The Brag #440

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THE CANYONS

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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

THU 1 DEC FRI 2 DEC SAT 3 DEC WITH

MIND VIRUS LAUNCH

WITH: BLOODS + EVIL J & FAINT

NICKY NIGHT TIME + KATO + VALARIE YUM + LUX LIFE

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TUE 6 DEC FRI 9 DEC SAT 10 DEC WITH

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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.

BBM™Music. Try it for free for up to 30 days* Get started now at au.blackberry.com/bbmmusic

*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 minutes WITH

JULIE MCDONALD (ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY) FOR SIGNED FINDS

Gotye

T

ell us about Signed Finds?

Vinnies Signed Finds is an inspired idea that’s attracted the support of some huge international and Aussie icons and bands, and it’s pretty simple: the artist donates an autographed pre-loved item of rock history – usually one they’ve worn on stage – and from December 5, they’ll be specially tagged and hidden in Vinnies op shops across NSW. To track them down, fans will be able to follow clues and hints to their locations on the Vinnies Signed Finds Facebook page.

Essentially, it’s a giant muso-inspired treasure hunt through NSW Vinnies stores.

How did all this start?

The team at Sydney advertising agency George Patterson Y&R approached Vinnies with the idea. Being avid Vinnies shoppers themselves, the agency got right behind it and have used their creative genius and contacts to attract a wide range of top musical artists.

Since then, the idea has snowballed. It’s a win-win-win for all involved; fans, artists and, most importantly, the 700,000 people that Vinnies help each year in NSW. Could you give us a few examples of what we might find?

We’re really excited by the artists that have come on board. One on every lady’s watch

list is Julia Stone’s summer dress, but there’s something in there for every music lover. Some favourites include Anna Lunoe’s T-shirt, which was a hand-me-down from M.I.A, plus items from Gotye, Boy and Bear, Sneaky Sound System, Neil Finn, John Butler, The Living End, Sarah Blasko, Jimmy Barnes, Peter Garrett and over 50 more. The list keeps growing every day!

How do we get involved?

Just visit www.signedfinds.com.au, become a fan, and you’ll be the first to get clues about your favourite find... Then you just need to hit the streets, get into a Vinnies store and get looking! This is going to be running all through the summer festival season, with a culmination at The Big Day Out in Sydney.

There are three planned drops from December 5 to January 26, so there a lot more announcements to come!

What’s the future for Signed Finds?

This is only the beginning, with a planned roll out across Australia next year. With so many talented artists wanting to get involved, Vinnies Signed Finds is a campaign that will keep on giving. And one of the best things is that every single item you donate or buy in Vinnies shops will directly help that local community. Feel-good shopping!

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 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

Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 8a Marlborough Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag.

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

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

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Where: Vinnies op-shops across NSW Web: Head to signedfinds.com.au to find out more!

Real Estate are the perfect soundtrack to the moment you realise that the person you’ve been in love with from afar for a few months is actually now in your bedroom, going through your records and drinking wine while sitting on the side of your bed. You’re a bit hazy-drunk and a bit sun-dazed from the boozy picnic you guys were at, and there’s hours until you need to go out tonight. Lucky for you, it’s March 9 2012, and the woozy Brooklyn bunch are playing at The Standard, which means this band and this moment with be intrinsically tied forevermore...

Tickets are on sale now, and you’ve got a few months to make the rest of that all happen. (And buy their new record Days, too – it’s fairly undeniable.)

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

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

What: Signed Finds launches on December 5

REAL ESTATE TOUR

Real Estate

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

Julia Stone

ELBOW TOUR!

Elbow are one of those British bands that have released five critically-acclaimed albums and toured the world may times over, yet every year or so a different UK flash-in-the-pan band with lesser songwriting skills and a paper-thin vocalist approximates their patented sound and sells a million records. That must upset the lads a little.

Anyways, now isn’t the time – we can chat about it when they play Hordern Pavilion on March 26.

Tickets on sale from December 6, with presales available on December 2. Bombay Bicycle Club are supporting too, who are a British band you ll be reading about in the NME before too long. Check them out – I guarantee you will like them. We like the same things, you and I.

199 + THE DEATH SET

199 is a brand new Sydney-based creative agency focused on music events, marketing and management, and run by Scott Owen and Thomas Peachey (the dudes behind MUM @ The World Bar) – and it’s being launched with the greatest party since Tom Haverford and John-Ralphio heard the world was ending. It goes down at The Standard this Thursday December 29 and stars none other than Brooklyn-based Aussies The Death Set. Dangerous!, Humans and Doc Holliday Takes the Shotgun will also be playing, and by the end of the night you’ll all probably have started your own agency, and stolen their clients.

VERY SPECIAL

Why is it that those who play ska music feel the need to insert their genre-name into events, festivals and even band names?

Ska-Wars, Ska-Trek – there was even a band called The Pornskas. Hilarious, right?

(Rhetorical and sarcastic.) All of this laboured punnery should make ska heroes The Specials feel a sense of white-hot rage that can only be sated by skanking about on stage April 7 at The Enmore Theatre, where they’ll be playing classics from their 30-year-strong

career. These guys influenced The Clash, The Pretenders, even No Doubt (‘Sunday Morning’ = tune), so start referring to your mates as rudeboys, get some brothel-creepers, and I’ll see you there. Tickets go on sale this Tuesday November 29.

LUNCH BREAK & AFTERBAKE

Port Macquarie is home to two awesome things: Fantasy Glades (which everybody knows is the most psychedelic fairy tale-based theme park on the East Coast), and indie-rock band Royal Chant. They unleashed an excellent debut record this year in Raise Your Glass And Collapse, and are ending their year o’ touring with a show at Afterbake at FBi Social on December 3 (after Homebake, duh), with Fait Accompli and Sister Jane. Speaking of FBi Social, they’re about to start hosting an excellent thing called ‘Lunch Break’ – a run of free 20-minute sets every Wednesday lunchtime from 1pm, starting this Wednesday November

Canyons

30 with Donny Benet. Best thing? You can bring your own lunch!

SOUNDWAVE MK 3

Soundwave unveiled their third announcement, and the big news is we’ll be joined by the legendary Bush – who will no doubt be playing a few tracks off The Sea Of Memories, their first studio album in ten years which came out just last week and is AWESOME. Also on the third lineup announce is In Flames, The Black Dahlia Murder, Holy Grail, These Kids Wear Crowns and more, who’ll be joining a massive bill that already included System Of A Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, A Day To Remember, Machine Head, Lamb Of God, Bad Religion, Angels & Airwaves, Unwritten Law, Dashboard Confessional, Dillinger Escape Plan, Thursday and so many more you’ll have to go online for it: www. soundwavefestival.com. It happens at Sydney Showgrounds on Sunday February 26, and you can still get tickets.

CANYONS DEBUT LIVE SHOW & ALBUM

Most of the time, bands scrap around the live scene for years, playing to barstaff and carpet-stains in empty pubs before slowly but surely building up a following, and finally, maybe, releasing an album. Canyons clearly know this is too much pointless toil, so they just released their awesome debut LP Keep Your Dreams through Modular, and then decided to play their debut live show a few months later – with a killer six-piece band.

Civic Underground will host the launch on Thursday December 15, and we recommend you head along.

Q Bar + Phoenix Vegas + Spectrum

GIG OF THE WEEK SAT 2ND DEC 9PM $10

FRI 2ND DEC 9PM $10

Teen Spirit WOLFDEN SUMMER PARTY WITH DJ’S 9021Bros Melrose Waste Doh J Simpson Pinky & the Brain Bash Brothers Pushin’ Pop Urby Cookie Collective Ren & Stimpy Dawsons Freak DJ Smithers Red Hot Tilly Peppers DJ Tombogotchi Bass Ventura Crash Test Mummies Spice Cube Dj’s Doogie Howser MDJ

HOWLERZ THIEVES BIG SMOKEY THEMORNING NIGHT KOHJI CAM NACSON

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Destroy All Lines

A Story Never Told Presents

Lyarr Bloods Kang Gang

THURS 1ST DEC 8PM $15/$20 Presents

3 Bit Djs, Wacks, Ben Lucid, Lonewolf, thenickles, Special Guests

SAT 3RD DEC 9PM $10 SAT 3RD DEC 11:30PM $10

Sienna Skies Built on Secrets Sound of Seasons Tyrants As Chaos Unfolds

Snatch & Grab Present

FOAM PARTY Girlthing Dj’s Special Guests

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

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UP 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

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rock music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said WITH

JARRAH FROM SNAKADAKTAL is right up there with Flea.

We got the opportunity to record with triple j in Sydney earlier on this year, which was a great experience and lots of fun. We all met at school, us four boys in the same class and Phoebe in the class below – we swept her up because she was fresh and full of talent.

We play reverb-filled dreamy pop. We are releasing our debut EP this November, which was fully written, recorded and produced by us over our summer hangouts. Our live show is filled with glitter, colours, friends, instruments, and dance moves from fun-loving people grooving and singing along! You might even get lucky and spot a crowd surfer or two.

I

t all started when my brother and I set up a stereo in our bedroom and plugged in a microphone. We sang along to songs so loudly that the whole neighbourhood could hear. I grew up mainly surrounded by percussion instruments, like African-American drums, maracas and congas. My Dad was a bit of a DJ and my mum could sing, but she was never very musically orientated. Listening to music from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Ben Harper

when I was younger is what made me want to play bass.

One of my favourite bass players would have to be Walter Gervers from Foals. I remember listening to their album and being very jealous of his upbeat, high and low basslines. Also Marcin Oz (The Whitest Boy Alive), because he is probably the most funky man I know of. Victor Wooten is an amazing solo bassist, definitely one of best bass players I have ever heard. He

The Australian music scene is showcasing some great new talent, and it’s only growing bigger! When you’re a kid filled with dreams, you have an image of what it would be like to be a musician – and it’s actually quite different to what I expected. There are many obstacles you have to overcome that sadly don’t involve playing your instrument – but that’s what makes the performing part so special.

What: Snakadaktal EP is out now through I Oh You Where: GoodGod Small Club When: Wednesday December 14

DAPPLED CITIES

If you were lucky enough to catch Dappled Cities at Harvest Festival (or at their recent Metro Theatre appearance, with TV On The Radio), you’ll know these kids are in their finest form yet. We loved their 2009 release Zounds, and are super-mega excited about their forthcoming album – but before it hits our iPods, they want to try out their new tunes on your lucky ears. The live listening love-fest will take place at The Standard on Friday December 2, and if you’d like to get your hands on a double pass, just tell us your fave track off Zounds.

SET SAIL

Ahoy, mateys! Time to batten down the hatches and swab the decks because your favourite indie-pop-rockers Set Sail are about to, well, set sail. It feels like only yesterday the boys came back home from their huge World Stage Tour – comprising 48 cities across 7 continents – but they’re now heading out on their Chasing Summer tour, which will take their good times up and down the East Coast of our fine land.

They’ll be anchoring at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday December 15, and if you’d like to get your hands on a double pass, tell us where you’d set sail to if you had the chance.

URGE OVERKILL

Urge Overkill. I could tell you about their swaggering Southern Stones-y sound, or that they are back with their first album in 15 years, Rock and Roll Submarine, or even that Liz Phair wrote most of her brilliant, essential Exile In Guyville record about her hopeless crush on sinewy singer Nash Kato, but Urge Overkill will be forever immortalised by Uma’s sexy-asall-fuck dance in Pulp Fiction to their brooding take on Neil Diamond’s classic cradle-snatcher, ‘Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon’. That’s what their original stuff sounds like too, basically, and you can catch them March 10 at the Enmore Theatre. Tickets are $44, and on sale through feelpresents.oztix.com.au

System Of A Down

MUSECOLOGY

The first event put together by Sydney’s Jack Jeweller (Black and Blue Gallery) and Daniel Stricker (Siberia Records, Midnight Juggernauts), Musecology is a new, awesomesounding project consisting of four music-based performances that bring together artists, fans, and peculiar Sydney locations. Basically, the performers are asked to respond to the space that they’ve been booked at – and you are invited to watch the result. The first event is happening on Friday December 9, when Kirin J. Callinan, Justice Yeldam, BAADDD and Forces will find themselves in a boxing ring at the Woolloomooloo PCYC. Tickets are a mere tenner, those acts are all great, and also, a boxing ring!

OUTLAWS FOR LIFE

Soundgarden

SYSTEM OF A DOWN

Guys. System Of A Down. The Entertainment Centre. Tuesday February 28. Toxicity. Steal This Album. Serj Tankian. ‘Chop Suey’. ‘Aerials’. ‘Innervision’. ‘Boom!’. Mezmerize. Hypnotize.

Frantic. Frenetic. Brutal. Yelly. Loud. Awesome. Those are all the facts you need. Tickets go on sale Thursday December 1, at 9am – and yep, it’s all-ages. Shit is gonna be huge.

THIS WEEK @ BEACH ROAD

On Wednesday November 30, Beach Road Hotel at Bondi is hosting another stellar lineup of bands – with Gold Fields, Damndogs (the T-rexin’ disco-jiving side project of Mark Wilson and Chris Cester from Jet) and Millions. Huge lineup, eh? Best get along, eh?

Laughing Outlaw release a slew of great national and international releases every year, and every year they have a Xmas party where their fine local acts play songs that aren’t influenced by the holiday-season at all, but basically just showcase why the label D3 @ SOH is so good. Miss Little, Sam Shinazzi, The You know how that stabby guitar riff and murky Widowbirds, Mic Conway, Mindy Sotiri, rhythm section from Cat Power’s ‘He War’ is one James Thomson, Suzy Connolly, Mark Lucas, of the best sounds ever? Well, that was done Edward Deer, Hinterlandt, Piers Twomey and by none other than Dirty Three, which should Mustered Courage are the acts playing this be reason enough for you to head along to the year, it’s free and it’s at Petersham Bowling pointy, pointy Opera House when they play Club, which means there’s bowling (little circle there on March 21. If you need more convincing, is where the weight is, remember), food, beer what with the financial crisis and the internet and it starts at midday. Sunday December 4. and the outside world being so cruel and

Chairlift

SOUNDGARDEN AND KANYE ANNOUNCE BIG DAY OUT SIDESHOWS. YES WE ARE EXCITED.

unforgiving these days, well how about twenty years worth of immaculate back catalogue, incendiary live shows, and no pesky vocals! Get along, it’s pretty transcendent – tickets are on sale now through the Opera House.

THE STRUMS @ MUM

The Strums are a more guitar-y, less rhythmic version of The Drums. Namewise, I mean.

Soundwise, they are a rollicking rock ‘n’ roll band, the type of renegades that would seethe at the idea of produced beats or cheesy synths – there’s certainly none of that nonsense on their debut EP, Are You Picking Up What I’m Putting Down?. You’ll be able to hear tracks from it when they play MUM @ The World Bar on Friday December 2, with The Messengers, The Pretty Lies, The Pixiekills and more.

CHAIRLIFT, ACTIVE CHILD, WASHED OUT & TORO Y MOI

Nope, we’re not just scrolling down Pitchfork – the headline refers to more Laneway Festival sideshows that have just been announced. First up is an awesome doubleheader, starring a guy called Chaz Bundick and his bestie Ernest Green. Not interested in two dudes jamming out together? What if we referred to them as Toro Y Moi and Washed Out? The pair will be playing with support from Guerre at Manning Bar on Wednesday February 8. Speaking of one-man projects, LA’s Active Child has requested the company of Caitlin Park for his show at the Oxford Art Factory on Sunday January 29, and Brooklyn’s Chairlift have courted Elizabeth Rose for their show at the same venue two nights later. Laneway Festival, of course, is being held at Sydney College Of The Arts in Rozelle, on Sunday February 5.

16 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

We gave you a taste of 2012’s Big Day Out sideshows in last week’s news (www.bigdayoutsideshows.com, if you missed it), but the big ones we alluded to have finally come through.

The incendiary, infamous, insanely huge Soundgarden have bullied The Bronx into supporting them at Sydney Entertainment Centre on Wednesday January 25 – and some guy called Kanye West has booked out the same venue for Friday January 27, with support from “special guests”.

Tickets to both go on sale at 9am on the dot this Tuesday December 6 through Ticketmaster, and we imagine there’ll be one of those online ticketing queues – so settle down at your desk with a nice cup of tea. Oh, while we’re all here: Battles are ripping into The Metro Theatre on January 23, Mariachi El Bronx are doing their Mariachi thing at The Metro on January 25, Cavalera Conspiracy will be in that same room on January 28, and Big Day Out itself is being held on January 26 at Sydney Showgrounds – tix are still available.

Kanye West

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The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

* The guitarist of a US Bon Jovi cover band got so sick of doing their songs that he smashed up his guitar on stage and stormed off. * When our colleague, Remedy columnist Murray Engleheart, was in Red Eye Records, an old bloke next to him was rifling through the racks. It was Elton John. * Aussie electronic producer Pogo blogged that due to a visa hassle, he was detained in the US and now cannot return there for ten years. Pogo (Nick Bertke) blamed his two week stay in a US county jail and a further week in a federal detention centre on the Agency Group, the promoter of his September tour. “I was unimpressed with these people, to

NEW STATS ON COMMUNITY RADIO…

New research from McNair Ingenuity unveiled at the CBAA (Community Broadcasting Association of Australia) conference on November 19 on the Gold Coast provided a great insight into the community radio sector. The research firm’s Matt Balogh revealed that 19,323 people volunteer in 288 fully-licensed stations.

Community radio may be generating less revenue — $65.9 million in the 2009/10 financial year down from $69.8 million the previous year – but it provides 34,691 hours of local content and 14,254 hours of community service announcements. It plays an average of 37% Australian music, and 65% of stations now stream their programs, according to the data. Full report and audio of speeches and workshops at cbaa.org.au.

…FBI, 2NVR, WIN AT VOXIES

FBi had two major wins at the CBAA community radio Voxies awards, held as part of its aforementioned conference. It took out excellence in radio programming for Radiant, and contribution to local music for Music Open Day. 2NVR Nambucca Valley Radio in Nambucca Heads won outstanding small station and excellence in sports programming for Sports Report. Wins were also had by OCR FM’s Jonathan Graham (outstanding youth contribution), 90.1 2NBC FM (news program or content initiative) and Radio Skid Row’s Afrikan Connexions (excellence in ethnic and multicultural broadcasting). The Michael Law award went to John Martin, president of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

BLOCKING OUT NICKELBACK!

Music blog Aux.com has launched a new free plugin called Nickelblock, which eliminates all mentions of Nickelback from web browsers when they’re surfing. This is the latest anti-Nickelback tirade. Recently, the Canadians were voted the biggest musical turn-off by users of dating site Tastebuds.fm.

UNIVERSAL PUBLISHING SIGNS SNOB SCRILLA

Universal Music Publishing Group signed MC Snob Scrilla (aka Sean Ray Mullins) to a worldwide deal. Mullins, born in California, relocated to Australia to attend university, released his debut album Day One in 2009, and returned from working in LA in 2012 to launch its follow-up. He co-wrote Jessica Mauboy’s 2009 multi-platinum ‘Running Back’.

AIR MEETING put it mildly,” he reported. * A fundraising concert headlined by Tex Perkins in Federal (near Byron) raised over $6500, so that the community could buy the local village church. * NZ producer P-Money is working with Aussie female rapper Sky High. * Triple J Magazine’s September cover featuring Gotye as a human mirror ball won custom magazine cover of the year in the Publishers Australia Excellence Awards. Published by News Custom for ABC Magazines, the cover was designed by art director Ben Jarvis and photographed by Cybele Malinowski. * Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson is about to lose his “other job” as a pilot for Astraeus Airlines: it’s entering administration, As part of the songwriting and production team MoreMega (with UMPG’s Cassie Davis), he co-wrote and produced Havana Brown’s multi-platinum debut ‘We Run The Night’ and follow-up ‘Get It’, as well as Natalie Bassingthwaite’s ‘All We Have’. “Sean is a truly gifted artist, songwriter, beat-maker and lyricist,” says Heath Johns, director of A&R, UMPG Australia. “We are looking forward to opening up a number of domestic and global opportunities for Sean’s songwriting.”

VINNIES SIGNED FINDS

Ad agency George Patterson Y&R and the Vinnies retail chain collected autographed items from 52 acts for the Vinnies Signed Finds campaign. From Monday December 5, the items – all of which belonged to the artist who signed them – will be hidden in over 253 Vinnies stores across NSW, with clues offered on the campaign’s Facebook. The campaign runs until January 26, during which more items will be found from Big Day Out artists. Acts involved include Sneaky Sound System, The Living End, Goyte, John Butler, The Vines, Urthboy, Neil Finn and Art vs Science. See www.signedfinds.com.au

DEADLINES FOR GRANTS

The Australia Council has two grant programs with closing dates coming up. Soundclash, which supports innovative contemporary popular music projects with grants of up to $10,000, closes off on December 6. Deadline for International Pathways, which supports international touring with up to $20,000, closes on November 28. More info at australiacouncil. gov.au. Also in grant world, the Office for the Arts’ Contemporary Music Touring Program has a cut-off date of December 2 – for more, visit www.arts.gov.au/regional/cmtp

TV FIGURES

The grand finale of The X Factor drew 1.99 million viewers, and was the most watched show last Tuesday night. The finale of Spicks and Specks reached 1.6 million with a total share of 28%, topping Wednesday night.

And proving that radio people don’t always translate to TV, the first episode of Kyle and Jackie O’s Night With The Stars, which started with 1.4 million viewers, had dropped to 200,000 by the end – leading to Kyle’s welldocumented meltdown.

MOBILE TICKETING RISES

Online ticketing agency Moshtix experienced huge growth a year after introducing mobile barcode ticketing. Its mobile ticketing volume

and has grounded all flights. * Those photos of revelers at England’s Glastonbury festival caked in mud will be a thing of the past soon: from 2013, the festival is installing washing machines as a response to “far more demanding” fans. Last week, Glastonbury won Best Major Festival at the UK Festival Awards. * Richard Wilkins’ Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms was declared a best seller by publisher New Holland. * The Fremantle Dockers football team will maintain its 16-year-old theme song, but will get its composer Ken Walther to update it. Club members voted against new songs offered by Eskimo Joe (‘Freo, Freo ) and Melbourne writer Rosco Elliott (‘The Mighty Roar of Freo ).

rose by 2200%, and mobile ticket sales by 1371%. Moshtix CEO Adam McArthur said consumers were responding to the ticketing process becoming simpler, and their ability to now share events to Twitter and Facebook, and SMS tickets to friends. He predicts traffic will grow with summer events and festivals.

SLIPKNOT VS RICK RUBIN

During a Q&A in Texas, Slipknot’s Corey Taylor was asked about working with producer Rick Rubin on their 2004 album Vol 3 (The Subliminal Verses). He barked that Rubin would come into the studio for 45 minutes a week, and would “lay on a couch and have a mic brought in next to [his] face so he wouldn’t have to move.” He added, “The Rick Rubin of today is a thin, thin, thin shadow of the Rick Rubin that he was. He is overrated, he is overpaid, and I will never work with him again as long as I fucking live.”

360 VS SHORT STACK

In the runup to Channel V’s Oz Artist of The Year awards, fellow nominees MC 360 and Short Stack were slagging each other on YouTube, following a bating by 360. Phrases like “munted dopey cunt” and “Your music makes me want to chop off my dick and feed it to a lamb whose eyes are crying blood” were exchanged.

FREEDMAN, WRIGHT, MUSICALS

A musical based on the songs and characters of Tim Freedman will be workshopped in Sydney next month. Truth, Beauty And A Picture Of You was co-written by Freedman with playwright Alex Broun. It was one of four shows chosen by New Musicals Australia to be workshopped. Directed by Neil Gooding, it plays the Fusebox on December 2 and 3.

Performing it are Sea Patrol’s Ian Stenlake, Sam Devenport, Scott Johnson (Jersey Boys), Gareth Keegan (Next to Normal) and Erica Lovell (Little Women). Meanwhile, Stevie: The Life And Music Of Stevie Wright And The Easybeats is a production based on the rock singer, launching at Evan Theatre Panthers on February 4, to be followed by a regional tour. Scott McRae plays the lead.

CD DEAD IN TWO YEARS?

According to Side Line Music magazine, record labels will stop manufacturing CDs by 2013 for all but limited edition runs for major artists, and will give consumers an option of streaming or downloading. But major labels are insistent they’ll stick with the format for longer than that.

AIR will be holding an Independent Labels meeting at the offices of ARIA on December 7 at 4pm. Details are forthcoming; email newsletter@air.org.au if you’re interested in attending.

ARIA RETAILERS ANNOUNCED; NEWTOWN'S HUM WINS AGAIN

The ARIA Retailers of the Year awards were announced before the ARIAs. These were co-sponsored by the Australian Music Retailers Association to highlight retailers’ importance in selling CDs (70% of sales) and providing data to the ARIA charts.

Indie winners: Hum on King – Newtown (NSW, ACT), Mills Records – Fremantle (WA), Krypton Discs – Glenelg (SA, NT), Capricorn Records – Warrnambool (Vic), Rocking Horse Records – Brisbane (Qld) and CD Centre – Kings Meadows, Launceston (Tas). National chain winner was JB Hi-Fi; they got a trophy, and gold seating at the ARIAs.

Lifelines Born: Son Wynton Bryce to Stu Watters, managing director of Morph TV (and one-time GM of AIR), and his wife Andy.

Born: Daughter Stella to Temper Trap’s Jonathon Aherne and his wife, in London last month.

Hospitalised: George Michael from pneumonia, in Vienna. He’s rescheduling some European dates.

In Court: Former Melbournebased tour manager for The Getaway Plan, John Raymond Zimmerman, 26, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to 87 charges, including underage sex and child porn. The court heard that he met 55 girls between the ages of 13 to 17 on social media sites, and promised some free tickets to gigs and backstage access in return for sexual favours.

In Court: The feud between Noel and Liam Gallagher worsened, with Noel filing court documents accusing Liam of abusive and “irresponsible” behavior prior to Oasis’ split in 2009.

In Court: Melbourne musician Kenneth Davis, 37, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court for playing his violin on a train last December (a criminal offence), and physically threatening a transport officer who told him to stop. The charges will be dropped in three months, as Davis wrote a letter of apology and donated $50 to the Choir of Hard Knocks.

