<PM /]XXQM[
supported by Hot 30
KANYE WEST LIC. & ALL AGES
with special guests SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
FRIDAY 27th JANUARY 2012 SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
TICKETS: WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM.AU, 136 100 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
RÖYKSOPP FRI 27 JAN : THE ENMORE
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
CLOSURE IN MOSCOW
LIC. & ALL AGES TICKETS: TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849, ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 & BIGDAYOUT.COM
TUE 24 JAN THE ENMORE LIC. & ALL AGES TICKETS: TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849, ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE 02 9550 3666 & BIGDAYOUT.COM
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
LIVE! LIC. & ALL AGES TICKETS: TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849 & BIGDAYOUT.COM
SAT 28 JAN OXFORD ART FACTORY WITH SPECIAL GUESTS TICKETS: MOSHTIX.COM.AU, 1300 438 849 & BIGDAYOUT.COM
proudly supported by
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
FRI 27 JAN THE HORDERN
LIC. & ALL AGES TICKETS: WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU, 132 849 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
THE BRONX
WED 25 JAN, SYDNEY ENT. CENTRE TICKETS: WWW.TICKETMASTER.COM.AU, 136 100 & WWW.BIGDAYOUT.COM
LICENSED & ALL AGES
supported by Triple M
www .big day ou t.c om
%PXOMPBE UIF GSFF "QQ OPX BOE CVJME ZPVS PXO DVTUPN TDIFEVMF
7JFX "SUJTU CJPT 'BDFCPPL 5XJUUFS :PV5VCF BOE NVDI NPSF
3FBE #JH %BZ 0VU #MPH 'BDFCPPL BOE 5XJUUFS VQEBUFT
1PTU QJDT BOE .FTTBHFT UP 'BDFCPPL BOE 5XJUUFS
"WBJMBCMF OPX GPS J1IPOF BOE "OESPJE 5VSO QIPOF IPSJ[POUBMMZ UP WJFX HSJE TDIFEVMF
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 3
4 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 5
LEARN GRAPHIC DESIGN FAST 3 MONTHS FULL-TIME OR 1 YEAR PART-TIME OPEN NIGHT, TUESDAY 17 JANUARY 6PM
World class design education neednâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take forever. It should be well planned, continually adapted to the times and presented by passionate professionals. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what happens at Shillington College and we have the record to prove it. Our students are taught by outstanding designers and are getting top design jobs. Starting with no prior experience they graduate with a professional portfolio and an in depth knowledge of the design programs. Enrolling now for February intake. The college will be open from 5.45 to 7pm on Tuesday 17 January with a 45 minute presentation starting at 6pm. Check out the facilities, meet the lecturers, chat to some graduates and get the low-down on the course. Bookings are not required to attend the Open Night.
39$.%9 s -%,"/52.% s "2)3"!.% s ,/.$/. s -!.#(%34%2 s .%7 9/2+
6 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Level 3, 50 Margaret St Sydney (02) 9299 1166 shillingtoncollege.com.au facebook/shillington.fb twitter.com/shillington_
Y 13TH R A U N A J Y FRIDA
SATURDAY JANUARY 14TH
FRIDAY JANUARY 20TH
RY 21ST SATURDAY JANUA
CHINESE LAUNDRY - CNR KING & SUSSEX STREETS (UNDER SLIP INN) BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 7
8 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 9
rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
ALPINE
five things WITH
RAY FROM FAIT ACCOMPLI Growing Up My dad was in a band when I 1. was growing up. We spent a lot of time hangin’ out with our cousins while he played gigs, so I knew the band lifestyle from a young age. My mum always listened to Elvis and The Beatles. As a kid I drew on walls and inside books. Inspirations I get inspired by most of 2. my friends; some make art and music, some surf, some do fashion, a few are great writers, some skate and the rest are really good at partying. They do all of these things with great passion. Your Band My band is the most 3. amazing band to be in. I think a successful band is about group dynamics; you kinda need to give a little to get something back. It’s a bit of an artform which is hard to master! It’s kinda like Buddhism; if you get pissed off easily you probably shouldn’t
Lanie Lane
PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 02 9698 9645 ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITERS: Jonno Seidler, Caitlin Welsh NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachey, George Popov, Prudence Upton, Tim Whitney
join a band. We hang out, we have fun, no dramas, we make explosions, then we go home. The Music You Make Our style is ‘soul punk’. 4. We actually coined that phrase. We are currently recording a new EP, which is really exciting. But for now you can get all our releases for free from our Bandcamp. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. My favourite local bands are The Bungalows, Betty Airs and Mylee Grace. Skarlett also plays in a cool band called Babygrand. Bang! Bang! Rock n’ Roll are also great, so are Chicks Who Love Guns. So many cool bands out there – Sydney music is on its way back. Kapow! With: Let Me Down Jungleman, Corpus, 199 DJs and Cries Wolf Where: The Standard When: Saturday January 14
SYDNEY FREESTIVAL
Instead of kicking back on a leather, laurelresting recliner, smoking cigars and basking in the awesomeness of its 2012 lineup, the personified Sydney Festival has instead announced a program of free music from January 10-29 at Jägermeister Hunting Lodge (which we can only assume has deer-heads displayed on the walls). This isn’t your SalvationArmy-band-outside-the-mall kinda ‘free music’ either; they’ve sorted Tim Finn, Josh Pyke, Emma Louise, Brous and many more acts to entertain you and whoever you choose to bring along to Honda Festival Garden in Hyde Park North. You gotta register for free entry though; more details at sydneyfestival.org.
PORTUGAL + GIVERS
Portugal. The Man and Givers were seated around a boardroom table trying to nut out which of the two excellent American psych-pop
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, Alex Christie, Antigone Anagnostellis
Hands up if you were clever enough to catch Alpine at Falls Festival over New Years. Leave them up if the six-piece band blew your mind. And it’s no wonder, given that the Melbourne hipsters have yet to put a foot (or hand) wrong. Their latest single is no exception; ‘Hands’ is perfect, luscious, dreamy pop. Before their new album comes out, Alpine are heading out on the Hands Across Australia tour, which hits Oxford Art Factory on Friday January 20. If you want to get your hands on a double pass, just tell us how many fingers (collectively) Alpine has.
bands should headline The Metro Theatre on Tuesday February 7, just after their appearance at Laneway on the Sunday. Both have a healthy Australian following, so you can see the conundrum. Suddenly Guineafowl burst into the room and said with the indiest of shrugs, “Why don’t you just make it a double headliner? Whatever.” The two bands were so pleased they offered Guineafowl the support, and all was right with the world.
RAINBOW ZHEN
Rainbow Chan and Sui Zhen are teaming up to launch their respective singles (‘Sweet Tooth’ and ‘Little Frog’) on Friday January 20 at FBi Social, and supporting them is Moon Holiday, just in case you thought this lineup didn’t sound enough like an Indigo children retreat. Both singles are as sweetly sounding as they are sweetly named, and they’re available for free at the two artists’ Bandcamp pages.
Custard
REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Simon Binns, Michael Brown, Liz Brown, Bridie Connell, Bridie Connellan, Ben Cooper, Oliver Downes, Alasdair Duncan, Max Easton, Tony Edwards, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Henry Florence, Mike Gee, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Alex Lindsay Jones, Robbie Miles, Peter Neathway, Hugh Robertson, Matt Roden, Emma Salkild, Romi Scodellaro, Rach Seneviratne, Luke Telford, Rick Warner Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this address 8a Marlborough Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9552 6333 fax - (02) 9319 2227 EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Publisher, Editor or Staff of The Brag. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: We’ll be back in the office on Tuesday January 3 Editorial: Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork, 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...
10 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
PLAYGROUND WEEKENDER – DAY TICKETS ON SALE
Every week we get hundreds of letters asking us for more non-alphabetised lists. Here is one that happens to be the lineup for Playground Weekender (March 2-4; block it out on your Leunig calendar): Chic Feat Nile Rogers, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Boy & Bear, Roots Manuva, UNKLE Sounds, Modeselektor Live, Manchester Orchestra, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Bonobo (Live), Black Lips, Neon Indian, Lanie Lane, The Orb Bomb The Bass, Seekae, Greg Wilson, Damian Lazarus, The Cuban Brothers, Canyons, Hudson Mohawke, Lee Burridge, Art Department, Rustie, Danny Daze, Kirk Degorgio, Toucan, Nantes, Northeast Party House, Millions, Elizabeth Rose. If the idea of dedicating three whole days to the hedonistic pursuit of aural pleasure seems excessive, well now you can buy single day tickets to the festival. Go get.
GUM BALL FESTIVAL
Those 20c gumball machines were always so alluring and colourful, but the idea of a thousand fingers smudging germs over the little section where the balls come out made my stomach turn way too much to ever indulge. I’ll be repeating this excellent story over and over again to strangers at the 8th annual Gum Ball Music and Arts Festival, held on April 27-28 in the Hunter Valley, the home of wine and Johns brothers. The lineup looks very impressive: Custard, Jinja Safari, Ash Grunwald, Paul Kelly’s favourite sisters Vika and Linda Bull, Wagona, Sietts, Fire! Santa Rosa Fire! and the puntastic The Joe Kings. The second round of early tickets is on sale now at thegumball.com.au, and holy wow you can BYO!
U K EK! THIS WE
+ PALMS + ACHOO! BLESS YOU
+ SONGS + THE LAURELS
THURSDAY JANUARY
12
THURSDAY MARCH
SYDNEY FESTIVAL KEYSTONE FESTIVAL BAR
01 GOODGOD
TICKETEK.COM.AU
MOSHTIX.COM.AU
this summer
popfrenzy presents US + DUNE RATS + SURES WEDNESDAY JANUARY
25
MANNING BAR MANNINGBAR.COM
A WITH
POPFRENZY.COM.AU
COLLARBONES + BOATFRIENDS
U S A
FRIDAY MARCH
2
THE STANDARD MOSHTIX.COM.AU
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 11
rock music news
free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
five things WITH
DEAD JOHNNY & THE MEMPHIS GUN not wanting me to stop clarinet. Memphis played in jazz bands too, as a drummer. Inspirations First time I heard Skip James 2. I was blown away. Howling Wolf, Tommy Johnson and Rev. Gary Davis are big influences too. I get a lot from rockabilly/country music, like Hank Williams and Charlie Feathers. I listen to a lot of punk from the late ‘70s through the ‘80s, and get a lot out of that lyrically and musically too. I read a lot of literature, and William S. Burroughs always gets me inspired. You have to love the dark side of the coin.
3.
Your Band At the moment it’s really only just Memphis (drummer) and I, but we’re looking to expand. We haven’t recorded anything yet, but we will have something soon. The Music You Make The bitter howling of 4. drunken men, reverbing through
1.
Growing Up I always had a piano in the house and played clarinet, and
then got to play saxophone, after a long altercation with my band teacher on account of him
empty inner-city streets; breaking glass against a brick wall covered in graffiti; gun-fire cars down the highway; the click clack
of feet walking hastily through a back-alley is the music we try to make. As for our shows, expect noise and howling…. Lots of howling. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. There are a lot of warehouses around Sydney hosting some sick bands. I went to one recently and saw a couple bands that I’m really into at the moment. Doc Holliday Takes The Shotgun are great, and so are Chicks Who Love Guns. I saw Kira Puru at Rock Lily (which is a sick new venue), and as always, very impressed. Lyall Moloney, who’s a good friend of mine, puts on a great show too. The music industry is having a lot of problems at the moment, so for musicians the road is narrow and can eat your soul real quick if you’re not wary. With: Hira Hira, Panama, Drake The Fake, The Nugs, Making, Chicks Who Love Guns DJs & MUM DJs Where: MUM @ The World Bar When: Friday January 13
WORMWOODSTOCK
Wanna see a bunch of incredible DIY psych/ experimental/garage/rock/electronic bands on a beautiful property 90 minutes from Sydney? I thought so. Well, fill your unleaded van with leaded petrol and head to Wormwoodstock. The lineup is being drip-fed online, but we can announce that Scattered Order, Kasha, No Anchor, Rayon Moon, Trjaeu, Yolke, Kris Keogh, Zeahorse, No Art, Feathers, Proximity Butterfly (from China donchaknow) and Dreamtime will be among the acts playing. Tickets are $35 or four for $100 (a saving of $40, assuming Maths hasn’t changed since I was in high school), and you may never truly return home after this one. Tickets at wormwoodstock.pozible.com
BUT MUUUUUM!
Happy New Year
HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Brooklyn-based, Brisbane-born, zeitgeist-riding Happy New Year and Brissy’s Nite Fields are filling the van with amps and Twisties and heading to Dirty Shirlows this Friday January 13. They’re launching their split single, which is on lovely vinyl and will only set you back $8. Support will be provided by Kirin J Callinan, Secret Birds and Hopes. (Tacit support will be provided by their parents.)
Science has taught us that Friday the 13th is the most spooktacular date on the calendar (Einstein – Theory Of Relativity), so MUM (not your Cheryl; the Friday night house party packed with bands and hosted at The World Bar) have organised a slew of dark, evil punk acts to scare you into submission. Panamas, Hira Hira, The Nugs, Making, Dead Johnny and the Memphis Gun, Drake The Fake and The Fabergettes will be making ghost sounds and telling long-winded stories about camping trips and missing tent pegs from 8pm this Friday.
SONS AND DAUGHTERS
Remember that Australian show Sons And Daughters? It had all the drama and Cornelia Frances we’ve come to expect from our soaps. But it’s time to erase those memories because there’s a new Sons And Daughters on the block, a four-piece that mark the gloomy, heartfelt meeting point between Glasgow and Americana, while also reminding you that female lead singers kick some serious butt. The Scottish act are touring their latest album Mirror Mirror, and hitting up Keystone Festival Bar on Thursday January 12 as part of Sydney Festival, supported by Songs and The Laurels. If you want a double pass, just tell us how many people are in the band.
WHAT A RACKET
This Thursday January 12, we’ll be skipping our usual weekly reenactment of episodes of Veronica Mars in order to head along to the Live Racket Awards at Valve Bar (Princes Highway, Tempe), where The Choke, Witch Fight, Drop Tank, Electric Flu, Particles, Speakers and more will be battling it out for shiny, spiky, award-shaped things, judged by industry heavyweights. It starts at 6:30pm. Go!
NOW NOW. NOW!
It’s January, which means summer, the glorious non-ratings season of TV (basically The Nanny reruns), and the 11th Annual NOW now Festival of Exploratory Music. The festival begins at The Stone Gallery in Paddington on Thursday January 12, when Golden Fur of Melbourne will perform Morton Feldman’s ‘Patterns In A Chromatic Field’ while Sydney’s Chris Abrahams and Potsdam’s Sabine Vogel will be trading church organ and flute licks like it ain’t no thing. On Friday, the aforementioned Happy New Year will be playing at Dirty Shirlows with Kirin J Callinan, Nite Fields, Secret Birds and Hopes. There are heaps more events, it goes for ages, the lineup is huge, and you can find out about it all at thenownow.net
NEON INDIAN INSERT COINS II
Thanks to Lana Del Rey’s lips, whenever I hear the term ‘video games’ I think of the aforementioned lips instead of the old default, which was my ex-girlfriend angrily blowing on a Donkey Kong Country Super Ninetendo cartridge because it froze during a critical stage. After Thursday January 19, however, my head will be filled with memories of Insert Coins at the Oxford Art Factory, which is the official launch for ace new game The Darkness II, and will also be offering up a veritable feast of classic arcade machines, including Addams Family, Donkey Kong, Pacman, Frogger, Space Invaders, Tekken 5 and all those other games you played repeatedly instead of dealing with pesky things like learning and socialising. Alcohol and Street Fighter 2. Even Lana never promised this… Starts at 6pm, $10 entry, free RSI.
SEE MORE
Remember that time you tried to organise a run of free live music events in the courtyard around the back of your place? Well, the Seymour Centre have totally stolen your idea and plan to unleash a holy hell of great, free Sydney acts, BBQ goodness and tree-shade over the next few months. Courtyard Sessions launches on January 20, with Bellyache Ben and the
Steamgrass Boys partying like it’s 1969. Evil J and Saint Cecilia (EJ Barnes and Ceci Herbert) hit it on January 27, and Two Timin’ Playboys (feat. Pat Capocci) are heading there on Feb 3. Grab the full schedule from the venue’s website.
GIRLS, GIRLS, GIRLS
Hop on your YouTube machine and listen to ‘Honey Bunny’ by San Fran indie-pop group Girls. In a week I will come and visit you, and you will still be humming that infectious song. Your housemates will hate it, your friends will hate it, but I will be all, “Oh, so you liked that song I showed you? Well, let’s go and see them at Oxford Art Factory on February 2. The singer used to be in a cult you know; a proper, proper cult.” They’re playing Laneway Festival too, as if that lineup wasn’t already incredible enough.
FULL TANK
Oliver Tank’s ‘Last Night I Heard Everything In Slow Motion’ is really quite a tune; FBi even sent the young Sydney artist to Iceland off the back of it (it was a competition win, not some weird punishment). Now Ollie – as his high school friends called him, probably – is launching an EP on February 9, at Paddington Uniting Church with the Winter People in support. Bring your own holy water. Miracles guaranteed!
You know when you leave a cassette on the dashboard of your Vista Cruiser for about a year and then go to listen to it, only to find it has melted into a warped sloppy slowed down version of its former self? That’s what Neon Indian’s music sounds like; it’s very much the melted rainbow Paddle Pop of the music scene. On March 2 he plays The Standard (if you still haven’t been, it’s boss) with support from Collarbones and Boatfriends, who just became my favourite new band based on their name alone. Neon Indian also plays Playground Weekender, if you want seconds.
Neon Indian
“The boys of the NYPD choir were singing “Galway Bay” and the bells were ringing out For Christmas day” - THE POGUES 12 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 13
The Music Network
themusicnetwork.com
Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR * Plans by the Big Four (Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax) to make it to Australia this year have been nixed, says Slayer guitarist Kerry King. He admits it’ll take too much organising to pull together. Meantime, NZ’s Midnight Youth say they’ll play Australia before dates in the US and England. * British record producer Steve Lillywhite was named a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. It is the third highest honour given, although Lillywhite will not be able to use the title ‘Sir’. Lillywhite twiddled the knobs for U2, Peter Gabriel, Crowded House, Matchbox Twenty and Dave Matthews among many others. * With LMFAO’s five-times platinum ‘Sexy And I Know It’ topping the ARIA chart for the third time, it marks a total of eight weeks at the top. ‘Party Rock Anthem’ and ‘Sexy’ have a combined stay of 18 weeks at top spot. * Foxtel has launched “factual entertainment” network A&E in Australia.
BIG DAY OUT PARTNERS WITH LOLLAPALOOZA PROMOTER Big Day Out founder Ken West’s new partner is C3 Presents, the Texas-based promoters of Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival. C3 also books and promotes more than 1,000 concerts in arenas, theaters, casinos, and clubs across the US. An obvious benefit is that Big Day Out will get access to C3’s contacts, to help them get acts without getting into bidding wars. They will collaborate on “the union of talent development, creative execution and production, commercial excellence and innovation”. “I could not have found more creatively sympathetic, commercially dynamic and like-minded partners than the guys at C3,” West said. C3 partner Charlie Walker added that “C3 is thrilled to be entering this creative partnership with Big Day Out, and are honoured to become a part of the outstanding 20-year legacy that the festival has created.”
ADELE BIGGEST CHARTING ACT IN OZ IN 20 YEARS ARIA declared Adele’s 21 Platinum x 11 in Australia. It enjoyed a total of 23 weeks at top spot, and was the top selling album of last year in Australia. But chart historian Ed Nimmervoll did a survey of all her chart activity (singles and albums), and announced that Adele is also the biggest charting act here in the last 20 years. Runner-up is Delta Goodrem (who was the biggest chart act of 2003), followed by Mariah Carey (1994), Black Eyed Peas (2009), Eric Clapton (1993), Aqua (1998), Celine Dion (1995), Missy Higgins (2005) and Pink (2006).
DAVID WILLIAMS STEPS DOWN AS SHOCK CEO Shock co-founder David Williams has stepped down as CEO after 24 years. “After a successful couple of years of rebuilding the business, it is the perfect time to hand the reins over to the next generation of music, TV and film enthusiasts,” he said. Executive GM Scot Crawford now heads the business. Williams will work with Shock owner Regency Media on developing new ventures. Williams set up Shock in 1988 with Andrew McGee (who left to run a winery) and Frank Falvo (who left Shock when Regency took over).
SOUNDWAVE SELLS OUT The Sydney leg of Soundwave has sold out, following Melbourne and Brisbane. The last tickets for the February 26 show went on Christmas Day. It was the festival’s “first year of complete sell out prior to the event,” organisers said.
U2 MOST TRADED IN U2’s The Joshua Tree (1987) was the most unwanted CD over Christmas in Britain. Online marketplace Music Magpie revealed that 24,958 copies were exchanged for cash or vouchers on December 25 and 26. Lady Gaga’s Fame Monster hit its use-by date, with 20,054 trading the album in. Others looking for new homes were Michael Jackson’s
* World music icon Youssou Ndour plans to run in the West African country of Senegal’s presidential election next month, challenging 85-year old Abdoulaye Wade, whose announcement that he will seek a third term sparked violent protests. Ndour has used his radio station and newspaper to condemn Wade’s policies and corruption during his eleven years of rule. * Lismore’s NYE celebrations ‘Tropical Fruits’ drew over 5000, consolidating its reputation as regional Australia’s biggest dance party. Event coordinator Shane Duniam said ticket sales were up on last year. * Coldplay pocketed a cool £1.5 million for playing to 20,000 on New Years Eve in Abu Dhabi. Stevie Wonder got US $1 million to sing at the
Youssou Ndour Thriller (19, 702), Green Day’s American Idiot (15,416) and The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper (8,092). Of DVDs, 21, 323 copies of Dirty Dancing were brought back. Following were Ghost (19,401), Trainspotting (19,005), Johnny English (16,187) and The Goonies (15,499).
CALL FOR SOUND SUMMIT FESTIVAL CO-DIRECTOR Newcastle’s indie/innovative Sound Summit is calling out for someone “highly motivated, energetic and organised” to work on the 201213 festivals with co-director Brooke Olsen. The festival gives musicians, fans, producers, composers and promoters a forum to interact, share and discuss ideas surrounding the indie music community via workshops, panels and presentations. Find the full details at soundsummit.com.au; deadline to apply is Monday January 23.
KULICK WORKSHOP US guitar hero and one time Kiss member Bruce Kulick returns to Sydney to do a workshop for Allans Music and Billy Hyde. It is being held on Friday February 3 at 7pm at Allans Music + Billy Hyde, 130 Pyrmont Bridge Rd, Camperdown. More info can be found at allansbillyhyde.com.au
APRA’S BRETT COTTLE TO KEYNOTE AT FUSE Brett Cottle, CEO of APRA/AMCOS,
Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas that night. Red Hot Chili Peppers played at Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s $7.8 million party for 300 guests at his estate on the Caribbean island of St Barts, but it’s not known how much they were paid… * Goyte’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’ hit #1 in Germany following that feat in Belgium and The Netherlands, and has broken into the US and Canadian charts. It has now scored 28.5 million views on YouTube, reports Noise11. * Metallica’s James Hetfield threw rocks at photographers in Punta del Este, Uruguay, after they chased him while he and his son Castor were moped-riding. * Richard Wilkins’ Black Ties, Red Carpets, Green Rooms was the bestselling title last year for New Holland Publishers. Meantime, America’s NPR, which syndicates programs to college radio, rated former AC/DC bassist Mark Evans’ Dirty Deeds one of the music books of 2010.
will make one of the keynote speeches at Adelaide’s Fuse Festival, which is being held from February 22 to 24. The conference’s first round of international speakers are Jon McIldowie of the UK’s The Great Escape festival, Alicen Catron Schneider (head of TV Music at NBC Universal Television) and Ariel Hyatt, who founded social media PR firm Ariel Publicity, and wrote the book Music Success In Nine Weeks. For the full list of Aussie speakers and to register, see fusefestival.com. Fuse’s music business conference tickets are now on sale, for a range of panel and round table discussions of music biz topics. On Wednesday February 22, an intensive workshop is being held for artist managers and self-managed bands, discussing how to run your band as a business.
IT'S A HIT The research team from the University of Bristol in England claims to have discovered an equation to predict if a song can become a Top 5 hit. The scientists used songs taken from the last 50 years of the Official UK Singles Charts and found 23 elements which determine if a song will strike a chord with listeners; these include volume, tempo, timing and harmonic complexity. The geeks claim 60% accuracy. The team also discovered that a track that was easy to dance to was much more likely to become a hit from the 1980s onwards – but danceability was irrelevant before then.
JAY-Z AND KANYE TO FIGHT A SUIT AGAINST SYL Kanye West and Jay-Z will fight a lawsuit by soul and blues muso Syl Johnson, which accuses them of using an unauthorised sample from his ‘Different Strokes’ on ‘The Joy’ from their Watch the Throne album. Johnson claims West first asked to use the sample on his own solo album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but didn’t get permission in time. West and Jay-Z claim they did have clearance, and intend to fight the suit by claiming that Johnson’s recording was not protected as it was made before 1972, when copyright laws were changed. Kanye West in a suit
Syl Johnson in a suit
Lifelines Expecting: Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill and model wife Lily Aldridge. She’s reportedly three months preggers. Engaged: Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler and Erin Brady, although his family are not happy, saying, “She’s just not nice.” It’s his third try at marriage. Engaged: Wynonna Judd and Cactus Moser, drummer with country group Highway 101. It will be Judd’s third marriage. Split: Sinéad O’Connor’s fourth marriage to Barry Herridge ended after 16 days, following pressure from “certain people in his life” to avoid her, she said. Hospitalised: Reg Presley, 70, of ‘60s band The Troggs (‘Wild Thing,’ ‘Love is All Around'), suffering from pneumonia and a possible stroke. Arrested: Controversial rapper Tyler The Creator, for allegedly trashing sound equipment at the Roxy Theatre in LA after playing there with Odd Future. Suing: Peter Frampton filed suit against Universal Music Group for a half-million dollars in unpaid digital music royalties. Died: Jim ‘Motorhead’ Sherman, saxplayer with Frank Zappa’s Mothers Of Invention, 69. He was a childhood friend of Zappa’s and got his nickname from his hobby of repairing old cars, trucks and motorbikes. Died: Scottish-born, Melbourneraised country singer Betty McQuade in Brisbane, aged 70, after a long illness. Her best known hit, ‘Midnight Bus’, was cited as the best cover of the song by its American writer, John D. Loudermilk. Died: Dillon Rivers, former singer with Melbourne hardcorists Lovers Grave. Died: Sean Bonniwell, member of pioneering ‘60s US garage band The Music Machine, 71, from lung cancer. Died: Barry Clayton, voice behind the intro to Iron Maiden’s ‘The Number of the Beast,’ at 80. Died: Ralph MacDonald, master percussionist and Grammy-winning songwriter, 67, from a stroke and lung cancer. An advocate of the steel pan and calypso music, he played on Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly’, David Bowie’s ‘Young Americans’ and Jimmy Buffett’s ‘Margaritaville’. Died: Larry Reinhardt, guitarist with US psychedelic band Iron Butterfly (‘In-A-Gadda-DaVida’), 63. Died: Fred Milano, of ‘50s doo-wop band Dion and the Belmonts, 72, from lung cancer. He sang tenor lead on their massive hit ‘A Teenager In Love’. Not Dead: Texas authorities mistakenly identified the son of the late NWA frontman Eazy-E as one of eight people killed in a two-car collision. They said Eric Wright Jr (stage name: Lil’ Eazy-E) merely owned one of the cars.
“So drunk to hell I left the place, Sometimes crawling, sometimes walking . A hungry sound came across the breeze so I gave the walls a talking” - THE POGUES 14 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
This year, Make a Difference.
