The Brag #487

WINTER PEOPLE <PM 3PIVb

2 :: BRAG :: 176 :: 11:09:06

OFX ZFBST new yearss ร TUBHFT 10 stag stages ges ร EBZT 3 dayss "35*454 */$-6%*/(

+PIO #VUMFS 5SJP ร 'SJFOEMZ 'JSFT %+ TFU ร 4IBSPO +POFT UIF %BQ ,JOHT ,SBGUZ ,VUT WT " 4LJMM[ ร ,",* ,*/( ร -6,& 4-"5&3 ร 5IF #MBDL 4FFET 6OLOPXO .PSUBM 0SDIFTUSB ร 5IF )FSE ร 5)&0 1"33*4) ร #-00% 3&% 4)0&4 %":40'45"5*$ ร HBVEJ ร UJKVBOB DBSUFM ร &-&$53*$ &.1*3& NBU NDIVHI UIF TFQFSBUJTUB TPVOE TZTUFN ร 5)& 50/(6& DMBJSZ CSPXOF UIF CBOHJOร SBDLFUUFT

IPVS OPSUI PG TZEOFZ 3Jฤ รฌS4ฤ รซF $Bฤ รทJOฤ ร .Bฤ รบJWฤ "ฤ รปT 1Sฤ รฎSBฤ ร 'Bฤ รชZ %Sฤ รบT ร $Iฤ รณE3ฤ รตT 'Fฤ รปJWฤ รณ

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 3

Secret Sounds presents

with and

THE JUNGLE GIANTS

THU 3 JAN • HORDERN PAVILION ticketek.com.au, 132 849 (Licensed All Ages)

TICKETS ON SALE NOW twodoorcinemaclub.com secret-sounds.com.au

NEW ALBUM BEACON OUT NOW. FEATURES THE SINGLES SLEEP ALONE AND SUN.

4 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 5

6 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

WED 30 JAN ENMORE THEATRE TICKETEK.COM.AU

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

KIRIN J CALLINAN

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S MOST BEGUILING ALBUMS.” PITCHFORK

ON SALE NOW LANEWAYFESTIVAL.COM.AU/SIDESHOWS BATFORLASHES.COM

WED 6 FEB . UPSTAIRS BERESFORD MOSHTIX.COM.AU

ON SALE NOW BOTH ACTS ALSO PLAYING LANEWAY FESTIVAL

LANEWAYFESTIVAL.COM.AU BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 7

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

five things WITH

MICROWAVE JENNY Inspirations An artist not too many have heard of but 2. who we love is Janis Ian. She’s a great pop/folk

cajon, but the next time we head out on the road will most likely include a full band, to try and reproduce the records we’ve been making.

writer and singer. We also love Amy Winehouse’s music, and we’ve always loved Michael Jackson.

He wrote killer pop songs without dumbing it down for anyone. We love people who make great pop music and aren’t ashamed of it.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene in Australia is a really 5. tough thing to be a part of at the moment. It’s

Your Band We’re a duet and we’re husband and 3. wife. We met in 2005, but didn’t decide to start the band until three or four years later. The decision mostly came from the fact that we loved the same things musically, and felt the same about the kind of music we wanted to bring into the world. Lately we’ve been working with producer Daniel Denholm, who’s worked on all of our EPs and helped with our career.

Growing Up [Tessa]: I was brought up in a super 1. creative environment. Our household was

songwriting has elements of soul, jazz and folk. Early on we were very low key and folksounding, but that’s just because we could only afford to record and tour with an acoustic guitar and not much else. Now we’ve started to experiment with different instruments and genres, and it’s constantly evolving. Our last tour was a stripped-back affair with just acoustic guitar and

PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon steph@thebrag.com 02 9552 6333 ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Benjamin Cooper, Krissi Weiss NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Jovan Atanockovic, Ashley Mar, Daniel Munns, Elke Owens, Step Back Photography, Pedro Xavier, Alexis Zlamal COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Ken Leanfore

DOWN TO EARTH

ADVERTISING: Ross Eldridge - 0422 659 425 / (02) 9690 0806 ross@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 8394 9027 les@thebrag.com GIG & CLUB GUIDE CO-ORDINATOR: Conrad Richters - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock) clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) INTERNS: Natalie Amat, Siobhan Graham, Charis Lynn, Tanydd Jaquet REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Benjamin Cooper, Alasdair Duncan, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Andrew Geeves, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Anna Kennedy, Sheridan Morley, Jenny Noyes, Hugh Robertson, Rebecca Saffir, Romi Scodellaro, Jonno Seidler, Rach Seneviratne, Roland K Smith, Laurence Rosier Staines, Luke Telford, Rick Warner, Alex Sol Watts, Krissi Weiss, Caitlin Welsh 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).

Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Cartrage P/L ACN 104026388 All content copyrighted to Cartrage 2003 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get The Brag? Email distribution@furstmedia. com.au or phone 03 9428 3600.

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

8 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Hey Kevin Mitchell, how do you decide which songs are Bob Evans songs and which ones are Jebediah songs? Do you just get that other Jebs guitarist who looks exactly like the Strokes guitarist to play those high-noodling Jebs guitar bits over everything you write, and work it out that way? Thought so. Anyway, we hear you are back in Bob Evans mode – your new single ‘Don’t Wanna Grow Up Anymore’ is great, and the clip is very cute. If we weren’t just writing directly to you here, we’d implore people to seek it out. So congrats! Anyway, we’ll be watching you play it and other songs from your new Double Life EP on Thursday November 22 at the very intimate Camelot Lounge, which sounds like the kind of place you should really wear a cape to.

IVY LEAGUE TURNS 15

Ivy League Records was launched 15 years ago in inner-Sydney, mostly as a vehicle to release Youth Group records but also because three friends decided it would be fun to run a label.

And with Youth Group scoring a number one single (and soundtracking the most beautifully doomed television romance of our time), Cloud Control killing it overseas, and Josh Pyke recently winning ‘best facial hair’ at The Braggies (our imaginary award ceremony, obvs), it seems that running a label is still fun – and they are still very good at it. To celebrate all that, they are coupling their annual Christmas shindig with a 15th birthday party at The Annandale Hotel on Wednesday December 12, with a BBQ, beers, and 15-minute sets by The Mess Hall, The Rubens, Lanie Lane, Alpine, Sures and Toby Martin, plus DJ sets from Catcall (who’d have the best punk records ever), Deep Sea Arcade, and the wonderfully named Ivy League ‘Money Making Machine’ DJs. $20 tickets are on sale now.

Murphy Music Academy’s Chris Murphy (remember him on the judging panel of Popstars? Also, he signed Ratcat and You Am I!), Michael Chugg and The Basement have joined forces Voltron-style to present Down To Earth this Friday November 9: a night of new music in which you will discover your four favourite new bands. Those bands are Burn Antares (Northern Beaches folk/surf/psych), Lime Cordiale (Chugg’s latest charge – good baroque-leaning pop), Gypsies And Gentlemen (looouudd!) and Stone Monks (soul deep). $15 pre-sale, $20 at the door (if you can get in!).

$P0:D

Anyone who refers to themselves as “Australia’s favourite bloke” is more than alright in our books – moreso when it is SPOD and even moreso when he is launching his first single for God-

knows-how-long, and even, even moreso when it is a drinking anthem called ‘Couple Of Drinks’ engineered by Owen Penglis and recorded to tape. He’ll be launching it this Saturday November 10 at Brighton Up Bar; you can buy it online the day before, for sing-along prep.

(Trust us: you’re going to want sing-along prep.)

OZZY!

There’s a hilarious Tenacious D song called ‘Dio’, in which Jack White tells ex-Sabbath vocalist Ronnie James Dio he is too old to rock, and implores him to hand his cape and sceptre over to him (and a smaller one for Kyle), while assuring him that he would be put in a home and be “very well taken care of.” Well, Dio sadly passed away a few years back, and it seems Ozzy Osbourne has again taken up the sceptre and will be bringing Black Sabbath back to Australia in 2013, playing Allphones Arena on April 27. Tickets are on sale on Thursday November 8 from midday (rock doesn’t wake at 9am for anyone, son!) – and the last time Sabbath were here, in 1974, they were supported by a young band called AC/DC…

IGGY!

Despite the fact that Iggy no longer smears himself with peanut butter and cuts himself on stage, Iggy And The Stooges are still one of the most visceral live experiences you will ever have. In fact all the cutty, Krafty nonsense sounds a little off-putting, so perhaps it is best they will just be pumping through their enviable back catalogue on April 2 at The Hordern, with Beasts of Bourbon as the dangerously apt support act. You know all those R.I.P Society bands? Iggy invented them!

The Preatures

BEATS ANTIQUE

Beats Antique aren’t your typical San Fran band: they merge all that modern beat-matching technology (witchcraft!) with live brass, string quartets, and other ‘real’ instruments, then glitch it all up until you’re not quite sure who you are or what you stand for anymore. Plus it’s good to dance to. They are returning to Sydney to launch their new record Contraption Vol. 2, and will be playing a rousing live set at The Standard on Friday November 16.

ANNANDALE BLOCK PARTY

So, the building and carpark to the left of The Annandale Hotel will be demolished, and instead of chaining themselves to things and hand-making signs where the last few letters are crammed in because they didn’t allow enough space, the ‘Dale are throwing a huge block party on Sunday November 18. There’ll be a pop-up bar in the carpark, over 30 market stalls, and live sets from The Preatures, Sures, Regular John, Chick Who Loves Guns, The Upskirts and She-Rex. Tickets are $20 from Oztix.

Xxx

BOB EVANS

The Mess Hall

With: The Medics, Jess Beck Where: Redfern Station @ Carriageworks When: Saturday November 10 (all-ages) More: Also playing Peats Ridge Festival, held from December 29–January 1 at Glenworth Valley, featuring John Butler Trio, Kaki King, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, The Black Seeds, Krafty Kuts, Electric Wire Hustle, Deep Sea Arcade and more

Xxx photo by xxxx

never lacking in musical instruments and art supplies. Dad ran a small karaoke business and would pay me $5 to write out lyrics to songs he didn’t have the words to yet (this was before the internet). I remember one week I made $30. That was a good week.

[Brendon]: I grew up in a household that placed a heap of importance on music.

Nobody in my family has ever really had any experience in making it a career before, so I’m on my own in that regard, but growing up my parents would play their old records every night before going to bed, and every Sunday morning it was country music on the radio.

Kind of like our version of church.

The Music You Make We’re influenced by many different styles, 4. and they all come through in our music. Our

also super exciting. It’s tough because it feels like there are only so many ways to break: you can get on triple j and be supported by them and build a fan base that way – and if you don’t fit on triple j you have to get involved with a talent show on TV to grow your fan base. We’re slowly reaching fans through community radio, who’ve been the biggest support to us. Another exciting thing about Sydney are the cultural festivals that pop up in the city and create an awesome buzz; we randomly find great new bands we love at those all the time.

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 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

SHANNON FROM BAND OF FREQUENCIES We all met through the Brisbane music scene, and have been playing together for over 12 years in Afro Dizzi Act. OJ Newcomb (bass), Mark Henman (drums) and Andrew Szumowski (keys) all joined Afro at different stages, so we’ve been on many sonic adventures together. Band Of Frequencies began as a side project, to explore some different sounds I was working on – the lads were keen to make it a reality, so here we are.

M

y father is the drummer in the early ‘70s band Moonstone, who had a cult following in the Coolangatta surf scene. My parents then became DJs in the mid-‘70s, opening a club on the Sunshine Coast called The Galaxy; they went on to build it into one of the great live concert venues on the Australian touring circuit. Their passion for music allowed me to hear a lot of

HENRY WAGONS

records, see a lot of gigs, and be immersed in music all my life.

I’ve been through so many phases musically. The artists that have stayed with me are Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, Sly And The Family Stone, Fela Kuti, and their collective family trees. I’m a fan of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, when jazz went electric, funk went psychedelic, and Miles met Hendrix.

Bat For Lashes

We draw influences from psychedelic soul, prog rock, reggae and New Orleans funk, and then we jam out with electronic influences into a progressive roots mash-up. I was stoked to discover Mutemath earlier in the year, we dig what Tame Impala are laying down, and Little Bushman from NZ are also into similar sounds to us.

We recorded our new album Rise Like The Sun with Jeff Lovejoy at Blackbox studio, all straight-to-

for Sydney on Wednesday March 27 at St. Stephens Uniting Church (on Macquarie St), and in support is folksy UK lad Benjamin Francis Leftwich, who was recently in the country – from all accounts his Vanguard show was pretty special, so get along to this. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday November 7.

LANEWAY SIDESHOWS

Laneway Festival announced all of the sideshows last week! (Deep breath): Of Monsters and Men – Metro, January 29; Bat For Lashes – Enmore, January 30; Yeasayer – Metro, Jan 31; Polica – Oxford Art Factory, February 5; Divine Fits – Manning Bar, Feb 6; Cloud Nothings – Annandale, Feb 6; Ms Mr – OAF, Feb 4; Jessie Ware – Upstairs Beresford, Feb 6; The Men – Goodgod, Jan 30 (with Royal Headache); Nite Jewel – Goodgod, Jan 31; Julia Holter – Paddington Uniting Church, Feb 7 (exhale). Tickets are on sale already, so GO! GO! GO!

CHAPTER 20: THE PARTY

Melbourne’s Chapter Music are celebrating 20 years of releasing some of the greatest Australian music made in the last 20 years by releasing 20 Big Ones, a beautiful pink and green vinyl release with rare tracks from Twerps, Crayon Fields, Fabulous Diamonds, Dick Diver, Pikelet, Laura Jean, Minimum Chips and countless more (well, 13 more). There’s also a concert of course – this isn’t your Columbia Record Club pamphlet, after all. November 24 at Goodgod Small Club, with sets by Geoffrey O’Connor’s Crayon Fields (their first since early last year!), Laura Jean, Standish/Carlyon, Guy Blackman and Jonny Telafone. Bake a cake!

BONDI WINTER CABINS

This Wednesday November 7, Beach Road Hotel in Bondi is hosting another ridiculously good mid-week lineup, featuring Cabins and Winter People. And instead of charging $25 for it like they could, they have decided to make it free entry, as is their custom. You’re welcome.

GOLDEN PLAINS SIDESHOWS

For those who don’t enjoy cramped, sweaty, can’t-smoke-can’t-pee-who-ate-all-the-PizzaShapes car trips, Golden Plains have just announced a few Sydney sideshows: Wild Nothing, which is happening March 8 at Oxford Art Factory; Purity Ring, who will be playing March 6, also at Oxford Art Factory; and George Clinton And Parliament, who will be hitting The Hi-Fi on Friday March 8. Next year’s shaping up pretty well, don’tchathink?

There are so many epic sounds being created by brilliant artists worldwide, so I reckon the music scene is really healthy creatively. The life of the independent artist is super rewarding, although it can definitely be a challenge at times – but that all fades into knowing that this is our life’s work on this planet. Plus if it was too easy, everyone would be doing it.

What: Rise Like The Sun is out now Where: Brass Monkey, Cronulla/Notes, Newtown/The Mac, Surry Hills When: November 7 / November 8 / November 10

REDFERN STATION

Contemporary Aboriginal music is going from strength to strength at the moment – and if you haven’t yet delved, the Redfern Station all-ages show this Saturday November 10 at Carriageworks is the perfect entry point. The Medics, Microwave Jenny and Jess Beck are performing, and with tickets only $20, and these acts rising quicker than Willy Wonka’s glass elevator, this is quite possibly the only chance you will get to see any of these guys for so cheap.

THE LIVING END!

Go to ‘L’ in your immaculately alphabetised CD collection, and scan The Living End’s legendary back catalogue. They will be playing each of these albums live, in full, at The Hi-Fi – starting from November 21 with White Noise, and ending on November 27 with the second performance of their selftitled debut (the best one). Just in case this won’t be enough of a cargo-shorts-and-Vans timewarp, Area 7 and Even will be supporting at all shows (plus Cabins!), with Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson DJing, no doubt playing Shihad and 28 Days and PreShrunk and Dick Sandwich-era Frenzal and the like. Roll on!

CRIB NOTES

The Cribs, those three UK brothers who have released a string of ragged, fearless, peerless records over the past decade, are returning to Sydney to play the Oxford Art Factory on January 2. Tickets go on sale this Friday November 9, and to give some indication of just how good these guys are live, last time they toured they had Johnny Marr on lead guitar (who requested to join the band!), and even though he invented indie music, nobody really noticed he was there at all. Get tickets, you will love it. We can tell from your taste in music.

Do you ever wish you belonged to a different era? Do you picture a world without tween boy bands, Biebers and Swifts? Melbourne’s Mojo Juju does too; sans the Snake Oil Merchants this time around, she’ll be bringing a slice of 1930s Pachuco culture (picture Latino gangsteresque types and zoot suits) to Sydney this November, to serenade fans with tracks off her debut self-titled album. She’ll be stopping by Sydney’s Red Rattler on Friday November 9 for a night of musical debauchery, and you can bet your bottom dollar her sexy new single ‘Must Be Desire’ will be represented in the cocktail of sleazy jazz and sultry blues. For your chance at a double pass to the show, tell us your favourite Mojo Juju song.

FRED WESLEY

“We speak of love and happiness: for me, happiness is Fred Wesley playing his horn.”

Wow. Most press releases just have a BRAG quote or whatever, but Fred Wesley And The New JBs have the blessing of the godfather of soul himself: James Brown. It’s not surprising – Wesley’s musical direction, arrangements and compositions basically crafted Brown’s sound. So if you wanna catch the guy who pretty much made soul sound like it does, get along to Upstairs Beresford on March 27. Tickets on sale now.

BLUESFEST III

(The following article is to be read like I am Ash from Pokemon, unleashing my fierce array of impressive Pokemon.) “Bluesfest 2013 third artist announcement: Robert Plant, go! Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, go! Status Quo! Madness! Jon Anderson of Yes!” (Regular reading now) These acts join an already impossibly impressive lineup, featuring Santana, Ben Harper, Iggy And The Stooges, Steve Miller Band, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Jimmy Cliff, Chris Isaak, Wilco, Rodriguez and so many more. It all happens over the long Easter Weekend (March 28– April 1) at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm.

SKUNKHOUR @ THE STANDARD

Stipe, Garrett, Larkin: the holy bald trinity. Aya Larkin, frontman of Sydney ‘90s funk/pop/rap pioneers Skunkhour, is gathering the troops to play a one-off 20th anniversary show at The Standard this Saturday November 10 – and judging by the sneak-peek we got last week at the venue’s first birthday party, age has not wearied them. In fact, we’re pretty sure that Larkin is Benjamin Button-ing, or drinking from some form of youth-fountain or something. They’ve still got it!

CHOW DOWN AT BDO

HEAVENLY SOUNDS: MICHAEL KIWANUKA

The Heavenly Sounds series of concerts is the most religious experience you are going to have this side of Miracle Tuesdays at your local steakhouse (ask for Rita). They started with Seeker Lover Keeper, kept the same feel with Lisa Mitchell, and are proving third time’s a charm (especially if the first two times were also charms) with Michael Kiwanuka and his breathtaking ‘70s soul gospel sound, which was basically made for/in churches. It happens

MOJO JUJU

Porteno’s Elvis Abrahanowicz and Ben Milgate

Drop that disgusting box of greasy soggy chips. Not on the ground, in one of the numerous bins provided. Now, get along to Chow Town, the newest, most-delicious Big Day Out initiative yet, and eat food prepared by the best chefs/ restaurants in the country, curated by Porteno/Bodega lads Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz. There’s American Barbeque style brisket and pulled pork, lobster corn dogs, hand held Tostadas de Atun Fresco, Chinese duck bao’s and probably chips, too! To say nothing of the other menu, featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Bloody Beetroots, Animal Collective, Vampire Weekend, Sleigh Bells, Foals and more. January 18 seems so far away…

“The bloodwood and the desert oak Holden wrecks and boiling diesels steam in forty five degrees” - MIDNIGHT OIL 10 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Xxx

SPUNK NYD BASH

“So this is the new year, but I don’t feel any different.” Well Mr. Gibbard, perhaps all you need is a change of scenery. Spunk Records is putting on an afternoon party at Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul on New Year’s Day. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Bearhug, RL Jones (that guy from The Middle East) and Shining Bird will be playing live, and in-between bands you can wander a few hundred metres to the beach and swim away those festive season leftovers. Starts at 4pm; tickets from Oztix.

tape and with the track beds laid down live to capture the band’s chemistry. We are touring the album now: people can expect to have their cells realigned as our sound waves peel along the shorelines of their mind.

If epic Western shirts, beards and the quivering score of The Good, The Bad And The Ugly really get you going, then boy does Henry Wagons have a show for you. The balladeer is hitting the road to share his brilliant solo album Expecting Company? – solo, sure, but it’s still packed to the brim with duets, featuring names like The Kills’ Alison Mosshart, The Grates’ Patience Hodgson, Gossling and Robert Forster. He’ll be shaking up The Annandale on Saturday November 10 with Achoo! Bless You and Fanny Lumsden in support; to score one of three double passes, tell us another artist Henry collaborated with on the album.

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 11

The Music Network

themusicnetwork.com

Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

* The Civil Wars cancelled their tour schedule for 2013, including their Australian visit in March. Upcoming visitors Grimes and Cat Power (the latter “due to bankruptcy and my health struggle with angioedema”) have cancelled their European tours. Green Day’s planned visit is delayed as Billy Jo Armstrong’s stay in rehab is extended. Elbow are also taking next year off. * Despite being cash-strapped, Channel Nine picked up Australia's Got Talent 24 hours after Seven dropped it, after it lost half its audience to Nine’s own The Voice.

Nine says it will pump money into AGT and, reportedly, get new judges. * Real estate news: Splendour In The Grass co-promoter Jessica Ducrou and surfboard maker Dain Thomas have their 109-year-old Byron Bay farmhouse Killarney for sale at $3.5 million. Former Austereo chief Brad March put his bayview pad at Dover Heights back on sale, dropping the price to $4.2 million. * Lady Gaga angrily hit Twitter after Calvin Harris yapped on TV that he’d been offered the chance to work with her in

FESTIVAL OF THE SUN + TRIPLE J UNEARTH COAST TALENT

Festival Of The Sun and triple j are for the fifth time teaming up to Unearth a local act from the Mid North Coast. They’re offering the winner the chance to play alongside the likes of Kimbra, Dead Letter Circus and DZ Deathrays on December 14 and 15 at the Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park in Port Macquarie. Go to triplejunearthed.com.au and upload some tunes before Sunday November 11, and cross your fingers that you’ll be chosen by triple j’s panel, including Richard Kingsmill and Dom Alessio. The winner will be announced on triple j on November 18. It could change your fortune: last year’s winners The Dirty Little Rebels were offered tours with Grinspoon and The Redcoats, and have recorded an EP produced

by Grinspoon’s Phil Jamieson.

2008 (before she got famous), but turned it down because he was working with Dizzee Rascal at the time and he “didn’t really like the songs” he was sent. Gaga said she’d never contacted him, adding bitterly, “I guess it’s hard to believe I write + produce my music. Cuz I’m a woman I don’t know about EDM right?” * Stereosonic promoters Totem/Onelove lashed out at Queensland’s Electric Playground, which advertised an after-party with mystery guests. They emphasised: “NO Stereosonic international artists are appearing or attending this event and they have used our logo/trademark without permission.” * Pennywise have reunited with their original frontman Jim Lindberg. * Ticketek and Ticketmaster were among those named on consumer watchdog Choice’s Shonky Awards, for “over-thetop and inescapable fees” charged to customers buying tickets to events. * Foster The People frontman Mark Foster was kicked out of a Prince club gig in Los Angeles after security saw him using his mobile. Prince had banned them from the show, to stop people recording or taking photos.

IVY LEAGUE'S FIFTEENTH YEAR

This year, Ivy League will combine its annual Christmas shindig with its 15th anniversary celebrations. Pete Lusty, Andy Cassell and Andy Kelly rented a Newtown dive for $50 a week and shared a mobile phone to start the company. They chose grandiose names like Ivy League and their management arm Winterman & Goldstein “to pretend to be a faceless multinational music company,” Cassell chuckles. “[But] in reality we relied on two minute noodles, part-time jobs, the dole, and the generosity of our girlfriends at the time to get us through the first five years”. The bash is being held on Wednesday December 12 at The Annandale Hotel, with The Mess Hall, The Rubens, Lanie Lane, Alpine, SURES and Toby Martin, and DJ sets from Catcall,

Deep Sea Arcade and the Ivy League ‘Money Making Machine’ DJs.

IBIZA’S PACHA IN SYDNEY

Ibiza multimedia club night Pacha is heading to Sydney. It struck a deal with Justin Hemmes of The Ivy to stage the night there every Saturday from November 24. The opening party has a guest list of 3000, with some international DJs to be announced. Pacha nights include dancers, aerialists, street performers and psychedelic projections taking over surrounding laneways. The creative directors are Ignatius Jones (Sydney and Vancouver Winter Olympics opening ceremonies, Vivid, Mardi Gras Parade) and theatrical director Craig Ilott (Smoke & Mirrors, Hedwig & The Angry Inch).

UK INDIE AWARDS

The Prodigy, Alt-J, Adele and Enter Shikari were among winners of the AIM Independent Music Awards held in London. The Prodigy were voted Best Live Act, Alt-J (who also won The Mercury Prize late last week) were voted Best Independent Breakthrough, and Adele was Most Played Independent Act. Enter Shikari’s A Flash Flood Of Colour won best independent album and 65daysofstatic won hardest working act. Edwyn Collins got outstanding contribution to music, and Mute Records' Daniel Miller won the pioneer gong.

