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EP TOUR
11/11/11 FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2011 SPECTRUM - 8.00PM - OXFORD ST w/SLEEPYHANDS & WE ARE VOLCANOES Tickets available from Moshtix Outlets, www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 GET TIX 1677
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T H E M AS T E R O F E L E C T R O N I C & A C O U S T I C H Y B R I D D RU M M I N G ! Internationally acclaimed drummer drumme Akira Jimbo is visiting Australia to perform one exclusive clinic in NSW showcasing his amazing electronic/acoustic hybrid drumming techniques. You will be astonished by the complex melodies melod and rhythms Akira can produce using the best in Yamaha’s technologies. acoustic and electronic drum tech Akira will perform a selection of exciting, dynamic and musical tracks that you absolutely must experience if you are interested in the possibilities of sample triggering or have ever wondered about mixing cutting edge electronic instrument technology with natural, acoustic drums.
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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly and Steph Harmon
he said she said WITH
KERRIANNE COX I started making my own songs in primary school. They were about the ocean and connecting to the land, and all the beautiful places I enjoyed going to, like the beach and the lakes. I think music really helped me move through challenging times growing up; child abuse, separation from my family and being an aboriginal at that time, and actually having to deal with the social backlash – in the city there were only a few blackfellas in our class – and learning about our history, and finding it devastating when you realise what went on. Songwriting is a really good way to release all that stuff that shouldn’t stay in you, because it’s not good for you. In my late teens I wrote songs about the stolen generation, and about being a young woman not really having a history, and wondering who we were.
M
y dad plays the guitar and sings, and he’s a bit of a comedian, too. He’s got good stagecraft – I think that’s where I got it from, not being shy performing. My mother
loves music. I think she always had a secret desire to play the guitar, and I think I’ve helped live that dream out for her. She’s got a guitar, and maybe I’ll teach her a few chords.
Ryan Adams
PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com
Some of us just want to shimmy away our Friday nights at Sydney’s favourite ‘60s dance party Twist And Shout, but they keep on moving the damn thing; first Brighton Up, then Tone, then that closed and it is VERY hard to keep track of, okay? They’ve now announced a move back to Oxford Street, with a special late night event at Spectrum. It happens 11/11/11 at 11pm; it’s like the calendar aligned in a series of ones to tell us to cease being weighed down by earthly possessions and just beat-dance to ‘Itchycoo Park’. It’s all too beautiful… ($5 entry.)
ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachey, George Popov, Sam Whiteside, Tim Whitney COVER PHOTO: Cybele Malinowski
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Michael Brown, Liz Brown, Bridie Connell, Bridie Connellan, Ben Cooper, Oliver Downes, Alasdair Duncan, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Henry Florence, Mike Gee, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Robbie Miles, Peter Neathway, Hugh Robertson, Matt Roden, Emma Salkild, Romi Scodellaro, Rach Seneviratne, Luke Telford, Rick Warner Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 8a Marlborough 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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can be purchased for a mere $160, through Oztix. The timetable can be found on page 27, and there’s an awesome arts lineup too, which you can read more about on page 30. You’re welcome.
SHAKE IT UP, BABY
EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 02 9698 9645 ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITERS: Jonno Seidler, Caitlin Welsh NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery
ADVERTISING: Matthew Cowley - 0431 917 359 / (02) 8394 9492 matthew@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 8394 9027 les@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Meaghan Meredith - 0423 655 091 / (02) 8394 9168 meaghan@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Conrad Richters - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance & parties) INTERNS: Sigourney Berndt, Greg Clennar, Julian de Lorenzo, Erin Holohan
Growing up, my first cassette was by Coloured Stone. They had the famous song ‘Black Boy’ which I really resonated with, because I was this little black girl who went to live in the city with my mother. I was proud because Coloured Stone were getting recognised; they were an inspirational symbol for the people in the country. The other influence was Billie Holiday who I first heard in my twenties. I really loved her style, and the way she could use her voice as an instrument.
RAT VS POSSUM MAGIC
Let Music And Bodies Unite, say the squelchy, synthy Melbourne-based Rat vs Possum,
Music is such an important part of our culture. It’s a part of who we are, to dance and to sing. We have an oral tradition, with the connections of songs like tracks across the country, and that will always be a strong foundation within me. My live performance is about total heart, and a beautiful connection to the ancient Mother Earth. I’m a people person, I love sharing and connecting. It’s great to be with people who share a love for the earth. I’m really looking forward to meeting all the Sydney crew, and making some new connections. These are important times now for all grassroots musicians to come together and collaborate more on projects that are important to us, like raising awareness about the plight of our earth. Events like the 11.11.11 Earth Concert in Petersham are an example of these collaborations – I’m very excited! With: Old Man River, Miriam Lieberman, Carmella Baynie and more Where: 11.11.11 Earth Concert @ Petersham Town Hall When: Friday November 11, 6.15pm / $25 (+ bf) or $30 on the door, with all proceeds going to the Australian Conservation Foundation
and who are we to argue with this sentiment, especially when they’ve gone and created a whole album about it? They launch this record at FBi Social this Friday November 11 with guests FLRL (featuring members of the Midnight Juggernauts, Djanimals and Kirin J. Callinan), Fishing and DJ sets from Richard In Your Mind, Simo Soo and the terrifically-named Nick Rave & The Bad Speed. Doors at 8.30pm, drinks at 8.32 (hurry up barman, hurry up!)
CRAYON FIELDS FOREVER
If you ever saw Crayon Fields, you’ll be well aware that frontman Geoffrey O’Connor has a deft way with a tune (his ‘deft way’ = to only write awesome ones), and he continues along this merry path of marvellousness with his brand new solo album, Vanity Is Forever. It’s actually an incredible piece of work, and he’ll be launching it on Friday November 18 at GoodGod Small Club, with Twerps and Holly ‘Bridezilla’ Sidewinder in support.
Mondo Cane
RYAN ADAMS TOUR
Remember when you dated Winona Ryder and wrote a bunch of heartbroken country tunes about her? Or when you released three albums in one year? Or when you covered the entirety of Is This It and stashed it in the vaults, just because you knew you could do it? Or that time you seduced and married Mandy Moore while pumping out excellent albums at an alarming rate? Remember that time when you were kind of a total jerk to Neil Finn on the BBC a few weeks back? …No? Ah, that must have been Ryan Adams. I always get you guys confused. Sorry. Anyway, he’ll be coming out again for his first ever solo tour (it takes one, when it used to take four...), in support of his latest (and brilliant) record Ashes & Fire. It happens February 28 at the Opera House; tickets on sale November 14.
SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2012 HARVEST FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND
Harvest is finally here, and there are still some tickets available. That should be enough to get you sprinting to your closest internet, but for those who might need a little more persuasion: The Flaming Lips, Portishead, The National, Bright Eyes (on what is reportedly Oberst’s last ever Aussie tour under that moniker/with songs like ‘Lua’), TV On The Radio, Holy Fuck, Mogwai, PVT, Kevin Devine, Mercury Rev, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, The Walkmen and more. It goes down this Sunday November 13 at Parramatta Park, and tickets
Sydney Festival is the ultimate reason not to go to Europe over summer; that and the fact that their economy is utterly screwed... The good people behind Sydney’s January have just unveiled a killer program including Mr Faith No More, Mike Patton, who will be singing – no jokes – Italian standards from the ‘50s and ‘60s under his umpteenth moniker, Mondo Cane. Also back in town after far too long is Beth Orton, as well as Sydney’s own Washington, who will be performing Insomniac live at the Sydney Opera House. They’re joined by Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ perennial hipster guitarist Nick Zinner (who’s composed his own concerto for you), Lambchop, The Whitest Boy Alive, Shabazz Palaces, J. Mascis and heaps more, as well as Tune-Yards and PJ Harvey, who were already announced. Don’t freak out – Beck’s Bar may have changed its name to Keystone Bar, but it’s still at Hyde Park Barracks and there will be beer. Also, Paramatta is getting their own Festival lineup, boasting the likes of Dan Sultan, Busby Marou and Kasey Chambers. It’s a veritable minefield of info (and we didn’t even touch on the arts stuff – head to arts news for that), so to save us blowing ourselves up, you can find out more at sydneyfestival.org.au
Q Bar + Phoenix Vegas + Spectrum
GIG OF THE WEEK SAT 12TH NOV 10PM $10
FRI 11TH NOV 10PM $10
HALFWAY WOLFDEN
CROOKS Captain Franco Levins Toni Toni Lee
SUN 13TH NOV 5PM FREE
DEFEKT
THE COVEN SCHOOL’S OUT
Nantes Sleepyhands We Are Volcanoes SAT 12TH NOV 8PM $12/$15
DUBSTEP Redcoats GLITCH Strangers SAT 12TH NOV 5AM $15 SUN 13TH NOV 5AM $15
FRI 11TH NOV 9PM $5 (inuniform)
FRI 11TH NOV 8PM $10/$12
AFTER DAY CLUB
COMERICIAL HOUSE TILL THE SUN RISES AND THEN SOME
Dirty Little Rebels After 11.30
P*A*S*H WITH DJ’S
Goldfoot & Knife
FRI 11TH NOV 10PM FREE
THURS 10TH NOV PM $15/$20 Destroy All Lines
FEEL GOOD
Presents
INC
SAT 12TH NOV 8:30PM $25
34B BURLESQUE
6TH B’DAY
Gold Diggers with Kira HulaLa Jamilla De Ville Lucille Spielfuchs Baby Blue Bergman Jade Twist Kitty Van Horne Bella Pistol Renny Kodgers Francois Buble WITH DJ’s Goldfoot Jack Shit
Northlane In Hearts Wake The Ocean The Sky Mark My Words
Monday M d -F Friday id 10am - Late Saturday - Sunday 9am - 6am Sunday Recovery 9am – late Happy Hour 5-7 every day
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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
five things WITH
Faker
SEMINAL RATS who’s got the most tracks in my iTunes, the obvious answer would be Tom Waits, Johnny Cash and the Ramones, and that’s probably not too far from the truth. What else inspires me? Commitment, integrity and the wonders of the universe. Your Group We’re pretty self contained. For the 3. record we have just about finished, we went into Frequency Studios to put down the band track, then recorded the vocals ourselves in the bungalow out the back of my place. The Music You Make Our music is a soothing blend of good 4. time rock ‘n’ roll and sudden-mood swings. To us it’s just rock, and we love it and play it like we mean it. Music, Right Here, Right Now I don’t get out much and I don’t listen 5. to the wireless, so I’m not really the person to be asking. But I look in the gig guide and see heaps of bands that I’ve never heard of – that’s got to be a good thing, doesn’t it?
1.
Growing Up I just remember there always being music. My father was a record collector and a blues/ jazz guitarist, so music has always been a big
part of my life.
2.
Inspirations If you were to judge such a thing by
piece delivering their finest work to date, which is an almost impossible feat when you already have five amazing albums on your CV (bands have CVs, yeah?). They are playing on March 4 at The Standard, which has pretty much the best sound in Sydney – so you can easily expect this to be better than your current March 4 plans.
DEEP SEA ARCADE
Wild Flag
WILD FLAG TOUR
Wild Flag is a super, super group comprised of members from SleaterKinney, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks and two other bands so indie their names can only be typed with a Smith Corona Galaxie Deluxe typewriter. The good news is they’re coming to Australia for the first time, playing tracks from their excellent self-titled debut record on March 13 at Manning Bar. The bad news? There is none – why do you always have to go looking for it?
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
Deep Sea Arcade (not the ancient legend of the sunken still-operational Timezone, but the Sydney band) have gotten that whooshy ‘67 psychedelic sound down pat on their new single ‘Girls’ – which, asides from being one of the best Australian singles to come out for a good deal of time, is being launched this Friday November 11 at the Annandale. They’ll be supported by Palms, and equally brilliant newcomers Woe & Flutter, who’ve just signed to Ivy League. Run along now.
MONEY FOR ROPE
Melbourne’s Money For Rope are braving the Hume Highway once more for a couple of Sydney shows that we highly recommend you attend, in celebration of their third 7-inch, ‘I’ve Had Days/ December’. The first show happens at GoodGod Small Club this Thursday November 10 with Made In Japan, and the second is happening on the Saturday at The Sandringham, with Celibate
With: Celibate Rifles, Money For Rope Where: Sandringham Hotel, Newtown When: Saturday November 12
Rifles and Seminal Rats. (In related news, the Sando is going up for auction, but will keep live music in the meantime. Hopefully the new owners will keep it as a venue – because quite apart from the whole save-live-music thing, where else is Tim Freedman gonna hang out?)
OSCAR + MARTIN
You may know Oscar + Martin as that Melbourne duo with fantastic hair and great rolled-up vintage shirts. Unless you’re not superficial idiots who like a nice press shot, in which case you’ll probably know them for their music. They’ve been all over FBi Radio and triple j ever since their debut record For You dropped like a ton of wonky bass bricks, and they’re coming back to Sydney to show you what else they’ve got, on their ‘What I Know’ single tour. They’re playing Oxford Art Factory on December 16, and they’re also playing Falls Festival over New Year’s Eve.
JAMIE HUTCHINGS
FAKER
We’re not faking it when we tell you how much BRAG loves Faker. Part of our love for them comes from the fact that after they completed their latest album Get Loved, they decided it was not enough and went back to the studio to record a prequel EP called How Did We Not Get Loved – which is as semantically ridiculous as it is awesome. Another reason we love ‘em is because they’ve given us two double passes to their album launch at The Standard on Friday November 11. We’ll share them with you if you can tell us why you love Faker.
STRAIGHT TO YOU
We’re gonna put it out there; Nick Cave is a bit of an odd one. But hey, you can afford to be strange when you’re responsible for some of the most amazing music ever to come out of this country. It’s no wonder then that a whole gang of Australian musos are clamouring to cover the man; they’re taking to the stage for ‘Straight To You - triple j’s Tribute to Nick Cave’. Adalita, Muscles, Urthboy, Kram, Bertie Blackman, Alex Burnett, Dan Sultan and whole load of others are going to be involved, and we want you to be too. If you’d like a double pass to the show at The Enmore Theatre on Thursday November 7, just tell us which Nick Cave song you’d like to cover.
He’ll be showing that off plus his iconic back catalogue when he plays Notes in Newtown with The Maladies and Mark Moldre on Friday November 18.
ALEKS & THE RAMPS
Well it’s happened, everyone: the unbeatable song name of 2011. The song name that can’t be topped, no matter how many meetings you and your band have around a thesaurus with four laptops scrolling at once down different meme-ed up Tumblrs. To celebrate their win, Aleks & The Ramps are heading to Sydney to play a show at The Warehouse in Artarmon with Charge Group, Valar and N. Martin, on Friday November 11 – and they’ll be at Newtown Festival the following day as well. The song is called ‘Middle Aged Unicorn On Beach With Sunset’, and we told you so.
Erykah Badu
Bluebottle Kiss frontman Jamie Hutchings has been swanning about Europe like it’s nobody’s business, but he’s announced a trip back home for his final east coast headline tour for 2012. His latest album Avalon Cassettes is a bit of terrific; raw, Aussie and intimate.
My Morning Jacket
POGUES POGUES POGUES!
The Pogues’ ‘Fairytale In New York’ has to be our favourite Xmas song of all time (Tin Lids make the top ten), and now the rowdy, so-Irishyou’ve-never-seen-Irish-before-this-bandshowed-up, beer-swilling band are playing April 11 at Hordern Pavilion. They also play Bluesfest in Byron Bay, if you wanna enjoy the band without those pesky shoes that hoity-toity venues make you wear…
ERYKAH BADU!
CHRISTA HUGHES GETS SHONKY
Christa Hughes has a great shtick going; take a bunch of pre-existing hits and turn them into New Orleans swaggering blues numbers, dripping with regret and sass (but mostly irony). Her last album, 2010’s 21st Century Blues, won her an ARIA nomination, and her latest record Shonky sees her perform ‘Back In Black’, ‘Ace Of Spades’, ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ (you know it), ‘Take Me Out’, ‘Toxic’ (Britney, yeah?) and many others. She’ll be backed by her band The Honky Tonk Shonks when she plays the entire record at the Basement on Friday November 11.
BLACK LIPS TOUR
Mark Ronson produced the latest Black Lips album, Arabia Mountain, and rather than it being the over-produced Memphis-splattered mess it easily could have turned into, the combination of Ronson and Lips resulted in the Georgian four16 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
BLUESFEST 2012: FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT
The ever-epic Bluesfest held in Byron Bay in each year has just released its first lineup announcement for April 2012, and holy balls is it a good one. Top of the list is Roger Daltrey (“Who?” you ask wryly, and we both laugh like smarmy idiots for way too long), performing The Who’s seminal rock opera record Tommy in full. Then there’s The Pogues, Earth Wind & Fire and Yes (Yes!), as well as My Morning Jacket (I can smell the Sydney sideshow from here…), G3 (featuring Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Steve Lukather, and – spoiler alert – a guitar or two), Buddy Guy, Maceo Parker and a bunch more. It happens April 5-9 at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm just outside of Byron Bay, and tickets are on sale now through bluesfest.com.au – where you can find the rest of the lineup, too.
That time you sang B.B. King’s ‘Woman’s Got Soul’ at karaoke and dedicated it to that Jessica girl you’d dated for three weeks was nice and everything, but you probably should have saved it for the Grammy Awardwinning Erykah Badu – especially after she comes to the Opera House and performs two amazing shows. She’ll be filling the room with her amazingly neo-soul/jazz/R&B/hip hop thing on February 19 and 20, and hers is an incredible live show, with Aretha Franklin and James Brown comparisons a-plenty. Plus her latest record New Amerykah Part II was kind of ridiculously good, and she’s bringing down a ten-piece band to Sydney – so this might just be one to write home about. Tickets on sale November 14.
PJ HARVEY MIKE PATTON BETH ORTON NICK ZINNER WASHINGTON J MASCIS MEOW MEOW LAMBCHOP KURT WAGNER TUNE-YARDS ASA & FEFE ED KUEPPER CANT SAM AMIDON AMIINA FATOUMATA DIAWARA IOTA ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER VINTAGE TROUBLE KORT DAN SULTAN VINCENT MOON KASEY CHAMBERS AA BONDY BAND OF GYPSIES JULIANNA BARWICK THE JOLLY BOYS FRANK YAMMA VINTAGE TROUBLE CLAIRY BROWN
...and that’s just some of the music program! Tickets on sale now sydneyfestival.org.au
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The Music Network
themusicnetwork.com
Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
Lifelines Recovering: John Mayer, from surgery for a non-cancerous growth called a granuloma that was located just above his vocal cords. Split: Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and singer/actress Zooey Deschanel, after two years of marriage. Injured: Tony Lorenzo, 25, guitarist with US death metal band Sons of Azrael, left paralysed after a mugger shot him, lodging a bullet in his spine. Injured: Veteran Jamaican musician/producer Winston Riley, 65, shot in the head at his home in Kingston, the latest in a series of attacks on him. Hospitalised: Rhianna, from flu and exhaustion during a Swedish tour. Attacked: Usher had beer sprayed over him and his shirt was grabbed by a woman, for parking in a handicap spot during a Halloween parade in Atlanta. In Court: Taylor Swift has called in her lawyer after the Celebrity Jihad website posted an image of a topless lookalike, and claimed it was her. Died: George Rountree, 61, Four Tops’ music director and keyboardist. Died: Fleetwood Mac’s original bassist Bob Brunning, 67. After being replaced by John McVie he became a headmaster, and wrote books Blues – The British Connection and Fleetwood Mac: The First Thirty Years. Died: Steve Harris, guitarist and mainman with UK rock band Shy, after a two-year battle with a brain tumour. Died: Filipina Glee singer Charice’s father Ricky Pempengco, 40, stabbed after an argument with a drunk in a grocery store in Manila.
NEW SIGNINGS #1: CLOUD CONTROL
Cloud Control inked a US deal with Turnout, home to NYC buzz band We Are Augustines, distributed by Atlantic/Warner. Their debut album Bliss Release (issued in Oz by Ivy League, and winner of the Australian Music Prize) has scored a few goals since it was released in May in Europe/UK through Infectious. It received glowing four star reviews in The Guardian, Times, Independent and Q, and the band were announced as one of the most played acts on BBC6 in 2011. They’ve been touring Europe, UK and the US, and will do a Euro run with The Drums before returning to Oz for the summer festival season.
NEW SIGNINGS #2: ELECTRIC EMPIRE
Electric Empire’s appearance at Glastonbury seems to have paid off. Signed to UK indie Red Disk, they leave this week for a 15-date UK tour opening for Beverly Knight. Aloe Blacc asked them to open for his Australian summer tour and they will play Japan soon, after they were signed to BBQ Records there. Tower Records made their self-titled album its record of the month.
REED: DEATH THREATS FROM METALLICA FANS
Lou Reed has received death threats from Metallica fans over the collaboration album Lulu. “They are threatening to shoot me, and that’s only because I showed up. They haven’t even heard the record yet and they’re recommending various forms of torture and
18 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
death,” he said. Meantime, the promoters of Metallica’s cancelled show in Delhi, India blamed unruly fans. After a security barrier collapsed, they decided to postpone the gig for 24 hours. But some of the 25,000 fans ran on stage and smashed the band’s equipment, causing the show to be axed. The four promoters were arrested for “fraud” after refusing to return the money. A show in Bangalore two days later went on without a hitch.
Psychology. This follows previous research that suggested restaurant diners spend more money when establishments played classical rather than pop music.
SOCIAL MEDIA FOR EMERGING MUSICIANS
YOU COULD BE IN THE LIVING END’S FILM CLIP
MusicNSW and City of Sydney Council have developed a free workshop series called ‘Social Media For Emerging Musicians’. It looks at how to use different forms of social media to reach fans, press and industry. Jai Al Attas (One is a Word), Ashley Chang (Pedestrian) and Vanessa Picken (RunDNA) will discuss how labels, press and artists utilise social media; they will also talk about digital distribution. The two workshops are being held Wednesday November 23 at Customs House Library (12:30–1:30pm), and Thursday November 24 at Surry Hills Library (6–7pm). RSVP essential. Email siobhan@musicnsw.com with your name and preferred date to confirm a spot.
GENERAL PANTS EXPANDS ITS BUBBLE
For the past three years, General Pants Co. has hosted The Bubble in its online store, which has allowed 2000 new artists to post around 4000 examples of their artwork — some of which are used in General Pants’ marketing. Now The Bubble allows talent to submit work in eight categories — music, TV/film, graphic design, fashion design, photography, art & illustration, creative writing and blogging/styling. This will be through fashion-led challenges from streetwear brands like Lee, Vanishing Elephant, Levi’s, The Library and Evil Twin. Prizes include artwork being used by brands, and iMacs and iPads to help the winners create art. General Pants already runs its own innovative singles label, Major Label, through which staffers can discover the next big thing – and it is integrated within the program. Bands can apply to be signed through The Bubble, with a two-month artist package including full record royalties. “Our aim is to provide solid avenues of exposure for the artistic excellence our community is producing within a viable career progression plan to Australia’s next big talents,” says Leanne Sheraton, General Pants’ GM for Marketing and Online.
GRAND JURY SPLIT
Philadelphia Grand Jury revealed on Facebook that they have split. (When we announced it last year after a band member told us, PGJ’s people insisted it was a temporary hiatus, and wanted a retraction…)
The Living End are inviting punters to help create the video for new single ‘For Another Day’. Go to facebook.com/thelivingend and upload footage of you or your friends at a TLE show, or of your TLE tattoos, paraphernalia or anything else band-related. The best submission will be included in the vid, and the winner will get a signed copy of the The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating album, plus a vinyl copy, a merchandise pack and a credit in the film clip. 15 runners-up will also be included in the video, and get a signed copy of the album.
SXSW ANNOUNCES SHOWCASES South By Southwest’s first round of 109 global acts to showcase lists Melbourne duo Big Scary and Sydney’s The Black Ryder. Over 250 acts from this country applied, and about 50 will be chosen.
IT'S OFFICIAL: NICKELBACK'S A TURN-OFF
Nickelback are a turn-off to romance. That’s according to dating service tastebuds.fm, which matches partners based on their music tastes. It asked users to nominate their musical turn-offs, and Nickelback led the way with 13% of votes. Trundling behind were (2) Justin Bieber, (3) Lady Gaga, (4) Ke$ha, (5) Coldplay, (6) U2 ,(7) Creed, (8) Katy Perry, (9) Lil Wayne and (10) Britney Spears. Coldplay aren’t too loved by those who turn to dating services: earlier, Tastebuds assessed Coldplay fans as least likely to have sex on a first date.
MUSO’S CONNECT
Lisa Butler Music Consulting and Macron Music will hold Muso’s Connect on Saturday December 3, where Central Coast musicians, singers and songwriters can connect and learn how to move their careers forward. Held from 10am to 4pm at Macron Music in Erina, singing teacher Doreen Van Bree will
be holding a vocal workshop, Lisa Butler, founder and coordinator of the Australian Songwriters Conference, will offer song critique and performing sessions, and Macron Music staff will demonstrate the latest instruments and sound gear, with a jam session at the end of the day. Check out lisabutlermusic.com
BLASKO, CAPSIS & HUGHES FOR SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS
Performers added to the Screen Music Awards ceremony next week include Sarah Blasko, who will sing Miles Nicholas' nominated ‘Dream On’ from The Missing Key. Paul Capsis and Christa Hughes will do a selection from the Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo soundtrack, and an orchestra conducted by composer Cezary Skubiswski will perform some nominated compositions. Announced as presenters are Playschool’s Jay Laga’aia, Don Hany, Claudia Karvan, Sigrid Thornton, Steve Bisley, Richard Brancatisano, Damon Gameau, Red Dog producer Nelson Woss, TV host Brendan Moar, and former Go Betweens member-turned-screen composer Amanda Brown. The awards are presented by APRA and the AGSC, and will be held on Monday November 14 at City Recital Hall in Sydney.
