plane where director Paul Feig (Freaks and Geeks, The Office) gives her free reign – just one of many scenes where she demonstrates the miraculous ability of finding pathos while acting like a lunatic.

That’s the mark of a great comedian (from Chaplin to Bill Murray), and if Bridesmaids doesn’t herald an upsurge in female-centric movies, it at least heralds Wiig as a bigscreen star. She is simply magnificent.

PICS :: TL

love street bandits

The bridesmaid cohort is rounded out by Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Becca (Ellie Kemper) and the vulgar Megan (Melissa McCarthy of TV’s Mike and Molly), who’s made up to look as butch and unappealing as possible and is the butt of most of the film’s more gross-out gags.

Underneath it all, however – when you catch your breath from laughing so hard – is a disarmingly sweet story that finds truth just by letting its characters be themselves.

I’ll be very, very surprised if there’s a funnier, more heartfelt comedy this year.

27:05:11 :: LO-FI Collective :: Lvl 3, 383 Bourke St Surry Hills

Arts Exposed

even because of – the direct nods to E.T. (the hillside Vertigo shot of suburbia) and Jurassic Park (trapped in an armoured bus with a creature lurking outside), watching Super 8 is like watching a Spielberg film filtered through someone else’s eyes.

Anyone who grew up inside these cinematic wonders of the late '70s and early '80s will simply adore this film.

It’s not perfect – Abrams doesn’t quite have Spielberg’s touch with plotting, and there are a few expositional moments that recall the logical jumps of Abrams’ Star Trek reboot – but any niggles are quickly obscured by Abrams’ zippy directorial style and his strong sense of character. Taking its cue from Jaws in delaying the creature reveal until towards the end of the second act, the film follows the rising paranoia in a small town in 1979 after the crash of a military train, and the arrival of an army mop-up force. Caught in the middle is 12-year-old Joe (Joel Courtney), a goodnatured kid who’s helping his friend shoot an important scene for their amateur Super 8 zombie film, just before the accident.

I’m going to respect Abrams’ fastidious secrecy around the film, but will say that the ultimate revelations are inventive and satisfying. Some of the best scenes involve Joe’s budding romance with Alice, a 14-year-old blonde with almost as much talent as the extraordinary actress who plays her, Elle Fanning. Complicating matters are the kids’ fathers (town sheriff Kyle Chandler, and angry town drunk, Ron Eldard), as well as Joe’s grief over the accidental death of his mother. It’s this four – or five – way dynamic that forms the heart of the film, a storyline which resolves in a very clever but sentimental Spielbergian fashion. Brimming with action, suspense, humour and a nerd's love of movies, Super 8 keeps its focus on the genuinely affecting story of the groups of adolescents at its centre. Hollywood: this is what a “summer blockbuster” should be.

Joshua Blackman ■ Theatre

TOOTH OF CRIME Until June 25 / ATYP, The Wharf Adrienn Lord’s set is imposing in ATYP’s wharf studio. As we enter, the killer rock cowboy Hoss (Akos Armont) sits atop a plush throne overlooking the wasteland he rules. He has a catwalk to perform from, and a bear pit of rocks for his servants to walk in.

In Sam Shepard’s Tooth of Crime, Hoss is the king of the game, and the game is rock.

Set in a future where performers compete for territory using music, and your image is your life, Hoss and his friends live in fear of an oncoming threat. A fortune teller (or a ‘gazer’ in the language of the play) advises Hoss that a gypsy is coming who will dethrone him, and Hoss spends the rest of the play terrified of that inevitability.

UP CLOSE / COLOUR BY NUMBERS LAUNCH

■ Film

Thursday June 16 from 6pm LO-FI (Lvl 3, 383 Bourke St, Taylor Sq)

Released June 9

The language of the play is at times grungy sci-fi jargon and at others monologues of beauty worthy of any great writer. Unfortunately for this production, much of the language is lost in the performance. The actors speak in accents – mostly Southern American, as per the plot; the result is that many of the cast seem to focus more on how they sound than what they’re saying. As the first act labours, much of the sense of the play is lost to this stylistic decision.

Super 8 is what summer blockbusters were like when the term had barely been conceived: character stories set against an epic backdrop. In his much-hyped ode to his childhood and the movies that inspired him, TV wunderkind J.J. Abrams has crafted a film that sits comfortably as a modern mirror to its esteemed forbearers – the early Amblin pictures of Steven Spielberg, especially E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Goonies.

The key to this production is Armont. He struts around the stage, owning every moment from the rock-fuelled beginning to his sombre close. His singing sets the tone of the piece and his monologues carry the show. The bear pit also comes to life after the arrival of the gypsy challenger Crow (Steve Toulmin) in the second act. His cockney techno warrior is a new presence that finds colour in the dark wasteland.

When the two battle with their music, the play reveals its promise.

Spielberg’s influence may be all over it, but the execution is all Abrams. Despite – or

Henry Florence

Joshua Blackman

What's on our calendar...

There’s a new pop-up gallery in town, and it’s called Colour By Numbers. Kicking off this week, CBN will hold fortnightly exhibitions in different locations around Sydney and Melbourne, showcasing local and international low brow, street art, film, photography, installation and illustration – anything awesome, in other words. Colour

By Numbers will launch this week with Up Close, an eclectic exhibition of new works from the likes of Ben Frost, Bennett, Chris Cunningham (different one), EARS, Georg Whelan, HAHA, Sean Morris, Two-One, Ken Taylor and heaps more… You can view the works – and acquire an original artwork or limited-edition print – by donating to the CBN start-up fund at their website, or on the night. colourbynumbersgallery.com 26 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

Jester by EARS

SUPER 8

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

DVD Reviews BLACK SWAN

THE FIGHTER

20th Century Fox Released June 1

Darren Aronofsky’s brilliant schizophrenic fantasy hits DVD in this disappointingly sparse edition devoid of special features. For features – including a solid 49-min making-of-doco – you’ll have to head to the Blu-ray. Either way you’ll be picking up one of the best films of 2010: a manic, crazed nightmare that has the same frantic energy as Aronofsky’s 2000’s drugscape, Requiem for a Dream.

Never one for subtlety, Aronofsky throws the audience straight into the skewed mind of Nina Sayers, a dancer with the New York Ballet who’s competing for the lead role in the MET production of Swan Lake. Reality and dream become one and the same as little girl Nina struggles to adapt to the dual role of the pure White Swan and sexy, dangerous Black Swan. Becoming obsessed with the idea of perfection she descends more and more into madness as she learns to let go of her childlike insecurities, and rebel against her psycho of a mother, played by Barbara Hershey.

Filmed in grainy, hand-held 16mm, Aronofsky’s camera swoops and stalks Nina like a lurking bogeyman, which gives the dance sequences an unusual intimacy and momentum. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her performance as Nina, and you can see why: she’s damaged and unhinged here in a way we haven’t seen before.

Equal credit for the film’s intensity must be given to composer Clint Mansell, who takes the most dramatic parts of Tchaikovsky’s score for Swan Lake and turns it into the most operatic, relentless movie score in recent memory, to the point where once it’s all over, you just want to crawl into a shuddering heap to recover.

Roadshow Home Ent. Released May 26 Set in the rough and tumble neighbourhoods of South Boston that filmmakers seem to love so much (see Mystic River, Good Will Hunting, The Departed, The Town) David O’Russell’s The Fighter is based on the real life story of ‘Irish’ Micky Ward (played here by Mark Wahlberg) and his half-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale), professional boxers of very different talents and temperaments, the former a wannabe worldchamp, and the latter a has-been.

The narrative is framed by the unlikely device of a documentary being made (ostensibly at least) about Dicky's career comeback. It’s a premise that allows the filmmakers to heighten the comedic and tragic potential inherent in the disjunction between how a person perceives himself, and how he really is. The meat of the narrative, however, is his younger brother Micky’s struggle to lift himself towards greatness, and a shot at the World Title.

From the moment an emaciated, wild-eyed Bale appears on screen, delivering the opening scene’s frenetic piece-to-camera monologue, you know that you’re in for an incredible, Academy Awardwinning performance, in the calibre of Rescue Dawn and The Machinist. Bale is so good that he all but blows his cast-mates out of the water – with the exception, perhaps, of Melissa Leo, who transforms herself into the brothers’ embittered battle-axe of a mother. Even Amy Adams, who puts in a strong performance as Micky’s fiercely protective girlfriend, pales in comparison.

If I had one criticism, it would be that O’Russell plays the white-trash boganism of Micky’s family too heavily for laughs, in too many scenes. It works when you give then characters the depth and complexity of a back-story and psychology (e.g. Muriel’s Wedding), but here they are pure caricature, which jars with the generally compassionate tone of the film.

"CR EN EA LA TIV RG ITY ES US "

Hit the couch for two of this year's most electrifying, epic DVD releases...

CREATIVITY MOVES ®

PEOPLE . CULTURE . COMMUNITY Creativity connects us. Creativity is universal and owned by everyone. It’s something we share and are all part of. Creativity enlarges us and links us in to be part of something bigger. Creativity grows and spreads from person to person, multiplying ideas and inspiration as it moves. Just by being part of the wider community, Housed in the old Eveleigh Rail Yards, the CarriageWorks site has been a place of movement, since its earliest days. Today, CarriageWorks is home to artistic exploration, creative collaboration, individual expression and collective experience. CarriageWorks exists to open up new opportunities to bring creativity, in all its forms, to as many people as possible.

We invite you to make CarriageWorks yours, and share the experience with us. carriageworks.com.au | facebook.com/carriageworks | twitter.com/carriageworks | carriageworks.tumblr.com

Joshua Blackman Dee Jefferson

Street Level With improv genius Cale Bain

Photo by Dan Ilic

week, why not try something different – or three things different, two nights a week. It was really borne out of the idea that many other cities in the world have improv festivals that sell to the rest of the world, but our problem is actually selling local improv to Sydney itself. People just don’t know about it so I’m trying to fill them in on this form of comedy that the Roxbury Hotel has become a mainstay of.

T

he idiot box has brought us comedy improvisation shows like Thank God You’re Here and Whose Line Is It Anyway, but putting them and live impro in the same basket is like putting a live gig sin the same basket as Video Hits. And this is the good news that Cale Bain is spreading. Hailing from Toronto, the holy land of improvisation, Cale has trained at the world-famous Second City, an improv crew that produced the likes of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, John Belushi, Mike Myers, Bill Murray, and Steve Carell. So Sydney is in trusty hands as Cale brings us The Roxbury Festival of Awesome Improv…

What is improv anyway?

Making shit up based on audience suggestions.

What is The Festival of Awesome Improv?

The festival brings in improv people from all over Sydney, and even some friends from Brisbane and Melbourne, to do a wide variety of improvised formats. More than just your quick hit Theatresports stuff. It is a quick look at anything new and favourite in Sydney’s local improv scene. The performers include dudes from shows like Thank God You’re Here (Daniel Cordeaux) or world champion improviser and Chaser and Comedy Inc actor Rebecca De Unamuno.

Why did you want to create the Festival?

I ran a show for four years, FULL BODY CONTACT NO LOVE TENNIS, and I thought instead of doing the same thing week after

LIVE MUSIC

CARRIAGEWORKS

How does it work each night?

Audiences will see at least three different acts. Each act has a troupe putting on their own pieces, some of which are stylebased, like the English mystery (Murder at NorthBanger Abbey) or the romantic comedy, or the rebirth of The Labyrinth, with our own David Bowie. At the end of every night, there’s a conversation with a friend of ours (e.g. Home and Away’s Kim Cooper or ABC’s Lateline Business host Whitney Fitzsimmons) and we improvise scenes based on those conversations. Hilarious.

What's your worst improvised moment?

I was doing Celebrity Theatresports at the Enmore Theatre, raising money for kids with cancer (read: KIDS) and the scene was a military commando operation. As we were playing, it turned out we were military commandos trained to kill terrorists who had infiltrated Mardi Gras. The comedian who was playing our commander wanted us to be more gay. And kill. More gay and kill.

Everything inoffensive we came up with didn’t satisfy him. I figured, the best way to do it was by fucking my scene partner, Marko. To death. That, or, once, while I was living in Toronto, Canada, I was spending a week in Mexico and my troupe put on a show. Robin Williams showed up and played and was generous and hilarious and awesome and I wasn’t there. That’s my worst moment.

What: The Roxbury Festival of Awesome Improv When: Every Tuesday and Thursday in June at 8pm / Free workshops Tuesdays at 6.30pm Where: The Roxbury/182 St Johns Rd, Glebe More: fullbodycontactnolovetennis.com

GERARD MASTERS + LINCOLN DAVIS TRIO ELLE KENNARD + LOIS MARES + SARAH-JANE O’HARA

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UNPLUGGED + UNCOMPLICATED IS PRODUCED BY CARRIAGEWORKS + OCCURS ON THE LAST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH

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BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 27

BRAG EATS

News Bites

Replete with a street-front Asian produce store and a reasonably-priced takeaway menu for suits and hipsters alike, the ingeniously named Shortgrain is the newest appendage of Surry Hills’ favourite decade-old restaurant and cocktail lounge, Longrain. Located at 8-10 Hunt Street (across from the Hollywood Hotel), Shortgrain is a lunchtime canteen where you can enjoy chef Martin Boetz’s infamously delectable Asian flavour explosions in the more informal setting of an 18-seat-capacity diner – or the comfort of your own living room. Unfortunately there are no bookings for this joint, but you can check them out at longrain.com.au

EL LOCO

Justin Hemmes’ newest gift to Sydney’s foodies is El Loco, a pop-up Mexican

BEER BARON DOWN!

The Beer Baron and The Blind Pig – fixtures of the innerwest party scene, thanks to their hallowed 24-hour alcohol delivery service (truly the stuff dreams are made of) – are under investigation by the local authorities, after the popularity of their services exploded via Facebook.

Technically, the Baron and the Pig aren’t doing anything illegal: they’re using a loophole in liquor licensing laws, and treating their sales as gifts. Nevertheless…

While they’re under investigation, lazy hipsters and students alike can avail

SUCCUMB TO YOUR SENSES

themselves of Jimmy Brings’ service, which offers cigs and alcohol home-delivered in 45 mins. The catch? No deliveries after midnight.

FOOD TOURS

In our experience, ordering the Vietnamese combination noodle soup inevitably gives rise to all kinds of anxiety...

Put that to rest during a Tastes Of Asia food tour on Saturday June 18, which will take you through the best authentic Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean joints in Bankstown. Learn how to make traditional Asian recipes, find the best fresh ingredients, top quality tea, and enjoy a fabulous bowl of pho (pronounced fahr), followed

by Vietnamese gelato and coffee. Alternatively, Taste are running a Sugar & Spice tour through Bankstown on Saturday June 25.