SHIPP TO HEAD DIGITAL SALES FOR PEER GROUP

Nathan Shipp, former group manager of entertainment at News joined music and entertainment publisher Peer Group Media as director of sales for publishing.

Peer Group publishes BRAG and The Music Network, and runs events and ticketing website www.eventfinder.com.au, which attracts over one million visitors a month across Australia and NZ. Shipp will lead a national sales drive with agencies, event promoters and government tourism bodies, to promote Peer Group’s growing portfolio of entertainment assets.

INDENT'S DIY GIG GUIDE

MusicNSW’s youth project Indent launched an event guide for young people wanting to stage music, arts and performance based events. X Festival: DIY Gigs covers small and medium sized projects with limited budgets and resources, and indoor and outdoor, allages, under-18 and licensed events. It highlights the key stages of an event, from the initial idea to the event to the post-show media release, and is for sale for $15 from indent.net.au

THREE OVERSEE AUSTRALIA COUNCIL TOUR PROGRAMS

Minister Of The Arts Simon Crean has transferred a number of touring programs to the Australia Council. A national touring team has been set up within the Arts Development Division. Looking after Playing Australia, Visions Of Australia, The Contemporary Touring Initiative and Festivals Australia are program manager of national touring Penny Miles and program officer Tara Kita. Handling the Contemporary Music Touring Program is Morwenna Collett, program manager of music. See australiacouncil.gov.au/touring

Lifelines Split: Ellie Goulding and Skrillex, whose careers kept them apart. They met after the dubstep producer emailed to say he liked her music.

Marrying: Stones’ guitarist Ron Wood, 35, proposed to theatre producer Sally Humphreys, 34; the pair had been together for six months.

Recovering: Lil Wayne is out of hospital after suffering seizurelike symptoms during a flight, forcing his private jet to land in Texas.

Recovering: Diddy, from injuries to his neck, ribs and collarbone, after an SUV he was a passenger in collided with another vehicle in Hollywood.

Investigated: Cee Lo Green

by Los Angeles police, after a woman filed a report claiming that he sexually assaulted her.

He denies any wrong-doing.

Jailed: Former Ivy club bouncer Menelaus Hendra, 35, for nine months, for his role in an attack last August on a 19-year-old clubber, which involved three other people. Hendra insists he reacted when the man spat on him.

In Court: Mel B and husband Stephen Belafonte won an apprehended violence order against social photographer Jamie Fawcett at Waverley Local Court. They claimed he put their lives in danger when he pursued them on their boat. Fawcett, who now cannot go five metres near her, plans to appeal.

In Court: A Canberra woman won $130,000 in damages in the ACT Supreme Court, alleging she was assaulted by a bouncer at the ICBM nightclub.

Sued: The Game, by rapper 40 Glocc, over an incident in which he says The Game and his 15-person entourage jumped him outside a party, beat him to a pulp, and threatened him with a gun. The incident was posted on YouTube.

Died: Natina Reed, a member of the US RnB trio Blaque who played a cheerleader in the 2000 film Bring It On, in Georgia, after being run over.

Died: US guitarist and singersongwriter Terry Callier, 67.

His body was found at his home. After a first run in the early ‘70s with a series of funk, soul and jazz albums, he made a comeback after being rediscovered by Beth Orton, Massive Attack and Michael Kiwanuka.

16 AUSSIES FOR SXSW

The first 16 Australian acts were invited to play South By Southwest in Texas in March. They were the first to apply in August, and will be joined by another 50 who apply before the showcase deadline on November 7. The 16 are Vaudeville Smash, Gold Fields, Sugar Army, The Swiss, Nolita Knights, Something For Kate, The Chevelles, San Cisco, Hiatus Kaiyote, Emma Louise, Atlas Genius, Seth Sentry, Bearhug, Twerps, 360 and Transcription Of Organ Music.

J AWARDS 2012

The first nominees announced for triple j's J Award for Album Of The Year are Alpine, Ball Park Music, Hermitude, The Rubens and Tame Impala, with another announcement set for November 15. In the Music Video Of The Year category is Alpine ('Hands), Gotye ('Easy Way Out'), Flight Facilities ('Foreign Language'), Kirin J Callinan ('Way II War'), Bertie Blackman ('Boy'), and Hilltop Hoods ('Rattling The Keys To The Kingdom'). The J Award for Unearthed Artist Of The Year

12 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

will be battled out by Flume, The Rubens, Chance Waters, Kingswood and Thelma Plum. Winners will be announced on triple j from 5pm on November 23, broadcast from the Melbourne event.

WANNA WORK AT MUSICNSW?

MusicNSW wants an Education Officer to develop existing and future programs that support and develop the NSW contemporary music industry. See musicnsw.com for full details; deadline is November 16.

MULLUM MUSIC SONG COMP

Byron Bay’s Mullum Music Festival is teaming up with social commerce website Community Engine for The Ultimate Festival Song Competition. Create a short video (two minutes or less) of you singing your fave festival song, and upload it to YouTube with ‘MMF12 Fest Song’ in the title by November 14. Festival director Glenn Wright will choose the winner, with the prize including gold passes to the festival, 20 signed CDs, and resort stays. See communityengine. com.au/mullummusicfestival

E HIFI 1300 TH COM.AU THEHIFI.

Ray Duo

Just Announced Coming Soon

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

The Living End

Wed 21 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tue 27 Nov

08 Nov

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

White Noise Wed 21 Nov Roll On Sun 25 Nov

The Boys Of Summer Tour 2013

fri

O PE NE R AL NI BU G M HT

O 8 NS NO AL V E

thu

SE LL IN G

Nov

FA ST

07 Spencer

wed

your Favour

ite Festivals!

State of Emergency Thu 22 Nov The Living End Mon 26 Nov

Modern Artillery Fri 23 Nov The Living End Tue 27 Nov

The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating Sat 24 Nov

Sun 13 Jan

09

O UT

Nov

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

SO LD

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

(5:00PM - 8:00PM)

Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group (USA)

Turbonegro (NOR) Thu 6 Dec

Sat 1 Dec (4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SATURDAY NIGHT

11

Fri 7 Dec

Sat 15 Dec

Blood Red Shoes (UK)

Marduk (SWE)

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SUNDAY NIGHT

Nov

(9:00PM - 1:30AM)

65daysofstatic (UK)

Maximo Park (UK)

Wed 2 Jan

Thu 3 Jan

Sat 12 Jan

Fri 4 Jan

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

FA ST

10 Nov

sun

Paul Kalkbrenner (GER)

SE LL IN G

sat

Mayday Parade (USA)

Crystal Castles(CAN) Kerser Thu 17 Jan

Sat 2 Feb

Gin Blossoms (USA) Sat 9 Feb

An Evening with The Hoff (USA) Fri 15 Feb

ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 13

THE TEMPER TRAP T

here was once a time in Dougy Mandagi’s life when Bono was an insanely rich and famous human being, whose stature went far beyond simply that of ‘U2’s singer’. These days, the frontman of The Temper Trap and Bono are more akin to equals; earlier this year he cited the Melbourne band as an inspiration for a forthcoming U2 album, a concept that boggles Mandagi. “It’s surreal,” he reflects. “Whether you like him or not, he’s at a different level of fame. It’s a bit surreal when someone like that gives you a compliment or even has an opinion on you.”

Mandagi is talking to me post-soundcheck, backstage before a show in Houston. The relentless touring schedule of one of Australia’s biggest musical exports is indicative of their global clout since the success of their debut Conditions – and especially the unprecedented popularity of ‘Sweet Disposition’. The Temper Trap now tour worldwide almost full-time, they’re coming back to Australia to play stadium shows with Coldplay, and they recently played to over 99,000 people at the MCG during the AFL grand final. Not bad for a couple of General Pants Co. colleagues who decided to start a band five years ago.

The single ‘Sweet Disposition’ from their 2009 debut had immense coverage through popular culture for a long time after its release, most notably in the indie film favourite (500) Days of Summer and a heavily distributed Diet Coke ad campaign. It’s also been featured in 90210, Ted, Skins, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl and Eat Pray Love, and in commercials for Sky Sports, Chrysler, Peugot, O2, and Toyota. But for Mandagi, it’s not how people hear the music that counts – it’s the fact that they’re hearing it. “It’s the way forward. Radio is no longer the main avenue where people will discover or hear music,” he says. “We’ve got a little bit of bad rap in the past for doing it, but it was the difference between coming to America for the first time and playing to nobody, and coming to America for the first time and selling out all the gigs – because they’d heard us on (500) Days of Summer or heard ‘Sweet Disposition’ on a Coke ad.”

After playing shows and festivals almost nonstop off the back of Conditions, Mandagi and the rest of the band took some time away from each other before re-grouping in Hackney, London to write the follow-up. To completely embrace journalistic clichés, their self-titled sophomore is noticeably darker – and for Mandagi, that came not just from his time in London, but from some more personal issues that he hadn’t really had the time to deal with. “[Writing the second album] was pretty much like putting myself through therapy. When I sat down to write lyrics, I found myself revisiting old places in my mind

that I thought I’d shut out… I was discovering that I still had things I needed to get off my chest.”

The band were all located in Hackney for the writing and recording of The Temper Trap, but Mandagi chose to live alone this time.

The environment you’re living in inevitably shapes the tone of what you’re writing, and it was this combination of London living and an almost self-inflicted loneliness that paved the way for the mood on The Temper Trap’s second album. “For me as a lyricist, living in London had a lot to do with [the darker feel of the record],” Mandagi says. “I was living on my own at the time, and I was single. Eight months of writing – I had a lot of time to spend by myself, at home, in my flat … and you look outside the window and it’s raining and grey. I think that sort of environment will naturally affect your mood and your thoughts. I was also writing a lot about a past relationship that I went through, so I suppose when I was penning things down, that’s what came out.”

The interesting thing about Dougy Mandagi and his band is that they almost seem to have always envisaged reaching these lofty heights. With their majestic guitar phrases and immediately relatable vocals, it was like they had foreseen the sold-out stadiums since the band’s conception – they even had a nice handful of lighters-in-the-air balladry to pull out when necessary. The success of Conditions saw this idea become a tangible thing, and changed the way the band went about

“I guess if you want to stay at a certain level of popularity, you will have to compromise.

It really comes down to where you want to project your career. But having said that, we’re not really interested in putting out the same album over and over.”

creating their second effort: for The Temper Trap, it became a matter of walking the line between pushing creative boundaries and pleasing mass audiences. “Obviously when you are writing your first album there are no expectations on you. Whatsoever. We got to write whatever we wanted, and it happened to really connect and really take off. You always have full creative control, but I guess if you want to stay at a certain level of popularity, you will have to compromise. It really comes down to where you wanna project your career,” Mandagi explains. “But having said that, we’re not really interested in putting out the same album over and over.”

As well as their Coldplay dates this month, The Temper Trap are on the bill for Future Music Festival in March next year, where they join the likes of The Stone Roses, PSY, Dizzee Rascal and Azealia Banks. A Future Music billing is testament to the band’s mass appeal, and I ask Mandagi how it is that people who get off to PSY and Steve Aoki can also love The Temper Trap. “I believe that’s what you call ‘crossover’ – a bit of industry lingo for you there,” he laughs. “But that’s how it works, and we’re not afraid of that. We’re not afraid to be accessible to all sorts of people, whether you’re an accountant in an office or whether you drink lattes in a café for a living, whatever. We’re not trying to make exclusive, pompous, snobby music. We just want to make music that we like and hopefully that other people like, regardless of what you do or who you are. For what it’s worth, I like PSY. I think he’s awesome – and I can do a pretty good Gangnam style.”

With: Coldplay Where: Allianz Stadium When: Saturday November 17 & Sunday November 18 More: Also playing Future Music Festival on Saturday March 9 at Randwick Racecourse, alongside The Stone Roses, The Prodigy, Bloc Party, Steve Aoki, Azaelia Banks, Boys Noize (live debut), PSY and more

“A smallish man Afghanistan, a watch dog in a nervous land, they’re only there to lend a hand short memory” - MIDNIGHT OIL 14 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

The Temper Trap photo by Ken Leanfore

But this success hasn’t come without a very business-savvy mindset from the group; for Mandagi, the music is paramount, but a marketing plan for your band is just as important. “You have to be smart in manoeuvring your career, so I don’t mind if people are discovering us through ads and stuff,” he says. The band has copped flak in the past from purists who decry the saturation of The Temper Trap’s songs in advertising and on film soundtracks, but Mandagi is candid about this aspect of the industry. “None of us [in the band] have an issue about it. It was necessary to do at the time, and it’s gotten us to where we are now. There are still a lot of people that are very idealistic about music and art … and how whenever it’s coupled with corporations and money, it all of a sudden loses its artistic value or artistic merit. We don’t see it that way. We see it as an avenue for that song to be heard by countless people.”

Where Do They Go From Here? By Rach Seneviratne

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 15

Parkway Drive Around The World And Back By Benjamin Cooper

“There have been moments where we’ll catch each other’s eyes on stage and know the same thought is running through all of our heads: This is our life now, and it’s amazing.” from the group’s beginnings in a basement, on the hometown street that gave them their name.

When they’re in Australia the boys spend most of their time at home in Byron, with their family and friends offering the grounding and comfort that is necessary for a group who spend so much time in transit and switching time zones.

“This isn’t going to sound very rock’n’roll, but sometimes it’s just nice to be able to do some washing,” McCall says. “When we come home we get to live normal lives, which we’re so grateful for. All that mundane stuff in daily life actually begins to take on a special sparkle because we spend so much time with our heads down touring.”

they’ve released four studio albums, two live DVDs and a host of split albums with acts like I Killed The Prom Queen. They’ve also somehow managed the time to tour far and wide, playing their famously epic and intense live show to sweaty rooms filled with old and new fans. “We figured out the other day that we’ve played in 50 countries, and none of the experiences have been the same,” says McCall. “The weirdest thing is we still haven’t been somewhere where no one has known our music, which is hugely humbling as a visitor. There have been moments where we’ll catch each other’s eyes on stage and know the same thought is running through all of our heads: This is our life now, and it’s amazing.”

It has been an undeniably hard-earned rise for the metalcore heroes. Since forming in 2002,

Performing a sold out show to thousands of people in America is certainly a world away

T

McCall has been champing at the bit for the release of his band’s new album: Parkway Drive recorded their fourth LP Atlas in Los Angeles with veteran producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Hatebreed) earlier this year. It’s their most ambitious venture, featuring a whole swathe of new tricks alongside established

The depth of the songwriting on the album presents a number of challenges when it comes to touring their live show, particularly with the presence of female vocals and strings. McCall reckons it’s nothing the boys can’t handle. “For sure, the new record has a whole lot more music to it and more happening generally,” he agrees. “But we’ve been a band for ten years and we’re up for it. I wouldn’t say we thrive on adversity, but we definitely like a challenge; we’ve never hit a wall we couldn’t overcome, and I’m proud of that. To be perfectly honest, I’m excited to see where this album takes us as a live band,” he continues, in the lively tone of a frontman who has spent two months waiting to tour. “These songs are so much more work and so much more fun than anything we’ve ever done before.”

What: Atlas is out now on Resist Records Where: Hordern Pavilion / Panthers, Newcastle When: December 15 / December 17

Melodie Nelson The End Of Innocence By Dijana Kumurdian

L

ia Tsamoglou is kind of a control freak.

She not only writes the catchy ‘60s- and ‘70s-inspired dream pop for her solo project, Melodie Nelson (and delivers it with delightfully resonant syrupy tones), but she arranges all of the parts, and records most of the instruments. “For the first album, I wrote all the parts and played pretty much everything, except for the strings and maybe the drums,” explains Tsamoglou. “On the second album the band played a bit more, but I sort of wrote the parts out like a psycho, ‘cause I’m a control freak. Except for the drumming parts – I’m really bad with drums for some reason.”

To folk fans, the name Melodie Nelson is a pretty self-evident nod to Serge Gainsbourg’s 1971 record, Histoire de Melody Nelson – a comparison that Tsamoglou welcomes. “I’m inspired by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra, the first duet albums that they did, and Serge Gainsbourg, obviously, and a lot of French cinema, Polanski movies, and Dario Argento horror movies. And The Beach Boys, their ‘70s stuff. Everyone talks about Pet Sounds and how amazing it is, and it’s an incredible album, but Brian Wilson was losing his mind and only contributed two songs. There are some really sweet singer-songwriter type songs that Carl Wilson actually contributed to that album, too. I just like heaps of stuff from around that era.”

Tsamoglou’s own songwriting is often unnerving: Melodie Nelson’s first album, last year’s Meditations On The Sun, combined sleepy vocal delivery with tremolo, organ and heavily reverberated harmonies to create an atmosphere that was homely yet nightmarish (particularly the title track, whose minor chords and whistled hook sound like they’d slip seamlessly into The Virgin Suicides soundtrack).

The latest single ‘Martha’, from the band’s forthcoming album To The Dollhouse, takes these tropes further yet. “I just find that we don’t

have things that are seemingly normal but a bit messed up as well anymore,” says Tsamoglou.

“Movies like Rosemary’s Baby, which had a normal start for a movie and then got really offthe-rails fucked up. Not like, ‘Oh, that was a bit disturbing’ – like, really insane. That’s what I’m referencing in songs like ‘Martha’: there’s this heavy undertone to something as boring as suburbia. Things seeming fine, but if you delve a little bit deeper, there’s something there that’s not quite right.

“The first album didn’t really have a direction, but I had a clear concept right from the beginning of the second one,” she continues. “The music is quite ‘60s, early ‘70s inspired, and I really wanted to capture that time. So ‘Martha’ is about a real domestic scene. The end of the ‘60s is like the end of innocence, with ultramodern things happening in America. So it was kind of like painting a picture of a husband and wife – a husband killed his wife who’s haunting him in this perfect suburban neighbourhood.

That’s kind of fucked up, but no one knows except for her.”

Melodie Nelson is a different avenue for Tsamoglou, whose other band Moonmilk (an ambient act she started with her boyfriend) is based wholly around improvisation. “When I was making music alone it was still quite jammy, which was how Moonmilk began: it was a really improvised band, with lots of effects. And that’s how the early Melodie Nelson stuff started. The first album’s really quite repetitive, which is what I knew how to do because I did a lot of loops and stuff in Moonmilk. But it’s come through in this album that I’m releasing… I guess I’ve discovered that I’m writing more songs, rather than just jammy, looping soundscapes.”

Meditations On The Sun was like a series of vignettes rather than a personal folk album, and ‘Martha’ shares this fictional narrative

“Movies like Rosemary’s Baby, which had a normal start for a movie and then got really off-the-rails fucked up. That’s what I’m referencing in songs like ‘Martha’.”

16 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

focus, an approach that Tsamoglou admits she has knowingly adopted. “I guess I don’t really like to get too personal with what I write about. I like to tell stories in the lyrics and put on characters within the songs. When we put Moonmilk together I was like, ‘I don’t really have anything to sing about ‘cause, like, I’m in love’. We never really sung, we never really did lyrics or anything, and the Melodie Nelson lyrics have sort of come back from when I was much younger... Hopefully the music’s a little less angsty now, but yeah – writing lyrics is interesting,” she says. “Making pop music is really different from making improvised, ambient noise.”

The Sydney locals recently supported Pond at The Metro Theatre, their biggest show to date. “We’ve never played a venue that massive and it was

an all-ages show… The audience was bloody awesome!” Tsamoglou says. “They were all just kids – I don’t know if they were going to school the next day – and they were all just psyched. It was such a trip.” Though she’s about to release her second album in the project, Lia’s prolific creativity shows no signs of stalling. “Releasing it is a really good feeling. It’s kind of a bit like, ‘Ugh, that took ages’, but I’m ready to write more music. So I’ll spend the next year playing all of those songs live, and writing new songs. As long as I don’t have writer’s block and just keep moving forward, that’s all I want to do.”

What: To The Dollhouse is out now on Broken Stone Records Where: The Raval, Macquarie Hotel When: Friday November 16

Xxxx photo by Xxx

he title of World Conquerors doesn’t sit too easily with Winston McCall. The frontman of Byron Bay’s fearsome Parkway Drive will admit to having a few aspirations for the group, but he never envisaged anything remotely close to the achievements the quintet have notched up in the last decade. “It’s always been a goal of ours to play wherever we could, [but] I wouldn’t say we ever set out to conquer anything,” he says. “When people first started getting into our music we decided to just play wherever people asked us. We never set out to play in every corner of the globe, but we definitely said yes to some of the weirder options that came along.”

“I’m actually a pretty big listener of radio whenever I come home,” McCall says, when asked what else he looks forward to after a tour. “When we’re on the road, I tend to hear the same stuff over and over again, because we’re all sharing and swapping similar things.

Radio has a different playlist going on, but I usually struggle to know who any of the bands are because so many acts are emerging all the time. It’s great, because I get to find that new stuff, and at the same time hear stuff from an artist I really admire and have known for a while – like Sarah Blasko. I’m really pumped for the new Blasko album, man. She took a while to grow on me, maybe because she’s creating much more natural sounds than what I’m used to. Once it started to hook me in, though, I was just gone. It just grew like a moth.”

Parkway tropes. Ben Gordon’s drums have somehow gotten tighter without losing any of their thrust and power, while McCall’s lyrics bleed poetry with a previously unknown prudence. “We decided that we want to refine what we were doing, but also try to bring something new,” McCall explains. “Most of what people see from us is, of course, the live show, which has always been pure adrenaline.

But we love recording too, because it’s such a wonderfully creative process that we can just throw ourselves into. When we’re in the studio we’re completely immersed in what we’re doing – every single time we’ve gone to record an album we’ve been in the studio until the final minute of the final day. We’re completely dedicated to what we do, because we’ve never known any other way.”

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 17

Hot Snakes Lightning In A Bottle By Dijana Kumurdian

T

he last time Hot Snakes played a show in Australia, they broke up – and we all thought it was for good. But lead guitarist John Reis assures me that, despite all evidence to the contrary, it wasn’t our fault. “I can’t blame you guys at all. No one got a bad oyster or anything like that,” he jokes. “I really don’t even know why, other than that [being in the band] was kind of becoming a chore. It was kind of like pulling teeth a little bit. Some people do a thing and then they just move on.

I think that’s in the nature of the people in this band, who have been involved with quite a few things musically. They have restless hearts and restless ears.”

The spark for the reunion came in 2010, when Obits (Froberg’s new band) toured with The Night Marchers, which features Reis as well as Hot Snakes members Gar Wood and Jason Kourkounis. When the four of them got together for a couple of songs, they were reminded of how much they – and their audience – loved their frenetic, jangly guitar rock. “We were able to do some shows with Obits and we were like, ‘Oh man, this is perfect, this is awesome’. We’d practiced a couple of [Hot Snakes] songs and we played them, and that was really cool. I really missed playing those songs. Some of my favourite guitar music that I’ve ever played is from Hot Snakes. And people were really excited by it.”

M

edicine Man came and blew away the unconverted, but The Bamboos’ guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader Lance Ferguson allows no time for a postalbum lag. “We’ve come off the back of this huge campaign for Medicine Man, with the tour and all that – it’s a huge catharsis, and every time I do that I nearly have this come down afterwards. It’s like the moment after a tidal wave of activity. Luckily, I have enough projects going that I don’t have idle hands for too long; I don’t have a whole heap of time to reflect on things, and that’s really good for me. I’ve got the Kylie Auldist record coming out that I produced, and I have a jazz record coming out under the moniker of Menagerie.”

W

hen we spoke last July, Mojo Juju had decided to take a leave from The Snake Oil Merchants and was sitting by the side of the road in Holbrook. The tiny town with a huge (and real!) submarine is a familiar stopand-stretch point for those who make the regular trip down the Hume. Juju had just played in Sydney in support of her debut solo single ‘Horse Named Regret’, and was planning to briefly visit her home in Melbourne before returning to NSW to host and headline The Jitterbug Club at The Vanguard. It was all part of the staggeringly energetic performer becoming comfortable with her act as a solo performer. “I gotta work harder ‘cause I’ve got no one else to bounce the energy off,” she said then. “But I’m enjoying the challenge. After all, they’re all my songs.”

true, though! Touring is addictive, it really is.

I actually find that it’s the places in between that have the possibilities and are far more interesting. I’m also entirely outside of the lives of these people, too,” she says. “I pass through on my way to another city where I’ll get to be a hero for a day. There’s a warped sense of reality to this life, and I think it gives a real sense of urgency to all our interactions when we’re at home or on our own. That sense of urgency, of needing to know, is what makes me curious about the stories of the little places I pass through.”

The Bamboos have been considered musicians’ musicians throughout their career. While their previous releases were technically precise and extremely energetic, the tendency of their music to border on a jazz/soul homage appeared to scare off the kind of dedicated radio support that they’ve received this time around. Medicine Man is undoubtedly full of hooks that pop-lovers can sink their teeth into, but Ferguson feels that their new found mainstream success has more to do with marketing than with music. “I guess the music on this last record had more of a pop element to it, to a degree; I can’t think of a better way to describe it unfortunately,” he says.

“That wasn’t a contrived thing though – it was really just a way for me to explore songwriting.

For me, soul music has always been great pop music anyway, and I guess the songs I wrote were leaning towards that soul feel. The big track, ‘I Got Burned’, does have a quality to it that works on commercial radio – but to me it’s the sound that The Bamboos have always been known for.

