The Brag #460

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WHATEVER THEY’RE DOING, WE CAN DO BETTER! Gibson G ib bso Les Paul Traditional Pro GT RRP RR RP $ $3999

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BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 3

new album

MASTER OF MY MAKE-BELIEVE includes Big Mouth & Disparate Youth

OUT NOW

facebook.com/santigold

4 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

DEBUT ALBUM OUT MAY 4 ON IV Y LEAGUE RECORDS Features “Satellites”, “Swimming Pool” + “The World Is Ours”

ALBUM LAUNCHES FRI 18 MAY

OXFORD ART FACTORY

SYDNEY

w/ PALMS, FABERGET TES

SAT 19 MAY

NORTHERN STAR

NEWCASTLE

w/ PALMS tix from moshtix.com.au

www.catcallmusic.com

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 5

AND SECRET VILLAGE SOUNDS

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Y A B N O R Y B S D L E I F L I G BELON IC FESTIVAL

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LEVEL 1, 354 BOURKE ST. SURRY HILLS BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 7

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

five things WITH

BEARHUG his father’s singing. A key childhood memory would be fighting giant cobras and electric eels while Joe Cocker played on a stereo. Half of us first met on the set of D’Angelo’s ‘Untitled’ video clip. It was a bonding experience with no equal.

Inspirations Zapp and Roger, Todd Rundgren, Slayer, 2.

Charles Brimmer, Ry Cooder.

Your Crew We all went to high school together – our 3. drummer was in Year 12 when we all started Year 7; our school had a ‘mentor’-type system and with the four of us under his wing, he got us listening to Queens Of The Stone Age and Wilco, and would buy us beer. We only started playing more seriously once we left high school. We will work with anyone that is capable and shares a similar idea to us – and if they have their own recording equipment that’s even better. We constantly have differing musical opinions. That’s why it takes so long to write a song.

1.

Growing Up A certain band member’s parents were heavily into Scandinavian death metal.

Another band member’s parents were deeply entrenched in the rave scene. Our drummer was forbidden to listen to music that wasn’t

The Music You Make There are lots of guitars, there are no 4. strings, there’s no floor tom, there’s one vocal harmony in all of our songs. We record with

TANGLED UP IN WHOOO!

It’s been fifty years since Bob Dylan swapped his forklift license for a guitar (citation missing) and joined the ranks of professional musicians, so a handful of Australia’s best have banded together to pay tribute to the man who hates Time Magazine and Donovan (both legitimate places to pour hatred). Kav Temperley, Josh Pyke, Kevin Mitchell, Holly Throsby (side note: buy Team) and Patience Hodgson will be trawling through Bobby’s back pages on July 8 at Sydney Opera House, and also at Splendour (which sold out in a heartbeat last Friday).

Tickets through ticketmaster.com.au.

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FOR FOLK’S SAKE

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Mike Johnson, Rasa Juskeviciute, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Thomas Peachy, Rosette Rouhana, Sam Whiteside, Tim Whitney ADVERTISING: Ross Eldridge - 0422 659 425 / (02) 8394 9492 ross@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, Antigone Anagnostellis, Verity Cox REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Benjamin Cooper, Alasdair Duncan, Max Easton, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Sheridan Morley, Jenny Noyes, Hugh Robertson, Romi Scodellaro, Jonno Seidler, Rach Seneviratne, Roland K. Smith, Luke Telford, Rick Warner, Andrew Yorke 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, editors or staff of The BRAG. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Stephen Forde : accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Wednesday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork, ad bookings: Thursday 12pm (no extensions).

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8 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

When I heard about Frogfest, a festival of progressive folk, my thoughts immediately screeched back to a certain little frog on a log, mournfully-yet-hopefully singing about ‘the lovers, the dreamers and me’ while strumming on a ukulele. But enough about Eddie Vedder, this particular show takes place at the Red Rattler, and stars Brian Campeau, BOB (featuring Ben Hauptmann, obviously), Dave Carr’s Fabulous Contraption, Chaika and Missy Higgins

keys but struggle to figure out how to play them live. We jam out the songs over long periods of time to make sure it sounds fine to all five of us. Every song has a Bossa Nova version and a Trillwave version; none of these versions get recorded. We recorded our last EP (To Anything) and our debut album (Bill, Dance, Shiner) at Big Jesus Burger. ‘Cause it doesn’t exist anymore we probably won’t record again. We try and have as much fun during our live shows as possible and to limit the amount of technical difficulties.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The Sydney scene is just so vibrant 5. right now, everyone is so supportive of each other, no matter what type of music you play everyone has the same mindset, they just want to create music! The best thing about the local scene is the DIY venues popping up, and venues slowly moving into the suburbs. Is it too soon for Ghoul to reform? Dunks has been the best local release in the last decade.

With: Unity Floors Where: GoodGod SmallClub When: Friday May 4 More: Bill, Dance, Shiner out through Spunk

Cracked Actor. May 12, it happens at The Red Rattler, $12 presale (moshtix.com.au), $15 on the door, $20 if you decide to tip the gorgeous girl at the door in the hopes that she will come up later and fall for your verve and knowledge of folk music (she might: give it a try).

BLACK CHERRY, RED WINE

Alright, listen up. The next Black Cherry is happening May 19, and seeing there is barely enough room to swing a double bass at one of these parties, we recommend you hit up blackcherrypresents.com.au and buy a ticket.

The ReChords from Melbourne-town, The Drey Rollan Band, FBi’s DJ Jack Shit and many more will be bringing the rockabilly and blues, while Jungle Rump Rock ‘n’ Roll Karaoke will prove true the old adage “Karaoke is mega, ultra fun.” There’s also Frankie Faux, Chelle Hafner and Mall de Goey providing Burlesqueesque joy to all. Get a ticket; they will sell out fastest than you can sing ‘There are tattooed, brunette babes everywhere!’ (To the tune of ‘Cheap Trix’ by Bluejuice – you may have to cram some syllables.)

The Shins

MISSY MISSY ME

Last week we had the pleasure of watching the undeniable Missy Higgins perform a few new tunes from her forthcoming album The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle (that’s how you do an album title, Papa Vs Pretty!) and there are at least two tracks that will break your little hormonal hearts. Naturally, you’ll wanna get along to her show June 8 at the York Theatre, Seymour Centre, tickets for which go on sale Wednesday, May 2. The record is out June 1, which means you’ll have a week to learn the lyrics so you can be shhh’d into submission by us! In support is Butterfly Boucher, who co-produced the record, and co-wrote Missy’s new single, ‘Unashamed Desire’.

AMERICA TOUR

In America’s classic song ‘A Horse With No Name’ he bemoans the scenario of riding for miles on a horse with no name. Well, I’m sorry America, but this is a situation entirely of your own making. Horses are not born with birth certificates like babies or Cabbage Patch Dolls; they are wild creatures thrust out into the world, and it is up to their owners – i.e. the dude sitting on its back for days on end – to give them a name. If the relationship wasn’t as Mr. Ed as you’d like, well this is your own fault – how is an animal to trust you if you don’t even name it? America are coming to the Enmore Theatre on September 10, and although that place is big, this classic rock band are bigger. Tickets on sale seventh of May, don’t delay (That’s a rhyming couplet).

NEW SLANG/TOUR

The Shins rewrote ‘No Milk Today’ by Herman’s Hermits, added some nonsense about dirt in your fries, made sure JD from Scrubs made sure Queen Amidala heard it, and BAM! – we all fell deeply and desperately in love with them; and it’s a love affair that shows no signs of ending. We yelped for joy when the new album was possiblymaybe their best to date, and we yelped again when they were announced for Splendour. Well, all yelps happen in threes, unless of course you miss out on tickets to their sideshow at Hordern on July 25.

Tickets go on sale April 30 at the special slacker time of 11am through ticketek.com.au.

Also Husky are the support: they will no doubt be loudly and frequently referring to their Sub Pop brethren as “our label-mates,” and so they effin’ should.

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 9

rock music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

he said she said WITH

WAVVES

BEN HANNAM FROM GLASS TOWERS soundtrack of many loud raucous drunken car rides.

Your Crew We’re currently recording our debut album 3. with our producer JP Fung (Last Dinosaurs, Bluejuice). I think he’s a genius and in my opinion the best in Australia at what he does.

The Music You Make Brilliant, bursting, exuberant, desperate, 4. soaring indie pop.

5.

Growing Up Because of my parents I grew up listening 1. to Neil Diamond and Roxy Music as opposed to Bob Dylan and The Beatles. I think it shaped me a lot in terms of songwriting; as cheesy as Neil Diamond and Roxy Music may be (and trust me those two are the least cheesiest of the bunch I was brought up on) they are also very melodic – something which has translated into my own songwriting and the way I approach writing songs. A defining moment was Franz Ferdinand’s debut album coming out when I was in year 6: after listening to that record, I stopped listening

East 17. (really).

to Led Zeppelin and started listening to Joy Division.

Inspirations Paul Banks from Interpol – I love his 2. style and how he holds himself on stage, his stage presence. And I love Bloc Party, probably a bit too much actually. Every single one of their albums is flawless to me; Silent Alarm is my favourite album of all time – the amount of desperation and intent nestled within that record is amazing. Also Bombay Bicycle Club – their debut album was the soundtrack of my teenage years and the

JAMES VS MJ/NC

Whoa, Whoa, hold up James D Smith. You may have owned the last Carols In The Domain with your delightful croon, and you may have been the first cast member from a musical ever to be mobbed by adoring/adorable fans when you perform in WICKED! But you cannot launch a single called ‘Lisa Marie Presley’ at The Basement on May 1 without the ghost of Michael Jackson and the ghost-like Nicholas Cage (who we all know is certifiable) coming along and kicking your pretty-boy arse. You have been warned.

WHOOOGAZE

‘A night of atmosphere, doom, heavy soundscapes, experimental music, shoegaze and art rock.’ Is someone planting the perfectsounding invite into our inboxes in order to lure

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene in Sydney is nothing like it used to be; it’s definitely not as tight-knit as it once was. Also I think it’s a lot harder for new bands starting off these days – so many venues have closed down over the last few years, and the cull doesn’t seem like it’s going to be stopping anytime soon. But the good thing is that there’s so much talent within Sydney; the sheer amount of musical genius that our city produces is something that sets us apart from the rest of Australia. On a side note we’ve just come off a tour with The Medics and I can say without a doubt that they are the most exciting band in Australia at the moment, top guys as well!

Here are the reasons you should enter this competition to win two double passes to Wavves’ show at Oxford Art Factory on May 15, in no particular order. a) his first two albums were recorded directly into the shitty MacBook Pro inbuilt mic, yet they still sound amazingly lo-fi, like they were recorded in a log cabin. b) his third album King Of The Beach sounds like Green Day’s Dookie, which is very much a compliment and c) last time he played in Sydney, he openly berated security staff for daring to stop kids from crowd-surfing, stage diving and all that other fun stuff.

To enter, send us a photo of Karl Winslow from Family Matters.

KIM CHURCHILL

Kim Churchill makes all your usual Bondidwelling, surfboard/chest waxing, tidereading, acoustic-strumming types look like the posers they most definitely are. He has carved out a definite surfer-style with a dash of holy-wow fingerpicking, soulful vocals, one of those stomp-boxes most people misuse, and a nomadic lifestyle to put Dog The Bounty Hunter to shame. Win one of two double-passes to his show at The Standard on May 4 by emailing us the name of his new album, in glorious comic sans. The most garishly-coloured font wins!

With: Mitzi, Castlecomer, Colour Coding, Lancelot and more What: Major Raiser’s Music Outback Foundation Party Where: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi When: Saturday May 5 from 8pm

us to The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday May 5 in order to perform some form of Saw-esque fantasy upon us? The leaflet (read: email) states that Heirs (from Melbourne), The Veil, At Dark and Forenzics are performing, but it all sounds a little too perfect. Still, we will take our chances.

Doors at 8pm, tickets $15 at the door.

Kim Churchill

Dallas Frasca

THE EMPERORS’

Emperors don’t describe themselves as progressive, indie, experimental, nu-gaze, blah blah blah – they say they are noise-pop, and one listen to their excellent new album proves this to be true (Stay Frosty, produced by Dave Parkin, who gave us all diabetes with the latest sugar-stomp from Jebediah, Kosciusko). The Perth four-piece will be playing tunes from this album May 26 at FBi Social and holy wow how adorable is their album cover (Altavista it).

EAST 17 2012 FTW

Remember when East 17 stormed the dance scene and the boy band scene simultaneously with bangers such as ‘Gold’, ‘House Of Love’ and ‘It’s Alright’ (the first 90 seconds don’t bang, but they make the rest even bangier by comparison – also read the lyrics to ‘Deep’, it’s both sexy and disgusting) and then everyone was outraged that Brian Harvey admitted to ecstasy use on the radio, like he wasn’t the one who sang ‘One love, one god, everybody in the house of love’ on their first hit?

Well, those chaps from Walthamstow is doing what every pop/indie/rock act from the ‘90s are doing and touring – playing the Hi-Fi on June 10. We still spin their debut record in the office, and it’s not done ironically. We don’t do anything ironically, and neither should you. Tickets on sale now through thehifi. com.au, yeah???

HELLO DALLAS

The Getaway Plan

THE GETAWAY PLAN

The Getaway Plan split up, then reformed with the excellent Requiem as if they hadn’t been just milling about for years, doing nothing but alphabetising their record collections (not true: their vocalist released the excellent Young Heretics record in that time, which is like Nancy and Lee mixed with every season finale of The O.C.) The band (The Getaway Plan; keep up) are playing the Standard May 11 with Sydney’s shiny pop/punk group New Empire, and if you haven’t seen them (The Getaway Plan; keep up) for years, they are four times as good as you remember them being. Even without those rose-coloured glasses on! (They are also doing the Groovin’ The Moo tour.)

Melbourne’s Dallas Frasca played a run of national dates in order to pay for her second record, the noisy-butintimate-but-fucking-noisy rock beast that is Sound Painter (out May 4) when all her earnings were stolen at Melbourne airport. Then she almostbut-didn’t sign with Sony, and the whole thing was a mess that would have us in a foetal position softly singing ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’. Dallas Frasca didn’t react this way though, she simply self-released her record, songs from which you will hear May 5 at the Sandringham, where God drinks and where Tim Freedman never ages.

Tickets $15 from bigtix.com.au (or at the door if last minute riskiness is your thing).

“I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” - WOODY ALLEN 10 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 11

The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

* Just how much are the judges from Nine Network’s mega-successful The Voice getting? Sydney publicist and events manager Max Markson told Seven’s Today Tonight that he estimates Seal and Keith Urban probably get $2 million, Joel Madden $1.5 million and Delta Goodrem only $750,000 because she’s not an international star like the others.

The show’s success has seen contestants Rachael Leahcar, Karise Eden, Chris Sebastian, Casey Withoos, Laura Bunting and Adam Martin go into the iTunes charts. Mahalia Barnes has gained overseas interest including corporate gigs (her publicist confirmed it but wouldn’t discuss anything until the offers were signed off) while even Gold Coast-based Cory Hargreaves, who failed to get the judges’ nod, is getting bookings for gigs and radio appearances. Hargreaves, who was in the band Smokin’ Joker when growing up in Geelong, entered for selfpromotion and not to win, “because I’m 37 and I’ve got a family.” * Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent is also drawing ‘em in. Last Wednesday it drew a night-topping 1.53 million, after the previous week’s 1.39 million. * DJ and producer David Guetta arrived in Australia to headline Creamfields to be told that global sales for his Nothing But The Beat have eclipsed the 1 million download mark – making it certified double Platinum. * Justin Bieber’s stay at London’s Royal Garden Hotel has been a nightmare for its telephone receptionists, who have received calls from over 2,000 fans wanting to be put through to him. Some have used names of Bieber’s family, friends from home… And one insisted she was the singer’s personal stripper! * More tour dramas: DMX tweeted that his Australian dates for May are false and he ain’t coming. Promoters Able Touring

HUB THE LABEL

Troy Barrott’s Sydney-based Hub Artist Services and Inertia have jointly created a record label HUB the label, as an extension of the Hub artist management company, whose current roster includes Megan Washington, Dappled Cities, Winter People, Glass Towers, Jordan Leser, remix DJ Monkeybrain and record producer John Castle. The label launches with Dappled Cities’ fourth album and Sydney band Winter People’s forthcoming Gallons EP.

UK/US SALES

Digital and physical album sales in the UK in the first quarter of 2012 crashed by 14.7% to 23 million, compared to a figure of 27 million in the same period last year. But looking closely at the 2012 figures, the drop was mostly CDs, which declined by 15.3 million units. However, digital albums have shot up by 19% to represent 42% all British album sales.

They were only 2% six years ago. Over in the

say the tweets are from the rapper’s disgruntled ex-manager, trying to sabotage the tour. Murder By Death’s tour was axed after promoter Jung Hearts' investor disappeared, with the band moaning on Facebook that air tickets and visas were not booked. * Brian Cadd, Russell Morris, Glenn Shorrock, Gyan and The Firetree were among those who played a benefit in Byron Bay for Mi-Sex’s Murray Burns, who suffered a stroke onstage last month. They were backed by a band of musicians from Dragon, The Bootleg Family and Moving Pictures. Burns is in a private hospital in Victoria undergoing rehabilitation. Last week he was able to stand up for the first time and can hold both arms up over his head. * Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s youngest son Gus has formed a folk-rock band with Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s daughter Scout. * Snoop Dogg designed pages of his new book to be smoked with “your finest”. * Cee of Melbourne hip hop soul collective Movement Fam has been working on a challenge called 365 Days Of Beer. It involves drinking 365 different brands of beer, taking a photo of it, and reviewing it on Facebook and Tumblr. Apparently he hit #365 last year, but he’s continuing with it. * Aussie label Stop Start/EMI added Texasborn Jay Brannan to its roster. * JB Hi-Fi released a Music Now smartphone app for Android and iOS. * Just why did the punter at Frenzal Rhomb’s show at the Plantation Hotel on the Sunshine Coast drop his pants? * One Direction’s Harry Styles was barred by his bodyguards from taking two women back to his hotel suite at 3am during their NZ visit. He was spotted screaming at the minders. Niall Horan’s plans to put dark tips on his blonde hair was stopped by record label chief Simon Cowell.

States, album sales dipped slightly by 0.2% to 89.84 million units (compared to 90.02 million in the same period). But digital single-track downloads climbed 7.8% to 416.66 million units.

MATT CORBY UK/USA

Singer-songwriter Matt Corby has signed with two Warner Music imprints abroad — Atlantic in the UK and Elektra in the US. His manager Matt Ensell of Wonder Management confirmed that his breakthrough EP Into The Flame will be released in these territories around September, followed by his debut album, which he’s currently working on. Corby this week returns from a run of overseas dates. Shows last month in Los Angeles and New York City sold out, while two in London this month sold out in two minutes.

HOLO VICTORY

The post-Tupac hologramania is now officially over the top. In the wake of the Jackson 5

The Seed Crew photo by Kane Hibberd

THINGS WE HEAR

The Seed Crew

SEED FUND OPENS

Applications are open until July 9 for The Seed Fund, which supports emerging musicians and arts workers. Set up by John Butler in 2005, the Fund has three main grant categories: the highly-acclaimed Management Workshop gives 25 opportunities for managers and selfmanaged acts to get practical advice from fellow managers and top executives; Publicise It offers three grants of $5000 to hire a publicist for an album/tour campaign; Art On The Street pays up to $5000 to two visual artists for a social commentary project, and includes graffiti, photography, murals and exhibitions. Initiatives for indigenous acts include a money pool to get emerging acts from remote communities on festivals, get mentors to train bush bands, and take industry pros to regional Australia to see acts. announcing they’d tour with a digital Michael (“we talked about it two years ago), TLC plan to celebrate their 10th anniversary by bringing Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes back to life. Finally, the company that created Tupac, Musion Technology, revealed that they’re working on likenesses of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain and Whitney Houston. “Seeing Elvis onstage with Justin Bieber would be a cool thing,” said Sanj Surati.

DANIELLE MCEWAN PR

Danielle McEwan, former Director of Publicity & Artist Development at Sony Music, has set up her own PR company – Danielle McEwan Publicity. One of the projects she’s working on is Jupiters Hotel & Casino’s launch of their $20 million state of the art theatre on the Gold Coast.

They’ve roped in names as Michael Bolton, Seal, Tony Bennett, Kelly Rowland, Burt Bacharach and Las Vegas stage show Jabbawockeez Present Music.I.C (Muse I See) to christen the joint. McEwan is contactable at daniellemcewan@gmail.com.

MISSY JOINS SONG SUMMIT

On the eve of her new album release and her first national tour in over four years, Missy Higgins has joined Song Summit 2012. She, James Blundell and Charles Jenkins are the latest speakers for the three-day music industry conference (presented by APRA | AMCOS and staged as part of VIVID Sydney) to be held at Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre from May 26-28. Alas Paul Kelly had to withdraw due to recording commitments, as have Kate Miller-Heidke and her collaborator Keir Nuttal, who have to be in Hanoi to perform a benefit a concert for MTV Exit, an anti-human trafficking charity that is close to their hearts. songsummit.com.au

MUSIC NSW WORKSHOPS

Music NSW will deliver a free workshop called New Technologies In Music on May 1 at FBi Social, from 7pm. Jai Al-Attas of One and Zapp covers how artists can use apps to their advantage, how streaming has changed, how people consume music, and a rundown of the latest gear for recording and live.

Tablatronics will showcase how he combines iPads and traditional instruments. To reserve your spot, email Siobhan@musicnsw.com.

AUSTRALIA’S NEXT BIG DJ

Matt Morris on the approved site

SPLENDOUR FINDS A HOME

Splendour In The Grass has been given a permanent home in Yelgun, Byron Bay, after the site in North Byron Parklands was given the green light by authorities last week. Splendour will be held at Belongil Fields this year and at North Byron Parklands from 2013. “It’s great to be bringing Splendour back permanently to Byron where the festival began,” said co-promoter Jessica Ducrou. Parklands will have a five-year trial, during which the site can hold up to three events a year until the end of 2017. The three cannot exceed a total of 10 days per year. The audience capacity of the largest events (presumably Splendour) will start at 25,000 and climb to 27,500 in its second year of trial, 30,000 in the third, 32, 500 in the fourth and 35,000 in the fifth. Mat Morris, GM of North Byron Parklands, said that of the parklands’ 258.71 hectares, only 93.29 hectares (or 37%) would be used for events.