Died: Influential New York drummer and composer Paul Motian, 80, due to complications from a bone marrow disorder.

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I thought it was going to be complicated [with three of us in the studio] but all that it needs is a little patience, and you need to open up. Now that I’ve learnt that, it’s hard to make a record on my own.”

Through Moderat, Ring found himself on support duties for Radiohead, which introduced him to a different kind of large-scale band performance. “I didn’t even know about Radiohead until seven years ago,” he admits. “Hail To The Thief was my first Radiohead experience, and I instantly fell in love. They’re coming from the exact opposite direction; they’re coming from rock and they embraced electronics, and I’m coming from being completely electronic and embracing all these other influences, so it totally made sense to me. It was a really big honour to be asked to do the support; suddenly you play in front of 30,000 people and it’s a little bit of education, and I think that’s always important.”

Similarly, Ring points to his experiences touring with Moderat as a catalyst for his changing production outlook. “There was three of us and the visuals guy on stage and there was lots of interaction – it was not preprogrammed. When I started making The Devil’s Walk I was really sure that I wanted to recapture that feeling when I performed the album live. I just wasn’t sure how this was going to happen.”

Ring escaped what he calls “the whole over-civilisation and information overkill” and headed to Mexico to record The Devil’s Walk, a title that references the classic poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

“There’s too many rules and laws for everything, it doesn’t really feel that you’re free to do what you want. That’s why I wanted to get really far away with this album, to be in a completely different area,” he explains. “The best possible situation is to be completely disconnected from all kinds of expectations. You want to be free, and not think about the audience or what’s going to happen.”

Apparat

Loner No Longer

“F

or most of my life I’ve been a nerd,” admits German musician Sascha Ring, otherwise known as Apparat. Ring has just come offstage from a performance and is kicking back with his band, swigging beer and conducting our interview on speaker phone – a scenario that undoubtedly lends itself to selfdeprecation. Regardless, it’s a good jumping-off point to discuss Ring’s steady gravitation away from any auteur theory of DJing and dance music production.

Since the release of his debut album Multifunktionsebene a decade ago, Ring has moved towards a more collaborative ethos, as exemplified by his latest album, The Devil’s Walk.

It was renowned German techno producer Ellen Allien, the founder of the BPitch Control label, who first succeeded in coaxing Ring out of his solitary production cocoon. “She’d approached me and I said, ‘OK, we can do this thing, but I’m going to do it in my studio and you’re going to do it in your studio and then maybe we’ll exchange sound files.’ She just said ‘No’ and came over, and suddenly she was sitting next to me,” he recalls.

“At the beginning it was very hard for me to adapt to having that other person there and accepting that other person’s opinion,” Ring admits, “because I was so used to being [in] control. Then I slowly learned by being a little more patient that if you give other people a chance, you might get

By Chris Honnery

something back in return.” The outcome of their collaboration was 2006’s Orchestra of Bubbles, an album that rightfully attracted considerable plaudits upon its original release for its distinct and spontaneous contrapuntal interpretations of electronic soundscapes. (Some of the tracks approached dubstep, at a time long before that became a buzzword.)

After collaborating with Allien, Ring’s outlook changed, and the idea of working alone began to seem more prosaic. “I made part of my 2007 Apparat album, Walls, with Josh from Telefon Tel Aviv, and it just brought me closer to the idea that it’s really, really cool to allow other people to enter my headspace somehow; somehow it just makes the result richer,”

Ring affirms. “I’ve been making electronic music for ten years now, and it’s hard to be inspired the whole time. It can be so much cooler if someone else adds a little spice to the whole process.”

But it was Ring’s collaboration with German duo Modeselektor, as Moderat, that was to have a profound influence on his approach to both performing and making music. “There was a slow change and urge to make more organic music. But it was only after doing Moderat that I felt like I had to do something completely different.”

The Moderat project was the result of years of discussions between the trio. “We were always talking to each other and talking about making a record together.

“I’ve been making electronic music for ten years now, and it’s hard to be inspired the whole time. It can be so much cooler if someone else adds a little spice to the whole process.”

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The subsequent album is the result of a musical progression ten years in the making, away from solitary digital programming, towards genuine ‘songwriting’ as part of a collective. “We got kind of crazy on recording a lot of live instruments and making everything more organic. Then it turned out that the way to play it was as a band without computer backing, with people doing organic looping themselves on stage.”

Ring is also enjoying the wider scope for improvisation that comes from playing with a band.

“Suddenly we’re able to adjust way more to special settings,” he explains. “At the Subsonic Music Festival, we’re going to play the closing set, and of course the band is not going to play a rave show – that’s not what the band is about – but we can play more energetic, or more laidback…

“Personally I really like outdoor parties,” he continues, “because sound-wise it’s really open, and you can play more ‘epic’ [sets], so hopefully that’s what we can do there. To be able to come to Australia with my band and present what I’m dealing with right now is a really good feeling.”

Who: Apparat – full live band With: Chali 2na, Tiki Taane with DJ Sambora, Thundamentals, Resin Dogs, Opiuo, Minilogue, Phil Kieran, Max Cooper, Egbert, Frivolous and more Where: Subsonic Music Festival @ Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops When: December 2-4 Sideshow: Thursday December 1 at The Standard with Max Cooper

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Thee Oh Sees Living The Dream By Joshua Kloke

I

t’s impossible to keep up with Thee Oh Sees.

In the last six years, the pioneers of avant garage rock have released eleven full-length releases, seven EPs and nine 7-inch singles, contributed to three compilations, and created the kind of revered mythology that is becoming all too elusive in rock and roll these days. Fans wait with bated breath for their next release, and the band keeps them all guessing what said release will sound like. Because not only is it impossible to keep up with the San Franciscan four-piece, but it’s also impossible to pigeonhole them. While Castlemania, their first full-length from 2011, was an expansive and at times mysterious album, their latest, Carrion Crawler/ The Dream (out on legendary garage rock label In The Red), is a thriving, punishing listen that, while not always straight forward, hits the mark early and often.

One could be easily bewildered as to how they maintain this kind of sonic output. But for Brigid Dawson, the band’s longstanding vocalist/ keyboardist, the reasoning is quite simple.

Over the phone from her San Francisco home, Dawson offers insight into the band’s recording techniques between sips of wine. “It’s easy,

because our recording process is really quite simple. We record almost everything live. The last time we went into the studio [to record Carrion Crawler], we were there for five days. And that was the longest we’d ever spent in the studio.”

To hear Dawson tell it, you’d think Thee Oh Sees could essentially release a new record every single day of the year. But there’s more to it than just their simplistic recording techniques; there exists an energy within the band to create, release and repeat. Although each Thee Oh Sees release paints a varied sonic landscape, Dawson maintains that the key to their songs is not how they’re recorded so much as when they’re recorded. Timing, she says, is everything.

“John [Dwyer, lead singer/guitarist] does a lot of home recordings that he puts out. Sometimes we’ll come down and put our touches on it, but otherwise we play a lot, we tour a lot and we try to write songs in between everything. And we’ve always believed that the best way to record a song is when it’s fresh. We’re happy to put it out like that too. I don’t know if there’s necessarily a drive within the band; we’re just documenting things as we go along.”

Now documenting for close to 14 years, Thee Oh Sees have allowed their sound to move free of constrictions, in any manner they see fit. It is indeed easy to lump the band in with other garage rock acts, but compared to their contemporaries, Thee Oh Sees are a rather fearless bunch. No strangers to experimenting with their songs, the band places no value in writing simple songs or strictly adhering to how songs were recorded when playing them live. And while John Dwyer may be the leader and principal songwriter for Thee Oh Sees, the entire band has the opportunity to put their own stamp on the songs; it’s up to all four members to give the song wings, and see where it will fly. “Usually John will bring in an idea and we’ll practice it, but by the end it can sound very different from the original. We also leave a lot of room in the songs to improvise. Some of the longer jams, they will sound different every time we play it live.” Yet when asked if the band ever feels the need to mess with a song simply because of its simplistic nature, Dawson reverts back to her hands-off mentality. “It just happens through a natural progression. Often some of the older songs will change once we’ve toured with them for a while. A lot of the times it just happens bit by bit,” she explains. “It must seem like we’re making all these grand transitions, but we’re really not.”

“We record almost everthing live... We’ve always believed that the best way to record a song is when it’s fresh. We’re happy to put it out like that too.

We’re just documenting things as we go along.”

While Dawson seems decidedly humble regarding how Thee Oh Sees operate, the band does deserve to be celebrated for their audacious aesthetic, which is rarely overbearing.

While the future for Thee Oh Sees appears to be something of an open book, the city that brought them together is as important a part of their aesthetic as their recording process. San Francisco, long a hub for the creatively-inclined, provided the push on the swing; where the band heads next, sonically speaking, is anyone’s guess. “I came to San Francisco from London about ten years ago,” Dawson says. “If you can imagine the difference moving from this anonymous, impersonal city to San Francisco, where I met everyone in the band in the coffee shop I was working at, just making coffee.

It’s amazing how easily you can get into the community. Within the art community here, we’re all very close. We sing on each other’s albums, play on each other’s albums, we go see each other play all the time and sometimes go on tour together. Maybe in a way it’s because San Francisco is a little bit of a small town. Almost everyone who plays music here has come from another place, so there’s definitely something that draws people here. Maybe it’s because people can pursue their dreams here. It’s allowed.

People don’t think you’re strange.”

What: Carrion Crawler/The Dream is out now through In The Red Where: The Annandale Hotel When: Thursday January 19

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Nick Lowe The Old Magician By Dermot Clarke

H

e doesn’t sound like a 61-year-old man, be it conversationally or musically, and he’s disarmingly modest and polite – even though it was Nick Lowe who wrote ‘(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding’, to this day he isn’t bothered a whit that it’s credited to Elvis Costello. He was in the thick of punk and new wave, but never let himself be identified with either movement (even though he was pivotal to both), and one gets the feeling that he actually likes the idea of getting old.

With The Old Magic, Nick Lowe is finally receiving some much-deserved attention; one difference between it and Lowe’s previous effort, 2007’s At My Age, is that his new album is actually selling. What’s curious is why it took so long to put together. “As you get older, it gets harder,” he explains. “You’d think it would be a walk in the park. What normally happens is I wait until I’ve got two or three tunes that I think are pretty good, that stand a good chance of becoming good records. I round everybody up, hire a studio, and in we go – and if that session goes well, and these three tunes come out well, that starts a process.

It’s a bit like a snowball on a hill, gathering more and more snow as it goes down. From that three-song nugget, the other songs kind of attach themselves. That’s a writing process which in my case can take three or four years.”

“When I came up with this melody, I actually heard Johnny Cash’s voice singing it... I thought,‘Alright John, if that’s the way you think this goes, who am I to argue?’”

The Old Magic is deceptively shrink-wrapped in a sort of middle-of-the-road plastic croon; perhaps it’s a bit too smooth. But this is just the ploy of a master craftsman who knows exactly what he’s doing; while the record has the veneer of a chardonnay wine tasting session, after a minute you get over the shock.

‘Checkout Time’ is the first song to take hold, a look at Lowe’s own mortality that’s lighthearted but utterly poignant. This is the same guy who wrote ‘Truth Drug’, it’s just that he doesn’t feel the need to beat on dead horses.

By the time ‘Insensitive Man’ and ‘Somebody Cares For Me’ reveal themselves, the ghosts of Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly have weaved their way through.

‘Restless Feeling’ is the song that triggered the writing process of The Old Magic. It’s one of the more bizarre moments on the album, and it has its genesis in a rather absurd conversation fueled by a sake drinking session. “Two of my co-collaborators, Neil Brockbank who does the mixing and Robert Traherne, the drummer, had a record label called Blue Five … Blue Five released one record [Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham], and it was pretty successful. One night we were in Tokyo doing some shows, and we were in a bar, laughing about how Blue Five had got this tremendous success, never had a flop – and we started to joke about making a record of phony Blue Five artists as if Blue Five had all these other artists on its books, and how we’d do a compilation record like they used to do back in the ‘60s,” Lowe laughs. “We’d had a few drinks, and we started thinking about decent names for some of these different artists. One of the artists we came up with was this slightly overthe-hill boy band, like a cross between New Kids On The Block and the Osmond brothers.

There’d only be maybe one or two of the original guys in it, the others having left: maybe died of drug overdoses, or bought a shoe shop or something. And the name we came up with for this over-the-hill boy band, which we thought was spot-on, was Coastline.

“After a few more sakes I suddenly jumped up and said, ‘Well I’ve got their tune, I know exactly what their tune goes like!’,” Lowe

chuckles, “and I started singing ‘Restless Feeling’. We went back to the UK, and one day we thought, ‘What about doing Coastline? Let’s start this record, it’s a pretty good idea!’ So I finished the song, and the more we worked on it the more we got into it. We thought, ‘Well actually, this is pretty cool.”’

‘Checkout Time’ is another album highlight. “I was watching TV and strumming a guitar one evening, and I came up with the little chord changes and the melody,” Lowe explains. “I didn’t intend to write a song – even though it’s rather tongue-in-cheek – about my own mortality. But when I came up with this melody, I actually heard Johnny Cash’s voice singing it: “I’m sixty-one years old now, and I never thought I’d see thirty”. I heard Johnny Cash singing it, and it fitted, y’know? Just fitted great.

I thought, ‘Alright John, if that’s the way you think this goes, who am I to argue?’”

What: The Old Magic is out now Where: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall When: Thursday March 29, tickets on sale now

all these other influences that you’ve missed,” he says. “The older you get, the more you welcome anything.”

Lowe’s attitude to his age, ironically, affords him with a kind of spark of youth. It may sound syrupy and sentimental, but it’s actually rather inspiring. “Up until fairly recently ... it would be inconceivable that someone in their sixties or seventies, such as Bob Dylan, could still be an incredible artist, writing and producing records that are great and that people think are worthy of discussion,” Lowe says.

“My generation completely rejected our parents’ music, [but that] isn’t the case nowadays.

“As much as I actually liked the music my parents liked ... when I became a teenager: ‘Ha-ha-HA! No thankyou, not anymore.

THIS is good, everything else is bad.’ And those sort of snobberies lasted for a long time. When I got into my thirties, suddenly I started seeing how ridiculous this was, and you start finding

Future Of The Left Against Common Sense By Darragh Murray

Eager fans won’t have to wait too long to hear new material; the band found time to record a six-track entree, Polymers Are Forever, ahead of the Australian tour. “We thought we’d have the album finished and out by now. Unfortunately because of various delays – most of which were beyond our control – that wasn’t possible.” Although just a pre-cursor of mostly demos, Polymers Are Forever is a significant release for the band when you consider it’s the first commercially available material since the departure of their original bassist Kelson Mathias in 2010, and the first since the group evolved into a four piece, picking up Jimmy Watkins on guitar and Julia Ruzicka on bass. “I’d like people who are fans of the band to listen to those five songs and think, ‘Fuck, if these five songs are songs which weren’t good enough for the record, I can only imagine how good the record is.’”

T

he Australian summer just doesn’t feel right without Welsh rock group Future Of The Left dropping by to tear local ears off with their distorted tales of odd characters and borderline sociopaths. The group’s forthcoming Australian tour, which includes a trip down to the Meredith Music Festival, is actually their second jaunt to the antipodes this year. Fortunately it’s difficult to tire of the band, and interviewing their charismatic frontman Andy ‘Falco’ Falkous is never a boring experience; his witty, erudite and engaging demeanour makes the task of a music writer a hell of a lot easier than usual.

Even when I call him at an hour approaching midnight in Cardiff, the ex-Mclusky singerguitarist’s fondness for self-deprecation and humour shines through – especially when I ask what he’s been doing of late.

“On a personal level, looking for a fucking job! With my CV, that’s a real pain in the

24 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

arse – ‘cause the gaps in my CV generally happen to somebody who’s been on tour for a long time as a roadie for Motörhead… or [someone who] has been in prison,” he says emphatically. “On another level? Trying to actually finish this album.”

I’ve managed to catch Falco the night before his band are due to finish their third full-length record, The Plot Against Common Sense.

Future Of The Left are touring Australia before the release date in January, but Falco explains that the album’s delay was unavoidable. “We’ve been so excited about this record; I mean, we’ve known we’ve had something special on our hands for a while, but it’s been frustrating having that just beyond our reach for the last month or so. [After it’s finished], I’m going to have two days of injecting a series of lagers directly into my eyes in order to recuperate from the experience.”

Surprisingly, Falco admits that the new songs are, for the first time in his view, actually “about something”. Explaining the genesis of the song ‘Polymers Are Forever’, he reveals a deeper meaning behind its title. “Jimmy, who’s the relatively new guitarist in the band, he came up with the title when the song was already half written. And I just had this image of all these plastic bags at the bottom of the ocean, just covering and strangling the ocean… eventually just subsuming the world.” Falco explains. “And I like the [title] ‘Polymers Are Forever’; that has an epic notion, and it’s also, at least in contemporary scientific understanding, literally true.” Our conversation turns towards the story behind one of the more interesting tracks on the EP, the curiously-titled ‘Destroywhitchurch. com’. “It’s really bizarre. We were driving through Cardiff and saw this sign which said ‘destroywhitchurch.com’ – Whitchurch is an area of Cardiff. It sounds like it’s going to be the web hub of an anarchist organisation, or maybe going to be sticking bombs through local neighbourhood watches’ letter boxes,” he muses. “It turns out that, conversely, destroywhitchurch is about saving English language schools in the Whitchurch area... The website is concerned with what it sees as the

“After the album’s finished, I’m going to have two days of injecting a series of lagers directly into my eyes in order to recuperate.” destruction of traditional Whitchurch.”

A stray question about what the future holds for Future Of The Left sets Falco off on another anecdote, about a past interview with a guitar magazine – which provides insight into his philosophy behind playing guitar. “I did an interview with Guitar World magazine about five years ago, and the guy said, ‘So, what advice would you give to any readers of Guitar World?’ I said, ‘Shut the magazine and never fucking read it again.’ And he said, ‘Well obviously we can’t publish that...’ and I went, ‘Yeah, well that’s my advice,’” he shrugs. “You don’t want to learn from some tablature how to play a Kirk Hammett solo – just pick up a guitar and fucking hit it until it sounds good.

That’s how great guitar players are made.”

After a few shows in the UK, Australia is the first stop on a wider tour. “Pretty much getting on to half the live set is going to be new songs, and there’s going to be old songs, and a couple of Supergrass and Metallica covers,” Falco jokes. “Australia first – it will be a delight.

And it will also be a chance to get some sun on our pasty fucking skin.”

What: Polymers Are Forever EP is out now through Remote Control With: Dead Farmers and Yes, I’m Leaving Where: Annandale Hotel When: Thursday December 8

The Triffids Re-Imagined By Sean Gleeson

G

raham Lee has devoted much of the last 12 years to acting as custodian of his former band’s legacy. After the shock of David McComb’s untimely death in 1999, just two weeks shy of his 37th birthday, Lee juggled his commitments with W. Minc Records and various sessional gigs to oversee a painstaking effort in remastering The Triffids’ classic albums. “I kind of regard them, in hindsight, as very important contributions to the world’s music scene,” says Lee. “The songs are what Dave left behind, the albums are what Dave left behind, and we all want them to receive the respect that we believe they deserve.”

Look no further for the crux of Lee’s dedication. If there’s one thing that’s motivated him to keep The Triffids’ music alive more than 20 years after the band’s end, it’s the sense of duty he was left with after having worked alongside one of the most prodigious musicians ever reared in this country.

On the eve of the group’s first Australian shows since 1989, Lee still glows about his tentative introduction to Dave McComb’s world. One day, idly kicking about in the Sydney music scene, he was asked on short notice to play on the infuriatingly rare Lawson Square Infirmary EP, an homage to the derelict building the band inhabited in Redfern soon after they relocated from Perth. “We recorded at the Sydney Opera House. We couldn’t tell anyone at the time, because the person who allowed us to go in there, who was one of the building’s engineers, would have got the sack!” says Lee. “We went into the recording room – the big room where they record the symphony orchestras – at about 3am one morning, and recorded that Lawson Square thing in one go. That was my introduction to Dave’s music.”

the band’s inception], who put out a lot of seriously great music after Dave. Mick Harvey [The Birthday Party alumnus] will be joining us as a musician and as a singer. Bruce Haymes, who was on Dave’s solo album, will be on keyboards. And we will also have Alexander Gow from the band Oh Mercy, and his band will also be playing Dave’s songs for part of the set,” Lee says. “We’ve even got our old lighting guy from the ‘80s, Peter Mackay, doing his magic, and Steve Miller, who was the band’s tour manager at the time, will be MC for the evening.

“You know, it’s not The Triffids,” Lee hastens to add. “But it’s a very, very fine evening of songs that are very much like The Triffids.”

With: Grinderman, Pnau, Gotye, Cut Copy, Gurrumul, The Church, Icehouse, Ladyhawk, Drapht, Eskimo Joe, The Vines, The Jezabels, Kimbra, Papa vs Pretty, Passenger, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and heaps more Where: Homebake Festival @ The Domain When: Saturday December 3; gates at 11am

“We delighted in dashing people’s expectations of us.

When we did In The Pines, it was totally the wrong thing to do.”

A year went by before Lee heard from McComb again. “I hadn’t thought that much more about it.

I knew Lawson Square was coming out. Shortly after that, the band actually left to go to the UK for the first time, and they experienced quite a bit of success over there. They came back and one day I got the call from Dave saying, ‘Would you like to play with us up the East Coast?’ …

I was hanging round on the dole in Sydney. I certainly didn’t have anything going on that was as exciting as playing on some really great songs with a really great songwriter, so I went along with it.”

Lee’s arrival arguably heralded the band’s golden age, beginning with his steel guitar work on 1986’s mournful tribute to love and isolation in the backblocks of Western Australia, Born Sandy Devotional. “In hindsight, I still think that Born Sandy is the best thing we did,” Lee says, “but I really liked recording Calenture [1987]. There were problems, and it’s sometimes written off by people as an overblown monstrosity, but we wanted it to be a big production. We thought the songs deserved that kind of big, lush treatment.

It was a record for a major label, so we went all out.”

Calenture was indeed a stark contrast to the stripped-back sound of In The Pines, recorded a year earlier in a shed on the property owned by McComb’s family for just over $1000. “I think at the time we delighted in surprising people and dashing people’s expectations of us. When we did In The Pines, it was totally the wrong thing to do. No matter how you looked at it, it was wrong.

From a commercial point of view – at the time we were courting various major labels. They were expecting some kind of indication of what kind of band this was, what sort of career we were going to have,” Lee says. “We knew what we were doing. We knew that if we were to play the game, we wouldn’t have gone to a shearing shed in rural WA and recorded a ramshackle collection of songs. We would’ve waited and gone into the mix studio and done Calenture instead, right then and there. But it seemed like a good thing to do from our point of view, and in lots of ways we were selfish like that – and I think it’s a good thing that we were.”

Though The Triffids have played reunion shows in Europe since McComb’s passing, their upcoming four-date tour around the country – which will see them play Homebake in Sydney next weekend – marks the first time they’ve played together on home soil in more than two decades. Lee and his bandmates have spared no effort in recruiting old friends to try and fill Dave’s shoes for the occasion. “Some of them are people we’ve played with before. Like Rob Snarski of The Blackeyed Susans [whom McComb and Lee played with at

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Easy Star All-Stars

Sand Pebbles Blood On The Floor By Rick Warner

Welcome To The Dub Side By Dorian Gray

R

eggae tribute albums can be a hit and miss affair – the rocksteady reworking of Nirvana’s Nevermind released this year looms in mind as particularly unnecessary.

But when the crew of session musicians who make up Easy Star All-Stars decided in 2003 to record a dub tribute to Pink Floyd’s concept classic Dark Side of the Moon, they struck covers gold.

The stoned psychedelia and sense of space that are inherent to dub leant themselves particularly well to Dark Side of the Moon’s astral progressive rock; from the opening seconds of Dub Side – in which Easy Star AllStars substitute the original’s ambient breathing and cash register sounds with ‘illbient’ Rasta weed puffing and coughing, before breaking down into a skank that’s only a small stylistic skip from the original’s opening chords – you can tell that it’s going to be a respectful and appropriate homage. Or maybe it just works so well because both albums were made to get stoned to. Either way, the proof is in the licensing; while the members of Pink Floyd initially refused Easy Star’s request to record a tribute album, it only took one listen to a rough demo to get them to agree.

Since Dub Side of the Moon, Easy Star AllStars have tackled Radiohead’s OK Computer with Radiodread, and The Beatles with Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band, and this year they finally put out their first record of original material, First Light. As Easy Star All-Stars bassist Ras I Ray explains it, the nine-year delay in releasing original material has more to do with the rotating cast of characters that make up the Easy Star collective, as well as the punishing nature of their tour schedule, than anything else. “We just never had time, with all the touring,” I Ray says. “But we’re always writing new material, and we have two more

CDs of material ready to go. We just need the time to put our energy and hearts into it.”

When he says that they’ve had little spare time with all the touring, he’s not kidding. In 2009 alone, Easy Star All-Stars clocked up 125 shows in 25 countries, including a threeday stint at Glastonbury in which they played Lonely Hearts, Radiodread and Dub Side consecutively across three days and three stages. But it’s not until now that the band has planned a tour in which they ll play their most acclaimed tribute album end to end (like an independent Don’t Look Back concert), and Australia is lucky enough to have the honour.

“It’s amazing that eight years after the album first came out, the fans are still loving it so much that we’re still riding the wave,” says I Ray. “We’ll be playing Dub Side from intro to outro – although it’s dub, so it’s always fresh and instantaneous; you never get a dub sounding the same two nights in a row – and we’ll also be doing some originals and selections from Radiodread and Lonely Hearts Dub Band. It’s going to be a special time.”

’m not a fucking suit!” exclaims Andrew Tanner, Patriarch (he specifically requested I use that term) and singer/guitarist for Melbourne psychedelic five-piece, The Sand Pebbles. Luckily, he’s quoting Billy Walsh from Entourage and not yelling down the phone at me, as he gives me a rundown of his day-to-day away from the rehearsal room. “I’m a creative, so I get to wear a beret and stroke a cat and say things like, ‘Make it more fluffy’ and ‘Put a bit of salmon over that mix’ ... and people actually take you seriously, which is always good fun.”