“So much of reaching the audience has to do with the machinations of promotion and

management. It feels like when we took on new management, and having Inertia do so much for us – I’m doing what I’ve always done, but the machine that’s getting the music out to people is more effective at the moment. There’s so much amazing music that doesn’t get out to people because they physically just don’t get to hear it.”

With Tim Rogers smoothing out his rock grit to take the lead vocal on ‘I Got Burned’, along with guest vocals from Aloe Blacc, Bobby Flynn, Megan Washington and pop chameleon Daniel Merriweather, the sound of The Bamboos was stretched beyond their previous creations. While Ferguson was experimenting with breaking the rules of funk and soul, he acknowledges that knowing those rules to begin with helped him to be the songwriter he is today. “In many cases it’s inevitable: things are defined,” he says, of the limits posed by genre labels. “It’s just the way it works, even coming down to the idea of where to put a CD in a store. I’m someone who in the past was limited to genres and sub-genres, defining what makes this authentic or that authentic. It was something I studied quite a lot in my early years. As time has gone on, I’ve wanted to blur those lines more and more – but I guess for me, it was important to know what they were before I started messing with them.”

Despite concerted prying, Ferguson remains tight-lipped on the guest vocalists that may enter from stage left during their Homebake set. “I don’t know what the go is – well, I can’t actually say.”

What: Medicine Man is out now With: Hilltop Hoods, Kimbra, Sonicanimation, The Saints, Tim Minchin, Blondie and more What: Homebake @ The Domain When: Saturday December 8

There will be little opportunity to become waylaid over the next few weeks, with the band set to cover many thousands of kilometres. “We’re so ready for this,” Juju enthuses. “All the logistics are planned, and there’s just this great energy right now. We’re all relatively fresh for this tour, and having a new album is just incredibly revitalising.”

What: Mojo Juju is out now through ABC Music Where: The Red Rattler / The Lass O’Gowrie, Newcastle When: Friday November 9 / Saturday November 10

“I’m caught at the junction still waiting for medicine. The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine” - MIDNIGHT OIL 18 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Xxx

A ridiculous workload has not quelled Juju’s enthusiasm for the touring life. Last year she expressed gratitude to the nomad lifestyle – “I befriend lots of people along the way, so I’m always seeing someone familiar!” – and when I remind her of this, she laughs: “It’s

With: SixFtHick, Dead Farmers Where: The Annandale Hotel When: Thursday December 6 More: Also playing Meredith Music Festival from December 7-9 at Meredith Supernatural Ampitheatre in Victoria, along with Primal Scream, Spiritualized, Four Tet, Turbonegro, Tame Impala, Grimes, Chet Faker and more

Cure What Ails Ya By Krissi Weiss

The Nomadic Life By Benjamin Cooper

The velvet climes of The Vanguard are a world away from some of the destinations that Juju and her band will reach, in support of her album – a swaggering collection of swampgrass tales, filled with the fascinating, seedy and surprising characters found on the backroads of her travels. In addition to playing the usual run of East Coast cities, the tour will encompass smaller and more remote locations, such as Castlemaine and Broken Hill. “It’s really exciting for me to be going out to somewhere like Broken Hill and plugging into the community there,” Juju says. “A really good friend of mine owns The Palace Hotel in town there, which is where we’ll be playing – and we’re going to head out to the desert for a bit too. There’s quite a strong Americana influence on the album, as well as a lot of Australiana, and I think it’ll be really awesome to take the sounds and perform them in the desert.”

so. So it’s kind of like, certain things might’ve been really important to you, but once you’re a bit older you realise that you really don’t care about those things so much anymore.”

The Bamboos

Mojo Juju

Just over a year later, and Juju has enjoyed – and destroyed – every single challenge thrown her way. She’s continued to tour solidly throughout Australia, released a single (‘Must Be Desire’) and her debut self-titled album in the one year, and collaborated prolifically with a bunch of other artists. She’s just returned to Melbourne after appearing as The Penguin in the vaudeville show Batman Follies Of 1929, which had a brief run in Newtown – but she isn’t planning a life as a criminal mastermind just yet. “No, probably not at this stage,” she says. “But it was a wicked night to be a part of, and a really different kind of show.”

Of the almost innumerable reformations that have been announced in recent years, Reis says, “It’s really easy to roll your eyes and be like, ‘Oh yeah, I guess they’re broke’, or something like that. ‘Why don’t these fuckers stay broken up? I didn’t like them in the first place!’ But at the same time it’s kind of like, I’m one of those fuckers,” he says, laughing. “We’re one of those bands, and I’m glad we did it because we’re having a lot more fun now. We still have the distance between us, but it’s not our sole outlet for expression anymore. Now we can just get back together and play these songs we like to play and there’s a lot less pressure. I’m having a lot more fun, and I think everybody is. And we’re older, too – visibly

xxx

Hot Snakes was borne from two earlier projects: cult San Diego post-hardcore groups Drive Like Jehu and Pitchfork, both formed

by Reis and long-time collaborator, gravellyvoiced frontman Rick Froberg. They released three studio albums as well as the live album Thunder Down Under, recorded by triple j during the final leg of what was to be their last tour, until their reunion earlier this year. “I can’t really put myself back into exactly what I was thinking at the time, but I do remember that with each record, it felt like it was a lot

more difficult getting things to come together,” Reis says. “A couple of the guys had been on the East Coast and a couple guys were on the West Coast and there was quite a bit of distance, and whenever we got together it felt like there was this pressure to capture lightning in a bottle and make something happen, and it put a lot of pressure on the band to have fun – with almost like a gun to your head. I think that made people want to do other things, or break things down a little bit more, or take things a little less seriously.”

ME ONL LB Y IN OU RN E

Explore Melbourne Zoo after dark in a world-ďŹ rst interactive experience.

Launches 23 November Nightly at 6.30pm Book today www.zoo.org.au/ianimal or phone 1300 966 784 Recommended for 16 years and over

Created by The Border Project

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 19

Bleeding Knees Club Blood And Bone By Krissi Weiss

“We had a rule when we started the band that we’d quit when we were 25, because we didn’t wanna be old losers trying to be kids. I’m 23 now, so I guess I’ve got two more years.” and also launched his own fashion label of tongue-in-cheek anarchist T-shirts. “We hadn’t been touring much, so I just had sooo much time. Before I started the band I studied design, and I thought I’d start to do something that used those skills, and maybe try and make some extra money while I was at home doing nothing,” he says. With some hilarious logos and designs, Wall insists that the T-shirts are as cheeky as the band’s music: “We’re really not trying to cause a scene or anything; I just hate serious people, hey,” he laughs. “There’s no need to be serious, so we just try and have fun. Surely no one’s gonna take a shirt that says ‘Dare to smoke meth with Satan’ seriously – I actually would like to meet someone who takes that seriously.

I’ve always had a personal fascination with darker stuff though. Even though Bleeding Knees is happy and stuff, I used to do a lot of art that was focused on rape and death and stuff. I just did what I wanted and never really thought about it.”

G

With this latest tour and single release arriving over six months after the release of the album, BKC have certainly milked as much out of their debut as they could. “[Stretching out the album] was definitely a record label choice,” Wall laughs, a little sleepily. “We write a new song every day, and in our minds we’d like to release a new song every time we write one, but it just doesn’t work like that. We kind of don’t care at all about what we do with the band, but at the same time we really do care. We take it seriously in as much as we play the music well, I guess, but we kinda just joke around, take it all as it comes, and do whatever we want.”

Taking advantage of some time off, Wall has ventured out with a solo project, Wax Witches,

So what’s the plan once they hit this grand old age of 25? “We’ll probably become boring people and wear suits and stuff,” he laughs.

“I went to uni and have a degree so I’ll do something with that… Unless we become super famous – then we’ll keep going as a band. I just hate the stereotypical rock star

So far, so good for BKC if local hype is anything to go by – and the overseas market took kindly to them as well. “We started to get some press and stuff off our first EP,” Wall explains. “We played London and had been to Amsterdam before we recorded the album, so I guess we kind of expected a little bit of the response we got in the UK – but not as much as that.” Wall is excited about getting some new material recorded to release in the new year; he admits he’s become a little sick of the music they’ve been touring for a while.

“Everyone starts to hate their own art after a while … so this album sounds a lot different,” he says. “The new music’s kind of got a ‘90s So-Cal punk vibe, so we wanna get a producer who’s from the ‘90s and has worked with that sound in that scene – someone that can get a Blink-182 sound. We’ll probably play a bunch of new songs on this tour; we can actually play our instruments now, so it’s just a lot better. We’re gonna do this tour and then we’re doing a support show for Best Coast next year, which is gonna be so awesome.

We’ve demoed the album so hopefully we’ll get to record that – and I’ve got a Wax Witches album that’ll be finished soon too.”

What: ‘Let It Go’ is out now With: Step Panther, The Driffs Where: The Standard / The Lair, Metro Theatre When: November 23 / November 25

Beirut Changing Tides By Benjamin Cooper

“I actually don’t remember a thing from that concert [at Manning Bar]... Sometimes you walk off a plane and you’ve just got nothing.” melodies was at an all-time high, but there were concerns about the artist’s ability to meet it. “It was an interesting time,” the now-married and (more) settled Condon says, with careful understatement. “It feels like a long time ago now.

Things had to change.”

Condon departed from Ba Da Bing Records and established his own Pompeii Recording Co. prior to the release of last year’s long awaited third full-length, The Rip Tide. Fans and critics alike have praised the album for its distillation of Condon’s world music influences into an entirely new sound; the band have embraced their Americana, and they’re not afraid to sing/ play it loud. Much has been made of Condon’s supposed six-month sabbatical in upstate New York throughout the album’s writing and recording process, so it comes as little surprise when he says that he’s only just returned from another such trip. Only this time, his return to the city was delayed by a significant force of nature known as Sandy.

T

he last time we spoke, Zach Condon was in a bad way. It was March 2008, and the boy from Santa Fe, New Mexico had hauled his Balkan-pop ensemble Beirut to Australia for their first run of shows in the country. Unfortunately that night each member of the group was running on autopilot, completely exhausted after months touring their 2007 sophomore LP, The Flying Club Cup, with Condon using the breaks between songs to utter apologies to the crowd, band or anyone who’d listen. From my position at the Manning Bar, I could see the effects of a lack of rest and preparatory time, as the exhaustion first confused and then angered the highly skilled ensemble.

“Oh man,” he says, when I gently ask about his recollections of the evening. “I actually don’t remember a thing from that concert. I know 20 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

exactly which show you’re talking about – the one at the college in Sydney – and we were all completely wiped. It had been months and months on the road, and we were actually so excited about playing in Australia, but then we got there and...” he trails off, sighing with apparent exasperation at the memory.

“Sometimes you walk off a plane, and you just have nothing. Touring so much is a really difficult thing, but it’s also something that you get better at managing over time.”

At the time Condon had just turned 22, released two albums and three EPs in three years, and was in danger of burning out. He had cancelled a US tour just over a year before, after being briefly hospitalised in Paris, and two weeks after the Sydney show the band cancelled their entire European summer tour. The demand for the group’s intermittently joyful and elegiac

“There was water everywhere, man. I could have canoed back to my house this morning, but I decided against it,” he says. In fact, it’s our second attempt at the interview, following previous communication breakdowns due to the destruction wrought on his home city and state.

“For the most part we’re doing fine in Brooklyn.

We weren’t hit too hard at all, which is lucky because some people got it a whole lot worse...

Imagine being in Cuba, or Haiti right now. What do you – how do you even make a plan from there?” The question has barely taken shape across his lips before Condon suddenly goes quiet again, as if overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the concept.

Often portrayed as a miner of the music that he found through constant travel, the image of Condon as a troubadour, trekking along dusty roads with just a ukulele for company, is etched into his folklore – so I’m interested to learn that

he was the child of two parents who’ve never owned a passport between them. Well, until recently. “The last time we [were] in Australia was very different to when you saw us,” he chuckles softly. “When we got there I didn’t have to go straight to a gig, so I think I slept for about a day. I woke up to the sound of my phone buzzing, and I picked it up to hear my mum on the other end. I should probably point out that it’s never a good idea to answer your phone after being asleep for an entire day. Anyway, I’m all startled because my mum says, ‘Hi Zach! We’re in Sydney! We’ve come to see your show at the Opera House!’

“At that point my parents had only seen two shows of mine, and they were both hometown shows in Santa Fe,” he continues. “So here I am, fairly bewildered and half awake, on the other side of planet with my parents wanting me to show them around... The best part was that recently a friend showed me their Facebook page – I don’t have one myself – and all the photos are so cute, because it’s all from their trip. You know: ‘Us and Zach in Sydney’, and ‘Zach on the Harbour’” Would he say his reportedly transcendent performance that evening was helped by having two special fans in the crowd? “Maybe a little bit,” he says. “I had told them it was going to special show, because Australia is a special place – and Australians are different again. You’ve all got that cold, gnarly wit going on: I honestly describe it to people as being like California, if that place had a wicked sense of humour.”

With: Otouto Where: The Enmore Theatre When: Wednesday November 14 More: Also playing Harvest Festival on Saturday November 17, with Beck, Grizzly Bear, Sigur Ros, Ben Folds Five, The War On Drugs, Cake, Santigold, Liars, Fuck Buttons and more

Xxxx photo by Xxx

old Coast’s slacker punk/rock kids, Bleeding Knees Club, stumbled blearyeyed onto the scene with their debut album, Nothing To Do. Released in March this year, the duo are letting loose a final single from the album, ‘Let It Go’ – replete with yet another tour – before they go quiet to focus on their next move. Singer Alex Wall is a bundle of contradictions when we speak: personifying the band’s output with a carefree, cheeky energy, he shrugs off the importance of single releases, and jokes about record label strategies. But it soon becomes clear that he’s a lot more motivated, focused and switched on than many might think, revealing plans for the band which involve more longterm thinking than he likes to let on.

But when the topic of the future of the band comes up, Wall lets down his guard, and the rebellious kid gives way to a young man with focus: “I think it’ll go on for a little while. We still really enjoy it and the crowds are catching on to what we do, so the shows are becoming more and more fun,” he says. “But we had a rule when we started the band that we’d quit when we were 25, because we didn’t wanna be old losers trying to be kids. I’m 23 now, so I guess I’ve got two more years in the band.”

thing so much; I just hate that whole scene.

There are so many dudes in bands out there that are older and they’ve just got nothing.

They live with all their friends or their parents, still go to bars every night, and get a hundred bucks a week to live on. It’s just the worst life I could imagine having. We have a carefree attitude for sure, but we still wanna be cool, and being a loser isn’t cool.”

Share your skills with the global community

VOLUNTEER OVERSEAS.

!

the AUSTRALIAN YOUTH AMBASSADORS for DEVELOPMENT (AYAD) Program. # $ % &'' $ (

# # (

(

# (# % # . These Australian Volunteers $ (

(

() % (% % *+,% ( % #

(# % (

(% # # $ # $ # (

- ,# . (

# / (# %

% (0

%

(

1 $ 2 3 # $ # # ( $2 4 3$ $

)

6.30pm-8.00pm, Monday November 12, 2012 SMC Conference Centre, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney (

www.AYAD.com.au

The AYAD Program, part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development, is fully funded by the Australian Government, AusAID and managed by Austraining International.

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 21

arts frontline

free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com

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

five minutes WITH

S

Cosmic arrangements of broccoli, burnt toast and peas might not make your mouthhole drool, but they do make for fantastic eye-candy. Emerging installation artist Bess Kenway uses these and other combinations of organic and domestic materials to create life-like sculptures that explore the fictionalised boundaries between public and private space, societal decay and impermanence. In her first exhibition, Solid Voids, Kenway brings to life the mental processes we use to spiritually survive our own realities. You can catch the food-art action at GalleryEight (12 Argyle Place, Millers Point) until November 11, from Wednesday-Sunday. galleryeight.com.au

KINGS CROSS FESTIVAL

Kings Cross is more than just gin joints and random acts of violence – it’s a hub of creativity, food and entertainment, now packaged up in the inaugural five-day Kings

Describe your perfect party: Pol Roger on ice.

A dedicated martini bartender, ideally Michael Fassbender. Maybe an olive or two, perhaps a little tapas, lovingly prepared by my darling friend, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck (for the guests, I’m trying to stay ‘camera thin’). Just my dearest friends, the ones I’ve really stayed close with over the years and the ones who are always there for me...and have won at least two Oscars/Grammys, or at a stretch a Gold Logie (pre-Rove era only, please). The music should be a fusion of classic, great songs that never go out of fashion, mixed with all the new exciting stuff out there. I hear ‘mashups’ are all the rage, has anyone thought about what Nancy Sinatra ‘mashed’ with Skillrex might sound like?

What happens in the room, stays in the room.

As for the nudity, well I have to warn people because when I party, anything can happen.

How do your RVB shows compare to your party nights at Adelaide Fringe? Every party is different, because the people who attend are different. People are always nervous at first because it’s very intimate and I do talk to people, and some of them have to help me with my party games and stories, but I never make anyone do something they’re not comfortable with. If you look after Uta, Uta looks after you. My parties are for shiny people who say YES. What you bring determines what kind of night you will have (I’m not referring to stuff in little white bags).

Will you be dabbling in any other shows during the Rocks Village Bizarre? Just try and keep me away from all the delicious fun. I mean literally try, because once I get partying I will probably need to be escorted out of The Rocks before I damage the colonial brickwork. I do love the look of the pedal powered cinema, perhaps they can play one of my classic films.

Did you know I was in Aliens? Sigourney and I clashed (I played the Alien).

The show takes place in a hotel room and contains nudity; please explain. What better place to party with a rock star/pop star/performance artist/exhibitionist/feminist/ fashionista than a hotel room? I think they are such wonderful spaces where we all get to pretend we’re something we’re not, don’t you?

Cross Festival, produced by former Mardi Gras and Vivid Sydney mastermind Ignatius Jones. In other words, expect a splash.

Lineup highlights include hosted Art Walks amongst the precinct’s architectural and art-history highlights, a drinks and dialogue series at the Dandelion Bar (aka Festival Bar) called Writers & Whisky, motivating Walk The Fork specials at all the yumjoints, and a spread of bite-sized live music, comedy and theatre. The KX Fest kicks off Wednesday November 21 and runs til Sunday November 25. For the full program go to kingscrossfestival.com.au

FRUGAL @ aMBUSH

It’s said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure – and while in reality those ‘treasure’ folks probably end up on Hoarders, there are ways to re-work the stuff you no longer use, both tastefully and hygienically. Head along to group show Frugal next week to see what a bunch of furniture, object, sculpture and lighting designers did with their odds and Installation: Helmets / Pieces of Sky

What will you be sharing? I share everything.

You’ll hear about my highs, my lows, my successes, and my many, many failures. I’d tell you about each of my seven ex-husbands, but we only have 90 minutes together.

Tell us about this photo – what’s going on here? Oh that’s just me and my darling assistant, George. He’s my everything, my rock.

This happened at a little photo shoot, he wasn’t meant to be in it but I got him drunk as I needed a surface on which to write one of my mottos.

What: Uta Uber Kool Ja @ Rocks Villlage Bizarre Where: Holiday Inn / 55 George St, The Rocks When: Friday nights 'til December 21 @ 7pm & 9.30pm More: therocks.com/villagebizarre

Adelaide Festival dropped its 2013 program last week, to the sound of exploding pants. Besides the killer music spread, there’s a retrospective exhibition of Laurie Anderson’s art; the TR Warszawa production of the chilling vampire psychthriller Nosferatu (debuting on All Hallows' Eve at London's Barbican); Nicolas Hytner’s West End and Broadway-busting National Theatre production of One Man, Two Guvnors; a 25th-anniversary remount of Wim Vandekeybus and Ultima Vez’s groundbreaking piece of choreography, What the Body Does Not Remember; a trilogy of works by Belgian troublemakers Ontroerend Goed (including Sydney Festival hit The Smile Off Your Face); and Flamenco Hoy – the first live production by the legendary Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura. Consider being in Adelaide next March – and for the full lineup, see adelaidefestival.com.au

TO BE OR NOT TO 34B

22 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

BALLET ICONS

To celebrate their 50-year heritage of iconic ballets and performances, the Australian Ballet put together a special triple-bill of their best: Robert Helpmann’s The Display (which first premiered in 1964); Glen Tetley’s minimalist ballet Gemini, which was groundbreaking at the time as part of the shift away from narrative choreography; and Graeme Murphy’s Beyond Twelve.

Icons runs from November 9-26 in the Opera Theatre at Sydney Opera House.

Thanks to the AB, we’ve got a heaps classy giveaway: two pairs of A-reserve tickets to a performance during the season. To get your hands on one of these, tell us the name of one other classic ballet.

ADELAIDE HOY

If you like your adrenaline fix in the comfort of your cinema seat, The Adventure Film Festival will be serving up a slate of shorts, features and documentaries this week at the Chauvel, running the gamut of paragliding from the summit of Mount Everest, amputee rock climbers, and Canadian cat-sledding (true). The festival will screen 20 films at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington over two days from November 9, and looks to be a fusion of adventure, social activism and incredible stories. You can nab your tickets through greentix and hit up adventurefilm.org for more information.

In a trio of announcements by the MCA this week, two stand out: their summer show TABOO (December 19 – February 24), curated by indigenous artist-provocateur Brook Andrew and “raising issues of censorship with ‘daring’ or ‘disrespectful’ devices” via a group exhibition and program of performances, talks and films; and a coup de grâce fivedecade retrospective of pioneering visual and performance artist Yoko Ono, which will kick off in November 2013 (and is part of the same tourism-trap series that brought you Picasso, the forthcoming Francis Bacon bonanza, and MCA’s upcoming Anish Kapoor show). War Is Over! (if you want it) will be Yoko’s first Sydney solo show, and is likely to sell the hells out, so keep your eyes peeled towards ticketek.com.au

The Powerhouse Museum and Sydney Water have partnered up to release a series of limited-edition tap™ stainless steel water bottles, to celebrate National Water Week.

There are five sustainability-centric designs – so head to powerhousemuseum.com/ exhibitions/tap.php to check 'em out and pick your favourite, then email us with your postal address and the most you’ve paid for a bottle of water. We might send one of these cool lovelies your way.

ends; it’s curated by lighting designers Ruth McDermott and Ben Baxter and sponsored

by UTS Industrial Design, and claims to offer “innovative and beautiful solutions to the contemporary conundrum of wastefulness”.

The show opens at aMBUSH (4A James Street, Waterloo) on November 15 – click your way to iduts.com for ‘catalogue’ and info.

ADRENALINE JUNKIES

YOKO ONO + TABOO

TAPPY HOUR

34B, Sydney’s finest and longest-running neo-burlesque soirée, is turning seven this month – and kissing off their hallowed history with a show to top all shows, featuring many of the lovely ladies who got their lucky break on the 34B stage: World Queen of Burlesque Imogen Kelly, local agitators Holly J’aDoll and Lauren La Rouge (who run newcomers night The Peel, and will be hosting their own stage), scene stalwarts Tasia and Lulu, rising star Lucille Spielfuchs, Rita Fontaine, Lola the Vamp, Cherry Lush – all wrangled by Messr François Bublé, who will oversee the last hurrah. So grab your tickets (we have) before they inevitably sell out, and circle Friday November 30 in your Leunig calendar. qbar.iwannaticket.com.au

CLAIRE NAKAZAWA

Fans of Sydney’s Sketch the Rhyme crew will recognise Claire’s kaleidoscopic styles, which also appear in the cover art for Hermitude’s acclaimed Hyper Paradise album (not to mention her vocals, in ‘Speak Of The Devil’).

The polymathic COFA grad and sometime-street artist has been digging into her Japanese heritage this year, and has emerged with a solo show of new work under the title In The Middle Of the River (the Kanji translation of her family name), exploring themes of identity and connection. It launches this Thursday November 8 from 6-9pm at 107 Projects in Redfern, and runs until November 25. 107projects.org

NEWTOWN LATE NIGHT LOL Love Late Night Library and lols but hate Surry Hills? Campfire Collective, the folks behind the Storytelling series, The Standard’s Never Not Funny nights and Harvest Festival’s Vaudevillage and Comedy Picnic, are programming three fortnightly events at Newtown Library (8-10 Brown St Newtown) over November and December. It’s part of the Late Night Library pantheon (so expect that free cheese platter and glass of wine), it’s on Wednesdays, and if you head along on November 14 at 8.30pm you can catch The New Conway Dimension – aka Michael Burke and John Conway (back from Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Soho Theatre, where he’s gaining a cult following for his madcap choose-your-own-adventure stand up). RSVP to library@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Yoko Ono, Helmets / Pieces of Sky, installation View,“Between the Sky and My Head”, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, 2008-2009, photograph: Colin Davison © Yoko Ono

THE PEAS OF WRATH

UTA UBER KOOL JA

Xxx

ydney’s best dressed almost-was star, Uta Uber Kool Ja, is making the Rocks her playground this month and next – specifically, she’s taking up residence in the Holiday Inn on Friday nights, where she’ll be hosting a small soirée for very special guests, sharing champagne, music, and stories from her almost-legendary life… It’s all part of the Rocks Village Bizarre – the precinct’s weekly Friday-night mashup of markets, live music, performance and sideshows.

Tap that!

THE MASTER

Paul Thomas Anderson on Taming The Beast By Dee Jefferson Philip Seymour Hoffman is Lancaster Dodd in The Master

researching Scientology’s beginnings, and developed the script over several years, bouncing it back and forth with trusted friends and collaborators.