12 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

Your Shot, the search for Australia’s next big DJ is back for a third year. No DJ experience is necessary, and hopefuls can register at yourshot.com.au by 12pm on Thursday May 24. Set up by social photo networking website founder Steve Pillemer, Greenwood Hotel operator Marc Allardice and club/ DJ manager Sam Koratkov, Your Shot was an instant success, getting over 4,000 applications in two weeks, with 72 selected.

60% of contestants went on to land gigs and residencies. The prize pack includes DJ gigs at Stereosonic, Paradise Club, Mykonos (plus flights and hotel) and a major Red Bull event.

DEEZER IN OZ

France’s Deezer, which has 15 million tracks, is the latest music streaming service to launch in Oz. Its 20 million users worldwide can discover, listen to and share music on all devices. It has dozens of radio channels across 12 music styles and 30,000 artist-based radio channels. Deezer also hires editorial experts in each market to recommend what’s hot. The Australian operation has a three-tier payment system (the highest at $14.99 a month), check out

deezer.com or enter m.deezer.com in your mobile’s web browser.

GROOVIN’ T-SHIRT

Groovin’ The Moo was forced to announce a new winner for its design-a-Moo-t-shirt competition. The original winner, a student designer from Victoria, was stripped of his prize after social media postings revealed that his winning design seemed too similar to one placed on the deviantART site by artist Viscera Vicarious two years ago. Vicarious said, “Although the piece in question was changed at certain points, the conceptual basis and composition has been maintained. I am truly sorry for the bad time that the person who committed this act is going through. I feel sorry for him, his family and friends.” GTM apologised to the student for not contacting him directly about the loss of his prize.

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC TOUR FUNDING ROUND OPEN

Round 23 of the Contemporary Music Touring Program is now open, and closes on Friday June 1. It helps emerging and established acts take their music to regional and remote areas by providing assistance with touring costs such as transport, accommodation, insurance, production and marketing.

Guidelines and application forms are at arts.gov.au/regional/cmtp/apply. If you have questions, email music.touring@pmc.gov.au or freecall 1800 819 461.

Lifelines Born: Daughter Pearl, to Jack Osbourne and actress fiancee Lisa Stelly.

Hospitalised: A 33-year-old man underwent emergency surgery at Royal Adelaide Hospital for a fractured skull after being punched outside The Palace nightclub. Police arrested a 36-year-old, allegedly a bouncer at the club.

Sued: 50 Cent, by The Persuaders’ Robert Poindexter, for sampling the band’s ‘Love Gonna Pack Up (And Walk Out)’ for his track ‘Redrum’, without permission. 50 released it on his War Angel mixtape (2009) and says it was given away free and hence didn’t commercially exploit The Persuaders.

Died: Chris Ethridge, bassist and songwriter with The Flying Burrito Brothers and The International Submarine Band, 65.

Died: Billy Bryans, 63, co-founder of Canada’s The Parachute Club, lung cancer.

He co-wrote its anthem ‘Rise Up’. A promoter, producer and DJ, he worked to promote world music, especially Cuban, and was instrumental in getting a world music category included in Canada’s Juno awards.

Died: Tommy Marth, touring sax player for The Killers, 33, suicide.

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Orbital

Synth City By Laurence Rosier Staines

I

n 2010 I fled from Playground Weekender clutching a dalek; it belonged to UK dance duo Orbital, whose set had pushed me into a place where this sort of hopped-up thievery felt more like a gesture of devotion. I confess this to Phil Hartnoll, the elder of the two brothers who comprise Orbital, and he laughs.

“Which dalek? The inflatable one? Excellent …

I think you can get ‘em on the Internet.”

Since the release of their debut single ‘Chime’ in 1990, Orbital have been making devotees of ravers and non-ravers alike. Now, after disbanding in ‘04 and reforming in ‘09, they are on the cusp of their return to Australia in support of Wonky, their first album in eight years. I spoke to the elder Hartnoll about DJing, dubstep, the changing of the times, and the one thing that has proven completely unshakeable: Orbital’s ear for a tune.

lot of the actual pen to paper … he’s the nerd, and I’m the rebellious one.” Sort of a left-brain versus right-brain thing, perhaps? “It’s a bit like that yeah. He’s very technical and I’m more emotional. And it sort of just works.”

In a live setting, Orbital take to the stage surrounded by dozens of vintage analogue synths, wearing iconic torch glasses that serve the dual function of allowing them to see what they’re doing and making them look like groovy robot aliens. The brothers respond to the energy of audiences and improvise changes in their songs, resulting in a calibre of spontaneous performance that’s rare among dance acts. “If the audience is enjoying the piece we can extend it, take bits away, bring them back, muck around, jam with the arrangement,” Phil explains. “The audience definitely plays a large part in how we play.”

Both halves of that equation – the technical and the creative – are represented in the brothers’ symbiotic partnership. “Everything’s a discussion,” says Phil. “We sit in the studio and discuss absolutely everything. Paul does a

The Hartnolls’ ongoing enthusiasm for the music scene has provided them with a long list of collaborators, including this latest album’s guest vocalists – Zola Jesus (“We heard her and it was like ‘bang!’”) and Lady Leshurr

I also have to ask about Kraftwerk, whom Orbital remixed for the Expo 2000 compilation.

“Oh God, I was going to shit myself,” he admits. “I don’t even know how that came about … It’s not one of the best tracks to remix [laughs] but it was really scary. It was just another time in my career where it’s like ‘Jesus I never thought this was gonna happen!’” Alas, it proved too much for them to even meet their German heroes in person. “I spoke to Ralf on the phone,” says Phil. “My brother was too scared. We were very immature about it.”

Despite the numerous technological advances in the 22 years since Orbital began, and the arrival of genres such as dubstep, very little has changed in their approach to making music – even if iPads have now replaced the older sequencers. “The iPads are basically just remote controls,” Phil explains. “We used to have sequencers with 24 buttons; when you want the bass drum, that’s button one, snare drum is number two, that sort of thing.

Now we use Ableton. The computer takes the place of the sampler with all our clips on it, while the iPad has the MIDI clips that send the messages out to the synthesisers surrounding us, so we can manipulate the sound and add effects as it’s going out. The method hasn’t changed at all – just the buttons.”

Most importantly, the drive behind Orbital’s creative output is the same as ever. “When

When we sit down to write, I’m just looking to bring out an emotion that I’m feeling at the time. I might go in angry or sad or whatever, but trying to catch that is the important thing. we sit down to write, I’m just looking to bring out an emotion that I’m feeling at the time,” says Hartnoll. “I might go in angry or sad or whatever, but trying to catch that is the important thing. You don’t know whether anybody else is gonna get it when they hear it, and it’s always fantastic when someone comes up and tells you what a track means to them.

That’s the connection that I’m looking for.”

With two decades and one hiatus behind them, what does Hartnoll see in the future for Orbital? “I’m really enjoying it,” he says simply.

“We’ve got so much down, been welcomed back, and there are lots of people driving us forward. The only way is up, baby!”

Where: The Metro Theatre When: Saturday May 5 – Orbital on stage midnight.

More: Wonky out now through Liberator

“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying” - WOODY ALLEN 14 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

xxx

So could the Hartnoll brothers conceivably have ended up writing pop music? “We were very interested in the electronic sound, from a very early age,” he clarifies. “The synthesiser is a palette of noise, really, and you can just make up sounds you’ve never heard before. We love that side of things. So it’s a combination of [loving that sound] and just [wanting to make] nice music.”

This feedback loop contributed to the track ‘Beelzedub’, a halftime, dubstep-ified version of Orbital’s live staple ‘Satan’ that made it onto Wonky. “We went out DJing before recording [the album], testing our demos to see how they were going,” Phil tells me. “Before that I was doing it by myself, to get my enthusiasm back – there’s nothing better than other people’s music to inspire you – but then my brother came on board and we demoed a lot of the tracks we were intending for the album, which we’d never done before. The dubstep thing came out of playing ‘Satan’ live. You gotta love the fat sound of the dubstep thing – we really enjoyed that – so we remixed ‘Satan’ and added that bass sound to it. People enjoyed it so much that it convinced us to put it on the album. At its core, it’s a live thing.”

“Melody is very important to us; we’re obviously influenced by the dancefloor, but it’s not for the dancefloor per se,” says Phil.

“Dance music tends to be more rhythm-based – and so is ours of course, but the melody and harmony is very, very important for that sort of ‘mm!’ moment. And if you don’t get that, it’s not working.”

(“She came in one day before we finished recording. Lastminute.com”). 13 years ago they worked on the soundtrack to Danny Boyle’s anti-tourism thriller The Beach with Angelo Badalamenti, whose washes of beautiful electronica are so iconic in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive. “That was great fun,” says Phil. “We didn’t see any synthesisers, though we did see him lay down some music with the orchestra in London, which was a great experience.”

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The Darkness Vaudeville Kings By Caitlin Welsh

I

t might have been the catsuits; the falsetto; the persistent rumours that one of the singles was not, in fact, a love song but was about genital warts; the shimmering layer of camp stretched over the whole escapade like so much purple Lycra; but somewhere on the way to having their debut sell more than a million copies in the UK, and touring with Metallica, The Darkness got stuck with a terrible label: joke band.

“The singer of Manic Street Preachers [James Dean Bradfield] called us a ‘vaudeville’ band,” recalls bassist Frankie Poullain from his flat in London’s Hackney. “I took it as a compliment. He expressed admiration and fondness for us. And I think it was a good adjective that a lot of people have missed. And it’s heaps better than ‘spandex’ or ‘glam-rock’, or whatever it is.”

But, Poullain insists, no doubt for the thousandth time, that the band don’t actually mind the J-word.

“It doesn’t bother us at all, because I think it’s a sign of wisdom to appreciate the absurdity and silliness of life anyway, you know?” he says.

“Sometimes the best things in life are a joke.”

Poullain says he’s often accused of overthinking

things, and that being in a band with a dominating personality like frontman Justin Hawkins helps him keep things in perspective. “It’s like therapy for all of us,” he admits. “And I’m not the first band member to say that, but I think, ultimately, that’s what it is.

The band is therapy for all of us, and hopefully for the fans as well.

Poullain wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s cathartic: “I prefer the word therapy – it’s like medicine. But you know it’s not castor oil. Castor oil medicine would be like Elbow or something. Our medicine is more like the ones that have alcohol in it – those ones they give kids that are sweet-tasting and a bit sickly, you know?”

If The Darkness are the UDL of rock bands, then it’s no wonder that it wasn’t long before Poullain had had enough. After the success of Permission To Land, Hawkins developed serious drug and alcohol issues that would eventually land him in rehab, tensions mounted, and Poullain wound up being either “frozen out” or defenestrating himself during a studio session for album #2, depending on who you talk to.

“But it happens a lot, doesn’t it?” he says now. “Like I said, it was like a dysfunctional family, but families can be like that, can’t they? They can be this warm, loving, fun environment where you share laughter together, but they can also be poisonous. And that’s what happens when you get close to people. But now we’re tapping in to the good side of things again.”

The good family dynamic, Poullain declares, is: “Justin’s the trophy wife, Dan [Hawkins, Justin’s guitarist brother] is the husband/father, Ed [Graham, drums] is the adolescent teenager and I’m the weird uncle.” After Poullain left the family in 2005, and Hawkins quit the next year to head to rehab, other projects were explored, but nothing ever quite got off the ground – until the whispers of a reunion began in 2010.

“I think it’s a sign of wisdom to appreciate the absurdity and silliness of life anyway, you know? Sometimes the best things in life are a joke.”

“I don’t think we’d have got back together unless we thought we could do something better than all the other little projects we did on the side,” Poullain admits. “I suppose it was the right stretch of time.

And probably boredom, innit? We got bored with disappearing up our own arses, then disappeared up each other’s arses… We also stopped being so proud. And all our friends were telling us the same thing, you know? They all knew we would get back together, but none of us were told.”

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Justin, in particular, might have given fans something to worry about, if there were any hint of revisiting previous misbehaviour; but after starring in a Samsung Super Bowl ad last year that featured breakout single ‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’, taking up the gym and a raw diet and being five years sober, the frontman is in better shape than ever. “He’s a bit bigger and a bit more muscly.

So it’s all a bit more manly now,” Poullain deadpans.

Comment must also be sought on Hawkins’ newest addition to his carefully honed image: a moustache and goatee combo that would make 19th-century ringmasters everywhere quiver with envy. It’s understandable that Poullain’s mo – previously the band’s only one – felt a little threatened. “It’s why I’ve actually – especially for the Australian tour – been trying to grow a bushier one,” he confesses.

“Because mine got a bit too thin... So I’ve gone for something a bit bigger to try and reclaim the throne.” But he approves of Hawkins’ new addition nonetheless: “I think it really suits him. It’s really growing on me.”

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The band are now embarking on a worldwide comeback tour – including dates supporting Lady Gaga in Europe – and recording for an as-yetuntitled third album. There’s no hint, Poullain says, of the tensions that led to the slow dissolution of the foursome last time. “It’s kind of like a dream, really. It’s going really well. We’re all really comfortable in each other’s company, and we all have a good laugh together. And we’re intending to work really hard to become successful again. But we’re pretty sure we can do it.”

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The Mountain Goats Between The Devil And The Deep By Caitlin Welsh smiles at things, and holds them up in the air and so forth… There’s not much I can think of that is more fun than hanging out with the baby.” But don’t expect the Satan album to feature gushing odes to the revelatory joys of fatherhood.

“No, no, no, no! I really don’t believe in that,” Darnielle says, audibly recoiling at the mention of what is a fairly standard songwriter cliché.

“My stuff is sort of digging in dark corners to try to find jewels – know what I mean? And you find songwriters who have been exploring the darker, more ambivalent side of humanity who become dads and then, suddenly, they want to tell you about how the world is wonderful. And I just think that’s a total betrayal of the muse,” he explains with a laugh. “Like, ‘Thank you for bringing me all this way, and for bringing me all this success, but now that I’m a father I’m going to go ahead and not do that thing you put me here to do.’ So yeah. And I also feel like there’s this expectation that it will suddenly be your ‘soft’ album.”

S

ydney has fared well on the exclusiveshows front recently – see this year’s Vivid LIVE lineup for more than a few examples – but here’s one more to make steam pour out your ears: in March, in New York and London in turn, boss Mountain Goat John Darnielle performed with backing from acapella vocal quartet Anonymous 4 (think ethereal polyphony, not barbershop), arranged by Owen Pallett. (As of the time of print, a beautiful recording of the New York show is available to stream at NPR’s website.) You would think that Darnielle’s characteristically strident voice would be at odds with the crystalline harmonies of a foursome best known for interpreting medieval choral works, but it finds a strange-bedfellows sort of cohesion – Pallett’s arrangements weave eerie threads into pure, ribboning notes, the perfect backdrop for Darnielle’s new material.

Tentatively titled Transcendental Youth, the fourteenth Mountain Goats album might be out before the end of the year – Darnielle

says the studio’s booked for May. He made a few blogosphere headlines when the band played a few of the new tracks live earlier this year, announcing they would be on ‘the Satan record’. “The new album has a lot of bleak stuff on it – it’s about mentally ill people trying to cope,” Darnielle says. “And the central metaphor of the record is Satan, right, so there’s a lot of Satan. But it may be more of a full-on, colourful darkness than the last record, which [had a] much more sombre tone. You have your darkness in actuality, and your darkness in fire.

And I feel like this one has a lot more fire. But I say that now – we haven’t recorded yet so we’ll see what happens.”

Darnielle is speaking from his home in North Carolina; he’s watching his six-month-old son Roman, who’s apparently awake during the entire interview but seems to be the quietest baby ever. “He’s looking at me right now, and he’s really in contact with the rest of the world,” Darnielle says. “He looks around at things, and

Darnielle hasn’t shifted his strum-and-holler style much during the 21-year recording history of the Mountain Goats – from the ‘militantly lo-fi ’ early tapes through to the studio albums, which for a decade now have emerged almost annually. Last year’s All Eternals Deck was a particularly sombre affair (“Yeah, I finally got my Goth quota worked out on that one,” he laughs) that despite its withdrawn air, also felt slightly more ‘produced’ and textured than other records.

Some fans have speculated that the Anonymous 4/Pallett collab. was a sign that the 2012 instalment would go in a dramatically different direction sonically to all that had come before, but Darnielle assured them (via his indispensable and hilarious Twitter feed) that the project was no indication of the sound of the forthcoming record. (He reiterates this point to me: “They are arrangements specifically and only for the show”.) They’re more likely to sound like regular Goats tracks, as indicated by the live performances of ‘The Diaz Brothers’ and other songs that appeared on YouTube earlier this year. “We’ve been doing these songs in many different ways,” he explains. “We toured a bunch of them, then came back and looked at

“You find songwriters who have been exploring the darker side of humanity who become dads and then, suddenly, they want to tell you about how the world is wonderful. And I just think that’s a total betrayal of the muse.” them. And one of them, that I liked a lot when I wrote it, now I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. And another one, I think I’m ready to drop the guitar entirely on the recorded version. And that’s a really cool thing about touring the songs – you get to ask hard questions about them.”

But when we talk, the late-March Anonymous 4/Pallett shows are still a few weeks off, and Darnielle – famously an aficionado of metal and Russian composers but also a longtime A4 fanboy – is slightly beside himself. “They are some of my favourite musicians of all time,” he says. “And these arrangements that Owen did are so awesome, and I’m so intimidated by working with them. Because I play rock‘n’roll, and I’m good at what I do and I’m proud of what I do, but rock‘n’roll people, as a general rule, are self-taught musicians… But classical musicians, when you tell them what key it’s in, they can start singing in that key. We have rehearsal next week, and I’m practising every day with a metronome so that I can be at my very best when I get there.

I’m really intimidated but I’m so excited.”

Where: The Metro Theatre When: Sunday May 6

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Refugee Action Coalition presents

an evening of music to support refugee rights and end mandatory detention

the herd watussi dog trumpet mohsen soltani & ember rosie friday may 18th | 6pm - midnight

THE STANDARD

an OCTOBER SUN Eco Event

Level 3, 383 Bourke Street, Surry Hills www.wearethestandard.com.au moshtix.com.au/thestandard all profits go to funding refugee action coalition campaigns www.refugeeaction.org.au BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 19

Pennywise All Or Nothing By Benjamin Cooper

“D

ude, I’m really sorry I was late to take your call – I was rescuing a pelican down at the beach who’d been attacked by some of our local Californian weekend warrior assholes.” So begins my interview with Zoltán ‘Zoli’ Téglás, the new-ish frontman of West Coast punk heroes Pennywise – and a passionate conservationist who gets pretty damn worked up about cruelty against animals.

“There are a lot of people who hurt pelicans because there’s no fish left off the coast of California,” Zoli continues.

“So all these weekend wannabes aren’t packing their SUV’s with fishing rods for little Johnnie no more – instead they’re stacking their trays high with baseball bats, knives and rifles so they can shoot at pelicans and sea lions from their boats. They slice and rip the pelicans’ pouches off and leave them to starve.

Sometimes I find them and can take them to a shelter, but all that happens there is that we help them to have a

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Zoli has been venting his fury on stage as the frontman of Californian hardcore act Ignite since 1993, and has performed for the last two decades as a sometime-member of a raft of other bands, including The Misfits and Motörhead. But since replacing Pennywise’s founding singer Jim Lindberg in 2009, he’s faced some unfamiliar challenges, including the pressure of living up to the high expectations of a devoted fanbase.

“Jim is a good friend of mine,” Zoli says, “and I respect him on so many levels, particularly for the way he crafts his songs. Every time I do anything with this band I’m very much aware of doing the right thing by the people who have the Pennywise ink. Some people have the band tattooed on their necks and across their chests, and that makes for a pretty compelling reminder of the pressure of this job.”

Pennywise have just released their tenth studio album, All Or Nothing. Zoli has been their lead singer for more than three years, but it has taken this long for him to become sufficiently comfortable to create new music as ‘Pennywise’s frontman’. “First of all, let’s not understate the importance of this band.

They’ve been around forever, and when I first joined I was fairly optimistic about how it was all going to play out… Initially I had to get a handle on their sound, how to make my voice work with what Jim had written, and with the way that they play – because that’s different to my other bands. We did a few shows here in Cali, and I had some sense of what they were about, but I still didn’t quite feel that energy that you need to be able to lay down an album.”

“One day I just turned around and told Fletcher to fuck off, and that was the real turning point. From then on, the songs just started to come to me.”

Zoli’s search for the right kind of energy and confidence to front Pennywise became a protracted process, much to the chagrin of his bandmates. “The other guys kept asking me if I felt up to recording some tracks, and I’d have to continually hang my head and say no,” he says. “The guys were great about it, but the only place that I really felt comfortable at that time was when we were up on stage smashing it out. So we’d go out and do another tour, and the fans would be awesome, but I really didn’t want my first effort with Pennywise to be some shitty, forced album that we rushed into without due thought. I just couldn’t find the right kind of energy – until finally Fletcher [Dragge – guitarist] took me aside and told me we were going to do it his way. He had the best intentions, don’t get me wrong, but after months of me listening to him directing me around, I just kinda realised – I don’t need to be a puppet for this guy. What I need to do is cut it my own way. One day I just turned around and told Fletcher to fuck off, and that was the real turning point. From then on, the songs just started to come to me.”

Those songs form the bristling bitch that is All Or Nothing. When I remark that the album’s title track seems like quintessential late ‘90s Pennywise, Zoli replies, “I’m never able to tell if the music I write is any good. I finish listening to the master copy in the studio and think ‘Fuck, this is the worst thing I’ve ever done’. But then the fans have started shouting out the words at our latest shows and it makes me believe again in what we’re doing. Because the fans have a much better idea than us; ultimately they’re the ones that it’s all about.”

Pennywise haven’t got plans to tour Australia any time soon, what with their North American touring commitments and Zoli’s busy role as the musical director for The Sea Shepherd Foundation. But they will maintain the rage in the meantime, with Zoli heading out on sea lion patrol at the conclusion of our interview. “This afternoon I’m hunting these assholes that have been trying to blow up sea lions by feeding them fish packed with explosives,” he tells me grimly. “My boat’s small, but I scream pretty loud as I come after them, so even though they’ve got guns they usually just run away.”