VOLUNTEER OVERSEAS. ! " AUSTRALIAN YOUTH AMBASSADORS for DEVELOPMENT (AYAD) Program. " # $ %&& # ' " " ' ' " '" $ " . (" # ' ' ') $ '$ $ *+($ ' $ " '" $ ' '$ " " # " # " ' , (" - ' " . '" $ $ '/ $ ' 0 # 1 2 " # $ 3 " 1 4 2# # 0 Monday, January 16, 2012, 6.30pm | SMC Conference & Function Centre, Ionic Room, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney
re' ster to attend at www.AYAD.com.au The AYAD Program, part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development, is fully funded by the Australian Government, AusAID and managed by Austraining International.
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 15
VENGABOYS
S
ince its dirty old Spanish engine first revved in 1998, never has there been more anticipation of a single vehicle; a single vehicle in approach of a party-filled celebration-laden, traffic-light-burning destination. In 2012, the Vengabus is coming. The sound of Year 6 discos and every trashy Euro watering hole from Amsterdam to Scubar, the Dutch dance sensation needs relatively little introduction – certainly not for anyone who had Video Hits in the late ‘90s. The foursome blared into the spotlight with their ridiculously infectious anthem ‘We Like To Party’, followed by a succession of multi-Platinum hits: ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom’, ‘We’re Going To Ibiza’, ‘Kiss (When The Sun Don’t Shine)’ and ‘Shalala Lala’, accompanied by some seriously bangin’ dance routines. The current lineup of Kim Sasabone, Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa (aka Ma’Donny) are heading Down Under for the first time in ten years this month, to celebrate the release of their Greatest Hits – and if you’ve read this far, chances are you’re already humming the tune to at least one of them. You’ll have it in your head until the next financial year. You’re welcome. From a rainy and frostbitten Amsterdam, ‘sailor’ Vengaboy Robin Pors is quick to remind me that the upcoming tour is hardly a reunion – the Vengacrew have been consistently hard at work since their bus started honking almost 15 years ago. They’re back on the charts with the fist-pumping new single ‘Rocket To Uranus’, an
16 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
They’re Baaa-aaack! By Bridie Connellan
“We have a much better bus now, with seating and air-conditioning!” interplanetary disco sashay of blatant innuendo in your end, oh. Clad in silver lycra and dishing out more camp cheek than ever, the track is a return to Vengaroots, with an impossibly catchy hook and a series of Sasabone ‘WOAH-OHs’. “It’s craaaayyziness,” gushes Pors, who explains the appearance of the unexpected guest Perez Hilton on the track in a rapidfire story about a party, some more “craaaayyziness” – and something about not knowing who he was, and the scene being a riot. Essentially, Vengaboys have been ‘active’ since their inception in 1997, when the four original members met at sweltering probably-illegal beach parties in Spain, and producers Danski and Delmundo assembled the four singing-dancing hyperactives into a package of Dutch dance doom. It’s only fitting we check in with the group’s movements since then… Vengastyle. WOAH! Robin left the band and auditioned for X-Factor. WOAH! He was replaced by a dolphin trainer named Yorrick Bakker. WOAH! Cowboy Roy den Burger left the band in 2001 and is now a flight attendant. WOAH! Denise had a kid. WOAH! Kim stayed hot. WOAH! Robin came back. WOAH! The band had a party. WOAH! In the Mediterranean Sea. “I love my girls Kim and Denise so much, I’ve known them for a very, very long time,” says Pors, pondering his return to the group in 2007. “We still miss Roy and I wish we would still see him, but he has his own things and sometimes you just have to change something in your life.”
Pors is the original and current sailor of the four, a Village Peopleesque persona alongside his Vengababe compadres. “Early on we had the idea we were going to have characters onstage, and [the producers] were like, ‘Who do you wanna be?’ and I was like, ‘Oh, let me think about it’ – and then I saw a really really goodlooking sailor advertisement and I was like, ‘I wanna be like THAT.’ It was a really, really goodlooking model, and I was like, ‘That’s going to work out for me.’” Giggling at his own audacity, Pors is downright proud of his transition to ‘space sailor’, and assures me his 15 “transparence” outfits are masterpieces. He says rejoining the group was a no-brainer. “I did a lot of [solo] stuff for myself and that’s always nice to do, but of all the things I’ve done in my life, the crowd is always just so good when [Vengaboys] are onstage. It’s just the best. Having those crowds and they’re going nuts about the songs and singing along and dancing, it’s such a good feeling. I don’t want to miss that.” Whether one enjoys Vengaboys’ electronic pap-pap style of fistpumping dance-pop or not, the figures are hard to ignore. The band has sold around 20 million singles and five million albums worldwide, scored a slew of Top 10 hits across their 15-year career, seen their two studio albums go Platinum and Gold from the UK to Oz, and bagged a World Music Award for Best Selling Dance Group. And: they did it all wearing vinyl chaps. In India, Vengaboys are one of
the most popular foreign acts of all time, and a semi-serious joke goes around Holland about the band being one of the country’s most successful ‘export products’, beating cheese and tulips. “We’ve sold a lot, and in Holland everyone is really proud of us to achieve that,” says Pors. “It’s a great thing, that the world loves our cheeky dance music.” Take one look at the slew of covers YouTubing their way to memedom and it’s obvious Vengaboys fans are amongst the most positive batch of silly sods this side of S Club – and why shouldn’t they be? Vengasongs are consistently in a palatable and burlable key, drops are predictable, lyrics are simple, sassy and learnable. The only way to hate the band is to take them too seriously, or play them too much. One tweeting fan summed it up nicely: “Does that Adele bird ever cheer up? Always singing about depression and loss. I’d rather listen to Vengaboys.” Like the majority of dance-pop, the Vengaboys and their tunes are an exercise in musical hedonism: pure pleasure and partying is a pursuit the band has never been embarrassed about. As they assured us in ‘We Like To Party’, “Happiness is just around the corner.” 14 years on, Pors could not agree more. “You know the best thing about the music? Almost everybody could like it. If you’re four years old it’s like [sings ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ hook], or if you’re 60 and you go out it’s like ‘WOAH-OH-OH WOAH-OH-OH’ and you can sing along when you’re drunk. Everybody and every
age can like the music, and that’s a good thing. It’s great, strong music – and that’s why people still like it.” And that’s it; it’s about being in a sweaty Eurobar wearing hoop earrings after way too many Vodka Thingies, grinding to a favourite Vengahit and being able to swing your arms above your head and sing along without too much effort (or sobriety). Pors takes me quite aback with the simplest answer to what I foolishly thought might be a deep and meditative question, when I ask what he loves most about dance music: “Well, I love to dance, darling,” he chuckles. So with hopeless beatlovers already raising their hands in anticipation of Vengaboys’ first trip to Australia in over 10 years, just one pressing mystery remains: where is that infernal Vengabus? “It’s outside my house,” Pors answers, stifling a giggle. “No, no, that one’s still in Spain, the original Vengabus from the ‘We Like To Party’ video. We have a much better bus now, with seating and air-conditioning! [The Vengabus] is not nice when it’s really cold in Northern parts of Europe, it’s not really a good bus to tour in. It was a funny bus though, and maybe we’ll take it with us to Australia. Everybody wants to see the Vengabus, right?” What: The Best Of Vengaboys Australian Tour Edition is out now through Central Station Records Where: Selina’s @ Coogee Bay Hotel / Newcastle Panthers When: Friday January 13 / Saturday January 14
Stay from
165
$
a night!
including a bottle of wine, sunscreen, Berocca, & FREE access to St Kilda Sea Baths.
More than a hotel...
Hot nights, beach life... St Kilda delights More style, more comfort, more for you. Book Hotel Urban St Kilda today using promotional code BEAT. Urban. It will suit you. To book call 1300 884 373 or visit
hotelurban.com.au *Terms and Conditions: This offer is valid from 1/1/12 to 29/2/12. Rate is based on standard room (maximum 2 people). Subject to promotion rate availability. Surcharges apply over special event dates. Block out dates apply.
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 17
Givers
Washed Out
M
A
From Library To Laneway By Nicole Ryan
At Your Service By Thomas Bailey
aybe there’s something in the wetland soil of Lafayette, Louisiana which could explain why the region is home to such a plethora of homespun Cajun, jazz and zydeco bands. Five-piece indie-pop band Givers are no exception. Consisting of a handful of long-time friends, Givers released their debut LP In Light last year, an invigorating and energetic compilation of uplifting and sun-speckled funky guitar pop. It cannot be overstated enough that this band are products of their upbringing. “[Lafayette is] so unique,” vocalist and guitarist Taylor Guarisco declares emphatically. “It’s the only place where [you can find] authentic Cajun music, authentic zydeco music, authentic Cajun food and creole food; it’s really like a whole separate culture! …I think when you grow up, you don’t really appreciate what’s around you; it’s like, ‘Zydeco is old peoples’ music, it’s not cool, it’s not hip’, and then you get over the rebellious teenage years and you realise that some of the funkiest and grooviest music in the world comes from your hometown!” he says. “We’re so proud – it’s such a very warm city, all the people are warm and friendly. We wish the whole world could take a trip to Lafayette and experience what we’re talking about!” All five members of Givers had performed in various local Cajun and zydeco acts for quite some time before coming together. Vocalist Tiffany Lamson and Guarisco headed off to the University of New Orleans to study music – until Hurricane Katrina altered their course completely. “We had been set up [together] in New Orleans for school,” Guarisco recalls, “and when the hurricane came, it totally flooded the place we were staying in, with like 12 feet of water. We came back to Lafayette and just had the rest of the year off, because school was cancelled. Tiffany and I became best friends and started making music every day, and began developing our musical chemistry… That was a really important time for us, not having any obligation but trying to figure out what we wanted to do with life, and it put us in the direction toward making a band.” Givers were performing at the Austin City Limits Festival when their set was witnessed by Daniel Glass of Glassnote Entertainment, who decided to sign the young band to his label. “Yeah,” recalls Guarisco, “we just sat down with him and talked. We had written all these songs and we suggested that the band’s position was that we totally wanted to take our time and not rush the process. So we sat down and we had dinner and began talking
fter two years of touring, Ernest Greene, the man behind synth-pop act Washed Out, has discovered the key to a great performance: alcohol. “Normally the drunker we are, the more energetic we are on stage – but we’re also much messier, and we’ll fuck up parts. If we’re too sober, we’re kind of stale but we play all the parts right. So somewhere in between is where we like to be, so you’re drunk enough to enjoy yourself, but not too drunk.” Discovered in 2009 after friend Chaz Bundick of Toro y Moi posted a Washed Out track on his MySpace, Ernest is often grouped in as part of the ‘chillwave’ movement. Greene, however, thinks the Washed Out sound is more difficult to define. “I don’t think we fit squarely in any category, which is good because I think we can reach a lot of different people,” he says. “But we’re not like a die-hard electronic band or a die-hard indie-rock band, so I think it takes a person to be open minded to really embrace it.”
about music and life, and understanding the way [Glassnote] does things.” When I mention that In Light, and in particular the first single ‘Up Up Up’, certainly has a distinct unrushed feel, Guarisco heartily agrees. “Yeah, we actually had the album completed before we’d started talking on any levels, you know? I think that’s a huge thing, that we had spent all this time and our own money before we’d recorded the record. And we were able to give it to [Glassnote] and other people, and start seeing what label would be the best home for the album. So [the album’s] definitely a testament to the way the songs were at the time.” But what makes the whole experience of writing and sharing music with the world such a soulful and powerful thing to Guarisco is his love of the art form itself. “It means a great deal to me, you know?” he says. “I feel like it’s my service. Like, I’m not able to perform surgery on anyone, I’m not a doctor; I’m not a teacher, I’m not teaching anybody how to read … I make these songs with my friends and, as far as I know how, I do things to help others – and so this is my chance!”
Despite having grown into an accomplished live performer since those early days in 2009, Greene admits he still feels most at home in the studio. “If I could get away with staying home and making records, I would do that.” In fact he still has aspirations to be a librarian, his field of
study after school. “I definitely could go back to that world. It’s kind of a lot like my everyday life when I’m back from tour. The last thing I want to do when I’m back is to go out to clubs. It’s my nice, quiet space – and that was very much why I enjoyed working in libraries.” Greene will return to Australia in 2012 for the Laneway Festival, after winning hearts and fans with his performance at Meredith last year. But given the atmospheric nature of the music, Washed Out hasn’t always translated in a festival setting. “When I started I was playing by myself, and it was a very ethereal atmosphere. I did a handful of big festivals and it was really hard, because there was sound bleeding in from other stages and there were just so many people out there.” Recognising that the performances weren’t working Greene added a backing band, which consists of a drummer, a bass player, and two keyboardists – one of whom is his wife Blair. “Part of the band thing was to try and strengthen the sound of the set. It definitely helps having people behind you. Our set-up is almost like a traditional rock set-up, so we can play loud if we need to.” He admits that it can be a challenge to keep people interested at festivals, so they’ve developed a couple of different sets to cater for different situations. For instance, knowing the audience of the Cut Copy tour in the US last year would be looking for something a bit more up-tempo, Greene says they adapted their supporting set to give it a more upbeat vibe. As a long-time Cut Copy fan who had never seen them live, the frontman found the tour an “eye-opening experience”. “It’s not just about the songs – there are so many other factors that are really important,” he says. “So [from that] inspiration, I’ve been thinking much bigger about the visual side of our performances.” Greene’s recorded output has been received to critical acclaim, and after a string of EPs, he finally released his first full album Within Or Without in July this year to rave reviews. But he says it’s the fans that provide the best insight into the impact of his music. “It’s quite odd meeting people after shows and hearing stories about these big moments in their lives and they’re listening to the record, or just how much the music means to them. It’s really inspiring for me personally to just take a step back, and it makes me try that much harder to do what I do – and never half-ass anything.”
With: M83, Laura Marling, Girls, Active Child, Washed Out, Yuck, Cults, Jonti, Feist, EMA, and more Where: Laneway Festival @ Sydney College of the Arts
With: Toro y Moi, Guerre
When: Sunday February 5
Where: Manning Bar, Sydney University When: Wednesday February 8
More: Co-headlining with Portugal. The Man on Tuesday February 7 at the Metro Theatre.
More: Also playing Laneway Festival @ Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle on Sunday February 5
The Damned Keeping It Raw By Birdie
H
aving released the first ever UK punk single ‘New Rose’ in 1976, and punk’s first album, Damned Damned Damned, the following year – before single-handedly launching the gothic movement with their 1980 The Black Album – it can safely be said that The Damned are responsible for influencing the majority of today’s independent music. The legendary band are celebrating their longevity with a 35th anniversary world tour, which stops in Sydney this month. Captain Sensible, founding member and guitarist, reminisces fondly when I tell him that it was watching The Damned guest star on an episode of The Young Ones in 1984 that first got me into more alternative, interesting music. “We were really pleased to have been invited on the program. It was glorious TV,” he laughs. “It was anarchic and fun and it was everything a TV program should be – it wasn’t boring, like a lot of the shit that’s on TV at the moment.” The description perfectly encapsulates what The Damned themselves are all about: anarchic and fun, and never boring. Throughout the ups and downs of their storied career, the iconoclastic band have always been their own beast. “A producer tried cornering us once, while we were doing The Black Album sessions, and we said to the guy, ‘Hello, who are you?’” the frontman relates. “He said, ‘I’m the producer; I’ve been sent down by Roger [Armstrong, founder of Chiswick
Records],’ and we said, ‘We really don’t want to have a producer on this record, we’re gonna make it ourselves.’ He said, ‘Nobody produces their own albums – you play your music, and the producer produces!’ So we said, ‘We’re The Damned – nobody tells us what to do!’ “The band is like a gang,” Sensible continues. “Nobody can impose their laws on us. Right or wrong, we’ve done our thing. Have we made mistakes? Sure! But mistakes are made by people who are trying to push themselves and their technical abilities – and you can hear [that] on the records. We’re not pissing around; we try to make the very best records we possibly can.” And when the Damned have made mistakes – most notably on 1997’s Music For Pleasure, produced by Pink Floyd’s drummer Nick Mason (they’d originally clamoured for Syd Barrett) – they’ve at least been interesting mistakes. “Yeah! Sure!” Sensible exclaims. “And I’ll tell you what, that’s what I hate about records these days: everything’s so perfect with the software used in recording… On Beatles records, there were mistakes! John’s guitar – there were bum notes. You can hear Ringo dropping a cigarette packet on the floor, and you can hear George Harrison giggling while doing back-up vocals. This is what we want on records! “The world is crying out for a band that’ll break the rules, that’ll do something crazy,” he continues. “I just wanna hear raw bands, you
know? I want to hear good bands, like in the early days of punk. I want to hear The Saints, from Australia – they were just magnificent, one of the greatest bands in the world … I want to hear raspy, raw, real music played by a bunch of people absolutely going for it, as if their lives depended on it. I don’t want to hear formula bloody punk rock, it bores me to death. I want to hear stuff like the MC5, I want to hear The Saints, I want to hear early Stooges.” Throughout the last 35 years, The Damned have done their own thing their own way – and influenced countless bands and styles in the meantime. I ask Sensible how it feels to be
leaving such a legacy. “Crikey, I have no idea,” he chuckles. “We only made music to please ourselves; it was never done for any reason, [like] trying to create a movement, or even to make money! We weren’t even thinking about money – we were thinking about making the most spectacular albums. I mean, we weren’t even trained musicians,” he says. “They were some great albums. They sound so much better than we had any right to sound, to be quite honest!” Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday January 21
“Been drunk as a skunk since I’ve been home from bar to bar like a ghost I roamed” - THE POGUES 18 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Dillinger Escape Plan Mind Their Own Business By Rick Warner
I
t’s the first day of Dillinger Escape Plan’s new recording session. Ideas that have been kicking around in some way or another on the back of the tour bus are finally ready to be fleshed out and made into a follow-up to their 2010 LP, Option Paralysis. Drummer Billy Rymer and lead guitarist/ chief songwriter Ben Weinman are ready to roll – but first, Ben has to take care of the day-to-day management of the band. “Unfortunately most of [my day] involves sitting on a computer. I gotta stick my head out the window and try and get some air, you know?” Having been manager of the band since its inception in 2007, Ben is quick to admit that juggling the role of songwriter and administrator has its ups and downs. “I’ve always pretty much handled most of the business side of things, for better or for worse,” he says. “I think that there are certainly things that have fallen through the cracks throughout the years, but at the same time it’s enabled us to survive and live a decent life and do pretty well, considering we’re not a giant massmarketed band. Just keeping other hands out of the pot certainly helped.” Fiercely independent, Dillinger Escape Plan have always seemed to stay true to their own interpretation of the music business. Having become disillusioned with the state of the industry, the band closed their ten-year relationship with long-time label, Relapse Records, to create their own fledgling imprint, Party Smasher Inc. As Ben explains, it wasn’t a hard choice. “That decision had a lot to do with us maintaining a certain level of productivity, while also keeping that level of freedom. The one thing we really wanted to make sure we did was not tie ourselves to anything that’s really binding and really constricting, considering the state of the industry.” He chooses not to say much about what went wrong at Relapse; although there are hints of an unamicable split, Weinman remains diplomatic. “Well, we signed that [Relapse] deal – basically, we were just kids. It was a great opportunity. We loved all the bands on the label. We loved the lifestyle, the culture, everything surrounding the label, but getting into our mid-thirties and growing up, being in the industry as long as we have been, there were certain... restrictions.” Now running their own imprint, in cooperation with French black metal label Season Of Mist, the band seemed to have found their place. “[They] really came to the table with a great offer to let us do what we want to do creatively, and make the music we want to write.”
“When Dillinger first started, there was really no idea that it was possible to do this for a career. We would drive around sometimes in three or four cars for four or five hours just to play a show for twenty bucks.” Dillinger Escape Plan’s newfound title of ‘veterans’ of the scene is one with which Weinman seems to be at peace. Throughout the interview, he continually mentions the band’s age, but there seems to be no sign of slowing down. The band of thirty-somethings completed a mammoth North American tour with Deftones in 2011 and will be in Australia next month for their second tour of duty with the Soundwave Festival. Sometimes he still has to pinch himself to believe that it’s happening. “When Dillinger first started, there was really no idea that it was possible to do this for a career. We literally were just working, going to school and getting any show opportunity we could get on the weekends. Those shows cost us. We didn’t do those for money; those cost us money. We would drive around sometimes in three or four cars for four or five hours just to play a show for twenty bucks. It was a pleasure,” he continues. “This is all we do and we’ve made a career out of it. Sometimes I say, ‘My leg hurts. My arm hurts. We have to play this show whether we want to or not. We’ve got to be around a bunch of guys that we may not necessarily want to hang out with 24/7.’ But sometimes you gotta take a step back and say, ‘You know what? I still have a pretty kick-ass life. This is a bad-ass job.’ I still don’t take it for granted.’ And Weinman and his band make sure the fans know that. In the last couple of years, Dillinger Escape Plan have taken it back to their roots, playing random shows in cramped suburban basements much like they did when DEP first started. “I loved playing basements; like sitting
in the house and talking to everyone, chilling and relaxing with everyone. That was my social time. I didn’t go to parties. I didn’t go to bars. That’s what I did. And it’s something special,” he says. “Those hundred kids who can squeeze into that small place are gonna mean more than playing a 1000 capacity room in some ways, because that’s our way of using the internet, that kind of selfmarketing. We’re not going to sit on the internet all day trying to promote ourselves; we’re not going to sit there and create some kind of false economy of what we are through marketing ourselves all day. We’re going to play a place where a hundred kids are going to have the time of their lives and they can freak about that to everyone else and say, ‘You gotta see this band!’ That’s worth more to us than $100,000 worth of shitty posters, or hiring some team to add people on Facebook.” With: System Of A Down, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, Bush, Bad Religion, The Used, Thursday and loads more Where: Soundwave @ Sydney Showground When: Sunday February 26 (sold out)
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
EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY IN JANUARY Neighborhood Watch
THU 12 JAN FRI 13 JAN SAT 14 JAN DJ
NICKY NIGHT TIME + KATO VA L A R I E Y U M + LUX L I F E
FREE ENTRY FREE PIZZA
Plus
M i - L i f e P H OTO G RA P H Y R E E L BEST OF MONSTER CHILDREN ON THE WALLS
(INCLUDING IMAGES OF THE RECENT MC PHOTO COMP)
FREE ENTRY + DJ’S + PING PONG
OPEN TIL 3AM
L E T M E D OW N
THU 19 JAN FRI 20 JAN SAT 21 JAN HINDU TATTOO INSTALLATIONS BY MATT FEDER AND SARAH MURPHY
HINDU TATTOO IS THE RESULT OF AN EPIC FOUR MONTH JOURNEY THROUGH INCREDIBLE INDIA. A VISUAL DOCUMENTATION OF ITS ROUGH AND OFTEN D.I.Y APPROACH TO TATTOOING.HINDU TATTOO DISPLAYS IMAGES OF PILGRIMS TATTOOS AND THEIR TATTOOERS AT WORK. TAKEN ALONGSIDE THE SACRED GANGES RIVER, AND THROUGH THE HECTIC STREETS AND BAZAARS OF INDIA.
ALBATROSS
COME VISIT US AT FACEBOOK.COM/THESTANDARDSYDNEY
TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT MOSHTIX.COM.AU/THESTANDARD WEARETHESTANDARD.COM.AU
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 19
My Chemical Romance High On Danger By Lindsey Cuthbertson
Y
ou know a band has made it when they can dictate the terms of their own touring schedule. When My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way chats to me from his home in the USA, he’s enjoying a nice long break from the road, designed specifically to take in the festive season. “We’re just enjoying a little time off after the year-long stretch that we’ve done recently. We’re just relaxing at home right now, regaining some energy and sanity,” he explains.
Hang on a second – wasn’t My Chemical Romance’s latest album only released a year ago? MCR wouldn’t have even considered stopping promo at this stage of the album cycle five years back. But it’s not like that anymore. “We’ve never done it this way. Every album [before 2010’s Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys] we’ve toured on for twoplus years,” he says. “We decided to go hard for about a year and then stop and make a new album, which is the plan that we’re sticking to at this current period of time. The last thing that we’ve got booked as far as shows go is Australia. We don’t plan on touring much [for the album] after that.”
Following on from the sombre theatricality of The Black Parade, Danger Days was a positive blast of colour, musical diversity and Mad Maxinspired imagery. And after the heavy touring schedule of The Black Parade almost drove Way and his bandmates into the ground, they’re now enjoying a lighter life on the road with the same upbeat attitude that they conveyed on the most recent album. “The way we used to tour, we didn’t really know what we were doing. We were burning ourselves out a great deal with the way we did things, so we figured that this is a good way to stay creative and keep things fresh. This way, not touring Danger Days for two-plus years means that we’ll be able to get back in and write new music quicker, and we’ll be able to get back on the road much quicker and play that new music to people.” After MCR’s tough slog promoting 2006’s The Black Parade, Way says their new approach to touring has had a great effect on the attitudes of himself, his brother (vocalist Gerard Way), and guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero. “Everybody is in the best spirit mentally that I can ever recall. Everybody’s happier than ever, everybody’s more positive; I think that this is the right move,” he affirms. Time, experience and a conscious effort to change for the future led MCR to this point, but the end result is what keeps them there. Way attributes much of this invigorating feeling to the success of Danger Days. “It was all about an optimism and showing a different side of the band, and changing people’s perspectives of us. We wanted to have fun and make an album that conveyed the fun through the speakers,” he says. “We all stepped out of our respective comfort zones and broke down the walls of preconceived notions about the band. We wanted to show all these sides of us, and influences that probably haven’t been seen before.”
“We always wanted to be the band that we wished existed when we were in high school. No matter how old we get, we still maintain that.” It wasn’t easy though. MCR recorded an entire album and scrapped it before discovering the spark that would eventually become Danger Days. “We’re such fans of each other as musicians, and I think that’s how we maintain that level of interest in the songs. We’re as into the music as our fans are, so it was as surprising a revelation to us as it was to any of them to discover what Danger Days was – we were as exhilarated and shocked as everyone else,” Way says. “One thing that as a band we all frown on is that sometimes bands make albums that sound exactly the same for the duration of their careers. Even as music listeners, we never wanted to make a My Chemical Romance album that sounded just like a My Chemical Romance album. We don’t ever want anything like that to happen, because that’s boring to us. With every album, we like to create a kind of universe for it to live in. We always try to make it as different as what we did last time, and if we do ever tread over old ground, it’s at least a nod or a wink, and not just us aping what we used to do,” he says. “I think our fans would be disappointed with hearing The Black Parade, Part Two.” It’s this strive for progression that’s taken MCR from an underground phenomenon to breakout megastars – but Way admits that while their sound and attitude may have changed, the core of the band never has. “We always wanted My Chemical Romance to be the band that we wished existed when we were in high school. No matter how old we get, we still maintain that. We know how we felt when we were pissed off as 15-year-olds, and I don’t think that’s ever going to leave us.” “The uphill climb that we had, we were up against some impossible odds,” Way says. “We fought against everything: everything that was going on in music was against what we were doing, and we were this tiny band and we were playing halls and basements where sometimes only four or five people would show up… So what’s on the other side of the hill?” he ponders. “That remains to be seen – but I know that it’s going to be exciting and fulfilling for us, because that’s the frame of mind we’re in and the type of people that we are now.” With: Closure In Moscow Where: Hordern Pavilion More: Playing Big Day Out on Thursday January 26 at Sydney Showground, with Kanye West, Soundgarden, Kasabian, Parkway Drive and more
20 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Xxxxx
When: Friday January 27
ARTISTS INCLUDE Staff Benda Bilili Democratic Republic of Congo Tinariwen Mali Gurrumul Australia Sharon Shannon Big Band Ireland Grace Barbé Seychelles/ Australia First Aid Kit Sweden Chic USA Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain UK Chapelier Fou France Blue King Brown Australia Eddi Reader Scotland Johnny Clegg South Africa Dobet Gnahoré Ivory Coast Penguin Cafe UK Bonobo UK Groundation Jamaica/USA Master Drummers of Burundi Burundi Diego Guerrero y El Solar de Artistas Spain DJ Krush Japan The Barons of Tang Australia Shane Howard Australia Lo’Jo France Shivkumar Sharma India Le Trio Joubran Palestine Mo’ Horizons Germany The Pigram Brothers Australia Nano Stern & The Sindicato Chile Kimmo Pohjonen Finland Mahala Raï Banda Romania La Voce Della Luna Italy/Australia Melbourne Ska Orchestra Australia Australia
Pascals Japan Narasirato Solomon Islands The Bombay Royale The Bearded Gypsy Band Australia Jay Hoad Band Fiji/USA/Australia ...
