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rock music news on the record WITH
BEN LAW FROM LOVE PARADE Dean, but he insisted on being called Vern. He used to talk to me about his life problems and tell me I needed to grow my hair if I ever hoped to be in his cover band. I had a genuine affection for him. The Last Thing I Recorded: Our soon-to-be-released debut album, 4. obnoxiously titled King Me. It was the first proper recording process I have ever been a part of and I remember being nervous about most of what I was required to do for most of the time. We are launching the record on April 19 at FBi Social – you should totally come. The Record That Changed My Life: Probably the blue Weezer album. It 5. was the first record I bought that wasn’t recommended to me by anyone. As a long time asthmatic, I liked the name and the generally nerdy vibe of it all. In ‘Say It Ain’t So’ it says something about wrestling with Jimmy, which is the name of my brother, so it had profound parallels with my actual life.
The First Record I Bought: I think the first record I ever bought with 1. my own money was the John Williamson
The Last Record I Bought: I bought the first Japandroids album 2. last week with a JB voucher I got from my
particular album/buzz band. She was right on both counts.
album Waratah St., on cassette. I thought at the time it was a cool album to buy, and I maintain that line of thinking. ‘Flag Of Our Own’ is pretty punk rock, right?
sister for Christmas. The album was $20 and so was the voucher, so it was good. The sales person looked at me like I was both cheap and had also missed the boat on that
The First Thing I Recorded: I played bass on a song my old guitar 3. teacher wrote and recorded. He played a guitar solo through the entire song. His name was
What: King Me comes out in April Where: Brighton Up / Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar / Jurassic Lounge / FBi Social When: January 24 / February 7 / February 12 / April 19
Somewhere there is a death scene sitting on a cutting room floor, we’re sure of it... (Gunners are touring! March 12, Allphones Arena, tickets on sale January 25).
Shady Lane
JENS LEKMAN
Swedish heartbreaker/crooner/songwriter/ photo fodder Jens Lekman is trying to trap you. On paper it would appear that going to see a sensitive young singer-songwriter play at Oxford Art Factory on Valentine’s Day with your lover is kind of a home run in the romantic gestures department, but considering the night is named after his album I Know What Love Isn’t and will feature cynical odes to non-love, it may seem as though you’re about to perform the classic Valentine’s Day Date’n’Dump™. Courtney Barnett and Melodie Nelson are supporting, both of whom peddle in brilliant, sweet, heartbroken pop.
PUBLISHERS: Adam Zammit & Rob Furst EDITOR IN CHIEF: Adam Zammit 9552 6333 adam@peergroupmedia.com EDITOR: Steph Harmon *drops mic* ARTS & ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Dee Jefferson dee@thebrag.com 02 9690 2731 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Benjamin Cooper, Krissi Weiss, Caitlin Welsh NEWS: Nathan Jolly, Chris Honnery ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER: Tim Levy SNAP PHOTOGRAPHERS: Mary-Jane Caswell, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar, Pedro Xavier COVER DESIGN: Sarah Bryant 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) ONLINE & SOCIAL MEDIA: Tanydd Jaquet INTERNS: Natalie Amat, Katie Davern, Tanydd Jaquet, Mina Kitsos REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Benjamin Cooper, Alasdair Duncan, Christie Eliezer, Murray Engleheart, Andrew Geeves, Chris Honnery, Nathan Jolly, Anna Kennedy, Chris Martin, 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...
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SHADY LANE: OAF RESIDENCY
Shady Lane are our favourite Sydney band named after a Pavement song (at least until Gold Soundz form and launch an ABBA Gold tribute night at Hurtsville RSL), so we are thrilled to bits by the news that they are playing a residency at Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar, every Friday in February (plus Thursday February 14, because ‘romance’ rhymes with ‘mo dance’). And we’re thrilled to even-more-bits by the supports they have chosen: The Mountains, Bearhug, Guerre, Naughty Rappers, Transmitting Through The Forest Door (Luke from The Laurels fucking about with pedals), Little Lovers (his dad is totally in Custard) and a bunch of others. Free entry, $4 tinnies, and all the aforementioned stuff.
DROPKICK MURPHYS AND SLEEPING SOULS
Walk into an Irish bar. Maybe that one on George Street, maybe some other one. It’s up to you. Order a pint, and walk up to one of the many tattooed Irish guys in there. Steal his iPod, flick to Most Played. It’s all Dropkick Murphys, isn’t it? Now steal one from the punk kid who seems sweet and shy but also like he would fuck you up if you ate meat in front of him. Do the same. It’s all Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls isn’t it? Well, the two of them play a Soundwave sideshow on April 1 at Big Top Luna Park, tickets are still available, and it’ll be one of the loosest, most ‘celebration rock’ shows of 2013. Tickets are available now.
HAPPY MONDAYS TOUR!
Ahh, the Happy Mondays: purveyors of that Madchester rock/dance sound of the late-‘80s. They named their debut record Squirrel And G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out), counted their friend Bez – who literally just danced on stage and sold them pills and smack – as a legitimate band member, wasted most of the budget for their fourth album on drugs, and ripped songs wholesale by The Beatles, LaBelle and others – yet were annoyed at being sued. Now they are coming to Australia, original lineup still somehow intact, and land in Sydney May 4 to
play UNSW Roundhouse (that pesky Dean will hate it!). Tickets on sale this Wednesday January 23.
STOP THE VIRGENS CHORUS
FBi Social is usually pretty undeniable, but those pesky deniers will be amazed at the quality of the lineup this Wednesday January 23: the local chorus who sung at Karen O’s Stop The Virgens psycho-opera for Vivid LIVE included members of Daily Meds, Twincest, Moon Holiday, Rainbow Chan, Okin Osan, Jack Colwell and The Owls and New Brutalists, and they’re getting back together for a night of music – plus there will be a DJ set from Nick Zinner! (The foppish fringey guitar guy from Yeah Yeah Yeahs). $10? Surely there are, like, three zeros missing from that price.
GUNNERS!
“What’s so civil about war anyway” uttered Axl Rose on Guns N’ Roses’ Use Your Illusion record, and immediately troops backed out from the Gulf, evil overseas regimes were halted, and the world figuratively hopped on top of the piano in the ‘November Rain’ video clip and played a celebratory world-peace guitar solo, much like Slash in said video clip. Also in that video it starts raining at the wedding, someone inexplicably dives over a table into the wedding cake, and then the bride is… dead?
George Clinton
GEORGE CLINTON AND PARLIAMENT
The presser for George Clinton’s tour, in which he brings a 22-piece psychedelic space-circus to Sydney to snap synapses (March 8 at the Hi-Fi), claims that Clinton “provided much of De La Soul and Snoop Dogg’s musical education.” Now, we obviously know this is true in terms of pure influence – that stoned-out bass-heavy backing bed the two acts build from owes a heavy debt to Clinton’s P-Funk sound – but we prefer to think of the Godfather of Funk sitting in front of a Dangerous Mindsesque classroom, with Snoop slouched at the back, De La Soul bolt upright in the front row, and Mr. Clinton drawing semi-quavers on a blackboard. “Tupac, will you stop distracting Nate Dogg.”
eRock’N’Ride photo by Ken ‘Ridin Dirty’ Leanfore
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Nathan Jolly
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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
GUY FROM MAMMALS myself too scared to sleep. The only thing that got me through that was Bon Iver. Your Band The live side of Mammals has only really 3. just started. We’ve had a few gigs that have been really fun. Basically it’s just a room full of my close mates, super loose, singing along. All of the writing I do in solitude or in the studio, alone. Once it gets a nod of approval from the other guys, we try to replicate it jamming. The Music You Make I always like to think that the sound of 4. Mammals is smooth and flowing. Sort of like a liquid or water. As for the style, I just want to make something that I can lose myself in. Every day I’m inspired by new music – the blogs out there are amazing! We also have an EP coming out next month that I’m pretty excited about. Music, Right Here, Right Now It’s a pretty exciting time we live in 5. musically. Everything is so accessible, with so many gigs to see – and the Sydney scene is pumping!
1.
Growing Up If it wasn’t for my parents, I probably wouldn’t be musical at all. I was always sort of forced into the school bands and shows. It wasn’t until I got older and started discovering new sounds that I really appreciated music for what it was.
2.
Inspirations Radiohead, for sure. I’d always known about them but never really put the time into listening to much of their stuff. Then one day, a few years ago, ‘All I Need’ stopped movement and motion and I just disappeared. It changed my view on music forever. I also had really bad anxiety and sleep problems, where I found
What: Mammals EP is out on February 16 Where: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel When: Saturday February 16 More: Also playing alongside Alt-J, Bat For Lashes, Japanther, Flume and more at Laneway Festival on Saturday February 2 @ Sydney College Of The Arts
THE 5.6.7.8’S
Thanks to ma. Gallery, we can finally count down to The 5.6.7.8’s – the biggest thing to come out of Japan since Astro boy, sushi and sumo wrestlers. Since playing the Dig It Up! Festival in Emore last year (at the invitation of no less than the Hoodoo Gurus) and selling out their Australian side shows within minutes, the rock’n’roll chickas will return for one show at Oxford Art Factory this Thursday January 24. Formed by sisters Wantanabe “Ronnie” Yoshiko and Sachiko Fujiyama in 1986, and later joined by Yoshiko “Yama” Yamaguchi, the trio shot to fame in Kill Bill, and are now set to play a killer bill (lolz!) alongside garage surfabilly outfit Mother & Son and blues charmers La Mancha Negra. We have a double pass to give away – just tell us what famous Kill Bill scene they soundtracked.
THEE OH SEES
“Insane”, “unrestrained” and “it’s like I’m really losing my virginity” are just some of the descriptions that have been attached to Thee Oh Sees’ live show. This year sees the San Franciscans returning to our fair shores for ATP’s I’ll Be Your Mirror in Melbourne – but those fans living in our fair city of Sydney can still get some sideshow action. Fellow ‘Mericans Nobunny (Hunx & His Punx guitarist) is lending support on Sunday February 10, so cruise along to The Factory Theatre and be prepared to get down with “the house band for a runaway train.” To score a double pass, tell us the name of Thee Oh Sees’ latest record.
Anthrax
Civil Civic
ANTHRAX + SLAYER: SYDNEY SIDEWAVE
Remember when there was that big anthrax scare a few years back and everyone became terrified of mail that came from someone that they didn’t know, as if they were the next targets in a terrorist campaign for some reason? Well, during all that hurrah, brutal metal band Anthrax were asked if they were going to change their now-insensitive name, and frontman Scott Ian pointed out they’d been around since 1981 – and that offending people is one of the many pleasures of being in a metal band. They bring their ball-tearing live show to Sydney for Soundwave, and also to the Big Top @ Luna Park on February 25, playing a sideshow alongside Slayer and Kingdom Of Sorrow. It’s gonna be hectic.
SUNDAE SESSIONS
Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas Sundae Sessions kick off Monday January 27 at Bondi Beach, with Amy Meredith and Stonefield playing live sets before the sun sets and that cute lover you’ve been hiding arrives with the blanket you forgot to bring and the wine you
forgot to buy and the food you assumed you wouldn’t need, and then the two of you will watch Pitch Perfect on the big outdoor screen and you’ll drink too much wine and things will go rapidly downhill from there. Don’t worry, you can fix things the following week: Sundae Sessions run until March 3.
CIVIL CIVIC
Aussie math rock/electro ex-pats Civil Civic did things upside-down, touring Europe and the like before playing shows in their home country. Well, they are making moves to rectify this with their first Australian tour, which bumps into Brighton Up Bar on Friday February 8, before taking in the ATP & The Drones-curated I’ll Be Your Mirror festival in Melbourne.
SOMETHING W/ NUMBERS
Something With Numbers were a big deal in the Central Coast three-word-band-name pop punk scene back in the early ‘00s, and the fact that they haven’t played a show in five years will probably mean that their February 22 show at The Annandale Hotel will sell out faster than you can say “Yeah my girlfriend”. Keychain. Cargo shorts. Vans.
The XX
THE XX TOUR!
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OPETH @ THE ENMORE
Opeth, along with every punk or metal band ever, are coming to Australia for Soundwave, and their sideshow (March 15 at Enmore Theatre) will be drenched with blood, sweat, and tracks plucked from two decades worth of uncompromising metal records. Tickets still available, plus it’s all-ages!
RAINY DAY WOMEN
Rainy Day Women’s second EP Friends shows that the sunshining, harmony-drenched silly slacker pop outfit have grown up quite a bit, with their songwriting smarts being affixed to a bunch of mature songs – but not Pete Murray mature, more like Dylan Blood On The Tracks mature. Buy a copy when they launch it at FBi Social on March 15.
Xxx photo by Xxxx
The xx copped a bit of heat for the seemingly unspecific and lazy line “we watch things on VCR”, but we think it’s the best ever and makes perfect sense: the inherent romance of the VCR format is what is important in this love-cocoon, not what they are actually watching. Plus, imagine watching their hypnotic, minimalist set at The Hordern Pavilion on April 6 (the April 7 show sold out pretty immediately), swaying back and forth, eyes closed in a blissed-out trance only to be jolted back into harsh reality with the line “we watch Home Alone 2: Lost In New York on VCR.” Not quite the same, is it?
SCHOONER OR LATER
This is a great idea: The Isaac Graham Band, Fake Effects, Rad Beligion and Some Band To Write Home About want you to come on a cruise with them so they can cover Blink-182’s Dude Ranch, NOFX’s So Long & Thanks For All The Shoes, the best of Bad Religion and No Use For A Name’s Live In A Dive, for your pashing-a-stranger-in-a-moshpit pleasure. The boat leaves March 17 at noon from Pyrmont Bay Wharf, and you’ll be back by 4pm. Tickets are $35, which includes lunch
and repressed high school memories. Also the cruise is called Schooner Or Later! Wear your boating Vans.
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The Music Network
themusicnetwork.com
Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer
THINGS WE HEAR * LMFAO’s Redfoo has been busy signing autographs and being mobbed at the tennis championships in Melbourne; his galpal is world #1 champ Victoria Azarenka. * Mike Patton believes the Faith No More reunion has ‘petered out’, perhaps because the band are too self-aware. * Scores of Aussie acts have tried to get permission to shoot film clips at the Queen Victoria Hospital in the Blue Mountains, because it’s in the top ten haunted places in Australia – it was a tuberculosis clinic in the early 1900s. But Sydney industrial metal band Our Last Enemy managed to do a five-hour photo shoot there with Farski Photography. It seems the mum of their new drummer Zot (Ink/Anxiety Whispers) works
NEW BRAG EDITOR: DEE JEFFERSON Big changes at BRAG from this week. Steph Harmon is leaving the Editor’s chair after three years of sterling service (that’s 144 issues in media talk); taking over at the top job is the awesomely talented Dee Jefferson, who has been BRAG’s Associate and Arts Editor for four years. She can be contacted at dee@thebrag.com.
EMI CHIEF MARK POSTON LEAVES THE LABEL In the wake of EMI’s buy-out by Universal, EMI Music Australasia’s Mark Poston stepped down as Chairman & Senior Vice President Marketing. He joined EMI in 2000 as Label Manager of Virgin, and was upped to Head of Capitol. In 2005, he relocated to EMI headquarters in London as Director, Global Marketing and Director of EMI UK frontline label Angel, before returning three years later. EMI executives will report to Universal Music Australasia president George Ash until a new Head of EMI is confirmed. Poston is taking “some much deserved time out,” Ash said. “Mark inspired a new creative direction for EMI, encouraging innovation and breathing change into the business,” he continues, pointing out how
for the TV show Paranormal Investigators who did a story on it, and she pulled strings. Singer Oliver Fogwell told us they heard voices and laughter where they left their gear, and found no one when they went to investigate. “The gatekeeper has to keep throwing people out because they’re always trying to get inside the grounds!” * David Bowie is back in the charts but he’s definitely not touring, his producer Tony Visconti has emphasised. * There’s been tour commotion out in the regionals. Coffs Coast parents were furious when told their under-16 kids could only attend Reece Mastin’s show at the C.ex Coffs club last week if they also bought a ticket to accompany them, as it was an underage show. Apparently that was not specified on the Ticketek website, and the
Poston turned EMI’s Oz headquarters in Surry Hills into an art and design showcase. Poston also expanded EMI’s A&R, bringing in labels like Future, Spunk and Stop Start; and was more focused on the music than on the financials.
EVERYBODY GETS STONED Michael Gudinski, Tame Impala and Parkway Drive were winners at last Wednesday’s fourth Rolling Stone Awards. They were held at Beach Road Hotel in Bondi, hosted by Tex Perkins, and sponsored by Patron Tequila, who brought some sensational cocktails to the party. Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses, Alabama Shakes and Crystal Castles, in Sydney for Big Day Out, joined Aussie music A- and B-listers and watched a live set from Owl Eyes. Gudinski took out the Rolling Stone Award for his contribution to the music industry. Other winners were Tame Impala (Lonerism, for Album of the Year), Parkway Drive (Live Act), The Presets (Single, for ‘Ghosts’), Jack White (International Act), The Medics (New Talent), Gotye (Music Video, for ‘Easy Way Out’, directed by Darcy Prendergast), Chet Faker (Best Independent Release, for the Thinking In Textures EP) and Ben Mendelsohn (Actor of the Year, for Killing Them Softly).
club requested that Mastin’s tour manager be at the door to explain what happened. In the meantime, the Armada Agency’s Craig Shearer told Albury’s The Border Mail that they cancelled Good Charlotte’s show at Paddy’s because the US booker had not contacted them in time about accommodation and other details. Armada was left out of pocket for “tens of thousands of dollars,” he said. * With a week to go, all tickets to Brisbane songstress Emma Louise’s tri-state album preview tour were sold out. * The Annandale is so convinced that Sticky Fingers’ single ‘Caress Your Soul’ will top this year’s Hottest 100 that they’ve bet $500 on it. Sporting Bet offered them 31-1 odds – so the ‘Dale could collect $15k if it happens, which they'll put on the bar for a massive party.
BOULET, FALLS, PAPA VS PRETTY & KIRIN FOR SXSW Jonathan Boulet, The Falls, Papa Vs. Pretty, Kirin J Callinan, The Tom Fun Orchestra, Ginger & The Ghost, WIM and Jack Carty are among the latest of 20 Sydney-based acts invited to play the 27th annual South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Altogether 70+ Aussies have been invited. Others included Melbourne’s 360 and ME, Adelaide’s The Beards and The Audreys, and Brisbane’s Dead Letter Circus and The Trouble With Templeton. 2000 bands from 50 countries will play SxSW. In addition, more than 600 Australian creative industry professionals will attend the Music (March 12-17), Film (March 8-16) and Interactive (March 8-12) Conferences, which will in total draw close to 50,000 delegates from more the 50 countries.
JAGWAR MA Sydney electro duo Jagwar Ma – picked by England’s NME as one of 20 most exciting acts to watch in 2013, with their ‘Come Save Me’ getting global airplay – landed two deals. They signed with Future Classic for Australia/ New Zealand, and with a brand new label, Marathon Music, for Europe. Marathon was set up by Phlippe Ascoli, who discovered Daft Punk, Phoenix and Air.
D AT SEA WITH UNFD UNFD secured punk singer-songwriter D At Sea for recording and management. The act (real name Doyle Perez) emerged last year when an acoustic cover of Parkway Drive’s ‘Carrion’ became a viral hit, racking up nearly 700,000 views. He’s since done similar-styled covers of The Amity Affliction, House Vs Hurricane and Bring Me The Horizon songs. His Facebook has 26,000+ likes, and his YouTube channel has clocked up 3.5 million views. His debut EP Unconscious is out March 8, with single ‘December’ out this week.
This Week
E HIFI 1300 TH COM.AU
Dub FX
THEHIFI.
