The Brag #439

NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

FEATURING

(LIVE)

F R I D AY

2 5 T H

N O V E M B E R

HORDERN PAVILION

FRIDAY MARCH 30 RESERVED SEATING 132 849 or ticketek.com.au

enmore theatre

friday march 30 132 849 or ticketek.com.au

ON SALE FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 Presented by Michael Coppel I briansetzer.com I g3tour.com I satriani.com I vai.com I stevelukather.net I coppel.com.au

TRIPLE J, YEN & THE VINE.COM.AU PRESENT

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FEIST TUESDAY 7 FEB

ENMORE THEATRE PRO UDLY PRES ENTE D BY

(AA)

TICKETS ON SALE THU 24 NOVEMBER 9AM LANEWAYFESTIVAL.COM.AU/SIDESHOWS

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12 THE DRUMS

12 CULTS

TRIPLE J & FASTERLOUDER PRESENT

THE DRUMS

AND

CULTS

WEDNESDAY 8 FEB . ENMORE THEATRE AA ON SALE 9AM, WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

12 ANNA CALVI

ANNA CALVI YEN & THEVINE.COM.AU PRESENT

12

12 TWIN SHADOW

TWIN SHADOW FBI & PEDESTRIAN.TV PRESENT

WED 8 FEB . METRO THEATRE 18+ MON 6 FEB . OXFORD ART FACTORY 18+ ON SALE 9AM, WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

12 M83

ON SALE 9AM, FRIDAY 18 NOVEMBER

12 WU LYF

FBI & PEDESTRIAN.TV PRESENT

M83 THU 9 FEB

METRO THEATRE 18+

ON SALE 9AM, FRI 18 NOV

PROUD LY PRESE NTED BY

FBI & PEDESTRIAN.TV PRESENT

WU LYF MON 6 FEB

METRO THEATRE 18+

ON SALE 9AM, FRI 18 NOV

12 GLASSER

YOUNG TURKS, FBI & PEDESTRIAN.TV PRESENT

GLASSER WED 8 FEB

THE STANDARD 18+

ON SALE 9AM, FRI 18 NOV

LANEWAYFESTIVAL.COM.AU/SIDESHOWS BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 5

F

estival album of the month

CATCH HEADLINING STEREOSONIC THIS MONTH Sydney : Nov 26 Perth : Nov 27 Melbourne : Dec 3 Adelaide : Dec 3 Brisbane : Dec 4

Handpicked by the worlds biggest Trance DJ, Armin Van Buuren, we bring you the sixth instalment in the A STATE OF TRANCE - CLASSICS. This collector’s edition features 4 CDs of all the original and un mixed tracks, perfect for DJ mixing ! Including some of the all time Trance masterpieces from the likes of ARMIN VAN BUUREN : TIESTO : FAITHLESS : FERRY CORSTEN : ABOVE & BEYOND : MARCO V : ATB : RANK 1 : THRILLSEEKERS : 4 STRINGS plus many more !

The biggest end of year Hardstyle compilation is back & bigger than ever, with 100 of the most thumpin hardstyle releases from 2011. Expertly mixed into a nonstop party, this 2 CD set is a must have for any of the Hardstyle massive that were in attendance at the 40,000 strong DEFQON1 festival this year. Featuring tracks and remixes from SHOWTEK : TONESHIFTERZ NOISECONTROLLERS TECHNOBOY : ZANY B-FRONT : THE PITCHER : WILDSTYLEZ BRENNAN HEART : FRONTLINER : ZATOX : D-BLOCK & S-TE-FAN : SLIM SHORE plus many more !

The biggest hardcore tracks of 2011 all together in one well priced 2 CD package. This continuous DJ mix is the perfect collector’s item for any hardcore fan. Including tracks and remixes from the likes of NEOPHYTE DJ PROMO : THE VIPER : ENDYMION D-CEPTOR : ANGERFIST : OPHIDIAN MADDOG and many more !

The biggest dance act in the world are back with their next studio album, THE BIG MASH UP. Featuring an exclusive bonus SUCK MY MEGAMIX – The longest scooter single in the world!

This 2 CD collector’s edition, features the singles, DAVE DOESN’T EAT & the new smash, It’s A Biz (Ain’t Nobody) Scooter are masters of the art – few bands come close to their rigorous approach and the results speak for themselves. Hence the apt album title: THE BIG MASH UP. True to its name, the new opus highlights the strengths of Scooter’s modus operandi and is destined to match the success of its predecessors. This may be album number 15, but H.P. Baxxter, aided and abetted by Rick J. Jordan and Michael Simon has once again followed the unique Scooter formula to spectacular effect.

Mixed by Aussie Hardstyle Legends, TONESHIFTERZ and CODE BLACK (EX BIOWEAPON), this world exclusive collector’s edition is the first in a series of handpicked & expertly mixed dancefloor weapons from the masters of harder styles ! Featuring Tracks and remixes from TONESHIFTERZ : ZANY : SHOWTEK : THE PITCHER NOISECONTROLLERS : THE PITCHER : B-FRONT WILDSTYLEZ HEADHUNTERZ : D-BLOCK & S-TE-FAN SUAE & PULSAR !

Instores 16th Dec 6 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

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BUY NOW AT

TUE 6 DEC

GUY SEBASTIAN

DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY LAUNCH

THUR 5 JAN

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SPECIAL GUEST: RUBY ROSE

UPSTAIRS BERESFORD.COM.AU 8 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

LEVEL 1, 354 BOURKE ST. SURRY HILLS

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

BIG DAY OUT PRESENTS

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BIG DAY OUT PRESENTS

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

CLOSURE IN MOSCOW

FRIDAY 27 JANUARY, THE HORDERN TICKETS: WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE TICKETS: THE VENUE, ENMORETHEATRE.COM.AU, 9500 3666, TICKETEK 132 849 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

BIG DAY OUT presents

GIRL TALK

with special guests

MON 23 JAN, THE ENMORE

TICKETS: WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849, ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

Sat 28 Jan Enmore Theatre All Ages

Supported by Triple M

BIG DAY OUT presents

BATTLES WED

JAN

25

MANNING BAR

AUSTRALIA 2012

TICKETS: WWW.MANNINGBAR.COM, WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

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Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

BIG DAY OUT PRESENTS

THE VASCO ERA

WEDNESDAY 25 JANUARY METRO THEATRE TICKETS: WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM, WWW.METROTHEATRE.COM.AU & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

TUE 24 JAN THE ENMORE TICKETS: WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849, ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

BIG DAY OUT PRESENTS

RÖYKSOPP WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

FRI 27 JAN 2012 : THE ENMORE

TICKETS: WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849 & ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

TICKETS: ENMORE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666, WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM proudly supported by

Tuesday 24 January Metro Theatre TICKETS: WWW.METROTHEATRE.COM.AU, & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

SAT 28 JAN OXFORD ART FACTORY TICKETS: WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU, 1300 438 849 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM

TICKETS: WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM & THE USUAL OUTLETS

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THE FUTURE OF MUSIC IS HERE WITH THE SAMSUNG MUSIC HUB THE SAMSUNG MUSIC HUB is a totally new and exciting way of accessing and listening to music via ‘the cloud’. Now you can ‘stream’ music to compatible Samsung devices*. It’s a revolutionary step in making a connection between music and devices like never before.

ENTER THE HUB AND: ACCESS MILLIONS OF SONGS: Enjoy so much music it will blow your mind. Create more playlists than you could listen to in an entire lifetime.

MUSIC VIDEOS: Coming soon** The Hub has access to over 10,000+ on-demand HD music clips with stereo sound for all 2011 Smart AV devices. Now your lounge room will become the dance floor.

AUTO SYNC: Create a playlist on one device and

FOLLOW ME FEATURE: Samsung Music Hub will remember which playlist and track you were up to, so if you stop playing on one device and resume on another, it will pick up from the start of the last track played.

SMART CACHING: Available for Samsung GALAXY Tablets and Samsung GALAXY Smartphones. This allows you to download music from Samsung Music Hub and then store up to 500 tracks and play it locally without the need to be connected continuously to a network.

then play it on another.

DISCOVERY FEATURE: The Hub offers an intelligent MULTIPLE PLATFORMS: The Premium service works across all 5 Samsung devices featured below.

suggestion tool, in-depth discography, extensive artists information and a fast search functionality. Searching and finding has never been so fun and easy.

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WITH SAMSUNG, MUSIC JUST GOT INFINITELY BETTER. samsungmusichub.com.au * Access to all four platforms & web browser PC available on Premium service from December 2011. ** Available in December 2011 on Samsung 2011 Model Smart TV’s, Smart Blu-ray & Smart Home Theatre Systems. *** Downloaded application, signed up for Mobile, activate before January 31, 2012.

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Share songs, chat about music and more with your friends on BBM.™ Only on the new BBM Music. Only on BlackBerry® BBM Music users can create a 50-song profile to share with their friends.

The more BBM Music friends you have, the more songs you can listen to.

You can take a peek at your friends’ playlists, chat about music over BBM, tag your favorite tunes, and more.

With all that great music to discover, play, and talk about, your BlackBerry smartphone is the only music player you’ll need to connect with your friends on a whole new level.

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*New BBM Music users only. May not be combined with other offers. Payment information required to receive full trial period. Following trial user placed into automatically renewing monthly subscription plan unless cancelled before end of trial period. Limited time introductory offer may vary by BlackBerry device or carrier. Additional charges may apply. Subject to change. See au.blackberry.com/bbmmusic for complete details and restrictions. © 2011 Research In Motion Limited. All rights reserved. BlackBerry®, RIM®, Research In Motion® and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of Research In Motion Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world

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

five things WITH

DAVID FROM NANTES different styles of music, but we share a love for key artists.

The Music You Make We make a range of different music; 4. alternative, rock, pop, electronic etc. So far, we’ve only released a debut EP, which we recorded with our good friend and producing genius Simon Todkill at 301 Studios in Sydney.

Our live show consists of loud heavy noise, big beats, and fun times.

Music, Right Here, Right Now There are more bands than ever right 5. now in the local music scene – there’s a lot going on. I recently saw Dappled Cities and they blew me away, such a great band doing really good things. Sydney and Australia are really starting to make a stand in the global music industry.

Growing Up There was quite an interesting blend of 1. music being played when I was a kid; my

Inspirations Radiohead are one of the first bands I 2. really got into; I would always come back to

siblings would usually control what we’d be listening to, and it would involve anything from rave to rap to Top 40 hits. My parents, on the other hand, had fairly good taste in music, so things from the ‘60s and ‘70s would be hovering around everywhere – which I think is what got me into music.

them, and I still do. They pretty much sum up exactly what I want to be as a music creator: a band that can keep on creating new and exciting things, as opposed to having one sound and style and burning out after two albums. And Joy Division really inspired me to start to write my own music. The first time I

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy

PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com 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

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.

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Your Crew We’re just a bunch of dudes who are into 3. music. We’ve been friends since school, and it’s what draws us to one another. We all like

week – in which another 78 acts were added to an already bloated bill. Joining Gotye, Dum Dum Girls, Xavier Rudd, Salmonella Dub, Stanton Warriors, LTJ Bukem, Graveyard Train, Nantes, Eagle & The Worm and about a thousand more are 78 others, including Elizabeth Rose, Fantine, Gemma Ray, The Paper Kites, Toucan, Rainbow Chan and Monk Fly. The festival is being held from December 29 to January 1 at Glenworth Valley, and tickets are still on sale.

FUTURE OF THE LEFT

As we’ve mentioned before in this revered newspaper (and yes this counts as proper news; sometimes we even call ourselves ‘journalists’ and say things like “stop the presses!” and “oh boy, I’ve got a story that’ll bust this town wide open!”), mclusky’s ‘To Hell With Good Intentions’ is one of the greatest songs ever to be a song – so when that band disbanded and rebranded as Future Of The Left, we started following them around like a nervous suitor. That trail will lead us to their show at the Annandale Hotel on Thursday December 8, where they’ll be supported by Dead Farmers and Yes, I’m Leaving (excellent name).

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Cai Griffin,Katrina Clarke, Lucy Rimmer Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachey, George Popov, Sam Whiteside, Tim Whitney 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

heard Unknown Pleasures was somewhat of a no-going-back kind of moment. It’s when I really decided that that was what I was going to do; no matter if I fail, I am going to be a songwriter.

BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY AUSTRALIAN TOUR

What: Nantes EP is out now With: Gotye, Dum Dum Girls, Salmonella Dub, Xavier Rudd, Stanton Warriors, LTJ Bukem, Jim Ward, The Holidays, Oh Mercy, Canyons, Hermitude, Passenger, Husky, Graveyard Train Eagle & The Worm and heaps more Where: Peats Ridge Festival @ Glenworth

Valley When: December 29 – January 1

100% LUCKY BORIS ACTION, OK!!

Japanese four-piece Boris blew some faces off when they last travelled out here for Vivid Sydney in 2010. They’ve been playing heavy, head-splitting music since the early-‘90s and will continue to do so as long as we keep pretending Linkin Park are a metal band – and they are Japanese, which makes them extremely hooky even despite themselves, and gloriously odd (Is that racist? A bit, even? Phone in!). March 22 at the Metro Theatre is when and where Boris will embark upon Sydney again, with their Godzillalike wall of sound (Ok, that one was, a bit…).

Bring earplugs.

DRESDEN DOLLS TOUR

The Dresden Dolls, comprised of longtime members Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione (aka that guy who isn’t Amanda Palmer), are bringing their reunion tour to Australia, where fans can rejoice at their mix of Brechtian punk cabaret and maybe-I’ll-just-put-the-knife-over-here creepy chamber-pop. January 7, Enmore Theatre, and tickets on sale right about now.

Foster The People

Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, is one of those infuriating artists who, sixteen albums into his career, just keeps getting better and better (this year’s Wolfroy Goes To Town is an absolute gem; head to page 40 for our review). And it’s not like his first album was filled with Creed covers or the odd guest appearance by Creed or anything; he started awesome and kept getting better. We will be jealously glaring at him during his no doubt excellent show, which is set for Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on March 5.

Tickets on sale now.

KURT VILE SECOND SHOW

The good thing about Kurt Vile is his voice and his songs and his face and his hair and his name and all of his albums. So if any of that sounds appealing, you might want to get along to the second Sydney show they just announced. The Philadelphian singer-songwriter sold out his first Oxford Art Factory show so completely that we had to beg to send a reviewer along, so the always-fabulous Mistletone added a second show for December 7 at the Red Rattler – which, if you haven’t been there, is exactly like the Black Lodge on Twin Peaks, but with less backwardsspeaking dwarfs (depending on the occasion, of course). Tickets on sale through Moshtix now.

PEATS RIDGE MK 3

If you were at Harvest last weekend, reveling in the fact that a festival existed where adults stayed pleasant, wore muted clothing and watched the bands like civilised human beings, you’ll already have heard about the third lineup announcement Peats Ridge offered late last

BIG DAY OUT SIDESHOWS

As soon as they’re announced, the BDO sideshows become just that much realer, don’t they? Imagine, for instance, pumping up your kicks with Foster The People at the Enmore Theatre on January 25; joining My Chemical Romance’s oh-so-Black Parade when it hits the Hordern on January 27; blissing out so hard to Röyksopp that you get kicked out of The Enmore on January 27; sharing the intimate Manning Bar with your bestie Best Coast on January 25; getting kicked by Hodgy Beats when he thrashes around the moshpit at Odd Future’s Enmore show on January 24; being zinged by a one-liner from Noel Gallagher (and his High Flying Birds) at The Enmore Theatre on January 23; admiring Tom Meighan’s hair from front of the Hordern when Kasabian hit it on January 24; or causing a peculiar ruckus at The Enmore on January 28, after you mistook Cage The Elephant’s band name for literal instructions. All tickets go on sale on Monday November 28, and don’t worry your pretty little heads – more will be announced soon enough.

Q Bar + Phoenix Vegas + Spectrum

GIG OF THE WEEK SAT 26TH NOV 8PM $20/$25

FRI 25TH NOV 10PM $10

Destroy All Lines Presents

WED 23RD NOV 8PM

FRI 25TH NOV 9PM $25

THURS 24TH NOV 8PM $15/$20

Ladyhawke !

The Hellfire Club

Destroy All Lines

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WITH DJ’S

Playing Live

House vs Hurricane The Bride Missouri Breaks Dangerous Hot Damn DJ’s

SIDEWAYS FRIDAYS DETNUM MANJAZZ PAPER CRANES MINIMAL, TECHNO, TECH HOUSE

FRI 25TH NOV 8PM $15/$20

Mission in Motion Strangers The Salvagers Divide & Conquer

Jack Shit Sveta Karl Anderson

SAT 26TH NOV 11:30PM $10

PROM Short Stack Wake the Giants Strickland The Atlantis

SAT 26TH NOV 10PM $15 Steve & Matt present

Piss Up with

Matt Vaughan & Stephen Alkins

P*A*S*H INDIE,RETRO, ROCK&ROLL

SAT 26TH NOV 5AM $15 SUN 27TH NOV 5AM $15

AFTER DAY CLUB

COMERICIAL HOUSE TILL THE SUN RISES AND THEN SOME

M d - Friday F id Monday 10am - Late Saturday - Sunday 9am - 6am Sunday Recovery 9am – late Happy Hour 5-7 every day

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 15

rock music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said WITH

CRAIG FROM MESSRS and led to me playing bass guitar or something? My parents were into the usual stuff parents liked at the time, like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits etc. They certainly weren’t musicians in any way, though.

I don’t have any particular favourite musicians as such.

I’m generally influenced by whatever I’m listening to and enjoying around the time of writing a song. Sometimes that’s new music, sometimes it’s old music; it’s really variable. I get a lot of inspiration when good things start to happen for the band – that really inspires all of us to keep going, and to try to make better music.

T

he first piece of music I purchased was ‘Do The Bartman’ by Bart Simpson, on Cassingle. I freaking loved it, but promptly moved onto getting myself a copy of Michael Jackson’s Bad, and

started watching a VHS version of Moonwalker on a daily basis. I don’t think that had any adverse affects on me, but my favourite song was ‘Smooth Criminal’, which had a killer bassline – maybe that seeped into my head

Teeth And Tongue

We’d all known each other for ages before we started the band, back in primary school and high school. We kind of kept in touch after school through surfing all the time, and then eventually decided to start making music, for almost no reason! Everyone comes from their own musical backgrounds; our singer Josh was really into punk in his youth, and everyone else has been into everything,

Stein (remember Waikiki?) and her brother Joel, the band have mastered the dark, sultry, sexy rock jam thing – and they do it even better live.

They’re heading around the country at the end of this month on their first national tour since September 2009, will be hitting The Standard on Saturday December 10, and have just announced their supports: Step-Panther (who were hands down incredible at GoodGod last Thursday), and Steve Smyth, who’s been based in London for a while but is back to tell the tales.

MATT CORBY THIS WEEK

D’ya know who has an amazing voice? Matt Corby. “Isn’t he the one from Idol, blah blah” – yeah we are way past Idol-bashing, surely...

Triple j just added his excellent track ‘Brother’ to rotation, and his EP Into The Flame was released last Friday – so it makes sense for him to play Thursday November 24 at Oxford Art Factory, and it makes even more sense for you to come along.

ELECTRELANE TOUR

TEETH AND TONGUE AND SONGS

There’s something perfect about the duality of boy/girl two-pieces, which exposes all those four-piece male rock groups for the testosterone-fuelled sausage-fests that they are (sorry, every band ever!) – and on Friday December 2, GoodGod Small Club are hosting two of the finest boy/girl lineups this side of that white stripe. Melbourne’s 505-driven minimalists Teeth And Tongue will be joining Sydney’s droney Songs for a double-headlining show that will end up with you drunkenly calling your bassplayer to eject him from the band again.

JACK COLWELL

Dark, orchestral singer-songwriter Jack Colwell knows that when he’s performing in Sydney, the best way to do it is to play at Low Bar with Bridezilla’s lovely Daisy M Tulley, so he’s organised for that exact thing to happen on Wednesday November 23. Jack Colwell & The Owls will be launching the new single ‘Hopechest’ – which may or may not be the name of his debut album too, which is due out for release some time next year…

HOWLING BELLS ANNOUNCE SUPPORTS

This year’s The Loudest Engine didn’t get as much attention as it deserved, but in our opinion Howling Bells never do. Led by Juanita 16 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

from metal to acoustic stuff. I think since we started the band, our own musical output has probably informed what we are listening to.

I guess the music we make can broadly be described as indie-dance-punk – similar to bands like Foals, Cut Copy, Friendly Fires etc. We record all of our stuff at home using our own ramshackle mix of equipment. We produce it up to the best level we can get on our own, and then once that’s done we send it over to our producer, Yama Indra (G.L.O.V.E.S). We chat to him about the track and he really helps us finish it off, fixing up all the mistakes we made along the way and making it a lot better! When we play live we put a lot of energy into it, while still trying to play the songs as good as possible. It’s a fine line!

What: ‘Everyone Knows’ is out now Where: Upstairs @ The Beresford When: Saturday November 26

and will get the chance to do just that this Friday November 25, when they hit Oxford Art Factory with support from Zowie.

DONNY BENET DOESN’T HOLD BACK

Australia’s favourite funk machine Donny Benét is heading around Australia with a new video, tour and carry on luggage for ‘Sophisticated Lover’, the second single from his first album, this year’s Don’t Hold Back.

Also, not to undermine his wonderful album or the hookiness of this single, but the Knight Rider car is in the video clip! The Knight Rider car! Let’s talk about it at his awesome show on Friday December 2 at FBi Social, where Erik Omen and Sunsun are totally supporting.

BLUESFEST MK II

Remember a few weeks ago when we told you about how Roger Daltrey, Earth Wind & Fire, The Pogues, My Morning Jacket, Yes, Steve

GUINEAFOWL

Sydney-based Guineafowl have had a pretty big year. They got a new drummer, signed to Dangerbird Records, and toured the States in celebration of the US launch of their debut EP, Hello Anxiety. Their already mammoth year is about to get even larger as they set out on their huge ‘The Lie Is’ national tour, in support of their new single of the same name. They’re bringing Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! and Glass Tours to Sydney’s hottest new venue The Standard on Friday November 25, and the BRAG have three double pass up for grabs. If you wanna get your hands on one, just tell us to which continent the Guineafowl bird is a native.

MISFITS

Eye liner, mohawks and Misfits; it doesn’t get more punk than that. And while the hipsters have traded their eyeliner for thickrimmed glasses and their mohawks for quiffs, the Misfits have continued to rock harder than any other band ever. Their latest album Devil’s Rain is no exception to the rule, and the boys are bringing their heavy-metal-horror-punk-rock Down Under to celebrate. They play Manning Bar on Thursday December 1 – and if you’d like to head along, just tell us the name of a current member of the band.

Vai & Steve Lukather, G3 (feat. Joe Satriani) and a bunch more were playing next year’s Bluesfest near Byron? And you got so excited you choked on your nachos? Well put down that taco (and stop eating so much crap), because they’ve just rolled out another list of names headed by Crosby Stills & Nash, The Specials, Lucinda Williams, John Hiatt, Donovan, Seasick Steve, Alabama 3 and a heap more. Yikes. The 23-year-old festival is being held from April 5-9 (Easter weekend) at the Tyagarah Tea tree Farm just outside Byron, and single day tickets are now on sale, along with the 5-day and 3-day varieties.

CORRECTION: SUBSONIC MUSIC FESTIVAL IS 18+

In The Big Ticket National Festival Guide 2011/2012, on page 50, Subsonic Music Festival is tagged as an All-Ages event. This is in fact an 18+ only event. The Big Ticket apologises for the error made.

Have you ever noticed that when you get a group of boys together and they’re all drinking, there’s this stigma attached to being drunk after only two or three drinks – as if the ability to drink copious amounts of expensive drinks without feeling the effects is somehow a good thing? Anyways, those UK legends of intimacy and innovation Electrelane are bringing their Farisfa-infused, Krautrock pop stylings to Sydney for the first time, stopping in on March 22 at Manning Bar, Sydney University.

(If you’re curious about the segue, the uni bar reminded me of packs of boys drinking, which led to that other thing... Ya’know…)

Feist

KEEP ROLLINS, ROLLINS, ROLLINS, ROLLINS

Trying to pin any logical trajectory to Henry Rollins’ scattered career makes as much scientific sense as holding a threaded needle over a pregnant girl’s abdomen and believing that if it spins clockwise, she’ll have a boy. He released a collection of essays, took photos in Burma and Bangladesh, hosted a weekly radio show, hosted a show about owners of exotic pets, and hung out in Haiti with earthquake-survivors. Now he is heading to Australia in April (25, 26 at The York Theatre, Seymour Centre) to talk about it all for his The Long March spoken word tour. And tickets are on sale now.

STRANGE TALK

Strange Talk have done a few things this year. They’ve released a self-titled EP, toured Australia, reached #1 on Billboard Uncharted for ‘Climbing Walls’, hit the #1 ‘most blogged’ spot on Hype Machine for the same track, hung out in the Mojave desert outside LA making a film clip for it, and watched as said clip became YouTube’s #1 most viewed Aussie music video. You probably want to buy them a congratulatory drink or something,

LANEWAY SIDESHOWS ANNOUNCED

Laneway Festival finally announced their sideshows last week, and apart from a few sad clashes, it’s looking pretty good. There’s some that already went on sale, like Laura Marling’s show at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House on February 9, Glasser’s show at The Standard on February 8, M83 at The Metro on February 9, Twin Shadow at Oxford Art Factory on February 6, Wu Lyf at the Metro on February 6, Girls @ OAF on February 2 and Yuck & EMA, who are both playing at OAF on February 9. Then there are a few that go on sale on Wednesday November 23, like Anna Calvi at the Metro on February 3, and The Drums & Cults co-headline gig at the Enmore on February 8. Oh, and you can try to hug Feist at the Enmore on February 7, if you pick up a ticket this Thursday.

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The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR * At a press conference at the Whiskey A Go Go in LA, the reunited Black Sabbath told Triple M’s Renee Peterson that they want to tour Australia. “It’s been a long time since the original band was in Australia, so I think it’s a must,” one of them said. * The decision by three-fifths of The Angels to play a run of pubs with Screaming Jets singer Dave Gleeson and drummer Nick Norton in tow has aroused the ire of singer Doc Neeson and drummer Buzz Bidstrup.

They say it contravenes a decision made by members not to play just pub gigs. Gleeson, meantime, is reveling in singing their songs:

GOOGLE MUSIC Google’s new music store Google Music took its time coming, but it’s finally ready to take on Apple’s iTunes; it launched last week with eight million tracks (13 million shortly) from over a thousand content partners. Universal, EMI and Sony Music were signed up at the last minute (they’re still chatting to Warner), and hundreds of indies including Merlin IODA and The Orchard are involved. Users can load up to 20,000 tracks to the cloud. Music sharing is a keystone to Google Music; users can stream their music from any web browser, and their friends get one free listen of a shared song. On Google+, the song is posted and streamed on the same page. Unsigned bands can upload content (for US$25) and sell their music directly to consumers, keeping 70% of revenue.

Google is stressing exclusive content, with live releases from Shakira and Dave Matthews Band coming out for free, and Coldplay offering a free track. The launch last week was in a warehouse in Los Angeles beneath a piece of graffiti that declared ‘Life Is Beautiful’.

SONY SIGNS TIMOMATIC Sony Music Australia has announced its latest signing. Timomatic (aka Tim Omaji) emerged on So You Think You Can Dance and Australia’s Got Talent, and this month releases his debut single ‘Set It Off’, made with buzz production team DNA. Omaji, who gained the nickname for his hip hop dancing, started out doing MJ impersonations at shows by his family’s band. At 17, he scored a part-time position as artistic director and choreographer of a dance company in Canberra.

AMY MEREDITH Amy Meredith signed an international management deal with America’s Vector Management, who look after Kings Of Leon as well as Kesha, Kid Rock, Dierks Bentley and, once, Bon Jovi. They remain represented in Australia by Matthew Emsell. The band has parted ways with Sony Music; their new single ‘Pick Up Tricks’ comes via MGM.

CREEPS TO VILLAGE SOUNDS Psychedelia-glam band Kill City Creeps have joined the Village Sounds booking agency.

They are the first to join since Village Sounds merged with Atlas Agency. Kill City Creeps have a residency this month at the Upstairs Beresford, and their cut ‘I Got A Letter’ is available through their bandcamp site.

FUTURE CLASSIC & GUNG HO Future Classic has signed Brisbane band Gung Ho. Put together by Mike McAlary and Oliver Duncan, the act was quickly

when The Angels first hit with ‘Take A Long Line’, he was just a choirboy in school in Newcastle. This lineup looks like it’ll be heading into Alberts Studios to do some recording. * Justin Bieber did some shopping when visiting Yorkshire in the UK – but it wasn’t all puddings and flat caps. Instead, he forked out £100,000 (A$155,000) on a “Project Kahn” customised Range Rover made in the area, to ship back to America. It comes with a £50,000 sound system. * An unreleased Michael Jackson documentary goes to auction in London this month, and is expected to raise over £4 million. Jackson filmed the Argentine show championed by triple j after releasing a single ‘Twin Rays’ – and over the weekend, Gung Ho played Harvest Festival Brisbane, after winning the triple j unearthed competition.