BIEBER IS THE KING OF YOUTUBE Justin Bieber has become the first person to pass 2 billion views on YouTube, says social media statistics service Famecount.com. He already holds the record for the most popular single video on YouTube – ‘Baby’ has almost 650 million views so far. Last month his YouTube channel received 94 million views. Bieber has an awesome digital presence: 37 million Facebook fans, 13.9 million Twitter followers and more than 1 million YouTube subscribers on his main channel. Lady Gaga is runner-up, with 1.88 billion YouTube views. Gaga recently became the first person to get 15 million followers on Twitter.
HEAVENLY SOUNDS HELPS SALVOS
One Louder and Artist Voice’s Heavenly Sounds tour, featuring Seeker Lover Keeper playing historical churches and cathedrals around Australia, is helping out the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal. The Salvos will attend all the shows (which run from November 21 to December 2) with collection tins, and ‘Light All My Lights’ from Seeker Lover Keeper’s self-titled album will be the backing track of the forthcoming Christmas appeal TV advertisement. Seeker Lover Keeper
BIG DAY OUT UPDATE
The next round of artists for Big Day Out 2012 will be announced this week, with Noel Gallagher heavily rumoured. Meantime, founder Ken West explained to this column that putting BDO together each year has always been stressful, but in recent years, to maintain its standard, they got into a bidding war with other festivals for acts. The crunch came this year when, he said, co-promoter Vivian Lees thought it was time to pull the plug. West refused, and will go it alone.
DRINK AND JIVE
People who drink wine while listening to music have a different perception of its taste depending on the sort of music they are listening to. The study, involving 250 students, was published in the British Journal of
THINGS WE HEAR
* Adele has denied Twitter-driven rumours that she has throat cancer. * Which Australian festival is pulling all stops to get the Rolling Stones next year? And never mind that “hoax email” – will we see Madonna here in April? * Pop punkers Cartel’s Australian tour has been cancelled. The band blamed the promoter, accusing them of not finalising their flights, permits and gear; Adelaidebased promoter Parallel Touring blamed “fence-sitting fans” who tend not to purchase tickets until the last minute. * To celebrate Cold Chisel playing Coffs Harbour last week, the Coffs Coast Advocate spoke to their former publisher, John Bromell, who’s now retired and living in the area. Bromell spotted them in 1977 as relative unknowns, and offered them a handshake deal with Rondor Music for $750 for three years. Jimmy Barnes recalled that when no label was interested in them, Bromell told Warner that other companies were going to sign them, at which Warner
quickly snapped them up. In the meantime, Chisel’s Margaret River (WA) concert on November 26 is giving some headaches. Because of strict noise regulations at Busselton airport, they’re still waiting for Environment Minister Bill Marmion’s office to approve a special application that had to be made for their charter flights to and from the concert on Skippers Airlines. * Tiki Taane, who got nicked for singing ‘Fuck Tha Police’ as they were busting members of his crowd in a New Zealand club, asked the cops to join him on stage at last week’s Vodafone NZ Music Awards in Auckland. But they said no. …Maybe because he was singing ‘Freedom To Sing’, which was written about the arrest. * Flying back from LA straight to shows in Queensland and Melbourne didn’t cramp Janet Jackson’s energy: she kicked ass at the shows. She had some good news when she returned to Oz. An American appeals court found that broadcasting authorities acted improperly when they fined CBS over the costume meltdown during the 2004 Super Bowl, when one of her boobs was flashed.
* Former Lime Spiders member Richard Lawson’s move to electro sounds for his solo Bread And Water album has worked. Single ‘Magic Touch’ was added to 22 college radio stations in the USA (the 'Spiders topped the CMJ charts for three weeks), it’s getting triple j and community radio airplay, and their launch shows in Melbourne have sold out. Lawson’s first foray into Sydney last weekend saw him joined by Gye Bennetts on drums, with Collette McGrath dancing on stage. * The Sandringham goes for auction next week, but live music will continue in the meantime. * Fuzzy director John Wall told Tone Deaf why there won’t be a Harbourlife until the first half of 2012. “A clash with a private event nearby has proven impossible to resolve so both events could go ahead.” * Il Divo’s Sebastien Izambard is the latest overseas muso who wants to move to Australia. That he’s married to a Melbourne girl who met him while she worked at Sony Music could be a major reason for it.
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Bluejuice
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ity the publicist who has to set up interview slots for Jacob Stone and Stavros Yiannoukas. Anybody who says they’ve managed to extract anything serious from the dual frontmen of infamous Sydney quintet Bluejuice in under an hour is lying to you. We’re running close to 55 minutes on the clock at a quiet Surry Hills café, where Stav is wolfing down his breakfast and Jake is still adapting to his surroundings, having rocked up at the very rockstar time of half-an-hour late, only to ruin his cool by hugging us both and apologising profusely. The boys were meant to be at Triple M a while ago, but Jake’s just ordered a soy latte and made three blowjob jokes in a row. A record label rep hovers nervously at the door, continuously checking his watch. Nobody seems to notice. Bluejuice have actually been on the scene since I first understood what a blowjob was, although Company is only their third record. Safe to say that in the intervening decade, neither of them has really grown up. “We still definitely have those moments where Jake gets into his ‘We’re going to fail’ mode and I have to say ‘Man the fuck up,’” says Stav. “It’s just one of the ways we complement each other and maintain this supposedly working relationship.” Other ways Jake and Stav complement each other include Stav being the sensible one and Jake being the dreamer; Stav having a child and Jake pashing sexagenarians in video clips; Stav doing vocal exercises before a show and Jake updating his Facebook to say ‘I’ve just realised that I really can’t sing.’ “We were going to call this album The Devil’s Handjob,” says Jake. The label rep adjusts his collar for the fourth time. Company showcases everything Bluejuice know how to do well, but with the proper studio punch to match their ambition. Glittering, pop-inspired piano riffs echo
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In Good Company By Jonno Seidler
“We still definitely have those moments where Jake gets into his ‘We’re going to fail’ mode and I have to say ‘Man the fuck up’. It’s just one of the ways we complement each other.” across your speakers and the beats are more danceable than ever before, a clever move that will surely have the band on the bill for Splendour In The Grass until 2050. And having spent some time in their studio during recording, I can say that Stav and Jake seem bound to their band for life. They agonise over little details, and call in friends (Alex Burnett of Sparkadia and Tom Rawle of Papa vs Pretty) to lay down the parts that they can’t, in order to procure the biggest and best sound this side of KC and The Sunshine Band. They’ve even convinced their jazz drumming prodigy James Hauptman to play four-on-thefloor disco beats to further the cause. “He didn’t like it, but he’s grown to love it,” says Jake. “You mean he’s grown to do it,” laughs Stav. And for an album that was supposed to be the Bluejuice ‘guitar record’ – Jake even played the axe for the first time – there’s a hell of a lot of ‘80s piano going on. “You just got us on the day we were tracking guitars,” says Jake. “We change our minds all the time. I’m still not convinced.” It is precisely because Bluejuice are such an interesting band that they attract lazy journalists in droves. In the lead-up to Company’s release, nearly every article published about them seems to centre on the fact that they’re a happy-sounding band that actually writes deep songs about proper issues. Stop the presses! “We’ve always been really negative and self-serious,” says Jake, “and nobody seems to have realised this until now? ‘Hang on, these guys are
really terrible and boring!’” I suggest that perhaps they should write a folk record, after which nobody will question why they could possibly be depressed. “Yeah, but then you’d have to be super sexy about it,” says Stav. “Like Angus & Julia Stone,” Jake cuts in. “‘Hello, we’re Angus & Julia and our thing is incest.’ Hey, it worked for Angelina Jolie!” Right… maybe not, then. In any case, many of the best songs on Company centre around Jake’s charmingly pathological fear of himself, and Stav’s ability to indulge this with a voice that is only getting better (while his foil claims that his is getting worse). You can hear it palpably on ‘Act Yr Age’ and the achingly melancholic disco of ‘Do You Will?’, and this dynamic means that there will never be a Bluejuice without Stav and Jake wrestling for the reins and letting the horses gallop off into the world of onethousand ex-girlfriends. “We could never do the Outkast split-album thing,” Jake concedes. “It’s necessary for us to work on each other’s songs. I think I’m just the utilities guy who comes in and sees things that need to be done.” This much Stav agrees on: “You should have seen him at the Metro rehearsals for Splendour. He was just standing there, conducting. I wish I had that in flipcam.” Digital cameras feature in more ways than one on Company, with the album art featuring a mock screen-capture from what appears to be an online conversation. So what’s that all about? “The record cover is
a girl lying on a bed while on Skype; it was my recent ex, but now it’s her step-sister because the original screen grab was too low-res,” says Jake. “It’s all about that kind of confident distance thing. She’s alluring, but I can’t touch her.” This ties in perfectly with ‘I’ll Put You On’, the mid-album highlight, which opens with the line “This is the song, for the girl that I can’t fuck.” Bluejuice. They’re nothing if not direct. By now, Bon Iver is wailing through the café stereo and Jake’s started talking about psychologists, which seems to have evolved as part of a tangent that included Rammstein, palm readers and why Stav is carrying a huge bag full of basketball gear around with him today, of all days. The rep has reached the limit of his patience; Bluejuice have probably lost their airtime on both Triple M and triple j at this rate. Jake apologises, and then realises that, as always, we’ve spent another hour talking about the wrong thing for press purposes: “Did you say what the album title was about and shit?” he asks Stav. “It’s about how it’s hard to be around people, but it’s necessary. It’s the politics and relationships that come out of interacting with the world as a person. That’s pretty accurate, right?” As the boys are hustled on to their next engagement, Stav reveals that the original cover was going to be a boat sinking at sea, Perfect Storm-style. But the band didn’t go with that option, because even when they’re adrift on the seas of self-doubt, friends surround them everywhere. “It’s the company with women, it’s the company within the band, it’s the extra company we brought on board for the record,” explains Stav, as the publicist finally gets his way and the pair are hauled out of the establishment. “And here comes the clapping bit. Dance, everybody, dance!” What: Company is out November 11 through Dew Process
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TV On The Radio Tightrope Walking By Alasdair Duncan
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V On The Radio’s Kyp Malone has a lot on his mind. Normally a Brooklyn resident, he has been spending a bit of time lately across the bridge, observing the Occupy Wall Street protests in Manhattan and contemplating the reasons behind them. On one level, he is excited by a movement that he feels is overdue. “I’ve spent a lot of time over the past half a year talking to friends and strangers around America,” he says, “wondering what would have to happen to motivate any kind of mass civil disobedience. The conversation always ended very cynically – presuming there was no way to make that happen – so the protests in Zuccotti Park, and increasingly outside of it, seem like the first steps to an actual movement, which is really exciting.” On another level, Malone is pondering just how to address the movement in his music. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to do something inspired by this without in any way co-opting it, or turning it into some kind of weird ego trip,” he explains. “I have mixed feelings about the idea of introducing anything that would smack at all of celebrity into that movement. I’m not calling myself a celebrity,” he’s quick to qualify, “but I have a lot more of a forum than my other musician friends in New
York. I mean, I see this stuff happening in the world and I have a forum to discuss it, so I want to try and exploit that as best I can.” I ask Malone if he sees the music he makes with TV On The Radio as an extension of his passionate political views and, surprisingly, the question seems to get him down a bit. “It’s a real tightrope, and I think we’ve navigated it more successfully at some times than at others,” he sighs. “For better or worse, being in this band has become a career – it’s how I put a roof over my head and feed my family. We’ve done things in the band that are strongly in support of our collective ideals, but we’ve done things that aren’t. I can’t speak for everyone in the band, but I’ve agreed to certain things that I thought were compromising. “I’m talking about playing this game of capitalism,” he clarifies. “I feel like my ideals about music are immediately compromised by being a part of that system. I mean, I’m working, and I believe my work is worth something, but to get it out there certain commercial decisions have to be made. We signed to Universal Music, which is one of the biggest recording companies in the world, which is owned by people who own water companies, which is one of the most evil things that capitalism has to offer. It’s not… I don’t feel like I’m overstating the case when I say that. I’m engaged in it, I’m participating in it. I’m part of it.”
“We’ve done things in the band that are strongly in support of our collective ideals, but we’ve done things that aren’t. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve agreed to certain things that I thought were compromising...” It seems, then, to be a case of Malone and his band acknowledging that they’re part of a broken system, and doing the best they can from inside of it. “Yeah,” he agrees, “but saying it like that, doesn’t it sound kind of weak, like a compromise? …Everyone can make an excuse for themselves about doing what they need to do in order to get by. I make those excuses and rationalisations about myself too. I mean at the end of the day, we don’t want to make loincloths out of roadkill and gather wild rice in the marshes. I wouldn’t be able to survive doing that,” he says, with a dejected laugh. “I don’t have the skill set to make that a viable lifestyle, so I make these compromises, even if I regret what I’m feeding into.”
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This is heavy stuff to be weighing on anyone’s mind, and I ask Malone if thinking about TV On The Radio’s place in the commercial landscape ever affects the way he and the band write songs. “It doesn’t really matter if it’s on my mind when I’m writing music,” he says. “I mean, I can’t write the shit that gets on the Twilight soundtrack, or that’s gonna be the soundtrack for people doing body shots in Miami Beach. That music doesn’t come to me – I know that because I’ve tried to write those songs a couple of times, and it’s not in me. There are people out there who are good at that – and I’m not saying I’m better than them in any way, but that’s not a choice I can make.” Malone’s mood brightens when I finally ask about TV On The Radio’s upcoming Australian tour. After the relatively fraught tour for Dear Science, the band have enjoyed taking Nine Types Of Light out on the road. “Of the songs we’re doing that are from the new record, we’re tending towards the more rock ones, but even the ballads are more amped-up than they are on the record,” he says. “That being said, there’s still some subtlety in the live show. We’re not just doing what we would with ‘Satellite’ or ‘Wolf Like Me’ – turning them all the way up and battering the audience.” I ask Malone to sum the show up in one sentence. “You can expect the absolute time of your life,” he says with a note of mischief in his voice, “a consciousness-shifting experience.” What: Nine Types Of Light is out now on Interscope/4AD, through Universal With: Portishead, The National, The Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Bright Eyes, Holy Fuck, The Family Stone, Mercury Rev, The Walkmen, Dappled Cities, PVT, The Holidays, Seekae and more Where: Harvest Festival @ Parramatta Park When: Sunday November 13
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Laura Jean Nobody’s Fool By Max Easton
“It’s so hard to be conscious of why your sound changes,” Jean muses. “For me, the main protagonist for my sound changing was that I wrote the songs on an acoustic guitar, and when I played through them I wasn’t hearing an album – I realised there was something not quite right. So I had to lay off for a while, and about a year later played the electric guitar on them, and I immediately heard what the album could be. It was more of an intuitive process, of just playing with sound.” Laura Jean seems to work in unusual ways; the long timeframe between her releases is a combination of letting the album come together naturally, and a side-effect of her own prolific tendencies. Indeed, during the time between writing and recording the record she had already written its follow-up, a distraction from the dead ends that were slowing A Fool Who’ll’s germination. “I tried to have ideas,” she explains, “but they were completely conscious and shit. It was frustrating, and I was a bit sad about it – but I’ve been doing this for a long time now and I knew that if I just waited and was patient that something would come to me... I just try to go where I’m led,” she continues. “I don’t really have an idea of where I go next; it just turns up at my door and I go with it, even if it doesn’t make sense… I don’t go, ‘Ooh, we should do another electric album’ – I don’t think of all that shit. For me it’s just what presents itself.”
It’s her willingness to follow her own muse that informs the earnest nature of the record; indeed, Laura Jean can’t quite understand the feelings her contemporaries describe as their various creative constraints. “Maybe they value something else higher than the creative process, but if you value the creative process, you’ll find that’s the best fun you can get out of it. The creative process is king, and you follow that … maybe you think about the other stuff once you release the album. I play what I feel, and later on I go ‘Whoops!’,” she laughs. “It’s alien to me, that idea of being constrained.” Jean ascribes the rich sounds of A Fool Who’ll to lessons learned from the sparse recording of artists of the past, the influence of Kate Bush and Elton John maybe not informing her overall sound, but lending lessons of efficiency. “The sentiment is that really warm, hi-fi, ‘70s sound, and that really jagged and sparse recording of the Aussie rock stuff of the ‘80s. [A Fool Who’ll] doesn’t really sound like that, but it had some kind of influence over me,” she explains. “When you’ve got just a few instruments, there’s so much space to use; you can really use that one instrument to fill a lot of roles. I was listening to ‘Great Southern Land’ by Icehouse, and it’s just a drum and a one-note synth… But it’s so big, it’s massive sounding. That’s just the paradox of using few elements to create this massive space – and I was real interested in that. I didn’t really explore it very well with this album, but I did have a sense of restraint here and there, and I think that’s a very important thing to have.” What: A Fool Who’ll is out now on Chapter Music Where: Petersham Bowls Club When: Friday November 11
Cameras photo by Tony Mott
W
ith this year’s A Fool Who’ll, Laura Jean uprooted her folk roots and debuted a darker, more sinister version of herself. Having spent two years in rural Victoria, this release saw her move back to Melbourne City with a bright yellow Gibson SG that she won in a songwriting contest – and the combination of new instrument and new lifestyle led her down a notably haunting new direction.
Cameras A Good Shivving To The Kidney By Jonno Seidler
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ameras have been giving Australians their daily dose of exquisite moodiness for over three years now, so it’s about time something good happened to them. The Sydney band are hitting the trifecta this month; they just got back from a killer stint in the US, they’re about to embark on a headline national tour, and their debut album has been released on both sides of the Equator. These days, Camera’s frontpeople Fraser Harvey (the one with the fringe) and Eleanor Dunlop (also fringe, but female) know all about the ins and outs of playing a show without sleep, and meeting Adrien Brody by accident. When asked for highlights of their recent international trip, Dunlop tries not make anybody jealous – and fails spectacularly. “I saw Karen O’s Psycho Opera – man that was amazing! Oh also, seeing Tina Fey filming 30 Rock outside The Rock was pretty up there.” Her bandmate had his own brush with fame: “I met Adrian Brody at a party. I didn’t recognise him at the time or for a good 20 minutes after, then told someone whom I think may have been his manager that he was a little rude,” he says. But it was Eleanor’s encounter with Julian Casablancas that won the day. “I only noticed him ‘cause he was looking at me across the room and then it clicked who it was. I consequently lost my brain.” Still, although it may not sound like it, Cameras were actually working hard for their bread and butter in the ‘States – so much so that they bounced straight off a delayed flight and into their first show without even having the chance to shower. “36 hours of no sleep and then playing a show was definitely an experience. The tiredness added to the whole surrealism of being in this completely foreign land, playing to way more
people than in your home town,” says Eleanor. “The show was packed out!” adds Fraser. “There were people standing on tables with hands in the air and everything. This was foreign to us, but we liked it.” Before they even left for America, Cameras had opened for none other than Roxy Music on a run of stadium shows across the country. So does this mean club dates aren’t nearly as scary any more? “Playing massive venues like arenas is easier – I think it’s more intimidating when you play small venues and the people are right there in front of you,” Fraser says. “I’ve learned to cope a lot better with stage fright now though in general. I occasionally used to vomit before shows, but now I have ways and routines that keep it all in check.” Cameras’ debut record In Your Room was produced and mixed by the band’s live guitarist Mike Morgan, and was recorded in Sydney over only two weeks. “He’s a fucking dude,” says Fraser congenially. “We have very strong ideas of how we want things to sound and where the song needs to go, and Mike only seems to make what we want to do better.” For a band that loves each other almost as much as they love fighting with each other, it’s surprising to hear Eleanor say that “it was actually a pretty tame session.” And Harvey confirms it: “I think the studio is probably the one place we are most relaxed and at ease. We’re all on too much of a high when we’re recording to kill each other. We want to save that for our live show anyway – people can appreciate a good shivving to the kidney when they see us play.” What: In Your Room is out now on Speak N Spell, through Inertia
Hungry Kids Of Hungary Hungry As Ever By Nils Hay
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With a release date roughly pencilled in for the first half of 2012, but no firm decision made as far as production, mixing and mastering are concerned, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect – but McGrath feels that it will be a less poppy effort than their debut, adding mysteriously, “it’s just a little bit weirder.” Indeed, it’s possible the finished product will include a couple of tracks he was saving for a solo release that – until recently – he felt wouldn’t fit with the Hungry Kids’ sound.
fter three years of heavy touring, the latter part riding the wave of last year’s acclaimed debut album Escapades, Brisbane indie popsters Hungry Kids Of Hungary have taken a breather to gear up for their follow-up record and the summer festival circuit, starting with a slot at Homebake. “It’s been good to have a break from the last record and the old songs,” confesses co-frontman and guitarist Dean McGrath. “We’ve got really short attention spans and we get bored of songs really quickly. We’ve been touring the last album for ages and have played those songs to death almost, as far as we’re concerned. We’re really looking forward to being able to pull out some of the new ones.” Even though the ‘Kids are still in the early stages of putting the record together, they’ve recorded a couple of songs with Brisbane producer Magoo, and McGrath already knows that this sophomore effort will be different from Escapades in at least two ways: “It’s a little bit more focused; Escapades was written over the course of a few years, so there are songs on there that we’d been playing for our entire time together as a band, and there are songs on there that came together in the middle of the recording process – late in the game – that made the album. I guess the sounds on that album were a little bit more disparate. This time around, everything’s been written within a year at most and it’s a bit more
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The band will be previewing some of the new tracks when they hit up summer festival dates all around the country – and they are looking forward to their set at Homebake. “When you’re playing a festival spot there are considerations that you make with your set; we try and restrict it to the more upbeat stuff… We did Splendour In The Grass a few months ago, and we decided to bring a whole lot of giant inflatable beach balls on stage with us… You’ve got all this space to play with and it’s a different atmosphere to a venue show, so we try where we can to make it a bit exciting.” time-and-place, a bit more consistent soundwise.” Secondly, the band is entering the studio with the aim of recording tracks that they can replicate easily live; the layers and overdubs on Escapades required bringing on a second guitarist to flesh out the live sound. “This time
around we’re interested in getting the full scope of the song just in the arrangements,” McGrath says. “We don’t want to play around too much with adding stuff that we can’t replicate live; we’re interested in writing in a way that means that we don’t need to go in and meddle with [the songs] too much – it’s more of an organic process.”
With: Grinderman, Gotye, Cut Copy, Architecture In Helsinki, Icehouse, Pnau, The Vines, The Jezabels, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and more Where: Homebake Festival @ The Domain When: Saturday December 3
Battles Glossed Up By Lachlan Kanoniuk
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he last time New York experimental collective Battles visited Australia holds a myriad of significance in the band’s relatively brief narrative. The then four-piece performed a stunning recital of tracks from their debut fulllength as part of the inaugural Vivid Sydney in 2009, taking to the Sydney Opera House for two incredible performances. But the Battles who performed at those two shows are an ostensibly dissimilar outfit to the Battles that were announced as part of the sprawling Big Day Out 2012 lineup, who’ll be arriving with a new LP – the recentlyreleased Gloss Drop – as well as a slightly different band populace. Founding member and guitarist/sometimes-bassist Dave Konopka looks back on the band’s collective mindset during their residence at the Opera House, and the changes that have happened since. “It was a pretty fun time,” he recalls. “It was a privilege to be able to come back to Australia, especially to play the Sydney Opera House. And to be invited by Brian Eno [the curator of Luminous at 2009’s Vivid Sydney] – it was just an all round exciting experience for all of us. Those shows were great. I think we were starting to work on new material at that point, maybe even playing new stuff at the shows. It was an excellent way to end the last album’s touring cycle.”
heard the song which we offered him to see if he would be interested, he just thought it was totally bizarre. He said something like, ‘There’s something interesting about what you guys are doing… the process seems really cool...’” Another Gloss Drop collaboration which makes a whole lot of sense comes in the form of album-closer ‘Sundome’, featuring likeminded Boredoms-leader Yamantaka Eye. “I think that we’re cut from a similar cloth, in the sense that we challenge traditional song structure, and with the layout of the band. Whether it’s just being a band driven by percussion, or the technology that we use – I think that there are definitely some similarities in the way in which we make music,” Dave explains. “It lent itself to a successful collaboration. He’s got such a unique approach – none of us would be really capable of doing anything like that. It was great for us to be able to collaborate in that sense.” With: Kanye West, Soundgarden, Odd Future, Best Coast, Parkway Drive and more Where: Big Day Out @ Sydney Showground When: Thursday January 26
Not only did the shows at the Opera House mark the end of the Mirrored touring cycle, but they also signified the beginning of a watershed transition for Battles. The two shows were among the last instances of the band’s distinctive vocalist, Tyondai Braxton, performing with them. But despite losing a significant member of their ranks, Dave explains that it was never an option for the group to cease existing under the Battles banner. “That wasn’t even talked about, because Battles has always been our band – Ty was the last person to join,” he explains. “Indicating that we wanted to change the name of the band would just be alluding to giving way too much credit – well maybe not too much credit for him, but just taking away from what Ian [Williams, guitarist/keyboardist] and John [Stanier, drums] and I have. It’s always been our band, first and foremost. As far as him leaving, it wasn’t that big of a deal – I think we felt that things were heading in that direction. It was a slow, evolving process, seeing that he was no longer interested in being part of the band or working with us, so when he made that decision it was fine. It wasn’t shocking or anything. But he did have very poor timing,” Dave proclaims with a chuckle.