Sat 26 Jan
MAMA KIN, PLUM, CALIFORNIA WIVES SIGNED CA NC EL LE D
Just Announced Coming Soon
Kerser
Sat 27 Apr
Sat 2 Feb
From The Jam (UK)
Gin Blossoms (USA)
Sun 3 Feb
Sat 9 Feb
SE LL IN G
FA ST
Enhanced (UK)
An Evening with The Hoff (USA) Fri 15 Feb
Crime And The City Solution (USA) Thu 21 Feb
Sleeping With Sirens(USA) + Woe, Is Me (USA)
Mon 25 Feb
Bring Me The Horizon (UK) Tue 26 Feb
SE LL IN G
SE LL IN G
FA ST
FA ST
U18 SOLD OUT
Bullet For My Valentine(UK)
Tim Rogers & The Bamboos
Sun 27 Feb
Thu 7 Mar
Ensiferum (FIN)
Dinosaur Jr + Redd Kross (USA) Sat 16 Mar
FA ST SE LL IN G
FA ST
Fri 8 Mar
SE LL IN G
Fri 15 Mar
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (USA) Sat 9 Mar
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (USA)
Mutemath (USA)
Otep (USA)
Sun 24 Mar
Thu 25 Apr
ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY
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Alberts signed Mama Kin (aka Danielle Caruana) to represent and manage her songs worldwide. This comes as she releases her sophomore album The Magician’s Daughter on February 22, through MGM. Meanwhile Brisbane label Footstomp/Warner signed indigenous singer-songwriter Thelma Plum, releasing her debut EP, Rose, in March; and Create/Control’s latest addition is Chicago four-piece California Wives. Their debut album Art History, due out February 22, was produced by Claudius Mittendorfer (Interpol, Neon Indian, Wild Nothing).
HILLTOP HOODS INITIATIVE The 2013 Hilltop Hoods Initiative offers $10,000 to an upcoming hip hop/soul act who have not released an album, to help fast-track their career. The funding goes to the manufacture and release of an album, and also gets them legal advice from David Vodicka and Media Arts Lawyers, and a Shure Microphone prize pack. Applications close February 26; see apra-amcos.com.au
INDENT YOUTH EVENTS TEAM The City of Sydney wants volunteers aged 12-24 years to help organise all-ages music events in the city, and become part of its first youth Indent team. Head to the Millers Point Youth Centre (17 Argyle Street, Millers Point) from 4-5pm on Wednesday January 30 for a planning meeting. For more info, contact Jenna Bloom at jbloom@ cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au, or call 9244 3693.
ENGLAND’S HMV, BLOCKBUSTER GO BELLY-UP In a dismal week for the UK music industry, both the HMV music retail chain
and the DVD rental firm Blockbuster went into administration. Its two bankers, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds, finally pulled the plug as HMV’s sales were savaged by the internet (73.4% of music and films are downloaded). Deloittes has taken control of the 92-year-old chain, hoping to find a buyer to save 4350 jobs in 230 stores. Consumers are angry that thousands of HMV Christmas gift vouchers will not be honoured. At its peak in 1996, HMV had 300 stores globally including in Australia, but the chain pulled out of the market Down Under a few years ago. Deloitte was also called in to find a buyer for Blockbuster UK, where 528 stores and their 4190 staff continue to trade as normal.
WHY BANDS REUNITE: THE RICH LIST One more time with feeling? Brit bands that have reunited of late have earned a fortune. A list in The Sun revealed that Take That earned a jaw-dropping £130 million since reforming in 2005. The Spice Girls made £25 million and Blur £15 million. The rest of the Top 10 were The Stone Roses (£12m), Steps (£10m), Madness (£5m), Simple Minds (£3m), Sex Pistols (£2.5m), Pulp (£1.5m) and The Happy Mondays (£750,000).
FAN OF THE WEEK A 42-year-old man in Sweden has been awarded state disability benefits for his addiction to heavy metal. Three psychologists agreed Roger Tullgren could not hold down a job because he attended 300 concerts last year. The benefits allow Tullgren to now work as a part-time dishwasher at a restaurant in Hassleholm so he can continue to see shows. Meanwhile, a Brisbane Coldplay fan, Robert Kiunisala, 34, escaped a jail sentence after he stripped during their show at Suncorp Stadium on November 21 and bit a security guard who scuffled with him. Kiunisala told the Brisbane Magistrates Court he was overcome by a “primal urge”. He escaped a conviction but was put on a two-year probation order and was ordered to pay $800 compensation to the guard, who he bit hard enough to draw blood.
Lifelines Split: Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and his fiancee of one year, Erin Brady. Split: Britney Spears and manager Jason Trawick. He warned her family first, so they could handle her when he broke it off after The X Factor ended. Sued: Justin Bieber by a former bodyguard, for punching him last October during a row – and also for not paying him overtime. Booked: A man who sold nonexistent Soundwave and Swedish House Mafia tickets to nine people online has been booked, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Police are searching for the nine, who paid between $200–$800, to compile evidence against the man. In Court: Two British men who hacked into Sony Music’s US server and downloaded 8,000 files to investigate if posthumous Michael Jackson tracks were actually sung by an impersonator. They were sentenced to sixmonth jail sentences (suspended for one year), and 100 hours of community service. In Court: A Russian court refused an attempt by an imprisoned Pussy Riot member to defer serving her sentence for hooliganism until her preschool son becomes a teenager. Died: Sydney pubs co-owner, James Miller, 38, reportedly an accidental overdose. With his business partner Jaime Wirth, the pair were the brains behind popular Sydney hotspots like The Norfolk and The Abercrombie. Died: Terry Napilil Pascoe, bassist with Northern Territory’s Sunrize Band, 53.
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RODRIGUEZ T
he Sugar Man is sitting in the back seat of a limousine as it winds through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Representatives of his management and film studios chatter away in the background as he expresses his amazement at the twists and turns his life has taken. For Sixto Diaz Rodriguez, a proud lifetime resident of Detroit, the Californian mecca feels like a long way from home, but the American poet and musician is taking it in his stride. After all, it’s only mid morning and a film about his life has just been nominated for an Academy Award. “The Oscar nomination is wonderful. We were at the Critics Choice recently and the film won best documentary, which is just such an honour,” he says humbly. “It seems that the film keeps getting nominations at lots of different ceremonies, and even though it’s out of my hands what happens next... well, I’m quite overwhelmed by all the support we’ve received.” Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s documentary, Searching For Sugar Man, traces the journey of South Africans Stephen Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom to determine what happened to the recording artist who made such a huge impact in their country without ever really tasting success in America. It’s
a powerful piece of art in its own right, which necessarily has its roots in the narrative of Rodriguez: a boy from the Detroit suburbs who never dreamt of the impact his music would have in nations as diverse as Australia and the newly-sovereign Zimbabwe and Botswana. Rodriguez was born in Motor City when it was booming, the sixth child of Mexican migrants who left their home country in the 1920s. The Detroit of his youth was a far different prospect to its current incarnation: automobile factories around the middle of the century were veritably bursting with industry, and hundreds of thousands of new faces arrived from the southern states of America and Europe in search of a new beginning. The lives and journeys of the working class were always going to inform the music of Rodriguez, who grew up watching people of all races and backgrounds taste success and failure in equal measures. “I’m critical of Detroit,” he explains, “and I always have
been. I’m born and bred there, and I love my city – you’ve got to be from somewhere, right? I’ve lived through it all, and I saw the Detroit that had Unions who fought to give the people equal pay. I saw the Detroit that banned child labour. So I think there’s a lot of positive energy to the city. Nowadays the population has fallen, and it’s what they call a ‘post industrial’ age for the city... But things will change. Things always change.” Things began for Rodriguez with the 1967 release of his single ‘I’ll Slip Away’, on the small Detroit label Impact. The track incorrectly named the artist as Rod Riguez, and he didn’t end up releasing anything else until 1970, when he was signed to Clarence Avant’s short-lived Sussex Records (then home to Bill Withers and soul group The Presidents). That same year, Sussex released his debut LP Cold Fact to a critically and commercially uninterested American audience, yet it charted considerably well in both South Africa and Australia in 1971. His second and final studio album, Coming From Reality, was released in November 1971 to a similarly tepid response in America. Once again, however, South Africa and Australia lapped it up. His popularity in both countries increased over the next decade, with the Australian response encouraging the then-retired musician to travel south to the antipodes on his first international tour. After the success of the 1979 tour with English group The Mark Gillespie Band, he returned to Australia in 1981 to tour far and wide with Midnight Oil. “I first met those guys in ‘81, and I got along with them straight away. We
were playing at this festival in the country, halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, and the winds got so heavy that they had to collapse the stages. It was a pretty wild time – I was hanging out with Men At Work before they got their haircuts, and Split Enz before they became Crowded House... Wild times, and good times,” he says with a chuckle. The 1981 tour coincided with Rodriguez’s graduation from Wayne State University in Detroit, with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. The alma mater of such luminaries as actors Lily Tomlin and Jeffrey Tambor was a stimulating intellectual haven for the musician, who’d withdrawn from public life to work in construction. “I got to research everything there, because there’s a whole lot you don’t learn in school,” he laughs. “I wanted to know all about logic and aesthetics. I wanted to know how and why things worked, and my education there helped me sort out a lot of those questions. But a student is always a student; it’s the cumulative effects of knowledge that matter most. “I have to mention Midnight Oil [again], if you don’t mind,” he continues, changing tack. “We’ve known each other since those days, and it does seem like such a long time. I didn’t always want to be in the media, and it’s hard to have a public self and a secret self. But Peter [Garrett] just walked away from the stage, and left that persona behind to be himself again. To be able to leave that kind of thing behind... Well, a lot of people just can’t do it. That transformation is fascinating. I’ve always found myself a musical political person, because social issues are my thing. But Peter does the political for real now, and he’s a proven fact to the people,” he says. “I remember being in Darwin with him years ago and being inspired by his dedication to the rights of Aboriginal people. The rights of the American indigenous people is an issue I care about a great deal. As the child of
The Story Of The Sugar Man By Benjamin Cooper
Mexican parents, I’m very conscious of the struggle of indigenous peoples.” The next chapter of Rodriguez’s storied history with Australia and Midnight Oil will begin this March, when he’ll be playing Bluesfest in Byron (and a few sideshows) backed by The Break. The instrumental surf rock group is comprised of the ‘Oils founding members Martin Rotsey, Jim Moginie and Rob Hirst, as well as Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie. “The guys actually contacted me and said, ‘Make sure you let us know if you’re planning on playing in Sydney again,’” he says. “Next thing I know they’re volunteering to be my band – I mean, it would be a powerful performance without me even there! We’ve got some real history and it’s such an unusual opportunity, so I’m obviously very happy to be reuniting with colleagues and friends. Byron Bay is so special to me – it’s where I first heard birds singing and carrying complete songs; none of that little chirpy stuff.” As much as he loves Byron, our harbour city and its people have particular significance to Rodriguez. “I consider Sydney the capital of the world; there is such beauty there and there is such an exchange of ideas. That kind of thing is very important for a city and for life.” Who: Rodriguez & The Break With: Paul Simon, Robert Plant, Iggy & The Stooges, Counting Crows, Santana, Ben Harper, Wanda Jackson, Wilco and more Where: Bluesfest @ Byron Bay When: Thursday March 28 – Monday April 1 Sideshow: March 25 & 26 @ The Enmore Theatre What: Searching For Sugar Man is out on DVD & Blu-Ray in March, through Madman
“I was hanging out with Men At Work before they got their haircuts, and Split Enz before they became Crowded House... Wild times, and good times.”
San Cisco photo by xxx
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Deep Purple Accidental Classics By Chris Martin
“Not since ‘69 have we gone into the studio with a song written. Nothing is prepared in advance. We turn up, put the kettle on and start jamming.” To the contrary, Deep Purple is a group that exists in the moment. Clichéd? Consider ‘Smoke On The Water’. This isn’t a band that follows clichés – it writes them. So when Gillan talks of working spontaneously, he’s being as genuine as possible.
E
ven amongst the few surviving bands of their generation, Deep Purple are different. They suffer beneath no shadow of a former glory; they’re no caricature of the band that once was. It’s an impressive feat, given Purple are singularly responsible for the most overplayed guitar riff of all time. According to frontman Ian Gillan, who joined in 1969, the band is “working better now than it ever has” – no real surprise for an outfit that has continued to tour tirelessly around the globe, taking in 48 countries in 2011 alone.
But a more significant factor behind Purple’s endurance might be their near-deliberate avoidance of the kind of mainstream rock spotlight that shines upon ageing stars in the wax museum of classic guitar hits. To everyone else’s bewilderment, Deep Purple have repeatedly been overlooked for induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame – an honour bestowed instead upon ABBA, Neil Diamond, Red Hot Chili Peppers and many more – but Gillan couldn’t
care less. “We’ve done very well without that sort of thing,” he says down the phone from Berlin, after another long line of shows. “What we do is underground, it always has been. And it’s not unusual, it’s not just us: it’s every other band that ever existed and that ever made waves – it never started with a successful television appearance or a front page on a newspaper. It started in the clubs in the back streets of a local town somewhere, whether that was Liverpool or Manchester or Seattle or Sydney.” For that reason, Gillan says he’s never paused to consider Deep Purple’s lofty standing alongside peers like The Rolling Stones or Black Sabbath. “I never do, I never have. I don’t think the attitude of the band has changed in the slightest since we were a street band in the ’60s. Everyone that started music in that era had pretty much the same ethos… I don’t think we’ve been affected or would be affected by our reputation. It’s not the sort of question we ask ourselves, put it that way.”
Following their Australian tour this year, Purple will release their 19th studio record; the eight years since Rapture Of The Deep is the longest gap they’ve ever had between albums. Nothing deliberate there – it just happened that way. “Music and an album represent how you are at any particular time, like a newspaper,” says Gillan. “Not since ’69 have we gone into the studio with a song written. Nothing is prepared in advance. We turn up, put the kettle on and start jamming… That’s why the albums are all quite different. I remember the shock and mayhem at the record label when we did Fireball [in 1971] – after Deep Purple In Rock they were expecting something along the same lines, and we came up with the funky side of the band.” Since the late ’60s, Deep Purple have witnessed a lifetime of ups and downs – not least the turmoil of Gillan’s departure from the band in 1973, and the withdrawal of legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore soon after Gillan’s permanent return in 1992. But an indispensable presence on Purple’s journey has been the band’s experience of the changing world
around them. Gillan won’t speak on behalf of his four bandmates (“We are politically opposite in many ways, and we have different attitudes to things,” he says), but to him, the modern world is a frustrating place. “When I started touring in Germany, everyone was just relieved that the war was over, and there were lots of friendships made by young people who just wanted a bit of peace and quiet and some good music. It’s a lot different now.” Gillan still sees a lot of Europe, and the ongoing turbulence there makes the European Union a primary target for his rage. “[The EU] is a fraud, a farce, a coercive, undemocratic, perverse, corrupt organisation. The sooner it dies, the better,” he says. “There are now 27 countries involved, and most of them depend upon the EU for funding and for improvement in their standard of living. There’s nothing wrong with that … [but] it’s the corruption at the highest level and the undemocratic values of it that I would love to see absolutely fall to pieces.” Weighed against the political problems of the world, being in a band is a pretty simple business. And just as Gillan denies the influence of reputation on Deep Purple’s work, so too he humbly discards any talk of planning a legacy – even with that riff in their songbook. “Let’s talk about ‘Smoke On The Water’ very briefly,” he says. “That song was only thrown onto the album [1972’s Machine Head] at the last minute because we were short of material, and so we decided to use the sound check, a little jam we’d been doing on stage with no real song to it. The lyrics were merely the biographical details of making the Machine Head record. That song – well, the riff at least, and the chorus – it’s stuck in people’s minds. That was just pure luck. So the idea of planning something for perpetuity is beyond our reach, I’m afraid.” With: Journey Where: Sydney Entertainment Centre When: Saturday March 2
Lucero Memphis Pride By Augustus Welby
L
ucero’s charismatic bass player John C. Stubblefield is on the phone from the band’s hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Lucero typically play a couple of hundred shows each year, which means the band members spend only a limited amount of time in the illustrious music city, but Memphis pride continues to run through everything they do. “No matter where we go, when we’re on stage and when we’re together, we are Memphis. Representing all those that have come before us, and all it is now as well; keeping that musical heritage alive and recognised.” A person’s place of origin is inextricably tied with their outlook on life. In Memphis, music vibrates in the soil. The city’s pillars of cultural importance include the Sun Records progenitors of rock’n’roll (Elvis Presley, Howlin’ Wolf), and the lubricated soul and RnB sounds of the Stax Records catalogue (Isaac Hayes, Sam & Dave). Lucero have been active in the scene for the last 14 years, which is an indication of how fundamental music is to their picture of living. “Where we’re from, Memphis music – and music in general – is a big part of the culture. Taking that and spreading it all over the world is definitely a thing. It has always been my calling, if you will. Where I’m the most at home is on stage and out spreading music around.” Touring so relentlessly could very easily impinge on upholding healthy relationships, but John doesn’t see it as a burden. “It’s just what I do. It’s just life. I would probably go crazy if I wasn’t doing this,” he says. “You just make time – and the band is the bulk of our relationships. I suppose we’re a band of brothers at this point. We’ve made it this far so, like, ‘just get along’.” Growing up in a place that proudly honours such masters of music might sound enthralling, but when they were younger John admits he and his bandmates dismissed the rich legacy of their hometown, and yearned for what lay yonder. “It’s the human condition no
matter where you’re from, to a certain degree: rebelling against your parents, or rebelling against everything around you. You wish you were from anywhere but here. For us, we all wished we were on skateboards in southern California or something. As time goes by you really start to appreciate where you’re from. Memphis is just a very cool place.” Although Lucero were cultivated in the Memphis punk rock movement of the 1990s, their country and western influences began as a revolt against the scene. “We almost started out the band as a rebellion to the punk rock stuff. You know, ‘Let’s start a country band to piss off the punk rockers’. But then they wound up loving it, and we played at a lot of house parties and punk shows.” The band’s lineup grew a few years ago to include a horn section, and the added strength brought with it an opportunity to embrace the classic soul music of their hometown. Their latest release, Women & Work, is overtly indebted to Memphis soul, and John explains that the homage wasn’t so much a conscious decision as an inevitable progression. “On the record before, 1372 Overton Park, we added some horn players. They played in the studio with us and then they started touring with us, and after being on the road with us for a good couple of years they became integrated as part of the band. So that was a big part of it, considering [them] even more in the writing process. Also, our keyboard player Rick Steff brings a lot of that flavour and feel. As you grow older you definitely start to look around and appreciate where you’re from.” Lucero’s music has traversed all the varied tenets of gutsy American songwriting in their eight-album history, but Memphis has always been a major influence. “Whether or not it was really intentional at the time, going back and listening to [our first record] recently, the tunes on there really harken back to the Sun Records days – Elvis and Carl Perkins and all that. The new record is paying homage
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it to cater to anyone or anything. Some folks want you to keep putting out the same record every time, but to me you’ve definitely got to progress and grow. There’s still a common thread through all of our albums. It’s still Lucero; it’s still the main core four of us, after 14 years.” With: Metallica, Linkin Park, Blink-182, A Perfect Circle, The Offspring, Slayer, Garbage, Cypress Hill, Bullet For My Valentine, Kyuss Lives!, The Amity Affliction, Flogging Molly, Bring Me The Horizon and loads more Where: Soundwave Festival @ Sydney Olympic Park When: Sunday February 24
xxx
“We started out as a rebellion to the punk rock stuff. You know, ‘Let’s start a country band to piss off the punk rockers’. But then they wound up loving it...”