Gung Ho have a double A-side 7-inch vinyl release coming out soon.

DOOF DOOF KILLS FLIPPER A dolphin died after a two-day rave was allowed to be held yards away from the Connyland marine park in Lipperswil, Switzerland, despite protests from animal activists. Shadow, an eight-year-old dolphin, appeared very distressed and disoriented after the event, and was later found dead.

[V] ANNOUNCES FINAL FOUR Channel [V] announced the four finalists of its [V] Oz Artist award on The Riff over the weekend. Whittled down from 50 are rapper 360, Guy Sebastian, New Empire and Short Stack. Viewers cast their votes at vmusic. com.au, with the winner revealed live during The Riff on Saturday December 10, at 10.30am.

HI-FI COMES TO SYDNEY The Hi-Fi venue brand will arrive at the Entertainment Quarter next year, at the site of The Forum, which closed eight months ago. Opening in Melbourne in 1997, the live music venue expanded to Brisbane in 2009.

The Hi-Fi Group said, “The Hi-Fi Sydney features the Hi-Fi archetypal characteristics of cutting edge sound, lighting & production systems, plus unmatched sightlines, providing the ultimate live music experience for our patrons.”

AUSSIES PROTEST OVER COBRA STARSHIP VIDEO Cobra Starship’s video for ‘You Make Me Feel Like’ received complaints from two West Australian health groups. Cancer Council WA and the McCusker Centre For Action On Alcohol And Youth were angered by product placement scenes of young clubbers drinking Midori in the video, which is screened on TV during time slots when kids are watching.

The complaints were dismissed by the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code’s complaints panel, on the grounds that the video is not an advertisement.

18 AUSTRALIAN ACTS INVITED TO SXSW The first 18 Australian acts invited to showcase at South By Southwest in Austin Texas in March have been announced. They are Oh Mercy, Little Red, Gotye, Big Scary, The Black Ryder, The Art, Lanie Lane, The

of his Dangerous world tour in 1993, but was so pissed off with its quality that he sacked the film crew and refused to release it. He gave it instead to his chauffeur as a thankyou, who is now selling it off. * Cold Chisel had to get special permission for their chartered flight to and from their November 26 gig at Margaret River.

Because of strict noise regulations and the curfew at Busselton airport, the request had to be granted by WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion. In the meantime, at their Wodonga show on the weekend, authorities closed off the Lincoln Causeway for three hours so that 12,500 fans could get to and from the gig.

Vasco Era, Emma Louise, Electric Jellyfish, The Chevelles, Bliss N Eso, Kimbra, Dead Letter Circus, Pets With Pets, The Grates, Sparkadia and Grace Woodroofe. Whether they play there now depends on their recording/ touring schedules, and if they can get the money together in time. A further eight New Zealand acts were also invited: Tim Finn, Force Fields, Electric Wire Hustle, Cut Off Your Hands, Popstrangers, Cairo Knife Fight and Avalanche City.

UNEARTHED NOMINEES The five nominees for the J Award’s Unearthed Artist Of The Year are Ball Park Music, Emma Louise, Husky, Lanie Lane and San Cisco.

The award is presented November 30 at the J Award ceremony, along with Australian Album and Australian Video Of The Year. For more, head to triplej.net.au/jawards

NEW TALENT QUEST: UNSIGNED ONLY Unsigned Only is a new international music competition designed for solo acts, bands and singers who are not signed to a major record label or any of their affiliates. It is brought you by the same folks who run the International Songwriting Competition, but is totally independent of it. You can find more info at unsignedonly.com

ILLY GOES GOLD Illy’s hit single ‘It Can Wait’ featuring Owl Eyes, which is out through Obese Records, has been certified Gold by ARIA for selling 35,000 units.

FIRTH TAKES OUT JAZZ AWARDS Sydney-based drummer Tim Firth took out first prize of the National Jazz Awards, held as part of the Wangaratta Festival Of Jazz & Blues, which set a new record for its attendance by pulling $315,000 at the box office this year.

He won $8,000 and a recording contract.

Runners up were 25-year-old Ben Falle from Perth, and Sydney-based Dave Goodman, who came third.

JOHNS AND CHENEY FOR COLLARS, NOT CRUELTY Silverchair’s Daniel Johns and The Living End’s Chris Cheney have joined the World Society for the Protection of Animals’ 'Collars Not Cruelty' campaign. It aims to improve the lives of tens of thousands of street dogs around the globe. There is a competition to win an Epiphone Les Paul Studio guitar donated by The Gibson Foundation, and signed by both artists. Both shot videos for the campaign – which you can see on dollarsforcollars.org.au – and will judge the comp’s winner.

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Lifelines Split: British rapper Professor Green and actress Candy McCulloch (daughter of Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ian), after he refused to commit.

In Court: Mariah Yeater, 20, dropped her paternity suit against Justin Bieber when his lawyers threatened to counter-sue over her claim that he fathered her threemonth-old son.

Suing: Singer Dan Nelson wants US$2.5 million in compensation from Anthrax for being dumped after 18 months, during which time he recorded Worship Music with them.

Sued: Tricky, by his former manager Matt Willis, for £150,000 which he says is owed to him. They signed a threeyear deal last April, but Tricky sacked him this February to join Crown Management (Jessie J, Sugababes). Willis wants 20% of Tricky’s income until 2013.

Died: Montreal hip hop promoter Matt Dutch Garner and another man, in a fire in an apartment, which police are treating as a double homicide.

Died: Austin blues drummer and singer-songwriter Doyle Bramhall Sr., 62, of natural causes. He worked with Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughn. His son Doyle II played guitar with Eric Clapton from 2004 to 2009.

Died: Scottish singer-songwriter Jackie Leven, 61, cancer. He turned to heroin after his larynx was almost destroyed during a street mugging, and then set up an addiction centre. He released solo albums on Cooking Vinyl.

Died: Mark “Moogy” Klingman, keyboard player for Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, 61, from cancer. He was among those who popularised the Moog synthesiser.

Died: British reggae industry figure Bruce White, 68, from lung cancer. His London management and booking agency Commercial Entertainments looked after Desmond Dekker (‘Israelites’), and toured Jamaica’s reggae legends through Europe. He co-ran Creole Records and produced records.

RED DOG WINS IF AWARDS

Red Dog took seven awards at the Jameson IF Awards in Sydney, including the Best Music Category for Cezary Skubiszewski. The Best Music Video category went to ‘Magic’ by Olivia Newton-John and WACCI, directed by Dan Murphy and produced by WACCI.

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 19

GANG GANG DANCE

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts

By Chad Parkhill because I’ve really come to love the way that record sounds.”

Gang Gang Dance are no strangers to struggle. When I spoke with band leader Lizzie Bougatsos in 2008, she told me that the group has gone down “a very difficult path” – one that included a band member’s sudden death (vocalist Nathan Maddox was killed by lightning in 2002) and a dramatic bar shooting (ex-drummer Tim Dewit was injured in a botched holdup in 2008). Events since that interview haven’t exactly been easy going, either – in 2009, they lost all of their equipment in a nightclub fire, and drummer Tim Dewit left the group to be replaced by new skinsman Jesse Lee after repeatedly delaying the release of their 2010 EP, Kamakura. “I don’t want to get too into talking about it because it will come off as nasty,” DeGraw says of his ex-bandmate, “but basically, Tim reached the point where he wasn’t sure he wanted to be directly involved in the playing of the music – he wanted to be a producer. The more he got interested in that kind of thing, the more he’d lay off the drum kits and the other instruments, and he’d be in the room – listening, thinking about what could be done to the music that the rest of us were making. It became a little awkward.”

E

verything about Gang Gang Dance’s latest album screams ‘clarity’, from the stunninglydetailed cover image of a dew-encrusted insect (itself good enough reason to fork out for the vinyl version of the LP) to the clean synths and crisp cymbal patter that introduces the opening song, ‘Glass Jar’. Even the title, Eye Contact, is about the New York act’s newfound sense of being, well, wide-eyed; as the band’s keyboardist and sometimes DJ Brian DeGraw explained in an interview with Pitchfork, “This one felt wideeyed, as if we were just staring at the listener.” It seems apt, then, to start my own chat with DeGraw with the concept of clarity, and what it means to Gang Gang Dance.

“It’s been a goal for our whole existence, I think, to get that quality of recording – we’ve never really been able to do it,” DeGraw tells me. “We have a lot of albums,

but finding that balance between live sounds and recording in the studio – we’re not very good, to be honest, at the studio environment.

Playing through headphones, separation, and all that stuff is really difficult for us. So a lot of times we’ll start to record like that and we just won’t be able to do it, so we’ll switch to a more live setup – with just a couple of room mics – and that won’t sound good enough, so we go back to the headphones. It’s always pretty crazy. But this time somehow we got it to sound how we always imagined we wanted it to sound, by doing a mixture of a little bit of both.”

It’s not all in the recording techniques, as DeGraw admits; the shift from boutique label The Social Registry to indie heavyweight 4AD meant that the band had a larger budget, and therefore more studio time. “In the past we’ve been really rushed – we never had enough money to spend the proper amount of time

in the studio,” he explains. “We’re usually recording in the city in a really small space, and everyone lives in the city so there’s all this distraction. This time we made a conscious effort to spend a full month tracking and a full month mixing, and to be in a space where we have much more room than we normally have, and a more peaceful, calm environment.

And that, probably, is a bigger factor than any other.”

Eye Contact’s clarity is a revelation when compared with the heavy-lidded nature of the group’s other records, which can sometimes feel as though they were recorded through a thin film of incense smoke (or perhaps slightly less legal atmospheric pollutants…). But DeGraw is quick to acknowledge that he is equally fond of the old Gang Gang Dance sound. “Those records are what they are – they sound that way because those were the means we had to make them,” he says. “I actually really

like the sound of those records, I’m completely happy that they sound the way they do. Our first record was recorded straight to tape and it was all improvised, so the process wasn’t very thoughtout or involved – it was just kinda rolling the tape and improvising for two hours, then cutting out a couple of bits here and there, and that was just what it was. There were other records that were compiled from our practice tapes, and a lot of them were recorded on a boombox in our practice space.

“I think God’s Money [2005] was the first one that we actually wanted to make a less murky sound, a less muffled thing – but it didn’t really work out the way we wanted,” De Graw continues.

“I think that one is actually one of the most muffled. I came to really appreciate that, but at the time it was really frustrating – we wanted to make this really crisp, dynamic recording, but it didn’t work out.

In retrospect I’m glad it didn’t,

“I think has to do with having been in this city for so long. The closest we can get to making space is to do it through music, sort of stretch out and chill things out – because it’s not always an option here, to escape the chaos.”

The nightclub fire, too, left its mark on the band – and not just a financial one. “We had actually just come from a month out in the desert, in Joshua Tree, California, and we’d been writing songs there and recording demo versions,” DeGraw says. “Directly after that trip we went to Europe to start this tour, and it was the first show of the tour when the fire happened.

We didn’t really have a chance to back-up up the samples, so those songs were really gone – up in smoke somewhere. It was definitely tragic at the time, but coming out of it was so beautiful that I wouldn’t go back in time and have it not happen. The process of recovering from that was such a powerful thing that I wouldn’t change it.” DeGraw insists that the band isn’t keen to reconstruct the songs that were lost in the nightclub fire.

“We could do it, but I don’t know – we’re pretty sensitive to things like that happening, and we try to see some sort of message or… destiny, I guess. We believe in fate.”

DeGraw’s belief in the serendipity of accidents speaks to the band’s reputation as being a bastion of new-age romanticism in NYC’s gritty underground music scene.

“I can’t speak for everyone,” he says of the band’s interest in mysticism, “but I think a lot of it has to do with having been in this city for so long, and how exhausting it is – the need for space is so crucial, and it gets more and more crucial as we get older. The closest we can get sometimes to making that space is to do it through music, sort of stretch out and chill things out.

Because it’s not always an option here, to escape the chaos.”

What: Eye Contact is out now through 4AD/Remote Control Where: The Studio, Sydney Opera House When: Saturday December 10 More: Also playing Meredith Music Festival from Dec 9-11

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Kurt Vile And The Violators Nothing’s Outta Reach By Liam Pieper

It’s a sentiment that sums up the general reaction to the Philadelphian indie rocker perfectly. Since the release of his latest record, Smoke Ring For My Halo, music critics worldwide have been soiling themselves with excitement. Folksy, embittered, occasionally sneering Americana, his music fills the heart in the way that Bright Eyes’ does, but without the emo-ish stigma attached. Where Conor Oberst’s penchant for confessional lyrics can occasionally stray into onanistic territory, Vile is far more accessible.

In that way, he’s like a super-chilled out Bruce Springsteen (who he covers on his latest EP, So Outta Reach); an indie middle-American with a knack for finding the grandeur in U.S. life in a way that resonates worldwide. Less than two years ago he was driving a forklift for a living, and his music has a distinctly downto-earth vibe about it. In his recordings, as in

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person, he’s extremely relaxed, in the first flush of what looks to be a very exciting career. When I call him he’s in Portland, Oregon, on the eve of his first show with the Flaming Lips. Even after two and a half months of exhaustive touring in America and Europe, he’s clearly excited. “I can’t wait to meet them, to finally open for them,” he says. “They’re definitely one of the top five bands for me, and just a little while ago I couldn’t imagine doing it. I remember when Ariel Pink’s new record Before Today came out, I saw that he was opening up for the Flaming Lips, and I thought about how much I would love to have been invited to do that. Then it happens.”

It’s not surprising to hear Vile measure his trajectory against Ariel Pink’s. As often as critics compare his vocals to Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan or Tom Petty, they compare his intricate, delicately-tooled instrumentals to Pink, a fellow bedroom recorder. His super-wry lyrical observation takes himself to task as much as the world around him, delivering sentiments that are by turn sweet, bitter and thought provoking, all wrapped in perfectly constructed layers of lo-fi looped instruments. Listening to his album is like eating a lasagne, comfortingly familiar and exciting at once – you know what you’ll find between the layers, but it’s so much fun to experience it again.

“Think about the Rolling Stones. If you see them live, it’s a totally different experience to listening to their records. The music changes and evolves. I try to emulate that when we play live.”

Australian audiences are finally going to be able to see Kurt Vile live next month when he performs around the country for the first time, with his band The Violators in tow. He’s coming down to play Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, with a Sydney sideshow set for Oxford Art Factory. Fans would do well to get excited; since forming the Violators, Vile has attracted the kind of universally breathless, hyperbolic reviews for his live show that only come along once every couple of years – and it’s only a matter of time until he puts a restraining order out on Pitchfork and their unwavering adulation. For his part, Vile puts his success down to having the opportunity to work full time on music for the first time in his life, an experience which has taken him out of the bedroom and into the limelight. “It’s great; since summer 2009 you could say I’ve been selfemployed with my music,” he says. “You know, it gives me more time to work and keep thinking ahead; to work on getting better all the time, to make the right decisions.”

Given the tender, elusive and evocative nature of Smoke Ring For My Halo, Vile says that touring the record with a band adds a little more muscle to the music, fleshing out the sound for a bigger, meatier rock ‘n roll show. “It’s not quite as gentle.

We try to be sensitive to the arrangements, but 90% of the time it’s going to be a little more energetic. That’s the essence of playing live music; it’s about getting off on a crowd that’s stoked, the adrenaline, the natural reaction of playing through an amplifier.” Vile thinks that some bands playing live get trapped in trying too hard to stay true to the record, something that gets harder and harder as production becomes more sophisticated. “Some people think too much about the recording, and trying to recreate that. There was a time when songs were played totally differently to the record.

“Think about the Rolling Stones,” he continues.

“If you see them live it’s a totally different experience to listening to their records. The music changes and evolves. For a lot of those old bands, the record was just the starting point.

It was so much more raw then. I try to emulate that when we play live. The mellowest I come across is when I’m playing solo, but with the band we get our energy up. It makes for a better show.”

What: So Outta Reach EP is out now on Matador, through Remote Control With: Royal Headache, Step-Panther Where: Oxford Art Factory / The Red Rattler When: December 6 (sold out) / December 7 (just announced; tickets still available)

Kurt Vile by Shawn Brackbill

I

n an interview with a fashion reporter in April this year, Sonic Youth bassist and singer Kim Gordon nominated Kurt Vile’s record Childish Prodigy as her greatest guilty pleasure. “Guilty because I listen to it too much,” she said.

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Bob Evans

I Saw Evans Kissing Santa Claus By Alasdair Duncan

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hristmas concerts are a scary business, what with the relentless good cheer and all the peace on earth and good will to men stuff, but Kevin Mitchell may just have the solution to that. This December, The Jebediah singer is bringing back his acoustic pop side project, Bob Evans, for a series of shows that promise to highlight the more irreverent side of the season. The set list, he says, will be stuffed with traditional songs and Christmas classics, with something to please everyone. Just don’t expect to hear him play ‘I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus’.

“People laugh at me when I tell them this, but that song really traumatised me as a kid!”

Mitchell tells me. “I had tapes that we’d always play at Christmas, and I’d get really upset every time that one came on. I always thought Santa was supposed to be a really nice guy,

but here he is coming in and having an affair with the mum while everyone else is asleep!

It was a long time until I figured out the truth, that it was mum and dad kissing under the tree – but I guess I wasn’t too much of a bright spark as a kid, I took things at face value... I still don’t like that song, though.”

Mitchell will have a special guest joining him at the shows, Magic Dirt frontwoman Adalita – which, I have to say, throws me a bit. When I think Adalita, I think pain, angst and suffering before I think holiday cheer. Why did Mitchell decide to bring her on board? “Well we’ve played a lot together in our respective bands, but we’ve never played solo together, so I thought it might be fun,” he says. “The thing that I like about it, in theory at least, is that I think we’re going to have a nice yin and yang thing going on.

“She’s broody and sexy and dark, and I’m a bit of a dipshit trying to make people laugh and playing my crappy songs,” he continues, “so I have a feeling that, between the two of us, we might be a regular odd couple! She’ll play some of her songs, I’ll play some of mine, then we’ll duet together on some Christmas classics. She plays electric guitar and I play acoustic; I like the idea of how it’s going to work together. So yeah, it will be an all ‘round Christmas experience – because Christmas can be dark and sexy and brooding, too. It’s not all silliness. I’m bringing the silliness, and Adalita is going to bring the danger.”

The Christmas spirit was not Mitchell’s only motivation for doing these shows – he is planning to release his fourth Bob Evans album next year, and will be using the gigs to road test some of his new songs. “I’ve been writing and demoing and putting the pieces together for a new album, and I think I’m almost there,” he says. “You’re always afraid that if you don’t do something for too long, whether it’s performing or songwriting, you might forget. I was worried that if I didn’t play Bob Evans shows for too long, I might forget what I was supposed to do and end up having to get a real job...

“I’ll definitely pull out a couple of new songs,” he continues, “because people who’ve bought tickets to see me deserve to hear something new. To be honest with you, playing new songs for the first time is always scary, but I feel like this is as good an environment as I’ll get. Hopefully they’ll measure up to the Christmas ones!”

What: Good Evans, It’s Christmas!

With: Bob Evans & Adalita Where: Notes, Newtown / Lizotte’s, Dee Why When: Friday December 16 / Sunday December 18

Guineafowl Birds Of A Feather By Jenny Noyes first encountered Sam Yeldham at a Sydney University orientation meeting. He was sitting at the back of the lecture theatre by himself, wearing what appeared to be a sling that he’d fashioned into a pretty odd-looking headscarf.

Being an open-minded sort, I invited him to sit next to me. He politely declined.

I

winning a SMAC award for their anthemic tune ‘In Our Circles’ – Sam wasn’t putting all his eggs in the American basket. “Nobody got lost and we didn’t lose any passports and no one got arrested for anything – so yeah, I think we did really well,” he deadpans. “It sounds terribly pessimistic, but it’s true; it’s good if nothing bad happens!”

On the phone almost seven years later, I decide to leave that recollection out of our conversation when he calls to talk about his band Guineafowl.

But the public sometimes needs to know these sweet and sour morsels; especially about people in bands who get up on the stage with their skinny jeans and pretty songs, and don’t look at all like they used to spend their Tuesday lunchtimes at Manning Bar having a pungent mixture of belly laughs and rotten tomatoes thrown in their faces by intoxicated spectators of Theatresports... So just how did Sam go from goofy Theatresports dude to indie rock prince? “I’m still the same guy,” he assures me. “I just don’t show that goofy person so much in public anymore.”

Just two weeks after returning home unscathed, Guineafowl are off touring Australia again, this time with a new single, ‘The Lie Is’. Written at the same time as Hello Anxiety but recorded later in the year with the full band, the resulting sound is a firm step forward from the EP, which was largely made up of demos that Sam made himself, with the essential extras like drums and bass added in at the studio. “It sounds more like a band,” he explains of the song. “The recording is very authentic; it’s us going straight [into the studio] and recording. We wanted to do that, we wanted to have a different experience from recording the EP. So it’s pretty special. It’s pretty new for us.”

“I guess that whole Theatresports atmosphere makes you very conscious of the audience, and talking to the audience and trying to engage them – especially when they’re getting angry or whatever,” he continues. “So now I can deal with it pretty easily.” Not that he gets too many complaints from his crowds these days.

Guineafowl has been rushing about like a mad headless thing all year, making fans not just around Australia (touring with Ballpark Music, The Grates and Foster The People, and playing Splendour in the Grass), but across the Pacific as well. The band recently returned from a month in the United States, where they played the CMJ industry festival in New York and some gigs in L.A. for Dangerbird, the record label that signed their Hello Anxiety EP release stateside.

Despite all the good vibes that the band’s been receiving – touring nationally, signing the EP, and

Guineafowl may have started off as the work of just one man (the moniker was Sam’s nickname at school, and he was loathed to relinquish it to the rest of the band at first), but it has now evolved into a whole other bird. “Even though I’m still the principal songwriter, I need these specific people.

I couldn’t just go and do it with another group of people. Guineafowl is the five of us together.

I think it’s just taken a year and a half to take that journey and become a band,” he explains.

“I stopped referring to myself as Guineafowl and now I’m just Sam, and it feels more comfortable.

Although it was my nickname and it came from me, it’s now something bigger than me… So yeah. We’re a band. Just a band. A normal band.”

And that’s no lie.

What: ‘The Lie Is’ is out now Where: The Standard When: Friday November 25

Boom! Bap! Pow! Put On The Red Light By Benjamin Cooper

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members lose their respective excrement – figuratively, of course!” The band will be letting loose in Sydney this Thursday, launching their latest double-A side release ‘Never Mean Nothing’ / ‘Furniture’ on vinyl. “At last the cool kids are digging [vinyl] – but now I’ve got an entire house filled with compact discs,” Novak complains. “It’s okay though, ‘cause I’ve got a bunch of tapes too, and the word is that’s coming back in next...”

ovak Bull, named for the 1960s screen siren Kim Novak, is surprisingly upbeat about yet another seemingly arduous return to the east from her Perth home. On the way out the door to her other gig as a social worker, the frontwoman of the thrillingly titled Boom! Bap! Pow! band is gushing. “We just can’t keep away from Sydney – we’re all uber excited to be heading east again. How could you possibly not be pumped? I mean, the tours just keep on coming!”

The tours do indeed keep on coming for the band, with separate national jaunts throughout 2011 in support of US artists Royal Crown Revue and Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed. “We were lucky with those shows: there was a little bit of us just happening to fit a similar product, but we also had an absolute ball on the road,” Novak says. Showcase performances at Brisbane’s BigSound went down a treat too, but Novak is particularly excited about being able to play a venue in Sydney’s Kings Cross on the upcoming tour. “We’ve talked about The Cross, and we all reckon that there’s something special about having a show on in a place with that kind of history. It almost seems a bit taboo to us, to be making tunes and making havoc in the red light district… I actually haven’t told my mum,” Novak confides.

“Not that she’d care. I mean, it’s not as if she’s a hooker or anything. She’s pretty cool, for a mum; she’d probably just go, ‘Oh, that’s a bit naughty – have fun!’”

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Being the only female in such a hard-touring band comes with certain pitfalls. “For most of the time, it’s fine,” she says. “I just become part of the boys’ club. But then I start waking up in the hotel, having nightmares from some of the stuff they’ve insisted on showing me on their phones…” I ask if such hardship ever eventually leads to wistful thoughts of home. “Oh god, yes!

Sometimes I just wanna get back and finish the garden,” Novak confirms excitedly. Gardening, I ask? “The yard’s nothing too fancy, certainly no water features yet. But if Jamie Drurie wants to come over, he can... He might be a bit old, but he’s kind of got that whole friend’s-hot-uncle-ata-wedding thing going on. You’d probably brush your breast against him after a few wines.”

Novak’s band creates swinging tunes bursting with serious musicianship and severe lashings of fun, but it’s an upbeat style that may not suit the cynical... “We are a bit different,” Novak acknowledges. “There’s probably [some people] who hear us and think, ‘Who are these pop pieces of shit?’” But while they can certainly

write cheerful tunes to get feet tapping, she says Boom! Bap! Pow! aren’t actually all that clean. “A lot of what we do is very off-the-cuff, and when people see us live they’re usually pretty surprised at how out of control the show can get… We all lose our shit on stage,” Novak says before drily adding, “rather, band

What: ‘Never Mean Nothing’ / ‘Furniture’ is out now With: Kira Puru & The Bruise Where: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel When: Thursday November 24

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Total Control Aussie’s Do It Better By Greg Clennar

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f bands like Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The UV Race and The Twerps have collectively proved anything, it’s that Americans love a good helping of candid, Aussie garage rock.

Various instalments at different American music festivals, coupled with releases on renowned international labels like Goner and Iron Lung, have seen the proliferation of these Aussie bands in the thriving American garage music community.

Partly comprised of members of two of the aforementioned acts, Melbourne synth-punks Total Control are currently on the road in the States, supporting San Fransiscan psych-rockers Thee Oh Sees – and bass player, Zephyr Pavey, sounds pretty enthusiastic about their American return.

“It’s been going great, it’s just been such an easy tour,” Pavey says. “Thee Oh Sees have such a great following. They’re just the best people to be touring with – such experienced road warriors.”

And, he tells me, the band’s sets have been going down well too. “I met a guy in Houston the other night whose five favourite bands at the moment were all from Melbourne and Brisbane.

The reception’s just been great so far. At some of Thee Oh Sees’ shows I suppose people might not

know who we are, but I guess it’s a nice surprise for them.” Pavey attributes a lot of the band’s international following to the different state of mind they brought along. “Maybe we’re some sort of exotic novelty,” he says through a chuckle. “A lot of Australian bands have almost a holiday mentality when coming here – everyone’s in such a good mood that it really comes through in the shows.”

A spawn of Australia’s burgeoning garage scene, Total Control is the brainchild of UV Race drummer Dan Steward and Eddy Current Suppression Ring guitarist/producer Mikey Young.

The foundations are thus established: Total Control are upfront, jarring, explosive and hypnotic, infusing their music with elements of synthesised and primitive electronica. But the results are of a far more desolate and sequestering flavour when compared to the joviality of Eddy Current or UV Race. Since the release of their first string of 7-inches, the band have had an abundance of labels slapped on them – synth-punk, coldwave, krautrock – just about any genre that pertains to the late 1970s. With a sound unique to any of their previous projects, I’m curious how it came about.

“The early thing was just Mikey and Dan, or Mikey, Dan and James – they never really rehearsed that much. They’d just get together and stuff around, really,” Pavey tells me. “After a while I guess they thought they should try it with a full band, so they got me and Al to fill in on bass and second guitar.”

The true brilliance of Total Control shines through in the astute balance that they strike between a jolting, garage-punk aesthetic and delicate, synthesised melodies – what’s immediately striking about their debut full-length record Henge Beat is its emphatic use of electronic artefacts. Through this, the quintet effectively added a new dimension to a local garage scene that prides itself on lo-fi simplicity and prowess. I ask Pavey how the band’s approach to Henge Beat differed from the releases of the members’ other outfits. “I guess having Mikey in the band, who recorded a lot of it, made for a pretty relaxed approach,” Pavey says. “It actually took quite a while to record – there’d be drums and bass one day, and then three weeks later, we’d get together and make an electronic song.”

This was a stark change for the boys, who are generally used to recording albums over a very short period of time. “With UV and Eddy Current, they’ve only really got three days to measure it out and record it all,” Zephyr explains. “This thing was more like recording one song in my apartment, and then spending a day on it – it was a really comfortable recording process.”

“I met a guy in Houston the other night whose five favourite bands at the moment were all from Melbourne and Brisbane. The reception’s just been great so far.”

Although the initial ideas for the album hatched from either Mikey or Al, Total Control’s songwriting process is a collaborative one, with every member offering a contribution to the final product. “The songs generally start either as obnoxious guitar riffs or blissed-out synth recordings”, Pavey says, “but generally [they] end up somewhere else once we’ve played them out.”

Speaking of the driving forces behind Henge Beat, he again mentions the band’s considered approach; Total Control never held themselves to any particular genre or formula. “On our last US tour, we sent ourselves broke with the excess luggage of records that we bought over here,” Zephyr says. “I don’t think there was any particular single thing that anyone was listening to at the time. I guess having that much time to record gives it that sense of diversity… It is certainly a very considered LP, but it came together with relative ease, and with utter ignorance of what cold wave or nu punk are.”