“As far as Tyondai leaving, it wasn’t that big of a deal – I think we felt that things were heading in that direction... But he did have poor timing.” Tyondai departed just after the foundations for the group’s follow-up LP had been laid out, resulting in a necessary shake-up of the compositional approach for Gloss Drop. “It made us really re-develop and rewrite a lot of the album. He came into the studio with us when we were making Gloss Drop, and when he left, it became about us representing ourselves as a three-piece – to go back and rewrite and rework the songs without any of his parts. ‘Loss’ isn’t even an appropriate word – when he left it just wasn’t that big of a deal,” Dave reiterates. “It’s something that’s still developing, too. We’ve been touring since April, and since then we’ve just been getting better and better. For us it’s the privilege of starting a new band, for the most part, for the three of us – plus the advantage of being in a band together for eight years. It’s a good place to start all over again.” The most noticeable aurally stylistic leap from Mirrored to Gloss Drop comes in the form of a myriad of guest collaborators, contributing somewhat more conventional vocal takes than what we were accustomed to hearing from Battles. “When we were working on songs, we had some more tracks we wanted to have vocals on. So when [Braxton] left we had these songs that were a bit more reserved instrumentally, and felt like they would work a little better with a vocalist collaborating,” Dave recalls. “It just came down to each song – making a wishlist of vocalists we admire and respect, and who would be appropriate for each song. In each collaboration there was this extra varnish that was added to the song which really brought it to a level that I don’t think the three of us were capable of doing [alone]. Especially vocally – we can’t sing,” he laughs. One of the standout moments on Gloss Drop comes in the form of the Gary Numan-led charge of ‘My Machines’. “He’s actually admitted himself that he doesn’t like collaborating with anyone,” Dave reveals of the electro pioneer. “When he BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 25
Seeker Lover Keeper The Holy Trinity By Nils Hay ith dates on their Heavenly Sounds tour selling out left and right, and an ARIA nomination for Best Adult Alternative Album, the mood is buoyant in the Seeker Lover Keeper camp. But speaking to Holly Throsby, Sarah Blasko and Sally Seltmann, I get the feeling that the mood is nearly always like this – and the accolades are simply a bonus.
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once played in a kind of a church in New Zealand,” Throsby adds, “but it wasn’t operating as a church any more. The ones that we’re playing in [on this tour] are actually operating churches, so it’ll be kind of interesting to be amongst all that …I was going to say ‘paraphernalia’,” she says sheepishly, prompting giggles from the other two. “Is that the wrong word?”
There’s little doubt though that the trio are genuinely excited about Heavenly Sounds – they’ll be the first act ever to tour Australia’s churches and cathedrals. “We were really happy with how our tour went earlier in the year, and decided we wanted to tour again,” Seltmann explains. “We just thought that it was a really great idea and really suited our music... We love the old churches, and thought that it would be a beautiful place to play a show.”
Sonically, churches are a little different to the average venue, but with a little trial and error it shouldn’t be any cause for concern. “It’s probably similar to performing in any really reverberant space,” offers Blasko. “Sometimes it can take a bit to get used to, if it’s a room that’s really livesounding and the sound keeps coming back at you. When I’ve done it before, I found it particularly amazing, especially as a singer; it’s like singing in the shower or something. It sounds really great when you’re in a really dead space where there’s no echo or anything, so I’m looking forward to it.” But Seeker Lover Keeper will have little time to familiarise themselves; with the Neil & Tim Finn tribute shows ‘They Will have Their Way’ beginning next month, they’ll have very few opportunities for any in-church rehearsals. “That would’ve been a good idea, really,” admits Blasko with a gentle laugh. “We’ve got some rehearsals scheduled in,” Throsby adds, “but we hadn’t thought about rehearsing in a church. That would’ve been smart!” – although the amount of chuckling going on indicates that it’s not really a major worry.
It won’t be the first experience the songwriters have had performing in church. As well as singing as a child in the congregation, Seltmann has played some stripped-back church shows, while Blasko played in a church as part of this year’s Bushfest in London, and Throsby’s last two albums were both recorded in a church. “I
Indeed, it’s hard to come up with much to perturb the trio; despite the austere nature of their venues and their relatively serious music, they seem to find a way to bring a jocular sparkle to just about everything they do. “Because we didn’t know what to do with each other [on stage], it just ended up being a little comical,” confesses Throsby of their last tour. “I think that [Heavenly Sounds] will still have that same kind of quality as our last shows. If you came to our last shows, sometimes people thought we were a bit serious – but we’ll probably be a bit sillier this tour.”
BY ING ELM H W A R OVE EMAND D D N A 2ND YDNEY S L FINA HOW! S
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
MILES KANE
“It’s interesting to watch each other work, because we’ve never done that before. Watching how much people put into their songs – I think it certainly is inspiring.” But despite the success of the project, and the obvious enjoyment the three get from each other, Seeker Lover Keeper intend to go their own separate ways again after the Heavenly Sounds tour. Both Blasko and Seltmann have solo albums that they’re working on, and Throsby (who released two albums this year, as well as the SLK debut) plans to do even more songwriting. “The time might come when we get together again and do another album,” says Seltmann, “but we just like to take things one step at a time.”
FRIDAY 13 JANUARY ENMORE THEATRE TICKETEK.COM.AU 132 849 #1 UK ALBUM SUCK IT AND SEE OUT NOW
In fact, it takes a fair amount of digging to find any uncommon ground in the group; Seltmann takes carnivorous delight in telling the vegetarian Throsby about her recent culinary exploits (creamy veal), while Blasko reveals an entirely unshared passion for The Muppets – the mention of which results in bouts of laughter from all three. This is hardly an Oasis-style band break-up, but it will be your last chance to see Seeker Lover Keeper together like this – and if nothing else, it’s a good excuse to get you into church. Who: Sarah Blasko, Holly Throsby, Sally Seltmann What: Seeker Lover Keeper is out now Where: St Stephen’s Uniting Church, 197 Macquarie Street, Sydney
WWW.FRONTIERTOURING.COM 26 :: BRAG :: 416 :: 13:06:11
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When: Tuesday November 22 (on sale now) / Thursday November 24 (sold out)
Seeker Lover Keeper photo by Glenn Wilkie
THURSDAY 12 JANUARY HORDERN PAVILION
Even so, they all have overwhelmingly positive things to say about the collaborative experience that they’ve been through. “I found it really inspiring,” shares Blasko. “It makes me feel like I want to write better songs – and I think it’s just a good, challenging exercise to really be amongst other people that do similar things to you. For me, it’s made me feel motivated.” Throsby goes further; “Just like with anything, any record you make of your own, or records that you might really love of someone else’s, or records that you’re involved with in any kind of emotional way – I think it’s always going to affect your individual work. Seeing how each other works in the studio, too; it’s interesting to watch each other work, because we’ve never done that before. [Watching] how much people put into their songs – I think it certainly is inspiring.”
British India Coming From All Angles By Madeleine Laing
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hen British India played Brisbane last week, Declan Melia introduced their punky new single ‘She Prefers Older Men’ by saying, “We thought love songs were good, but break-up songs are better. And fuck-you break-up songs are the best.” This may have excited the fans who were keen for a return to the aggressive, thrashy sound which the band executed so well on their first album, Guillotine – but if that’s you, don’t get your hopes up. Melia says the track isn’t really indicative of the new album, which is due out sometime next year.
“This record will definitely be our most eclectic yet,” Melia tells me. “The approach hasn’t changed, but the stuff that’s standing out is really the much more far-out different stuff. Stuff we haven’t tried before.” He puts this newfound weirdness down to the band’s refusal to get complacent with any particular sound. “With British India, our biggest strength is that we’ve never been sure what British India is, what kind of band it is… Any kind of song is okay for us to approach.” He also says they drew from a much wider range of influences than on previous albums: “Avalanche was American college rock, Guillotine was stuff like the Beatles, Thieves was indie-Rapture-dance stuff, but this one is just coming from all angles. If the stuff we listen to in the car on the way to the studio is any indication, it’s coming from hip hop, Bon Iver, Atlas Sound and weird shit, as well as the Beatles and the golden standards.”
says. “Sometimes you really have to work for it, sometimes you just hit a chord and people scream.” Anyone attending the tour can expect a mix of old and new songs, though Melia says they’re not particularly anxious about the audience’s reaction to new material. “I tend to be the member of the group who’s more up for playing new stuff or weird stuff… We used to fall into the trap of thinking, ‘Oh shit, this song didn’t get as big a reaction as ‘Vanilla’ or ‘Run The Red Light’, but it’s always going to be the case that singles get a bigger reaction. I’ve since learned that the great shows that I see have peaks and troughs like that. Every song’s not gonna be for the whole audience.” Melia assures me that whatever side of British India you’re into, “it’s gonna be a fucking cool party – quite unlike anything you’ve seen before.” What: ‘She Prefers Older Men’ is out now With: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Frowning Clouds, Betty Airs Where: The Gaelic Club When: Saturday November 12
But Melia also understands the importance of easing fans into a new sound. “‘She Prefers Older Men’ was a good choice [for the first single], because it’s more familiar to what we’ve done in the past.” The single was written by guitarist Nic Wilson, who Melia thinks wrote it intentionally as a simple rock song that live audiences could appreciate straight away. “It’s the kind of song that, in the live setting, people don’t need to hear on record to get what it’s about.”
“I’d be lying if I said it comes naturally, the Robbie Williams/Mick Jagger stuff. I like the idea of it, but I kind of have to meet the actor Declan and the insecure, more real Declan halfway.” Due to a “very stupid” skateboarding accident, Melia didn’t play guitar on ‘She Prefers Older Men’ or on the first part of the tour, which he says pushed him to develop different parts of his performance. “It’s really like learning everything again; I’d just got used to singing with a guitar, and [then it was] taken away from me… I’d be lying if I said it comes naturally, all the Robbie Williams/Mick Jagger stuff. I like the idea of it, but I kind of have to meet the actor Declan and the insecure, more real Declan halfway. Don’t get excited for aerodynamics or backflips; get excited for regular old me.” And he’s selfeffacing about his musicianship too, sarcastically admitting, “This may come as a shock to you, but my guitar is pretty rudimentary. I consider myself the lyrics… I never had any ambition to be a great guitar player.” In the past, Melia has also expressed unease about his ability as a singer, but he’s starting to become more comfortable with his own particular style. “It’s just a question of when to scream and when not to scream,” he laughs. “I’m more than capable of blowing my voice out at gigs… We’re not the band to come to if you want another cover of ‘Oh Comely’ or ‘Hallelujah’”. And he’s happy to be taking the backseat in songwriting. “I’m really coming around to the idea of just sitting around in the back room making tea and eating cheese and coming in to find a song already completed… I’m probably the least likely to write anything in the band, since maybe the first EP. [Writing] ‘Baby You’re So New York’ was definitely a highlight. The new stuff’s all written by the other guys…” British India have started off this tour playing club shows in regional towns; Melia doesn’t underestimate the importance of being able to try out their show in front of smaller audiences. “We always said that if we couldn’t rock a pub show, we’d pack it in.” But the boys will soon be taking their blistering racket to major venues all around the country – and even after years of extensive touring, Declan reckons it’s still impossible to know which towns are going to have the more welcoming crowd. “Every show is different,” he BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 27
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five minutes WITH STEFFAN VAN
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his week we’re taking five with Steffan van Lint, the co-founder and co-host of national trivia epidemic Quiz Meisters – a moveable feast of pub-based, multimedia trivia sessions that are so diabolically different from their peers, that they might just conquer your local. (If you’re lucky). What were you and Pete Curry doing before you started Quiz Meisters in 2004? Pete completed an Arts/Education double-degree at Deakin Uni while serving cappuccinos and Cabernet at a la-de-dah wine bar on Southbank in Melbourne. I dabbled with a Science-turned-Arts degree at Melbourne Uni while doing freelance cartooning, washing dishes for a la-de-dah restaurant and ‘working’ at a surf store that was nowhere near the ocean. I said “dude” a lot. So how do two hipsters become diabolical trivia overlords? Our love for the spotlight found us in several plays and musicals together, and before long, we developed a chemistry that we started capturing on film in silly skits. I landed a job as a trivia host (for a different trivia company) and gave my job to Pete when I went
2010 winner by Mathew Stewart
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overseas. Upon my return, a friend recruited me for an international business competition called SIFE, that opened up a world of opportunity and got me thinking about starting a business of my own. Was there some kind of ‘trivia trauma’ that shocked you into action? Yes. Working for this other trivia company (no need to name names) I was sick of asking a room full of Gen Ys to “name this song by The Mamas & the Papas” or “whose face is this on this photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy”. What’s the solution? Quiz Meisters puts more of an emphasis on having a fun time than on getting too serious about the questions – so we use film, animation, live games, comedy, music and ‘Baby’ John Burgess techniques to blend absurd segments, hilarious challenges and mind-bending questions in a social setting cleverly disguised as pub trivia. You really have to see it for yourself. What’s the biggest challenge? Fighting the ‘geeky’ stigma attached to trivia. And reversing the reputation that trivia is lame thanks to the shit trivia shows that have come before us. Our favourite Quiz Meisters character is Opera Boy – who looks a lot like actor Chris Ryan. What’s up with that? One sunny summer’s afternoon, myself, Pete and Chris
ALL THE BEST
The Paper Mill is winding down this month – but as Dylan Thomas says: Do not go gentle into that good night. FBi Radio’s All The Best team are raging against the dying of the light with a month-long residency, featuring Story Slam (Tuesday November 8) where you can check out some or all of the following slamming out their stories on the theme of ‘The Last Stand’: Adam Connelly, Jesse Cox, Nick Coyle, Madeleine James, Tim Jenkins, Zoe Norton Lodge, Eddie Sharp, Mike Williams and Adam Zwi; and then on November 22, they’re using the powers of radio, theatre, music and and ‘live’ to present the finished product – The Last Stand. For more on the impending apocalypse, see thepapermill.org.au
headed out for a surf, not far from Bells Beach. There weren’t many waves, so entertainment came in the form of Chris using his silky operatic voice to reinvent ‘Toxicity,’ by System Of A Down. We insisted that this somehow become a segment in the show. Chris, who had just become the youngest ever opera graduate from VCA, wanted to develop a character as part of his acting degree: a manic Romanian opera singer who made jaded observations about this ‘lucky country’, while changing the lyrics of pop songs into operatic delights. Two weeks later, we filmed the first ‘Opera Boy’ segment. What’s your trivia of choice? Porn Star or My Little Pony Best trivia moment? One night I spotted a stunningly beautiful brunette girl with a fox tattoo, from across the room. I made up some lame excuse of a game, that ended in her giving me a massage. We are now engaged. Are certain suburbs better at particular topics? Bondi crowds definitely get more questions right about fake tans and sun beds. Strange, but true. What: Quiz Meisters Where/when: Courthouse Hotel, Newtown (Mondays, 8pm); East Village Hotel, Darlinghurst (Tuesdays, 7.30pm); Beach Road Hotel, Bondi (Thursdays, 8pm); The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe (Thursdays, from November 17) More: quizmeisters.com.au
projects, and colour-blind casting; you can also book in a one-on-one session with a staff member, to really grill them… For free! Saturday November 12 from 10am-4pm, at Metro Screen (Cnr Oxford St & Oatley Rd Paddington) metroscreen.org.au
HOMEBAKE HA-HA
If throwing yourself on the mercy of thousands of boozed-up punters sounds like your cup of tea, we salute you! But if you want a comedy slot at Homebake, you’re gonna have to beg for
TIGER TRANSLATE 2011 GLOBAL SHOWCASE We love it when beer and arts join forces – remember those ads where they had all the dudes running around the field to Carl Orff’s ‘O, Fortuna’? Tiger Beer tapped into this power in 2006, when they launched their Tiger Translate initiative, inviting artists to create new works across the spectrum of music, art, graffiti, fashion, illustration, animation, design, and photography. This year's theme was ‘growth’ – and the results run the gamut of graffiti, murals, photos... The Tiger Translate Global Showcase is being held on November 23 – and it’s invite only, bitchez! But we’ve got five double passes up for grabs; to get your hands on one, just tell us which Australian state is famous for their tigers. tigerbeer.com.au it (unless your name is Wil Anderson, Barry Morgan, Michael Hing, Gen Fricker, Nick Cody, Daniel Towne… sigh). If you’ve got the ‘right stuff’, upload a video of you being funny to the facebook page of The Comedy Lounge, and they’ll maybe invite you to perform in their weekly Monday-night stand-up soirees; and if you’re really good, they’ll select you to take the last slot on the Comedy Stage at this year’s Homebake. There’s a lot of ifs and buts in there, but we reckon it’s worth a shot. Facebook.com/cafeloungesurryhills
West Side Story
GRAND CHASM PRIVATE ISLAND
Melbourne-based artist Lucas Grogan heads north this week for the opening of Private Island, his latest exploration into cultural ‘otherness’, and part of his ongoing interest in the idea of islands as metaphors for isolation. Private Island features intricate needlepoint quilts in Grogan’s Indigenous-style designs, and in his now-signature biro-blue tones. According to the presser, the work “acts as both a safe warm refuge and as a proactive shield-like second skin.” If you like the idea of wearing your art, Grogan’s designs can also be found in Rittenhouse’s forthcoming AW2012 collection. Private Island opens Thursday November 10 from 6-8pm at MOP Projects (2/39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale). lucasgrogan.com
THE BUBBLE
Having uncovered 2000-or-so emerging artists since 2008, General Pants’ mentoring program, the bubble, is evolving this month: from now on, participating artists will be encouraged to ply their creative skills in fashion-led challenges set by Australian street-wear brands like Lee, Vanishing Elephant and Evil Twin. While the first thing that springs to mind is ‘oh, I can haz my artz on tee-shirt?’ the program will run the full gamut of music, video, graphic design, fashion design, photography, art/illustration, creative writing and styling – just everything creative, as it applies to fashion. If our maths serves us, there are seven projects currently open – so hop along to generalpants.com.au 28 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
Rhubarb Rhubarbers Eddie Sharp, Kenzie Larsen and William Mansfield are teaming up to present an installation, on the topic of human intervention (of a theatrical nature) into natural wonders – i.e. if you showed this trio a mountain, they’d probably try and light it, and put costumes on the trees. But right now, they’re just doing an installation. It’s called Grand Chasm, and it involves a 6m x 4m room, entered via stairs; inside is dark – except for the light emitting from the naturally occurring wonder (previously undiscovered until now)… You can’t tell us that’s not intriguingasallfuck. Grand Chasm opens Wednesday November 23 from 5pm at Firstdraft Gallery (116-118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills) firstdraftgallery.com
ACTING ON INK
Pig Island castaways Charlie Garber and Nick Coyle (both very good writers in their own rights, if the Philip Parsons Award is anything to go by) and actress Meredith Penman will be reading the poems of other people, aloud, in front of large ink pressings by local art artrepreneur Robyn Wilson, on Saturday November 19 at The State Library. Facts aside: if the poems aren’t funny to start with, we’re pretty sure at least two thirds of them will by the end of the evening. The (award-winning) poets in question are Mark Tredinnick, Cate Kennedy, Jennifer Maiden, and Robert Adamson. Tickets and more info via australianpoetry.org
METRO SCREEN
Metro Screen’s annual open day is your chance to check out their facilities, investigate the courses on offer, meet the staff, and evaluate past works – allowing you to try before you buy. The day is divided into a number of sessions, panel discussions and talks, covering things like what’s in Metro Screen’s Certificate IV course in Screen and Media, what camera to choose for your particular project, navigating low-budget
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: 2012
We don’t want to poach on ‘Music’s’ turf, but off the top of our head, the Mike Patton Mondo Cane show is possibly the most covetable item on Sydney Festival’s 2012 lineup: a consummate performer with a killer voice, dressed up just the way your Nonna would love him, and doing Italo pop? Yup. Confessions aside: we recommend sitting down (oh, you’re sitting?) and carefully scanning the program before 9am Wednesday morning, November 9, when this shit goes on sale/sells out. Our Christmas wishlist includes: Beautiful Burnout (National Theatre of Scotland X Frantic Assembly X Bryony Lavery); ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore (Cheek by Jowl, UK); Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet’s epic dance work, Babel; and the digitally remastered print of West Side Story – screened with Leonard Bernstein’s soundtrack, performed live by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The smaller-ticket items (stocking-filler, if you will) include an evening with radio’s first man, Ira Glass (This American Life); the charming L’Effet de Serge (if you like Michel Gondry’s crafty cuts, this one’s unmissable); The Hayloft Project’s Thyestes; and the chance to see the charismatic Gary Foley mouth off in Foley. If we list anymore, we’re just gonna look greedy. Get along to sydneyfestival.org.au
ry Art presents Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and the Museum of Contempora
ARE YOU 12 – 18 YEARS OLD AND INTO CONTEMPORARY ART AND CULTURE? CHECK OUT GENERATIONEXT - A UNIQUE ART EXPERIENCE MADE EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. EXPLORE THE ARTWORKS IN NIU WARRIOR, CASULA POWERHOUSE’S EXHIBITION OF CONTEMPORARY ART BY ABORIGINAL AND PACIFIC ISLAND ARTISTS. GET STUCK INTO WORKSHOPS WITH ARTISTS, HEAR A CURATOR’S PERSPECTIVE ON THE EXHIBITION, TASTE-TEST FOOD AND LISTEN TO LIVE LOCAL MUSIC. ALL WHILE CONNECTING WITH HUNDREDS OF LIKEMINDED YOUNG PEOPLE. Supported by the Balnaves Foundation
WHERE: 1 Casula Road, Casula COST: FREE WHEN: Sunday 13 Nov, 6.00 – 8.00pm RSVP: essential by Friday 11 November EMAIL: generationext@mca.com.au PHONE: 02 9245 2402 Onesian, In South We Trust, 2010 Water-based ink airbrushed cotton hooded sweatshirt Image courtesy Cerisse Palalagi an MCA event, supported by the Balnaves Foundation
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HARVEST FESTIVAL: ARTS Sunday November 13 / Parramatta Park
Words by Dee Jefferson & Roslyn Helper
arvest understand that music tastes better with arts – so they’ve added a layer of alt-performance and comedy to their covetable lineup, handpicked from the local, interstate and international scenes. Gothic Lolita supreme Emilie Autumn and her Bloody Crumpets will be taking over Le Boudoir, with a little help from New York gospel diva Our Lady J, the Wau Wau Sisters and the Vaudevillage variety show, featuring Applespiel, Zoe Coombs Marr, Randy and Smart Casual. Meanwhile, The Secret Garden is where comedian Michael Workman, erstwhile triple j presenter and novelist Craig Schuftan, and the Caravan Slam troupe will all be sharpening their intimidating wits. And once you’re well and truly ready to submit, the Snuffbox speakeasy will welcome you with open arms, thanks to Sydney alt-performance troupe The Glitter Militia. We dip into the lineup below, but for the full Harvest arts spread, head to harvestfestival.com.au [THE SECRET GARDEN]
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[LE BOUDOIR / BOOTLEY ALLEY]
APPLESPIEL
Described by Wil Anderson as “Nick Cave doing stand up”, and voted Best Newcomer at this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival, Michael Workman just returned from Edinburgh Fringe, where he received rave reviews for his surreal solo show Humans Are Beautiful. For Harvest, he’s debuting a brand-new show, The Ruins Of Your City. “It takes the form of ramblings, story-telling and rudderless journeys,” he told us. “It’s the kind of thing you might expect from a beat poet if he were dragged through the ‘80s and lost his sense of hope for the future. But then he buys a puppy and it’s okay.”
CRAIG SCHUFTAN
The music-lover’s think toy, Schuftan is the man behind the mic at triple j’s Culture Club, and the author of both The Culture Club and Hey! Nietzsche! Leave Them Kids Alone! In other words, he’s the really smart guy at parties who makes you look bad in front of your friends. Having spent the better part of his career focusing on the ‘80s, Craig is shifting gears for Harvest, in an effort to save himself – and you! – from a new wave of ‘90s nostalgia and grungesploitation: “Once again, a casually ironic attitude remains our brightest hope. To this end, I will present a step-by-step guide to the fine art of ironic consumption, entitled ‘Irony Man’. It’s a talk with music, which in the ‘90s they probably would have called ‘Spoken Word’.”
CARAVAN SLAM
Sydney’s premiere purveyors of live poetry readings are bringing their wagon of sassy slammers to Harvest, spitting poetry, stories, lyrics and monologues; just imagine the climax scene from 8 Mile, but without the cheesy beats or the choking, and probably a lot less peroxide and bling.
JUKE BARITONE
If you’ve ever been at The Spiegeltent late on a January night, after the civilised entertainments are over and the dancing is well underway, then you’ve probably found your feet hijacked by the gypsy punk of Juke Baritone and his Swamp Dogs – and you’ll be happy to hear that they’re doing a set in Le Boudoir. But Juke will also be doing a solo set of spoken word – “tall tales of bad love, good times and the evils of the world” – to torment and delight revellers. It’s poetry, Jim, but not as we know it. 30 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
Applespiel have made a dizzying ascent through Sydney’s arts scene over the last 18 months, with shows like Snail Piece (which debuted at Underbelly Arts in 2010, and was remounted for Sydney Opera House’s recent Festival Of Dangerous Ideas) and Awful Literature Is Still Literature I Guess (premiered at Underbelly Arts 2011, and since remounted for This Is Not Art). Most recently, they took their Sexy New Urban Design Team concept (where they make a small-scale model of a suburb based on input – read: wild fantasies – from residents) to Adelaide’s Festival of Unpopular Culture. For Harvest, they’re reprising Awful Literature – a performance that mixes physical challenges and endurance tests with live readings from bad novels. They’re also presenting a brand-new piece called John Mayer – based on the singer-songwriter’s infamous Playboy interview from 2010, in which he discussed his love of pornography and the crossover between relationships and masturbation: “We’re applying Mayer’s theory of ‘finding the right last image to finish on’ to our performance practice,” say the gang. Sounds sexy.
RANDY
Often seen alongside partner-incrime Sammy J, Randy the puppet will be bringing his solo styles to Vaudevillage for a 15-minute slice of stand-up. The all-smoking, alldrinking, all-swearing, felt-faced misanthrope (with the hand of expert puppeteer Heath McIvor firmly in place) has just returned from Edinburgh Fringe, where he performed Randy Is Sober. But with the rock royalty of the world in close proximity, it’s hard to know whether he’ll be on or off the wagon.
ZOE COOMBS MARR
One third of Sydney performance collective post (Who’s The Best), Zoe will be in solo mode for Harvest, presenting bits and bobs from her award-winning one-woman show, And That Was The Summer That Changed My Life. “It’s about being a painfully awkward and strange teenager,” she says. “Being a band dork, playing the flute and writing graffiti about yourself to be noticed. It’s pretty autobiographical.” Expect references to Buffy and Xena; expect nosebleeds, flute solos and dinosaur puns.