Both tours will commence at 10am, and include an eclectic and tasty array of take-home samples, besides imparting invaluable expert tips and knowledge.

More info and bookings at tastetours.org.au

Pre-book & WIN! Pre book tickets through Ticketek to go in the draw to win a set of Riedel Vitsis Wine Glasses valued at $149.95. Simply quote BEAT when booking.

Purchase through Ticketek on 13 28 49 or online.

1 -3 July 2011 28 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

It Started With Cupcakes Is Food The New Music? By Caitlin Welsh

I

t started with cupcakes. The most inoffensive and multitalented of baked goods was the first casualty of the comfort-food movement – from be-aproned Frankie readers in vintage-inspired kitchens to Manhattanites queuing halfway down Bleecker Street for a Magnolia Bakery treat laden with icing, everyone went mad for cupcakes for a little while. It’s all about macarons now, of course (with one 'o', thank you very much!) but the damage was done. The mania spread from cupcakes to all sorts of grandmotherly creations - and then the world of comfort food was thrown open. Hot young NYC, LA and London chefs started incorporating long lists of elegant ingredients into things that looked and tasted an awful lot like burgers, churros and fish’n’chips; Nigella hovered over Coke-glazed hams and Mars Bar cheesecakes, beaming and buxom, with not a quinoa grain in sight as she persuaded us that we all deserved a little treat.

Ten or even five years ago, the maxim “fast, cheap, good – choose two” might have been coined especially for the Sydney dining scene, which was dominated by a top tier of spectacular but stuffy white-cloth temples and degustation menus – and the second tier of inner-suburban joints with “fusion” menus, enormous white plates, and sundried tomatoes everywhere. Fast forward to right now, and “real”, great food and quirky eats have become one, in the most delicious collision since someone got chocolate in someone else’s peanut butter. The Norfolk on Cleveland Street was re-opened by Jamie Wirth aka Jamie Doom, the Bang Gang 12inches labelhead, and is packed every Tuesday with soft tacos going for $3 each; CBD indie beacon GoodGod now sports fried-things-in-bread emporium The Dip, opened by promoter and DJ Andrew Levins; you can get great ramen at Newtown’s Berkelouw Books; and a pop-up popcorn-and-microbrews kiosk somewhere in Chippendale can’t be far off...

There are also 25-year-old theatre publicists, shampoo-shy alt-dudes and buff young surfies whipping up salmon en croute and pandan chiffon cake with palm sugar and black sesame ice-cream on national television 17 hours a week; brunching indie kids snapping photos of their organic baked eggs with harissa to share on their single-topic Tumblrs, with titles like 'Breakfast Food In Mismatched Ramekins'; and every second pub this side of the Shire is ditching the parmas and schnitties for pulled pork and dumplings at couchchange prices, with op-shop chairs and ironically opulent or high-concept decor to match.

Immerse yourself in a world of food and wine.

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre

The Dip's Andrew Levins takes on the humble hot dog

goodfoodshow.com.au

Writer and FBi Radio presenter Lee Tran Lam started her food blog 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry' in 2007, and says the change in Sydney dining in that short time has been more than noticeable. “No one needs to explain the Masterchef effect – the queues at Adriano Zumbo say it all,” she says. “But less obviously, I think licensing laws and the rise of smartphones and social media have recharged local dining in interesting ways.” The new accessibility of a liquor license means tiny places can keep customers inside and pleasantly buzzed much later than, say, a non-licensed cafe; that is, restaurants can now be as small as small bars, and it’s these small bars that actually led the charge with great bar food – things like tapas, good chips and dumplings, done well with quality ingredients.

“Even though some people saw the licensing debate as ‘small wine bars vs big pubs with rooms

full of pokies’, I think it was about making it easier for people to take a shot at doing something interesting,” says Lam. “There’s less emphasis on stuffy dining (or quality of tablecloths) and more on actual fun and enjoyment – it’s awesome that Duke [Bistro], whose chefs were previously at Tetsuya and Sepia, has a menu that can feature Tater Tots or a dish called Veal Short Rib Pancake Party.” And it’s only a matter of checking Twitter to see where your friends, favourite chefs or food writers are eating – Lam says she’s enjoyed how much social media has democratised dining out.

“My friend Al [Grigg] from Red Riders says that ‘food is the new music’,” Lam says. “I don’t know if that’s true, because people have always been trying to squeeze into 'it' restaurants or bars, and people have always been willing to battle a long queue for cafes that serve awesome breakfasts.

It’s true, though, that people do get excited about a new eatery or bar in the same way they might get excited about a knockout new band or song.”

Whether the rush of trendy new holes-in-the-wall dishing out quirky comestibles is going to stem any time soon, we cannot know. In the meantime, there’s a whole city of people who want their delicious food in and around your mouth, and BRAG has started a section about it. Say it with me: OM NOM NOM…

THE NEW COMFORT FOOD

For gourmet twists on comfort foods, hit up these Sydney nosh joints.

THE DIP Hosts: Andrew Levins and Bianca Khalil Speciality: Americana with an Oz twist – think hot dogs, roo burgers, pulled pork sandwiches and ice cream cookies.

Address: GoodGod Small Club / 55 Liverpool St, Chinatown Web: thedip.com.au

EL CAPO Host: Proprietor Omar Andrade and head chef Joey Astorga Speciality: Latin American street food – think corn bread, pork cheeks, chipotle beans and coriander-garnished ceviche.

Address: 52 Waterloo St, Surry Hills Web: elcapo.com.au Bookings/info: 9699 2518

THE NORFOLK Hosts: Proprietors James ‘Jamie Doom’ Wirth (The Flinders) and James Miller (Ruby L’otel) with chef Thomas Lim (The Duke, Tetsuyas) Speciality: Americana – think hotdogs, softshell tacos, burger and crinkle-cut chips.

Address: 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills Bookings/info: 9699 3177

THE EATHOUSE DINER

Hosts: Chef and co-owner Age Durrant (Longrain) Speciality: Modern Australian meets South American – anything from anchovy and rye panzanella to lamb shanks and caramel pork hock, with pots of duck liver pate to start, and an old-fashioned banana split to finish.

Address: 306 Chalmers St, Redfern Contact: 8084 9479 Web: eathousediner.com.au

Photo: Ashley Mar

SHORTGRAIN

cantina situated on what was once the Excelsior Hotel’s stage. Translated as ‘the crazy one’, El Loco seemed a particularly apt title last week, when Hemmes conducted a drunken lowspeed on-foot chase after two armed robbers who held up his cantina. Totally badass, Mr Hemmes... And the $5 soft tacos ain’t bad either… Coming from the man behind Establishment, Hemmesphere and the ivy, you can also expect tasty décor, with El Loco fitted out head-to-toe with skulls, sombreros and a colourful collection of cacti to get you in the mood. Find El Loco cantina at 64 Foveaux St, Surry Hills. 9211 4945 / elloco.com.au

BRAG'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO FOOD

BRAG EATS free stuff

▼

GOOD FOOD & WINE SHOW Free food and booze! And now that we’ve got your attention: the Good Food & Wine Show are bringing their travelling circus to town from July 1 – 3 at Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour, in a celebration of Sydney’s diverse modern cuisine scene.

Simply put, the annual Good Food & Wine Show offers feast-loads of free food and wine samples for your over-indulgence. And what’s more, the show are offering five lucky BRAG readers double-passes for Friday July 1, which gets you entry to the show from 4-8pm. If you miss out simply quote ‘BEATMAG’ upon arrival, to get $10 off the entry price*. goodfoodshow.com.au *Offer valid on General Admit ticket only.

Entry only after 4pm on Friday July 1.

Does not include tickets to any individual sessions, including Celebrity Theatre, CheeseMatters Discovery Classes or Victor Churchill Butchery Classes.

food review

Corridor [NEWTOWN]

How many hundreds of times have you meandered up and down King Street in search of your next feed? With an overwhelming array of posh nosh joints offering up dishes no normal person can pronounce, sometimes it’s nice to get back to basics. Behind Corridor’s inconspicuous doorway, past their unassuming bar and up the stairs, a rooftop sanctuary awaits, away from the bustle of King Street.

First things first: before you ascend Corridor’s stairway to heaven, order a drink. With so many small bars coasting by on a lacklustre drinks menu, Corridor stands out as a cut above the rest. Gamely asking the barman to whip me up his ‘best’, I received an exotic twist on an old favourite: maple syrup, whiskey, bitters and banana-infused Mount Gay Rum whisked together into an ‘Islander Old Fashioned’, served with a garnish of orange peel. It was a much-needed, warming pickme-up on a freezing night. Having clocked the microbrews on offer, and prevaricated over a Mountain Goat Steam Ale, my date ended up ordering a Don Julio 1942 served over ice with a twist of lime... Smooth.

Drinks in hand, we climbed the narrow staircase that opens up into Corridor’s intimate, light-dappled outdoor courtyard – which is busy enough to have atmosphere, and quiet

THIRSTY?

enough that my date and I can actually have a conversation. Courageously grabbing an outdoor table, we soon find that between the warming drinks and the strategically placed heater, our winter chills melt away.

The atmosphere is casual yet classy, and the crowd reflect the staff: unpretentious and inviting. Everyone here seems to be relishing in the secret of this hidden bar, a world away from the rest of Newtown.

was not having enough room for a Chocolate Mojito for dessert!

After a short wait our food arrives and we feast our eyes (and then our mouths) on the generous selection of treats comprising our mezze plate. I’ve always been slightly apprehensive of ordering mezze plates, having done so at a number of establishments and always left feeling...well, hungry. But our growling tummies were quickly sated by sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, roasted capsicums, fetta, olives, prawns, calamari, mussels, chorizo, Spanish tortilla, beetroot dip, creamy spinach dip – and of course plenty of light and fluffy Turkish bread. My only regret

Where: 153a King Street, Newtown

Corridor is the kind of hidden gem that once you discover it, you’ll want to keep it all to yourself. Instead, maybe you should take a date and impress them with your insider knowledge, over a share plate and a bottle of vino, or a warm winter tipple. – Meaghan Meredith

Hours: Tues - Fri: 3pm – midnight / Sat: midday – midnight / Sun: midday – 10pm Payment: Mastercard / Visa Reservations: 0422 873 879 Signature drinks: Espresso Martini, with freshground coffee beans Signature dish: Mezze plate BYO: No Web: corridorbar.com.au

The Place is a Blast!

B A R C G N I C A R

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153A King st. Ne wt o w n BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 29

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE GRATES Secret Rituals Dew Process The Grates at the Enmore circa 2006 was damn near the most fun I've had at a gig. The stage was covered in decorations, confetti and streamers flew above us, and the multi-instrumentalist touring member was dressed as a polar bear. It was like an eight-year-old’s birthday party, and Patience Hodgson had drunk all the red cordial.

The Grates are back with a vengeance - and the party is just getting interesting...

Hodgson has always been The Grates’ greatest asset, as well as their biggest weakness. She was the very embodiment of their excitable, child-like pop, but all that enthusiasm and energy often obscured just how good the songs were; it was only on tracks like ‘Rock Boys’ and ‘Two Kinds Of Right’, tracks where the band slowed right

THE LONELY ISLAND Turtleneck & Chain Universal Parody songs have a long history, but the key to all the best ones is that they work as songs in their own right. Flanders and Swann, Tom Lehrer and Weird Al Yankovich are all very funny comedians, but they're remembered because their songs are great.

The Lonely Island are so good at writing fake rap songs that ‘I’m On A Boat’ was nominated for Best Rap Collaboration at The Grammys alongside names like Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye and Jay-Z. Further blurring the line between ‘real’ rap and ‘fake’ rap is the fact that this album features a star-studded support cast: Akon, Snoop Dogg, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Santigold, Michael Bolton, Beck and John Waters (?!?).

Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone aren’t great MCs, but having lived with this style of hip pop their entire lives, they instinctively know how to nail the parody. The music is pitch-perfect, while Snoop, Rihanna and Akon are featured doing exactly what they usually do on their ‘real’ songs. The authenticity reaches right down to the handful of skits; Lonely Island skits aren’t funny, they aren’t interesting and they don’t serve any purpose - exactly like regular rap skits.

But is there any real point in The Lonely Island releasing albums?

Sure, the music is good enough to exist without the videos - but when the clips are so good (and you’ve already seen them all), you feel like you're missing half the fun.

The Lonely Island should maybe just stick to dominating the internet… 98 million viewers of ‘I Just Had Sex’ can’t be wrong.

Hugh Robertson

It may have been New York that inspired this, or it may be growing up, but The Grates seem a stronger, more assured beast than when we last heard from them. And somewhere along the line Patience went from adorable to incredibly sexy, her intimate, breathy vocals sounding like Sarah Blasko’s badass younger sister; an innate, intangible sexuality that is close to irresistible.

Hugh Robertson

OTHER LIVES

DREAM KIT

BATTLES

Tamer Animals Liberation

Future Tense EP Two Bright Lakes

Gloss Drop Warp

Other Lives’ music is autumnal, soilborn, and quite unimaginable as a reverberation through the sterile corridors of Seattle Grace hospital - yet soundtracking one of Grey’s Anatomy’s most heart-wrenching scenes has been the Oklahoma collective’s biggest breakthrough to date. On Tamer Animals, they expertly tend to the heart-strings (amongst an array of others) sans Patrick Dempsey, with a set of songs that impossibly prove to be an even more breathtaking proposal than what we’ve heard from them before.

Parroted comparisons to Fleet Foxes and The National are a fair draw, but push past the Pitchfork BNM clique and you’ll uncover plenty of mutual ground with later era Efterklang - or if metaphysical other lives existed, The Middle East could very well have sounded this orchestral in theirs. A small army of brass and woodwind instrumentation has been dispatched, overcoming band-leader Jesse Tabish’s acoustic musings with a stately lushness.

The troupe is classically trained and self-produced, and sport a taste for the picturesque; a mere glance at the track list awakens immediate scenery - wild expanses for ‘Dust Bowl III’, or a swallowed civilization for ‘Old Statues’. And the music itself brings these natural vistas to life, with the ever-present tinkling of piano keys quivering as dead leaves on a tree, or the rush of strings blowing a great gale through mountain ranges.

Other Lives’ favour understated songwriting and stirring orchestration over towering choruses, revelling in the awe of natural, unembellished sound that can appeal to our primal sensibilities. We’re all just tamer animals, after all.

Dan Patrick

down, that you could hear the substance behind the sugar. But if the first two albums were eightyear-olds, Secret Rituals is high school. There’s still tremendous energy here (‘The Night Won’t Start Without Us’), but there’s a confidence and a knowingness on this album that wasn’t present before. And while their pop-punk riffs always provided the grunt behind the glitter, they seem spikier now - and it works a treat.