With each member of the group belonging to different bands, I ask Pavey whether Total Control is seen as a focal point or more of a side project.

“It was probably to the side of things when Eddy Current and the UV Race were doing a lot. But now that they’re not, it’s definitely a focus of ours.

After the last US tour, we realised, ‘This goes pretty well. We should probably keep doing it.’”

What: Henge Beat is out now through Iron Lung/Fuse With: Feist, Laura Marling, M83, The Drums, Wu Lyf, Chairlift, EMA, Husky, DZ Deathrays and more

When: Sunday February 5

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Xxxxx

Where: Laneway Festival @ Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle

Best Coast Coast To Coast By Nathan Jolly

“I

t’s basically like California, but as an entire continent.”

For an artist that has so openly and constantly serenaded her home state of California, this is about the highest compliment that Bethany Cosentino, frontwoman and driving force behind the much-loved Best Coast, can bestow upon our country. In interview mode to promote her band’s second visit to Australia – this time as part of the Big Day Out lineup – Cosentino is excited about the prospect of coming Down Under again, comparing our audiences favourably to the “stiff audiences in Europe and places like that.” In the past year, she’s visited most of the Western world off the back of a considerable amount of early hype and column inches, which culminated in the admittedly rushed debut record Crazy For You. While the album landed in the Billboard Top 40 and spawned several successful singles (and a slew of feverish Bethany followers), she’s keen to move past the perpetually stoned, catfriendly beach pop that she’s been pedalling so successfully over the past two years.

“I definitely want to do things differently. I would like to have a totally different sound [for the second album]. The first record was made really quickly, and it was made under the pressure of being a band everybody wanted a record from,” she confesses. “We really just made the record we wanted to make at that exact moment. I love Crazy For You, I’m really proud of it and of everything we have done, and I’ll always have great memories of making it and touring with it, but I feel like I don’t wanna be categorised under beach pop or lo-fi for the rest of my life. I’d like to prove I can do something different. So my intention is to go in and make a record that again we really enjoy, but that’s a huge progression from the first record.”

Wanda Jackson,” she explains, of the album’s proposed direction. “Being a strong, female frontwoman is something that I feel very privileged to be. It’s amazing to be a female character that other girls look up to; I get told all the time that I’m these young girls’ role model, and I say, ‘Well, I think I’m a terrible role model – but thankyou!’” she laughs. “I wanted to emulate the strong women of that era. I’ve been listening to a lot of ‘60s country music, and this time I wanted to feature my voice a bit more and experiment with these croony, lovesick, beautiful ballads. Jon Brion is perfect at doing these produced, professional female things. I’m really excited about how it will turn out.”

With: Kanye West, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Soundgarden, Kasabian, Nero (Live), My Chemical Romance, Battles, Odd Future, Foster The People and more Where: Big Day Out @ Sydney Showground When: Thursday January 26 Sideshow: Wednesday January 25 at Manning Bar, Sydney University

“I get told all the time that I’m these young girls’ role model, and I say, ‘Well, I think I’m a terrible role model – but thankyou!’”

Enter uber-producer and multi-instrumentalist Jon Brion, who has worked with artists as diverse as Kanye West, Fiona Apple and Elliott Smith – and who has signed on to produce album no. 2, much to Cosentino’s immense joy. “He was just a fan of Best Coast; he played with us at one of our shows in LA, he played keyboards on ‘Our Deal’,” Cosentino explains. “I’d been a huge fan of his work since I’d first heard him, and [him producing] was just an idea we’d thrown out there, which we didn’t really think anything would come of. It’s cool because everything with Best Coast has worked that way; we put something out into the universe and it just happens. It’s very cool that we didn’t really have to stretch for a producer; we just picked this person that we really wanted to work with, and he wanted to do it. We feel extremely privileged.”

THEINBETWEENERS.COM.AU

FACEBOOK.COM/ROADSHOWFILMS

Best Coast photo by David Black

Cosentino certainly isn’t joking about her recent luck in floating ideas and having them eventuate.

Collaborations with Rivers Cuomo and Kid Cudi occurred this way (“I co-wrote a Weezer song!” she proclaims incredulously), as did their glossy MTV-sanctioned clip for single ‘Our Deal’, which was directed and conceptualised by Drew Barrymore. “Actually, the night Jon Brion played with us was the same night that we met Drew Barrymore,” Cosentino laughs. “She wanted to come to a show so we put her on a guest list, obviously, and met her after the show. For someone who’s been famous since she was like four or something, she’s just very grounded and down-to-earth. We instantly hit it off and exchanged phone numbers and started talking.

Our management and our label and MTV had this idea of doing this big video and getting Drew Barrymore, and it was another thing where we had this idea and didn’t think it would happen, but it ended up being one of the greatest things that has happened to me; to be able to work with Drew Barrymore is a huge accomplishment. But I wasn’t involved in any aspect of it, other than that I was on the set; she invited me to cameo on my own video, which was kind of funny. It was a great experience.”

By the time this story goes to print, Best Coast will have joined Brion in the studio to begin recording their second album. Although Cosentino claims to have left behind that ‘60s girl-group sound, she still finds inspiration from the females of that era. But while Crazy For You and the early 7-inch records mine the lovelorn likes of The Ronettes, The Crystals and various other Spector-driven groups, this time she is aiming more for the heartland of ‘60s America. “I started listening to a lot of old-school female country music like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and

Strong sexual references, coarse language and nudity

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arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

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

five minutes WITH TIM

SPENCER

after contacting Sydney’s Scarlett Alliance.

How did uni work out for you? I studied for five years at Sydney University. I was supposed to be there for Politics and English, but I spent most of my time in the Cellar theatre. We made some crazy stuff back then, partly because nobody had told us what we should be doing.

It’s a weird thing learning the rules. You begin to think that there’s only one way to make a show: the ‘Correct Way’. Correctness in theatre is death.

What was your first mind-blowing experience at the theatre? One of the most vivid images I have is from Ubu (Belvoir, 2001). I was in primary school I think. Ubu and his wife are sitting in their house in exile and suddenly the wall behind them is pushed over by a guy in one of those old manky koala suits, complete with a coin bucket. That blew my mind. It said, this is possible, this is ridiculous and it’s possible.

T

im ran away from an Arts degree (not literally, he got it) and joined the circus – aka the theatre – probably we’re guessing the best thing he ever did. A co-founder of the Bambina Borracha company, he’s best known for one-man semi-autobiographical dramedies like Words They Make with Their Mouths (winner of the People’s Choice Award at Adelaide Fringe) and I Scare My 6 Year Old Self (Underbelly Arts 2010). Next up he’s premiering a new verbatim theatre piece called Show me yours, I’ll show you mine, based on the confessions of a former male sex worker, who he met through a friend

CELEBRITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

You know the time we stole Kate’s diary and read it outloud to everyone in class? Well this will be just like that, except far more interesting and funny, and with less public humiliation: Celebrity Autobiography takes slices of life from über celebrities, and recreates them with the live-reading skillz of various lesser-celebrities (it’s all about budget and availability folks).

Expect insights into the lives of Bieber and Britney, Sylvester Stallone and Tiger Woods.

The Celebrity Autobiography concept is the brainchild of Eugene Pack, who realised there was a lot of comic potential to be mined from the memoirs of the stars. It’s been going now for a few years, with sell-out seasons in LA and New York. (To see why, google ‘Kristen Wiig reads Suzanne Somers’). Celebrity Autobiography runs from December 28 – January 29 at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House.

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE

The Artist Residency Project connects artists with free exhibition and work space, in the form of disused buildings. It’s a nifty idea that’s taken hold of councils globally and locally, with projects like Queen Street Studios, Anyplace Rozelle and The Paper Mill collaborating with councils and businesses to make the most of temporarily vacant sites. ARP’s latest project is taking advantage of two empty shopfronts and one laneway off Oxford Street, furnishing the following emerging artists with a creative playground: Cherine Fahd (who will be pasting bill posters of common 20th Century anxieties along Foley St), Mini Graff (also doing a paste-up laneway project), Rachel Park, Heidi Alexelsen, and Hugo Moline. The show opens Thursday November 24 from 6pm, at shops 70 & 58, Oxford Street, Surry Hills. arpprojects.com Congestion by Heesco

You’ve put your own life on stage in the past – has that been daunting? Cathartic? Yes, both those things. It’s a great way to get over someone, writing a show that lays it all out. But ultimately I think I fell into myself a bit and some shows I did were a bit misguided and wanky.

I read this great quote by Nietzsche the other day: ‘talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.’ I’ve experienced that a lot; talking about things that have happened to you onstage is automatically lying in a way.

People just think you’re doing a character and you get off the hook really easily.

BEASTMAN

107 words is worth a picture – so instead of attempting to explain Brad Eastman aka Beastman’s upcoming show, we leave you with this pithy quote, from sci-fi guru H.P. Lovecraft’s seminal 1927 short story, The Call of Cthulhu: The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. Worth thinking about. Cosmic Nature opens December 8 at kind of gallery (72 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst).

THE LOOP: SPACES

The Loop is a jobs and networking portal (and we use the word lightly, because it’s not in any sense like the portals in Stargate) for the creative industries – worth checking out if you haven’t already, it’s got some nice extra features in terms of functionality (uploading your work, video or otherwise, for example) and a sense of community. They’ve just added a new trick to their bag: ‘Spaces’ – a function that matches creative professionals with spare office space. So maybe it’s time you got off the couch and got a real work space; stop putting mug marks on your Nan’s sideboard.

Find yourself some nice desk mates who are on the same wavelength, and who don’t mind your preference for writing press releases to Beethoven. theloop.com.au/creative_spaces

SURFACE TENSION

Not content to host 20-thousandor-so people at the Outpost festival on Cockatoo Island, aMBUSH gallery are opening a group show at their more humble abode in Waterloo, featuring works by stencilist E.L.K., Heesco, Shida, Slurpee Slug, Brisbane graf artist extraordinaire SOFLES, and Sprinkles. Sort of sounds like a breakfast menu if you squint and tilt your head. I guess what drew us in mostly was the flyer, which has a thing that’s shaped like a lemon, made of scary shrunken heads of various colours. Like a lemony head planet, let’s say. (Ah! Pictures!)

So that’s by Heesco (sauce).

Surface Tension opens Friday November 25, 4A James Street, Waterloo. ambushgallery.com

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What made you decide to cast an actor instead of the actual person in Show me yours, I’ll show you mine? I met with someone from the Scarlet Alliance who said that it would be extremely unlikely that any sex worker would want to work on this show with me because so much of their business depends upon anonymity. By having an actor portray them there are a few more factors we have to contend with, but it means that the imaginative and creative qualities of the theatre are let in a little bit more.

What have been the main challenges? For me as we have made the show it is the fine balance between representing someone as truthfully as possible whilst being interesting to watch. It’s a extremely fine line. I’m knackered after this week – but it’s the sweetest kind of exhaustion, knowing that I really believe in the work, that it is saying something and that people are going to go nuts for it. If I saw it, I would really like it.

What: Show me yours, I’ll show you mine – as part of the BOLTED session for The Horse’s Mouth Festival of verbatim theatre, alongside brand-new short works by Zoe Coombs Marr and Phil Spencer.

Where: Old Fitz Theatre / Woolloomooloo When: November 25 and 30 / December 2, 8, 10 and 14.

More: horsething.com

TOOMELAH! WIN! TICKETS! Award-winning filmmaker Ivan Sen (Beneath Clouds) returns to Sydney’s silver screens this week after a nine-year absence, with his Cannes-selected third feature, Toomelah.

Set in a remote Indigenous community near the town where he grew up, the film centres around a 10-year-old boy who, searching for older male role models in the absence of a functional father, gets caught up in a turf war between rival drug dealers. Balancing moments of tenderness and humour with eye-opening perspectives into the kind of childhood most of us can’t imagine, Toomelah is a small gem.

Thanks to Curious Films, we have five in-season double passes up for grabs; to get your hands on one, tell us the name of one of the film’s stars (hint: read the story over the page!). toomelahthemovie.com

Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano

CRANSTON CUP

That whole ‘save the best til last’ thing will come into play on Saturday December 3 when the Cranston Cup Theatresports Grand Final takes place at the Enmore Theatre. Over the last two months, the comedy wheat has been sorted from the tragedy chaff, to present only the fittest theatresports players in one massive showdown. The theme this year is superheroes, with finalist teams including ‘The Bear Pack’ (Steen Raskopoulos and Carlo Ritchie) and ‘the dysleXia Men’. If you can’t wait, head along to the last two heats, taking place Sundays November 20 and 27 at 3.30pm and 7.30pm time-slots, at The Factory Theatre. Still don’t know what Theatresports is? You’ve got two weeks to figure it out, chump! cranston.improaustralia.com.au

FINDERS KEEPERS

In the interests of promoting socially responsible Christmas shopping: set aside some time next weekend to do a spot of gift-hunting at the Finders Keepers Markets – your one-stop shop for boutique and emerging designers and craftspeople, stocking everything from clothes and homewares to jewellery, trinkets, stationery, fabrics, ceramics, and heaps of things you never knew you needed…There’s also live music, and foodie treats to sustain your shopping power.

Finders Keepers runs Friday December 2 from 6-10pm, and Saturday December 3 from 10am-5pm, at CarriageWorks (245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh). And if you’re currently under house arrest, you can find a selection of wonderful gifties at follow-store.com.au, the new store from FK co-founders Sarah Thornton and Brooke Johnson. thefinderskeepers.com

ANYPLACE X SERIALSPACE Serial Space, in conjunction with Anyplace Projects are calling for applications from individuals or groups for their off-site 2-month residency program, located at 118 Terry St, Rozelle. This callout has a quick turn around – the deadline is Friday November 25, so get on it pronto. Each studio is a secure, glass fronted, 4m x 4m room, and residency includes access to a kitchen, and a ‘lawn’. For all the deets go to anyplaceprojects.com or email serialspacegallery@gmail.com

DESIGN MARKETS

Further on the Christmas shopping tip: the PYD design markets happen this weekend, in Waterloo; presenting work by boutique and emerging jewellery, textile, object, furniture and object designers, this is a good chance to pick up one-offs and curiosities for that person who has everything (although, you know, whothefuck has everything?) or that person who is just really hard to impress. We’re enamored of L’avion’s scarves and beach bags, the floral tights and dresses from Burmese fashionista (and Akiraprotégé) Aung, and the tribal jewellery pieces from Stannard Inc. the markets run November 26-27 from 10am-5pm at the pyd building (197 Young Street, Waterloo). pyd.com.au

DANIEL SHIPP

Over the last 12 months, photographer Daniel Shipp has been snapping portraits of some of your favourite musos, on the sly, for local record label and touring company Future Classic. The diabolical collaboration has resulted in an exhibition of stunning black-and-white portraits, including Pantha Du Prince, Little Dragon, Toro Y Moi, Mount Kimbie, Jazzanova, Tensnake, The Swiss, Bon Chat, Bon Rat – and heaps more. Daniel Shipp X Future Classic opens Wednesday November 30 from 6-8pm @ Somedays Gallery (72B Fitzroy Street, Surry Hills). futureclassic.com.au/danielshipp

NOVEMBERISM

There’s one week left of the inaugural NovermberISM, a month-long celebration of new playwriting. We’re heading along to check out Heaven, by Kit Brookman (shortlisted for this year’s Patrick White Playwrights Award), who had the idea when he saw a book on sale called So You Wish to Be a Medium, and describes the resulting play as “a bittersweet comedy about death, growing up, and the perils of becoming an amateur medium”. Catch Heaven from Thursday November 24 – Saturday November 26 at 7pm, and on Sunday at 5pm – at Old 505 Theatre (Lvl 5, 342 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills).

For the rest of the awesome NovemberISM schedule, check out novemberism.com

WHOLPHIN SCREENS

McSweeney’s fans unite! To celebrate issue #14 of Wholpin – their DVD magazine of rare and unseen shorts – Melbourne’s Speakeasy Cinemas are coming to Sydney to present an evening of short films from the mag. Will ‘Bonnie Prince Billy’ Oldham will tell an eerie bedtime story, Amy Grappell will explore her parents’ sex life, time travel will happen, and it will be shown that things happen in Palestine other than war.

There’ll also be “more Zellner Bros than you can shake a Sasquatch placenta at!” Ew. Prolly because of the placenta, this is an 18+ event.

If that’s you, head along to FBi Social at Kings Cross Hotel on Tuesday November 29, 6pm, with the ticket you bought at oztix.com.au / speakeasycinema.com.au

“TOOMELAH IS GENTLY SPELLBINDING.” Stephanie Bunbury, Sydney Morning Herald

only at th e mov i e s !

novemb er 2 4

E X C L U S I V E LY A T C H A U V E L C I N E M A

adventure into design THINKING | MAKING | CONNECTING

ENROL NOW for 2012 SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | BRISBANE Join us at www.billyblue.edu.au or call 1300 851 245 to find out more Think: Colleges Pty Ltd, ABN 93 050 049 299 trading as Billy Blue College of Design, RTO No. 0269, HEP No. NSW5028, CRICOS Provider Codes: NSW 00246M, QLD 03107J, VIC 03252M.

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 29

TOOMELAH

Director Ivan Sen

Ivan Sen Changes His Game By Dee Jefferson

“I was hanging around a group of local teens, when a young boy walked into the yard,” Sen recalls.

“He started arguing with these boys; he was threatening to kill them, and he had a knife in his hand – and he was very articulate about what he was going to do to their throats… I thought, ‘Wow, that boy’s got spunk.’ He had an amazing presence.”

The other major find for Sen was Dean Daley Jones (who also starred in Mad Bastards) – the film’s only trained actor. “Dean was a saviour for me, because the role required someone quite big, with a striking presence. And we couldn’t find anyone – because anyone who looks like that, and comes from Toomelah, is in jail; they’re all locked up. And Dean’s got that history too. But more importantly, he can act.”

For Sen, Toomelah marks the closing of one chapter and the beginning of the next; he doesn’t plan to make another ‘arthouse film’ for some time. The experience of making Dreamland proved to be a major turning point in his life and his career, and a wake-up call to the realities of the market place – and the role he wants to play in it.

Daniel Connors stars in Toomelah

A

photographer-turned filmmaker who grew up in rural NSW with an Aboriginal mother and an absent Anglo father, Ivan Sen exorcised some of his demons in his debut feature Beneath Clouds, about a teenaged girl who leaves the small town where she lives with her alcoholic mother, in search of her father – a Scottish tourist who was ‘passing through’. The combination of deep questions about identity with beautifully shot images of landscape and protagonists alike, and unselfconscious performances by the two non-professional leads, saw the film win fans and awards abroad and at home.

G IV EA W AY S

Sen fell off the map a little after Beneath Clouds was released in 2002, popping up over the next decade on the festival circuit or the ABC, via documentaries and short films (most notably his tele-doco Yellow Fella, about indigenous actor Tom Lewis, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2005). His next feature, an experimental sci-feature called Dreamland, set in Area 51, Nevada, passed quietly in the night, after screening at the Brisbane, Melbourne

and Pusan film festivals. (“You know, if arthouse is here,” Sen gestures with one hand, “then Dreamland is somewhere over here,” he indicates with the other hand a position even further down the spectrum.)

Sen popped up on the public radar again in April this year, when it was announced that his third narrative feature, Toomelah, had been selected for Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard program. Filmed on location in the remote Indigenous community of Toomelah, with a cast almost entirely comprised of non-actors, the story centres around a 10-year-old boy who fancies himself a bit of a gangster, until he finds himself in the middle of an actual turf war between rival drug dealers.

In person, Sen is undemonstrative; but over the course of an hour’s conversation (during which we meet a charming young cat called Neko, whose dreams of pigeons exceed her grasp, and discover that we both have two cats who don’t like their feet being touched) it becomes apparent that a burning ambition and enthusiasm for his craft bubble beneath his inscrutable surface.

Sen has been back-and-forth between China and Australia for the last few years, spending long periods in Hong Kong and remote communities on the mainland, soaking up both the culture and natural surrounds on a deep level, and developing various projects, including a follow-up to Dreamland called Loveland, and a detective noir set in the town of Moree, in northwest NSW. In fact, Toomelah was written in mainland China and Hong Kong.

“I’ve always had an attraction to Chinese culture,” Sen says simply.

“I was a huge fan of the TV series Monkey as a kid – and I think that’s where the seed was sown, maybe.

Even though it was a Japanese version of a classic Chinese book, there was something about it that was inherently Chinese. I dunno…

He was also a father figure for me, that character – with a single mother and three children, you know, Monkey King’s a pretty good father to live up to: indestructible, nice guy, always wanting to do the right thing… But I’ve found out since that Chinese people hate that version of it,” he laughs.

Toomelah had been percolating a long time in Sen’s mind by

It was doing Dreamland with no crew – just himself and the actors – that finally gave Sen the confidence to use a DIY approach in Toomelah.

“The difference is, there was a lot of dialogue to cope with, and I had nonactors,” Sen says with a wry smile.

“I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t realise how hard. You know, you’d turn up to do something, and no-one’s there. They’ve gone into town, or to visit someone, or play football…so I had to be extremely flexible to what was happening.”

The payoff is an extremely natural set of performances, and a film that feels about as close to capturing life in the town as a narrative drama could get. Even the script arose out of stories from the lives of his cast – most crucially, 10-year-old lead Daniel Connors, who Sen met by chance during an exploratory trip.

In the meantime, inspired by the Coen Brothers – who he sees as purveyors of consistently profitable genre pictures that don’t compromise on artistic integrity – Sen plans to play the genre game.

“At this point in my career, I just want to get to a point where my films are self-sufficient,” he says matter-of-factly. “What I don’t like is being reliant on the Government for money. Because there’s no pressure to make money [with a government-funded film], you’re always limited in your enthusiasm to speak to a larger audience.”

What: Toomelah When: Opens November 24

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE I

f you’ve ever been a fumbling teenage boy, all hair gel and hormones, or the subject of unwelcome and clumsy advances by a teenage boy, then – aside from being our entire readership – you will also relate to The Inbetweeners; in fact, you’re probably already a fan. The brainchild of writer-producers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, the series debuted in 2008 and quickly racked up fans and awards for its excruciatingly funny portrayal of the teenage male experience. Off the back of this success, Morris, Beesley and long-time series director Ben Palmer teamed up to take the socially inept boys to the big screen.

In The Inbetweeners Movie, Will, Neil, Jay and Simon take on a teenage rite of passage: the post-graduation summer holiday, in exotic Europe. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong, as they attempt to have the most mind-blowingly awesome holiday of their lives…

The Inbetweeners Movie opens in cinemas on November 24.

30 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

the time he finally got to it. He’d wanted to make a film in the town for years, but didn’t know how to do it. “They’re very shy there, with outsiders; I knew if I took a crew in there, and yelled action, you’d just get nothing in front of the camera.

So I couldn’t figure out how to do it.”

“We showed [Dreamland] to one of the top sales agents in the world – and she loved it; Dreamland is my favourite film, it’s [producer David Jowsey’s] favourite film and this woman, she just absolutely loves it; and she tried to come up with some kind of way of distributing it, but she just said ‘I love this film so much, but I can’t sell it!’ – and her bread and butter is arthouse… I feel like people aren’t ready for it, or something; so I’ve decided to put it away for a while, and make a commercial version of it – and release the original version of it as well, at some point.”

We have ten in-season double passes up for grabs! To get your hands on one, email freestuff@ thebrag. com with the name of the actor who plays Will.

WIN!

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Highlights of the Season: Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe in the deliciously wicked Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Jack Thompson and Sandy Gore in Dylan Thomas’ beautifully poetic Under Milk Wood; Kerry Fox, Jacqueline McKenzie and Greta Scacchi as three formidable females; Bille Brown and Barry Otto facing off in The Histrionic.

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Gasping [THEATRE] Ben Elton lampoons corporate greed. By Roslyn Helper

“W

e usually do a musical at the end of the year, but everything fell through.” Director Helen Tonkin sounds a little breathless over the phone. “Rights and God-knows-what was all a problem. We had to find a play and time was running out – and of course it needs to be light and fun, because no-one’s really in serious mode, they’re thinking of Christmas and holidays. So we were frantically reading material, and we came up with this. But we had no director, so it was very much, 'I’m on site – so um, ok I’ll do it.'”

It might have been chosen in a rush, but New Theatre's final show of the year also seems timely. Written by celebrated UK satirist Ben Elton (co-writer of the hilarious BBC sitcom Blackadder), Gasping is what Tonkin describes it as “poisonously funny morality play” about corporate greed and advertising spin; it revolves around an ambitious, entrepreneurial executive whose ingenious plan to market and sell 'designer air' causes both soaring profits and global environmental disaster.

Debuting 21 years ago on London's West End, Gasping now seems prescient.

“What’s extraordinary is that some of the consequences that Elton portrayed as being

quite ludicrous, have proven to be true," says Tonkin. "We’ve got people now – right now – who are demonstrating because of the power and irresponsibility of all these great big global corporations. Capitalism’s gone mad and the banks and big companies only care about making money.”

Tonkin adds that whilst Gasping is incredibly relevant to the moment, she has had to change some outdated jokes she says wouldn’t have made sense to a contemporary audience. She’s also written in some spoof commercials and recorded a voiceover as a BBC reporter, which will add to the play’s timeliness and, she hopes, be a good laugh.

Tonkin directed New Theatre’s critically acclaimed Equus last year, but says she has been thrown in the deep end with this one.

“Usually I would choose a project that I’d thought through and knew what I wanted to do with, so this has been a bit frantic,” she admits. “But I’m lucky that I do have a great cast. My leading young man, Oliver Wenn, is just brilliant.”

Wenn plays Philip – a part played by Hugh Laurie in Gasping’s premiere season. “Before he did House, Hugh was a brilliant comedian and did heaps of Ben Elton work. So these are huge shoes to fill – but I think Oliver does every bit as well. He’s a great comedic talent.”

The hardest part for the cast has been the play’s tongue-twisting dialogue. “The actors have to be so on the ball and articulate to get their mouths around the words, let alone memorise them,” says the director. “It's much harder than it looks!”

Tonkin says she hopes the audience will come away having had a good laugh. “It’s crazy and over-the-top, almost a farce at times, but there is also so much truth in it.” She also hopes people will leave being more conscious of what’s happening around them, and will want to do something about it. “In the play, Philip decides to do something about [corporate greed] in a very extreme way. I don’t think we need to go so far,” she laughs, “but I won’t give that away.”

What: Gasping by Ben Elton When: Until December 10 Where: New Theatre / 542 King Street Newtown More: newtheatre.org.au

Ryan Gosling and George Clooney in The Ides Of March

The Ides Of March [FILM] George Clooney takes on America’s dirty politics By Kelly Griffin

P

remiering at Venice Film Festival in September, George Clooney’s fourth directorial feature, The Ides Of March, is a political thriller about a young operator whose ideals are shattered while working on the Democratic primaries. Based on Beau Willimon’s 2008 play Farragut North (itself loosely based on Howard Dean’s 2004 Democratic primary campaign), the film is a cautionary tale about the dirty underbelly of even the cleanest-looking campaigns, starring Clooney himself as Governor Mike Morris, and Ryan Gosling as his press spokesman, Stephen Meyers. At the film’s recent UK premiere, the director talked about the politics of the film – and the film business.

How much was this film inspired by your father’s experience? There’s a scene in the car with [Governor Morris and his wife] that is pretty much directly a result of conversations I had with my father about running for Congress.

There are hands you have to shake that you wouldn’t normally shake, and it’s unfortunate but that’s the way it is. You can’t finance your own [campaign] (unless you’re independently wealthy, which my father isn’t) and even a small Congressional district in Kentucky will cost you a couple-million dollars to run – and so you end up making not so much deals, but do all those parties and show up at all those events and shake hands with people that normally you wouldn’t particularly find as attractive to do that with. So there were plenty of scenes about that.

How frustrating is it, when you’re trying to get a political message across, and people in our industry are obsessed with who’s on the red carpet? Well, I understand both worlds, I grew up around it all. … I grew up in that era of filmmaking which took place when there were a tremendous amount of things going on – you know in the '60s and '70s you had everything from the Civil Rights movement, the antiwar movement, the Women’s Rights movement, the drug counterculture – and those were reflected later

Story of a Rabbit

in film. And I think there’s a lot of things going on in our country and the world right now that are starting to again be reflected in film – and I like those films that do that.

This film shows how in politics you sometimes have to sell your soul to get to the top; how Machiavellian is Hollywood?

There’s a cut-throat element to it, but… most actors are pretty kind to one another, because … you’re so lucky to get to a position that you’re in, to be in a film, you feel very privileged – and it’s not just your brilliance that got you here, you’re standing on the shoulder of a lot of happy accidents along the way. You recognise that in one-another, so I think there’s a sort of generosity amongst most actors that I don’t see necessarily in politics.

What compels you to keep acting and directing? I did hundreds of hours of television as an actor before I even started getting film work, and then I’ve done like a hundred films…and you start to realise that creatively, you need to continue doing and trying things. … Acting is just one element in a film; directing is using all those elements – sound, camerawork and bringing it all together, and it’s really creative and fun and exciting, and if you fail it’s incredibly upsetting…and when you succeed it’s incredibly exciting – and so I like the risk.