PLUS: KidZone, Taste the World,
a Global Village, visual arts, street theatre and so much more!
G ro u p g B o o ki nn t s d i s co u F 6+
O GROUPS RIDAY CLOSEBFRUARY 24 FE012 2
F u ll A r t is lin e u p o u tt 11 Ja n ua r y !
Fri 9 - Mon 12 March 2012 Botanic Park Adelaide BOOK AT WOMADELAIDE.COM.AU
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 21
sydney festival 2012 Sydney Festival has now officially kicked off – and if you were on the ball, you already scoured our special selection of highlights in BRAG's last issue. We thought we'd covered all the bases, but our Sydney Festival cup runneth over this year, so here’s part two: from the meandering alt-folk of AA Bondy and the experimental hip hop of Seattle's elusive Shabazz Palaces, to Prins Thomas'
chilled-out cosmic electro, sass-patrol by Meow Meow, and the rock’n’roll theatre offerings of Thyestes and ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore.
Roll up and read on – but for more (and there's a lot of it), head along to their website: sydneyfestival.org.au
Music
On a certain level, though, Shabazz Palaces remains a mystery even to Butler, who sees the group more as a conduit of ideas than a creator of them. “We understand that these ideas have been gifted to us,” he tells me, “and we’ve been able to have the pre-disposition to be motivated, and to pay attention to these [ideas], record them, put artwork to them. This is a pleasure that we’ve enjoyed... And we understand that it’s not about the author of the groove, it’s about whether the groove makes you move or not.
Shabazz Palaces
Let The Music Do The Talking By Hugh Robertson
Y
AA Bondy Open For Business By Mikey Carr
“I
haven’t had a day job in years,” Scott Bondy tells me. The founding member and songwriter from ‘90s rock band Verbena is now working as a solo artist under the name AA Bondy, and is speaking me during a North American tour in support of his third solo album, Believers. “Some people would argue that in order to get anywhere in the first place, as an artist or a painter or whatever it might be, the work doesn’t really allow for ‘part-time’ commitment,” he says. “I remember seeing an interview with [writer] Denis Johnston a while back, where he was talking about getting started, struggling, and he said that you need to not have a job. The interviewers then asked him, ‘How do you do that?’ He replied simply: ‘Well, the first part of not having a job is not having a job…’” For Bondy himself, finding the path to success was not an easy one; the songwriter relied heavily on the support of friends and family at first. Often housesitting, dog-minding or hitting up friends for places with cheap rent, Bondy had no real choice but to dedicate himself fully to his art because, as he says, “I don’t work very well in the straight world.” It’s a self-professed fact that he likes to make a spectacle of. For instance, while most album bios come laden with a series of italicised quotes from various media outlets that push the limits of hyperbole, with Believers the quotes were attributed to everyday people who happened to make Bondy’s acquaintance. “The tall thin guy?” asks Ray Anne Murphy, attendant at the Spring Market Bondy visited. “Oh yeah, he came in here every morning for three weeks, bought the same thing every day (one tube of Krazy glue and a sausage biscuit). I couldn’t tell you what he did for money.” Or Gladys Broussard, secretary at B&O Railroad: “Not many people know this, but he’s not a bad horn player. But he only
22 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
played during particular celestial events. At least that’s what he told me.” Some may see this as pointlessly distracting cuteness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in itself. Being such a wellcrafted and polished collection of songs, and having such a sense of brooding seriousness to it, Believers could use something silly to lighten the mood. The music itself shows Bondy as an artist at the height of his powers, a songwriter who through years of playing has refined his style and craft to a keen edge. A rich offering of dusty Americana, with tiny slices of external influences inserted into the songs like blocks of butter slid beneath the skin of a roasting chicken, his music clearly pays tribute to the great American songwriters – yet isn’t afraid to put a toe or two out of bounds. Album opener ‘The Heart Is Willing’ sees Bondy touching on Krautrock with its motorik rhythmic bent; ‘The Twist’ takes the album’s austere alt-folk character into vintage slowcore. “Some days grass is grass, and some days it’s more than grass,” he says, of finding inspiration. “It’s important to keep yourself open, but in the midst of all this travel it’s hard… The tendency is to numb out, because it’s kind of painful to keep yourself open. I don’t know many people who do it successfully over long periods of time. “When I’m in the middle of millions of acres of corn in America, in the wintertime, I always end up asking myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’” he admits. “But every once in a while things sort of light up in a different way, and that’s why you do it, I guess… I haven’t seen it all. I haven’t heard it all. I haven’t even mastered anything. In fact, I don’t think you can. But there is still joy in it for me. There’s still joy in the art and in the act.” What: Believers is out now Where: The Idolize Spiegeltent, Parramatta When: January 19 & 20, 7pm
ou’ve never heard anything quite like Shabazz Palaces’ 2011 debut, Black Up. It’s hip hop, to be sure, but influenced by jazz, by Middle Eastern folk and by dark, minimalist electronica all at once. Voices fade in and out of the mix, hitting you hard one moment before crooning in the ether the next. And nearly everyone who encountered the album was entranced not just by the uniqueness of the work, but by the aura of mystery and enigma that surrounded the whole project. That there were no photos of the group, no bios supplied to press, no Twitter and no Facebook only added to the fascination.
But Ishmael Butler doesn’t quite understand why everyone is so mystified. It’s his voice, as alterego Palazeer Lazaro, that you hear coming all twisted and warped out of your speakers, and it is he who is the most high-profile member of this secret society. Was it all a publicity stunt, I ask, to get people hooked on the mystery of it all, and force them to keep coming back for more? Quite the opposite. “[People] come back to know more about [artists] who say every single thing that they are doing every day,” he points out. “It’s popular culture, and that’s a part of it. This intense investigation of somebody’s motivations and psychologies, and even their paltry, banal wants and needs... But at the end of the day, a lot of that information isn’t really true, in the sense that it doesn’t represent the result, but it paints a picture around it in order to either sell it or to package it, or something. And we just avoid that.”
Slow And Heady Wins The Race By Christiaan DeWit
A
One of the most striking things about Prins Thomas’ music is the low tempo at which he keeps his grooves going. How does he survive in a climate where crews like Mad Decent and Ed Banger set the fastpaced standards? “I’d say at a slower tempo you’re able to give the groove more room to establish. At a fast pace you’ll obviously get more energy, but I prefer to let the energy build more
It’s not that uncommon for artists to feel as though their creativity comes from outside of themselves, whether it be inspired by their muse, endowed upon them by a spiritual presence or simply float in on the breeze. But it’s odd to hear a musician speak as fatalistically about their entire career as Butler does, as though he is relying on the music to do all the work. Mind you, when the music is this good, maybe that’s all you need. What: Black Up is out now on Sub Pop, through Inertia With: Taylor McFerrin, Shangaan Electro Where: FBi Night @ Keystone Festival Bar When: Friday January 13
denied the Major Swellings thing was me, because they’re all edits. I took everything, from American rock‘n’roll to Italian disco, and re-organised the whole thing. Because of that re-ordering, the tracks are more adventurous than your average edits, but it’s something I want to stay away from now. People build whole careers on stealing other people’s ideas, and I think that’s a little too easy.”
Prins Thomas
rguably the most prolific of all Scandinavian cosmic disco aficionados, Prins Thomas is also a top ranker when it comes to the diversity of his output. From gypsy-infected dancefloor disco to '70s-style down-tempo psychedelic stuff and through to his later, wonky Krautrock-like cuts, Thomas Moen Hermansen has worked on a huge range of projects. But with such a dark, long and cold winter in his native Oslo, he’s had plenty of time on his hands. “I’ve just finished recording a new solo album, I started recording a new one with Lindstrøm, worked on some tracks with The Mole and I’m getting a lot of things done with my nine piece, Prins Thomas Orchestra,” he tells me, on the eve of an Australian tour that will see him here at the end of the month. “We’re still trying to find a balance with the orchestra, but we know what sort of band we are: a happy, jammy, onechord band. There’s going to be an EP and an album next year.”
“And then you also have to realise that an idea [pronounces] itself finished,” Butler continues. “Once you start tinkering with shit, and putting your personal stuff into it, then it gets a little bit masturbatory. And when the idea’s done, when we’ve worked on it and it’s happened, then we put it down and go find some other idea that we’re blessed with. We believe that if you do that to the music, let your instinct ride it out, ...the music is going to take you where you need to go. You’ll meet the people you need to meet, you’ll get the shows you need to get – it’s going to be destined because you did your best.”
naturally. If you listen to, say, the bass guitar in Sly & Robbie’s music, there’s not much going on, but it’s still crucial to get that groove and swing.” Enjoying the discussion, Hermansen takes his time to think of more analogies. “James Brown’s recordings are often about what he isn’t playing rather than what he is playing. So I’m trying to not just bang it through. If we compare it to love-making, we all know it’s not about the fast pace,” he laughs. While laidback grooves dominate Prins Thomas’ discography, he sure knows how to work today’s big room dancefloors as well. Hermansen’s stomping upbeat tunes came out under his mid-2000s Major Swellings moniker – not his favourite conversation topic, as it turns out. “Until a few years back I always
With his eclectic and organic approach to club music, Prins Thomas is one of the few current electronic artists that wouldn’t be out of place on one of David Mancuso’s legendary Loft compilations. Is there a connection between current and old cosmic stuff? “My music on a Loft release – that’s a nice thought," he muses. "Mancuso did actually play my first solo 12-inch at a Loft party here in Oslo a few years ago, which of course was a nice surprise after having handed him the record a day before.” Compliments from the legendary can’t hurt, but being a man in his late thirties, Thomas isn’t old enough to get nostalgic just yet. “There’s a lot of inspiring music out there, both for me as a DJ and a musician. With so much new music these days, looking back to the past for inspiration isn’t enough. We definitely need something with a hint of the future too,” he says. “So whether it’s Beach Boys, Wooden Shjips, Blawan, Marcellus Pittman, Pat Metheny, Mantronix or Emeralds, it’s all good to these ears.” With: DJ Koze Where: Future Classic Presents @ Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks When: Saturday January 28
Arts
sydney festival 2012
Thyestes put through a series of circumstances that are completely unfair and out of their control. You watch someone else go through the terrible shit that you have, at one point, had happen to you.”
Thyestes – photo by Jeff Busby
Mark Winter in Thyestes
Simon Stone's Therapeutic Tragedy By Pierce Wilcox
F
Meow Meow – photo by Magnus Hastings
or a director on the cutting edge of the Australian theatre scene, Simon Stone is surprisingly open about his commitment to ancient ideas. “Recognition,” he says. “Revelation and recognition. Aristotle was writing about that in his Poetics – that being the central aim of tragedy. I think he had it dead right.”
Little Match Girl Meow Meow Plays With Fire By Yasmin Parry
S
ydneysiders lining up to see international cabaret sensation Meow Meow in her Sydney Festival, be warned – things are about to get heated: “It’s a festival show, it’s at 9.30, and people are already hot and ready, I think; my experience of Sydney audiences is that,” she purrs – “hot and ready.”
'Tis Pity She's A Whore – photo by Manuel Harlan
Meow Meow’s latest artistic endeavour, The Little Match Girl, has already enjoyed a triumphant romp at Melbourne’s Malthouse Theatre, and will dominate Sydney Festival’s Spiegeltent throughout January. It’s a rather more cosy and intimate venue for the addled, hypersexual and hilarious performance artist, who is known for her stage diving and impromptu audience involvement. “The people are transformed as soon as they enter that space,” she tells me. “It’s a very magical tent.” When I catch up with Meow Meow she’s taking some downtime – but even on a break, work seems to catch up with her: she’s waiting for Amanda Palmer (from punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls) to arrive so that they can work on new material for their Melbourne New Years Eve show, Trash Masquerade. Meow Meow excitedly refers to her imminent Sydney season as one giant artist “love in”, with a convergence of some of her closest friends from around the world descending in January to perform. Besides her regular collaborators Mitchell Butel (of Avenue Q fame) and Lance Horn on piano, Meow Meow hints at impromptu appearances by Palmer and her old pals from La Clique (currently performing in the Sydney Opera House season of La Soirée) – and indie darling Megan Washington, who wrote some of the songs for
The Little Match Girl, may even make an appearance. “I’m just trying to coordinate how we’re going to run onto each other’s shows in the wee hours of the mornings,” says Meow. The original Little Match Girl fable, which offers a bitterly cold European winter as the backdrop for a tale of abuse and neglect, may seem an odd jumping-off point for a cabaret artist known for her comedic and outrageous performances, but Meow Meow is not afraid to shy away from the difficult or the political; in fact she revels in the fact that this show is not merely a hero tale with a naughty child and a witch, but rather a “horrible contemporary story of abuse”. She tells me the story is still relevant today, and her adaptation is heavily influenced by a Salvation Army documentary called The Oasis, about homeless children – the very real little match girls and boys who exist today. “I think it’s a very strong condemnation of people just walking by trouble that’s all too difficult and too distasteful, so I’ve really tried to grapple with that in the piece,” says the performer. It’s hard-hitting subject matter, but from all reports the show artfully weaves cabaret music with burlesque fashion and a Dickensian plotline that bounces off the audience’s reactions. And, for a performer with Honours degrees in Law, Fine Art and German, Meow Meow of all people knows how to wrest what she calls an “agitprop fairytale” from its macabre beginnings, cover it in glitter and leave her audience in stitches by the end. “If anyone can do a political diatribe while doing the splits it’s me,” she quips. “It’s a joyous show to perform. Even though it’s extremely sad it’s still very funny. It’s the story of my life.” What: The Little Match Girl When: Until January 29 Where: The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden (Hyde Park North) More: sydneyfestival.org.au/match
Stone has spent the last few years carving a path through the canon with his fiercely contemporary adaptations, most recently creating a riveting glass-encased rendition of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck. For the 2012 Sydney Festival, he’s gone almost two thousand years earlier and set his sights on Seneca’s vicious, unforgiving tragedy, Thyestes. Dealing with a classical play, explains Stone, means finding a way “to tell those stories without it feeling like an obscure rendering of the way the world ‘used to work’. It forces you to create a strong juxtaposition between the otherworldliness of things that come from ancient cultures, and the
mundane recognition of elements that are exactly the same nowadays: brothers are jealous of each other, wives cheat on their husbands, and husbands cheat on their wives.” Stone’s process is about removing the barriers to that identification of sameness. “It’s far less easy to have a revelation as an audience member if you’re finding it very difficult to associate with the character on stage. It becomes about the costumes, the completely unaffordable golden crown which is therefore made out of plastic.” To circumvent this problem, Thyestes presents three actors – who look like they could have walked in off the street – in an empty white box. “The more engaged an audience can be, the more successful theatre is,” says the director. “The more they feel like they’re seeing themselves onstage, seeing other humans that are human like them, the more there’s a ritual feeling to the otherworldliness that you can then create.” And from that first step, the mechanisms of tragedy unfold. “You watch a human being like you being
The goal of Stone’s project, he says, is “the recognition that you’re not alone. That’s what catharsis is. The recognition of yourself onstage. A revelation that other human beings are as dirty, messy, complicated, inept, and inelegant as you are. The fact that no matter how we try to live constructed, organised and sophisticated lives, at the end of the day, we fuck up – and we fuck up regularly. That’s what we see in the theatre. Because otherwise we’d be going mad with the idea that we’re the only person that has trouble living.” Stone’s work is shot through with violence and terror, but he sees this kind of theatre as a unique comfort zone. “Theatre is like a good friend. It’s the person that says, ‘No matter who you are, no matter how you’ve lived your life, as long as you’re well-intentioned, I can forgive you anything.’ It’s seeing someone else contemplating suicide onstage, someone else having a terrible argument with their son, someone else having too much pride to apologise. We see ourselves in each of these events.... we see people like the people we love represented onstage. And we come to know ourselves better, and we come to know other people better, and we come to have more forgiveness, for points of view that we have never properly been able to understand.” What: Thyestes (after Seneca) by Simon Stone When: January 15 – February 19 Where: CarriageWorks Bay 20 More: sydneyfestival.org.au/thyestes
Tis Pity She’s A Whore Tales of Incest and Redemption By Pierce Wilcox
I
n her two years since graduating from London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Lydia Wilson seems to have developed a natural affinity for controversy. She’s starred in an award-winning revival of Sarah Kane’s Blasted (a play once described as the British press as a ‘disgusting feast of filth’), played the daughter of an embattled climate change sceptic in The Heretic, and recently appeared in an episode of coal-black political satire Black Mirror which turned on whether or not the Prime Minister would consent to intercourse with a pig. Her latest role: playing the title character in the Jacobean tragedy 'Tis Pity She’s a Whore, about an incestuous relationship between two siblings. Yet when we speak, a few hours after she’s stepped off the stage of the Théâtre des Gémeaux in Paris, I’m not met with a provocateur but a performer with sharp instincts for the politics of her art. It’s this awareness that drew her to the play’s startling title and its particular charge. “It’s kind of a woman’s obligation to notice the title, and to have an interest in what’s going on inside the pages of that text," says Wilson. "I saw a production of it when I was a teenager, with Jude Law (probably because Jude Law was in it). But it had a peculiar kind of sting to it which you can’t help be intrigued by.” In fact, Parisian audiences have been finding the story of an incestuous relationship between Wilson’s character, Annabella, and her brother Giovanni more romantic than unspeakable. “From what people have said so far, they’re almost on side with it, because it happens so early on, and you’re so charmed into thinking ‘boy-meetsgirl situation’. The fallout is really
Lydia Wilson & Co. in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore what’s shocking. You don’t really have time to judge it until after it’s done.”
suffering? And give her the dignity of being a more complex character than a victim.”
It’s that fallout that causes one character to declaim the play’s title line, one of a litany heaped upon Annabella for her transgression. For Wilson, playing a woman beset by such misogyny has been “a very complex, sometimes enraging, often enlightening process.” “She’s a pre-feminist character,” Wilson says of Annabella, “but with all my vocabulary, it’s so glaringly obvious to me the hypocrisies in this society around her.”
Wilson credits director Declan Donnellan, of UK theatre company Cheek By Jowl, for allowing her to find “scope for redemption, as well as condemnation”. Donnellan eschews the typical high-concept approach that guides many contemporary productions of classic texts, in favour of an actor-centric process Wilson describes as “really playful, and reactive to what comes about.” It's this approach that allowed her Annabella to find redemption. “We didn’t expect to find it! It was a real joy, how organic it was, how this chemical thing that happened in that rehearsal on that day ended up changing the whole course of the narrative.”
It’s possible to shift the blame for Annabella’s downfall to the flawed society she lives in, but Wilson has no interest in playing the victim. “The luxury of [this play] not knowing itself as a feminist or not-feminist work is that it’s open to these ambiguities. I think in this production we’ve tried – rather than just say that Annabella’s being thrown around by all these men – to say: What is her role in her own
What: Tis Pity She’s A Whore When: January 17-21 Where: Sydney Theatre / Walsh Bay More: sydneyfestival.org.au/whore
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 23
arts frontline
free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com
arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...
five minutes WITH SAMUEL
N
ext up at SMAC-nominated Alaska Projects – they of the gallery space in Kings Cross Car Park – is a solo exhibition by Sydney photographer, installationist, fashion enthusiast and blogger extraordinaire Samuel Hodge. Sam is obviously having a good year, with various projects taking him to Berlin and Oslo. We took five to find out what’s going on…
HODGE Do It by Samuel Hodge
What’s your camera/lens of choice? I use an old Nikon from the ‘60s. I have no idea about the rest of it. Who inspires you, creatively speaking? I’m not one of those people that actively searches for inspiration, but at the moment I’m very much inspired by the work of the video artists Ms&Mr (msandmr.net), a married artist couple who have the most unique work I have seen in
Tell us a little about your current projects in Berlin and Oslo! The Projects in Europe are ongoing; I can’t really talk about them as they are yet to be finalised or released but I can say they are fashion based. What else have you got your fingers in, project wise, in the near future? At the moment I’m working on two new collaborations for books: one with a fashion label and the other with an artist. Then I will start planning for the next solo show. I’m not very good at planning too far in advance; this is the most I have ever done in my life.
What’s your background/training? I never studied or have any training. I dropped out of highschool when I was 16 and haven’t really had any actual career except this. When did the art start? When some friends said I should exhibit about three years ago. I was too afraid before that... Well I had made a small book and had started a blog, and some other artists I admired gave me the support to start exhibiting.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE! WIN!
a long time. And people doing other amazing creative things, like Romance Was Born, and other artists like Soda_Jerk, Ella Barclay and Sam Smith. What’s this exhibition about? This is a collection of work from the past year and a half. As always, it’s quite personal; but this time I’m grouping things more into themes, and there is even a fashion component. I think it’s also quite humourous. The show itself is actually a bit of an experimental installation as well. It’s meant to look very light and simple...though it costs a lot of time and money to make it look like this, too. Who knows what it will be like.
Tell us about this image, pictured? It's from a fashion shoot I was doing; they are also best friends and flatmates. I don’t know why I did it. I just thought it would be fun and stupid.
Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season releases this Wednesday January 11 on DVD and Blu-ray, with an insane amount of special features. If you somehow missed it, here’s your chance to see what those eight Emmys were about – we have three copies of DVD up for grabs; just email us with your postal address and the name of one other actor in the series.
What: Samuel Hodge When: January 11 from 6pm; runs til Jan 22. Where: Alaska Projects / Lvl 2 Kings Cross Carpark, 9A Elizabeth Bay Rd More: truth-beauty-cock.blogspot.com / alaskaprojects.com / Check out Ms&Mr until February 5 the Art Gallery Of NSW artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/ms-mr
INSERT COINS X 3
Children of the ‘80s unite! There’s a new(ish) night in town dedicated to recreating your video arcade memories, pinball heydays and milk bar fantasies – while also satisfying your crushing desire for alcohol and addiction to PS3/X-Box. So get off your couch and out of your fetid loungeroom swamp, and into Oxford Art Factory on Thursday January 19, for the third instalment of Insert Coins. There’s candy, alcoholic milkshakes, ‘80s and ‘90s chunes, over 20 arcade games – and a special pre-release of The Darkness 2 on ten screens! $10 on the door gets you all the fun your thumbs can handle, get there from 6pm to make the most of your dollartimez.
Cate Blanchett in Gross und Klein
Bringing together a talent trifecta of Emmy Award-winning writer Terence Winter (The Sopranos), Executive Producer Martin Scorsese and HBO, Boardwalk Empire does for prohibitionera Atlantic City (the original sin city) what The Sopranos did for the modern-day mafia – with lashings of sex, violence and sartorial splendour to boot. At the centre of the story is city treasurer, political fixer and all-round criminal kingpin Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (played by Steve Buscemi), his henchmen, rivals and mistresses.
SHORT+SWEET TREATS
Now in its 11th year, Short+Sweet is an annual mega-festival of mini-plays taking place at King Street Theatre (formerly Newtown Theatre) and climaxing in the Gala Finals on March 30 and 31. Looking over this week’s program, One day in the life of the Keef:
The Human Riff stood out, coming from the same writer-performer team (Benito Di Fonzo and David Attrill) behind the indie-theatre cult hit The Chronic Ills Of Robert Zimmerman. Worth checking out. Catch this week’s bill of shorts from Wednesday to Saturday (January 11 – 14) at 8pm, and Sunday January 15 at 5.15pm. Tickets $30/25, book through 8019 0294 or shortandsweet.org/tickets
ARTS RESIDENCIES
Applications close this week for Queen Street Studio’s annual Performing Arts Residency Program, for which ten artists are provided with up to three weeks of free access to a space for rehearsal or development of a project; unfunded projects even get a weekly stipend, which should cover pens, cookies, orange-mocha-frappacinos, and other essentials. The program has already boosted people like Team MESS, Imperial Panda, Siren Theatre Co. and Tin Sheds – so you’d be in good company. Submissions close Thursday January 12; for more info or to apply, hit up queenstreetstudio.com Gremlins: when pets go wrong
SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS: NOM NOM NOM
NEW BAR @ THE WHARF
Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf HQ has a new bar – well, almost. The product of several years of scheming by STC Co-Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton, the new bar (which launches in April) will be an affordable and accessible alternative to the decidedly posh Wharf Restaurant that has occupied the iconic harbourside position for the last ten years. That restaurant shut up shop on New Year’s Day, making way for a pop-up bar and food joint that will be functioning throughout Summer, before a brief period of refurbishment in March – and the grand re-opening sometime this April. Affordable dinner-theatre dates with Harbour views? Yes please.
WHERE IN THE WORLD
Weekly arts shindig The Wall @ World Bar are getting more literary this year; continuing the trend started by nights like Feast Your Eyes and Wish You Were Here, The Wall’s upcoming show, Where In The World, will wrangle a limited-edition adventure novella from the combined talents of Pip Smith (Penguin 24 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Plays Rough), Harry Wynter (Das Super Paper), Nadine Von Cohen, Alice Fenton (Even Books), A.H. Cayley (P.A.N. Magazine), Rachel Fuller (Bams & Ted) and more. Expect globetrotting, international intrigue, and even a bit of jitterbugging, we’re told, courtesy of Brendan Maclean. Wednesday January 25 from 7.30pm at The Wall @ World Bar.
PICASSO AT THE MOVIES
The Art Gallery of NSW runs a weekly program of free films that changes according to what exhibitions are happening at the time; the current one, coinciding with their major Picasso exhibition, is called Picasso Goes to the Movies, and includes everything from docos to surrealism. This week you can catch Cocteau’s Orphée (1950) from 2pm or 7.15pm on Wednesday January 11, or at 2pm on Sunday January 15. The following week, you and your shiftless mates should check out Fellini’s I Vitelloni – young Italians doing ennui with style. It’s free, it’s culture, don’t say we’re not doing our best to educate you. All the gory details at artgallery.nsw.gov.au
GREMLINS VS BEETLEJUICE
Cremorne’s Hayden Orpheum are following up their epic Back to the Future triple-bill with a double-header of two ‘80s horror-comedy classics: Joe Dante’s Gremlins (1984) (which a younger Roger Ebert described as “a confrontation between Norman Rockwell’s vision of Christmas and Hollywood’s vision of the blood-sucking monkeys of voodoo island”) and Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988) – both of which may or may not be as terrifying as your 8-year-old self remembers them. While you’re talking to your inner child, ask them what you should wear to the screening, coz the best costume gets a $100 cash prize. Sunday January 22 from 7pm, for just $20. orpheum.com.au
Gross Und Klein – photo by Lisa Tomisetti / Gremlins – image © 1984 Warner Bros Entertainment Inc.
With awards season upon us, Sydney Theatre Awards are leading the charge, announcing their nominees for 2011. As opposed to the Helpmann Awards, which are industry-voted, the Sydney Theatre Awards are judged by a small clique of Sydney theatre critics from publications like the SMH, The Australian, Time Out Sydney and stagenoise. com. We'd be all like, whatever, but they're actually top notch. Belvoir’s The Dark Room and Hairspray (the musical) are leading the pack with seven nominations each, closely followed by The Libertine and The Wild Duck (five noms each), and Baal, Gross und Klein, Mary Poppins, Neighbourhood Watch and The Seagull (four noms each). Nom nom nom. The winners will be announced at a January 16 ceremony.
Griffin Theatre Company 2012 Affordable treats from the main stage.
G
riffin’s 2012 season is chock full of cracking stories and vivid performances, across eight productions – five in their main season, and three in their Griffin Independent stream. Sydney’s hottest young talent will be front and centre, with starring roles for Josh McConville, Maeve Dermody, Bojana Novakovic and Shari Sebbens, while stage veterans Paul Capsis and Tim Rogers will provide hot injections of showmanship and charisma.