When someone hands you a business card and it reads “DJ/Radio Host/Sound Designer/Theatre Sound Composer/ Webzine Publisher”, two things spring to mind. The first is “sleep much?”, and the second is “shouldn’t you have an EP out or something?” For Melbourne’s Declan Kelly aka Dream Kit (aka the electronic arm of the prodigiously talented Kelly family), his debut solo effort Future Tense has been a long time coming.

Overall, this is an EP that rarely delves into human elements. It’s full of labyrinthine electronic noises, machine-hewn like precision parts scuttling along factory lines. The songs themselves are pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle, with interdependent parts meticulously sewn into vast soundscapes, and then just as promptly picked out again. Each interwoven sound seems painstakingly sculpted, whipped and twisted into shape by an artillery cache of filters and effects.

Lead-off track ‘Squonk’ is headnod electronica that reinvents itself into robot reggaeton by the midway point, while ‘Eleven Twelve’ - which has been kicking around as a demo since 2009 - is blunted, clipped hip hop that rides along wonky basslines and analog sci-fi splashes. Nu-disco number ‘Cosmic Strut’ is held together with warm, thudding kicks and squelching melodies, and the last of Dream Kit’s original productions are rounded out by the smoked-up shoe-gazer ‘Dune Year’. As a bonus, the EP contains three remixes that try to coax Dream Kit onto the dancefloor, from Faux Pas, Super Melody and Galapagoose.

Future Tense won't feature heavily in many DJ road cases any time soon, but it’ll definitely have the studio nerds rubbing their collective chins for a while.

Rick Warner

Gloss Drop was always going to be a difficult album for Battles. After a couple of inventive EPs, the group released the pop-palimpsest Mirrored in 2009 to exhaustive acclaim.

Extensive touring weighed heavily on the group’s internal dynamic, resulting in the departure of Tyondai Braxton just as their second record was nearing completion. The band then chose to rapidly rework the existing material as a trio, inviting an eclectic palette of vocalists to guest.

Fans of the first album will likely be disappointed on first listen, but while it’s clear that Braxton’s avant garde compositional approach provided Mirrored with a cohesion that is largely absent on Gloss Drop, it sounds as though the band is much more comfortable for it. As a trio, there's more room for individual ideas to breathe, a blessing for a band that clearly has too many of them. First single ‘Ice Cream’ is quite queasily sweet, like the theme to some acidtinged cartoon set in a Caribbean resort. ‘Sweetie & Shag’ (named for the FBi Radio presenters they met on their last Aussie tour) presents a darker take on the same theme, its central riff a chugging 6/4 juggernaut ornamented with the sultry vocals of Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, that blossoms into thoroughly demented fairground syncopation for the chorus.

There is still a wealth of mind-bending technicality to marvel at. Sections of ‘Wall Street’ could nearly have been lifted from Genesis’ Foxtrot, and the endlessly unfurling arches of ‘White Electric’ marry lofty imagination to unrivalled dexterity. Throughout, John Stanier’s drums lend a sense of breathless urgency, close-mic’d and viciously played.

In Loving Memory Sandcastle Music Sydney’s criminally underrated indie-rock heroes sure know how to open an album.

‘Disco Connect’ slinks in on a high humming noise – gently textured, insistent but not unpleasant – and frontman Jai Pyne croons around the sharp corners of the wistful verse.

“Disconnect the phone / Pretend we’re not at home / Shut down your machines / Leave me the fuck alone...” he begs, the “fuck” spiralling up into his prickly falsetto.

The sweeping, reverberating burst of

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sweetly distorted sound that kicks in at 4:16 is an extraordinary noise, and I recommend turning it right up when you get there.

In Loving Memory is packed with surprises: the fleshy little riffs that ripple and glisten, the unexpectedly lithe bass grooves, the refusal to use the same guitar tone twice, and the welcome return of that cheeky woodblock from breakout single ‘We Don’t Walk’. ‘Dozens’ plays on different kinds of distortion – the polluted bass throbs beneath the papery, heavily autotuned backing vocal and thick, dark synth, all fading in and out almost imperceptibly. While it’s thorny and frenetic in parts (‘On Your Hand’, ‘Wrong’), it also sports some radio-

‘Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked’, Cage The Elephant’s first single way back in 2008, was a rollicking, bluesy tale of vice and unrepentant sinners, with singer Matt Schultz half-rapping his lyrics as though he didn’t have enough time to say everything that was in his head. That seems to be true of the band as a whole, who have developed a reputation for loud, messy, shit-kicking gigs played with intense energy. The same energy certainly comes through on their latest record; even after the first brief listen I could imagine thrashing around in some sweaty club, bashing into people I’d never met simply because they happened to be standing next to me. ‘Sell Yourself’ and ‘Sabretooth Tiger’ in particular were made for such an occasion.

Schultz has said “we want each of our songs to sound like it’s been written by a different band” - which is a great way to keep your listeners engaged. But while there are a great many different styles on here - from the anthemic ‘Right Before My Eyes’ to the beautifully tender ‘Rubber Ball’ - the dominant sound is The Pixies. And it is all here: Frank Black’s mad yelping, Kim Deal’s distinctive basslines and that whole loud/quiet/ loud dynamic. I don’t remember ever listening to an album that sounds so much like another band.

If it seems like I’m disparaging the album, I’m not. Rather than complain about how much they sound like someone else, why not just embrace the fact that we have new Pixies music for the first time since Trompe Le Monde?

Cage The Elephant will find their own sound soon, and I’m sure it will be worth the wait. Especially if this is what they do to tide us over in the meantime.

Luke Telford

Hugh Robertson

friendly tracks – ‘Lung Sum’ is the song that The Temper Trap keep trying to get to before they take that wrong turn at U2 Avenue, and ‘Taller Than You Then’ rides a riff that Josh Homme wouldn’t kick out of bed. But the poppiest moments are still tempered by Pyne’s Isaac Brockstyle howl’n’croon – wounded, mealymouthed and defiant, and capable of an assured sweetness the Modest Mouse frontman will never manage – and their anything-goes approach to building a genuinely unique sound.

In Loving Memory is a feat of originality and discipline - emotionally intelligent rock with crisp edges and balls by the truckload.

Caitlin Welsh

Thank You, Happy Birthday Jive Records

Mirrored remains the group’s best work, but Battles continue to be an incomparably inventive force.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK THE PAPER SCISSORS

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

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

WU-TANG CLAN - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) RED RIDERS - Replica Replica JOE WALSH - You Bought It - You Name It

THE NATIONAL - High Violet WALK THE MOON - I Want! I Want!

Remedy

More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

RIP CLARKEY

One of the great unsung but hugely respected warriors in Oz rock, soundman and electronics wiz Greg Clarke, sadly passed away recently. While he was more than happy to lend a hand whenever it was needed, his main local gig was as tour manager for Rose Tattoo. Clarkey was a wonderful guy who deeply loved and was honoured to be involved with this country’s unique rock’n’roll heritage. He will be greatly missed.

THE CURE

Yep, love or loathe the whole goth thing – and you probably know where we stand on that – The Cure were simply stunning at Vivid LIVE and (a bit like at Woodstock and Sunbury) it seems that everyone we spoke to and everyone that they knew was also at the show - which would have made for a much larger crowd than was actually there.

But whether you really were there or not, the entire night will be on DVD soon...

BLACK ELVIS

Lil’ Glenn Danzig has recorded a pile of covers for an upcoming album, and it will include something by his beloved Black Sabbath and Elvis Presley – which really works on both fronts, as his entire thing has long been a mix of both.

STOOGES TRIBUTE

Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek has written a piece for i94bar.com about his appearance at the tribute to late Stooge Ron Asheton, held in Ann Arbor. After a ball-tearing set from The Stooges, Tek got up and took James Williamson’s place for ‘TV Eye’, ‘Loose’, ‘Dirt’ and ‘Real Cool Time’, all Ron’s vintage, and a sound that Tek has long specialised in. Then for an encore, they went with ‘No Fun’, with the double barrels of Tek, Willamson and sax man Steve MacKay, while Hank Rollins was front and centre with the road crew, trying to keep the crowd at bay. There was even an orchestra doing some Stooges stuff, which from all reports worked amazingly (and for us almost unbelievably) well. Read the whole piece and see the cool pics at www.i94bar.com

QUADROPHENIA

The Who’s Pete Townshend is working on a boxed set of the band’s most ambitious but widely panned effort, Quadrophenia – which for us was an effort that kicked the tripe out of the much more acclaimed

Tommy for sheer balls in terms of sonics. In fact, the sound on Tommy the movie blew the studio slab out of the water too.

FEEDTIME TIME

The recent reunion of Australian national treasure feedtime in San Francisco, after an absence of several decades, was from all reports not only monstrously great but witnessed by some equally amazing folks. Former Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra came along, as did Penelope Houston of The Avengers, while another fan flew in all the way from Norway for the moment.

May the feedtime machine rumble our way sometime very soon.

AC/DC FOR CARBON TAX

We’ve been thinking about it, and we too were disappointed to see Cate Blanchett waving the flag for a carbon tax. Surely someone like say Jack Thompson or the (now) late Bill Hunter would have been perfect? Billy Thorpe would have been better still, or even Peter Wells or Lobby Loyde. Imagine it: “Listen, you c**ts…”

But probably the best spokesman of all would have been Angus Young – not that AC/DC ever touch that type of thing (or any political debate of any kind) with a bargepole. But he would have gotten the issue over the line in a heartbeat. No more debate. Angus said. Done deal.

PLATINUM BRUNETTE

Sydney’s bestest dressed punk-metallers, Platinum Brunette have hit the wide screen, with the title track of their latest EP, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Prettier, selected along with two other tunes to appear in Australian film 33 Postcards, starring Guy Pearce and Claudia Karvan. It premieres at the Sydney Film Festival this month. The EP is available through MGM/Green Media, iTunes, and via the band’s website platinumbrunette.com.au

GOLDEN STAPH

Perth outfit Golden Staph knocked lotsa folks’ socks off last year on their highly un-publicised East Coast tour dates. The gal-fronted five-piece draw from the history of punk rock and post-punk with echoes of The Avengers and LA punk in the vocal delivery, and a Wipers-type dynamic in the guitar lines in among the keyboard passges. Their debut album is out now on the R.I.P Society label.

ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Rory Gallagher’s scorching Notes from San Francisco, a recently released double-disc set of live and studio material from the great man that has been locked up in the vaults simply (so the story goes) 'cos Gallagher was unsure how to mix it. Whoever did this sure did the songs and the man justice, though.

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS The bill for Bastardfest on September 10 at the Sandringham, which already featured Psycroptic, I Exist, Pod People, Bane of Isildur, Ouroboros, Chaos Divine, Blood Duster, The Dream Killers, Claim The Throne, Dawn Heist and Anno Domini, now also includes Extortion, Ruins, Daemon Foetal Harvest, Enforce and Ignite the Ibex. www.bastardfest.com

Roses played at Eastern Creek Raceway in January 1993 with Skid Row, Rose Tattoo and 85,000 friends. www.soundwaverevolution.com Alice Cooper

Lucy Desoto and The Handsome Devils are at the Rose of Australia Hotel in Erskineville on Friday June 17, and Appin Hotel, Appin on June 25.

The Dunhill Blues are at the Botany View Hotel on Sunday June 19.

Soundwave Revolution venues have been announced, and for us it’s pretty damn cool that the Sydney show on September 25 is at Old Kings Oval, Parramatta Park. That means that Van Halen with Mr David Lee, Alice Cooper, Bad Religion, Machine Head, Danzig, The Cro Mags, The Devin Townshend Project, Gojira and stacks more will be playing in Western Sydney for a change, in what must be the biggest thing since Guns n’

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

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 31

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

BAT FOR LASHES

Vivid LIVE @ Sydney Opera House Saturday June 4 I walked out of this show completely blown away – my plus one, who’d barely known Natasha Khan from the Wrath of Khan before walking in, was similarly impressed. A colleague sitting right behind me raved aloud and in print. And then a certain editor confessed to having hated her with the fire of a thousand suns, and I wondered for a moment if I’d been taken in somehow – if my professional critical faculty had been shut down by Bat For Lashes' pseudo-ritualistic vocal voodoo and the sexy swing of her doona-skirt.

In retrospect, the show certainly ended up being more than the sum of its parts – a decent band, a perfectly nice string section, a couple of weird touches like the real trees at the sides of the stage, and a beautiful girl singing otherworldly Gothpop ballads. But however it happened, I was sucked in entirely from the moment Khan opened her mouth.

Khan took the stage with her band (which apparently included Charlotte Hatherley, formerly of Ash, on guitar), and she was swathed in a quilted-satin scarlet thing that looked for all the world like a Chanel 2.55 bred with a Snuggie. She opened with Two Suns’ first track ‘Glass’ – a track that showcases her voice perfectly, from the husky hymnal of the opening to the soaring soprano of the chorus.

She instantly had the room in the palm of her hand, and cemented the affection between songs – whether attempting the local dialect with no small success, or looking genuinely chuffed when the rippling, twitching keyboard riff of ‘Horse & I’ was greeted by ecstatic whoops from the stalls. The moody visuals projected behind her were appropriately divided between mysticism and innocence – adorable bunnies, Christian iconography, ballet dancers, moonlit nights, and tense, passionate love scenes from long-forgotten black and white Hollywood films.

The only new song we heard was a slight departure from the rest of the material, an epic, '90s-ish synth R&B track (“somewhere between TLC, James Blake and Washed Out”, is what I wrote in my notes, although it felt far less obsequiously trendy than it sounds when put like that).

Late in the main set a television was wheeled onstage by a stage tech, who pressed a button and left the TV and Khan alone in the spotlight; there was a gasp from the couple in front of us as Pearl, Khan’s blonde-bobbed alter-ego from Two Suns, flickered onscreen to sing duet ‘The Big Sleep’ with, well, herself – a slightly precious gimmick, but still effective.

The acoustic encore consisted almost entirely of covers, Khan backed only by her string section; the highlight was a devastating ‘Wild Is The Wind’, but close behind were opener ‘All I Need’ (secretly the best track on Radiohead’s In Rainbows) and a similarly intense version of The Cure’s spooky ‘Lullaby’. As the applause faded on the latter, Khan joked, “I could tell ghost stories for a living if this all goes downhill.” There was a murmur of knowing laughter, as if everyone was thinking the same thing: “Sure you could, dearie – but it won’t.”

Caitlin Welsh

THE CRYSTAL ARK

Vivid LIVE @ Sydney Opera House Saturday May 28 The prospect of seeing NYC’s synthophile Gavin Russom performing live alongside a ten-strong collective of musicians and artists from DFA Records amid an array exotic dancers was not likely to disappoint.