SMART CASUAL
Arguably Australia’s smartest, most casual musical comedy duo – Roger David on guitar, and Fletcher Jones on beard – these two bicker like brothers because they are. Abandoning the usual song parody of the musical comedian, their songs explore deeper issues, such as not leaving your baby with Britney Spears, getting toys at Christmas without batteries, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, too much air in your balloon, and autoerotic asphyxiation (this one’s called ‘Mixing Business With Pleasure’). Of course, you probably know them best for their underground (and sometimes overground) hit ‘The Hawk’, which imagines the relationship and resulting lovechild of David Hawking and Jennifer Hawkins… A little bit Flight of The Conchords, a little bit Mighty Boosh, a little bit Smart Casual.
The Glitter Militia are also hosting the boozy hub of the Bootleg Alley arts precinct: The Snuff Box. Expect an immersive and multisensory environment, decked out in neo-circus, quasi-religious and occultist finery; expect spectacles, tableaux, installations and costume capers, featuring Lady ‘Red Rattler’ Penelope and Alex Clapham, Regrette Etcetera, Ana Wojak, the Pork collective, Kellie Jean Drinkwater and Lala Cuddlez – with a kickarse soundtrack courtesy of Anto Christ and Casio Ono, Paul Mac, Chris Lego and heaps more.
OUR LADY J (USA)
On the phone from LA, Our Lady J’s voice is smooth, velvety and surprisingly serene. For a postreligious gospel diva who has collaborated with the likes of Cyndi Lauper, Lady Gaga and Antony Hegarty (of Antony and The Johnsons), and even supported pop superstar Robyn at Ireland’s Electric Picnic Festival last year, her modesty is almost unfounded, and her story entirely intriguing. “I think a lot of people expect me to be campy just because I’m a big blond with big boobs and I’m transgendered as well. But my music is really sincere,” she croons.
The Glitter Militia: Clown Cult [VARIOUS LOCATIONS]
Our Lady J was brought up in Pennsylvania in the Assemblies of God tradition, and trained prodigiously as a classical pianist. Whilst the combination of gospel and classical piano define her unique sound she confesses, “I’m also a pop junkie, so I think Bjork and Tori Amos, Nina Simone, Tom Waits are really my influences.” Having started out in the downtown New York scene with an acoustic show that featured an orchestra and a full gospel choir, Lady J now experiments with technology to recreate her own voice as the gospel choir, and uses beat looping in place of an orchestra. “It’s not very functional to travel with an orchestra and a gospel choir. Not yet at least,” she explains. The result is a visionary combination of post-religious gospel and electro-pop that has been wowing audiences all over the world. For Lady J, songwriting is therapy; it’s about bringing the subconscious to the surface. “For a while when I was transitioning from male to female, [my songs] were a lot more politically motivated, because everything around me was changing regarding my gender. I dealt with a lot of injustices… but ultimately I think my message is just about life. We’re all changing and we’re all transitioning and we’re all figuring out how to live in the world.” - Roslyn Helper
Sweet Treats From Harvest’s Visual Arts Buffet
TORTUGA STUDIOS
The eye-candy contingent at Harvest is lead by Tortuga Studios in St Peters – a multidisciplinary collective of emerging and established artists that sprang up from the ashes of MEKanarky Studios – who pretty much make it their mission to build the fantastical and ridiculous. For Harvest, Tortuga’s Cameron Stanton and Edward Horne are collaborating with Dillon MacEwan of Mekazoid and Salmagundi Studios to create The Southern Cross, a large-scale piece that incorporates two 11m warped steel windmills, with solar panels on the blades that will power lights at night.
EYESCREAMS
Self-trained illustrator, painter and jack-of-all-trades Julie Doye is bringing a playful spin on Orwell’s 1984 to Harvest – but instead of one big eye, she’s making 500 little handpainted eyes on paddle-pop sticks (‘eyescreams’) for festival punters. Each eye provides the viewer with a unique perspective, and Doye’s instructions exhort punters to upload their ‘eye’s experiences of the festival – photographs, video or thoughts – via social media, to create a multifaceted, unruly portrait of the Harvest experience. Applespiel: Awful Literature
GATHERING OF THE MANNA
This psychedelic ‘Augmented Reality’ installation is the brainchild of Luke Hespanhol, a COFA grad who is currently studying interactive and public art at Sydney University. Using AR technology, in which ‘layers’ of text and images are revealed by looking at any given landscape through your mobile phone, he’s created a sort of ‘narrative’ in which 3D fruit (fruit with feelings) falls from the sky, to be ‘harvested’ by you, the punter (i.e. you touch them on your mobile phone screen) – at which point they offer up “juicy drops of pop wisdom,” culled from the Harvest lineup. If this sounds like the kind of thing The Flaming Lips would like, it’s no coincidence – Hespanhol was inspired by the imagery they use in their live performances.
VEKTORPUNK
Another COFA grad with an interest in digital interactive art, Peter Strong is a member of both the Tortuga clan and the Sunny Bins collective. For Harvest, he’s making a light box ‘forest’ of hills hoists, solar-powered by a 12v wheelie bin soundsystem that will be playing forest noises.
Applespiel - photo by Dave Cheng
MICHAEL WORKMAN
This colourful troupe has been bringing the bent to Sydney’s queer and underground club and cabaret scene since 2004, with interventions at Hellfire Club, Red Rattler and the now-defunct Lanfranchi’s. For Harvest, the troupe are reanimating their popular Clown Cult show, featuring a take-no-prisoners lineup of Christa ‘KK Juggy’ Hughes, queen supreme Dallas Dellaforce, Anabell Lines, performance artist Justin Shoulder (presenting his latest Fantastic Creature, ‘V’), rising cabaret star Betty Grumble, and Celia Curtis (of the Circus Bizarre and Six Quick Chicks troupes).
Eyescreams - Jess Cook at Sydney Arts Mobile, Jan 2010 – juliedoye.blogspot.com
Our Lady J Vaudevillage is a mixed bag of performance, stand-up and music comedy, drawing on the vaudeville tradition of unrelated acts on the one bill – and curated by the Sydney altcomedy heroes behind Storytelling, The Campfire Collective.
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE PRESENTS
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I
f you haven’t yet trekked out to the Casula Powerhouse in Sydney’s South-West, now is the time to find your inner warrior, battle the trains and defeat your 10km-CBD-bubble – to check out their latest program of exhibitions, Niu Warrior.
My Darling Patricia [THEATRE] Delving Into A Dark Family History By Simon Binns
I
f you haven’t heard of My Darling Patricia, then you haven’t been paying attention. Founded in 2003, the five-piece company have sewn themselves into the fabric of Australia’s contemporary theatre scene with award-winning productions like Politely Savage and the haunting Night Garden, where film, performance, sounddesign, puppetry and paint combine to create uniquely evocative visions of suburbia's dark underbelly. Their most recent work, Africa (recently at Sydney Theatre Company, as part of their national tour), received rave reviews. This month, the Darlings return to Redfern with Posts in the Paddock, as part of Performance Space’s Exchange season. The term “brave new work” is often bandied about by the media, but with Posts in the Paddock, MDP’s Clare Britton delves fearlessly into the darker parts of her family history – and our nation’s. The story starts with Jimmy Governor, an Aboriginal man who was ostracised for marrying a young white woman, and became a bushranger – achieving infamy in 1900 for the murder of the Mawbey family, for which he was hanged. Jimmy’s story has become iconic in Australian culture, thanks to Thomas Keneally’s controversial Booker-winning novel The Chant Of Jimmie Blacksmith, and Fred Schepisi’s film adaptation. But for Britton, this story has always been a little closer to home: two of those killed were her relatives; she grew up visiting the farm where the murders happened – although the slab hut where the massacre took place is now nothing more than a few hardwood posts. “The first time I wanted to start looking into this [story] was at my grandfather’s funeral,” Britton recalls. “My little boy went over to the headstones of some of our relatives who were murdered by Governor, and he was the same age as the little boy who’d died; it made me think about what had happened in a different way.”
This interest led to chats with long-time collaborator and fellow MDP member Halcyon Macleod, followed by broader discussions with Lily Shearer from Redfern’s Moogahlin Performing Arts organisation – who introduced Clare and Halcyon to Aunty Rhonda DixonGovernor and Nadeena Dixon, musicians and distant relatives of Governor. “They’re pretty amazing women, and pretty amazing artists,” smiles Britton. “We all bundled into a Tarago and went off together [to visit these ‘posts in the paddock’].” At the site of the murders, Lily and Aunty Rhonda performed a smoking ceremony, which as Britton explains is “an Indigenous cleansing ritual.” Britton’s Uncle Tony also took part, before welcoming the entire group into his home. The familial ties deepened when the crew returned to Sydney to work on the show with actor LeRoy Parsons. “We had a mutual friend and he’d been recommended to us," says Britton. "[LeRoy] knew he had a family relationship to Ethel Page, Jimmy’s partner, but he wasn’t sure about the details.” After some research by a family historian, everyone was stunned to find out just how strong the relationship was. “He’s actually Jimmy’s greatgreat-grandson,” Britton explains.
Curated by Leo Tanoi, as a follow-on to his highly successful 2010 exhibition Body Pacifica, Niu Warrior looks at what it means to be a contemporary warrior in the Pacific Island community and in the Australian community. The title can be understood phonetically, but ‘niu’ is also a Samoan word for a young coconut. “It’s a play on words because lots of Pacific people get called coconuts – that they’re dark on the outside, white on the inside,” explains Kiersten Fishburn, Director of the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre – adding that although it is used as a derogatory term, a coconut is also an integral and valuable part of the Pacific Island culture. “We wanted to look at what it means to be a warrior in this day and age,” says Fishburn, “and what type of weapons you use to be a contemporary warrior. We look at artists as warriors, because they’re subverting what it might mean to be considered a Pacific Island person or what people consider to be Pacific Island culture.” Niu Warrior draws on collections from the Penrith Regional Gallery and the Australian Museum, a range of works from the local community, and contemporary art fresh from the Pacific Rim – some of which has been commissioned
The result of all this inter-familial collaboration is a work that uses puppetry, oral history and sculpture to tell Jimmy’s story anew, incorporating a full spectrum of perspectives. This is reconciliation at its most raw – and Britton knows it. “LeRoy and I have been given a lot of trust by our families… I’m pretty scared!”
especially for the exhibition. Fishburn describes curator Leo Tanoi as a man who knows everyone. “It amazes me. He engages with people of the Samoan community through the churches, he gets on the train and invites people to come to the festival, it’s real grass roots development. But the outcome is a very sophisticated contemporary art exhibition.” Exhibition highlights include Mana Pasifika, which depicts NRL stars in the traditional dress of their forefathers, paying homage to the cultural practices of the past, and Urban Warrior, in which Samoan-born, Australianbased fashion photographer Travis Grace documents the practise of Su’a Suluape Petelo, one of Samoa’s finest traditional tattooists. Fishburn says her favourite exhibit is a display of Samoan cricket bats. “When the missionaries went to Samoa they tried to encourage everyone to play cricket. Instead of using the traditional cricket bat, the Samoans used their old, heavily decorated war clubs – so they are these extraordinary art objects in their own right; we have a display of them that runs across the whole back wall of the gallery.” A centrepiece of the Niu Warrior program is their collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art, to bring the next generation of art lovers into the fold. MCA’s quarterly youth program, generationext, has teamed up with Casula Powerhouse’s youth panel to curate a free evening for 12-18-yearolds, involving workshops with artists, a special talk from the curator, a taste-test of traditional food and live local music – as well as the chance to connect with hundreds of like-minded young people. Heather Whitely, the Head of Creative Learning at the MCA, says the success of generationext is their creation of an independent space that is free of adults, free of the teaching environment and free of the parental role that family programs traditionally hold. “We really try to create a unique space for young people to take over the gallery for a night… As older people, we can come up with ideas that are really fun and playful, but the young people can’t own those.” What: generationext at Niu Warrior When: Sunday November 13, 6-8pm Where: Casula Powerhouse / 1 Casula Road, Casula (less than 100m from Casula Station) More: casulapowerhouse.com mca.com.au/generationext
What: Posts in the Paddock Where: Performance Space @ CarriageWorks When: November 9-19 More: performancespace.com.au
Spicks & Speck-tacular [COMEDY] End Of An Era By Alasdair Duncan
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hen I call her for our interview, Myf Warhurst tells me she's on her way out the door to a dance lesson. Nervously, I ask her why; with her long-running gig at music quiz show Spicks and Specks coming to an end, is she planning a transition into variety TV of the Dancing With The Stars ilk? My fears
are quickly put to rest – she’s just practicing her dance moves for the Spicks and Speck-tacular live show, which will tour the country for the last time over the next three months. “The structure of the show will be the same as always,” Myf explains. “Adam will host, and Alan, Myf and Adam
we’ll play a lot of games and get the audience involved – meaning, if you’ve ever said that you or your friend should be on the show, this is your chance to make that happen. The big difference is that, on the TV show, other people would be doing all the entertaining bits, like the music and the dancing, but in the live show, we’ll be doing all of that ourselves! It’s going to be a totally different experience.” And quite a scary one, I would assume? “Believe me,” Warhurst says with a laugh, “I’m shitting myself!” Created by producer Paul Clarke (Wide Open Road and Long Way To The Top), Spicks and Specks has run for seven highly entertaining seasons – with Myf and her cuddly counterpart Alan Brough doing battle on the field of music trivia. “One of the best guests we ever had was Denise Drysdale,” Myf reminisces. “You know that game where you’re given a book and have to sing the words from it to the melody of a song? That’s the only game where the guests get a chance to prepare backstage beforehand, because it’s so tough. Denise Drysdale’s the only person in the history of the show to ever say ‘nope, I don’t need to practice’ – and you know what? She nailed it. It was awesome to watch.” Comedian Frank Woodley’s infamous penis flash is another fond memory. “We had ‘70s pop singer Nell Campbell on the show, who was saying that
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one of her most embarrassing moments ever was when her bikini top dropped down to reveal her boobs when she was on live TV,” Warhurst says. “The ABC couldn’t get the footage, so Woodley, who was also a guest that night, put on a women’s bathing suit to try and recreate it. He kept pulling it down to show his chest, but then he pulled it up, and, woah … he revealed everything. I’ve never laughed so hard!” This has been a bit of a sad year for music TV in Australia: besides Spicks and Specks, Video Hits aired its last ever show a few months ago. “I grew up on music TV and loved it,” says Myf, “but these days, it’s not very important. Young people still love music, but they don’t watch music on TV. The thing is though, with Spicks, we’ve been able to get all kinds of musicians on national TV, and it works. You might think that gourd bands or groups that make music out of hitting car parts wouldn’t work on TV, but we were able to bring them onto the show and be successful. That’s one thing we achieved that I’m very proud of – being able to bring all that weird stuff into people’s lounge rooms.” What: Spicks and Speck-tacular: Finale Where: Hordern Pavilion / Driver Ave, Moore Park When: Tues November 15 – Fri November 18 More: thefinale.com.au
My Darling Patricia/Posts In The Paddock – photo by Helen King, c.1961
[ART] Generationext at Casula Powerhouse By Roslyn Helper
Vic Taurewa Biddle in '3 generations of war' as part of Noble Savage by Greg Semu
Niu Warrior
Colleen Ludlow, a family friend, on the site of the massacre
Out just in time for you to buy them for Christmas.
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Rhys Ifans in Anonymous
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■ Film
ANONYMOUS Released November 3
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zombie walk
If you were trying to crack Shakespeare for a whole new demographic, you could do worse than hire Roland Emmerich, the director who brought us high concept, big budget disaster epics like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 2012; however Anonymous, which posits that William Shakespeare was an illiterate actor who merely fronted for a prodigiously gifted nobleman, doesn’t read like a cynical play for the box office. For one thing, it’s too long, at 130 minutes; for another, it’s surprisingly devoid of ‘Hollywood’ faces, with Aussie expat (and Twilight star) Xavier Samuel being the notable exception to a mostlyBritish and mostly theatre-trained cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, and relative newcomer Jamie Campbell Bower. Of course, this kind of premise doesn’t need sexing up to take the box office; Shakespeare is iconic enough that the idea that he might have been a fraud is titillating for most audiences. Around this premise, Emmerich and screenwriter Joe Orloff (Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole) weave a political and romantic thriller, in which the affairs of state and Machiavellian power plays of Queen Elizabeth’s Court intertwine with the complicated relationship between the Queen (played alternatively by Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson) and frustrated playwright Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (Ifans, in his first major non-comic role) – intercut with slices from Shakespeare’s canon, from the first performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, to an incendiary performance of Richard III, which coincides (in the film, anyway) with the unsuccessful Essex Rebellion.
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34B BURLESQUE: GOLD DIGGERS! Saturday November 12, from 8pm 34B / Exchange Hotel To celebrate six years of purveying their special monthly party-mix of humour, sex appeal and even a little social commentary, 34B Burlesque are throwing a birthday soiree – and the guest list reads like a who’s-who of Sydney’s neoburlesque scene: Kira Hula-la, Jamilla De Ville, Lucille Spielfuchs, Baby Blue Bergman, Jade Twist, Kitty Van Horne, Bella Pistol, Cherry Lush, Dr Strangelove, Harry the Magician, MCs Renny Kodgers & Francois Bublé, and DJs Goldfoot & Jack Shit. The theme is Gold Diggers – and the inspirations range from classic (Lorelei Lee) to controversial (Anna Nicole Smith), political (John Howard), historical (Peggy Hopkins Joyce) and pop-cultural (Fran Fine). No excuses, hussies! We’ll see you there. Tickets $25+bf (GA) - $35+bf (reserved table) at moshtix.com.au 34 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
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If Lord Robert Cecil (played here by Edward Hogg) and playwright Christopher Marlowe (Trystan Gravelle) are reduced to lip-smacking, sibilant villains, then it’s a small blemish on a set of more nuanced performances. Subtlety is not ultimately the order of the day, however – Anonymous is every bit as rife with sex, murder and betrayal as any of Shakespeare’s plays, if not as witty or complex. As for whether any of it is plausible, let alone true? Even cursory research reveals that Emmerich and Orloff have conveniently compressed, streamlined and even altered the real-life events, characters and relationships, to present as plausible a theory of authorship that has been widely discounted in academic circles. There’s no point being surprised – that’s entertainment! Dee Jefferson ■ Theatre
JULIUS CAESAR Until November 26 / Playhouse, SOH Reviewing is a lot easier when the subject material is either really good or really bad. Adjectives flow much easier when in regards to a “fantastic, new work” or a “terrible, tasteless performance.” Much harder are the plays that fail to stick in the memory for either reason. This means that occasionally I find myself convincing my mind that a play
was either much better, or far worse than it actually was. This is one such inoffensive work and as such, I will do my best to hold back on the superlatives. Some glowing praise is due for certain aspects of the production. Anna Cordingley’s design is stunning, with an anachronistic pillar representing the crumbling Roman Empire amidst a sleek, u-shape boardroom-style seating arrangement. This is strongly supported by Kelly Ryall’s sound and Paul Jackon’s lighting, which work together to give the sense of impending catastrophe. There’s also some great work with some large scaffolding that is built on stage as a speaking platform. Unfortunately, the great design and aesthetic choices aren’t always matched by the performances. Kate Mulvaney is the notable exception, as Caius Cassius. She plays the cunning character with vigour, and it is her scenes and monologues that are filled with the most life. The rest of the ensemble is a mishmash of dramatic choices. Alex Menglet channels some sort of Mafioso in the title role, but apart from his Italian accent taking a few trips to Scotland, he seems to be in a completely different play to the rest of the cast. Colin Moody fails to find his best form as Brutus. The whole may not have been as great as the sum of its parts but it was a solid show. Henry Florence ■ Theatre
NO MAN’S LAND Until December 11 / Drama Theatre (SOH) Until now I’ve never really understood Peter Carroll’s appeal. I’ve mostly seen him in Sydney Theatre Company productions, during his tenure with their Actors Company, and maybe it was the roles he was cast in – largely bumbling old men (given I didn’t see some of their most praised productions) – or maybe it was some fault in me, but he’s just never impressed. John Gaden on the other hand I have always been a huge fan of. Maybe it’s because Benedict Andrews seems to feel the same way, and gives him great roles whenever there’s need for an older man. Maybe it’s his charming demeanour, or maybe it’s because he’s been on more posters. I don’t know, but that’s just how it’s always been. Until I saw No Man’s Land. Regarded as one of Harold Pinter’s finest achievements, the play sees the rich old writer Hirst (Gaden) bring home the struggling poetry critic Spooner (Carroll) for a drink… or two… or three… As the night goes on, their relationship morphs and undulates creating that very Pinteresque sense of confusion and potential for danger. No Man's Land could almost have been written for Carroll. I watched in awe as he strutted, leapt and crept around the stage, giving life to every syllable of Pinter’s script, leaving my misgivings lying somewhere in the foyer. For the first half of the show I felt he was leaving Gaden behind, but it quickly became apparent that the play itself had been deliberately holding him back, for soon enough Gaden rose to the occasion, the pair presenting a masterclass in the use of language. Yes, there were moments when
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the drunk acting seemed a little forced, but it is the words that delivered again and again. Naturally the focus of most of the praise for this production will deservedly go to the leading men, but it must be said that Andrew Buchanan as Briggs and Steven Rooke as Foster both held their own throughout.
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A rare thing – a play that delivered on the promises of its press release. Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Henry Florence
baseball’s concept of success.
■ Film
Screenwriters Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List, American Gangster) and Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing, The Social Network) bring all their talents to bear on the backroom politics of Major League baseball, treating it as much as a political environment as a sporting one. Beane is an adept operator: highly sensitive to the character and motivations of those around him, and with an adaptive survivor instinct that allows him to think outside the box. However he’s also given a rich emotional life, with the main throughline of the film being his trajectory from A-grade player and bright young thing, to a jaded GM who has sworn to himself to never make another decision based on money – but who also has to reimagine his path forwards without jeopardising his family obligations and his relationship with his young daughter. Pitt, who produced the film, seems in his element: charismatic and comedic, but ultimately haunted by visions of his past, and the spectre of failure.
MOUNTAIN MOCHA KILIMANJARO & ELECTRIC EMPIRE
You don’t need to be a fan of – or even understand – baseball to appreciate this quietly feelgood, underdog drama; ultimately, Moneyball is a fine portrait of what it entails to be a forerunner of change.
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MONEYBALL Released November 10 Based on Michael Lewis’ bestselling insiders account, and directed by Academy Award-nominee Bennett Miller (Capote), Moneyball stars Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, a former star player turned talent scout, who as the film opens is the frustrated General Manager for the Oakland Athletics; frustrated because, as he tells his staff, ‘There are rich teams and there are poor teams, then there’s 50 feet of crap – and then there’s us.’ With their talented players being poached by wealthy teams from the East, Beane feels as though Oakland is on the ropes – which means it’s time to change their game. He hires an assistant – a green Yale grad (Jonah Hill) with an economics degree, and a statistical approach to analysing players. Within six months, the Oakland A’s are drafting players from amongst the Major League ‘rejects’, paying less for them, and achieving more runs – and more wins. Moneyball eschews the usual sports-film formula of ramping up the emotions and adrenaline to a grand-final showdown, and instead looks at success as a more complicated and convoluted process – in much the same way as Beane redefined
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With Joseph Allen Shea
J
oseph Allen Shea is one of the creative forces shaping Sydney’s arts scene – first through Monster Children gallery and Izrock Pressings, his indie art publishing outfit, and now through Gallery A.S., his roving exhibition project. Next up is Self Est., a four-day art event encompassing exhibitions, demos, talks and parties, and with a lineup comprised of Jeff Canham (USA), Horfé (Fr), Roid (UK), Dmote (AUS) and Ben Barretto (AUS). What's your background and training, as an artist? My art education is a patchy, selective and unconventionally self-taught version of art history; a tailored knowledge from books, Internet, galleries and several influential mentors. I trained my aesthetic eye as a graphic designer and occasional exhibiting artist, most of which I have now given up. I've learnt about exhibiting art through some fortunate opportunities and handson experiences. My first art job was to run Monster Children gallery. What was your first show? The first exhibition I mounted and sold was Andrew Pommier at Monster Children in 2005. Although very shaky timing-wise, all went quite well. What pies have you currently got your fingers in? Right now I'm focused on my new site-specific exhibition project Gallery A.S. (we just opened an Anthony Lister installation, performance and exhibition) as well as Self Est., which I am programming with Marty Routledge of Go Font Ur Self and LO-FI notoriety. What's the idea behind Self Est.? The extended title, which is Self Established, should reveal its core agenda – to present and celebrate artists that have educations and motivations from outside formal art academies. Where this is most interesting is where they merge with contemporary institutional art. This first installation focuses on artists with street or letterform backgrounds – including graffiti, sign-
January 20
FBI NIGHT: TUNE-YARDS & JONTI January 21
THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE & NEW NAVY DMOTE
writing apprenticeships and the motivation of DIY skateboarding. What's your connection with Marty R? Marty and I have been friends for a long time and supporters of each other’s projects. It was only when the doors of Monster Children gallery closed last December that it seemed like there was some room for new partnerships. I reached out to Marty with no set ideas except that we might someday collaborate. We got talking, some ideas came to the surface around our common interests, and Self Est. was soon chiseled into a solid concept for a suite of exhibitions and events. What’s the biggest coup on the lineup, for you? The combination of different artists across each exhibition is what excites me; having Europeans Horfé and Roid in Australia for the first time; bringing Dmote back from NYC, bringing Ben Barretto back from Perth (and recent residency in Dijon) to make a large-scale kinetic sculpture; and bringing out San Franciscan artist Jeff Canham, to have an exhibition and make a public work in Surry Hills. The panel discussion and painting day on the Saturday will be a good way to hear some firsthand experiences of unconventional art training – and to witness skills in action.