“It was [written] for Phil [Seymour Hoffman], and [the writing process] would just be like reading pages with him and seeing what he responded to, or triggering conversations and things like that that would allow me to go back and [rethink things]. Phil did say, I think early on, ‘Well this seems like it’s more Freddie’s story’ – and that was really helpful.”

It wasn’t until the edit room, however, that Anderson realised that he was looking at a love story. “There was a lot of stuff that I’d written that was more about the secrets of this book that [Lancaster Dodd] had written; and I was trying really hard to inject a bullshit plot into the movie... And every time I would write that stuff it would just come out like it was bullshit – it was bad. And we even shot some of it, and it was not good. And so it just became clearer and clearer [that this was a love story].”

T

he Master’s premiere at Venice Film Festival wasn’t just a screening, or even a media junket – it was a show: the packed-out press screenings and heated post-mortems; the rumours that juggernaut producer Harvey Weinstein had requested a last-minute switch of location for the media junket, to the Excelsior Hotel’s palatial ballroom; notoriously camera-shy Joaquin Phoenix’s fraught 200-metre walk from the Excelsior to the press conference, past die-hard red carpet junkies and a pack of press and photographers who had just seen the film.

On moulding the final product, which is more expressionist and characterdriven in narrative and impressionist in style than his previous films (and certainly most American cinema), Anderson says, “Hopefully you sort of see through the forest enough to get to the stuff [you’ve shot] that is good and is working. And you hope that an audience will trust these characters that it can just be enough to have them look into each other’s eyes – and that is hopefully fucking goddamn good enough.” from the script into the post-production and marketing phases of his projects (he infamously took his 70mm print of The Master on the road for an informal pre-Venice cross-country tour of America’s famous picture palaces without asking or receiving permission from distributor Harvey Weinstein).

Sitting at an impromptu plastic interview table in the Excelsior’s grand ballroom the day after the premiere, leaning his grey-streaked mop of hair on one hand and wielding a cigarette with the other, Anderson is circumspect about the angsty press conference: “It did look that way, didn’t it? Yeah… But it was all right.

Have you ever been to a good press conference – aren’t they all weird?” On running the gauntlet of Scientologyrelated questions, he says, “It was kind of a drag – but that’s okay; you know the way that it is now, I think people are seeing that there’s a wider story there. It was never my intention to make something that was provocative – but God, you just say the word [Scientology] and people are very curious.”

Using post-Second World War America as a backdrop, and the nascent Scientology movement as its inspiration, The Master explores the fraught relationship between

troubled ex-soldier Freddie Quell (played by Phoenix) and charismatic, self-styled ‘prophet’ Lancaster Dodd (played by Seymour Hoffman), the leader of a controversial self-help movement called ‘The Cause’. It is, as the filmmakers frankly acknowledged in the press conference, based on the early years of L. Ron Hubbard’s movement. More than that, however, Anderson sees it as a kind of love story between two men of similar backgrounds and dispositions – with the key difference and point of friction between them being that only one has learned to master his wild inner beast.

Anderson came to the idea while

Then there was the conference itself, during which the filmmakers fielded the inevitable questions about Scientology and Tom Cruise, and Phoenix unexpectedly shut down mid-answer; and then his co-star, Philip Seymour Hoffman, came out with the following humdinger: “I think that’s basically what life is: we wake up in the morning going, ‘Fuck, why can’t I just run naked through the streets of Venice and just eat and shit; why can’t I just do that and have it be okay?”

The man behind The Master, and at the centre of the Venice show, is 42-year-old Californian Paul Thomas Anderson who, six features deep into his career, is already one of, if not the, most important director of his generation; a filmmaker of virtuosic talent and staggering ambition who trades in epics like Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will Be Blood, and whose creative control extends

While Anderson is an auteur in the truest sense (and, since his infamously fraught debut Hard Eight, refuses to do the standard Hollywood test-screenings), it’s also apparent that he thrives on feedback from a loose network of friends and peers during every step of his creative process – and it was his friends who saw the first cut of The Master. “[It] was the most disastrous screening,” he says, with chagrin.

“We all hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so we got together [at my house]. The film was way too long, we still hadn’t figured it out – and we all started drinking, and we’re having dinner, and we didn’t start the film ‘til like 11 o’clock at night. I’m not kidding, all of us were asleep. And it was just these looong faces afterwards…

Everyone was jetlagged or tired – and that was our test screening. We were basically like, ‘Alright, now we’ve gotta get back to work.’”

Did he regret popping the film’s cherry that way? “Yes (laughs), yes.

It was very unpleasant. (pause) But it was good… I mean, I have enough friends – and all of us who’ve worked together for so long are kind of hard enough on each other that we can be our own test audience… Inevitably, someone’s fighting for something that somebody else doesn’t want.” It must be good getting the final say though?

“Yes,” he smiles, “but that doesn’t mean the fights are any less intense.”

Joaquin Phoenix returns to the big screen, as Freddie Quell

What: The Master When: Opens November 8

COMPLIMENTARY MOVIES IN THE COURTYARD EVERY MONDAY AT SUNDOWN! NOV: MO MOVIE SEASON 5 Nov: Brewster's Millions • 12 Nov: Shaft 19 Nov: The Artist • 26 Nov: The Bird Cage

354 Bourke St Surry Hills Ph: 8313 5000

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 23

A WEEKEND OF GRAPHIC STORYTELLING, ANIMATION & MUSIC

Sydney Opera House’s annual celebration of everything graphic returns this year with a program that celebrates the titans, trailblazers and talking-points of the industry: Pixar takes us behind their screens to share the secrets of their success; Dr Seuss and Elefant Traks will throw down on the same stage; Animal Logic will unpack nothing less than the history of computer animation; and pioneering Seattle artist Peter Bagge will share insights from a career in comics. Elswhere in the lineup, hi-tek NZ soulsters Fat Freddy’s Drop will get lo-fi with

Animal Logic [PRESENTATION] The Wildcard By Chris Martin

an illustrated preview of their forthcoming album , starring fellow countryman Otis Frizzell’s graf work; local storytellers and illustrators will team up for Radio With Pictures; and ABC’s Good Game will take over the Drama Theatre for a live quiz edition of Roffle Cup, which will runneth over with Sydney’s geekiest gamers and special guests.

Below we check out three highlights from GRAPHIC, and on p39 we talk to Hermitude about Dr Seuss; for more, head to graphic. sydneyoperahouse.com

Peter Bagge [TALK] Buddy Does Sydney By Chris Harms

“I

t’s great to take inspiration from other artists and learn from them, but always be very true to yourself. Even if it means that you’re doing something that’s never been done before – which is scary from the creator’s standpoint, but exciting from the public’s standpoint.” On the line from Seattle, legendary alternative comics creator Peter Bagge is previewing the advice he’ll give emerging cartoonists when he arrives here for GRAPHIC. “If comics is something that you’ve decided that you want to do,” he says, “then really put your nose to the grindstone.”

Still from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole

R

ussell Crowe brought down a Roman Emperor, Nicole Kidman danced the Moulin Rouge, and Geoffrey Rush shone as pianist David Helfgott; but when it comes to the most influential film star in Australia, the honour might well belong to Mumble, the tap-dancing penguin from the 2006 animated hit Happy Feet.

Mumble and the Oscar-winning Happy Feet were the creations of Australian director George Miller and Sydney-based digital animation studio Animal Logic. Rob Coleman, Animal’s newly appointed Head of Animation, will appear in a panel discussion at GRAPHIC this weekend to discuss the history of the studio, animation technology, and the dancing penguins they birthed.

“Animated features have a special niche when they’re done right,” Coleman explains. “They become what we call a four-quadrant film, which is, they appeal to young and old, male and female. We can tell universal stories through animation but not be tied down to shooting them in live action, which means we can define the worlds we go to; we can tweak the physics of that world, we can have animals like the penguins and the elephants talking, so we can sweep audiences away into a world that looks familiar but just slightly different to the one we live in.”

Animal Logic came into being in 1991, but computer animation technology in film dates back to at least the 1970s, says Coleman, with people like Ed Catmull (President of Pixar and Disney’s animation studios), who as a graduate student did pioneering computer graphics for the 1976 sci-fi feature Futureworld. At GRAPHIC, Coleman and Animal colleagues Grant Freckelton and Aidan Sarsfield will unpack the history of CGI animation – from those early days until now.

“We’re also putting a personal twist on it,” Coleman adds, “which is films that inspired me as a young person, like Star Wars in 1977 … and then ultimately Jurassic Park. Seeing Jurassic Park in the theatre in 1993 prompted me to send my reel and resume to Industrial Light & Magic [George Lucas’ visual effects company], and within months I was hired as an animator.”

According to Coleman, Animal’s success is helping funnel Australians into the burgeoning animation industry, as is the opportunity to work closely with directors like Miller (on the Happy Feet and Babe films), and on large-scale projects such as the Matrix films and 300. But just how does the studio measure a successful project? “You want your work to be invisible to the audience,” Coleman says. “That is, not standing out like a sore thumb. We want our colleagues to see the work and to recognise how hard it was to make that look seamless within a movie. I think Animal certainly has a reputation overseas [for that quality of work].”

On Animal Logic’s enviable production slate currently are LEGO: The Piece of Resistance, Walking with Dinosaurs 3D and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, along with their regular brief of smaller commercial projects.

For Coleman, the years ahead promise much of the same. “Animal’s goal is to continue to work on top-level animated features as well as doing visual effects for live action films … to really look at the stories that we’re creating and the characters that live in those stories, and breathe life into them so that they’re absolutely believable for our audiences.”

What: Animal Logic’s History of Computer Animation Where: Studio, Sydney Opera House When: Sunday November 11, 11am

Slacker icon, Buddy

From his first cartoons 30 years ago, this is exactly what Bagge has done. Like Los Bros Hernandez (Love & Rockets) and Daniel Clowes (Eightball), his peers from the alternative comics explosion of the 1980s, he is still creating vital work in his inimitable, loose-limbed style – most recently, the sci-fi comedy-drama Reset. Of course, most people associate the Bagge name with his much-loved slacker anti-hero Buddy Bradley and the Fantagraphics-published title that housed him: Hate! – a comic that, perhaps unintentionally, came to be known as the preeminent satire of grunge and Seattle in the ‘90s. The association has stuck, despite the fact that, as Bagge explains, Hate! didn’t necessarily benefit from it.

“Hate! debuted in 1990; a year or two later that whole grunge phenomenon and the Seattle business took off, [but] the sales of my comic book didn’t go up at all. So for every person who might have picked it up because of that association, there was obviously another person who avoided it,” Bagge says, laughing. “It gets a bit frustrating, though, how work I’ve done since has been overlooked. And I’ve done an awful lot.

I’ve done different comic book series and graphic novels, instead of doing all one thing.” (He’s not kidding: see titles like Other Lives, Apocalypse Nerd and even The Incorrigible Hulk for Marvel’s Strange Tales collection.)

While continuing to create comics, waiting as some of his creations stall in screen development hell, and making music with his authentic bubblegum-pop band Can You Imagine?, Bagge has embarked on a relatively new career: teaching. “These days it seems that not just every art school, but every school will have some kind of a course related to comics,” he says wryly, “so a lot of cartoonists wind up teaching. It’s gone the way of poetry: fewer people make a living as a poet, but more and more people do it, and more and more people take classes in it.”

Given that comic books generate huge box office hits and millions in licensing revenue, you might be surprised to learn that creating comics,

even the mainstream kind, is still a tough way to make a living. Bagge has his own theory: “The reason superhero movies are doing so well has everything to do with the new technology, the CGI animation … it’s tailor-made for superhero comics. But even with Spider-Man and The Avengers and all of that, sales of those comics have not gone up – they’ve gone down. There’s just so much competition for your entertainment dollar. When you have a computer, you can be entertained all day long completely for free. On that level, you just can’t compete.”

There is a bright side, however: “It’s interesting that in spite of all of this, there are more alternative comics than ever,” says Bagge. “There are more cartoonists, more titles than ever – I guess because people have finally become aware that it’s a perfectly acceptable means of self-expression; people use it solely to express themselves, without thinking that if you’re going to do it, you better make a career out of it.”

What: Peter Bagge’s Hate! And Other Neat Stuff Where: Studio, Sydney Opera House When: Sunday November 11, 7.30pm

Pixar’s Lee Unkrich [PRESENTATION] Pushing It Further By Alasdair Duncan

L

ee Unkrich has the kind of career that many would envy. He started at Pixar as an editor, learning the ropes on John Lasseter’s ‘90s hits Toy Story and A Bug’s Life; by 1999 he’d been promoted to director, joining a select group that includes Lasseter and Andrew Stanton (WALL-E), and co-helming Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc and Finding Nemo. His first solo assignment was nothing less than the closing chapter in one of the most successful and beloved film franchises of all time: Toy Story 3.

Charting the toys’ attempts to find a new home after being discarded by their original owner, Toy Story 3 became the most successful animated film of all time, and an exemplification of all Pixar’s finest qualities: beautiful visuals, deep storytelling, and an above-and-beyond commitment to excellence across the board.

Unkrich says he and the Pixar team looked long and hard at other movie series that had gone for a third instalment, and found that few of them were good. “We knew we were trying to climb a very high mountain,” he says, “but at the end of the day, all the same core people who were involved in the first two films came up with the story for the third, and we figured if anyone could pull it off, it was us.”

Toy Story 3 exemplifies Pixar’s ability to speak

24 :: BRAG :: 427 :: 05:11:12

to audiences young and old simultaneously, but on different levels. In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, the toys confront mortality in a frighteningly literal way, staring down imminent death in an incinerator. “I thought it was really important to take the toys to their end-point, to make them face the thing they were most afraid of,” says Unkrich. “We found that adults were very affected by that scene emotionally, but kids were not affected in the same way at all. …kids have a totally different sense of mortality from what adults do, so they experience that scene in a completely different way.”

On the ‘Pixar secret’, Unkrich says, “I suppose, at the highest level, we’re doing our upmost to make the best movies that we can. That’s an easy thing to say, but it’s hard to pull off, of course. … We’ve learned over the years that the most important things are to come up with a really inventive, interesting world and a cast of really interesting characters to populate it, and also, a great story. At the end of the day, we make movies that we ourselves would like to see, and that’s worked well for us these last 20 or so years.”

The other secret, of course, is fresh blood; as much as Pixar is inextricably linked in people’s minds with a core group of

Lee Unkrich (right) literally behind the screens...

visionaries, Unkrich says new talent is coming into the studio all the time – they've even found new staff members via YouTube.

“At the beginning, Pixar was really just John Lasseter in terms of directors,” Unkrich acknowledges, “but we always knew that he had a whole group of very talented people working just under him, helping him make those early films. They all had directing aspirations of their own, and over time, people like Pete Docter [Up] and Andrew

Stanton emerged to make films, in addition to people like Brad Bird [The Incredibles; Ratatouille], who joined the fold. But yeah, we have lots of people who’ve cut their teeth at the studio in all kinds of roles now stepping up and being given opportunities.”

What: Pixar: Behind The Screens Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Saturday November 10, 11am

T H I S

W E E K

A T

T H E

&

WINTER PEOPLE <PM 3PIVb

DONNY BENET Presents

SAT 10TH NOV + SURECUT KIDS + LIZ BIRD FA C E B O O K . C O M / B E A C H R O A D H O T E L BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 25

[CABARET] Hijinx at Harvest Festival By Benjamin Cooper

It’s always a ‘strap-in, let’s go!’ experience, and people always have a great time. You can walk into our show having absolutely no idea what’s going to happen, and wind up spanking a monkey. There’s not a lot of shows where that kind of business goes on.”

The duo have some solid festival experience at this point, with Monkey proudly telling me that their recent slot at Baltimore’s Virgin Mobile FreeFest afforded him the chance to catch a ride on The Flaming Lips’ golfcart...

“You mean you hijacked their golfcart!” interrupts a laughing Trixie, before she allows Monkey to sheepishly qualify: “Well, I don’t think they knew it was going to happen.

And I did jump on board their cart a number of times throughout the day, without being asked... I guess you could say I hijacked it.

But that’s how it is with us because you never know what you’re going to get,” he grins.

A

Xxx

fter a solid decade entertaining international audiences with their gutbusting and side-splitting performances, Baltimore-based burlesque duo Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey are bringing their panoply of live provocations Down Under as part of the Harvest Festival’s Bootleg Alley, a space dedicated to alternative and underworld performance. Titled Flipping & Stripping Down Under, their latest show is an assemblage of greatest hits pulled from previously popular outings like Gypsy Little: Sexual Psychic and The Kama Sutra Brought To Life On A Trapeze. When we Skype, the duo are just a few days out from previewing Flipping & Stripping at Williamsburg’s new aerialist and workshop space The Muse, ahead of their Sydney trip. “We’re so ready for this,” enthuses Trixie, the pretty half of their beauty-and-the-beast dynamic.

Trixie and her Evil sidekick have built up an enviable live reputation over the last ten years via shows that combine striptease, trapeze and cabaret with a uniquely dynamic performance chemistry. “No show is ever the same,” a costume-free Monkey says, from from his couchside perch next to Trixie.

“I honestly don’t think it could be, because we’re just always looking at how to take it to stranger and more maniacal places. We’re not really a scripted act, as such, because we like to keep the crowd participating and adding their interpretations to what we do.

During the upcoming Harvest festival tour, Trixie envisages herself spending her nonperformance time wandering through the crowd, checking out the comedy and theatre treats that Harvest’s other spaces, Le Boudoir and The Snuff Box, have to offer. “We want to be as involved as possible, and we want to make as much trouble as possible.

Actually…” She pauses, as if considering the legal ramifications of her last statement, before continuing: “We wanna make enough trouble that you remember us, and ask us back. But we want to actually be allowed back into the country.”

Monkey is modestly circumspect about the appeal of their show for an antipodean festival crowd unfamiliar with their shtick.

“We know that festival crowds have a very different set of expectations, because they are not as captive an audience as what we’re used to. We understand that we have to work harder – but it’s also exciting, because there’s the possibility of catching people off guard in a moment they would never have encountered before. The truth is, we revel in the off-guard [and] the off-script moments where the crowd is participating and interpreting. That’s what we love.”

What: Flipping & Stripping Down Under Where: Harvest festival @ Parramatta Park When: Saturday November 17 With: Bourgeois & Maurice (UK), Briefs, The League of Sideshow Superstars, Vaudevillage – and HEAPS more More: harvestfestival.com.au/arts

Heather Mitchell and Aaron Pedersen in Signs Of Life

Signs Of Life

[THEATRE] Tim Winton Stages An Intervention By Benjamin Cooper

K

ate Cherry has a lot on her plate. The artistic director of Western Australia’s Black Swan State Theatre Company is in Sydney rigorously rehearsing and preparing for the forthcoming season of Signs Of Life: Tim Winton’s theatrical ‘sequel’ (of sorts) to his best-selling 2001 novel Dirt Music. A co-production with Sydney Theatre Company, it debuted earlier this year in regional Western Australia.

“We are right in the thick of it at the moment,” says Cherry, who has ducked out of the rehearsal room to speak with me. “The rehearsals have been very exciting because it’s just so rare to be able to actually give a production another look,” she says, “particularly when it’s a new piece of Australian theatre. On top of that, we’re able to explore the possibilities that exist from staging it in such a different space from the original – and I’ve also got two remarkable leads in Heather [Mitchell] and Aaron [Pedersen], who keep reaching further every day.”

Winton’s Dirt Music followed the uneasy relationship between ex-nurse Georgie and the mysterious loner (and fish smuggler) Luther Fox, who appears one day in the remote fishing outpost where she lives. Signs Of Life focuses the action ten years after the novel’s events – and squarely on the tensions between the newly widowed Georgie and a mysterious couple who arrive at her isolated rural property looking for help and then refuse to leave.

Cherry admits there’s a certain added pressure to bringing one of Australia’s most beloved authors to the stage: “Working with Tim has been so wonderful because of his ability to really start from the tiniest of details, and develop a distinct mythology around the very particular. It means that much of the time we just give a theatrical life to these intricate metaphors he crafts. He certainly hasn’t put any pressure on us, but there is a particular kind of responsibility that comes

with bringing a writer’s intention to life – and it’s even more true when you’re doing new Australian theatre,” she explains. “New work doesn’t really offer that safety you get from classic texts: it pushes actors and directors to question what they’re doing and why it is happening. At the same time, we have to concentrate on releasing the playwright’s voice within the text, which means there’s lots going on in the room. It’s a tricky line to walk, but that constant challenge is one of the most exciting things about what we do.”

One of Cherry’s initial challenges was how to set and dress a production in which the environment around the characters is such an active and restless creature. Zoe Atkinson (Malthouse Theatre’s The Odyssey; Opera Australia’s La Fanciulla del West) was brought on as set and costume designer, because “she had incredible ideas from the get-go, and wasn’t overawed by the scale of what we’re trying to do,” says Cherry.

“Many of our ideas for locating these characters came literally from the page, because Tim has such an extraordinary ability to create this visual world through the rhythm and metaphor of language. Zoe and I made the choice to place it in a psychic landscape; and yes, I know that probably sounds a bit odd,” she laughs.

“Those kinds of choices are important,” the director continues, “because embracing new work and new ways of doing things within theatre is such an important part of understanding our own voices in this country. That’s something that Tim recognises too, and I think it’s part of why he writes brilliantly for and about people. It’s what sets [his writing] apart.”

What: Signs Of Life by Tim Winton When: November 7 – December 22 Where: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House More: sydneytheatre.com.au

Housos Vs Authority [FILM] Redneck Centre By Benjamin Cooper

Paul Fenech (centre) and the cast of Housos Vs Authority

the lives of the employees of the maniacal Bobo Gigliotti. After five series and a spin off feature film, Fenech decided to go even darker and more absurd by creating another series for SBS – about the mad and bad characters of the housing-commission suburb of Sunnyvale.

Housos’ first season had barely finished screening earlier this year when it became very clear that demand had outstripped Fenech’s ability to supply his brand of absurdism. “We were getting a lot of feedback from fans that they wanted more, and that they wanted it fast,” explains Fenech. “We weren’t sure if SBS wanted to do another series (they’ve since green-lit the second series for 2013), and the fans had just been so positive, so we just went ‘stuff it’ and pushed and pushed to get it done. It was really down to the fans, because they’re just so passionate and so involved with what we do.”

A

s the creator of some of Australia’s best-loved comedies, Paul Fenech is used to being recognised. The actor, filmmaker and all round creative dynamo has spent the last two decades crafting the memorable characters and lines in successful TV serials and films including Fat Pizza, Swift and Shift Couriers and, more recently, the SBS series Housos. The one thing that does still occasionally throw him, though, is when people confuse him with another Paul Fenech

26 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

– a fellow Aussie of Maltese descent, who just happens to own a pizza store. “It’s still a bit weird, when people ask me how the restaurant is...” Fenech admits, before qualifying, “but he is a lovely bloke, with a great singing voice, so it’s not a big deal to be compared at all.”

Fenech knows the comedic value that can be mined from the daily interactions of supposedly ‘regular’ characters, having previously developed the cult favourite Fat Pizza around

Housos Vs Authority rips characters like Fenech’s Franky and the frighteningly clueless couple Dazza and Shazza Jones (played by Jason ‘Jabba’ Davis and Elle Dawe) out of the suburbs, and drops them into the road trip from hell to the red centre of Australia. They’re on a mission to sprinkle Shazza’s mum’s ashes across the top of Uluru, but throughout their travels manage to offend and confuse everything and everyone they encounter with a mix of thong-attacks (as awesome as it sounds!), drug-addled insanity and shitty trainstyle graffing on invaluable natural heritage sights.

Fenech says getting out of Sunnyvale had its challenges: “Oh mate, filming in winter in thongs, short shorts and a G-string was not so much your traditional definition of fun,” he says seriously, before laughing, “particularly because I spent a lot of time on the back of a motorbike shooting in zero-degrees Alice Springs... I’m telling ya, the shrinkage in those conditions is something else.”

Fenech and his crew are not ones to shy away from the rude or controversial, and have attracted the ire of Australian television’s self-appointed moral guardians on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for the wowzer watchdogs, that kind of exposure has only helped the Housos cause.

“Social media is 100% what made Housos successful,” says Fenech. “Originally there was that big story on A Current Affair, which meant everyone was talking about the program well before it came out. Then they scheduled us late at night, but people were still tuning in. That’s what I love about this show, and this project: it’s like a houso, because it can’t be beaten. It can’t be broken. And when we didn’t know if we were gunna get a second season we just thought, ‘Fuck it, this means too much for the fans’... and it’s all pretty fucking fun for us too!”

What: Housos vs Authority When: In cinemas from November 1

Signs Of Life – photo by Grant Sparkes-Carroll

Trixie Little & The Evil Hate Monkey

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

■ Film

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Opens November 8 Just like arts bureaucrats, psychopaths lack the capacity for empathy, guilt and fear. This makes them perfect fodder for Martin McDonagh. The Irish writer-director responsible for the superlative In Bruges and brilliant stage plays The Lieutenant of Inishmore and The Pillowman has been mucking about with psychopaths for years, so it was a matter of time before he simply threw seven of them together and let them duke it out. Or in this case, send them into the desert to “talk about life”.