“I

with each band member’s birth date falling in a different decade from the 1950s to the 1990s, it kind of makes sense. According to Tanner, the multiple songwriters all have a hand in the procedure. “It’s collaborative whether you want it to be or not, really, in this band. You can come with a fully-formed, beautifully constructed piece of work and they’ll rip it apart with their teeth and throw it around like a carcass, and it gets put back together in some strange form. It’s very much an organic process – and there’s always blood on the floor at the end of it, I can tell you.”

When not dealing with clients and putting together sizzle reels (teaser videos released by movie studios – I had to look that up), 50-yearold Tanner is usually holed up with the rest of his band in a recording studio somewhere.

“We don’t ever just rehearse. Mostly we go to a room with recording gear set up and play, and everything gets recorded.” It’s this obsession with aural record keeping that saw the band record four albums in the span of six years from 2002 to 2008 – but it’s taken three long years for their most recent album, 2011’s Dark Magic, to come to fruition. Tanner blames the delay on changing up the process.

Notorious for rarely leaving the comforts of their home city Melbourne, The Sand Pebbles are finally taking Dark Magic on the road. Their East Coast tour takes in the major cities as well as stops in Canberra and Hobart in December, and Andrew is excited to get amongst the fans.

He maintains that there’s nothing quite like psychedelic music lovers. “There have been acts of near copulation on the dancefloor and we’ve seen some incredible dancing, I’ve got to say. You want to see some good dancing?

You ought to go to some kind of psych show. I don’t know where those moves come from, but they’re unbelievable to watch.” But as a rocker in his fifties, will he still enjoy the rock ‘n’ roll tour life? “Ask me at the end of December,” he laughs. “After consecutive weekends in a bus, it could kill us. This may be the last interview. I’m tipping it will be fun; everyone’s mindset is to take the party on the road. What could possibly go wrong?”

“We kind of made the fatal mistake of trying to do something different, and it all unravelled from there,” he muses. “They were scrappy little beasts [the songs], and we didn’t quite know which way they wanted to go. At one stage we thought we were going to do a folk album. Everyone got all beardy and folky and we thought, ‘No, that’s a stupid idea.’ Then we went to a kind of rock thing and thought, ‘No, that’s kind of boring.’ It kind of ended up this mutant thing.”

And a strange mix it is. Dark Magic sways from leafy, forest canopy folk to snapping, taut post-punk to fog-laden psychedelic rock, but

What: Dark Magic is out now through Remote Control With: The Sun Blindness, Astral Kaleidoscope Where: GoodGod Small Club When: Saturday December 3

Word on the grapevine is that Easy Star AllStars also have another homage album in the works, but I Ray won’t let any hints drop.

“It’s killing me, I want to talk about it so bad!” he says. “I can’t wait for the label to give us permission to talk about this latest project – it’s in the works right now, and we’re looking at late spring [northern hemisphere] for the release and tour. The hardest part is keeping it as discreet as possible.”

What: First Light is out now Who: Easy Star All-Stars perform Dub Side Of The Moon Where: The Factory Theatre When: Wednesday January 4

Mudhoney The Lucky Ones By Patrick Emery

S

teve Turner, guitarist with legendary Pacific North-West punk band Mudhoney, has always exuded an air of the kind of dishevelled but brilliant academic you might find burrowed away in the dark corners of a university arts faculty. It comes as little surprise therefore to discover that Turner was in fact studying social anthropology when his music began to take precedence. “I’d dropped out of college, and I promised my parents I’d take a couple of years off and then go back,” Turner says. “But I never did – I’m the first member of my family not to make it through college.

I suppose I regret not going back; I suppose these are the things I’m going to have to go through with my own kids,” he laughs.

“I first met Mark [Arm, frontman] when we were waiting in line to get in to see TSOL in about October 1982,” Turner recalls, of Mudhoney’s inception. “I already knew who he was.” Turner had an inkling that he and Arm, who at the time fronted Mr Epp and the Calculations, would share a number of sonic interests, and it didn’t take long before the two were introduced and a musical partnership was born. “A mutual friend introduced us – he said, ‘Mark, this is Steve – he’s straight edge too!” Turner laughs. “And we got along really great.”

Turner eventually joined Arm in Mr Epp before forming Green River in 1984, alongside future Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament. By 1988, Green River had largely

26 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

disintegrated, and Turner and Arm were looking to the future. “We wrote out the bands that we really liked, like The Stooges, dirty punk rock like The Pagans, Dead Boys, Black Flag, feedtime, Scientists and The Birthday Party – they were our major touchstones,” Turner says.

And for Mudhoney, Turner wanted everyone – including the lead singer – to be contributing musically to the mix. “I had to make sure I had Mark playing guitar,” Turner says. “He had no real skill, but he made great noise. I didn’t want him jumping around the stage like he was in Green River.”

While both Turner and Arm had their musical roots in the hardcore scene, Mudhoney was considered more of a punk band. “We definitely considered ourselves a punk band – we didn’t feel much affinity with the hardcore bands, even though that’s where we came from,” Turner says. By the early ‘90s, punk had been appropriated and re-branded by the mainstream music industry and media as ‘grunge’ – but for Turner, it had always been punk. “I thought of bands like Killdozer and Dinosaur Jr as punk bands. The scene was what it was – you could argue that the punk scene around 1986-1988

was the grunge scene.”

Having made their mark with the early singles released on the Seattle label Sub Pop, Mudhoney eventually signed a deal with Reprise Records, where the band would stay until the late ‘90s. Turner says the experience of working with a major label wasn’t as bad as many in the punk rock world might expect. “We got a good deal, and they really left us alone.

But by the time we left, I think we’d been there a bit too long – we stayed so that we could use the recording budget they gave us.” Mudhoney subsequently returned to its Sub Pop origins, after the label’s terminal decline (following a series of financial calamities) had been somewhat arrested. “I don’t see us leaving Sub Pop, unless it stops completely,” Turner says.

“The whole industry has changed so much, and we’d never be on a major label again.”

To see Mudhoney these days is to witness a bunch of grown-up kids still enjoying punk rock with the same youthful enthusiasm of yore. The title of Mudhoney’s 2008 record, The Lucky Ones, suggests the band is acutely aware of its fortunate position in punk rock history. “We’re still here,” Turner says, “and we get to do what we want to do.”

With: The Holy Soul, The Treatment Where: Manning Bar, Sydney University When: Tuesday December 6

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arts frontline

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

five minutes WITH MARIUS VON

H

e’s the dramaturg for Berlin’s Schaubühne (whose Hamlet rocked Sydney Festival in 2010), he’s one of Benedict Andrews' favourite two playwrights (the other being Martin Crimp), and he’s one of Germany’s most exciting young playwrights. In Sydney this month to talk with director Sarah Giles about her upcoming Griffin Theatre production of his play The Ugly One (which lampoons the culture of physical perfection that fuels the cosmetic surgery industry), Marius kindly answered our questions.

SOUNDS OF DAY & NIGHT

Alaska Projects closes up the year this week with its first solo exhibition: Sounds Of Day And Night is a selection of work by Newfoundlandborn artist Nick Collerson, curated by Toby Chapman. As Nick says: Drawing upon his extensive experiences as a store clerk (along with a infinite chain of other menial jobs) Nick explores, investigates and indeed uncovers the extraordinary that lies concealed within the underside of the dynamic praxis, which is referred to by historians of yesteryear as hunting and gathering but is today known in common parlance as working for the man.

What he said! Opens November 30 from 6pm, runs until December 18 at Level 2, Kings Cross Car Park, 9A Elizabeth Bay Road, Elizabeth Bay. alaskaprojects.com

YEAR IN THE REAR

A bunch of comedy pros are presenting their take on the year that was this Wednesday, with a little help from Reg Mombassa and his band The Pinks. Host H.G. Nelson will be wrangling opinions out of panellists Mikey Robins (Good News Week), Amanda Keller (Takin’ ‘Bout Your Generation and Breakfast Radio) and James Valentine (702 Afternoons). So if you spent your year with your head in the books, this may be your last chance to find out what the hell happened, and why everyone is so depressed about Australian politics, Australian sport, Australian media… And then pat yourself on the back, coz your ticket just raised money for the Asylum Seekers Centre of NSW. Wednesday November 30 from 8pm at Seymour Centre. asylumseekerscentre.org.au

David O'Doherty, with Casio

MAYENBURG

What was your first mind-blowing theatre experience? That must have been my older brother performing hand puppet theatre for me when I was five or six years old. Whenever a character died – and that happened very often because they were smashing each others heads with cooking spoons – the puppet would fall down the wooden front of the little theatre. I then grabbed it and threw it back. And because the heads of the puppets were made of wood, my brother would then appear from behind the wooden theatre rubbing his head with one hand and swinging a puppet in his other like a spiked mace. The battle of the puppets on stage led directly into a battle between my brother and I. Mindblowing. And a first lesson on interactivity in theatre. And on theatre being something that attacks your head and hurts.

of fears. To reach this state the actor needs to know what he or she is saying – that’s what the writing is for. They need to know why they are doing it - that’s what a good dramaturg can tell them. And they need to know how to do it – that’s why they need rehearsals and a director.

If you constantly think in these parameters it’s almost impossible not to cross the borders from one job to the next.

Which experience taught you most about the art of writing for theatre? That was my years in school theatre. We had a very good teacher who let us run the school theatre completely without the interference of grown ups. He only organised everything. We read the plays, decided which ones to produce, designed the stage, built it, directed and performed. The only thing I didn’t do in that time was writing. But being on stage myself was definitely the best writing school.

When you’re writing, is there a certain way that ideas tend to form? It’s different for every play. Sometimes the actors are the first thing I know, sometimes the starting point is a nightmare. That was the case with two of my plays so far. Usually the story and the characters develop at the same time, out of a conflict that I am fascinated by. When this conflict is solved or it has become clear that it can’t be solved, the story ends.

How does your work in dramaturgy intersect with your writing? To me it’s all the same thing: writing, directing and working as a dramaturg or translator; it’s all about making the actor go on stage and be good and free

You’ve said that your instinct as a writer is to fill gaps in the theatre landscape – what gaps are you currently noticing? I’m finishing a play on religion these days. I felt that was missing. The play won’t fill the gap, but I hope it will make it smaller. And there is a mortifyingly huge gap of missing comedies. It’s impossible to fill that gap.

That whole ‘save the best til last’ thing will come into play this Saturday 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 whittle down 20 hopeful Theatresports teams into just four finalists: The Bear Pack (Steen Raskopoulos and Carlo Ritchie, pictured with 'bear'), The dysleXia Men (Jon William, Bridie Connell and Dave Callan), Rock Steady Crew (Scott Hall-Watson, Erin Foy, Steve Kimmens and Lisa Ricketts), and Bigger On the Inside (Dave Bloustien aka The Doctor and Brydie Lee-Kennedy aka K9?).

Experience the massive showdown Saturday December 3 from 8pm at the Enmore Theatre. We have two double passes up for grabs – to get your hands on one, tell us roughly what Theatresports is. cranston.improaustralia.com.au

What: The Ugly One by Marius Von Mayenburg When: Until December 17 Where: SBW Stables Theatre / 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross More: griffintheatre.com.au

RAW COMEDY HEATS UP

And if you fancy yourself a bit of a comic genius – or have a hilarious mate that you feel like foisting upon the world – this is your chance: registrations open this week for RAW Comedy, Australia’s biggest open-mic comedy competition. Anyone who has earned less than $500 from performing comedy is eligible, and five minutes of new, original comedy material is all it takes. Heats will be held around Australia from January 2012, with winners advancing to the state finals held in March. State finalists will then compete against one another at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April (after which we assume World Domination ensues). To find out more, and register for the Sydney heats, head to rawcomedy.com.au

Even puppets have to brush it, in The Muppets

WIT LARGE

Perth-born comedienne Judith Lucy returns to the stage this week off the back of her critically acclaimed ABC television series Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey, to head the bill for the Christmas instalment of Wit Large – Gleebooks’ regular comedy night (sometimes described as ‘smart comedy for smart people’). The theme for the Christmas show is Religious Studies, which gives Lucy an excuse to re-explore insights from the show, as well as present brandnew musings – alongside local heroes Sam Bowring and Vanessa Ballard, and Victorians Tegan Higganbotham and Nick Caddaye.

Wrangling this swag of sharp tongues is regular Wit Large host (and would-be Theatresports champ) Dave Bloustien. Saturday December 3 from 5pm at Glebe’s Roxbury Hotel (just this once). witlarge.com.au

SYDNEY COMEDY FEST

The Sydney Comedy Festival may be almost four months away (it is), but they’ve just dropped the first instalment of their lineup – and it’s, like, really good. Consummate entertainer Henry Rollins is bringing his latest stand-up show; Irish comedian David O’Doherty will be repping his special brand of Casiocomedy, after a two year absence; BAFTA nominated British comedian, television presenter, screenwriter and actor Simon Amstell – host of Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Brit version of Spicks N Specks) – is visiting Oz for the first time; and hyper-intelligent British comedian and novelist Mark Watson is bringing his hyperactive (and hyper-intelligent) brand of standup. Let’s just pause for a moment and consider the wonders of a festival dedicated to making us laugh…

Okay. Tickets on sale from NOW at sydneycomedyfest.com.au

28 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

CRANSTON CUP! TICKETS!

MOONLIGHT CINEMA

It’s almost time for Moonlight Cinema to launch, bringing with it a summer of outdoor cinematical soirees in Centennial Park. Sigh. We’re looking forward to a season of new, classic and cult films on the lawns of the picturesque Belvedere Amphitheatre; the season kicks off on December 8 with a preview screening (a month in advance of the cinema opening!) of The Descendants, the new comedy by Alexander Payne (Election), starring George Clooney-face, and closes on January 31 with The Princess Bride (to celebrate its 25th anniversary). In between? Awesome – including The Breakfast Club and special previews of Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, starring Leo, and The Muppets, starring puppets.

Gates open at 7pm every night, and the films kick off around 8.30pm, as the sun goes down. For all details and to buy tickets, head to moonlight.com.au

SYDNEY STORY FACTORY

The Sydney Story Factory – our answer to Dave Eggers’ youth literacy hub 826 Valencia, and proprietors of the former Alien Embassy pop-up (and its cookies) – is kicking off the month with an exhibition called Judge a Book, Buy Its Cover. Besides the mandatory wordplay, the concept involves Sydney’s best artists and photographers re-designing covers for Sydney’s 50 favourite books (as voted by readers of The Sydney Morning Herald, in August) – and then people with disposable incomes BUY the artworks, raising money for the Sydney Story Factory. But what does it all really mean? Established in May this year, and scheduled to open in Redfern in early 2012, the Sydney Story Factory is about sucking kids into the joys of words – and is possibly the only thing that Prime Minister Gillard and Señor Abbott agree on these days. Judge a Book, Buy Its Cover runs December 1-4 at Syndicate, 2 Danks Street, Waterloo. More deets at sydneystoryfactory.org.au

NIDA: GRADUATE SHOWS

NIDA’s annual Graduate Directors showcase is a chance to see good plays by top playwrights (classic and cutting edge) directed by tomorrow’s hot theatre talent. Case in point: Thirst by Eugene O’Neill, directed

by Dominic Mercer; Push Up by Roland Schimmelpfennig (whose Before/After was at Sydney Theatre Company earlier this year, and whose For A Better World was at Griffin in 2010) directed by Renato Fabretti; Electronic City by Falk Richter (whose Under Ice was at Griffin in 2009) directed by Netta Yaschin; The Collection by Harold Pinter, directed by Mackenzie Steele (cool name); Frenzy For Two

by Eugene Ionesco (Rhinoceros!) directed

by Rachel Baring; Howl (adapted from THAT Allen Ginsberg poem) directed by Daniel Lammin. The short season of works runs from November 30 – December 3, nightly, with a matinee on Dec 3 at 1pm, at NIDA’s Parade Theatre. For tickets and all the horrific details see Nida.edu.au/whats-on

The Inbetweeners Movie Britain’s most romantically inept teens conquer the big screen. By Nathan Jolly James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas and Simon Bird in The Inbetweeners Movie

Above: Simon Bird & Joe Thomas

“The film was always something we’d had in our heads,” explains Morris.

“We wanted to write a teen comedy about a lads holiday abroad, and then as the show became more successful and we enjoyed working with the boys more and more, and saw how talented and rare they were, it made sense to make The Inbetweeners Movie.”

The slow reveal of the boys’ various talents makes sense when Bird explains how they were cast in the series. Morris and Beesley met Thomas and Bird after a show and hired them to write sketches for a radio show the pair were producing.

W

hen I sit down with actors Joe Thomas and Simon Bird, they’re in the middle of a whirlwind of press junkets and premieres – and the usual fare that goes along with such promotion (including a seven-course meal later that night). The two are in high spirits, chatting excitedly about The Inbetweeners Movie, which represents the big screen continuation of the hit UK coming-ofage series of the same name.

Joe and Simon’s deep love of the world they helped create, and the characters that inhabit it, is blindingly obvious; they refer to themselves as fans of the show on more than one occasion, and talk about their characters’ antics as if they are incredulous onlookers, one step removed from these hapless teens.

In bringing these characters to the big screen, they manage to lose none of the naive charm that makes the series so endearing.

“We tried not to change too much,” Thomas explains of the jump from small to big screen. “We wanted to preserve the dynamic of the four

boys and that banter-y style, and also to ensure that fans of the show would see what they liked about the series in this film.”

It seems like a pretty obvious strategy – but the history of UK television is littered with disastrous movie spin-offs that have foregone the original appeal of their series to either broaden the content in order to scoop up a larger (read: American) audience, or to attempt to match the increased screen-size with an appropriately epic tale.

The Inbetweeners Movie nicely avoids both these common gaffes, maintaining the easy blend of charm and crude naivety that has seen the series become one of the highest rating comedies in the UK. For the uninitiated: The Inbetweeners follows four teenagers as their navigate their ways through a world of raging hormones, outrageously misplaced confidence, and embarrassing attempts to attract their much more mature female classmates. The film transports this scenario to Greece (where the four go on a post-high-school-graduation

holiday) but the core elements remain. It’s both shockingly offensive and innocent, and it’s a credit to both the writing and the acting that the four protagonists can say the most horrendously un-PC things while remaining likeable and sweet.

On walking that stylistic tightrope, Bird says, “None of these things are deliberate, and this is all in retrospect, but we looked back on the third [and final] series and saw it was a bit more ‘gross out’ and a bit less of what made the show what it was in the first two series, which were based around the naivety and the innocence of the characters.

I think the writers deliberately tried to redress that balance for the film. And I think they did that very well – it was important because a) it’s supposed to be realistic and b) the gross-out aspect doesn’t work unless you like these characters and find them sweet and charming.”

Writer Iain Morris (who created and wrote the series and film alongside Damon Beesley) later tells me, “We felt we needed more scale in everything: higher emotional

peaks, bigger troughs, and bigger events. We never try to be ‘sweet’ as such, it was more that the way of achieving more scale [in the film] was by getting more emotional depth than we would normally go for. We don’t tend to go for that because my memory of being that age wasn’t that every week you had some deep epiphany, so we didn’t see why it should happen every week in the show.”

Achieving this emotional depth meant that a lot of the funniest material actually ended up on the cutting-room floor. “Although those scenes were funny, they were delaying the next important point in the story,” explains Thomas. “I think it was also important for these boys to have a crisis on this holiday that they think is going to be so epic, but is actually just a bit shit, and then they fall out and have to try to bond a bit and come back together.”

Although the movie is intrinsically tied to the series, its genesis was actually another film idea that Morris and Beesley had previously toyed with.

“While we were writing these sketches, over the period of a year or so, Ian and Damon were talking about this sitcom they were trying to cast and how badly it was all going,” recalls Bird. “They were like, Do you know anyone?” laughs Thomas. “We said, we could come and audition,” continues Bird. “They said, ‘Oh no, you’re totally wrong for it’, then they rang up a week before filming started and said, essentially, ‘we’ve run out of time. Do you want to come in and read for it?’”

In fact Blake Harrison, who plays lanky simpleton Neil, was the only cast member to come out of an audition process that encompassed thousands of hopeful teens.

“They did a pilot with a different cast years before they made the series, and James [Buckley – the crude and happily deluded Jay], was a hangover from that,” says Bird.

“So one hangover, two last resorts and one genuinely good actor,” laughs Thomas.

“They were holding out for better things,” adds Bird. “So let that be a lesson, settle for what you’ve got.”

“Settle for literally who’s in the same room as you,” Thomas concludes.

What: The Inbetweeners Movie When: Released November 24

We has internets!

Extra bits and moving bits without the papercuts BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 29

X

[FILM] Underground Lovers By Rebecca Harkins-Cross

F

or writers, one of the oldest rules in the book is to stick to what you know.

But most of us don’t spend our days surrounded by neon-lit brothels, swanky hotels, squalid motels and the recesses of seedy strip joints. Our neighbours aren’t exclusive escorts, streetwalkers, desperado junkies and crooked cops. Nor are our everyday lives punctuated by sex (and lots of it), designer drugs, high-speed car chases and gunfire. Most of us are not Jon Hewitt, the maverick director and co-writer of X.

Nick Frost and Joe Cornish on set

Attack the Block [FILM] Thugs And Critters By Alasdair Duncan

P

roduced by Edgar Wright (Shaun Of the Dead) and directed by Joe Cornish (co-writer of the upcoming Adventures Of Tintin), Attack The Block is a rollicking alien invasion flick, the story of a South London youth gang forced to do battle against the toothy extraterrestrials that have invaded their council estate. It’s like Skins with an added dose of creepy critters and edge-of-your-seat action, and it’s a fun ride indeed.

The alien invasion movie is practically a genre unto itself at this point. “I would say that the film is particularly influenced by E.T.,” Cornish says, “although that’s not exactly an invasion movie, unless you count one alien as an invasion. I like Critters a lot and I like Gremlins a lot, so those are the big [influences]. There’s Close Encounters, but that’s not strictly an invasion movie either.”

Significantly, the films he mentions feature practical effects. “As a film-goer, I find CGI monsters a bit samey,” Cornish says. “The fact that we couldn’t afford CGI when making this film was actually a blessing, because it allowed us to create more old-school, practical creatures.

The female alien is a performer in a suit, as are the males who come chasing after her, with a little bit of CGI post-production to remove rather than add detail.”

Aliens and SFX aside, Attack The Block is equally interesting for its depiction of South London teens. “Before I wrote the script, I spent months talking to youth groups in South London and asking them what they would do in certain far-out circumstances,” Cornish tells me.

“A lot of the references and the dialogue in the film comes out of that research, things people said to me when I shared the story with them.

Also, it’s interesting to me that wherever they

are in the world, whatever problems are going on around them, kids like to play. Sometimes those games can get a bit mean. That’s what interested me.”

The teens in Attack The Block speak their own private language, with their own slang and vernacular, and see the world around them – and even the attacking aliens – through the prism of Pokémon and Harry Potter. “Science fiction has its own terminologies and private languages, and I saw that in the slang that young people use, too,” says Cornish.

Further than this, the director created the film’s creatures – fur-bearing aliens with sharp teeth and sinister snarls – as warped reflections of South London youth. “The media use words like ‘feral’, ‘immoral’ and ‘animals’ to describe people like Moses and his friends, so I wanted to create creatures who were the personification of all those things.”

The cast of Attack The Block is stacked with first-time actors, which adds to the vibrancy and unpredictability of the whole enterprise. For Cornish, working with such an inexperienced cast was a pleasure. “The majority are between 12 and 17, and with the exception of about two, none had ever been in front of the camera before,” he says. “As first-time director, you’re the least experienced person on the set – so that really gave me a bond with the young actors. We were able to work through the process together.

They had so much energy, they were witty and funny and enthusiastic and dedicated, and I’m really proud of what we did.”

“I’m standing in my lounge room right now looking out the window at two prostitutes standing on the sidewalk, hooking,” says Hewitt.

“I live next door to McDonalds, across the road from strippers, between Porky's and Cherry Girls. It’s pretty much Kings Cross ground zero… It’s not possible to live in this place without it really affecting you.”

The result is X, co-written by Hewitt and his wife, actress Belinda McClory; an erotic thriller about a high-class hooker (Viva Bianca) and a teenage runaway (Hanna Mangan-Lawrence) who are thrown together one fateful night in the Cross. The former plans to do one last job before she turns 30 and quits the game, to start her life anew; the latter has turned to prostitution to survive. It was supposed to be an easy gig, but when everything goes horribly wrong the duo must join forces to remain alive.

While Hewitt certainly doesn’t shy away from the steamier side of the sex trade, X is a film with a surprisingly moral core. For all the gratuitous shots of buck-naked women, the story is in essence about the struggle for new beginnings. “People have called it misogynist and exploitative and voyeuristic," Hewitt admits, "which has always confused me, because voyeurism isn’t a pejorative term for me.

Cinema is voyeurism. There’s no other way around it.

“The prostitution, the sex, the violence, the guns, the action, that’s the fabric of the story," the director continues, "but what the story is about is not the sex industry… For

me, it’s about changing your life, which is the most common human desire … but also understanding that the effort can liberate you but it can also annihilate you.”

Hewitt has been making low-budget genre films for at least two decades, though until recently he has remained something of a subterranean name (his breakout film was Acolytes in 2008, a big budget teen horror flick starring Joel Edgerton). It’s only recently that Australian film funding bodies have come around to the idea of supporting genre cinema. The script for X, for example, was written in 1999, taking ten years to get the green light for production.

Over the years, Hewitt and his long-time cinematographer Mark Pugh have finetuned a guerrilla style of filmmaking that allows them to shoot quickly amidst the bustling streets. X was shot in 35 locations over three weeks, meaning the cast and crew were moving between at least two locations every day. Manic schedules like this have helped Hewitt to develop the kind of fast-paced aesthetic that is well suited to capturing the energy of Kings Cross.

X has already been released in most territories around the world, and has gone “absolutely ballistic” in the US. Bianca’s role in American TV series Spartacus: Blood and Sand has pulled huge audiences, with the film jumping to number 14 on IMDb’s MOVIEmeter after its DVD release nine weeks ago.

Success like this could well see Hollywood knocking at his door – but Hewitt plans to continue making movies regardless. “As a filmmaker, there’s nothing more thrilling than feeling like you’ve emotionally engaged an audience… It’s like a drug. That’s what keeps you doing it. It keeps me doing it, anyhow.”