Why did you take the film’s title from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar? ‘Ides of March’ means the 15th of March, and part of the reason we [used] it was because the election took place in March. [Also] ‘Farragut North’ is … a little too local-specific, and we thought it was an interesting [story] about a good friend and an enemy conspiring to take you out … and we let [the audience] decide who is Caesar, along the way.

What: The Ides of March When: Opens November 24

Shon Dale Jones, aka Hugh Hughes,

[THEATRE] An Unreal Story By Michael Brown

Both Floating and 360 demonstrated Hugh's big heart, even bigger imagination, and his propensity to spin stories out of fantasy, reality and charm. “Like Luis Bunuel says, ‘fantasy and reality are equally personal, and equally felt, and so their confusion is a matter of only relative importance,’" says Hugh. "That, for me at the moment, is a space that I’m most interested in.”

In fact, Hugh himself is a mix of fantasy and reality – the character creation of Shon DaleJones, the co-Artistic Director of acclaimed Welsh theatre company Hoipolloi. They’re both Welsh, they’re both from Anglesey, they look the same; Hugh is a sort of alter ego, a vehicle for stories and emotion. “I think the reason we tell each other stories is because we’re actually

trying to express the way we feel,” says Hugh. “In Story of A Rabbit, I talk about what [Canadian author] Yann Martel said: ‘Narrative exists to express emotion’. It’s a very beautiful statement.

And I’m definitely on that side.”

Story of A Rabbit interweaves two narratives: the discovery of a dead rabbit, and the death of Hugh’s father. “I think that it’s really about a sense of wonder, which is why ultimately it’s kind of uplifting,” says Hugh. “I made the performance because my experience was so absolutely extraordinary; you know, death makes you look at life in a different light. Of course there are times when it’s nothing but awful; but also there’s extraordinary enlightenment in the experience of the death of someone so close to you.”

So where did Hugh’s storytelling skill come from?

“I was surrounded by storytellers. The people of Anglesey and my father especially were just very good at storytelling. Recently I was visiting Anglesey, with a friend of mine from London, and he said, ‘These people, they are just such good conversationalists.’ And that’s really what I was brought up with, just endless conversation.”

Hughes is also inspired by his peers – notably storytelling comedian Daniel Kitson; both are regulars on the Edinburgh Fringe comedy circuit. “When I go and see Daniel’s show, I’m completely spellbound,” Hugh tells me.

Even though his shows are filled with laughter, Hughes seems somewhat bemused that Edinburgh Fringe classes them as ‘comedy’. “If we replace the word comedy with laughter, then basically when you’re telling a story, then there might be laughter surrounding it. We might laugh, we might kind of think a bit, we might even get sometimes a little bit sorrowful,” he says.

In its fifth year on the road since debuting at Edinburgh Fringe in 2007 (where it won a Fringe First award), Hughes has a strategy for keeping Story of a Rabbit fresh. “It’s like a bus driver,

you know: he or she’s got to take passengers from A to B and they might never have been on that journey before, so she’s got to make sure she drives the bus well for the passengers. So I suppose you just focus on who’s in front of you rather than anything else I suppose.”

What: Hugh Hughes in Story of a Rabbit Where: Playhouse at Sydney Opera House When: November 29 – December 10 Tickets: from $35 at sydneyoperahouse.com

“Don’t you know about foreign police? They take you up a hill then they bum you! ”- THE INBETWEENERS 32 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

Story of a Rabbit – photo by Geraint Lewis

W

hen Hugh Hughes returns to Sydney this month, it will be the third time he's toured a show to Sydney; not bad for a Welsh 'emerging artist'. Hugh first charmed Sydney in 2009 with Floating, about the time he tried to leave his native Isle of Anglesey, whereupon the bridge to the mainland crumbled and the island broke free, embarking on a tour of the North Atlantic. (It sold out its Sydney Opera House season.) In 2010, Hugh brought his oneman show 360 – a lo-fi story adventure about the time he and his best friend Gareth climbed Anglesey’s Mt Snowdon – to Sydney Festival.

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Launch your creative journey through collaboration, education and training at JMC Academy.

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Throw the best parties in school. Your parents ďŹ nd out.

Get grounded. Enrol at JMC. Help out on a club night. Start your own with a classmate.

Get hired by the venue. Book the best new bands. Finish at JMC. Take the club night on the road. Book your favourite act. Become their manager.

Organise their European tour.

Experience the world’s best festivals. Come home.

Run your own label.

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 35

Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

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

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

Immortals: 3D

■ Film

IMMORTALS: 3D Released November 24 PICS :: GP

34b burlesque 6th b'day

If you’ve seen The Cell and The Fall, nothing on earth will keep you away from Tarsem Singh’s latest offering – a sword-andsandals (blades-and-blood?) epic that draws on Greek mythology. There's no denying Tarsem’s capacity for images of unparalleled beauty and terror; they’re the kind of images that can only come out of the human subconscious (via dreams or hallucinogens) because they’re like condensed little psychebombs comprised of mythology and primal fear; he comes up with things you’ve never seen before, that cut through your rational mind and go straight for your gut.

12:11:11 :: 34B :: 34-44 Oxford st, Darlinghurst 93601375

PICS :: GP

insert coins

The opening images of Immortals are a great example: Tarsem’s vision of the twelve Titans of legend, who are said to be imprisoned in a mountain, is straight from your nightmares (if you had the imagination of Dali, Escher or HR Giger): a cube of warriors joined at the mouth by long iron rods passing through clenched jaws, the whites of their widened eyes stark against their black-encrusted skin. Against my better instincts, and despite the cushioning effects of two beers, I find myself experiencing a genuine sense of concern about what will happen if the evil lord Hyperion finds the long lost Bow of Epirus and uses it to set the Titans free…

Yes, it’s all a bit silly. But the spectacle is so engrossing, and the performances so earnestly persuasive (including a scene- and crab-chewing Mickey Rourke as Hyperion, and Tudors star Henry Cavill as Theseus) – that you can buy into it (unlike the truly awful Clash Of the Titans). The battle scenes are beyond gory, including some truly artistic – in fact, balletic – blood sprays and headexplosions in the sequence where the Gods of Olympus fight the Titans, who are like really fast warrior-zombies.

10:11:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 42 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711

PICS :: TL

private island

There are some wonderful set-pieces here, as you’d expect; overall, however, you can almost see Tarsem being physically compacted into a Hollywood blockbuster carton – and there’s really not much room for him to spread his wings or stretch his imagination. Too many of the scenes and images are far too familiar from films like 300 (these two share the same producer) Clash Of the Titans and Thor – or even less overtly mythical tales, like Troy. It’s all the more sad because it’s inevitable that someone with Tarsem’s peculiar visual ambition has difficulty finding funded vehicles for his style.

10:11:11 :: Lucas Grogan@MOP Projects :: 2/39 Abercrombie St Chippendale 96993955 Dee Jefferson

Arts Exposed

■ Film

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PART 1

What's in our diary...

Released November 17

BRAG & The Wall present

FEAST YOUR EYES #2: BBQ Wednesday November 23 from 7pm The Wall @ World Bar

36 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

Feast Your Eyes – artwork by Matt Roden

This time we’re focusing exclusively on BBQ, and once again asking our favourite peeps (Jonti, Claudia O’Doherty, Lewi McKerdy, Guineafowl, Sweetie Zamora, Brendan Maclean, Kit Palaskas, Geoffrey O’Connor, Toby & Pete, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Alice Fenton) to share their favourite BBQ-oriented recipes, which are then illustrated by our other favourite peeps (Caitlin Shearer, Matthew Roland Bannister, Matt Roden) – and casually flung together into a recipe collection. Oh, and we’re having a party – with lashings of bite-sized nibbles from the collection, and chunes by Sures. YOU’RE INVITED. artonthewall.tumblr.com

Exclusivity is a hallmark of the Twilight film franchise. If you’re not fully versed in the characters and mythology, then Breaking Dawn Part 1 raises a lot more questions than it answers. For me, the experience of watching the film feels like coming into a TV soap opera somewhere near the end of its 10th season – there are weddings and babies and all kinds of poorly-acted melodrama, but it’s not clear why any of this is happening, or who any of these people actually are. In a sense, that’s moot, because the film has a built-in audience of Twilight fans who already know the answers to these questions, but I pity the poor boyfriend or parent who gets unwittingly dragged along to see this thing.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 is bad on a number of levels. Its attitude to women and

relationships is as reprehensible as ever.

The film opens with notional romantic lead Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) marrying his child bride Bella (Kristen Stewart), then it’s off to a honeymoon where they have bedpost-smashing sex that leaves her with bruises all over her body. It’s okay though, we’re reminded, because he’s a vampire so he can’t control himself. This kind of horseshit is par for the course in the Twilight universe – in the second film, we see the scarred and battered wife of one of the werewolf characters, and are offered a similar justification. By the end of this one, Bella is literally torn apart by her vampire lover, and the film’s attitude seems to be ‘well, that’s what you get’.

Thinking about the sexual politics of Twilight, and the fact that this is presented as a straight-faced love story, makes me angry, so instead I’m going to talk about the laughably-amateurish production values.

Breaking Dawn Part 1 feels like it was made on the cheap to squeeze maximum cash out of Twilight fans. The continuity is so sloppy that characters are often in completely different positions from shot to shot, and the CGI werewolves, while they at least look semi-passable, speak to eachother in gruff voiceovers that tip their scenes into unintentional hilarity. Save for sweet, dumb Kellan Lutz, who is obviously just delighted to be getting the work, most of the other players seem pretty glum, in particular Pattinson is clearly just waiting for this whole unpleasant enterprise to be over.

Alasdair Duncan ■ Theatre

POSTS IN THE PADDOCK November 10-19 / Performance Space My Darling Patricia’s Posts in the Paddock is nothing if not ambitious, seeking to evoke the tale of Jimmy Governor, an Aboriginal bushranger who is best known as the subject of the book and subsequent film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Earlier incarnations of his story have focused on his crimes as a murderer, particularly the fact that he killed children. Here there is a greater focus on his life leading up to that point, as a man who was cheated out of his earnings, and scorned for marrying a white girl. The stakes are high, not only because of seriousness of the content but also because the performers are personally invested in the story. MDP’s Claire Britton has relatives who were killed by Governor, and performer LeRoy Parsons is his great-great-grandson.

This show is at its best when MDP play to their strengths as visual storytellers. In an example of how ordinary actions can become extraordinary in theatrical settings, it was truly moving watching Parsons and Sam Routledge put up the olden-style wood fence that provided the frame for the rest of the performance. The lush visuals continued, with Chris Twyman’s lights providing the perfect support to the almost dancelike introduction we were given to Jimmy’s story.

Phil Downing’s sound design was also perfectly measured, complementing both the images and performer Aunty Rhonda Dixon Grovernor’s beautiful moments of song.

Unfortunately, the acting couldn’t match the level set by the visuals, and the piece was oddly structured. I wanted the personal nature of the work to be embedded in the performance, but instead in seemed strangely separate to Jimmy’s story. With further work I think this show could be extraordinary. In its current state it’s still a fascinating look into one of the scars we’re still trying to heal.

Henry Florence

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

DVD Reviews Happy Accidents...

THE TRIP

THE FALL

Madman Entertainment Released November 2 Some people found this a trifle slim and ‘story-lite’ for Michael Winterbottom (Tristam Shandy; Welcome to Sarajevo), and insufficiently hilarious for a Coogan/ Brydon joint, but I think it has plenty enough charm, simplicity and wit.

An extrapolation of the BBC series of the same name, the basic premise sees comedian-actors and real life friends Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on a food-reviewing countryside road trip.

At its funniest, The Trip is side-splitting; Brydon and Coogan’s impressions of Michael Caine, Al Pacino, Richard Burton, Hugh Grant et al are delightful – although for me, the ‘Gentlemen, to bed!’ segment is the stand-out. But it’s not trying (at least not hard) to be a comedy. Essentially it’s a road movie about two comedians entering the midlife crisis danger zone; one is obviously handling it better than the other, and the closing scenes are surprisingly melancholic.

Coogan is a bit of a tosser – vain, self-involved, and constantly needling Rob (whom he describes as ‘a short Welsh man who does impressions’) about his life of quiet mediocrity.

But for every instance of arrogance, there’s another where he proves himself endearingly fragile or honest – giving advice over the phone to his teenaged son, expounding on the problems of getting food stuck in his teeth, and even exchanging petty jealousies with his erstwhile girlfriend…

Along the way, Winterbottom manages to get in music by Michael Nyman and Joy Divison, extensive quotation of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and a substantial focus on the food side of things, including brief ‘behind-the-scenes’ interstitials of the chefs preparing the food. (If you’re partial to scallops, there’s no chance in hell you won’t be craving them at the end of this.)

Umbrella Entertainment Released October 5 Tarsem Singh has an incredible, unimpeachable propensity for stunning visual images of both the poetically beautiful and viscerally terrifying variety; Dali would approve – as would Escher, who the director also liberally references. He launched his vision with the intensely interesting and hitherto unprecedented psychological crime thriller The Cell, which posited a world in which detectives (or in this case, a child psychologist) might interrogate an unconscious suspect (in this case serial killer) by entering their subconscious. Its bold vision and searing imagery, laced with terror, was impossible to dismiss.

The Fall, Tarsem’s second feature, abandons genre to wallow unapologetically in the realm of the imagination – and puts paid to any notion that this experienced film-clip and commercials director might be a mere purveyor of glossy extravagances: this film has real emotion, real wonder, and real satisfaction in the fine art of storytelling. It also has a cheeky sense of humour. In fact, it’s a lot like The Princess Bride.

It reads like the labour of love it is – self-funded after no studio would back the extravagant production (although Spike Jonze and David Fincher later came on as Executive Producers).

Set in LA during the early age of silent cinema, the story concerns an unlikely friendship between precocious 4-year-old Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), who is recovering in hospital after a fall in which she broke her arm, and Hollywood stuntman Roy (Lee Pace), who is bedridden after an accident. Their bond intensifies as Roy spins stories for her – weaving elements of her life into an epic adventure.

However his mental state soon begins to warp the fantasy, sucking her into darker territory.

Watch the blu-ray version on the biggest screen you can find, with the volume high enough to drown out any latent cynicism.

Dee Jefferson Dee Jefferson

Street Level With Dara Gill

W

hen Dara was featured as the cover artist for Australian Art Collector’s ‘undiscovered talent’ issue in April, no-one was as bemused as he was; how do you collect conceptual art? Dara’s work ranges from performance to mashed-up book sculptures, photography, and installation; he’s a member of the Team MESS performance collective (all ex-Wollongong Uni), and one of the directors at Firstdraft Gallery. He’s been listed in the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the top ten talents to watch, and he has prettymuch the best hair ever. If we didn’t love him so much, we’d have to hate him.

Dara pohotographed by Thomas Thoms

What’s your training as an artist? I studied at the Uni of Wollongong and then did my Honours at COFA, both in Sculpture. I started this year at Firstdraft Gallery as a director, which has been a steep and wonderful learning curve.

How do you describe your artistic practice? My practice revolves around ideas rather than materials. At the moment I’m obsessed by ideas of anxiety, the everyday nature of it and its implications on daily life.

This manifests itself through video, sculpture, installation, participatory work, photography, sound and something I call the survey. I would also say I’m a Bunnings Warehouse artist; pretty much all my materials come from there.

Tell us about In Action, Inaction? The title is a bit of wordplay that refers to a daily process – starting with the intention, to doing something, then through to its execution, and the procrastination that ensues between these points. There are three works in the show: a dual-channel video, a participatory survey, and a gift from me to you. The gift comprises of a ‘To-Do’ list – it’s a pad of paper that I have designed and had

Portrait of the artist (as a young man)

manufactured that will be available for free on the night (yes, FREE art!).

What’s challenging you currently? At the moment, the nature of my work is kind of all over the place – shows with a range of different works in various materials with various outcomes. The challenge is how to frame them to the audience as a cohesive whole, in the simplest way.

How did your JUMP mentorship affect your practice? JUMP was great! Glenn Barkley (MCA curator) helped me refine my ideas and to approach this ‘framing’ through the eyes of a curator – as well as helping me with my writing.

What other projects have you currently got your fingers in? There are a few big ones coming up. Firstly, Team MESS are doing a huge project at NextWave festival next year and then after that I’ll be doing SafARI – the fringe Biennale on at the same time as the Biennale of Sydney.

What: In Action, Inaction When: Opens Thursday December 1 from 6pm Where: MOP Projects / 2/39 Abercrombie St, Chippendale More: daragill.com

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BRAG EATS

News Bites GOT SOMETHING FOR BRAG EATS?

Email us news tips or story ideas at food@thebrag.com options. It’ll be a family affair, with Bilson’s son and daughter managing front of house duties, while a small team will assist Bilson in the kitchen. “I guess ‘relaxed’ will describe your experience while ‘inspired’ will describe mine,” says Bilson Snr.; Number One will open on November 24 at 1 Alfred Street, Sydney.

Heston Blumenthal

HESTON TOURS

British chef Heston Blumenthal, of Fat Duck fame, is bringing his scientific approach to cooking out of the kitchen and onto the stage, for one night only at the State Theatre. The nutty professor of the culinary world, Heston is famous for his unconventional and experimental cooking methods (edible sand or bacon-and-egg ice-cream, anyone?). He’ll be sharing his secrets and doing live on-stage demos on May 1 at the State Theatre. Tickets etc at hestonlive.com.au

NUMBER ONE

After the distressing closure last month of Tony Bilson’s eponymous three-hat restaurant, we’re happy to see that the Sydney chef has bounced right back, with the recent opening of Number One Wine Bar, which features a concise menu boasting some of his classic dishes plus rotating seasonal

MOVEABLE FEAST

Taking your cab driver on a late-night odyssey through the suburbs to find a kebab shop that’s still open may no longer be necessary. The City of Sydney is ramping up its Late Night Economy initiative by announcing plans to introduce quality takeaway food vans to various city locations over the weekend’s peak eating times. At the moment, it’s damn hard to get a decent bite after 10pm, so anything that brings us closer to the flourishing street-food cultures of New York, London and Europe is a good thing.

The pilot program will start in January, and run for a year.

ISLAND BAR

Cockatoo Island’s Island Bar is back for the summer, and cocktails, wood-fired pizza and sunburn are the name(s) of the game.

It’s open from 12.30 till 9pm, and is only a cruisy 12-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay. The bar is

fashioned from old shipping containers (environmentally friendly = warm and fuzzy), but with the fake grass, palm trees and stripy umbrellas, if you tilt your head and squint, it almost looks like you’re in Vanuatu! Trading days from November to April vary, so hit up their site: theislandbar.com.au

FEAST YOUR EYES 2

We’ve been such a crap friend lately, huh? Haven’t shown how much we appreciate you in way too long? Meet us 7ish at World Bar this Wednesday, and let us lavish you with party times.

It’s the second installment of BRAG Eats & The Wall's 'Feast Your Eyes' series, and it's focused on everyone's favourite summer food genre – BBQ! There'll be recipe packs with contributions from your favourite peeps (Jonti, Claudia O’Doherty, Lewi McKerdy, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Guineafowl, Sweetie Zamora, Brendan Maclean, Kit Palaskas, Geoffrey O’Connor, Toby & Pete, Alice Fenton), illustrations by your other favourite peeps (Caitlin Shearer, Matthew Roland Bannister) – and sweet surf jams by Sures.

Feast Your Eyes #2: BBQ goes down November 23 at The Wall @ World Bar from 7pm. Get there early and we'll feed you a bit, too. artonthewall.tumblr.com

FEAST YOUR EYES: BRAG'S GUEST RECIPES

The Best/Easiest Caramelised Onion Dip You Will Ever Eat/Make. With Flat Bread.

BY IRINA BELOVA JR. (graphic designer/chef extraordinaire) INGREDIENTS Dip: 2 onions (thinly sliced), ½ cup cream cheese, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tsp balsamic vinegar Flatbread: 2 1/3 cups plain flour, 2 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp instant yeast, olive oil, 330ml lukewarm water

1.

Dip: Cook onions with some olive oil and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar for about five minutes. Turn the heat down and keep on cooking for about 35-40 mins, until the onion is soft and golden brown. Leave to cool while you beat in the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Stir in the onions and all the juicy pan juice and serve. Sounds ‘meh’, tastes amazing – and best served with these guys, which you can also make yourself:

. Flatbread: Sift the flour and sea 2 salt into a large bowl, and make a well in the middle. Stir the instant yeast with two tablespoons of olive oil and about 330ml of lukewarm water, and pour it into the well.

Mix to form a dough and knead it a bit on a floured surface.

Throw a little bit of oil in a bowl, throw in the dough and cover with cling wrap. Leave to rise in a warm place for most of an hour. After that, punch the dough! Divide into bits. Flatten the bits. Brush with olive oil and some sea salt and bake in a 220 degree oven for 20-25 mins. (If you’re just BBQing, then 2-3 mins each side should do it.)

TV Chefs: A Spotter’s Guide

Know Your Nigel From Your Nigella By Gabriel Gateaux

T

V chefs are a resilient breed – despite rampant over-population, evolutionary scientists keep discovering new species.

To help you differentiate between the current top crop of British dish jockeys, Gabriel Gateaux put together this handy guide, so you know who to Google next time you need inspiration in the kitchen.

HUGH FEARNLEYWHITTINGSTALL Identifying features: Guardian columnist, ‘real food’ campaigner and floppy-haired fop, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is the middleclass foodie’s middle-class foodie. In his show River Cottage, Hugh tries to be self-reliant and feed his family (children named Oscar, Freddy and Chloe, naturally) with food grown largely from his small-holding in Dorset – the sort of privileged wankery that only an Old Etonian could get away with. That said, you’ll never catch him on TV having a little cry because some school kids didn’t like his sweet potato hash browns, unlike some twats we could name...

Diet: A notorious carnivore, HFW has lent his efforts to campaigns for sustainable fishing and responsibly-farmed chickens, but most recently has reformed and given up on meat altogether, to wax lyrical on the joys of vegetables. You’ll probably need an entire weekend to gather the necessary (locally-sourced) ingredients and actually cook one of his recipes, but at least you can bask in the warm glow of smug selfassurance afterwards.

JAMIE OLIVER Identifying features: Portly, still sporting the David Beckham ‘faux-hawk’ and with an intensely irritating fondness for rhyming slang, it’s unlikely anyone would want to see the ‘Naked Chef’ in the buff these days. That said, he still combines a passion for flavour with a practical approach (why pay $20 for heirloom tomatoes when a 50-cent tin will do the job?) and an addiction to olive oil that makes him the go-to guy for achievable cuisine.

Diet: With a background in Italian cooking, most of Jamie Oliver’s recipes are rough and ready, based around getting rich flavours with simple techniques (no need for an oxy acetylene torch

free stuff

to get his “perfect pork crackling”). Show me a mortal who can cook one of Jamie’s 30 Minute Meals within the designated half-hour, though, and I will show you a liar.

NIGEL SLATER Identifying features: The gay man’s Nigella, Nigel Slater’s double entendres aren’t quite as subtle as his recipes. (Actual sample scripts: “Now, this courgette is larger than I normally like” [knowing look to camera]; or, “Sweet as sugar, corn needs instant attention, especially when the butter runs down its knobbly shaft.”) It’s lucky he gets so enthused about fresh meat and juicy vegetables, though, because his presenting style is so mild-mannered that he might otherwise lull you into a trance – and heaven knows what subliminal messages would enter your brain then.

Diet: Nigel tends towards simple recipes with homemade ingredients – a typical dish might involve some eggplant and tomatoes picked fresh from his garden, roasted with a bit of garlic and olive oil, and then eaten...alone...sitting in the garden. There’s a desperate pathos to watching a middle-aged man cook an incredible apple and rhubarb crumble sourced from his own backyard, claiming all the while that his friends will love it when they pop around for supper, and then looking through your fingers as he eats it solo, with a wistful look on his face that can’t help but remind one of other highly personal pleasures.

NIGELLA LAWSON Identifying features: The Domestic Goddess incarnate – although throwing the perfect dinner party must be easier when you’re a multimillionaire and married to Charles Saatchi. Who could hate on Nigella, though, when she’s plying you with Chicken Pot Pie, Devil’s Food Cake and a sultry glint in her eye?

Diet: Decadence and comfort food are Nigella’s modus operandi – you wouldn’t be paranoid to suspect that she’s trying to fatten you up like a delicious lamb. If you’ve got some cream, cocoa and flour in the pantry, though, you could do a lot worse than spending an evening with the ‘Queen of Food Porn’.

email: freestuff@thebrag.com

MADAM CHAR CHAR

258A Crown St, Surry Hills

. Serve the bread with the dip. People will be all, 3 “YOU MADE BREAD? HOLY CRAP.” And you can be all, “Ain’t no thang!”

Illustration by Tanya Cooper Curated by BRAG Eats & The Wall @ The World Bar, for Feast Your Eyes 1; www.theworldbar.com

Madam Char Char stuff their birds with a house blend of roasted herbs and spices, and infuse them with a distinctly Portuguese marinade of red onion, sumac and lemon. If that’s not enough to get you salivating, they’ve got a succulent selection of braised dishes that includes hearty lamb shanks, slowcooked lamb shoulder and braised chickpeas (served with spinach and potato). Their mashed eggplant (with tomato) and pickled beetroot (with cous cous) salads are just the icing on the Madam Char Char smorgasbord.

Because we like our readers fat and happy (we know, you’re not fat, you’re just "festively plump"), we’re giving away a $50 Madam Char Char voucher to one lucky reader who can name another other item from the Madam menu. Hints can be found at madamcharchar.com.

ning Areas 3 Di 1 2

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On Premise Licence (Restaurant) Licensee: T. Bartovic

38 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

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The Bar European Room The Attic

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BRAG EATS bar review

THIRSTY?

THE DOCK [REDFERN]

A

s the latest addition to the splatter of small bars that have been scattergunned through Sydney, The Dock is a vibrant new player bringing a much-needed splash of life to the western end of Redfern Street. Eschewing the recent trend towards Americana burger-and-fries eathouses (here's looking at you, Norbercrombiefolk), The Dock feels more like the bastard progeny of a seedy fling between a Wild West saloon and an aging bordello, who grew up with dreams of becoming a New York dive bar circa 1940-something. With its jumble-sale collection of furniture, half-exposed brickwork wall and a generally thrown together air, The Dock boasts the best décor that a shoestring budget can buy. And I mean that in the most complimentary way.

Although it opened a mere seven weeks ago, The Dock has certainly found its rhythm early on, being incorporated pretty seamlessly into the ‘Fern as a local drinking spot. Much of this is down to the welcoming call-outs and ongoing chatter of omnipresent owner Jed Clarke, who created something of a ruckus earlier this year with his alcohol delivery service, The Beer Baron. A self-confessed novice who had never worked in a bar before (let alone run one), Jed attributes most of his learning to DIY videos on YouTube, from which he figured out everything from how to knock down and rebuild a wall to how to make a cocktail. This might seem like a pretty shaky premise on which to start a bar, but it certainly doesn’t stop a pretty mean gin martini being slid across the bar in my direction.

Once it became clear that his days as the Beer Baron were numbered and he’d no longer be able to fill the niche of entirelylegally-but-definitely-cheekily servicing the out-of-hours drinking needs of Sydneysiders, Jed figured that the natural progression was to open a speakeasy of sorts. Speakeasy it ain’t, with a huge glass front and wide open

AUSSIE BLOODY MARY

door that encourages anyone to wander in at any time – including local icon Harry (you may know him as the guy in military regalia) – but certainly it has the kind of bonhomie that the speakeasy scene was all about. Within the kind of weird eclectic riff-raff melting pot of patrons, regulars are greeted by name and have their favourite seats.

Already.

With a decent selection of local and international (New Zealand, anyone?) beers and wines, and a good sized list of cocktail classics – margaritas, caprioskas, sours – and not-so-classic shots, The Dock ticks all the boxes of a solid and dependable late-night drinking spot. As I stirred the ice around my whisky sour and snacked on the complimentary popcorn, Jed hit pause on our chat to change sides on the 1940 ‘Best Of’ record. A fellow drinker, propped up on a bar stool near me, looked up and delightedly yelled, “A record player? This is the best bar ever!” Jed pointed at me: “Make sure you write that one down.” – Jonathan Hindmarsh

@ THE NORFOLK HOTEL

305 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills Ingredients: 60ml bourbon, The Norfolk’s secret Mary Mix, lemon juice, Tabasco sauce, tomato juice.

Method: Combine all ingredients in a boston, add ice and roll to mix.

Serve in: A Heinz baked beans can.

Garnish: Cherry tomato, beef jerky and a cocktail onion on a skewer.

Where: 182 Redfern Street Hours: 5pm-12pm daily Contact: 0405 757 458

Best drunk with: a meat pie taco during: a cricket one-dayer while wearing: a truckie’s wife-beater and stubbies and listening to: Cold Chisel.