Bojana Novakovic and Tim Rogers in The Story Of Mary MacLane
THE STORY OF MARY MACLANE BY HERSELF Writer: Bojana Novakovic (based on the novel) Director: Tanya Goldberg (Way To Heaven)
The basics: Ride On Theatre Company uncover the story of one of history’s lesser known (and sauciest) feminists: 19-year-old Mary MacLane (1881-1929), whose debut, The Story of Mary MacLane, was a publishing sensation that brought her fame and fortune. This production (which has already had a Melbourne season) will be playful, cheeky, interactive, and laced with live music. Sam says: “Before I even
G IV EA W AY S
Griffin 2012 Main Stage – photos by Katie Kaars
Starring: Bojana Novakovic, Tim Rogers
read the script, I saw a DVD of a development of it…and I remember being absolutely struck by the charisma of [Bojana and Tim] as performers.”
By Dee Jefferson
“We encourage people to think of the season as a whole, rather than just as individual plays,” says Griffin’s Artistic Director, Sam Strong. “The whole season is a carefully curated series of experiences – from the intense to the playful to the provocative to urgent, and the warm-hearted.” First up in the season is The Boys (see right); below we survey the rest of the main stage program, to whet your appetite. For the full program (and their superb under-30s subscription package) see griffin.com.au autobiographical show about Paul’s Maltese grandmother so much it’s coming back for another season – before heading off on a national tour. Paul says: “It’s just me, a cupboard and a table – there are no helicopters or explosions, it’s back to the basics of what theatre used to be, intimate storytelling.” Reasons to see this: Capsis is a consummate entertainer with a 25-year career and two Helpmann Awards under his belt. Did we mention the first season sold out? Season: May 15 – June 9
phrase, razor-sharp wit, edge-of-PC and deliciously naughty humour – and applies them to quite a serious, but fascinating, subject-matter.” Reasons to see this: Besides the fact that it beat a host of scripts from extremely talented writers to win the Griffin Award, this stars young NIDA grad Shari Sebbens, who will be seen later this year in Wayne Blair’s film adaptation of The Sapphires. Season: July 20 – September 1
A HOAX
BETWEEN TWO WAVES
Writer: Rick Viede (Whore; All The Way With Glace Chase) Director: Lee Lewis (Silent Disco; That Face) Starring: Shari Sebbens The basics: Writer-performer Rick Viede (aka insanely camp wannabe-personality and cabaret star Glace Chase) won the 2011 Griffin Award (for the second time!) with this provocative examination of identity politics and celebrity culture, refracted through the story of a literary hoax. Sam says: “This play takes some of Rick’s trademarks – his magnificent turn of
Reasons to see this: Bojana’s performances in the Mel Gibson action thriller Edge Of Darkness, and more recently in the Australian film Burning Man, mark her as a fierce talent to watch. Season: April 4 – May 12
ANGELA’S KITCHEN Writers: Paul Capsis and Hilary Bell Director: Julian Meyrick Starring: Paul Capsis (Threepenny Opera) The basics: People loved this one-man/woman
Writer: Ian Meadows Director: Sam Strong Starring: Maeve Dermody (The Seagull) and Ian Meadows. The basics: In the wake of catastrophic floods, and faced by an uncertain future and unstable planet, a young climatologist and his wife struggle with the decision of whether or not to start a family. Sam says: “Ian is one of our great undiscovered writing and acting talents. This play addresses the climate change question – but not in a way that’s didactic or issuebased, but one that has both an emotional and an imaginative entry point.” Reasons to see this: Strong has a string of critically acclaimed productions under his belt, including The Power Of Yes (Belvoir 2010) and Speaking In Tongues (Griffin 2011) – and is helming one of Sydney’s hottest stage tickets of 2012, Dangerous Liaisons, for Sydney Theatre Company. Season: October 5 – November 17 With: Griffin 2012 Main Stage
Shari Sebbens
More: To check out the three plays in the Griffin Independent strand see griffintheatre.com.au
MISS POLLY RAE & HER HURLY BURLY GIRLYS H
ere’s a chance to see some international burlesque royalty live on stage in Sydney – Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girlys (that gets more fun to say every time) are bringing their acclaimed stage show from London’s West End to Sydney this month. The “non-stop pop erotic cabaret” features the all-singing, all-dancing Miss Polly and six Girlys, putting the vamp in re-vamp as they cover recent and classic pop from MJ to Rihanna; the show is as gorgeous to look at as the ladies, under the keen eye of director William Baker (the man responsible for Kylie’s gold hotpants and Britney’s Circus tour design). After winning Best Troupe at Britain’s national burlesque awards in 2007, they’ve only gone from strength to strength, with The Hurly Burly Show running for eight weeks at the Garrick Theatre – so don’t miss this brief chance to catch them here.
Josh McConville takes a nasty turn...
The Boys
Affordable treats from the main stage.By Dee Jefferson
Griffin’s Summer Chiller
Before Animal Kingdom and Snowtown there was a film called The Boys, by Rowan Woods – an equally dark and disturbing portrait of a family of brothers bonded in violence, alcoholism, crime and misogyny, and presided over by a motherlioness. Before it was a film, The Boys was a play, written by Gordon Graham and premiering at Griffin Theatre in 1991 – five years after the very public investigation into the murder of Sydney nurse Anita Cobby, who was raped and killed on her way home by a gang of men that included three brothers. That original Griffin season of The Boys was a sell-out success – and this month’s remount, helmed by Artistic Director Sam Strong (Speaking In Tongues) looks to be one of this summer’s hottest theatre tickets. “One thing that this piece does well – and the film did as well – is kind of, as Rowan Woods said, blurring social realism and horror as two genres,” says Strong. “It’s dark and it’s powerful and it’s intense; but if you make a work unremittingly bleak, it’s not a particularly interesting experience to watch. So there is a lot of humour and humanity in this piece that we’re working to extract.” As part of his pre-production research, Strong delved into both the film and the original circumstances of the Cobby murder (through journalist Julia Sheppard’s book on the case). He and his cast and crew also
spent quite a bit of time in Western Sydney, where they are setting the play. Production designer Renee Mulder was particularly interested in creating a set that, as Strong explains, “looks like we have literally laser-cut out a backyard from Doonside and transplanted it into the Griffin theatre.” “I think the biggest single thing that has stuck out in preparation is heat,” says Strong – “that’s why it’s great to be doing it in summer. There’s something about spending a whole day drinking beer in 35-degree heat that does weird stuff to you... So glare and heat are things that we’ve been working with a lot.” In the role of eldest brother and ringleader Brett Sprague, played by David Wenham in the stage and screen versions, Strong has cast rising stage star Josh McConville, who exploded onto Griffin’s stage straight out of NIDA, in 2009’s The Call, Dealing With Clair and Strange Attractor, and has gone on to dominate Sydney Theatre Company’s 2011 season in roles for In The Next Room: The Vibrator Play, Loot and Gross Und Klein. “Great actors have a sort of unpredictable and kind of mercurial, dangerous quality,” says Strong, “and I think Josh certainly has that; and it’s a quality that’s suited to The Boys.” With: The Boys When: January 11 – March 3 Where: SBW Stables Theatre / 10 Nimrod St, Kings Cross
WIN!
An Evening With Miss Polly Rae & The Hurly Burly Girlys runs from January 5-15 at the Factory Theatre, Enmore; we have THREE double passes up for grabs to check out the show on January 13. To get your paws on one email freestuff@ thebrag.com with one of Polly’s performance inspirations (hint: read our interview at thebrag.com) BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 25
Studio Ghibli [ANIMATION] Inside Japan’s Animation Empire By Rebecca Harkins-Cross
S
ince 1985, Studio Ghibli has been creating idiosyncratic visions of the world. Across 17 feature films, Ghibli’s animators have rendered a holistic universe where magic is part of the everyday, spirits and humans occupy the same earthly plane, and love is a redemptive force powerful enough to transform characters and their surroundings. Seen through the wide eyes of Studio Ghibli’s protagonists, these stories valorise those with strong wills and open hearts as capable of grasping the world’s mysteries. Studio Ghibli is the brainchild of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, who grew up in Tokyo in the years following World War II. After working together on the highly successful Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, they joined forces to create what would become one of the most highly acclaimed animation houses in Japan, not to mention the world. In the digital age, much of Ghibli’s charm and distinctive style lies in their traditional approach. They continue to employ cel animation, a time-consuming method by which a series of hand-drawn images are transferred onto celluloid and then coloured in. The stills are then photographed in sequence and projected, to give the impression of movement (the same principle as the humble flipbook). Unlike Walt Disney, who hired a team of people to draw and colour his films, Miyazaki has worked as both director and senior animator on all his projects. He has always
been an infamous perfectionist, but it is this perfectionism that has sustained such a strong creative vision. These days, Studio Ghibli is an empire. In 1997, Princess Mononoke became the highest grossing film in Japan’s history (before being surpassed by the James Cameron juggernaut Titanic). In 2003, however, they regained the mantle with Spirited Away, which also won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (the only winner made outside of the Englishspeaking world). They also opened Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum in 2001, a wonderland housing an array of Ghibli memorabilia. The challenge Studio Ghibli presents to the American animation powerhouses is no mean feat. Studio Ghibli’s films have become increasingly environmentally and politically minded in recent years. In Ponyo, the love between the titular character, a fish, and little boy Sosuke threatens the fragile balance between the ocean and the land. Released in 2008, the film was strangely prescient of the tsunami that would hit three years later. Similarly, their latest film Arrietty adapts the story of The Borrowers to comment on the current economic climate, proffering the practice of borrowing as an alternative to rampant capitalism. By distilling epic stories to their emotional essence, Studio Ghibli creates fairytales for the postmodern world in which eternal values like bravery, tenacity and friendship can conquer any curse.
Still from Arrietty
Arrietty Director Hiromasa Yonebayashi talks about Ghibli’s latest triumph. By Roslyn Helper
W
orking as an animator for Studio Ghibli since 1996 (on such seminal films as Princess Mononoke and Howl’s Moving Castle), Hiromasa Yonebayashi makes his directorial debut this month – the youngest ever director for Ghibli – with Arrietty, based on the British novel The Borrowers, by Mary Norton. Why do you feel it was necessary to make Arrietty? Mr. Hayao Miyazaki is the mastermind behind this project. In fact, he had wanted to adapt The Borrowers himself, some 40 years ago. I am sorry to say that before Mr. Miyazaki asked me to direct this film, I had never read the original novels. What themes in the film resonate with you? The communication between the teenage boy and girl has been further emphasized in the film compared to the original novel. I have put much consideration in the development of their feelings, and these are completely based on my ideals. Given that your source material was quintessentially British, how have you melded Eastern and Western cultural styles in the film? Mixture of the East and the West – I think that is the modern culture of Japan. A huge Western-style mansion surrounded by a forest left in the middle of a Japanese neighbourhood – if the story is going to take place in such a surreal setting, then even if the story is set in Japan, I thought that it would be acceptable to the Japanese audience for the heroine to be 'Western'. Arrietty is a classic tale told using traditional hand-drawn animation – are you ever tempted to push the boundaries in terms of narrative structure or animation technique? The current stance of Studio Ghibli is that although the old is replaced by
the new constantly in these modern times, there must be significant value in the existence of the old. If you look at the background art of Arrietty, you can see that the hand-drawn artwork is not inferior to computer-generated art at all. What were the main technical challenges for Arrietty? Animating the facial expressions was especially challenging. It is very difficult to deliver slight facial changes in 2D animation. I would be very happy if the audience can catch the slight facial expression changes in scenes where several emotions overlap one another. I hope that I can put to use the skills that I learned during the production of Arrietty in my future work. How do you think your experience as an animator has helped you as a director? Animators deal with short individual shots. However, each shot is itself complete, with storytelling, visual and aural elements. I approached this feature film as a long version of the work I’ve been doing as an animator. Did you feel pressure to achieve the standard set by Miyazaki in films such as Spirited Away? This is the first time for an animator of the studio to be directing a feature film, so I felt the pressure. I still do not understand why I was asked to direct this film. What has been your favourite project during your work at Studio Ghibli? I was an animator for Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo and I had a lot of fun working on that film; we did not have to mind the small details or perspectives, but the aim was to animate almost everything on screen. What: Arrietty Released: Opens January 12
A Game Of Shadows [FILM] Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie Reunite to Fight Crime By Kelly Griffin
L
iterature’s most famous and eccentric detective, Sherlock Holmes, leaps once more into the breach this month – with his friend and sidekick Dr Watson in tow – in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. In this sequel to 2009’s Sherlock Holmes, the pair are up against criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), but this time they’ve got the help of French gypsy Sim (played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, acclaimed for her role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy) and Holmes’ brother Mycroft (played by Stephen Fry). In London for the press conference, Ritchie and Downey Jr talked about the creative process behind the making of this film. Robert, what are your favourite eccentricities from your character? RDJ: I love his dependency on Watson; I love the fact that we found a way to make the audience not judge him for driving a wedge between Watson and his wife. I think he is someone who needs to be taken care of so he can do what he does best. When did you come up with the idea for the second part? GR: First of all there’s a creative team, and a creative team is just that. Lionel (Wigram – producer) saw a niche in the market and then started the whole thing running. Then, as a creative team, we’d get together and everyone had an equal part in creating what we think an audience would like and what we think is exciting, creatively. I don’t think anyone really trumps another creative individual in the mix, it’s really a question of harnessing all of those ideas. Someone would come up with a bad idea and then they’d get ridiculed for it but then you’d realise that it was the bad idea that lead to the good idea. So, there’s no such thing as a bad idea.
26 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
What are the less obvious pitfalls of sequels? RDJ: Well I think we were really fortunate to have new blood with Noomi (Rapace) because she pretty much came in…as part of this creative team and started challenging the very tenets of what does it mean for her to be a third party to this investigation, and how can she fit into the storyline. And I think you have to re-evaluate… because there’s a natural inflation that occurs [with] success…you unconsciously take things for granted and you think the audience is with you just because you’re with yourself – and it’s not [necessarily] true. Guy, can you please talk us through the challenges and intricacies of directing a naked Stephen Fry? GR: I thought it was going to be an issue, we all thought it was going to be an issue and we gave him the pages and at the end it says ‘he’s naked’. And on the day he turned up naked. There was no great resistance, rather like getting Robert into a dress. It was no work on my part. Was it an obvious casting, Stephen Fry as Holmes’ older brother? GR: Robert and I have a mutual friend, that Coldplay chap Chris Martin, and he’s a Sherlockian, very enthusiastic about the whole thing (by the way so is Stephen Fry) and it was his idea. Why was this not shot in 3D? GR: Actually I am a fan of 3D movies, and I am a bit of a film geek and I like the technical aspect of making a film, and I did try and push this for 3D but the main reticence was that there was a lot of 3D coming out, and it felt almost tired at the time that we were embarking on it.
Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law re-team for A Game Of Shadows RDJ: When you’re shooting 3D, I don’t think you can have the swiftness of movement, and sometimes Guy would do really innovative shots – and he kinds of leans on being able to go guerrilla style, that allows him to go from here to here, as well as just beautiful frames. And so I think as it stands right now, 3D can be really inefficient – but I’m sure the technology is catching up with the needs of filmmakers. Guy, do you feel constrained by the mainstream? GR: Funnily enough I don’t at all. Filmmaking has changed, as we all know; indie movies have sort of been muscled out in quite a conspicuous fashion – and who’s responsible for that and why that is the case, I’m not sure at all. At the same time I still see myself as a sort of ‘indie’ filmmaker – and I certainly got no resistance from the studio in terms of trying anything we thought was innovative; they really
encouraged it. … I think [blockbusters] have absorbed (some of them anyway) a sort of indie influence, and I think that’s the upside of the position we found ourselves in; the big movies are becoming increasingly more interesting. It’s an interesting time in film history… In Game of Shadows there’s some fantastic disguises; how far have you gone in real life to disguise yourself? RDJ: That’s the best question of the day. About 20 years ago I went on a tear and I put on a Planet Of The Apes mask, thinking that would keep people from knowing how blitzed I was. It worked for about the first 15 seconds. GR: I’m afraid you won’t get any witty stories out of me. What: Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows, Dir. Guy Ritchie When: Released January 5
PRESENTED BY ING DIRECT
21ST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
2012
6 – 15 JANUARY 2012 BONDI PAVILION, BONDI BEACH, SYDNEY TOURING JAN – MAY 2012 ACROSS 37 VENUES INCLUDING ALL MAJOR CAPITOL CITIES
Flickerfest presented by ING DIRECT, Australia’s premier international short film festival, celebrates 21 years in 2012! As Australia’s only Academy® accredited festival we’ve handpicked 100 of the best films from across the seas from a staggering 2,200 entries. Join us for a brilliant summer of cinema and party with us under the stars at our panoramic beachside bar!
FOR MORE INFO 02 9365 6888 OR FLICKERFEST.COM.AU TICKETS MCA TIX 1300 306 776 (9.30 AM – 5.30 PM) OR MCA-TIX.COM.AU FACEBOOK.COM/FLICKERFEST
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 27
Arts Snap
Film & Theatre Reviews
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week...
Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
■ Film
HUGO 3D Opens January 12
PICS :: GP
night time
Cinema has been the consuming passion of Martin Scorsese’s life. Additional to his 40-year career as New Hollywood’s laureate of blinding masculine wrath, he’s the founder of dual nonprofit bodies—The Film and World Cinema Foundations—which are expressly committed to the preservation of films both classic and long-neglected. It’s surprising, then, that Hugo should be the first of his non-documentary features to make cinema a vital part of its story. Indeed, the film is something of an exercise in firsts for its veteran director: not only is this also Scorsese’s inaugural family film, but it’s his first use of 3D.
17:12:11 :: Carriage Works :: 245 Wilson St Eveleigh 85719099
artillery chapter 5 launch
PICS :: TL
Set in a storybook Paris circa 1931, Hugo commences with a swoop into the grand Gare Montparnasse railway terminal, surrogate home of the young urchin of the title (Asa Butterfield). When he’s not busy maintaining the station’s many clocks or eluding its fascistic/lovesick Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), Hugo diligently toils on a secret project: restoring the mysterious automaton his father (Jude Law) salvaged from a pile of museum detritus prior to his untimely death. Lonesome and beleaguered, Hugo invests all of his hopes in the small mechanical man, believing he holds within his faulty cogs and rotors a crucial valediction from his late, beloved dad. The little robot, you see, is equipped with a pen, and seems to be poised as if ready to write…
15:12:11 ::LoFi Collective :: Floor 3 383 Bourke St Surry Hills
Arts Exposed What's in our diary...
FLICKERFEST 2012 Colin Firth in Steve
Until January 15 Bondi Pavilion
28 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
For my money, The Descendants is Payne’s best work to date, for those exact reasons: it’s simple, elegant, compassionate, and true to human experience generally and (to all appearances) the particular corner of the world it’s covering: the old-moneyed upper-crust of post-colonial Hawaiian society. Matt King (George Clooney) is the hapless sole trustee of a tract of unspoiled Hawaiian land, accumulated by his family in colonial times and passed down through the generations, to Matt and his eight cousins. As the film opens, Matt has two pressing personal issues bearing down upon him: the decision of if and to whom to sell the land; and his wife’s recent accident, which has left her brain-dead. “We hadn’t talked in three days; we hadn’t talked in years, actually,” his voiceover reveals. Suddenly – and under the most stressful conditions – Matt has to wrangle his delinquent teenaged daughter Alex (Shailene Woodley) back into the family unit, and somehow manage his prepubescent tomboy Scottie (Amara Miller). Based on the novel by Hawaiian writer Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants presents a particular slice of Hawaiian life you don’t usually see on screen, balancing the islands’ natural wonders with the communal life that goes on behind the façade of tourism and American comedies. Underpinning the insights into this unusual and complex community are themes of utmost universality: family, mortality and grief (territory that overlaps in places with About Schmidt). Payne takes it a step further, tying a story of personal responsibility and compassion to one about our greater environmental, generational and communal ties.
Shooting in 3D, Scorsese revels in remounting the fantastical pageantry that Méliès made his exclusive preserve through his bite-sized masterpieces, which visualised what were, for their time, otherworldly environs to rival both Wonderland and the imaginings of Jules Verne, from the ocean floor to the distant lunar surface. Hugo brings the noble tradition of “movie magic” full circle; ultramodern technical wizardry is used to rejuvenate these vital innovations of a bygone day for contemporary audiences who might be ignorant of their existence, let alone their significance. In this sense, Hugo might be the most significant act of film preservation Scorsese will ever commit.
This unabashed slice of social realism is a refreshing counterpoint to the effects-laden behemoths, high concept films and feelgood period dramas contending at the upcoming Oscars – and should give them a damn good run for their money.
Gerard Elson
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is so clearly cut from the same cloth as The Social Network that David Fincher had better watch out he doesn’t get stuck in a rut. The rapid, even-pulsed pace, the coolasfuck electro soundtrack, the deadpan humour… Admittedly, a film about a clan of Nazi rapists is not as fun as one about a sociopathic webpreteneur, but there are definite similarities here. The cutting is relatively relentless, the camera is active, and one leaves the cinema feeling a little cooler, a little bit more ruthless, a little bit more ready
■ Film
THE DESCENDANTS Opens January 12 Never in my wildest dreams when I watched Election did I imagine that Alexander Payne would end up at Sideways; from a stylised dark comedy about an insanely ambitious
Dee Jefferson ■ Film
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Opens January 12
Xxxx
Escape the heat this week at Bondi Pavilion, while chowing down on Flickerfest’s bite-sized tapas sessions of short films. This year’s program ranges from the Australian, International and Documentary competition strands to showcases of Wacky Animation, Oscar-winners, comedy shorts, and the Friday the 13th session Short Bites Of Horror. Highlights include Nash Edgerton’s award-winner Bear and the newie from Don ‘Rejected’ Hertzfeldt (both showing at Flickerfest ahead of their Official Competition screenings at Sundance), Rupert Friend’s oddball comedy Steve (starring Colin Firth), and a whole raft of award winners from Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and all the right places. If you need help deciding, check out our coverage at thebrag.com and head to flickerfest.com.au for the full lineup and schedule.
How Hugo crafts from the raw materials of a thousand faceless kids’ films (orphans! comedy dogs! musty old bookstores! Richard Griffiths!) an intensely stirring celebration of cinema is just one of its many delights. It’s little wonder its source – Brian Selznick’s gorgeous children’s book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret – struck a chord with Scorsese: it offers no less than a potted history of cinema’s Francocentric nascence. Of particular importance to its central mystery is the Parisian stage illusionist-cumearly cinematic genius, Georges Méliès, maker of the legendary Voyage To The Moon.
teen, to a bleakly funny odd-couple road trip, about two pretentious middle-aged guys. But when you sketch-in About Schmidt between those two – a dark and bleak comedy about an unlikeable but empathetic middle-aged man confronting retirement and widowhood – and then you add The Descendants at the end, it looks a lot like a progression: away from stylistic flourish and caricature, towards real people with real flaws and problems, with all the craziness, humour, banality, exquisite pain and frustration that real life affords.
Xxxx
The Muppets
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews
Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town. to fuck some shit up. It might just be the best ad for leather, Coca Cola and tattoos ever. The narrative pacing and slick tech credits put Fincher’s adaptation miles ahead of the original – which was good to start with – and the performances are on par, though the casting is considerably more Hollywood: all the rough edges of Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist are replaced by the smooth-as-silk pale skin and impeccable bone structure of Rooney Mara, and the blue steel stare and considerably more sexy cragginess of Daniel Craig. The pitch-perfect support cast features Christopher Plummer as the Vanger patriarch, Stellan Skårsgard as his son, and an underused Robin Wright, Joely Richardson and Goran Visnjic. The star of the piece is Mara, who is hypnotic; how Fincher saw past the Boston prep of her character Erica Albright (The Social Network) to this we’ll never know, but he’s nailed it. She has poise, charisma, and mystery – and altogether, this film feels far more about Lisbeth from the outset than the original. She’s a potent and much-needed heroine for the screen – practically a superhero: a orphan-turned computer hacker, spy and assassin of evil-doers. Fincher’s style is relatively ruthless and streamlined; you don’t get the sense there’s much romance or fat left on the beast – just the bare necessities to set the atmosphere and tell the story; so it’s to his credit that at 158 minutes, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo feels not a minute too long. Dee Jefferson ■ Film
THE MUPPETS Opens January 12 Anyone who’s seen the likeably breezy, Hawaiian-set rom-com Forgetting Sarah Marshall will know what an inspired choice Jason Segel was to entrust with The Muppets’ latest big-screen revival. Emboldened by that film’s success and the popularity of its climactic 'Dracula musical' sequence (which used
with Ladykillers Inc.
custom-designed puppets by the legendary Jim Henson Company) – and having learnt a thing or two about working alongside preposterous, gabbling puppets (like, say, Russell Brand) – Segel pitched his dream Muppet movie to the gatekeepers at Disney. Wisely, Disney bit. After a decade of disappointing direct-to-DVD Muppet features (The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, Kermit: The Swamp Years), Segel’s definitive title might at first seems presumptuous. Soon it won’t. From its opening moments, it’s obvious The Muppets is the closest we’ve seen to a first-wave Muppet movie since the gang took Manhattan back in 1984. Unlike subsequent films, which recast Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo et al. as characters from canonical literature (A Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island), Segel’s take lets Henson’s greatest creations be themselves, situating the caper in the present day. His story, co-written with Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller, is ingenious: Segel plays Gary, the flesh-and-blood brother of Walter (Peter Linz), an unblinking, intransient puppet who’s never felt quite at home in Smalltown, USA. A hardcore Muppet fan, Walter joins Gary and Mary (super trooper Amy Adams) on their anniversary trip to L.A. to undertake a spiritual pilgrimage to the old Muppet Theatre. There, they find the building dilapidated, soon to default to the oily nogoodnik Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), and Kermit a recluse, haunted by the ghosts of happier times. In true can-do Muppet fashion, there’s a simple solution to both problems: get the gang back together for a celebratory fundraising reunion extravaganza. With songs by Flight of the Conchords’ Bret McKenzie and a host of fun, self-effacing celebrity cameos, the result is one of the most jubilant films of the year. In an age when the family film market is increasingly dominated by rote computer toons designed to sell video games and snack foods, The Muppets’ brand of big-hearted, smile-stretching anarchy, perversely, feels near as good to a breath of fresh air. Gerard Elson
Street Level 3
4B Burlesque is welcoming in the New Year this week – and saying farewell to two of its favourite ladies: Ladykillers Inc. Performance duo Bella Pistol and Kitty Danger are parting ways with a bang, and a lineup that features Holly J’aDoll, Ember Flame, Memphis Mae, Pepper Grinde, plus MC Lauren La Rouge and DJ Goldfoot. What are your backgrounds as performers? We just got in there and went for it! We are absolutely not professional dancers, but we are certainly professional entertainers. What’s your signature routine? We have several, two of which we will be performing at our show (along with some new ones). You should come and see for yourself! Costume inspirations? We like to wear outfits a little glamourous with a big bite, but they can’t be too distracting from what’s going on in our routine. And we don’t perform in shoes, always barefoot. Performers who inspire you? Lucille Ball, Lillian Starr, Peaches, anything overly camp or rock’n’roll – we dig it! Also photographer Helmut Newton – amazing! Any interesting fetishes? GLITTER!!! Props!! Also we like foods and liquids, lots of liquids and glitter – anything we can throw into the audience and make a mess with. Also live humans. What was your first burlesque experience? Bella’s first was performing at Ruby Rabbit’s Christmas bash, where she had to get on/off the stage by climbing over
a piano and out the window! Kitty’s was on stage with Bella at The Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills (RIP). But the Ladykillers’ first show was at our biggest fan Alexis’ 21st birthday party at a pub in Balmain, in front of her whole family! It went well; Kitty spat a glass of water onto the only person willing to get close to the stage, completely broke character and rushed over and apologised, realised what she was doing and got right back into it. And then Bella did a balloon dance and half the balloons fell off her before she even got to stage. But the birthday girl very much enjoyed the duo lapdance she got at the end of the night! So lets say "an eventful success”. You’re parting ways – what’s going on?! We don’t like to do things halfway: it’s either all or nothing for us. We have been struggling trying to get in as many rehearsals as we like for each show, and we are both working towards different careers (if anyone needs a killer stylist hit Kitty up!) and we did not want to let our professionalism drop at any point. Ladykillers has a reputation of being a welloiled, sexy entertainment machine, we would have been disappointed in ourselves to give our fans anything less. Can you give us a hint about your grand finale? If you get close to the stage, you may want to wear a bib – things will get messy! xo Bella & Kitty What: 34B Burlesque: Ladykillers Inc – The Final Kill When: Friday January 13 Where: Q Bar / 44 Oxford St, Darlinghurst More: Advance tix from moshtix.com.au
adventure into design THINKING | MAKING | CONNECTING
Billy blue ‘LIVE’ Open Day Saturday FEB 4 – must RSVP Enrol now on 1300 851 245 or join us at www.billyblue.edu.au Think: Colleges Pty Ltd, ABN 93 050 049 299 trading as Billy Blue College of Design, RTO No. 0269, HEP No. NSW5028, CRICOS Provider Codes: NSW 00246M, QLD 03107J, VIC 03252M.