What: X, Dir. Jon Hewitt When/Where: Opens December 1 at Hoyts Broadway More: Charity premiere for Wayside Chapel on Tue 29 Nov @ 7.30pm / Chauvel Cinema Viva Bianca stars in X

What: Attack The Block, Dir. Joe Cornish When: Opens December 1

Dylan Moran [COMEDY] Family Man By Alasdair Duncan

or a cup of coffee. It feels like a very unhurried sort of lifestyle. I like the place, I like the attitude ... and people come, which is the big thing.”

Dylan Moran

Moran’s new stand-up DVD, Yeah, Yeah, is out this month. Filmed during the London leg of his most recent world tour, it features his usual observational comic stylings, with an emphasis on life as a family man. It’s not uncommon for comics to draw on their parenting experiences for laughs, and Moran has certainly gotten a lot of mileage out of his. “I really just like to talk about my experiences, and the things I’m going through in my life at the moment,” he explains.

“The things I’ve experienced as a father are really no different from the things others have – I just get up on stage and talk about them.”

W

ith his wild mop of hair and his charmingly rumpled manner, Dylan Moran is a hit every time he comes to Australia. He sells out stand-up shows all around the country, earning big laughs and, frequently, proposals of marriage.

30 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

When I ask Moran why, in his estimation, Australian audiences adore him, he’s uncertain. “I don’t know...people in Australia seem to share my somewhat laid-back attitude and approach to life. People down there still take the time to chat about things over a beer

Louis CK is another comedian who draws a lot on his family in his routines, and he says some jaw-dropping stuff, including cursing out his young daughter (in a loving way, of course) for her many foibles. I ask Moran if he ever worries about going too far when discussing family matters – but he tells me that’s rarely a concern. “I mean, I want people who come to my shows to connect with what I’m saying and to have a good time,” he tells me, “so to that extent, I’ll use elements of my personal life. I don’t feel I’m sacrificing my family at the altar of comedy or anything like that, though. It’s all about making observations that I think matter.”

“I spend half the day wandering around just hoping that inspiration will strike,” Moran says, of the source of his routines. “I hear things on the street and write them down. I’ll use anything; I mean, anything I hear, I ll tear apart and try and get the juice out of it, whatever it is. The things people say strike you. The other day, I was laughing at some of the slang my children were using, stuff that wasn’t around when I was a kid. They were describing someone as ‘ledge’, which I worked out meant that they were a legend. Then there’s the word ‘tidy’, which is used to describe an attractive person.”

A lot of successful UK television shows get US remakes, some extremely successful – The Office, for example, is still running. I can’t let Moran go without asking if Hollywood has ever come knocking to do an adaptation of Black Books. “Yes, someone approached me to discuss the possibility of a US version of the show,” he says. “He was a nice guy, but listening to him talk about plans and say the names Manny and Bernard in his accent was deeply off-putting. In the US version, the characters wouldn’t be able to drink or smoke, which I didn’t think was a good idea.” It sounds like they wouldn’t have captured the tone very well, I venture. “No,” he says with a laugh, “definitely not.”

What: Yeah, Yeah out now on DVD.

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Arts Snap

Film & Theatre Reviews

Where you went last week...

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

■ Theatre

AS YOU LIKE IT Until December 24 / Belvoir St Theatre

PICS :: KC

big in japan

Shakespeare can often seem impenetrable; you hear of people reading Wikipedia synopses before going to see his plays, terrified they might have no idea what’s going on. This idea that the Bard must be studied to be understood is something that director Eamon Flack rails against.

He sees the plays not as museum pieces but rather works written for specific people at a specific event at a specific time. On the other hand, he realises that we can never fully understand the in-jokes that were being made about the original players and audience, or fully comprehend all the references. So his approach is then to try and recreate the sense that the performance is being made specifically for us, and bring us in on the jokes, so that we can relate to the play in our own way.

15:11:11 :: Paddington Town Hall :: 249 Oxford Street Paddington 9265 9189

It’s an approach that worked for Flack with his Downstairs Belvoir season of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2009, and now he applies it to As You Like It, Shakespeare’s mish-mash of love, philosophy and (a little) wrestling. Taking the starting point of a bare stage, which represents the Forest of Arden, Flack has created a show brimming with the full breadth of life that As You Like It offers, discovering new moments of comedy and melancholy, each made more potent by their juxtaposition with the other.

PICS :: KC

self est. group show

There are too many great performances from this all-star cast to name them all, but Alison Bell and Ashley Zukerman are outstanding as the leading lovers, comedy duo Charlie Garber and Gareth Davies are as brilliant as ever, and Trevor Jamieson brings his incredible presence to the stage once again, both as the downtrodden manservant Adam and the ultimately triumphant Duke.

The whole thing feels like a great party where everyone speaks in verse, and if you have half as much fun as the performers seem to be having, then you won’t leave disappointed.

17:11:11 :: Kind Of Gallery :: 72 Oxford St Darlinghurst

tendencies by resisting dramatic tropes: we find out very early on that Annabel has just three months to live, and in a scene that is far more comic than anything else. Even when death comes knocking – by which stage the teens are in the tender throes of romantic love – and things are at their most poignant, Van Sant snatches the rug from under us (in a scene that, once again, is a strong tip of the hat to Harold and Maude).

Wasikowska is the standout here (although Hopper grows on you by the end; he’s just no Bud Cort or Jason Schwartzman); there’s a quiet grace to her performance that sets her apart from her peers and elevates the material to something more intriguing and moving than it might otherwise be.

Dee Jefferson ■ Theatre

GROSS UND KLEIN Until December 23 / Sydney Theatre There are a number of reasons to see Gross Und Klein (Big and Small) that have nothing to do with what the play is about: besides being one of our most talented and in-demand theatre exports, director Benedict Andrews is responsible for exhilarating recent Australian productions like Measure For Measure and The Seagull; Cate Blanchett is without doubt one of our most mercurial and engaging actresses; the support cast is a rollcall of established and emerging talent – from Robert Menzies, Jackie Weaver and Anita Hegh, to Josh McConville and Sophie Ross; and for any theatre lovers, the chance to see stage design by Johannes Schütz (ex Schaubühne) is unmissable.

Selling points aside, Gross Und Klein is an intriguing proposition: an experiment in post-modern theatre that was born out of the Cold War Germany of the '70s, now translated and updated by Martin Crimp (whose own plays use words like a scalpel), Botho Strauss’ play follows one woman’s journey through Germany, in search of ‘connection’ with her fellow human beings.

It’s not necessarily an appetising prospect – until the lights go up, and you meet Lotte.

Henry Florence ■ FIlm

RESTLESS Opens December 1

PICS :: KC

white rabbit uke night

17:11:11 :: White Rabbit Gallery :: 30 Balfour Street Chippendale 8399 2867

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

FINDERS KEEPERS Fri Dec 2, 6-10pm / Sat Dec 3, 10am-5pm CarriageWorks / 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh

34 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

Feast Your Eyes – artwork by Matt Roden

Set aside some time next weekend to do a spot of Christmas shopping at Finders Keepers’ Spring/Summer markets, Sydney’s biggest and best congregation of boutique and emerging designers and craftspeople.

We’ve got our eyes on the hand-made butter dishes by Sian Thomas, limited edition tees by The Design Kids and Das Monk, the photographic-print silk scarves from Good&Co., the big, bold and colourful Scandinavian-style jewellery pieces by Minnen, and possibly even one of Attia’s gorgeous wooden ladles… There’s also live music from Emma Davis, Ngaiire and Jack Shit among others, not to mention foodie treats to sustain your shopping power. thefinderskeepers.com

Enoch (newcomer Henry Hopper – son of the late Dennis) and Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) meet when he crashes a funeral that she’s attending, and despite his best efforts to shake her, she quickly cracks through to him by proving herself to be a kindred spirit. Neither go to school, both dress as if they lived in the ‘60s, and they share a rich, child-like imaginary life that frequently spills over into Real Life; Enoch’s best friend is a ghost – a Japanese kamikaze fighter pilot from WW2, called Hiroshi – and Annabel’s mentor is Charles Darwin.

Gross Und Klein is a form of ‘station drama’, where the protagonist is passing through various sites and experiences on a metaphysical trajectory from point A to point B. Lotte starts the journey almost indistinguishable from any other human, but as she passes through different encounters – her ex-husband, her younger brother, her childhood friend Megge – she becomes almost saint-like in the equanimity with which she faces continuous rejection, ridicule and debasement. Physically, she becomes ever more translucent, and shabby; she acquires the hobo’s perennial plastic bag – and a beatific smile. A radical optimist in a pessimistic, self-centred world, Lotte discovers that there is in fact no place for her.

Dee Jefferson

Van Sant staves off the story's maudlin

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Cate Blanchett in Sydney Theatre Company’s Gross und Klein © Lisa Tomasetti

Gus Van Sant’s latest film won’t set the world on fire like Elephant, Good Will Hunting or My Private Idaho did, but it’s a thoroughly charming and unexpectedly moving rework of several very familiar styles.

The closest comparison is Hal Ashby’s oddcouple romance Harold and Maude, about a precocious teen and a vivacious old woman who connect over a mutual appreciation of funerals, and form a special bond that teaches him to love life a little more. In this case, it’s a precocious teenaged boy and a terminally ill teenaged girl, but the similarities are so striking that Restless probably suffers a little by too readily calling to mind Ashby, and the Wes Anderson films that have aped his style: the '60s/'70s pop and folk-tinged soundtrack, the retro costuming, the deadpan delivery and the charmingly eccentric characters. The film also suffers from an end-objective that is far too obvious from the outset – although the way it gets there almost makes up for that, with just enough surprises to keep you interested, and a large dose of genuine charm (thanks largely to its leads).

On a post-divorce tour of Morocco, Lotte is desperate for company, and frankly fascinated by the long and convoluted intellectual discussion happening below her window. Slurping on her cocktail and shifting uncomfortably in her bra and polyester blouse, Blanchett plays Lotte for laughs – but this character is also irresistibly open, unpretentious and self-deprecating; segueing from coarse laughter and childlike wonder to tears. From that opening monologue we’re hooked, inexorably drawn into this woman’s increasingly dark and desperate journey. It’s hard to imagine a better vehicle for Blanchett’s particular talents than this, which sees her thread effortlessly through fluctuating temperaments.

DVD Reviews Straight-to-DVD delights...

SMALL TOWN MURDER SONGS

DAYDREAM NATION

The Analogue Titles Released November 17

The dark humour of Fargo meets the gothic tones of Winter’s Bone in this smalltown film noir, in which a local detective on the hunt for a killer solves some of his own personal issues to boot. It’s easy to see why Small Town Murder Songs has won so many festival awards: an intriguing setting, effortless performances and dramatic lensing are compounded by a refusal (like Winters Bone) to follow genre tropes to their logical conclusion: it’s not really about the crime or the killer, it’s about the detective on the case, and his personal demons.

Walter (played by a virtually unrecognisable Peter Stormare – aka ‘The Nihilist’ of Big Lebowski fame) is the local police chief in a two-bit town constituted of an uneasy mix of rednecks, Protestants and Mennonites. In the opening scenes we see Walter baptised as a born-again Christian, and learn that he’s trying to move on from an unspecified episode of violence in his near past – and a subsequent break-up. When his ex-lover’s (Jill Hennessy of Crossing Jordan fame) new boyfriend becomes the prime suspect in a local murder, Walter’s ability to separate professional duty from personal payback is compromised – leading to a showdown that has unexpected results.

The social milieu of smalltown Ontario is as interesting as Walter himself (who is of German-Protestant stock), and the town’s religious heritage is given literal voice throughout the film by rousing hymnals, and title cards drawn from biblical aphorisms.

Despite a somewhat anticlimactic ending, in crime-thriller terms, Stormare's performance keeps you focused on Walter's personal redemption, and director Ed Gass Donnelly keeps the drama lean and tight.

Dee Jefferson

Anchor Bay Home Ent. Released December 2 Mike Goldbach’s directorial debut possesses all the requisite elements of a coming-of-age film: a disaffected teenager uprooted from her city life and dumped in a backwater town; a love triangle; cautionary drug-dazed extras; a suitably alternative soundtrack; a ‘cool’ younger teacher...

Our disaffected teen is 17-year-old Caroline (the preternaturally likeable Kat Dennings), whose world spins hopelessly off axis upon arriving in a ‘hick town’ (as hammered home by her distracting voice-over). Struggling to fit in, the whip-smart teen bypasses her classmates and makes a beeline for her cute English teacher, Barry (Josh Lucas). Barry is archetypally hip: he sits on the front desk, and lets his students call him by his first name. The third wheel in this creepy-yet-charming love triangle is Thurston (Reece Thompson channeling Michael Cera).

There’s a serial killer plot clumsily affixed to the romantic dramas, presumably to add some weight, but the real emotional payload is achieved by falling in line with the bravadofuelled but insecure Caroline, who ping-pongs around her new town as if she were Juno in Mulholland Drive. To this end, the film is firmly projected from her mind throughout – from the narrative voiceover (which is actually a bit annoying), through to the perfectly cool soundtrack, and an overall mood that segues from arrogance to anxiety. Meanwhile, Goldbach peppers the script with smart references that give us insight into Caroline’s perpetually whizzing mind, while avoiding the intolerably smug info-dumping of, say, 500 Days Of Summer.

It’s Caroline as a character and Dennings as an actress who hold this film together, against its as-per-title hazy pacing and non-linear tangents.

Nathan Jolly

Street Level

viva bianca

“POWERFUL...POUNDS WITH FLICKERING ENERGY AND AN INTOXICATING SENSE OF DANGER.”

With Skye Wagner

S

kye graduates from National Art School this week after three years studying Fine Arts (majoring in Photography), preceded by a BA in Media & Cultural Studies at Macquarie Uni, a year travelling the UK as a carnie, and many years working in various arts projects around Sydney. For her graduate work, Are You Winking At Me, she created an alter ego called Kelsey, who likes to party; sporting a long blonde wig she threw herself full-ball onto Sydney’s club scene for a year, with various trusty friends in tow, to document her every moment…

How did you come up with this idea? I had been thinking for some time about the possibility of marrying documentary/snapshot photography with a more directorial approach.

I was fascinated by how the generation below me were using photography, so I chose to embed myself in a world were photography is being used in an acute way: the nightclub.

How do you relate to Kelsey? Part of the experiment was that I invited myself to act and be in ways that I normally wouldn’t; I’ve used the analogy that I'm taking 'second life' into real life. This has been both liberating and confronting, as it’s made me explore my judgments around certain behaviours and beliefs.

What were the unanticipated challenges?

The judgment I felt from other women on my way to and from the club. I had one woman hiss at me, and on other occasions I copped nasty stares. These moments called into question my alliance to the feminist discourses possibly contributing to that kind of judgment, and my embodiment and identification with who I am at that moment.

What will punters see if they go along on December 1? The elements of the show include my two IDs, a stack of several hundred snapshots, a Facebook profile, a blurb book, one really large framed image, and a video playing on an iPod nano. My aim has been to

hanna mangan-lawrence

- FILMINK

illustrate and marry the analogue history of the photograph to the digital dialogues of today.

What is the theoretical context? My interest has been in what role digital image plays in the construction of reality and mediation of meaning today. I have been investigating the influence of celebrity culture on social interaction and image-making. Jean Baudrillard’s theories on simulacra were a departure point.

Who/what were some of your inspirations?

The delegated performance tactics adopted by artist Santiago Sierra have been of influence, and the interventions by Andy Kaufman and Joaquin Phoenix. Artists such as Richard Billingham, Weegee and Christopher Williams were formative in my thinking about the photographic form.

What do you think about Facebook? I think it’s an interesting social device that facilitates collective sharing, but I also I think it emphasizes having a constant ‘audience,’ which is making unmediated experience seem less valid. It’s definitely an interesting arena for the photograph, which hopefully I illustrate through my work.

superfierce sexywild neonnoir

X

a jaded callgirl… a fledgling hooker…. their longest night.

What: National Art School Graduate Show When: Opens Dec 1, 6-9pm; runs till Dec 10 Where: NAS / Forbes St, Darlinghurst More: facebook.com/kelseywagner11

xthemovie.com.au

directed by Jon Hewitt.

STARTS THIS THURSDAY HOYTS BROADWAY BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 35

BRAG EATS

News Bites THREE BLUE DUCKS

Macpherson Street in Bronte has become a mini food Mecca of late: Iggy’s have opened up their new bakery, pumping out Sydney’s best sourdough everyday, and the Three Blue Ducks – successful enough as they were – have recently invited ex-head chef at Tetsuya’s, Darren Robertson, to join their party. Robertson will be opening the café for dinner service Thursday-Saturday.

He brings with him a wealth of experience, as well as access to a small farm south of Sydney that will provide the majority of the Ducks’ produce – and isn’t it nice to know where your food is coming from? Sure the locals are being relegated to stamping their hungry feet in long queues, thanks to the constant stream of awards and media coverage, but hey, they live beachside and it's almost summer – they can’t really complain.

TOUASS AT ASSEMBLY BAR

Ben Touass, formerly of both Stitch and Pocket Bar, is heading up the new Assembly Bar in the city. It’s inside the Regent Place development on Kent St, and when it launched Touass said that this

proximity to other venues could mean they collaborate – so Assembly may start serving dishes from other Regents Place places.

The menu Touass has put together does look delicious (tapas and salads mainly, with a few mains and an incredible list of creativelynamed, delicious-looking cocktails, including the For Shizzle My Treacle), and serves as a pretty great first impression of the bar.

There’s inside and outside seating, and you can enter via 488 Kent Street in the CBD – or check their site, assemblybar.com.au

BEACH BURRITO

No doubt hoping to ride the Latin American culinary wave that’s currently hitting Sydney, the Beach Burrito Co. have set up in territory that's pretty hostile to anything ‘beach’ – the Inner West. The Mexican joint obviously reckons Newtown’s eclectic demographic makeup will jump on the tacos and burritos with as much fervour as their sunburnt surfer neighbours in the east. Plus it’s open till midnight, so where better to grab a Corona and quesadilla after your next gig at the Enmore?

Head to 1A Bedford St, Newtown; or visit them at beachburritocompany.com

GOT SOMETHING FOR BRAG EATS?

Email us news tips or story ideas at food@thebrag.com

Teriyaki salmon @ Bungalow 8

TV Chefs: A Spotter’s Guide Part II Know Your Gizzi From Your Gordon By Gabriel Gateaux

T

hanks to Come Dine With Me, every sociopath with a food phobia now thinks they’re a TV chef. In times like these, we need professionals to show us the way.

Below are four more TV chefs worth YouTubing.

GIZZI ERSKINE

BUNGALOW 8 GOES TIKI

Bungalow 8 has launched a new Pacific Islands-inspired food menu to get punters drooling while they drink. The house specialty, a whole 6kg crispy Peking-style suckling pig to be shared between eight people, will undoubtedly go down a treat – although you need to give the kitchen 48-hours’ notice and, wait for it, fork out 490 bucks.

Right then... Thankfully, the rest of the menu is just as delectable, and priced far more comfortably within our range. The idea for a Polynesian-inspired eatery came after Group Director at The Keystone Group, Paul Schulte, travelled to Tahiti. He aims to be the first to show Sydney what Tiki really means. Head to bungalow8sydney.com to find out for yourself, or get along to King Street Wharf.

Identifying features: Apparently there are now more obese people worldwide than there are malnourished people.

In this climate, Gizzi Erskine is a sexy ‘60s superhero set to save the world – all beehive hairdo, A-Line dress, kohl eyes and choppy fringe.

Erskine fronts Cook Yourself Thin, the televisual antithesis to Nigella’s chocolate-coated indulgence fest, and her mission is to create a utopian world in which no unsightly fatties clutter-up the place.

Diet: As far as I can tell, the entire message of Cook Yourself Thin is ‘replace sour cream with Greek yoghurt and one day you too can look like me.’ As patronising as it is to watch dumpy middleaged home-makers be scolded about their gravy’s fat content by a hipster from Hackney whose entire wardrobe came from Lucy In Disguise, you also get to gawk shamelessly at Erskine’s shoes/ bottom (delete as relevant), so there’s something for everyone, really.

RAYMOND BLANC Identifying features: Everyone knows what French chef Raymond Blanc’s true Kitchen Secrets are. Ever seen a beaten dog flinch when its owner calls for it?

That’s exactly the same reaction Blanc’s sous-chef has in the background every time his boss hollers ‘A-DAM!’ Blanc may be all exuberance and Gallic bonhomie for the cameras, but you just know that when service is in full swing and the pork belly’s overcooked, poor Adam’s copping the splintery end of the wooden spoon. It’s not just the kitchen staff acting like whipped curs, either – Blanc’s habit of calling in a different staff member to taste each finished dish provides a wealth of LOLs for anyone who sees the humour in watching terrified people offer up awkward praise.

Diet: Secret sadist he may be, but Mr Blanc does some mouth-watering things with food; it’s not without reason that his restaurant has two Michelin stars. Specialising in classic French with elements of fusion, the best part in Kitchen Secrets is when Blanc takes an animal, for instance a sheep, and makes a delicious meal from every part (which may also explain why his staff seem to fear for their lives).

GORDON RAMSAY Identifying features: The Patron Saint of barelycontrolled fury, Gordon Ramsay’s natural habitat is the steamy kitchens of middling restaurants, where he can abuse the minimum wage grill cooks and waitstaff with impunity. So it comes as something of a shock to see him in a show like Christmas With Gordon (from last year, but well placed for a re-watch), dishing up meals at home with his three young daughters. Inevitably, the benevolent smile will slip and Ramsay will seize the saucepan from his five-year-old, bellowing, “You don’t boil a sauce blanche, you fucking MUPPET!” Diet: “Got $40 for a fillet of line-caught sea bass or a thick New York cut of stout-fed steak? No? Oh, sorry. Why don’t you go see what tinned muck Delia Smith is calling food instead, chav.” With his passion for ingredients beyond the financial reach of the 99%, Ramsay’s just one recipe involving liquid nitrogen away from stealing Heston Blumenthal’s award for ‘Most Pretentious TV Chef in Existence’.

LORRAINE PASCALE Identifying features: Exactly why fashion model and Nubian Queen Lorraine Pascale gave up looking stunning for a living in order to slave over bakery ovens is one of the world’s two great mysteries (the second mystery being how she’s retained her model dimensions when all she seems to do is eat cupcakes). The fashion world’s loss, though, is the food world’s gain – and gain you shall, if you try and actually eat any of the recipes this calorie succubus suggests.

Diet: Ever wanted to know how to bake a professional wedding cake, or macaroons that give Adriano Zumbo a run for his money? Me neither. But it’s not all fancy patisserie fare – Pascale is probably the only chef in history to show you how to make your own scotch eggs and sausage rolls (just in case you’re the only person on earth not within walking distance of a petrol station). If only she and Nigel Slater would do a show together, you’d have the perfect mix of high and low-brow food – plus they’d each have someone to eat their delicious treats with, and we could all sleep a little easier at night.

FEAST YOUR EYES: BRAG'S GUEST RECIPES

HALOUMI YUM YUMS

BY BRENDAN MACLEAN

(muso, triple j presenter, actor – playing Klipspringer in Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby) like, “Mmm, smells good.” Eat a few pieces while no one is looking. Take a sip of cider.

Squirt buttloads of lemon over everything, 3. add a bit of green stuff, then wrap the soft capsicum around the haloumi so it goes RED/WHITE/RED (see Austrian flag for visual reference.) it with a tiny sword or stick.

4.Harpoon 5.Hurl some cracked pepper or leaves or pretty shit around it. CHOMP.

INGREDIENTS

Loads of red peppers (aka CAPSICUM), haloumi, chilli flakes, lemon juice, oregano or basil or whatever tasty green shit you like. And cider. And a BBQ. 36 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

1.

Get grillin’ the capsicums whole until they begin to soften.

Slice dat haloumi up and chuck it on the BBQ until 2. it begins to get all crispy on your face. Brown until you’re

SWALLOW. DIGEST. POOP. Illustration by Matthew Roland Bannister Curated by BRAG Eats & The Wall @ The World Bar, for Feast Your Eyes 2; www.theworldbar.com

Keystone Festival Bar Hyde Park Barracks Museum. January 8-28.

14 nights | The hottest live bands and DJs January 8

MOUNTAIN MOCHA KILIMANJARO & ELECTRIC EMPIRE January 9

DEERHOOF & DJ YAMANTAKA EYE (THE BOREDOMS) January 11

DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE & JOHN MAUS January 12

SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SONGS & THE LAURELS January 13

FBi NIGHT: SHABAZZ PALACES, TAYLOR MCFERRIN & SHANGAAN ELECTRO January 14

PICNIC: ANDREW WEATHERALL & NEVILLE WATSON January 18

SO FRENCHY SO CHIC: ASA & FEFE January 19

SO FRENCHY SO CHIC: NOUVELLE VAGUE & MORIARTY January 20

FBi NIGHT: TUNE-YARDS & JONTI January 21

THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE & NEW NAVY January 25

MAD RACKET: PEVEN EVERETT January 26

THE PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP & WATUSSI January 27

THE STEPKIDS & ELECTRIC WIRE HU TLE January 28

FUTURE CLASSIC: DJ KOZE & PRINS THOMAS sydneyfestival.org.au/keystone

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 37

Keystone Festival Bar Hyde Park Barracks Museum. January 8-28.

14 nights | The hottest live bands and DJs January 8

MOUNTAIN MOCHA KILIMANJARO & ELECTRIC EMPIRE January 9

DEERHOOF & DJ YAMANTAKA EYE (THE BOREDOMS) January 11

DAN DEACON ENSEMBLE & JOHN MAUS January 12

SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SONGS & THE LAURELS January 13

FBi NIGHT: SHABAZZ PALACES, TAYLOR MCFERRIN & SHANGAAN ELECTRO January 14

PICNIC: ANDREW WEATHERALL & NEVILLE WATSON January 18

SO FRENCHY SO CHIC: ASA & FEFE January 19

SO FRENCHY SO CHIC: NOUVELLE VAGUE & MORIARTY January 20

FBi NIGHT: TUNE-YARDS & JONTI January 21

THE WHITEST BOY ALIVE & NEW NAVY January 25

MAD RACKET: PEVEN EVERETT January 26

THE PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP & WATUSSI January 27

THE STEPKIDS & ELECTRIC WIRE HU TLE January 28

FUTURE CLASSIC: DJ KOZE & PRINS THOMAS sydneyfestival.org.au/keystone

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 37

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK GEOFFREY O’CONNOR Vanity Is Forever Chapter Music

Another welcome addition to the gauche ‘80s revival.