to the other side of it, the RnB and soul side and the Stax Records, and mixing the two worlds together; mixing the black and white together.” Joe speaks affectionately of the inspired impulse that takes possession of them when they’re in Memphis. “Usually the magic happens in Memphis, there’s just something about it. That’s undeniable. I don’t know exactly what it is, I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something that happens here that makes it all kind of work.” Their escapades into diverse stylistic terrain have been conducted with integrity, and embraced by fans. “When you do it for the right reasons and try to keep a sense of humility, the fans will definitely respond to that – and they have. It’s not like we’re doing
Stars Damn The Man By Alasdair Duncan
T
orquil Campbell, of Montreal indie rockers Stars, may seem like the shy and retiring type on first inspection, but don’t let exteriors fool you. You don’t want to cross him, or you might end up on the receiving end of a hilarious and profane tirade – something one Andrew MacDougall has just discovered first-hand. Mr MacDougall works as Director of Communications for Canada’s conservative Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. A firebrand leftie, Campbell is no fan of his country’s government at the best of times, but when the hapless MacDougall took to Twitter to mention that he quite enjoyed the newest Stars album, Campbell saw red. He was quick to reply, asking MacDougall if he would kindly stop listening to the band’s music until he quit working for the ‘sociopath who is ruining this country’. A heated exchange ensued, in which Campbell hurled a variety of colourful insults. With the incident still fresh in his mind, he has no regrets. “I think that part of my job, being in a band, is to be provocative and irritating and throw shit at fascists,” he says. “It’s all about fighting those who are abusing their power and telling them to go fuck themselves.” Campbell is filled with righteous anger at the state of his country, and he doesn’t
“Part of my job, being in a band, is to be provocative and irritating and throw shit at fascists. It’s all about fighting those who are abusing their power and telling them to go fuck themselves.”
hold back. “I don’t know if you know much about the Canadian government, but they’re a bunch of fascists and stooges,” he says. “Some years ago, Canada was a very utopian place. We were very interested in the idea of a public culture, one that was fair and inclusive. It’s not like that anymore. You can disagree with someone politically and have a civil discussion with them … but the thing about Canada’s right wing is that they don’t want to be nice,” he vents. “They lie and cheat, but if you hit back at them in any way they call you an extremist, and criticise you for your disrespect.” The tactics of the Harper government, he says, are as cruel and authoritarian as you can possibly have within a democratic system. “I don’t want to be nice to people like that!” he continues. “For too long, the left have sat there and allowed the right to attack them, and they haven’t fought back. We need to fight back.” Once your music is out there in the public arena, of course, it is impossible to control who listens and how – although Campbell still bristles. “Some people have the ability to completely divorce their personal morality from their public morality,” he says. “I think that’s one of the hallmarks of being a deeply right wing person: the ability to separate those two things. You can be a really lovely person inside your family and in your personal interactions with people… I know a lot of people in my family who are very kind and very sweet. It baffles me, though, how you can be kind in your personal life, and yet endorse ideas that leave out the most vulnerable people in our society; endorse lying and cheating and policies that are incredibly destructive to the environment.” He pauses, mid-tirade, to consider this. “In my opinion, the fact that a guy like this can support a government who do such terrible things, and then say that he enjoys sitting down with a glass of wine and listening to our music, points to a sort of sociopathic personality disorder.” Stars have been making music together for more than a decade now, and over the course of seven albums have become one
of Canada’s most beloved indie rock bands. Even so, Campbell still worries about their precarious position. When our discussion turns to matters musical, he admits that, even as an established band, it can be difficult to get and hold people’s attention when there is so much other new music to choose from. “We’ve been around for a long time, which is both a good thing and a bad thing,” he says. “We have an established fan base, but at the same time, the focus of a lot of music media is on what’s new, on discovering the latest stuff, so as an older band it can be difficult finding ways to let people know that you have a new album out, or that you’re playing a show. We’ve been incredibly lucky, though. For all the hard times, there have been twice as many good times. We’re able to make a living off music – I feel like that’s pretty miraculous, really.” All of this means that when Campbell performs with Stars, he always does so as
if his life and career depend on it. “Any time I’m playing in front of a crowd, I want to be just as good as any band they’ve ever seen,” he says. “There’s plenty of other music out there, and if you don’t put on a good show for people, they’ll quite happily move on to something or someone else. I really don’t ever forget that, and I don’t take our fans for granted.” …Unless they work for the Canadian government, I assume? Harper laughs. “I couldn’t possibly say who our typical fan might be,” he says. “I mean, they look like very nice people to me, they look quite sweet and they obviously love music – but beyond that, I couldn’t speak for them, and I could never say who they are. I guess I can only speak for myself.” What: The North is out now Where: The Factory Theatre When: Saturday February 9
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5.6.7.8’s Party Hardy By Benjamin Cooper
T
he 5.6.7.8’s were one of the definite highlights of Hoodoo Gurus’ Dig It Up! Invitational earlier this year in Enmore. The Japanese garage rock trio blew a huge sonic hole through the back wall of the tiny venue Notes, a feat all the more significant given the same room had earlier played host to local heroes Royal Headache and Belles Will Ring. On that hot autumn evening, the threepiece from Tokyo shredded and howled with a force that belied their fatigue – the night before they’d played their own show with Newcastle’s Gooch Palms, who reliably informed me that they’ve never seen hardier party animals.
The group made their name in Japan in the late 1980s with a hard and fast take on American rock music of the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s (hence their name). Fast forward to 2002, when cult film director Quentin Tarantino heard their album playing in a Tokyo clothing store; the chance encounter resulted in an appearance by the band in the climactic battle scene of Kill Bill. Their cover of The Rock-A-Teens classic ‘Woo Hoo’ also appeared on the film’s soundtrack, and catapulted the band to international attention. Their 2002 album Teenage Mojo Workout was released in Britain following the film’s success, with ‘Woo Hoo’ climbing into the UK single charts at #24 and scoring them a range of lucrative commercial opportunities, with Carling beer and Vonage USA. Hollywood endorsements are one thing, but the central concern for the group has always been their live performances. Their impressive reputation led to Jack White inviting them to his Third Man Records space in Nashville in 2011, where they recorded 5.6.7.8’s Live At Third Man on black and gold split vinyl. “It was a very special invitation,” Ronnie says. “Unfortunately we didn’t play well, but it was
still a valuable experience. I was overwhelmed by the equipment in the studio – there is so much gear! We had the most amazing time there – I would like to go back, because Nashville is very accepting of us and enjoyed our music. We had many excited crowds that danced to our Japanese rock’n’roll!” Their upcoming Sydney show will be another opportunity for local fans to experience the madness of a 5.6.7.8’s live set. Theirs is an infectious energy that waves a big middle finger at archaic notions like being self-conscious or not dancing at a concert. They’ve even been known to invade others’ stages – Ronnie herself exhibited some spirited efforts during a high energy set from The Sonics at Dig It Up! “That was pretty crazy,” she laughs. “I looked out at The Enmore and the whole venue was dancing, so all I could do was dance too! I had a really fun time – even my daughter was dancing on the side of stage. That whole experience was very exciting... I hope that people will still like The 5.6.7.8’s when we get that old. I hope I can still party!” With: La Mancha Negra, Mother & Son Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Thursday January 24
Xxx
Yoshiko ‘Ronnie’ Fujiyama, the energetic vocalist and guitarist of the group, laughs when I bring this up. “Gooch Palms – they have minimal members but play to the maximum!” It’s a trait shared by her band, too. Despite a lack of formal studio albums in recent years, they’ve toured consistently throughout Japan and abroad to rave reviews. In response to queries about the band’s plans to record in the future, she doesn’t give much away: “We have lots of exciting
plans that we will release to the public very soon. You’ll just have to listen out to see what we have in store for you all.”
Ash Grunwald Something Borrowed, Something Blues By Hugh Robertson
I
t’s perhaps only natural that after ten years spent doing any one thing, one would be inclined to stop, reflect, and take stock of what the previous decade has brought. Ash Grunwald swears he did a bit of that during 2012, but it’s worth wondering how he managed to squeeze it in alongside all his other projects. As well as releasing his sixth studio album (and ninth in total) and consistently touring the length and breadth of the land, Grunwald also spent considerable time last year on Krash, a collaboration with Spiderbait’s tour de force drummer Kram; TIGERVZSHARK, a dubstep-influenced project with longtime friend and collaborator Fingers Malone; and a mini-tour at the end of the year with a couple of mates you might have heard of – Scott Owen (The Living End) and Rob Hirst (Midnight Oil). He and his partner Danni are also preparing for the arrival of baby number two, due in March. And on top of all that, Grunwald found some time to reflect on the tenth anniversary of his solo career – and decided that, after a few years playing with ever-growing backing bands, it was time to chuck all that out and go back to the basics. “I don’t know if it’s that ten-year mark,” says Grunwald, “but we were on a surf trip talking about this with Scotty [Owen], and I think that’s where [The Living End] are at as well. You keep playing and pushing it, and proving to yourself and your audience that you can do this, that and the other thing, and then after a while you start to think about what your unique thing is that you bring to the table – and then you start to distill it a little bit back to that essence. And then you can go off again. “I’m good friends with Xavier Rudd,” he continues, “and we’ve both been in it about the same amount of time, and he’s gone back to solo again this year as well. He’s done different band lineups, and different things – it must just come around in cycles.”
Grunwald spent the last four years doing “band stuff”, he says, and the change has been energising. “I think getting back to that raw sound and the freedom of playing solo has been a really good freshener for my live show. It is more physically taxing, but there was a point playing with the band when I realised I wasn’t even sweating – and I should be! … If I’m playing kick with my left foot, snare with my right foot, going off on the guitar and singing with my all, it’s the equivalent work of a drummer, but you’re chanelling everything as a frontman – that takes a lot out of you. But it’s easier to do a more convincing show, because you’re giving more and you’re working harder. And I think people probably relate to it a little better.” Given this return to his roots, it seems a little odd to simultaneously be branching out into the dubstep epidemic. Those apocalyptic drops favoured by the Skrillexs and Neros seem farremoved from the lone bluesman – but that’s not how Grunwald sees it. “I get influenced by styles of music that have seemingly nothing to do with my music. And even the dubstep thing – probably 90% of my fans would say they hate dubstep; at least 50% would – but even in the new album there are those influences. “‘Blues’, ‘hip hop’, ‘dubstep’ – all these things are just flavours, they’re not actually what the music is,” he continues. “And all you stand to do if you put in those genre titles is to have people go, ‘Eww, what’s he doing there?’ or, ‘Eww, that doesn’t work!’ But, really, if people listen to the music then it does make sense, and they might not even hear those other genres in there and just think it’s another Ash tune instead.” With: Gurrumul, Sietta, Dubmarine, The Preatures, Battleships, Tin Sparrow and more Where: Festival Of The Voice @ The Rocks When: Australia Day – Saturday January 26
Toro y Moi What’s In A Name? By Joshua Kloke
U
niversally heralded by the hipster masses since his 2010 debut Causers Of This, Chazwick Bundick – known better by his moniker, Toro y Moi – needed a change. The producer took a leap with his latest release, Anything In Return; built on repetitive choruses and an approach that will welcome in anyone unfamiliar with his relaxed hip hop, the record is an unabashed attempt to bring pop to the tastemaking elite. The California native has long been a fan of pop music and, thanks to his reputation and his talent, he’s able to maintain credibility when it comes to the genre, which has been shrouded in criticism for its cut-and-paste aesthetic. “I don’t know how ‘pop’ records got such a bad name,” he says down the line, from a coffee shop in Berkeley. “A lot of people say it went downhill in the early 2000s, when all this bubblegum pop was released and it all sounded like it was made in a factory. Maybe that ruined pop music – that, and production techniques like Autotune. Artists don’t even sing songs anymore, and that’s really pathetic. To sing a song the whole way through instead of just copying and pasting stuff, that’s important.”
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As it turns out, Bundick’s approach is much more calculated than one might expect. He’s aware that there is a delicate balance between the world of chillwave and pop music, yet he’s sure that for every fan he may lose with his new, poppier approach, any fans he gains will soon be treated to something much less accessible. “It’d be fun to bring in a much wider audience, and then introduce them to some more obscure music,” he says. “I’m quite sure the next record won’t be as accessible and poppy.” For the time being, the strong, polished production of Anything In Return will be rubbing shoulders with some of the pop world’s heavyweights. But only until Bundick makes his next move. “I hope my songs are strong enough regardless of production, but I definitely wanted to try different things with the production of this record. I’m always very uncomfortable to an extent when it comes to songwriting, and I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. In a way I was confident, but I wasn’t sure people would necessarily understand what I was trying to do – or if they ever will.” What: Anything In Return is out now through Mistletone With: Jonti, Yukon Snakes Where: The Standard When: Thursday March 7
Ash Grunwald photo by Martin Philbey
It was his 2011 full-length, Underneath The Pine, that solidified Bundick’s key position in the world of ‘chillwave’, a fuzzy, chilled-out, production-laden genre that has been critiqued more than it has actually been defined. Bundick understands what a buzz word ‘chillwave’ became, but isn’t yet sick of the term. “If anything, I’m totally embracing it,” says the eloquent and soft-spoken 26-year-old. “I’m not shunning it. I’m flattered to be so closely associated with the genre, the word. If I make a psychedelic rock song and people start calling it chillwave, then that’s what they’ll do. But that’s not what I intended to do with it.
“I have songs that I might call ‘‘80s boogie’, but people are going to call it what they will,” he continues. “I’m not trying to escape anything in terms of genres. I was around before that term even existed, so it’s interesting to see how it’s kind of grown.”
FBi Radio’s Sydney Music Art & Culture Awards 2012 And The Winner Is…
BEST SONG:
There was a new venue (Carriageworks!), a capacity crowd (almost!), and all the beers, bands, gelato (Messina) and (Cake) wines you could shake a brogue at. There were winners (we’re all winners tho, amiright?), speeches that ranged from nervous (Giselle!) to humble (Jess Scully!) to adorable (Flume!), and all of it was wrangled with consummate ease, anecdotes and LOLs by host Nick Coyle. It was FBi Radio’s SMAC Awards – the least pretentious, most charmingly off-thecuff awards ceremony in Sydney
HERMITUDE – ‘HYPERPARADISE (FLUME REMIX)’
The original song was skittering and richly detailed, all jungle beats and hand claps; Flume’s remix managed to slow it down, speed it up and glitch it out all at once, infusing it with the tricks and twists and turns the Sydney artist has quickly become renowned for. Runners Up: Dappled Cities – ‘Born At The Right Time’; Palms – ‘Love’; Regular John – ‘Slume’; Jagwar Ma – ‘Come Save Me’; Kirin J Callinan – ‘WIIW’; Catcall – ‘Satellites’.
BEST ON SCREEN:
SMAC OF THE YEAR:
BEST LIVE MUSIC ACT: HERMITUDE
Hermitude’s live show is a world away from self-aggrandising skip-hop boofhead parties. A cross between a DJ set and a gig, they bring out guest vocalists and hang beat pads around their necks like Flavor Flav’s clocks, and the music itself is so varied your attention never drifts – hip hop, electro, dubstep, trip hop, all done with huge smiles and so much energy. Runners Up: Kirin J Callinan, Holy Balm, Royal Headache, Straight Arrows, The Preatures
BEST ARTS EVENT: MCA ARTBAR
JESS SCULLY She’s the founder and director of Creative Sydney/Vivid Ideas, a former editor at Summer/Winter, Yen and EMPTY, and former director of the Spirit Of Youth Awards (aka SOYA). And that’s just a few of the pies she has her fingers in. She might actually love Sydney’s arts and culture more than we do...
BEST VISUAL ARTIST: BENJA HARNEY Benja took a course in paper construction while he was studying graphic design, and got hooked; seven years later, he’s been commissioned by clients as diverse as Hermès, Kylie Minogue and Maccas, as well as undertaking editorial and bespoke projects. He creates things that make you go oooooh! Runners up: Michaela Gleave, David Capra, Jess Olivieri, Claire Healy & Sean Cordeiro.
MCA had a runaway success in 2012 with this monthly Friday night series, which invites an artist to curate a party-mix of art, booze and tunes. As the event builds, we can only imagine the profile of the guest-curators will too (Yoko Ono pls ok?). Check it out January 25 from 7-11pm, curated by Brook Andrew. Runners up: Time Machine @ Serial Space, Brown Council’s Mass Action, I Wish You Hadn’t Asked @ Art & About, and 30 Days & 30 Nights @ FraserStudios.
BEST MUSIC EVENT: OUTSIDEIN
When Thom Yorke shows up at your party, you know you’re doing something right. The inaugural OutsideIn festival came about thanks to the joint efforts of two local tastemakers: record label Yes Please, and management/touring company Astral People. Featuring over 30 handpicked, forward-thinking electronic acts headlined by Smoke DZA, Shigeto, Africa Hitech, Melo-X and Flume, they set a benchmark that’ll be hard to out-do. But we have faith… Runners Up: Sunset People @ The Hollywood, Goodgod Danceteria @ Vivid LIVE, Dr Seuss Meets Elefant Traks, The Gate, Sound Summit.
RECORD OF THE YEAR: FLUME – FLUME
Flume’s spectacular debut LP was a late entry to the 2012 Best Of lists – but thanks to his fastrising underground profile and blog love from tastemakers around the world, it didn’t take long for the future beats wunderkind to trump One Direction for the #1 spot on the Australian charts. Runners up: Chasm – This Is How We Never Die; Hermitude – HyperParadise; Deep Sea Arcade – Outlands; Collarbones – Die Young; Jonathan Boulet – We Keep The Beat Found The Sound See The Need Start The Heart
BEST ON STAGE: ZOE COOMBS MARR IN GONE OFF This Sydney writer-performer specialises in frank, semi-autobiographical comedy – whether as part of performance trio post, or in solo shows like And That Was The Summer That Changed My Life and I’ve Been Everywhere Man (aka Gone Off). She’s also a regular at Club Cab Sav, and co-host of Quizzle Shizzle at Goodgod. Runners up: Mohammed Ahmed (I’m Your Man), Bojana Novakovic (The Story Of Mary MacLane By Herself), Tim Spencer (Show Me Yours I’ll Show You Mine), Matt Prest (Whelping Box) and Ian Meadows (Between Two Waves).
REMIX THE CITY:
KRIS MOYES FOR KIRIN J CALLINAN – ‘WIIW (WAY TO WAR)’
Moyes creates beautiful, menacing, glitchy visual poetry that perfectly matches Callinan’s lyrical industrial drone – in the most unexpected way. Great stuff. Runners up: Fishing & Spod for Fishing – ‘Choy Lin’ (Fishing); Tales in Space for Tales In Space – ‘Star Wars’; Yvette Paxinos for Catcall – ‘The World Is Ours’ (Catcall); and Melvin J. Montalban for Anna Lunoe & Flume – ‘I Met You’
BEST COLLECTIVE: 107 PROJECTS
It’s been a long journey for this Redfern-based arts hub, from planning stages to actually opening the venue in August – and they’re really only just starting. We expect good things! Runners Up: The Rizzeria, Lion Mountain Studio, Campfire Collective, Groundwork.
BEST EATS: GELATO MESSINA
Try their Bombe Alaska icecream cake (a concoction of raspberry sorbet, chocolate fondant gelato and Italian meringue that looks as bizarre as it tastes good), and tell us you’re not a fan of this franchise. This year we got one in Surry Hills, yeahhhhh. Runners up: Freda’s, Cornersmith, Hartsyard, Sixpenny.
NEXT BIG THING: SYDNEY FOOD TRUCKS
The idea of a restaurant on wheels that follows the hungry hoards is already a winner, but it’s the nosh concocted in these nine different trucks (from Mexican street food to bite-sized pastizzis and yum cha) that makes them so popular. Runners up: Thomas Demand’s Kaldor Public Art Project #25, Halls For Hire, World Movies’ Secret Cinema, and the Sydney Fringe/Underbelly project Mystery Bus.
GISELLE Giselle seemed to come out of nowhere in 2010, when her smoky vocals graced Flight Facilities’ smooth summer track, ‘Crave You’. But after trickling out track after track filled with her divine voice, rich melodies and complex production, she’s proved herself a stayer on the scene. Runners up: The Preatures, Dro Carey, Palms, Caitlin Park.