A-LIST A LIST ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS

Known for his quick wit and caustic-style of comedy, Eddie Ifft has a habit of speaking first and then thinking, which gets him in trouble – a lot…

“His jokes are damn funny” Steve Bennett, chortle.co.uk

“His material is pure geniuoms.au” comic , FringeBenefits.c Kosta Jaric

Get Eddie Ifft Live on DVD from punchline.com.au

SYDNEY COMEDY STORE NOV 24 - 26 BOOKINGS: 02 9357 1419 OR comedystore.com.au Scan this QR code with your iPhone to download the FREE A-List Comedy App

www.alist.com.au www.eddieifft.com

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 39

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK DRAKE

dream-like downtempo create space and ambience for the rapper’s subdued, introspective flows.

Take Care Universal

When he introduced The Weeknd to the world, Drake gave us an indication of the direction his own music was headed in. The tight-knit Toronto-centric OVOXO crew (an amalgamation of Drake’s ‘October’s Very Own’ and The Weeknd’s ‘XO’) have captured a sound where hip hop and minimalistic, ambient indie meet, and on his follow-up to last year’s Thank Me Later, Aubrey “Drake” Graham walks the line between decadency and despondency.

Take Care offers insight into the loneliness this lothario feels at the top. (He’s still swilling Patrón surrounded by strippers in a Fendilined penthouse, though.)

The production from Noah “40” Shebib is key to Take Care’s aesthetic. It is sensual minimalism, where 40’s drums are soft thuds (almost heartbeats) rather than drum hits, and the instrumentation is liquid, effortless and soothing. His arrangements of swirling,

SCUBA

CANYONS

DJ-Kicks !K7/Fuse

Keep Your Dreams Modular

Hotflush label owner Paul Rose, aka Scuba, has pulled such an eclectic selection of tracks for his DJ-Kicks offering that it’s near impossible to slap a genre on it. With his roots in dubstep (or post-dubstep, or UK bass, or whatever it’s being called nowadays), but deeply entrenched in a deep, minimalist techno sound, this is quite simply the dream set for anyone who appreciates wellproduced EDM, and it changes shape each time you listen to it.

Including two new tracks from UK bass scene-stealers Boddika, with ‘Acid Battery’ and Addison Groove’s ‘An We Drop’, and a tracklist that reads like a who’s who of bass/techno including Dbridge, Roska and Jon Convex, you can’t help but marvel at the restraint the selection shows – although at over an hour long and with 32 tracks, it does drag its feet here and there. To check you’re still there, Sex Worker’s cover of ‘Rhythm Of The Night’ will throw you completely, the echoing vocals buried deep within the bassline and sultry melody.

Vocals are scattered sparsely throughout, but when they do crop up, especially on Braille’s melodic ‘Break Up’, they bring a refreshing break in the sound. Scuba’s own track ‘M.A.R.S’ takes on another feeling altogether, with an electro house element thrown into the mix. His other track ‘Adrenaline’ has a beautifully deep bassline, but the repetitive female vocals get a bit too much for a lounge room listen…

Scuba takes the best of the Berlin techno scene he has embraced with open arms, and blends it with the smouldering darkness of the UK underground. The result is a hybrid that is just too good to resist.

Marissa Demetriou

Almost every gig that I’ve attended in the last two years has had the following words appended to the poster: ‘Canyons DJ set.’ Somehow, without any of us knowing, these Perth dudes became the new Bang Gang as the latter moved into restaurants, and this LP is supposed to collate their frenzied ideas and remixes into one neatly packaged place.

As DJs, Canyons are fantastic; you never know what they’re going to play next, and chances are it will make you want to dance in a weird, Talking Heads kind of way. Keep Your Dreams is a bit like that, too. Very few of the songs go by traditional pop or dance song structures; the duo seem more content to experiment with sound sources and ideas across wide-ranging sonic templates that take them over four and a half minutes. Perhaps the only constant is their completely zeitgeist-appropriate over-use of saxophone. But aside from that, there’s French disco-funk in one corner (‘Under A Blue Sky’) and classic James Taylor pop in the other (‘When I See You Again’) – even the production style shifts between tracks, making it a little hard to get a foothold on anything.

A dearth of ideas is clearly not something Canyons have to deal with, but what will become problematic is that some tunes are twenty times better than others – which makes for a disparity across the record that could probably be rectified in a live set. ‘Blue Snakes’, which isn’t new, is still the standout, a completely alien take on jungle house that's thrilling and groovy at the same time.

Keep Your Dreams is a challenging listen, but an entertaining one at that; the debut record will surely see Canyons moving further up that gig poster in future.

Jonno Seidler

Drake proves his melodious chops on Take Care, too – his breathy, understated croon on ‘Marvin’s Room’ is matched by his melodic beat poetry on the title track. This album also sees Drake eschewing his notorious hashtag flow and showing new versatility and lyrical ability, from the kick-back swagger of ‘Lord Knows’ to the reflective, almost confessional style of ‘Look What You’ve Done’. And the cameos read like the guest list of the best party in history – Rihanna, The Weeknd, Jamie xx, Stevie Wonder, Nicki Minaj – but it’s not just namedropping for the sake of it. Like Kanye’s Twisted Fantasy, Drizzy has used the artists to their full potential; they’ve moulded themselves to the tone of the album, while retaining their own style.

Rach Seneviratne

BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY

POLAR BEAR CLUB

Wolfroy Goes To Town Spunk Records

Clash Battle Guilt Pride Bridge Nine Records

Alt country’s other other darling, Will Oldham, returns with new album Wolfroy Goes To Town – his eleventh under the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy moniker.

Perhaps because of the familiarity of the players, the production has a laid back and easy played-on-the-porch feel, with Oldham’s wavering croak front and centre. Sometimes, like on ‘There Will Be Spring’, he is accompanied by nothing more than a lazily strummed acoustic guitar, while other times, such as on ‘Cows’, a choir of voices and epic ‘70s rock guitar propel the songs out of the speakers.

‘No Match’ begins with Oldham singing a traditional folk melody over a Hank Williams-style electrified guitar, before it morphs into a full-blown country soul number that packs a mighty emotional punch. ‘Quail And Dumplings’ might be the best song here; it is certainly the most adventurous. A mix of classical Spanish guitar, country shuffle, spaghetti Western, wailing female vocals, and humorous lyrics – you’ll have to hear it to understand.

Lyrically, Oldham continues the conversational, semi-autobiographical and literary style that he's come close to perfecting over the last ten years.

Whether he’s challenging the listener with a confronting opening line (“As boys we fucked each other…”) or a weighty question (“When we gonna see we got god on our side?”), Oldham isn’t afraid of getting wordy. His everyman tales of lonesomeness and hopelessness inform each song here, but as bleak as the lyrics may seem, Oldham isn’t wallowing in a depressing murk – he's merely documenting his experiences, and those of his characters.

After their debut EP The Redder, The Better in 2006 turned so many underground fanzine editors' heads, Polar Bear Club have polarised fans.

In the span of two albums some say they’ve lost their hardcore spirit, while others see their flirtation with slicker studio rock as a maturation of their song craft. With their latest, Clash Battle Guilt Pride, it sure doesn’t get any easier for PBC fans.

Moving further away from the Hot Water Music influence than their previous albums Sometimes Things Just Disappear and Chasing Hamburg exhibited, Polar Bear Club have put forth a more accessible record this time around, swapping their fuming guitar work for a bigger stadium rock feel more akin to the Foo Fighters, Incubus and even The Police. Opener ‘Pawner’ is a clear indication of the album’s direction. It's a ballad-cumheavy rocker that’s a shoe-in for latenight commercial radio rock shows, while other songs like ‘My Best Days’ and ‘Scream In Caves’, with sing-along choruses and uncomplicated guitars, are built from the same accessible blueprint.

This divergence of path isn’t without its merits though. ‘Slow Roam’ incorporates staccato Police-esque guitars to great effect, and ‘Religion On The Radio’ and ‘Never Leave New York’ are standouts, with the band delving into more earnest, honest territory.

They’ve always had the hooks, but in Clash Battle Guilt Pride, it seems intentional. PBC have grown since their last album, and the scope of their songwriting shows this.

Romulus EP Green/MGM There’s something about twins that makes me wonder which one is evil – and I’m not sure if it comes from Jaymes or Tegan of W.A's Voltaire Twins, but there’s definitely a certain malevolent undertone to their latest EP, Romulus.

Winners of the triple j Unearthed Parklife competition in 2008, this is the second release from the siblings.

The pair are joined on the record by synth player and percussionist Jack 40 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

Parallax 4AD/Remote Control The press release for Atlas Sound’s third record states emphatically that this is not a ‘side project’ for the Deerhunter frontman, but an act in its own right.

You’d be forgiven for supposing otherwise – Bradford Cox’s last two albums under this moniker have been wistful, aggressive, uplifting and sublime in all the right places, but have felt more like private noodlings than bold musical statements.

Parallax could prove to break this trend, even if it initially feels like more of the same. Perhaps it’s that Cox is more comfortable with his bedroompsych shtick now than he has been before; it all clings together very well, but not in the hazy way that his debut did. It’s resolute, determined.

The eminent songcraft of Halcyon Digest seems to have made its way intact onto the record. ‘Te Amo’ is a fine example, translating the blissful levity of Deerhunter’s ‘Helicopter’ to a broader palette, with piano and synth arpeggios interlocking across the stereo spectrum as Cox croons plaintively: “We’ll go to sleep / We’ll have the same dreams”. And ‘Mona Lisa’ is blessed by the kind of sleightof-hand chorus that won many fans over in the first place.

There’s an immersive spatiality to Parallax. It feels like an intimate performance lost in a vast landscape.

The cavernous Space Echo groans that haunt the corners of ‘Amplifiers’ add a genuinely unsettling air to an otherwise chipper Cox ballad, and the supine, lilting opening chords of ‘Terra Incognita’ open onto drifting choral plateaus and whispering textures.

Enlisting the help of his current touring band, this is the sound of a group of talented friends running through some well-worn songs.

Here’s hoping Nova never hears about Polar Bear Club, because these rough-around-the-edges punkers have discovered their pop sensibilities. This is stadium rock, covered in tattoos.

Parallax weaves the plaintive folk demos of last year’s Bedroom Databank series with the canny avant-rock that have made his other band an indie favourite. In that way, it's easily Bradford Cox’s best work to date.

Roland K. Smith

Rick Warner

Luke Telford

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK VOLTAIRE TWINS

ATLAS SOUND

Doepel and drummer Matt Gio, who both add variety to their sound – but the resulting release remains quite uncomplicated, and heavily dominated by synths.

The title track is a great lead in; you’re already expecting the Pet Shop Boy vocals and syrupy indie electro disco beats by the time that they kick in. ‘Animalia’ is the moodiest cut, exploring the twisted tale of a taxidermist’s latest acquisition, if the recent (and frequently blogged) music clip is anything to go by.

While third track ‘The Wolves In The Walls’ has some great moments, by this

stage I'm hungry for a small divergence, and the song becomes a little repetitious... But they win me back with ‘Island Talk’, its poppy beat contrasting with the dark, evocative lyrics (“island talk, away from home / savages in schoolboy uniforms”), and ominous, harmonious vocals. Romulous is an interesting offering from Voltaire Twins; there may not be a lot of diversity, but when it stopped spinning I found myself wanting to hear more of their danceworthy dark synth beats.

If you like your synth-pop dark and sweet as black strap molasses, then Perth's Voltaire Twins might just be your fix.

Juliette Gillies

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

WILD FLAG - Wild Flag JONSI & ALEX - Riceboy Sleeps DEERHUNTER - Halcyon Digest

GRINDERMAN - Grinderman LANA DEL REY - Video Games

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

THE HEAD AND THE HEART

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

BRIGHT EYES

The Enmore Theatre Monday November 14 There was a certain injustice to seeing Bright Eyes by sunlight at Harvest the day prior to their official sideshow. But in the dimly-lit confines of the Enmore Theatre, the band find their ideal landscape, the intimate setting affording them the space and attention required for their sparser side. With frontman Conor Oberst expressing his love for the 100-year-old theatre, his audience did the same, albeit in the way that only an Australian audience could: various between-song heckles trumped by the call

JINJA SAFARI, MEGASTICK FANFARE, PLUTO JONZE, ELIZABETH ROSE The Metro Theatre Friday November 11

With no jungle readily available, I enter the Metro Theatre under a full moon for the sold out, allages Jinja Safari gig.

I’m eager to experience their ‘forest rock’ live, and once inside there's an electric vibe in the air. I soon find myself surrounded by feathered head-dresses and animal masks, on an already crowded dance floor. Solo female artist Elizabeth Rose has the crowd clapping and armwaving early into her set; her dark electronica and Björk-like vocals are stylish, and mark her as an act to watch. Next, Pluto Jonze delivers a short, sharp performance that is heavily reliant on a Theramin – and I’m scared I might not hear certain frequencies anymore.

Megastick Fanfare take to the stage, and while there is some good percussion and bass, their sound never goes too far beyond noise.

With the support acts done and the red curtain closed, the tension builds and the excitable crowd are silenced as distant drumming begins, and Jinja Safari appear at the back of the theatre, dancing their way through the crowd in a procession of Afro beat percussion before taking to a stage that's adorned with Tibetan

prayer flags, flickering candles and a giant backdrop painted with the Jinja Safari symbol. Armed with guitars, a sitar, drums, bass, keys and a glockenspiel, the band dance barefoot with frightening energy, whipping the crowd into a jumping, singing frenzy with ‘Mud’ and ‘Peter Pan’.

Occasionally the vocals get a bit lost by the mixing desk, but halfway through their set lead singer Marcus yells “eleven, eleven, eleven, eleven” in honour of the landmark day.

Jinja Safari know how to delight an audience with their antics. At one point, Marcus and Pepa climb simultaneously onto the speakers on either side of the stage.

With Marcus blowing on a vuvuzela, Pepa leaps up and swings precariously like a baby orangutan across the light rig to join Marcus on the other side. Jumping down from a height that made my ankles shriek, he is up and dancing merrily through the haze of an overzealous smoke machine. They conclude with 'Mermaids' and, as a group of dancers storm the stage, Pepa – unable to contain himself any longer – throws himself into the crowd and surfs over a sea of hands.

Theatrics aside, Jinja Safari deliver a great performance. If you get a chance to catch them, you’re in for a wild time.

Juliette Gillies INA CLARKE

OUR PHOTOGRAPHER : KATR

GOLD FIELDS, MILLIONS Oxford Art Factory Friday November 11

The unassuming Millions shuffled onstage to a healthy crowd, lead singer sporting a brown sloppy joe and buzz cut, and the guitarist wearing a Wu-Tang tee. Their brand of surf-tinged garage-pop is intelligently simple (if that is even a thing), and they made the whole crowd wish they were smoking some jays somewhere near Nimbin. The lead singer has that almost lazy Alex Turner-esque voice, with equally catchy lyrics: “You kiss the boys and make them cry / I want to make you mine, oh my”. They were an odd support choice for Gold Fields, but Millions play the kind of music that’s easy to shake your booty to.

The curtains re-opened with flashing lights, a palpitating synth track and a whole lotta smoke machine. Gold Fields entered and launched into ‘Woods’, blitzing the venue with their penchant for percussion – and lots of it. Drummer Ryan D’Sylva hits the kit like it’s his last time every time, his short stature meaning that everything except the high flail of his sticks before they crash down is obscured.

They have a floor tom that singer Mark Fuller hits the fuck out of, and they also have a percussion guy, who dabbles violently in cowbells, toms, agogos et al.

The backing track, light show and execution of their parts was extremely tight; you can tell the boys have put in the hard yards to get their live show spot-on. The energy was pulsating and crescendoing through the crowd, and when they pulled out an amazing cover of Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’, Oxford Art Factory was timewarped into a ‘90s nightclub in Cardiff. All we needed was glowsticks.

After an extended intro, Gold Fields’ ubiquitous ‘Treehouse’ burst into life, uniting the crowd in a sea of synchronised handclaps, with cider thrown into the air and strangers dancing with strangers. Gold Fields have managed to craft a show where romantic pashing and manic dancing can follow one-another to a cowbell accompaniment, and as ‘Moves’ signalled the show’s denouement, the densely packed OAF was filled with people flailing their body parts and yelling out the oddball lyrics: “AND IN AN AMBULANCE, I COULDN’T FEEL MY FACE!”

Rach Seneviratne

of “show us ya dick.”

Bright Eyes' set managed to balance the band's diverse sounds – although most of its duration was devoted to the indie-rock territory of Lifted and Fevers and Mirrors, the overdriven guitar of Mike Mogis leading the full-band approach to Oberst’s broken poetry. Even the fiddle-centric ‘Four Winds’, which opened the set, was subtly altered to match this sound; but that’s not to say they didn’t touch on the other facets of the band.

The folk troupe featured on Cassadaga reared its head when Mogis ditched his Strat to sit behind a lap-steel or wield a dobro. Meanwhile, we were allowed a brief, teasing glimpse of Oberst’s occasional

PASSENGER, STU LARSEN The Gaelic Theatre Friday November 11

Mike Rosenberg has the most polite fans on the entire planet, and it’s credit to his wide-open heart that he managed to sell-out the Gaelic almost entirely by word of mouth.

You’d have to see Passenger live to understand it – which isn’t too hard, as he busks most days he’s on tour.

Opening with the brittle beauty ‘Fairytales & Firesides’, he had us at first note. I even heard people shushing friends who weren’t familiar, but had been sold on the promise of “trust me, he’s good” – and any non-believers were converted instantly. With his humble stage presence and gentle humour he reminded the crowd that “this is probably not going to be the happiest hour of your life”, before launching into my personal favourite, the very funny ‘Rain’.

There is a magical quality to his voice that would make even an auditorium feel intimate. He stepped away from the mic, and broke every heart in the room with a completely unplugged version of ‘I See Love’, and even though we were invited to sing along, no-one dared; some things are too perfect to ruin. The only songs not greeted with rapture within the first few notes were brand-new ones, never played in Sydney before. The toe-tapping ‘The Wrong Direction’, described as “white reggae”, had everyone shuffling their feet, but the highlight was ‘Rolling Stones’, a confessional ode to his life on the road. If you don’t get at least a little misty while listening to Mike, you’re almost definitely a robot.

Rosen brought opening act and birthday boy Stu Larsen back to the stage for a rendition of ‘Hearts On Fire’. Stu’s set was fantastic, and I’ve since burned through every clip on his site. His highly personal folk style shares DNA with Passenger, and his deeper voice complements Mike well. A real treat was his guest, harmonica virtuoso Natsuki Kurai, discovered during a trip to Japan.

Closing with the devastatingly beautiful anthem for a one-nightstand, ‘The Last Unicorn’, and new track ‘27’, Passenger may not make you feel happier, but it will certainly make you feel less alone – and braver about being down.

Robbie Miles

“They’ve put a curtain up so we can’t see the clunge. It’s totally sexist.” ”- THE INBETWEENERS 42 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

turn as the earnest folk singer on I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, with a stripped-back guitar and trumpet version of ‘Lua’ halfway through the set.

Dabbling in excess with two drum kits, the band’s set-up could almost be taken as unnecessary surplus, but its contribution to moments of overblown wall-of-sound justified any hint of overkill. The brief ‘80s hair-rock interruptions that stabbed through ‘Shell Games’ were less absurd than they were jolting; the similar oddities within the distortion-heavy snarl at the First World in ‘Cartoon Blues’ were just as appropriate.

Verging on rock opera excess with the unexpected new single ‘Jejune Stars’, Bright

Eyes seemed to be happily leaning on the band, despite the expectation for Oberst’s heart-broken murmurs – a fact that seemed to rile the odd punter into impassioned screeches for more Wide Awake tracks.

It’s rare that a band is so comfortably in charge of their wide range of influences, often opting to adjust the sound of their first hits to reach a wider audience. With Bright Eyes, though, nothing has stopped them branching out, and the fact that they can bring that diverse discography to the stage and make it all stick is just about the strongest endorsement that can be made.

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

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esents Lizotte’s pr cal Lo d 23 Live an NOV hwayte 24 Rai Thistlet s & John Morrison’ NOV Liam Burrows nd 25 Swing City Big Ba NOV ators 26 The Radi cal NOV esents Live and Lo 30 Lizotte’s pr NOV

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ST A O C L A R T N E C LIZOTTE’S 02 4368 2017

Live and Lizotte’s presents 23 Local NOV tlethwayte 25 Rai This NOV tal As Anything 26 Men NOV Jaywalker 27 NOV Central Coast NOV 28 29 Conservatorium NOV

RAT VS POSSUM, FLRL, FISHING FBi Social Friday November 11

It’s a real shame that the ground floor merry-goers in the Kings Cross Hotel, who sat watching a guy do acoustic Nirvana covers for hours on end, couldn’t have been replicated numerically two floors up at FBi Social, where a number of truly innovative artists were playing that night.

Sample connoisseurs Fishing (two thirds of Sydney’s We Say Bamboulee) hit the stage at 8.30pm, entrancing the audience with their layered specimens of sound, and narrating their half-hour set with a series of macabre voiceovers between songs. Each button that members Doug and Russell pressed on their samplers unleashed a collage of musical convolutions, illustrating the creative vibrancy that we’ve come to expect from these two imaginative musicians. Half an hour later FLRL, (Fashion Launches Rocket Launches), greeted our senses with a wave of ambience interspersed with dark and slightly tribal soundscapes; this was far more than just three guys playing with computers. The band features members of acts like Danimals and Kirin J. Callinan, with each applying their

individual eccentricities to FLRL’s irreverent mould; the band is constantly undergoing fluctuations, with no set members, nor set songs.

With a high-strung intro, Melbourne’s Rat vs Possum set the pace with a number of irresistibly danceable tunes. Their early songs displayed some incredible harmonies between three of the band’s singers, at first making it difficult to distinguish who was fronting the group.

But all uncertainties were cast aside when their frontwoman Daphne Shum took pole position and filled the room with some pretty impressive gospel-esque vocals. The band is very tight, with each member – be they playing bass, guitar or synthesiser – completely unafraid to go off track and improvise. And they’re not your standard synth-pop dance act either; amidst their infusion of electro and new wave beats there lies a level of electronic intricacies and musical abruptness comparable to Seekae or HEALTH. They’re not afraid to blend genres, with droning shoegaze-like guitars that wouldn’t be out of place on a Crocodiles or Crystal Stilts album. This is what those now jaded ‘Nu-Rave’ kids of 2006-09 really should have been aiming for.

& Song featauring Wine, Women ys, Katrin rah Humphre na Rose 30 Sa an Li & Burgoyne NOV

DEC & Cara Robinson 01 Hat Fitz illbilly DEC Catherine Britt H m Ja 02 Xmas DEC 03 Dragon ine Lunch DEC Piggs Peak W oodvibe G r D g 04 featurin

TLE S A C W E N ’S E T T LIZO

02 4956 2066

Matthew O’Neil OUR PHOTOGRAPHER : ASHL

EY MAR

Calling ts all artisand e iv L for Locals!

Contact: es. ott events@liz com.au

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

NOV istlethwayte 23 Rai Th NOV NOV NOV Diesel 24 25 26 NOV Anything 27 Mental As ol NOV bridge High Scho te hi W 9 2 esents NOV Lizotte’s pr cal Lo d 0 3 Live an DEC diators 01 The Ra DEC n 02 Drago e Britt Hillbilly DEC Catherin m 03 Xmas Ja DEC & Cara Robinson 04 Hat Fitz

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

W W W. L I ZOT T E S.CO M.AU BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 43

live reviews Harvest | The Gathering

HARVEST FESTIVAL Parramatta Park Sunday November 13

After the non-start that was Soundwave Revolution, the promoter's inaugural Harvest Festival needed to be rather spectacular. And they had a good head start: the people who were put out by the Revolution non-event were more than sated by the mammoth lineup for the 2012 Soundwave (who would have guessed that Slipknot would ever be an effective pacifier?), while the rest of the population were scooped up by Harvest’s impressive selection of bands and promises of a boutique festival devoid of crowds, excessive queues, fluoro or Southern Cross tattoos. (Plus there was a stage named The Big Red Tractor Stage!) The online slanging war between Geoff Barrow of Portishead and promoter AJ Maddah thankfully turned out to be a misunderstanding, and aside from The Flaming Lips being more than half an hour late (we’ll get to that), it all went off without a hitch at the Sydney leg of Harvest.

“I’ve waited ten years to hear that song,” said an over-excited middle-age man after almost every song during Mercury Rev’s guitarheavy-yet-delicately-ornate set. This is a band who inspires that kind of devotion; in a set half-full of album tracks and lesser known singles, Mercury Rev managed to maintain most of their crowd, even as TV On The Radio took flight on another stage. TVOTR, meanwhile, were on form; boasting the tightest rhythm section of the festival, they wheeled through songs from their catalogue with glee. This gig showed that the band’s transformation from buzz band to festival staple was complete – and deadpanning behind a giant beard, Kyp Malone (aka Zach

Galifianakis-meets-Reggie Watts) could be the best co-frontman that’s ever happened.

Bright Eyes were another act who spanned their catalogue fairly evenly; with an enviably large selection of recordings, there were obvious omissions (‘Lime Tree’, ‘First Day Of My Life’, ‘Take It Easy’, about 90 other excellent songs...), but fans of Oberst could sit through a five-hour concert and still grumble about the fact he didn’t play ‘June On The West Coast’. Oberst easily held the audience in his hands: whirling like a dervish, leaping from anguished cries to a hushed whisper, and commanding an alarmingly quieted audience during ‘Landlocked Blues’ in what proved to be the single most spinetingling song of the festival.

Depending on who you speak to, The National were either transcendent or boring; the devotees certainly outnumbered the disinterested, and the band were the highlight of the day for many. As someone who has only heard their music in the most transitory of situations (winding-down parties, radio snippets), I certainly wasn’t the target market, but many misty-eyed friends assure me The National are the best thing since Animal Collective, and I can only assume this is correct.

The Flaming Lips were more than half an hour late; at first, the stalling seemed to be in order to gather The National’s audience, but the steady stream of line-checks, soundchecks and ramp-checks (you know, so the members of the band could enter the stage by casually strolling out of a giant vagina) indicated the delay was due to the time needed to set up the Lips’ excessive stage show. And it was excessive. Confetti canons,

giant balloons, smoke machines, dancing girls, psychedelic projections; The Flaming Lips seemed merely to be providing the soundtrack for the psychotropic children’s party they were genially hosting. Musicwise, they were more than serviceable. A faithful version of their breakthrough hit ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’ kickstarted things after the slow, droney, hurry-up-guys start, and 'The Yeah Yeah Song' – their last single to be considered mildly commercial in any sense of the word – was inserted early in the set, but it was ‘Yoshimi Battle The Pink Robots, Pt. One’ and ‘Do You Realize’ that provided the most moving moments of the evening.

A beautiful, perfectly placed nightcap, Portishead’s set spanned their three albums fairly evenly and faithfully. Beth Gibbins’ vocals floated across the music perfectly, and while The Flaming Lips’ red cordial-party set everyone off in a sugar-tizz, Portishead lulled the festival-goers into a dreamy daze; the best, most gentle comedown imaginable.

POSTSCRIPT: Melbourne may have had its woes, but Sydney’s toilet queues were short for the most part (the female line snaked out past acceptable levels in the breaks between the most popular acts, but a lot of girls figured out the male portaloos were criminally empty for most of the day – navigating the gozleme line proved much more arduous…), there were very few band clashes, it was never overly crowded, no signs of violence, dissent or people-climbing-things-'cos-climbing-is-fun, no matching outfits, no rain, no beaming, blistering sun and free Lipton iced-teas and Sunnyboys.

Nathan Jolly OUR PHOTOGRAPHER : ASHL

EY MAR

44 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

snap sn ap

k-pop festival

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deep sea arcade 12:11:11 :: ANZ Stadium :: Olympic Boulevard Sydney Olympic Park 8765 2000

PICS :: GP

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

11:11:11 :: Annandale Hotel :: 17 Paramatta Rd Annandale 95501078

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER NS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: MUN IEL DAN :: MAR LEY ::ASH CAI GRIFFIN :: KEN LEANFORE ER :: SAM WHITESIDE GEORGE POPOV :: LUCY RIMM

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 45

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

fanny lumsden ep launch

florence & the machine

Who’s playing: Fanny Lumsden (and band), Leroy Lee and Emma Swift Sell it to us: Due to a general pro-rooftop-dancing-in-November consensus, we have decided to throw caution to the wind and host a hoedown on Hunky Dory Social Club’s roof. Leroy Lee will be wielding a banjo, Emma Swift will be donning cowboy boots and presenting a draw-full of bittersweet tall-tales; plus those who attend get a FREE DOWNLOAD of Fanny’s Hello Brighteyes EP, and an additional exclusive track – one that will never again be available…

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The home-made lemon butter and jam – and, of course, the sweet, sweet music.

Crowd specs: Your ma, your pa, your babin’ neighbour…

Wallet damage: FREE! Where: Hunky Dory Social Club / 215 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst When: Wednesday November 23 / 7-10.30pm

:: Seymour Centre :: Cnr of City Rd and Cleveland St Chippendale 9351 7944

the grates

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It sounds like: A nanna made friends with a hillbilly and then ran off into the sunset.