What: All Or Nothing out now through Epitaph/ Warner

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peaceful death, because animals can’t get by without a bottom jaw.”

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San Cisco At A Crossroads By Alasdair Duncan

S

an Cisco’s bouncy boy-girl duet ‘Awkward’ climbed to the number seven spot on triple j’s recent Hottest 100, a smashing success for the young Perth group. When they got the news, they were hard at work in the very studio where they recorded that song. “It felt like things had really come full circle,” drummer Scarlett Stevens tells me. “We hadn’t been in the studio since July last year, and just as we were coming back, our song was there in the countdown.”

I ask Stevens if the band took a break and maybe cracked open a couple of celebratory beers when ‘Awkward’ came up, but she tells me that they were almost too nervous to do so. “It was funny, because triple j told us that it would be in there somewhere, so we kept waiting and waiting for it, and it kind of got to a point where we couldn’t get any more work done because we were so nervous, so we kind of just gave it up for the day and listened – we were worried that it may not have even polled!” That would be a pretty mean-spirited prank on triple j’s part, I venture. “Yeah,” Stevens laughs, “we wouldn’t have forgiven them for that!”

‘Awkward’, which contains a rare vocal from Stevens, is a back-and-forth story about a relationship gone awry; she insists, however, that there was no real-life inspiration. “We were just talking in the studio and we decided that we really wanted to try something a bit quirky with a boy-girl vocal,” she recalls, “so we just came up with it like that. It’s completely manufactured!

I mean, not in a Britney Spears way or anything – it was manufactured by us, but still, it wasn’t based on real life.”

It has not, however, given Stevens a taste for being a singer. “I’ll continue singing on choruses, and do my bit here and there,” she says, “but I don’t think another song has come up since then that really calls for me to be up the front.”

The four-piece will soon be touring the country in support of their Awkward EP, and amid the familiar tracks, punters can definitely expect to hear some new ones from their recent studio sessions. “We kind of want to get rid of some of the older songs from the set, so we’ll spend the next few weeks trying to figure out how to make the new live set come together a bit more,” says Stevens. In total, she says, the band have six new songs already recorded – they may go on to form the backbone of another EP, or they may go on an album, it’s too early to say.

“We don’t know ourselves,” she admits. “We’re kind of at a crossroads as to our next release.

We’re planning to go back into the studio in July, so if we record another six or eight songs on top of the ones we already have, then we’ll have enough to piece together an album. We’re really not sure, though. Albums just don’t sell these days, and I think you kind of … you can be wasting songs these days to release them that way. When you put an album on iTunes, people will often just buy their four favourite songs, so our thinking is why not just put out an EP? A lot of young bands in Australia are choosing to do that.”

Where: The Standard, Taylor Square When: Wednesday May 9 And: Splendour In The Grass @ Belongil Fields, Byron Bay from July 27-29

Electric Guest Chillaxed To The Max By Alasdair Duncan

L

os Angeles duo Electric Guest make sprightly indie pop that recalls the cheesier side of ‘70s MOR as much as it does contemporary bands like Phoenix.

The pair are on the fast-track to next big thing status – they recently played a series of showcase gigs at The Echo in Los Angeles, and in spite of the fact that they only had one single to their name at the time, the shows were a smashing success. “The first one was a big awkward, we were still finding our feet, but by the third of fourth, it was really great,” singer Asa Taccone says.

Playing to audiences unfamiliar with their music just made the pair work harder. “At times, we’d ask ourselves, ‘What’s going on with this crowd?’ But then we’d remember, ‘Oh yeah, they’ve never heard half of these songs before!’” he laughs.

The band’s debut, Mondo, has just released, and its vintage sound comes courtesy of producer Danger Mouse, an old friend of Taccone’s. “When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was writing a lot of songs, and quite often I’d call my brother Jorma and play him songs just to see if he liked them. One day he said, ‘Hold on, I want to play that to somebody,’ and then he put Brian, otherwise known as Danger Mouse, on the phone. This was about eight years ago. Brian said he liked it and wanted to hear more, so I just sent him a bunch of stuff I’d done in college … I ended up moving into his old room, and he mentored me for a couple of years, and then after a while, suggested that we might do a record together.”

Working with Danger Mouse was a very comfortable process for the duo – essentially, Taccone explains, it was just friends hanging

out in the studio. “I think his studio has a very specific sound, and that’s down to a lot of the gear he has, which is mostly analogue stuff.

The drums in particular have that kind of dry ‘70s sound. I have a ton of analogue gear as well, old keyboards and stuff. Sometimes we would start in the middle of a song, sometimes at the end – it was all over the place, but the sessions were very relaxed.”

The producer was open to hearing any ideas the band had, and if they were stuck, was happy to let them rummage around in his gear, giving them pedals to play with until they found just the sound they were looking for. These laid-back sessions make for a supremely laid-back album.

In contrast, the band are finding their lives suddenly frenetic thanks to the media attention. I mention to Taccone that I enjoyed watching a YouTube video of them covering Wham!’s ‘Everything She Wants’, and he seems genuinely shocked that such a thing should even be on the internet. “Oh shit,” he says, seeming genuinely embarrassed, “I had no idea anybody was filming that. Was I dancing in it? Did I look weird?” I assure him that he looked good, and that the audience seemed to think so too. “A lot of surreal things like that have been happening to us recently,” he says. “Not long ago, we were on a TV show in France and the host held a copy of our album up. We asked if we could hold it, because we’d never actually come in contact with a physical copy of it before.”

What: Mondo out now through Dew Process Where: Splendour In The Grass @ Belongil Fields, Byron Bay When: July 27-29

The Butterfly Effect Be The Change By Benjamin Cooper

If Hall is concerned about the quality of the local music scene, he’s also been dealing with problems closer to home, with his fourpiece about to lose lead singer Clint Boge, who has decided to pursue other musical projects. Before he leaves, however, the band is doing a comprehensive national tour with the original lineup, returning to cities and towns that have hosted them before, to express their gratitude.

“Obviously this tour is very important,” says Hall. “It’s Clint’s last tour, and we’re managing to get back to every single place that we’ve played before, as a way of thanking all the fans. The only place we

couldn’t get to was Albury – because the cops keeping shutting down the local venues – but everywhere else has supported us a lot over the years. It means a lot to the four of us, and hopefully to the people who come along to the shows, that we can do this together one last time.”

The tour will be imbued with a sense of nostalgia for both the band and their fans.

Starting out as triple j favourites in 1998, The Butterfly Effect were proponents, alongside Karnivool and Cog, of a heavier style of alternative music. “I remember being on our first tour outside of Queensland, and walking into the front bar of The Espy in St Kilda and being utterly destroyed by this behemoth called Cog. They literally took everything we had built and rebuilt it a million times better,” Hall admits.

“It was the same thing when we first hung out with Karnivool over in Western Australia. We were all sitting around in the tour-van listening to their tunes, blasted out of our skulls, and I turned to Clint and said ‘Man, we have got to get rid of our demos and start again because they’re shit compared to this!’”

“Whilst it was a teenager’s dream to tour with and be influenced by so many great bands, it definitely wasn’t a total star-fuck,” Hall quickly clarifies. “Being around acts of that quality forces you to improve. You hold your own, and (in doing that) you shape

some part of the musical landscape.

“I haven’t given a lot of thought to our legacy, mostly because I don’t think that this band is anywhere near finished,” Hall continues, “but I’d like to think we’ve shown some of the kids out there one way of playing progressive rock music. What I really hope is that those same kids will now go out there and show us all that

they can do it better. In the meantime, we’re still The Butterfly Effect, and we definitely aren’t finished.”

Where: Panthers Leagues Club, Newcastle / UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney When: Thursday May 10 / Friday May 11

“I failed to make the chess team because of my height” - WOODY ALLEN 22 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

The Butterfly Effect – photo by Tony Mott

B

en Hall, drummer for Queensland heavy rock outfit The Butterfly Effect, is perplexed.

He recently had Foxtel installed, ostensibly so he could watch more sport. But there’s been something else occupying his attention, and it’s not the ridiculous variety of camera angles/techniques that abound in modern AFL coverage. “Why is it,” he queries, “that every song that I’m hearing has the words ‘party’, or ‘drunk’ or ‘reckless’? And I’m not just talking about the music channels; the supposed anthems they play during footy highlights are pretty much club shite. The most musical thing I’ve seen on the telly lately was a ‘goodbye to Short Stack’ special... I mean, if that’s where we’re at, then it’s pretty worrying...”

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arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

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

five minutes THE BEAR PACK

C

arlo Ritchie and Steen Raskopoulos are Sydney’s hottest partners in comedic crime right now, working under the guise of The Bear Pack. Their totally improvised, one-hour show is hitting the Sydney Comedy Festival this month for a party of whacky improv that will take you on absurd, improbable and ultimately laughinducing twists and turns. Born out of years testing and honing their skills on Sydney University’s comedy circuit, these boys have invited a bunch of funny friends along for the ride, making this a Festival must-see.

Why do you call yourselves The Bear Pack? The name just sort of jumped out at us a few years ago when we started performing together. We’ve been using it ever since.

There may have been a bear pack outside or something, who knows?

How does your onstage relationship work?

It’s pretty much like the A-Team. Steen plays all the roles and Carlo plays the van.

How did your involvement in comedy at Sydney University shape your ideas and comedy style? We were both very fortunate to be involved in Theatresports and The Arts Revue, which in turn led us to found Project 52 with Michael Hing and Ben Jenkins. The best thing is that we were given a platform, week in and week out, to show people what we from this night of alternative performance, sound, music and spoken word by the likes of Marcus Whale and Human Shrines of Obstacle Obligation, Liz Stokes, Nat Rogers, Caz Eccles, David Buckley, Kate Vinen and Lady JoJo. A 'very hot and very secret hip hop crew', VJ visuals from Space Trash’s Emma Sanderson, songs from Fleur Wiber, Andy Medina and The Rusty Spring Syncopators will round out the night. It’s also a fundraiser, so the $10 door charge is a promise of more good things to come. cracktheatrefestival.com

HOME BREW

It’s time to get fat and happy with a generous serving of Home Brew. The Tamarama Rock Surfers’ festival of music and microperformances, that is! Running riot over The Old Fitz (29 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo) from May 17-19, this lineup is jam packed with fresh local talent. Alli Sebastian Wolf will turn the upstairs bar into a magical forest, which will host micro-performances by You Move Dance Company, magician Bruce Glen, and the world’s first ever Skype show by Jimmy Dalton. Performances will also unfold in toilet cubicles, dilapidated bathtubs and on Woolloomooloo’s finest balcony bar, so watch your step as you step on in. rocksurfers.org

thought was funny. They didn’t always agree... so yeah... there were a couple of deaths, and now we’re Time Out’s Best Comedy Room in Sydney. So, really what we’re trying to say is that the biggest thing that shaped our ‘style’ so to speak was the audiences who let us try stuff out. Also, we’re very good at eulogies now.

Talk us through a Bear Pack sketch. What happens? In a very weird way we don’t exactly know what is going to happen until we step on stage with each other. Nothing is ever planned so it’s a huge trust thing. One time we turned the word ‘oak’ into a 45-minute heroic epic. Anything could happen, and does.

What friends will you be improvising with at the Sydney Comedy Festival? The Axis Of Awesome, Toby Truslove, Rob Carlton, Susie Youssef, Michael Jordan and the ghost of Atreyu. It’s a regular party. There’s also a guy we met in an alley one night, so we’re pretty excited to see him on stage, in clothes.

What: The Bear Pack Improvise With Friends Where: The Factory Theatre / 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville When: May 4 and May 11, 10.15pm More: sydneycomedyfest.com.au

VACANCY

People often say that it’s not the destination that counts, but the journey it took to get there.

Well, when Cybele Malinowksi was travelling through the USA’s deep south, what she found on the road between over-photographed tourist destination points, were a whole lot of empty motel rooms, basking in a silent, surreal, Lynchian history that drew her attention, and the attention of her lens. Malinowski is known for her fashion and music photography with Blue Murder Studios, and for clients including Cleo, Marie Claire and Spin, MTV, Universal and Warner Music, Sydney Fashion Week and Splendour In The Grass. This exhibition, titled Vacancy, marks a shift away from her commercial work as she pays homage to those flea-bitten rooms, neon saturated dives and daggy roadside relics that personify the rapidly disappearing kitch of road travel both in the USA and Australia. It opens this Thursday May 3 from 6pm at Gaffa Gallery (281 Clarence St, Sydney). gaffa.com.au

In the film that won Meryl Streep the Best Actress accolade at last year’s Academy Awards, The Iron Lady charts the life of controversial British leader Margaret Thatcher from her days working in the family grocery store in Grantham to the years she spent fighting her way through the maledominated political hierarchy in order to serve as Britain’s longest reigning Prime Minister. This biopic, directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!), shines light on the woman behind ‘The Iron Lady’ and stars Jim Broadbent and Richard E. Grant. We have FIVE COPIES of the newly released DVD up for grabs; just tell us who Australia’s first Prime Minister was.

THREE COLOURS TRILOGY

Icon Films have just re-released the Three Colours Trilogy (1993-4), a bold trio of films about love, loss and French society’s concerns from acclaimed director Krzysztof Kieslowski. The collection includes Blue with Juliette Binoche, White with Julie Delpy and Red with Irene Jacob and each film (the colours are taken from the French flag) is loosely based on one of the three political ideals in the motto of the French Republic: liberty, equality, fraternity. To get your hands on a set, just tell us what Australia’s national motto is.

PENGUIN PLAYS ROUGH

I’m not sure why I didn’t just turn on the light, but my Mum used to say, ‘It’s bad for your eyes to read by the light of the moon’. I still maintain she was just being a party pooper and ignoring my in-built night vision goggles. Anyway, on Friday May 4 the moon’s going to be shining extra brightly over the warehouse at 4 Lackey St, St Peters as it transforms into its raunchier, less-industrial self for this month’s moonthemed Penguin Plays Rough. With it’s lashes lengthened and its mechanical hoists gracefully concealed behind disco balls, head to the house of stories amidst moons and moonlighting, satellites and massive, strangely suspended rocks.

Its inhabitants may even serve you moonshine.

(But no promises.) What they are promising is that from 8.00pm, Rebecca Giggs, Luke Carman, Vanessa Berry, Patrick Lenton, David Finig and Oliver Mol will all read you their stories. And there will also be the usual opportunities for you to read your own one-page lunar-related fiction. penguinplaysrough.com

Jun Yang, Paris Syndrome, 2008

THE UNNAMABLE Cassandra Jane

BURLESQUE BLISS

Bring Back The ShowGirl started off as a fundraiser in 2011 to help producer and star-performer Cassandra Jane realise her dream of winning the Miss Nude Australia pageant, which she did.

The night was such a success, in fact, that it’s returning to the Factory Theatre (105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville) on May 20 complete with big props, bigger costumes and bangin’ back-up dancers.

The night will infuse old school glamour with the best of the burlesque revival and ultimately put the ‘show’ back into the ‘girl’. The night will also feature Miss Strawberry Siren, Bella De Jac, Imogen Kelly and Danica Lee. bringbacktheshowgirl.com

CRACK PARTY

Crack Theatre Festival is slamming down a massive performance art party this Thursday May 3 from 7.30pm at The Red Rattler (6 Faversham St, Marrickville), and they’re giving you a sneaky peek under the skirts of what’s to come at this year's Crack Festival (happening at This Is Not Art in September). If you imagine a cannon ball and a glitter ball having babies, that’s a pretty accurate indication of what you can expect 24 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

Cult Sinema returns to the Mu-Meson Archives (Parramatta Rd, Annandale) on Tuesday May 8 with director Jean Paul Oullette’s 1988 horror flick The Unnamable adapted from the 1925 H.P. Lovecraft short story. The time is now, and the setting is Winthrop House, believed to have been haunted for the past 300 years. Rumour has it that Joshua Winthrop was horribly murdered by the unnameable creature born of his wife. Meanwhile, college students at nearby Miskatonic University cleverly decide to disprove the rumours by spending the night in the house. Now that’s a recipe for serene rom-com enjoyment if ever we heard one. It’s a bargain $5 on the door and starts at 7.30pm. mumeson.org

CTL-X CTL-V

Scissors and glue can get you surprisingly far in this world of button-clicking creativity and Cut & Paste is testament to the art of programmatic collage art, having put together another bill of the best theatrical talent in town. The bi-monthly performance night is back on Sunday May 13 from 8.00pm at The Old Fitz (29 Dowling St, Woolloomooloo) and has a reputation for showcasing everything from short plays to stand-up comedy, music, story-telling, puppetry, short films, dancing, singing, magic and this one time a drag king stripper rocked up… A slew of local talent has made the cut this round, including Sarah Quinn, Tim Spencer, Olivia Satchell, Jono Burns and Luke Carson. Musical wunderkinds Emily Irvine and Benny Davis are also booked to play. Tix are on the door so be sure to arrive early. rocksurfers.org

THE OTHER’S OTHER

Where do you come from? This question is becoming harder to answer, as kids grow up with both parents from different countries, whose own parents travelled to those countries from other countries, whose ancestors lived in the same house for tens of now-forgotten generations. Curated by Mark Feary, The Other’s Other is an exhibition for and about people with mixed cultural identities, and explores the fluidity of territorial borders and cultural identification complexities that have arisen from historical and contemporary migration. It deals with the idea that we often have more than one cultural home, and asks what it means to be a part of that culture when you are not there, physically participating in it, or what happens when you don’t identify with the one in which you live. The exhibition features contemporary works by leading Australian and international artists and opens 6pm on Wednesday May 9 at Artspace (43 - 51 Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo). artspace.org.au

The Other's Other photo courtesy of the artist and Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou; Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna; and ShugoArts, Tokyo

WITH

THE IRON LADY

portrait

prize

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Judah Friedlander

how to fight. America is not as challenging as it used to be. The kids today are only good at video games and blogging”.

How To Be A Champion

By Alasdair Duncan

Friedlander has developed the character of The World Champion over a number of years in his stand-up act, and while he says that his primary source of inspiration is ‘me in the future’, there are a number of big influences to which he pays tribute. “As a kid, I was a really big fan of comedians Sam Kinison and Andrew Dice Clay,” he says. “I really like comics like Dave Attell, Ted Alexandro and Steven Wright. I also like professional wrestlers like ‘80s Hulk Hogan and Mankind, otherwise known as Mick Foley.”

For their raw sexuality, Tom Jones and Axl Rose are also inspirations. Of course, there are always those in the audience who don’t understand The World Champion, or who are threatened by his raw potency – those people, Friedlander insists, are sent home with free Justin Bieber tickets. “I look out for everyone,” he says.

Before letting Friedlander go, I have to nerd out and ask him a bit about 30 Rock. Frank’s look is very obviously based on his, but I’m curious to know how much influence Friedlander actually has in shaping the character. “The influence is a mix, and it’s changed over the years,” he replies. “The first couple seasons I had more of an influence, the past couple seasons less of an influence. The creative force behind the show has gotten, for me at least, more controlled by the writers. They were always the biggest force, but now even more so. I used to come up with lines more often, but that’s very rare this past season. It’s pretty much word for word from the script. We’re not really allowed to improvise. The hats I still make myself, and I write them as well.”

ans of 30 Rock will know Judah Friedlander as Frank, the slovenly writer seldom seen without his signature trucker hats and thick glasses. While playing Frank is Friedlander’s most high-profile gig to date, he still sees acting as a secondary profession. His primary love, he tells me, is stand-up comedy. Friedlander has performed stand-up in NYC and beyond almost every night since his late teens, sometimes doing two or three shows in the space of an evening. His act is known for its embrace of the absurd – if elected President, he says, he would make gay marriage mandatory and move Hawaii to Michigan in order to save time – and for its heavy emphasis on audience participation.

G IV EA W AY S

F

Lately, Friedlander has been performing as a character he calls The World Champion. A master of karate and any other sport you wish to name, The World Champion is the smartest and strongest and the best. His book, How To Beat Up Anybody, will teach you how to be victorious in any fight and Friedlander will soon bring his character to Australia for a series of shows. He tells me that he looks forward to imparting his accumulated wisdom and knowledge on the land down under: “People will learn karate just from being near me,” he explains. “When I’m in Australia it will be the safest place in the world… and New Zealand will be the most terrified place in the world.”

I ask Friedlander if his act includes any specific advice for Australian audiences – on how to successfully take on a kangaroo, say, or the ghost of Steve Irwin? “Well, I won’t be pandering, if that’s what you mean,” he says, “but I am willing to spread knowledge. I might talk about how I was kidnapped by kangaroos as a child – they taught me jumping techniques and I taught them how to box. That was before I was World Champ, yet I was still an expert.”

Aussies are nothing if not competitive, and if a challenger should arise, Friedlander is prepared. “The World Champion is always ready,” he says, “but The World Champion comes in peace. I have much respect for Australia. It’s a country where people still know

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hen ex-cage fighter Luke Wright (Jason Statham) saves a young Chinese girl called Mei (who happens to be a mathematical genius and has memorised the combination to a safe that contains thirty million dollars) he finds himself in a high-stakes game of hide and seek.

Word travels pretty swiftly through the criminal underworld, and soon everyone from corrupt New York cops to Chinese and Russian mafia mobsters are out to kidnap her. From the producer of Kill Bill and Inglorious Basterds, it’s safe to say that this epic action crime thriller is going to have you wishing you could buckle into your cushy cinema seats for safety.

ONLY AT THE MOVIES MAY 10 To win one of 20 EXCLUSIVE DOUBLE PASSES to the Sydney preview screening of SAFE at Event Cinemas George St on Wednesday May 9 at 6.30pm, email freestuff@thebrag.com and tell us what you’d do with thirty million dollars!

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Six seasons in, things may soon be winding up at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Every year around this time, Alec Baldwin makes noises about wanting to leave the show, and insists that its next season will be its last – he did this again recently. So what is Friedlander’s perspective?

He seems optimistic: “[Alec Baldwin] does that every year. I think he’ll do another year. I think he recently said publicly that if the show gets picked up – which it probably will, I’m told – he’ll do another season.” Even if the next season is the show’s last, Friedlander will still have his stand-up. The World Champion always survives.