BRAG PRESENTS – BEST MAJOR FESTIVAL: VIVID LIVE Programmed by Sydney Opera House’s ex-Head of Contemporary Music, Fergus Linehan, Vivid LIVE spoiled us with an astonishing ten days: Karen O’s Stop The Virgens, Planetarium from Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly and Sufjan Stevens, Efterklang with a symphony, Florence Welch with an orchestra, Amon Tobin in a cube, and the jaw-dropping Janelle Monae. Runners Up: Harvest, Sydney Film Festival, The 18th Biennale of Sydney, Graphic.
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arts frontline
free stuff email: freestuff@thebrag.com
arts, theatre and film news... what's goin' on around town and more...
five minutes WITH
QWUX
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or his 16th show as a curator, local illustrator and graphic designer QWUX (of rah collective) has wrangled 16 of his favourite artists into one lineup, for a one-night-only group show at the Venue Formerly Known As Lo-Fi Collective. It’s called 91xnmb (intriguing, until you look at that shit upside down). What’s your background/training as an artist? I am 28 this year, and I have been involved in art and design basically my whole life. I had fairly intense art lessons as a young kid, but really didn’t get serious about art ‘til late high school, as it was the only subject at school I was interested in. I then took a few years off, before I started working as a designer when I was about 23. I decided to go to art school after seeing my best mate go through, so I applied to study visual arts at SCA and finished up with an honours degree in printmaking, in 2011.
Beyond The Beard (detail) by QWUX
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD – WIN!
Tell us about rah collective: Rah started in 2009 with a group of six artists, and we basically formed it as a reaction to the harshness of the Sydney art world. It’s tough to get your work out there and recognised, but if you work together then it all seems so much easier. We started just organising group shows with friends, but have grown into a small independent publishing company, pushing out yearly books full of art from emerging and student artists from all over Australia. At the moment, there are still six artists in rah, but
the lineup has changed a bit: now it is Luke Burcher, Jessica Minervini-Eringa, Kirst Ohh, Thom Bransdon, Jess Cally, and myself. Tell us about the lineup: All the artists in 91xnmb come from a more illustrative background, often working with characters/ portraits and other figurative work. I chose everyone because they have either influenced my own work in one way or another, or they have blown my mind with what they have been doing lately. Most of the artists are Sydney locals, too. Guys like Chris Yee, Nico and Alex Lehours are killing it at the moment, and lived less than ten minutes from my house till I moved recently. I also looked outside of Sydney to some new artists I haven’t met, but whose work I really enjoy: TeamNigh has been killing it lately, as has Ryan Parsons. Then there are the guys whose work I just love to bits: Josh ‘KID9’ Thorsen, Mark Drew and Yewot are all guys I know personally, but love their work and collect it myself. Anyway, there is something for everyone, and from what I see of the works coming through, it's going to be a killer show – these guys are doing me proud! What: 91xnmb group show When: Thursday January 24 from 6pm Where: Lo-Fi Collective (Lvl 3 of The Standard) More: wearelofi.com.au / qwux.net / rahcollective.com
When it debuted at Sundance last year, this ultra-low-budget slice of magical realism quickly became the little film that could, going on to win the festival's Grand Jury and Cinematography prizes, then the Camera d’Or at Cannes, and surviving the critical hype to take a healthy (for an indie art-house) $10 million at the US box office alone – four or five times its budget. Set on the fringes of a semi-submerged southern-Louisiana bayou in the near future, the story revolves around a sixyear-old called Hushpuppy (played by Academy Award-nominee Quvenzhané Wallis) and her alcoholic father. Beasts Of The Southern Wild is so popular this awards season that Icon have decided to re-release it in selected NSW cinemas – but we have FIVE COPIES on DVD/ Blu-ray up for grabs. If you’d like to get your hands on one, email us with the name of the director, your postal address, and which format you’d prefer.
that play with notions of taboo and national identity (including Kamahi King as his alterego Constantina Bush, and locals George Tillianakis and Liam Benson), plus we hear there’s some pole dancing magic and DJs, alongside projections of Andrew’s work. The dress code is Hunger Games x Apocalypto. mca.com.au/series/artbar
JANIS X ALASKA
This February sees the launch of the JANIS project (founded by Sydney galabout-town Kelly Doley and named for the legendary singer), which promotes female art practice. The first exhibition, JANIS #1 will run at Alaska Projects in Kings Cross, and features work from a primo selection of lady art-makers, including: Amanda Rowell (of Redfern’s The Commercial gallery), Diana Smith (Brown Council!), provocateur Hannah Furmage, 'Dumpster Diva' Justene Williams. There’s a launch party kicking off at 6pm February 6 to give the curious a taste of what the JANIS Project has to offer, as well as litres of ‘Crude Oil’, a Joplin-inspired dark ale created specially by Beer Creative. alaskaprojects.com
HEEEEY OCARINA
Get nostalgic at Sydney Opera House’s Concert Hall next week, when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra take on Nintendo’s Legend Of Zelda series. Originally composed by Koji Kondo, the game tunes have been arranged for orchestra by Chad Seiter, whose Symphony Of The Goddesses (comprised of four movements, one apiece for Zelda instalments Ocarina Of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and A Link To The Past) is the centre-piece of the program. It’s already toured North America, to much jizzing of pants, and tickets are just $35, so lock that in. The Legend Of Zelda: Symphony Of The Goddesses runs on February 1-2. Tickets and 'more specifics' at sydneysymphony.com
TATTOO & BODY ART EXPO DARK WATER
Local artist Kirthana Selvaraj opens a solo show at Glebe gallery The Tate next Wednesday, after participating in their Girls Girls Girls! group show last April. Expect portraits of the haunting variety, around the theme of water. Selvaraj has been working on the show for over a year, and writes: This body of work aims to celebrate and expose the real person in their darkest moments when being submerged or touched by this vital liquid, as it is often when one is at their most vulnerable. Dark Water opens January 30 from 6pm at The Tate (345 Glebe Pt Road) and runs til Sunday February 3. If you like websites, hit up thetate.com.au
ARTBAR: TABOO
MCA’s montly Friday-night ARTBAR series won the SMAC Award for Best Arts Event last week, after just seven instalments. If you wanna know what the fuss is about, head
The Last Supper
down this Friday January 25 from 7-11pm for a session of art, performance, tunes and booze selected by Brook Andrew, the curator of MCA’s current group exhibition TABOO. In other words, expect performances from artists
The Tattoo & Body Art Expo rolls back into Sydney in March, with its annual spread of eye-candy – from illustrated babes to rockabilly stylings and pocket-rocket pin-ups. Professionals and obsessives will want to check out the seminars and presentations by international talents Corey Miller (of LA’s Six Feet Under) Horitaka (of San Jose’s State Of Grace studio), and Fingers Dead (from the legendary Swedish ink spot Swahili Bob’s). For noobs, there’s also a ‘Getting A Tattoo 101’ session (seems wise) and seminars covering tattoo history and photography; for the performance-oriented, there’s a pinup workshop and competition. For voyeurs, we recommend the competition sections. The expo runs March 8-10 at the Royal Hall Of Industries; program at tattooexpo.com.au
MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
Having tackled everything sexual and gender-related in their recent SEXES program, Performance Space are kicking off 2013 with a program of performance, visual arts and workshops looking at death, titled Matters Of Life And Death. The centrepieces of the program are multisensory meal-performance The Last Supper (Reckless Sleepers, UK/Belgium), multimedia performance/lecture Performance Anxiety (Brian Lucas, Brisbane), and Sydney performance artist Sarah Jane Norman’s trio of works dealing with ‘blood’, Unsettling Suite. Also part of the program are the next instalment of the NightTime mini-fest (curated by Eddie Sharp); Makeshift’s latest project, an ‘open kitchen laboratory’ called Making Time; and the Clubhouse series, including presentations by Mu-Meson, The Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, and multidisciplinary man-about-town Sumugan Sivanesan. Matters Of Life And Death runs from February 20 – March 9 at Carriageworks; apprise yourself of further information at performancespace.com.au
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Experience Film International Film School Sydney
Last Chance to Apply for Feb 2013!
Want to experience film like never before? Every school says “we’re different”. The difference at IFSS is that we live up to that promise. In two years with us, you make up to six films and work on up to 24 other films being made by your peers. You won’t get to do that at any other film school in Sydney! The school is run like a working professional community with what we call a holistic approach to teaching, delivered through the Advanced Diploma of Screen and Media where students can focus on either Screenwriting, Directing and Producing OR Cinematography.
Apply Now at ifss.edu.au T: 02 9663 3789 E: info@ifss.edu.au W: www.ifss.edu.au L: 27 Rosebery Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018
IFSS
We has internets!
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Danny Bhoy [COMEDY] Dear Sweet Bhoy By Alasdair Duncan
I
t is a truth universally acknowledged that life is full of indignities. Nothing is built to last, big corporations are out to screw the little guy … insert your gripe of choice here. We’ve all written our share of indignant status updates and angry letters, but comedian Danny Bhoy has taken it a step further – his new show, Dear Epson, is all about venting his frustration at the modern world. “I suppose I had a bit of a mini breakdown,” he tells me, of the origin of the show. “I used to make my tour manager laugh every day with my complaints, my views on the world. He finally got fed up with it and told me that I should start writing my complaints down instead.” Bhoy’s first letter was to Epson, to ask about the price of their ink and how they could possibly justify it. “For each printer, they bring out a new cartridge,” he fumes, “so if you buy a new printer, you can’t keep the cartridge from the old one, you have to buy a new one. I make the point, in the letters, that ink is more expensive than champagne, and nobody seems to be questioning this. I don’t understand why printer ink is so expensive, but if you buy a pen with ink it’s ridiculously cheap. Companies keep the price high, and the further you dig, the more widespread you start to realise it is.” All of this griping might make Bhoy sound like he’s approaching cranky-old-man territory, but he’s hardly alone. “It’s amazing the number of people who’ve had similar experiences,” he says, “and a lot of that comes out at the show… People are laughing and agreeing and saying 'Yeah, this is great, this guy’s right on the money.'” Dear Epson runs far deeper than just consumer
complaints, however. “When I wrote that initial letter to Epson, I thought it would make for a fun bit of stand-up,” Bhoy admits, “but after I’d done it, I realised that letter-writing was also a form of therapy. I was intrigued at the places you could take that, and I thought the show would be quite dull if it was just me sniping at big companies for an hour and a half; [so] after a while, I started writing to people I know – to old school teachers and the like. At this point, the show becomes more about my life – the final letter is addressed to me. I start out as an angry consumer, and end up trying to work out why I feel this way!” Bhoy will tour the show around Australia starting from February, including three shows at Sydney Comedy Festival. “Australia will always have a place in my heart,” he says, “and I always have a great time down there.” Audiences here respond especially well to Bhoy – a fact he attributes to the similarities between our sense of humour and that of the Scottish. “You can go into a pub in Australia and it’s similar to going to a pub in Scotland: it’s just people standing around a bar telling stories. I find that to be exactly the way I do my comedy.”
Denzel Washington stars as a junkie pilot in Flight
Flight [FILM] Melissa Leo's View From The Top By Alicia Malone
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fter winning an Oscar for her performance in David O'Russell's The Fighter, Melissa Leo has done something truly surprising. Instead of taking on a splashy leading-lady role in a major studio film, she’s chosen a smaller but pivotal role, at the end of Flight, a drama about a pilot struggling with addiction. Leo plays Ellen Block, an aviation investigator who is involved with the trial of Captain Whip Whitaker (played by Denzel Washington, who has been nominated for an Academy Award for the role). What made you want to play Ellen? I would be happy to do something where I carried more of the weight; I have several projects that I’d like to do. But what’s happening right now are these really delicious yummy jobs to work with people like Robert Zemeckis and Denzel Washington. I know that Zemeckis really, really wanted me to do it. You read the script and you totally understand that he needs somebody at the end who’s going to bring it home for him. He needs somebody who’s going to come in and do something that’s not the most glamorous thing in the world and change the course of the film. Now that’s a high honour to be asked to do that by a director. And that was not lost on me.
What: Danny Bhoy’s Dear Epson When: April 23, 24 & 26 (third show added!) Where: State Theatre, Market Street CBD More: abpresents.com.au
I find the script really interesting. I like how Whip is heroic but at the same time he’s such a despicable person. Did you like that quandary? Yeah. For Ellen, it doesn’t really matter what her opinion about it might be. What matters is the truth. She’s got a pretty good idea of what the truth is. She needs him to say it. And in doing that, I don’t think it’s lost on her that she might save a human life. It’s a really interesting portrait of overblown addiction and the way the addict beguiles himself. It doesn’t just happen
to stupid people. It’s not because you've got nothing going on. I don’t know if we’ve really seen that in film before – an accurate portrait of a high-functioning addict. Denzel is amazing in this role. Even though his character might be putting on a front, you can see in his eyes what the truth is. What was it like when you were faced with him? Denzel was being shot as I was being shot. He was filmed by video cameras to cast on the big screens, so at all times we were both working. I have a little bit of a suspicion that no matter how it was being shot, that’s what you’d get from Mr. Washington all day long. And that for me was a total pleasure. You don’t have to worry about getting to know people or if you’re going to be friends. You meet each other as the character. It’s dangerous for an actor to talk about because then you sound like you’re a nut-ball method actor. But I’m a nut-ball method actor, and that’s okay. {laughs} After all the research you did to prepare for the role, are you more or less scared of flying? Oh it doesn’t bother me! If I got worried about the roles I did, I would have stopped walking the streets after the first Law & Order! I didn’t do the kind of research that a lot of the other people who worked on the film did, examining accidents. I don’t need to fill my brain with that kind of disaster. But I’m not given to mistaking the research for what might happen to me. It’s just a movie. When: Flight – Dir. Robert Zemeckis When: In cinemas from January 31
The Brothers Wayans [COMEDY] Bringing The Juice To The Hood By Lachlan Kanoniuk
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n the small rural town I grew up in, there was a small family-owned video library that was in possession of a veritable holy grail for us pre-broadband-era adolescents: a VHS copy of the Wayans brothers’ 1996 spoof Don’t Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood. None of us had ever seen any of the films name-checked in the ridiculous title. It didn’t matter: the video tended to be rented out months in advance, even as new releases languished on the shelf. Don’t Be A Menace was a portal away from our exclusively white, generally drab surroundings. These days, the VHS – and the video store – is long gone, but the Wayans brothers endure, in collaborative relationship that has spawned White Chicks and the Scary Movie franchise, among other things. “I think that’s beautiful, says Shawn. “That’s the great thing about comedy, when it works well, people on the total opposite side of the world is laughing at something that you did. I never thought it would reach that far. The social commentary that we were making was so specific, but the physical [comedy] and the broadness of Don’t Be A Menace is what reached all across the ocean to the other side of the world, and it’s what you guys enjoyed about it.” The Wayans brothers, including Damon and eldest brother Keenen Ivory (director of I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, in which Shawn and
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Marlon made their screen debuts), broke through in the late ‘80s with the landmark sketch TV series In Living Color – a program that proved fertile ground for some of the biggest names in entertainment. “I have to put it up there with the top shows,” Shawn says proudly, “because of its impact and what it did at that time, and how it still holds up even today. If you think about how many stars it launched from that one show – you got Keenan and Damon, Jim Carrey, Jamie [Foxx], J-Lo, me and Marlon, Tommy Davison, David Alan Grier, Sister Kim... So many different great careers that are still relevant today.” The Wayans’ most recent screen project, A Haunted House, just debuted at the US box office at #2, and will release on DVD in Australia in May, neatly coinciding with Shawn and Marlon’s Sydney Comedy Festival show – a set that should appeal to old school stand-up fans. “Comedy has reached a point where it’s more awkward than it actually is funny,” says Shawn. “I think we need to get back on track to funny, not awkward. Awkward ain’t really funny, it’s just awkward. This ain’t fashion – if you get a laugh you get a laugh. You’re not going to be outdated if it’s funny.” Among their comedy heroes, the Wayans
Marlon and Shawn Wayans count Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Lucille Ball, Art Carney, Jerry Seinfeld and Bob Hope. “You definitely want to move forward,” Shawn admits, “but was those people did was special. Even though you want the future to be new, you want it to be special as well. Taking a lot
of the old school with the new never really hurt nobody.” What: Shawn & Marlon Wayans - LIVE When: Friday May 17 Where: Enmore Theatre More: sydneycomedyfest.com.au
DRINK INTELLIGENTLY The SMIRNOFF ICE and DOUBLE BLACK words and associated logos are trademarks. © The Smirnoff Co. 2012.
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Arts Snap
Film & Theatre Reviews
At the heart of the arts Where you went last week...
Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
Revenge of the nerds: Jonathon Oxlade, Luke Smiles and Matthew Whittet in School Dance
Until February 3 / Wharf 1, STC
flickerfest opening night
PICS :: TL
At first, School Dance appears to be fairly regular territory; admittedly hilarious territory, but after a pumping preshow ‘80s soundtrack and the introduction of some dorky teenagers deliberately played by 30-year-olds, it seems that we’re in for another story of awkward hormonal missteps. Then something magical happens, and things only improve from there, taking us on a strange quest into an invisible world where a dark furby roams the land.
11:01:13 :: Bondi Pavilion ::
Written by Matthew Whittet (who I think we can now stop calling an ‘up and coming playwright’), School Dance is a mash-up of teen pop culture drawing heavily on the ‘80s – with the odd mobile phone thrown in to stop you from getting too caught up in time and place. It plays out on designer Jonathon Oxlade’s mischievous set and is kept pumping along by Luke Smiles’ sound design (comprised of more than a few disco favourites, as well as some originals).
Robert Cousins’ set design and Alice Babidge’s costumes are delightfully creative, evoking the aesthetic of ‘80s playtime adventures and rumpus-room theatre. For a theatre company whose logo is a horse represented by a gumboot upended on a chair, it is fitting that in this Peter Pan, all it takes is a flickering of bedside lights and a tinkling of bells to conjure Peter’s famous fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell. Elsewhere, bunk beds pushed together become the Jolly Roger pirate ship, the Darling children do indeed take flight, and Captain Hook’s reptilian nemesis comes to jaw-snapping life. You don’t need fairy dust for these flights of fancy – a dash of imagination should do the trick.
PICS :: TL
Until February 9 / Sydney Theatre
What's in our diary...
LA SOIRÉE Until March 10, nightly shows – early and late. The Studio @ Sydney Opera House
Captain Frodo 22 :: BRAG :: 496:: 21:01:13
There’s a reason La Soirée sold out a ten-week season last summer and has been rebooked for this year: it’s a tightly produced, finely calibrated explosion of lols and fun that puts a smile on the face of even the most hardened anti-circus grinch. The format is this: a lineup of local, international and ‘surprise’ guests doing slots of less than 5 minutes, ranging from hoops to aerials, contortionism and stand-up. What makes it different from other variety shows is the calibre of the acts, the bangin’ soundtrack (which spans from Queen to Jet, Nina Simone, disco and Motown), and the irresistible persona of each artist. Our favourites from opening night were adorable young German acrobat duo Chris & Iris, Marawa’s disco-hoops bit, the coke-fuelled Irish domesticviolence-dancers, and of course Mario 'Queen Of The Circus' ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ juggling routine. sydneyoperahouse.com/lasoiree
■ Theatre
There were a few moments part-way through where the show seemed to get carried away with itself, and there were a couple of clunky transitions, but these were small detractions from what was otherwise a hugely fun show. It certainly made me want to dance with somebody.
THE SECRET RIVER
Arts Exposed
Rebecca Saffir
PETER PAN
■ Theatre
11:01:13 :: Name This Bar :: 197 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9356 2123
Perhaps most importantly, in casting light (and there can never be enough) on a truly abysmal episode in our history, The Secret River also quietly offers hope of a way forward. The torchbearers of the future are clearly highlighted here, and with any luck they’ll be writing our tomorrow.
Whittet, Oxlade and Smiles also play the three main characters, and are equally hilarious as the trio of ‘losers’; however, it’s Amber McMahon (whom you may remember from STC’s Actors Company) who steals the show with her suite of characters. From an invisible teen to a magical unicorn girl, she has more costume changes than you can poke a glow stick at, and her auto-tune/dancenumber is a definite showstopper.