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 29
It was the year that brought us Occupy, #swag and Lana Del Rey. We dodged natural Jobs, Christopher Hitchens and Amy Winehouse, but hey you guys – we got a Babeyonce.
2011
Steph Harmon
Editor
was Red Riders’ farewell show. Also, Gotye’s animated album launch at Graphic – heaps better than the actual album.
Top five Australian albums: Belles Will Ring - Crystal Theatre The Vasco Era - S/T Laura Jean - A Fool Who’ll Collarbones - Iconography Husky - Forever So Top five international albums: Wye Oak - Civilian Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo PJ Harvey - Let England Shake Bon Iver - S/T Most overrated album of 2011: M83 - Hurry Up We’re Dreaming. Pretty enough to make my ‘Most Played’ smartlist, but if you listen too closely the angst gets excruciating. I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: ‘Holocene’ by Bon Iver, ‘Countdown’ by Beyonce, and the theme to Parks & Recreation. I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: Any more of that horrific dubby pop. Top gig from an Aussie act: The Judgement-Bar-In-2005 reunion that
Kurt Vile
Wye Oak
Top gig from an international act: Sufjan Stevens, Bright Eyes and The Hold Steady. Turns out nostalgia was the real winner. Best Aussie music festival: Golden Plains. Specifically: the team of gruff, bearded chaps in a cuddle pit during Hold Steady; Belle & Sebastian actually ruling; Joanna Newsom – if you were close enough to hear her; the surprise delight of Imelda May; and a small child bouncing around on Best Coast’s stage, with twenty times more stage presence than Beth. Top three Sydney artists to watch: Royal Headache, Caitlin Park, Oliver Tank. Favourite new Sydney discovery: Dive Bar at King’s Cross Hotel, bloody marys at the Abercrombie, avocado ice cream at The Dip, and all the café’s near our new Surry Hills office that have kept us fed and watered.
Top three films of 2011: Bridesmaids, Project Nim, Slow Loris With A Tiny Umbrella. Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: Imperial Panda Festival. I Can Draw You A Picture’s Micronation at First Draft comes in at a very close second (there was livestock!), and Project 52's 'Story Club: The Sincerest Form Of Flattery' at Hermann's Bar in July had me in mirthful tears throughout.
Belles Will Ring
2011 highlight: Wayne Coyne backstage at Harvest, showing me a photo he took of decapitated human heads in some guy's freezer; when the balloons came down for Sufjan's 'Chicago'; dancing like an idiot at Jingle Jangle; the heroic rise of the live brass section; finding out what 'affogato' means. 2011 lowlight: Spending every Friday night on deadline. What are you looking forward to in 2012? The whole damn thing. Mostly though, heading to Texas for SxSW before a little jaunt around the States, and thankyou so much for asking.
Caitlin Welsh Top three Australian albums: Royal Headache - S/T Oscar + Martin - For You Belles Will Ring - Crystal Theatre Top three international albums: M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo The Horrors - Skying
Bon Iver
Most overrated album of 2011: Bon Iver. ‘Beth/Rest’ is crazy pretty, but I just realised I didn’t come back to the whole thing once after I’d done the mandatory preinterview listen.
Cut Copy
Dee Jefferson
Arts & Associate Editor
Top three Australian albums: Collarbones - Iconography Caitlin Park - Milk Annual Cut Copy - Zonoscope
heaven, from the music to the costumes, lighting, video jockeying… and of course the balloons.
Top three international albums: Bon Iver - S/T Apparat - The Devil’s Walk Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Best Aussie music festival: Harvest – sitting on grass in the sunshine with friends and a beer, and still being able to see and hear Mogwai perfectly, is my idea of heaven.
I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: Azaelia Banks’ ‘212’ and Beyonce’s ‘Countdown’. Bootylicious filmclips.
Favourite new Sydney discovery: The Carrington – not just another hipster diner. The food is seriously good (plus there’s $3 pintxos!), and the staff are consistently lovely.
Lowlight of 2011: Bad Teacher, Restless, The Hangover Part 2, How Do You Know, Sucker Punch – all the films that coulda shoulda woulda been better...
Top five films of 2011: The Tree Of Life - Dir. Terrence Malick Melancholia - Dir. Lars Von Trier Take Shelter - Dir. Jeff Nichols Beginners - Dir. Mike Mills Drive - Dir. Nicolas Winding Refn
What are you looking forward to in 2012? New Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson and Judd Apatow, and my inner teenage boy will be jizzing its pants over Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, Ridley Scott getting back his roots with Prometheus, Joss Whedon doing The Avengers, Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and Peter Jackson’s adaptation of perhaps my favourite ever book, The Hobbit.
I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: ‘Somebody That I Used To Know.’ Do you remember when this song was a ‘discovery’? Yeah. Me too. Top gig from an Aussie act: Gotye at Sydney Opera House, for Graphic. Born performer, with great stage presence – and that Jackson Five vibe at the end was outrageous. Top gig from an international act: Sufjan Stevens – pure 30 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Top three theatre productions: Gross Und Klein - Sydney Theatre Company The Brothers Size - Griffin
Theatre Company Cut - Belvoir Best Sydney arts/cultural event: Imperial Panda Festival and Underbelly Arts: Public Lab + Festival. Highlight of 2011: Covering Sydney Film Festival and Venice Film Festival.
I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: Mainly M83’s ‘Midnight City’, but I’m sorry to admit that due to an incident in an Austin, TX billiards hall, ‘Pretty Girls’ by Iyaz ft. Travie McCoy might just pip it for the top spot. I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: ‘Firework’ by Katy Perry. It was clearly written for someone with proper belting capability. Top gig from an Aussie act: Cameras coming straight off
Staff Writer
a 25-hour flight to absolutely smash their first-ever US gig at Taix in LA was pretty special. Top gig from an international act: Pulp were absolutely flawless at the Hordern, but Sleigh Bells might just take it for sheer lose-yourself thrashy goodness. Best Aussie music festival: Laneway again. Beautifully put-together lineup (I refuse to say curated), and they’ve sorted everything about the venue – except that fucking dust. Three Sydney artists to watch: Flume, Caitlin Park, and The Laurels. Favourite new Sydney discovery: Dive Bar at the King’s X Hotel. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Top three films of 2011: Attack the Block, 50/50, Crazy Stupid Love (but probably only because I haven’t seen Drive yet). Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: Creative Sydney – the talks this year were brilliant, and its
ability to integrate with the atmosphere of Vivid while remaining a discrete yet concrete source of inspiration and support for the creative community is an impressive balancing act. 2011 highlight: Pretty much all of my two months in the USA – dancing on tables to Weezer medleys in Nashville, Echo Park food trucks with The Henry Clay People, tailgating before a college football match in Austin, a prison rodeo in Lousiana. And interviewing Ben Folds in Sydney was a big tick, too. 2011 lowlight: The White Stripes breaking up was a pretty big drag; the “grief”/cynical 27-Club bullshit slavering over Amy Winehouse was an even bigger one; and seeing Fish Records close in both Leichhardt and Balmain was sad as fuck. What are you looking forward to in 2012? Probably crying at the sax solo in ‘Midnight City’ at Laneway; issue 2 of STRANGELOVE mag; not saving for travel, and therefore actually being able to justify buying records again.
M83
Royal Headache
disasters, watched the Arab Spring, and marched for marriage equality. We lost Steve Team BRAG talks the highs & the lows of 2011, and what the new year will bring.
Luke Telford Top three Australian albums: Collarbones - Iconography The Necks - Mindset Snowman - Δbsence Top three international albums: Andrew Chalk - Violin By Night Hype Williams - One Nation Grouper - Alien Observer Most overrated album of 2011: Bon Iver - S/T. Past the stunning first track, this was an overwrought confection of a record in a year full of unassuming gems. I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: ‘God Only Knows’ by the Beach Boys. Some close friends performed an exceptionally beautiful cover of this for my partner and me early in the year. Many tears were shed. I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: ‘Friday’ by Rebecca Black. It won’t be voluntary. It will be because I’ve been brainwashed into her cult, and she willed me to do it, subliminally. Top gig from an Aussie act: HTRK, at GoodGod Small Club. On record,
Chris Honnery
Contributor
this music is alluringly anaemic; live, the underlying sensuality was properly realised – an intoxicating, exultant, full-body, bassheavy, amphetamine-sheen swoon. Top gig from an international act: Portishead at Harvest in Sydney. If ten years ago someone had told me I’d be ranking a 2011 Portishead festival set among the best things I’d ever seen, I’d probably have laughed at them. Best Aussie music festival: Golden Plains. It has one of the smallest and least trying audiences, an idyllic venue, and a consistently brilliant and varied lineup. Three Sydney artists to watch: Dro Carey Thomas William Kirin J. Callinan Favourite new Sydney discovery: Skewerz on Broadway – an unassuming halal kebab joint which does some of the filthiest, sweetest, most viscous, and utterly delicious chai I’ve had outside of India.
Top three films of 2011: Black Swan, Melancholia, Incendies. Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: The Trocadero Dance Palace at the Sydney Festival. Having the Town Hall transformed into a ‘50s swing club, replete with set-piece aerial and dance performances – and the incredible Sirens Big Band (feat. Lanie Lane, no less) was a rare treat, even if you couldn’t swing to save yourself. 2011 highlight: Seeing Swans at the Forum in Melbourne was an exceptional early high point; I was feeling fairly ecstatic when I walked in. Gira & co. only worked to heighten that, somehow, with a pulverising 2.5 hour set. 2011 lowlight: Trying to watch Breaking Dawn with Shogun from Royal Headache. Social trainwreck. What are you looking forward to in 2012? Rand and Holland’s long-awaited third album, Melodie Nelson’s second, the merest possibility of a Kirin J. Callinan LP; more new stuff from Burial, Earth, Hype Williams and Julia Holter.
Top three albums: Moritz von Oswald Trio Horizontal Structures Aeroc - R+B=? Robag Wruhme - Thora Vukk Top three mix compilations: Stefan Goldmann & Finn Johannsen - Macrospective Robag Wruhme Wuppdeckmischmampflow Popol Vuh - Revisited & Remixed Top three Sydney clubs: The Spice Cellar, The Vault, GoodGod Small Club Top three Sydney DJs: Glitch DJs, HAHA DJs, Marcotix I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: WhoMadeWho – ‘Every Minute Alone (Michael Mayer remix)’
Top three Australian albums: Papa vs Pretty - United In Isolation Oh Mercy - Great Barrier Grief The Jezabels - Prisoner Top three international albums: Real Estate - Days Yuck - Yuck SBTRKT - SBTRKT Most overrated album of 2011: The Weeknd - House Of Balloons I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: ‘Bounce’ by Calvin Harris.
Staff Writer
Opera House. I never thought I’d see the day they would rise to Presets level, but by God it’s happened – and how. Top gig from an international act: Erykah Badu at Good Vibrations. No wonder they’re bringing her back again so soon; Australia just got schooled. Best Aussie music festival: Harvest. Say what you like about AJ Maddah, he got this absolutely bangon. All festivals should be this well-run, high talent and stress-free.
I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: Anything by OFWGKTA.
Three Sydney artists to watch: The Preachers Hero Fisher Flume
Top gig from an Aussie act: Cut Copy at Sydney
Favourite new Sydney discovery: Wednesday
Music Trivia at The Roxbury, Glebe. Top three films of 2011: Midnight In Paris, X-Men:First Class, Blue Valentine. Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: VIVID Sydney. 2011 highlight: Australians killing it overseas. I saw Nick Cave in Serbia, Cloud Control and The Jezabels in London, and Miami Horror in Europe. Amazing stuff. 2011 lowlight: Venues closing all over the shop. Tone, Melt; it’s all a big loss for this city. Also, X-Factor somehow managed to survive. What are you looking forward to in 2012? Gotye for Foreign Minister, and Kimbra for PM.
Top gig from an international act: Cobblestone Jazz at Sydney Festival, back in January. Guido Schneider also rocked Mad Racket, and A Guy Called Gerald’s set at Subsonic deserves an honourable mention. Best Aussie music festival? The Subsonic Music Festival – the stuff clubbing dreams are made of; more akin to Berlin’s Fusion Festival than anything on the Aussie festival calendar. Top three films of 2011: The Trip, Drive, Black Swan.
Robag Wruhme Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: The Festival of Dangerous Ideas. What are you looking forward to in 2012? Anything and everything – but in terms of music, continuing to discover, write about and play electronic music to anyone who’s interested.
Rock News / Contributor
Top three Australian albums: Holly Throsby - Team Caitlin Park - Milk Annual Royal Headache - S/T Top three international albums: M83 - Hurry Up We’re Dreaming Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire
I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: Roger Waters bang on like a smug faux-genius about Pink Floyd reissues.
Jonno Seidler
Top gig from an Aussie act: All the locals at Subsonic.
Nathan Jolly
I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: M83 – ‘Midnight City’. For reasons nuanced and varied.
Papa vs Pretty
ever have to hear: I heard LMFAO for the first time recently. Once was more than enough.
I will murder someone if I
Most overrated album of 2011: Bon Iver - S/T. Whimpering, Auto-Tune, no hooks, boring, owl-falsetto, still boring, saxophone! (I really tried, though.)
Gang Gang Dance
Dance News / Deep Impressions
Top gig from an Aussie act: Royal Headache’s album launch at Repressed Records.
Tim Levy Top three Australian albums: Goyte - Making Mirrors The Jezabels - Prisoner The Twerps - Twerps Top three international albums: Lonely Island - Turtleneck & Chain Battles - Gloss Drop Florence & The Machine Ceremonials Most overrated album of 2011: Vanilla Ice - WTF. Under-, over-, whatever-rated. I’ll get nostalgic about 2011 when I hear: Yello. It was the year I rediscovered how timeless and brilliant they are. I will murder someone if I ever have to hear: Vanilla Ice - WTF. Top gig from an Aussie
Caitlin Park Top gig from an international act: Odd Future at the Opera House. Best Aussie music festival: Bright Eyes... I mean, Harvest. Three Sydney artists to watch: Royal Headache, The Laurels, Step-Panther. Favourite new Sydney discovery: Caitlin Park’s album, just sitting there on my desk. Top three films of 2011: Page One, Bridesmaids,
and the second time I saw Page One, this time sober. Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: The Brag Eats parties, of course. Highlight: 15 seconds into The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s ‘Belong’. Lowlight: Famine or war or something third-worldy... What are you looking forward to in 2012? Growing a beard and living on a boat like Dennis Wilson.
Head Photographer act: Icehouse. ‘We Can Get Together’ is still great. ‘Electric Blue’ – not so much. Top gig from an international act: HTRK. How could being miserable be so uplifting? Best Aussie music festival: Splendour In The Grass. Three Sydney artists to watch: Sydney Pollack, Moon, and Parkinson. Favourite new Sydney discovery: The ping pong table in Ward Park, Surry Hills. Top three films of 2011: Limitless, Bill Cunningham New York, Midnight In Paris. Best arts/cultural event in Sydney: VIVID – because it went for so long and with great, varied locations.
The Jezabels Highlight: Doing a lot of business travel. Lowlight: Missing connecting flights. What are you looking forward to in 2012? Completing a current art project – seems to be taking forever! BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 31
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
METALLICA REBORN
Arctic Monkeys
ALL-AGES GIG PICKS
Y
es I know, it’s that time again: you looked at the Field Day lineup and Sydney Festival’s Keystone Festival Bar lineup, and considered borrowing your friend-of-a-friend’s sibling’s I.D., which kind of looks like you; you’ve considered hibernating through summer and returning to school, like every year, with regrets of non-events and dreams of epic adventures that never unfolded… Well, never fear, The Minor Chord is here! There is some hope yet. First up, Indent has just announced their partnership grants for the year, distributed to young people around the state to stage their own all-ages, drugand alcohol-free music gigs. As a result, 2012 will see the return of Fisher’s Gig in Campbelltown, a series of band comps in Hornsby, and a beachside soiree in Bondi – and many more events run by and for the under-18s amongst us. The partnership grants are annual funding opportunities aimed at putting YOU in the driving seat to take ownership of the gigs you want to make happen! For more info on what’s happening this year, or to find out how you can apply for funding, head to indent.net.au. Also a heads up: a sneaky Open Day date has been selected, with the lineup of awesome speakers to drop imminently. Keep March 9 free to find out more about how you can start getting involved in the music business. Alt-rockers Arctic Monkeys are escaping the London chill in favour of Sydney's summer this week, bringing their Suck It And See album tour to Hordern Pavilion on Thursday January 12, and to Enmore Theatre on January 13. Their fourth studio album has had an overwhelmingly positive reception, and this is set to be a great show. If you don’t already have a ticket you could be out of luck though, as both nights are sold out; if you’re one of the many fortunate fans who was organised in time, be sure to head in early to check out support slots by Brisbane punks Violent Soho (Hordern) and fellow Brit and ex-Rascals frontman Miles Kane (both nights).
THURSDAY JANUARY 12 & 13 Arctic Monkeys Hordern Pavilion
SATURDAY JANUARY 14
Justice Crew Revesby Workers’ Club
JANUARY 18 & 19
Heatwave feat. Kid Cudi and more Enmore Theatre Like dancing? Justice Crew are performing at Revesby Workers Club on January 14. After winning Australia’s Got Talent in 2010, JC have signed to Sony and released their first single ‘And Then We Dance,’ which made its way into the top 30 ARIA Singles Chart and was certified double Platinum. Their second single ‘Friday To Sunday’ reached the top 20 and also went double Platinum. If you need to burn off those Christmas calories, this is a sure thing. Be sure to keep yourself hydrated on January 18 and 19 when Heatwave hits the Enmore Theatre. Kid Cudi, the American chart smasher known for hits such as ‘Day n Nite’, ‘Memories’ with David Guetta, ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ with MGMT and ‘Erase Me’ with Kanye West, is headlining both nights. On Wednesday January 19, he'll be supported by D12 and Obie Trice. Obie, a former Shady Records artist, will be showing Australia a bit of his Detroit-bred style, and showcasing his new album Bottoms Up exclusively, while D12 will be destroying the stage with hits like ‘My Band’, ‘Purple Pills’, and ‘Fight Music’. Bringing his own brand of fast-paced rapping and high-energy live show is Tech N9ne, who's collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lil’ Wayne, and the word on the street is that he has some surprise guests coming with him, too. On Thursday January 19, Kid Cudi will be supported by Chamillionaire, CrazyTown (remember 'Butterfly'?) and more – and tickets are still available!
Kid Cudi
We reckon that it’s a fair bet Metallica’s string of 30th anniversary shows at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco in early December will end up on DVD. Guests included recent “bad guy” Lou Reed, who was reportedly treated almost respectfully, former bass man Jason Newsted (who seemingly is now in from the cold), Marianne Faithful, Kid Rock (for some reason), a reunited Mercyful Fate, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains, Armored Saint’s leather-lunged John Bush, Anthrax’ Scott Ian, Rob Halford, Glenn Danzig, Ozzy Osbourne and Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who tore through Sabbaff’s ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Paranoid’ with the birthday boys. We reckon that with the Lulu project behind them, these shows will have acted as some sort of redemption for Metallica – a metal ground zero, if you will, that puts them back on track for the faithful who were so horrified by the teaming with Lou Reed. The weird thing about the whole Lulu project to us was that while Metallica fans universally hated it, Reed’s fans didn’t make a sound about what was basically a new Lou Reed album with Metallica as his backing band.
30 YEAR ALE
While AC/DC stepped into the world of the grape last year – rather than the timehonoured fan fuel of beer or bourbon-andcoke – the 30th anniversary of New Zealand indie label Flying Nun – the home of such acts as Straightjacket Fits, The Clean and The Bats – has been marked with special beer by Auckland’s Epic Brewing Company: Flying Nun’s 30 Year Ale.
TURBO NEGRO
Talk about producing outside the square: Matt Sweeney, who has studioed with Neil Diamond, Cat Power, Johnny Cash and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, is producing the new album by Turbo Negro. Work begins this month in New York City.
LA(TE) WOMAN
The super-duper-duper five-disc deluxe boxed set of The Doors’ LA Woman, which was due out this month, has been dumped – reportedly due to concerns that there mightn’t be a market for it. This for the band that has done more reissues over the years than Carlos Santana has taken part in shithouse collaborations. It’s
a bit like saying that Cold Chisel’s albums shouldn’t be reissued yet again because no one will care – or that Hendrix fans aren’t interested in hearing a seemingly endless string of posthumous releases. The Grateful Dead have proven over recent years that expense is no issue when it comes to lavish product, so why it’s thought that The Doors can’t do the same – particularly with their best album – is kinda curious...
HANK’N’ROLL
While Jason and the Scorchers burnt through a string of US shows over the Christmas and New Year period, frontman Jason Ringenberg and guitarist (and one time Iggy Pop axeman) Warner S. Hodges have also contributed to an album called Hank ‘n’ Roll: A Rock ‘n’ Roll Tribute to Hank Williams. For this project, they’re known as The Riffing Cowboys.
THIS IS PIL
Public Image Limited’s entire back catalogue is being reissued this year. The project sadly doesn’t include Metal Box, but the next twelve months should see a new PiL effort – which at this stage is titled This Is PiL.
BAT CHAIN PULLER
Speaking of comebacks of sorts, Captain Beefheart’s lost album, Bat Chain Puller, will finally see the light of day this month after sitting in the vaults since 1976. Whole hunks of the sessions were later redone and issued on 1978’s excellent Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller), after a legal shitfight between producer Frank Zappa and his ex-manager saw the original tapes placed on ice. The release will be the original 12 tracks plus three bonus tunes, and is being issued through the Zappa Family trust, Barfko-Swill. It’s out on January 15.
YARDBIRDS
There’s an excellent Yardbirds boxed set out called Glimpses 1963-1968 which is packed not with their greatest near hits but with rare and previously released stuff from their entire career, including lashings of white hot live material and BBC recordings. If you’ve ever wondered what the fuss is about with these guys – and we must admit that there was a time when we were among the unfussed – this is one helluva place to find the error of your ways.
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Chrome’s mindfuck Half Machine Lip Moves, which has just been reissued on fresh vinyl. Combining Beefheart, Krautrock, electronica cut-ups and some serious – if lo-fi garage – riffage, it’s still the sound of some sort of impending and almost cartoon-like apocalypse, roughly 35 years after it was first unleashed. Also spinning is Gun Club’s Death Party, the studio effort rather than the live boot of the same name. Referencing ragged country blues, folk, jazz and rock action, these guys had the keys to a pantheon all their own.
TOUR AND INDUSTRY NEWS The now firmly reformed legends, Karma to Burn, hit our shores for the first time late this month. Dates are January 26 at The Basement in Canberra, January 27 at the Patch Hotel in Wollongong and January 28 as part of Coma Fest in Sydney, the bill and venue for which seems to be kinda hard to find... Mysterious 12-bar merchants of the highest order, Endless Boogie – or Endless Bogie as someone called them recently (think drugged up and out ZZ Top) – will be at the Sando on March 9.
The Four Stooges pay tribute to the music of the original Iggy & The Stooges for one performance only. Featuring members of The Cool Charmers, The Young Docteurs, 77 Sunset Strippers and Mushroom Planet, these Stooges are proud guests of The SC5, who’ll feature a special appearance by Radio Birdman’s Deniz Tek. Also on the bill is 69BC. All brought to you(se) by I-94 Bar.
We were re-reading Lemmy’s White Line Fever over the Christmas and New Year break and still reckon it’s majorly wanting – particularly as it came after another run through of Keith Richards’ tome, Life. Anyway, at one point Lem was raving about The Damned, who he played with very briefly and who are celebrating their 35th anniversary with a show at the Metro on January 21. For Lem’s money, they (rather than The Clash or The Pistols) were the real punks of 1977. And they’re still doing it. It’s gonna be a hot night of Detroit rock action on January 15 at the Sando when
Send all-ages listings & info to theminorchordradio@gmail.com 32 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
The Damned
Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock
snap sn ap up all night out all week . . .
sons & daughters party profile
It’s called: Popfrenzy presents Sons & Daughters It sounds like: Clash-inspired, gloomy, grinding, Glaswegian post-punk. Who’s Playing: Sons & Daughters, Songs, The Laurels and Popfrenzy DJs Sell it to us: Inspired by Italian cinema, Scottish serial killers and Stevie Nicks, Sons and Daughters’ latest release is “brilliantly bloodthirsty”. The Glaswegian four-piece’s sound hints of dark Americana mixed with tons of Scottish heart, spinning grim tales of broken bones and tough love. Songs and The Laurels complete the lineup, before the late-night spot with Popfrenzy DJs. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The tinnitus ringing in your ears from the cavernous drums and raucous guitars. Crowd specs: Anyone who likes the work of Joe Strummer or Ian Curtis – i.e. everyone! Wallet damage: $42 Where: Keystone Festival Bar / Hyde Park Barracks
oscar + martin
PICS :: TL
When: Thursday January 12 / doors at 7.45pm
tim freedman
PICS :: AM
16:12:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711
17:12:11 :: The Enmore:: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 95503666
expatriate
PICS :: TL
the church
PICS :: GP
17:12:11 :: The Metro :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666
02:01:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711
:: KATRINA CLARKE :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) POPOV :: OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER RGE GEO :: Y CHE PEA MAS NS :: THO :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUN
cell block 69
PICS :: AM
dum dum girls
PICS :: AM
17:12:11 :: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel :: 248 William St Kings Cross 9331 9900
18:12:11 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93323711 BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 33
Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...
ALBUM OF THE WEEK KATE BUSH
50 Words For Snow Fish People/EMI
The work of a perfectionist awed by the miracle of something coming from nothing, “born in a cloud”, dazzling and impermanent.
There are only a few people kicking around with the time, money, skill, guts or inclination to pull off an album like 50 Words For Snow. It’s that rare thing: a musically and thematically unified song cycle. Tori Amos has given it a stab (somewhat wide of the mark) a few times in the last decade, Björk pulled it off recently with her striking Biophilia, and Kate Bush has managed something of similar ambition, the seven tracks presented here unravelling with pristine and unhurried beauty. It begins in isolate, Bush half-whispering, halfcrooning a snowflake’s descent, falling helplessly through the void over a static piano ostinato.
AMY WINEHOUSE
Sound-wise, it’s generally more acoustic-feeling than you’d find on her albums – but that’s not to say it isn’t catchy or danceable. One of the highlights is Amy’s sassy rendition of 'The Girl From Ipanema'. Instead of sighing “ah” when she goes walking, the people she passes do a little jazz scat. Damn, I like that. It’s one of those songs covered far too often by boring lounge artists, but this is a refreshing addition to the canon. Back To Black faves ‘Tears Dry’ and ‘Wake Up Alone' appear in their original recordings, sounding starker and more vulnerable and coffee-stained than the album versions. But unfortunately like most marriages, and in line with Amy’s own tragically predictable demise, the compilation ends in a bit of a sad mess. The lowpoint is her duet with Tony Bennett, and it’s both of their faults: Amy sounds totally cracked and Tony is doing his usual bland crooning thing. The following and final track, her version of ‘A Song For You’, doesn’t halt the sonic descent, as Amy warbles tunelessly about who-cares-what. The stale-ish ending is resurrected by a snippet of Amy speaking in her wonderful London drawl about Donny Hathaway: “He couldn’t contain himself, he had something in him, you know?” Y’know, she could be talking about herself. Jenny Noyes
Wilder and far less mannered than 2005’s Aerial, Bush has brought her uncompromising talents to bear on cathedral-size canvases, bringing to the foreground a wonder at the missing, the intangible. Whether it be the girl on ‘Misty’ waking to find her snowman lover vanished, leaving nothing but “dead leaves, bits of twisted branches”, or the Shepherds and Sherpas who find no trace of the ‘Wild Man’ but “footprints in the snow”, everywhere there is an aching pain
THE NECKS
NOAH TAYLOR & THE SLOPPY BOYS
Mindset Fuse
Lioness Universal
Lioness is an almost perfect marriage of all the elements Winehouse lovers should seek in a posthumous compilation: some old, some new, some borrowed and a measured dose of blue. Most of the tracks were jointly produced by Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi from demos made at various stages in Amy’s career, making it less of a hodge-podge than many compilations, with the songs knitting together nicely as an album.