And The Crystal Ark experience certainly lived up to my lofty expectations – but unfortunately did not even last for an hour.

Beginning with ‘The City That Never Sleeps’, a sprawling epic that was released last year, an energetic and improvisational approach was established and maintained for the remainder of the set, which flew by far too quickly. With an almost unprecedented level of intimacy for a live performance at the Opera House (there were no barriers separating the performers from us commoners), one was faced with the difficult choice of what to marvel at:

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Russom working the synthesizer, the array of beauties on percussion dressed like they were from the most exotic of all harems, or the excellent male/female podium dancers, each clad in tight, skin-coloured leotards that did a more than adequate job of conveying the illusion of nudity.

Now for the necessary criticism: I am loathe to disparage something for what it wasn’t as opposed to what it was, but this night will regrettably add to the perception that we often fluff it where Melbourne gets it right… The performance commenced at 7:30 exactly with no warm-up acts to speak of, and finished before 8:30 - which lead to some disgruntled fans making their displeasure known by unleashing dismayed "boo"s when The Crystal Ark collective did not return to the stage for what everyone assumed would be an inevitable encore.

Such a reaction could be construed as a reflection of how much everyone was relishing what was one of the more unique and enjoyable gigs I have been to in recent times, and the dismay at its all too brief duration. Given the truncated performance from the headliner, some support acts were sorely needed – and the fact that Mad Racket was commencing at 10pm at the same venue made it all the more frustrating.

If the start time for this performance had been pushed back so it flowed into Mad Racket, the night would have been infinitely more satisfying. As it was, a gig laced with compelling panache, infectious exuberance and wizardry of both the technical and corporeal kind was unfortunately undermined, and I reluctantly left with a slightly sour taste in my mouth for good things to not end properly is just unsatisfyiChris Honnery

LIVE ON THE LANES FT. BAG RAIDERS, ALISON WONDERLAND

Strike Bowling @ King St Wharf Thursday June 2 You know a really good way to get total strangers to talk to each other? Bowling.

By the time Nova had shoved enough competition winners to sink a submarine into the sprawling entertainment complex of King St Wharf, everybody was paired up with complete and utter strangers for ten frames, and suddenly we all learnt to like each other.

It helped that there were awesome drinks (Rekorderlig Cider is venerable Passion Pop for grown-ups) and banging tunes which were more than ably provided by opening DJ Alison Wonderland, who set up her decks right next to our lane. If that wasn’t enough, this was the launch night, so there were all these cute little canapés going around and after about six miniquiches I was happy as Larry from the AU Review, who was bowling right before me and equally happy. We asked Ms Wonderland to play some Biggie Smalls, and she complied. Then she mixed it into The Rapture and I got a strike at the same time. Money can’t buy fun like this (read: it probably can.)

Sure, one of the friends from school who I brought along bowled a massive eight gutterballs in a row, but we made some new friends. Like a bunch of English-asa-second-language teachers, who were competing against each other for the dubious prize of not having to run naked through the classroom next day. Or some girls who started dancing like absolute morons on the lanes as soon as Bag Raiders hit the stage, right near the pins.

I can see why people come here a lot; it reminds me of the glory days of TimeZone in my suburban shopping mall, but with more sex appeal. I mean, these guys have karaoke rooms with actual backing tracks, not just that MIDI bullshit.

Not only did I knock over a ton of pins, but I now know every word to ‘Like A G6’.

Plus, Bag Raiders drop bangers and those bowling shoes they give you are awesome for sliding around in like you’re Elvis. Just ask one of the teachers, who fell on their ass. Golden.

Jonno Seidler

(USA)

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

party profile

yo gabba gabba!

PICS :: TL

excellent robot

It’s called: Excellent Robot at Red Rattler It sounds like: Garage dream-pop. Guitars, keys, hooks.

Who’s playing? Excellent Robot, Step-Panther, Little A Sell it to us: Puppets playing live?! Six amazing creations deliver a stage show like no other! Excellent Robot is part light show/puppet fantasy/timeless pop. You’ve never seen a show like this.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Where was I? Did I dream that? What is that song I can’t stop singing and who the heck is Doctorpus?? I remember getting to Red Rattler, and after that it’s all magical creatures and beautiful lights...

Crowd specs: People who love live gigs, but are looking for a little more somethin’ somethin’, just for the hell of it.

Wallet damage: Damage?! $10. That’s as cheap as pho.

Where: Red Rattler / 6 Faversham St, Marrickville When: Saturday June 18, from 8pm

changing tunes fundraiser

bat for lashes

PICS :: AM

02:06:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245

05:06:11 :: Tone :: 116 Wentworth Ave Surry Hills, 9267 6440

pez & maya jupiter

03:06:11 :: The Factory :: 105 Victoria Road Enmore 95503666

02:06:11 :: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: CAI S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER THOMAS PEACHY :: ROSETTE :: NS MUN IEL DAN :: LEY MAR GRIFFIN:: KEN LEANFORE :: ASH ROUHANNA ::

34 :: BRAG :: 416: 13:06:11

blue king brown

PICS :: RR

boy & bear

PICS :: RR

05:06:11 :: Vivid LIVE:: Sydney Opera House 92471666

04:06:11 :: The Metro Theatre :: 624 George St City 92642666

PICS :: KC

PICS :: RR

hot damn

PICS :: TL

31:05:11 :: Vivid LIVE:: Sydney Opera House 92471666

snap sn ap

last night

PICS :: CG

up all night out all week . . .

teeth & tongue

PICS :: RR

03:06:11 :: The Gaelic Theatre :: 64 Devonshire St Surry Hills 92111687

02:06:11 :: GOODGOD :: 53-55 Liverpool Street Sydney 9267 3787

the cure

PICS :: TL

party profile

strangelove

It sounds like: A rockin’ blues ‘80s underground haunt where Talking Heads, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, and Jean-Luc Godard are throwing a party for a magazine that's been a long time coming.

Who’s playing? Ghoul, Dave Graney, Oscar + Martin, Evil J + Saint Cecilia, with films by Ingmar Bergman, Heath Franco, Sands Through The Hourglass, a surprise blues supergroup, Jack Shit and Robbie Buck's rare 78s vinyl DJ set, Jingle Jangle DJs and more.

Sell it to us: The first in a series between OAF and Strangelove Magazine, combining sound, sight, smell, touch, taste and type; a melange of introverted thought in an extroverted fashion.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The crispy crispy magazine you took home.

Crowd specs: The only people for us are the mad ones, who burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and everybody goes “Awww!”

Wallet damage: $10 (+ bf) Where: Oxford Art Factory / 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst When: Tuesday June 14, from 8pm

band day

PICS :: TL

in the pines vs tune up 04:06:11 :: Hunky Dory Social Club :: 215 Oxford Street Darlinghurst 9331 0442

PICS :: KC

31:05:11 :: Vivid LIVE :: Sydney Opera House 92471666

02:06:11 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel :: 248 William St Darlinghurst 9331 9900 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: CAI S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) ROSETTE OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: IEL DAN :: MAR LEY ASH :: E GRIFFIN:: KEN LEANFOR ROUHANNA ::

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 35

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week Red Riders

Eora Showcase Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Hazy Cloud Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9:30pm Strangelove Launch: Ghoul, Dave Graney, Oscar & Martin, Evil J & Saint Cecilia, Heath Franco, Sands Through The Hourglass, Jack Shit, Robbie Buck, Jingle Jangle DJs Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf) 8pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9:30pm Tom T Trio Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm

JAZZ

John Harkins Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Pascal Schumacher Quartet The Basement, Circular Quay $25–$35 9pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Tim O’Dwyer Trio, Will Guthrie 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (at door) 8:30pm

SATURDAY JUNE 18

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

Red Riders' Last Ever Show

SOLD OUT

w/ Loon Lake 8pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Adam Pringle Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Bondi Community Choir Bondi Pavilion Community Cultural Centre, Bondi Beach free 7pm Eora Showcase Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Renee Jonas, Ben Hardie & Adam Epstein, Russell Neal Coach & Horses Hotel free 7pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9:30pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9:30pm Tom T Trio Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 15 ROCK & POP

MONDAY JUNE 13 ROCK & POP

Benton & Storm The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 7pm Billy & I Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 12:30pm Cambo The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm O’Malley’s Got Talent O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 8pm Reckless Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free Sarah Paton The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 7:30pm Steve Tongue Coogee Bay Hotel, Beach Bar free 9pm The Donovans The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 2pm

36 :: BRAG :: 416 : 13:06:11

The Pajama Club Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm The Thing Os Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7pm

JAZZ

Black Cracker, Tim O’Dwyer, Clayton Thomas, Darren Moore, Jim Denley, Martin Ng Serial Space, Chippendale $8–$10 8pm Jason Moran & The Bandwagon The Basement, Circular Quay $45 (member)–$55 8:30pm Jim Pennell Duo Darling Harbour, Chinese Gardens, Sydney $40 (dinner & show) 11am Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio (USA), Tuba Skinny, Eon Beats Project, The Australian Army Band, Frank Bennett, Dereb the Ambassador, Mojo Juju,

Electric Empire, James Valentine Quartet, Jo Fabro Band, Acca Daiquiris, George Washingmachine, Clayton Doley’s Organ Donors, The Buddy Knox Blues Band, Tangled Up in Bob, Jonathan Zwartz Ensemble Darling Harbour Precinct free 12pm

Alpine, We Are Grace Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm

Alpine Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9:30pm Bernie Hayes Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Bianca Meier, Laura Hill Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Helpful Kitchen Gods The Valve, Tempe 7pm JP O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9:30pm Mark Lucas Petersham Bowling Club free 7:30pm Matt Jones Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4:30pm Michelle Martinez Marble Bar, Sydney free 8:30pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel. free 8pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Open Mic Night Coach and Horses Hotel, Randwick free 8pm Open Mic Night Down Under Bar & Bistro, Kings Cross free 7:30pm The Blindfolds, Rachael & Derek, Professor Malakai & The One Persidence, Stephanie Bruno The Vanguard, Newtown $12

(+ bf)–$47 (dinner & show) 6:30pm

JAZZ

Darryl Beaton Civic Underground, Sydney free 9pm Dave Panichi Septet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10– $15 8:30pm Efrat Gosh, Emma Hamilton Camelot, Marrickville $15 (conc)–$20 7:30pm Gadjo Guitars Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Pascal Schumacher Quartet The Basement, Circular Quay $25–$35 9pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Polkadot & Moonbeam Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm 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

Zelda Smyth, Bobby McCloughan, Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel-Motel free 7:30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK Efrat Gosh University of New South Wales, Kensington free 12:45pm

TUESDAY JUNE 14 ROCK & POP

Adam Pringle Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm

The Pajama Club

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

THURSDAY JUNE 16 ROCK & POP

Anna Lawley Band Woollahra Hotel free 7:45pm Anthems Of Oz The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Captain Reckless & The Lost Souls, The Atom Bombs, Doc Holliday Takes The Shotgun The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf)–$50 (+ bf) 8pm Chris Connolly Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Corridors Of Conformity Excelsior Hotel 7:30pm Daniel Boys Slide, Darlinghurst $20–$60 (dinner & show) 7pm Georgia Fair, Daniel Lee Kendall Notes Live, Enmore $10 (+ bf) 7pm Havana Rakatan Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House $59–$109 7pm Inner City Creeps Tailors on Central free 8pm Johnathon Devoy Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Kobra Kai Beach Road Hotel, Bondi 8pm Kunvuk, Terrorential, Gutter Tactic, Flaming Wreckage The Valve, Tempe $10 7pm Mandi Jarry Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Mannequins, Monk, Ouster Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $10 (at door) 7:30pm Musos Cub Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm

Rockit To Mars Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Ruin Gloria, Amber Calling Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 (guestlist)–$15 8pm Siren Lines, Enola Fall, New Brutalists Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Sudden Comfort Club Bondi Junction free 5:30pm Tex Perkins & the Dark Horses, Adalita The Factory Theatre, Enmore $36.30 (+ bf) 8pm The Nectars, The Harriett Whiskey Club, Forgetting Sundown, The Ruminators Annandale Hotel $8 7pm Thylacines Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm Tony Mazell & The Four Tunes, Victoria McGee, Troy Smith South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm

JAZZ

Dan Tepfer Cafe Church, Glebe $10 (conc)–$20 8pm Evan Lohning Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Jo Fabro, Reyes De La Onda Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm Judy Bailey’s Jazz Connection 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8:30pm Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Stephen O’Connell The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf)–$63.80 (dinner & show) 9:30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Finbar Furey (Ireland), Brendan Grace (Ireland) Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $72 (dinner & show) 7pm Kate Gogarty Ruby L’otel, Rozelle free 6pm

FRIDAY JUNE 17 ROCK & POP

031 Rockshow Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm 2days Hits Brewhouse At St Mary’s, St Marys free 9:30pm AlexTheSeal Orange Grove Hotel, Leichhardt free 7:30pm Armchair Travellers Duo Club Rivers, Riverwood free 8:30pm Bad Manners (UK), Backy Skank, Rust Annandale Hotel $39.60 (+ bf) 8pm Bang Shang A Lang Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8:30pm Barry Leef, Peter Northcote Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9:30pm Ben Schindler, Neon Heart, Say It Forever Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Blaze of Glory Heathcote Hotel free 9:30pm Brown Sugar Marble Bar, Sydney free 9:30pm Carbon Copy Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Chris Duke & the Royals, Madonna [Melb], Faim

Project Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm Last Night: Cut Off Your Hands (NZ), Step-Panther, Only The Sea Slugs, Indian Summer, M.I.T, Randall Stagg, Those Pipe DJs, Party Rock Party Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 8pm Daemon Foetal Harvest, Roadside Burial, Burial Chamber, Granny Fist, Lower Back Problems Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $10 8pm Damage Inc The Valve, Tempe 7pm Flamin’ Beauties Mortdale Hotel free 8pm Gary Robertson Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Georgia Fair, Daniel Lee Kendall Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 (presale) 7pm Harbour Masters Kings X Hotel free 10pm Havana Rakatan Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House $59–$109 7pm Hit Selection Duo Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm Iron Jack, Neon Heart, Say It Forever Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Josh Mcevoy Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor free 7:45pm Jukebox Jive South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8:30pm Karnivool Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre 8pm King Tide Vault 146, Windsor 8pm

Jun

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

16 Jun

7%$

5 * .%

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

17 Jun

(5:00PM - 8:00PM)

(9:15PM - 1:00AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sat

18 Jun

4(5

*5.%

&2)

*5.%

sun

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

19 Jun

The Vanguard, Newtown $18 (+ bf)–$20 (at door) 6:30pm New Navy, Rufus, Sons of Alamo Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Nick Andrews Club Bondi Junction free 5:30pm Georgia Fair

NEW CHEF NEW MENU $12 SPECIALS

wed

15

Lucy Desoto Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville 9pm Mark Travers Castle Hill RSL Club free Mikelangelo & The Tin Star, Saint Clare, Go Girl Gadget Go Go, Rufino & the Coconuts

SUNDAY NIGHT

3!4

*5.%

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

35.