If you’ve been paying attention to indie music this year, you'll have noticed that a certain brand of louche ‘80s sleaze is highly fashionable right now, whether it’s the white boy disco of Destroyer or the more dangerously icy synth tones of Australia’s own Lost Animal. And while some do well to take it to extremes – think of Sydney's Italo-disco crooner Donny Benét, whose live show is a kind of poortaste karaoke extravaganza – it seems that the key to panning for gold in the worst excesses of the 1980s is, for the most part, to show restraint.

By that criterion, ex-Crayon Fields vocalist Geoffrey O’Connor’s solo debut Vanity Is Forever is a success, because although there’s

GEORGIA FAIR

GOLD PANDA

All Through Winter Sony

DJ-Kicks !K7

When I first saw Georgia Fair play it was in a support slot for Oh Mercy, and the Sydney duo of Jordan Wilson and Ben Riley performed a sublime rendition of Crosby Stills & Nash’s ‘Helplessly Hoping’. A gutsy play no doubt, but they were able to pull it off – so much so that the pedant in me didn’t even get riled up about the ignored third harmony part.

The wistful acoustic finger-picking of CS&N pops up at times on the duo’s debut long-player, but All Through Winter owes as much to the alt-rock of Whiskeytown or Uncle Tupelo as it does to the golden age of hippiedom.

Enlisting the production skills of Band Of Horses’ bassist Bill Reynolds, the boys went to Asheville, North Carolina to record (the same location that birthed BoH’s Infinite Arms) and emerged with an album part indie pop sing-alongs, part melancholic balladry.

Opening single ‘Where You Been?’ sits in the former camp, with a light and breezy chorus and jangly guitars balancing out the slightly naff song title... On ‘Float Away’, they seem to have already mastered the closing time boozy waltz, and placing it halfway through the album confidently states that there are plenty more hooks left. But through all the stomping drums and plaintive keyboards, Wilson and Riley’s tight vocal harmonies remain the focal point, the occasional Australian inflection creeping in sweetly rather than becoming overbearing (read: Missy Higgins). I’m usually wrong about these kinds of things, but I’ve got a good feeling about Georgia Fair.

Expect big things in the future, because All Through Winter certainly shows that Georgia Fair can exceed expectations.

Gold Panda is the kind of producer that everyone lost their indie marbles over last year, but if you ask them why, they might not remember. His unique brand of warm-synth, light-bassdrum glitch seemed revolutionary at the time, but it turned out to be part of a bigger movement that looks poised to overtake him entirely if he doesn’t drop another ‘Snow & Taxis’ soon.

It’s a tough slog being a phaser-beat king when you don’t really have too many apparent hooks, which is why DJ-Kicks is a fitting template for Sir Panda; nobody’s expecting him to do anything but put likeminded tunes in a line and beat-match them.

And like-minded they are; about halfway into this compilation it’s honestly difficult to tell whether track eight was any different from track five or the one that comes after it. That’s a win for continuity, sure, but to keep anyone interested in a mix for more then fifteen minutes you’ve got to throw something a bit whack in there, just to make sure they’re listening (and you as producer are not on autopilot).

DJ-Kicks is a renowned series that has had such a high standard of output over the years that it’s impossible not to compare Gold Panda’s disc to the likes of Chromeo and Hot Chip, both of whom dropped compilations that were far more interesting. The best stuff is the new drops from the Ninja Tune label, like Matthewdavid and big man on campus, Zomby, but even they vanish into the haze without making any great impact. This may be a great soundtrack to a Ksubi catwalk, but other than that, it’s hard to stay engaged.

Not yet demoted to silver Panda.

Mitch Alexander Jonno Seidler

more than enough cheese on here (including a none-too-subtle homage to Giorgio Moroder and Tom Whitlock’s ‘Take My Breath Away’, on album highlight ‘Things I Shouldn’t Do’), it’s cut through with a complicated emotional sensibility, conveyed through sharp lyrics and O’Connor’s nerdy falsetto. (O’Connor’s voice may be a dealbreaker for you: I find it endearing, but I can see how others would find its reediness irritating.)

“I shouldn’t look such a mess, being alone is no excuse / I can’t tell if people flirt with me ‘cause I look miserable or loose,” he deadpans in the penetrating ‘Proud’, a song about trying to break up gracefully. If you dig below the glossy surface, you’ll see that Vanity Is Forever aims for and succeeds at creating the kind of adult, sophisticated pop music that was a hallmark of the ‘80s.

Chad Parkhill

HAIL MARY MALLON Are You Going To Eat That?

Rhymesayers Named for Mary Mallon, the infamous typhoid-spreading cook of the early1900s, Hail Mary Mallon is the result of underground heroes Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz coming together to produce what they love most: hip hop.

The trio bring a sound that works as a respectful homage to old school hip hop beats, with Big Wiz providing an impressive selection of cuts – especially on ‘Mailbox Baseball’, which shows him in his element on the turntables – that are perfectly offset by the fuzzy synths and electronic elements that pepper the tracks.

Densely-layered lyrics and flows are what Aesop Rock does best (check out ‘Garfield’ for hip hop lyricism at its finest), and it takes a second to wrap your head around the imagery in the verses as they spill out in that curiously nasal slur of his; absurdist lines like “peace out, cupcake” on the synth heavy ‘Smock’ are almost missed when they’re woven into such a heavy lyrical tapestry.

Rob Sonic, whose vocal style is eerily similar to Aesop’s, works in excellent harmony with him throughout. Their flows create a duality that at times feels more like a conversation than a rap, with a vocal play that enhances the story as they take turns building the crescendo. They can bounce between upbeat, catchy tunes like ‘Breakdance Beach’ – which has a hint of early Beastie Boys – and then snap back to ‘The Poconas’, featuring a grungy undercurrent that makes for a decidedly darker atmosphere.

The musical chemistry between these hip hop stalwarts is completely electric – Are You Going To Eat That? is an album that just had to happen.

MATT CORBY

VERONICA FALLS

Into The Flame EP Universal Music He may have been a runner up on 2007’s Australian Idol, but rather than offer a flash-in-the-pan career based on his good looks and charm, this Sydneysider has stayed true to his heart. Having spent the last few years developing his sound overseas, he has triumphantly returned to Australia with his latest EP. Produced by Tim Carr at Studios 301, this release is a move towards indie rock by the self-described folk singer.

Into The Flame opens with ‘Brother’, which has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity (thanks to support from FBi 94.5 and triple j), and it's still like crack to the ears.

‘Soul A’Fire’ is a strong, whisky-soaked muddy blues ballad, and then there's ‘Untitled’, a song with harmonies so gentle and lyrics so soulful it could easy pull the heartstrings of the toughest brickie. The angelic Bree Tranter (ex-The Middle East) lends keys to the whole album, and her haunting vocals on the beautiful ‘Big Eyes’ are perfectly matched to Matt’s own surprisingly powerful set of pipes.

This is the third release from Matt Corby, whose recent series of Secret Garden shows have connected his music with his fans in an intimate local setting – and in doing so have helped him build a cult following that will outlast all the Idol fanatics.

Penning all the songs on Into The Flame (no karaoke here), Corby is proving himself to be a serious songwriter who is not afraid to take his listeners on a deeply personal journey.

Displaying maturity beyond his years, Matt Corby’s big vocals overflow with heartfelt, raw emotion, making Into The Flame an honest and uncompromising delivery.

Juliette Gillies

Veronica Falls Bella Union There’s something simply likeable about Veronica Falls, although a quick browse through the album’s tracks may deter skeptics – there’s nothing on here that wasn’t already old in 1979. The basic lineup is the one that Television perfected then: two electric guitars – all spidery arpeggios and bristled strumming – pragmatic drums and perfunctory bass. But unlike the fiery offerings by contemporary bands of this ilk, Veronica Falls is inviting and cool, couched in a bed of natural reverb.

And while the first listen is unlikely to yield much to cling to in the way of hooks, repeat listens dig up some truly disarming earworms.

Take opener ‘Found Love In A Graveyard’, a song about falling in love with a ghost. It swings cleverly from a minor to a major key, a trick which peaks in the chorus and trails into the stately guitar trills in the coda. The music mirrors the comical melodrama of the lyrics perfectly. The curious pairing of gothic images with endearing arrangements continues on ‘Beachy Head’, a surf-rock jag about pushing your lover off a seaside cliff.

It starts as a suicide note, but winds up a homicidal missive.

On ‘Wedding Day’, singer Roxanne Clifford taunts a groom with a chorus of “you don’t love her like you love me”. It’s at once pithily funny and quietly melancholy. ‘Misery’ is easily the cheeriest piece, on which she beatifies “Misery / My only friend”. The clean-faced arrangements and girl/ boy vocal canons seem at odds with the sadness that pervades much of the album. But its equivocal nature is also the source of its lasting appeal.

It breaks no new ground, but a guitar pop record as charming and bittersweet as this is never unwelcome.

Luke Telford

Marissa Demetriou

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK GO-GO SAPIEN This Body Is Wrong For Us Popboomerang Georges Pompidou, one-time President of France, suggested that it was the role of art to confront and challenge the society in which it exists. Conversely, the artist has constructed a residence on the margins of the dominant culture, casting a considered opinion on the complexities, inconsistencies and inanities that masquerade as civilised society, while simultaneously proclaiming the artist’s inability to conform to the rigid structures of the institutions subject to artistic critique.

38 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

At the risk of embarking on a masturbatory academic journey, there’s an element of such artistic philosophy running through Go-Go Sapien’s new album, This Body Is Wrong For Us. The opening track, ‘Recreational Derelict’, sets the scene: a lazy wander through the streets, musing at whatever "average" events appear in the narrator’s vision. ‘Altered Ego’ packs a serious garage punch in self-defence at the accusing eyes of the dominant discourse, while ‘Sick Love’ unpacks, messes up and re-packages conventional romantic pursuits in a warped-pop guise.

On the sci-fi ravaged ‘Hatewind’ the mood is one of defiance – up is down, in is out and bizarre is normal. The bubblegum pop of ‘Full Frontal Lobotomy’ cuts to the chase, identifying the only medical cure

for this skewed world; ‘Celebrities Are Your Gods Now’ finds the faux spirituality in mass media frenzy, and wraps it up in dirty garage; ‘Instant Welfare Centre’ takes The Stooges’ ‘T.V. Eye’ for a journey into Go-Go Sapien’s deranged existence.

The album comes with a 47-minute film featuring Melbourne music luminaries like Van Walker, Liz Stringer, Laura Jean, Dave Graney and Kim Salmon. The narrative is as rough and ready as the pretentious intellectual wank that opens this album review; the film, however, is infinitely more amusing.

Go-Go Sapien are out there on the margins, just doing what comes natural.

Patrick Emery

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

FRIGHTENED RABBIT - The Midnight Organ Flight TWERPS - Twerps APPARAT - The Devil's Walk

DRAKE - Take Care KURT VILE - Smoke Ring For My Halo

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BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 39

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

crooked saint

jebediah

Who’s playing? Crooked Saint, supported by fellow Victorians The Bon Scotts.

Sell it to us: Come check out what Melbourne has to offer… The time we save on the road with our grid-system is spent scraping together nice songs.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The sign of a good night is remembering nothing, but we make sure you wake up with a copy of the EP under your pillow.

Crowd specs: Looking to wrangle a happy go-lucky bunch of folks, who don’t mind getting their hands dirty (O.N.O.).

Wallet damage: FREE… So it’s a no-brainer.

Where: Gallery bar @ Oxford Art Factory When: Friday December 2 / doors from 8pm

:: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 92642666

cut off your hands

PICS :: TL

19:11:11

It sounds like: A band your mum might be more interested in…

PICS :: AM

party profile

It’s called: Sweating Bullets EP Launch

17:11:11 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93316245

sosueme

PICS :: AM

hot damn

PICS :: SW

19:11:11 :: The Standard :: Lvl 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9262 4500

18:11:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) IDE :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER GEORGE POPOV :: SAM WHITES :: Y CHE PEA MAS THO :: NS ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUN TIM WHITNEY

40 :: BRAG :: 440: 28:11:11

step-panther

PICS :: GP

mum

PICS :: TP

19:11:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711

17:11:11 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 9267 3787

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

veen

oh mercy

It sounds like: George Michael naked on acid in the jungle.

Who’s playing? V E E N, Bloods, Evil J & Saint CeciIia. Sell it to us: Call him Mr Raider, call him Mr Wrong – call him Mr Vain; call him Mr Raider, call him Mr Wrong – call him insane. He’d say, ‘I know what I want, and I want it now – I want you! (coz I’m Mr Vain). I know what I want, and I want it now – I want you, coz I’m Mr Vain.’

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: You may not.

Crowd specs: About 200 party people.

Wallet damage: $10 Where: The Standard / Lvl 3, 383 Bourke St, Surry Hills When: Saturday December 3 from 8pm

PICS :: GP

party profile

It’s called: ‘Mind Virus’ Single Launch

the dynamites

PICS :: AM

16:11:11 :: Sydney Opera House :: Macquarie St Sydney 9250 7777

PICS :: GP

18:11:11 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 92642666

they will have their way

19:11:11 :: The Basement :: 29 Reiby Place Sydney 9251 2797

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) POPOV :: SAM WHITESIDE :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RGE GEO :: Y CHE PEA MAS :: THO ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS TIM WHITNEY

triple j's tribute to nick cave

PICS :: GP

the cruel sea

PICS :: KC

17:11:11 :: The Annandale :: 17 Parramatta Rd Annandale 9550 1078

17:11:11 :: The Enmore :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 41

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

Remedy

More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

KNOW YOUR PRODUCT

You know you’ve really made it – or that the whole punk thing was all for nought – when the Assistant Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia quotes the thrust of one of your songs at a forum at the Hilton in Sydney. (No, not The Thought Criminals’ ‘Hilton Bomber’). The honour went to The Saints’ ‘Know Your Product’, in relation to investment. We’re not sure if the Assistant Governor punctuated his address with repeated bursts of “alright!” à la Chris Bailey. The news made The Sydney Morning Herald’s business section last week. Who’d ever have thunk it?

PUNK, BASICALLY

ALL-AGES GIG PICKS

O

ur feature gig this week is Western Sydney hardcore merchants Thy Art is Murder, who will be bludgeoning the amassed crowd at Leichhardt’s Bald Faced Stag on Sunday night. These guys have been around since 2005, when they released their first EP, and have earned a reputation as one of the best deathcore bands in Sydney. They’ll be ably supported by German genremashers War From A Harlot’s Mouth, who are known for infusing their songs with as many different styles as possible. Local supports are metal-punks The Bride and death-metal collective Make Them Suffer – so make sure you get down earlier to squeeze as much metal-bang as possible from your hard-earned buck.

And now for something completely different: the Danny G Felix Project will be funking up a storm at Notes Live on Enmore Road this Saturday night – so if you’re into your jazz-fusion-funk-pop, we’ve just taken the guesswork out of your weekend. The collective features almost ten vocalists and a backing band of at least twenty-three members, creating an insane wall of sound.

Plus it’s one of those classy gigs where a ticket is coupled with dinner, so you can enjoy some fine eats while listening to smooth jazz. The whole shebang kicks off at 7.30pm, with jazz-rockers Roger Vs. The Man and Kween G (of hip hop duo KillaQueenz) on support duties.

Reasons to head to Macquarie Uni this week: on Monday, frequently-bearded bluesman Simon Bruce will be treating us to a set of his well-crafted blues, while on Wednesday, heartfelt folkie Alex Gibson will be making us swoon with his fingerpicking and gorgeous voice. Proceedings kick off on both days at 12.30pm, so that’s just enough time for you to sleep in before jumping on the bus to North Ryde.

American deathcore merchants All Shall Perish will be screaming into Western Sydney this week, playing the Blacktown Masonic Hall on Friday night with Pledge This, Villa Rise, Beneath The Crown and London In Terror in tow. The Californian five-piece, who have just been talked up by Kirk Hammett of Metallica, will soon be breaking over here – so this is a phenomenal opportunity to catch a band who will be playing bigger venues imminently when they release their third album, This Is Where It Ends. The lead

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 Alex Gibson Macquarie University

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2

All Shall Perish, Pledge This, Villa Rise, Beneath The Crown Blacktown Masonic Hall

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3

The Danny G Felix Project, Roger Vs. The Man, Kween G Notes Live

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 Thy Art Is Murder, War From A Harlot’s Mouth, The Bride The Bald Faced Stag

The Fall’s 29th studio album, Ersatz G.B., has just been released. Their lineup might be forever changing, but it can be more than reasonably argued that these guys are the last ‘70s punks still standing. Not because they only use three chords – far from it – but because they don’t give a fuck about genres and fashion. They just do what they do and have always done.

You know, punk, basically. And in that old-school vein, there’s a 7-inch single called ‘Laptop Dog’ available, which is limited to 1000 copies and features an exclusive B-side. They’ll be appearing at All Tomorrow’s Parties UK, in December.

REBELLION UK

The ridiculously big Rebellion festival is on again from August 2-5 next year in Blackpool, England, with 200 bands across six stages. The bill so far includes Rancid, The Only Ones, Bow Wow Wow, Slaughter and the Dogs, The Boys, Snuff, The Slackers, The Subhumans, DOA, Agnostic Front, Zero Boys, SNFU, The Cortinas, UK Subs, Argy Bargy, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, The Creepshow, Chelsea, Citizen Fish, Menace, TV Smith and Aussie act RUST.

CLASH FEVER

Speaking of punk, Clash fever is in full swing in the UK at the moment, with

breaks start at the relatively early time of 4pm – make sure you get there on time!

Big Day Out, now in its 20th year, is sporting another massive lineup; even better, they’ve just announced sideshows!

Headliners Kasabian will be bringing their eclectic style to the Hordern Pavilion on Tuesday January 24, supported by current buzz-band The Vaccines, while former emo-punks turned summer-popsters My Chemical Romance will be playing the same venue on Friday January 27.

And finally, skate-rap collective/all-round miscreants Odd Future will be bringing their off-colour style and controversial tunes to the Enmore Theatre on Tuesday January 24. Don’t say we don’t look out for you.

Finally, on a comedy tip: if you or your mates fancy yourself top banana in the funny department, Melbourne International Comedy Festival has a talent-seeking initiative called Class Clown, specifically for teens aged 14-18. Anyone can enter, as either a solo act or in a group of up to three people – all you have to do is come up with a five-minute sketch/routine/ parody, and turn up to your local heats (for Sydney, that’s March 9 at the Powerhouse Museum), where professional comedians will work on your piece with you and then push you on stage and into the limelight to take your shot at fame. You can register for the Sydney heat on their website, at www.classclowns.com.au

We mentioned last week that the reformed Black Sabbath will be headlining the UK’s Download festival in June. They’ll take the stage on the Sunday night. But they won’t be the only big hitter at the event: taking prime billing position on the Saturday night is Metallica, running through the Black album among other things. We reckon there won’t ever be too much demand – or, any – for them doing Load, Reload or St Anger in their respective completeness.

RIP: JACKIE LEVEN

Jackie Leven, the one-time singer with the UK’s wildly under-the-radar Doll By Doll and later a singer-songwriter in his own right, has died of cancer at the age of 61.

PC NUGENT

Not sure when this occurred but it’s too good not to mention: Ted Nugent, the great man who was once threatened with arrest in the ‘70s because his show was too loud and he was too aggressive, has been honoured by the Detroit cops, and made an honorary police chief. Said Deputy Chief Frank Mitchell, Detroit Police: “The law enforcement community owes Ted a lot. We thank him for all he’s done with his anti-drug stance, work with DARE, and his Ted Nugent Kamp for Kids.

Ted has always been concerned for the safety and wellbeing of our officers. We already think of him as one of us, so we decided to make it official.”

On the Remedy turntable is the new, prettied-up version of The Stones’ 1978 return to form, Some Girls, the slab that came along just when the world thought that they’d forgotten how to do what they once did so damn well. And the big news is that the 12 bonus tracks are as gritty and spare as anything on the album proper, and in fact stand up remarkably well against Exile On Main Street. Nope, we shit thee not. Scared the pants off us, it did. Also spinning is the Wooden Shjips’ newie, West, which in these parts comes with a bonus track on the CD version. These guys really have something, minimal as it is. Unlike, say, Texas mob The Black Angels, who are talked up as being some heavy psych experience, but in reality always seem to fall short of that mark. The Wooders are the real trance-like deal, even if they’re the AC/DCs of the genre (in that they only have a set number of dance steps).

TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins returns in 2012 for his Long March spoken word tour. So far in 2011, Rollins has been around the world delivering his word play, joined Dinosaur

42 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

HUGE DOWNLOAD

ON THE TURNTABLE

Kasabian

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

the Justice Tonight tour, featuring Mick Jones, preparing for shows in Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Liverpool and Glasgow in early December. The dates will see Jones and friends playing Clash songs to raise awareness of the Hillsborough Justice Campaign. There ll be a number of guests at each show (including members of Primal Scream in London), while the legendary Don Letts will be one of two DJs on the tour.

Jr on the road and interviewed them live on stage after each show, released Occupants – a collection of essays and his own photos taken in Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and elsewhere over the last few years – and rolled out his weekly radio show on KCRW (most likely the only one in the world where you can hear Kraftwerk, Frank Sinatra and The Buzzcocks in the one playlist). He’ll talk about it all, and maybe even chat about the Sabbath reunion. Dates are: April 24 at Panthers, Newcastle; April 25-26 at The York Theatre, Seymour Centre; May 6 at The Street Theatre, Canberra; and May 8 at IPAC, in Wollongong. Tickets on sale November 28.

We’re not too comfortable with this type of thing, but Hell Crab City are turning down the volume and morphing into Soft Shell Crab for their gig upstairs at the Sando in Newtown on December 4. Maybe it won’t be all that laidback, given that they’re sharing the lineup with debutants Cousin Betty, the heavily-amped garage rock band of Tony “Chief” Bambach (Molten Universe, Lime Spiders), while Hell Crab City’s Big Al Creed (ex-New Christs, Panadolls) will be opening the night with a set of solo punk covers. The Sando Sunday Series is run by real rock website i94bar.com, and $10 gets you in after 7.30pm.

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

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock

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

BROUS, PEARLS, DOMEYKO GONZALEZ

GEOFFREY O’CONNOR, THE TWERPS

I’ve never been able to catch Sydney’s Domeyko/Gonzalez live, but from what I heard of their 2010 releases, I was expecting an electronic group playing around with their Macbooks and samples. This couldn’t have been further from the truth; on stage, psychedelic rhythms are interspersed with colourful jam sessions, and filled with all sorts of wacky gadgets, in a kind of chaotic bliss.

GoodGod Small Club is hellishly hot and fire-trappy. The ceiling, always imminent, feels even lower and bodies shine with sweat. Flanked by a bassist and a keyboard player, Geoffrey O’Connor materialises onstage in a wizardly billow of smoke and lasers, his guitar draped Springsteen-style from his shoulder. Beams bounce off his angular body as he launches into the heartfelt, wistful ‘Proud’ from his new record Vanity Is Forever.

Already well warmed-up, O’Connor’s show melts the crowd completely. His songs gift listeners with all the guilty, saccharine pleasures of bands like Toto or Berlin, and drive burly young men to grin at each other helplessly, foolishly, as they slow dance with themselves.

FBi Social Friday November 18

From 10pm onwards, the almostpacked room took a trip down south.

Newbies to the Sydney circuit, Melbourne’s Pearls, threw us into a wall of buzzed-out sound. Their style is down-tempo, organ-filled, '60s drone pop. Their two vocalists, Ryan Caesar and Cassandra Kiely, combine a Carpenters-style appeal with a Jack White-esque twist – but it was Ellice Blakeney who I (guiltily) couldn’t keep my eyes off, as she thrashed out cymbal-filled percussion.

For 45 minutes their simplistic set beat out waves of emotive shoegaze and country slide-guitar, all set against the gentle hum of a church organ.

Melbourne’s Brous met a packed and eager room of age-diverse punters. From her opening song, she entranced the audience with her high-pitched brand of haunting, melodic vocals. For those who aren’t familiar with Sophia Brous, the crux of her music is her ecstatic pitchdriven voice. Half of the melodies in her songs aren’t even worded, and you get the sense that she’s truly utilising her voicebox as a multifaceted instrument in its own right. Celtic and incredibly folkloric in many respects, she dances slowly in front of her audience, in a way that really displays her roots in the jazz music scene.

GoodGod Small Club Friday November 18

O’Connor’s effeminate posturing and impish stage tricks endear him even further to the crowd. Midway through ‘Have Your Way’ (You look as bored as the creatures mounted above you on the wall), he moves into the shadows offstage to perch on the ledge of a speaker – a strange, be-spectacled gargoyle who also happens to be the main act. From behind, he drapes his arms around the neck of a man standing nearby who, with panic in his eyes, haplessly mouths to the crowd: “This is fucked up!”

Some describe Brous’ voice as fragile, but to me she couldn’t have been more potent; having seen Portishead play a few nights earlier, I was reminded of a less tortured version of Beth Gibbons.

I really hope this could be the next generation of pop; it’s catchy and methodical, yet quirky and boundarypushing.

Paul Kelly watches from the bar as a phalanx of fans shuffles itself to the front row, and Twerps file onstage.

They kick off with an oldie, ‘He’s In Stock’, before jangling into ‘Anything New’ from their new self-titled record.

(I don’t want to be anyone new / I don’t want to spend my life thinking of you / You give me the shits, yeah you bore me to bits.) Twerps are one of those bands that just work. As a sound, as a look, as a vibe. They play a short, blissful, no-nonsense set that showcases the lackadaisical, summertime feel of their new record as well as its beautiful intermingling guitar tones. And kudos to the drummer in his Ooga Boogas tee, who knows just how to hit sharp but soft.