Why seven? What other number could it have been? The pantheon of drama is overloaded with septets, and this film is more about drama than about real life. The L.A. story follows alcoholic screenwriter Marty (Colin Farrell), who’s getting nowhere with his new screenplay, entitled – yep – ‘Seven Psychopaths’. After his girlfriend Kaya (Abbie Cornish) kicks him out, Marty’s best friend Billy (Sam Rockwell) ‘helps’ him by placing an ad in the local paper inviting real-life psychos to submit their stories to Marty – in person – for possible inclusion in his script. Marty freaks out; Billy thinks it’s awesome. Cue a parade of visiting psychopaths, including Charlie (Woody Harrelson), Hans (Christopher Walken) and Zachariah (Tom Waits), and a bunch of suitably krazy kapers.

Seven Psychopaths could well be McDonagh’s ‘here’s what’s been happening to me in Hollywood’ picture. If it is, then what’s been happening is that everyone wants him to write stupid, violent stuff with cheesy finales. Frustrated by their prescriptive enthusiasm, McDonagh retaliates by writing a film populated by wackos who continually deconstruct the film they’re in. It’s very clever, very po-mo, and very funny. The cast cannot believe their luck at being allowed to play such self-referential loonies – especially Rockwell, who puts in the most joyously unsubtle performance since Tim Roth in Four Rooms.

On the flipside: this doesn’t have the structure that made In Bruges so good.

Though the dialogue brims with familiar wit, the story isn’t nearly as taut. The acting’s fantastic, but the cast don’t have as much to get their teeth into as Farrell and Brendon Gleeson did with their Bruges characters. This is possibly because psychopaths aren’t as complex as ‘normal’ people: even the psycho Zachariah admits that his kind “get pretty tedious” after a while. Maybe the whole film is McDonagh’s last laugh on his backers?

Either way – give me a psychopath over an arts bureaucrat any day.

Nikos Andronicos ■ Film

BACHELORETTE Opens November 1 A decade after ruling highschool as the self-styled ‘B-faces’, Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) have reunited for the wedding of fourth B-face, Becky (Rebel Wilson) – the sweetly confident odd one out – to her loving, handsome fiancé. With the type-A maid of honour Regan measuring her own life milestones against Becky’s suddenlysuperior ones, and Katie and Gena pretending not to, the trio quickly derail the sedate bachelorette party, and run amok armed with a talc bottle full of blow.

It’s uncomfortable viewing – partly because every character makes stupendously bad choice after stupendously bad choice, screwing-over themselves and others for implausible reasons. At one point the B-faces take Becky’s dress (which they tore, in an excruciating scene) to the dress shop at 2am, but instead of bribing the owner to fix it, Regan requests replacement options then throws a tantrum when the designer suggests a gown that’s identical to her dream dress.

Arts Snap

At the heart of the arts Where you went last week... Photos by Pedro Xavier

Most frustrating, though, are the flashes of insight and wisdom about the expectations women have of themselves and believe others have of them – maybe half a dozen lines that cut through the mess of coke and self-involvement to crystallise beautifully the scene they’re in. It shows that the film really does have something to say, not just about women but about the inner lives of young people. As quickly as they appear, though, those moments are swallowed by a confusing mixture of savage emotional cruelty and tired rom-com clichés.

The film’s main fault is perhaps that the characters are too crudely drawn; the performances are solid if you can see past the writing. Dunst plays against type as the brittle, haughty Regan and has a nice rapport with Wilson’s sweet-natured brideto-be; Fisher’s airheaded Katie is hilariously one-note, until she becomes heartbreaking (and then has those lovely, real moments elided in favour of a neat ending). Caplan ticks all the cool-rebel boxes (ankle boots, eyeliner, lives in LA) but simmers with a dry, ingrained misanthropy.

hands group show

26:10:12 :: China Heights :: 16-28 Foster St Surry Hills

Bachelorette could have been devastating: honest and dark, Mean Girls minus the utopian ending and plus a decade, full of hard truths and the flawed, yet relatable jerks we love to hate. But it has more in common with the execrable Hangover films than Bridesmaids: you’re too frustrated with these people, peeking through your fingers at the pileup of dumb, self-inflicted crises, to root for them – as much as you might like to.

Caitlin Welsh ■ Film

DREDD 3D Released October 25 As the titular Judge’s big, blunt beast of a motorcycle roars through the streets of Mega City One in the film’s opening scenes, two things are immediately apparent: this IS the sick and twisted future of British weekly comic journal 2000AD, and it’s going to be nothing like the ridiculous and lycra-clad world of Danny Cannon’s 1995 outing, starring Sly Stallone.

Director Pete Travis’ film shares elements of the hyper-violence that dominates the dystopian future of Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop, but eschews the Dutchman’s psychological meandering for good ol’ fashioned brutality. Karl Urban’s incarnation of the already laconic character doesn't have time for anything remotely superfluous in the way of dialogue, with Dredd’s famous one-liner reduced to a one-worder on multiple occasions, to devastating effect Dredd’s appeal has always been his black and white morality, and ability to blow stuff up – with samurai-like intensity; so it’s satisfyingly intriguing when, immediately after brutally slaying some criminals in the first two minutes, he is paired with rookie psychic judge Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), to investigate a multiple homicide in the Peach Trees mega-housing block. When they arrive the block is quickly shut down by its criminal overlord, the vicious Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), as she attempts to silence the Judges and continue production and distribution of the drug Slo-Mo. Dredd and Anderson naturally object to people trying to kill them, and so deploy yet more impressive weaponry, following the siege narrative to its natural conclusion.

Designer Mark Digby (The American; 28 Days Later) has created a filthy future city filled with crushed souls: at one point a homeless vagrant, having previously been warned against loitering, is literally sliced in half by a swiftly-sliding blast door. The task of handling the cocktail of 3D violence and action falls to cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire; 127 Hours), whose approach to the Slo-Mo drug experience – fading out the audio to visceral effect during particularly lush moments of violence – is a standout. Hours after you’ve left the darkness of the cinema there’ll still be droplets of gluggy blood clouding your peripheral vision.

Benjamin Cooper

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

surry hills festival 27:10:12 :: Prince Alfred Park :: Surry Hills

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

PARRAMASALA November 8-11 / Parramatta There’s nothing not good about this: a massive Bollywood Block Party headlined by Kamahl and featuring The Bombay Royale; young British-Indian composer and ‘Sarod Maestro’ Soumik Datta (aka Beyoncé’s homeboy); a world premiere collaboration between locals Jeff Lang and Bobby Singh and master Rajasthani musicians Asin and Bhugra Khan, called Maru Tarang (Desert Ripples); Tamasha Theatre Company’s (UK) comedy The Trouble With Asian Men; Mercury-Prize-nominated London-via-Strathfield singer-songwriter Susheela Raman; and a slate of South-Asian films that includes a free outdoor screening of classic Bollywood blockbuster Sholay, Cannes-selected French-Pakistani drama Noor, and Ana Tiwary’s documentary on the Indo-Australian student experience, Sunshine and Shade. As mum always says, if it’s good enough for Kamahl, it’s good enough for you. For the full program and tickets, head to parramasala.com

Kamahl gets lei-d BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 27

Album Reviews

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK MARTHA WAINWRIGHT Come Home To Mama Warner Music Australia

When it comes to family, Martha Wainwright is not one to keep her emotions to herself. Few artists would pen a song about their dad’s parenting skills and call it ‘Bloody Motherfucking Asshole’, although the Wainwrights are hardly an ordinary family. There’s a little less poison in the pen for Martha Wainwright’s third album of original material, a collection that comes in the wake of the birth of her son and the death of her mother, Kate McGarrigle.

The more personal Wainwright gets, the more powerful the effect. The close of Come Home To Mama is a total tear-jerker, with ‘All Your Clothes’ picking through the wardrobe of a recently deceased parent, and ‘Everything Wrong’ drawing on this same sense of loss and applying it to the fears and anxiety of new parenthood. The highlight,

Come Home To Mama is, by a nose, Martha Wainwright’s strongest and most consistent collection.

THE AVETT BROTHERS

EVERMORE

The Avett Brothers are veritable veterans of Americana, having been making music for more than a decade now. Produced by Rick Rubin (of Def Jam, Johnny Cash's American Recordings releases, and ridiculously impressive beard fame), their sixth studio album The Carpenter is more electric than their previous efforts, and covers a wider range of styles, from bluegrass-y rock to string-driven ballads, sounding like a more-polished Old Crow Medicine Show. Actual brothers Seth and Scott, along with non-bro Bob Crawford, weave tales of hardship, love and loss that encompass a variety of musical touchstones, from Townes Van Zandt to David Rawlings.

The Avett Brothers skip across a number of different styles. Single ‘Live And Die’ is deceptively simple, but where Mumford & Sons are all about the banjo crescendo, the Avetts thankfully go easy on it, letting the other elements of the song come through. ‘I Never Knew You’ sounds like it could be lifted from Ben Folds Five with its jangly piano and “ooh ah” harmonies, but it’s less whiny lyrically, and much more fun for it.

‘Pretty Girl From Michigan’ is the latest instalment of their ‘Pretty Girl…’ tracks, and it begins sedately enough before crackling into an electric chorus.

The gentle acoustic picking of ‘February Seven’ and the sombre ode to lost love ‘Through My Prayers’ provide the album’s more contemplative moments. ‘Down With The Shine’ combines warm brass with a sprinkling of banjo, and album closer ‘Life’ is a mournful ballad with honeyed harmonies that trickle over gentle strings and guitar – one of the album’s strongest tracks.

A tightly produced range of songs that dabble across genres for a rewarding tour of the country-rock spectrum.

THE PREATURES

Follow The Sun Universal

The Carpenter Republic

That Evermore share an album title with Xavier Rudd cannot be coincidental.

In their protracted absence since their last grand concept album that not enough people got on board with, the band has found out that, like Rudd, it’s best to stick to what you know if you want to sell out shows.

At their core, the brothers Hume were always super-geeks; they could have been the next Muse, but were just too good at writing alternative radio-ready hooks to seriously indulge their prog-iness.

Follow The Sun banks on this by stripping away the noise and leaving the clean, scrubbed skin of 12 expertly crafted pop songs to glisten in said sunshine. Luckily they’ve got enough tricks in the bag to get away with it, particularly with three player-producers in the family – one of whom, Dann, has been behind some of the best Australian singles of the year (Alpine, Sticky Fingers).

In anyone else’s hands, this would be tremendously boring.

Having entered the industry as young’uns, Evermore are keenly aware that becoming a modern rock band involves keeping a bit of yourself in the mix while largely sounding much like everyone else.

Eldest brother Jon’s wailing tenor was never going to be put in a box, and it carries the songs beyond the often-tired Killers/Colplay/U2 templates they seem destined to fall into. And as always, the lyrics seem to be centred around leaving the past behind and running away somewhere. Evermore’s avenues are becoming limited, but credit to them for continuing to find new ways to sprint. And those guitars still sound like a million dollars.

though, is ‘Proserpina’, a classical myth about the separation of a mother and daughter, and the last song to be penned by McGarrigle.

What makes this Wainwright’s strongest album is not just the power of these ballads, but the quality of the more lighthearted material. ‘Can You Believe It’ builds up to its sing-along chorus with some brilliant self-effacing lyricism, such as the opening: “I really like the make-up sex/ It’s the only kind I ever get.” The lyrics of ‘Radio Star’ are absolute nonsense, but the playful tempo shifts make it sing. Maybe it all wears a bit thin by the time the disposable disco-funk of ‘I Wanna Make An Arrest’ rolls around, but these more up-tempo numbers keep the album in balance, heightening the heart-pulling effect of her slower, sadder songs.

Chris Girdler

Shaking Hands EP Mercury The Preatures are a tricky band to pin down, as though their sound shifts depending on the light. Their music has been described as various combinations of gothic, soul and rock’n’roll, and I’d also toss a touch of country into the genre ring. Take any combination of the above and you’ll begin to get an idea of what the Sydney band sound like.

Shaking Hands is a five track EP, recorded in L.A with producer Tony Buchen (Tim Finn, John Butler Trio), which offers a perfect sample of their range, from bright pop-infused soul to darker goth-rock ballads. The only thing that isn’t enjoyable about it is the fact that it’s over so soon.

The gloriously infectious ‘Take A Card’ is the perfect soundtrack to your summer road trips, and sounds like The Beach Boys met Sam & Dave on the way to a rocking picnic.

The sultry soul rock side of The Preatures is showcased best with Isabella Manfredi’s intoxicating vocals on ‘Threat’, a gorgeous organdriven ode to love dramas.

It’s followed by the lushly smoky single ‘Pale Rider’, which also entreats repeat listens.

Gideon Bensen brings in a little bit of twang with the Tex Perkins ballad-ish ‘The Sleeping Serial’, which weaves a desolate tale over which his vocals howl and bark like a modern-day Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. The groovy, goth-soul of ‘Young Brave Me’ is a smooth, sexy way to round out a warm summer evening (and the EP as well).

It’ll last you until the end of summer, which is probably all you need.

Shaking Hands is a solid, assured sample of The Preatures’ sound, which is refreshing and exciting in its refusal to be easily pigeonholed – and hints at more greatness to come.

Jonno Seidler

Nat Amat

In a recent interview with this very magazine, Sarah Blasko spoke about her love of Björk, and the inspiration that she takes from albums like Homogenic.

“I always find it really inspiring to listen to a song like ‘Hunter’ when I’m embarking on a new project,” she said. “The use of strings on that song, and across the whole album, is really beautiful. I love the way that strings can interact so well with pop music, and bring out so much.”

Blasko’s new album, I Awake, is all about strings. They appear on almost every track, colouring the arrangements, playing counterpoint to the melodies, and setting an atmosphere that is, in turn, stirring and sinister. The album was recorded in Sofia, with the help of the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra, and their presence gives the album a real emotional punch.

The songwriting, as ever, has a haunted and vulnerable quality to it – Blasko can’t help but lay herself bare in the music, and the results show through on songs like ‘Cast The Net’, which begins with a simple, brushed snare beat before swelling to a chorus about a “victim of a change of heart”. The pace is pretty languid throughout, with tracks like ‘An Arrow’, ‘All Of Me’ and especially ‘An Oyster, A Pearl’ setting a smoky, late-night sort of a tone. The aforementioned Björk influence comes through the strongest on ‘God Fearing’, whose twisting rhythms and synth swells recall parts of Homogenic, albeit in an acoustic rather than an electronic sense.

Four albums into her career, I Awake shows that Blasko can still be relied on to produce consistently captivating tunes.

Alasdair Duncan

kyü are one of those bands that easily restores faith in Australian music. Regardless of whether you love or loathe their precisely piquant harmonies and muted Kate Bush-isms, it’s tough to deny that they’re admirably inventive, and fairly singular in the current local indie landscape.

Until last year, their career seemed to be a series of victory laps: they won a prominent band competition, recorded an impeccable debut, launched it with the choral support

28 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Bertie Blackman is a victim of her own innovation. It’s a somewhat unique predicament to be in, but it’s nonetheless true of the musical chimera’s latest effort, which doesn’t move far enough away from her truly excellent Secrets And Lies (2009) to inspire more excitement.

By being consistently out there and the first to the party in the sonics department, Blackman has caught herself in a trap whereby her music still sounds exciting but pales in comparison to itself. In fact, the songwriting is obfuscated by the sound design (helmed once again by Francois Tetaz), which seems more concerned with being avant-garde than it is with being memorable. That’s both admirable and unfortunate at once.

Of all her songwriter personas, Blackman fits most naturally into the hyper-industrial dark pop one she established last time around. Her dramatic voice is suited to swirling, stabbing synth pads and gigantic floor toms, and there’s certainly plenty of both of those here. On ‘Hide And Seek’, it shines out richly amongst the video game bleeps and overdriven distortion, and it appears unadorned on ‘Stella’, one of the album’s finest – and quietest – moments. But that’s interspersed with live bands and jerky phrasing on ‘Boy’ and a misguided downtempo ‘Shadow Chases’, which just drags on and on.

There’s no doubt that Blackman is aflame with ideas, but they need to be synthesised more cohesively if anyone is expected to grasp them fully. With that in mind, I really hope she scores an opera. She’d be kickass at it.

As wide as the imagination can go, but with not enough in the middle.

Jonno Seidler

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK 2 Independent

Pope Innocent X Universal

I Awake Dew Process

Natalie Amat

KYÜ

BERTIE BLACKMAN

SARAH BLASKO

of a host of Sydney indie royalty and… disappeared. 2 comes as the duo confirm their rumoured break-up; it’s a swansong for us to pluck feathers from.

‘Everything’s A Centipede’ ushers us into the record’s palette with moody ambience and reflective harmonies. ‘Quiche’ dispels this mopiness with stately piano chords and that signature driving floor tom percussion. Its melodies are weirdly churchy, like the work of a pious choir using their lost faith to subvert an ex-choraster’s harmonic guidance. ‘Samsara’ is an easy early highlight, gradually folding spiralling vocal manipulations and effected, tuned percussion into ecstatic call and response, over a bedrock of sandpapery bass. ‘Yük’ makes a sensical first single, smelting the

broader sonic palette with their signature vocal pyrotechnics.

Despite the impression that it was pieced together gradually over a long period of time, there’s a glorious intimacy to this record. kyü's debut felt a bit like they had some kind of emphatic statement to make, and some of the finesse was lost in the force of their articulation. They’re more confident and relaxed here, and the album benefits greatly from that.

2 is more cerebral, relaxed, playful and varied than its predecessor, and richer for it. If you had high hopes, you won’t be disappointed.

Luke Telford

OFFICE MIXTAPE

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

KENDRICK LAMAR - good kid, M.A.A.D city NICOLAS JAAR - BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix ALELA DIANE - To Be Still

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Magic SHEARWATER - Animal Joy

snap sn ap

black cherry 6th bday halloween

spod's single launch It’s called: SPOD’s 'Couple Of Drinks' single launch It sounds like: A couple of drinks with your best mate, SPOD.

the standard's 1st bday

PICS :: AZ

27:10:12 :: Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Rd Marrickville 9550 3666

25:10:12 :: The Standard:: Level 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9331 3100

Who’s playing? SPOD and some secret legends.

Sell it to us: I don’t really want to sell the party, but thanks for the offer. It’ll be our night, so you can just come and buy shares of fun.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: That havin’ a good time is actually too easy. Stay moderate, be a cool guy.

Crowd specs: 4 x Snarble Trimbos, 77 x 7k Brissle Strints, 3 x Shinny Twinkles, 98 x Farmple Dingles.

Wallet damage: Your wallets won’t get harmed at all, don’t worry. Just take $10 out for presale or like $13 at the door, and keep it in your pocket if you’re worried.

Where: Brighton Up Bar / 77 Oxford Street When: Saturday November 10, just before the end of the world.

pluto jonze

PICS :: PX

party profile

wasted years

PICS :: SW

26:10:12 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William Street Kings Cross 9331 9900

the black keys

PICS :: AM

20:10:12 :: Q Bar :: 34-44 Oxford St Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 2956

23:10:12 :: Sydney Entertainment Centre :: 35 Harbour St Darling Harbour 9320 4200

tin sparrow

PICS :: PX

Black Cherry images by Step Back Photography and Moshpittman

up all night out all week . . .

26:10:12 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9331 3100

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ELKE OWENS :: SAM WHITESIDE :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR AL PEDRO XAVIER :: ALEXIS ZLAM

BRAG :: 487:: 05:11:12 :: 29

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

BALL PARK MUSIC, LOON LAKE The Metro Theatre Thursday October 25

When you go to an all-ages gig, you may be reminded of a prickly truth if you are on my end of your 20s: you cannot party hardy like you did at the beginning of a very touch-andgo degree. With this less-than-salubrious sentiment in mind, and the bartender dropping my change into my beer, I made for one hell of a disgruntled spectator.

Thankfully, I wasn’t about to gulp down some navel-gazing down-tempo dirge: Loon Lake were a welcome antidote, with their bright, summer-mooching garage rock. They played a chant-laden, perky set, even if somewhat marred by the obvious vocal straining on the part of lead vocalist Sam Nolan. As the support act, this analogy may go without saying, but these Melbourne lads made you feel like you were joining them for some warm-up stretches: the real cardio kick of the night came from Ball Park Music.

The boisterous Brisbane-based quintet announced themselves with an organ-driven chamber-rock number, which called to mind Muse’s earlier work. I was wowed by the exactitude of their segues, the keen intuition into each other’s lines, and harmonies that

were wound tighter than a snare drum. The frontman, Sam Cromack, was effusive and unflinching; he had a Ben Folds-like wield of his crowd, and he knew it. But having seen them play nearly a year before, I noticed some marked changes in their style: their overall delivery as a band felt flat and overly studied, and gone were the antics and stage pageantry of their previous set, where they would jokingly spar and knock each other about. They also defaulted a few too many times to snap finishes at the end of songs.

Although I felt they’d regressed in some respects, their writing had matured and their insistent melodies are still ringing in my ears. I would’ve even clinked glasses with them at the end, if I’d gotten a drinkable beer.

MADLIB, J ROCC, EGON The Metro Theatre Friday October 26

Egon is a perfectly eccentric opener for the evening. His set traverses the globe, and he narrates it for us like a condescending travel guide: “Spain to Singapore, y’all!

Spain… To… Singapore…!” he yells, pointing from one CD-J to the other in case we miss his point. We hear cuts from Iran to Seoul (“y’all!”), from Greece to Nigeria. It’s all vintage too – if it’s not at least 35 years faded, then it’s too new, with the exception of a few familiar tunes spliced through.

“Turkey to Detroit, y’all! That’s right – Guilty Simpson over some Turkish belly dancing shit – this is the Madlib Medicine Show!”

J Rocc is a charismatic figure, even if he opens the set with a pyrotechnic threeminute mix of various cut-up voices saying his name, in case we were in any doubt.

He has a knack for reading what the bodies present want: countless monstrous grooves shudder through the crowd, who raise their arms and lose their shit unbegrudgingly.

Familiar shapes are lovingly wound into the mix – we hear an inevitable slice of Snoop

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

Cockatoo Island Film Festival Friday October 26

The three-night music program of the inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival takes over a secluded corner of Sydney Harbour, accessible only by ferry but a vision sublime on the waterfront. Jinja Safari in particular ensure the Friday gig feels like moon party night on an isolated tribal outpost, but up first is Martha Marlow and her lo-fi bedroom ballads about teenage concerns: young love, school exams and big dreams.

Jinja Safari open with the polyrhythmic throb of ‘Forest Eyes’ – “I never saw the light in city skies” – and it’s fitting in this location; we’re minutes away from the city centre, but the only reminders of grown-up civilisation are the dinner ships that cruise past, some of them slowing to eavesdrop on this Lord Of The Flies night for the indie pop brigade.

Head tribesman Marcus Azon exclaims, “At a typical Jinja Safari gig, things go wrong. Are you ready for things to go wrong?” Not too much does go wrong, in fact, apart from a brief lyrical mishap – if there are other lapses nobody notices. It’s hard to concentrate on such trivialities when there’s a keytar solo happening halfway up the stage scaffolding.

punk rock abandon replacing much of that material’s darkness. As for the remaining material, it mostly came from Psychic Hearts, his first and noisiest solo record.

Thurston Moore can’t help himself. Even when he’s not expressing his most challenging experimental tendencies on stage, he still brings it to his audience in one way or another – and so it was quite a delight to watch the fairly mixed crowd react to a punishingly loud noise set from Marco Fusinato. A shame for those that it didn’t quite resonate with: there was plenty of nuance happening underneath Fusinato’s billowing wall of distortion, making for an opening set that was compelling in its own right and set the stage well for Moore’s noisy but much more conventional show.

It made for a pretty scattered show. After 30 years almost full-time in Sonic Youth, Moore seems to be revelling in his ability to cast aside that catalogue and focus on his solo material, and there’s an infectious enthusiasm to his performance. But on the flip side, while his current band carry the songs well, they aren’t the foils nor the quality control that his former bandmates were, and some of Moore’s excesses feel a little out of context when they dominate in the way that his solo shows allow. But that’s only a minority of the time; Moore still manages to put on a compelling rock show that brings together noise and pop in great fashion.

Bluejuice are as direct as ever, albeit minus the jumpsuits and (most of) the gratuitous nudity. They move quickly into their high-energy, microphone-throwing material, but dot the set with songs that barely camouflage an escalating taste for ‘80s power pop; there’s little chance of the audience getting lost in these songs, but the guys remain charismatic enough chaperones to a good night out. Yet there’s a niggling feeling that the PA has been turned down on Bluejuice; they’re not hitting the decibels that Jinja Safari have done, and some punters at the back drift away as the performance goes on. Still, when the Like A Version cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’ gets a run, it’s propped up by an appropriate dose of mischievousness, before an upbeat ‘Act Yr Age’/’Broken Leg’ double closes the 55-minute set.

Perhaps the best thing to come from the evening is the proof that Sydney’s younger crowd is willing to venture beyond the usual handful of venues to enjoy something a little different, and for local acts as well. The Cockatoo Island Film Festival organisers score a high mark on that count – even if the volume’s down and the bar is closed by 9.30pm.

Chris Martin

Thurston Moore’s set may have been less divisive, but it wasn’t quite as expected either.

There was no sign of the acoustic-driven reflection from his latest record Demolished Thoughts – rather, it was a loose, noisy run through both ends of his solo career. Unreleased material from new project Chelsea Light Moving dominated the beginning of the set, seeing Moore return to the percussive, driving guitars of early Sonic Youth, though with

WILLY MASON, ROHIN JONES The Vanguard Monday October 22

Rohin Jones’ drummer was wrapped up in a winter coat and beanie, and the lead guitarist stood side-on the entire set to face the singer – who seemed to be in a world of his own. With a long beard draping onto his semi-acoustic, the melodic mumblings from the former frontman of The Middle East weaved itself into the overall sound. It wasn’t until I was sitting cross-legged by the stage and staring up at the lava-lamp projections on the ceiling that I let myself get into it.