*5.%

TAFE SHOWCASE

&2%% %.429

DRUNK MUMS + I AM APOLLO BAYONETS FOR LEGS + THE CADRES

PURPLE SNEAKERS PRESENT LAST NIGHT PLUS THE RESIDENT (LIVE) PURPLE SNEAKERS DJ’S

CUT OFF YOUR HANDS + ONLY THE SEA SLUGS

ABSOLUTE POWER

VINES DJ’S + MO MAYHEM + DJ SKAR + DJ RONNIE + THE JERKS

SPARROWS + BABY ROLL! FRANKIE!

22/06 GOLDEN FANG + RIOT HOUSE 23/06 THE MEDICS

NOWHERE LAUNCH NIGHT 26/06 LOS SKELETONE BLUES v25/06 28/06 STRIP! TUESDAYS 29/06 SHIVON + RIOT HOUSE 30/06 SYNDICATE 02/07 MICAH HINSON + DUBSTEP PARTY 03/07 THE VOLTS 14/07 CROSSROADS LAUNCH NIGHT

COMING SOON BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 37

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Night Owl Down Under Bar & Bistro, Kings Cross free 8pm Organ In Rock Notes Live, Enmore $32.65 –$55.10 (dinner & show) 7pm Rob Henry Duo Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Shanghai, The Flippin’ Gits, Alex Party Cat, The Red Room, Through a Glass Darkly,The Barbarian Princes, The Pullaparts, The Angry Darts, Pharaohs of the Farout, Rock Wankers, The Old C*nts, The Ladyboys, Parasite, Froglodytes and The Blank Stares Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 7pm Spartak, Chris Abrahams, Sam Pettigrew, Language of Spiders, Beres Jackson,

Dan Whiting Hardware Gallery, Enmore free 7:30pm Stone And The Sky Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7:30pm The Borderline Bambu, Western Suburbs Leagues Club Campbelltown, Leumeah free 9pm The Demon Parade Tone, Surry Hills 8pm The Green Day Show Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm The Groove Academy Water Bar, Woolloomooloo free 6pm The Living Chair Penrith Hotel free 10pm The Middle East, Leader Cheetah, Grand Salvo Metro Theatre, Sydney $25 (presale) 7:30pm

The Paper Scissors Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm The Radiators Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $38 –$78 (dinner & show) 7pm The Shuffle Boys Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 8pm Tinpan Orange, Jen Cloher, Jordie Lane, Harry Angus, Husky, Liz Martin The Factory Theatre, Enmore $25 (+ bf) 8pm Watussi, The Liberators The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf)–$63.80 (dinner & show) 9:30pm Wet Zelko, English Avenue, Greg Nunan The Eastern Lounge, Chatswood $14 (presale)–$16 (at door) 7pm

Step-Panther

JAZZ

Freefall Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Leanne Paris, Alphamama Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm Not Quite Cabaret Paddington Arms $24 7pm Paul Grabowsky Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8:30pm Ray Beadle Band Club Cronulla free 8:30pm The Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (member)–$20 8:30pm

ACOUSTIC/FOLK

Adam Harvey & Beccy Cole Campbelltown RSL $35 7:30pm Amber Calling Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta $12 8pm Dal’or Open Mic Cafe Dal’or, Dulwich Hill free David Hibbert Revesby Heights Ex-Servicemen’s Memorial Club $15 (at door) 8:30pm

SATURDAY JUNE 18 ROCK & POP

2days Hits Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Abbalanche Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre $22–$55 (dinner & show) 6:30pm Alphamama Marble Bar, Sydney free 10:30pm

Bad Manners (UK), Backy Skank, Los Capitanes, Rock Steady Dub Militia, Eager 13, Uptown Ranking DJs, Jarren Zen & The Switchblades Annandale Hotel $39.60 (+ bf) 3:30pm Big Shots Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 8pm Brian Gillette Guildford Leagues Club free 10pm Bryen Willems Riverstone Schofields Memorial Club free 8pm Craig Pesco Castle Hill RSL Club 8pm Cruel Hand (USA), Phantoms, Relentless, Endless Heights, Civil War Hermann’s, Darlington $23.50 (+ bf) 8pm Deep Trio Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8:30pm Diva Mania Cronulla RSL free 7pm Don’t Forget The Drummer Bambu, Western Suburbs Leagues Club Campbelltown, Leumeah free 9pm Excellent Robot, Step Panther, Little A Red Rattler $10 8pm Funpuppet Peachtree Hotel, Penrith free 9pm Havana Rakatan Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House $59–$109 1pm Herb, The Get Down Band, Boozy Roots Murphy Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Jack Ladder & the Dreamlanders, Bearhug, A Casual End Mile Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $19.40 (+ bf) 8pm

Jack McCord (UK) Water Bar, Woolloomooloo free 8pm Jeremy Davidson, Scott James, Grant Byrnes, Mike Hayes, Caroline Miller, Mother Mars Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12–$15 8pm John Field Duo Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Johnny V’s Rock’n’Roll Heaven South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm Karnivool Roundhouse, Kensington $51.45 (+ bf) 7pm Lachlan Doley Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $31 (show only) 7pm Lies & Destruction Oatley Hotel 8:30pm Mal Eastick Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Mark Travers Castle Hill RSL Club free 8:30pm Midnight Drifters Guildford Leagues Club free 8:30pm Molten Universe, Lollipop Sugar, Infamous Grouse Live at the Wall, Leichhardt $10 8pm Patrick James Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Professor Bad Trip, Ensemble Offspring CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $20 (conc)–$40 8pm Ratcat The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 8pm Red Riders, Loon Lake Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf)–$18 (at door) 8pm Smoking Ponies Beach Rd Hotel Bondi Beach

WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE

THURSDAY 16TH JUNE

Georgia Fair + Daniel Lee Kendall

FRIDAY 17TH JUNE Lachlan Doley's

organ in rock THURSDAY 23TH JUNE

carus thompson request show FRIDAY 24TH JUNE

D.i.g

20th anniversary WEDNESDAY 29TH JUNE

pete murray 38 :: BRAG :: 416 : 13:06:11

Fri 1/07 Skipping Girl Vinegar (album launch) Sat 2/07 Kristina Olsen (US) Thur 7/07 Steve Kilby (The Church) & Ricky Maymi (Brian Jonestown Massacre) + Jill & Alsy (The Triffids) + Richard Lane (The Stems) Sat 9/07 Old Man River + Owl Eyes Wed 13/07 Penny & The Mystics Fri 15/07 For The Love Of Purple Deep Purple Tribute Sat 16/07 Hendrix & Heroes Thur 21/07 Tiny Ruins (NZ) Fri 22/07 The Strides + Uncle Jed Sat 23/07 The Sins Single Launch + The Glamma Rays + The Pork Collective Thur 28/07 Jeffry Slier CD launch Sat 8/08 Café Of The Gate Of Salvation With guest Paul Capsis Fri 29/07 Last Waltz Revival Sat 30/07 Sarah McLeod Tue 16/08 Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson Fri 9/09 Otis Redding 70th Birthday Celebration w/ Johnny G & The E Types

BIANCA MEIER

& THE YOUNG LOVE + Laura Hill (SA) + Husband and Strife

THURSDAY 16TH JUNE

BOATS OF BERLIN + We Are The Birdcage

FRIDAY 17TH JUNE

GEORGIA FAIR + Daniel Lee Kendall

SATURDAY 18TH JUNE

STEVE FLACK’S GUITAR HEROES FEATURING:

DOM TURNER (The Backsliders) - MARTIN CILIA (The Atlantics) BRAD CARR (The Choirboys) FESS PARKER (The Radiators) SUNDAY 19TH JUNE

NINTH PILLAR + Hazel Eyes The Devil

MONDAY 20TH JUNE

Tuesday 21 June Kinky Friedman Wednesday 22 June Alloway Thursday 23 June English And The Doc Friday 24 June The Gin Club Saturday 25 June SuperHeavyWeights Sunday 26 June Natalie Gauci Wednesday 29 June Tin Sparrow Thursday 30 June Caravãna Sun Friday 1 July Micah P Hinson Saturday 2 July Rose Of York Wednesday 6 July James Blundell Saturday 8 July Dragon Saturday 9 July Johnny Cash Tribute Thursday 14 July Martinez Akustica Friday 15 July Dan Sultan & Alexander Gow Saturday 16 July The Paper Scissors Sunday 17 July Mark Seymour Thursday 4 August Diesel Wednesday 17 August Bob Log III Thursday 18 August Wendy Matthews

KINKY FRIEDMAN

Sunday 21 August Jace Everett

+ Jason Walker

Friday 9 September Ian Moss

AND VAN DYKE PARKS

Wednesday 24 August Alvin Youngblood Hart

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Steve Flack Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Stormcellar Pendle Hill Inn free 8pm Tezza & the Twistops Club Merrylands free 8:30pm The Hitmakers Western Suburbs Leagues Club Campbelltown, Leumeah $15 (member)–$19 8:30pm The Robertson Brothers Celebrity Room, Blacktown RSL Club free 8pm The Safety Of Light At Sea Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7:30pm Tice & Evans, Kaki Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Tijuana Band Club Cronulla free 8:30pm Unmasked, Intrinsic, Rockbox Caringbah Bizzo’s $12 (at door) 8pm Wayne Pearce & the Big Hitters Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9:30pm

JAZZ

Cass Eager & The Velvet Rope Macquarie Hotel, Sydney free 8:30pm Jive Bombers, Grizzly Adams Ashfield RSL Club free 8pm Kafe Kool Supper Club Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Monsieur Camembert Camelot, Marrickville $20 (child)–$30 7:30pm Paul Grabowsky Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8:30pm Paul Sun, Mark Szeto, Cameron Andrews Larrikin’s Café & Lounge Bar, Walsh Bay free 5pm Paul Sun, Matt Lamb, Mark Batty Orange Grove Public School, Leichhardt free 9:30am Peter Head Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Susan Gai Dowling

Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm The Mark Isaacs Resurgence Band The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10 (member)–$20 8:30pm The Velvet Set The Basement, Circular Quay $55 (+ bf) 5pm

HIP HOP

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

ROCK & POP

Balmain Bush Dance Sydney Secondary College Rozelle Campus $8 (student)–$17 8pm Dj Juno, Matthew Vano Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta $6 8pm Fergusson Elliott Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7:30pm Kim Churchill, Benjalu, Laura Hill The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf)–$50 (dinner & show) 6:30pm

Ensemble Offspring

Empire Rising The Valve, Tempe 8pm

SUNDAY JUNE 19 3 Way Split The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 8:30pm Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm Ali Penney & The Money Makers Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Babyroll, Frankie, Sparrows Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills 7pm Cruel Hand (USA), Phantoms, Relentless, Renegade, Pledge This!, Avalanche Masonic Hall, Blacktown 6pm Double Agent Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 4pm Elevation U2 Show The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4:30pm Generation Crash, The Furious Five The Valve, Tempe free 4:30pm Havana Rakatan Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House $59–$109 1Pm & 5pm Hue Williams Empire Bay Tavern free 2pm Matt Jones Harbord Beach Hotel free 6pm My Hollowed Fantasy, Rose From Ruins, Pointless Suffering, Forever A Dreamer, Easy Company,

Past is Practice, A Step Toward Nothing, Flight or Fall The Lucky Australian, North St Marys $10 1pm Next Best Thing Royal Exchange, Windsor free 3pm Peter Northcote Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $10 3pm Pharaohs of the Farout, Southeern Preachers, Second Nation Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $7 8pm Rumble In The Quad Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Simone Dee Trio Woollahra Hotel free 6:30pm Skyz The Limit Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 6:30pm The Black Sorrows Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48 (show only)–$113 12pm The Ivys, Lange Theory, Buring Blue Sky Annandale Hotel $10 (at door) 6pm The Never Ever, Amber Calling, Sound of Seasons, The Critics, Drawing North Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm Time Shield, Electric Sea Spider, Slamagotchi, Nakagin Tone, Surry Hills $10 (presale)–$15 (at door) 5pm Triple Imagen South Sydney Juniors, Kingsford free 8pm

JAZZ

Andrew Russell Jazushi, Surry Hills free 7pm Jeff Duff Trio Castle Hill RSL Club free 1pm

John Leigh Calder, Di Bird Hotel Clarendon, Surry Hills free 3:30pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 3pm Paul Sun, Alex Compton, Didi Mudigdo Marrickville High School free 9:30am Ron Nairn’s Cool Connection Cronulla RSL free 12:30pm The Magnets The Basement, Circular Quay $44 (+ bf) 8pm Unity Hall Jazz Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 4pm Urban Gypsies Cafe Sydney free 12pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Jacob Pearson The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf)–$55 (dinner & show) 6:30pm Kate Gogarty Ruby L’otel, Rozelle free 2pm Kate Gogarty Bavarian Bier Cafe Bondi Beach free 6pm Kirk Burgess Oatley Hotel 2pm Silvia Entcheva, Balkan Quartet Riverside Theatres, Parramatta $22 (member)–$28 3:30pm

COUNTRY

Darren Peters Royal Cricketers Arms, Prospect free 3:30pm Hunter & Suzy Owens Band Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club $10 4:30pm

COOGE E SAT JUNE 25

NATALIE GAUCI

SAT JULY 16

SARAH MCLEOD

SAT JULY 30

THE SNOWDROPPERS Band Bookings

info@codeone.net.au - www.codeone.net.au

Tickets & info from www.coogeediggers.com.au

COOGEE DIGGERS 9665 4466 CORNER BYRON & CARR STREETS

USE ME.

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 39

gig picks

up all night out all week...