The listener is immediately plunged into an otherworldly, almost cinematic, space – a filmic preoccupation suggested by last year’s Director’s Cut. The music summons a peculiarly northern hemisphere idea of winter, Bush spinning yarns around the fire while outside the ice tumbles on the still, frozen world.
The Necks look like jazz musicians, but the music is unclassifiable and inimitable. Live sets mould the merest edge of a musical idea into an intricate and psychedelic hour-long canvas with only the slightest thematic variations and little sonic trickery. Their records follow suit, embellishing the minimalism and illusion of progression with a more diverse swathe of instruments – organ, synth and guitar – but the focus is largely the same: a miasmic trance of piano, upright bass, and drums. Mindset breaks with The Necks’ usual format, comprising of two tracks instead of one, and their first to be released on vinyl. The opener, ‘Rum Jungle’, is akin to the shuffling, claustrophobic improvisations that have cropped up in a number of the trio’s Sydney shows over the past 18 months. Percussion traps loping bass to create an intensely paranoid mood early in the piece. It’s compounded by searing clusters of bass notes that tear from the piano, which seems hungry to suck all of the piece’s light and air into itself. Eventually, minor chords descend to illuminate the scene, and the terror yields to an exhilarating, panoramic melancholy. ‘Daylights’ is meditative and eerie. An anxious, spinning mobile of highregister ivory motifs is ruptured by quiet traces of insectoid electronics. Staccato jabs from the piano and bass interject this, while an analog synth scrapes its fingernails across the surface of it all. Dense webs of muted percussion only heighten the atmosphere, as evolving piano trills begin to run up the nape of your neck. It’s less pyrotechnically terrifying than the preceding piece, but no less immersive. Listening over computer speakers will defeat the purpose. The closer you get to this music, the more overwhelmingly evocative it becomes. Luke Telford
Live Free Or Die!!! Z-Man Records
The thing that irks about a debut mini-LP that delightfully comes out of nowhere is that it’s over too quickly. Live Free Or Die!!! represents a promising start to what should be allowed to mature into a brilliant swamp rock record. Melbourne’s Noah Taylor has been playing in bands on and off for over 15 years between his acting gigs, and in this one-day session everything is right in place – it’s just that he’s made no plans to follow it up. As far as partners in crime go for a threepiece, he simply couldn’t have done better than getting The Wreckery’s Ed Clayton-Jones on bass and The Mess Hall’s Cec Condon on drums. They fuse beautifully, with a perfect understanding – they didn’t have time to be anything but intuitive – of Taylor’s guitar style and vocals, sung from lyrics scribbled hastily in a notebook. The sound they managed to capture in this very brief recording session avoids any obvious influences. They give themselves away with the sparsely morose closing track ‘Rose’, which spookily hints at These Immortal Souls, as well as the title track with its overtones of The Gun Club, where Taylor takes an angry stab at the very scary state of global affairs and suggests that people ought to read a little more Chomsky – thankfully the only moment on the record in which he gets political. If anything, there’s a clear thread of selfloathing and often-sadistic rants of uncertain love and meaningless sex running through the record. ‘Girl’ is an absolute highlight that exemplifies this theme, as well as the raw improvised simplicity forced upon the whole band. A tight little record that plays through without a dull moment.
Willoughby’s Beach Independent
Willoughby’s Beach is nine tracks, ten inches of dumb, blunted fun. The majority of the tracks bear a word count that barely stretches further than the septet’s tonguetwisting moniker – but although the gauge of lyrical depth barely dips in at kiddie-pool height, the EP is filled to the teeth with consistently killer hooks. The Gizz offer a dense sonic atmosphere, with razor-sharp licks and riffs garnished with intense mouth organ breakdowns and delay-soaked hootin’ and hollerin’. ‘Danger $$$’ blows minds with a slight misdirection 34 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
The brooding, theremin-fermented menace of ‘Crookedile’ burns along with an emphatic callback to the dawn of distortion with a cracker of a ‘Jack The Ripper’esque riff, all the while frontman Stu screams out like a deranged televangelist. On paper, ‘Stoned Mullet’ reads like the ultimate stoner to-do list – “Jack it, jack it/ Green oooout” – with a ‘60s freakout beat commanding at least one dance-off before the inevitable green-out. ‘Dead Beat’ rips
Anyone who has followed the side career of Band of Horses' guitarist Tyler Ramsey will know that the 'quiet guitarist on the right' is one hell of a songwriter. The Valley Wind is the follow-up to his brilliant solo album A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea, in which he proved himself as more than just a worthy addition to Band of Horses’ sound and shape. So much so that he was even given partial writing credit on a few of the tracks from 2010's Infinite Arms, and a song of his own, ‘Evening Kitchen’ – which in my opinion is one of the best tracks on the album. On this new release, Tyler offers up some beautiful songwriting and guitar playing. His acoustic fingerpicked style flows across each song, and the instrumental opener ‘Raven Shadow’ sets the mood perfectly. On songs like ‘1000 Blackbirds’, Tyler crafts beautiful imagery with subtle accompaniment to create his own post-Neil Young vibe that could easily be given more room and space on whatever Band of Horses record next. Ramsey manages to include a full band on most tracks without overdoing anything and losing the soul of the song. Each instrument is thoughtfully mixed and only added when necessary; the sound of a solo musician colouring his songs, rather than getting carried away and drowning them. Tyler Ramsey appeals to anyone who enjoys Neil Young, The Middle East or earlier Band of Horses tunes. With The Valley Wind, he's done a stellar job in not only following up his previous solo album, but bettering it. Cam Ewart
through an enthused four-chord formula, until the violent coda pummels the senses. The 10-inch signs off with the anthemic title track which, like all great record-closers, would make for a triumphant soundtrack to a 1980s action film’s credit roll. “Just because I like you/It doesn’t mean I like you” soars the entirety of the song’s lyrical content, a contradictory kiss-off from a record that’s familiar and fresh, greenedout and tenacious, anti-authoritarian and apathetic, pious and unrepentant, dumb and ingenious. Some people just wanna fill the world with silly bong jams, and what’s wrong with that? Lachlan Kanoniuk
GONJASUFI
The Valley Wind Fat Possum/Shock
Dermot Clarke
of a rapid-fire tempo changeup. The title of feel-good jam ‘Dustbin Fletcher’ speaks volumes in itself – nostalgia, Australiana, sheer idiocy – though the lyrics don't pertain to Essendon’s stalwart full-back, and instead (surprise) presents as an ode to getting high.
Oliver Downes
TYLER RAMSEY
INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD
at a vanished presence. For confirmation see the surprisingly palatable duet with Elton John, ‘Snowed In At Wheeler Street’, in which immortal lovers are destined to forever cross paths that one moment too late.
Mu.zz.le Warp
As magnificent as Gonjasufi ’s (aka Sumach Ecks) debut was, it was always unclear exactly how much further beyond the vocals his authorship reached. Musically, the record was stunning; a kind of anti-hip hop, with production by Gaslamp Killer, Mainframe and Flying Lotus, that drew heavily on Bollywood samples and other assorted obscurities. While probably not responsible for the arrangements themselves, Ecks’s presence and auteur-like direction was palpable – his scratchy, resin-riven vocal burnt forcefully at the centre of each track. Mu.zz.le bears the same torch, but doesn’t carry it much further. It’s being touted as a ‘mini-album’ rather than an EP, and that’s a fair tag; its ten pieces vary in strength, but each seems more resonant when heard in sequence. The whole thing is coated in various tones of sonic shellac – a judicious layer of distortion and trueto-source degradation that sets a deliciously druggy tone. ‘Feedin’ Birds’ is languid, sample-driven psych-blues, punctuated with a keening female chorus vocal. The beat driving ‘Nikels and Dimes’ was made to move rooms, its aggressive, driving hi-hat tickled with beautiful, trembling organ licks. It’s strange how melancholic this music sounds. ‘Venom’, though beautiful, rests on a groove so maudlin that it threatens to drag you way down into the same funk that’s gripped its author. ‘The Blame’ riffs on a steadily defiant chord progression, setting an attitude that’s mirrored in ‘Blaksuit’, but neither is piquant enough to shake the pall that wracks the rest of the record. This isn’t damaging, but it does encourage the listener to approach the music on its own terms. Mu.zz.le is beautiful, defiant and curiously sad. It may be more of the same, but the same is still superb. Luke Telford
OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... THE BOOKS - The Lemon Of Pink RYAN ADAMS - Ashes & Fire AUGIE MARCH - Moo, You Bloody Choir
THE BOOKS - The Lemon Of Pink BETH ORTON - Central Reservation
live reviews What we've been to see...
FLEET FOXES
Sydney Opera House Monday February 2 Besides the smoke machine, there’s something special in the air as Seattle sixpiece Fleet Foxes take the Concert Hall stage; it’s the second day of a new year, Sydney summer is in glorious evidence outside, and a packed-out audience give the folk-rocksters a rockstar welcome. “This is absurd,” frontman Robin Pecknold murmurs shyly, before launching into the extended and intricate intro of ‘The Plains / Bitter Dancer’, which climaxes into a footstomping coda. Out of the studio and into a live setting, there’s a wall-of-sound kick to the Foxes’ gorgeous harmonies that I didn’t entirely expect, from to a guitar-dense rendition of ‘Battery Kinzie’ that’s slightly overwhelming, to the big rock sound of the ‘Mykonos’ coda (compared to the rather limpid EP version). But the highlights, for my money, were the lo-fi folk moments like ‘Blue Spotted Tail’ and the acapella harmonies of the intro to ‘White Winter Hymnal’. It’s rare to find this many excellent voices in one band, and even rarer outside of a studio recording. And with the exception of some protracted interstitial guitar tuning, Pecknold makes his instrument look and sound completely effortless.
Scanning through hits from their two albums and the Sun Giant EP, the Foxes are mostly business, swapping out guitars and instruments with rapid efficiency, and backlit for the first third of the show, curiously. At this point they seem to acclimatise to the room, and there’s some playful banter between keys-man Casey Wescott, Pecknold and drummer J. Tillman, which starts with Wescott’s capacity to feel judged by the audience in the boxes over his shoulder, and ends with the line between art and porn; a later excursion runs the gamut from the Prince of Burma to Disney’s Aladdin and Jasmine’s magic carpet ride… My only complaint for the evening, as with so many, is this persistent charade around encores. You don’t leave big hitters like ‘Helplessness Blues’ to the last moment unless you’re sure you’re gonna get a callback – so let’s just call a spade a spade, and cut-out the perfunctory first round of thank yous and goodbyes.
Dee Jefferson
PHOTOS BY : PRUDENCE UPT ON
SPACE IBIZA PRESENTS KEHAKUMA Greenwood Hotel, Sydney Sunday January 1
With the sun finally sweltering, and Seth Troxler playing early due to his Melbourne commitments, there was no easing into Space New Year’s Day – it was all systems go from the time we ambled through the Greenwood gates circa 1pm. Despite the absurd door policy claiming one of our cohort early – no sandals for guys, but open shoes allowed on the fairer sex? – my selfish Darwinist clubbing instincts kicked in, and I had soon forgot about the arduous round trip imposed on my friend to procure more appropriate footwear once Troxler stepped up to the decks at 1.30pm. As one would expect, there was palpable excitement in the outdoor courtyard of Greenwood, which was aided by the traditionally closed-off raised grass area being used as part of the dance floor, thanks to protective astro turf. Though the feedback on Troxler’s set was decidedly mixed, on a personal level, I must say I enjoyed it. Seth has always been something of a hit-and-miss DJ, and though some may have felt that he meandered at times, I thought he did a good job holding down a groove while mixing-in proven favourites like Moodymann’s ‘Shades Of Jae’. Following Seth’s departure the energy levels dropped somewhat, so it was a good chance to explore the venue and relax in the back courtyard. Due to noise restrictions, the only music out the back was the silent disco, and though the organisers deserve credit for thinking outside the square to circumvent the oppressive regulations, the whole concept of a silent disco struggles once the initial novelty factor wears off. In this instance, I couldn’t help but sympathise with the local DJs who were booked to play the event only to end up pitted against each other simultaneously in the silent disco arena on different channels of headphones, with sound quality that left plenty to be desired. But no one was there for the silent disco anyhow, and with house icon 'Evil' Eddie Richards
limbering up to play, it was time to again venture into the thick of the action. Richards has always been highly regarded by those in the know, and anyone who has listened to his canonical Fabric mix will attest to his prowess, but irrespective of his lofty standing in the clubbing pantheon it was nonetheless a privilege to see him play on the first day of the new year. Tech house, minimal, acid house, call it what you will; Eddie demonstrated just why he remains a perennial presence in the underground scene regardless of trends and fads. His set was characterised by smooth cuts punctuated by the odd playful vocal, with Maetrik cuts such as ‘Crush On Me’ getting particularly vociferous responses from the crowd. It was left to Garry Todd to follow on from Richards, and as day became night he took the party in a different direction that did not particularly resonate with me, but was enjoyed by much of the crowd. From a programming point of view it was hard not to think that Todd should have played before Richards, allowing Eddie and Radioslave to play back-to-back for the final four hours of the event. As it was, when Radioslave finally stepped up to the decks at 9.30pm he steered the music away from syrupy ‘90s club flavours towards the thumping techno that he is renowned for. Letting his tracks play out seemingly almost in their entirety, Radioslave mixed booming tracks with more intricate productions such as Ricardo Villalobos’ remix of Beck’s ‘Cellphone’s Dead’, rounding off the day with a set that was pretty close to how one would expect Radioslave to play – in other words, the party ended on a thumping high. Though the programming could certainly have done with some tweaking, it’s hard to complain about a party where the international triumvirate of Troxler, Richards and Radioslave all played and played well, ensuring that the year began in fine fashion for those with a penchant for ye olde 4/4 club music.
Sean Bateman
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 35
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week J Mascis
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11
Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent Hyde Park North, Sydney
J Mascis (USA) $48 7pm
Barefoot Divas Sydney Festival @ CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $30 3pm Bennie James, Shezbot, Anna-Leisa Veitz, Carousel, Jackie & the Rippers Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Big Ben Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm Bradley Cork & The Folklore Mantra, Spookyland, Lessons In Time, Liam Gordon, Ray Ray Ray & The Jetsons Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Catch 22 The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Dan Deacon Ensemble (USA), John Maus (USA) Sydney Festival @ Keystone Festival Bar, Sydney $32 7.30pm Delorean Tide, Dividers, Corpus The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm In Pieces The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Jagermeister Presents Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm J Mascis (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $48 7pm Jimmy Vargas and the Black Dahlias Blue Beat Bar & Grill, Double Bay $10 10pm Live & Local: Ruby Tuesday, DJ Emmy-Lou, Black Hatz, Citrus Jam Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $15 8pm Loon Lake, The Guppies Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Lunch Break: Wim FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 1pm Musos Jam Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm The Red Paintings, Shanghai, Lovers Jump Creek The Factory Theatre, Enmore $22 (+ bf) 7.30pm Sophie Hanlon & The Falling Empire, Jane Aubourg The Vanguard, Newtown $12 (+ bf)–$47 (dinner & show) 8pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm Valley Floor, The Dirty Surfin Bastards The Old Manly Boatshed free 8pm
JAZZ
MONDAY JANUARY 9 ROCK & POP
Barefoot Divas, Barefoot Divas Sydney Festival @ CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $30 3pm Deerhoof (USA), Yamantaka Eye (Japan) Sydney Festival @ Keystone Festival Bar, Sydney $32 8pm Joe Robinson Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Krishna Jones Trio Opera Bar, Sydney free 8.30pm Manu Chao Sydney Festival @ Enmore Theatre $65–$75 7.30pm Reckless The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Rockin’ With Ra Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Steve Tonge Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm
JAZZ
Monday Jam: Danny G Felix, Djay Kohinga The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 9pm Out Of Abingdon The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Huntley Mitchell, Billy Burgess, Sarah Cherlin, Steven, Brent McGregor, Russell Neal Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 10 ROCK & POP
Adam Pringle and Friends Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Barefoot Divas Sydney Festival @ CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $30 Dave Wilkins Coogee Bay Hotel free 9pm
The Jolly Boys Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $43 7pm The Lonely Boys The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Righteous Voodoo. Femme De Funk The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 8.30pm The Songwriter Sessions The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm Valley Floor Brass Monkey, Cronulla $10 8pm
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 ROCK & POP
Arabesk, Glenn Cardier The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 9pm
Inga Liljestrom 505 Club, Surry Hills $20–$25 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Belinda Robinson, Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7pm Captain Obvious Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm Gavin Fitzgerald, TAOS Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Renee Jonas, Jaime Baquiran, Greg Sita Cookies Lounge Bar, Bakehouse Quarter, North Strathfield free 8pm Russell Neal Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm Steve Smyth Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm
THURSDAY JANUARY 12 ROCK & POP
Arctic Monkeys (UK), Miles Kane, Violent Soho Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park
$84.10 (+ bf)–$106.40 (incl CD) 8pm sold out Cambo The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 9.30pm Craig Thommo Coogee Bay Hotel free 10pm David Agius Northies, Cronulla free 9.15pm Eastside Live at 505: Hobo Bordeaux, Merchants of Sound 505 Club, Surry Hills 7.30pm Hot Damn - Summer Lovin Foam Party!: My City Screams, Glorified, Belle Haven Spectrum / 34B / Q Bar, Darlinghurst $15-$20 8pm Jagermeister Presents Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm J Mascis (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $48 7pm Johnathan Devoy Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 8pm John Swan, Rick & John Brewster Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $51–$93 (dinner & show) 8pm Juke Baritone & the Swamp Dogs Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Lite Feed Frenzy, Cam Nacson Band, BabyRoll! Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm The Live-Rackets Awards Finals: Drop Tank, The Choke, Witch Fight, Wagga Tek Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Mandi Jarry Dee Why Hotel free 8pm Marty From Reckless Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Mere Women, JuliaWhy?, Lunars, Kang Gang FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Michael McGlynn Greengate Hotel, Killara free 8pm Raoul Graf Gymea Hotel free 7.30pm Red Oxygen, Gypsies & Gentlemen, The Pixiekills Annandale Hotel $8 7.30pm Salt Lake City, Emma Louise, Trent Williams, John Devoy The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf)–$55 (dinner & show) 8pm Sam And Jamie Trio Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm See!: Holly Throsby Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $18 10am Sons & Daughters (UK), Songs, The Laurels Sydney Festival @ Keystone Festival Bar, Sydney $42 (+ bf) 8pm Speakeasy The Whitehouse Hotel, Petersham 8pm Springbreak Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5.30pm Steve Tonge Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Tangled Up In Bob: Bob Dylan Tribute Show Notes Live, Enmore 8pm Tuba Skinny (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay 8pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm Vultures: DJ Skar, Rockethead, Xenograft, I Am The Agent, Bats and Battleships Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free 8pm The White Bros The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm
JAZZ
Vince Jones Blue Beat, Double Bay $22 9.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Band Of Gypsies: Taraf De Haidouks (Romania), Kocani Orkestar (Macedonia) Sydney Festival @ Enmore Theatre $60–$65 8pm Steve Smyth Old Manly Boatshed 8pm
FRIDAY JANUARY 13 ROCK & POP
1927, Jo Elms Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $49–$107 (dinner & show) 8pm AM 2 PM Parramatta Leagues Club free 9pm Andy Mammers Harbord Beach Hotel free 8pm Arctic Monkeys (UK), Miles Kane Enmore Theatre $84.10 8pm all-ages sold out Backlash Parramatta Leagues Club free 8pm The Bellhops Blacktown RSL Club free 8.30pm The Black Diamond Hearts Club Crows Nest Hotel free 11.15pm The Capitols Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 8pm The Charge, Jessamine, Raperager, System of Venus Landsdowne Hotel, Darlington 8pm Civil War, Vigilante, Sick People, Downpour, Never Right, Blind Sight Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Clairy Brown & the Bangin’ Rackettes Sydney Festival @ The Idolize Spiegeltent, Parramatta $30 7pm Club Blink: The Art, The Dead Love Club 77, Sydney $12 8pm Combichrist (Norway), A+D+A+M. Angelspit, Shiv-R, Horrorwood Mannequins Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $49 (+ bf) 8pm Conjuration Fest: Absu (USA), Portal, Ruins, Ouroboros, Norse Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $38.99-$45 7.30pm Craig Thommo The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Dan Lissing Duo Crows Nest Hotel free 6.30pm Dave Tice and Mark Evans Lakes Hotel, The Entrance Endless Summer Beach Party Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville free 9pm Express Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm Fallon Brothers The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 10.30pm Free Friday The 13th Party!: Veen, Valar, Mildlife, Friday I’m In Love DJs Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Friday Night Lights, Skinpin, The Bedlams, Grey Turns Blonde, Thayne, Hot Spoke! Annandale Hotel $10 7pm Gary Johns The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Happy New Year (USA), Kirin J. Callinan, Nite Fields, Secret Birds, Hopes, Ears Have Ears & D. Black DJs Dirty Shirlows, Marrickville $10 8pm Hooray For Everything Coogee Bay Hotel free 10pm Ian Moss The Vault, Windsor 8pm Ignition Penrith RSL free 9pm
“Johnny Turk, he was ready. He primed himself well. He chased us with bullets. He rained us with shells” - THE POGUES 36 :: BRAG :: 444 : 09:01:12
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com J Mascis (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $48 5.30pm Jessamine, The Charge, Raprager, Systenm of Venus The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free 8pm Jessica Mauboy, Stan Walker Revesby Workers Club 8pm Juke Baritone & the Swamp Dogs, Cash Savage The Vanguard, Newtown $20 (+ bf)–$55 (dinner & show) 8pm The Led Zeppelin Show Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 10pm Luke Dixon Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5pm Luke Robinson Parramatta RSL free 5pm Marty Mulholland Northies, Cronulla free 9pm Marty Stewart Parramatta Leagues Club free 6pm Matt Jones Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill free 8pm Matt Price Duo Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 9pm Metallica Show Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Michael + Lucas Kirribilli Hotel free 8pm Millions, Sures, Steve Smyth, Bad Wives DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 8pm Mission Jones Club Rivers, Riverwood free 9pm Movement: Gung Ho Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm MUM: Panamas, Hira Hira, The Nugs, Making, Dead Johnny and the Memphis
Gun, Drake The Fake, The Fabergettes, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Neill Bourke O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 8pm Nicky Kurta Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction free 7.30pm Nigel Wearne, Luke Watt The Manly Boatshed free 8pm The Pat Capocci Combo Town Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9pm Peppermint Jam Club Central Hurstville free 8.30pm Pirate, Xenograft, Net of Being, Eyemaze The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Professor Groove & the Booty Affair Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 10pm Reckless The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free (early bird)–$5 9.30pm Rob Henry The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm The Rumjacks Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Ryan Enright Castle Hill RSL Club free 6.30pm See!: Holly Throsby Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $18 10am Sing-Along: Pia Van Gelder, Kate Blackmore, Tom Smith, Bec Dean, Teik-Kim Pok, Sam Pettigrew, Tyson Barnaby Koh, Emma Ramsay, Craig Johnson & Jennifer Hamilton Serial Space, Darlington $7 7pm Siren Lines, Secrets in Scale Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm
Skinpin, The Bedlams, Grey Turns Blonde, Thayne, Hot Spoke Annandale Hotel $10 8pm They Call Me Bruce PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 10pm Tom Trelawny Castle Hill RSL Club free 8.30pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm The Vengaboys Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $30–$35 (+ bf) 8pm Wildcatz Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Zoltan PJ Gallagher’s Parramatta 9pm
JAZZ
Jazzgroove Summer Festival: Ben Hauptmann, Matt McMahon, Gian Slater Trio, Coffin Bros, James Muller Trio, Cooking Club, Adam Ponting, The MFW, Chuck Yates Trio, 20th Century Dog, The Waples Bros, Mango Balloon, Mike Rivett Quintet, Warwick Alder Quintet, Abel Cross Neo Bop Quintet, Jackson Harrison Trio, The Cope Street Parade, Song Fwaa, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Orchestra, Alister Spence Trio, Zac Hurren Trio, The Glorious Sousaphonics, Sun Chasers Collective, The World According to James, Lah-Lah’s Big Band Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills $18–$70 12pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Band Of Gypsies, Taraf De Haidouks, Kocani Orkestar
Holly Throsby
Sydney Festival @ The Concourse, Chatswood $55– $65 8pm Winter’s End, Monica Lasuardi, Daniel Hopkins Mars Hill Café, Parramatta $10 8.30pm
SATURDAY JANUARY 14 ROCK & POP
Almost Famous Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction 8.30pm Every Woman – A Celebration of Chaka Khan and the Comtemporary Soul Sisters: Alphamama and Friends The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf) 7.30pm AM 2 PM Parramatta RSL free 7.30pm Andy Mammers Brewhouse At Doonside free 7.30pm Armchair Travellers Duo North Ryde RSL Community Club free 8pm
Ben Finn Duo Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 6.30pm The Black Diamond Hearts Club Rock Lily, Pyrmont free 10.45pm Butcher Blades, Oxblvd, Die For you, FRIEND/s DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 8pm Cant Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $43 5pm Caramel Castle Hill RSL Club free 10.30pm Carl Fidler The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 5.40pm Cheeky Gymea Hotel free 7.30pm Dan Spillane The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Dave White Experience Crows Nest Hotel free 11.15pm Dave Tice & Mark Evans Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel free 4pm David Agius PJ Gallagher’s Drummoyne free 9.30pm
Dead Farmers, Loose Grip, Nintendo Police, Whores, Raw Prawn Red Rattler, Marrickville $10 8pm Emma Pask Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Empire Rising, Blue Candy Caringbah Bizzo’s 8pm Endless Summer Beach Party Mounties, Mount Pritchard free 8pm Express Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm Fait Accompli, Let Me Down Jungleman, Corpus The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm Fallon Bros Harbord Beach Hotel free 8.30pm Gay Paris, Glitter Canyon, Surprise Wasp, Guthrie The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf) 8pm The Gooch Palms, Cannon, The Nugs Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Grand Lethals Annandale Hotel 5pm Hard Ons!, Counterattack!, Epics, Spoonfed Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $12 8pm Heath Burdell Northies, Cronulla free 5.30pm Hopes, I Am The Agent, Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym, Making Jura Books, Petersham $5 7pm all-ages Hooray For Everything Panania-East Hills RSL Club free 8pm Hue Williams Everglades Country Club, Woy Woy free 8.30pm If You’re Not There – You’re Dead: Homebrew, Bustacap, Hidden Ace, Mother Brody,
wed
11 Jan
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
12 Jan
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
fri
13 Jan (5:00PM - 8:00PM)
(9:30PM - 1:30AM)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
sat
14 Jan
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
SATURDAY NIGHT
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
sun
15 Jan
SUNDAY NIGHT
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 37
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com The Postmodernists, System of Venus, Fouulhawk, Gutter Tactic, One Day Soon Valve Bar, Tempe 2pm The Initiation, Arrowhead, AMPM Tranzphat Empire Hotel, Annandale $10 8pm Jessica Mauboy, Stan Walker Penrith Panthers 8pm JJ Duo Jannali Inn free 7pm Kaleidascope Panthers North Richmond free 8.30pm Krishna Jones The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney free 9pm The Lonely Boys Mercantile Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm Looking Glass, Lomera, Daredevil, Mother Mars The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Manik Rok Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Matt Jones Rydges Cronulla free 5pm Michael McGlynn Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 9pm Mission Jones Hunters Hill Club free 7pm Mondo Cane, Brous Sydney Festival @ The Domain, Sydney free 8pm Mystery Guest Coogee Bay Hotel free 10pm Nicky Kurta Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 5.30pm One Hit Wonders Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Parra Opening Party: Holly Throsby, Norman Jay (UK), Meem, Barefoot Divas Sydney Festival @ Parramatta City Park free 4pm Passenger, Tim Hart, Stu Larsen
Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $24 7.30pm Pod Brothers Oliver’s Nightclub, Ivanhoe of Manly free 10.30pm Professor Groove & the Booty Affair Blue Beat, Double Bay $10 10pm The Quixotics, DJ Alley Cats, Karmic Dirt The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free 9pm The Road Runners Matraville RSL free 8.30pm Rob Henry Castle Hill RSL Club free 8.30pm Sam & Jamie Show Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 5.30pm Singled Out The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Sounds Like Sunset, Royal Chant, Bang! Bang! Rock N Roll Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 7.30pm Steve Tonge Northies, Cronulla free 9pm Steve Tonge The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm Third Time Lucky Parramatta Leagues Club free 7pm Tom T Duo Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst free 10pm Toxic Holocaust, Kromosom, Hellbringer Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt 8pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm V.I.P Band Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills free 9.30pm Wildcatz Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney
free 10.30pm Zoltan Malabar RSL Club free 7.30pm
JAZZ
Jazzgroove Summer Festival: Ben Hauptmann, Matt McMahon, Gian Slater Trio, Coffin Bros, James Muller Trio, Cooking Club, Adam Ponting, The MFW, Chuck Yates Trio, 20th Century Dog, The Waples Bros, Mango Balloon, Mike Rivett Quintet, Warwick Alder Quintet, Abel Cross Neo Bop Quintet, Jackson Harrison Trio, The Cope Street Parade, Song Fwaa, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Orchestra, Alister Spence Trio, Zac Hurren Trio, The Glorious Sousaphonics, Sun Chasers Collective, The World According to James, Lah-Lah’s Big Band Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills $18–$70 12pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Aimee Francis Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 3pm Sarah Cherlin, Helmut Uhlmann Terrey Hills Tavern free 7.30pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 15 ROCK & POP
All Star Duo Gymea Hotel free 4.30pm Andrew Wilson Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $22 8pm Andy Mammers Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham
Hills free 3.30pm Antoine O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 4pm The Beatvilles, Blarney Boys Trio The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Cant Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $43 5pm Castlecomer Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 4.30pm Catherine Traicos and the Starry Night Low 302, Surry Hills free 6pm Craig Woodward Royal Oak Hotel, Parramatta free 5pm Dave White Duo Northies, Cronulla free 2.30pm David Agius Harbord Beach Hotel free 6.30pm David Goyen Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 4pm Detroit Rock Revue: The SC5, The Four Stooges, 69BC Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $15 7pm FBi Presents Tune Up vs In The Pines: The Green Mohair Suits, Caitlin Harnett, James Thomson Petersham Bowling Club 2pm Frank Yamma Sydney Festival @ The Idolize Spiegeltent, Parramatta $30 7pm Green Beaver, The Majestics, The Sunshine Laundry Valve Bar, Tempe 4pm Happy Hippies Albion Hotel, Parramatta free 4pm Jamie Lindsay Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 4.30pm
JJ Duo Coogee Bay Hotel free 7.30pm Josh Mcvior Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 12pm Joyce Collins The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney free 4pm Julianna Barwick Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North, Sydney $38 7pm Mike Bennett, Rob Henry, Cambo The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm Pete Oscars Lounge Bar & Restaurant, Pyrmont free 2pm Revel The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm Spirit Valley, Mother & Son, Danger Dannys The Vanguard, Newtown $15 (+ bf) 7pm Stormcellar Exchange Hotel, Newcastle 5pm Sunday Session: The Raids, Big Bozza Band Annandale Hotel $10 3pm Tom And Dave Show Northies, Cronulla free 6pm Tom Trelawny Parramatta Leagues Club free 4pm Tom Ugly Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 5pm Vibrations at Valve Band Competition: Tribal, Mugger, Portland, Superlatives, Samsara, Black Rose, Into The Fireplace Valve Bar, Tempe 12pm
White Brothers Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 1pm Wildcatz Hunters Hill Club free 2pm
JAZZ
Jazzgroove Summer Festival: Ben Hauptmann, Matt McMahon, Gian Slater Trio, Coffin Bros, James Muller Trio, Cooking Club, Adam Ponting, The MFW, Chuck Yates Trio, 20th Century Dog, The Waples Bros, Mango Balloon, Mike Rivett Quintet, Warwick Alder Quintet, Abel Cross Neo Bop Quintet, Jackson Harrison Trio, The Cope Street Parade, Song Fwaa, A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Orchestra, Alister Spence Trio, Zac Hurren Trio, The Glorious Sousaphonics, Sun Chasers Collective, The World According to James, Lah-Lah’s Big Band Prince Alfred Park, Surry Hills $18–$70 12pm The Peter Head Trio Harbour View Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Billy Burgess, Sarah Cherlin, Helmut Uhlmann Hotel William, Darlinghurst free 6pm Daniel Hopkins Avalon Beach RSl Club 6pm Pete Hunt Oatley Hotel free 2pm
COUNTRY
Bryen Willems Penrith RSL free 2pm The Slowdowns Downstairs, Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm
1pm
Wednesday January 11
Saturday January 14
LUNCH BREAK
A STORY NEVER TOLD & LONELY KIDS CLUB
presented by
Albert’s:
present:
WIM
CUB SCOUT + TALES IN SPACE +guests
1pm / FREE Live Broadcast on FBi Radio 94.5FM!