The set moved like sets of waves, which became kindly overwhelming as the drum beat reached your core. The band were so comfortable onstage that someone had to tell them their set was over.

30 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Luke Telford

THURSTON MOORE, MARCO FUSINATO

“It was a dark and stormy night...” joked American singer-songwriter Willy Mason.

On a cold evening opened by Rohin Jones’ solo project, The Vanguard showcased a “revolving door of musicians”, including Jake Tarasenko (formerly of Boy & Bear) and two of The Delta Riggs members, Elliott Hammond and Michael ‘Monte’ Tramonte.

CLARKE PHOTOGRAPHER :: KATRINA

Madlib’s set feels cerebral by comparison.

His distinctive, dusty melange of molten genre is welcome, but it feels misplaced after J Rocc’s party vibe, even though his selections bind the evening’s themes together aptly. His soupy, resin-thick blend of genre only occasionally hits home the way he hopes – mostly, he teases us with the dials on his mixer to bemusing effect, gutting the bass or throwing the hi-range through some fizzing, disorienting flange.

It’s by no means disappointing – just strangely placed.

Elle Kennard

The Hi-Fi Friday October 26

BLUEJUICE, JINJA SAFARI, MARTHA MARLOW

Lion (née Dogg) – but he’s not afraid to ease in a fair slab of MJ’s ‘Human Nature’, and torture us with an extended visitation from Grandmaster Flash. Seeing him revel passionately through these moments lends the impression that he’s some kind of hyper-wired hip hop puppet – but the way he orchestrates a molten, tumbling drum solo by sliding between records, or playfully throws us a rewind of ‘Intergalactic’, hammily asking “Y’all know the lyrics to that shit?”, shows he’s just a big kid who loves this music dearly.

“My name is Willy Mason – you know that I guess”. Standing alone centre-stage, wearing

Adam Lewis

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

a gray suit with a black electric guitar slung over his shoulder, the American songwriter embodied all of those greats who had come before him. Sounding and performing well beyond his 27 years, as soon as he began his set I never wanted him to finish. Taking time off opening for Mumford & Sons on their sell-out tour, Willy was excited to headline his own show for two intimate gigs in Sydney and Melbourne.

His set flowed beautifully, the solo songs broken up by a revolving door of musicians which saw Jake Tarasenko’s first flute performance of ‘Show Me The Way To Go Home’, and the addition of The Delta Riggs members bringing an extra kick with bass and drums to ‘Save Myself’. By the time Willy performed ‘Oxygen’, he had broken my heart in the best kind of way. His rich and weathered voice sang out with clarity as the lyrics took over. Surrounded by true fans (the ones that close their eyes and sing along with passion), it was easy to get lost in the moment of an honest performance. I can only hope Willy’s upcoming album Carry On captures what I heard on that dark and stormy Monday night.

Tanydd Jaquet

snap up all night out all week . . .

PICS :: EO

mum

RES EATEST PLEASU O OF LIFE’S GR MARRYING TW

ND MUSIC GREAT FOOD A Y

Calling ts all artisand e iv L r fo Locals!

Contact: es. ott events@liz com.au

E YDinN TE’St ReS LIZOteT ” dn staurant Sy ey rtainmen

“Awarded Best En

02 9984 9933

edia & NOV Drum M ve and Local 07 Lizotte’s presents Li NOV Angel 08 Zuzu ur Wilde e J Holden & Wilbnds of Ol 55 NOV Franki ge Le l 09 are On The Prow y Award Night NOV Focus Photograph 10 ia & Lizotte’s NOV Drum Med cal 14 presents Live and Lo

26:10:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

NOV

27 15 19 Freedman 16 Tim Band Night Out NOV Manly Big son 17 featuring John Morri w Lunch ith tic NOV Lazy Sunday us 18 Sizzling Strings – An Aco t as Music Fe

kittens

PICS :: SW

NOV

COA20S17T L A R T N E C ’S E T 02 4368 LIZOT

20:10:12 :: Exchange Hotel :: 34-44 Oxford St Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 2956

nch with Melbourne Cup Lu 06 Fairplay Duo Live and Local NOV Lizotte’s presents 07 12 Music YC Bateau Bay 20 NOV PC 08 Showcase Jazz & NOV Brian’s Famous 09 Chilli Crab Night NOV dman 10 Tim Free Frankie J nday Lunch withare Su zy La NOV & Wilbur Wilde of Ol 55 11 Holden nds Pr On The owl Lege d of Year NOV Macron Music En 13 Showcase Local NOV presents Live and s e’ tt zo Li 14 NOV

inson 15 Mark Wilk NOV

PICS :: PX

step-panther

V

26:10:12 :: Brighton Up Bar :: Level 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9572 6322

party profile

discovery

NO 16 1927 V

NO NOV iesel 17 18 D

02 4956 2066

It’s called: Discovery

It sounds like: An amalgamation of the best music this country has to offer.

Who’s playing? From now until the end of this year you can expect Pear Shape, Carl Fox, Indian Summer DJs, Pigeon, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Driffs, Airwolf, Ego and Tom Ugly, as well as our amazing weekly residents Lancelot, Emoh Instead, Spenda C, Clockwerk and Randall Stagg (Staggman).

“Awarded Best

K Lunch with Zoe Melbourne CupKatz 06 & The Shadow Live and Local NOV zotte’s presents Li 07 LD OUT! NOV Julia Morris – SO NOV

08

NOV

dman 09 Tim Free

& Wilbur Wilde Frankie J Holdenl Legends of Ol 55 10 are On The Prow School Music NOV Belmont High 13 Showcase NOV ay Night Big Band 14 Wednesd tic rings – An Acous NOV Sizzling St 15 Music Feast NOV

Sell it to us: 100 people packed into a room who are crazy about music, going crazy for music, week in and week out.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Either you’ll still be awake or you won’t want to get up before midday.

Crowd specs: See “sell it to us”.

Wallet damage: $15, or $12 with a super sneaky password.

Where: Brighton Up Bar / 1/77 Oxford Street (next to the Tool Shed, for your convenience).

NOV 17 1927

When: Every Friday, from 9pm

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ELKE OWENS :: SAM WHITESIDE :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR AL PEDRO XAVIER :: ALEXIS ZLAM

STLE A C W E N ’S E T T O LIZ Entertainment Restaurant in Australia”

Lizotte’s Sydney 629 Pittwater Rd Dee Why

Lizotte’s Central Coast Lot 3 Avoca Dr Kincumber

Lizotte’s Newcastle 31 Morehead St Lambton

WWW. LIZOT TES.COM.AU BRAG :: 487:: 05:11:12 :: 31

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

pick of the week Henry Wagons

Annandale Hotel

Henry Wagons & The Unwelcome Company, Achoo! Bless You, Fanny Lumsden $15 (+ bf) 8pm

ROCK & POP

Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Nicky Kurta Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm

JAZZ

Gregory Porter (USA) Blue Beat, Double Bay $30 (+ bf) 7pm Latin & Jazz Open Mic The World Bar, Kings Cross free 7pm Monday Jam: Danny G Felix The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Russell Neal, Anita Lenzo Trio, What It’s Worth, John Chesher, Massimo Presti, Chris Brookes Kellys on King, Newtown free 7pm

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6

Penrith Hotel free 10pm Glen Bidmead Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm JP Trio Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm The Nickelback Show Riverstone Schofields Memorial Club free 9pm Party Central Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Small Entry Launch: Hair Hochman, Moffarfarrah, Matthew Hopkins Av Union, Leichhardt 6pm Sneaky Soundsystem, Conrad Greenleaf, DJ Urby Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 4pm Trudy Lee Penrith Bowling & Recreation Club free 8pm Venus 2 Penshurst RSL Club free 8pm

JAZZ

Jazzgroove: Cut Loose & the Noise, Leonie Cohen Trio 505 Club, Surry Hills $8 (conc)–$15 8.30pm Melbourne Cup At The Basement: Ines Vas De Sousa The Basement, Circular Quay $75 (+ bf) 12pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK ROCK & POP

Butterfly Boucher Brass Monkey, Cronulla $15 (+ bf) 7pm Cam Anthony Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 3pm Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Springwood 4pm free Funpuppet 32 :: BRAG :: 487 : 05:11:12

Daniel Hopkins, Eva-Maria Hess Taverners Hill Hotel, Leichhardt free 7pm Darren Bennett George IV Inn, Picton free 7.30pm Russell Neal, Paul McGowan, Angelene Harris Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 7pm

Cyrille Aimee Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $20 (conc)–$25 8.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Adrian O’Shea, Gavin Fitzgerald, John Chesher Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Carolyn Woodorth, Rod Robinson Royal Hotel, Springwood free 8pm Greg Sita, Sanitys Collision, Nathan Cole Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 7.30pm Helmut Uhlmann, Lincoln Davis, Jake Bennett, Chris Neto, Thomas Stefoulis, Angharad Yeo UTS Loft, Ultimo free 6pm Russell Neal, Angelene Harris Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 7pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10

MONDAY NOVEMBER 5

JAZZ

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7 ROCK & POP

Andrew Russell Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Back to Black Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Band Of Frequencies, Bones Atlas, Ebony Black The Brass Monkey, Cronulla 8pm Butterfly Boucher, Caitlin Park The Vanguard, Newtown $18.80 8pm Cabins, Winter People Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm City Calm Down FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel free 1pm Gang Of Brothers, Rosie Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm Jenny Biddle The Manly Fig $10 7pm Jo Elms Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Live & Local: Michael Jackson & Mark Punch, Men With Day Jobs Duo, Jagged Stone, Glenn Bidmead Band Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $15 8pm Matt Ottignon, SHOWA 44 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 7.30pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm Souled Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 11pm Spencer Ray Duo The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8 ROCK & POP

Anthems Of Oz The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Atom Bombs, The Fabergettes, The Metal Babies Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $5 8pm Band Of Frequencies, Superheavyweights, Alotta Presha, Lake Nash Notes, Enmore $14.30 7pm Bang!: Split Seconds, March Of The Real Fly, Castlecomer, Anne McKinnon Annandale Hotel free (early bird)–$10 8pm Big Way Out Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10pm Brothers Hand Mirror, Nakagin, Simo Soo, Emily Grantham FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Chelsea Wolfe (USA), Heirs Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $30 (+ bf) 8pm City Calm Down, Olympic Ayres, Gnome, Gloves Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 8pm Crying Tree Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm David Raleigh (USA), Nathan Leigh Jones The Basement, Circular Quay $25–$74.80 (dinner & show) 7.30pm Gypsy & The Cat, New Gods Metro Theatre, Sydney $37.90 7.30pm all-ages Harbour Master Sackville Hotel, Balmain free 7pm Hot Damn: Relentless, Warbrain, Civil War, Taken By Force, Outsider Spectrum, Darlinghurst $15$20 8pm The H.P Coronados Harold Park Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Into The Mystic, Steve Gorrow & Peter Crawford Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 7pm Jess Dunbar, The Gold Project, Matt Price The Vanguard, Newtown $18.80 8pm Katrina Burgoyne Dee Why Hotel free 7pm Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL Club free 6.30pm Luke Robinson, Boob Studio, Conrad Greenleaf Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm Mark Wilkinson Brass Monkey, Cronulla $17.85 Mick Aquilina Bankstown Sports Club free 8pm

Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Neighbourhood Watch: I Know Leopard, Driffs, Iluka, Black Lakes The Standard, Surry Hills $5 8pm Nick Van Breda, ZZOUNDS The Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm Oxblvd, Sons Et Al, Tropics Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Suzannah Espie, Liz Stringer, Chris Altmann Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7pm Sydney Sound Big Band Rockdale RSL Club free 8pm Zuzu Angel Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $20 8pm

JAZZ

Joseph Tawadros (Egypt) 505 Club, Surry Hills $10 (conc)–$15 8.30pm No Tango Quartet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $20 (student)–$30 8.30pm Stewart D’Arrietta Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Andrew Denniston, Spencer McCullum, Nick Domenicos, Kafunkafun Kogarah Hotel free 7pm Daniel Hopkins Olympic Hotel, Paddington free 7.30pm Joanne Hill Corrimal Hotel free 7.30pm Russell Neal, Will Teague, Janise & The Cripps, Yetti, Eva-Maria Hess, Oscar Lush, LJ Phillips Forest Lodge Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9 ROCK & POP

Adam Masters, DJ Georgia, DJ Playmate Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm Altitude Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm Aluka The Newsagency, Marrickville 8pm Anita Spring Trio Star City Astral Lounge, Pyrmont free 8pm Caravan Sun, Benjalu, DJ Kitsch78 Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 6.30pm The Conversations, Charlie Gradon 107 Projects, Redfern $10 7.30pm The Donovans Customs House Bar, Sydney free 7pm Down To Earth: Burn Antares, Lime Cordiale, Gypsies & Gentlemen, Stone Monks The Basement, Circular Quay $15 (+ bf) 7.30pm Flamin’ Beauties Crown Hotel, Sydney free 8pm Frankie J Holden, Wilbur Wilde Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $52–$110 (dinner & show) 8pm Freshmix Bankstown Sports Club free 10pm Gay Paris Sandringham Hotel, Newtown 8pm The Green Day Show Ettamogah Pub, Kellyville free 9pm The Jeff Duff Experience, Jorja Carroll Brass Monkey, Cronulla $19.90 7pm Jukebox Jive Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm

Katy Perry Show St Marys Band Club free 9.30pm La Vista Petersham RSL Club free 8.30pm Last Dinosaurs, The Jungle Giants, Twinsy Metro Theatre, Sydney $21.99 7pm all-ages Lepers & Crooks, Dharma Sutra Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Mike Compton, The Stomp Cats Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $20 (conc)–$25 8pm Mike Mathieson Duo Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Mojo Juju, Mother & Son, Bellyache Ben & The Steamgrass Boys The Red Rattler, Marrickville $18 8pm MUM: The Nectars, Running Gun Sound, Party of Three, Total Bore, Brothers Hand Mirror, Ocean Alley, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Penny & The Mystics, Southerly Change Notes Live, Enmore $12 7pm Phil Spiller Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Rebecca Moore, Belinda Holland, Stormcellar The Eastern Lounge, Roseville $17 (presale)–$20 8pm Robert Forster, Toby Martin The Vanguard, Newtown sold out 8pm Rock For Recognition: Dan Sultan, Leah Flanagan The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 7pm Roots Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Smoke Bellow, The Holy Soul Midan, Marrickville $10 8pm Stormcellar Roseville RSL free 9.45pm Sunset Riot, Tonk, U:Codia, Ethan Joe Annandale Hotel $15 8pm Tessa & The Typcast Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Texture Like Sun, Patrick James, Packwood FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel, Darlinghurst $15 8pm Tracey Adams Duo Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8.30pm Two Girls Will, Emergency Man, Leura Singers, Irene Nicola Roxbury Room, The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe $12 8pm Useless Eaters (USA), Dead Farmers, Loose Grip, Housewives The Square, Haymarket $15 (+ bf) 8pm

JAZZ

Bump City Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20-$25 7.30pm Declan Kelly & The Rising Sun 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Gang Of Brothers Blue Beat, Double Bay $15 (+ bf) 7pm Kate Ceberano Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney $59 6pm all-ages Trio M The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $20 (student)–$30 8.30pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 ROCK & POP

Altitude Hurstville RSL Memorial Club free 9pm Anita Spring Trio Star City Astral Lounge, Pyrmont free 8pm

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Band Of Frequencies The Mac Bar, Surry Hills free 8pm Bang Shang a Lang Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain free 9pm Battletruk, Hail Gun, Disparo, Deadly Visions, Hostile Objects Valve Bar & Venue, Tempe $10 8pm Bin Juice, The Prehistorics, Nerdlinger The Forbes Hotel, Sydney $10 8pm Boomgates, Camperdown & Out Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm Civilians, Louis London, Hobophonics Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Coupe De Ville Rockabilly Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm The Dahlias Moorebank Sports Club, Hammondville free 9pm Desperado - The Eagles Show North Ryde RSL Community Club $25 8pm Donny Benet, Surecut Kids, Liz Bird Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm GRAPHIC: Fat Freddy’s Drop (NZ) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $59–$74 8pm Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Springwood free 9.15pm Group Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Henry Wagons & The Unwelcome Company, Achoo! Bless You, Fanny Lumsden Annandale Hotel $15 8pm

Ian Blakeney Petersham RSL Club free Joanna Capetinakis Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 8pm Kittens: Professor, Safer With The Wolves, Snip Snap Dragon, Kittens DJs Spectrum, Darlinghurst $10 8pm Mark Da Costa & The Blacklist, DJ Urby Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7.30pm Redfern Station: The Medics, Microwave Jenny, Jess Beck CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $25 8pm Mick Aquilina Regents Park Sporting & Community Club free 6.30pm Omar (UK), Milan, JC Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $59 (+ bf) 8pm OutsideIn Festival: Smoke DZA (USA), Oliver Tank, HTRK, Flume, Shigeto (USA), Africa Hitech, Jesse Boykins III (USA), Melo-X (USA), Collarbones, Thrupence, Polographia, Dro Carey, LV (UK), Evenings (USA), Holy Balm, Fishing, Bom Chat Bon Rat, Guerre & Albatross, Cliques, Mike Who, Lewl McKirdy, Kato, Preacha, Astral DJs, Tyson Koh, Charlie Chux, La Fresh, Pipes, Michael Ozone, Future Classic DJs, Shags, Jimmy Sing, Pelvis, Judgement, Ariane, Mary’s Basement The Factory Theatre, Enmore $49 (+ bf) 2.30pm Over The Edge Bankstown Sports Club free 9pm Petualant Frenzy Play Frank Zappa, Peter Northcote, Jay Katz Notes Live, Enmore $23.50 7pm

TUE 6TH NOVEMBER FIRST LOOK SCREENING :

THE KING IS DEAD 6PM // FREE // RSVP at firstlook@fbiradio.com

The Pod Brothers The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney free 9pm Prinnie & Mahalia- Come Together: Mahalia Barnes, Prinnie Stevens The Hi-Fi, Moore Park $30 (+ bf) 8pm all-ages The Ramshackle Army, Steel City Allstars, Death Valley, Jimmy Stewart Roxbury Room, The Roxbury Hotel, Glebe 8pm Razor Blade Fest: Los Capitanes, Batfoot, Ebola Goldfish, Liberation Front, Summers Mixtape, Kids of Yesterday, Speedball, Nerdlinger, Yo Put That Bag Back On, Handball Deathmatch, Jono Willis & The 10 Inch Experience, No Further Questions, Obviously Your Superhero The Square, Haymarket $20 12.30pm Re-groove Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 8.30pm Richard Valdez Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 7.30pm Robert Forster, Toby Martin The Vanguard, Newtown $38.80 8pm The Rockin’ Eddie Band Rockdale RSL Club free 7.30pm Sarki Eastern Suburbs Legion Club, Waverley free 8pm Saturday Night Divas Campbelltown RSL free 9pm Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Nigeria), Watussi Metro Theatre, Sydney 8pm Skunkhour The Standard, Darlinghurst $30 (presale) 8pm Sons of Rico Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm

SPOD Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst 8pm Spy Vs Spy Brass Monkey, Cronulla $25.50 7pm Stormcellar Jannali Inn free 7.30pm TenElevenTwelve: Love Parade, Royal Chant, Spaceticket, The Grease Arrestor FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm Thrüsh, Smokin’ Mirrors, Kill Appeal Sandringham Hotel, Newtown $10 8pm The Tiger And Me, Papa Pilko, Brett Winterford The Red Rattler, Marrickville 8pm To Her Door – A Tribute To Paul Kelly: Tim Shaw, Shane Flew, Tommy Picket, Rooney West The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Vanity Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney free 10.30pm

JAZZ

Blue Moon Quartet Supper Club, Farfield RSL Club free 7pm Mango Balloon 505 Club, Surry Hills $15 (conc)–$20 8.30pm Sandy Evans Sextet The Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre, Chippendale $15 (student)–$30 8.30pm Stewart D’Arrietta Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Tango Night: Tangalo Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20-$25 7.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys

Willoughby Park Art & Recretaion Centre, North Willoughby free 10am Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Connected Café & Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7.30pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Angelene Harris, Sue Cunningham, Robyn B, Vanessa Heinitz, Pete Scully Mars Hill Café, Parramatta $15 8pm Russell Neal Crown on McCredie Hotel Mote, Guildford free 8.30pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11 ROCK & POP

The Baddies Sandringham Hotel, Newtown free 4pm Band Of Frequencies The Manly Boatshed 7.30pm The El-Caminos Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 6pm Elliot the Bull Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Finn Bald Rock Hotel, Rozelle free 6.30pm Harmonate Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 3pm HP Coronados, Pat Powell Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 2pm Hunter & Suzy Owens Band Marrickville Bowling Club free 4.30pm Joanna Capetinakis Ramsgate RSL, Ramsgate Beach free 2pm

Mal Eastick Band Cat & Fiddle Hotel, Balmain $15 (conc)–$20 2pm Newtown Festival 2012: King Tide, Regular John, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Bearhug, Kira Puru & The Bruise, Collarbones, Battleships, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, The Rescue Ships, The Fabergettes, Kill City Creeps, Caitlin Park, Little Bastard, Hello Vera, Nova & the Experience Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Newtown $1-$2 (donation) 9.30am all-ages Ron Ashton Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club free 4pm Suite Az, DJ Kitsch78 Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 8.30pm Sunday Blues Jam: Mark Hopper Artichoke Gallery Cafe, Manly free 8pm The Union Boys, Urban Guerillas, Jimmy Stewart, Steph Miller’s Winterstation Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale free 6pm

JAZZ

Billy Field Dove & Olive, Surry Hills free 5.30pm Sunday Arvo Jazz Harold Park Hotel, Glebe free 3pm

ACOUSTIC & FOLK

Aimee Francis Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm Brad Myers, Naomi Crain Cookies Lounge and Bar, North Strathfield free 6pm Kool Bananas Oatley Hotel free 2pm

THU 8TH NOVEMBER

SAT 10TH NOVEMBER

BROTHERS HAND MIRROR

TEN ELEVEN TWELVE: LOVE PARADE

+ NAKAGIN + SIMO SOO + EMILY GRANTHAM 8PM // $10 AT THE DOOR

+ ROYAL CHANT + SPACETICKET + THE GREASE ARRESTOR

WED 7TH NOVEMBER

FRI 9TH NOVEMBER

8PM // $10 AT THE DOOR

LUNCH BREAK

HANDS UP!

CITY CALM DOWN

TEXTURE LIKE SUN + PATRICK JAMES +PACKWOOD

1PM // FREE

8PM // $12 + BF FROM OZTIX // $15 AT THE DOOR

PRESENTED BY ALBERTS FEATURING

level 2, kings cross hotel

“THROW DOWN TIL YOU THROW UP” DJ’S STAGGMAN & CLOCKWERK 11.30PM // FREE

www.fbisocial.com BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 33

gig picks up all night out all week...

Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7pm all-ages

Cabins

Mojo Juju, Mother & Son, Bellyache Ben & The Steamgrass Boys The Red Rattler, Marrickville $18 8pm MUM: The Nectars, Running Gun Sound, Party of Three, Total Bore, Brothers Hand Mirror, Ocean Alley, MUM DJs The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Rock For Recognition: Dan Sultan, Leah Flanagan The Factory Theatre, Enmore $30 (+ bf) 7pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7 Butterfly Boucher, Caitlin Park The Vanguard, Newtown $18.80 8pm Cabins, Winter People Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach free 8pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8 Atom Bombs, The Fabergettes, The Metal Babies Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $5 8pm Band Of Frequencies, The Superheavyweights, Alotta Presha, Lake Nash Notes, Enmore $14.30 7pm

34 :: BRAG :: 487 : 05:11:12

Bang!: Split Seconds, March Of The Real Fly, Castlecomer, Annie McKinnon Annandale Hotel free (early bird)–$10 7pm City Calm Down, Olympic Ayres, Gnome, Gloves Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $10 (+ bf) 8pm Gypsy & The Cat, New Gods Metro Theatre, Sydney $37.90 7.30pm all-ages Oxblvd, Sons Et Al, Tropics Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9 Last Dinosaurs, The Jungle Giants, Twinsy

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 Boomgates, Camperdown & Out Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $12 (+ bf) 8pm GRAPHIC: Fat Freddy’s Drop (NZ) Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $59–$74 8pm Redfern Station: The Medics, Microwave Jenny, Jess Beck CarriageWorks, Eveleigh $20 8pm Robert Forster, Toby Martin The Vanguard, Newtown $38.80 8pm Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Nigeria), Watussi Metro Theatre, Sydney $58 8pm Skunkhour The Standard, Darlinghurst $30 (+ bf) 8pm

TenElevenTwelve: Love Parade, Royal Chant, Spaceticket, The Grease Arrestor FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel $10 8pm

Dan Sultan

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11 Newtown Festival 2012: King Tide, Regular John, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Bearhug, Kira Puru & The Bruise, Collarbones, Battleships, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, The Rescue Ships, The Fabergettes, Kill City Creeps, Caitlin Park, Little Bastard, Hello Vera, Nova & the Experience Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Newtown $1-$2 (donation) 9.30am all-ages Last Dinosaurs

BRAGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

brag beats

inside

ben sims

todd terje

dr. seuss meets

elefant traks

smoke dza

als + club o: + club guide sn + week aps colum ly n

hermitude, urthboy, the herd and more remix the rhyme doctor for graphic 2012

We has internets!

www.thebrag.com Extra bits and moving bits without the papercuts BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 35

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

on the record WITH

Egbert

SAM FROM ALBATROSS of whack sounds, fed it into a PA head that had a kind of a constant “loop delay” function, set it to max, and just played into that for about an hour one Saturday night while my parents were out, layering and layering. It was probably the most exciting recording session of my life. We cut it up into an EP and thought we were killing it. Looking back, I think we were.