PICS :: KL

party profile

It’s called: Hello Brighteyes EP Launch

husky

PICS :: LR

12:11:11 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 92642666

11:11:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER IEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY DAN :: MAR LEY ::ASH E FOR CAI GRIFFIN :: KEN LEAN IDE TES WHI SAM :: ER RIMM Y GEORGE POPOV :: LUC

46 :: BRAG :: 439: 21:11:11

rat vs possum

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mum

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12:11:11 :: The Standard :: Lvl 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9262 4500

11:11:11 ::FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel :: 248 William St Darlinghurst 9331 9900

The Minor Chord The all-ages rant brought to you by Indent.net.au & Janette Chen

ALL-AGES GIG PICKS Andy Bull

T

his week’s episode of The Minor Chord is brought to you by the letter M: there’s M for misguided (like certain approaches to Movember we’ve seen) and M for monsters (the worst ones are the ones that live in your head) and M for mercy (what we might beg for during insufferable weather). And then there’s M for The Metro Theatre, where it’s all happening this weekend.

It’s been four years since alternative rock band The Getaway Plan released their debut album Other Rooms, Other Voices, and radio-favourite single ‘Where The City Meets The Sea’ launched these Melbourne boys into the charts. In the intervening time, the band has been through a breakup, a reformation, and their subsequent Reclamation tour – and now, The Getaway Plan is back with a new album, Requiem.

Fans have had months to savour the debut single ‘Phantoms’ since its internet release, while lead single ‘The Reckoning’ has started making the rounds on the radio.

Friday night will see one of the two all-ages Sydney shows the fellas are playing as part of their national album tour. Sharing stages with TGP across the country are Perth hardcore band Break Even. Between playing local shows and working on a new album, these guys have been snatching up chances to play to new audiences – you’ll be able to catch them early next year too, as they make their way across the country for Soundwave Festival. Melbournebased Kiwi band Gatherer is also playing.

Having formed a new band from what was previously known as This City Sunrise, these alternative rockers have just released their new single ‘Regular Frontier’.

Triple j’s new pop-punk favourites, The Mission In Motion, will be playing the Lair at Metro Theatre this Sunday night, as they head out on tour in support of their new single ‘Control’. Since dropping their debut album Somewhere Safe, this Sydney five-piece have been building up road miles, including a recent tour of the States supporting two of the most recognised current pop punk talents, You Me At Six (UK) and We The Kings (USA). For their upcoming national tour, The Mission In Motion have invited Sydney rockers Veora to take opening slot. Previously playing alongside bands like British India and The Butterfly Effect, Veora are currently working on an EP which should be all wrapped up by year’s end. And as coincidence would have it, the pop-punk five-piece and fellow support act for The Mission In Motion, Strangers, are billed to open for British India on their New Year’s Eve gig. Strangers are definitely on the rise, and are planning on releasing an album early next year. The Sydney leg of TMIM’s tour will also have pop punk locals As Rockets Fall kicking off the night.

Described as Australia’s ‘songwriter’s songwriter’, Andy Bull has just announced he'll be headlining The Annandale next month. This awesome all-ages event kicks off from midday till 5pm on Sunday December 4, with Sydney’s indie pop rockers WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop and Slow Down Honey on support duties.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25

The Getaway Plan, Break Even, Gatherer, Hands Like Houses Metro Theatre

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27

The Mission in Motion, Veora, Strangers, As Rockets Fall The Lair @ Metro Theatre

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4

Andy Bull, WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop, Slow Down Honey The Annandale

FEBRUARY TO MARCH 2012

Remedy More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

DOORS: REOPENED

The Doors’ best and most influential album, L.A. Woman – which some genius was recently moved to call “the first punk album” – is set for a serious tarting up on November 25, with out-takes and different versions of various tracks. While the big radio hits from it were ‘Love Her Madly’ and ‘Riders On The Storm’, the rest of the record offered dark traditional blues and psychosis, which we much preferred. Sadly, the release will mark the beginning of yet another massive Doors’ vault-plundering exercise, in which all manner of everything Doors will be served and re-served up. We were more than well over their reissue pushes a decade ago, and actually told Ray Manzarek as much during an interview. He just laughed. Thought we were kidding. We never kid. Ever.

REIGN IN BLOOD

It simply doesn’t get much better than this: Slayer will be performing the entire Reign in Blood slab in London in May as part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties’ offshoot, I’ll Be Your Mirror festival. Not good enough? Really?

OK, how’s about having the reformed Sleep and The Melvins as openers? Yes, for real.

FEEDTIME

That feedtime box that we’ve been mentioning for a while is now finally happening. It’s a four-disc effort of the complete recordings that the trio did on Bruce Griffiths’ pioneering Sydney label Aberrant, and it’s coming out on Sub Pop in March. Titled feedtime - The Aberrant Years, it’s all the albums and extras from the period and the respective sessions.

Parkway Drive East Coast Tour

Australia’s favourite hardcore group, Parkway Drive, have just announced their Sick Summer II Tour! The all-ages tour is part of Big Day Out 2012 and involves a string of regional dates throughout February and March. The Byron Bay five-piece will visit towns along the East Coast before finishing the tour at Melbourne’s Push Over Fest on March 12. To find out when they are coming to a town near you, head to indent.net.au The nominees for the 2011 'Unearthed Artist of the Year' J Award have just been announced, and it’s proving to be stiff competition! Five emerging Australian acts have been nominated this year: Ball Park Music, Emma Louise, Husky, Lanie Lane and San Cisco. The award will be presented on November 30 at triple j’s J Award ceremony, alongside awards for Australian Album Of The Year and Music Video Of The Year. To find out more info, head to the Indent site.

Want to get into radio? Well now’s your chance! Our weekly all-ages radio segment on FBi Radio, The Minor Chord, is on the hunt for new presenters and contributors.

Successful applicants will be passionate about music, have some knowledge of Sydney’s local all-ages music scene and/ or an eagerness to learn. To find out how to apply, head to the Indent site. In the meantime, The Minor Chord will be coming to you on the radio on Wednesday afternoon at 5pm. We’ll be expecting you!

SABBATH: REUNITED

OK, we're a little excited about the Sabbath reunion, which will see them re-sign to the Vertigo label (the world lost something special when the label’s iconic ‘tunnel’ logo was relegated to a mere tiny graphic, rather than something to swallow you up while the record was spinning), headline the Download Festival in the U.K. in June, and do a world tour that will reportedly nab them around $150 million. But what has us really interested is that Rick Rubin will produce their comeback album. Rubin was actually with the band at the Whiskey when the reunion was announced.

HARVEST RECAP

We enjoyed the Harvest Festival, we did.

The Family Stone were anything but a leader- and legend-less cash-in. Sure there were only three members of the band that blew the various glands off the early morning crowd at Woodstock in 1969, but they pumped like the real deal. The big surprise for us was Georgia outfit Phosphorescent – like Ryan Adams’ best songs, with a big cat doing soaring Dave Gilmour (à la Comfortably Numb) type guitar solos over the top. Pretty damn great. TV On The Radio were powerful too, with a sense of menace and tension that always threatened to explode but never did; containing it was the magic and the skill. Mogwai were as majestic as ever, but not quite as heavy on the amp-type-din as we would have liked.

Mercury Rev would have been better after dark, and felt the need to do Peter Gabriel’s ‘Solsbury Hill’ in their 40-minute set.

Meantime, after a few technical problems, The Flaming Lips gave one of the most amazing entrances we've ever seen, including Wayne Coyne rolling around on top of the crowd in his plastic bubble as the band played a virtual loop of Sabbath’s ‘Sweet Leaf’.

But from there, all the magic and simple tear-inducing innocence of the past was replaced with Coyne endlessly cajoling the “motherfucking” crowd into action like a semi-formally attired Ozzy Osbourne. More than a small pity... Oh, our special genius award went to the dude who tried to take a phone call during Mogwai’s typically very loud set.

The Doors

ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Bob Seger’s Mongrel, which caught the great man at the peak of his tough pre-Night Moves powers – which also had its moments, by the way.

Additionally spinning is Nailbomb’s Pointblank, which still stands for us as the best modern day take on the raw punk roar of Discharge.

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS Canadian punks Fucked Up, who are opening for the Foo Fighters’ stadium shows, are doing a side date that will be more their style. It’s on December 6 at The Standard.

Mojo in York Street (Sydney CBD) have moved across the road to the very cool basement level of 73 York, which will be their permanent home filled with shitloads of vinyl. They’ll be raising a glass or fifty there soon.

The mighty Boris will be back here in March on The Hope Tour, with special guests, Melbourne's Laura. On March 22 they’ll be at the Metro Theatre.

The I-94 Bar Club’s Sunday Series at Newtown’s Sandringham branches out into spoken word on November 20, with ‘Written in the Sando: Rock ‘n’ Roll Poetry Slam’.

There’ll be the oddball garage sounds of The Lang Langs, plus Danejer and Bone Martin’s psychotronic act The Kirkvoids, with rock and roll poets between sets, with pieces from Bob Short, JJ Adams, Christina Harvey and Ned Alphabet. Just $10 to get in, and it kicks off at 7.30pm.

Red Eye Records in Sydney have 2000 used US vinyl LPs of all kinds that are set to hit the racks at their 143 York Street store over the next four weeks. They’re the fruits of Red Eye Big Boss Man Chris’ recent trawl through US record fairs,

basements, lock-ups, car parks, truck stops and second-hand stores.

There’s a great new city venue called The Square in Hay Street, Haymarket, opposite Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, under the escalators. On November 25 they’ve got Hell Crab City, The Cool Charmers and The Heavies, and then on November 26 it’s The New Christs, Familia and Wolfpack.

The Hard Ons’ month-long residency at the Sando continues on November 23, with Chinese Burns Unit (Jay from Frenzal Rhomb’s other band) and Smitty & B Goode.

On November 26, Solid Gold Hell celebrates the weird and wonderful world of David Lynch at the Sly Fox Hotel, Enmore. The night will feature the films and sounds of this unique director, musician and occasional actor – which means you can expect to see pieces from the likes of Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Wild At Heart, Mulholland Drive and Dumbland, and hear tracks from some of his films and his debut solo record Crazy Clown Time.

A Lynchian soundtrack will be provided by special guest DJs – members of La Mancha Negra, AdWok (Adam Yee from Smudge and Headache) and The Satanic Mechanic (Dunhill Blues, Deadwood ‘76, Roland K. Smith & The Sinners). Joining them will be our regular DJs Demonika and Cutthroat. Entry is free.

The Mission In Motion

Send all-ages listings & info to theminorchordradio@gmail.com

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

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 47

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week HTRK

Jazzgroove: The Mugz, The Vampires 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

John Hammond Jr The Basement, Circular Quay $51 (+ bf)–$99.80 (dinner & show) 9pm Mark Wilkes, Richard Murphy, Russell Neal Kogarah Hotel free 7pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23 ROCK & POP

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24

GoodGod Small Club, Sydney

HTRK,

Lost Animal, Kirin J. Callinan $20 (+ bf) 8pm MONDAY NOVEMBER 21

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22

ROCK & POP

ROCK & POP

Bernie The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Blue Monday: Frank Sultana Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Leroy Lee Macquarie University, North Ryde free 12.30pm all-ages Mandi Jarry Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm Ultimo TAFE Showcase Notes Live, Enmore $13.30 7pm

JAZZ

Greg Coffin Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8pm Jim Gannon Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Dinki Di Acoustic The Hive Bar, Erskineville free 6.30pm The Yellow Canvas, Maianne, David White, Helmut Uhlmann, Massimo Presti, Russell Neal Kelly’s On King, Newtown free 7pm 48 :: BRAG :: 439 : 21:11:11

Adam Pringle and Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 8pm Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free At The Hop Campbelltown RSL free 8.30pm Bandits Band Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Cambo Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4.30pm Eora TAFE Showcase Notes Live, Enmore $13.30 7pm Eush The Vanguard, Newtown $15 6.30pm The Flaming Stars Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm Hue Williams Jack’s Bar & Grill free 6.30pm I’m With Stupid O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Jamie Lindsay Northies, Cronulla free 7.30pm

Kirk Burgess Duo Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 8.30pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Seeker Lover Keeper, Henry Wagons St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney $57.50 (+ bf) 8pm Songs on Stage Performers Competition Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm The Songwriter Sessions The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Steppin Out Duo Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8pm Tracey Adams Duo Petersham RSL Club free 8.30pm Tuesday Night Live: Howler, Anthony Ousback Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Whole Lotta Elvis: Donny Edwards (USA) Brass Monkey, Cronulla $41.85 (+ bf) 7pm Zoltan Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 6pm

JAZZ

Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm

Aaron Welsh Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm Bentom & Storm The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Bernie Hayes Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Boy Meets Girl Campbelltown RSL free 5pm Debbie Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Dishonoured, The Last Light, Because of Tomorrow, Alice vs Everything Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Fire! Santa Rosa Fire!, Glass Towers, Red Ink Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Hard-Ons!, Chinese Burns Unit, Smitty & B. Goode Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12 8pm Jagermeister Presents: Miss Little, Ginger & Drum, Thayne, Ross Henry Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm James Parrino Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Kristy Lee Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 4pm Live and Local: Neandertown, Nativesoul, Travelaz Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $15 8.30pm Maddy Hay Camelot, Marrickville 8pm Musos Jam Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm Noel Davies Macquarie University, North Ryde free 12.30pm all-ages Rob Devlin Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 2pm Ron Ashton Kogarah RSL free 6.15pm Sticky Fingers 40th Anniversary Tribute: Jack Jones, Simon Meli, Greg Agar, Zkye, Evelyn Duprai Enmore Theatre $69.90 (+ bf)–$129 8pm Third Watch Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Seeker Lover Keeper

Velociraptor, Dune Rats GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 7pm The Walking Who, Radio National, Yardvark Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm

JAZZ

Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Ruben Bradley 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7pm David White, Dan Crestani, Greg Sita Cookies Lounge and Bar, Bakehouse Quarter, North Strathfield free 8pm John Hammond Jr The Basement, Circular Quay $51 (+ bf)–$99.80 (dinner & show) 9pm TAOS, Senani, Gavin Fitzgerald, David Shepherd Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Warren Munce, Russell Neal Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 ROCK & POP

Altitude Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Anthems Of Oz The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm BedRock Fundraiser: Tha Maladies, Hailer, Hilsden ft The Pullaparts, The Raids, Karl Brodie, Alice Terry, Peter O’Doherty, Abbie Dobson Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15 7pm Blake Jape Squad, David Kitt Metro Theatre, Sydney $35 (+ bf) 8pm Boom! Bap! Pow!, Kira Puru and The Bruise FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 (+ bf) 8pm Chris Stretton Toxteth Hotel, Glebe free 8pm David Sattout Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm The Deer Republic Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Designer Pilot, John Vella, Dream Delay Annandale Hotel $15 7.30pm Drey Rollan Band, Hollywood Hombres Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm Emperors Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Glenn Whitehall Sackville Hotel, Balmain free 7pm Helpful Kitchen Gods, Highroad No 28, Islands,

The Good Waste, Call To Colour Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Hot Damn: Short Stack, Wake The Giants, Strickland, The Atlantis Spectrum & Q Bar, Darlinghurst $15-$20 8pm HTRK, Lost Animal, Kirin J. Callinan GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $20 (+ bf) 8pm Johnathan Devoy Downstaurs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Kira Puru & The Bruise, Boom Bap Pow Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $8 (early bird)– $15 8pm The Living Chair Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 9.30pm Matt Corby, Tigertown Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Open Mic Night Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Rai Thistlethwayte, Stone Parade Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $41–$83 (dinner & show) 8pm Salt-N-Pepa (USA), Timomatic Enmore Theatre $97 (+ bf) 8pm Seeker Lover Keeper, Henry Wagons St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney $57.50 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Soul & Funk Night: Marcus Corowa, Nathan Foley Notes Live, Enmore $20 (+ bf) 7pm Speakeasy The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham 8pm Speck, Leroy Lee The Green Room Lounge, Enmore 8pm Spring Break: Mark MY Words, Strength Approach, Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Revived Gee Wizz @ The Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst $15-$20 8pm Steve Tonge Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Stranger Cole (Jamaica), King Tide Brass Monkey, Cronulla $39.80 7pm The Strides Shore Club, Manly 8pm TAFEbake: Mark Bulmer, BT Project, Rachel & Kat, Will Hourigan The Sunken Garden, Ultimo TAFE free 12pm all-ages Vanessa Raspa & The Zombie Cats, Funky Master Blasters, Hardaker Direction The Gaelic Club, Surry Hills free 8pm

JAZZ

Anita Wardell 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8pm Jazzgroove Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm The Subterraneans, SHOWA 44 The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (presale)–$38.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Dan Crestani, Helmut Uhlmann Mars Hill Café, Parramatta free 8pm Marty from Reckless The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Matthew Flood, Russell Neal Red Lion Hotel, Rozelle free 7.30pm

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

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 ROCK & POP

50 Million Beers Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville 9pm Axle Whitehouse, The Vandemonians, Night Beat, Melissa Tallon, Dominique Trackdown Scoring Stage, Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park $10 7pm Barry Leef’s Doobies Eagles West Coast Rock Show The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Benn Gunn Collaroy Beach Hotel free 5.30pm Blues Convicts, Crossfire Hurricane, A Few Angry Villagers Empire Hotel, Annandale $10 8pm Ceara Fox Duo East Hills Hotel free 7pm Chartbusters Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Daedelus, Collarbones, Gallapagoose GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $25 (+ bf) 8pm Death Mattel, Little A, Cousin Betty Red Rattler, Marrickville $10 8pm Dirty Deeds – The AC/DC Show Heathcote Hotel free 8.30pm Dragon Brass Monkey, Cronulla $44.90 7pm Elevation U2 Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Emma Davis, Patrick James Hibernian House, Surry Hills $10 7.30

Finn with Mick Campbell Loco Hotel, Junee free 8.30pm The Getaway Plan, Break Even, Gatherer Metro Theatre, Sydney 8pm Grand Plan, Old Time Glory, The Cruel Kind Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Guineafowl, Fire! Santa Rosa Fire!, Glass Towers The Standard, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm Heaven The Axe, Devine Electric, Vanity Riots, Arterise Annandale Hotel $12 7.30pm Hell Crab City, The Cool Charmers, The Heavies The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Helm, Breaking Orbit, Beggars Orchestra, My Secret Circus, Adrift For Days The Gaelic Club, Surry Hills $18.40 8pm Hue Williams Ettalong Beach Cabana free 6pm Iron Mind, Endless Heights, Sex Wizard, Warbrain, Civil War, Legions Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington $15 7pm I’m With Stupid Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm John Vella Chatswood RSL free 5pm The Khanz, Fuscia, Conics Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Killer: No Longer I, Final Lies, Road To Randsome, Afraid of Heights St James Hotel, Sydney $10$12 9pm Light My Fire – The Doors Show feat. Damien Lovelock, Jeff Duff, Sam Joole, Simon Bruce The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm

Trash: Ruin Gloria, Felinedown, Mayhem Addiction, Whisky Smile St James Hotel, Sydney 8pm Un-Marked Orange Grove Hotel, Leichhardt free 8pm Whole Lotta Elvis: Donny Edwards (USA) Campbelltown RSL $35 8pm

The Getaway Plan

JAZZ Little Lies - Fleetwood Mac Show Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm Mark Broughton Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 11.30am Memory Loss Pitt Town Sports free 8pm Mental As Anything Coogee Diggers $25.50 8pm The Mission In Motion, Strangers Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm MUM: I Know Leopard, Re:Enactment, Swimwear, Zowie, Vulpes Vulpes, My Little Underground, Belle, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Nicky Kurta Trio Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8.30pm Numbers Radio, Animal Shapes, Snowale, Howler Gee Wizz @ The Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst $15.30 8pm Other Places, Magic Silver White, The Brackets FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Reckless, Jonathon Jones The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free-$5 5pm

Replika Rock Trio Vineyard Hotel free 9pm Roy Orbison Reborn North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $25 7.30pm Salt-N-Pepa (USA), Timomatic Enmore Theatre $97 (+ bf) 8pm Sarah McLeod The Vault, Windsor 8pm Skyscraper Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Southdown, Taylor King, Tribal, Chasing Light, Ben Cuddy Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Sticky Fingers, Saloons, Bec & Ben, DJ Bambalam Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Stormcellar Kurnell Recreation Club 8pm Strange Talk, Zowie (NZ) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm Stranger Cole (Jamaica), King Tide Notes Live, Enmore $36.75 7pm Talisman Kingswood Sports Club free Tone Rangers Kingswood Sports Club free 7pm

Back On The Block – The Music of Quincy Jones Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 10pm Joe Chindamo Trio The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $20-$25 8.30pm The Ninth Chapter 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Krishna Jones The Belvedere Hotel free 9pm Russell Neal Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy free 7pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 ROCK & POP

The 3 B’s Level 1, East Leagues Club 8pm After Party Band The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Brazil Meets Cuba: Clave Y Tumbao, Brazilian Roots (BRA), DJ Marcelinho (BRA), DJ A V El Cubano (Cuba) The Basement, Circular Quay $25 7.30pm

Ceara Fox Duo Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Chartbusters Penrith RSL free 9pm The Clue, Generation Clash, The Gunn Show Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Cover Notes Duo Riverwood Inn free 8pm Dawn Heist, Engage The Fall, Datura Cruse, Incedia Throne Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington $10 (+ bf) 8pm Dirty Deeds – The AC/DC Show Tall Timbers Hotel, Ourimbah free 8.30pm Double Platinum KISS Tribute, Dressed To Kill Brass Monkey, Cronulla $23.50 7pm East West Deathgrind Fest 3: Daemon Foetal Harvest, The Day Everything Became Nothing, Mother Eel, Hell Itself, The Mung, Tortured, Festering Drippage, Grannyfist, Disciples of Torture, Lower Back Problems, Autolysis, Putrefaction The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $20 2pm Extension Chord, Khoji, Bloody Jon Kenner, Mr Bamboo, The Sawmill Stiffies Annandale Hotel $10 (+ bf) 7pm Fiona Leigh Jones Duo Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Flamin’ Beauties with Mick Campbell Home Tavern, Wagga Wagga Harmony, Nikko, Model Citizen, Margins FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $12 8pm Hazzy Bee, The Mountains Hong Kong Rock Club, upstairs at Annandale Hotel free 4pm

wed

23 Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

24 Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

25 Nov (5:00PM - 8:00PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM))

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

26 Nov

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

sun

27 Nov

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

TO RSVP

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 49

g g guide gig g House Vs Hurricane, The Bride, The Ocean The Sky, Missouri Breaks, Alaksa St Johns Hall, Sutherland $18.40 2pm all-ages The Jury Chester Hill RSL free 9pm Kang Gang, Yes I’m Leaving, Street Talk, Bloods Dirty Shirlows, Marrickville $10 8pm Kieran Ryan The Phoenix, Woollahra free 7.30pm Kill City Creeps, Reckless Vagina, Collective Sound System, DJ Magic Happens Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Lj Kro Bar, Bondi Junction free 8pm Lockdown, Get Real!, Aftermath, Bridges, Deadly Visions Caringbah Bizzo’s 8pm Mick O’Shea & Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Mi-Sex (NZ) Rooty Hill RSL Club $35 7pm Myth & Tropics, Doc Holiday Takes The Shotgun The Standard, Darlinghurst 8pm The New Christs, Familia, Wolfpack The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm Nowhere: House Vs Hurricane, The Bride Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst 8pm Pete Hunt Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 8.30pm Phebe Starr, Bears With Guns, Fanny Lumsden Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Postfolkrocktronica Picnic with FBi’s Utility Fog on

Cockatoo Island: Pimmon, Underlapper, Option Command, Ollie Brown, Thomas William, AFXJIM, DJ Peter Hollo Warehouse 15, Cockatoo Island $10 (+ bf) 1pm Punk Showdown: Topnovil, Liberation Front, On Empty, Acid Monkeys, Blazin Entrails, The Scam, Lost Cause, Headbut Valve Bar, Tempe 3pm The Radiators Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $43–$85 (dinner & show) 8pm Ray Beadle Coogee Diggers 8pm Red Fire Red, The Lost Souls Club (UK), The Bedlams, Fox Valley, Nova Soul The Gaelic Club, Surry Hills $18.40 8pm Rick Fensom Hollywood Café & Bar, Broadway free 6pm Rolling Stoned Blacktown RSL Club free 9pm Saturday Night Live: Back To The 80s Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Serious Break The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 9pm SFX: Beneath The Crown, Mark My Words, Strength Approach, Deciever St James Hotel, Sydney $12$15 9pm Skyscraper O’Malleys Hotel, Kings Cross free 10pm Southland Panania Hotel free 8pm Spurs For Jesus Smith Family Chrismas Appeal: Spurs For Jesus Annandale Hotel free 2pm Star Assassin Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Stormcellar Baldrock Hotel, Rozelle 8pm

Sydney Blues Society Memphis Fundraiser: Ali Penney & The Money Makers, Jan Preston, Paul O’Brien, Michelle Van Der Meer’s Midnight Ramblers, The Stayers, Dr. Don’s Double Dose, Isaiah B. Brunt Empire Hotel, Annandale $15 7.30pm Thompson Gunners Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill free 9pm Vanity Aquarium, Coogee free 11pm We Are The Champions Queen Tribute Kingswood Sports Club free 9pm Williams Bros Trio, Dave Mason Cox The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free-$5 4.30pm Yum Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm

The Strides

Bob Gillespie Palm Court Hotel, Corrimal free 3.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Arjie Malbeck and the Bandalists, Carolyn Woodorth Terrey Hills Tavern free 7.30pm Helmut Uhlmann Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West free 7pm Muddy Feet The Belvedere Hotel free 9pm Simon Marrable, Samantha Johnson, Russell Neal Picton Bowling Club free 8.30pm

JAZZ

Back On The Block – The Music of Quincy Jones Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 10pm Delta Jazz Band Royal Hotel, Darlington free 7pm all-ages Elphick’s Last Stand 1: The World According To James The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm Jazz Nouveau Supper Club, Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Nic Jeffries 505 Club, Surry Hills $15–$20 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Paul Furniss,

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27 ROCK & POP

Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm The Baddies Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 4pm Calvacade, How To Survive A Bull Fight Valve Bar, Tempe 5pm Ceara Fox Kro Bar, East Leagues Club free 6pm

The Contortionist (USA), The Storm Picturesque, The Ocean The Sky, Pledge This, To Our Forefathers Valve Bar, Tempe 12pm all-ages Drug Squad, Particles, Art Rush Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7pm Elton John (UK) Lyric Theatre, Star City, Pyrmont $255–$405 7.30pm Finn with Mick Campbell Home Tavern, Wagga Wagga The Floating Bridges Old Manly Boatshed free 8pm Glenn Whitehall Waverley Bowling Club free 3pm Kirk Burgess Collaroy Beach Hotel free 1pm LL Cool Jazz Yardhouse Hotel, Haymarket free 4pm Matt Jones Harbord Beach Hotel free 6.30pm The Mission In Motion, Strangers The Lair, Metro Theatre, Sydney $15 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Outlier Trio, Lonesome Train The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Radio Local Forest Lodge Hotel free 5pm Stir Crazy Riverstone Sports Hotel free 2pm

The Strides Brass Monkey, Cronulla $18.40 7pm Sydney Blues Society: Stormcellar Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 6pm Sydney Rock ‘n Roll & Alternative Christmas Market: Hell City Glamours, Ezra Lee & The Steel City Band, Chucks Wagon, Chickenstones, Wolfman Dan & Rockabilly Rhino, Jack Sh*t Jets Sports Club $1 11am Tone Defeat: Toy, From Afar, Oyama, General Dissaray, Electric Flu Annandale Hotel $8 3pm The Walking Who, Sealion, Taylor King, DJ Axton Frick FBi Soclai @ Kings Cross Hotel $5 6pm Whole Lotta Elvis: Donny Edwards (USA) North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $35 8pm

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

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Anthony Hughes Oatley Hotel free 2pm Josh McIvor The Belvedere Hotel free 5pm Russell Neal Avalon Beach RSL Club free 6.30pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar free 2pm

L2 Kings Cross Hotel www.fbisocial.com

Wednesday November 23

Moustachio Radio - activities to raise money for Movember + DJs

Tom Loud & Jack Shit

Saturday November 26 Friday November 25

OTHER PLACES (LAUNCH) +

6pm $5 donation

Thursday November 24

MAGIC SILVER WHITE +

BOOM! BAP! POW!

BRACKETS

+ KIRA PURU & THE BRUISE + SPECIAL GUESTS

50 :: BRAG :: 439 : 21:11:11

+ NIKKO + MODEL CITIZEN + MARGINS 8pm $10 door

+ MIDNIGHT - 3AM

FREE

LATE NIGHT DJs

BAD EZZY + DISCOPUNX + FRAMES

Sunday November 27 FBi’s Music Open Day gig:

THE WALKING WHO 8pm $10

8pm $10+bf Oztix, $15 door

HARMONY

+ SEALION + TAYLOR KING + DJ AXTON FRICK 6pm $5 door

K.D. Land by James Minchin III

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

gig picks

up all night out all week...

Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22

Strange Talk, Zowie (NZ) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm

Seeker Lover Keeper, Henry Wagons St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Sydney $57.50 (+ bf) 8pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23

Myth & Tropics, Doc Holiday Takes The Shotgun The Standard, Darlinghurst 8pm

Fire! Santa Rosa Fire!, Glass Towers, Red Ink Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm

Postfolkrocktronica Picnic with FBi’s Utility Fog on Cockatoo Island: Pimmon, Underlapper, Option Command, Ollie Brown, Thomas William, AFXJIM, DJ Peter Hollo Warehouse 15, Cockatoo Island $10 (+ bf) 1pm

Velociraptor, Dune Rats GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 7pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 Boom! Bap! Pow!, Kira Puru and The Bruise FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 (+ bf) 8pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27

23 NOV

30

The Strides Brass Monkey, Cronulla $18.40 7pm

Matt Corby, Tigertown Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm

+ DAMNDOGS + MILLIONS

DEC

07

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 Emma Davis, Patrick James Hibernian House, Surry Hills $10 7.30pm Guineafowl, Fire! Santa Rosa Fire!, Glass Towers The Standard, Darlinghurst $12 (+ bf) 8pm

DEC

14

The Khanz, Fushia, Conics Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm MUM: I Know Leopard, Re:Enactment, Swimwear, Zowie, Vulpes Vulpes, My Little Underground, Belle, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm

NOV

Guineafowl

DEC

21 DEC

28 Myth & Tropics

+ The KHAnz + Tin Sparrow

Check out beachroadbondi.com.au for more info BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 51

52 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

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

brag beats

inside

the last kinection

move d

pantha du prince

annie mac

also: + club guide + club snaps + columns

from studio to stage for stereosonic

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 53

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

Move D

ACID JACK

Growing Up The Music You Make I owe everything musical to my brothers.

In DJing and production, I never stick 1.

4.

One was into rap, house, metal and techno, to one style. My live set = bangin’ techno, while the other was into new romantic, UK alternative, ambient and pop. My oldest brother played keyboard, so we always had synthesisers and organs at home: DX7, Poly6, Wavestation etc. At university, circa 1995, my brother got me an MPC2000.

It had 45 seconds of memory so I made breakbeat, drum ‘n’ bass and later, daft house. I was in a garage rock band, and at some point I became a DJ. “Pretty standard, really…” (Dr Evil voice.)

Inspirations I’m a crate digger. I love albums that 2. you have to appreciate from start to finish: Stone Roses, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, De La Soul, Drexciya, Brian Eno, Beck, The The. All super creative, DIY and big on sampling – a BIG inspiration! Schooly D (rapping over a 909). The Neptunes. Rawkus Records, Gigolo, WARP, Sugar Hill, Metalheadz.

“Sting is also a big influence.” (Zoolander voice.)

Your Group I collaborate constantly, and have been 3. lucky to find and work with freaks from the same planet as me: Drop The Lime, Boy 8 Bit, JFK & St Mandrew, Tommie Sunshine, Dances With White Girls, Lazy Ants, Curtis Vodka, Donovans, Figure. Sometimes I feel like Professor X from X-Men.

RAINBOW SERPENT FESTIVAL

ONE NIGHT ONLY FEAT. SASHA ET AL

The heavyweight international triumvirate of Sasha, Radio Slave and In Flagranti will be representing at ‘One Night Only’, the New Year’s Day bash at The Metro Theatre. Having established himself as something of a ‘superstar DJ’ through the ‘90s via his b2b sets with John Digweed, Sasha’s DJ sets are the stuff of clubbing folklore. Discerning Sasha fans will also talk your ear off about the man’s versatility, which is apparent on his debut – and only – studio album, Airdrawndagger, a sophisticated and atmospheric release from 2002 that more than holds up a decade on. His Involver compilations have also garnered considerable acclaim, while his remix output has become increasingly eclectic over the years; see his sleek Depeche Mode and Kasabian reworks from recent times. One Night Only commences at 10pm and runs through till 6am; limited $50 first release tickets go on sale this Wednesday at 9am.

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Jones, Tom Trago, Paul Ritch etc. Right now in “the mainsteam” there’s the same fucking horribly predictable song appearing across every genre, but luckily there is music being made in “the underground” that sounds like nothing that has happened before. Labels like Coral Records (amazing futuristic jungle out of LA), Marble (modern ghetto pop via Para One, Surkin, Das Glow, Bobmo etc), Gesaffelstein and the new ZZT album on Turbo are rrrridddiiculousss, and Riva Starr’s Snatch label has me housing it again. And you simply cannot see guys like Dave Clarke & Leni Faki play proper proper techno to a few thousand people in a club at ADE and not let that techno get into you!

With: Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, LMFAO, Empire Of The Sun, The Bloody Beetroots, Ferry Corsten, Annie Mac, The Gaslamp Killer, Deetron and heaps more Where: Stereosonic @ Sydney Showgrounds When: Saturday November 26

of Alicia Keys – I do have a soft spot for her Ol’ Dirty Bastard-sampling cut ‘Girlfriend’, it must be said – and Lauryn Hill. Support will be provided by Electric Wire Hustle and Huwston, with presales on sale now through the Sydney Festival website.

SBTRKT

Following his sold out debut Australian DJ tour and the release of his self-titled album earlier this year, South London producer SBTRKT will return to Australian shores in 2012 for Laneway festival, and will perform a Sydney sideshow at The Metro Theatre on Friday February 3. In addition to his standout debut album, SBTRKT has also released singles and EPs on Brainmath, Numbers, Ramp and Monkeytown, plus his current home, Young Turks. Add to that his remixes of Radiohead, Goldie, Basement Jaxx, M.I.A. and the Australia-bound Modeselektor, and you have the basis of the considerable hype that envelops the masked man. For those yet to jump on the bandwagon, SBTRKT is available via the Young Turks label.

MOVE D

Excuse me for judging a book by its cover, but you look like the kind of kid who loves a bit of 5am techno. This is how I know you’re super excited about Move D hitting The Spice Cellar on Saturday November 26. And I bet you’re even more excited that local acts Murat Kilic and Trinity will be supporting the techno master when he lays down his beats. If you’ve forgotten to get yourself a ticket in all that excitement, we’ve got your back: tell us what country Move D was born in.

SPACE NYD

A host of international clubbing monoliths will descend on the Greenwood Hotel in North Sydney for Space New Year’s Day, on – you guessed it – Sunday January 1, 2012. Matt Edwards (aka Radio Slave) and Seth Troxler are drawcards who demand considerable cause for excitement, but the name on the bill I’m most enthused by has to be that of acid house luminary Eddie Richards. ‘Evil’ Eddie is credited as one of the grandfathers of tech house, and for good reason; the founder of the Absurd record label, Eddie is also a talented producer, who’s been involved in far more projects than he gets credit for – but it’s his DJing that rightly gets most of the accolades. His Fabric 16 mix remains one of the best Fabric compilations – which is some compliment given the standard of the series – and is well worth investigation if you haven’t heard it already. Jef K, Remo and Garry Todd will also be representing, with first release $69 tickets available from their website: spaceibizafestival.com.au

The 6th Borough Project

THE STEPKIDS

The Stepkids will be performing at the Keystone Bar at Hyde Park Barracks on Friday January 27, as part of their debut tour of Australia. The latest discovery by Stones Throw Records, which is the stable of the likes of Madlib, Aloe Blacc, J Dilla and Mayer Hawthorne, The Step Kids’ self-titled debut album was released a few months ago to considerable critical acclaim. The SMH lauded the manner in which “pychedelia running through [the album’s] ‘70s west coast songwriting melts violins, guitars, mahogany drums and vintage keyboards into one golden late-afternoon trip” – although the rather obvious grab from those out-of-touch Herald journos to draw in the youth crowd with a ‘subversive’ acid reference did not go unnoticed... The Stepkids’ groove is a fusion of punk and jazz, West African and 1960s folk, neo and classic soul, classic funk and 20th century classical, and the three core members have experience playing for and with the likes

MAD RACKET NYE

Craig Smith and Graeme Clarke, collectively known as The 6th Borough Project, will headline Mad Racket New Year’s Eve celebrations at Marrickville Bowling Club. With their roots in jazz, boogie and funk, and their tips in disco, deep house and warm tech, the pair should prove well-suited to the Racket vibe. Aside from their work as a duo, which culminated in the release of 6th Borough Project’s debut album, One Night In The Borough, earlier this year, the pair also have formidable solo sonic pedigrees. Smith has released records on labels such as Jisco and Permanent Vacation and crafted remixes of Roy Ayers, Moloko and Illya Rudman, while Clarke is known for his output as ‘The Revenge’ – and is of course also playing the Spice Afloat cruise on NYD morning.

The 6th Borough Project photo by Papa J Gun / Jamal Yussuff-Adelakun

Following last Friday’s rollicking Sydney launch party at the White House, more people in the local areas should be looking forward to next year’s Rainbow Serpent festival, which is being held in the Victorian wilderness on the Australia Day long weekend, January 27-30. The 2012 Rainbow Serpent lineup reads like a discerning technophile’s wet dream, including revered German tastemakers Lawrence and DJ Koze, compatriots Nicone and Dapayk, James Harcourt, Gabriel Ananda, Principles Of Flight, Spoonbill, Peter Horrevorts, Loud, Protonica, Hedflux, Robert Rich, Secret Cinema and Tipper among plenty of others. Further festival information and tickets can be obtained by visiting their site: rainbowserpent.net

Music, Right Here, Right Now I just returned from Amsterdam ADE, and 5. love what’s happening with Solomun, Jamie

Dapayk by Alexander Knöll

Dapayk

jackin’ house, filtered disco, bassline and heavy electro played off Abelton Live and drum machines, synth boxes and analogue sequencers. My live show sounds a lot like a Daft set from the late ‘90s: rolling!

F R I 2 5 N OV P A N T H A D U P R I N C E (D E)

CLAUDE VONSTROKE US | DIRTYBIRD / MOTHERSHIP

DEETRON MOVE D SWITZERLAND | MUSIC MAN

GERMANY | DEEP SPACE NETWORK

THUR 1 DEC P R E - S A L E S R E S I D E N T A D V I S O R . N E T

SAT 26 NOV

MOTORIK! + SLOWBLOW PRESENT

A NIGHT IN THE SPICE CELLAR WITH

GUY GERBER (CROSSTOWN REBELS / COCOON / BEDROCK)

b a s e m e n t l e v e l 5 8 e l i z a b e t h s t i n fo @t h e spi c e c e llar.com .au t h e spi c e c e l l a r.com .au

BEN KORBEL & DECLAN LEE

SLOW BLOW

COSMONAUT & MR. HERMENS

A FREE PARTY FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 MOTORIK.COM.AU

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dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH VIVI OF THE

How To Dress Well

KAT Your Crew Cosmonaut and I put on a party called 3.

Motorik! We move from space to space – it’s free, we pay for everything ourselves, we don’t do it for the $$$$. I write music and DJ with Ash Moses as The Kat, which is this nu-beat/ EBM/acid thing. The Slow Blow dudes and The Finger Prince play with us and kill it ALL THE TIME. We’re lucky; we’ve got the perfect blend of youth and experience going on here.

Totes swagger, rite?

The Music You Make Futuretechnobodymusicsexysleekstuff.

4.

It’s all about the pump and the finger twirl. It’s not house, it’s not techno, it’s not some weird genre I just made up – it’s just club music, and it’s fun. It’s looking forward and glancing back, tipping hats, pulling strings.

Music, Right Here, Right Now Right now, everything’s super vital in 5.

Sydney. Gus is killing it with the Bang Gang

Growing Up Inspirations I was moved around so much growing The first record I fell in love with was 1.

2. up – boarding school and all that – so I relied New Order’s True Faith. The second one was on books and records to create a little world around me. I was always the weird, gothy, arty kid. I moved out of home early and started sneaking into nightclubs at 15 – and so started a very long, ecstatic love affair with basslines, after-hours clubs and flashing lights.

David Bowie’s Scary Monsters. The third was Leftfield’s Open Up. Then Front 242, Sisters Of Mercy, Iggy and Motorhead. Not in that order. Can’t forget Ivan Smagghe, Andrew Weatherall, Bryan Black and Trevor Jackson, either. Total bossmen.

label, Murat and Warren are lording it in the Spice Cellar, Wade and Simon are doing rad things with Pulse & the Yacht Club. Kink’s back, too. All the rubbish promoters have given up with the new austerity, and the music is fun again.

And that’s what we’re about… Fun with techno.

What: The Kat play live at MOTORIK! Where: Secret free warehouse party – register at motorik.com.au When: Friday November 25

HOW TO DRESS WELL AT GOODGOD

We did some research, and discovered that BRAG readers are some of the best dressed people around. This is probably why Astral People wants y’all to get along to see How To Dress Well when he hits GoodGod Small Club on Wednesday December 7.

Wintercoats, Albatross, Preacha AND The Wedding Ring Fingers will all be there helping the Brooklyn master of all things ethereal and RnB bring the party. If you’d like to score a double pass for your welldressed self, just tell us the name of the man who is HTDW.

DJ YODA + SAMPOLOGY Ladyhawke

The UK’s DJ Yoda and Australia’s own Sampology will both throw down at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday January 14 in a bash for Niche Productions. Between Yoda’s FabricLive compilation and his three-volume How To Cut ‘n Paste mix series, Yoda has defined himself as a sort of “kid in a musical sandbox”, bridging wide gaps between genres and tempos with his enterprising DJ sets. Sampology meanwhile is a DJ, AVDJ and producer who has remixed Pnau, toured internationally with Australian theatre company Strut n Fret, and performed at the Big Day Out with bands and solo since the tender age of seventeen. Presale tickets for this doubleheader are available online right now.

Donato Dozzy

Andy Weatherall

DONATO DOZZY

MID-WEEK LADYHAWKE

Ladyhawke (aka New Zealand songstress Pip Brown) will play a mid-week gig at Phoenix Bar this Wednesday November 23.

Ladyhawke rose to prominence following her collaborations with Nick Littlemore, first as Teenager and then guesting on Pnau’s club-banger ‘Embrace’, before releasing her hugely successful debut album. And now, after something of a sojourn from the scrutiny of the public eye, Brown is back and ready to slowly build towards releasing a new album – about which we can expect more details in the near future...

DEETRON + MOVE D @ SPICE CELLAR

Swiss melodic techno producer Sam Geiser, aka Deetron, will play a Stereosonic sideshow this Saturday night at The Spice Cellar. Deetron recently mixed the double CD compilation Balance 020, which features cuts from DJ Koze, Ricardo Villalobos and Move D (aka David Moufang), the latter of whom will also be performing on the night. Moufang has always been a prodigious talent, combining jazz, funk, techno and house influences in his releases on labels like Running Back, Warp and Smallville over the past fifteen years. The party commences at 10pm, with $20 presale tickets available through residentadvisor.net – damn good value to see those two ‘top-drawer’ internationals spin, if I do say so myself.

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Acclaimed Italian producer Donato Dozzy will perform at the new White House venue in Petersham this Friday November 25. Dozzy’s K LP from last year was hailed by Little White Earbuds as “Donato’s best work to date, but also one of the most engaging and memorable techno LPs from this [last] year.” His DJ sets are renowned for showcasing his extensive record collection and deep knowledge of electronic music, which can result in temporary deviations into Krautrock/Kosmische territories, in addition to the staple focus on techno. Dozzy will be supported by a sprinkling of Sydney’s finest techno DJs, including Dave Choe of Glitch fame. Presale tickets are available through Resident Advisor.

IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE TOUR NEXT YEAR ANDY WEATHERALL

Perennial tastemaker and producer with the midas touch, Andy Weatherall, will be headlining the Picnic bash at the Keystone Bar for Sydney Festival on Saturday January 14, alongside Neville Watson.

Weatherall, who is also known for his work as Sabres of Paradise and Two Lone Swordsman, has been involved with some of the most respected 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. Presale Picnic tickets are currently on sale through the Sydney Festival website. And while on Picnic, don’t forget to drop by the Spice Cellar this Friday for their bash, featuring the one and only Pantha Du Prince.

After many attempts over the years, Immortal Technique will finally bring his raw political commentary to Australia in January 2012, and will perform in Sydney on Thursday January 19 at the Metro Theatre. Over his career, Technique has worked with the likes of Mos Def, Chuck D & Public Enemy, KRS-One, Brother Ali and Ill Bill, and more recently featured on the title track of Pharoahe Monch’s latest album, W.A.R (We Are Renegades). Released as a free download, Technique’s latest project, The Martyr, boasts a stellar lineup of collaborations which includes Dead Prez, Styles P, Vinnie Paz, Joell Ortiz, Mela Machinko and Professor Cornell West, with production credits by Tech himself, DJ Green Lantern, Southpaw, as well as the late J Dilla. Joining Immortal Technique on his Australian tour are his partners-in-rhyme, Akir and Poison Pen. Presales went on sale as of last Friday, so chop chop peeps!

FREE KATALYST GIG

To celebrate the release of Ashley Anderson (aka Katalyst)’s new album Deep Impressions [no relation to the eponymous techno manifesto

located a few pages deeper in the magazine], there will be a free gig at The Beach Road Hotel in Bondi this Friday November 25. Katalyst will be joined by DJ Leroy Brown, Mr Clean, Kween G and of course drums and keys, with the promise of “a few more surprises in store”.

Ooh, aah…

DAEDELUS THIS FRIDAY

Los Angeles beatmaker, producer, instrumentalist and Ninja Tune artist Alfred Darlington, better known as Daedelus, will headline GoodGod Small Club this Friday November 25. The experimental producer holds a reputation for being a bit of a dandy, as well as for putting on an innovative live show that ‘flies close to the sun’ and utilises the use of a monome, a button-grid controller that has had a significant impact on electronic music (apparently being used by Flying Lotus and Nine Inch Nails). Daedelus’ most recent album, Bespoke, was released in April on Ninja Tune, and named after “a term employed to mean an item custom-made to measure,” according to the man himself. Daedelus will be supported by Collarbones and fellow Monome adventurer Galapagoose, whom Daedelus recently signed to his Magical Properties label.

NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

SATURDAY 26TH OXFORD ART NOVEMBER FACTORY SUPPORT: JOHNNY UTAH & RUTHLESS. HOSTED BY TENTH DAN TICKETS AT OXFORDARTFACTORY.COM & MOSHTIX.COM.AU

THE NEW ALBUM FOREVERLUTION AVAILABLE ONLINE & ALL GOOD RECORD STORES

FOR MORE INFO: NICHEPRODUCTIONS.COM.AU NFENTERTAINMENT.COM THUNDAMENTALS.COM.AU

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Move D On DJs, Disco And The Deep House Hype By Matthew Cowley overwhelming experience, as much for the DJ as for clubbers, whereas studio work is very introverted and solitary. Even when collaborating with a few others, it’s still a very intimate connection. You have to feel comfortable with the people around you; you should bond over the music.

A

s Move D, David Moufang has been releasing highly-regarded deep house records for touching on two decades now, with production work on labels like Uzuri, Workshop, Liebe Detail and Running Back that has seen his name rise to the fore of a revitalised deep house music scene.

Refined over time, his DJ sets have earned him a reputation as the quintessential DJ’s DJ, digging deep into the history of house music to deliver a memorable set with every performance. He took the time for a brief chat with us, on the eve of his return to Australian.

You’re a very prolific producer – are you one of those people who works in the studio every day?

Unfortunately, there is simply no way I could write music every day. I DJ at least two times a week, and with a 14-year-old son at home, there are lots of other obligations that get in the way. That said, if I did have the time, I don’t think that I could do it every day – I need to wait until I feel inspired to go into the studio.

Do you get the same buzz from DJing as you do from spending time in the studio producing? How do both elements of your music-making inform each other?

Both sides of my ‘job’ benefit from each other. DJing helps me understand how music works in people, and being a musician helps you become a much more open-minded and intelligent DJ with your programming.

The buzz you get from DJing is always related to the people you’re playing for – the party. A good collective buzz can be an

What style are you spinning now, and how has it changed over the past few years?

I’ve always felt the strongest connection to deep house, but I like to keep my sets flowing with slow disco, funk, techno, acid and break beats. I think it’s the job of the DJ to be in touch with the vibe of their environment, and adapt their sets accordingly. This is far more important than being strict about playing within the one sound or genre. A great example of this was a couple of months ago, when I played together with Joy Orbison and Pearson Sound. I didn’t know what to expect that night – as far as I knew, they were primarily breakbeat/dubstep producers. But that night in Leeds they were picking great songs and coming to meet my music halfway, on this fascinating borderline walk between house, disco and broken beat. That kind of flexibility in a DJ is truly amazing!

How do you feel about the deep house and techno revival that seems to have taken hold of the underground dance community over the last few years?

I have to admit that it surprises me how fresh old tunes from the ‘90s still sound today, and ‘70s studio production remains unmatched to this day. That’s why DJs love a great disco edit; a good track with good production will always sound fresh! The ‘deep’ house hype of the last few years seems to be wearing off a bit. In the UK especially, the young party people seem very open to disco/ boogie-influenced stuff. In other places, I feel people have moved on to rediscovering old school techno and acid tracks.

Is there any one bit of equipment you’ve used from day one?

Personally I’ve always loved collecting classic equipment – I still have analog Roland, Korg and Yamaha synthesisers I‘ve been using since the late ‘80s. Some of my all-time favourites include the Roland TR606/808/909 series, Korg MS-20, Sequential Circuits Pro One, Clavia Nord Modular, Waldorf Microwave, Yamaha TX-802 and the Moog Prodigy. That’s some stamp collecting there!

With: Murat Kilic, Trinity, Nic Scali Where: The Spice Cellar When: Saturday November 26

Pantha Du Prince An Abstract Remix Namedropping Surplus Plan By Amelia Schmidt

G

ermany’s Pantha Du Prince aka Hendrik Weber has been making electronic music since 2002. His latest album, 2010’s Black Noise, was based on the scientific concept of black noise, or the probability of catastrophe, and was built from samples of field recordings and a lot of philosophical thought.

The album’s latest incarnation is XI Versions Of Black Noise, a record full of ‘versions’ or remixes of songs from the original album, by the likes of Four Tet and Animal Collective.

Your music is made from samples of landscapes and environments, but with the remixes, new sounds have been introduced.

How do you feel that the songs have evolved in their meaning?

The material has its own language, so to make someone else talk this language is a really good experience – to hear what other producers have to say, and what story comes out in the end. The [artists] focus on other elements and so the songs get a new shadow, which also changes the content. In the end it was quite elaborate what came out, really surprising.

How did these remixes come about? Are these artists friends of yours?

Most of the people have been part of the crew for years, yes; [others] were new, but always part of the Pantha universe. So there was an abstract remix namedropping surplus plan... It was basically people that I have connections to as Pantha Du Prince.

What is it about remixing that interests you?

I don’t call it ‘remixing’; I call it ‘versions’ – I think this suits the idea much better. This is an ancient strategy, to do reworks. I also like doing reworks or versions of material [myself] – it’s not like the classic idea of remixing, making hits out of existing hits... It’s more [about] giving value to pre-existing material, and also going so far away from the original that you would not even recognise it.

Tell us about the art installation you are working on?

I was doing an installation in the TV tower of Berlin last year; it was about the structure of the building, and its acoustic reflection in water dripping from the ceiling. It was a metaphor for history and architectural behaviour; a six-speaker installation with glass objects full of charcoal that were reverberating over contact microphones into the room. So it was polyrythmic, or by-chance rhythm, defined by the room’s acoustics and its architectural coordinates.

How do lighting and visual effects complement your music, and what direction is that going in with your live performances?

At the moment I’m working with an artist friend of mine, doing live sets with live analogue object visuals. We call it ‘The Lightsound Modulator’ – I hope we can bring this to Australia next year! This year, I will play with the visual content of Black Noise, which is animated in a very contemplative way, as I want to slow down information and give it a special atmosphere to the music and not [make it] overwhelming, like everything else is trying to suck you in. It still gives the viewer the freedom to take [a] place in the room, and to step in and out – if you want it to, it can set you on trip.

Have you been recording any new material recently? What’s next for Pantha Du Prince?

There is a lot of new material, but it still needs a lot of work to finish it. I’m really happy with the new projects I’m doing and the new possibilities that we have developed with the audio-visual elements.

What: XI Versions Of Black Noise is out now With: Simon Caldwell, Kali Where: The Spice Cellar When: Friday November 25

The Last Kinection The Kindred Connection By Matthew O’Neil only indigenous issues but social matters too, ranging from asylum seekers to the frustrating drawbacks of the communication revolution.

Like many other indigenous artists, Joel Wenitong harnesses the muscle of the local parable. “For me, music is a part of storytelling; it’s traditional for lots of people, and for us it’s no different,” he says. “It’s about telling those stories that wouldn’t have otherwise been heard… old stories and new stories.” It stems back to their somewhat lost but not forgotten roots in Kabbi Kabbi country. A few years ago, Joel’s sister found herself in a state of isolation after the death of her aunt. “She was the last one left of her generation when her aunt passed away,” Joel recounts – and it was her nickname that provided them with the name of their first album, Nutches.

I

ndigenous hip hop trio The Last Kinection are known for weaving contemporary styles of music with their own flair for traditional storytelling. Founded by brother and sister Naomi (MC Nay) and Joel “Weno” Wenitong from the Kabbi Kabbi people in Southeast Queensland, the two joined forces with 58 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

Jacob “Jaytee”, who’d been part of Joel’s former group, Local Knowledge. Kinection, a combination of ‘Kindred’ and ‘Connection’, is a play on words that throws back to their dwindling cultural heritage, a vital theme which you can clearly feel beating through their music. The Last Kinection’s lyrics tackle not

After the trio banded together, their discography began to not only offer a commentary on their heritage, but also started to reflect a sense of re-learning their past.

“From that point on, we wouldn’t stop learning the local language, stories and lingo,” Joel tells me. Their indigenous language is a prominent feature throughout all of their music, and there isn’t a single track on Next Of Kin that doesn’t feature local vernacular. But the range of topics explored is diverse, and most definitely not your average seditious take on ‘ghetto style’ social issues. In fact, Joel dedicates an entire track (‘Talk About It’ featuring Trials) to venting his frustration at the proliferation of digital social networking. “Personally, I feel a lot

of people these days are texting, rather than just talking about it,” he explains.

TLK have rarely missed an opportunity to take action that goes further than their music, and have contributed to numerous community organisations. Joel comes across as a very informed person and a wonderful role model, having worked passionately with his wife for many charitable causes, helping people with Asperger’s and various stages of autism as well as contributing passionately within indigenous communities on issues like medical services, cultural heritage and land rights.

The Last Kinection will be playing in Sydney this weekend, but Joel is keeping his lips pretty sealed on what to expect from the night – all I can get out of him is “think UV lights, glow paint and wigs.” Either way, he says, it’s going be “freaky”. “It’s the first time we’ve experimented with this sort of stuff,” he says.

“It won’t be your average MCs on stage just rapping about rapping!” Touring with fellow indigenous artist Nooky, they’re pretty keen for you to check him out. “He won a scholarship with us and even did some work with the Black Eyed Peas,” Joel says. “He’s a good kid – pretty talented as well!”

What: Next Of Kin is out now on Elefant Traks With: Ozi Batla, Briggs, Nooky Where: GoodGod Small Club When: Saturday November 26

Annie Mac In Good Taste By Joshua Hayes

D

espite coming from a musical family (her brother Davey is The Crimea’s lead singer), the possibility of a career in music didn’t occur to Dublin’s Annie MacManus until she reached university. “I had big dreams of being an actor, but when it came to having a career in music, it didn’t even cross my mind,” she tells me, in the lead up to a tour that will see her play at Sydney’s Stereosonic over the weekend. “It wasn’t until I heard Radio 1 when I was in my late teens – and heard people like Mary Anne Hobbs and John Peel… It was like, ‘God, this would be something I would love to do’.”

Inspired, MacManus undertook additional studies in radio and started gaining experience behind the scenes at the BBC, while also presenting on student radio networks. Just three years later she had her own BBC show, and not long after that she’d cemented her reputation as one of electronic music’s premier tastemakers. “The lovely thing about the BBC is that you really do have complete creative freedom,” she says. “I’ve always been able to play what I’ve wanted, and I’ve always had the trust of my bosses to do that. Because my radio show has done quite well and my career has flourished, I’ve kept doing that. I’ve kept playing and supporting what I’ve wanted to…

Your taste can’t be wrong; it can only be your taste. There’s no right or wrong. If other people like it, amazing – and if they don’t, well, that’s absolutely fine too.”

be great to have more girls in the game, so hopefully me doing what I do can help some girls realise that it’s a thing to do,” she says.

After her meteoric rise at the BBC, going from production assistant to an on-air host in the space of three years, MacManus is right where she wants to be. “I would definitely want to keep doing radio for as long as possible, until I’m old and grey,” she laughs. “I think the Friday show is something that is great for now and for the foreseeable future, definitely – but there might be a point when I’m older that I want to move on to pastures new, and maybe pastures slightly less crazy. But for now it’s perfect. I couldn’t be happier.”

With: Armin Van Buuren, Carl Cox, LMFAO, Empire Of The Sun, Afrojack, The Bloody Beetroots, Ferry Corsten, Dirty South, Crookers, Madeon, Claude VonStroke, BT Live, Bag Raiders, The Gaslamp Killer, Deetron and loads more Where: Stereosonic @ Sydney Showgrounds When: Saturday November 26

“The difference between being on radio and actually physically having to perform was vast, and I was very selfconscious and stageshy at the start. I’m not really very comfortable on a massive stage.”