January 25
MAD RACKET: PEVEN EVERETT January 26
THE PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP & WATUSSI January 27
THE STEPKIDS & ELECTRIC WIRE HUSTLE S January 28
FUTURE CLASSIC: DJ KOZE & PRINS THOMAS sydneyfestival.org.au/keystone
What: Self Est. When: November 17 - 20 Where: kind of gallery, Gallery A.S., Kippax & Lt Riley St More: selfest.com.au / gallery.as
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BRAG EATS
News Bites Winning chef Daniel Moore
JAMIE DOES OZ
SPICY LIBRARY
Throw away your pre-made curry sauces and spice shakers – Bali spice and curry aficionado Janet De Neefe is bringing her patented (possibly untrue) spice-mixing masterclass to Slurry! Founder of Bali’s renowned Casa Luna Cooking School and author of Bali: The Food Of My Island Home, De Neefe will be demonstrating the art of blending one of her very own favourite curry pastes using fresh spices, straight from the Balinese plantations. The masterclass will be taking
Nathan
place on a portable kitchen bench top on the Ground Floor of the ever-experimental Surry Hills Library on Saturday November 12 at 11am. Find it at 405 Crown St, Surry Hills.
PIE FTW
If you want to know what award-winning pie tastes like, you’d best head to the Arthouse Hotel for their Northern Territory Buffalo Pie. It just beat out 25 other pies in the Coopers Pie ‘n’ Pale competition, as voted by both professional and amateur inner-city pie-munchers. Was it the exotic name? The succulent buffalo morsels? The wheat-infused pastry? Or the ‘secret ingredients’ and ‘forbidden love’? We’ll never
GOT SOMETHING FOR BRAG EATS?
Email us news tips or story ideas at food@thebrag.com
know – but that shouldn’t stop you from trying to figure it out. Also worth your time is the Pyrmont Point Hotel’s Nepalese Billygoat Pie, which won the People’s Choice Award. Wash it down with a pint of Coopers Pale, repeat as necessary.
FINALMENTE: PERU
It’s hard to believe that Morena has only just arrived; think how many wasted Latin American holidays could have been avoided if chef Alejandro Saravia had just got his proverbial together years ago? Well, there’s no need to compromise your palate with Polish and Portuguese – Morena is open for all your tequeños, manchego and huancaína needs. Mix it with a Pisco Sour, and apply as a poultice until healed. 15/425 Bourke St, Surry Hills / morena.com.au
FEAST YOUR EYES: BRAG'S GUEST RECIPES
Catalan Sausage And Vegetable Soup (Escudella a la Catalana) BY JAKE STONE (BLUEJUICE) Tell us about it? Mum and I were inspired to make combined Spanish dinners when I was a kid; it was basically my favourite thing to eat, and you couldn’t get it in restaurants except for one place in Bondi that closed about ten years ago. They served a variant of this soup (which isn’t Spanish but comes from Catalonia, an independent region within Spain) – but this recipe is copied from a really old Spanish and Mexican cookbook that my mum bought in the late ‘70s. INGREDIENTS 7 1/2 cups beef stock, 2 large potatoes (diced), 3 carrots (diced), 1 turnip (diced), 1 onion (chopped), 2 garlic cloves (crushed), 2 celery stalks (chopped), 1 bay leaf, 2 tbsp long-grain rice, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and drained, 1/4 tsp ground saffron, 175g chorizo sausage (thinly sliced).
Not lazy, just logical By Jonno Seidler
METHOD Pour the stock into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the vegetables, seasoning and bay leaf, and bring to the boil again. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove from heat, and discard the bay leaf. 3. Transfer to a warmed tureen
Add the rice, saffron and sausage and simmer for 2. a further 15-20 minutes, or
Illustration by Simon Greiner / Curated with The World Bar; theworldbar.com
1.
Dave
This week, we talk to Frosty and Barney, the fellas behind Suppertime (the boutique Eastern suburbs home-delivery service) about their new alcohol delivery service: Jimmy Brings. Launched in August, it’s a fully-licensed, latenight service for the CBD and the Eastern Suburbs, and sports a classy menu that covers everything from boutique beers (Peroni, Little Creatures) and Pipsqueak cider to prosecco, Dom Pérignon, top-shelf spirits, and a snappy wine list. What’s the story behind this? (Did you guys have a run of bad experiences with bottleo’s?) Alcohol home delivery is like sliced bread, we just can’t understand why no one has done it yet. Everyone is psyched on the idea, and already we’re getting a lot of regular customers without even promoting it. The amount of times that we’ve needed this service alone is enough to fund a business. The main challenge is not getting high off our own supply, so to speak. We notice you only deliver to Sydney CBD and Eastern Suburbs – so who’s lazier, you or the clients? The CBD and Eastern suburbs are a testing ground for the service. If it gets busy enough around here, we'll expand further. We have already registered the name in Victoria and Queensland. This service isn’t about being lazy, it’s about keeping the social buzz alive when you run out of wine. But yes, we encourage laziness too. Your beer selection alone is impressive. What made you decide on those particular brands? We wanted good brands. That is part of the message we want to get out there – that we only stock quality products sold at a reasonable price. (Most of our prices are the same as a local bottle shop; we would rarely be 10% higher than a bottle-o’s prices.) The ‘Dom & Dom’ special is beyond amazing. How many people have taken you up on the offer so far? Amazingly we've only had three people buy the Dom & Dom special. If you want
free stuff
to impress someone, you may as well get some condoms in there too, huh? This is one way to work out if your date likes you... The Office of Liquor and Gaming is notoriously ruthless with non-regulated forms of alcohol delivery. Obviously you guys have a license, but do they still give you any grief? The OLGR were concerned about what we were doing. But after a few meetings they were actually very helpful and supportive, because we operate completely within the legislation. We're serious about responsible service and not serving minors. Otherwise Jimmy Brings wouldn’t last very long... What’s the most popular order? Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes, Absolut Vodka, Tempus Two wine and Borgo Frare Prosecco. We are yet to receive an order purely of condoms, but when we do, we’ll probably need to do a super-quick delivery to avoid an unwanted child in the world. We also do a bunch of below-cost promotions to our followers on Facebook, which are getting popular. What happens when someone calls you at 11.45pm? We close at midnight. As long as people place their order prior to midnight we can deliver it. We can’t drop alcohol to people’s doorsteps and can’t do anything dodgy, like take an order at 11:59pm, and deliver it at 4am. Could you see yourself expanding into other avenues, like DVDs or video games? We already have quite a busy food delivery service called Suppertime, which offers delivery of premium restaurants across the Eastern suburbs. We are hoping to expand into people smuggling in 2012. What: Jimmy Brings alcohol delivery service Hours: order till midnight, delivery within 30-40 minutes Web: jimmybrings.com.au Phone: 93008884
email: freestuff@thebrag.com
NEWTOWN AND MANLY
Nothing cures hunger (or for that matter, a hangover) like a deliciously juicy, mouth-watering burger – and Moo Gourmet Burgers have over 20 tantalising options, from their Classic ‘100% Aussie Angus Pure Beef’ Burger to Duck & Bacon, Greek Lamb, Spicy Grilled Chorizo, Atlantic Salmon, Kangaroo, Wagyu Beef, and three different vegetarian options. Add chips, wash it down with a milkshake; repeat throughout summer, as required.
until the rice is cooked. Salt and pepper to taste.
and serve at once. Thanks to Moo, we have a voucher for $50-worth mootastic food up for grabs; to get your hands on one, name just one item from their menu that’s NOT mentioned above.
Company is out November 11
moogourmetburgers.com.au
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MOO: GOURMET BURGERS IN BONDI, COOGEE,
ning Areas 3 Di
On Premise Licence (Restaurant) Licensee: T. Bartovic
Photos courtesy of Jimmy Brings
Whether he’s advocating healthier food choices or hosting his array of masterclasses, Jamie Oliver is a mover and (flavour)shaker in the culinary universe – so it was only a matter of time till he started meddling in our scene. Exhibit A: Jamie’s Italian, freshly opened in our CBD and featuring Jamie’s modern spin on traditional Italian staples – ranging from a non-controversial prosciutto, pear and pecorino salad, to the Burger Italiano (Wagga Wagga beef with Fontina cheese and salami) – and of course the mandatory homemade pasta and antipasti options. Prices are mid-range (around the $20-mark), and bookings are not accepted – just how your Nonna woulda wanted it. 107 Pitt St, Sydney. jamieoliver.com/au/Italian
JIMMY BRINGS
The Bar European Room The Attic
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BRAG EATS food review
THIRSTY?
WEDGE ESPRESSO [GLEBE]
Glebe’s newest café is a bit of a babe. Situated on Cowper Street (just opposite Glebe Markets), it’s a skinny strip of rendered concrete with modest furniture and a twostorey ceiling. Decorated with potted herbs and a few trendy-but-tasteful antiques, it’s a casual, attractive set-up. Huge north-facing windows run the length of the strip, where patrons are invited to share a bench top – and on a hot afternoon, this is both a blessing and a curse. As owner Toby says, “It’s a bit like working outside.” Toby is also a bit of a babe. Having signed the lease at 22, he’s got to be the youngest café owner in town. While it’s a little optimistic to open in the midst of an already crowded café district, he’s got two great things going for him and both are uncommon in hospitality: he’s humble, and he really, really wants to be there.
Another edge is the student-friendly menu, with nothing over $9. This includes a lemon/ sage sautéed chicken sandwich, and a Vietinspired pulled-pork sandwich, with a spring onion, mint, coriander and plum sauce that offsets the tender, rich pork with a fresh, lightlyspiced sweetness. There’s also a chai-and-date bircher muesli, for just $7. When I comment that it’s below market price, Toby shrugs. “There are places around here that charge $13 for muesli; I mean, come on – it’s basically oats.” The philosophy here is simple: with quality ingredients and the right amount of care, it’s not hard to serve good food. Toby points to his tiny kitchen and then looks down at the menu: “We don’t need a chef.” Still savouring the pulled-pork, I’m inclined to agree. As an ex-barista at Le Monde in Surry Hills, it’s not surprising that Toby’s focus is coffee. My flat white is a customised blend from 5 Senses, and it's perfectly smooth, with a tart crema. If you like your coffee black, they switch to a different bean: “The properties you want in a milk coffee are completely different to what you’re looking for in a black.”
This makes such astounding sense that it’s a wonder more cafés don’t offer the same. A less common-sense concoction (and not yet on the menu) arrives in the form of a short black served in equal parts with a coke slushee from the 7-11 across the road. It’s comparable to a Chinotto – quite strong, and sweet – and it grows on me with every sip. This is the kind of experimentation and fun that you might come to expect from Wedge. There’s talk of buying a slushee machine, and opening late, with a liquor licence. As pie-in-the-sky as this sounds after four weeks of trade, if this lil’ babe gets the attention it deserves, it’s got all the ingredients to become a roaring institution. By Harry Wynter Where: Cnr Cowper St and Glebe Point Rd, Glebe Hours: Closed on Sundays.
LAVENDER MARTINI @ JESTER SEEDS 127 KING ST, NEWTOWN Ingredients 60ml gin, 1 bar spoon of vermouth, 10ml lavender syrup Method: Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, with ice. Stir with elegance and flair. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Glass: Martini Garnish: Lavender flower Best drunk with: Simon & Garfunkel during: a poker game while wearing: your poker face and listening to: ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme’.
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Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK HUSKY Forever So Liberation
I am not the kind of person who defines something as ‘perfect’ recklessly, but I think I may have found the perfect debut record. It seems almost impossible that Forever So could really be Husky's first offering – or that something this good was recorded in a makeshift studio in Northcote, after a few nights spent watching 'how to' sound-proofing videos. Husky's ambitious debut album is a dreamy, unpretentious masterpiece; wonderfully produced, and filled with a cohesive, fluid energy.
Past winners of triple j Unearthed, this indie folk fourpiece have recently returned from the United States where they worked with Noah Georgeson (Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, Os Mutantes). Superbly engineered, Forever So transports you through time and space while invoking vivid imagery and stirring emotions.
PLASTIC PALACE ALICE
CASS MCCOMBS
Like A Light Independent
With a title like Like A Light, it’s easy to be deceived into thinking that Plastic Palace Alice’s latest offering is all light-hearted, clap-your-hands happiness. But while the often toe-tapping synthesised beats are lively and uplifting on the surface, there is a darker undertone. It has been three years since their debut album The Great Depression, and this Melbourne six piece have been busy taking their sound in a new direction. Like A Light offers a more unified, simplified sound which is well crafted and refined. Gone are the indulgent, overly complex orchestral harmonies; the songs have been stripped back instrumentally, without sacrificing the quality of the melodies. There is plenty of guitar and angst, perhaps most aptly demonstrated in ‘No Shame’ – the lead singer has a John Schumann quality, and hearing that Australian accent coming through is fantastic. In ‘En Masse’, Emily Taylor dreamily serenades with her breathy little-girl voice, which compliments the moody jazz piano. But at the same time there are some less successful tracks that feel a bit forced, such as ‘The Devil & The Sea’, which is more reminiscent of a Roxy song. Produced by Ben Tolliday (Operator Please, Wolfmother) and released independently, Like A Light is essentially pop rock with a small dose of turmoil. But there is the occasional clash between the dark lyrics and the upbeat tempo, and all those synthesisers and all that quirkiness seems out of place at times with the grizzly vocals and guitar riffs. On their second album, Plastic Palace Alice have slid successfully into a new skin – even if there is a wrinkle or two still to be smoothed out. Juliette Gillies
Taking its name from a Marx Brothers’ film, Humor Risk has been touted as the sunnier counterpart to the claustrophobic Wit’s End released back in April. Though it’d be a stretch to call it optimistic, first single ‘Robin Egg Blue’ is easily the most upbeat track McCombs has written since ‘Dream Come True Girl’ from fourth album Catacombs, a levity perhaps stemming from a letting go of former melancholy, with McCombs admitting “what’s done is done”. Unlike the uncanny stasis towards which Wit’s End groped its way, most songs here possess some measure of energy and groove, whether it be the grunge of ‘Love Thine Enemy’, the supple warmth of ‘The Living Word’ or the mid-tempo rock of ‘The Same Thing’.
And there is nothing fake or forced about this album; there are no fillers or B sides. Each song is a flawless combination of acoustic guitar, refined percussion and sweetly harmonious vocals. These Melbourne boys have
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
Humor Risk Domino/EMI
Cass McCombs does things his way: if he feels like abstaining from the circus of the music media cycle then he will; if he wants to write a screenplay awash with semi-prophetic rant (think Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain – an excerpt is available on his absurdly clunky website) then he will; if he feels like releasing two collections of unobtrusively original songs written in his comfortingly familiar yet bizarrely idiosyncratic style within the space of six months, then he damn well will.
Lead vocalist Husky Gawenda delivers believable and enchantingly poetic lyrics to accompany sublimely crafted instrumentals: opener ‘Tidal Wave’ draws you in and sweeps you away like a gently rolling sea; ‘Animals & Freaks’ is both heartbreaking and achingly beautiful; ‘History’s Door’ conjures up images of pretty young things clad in Wayfarers hitting the open road in an old Valiant, to play guitar by a bonfire in the evening on a beach.
In a recent interview, co-frontman John Linnell reasoned that “until someone complains, there’s not really a reason to restrict [music] to something you already recognise” – and as a result of this laid-back approach to the writing process, Join Us is an album of contrasts; fast and slow, straight and swung, orchestral and electronic, pop and hard-hitting rock. Almost thirty years into their career, the famous TMBG formula is just as apparent as ever: a contagious hook and a sing-able chorus supported by every possible instrument in existence.
BJÖRK
Twirligig Mistletone/Inertia That Sydney's Jonti Danilewitz is a prodigious musician and an absolute technical wunderkind is not something that is actually up for debate. From his start as the Nintendo-DS modifying sound wizard in Sherlock’s Daughter through to his Danimals project and beyond, Jonti’s nose for the weird and wonderful and his ear for melody has always been a constant, but so has his inclination to lean very left of mainstream. It’s probably that part of his personality which won the attention of Peanut Butter Wolf, who signed him as the first Aussie to retro/ hip hop label Stone’s Throw, home to Mayer Hawthorne and, more patently, a lot of the J Dilla back-catalogue. Wonky beats and bizarre instrumental arrangements are Jonti’s area of expertise, and there are plenty of them on Twirligig. The problem is that almost all of them are crying out for rappers or singers to give them some cohesion, and they’re few and far between here.
Biophilia Universal
Biophilia is easily Björk’s most ambitious project to date. While it’s easy to get distracted by the technological innovations that she has facilitated around it – the educational iPad apps alone may have far-reaching effects on future artistic endeavours – the fact remains: Biophilia is also Björk’s most musically potent record since 2004’s Medulla, and arguably since Homogenic back in 1997. It begins unassumingly enough, the unhurried descending harp line that opens ‘Moon’ soon giving rise to tendrils of melody, with gradual accretions of texture blooming into some of her most luminous and pained vocal harmonies. Bjork seems characteristically preoccupied with the hidden processes of the universe, whether that be crystal formations ‘spread out like my fingers’ (‘Crystalline’), the mystery of ‘Dark Matter’ or the sombre hymnal of ‘Cosmogony’. The clustered dissonance of ‘Hollow’ may stretch some listeners’ patience, but the artist mostly seems to have reached a reasonable balance between pop accessibility and experimental excess.
But McCombs seems incapable of ignoring inner darkness completely. Straddling the album’s mid-point, ‘To Every Man His Chimera’ provides the doom-laden rock on which the other songs pivot, McCombs crying with a strangled yelp “it’s you again”, as though catching sight of his own steel-eyed doppelganger in the mirror. It’s the exception however, ‘Mariah (Sketch)’ closing the record with a tender, lo-fi beauty.
Join Us examines the most puzzling of life’s dilemmas (“Why do we resemble concrete?” – ‘Let Your Hair Hang Down’), and paints lyrical pictures of everyday situations that all can relate to ("My leg is so short that I can’t reach the brake"; "My eyes are always shooting laser beams" – ‘The Lady And The Tiger’). ‘You Probably Get That A Lot’ sounds as though it was extracted directly from the opening sequence of a comic-to-film adaptation starring Michael Cera and some chick sporting a multi-coloured undercut. And while TMBG make it clear that this is an album for adults (“All of the dicks in this dick town can’t keep Johnny down,” Linnell wails within 30 seconds of the album starting), there are occasional nods toward their recent work for kids, including parts of ‘Cloissoné’ being narrated by a raindrop with a rather high-pitched voice.
If most pop music is Rice Bubbles, then Cass McCombs writes musical quinoa.
Join Us has a little more filler than killer, but overall it’s a successful return to the quirky roots of TMBG.
This is the beginning of a very big thing. Now let’s get down to business.
A brilliant return from one of Iceland’s few remaining sustainable exports.
Oliver Downes
Sheridan Morley
Jonno Seidler
Oliver Downes
It’s not that Dilla didn’t do this kind of thing either, but it’s very difficult to engage a listener with lopsided loops and exploding synth warps if there’s not going to be a driving force pulling it through. ‘Cyclic Love’, the only track here that features a lyricist, is miles ahead of the rest because you can actually see Jonti’s potential realised. Elsewhere it’s a mixed bag of his old psych-trips (‘Nightshift In Blue’) and affected instruments (‘Twirligig’), and it inspires but doesn’t stick. As his recent spur-of-the-moment collab with Hogdy Beats ‘Nagoya’ confirms, Jonti has the nous and the ears to shape the future of hip hop. But as much as I love his music, the only way he’s going to do that is by slowing down that twirling scroll wheel in his brain which brings out all these beautiful colours.
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK DICK DIVER
New Start Again Chapter Music I may not know what the name means (F. Scott Fitzgerald! -ed.), but one thing's for sure: Melbourne's Dick Diver make super nice summery rock tunes. From the breezy watercolour of the artwork to the swaggering, midtempo rock of the music, they've crafted an even, warm, and well-produced debut album. The band features members of Total Control and the UV Race, and 38 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
Juliette Gillies
JONTI
Join Us Warner
Following their foray into Grammy award-winning children’s music over the past decade, TMBG’s 15th full-length studio release Join Us is a return to the group’s original alternative roots – and it's sure to plant a smug grin on the faces of the geekrockers growing tired of their kids' stuff.
done so well with their debut it will be interesting to see what they come up with next – because if Forever So isn't perfect, it gets very, very close.
the album was recorded by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, so the production is as expected – natural, live and direct. And it sounds great. Immediately apparent is the band’s musical restraint. Dick Diver plays with the space between the notes – the instruments never step over one another, which leaves room for the music to explore itself, while the laidback vocals spit witticisms over the beats. Pushing and pulling the band as they shift dynamics are Steph Hughes (ex-triple j) on drums and Al Montfort on
bass; the rhythm section, which stands out as being particularly awesome, makes up the core of these songs. The guitars jangle over the top of the tracks with a tropical feel, adding colour and contributing to the dynamics. The result of all this is a record that has a very Australian sound – and I mean that in the best possible way. Think of The Triffids’ ‘Born Sandy Devotional’, but played by a more youthful ECSR. With New Start Again, Dick Diver has made an excellent summer rock album. It will go just as well with a windows-down car ride as it will with a few backyard mojitos, while watching the sun go down. Roland K Smith
Biophilia loosely translates as ‘love of the world’. While Björk’s lyrics are indeed saturated with a sense of wonder at the mind-boggling forces that permit life to continue, she uses much of the geo- or biological imagery as a metaphor for human processes. Take, for instance, the soft optimism of a virus wooing its way into a cell (‘Virus’), or the grinding dirge of ‘Mutual Core’, a relationship refigured as the inevitable drift of tectonic plates, with Björk creating a lyrical synthesis between the forces that compel the human heart and the molten dynamo that drives the planet.
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... WE ARE AUGUSTINES - Rise Ye Sunken Ships ACTIVE CHILD - You Are All I see MY DISCO - Little Joy
THE BEACH BOYS - Smile STEP-PANTHER - S/T
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The Minor Chord
Remedy
The all-ages rant brought to you by Indent.net.au with Janette Chen
More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
ECSR
It’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun. It seems like only, well, fairly recently that Melbourne’s Eddy Current Suppression Ring – the band who coulda been and maybe are our new generation's Saints – first grabbed us by the throat. So it’s slightly jarring to find that they’ve just released a slab called So Many Things, a collection of 22 rare single recordings and non-album tracks from as far back as 2004 and right up to the present.
GOOD AS TOM
Wouldn’t the world be a better place if every ‘singer-songwriter’ (with all the lame siton-the-bed-alone connotations that term entails) ended up like Tom Waits? Sorta like the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to a yowling butterfly. His new album, the much (and rightly) raved about Bad As Me, seems to us to be a more balanced affair between his latter day barnyard/backyard/railway-yard Beefheart racket and his blues booze thing – which is just fine with us.
LULU: CONT.
J
inja Safari – one of the most exciting indie bands to break out of the Sydney scene this year – will be releasing Locked By Land this month, a collection of tracks from the band’s two EPs, as well as new music and remixes. The band will be leading a tour around the country, with fellow Sydneysiders megastick fanfare, Pluto Jonze (whose latest single, ‘Plastic Bag In A Hurricane’, was so good it called for a run of East coast shows in its own right) and Elizabeth Rose. This impressive gathering of Sydney’s freshest and sweetest pop provocateurs takes place at the Metro Theatre on Friday November 11. On the same night, Melbourne’s Laura Jean will be playing at the Petersham Bowling Club, with material from her third album. Released in September, A Fool Who’ll is a departure from Jean’s previously orchestral folk songs, with the singer-songwriter picking up an electric guitar and dialling up the rock sound. It’s a been a long time waiting for fans of Jean’s 2006 debut, Our Swan Song, which achieved high rotation on triple j. Sydney metal band Northlane have been on a steady rise since releasing their debut EP, Hollow Existence, in early 2010. This month, to celebrate their forthcoming album, Discoveries, they’re heading out to play towns and cities on the East Coast, with In Hearts Wake in tow. The fivepiece will be shredding it up at YOYO’s Youth Centre in Frenchs Forest on Friday November 11. An all-ages home show on the album release date – sounds like a great way to kick off a tour. It'll be a good time to catch In Hearts Wake too, before they head to the States early next year to record their debut full-length record. Annandale’s Black Wire Records has always welcomed all-ages audiences, and this Friday night they’re hosting a rare performance by Sydney punk band Nunchukka Superfly. Formed partly from the members of the internationally successful ‘80s punk band The HardOns, Nunchukka Superfly haven’t had a release since 2008’s If Ya Not Careful With Electricity It Will Kill Ya, but they’re not letting that hold them back from an East Coast tour. They’ll be joined by Melbourne’s DEAD and Japan’s Cyberne (who describe their sound as "Japanese aggressive psycho-rhythm"), and on local support duties, they’re bringing fast-core outfit Video Nasty and the crazy jiving grind-core of Battle Pope.
2011 count: besides releasing an album with radio hits like ‘Throw It Away’ (which came together with a little help from the ever-lovely singer-songwriter Josh Pyke), he’s also been on tour with fellow MC Pez, and Maya Jupiter. Meanwhile, the ‘Rapper Tag’ game which 360 kicked off last year via YouTube has been making its way through names big and small in the Aussie hip hop scene – to see what we're talking about, hit up the website: rappertag.com. 360 will be playing two shows at the Annandale on Saturday November 12, and one is an all-ages afternoon gig. The Museum of Contemporary Art’s regular youth arts/music series, generationext, is going off-site this week! Programmed by and for people between 12-18 years old, generationext is a chance to mix with likeminded creative types, check out art, and meet the artists; their upcoming event is being held in conjunction with Casula Powerhouse’s Niu Warrior exhibition, a program celebrating local Pacific Islander arts, music and culture (to read more about this, check out BRAG’s arts section this week!). Over a couple of hours this Sunday November 13 (6-8pm), you can hit up the exhibition, take part in workshops with the artists, kick back to music from local hip hop and vocal groups, and nibble yummy traditional noms. It’s all FREE, and the Powerhouse is less than 100m from the Casula train station. To RSVP, email generationext@mca.com.au or call them on 9245 2402. Don’t forget there’s more of the Minor Chord to catch: tune into FBi 94.5 on Wednesday at 5pm.