Henry Florence
art battles
down, and with director Neil Armfield showing admirable restraint in his staging, The Secret River so easily could have been boring. Instead, it’s mesmerising and present. Every moment is necessary and, in the true spirit of tragedy, leads to the entirely unsurprising but still gutting conclusion. It’s the small touches that make this production: Bovell’s decision to have the people of the Hawkesbury, the Dharug, speak in native language on stage, the excellent scenes and performances from the children, and Iain Grandage’s subtle score (assisted in performance by most members of the cast).
Australia is a country of migrants. It’s a sad fact that not only have we migrants not always treated each other very nicely, we also built a nation’s success and prosperity on mistreatment and exploitation of our fair island’s native people. It’s a platitude that to understand where we’re going we need to understand where we came from, but it’s one worth wheeling out in regards to The Secret River. An adaptation of Kate Grenville’s hugely popular 2005 novel and adapted for the stage by Andrew Bovell, its tropes might feel vaguely familiar to anyone who got their HSC after 1990. Convict William Thornhill (Nathaniel Dean) is deported to the colonies for life with his wife (Anita Hegh) and children (Rory Potter and Callum McManis on opening night.) He works hard and earns his pardon as a free man, and rather than return home to London decides to set up on a “vacant” patch of land on what we now call the Hawkesbury River. Of course, for a 2013 audience (hopefully) roundly disabused of the concept of terra nullius, we can see from the outset that this isn’t going to end prettily. And it doesn’t. It is the highest praise to say that a work that might seem predictable is never dull. At almost three hours from curtain-up to
Until February 10 / Belvoir Ralph Myers’ new production of J.M. Barrie’s classic play, beautifully adapted by Tommy Murphy, is a consummately entertaining fable that revels in the power of the imagination. Expect pirates and fairies and mermaids and sword fighting, and a whole lotta fun.
The talented cast tackle multiple roles with a sense of play that invites the audience to join their grand game of make believe. Charlie Garber is particularly fun as the bumbling, anxious Mr. Darling and later as the fastidiously villainous Hook. Harriet Dyer is hysterical as the Lost Boys twins, whilst Paula Arundell is lovely in her delicate turn as Mrs. Darling. Sadly, the weak link is Meyne Wyatt, in the title role. Usually a very strong, commanding actor (in Silent Disco, for example), here Wyatt struggles to find a consistent tone, and his performance is out of step with the production. Where the other cast members are happy to take their inner-child on a mischievous romp that maintains an obvious respect for the source material, Wyatt’s performance comes across as something close to condescending, like an adult at a kids’ party, talking down to a 4-year-old. Even so, Peter Pan is a captivating confection that will delight children – yes of all ages – especially those who, despite all appearances, have never, ever grown up. Jonathan Hindmarsh
School Dance photo by Lisa Tomasetti
SCHOOL DANCE
La Soirée photo by Daniel Boud
■ Theatre
Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and the bareboards around town.
■ Sydney Festival
URBAN
Until January 27 / Riverside Theatres Urban is something truly strange. On the one side, it’s an objectively bad show: it’s unpolished, too long and there’s some pretty bad gender politics going on. On the other hand, it’s a truly amazing display of circus skill and talent. The physical prowess on display is phenomenal, and when the company are performing their tricks it’s easy to see why this show arrives here off the back of a sell-out run in London and seasons in Paris and on Broadway. The main problem arises in the attempt to inject some theatre where it isn’t needed. The performers come from the streets of the rough Colombian city Cali. They’re not actors, they’re performers with incredible abilities. Had they simply got on stage, put on their pumping music (most of which was accompanied by live rapping from the ensemble) and wowed us with trick after trick, intermingled with direct-address stories about their life experiences, this would have been an unbelievable show. Instead, the energy of the show – from the opening, which involved one girl awkwardly whipping another, to a confusing scene where skeletons emerged against a projected backdrop of burning candles – was repeatedly diffused by weird theatrical breaks. That said, you should go see this show if you can, because the circus is incredible. Between high-flying jumps, slacklining tricks and more backflips than you can dream of, the show manages to keep raising the stakes. The highlight is undoubtedly Julia Alejandra Sanchez Aja’s stunning aerial rope work, which sees her flying over the audience in what genuinely seem to be death-defying moves. Overall, Urban is awesome but confusing. Henry Florence ■ Theatre
RUST AND BONE Until February 2 / SBW Stables (Griffin) On a concrete stage with a rectangular depression in the centre are a series of violent spectacles: a jock has his leg torn off in a Sea World pool; a boxer fights off demons he can’t seem to ever beat; and a dog-trainer copes with his own frustrations by engaging his animals in brutal fights. These three characters, in their arena-like settings, are the basis for an interweaving set of monologues by Caleb Lewis (adapted from the short stories by Craig Davidson) that explore broken masculine archetypes. The three male actors all produce powerful, original performances, their confusion and anguish thoroughly destabilising the tropes of machismo. Wade Briggs completely commits to his unlikable character – a superficial, bratty Sea World trainer who is attacked by one of his Orcas. His performance is subtle and balanced, inviting us to both disdain and empathise with him as his preconceptions unravel following his accident. Renato Musolino’s role as the dog-trainer is both intriguing and unsettling, as he vents (and perhaps resolves) his domestic insecurities – being unable to conceive a child –
through the vicious outlet of training dogs for fights. Their suffering becomes both his catharsis and his vicarious experience of fatherhood. Adelaide director Corey McMahon should be commended for the seamless way the three monologues overlap, often morphing into each other with simple and effective motifs, such as a single handclap that punctuates the violence. The pacing and the tripled storyline isn’t always balanced – I found myself tuning out during episodes involving the boxer (played by Sam Smith), whose narrative through-line seemed the most meandering, in order to catch up with the other two narratives. For the most part though, the play’s frenetic pace works in its favour, with the rapid transitions keeping the spectacle alive, as each of the three men search for their own bizarre kind of redemption. Justin Wolfers ■ Sydney Festival
SEMELE WALK January 11-15 / Sydney Town Hall The idea sounds like it was hatched over a crack-fuelled weekend at someone’s rambling chateau in the south of France: take a rarely performed chamber opera by late-Baroque composer George Frideric Handel, set it on a catwalk, populate it with people wearing clothes designed by the potentially-crazy-but-alwaysamazing Vivienne Westwood, invite edgy chamber ensemble Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop to join the fun and compose some extra stuff, and stage it at Sydney Town Hall. It shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t make any sense. But it is transcendent. Semele Walk is “a show by Ludger Engels”: not an opera, not a concert, not a fashion show, but an event in its own right. Using the score and libretto of Handel’s Semele, which tells the story of a mortal woman punished by the gods for her pursuit of immortality, Engels has cleverly stitched together the best of classical and pop culture. The Romantic poets were famously keen on depicting and inducing the sublime, which has rather fallen out of fashion in more recent epochs. Fittingly, some of Westwood’s earliest designs in the 1980s were the beginnings of the New Romantic movement, and it shows here. The exquisite detail and almost outrageous pomp of her designs fits perfectly with the world of vanity and excess Semele is punished for pursuing. The voices of soprano Aleksandra Zamojska and counter-tenor Armin Gramer are of such purity it almost hurts to listen to them, an overwhelming beauty Keats himself would have endorsed. But Engels is clever enough to not let perfection become the overriding experience. Halfway through, he allows the Kaleideskop musicians to invade the stage and, for lack of a better phrase, fuck shit up a bit. In the magnificent acoustics and décor of the Town Hall, the reverberations aren’t just aural: they’re physical, visual and cultural. The final image, of Semele engulfed by the flames of her own folly, burns bright in the receding darkness. Rebecca Saffir
Semele Walk photo by Jamie Williams
Semele Walk
See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13 :: 23
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sydney festival first night
PICS :: AM
nightwish
11:01:13 :: The Enmore :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666
05:01:13 :: The Domain ::
the virgens reunion party profile
It’s called: Tell Her – Karen O’s Stop The Virgens chorus reunion
It sounds like: A collection of brilliant female musicians – not one of those consolatory ‘chick’ bills. Who’s playing? Daily Meds, Rainbow Chan, Moon Holiday, Twincest, Jack Colwell and The Owls, Lani the Procrastinator, SB, Okin Osan, Persianlovecake, Sarah and Netta, Genevieve Fricker, New Brutalists. Sell it to us: When Karen O from Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought her opera Stop The Virgens to Vivid Festival last year, a bunch of Sydney singers became her virgen chorus. They're all getting together and playing, in all our myriad bands, on one bill for one night. And with special guests – YYYs DJs! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Getting Pancakes On The Rocks at like 4am – some of those odd savoury ones, with bacon and béarnaise sauce. Crowd specs: Full house. Wallet damage: $10. Where: FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel
trash can
PICS :: TL
When: Wednesday January 23 / 6pm ‘til midnight
09:01:13 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William St 9331 9900
S : TIM LEVY OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: JANE CASWELL :: ASHLEY MAR
24 :: BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13
RKE :: MARY (HEAD HONCHO) :: KATRINA CLA
donny benet
PICS :: AM
a folk informal
PICS :: KC
10:01:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711
09:01:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
PICS :: AM
up all night out all week . . .
snap sn ap
Remedy
up all night out all week . . .
More Than The Cure Since 1989 with Murray Engleheart
ROGUE’S GALLERY
last year gave him a taste, and he wanted more. “I’ve seen Rollins do it all these years,” Ian told Decibel magazine. “It’s something that I always wanted to do, and I finally had the opportunity this year. I don’t find public speaking terrifying, for some crazy reason. Maybe there is something wrong with me!”
BLACK CROWES
PICS :: AM
tokyo denmark sweden
The Black Crowes are back – and just when we were thinking that The Chris Robinson Brotherhood were more than worthy successors to their throne. They hit the road in March, starting in the UK before sweeping through the US. “I think everyone’s in a good space,” Chris told Billboard, “and our hiatus is for nothing but health reasons, mental and physical, and to have the freedom to do some projects with other people, raise the kids and stuff like that. There’s no end or beginning – it’s, ‘Let’s just do some other stuff for a while.’” Johnny Depp
11:01:13 :: Upstairs Beresford :: L1 354 Bourke St Surry Hills 83135000
Johnny Depp continues to take the whole I-wanna-be-a-Pirate/Keef-Richards thing to heart: he’s one of a slew of names featured on the forthcoming Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys – which teams Tom Waits with Keith Richards, Courtney Love with Michael Stipe, and blues-punk-rocker Shilpa Ray with Warren Ellis and Nick Cave. Depp’s contributions include ‘Leaving Of Liverpool’ with Pogue Shane MacGowan, and ‘The Mermaid’ with Patti Smith.
13
Yep, the Black Sabbath “reunion” record is to be called 13 and will be out in June. We don’t really care. It is kinda interesting that Rage Against The Machine striker Brad Wilk took the slot of original drummer Bill Ward, who is still taking the whole metal circus in from the bench. But really, it’s hardly cigar-worthy, is it?
DOC SICK PICS :: PX
bored nothing
Very sad to hear about Doc Neeson’s condition. Unlike Rose Tattoo, whose mortality rate took a savage beating about six years or so ago, The Angels have been spared such tragedies. Let’s pray that this isn’t to be the first of more.
10:01:13 :: FBi Social :: Kings Cross Hotel 248 William St 9331 9900
SPOKEN WORD
This is one right out of left field: Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian is stepping into the world of spoken word, with dates in the UK in May and June. His one-off show
MY BLOODY
Just before Christmas, My Bloody Valentine announced that they had finished mastering their new album – an album that had its beginnings in the ‘90s. Main man Kevin Shields seems pleased: “Some people think it’s stranger than Loveless,” he told NME. "I don’t.”
CASSETTE
We were doing some digging around the other day and found a box of cassettes that contained some interesting stuff – things like a System Of A Down demo that was circulated by a US street team, and an Armoured Angel tape. And we might just dust them off, because as we mentioned a while back – in relation to one of the formats of the new Redd Kross slab, Researching The Blues – the cass is back, baby. Sure, the format has its downsides – the tape “phasing” (that is, twisting and tearing) when you don’t sit it properly in the deck, and the artwork is lousy due to the size constraints – but still, it’s nice to have them around again.
RIP KYUSS
Kyuss Lives! will perform under that name for the final time ever during their Soundwave performances and their sideshow, teaming with Red Fang on February 27 at the Metro.
P.S.
We don’t know how we done it, but we forgot to mention the ridiculous greatness of Endless Boogie in our gigs-of-the-year list. Whoops!
Kyuss Lives!
django django
PICS :: KC
ON THE TURNTABLE On the Remedy turntable is Albert Ayler’s The Last Album, which we had to have – but at the same time have studiously avoided playing, purely on the basis that it had vocals on it. Petty? Us? You bet! We’ve never been big fans of singers or lyrics, and so certainly aren’t interested in hearing the great man warble, much as we don’t care to take in Kerry King’s vocals or Discharge playing a selection of Christmas classics. But we was wrong. The first track is Ayler absolutely going at it with the fully distorto’d guitar of Canned Heat’s Henry Vestine – go figure, eh? – and it barely lets up from there. Yes, there’s singing (or maybe chanting) by Ayler and Mary Maria, and even an RnB-type tune, but also there’s plenty of pure, uncluttered Ayler absolutely soaring.
11:01:13 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666
S : TIM LEVY OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: JANE CASWELL :: ASHLEY MAR
RKE :: MARY (HEAD HONCHO) :: KATRINA CLA
Send stuff to remedy@ozemail.com.au by 6pm Wednesdays. Pics to art@thebrag.com www.facebook.com/remedy4rock BRAG :: 496:: 21:01:13 :: 25
g g guide gig g
send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
pick of the week The Laurels
JAZZ
Kinetic Jazz Festival: Bill Risby Duo, Tim Clarkson’s And Equal Music, Kinetic Cinema St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $20 (con)- $30 7pm Old School Funk and Groove Night 505, Surry Hills free 8.30pm
JAZZ
ROCK & POP
Antipodean Interpolations: The Laurels, Straight Arrows, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs, The Gooch Palms, Step-Panther, Bloods $36 8pm MONDAY JANUARY 21 ROCK & POP
Dirty Projectors (USA), The Unnatural Congress of Still Beating Hearts Sydney Festival @ Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $45-$75 8pm So Frenchy So Chic: Melanie Pain (FRA) and Nadeah, Revolver (FRA) Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney $56 8pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 12pm
JAZZ
Victor Martinez 26 :: BRAG :: 496 : 21:01:13
505, Surry Hills $10 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Royal Band Cabravale Digger, Canley Vale free 7pm Russell Neal, Monica & The Explosion, Chris Brookes, Massimo Presti Kellys On King, Newtown free 7pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 22 ROCK & POP
Band of Horses (USA), Mike Noga Enmore Theatre $67.60 7.30pm
Dappled Cities, Phebe Starr Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall $36 8pm Foals (UK), Mitzi Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm Lianne La Havas (UK) Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta sold out 7pm Lonely Boys Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10pm Stormcellar Family Hotel, Tamworth free 12pm Yeah Yeah Yeahs (USA) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 8pm yMusic (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park $38 7pm
ROCK & POP
JAZZ
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23
Nuggets –
ROCK & POP
Brighton the Corners: The Carraways, Go Away Everyone!, The New Orleans Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst $5 8pm Donny Benet, Jack Ladder Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney free 8pm Emma Louise, Sleepy Tea The Vanguard, Newtown sold out 8pm Foals (UK), Mitzi Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm Gang Of Brothers, Cheyenne Kavanagh Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm Immortal Band Competition Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Lianne La Havas (UK) Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta sold out 7pm Musos Club Jam Night Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt free 8pm One Wild Night Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 11pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 7pm Tell Her – Karen O’s Stop The Virgens Chorus: Rainbow Chan, Moon Holiday, New Brutalists, Twincest, Daily Meds, Jack Colwell and The Owls, Perisanlovecake, Genevieve Fricker, Okin Osan, Lani the Procrastinator, SB, DJ Nick Zinner (USA) FBi Social @ The Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross $10 6pm Vampire Weekend (USA) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7.30pm yMusic (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park $38 7pm
Russell Neal, Angelene Harris, Monica & The Explosion Five Dock Hotel free 7.30pm
Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney
FRIDAY JANUARY 25
031 Rockshow Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10pm The 5.6.7.8’s (JPN), La Mancha Negra, Mother & Son Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm All In A Year, Clipped Wings, Street War, Final Frontier, Yo Put That Bag Back On Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm Anthems of Oz Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 9pm Aya Larkin, Ollie Brown The Vanguard Newtown $18.80 8pm Black & White Big Band, Cocktail Cabinet, DJ Jack Shit Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7pm Casey Donovan Pays Tribute To Mama Cass The Basement, Circular Quay $28 (+ bf) 8pm Cuervo, King Colour, Thunderthief, Tristan Grassick The Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale free 8pm Darkside (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park sold out 11.30pm Holiday Sidewinder, Black Vanilla, DJ Smokey La Beef Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $10 8pm Iron Lung, Thorax Blackwire Records, Annandale 8pm Laura & Bruno, The Gold Project The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80 8pm Louis London, Hey Baby, Scarlet’s Revenge, Stan Brian Annandale Hotel $5 7.30pm Musos Club Jam Night Carousel Hotel, Rooty Hill free 8pm Osaka Monaurail (JPN), Saskwatch Sydney Fesitval @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney $46 8pm Renee Geyer Brass Monkey, Cronulla $51 7pm Sarah McLeod, Hot Spoke Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $25 7pm The Snowdroppers, Daddy Long Legs Hotel Steyne, Manly free 8pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 2.30pm yMusic (USA) Sydney Festival @ Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta $30 7pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
FRIDAY JANUARY 25
THURSDAY JANUARY 24
Kinetic Jazz Festival: Cooking Club, Ben Hauptmann Septet, Soup Kitchen Orchestra St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $20 (con)- $30 7pm Tony Buck, Magda Mayas Duo, Alister Spence, Raymond McDonald Duo 505, Surry Hills $10-$15 8.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK John Chesher, Gavin Fitzgerald, Pauline Scarf Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick free 7pm Russell Neal, Angelene Harris, Matt McGowen, Anthea Varigos Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 7pm
Kinetic Jazz Festival: Quadrilateral, Kinetic Jazz Orchestra, Kinetic Cinema w Kevin Hunt St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $20 (con)- $30 7pm Libor Smoldas 505, Surry Hills free-$15 8.30pm Peter Head Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 8pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Chris Assad (CAN), Melanie Horsnell Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7pm Peach Montgomery, Angelene Harris, Michael Dillon Forest Lodge Hotel, Glebe free 7.30pm Russell Neal, Bonnie Kay Olympic Hotel, Paddington free 7.30pm