Matthew O’Neil

Kate Hennessy

POPOV OUR PHOTOGRAPHER : GEORGE

KE

INA CLAR OUR PHOTOGRAPHER : KATR

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 43

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

pick of the week Kimbra

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3

The Domain, Sydney

Homebake The Classic Edition Grinderman, Ladyhawke, Pnau, Gotye,

Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rockwiz, Cut Copy, Icehouse, Daniel Merriweather, Eskimo Joe, Drapht, The Triffids, Architecture in Helsinki, The Vines, The Church,

The Jezabels, Kimbra, C.W. Stoneking, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Illy, Avalanche City, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (NZ), Papa Vs Pretty and heaps more $95 (+ bf) 11am 44 :: BRAG :: 440 : 28:11:11

MONDAY NOVEMBER 28 ROCK & POP

Bernie The Observer Hotel, The Rocksfree 8.30pm Blue Mondays: Frank Sultana Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Pod Brothers The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Simon Bruce Macquarie University, North Ryde free 12.30pm all-ages Steve Tonge Coogee Bay Hotel, Beach Bar free 9pm Tone Def, Electric Flu, Oyama, General Disarray Hong Kong Rock Club, Upstairs, Annandale Hotel 3pm

JAZZ

James Ryan Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8pm Latin & Jazz Open Mic/Jam Session: Rinske Geerlings, Daniel Falero, Philip Taig, Pierre Della Putta The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6pm Sydney Jazz Orchestra The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Russell Neal Orange Grove Hotel, Lilyfield free 7pm Senani, Massimo Presti, Helmut Uhlmann Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29 ROCK & POP

Adam Pringle and Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Debra Byrne The Factory Theatre, Enmore $67.50 8pm Kirrakamere Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Matt Jones The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Mickey Pye Novotel Homebush, Homebush Bay free 4.30pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Songs on Stage Performers Competition Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm The Songwriter Sessions Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Steve Tonge O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9pm Stevie Nicks (USA), Dave Stewart (UK), Brian McFadden (UK) Sydney Entertainment Centre,

Darling Harbour $132–$195 7pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm Tuesday Night Live: Hazy Cloud, Taylor Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm

JAZZ

Glen Rhodes Dee Why RSL Club free 6pm Jazzgroove: Klumpes, The Sandy Evans Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8–$10 8pm

COUNTRY

Dolly Parton (USA) Allphones Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $99–$299 8pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 ROCK & POP

Alex Gibson Macquarie University, North Ryde free 12.30pm all-ages Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Chris Neto Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm Cockatoo Calling: Hinterlandt, The Scrapes, An Infinity Room FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 6pm Co Pilot The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Dan Spillane Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 6pm David Agius Northies, Cronulla free 7.30pm Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Gold Fields, Damn Dogs, Millions Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Goodnight Dynamite O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9pm Jagermeister Presents: The Hello Morning, Dirty Sweet The Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Live and Local Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why 8pm Mandi Jarry Summer Hill Hotel free 7.30pm M.S.D., Lunarsteps Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm Mushu, Crooked Saint Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm Musos Jam Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm Pawn Magz, The Reprise, No Further Questions Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Replika Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Rev JD Love, 49 Goodbyes Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville 9pm Shane Flew Dee Why RSL Club 6.30pm

Tin Sparrow, Underlights Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 7pm

JAZZ

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

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Browne, Russell Neal Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm Captain Obvious & The Unpredictable Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm TAOS, Gavin Fitzgerald, David Merry Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Vikingo De Jerez, el Titi de Algeciras (Spain), Laura Uhe & Company, Shaun Doddy The Basement, Circular Quay $30 (+ bf) 9pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 ROCK & POP

C.O.F.F.I.N., Ghosts, Sck Knt Experience Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$123 (dinner & show) 8pm Elevate Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Grinderman, Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys The Factory Theatre, Enmore $66.30 (+ bf) 7.30pm sold out The Hello Morning Manly Boatshed 7.30pm Hot Damn!: Sienna Skies, Built On Secrets, Sound of Seasons Spectrum, Darlinghurst $12 (guestlist)–$15 8pm Kamikaze Surf Hoedown: Richard In Your Mind, Belles Will Ring, Atom Bombs, DJ Spod, Conrad Greenleaf, Yo Grito! DJs, Rae GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $15 8pm Lachy Doley, The Widowbirds, Mindy & the Serpents The Vanguard, Newtown $16 8pm The Living Chair Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 9.30pm Love of Diagrams, The Laurels, Circle Pit, Go Genre Everything FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $12 8pm Matt Seaberg Toxteth Hotel, Glebe free 8pm Misfits (USA) Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $65.30 8pm A Night at the Crossroads - A Tribute to Robert Johnston: Dom Turner, Ian Collard, Suzannah Espie, The Blues Preachers, Nick Rheinberger, Kevin Bennett, Jeremy Edwards, Johnny Cass, Syd Green, James Haselwood The Basement, Circular Quay 8pm The Nocturnals, Kang Gang, Courtney, 20, Narrow Lands The Annandale Hotel $10 7.30pm Passing Strange 4: Mad Nanna, Model Citizen, Raw Prawn, Crouching 80s Hidden Acroynm Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Peace & Plenty Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm

i guide g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Petulant Frenzy Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15 8pm Pretty Lights (USA) Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $30 (+ bf) 8pm Serena Ryder (CAN), Daniel Champagne The Vault, Windsor $20 (presale)–$22 8.30pm Speakeasy The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham 8pm Tom T Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5pm Wendy Matthews Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm The White Bros The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm

JAZZ

Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Ray Beadle 505 Club, Surry Hills $10–$15 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Dave Wilkins The Marlborough Hotel free 8.30pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 ROCK & POP

3 Way Split Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction free 8pm A-Live Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm

All Shall Perish (USA), Resist The Thought, Pledge This, Villa Rise, Beneath The Crown, London In Terror Masonic Hall, Blacktown $30 (+ bf) 4pm all-ages The Art, The Dead Love, Cutwing, 2010 Gaelic Theatre, Surry Hills $15 8pm The Australian Pink Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Born Loser Fanzine Launch Party: The Booby Traps, The Mighty Childish, Kill City Creeps, The Crimplenes DJs, DJ Mint Minus Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington $12 8pm The Casualties (USA), Topnovil, The Rumjacks Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $33 (+ bf)–$39 (+ bf) 8pm Chartbusters Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL free 9pm Crooked Saint Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Damndogs, Kingswood, The Ruminaters, DJ Alison Wonderland Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Dappled Cities, Millions, Elizabeth Rose The Standard, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm Dave White Experience The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$123 (dinner & show) 8pm Donny Benet, Erik Omen, Sunsun FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst 8pm Fallon Bros Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney free

The Flaming Stars Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville 8pm Front End Loader, Raise The Crazy The Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 8pm GJ Donovan Orange Grove Hotel, Leichhardt free 8pm Hey Big Aki, Young Pretties Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross $10-$15 8.30pm Homage – A Tribute to Queer Musical Heroes: Brett Every, Maeve Marsden The Factory Floor, The Factory Theatre, Enmore $20$25 (+ bf) 8pm Ignition Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Killer: Soapbox Summer, Alice vs Wonderland Club 77, Woolloomooloo $10$12 9pm Lander Configurations, Fourteen Nights At Sea, Hira Hira, Solkyri Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Leadfinger, Acid Monkeys, The Dark Clouds Dicey Riley’s Hotel, Wollongong free 9pm The Lockhearts Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Mi-Sex (NZ) The Basement, Circular Quay $40 7pm Modern Murder, I Am Duckeye, Pecking Order, Berkshire Hunting Club The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm MUM: The Strums, The Messengers, The Pretty Lies, The Pixiekills, Lowlakes, Fox Valley, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Ben Sundae The Belvedere Hotel free 8pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 ROCK & POP

Nativosoul Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7pm Reckless The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free (early bird)–$5 9.30pm Stephanie Janson The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Superheavyweights Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Teeth & Tongue, Songs, Unity Floors GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm Tone Rangers Kingswood Sports Club free 7pm Tony Cini’s Blues Explosion, Chase The Sun, Ray Beadle The Vanguard, Newtown $25 8pm Underlights, Mushu, In Measures Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 8pm V8 Super Cars Grand Final: Bliss N Eso, Jebediah, The Herd, Calling All Cars Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush $56-$133 4pm all-ages

Vegan Mosquitos, Whopping Big Naughty, Nighttime & Child Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 9pm You’ve Got A Friend: Kevin Bennet and The Flood Band, Felicity Urqhuart, Karl Broadie, Dave Hannagan, Stuie and Camille, Pat O’Donnell The Manly Fig 8pm

JAZZ

The Andrew Dickeson Quintet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm Mulatu Astatke & The Black Jesus Experience (Ethiopia), The Liberators, Russ Dewbury The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49 (+ bf) 8pm Paul Grabowski Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8pm Unity Hall Jazz Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 8pm

5 Seconds of Summer, Some Time Soon, Karl Christoph The Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages After Bake: Royal Chant, Fait Accompli, Sister Jane, Bang! Bang! Rock n’ Roll!

FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm All Shall Perish (USA), Resist the Thought, Segression, Alice Through The Windshield Glass, Hearts Like Wolves Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $30 (+ bf) 8pm The Australian Pink Show Richmond Inn free 10pm The Backsliders, Kevin Bennett The Vanguard, Newtown $21 (+ bf) 8pm Casino Rumblers, Australian Kingswood Factory The Annandale Hotel $12 (+ bf) 7pm Cherribomb Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Chris Duke & The Royals, Batfoot, Ebolagoldfish, Handball Deathmatch The Square, Haymarket $10 The Danny G Felix Project, Roger Vs the Man, Kween G Notes Live, Enmore $15–$41.85 (dinner & show) 7.30pm licensed all-ages

wed

30 Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

31 Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

01 Dec (5:00PM - 8:00PM)

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

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

sat

02 Dec

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

sun

03 Dec

SUNDAY NIGHT

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 45

i guide g Daryl Braithwaite & Band Manly Fisho’s $27.50 8pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$123 (dinner & show) 8pm Dig The Studio, Sydney Opera House 8pm Dirty Deeds – The AC/DC Show Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, St Clair free 8.30pm Felicity Groom, Dancing Heals, We Go Bang Bang!, DJ Magic Happens The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills free 6pm Feral Swing Katz Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Funpuppet Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction free 8pm The Furious Five Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Glenn Whitehall Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5.30pm The Hello Morning Manly Boatshed 7.30pm Homebake: Grinderman, Ladyhawke, Pnau, Gotye, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rockwiz, Cut Copy, Icehouse, Daniel Merriweather, Eskimo Joe, Drapht, The Triffids, Architecture in Helsinki, The Vines, The Church, The Jezabels, Kimbra, C.W. Stoneking, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Illy, Avalanche City, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (NZ), Papa Vs Pretty, Killaqueenz, Kids of 88 (NZ), Passenger, Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys, Vents, 360, Ratcat, Gold Fields, Bleeding Knees Club, Big Scary, Owl Eyes, Damn Dogs, Split Seconds, Rufus, Unearthed Winner

The Domain, Sydney $95 (+ bf) 11am Immersion, Tenpenny Towers, She’s Taken Empires, What We’ve Made, Dishonoured, Lakeside Valve Bar, Tempe free 11am Jack Derwin Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm JD’s Duo Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 7pm Jimmy Bear The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Kingswoods, Fangs, Foreign Objects Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Lj Kro Bar, Bondi Junction free 8pm Millennium Bug Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Musica De Fuego: Sydney City Trash, Handsome Young Strangers, Steppin

Razor, Nudist Colonies of the World, Sweat & Shame, Billy Demos The Red Rattler, Marrickville $12 6pm Nat Col & the Kings Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 8.30pm all-ages Rebecca Johnson Band Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 10pm Sand Pebbles, The Astral Kaleidoscope, The Sun Blindness GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 7pm SFX: Monte, Oh Pacific, Wake the Giants, Villa Rise St James Hotel, Sydney $12$15 9pm The Shack: The April Maze, Gilbert Whyte, Badja River Quartet Tramshed Community Arts Centre, Narrabeen $20 7.30pm Singled Out The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free (early bird)–$5 9pm

Soulfood a Cappella, Kevin Hunt Independent Theatre, North Sydney $30 8pm all-ages Spacebong, Looking Glass, Adrift For Days, Hydromedusa, Machinoir Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7pm Swamp Dandies, The Lucky Dutchman Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham $12 8pm Urban Fusion – Roll The Dice: Danny G. Felix Project, Roger vs The Man, Anton Lock & Tom Royce, Kween G Notes Live, Enmore $15 (+ bf) 7pm V8 Supercars Grand Final: Hunters & Collectors, John Farnham, Noiseworks, James Reyne, Crooked Saint Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush $56-$133 4pm all-ages Veen, Bloods, Evil J & Feint The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm

JAZZ

The Bass: Martinez Brothers The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Jane Irving Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm Kafe Kool Supper Club, Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Paul Grabowski Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Beecroft Bush Dance Beecroft Community Centre $12 (member)–$17 8pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 ROCK & POP

Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm Andy Bull, WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop, Slow Down Honey The Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages Clara C (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $29-$55 (+ bf) 6pm Dragon Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48–$106 (dinner & show) 8pm Excellent Robot, The Fabergettes, The Dreamboats The Annandale Hotel $10 6.30pm Gary Johns Trio, Elevtion U2 Show The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Hell Crab City, Cousin Betty Band, Al Breed Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Leadfinger The Lidcombe Hotel free 5pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7pm No Such Luck, Postal, Nudist Colonies of the World, Ghost, Patriachal Death Machine, Disparo, Flogging The Gods,

Excitebike, Jack Nash Valve Bar, Tempe free 2pm The Pigs Empire Hotel, Annandale $12 6pm Thy Art is Murder, War From A Harlots Mouth, The Bride, Make Them Suffer Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $17 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Wendy Matthews The Vault, Windsor $33 (presale)–$38.50 7pm

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 Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Paul Furniss, Alan Gilbert Cronulla RSL free 12.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Hello Cleveland The Belvedere Hotel free 4pm Pete Hunt Oatley Hotel free 2pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar free 3pm

COUNTRY

Balmain Goes Bush Country in the Heart of the City: Doug McIntyre Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 3pm Cash Only Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free 4.30pm all-ages Dom Turner and Supro Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm

L2 Kings Cross Hotel www.fbisocial.com

Tuesday November 29

Thursday December 1st

Speakeasy Cinema

Radiant Live presents:

presents:

LOVE OF DIAGRAMS

Wholphin No.14 screening + DJs @ 8pm

+ THE LAURELS + CIRCLE PIT + GO GENRE EVERYTHING

6:30pm $12 Oztix or door

8pm $12

Saturday December 3rd After Bake: ROYAL CHANT + FAIT ACCOMPLI + SISTER JANE + BANG! BANG! ROCK n’ ROLL! 8pm $10 door

+ MIDNIGHT - 3AM

FREE

LATE NIGHT DJs

Wednesday November 30

Friday December 2nd

Cockatoo Calling:

DONNY BENET

+ HINTERLANDT + THE SCRAPES (broadcast live) + AN INFINITY ROOM 6pm FREE 46 :: BRAG :: 440 : 28:11:11

(Sophisticated Lover Tour)

LANCELOT + FRAMES + ROGERS ROOM

Sunday December 4

+ ERIK OMEN + SUNSUN (Disco Club)

Foreigndub Airwayvz live broadcast from FBi Social with special guest Basslines!

8pm $10 presale from Donny Benet Bandcamp or $10 door

5-9pm / Live Broadcast 5-7pm on FBi Radio 94.5FM! $5

K.D. Land by James Minchin III

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

gig picks

up all night out all week...

Grinderman

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2

Stevie Nicks (USA), Dave Stewart (UK), Brian McFadden (UK) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $132–$195 7pm

Dappled Cities, Millions, Elizabeth Rose The Standard, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm

Dolly Parton (USA) Allphones Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $99–$299 8pm

MUM: The Strums, The Messengers, The Pretty Lies, The Pixiekills, Lowlakes, Fox Valley, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 Gold Fields, Damn Dogs, Millions Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Tin Sparrow, Underlights Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 7pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Grinderman, Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys The Factory Theatre, Enmore $66.30 (+ bf) 7.30pm sold out Kamikaze Surf Hoedown: Richard In Your Mind, Belles Will Ring, Atom Bombs, DJ Spod, Conrad Greenleaf, Yo Grito! DJs, Rae GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $15 8pm Love of Diagrams, The Laurels, Circle Pit, Go Genre Everything FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $12 8pm Misfits (USA) Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $65.30 8pm

Teeth & Tongue, Songs, Unity Floors GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm

‘MEET THE LOCALS’

LOCAL FASHION STYLES FRESH FROM OUR PLANETS HOTTEST STREETS MBER LAUNCH PARTY THURSDAY DECE CH 1ST - 7PM. UPSTAIRS @ THE BEACH. ROAD HOTEL. BONDI BEA

au www.thec amer aclub .com.

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 Afterbake: Royal Chant, Fait Accompli, Sister Jane, Bang! Bang! Rock n’ Roll!

FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Sand Pebbles, The Astral Kaleidoscope, The Sun Blindness GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 7pm Veen, Bloods, Evil J & Feint The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm

NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 Andy Bull, WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop, Slow Down Honey The Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages

AN EVENING OF DISCO/HOUSE, DUBSTEP, HIP HOP, LEF TFIELD ELECTRONICA & FUTURE SOUL

CONICS 2 DEC ALL LIVE EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT 8PM TIL MIDNIGHT

Misfits

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

brag beats

inside

hilltop hoods

WHAM! turns six

carl craig

the

gaslamp killer closing in for the kill

also: + club guide + club snaps + columns

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 49

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

RUBIO FOR DISTORTION

Growing Up My mother was the main catalyst for 1. my music career, I think. WSFM or 2WS were kind of all I would ever hear. That and Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Black Sabbath... Good times, great classic hits!

Inspirations My net is cast a little wider now, musically.

2.

At the moment guys who are inspiring me are people like Jamie xx, Julio Bashmore, Koan Sound, Dub Police Crew and a whole host of others – there’s way too many to name. The most inspirational thing is that these guys are mostly around my age, and they’re kicking arse and changing the game. It’s exciting!

Your Crew The Distortion crew are a cohesive bunch 3. of cats who love bass music! The parties are

4.

The Music You Make Expect to hear everything that falls under the ‘bass music’ umbrella. I’m currently spinning (obviously) a lot of dubstep – dudes like Koan Sound, Emalkay, Document One, Caspa, 16 Bit, 501 and Von D, to name a few. But expect to hear a sprinkling of DnB, jungle, drumstep, dub, reggae, hip hop, glitch

LADY GAGA X TERRY RICHARDSON hop, and anything I’ve failed to mention with a prominent bassline.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The bass music scene is killing it at 5. the moment! So many talented local acts emerging, with plenty of nights to showcase them. Add to that a shift in the focus of the festivals to dubstep and DnB, and you’ve got crazy acts coming through all over the place.

Now is a great time for the scene, and I’m proud to say Distortion is right at the forefront!

With: Document One, Guillotine and more Where: Distortion @ Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday December 3 More: Also supporting Pretty Lights at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday December 1

CHALI 2NA SUBSONIC SIDESHOW

Röyksopp

Former Jurassic 5 and Ozomatli front man Chali 2na will perform a Subsonic sideshow at Oxford Art Factory this Friday December 11 (note the change in venue to what was initially announced). Since the release of his debut solo album Fish Outta Water on Decon Records back in 2009, Chali 2na has established himself as an accomplished solo artist in addition to his well-documented work in lauded outfits such as J5. His solo LP featured collaborations with Beenie Man, Talib Kweli, Anthony Hamilton, Choklate, Elzhi, Marley brothers Stephen and Damian, Kanetic Source and Ming Xia, and also affirmed that he was the finest catch of the J5 crew’s MC contingent. Support will come from True Vibenation, Bentley, Klue, Adi-b and DJ Ability.

What’s your favourite book? WRONG! The correct answer is Lady Gaga x Terry Richardson. Cooler-than-thou photographer Terry Richardson spent a year capturing the life of Lady Gaga on film and then put in all in the most awesome book you’ve ever seen.

If you haven’t already run screaming to your local bookseller, we’d love to give you one of two prize packs, including the book, a copy of Born This Way, and a copy of The Monster Ball Tour DVD. Just tell us who you’d like to photograph for a whole year, and why...

ROOTS MANUVA

Witness tha fitness! Rodney Smith, aka Roots Manuva, returns to Australia with his full live band, performing tracks off his brand new album 4everevolution at both Playground Weekender from March 2 - 4 at Wisemans Ferry, and a Sydney sideshow at The Hi-Fi (formerly The Forum) on Thursday March 8. Smith’s new album explores many sides and tempos of music perhaps not immediately associated with the man, whose usual bag is a mix of smokey, reggae influenced downtempo and soundsystem culture. (Think Tony “Soul Sedation” E’s usual soundtrack to blazin’ away on a Friday night in.) 4everevolution sees Smith traversing UK soundscapes such as dubstep that have been influenced by his familiar Jamaica, and is primarily helmed by Smith at the boards – although it’s Dizz1 who dominates on the forthcoming single ‘Here We Go Again’.

Pet Shop Boys

RÖYKSOPP BDO SIDESHOW

Norwegian duo Röyksopp, comprised of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland, have announced the Big Day Out sideshow that their legions of fans have been hanging out for. The pair have never toured Australia before, so there’ll be a broad array of generations lining up for this, spanning naïve youngens and old farts such as myself. For the uninitiated, Röyksopp’s debut album Melody AM came out way back in 2001, and was a landmark release that spawned the hit singles ‘Epple’, a quirky electronic instrumental that was subsequently flogged on pretty much every Ministry of Sound compilation to be released in the five years that followed, and ‘Remind Me’, which featured a memorable vocal performance from Erlend Oye, who would later go on to form the Australia-bound Whitest Boy Alive. Röyksopp’s follow-up release was also commendable, with the likes of The Emperor Machine and Jacques Lu Cont remixing singles like ‘49 Percent’ and ‘What Else Is There?’. They’ve since released more subtle LPs such as Senior and Junior which, while devoid of obvious singles, are still well worth investigating. And that brings us up to now, where the pair have finally decided to grace Australia with their presence.

Röyksopp will play the Enmore Theatre on Friday January 27, with tickets on sale as of this Monday November 28.

GZA & PHAROAHE MONCH & JEAN GRAE ET AL

On Saturday January 7, a selection of New York’s finest impresarios from the hip hop and rap spheres will perform at the Metro Theatre.

And when I say a selection of “New York’s finest”, I ain’t overstating it. GZA of Wu-Tang clan fame, Pharoahe Monch, Jean Grae and Rahzel & JS-1 will all be representing. Why ruminate over a lineup that really speaks for itself? In GZA’s own words, “Too many songs, weak rhymes is mad long, make it brief son, half short and twice strong”. OK boss, advice heeded. Tickets are currently available through Ticketek.

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PRODIGY ALBUM OUT NEXT YEAR

The famed UK outfit that is The Prodigy have been working on a follow-up to their 2009 LP Invaders Must Die, and it seems the wait is almost over. In a Facebook post last week – hey, they don’t call me an investigative journalist for nothing – The Prodigy announced their new LP [insert grammar warning here for the pedants and prudish]: “We have chosen to headline download festival as our only uk festival show next year and will be playin some new songs for the first time from our next album due later 2012. See you there. Liam, Keef & Maxim”.

PET SHOP BOYS + JAMIROQUAI

The Boys are back in town – the Pet Shop Boys that is, who, along with Jamiroquai, will headline the Sydney Resolution New Year’s Eve fiesta at Sydney’s Glebe Island, overlooking the Harbour. Easily one of the most influential pop acts of modern time, the Pet Shop Boys have an ineffable ability to remain at the cutting edge of musical trends and pop culture. From classic early-‘80s singles like ‘West End Girls’, to the plangent ‘Being Boring’ and more recent singles such as ‘Love Etc’, the Boys have been a perennial feature in the pop milieu for 30 years and counting. Just about anyone else in a similar sonic sector is indebted to them, including the other artists who will also be performing at the NYE bash: Culture Club, Pseudo Echo and Lyndsey Ollard. Gates open at 2pm on the day, while entertainment commences at 4pm and all performances will conclude by 1:45am. Ticket prices go from $198 for general admission, through to $750 for VIP packages. Hit sydneyresolution.com for full info.

Cover courtesy of Grand Central Publishing

always fantastic, and the best is yet to come.

Next year we’re taking it to another level with a boat cruise early February, and some massive internationals coming by in the months that follow! Check us on Facebook; just search ‘Distortion’.

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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

MITCH CROSHER FOR WHAM!’S SUMMER RESIDENCIES knew how to organise a good little house party or two. These parties would tend to carry on well beyond their official ending time, which I guess is why our crew became drawn to after-parties like SPICE. Now we tend to go to wherever good music is being played, put on our own parties, or hit up WHAM!.

The Music You Make I’ve produced a few tracks over the 4. years – you can check them out on my SoundCloud page. I plan to get much more involved in production next year, but DJing is still my first love.

Music, Right Here, Right Now Having a residency at WHAM! at 5.

World Bar has made me realise that they’re

Growing Up Inspirations Growing up in the suburbs of Sydney and MK Dub is producing some wicked 1.

2. being very bored with nothing to do, I decided music along, with Jamie Jones, Oliver$, to buy a two-channel no-name mixer, and stole my parents’ turntables. Banging out in my room all the time, I realised I needed some half decent equipment, and after that I moved on to bigger and better things – and started to get gigs at clubs.

Burnski and Kerri Chandler. Quality house, with a touch of funky disco.

3.

Your Crew All my mates are up for a good time week in week out, and back in the day we

pushing some top genres, along with a wicked venue. Also, The Spice Cellar has changed the Sydney clubbing scene; they’ve filled a big hole that Sydney was crying out for. Well done, Reckless Republic – it really does feel like Sydney is starting to open their ears to decent electronic music, with more parties pushing underground sounds.

There is hope for this city still!

What: Mitch Crosher is the December resident of WHAM!’s Summer Resident Series

Where: WHAM! @ The World Bar When: Every Saturday night

SPACE IBIZA

What are you doing for New Years Day? WRONG! The correct answer is going to Space Pres Kahakuma, the first of three parties being held over summer by the one and only Space Ibiza. You’ll be grooving down to the beats of Seth Troxler, Radioslave and Eddie Richards – and we’d name more, but we’re worried the page might explode from the concentration of pure awesome. If you want to win a double pass that’ll get you along to the party at The Greenwood in North Sydney, all you have to do is tell us one (just one) of your new year resolutions.