What: Judah Friedlander – The World Champion When: Tuesday May 8, 7.30pm Where: The Factory Theatre / 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville More: factorytheatre.com.au

Judah Friedlander by Adrien Goulet

Of all Frank’s trucker hats with their everchanging slogans, my favourite is the one that simply says ‘THICK’ – I ask Friedlander if he’s ever had a hat vetoed by the network for being too provocative or sexual. “I think on that episode Frank was referring to the type of woman he likes, not necessarily his own body part,” he says coyly. “I self-censor obviously. I couldn’t wear a hat that says ‘GRAVE RAPER’ on it, for example, but I had one hat that said ‘BALLS’. They had to run it by the censors. I said it could be soccer balls, basketballs, and Carrie Fisher – Princess Leia! – who was guest starring on that episode, said ‘I thought you were a sophisticated gentleman who likes taking a lady to a ball’. That hat did clear in the end.”

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Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price and Teresa Palmer in Wish You Were Here

Semi-Permanent [DESIGN] Gut Instincts By Jacqueline Breen

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or a guy who hates talking about design, Andrew Johnstone talks a lot about design. Along with fellow Sydneysider Murray Bell, Johnstone is again putting his back in to Semi-Permanent, an annual two-day design talkfest. The event weaves together artists, illustrators, photographers, photojournalists, animators, filmmakers, web developers and all sorts of creative catalysts to share ideas, techniques and inspiration. It’s a funny place to find a designer who doesn’t like talking shop.

Wish You Were Here

[FILM] Blue-Tongue’s Next Bite By Dee Jefferson

A

nyone with even a passing interest in the Australian film industry has by now heard of Blue-Tongue Films – a constellation of filmmakers who for the past few years have been sweeping up awards at local and international festivals for their short films (most recently Miracle Fish and Bear), climaxing in 2010 with the release of Aussie crime blockbuster Animal Kingdom.

Formed back in the mid ‘90s, Blue-Tongue has grown around core members Nash and Joel Edgerton and actor-turned-writer/director Kieran Darcy-Smith – who went on to pull in directors David Michôd (Animal Kingdom) and Spencer Susser (Hesher), among others. Up until Sundance Film Festival in January this year, all but one of them had made their feature film debut – Darcy-Smith, whose Wish You Were Here debuted in competition and opened the festival. “Last cab off the rank,” the director chuckles good-naturedly.

Darcy-Smith spent his early 20s immersed in Sydney’s ‘80s pub rock scene (in a band called Feast Of Friends), before taking a right-hand turn into acting (“I don’t know what happened there,” he says shaking his head in disbelief), studying drama for three years at the University Of Western Sydney’s Nepean campus – where he met Joel Edgerton, who stars in Wish You Were Here. Famously, Blue-Tongue made their first short, a lo-fi crime-spree drama called Loaded, because Joel and Kieran needed show-reels, and Nash, who was working as a stuntman, wanted to lay down some car sequences. Darcy-Smith wrote, co-directed, acted and provided the heavy-rock score; he’d already been bitten by the filmmaking bug.

“Then I started dabbling in writing [during drama school] because I realised you could write your own pieces [as an actor] and then perform them for your assessments and so on,” he recalls. “And I think I recognised really early on that in this [industry], a screenplay is the best commodity you can have.”

Co-written by Darcy-Smith and his wife (and leading actress) Felicity Price, Wish You Were Here was inspired by a news snippet about a tourist who went missing. Opening with a vivid montage of two couples holidaying in Southeast Asia, the film takes a sinister turn after one of them disappears after a night of debauchery; back at home, the mysterious circumstances of that disappearance begin to erode the trust between the three ‘survivors’: Alice (Price), her husband Dave (Edgerton), and her sister Steph (Teresa Palmer).

Two things set Wish You Were Here apart from most other indie crime thrillers: a genuine sense of suspense, and an authentic sense of relationship dynamics that often cuts uncomfortably close to the bone. On the first, Darcy-Smith says, “I think writing a screenplay, in the craft of keeping the page turning – you know, you kick something up in the air, and it’s like starting a song on a chord and then you have to keep it suspended and keep the audience listening; I feel like there is a lot of ‘conducting’ involved.”

On writing the characters, Price says, “As actors we used those skills to imagine ourselves into a situation and go, ‘Well, what would I do? How would I react to this?’ And we put both of our sensibilities and life experiences into the script – in a way that perhaps would have been hard to achieve with just a female writer or just a male writer.”

“Also we were living with it, day in day out,” adds Darcy-Smith. “It wasn’t like organising meetings at the office with your co-writer – we were living and breathing this [every day]… We became infected by [the story] very early on – in the right way,” he hastens. “It’s always there, you’re always playing with it and contributing to it. It’s a wonderful way to live – a vocation rather than a job you go to.”

What: Wish You Were Here in cinemas now

When I bring up that quote from an old magazine interview, Johnstone laughs.

He’s kicked back at his wide desk in the whitewashed Surry Hills studio he and Bell share with an assistant and a stocky little American staffy called Bowie. “I probably should clarify that,” he laughs. “Speaking to actual humans about design is great and I’ll rabbit on for ages. I’m just not a fan of the analyticaltheory style writing that some publications employ. To me, design and art are about gut reactions.”

Happily, Johnstone’s gut took a liking to Murray Bell. The other half of Semi-Permanent strolled in to Johnstone’s studio back in 2000, and dropped off his design portfolio. The two didn’t cross paths that day, but Johnstone flipped through his book and liked the surf photography he saw. His gut said, ‘This kid’s got talent.

Maybe he and I will end up collaborating on an artistic event unparalleled in the southern hemisphere’. Over a few years, the boys built their super-popular Design Is Kinky website, attracted Diesel’s attention and received their backing to kick off a creative conference in Sydney.

After starting in Sydney, Semi-Permanent expanded to Melbourne and Auckland, and had its first Hong Kong hit last year. That experience was exactly what Bell needed. “I really engaged in the whole experience of Semi-Permanent as an audience member,” he says of Hong Kong.

Another member of SP took the reigns and, after nine years frantically running the show, the two co-founders got to watch it unfold. “So when I sat down to watch every presentation, I wasn’t tired or exhausted, or worrying if the projector was going to work properly,” Bell says. “I just sat there and enjoyed the presentations. I could see the excitement around the streets, looking at art on walls or standing in the line at the bar.”

They’re back this year refreshed, and they’ve changed some things up. The speaker lineup has expanded, and they’ve added a Google+ Hangout Session where creatives from around the globe will hook in live for an international brainstorm. If you go expecting a weekend of dry lectures and bland PowerPoint presentations you’ll leave disappointed.

Bell’s keen on Meirion Pritchard of Wallpaper’s presentation: “It seems to be everyone’s favourite magazine at one stage of their life.”

Johnstone is looking forward to Magnum

Murray Bell and Anthony Johnstone photographer David Alan Harvey, who’s been shooting straight for forty years now. There’s also music from Planet Love Sound at FBi Social, a music video competition and smaller master class sessions for the super keen.

With the conference three weeks away things are cranking up to warp speed for the little team. It is somewhat surprising then, to learn they are both nature fans at heart. Bell spends his spare time body boarding, and Johnstone likes escaping to the bush. He explains, “I first got totally astounded by nature when I drove into the Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park area on the South Island of New Zealand around three years ago. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was pretty much at that moment that I decided to try and travel to beautiful natural environments, rather than heading to cities.

Cities are great, but man will never be able to compete with the beauty and randomness of nature”.

What: Semi-Permanent Creative Conference When: May 11-12 Where: Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre / Darling Harbour More: semipermanent.com

Keep Smiling! The Housewife’s Guide [THEATRE] Right For The Role By Alasdair Duncan

art Mad Men, part Desperate Housewives, Keep Smiling! The Housewife’s Guide is a delicious and scandalous slice of period drama. The play tells the story of a group of housewives at a gathering in the prim and proper ‘60s, and then looks at what happens when the veneer of civility begins to slip. “The play is set in 1967, the later part of that decade, which was a turning point,” explains actor and co-creator Stephanie Son. “You had the women’s liberation movement, the hippie movement, all of these big shifts that were starting to occur. The way we explored that is through a group of characters who grew up mostly in the ‘50s, in the older world, and are affected by a character who comes in called Miss Newcomer – she’s a younger woman, and she has the potential to change and shift and throw things out of whack, because she represents the ideals of this new generation.”

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In the play’s heightened reality, the characters all have names that draw on archetypes. Son, for example, plays a woman named Eye On The Prize. “My character is a bit of a Jackie O wannabe,” she explains. “She’s a politician’s wife who is obsessed with her position in society, constantly trying to climb. She’s interesting in the ways that she relates to the other women, because she wants to be on everyone’s side, but at the same time, not get too involved in their problems. She tends to pretend she knows 28 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

how to do stuff, even though she’s not entirely sure – she pretends she can cook, for example, even though she can’t really cook, which in the ‘60s is a big deal. It’s quite an interesting dilemma to play. The drama comes from what happens when you have to uphold the perfect image, and hide the cracks underneath it. It explores what happens when a group of women get together, and what happens when the facades begin to crack.”

In a further intriguing twist, the women of Keep Smiling! are inspired by the women of Shakespeare, and in fact, perform some of his more famous monologues during the course of the play. “The whole thing started off with us taking monologues that we felt embraced the issues women deal with,” Son explains, “and also, we just chose ones that we really wanted to perform. One of the characters gives a speech based on Emilia’s from Othello, and we’ve also got Katherine’s speech from The Taming Of The Shrew. We draw upon the comedies as well as the tragedies and histories – we were really interested in the idea of taking them out of their original context and putting them in an entirely new context, just to see what would happen.”

The play is a production by The Colour Blind Project, the theatre company that Son and a friend started, to try and encourage fair representation for actors from multicultural

The Colour Blind Project

backgrounds. “We left drama school and went into the industry, and found we were always getting sent to castings for a very narrow set of roles. I found myself constantly auditioning for Thai Prostitute or Chinese Boat Person or Asian Immigrant,” she says with a rueful laugh. “We’d heard similar stories from a lot of other actors, so we decided to create a theatre company whose aim was taking actors from all different cultural backgrounds, but casting them in non-culturally specific roles. The idea of colour-blind casting has

caught on in England and America but not here so much yet, and we’re hoping to change that.

The idea is that if you’re good enough, you can play the role.”

What: Keep Smiling! The Housewife’s Guide When: May 1-19 Where: Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Dr, Bondi Beach

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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.

The Five Year Engagement

■ Film

THE FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT In Cinemas May 3 Fulfilling the expectation of its rom-com genre, and living up to the acclaim of its predecessors (Bridesmaids, Get Him To The Greek) this film sets another brick in the foundation that epitomises the popular entertainment experience of our time. The Five Year Engagement maps the misadventures of a young, successful, happy go-lucky, quirky, love-at-first-sight kind of couple, Violet (Emily Blunt) and Tom (Jason Segel), trying to make it down the aisle. However, due to contemporary pressures and career dreams, they constantly find themselves in a situation that delays their happy day.

22 girls smoking weed

PICS :: TL

The couple’s unraveling relationship is displayed through a series of set backs over a five year period, and the humour and witty off-kilter banter is guided by the interactions with and interferences of their combined families, whose dialogue serves as a running commentary. The momentum builds with absurd honesty (that would mostly be left unsaid in real world situations) and this adds to the pressure to tie the knot. It is unbearably, ridiculously funny; even for the tightest of poker faces.

19:04:12 :: The Old Doctor Pong's :: 1A Burton St Darlinghurst

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

MA. GALLERY THIRD BIRTHDAY Saturday May 19 from 8pm Oxford Art Factory 38-46 Oxford St, Sydney Art ahoy! ma. gallery is turning three and will be blowing out the birthday candles at Oxford Art Factory, Saturday May 19. This is gearing up to be the slickest shindig since Jim Hawkins got his hands on Captain Flint’s booty* so prepare to swindle your way (or just be a doll and pay the $10 cover) into this treasuretrove of unearthly delights. You’ll get spiced rum shots on arrival, the glass cube will be converted into a Sailor Jerry tattooing installation for the bands, artists and the ma. gals themselves to get inked up on the night. When you’re not distracted by this masochistic display of artistic excellence or the epic art murals from talented locals Jumbo, Esjay, Bennett, John Hynd and Jaxie Yael you’ll be shaking your own prized booty to La Mancha Negra, Glitter Canyon, Walk On By, Kill City Creeps and Mother & Son. *Yes! A semi-irrelevant, mildly homoerotic Treasure Island reference!

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The supporting cast, including our very own Jackie Weaver (Violet's mother), marries the experience with a sympathetic parody of mainstream, middle-class life. It is light hearted and candid, whilst maintaining sensitivity to the familiar romantic clichés that will no doubt resonate with audiences’ personal experiences.

There are hilarious moments delivered in a playful yet earnest way through the two truly, madly, deeply leads Blunt and Segel, who also wrote the screen play.

Their characters appear perfectly cast as predictably normal, middle of the road people, with middle of the road kinds of problems to solve in a middle of the road kind of world. On the one hand The Five Year Engagement is a piss-take on mushy romantic gestures and social norms, yet on the other hand it creates a secret covenant with our weakness for all those clichés. In the end it is all about being able to have a good laugh at yourself and fight for the good things in life, whether marriage, kids or a successful career is what defines ‘happiness’ for you or not.

This was actually a laugh-out-loud movie, particularly for everyone around me, but then again I’m mostly a laugh-on-theinside kind of person.

By Saha Jones ■ Comedy

JAY & SILENT BOB GET OLD Friday April 20 / The Enmore Theatre A new episode is available every week on iTunes.

If you’re not a fan of the films, you’d almost certainly hate this show. For the full house

at the Enmore on Friday night, however, it was magic. These days, ‘Silent Bob’ is something of a misnomer. Having all but retired from directing, raconteur Kevin Smith has made an art form of simply chatting with his friends.

Their rockin’ hot and ever-supportive wives, Jennifer Schwalbach and Jordan Monsanto, introduced the show proclaiming that if their husbands could make us laugh they’d be getting seriously laid afterwards. With the tone very much set, Smith and Jason Mewes took the stage to their very own theme song and the crowd erupted.

For those who don’t know, Jay & Silent Bob was set up as a weekly podcast intervention in early 2007 as a way to keep Mewes from relapsing into heroine addiction. His willingness to talk about every aspect of his life in excruciating detail is as admirable as it is hilarious, especially when it concerns spending the entire day trying to convince his wife to fuck on the hotel balcony.

Smith’s expressive storytelling and impressive vocabulary of filth is met with waves of laughter, and he takes great pleasure in explaining his depressing afternoon spent watching the tanned surfers at Bondi (the audience cheerfully correcting his pronunciation). The two bounce off each other effortlessly, as can be expected of old friends, Smith constantly reminding Mewes to stay on-mic as he mimes the varied sex acts that make up his life story.

Before long it’s time to play ‘Let Us Fuck’, a crowd participation game in which several audience members get up on stage and simulate a made-up sex position (‘Ewok Cockblock’ anyone?) with Mewes. Although always funny, I took the opportunity to sneak out and wait at stage door. As they walked out I gave a small wave. Kevin waved back with a loud “Hey man!” and motioned me over. He even let me give him a hug. You know how they say you shouldn’t meet your heroes? Yeah, it’s bullshit. They were amazing.

Come back soon guys, and bring Mosier and Garman!

By Robbie Miles ■ Film

THE AVENGERS Released April 25 What do you get when you cross a bitter Asgardian god and an embattled alien race with conquest on the brain?

An enemy far too large for any one of your movie franchises to tackle alone.

Thus comes Marvel’s The Avengers, the coming together of their Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Incredible Hulk franchises in a cross-over epic unparalleled in cinematic history. Tack on a couple of ancillary characters with their own spin-off potential in Hawkeye, Black Widow and overseer Nick Fury and you have the Avengers team – a hopelessly incompatible group of gods, monsters, soldiers and tech-nerds handed the

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.

directive to save the world and break box office records, a task that, for heroes and filmmakers alike, is no mean feat.

Whether utilising Kenneth Branagh’s Shakespearean chops in Thor, or Jon Favreau’s quick-witted sleaze in Iron Man, Marvel Studios have proven they’re no chumps when it comes to curating the personnel behind their films. So considering Joss Whedon’s track record (Buffy, Firefly) in making tortured families out of delightfully mismatched sci-fi teams, there was always going to be a good chance of getting The Avengers right, and yes, Marvel have done it again. There’s no one who quite does a personality clash in the face of life-threatening disaster like Whedon; interstellar battles becoming spats at the family dinner table, all sound-tracked by explosions and twisting metal. It’s a film that is more than just the successful collision of worlds, but one that legitimises postulations of Whedon’s mettle as a film director.

The real achievement with The Avengers isn’t the creation of the blockbuster though – that much looks after itself – it’s the successful presentation of an extraordinary tale with parallels to the real world, all whilst retaining the heart of the characters in question. There are undertones of Nazi Germany, child soldiers and the war on terror, all hinted at through dialogue and deeply personal asides. Much of this lies in Scarlett Johannson’s Black Widow – the hardened woman faced with the torture of responsibility that lies at the heart of so many of Whedon’s creations.

Four years of build-up and some of the biggest sights, sounds and personalities ever shared on the silver screen make The Avengers quite possibly the biggest film ever made; yet the heart is never lost, moments of nuanced emotion and comedy are all present in spite of the film’s supersized scope.

Max Easton

Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in The Avengers

FOOD

26 APRIL – 20 MAY DOWNSTAIRS BELVOIR ST THEATRE

By STEVE RODGERS Directors KATE CHAMPION & STEVE RODGERS A co-production with FORCE MAJEURE

BOOKINGS 02 9699 3444 BELVOIR.COM.AU/FOOD

Street Level With Ranko Markovic a comedian and actor, but try and pitch it to someone without them having seen the ‘bit’ for themselves, it’s tough. Or trying pitching The Mighty Boosh or Tim & Eric Awesome Show!

Comedy is visually based through performance, timing and character expression. I wanted to have a platform whereby I could develop, unearth and find an audience for a particular actor, character or comic team. I’ve always said, ‘Why isn’t Australia making films or TV shows like Borat, Little Britain or Superbad? What can people watch online?’ We at RatedComedy let the audience decide what’s funny or not – that’s why we have a rate or hate system. Comedy is an art form, so we try not to be subjective with the submissions. We do, however, require a level of quality in the video production unless it’s a ‘so bad it's so good’ clip, like Turkish Star Trek which is one of our most popular clips. But on RatedComedy you can find popular videos like Crazy Nick, Alex Williamson, Paul Ayre, The Nichols Brothers and Cookin Peaches to name a few.

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Ranko Markovic photo by Buster Photograhy

ver wondered why damn-funny Aussie comedy has always remained such a rarity on our screens? Why we’re still waiting for our own Borats or Superbads to stick their fingers into the Aussie cultural (meat) pie? Well, the wait may well be over, thanks to property investor turned online comedy portal entrepreneur, Ranko Markovic. He’s made a back door entrance, bypassing television and film channels, to bring comedy straight to audiences via a new website, RatedComedy.

What’s the concept behind RatedComedy and what sparked the idea? Prior to RatedComedy, there was no central local online platform that showcased new talent or existing established comedians in Australia.

RatedComedy provides comedy content makers an audience online. I wanted to create a website that’s easy for audiences to discover good Australian comedy skits.

Have you always been into comedy?

Comedy has always been a passion of mine, and being a film and TV producer I have found it hard to pitch comedy concepts to TV networks or film distributors. Let’s take Will Ferrell for example: we all know his style as

hanna mangan-lawrence

viva bianca adam sinclair

kristin kreuk

billy boyd

carlo rota

Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy a chemical romance based on the book by Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting

"fantastic! the film absolutely rocks.”

Irvine Welsh

What do you think is unique about Australian comedy? Our quirkiness and dry sense of humour. Lately we have been receiving gems with a darker side and left-ofcentre style of comedy skits, which I am a fan of.

How do emerging comics get their videos featured on the site? They send us their video or a YouTube link to their video and we view each and every one of them. Then, if we feel they are of good production quality, we simply feature them.

One of your feature clips, Honourable Discharge, has recently been picked up for this year’s LA Short Film Festival lineup. What’s it about and how did it get selected? I don’t want to give too much away about the skit but it was directed and produced

by Jeremy Brull and stars Paul Ayre, Nick Boshier and Hannah Bath. It was sent to the LA Comedy Festival for their consideration and fortunately it was selected. It’s a great clip with a classic delivery. Very proud of them!

What: Check out ratedcomedy.com to see the best new comedic Aussie talents

WWW.ECSTASYMOVIE.COM Strong drug themes, drug use, sex scene and coarse language.

now showing

Hoyts Broadway Hoyts Cinema Paris xthemovie.com.au BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 31

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK have fit easily on Icky Thump or Satan (if you’re only here for whatever scraps of Stripes you can scavenge: ‘Sixteen Saltines’ and ‘Take Me With You When You Go’ are your best bets) but the overall feel is more laidback than The White Stripes ever were.

JACK WHITE Blunderbuss Sony Music

Blunderbuss is like visiting new ground in a familiar country; it’s almost a passive product, inviting you to explore it rather than getting in your face.

Jack White is really just a romantic. All workaholics, visionaries, and perfectionists are romantics of course, and White appears to be all three of these; but it’s hard not to hear a song like the bare-bones ‘Love Interruption’ as a manifesto born of the dissolution of his second marriage. (And his third, if you count The White Stripes as a relationship separate from his marriage to Meg.) ‘I want love to roll me over slowly/stick a knife inside me and twist it all around,’ he sings wryly, speaking to the abstracted, delicious turmoils we always associate with love when we’re not deep in it.

White’s first solo record is not his first extra-Stripes venture, but it’s the first with his name only, and in many ways there are no surprises here. Several songs would

RAPIDS

THE DANDY WARHOLS

Holland Air Ratbag Music This debut EP from Sydney quartet RAPIDS is striking in two ways. First is the evident delight the RAPIDS boys derive from cheekily revelling in the portrayal of badass-ness. The disquiet of Jamie Timony’s octavejumping vocals in ‘The Phillip, The Hawk’ is amplified when he later asks ‘Why should I put up with it?...

Working for the man is the curse of mankind.’

Meanwhile, the repercussions of attempting to export some of Holland’s air are laboured in ‘Shoppe Sorry’ (Don’t go hopping on that jet if you’ve got something that smells/the dogs are trained and well able to restore your sense in hell). The precise meaning of ‘The Ants Are Armada’ is unclear, but it’s undoubtedly about something scintillatingly naughty. Whatevs, I’m not about to take issue with anyone that enjoys ending a song by repeating the mantra ‘I cut fast and I cut real deep, baby’ (‘Cut Fast’).