An Evening With Ross Wilson The Basement, Circular Quay $40 (+ bf) 7.30pm Ash Grunwald Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $35 8pm Blaxploitation III: Professor Groove, DJ Stephen Ferris Blue Beat, Double Bay $20 (+ bf) 9.30pm Caravan Te, Vivienne Kingswood Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 6.30pm Discovery: KSSR Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst 8pm Finn Edgeworth Tavern free 8.30pm Guantanamo Bay City Rollers, Chinese Burns Unit, Counterattack, Epics, Frank Rizzo, Peter Brock The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Gus ‘n’ Ella Customs House Bar, Circular Quay free 7pm Half Moon Run, I Am Apollo, Jordan Millar The Standard, Surry Hills 8pm Happy Snaps: Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Meare Burdekin, Darlinghurst $10 9pm Helmut Uhlmann, Midnight Pool Party, Thomas Stefoulis Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Hira Hira, Yes I’m Leaving, Hunting Pictures, Narrow Lands, Polyfox and the Union of the Most Ghosts STIL, Marrickville $5 8pm Jive Bombers Club Marconi, Bossley Park free 8pm The Khanz, She Rex, Ginger & Drum FBi Social @ The Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross $10 8pm Mount Eerie (USA), Matt Banham York St Anglican Church, Sydney $30 (+ bf) 7pm MUM: Mannequins, Gang Of Youths, Siren Lines, Cries Wolf DJs, Josh Pistola, Ra Bazaar, Danny Cruel, 10th Avenue, Felix Lloyd The World Bar, Kings Cross $10-$15 8pm Norman Blake and Joe Pernice (UK/USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park $48 5.30pm Nuggets – Antipodean Interpolations: The Laurels, Straight Arrows, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Murlocs, The Gooch Palms, Step-Panther, Bloods Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney $36 8pm Panorama Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10.30pm A Place To Bury Strangers (USA), Pearls, Dead Farmers Oxford Art Factory, Darlingbhurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm Pluto Jonze, Swrls, Brett Hunt, Devola Upstair Beresford, Surry Hills free 6pm Shinobi, New Alias, Filk Annandale Hotel $14.30 8pm The Shuffle The Brass Monkey, Cronulla $14.30 7pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 6pm Throwing Copper, Belly Up, Project Blue Valve Bar, Tempe 7pm yMusic (USA) Sydney Festival @ Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta $30 7pm
g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com
JAZZ
Bandaluzia Flamenco 505, Surry Hills $15-$20 8.30pm John’s Hot Club Well Co. Café/Wine Bar, Glebe free 8pm Kinetic Jazz Festival: Remco Keijzer & Matt McMahon Duo, Waldo Fabian Latin Quintet, Sports Pants St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $20 (con)- $30 7pm Kriola Collective Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 7.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Archie Roach Sydney Festival @ State Theatre, Sydney $55-$70 8pm The Enterprise Band Cabravale Diggers, Canley Vale free 8.30pm Russell Neal, ScandalGate, Sean and Miss Bow, Laura Beasant Cat and Fiddle Hotel, Balmain free 8pm
SATURDAY JANUARY 26 ROCK & POP
2 Way Spilt Orient Hotel, The Rocks free 2pm 3 Way Spilt Moorebank Sports Club, Moorebank free 9pm Alex Hopkins Customs House Bar, Circular Quay free 2pm Australia Day Extravaganza: DJ
Psychopomp, Bleeding Gasoline, NASJAP, Mandeer & The Zorros, Noveaux, Eyemaze, Coredea, Domino, Green Ra’ashid, Take Down Magneto, Evil Ugly, The Death Movement, Exist Within Valve Bar, Tempe 12pm Control Huskisson Hotel free 8pm Dr Kong & The Stem Cells, The Insidious 6ix The Vanguard, Newtown $15.80 8pm Festival Of The Voice: Gurrumul, Ash Grunwald, Sietta, Dubmarine, Tin Sparrow, Battleships, The Preatures, The Margaret St. Project, Lolo Lovina Caravan The Rocks Village, The Rocks, Sydney free 12pm Flamin’ Beauties Royal Hotel, Springwood free 9pm Gunface, General Pants & The Privates, Yetis, Fun Machine FBi Social @ The Kings Cross Hotel, King Cross $10 8pm The Headliners Dundas Sports Club free 8.30pm Hermitude, Jonti Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm Hue Williams Club Umina RSL, Umina free 7.30pm Ignition Oatley Hotel free 8.30pm Jive Bombers Club Five Dock, Five Dock RSL free 8pm Kick INXS Show Toukley RSL Club free 9pm Living Chair Rooty Hill RSL free 4pm
Mutiny The Red Rattler, Marrickville 8pm Norman Blake and Joe Pernice (UK/USA) Sydney Festival @ Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta $35 7pm Perfume Genius (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park $43 5pm The Question Fruit, Cabins, The Guppins Annandale Hotel $34.70 8pm Renee Geyer, Jordan Millar Lizotte’s Restaurant, Dee Why $54 8pm Shake & Bake Brass Monkey, Cronulla $17.85 7pm Sleepwalkers, High Noon, Talakai Gallery Bar, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst free 8pm Souled Out Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10.30pm Sparkadia, The Preatures, DJ Kitsch78 Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7.30pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 7pm The Waterboys Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House 8pm We Without, From Afar, Snip Snap Dragon, The Pipes, Midnight Butterfly, Joel Jackson, Wil Maisey Duo, Dude In Distress The Square, Haymarket $15 8pm Woods (USA), Camperdown & Out, Black Zeroes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $27 (+ bf) 8pm
JAZZ
Bandaluzia Flamenco 505, Surry Hills $15-$20 8.30pm James Morrison Quintet, Emma Pask The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Kafe Kool Supper Club, Fairfield RSL Club free 7pm Kinetic Jazz Festival: Anna Okunev Sextet, Young Kinetic Collective, Tanya Sparke & Peter Dasent, Prophets, Kinetic Cinema St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $25 (conc)- $35 4pm Kinetic Jazz Festival: Anna Okunev Sextet, Young Kinetic Collective, Tanya Sparke & Peter Dasent, Prophets, Kinetic Cinema St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $20 (conc)- $30 7pm Monsieur Camembert: Australia Day Show Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $30 7.30pm Peter Head Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 5pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie Well Co.Cafe/ Wine Bar, Leichhardt free 7pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK
Archie Roach Sydney Festival @ The Parade Ground at Old King’s, Parramatta free 8pm The Enterprise Band Cabravale Diggers, Canley Vale free 8.30pm Marty Stewart The Belvedere Hotel free 9pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 27 ROCK & POP
Craig Woodward Huskinsson Hotel free 4pm The Fabulous Rumble’ators Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 3.30pm Faspeedelay, Forenzics, Fabels, Expert Mentals The Square, Haymarket $10 8pm Freshly Squeezed: Chance Waters, Grey Ghost, Jackie Onassis, Rapaport, Reverse Polarities, Crochet Crooks, Grouce, Jigsaw Annandale Hotel $23.50 2pm Istanbul Arabesque Project (Turkey) The Basement, Circular Quay $25 (+ bf) 7.30pm Manalion Hotel Steyne, Manly free 7pm Norman Blake and Joe Pernice (UK/USA) Sydney Festival @ Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta $35 5pm Original Sin INXS Show, Swingshift Cold Chisel Show Rooty Hill RSL Club 8pm Party Anthems Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket free 10.30pm Perfume Genius (USA) Sydney Festival @ The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park $43 5pm Richard Hawley (UK), Pat Capocci Combo Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney $56 8pm Ross Wilson Brass Monkey, Cronulla $51
7pm SBS Jam, Finn Botany View Hotel, Newtown free 5pm Soulful Sessions: Mike Champion, Sergio Selim, Keeda Blue Beat, Double Bay $30 (+ bf) 7.30pm Stormcellar Albert Hotel, Tamworth free 6pm Suite Az, DJ Kitsch78 Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 9.30pm Tom Stone & The Soldiers of Fortune, The Bridge Club, The Aerotrop Guild Valve Bar, Tempe 6pm
JAZZ
Kinetic Jazz Festival: Kaoru Wantanabe, Kim Sanders, Riley Lee, Urban Gypsies, Kinetic Jazz Orchestra St Luke’s Church and Hall, Enmore $25 (con)- $35 6pm Peter Head Band Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks free 4pm The Underscore Orkestra Camelot Lounge, Marrickville $20 6.30pm Yuki Kumagai, John Mackie, Tony Burkys, Trevor Rippingale, Alan Gilbert Cronulla RSL Club, Cronulla free 12.30pm
ACOUSTIC & FOLK Aimee Francis Salisbury Hotel, Stanmore free 2pm The Enterprise Band Cabravale Diggers, Canley Vale free 8pm Steve Flack & Jill Oatley Hotel free 2pm
BLUNTED & WAY-2-FONKY PRESENT
tue
wed
22 Jan
23
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
Jan
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
thu
24 Jan
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
fri
25 Jan
v
ULTRAMAGNETIC MCs
26
25TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR LOOSE CHANGE / MIKE WHO / FRENZIE
sun
(2:00PM - 5:00PM)
(5:30PM - 8:00PM)
(9:30PM - 1:30AM)
(9:00PM - 12:00AM)
sat Jan
CRITICAL BEATDOWN
FRIDAY 8TH FEBRUARY 8PM
(5:00PM - 8:00PM)
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
SUNDAY NIGHT
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
(4:30PM - 7:30PM)
(8:30PM - 12:00AM)
27 Jan
OXFORD ART FACTORY
$40 + BF (EARLYBIRDS) // $50 + BF (GENERAL RELEASE) VIA MOSHTIX
mon
28 Jan
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gig picks
up all night out all week...
Dirty Projectors
MONDAY JANUARY 21
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23
Dirty Projectors (USA), The Unnatural Congress Of Still Beating Hearts Sydney Festival @ Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House $45-$75 8pm
Donny Benet, Jack Ladder Goodgod Front Bar, Sydney free 8pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 22 Band of Horses, Mike Noga Enmore Theatre $67.60 7.30pm Dappled Cities, Phebe Starr Sydney Festival @ Sydney Town Hall $36 8pm Foals (UK), Mitzi Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm Yeah Yeah Yeahs (USA) Metro Theatre, Sydney sold out 7.30pm
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Tell Her – Karen O’s Stop The Virgens Chorus: Rainbow Chan, Moon Holiday, New Brutalists, Twincest, Daily Meds, Jack Colwell and The Owls, Perisanlovecake, Genevieve Rainbow Chan
Fricker, Okin Osan, Lani the Procrastinator, SB, DJ Nick Zinner (USA) FBi Social @ The Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross $10 6pm
The Rocks Village, The Rocks, Sydney free 12pm
THURSDAY JANUARY 24
Perfume Genius (USA) The Famous Spiegeltent, Festival Garden, Hyde Park $43 5pm
The 5.6.7.8’s (JPN), La Mancha Negra, Mother & Son Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst $35 (+ bf) 8pm
The Question Fruit (secret headliner), Cabins, The Guppins Annandale Hotel $34.70 8pm
yMusic (USA) Sydney Festival @ Salon Perdu Spiegeltent, Parramatta $30 7pm
Sparkadia, The Preatures, DJ Kitsch78 Rock Lily, The Star, Pyrmont free 7.30pm
FRIDAY JANUARY 25
Woods (USA), Camperdown & Out, Black Zeroes Goodgod Small Club, Sydney $27 (+ bf) 8pm
Hermitude, Jonti Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst sold out 8pm
Discovery: KSSR Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst 8pm Happy Snaps: Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Meare Burdekin, Darlinghurst $10 9pm Mount Eerie (USA), Matt Banham York St Anglican Church, Sydney $30 (+ bf) 7pm
SATURDAY JANUARY 26 Festival Of The Voice: Gurrumul, Ash Grunwald, Sietta, Dubmarine, Tin Sparrow, Battleships, The Preatures, The Margaret St. Project, Lolo Lovina Caravan
Tin Sparrow
Jonti
brag beats
BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture
free stuff
dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
on the record WITH
Heidi
EMOH INSTEAD never really made any ‘songs’. I moved into bootlegs on Ableton after that, but working with Harley (Flume) really stepped up my knowledge and understanding of music and production. The Last Thing I Recorded: 4. This week I had a studio session with Action Bronson for my What So Not project. Almost forgot to do this interview actually, because I’ve been working on the arrangement all day! It’s for our new EP, which we’ll be touring soon, heading to US and UK etc. Good times ahead. The Record That Changed My Life: 5. I think it was a Death From
The First Record I Bought: 1. I used to tell people it was Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, but in actual fact I realised The Venga Boys’ album was the first record I bought (with that addictive ‘Vengabus’ song). Obviously not in possession of taste at age seven. The Last Record I Bought: 2. I don’t buy many records anymore; I’m mainly sent tracks from friends/artists, or
I make my own stuff. Looking through my Beatport account, the last thing I did buy was Phat Deuce – ‘Disco’, a retardedly huge rave bomb. Great for festivals, but wouldn’t want to hear it on a Sunday.
Above 1979 tune from way back. I remember I had it as my MySpace song when I broke up with my high school girlfriend and finished the HSC. Being in a rock band all through high school, it was my crossover track into the world of dance music. A lifechanging transition.
The First Thing I Recorded: 3. I downloaded FruityLoops a few years ago and started messing around with it. As a drummer, I really had no idea how to do anything but percussion loops and fills, so I
PICNIC + STRANGE FRUIT = MANO LE TOUGH
Picnic and Strange Fruit will combine for a two-room Mardi Gras extravaganza at The Abercrombie on Saturday March 2, headlined by Irish-born Berlin resident Niall Mannion, aka
With: Pop The Hatch, Autoclaws, Spenda C, Hydraulix, Kombat, Who Am I, Kemikoll Where: Boss Bass @ Chinese Laundry When: Friday January 25
Mano Le Tough. The party is perfectly timed to coincide with the release of Mano’s debut LP, Changing Days, which features vocals from Mano himself and is set to drop in late February. While he may be slow off the blocks on the long-player front, Mano has established himself in the club realm with a string of acclaimed
Avicii
Nancy Whang
NANCY WHANG
DFA Records poster gal Nancy Whang will DJ at Ivy Pool Club this Sunday, for an event hosted by the You Only Live Once crew. Once a member of the now-defunct LCD Soundsystem, Whang’s DJ sets traverse disco, proto-house and post-punk, and other genres that get dancefloors moving. On top of her work with James Murphy, Whang has lent her vocals to Shit Robot’s memorable rework of Donodolo’s ‘Dragon’ and fellow DFA act The Juan MacLean, on their anthemic ‘Happy House’. But if you’re talking anthems, then Whang’s performance as the voice of Soulwax’s ode to pill talk, ‘E Talking’, is surely top of the pile.
EPs. His CV includes releases on labels like Permanent Vacation and Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly, while he has also crafted remixes for the likes of Róisín Murphy, Aloe Blacc and Midnight Magic. A hefty support cast has been assembled for the event, with the likes of We Love Sounds’ Ben Korbel, the entrepreneurial Jordan Deck, Kali, Phil Smart, Matt Aubusson and Mike Witcombe all spinning. Presale tickets are on sale now.
AUSTRALIA DAY AT THE VIC ENMORE
The Vic Enmore is hosting an Australia Day bash replete with patriotic shenanigans and local talent (both musical and otherwise – hehehe) in The Vic’s empty car park, otherwise known as The Projects. Local psychedelic reggae proponents Sticky Fingers and inner west hip hop troupe Daily Meds will be performing, while the triple j Hottest 100 countdown is followed. Punters are advised to
HEIDI @ S.A.S.H
DJ Heidi, luminary of the pending (and sadly sold out) AGWA Yacht Club party, will squeeze a third show in between two days of seriously hard partying – she’s S.A.S.Haying into the Abercrombie on Sunday January 27. In between running the Jackathon label and presenting BBC Radio 1 series In DJs We Trust, Heidi spins around the globe, bringing her followers a wave of infections beats. Joining her at S.A.S.H will be Los Angeles DJs Droog, fresh from sellout shows at Watergate in Berlin, Fabric in the UK, Space in Ibiza and Movement Detroit. Also set to raise the roof are Matttt, Gemma Van D, Jon Jak, Telefunken, Jay Smalls, Nic Scali, Caminer, Kerry Wallace and Matt Weir. Tell us your favourite Heidi cut for a chance at a double pass. bring their togs so they can utilise the inflatable pools on the fake beach. Better yet this is a free affair, with the BBQ firing up from midday til late.
DEAD CITY ZENS
Local band Old Men Of Moss Mountain have teamed up with fellow Sydney hip hop group Big Dumb Kid, HTH Initiative winner Subsketch and Deadbeat and Hazy to form the collective Dead City Zens. The multipronged local outfit will be putting on a showcase at Club Sabotage at the Forbes Hotel on Friday January 25. That night will also see the release of the DCZ Compilation Vol. 1, which will be available for attendees to procure at the gig.
NEW DRAPHT TRACKS + TOUR
After going to ground following last year’s Big Day Out tour, Perth hip hop lad Drapht has re-emerged with two completely new and free tracks, and will embark on a universityfocused tour throughout Australia to back them up. Drapht’s break from the fray was well-deserved, following a frenetic 2011 that included an ARIA #1 album The Life Of Riley, which scooped ARIA & AIR Awards for ‘Best Urban Release’, and included three songs that polled among triple j’s Hottest 100. Head to his Soundcloud page to find the two “different, and experimental” tracks, for which he moved out of his comfort-zone. “On top of that, I wanted to give back to those that have supported me throughout the last year and beyond,” he adds. Drapht will perform at the UNSW Roundhouse on Friday March 22.
FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL ADDS AVICII
Future Entertainment has confirmed that the chart-topping Swede Avicii has been added to the bulging lineup of Future Music Festival in March. The two-time Grammy Award nominee emerged back in the acid-washed spring of 2011 with the worldwide phenomenon ‘Levels’, which racked up over 50 million YouTube views, and was declared by Mr Positivity himself, David Guetta, to be his ‘Tune Of 2011’. Not that Guetta was alone in jumping on the Avicii bandwagon – Forbes magazine recently ranked him as the second-most influential under-30 working in music. For anyone living under a rock, the Future Music Festival 2013 will also feature The Prodigy, The Stone Roses, Dizzee Rascal, Bloc Party, Azealia Banks, Rita Ora, Boys Noize, Hardwell, The Temper Trap and A-Trak among others. Skimming past plenty of others, and sitting below Timmy Trumpet on the bill, lurks details of the Cocoon Heroes arena, where techno titans Sven Väth, Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Seth Troxler and Magda will throw down – hopefully Timmy can make a cameo appearance when Väth drops ‘Trompeta’.
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dance music news
free stuff
club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery
FREESTUFF@THEBRAG.COM
he said she said WITH TOM FROM
Ultramacgnetic MCs
HOT DUB TIME MACHINE Your Crew My crew is me, my wife and my brand 3. new baby daughter. My wife stars in all the custom videos for the show, as LuLu Loud, the Hot Dub Cabin Attendant and Time Lord, and she likes to dance naked while I’m practising. My baby daughter hasn’t got into the naked dancing yet, but we’re confident she’ll pick it up. The Music You Make Hot Dub Time Machine is a journey 4. through music history, from ‘Rock Around The Clock’ to ‘Bangarang’, with roughly a song per year, played in strict chronological order. So I play EVERYTHING. Music, Right Here, Right Now I hope Hot Dub proves that there is 5. no “golden era” of music – I think that good
1.
Growing Up I grew up playing a lot of instruments, and being part of all the school bands. We moved around a lot, so I tended to be a bit of an outsider and would often find myself in the music department at lunch time, listening to tunes with other nerds. We were strictly into weird ‘90s metal like Mr. Bungle, Faith No More and Tool. A lot of those music nerds have gone on to do stuff as well, like Julian Curwin, who is a great guitarist around town, and Rai Thistlethwayte (Thirsty Merc), who is a proper rock star.
2.
Inspirations The DJ that caused me to make Hot Dub Time Machine and actually do something with it is Andrew McClelland from Melbourne. I saw him play at the comedy festival, and was blown away by how much fun he was having while he played. He wasn’t technically particularly amazing, he just played great music and danced his arse off and we all loved it! I learnt that parties shouldn’t be too serious, and no one really cares about good beatmixing as long as the tunes are great and the party is rocking.
music is made constantly. I also think too many parties and DJs take themselves too seriously these days, and there is too much chin-stroking going on – so Hot Dub is the antidote to that. It’s all about music, good times and laughter. Where: Sydney Festival – Spiegeltent @ Honda Festival Garden / Paradiso @ Town Hall When: Saturday January 19 & 26 / Sunday January 27
a new album next week as Syclops called A Blink Of An Eye. (Fulton’s never one to miss an opportunity for a pun; his debut album, I’ve Got My Eye On You, dropped on DFA Records in 2008.) Always keeping listeners on their toes, Fulton has worked under many pseudonyms over the years, including Ladyvipb, Eddie And The Egg and Boof, while producing albums for Kathy Diamond and his wife, Mu, and remixing Annie, Hot Chip, Chicken Lips and The Rapture. A Blink Of An Eye is a tentrack LP that came from Fulton’s ongoing collaborations with a trio of Finnish musicians: Sven Kortehisto, Hann Sarkari and Jukka Kantonen. Album preview streams are floating about online.