The Last Thing I Recorded: I’m working in a studio right now, 4. so a tambourine overdub – lolz. As far as Albatross material goes, we just finished recording and mixing our next release, and couldn’t be more excited about it. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for it this summer.

Some really cool remixes coming with it too.

The Record That Changed My Life: If I had to pick one: The Human League’s 5.

Dare. I got it when I was maybe 16 and it

1.

The First Record I Bought: I believe my first CD was the single of ‘Break Ya Neck’ by Busta Rhymes. I would have been 11 or 12 at the time, so my mum had to come buy it with me from the local record store.

Pretty whack, really. I think the next one was Death Row Greatest Hits. Heavy kid.

The Last Record I Bought: A 12-inch of an Azymuth album, can’t 2. remember the name off the top of my dome.

I was on my way out of Glebe Record Fair

with ten bucks left in my pocket, and had to choose between it and a Jungle Brothers 12-inch. Feel pretty good about the decision: there’s one serious jam on it that made it all worthwhile. Brazilian funk vibes.

opened up the whole world of electronic music to me. There was something so adventurous about it; it just made me want to know everything about how these sounds were possible. Still love throwing it on every now and then.

The First Thing I Recorded: Funnily enough, we (Albatross) did our 3. first ever recording together. We were about

With: Smoke DZA (USA), Oliver Tank, HTRK (AUS/UK), Shitego (US), Africa Hitech (AUS/ UK), LV (UK) and more

13 or 14, and I had just got a copy of Cubase.

We set up a nylon string guitar with a pickup, a bass and a crappy Yamaha keyboard full

Where: OutsideIn @ The Factory Theatre When: Saturday November 10

EGBERT

If you’re a fan of dance parties, Saturday nights, and clubs named after mundane services, you’ve probably had a stellar night or two at Chinese Laundry – and you certainly won’t want to miss Netherland’s Egbert Van Der Gugten when he lands there this weekend. Egbert’s Vlammin EP was one of Sven Vath’s favourites when it came out in 2009, and he’s remained one of the most promising dance acts on the scene. He’ll be headlining the night along with in-demand Spanish producer Luis Junior, whose unique genre defiance will leave you mucho caliente. Running for a marathon seven hours, Peking Duck, Bella Sarris and A-Tonez lend their hand to burn the dancefloor this Saturday November 10.

We’ve got two double passes; for one, tell us the name of Egbert’s label.

FREQ NASTY

The Fiji-born FreQ Nasty is touring Australia this month, following a spot at the Eclipse Festival in Cairns with a set at Chinese Laundry on Friday November 16.

FreQ Nasty started out releasing on Botchit & Scarper, moved on to Skint, and dropped his recent releases on California’s Muti Music label, developing a bass-heavy sound that draws on breakbeat, 808 trap music, postdubstep and glitchhop influences. FreQ Nasty notched up his own addition to the Fabric cannon, FabricLive.42, back in the brooding autumn of ’08, and his forthcoming tour will follow the release of his new EP ‘Not Givin’ In’, a genre-defying bass-driven cut that features Saxon Sound System MC Tippa Irie alongside Californian producer Solar Lion.

Mitzi

FOUR TET

Soul Clap

HEIDI + SOUL CLAP AT AGWA YACHT CLUB

MITZI

Four-piece QLD outfit Mitzi have just released a new single, ‘Who Will Love You Now’ – a harbinger of their forthcoming debut album, which is set to be released early next year through Sydney-based electronic-cum-indie record label Future Classic. Mitzi have remixed artists such as Kitsune’s Two Door Cinema Club, Cassian, Lo Fi Fnk and Jinja Safari, and have been dubbed one of NME’s ‘Buzz Artists’, in addition to garnering the title of inthemix Best Local Newcomer for 2011. Mitzi will perform at Goodgod Small Club on Thursday November 29, with support from Panama.

AUSTRALIA DAY: DIRTY BIRD @ IVY COURTYARD

36 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

CRAZY P DJ SET @ THE SPICE CELLAR

The pairing of Hot Toddy and Danielle Moore, renowned for their part in the Manchester outfit formally known as Crazy Penis (who now go round under the decidedly more ‘PG’ moniker Crazy P), will drop into The Spice Cellar for a DJ set on Friday November 16, ahead of their appearance at Harvest Festival the following day. Having established themselves in the late ‘90s with smooth instrumental house cuts such as ‘You Are We’, the band undertook a stylistic shift in the naughties, which was largely influenced by the recruitment of vocalist Danielle Moore for 2002’s The Wicked Is Music.

That album, and the ensuing LP A Night On Earth, showcased sounds that could be more easily adapted to a live setting, while their subsequent move to 20:20 Vision could be seen as an attempt to return to their dancefloor roots, a successful ploy that has seen their recent material reworked by the likes of Appleblim and Still Going. For Hot Toddy it’s a return to The Spice Cellar; his set on New Year’s Day this year was rollicking, by all reports. $15 presale tickets are available online.

Xxxx

The Dirty Bird Records denizens will descend upon Ivy Courtyard on Australia Day (January 26) for a bash headlined by Claude Von Stroke, Justin Martin and J.Phlip. Barclay Crenshaw, aka Claude Von Stroke, is the founder of Dirty Bird, who crashed onto the mainstream radar back in ’06 with the release of his debut album, Beware Of The Bird. Upon its release, Beware Of The Bird was hailed as a breath of fresh air

with cuts like ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’ and ‘The Whistler’, each instantly recognisable for their quirky arrangements and ‘phat’ basslines, which offered a counterpoint to the minimal techno sounds that were dominating the clubs. Fellow Dirtybird tycoon Justin Martin released his debut album, Ghettos & Gardens, earlier this year, with tracks from the album subsequently being reworked by the Australia-bound Catz ‘n Dogz, Danny Daze and French Fries. Femme fatale J.Phlip will also be representing, with presale tickets on sale from November 12.

Details of the next in Pulse Radio’s Agwa Yacht Club series, the annual Australia day boat party, have been revealed, with Heidi and Soul Clap set to headline. Hailing from Canada, Heidi is one of the most knowledgeable gals in the club sphere, rising to prominence through her immaculate taste, which led to her working at London’s renowned Phonica record shop for many years. Heidi now holds down a monthly show on BBC Radio 1, and has launched her own label, The Jackathon, which she kicked off with a compilation that spawned tracks that were subsequently remixed by Richy Ahmed, Eats Everything and Deniz Kurtel. Meanwhile, Boston DJ and production duo Soul Clap dropped their debut album, EFUNK, through the Future Classic label at the start of this year, following on from their contribution to the DJ Kicks cannon last year (a joint effort with Wolf + Lamb). The party goes down on January 26; tickets on sale next Monday November 19.

Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, will perform at The Metro Theatre on Saturday December 8.

Hebden’s tour follows the release of his recent album Pink, which collated the vinyl singles he has released on his own Text imprint over the past year. Pink demonstrated Hebden’s increased gravitation towards ‘interesting’ dance/club music, something that was apparent on his previous album, There Is Love In You, and his acclaimed Fabriclive.59 compilation. His live show has also continued to evolve in that direction recently, as evinced by his more dancefloor-heavy show at Playground Weekender 2011 on his most recent Australia jaunt. Support will come from Stones Throw’s Jonti, who returns home after touring the US with Gotye and collaborating with members of Odd Future, Homeboy Sandman and Jonwayne. Presale tickets are on sale now.

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 37

dance music news

free stuff

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

FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM

five things WITH

Omar

GABBY husband Shamus introduced me to the decks when I was 19. He still remains my biggest source of inspiration – he’s a musical genius, but it’s his integrity as a gentleman that I find a rare and beautiful thing in our industry.

The Music You Make The music I make and play can be 4. classified as house, tech house, deep house

Growing Up My father was an engineer who built stages 1. for theatre and musicals, and light rigs for clubs.

I was always going to musicals when I was a kid, and as soon as I hit 15, dad encouraged me to go clubbing to check out his work. For a teenager, the melodramatic world of musicals just didn’t compare to the serious undercurrent of a heaving Gas nightclub – and that’s where my obsession with dance music began.

2.

Inspirations Trawling through my parents’ collection of Stax records as a kid, I discovered Mavis Staples. To me, she completely encapsulates a true artist, and you can’t look away; she has a weird presence that is totally insular while

Yung Warriors

being totally connected to her audience at the same time. Artists who are able to open themselves and bare this part of their soul while performing are the most captivating and inspiring for me, whether they are singers, DJs, dancers, or whoever.

Your Crew I feel really blessed to have the most 3. hilarious and amazing crew of music lovers around me. Surrounded by people like Bad Ezzy, Cassette and Matt Weir means that you’re always going to have a good time. We understand how lucky we are to be doing what we do and we don’t take ourselves too seriously, which is why I think we can be truly creative in our work – there’s just no fear. My

Paul Kalkbrenner

and techno. I am drawn to the weird, emotional and hilarious side of music. When I play, the aim is to move you through a journey of differing emotions through provocative beats and basslines. I want people to feel warm, challenged, surprised and, essentially, ALIVE. At the moment I’m very much inspired by Will Crawshaw, tINI, Alli Borem and Maya Jane Coles.

Music, Right Here, Right Now The music scene right now is on a high.

5.

This summer I had the best Ibiza experience to date, and our local scene is no different.

S.A.S.H, Spice, Finely Tuned and Future Music are all facilitating some epic events here and the audience is hungry, so as an artist I feel I have freedom like never before. We just need to remain supportive of each other and the scene will continue to blossom.

With: Nic Scali, Murat Kilic, Kali, Matt Weir Where: The Spice Cellar When: Saturday November 17

OMAR

“When I grow up, I wanna be like Omar,” said the great Stevie Wonder (and probably most other people who’ve come across his work). Hailing from the UK, he was the first to showcase a fusion of jazz, soul and funk; the Brits dubbed him the father of neo-soul, and rightly so. Omar’s laidback voice makes you either want to light some candles, pour a whiskey and run a bath, or turn up the bass and bring the groove back. Throughout his 22 years in the business, he has collaborated with artists like Angie Stone, Erykah Badu and Common, and now he brings his seductive brilliance to Australia. Omar will be at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 10 with Milan and Funkdafied’s JC in support, and according to Wu-Tang’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard, “this cat’s shit is banging.”

We have two doubles to give away; just tell us the name of Omar’s soulful jam that features his legendary admirer, Mr. Wonder.

PAUL KALKBRENNER

The man they call ‘PK’, German producer/DJ/occasional movie star Paul Kalkbrenner, will headline The Hi-Fi (formerly The Forum) on Saturday December 15. It was Kalkbrenner’s starring role in the hugely popular ‘clubumentary’ Berlin Calling, and the accompanying soundtrack of PK’s own material – featuring his track ‘Sky And Sand’, which was to spend 107 weeks in the German single charts – that propelled him to ‘stadium DJ’ status in Europe. Kalkbrenner followed up Berlin Calling with last year’s Icke Wieder, an album that showcased his trademark poppy flourishes and booming drops, the kind which we can expect from his next LP, Guten Tag: a 17-track effort due out November 30 through his own label Paul Kalkbrenner Musik. With an accomplished remix CV comprising reworks of Moby and Michel Cleis, and an accomplished production catalogue (check out the Reworks LP if you fancy the sound of Agoria, Michael Mayer and Sascha Funke all remixing PK), Kalkbrenner arrives in Australia with plenty of hype attached. First release tickets are available online for $45.

PICNIC AND CO-OP PRESENT: GERD JANSON AT TATLERS

How To Dress Well

Picnic and CO-OP are teaming up to host Gerd Janson, the founder of the Running Back label, at Tatlers on Darlinghurst Road on Saturday November 24. Janson is a highly respected DJ and music journalist who has successfully steered Running Back through a decade of releases, curating a roster that has included Disco Nihilist, Jacob Korn, Mark E, Move D, Redshape and Theo Parrish (who is performing in Sydney in early January). Janson is also a member of the Red Bull Music Academy – in fact, he’s “that dude” on the couch who interviews all the high profile producers, from DJ Harvey and Prins Thomas to Move D and Edfemin (who memorably headlined a Deep Impressions-presented show earlier this year, in his Australian debut). Janson produces highly danceable disco and house as Tuff City Kids and Pink Alert, while his remixes have been released on labels like Permanent Vacation, Sonar Kollektiv, Innervisions and Future Classic. $20 presale tickets are available through Resident Advisor.

YUNG WARRIORS

38 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Chinese Laundry is bringing the bass poolside on Saturday January 5, with respected drum‘n’bass stalwarts DJ Marky and Aphrodite throwing down at Ivy Pool Club. Growing up in Sao Paulo, Marky announced himself through his collaboration with XRS, ‘LK’, which was released on V Recordings and became something of an international phenomenon (though not quite reaching ‘Gangnam Style’ heights). Marky founded the Innerground label with XRS in 2003, which still commands considerable respect in drum’n’bass circles ten years on, and recently recorded the 55th mix in the Fabriclive series.

Not to be outdone, Gavin King’s releases as Aphrodite, Alladin, and Amazon II (a side project with producer Tony B) have made him a mainstay of the club scene since the mid ‘90s, with tracks propelled by simple, rolling drum loops, huge, warbling basslines, and an array of chopped-up hip hop and ragga samples.

Royalston, A-Tonez and Linken will also be spinning, with tickets on sale from November 6.

HOW TO DRESS WELL, LIVE

Niche Productions has announced the return of Tom Krell’s How To Dress Well project to Australia in 2013, this time in live band mode. Krell’s burgeoning career began in 2009 when, having just moved from Brooklyn to Berlin, his songs began to emerge online via a hugely prolific string of free, digital EPs posted in anonymity on his blog. Combining a distinct falsetto with fractured beats, Krell’s debut album Love Remains garnered vast critical acclaim, with tracks such as ‘Ready For The World’ and ‘Decisions’ leading to Krell being credited for creating a new, narcotised strain of RnB that has since spawned a host of imitators. Since Love Remains, Krell has toured the world and recorded with an orchestra (the Just Once EP, with proceeds going to raise awareness about mental illness), and he released a new album, Total Loss, in September on Domino. Kress claims his latest LP was influenced by everything from Mariah Carey to Ukrainian-Canadian experimental pianist Lubomyr Melnyk – and if that is not covering the field, then I’m not sure what is. Krell will headline Oxford Art Factory on Saturday February 23.

How To Dress Well photo by Andrew Volk

Indigenous hip hop outfit Yung Warriors, made up of brothers Tjiimba and D Boy, are embarking on a national tour off the back of their recent ‘Prey For Better Days’ – the second single lifted off their sophomore album Standing Strong. Yung Warriors have supported hip hop heavyweights D12, Akon, 50 Cent, The Game and Outlawz as well as Australia’s own Urthboy over the course of their career, and have toured the US in recent times. Standing Strong was released on Payback Records, the label founded by prominent indigenous AFL player Nathan Lovett-Murray, and produced

by Momo from Diafrix. Yung Warriors play The Factory Theatre in Enmore on Friday November 30.

CHINESE LAUNDRY’S POOLSIDE BASS PARTY

Dr Seuss Meets Elefant Traks Hermitude, Urthboy, Green Eggs, And Ham By Chris Martin

I

t has been a mighty good year for Elefant Traks.

In the past ten months, the Sydney-based hip hop collective-turned-indie record label has put out high profile releases by Hermitude, The Herd and, most recently, Urthboy’s Smokey’s Haunt.

Elefant Traks’ final big project for 2012, however, promises something a little unorthodox. As part of GRAPHIC festival, the crew will roll into Sydney Opera House for a tribute to one of pop culture’s greatest rhymers: Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to generations of adoring fans as Dr. Seuss.

Like almost anyone who was once a child in an English-speaking household, Hermitude’s Angus ‘Elgusto’ Stuart remembers fondly the verses of the great American author. “[You have] so many good memories of reading Dr. Seuss when you were a kid,” he says. “His poetry and rhyming is awesome, it’s a big part of the books, so it makes a lot of sense to match it up with hip hop and lyricism.”

Elefant Traks’ Seussian extravaganza will include collaborations between Hermitude, Urthboy, The Herd, Horrorshow, and many others – over 25 in all – from the Elefant stable. To Stuart, who produced Urthboy’s latest together with Hermitude partner Luke Dubber (aka Dubs) and TZU’s Countbounce, it’s a chance to play live alongside some of Australia’s best hip hop talent. “One of the great things about this Elefant Traks Meets Dr. Seuss gig is that a lot of Elefant Traks artists are sort of cross-pollinating into different groups.

I’m going to be collaborating with Unkle Ho and James from Sietta … then Hermitude’s doing a section [based on the 1947 Seuss book] McElligot’s Pool, and it’s really going to be based on the animations and the atmosphere of it all.”

Dr. Seuss Enterprises’ permission for this show to go ahead is a one-off. The performance Stuart is planning with Unkle Ho and James Mangohig is an interpretation of Green Eggs And Ham, a bestseller which Seuss himself wrote after a dare to use as few different words as possible. “It’s definitely a challenge,” says Stuart, ahead of airing his version of the book. “We’ve only had a couple of months, really, to get it all happening, so we’re working our arses off to make it… It’s going to be exciting seeing the reaction from the crowd and how it all goes down, but I’m confident it’s going to be pretty amazing.”

The Cat in the Hat. With Elefant Traks. Where opera stars act. Now how about that?

With: Hermitude, Urthboy, The Herd, Horrorshow, Sietta, Ozi Batla and more Where: GRAPHIC – Dr. Seuss Meets Elefant Traks @ Sydney Opera House When: Sunday November 11, 5.30pm & 8pm More: Hermitude are also playing Festival Of The Sun, held at Port Macquarie’s Sundowner Breakwall on December 15 & 16.

“You have so many good memories of reading Dr Seuss. His poetry and rhyming is awesome, so it makes a lot of sense to match it up with hip hop.”

The visual side of Dr. Seuss’ work has always been important to his narrative universe, and for Hermitude – as busy as any of the artists on Elefant Traks this year, following their February release of HyperParadise – visuals carry the same importance in music. The duo’s clip for ‘Speak Of The Devil’, directed by Emma Tomelty, won a triple j award as 2011 Music Video Of The Year, and is up for the same gong at this year’s ARIAs. Hermitude have introduced visuals and cameras to their touring show, says Stuart, “so people can actually see what we’re doing, because we really like to perform live and not just be two guys nodding our heads behind laptops.”

“I guess HyperParadise steps a little bit out of the hip hop circle and more into the electronic circle,” Stuart adds. “It’s been great to see it being received really well on the road… We’ve done a lot of festivals this time around and it’s been fantastic, big crowds having good fun and having a dance – and that’s kind of what it’s all about.”

Hermitude’s efforts on the festival circuit have stolen away what they like to use as writing time (back in March, Dubs told BRAG that HyperParadise “is done, so what are we doing now? Let’s write some more tunes”), but they’re now finally back in their Leichhardt studio working on new projects. “In the past month or so we’ve done a lot of remixes,” says Stuart. “One for The Presets [‘Ghosts’] which has gone really well, that was really fun, and now we’re just working on a whole bunch of new material for our next record.

XXX photo by XXX

“We get really inspired by travelling and hearing lots of great new music along the way, and so when we get back in the studio we just want to release it all into recording,” he continues. “So we’re really excited at the moment, you know? It’s at that stage where there’s lots of fresh ideas coming out, and there’s no time limit [to get the next album recorded], no sort of pressure to do anything but just to create and have fun. It’s a really great period of writing as a producer and a musician…

We like to try and keep in a flow. When you start writing a record, if you haven’t been writing for a while, there’s a slow sort of build-up of getting into a zone. [After HyperParadise came out] there was not a whole lot of time in between shows to write, so we’re back getting into that zone… getting the flow back on.”

Stuart tentatively sets the release for Hermitude’s next record at “late next year or early 2014”, after a planned tour of the United States and Europe over winter. In the meantime, there’s the tribute to Dr. Seuss to work on. It’ll be the first time that Seuss’ verses have been interpreted by musicians in this way – low-budget stage musical productions aside, BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 39

Todd Terje No Rest For The Wicked By Rick Warner

W

hen I talk to Todd Terje, he seems tired. It has been a whirlwind couple of years for the Norwegian producer, who has evolved from a position as one of the leading purveyors of the niche ‘Oslo sound’ to that of a big room DJ playing to thousands of people on giant sound stages. With the crossover singles of ‘Ragysh’ and ‘Inspector Norse’ catapulting him into the crosshairs of the global techno fraternity, Terje has suddenly found himself a hot commodity amongst the bigger club promoters. “It’s been quite hectic, actually,” he recaps on his European summer.

“It’s been a really heavy working summer.

It’s going to be quite crazy next year as well, unfortunately. I mean, it’s good to be busy, but not so busy that your life passes [you by].”

The work/life balance seems to have him torn. One the one hand, Terje is experiencing

some of the best sound systems and biggest crowds of his career. “Sometimes it’s the most amazing thing ever,” he gushes. “I haven’t always played that many big sized clubs.

I’ve come from the smaller rooms and the slower music. It’s good to now experience some really heavy, physical sound systems that blow you away. I actually sometimes get goose bumps when I play; I didn’t really get that earlier. Now it’s more just the physics of the bass. It just moves you. That’s a new thing for me, and it’s quite cool.”

But he’s also discovered that as his star grows bigger, the life of the touring DJ begins to weigh heavy. “DJing is a lot of fun, but the travelling is shit,” he sighs. “I would like to stay more in the studio, but it’s hard to make any money out of it. I need to find new ways of working to keep me healthy – I don’t want to DJ at this pace for very long. I know a lot of DJs that DJ much harder than me, more often than me, but I don’t understand how they do it. I think some people have it, and some people don’t. Me? I can do it for a length of time – but now, I really need to step down.”

The break that Terje yearns for isn’t likely to occur any time soon. Along with Prins Thomas and Lindstrøm, he has become the poster child of the oh-so-cool disco sound that has gripped the world over the last few years, and is likely to keep him busy for years to come. Despite holding his own notions about his exact sound, he’s okay with being pigeonholed by the media as ‘nu-disco’. “I don’t really mind [the term nu-disco] because I know that it’s just for [industry people] to sell it. If I don’t have any other labels that they can pigeonhole my music in, then that’s my problem. I don’t feel like I have to do this or that. As long as I don’t think like that, then they can do whatever they want.”

With: 2ManyDjs, Mark Farina, Flight Facilities, Flume and more Where: Harbourlife 2012 @ Fleet Steps, Mrs Macquaries Point When: Saturday December 1

Ben The Butcher By James Manning

I

t’s been the better part of a decade since Ben Sims was last in Australia – and little did he know, he left with the handle ‘Ben The Butcher’. It was set of “sonic ultra-violence”, as described by one Melbourne punter, that earned him the honorific title. “I might have grown up a little bit since then,” Ben Sims laughs in his thickset cockney accent. “I might not be smashing it too ‘ard now!”

Those expecting the white-noise brutality of a mid 2000s Ben Sims set may not want to hold their breath. For someone like Sims, one of the longest-standing in-demand DJs, he is no one-trick jockey. The British techno stalwart has long embraced a wide selection of music; watching Sims pack for a gig now is akin to watching Rambo suit up for deployment behind enemy lines. “I’ll quite often take out records, a folder of CDs, USB sticks, Serato, and my laptop if it’s possible. I still like to play vinyl.

Most of the time at the moment, I tend to be playing with three CDJs, and it seems to be quite stable.”

Ben Sims is part of a British vanguard in electronic music, comparable to what Derrick May, Mike Huckaby and Kevin Saunderson are to Detroit techno. But as techno’s prevailing winds blow back across the Atlantic, it’s the Sims et al – in James Ruskin, Mark Broom, Regis and Surgeon – that now have UK techno at the forefront of influence and popularity. “It is one of those periods where techno seems to be influencing quite a lot of styles,” Sims says. “You’ve got a lot of guys coming from bass music or the post-dubstep scene that are making music which is essentially raw techno, but they are doing it without the same influences as the older generation. They’re not coming

from a Detroit or Chicago background; they’re coming from more of a drum’n’bass or dubstep background,” Sims explains.

Techno’s resurgence is something that Ben Sims has seen more than once. “At the moment it does seem like techno is on the up, and it seems that the more commercial end of DJs are playing techno-y stuff. I played after Sascha in Ibiza the other day, which in itself is quite a bizarre concept, and he was essentially playing quite raw, dubby techno and I was like, ‘That’s quite odd’,” he says.

“Being into [techno] for as long as I have, you see things come and go so many times.

That’s why I try and not get too excited about the next craze. People jump ship and keep changing styles, and I think there is something quite naive about that. Things do come in and out of fashion and if you can carry on doing what you believe in, eventually it will be popular again.”

Last year Sims released his debut LP, Smoke & Mirrors, on Adam Beyer’s Drumcode label.

Prior to the album, he admits he never really considered himself an artist; he was always a DJ who just produced tracks for his sets. “The album was the first time I really took time out and really focused on just the music,” he says.

The momentum that followed that debut will be harnessed for a second LP. “I’m going to take January-February off to work on a new album,” he says. “I feel a lot more confident after taking the time to work on a project that was ambitious, and I look forward to doing some more.”

Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday November 17

Smoke DZA After The Storm By Benjamin Cooper

“Y

The live shows are just one way DZA gives back to fans who have supported him over the past few years. His frequent mixtapes and a number of other releases, including last year’s King Of New York album, are made available for free download from his website – a practice he has no intention of changing any time soon.

“I like to feed my fans, plain and simple,” he explains. “Mixtapes are how I started out, and it’s just my preference that I give them away.

Sure, I’ll still have the big budget albums, and we’ll release things on iTunes and through the stores ... but feeding the people, giving away some of my music, keeps that connection with the fans open.”

o – sorry about missing you before, man, but the game was on. It’s the start of the season, and it’s a hell of a distraction right now. I cannot miss that shit,” says Sean Pompey, aka New York rapper Smoke DZA. It’s the day after Sandy clusterfucked DZA’s city and, after enduring everything the storm had to offer from within his Harlem home, the man is enjoying the simple things. Like telephone network coverage, and watching the Dallas Mavericks spank Kobe’s Lakers. “I’m a [New York] Knicks fan myself, but it’s good just to be doing normal stuff, you know? I just came home from touring, and then BOOM! – the storm hits. We ain’t hurting too bad in my neighbourhood, but it’s really bad for some people...” he trails. “You can’t focus too hard on the negatives. We’ll come back stronger: these are great times, I’m hopeful for New York. But I’m not so hopeful for the Lakers.”

Smoke DZA has a brief window of time off before he travels to Australia for the first time to perform at the inaugural OutsideIn Festival.

The reality is that he’ll most likely spend all of the break helping with the neighbourhood cleanup, but he might just have the time to get some other work done. “I’ve got a few mixes I’ve been runnin’ through, with guys like Wiz Khalifa and Big K.R.I.T,” he says. “I guess you’ll just to wait and see...”

Basketball is everywhere in DZA’s life. In addition to his couch support for the Knicks, the Harlem local’s most recent musical collaboration, ‘Game 7 (feat. A$AP Twelvy)’, was inspired by – and all about – the game. During the Return Of 4Eva tour last year he was involved in a number of games with tourmates Big K.R.I.T. and Freddie Gibbs, but it was his one-on-one match against Dutchington, K.R.I.T.’s tour manager, that provided some real spice: DZA lost and was made to put the footage online. “There’s always next time,” he laughs.

artist Kendrick Lamar on the single ‘Ball Game’, an experience which, he says, just pushed him to work harder. “Working with other people is so important to me, and I always like to go back to people I’ve worked with before. I’m lucky because I’ve been in other groups before, so I know how to work with people.”

On last year’s Rugby Thompson album, DZA worked with still-relatively unknown West Coast

DZA’s previous groups include his project with fellow New Yorker Numbers, which they released

40 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

under their combined names, as well as the group The Smoking Club with Joey Bada$$ and Chevy Woods. For the moment, though, he’s enjoying being the centre of attention. “The tour I’ve just come back from was my first solo headliner in North America, and that was tight,” he says. “Every time I’ve toured before, I’ve been in a group, or there as the opener. So I had developed a lot of new fans, but it was time for me to do my own thing.”

With: Oliver Tank, HTRK (AUS/UK), Shitego (US), Africa Hitech (AUS/UK), Evenings (US), LV (UK), Albatross, Fishing and more Where: OutsideIn Festival @ The Factory Theatre When: Saturday November 10 More: Also playing at Goodgod Small Club on Wednesday November 14

xxx photo by xxx

Terje returns to Australia this December for what seems like a yearly visit, playing club shows around the other states and playing Fuzzy’s annual summer festival Harbourlife in Sydney. So how does his set change when he plays a festival, compared to an intimate club gig? “The tendency this year has been that I’ve been playing more for a big audience because I’ve been booked to bigger clubs.

Obviously if you play to a venue of 5000 people, you can’t play music without energy,” he explains. “But we’ll see – I never really plan anything.”

Ben Sims

Deep Impressions Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Alex Smoke

O

ne of the finer proponents of minimal on the production circuit, Glasgow’s Alex Smoke has reteamed with the Vakant label for the release of his latest EP, Mu, which will drop in a few weeks’ time. Smoke, whose real name is the inappropriately generic Alex Menzies, notched the inaugural release on Vakant, which represents one of many (metaphorically) high points throughout his back catalogue. Smoke is also responsible for acclaimed albums such as Incommunicado, Lux and Paradolia, the classic Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi Vol. 3 compilation from way back in ’06, and remixes of Depeche Mode, Junior Boys and Andre Kraml. It has been a while since Smoke has churned out the kind of dark, druggy (but not necessarily illegal) experimental minimal tracks that he is renowned for. He has instead been immersing himself in other projects, such as composing a semiclassical score for FW ‘Nosferatu’ Murnau’s seminal 1926 silent film Faust, which was performed by Scottish Ensemble and premiered at the 2011 Glasgow Film Festival. “Every time I tried to write techno/ house/moonbeat” – don’t look at me, I’m as clueless as you are on that one – “in the last couple of years, everything came out as shitty tech-house,” Smoke divulged when discussing his forthcoming EP, displaying an attitude that sets him apart from many of his shitty tech-house-inclined peers. “The brain was just in an alternate mode, a mode for classical music and melody, but now it seems to have come back to techno.” The return is a welcome one, with the Sons of Tiki remix of ‘Polka’ and ‘Mu’, a cut made for “lazy, emotional dancers”, particular standouts on an EP you should definitely seek out upon its release later this month.

Detroit producer Luke Hess has recently released his second album, Keep On, through Omar-S’ FXHE label, to considerable acclaim: the release was lauded by Resident Advisor and one time Stylus editor Todd Burns as “one of the most enjoyable fulllengths of the year”. Hess’ previous album, 2009’s Light In The Dark, was picked up by dub techno monolith Echocord, but looking back further we find the beginnings of the Omar-S relationship with 2007’s EP 01 released on FXHE. The 12-track Keep On features guest appearances from the mysterious Papa Smurf and Hess’ brother Jeff, and apparently also received a bit of Omar-S’ Midas touch during the mixing stages. It is the cut ‘Restored’ that Burns singles out for particular praise as “a contender for moodiest dub techno record [read: track] of the year”. For anyone who enjoys this, you should also track down Deepchord’s most recent LP, Sommer, which was a similarly noteworthy addition to the deep techno canon.

German producer Ryan Davis will play a Subsonic Music Festival sideshow at One22 on Saturday November 24. Since his first release Transformer dropped back 2006, Davis has climbed towards the top rung of the clubbing pantheon via EPs on labels such as Bedrock, Areal and Pheek’s Archipel stable. However it was through the Colognebased Traum imprint that Davis released his debut LP, Particles Of Bliss, earlier this year. Particles Of Bliss confirmed Davis’ reputation for crafting serene and somewhat melancholy melodies, with the 11-track LP laden with minor keys and mournful strings, and finishing with a down-tempo ballad sung

by Davis himself. Subsonic impresarios MSG and Dylan Griffin will be throwing down in support of Davis, along with Shrug main man Dave Stuart.

The latest compilation from Fabric nightclub, the 66th instalment of the fabled mix series, has arrived courtesy of German techno figurehead Ben Klock, known for his affiliation with notorious Berlin nightclub Berghain and its affiliated record label Ostgut Ton. As you may already suspect, it’s a good ‘un. Much better than ‘good’, in fact. Fabric 66 collates unreleased material from Head High (aka Shed) along with the first collaboration between Klock and his smokin’ Siberian girlfriend Nina Kraviz (who also models for Hugo Boss), a remix of Octave One’s ‘Terraforming’. The tracklist also features certified ‘bangers’ from the likes of Marcel Dettmann, Mathew Jonson and Planetary Assault Systems – play it real loud, invite some friends over, turn off the lights, neck some tequila, and it’s the closest you’ll get to Berghain at this end of the world. Until Sydney’s finest come pounding at your front door...

Ben Klock

LOOKING DEEPER Vladislav Delay

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16 Luomo / Vladislav Delay The Civic Underground

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 23 Ben Klock photo by Randolph Quan

Floating Points, Alexander Nut Oxford Art Factory

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 24 Ryan Davis One 22

SATURDAY DECEMBER 1 Michael Mayer Oxford Art Factory

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand.

Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 41

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

club pick of the week DZA

‘Chocolate’ Escobar free 7pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale Frat House Wednesdays Mean Dartin, Camo, Ra Bazaar free 5pm Lewisham Hotel Garbage Resident DJs free 7pm The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Assembly Wednesdays Inthemix DJs 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Cream – Final Dance Off DJ Dim Slm, Kane Kirby, DJ Wanted, Troy T, Eko free 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Bass Riot, Rubio, E-Cats, Pablo Calamari, Tony & Tody, Big Dogs, Turtl 9pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 The Factory Theatre, Enmore

OutsideIn Festival

Smoke DZA (USA), Oliver Tank, HTRK, Flume, Shigeto (USA), Africa Hitech, Jesse Boykins III (USA), Melo-X (USA), Collarbones, Thrupence, Polographia, Dro Carey, LV (UK), Evenings (USA), Holy Balm, Fishing, Bom Chat Bon Rat, Guerre & Albatross, Cliques, Mike Who, Lewl McKirdy, Kato, Preacha, Astral DJs, Tyson Koh, Charlie Chux, La Fresh, Pipes, Michael Ozone, Future Classic DJs, Shags, Jimmy Sing, Pelvis, Judgement, Ariane, Mary’s Basement $49 (+ bf) 2.30pm MONDAY NOVEMBER 5 The World Bar, Kings Cross Latin Jazz DJs free 7pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jazz S.W.I.M Team DJs free 7pm

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6 Establishment, Sydney Establishment Melbourne Cup Resident DJs 11am Goldfish, Kings Cross

42 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

Melbourne Cup 2012 Tom Kelly 12pm Ivy Bar, Sydney Ivy Bar Melbourne Cup Resident DJs free 11am Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Melbourne Cup Pool Club Resident DJs sold out 12pm Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont Sneaky Soundsystem, Conrad Greenleaf, DJ Urby free 4pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Hat Party – Melbourne Cup After Party DJ D, Dim Slm, Troy T, Bobby Digital 6pm Scruffy Murphys, Haymarket Frat House DJs free 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday – Melbourne

Cup After Party Resident DJs 7pm Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills Melbourne Cup After-Party Furnace & The Fundamentals, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Liz Bird free 4pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jam Jam DJs free 8pm

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7 Epping Hotel DTF Resident DJs free 8pm Ivy, Sydney Salsa At Ivy DJ Dwight

Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst Metalheadz Lenzman (NL), DJ Speaks, Sariss, Vertigo $20 8pm The Cool Room, Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursdays Resident DJs 8pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Hi-Beams Resident DJs free 8pm Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney Greenwood Thursdays Resident DJs free 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 9pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Hot Damn Hot Damn DJs $15$20 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Rewind Dim Sim, Bobby Digital, Big Bee 8pm Strike, Chatswood Spin Resident DJs 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Swag Thursdays Resident DJs $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Johnny Segment free (student)-$5 9pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9 The Abercrombie, Broadway Totally Barry Bad Barry DJs free 9pm Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Vamp Music Deorro (USA), Kyro & Bomber, Nuns With Guns, 2Busy 2Kiss, Worimi, Durtymindz, Night Riot!, Whatis? $15 (+ bf) 9pm Cherry Bar, The Star, Pyrmont Random Soul, Cassette, Chux free 6pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia Doctor Werewolf, Royalston, Siass (FRA), Linken, Black Male, Brown Bear, Taylor Wolf, DJ Celsius $15-$25 9pm Civic Underground, Sydney Volar Volar DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Gimme Five Shamus, Anders Hitchcock free 8pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Jay-J (USA), Random Soul $20 6pm Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Yo Grito! Yo Grito! DJs free 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Chance Waters $15.40 8pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Pelvis, Client Liaison $5 11pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Diva Domination Reigan Derry, Sabrina Batshon, Adaja Black,

Felicity Frockaccino $25 (+ bf) 6.30pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Moonshine Gloves, Alley Oop, Charlie Chux, Cassette 9pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago, DJ Rain Julz free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross KK Fridays Resident DJs 9pm Oatley Hotel We Love Oatley Hotel Fridays – Schools Out DJ Tone free 8pm Omega Lounge, City Tattersalls Club, Sydney Unwind Fridays DJ Greg Summerfield free 5.30pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Thundamentals $20 (+ bf) 8pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst Girlthing Homecoming Ben Lucid, Skarlett, Ted Dansin’, Cunningpants, Nat Noiz, Tigerlily, Astrix, SMS$10-$20 10pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Zaia Resident DJs 9.45pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Andy Webb, Steve Sullivan, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 10pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross LIVE Fridays – Hawaiian Nights James V, Peter Gunz, Willi, MC Deekay 9pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Bring On The Weekend! DJ Matt Roberts free 5pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Vanity Fridays Resident DJs $20 9.30pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM The Nectars, Running Gun Sound, Party of Three, Total Bore, Brothers Hand Mirror, Ocean Alley, MUM DJs $10-$15 8pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Falcona Saturdays Donny Benet, Surecut Kids, Frames free 8pm Bella Vista Boat, Man O War Steps, Sydney Opera House Mother Funkas Opening Summer Boat Cruise Ember, Valentine, Social Hooliganz, Daniel Wheeler, DJ Bilman, Bravo, Mr Ron Ron $55 (+ bf) 11.30am Candy’s Apartment, Kings Cross Shake Shake Shake Sherlock Bones, SMS, Pretty Young Things $20 9pm Cargo Bar, King St Wharf Kick On Resident DJs free 6pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Egbert (NL), Luis Junior (Spain), Peking Duk, A-Tonez, Cheap Lettus, DJ Eko, Bella Sarris, Morgan, Whitecat, Audiobotz, Bounce Crew DJs, Joe Barrs, Digit & Jumes $15$25 9pm Club 77, Darlinghurst Starfuckers HSCulater Starfuckers DJs 10pm Establishment, Sydney Sienna Def Rok, Troy T, Lilo, Regz, Joey Kaz 8pm The Factory Theatre, Enmore OutsideIn Festival Smoke DZA (USA), Oliver Tank, HTRK, Flume, Shigeto (USA), Africa Hitech, Jesse Boykins III (USA), Melo-X (USA), Collarbones, Thrupence, Polographia, Dro Carey, LV (UK), Evenings (USA), Holy Balm, Fishing, Bom Chat Bon Rat, Guerre & Albatross, Cliques, Mike Who, Lewl McKirdy, Kato, Preacha, Astral DJs, Tyson Koh, Charlie Chux, La Fresh, Pipes, Michael

Ozone, Future Classic DJs, Shags, Jimmy Sing, Pelvis, Judgement, Ariane, Mary’s Basement $49 (+ bf) 2.30pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Hands Up! Staggman, Clockwerk free 11.30pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Goldfish Summer Sessions Yousef (UK), DJ PP (Uraguay), Matt Cahill, Dave 54, Phil Hudson, Mars Monero, Ben Ashton, Jaded, James Patreou $25 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Outsidein Official After Party Two Secret International Guests, Michael Ozone, Mike Who, Astral DJs $25 11.30pm The Green Room Lounge, Enmore Vinyl Solution DJ Nic Dalton free 7pm Ivy, Sydney Ivy Saturdays Angger Dimas, Ben Morris, Chris Fraser, Tigerlily, Trent Rackus $20 8pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Simon Laing, DJ Michael Stewart free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Kitty Kitty Bang Bang Resident DJs 9pm Nevada Lounge, Darlinghurst DJ Hayden free 6pm One22, Sydney Echoes SV2.0 – Experiments In Dub Insect O. (GER), Dave Stuart, Simon Mann, Qu-Zen, Subaske $15 10pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Saturday I’m Pregnant Resident DJs 11.30pm Phoneix Bar, Darlinghurst Up Dayclub Resident DJs $15 5am Q Bar, Darlinghurst Wasted Years Resident DJs 9pm The Roof TOP, Coogee Roof Top Day Party Murray Lake, Scuba Stew, Robbie Lowe, Ben Ashton, About Jack, YokoO, Alley Oop, Camron Cooper & C. Newport, Mark Craven $25-$35 2pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Dim Slm, Jo Funk, Steve S, Troy T, Big Will, Six Fingers, Bobby Digital, Micky D, Discokid 8pm Secret Warehouse, Sydney Foreigdub 10 Year Anniversary Mungo’s Hi Fi (UK), Foreigndub, Kakhand, James Daak $18-$25 9pm Soho, Potts Point Usual Suspects 2nd Birthday J-Trick, Lights Out, John Glover vs Oakes, Mike Rukus vs Danny Lang, Pete Deraz vs Jack’d Up, 14th Minute, Taylor Wolf, Here’s Trouble Barfly 9pm Space Nightclub, Sydney Masif Saturdays Resident DJs 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Robbie Lowe, Steven Sullivan $20 10pm St James Hotel, Sydney SFX – Movember Mexican Fiesta Bzurk, Absynth, Markm, Scotty Doesn’t Know Matticus, Snowflake, Fluxx 9pm Sydney Aquarium Wharf, Sydney Harbour Sydney Music Lovers Boat Party 2012 DJ Funkosis, Paleotech, Rod Skeez $20 7pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Watershed Presents… Skybar Saturdays Resident DJs $20 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Van She Tech, Kraymer, Go Freek, Jack Bailey, Tigerlilly, Oakes & Lennox, Rubio, Astrix Little, Tokoloshe, D*Funk, Rabble, Deckhead, Jackson Spence $15-$20 8pm

club guide

PRESENTED BY triple j DRUM MEDIA |

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Mike Monday, Lee M Kelsall, Garth Linton, Ryan Bond, Matt Weir $10 2pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 3pm Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington Alton Miller (USA), Phil Toke, Michael Zac, Eadie Ramia, Soul of Sydney DJs, Dia Ibrahim $15-$20 (+ bf) 1pm

Hugo’s Lounge, Kings Cross Sneaky Sundays Resident DJs 8pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Marco Polo Loullinex 1pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sets DJ Tone free 7pm Phoneix Bar, Darlinghurst Up Dayclub Resident DJs $15 5am Q Bar, Darlinghurst Daydreams Daydreams DJs 4.30am Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Sapphire Sundays Resident DJs free 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice After Hours Murat Kilic,

Frames $20 4am Sydney Opera House Dr. Seuss Meets Elefant Traks The Herd, Hermitude, Sietta, Joelistics, Unkle Ho, Urthboy, The Tongue, Jimblah, Jaytee $29 5.30pm, 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Sinister Sundays – Face Off Steve Frank, Here’s Trouble, Pat Ward, Thieves, August, Tigerlily, Chris Coast free 8pm Wiley Park Ampitheatre Uprock Park Jam DJ Mathematics free 12pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Soup Kitchen Carlos Gonzalez, James Deli, Junior, Steve P, Coutelette free 7pm

| SOUTHERN CROSS TEN TIME OFF | FOCUS

SUNDOWNER BREAKWALL TOURIST PARK PORT MACQUARIE – 14-15 DECEMBER 2012

club picks up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7 The Marquee, The Star, Pyrmont Assembly Wednesdays Inthemix DJs 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Bass Riot, Rubio, E-Cats, Pablo Calamari, Tony & Tody, Big Dogs, Turtl 9pm

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8 Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney Hi-Beams Resident DJs free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda Urby, Johnny Segment free (student)-$5 9pm

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 9 Chinese Laundry, Sydney Bass Mafia Doctor Werewolf, Royalston, Siass (FRA), Linken, Black Male, Brown Bear, Taylor Wolf, DJ Celsius $15-$25 10pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Chance Waters and guests $15.40 8pm Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Thundamentals $20 (+ bf) 9pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Andy Webb, Steve Sullivan, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 10pm

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 10 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Falcona Saturdays Donny Benet, Surecut Kids, Liz Bird free 8pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Egbert (NL), Luis Junior (Spain), Peking

Duk, A-Tonez, Cheap Lettus, DJ Eko, Bella Sarris, Morgan & Whitecat, Audiobotz, Bounce Crew DJs, Joe Barrs, Digit & Jumes $15-$25 9pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Goldfish Summer Sessions Yousef (UK), DJ PP (Uraguay), Matt Cahill, Dave 54, Phil Hudson, Mars Monero, Ben Ashton, Jaded, James Patrou $15-$25 6pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Outsidein Official After Party Two Secret International Guests, Michael Ozone, Mike Who, Astral DJs $25 11.30pm The Roof TOP, Coogee Roof Top Day Party Murray Lake, Scuba Stew, Robbie Lowe, Ben Ashton, About Jack, YokoO, Alley Oop, Camron Cooper & C. Newport, Mark Craven $25-$35 2pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Robbie Lowe, Steven Sullivan $20 10pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Van She Tech, Kraymer, Go Freek, Jack Bailey, Tigerlilly, Oakes & Lennox, Rubio, Astrix Little, Tokoloshe, D*Funk, Rabble, Deckhead, Jackson Spence $15-$20 8pm

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 11 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Mike Monday, Lee M Kelsall, Garth Linton, Ryan Bond, Matt Weir $10 2pm Hermann’s Bar, University of Sydney, Darlington Alton Miller (USA), Phil Toke, Michael Zac, Eadie Ramia, Soul of Sydney DJs, Dia Ibrahim $15-$25 (+ bf) 1pm Sydney Opera House GRAPHIC: Dr. Seuss Meets Elefant Traks The Herd, Hermitude, Sietta, Joelistics, Unkle Ho, Urthboy, The Tongue, Jimblah, Jaytee $29-$59 5.30pm, 8pm Hermitude

TICKETS ON SALE NOW HEAD TO WWW.FOTSUN.COM I N C LU D E 2 N I G H T S F R E E CA M P I N G AC C O M M O DAT I O N PAC K AG E S A L S O AVA I L A B L E

BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 43

snap

propaganda

PICS :: DM

up all night out all week . . .

native ryme

PICS :: JA

25:10:12 :: World Bar :: 24 Bayswater Rd Kings Cross 9357 7700

hot damn

PICS :: SW

25:10:12 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford Street Darlinghurst 9332 3711

18:10:12 :: Spectrum:: 34-44 Oxford St Darlinghurst Sydney 9331 2956

It’s called: Egbert @ Chinese Laundry It sounds like: The best thing you have ever heard – ever.

Who’s spinning? Egbert (Cocoon – NL), Luis Junior (Spain), Whitecat & Morgan, Bella Sarris, Audiobotz, Cheap Lettus, A-Tonez, Digit & Jumes, Joe Barrs, DJ Eko, Bounce Crew DJs. Three songs you’ll hear on the night: ‘Vreugdevuur’ – Egbert; 'Hydra (Luis Junior Remix)' – Verche; ‘Beat Down (Peking Duk Remix)’ – Steve Aoki & Angger Dimas feat. Iggy Azalea.

And one you definitely won’t: ‘Gangnam Style’.

Sell it to us: Music is going to be hot in all three rooms. In the Cave we have two amazing international guests – Egbert and Luis Junior, who is one of the most superhot talents in the world right now; in the Laundry we have a killer local lineup, headlined by Peking Duk.

young gifted & broke showcase

PICS :: JA

25:10:12 :: Civic Hotel :: 388 Pitt St Sydney 8080 7000

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The fact that you just copped some of the best tunage around and saw Luis Junior’s first-ever Sydney set.

Crowd specs: Anyone and everyone.

Wallet damage: $15 before 10pm / $25 after Where: Chinese Laundry / Cnr King & Sussex Streets When: Saturday November 10

arrested development strike

PICS :: AM

25:10:12 :: Cockatoo Island Film Festival :: Sydney Harbour

26:10:12 :: Strike Bowling :: King St Wharf Darling Harbour 1300 787 453 44 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ELKE OWENS :: SAM WHITESIDE :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR AL PEDRO XAVIER :: ALEXIS ZLAM

PICS :: JA

party profile

egbert

H.O.S.H TIGER & WOODS DIYNAMIC, DE

SOFT WAR FUTURE CLASSIC

ITA

SLOWBLOW MODULAR

MURAT KILIC SPICE

NEW YEARS MORNING SUNRISE CRUISE 4AM-10AM ( BOARDING 3:30AM )

TUES 01.01.13 : RECKLESSREPUBLIC.COM BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12 :: 45

snap

spice cellar 1st bday

27:10:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

PICS :: AM

spice cellar

PICS :: AM

27:10:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

diafrix

PICS :: AM

26:10:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

slow blow halloween

PICS :: AM

27:10:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

:: JOVAN ATANOCKOVIC :: S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: DANIEL MUNNS :: ELKE OWENS :: SAM WHITESIDE :: KATRINA CLARKE :: ASHLEY MAR AL PEDRO XAVIER :: ALEXIS ZLAM

46 :: BRAG :: 487 :: 05:11:12

crushington

PICS :: AM

26:10:12 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585

26:10:12 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

PICS :: AM

matrix

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

COMING UP

CNR KING & SUSSEX STREET ( UNDER SLIP INN )

*BEFORE 11PM

chineselaundryclub.com.au

BUY NOW AT FASTER LOUDER PRESENT: SONY PRESENTS:

MON 26 NOV ALPINE, OH MERCY + OLIVER TANK TUE 27 NOV JESSICA MAUBOY

TIMOMATIC, JUSTICE CREW, JOHNNY RUFFO MGM & STREET PRESS AUSTRALIA PRESENTS:

WED 28 NOV THE TROUBLE WITH TEMPLETON

UPSTAIRS BERESFORD.COM.AU

THE FALLS, BATTLESHIPS

LEVEL 1, 354 BOURKE ST. SURRY HILLS