So RAPIDS are somewhat bodacious.

Also noticeable is the way in which they mostly live up to their selfappointed ‘post-indie’ genre on this release. Sure, Timony’s vocal inflection is occasionally reminiscent of Anthony ‘Kings Of Leon’ Followill, the guitar sound on the album might sometimes bring to mind that of Franz Ferdinand and, at times, a psychedelic bend similar to Cloud Control is undeniable (possibly resulting from RAPIDS’ use of Bliss Release producer Liam Judson). But, for the most part, the cerise conifers adorning the cover of Holland Air augur RAPIDS’ otherworldly and refreshing sound.

With a ‘Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against? Whadda you got?’ kind of swagger and a fresh sound, RAPIDS confidently demarcate their territory.

Andrew Yorke

Thirteen Tales and Monkey House worked because they had a sense of humour as well as good songs – crucial in balancing the band’s faintly ridiculous, ambiguously actual selfregard – and felt true to their slacker roots. But the three between Monkey and Machine were overstuffed and undercooked attempts at exactly the sort of posey art shit that their best songs make a point of ripping on.

This Machine swings wildly the other way – there are some terrific noises here but most of them belong to other bands, and it all sounds a bit throwaway. Courtney Taylor ditches his trademark breathy drawls for Iggy Pop’s stiff, sardonic recitative more than once ('I was the prettiest little shitty in the whole Nu Yawk City’ he intones on ‘Enjoy Yourself’).

‘Well They’re Gone’ apes (as it were) Gorillaz’ spindly-limbed, threadbare trip-hop production; the vaudevillian growl and stomp of Merle Travis' cover ‘16 Tons’ sounds like a goofier ‘Human Fly’; they throw a cheerfully juddering Who-style riff into the brassy power-pop manifesto ‘I'm Free’.

I’d chide a younger band for this blatant emulation; but even the most derivative tracks are delivered with affection, energy and a sense of fun, and everywhere else they’re happy to sound like their old selves, only older and wiser.

This is a fun listen, if not a classic, and possibly bodes well for a proper return to form.

Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin Welsh

THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE

This Machine Inertia After they basically perfected their stoner-psych sound on 2000’s mildly concept-y breakout Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia and then turned it on its head with the synth-based Welcome To The Monkey House, The Dandy Warhols seemed to decide that reassembling each album around a new totem or ideal was the best way forward.

Hamming it up on a faithful Little Willie John cover (‘I’m Shakin’’) or a pantomime blues lullaby like ‘I Guess I Should Go To Sleep’, or as earnest as we’ve seen him on (the possibly Meg-ward) ‘Hypocritical Kiss’ and the title track, the most distinct feature of Blunderbuss is its warmth. It snaps to attention and unfurls richly by turns, weaving in rich piano and full-band arrangements with White’s idiosyncratic wry humour, whimsical phrasing and formal tips of the hat to classic American songwriting, without the sense of proscenium-arch performance that could, at times, make The White Stripes feel a little distant.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

The album marks the return of founding member Matt Hollywood – AWOL since 1999’s Bringing It All Back Home Again – and his guitar work can be heard prominently throughout.

The sound of birds chirping begins track one, ‘Panic In Babylon’, before some Middle Eastern sounds take over, hitting on a mesmerising riff that drives the track. Only the sound of a Kookaburra laughing its head off breaks the trance, before a rooster crows to signal the start of ‘Viholliseni Maalla’, a propulsive jam sung in Finnish.

One of the great strengths Anton Newcombe (and whoever happens to make up the BJM during a particular time) have always had is the power to make engrossing, entrancing songs based on nothing more than a repeating riff, or one prominent instrument soloing over a sound bed.

Aufheben contains a handful of tracks like ‘I Wanna Hold Your Other Hand’ and ‘Face Down On The Moon’ which contain this quality.

Since attracting wider infamy (thanks to that film), Newcombe seemed like he was trying to make music that was the antithesis of what people were expecting. With Aufheben, it seems like he’s more at peace with the past without being shackled by it.

It probably isn’t the first BJM album to buy if you’re a newcomer but if you dig their catalogue, this is a worthy addition.

Michael Hartt

Wainwright has built a career straddling scenes, his songs being a touch too clever, archly ironic and camp for the mainstream; a touch too bouncily upbeat for an alternative scene fixated on finding the next group of guitar-flaunting ‘indie darlings’. None of which has prevented him from becoming a touchstone for goodnessknows how many young piano-based songwriters who want no truck with the likes of Elton John, or an audience primed for his cabaret stylings by the ongoing juggernaut of musical theatre.

His last few projects have reflected this unsettled placement. His set of Judy Garland covers attracted capacity crowds and DVD sales without providing much in the way of creative development, while its follow-up, the brutally stripped back Songs For Lulu, saw Wainwright rely on his piano skills to produce some of his most technically complex, musically daring and unequivocally beautiful songs to date.

But despite his undoubted virtuosity, the record was perhaps too difficult, even for his most dedicated followers.

With Out Of The Game, Wainwright has returned to the kind of lushly produced orchestral pop that characterised previous efforts such as the Want records and Release the Stars. There’s songs dealing with love (‘Song Of You’), heartbreak (‘Bitter Tears’) and artistic dissolution (‘Welcome To The Ball’), with Wainwright throwing down immaculate lyrics with careless ease.

Foregoing the mannered classicisms that have marked much of his previous work, many songs here feature synths; ‘Barbara’ and particularly ‘Perfect Man’ possess an almost ‘80s cosmopolitanism better seen lately on Dan Bejar’s Kaputt.

Perhaps not the work of someone at the top of their game, this record at least marks a determined attempt to get back into it.

Oliver Downes

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK FATHER JOHN MISTY Fear Fun Sub Pop/Inertia Father John Misty is the nom de plume of J. Tillman, the former drummer for Fleet Foxes. At their best, that band are inspired interpreters of Americana, translating centuries-old folk traditions into the language of the 21st; at their worst, their tendency to overproduce strips the humanity out of songs ostensibly about universal human experiences.

On Fear Fun, Tillman takes the artificial and grounds it in a folk tradition, transforming the sleaze and grime of

32 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

West Hollywood showbiz excess into a rollicking, old-world adventure complete with Canadian shamans, The Rolling Stones, and Heidegger and Sartre drinking poppy tea in the corner. These characters and scenarios are familiar – young, drugged-up, beautiful people indulging in Hollywood hedonism – but grounding their experiences in songs of the soil adds a sepia-tinted romanticism to it all, imbuing the characters with a sense of tragedy and despair and elevating the record above the thousands of pop/rock/glam/whatever songs inspired by the Viper Room that are released every year, destined for a bargain bin near you.

There are tracks that sound like Basement Tapes-era Dylan, Elton John’s cowboy

period, even Fleet Foxes themselves, but Tillman makes it work with clever, pointed, spare songwriting and his warm, versatile voice full of personality, and even though he spends much of this album sounding like other people, you never lose sight of the man at the centre of it all. And ‘Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings’ is not only the best song ever written about drugged-out graveyard sex, it is also the best song of 2012 so far.

Who knows what his departure means for Fleet Foxes, but if Tillman has more records in him like this I don’t think anyone is going to mind.

Hugh Robertson

Master Of My Make Believe Atlantic/Warner

Out Of The Game Atlantic UK/Universal

Aufheben Riot House/Inertia Never a group to make the same album twice, The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s 13th studio album forgoes the more abrasive, alienating elements of the previous two albums (My Bloody Underground and Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?) in favour of mellow, electronica coupled with elements which hark back to their earlier work.

SANTIGOLD

It always seemed like Santi White was more a victim of her aesthetic sensibilities than the master of them. From the word go, she’s managed to fall in with every top-line producer in the various worlds her music inhabits. Sometimes it works (Diplo) and other times it bombs (Greg Kurstin, strangely) but on her sophomore release, at least her vision is a bit more coherent.

That’s not to say that Santi’s characteristic deadpan-cum-yelp isn’t leapfrogging over every genre under the sun, but rather that she seems to be in the driver’s seat more often.

The presence that she’s added to all her friends’ tracks since 2008 is finally being applied properly to her own music, which is pretty exciting.

‘Disparate Youth’ marks the first time in recent alternative music memory that Atlantic Records have actually picked a lead single that works. That trip-hop beat, overlaid with the aggressive guitars and reggae synths, is the kind of aural pastiche that hip kids live for and will nicely break up any monotonous triple j playlist.

It may be that in the singles era, Santigold’s one of the first major label artists to realise that a set of completely incongruous but alluring single tracks is more useful than the regular statement of intent that is a conventional album.

Thus we get the minimal ‘Look At These Hoes’ sitting right next to the ‘80s pop of ‘The Keepers’, with producers like Q-Tip nestling next to Dave Sitek.

It’s still the offbeat, Jamaican-inspired jams that play to her strengths the most, but with this collection, Santigold is firing at multiple outlets and audiences at once. Something will stick for (almost) everyone, which is certainly one mission accomplished.

The hottest tip of three years ago finally, fully, lives up to her name.

Jonno Seidler

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

N.W.A. - Family Tree TIM HECKER - Ravedeath 1972 AZEALIA BANKS - Broke With Expensive Taste

JONI MITCHELL - Blue LOWER PLENTY - Hard Rubbish

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

COLD CHISEL, LANIE LANE Hordern Pavilion Wednesday April 18

Under Lanie Lane’s eye, the Hordern tonight becomes the scene of a Hollywood Western shootout, the femme fatale and her audience duelling at ten paces. Lane fires out a series of clever mid-tempo blues numbers, the punters fire back blank stares. Backed by a three-piece band and their beautiful vintage instruments, Lane’s shots are the only ones that hit: she wins friends with soulful renditions of ‘Like Me Meaner’ and ‘Ain’t Hungry’, among other radio-friendly creations. There’s a touch of the show tune about them, and a subtly seductive touch of the showgirl about Lanie Lane.

Any sense of subtlety evaporates the moment Cold Chisel take their mark. Jimmy Barnes needn’t take much time introducing himself and the band to this heaving gathering of old friends, and so he doesn’t.

Even the audiences watching it live at a hundred cinemas around the country receive only a brief tip of the hat as the band commits its airtime to a litany of booming classics – riff after riff, scream after scream, from ‘Standing On The Outside’ through ‘Goodbye (Astrid, Goodbye)’. The newer tracks taken from this year’s No Plans release – ‘HQ454 Monroe’ and ‘All For You’ among them – seem obvious on record, but in this context they work nicely too.

If there’s one voice in Australia that can rise above a devoted and desperate crowd singing every word to ‘Cheap Wine’, ‘Choirgirl’ and ‘Khe Sanh’ at such volume, it belongs to Jimmy Barnes. But the gig isn’t all about decibels, fists in the air and Barnesy’s shiny leather pants.

At stage right, Ian Moss keeps this group grounded in the blues, offering through guitar and vocals the tender musical voice for which he’s worshipped.

POND, THE LAURELS, GOOCH PALMS The Standard Thursday April 19

Jesus, every time I venture to The Standard, it’s full of the most gorgeous people I’ve ever seen. In a faded NBA t-shirt and old jeans, I always feel the need to retreat to some shadowy corner and hide my fashion mediocrity from groups of bohemian girls and bearded, tattooed dudes. Tonight, as WA’s Pond get ready to launch their fourth album, it was no different. From my seat overlooking the bar, local gods like Craig Nicholls and Daniel Johns were seen milling around, as well as a swathe of Surry Hills’ finest.

Boyfriend-girlfriend trash punk duo Gooch Palms had first slot. With guitarist Leroy McQueen in his boxers and drummer Kat Friend rocking a KB Beer tee, they launched into thirty minutes of Ramonesesque (a band they unapologetically idolise) three-chord garage punk, and occasional Frankie Valli falsetto interludes. They were abrasive, loud, stupid and fucking awesome.

At the other extreme end of the sound spectrum are Sydney’s ethereal The Laurels. With not one whisper to the crowd throughout their entire set, they rode, heads bowed, through feedback and noise, into some excellent shoegaze moments. Sound quality wasn’t on their side though, with the majority of the vocals getting lost in the fuzz. Those that could be heard though, especially from singer Piers Cornelius (whose voice seemed to pierce the veil of sonic haze a little better than Luke O’Farrell) showed serious songwriting talent.

Although the show seems to drag on as it nears its close – some of these songs have faded more obviously than others – the band’s energy hasn’t dropped to any measurable degree. Cold Chisel won’t write another ‘Flame Trees’, but someone else will. Until then, these legends of Aussie pub rock continue to throw parties like it’s 1979 – and it still feels right, even though the stages are bigger and the beers are more expensive.

Headliners Pond had just arrived back from ten tequila-soaked days of SXSW festivities. Clearly, the party hadn’t stopped. Drunk and sloppy, they were a perfect embodiment of their bombastic, psychedelic riffage.

Their diminutive frontman had the presence of Jagger, while still looking like the kind of under-age, tweakedout troublemaker that you would avoid on a train. He constantly looked lost, falling around the stage (and crowd), inebriated to the point of no return, yet (impressively) rarely missed a beat. The band was just as sharp.

Even when mistakes were made, it just seemed to endear them more to the crowd. They treated everyone to the majority of their new album Beard, Wives, Denim including the well-received ‘Fantastic Explosion Of Time’ and ‘You Broke My Cool’. At the end of the show I’d felt like I’d drunk a case of beer, dumped a tab of acid, then launched onto a two-kilometrelong, dishwashing-liquid-coated Slip ‘n Slide.

Chris Martin

Rick Warner

Moss’ solos don’t burn, they steam.

Barnes spends most of the evening singing at the guitarist’s side, while Don Walker, Phil Small and new drummer Charley Drayton play humble servants to the towering presence of the music.

DIG IT UP! THE HOODOO GURUS INVITATIONAL

expanded to include shows in most capital cities. When the lineup dropped, so did the collective jaws of fans Australia-wide, with the rare lineup of reformed legends playing alongside young filthy punks too good to resist.

There was a man flashing his bare arse from the stage of a lesbian hot-spot. There were pterodactyls circling the grand upper echelons of the Enmore Theatre. And there was the surprise act, billed as Kids In Dust, reforming for the first time in several millennia. It was Dig It Up!, and it was the best damn Sunday this town has seen in many a year.

Newcastle duo Gooch Palms got us underway in the welcoming climes of The Sly Fox. Any concerns about sound quality were dismissed when frontman Leroy started headbutting the microphone. Slaying the room with furiously aggro songs, the man wouldn’t be stopped by the blood pissing from his forehead. He mooned the crowd whilst cohort Kat cracked quick lines and slow drum rolls. Plus they had a theremin, which was rad and only marginally distracted from the fact that Leroy has a beautifully versatile baritone.

Enmore Theatre, Notes Newtown, Sly Fox Hotel, The Green Room Sunday April 22

Originally devised by The Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of his band’s debut single, ‘Leilani’, the concept behind the event was to bring together a bunch of bands that the Gurus have been influenced by, played with or rate as up-and-comers, for one whole day of tight tunes. As support for the concept swelled, the event was

The Sunnyboys, performing under their original moniker Kids In Dust, lumbered across the stage of The Enmore – and everyone lost their shit. They were obviously stoked to be there, and Jeremy

OUR PHOTOGRAPHER :: TIM LEVY

MARK LANEGAN The Hi-Fi Friday April 20

Over the last two-and-a-half decades, Mark Lanegan has worked in a variety of formats that showcase his plethora of skills – from the grunge of Seattle’s Screaming Trees through his time in Josh Homme’s rocking Queens Of The Stone Age and more recently, three collaborative albums with former Belle And Sebastian singer Isobel Campbell.

Tonight he’s back performing in the format he prefers, unhampered by any instrument other than that deep-arse baritone he drags out to slay ‘em all in the aisles. The tour is billed under the name of his album from last year, Blues Funeral, and though the band that joins him on stage tonight may have helped plumb the murky depths of his soul, they also succeeded in summoning up the rotten corpse of blues with each and every note that was struck.

Oxley has an incredibly deft touch, so it probably didn’t matter that they were pretty flat and just rolled out tracks like ‘Liar’ and ‘Happy Man’. By the time ‘Alone With You’ closed the set, the air was thick with so much mid-life excitement that the track’s execution was inconsequential.

Nipping across the road to catch the second half of Belles Will Ring was a boost, with the Blue Mountaineers’ voices swirling together magnificently amid some wicked licks. Back to The Enmore for Redd Kross; these Californians were old, had amazing hair and rocked harder than anything else all day. Frontman Jeff McDonald strutted about like the demon offspring of Jagger, Iggy and a weasel, while his brother Steven howled down the house.

Royal Headache packed out Notes, with an even mix of young and old curiously watching what all the fuss was about. Not many people were down the front dancing, but perhaps that’s the way it goes once you start scoring arena support slots.

Lanegan and co. opened with the lead single from Blues Funeral, ‘The Gravedigger’s Song’, the effect slightly dampened by the fact that, despite being a relatively narrow room, Lanegan’s words were too often lost in its lofty heights before they reached the back half of the crowd.

Blues Funeral is far meatier than its predecessors, and Lanegan’s live presentation of the tracks was immensely engaging, despite the fact that his onstage demeanour suggested he hadn’t even noticed the audience. His powerhouse drummer added real thrust to tracks that occasionally veer off into bizarre Euro-trance territory. It didn’t matter that Lanegan ignored any banter with the crowd: in spite of occasional sound issues, this was fine songwriting, delivered with murderous intent.

Benjamin Cooper

De-camping back to The Enmore for the rest of the evening was only natural. Died Pretty’s Ron Peno is a jumpy and slightly unnerving spectacle – completely at odds with the dignified grace of the fellows who followed. The Sonics have been around since 1963, and nearly half a century later the five dudes from Tacoma, Washington, were the worthy cult draw-card of the festival. Bass player Freddie Dennis was a powder keg of screeching excitement, with his renditions of ‘Louie, Louie’ and ‘Have Love Will Travel’ drawing gasps. Granted, many of these gasps were in admiration that his aorta hadn’t exploded, but the dude was bouncin’ around like nobody’s business.

As the ‘Gurus closed out the evening with a magic singalong of their ballad ‘1000 Miles’, endless bald heads bobbed happily out onto Enmore Road. Faulkner himself got it right in the introduction to the day’s program: "Years from now, everyone else will be saying ‘you shoulda been there."

Benjamin Cooper

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 33

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More than The Cure since 1989 with Murray Engleheart

The inaugural Dig It Up! festival was an absolute revelation. Band after band had us thinking we were witnessing the greatest rock‘n’roll act on the planet – and then an hour later when the next outfit took the stage, we were recasting that opinion. Let’s start with The Fleshtones, who caught us by surprise: rather than the cheesy Farfisa-organ-driven thing we somehow remember, they were garage titans with simple choreographed stage moves and numerous trips into the audience. Guitarist, Keith Streng looked like Kenneth from 30 Rock and was garage punk’s own Angus Young. They finished by playing their way through the crowd and out the back of the Enmore. The return of The Sunnyboys as Kids In The Dust had plenty of folks in tears. Jeremy Oxley has been to hell and back over the past few decades and it was he who fittingly took the stage first.

Like the man reborn that he is, he sang and played guitar like a young god, with the band beaming behind him through a set of sparkling, utterly classic songs. A true triumph that was appropriately met with thunderous calls for an encore that scheduling simply didn’t allow for. Just down the street at Notes, former Dream Syndicate main-man Steve Wynn bobbed – literally – through a great set of old and new with Linda Pitmon (his wife) beating the hell out of the drums behind him. Hearing the DS’s ‘That’s What You Always Say’ was a real treat. Back up at the Enmore, Tek & Younger (Radio Birdman’s Rob Younger and Deniz Tek along with The Birdies’ Chris Masuak) ploughed through a set of ‘Detroit’ greatest-hits – that is Birdman and the like – to a large crowd. Tek still looks and acts like a 20-year-old guitar hero, and the inclusion of a version of The Lipstick Killers’ ‘Hindu Gods (Of Love)’ was a particularly cool move. Redd Kross? Heck, they must be the only band that has ever existed that intimately understands what makes The Beatles, Kiss and Black Flag tick. Next up were Died Pretty, who once again displayed their stunning catalogue of great sweeping pop. They really shoulda been the champs the first time. And towering master guitarist Brett Myers should make Rolling Stone’s list of Top 100 Guitarists each and every time. Which brings us to The Sonics – the guys who were still in their late teens when they hit it ‘big’ in the early ‘60s; they could have gone the cabaret route and played a medley of their classics and just had their mere presence carry the moment, but there was zero dilution of their savagery from back in the day, with the most primal sounds courtesy of guitarist Larry Parypa. It was the original

band, save for the drummer and bassist, whose back-from-the-grave type vocals were ironically every bit as evil as those first delivered almost 50 years back by keyboard player Gerry Roslie. The Stones stopped sounding even remotely as raw as this 45 years ago. And The Sonics’ average age? Around 68. But it was the Hoodoo Gurus’ night, the alternate Cold Chisel in the best possible way. They’ve been around the block in several directions and amassed a huge jukebox of hits that drew to varying degrees on many of the acts that preceded them at Dig It Up! They delivered with all guns blazing and closed what we – for more than one – are hoping will become an annual affair and another burst of the sense of community that the event oozed. There’s no longer any need to feel alone when pining over missing out on that original Moving Sidewalks’ single, Cramps bootleg or Milkshakes LP at the Glebe Record Fair.

After Dig It Up! you know that there’s plenty of other folks who would have killed for them too. Finally, a Dig It Up! random fact: The Sonics are managed by the former bass player from another bunch of ‘60s punk pioneers from the Seattle area, The Wailers. He’s 71.

my heart space It’s called: Carmella Baynie – album launch It sounds like: Food for the soul; pop roots meets mantra music and contemporary electronic world beats.

Who’s playing? Carmella Baynie, DJ Leigh Wood Sell it to us: Carmella Baynie will be lifting our spirits and taking us into the groove with tracks from her new album Rasa Mandala. Add celebrity vegetarian chef Kurma Das (Cooking With Kurma – SBS), raw sweets by Priya Vrata (author of The Food Yogi), Tea Tonic’s delicious new coconut tea, and the filmmakers behind the internationally acclaimed Yogawoman into the mix – and this is truly a refreshing experience for your mind, body and soul.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Spirit-lifting music, body-nurturing food and energising dance; you’ll wake up fresh, clean and clear.