ALL-AGES GIG PICKS FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 Jinja Safari, megastick fanfare, Pluto Jonze, Elizabeth Rose Metro Theatre Laura Jean Petersham Bowling Club Northlane, In Hearts Awake YOYO’s Youth Centre, Frenchs Forest
JOHN FAHEY
We’ve never really known what to make of the late John Fahey: fierce traditionalist, rediscoverer of lost blues artists, walking and strangely talking archivist of the
LA GRANGE
Someone once sagely observed that country music is just punk with its brains fried from the heat – and one curious act at ZZ Top’s recent La Grange Festival in Texas would appear to be Exhibit A. The event featured some usual southern suspects, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd in addition to the Top themselves – but a solo spot by Corey Taylor (of Slipknot fame) was the one out of the box. He did an acoustic set, something that he’s been doing while on the promo trail for his book, Seven Deadly Sins. And apparently he wasn’t bad either. Who’d have thunk it?
ASTRAL BLACK METAL
We’re not what you could call black metal fans, but Wolves In The Throne Room aren’t strictly black metal and they are pretty interesting, and always pushing forward to somewhere uncharted. “Astral black metal”, the term once used to describe their music, is pretty much on the money. Their newie, Celestial Lineage, is another sprawling effort of grand art and great (often ambient) power, featuring choirs, synthesisers and singers Jessika Kenney (who survived being in the same room as Sunn O)))) and Aaron Turner (formerly of Isis). At times its density is at odds with WITTR’s spartan rural lifestyle, but somehow also very much a part of it. Not for everyone – but it was never meant to be.
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Ted Nugent’s Double Live Gonzo. We dusted it off for the first time in a while, only to rediscover just how tall it still stands, despite the later distraction of that live London set from the same era (which doesn’t have the bug eyed testosterone element that’s on show in full high beam here). The man talks himself and his show up just as rabidly as Little Richard, and gets enough feedback from his effects-free guitar to join Earth. The politics of the Nuge don’t matter – here at Remedy we play the music, not the man. Also spinning is Mogwai’s new four-track EP Earth Division, which kinda picks up where hardcore left off – and that’s way better than the point most folks ever even dream about starting at.
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS The Harvest festival is on this week, with the mighty Mogwai, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, TV On The Radio, The Family Stone (but no Sly), The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Portishead, The National, Holy Fuck, Death In Vegas, The Walkmen and plenty more. It’s on this Sunday November 13 at Parramatta Park. harvestfestival.com.au Majestic Texans, Explosions In The Sky
(with openers Charge Group), are at the Metro Theatre on December 11. EITS’s Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is out now through Spunk. On December 9 and 10, Rose Tattoo are doing two big nights at the Annandale, with T.H.U.G. and Sativa Sun opening on the Friday night, and Black Label and The Corps raising the curtain on the Saturday.
The Flaming Lips
Nunchukka Superfly, DEAD, Cyberne, Video Nasty, Battle Pope Black Wire Records, Annandale
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 360 Annandale Hotel
You’ll barely have time to recover before Saturday night, when Black Wire is invaded by Perth hardcore act Blkout. Also on the offensive will be Ill Brigade, Civil War and Never Right.
Blkout, Ill Brigade, Civil War, Never Right Black Wire Records, Annandale
Melbourne hip hop artist 360 is currently nearing the finishing line of his national tour, in support of his latest album, Falling & Flying. The man has been making
generationext: Niu Warrior Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
Send all-ages listings & info to theminorchordradio@gmail.com 40 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
Oh dear; the online verdict of the LuLu project with Metallica and Lou Reed is in – and it’s overwhelmingly scathing. Metallica fans are outraged (which was to be expected), while Reed devotees have a more Christian view (which again is no surprise). Us? We think it’s pretty strong, and at times just as a powerful as expected – even though we’ve never been big fans of Mr Reed’s lyrics. But what baffles us is that, knowing this was going to go down like a cup of cold spew with the faithful, what were ‘Tallica thinking, making the pain stretch out for more than an hour and a half? That alone might well see the band relegated to the lows of the Napster years from a fan standpoint. As for Lou, he reckons he’s received death threats. Not that he’ll care. He’ll just hate ‘em all right back. This is the guy who did Metal Machine Music, remember?
underbelly of American music, and master guitarist. We’ve always wanted him to endlessly sound like some long lost Caucasian missing link to Son House or Blind Willie Johnson, with a myth and legend to match both and then some, much like his Blind Joe Death character, which first emerged in 1959. But since then, his thing has all too often seemed more abstract than rooted in a deserted crossroads at midnight, accented with the use of all manner of instruments. But a new five-disc box set of material by Fahey, called Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You: The Fonotone Years (1958–1965), brings him back to square one. Nerdily detailed in its ultra presentation, this is probably the place to start and finish on at least one leg of the man’s career.
Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock
Jinja Safari photo by Ken Leanfore
Jinja Safari
RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW
ND MUSIC GREAT FOOD A Y
NE LIZOTTE’S SYD 3 9933 84 99 84 98 99 2 99 02 Lizotte’s presents
NOV
09 Live and Local
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NOV
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LAUNCH
NOV
12 Abby Dobson
NO ashington’s 13 Billy W V
Drifters
and Local tte’s presents Live zo Li 16 A NOV Hammond Jnr – US 17 John Ross NOV The Legendary on ils W ’ ss 18 ‘The Bo ut with Monica NOV Manly Big Night O or 19 Trapaga & John M rison k Evans – NOV Dave Tice & Mar 20 Brothers in Arms NOV
Friday 11th November, 8.30pm (for a 9pm sharp start) The Basement 29 Reiby Place, Sydney
AST O C L A R T N E C ’S LIZOTTE 02 4368 2017
Tickets $35 presale or $42 at the door Available at www.thebasement.com.au
ve and Local
s presents Li 09 Lizotte’ NOV
NOV k Rock n Food 10 Thin
Trivia Night
NOV n McFadden 11 Bria
Launch
NOV h Humphreys EP 12 Sara ans -
Ev Dave Tice & Mark s m Ar 13 Brothers In NOV The Legendary 16 Ross ‘The Boss’ Wilson NOV
NOV
NOV
Diesel 17 18 19 NOV
NOV Hammond Jnr 20 John
– USA
TLE S A C W E N ’S E T T LIZO s
@ Lizotte’ 08 Out There NOV
02 4956 2066
V
NO ris 09 Julia Mor
NOV McFadden 10 Brian
ivia Night
ink Rock n Food Tr 11 Th NOV
ocolate Cake My Friend The Ch 12 NOV Tuck & Patti - USA NOV
13
ing Gig
is NOV The Big Fig Fundra 14 NOV
15 NOV
16
Unis Got Talent r – USA John Hammond Jn
Evans – Dave Tice & Mark 17 Brothers In Arms NOV son (Grinspoon) 18 Phil Jamie y Ross ‘The Boss’ NOV The Legendar 19 Wilson NOV i Thistlethwayte 23 Ra (Thirsty Merc) NOV
Calling ts all artisand e iv L r fo Locals! Contact: es. ott n e ev ts@liz com.au
Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why
Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber
Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton
WWW. LIZOT TES.COM.AU BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 41
snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .
party profile
the bon scotts
It’s called: The Bon Scotts' – We Will All Die At The Hands Of C.G.I album launch It sounds like: ‘Angry folk’ would seem to sum it up pretty well, however we have been described as a pre-emptive ‘Irish wake’ for kamikaze bingedrinkers. Who’s playing? The Bon Scotts (Melbourne), Claire, Thieves. Sell it to us: We made an album of 11 lonely songs about all you are to us. Now we’re coming to play it to you before our impending doom at the hands of blue aliens or robotic aliens – or whatever it is that computers are drawing these days... The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Either the wild energy on stage or splash zone in the crowd. You’ll re-think your definition of folk rock. Those catchy hooks will be hard to forget too. Crowd specs: Everyone, everyone, everyone! Wallet damage: $10 Where: The Sandringham / 387 King St, Newtown
the drones
PICS :: AM
When: Thursday November 17
28:10:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IDE TES WHI POPOV :: SAM MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: GEORGE
42 :: BRAG :: 437: 07:11:11
fbi social
PICS :: AM
mum
28:10:11 :: The Standard :: Lvl 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9262 4500
PICS :: TP
27:10:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711
the standard
PICS :: GP
pluto jonze
PICS :: AM
29:10:11 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 92642666
28:10:11 :: Kings Cross Hotel :: 248 William St Darlinghurst 9331 9900
snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .
redcoats
It sounds like: Once they called it the devil's music, another time it was the music of the free loving world – we like to call it rock 'n' roll. It sounds like real people playing real music. Who’s playing? Redcoats, Strangers and Dirty Little Rebels Sell it to us: Going once, going twice – and sold to the peaceful people who understand that they will never really know anything unless they see it for themselves. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: That time you convinced your loved ones that sometimes leaving the telitube and going out to see live music is much more rewarding. Crowd specs: Two legs, a heartbeat and preferably a face holding all your pretty features together. Wallet damage: $12 (+ bf) through moshtix / $15 on the door Where: Spectrum / 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst. When: Saturday November 12
papa vs pretty
PICS :: GP
PICS :: KC
party profile
It’s called: Redcoats' EP Launch
pseudo echo
PICS :: AM
28:10:11 :: Manning Bar :: @ Sydney Uni City Rd Chippendale 95636107
28:10:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711
:: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IDE TES WHI SAM :: OV POP MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: GEORGE
the jitterbug club
PICS :: GP
trial kennedy
PICS :: GP
27:10:11 :: Upstairs Beresford :: 354 Bourke St Surry Hills 9357 1111
27:10:11 :: The Vanguard :: 42 King St Newtown 95577992 BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 43
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week
MONDAY NOVEMBER 7 ROCK & POP
Blue Mondays: Frank Sultana Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm K-Ci & JoJo (USA) Enmore Theatre 8pm
JAZZ
20th Century Dog 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Tim Richardson, Senani, the Pug, Russell Neal Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8 ROCK & POP Portishead
Parramatta Park
Harvest Festival: Portishead (UK), The National (USA), The Flaming Lips (USA), Bright Eyes (USA), TV on the Radio (USA), Mogwai (Scotland), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (USA), The Family Stone, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Holy F*ck (Canada), Mercury Rev (USA), Seekae, Kevin Devine (USA), Death in Vegas (UK), The Walkmen (USA), Dappled Cities, PVT, This Town Needs Guns, The Holidays, Phosphorescent, Kormac’s Big Band $150 (+ bf) 11am 44 :: BRAG :: 437 : 07:11:11
Adam Pringle and Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm The Basement Introduces: Mike McCarthy, Burn Antares feat. Grace Farriss The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm Mojo Juju Gardel’s Bar @ Portento, Surry Hills free 8pm Songs on Stage Performers Competition Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm The Songwriter Sessions Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm
JAZZ
Jazzgroove: MK3, The Doig Collective 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Renate Nguyen, Gene Fehlberg, Laura Beasant, Dan Usher, Richard Murphy, Samantha Johnson, The Sphinxes, Russell Neal Kogarah Hotel free 7pm
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9 ROCK & POP
Bang Shang a Lang Heathcote Hotel free 8pm Cold Chisel, You Am I Allphones Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $99.90 8pm Crooked Saint Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 8pm The Grand Union Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Hard-Ons, Cyberne (Japan), Zeahorse Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12 8pm HUW Longman, Tikki Tembo The Argyle, The Rocks free 6pm In Pieces The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Jagermeister Presents: Triggermoose, The Vandabelles, The Bubblewrap Sensation, The Cupcake Conspiracy The Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm K.D. Lang (Canada) State Theatre, Sydney $99– $150 7.30pm Kids At Risk, Former Love, Snowale Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm Live & Direct From 1967: Joe Boyd & Robyn
Hitchcock (UK) The Basement, Circular Quay $43–$86.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm Lucy and the B Sides, Mushu, Ben Hardie The Vanguard, Newtown $15 6.30pm Old Man Crow Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Singer Songwriter Series The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney free 8pm Sooners, A Casual End Mile, Valar, Rohin Jones FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm
JAZZ
Dave Ades Group 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Folk Uke (USA) Brass Monkey, Cronulla $25.50 7pm Live and Local Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $15 6pm Russll Neal Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm Steve McNaughton, Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7pm TAOS, Gavin Fitzgerald, Jamie Forsberg, Paul McGowan, Ken Mclean, Nick Punal Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10 ROCK & POP
Alphamamma 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8pm Andy Mammers Duo The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm The Black Sorrows The Vault, Windsor $33 (presale)–$40 9pm Cambo Observer Hotel, The Rocks 9.30pm Chris Stretton Toxteth Hotel, Glebe free 8pm Christine Mimmocchi Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Cold Chisel, You Am I Allphones Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $99.90 6.30pm sold out The Dalton Gang’s Last Raid, Vicious Dickens, Six White Horses, Stuart Armour Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Danielle Spencer, Steve Balbi The Vanguard, Newtown $40 (+ bf) 6.30pm The Drop Bears Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Hot Damn!: Northlane, In Hearts Awake, The Ocean The Sky, Mark My Words Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 (guestlist)–$15 8pm Insert Coin(s) – Level 2: Glass Towers Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $10 6pm Jamie Lindsay Trio Maloneys Hotel, Sydney Johnathan Devoy Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm John Vella Toxteth Hotel, Glebe free 8pm The Jungle Giants, Dead Beat Band The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Katrina Burgoyne Dee Why Hotel 8pm K.D. Lang (Canada) State Theatre, Sydney $99 –$150 7.30pm sold out
Kirk Burgess Sackville Hotel, Balmain free 7pm Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, Charlie Horse Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm La Vida, DJ Georgia The Argyle, The Rocks free 6pm The Living Chair Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 9.30pm Made In Japan, Money For Rope, Jenny Broke The Window, Andy C Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 8pm Michael McGlynn Greengate Hotel, Killara 8pm Mickey Pye Novotel – Brewery Bar, Olympic Park 4.30pm Mick Raven, Massimo Presti Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Neill Bourke O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross 9pm Open Mic: Andy Mammers Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Pat Drummond Pioneer Tavern, Penrith 12pm Skyscraper Stacks Taverna & Bar, Darling Harbour free 6pm Soundschool Rwanda: Big Phallica, Steve Paoli, Groove Terminator Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills $30 (+ bf) 6.30pm Speakeasy The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham 8pm Steve Tonge Harbord Beach Hotel 8pm Thee Convicts, The Bed Wettin Bad Boys The Annandale Hotel $33 (+ bf) 8pm Zoltan Northies-Cronulla Hotel, Sports Bar 9.15pm
JAZZ
Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Tuck & Patti (USA), Emma Hamilton The Basement, Circular Quay $54 (+ bf)–$102.80 (dinner & show) 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Russell Neal Red Lion Hotel, Rozelle free 7.30pm Tom Trelawny The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm
COUNTRY
Sara Tindley, Azo Bell Empire Hotel, Annandale $15 8pm
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 ROCK & POP
11.11.11 Earth Concert: Old Man River, Kerriann Cox, Miriam Lieberman, Carmella Baynie, Kevin James Petersham Town Hall $20-$30 6.15pm Aleks & the Ramps, Charge Group, Valar, N. Martin The Gate, Artarmon $15 7.30pm Andy Mammers Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill 8pm The Casualties, Topnovil, The Rumjacks Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $33 (+ bf)–$39 (+ bf) 8pm Chartbusters Rooty Hill RSL Club free 8pm Chasing Karma Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Christa Hughes & The Honky Tonk Shonks, Dick Hughes
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com The Basement, Circular Quay $42-$83.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm Damien Leith Western Suburbs Leagues Club Campbelltown, Leumeah $40 8pm Dave Graney & the Lurid Yellow Mist Camelot, Marrickville 8pm Dave White Duo Castle Hill Tavern 8.30pm Deep Sea Arcade, Palms, Woe & Flutter Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm Drive: Peter Northcote Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $15 3.30pm all ages Dropbears, Young Docteurs, Ruby Wilde Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $20-$25 8pm Enormous Horns Ettamogah Hotel, Rouse Hill 9pm Faker, The Paper Scissors The Standard, Darlinghurst $20 (+ bf) 8pm Fallon Brothers, Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks 8.30pm Fantine, M Jack Bee, Phebe Starr, DJ Martin Novosel Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills $10 (+ bf) 6pm Fast Track Zodiac Richmond Inn free 8pm Finn Chisholm Tavern free 9pm Fiona Leigh Jones Duo Harbord Beach Hotel 8pm Frankie Alibi & The Fugitives, Captain Reckless & The Lost Souls Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Freshmix Trio Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8.30pm Geoff Rana Macquarie Hotel, Liverpool 4.30pm
Gold Fields, Millions, Conics Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm The Great Escape Kingswood Sports Club free 7pm Greg Byrne Duo Mean Fiddler Hotel, Rouse Hill 9pm Harbour Masters Kings Cross Hotel free 10.30pm Heath Burdell Northies-Cronulla Hotel – Sports Bar 9pm Ignition, Mandy Jarry Duo Crows Nest Hotel 6.30pm Jason Norris Grand Hotel, Rockdale 5.30pm Jinja Safari, Megastick Fanfare, Pluto Jonze, Elizabeth Rose Metro Theatre, Sydney $20 (+ bf)–$42.95 (incl CD) 8pm Kira Puru & The Bruise Valla Tavern, Valla Beach 8pm Laura Jean, Rescue Ships Petersham Bowling Club $14 (+ bf) 8pm Little Bastard, Andy Golledge, Michele Madden, Hazzy Bee, The Diamond Quills The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm LJ Chatswood RSL free 5pm Mad Season Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm Mark Travers, David Agius Castle Hills RSL 6.30pm Marquez, Ninth Pillar, Kyle Horsley Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Meem Gotham, Darlinghurst free 8pm
Mental As Anything The Vault, Windsor 8pm Mickey Pye Albion Hotel, Parramatta 6pm The Moody Blues (UK) State Theatre, Sydney $99.90–$134.90 8pm MUM – Official Harvest Festival Pre-Party: The Jungle Giants, The Demon Parade, Dead Beat Band, Giraffe Season, The Future Preshistoric, Black Island, Elephant, Maids, MUM DJs, Felix Lloyd The World Bar, Kings Cross $10 8pm My Friend The Chocolate Cake Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $42 6pm Northlane, In Hearts Awake Yo Yo’s Café, Frenchs Forest 8pm all ages Orignal Sin- INXS Tribute, Swingshift Cold Chisel Show Penshurst RSL Club 8pm Rat Vs Possum, FLRL, Fishing, Richard In Your Mind DJs, Simo Smoo Simo Soo, Nick Rave & the Bad Speed Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8.30pm The Rebel Rousers St Marys Band Club free 9pm Renea Kearney Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction 7.30pm Rockets, Earlybirds, Young Pretties Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Sam and Jamie Trio Kirribilli Hotel 8pm Serpent & The Swan AW12 Launch Party: Jack Ladder, Paurenz Pike (PVT), Kirin J Callinan, Daisy M Tully Helen Rose Schauersberger Laboratorium, Surry Hills 6pm
Deep Sea Arcade
Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys Well Connected Café, Glebe free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Steve Tonge Novotel – Brewery Bar, Olympic Park 5pm Suvi Vineyard Hotel free 9pm The JD Set: Good Charlotte (USA) playing Weezer - The Blue Album, Amy Meredith Coogee Bay Hotel 8pm Thunderstruck – AC/DC Show Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills 10.30pm Tikki Tembo, Kristy Lee, John Devecchis The Argyle, The Rocks free 6pm Tone Rangers Kingswood Sports Club free 7pm Toucan Padstow RSL Club free 7.30pm Urban Guerillas, Steph Miller’s Winter Station, Handsome Young Strangers Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake: Robyn Hitchcock, Vashti Bunyan (UK), Green Gartside, Lisa Hannigan, Scott Matthews,
Krystle Warren Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $59–$89 8pm We Are The Champions Queen Tribute Pioneer Tavern, Penrith free 9pm Wildcatz The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm You’ve Got A Friend: Kevin Bennet and The Flood Band, Felicity Urqhuart, Karl Broadie, Dave Hannagan, Stuie and Camille, Pat O’Donnell The Manly Fig $25 8pm YOUth Have Talent North Sydney Community Centre free 10am
JAZZ
Jackson Harrison The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 Kooli 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8pm The Velvet Set The Factory Theatre, Enmore $26 7.30pm
Abby Dobson Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Dan Crestani, Emad Younan, Simon Marrable, Andrew Denniston Mars Hill Café, Parramatta $10 8pm Matt Toms The Belvedere Hotel free 8pm Mic Conway with Robbie Long, Liz Frenchman The Vanguard, Newtown $25 8pm Passenger (UK), Stu Larsen Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $17 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Shameless Seamus & The Tullamore Dews The Gaelic Club, Surry Hills $20 8pm Slightly Off, Iniciate, Carolyn Woodorth Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy free 7pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 ROCK & POP
360, Grey Ghost Annandale Hotel 1pm all ages Altitude Aquarium, Coogee free 11pm The Baddies, Eager 13, The Road Runners Sly Fox Hotel, Enmore 8pm British India, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Betty Airs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $25 (+ bf) 8pm
wed
09 Nov
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
10 Nov
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
fri
11 Nov (5:00PM - 8:00PM)
(9:30PM - 1:30AM))
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sat
12 Nov
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
SATURDAY NIGHT
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
sun
13 Nov
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 45
g g guide g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
Brothers Grim Brothers Grim Coogee Diggers 8pm Celibate Rifles, Seminal Rats, Money For Rope Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $20-$25 8pm Children of Bodom (Finland), Voyager The Big Top at Luna Park, Milsons Point $74.10 8pm Chinese Burns Unit, End’O’Thrash, Small Town Incident, Cruelties Fun The Valve, Tempe 6pm Cougar Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill free 9pm Cover Notes Duo Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Dick Diver, The Harpoons, Songs Duo Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 8pm Finn Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Finn Pendle Inn, Pendle Hill free 8.30pm Funkstar The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Gods Of Rapture, Minus House, Monster Gale The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm
Good Time Music Guildford Leagues Club free 8pm The Grates, Last Dinosaurs, The Medics Metro Theatre, Sydney $30.70 (conc)–$33.70 (+ bf) 8pm Husky, Tin Sparrow The Standard, Darlinghurst 8pm Jenna Murphy The Supper Club, Darlinghurst 8pm KAATO, Uncorrected, Limo Wreck, Summer Mixtape Valve Bar, Tempe 1pm Kill City Creeps, The Jungle Giants, Radio INK, DJ Kristy Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free $10 (+ bf) 6pm Lachlan Bryan The Vault, Windsor free 8pm LJ Picton Hotel free 8pm Miss Ink 2011 Grand Final: Sunset Riot, Fastrack The Factory Theatre, Enmore $35 (+ bf) 7pm Mr Percival, James Valentine Quartet Notes Live, Enmore 8pm No Art, Dead China Doll, Pineapple Head FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm
Over The Edge Trio Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8.30pm Peabody, Betty Airs, Go/ No-Go, New Brutalists Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Phil Hudson, Anthony Casa, Elly K The Argyle, The Rocks free 6pm Redcoats, Strangers, Dirty Little Rebels Spectrum, Darlinghurst 8pm Remixes Kingswood Sports Club free 9pm The Road Runners The Sly Fox, Enmore free 8pm Road Worthy Riverwood Inn free 8pm Sharron Bowman Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm Southern Preachers Caringbah Bizzo’s 8pm Ted Nash Pittwater RSL free 7.30pm This Is Artcore: Feicks Device, Fabels Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Tuck & Patti, Emma Hamilton Camelot, Marrickville 8pm Velvet Hotel Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 8pm Wagons, Joe Pug The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf) 6.30pm
JAZZ
Abuka 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8pm The Coolerators The Sound Lounge, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm
Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Abby Dobson Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $34 6pm Just ADD Music, Linda Read, Carolyn Woodorth Terrey Hills Tavern free 7.30pm Michael Peter The Belvedere Hotel free 9pm West African Festival: Pape Mbaye & Chosani Afrique, Afro Moses, Miriam Lieberman, Sibo Bangoura, Keyim Ba Marrickville Town Hall $20 (member)–$25 1pm
COUNTRY
Cash: Daniel Thompson The Basement, Circular Quay $36-$78.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm Sara Tindley Mars Hill Cafe, Parramatta 8pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13 ROCK & POP
Ace Brighton RSL Club, Brighton-Le-Sands free 7pm Benn Gunn Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 6pm Billy Washingtons Drifters Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48–$90 (dinner & show) 8pm Blind Image (India), Dawn Heist, Havoc, Katabasis,
Datura Curse, Engage the Fall, Kunvuk Valve Bar, Tempe 4pm Ceara Fox Waverley Bowling Club free 3pm Finn Bald Rock Hotel, Rozelle 6pm The Generators Riverstone Sports Hotel free 2pm Harvest Festival: Portishead (UK), The National (USA), The Flaming Lips (USA), Bright Eyes (USA), TV on the Radio (USA), Mogwai (Scotland), Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (USA), The Family Stone, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Holy F*ck (Canada), Mercury Rev (USA), Seekae, Kevin Devine (USA), Death in Vegas (UK), The Walkmen (USA), Dappled Cities, PVT, This Town Needs Guns, The Holidays, Phosphorescent, Kormac’s Big Band Parramatta Park $135 (early bird)–$150 (+ bf) 11am Husky Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Inner Western: Suzy Connolly, Bryan Estepa, Queen Ravine, James Thomson, The Dead Setters Petersham Bowling Club $15 5pm Lucy DeSoto and The Handsome Devils Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 4pm Newtown Festival: Betty Airs, Ghostwood, Aleks and the Ramps Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Newtown $2 (donation) 10am The Prehistorics, The Volts, Chopper & The Honey Boy Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 7pm
Random Soul The Argyle, The Rocks free 6pm Terry Serio & The Ministry of Sound, Nic Dalton & The Gloomchasers Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7pm Wagons, Joe Pug The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf) 6pm
JAZZ
Jimmy Shaw & Shaw’n’Uff Big Band, Peter Power, Paige Delancey Randwick Labour Club $8 (conc)–$10 3pm The Peter Head Trio Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm The Torchsong Country Soul Band, Lapis Sky, Steph Miller, Peter Carantinos Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $10 4pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Andrew Denniston Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 4pm Blues Sunday Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 5pm Men With Day Jobs, Carolyn Woodorth Avalon Beach RSL Club free 6.30pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar free 2pm
COUNTRY
Balmain Goes Bush Country in the Heart of the City: Doug McIntyre Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 3pm
L2 Kings Cross Hotel www.fbisocial.com
Wednesday November 9 SOONERS A CASUAL END MILE VALAR ROHIN JONES 8pm $10 door
Thursday November 10 A STORY NEVER TOLD PRESENTS
ROPE’S END
THE FAULTS + HAILER + I KNOW LEOPARD + THE GREASE ARRESTOR 8pm $10 door 46 :: BRAG :: 437 : 07:11:11
Saturday November 12 Friday November 11
RAT VS POSSUM
NO ART (SINGLE LAUNCH) DEAD CHINA DOLL + PINEAPPLE HEAD 8pm $10 door
(ALBUM LAUNCH) +
+MIDNIGHT - 3AM
FLRL + FISHING
LIKE WOAH! (Bang Gang 12s/Kitsune) + COUPONS (Discotexas) + FRAMES
+ DJ SETS BY RICHARD IN YOUR MIND, SIMO SOO + NICK RAVE & THE BAD SPEED 8pm till late $12
FREE
LATE NIGHT DJs
Sunday November 13 RIOT DANCE PARTY (JAPAN) + THE FILTHY SEED + THE SMALLEST CITY + THE SLIPPERY GYPSIES 6pm $10 door
gig picks up all night out all week... 7 9 , : , 5 ; : Zeahorse
9 6 6 ; : 9 , . . ( , : 6 < 3 + < ) , = , 9 @ ; / < 9 : + ( @ 7 4
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9 Hard-Ons, Cyberne (Japan), Zeahorse Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12 8pm
- , (; < 9 0 5 .