As MacManus took over the airwaves, she also became an in-demand club and festival DJ, and admits that the jump from DJing in a radio studio to DJing in front of crowds was a bit of a challenge. “It was really difficult, to be honest with you. Even though I have a million people that listen to me every Friday night, it’s your voice they’re listening to and your personality that you’re getting judged on,” she says. “The difference between that and actually physically having to perform to people was vast, and I was very self-conscious and stage-shy at the start. I still would always prefer to be in a corner DJ booth on the same level as everyone else. I’m not really very comfortable being on a massive stage, but it’s just something that I’ve had to get used to. I can manage it now and it’s fine, but it took a lot of getting used to.”

Although she loves her Radio 1 job, the weekly commitment does limit her capacity to tour.

“I’m very precious about taking radio shows off. I don’t really like missing them, and that’s probably why I haven’t been to Australia yet – because taking two weeks off is quite a big deal. You have to really kind of pick out maybe four or five weeks that you’re going to take off in the whole year,” she explains. “You just work around it, but [radio] is priority number one.” Because of this, MacManus usually plays gigs in the UK at night after her radio show, and books European gigs on Saturdays. This was the routine for most of her busy northern summer, during which she spent a great deal of time in Ibiza while also working on Annie Mac Presents 2011, the latest instalment of her annual compilation series which was released last month. “It’s quite indulgent on my part. It’s my favourite tunes from the year,” she explains of the series. “I was able to not choose things just because they were big hits; I chose songs because I really liked them, and I think I was very lucky to be able to do that. I just hope to hell that everyone else likes them too.”

MacManus says she’ll be bringing music that is currently “big and exciting” in the UK on her first trip to Australia, with her sets consisting of 80–85% house music, as well as some dubstep and jungle.

Annie Mac now finds herself as a role model for the new generation of upcoming radio DJs. “Not wanting to bring up gender too much, but there’s so few women. I’m happy to be a DJ and a woman just so that the little ladies growing up can see it’s very much a fun, feasible career to have. I think it would BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 59

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Vince Watson

eteran Scottish producer Vince Watson heads an international triple bill that also includes Cocoon’s Egbert and rising Berlin outfit Channel X, at Greenwood on Saturday December 11.

The party is an initiative of the renowned Melbourne label Chameleon Recordings, who are making their entrance into the Sydney clubbing circuit in some style. A fellow with a penchant for melodic techno, Watson has released on hallowed labels such as Planet E, Tresor and Everysoul, and his recent EP Pressure Part 2 included remixes from Steve Rachmad and the Australia-bound Octave One. Watson is currently preparing to release his seventh studio album, as well as high profile remixes for John Beltran, Alexander Kowalski, Kirk Degiorgio – who is one of the foremost electronic drawcards on the Playground Weekender 2012 lineup – Funk D’Void and Orlando Voorn. And as anyone who was in attendance when Vince Watson performed at Marrickville Bowling Club for HaHa when he was last in town will attest, the Scotsman delivers a thoroughly riproaring live set. In addition to the headliners, Lisbon-based duo The Bastards (who are themselves former Bar25 residents), Infusion’s Jamie Stevens and Melbourne’s Uone are among a strong local cast of DJs who will be representing.

The fiesta commences at midday and runs through till 11pm; presale tickets are currently on sale through Resident Advisor.

V

NEXT OF KIN ALBUM LAUNCH TOUR

SATURDAY 26 NOVEMBER

GOODGOD 55 LIVERPOOL STREET CHINATOWN / TICKETS AT THE DOOR / 9PM

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

OZI BATLA BRIGGS

NOOKY HOSTED BY BROTHABLACK

SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER

CAMBRIDGE HOTEL 789 HUNTER STREET NEWCASTLE / TICKETS AT THE DOOR / 8PM

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

OZI BATLA BLADES

Grenoble born Caroline Hervé, aka Miss Kittin, is the major dance artist to have been announced as part of the second round of acts for the 2012 Big Day Out, which is slotted for Australia Day, Thursday January 26. Though the tech diva is still perhaps best known for the collaboration she recorded with Felix Da Housecat, ‘Silverscreen’, her body (of work) is worthy of far deeper (sonic) exploration. Along with her somewhat patchy solo LPs (that aren’t without their highlights it must be said – see ‘Happy Violentine’ and ‘Dub About Me’), Miss Kittin also released a pair of albums with The Hacker: the minor classic 1st Album, which included the cult favourite ‘Frank Sinatra’, and more recently Two, an LP replete with tough Italo melodies, sexy androgyny and even a ‘guilty pleasure’ cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’.

Further back, her collaborative album with Golden Boy is a corker that you really ought to seek out. Having seen Miss Kittin spin at a beach party in Benicàssim, I can attest to her DJing prowess first hand – between the Kittin and Röyksopp, there is certainly a strong temptation to head to the

LOOKING DEEPER FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 Donato Dozzy The White House

DECEMBER 2-4

Minilogue, Frivolous, Apparat Subsonic Music Festival

SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 Vince Watson, Channel X The Greenwood Hotel

THURSDAY JANUARY 26 Matthew Dear AGWA Boat Party

Boiler Room and party like it’s 2002. But speaking from a technophile’s perspective, it was disappointing that Miss Kittin (and The Hacker) was not given a club sideshow following her most recent foray to Sydney back in November 2009 for the Stereosonic festival, after being given such an absurdly early timeslot in the afternoon. Given her lofty standing in the global club subculture, it would be fitting if she were to play a set in her natural nightclub environment while she’s in Sydney town.

Mad Racket returns to the Keystone Festival Bar at Hyde Park Barracks on Australia Day Eve, Wednesday January 25, with a bash featuring Peven Everett, a multi-talented musician and prominent figure in Chicago’s house and RnB scenes.

Everett started his career in the jazz world, getting his big break playing alongside singer Betty Carter and the Marsalis brothers. In clubbing circles, however, Everett is best known for his collaboration with Roy Davis Jr on the UK garage hit ‘Gabriel’, and the much-adored deep house cut, ‘I Can’t Believe I Loved Her’. Support as ever will be provided by Racketeers Jimmi James, Zootie, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell, and given the history of the Mad Racket Sydney Festival event selling out, I advise you to grab your ticket at the earliest possible opportunity. And I need not remind you about Andy Weatherall and DJ Koze, who are also both set to perform at the Keystone Festival over the month of January…

Miss Kittin

NOOKY SAMBA FROG

NEXT OF KIN OUT NOW ON ELEFANT TRAKS THROUGH

60 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

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

Soul Sedation

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

On hearing the news that Chic are coming out for the Playground Weekender, this column went through their hits to great effect in the lounge room last week. This gig has all the hallmarks of a disco party to end all disco parties. From ‘Le Freak’ to ‘Good Times’ to ‘Everybody Dance’, and then to ‘Chic Cheer’, which Fatman Scoop sampled to devastating effect to recreate the biggest RnB track in recent history, the NY band just have one of those incredible, timeless catalogues. Playground goes down March 2-4 next year, and if you haven’t been yet, you have a lot of catching up to do.

THIS WEEK

Thundamentals Oxford Art Factory

★ FRI NOV 25 ★

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2

STARTS 10PM

Mulatu Astatke Factory Theatre

Gaslamp Killer Oxford Art Factory

DECEMBER 2-4 Subsonic Music Festival Barrington Tops

FRIDAY DECEMBER 9 Hermitude The Standard

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 4 Easy Star All Stars Factory Theatre

FEBRUARY 19 & 20 Erykah Badu Sydney Opera House

album is seriously great, and it’s getting better with every listen.

E-SAL PR

20

$

This Thursday you should swing past the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi to catch This Version play Drop. The Sydney-based outfit have just dropped their self-titled five-track EP, and you can catch DJs Benjalu, DJ Ability and Bentley holding it down in support. As an aside, this will be the last Drop to take place at the Beach Rd.

$25 ON DOOR

★ SAT NOV 26 ★

And we’re still on a reggae tip, with the release of the first East Park Reggae Collective album. Three Stripe Science is the debut effort from the British reggae outfit signed to First Word records. With vocalist Anna Stott on the main mic, joined on the album by Homecut and Lyric L, this record is one you should definitely get across. It’s reggae with proper soul, a massive departure from the mainstream dancehall/RnB “nonsense”, as David Rodigan so emphatically describes it.

Soul Jazz records have released Bossa Jazz: The Birth of Hard Bossa, Samba Jazz and the evolution of Brazilian Fusion 1962-1973. (It’s funny how the Soul Jazz titles take most of the work out of it for journalists...) The compilation traces the early careers of some now household names like Sergio Mendes, Deodato and Jorge Ben, who can all trace their roots back to this fruitful period.

RE 11 P FO

$5

$10 AFTER

COMING SOON DSS Presents:

★ FRI DEC 02 ★

9PM - 3AM RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

This column was written to a soundtrack of the debut Funkommunity release, Chequered Thoughts. It’s a brilliant album from studio wizard Isaac Aesili and vocalist Rachael Frazer, who you’ll probably know from her work with Recloose, as well as Sola Rosa. She’s got a voice to rival any of the NZ soul queens, quite dusky in a jazzy style, and Aesili holds it down on a trippy, dubbed-out production style referencing producers like Vadim and Flying Lotus. This

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26

M!

In further hip hop styles, Chali 2na takes over Upstairs Beresford on December 11. The former J5 microphone wizard is touring a hot live show, which this column saw a couple of weeks back; 2na’s still very much on point. The man’s got a lot to offer and in a sense the show is the tale of his personal journey, with a few of J5’s ‘90s hip hop anthems thrown in for perfect measure. Chali is supported on the night

by True Vibenation, whose debut album The Sunshower Phenomenon was recently picked up as triple j album of the week.

You’ll be hearing much more of these guys; listen out for the single ‘Work, Work, Work ft. Alphamama’.

This Version Beach Road Hotel

E

Roots Manuva, also on the 2012 Playground lineup, will be rocking some sideshows while he’s in the country. He rolls into town on March 8, for a gig at The Hi-Fi – the new reincarnation of The Forum, which will have been fully renovated by the time of this gig. Word is the new operators have redesigned the entire building, taking out the columns that always caused it to be a fairly awkward venue. Manuva’s show should be a good opportunity to take a look for yourself. Make sure you check his new album 4everevolution too, which features our very own Dizz 1 on production duties. Dizz is on support on March 8, as is Tuka.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24

BE

Y

ou know it’s summertime when the Soul Sedation calendar looks like this; in the coming weeks we have, as usual, a world class musical smorgasboard to contend with, and that’s prior to Sydney Festival getting underway. Of course the BIG news dropped this month that Erykah Badu is coming through town with a ten piece band. She has two shows scheduled for February 19 and 20 at Sydney Opera House, with no supports – it’s all Badu.

ON THE ROAD

BE

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 we don't have room for.

$10 AFTER

CHA AMPIO ON

★ FRI DEC 09 ★

BE

RE 11 P FO

$5

REGGAE, DUB

M!

SO OUND DANCEHALL,

9PM - 3AM

$10 AFTER

9PM - 3AM RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

★ FRI DEC 16 ★

$10 AFTER Chali 2na

Send stuff for this column to tonyedwards001@gmail.com by 6pm Wednesdays. All pics to art@thebrag.com

TICKETS & BOOKINGS: BOOKINGS@LOWSOCIETYDUBSTEP.COM

450 PARAMATTA RD PETERSHAM 9560 0400 BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 61

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

club pick of the week LMFAO

MONDAY NOVEMBER 21 Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Monday Jam Danny J Felix, Djay Kohina free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 22

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26

Sydney Showground, Homebush Bay

Stereosonic Armin Van Buuren (NL), Carl Cox (UK), LMFAO (USA), Empire Of The Sun, Afrojack, The Bloody Beetroots (Italy), Avicii, Benny Benassi (Italy), Ferry Corsten (NL), Dirty South, Kaskade (USA), Dash Berlin, Subfocus, Andy C (UK), Mr Oizo (Fr), Pnau, Pretty Lights, Annie Mac, Crookers (Italy), DJ BT, Caspa & Rod Azlan, Claude VonStroke (USA), Datsik, Lucy Love (Ger), Bag Raiders, Zombie Nation (Ger), Drop the Lime (USA), The Two Bears, Guy Gerber (Israel), The Gaslamp Killer, Deetron, EDX, Jochen Miller, Arty, Yousef, Peter Van Hoesen, Myon, Shane54, Destructo (USA), Acid Jack, John Rundell, ShockOne, Beni, MC Stretch, Alison Wonderland $143.95-$260 (+ bf) 12pm 62 :: BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11

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 Pablo Calamari, Conrad Greenleaf free 8pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23 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 Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Friend DJ free 8pm The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown Student Nights DJ Moussa free The Ranch Hotel, Eastwood HUMP Wednsdays Scubar, Sydney Schoonerversity 3pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Sincopa free 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall – Feast Your Eyes #2 Sures, Dream (UK), Glovecats, Kemikoll, Mayo, Pablo Calamari, Double Goose free 8pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursdays DJ Big Will, Bold Bongos free 9pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Drop This Version, Benjalu, DJ Ability, Bentley free 8pm Cargo Lounge King St Wharf Thursdays I’m in Love DJs free 5pm Enmore Theatre Salt-N-Pepa (USA), Timomatic $97 (+ bf) 8pm Gee Wizz @ The Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Spring Break Northie, Antman $15-$20 8pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Rhythm & Booze Eric Shortbread, DJ Hey Man free 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Tenzin, Cadell, Zannon, DJ K-Note free 8pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Bad Apple DJs $5 8pm Ivy, Sydney Ivy Live DJs 5pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge Easy Lei Convaire DJs, Jen n Erik DJs free 9pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Indie Warhol DJ free 8pm Low 302, Darlinghurst Thursday Switch DJs free 9pm Mona Vale Hotel Kobra Kai 8pm Q Bar/ Phoenix Bar, Spectrum Hot Damn DJs $15-$20 8pm

Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Flaunt Dim Slm, Troy T, G Wizard, Mistah Cee, Mo Green, Soprano, DJ Rask, DJ Rocboi, MC Jayson 9pm The Sly Fox, Enmore Inhale Foreigndub DJs free 6pm Soho, Potts Point Ladies Night Down & Out DJs free 9pm Theloft, King St Wharf Thursdays at theloft Nad, Stu Turner, Mr Belvedere 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Shag, Conrad Greenleaf, Urby free (student)–$5 8pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 ARQ Sydney Twinkland Scott Tanner, Kitty Glitter free 9pm Arthouse Hotel, Sydney RnB Superclub G-Wizard, Troy T, Lilo, Def Rok, Eko, MC Jayson $15 9.30pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Movement Katalyst free 8pm The Cellar, Broadway Void Sound Biz, Flash Crew free-$10 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Wafa, Doctor Werewolf, Blaze Tripp, Linken & Vertigo, Day Trip, Seltay $15-$20 10pm Civic Undergournd, Sydney Volar DJs 10pm Enmore Theatre Salt-N-Pepa, Timomatic (USA) $97 (+ bf) 8pm Factory Theatre, Enmore World Supremacy Battleground – Australian National Championship $30 (+ bf) 4pm all-ages Gee Wizz @ The Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst The Getaway Plan After Party DJ Convaire 11.30pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito DJs free 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Daedelus (USA), Collarbones, Gallapagoose $25 (+ bf) 8pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Low Motion Max Gosford, Preacha $5 11.45pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney DJ Cadell free 5pm Gypsy Lounge, Darlinghurst Warp Speed Various DJs 9pm Home Nightclub, Sydney Sublime DJs 9pm Hotel Chambers, Martin Place F*** Me I’m Famous Sirdee, Eko, Mizzy $15 9pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Rat Pack DJs 9pm The Imperial Hotel, Erskinville Moist Sveta, Shalyn Gray free$5 10pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Devola, Kristy Lee, Starjumps, Isbjorn, Stoney Roads free-$10 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction W!ldlive Fridays DJs $10 10pm The Marlborough Hotel, Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 8.30pm Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Retro Hotel, Bristol Arms, Sydney Undies on the Outside Party DJs free-$5 4pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross

Club Onyx Sim Slm, Discokid, Lavida, Peeping Tom, DJ D, Tenkix $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 9pm Space, Sydney Zaia Savvy, Edo, D’Kutz, EmTee, Ming, Ace, Flipz, DJ Sefu, MC Suga Shane, Arbee, Suae, Pulsar, Askitz, Jinkang vs Tezzr vs Rhe3, MC D 9.45pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H DJs 11pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Picnic In The Cellar Pantha Du Prince (GER), Kali, Simon Caldwell $20-$30 10pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Eve DJs 9pm Wah Wah Lounge, Waterloo Ctrix, Abortifacient, Dot. Ay, Little Scale, Maddest Kings Alive, Rubijaq $10 (presale)–$12 8pm The Watershed Hotel Bring On The Weekend! DJ Anders Hitchcock, DJ Matty Roberts free Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham Donato Dozzy (ITA), Dave Choe, Zootie $25 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM I Know Leopard, Re:Enactment, Swimwear, Zowie, Vulpes Vulpes, My Little Underground, Belle, MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Vamp Music Le Castle Vania, Vengeance, Pretty Young Thungs Cunningpants, Bass Thiefs, Detektives, Crysist, Durtymindz, Whatis?, Robust, Diskera 9pm The Burdekin, Darlinghurst Beats & Pieces Franchi Brothers, DJ Kimba (NZ), Leonardo Chaibun (Uruguay) 10pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Ritual Snatch!, Teez, Zomg!

Kittens, Discoriot, Brosman, Nightmare, Donald Crump, Intheory 8pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf The Institute of Music DJs free 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Drop The Lime (USA), Kraymer, Diskoriot, Che Jose, Chris Arnott, Matttt, Dirtty D, Nick Robins, Marty Mark, Joe Barrs, Athson $15-$25 9pm Cohibar DJ Brynstar free The Cool Room, Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill DJ free 9pm Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly DJs 8.30pm Enmore Theatre World Supremacy Battlegrounds - International Championship Finale $59.95 6pm all-ages Establishment, Sydney Sienna G-Wizard, Troy T, Def Rok, Eko, Lilo 9pm Factory Theatre, Enmore Salsa Palladium Latin DJs $32 (+ bf) 7.30pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Late Night Social Bad Ezzy, Discopunx, Frames free 11.59pm Goldfish, Kings Cross A Taste of Kandi Cadell, Nat Conway, Simon Neal (UK), Nick Vidal, Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly $20 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney The Last Kinection, Briggs, Ozi Batla, Nooky 8pm Hollywood Hotel, Surry Hills Motion Dean Dixon, Dave

club guide send your listings to: clubguide@thebrag.com Fernandes, Northern Soul Poster Boy, DJ Burn-Hard $5 9pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays DJs $20-$25 9pm The Imperial Hotel, Erskinville Trance Connection Zac Slade vs Pato, T&O, Raptor, Ruby, Rossco $15-$20 10pm Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Timmy Trumpet $20 8pm 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 Marlborough Hotel, Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Thundamentals, Ellesquire, Ruthless, Johnny Utah $15 (+ bf) 8pm The Oxford Underground, Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst Swagger – Bling It On! DJ Booth, Smiley M, Gay-Z, Boyonce, Sveta $15 10pm Red Rattler, Marrickville Gaylordz Discotheque DEL, Mo from CHAPS, Tbag and Sir $15 9pm Retro Hotel, Bristol Arms, Sydney Undies on the Outside Party DJs free-$10 4pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Troy T, Joey Kaz, Charlie Brown, Disco Kid, Dim Slm, Jo Funk, Steve S 8pm Shark Hotel, Sydney Pulse8 Jono free Soho, Potts Point The Usual Suspects DJs 9pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Move D, Trinity, Nic Scali $20$25 10pm St James Hotel, Sydney SFX DJs 9pm Sydney Showground, Homebush Bay Stereosonic Armin Van

Buuren (The Netherlands), Carl Cox (UK), LMFAO (USA), Empire Of The Sun, Afrojack, The Bloody Beetroots (Italy), Avicii, Benny Benassi (Italy), Ferry Corsten (Netherlands), Dirty South, Kaskade (USA), Dash Berlin, Subfocus, Andy C (UK), Mr Oizo (France), Pnau, Pretty Lights, Annie Mac, Crookers (Italy), DJ BT, Caspa, Caspa & Rod Azlan, Claude Von Stroke (USA), Datsik, Lucy Love (Germany), Bag Raiders, Zombie Nation (Germany), Drop the Lime (USA), The Two Bears, Guy Gerber (Israel), The Gaslamp Killer, Deetron, EDX, Jochen Miller, Arty, Yousef, Peter Van Hoesen, Myon, Shane54, Destructo (USA), Acid Jacks, John Rundell, ShockOne, Beni, MC Stretch, Alison Wonderland $143.95-$260 (+ bf) 12pm The Taxi Club, Darlinghurst Freak – Barbie Doll Seabas Andreassen, Smithers, Brendan Maclean $10 10pm Theloft, Sydney Late at theloft DJs 10pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Voyeur DJs 9pm Verge Bar, Arthouse Hotel, Sydney After Dark DJs free Water Bar – Blue Hotel Saturday Night Deluxe DJs 10pm The Watershed Hotel Watershed Presents… Skybar The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Maelstrom (FRA), Kato, James Taylor, Adam Bozetto, E-Cats, Moneyshot, Astrix, Harry Cotton, Shamozzle, Sushi, Bentley $15-$20 8pm Yarra Bay Sailing Club, Randwick Spring Wobble! Nick Field, Andy Donaldson, Tony Spencer 2pm all-ages

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27 ARQ Sydney Under The Mirrorball – World AIDS Day Fund Raiser Alex

Taylor, Astrix, Brendan Terry, Chip, Dave Stevenson, Dom De Sousa, Eddie Doulter, Frankie Shin, Jake Kilby, James Tobin, Justin Scott, Kitty Glitter, Murray Hood, Neil Hume, Ruby, Sandi Hotrod, Scott Tanner, Stephen Simpson, Tom Kelly $10 The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross The Bank Sundays – Movember Party free 10pm Basement Level, 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney Spice Deetron, Murat Kilic $20 4am The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays DJs free 3pm Broadway Lounge, Chippendale Delirium DJs free 2pm allages Cargo Bar, King St Wharf Stick It In free 3pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club free 6pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays DJs 8pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Aphrodisiac Industry Night Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Easy Sundays Stu Turner, NAD, Mr Belvedere, Murray Lake, Pat Ward 6pm Kudu Lounge, Darlinghurst Timeless Sundays Dan Copping, Ravi Ravs, Thomas Waldeier free 2pm Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club The Black Hill Ramblers free 6pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone free 7pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays – Playboy Mansion Theme Fresh, G-Wizard free 8pm The Watershed Hotel Afternoon DJs DJ Brynstar free The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm

club picks up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 23 The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Dream (UK), Glovecats, Kemikoll, Mayo, Pablo Calamari, Double Goose free 8pm; Art at The Wall & Brag EATS presents Feast Your Eyes 2, with art, food, DJs and Sures

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 24 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Drop This Version, Benjalu, DJ Ability, Bentley free 8pm Enmore Theatre Salt-N-Pepa (USA), Timomatic $97 (+ bf) 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge Easy Lei Convaire DJs, Jen n Erik DJs free 9pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 25 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach

Movement Katalyst free 8pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Daedelus (USA), Collarbones, Gallapagoose $25 (+ bf) 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Devola, Kristy Lee, Starjumps, Isbjorn, Stoney Roads free-$10 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Picnic In The Cellar Pantha Du Prince (GER), Kali, Simon Caldwell $20$30 10pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Drop The Lime (USA), Kraymer, Diskoriot, Che Jose, Chris Arnott, Matttt, Dirtty D, Nick Robins, Marty Mark, Joe Barrs, Athson $15-$25 9pm

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Thundamentals, Ellesquire, Ruthless, Johnny Utah $15 (+ bf) 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Deetron, Move D, Murat Kilic, Trinity, Nic Scali $20-$25 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham! Maelstrom (FRA), Kato, James Taylor, Adam Bozetto, E-Cats, Moneyshot, Astrix, Harry Cotton, Shamozzle, Sushi and Bentley $15-20 8pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney The Last Kinection, Briggs, Ozi Batla, Nooky 8pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27 Basement Level, 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney Spice Deetron, Murat Kilic $20 4am

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 63

snap

hot damn

PICS :: SW

up all night out all week . . .

the back room

PICS :: AM

10:11:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245

11:11:11 :: The Back Room :: 2A Roslyn Street, Potts Point 9361 5000

vultures

It sounds like: Sydney’s newest ‘FUCK FRIDA YS!’ club.

Who’s spinning? Zowie, DJ Skar, Emperor, Mushu, Ranger Stacey, Indie Warhol DJs and guests.

Sell it to us: Unlike most club nights aroun d Sydney, this is FREE ENTRY; plus it combines amazing up-and-coming bands that you can hear on triple j Unearthed with a full on party night; Lansd owne is now running music over two levels!

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The name of the person you're in bed with, because you were smart enough to write it on your hand.

Crowd specs: Free love, free hugs and a lot of kids wanting to hear amazing Australian music before getting loose and party ready!

Wallet damage: FREE – can’t get any cheap er.

Where: Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway When: Every Thursday / Launching Novem ber 24 w/ a late set from Zowie

wham!

PICS :: DM

strike

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

64 :: BRAG :: 439: 21:11:11

PICS :: AM

11:11:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

party profile

chinese laundry

PICS :: AM

It’s called: VULTURES with Indie Warhol.

12:11:11 :: Strike Bowling :: King St Wharf Darling Harbour 1300 787 453 KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: THOMAS PEACHY :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER OV POP RGE GEO :: NS IEL MUN CAI GRIFFIN:: ASHLEY MAR :: DAN Y SAM WHITESIDE :: TIM WHITNE

LV L 3 , 3 8 3 B O U R K E S T S U R R Y H I L L S

L I V E M U S I C , V I S U A L A R T, T H E AT R E , CO M E DY, B U R L E S Q U E & B O O Z E

FRI 25 NOV SAT 26 NOV THU 1 DEC WITH

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS NICKY NIGHT TIME + KATO + VALARIE YUM + LUX LIFE

T H U R S D A Y S FREE ENTRY FREE PIZZA & MiLife EXHIBIT

FRI 2 DEC SAT 3 DEC TUE 6 DEC WITH

MIND VIRUS LAUNCH

WITH: BLOODS + EVIL J & FAINT

COME VISIT US AT FACEBOOK.COM/THESTANDARDSYDNEY

TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT MOSHTIX.COM.AU/THESTANDARD WEARETHESTANDARD.COM.AU

BRAG :: 439 :: 21:11:11 :: 65

snap

10:11:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

goodgod

PICS :: GP

propaganda

PICS :: DM

up all night out all week . . .

26:10:11 :: GoodGod :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 9267 3787

party profile

gaylordz #2 It’s called: Gaylordz Discothèque It sounds like: Happy times.

Who’s playing? MO from CHAPS, Del, TBag and Sir. Three songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘The Perculator’ – Cajmere; ‘Is It All Over My Face’ – Loose Joints; ‘Fujiyama Mama’ – Wanda Jackson.

And one you definitely won’t: Anything Katy Perry.

Sell it to us: Basically, ‘We just want to dance with hot babes to good music.’ If you’ve ever been called a Gaylord for doing something, we think you’re a legend and must have been doing something fun. It’s a party open to anyone that is of any persuasion , as long as they want to have fun and have mad respect for others.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The music , performances and hot babes.

Crowd specs: Queers and their friends. Dress to impress.

Wallet damage: $15

the exchange hotel

PICS :: KC

Where: Red Rattler / 6 Faversham Street, Marric kville When: Saturday November 26

halfway crooks

12:11:11 :: Phoenix Bar :: Downstairs 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9331 1936

PICS :: TW

the cool room

10:11:11 :: Australian Brewery :: 350 Annangrove Rd Rouse Hill 9679 4555

66 :: BRAG :: 439: 21:11:11

PICS :: AM

11:11:11 :: The Exchange Hotel :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9360 1375

KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER POPOV :: THOMAS PEACHY :: RGE GEO :: NS MUN IEL DAN :: CAI GRIFFIN:: ASHLEY MAR Y SAM WHITESIDE :: TIM WHITNE

“Volition has succeeded in making one of the most unpredictable and insane experiences in gaming memory”

9/10

- Game Informer Gold Star

“Saints Row: The Third succeeds tremendously at delivering its unique brand of raunchy, outrageous fun.”

“One of the finest sandbox games ever made” 10/10

- GameSpot

- GamesRadar

“We simply couldn’t get enough of it!”

9/10

- Official PlayStation magazine

“The craziest game you will ever play”

“Wonderful, ridiculous insanity”

- IGN

- New York Post

“9.5”

“9.0”

- Official Xbox

- Game

Magazine

Informer

“A uniquely insane and highly addictive experience” 9/10

“Pulls no punches and makes no apologies”

- BigPondGameArena

- Complex

“Absolute laugh riot throughout”

“Out GTA’s GTA”

9/10

- Official fficial PlayStation Magazine

- Hyper Magazine Magazi

15TH NOVEMBER Strong sexual and crime themes, violence and coarse language, Gaming experience may change online.

© 2011 THQ Inc. Developed by Volition, Inc. THQ, Saints Row: The Third, Volition, Inc and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. KINECT, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. “PlayStation” and the “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks and “PS3” and the PlayStation Network logo are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

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