The Middle East Dave Graney

FRIDAY JUNE 17 Last Night: Cut Off Your Hands (NZ), StepPanther, Only The Sea Slugs, Indian Summer, M.I.T, Randall Stagg, Those Pipe DJs, Party Rock Party Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 8pm The Middle East, Leader Cheetah, Grand Salvo Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7:30pm The Paper Scissors Oxford Art Factory $12 (+ bf) 8pm Tinpan Orange, Jen Cloher, Jordie Lane, Harry Angus, Husky, Liz Martin The Factory Theatre, Enmore $25 (+ bf) 7:30pm

MONDAY JUNE 13

WEDNESDAY JUNE 15

The Pajama Club Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $25 (+ bf) 8pm

Alpine, We Are Grace Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach 8pm

TUESDAY JUNE 14

THURSDAY JUNE 16

Strangelove Launch: Ghoul, Dave Graney, Oscar + Martin, Evil J & Saint Cecilia, Heath Franco, Sands Through The Hourglass, Jack Shit, Robbie Buck, Jingle Jangle DJs Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 (+ bf) 8pm

Georgia Fair, Daniel Lee Kendall Notes Live, Enmore $10 (+ bf) 7pm

PAUL CAPSIS – Friday 24 and Saturday 25 June THE STEVE CLISBY BAND – Sunday 26 June FIONA SCOTT- NORMAN – Tuesday 28 and Wednesday 29 June BRYAN BATT (USA) – Thursday 30 June, Friday 1 and Saturday 2 July JAMES BLUNDELL + CATHERINE BRITT – Thursday 7 July Tickets online at

www.thebasement.com.au

40 :: BRAG :: 416 : 13:06:11

Ratcat

Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses, Adalita The Factory Theatre, Enmore $36.30 (+ bf) 7:30pm

SATURDAY JUNE 18 Excellent Robot, Step Panther, Little A Red Rattler $10 8pm Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders, Bearhug, A Casual End Mile Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $19.40 (+ bf) 8pm Ensemble Offspring pres. Professor Bad Trip CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $20 (conc)–$40 8pm Ratcat The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 7:30pm

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

brag beats

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

free stuff

five minutes WITH

KWEEN G FOR 3THINGS’ HIP HOP APPROACH and music connects everyone. We can use hip hop as a platform to raise awareness.

What is it about 3things that encourages young Australians to get involved with social issues?

A lot of the time, young people feel overwhelmed by the scale of global issues, and feel they can’t make a difference. 3things is all about the little things that we can each do, and how together we can have a big impact. This event can help to stop the ignorance and fear that surrounds the many issues we need to deal with, simply by starting conversations.

Itch-e & Scratch-e by Tony Mott

O

n June 30, some of the biggest names in Aussie hip hop – along with beat boxers, DJs, VJs and graphic artists – are getting together for a brainstorm, party style. Artists will jam on the 3things they can do to help change the world for the better, and by the end of the event hundreds of ideas will have accumulated, tackling global poverty and injustice. Kween G from KillaQueenz is hosting the event; we asked her a couple of questions…

What’s the aim of 3things, and why did you choose to get involved?

The aim of 3things is to get young people

thinking about global issues and the small things they can do in their lives to have an impact on global poverty and injustices. I got involved because we need more events that educate and entertain.

What are some little things we can do to make a difference?

I’ll give you an example that has made a difference to a lot of lives. My parents started a small charity by collecting five cent coins, and eventually they passed it on to friends and family to do the same thing. Ten years later, over 100 children in Zambia are going to school. It’s the things we take for granted here that hold value elsewhere, so start small and don’t get attached to the material life. Turn off the TV and make use of your time here on this planet, and give back to the land that provides you with a place to step your foot on everyday.

Give maximum respect to the original people of this place we call home.

What: 3things’ Hip Hop Approach

Why is hip hop such a great way to communicate issues of social justice?

You can use every element of hip hop to express your feelings about anything; it’s how you use these elements as a platform that can make a difference. As an MC, I think it’s important to use the mic as a way to tell your stories and those of other people. As humans, we feel good when we can relate to a topic,

Who: Ozi Batla, Dialectrix with Joe New and Plutonic Lab, Tuka, The Last Kinection, DJ Gabriel Clousten; beatboxers Rivals and LC Beats; artist VJ Spook Where: The Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday June 3 / $5 on the door More: 3things.org.au/hiphopapproach

WU-TANG ALBUM James Blake

Following on from last week’s announcement that the Wu-Tang Clan are touring Australia, it’s emerged that the notorious NY troupe are releasing a new album. Titled Legendary Weapons, it’s 14 tracks long and features most members of the Clan – but no GZA or Masta Killa apparently, although both are in for the Australia jaunt. It does however boast appearances from M.O.P., AZ, Sean Price and the usual cast of Wu associates.

Executive produced by RZA and with contributions from Brooklyn-based band The Revelations, it looks likely to slip into the dodgier side of the Wu spectrum - but who am I to dismiss the release without having even heard it? The first track from the LP, ‘Only the Rugged Survive’, is floating around to stream online. Legendary Weapons is pencilled in for a July 26 release date, shortly before the Clan play the Enmore Theatre on Friday August 5.

JOAKIM FOREVER YOUNG

JAMES BLAKE ADDS ANOTHER SIDESHOW

Hugely hyped UK sonic craftsman James Blake has bowed to public demand and announced an additional Sydney Splendour In The Grass sideshow at The Metro Theatre on Saturday July 30, after his first date sold out in rapid time. A classically-trained pianist, Blake released his self-titled debut album only in February, an LP he modestly described to triple j radio as “just a collection of songs that didn’t really fit on dubstep labels”. Indeed Blake’s productions conflate his soulful voice, which is reminiscent of one Jamie Lidell, with seriously heavy – ‘phat’ – dubstep beats. But in contrast to Lidell, Blake’s sound is more of a combination of dark bass beats that reflect his formative experiences at the grime/dubstep club Plastic People. James Blake is currently available on Universal Music, and tickets to his second Splendour sideshow go on sale from 9am this Friday June 17.

Itch-E & Scratch-E

The man dubbed the Godfather of French Electro by I-D magazine, Joakim, is preparing to release his fourth studio album Nothing Gold on his very own Tigersushi Records, breaking an album drought that stretches back far too long, all the way to 2007’s Monsters And Silly Songs. Having recently remixed Queensland group Mitzi for the Future Classic label, Joakim will drop the first single from Nothing Gold, ‘Forever Young’, next Monday.

Joakim was incredibly descriptive when discussing the emotional underpinnings of the track. “‘Forever Young’ is my song for all the 30-something-year old people out there,” he stated. “I used to hate people between 30 and 40 when I was under 30. I thought they gave up on most of their beliefs and lived a dull and fake life. Love cowards pretending to still be cool, contemptuous grown-ups afraid

ITCH-E AND SCRATCH-E REMIX COMPETITION!

In celebration of Chinese Laundry’s 15th birthday on Saturday June 18, which will be headlined by two veterans of the Australian dance scene, Itch-E & Scratch-E (Paul Mac and Andy Rantzen), they’ve conceived a competition tailor made for young producers. Submit your finest homemade production to info@jammusic.au by the end of the month and there’s a chance it will remixed by Itch-E & Scratch-E themselves; the pair will be listening to all entries and selecting their favourite submission to rework.

Furthermore, the winner will spend the night in the studio with the guys to see just how exactly they go about their work. From there it’s fame, money, sex, coke and rehab all the way – bang bang bang! The competition closes June 30 and winners will be notified by July 10, while ten runners up will score a signed copy of Itch-E & Scratch-E’s new LP, Hooray For Everything!!! described by Paul Mac as “romantic, visionary, futuristic and retro all at the same time”.

of the young sharks. But now I’m one of them.

So I have to cope with that.” For all of us who aren’t yet tricenarians, there is still hope that we’ll enjoy the release, with the early word being that Discodeine’s (a.k.a. Pilooski and Pentile) remix of the single is a cracker. We’ll have to wait until September for the album to be released though…

“I told you how long we’ve got / All the time in the world / I’ve got a thing for you / You’ve got a thing for me” - METRONOMY BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 41

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

PARTY & BULLSHIT

five things WITH

FRANCIS & FRANCES AKA SORRY DJS Growing Up [SHE]: My whole family 1. was obsessed with the movie

Your Crew [SHE]: Francis is my other half. We have 3. pretty similar views on music as we care to

Romancing The Stone starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, hence the one staple that will be in my head until I die: Billy Ocean’s ‘When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going’.

Pretty funny. I grew up listening to a lot of ‘70s folk/rock/pop – Carol King, Neil Diamond, The Band, America, The Eagles, Van the Man etc…

[HE]: I grew up hearing my dad thrash Air Supply and Simon & Garfunkel. On heavy rotation for me was Deftones, Metallica and anything Neptunes.

share our libraries with each other, and also with a lot of our friends. The first time we met was at ‘White Men Can’t Crump’ at Taxi Club – we went crumping from then on.

[HE]: What Frances said.

The Music You Make [SHE]: I’m a newbie at the DJ thing, however I do love some good beats. I’m a mish mash from IDM, electronic and synthpop to glitch, electroclash, hip hoppy alternative.

Air France’s music was once described as “beach foam pop” and “Balearic disco” – they’re some pretty inspiring words.

Inspirations [SHE]: The Nomad, 2.

Notorious B.I.G., Powell, Machinedrum, Jonwayne, White Hinterland, Bibio, Objekt, and an episode of Wilfred from season one: ‘Dog Day Afterglow’.

[HE]: Javelin, Letherette, Stereolab, Talking Heads, 2pac & Salem.

Also video game music - the synth loops from ‘Alex the Kidd’ and ‘Wonder Boy’ changed my life.

Sneaky Sound System

SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM RETURN After a break from the limelight, Sneaky Sound System have certainly returned to the fore of late, with their ubiquitous new single ‘We Love’ purportedly being “the #1 most added track at Australian radio [in] its first week out” (only a few weeks ago).

The now two-piece of Black Angus and Miss Connie Mitchell, who have parted with MC Double D since the last Sneaky Sound System project, have announced their move to Modular Recordings for the release of their forthcoming album From Here To Anywhere, which will be released in August. Sneaky Sound System have also unveiled details of their first Australian tour in two years, which includes a Sydney show at The Metro on Saturday July 2, with support from Kitsune’s Beni. Tickets went on sale on Friday June 10, and how long they’ll be available for is anyone’s guess…

HOOPS

All gal DJ troupe Hoops return to GoodGod Small Club this Saturday June 18 for what they promise to be “a throwdown of epic sexy proportions”.

Apparently, there’s some sort of shirt theme being implemented, as the ladies want to see you in your “sexiest/brightest/bestest ever shirt… even some smokin’ corduroy!” As for the music, resident selectors Bad Ezzy, Nina Las Vegas and Anna Lunoe will be peddling an array of hip hop, dancehall and my favorite of all, “sleazy boom jams”. They’ll be joined by guests GG and GoodGod’s own Hana Shimada; doors open from 10pm, and it’s $5 entry all night long.

RUDE?

Next Friday June 24, Kato, Generic Collective and Golden Era will band together for Rude?, a bash boasting dual international headliners at Phoenix Bar. Mad Decent’s Trinidadian sensation Jillionaire and UK funky exponent Doc Daneeka will headline proceedings with support from Kato and the Generic DJs. For anyone unfamiliar with the headliners, you can expect a “genre-hopping mix of classic jams” that issue a vehement “middle finger [salute] towards the mind-numbing commercial shlock clogging many clubs today.”

Done and done. $15 presale tickets are available online.

JUSTICE BREAK SILENCE

Following on from the release of compatriot SebastiAn’s new album Total, Justice have discussed the follow-up to their hugely successful † LP, from 2007. Apparently, much of the new album was recorded live, using Rosnay and Gaspard Augé’s new custom-built studio in Paris.

“It took us a long time to learn all the equipment,” Xavier de Rosnay revealed recently. “We spent about six months just getting the place set up.

So that held us back. We’d look for equipment online, then send away for it, then we’d have to read the manual, then if we didn’t like it we’d send it back…” What about the recording process itself, Xavier? “We were listening to a lot of British rock [during recording]. Like Led Zeppelin.” Hmmm. No word on an official release date yet folks, but fans of the Ed Banger sound can grab the SebastiAn release from any semi-decent CD stores now.

LITTLE DRAGON

Having played two sold-out shows in Sydney earlier in the year, Swedish quartet Little Dragon have announced a new album, Ritual Union.

Fronted by Swedish-Japanese vocalist Yukimi Nagano (who recently collaborated with SBTRKT on ‘Wildfire’), the group have slowly built up a substantial following over the last half decade, with a lullaby-sweet sound that isn’t afraid to explore the realms of hip hop and house music. According to Resident Advisor, this new album sees them “primarily return to the upfront style of songwriting they showcased on their last full-length, Machine Dreams, with analogue drum machines and vintage synthesisers paired with the group’s knack for experimental pop.” The esteemed Peacefrog imprint will release Ritual Union, Little Dragon’s third album, on July 25.

BIG BOI TOUR

One half of Grammy-winning duo Outkast, and acclaimed solo producer in his own right, Big Boi aka Antwan Andre Patton will be touring Australia with a full live band in August. Big

4.

Music, Right Here, Right Now [SHE]: We’re running a monthly Thursday 5. night party starting this week. The aim is to bring a bunch of like-minded people together to have a few drinks and enjoy the array of music bliss. Dance if you want to or just bop your head - it’s a relaxed scene that I think Sydney benefits from.

What: Sorry DJs Where: Sorry @ GOODGOD Small Club When: Thursday June 16, from 8pm

FBi Radio’s annual celebration of local sounds Sydney Sounds Like is coming up in July, and on July 9 the spotlight will be turned to all things club and hip hop at Party & Bullshit – an all-out, four-floor blowout at the Kings Cross Hotel. Housing Level 2 will be the Stolen Records Gala Ball, hosted by Elefant Traks, headlined by Hermitude and supported by a whole bunch of great acts. The crew at Cuddle Puddle take the reigns on Level 3 - on the bill are Anna Lunoe, Kato, Moriarty, Bad Ezzy, Slow Blow and Disco Punx. Level 4 will be a wonky bass-y paradise courtesy of Club Future Beat, and pumping the choonz out will be 104 Collective, Flight Recorder, Paul Fraser, Westernsynthetics, Prize, Max Gosford and Monk Fly. And the amazing rooftop bar will be transformed into a Disco Den with Stephen Ferris, Toni Toni Lee, Kali and more. Four levels of veritable mayhem and we have four double passes to give away.

Coincidence? We think not… Hit us up for one, if you can give us the name of the rapper behind this party’s namesake.

DAVID DALLAS

It seems we just can’t hold onto a good thing...

Sure David Dallas was born in New Zealand, but we were more than happy to claim him as our own - especially since he was nice enough to offer his new album The Rose Tint for free download. But alas, the hip hop artist has signed to US label Duck Down, and is headed Stateside. He’s playing one last Sydney show at GoodGod Small Club on June 17 before he hops on that plane, and if you’d like a double pass, just tell us the name of David’s first album.

Boi’s debut solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty was well received upon its release last year, spawning the single ‘Shutterbugg’ and being crowned triple j Album Of The Week, while purportedly shifting a fair few copies – though not nearly as many as the 25 million albums Outkast have sold over the course of their career… Big Boi will perform at the Enmore Theatre on Saturday August 27 with support from Brooklyn’s Theophilus London (on his debut Australia jaunt) and Thundamentals.