8pm
2012
Thursday January 12
MERE WOMEN + JULIAWHY? + KANG GANG + THE LUNARS (melb) 8pm / $10 at the door
LATE NIGHT SOCIAL RELAUNCH
Friday January 13
DEADBEAT & HAZY + OLD MEN of MOSS MOUNTAIN + BIG DUMB KID + KADE MC + DJ PEACE 8pm / $10 at the door
DJs from midnight to 3am - FREE! SLOW BLOW + FRAMES + R+R Live Broadcast on FBi Radio 94.5FM!
Sunday January 15 AFTERNOON DELIGHT: LOOSE JOINTS (3-5PM) & FOREIGNDUB AIRWAYVZ (5-7PM) broadcast live + guests:
ADDISON ROAD L2 Kings Cross Hotel www.fbisocial.com 38 :: BRAG :: 444 : 09:01:12
3PM/ $5 Live Broadcast on FBi Radio 94.5FM!
gig picks up all night out all week...
G N I COMON SO 2
0
1
2
Deerhoof
MONDAY JANUARY 9 Deerhoof (USA), Yamantaka Eye (Japan) Sydney Festival @ Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks $32 8pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 10 Tubular Bells for Two Sydney Festival @ Seymour Theatre Centre, Chippendale $30 8.30pm
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 The Red Paintings, Shanghai, Lovers Jump Creek The Factory Theatre, Enmore $22 (+ bf) 7.30pm Mere Women, JuliaWhy?, Lunars, Kang Gang FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm
FRIDAY JANUARY 13 Happy New Year (USA), Kirin J. Callinan, Nite Fields, Secret Birds, Hopes, Ears Have Ears & D. Black DJs Dirty Shirlows, Marrickville $10 8pm Millions, Sures, Steve Smyth, Bad Wives DJs Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Sing-Along: Pia Van Gelder, Kate Blackmore, Tom Smith, Bec Dean, Teik-Kim Pok, Sam Pettigrew, Tyson Barnaby Koh, Emma Ramsay, Craig Johnson & Jennifer Hamilton Serial Space, Darlington $7 7pm The Vengaboys Selina’s, Coogee Bay Hotel $30–$35 (+ bf) 8pm
SATURDAY JANUARY 14 CANT Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North $43 5pm The Gooch Palms, Cannon, The Nugs Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Mike Patton's Mondo Cane, Brous Sydney Festival @ The Domain, Sydney free 8pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 15 FBi Presents Tune Up vs In The Pines: The Green Mohair Suits, Caitlin Harnett, James Thomson Petersham Bowling Club 2pm
Julianna Barwick
Julianna Barwick Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North $38 7pm Mondo Cane
GUNG HO WORLD'S END PRESS CASSETTE KIDS ELIZABETH ROSE CONVAIRE EXPATRIATE THE FUMES THE HELLO MORNING POLO CLUB CADILLAC THE MISSION IN MOTION I AM GIANT CABINS BON CHAT BON RAT SLOW CLUB [UK] & LIVE E E FR BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 39
nye snap
31:12:11 :: Glenworth Valley ::
40 :: BRAG :: 444: 09:01:12
sydney resolution 31:12:11 :: Glebe Island ::
PICS :: KC
peats ridge festival
PICS :: GP
up all night out all week . .
BRAGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
brag beats
inside
Girl Talk
also: + club guide + club snaps + columns
Plump DJs
Garry Todd
Chase & Status Kill Your Idols
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 41
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
he said she said WITH
Kid Cudi
DJ YODA (UK)
B
oth my parents worked in the music industry, and my dad kept his record collection in my bedroom, so I grew up literally surrounded by records. The music I was listening to as a kid had scratching in it, so I used to pretend to be a DJ with my parent’s hi-fi record player – I broke it, saved up enough money to eventually buy turntables, and that’s how it all began. I have so many musical inspirations – I’m inspired by everyone I hear or see, even if they’re bad! But as far as DJs go, I would always mention Steinski, the first guy to do Cut and Paste style – look him up! Or Q-Bert for scratching. Or Kid Capri. And MCs: Biz Markie for his sense of humour, Big Daddy Kane for his whole persona, or even Kanye for everything he’s accomplished. These days movies, or even YouTube, inspire me as much as other musicians, though. I worked with different vocalists on every track of my new album (sorry, can’t reveal
Obie Trice
who they all are yet, but trust me – I’m excited). I’ve also done live collabs with everyone from orchestras to beatboxers to brass bands – but at the end of the day, I’m happy to rock a party solo. I describe myself as a hip hop DJ who doesn’t play much rap music. To me, hip hop is about taking all your influences and blending them together to make something new. So I’m just as likely to play dubstep, reggae, drum and bass or electro as country & western, kids’ TV music or jazz. But the style that I DJ in is definitely hip hop. There’s a lot of good stuff around at the moment – I’m liking a lot of the Moombahton stuff that’s coming out. And I think there’s a real resurgence in real rap music right now. I would definitely recommend the most recent albums by Evidence, Action Bronson and Common. With: Sampology Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Saturday January 14
HEATWAVE
Seeking to resolve your messy new years? No, we’re not giving away a medical consultation – BRAG is leaving it up to Kid Cudi to bring back the memories of all your crazy shit. He’s headlining two days in a row at the huge, inaugural, all-ages hip hop festival Heatwave at the Enmore Theatre. Joining him on Wednesday January 18 are Tech N9ne, D12 and Obie Trice Trice,, and on Thursday January 19 19,, CrazyTown (come my lady, come come, my lady) and Grammy winner Chamillionaire will be keeping the bangin’ chunes flowing. To snag a pair of these tickets, tell us the best way to keep cool in a heatwave.
SPACE DIMENSION CONTROLLER
Trus’me
Picnic returns to The Civic Underground on Saturday February 11 with a bash headlined by Space Dimension Controller, whose sound traverses ‘80s funk, cosmic disco and warm melodic techno. Since attending the Red Bull Music Academy in London last year, Space Dimension Controller has released records on Belgian techno institution R&S Records, started up his own record label Basic Rhythm, and is apparently in the midst of crafting an LP. Supporting this nascent talent will be Matt Trousdale, Morgda (the duo of Claire Morgan and Magda Bytnerowicz) and Kali, while on the upstairs level Marcus King, Long John Saliva and Andy Webb will be pushing beats. Presale tickets are available from Resident Advisor for just $25.
HAHA: UTR#15
HEATWAVE FESTIVAL FT KID CUDI
It’s summer time, and though Sydney temperatures have hardly been up to the standard we expect, ‘we’ – that’s you and me, dear reader – can still rely on the bourgeoning January party calendar to ensure we stay warm. One such event is the huge new national hip hop festival, Heatwave, which is split over two consecutive days, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 January, at The Enmore Theatre. Headlining the event will be US rapper Kid Cudi, who will perform on both the Wednesday and the Thursday, and is known for the hit tracks ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ with MGMT and ‘Erase Me’ with Kanye West, as well as his own ‘Day n’ Nite’. The Wednesday program will also feature D12, Obie Trice and Tech N9ne, who has collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg and featured on Lil Wayne’s multi-platinum Carter 3 LP. Meanwhile, Thursday’s lineup boasts the ‘forgotten men’ CrazyTown, who were swallowed by a cracken following their smash single ‘Butterfly’ from 2001 and have only just resurfaced, and Grammy Award winner Chamillionaire, on his first tour of Australia. For all ticketing information, and further details about the licenced all-ages festival, head to www.heatwave.com
42 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Kid Cudi
The highly regarded HAHA crew are hitting the ground running to begin the new year with a couple of alluring events lined up over the next couple of weeks. This Saturday, HAHA are hosting the 15th installment in their popular ‘Under the Radar’ warehouse party series, a BYO affair featuring Adi B, Zyklus and residents D&D, presale tickets for which can be purchased through their website, hahaindustries.com. Fast forward to Saturday February 11 and the action will shift to Marrickville Bowling Club, where Koreanborn Berlin resident Hunee will be headlining. Hunee is a fellow who purportedly “eats bumpin’ disco for breakfast, heats up deep jackin’ music for lunch and slows it soulfully down for dinner”, and as he’s playing a threehour set, Sydneysiders will have a chance to get acquainted with all his favourite sonic delicacies. Jamie Lloyd will be providing support on the night, with presale tickets available through the aforementioned website.
DEM SLACKERS
Dutch DJ/producer Dem Slackers is embarking on an Australian tour that will include a show at Sydney’s Fake Club on Wednesday January 25, which is of course Australia Day Eve. Dem Slackers enjoyed a residency at Privilege in Ibiza throughout the European summer just passed, and has a pair of EPs to his name, including the acclaimed Global Grind. On the remix front, the Dutchman has reworked the likes of Lil’ Wayne, The Aston Shuffle, Evil Nine and, most recently, Katy Perry. Proving he’s mastered the showbiz knack of spouting platitudes, Dem Slackers said of the Australia tour: “I’m really excited to go back and spend the summer with all the amazing people I met last time I was over. The tour I did in June was really cool, and I’m positive this one will be even bigger!”
TRUS’ME
Manchester’s David Wolstencroft – aka Trus’Me – will play a Sydney show on Saturday February 18 at The Spice Cellar. Wolstencroft oversees the Prime Numbers label and broke through via his acclaimed debut Working Nights, which traversed disco, soul, house and jazz influences and was generally lauded by critics worldwide when released in ‘07 on the Fat City label. The release solicited comparisons to auteurs such as Theo Parrish and Moodymann (“Moodymann with a smile” being one of the better quotes about Wolstencroft that did the rounds), which affirms the esteem in which Trus’Me is held. Taking on a fresh persona as David James, Wolstencroft has ventured into more ‘techier’ realms, which seems like a natural progression given that Trus’Me tracks have been remixed by the likes of Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, Terrence Dixon and DVS1. Entry is free before midnight with guest list RSVP, and $20 thereafter.
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 43
dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
GARRY TODD
five things WITH
STARFUCKERS Growing Up STARFUCKERS kind of 1. fell into place for all of us in
Million Dollar Man) and Trentertainment (everyone’s best friend).
an organic way: we were likeminded individuals that had similar ideas of how parties should be fun, and how to have fun in the sun. Once we started working towards the same goals, we found that we grew naturally as individuals along with the party, music, and the people that made it all come together. The rest is history…
The Music You Make We’ve received an overwhelming 4. response from our remix work in the past and
Inspirations Apart from it being one 2. of our major roles to seek out fresh new music, collectively we posses a reasonably broad musical palate. Our inspirations draw from a wide range of genres and eras, and our ability to manifest these inspirations into our production work, even when it seems contradictory, has become an important learning curve for our development as producers. Your Crew STARFUCKERS is 3. comprised of Mr. Disorder (the man whose hairstyle precedes him), Hookie (aka The Six
Coptic Soldier
have now started moving into making lots of original material, the first of which is our debut single (and film clip) ‘Make It Drop’. We’ve received amazing remix support for it from international and local DJs like Angger Dimas, Redial and Night Dimension, which will be out by the time you read this. It took us a while finding our sound as a group, as we’ve all had individual projects in the past, but now that we’re there, were just getting started.
On this planet on which we live, Earth, there seems to be a veritable universe of names, the more obscure of which tend to be adopted by DJs who end up featured in this very magazine... Garry Todd chose to keep his own name, and fair enough, really; the Sunderland, UK DJ has spent the last six years DJing, promoting, and living the life between Sydney, Ibiza and England, all the while growing an inimitable mo. Not bad. He’s heading to The Spice Cellar this Saturday January 14 for a vinyl-only set, and he’s ready to “kick the funk out of all ahead of him” with support from Murat Kilic, Schwa, Robbie Lowe, Matt Weir and more. To win a double pass, tell us what three cities you’d like to live your life between. Garry Todd
Music, Right Here, Right Now We’re terribly excited about the up-and5. coming music production landscape in Australia at the moment. We started our record label House Of Fun for this very reason. There are many underrated producers coming out of the woodwork nowadays, some of which we have decided to closely align ourselves with. We’re hoping to provide an outlet for some of this young talent, and harbour potentially successful careers from great young artists. Stay tuned. With: NADASTROM, Yolanda Be Cool, Bombs Away, Dance Club DJs and loads more Where: Courtyard Party @ The Ivy When: Thursday January 26 (Australia Day)
Nadastrom
COPTIC SOLDIER
Coptic Soldier is getting ready to serve a three-month residency at The Local Taphouse on Flinders Street set for every Saturday night in February, March and April, alongside his threepiece band. A triple j Unearthed winner, Coptic Soldier negotiated the perilous gauntlet of critical acclaim with the release of his debut EP The Sound Of Wings in early 2011, and was deemed “one of the most promising acts in Australian hip hop” by The AU Review. You’ll have a whopping twelve weeks to cut through the hyperbole and make up your own mind about him come the start of February, fuelled no doubt by the quality spread of esoteric beers that The Local Taphouse is renowned for [surely that deserves a deduction off my tab, fellas!].
CHINESE LAUNDRY FEBRUARY PROGRAM
Chinese Laundry has unveiled its program for the second month of 2012. On Friday February 3, Bass Mafia will be launching with a headline set from Delta Heavy ahead of Danny T, who will be playing the following night. On Saturday February 18, Adam F is on headline duties before Q-Bert and Reeps One throw down the following Friday. To round off the month, AC Slater will headline on Saturday February 25. As with all Laundry events, the usual advice to arrive early applies; entry is cheaper before 10pm, and it’s also a good way of avoiding a queue that wary punters have dubbed the ‘Sussex Street Anaconda’.
SCUBA PREPARES PERSONALITY
Hotflush label owner Paul Rose, aka Scuba, will drop a new album, Personality, on his own
New Navy
label on February 27. The third album from the one-time dubstepper, who has since moved to Berlin and began to explore techno influences, follows 2010’s mostly acclaimed Triangulation and Rose’s recent DJ Kicks compilation, which included cuts from Surgeon, Marcel Dettmann and the excellent Jichael Mackson. ‘The Hope’ will be released as a separate single before the album’s release, backed with a non-album track called ‘Flash Addict’. As for the inspiration behind the title Personality, Rose was inspired by none other than the Pet Shop Boys! “I’m really influenced by the Pet Shop Boys and I wanted it to sound like a Pet Shop Boys album, so that was one side of it,” he affirmed.
AGWA 013 FT LEE BURRIDGE AND GREG WILSON Tickets are still available for the next installment of Pulse Radio’s AGWA boat parties, which will feature veterans Lee Burridge and Greg
COURTYARD PARTY FT NADASTROM
Ivy is hosting an Australia Day Courtyard Party headlined by US pair Nadastrom. The collective brainchild of Washington, D.C. natives Matt Nordstrom and Dave Nada, Nadastrom hit the ground running with their chart-topping Pussy EP, and have continued the momentum with a frenetic gigging schedule ever since. Nadastrom’s sound traverses electro, retro, Baltimore club, ghetto house and techno and, for better or worse, encapsulates the club sounds of the next generation. The event will also feature Sydney duo Yolanda Be Cool, the pair behind the uber-smash ‘We No Speak Americano’ who have recently dropped a new single, ‘Le Bump’. Presale tickets are currently available online.
Wilson and is set to take place on Saturday February 25. Burridge is renowned for having released a number of memorable mix compilations, namely with the esteemed Fabric resident Craig Richards as Tyrant and also Balance 12, and has wowed Sydney audiences at venues such as Chinese Laundry and The Civic Underground on visits past. Wilson meanwhile is best known for championing early electro with his nights at Wigan Pier, which was Manchester’s Legend club in the early ‘80s. Off
the back of this, Wilson quickly earned himself prestigious mix slots on Mike Shaft’s popular Piccadilly Radio show, mixes which would prove profoundly influential on a whole generation of budding dance music DJs and producers; as Dave Haslam once remarked, “they were some of the most taped programmes in Manchester radio history”. The inside word has it that there aren’t many tickets left, so if you fancy a bit of nautical merriment, you’re best off logging on to Resident Advisor post haste.
WHITEST BOY ALIVE SUPPORTS ANNOUNCED
New Navy and the Future Classic DJs themselves, comprising Nathan McLay, Chad Gillard and James McInnes, have been announced as the support acts for the Berlinbased pop group The Whitest Boy Alive (‘TWBA’), who will perform at The Keystone Bar at Hyde Park Barracks on Saturday January 21. Originally starting as an “electronic dance music project”, TWBA have now fully evolved into a four-piece live band with no programmed elements at all. But the dance music influences have not been completely shed. “We’ve developed an interesting feature on tour: gluing the songs together like a DJ does to further encourage dancing among the audience,” reluctant frontman Erlend Øye divulged earlier this year. If you want to be dancing among the audience to TWBA in a few weeks time, you’ll need a bit of luck in procuring a ticket, as the party has officially sold out. But there’s talk that a very limited number of tickets to Sydney Festival events are released on the day at the Tix for Next to Nix booth at Martin Place, so diehard WBA fans should investigate further on this front…
44 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Chase & Status Status Update By Dan Watt
W
ith the advent of electricity and its application to amplification, and then that whole microchip computer thing (I’m sure it’s just a phase), music has altered more in the last 100 years then it had in the previous 800. And with a new focus on exploiting and innovating technology rather than mastering an instrument, music – and particularly dance music – has seen leading artists become as qualified as technicians as they are musicians and performers.
A British act at the forefront of all of this is Chase & Status. Over the past eight years, the duo of Saul Milton and Will Kennard have gone from bedroom warriors to the most sought after producers in the world, embraced by artists like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams, who all wanted a piece of the heavy bass revolution – that’s drum and bass, dubstep and jungle. “Sorry mate, can you repeat that question?” Milton entreats down the line. “I’m just in the car heading back to London with MC Rage, Andy and Will.” He’s struggling to hear me over the babble of his musical companions, who are nattering away in the background moments after coming off stage in Liverpool – still high, one presumes, after another sold-out show. The album they’re launching, No More Idols, was the follow-up to their 2008 debut More Than A Lot, and heralded mainstream success for Chase & Status, debuting at #11 on the British charts.
music] just happens so fast. With the amount of technology you can have on a laptop, the levels of production kids are coming out with is just through the roof. We’ve got these kids signed to our label [MTA Records] called 16-Bit; they’re young guys and their production is literally groundbreaking. Everyone’s got the technology to make something really special.” In closing, Milton confesses that Australia is one their favourite locations in the world; he says the heavy bass scene here is truly one-of-a-kind, most likely because we are so isolated. “Chase & Status have had many of our most unique performances in Australia,” he says. No wonder they’re coming back for more. Who: Chase & Status LIVE With: New Order, Fatboy Slim, Swedish House Mafia, Paul van Dyk, Tinie Tempah, Skrillex, Jessie J, The Rapture, Friendly Fires, Aphex Twin LIVE, Die Antwoord and more Where: Future Music Festival @ Royal Randwick Racecourse When: Saturday March 10
“It just happens so fast. With the amount of technology you can have on a laptop, the levels of production kids are coming out with is just through the roof.” The potential for No More Idols’ success was hinted at a few years earlier, when some of the world’s biggest pop stars started approaching the duo. “It was really flattering and helped push our profile, because people like Jay-Z and Rihanna, Snoop and Pharrell wanted to work with us – and yeah it was confirmation that we were doing something right,” Milton says. But the band’s work ethic and focus saved them from becoming too cocky after such luminary kudos. “The thing that we really tried to do during that period – and to this day – is to keep our heads down and keep working, and not get caught up in all the accolades.” He explains that staying grounded and keeping focused on their music contributed to the title and credo behind No More Idols. “I mean obviously we wanted the title to be ambiguous enough so that people could draw their own meanings from it, but there were a few points of the title we hoped, after they had listened to the record, people would understand,” Milton says. “In the last ten years, there has been a lot of throwaway music; X-Factor, Idol and all that kind of crap. It just seems like the era of idols that people looked up to – like Jimi Hendrix and [Jim] Morrison – has vanished, so in that sense there are no more idols. And also with our shows it’s not just us – we have a band and then there’s the crowd – so it’s just music lovers under one roof; there isn’t the focus on one person or persons.” One could infer from all that that Milton and Kennard are modest beings, who don’t want to give the impression that they think they’re bigger than the music that they create. Which is why it’s interesting to hear Milton quite happily let his hometown of London take credit for inventing the heavy bass genre known as dubstep. “It’s a movement that has become massive worldwide, which we are very proud of. It’s great to see what is quintessentially British music, I feel, be translated across the world. [But] obviously you’ve got Americans like Skrillex doing it and others right around the world adding their own cultural influences to that style,” he concedes. “It terms of Chase & Status, we just make music, whether it be 175BPM, 140 or 125; we love dubstep, we love jungle, we love drum and bass, we love hip hop. You name it, we’re into it. Our work from now looking back to 2004 is really quite diverse.” So Chase & Status have the technology and the skills, and are not afraid to go where no man has gone before. Your correspondent now floats the analogy: Chase & Status are Captain Kirk and dance music technology is the Enterprise, and they take it pretty much wherever they want to. Surprisingly, Milton takes this conceptual comparison in his stride. “Well yeah, these days, [reaching new frontiers in electronic
. y a d o t e t a r Celeb . w o r r o m o t n i a g a t i e v i L Australia Day isn’t just about freedom and wide-open spaces. We’re not just celebrating our diverse blend of cu cultures. And it’s not just about friends coming together for a all-day eat-a-thon. We celebrate on 26 January because an t tomorrow, we get to live it all over again. To find out about celebrations near you, visit australiaday.org.au
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 45
Garry Todd Spice It Up By RK that sort of thing. When I first came to Australia, I was actually here with my backpack! I didn’t bring my records the first time, but when I came back the second time, I did!” Todd started spinning records at the Bread and Butter parties in Sydney around 2007. The idea was to create a down-to-earth vibe, with good music and great company. “Music for me started off as a bit of a hobby, actually – I’m one of these people with a short attention span,” he explains. Some years later, Todd’s love of beats evolved into some of his own productions, which were requested by high profile labels like B-Pitch Control. “I feel like I’ve developed my own sound; guys like Deetron are playing my records and the guys from Fabric are spinning them. It’s great!”