Crowd specs: About 250 chilled-out folks.

Wallet damage: $25 pre-book / $30 door myheartspace.com.au Where: Paddington Uniting Church When: Friday May 4, doors open 6.30pm

MURDEROUS WIZARDS

The mighty Electric Wizard have issued a 7” inch single titled ‘Legalise Drugs And Murder’ which has been a catch phrase of theirs for some time. It’s in a sleeve with the same purple and black design as Black Sabbath’s Master Of Reality album. The release is the first in a series, apparently in the lead up to the unleashing of their new album later this year.

ANOTHER STRING IN THE BOWIE

It seems strange now but there was a time when Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed and David Bowie were all pretty much on the same page musically and certainly aesthetically. In fact, in those glory days of the early ‘70s, Ig’s Raw Power was dismissively reviewed in one mag as an American shot at Bowie’s glam rock crown.

The fact that Bowie produced the album seemed to be lost on the writer. Anyways, on June 1, a piece of sonic history from those days will get a serious brushing up, with the wheeling out of a 40th anniversary edition of Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. It’ll be available as a CD package or a limitededition vinyl set with DVD audio (which to us is a bit like bacon on gelato) – and of course the now-mandatory 5.1 mixes.

Technical stuff to one side, this was when Bowie really mattered.

ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Ride’s aptly titled Nowhere, in all its dreamy feedbackwashed glory and the odd wah wah stomping nods to Ron Asheton’s work on the first Stooges’ album. The whole thing is as good an advertisement as any that a) the ‘90s weren’t totally devoid of good music and b) that Brit bands with singleword names weren’t all a total yawn. Also spinning and on the back of Dig It Up! is Radio Birdman’s Radios Appear – the original version. Like most things, time apart heightens appreciation, and this stuff still sounds amazing.

dz deathrays

PICS :: TL

DIGGIN’ IT

up all night out all week . . .

party profile

Remedy

20:04:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

Radio Birdman

The good peoples of www.i94bar.com present two of inner Sydney’s ultimate party machines at the Sandringham in Newtown on May 20. Shaggin’ Wagon will be forcing themselves on the cheesy best of ‘70s pop, while The Amazing Woolloomooloosers drink from the same deep pop well. Doors at 7pm

rüfüs

PICS :: RR

TOURING NEWS 21:04:12 :: Spectrum :: 34 Oxford St Darlinghurst 93601375

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

Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock 34 :: BRAG :: 460: 30:04:12

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: MIKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: JOHNSON :: RASA JUSKEVICIUTE TESIDE :: TIM WHITNEY ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: SAM WHI

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last dinosaurs

PICS :: RR

up all night out all week . . .

mum

PICS :: TP

21:04:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

gooch palms

PICS :: TL

20:04:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

19:04:12 :: The Standard:: Level 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9331 3100

heirs - hunter tour party profile

It’s called: Heirs – Hunter Tour It sounds like: The end of the world in a sonic form, combined with a visual performance to attack all senses – an unforgettable experience.

Who’s playing? Heirs (VIC), At Dark, The Veil, Forenzic Sell it to us: A night of the kind of darkness you don’t see at your usual shows; a cross-section of genres, all combining to form a cohesive whole – gothic, sludge, noise and industrial sounds all within the space of five hours.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The sounds, sights and smells of another world. One lineup sharing the same dark vision. And the sound of cicadas inside your mind, if you don’t bring earplugs.

Crowd specs: A blackened horde of 300 open-minded lords.

Wallet damage: $10 presale through moshtix, $15 at the door.

Where: The Bald Faced Stag / 345 Parramatta Rd Leichhardt

:: KATRINA CLARKE :: MIKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: JOHNSON :: RASA JUSKEVICIUTE TESIDE :: TIM WHITNEY ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: SAM WHI

elixir feat. katie noonan

PICS :: KC

When: Saturday May 5 from 8pm

21:04:12 :: The Basement :: 29 Reiby Pl Circular Quay 9251 2797 BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 35

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

SATURDAY MAY 5

Dirty Three photo by Annabel Mehran

pick of the week

Deroma, Kuki Tipoki The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm Roxie Ray Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 8.30pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 2 ROCK & POP

Husky

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

Husky $18 (+ bf) 8pm

MONDAY APRIL 30 ROCK & POP

Arch Enemy (SWE), As Silence Breaks, Datura Curse Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $58.65-$69 (+ bf) 8pm Daniel Lawrence The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4.30pm Hi-5 Holiday Hornsby RSL $27 11.30am, 1.30pm The Road Crew The Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney free 10pm

JAZZ

Andrew Dickeson Quintet 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm Jim Gannon Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Latin & Jazz Open Mic Jam Sessions The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm

Monday Jam: Danny G Felix The Lansdowne, Broadway free 9pm Sonic Mayhem Orchestra Blue Beat Bar & Grill, Double Bay 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Nick Kingswell Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 8.30pm Russell Neal, Dan Crestani, Massimo Presti, Chris Brookes, Eva-Marie Hess Kelly’s On King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY MAY 1 ROCK & POP

Brave It Through The Night, Lara Curtis, One Day Soon Brass Monkey, Cronulla $12.25 7pm Emily Barker Cafe Lounge, Darlinghurst free 7pm Maggie Blinco, Annie Byron, Julie Hudspeth, Donna Lee,

Linden Wilkinson Riverside Theatres, Parramatta $56 8pm all-ages Musos Jam Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm OMG Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Songwriter Sessions Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 7.30pm Steve Tonge The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm They Call Me Bruce Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 8.30pm

JAZZ

Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Jazzgroove: Edoardo Santoni, Leonie Cohen Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8 (conc)–$15 8.30pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK James D Smith, Adam

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney free 9.30pm Australian Institute of Music Showcase Annandale Hotel 7.30pm Bernie Segedin Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Cavalcade, Virtue, Uncorrected, With Skies Below Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Dan Spillane Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill free 6pm David Agius Summer Hill Hotel free 7.30pm Gemma The Observer Hotel, The Rocks free 8.30pm I’m With Stupid O’Malley’s Hotel, Darlinghurst free 9.30pm Mandi Jarry Northies, Cronulla free 7.30pm Michael Peter Old Manly Boatshed 8pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt free 8pm Open Mic Night Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor free 8pm Peter Phelps, Dennis Coard Riverside Theatres, Parramatta $45 7.30pm allages Replika Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Rockets, The Dreamboats, All My Alien Sex Friends FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Sam & Jamie Show The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Tin Sparrow, Steve Smyth Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 8pm The Woohoo Revue Brass Monkey, Cronulla $20 (+ bf) 7pm

JAZZ

Joseph Tawadros Trio The Red Rattler, Marrickville $20-$25 8pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Tricia Evy, Remy Maurice 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (conc)–$15 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Carolyn Woodorth Royal Hotel, Springwood free 8pm Daniel Hopkins Taren Point Hotel free 7pm Darren Bennett, David Wildey, Black Diamond, Kyle Dessent, Mirrors in Iceland Evening Star Hotel, Surry Hills free 7pm Greg Sita Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 6.30pm Helmut Uhlmann, David Wildey, Bec O’Brien, Grant Wolter, L J Phillips, Sami Booyachi The Loft, UTS, Broadway free 6pm Krishna Jones Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 8.30pm Mal’s Open Mic Night: Mal Ward & Gary Brennan, Dags Superstar, Kenny Hip Hop,

The Woohoo Revue The Alumni Royal Hotel, Bondi free 8pm Michele Madden, Blackie, Foo Foo Fa Noo, Marcus de Pasquale, Joe Dabron Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm Russell Neal Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 8pm TAOS, John Chesher, Gavin Fitzgerald Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm

THURSDAY MAY 3 ROCK & POP

Benn Gunn Newport Arms Hotel free 8pm Big Way Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Brian Cadd & Russell Morris Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $60 (show only)–$118 (dinner & show) 7pm Far Away Stables, Hey Baby Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham Hotel $10 8pm Fu Manchu (USA), Black Cobra (USA), Matt Sonic & The High Times The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $40 (+ bf) 7.30pm Gail Page Blue Beat, Double Bay $15 (+ bf) 7pm Husky, The Trouble With Templeton Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf) 8pm sold out Kim Churchill, Microwave Jenny, Benjalu Brass Monkey, Cronulla $17.85 7pm Koranic, The Ships, Bin Juice, Curious Temple, Beaten Bodies Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Kurt Williams Sackville Hotel, Rozelle free 7pm Lani The Procrastinator, Campervan Dancers, Andy Golledge, Rosie Rovette & Caterina Vit Annandale Hotel $12 (+bf) 8pm Mal’s Open Mic Night: Mal Ward, Bill Neill, Lisa Gourlay, Tyrium, The Gin Reapers, Furious Five Peakhurst Inn free 8pm The Maple Trail, Hot Spoke, Eirwen Skye The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80–$50.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Old Men of Moss Mountain, Big Dumb Kid, Deadbeat & Hazy, Subsketch FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Open Mic Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7pm Papa Pilko & The Bin Rats, Big Blind Ray And The

Wailing Wall Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $15 7pm Proper Music Social: La Huva, Restless Leg, Jep & Dep Union Hotel, Newtown free 8pm The Strums, Watt Riot, Rin & The Reckless Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Valar, Tim Fitz Paddington Uniting Church $10 7.30pm

JAZZ

Dave Panichi Septet 505 Club, Surry Hills $20 (conc)–$25 8.30pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 8pm Sax in the City: Jeremy Rose Trio The Spice Cellar, Sydney free 6pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Denniston, Kyle Dessent Narrabean Sands free 7pm Big Ben The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 8.30pm Buddy Siolo Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 8.30pm Yours Truly, Russell Neal Kogarah Inn free 7pm

FRIDAY MAY 4 ROCK & POP

Anthems Of Oz Wentworthville Leagues Club free 10pm Ava Torch, Todd Hawken, Venus Vamp The Vanguard, Newtown $16.80–$51.80 (dinner & show) 8pm Bearhug, Unity Floors GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $11 (+ bf) 8pm Bellusira, The Wire, The Hungry Mile, Arkadian The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm Big Way Out The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm The Bland Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Blind Valley, The Particles, The Venusions, Uncle Bob Touched Me The Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm Briscoe, Bloods, Mushu, Lily So & Co FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Calling All Cars, Strangers, Arts Martial Annandale Hotel $20 (+ bf) 8pm

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans” - WOODY ALLEN 36 :: BRAG :: 460 : 30:04:12

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Carmella Baynie, DJ Leigh Wood Paddington Uniting Church $25 6.30pm Chasing Karma Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm Club Blink: Darker Half, Graves Club 77, Sydney $10-$12 8pm Cougar Duo Vineyard Hotel free 9.30pm Dead Silence, Delawarewolves, One Night In Paris Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Face Command, Battle Pope, Mr Bamboo Town Hall Hotel, Newtown free 9pm The Flood Brass Monkey, Cronulla $20.95 7pm Girls Talk Kingswood Sports Club free 7.30pm Hip Not Hop Stacks Bar, Darling Harbour free 5pm Hooray For Everything Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Hotel California - A Tribute to The Eagles: Access All Eras The Basement, Circular Quay $28 (+ bf) 8pm John Kennedy Rose of Australia Hotel, Erskineville free 9pm Kim Churchill, Microwave Jenny, Benjalu The Standard, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm Manhattan Jinx, Firearms, True Gentlemen, Ten Paces The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $10 7.30pm Marshall Okell, The Widowbirds Old Manly Boatshed $10 10pm Max Power Trio Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction free 8.30pm Michael Peter The Tea Gardens Hotel, Bondi Junction 8pm Mount Kimbie (UK), Oscar + Martin, Albatross The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $38.50 (+ bf) 8pm MUM The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm The Music Makers Club: Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Battleships, The Ruminaters, Bell Weather Department, Belle & The Bone People, Harts, Monks of Mellonwah, DJ Small Talk Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Ralph McTell (UK) Balmain Town Hall $55 8pm Sietta, Mrs Bishop, Anabelle Kay, DJ Kirsty Lee Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Sound Stream Engadine RSL & Citizens Club free 8pm Stormcellar Brackets n Jam at The Kiosk, Kincumba Mountain Reserve 9.30pm Superdriver Chatswood RSL Club free 5pm The Swinging Sixties Stones Manly Fisho’s $10 (+ bf) 8pm Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, Meniscus, Hawkmoth, Adrift for Days, Nihilore Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $10-$15 7.30pm Thieves, Louis London, The Jones Rival, Nieko Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Thrashed: To The Grave, Tenpenny Towers, Lakeside Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham Hotel $10 8pm Totally Gaga - The Australian Lady Gaga Show Sly Fox, Enmore free 9.30pm Vanity Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel,

Sydney free 10.30pm Winter Warmer: The Mayday Dreamers, Hurricane Fighter, The Chords DJs Notes, Enmore $10 7pm

Sons of Mercury Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Steve Edmonds Band Peden’s Hotel, Cessnock free 8pm Usurper of Modern Medicine, Making, Thomas William vs Scissorlock Black Wire Records, Annandale $10 7.30pm

Rapids

JAZZ

The Coffin Brothers The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre $10-$20 8.30pm Dig Productions Presents Blue Beat, Double Bay $15 (+ bf) 7pm El Orqueston Camelot Loung, Marrickville $18-$22 7.30pm Keyim Ba 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Liam Burrows & His Band Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $39–$81 (dinner & show) 7pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

The Leisure Bandits Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 5.30pm Russell Neal, Black Diamond Bowral Hotel free 7.30pm

SATURDAY MAY 5 ROCK & POP

7 Soulz, Super Florence Jam, The Vanns Bridge Hotel, Rozelle $15 7pm all-ages A Big Fat Country, Dusty Duets, Big Al Creed The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Blonde 182 Stacks Bar, Darling Harbour free 5pm Booty Call Eastern Suburbs Leagues Club, Bondi Junction 8pm The Castaways Kingswood Sports Club free 8.30pm Dallas Frasca, Ashleigh Mannix, Rick Steward Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 (+ bf) 8pm Dave White Experience The Marlborough Hotel, Newtown free 10.30pm Desperate Houseblokes Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm DevilDriver (USA), Six Feet Under (USA), Darkest Hour (USA) The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $56.10 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages Elevation U2 Show Emu Plains Sporting & Recreation Club, Leonay free 8pm Eleven Eleven, Avaine, The Sahara Sound Excelsior Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm DevilDriver

JAZZ

Funkoars, Def Wish Cast, Ellesquire Annandale Hotel $28 (+ bf) 8pm Glass Chain Hornsby Inn free 9pm Grannyfist, Autolysis, Atomesquad, Resonator, Festering Drippage, Cryptic Scorn Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham Hotel $10 6pm Greg Byrne Duo Huskisson Hotel free 8.30pm The Headliners Tara School Fair free 12pm Heirs, The Veil, At Dark, Forenzics Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt $10-$15 7pm Hue Williams Tea Gardens Hotel free 8.30pm Husky Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf) 8pm The J Connexion Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8.30pm John Williamson North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray $33 (child)–$44 7.30pm Liz Stringer, Liz Martin Camelot, Marrickville $20 7.30pm Mal’s Open Mic Night: Mal Ward, Southland Panania Hotel free 8pm Marquez Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $10 8pm Mental As Anything Brass Monkey, Cronulla $44.90 7pm Millennium Bug Penrith RSL free 9pm Mods Mayday!: The Chords (UK), Division 4, Hurricane Fighter Plane Notes Live, Enmore $34.70 7pm Major Raiser’s Music Outback Foundation Party: Mitzi, Glass Towers, Castlecomer, Colour Coding, Conics, Lancelot, Athson, Deckhead Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach $14 (+ bf) 7.30pm Polar Nation, The Walking

Who, Black Bird Hum, DJ Bert and Ernie Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Rapids, I Know Leopard, Life In Film, Myth and Tropics FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Secrets in Scale, Romeo Moon Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Set In Motion, Dan Sweeto, My Lasting Reply, Chasing Amy, Tara Favell, We Saved The Party, Larykan, Baby Grand, Masketta Fall, Luke and Joel Annandale Hotel $20 (+ bf) 12pm SFX: We Saved The Party, Larykan, Baby Grand, Madison St James Hotel, Sydney $10$15 9pm Sick Of It All (USA), Agnostic Front (USA), Toe To Toe Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown $39.10-$46 (+ bf) 8pm Skyscraper Engadine Tavern free 9.30pm

02 SAM May

wed

Adrian Cunningham 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Blue Moon Quartet Supper Club, Fairfield RSL free 7pm Peter Head The Harbour View Hotel free 5pm Wanderlust The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre $10-$20 8.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co. Café / Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Denniston, Kyle Dessent Belrose Bowling Club free 7pm Carolyn Woodorth Terrey Hills Tavern free 7.30pm Darren Bennett, Black Diamond, Owen Platt Ettalong Beach Hotel free 8pm Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $24 7pm Nova Tone The Belvedere Hotel free 9pm Russell Neal, Rebecca Fielding, Alan Watters, Benja William, Miss Gray, Mysterious Prince Cowboi,

Jonno Read, Oliver Goss Botany Bay Hotel, Banksmeadow free 7.30pm The Shack, Black Hats, Leon & Toni, David Knight Tramshed Community Arts Centre, Narrabeen $20 7.30pm Steve Poltz (USA) The Basement, Circular Quay $20 (+ bf)–$74.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm Thandiwe Phoenix Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 2.30pm

SUNDAY MAY 6 ROCK & POP

Blues Sunday: Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Brian Cadd & Russell Morris The Basement, Circular Quay $30 (+ bf)–$84.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm The Chords (UK), Hurricane Fighter Plane Sydney Harbour Cruise, Pyrmont Bay Wharf $44.90 12.45pm Continental Blues Party Bondi Icebergs Club, Bondi Beach free 4.30pm Dame Joan’s Luv Children Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 7pm The Darkness (UK), Voodoo Sons UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington $72 (+ bf) 7pm The Generators Riverstone Bowling & Recreation Club free 2pm Hat Fitz & Cara Robinson, Jackey Rainey (IRE), Steve

& JAMES DUO

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

thu

03 May

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

04 May (5:00PM - 8:00PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

05 May

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SATURDAY NIGHT

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

sun

06 May

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 37

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Smyth Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 7pm Hey Baby, Masta Gravity, Mirrors In Iceland, The Gentlemen’s Club, The Howling Kitchen Lucky Australian Tavern, St Marys $10 2pm Kirk Burgess Collingwood Hotel, Liverpool free 3pm Kurt Williams Waverley Bowling Club free 3pm The Leisure Bandits, Diana Rouvas Opera Bar, Circular Quay free 2.30pm Mayday Mods Mayday: Yours Truly, Urban Guerillas, Steph Miller’s Winterstation Union Hotel, Newtown free 4pm The Mountain Goats (USA), Catherine Traicos & The Starry Night Metro Theatre, Sydney $42 (+ bf) 7pm Remmos K, Prezence Valve Bar, Tempe free 4pm Satellite V Marrickville Bowling Club

free 4.30pm Steve Edmonds Band Towradgi Beach Hotel free 3pm Sunday Stampede: Masketta Fall, Exit Row, Baby Grand, My Lasting Reply, We Saved The Party The Valve, Tempe 12pm

JAZZ

The Peter Head Trio & Friends The Harbour View Hotel free 4pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK 3 Way Split Oatley Hotel free 2pm Lawrence Baker The Belvedere Hotel free 4pm Russell Neal Salisbury Road, Stanmore free 2pm Shane MacKenzie Cohibar, Darling Harbour free 3pm Sounds Of Varanasi: Vinod Prasanna, Bobby Singh Camelot, Marrickville $15– $20 7pm

gig picks

up all night out all week...

TUESDAY MAY 1

Denmark Sweden, Battleships, The Ruminaters, Bell Weather Department, Belle & The Bone People, Harts, Monks of Mellonwah, DJ Small Talk Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm

Kim Churchill

James D Smith, Adam Deroma, Kuki Tipoki The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 2

SATURDAY MAY 5

Tin Sparrow, Steve Smyth Beach Road Hotel, Bondi free 6pm

Dallas Frasca, Ashleigh Mannix, Rick Steward Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 (+ bf) 8pm

The Woohoo Revue Brass Monkey, Cronulla $20 (+ bf) 7pm

THURSDAY MAY 3

Valar, Tim Fitz Paddington Uniting Church $10 7.30pm

Fu Manchu (USA), Black Cobra (USA), Matt Sonic & The High Times The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $40 (+ bf) 7.30pm

FRIDAY MAY 4 Bearhug, Unity Floors GoodGod Small Club, Sydney $11 (+ bf) 8pm

Husky, The Trouble With Templeton Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf) 8pm sold out

Kim Churchill, Microwave Jenny, Benjalu The Standard, Darlinghurst $15 (+ bf) 8pm

The Maple Trail, Hot Spoke, Eirwen Skye The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80– $50.80 (dinner & show) 8pm

The Music Makers Club: Tokyo

Grannyfist, Autolysis, Atomesquad, Resonator, Festering Drippage, Cryptic Scorn Sydney Livehouse, Lewisham Hotel $10 6pm Husky Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $18 (+ bf) 8pm Major Raiser’s Music Outback Foundation Party: Mitzi, Glass Towers, Castlecomer, Colour Coding, Conics, Lancelot, Athson, Deckhead Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach $14 (+ bf) 7.30pm Rapids, I Know Leopard, Myth And Tropics FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm

Tin Sparrow

SUNDAY MAY 6 The Darkness (UK), Voodoo Sons UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington $72 (+ bf) 7pm The Mountain Goats (USA), Catherine Traicos & The Starry Night Metro Theatre $46.70 (+ bf) 7pm Xxxx

The Mountain Goats

www.fbisocial.com

L2 Kings Cross Hotel

Tuesday May 1

Wednesday May 2

MusicNSW WORKSHOP:

ROCKETS EP LAUNCH

NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MUSIC

Thursday May 3 OLD MEN OF MOSS MOUNTAIN SINGLE LAUNCH

TABLATRONICS

+ DREAMBOATS + ALL MY ALIEN SEX FRIENDS

+ SUBSKETCH + BIG DUMB KID + DEADBEAT & HAZY

7pm // FREE

8pm // $10

8pm // $10

+ LIVE PERFORMANCE FROM

Friday May 4

BRISCOE + BLOODS + MUSHU + LILY SO & CO.