BIG VILLAGE @ TONE

Local hip hop bastion Big Village will launch its new compilation album, Big Things Volume One, on Sunday June 25 at Tone. The compilation offers thirteen tracks from the entire BV lineup, including cuts from Loose Change, True Vibenation, Tuka, Reverse Polarities, Jeswon and the recently triple j-Unearthed Daily Meds.

The launch party will feature live performances by each of these artists, along with Ellesquire, Suburban Dark and DJ Migz. $15 presale tickets are available online.

CONVAIRE; SPANK! ORIGINALS WINNER

Last month, Future Classic teamed up with the recently closed Spank! Records to go on the hunt for unsigned bands, producers, singers and songwriters as part of the Spank! Originals competition. After receiving almost 500 entries with sounds that ranged from lo-fi surf house to big room disco to odd experimental edits, Future Classic announced last week that the winners were Sydney four-piece Convaire, whom you may have seen play live at FBi Social a few weeks ago.

Convaire have what’s been described as “a big, sunny sound” that gives a few nods to the likes of Washed Out and Lone; you’ll soon be able to come up with your own description as they’ll be getting further exposure with the impending release of an 7” on Future Classic. To everyone else who entered, there’s still hope of scoring something from a prize pool that was worth $15,000 - a top ten will be unveiled later in the week.

ART VS SCIENCE

Described as “Australian pop music to be proud of” by no less an authority than The Daily Telegraph, the Art vs Science juggernaut continues to show little sign of slowing down. The band recently performed at the Sydney Opera House as part of the Yo Gabba Gabba! shows, where DJ Lance Rock personally extended an invitation to the boys to come and perform on the US television incarnation of the kids TV show - but in the meantime, the lads will be embarking on a local tour to promote their album The Experiment, which includes an all ages gig at The Enmore Theatre on Friday July 8. Support will come courtesy of Sosueme DJs, with $42 presale tickets currently available.

Bingethinkers

BINGETHINKERS ALBUM LAUNCH

Local Sydney rap troupe Bingethinkers, comprised of MC Rinse, DJ 2Buck (Dialectrix, Gully Platoon) and producers Aeon – also a member of acclaimed Sydney outfit Decoder Ring – and PSYKEone will be launching their full-length debut album, Where Are They Now, at FBi Social on Friday June 24. Released earlier in the year, Where Are They Now was FBi Sunsets’ album of the week, giving discerning listeners a free preview of the fusion of classic ‘90s hip hop and glitchy electronica that underscores the LP. FBi Social is held at the Kings Cross Hotel, with entry to the album launch for $15 from 8pm. Where Are They Now is currently available through Obese Records.

“Kinda think you said / You’ll never get anything better than this / ‘Cause you’re going round in circles / And everyone knows you’re trouble” - METRONOMY 42 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

WIN!

A NIGH STUDIOT IN THE W ITCH-E & SCR ITH ATCH W REMIX HILE THEY -E YOUR Full de TRACK tails a t jamm ! u sic.com

.au

ITCH-E & SCRATCH-E

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 43

Katchafire Still Sizzling By Heidi Leigh Axton

K

atchafire and their soulful reggae tunes have ignited quite a spark in their home country of New Zealand. Their first album, Revival, went Platinum and was soon matched by the equally successful second album, Slow Burning. And with their most recent record On The Road Again, which has already gone Gold, the flame shows no signs of burning out.

For a band who started out as a Bob Marley tribute act, they’ve sure come a long way. Has Katchafire been surprised by the response?

“Yeah, but we’ve been working hard,” says lead singer, keys and sax player Jamey Ferguson.

“It’s kind of been the goal for us, to get to where we’re at. It’s been quite a journey we’ve been on and we’re not quite there yet - but we’re getting there.” To give back to their homeland, a percentage of profits from the band’s upcoming tour of Australia will go towards rebuilding Christchurch, which was devastated by an earthquake earlier this year. To the boys, it’s a matter of helping out their fellow countrymen.

“We definitely feel love and respect for our brothers and sisters in Christchurch, and will always do anything we can to help them rebuild their lives.” I’m curious to know how the band themselves were impacted; where were they when the earthquake struck? “We were all thankful to be at home with our families - I could not believe my eyes. Just shock and disbelief that little old New Zealand was getting hit.”

The aptly-titled On The Road Again is the first record written by the band as a whole, rather than Ferguson and co-writer Logan Bell. No doubt they’ll all be interested to see if it gets the same nod of approval from Australians as it has from New Zealand. “[We wanted] to show the public a more accurate showcase of what we have to offer as a band,” Ferguson reflects. “It was always part of the plan, continual growth; soon our children will be on stage jamming with us.

[So] we all wrote two songs each, and worked on them in our own home studios,” he explains.

“That’s something that I guess has developed over the years from touring, having home studios. Then we took the songs and worked on them together at my garage here at home, and did a lot of practice before we actually went [and] put the tracks down live in the studio. All up, probably about five to six weeks under the ever-watchful eye of Nick Manders [engineer/ co-producer], the genius.”

“We just knew the boys’ voices had developed. We have a lot of harmony in our live performance. We thought; let’s do it all together and show people who we all are...

Katchafire are looking forward to catching up with friends during the Australian tour, a few of whom they’ll be playing alongside. “It’s a pleasant surprise to see that Maisey Rika is

joining us in Melbourne. At the moment, I think she’s definitely in the top realm of the NZ female vocalists. This Version from Sydney are pretty much family, and I mean that literally - Hani’s brother plays the bass, so we’ve jammed with them both during and after a gig a few times before - and we’ve also enjoyed jamming on the Goldcoast with Darky Roots once before. I haven’t experienced the other groups yet, but look forward to feeling their vibes.”

What: On The Road Again is out now With: This Version Where: The Enmore Theatre When: Friday June 24

Tom Vek Man Of Leisure By Andrew Hazard Hickey

T

o some observers, Tom Vek - selftaught instrumentalist and electronic wunderkind - made an unusual career choice when he decided to retreat from the public eye, but when we speak it’s easy to tell that he’s not your typical recording star. The bespectacled man is somewhat perplexed by his perceived fall off the face of the earth. “I’m used to being asked questions like this,” he says, matter-of-factly. “It feels a bit strange for me, because I was always continuing to work on stuff.”

Metronomy Made By Hand By Alasdair Duncan

M

usic journalists are prone to all kinds of ridiculous hyperbole, so trust me when I say that Metronomy’s The English Riviera is one of the most outstanding releases of the year. A sleek and minimal electronic pop record, it evokes the great studio albums of the ‘70s, all mixed up with that certain sadness that only the English seem to possess. It’s also a great album to take to the beach - especially if you plan to spend as much time staring out at the sparkling water thinking about lost loves and missed opportunities as you do actually splashing about in the waves. And it’s catchy as hell, too.

Multi-instrumentalist Oscar Cash tells me that their third record was born of a desire to move away from blippy synth sounds to warm, live instrumentation. “The first Metronomy album was made by Joe Mount alone in his bedroom,” he says, “and it was very heavily electronic. When the second album came around, he tentatively let a couple of the band members into the bedroom with him to actually play in it a bit.

This time around, we wanted to go into a real studio and work with real instruments, which means we all put much more of a conscious effort into crafting the sound. With this one, everything you hear was played by the band.”

The English Riviera is also the kind of album that rewards listening from beginning to end – Cash is sceptical that the attention span of the modern music consumer will allow for

such an extravagance, but urges people to give it a go regardless. “From the cover art an old tourism poster Joe found - down, we wanted to make this an album that people could get involved in, from beginning to end.

People these days often pick and choose, downloading a track here and there; we crafted this album in the hopes that people might be able to immerse themselves in it. It harks back to the ‘70s, when bands had all the time and money in the world, so people like Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan and even Stevie Wonder could get very indulgent, and make big studio albums.”

Those who’ve seen Metronomy perform a festival or club set know just how spirited they are as a live band – their working principle is to bring the music to life, rather than appear hunched over laptops, as many live electronic acts do – and Cash promises that The English Riviera takes their live show to yet more interesting places. “The thing I like about this album is that it allows us a much greater range when we play,” he says. “Even basic things, like tempos changing – having songs with more space has given the shows a new dynamic. Because we were involved in the recording this time, it’s been easier to translate the songs to live. I think in a way they’ll end up sounding better-realised than the ones from Nights Out.” What: The English Riviera is out now on Because Music, through Warner

The runaway success of his first album, 2005’s We Have Sound, transformed the mild-mannered Vek into an indie rock star, whose work appeared on The O.C. and the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto IV. Choosing to deflect the pressure to rush a new project onto shelves, Vek opted to go back to the studio to continue honing his craft. “It was kind of tough being boxed in,” he says. “If you’re not enjoying it you’ll work a bit less, but I did consistently spend time on it. Even if that time was spent on things extraneous to the actual music process, like sorting out my equipment and setting up a studio.”

The recording process for his follow-up project, Leisure Seizures, was intended to be relatively simple.

“When I first started on it, I thought it would actually come quite quickly. I was very enthusiastic until I sort of reached a point where I realised it’s not enough to be energetic, you’ve got to finish stuff off. It’s a harsh reality.” Vek tells me he hit a roadblock, thinking “right, that’s as good as I can be” - and it was tough trying to work his way back up.

“I just had to get my head around it,” he says, of the transition from music as hobby to music as career

– and at first he tried to take on too many responsibilities himself. “I had principles about being a real artist when I was young, and I sort of had that ringing in my head. Then I realised you get things done a lot quicker if you have lots of people involved and lots of shared interests.”

On the pursuit of musical revelation, Vek admits he’s at the mercy of experimentation.

“The thing that I feel like I offer with my music is that it represents genuine experimentation.

Taking something and approaching it differently. That’s why I do think of it as an art.” But the exploration doesn’t come easy.

“It’s frustrating. Sometimes I can’t just go in with an idea like ‘Today I’m gonna do this,’ and then leave. I wasn’t in the frame of mind to properly compile anything, I think, for a couple of years. I was just waiting for that conducive environment. I kept changing my space, looking until I felt composed enough to compose music,” Vek chuckles.

Preparing for a promo tour for Leisure Seizures, the previously reclusive Vek is assimilating himself back into the public eye and working out how to translate his new tunes with a live band.

“It’s actually quite a bit of work trying to reconstruct the tracks from the new record, trying to find a way to reform them without being too predefined, and not too different from the actual noises. I’m quite happy with how it’s working, it actually sounds like live sampling,” he enthuses. “We did a radio session yesterday, which was a little taste of jumping into the deep end, performing it with an imaginary enormous audience… It’s hard work,” he says, “but it’s exciting.”

What: Leisure Seizures is out now on Modular, through Universal

“Oh, Girl if you’re dreaming deep tonight / I’ll lie with you by reading light / A glass of water by your side / I’m gone in hopes of getting tired” - METRONOMY 44 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

Deep Impressions Underground Dance and Electronica with Chris Honnery

Tevo Howard

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.

ON THE ROAD FRIDAY JUNE 17 Watussi, The Liberators The Basement

SATURDAY JUNE 18

S K

ompakt’s Matias Aguayo, a favourite in these parts thanks to his unforgettable performance aboard Deep As Funk’s annual Pirates of the Underground Boat Party a few years back, has completed a new EP, I Don’t Smoke, which is arguably Aguayo’s most obvious foray into house terrain to date.

After releasing his first record as Zimt with Kompakt kingpin Michael Mayer many moons ago, Aguayo started up his Closer Musik partnership with Dirk Leyers, and has since released a string of noteworthy productions, including his Are You Really Lost? EP and the reluctant club anthem, ‘Minimal’, which was memorably reworked

by DJ Koze. The I Don’t Smoke EP is Matias’s first proper solo record since 2009, and its title track is, unfortunately, a little on the kitsch side. As one online reviewer quipped, “I’m sure there are people that will go mad for it, but they’re the same people who eat up Luciano’s Vagabundos nonsense and clap along at techno raves.

You know the type. You hate them.” Say no more – while hate may be a little strong, such peasants are certainly worthy of mild disdain at the very least. The good news is that the other cuts on the EP make I Don’t Smoke well worth grabbing – I feel Aguayo is one of those producers who will occasionally fall flat purely because of his adventurous approach to production, but you’ll allow him the odd kitsch dud because when he hits ‘em, they really stay hit; a sonic home run of sorts, to mix my metaphors…

Continuing the Detroit motif, after Marcellus Pittman’s recent Tone set: Detroit dance music aficionado and accomplished sonic craftsman Danilo Plessow (aka Motor City Drum Ensemble) has fashioned the next instalment in the DJ-Kicks compilation series. The German DJ/producer compiled 22 tracks for his DJ set, which he described as a search for “magic moments,” and comprised an array of rarities and classic cuts from the likes of Mr. Fingers, Robert Hood, Aphex Twin, Loose Joints and Isolee’s ripper of a remix of Recloose’s ‘Cardiology’. MCDE’s soulful and eclectic offering to the DJ Kicks canon, described by the man himself as “a classic DJ kicks, not just a house mix,” will drop in July.

The promo for the new Paul Kalkbrenner album, entitled Icke Wider (or as we say in Sydney parlance, ‘Me Again’) arrived in my mailbox this week, literally; I’m talking

Mr. Fingers

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY JUNE 18 Haha Warehouse Party TBA HPS? Civic Underground

SATURDAY JULY 2 Co-Op Ft Harri Secret inner-city venue

SATURDAY JULY 9 Tevo Howard Civic Underground

Henry Saiz

oul Sedation was lucky enough to catch the Shogun Audio showcase that the Bass Drop crew hosted a little over a week ago at the OAF. While SP:MC warmed us up on the decks with some dubstep, what followed was essentially a night of pure drum n bass.

Apart from the opening track - a killer remix of Adele’s ‘Rolling In The Deep’ the DJs never diverted too far into vocal, jungle or experimental bass territory. It was good to hear a classic, no-apologies sound (especially in this post-dubstep era where a good amount of average shite sneaks through with the forward-thinking progress) played loud on a big sound system. Spectrasoul warmed us up for DJ Friction, who worked his way through a lot of the Shogun back-catalogue monsters in a long set, before handing us over to the Prototypes, who saw us through until the 4am close. It was a quality night, hats off to the Bass Drop crew. As an aside: the Shogun label has just released Shogun Audio Evo EP 2, with tracks from The Prototypes, Icicle, SPY, and Friction & K Tee. So you can check out the good crisp Shogun beats right there.

Sydney hip hop outfit Binge Thinkers launch their debut album, Where Are They Now? (out through LookUp!/Obese).

Comprised of MC Rinse, DJ 2 Buck, and producers Aeon and PSYKEone, the crew’s record features other shining lights of the Australian scene such as Dialectrix and Vida Sunshyne. They’re putting their best foot forward with lead single ‘The Bust’, a straight-up speed rap that puts Rinse’s skills to the test. The launch party bill will be shared by Rainman & Calski (Bris), Ellesquire and DJs Ology and Morgs.