GIRL TALK CSS

São Paulo’s Cansei de Ser Sexy, aka CSS, are set to perform at The Standard on Tuesday January 3. CSS prefigured Bonde De Role et al with the release of their self-titled debut album a couple of years back, which spawned the release of the quirky single ‘Let’s Make Love And Listen To Death From Above’ – which was remixed by Hot Chip. More recently, CSS have dropped their latest LP, La Liberación, which features the single ‘Hits Me Like A Rock’ and is out now through Cooperative Music. Presale tix are available online.

CSS

Pittsburgh native Gregg Gillis, aka mash-up maestro Girl Talk, will perform a Big Day Out sideshow at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Saturday January 28. Gillis has established a reputation as a party starter by accumulating more than a decade of sample-obsessed production and relentless touring across five albums. His recent album, All Day, manages to squeeze 373 samples into 71 minutes. But rather than me ramble on about it, why don’t you just download it? All Day is available for free download at illegal-art.net/allday. As with the Röyksopp tickets (a page back), Girl Talk tix will be on sale as of this Monday November 28.

GUETTA FOR CREAMFIELDS

Love him or loathe him, there’s no denying David Guetta’s ‘superstar’ status in the commercial pop/club milieu. Accordingly, there should be a fair amount of people enthused about the announcement that Guetta will be headlining the 2012 Creamfields festival next April. For anyone living under a rock, Guetta’s CV includes penning hits with or for Madonna, Sebastian Ingrosso, Kelly Rowland, Dirty South, Usher, will.i.am, Rihanna, Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and Kid Cudi. The full Creamfields event lineup will be announced in the coming weeks, and when it is, you can bet yo’ ass I’ll be writing it up on this very page. So keep your eyes open.

ARMIN VAN BUUREN

Stereosonic has announced that Dutch trance megastar Armin Van Buuren will play a Sydney sideshow at The Metro Theatre on Thursday

Mayer Hawthorne

MAYER HAWTHORNE

Mayer Hawthorne returns Down Under early next year, and will perform at The Metro Theatre on Friday February 24. Hawthorne, the adopted moniker of Andrew Cohen (a “white suburban boy” according to SMH), was raised in the outskirts of Detroit and was signed to Stones Throw by head honcho Peanut Butter Wolf after he heard only a few tracks. Hawthorne has since made the leap to the majors, and will be releasing his forthcoming sophomore album on Universal Music. How Do You Do? is apparently a far greater amalgamation of his influences (like Brian Wilson, Michael Macdonald and Marvin Gaye) than found on A Strange Arrangement, but those of you who choose to attend the February show will be able to judge for yourselves, as Mayer Hawthorne and his live band will be previewing material from the album. Presale tickets can be procured through the Metro’s website.

PLUMP DJS

Breaks stalwarts Plump DJs will perform at Chinese Laundry on Saturday January 21. The Plump DJs’ performance at the first ever Fuzzy Field Day way back in the early noughties would leave a lasting impression on many in attendance, and together with their releases A Plump Night Out and their mix for the canonical Fabriclive series, the duo helped shape a generation of Australian clubbers. The inevitable backlash followed, and the breaks scene in Australia has diminished since those halcyon days, but that’s not to say the Plumps have lost any of their prowess behind the decks – moving with the times, these veritable cockroaches of the club milieu have adapted and evolved their sounds, while lesser relics of the breaks scene sit in the lugubrious caverns of their living rooms, reminiscing of the good times of 2002…

Plump DJs

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December 1. An affable over-achiever, and the past winner of the prestigious DJ Top 100 poll, Armin deserves commendation for managing to complete a law degree while living the life of a DJ star. He’s also a crowd favourite in Australia, so make sure you snare presales lest you end up disappointed, queuing in the cold while hedonism abounds inside the venue.

DAS RACIST SIDESHOW

After their recent 30+ date US tour to “impregnate America with pop-art rap stylings/ next-level street literature”, Brooklyn ‘hare krishna hardcore/art rap/freak folk music’ trio Das Racist will play a BDO sideshow at Oxford Art Factory on January 25. After rising to Internet fame with 2008’s ‘Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell’, Das Racist proved they weren’t a flash in the pan with the release of their 2010 mixtapes Shut Up, Dude and Sit Down, Man. To summarise the group in a nutshell, it’s suitable to pilfer a passage from a Rolling Stone review that described Das Racist as “all-knowing, uncaring, worldly and provincial, fast and smart and dumb, all at the same time”.

The group recently dropped their debut fulllength, Relax, on Greedhead Music, a label imprint run by the group’s Himanshu Suri.

11.12.2011 42 OXFORD ST, DARLINGHURST SUB

DUST TONES PRE & C I SE SON

NTS

CHALI 2NA (LIVE) ACT

R. P

M C . M US I C I A N T

NA SSAN

AN M CE

SUPPORT

TRUE VIBENATION (BIG VILLAGE) BENTLEY KLUE (GABRIEL CLOUSTON) ADI B & DJ ABILITY

TICKETS ON SALE NOW THROUGH MOSHTIX.COM.AU 0 & &

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WHAM! Turns Six ...And Party Ensues By Jonno Seidler

I

f you don’t know about WHAM! by now, then you’ve been hanging out in the wrong parts of Kings Cross for way too long. James Taylor (not that one) and his crew have been smashing the decks until the early hours of Sunday morning for half a decade – and this week, they celebrate the night’s sixth birthday.

We hung out with Taylor to discuss how you turn a Kings Cross bar into a quality dance music cabana, how to take a proper weekend off, and one of the many benefits of medicinal Jägermeister...

WHAM! started off as a little night that could, on the bottom level of The World Bar – and now it takes over the entire venue each week. How did this happen?

WHAM! was running for a little over a year before Bianca Khalil and I took it over in 2007.

The venue itself had massive potential, yet WHAM! was only using the bottom level while the upstairs rooms were hired out for functions.

Right from the start I knew I wanted to run the night as a multi-room, multi-level, mini-super club. I guess I drew inspiration from when Sublime first moved into Home in 2000; the idea that you could go to one club and hear a whole heap of different genres in different rooms was something I loved. I still remember how nervous I was introducing a third room, wondering if people would even think to walk upstairs. By September 2008 we launched the fourth room, and we’ve never looked back.

What’s more daunting: a nightclub full of expectant punters, or hundreds of thousands of Fatboy Slim fans?

Ha – pretty different circumstances! The moments leading up to my set at Shore Thing before Fatboy Slim was pretty damn intimidating, but so is the first two hours of running a nightclub when you think that no one’s going to turn up. Once you’re in full swing, no matter what the situation is, I think auto pilot clicks in and “daunting” isn’t really an issue. It just becomes natural.

This birthday party is slated to go for eleven hours – a marathon by anyone’s standards.

What’s your dancing stamina tip?

Variety’s the spice, right...? We’ve got five rooms covering pretty much the whole spectrum of “good” dance music, so move around the venue and take it all in – oh, and Jägermeister. Liquid gold!

Have you had to adjust your social life to make up for your weekends?

Considering I’ve taken on running Sunday nights at World Bar now too, there isn’t much time for other social activities. My weekends are and have always been about work though; before I started promoting I was solely a DJ, and would play seven or eight gigs a weekend.

So for the last decade I haven’t known any other way – not that I’m complaining. The scary thing is when you take a weekend off and you don’t know what to do with yourself.

Club nights die in Sydney all the time, but yours has been going for almost six years.

What’s the secret?

I’d have to say at the end of the day it all comes down to quality of product, and having the right music at the right time of night.

Programming has always been a major thing with our nights. Alongside that, the element of FUN that is portrayed from everything about WHAM! From our marketing, to our various promotion campaigns, to the staff’s attitude every Saturday night – WHAM’s got the best door team around, and they don’t get the credit they deserve. Between all of us, we have as much fun as the punters each Saturday, and that really sets the right tone!

With: Oliver$ (Berlin), Act Yo Age, Kato, James Taylor, Pow Pow, Will Styles, Telefunken, Generic DJs, Ben Korbel, Adam Bozetto, Daigo, Shamozzle, James Taylor and more Where: WHAM!’s 6th Birthday @ The World Bar When: Saturday December 3

Carl Craig

Twenty Years Of Planet E By Alasdair Duncan

C

arl Craig’s Planet E is that rarest of success stories: a boutique label that has stayed in business for two decades, releasing quality techno records from its founder and a host of other electronic music luminaries. “I guess I really started the label because I didn’t want anybody else telling me what records I could and couldn’t put out,” Carl Craig tells me, of Planet E’s inception. “I’m totally fine with people telling me how to make my records better and giving me suggestions, but I wanted an avenue to release the stuff I was making and the stuff I loved.” For the young Craig, getting his head around the business side of running a record label was a steep learning curve. “I only went to high school and had a little bit of college, maybe a year, where I only took one or two business classes,” he says, “so I really had to find my own way into it – but where there’s a will there’s a way” As Craig sees it, the biggest change in electronic music over the last two decades has been one of accessibility. “When I was a kid, electronic artists were trying to make pop records, even people like Kraftwerk,” he says.

“The birth of rave, coupled with the more ready availability of electronic gear, opened things up a lot, and made it possible just to have fun.”

He uses the example of the track ‘Chime’, by Orbital. Those guys, Craig says, weren’t trying to make a commercial record – they just made the record they wanted to, and it found its way onto the charts because a lot of people really liked what they were doing. “In the early days of electronic music, people like The Human League and Devo were making pop records,” Craig says, “but it became less about pop, and more about just following whatever path you wanted.”

Planet E is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a compilation, an era-spanning set somewhat hubristically entitled 20 Fucking Years: We Ain’t Dead Yet. Craig is considered to be one of the godfathers of techno, and he has certainly stuck to his guns throughout his time at Planet E, delivering fine and uncompromising music. But that’s not to say that Planet E have never had to compromise. A few years ago, the label started selling digital tracks, something Craig initially swore they would never do. “Vinyl sales have been decreasing over the years,” Craig explains, when I ask about the reasoning behind this decision.

“There’s a threshold that I had where I thought, if I can’t sell more than this number of vinyl records, then what’s the point trying to do it? I have a small staff, but they’re still staff, and they need to make a living.” If sales for a new-release vinyl would once have been 10,000, these days Craig reckons you’d be lucky to crack one tenth of that. “Whether you’re a major label or an independent or a guy making tracks out of his basement, there comes a point where you really need to assess what you’re doing and figure out if it’s practical.”

Craig is also celebrating his label’s 20th anniversary with a tour, that will bring him as far as Australia to spin records for the masses.

“I’ll be delving into the back catalogue and the recent catalogue, and then just play some pieces I like that I feel will be right for the event,” Craig says. “I’m not sure what the lineup will be or who else will be there, but I just know I’m coming, and that’s enough!”

What: 20 Fucking Years: We Aint Dead Yet is out now through Planet E Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday December 17

Hilltop Hoods Here Comes The Sun By Dan Watt has to “pinch myself occasionally to remind me that all this is real!”

Hilltop Hoods have released five albums since 1999, with their third, the aforementioned The Calling, the one which broke them into the mainstream. Rumours of a sixth album due in February were confirmed after we spoke. “The next record is called Drinking From The Sun ... It has four or five guest producers working on it, and other artists guesting on songs.

Honestly, it’s shaping up to be really exciting, with all three of us really happy with the lyrics,” Smith says.

B

RAG readers can be pretty easily separated into two categories: those who hate Aussie hip hop, and those who love it. But regardless of which you fall into, there’s one truth that’s undeniable – since the release of The Calling back in 2004, Adelaide rap group the Hilltop Hoods went from being the lepers of the Australian music industry to the pin-up boys.

“Well, I’d say more ‘pin-up lepers!’” jokes a

54 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

bashful Daniel Smith. As MC Pressure, Smith is one half of Hilltop Hoods’ vocal assault, with the other mic wielded by Suffa (Matt Lambert), and beats from DJ Debris. Smith is talking to me ahead of a massive summer for Hilltop Hoods, with their fifth Big Day Out tour early next year on a lineup that also features Odd Future, Kayne West and Battles. Even before that, though, they’re supporting Eminem and Lil Wayne at the Sydney Football Stadium early next month. Smith explains that he still

The Hilltop Hoods’ commitment to making music their career was further evidenced in 2008 by the establishment of their own record label, Golden Era Records. “This year we’ve released Vents and Funkoars, with Vents’ Marked For Death being nominated for an ARIA,” Smith says. “And Funkoars released their album only a few months ago and it made it in to the top ten of the ARIA charts – so we’re obviously super happy and really surprised that two underground acts from Adelaide could do so well!”

But it’s a tricky world out there; Aussie hip hop has never really made a mark on the global scale. While Bliss N Eso and Hilltop Hoods have had reasonably successful US tours and picked up some strong contacts, it’s been a tricky market to penetrate. One obvious barrier has been that Australian dance producers rarely use Australian rappers on their projects.

I ask Smith why he thinks that might be. “It’s a good question, and I don’t have the answer to it, but they’re obviously different genres,” he replies. “I certainly don’t think there is any illwill between the two groups – just not a close working relationship. There are some more old school Aussie hip hop groups that incorporate electro into their sound...”

One US connection that Hilltop Hoods are especially proud of, and which demonstrates the respect Aussie hip hop has earned from some key international players, is their relationship with Pharoahe Monch, who worked with them on ‘Classic Example’, a cut from 2009’s State Of The Art. Best known for his genre defying 1999 banger ‘Simon Says (Get The Fuck Up)’, the US rapper has been playing the game for over twenty years, having released his first album in 1991 with the group Organized Konfusion. “We basically tracked him down because we were just massive fans of him, with myself having grown up on Organized Konfusion!” Smith gushes.

“We were so stoked when he agreed to work with us.”

With: Eminem and Lil Wayne Where: Sydney Football Stadium When: Friday December 2 (sold out) / Sunday December 4 More: Also playing Big Day Out 2012 with Kanye West, Soundgarden, My Chemical Romance and more on January 26 @ Sydney Showground

The Gaslamp Killer High End Theory By Miki McLay

A

s a wise person once said to me, “haters gonna hate”. It’s a phrase that must run through Willie Bensussen’s mind regularly, as he hides underneath that notorious mess of curls spinning all manner of eclectic, far-out beats. Bensussen earned his nickname in the LA district of Gaslamp where, at the tender age of sixteen, he began to develop a reputation for terrifying the good-looking natives with his distinctive mash-up of hip hop and psych. Most people would give up after being approached by gorgeous women in clubs, only to be told that they were ruining the entire night with their DJ set – but thankfully, The Motherfucking Gaslamp Killer (as he refers to himself) has more balls than most.

Ten years later and Bensussen sounds happy to be on the phone to me, getting ready to hit Australia for a string of tour dates that include an appearance at Oxford Art Factory this Friday.

He’s surprisingly coherent, given that the day before our interview happened to be his 29th birthday – “Had some friends over, ate some cake, smoked some weed and enjoyed each other’s company...” After the initial exchange of pleasantries, we delve straight into all things Gaslamp Killer – and his take on his career’s inauspicious beginnings is similarly chilled out. “It hurt my feelings, of course, to get shitted on by people I thought might actually like what I was doing – the patrons I grew up playing for, they never got it, they ll never get it. But the people in LA, the people all around the world, they get it and appreciate it, and that’s all that matters.”

everything in between. “I grew up with a hip hop state of mind, and battling was a part of that. If someone called you out, you had to step up to the plate and battle them, you couldn’t back down. But it was creative, it was good. You can make anything work – it’s just got to have the right energy, more than anything.”

His production material adheres to a similar ethos: sample-heavy and adventurous, with unrelenting rhythms and an undeniable sense of groove. Those who are eagerly awaiting new GLK material will be glad to hear it’s in the pipeline. “There’s a new album in the works right now – I’m actually sitting in the studio as we speak,” he tells me. Asked about a release date, however, he’s a little vague. “There’s no plan so far. I’m just going to work on it until I can’t stand it anymore. It’s been a long time coming – some of the stuff on this album are bits and pieces from ten years ago.”

With: Levins, JPS, Prize Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday December 2

“Brainfeeder was like getting the homies together, like-minded people, to put out records that nobody gave a shit about.

Overlooked producers – Flying Lotus always took an interest in the underdogs, he himself was one for so long.”

Los Angeles is frequently billed as the creative capital of the world; a place where one in six people work in the creative arts industry, a place which is home to everything from the Academy Awards to forward-thinking, trailblazing labels such as Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder, on which Bensussen resides in the company of other future-beats luminaries like Tokimonsta, Lorn, Thundercat and Martyn. “Flying Lotus and I have been friends for a while, and Brainfeeder started a long time ago. It was like getting the homies together, like-minded people, to put out records that nobody gave a shit about,” he laughs.

“Overlooked producers – Lotus always took an interest in the underdogs, he himself was one for so long. Brainfeeder’s a bunch of different styles, I guess. We all help each other’s careers.

Brainfeeder is nothing without the artists on it; we all shape each other, vibing off and feeding each other.”

And Los Angeles is a city that has treated The Gaslamp Killer well. As one of the minds behind the much-adored club night Low End Theory, along with Daddy Kev, Nobody and D-Styles, it’s clear that he plays a key role in the development of the music scene over there. “A lot of the people in the LA beats scene are spaced out, not coming together very often – everyone lives far away from each other, cut off,” he explains.

“Daddy Kev wanted to really get the community together, to start nurturing up-and-coming producers and the younger people, and give back to the new generations that were coming out. The older guys that he grew up with and ran with grew up and kind of abandoned it – found themselves moving on, or stuck in the old times.

We thought we’d put together a new team, to get everybody back together, and that’s what Low End Theory has become: a place where young and old and new producers, and creative people, can get together with the fans and vibe on the same kind of plane. Getting together, sharing energy. I think that’s what Low End Theory was intended to be.

There’s a real sense of community and shared experience within Bensussen’s creative world, from the heavy use of sampling within his production material to the no-holdsbarred approach to mixing that he brings to performances, which see him taking clubbers through laid-back, downtempo jams to glitchedout psychedelica, hard-hitting dubstep and BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 55

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Soul Sedation

Soul, Dub, Hip Hop & Bottom-heavy Beats with Tony Edwards Soul Sedation goes live every Wednesday night on Bondi FM (88.0 or bondifm.com.au). Tune in 10pm 'til midnight to hear a deep and soulful selection of the tunes covered here, and plenty more that I don't have room for.

ON THE ROAD FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Mulatu Astatke Factory Theatre

Gaslamp Killer Oxford Art Factory

DECEMBER 2-4 Subsonic Music Festival Barrington Tops

FRIDAY DECEMBER 9 Hermitude The Standard

A

nyone who reads the column regularly should be well aware of my penchant for pioneering ‘80s pop group Depeche Mode. And anyone who has listened to remixes of Depeche Mode will attest that there have been some spectacular adaptations of their songs for a club context; take, for instance, the Ricardo Villalobos remix of ‘The Sinner In Me’, the Minilogue take on ‘In Chains’, or the Danny Tenaglia rework of ‘I Feel Love’. Having seen the club cognoscenti successfully appropriate their revered work for the nightclub environ, two of the original Depeche Mode lineup have themselves decided to turn their attentions towards techno. Vince Clarke (of Depeche Mode, Yazoo and Erasure) has joined forces with one-time bandmate Martin Gore (the mastermind responsible for penning the majority of the bona fide Depeche Mode classics, such as ‘Enjoy The Silence ) for a new techno project called VCMG. The pair will release an album, which is as yet untitled, on Mute records in the new year. The project was purportedly inspired by Clarke’s increased interest in minimalist techno sounds, and when he thought he needed a musical foil to work with he contacted his old bandmate to see if he was up for collaborating. As Gore explains, “Out of the blue I got an e-mail from Vince just saying, ‘I’m interested in making a techno album. Are you interested in collaborating?’ This was maybe a year ago. He said, ‘No pressure, no deadlines,’ so I said, ‘OK.” The two never met whilst recording the record, writing and recording separately and only exchanging material over the Internet (doing an Apparat, if you will – see this week’s cover story for the context of that 'joke'). No previews have been leaked to the public online just yet, but judging by the kind of techno that Gore has been playing in his techno DJ sets, we think you can expect something of the big room, muscular variety. The first release will be an EP called Spock, with remixes

by Regis, Edit Select and DVS1, which we can expect to be released ahead of the full album as a sonic appetiser of sorts.

Esteemed Cologne-based label Kompakt has announced the tracklist for its 11th annual Pop Ambient compilation. Curated as usual by label co-founder Wolfgang Voigt, Pop Ambient 2012 features two contributions from Voigt himself – one of which is a track from Mohn, his new collaborative “ambient-grunge-downbeat” project with longtime sparring partner Jörg ‘The Modernist’ Burger. Other participating artists include Superpitcher, Triola, Magazine (the Cologne electronic group, rather than Howard Devoto’s post-punk ensemble), Bvdub, Marsen Jules, Loops Of Your Heart, Morek and ex-Slowdive member Simon Scott.

a rather saccharine and clichéd phrase, but I assure you it is more than apt in this instance!) Subsonic is a festival more akin to parties in Europe – think Fusion festival outside of Berlin for instance – than those following the rather rigid template set by the major inner city festivals in Sydney. Just look at the basic facts: Subsonic is held in a resort located on a world heritage site that the organisers literally book out for the entire week; there is none of the autocratic paternal nonsense that sees most festivals play banging techno at midday and stop the music at 10pm; the music runs well into the night, and the day time musical programming is far more suitable for kicking back and enjoying a summer’s day – think live performances of hip hop, dub and the sort of stuff that’s the subject of the column opposite. Furthermore, it’s BYO – say goodbye to queuing for 30 minutes for a ten-dollar beer. All of this is merely scratching the surface. For further details, hit subsonicmusic.com.au – but you won’t understand what you’re missing out on until you actually bite the bullet and make the two-hour drive north. So for the last time: buy a ticket, and thank me on the dancefloor.

LOOKING DEEPER THURSDAY DECEMBER 1

Claude Von Stroke (free with RSVP!) The Spice Cellar

DECEMBER 2-4

Minilogue, Frivolous, Apparat Subsonic Music Festival

SATURDAY DECEMBER 11 Vince Watson, Channel X The Greenwood Hotel

THURSDAY JANUARY 26 Matthew Dear AGWA Boat Party

ising soul star Aloe Blacc returns to Australia in early January, with his crossover journey into the mainstream cemented by his headline appearance at the Enmore Theatre. Over the past 18 months, Blacc’s hit ‘I Need A Dollar’ has taken him from community and underground radio stations to fullblown commercial airplay and ARIA chart acknowledgement for his album Good Things. New fans of his style may be interested to look back into his early recordings on Stones Throw Records that show him rapping and singing in both Spanish and English over electronic neosoul productions and broken beats.

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With Tonic Lounge now closed indefinitely, you have to dig a little deeper to find a dose of good funk and soul. Funkdafied Fridays down at Gotham is one such offering, where you can catch a broad collective of Sydney DJs on rotation playing styles like Afrobeat, soul, funk, hip hop and disco.

Speaking of disco, look out for the self-titled full-length from NY disco band Escort. The 17-piece outfit made a name for themselves a couple of years back covering Dillinger’s ‘Cocaine Blues’, and they've put together an album of electronic, ‘80s revival disco, funk and boogie.

In new music: those of you who caught Onra’s show at the OAF a few weeks back will want to know about the release of his Chinoiseries pt 2. There’s 32 beats in total, and it’s out on All City Records.

Speech Debelle is about to drop a new album, the follow up to her Mercury prizewinning debut, Speech Therapy. The new record is called Freedom Of Speech, and listen out for lead track ‘Studio Backpack’ – it’s on the same raw, sparse, poetic-but-cute hip hop tip that the London MC pushes.

Wah Wah 45s boss Scrimshire has readied a new album. The Hollow launches with lead single ‘Home’, an incredibly classy piece of work that features vocals from the lead singer of The Resonators as well as remix work from Captain Planet and Leed’s producer, Paper Tiger. And further on that Captain Planet front, a remix EP of his amazing album Cookin’ Gumbo – probably Soul Sedation’s top album of 2011 – is due out early next year.

FRIDAY DECEMBER 30 Scratch Perverts Oxford Art Factory

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 1 Crazy P & DJ Maestro Sun Studios

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 4 Easy Star All Stars Factory Theatre Aloe Blacc Enmore Theatre

Portuguese party-starters Buraka Som Sistema release their new album this week.

Komba is a fusion of global ghetto tech, dancehall, and new electronic beats of all persuasions. The new collection features collaborations with Roses Gabor – whose name you’ll recognise from SBTRKT’s album – as well as Afrikan Boy and Stereotyp.

And a couple more parties to add to your summer calendar: The Scratch Perverts are coming back through town next month.

Their past two shows have been massive nights for fans of hip hop, party breaks, UK funky, dubstep and DnB, and there’s nothing to suggest this one will be any different. It goes down Friday October 30 at the Oxford Art Factory, with supports from Frenzie, MK 1 and Naiki. DJ Yoda and Sampology will be rocking audio visual sets at the same venue on January 14, both artists mashing up sound and vision at the same time.

The Record Store celebrates eight years in the business with a birthday party at Heavy Feather on Sunday December 4. The store, just off Crown Street in Surry Hills, is one of the last remaining bastions of vinyl in Sydney, with Spank Records closing down earlier this year. But you might well miss this party if you’re headed to Barrington Tops this weekend for the third Subsonic Music festival. There’s still time to plan the trip if you haven’t already – Soul Sedation will see you up there!

Now ladies and gentlemen, before I depart, let me issue one final reminder about the Subsonic Festival this weekend.