RADIANT LIVE: 8pm // $10 38 :: BRAG :: 460 : 30:04:12

Saturday May 5

RAPIDS

LATE NIGHT SOCIAL:

EP LAUNCH

+ I KNOW LEOPARD + LIFE IN FILM (UK) + MYTH AND TROPICS 8pm // $15

AND

LOPAN (MELBOURNE) + LUKE YEAH (DISCO PUNX) + ROOF Midnight - late // FREE Broadcast live on FBi

WEDNESDAY 2 MAY R O C K L I LY P R E S E N T S I N T E R N AT I O N A L A C T

MARS ATTACKS + PAT CAPOCCI ROCKABILLY NIGHT

THURSDAY 3 MAY

GAY PARIS

+ CONTRABAN + DOC HOLIDAY TAKES THE SHOTGUN FRIDAY 4 MAY CINCO DE MAYO FIESTA

DJ URBY + OUTLIER

SATURDAY 5 MAY

BLACK DIAMOND HEARTS

+ VIVIENNE KINGSWOOD SUNDAY 6 MAY 2PM BLUES SESSION

STEVE CLISBY BLUES EXPERIENCE

+ PAPA PILKO & THE BINRATS + MORGAN JOANEL

HOUSE SPIRITS, WINE & BEER MON-FRI FROM 5-7PM RSVP ON FACEBOOK

;OL :[HY 7[` 3PTP[LK ()5 ;OPUR HIV\[ `V\Y JOVPJLZ *HSS .HTISPUN /LSW ^^^ NHTISPUNOLSW UZ^ NV] H\ ;OL :[HY WYHJ[PZLZ [OL YLZWVUZPISL ZLY]PJL VM HSJVOVS .\LZ[Z T\Z[ IL HNLK `LHYZ VY V]LY [V LU[LY [OL *HZPUV

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 39

40 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

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

brag beats

dance music news

free stuff

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

five things WITH

BILLIE ROSE OF DAILY MEDS this album to, it’s an experiment with the best intentions to bring people together for a dirty boogie and spark some reflection on the questionable state of the world.

3.

Your Crew Mikoen, P. Smurf and I were playing together in a crew called Reverse Polarities when Roleo started pimping his quirky brand of future beats. We wasted no time, jumping on and mashing our heads together to forge a fresh sound for Daily Meds. Although we all compromise things creatively to be part of the team, we are not compromising our collective sound for the sake of any market.

The Music You Make As members of Big Village Records 4. we feel we have a responsibility to push boundaries. Socially we roll with a variety of different musos, poets and artists so as to avoid becoming introverted wankers.

We always put our heart on the line for an audience, however big or small. We sweat, we scream, get rowdy and sell the hell out of every song we play. It’s raw, it’s loud and it’s totally in the moment. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had randoms come up to me and say, “Wow, you guys blew me away and I don’t even like hip hop!”

Growing Up P. Smurf and I grew up in our parents’ 1. second-hand record store. We were privy to an exciting environment devoted to music appreciation and partying. Mum and dad primarily supported underground bands and female artists but were never afraid to mix it up by spinning hip hop – from De La Soul and NWA to Salt-n-Pepa and Beastie Boys. It’s no surprise we turned out to be very open-minded and generally the last to leave the party.

Inspirations I’m inspired by innovators and rebels – 2. from Prince to Patti Smith, Massive Attack to Bad Brains or Etta James. I hated ‘Enter The Ninja’ when I first heard it, but after seeing Die Antwoord perform in 2011, I became addicted to their form of brash theatricality! Anyone who said Daily Meds sound like The Herd will probably think again after listening to Happy Daze. We have no idea whom we’re pitching

Music, Right Here, Right Now There have been many positive 5. developments in the scene however women still have countless obstacles to overcome.

It’s particularly difficult to establish a popular identity when you refuse to pander to mainstream strategies that rely on objectification and exploitation. Elefant Traks, who have recently added some incredible female artists to their roster, are leading by example and helping to open doors. Big Village and Freshly Squeezed continue to foster progressive sounds as our crowds steadily grow up and out. If you’ve never been to a live hip hop show, BV welcomes you with open arms.

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

IF? RECORDS LABEL PARTY

IF? Records will host its first label party in Sydney in 12 years on Saturday May 26 at One22, with Little Nobody set to perform an exclusive headline set. Little Nobody, aka Andrez Bergen, is one of Australia’s most noted underground electronic artists, churning out productions since 1996 under a range of aliases such as Funk Gadget, Dick Drone and, my pick of the bunch, Nana Mouskouri’s Spectacles, remixing the likes of Ade Fenton, Dasha Rush and most recently Australia’s own electronic music pioneers, Severed Heads, for a soon-tobe-released Severed Heads tribute album on Sydney’s Clan Analogue label. The forthcoming party will showcase Australian talent from Sydney and Melbourne, and will be the first in a series of ongoing parties hosting IF? artists from Australia and abroad. Sebastian Bayne, who now owns and runs IF? Records, says that it was “high time we gave our artists a platform to perform. The hope is that an IF? party will come to mean a good time, irrespective of whether the DJs and live acts are widely known”.

CLAPTONE @ SPICE CELLAR

Mystery duo Claptone headline the Spice Cellar this Saturday, May 5. Claptone first ventured onto the radar with the release of their EP She Loves You, a blend of deep house and disco blends.

The pair are currently basking in the success of their EP Cream, the title track of which samples the piano melody famously used by the Wu-Tang Clan in their classic hit ‘C.R.E.A.M’ (which is itself actually a sample from ‘As Long As I’ve Got You’ by The Charmels) and has been supported by the likes of Soul Clap and DJ Sneak after being released on the Exploited Records imprint.

Claptone will be supported by the soon-to-be Berlin-bound Yokoo, Spice mainman Murat Kilic and Nic Scali, with free entry available with a guest list submission before midnight – submit yours via thespicecellar.com.au.

JAYTECH DOES LAUNDRY

Canberra producer James Cayzer, aka Jaytech, returns home for a string of Australian club dates that includes a headline slot at Chinese Laundry on Saturday May 12. Jaytech has released some

MeLo-X

MÚSICA LABEL PARTAY

Having slayed Sydneysiders with the devastatingly hip música/TUMBALONG outdoor music fest last year, events label Música has set its sights on revolutionising our local industry via a record label: música/ RECORDINGS. Naturally they’re launching it with a devastatingly hip, barely-underground and suitably revolutionary lineup – Manchester DJ/producer Star Slinger and Brooklyn DJ, MC and MPC wizard MeLo-X – in an inviteonly party at B2 Studios in Alexandria, this Saturday May 5. And if Tumbalong is anything to go by this will be one of those OMFG R U HERE? affairs; to get your sticky little paws on a double pass, tell us your rap name. luscious progressive cuts over the years, many with regular production partner Matt Rowan, and has continued to grow in stature on the world stage; the fact that he will arrive back in Australia fresh from supporting Above & Beyond on their UK Group Therapy tour is a testament to this.

In recent interviews, Jaytech has disclosed that he is currently working on the follow-up to his 2008 debut LP Everything Is Ok, which had to be pushed back to space it out from the release of his Anjunadeep compilation. “It’s nearly finished,” he said in a recent message to fans about his sophomore LP, which he still expects to be ready by the middle of this year. Doors open at 9pm, with $15 entry an added incentive to arrive promptly in addition to avoiding a queue that wary punters have dubbed the ‘Sussex Street Anaconda’.

DOOM

What: Happy Daze out now through Big Village Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday May 11

Sampology

SAMPOLOGY

Sampology is embarking on a national tour in support of his debut LP, Doomsday Deluxe, which drops on the first day of June. For anyone unacquainted, the extremely condensed version is that he’s a DJ, AVDJ and producer who has remixed Pnau, toured internationally with Australian theatre company Strut n Fret and has performed at the Big Day Out (both with band and solo) – all since the tender age of 17. Doomsday Deluxe features a number of noteworthy collaborators: Brisbane’s Hannah Macklin on lead-off single ‘Stars’, and reggae proponents Serocee (UK) and Spikey Tee (Sydney via UK). Sampology will be showcasing his ‘Super Visual Apocalypse’ audiovisual live show (which is performed on two turntables and one “big ass screen”), featuring samples from TV, movies, the internet, custom animations and music videos – at Oxford Art Factory on Friday June 8.

XL GHOSTFACE DOOM RAT

A trifecta of hip hop heavies are heading Down Under in June under the relatively-new Rap City banner – Wu-Tang co-founder Ghostface Killah and his erstwhile collaborator DOOM (aka MF DOOM, aka that dude who wears a mask and sold-out his tour here last year) and one-time rap prodigy turned bodybuilding-MENSA-grad Chino XL (aka Derek). This being one of those ‘sells itself’ affairs, all we’ll say is – circle Tuesday May 1 in your Snoopy calendar under ‘buy tickets’, then June 2, under ‘The Enmore’.

BRAG :: 440 :: 30:04:12 :: 41

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

Paul Van Dyk

FANTASTIC MAN (MELB)

Growing Up I grew up in the Melbourne beachside 1. suburb of St Kilda. The first thing I can remember in terms of musical instruments was an Indonesian bamboo-rattling instrument called the Anklung (look it up), which we were made to play in grade one. By grade three, I was proficient on the recorder… I’ve never looked back since. My old man was a keen classical guitarist so I naturally took that up pretty seriously soon after.

Inspirations Like every kid, I was a huge MJ fan. I also 2. went through phases of punk rock, hip hop and finally electronic music. It’s hard to say exactly what inspires me. It kind of comes randomly at random times… like on the toilet or at breakfast. I guess good music always prevails though, so whatever it is, that’s my inspiration.

Your Crew We seem to have a solid crew of 3. ‘likeminded’ artists locally in Melbourne.

Melbourne Deepcast along with Tornado Wallace and Francis Inferno Orchestra (to name a few) are key players in our crew. It’s handy for swapping ideas and feedback on each other’s music. It also makes for good banter and ridiculous shenanigans.

The Music You Make First and foremost I play and make house 4. music. Interpret that how you will, there are

TRANCE TIME

so many variations now that I’d probably use up my word allowance listing them all. House music of the deeper nature is one way to put it and if BPM means anything to you then expect it between mid to mid-high tempo.

5.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The overall music scene in Melbourne is as good as ever. The club scene isn’t quite as healthy as it once was on a commercial level, but as far as I can tell, there’s been a fresh

wave of music lovers attending the smaller niche parties, which is a good sign for people like myself, who make and play niche music.

With: Contemporary Scarecrow, James Taylor Where: The Spice Cellar / 58 Elizabeth St, Sydney CBD When: Friday May 11

that re-calibrates me for whatever new musical path lies ahead. I think it’s important to revisit where you’ve been occasionally so that you can determine where to go.” Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 19921996 will be available on CD, double-vinyl and digital download, but no official release date has been announced yet.

Beni

WEATHERALL MASTERPIECE

Stalwart producer/remixer/DJ-with-the-Midastouch Andy Weatherall, who rocked the Sydney Festival with a memorable set for Picnic earlier this year, has just unveiled his own 3xCD entry in Ministry of Sound’s Masterpiece series, following in the footsteps of luminaries Gilles Peterson and Francois K. Weatherall’s Masterpiece compilation is ostensibly the most comprehensive document to date for the lauded producer and DJ: it takes in multiple remixes by the man himself – including one of Australia’s Cut Copy – as well as records from friends and cohorts Timothy J. Fairplay, Hardway Brothers and Soft Rocks, traversing trippy psychedelic warm-up grooves from acts such as Walls and World Unknown’s Kalidasa, to druggy peak time disco-house ravers from the likes of Tornado Wallace and Todd Terje, across the three discs.

MR. OIZO

Enigmatic French entrepreneur Quentin Dupieux, renowned for both his releases under the moniker Mr. Oizo on the Ed Banger label and dalliances with art house cinema (Dupieux is the director of Rubber and the upcoming Wrong) has just dropped a new seven-track EP, Stade 3, and is offering it as a free download. All things being Oizo, it’s not the usual one-click-download type deal – instead, one has to negotiate the Frenchman’s quirky, labyrinth-like website to find the download link. On his Twitter page, Oizo likened the exercise to “a quest… a shitty quest, but still, a quest”. Your shitty quest begins at

BENI ALBUM + TOUR

Sydney producer and DJ Beni will perform at GoodGod Small Club on Friday May 11.

Renowned for his work as part of the now defunct Riot In Belgium, Beni built up his credentials as a solo producer with single releases on the Kitsuné label and remixes for Tiga, Digitalism, Fischerspooner, La Roux and Alex Gopher, prior to the release of his debut LP, House of Beni, late last year on Modular. House of Beni featured vocal contributions from the likes of Sam Sparro, Hercules and Love Affair’s Nomi, and Mattie Safer (formerly of The Rapture), and there were also production credits to Kim Moyes of The Presets and Van She’s Nicky Nighttime. After an album tour at the back end of last year, Beni is now primed to return to the proverbial fray at GoodGod, where he’ll be be joined on stage by dancing troupe The Brotherhood, with Cassian and R+R on support duties. There’s also the promise of ‘surprise guests’ shrouding the event with a certain ineffable mysticism. Presale tickets are available for $10 online.

DJ SHADOW COMPILATION

Pioneering producer DJ Shadow is set to release a new compilation, Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 1992-1996, which will contain an extensive collection of previously unreleased instrumental tracks from that time. The tracks cover a period when DJ Shadow was experimenting with the potential of the Akai MPC (ask your nearest tech-head/sci-fi 42 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

fan), and includes tracks from a mothballe 1994 EP with Blackilicious’ Gift Of Gab. DJ Shadow has indulged in similar projects previously: his 2008/9 4-Track series offered up a bundle of unreleased material from the same era. In Shadow’s words: “I like to follow up new material with a tastefullydone archival project. As long as the old stuff is given a context and doesn’t overshadow the new, I think it’s a healthy exercise for me, and one

Everyone knows that three’s a crowd – unless of course you’re talking about Nirvana, Them Crooked Vultures or Gilmore Girls. And freebies, where more is more, always, but actually three is perfect – and moreso when you’re a trance-fiend, because Central Station Records have released three choice cuts this month: Paul Van Dyk’s latest masterpiece, Evolution; Nick ‘Chicane’ Bracegirdle’s sixth full-length opus, A Thousand Mile Stare; and the truly diabolical double-disc Top 100 Trance Anthems. That’s your entire next weekend sorted right there – to get your hands on all of ‘em, tell us one track that possibly-maybe-definitely is in that Top 100. oizo3000.com – his self-proclaimed ‘lazy’ official website!

LIGHTSOUNDS PARTY

Sydney dance music staple Lightsounds is moving: it will no longer be located in that big yellow rickety building on Parramatta Road, and can now be found in a new showroom at 459a Canterbury Rd, Canterbury. To celebrate the move, they’re throwing a party at their new location, where you’ll have the opportunity to check out the lighting ‘blackout’ demo room, testrun some new audio products and hear some tunes from veteran Sydney DJs like Nik Fish, DJ Playmate, DJ Ravine and DJ KoBuKi. There’ll be prizes given away every hour, giveaways of a double pass to Ivy nightclub and plenty of deals to be had on DJ and lighting gear, with a $250,000 stock clearance. Throw in a sausage sizzle and the presence of the old Red Bull promo trucks and there’s quite the day out in the offing. Doors will be open from 10am – hit lightsounds.com.au for further details.

KAISERDISCO

Frederic Berger, one half of the Hamburg tech pairing that is Kaiserdisco, will venture Down Under in June for a couple of gigs, including a show at One22 on Saturday June 9.

Kaiserdisco have accumulated a back-catalogue of productions that are largely split between Drumcode, the label run by techno don Adam Beyer, and Triple R’s My Best Friend imprint, through which they released their LP In No One’s Shadow, at the backend of 2010. In addition to their original productions, Kaiserdisco have also churned out remixes of Booka Shade and even Robyn, steadily building a reputation for crafting club floor-fillers that pack plenty of oomph without resorting to excessive sonic fromage. Ticket details have not yet been announced, but they should be available through Resident Advisor in the not too distant future.

HILLTOP HOODS TOUR

Hilltop Hoods

Aussie hip hop monolith the Hilltop Hoods have announced they will be hitting the road this winter for their first headline tour since 2009 in support of the recent release of their #1 Platinum album, Drinking From The Sun. In addition to their performances at Splendour In The Grass, the Hoods will also play an all-ages show (young sconies take note) at the Hordern Pavilion on Saturday August 4.

Supporting the Hoods will be the fastrising two-man outfit Horrorshow, who hail from Sydney, and Briggs, who released his debut LP The Blacklist on the Hoods’ own label, Golden Era Records. Tickets go on sale as of midday Monday April 30 (that’s this week, compadre).

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James Zabiela

Funkoars

Travelling Man By Alasdair Duncan

A

ustria’s Snowbombing has been described as the coolest music festival in the world – literally, as the annual event takes place on the ski slopes around the town of Mayrhofen, combining extreme sports and music for one breathless week.

James Zabiela is a Snowbombing devotee, and when we speak he has just returned home to London from the festival – stiff, sore but exhilarated nonetheless. “I have a couple of days to recover, and then I’m back on the road,” he tells me. “Snowbombing is mad – basically, you snowboard all day and rave all night. I call it my holiday, but it’s a pretty exhausting time,” he says with a laugh. “There

A

delaide’s Funkoars have a well-earned reputation as Australian hip hop’s rowdiest crew of drunken degenerates – but this doesn’t necessarily reflect reality as the lads approach 30. No member of the group better personifies their burgeoning maturity than Matt Honson, aka Hons.

Listening to his raps, you may picture him wiling away his day at a dingy TAB-cum-localpub, tipping the skimpies; however, what little spare time Honson has – in between recording, touring, working full time and uni – he often spends on the golf course.

“Maturity has definitely kicked in for all of us.

Especially when you listen to records like [Who’s Your] Stepdaddy. You can listen to that and it’s like, ‘Yep, these are 17-year-old kids’, because that’s what 17-year-old kids are like: they like going out drinking, getting hammered every weekend and trying to sleep with as many girls as possible. And that’s pretty much exactly what I did when I was 17 – and that’s the record I made,” he says.

“I didn’t really change that much until The Hangover.”

As we’re all growing up and people are having kids and getting married, we’re not out partying every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday night, getting drunk all hours of the morning… [Now] we’re having adult problems, like paying bills on time and mortgages and all those heaps fun adult things that you didn’t really care about when you were 17.”

The group’s growing maturity is reflected not just in the content but also their approach to their music, which saw them fine-tune their latest effort – last year’s The Quickening – extensively. “We had a lot more stuff recorded this time round than we had had in the past… [So] it wasn’t whether the track was

were a lot of Australians there, too. I met some of them in the kebab shop and had a good long chat.”

Zabiela is a man in demand, spending a large part of each year touring the world as a DJ – in fact, he returns to Australia this month for a series of dates. It’s the kind of schedule that inevitably affects his output. “I haven’t released anything for a year and a half now,” he says. “I have been working on stuff, but I’ve been saving it up, because I’m starting a label soon. I’m aiming to have the first track out at some point around the middle of the year. I find it’s difficult to work on music when you’re on the road, but I travel so much, I really don’t have a choice. The fact is, I have to do it in hotel rooms or I won’t do it. [But] I’m always happiest when I find a window of time to sit in the studio and I’m there for that purpose only; that’s when the best tracks seem to come out.

Xxxx

All Grown Up By Joshua Hayes

Zabiela has just moved house, to an area where he can make a lot of noise for the first time, which sounds promising in terms of future output. “I’m still living in Southampton, which is where I grew up and I’ve always lived,” he explains. “I’ve never wanted to move from here. It’s not a place to make it, you know, but it’s a nice place to come home to. I travel a lot, so that’s nice. But yeah, I have a new place now with a big, medieval basement – it’s hundreds of years old, very atmospheric and it’s also very insulated, so it’s a great place to make music.”

good enough; a lot of it was if it suited. The album came together and sounded like an album,” Honson says. “I think a lot of the other times we were sort of like, ‘Okay, three days ‘til mastering; we’ve got to make two more songs’ – and not having the ability or chance to be able to actually pick songs on the album. [This was] a better way of doing it; I think it was a lot less stressful for us as well… We just spent a lot more time polishing it rather than going ‘Yep, that sounds good; chuck it in the ‘done’ pile’…”

The result was the Funkoars’ best work to date – and their most successful, debuting at #11 on the ARIA charts. Their upcoming Being Vincent D’Onofrio Tour is their second national expedition since releasing the album.

For fans that caught them last time, their set will include a number of tracks from The Quickening that they didn’t perform the first time round, as well as an extended and finetuned drum machine routine.

Zabiela is a big fan of Modeselektor, and plans to model his own label after their Monkeytown imprint. “Their Modeselektion Volume 01 compilation came out on an SD card,” he says. “That was mental. Like, it came in a normal CD jewel case, but when you opened it up, there was an SD card sitting inside. If you look at their Twitter, a lot of the time, there’ll be pictures of them just sitting in their front room wrapping up white labels.”

Honson says he’s enjoying the leisurely pace of this trip, after his music, work and uni commitments resulted in him working 86 days straight without a break on their last tour.

But with so many commitments, something’s going to suffer. In Honson’s case, it’s his studies. “I’ll probably have a handicap of 3 by the time uni’s finished... I’ve been [there since] I finished high school, and I’m still in the first year. Going by that rate, I’m probably just going to finish and die,” he laughs. “Won’t have to worry about that HECS debt either, which will be fantastic.”

Modeselektor’s homemade, personal approach to their releases appeals to Zabiela; all of their stuff is collectible, which in this day and age of throwaway culture, is a really nice thing. “I’m a collector of various things, and I’ve become a collector of their music,” he says. “They did a limited edition of 100 or 150 skateboard decks with their Monkeytown logo, and I bought one of those. I’d love to do something similar with my label.”

With: Def Wish Cast, Ellesquire Where: The Annandale Hotel When: Saturday May 5 More: The Quickening out through Golden Era

With: Jeff Drake, Flume, Club Junque, Raulll, Whitecat and more Where: Chinese Laundry Boat Party, departing King Street Wharf / After Party @ Slip Inn When: Saturday May 5 from 2pm / from 7pm

Digitalism More Than A Miami Showdown By Annabel Maclean

44 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

up their first live tour for 2012 in Italy and France; before that they were in the States, where they played No Sugar Added and Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and the taste-making South By Southwest in Texas. Having toured Australia for Parklife last year, they’re back this month for Groovin’ The Moo’s regional tour, accompanied by a national club tour and

a sold out show in Berlin to play like an hour later so that was our celebration that night.”