Friday June 24 at FBi Social, Kings X Hotel.

To the North of England, and Andy Carthy (more frequently known as Mr Scruff) has popped his head up with the new track ‘Wobble Control’. It’s a wicked little deep house groove; not all sunshine and rolling green hills, this one’s a late-night slice of cheeky fun that still retains that Scruff quirk and eccentricity. Soul Sedation feels it’ll make you smile – it’s some really good stuff.

an arcane physical CD, folks. The verdict?

Vintage PK. The man himself said as much in promoting the release. “I pulled out of public life in the first weeks of the year to record my new album… There won’t be any singing on this album, neither the music of tomorrow, it just feels like…well…back then. The sound turned a bit more adult, but otherwise: it’s the same as always.”

Staying true to its mission statement, I think the result should please Kalkbrenner’s burgeoning fan base. It’s available through Melbourne distributor I Like the Noise it Makes. While we’re on I Like the Noise It Makes: they’re also responsible for distributing the latest addition to the Balance series, Balance 19, which has been compiled by the Spanish DJ and producer Henry Saiz, As with previous instalments in the Balance canon, the compilation is a double CD; disc one is all about lo-fi, for which Saiz used analogue formats only, while the second disc appears more dance floor orientated, traversing tracks from the prodigal son responsible for the Border Community stonker ‘El Sunset’ – Ricardo Tobar – Simon Garcia and Okain.

The XLR8R podcast is well worth getting your hands on this week. For the magazine’s 200th cast they’ve delivered a double header mix: Mala of DMZ fame – who helped smash apart the OAF on a recent tour – has put together a heavy tracklist peppered with names like V.I.V.E.K, Kryptic Minds, Goth Trad, and DMZ label bosses Mala & Coki themselves. The other mix has been compiled by Mr Minimal himself Richie Hawtin, so I’ll let my vitamin-D-deficient technophile associate across the page pass judgment on that one (Soul Sedation just doesn’t have the time to sit around listening to an ever-so-slightly-changing snare pattern for 90 minutes...).

Washington DC-based Latin electronica outfit Empresarios have made waves lately in the global/Latin funk scene with

Lyrics Born Metro Theatre

SATURDAY JUNE 24 Katchafire, This Version Enmore Theatre

SUNDAY JULY 24 Del The Funky Homosapien Oxford Art Factory

THURSDAY JULY 28 James Blake Factory Theatre

FRIDAY AUGUST 5 Wu Tang Clan Enmore Theatre

SATURDAY AUGUST 27 Big Boi Enmore Theatre

the release of their Sabor Tropical record.

Exploring cumbia, dub reggae and Latin dancefloor, the breakthrough album has now been remixed by the likes of NY’s Nickodemus, DJ Sabo, Los Cosmicos Banditos, our very own Omegaman, and there’s a DnB mix from Belgium’s Merdan Taplak to top it all off.

In more modern Latin news, Sydney outfit Watussi will be taking over the Basement on Friday June 17, joined by The Liberators, to launch their new single, ‘Cuando Sera’; but their new album, EL Olvido, isn’t due out until September.

Tru Thoughts venture deep back into trip hop/downbeat territory with the release of Benji Boko’s ‘Where My Heart Is ft.

Maxi Jazz’. Boko is an incredible producer.

This column came to him by way of Wax On Records, the imprint through which Nightmares On Wax pushes his downtempo way of being onto the world. No doubt the track will seem a little bit ‘90s chillout compilation for some, but there’s always been tons space for this kind of sound in the Soul Sedation repertoire. The track is the first we’ve heard from Boko’s forthcoming album, Beats, Treats & All Things Unique. Fans of Farina’s Mushroom Jazz compilations will want to get across this.

Tru Thoughts have also signed up British hip hop figurehead Rodney P for a multiple album deal, so there looks to be some activity on that front very soon.

And finally, if you missed it, Wu-Tang Clan are scheduled to return to Australian shores again this year. The promoters are promising the “entire clan” minus RZA, but Old Dirty Bastard’s son Boy Jones (AKA Young Dirty) will be on the tour, stepping into his late father’s shoes.

Wu-Tang Clan

For those of you on the prowl for some quality tech this weekend, the clear choices are listed for your consideration in the highly contested ‘Looking Deeper’ section.

HaHa are presenting the 11th instalment in their aptly named Under The Radar warehouse party series at a location that can easily be sniffed out with the aid of rudimentary detective skills / common sense, while Gavan Griffin aka HPS? will throw down some ‘proper’ techno for the Disconnected boys at The Civic Underground. Neither is a bad call by any stretch…

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

Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 45

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

club pick of the week SATURDAY JUNE 18

The Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction Shifty, Anthony K, Demolition, Giuseppe free 4pm World Bar, Kings Cross Mondays at World Bar 16 Tacos, Pipemix free 8pm

TUESDAY JUNE 14

Itch-E & Scratch - E

Chinese Laundry's 15th Birthday

Itch-E & Scratch-E, Tom Piper, Raye Antonelli, Sam Scratch, Matt Nugent, Andrew Wowk, matttt, Gabriel Clouston, A-Tonez, King Lee, DJ Eko $15-$25 9pm @ Chinese Laundry MONDAY JUNE 13 Exhibition Hall, Sydney Opera House Vivid Live Tom Kuntz, Lucky Dragons (USA) free 11am Fake Club, Kings Cross Spice Murat Kilic, Kali $20 4am The Sugarmill, Kings Cross Queenies Bday Bash Sugarmill DJs free 8pm Botanics

The Gaff, Darlinghurst Coyote Tuesday Kid Finley, Johnny B 9pm The Valve, Tempe DJs Myme, Ato, Gee Wiz 6pm World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, Djs Pablo Calamari, Nickles, Power Ballads free 8pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 15 Bank Hotel, Newtown DJ Playmate free 9pm Marlborough Hotel, Newtown DJ Moussa 11pm The Hive Bar, Erskineville Vinyl Club 8pm World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Creeptown free 8pm

THURSDAY JUNE 16 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Botanics, Kobra Kai, JC, Mike Who free 8pm Front Bar, Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Club Al Levins, McInnes, Joe Gadget free 8pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Sorry DJs, Catcall, Perfect Snatch, DJ Senyo $5 (at door) 8pm Name This Bar, Darlinghurst Just For Funk D-Funk Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst The Potbelleez $20 (+ bf) 8pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst The College Party Kid Finley, Pee Wee Pete free 9pm The White Horse, Surry Hills Let Loose free 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby & Finlay free (student)–$5 (at door) 9pm Tone Little Egypt’s Burlesque $10 7:30pm

FRIDAY JUNE 17 Bank Hotel, Newtown Friendly Fridays Eddie Coulter, D*Funk free 9pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Movement Kato, Victim, DJ Huwston, Mason & Bennett, Preacha free 8pm Blue Hotel, Woolloomooloo Sarah J Hyland free 7pm Camelot, Marrickville Bandaluzia Flamenco 7:30pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Shockone, Doctor Werewolf, Blood Bank, Filth Collins, Andosound, Zwelli $15-$20 10pm Cohibar DJ Jeddy Rowland & DJ Anders Hitchcock free Cronulla RSL DJ Michael Stewart free 8pm

Lyrics Born Goldfish, Darlinghurst Funktank Mike OConnor, Fabz, Drop Dead Ed 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney David Dallas David Dallas $15 (at door) 10pm Hotel Chambers, Sydney Jump Jive & Wail Limpin’ Jimmy & the Swingin’ Kitten free 9pm Jacksons on George Lenno, Aladdin Royale free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays $10 8pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 9pm Rooty Hill RSL Emma Donovan $18.40 free Tao Ultra Lounge, Sydney Wicked Fridays $10 10pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst The Hellfire Club DJ Tokoloshe, DJ Jay, Sveta, Karl Anderson $25 9:30pm Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Bring on the Weekend! DJ Matty Roberts free 9pm

SATURDAY JUNE 18 ARQ Nightclub, Darlinghurst Jake Kilby, Jayson Forbes, Johan Khoury, Rob Davis, Jimmy Dee, Justin Scott $15–$25 9pm Bank Hotel, Newtown Mike McGrath, Busta free 9pm Blue Hotel DJ Linda Jenssen free Bungalow 8, Darling Harbour Bungalow Nights free 9pm Cargo Bar, Darling Harbour The Institute of Music 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney 15th Birthday Itch-E & Scratch-E, Tom Piper, Raye Antonelli, Sam Scratch, Matt Nugent, Andrew Wowk, matttt, Gabriel Clouston, A-Tonez, King Lee, DJ Eko $15-$25 9pm Coach and Horses Hotel, Randwick Retro Night free 8pm

Levins

Cohibar DJ Brynstar & Mudrockets free Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly Ben Morris, Kaiser, Olsen 8pm Empire Hotel, Darlinghurst Empire Saturdays Empire DJs free 9pm Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills Absolute Power The Vines DJs, Ronnie Simmons, Mo Mayhem, Skar $15 (+ bf) 9pm Gladstone Hotel Reload! $10 8pm Hotel Chambers, Sydney Red Room Trey, Naiki, C-Major, Troy T 8pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Lyrics Born (USA), Fdel, Frenzie $58 (+ bf) 8pm The Forbes Hotel, Sydney We Love Indie $10 9pm The Gaff, Darlinghurst Johnny B free 9pm The Manhattan Lounge, Sydney Chilled Sessions Saturdays DJ Hendi, Erectro free–$10 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Wax Motif, Disco Punx, Alleyoop, Starjumps, Money Shot, Deckhead DJs $15–$20 9pm Watershed Hoted The Watershed Presents...

Skybar

SUNDAY JUNE 19 ARQ Nightclub, Darlinghurst White Party Alex Taylor, Brett Austin, Dave Stevenson, Dom de Sousa, Jake Kilby, James Tobin $10 (donation) 9pm Bank Hotel, Newtown Scott Pullen free 4pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Picnic Sundays DJ Jamin 6pm Fake Club, Kings Cross Spice Robbie Lowe $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 Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction Anthony K, Demolition, Gee, Gary Honor free 4pm Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Club Parada $25 World Bar, Kings Cross Disco Punx free 6pm

“I heard she broke your heart again / so now you’re gonna come and see me / we’re back to the start again / when’s she gonna set me free” - METRONOMY 46 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

club picks up all night out all week...

THURSDAY JUNE 16

Catcall

Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Botanics, Kobra Kai, JC, Mike Who free 8pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Sorry Sorry DJs, Catcall, Perfect Snatch, Sen Yo $5 (at door) 8pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst The Potbelleez $20 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY JUNE 17 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Movement Kato, Victim, DJ Huwston, Mason & Bennett, Preacha free 8pm

Chinese Laundry, Sydney Shockone , Doctor Werewolf , Blood Bank , Filth Collins , Andosound , Zwelli $15-$20 10pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney David Dallas $15 (at door) 10pm

SATURDAY JUNE 18 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills Absolute Power The Vines DJs, Ronnie Simmons, Mo Mayhem, Skar $15 (+ bf) 9pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Lyrics Born (USA), Fdel, Frenzie $58 (+ bf) 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Wax Motif, Disco Punx, Alleyoop, Starjumps, Money Shot, Deckhead DJs $15–$20 9pm

SUNDAY JUNE 19 The Potbelleez

Fake Club, Kings Cross Spice Robbie Lowe, Matttt & Tomass $20 4am

C O M M U N I C AT I O N D E S I G N PRINT WEB INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT BRAND

ENROLLING NOW FOR J U LY BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 47

snap sn ap

slowblow

PICS :: RR

up all night out all week . . .

04:06:11 :: GOODGOD :: 53-55 Liverpool Street Sydney 9267 3787

PICS :: KL

odd future

31:05:11 :: Vivid LIVE :: Sydney Opera House 92471666

It’s called: David Dallas - The Rose Tint album launch It sounds like: Good hip hop music (check it out for yourself at www.therosetint.com)

DJs: DLECT, Demo and Leon Smith Sell it to us: Fresh off the back of inking a deal with US tastemaker label Duck Down Music, Kiwi-born and New York-b ased hip hop artist David Dallas has released his new album The Rose Tint. Since relocating to the States last year, Dallas has impressed states ide folk alike, recently winning an MTV USA online audiences and industry poll, Iggy Artist Of The Week. His music video for the song 'Big Time' has been added to MTV across the States – a huge break for any new artist. This is your chance to see what all the fuss is about!

2manydjs

PICS :: TL

04:06:11 :: Vivid LIVE :: Sydney Opera House 92471666

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Good peopl e, and even better tunes.

Crowd specs: Leave your attitude at the door.

Wallet damage: $15 on the door.

Where: GoodGod Small Club / 55 Liverpool St, Sydney When: Friday June 17

mum

PICS :: TP

propaganda

03:06:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 48 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

PICS :: KC

party profile

david dallas

02:06:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: CAI S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER THOMAS PEACHY :: ROSETTE :: NS MUN IEL LEY MAR :: DAN GRIFFIN:: KEN LEANFORE :: ASH ROUHANNA ::

BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11 :: 49

bungalow 8

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

avalanches

PICS :: TL

04:06:11 :: Bungalow 8 :: 8 The Promenade Kings Street Wharf 92994440

tuned in hip hop festival

PICS :: AM

03:06:11 :: VividLIVE :: Sydney Opera House 92471666

social network

It’s called: Social Network @ Le Panic Night club

It sounds like: Party tunes, commercial electr o, mash-ups, old skool hip hop.

Who’s spinning? Amy Meredith DJs, D.U.I, ThreeSixteen, Cunningpants, Guttermouth DJs – AND MORE!

chinese laundry

PICS :: AM

03:06:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93323711

04:06:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex Street Sydney 82959958

Sell it to us: Social Network is the crazie st commercial/electro party is Sydney with the best tunes, the best peopl e and an inclusive not exclusive crowd policy.

Three records that’ll rock the floor: How can we possibly narrow it down to three tracks!? Sh*t is going to be mental.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: If we do our job right, you will wake up spooning a cat and not remember a thing.

Crowd specs: Anybody but hipsters.

Wallet damage: $10/15 Where: Le Panic / 20 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross When: Every Friday night.

strike bowling

PICS :: AM

wham!

04:06:11 :: Strike Bowling :: 122 Lang Road Moore Park 1300 787 453

50 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11

PICS :: DM

party profile

0

snap sn ap

04:06:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: CAI S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER THOMAS PEACHY :: ROSETTE :: NS MUN IEL DAN :: LEY MAR GRIFFIN:: KEN LEANFORE :: ASH ROUHANNA ::