Moodymann
PETER VAN HOESEN
Belgium techno proponent Peter Van Hoesen will play a Rainbow Serpent Festival sideshow at One22 this Friday January 25. Van Hoesen is coming off a profitable 2012, having released an album under the name of Sendai with Yves De Mey, crafted multiple podcasts for tastemaking websites such
ULTRAMAGNETIC MCS
Crank out your shoulder pads, book in a perm and whip out your lime green boombox, because hip hop messiahs ULTRAMAGNETIC MCs – Kool Keith, TR Love and Ced Gee – are heading our way with their legendary funkin’ beats. Presented by Blunted and Way-2-Fonky, the crew’s first visit Down Under marks the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1998 record Critical Beatdown – the genesis of sampling that paved the way for artists like J.Dilla and Madlib, and summoned a legion of fans that includes Eminem and Odd Future. They’ll be at Oxford Art Factory on Friday February 8, supported by Big Village kids Loose Change, Ellesquire, Rapaport, Sam Z and P Major. We have one double pass to give away – tell us which classic hip hop record has made its mark on you. as XLR8R, CLR and Electric Deluxe, and dropped the LP Perceiver on his label Time To Express. Perceiver was an amalgamation of both Van Hoesen’s traditional stripped-back techno sound, and some more experimental delving into modular electronics that received plaudits from the cognoscenti. Local lass and Loosekaboose’s leading lady DJ Trinity is a worthy support choice, and will be spinning along with James Walsh.
HAHA UTR #021
Reputed underground crew HAHA will host their first warehouse bash of the new year on Saturday February 9. As always, the event will be a must for those with discerning taste in dancefloor grooves who prefer a warehouse to a nightclub. Canecutter vs Ilki and Sydneybased electronic music collective Zyklus will be representing, in addition to D&D, aka HAHA residents Dean Dixon and Dave Fernandes. The party starts at 10pm and runs till late, and tickets are online for $25, with prospective partygoers urged to seek out the HAHA Facebook page if they haven’t already.
MOODYMANN @ SPICE
The original “freeki mutha fu*ker”, inimitable Detroit producer Kenny Dixon Jr – aka Moodymann – returns Down Under to headline Spice on Saturday March 9. The man behind Mahogani Records, Moodymann is an auteur of the underground electronic scene who conflates his radical views on race – often encapsulated in samples lifted from blaxploitation cult films – with soulful, jazz-inspired house soundscapes. Renowned for his Black Mahogany and Mahogany Brown LPs, Moodymann’s back catalogue includes cuts like ‘Sunday Morning’, ‘Shades Of Jae’ and ‘Music People’. Though his DJing is often vastly different to his production sound, those heading along to see him can look forward to an eclectic journey through disparate genres, linked together by Moody’s distinct ‘Detroit’ persona. “I like to feel my records. Just like my woman. I don’t download my woman, I like touching and feeling and smelling that,” is one of the many classic Moodymann aphorisms bandied about. The man’s a bona fide vinyl purist – and a great interviewee, on the rare occasions when he indulges the media.
BOOM BOOM
Boom Boom is back for the first time in 2013 this Friday January 25, hosting Detroit’s Andrés at Tatler. Andrés has ‘blown up’ over the past year courtesy of his cut ‘New 4 U’, a European summer anthem that launched his new label La Vida in some style by conjuring the Larry Levan zeitgeist. The cognoscenti will tell you that Andrés had been bubbling under since 1997, chalking up a hefty catalogue of releases on Moodymann’s labels – and he’s also a member of Theo Parrish’s Rotating Assembly collective. One hit wonder this guy ain’t. Mad Racket’s Simon Caldwell and Boom Boom DJs Daniel Lupica and Karim will be laying down beats in support. With a capacity of only 140 people, this will be an intimate show that is sure to sell out – so grab your presale ticket through Resident Advisor stat!
Crenshaw, aka Claude VonStroke, and Justin Martin set to throw down over the course of the daytime bash, which will run from midday until 7.30pm. VonStroke released his debut album Beware Of The Bird way back in ’06. A favourite among clubbers even today, it immediately stood out from the pack with distinct cuts like ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’ and ‘The Whistler’, each instantly recognisable for their quirky arrangements and ‘phat’ basslines that offered a counterpoint to the predictable sounds dominating the clubs (both back then and still today). In contrast to Crenshaw, fellow Dirtybird heavy hitter Justin Martin only released his debut album, Ghettos & Gardens, last year, after holding out for some time. The likes of Catz ‘n Dogz, Danny Daze and French Fries have since reworked tracks from the album. Femme fatale J.Phlip will also be representing on the night.
DIRTY BIRD SHOWCASE @ THE IVY
MAURICE FULTON RETURNS AS SYCLOPS
This Saturday, Dirty Bird Records descends on The Ivy, with label founder Barclay 30 :: BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13
American ex-pat Maurice Fulton, who now makes his beats in Sheffield UK, will release
Classixx
FUTURE CLASSIXX AT PARADISO
LA duo Classixx have been added to the bill for Future Classic’s Sydney Festival Paradiso party at Town Hall this Saturday, which will also feature Mitzi and Lindstrøm. Classixx crashed through with their cut ‘I’ll Get You’, which featured Jeppe from Junior Senior and was released through Kitsune. The pair have since remixed the likes of Phoenix, Major Lazer, Holy Ghost!, Groove Armada and Mayer Hawthorne. Classix’s ascension will continue when they release their debut Classixx LP, Hanging Gardens, on Future Classic in May. A release two years in the making, Hanging Gardens is a 12-track collection that features vocal contributions from the likes of DFA’s Nancy Whang. Grab tickets through the official Sydney Festival website.
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Poliça Lay Your Cards Out By Sean Sandy Devotional
Nathan Fake
From The Outhouse To The Laundry By Rose Callaghan
A
s he prepares for another trip Down Under, it’s hard to believe Nathan Fake’s magnum opus ‘Outhouse’ came out a full decade ago. The now 29-year-old purveyor of synth-laden atmospheric techno is fast becoming an industry stalwart. Fake’s career took off unexpectedly back in 2003, when ‘Outhouse’ was released as a 12-inch on James Holden’s thenfledgling Border Community record label (‘Outhouse’ was their second ever release). The song, the perfect soundtrack to a rave in a haunted house, still stands the test of time all these years later, and is swamped in Fake’s now-distinctive style. The release of the legendary ‘Sky Was Pink’ remix by James Holden came soon after, solidifying Fake’s status as one to watch.
T
wo years ago, Minneapolis-based collective Gayngs pulled just about every noteworthy Midwestern musician together to earn a ride on the indie hype machine. After earning pride of place on critics’ end of year lists with their debut Relayted, a new collaboration between Minnesotans Channy Leaneagh and Ryan Olson is set to dwarf the band that brought them together in the first place. Poliça’s album Give You The Ghost has already found an admirer in Jay-Z, and Leaneagh’s singing, notable for its judicious use of Auto-tune that still retains her dynamic vocal range, has invited comparisons to Fiona Apple and Norah Jones. That might simply be another example of the lengths music critics will go to avoid using the cliché “genre-defying”, but it’s also telling that Poliça’s maudlin and intricate electronica has been likened to other artists who’ve been able to attract near-universal acclaim. “I didn’t know Ryan [Olson] very much or very well before Gayngs,” Leaneagh says. “That band was the place where we got to know each other. Ryan works on a lot of different projects with a lot of different people, and one day he said, ‘Hey, do you wanna make some songs together and just hang out?’ Me and a few people went over to his apartment, he played some beats, and I just sang over them.”
“I don’t work that fast normally – sometimes, working creatively, there’s people you start working with [where] it takes a bit longer,” she continues. “It doesn’t discredit the work, but sometimes there’s just that immediate explosion of work because you click so well with somebody. That’s the main thing about this record: it’s a documentation of two people just figuring each other out.” Although Leaneagh describes Give You The Ghost as first and foremost a chronicle of her blossoming musical partnership with Olson, other interviews have alluded to the influence of a break-up bringing itself to bear in her contribution: “The recurring theme of this record is ‘what in the hell just happened and who the hell am I anyways,’” she said earlier last year. But with the benefit of hindsight in the time since the album’s release, she’s allowed herself a more philosophical interpretation of her work. “I don’t know if it’s the primary focus,” she says. “The wording of that seems a bit hilarious now! I think specifically after you break up in a long-term relationship, something you’ve given 10-15 years of your life to, you get out of it and there’s really a lot of self-discovery and a selfdestructive path, but you’re also trying to rebuild yourself. I was at a low point. I had lots of fodder for heartbreak material.” What: Give You The Ghost is out now on Pod, through Inertia Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Tuesday February 5 More: Also playing alongside Alt-J, Flume, Chet Faker, Bat For Lashes, Nicolas Jaar, Jessie Ware, Holy Other and more at Laneway Festival, held at Sydney College of the Arts on Saturday February 2
“James just really liked the original,” Fake explains. “We never expected it to be this massive hit… But it’s so old now – it’s eight years old. People still go on about it which is nice, but it’s kind of annoying because I’ve had loads of records out since then!” The friendship between Fake and his mentor still continues to this day.
Often compared to other UK electronic artists like Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada, Fake has managed to attach real emotion to his productions. Some are sad and melancholy, some uplifting, and many build slowly and create a sense of journey – as corny as that may sound. “My favourite music is sad music,” he explains. “A lot of it is quite sub-conscious. I like to think of my music as quite visceral. I’m into a lot of different textures and moods and stuff; I like to play with lots of contrasting textures and sounds, which is what makes it sound quite rich. I don’t think too much about what a track is feeling like or what mood it’s going to have… The stuff you write when you’re not thinking about it is usually the best stuff.” Where: Chinese Laundry When: Saturday February 2
Many DJs develop their sound over time, paying heed to trends and changed tastes, but Fake has stayed true to his original aesthetic on his most recent album, Steam Days. The album, which came out in the second half of last year, is Fake’s third LP, following the mini-album Hard Islands in 2009 and 2006’s Drowning In A Sea Of Love. And while it keeps with the emotive quality of his work, Steam Days also exhibits a new maturity and a few more bells and whistles – most notably a grittier sound, which came from his decision to record using vintage analogue tape machines in his London studio. With standout tracks like ‘Iceni Strings’, ‘Neketona’ and ‘Paean’ (which is bolstered by an awesome Lone remix), it’s his most impressive work to date. As for his live set, Fake plays live using a simple set-up: a laptop with a couple of midi controllers, as seen in his recent set for Boiler Room TV. “It’s all stuff off my new album with a few old bits and pieces chucked in,” he says, when asked what we can expect from his impending Sydney show. “The live set sounds like a ravedup version of the album, pretty much,” he continues – but of course, no two sets are the same. “Musically, it’s actually totally improvised. It’s all set up on my laptop so I can go in different directions, because it’s fun playing different kinds of shows. A festival is quite different to club shows. Last month I was on tour with Orbital doing the support slot... I was playing really early
xxx photo by xxx
Leaneagh, a self-confessed introvert, was surprised by how quickly the album came together after the pair began working alongside the other Minneapolis indie alumni assembled in Olson’s apartment. “I did have about four recording sessions with him for Gayngs, so I had experienced working with him before,” Leaneagh says. “But I’m very quiet and guarded, and he makes people feel comfortable. He’s one of the few people I’m not embarrassed singing in front of. He said, ‘Don’t be nervous around me, just sing.’ He pulls things out of people that they didn’t know they had in them. It was just one of those things where musically we
work together really well. You just feel that with somebody.
evening, so it was quite mellow – much different to playing a rave at 4am.”
Claude Vonstroke The Dirty Bird By RK
B
etween touring, producing, running the Dirtybird and Mothership labels and all the associated activities, music takes up a significant portion of Claude VonStroke’s time – in fact, almost all of it. But there is little else the man would rather be doing. Music has always been in his blood, albeit in a different vein; as a teenager, VonStroke (real name Barclay Crenshaw) was classically trained in cello. “I dropped the cello the second I could afford a sampler – because back in the day, they used to cost a tonne of dough!” VonStroke tells me from his home base of San Francisco. “So I started off making hip hop beats, and then I gradually got more and more into electronic music. My kit has changed dramatically over the years, but I notice that the less stuff I have the better the music is… Admittedly, I failed many times before things worked out for me.” Since starting out in the dance music world, VonStroke has worked across multiple genres, as well as under a number of different aliases – but he feels like he’s settled now, to the point where things are moving with their own momentum. Indeed, his Dirtybird imprint continues to release consistently good music (the likes of Catz n Dogz, Justin Martin and French Fries), while VonStroke himself is back in the studio, working on a follow-up to his 2009 LP Bird Brain, which dropped three years after his debut, Beware Of The Bird.
32 :: BRAG :: 492 :: 10:12:12
of the other jobs on the label side, just to be able to tour properly and make music. I also have a wife and two kids, so you can imagine once you add touring and producing to that mix it does get a bit hectic!” VonStroke is keyed up about his upcoming working holiday in Australia, where he’ll be touring a Dirtybird night to showcase a few of his favourites: Justin Martin and J. Phlip. But he’ll also be using the tour as a chance to experiment with his own set, to test out different sonic directions. “I’ve noticed recently that in my travels I’m relying a lot on more solid grooves; like super funky stuff, rather than necessarily big bangers. I find it more satisfying to get a room to go off to a really ill groove,” he says. “I do actually wish I had a few more killer edits right now. That might be something I start working on again soon.” “I am really looking forward to the tour,” he says. “I always have such a great time out there. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been coming out to Australia every year for the last seven! Time flies when you’re having fun.” The length between studio releases is understandable: in between all the production, label work and A&R duties, one wonders where the man finds the time at all. “It does seem like a big operation, though a lot of
people help me these days,” he admits. “But to be honest, it wasn’t like that for the first seven years, when I did almost everything myself. I still do 100% of the A&R and art approvals nowadays, but I’ve had to step back from some
Who: Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, J Phlip Where: Dirtybird Showcase @ The Ivy When: Saturday January 26
Deep Impressions
T H I S
W E E K
A T
T H E
Underground Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery
Jeremy P. Caulfield
SUNSET RADIO 1S T THURSDAY OF E VERY MON TH 6-8PM
LIVE BROADCAST FROM BAD EZZY & KATO T HURSDAY 24 JAN FBI SUNSE T DJ
SHANTAN WANTAN ICHIBAN S
ensor has announced its first party of the year, and it’s a goodie: Toronto’s Jeremy P. Caulfield, who recently closed down his influential Dumb Unit label, will be making his Australian debut after flying out from his home in Berlin. While Caulfield is no slouch on the production front, it’s his ear for quality minimal sounds that sets him apart from the pack and makes this gig a must as opposed to a maybe. Dumb Unit started life in 2000 in Toronto before shifting to Berlin circa ’03, and its sound sits comfortably between the two cities Caulfield has spent his life living in. Part sleek Berlin micro-minimalism, part Canadian computer techno, Dumb Unit released cuts from the likes of Cesare vs Disorder, Seph, Maetrik and Adam Marshall over the course of its decadelong run. Discussing why he called time on the label, Caulfield divulged that he wanted to get back into producing fulltime, and focus more on music and DJing – among other things. “We did it for ten years and we introduced a lot of artists who today are household names, and we did it successfully without compromising or selling out or making many enemies,” he reminisces. “Now it’s time to do another ten years of different things, nothing more than that.” For anyone curious, the last EP on Dumb Unit was called Virtues And Vices, and produced by Caulfield and Seph. Released in July, it rounded off the label’s active lifecycle in considerable style. The support lineup for this is also top shelf. Melbourne’s James Cooper, who spent the European summer playing in some of Berlin’s foremost clubs at Vakant label parties, will be representing, alongside the primo duo that is D&D of HAHA Industries fame, and Eric Downer. The beats begin from 10pm on Friday February 1 at One22. This week’s Deep Impressions was written to the soundtrack of Kieran Hebden’s latest album as Four Tet, which Hebden announced on social media and promptly released last week. (So if the platitudes are flowing even more than usual, my excuse is I was caught up in the music, man…) Titled 0181, the album is comprised of material produced by Hebden between 1997 and 2001, which explains the album’s numerical title – the local telephone area code for outer London during that time. (Inspired, no?) 0181 arrives only five months after the release of Pink, which was unveiled in similarly low-key ‘who needs marketing?’ fashion back in August. Like 0181, Pink was a compilation rather than a new album proper, collecting vinyl-only releases Hebden had put out through his Text label over the past few years. While the more difficult-to-please readers may lament that 0181 is not a brand-spanking
new album, a collection of unreleased Hebden material from the Dialogue era is not to be sneezed at. Plus it’s free, so you really ought to be showing some gratitude to Mr. Hebden. English DJ and producer Jozif has mixed the 23rd instalment in the Balance compilation series, a long-running Melbourne-based institution that has released classic mixes from James Holden, Agoria and Desyn Masiello in years gone by. Jozif’s addition to the Balance canon comprises cuts from Steffi, Ian Pooley, Silicone Soul, Glimpse and Martin Dawson, with Jozif describing Balance 23 as a mix between classic and contemporary influences. “Initially, I really wanted to do a clubby mix,” the Fist Or Finger label co-head explains. “A lot of people will know me only from my productions, which I don’t really tend to play in the clubs as I tend to play a lot more ‘up’, so I wanted to do something that represented what I do on the weekends.” But this perspective was tempered by the untimely passing of Martin Dawson while Jozif was in the process of collating the compilation. “Although I hadn’t seen him for a while, it really affected me,” Jozif reflects. “I didn’t think it was right to put out such an upbeat mix when such an awful thing had happened, so I went back to the mix and just did another one, and this is how it turned out.” Melancholic and reflective certainly has its place on a mix, though – I’m a believer that much of the best music gets (mis)labelled as depressing – so, if anything, the unfortunate backdrop to this release is all the more reason for you to seek it out when it’s released in late February.