I
t takes some courage to move from the hustle and bustle of the United Kingdom to establish a music career in Australia. “I started listening to house music around the age of 18,” Garry Todd says, of his humble
beginnings. “Prior to that, I liked bands like The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays. From there, that kind of evolved into more of a house sound, which kind of stuck. When I was clubbing in the UK, I was listening to guys like Masters at Work,
Right now, Todd is inundated with all kinds of work. “It’s great to have that worldwide respect; it’s an overwhelming feeling for sure. I could never have expected that I would be so lucky, to be honest! It’s something that started for me as a hobby and it’s really taken off. This year, I’ll be doing a few big gigs overseas with Derrick Carter and John Digweed, for example – so there are some great things coming up,” he says. And the pipeline of production he’s getting set for now is not to be sneezed at either. “There is a fair bit coming out production-wise, and I’ve got some friends doing remixes as well – actually, I have around 15 tracks to be released over the next
year, so it’s going to be a very busy period. It wouldn’t have turned out that way, except that I got a little incapacitated when I was in Ibiza – that’s a true story – so I had all this spare time to work on music! So I’m doing a lot of edits under the name Contemporary Scarecrow – which is really good because it’s allowed me to focus!” Garry is heading to Spice Cellar this weekend, and promises to deliver a diverse and exciting variety of tunes. “When I play, I like to have everything covered, and I really want to play quality music.” Ordinarily, his setup would consist of vinyl and CDs as well as some newer tracks on USB, but this time he’s committed to an old-school, vinyl-only performance. “I’m really keen on doing this vinyl set, because I can focus on some of the older sounds – there will be some Italo-disco and some nice house and that old school warehouse-rave, New York sound,” he says. “When I play, I do like the element of surprise as well as having the chance to mix party sounds with techno and beyond. When I went through my record collection [before the move], I decided on a few and then had a bit of a second wind – so the girlfriend brought a few more down with her!” With: Schwa, Robbie Lowe, Amy Fairweather, Tom Brereton, Murat Kilic, Matt Weir Where: The Spice Cellar When: Saturday January 14
Girl Talk More Than Meets The Eye By Joshua Kloke
C
hange is in the air for Gregg Michael Gillis. Better known as Girl Talk, he’ll eventually get to talking about the paradigm shift in pop music, but at the beginning of our conversation he’s focused on a different kind of change: that of the approach of the new, shortened NBA season, with players like Lebron James building ‘super teams’ comprised more of All-Stars than not. “People have changed teams in the past, sure. But this was just such a major change in the way teams are run. It’s such a big deal for [Lebron James] to do that, because he could be opening the door for this to become the trend: building these superteams. And in a sense, it’s the end of a certain era of basketball,” he says. “As a fan of the sport and a fan of people keepin’ it real in general, I feel like there really isn’t any other option.” Whether Gillis, a massive basketball fan, was speaking allegorically or not, it’s not hard to draw a parallel between the ‘super team’ phenomenon and the way he makes his music. Gillis’ construction of songs and albums has drawn equal parts criticism and praise; by mashing samples from some of pop’s most popular songs of the past, Gillis has created a culture that’s endorsed by club goers yet reviled by purists, who insist he’s not as much creating music as he is taking advantage of the success of others. Girl Talk makes “super songs”. Gillis isn’t impervious to the criticism, but nor is he hung up on how his music is perceived. He’s far more concerned with the bigger picture: how music has changed, the direction music is headed, and what can be seen as the catalyst. “There’s no right or wrong way to consume music. People get hung up on being like, [adopts snotty tone] ‘The music of thirty years ago was right. The industry and the way people listened to music, that was right.’ But I’m more excited about a general change, and people having access to anything. And to me, that’s exciting,
because things definitely weren’t right per se in the ‘90s or the ‘70s or whatever,” he says. “There’s no smart or dumb version.” Gillis is quick to note that his music is sometimes misunderstood. While he uses short samples, he’s still after a result that is more permanent and, essentially, meant to be taken in with patience. “When I make my albums, I make them as a whole,” he says. “The last album was a 71-minute song to me. The only reason I broke it up was to make it easier to navigate through. I’m definitely pushing for a more long-term listening experience; to me, the albums are not about hearing a one second clip. Sure there’s the technical aspect to it, but when I sit down to make it, I’m thinking about the beginning and the end, there’s peaks, there’s valleys. I have no problem where music is going and how it’s becoming more ‘single’-based. But with the last three records, for me it’s been important to make something that people can listen to from beginning to end.” Gregg Michael Gillis seems ready not only to welcome change, but grab it by the balls. And he’s not content to just ride the wave – he wants to understand what causes it. “I want to make things that are good and have a fan base, but there’s also the desire to change things. And wanting to put something there that is confrontational, maybe even in a way they don’t understand,” he says. “There are people that don’t enjoy [Girl Talk], simply because it’s pop music. But then you’re missing a major point, because you don’t understand where it comes from.” With: Kanye West, Soundgarden, Foster The People, Odd Future, Cage The Elephant, My Chemical Romance, Hilltop Hoods, Bluejuice, Das Racist and loads more Where: Big Day Out @ Sydney Showground When: Thursday January 26 More: Saturday January 28 @ The Enmore Theatre
Plump DJs These Are The (New) Breaks By Dorian Gray
A
decade ago, the dominant sound on club dancefloors from Glasgow to Perth was breakbeat (AKA new school breaks) – and riding in the vanguard of the genre were Plump DJs, with their fun, bouncy productions bolstered by snappy breaks and a fat bottom end. Their LPs, A Plump Night Out and Eargasm, solidified their reputation as pioneers of breakbeat production – alongside the likes of Stanton Warriors, Krafty Kuts, Adam Freeland and Rennie Pilgrim – while residencies at Fabric and constant tours proved that Lee Rous and Andy Gardner could move a dancefloor better than most. But genre crazes can’t last forever, and sure enough public interest in breakbeat started to wane after a good five years of dominance, as electro swept in. Some breaks DJs disappeared, never to be heard from again, but Plump DJs absorbed and adapted, fusing breaks with house, bass music, electro and new rave to create a gumbo they call Dirt Disco. Plump DJ Lee Rous says that their latest mix, Don’t Stay In for MixMag, is “very representative of our current sound... and it’s received unprecedented support.” It’s a sound that nods towards their breakbeat past – providing just a taste of nostalgia for those who used to cut a rug to Krafty Kuts’ classic These Are The Breaks – while also being entirely of the moment, making good use of the bass music that’s been running EDM in the UK in recent years, from grime and dubstep to future garage and funky. Commenters on the Don’t Stay In SoundCloud page reckon the Plump’s new sound is “sick”, “badass” and “pure, uncut insanity” – and unlike YouTube commenters, these people know what they’re talking about. “New school breaks, as we know it as a genre and scene, has suffered over the past few years,” Rous says. “There’s still a decent following for the sound in certain countries, but for the most part we’ve seen young people that enjoy the sensibilities of this type of music finding better fulfilment in the drumstep, dubstep and drum’n’bass genres. We’re proud to have been
46 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
instrumental in the creation of the new school breaks, funky breaks and breakbeat genres, but we’re also keen to keep finding new ways to make people dance, for if we do not... then we do not thrive.” The past couple of years have seen much more happen for the Plump DJs than just the formulation of a new sound. After ten years with iconic breakbeat label Finger Lickin’, Plump DJs broke off at the beginning of 2010 to start their own label, Grand Hotel Records, as a home for their new sound. “We had an amazing ten years with Finger Lickin’,” says Rous, “but our contract ran out and we felt it a good time to take on some new challenges, and develop away from the team that had become like a family to us. There’d been some differences that had built up, and unfortunately they were irreconcilable. It was far more important for us to quit while we were on good terms. “We wanted to set up an independent label to support the musical experiments that we want to indulge in, without boundary or prefix, focusing primarily on cutting edge underground dance music that shouts ‘London’ in all directions,” he continues. “We honestly believe that Grand Hotel Records will be one of the new big club sounds of 2012 – the fusing of electro, bass, house and breaks sounds bloody good to us!” With new blood in the Grand Hotel stable like bass-driven ‘ninja electro’ producer Bonsai Kat, as well as a string of sold out label parties across London last year, an Antipodes tour in January 2012 and the label’s first LP due in early February, the future is looking bright for Plump DJs. When the going gets tough, the Plumps get fatter. With: Bitrok, A-Tonez, Audiophilez and more Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday January 21
Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery
Cesare vs Disorder
S
ubsonic returns for its first party of the new year on Saturday January 21, a joint venture with techno tuesday at GoodGod Small Club headlined by Italy’s Cesare Marchese, aka Cesare vs Disorder – the force behind the Mean and Serialism labels. Coming off a successful year where he performed at Sonar in Barcelona and the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, Cesare vs Disorder is a resident DJ at renowned Berlin club Kater Holzig (formerly Bar25), and returns Down Under for the first time since his performance at the inaugural Subsonic Music Festival back in ’09. Since that tour, Cesare’s club credentials have continued to grow markedly as he's released on labels like Vakant and had his tracks featured on Sven Väth’s Sound of the Tenth Season Cocoon mix, Konrad Black’s Watergate compilation (under his moniker Queen Atom) and, most recently, Damian Lazarus’ Get Lost Vol.4 on Crosstown Rebels. Cesare’s tour is certainly timely, as he is about to release an EP with Inxec, Konrad Black ands Cesar Merveille and is purportedly set to release his debut artist album in the middle of the year. As with every bash Subsonic have thrown at GoodGod, this ought to be a cracker. Presale tickets can be purchased via Resident Advisor. In news that will undoubtedly please the local clubbing fraternity, it has been announced that Grenoble-born Caroline Hervé, aka Miss Kittin, will play a Big Day Out sideshow at Oxford Art Factory on Friday January 27. Though the tech diva is still best known for the collaboration she recorded with Felix Da Housecat many moons ago,
Röyksopp
LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY JANUARY 14
HAHA warehouse party #15 Warehouse Venue TBA
are back!
SATURDAY JANUARY 21 Cesare vs Disorder GoodGod Small Club
FRIDAY JANUARY 27 Miss Kittin Oxford Art Factory
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 11 Hunee Marrickville Bowling Club
Celebrating Sydney’s best music, art, eats, events, collectives, performances and people.
‘Silverscreen’, her body of work is worthy of far deeper sonic exploration. Along with her somewhat patchy solo LPs (that aren’t without their highlights it must be said; see ‘Happy Violentine’ – check out the Michael Mayer remix while you’re at it – and ‘Dub About Me’), Miss Kittin also released a pair of albums with The Hacker: the minor classic 1st Album, which included the cult favourite 'Frank Sinatra’, and more recently Two, an LP replete with tough Italo melodies, sexy androgyny and even a ‘guilty pleasure’ cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘Suspicious Minds’. Further back, her collaborative album with Golden Boy is a corker that you really ought to seek out. Having seen Miss Kittin spin at a beach party in Benicàssim, I can attest to her DJing prowess, and recommend you check out the Röyksopp / Miss Kittin doubleheader on Friday January 27 for what should be a most delectable rewind to that sunkissed summer of ‘02. Mad Racket returns to the Keystone Festival Bar at Hyde Park Barracks on Australia Day Eve, Wednesday January 25, with a bash featuring Peven Everett, a multi-talented musician and prominent figure in Chicago’s house and RnB scenes. Everett started his career in the jazz world, getting his big break playing alongside singer Betty Carter and the Marsalis brothers. In clubbing circles however Everett is best known for his collaboration with Roy Davis Jr on the UK garage hit ‘Gabriel’, and the much-adored deep house cut, ‘I Can’t Believe I Loved Her’. Support as ever will be provided by Racketeers Jimmi James, Zootie, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell, and given the history of the Mad Racket Sydney Festival event selling out, I advise you to grab your ticket at the earliest possible opportunity. And need I remind you about Andy Weatherall and Prins Thomas, who are also both set to perform at the Keystone Festival Bar later this month – tickets can be procured online to all events, but as the Racketeers themselves advise, “first in, less stressed”.
9RWH QRZ DW VPDFDZDUGV FRP
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 47
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week Andrew Weatherall
The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall P1rate, Bruxism, Hazy, Deckhead, Pipemix, Clockwerk, Lights Out $5 9pm
THURSDAY JANUARY 12
SATURDAY JANUARY 14 Sydney Festival @ Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks
Andrew Weatherall
(UK) Neville Watson (UK), Tamas Jones, Picnic DJs $32 (+ bf) 8pm MONDAY JANUARY 9 Scubar. Sydney Crab Racing 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz DJs free 8pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 10 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJ Willie Sabor free 6pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frat House free 48 :: BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12
Scubar, Sydney Backpacker Karaoke 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesdays DJs free The World Bar, Kings Cross Tuesdays Conrad Greenleaf, Ping Pong Tiddly, Zwelli free 8pm
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 Beach Palace Hotel, Coogee Palace Uni Night DJs free 9pm
Cargo Lounge, Sydney Menage a Trois 5pm Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks Sydney Festival Dan Deacon, John Maus, Donny Benet, PVT Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction Voodoo DJs free 9pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Friend DJ free 8pm Marlborough Hotel, Newtown DJ Moussa free 11pm Scubar, Sydney Schoonerversity 3pm Shelbourne Hotel, Sydney Sincopa free 7pm
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 GoodGod Small Cub, Sydney Bad Apple Claire Morgan, Ben Ashton (UK), Tom Brereton, Moonchild, Jack Fuller, Nacho Vossler $5-$10 10pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Tenzin, Cadell, Zannon, DJ K-Note free 8pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Bad Apple DJs $5 8pm Low 302, Darlinghurst Thursday Switch DJs free 9pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Jimmy Jimmy Jam Yo! DJ Sarah Love (UK), DJ Shan Frenzie, C-Man and Juzzliekdat, Josie Styles, MC Maya Jupiter $15 8pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn – Summer Lovin Foam Party 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 Standard, Surry Hills Pizza Parties DJs free 9pm Theloft, King St Wharf Thursdays at theloft Nad, Stu Turner, Mr Belvedere 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Shag, Dan Bombings free (student)–$5 9pm
FRIDAY JANUARY 13 ArtHouse Hotel, Sydney This Is RnB Resident DJs 9.30pm The Basement, Circular Quay Industry: House Music To The Max DJ Openmix, DJ Luken $15 (+ bf) 9.30pm Bungalow 8, King St Wharf Meem 5pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Button Down Disco Cunningpants, Kyro & Bomber, Webs, Detektives, Chickflick vs Main St, Hooey, Lebronx, Blanco Negro 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney 12th Planet (USA), Sam Scratch, Empress Yoy, Victims, Dos Bangers, Audiobotz $20-$25 10pm Civic Underground, Sydney Volar DJs 10pm Club 77, Sydney Club Blink DJs $12 8pm Coogee Bay Hotel I Love 90s The Vengaboys $34.30 8pm
FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Deadbeat & Hazy, Old Men of Moss Mountains, Big Dumb Kid, Kade MC, DJ Peace $10 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney DJ Cadell free 5pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Club Parada Serbian New Years Eve 2012 DJs 9pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Rat Pack DJs 9pm The Idolize Spiegeltent, Parramatta Sydney Festival Meem free 11pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Keystone Festival Bar, Sydney Sydney Festival FBi Night Shabazz Palaces, Taylor McFerrinm, Shangaan Electro $42 8pm Kong’s Jungle Lounge, Bondi Junction W!ldlive Fridays DJs $10 10pm The Marlborough Hotel, Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays DJ Tone free 9pm Omega Lounge, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Penrith Panthers, Evans Theatre Justice Crew $41.50 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Q Bar, Darlinghurst Ladykillers Inc. – The Final Kill Holly J’aDoll, Ember Flame, Memphis, Mae, Pepper Grinde, Lauren La Rouge, DJ Goldfoot $20-$30 (+ bf) 8.30pm 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 Nightclub, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross EveˆDJs 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm
Sampology
SATURDAY JANUARY 14 ArtHouse Hotel, Sydney Vamp Music Resident DJs 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Disco! Disco! MooWho, Dirty Cutlery, Robust, Boogie Monster, Leanzy, Hypa, Intheory, Lady K, Seb De Bass 8pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf The Institute of Music DJs free 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Tommy Trash, Ember, A-Tonez, Club Junque, Togerlily, Samrai, King Lee, Ella Loca, Garydose, Rennie, Gusto $15-$25 9pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour 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 Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Bass Drop Summer of Sun Presents Brookes Brothers $20 9pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Dro Carey, 48/4, Hensen, Option Command, Preacha, Max Gosford $10 8pm Home The Venue, Sydney Homemade Saturdays DJs $20-$25 9pm Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy Alison Wonderland $20 6pm Jackson’s On George, Sydney Ultimate Party Venue Resident DJs free Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney Sydney Festival Andrew Weatherall (UK), Neville Watson (UK), Picnic DJs, Tamas Jones $32 (+ bf) 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Miss T, Gabby, Cassette, Alison Wonderland 8pm The Marlborough Hotel, Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Metro Theatre, Sydney Knockout 2012 Zatox (ITA), B-Front (NL), Tha Playah (NL), Hardforze, Suae, Pulsar, S-Dee, Dillytek, HSB, Kadet, Midshifterz, Matrix, Delete, Convict, The Saint, Psycho Witness, Kamikaze, Import, Germ,
club guide send your listings to: clubguide@thebrag.com DJ Yoda
Lihan, Tha Kid, The Khemist, Arbee, X-Styles, G-Luv, Biscuit $53.70 10pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Old Kings School Site, Parramatta Sydney Festival: Parra Opening Party Meem Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst DJ Yoda (UK) & Sampology $40 (+ bf) 8pm Revesby Workers Club Justice Crew $45.65 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages 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 Space Nightclub, Sydney Masif Saturdays Masif DJs 10pm Spectrum, Darlinghurst Kittens DJs $5-$10 11.30pm
The Spice Cellar, Sydney Garry Todd (UK), Schwa, Robbie Lowe, Amy Fairweather, Tom Brereton $20 10pm The Watershed Hotel Watershed Presents… Skybar The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham James Taylor, Pablo Calamari, Diamond Lights, Trent Rackus, Mo’ Funk, Shamozzle, Adam Bozzetto, Ben Korbel, Kerry Wallace, Mitch Crosher, Illya, Richie Carter $15-$20 8pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 15 The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays DJs free 3pm Commissioners Steps, Circular Quay The Recovery Marc French & Charlie Bradley, Real Tony
Montana, Danny Gilligan, Mad Paul, Honeycombe, Reveal, Marcus Wallis, James Blackmore, Richard Nicholas, Tobie 2.30pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club free 6pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays DJs 8pm The Idolize Spiegeltent, Parramatta Sydney Festival Meem free 11pm 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 The Spice Cellar, Sydney Murat Kilic, Matt Weir $20 4am The Sugar Lounge, Manly Jungle Fever Ritual, Alf, Lucian, King B free 7pm The Watershed Hotel Afternoon DJs DJ Brynstar free The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust Garry Todd, James Taylor, Alley Oop, Astrix Little free 7pm
club picks up all night out all week...
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 11 The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall P1rate, Bruxism, Hazy, Deckhead, Pipemix, Clockwerk, Lights Out $5 9pm Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks Sydney Festival Dan Deacon, John Maus, Donny Benet, PVT
THURSDAY JANUARY 12 GoodGod Small Cub, Sydney Bad Apple Claire Morgan, Ben Ashton (UK), Tom Brereton, Moonchild, Jack Fuller, Nacho Vossler $5-$10 10pm
Keystone Festival Bar, Hyde Park Barracks Sydney Festival FBi Night Shabazz Palaces, Taylor McFerrinm, Shangaan Electro $42 8pm
NOW ON
SATURDAY JANUARY 14 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Tommy Trash, Ember, A-Tonez, Club Junque, Tigerlily, Samrai, King Lee, Ella Loca, Garydose, Rennie, Gusto and more $15-$25 9pm
"
Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst DJ Yoda (UK) & Sampology $40 (+ bf) 8pm
James Taylor
FRIDAY JANUARY 13
The Spice Cellar, Sydney Garry Todd (UK), Schwa, Robbie Lowe, Amy Fairweather, Tom Brereton $20 10pm
FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Deadbeat & Hazy, Old Men of Moss Mountain, Big Dumb Kid, Kade MC, DJ Peace $10 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney 12th Planet (USA), Sam Scratch, Empress Yoy, Victims, Dos Bangers, Audiobotz $20-$25 10pm
Tommy Trash
The World Bar, Kings Cross Wham James Taylor, Pablo Calamari, Diamond Lights, Trent Rackus, Mo’ Funk, Shamozzle, Adam Bozzetto, Ben Korbel, Kerry Wallace, Mitch Crosher, Illya, Richie Carter $15-$20 8pm
Discount Wednesdays fantastic New York-style street food Heaps more previews Your favourite classics and cult films
@moonlightcinema Facebook.com/moonlightcinemaSydney
8 December y 25 March Centennial Park moonlight.com.au
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 49
snap
wham!
17:12:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
PICS :: TP
insert coin(s) party profile
16:12:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700
It’s called: Insert Coin(s) It sounds like: The inside of an ‘80s game arcad dance club, filtered through laughing and partyi e, combined with a '90s ng. Who’s playing? House DJs, live art from Creon and Sprinkles, 20+ arcade machines and The Darkness II pre-release game on 10 screens! Three songs you’ll hear on the night: If it was awesome in the ‘80s and ‘90s, it’ll be at Insert Coin(s). And one you definitely won’t: Anything nu-me tal. Sell it to us:Great arcade machines, pinba ll and new games, a New Yorkstyle hotdog vendor with amazing toppings, a full candy and alcoholic milkshakes – and the best, ‘80s-style milk bar with coolest atmosphere in Sydney! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Hopefully, everything up to your last couple of shots and milkshakes! Crowd specs: We had 750 people last time, so get there at 6pm or earlier – it gets packed fast! Runs until the wee hours though. Yay! Wallet damage: $10 Where: Oxford Art Factory / 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst When: Thursday January 19 / from 6pm ‘til early.
propaganda
PICS :: DM
mum
PICS :: DM
up all night out all week . . .
chinese laundry nye 31:12:11 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958 50 :: BRAG :: 444: 09:01:12
PICS :: AM
15:12:11 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 93577700 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER PEACHEY :: GEORGE POPOV :: MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS
Keystone Festival Bar
Hyde Park Barracks Museum. January 8-28. 14 nights | The hottest live bands and DJs 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
W E D N E S D AY S JAN
JAN
11
6PM / TIKKI TEMBO 9PM / ANTHONY CASA
18
6 P M / S TA R J U M P S 9PM / DANNY DE SOUSA
JAN
12
JAN
19
6PM / BETH YEN 9PM / LA VIDA
F R I D AY S JAN
13
JAN
6PM / JOHN DEVECCHIS 9PM / LIAM SAMPRAS 12AM / CADELL S A X / M A R K M AT T H E W S V O C A L S / N ATA L I E C O N W AY
20
6PM / JOHN DEVECCHIS 9PM / LIAM SAMPRAS 12AM / TIKKI TEMBO S A X / M A R K M AT T H E W S V O C A L S / N ATA L I E C O N WAY
S A T U R D AY S JAN
14
JAN
6 P M / E L LY K 9PM / KRISTY LEE 12AM / PHIL HUDSON S A X / M A R K M AT T H E W S
21
6PM / ALICE QUIDDINGTON 9PM / HUW LONGMAN 12AM / PHIL HUDSON S A X / M A R K M AT T H E W S
S U N D AY S JAN
15
JAN
FROM 6PM / R A N DOM S O UL
FREE
ENTRY
SO FRENCHY SO CHIC: NOUVELLE VAGUE & MORIARTY January 20
T H U R S D AY S 6 P M / S TA R J U M P S 9PM / LIVE DJ SET
January 19
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 HUSTLE January 28
FUTURE CLASSIC: DJ KOZE & PRINS THOMAS
22
FROM 6PM / R A N DOM S O UL
WED SUN
OPEN TIL
3AM
Sydney Festival: 1300 668 812 sydneyfestival.org.au/keystone
W W W. T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S .C OM O P E N 7 D AY S
COCKTAILS
LUNCH
DINNER
L AT E N I G H T M E N U
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 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 OO K .C O M / T H E A R G Y L E R O C K S BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 51
snap
courtyard party feat. nervo
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
sunburnt xmas bondi beach
PICS :: AM
26:12:11 :: The Ivy :: 320/330 George St Sydney 92403000
25:12:11 :: Bondi Beach ::
It’s called: DJ Yoda (UK) and Sampology It sounds like: An unmissable mix of music tied together with the most mind-bending visuals – George Lucas and Mixmaster Mike ain’t got shit on these guys! Who’s spinning? DJ Yoda, Sampology, Shant an Wantan Ichiban and Brothers Grimm. Sell it to us: Tired of scratch DJs who can’t mix? Tired of only seeing VJs at psytrance nights? Then step right up and prepare to have your eyeballs burst from your sockets, as the two best VJs in the game blow your head off your shoulders. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Fortun ately it’s an AV affair, so you have two senses to rely on recalling what you heard and saw the night before. Crowd specs: Clubbers, pop-culture nerds , turntablists and film school grads. Wallet damage: Presale $35 from moshtix / more on the door. Where: Oxford Art Factory / 38-46 Oxford Street , Darlinghurst When: Saturday January 14 / doors at 9pm
52 :: BRAG :: 444: 09:01:12
the argyle
PICS :: AM
party profile
dj yoda & sampology
31:12:11 :: The Argyle Hotel :: 18 Argyle St The Rocks 92475500 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER PEACHEY :: GEORGE POPOV :: TIM WHITNEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS
NOV FRI 11
rnb superclub @ Gilligan’s Resort
Cairns
JAN FRI 13
rnb superclub @ Fannys Nightclub
Newcastle
DEC FRI 2
rnb superclub @ Arthouse
Sydney
JAN SAT 14
rnb superclub @ Magic City
Brisbane
DEC SAT 3
rnb superclub @ Bungalow Nightclub Broome
JAN SAT 14
rnb superclub @ The Heritage Hotel
Rockhampton
DEC TUE 6
rnb superclub @ Vanity
Gold Coast
JAN SAT 21
rnb superclub @ HQ Complex
Adelaide
DEC SAT 10
rnb superclub @ The Heritage Hotel
Rockhampton
JAN SAT 21
rnb superclub @ Meche
Canberra
DEC SAT 10
rnb superclub @ Woodport Inn
Erina
JAN WED 25 Superjamm @ Establishment
Sydney
DEC FRI 23
rnb superclub @ Attic Nightclub
Taree
JAN FRI 27
Darwin
DEC FRI 30
rnb superclub @ HP Underground
Darwin
JAN WED 25 rnb superclub @ Crown Ent. Complex
Melbourne
DEC SAT 31
rnb superclub @ Hotel New York
Launceston
JAN SAT 28
rnb superclub @ Criterion Hotel
Maryborough
JAN SUN 1
rnb superclub @ Eve
Perth
FEB SAT 3
rnb superclub @ Gilligan’s Resort
Cairns
JAN FRI 13
rnb superclub @ Arthouse
Sydney
FEB SAT 25
rnb superclub @ One Nightclub
Albury
rnb superclub @ HP Underground
BRAG :: 444 :: 09:01:12 :: 53
field day 2012
PHOTOGRAPHER : ASHLEY MAR
54 :: BRAG :: 444: 09:01:12
VISIT A TELSTRA STORE OR PARTNER | telstra.com/prepaiddeals
FREE TALK + TEXT ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT 6PM-6AM ON TELSTRA PRE-PAID CAP ENCORE™
TELSTRA PRE-PAID CAP ENCORE™. GET IT ON AUSTRALIA’S MOST RELIABLE MOBILE NETWORK WITH A NEXT G® MOBILE
$
30
RECHARGE BEFORE 23.1.12
250
$
($30 RECHARGE CREDIT & $220 CAP CREDIT) FOR TALK & TEXT TO STANDARD AUSTRALIAN & INTERNATIONAL NUMBERS
500
MB
DATA (400MB + 100MB BONUS)
BONUS FREE TALK + TEXT 6PM TO 6AM TO STANDARD AUSTRALIAN NUMBERS
All to use in Australia within 30 days
THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW: Cap Credit, Data and Free Talk & Text are available while on Telstra Pre-Paid Cap Encore™ and exclude some use, such as: calls/text to satellite numbers and premium numbers (eg 19xx numbers); operator assisted calls (eg most 12xx numbers); content charges and all use while overseas. $30 Recharge Credit can be used on anything you like and expires after 30 days. Free Talk & Text and Bonus Data end 23/01/12 unless extended by Telstra. ™ and ® are trade marks and registered trade marks of Telstra Corporation Limited, ABN 33 051 775 556. TEL4227_FTT_FP_BRAG