But so far, the duo is pretty content with their schedule; they’ve been changing up their live show to keep up with their short attention spans. “After Parklife, we did another three months of heavy touring, almost until Christmas, playing the same show,” Tüfekçi says. “We always keep on changing the sets though so usually once you’ve seen us play, the next time it’ll be different. And for this year, we prepared a whole new show; it’s totally different to what you’ve seen at Parklife.

We get bored easily so we want to keep on changing things – and after 90 gigs with last year’s show, it was time to do something new. We’re super excited to bring that over to Australia.”

Fans can expect an “intense” live show from the duo when they hit town for Groovin’ The Moo but, as always, there won’t be any dubstep whatsoever. “Our views on dubstep are still the same – we respect it but it’s nothing that really appeals to us,” says Tüfekçi.

“In a way the current ‘main-stage dubstep’ is an electronic version of white metal music; you know where they head-bang and grow long hair. That was never our thing. We like dub and bass music that’s more black, soul-influenced instead.”

Their fresh live show isn’t the only thing which has recently got the boys pumped – they won their first award in November last year – Best Live Domestic Artist thanks to German magazine Musikexpress. “That was great!,” he says, still in awe. “We’ve never won an award before so it was pretty special for us.

Also, getting the Best Live Domestic Artist award means that the jurors appreciated our live shows and that means all the hard work everyone in the band and our crew has put in it was recognised. It was an award for more people than just us so we dedicated it to our crew and audience. We had to run in and out during the ceremony though because we had

After having some time in the studio at the beginning of this year, Tüfekçi says punters should have their ears pricked for new beats in the not-so-distant future. And, as for Australia having some sort of influence on upcoming productions (as with the title of their most recent record), he says, “We don’t know – you never know where and when inspiration will hit you!”

With: Beni Where: The Hi-Fi @ Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park When: Friday May 11 And: with Adrian Lux, Kaiser Chiefs, Bluejuice, Hermitude and more at Groovin’ The Moo @ University of Canberra on May 13, Maitland Showground on May 12 (sold out) gtm.net.au

Digitalism – photo by Tom Oaxley

I

smail Tüfekçi and Jens Moelle – aka German electro-punk duo Digitalism – started DJing in Reeperbahn, Hamburg’s famous red light district, in the early noughties. Having released their sophomore record I Love You, Dude last year, the lads have virtually been on the road since. They’ve just arrived home in Hamburg, having finished

followed by a bunch of festivals throughout Europe.

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY MAY 5 Nico Stojan One22

SATURDAY MAY 19 Klartraum (live) GoodGod Small Club

CO-OP ft San Soda & Bill Brewster One22

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15 Stefny Winter photo by Seze

Kenny Larkin The Spice Cellar

vor Talent, Connaisseur and Philip Bader’s Dantze imprint. Also spinning on the night will be Subsonic kingpins Marcotix and MSG, Chemistry’s Jordan Deck and Shrug’s Dave Stuart, with the ascetic revelry commencing from 10pm.

Stefny Winter

H

ighly touted US techno export Stefny Winter has just released – as in, on April 30 – her debut album Wind Walkers on Pheek’s Archipel Musique label, a bastion for ‘outside of the box’ experimental minimal techno. The LP features a dozen tracks that traverse psychedelic deep house, intricate techno and a handful of hybrid and experimental compositions, amounting to an album that should hit the spot for those after something a little bit more – whatever that may be – from their electronic releases (I’m hoping such a catch-cry resonates with Deep Impressions readers). And while Wind Walkers has been labelled as one of the more obscure albums available in this season’s house and techno offering, the obverse of that description is that it’s also one of the most unique. If your curiosity has been piqued by the above sentences – or better yet by having gone out and listened to Winter’s album – I’d also urge you to seek out both some of her earlier productions (she’s been remixed by the likes of Bruno Pronsato) and to delve deeper into the Archipel back-catalogue in general. Pheek is a logical point of departure from which to get acquainted with the Archipel sound – the Canadian crafts evocative, atmospheric minimal soundscapes better than most.

“No frills, no fuss, no over hype, nein overbites, jaw chewing teethgrind, tomcat harassing, woody burning techno fun times”.

I’m not sure if the opening line of this press release makes complete sense, but there’s something about the general sentiment and brash attitude on show that grabbed me – and when you’re throwing a deliberately underpriced ‘no frills’ techno event replete with an international guest, you’re allowed to have a surfeit of ‘tude. So for a mere $10 (before 11pm) this Saturday, you can saunter along to One22 to catch the fastrising German DJ Nico Stojan, a resident at renowned Berlin nightspot Kater Holzig (which is basically Bar25 reincarnated) and a regular selector at clubs such as Cocoon, Watergate and Panorama Bar. He has also released on labels such as Highgrade, Stil

Glaswegian techno dons Slam are preparing to release Collecting Data, a double-CD compilation of original Slam productions also featuring their remixes of artists such as Radio Slave, Josh Wink and Christian Smith, which will function as something of a highlights package of the pair’s output over the last six years.

The techno stalwarts have visited Sydney regularly throughout that period, spinning at events such as Earthdance and Spice Afloat, and have remained a perennial fixture in DJs’ record bags/laptops since the release of cuts such as ‘Positive Education’, released long before I was legally of clubbing age. But as mentioned earlier, Collecting Data collates cuts from more recent times – 2006 to 2012, to be precise – and includes the pair’s recent remix of sonically beguiling Spanish producer Alex Under. While more ardent techno fiends will be well across Slam’s output, Collecting Data is a release catering for those who have inexplicably missed some of the duo’s more recent highlights – like the pulsating remix of 'Pan-Pot' from a few years back.

From a couple of veterans, we now turn to a Dutch duo TJ Kong & Modular K, who have just released their debut LP, Dream Cargoes, on Steve Bug’s Poker Flat label.

TJ ‘King’ Kong is the pseudonym of Erwin van Moll, a chap who has been releasing solo records for the past five years, while Modular K’s only previous solo production was a collaboration with van Moll on the Poker Flat compilation Forward To The Past (a release celebrating ‘old school’ sounds of yesteryear that is well worth seeking out). TJ Kong & Modular K’s previous dalliance with Poker Flat provides a clue of the influences that are explored on Dream Cargoes, an album that celebrates melodic analogue electronic soundscapes, often evoking the Detroit zeitgeist – think Carl Craig’s ‘Landcruising’ – and providing a counterpoint to much of the material released on Poker Flat. Certainly worth a listen for those with a penchant for sleekly crafted ‘contemporary vintage’ sounds (I apologise for going out on a note that sounds like I’m auditioning for a fashion magazine – that said, Oyster, my services are only an email away...)

Nico Stojan

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 45

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

club pick of the week

MONDAY APRIL 30 Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Mother of a Monday DJ Smokin’ Joe free 8pm The Sugar Mill, Kings Cross Makeout Mondays DJs free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Monday Jazz & Latin Jam DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY MAY 1 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel DJ Willie Sabor free 8pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney I Love Goon DJ Smokin’ Joe free 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday Residents DJs 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Pop Panic Conrad Greenleaf free 8pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 2

SATURDAY MAY 5

James Zabiela

King St Wharf, Sydney

Mayday! Boat Party James Zabiela (UK), Jeff Drake, Matttt, Flume, Club Junque, Whitecat, Raulll $55-$85 (+ bf) (sold out) 2pm

+ Afterparty @ Chinese Laundry

James Zabiela (UK), Alex Niggemann (GER),

The Bank Nightclub, Kings Cross Money Talks DJs free 10pm Epping Hotel DTF Resident DJs free Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills Hip Hop Resident DJs free 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 8pm Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Wolf & The Gang free 9pm The Marlborough Hotel – Cellar Bar, Newtown DJ Pauly free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall DJs 8pm

THURSDAY MAY 3 Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Tremor Jnr vs Lewba, Badman Oscar, Luke Warren, Billy Green free 9pm Cargo Lounge, King St Wharf Dance The Way You Feel Resident DJs free 6pm The Cool Room, Australian Hotel & Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursdays DJs free 9pm The Flinders Hotel, Darlinghurst Bananas DJs free 9pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Girls Gone Mild Eliza & Hannah Reilly free 9pm Gypsy Lounge, Darlinghurst Naked Resident DJs 9pm Hunky Dory Social Club, Darlinghurst Beat Skool The Dark Horse 6pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Rack City DJs 9pm Soho, Potts Point Ladies Night DJs free 9pm Sugar Lounge, Manly Fat Laced Funk Resident DJs free 9pm

The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Propaganda DJs free-$5 8pm

FRIDAY MAY 4 34 Degrees South, Bondi Get Down Resident DJs free 8pm Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Movement Peacock Dreams, Dyan Tai free 8pm The Beresford – Upstairs, Surry Hills Sietta, Mrs Bishop, Anabelle Kay, DJ Kirsty Lee free 6pm Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Jog On Fundraiser Party DJs $20 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Night Moves Lazy Rich, Kyro & Bomber, Digital T vs Acid Mouth, SMS, Durty Mindz, Vengeance, Wrecks, M9, Dirty Little Secrets, Doulbe Dunk Disco 9pm Cargo Lounge, King St Wharf Kick On Fridays Resident DJs free 4pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney DJ Lord (USA), A-Tonez, Cheap Lettus, Detektives, Day Trip, Detnum $15-$25 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Gimme Five Resident DJs free Dee Why Hotel Flirt DJ Alana 9pm Epping Hotel Flirt Flirt DJs free Flinders Hotel, Surry Hills Cleric and Angel free 8pm GoodGod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm The Hi-Fi, Moore Park Mount Kimbie (UK) $38.50 (+ bf) 8pm Ivy Changeroom, Sydney Love Gun Fridays Tina Turntables 8pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago free Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Falcona Fridays Devola, Mailer Daemon, Hobophonics, Adam Sandleh $10 8pm Luna Lounge Nightclub, Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Rain Julz free 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 8pm Opera Bar, Circular Quay Ceramic Dolls free 7.30pm Pontoon, Darling Harbour Perfect Resident DJs free 9pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Teen Spirit DJs $10 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross My Studio Resident DJs 8pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Sydney Frisky Friday DJs free 6pm The Shark Hotel, Sydney Puls8 DJ Jono, Guest DJs free 9pm Soho, Potts Point Soho Fridays DJs free 9pm Space, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Toni Toni Lee, Ash Le Rouge, Morgan, James Taylor free $20 10pm

George Fitzgerald (UK), Cassian, A-Tonez, Andrew Wowk, King Lee, Whitecat, Sample Sex, Tom Yum, Mia Lucci, Oh Glam $20-$30 7pm 46 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

Toni Toni Lee

Tatlers, Kings Cross Vinylmania DJ Matt Grant 9pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Eve Resident DJs 9pm The Watershed Hotel Bring On The Weekend! DJ Matt Roberts free The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY MAY 5 Annandale Hotel Funkoars, Def Wish Cast, Ellesquire $28 (+ bf) 8pm The Argyle, The Rocks Takin’ It Back James Taylor, Husky, Hannah Gibbs, Emme free 8pm The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Ajapai (JPN), Against Time, Kaos, V&Z, Brown Bear, MindQuad $20 9pm Bar 100, The Rocks My Place Saturdays Resident DJs free Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Shake Shake Shake Kyro & Bomber, Stalker, Hoodlmz, DUI 9pm Cargo Lounge, King St Wharf Kick On Saturdays Resident DJs free 6pm Chinese Laundry James Zabiela (UK), Alex Niggemann (GER), George Fitzgerald (UK), Cassian, A-Tonez, Andrew Wowk, King Lee, Whitecat, Sample Sex, Tom Yum, Mia Lucci, Oh Glam $20-$30 7pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Yellow Sox Resident DJs free Dee Why Hotel Kiss & Fly Saturdays DJs 9pm Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park Autumn Music Cadenza Showcase Michel Cleis (SUI), Lee Van Dowski (SUI) $90 (+ bf) 12pm Epping Hotel Back Traxx DJ Kandi, DJ Hypnotixx Establishment, Sydney Sienna G-Wizard, Troy-T, Def Rok, Lilo 8pm Fake Club, Potts Point Malente (GER) $10 Flinders Hotel, Darlinhurst Horne Dogg free 8pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Musik Matters YokoO, Ben Ashton, James Fazzolari, Johnny Gleeson, Tom Kelly $20 6pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Chasm, DJ Neil Armstrong (USA), Thundamentals, Marvin Priest, Astronomy Class, The Tongue, Kween G, Scott Burns, Rinse, Skryptcha, Mr Clean, Demo, Frenzie, Ology $15 (+ bf) 10pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Saturdays DJ Dolso 8pm Hunky Dory Social Club, Darlinghurst Ghetto Boogie DJs 6pm Ivy, Sydney Pure Ivy The Potbelleez DJs $20 6pm Ivy Changeroom, Sydney Change Resident DJs 8pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago free King St Wharf, Sydney Mayday! Boat Party Jame Zabiela (UK), Jeff Drake, Matttt, Flume, Club Junque, Whitecat, Raulll $55-$85 (+ bf) (sold out) 2pm Kings Cross Hotel DJ Tim Boffa, James Taylor, DJ Shaun Keble, DJ D-Flat, PeeWee Ferris, DJ Young Apprentice, DJ Matt Hoare free 7pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Resident DJs 8pm Luna Lounge Nightclub, Jackson’s On George, Sydney

club guide

snap

up all night out all week...

Mount Kimbie

The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Cakes DJs $15–$20 8pm

SUNDAY MAY 6 The Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H. Sundays S.A.S.H. DJs $10 2pm Arq Sydney, Taylor Square Dirty Disco DJs 9pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 5pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Martini Club, DJ Tom Kelly free 6pm Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays Resident DJs 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Easy Sundays Resident DJs free 8pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sets DJ Tone free 7pm Phoenix Bar, Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst Loose Ends Matt Vaughan, Vinyl Richie, MC Gaff-E $10 10pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays Resident DJs 8pm The Watershed Hotel Afternoon DJs Resident DJs free The World Bar, Kings Cross Dust James Taylor, Alley Oop free 7pm

oaf's 2nd official hat party

PICS :: TL

Star Bar, Sydney Situation DJs 10pm The Sugar Mill, Kings Cross Rockin Retro Disco DJs free 6pm Sydney Showground, Homebush Bay Utopia Music Festival 2012 Brennan Heart (Netherlands), Coone, Gammer, Frequencers, Ivan Carsten, Art of Fighters, D-Passion, S Dee, Weaver, Suae, Nik Fish, XDream, Matrix, HSB, JTS, Nomad, Pulsar, Kid Finley, Convict, Mantello, MC Losty, MC D, Erase MC $69-$130 (+ bf) 9pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Trademark Saturdays Resident DJs 9pm Tunnel Nightclub, Kings Cross ONE Saturdays Resident DJs $10-$20 10pm Valve Bar, Tempe Chris Liberator & Sterling Moss (UK), DJ Orion, Digital Whax, The Honeymakers, Mike BigFX $20-$30 9pm The Watershed Hotel Watershed Presents…

Skybar $15

19:04:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711

propaganda

PICS :: DM

DJ Michael Stewart free The Marlborough Hotel – Level 1, Newtown Resident DJs free Metro Theatre, Sydney Orbital (UK) $67.30 11pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm One22, Sydney No Frills Nico Stojan, Marcotix, MSG, Jordan Deck, Dave Stuart $10-$15 10pm Opera Bar, Circular Quay Kit Lennon free 4.30pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Wasted Years DJs $10 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Resident DJs 8pm Space Arena @ Shark Hotel, Sydney Masif Saturdays Binary Finary, DJ Ange, Nick Arbor, Cryptic, VLN, Astral, Titan & Onekid Spectrum, Darlinghurst Kittens Kittens DJs $5-$10 11pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Claptone (DE), Murat Kilic, YokoO, Nic Scali, Sam Roberts, Tom Brereton $25 10pm

up all night out all week . . .

19:04:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

club picks up all night out all week...

The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall DJ ‘Secret International Dubstepper’, Doctor Werewolf, Subaske + more free-$5 8pm

THURSDAY MAY 3 The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda DJs Urby, Conrad Greenleaf, Jack Shit + more free-$5 8pm

FRIDAY MAY 4 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Movement Peacock Dreams, Dyan Tai free 8pm

B2 Studios, Alexandria musica/RECORDINGS Launch MeLo-X (USA), Star Slinger (UK), Lancelot, Albatross 8pm Fake Club, Potts Point Malente (GER) $10 10pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Musik Matters YokoO, Ben Ashton, James Fazzolari $20 6pm GoodGod Small Club, Sydney Chasm, DJ Neil Armstrong (USA), Thundamentals, Astronomy Class, The Tongue, Kween G, Scott Burns, Rinse, Skryptcha, Mr Clean, Demon, Frenzie, Ology $15 (+ bf) 10pm

20:04:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

Metro Theatre, Sydney Orbital (UK) $67.30 11pm

The Beresford – Upstairs, Surry Hills Sietta, Mrs Bishop, Anabelle Kay, DJ Kirsty Lee free 6pm

The Spice Cellar, Sydney Claptone (DE), Murat Kilic, YokoO, Nic Scali, Tom Brereton $25 10pm

Chinese Laundry, Sydney DJ Lord (USA), A-Tonez, Cheap Lettus, Detektives, Day Trip, Detnum $15-$25 10pm

The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes DJs Shivers (EP launch), Illya, Joyride + more $15–$20 8pm

The Hi-Fi, Moore Park Mount Kimbie (UK), Oscar + Martin, Albatross $38.50 (+ bf) 8pm

metrik

PICS :: MJ

WEDNESDAY MAY 2

Malente

The Spice Cellar, Sydney Toni Toni Lee, Ash Le Rouge, Slowblow free-$20 10pm

Annandale Hotel Funkoars, Def Wish Cast, Ellesquire $28 (+ bf) 8pm The Arthouse Hotel, Sydney Ajapai (JPN), Redial, Against Time & Kaos, V&Z, Brown Bear, MindQuad $20 9pm

teen spirit

PICS :: TL

SATURDAY MAY 5

20:04:12 :: The Exchange Hotel :: 34-44 Oxford St Darlinghurst Sydney 6343 1984 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: MIKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: JOHNSON :: RASA JUSKEVICIUTE TESIDE :: TIM WHITNEY ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: SAM WHI

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 47

snap up all night out all week . . .

kevin griffiths

It’s called: A Warehouse Jam It sounds like: Creative, underground, indep endent and forward-thinking electronic dance music.

Who’s spinning? Kid Kenobi, Doctor Werew olf, Northie, J Trick, Emoh Instead, Filth Collins, Ramske.

Three Songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘Night Games' (Northie Remix) – Surecut Kids; ‘Lasercat Rocket Attack’ – Docto r System Control You' (Too Fresh Remix) – RESE Werewolf; ‘Don’t Let The T! And one you definitely won’t: Where do we start?

Sell it to us: Sydney Warehouse Project and good friends Klub Kids present the essence of rave mixed with the sound of now! Cutting edge party music played by local artists getting high on a whole lot of big-ass BASS! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: How good it felt to do something different.

Crowd specs: Bass lovers with an open mind and a positive vibe.

Wallet damage: $25-$30 Where: Secret inner city warehouse – details released through sydneywarehouseproject.com.au When: Saturday May 5

PICS :: KC

party profile

kid kenobi

dean tyler

PICS ::KC

21:04:12 :: One22 :: 122 Pitt St Sydney

hot damn

PICS :: SW

21:04:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney

19:04:12 :: The Australian Brewery :: 350 Annangrove Rd Rouse Hill 9679 4555 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: MIKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: JOHNSON :: RASA JUSKEVICIUTE TESIDE :: TIM WHITNEY ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: SAM WHI

48 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

yacht club djs

PICS :: RR

traffic light party

PICS :: TW

19:04:12 :: Spectrum :: 34-44 Oxford st Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 2956

21:04:12 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9331 3100

UNLIMITED

BOWLING, POOL & KARAOKE.

THAI BUCKETS

$5 SPIRITS GUEST DJs | $20 THURSDAYS FROM 9PM AT STRIKE QV, MELBOURNE CBD FIND US ON

BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12 :: 49

snap

PICS :: RJ

mitzi

ben ufo

PICS :: RJ

up all night out all week . . .

20:04:12 :: GoodGod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 92673787

jingle jangle

PICS :: KC

20:04:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney

midland

PICS :: MJ

21:04:12 :: GoodGod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Sydney 92673787

21:04:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 82959958

14:04:12 :: Spectrum :: 34-44 Oxford st Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 3100 :: KATRINA CLARKE :: MIKE S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR :: DANIEL MUNNS :: THOMAS PEACHY :: IUTE JOHNSON :: RASA JUSKEVIC TESIDE :: TIM WHITNEY ROSETTE ROUHANNA :: SAM WHI

50 :: BRAG :: 460 :: 30:04:12

party profile

kittens

PICS :: SW

the sound It’s called: The Sound It sounds like: WUBWUBWUB-wacka-wacka-W

UB (oh yeah, dubstep)

Who’s spinning? Ajapai (Japan), Redial, V&Z, Against Time & Kaos, Brown Bear, MindQuad Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Ajapa i – ‘Drop The Bomb’; Excision ft Ajapai & Downlink – ‘Before The Sun’; and probably Knife Party – ‘Internet Friends’.

And one you definitely won’t: Any Timmy

Trumpet.

Sell it to us: This is a night for serious bassh eads. The Sydney dubstep scene is one of the tightest crowds out, and no matter how many events are running, it never seems to be enough. Come join the alt-electro revolution.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: How you had spent all your money on those extra cheap drinks to pay rent the next day, but ... and it was totally worth it.

Crowd specs: Bassheads of all description s. We don’t discrim

inate

Wallet damage: $20, or $15 on a guestlist before midnight!

Where: The Arthouse Hotel / 275 Pitt St, Sydne y When: Saturday May 5 from 9pm

CBD

S E R V I C E : D E N I M & C U LT U R E 8 4 OX FO R D S T R E E T DA R L I N G H U R S T N E U W D E N I M . C O M