PRESENTS
Sat 26 Jan AUSTRALIA DAY
SUNCITY (PERTH)
+KRISTY LEE +ISBJORN +SPECIAL GUESTS FREE 8PM
>DJS: OMAR VARTS, RICHIE RYAN, CLOCKWERK, SUPERTRIVIA & SPECIAL GUESTS, 3PM
LOOKING DEEPER WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23
Nicolas Jaar Paradiso @ Sydney Town Hall
FRIDAY JANUARY 25 Andrés Tatler
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1 Jeremy P Caulfield One22
SATURDAY MARCH 3 Moodymann Spice Cellar
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com
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 :: 496 :: 21:01:13 :: 33
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com
club pick of the week Claude VonStroke
SATURDAY JANUARY 26
Ivy, Sydney
Dirtybird Garden Party Claude Von Stroke (USA), Justin Martin (USA), J. Phlip (USA), U-Khan, Whitecat, Ben Ashton, Antoine Vice, About Jack $50 12pm MONDAY JANUARY 21 Metro Theatre, Sydney Bloody Beetroots (ITA), Peking Duk $71.70 7.30pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket Mother Of A Monday DJ Smokin’ Joe free 7pm Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Late Night In The Bar DJ Jack Shit free 11.30pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Latin Jazz DJs free 7pm
TUESDAY JANUARY 22 Establishment, Sydney Rumba Motel Salsa DJ Willie Sabor free 8pm Scruffy Murphy’s, Haymarket I Love Goon Resident DJs free 7pm Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Late Night In The Bar Jingle Jangle DJs free 11.30pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Coyote Tuesday Present One Night In Ibiza Sam Walker, Johnny B, Social Hooliganz $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Jam Jam DJs free 8pm
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23 Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Alison Wonderland, Fishing, 34 :: BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13
Hey Geronimo, Bernie Dingo free 8pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Whip It Wednesdays Robust, Matty Bixx, Camo free 9pm The Lansdowne Hotel, Broadway Frat House Mean Dartin, Camo, Ra Bazaar free 5pm The Ranch Hotel, Epping Hump Wednesdays Resident DJs free 8pm Sydney Town Hall Nicolas Jaar (USA), DJ McInnes, Charles Murdoch, Sydney sold out 8pm Paradiso @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Sydney Festival – Late Night In The Bar Future Classic DJs free 11.30pm Whaat Club, Kings Cross Whip It Wednesdays Vertigo DJs, DJ Johnny Reay, DJ Brett Atkin free 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Jakes (UK), Mensah (UK), Tigerlily, Bassriot, E-Cats, Clockwerk, Dude Dempsey vs King Lee, Brown Bear 9pm
THURSDAY JANUARY 24 The Cool Room, The Australian Brewery, Rouse Hill We Love Thursday: Alize Australia Day Pre-Party The Potbelleez DJs, Big Will Troy T, Koffee 8pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Resident DJs free 10pm Space, Sydney
Naked Resident DJs free 9pm Paradiso @ Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Sydney Festival – Late Night In The Bar Chikashi Nishiwaki, Blair Stafford free 11.30pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Swag Resident DJs $10 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Propaganda DJ Dan (UK), Gillex, Dan Bombings, Becci Hearts free (student)-$5 9pm
FRIDAY JANUARY 25 Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Night Riot, Sherlock Bones, Tova, Say Oh 9pm Chinese Laundry, Sydney Boss Bass Pop The Hatch, Autoclaws, Spenda C, Emoh Instead, Hydraulix, Kombat, Who Am I, Kemikoll $15-$25 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Gimme Five Shamus, DJ Mike Silver free 5pm The Factory Theatre, Marrickville Bracket (Nigeria), SRCIM, DJ Daddy, DJ Felx3, DJ Kwame $70 (+ bf) 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Closet Summer Camp MC Glammer, Brendan Maclean, Roy Da Loy, Smithers, Sveta $15 10pm Hermann’s Bar, Darlington One Seventy Tom-E, Ravine, JTS, Zander, Energizer Bunny, Ravers MVP, MC Obi,
MD Riddle, MC Napsta $10 9pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour The Guest List Doctor Werewolf, Kyro & Bomber, Peewee Ferris, Brown Bear, Mitch Lowe, Mindquad, Judson, Back To Basics, Subaske, Hamish Radford, Intervene, Dos, Vwls 9pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney Moonshine Shivers, Alley Oop, Dubious (UK), Magic Happens $20 9pm Jacksons On George, Sydney DJ Ivan Drago, DJ Rain Julz free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross KK Fridays Resident DJs 9pm Oatley Hotel Aus Day Eve Party DJ Tone free 8pm One22, Sydney Strange Signals Peter Van Hoesen (BE), Trinity, James Walsh $20-$30 10pm The Red Rattler, Marrickville Glamathon! DJ Sveta $15 (+ bf) 9pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross Summer House Sessions Resident DJs 8pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney River & Phoenix, Andy Webb, Soft & Slow, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 10pm Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Late Night In The Bar Velvet Cave DJs, Yo Grito DJs free 11.30pm Tatler, Darlinghurst Boom Boom Presents Andres (USA), Simon Caldwell, Boom Boom DJs $20 (early bird)-$40 9pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Celebrate Lowkee, OIsrael Cruz 9pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Bring On The Weekend! DJ Matt Roberts, Candidate free 5pm The World Bar, Kings Cross MUM Mannequins, Gang Of Youths, Siren Lines, Cries Wolf DJs, Josh Pistola, Ra Bazaar, Danny Cruel, 10th Avenue, Felix Lloyd $10-$15 8pm
SATURDAY JANUARY 26
SUNDAY JUNE 24
Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Sun City, Kristy Lee, Isbjorn free 8pm Bella Vista Catamaran, The Rocks Oz Day Boat Party Royaal, Fear Of Dawn, Venuto, Audiophreaks, Tigerlily, Iko, Zee, Nick Stylz, Dane Dobre, Toy Boy, Dollar Bear, Die, Rome, Jamie Lyn, Rees Hellmers, Michael Stewart, Leezy, Pride $55 4.45pm The Big Top, Luna Park DJ Pauly D (USA) $66.20 7pm all-ages The Burdekin, Darlinghurst AGWA After-Party Heidi (UK), Soul Clap (USA), Bill Patrick (USA), Garry Todd, Sam Roberts, Bryan O’Callaghan, Co-Op $20 9pm Candys Apartment, Kings Cross Ritual Stalker, Sherlock Bones, Ray Von, Hoodlmz, Matty Bixx, Dime, Bunker Bar, Deluxx, Robesy, Amy Lee 9pm Club 77, Darlinghurst Starfuckers Starfuckers DJs 10pm Cohibar, Darling Harbour Yellow Sox DJ Toby Neal free 8pm Constellation Supercat, Sydney Harbour House On The Harbour Australia Day Boat Party Damien Goundrie, Shaun
Warner, Spinclass, Scotland Lamont, Emmet Greene, Mog Vilderplume, James Petrou, Chris Vallan, Chris Wilson, Darren Skarr $60 6pm Coogee Bowling Club Green Beats Katalyst, Balkansky, The Finger Prince, The Liberators, Bec Paton, Typhonic, Frenzie, Lok Stok, Foreign Dub, Inna Riddim DJs, Sunday Dub Club DJs, Collective DJs $20 12pm Establishment, Sydney Sienna Saturdays Resident DJs 8pm The Factory Theatre, Marrickville Klub Koori Yabun After-Party Wire MC, Morganics, DJ Sexy Mez, DJ Black President $25 (+ bf) 8.30pm The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park Sydney Festival Hot Dub Time Machine free 11.30pm FBi Social @ Kings Cross Hotel Hands Up! Staggman, Clockwerk free 11.30pm The Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale Afterlife Drum & Bass Cooh (Bulgaria), Blackout, Distempers, Commit, Finesse, AnotherDan, Celsius, Harry Gonads, ForestSound, New Scientist, Double Robin, Kieran Helmore free 9pm Goldfish, Kings Cross House Masters Derrick Carter (USA), Matt Cahill, Johnny Gleeson, Illya $25 (+ bf) 9pm Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Dutty Dancing Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Nick Toth, Louis Basslines, Judgement ft. SCIVYBZ (JA), Dancestudio 101 Dancers $5 (early bird)-$10 11pm The Hi-Fi Sydney, Moore Park Dub FX, Flower Fairy with Convoy Un.Itd $45 8pm Inner City Warehouse, Sydney A Night With Defined By Rhythm Defined By Rhythm, Ben Dunlop, Andosound $15 9pm Ivy, Sydney Dirtybird Garden Party Claude Von Stroke (USA), Justin Martin (USA), J. Phlip (USA), U-Khan, Whitecat, Ben Ashton, Antoine Vice, About Jack $30-$60 12pm Ivy, Sydney Pacha Michael Woods, Denzal Park, Ember, Mo’Funk, Chris Fraser, YokoO, Cassette, Joyride, Kristy Lee, Pat Ward, Trent Rackus, Finers, Adam Bozzetto, Shantan Wantan Ichiban, Whitecat, Sam Roberts, Thomas Lisse $35$40 6.30pm Ivy Pool Club, Sydney She Beach Club Summer Series Spinderella (USA), Robbie Santiago, Hannah Gibbs, Oh Glam, Cameron Cooper, Kalcic, Recess, CK, Jordan Jeffrey, Aviery Jamieson, Heyshep $39-$49 Jacksons On George, Sydney Australia Day DJ Simon Laing, Resident DJs free 6pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Sasha (UK) $65.70 10pm Newtown Hotel Triple J’s Hottest 100 Party Van She DJs, Midnight Juggernauts (DJ Set) free 10am Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Hermitude, Jonti sold out 8pm Sapphire Lounge, Kings Cross The Suite Resident DJs 8pm Secret Sydney Beach Never Mind The Balearics! – Australia Day Beach Party Julien Love, Phil Toke, Rob Meredith, InnerWestSoul, Pete Dot $25 3pm
Space, Sydney MASIF Saturdays Resident DJs 10pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Spice Troopers Gabby, Robbie Lowe, YokoO, Murat Kilic, Morgan $20 10pm Starship Sydney AGWA Yacht Club 015 Heidi, Soul Clap, Brohn, Mia Lucci, Co-Op, Bella Sarris sold out 2pm Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Sydney Festival: Future Classic Lindstrom (NOR), Future Classic DJs $46 8pm Trademark Hotel, Kings Cross Trademark Saturdays Resident DJs 9pm Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills Bondi Hipsters (DJ set), Starjumps, Tina Turntables, F.R.I.E.N.D/s free 6pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Skybar Saturdays Resident DJs $20 9pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Cakes Go Freek, Zoolanda, Ego, E-Cats, Pablo Calamari, NatNoiz, Fingers, Jack Bailey, Mars Monery, Hannah Gibbs, Cheap Lettus $15-$20 8pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 27 Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Heidi (UK), Droog (USA), Matttt, Gemma Van D, Jon Jak, Telefunken, Jay Smalls, Nic Scali, Caminer, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir $10 2pm Annandale Hotel, Annandale Freshly Squeezed Chance Waters, Grey Ghost, Jackie Onassis, Rapaport, Reverse Polarities, Crochet Crooks, Grouce, Jigsaw $23.50 2pm The Bella Vista, Man O War Steps, Sydney Opera House Pukka Up Sam Walker, Social Hooliganz, Hannah Gibbs, Valentine, Jagged Beatz, Ben Ashton, Jarrad Pearse $59 (+ bf) 12.30pm The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills Beresford Sundays Resident DJs free 3pm The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park Sydney Festival: Kraftwerk’s Computer World Nite Jewel & Peanut Butter Wolf (USA) $32 11.30pm Goldfish, Kings Cross Hedkandi Australia Day Tour Mo Funk, Alex Taylor, Adrian Benedek, Dave Allton, Shaun Warner (IRE) $20 8pm Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour Knockout Wildstylez, Psyko Punkz, The Playah, Kid Finley, SDee, Hektic, Hardforze, Suae, Pulsar $39 10pm Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park Above & Beyond (UK), Andrew Bayer (USA), Norin & Rad (USA) sold out 8pm Ivy, Sydney Courtyard Proxy (RUS), Huoratron (FIN), Parachute Youth, The Aston Shuffle DJs, Alison Wonderland, Starfuckers, Fake Bratpack, Go Freek, Nadisko, Blow Out DJs, Cue Play, Eratik, Fear Of Dawn, Fiktion, Hugh Cares, Kangr, L.A.M, Mark Haider, Wekk, Matt Bann, Matt Scott, Nanna Does Smack, NatNoiz, New Age Bullshit, Pablo J & The Lobsterettes, Perve, Rated R, Rcnt vs Matt James, Sampy, Singha, Snillum, Tektro, Them Kids, Trtl, We Can Solve Mysteries, Zlato $45 1pm
club guide send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com Jacksons On George, Sydney Aphrodisiac Resident DJs free 5pm Kaya Sydney, Darlinghurst Howl Nat Ramlee, Amanda Louise, Raul Lycan (Peru), Zac Acton free 9pm Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross Easy Sundays Resident DJs free 10pm Metro Theatre, Sydney Andy C & MC GQ (UK), Bionic, Linken, Axe $50.50 9pm No Vacancy, Kings Cross Bollywood Blowout DJ D.I.P, DJ 5huffl3 & Salad MC $20 9pm Oatley Hotel Sunday Sets Into Public Holiday DJ Tone free 7pm Q Bar, Darlinghurst
Daydreams Resident DJs 4.30am Secret Innercity Funk Oasis, Sydney Spirit Of House Block Party Soul Of Sydney DJs & Friends, Phil Toke, Michael Zac, Nick Vidal, Danny De Sousa, Ian Lavelle $15 1pm The Spice Cellar, Sydney Stil Vor Talent Label Night Oliver Koletzki (DE), Murat Kilic, Gabby, Spacejunk $25 10pm The Standard, Surry Hills Twerk It DJ Joyride, DJ Shantan Wantan Ichiban, DJ Maia free 8pm Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Sydney Festival: Paradiso Hot Dub Time Machine free 11.30pm Trademark Hotel, Kings
Cross Australia Day Long Weekend I Am Sam, Def Rok, Robbie Santiago, Nacho Pop, Jason K V Kristiano, MC Deekay 9pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Candidate free 2pm The Watershed Hotel, Darling Harbour Privelege $20 8pm The World Bar, Kings Cross Soup Kitchen Wordlife, Pow!Pow!, Franchi Brothers, J.A.C.E, Illya, U-Khan, Rocco Raimondo, Brown Bear, Hannah Gibbs, Cotelette, Dan Bangs, Narrator, Boston George, Franky Hollywood, Dommo Francis, Spvcegod, Soup Kitchen DJs 5pm
club picks up all night out all week...
MONDAY JANUARY 21
SATURDAY JANUARY 26
Metro Theatre, Sydney Bloody Beetroots (ITA), Peking Duk $71.70 7.30pm
The Burdekin, Darlinghurst AGWA After-Party Heidi (UK), Soul Clap (USA), Bill Patrick (USA), Garry Todd, Sam Roberts, Bryan O’Callaghan, Co-Op $20 9pm
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 23
Goldfish, Kings Cross House Masters Derrick Carter (USA), Matt Cahill, Johnny Gleeson, Illya $25 (+ bf) 9pm
Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Alison Wonderland, Fishing, Hey Geronimo, Bernie Dingo free 8pm
Metro Theatre, Sydney Sasha (UK) $65.70 10pm
Paradiso @ Sydney Town Hall Nicolas Jaar (USA), DJ McInnes, Charles Murdoch, Sydney sold out 8pm
Sydney Town Hall, Sydney Sydney Festival: Future Classic Lindstrom (NOR), Future Classic DJs $46 8pm
The World Bar, Kings Cross The Wall Jakes (UK), Mensah (UK), Tigerlily, Bassriot, E-Cats, Clockwerk, Dude Dempsey vs King Lee, Brown Bear free 9pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 27
FRIDAY JANUARY 25
Abercrombie Hotel, Broadway S.A.S.H Sundays Heidi (UK), Droog (USA), Matttt, Gemma Van D, Jon Jak, Telefunken, Jay Smalls, Nic Scali, Caminer, Kerry Wallace, Matt Weir $10 2pm
Chinese Laundry, Sydney Boss Bass Pop The Hatch, Autoclaws, Spenda C, Emoh Instead, Hydraulix, Kombat, Who Am I, Kemikoll $15-$25 10pm
Annandale Hotel, Annandale Freshly Squeezed Chance Waters, Grey Ghost, Jackie Onassis, Rapaport, Reverse Polarities, Crochet Crooks, Grouce, Jigsaw $23.50 2pm
The Spice Cellar, Sydney River & Phoenix, Andy Webb, Soft & Slow, Pink Lloyd, Dreamcatcher $10 10pm
The Famous Spiegeltent, Honda Festival Garden, Hyde Park Sydney Festival: Kraftwerk’s Computer World Nite Jewel & Peanut Butter Wolf (USA) $32 11.30pm
Tatler, Darlinghurst Boom Boom Presents Andres (USA), Simon Caldwell, Boom Boom DJs $20 (early bird)-$40 9pm
The Spice Cellar, Sydney Stil Vor Talent Label Night Oliver Koletzki (DE), Murat Kilic, Gabby, Spacejunk $25 10pm
Chance Waters
BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13 :: 35
snap up all night out all week . . .
It’s called: Chinese Laundry Garden Party – Dirtybird Records Showcase It sounds like: The signature Dirtybird bassy house sound booming out over a huge PA, mixed in with whoops, claps, cheers and peals of joyous laughter Who’s spinning? Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, J. Phlip.
Three songs you’ll hear on the night: Claude VonStroke – ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit’; Justin Martin – ‘Don’t Go’ and ‘Get Low (J. Phlip Remix)’. And one you definitely won’t: RL Grime’s ‘Trap On Acid’ Sell it to us: The Dirty Bird label is pretty much the most on-point label around the world, and is at the forefront of amazing house music. The Dirtybird crew have more soul than the rest of the EDM world comb ined. This will be Chinese Laundry’s biggest Garden Party yet! The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Why Chine se Laundry Garden Parties have been named Sydney’s favourite outdoor event ! Crowd specs: 1500 house music lovers of all ages, shapes and sizes. This is no ordinary ivy event – we’re here for the music and the good-times. Chinese Laundry’s relaxed dress code applies… Wallet damage: Final release $50 at mosh tix (or on the door if available). Where: ivy Courtyard @ The ivy When: Australia Day – Saturday January 26, from 12–8pm
honda festival garden
PICS :: TL
party profile
a dirtybird garden party
chali 2na
PICS :: MJC
12:01:13 :: Hyde Park North :: Corner College & Park Streets Sydney
beats and brass
PICS :: AM
11:01:13 :: The Factory Theatre :: 105 Victoria Road, Marrickville 9550 3666
chinese laundry
PICS :: AM
11:01:13 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Surry Hills 9331 3100
PICS :: MJC
action bronson
s.a.s.h
12:01:13 :: Manning Bar :: Manning Rd,. University of Sydney 9563 6000
36 :: BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13
PICS :: AM
11:01:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999
13:01:13 :: The Abercrombie Hotel :: 100 Broadway Ultimo 9211 3486 S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: MAR LEY ASH :: L WEL CAS JANE
:: KATRINA CLARKE :: MARY
(GET PHYSICAL/BBC 1)
(CULPRIT)
JAY SMALLS | TELEFUNKEN NIC SCALI & CAMINER | GEMMA VAN D | MATTTT JON JAK | MATT WEIR | KERRY WALLACE
BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13 :: 37
snap
opiuo & africa hitech
PICS :: KC
up all night out all week . . .
goodgod
PICS :: KC
11:01:13 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 9332 3711
11:01:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
‘Night And Day’ may be a song about sex, but the Hot Chip track also offered the most apt lyric of this memorable night in Newtown: “Let’s sweat.” Five songs into an uplifting and highly polished set on the hottest day of summer – hell, we already were. World’s End Press did a stellar job of setting the pace, and proved to be just as compelling a watch as stand-out track ‘Second Day Uptown’ is a listen. All flailing limbs and cocksure posturing, frontman John Parkinson clearly knows that the transition from buzz band to the international charts is not far away. Frankly, those present should’ve known better than to venture out to an indoor gig on such a blisteringly hot evening, but the extreme temperature brought about a warmth (sorry!) of atmosphere that might have otherwise been missing. We were all in it together, and we were all prepared to ignore the stench of body odour, and sweat it up on the dance floor. It’s not as if we had a choice. Hot Chip have spent the last decade building a canon of the finest dance-pop, and they were
A mid-section of techno stomper ‘Flutes’ and breakout banger ‘Over And Over’ got the most out of the audience, the latter number testing the Enmore Theatre’s bouncing floor to its limits. (The bloke who, despite the mercury rising, braved a polyester monkey suit – complete with miniature cymbal – deserves a mention before he gets sectioned.)
doc daneeka
PICS :: AM
The Enmore Theatre Tuesday January 8
unrelenting in dishing up their biggest hits and best tracks from new album In Our Heads, right from the initial percussive assault of ‘Shake A Fist’. Throughout, drummer Sarah Jones (also of New Young Pony Club) gave her hi-hat a serious workout and utility man and long-time pal of the band Grosvenor assisted on drums, keys and guitar.
12:01:13 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587
Yet the biggest revelation was the stadiumsized ‘Let Me Be Him’, a perfect closer. Joe Goddard and Alex Taylor, the band's respective heart and soul, flooded the room with affection as they shared vocal duties and pleaded for continued creativity. As floodlights illuminated the crowd during the outro, a girl on her mate’s shoulders with her eyes closed and arms open seemed lost in an almost religious enlightenment. "They're amazing," she mouthed to no one in particular, summing up the thoughts of a perspiration-drenched but exultant audience. David Wild
pleasurekraft
PICS :: AM
HOT CHIP, WORLD’S END PRESS
12:01:13 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999 S : TIM LEVY (HEAD HONCHO) OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER :: MAR LEY ASH :: L WEL CAS JANE
38 :: BRAG :: 496 :: 21:01:13
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