K.D. Lang (Canada) State Theatre, Sydney $99–$150 7.30pm
*/,(7 -(2,:
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 11.11.11 Earth Concert: Old Man River, Kerriann Cox, Miriam Lieberman, Carmella Baynie, Kevin James Petersham Town Hall $20-$30 6.15pm
),51(3< ),5;3,@ 3620
Aleks & the Ramps, Charge Group, Valar, N. Martin The Gate, Artarmon $15 7.30pm
Faker
Deep Sea Arcade, Palms, Woe & Flutter Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Faker, The Paper Scissors The Standard, Darlinghurst $20 (+ bf) 8pm
British India, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Betty Airs Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $25 (+ bf) 8pm
Jinja Safari, Megastick Fanfare, Pluto Jonze, Elizabeth Rose Metro Theatre, Sydney $20 (+ bf)– $42.95 (incl CD) 8pm
Dick Diver, The Harpoons, Songs Duo Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 8pm
Laura Jean, Rescue Ships Petersham Bowling Club $14 (+ bf) 8pm
The Grates, Last Dinosaurs, The Medics Metro Theatre, Sydney $30.70 (conc)– $33.70 (+ bf) 8pm
Rat Vs Possum, FLRL, Fishing, Richard In Your Mind DJs, Simo Smoo Simo Soo, Nick Rave & the Bad Speed Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8.30pm Serpent & The Swan AW12 Launch Party: Jack Ladder, Paurenz Pike (PVT), Kirin J Callinan, Daisy M Tully Helen Rose Schauersberger Laboratorium, Surry Hills 6pm The JD Set: Good Charlotte (USA) playing Weezer - The Blue Album, Amy Meredith Coogee Bay Hotel 8pm $30 (+ bf)
56=,4),9 ;/ NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
Husky, Tin Sparrow The Standard, Darlinghurst 8pm Wagons, Joe Pug The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf) 6.30pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13 Newtown Festival: Betty Airs, Ghostwood, Aleks and the Ramps Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Newtown $2 (donation) 10am Husky
AN EVENING OF DISCO/HOUSE, DUBSTEP, HIP HOP, LEF TFIELD ELECTRONICA & FUTURE SOUL
THE MANK
11 NOV ALL LIVE EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT 8PM TIL MIDNIGHT
BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 47
48 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
brag beats
BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
five things WITH
Round Table Knights
MEEM electronic music. These days I’m into more organic sounds, often from mid-‘60s to mid‘80s. Funk, soul, underground boogie, disco, reggae, rocksteady, hip hop, rhythm ‘n blues – even western swing and folk get rotation on my listening spectrum! Your Crew I DJ and produce music full time, which 3. was the ultimate aim when I first started out, so I’m grateful I can do it. I also work with disadvantaged youth and refugee and migrant groups running music workshops in South and West Sydney. It’s amazing work, especially when you see what tunes these kids come up with! The Music You Make My album tracks feature Mr Scruff, Roots 4. Manuva and Raashan Ahmad, which should give you a pretty good idea of what I’m about. Expect soul, funk and hip hop beats. At the launch I’ll be playing some unreleased exclusives and edits as well.
Growing Up I grew up in the country with pretty limited 1. access to music. My only insight into music outside of mainstream radio was from my uncle’s record collection of hard rock and metal. I was lucky enough to have piano lessons as a kid, and when triple j extended their regional network in the early ‘90s, I got switched on to more alternative music. I think
Calvin Harris
not having been exposed to different sorts of music when I was young for so long made me more excited about it all when I discovered it.
Music, Right Here, Right Now Personally, I think the internet has been 5. a great thing for music today. It gives people all across the globe access to niche styles and artists that they wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to hear.
Inspirations It’s really hard to pin down favourites, 2. as I’m inspired by hundreds of artists that I
What: Monsters Don’t Sleep OK! album launch
admire. My first big inspiration was The Orb; they were the group that inspired me to write
When: Friday November 11
Where: Gotham, 35 Oxford Street
ROUND TABLE KNIGHTS
Over the years, Switzerland has provided us with some of the finest DJs and producers to have ever graced a turntable or synth. Remember Richard Meyer? The guy who polished Britney Spears’ first two albums and countless Celine Dion numbers? We’re not sure how Bern-based collective Round Table Knights feel about Britters, but their mixes are prolific nonetheless, with their famous remix of Tensnake track ‘Coma Cat’ likely to be on any amateur DJ’s party mix. Save yourself the effort; the duo will be bringing their jazzy, hip hop-infused numbers to Bondi’s delicious Cream Tangerine on Saturday December 17. And BRAG’s gonna save you some moolah by dishing out a double to get you and a friend down there. If you wanna get your hands on it, tell us the name of another Swiss producer...
And there’s one crucial element the after party will have that the cruise will not: Le Brond. The same Le Brond who performed alongside DOP at Arena Club in Berlin. The same Le Brond who threw down alongside Ben Watt on Australia Day last year. The same Le Brond who regularly played at the infamous Glitch parties in ages past. And both Foss and Jones will also be backing up for additional after party sets. Presale tickets go on sale this Wednesday November 9, and you’d be ill-advised to hesitate.
Mitzi
MAURIZI & FERREYRA
FIELD DAY SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT
Scotsman Calvin Harris and London’s Example have been added to the Field Day lineup, alongside dubstep propenent Modestep and a bunch of local stars, including Flight Facilities, The Aston Shuffle, Cloud Control and New Navy. They’re joining a bill that already boasted headliners Justice and Crystal Castles, as well as Moby, Gotye, Tiga, Metronomy, Skream & Benga, Yuksek (live), Spank Rock and a bunch more. Field Day happens from midday til 11pm on New Year’s Day at the Domain; tickets are on sale now from fielddaynyd.com.au
AGWA AFTER PARTY FT. LE BROND
Yes, we know tickets for the Agwa Yacht Club boat party on Saturday November 19, featuring Jamie Jones and Lee Foss, have long sold out. And as the Pulse crew themselves elucidate, although people have been “crying [out] for tickets over the last three months … unfortunately when the boat is full, it’s full.” It certainly is. But the next best thing is the after party, which has now been officially confirmed for the The Burdekin Hotel from 8pm.
The international double bill of Italy’s Fabrizio Maurizi and Argentinian-born Ernesto Ferreyra headline the forthcoming Spring Music ‘lawn themed’ party at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, this Saturday November 12. Now part of Richie Hawtin’s Minus brethren, Maurizi broke through on the back of his single ‘Hasta La Baldoria Siempre’, released on his own Memento label, and has established a reputation for crafting “understated peak time cuts” via releases such as his Chronicles EP on Minus, and remixes for the likes of Ellen Allien. Ferreyra, meanwhile, was responsible for the best release on the Cadenza label in some time with his excellent debut LP from last year, El Paraiso De Las Tortugas. Praised by Resident Advisor for “its rustling and bustling infectious natural energy”, El Paraiso De Las Tortugas is suitable for both daytime, sun-kissed Balearic clubbing and serious late night revelry. Indeed, the fact that ‘DJ’s DJ’ Tobi Neumann opened his Resident Advisor Podcast mix with Ferreyra’s ‘Los Domingos Vuelo a Casa’ is a testament to the Argentinean’s considerable studio prowess. Spring Music will be a daytime affair that runs from midday through to 10pm, with adept support provided by local talent Yokoo and Nic Scali. Presale tickets are currently available online.
FRED P
House music auteur Fred Peterkin, known for his output as Fred P and Black Jazz Consortium, will perform a three-hour set at GoodGod Small Club this Saturday November 12. Hailing from Queens, and having honed his DJ skills around the NYC club circuit, Peterkin’s sound traverses everything from soulful house influences to tougher techno beats. His accomplished body of work has been released largely on his own Soul People Music imprint, and has led to collaborations with the Australia-bound Move D and releases on Jus-Ed’s Underground Quality
SOSUEME AT OAF
Sosueme are taking over Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 19, and are showcasing a number of renowned live acts in the process, with Melbourne band World’s End Press, local favourites Richard In Your Mind and fast-rising Brisbane four-piece Mitzi among the disparate list of bands that are slotted to perform. Earlier this year, Mitzi released a brand new 12-inch record called Mitzi – Vinyl Versions on esteemed Sydney electronic bastion Future Classic, which featured remixes from The Revenge and LTJ Xperience, local lads Softwar and Tigersushi mainman Joakim (which gives you an indication of the lofty reputation the band has established in a very short space of time.) Nina Las Vegas, Joyride and Hobophonics will also be spinning contrapuntal sonic offerings, with doors open from 8pm and entry $20.
label, as well as co-releases with Vakula on Ethereal Sound. Joining Fred P for the evening is the Mad Racket duo of Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell. Doors open at 11.30pm, with presale tickets available for $20 through Resident Advisor.
LOCAL LINEUP FOR FALCONA’S NYE
Further acts have been added to Falcona’s ‘New Year’s Eve On The Harbour’ soiree at Cargo Bar. Bag Raiders, Alison Wonderland, Hey Now DJs, Pedestrian DJs, Frames, Starjumps, F.R.I.E.N.D/S DJs, Block Ness Monsters, Stoney Roads DJs and the Falcona DJs will all be spinning behind a handful of attractions. For those not yet up to speed, Architecture In Helsinki, who released their latest album Moment Bends earlier this year on Modular Recordings, the Yacht Club DJs, French Horn Rebellion direct from the USA, and Sampology
will also be performing, with second release tickets priced at $89, and available through cargonye.com
THUNDAMENTALS
Blue Mountains trio Thundamentals will perform a headline show at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 26. Thundamentals released their sophomore album Foreverlution on Obese Records at the end of July, and have continued to bask in its considerable success; the second single to be lifted off the album, ‘How You Been’, was added to high rotation on triple j recently. Though Foreverlution was released a couple of months ago, due to tours with Big Boi and then Drapht the outfit are only just now gearing up for their own album launch dates. But now that the lads finally have top billing, they’re sure to put on a big hometown show. Grab your presale tickets through oxfordartfactory.com BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 49
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
five things WITH
DJ $HIFTY 1. Growing Up I used to make mixtapes off the local radio station’s Top 30 Count Down with my dual cassette recorder. If there was any talking at the end of it, I’d spend the next hour fast-forwarding and rewinding right to the spot where the song ends, and then record a few seconds of silence… I’m such a perfectionist. 2. Inspirations I grew up on a diet of R&B and hip hop and a lot of alternative music as a kid. I played in a band all through high school, and started DJing because I really sucked at dancing. My inspirations are the people who taught me everything I know and helped me along the way; cheesy, I know, but without them I wouldn’t be where I am today. 3. Your Group I DJ up to five nights a week, but I have a day job in marketing, promotions and event management. I work for Club Revolution and Hed Kandi, taking care of all our clients’ needs. Desk nerd by day, DJ by night!
Flying Lotus
4. The Music You Make I’m influenced a lot by Hed Kandi, the music, and the lifestyle as well – I love very vocal house with big synths. But I’m very eclectic with my music, I’m not just limited to one style; versatility is the key when DJing. I can play almost every style of house, and electro as well. 5. Music, Right Here, Right Now I’ve been DJing for ten years now, and I’ve noticed the shifts in music and patrons over my time. I think it’s great that the two separate worlds of urban and dance have mixed, and that there’s a lot of cross-genre work going on. It’s not necessarily a new thing, but it has become more popular over the last two years. It’s great to see new styles come into popularity, such as dubstep and its associated subgenres – but it’s sad to see the old hard house/trance scene fading away. Where: The Cool Room @ The Australian Brewery, Rouse Hilly When: Every Thursday night
An additional show has been announced for hip hop icon Eminem, which will take place at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday December 4. A 13-time Grammy winner who has sold over 80 million albums worldwide, Eminem was recently dubbed the “king of hip hop” by the ever-imaginative Rolling Stone magazine. For anyone fearing that ‘the king’s’ best days may be behind him, USA Today said of his slot at this year’s Lollapalooza festival: “Eminem is in
a league of his own. Rhymes raced from his throat like soldiers charging into battle … This show would accept no compromises.” Tickets to the second Sydney gig will go on sale at exactly 2pm on Wednesday November 16 through ticketek.com.au
CHROMATICS RETURN
Italo-disco revivalists Chromatics have announced details of their new album. The brooding synth-pop romantics – comprised
of members Johnny Jewel, Ruth Radelet and Adam Miller – will release Kill For Love through Italians Do It Better in January 2012. It’s the long, long-awaited follow-up to their 2007 breakthrough LP Night Drive, which was a huge success with hipsters and critics alike. IDIB say that they’ll be “leaking videos and singles” from the LP between now and its release. The title track is also the lead single and is available on iTunes now, with a 12-inch coming soon.
THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE
Noisia
CHINESE LAUNDRY GARDEN PARTY FT. NOISIA
On Saturday January 7, Chinese Laundry will be hosting a bass music garden party comprising international drawcards Noisia, Borgore, Danny Byrd, Netsky and Skism. Dutch trio Noisia have built up a cult following in recent years on the back of cuts such as ‘The Tide’, ‘Split the Atom’ and a critically acclaimed mix compilation for Fabric. They’ve also worked with the likes of Moby, The Prodigy, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Skrillex, Deadmau5, KRS1 and Hadouken!, whose entire second album For The Masses was in fact produced by the trio. First release tickets are currently available for $55 online.
50 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
INXEC
Inxec is pretty much the dude when it comes to warehouse rave parties. The redheaded giant is a fixture on the UK club scene, smashing nights like the lauded Gatecrasher into submission with a unique brand of house that’s seen him criss-cross the globe and become a star in the making. He’s headed to Sydney for a top secret and intimate warehouse party on Saturday November 12 that we can’t even release the details of yet – but we can get you and your fellow shuffler on the door. Just tell us the name of the Jamie Funk single which he remixed to critical acclaim last year.
FLYING LOTUS + MARTYN
On the first Friday of next year, Niche Productions will host a triple bill at The Metro Theatre featuring Warp Records’ Flying Lotus and Africa Hitech, alongside 3024/Brainfeeder’s Martyn. Flying Lotus was behind what was widely regarded as one of the best albums of 2010 in Cosmogramma, which featured a guest spot from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and continued the Lotus/Radiohead relationship, following an earlier Flying Lotus remix of Radiohead’s ‘Reckoner’. Furthermore, Cosmogramma received the rarest of all beasts, a 5/5 review in this very publication(!). Martyn meanwhile has just released his second album Ghost People on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder imprint, while Africa Hitech are the well-known duo of Mark Pritchard and Steve Spacek, who released their debut album 93 Million Miles earlier in the year. First release tickets go on sale from the Metro Theatre website this Friday November 11.
EMINEM SECOND SHOW
Inxec
Berlin-based pop group The Whitest Boy Alive (TWBA) are finally coming to Australia, and will perform for Future Classic at The Keystone Bar at Hyde Park Barracks on Saturday January 21 as part of Sydney Festival 2012. TWBA evolved out of reluctant frontman Erlend Øye’s Kings of Convenience project, a group known for its acoustic guitar overtones and wistful vocals. Having previously worked with fellow Norwegian group Röyksopp, Øye released his criminally underrated solo album Unrest, an LP produced with cult dance producers Morgan Geist (of Metro Area) and Prefuse 73 in 2003, before he formed TWBA with cult Berlin techno DJ Highfish (bassist Marcin Öz). And the rest is history. Originally starting as an electronic dance music project, TWBA have now fully evolved into a four-piece live band with no programmed elements at all. But the dance music influences have not been completely shed. “We’ve developed an interesting feature on tour: gluing the songs together like a DJ does to further encourage dancing among the audience,” Øye divulged earlier this year. As with all of the Sydney Festival Keystone Bar events, tickets to The Whitest Boy Alive go on sale this Wednesday November 9.
Andy Weatherall
SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2012 Last week Sydney Festival announced its 2012 program for the annual three-week celebration, spanning January 7-29. Rather than bombard you with a full list of all the acts slotted to perform, many of whom make odd music using non-electronic instruments and consequently have no place in the dance music news section of the magazine, I’ll focus on the relevant acts, like Dan Deacon & John Maus, Shabazz Palaces and the Future Classic night featuring DJ Koze & Prins Thomas. And then there’s colourful club luminary Andy Weatherall, also known for his work as Sabres Of Paradise and Two Lone Swordsman, who will be headlining the Picnic bash on Saturday January 14 at the Keystone Bar at Hyde Park Barracks, alongside Neville Watson. Weatherall has been involved with some of the more revered acts of the past twenty years across disparate genres of music, including My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream, and is a regular behind the decks at London clubbing institution Fabric. When I interviewed the man a few years back, I asked him to nominate his favourite of the many productions. “My favourite production that I’ve ever done is probably a Primal Scream track called ‘Carry Me Home’, which we did in Memphis shortly after Screamadelica. If I could choose one track to be remembered by, it would be that.” Tickets to all of the Keystone Bar events go on sale this Wednesday November 9 – for the full lineup, visit the Sydney Fetival website.
★ FRI NOV 11 ★
RE 11 P FO M!
BE
9PM - 3AM
$5 DANCEHALL, REGGAE, DUB ★ SAT NOV 12 ★
$10 AFTER
RE 11 P FO M!
DSS-Eschalon, Bassdrop, Collective, and Foreign’dub Pres.
BE
9PM - 3AM
$5
$10 AFTER
★ FRI NOV 18 ★
★ SAT NOV 19 ★
BE
9PM - 3AM RE 11 P FO
M!
w
9PM - 3AM
$5
$10 AFTER
★ FRI NOV 25 ★
STARTS 10PM E
E-SAL PR
20
$
$25 ON DOOR
RE 11 P FO
$5
M!
BE
★ SAT NOV 26 ★
$10 AFTER
★ FRI DEC 02 ★
9PM - 3AM RE 11 P FO
$5
M!
BE
DSS Presents:
$10 AFTER
The Coffin Slave presents:
CHA AMPIO ON REGGAE, DUB
9PM - 3AM RE 11 P FO
$5
M!
SO OUND DANCEHALL,
★ FRI DEC 09 ★
9PM - 3AM
BE
★ FRI DEC 08 ★
$10 AFTER
TICKETS & BOOKINGS: BOOKINGS@LOWSOCIETYDUBSTEP.COM
450 PARAMATTA RD PETERSHAM 9560 0400 BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 51
A Guy Called Gerald Power Of The Voodoo By Andrew ‘Hazard’ Hickey
I
f you talk to any dance music fan they’ll tell you that Gerald Simpson is so much more than just some guy. “My name was pretty suited to the scene when I first started,” he says, in his ultra-laidback tone. “Dance music was always about the dancefloor in the ‘80s, and that’s where I’m from. I never go to a club to watch a DJ and nor do I care how many decks he’s playing on or if he’s playing vinyl or mp3s. It’s a sorry state we’ve ended up in where people are actually complaining about the package and not the content. The music originally was the total opposite of rock music, which was about facing a person on a stage.”
Gold Fields Feel Gold Inc. By Rach Seneviratne
B
etween supporting Crystal Castles, Miami Horror and PNAU, having the most requested song on triple j this year, and getting to use John Mayer’s guitar on their new album, Gold Fields have probably had a better 2011 than you or I. After modestly introducing the infectious ‘Treehouse’ onto triple j Unearthed in late 2010, it was picked up by the boutique English label Young & Lost Club. What followed was a short UK tour, Falls Festival and Field Day appearances, some huge support slots, an album recorded at the prestigious Ocean Way studios, and Billabong bikini babe ads featuring their own music. Not bad for something that started as a bedroom project. Lead guitarist and sound engineering wizard Vinci Andanar is thoroughly aware and appreciative of how quickly things have happened for his band. “It’s overwhelming – it doesn’t seem real, or like it’s actually happening,” he says. “When we recorded the song at my house we were getting excited listening to it, thinking, ‘How amazing would it be if triple j played it once?’ …and then all of a sudden it’s the most played Unearthed song this year!” Their recently-dropped self-titled EP has been lapped up by the masses too, and after supporting the aforementioned dance music heavyweights and appearing on this year’s Parklife lineup, Gold Fields have started to become well known for their indie-dance chops – although Vinci is quick to reject the pigeonhole. “It’s not a bad thing… but we never wanted to be a dance band per se. Our aim [with the EP] was to keep it as open as possible, so that people don’t really have an expectation for the album… Going into the album, we wanted to not [just] go in the direction of dance. We wanted to still be danceable, just not overly electronic,” he explains. “Our mindframe was definitely this whole electronic vibe, because of the last few bands we supported. But we worked with the producer Mickey Petralia, and he’s worked
with a weird and wide range of music: The Dandy Warhols, Peaches, then Kate MillerHeidke and Flight Of The Conchords…you can’t really pin him down to one style. We were lucky that we had Mickey because he drew us away from that [electronic vibe]… He showed us that we could still be a dance band without it sounding so obvious. Although Gold Fields enjoyed a very sudden success – their first live show was only in September last year – Vinci still has plenty of admiration for the long history of music itself. “The whole American trip, you just couldn’t take it all in – there was no time,” he says breathlessly. “Recording at Ocean Way was pretty crazy; to go into the studios and find out that Ocean Way actually earns more money than Abbey Road, and then just seeing all the gold records hanging all along the hallways – mindblowing. The guitar tech that worked at Ocean Way for us worked with John Mayer on his second album. And one of the Strats that I used for 90% of the album was the one that John Mayer used as well. So I was like, ‘Holy shit – this is pretty fucked up!’ Yeah, that was surreal.” With the album hopefully out mid-next year and the self-titled EP that’s been recently released, the world seems to be at Gold Fields’ feet, but Vinci remains refreshingly grounded and realistic about the future. “We’re just all mates – and you never know in this industry how long these kinds of things last, so just enjoy it while you can I guess. It’s gotten bigger than what we thought was ever going to happen, but we’ve still got the same concept: just having fun with it.” What: Gold Fields EP is out now through EMI Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday November 11 More: Also playing at Homebake Festival with Gotye, Grinderman, The Vines, Ladyhawke, The Jezabels, Cut Copy, Architecture In Helsinki and heaps more, on Saturday December 3 at The Domain
With 1988’s Voodoo Ray, A Guy Called Gerald kick started his career and unknowingly became the godfather of acid house in his native Manchester. “I had no idea it would be a pivotal record,” Gerald says, nonplussed. “It was made strictly for the underground black dance scene in Manchester.” As acid house crossed over from Chicago, Voodoo Ray earned the auspicious honour of being the UK’s first recognised acid house recording. For Gerald, the genesis for it all traces back to the mid-‘80s in Moss Side, the predominantly black community in Manchester where he earned his stripes. “This is the music we were listening to all our lives,” he says emphatically. “I didn’t ‘come up’ with it. This is all we had as entertainment. It was never a trend – it was a way of life.” While England’s trigger-happy media flogged the rave music horse to death, Gerald spent much of those halcyon days working on new sounds. “I wasn’t DJing in those days; I was producing music and running the [Juice Box] label,” he says. Already moving away from the sound he was originally tied to, the producer helped sow the seeds of jungle music, releasing 28 Gun Bad Boy in 1992. “Rave was residue of jungle [music]. Jungle was what we had in the inner cities, jungle was on the pirate stations, jungle was how we communicated. It’s just that jungle had to be watered down into drum ‘n bass by the media.” An open fan of
software like Reason, he says the tracks he’s been producing for the past few years were made to be played live in a club. “I’ve always been interested in new technology; it opens up totally new dimensions in the music. The sky is literally the limit. The only thing we are lacking now is a few more producers with a bit of balls.” Rather than manipulating vinyl and utilising his record collection, Gerald is now mutating his live sound and drawing from a library of audio files. “Each file consists of drums, strings, chord patterns, keyboards and sound effects, and each file can be incorporated into any other file at any given time.” Forging forth into the new year, the forward thinker has some big plans. “I’m working on an experimental soundfield project which will be launched in London in 2012. And I’ve got a huge back catalogue of unreleased tracks that will be an ongoing exclusive series released through my website.” It’s been over three years since his last trek Down Under, and Gerald is itching to return to Australia for the festival season. He’s heading to Sydney for the boutique undergound haven that is Subsonic, headlined by Chali 2na and Apparat. “I’m most interested in what [the] sound systems are going to sound like,” he concedes. “Usually the biggest challenge for me is to get the technical people to grasp the concept that I am not DJing. Once we get over that hurdle, everyone is going to have a good time – including me.”