I’ve spoken to the festival organisers and they’ve assured me tickets will be available on the door for those who have not purchased presales but wish to rock up 'on a whim’. My advice to you? Rock up on a whim! Minilogue, Apparat, Alexkid, Frivolous and Max Cooper will all be performing, but even aside from a delectable techno lineup, I must emphasise that this is a festival that goes well beyond the music. (It pains me to utter what is

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com 56 :: BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11

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

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

club pick of the week Chali 2na

FRIDAY DEC 2 – SUNDAY DEC 4 Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops

Subsonic Music Festival

Chali 2na (USA), Apparat (GER), Tiki Taane & DJ Sambora (NZ), Minilogue (GER), Hermitude, A Guy Called Gerald (USA), Thundamentals, Phil Kieran (UK), Resin Dogs, Max Cooper (UK), King Tide, Egbert (UK), Big Village, Frivolous (UK), The Upbeats (NZ), Alexkid (FRA), Opiuo, Marc Antona (Ibiza), Crushington (NZ), Channel X (GER), Spoonbill, Antix (NZ), Heyoka

, Solead (FRA), Dubmarine, Perfect Stranger (Israel), Kobra Kai, Turmspringer (GER), Benjalu, SQL (Holland), Ebb n Flo, Fine Cut Bodies (Hungary), Rhythm Hunters, Le K (FRA), Mr Bamboo, Tim Richards (NZ), Phaeleh (UK), George Delkos (Greece), DeVille (UK), Tiago Oudman (GER), Mr Bill, D-Sens (FRA), Monk Fly, Anna Leevia (BRA), Olie Bassweight (NZ), Rasmus Lutzen (Denmark), Klue, Simon (USA)

Caldwell, DJ Ability, Foreigndub and more $150 (+ bf) from 4pm on Friday

The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Monday Jam Danny G Felix, Djay Kohinga free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz DJs free 7pm

Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frat House free Scubar, Sydney Backpacker Karaoke 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesdays DJs free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Tuesdays Ping Pong Tiddly, Mike J, Chappers, Paolo free 8pm

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30

Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJ Willie Sabor free 6pm

Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Palace Uni Night DJs free 9pm Cargo Lounge, Sydney Menage a Trois 5pm

MONDAY NOVEMBER 28

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Home The Venue, Sydney Embrace Wednesdays free 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction Voodoo DJs free 9pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Friend DJ free 8pm The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown Student Nights DJ Moussa free Scubar, Sydney Schoonerversity 3pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Sincopa free 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Pop The Hatch, Tony and Toddy, Singha, Ella Locha,

Adrian Gidaro, Clockwerk free 8pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill Hed Kandi @ The Cool Room – Chris Luder, Rachel Andrews Cargo Lounge King St Wharf Thursdays I’m in Love DJs free 5pm 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 Metro Theatre, Sydney Armin Van Buuren, Jochen Miller, MaRLo $80 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Pretty Lights (USA) $30 (+ bf) 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 The Spice Cellar, Sydney Claude VonStroke (USA), Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe, YokoO, Matt Weir, Steven Sullivan, Christian Verlaan $20 10pm The Standard, Darlinghurst Apparat (GER), Bon Chat Bon Rat, Max Cooper (UK) $35 (+ bf) 8pm Theloft, King St Wharf Thursdays at theloft Nad, Stu Turner, Mr Belvedere 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Chappers free (student)–$5 9pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Arthouse Hotel, Sydney RnB Superclub G-Wizard, Troy T, Lilo, Def Rok, Eko, MC Jayson $15 9.30pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Movement Conics 8pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Damn Dogs, The Kingswoods, The Ruminators, Alison Wonderland 8pm Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Button Down Disco ft Pretty Young Things Hey Big Aki, The Pretties, 2Busy 2Kiss, Crysist, Snatch, Hypa, Seb De Bass, Acaddamy $10-$15 8pm The Cellar, Broadway Void Sound Paul Blackout, BMX Joe, Victim free-$10 9pm Civic Underground, Sydney Volar DJs 10pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Knightlife EP Launch Cutters DJs, Knightlife, Das Moth, Tunnel Signs, Francis Chang $12 (+ bf) 11pm

Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney DJ Cadell free 5pm Gypsy Lounge, Darlinghurst Warp Speed DJ Bzurk, DJ Absynth, DJ Guillotine $15 9pm Home Nightclub, Sydney AVICII (SWE), Madeon (FRA), Minx, Helena, Matt Nukewood, Fake Bratpack $45 (+ bf) 10pm Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park Breakout LMFAO (USA), The Bloody Beetroots (ITA), Afrojack, Armin Van Buuren (The Netherlands), The Potbelleez, 360, Marvin Priest, Diafrix, DJ IZM, DJ Flagrant, Elen Levon, SCNDL 3pm sold out under 18s Hotel Chambers, Martin Place F*** Me I’m Famous Sirdee, Eko, Mizzy $15 9pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Rat Pack DJs 9pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Kristy Lee, Hobophonics, Bernie Dingo, Drew Kilpatrick free-$10 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction W!ldlive Fridays DJs $10 10pm The Marlborough Hotel, Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free My House Nightclub, Darlinghurst Pump! The Party Adam Love, Dan Murphy, Jason B $15 (+ bf) 10pm 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 Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Hold Tight! Gaslamp Killer, Levins, Jps, Prize $35 (+ bf) 8pm Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort, Barrington Tops Sub Sonic Music Festival Chali 2na (USA), Apparat (GER), Tiki Taane & DJ Sambora (NZ), Minilogue (GER), Hermitude, A Guy Called Gerald (USA), Thundamentals, Phil Kieran (UK), Resin Dogs, Max Cooper (UK), King Tide, Egbert (UK), Big Village, Frivolous (UK), The Upbeats (NZ), Alexkid (FRA), Opiuo, Marc Antona (Ibiza), Crushington (NZ), Channel X (GER), Spoonbill, Antix (NZ), Heyoka (USA), Solead (FRA), Dubmarine, Perfect Stranger (Israel), Kobra Kai, Turmspringer (GER), Benjalu, SQL (Holland), Ebb n Flo, Fine Cut Bodies (Hungary), Rhythm Hunters, Le K (FRA), Mr Bamboo, Tim Richards (NZ), Phaeleh (UK), George Delkos (Greece), DeVille (UK), Tiago Oudman (GER), Mr Bill, D-Sens (FRA), Monk Fly, Anna Leevia (BRA), Olie Bassweight (NZ), Rasmus Lutzen (Denmark), Klue, Simon Caldwell, Farj & Paul Fraser, Phil Smart, Adi B, Mike Callander, Bentley, Thankyou City, Lo-Ki, Oblique Industries, DJ Ability, Muska, Roleo, Rex N Chappo, Mars Sunset, Jimi Polar, Kakhand, Franchi Bros, Rollers Music, Closer Apart, Foreigndub, D & D, Drachemann, Defined

By Rhythm, Kalya Scintilla, Glitch DJs, Matt Weir, Bump DJs, Kodiak Kid, Marcotix, Max Gosford, MSG, The Abyss, Dylan Griffin, Actuator, Jordan Deck, Gilsun, Dave Stuart, Beans, Trinity, Shredexx, Rif Raf, Luke Harland, Robbie Lowe, Bumble, Suspekt, Lubdub, Abuse, PriZe,

Logan Baker, Kimba, Shepz, Perfects Snatch, Wodger Want, Andy Webb, JML, Loin Brothers, Yoko, Kali, Chris Honnery, Motek & Gaz La, DJ Sorceress, T-Boy, The Cook, Electrocado, Volta, Triptych, Darius Bassiray, Ozzy, Punkzonjunk, Raffi Lovechild, Tavish, Daheen, Robohan, Stylz, Timmus, Ritchie Jay, Javi Sampol, T:mo, Sam Roberts, Nick McMartin, Rex n Chappo, Kid Fiction $150 (+ bf) 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 The Spice Cellar, Sydney Motorik Guy Gerber (IL), Ben Korbel & Declan Lee, Slow Blow, Cosmonaut & Mr Hermens free 10pm Trademark Hotel Piano Room, Kings Cross Eve Jessica Sutta, DJs 9pm Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park Eminem (USA), Lil Wayne (USA), Hilltop Hoods 8pm sold out Valve Bar, Tempe Bass Meditation Muss, Busta Moo, Ill Faded, D Reds, Body Shat Chas, Syph, Dimension, MC Harlequin 7pm The Watershed Hotel Bring On The Weekend! DJ Anders Hitchcock, DJ Matty Roberts free Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham Eschalon Drum n’ Bass DJs $5-$10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM The Strums, The Messengers, The Pretty Lies, The Pixiekills, Lowlakes, Fox Valley, MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Shake! Shake! Shake! Zomg!

Kittens, Disco Volante, Stress Less, Fawkes, Robust, Dirty Mindz $15-$20 9pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf The Institute of Music DJs free 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Kaz James, Swick, The Immigrant, Neon Stereo, Matttt, Bella Sarris, Jake Hough & Robbie Cordukes, Brothers Grimm, Mike Hyper, Athson $15 (early bird)–$25 9pm Club 77, Woolloomooloo Starfuckers Presents Revival Rave Starfuckers DJs, Mon Ami All-Stars 10pm Cohibar DJ Brynstar free The Cool Room, Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill DJ free 9pm Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly DJs 8.30pm Establishment, Sydney Sienna G-Wizard, Troy T, Def Rok, Eko, Lilo 9pm The Factory Theatre, Enmore Club Arak DJ Chadi $30 (+ bf) 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney GrandWizard Theodore (USA), MK-1, Mathmatics, Frenzie $25 (+ bf) 11pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays DJs $20-$25 9pm

club guide send your listings to: clubguide@thebrag.com Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Jeff Drake, Cadell, Liam Sampras, Digital Love, Nat Conway, Johnny Sommerville $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 Distortion Document One (UK), Rubio, Guillotine, Crysist, Brown Bear, Enochi, Blog Wars $15 (+ bf) 9pm Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar, Darlinghurst Impossible Odds, Radical Son, Prophet Rayza, Schoolfight $15 8pm 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 The Spice Cellar, Sydney John Power (IRE), Robbie Lowe, Murat Kilic, Amy Fairweather & Tom Brereton free-$20 10pm Star Bar, Sydney Situation DJs free 10pm St James Hotel, Sydney SFX DJs 9pm

Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Trademark 4th Birthday DJs 8pm Valve Bar, Tempe Fervent & SWARM present Inigo Kennedy (UK), Vic Zee, Allan Nonamaka, Shaden Fruede, Mookie $23.50 8pm 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 Is Six Oliver$ (GER), James Taylor, Act Yo Age, Kato, Pow Pow, Ben Korbel, Will Styles, Telefunken, Generic DJs, Adam Bozetto, Mitch Krosher, Lamanex, Jeremy Joshua, Shamozzle, Daigo $15-$20 8pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 Basement Level, 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney Spice Matt Weir, James Taylor, Murat Kilic $20 4am The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays DJs 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 Oatley Hotel Sunday Sessions DJ Tone free 7pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays DJs free 8pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst P*A*S*H P*A*S*H DJs $10 7pm Sydney Football Stadium, Moore Park Eminem (USA), Lil Wayne (USA), Hilltop Hoods 8pm The Watershed Hotel Afternoon DJs DJ Brynstar free The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust Simon Caldwell, YokoO, James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm

Simon Caldwell

club picks up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30

Kaz James

The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Pop The Hatch, Tony and Toddy, Singha, Ella Locha, Adrian Gidaro, Clockwerk free 8pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill Hed Kandi @ The Cool Room – Chris Luder, Rachel Andrews Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Pretty Lights (USA) $30 (+ bf) 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Claude VonStroke (USA), Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe, YokoO, Matt Weir, Steven Sullivan, Christian Verlaan $20 10pm The Standard, Darlinghurst Apparat (GER), Bon Chat Bon Rat, Max Cooper (UK) $35 (+ bf) 8pm

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Movement Conics 8pm

GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Knightlife EP Launch Cutters DJs, Knightlife, Das Moth, Tunnel Signs, Francis Chang $12 (+ bf) 11pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Hold Tight! Gaslamp Killer, Levins, Jps, Prize $35 (+ bf) 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Motorik Guy Gerber (IL), Ben Korbel & Declan Lee, Slow Blow, Cosmonaut & Mr Hermens free 10pm

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Kaz James, Swick, The Immigrant, Neon Stereo,

Matttt, Bella Sarris, Jake Hough & Robbie Cordukes, Brothers Grimm, Mike Hyper, Athson $15 (early bird)– $25 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham Is Six Oliver$ (GER), James Taylor, Act Yo Age, Kato, Pow! Pow!, Ben Korbel, Will Styles, Telefunken, Generic DJs, Adam Bozetto, Mitch Krosher, Lamanex, Jeremy Joshua, Shamozzle, Daigo $15$20 8pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust Simon Caldwell, YokoO, James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm

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snap

goodgod

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up all night out all week . . .

kink

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19:11:11 :: GoodGod :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 9267 3787

girl thing

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19:11:11 :: The Arthouse Hotel :: 275 Pitt Street Sydney 9284 1200

19:11:11 :: Q Bar :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93601375

It’s called: Chamber Fridays It sounds like: Whatever makes you want to dance all night.

Sell it to us: Even the most hardcore party pooper will find something to love about Hotel Chambers. This is not just a bar never forget. With the sensational décor, hardw – it’s an experience you will orking staff (who are easy on the eye) and the top DJs spinning your favour ite tunes every week, this is definitely the place to be every Friday night.

Who’s spinning? We have celebrity and guest DJs every Friday night!

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Calvin Harris & Rihanna – ‘We Found Love [r3hab remix]'; B.O.B ft. Lil Wayn e – ‘Strange Clouds’; Deadmau5 – ‘Professional Griefers’.

And one you definitely won’t: Justin Biebe r will definitely be someone you won’t here at our venue...

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The music , the cocktails and the babes.

Crowd specs: Dress to impress.

Wallet damage: $10 Where: Hotel Chambers / 52 Martin Place, CBD When: Friday December 2

burnski

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shrug 19:11:11 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 60 :: BRAG :: 440: 28:11:11

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19:11:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

party profile

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hotel chambers

19:11:11 :: The Civic Hotel :: 388 Pitt Street Sydney 8080 7000 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RGE POPOV :: SAM WHITESIDE GEO :: Y CHE PEA MAS THO :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS TIM WHITNEY

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

DSS Presents:

BE

★ FRI DEC 02 ★

$10 AFTER

9PM - 3AM

★ FRI DEC 09 ★

DANCEHALL, REGGAE, DUB

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

9PM - 3AM

$10 AFTER

'NICE UP THE

BOUNCE!' ★ FRI DEC 16 ★

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

9PM - 3AM

$10 AFTER

SONNY FODERA PLUS RESIDENT DJ’S

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

★ FRI DEC 23 ★

$10 AFTER

T WO R O O M S

L I V E A C T S T I L L AT E F I R E W O R K S PA S S O U T S

FIRST

R E L E AS E $50 SE $60

W W W. T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S .C OM

TICKETS & BOOKINGS: BOOKINGS@LOWSOCIETYDUBSTEP.COM

1 8 A R G Y L E S T, T H E R O C K S , S Y D N E Y N S W 2 0 0 0 P HONE 02 9247 5500

450 PARAMATTA RD PETERSHAM 9560 0400

T H E A R GY L E R O C K S.C O M R E S E R VAT I O N S @ T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S . C O M FAC E B O O K .C O M / T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 61

snap

PICS :: DM

propaganda

das moth

PICS :: KC

up all night out all week . . .

18:11:11 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney

17:11:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700

pizza parties

the exchange hotel

It sounds like: Disco pogo for punks in pump s.

Who’s spinning? Nicky Night Time, Kato, Vallar ie Yum, Lux Life, Beni, AJAX, and this week’s guest Das Moth (Japa n).

Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Jame s Blake – ‘Limit To Your Love [Daniel Bortz remix]’; Prince – ‘Seven’; Big Sean & Nicki Minaj – ‘Dance [a$$ remix]’.

And one you definitely won’t: David Guett a (that shit can guett fucked).

Sell it to us: There’s a new taste sensation on the Thursday nightlife menu – PIZZA! Yes, we’ve come up with the ultimate recipe to clog your party arteries with good times.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Waking up with New York slice stuck down your pants.

Crowd specs: Ping pong-loving good folks.

Wallet damage: Free entry, free pizza, cheap drinks.

Where: The Standard / Lvl 3, 383 Bourke St Surry Hills When: Thursdays, 9pm till late

PICS :: GP

18:11:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711

party profile

oxford art factory

PICS :: GP

It’s called: Pizza parties!

wham!

19:11:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 PICS :: TW

the cool room

17:11:11 :: Australian Brewery :: 350 Annangrove Rd Rouse Hill 9679 4555

62 :: BRAG :: 440: 28:11:11

PICS :: DM

18:11:11 :: The Exchange Hotel :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93601375

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) POPOV :: SAM WHITESIDE :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RGE GEO :: Y CHE :: THOMAS PEA ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS TIM WHITNEY

Fender Pawn Shop Mustang Special

OUR PRICE $1,149 Retail: $1,499 You Save: $350

Fender Pawn Shop ’72

OUR PRICE $1,149 Retail: $1,499 You Save: $350

Ph: (02) 93693922

e: shop@intermusic.com.au

www.intermusic.com.au

Special alnico speaker edition

Vox amp plug free with your new amp.

Vox AC30CC2x Guitar Amp Combo

SALE $1,799 You Save: $400

KRK Rokit 5 studio montors

Audio Technica ATH-RE70

Audio Technica ATH-M50

RRP: $599

RRP: $99

RRP: $249

OUR PRICE $459

OUR PRICE $79

OUR PRICE $199

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 39

i guide g Daryl Braithwaite & Band Manly Fisho’s $27.50 8pm Diesel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $53–$123 (dinner & show) 8pm Dig The Studio, Sydney Opera House 8pm Dirty Deeds – The AC/DC Show Blue Cattle Dog Hotel, St Clair free 8.30pm Felicity Groom, Dancing Heals, We Go Bang Bang!, DJ Magic Happens The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills free 6pm Feral Swing Katz Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Funpuppet Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction free 8pm The Furious Five Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Glenn Whitehall Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5.30pm The Hello Morning Manly Boatshed 7.30pm Homebake: Grinderman, Ladyhawke, Pnau, Gotye, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Rockwiz, Cut Copy, Icehouse, Daniel Merriweather, Eskimo Joe, Drapht, The Triffids, Architecture in Helsinki, The Vines, The Church, The Jezabels, Kimbra, C.W. Stoneking, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Illy, Avalanche City, Unknown Mortal Orchestra (NZ), Papa Vs Pretty, Killaqueenz, Kids of 88 (NZ), Passenger, Noah Taylor & the Sloppy Boys, Vents, 360, Ratcat, Gold Fields, Bleeding Knees Club, Big Scary, Owl Eyes, Damn Dogs, Split Seconds, Rufus, Unearthed Winner

The Domain, Sydney $95 (+ bf) 11am Immersion, Tenpenny Towers, She’s Taken Empires, What We’ve Made, Dishonoured, Lakeside Valve Bar, Tempe free 11am Jack Derwin Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm JD’s Duo Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 7pm Jimmy Bear The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Kingswoods, Fangs, Foreign Objects Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Lj Kro Bar, Bondi Junction free 8pm Millennium Bug Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Musica De Fuego: Sydney City Trash, Handsome Young Strangers, Steppin

Razor, Nudist Colonies of the World, Sweat & Shame, Billy Demos The Red Rattler, Marrickville $12 6pm Nat Col & the Kings Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor free 8.30pm all-ages Rebecca Johnson Band Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee free 10pm Sand Pebbles, The Astral Kaleidoscope, The Sun Blindness GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 7pm SFX: Monte, Oh Pacific, Wake the Giants, Villa Rise St James Hotel, Sydney $12$15 9pm The Shack: The April Maze, Gilbert Whyte, Badja River Quartet Tramshed Community Arts Centre, Narrabeen $20 7.30pm Singled Out The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free (early bird)–$5 9pm

Soulfood a Cappella, Kevin Hunt Independent Theatre, North Sydney $30 8pm all-ages Spacebong, Looking Glass, Adrift For Days, Hydromedusa, Machinoir Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 7pm Swamp Dandies, The Lucky Dutchman Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham $12 8pm Urban Fusion – Roll The Dice: Danny G. Felix Project, Roger vs The Man, Anton Lock & Tom Royce, Kween G Notes Live, Enmore $15 (+ bf) 7pm V8 Supercars Grand Final: Hunters & Collectors, John Farnham, Noiseworks, James Reyne, Crooked Saint Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush $56-$133 4pm all-ages Veen, Bloods, Evil J & Feint The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm

JAZZ

The Bass: Martinez Brothers The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Jane Irving Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $10-$20 8.30pm Kafe Kool Supper Club, Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Paul Grabowski Sextet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Beecroft Bush Dance Beecroft Community Centre $12 (member)–$17 8pm

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 ROCK & POP

Ace Brighton RSL Club, BrightonLe-Sands free 7pm Andy Bull, WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop, Slow Down Honey The Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages Clara C (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $29-$55 (+ bf) 6pm Dragon Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $48–$106 (dinner & show) 8pm Excellent Robot, The Fabergettes, The Dreamboats The Annandale Hotel $10 6.30pm Gary Johns Trio, Elevtion U2 Show The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Hell Crab City, Cousin Betty Band, Al Breed Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Leadfinger The Lidcombe Hotel free 5pm Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7pm No Such Luck, Postal, Nudist Colonies of the World, Ghost, Patriachal Death Machine, Disparo, Flogging The Gods,

Excitebike, Jack Nash Valve Bar, Tempe free 2pm The Pigs Empire Hotel, Annandale $12 6pm Thy Art is Murder, War From A Harlots Mouth, The Bride, Make Them Suffer Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $17 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Wendy Matthews The Vault, Windsor $33 (presale)–$38.50 7pm

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 Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Paul Furniss, Alan Gilbert Cronulla RSL free 12.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK Hello Cleveland The Belvedere Hotel free 4pm Pete Hunt Oatley Hotel free 2pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar free 3pm

COUNTRY

Balmain Goes Bush Country in the Heart of the City: Doug McIntyre Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 3pm Cash Only Marrickville Bowling and Recreation Club free 4.30pm all-ages Dom Turner and Supro Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm

L2 Kings Cross Hotel www.fbisocial.com

Tuesday November 29

Thursday December 1st

Speakeasy Cinema

Radiant Live presents:

presents:

LOVE OF DIAGRAMS

Wholphin No.14 screening + DJs @ 8pm

+ THE LAURELS + CIRCLE PIT + GO GENRE EVERYTHING

6:30pm $12 Oztix or door

8pm $12

Saturday December 3rd After Bake: ROYAL CHANT + FAIT ACCOMPLI + SISTER JANE + BANG! BANG! ROCK n’ ROLL! 8pm $10 door

+ MIDNIGHT - 3AM

FREE

LATE NIGHT DJs

Wednesday November 30

Friday December 2nd

Cockatoo Calling:

DONNY BENET

+ HINTERLANDT + THE SCRAPES (broadcast live) + AN INFINITY ROOM 6pm FREE 46 :: BRAG :: 440 : 28:11:11

(Sophisticated Lover Tour)

LANCELOT + FRAMES + ROGERS ROOM

Sunday December 4

+ ERIK OMEN + SUNSUN (Disco Club)

Foreigndub Airwayvz live broadcast from FBi Social with special guest Basslines!

8pm $10 presale from Donny Benet Bandcamp or $10 door

5-9pm / Live Broadcast 5-7pm on FBi Radio 94.5FM! $5

K.D. Land by James Minchin III

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

gig picks

up all night out all week...

Grinderman

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2

Stevie Nicks (USA), Dave Stewart (UK), Brian McFadden (UK) Sydney Entertainment Centre, Darling Harbour $132–$195 7pm

Dappled Cities, Millions, Elizabeth Rose The Standard, Surry Hills $15 (+ bf) 8pm

Dolly Parton (USA) Allphones Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park $99–$299 8pm

MUM: The Strums, The Messengers, The Pretty Lies, The Pixiekills, Lowlakes, Fox Valley, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30 Gold Fields, Damn Dogs, Millions Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Tin Sparrow, Underlights Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 7pm

THURSDAY DECEMBER 1 Grinderman, Noah Taylor & The Sloppy Boys The Factory Theatre, Enmore $66.30 (+ bf) 7.30pm sold out Kamikaze Surf Hoedown: Richard In Your Mind, Belles Will Ring, Atom Bombs, DJ Spod, Conrad Greenleaf, Yo Grito! DJs, Rae GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $15 8pm Love of Diagrams, The Laurels, Circle Pit, Go Genre Everything FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $12 8pm Misfits (USA) Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $65.30 8pm

Teeth & Tongue, Songs, Unity Floors GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm

‘MEET THE LOCALS’

LOCAL FASHION STYLES FRESH FROM OUR PLANETS HOTTEST STREETS MBER LAUNCH PARTY THURSDAY DECE CH 1ST - 7PM. UPSTAIRS @ THE BEACH. ROAD HOTEL. BONDI BEA

ac b..com. au www.thec amer aclub

SATURDAY DECEMBER 3 Afterbake: Royal Chant, Fait Accompli, Sister Jane, Bang! Bang! Rock n’ Roll!

FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Sand Pebbles, The Astral Kaleidoscope, The Sun Blindness GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 7pm Veen, Bloods, Evil J & Feint The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm

NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4 Andy Bull, WIM, Rufus, Mrs Bishop, Slow Down Honey The Annandale Hotel $15 (+ bf) 12pm all-ages

AN EVENING OF DISCO/HOUSE, DUBSTEP, HIP HOP, LEF TFIELD ELECTRONICA & FUTURE SOUL

CONICS 2 DEC ALL LIVE EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT 8PM TIL MIDNIGHT

Misfits

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 47

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

DSS Presents:

BE

★ FRI DEC 02 ★

$10 AFTER

9PM - 3AM

★ FRI DEC 09 ★

DANCEHALL, REGGAE, DUB

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

9PM - 3AM

$10 AFTER

'NICE UP THE

BOUNCE!' ★ FRI DEC 16 ★

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

9PM - 3AM

$10 AFTER

SONNY FODERA PLUS RESIDENT DJ’S

RE 11 P FO

$5

M!

BE

★ FRI DEC 23 ★

$10 AFTER

T WO R O O M S

L I V E A C T S T I L L AT E F I R E W O R K S PA S S O U T S

FIRST

R E L E AS E $50 SE $60

W W W. T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S .C OM

TICKETS & BOOKINGS: BOOKINGS@LOWSOCIETYDUBSTEP.COM

1 8 A R G Y L E S T, T H E R O C K S , S Y D N E Y N S W 2 0 0 0 P HONE 02 9247 5500

450 PARAMATTA RD PETERSHAM 9560 0400

T H E A R GY L E R O C K S.C O M R E S E R VAT I O N S @ T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S . C O M FAC E B O O K .C O M / T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S

BRAG :: 440 :: 28:11:11 :: 61