With: Chali 2na, Apparat, Tiki Taane with DJ Sambora, Hermitude, Thundamentals, Resin Dogs, Opiou, Minilogue, Dubmarine, Kobra Kai and more Where: Subsonic @ Riverwood Downs When: December 2 – December 4
Yolanda Be Cool Bump It Up By Marissa Demetriou
J
ohnson Peterson and Sylvester Martinez are the pair responsible for infiltrating dancefloors, DJ sets and airwaves through 2010 with that irrepressible Italo-dance ditty that is ‘We No Speak Americano’ – and they’ve been riding high on the buzz of it ever since. Part of follow-through has involved hitting the Australian festival circuit, an extensive international tour, and finding themselves with the chance to collaborate with one of the most recognisable voices of the 1990s. So it’s safe to say things have remained at a decent pace for the duo. When we speak, Peterson seems to have barely had time to take a breath – and listening to him talk about Yolanda Be Cool’s recent venture to Ibiza, there doesn’t seem to be an adjective more fitting than the “cool” with which he peppers most of his sentences. “We were looking for base; obviously we love living in Sydney, but it’s quite hard to play in Europe on a weekend and be back at home on a Monday,” he says of the extended stint on the infamous party island. He lists off Richard Villalobos, Jamie Jones, Art Department and Tom Neville as acts that stoked the creative 52 :: BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11
fire for Yolanda Be Cool while they were abroad, but being able to “go for a swim, maybe learn a language on the side, be exposed to amazing music and play cool gigs around Europe” can’t have hurt. “It’s pretty cool to be at the forefront of house music,” Peterson continues. “I think what gets played in Ibiza doesn’t exactly translate to what gets played on the radio... Between the whole island, you can definitely see what’s happening.” With a decent gap between ‘We No Speak Americano’ and their latest single ‘Le Bump’, Peterson explains that the pair spent so long putting out the follow-up that they’ve come up with a bunch of other tracks in the meantime. “All things going to plan, all samples being cleared, we’d like to drop another single around January, and the album in March.” When I ask what we can expect the record to sound like, Peterson says that while some of the tracks are of a similar tip to ‘Americano’, we can expect “a couple of tracks that are hip hop, and a couple of tracks that are more melodic.” As for future collaborations with producer D-Cup, who lent a helping hand to the phenomenon that was their breakthrough
single (Peterson jokingly refers to the airplay as “more than enough”), he says they have definitely talked about doing more tracks down the line together, “Whether it’s on this [album] or the next one.” On their latest single ‘Le Bump’, the pair collaborated with 90s ‘It’ vocalist Crystal Waters (think ‘Gypsy Woman’, ‘100% Pure Love’ and ‘Say… If You Feel Alright’), who they found through a serendipitous chain of events. “I don’t know if people instantly think of us and her, but we just randomly bumped into her at WMC [Winter Music Conference, Miami], and it was one of those things where we had the studio booked, and she had the session after us, and asked if we wanted to stay on and play her some beats. The one she took away was ‘Le Bump’. It was just a random thing – I guess it was one of
those right place at the right time things!” Having traversed the globe on the back of ‘Americano’, Peterson describes Korea as a highlight: “They have been the most up-forit crowd we’ve played for.” Their latest tour through San Francisco was another favourite, where they partied with the Dirty Bird crew who, he says, have a “guaranteed after party” – before adding with a laugh, “and they also seem to have after-after parties...” What: ‘Le Bump’ is out now through Central
Station Records
Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery
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.
Matthew Dear
Chali 2na
ON THE ROAD THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10 Alphamama 505
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 Fantine Upstairs Beresford
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19
Dynamites ft Charles Walker The Basement
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26
P
ulse Radio have revealed details of their Australia Day boat party, Agwa 012, which will feature the international triple bill of Matthew Dear, Pete Herbert and Maxology. Cutting to the chase, I don’t think it’s any disrespect to the other acts on the bill to say that this party will be all about the Dear factor. The Ghostly International main-man is one of the more skilful and inventive DJs and producers in the electronic realm, exploring techno, minimal and pop soundscapes throughout his varied body of work. Dear is known to work under a range of different monikers, with his sound shifting from techno producer to experimental pop artist or bandleader depending on which of his aliases he is working under: Audion, False, Jabberjaw or, uh, Matthew Dear. Though the techno cognoscenti know Dear for his Fabric and Body Language mixes, as well as for barnstorming club cuts such as ‘Mouth To Mouth’, his ability to successfully adapt to the pop sphere should not be overlooked. Dear’s single ‘Dog Days’ from his debut LP Leave Luck to Heaven was voted one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the decade, and he has also completed remixes for The XX and Charlotte Gainsbourg. His single ‘Free To Ask’, which was remixed by D’Julz, functions as something of a techno/acidpop hybrid that could serve as a gateway to lure unsuspecting pop fans into the club realm – or indeed vice versa. Tickets for the Australia Day boat cruise are currently available online, and it’s just as well you’ll have Friday to recover, because…
DJ Koze photo by Swahimi & Marcnesium
Future Classic have unveiled a delectable double bill that is by far and away the electronic music highlight of Sydney Festival’s Keystone Festival Bar (formerly Becks Bar) program: DJ Koze and Prins Thomas performing on the same bill on Saturday January 28. I was interested to learn recently that Koze was a German DMC champion at a young age, but while his turntablist prowess may have come as a shock to me, I would have been expecting big things from him on his maiden Sydney visit anyway based purely on his production pedigree. Responsible for several gems on the Kompakt back catalogue, and remixes of everyone from Battles to Caribou and Efdemin, Koze is in Australia for the Rainbow Serpent Festival, and I’m glad that Sydneysiders will get the chance to see him at one of the showpiece events of our summer. Prins Thomas meanwhile was my pick of Playground Weekender ’09, and has proven his dancefloor credentials with his excellent Live At Robert Johnson mix. In short, this is a double bill not to be missed, featuring two of the finest in ‘the biz’.
EP last week called ‘Don’t Break My Love’, which is available for download from the official Clown & Sunset website. The Subsonic Music Festival has announced an exclusive Sydney sideshow for Berlin producer Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, who will be performing live with his band at The Beresford on Thursday December 1. Of course you’re veritably insane if you opt out of seeing Apparat and his live band perform in the serene confines of the world heritage-listed Mountain Valley Resort at the Subsonic Music Festival the following weekend, but double the Apparat ain’t such a bad idea. Ring is, of course, half of the acclaimed Moderat project alongside Modeselektor, and was invited to support Radiohead as a result of Thom Yorke’s penchant for all things Moderat. Earlier this year, Apparat released a new album, The Devil’s Walk, the majority of which was conceived during a trip to Mexico last year with Telefon Tel Aviv’s Joshua Eustis. Apparat will be joined at the sideshow by special guests Bon Chat, Bon Rat and Max Cooper, while the Subsonic Music Festival boasts an assortment of fellow heavyweights, all of whom can be examined on the official site, where you can also procure tickets and read up on the festival details: subsonicmusic.com.au
LOOKING DEEPER FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 Donato Dozzy The White House
SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 Marcel Fengler The White House
THURSDAY JANUARY 26 Matthew Dear AGWA Boat Party
SATURDAY JANUARY 27
DJ Koze, Prins Thomas Hyde Park Barracks DJ Koze
The Nicolas Jaar bubble is still far from bursting. The prodigiously talented Americo-Chilean producer has unveiled a new project: Darkside, a collaboration with the Brooklyn-based Dave Harrington. Details of the project were hazy at the time of writing – and not due to my alcohol consumption [salutes readers with glass of whiskey] – with the track names themselves reflecting the inscrutability of the project; with each track titled ‘A1,’ ‘A2,’ and ‘A3,’ your guess is as good as mine on this one. Darkside will be releasing its self-titled debut EP via Jaar’s own Clown and Sunset imprint in early December, but anyone after something sooner ought to be chuffed to learn that Jaar released a free
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com
Thundamentals Oxford Art Factory
S
oul Sedation is recently returned from the Island Vibe Festival on Stradbroke, where we had the pleasure of catching some brilliant performances from Dubmarine (this Brissy band are an act to watch), Blue King Brown (Natalie really is that good live, and doesn’t pass on an opportunity to spread her good word, either), and Chali 2na. I haven’t seen Chali solo before, but he really does rock the party, and closed the festival on the Sunday night with a lot of goodwill. The J5 emcee will come to Sydney for a Sunday show on December 11, and you can also catch him up at the Subsonic Music Festival first weekend of December as well. Island Vibe has become something of an annual pilgrimage for this column; a beachside park on Stradbroke Island’s northernmost tip turned into a celebration of island culture for three nights in October every year. And you know the better half of the year has arrived when the Sydney Festival program goes live. Becks Festival Bar has been rebranded as the Keystone Festival Bar for 2012 and, provided they don’t mess with the concept too much, we should barely notice the difference (there’s certainly not much wrong with the set-up at Hyde Park Barracks). The UK’s eminent Norman Jay will be rocking Festival First Night in Hyde Park from his double-decker bus, bringing a little slice of Notting Hill Carnival (an event Norman has become synonymous with over the years) to Sydney. From the Festival Bar lineup, this column’s picks are Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, new Stones Throw signing The Stepkids, and Pedrito Martinez Group, and Watussi will be rocking things on the Latin front. As you can see, it’s not skewed to the hip hop/soul side of things too much this time around but, as they say, you can’t win them all. Young Mr Honnery across the page will no doubt take you through the tech goodness going down; we can expect some salivation over the Koze, Prins Thomas and Peven Everett shows. Still looking a little bit into the future, there’s a quality event going down at Sun Studios, Alexandria on New Years Day. Those who don’t buy into the NYE hype will get a chance to catch a seriously impressive lineup over five rooms, including headliners Crazy P with a full five-piece band, DJ Maestro, The Owl, Omegaman Sound System, The Leisure Bandits and Milan (live), Frenzie, Mr Glass, Naiki, Monkey Tennis DJs, Mo Funk and DJ Slynk, plus
FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Mulatu Astatke Factory Theatre
Gaslamp Killer Oxford Art Factory
DECEMBER 2-4 Subsonic Music Festival Barrington Tops
FRIDAY DECEMBER 9 Hermitude The Standard
many, many more. Sounds like an all-time knees-up to me. Those who have fond memories of the Better Days parties at Sun Studios will know what’s up, however this event will be a touch less on the house tip and a little more on the funk, soul, hip hop and disco tip. But all that goodness doesn’t hit us until January. In the nearer future, experimental LA beatsmith Daedelus is headed our way. Check his new Overwhelmed EP for the latest incarnation of his wonderfully broad sounds. This guy has produced some very cool and unique work over the years; should be a wicked gig to check out. It all goes down Friday November 5 at GoodGod, and he’ll be supported by Collarbones and Gallapagoose on the night. Grand Wizard Theodore is on his way to our shores this month as well. Credited with being the inventor of the scratch and the master of the needle drop, the NY DJ also featured in seminal hip hop film Wild Style. He’ll be rocking a two-hour set of turntablism meets party rocking b-boy breaks ‘n beats, with some killer DJs at his back: MK-1, Mathmatics and Frenzie. That’s one for the classic hip hop heads. Speaking of classic: the Paradise Lost family is back with another one this November, as Mikey Miutante returns from his extended overseas voyage. He’ll be holding it down with James Bucknell, Mysterio Massala, Harry Sounds and JMS on November 18, at an inner-city warehouse location yet to be announced. And don’t forget you can catch African funk outfit Afro Nomad every Wednesday at the Mac in November – check these guys out if you like percussion and African roots music, they put together a quality show.
Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro
Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 53
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week Fabrizio Maurizi
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Showring, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park
Spring Music Lawn Party Fabrizio Maurizi (ITA), Ernesto Ferreyra (ARG), Nic Scali, YokoO, Mesan, SlowBlow, Sam Roberts, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir, Pink Lloyd 8pm (+ bf) midday MONDAY NOVEMBER 7 The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Monday Jam Danny G Felix, Djay Kohina free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz DJs free 7pm
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 8 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJ Willie Sabor free 6pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frat House free Scubar, Sydney Backpacker Karaoke 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Karaoke, Mike J, Smithers free 8pm
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WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9 Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Palace Uni Night DJs free 9pm Cargo Lounge, Sydney Menage a Trois 5pm Home The Venue, Darling Harbour Embrace Wednesdays free 8.30pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction Voodoo free 9pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Dtrain Disco, Hacky Sack, Friend DJ free 8pm The Ranch Hotel, Eastwood Hump Wednesdays The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown Student Nights DJ Moussa free
Scubar, Sydney Schoonerversity 3pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Sincopa free 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Bruxism, Jitter, Brown Bear, Basske, Mike Who, Adrian Gidaro, Pablo Calamari free 7pm
Tenzin, Cadell, Zannon, DJ K-Note free 8pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Bad Apple Ivy, Sydney Ivy Live 5pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Indie Warhol Low 302, Darlinghurst Actual Russian Brides Focaleland, Peter Hollo, The Pretty Strong Lady free 9pm Q Bar/ Phoenix Bar, Spectrum Hot Damn $15-$20 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Flaunt $15 8pm The Sly Fox, Enmore Inhale Foreigndub DJs free 9pm Soho, Potts Point Ladies Night DJs Theloft, Sydney Thursdays at theloft Nad, Stu Turner, Mr Belvedere Venue 505, Surry Hills Eastside Live at 505 Alphamama, DJ Taline $10$15 7.30pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Gatsby, Chappers free (student)–$5 9pm
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney RnB Superclub $20 9.30pm Bank Hotel, Newtown Friendly Fridays Broadway Lounge, Chippendale Rat Race Vinyl DJs free 8pm The Burdekin, Darlinghurst DJs 9pm Canterbury Leagues Club, Belmore Uprock Hip Hop Summit - Aussie Emcees Gig Rezadent & Dsipl, Tru N Deed, Phenomena, Wizdm, BRB, Bboys Solo & Samson of Justice Crew, Mistery, Genesiz & The Commission, Oakbridge, Purified, Izzy N The Profit, Shelly H & Kris Bo, Teop & Sonic Solo, Long John Johnson, 21 Monks, Laurian Bougaardt, Dying To Be Alive $20 6.30pm The Cellar, Sydney Void Sound $10 10pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Matrix & Futurebound (UK), Glovecats, Royalston, Rubio, Mark Bionic, Lasttoleave $15$25 10pm Favela Discoteca DJs 9pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito DJs free 9pm Gypsy Lounge, Darlinghurst Warp Speed Various DJs 9pm Gotham, Darlinghurst Meem free 8pm Home Nightclub, Sydney Sublime 9pm Hotel Chambers, Sydney F**k Me I’m Famous Sirdee, Eko, Mizzy, MC Theegz $15 9pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Rat Pack 8pm
Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Hobogestapo, Starjumps, Kristy Lee, Isbjorn, Stoney Roads $10 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction Wild Live $10 9pm The Marlborough Hotel – Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Oatley Hotel End Of School Party free 9pm Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Gold Fields, Millions, Conics $12 (+ bf) 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Club Onyx DJs free-$15 8pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frisky Friday DJs free 6pm Shark Hotel, Sydney Pulse8 Jono free Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Mixtape free 6pm Soho, Potts Point Soho Fridays DJs free Space, Sydney Zaia Savvy, Edo, D’Kutz, Em-Tee, Ming, Ace, Flipz, DJ Sefu, MC Suga Shane, Arbee, Suae, Pulsar, Askitz, Jinkang vs Tezzr vs Rhe3, MC D 9.45pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst Twist and Shout 60’s Dance Party DJ Dylabolical, Doctor J $5 11pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Eve 9pm Vegas Lounge, Darlinghurst Teen Spirit DJs 12am The Watershed Hotel Bring On The Weekend! DJ JEddy Rowland, DJ Mike Silver, DJ Matty Roberts free The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham Sunday Dub Club Champion Sound $5 (early bird)–$10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM – Official Harvest Festival Pre-Party The Jungle Giants, The Demon Parade, Dead Beat Band, Giraffe Season, Black Island, Elephant, Maids, MUM DJs, Felix Lloyd $10 8pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 Annandale Hotel Falling & Flying Tour 360 $15 (+ bf) 12pm all ages, 8pm The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Vamp Music DJs Bella Vista Boat, Sydney Harbour She Summer Boat Party Vula (Basement Jaxx), Ron Carroll (USA), Luciana (UK) $50 11.45am The Burdekin, Darlinghurst DJs 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Disco! Disco! Disco! Fawkes,
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10 The Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill Cool Room Thursdays The Argyle, The Rocks DJ Georgia, La Vida free 6pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Drop Cheap Fakes, Benjalu, Lo-Ki, Bentley free 8pm Cargo Bar, Sydney Thursdays I’m in Love 5pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney
Vula
Leanzy, Zomg! Kittens, Nightmare, Crysist, Stalker, Slip N Slyde, Acid Mouth, Camo 8pm Canterbury Leagues Club, Belmore Uprock Hip Hop Summit – International Artist Gig Braile (USA), Urban-D (USA), Silence (South Africa), Bboy Dyzee (Korea), Brethren, Broadkast $30 6.30pm Cargo Bar, Sydney The Institute of Music DJs Chinese Laundry, Sydney The Others (UK), The Hump Day Project, A-Tonez, Matttt VS Sam Roberts, Samrai, Gabriel Clouston, DJ Eko, Ramske $15-$25 9pm Cohibar DJ Mike Silver free The Cool Room, Australian Hotel and Brewery, Rouse Hill Resident DJs 9pm Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly DJs 8.30pm Entertainment Quarter, Showring, Moore Park Spring Music Lawn Party Fabrizio Maurizi (Italy), Ernesto Ferreyra (Argentina), Nic Scali, YokoO, Mesan, SlowBlow, Sam Roberts, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir, Pink Lloyd Establishment, Sydney Sienna G-Wizard, Troy T, Def Rok, Eko, Lilo 9pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Jackin’ Sonny Fodera, Monkey Tennis DJs, Johnny Gleeson, Phil Hudson, Tom Kelly, 2 Phat DJs free-$20 8pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Fred P AKA Black Jazz Consortium (USA), Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell $20 11pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Kate Elsworth $20 Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Miss T, Gabby, Cassette, Alison Wonderland 8pm The Lady Rose, King St Wharf Aqua Groove Harbour Cruise Tenzin, Ember, Amber Savage, Wolfpack, Chris Lawrence, Matti Gecs, Random Nights, Cheap Lettuce, Michael Oats, G.N.B. $42 12pm The Marlborough Hotel – Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Paved Way Warehouse Inxec, Robbie Low, SASH DJs Q Bar, Darlinghurst Gold Diggers – 34B Burlesque 6th Birthday Kira Hula-La, Jamilla De Ville, Baby Blue Bergman, Lucille Spielfuchsm Jade Twist, Kitty Van Horne, Bella Pistol, Francois Buble, Renny Kodgers, Goldfoot, Jack Shot $25-$35 Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite DJs free-$20 8pm Shark Hotel, Sydney Pulse8 Jono free The Spice Cellar, Martin Place House Inspection pres. Spring Music After Party International Guest (Italy), Nic Scali, Marc Jarvin $20 10pm Star Bar, Sydney Situation free 10pm St James Hotel, Sydney SFX 9pm Theloft, Sydney Late at theloft Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Voyeur
club guide send your listings to: clubguide@thebrag.com Vegas Lounge, Darlinghurst Ghetto Blaster DJs 12am Verge Bar, Arthouse Hotel, Sydney After Dark DJs free Water Bar – Blue Hotel Saturday Night Deluxe The Watershed Hotel Watershed Presents… Skybar The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Shivers, James Taylor, Telefunken, Matttt, Trent Rackus, Brendan Fing, Johnny Rad, Foundation, Adam Bozzetto, Pipemix, Ra Bazaar, Astrix Little, The Jackal, Nate Perry 8pm Zeta Bar DJ Ralf (Italy), Antonio Zambarelli $30 10pm
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13 Basement Level, 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney Spice RifRaf, Murat Kilic $20 4am Cargo Bar, Sydney Stick It In 3pm Cohibar Shane MacKenzie free Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club free 6pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays Resident and Guest DJs 8pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Aphrodisiac Resident DJs
Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Easy Sundays Stu Turner, NAD, Mr Belvedere, Murray Lake, Pat Ward 6pm Kudu Lounge, Darlinghurst Timeless Sundays Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone free 7pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays free-$10 8pm Scubar, Sydney Sundays at Scubar 3pm The Watershed Hotel Afternoon DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm
club picks up all night out all week...
Fred P
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 9
Royalston, Rubio, Mark Bionic, Lasttoleave $15$25 10pm
The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Bruxism, Jitter, Brown Bear, Basske, Mike Who, Adrian Gidaro, Pablo Calamari free 7pm
Gotham, Darlinghurst Meem free 8pm
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Drop Paris Wells, Benjalu, Somatic, Bentley free 8pm Venue 505, Surry Hills Eastside Live at 505 Alphamama, DJ Taline $10-$15 7.30pm
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Matrix & Futurebound (UK), Glovecats,
Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Hobogestapo, Starjumps, Kristy Lee, Isbjorn, Stoney Roads $10 8pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Gold Fields, Millions, Conics $12 (+ bf) 8pm The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham Sunday Dub Club Champion Sound $5 (early bird)–$10 9pm
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12 Annandale Hotel 360 $15 (+ bf) 12pm all ages 8pm
Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Fred P aka Black Jazz Consortium (USA), Ken Cloud, Simon Caldwell $20 11pm Paved Way Warehouse Inxec, Robbie Low, SASH DJs The Spice Cellar, Martin Place House Inspection pres. Spring Music After Party International Guest (Italy), Nic Scali, Marc Jarvin $20 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Shivers, James Taylor, Telefunken, Matttt, Trent Rackus, Brendan Fing, Johnny Rad, Foundation, Adam Bozetto, Pipemix, Ra Bazaar, Astrix Little, The Jackal, Nate Perry $15$20 10pm
360
BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 55
snap
wham!
PICS :: DM
up all night out all week . . .
hot damn
PICS :: SW
29:10:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
anthony shake shakir
PICS :: KC
27:10:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245
29:10:11 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney
PICS :: AM
evil nine
party profile
meem
28:10:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958
It’s called: Meem – Monsters Don’t Sleep OK! album launch It sounds like: A Meemiverse of funk, disco, hip hop, soul, reggae, rocksteady, beats, African, Latin, RnB and boogi e. Who’s spinning? Meem! (Four-hour DJ set) Sell it to us: Funkdafied presents Meem, playin g album tracks (featuring Mr Scruff, Roots Manuva, Raashan Ahmad) plus unreleased exclusives, edits, originals and underground party classics. The party's celebrating the launch of the limited edition perspex monster CD – there were only 200 made, so be quick to grab one! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Finally finding a get-down party in Sydney with loose dancers, good people and great music. Crowd specs: Fans of funky music that are up for a party in an intimate venue with a great vibe. Wallet damage: Free! Where: Gotham / 35 Oxford St
zu zu mamou
PICS :: AM
strike 29:10:11 :: GoodGod :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 9267 3787 56 :: BRAG :: 437: 07:11:11
PICS :: AM
When: Friday November 11
29:10:11 :: Strike Bowling :: King St Wharf Darling Harbour 1300 787 453 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS PEACHY :: GEORGE POPOV :: SAM WHITESIDE :: NS :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUN
ROI. CRM. B2B. KPI. WTF. LOL. XMAS PARTIES AT STRIKE BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL 1300 STRIKE (1300 787 453)
FIND US ON
BRAG :: 437 :: 07:11:11 :: 57
snap
PICS :: DM
28:10:11 :: Kings Cross Hotel :: 248 William St Darlinghurst 2010 9331 9900
hold tight
PICS :: KC
27:10:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
rakaa
It’s called: WHAM! It sounds like: A lion making love to a tiger on a beach in South America, with a dude playing Spanish guitar in the background. Who’s spinning? James Taylor & MC Shure shock, Wax Motif, Ben Morris, Illya, Mike Who, Discopunx, Miss Gabb y, Foundation, Boonie, Jo Gadget, Richie Carter, Daigo, Temnein Three songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘Ante Up!’ – M.O.P; ‘Dance Me’ – Riva Starr; ‘Battle For Middle You’ – Julio Bashm ore. And one you definitely won’t: Anything by Guetta Sell it to us: Some of Sydney’s finest select ors spread thicker than crunchy peanut butter across the delicious white bread that is our fourroom club! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Nothing! Just a club stamp and a warm fuzzy feeling like you just met God. Crowd specs: Ice-cold cool kids who know how to
party!
Wallet damage: $15 before 10pm / $20 after Where: The World Bar / 24 Bayswater Rd, Kings Cross When: Every Saturday from 8pm
PICS :: KC
29:10:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711
wham! party profile
propaganda
halloween@fbi social
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
hernan cattaneo
PICS :: AM
29:10:11 :: The Gaelic Theatre :: 64 Devonshire St Surry Hills 92111687
the cool room
PICS :: TW
29:10:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958
27:10:11 :: Australian Brewery :: 350 Annangrove Rd Rouse Hill 9679 4555 58 :: BRAG :: 437: 07:11:11
:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: THOMAS PEACHY :: GEORGE POPOV :: SAM WHITESIDE :: NS MUN IEL :: ASHLEY MAR :: DAN
“The most bat-shit, off the wall, pop-culture laden, balls-out, mental game we’ve played this year. 9/10 ” - Hyper #218
“Buckle up for the most electrifying white-knuckle thrill ride of your gaming life. 9/10 ” - Official PlayStation Magazine - Australia
15TH NOVEMBER Strong sexual and crime themes, violence and coarse language, Gaming experience may change online.
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